Hong Kong: Sun Dong starts Fujian visit

Secretary for Innovation, Technology & Industry Prof Sun Dong today began his visit to Fuzhou in Fujian Province where he met local officials and visited enterprises.

Prof Sun first called on Deputy Secretary of the Leading Party Members Group of Fujian Provincial Peoples Congress Standing Committee Chen Dong, and briefed him on the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Governments latest effort in promoting the development of innovation, technology and industry in Hong Kong. They also exchanged views on furthering the promotion of innovation and technology (I&T) co-operation between Fujian and Hong Kong.

At a meeting with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Chairman & General Manager Robin Zeng, Prof Sun learnt about the companys industry planning, development strategies and technological advancements in traction batteries and storage batteries.

The Hong Kong SAR Government is setting up the New Industrialisation Development Office, with new energy technology being one of the strategic industries pursued. In this connection, the technology chief said the Hong Kong SAR Government will endeavour to promote the development of such industries by supporting quality and representative enterprises to expand their businesses, adding that ancillary facilities and services will be provided.

He then toured Hengmei Optoelectronic Corporations industrial park and clean room production facilities, and was briefed by its management on the companys planning, business layout and development in the field of high-end polarisers manufacturing.

Prof Sun also met Hong Kong & Macao Affairs Office of Peoples Government of Fujian Province Director Lin Wensheng, Fujian Province Department of Science & Technology Deputy Director Huang Shu, and Fujian Province Department of Industry & Information Technology Deputy Director Chen Chuanfang to discuss issues of concern and explore opportunities to take forward I&T and industry development co-operation between Hong Kong and Fujian.

This story has been published on: 2023-11-27. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
Traditional Chinese culture lectures heat up in rural communities

Xinhua) 08:33, November 27, 2023

JINAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- On weekends, children in Ruanjia Village always come to the lecture hall early instead of the playgrounds.

In the village of Qufu City, the birthplace of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius in east China's Shandong Province, traditional Chinese culture courses are provided for free every weekend at the Confucian lecture hall, attracting more than 30 students.

"I've been studying in the Confucian lecture hall for over three years. I love what I've learned here -- paper cutting, traditional Chinese painting, making dough figurines, and everything," said Hu Wenzhe, a 10-year-old student.

A teacher guides students to make moon-shaped fans at a school in Qufu City, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 6, 2023. (Photo by Yang Guoqing/Xinhua)

Ten years ago, the first Confucian lecture hall was established in Beidongye Village, Sishui County near Nishan Mountain, where Confucius is believed to have been born.

A group of scholars specializing in Confucianism from home and abroad gathered in the village and discussed how to revitalize traditional Chinese culture in modern society, especially in rural areas.

Since then, lecturers and volunteers delivered lectures on Confucian classics and told stories concerning the philosophy of harmony, integrity, and filial piety in Confucian lecture halls, combining the traditional Chinese culture and modern social norms.

Students learn to make traditional Chinese salute at a Confucian lecture hall in Qufu City, east China's Shandong Province, June 12, 2023. (Photo by Cao Junbo/Xinhua)

So far, Shandong Province has established more than 22,000 Confucian lecture halls in rural communities over the past decade, and holds over 120,000 cultural activities every year.

In recent years, Shandong has brought the Confucian lecture hall into the rural public cultural service system and established unified standards for facilities, course contents, lecturer qualifications, and activities to build it into a platform for cultural communication.

Having been carried out for a decade, Confucian lecture halls are gaining popularity by providing more interactive and immersive experiences that now appeal to youngsters. In addition to courses on Confucian classics, children can now participate in traditional cultural activities such as paper cutting, painting, calligraphy, and traditional instruments, among others.

The Confucian lecture hall in rural communities is starting to function as a cultural center where traditional Chinese culture is taking root, bringing more people access to diverse cultural experiences.

An inheritor of a traditional craft of weaving "Huaxi" teaches students to make weaving artworks at a school in Qufu City, east China's Shandong Province, Oct. 6, 2023. (Photo by Yang Guoqing/Xinhua)

When approaching the Confucian lecture hall in Qingye Village, Shandong's capital city Jinan, people will first hear the lingering melody of Wuyin Opera, a traditional local folk opera with a history of nearly 300 years.

As the cradle of the opera, Qingye Village now tries to promote the ancient form of art at the Confucian lecture hall.

"I did not miss any of the lectures with performances of Wuyin Opera. I like it so much," said Zhang Guilan, a 77-year-old villager.

A volunteer performs to promote traditional Chinese culture in Sishui County of Jining, east China's Shandong Province, April 19, 2014. (Photo by Ji Ranran/Xinhua)

Ma Benli, Party chief of the village, said that Wuyin Opera was once on the verge of extinction. "Now, with the regular Confucian lectures, more people can enjoy this intangible cultural heritage," Ma said.

"We hope that through the construction and promotion of the Confucian lecture halls, people of all ages could have the chance to enjoy traditional Chinese culture," said Ji Ranran, an official at the center of traditional culture inheritance and development in Sishui County.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
One teenager is dead and another injured in separate shootings Sunday afternoon, according to Chicago police.

A 19-year-old man was shot in his left side and left arm Sunday at about 2:07 p.m. in the Lower West Side neighborhood. Police said he was shot by an unknown gunman while standing on the sidewalk in the 2300 block of South Oakley Avenue.

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He was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, where he later died, authorities said.

The Cook County medical examiners office identified him as Antonio Alvarado.

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At about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, a 17-year-old boy was walking on the sidewalk in the 7100 block of South Ridgeland Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood when he said he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He walked into Rush Oak Park Hospital for treatment with a gunshot wound to his left hand and was reported to be in good condition.

No suspects are in custody in either of the shootings, and police said they are investigating.

rjohnson@chicagotribune.com
A Sumatran rhino was born in western Indonesia over the weekend, a rare sanctuary birth for the critically endangered animal (Handout)

A Sumatran rhino has been born in western Indonesia, officials said Monday, a rare sanctuary birth for the critically endangered animal with only several dozen believed to be left in the world.

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) estimate the population of Sumatran rhinos to number less than 80 on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Borneo.

A female rhino named Delilah gave birth to a yet-to-be-named male calf weighing 25 kilogrammes (55 pounds) at Way Kambas National Park in Sumatra over the weekend, fathered by a rhino called Harapan.

It was the fifth calf born under a semi-wild breeding programme at the park, Indonesian Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in a statement.

The new addition to the Sumatran rhino herd at Way Kambas, which numbers 10, comes after another baby Sumatran rhino was born there in September.

"This birth is the second birth of the Sumatran Rhino in 2023. This further strengthens the government's commitment to Rhino conservation in Indonesia," she said.

A conservation guard found Delilah lying next to her newborn calf on Saturday, the ministry statement said.

Successful births are rare. A male rhino named Andatu, born in 2012 at Way Kambas, was the first Sumatran rhino birthed in an Indonesian sanctuary in more than 120 years.

IUCN classifies the Sumatran rhino, the smallest of all rhino species, as critically endangered.

Multiple threats have brought them to the brink of extinction, including poaching and climate change.

Rhino horn is often illegally traded for traditional Chinese medicine.

Indonesia is also racing to save another critically endangered species, the Javan rhino, with fewer than 80 alive today.

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Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota is defending itself against claims of political bias after an unofficial message cautioning airmen to not attend a conservative political rally began circulating on social media.

At issue is the Dakota Patriot Rally, an event held Nov. 24 in Minot featuring a pro-Trump group known as Turning Point Action. The groups founder is Charlie Kirk, a white conservative agitator who has built a following inflaming racial divides. For instance, he has described George Floyd, the Black man whose murder at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer set off a global reckoning over racial injustice, as a scumbag.

A message that purportedly came from base leadership, and was later shared on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page, described the group as an alt-right organization.

Read all Military Times coverage of ideological extremism here

Participation with groups such as Turning Point Action could jeopardize [airmens] continued service in the U.S. military, the message said.

The outcry was immediate, with Republican U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, of North Dakota, and Kirk among those denouncing the message.

Minot responded Nov. 21 that the initial message was based on incorrect data and sent outside of official base messaging platforms.

It said that it subsequently corrected the message traffic to categorize the event as a local political fundraiser and stressed that there was no issue with military members participating as long as they complied with regulations such as not wearing their uniforms.

All Air Force airmen have a constitutional right to freedom of assembly, the base said on Facebook.

But Cramer said in a news release the same day that a greater apology is needed. He said he spoke with Gen. David Allvin, chief of staff of the U.S. Air Force, about what he described as a biased and misguided official communication.

He said Allvin indicated that the base issued an internal correction within an hour. Why then, Cramer asked, did it take days for the base to issue a statement on its official website and Facebook page?

Its disgusting to me that anybody in our Air Force today would consider a Turning Point USA event anything other than a pro-American, patriotic, and frankly, pro-military group, Cramer said.

Kirk said on X, formerly Twitter, that the Department of Defense has declared WAR on conservatives and called on Congress to immediately investigate this absurd, unhinged threat.

The Department of Defense has already drawn the ire of some conservatives. One flashpoint is new Pentagon rules that allow reimbursement for travel when a service member has to go out of state to get an abortion or other reproductive care. The policy has led Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville to block hundreds of military nominees.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  The principal at Crockett County High School in Alamo, TN, was arrested and charged with DUI last week, authorities say.

Jerrod Shelton, 50, was arrested by Tennessee Highway Patrol and booked into jail on November 22, according to county records.

The sheriffs office confirmed he is employed by Crockett County High School.

He is set to appear in court Thursday morning.

Top Regional Stories:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
With an estimated 2.5 million travelers passing through Los Angeles International Airport between Nov. 16 and Thanksgiving weekend, according to officials, its one of the busiest travel seasons of the year.

Add service dog into the mix and the frenzy of travel can be even more hectic.

Shes been kind of glued to us because its overwhelming, how busy it is, Merna Michael said of her dog named Maya.

At LAX, Michael, her family and their pet were on their way back to Arizona after a visit to Southern California.

Its definitely busier. Its way more crowded, she told KTLAs Omar Lewis. Its still pretty easy because we have pre-check getting through security. That, honestly, has been a big help for us, but other than that, I think theres just more people traveling now than there were last year.

Doug Shupe with AAA told KTLA that theyre projecting this Thanksgiving holiday to be the third busiest on record due to the number of travelers they havent seen since before the pandemic started.

Crowds hit LAX as Thanksgiving travel comes to an end

The overall travel volume this Thanksgiving was about 3% higher than last year and about 3.5% higher than in 2019, Shupe said.

With traffic in and around LAX busier than normal Sunday, airport officials said these latest numbers show that travelers are making up for time lost with family and friends in recent years.

So far, it wasnt bad, driver Melissa Fultz said. My son came out here from Houston and we were able to come in and drop him right off.

Drivers should allow for extra time getting to and from the airport, a lesson musician Dylan Lawrence Monti learned after traveling to Denver for Thanksgiving.

It was crazy, he said. On my way here, actually, I was late. I didnt leave in time. So, I ran through check-in and then I got there, like, last call for boarding. I got there just in time. I almost missed my flight.

Naked man arrested on iconic Disneyland ride: video

As the crush of Thanksgiving travel might be coming to an end, officials are quick to say that travelers shouldnt expect to catch any breaks for upcoming holiday travel in December either because theyre expecting more record-breaking numbers to come.

That tells us that its going to be a very busy travel season for the year-end holidays, including Hannukah, Christmas and the New Year, Shupe said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A banking hub has opened in a Cumbrian town following the closure of its last bank branch.

Cash Access UK has opened the hub in Maryport at the site of the former NatWest branch on Senhouse Street.

The hub will allow residents to access services from five different banks and building societies from one location.

Local banking services have left Maryport in recent years, with only Cumberland Building Society now operating a dedicated branch.

Leader of Cumberland Council Mark Fryer said: "This is going to be a fantastic addition to Maryport's high street.

"Not only will it provide a vital service for local people and visitors alike - it will also bring a lovely shop back to life."

Community bankers

The hub is located at 115/117 Senhouse Street and will offer a counter service operated by the Post Office.

Customers of all major banks and building societies will be able to carry out cash transactions at the counter.

For more complicated queries, a community banker service will run Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm, allowing customers to speak to staff from their bank.

The community bankers will work on rotation with each bank or building society operating from the hub one day per week.

The rota for the community bankers will be:

Monday: NatWest

Tuesday: HSBC

Wednesday: Halifax

Thursday: TSB

Friday: Barclays

Banking hubs are opening across the country to allow people to access services after a wave of branch closures by high street banks.

A similar hub is already open in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham.

Work is currently under way to regenerate Maryport, including a 3m project to transform a former bank and cinema into a cultural hub.

The banking hub's site was recently renovated as part of the council's shop front scheme, which was funded by Historic England's Heritage Action Zone programme.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.
JetBlue is marking Cyber Monday with a sale that offers travelers flights out of Bostons Logan International Airport for as low as $49.

Logans largest carrier is holding a three-day sale for travelers looking to book a flight between January 9, 2024, and March 27, 2024.

Travelers can snag one-way flights to New York, Charlotte, and Richmond for just $49. Other deals include a $59 flight to Baltimore, as well as trips to Florida for $64 and Los Angeles for $69.

There are also discounted one-way flights to Aruba, Atlanta, Austin, Bermuda, Barbados, Denver, Las Vegas, Nassau, New Orleans, Punta Cana, and San Francisco, among many other destinations, included in the sale.

JetBlue noted that the deals are good for Tuesday and Wednesday travel for the lowest available fare.

The airline is also offering travelers up to $750 off flight and hotel accommodation packages with a $99 deposit.

For more information, click here.

Cyber Monday 2023: Here are a few deals from Amazon, Macys, Best Buy and Walmart

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Thousands of protesters march downtown Prague, Czech Republic, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. On Monday labor unions staged a day of protests and strikes across the Czech Republic to voice their opposition to the government's package of cuts and austerity measures meant to keep the ballooning deficit under control. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

PRAGUE (AP)  Labor unions staged a day of protests and strikes across the Czech Republic on Monday to voice their opposition to the governments package of cuts and austerity measures meant to keep the ballooning deficit under control.

The unions are also demanding more money for the education and healthcare sectors and are protesting proposed changes to the pension system.

Prime Minister Petr Fiala said his government was not ready to give in because the measures are absolutely necessary.

We have to stop the state indebtedness,  Fiala said.

The unions were marching through Prague before rallying at a downtown square near Parliaments building.

The unionists protest because they don't like the development in the Czech Republic under the current government, Josef Stredula, the head of a major umbrella union organization, told the crowd of several thousand.

Resign, the protesters chanted, aiming their message at the government.

Stredula said the unions will plan more protests if the government refuses to negotiate.

Some 74% or over 7,200 nursery, elementary and high schools across the country were either fully or partially closed Monday in the biggest such protest since the establishment of the Czech Republic in 1993, unions said. Several universities supported the unions move.

Workers at hundreds of companies, including some state offices and major carmaker Skoda Auto, were planning to join the protests, mostly by stopping work for an hour or two.

Both houses of the Parliament approved and President Petr Pavel signed into law last week an economic package of dozens of measures introducing budget cuts and increased taxes designed to keep the budget deficit under control.

Among other measures, Czechs will pay more taxes on alcoholic beverages, including beer, and on medicine. Businesses will also pay higher corporate taxes.

According to the government, the measures should reduce the budget deficit by 97 billion Czech crowns ($4.3 billion) next year and by 150 billion ($6.7 billion) in 2025.

As a result, the deficit of 3.5% of gross domestic product expected for this year should drop to 1.8% next year and to 1.2% in 2025.

The package is a compromise reached by Fialas five-party ruling coalition that took over after defeating populist Prime Minister Andrej Babis and his centrist ANO movement in the 2021 parliamentary election.

Babis has vehemently opposed the changes and said the government should resign.

The government's recent proposals to change the pension system would link the age of retirement to life expectancy but are not yet final. Unions fear the new age would exceed the current 65 years.
Transportation Security Administration announced Monday that nearly 3 million air travelers flowed through its checkpoints on Sunday, the most ever in a single day, as the Thanksgiving travel season reached its peak. File Photo Gary C. Caskey/UPI

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Nearly 3 million holiday travelers flowed through the nation's airports on Sunday, breaking a single-day record, the Transportation Security Administration reported.

TSA officials announced Sunday's total of 2.9 million people passing through airport security checkpoints represented a new agency standard.

"My sincere appreciation to our TSA employees who worked diligently during the Thanksgiving weekend," administrator David Pekoske said in a social media post. "Officers screened over 2.9M passengers at airport security checkpoints yesterday -- the most ever screened on record. Thank you for always being vigilant & focused on our mission."

Sunday's busy travel day capped a Thanksgiving week in which several airlines announced some of their highest-ever holiday season passenger figures.

American Airlines announced Monday it flew 6.5 million passengers on more than 59,000 flights during the holiday week, marking its highest-ever load factor for those dates.

The carrier also canceled fewer flights than any other Thanksgiving period in its history -- just 55 out of more than 59,400 scheduled flights -- with nearly all the cancellations weather-related.

United Airlines said earlier this month it also expected a record-setting Thanksgiving travel season with more than 5.9 million people predicted to fly the airline between Nov. 17 and Wednesday.

Official Delta Airlines projections put the total estimated customer count at between 6.2 million and 6.4 million from Nov. 17 through Tuesday, averaging 515,000 to 530,000 customers per day.

The TSA had likewise anticipated record throngs at airports, advising two weeks ago that it anticipated to screen 30 million passengers from Nov. 17 through Tuesday.

The agency accurately projected to screen 2.9 million passengers on Sunday.
Britains Got Talent production company Fremantle has agreed a settlement with David Walliams and apologised after off-camera remarks the comic made about contestants were leaked.

The Little Britain creator appeared on the ITV talent show between 2012 and 2022, but left after apologising for making disrespectful comments about auditioning contestants during filming breaks in January 2020 at the London Palladium.

The remarks came to light in November 2022 after a transcript was leaked to The Guardian. In September, Walliams sued Fremantle for misuse of private information and for breaching UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

On Monday, the production company shared a statement announcing that they had reached a settlement with Walliams.

A Fremantle spokesperson said: We are sincerely sorry that his private conversations when a judge on Britains Got Talent were published, and the great distress this caused David.

We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent whilst satisfying the requirements of the show. We have enjoyed a great relationship with David over many years.

We thank David for being an important part of the Britains Got Talent family and the enduring success of the show and hope to have opportunities to work with him in the future. We are pleased that we have achieved an amicable resolution of this dispute with David.

Walliams, pictured in June, apologised at the time for his disrespectful comments (Getty Images)

When the transcripts of his private conversations on BGT were leaked last winter, Walliams shared a statement to The Independent apologising.

I would like to apologise to the people I made disrespectful comments about during breaks in filming for Britains Got Talent in 2020, he said.

These were private conversations and  like most conversations with friends  were never intended to be shared. Nevertheless, I am sorry.

He was replaced on the judging panel by former Strictly Come Dancing judge Bruno Tonioli.

In High Court documents released last month, Walliams accused Fremantle of recording, transcribing and retaining private conversations for a decade.

According to court documents, Walliams believed producers retained transcripts of everything he said during his time on the show and claimed the defendant, Fremantle Media, must be the ultimate source of the transcripts that were leaked.

According to the documents, Walliams and the other judges on the show would not usually remove their microphones  including when they went to the bathroom  until filming had ended for the day. However, the childrens author assumed he was only being recorded when contestants were on stage or during behind-the-scenes filming.

Walliams (third from right) at Britains Got Talent auditions in 2019 (Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)

Walliams alleged private conversations, including him talking about his struggles with food addiction, his fathers death and his wife leaving him, could have been recorded by the production company.

He also claimed that Fremantle had caused him psychiatric harm and financial loss. The 52-year-old claimed that he has been having active suicidal thoughts since leaving the show, and has lost the ability to be funny due to fears about his comments being leaked without his consent.

The lawsuit detailed how Walliams has suffered a return of severe depression, including suicidal thoughts. In a report, consultant psychiatrist Dr Mark Collins, who has treated Walliams for years, said the comedians depression was possibly the worst since I first met him.

Collins said the leak of the transcripts has had a profound, severe and, at times, very worrying effect on his mental health.

Walliams also claimed his earnings from television and other public appearances had been very severely reduced as a result of negative publicity surrounding the story.

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.
On November 27, 1983, a crippled Avianca jumbo jet, similar to the one pictured, crashed in flames on approach to the Madrid, Spain, airport, killing 181 people and injuring 11. File Photo by Michel Gilliand/Wikimedia

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1901, the U.S. War Department authorized creation of the Army War College to instruct commissioned officers. It was built in Leavenworth, Kan.

In 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York.

In 1940, two months after Gen. Ion Antonescu seized power in Romania and forced King Carol II to abdicate, more than 60 aides of the exiled king, including Nicolae Iorga, a former minister and acclaimed historian, were executed.

File Photo courtesy the Germany Federal Archive

On November 27, 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions. File Photo by Gugerell/Wikimedia

In 1970, a man with a knife attempted to injure Pope Paul VI at Manila Airport in the Philippines.

In 1978, a disgruntled former San Francisco official shot and killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay official elected in California.

Msgr. Pasquale Macci (C), private secretary to Pope Paul VI, pushes away a crew-cut, cassock-clad man (R) trying to attack the pope with a knife at the airport in Manila, Philippines, shortly after the Popes arrival on November 27, 1970. UPI File Photo

In 1983, a crippled Colombian jumbo jet crashed in flames on approach to the Madrid, Spain, airport, killing 181 people and injuring 11. Among those killed were several notable literary figures invited to a meeting in Colombia, including Mexican novelist Jorge Ibarguengoitia, Peruvian novelist Manuel Scorza and Argentine writer Marta Traba.

In 1989, Virginia certified Douglas Wilder as the first elected U.S. African-American governor by a margin of 0.38 percent of the vote.

Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder (R), beams upon receiving the 75th NAACP Spingarn Medal from former recipient Percy Ellis Sutten (L) of New York on July 12, 1990, in Los Angeles. On November 27, 1989, Wilder became the first elected African-American governor in the United States. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI

In 1992, a fire destroyed parts of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria, threatening the famous Lipizzaner stallions.

In 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush arrived in Iraq under the cover of darkness in a surprise visit to U.S. forces in Baghdad. The president mingled with troops gathered in a hangar for Thanksgiving dinner and joined the serving line, dishing out corn and sweet potatoes. Bush's 2 1/2 hour stay marked the first time a U.S. president traveled to Iraq.

On November 27, 1978, a former San Francisco official killed Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay official elected in California. File Photo by Pat Benic/UPI

File Photo by Roger Williams/UPI

In 2020, prominent Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near Tehran.

On November 27, 1924, the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

In 2022, Mauna Loa, one of the five volcanoes that form Hawaii's Big Island, erupted for the first time in 38 years. Lava flowed for more than two weeks and caused more than $1.5 million in damage.

File Photo by Bruce Omori/Paradise Helicopters/EPA-EFE
A year ago this month, OpenAI released ChatGPT  a free generative artificial intelligence chatbot that creates text in response to user prompts.

With its launch, millions of people started using ChatGPT for tasks such as writing school essays, drafting emails and personal greetings, and retrieving information. Increasingly, more people and public offices are using ChatGPT to improve productivity and efficiency, conducting sophisticated tasks instantaneously that are typically beyond human abilities.

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Publicly available reports show that in this year alone, 21 federal departments have used ChatGPT or similar systems to serve Americans, with the Departments of Energy, Health and Human Services, and Commerce being the top three users. Governmental uses of these systems may benefit the public by reducing costs or improving services. For example, U.S. Customs and Border Protection has improved speed and trustworthiness of data entry and analysis, and the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed physical therapy support tools.

ChatGPT and similar systems can change work processes and human interactions across many domains  and with it, create ethical, legal, social and practical challenges. One challenge involves an unequal distribution of benefits and burdens.

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Companies such as the Silicon Valley giants that develop these systems, or integrate them into existing workflows, continue to benefit most of all. Even in the case of users whose daily tasks can be completed faster, their employers benefit more from ChatGPT in the long run. This is because with more efficiency comes lower labor costs. More importantly, when these technologies are fully incorporated, they can even replace workers with cheap and reliable robots, which is already happening in spaces such as Amazon warehouses.

A typical response to these changes is that new technologies have disrupted work throughout history and humans have always adapted. This is a straw man argument that doesnt directly address the nuances of the current situation. Furthermore, it distracts us from better understanding the impacts on people and holding responsible those who contribute to and will benefit the most from this new dynamic.

Speaking of benefits, by helping us write clearer and faster or offering some assistance with digital tasks, ChatGPT and similar tools afford more time for interesting tasks such as ideation and innovation. Here, the short-term impact seems to be positive.

However, the very use of this technology creates ethical challenges. Ultimately, the companies advancing these technologies are disproportionately better off because they not only collect valuable user data  which can make users vulnerable in the future  but also, their system is trained with free labor.

These gains will allow them to offer specialized secondary services, for example, to companies that employ workers for office-based jobs. This lucrative future should explain why share prices for Microsoft, which now owns OpenAI, increased 52.26% over the last year  from $247.49 on Nov. 25, 2022, to $377.44 on Nov. 20, 2023  and were not affected even after OpenAIs bitter power struggle that led to the firing of its CEO, Sam Altman, on Nov. 17. In another twist, Altman is returning as CEO and will answer to a new board.

In the past year, domestic and international organizations have made moves toward encouraging responsible use of these systems. For example, the White House recently issued an executive order on AI with directives to guide AI use. Likewise, the United Kingdoms Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development recently launched the OECD AI Policy Observatory. This observatory offers information about trustworthy AI policies and data-driven analysis through linked resources and country-level dashboards.

However, governments inability to mandate developers to disclose the data used to train these systems clearly demonstrates that policies can go only so far. Transparency and equity are key issues when it comes to enhancing generative AI tools because how can we know how to improve these models without knowing the inputs?

Indeed, training data should be inclusive and come from reputable and reliable sources, and algorithms should be unbiased and continually scrutinized. Such measures are essential for future development of these tools and can be achieved only with more transparency from all involved parties.

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Furthermore, if developers of these tools hope to make major and meaningful social impacts, they should carefully consider the influence of these systems on current and future affairs. Some of our biggest global challenges include climate change, pandemics, immigration and conflicts in Africa, the Middle East and Europe, to name but a few. Although ChatGPT can evaluate existing data or generate new textual content to help us analyze and communicate about these critical issues, it can also be used nefariously.

[ Jim Warren and McKenzie Sadeghi: AI-generated websites spell trouble for upcoming elections ]

Use of ChatGPT to create misinformation is challenging democratic values. The deluge of misinformation has already compromised our ability to understand and engage meaningfully with global challenges and will likely grow in severity.

For example, AI-generated images and troves of false texts have contributed to misinformation about global conflicts, which has influenced the publics perception of events and contributed to polarizing opinions. When misinformation and fake news are created about climate change, pandemics, immigration, heath topics, and more, it becomes increasingly difficult to unite people and mobilize them to address these issues.

Whether or not we personally use ChatGPT and other AI systems, our lives will be affected by them. We may wonder what we can do to be informed in this new age of AI. We can begin by advocating for information and media literacy and using technologies such as ChatGPT critically while keeping in mind the inherent biases and inequities that exist in these tools as well as the data used to train them.

Generative AI is here to stay, and to realize the full promise of these systems, we must leverage them safely and responsibly.

Mohammad Hosseini, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine. Kristi Holmes, Ph.D., is a professor of preventive medicine and the director of Galter Health Sciences Library at Northwesterns Feinberg School of Medicine.

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Good morning, Chicago.

The federal racketeering case against Ed Burke is pure Chicago.

At its core, the Burke trial, which just wrapped its third week, is about a series of alleged shakedowns by the longest-serving alderman in City Council history  a potential highlight reel for the sordid legacy of City Hall.

The former 14th Ward alderman is not accused of taking bribe money in an envelope, in a brown paper bag or slapped directly into an outstretched hand.

That cold cash approach may have been a little too ordinary for Burke, an old-school Democrat whose extraordinary clout is as much on trial as he is for the 14 charges he faces. Its a case expected to stretch well past the fifth anniversary of the Nov. 29, 2018, FBI raid of the aldermans City Hall offices.

Even Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman suggested in opening statements that Burkes style was less greasy palm and a bit more sophisticated.

Burke himself may have inadvertently labeled the alleged take from his political style as the tuna, as in, So did we land the, uh, the tuna? A secret FBI recording caught that phrase in one the alleged shakedowns, and it is fast becoming part of Chicagos political lexicon.

Read more on this story from Ray Long, Megan Crepeau and Jason Meisner.

Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day.

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Gov. J.B. Pritzkers recent announcement that the state would spend $65 million to help Chicago set up a tent encampment for migrants before winter sets in came less than two months after the second-term Democrat tried to distance himself from the concept when it was unveiled by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

But state documents indicate the concept for housing migrants in tents took shape not at City Hall but within Pritzkers own administration.

Keinymar Avila, a tiny 7-year-old with microcephaly who has never been separated from her mother, curled up in the arms of a woman shed recently met.

Her mother, Yamile Perez, glanced over at her daughter to make sure all was well as she attended a virtual meeting with Chicago Public Schools officials who were evaluating Keinymars needs. It is not easy to let someone else hold your child, especially if your child requires special medical care.

No one knows this better than the person cradling the girl, Mary Otts-Rubenstein, a Lakeview resident who has her own child with disabilities. Otts-Rubenstein has taken it upon herself to help over a dozen migrant families with medically complex kids enroll in CPS.

Ten-year-old Lana Azizieh, a fifth grader at Clinton Elementary School, said that before she came to the United States two years ago, she didnt know English.

Now Im really good at English, she said, noting that she loves math, but not so much reading. I like to read graphic novels, but mostly Im not reading graphic novels (in school) so there are just words, words, words. I get tired of reading.

Azizieh, a refugee from Syria, is one of 103 students receiving tutoring from Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America (FORA), the West Ridge education center dedicated to helping refugee children arriving in Chicago.

A corn and soybean farm in the village of Buckingham, 60 miles south of Chicago, is providing the testing grounds for an Irish startup attempting to enhance weathering, thus shortening the process from millenniums to decades.

The Illinois trial, the first of its kind in the United States, is one of many efforts to leverage the potential of different materials to combat global warming.

The Chicago Blackhawks seesaw season continued with a 4-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Sunday, and at least one Hawk is ready to walk the plank.

Were just one win, one loss, one win, one loss  its a frustrating road to be on, Nick Foligno said, referring to the loss following Fridays 4-3 upset of the Toronto Maple Leafs in overtime. But we have to understand why were in it.

Hanukkah is called the Jewish festival of lights for its nightly candle lightings, but its also a beloved holiday with delicious fried foods and chocolate coins that can be eaten or used for gambling.

There are also plenty of places offering specials for dine-in and other holiday fun like festively decorated cookies and themed cocktails. Dust off your menorah and check out this guide to 19 places to celebrate Hanukkah.
WASHINGTON - A D.C. woman is pleading for the return of her dog after he was stolen while they were on a walk in Northeast.

Hendrix the French Bulldog was taken early Saturday evening as he and his owner just got back from a walk.

Teffiney Worthy was devastated.

"To be honest, my heart hurts. I feel numb. I feel like Hendrix was my support dog. My anchor. And for that to be taken away from me. Its very draining. You know. So its taken a lot out of me to remain hopeful," she said.

Having her dog stolen from her is tough enough but she told FOX 5 that, tragically, her previous dog died during a flooding incident over the summer at District Dogs in Northeast D.C. She says the heartbreak is overwhelming.

Video captured on Worthys doorbell Saturday shows her getting back from a walk with Hendrix.

Two cars appear to stop in front of her home. A man gets out of the car, walks up to her door, takes Hendrix and drives off.

Worthy says the man threatened her life. Shes asking anyone who might have any information on his whereabouts to call police.

She says she just wants her dog back.

This is at least the third incident that we know about where French Bulldogs were taken in the District: three were stolen just two weeks ago and two were taken in early July but returned to the family.

FOX 5 has reached out to D.C. police for additional information about this investigation.

They say theyre looking for a black Nissan with tinted windows and temporary tags.

The man who stole the dog was described as 55" with a black jacket and colorful shoes.

Worthy is offering a reward of her own $2,500 and has started a GoFundMe to try and hire a private investigator to help find Hendrix.
Wind speeds of over 140 kilometres per hour (about 90 mph) were recorded in some places (STRINGER)

Hurricane force winds, snowfall and flooding that swept parts of southern Russia, Ukraine and Moldova left at least 13 people dead Monday and almost two million without power, authorities said.

Dubbed the 'storm of the century' by Russian media, the violent weather has lashed the southern regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Rostov, as well as the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea since Sunday.

President Vladimir Putin has been following reports of the "meteorological disasters" and ordered the government to take measures to help the affected regions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said.

Russia's energy ministry said about 1.9 million people were affected by power cuts.

Four people were reported to have died in Russia and Crimea due to the storms, with another four reported dead in Moldova.

In Ukraine, the severe weather left at least five people dead and almost 1,500 towns and villages in the dark after storms dumped up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) of snow in some places.

"Unfortunately, as of now, there are some deaths. The highest number (of casualties) is in the Odesa region -- five people," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Huge waves crashed over beachside areas of Russia's Black Sea coast, video from social media showed, as wind speeds reached over 140 kilometres (about 90 miles) per hour in some places.

Two bodies were found in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, while state media said a sailor was killed in the Kerch Strait between Crimea and Russia.

ne man on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula's southern coast was also killed, according to Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the region's Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov.

"The man went out to look at the waves and, unfortunately, tragically died," he said.

In Moldova, the bodies of two people were found in a car buried in a snowdrift in the southeastern area of Coscalia, Moldovan media reported.

A 48-year old man was found dead in the eastern village of Cruglic and the storm claimed the life of another man in Grigoriopol in the separatist region of Transnistria.

In Russia's Krasnodar region, which includes the resorts of Sochi and Anapa, several people were injured when hundreds of trees were blown down, the Russian emergency situations ministry said.

In Vitiazevo near Anapa, the storm caused a large Belize-flagged cargo ship, the "Blue Shark" to run around, the ministry said.

The Caspian Pipeline Consortium said it was suspending the loading of oil and sheltering its tankers due to "extremely unfavourable weather conditions" with winds gusting up to 86 kph (53 mph) and waves up to eight metres (26 feet) high.

Crimean lawmaker Vladimir Konstantinov said on state television that the peninsula had experienced an "armageddon"-like scenario.

"Old-timers can't remember this kind of wind and waves," he said.

- Highways hit -

Parts of Crimea's coastal highway linking the cities of Yevpatoria and Simferopol were closed due to flooding, and ferry services from Crimea's largest city of Sevastopol were suspended.

About 500 marine animals in Sevastopol's aquarium were killed during the storm, which flooded one of its floors, the city's Moscow-installed governor said.

Transport on the Ukrainian mainland and southern Russia was also affected.

Train traffic on Russia's Black Sea coast was disrupted after rail tracks fell into the sea, while oil loading at the port of Novorossiysk was suspended.

Regions in the south, like Odesa and Mykolaiv, were worst affected by the weather, as were Kyiv and Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine.

In Odesa, which has been subjected to repeated Russian strikes, authorities said they had helped 1,624 people who had been trapped due to snow.

Regional authorities said the temperature had fallen to below freezing with reports of gusts of up to 72 kilometres (44 miles) per hour.

Ukraine's energy grid has been targeted systematically by Russian forces since Moscow's assault began last year, and officials have warned strikes could intensify over winter.

Weather forecasts show downpours are expected to continue late Monday in the Crimean port of Sevastopol and Sochi on Russia's Black Sea coast.

Freezing temperatures are forecast on Tuesday morning through much of Ukraine.

bur/db
Democratic presidential challenger Dean Phillips (Minn.) said the donation from GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow that helped his House reelection campaign in 2019 would be sent to a local charity to feed children and family.

Ive never spoken with nor met Harlan Crow, but his donation in 18 was one of thousands that helped me become the first Democrat to win MN-03 since 1958 and provide resistance to Donald Trump. So I thank him for that, Phillips posted Sunday on X, formerly known as Twitter.

But with countless Minnesotans living paycheck to paycheck and unable to afford groceries, I sent $2,800 to @2harvest so his money is now helping feed children and families, Phillips added, referring to Second Harvest Heartland, a hunger relief organization in the Midwest.

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Though Phillips said the contribution was made in 2018, the year he was first elected to serve in the House, the Federal Election Commission campaign filing shows the contribution was made in 2019.

In a statement to The Hill, the campaign acknowledged It appears the Congressman misstated the year.

In 2019, $2,800 was the maximum amount an individual was permitted to donate to a campaign committee, according to the FEC guidelines.

Crows name has made headlines in recent months for his unreported gifts given to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Progressive presidential candidate Cornel West, who is running as an independent candidate in 2024, also recently came under fire for receiving a donation from Crow. West defended the donation but said he decided to return it.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
An earlier version of this story stated that council member William Hughes was an attorney. Mr. Hughes is actually a retired attorney.

MUNCIE, Ind.  Delaware County Council unanimously agreed last week to reexamine tax abatement it granted to Invenergy, a global developer of renewable energy, for the still planned Meadow Forge solar project in Washington Township.

The council, aware county commissioners are working on finishing a solar zoning ordinance and that a nearly two-year moratorium on developing solar fields in the county will expire after Dec. 31, took action to determine where it stands with proposed solar-related tax abatements. In addition to Meadow Forge, a solar development by a different company, Hawthorn Solar, LLC, a subsidiary of National Renewable Energy Corp. based in Charlotte, N.C., also entered into abatement agreements with the county. Smaller than Meadow Forge, that project would have placed $88 million worth of equipment on roughly 355 acres south of Albany.

Council Member Ryan Webb brought the solar issue forward during the meeting and said he was wrong when he voted to support the Invenergy abatement after asking company representives if they had encountered opposition to the solar farm. He was told there was none in October 2021. By January 2022 protests had led to a moratorium on solar projects.

Opponents of Meadow Forge and proponents of solar energy, along with Kristina Kern Wheeler, an Indianapolis attorney representing Ivenergy, also attended the regularly scheduled November council meeting.

Wheeler told the council, as she also told the county commissioners at their meeting Monday, that that she doesn't believe the county has a vehicle by which it can back out of its 2021 agreements with the company. Those agreements include a the tax abatement agreement with the council.

She noted that to this point Invenergy had spent about $5 million on Meadow Forge including payments to landowners who have leases with the company to host the solar fields.

Wheeler reminded council members that Invenergy had also agreed to pay $1.6 million to the county, not as a tax but as a payment which the county officials can spent however council members choose. She told The Star Press that that payment does not start until the solar field exists.

Regarding Wheeler's assertion that the council can't legally back out of the agreements, Council member William Hughes, who chaired the meeting in the absence of Council President Jessica Piper, disagreed. He told The Star Press that legislative bodies, like the county council, have the ability to recind or repeal a prior action. Hughes, who is a retired attorney, said that is how he would look the tax abatement with Invenergy.

However, Webb told the Star Press the possibility of a lawsuit has created apprehension.

"There are some council members who are concerned with the possibility of litigation against Delaware County by the solar farm companies if the county council votes to rescind the tax abatements," he said. "I am getting increasingly frustrated at the frequency with which the council folds our hands when we are in the right, simply because we are worried about potential litigation. This has happened several times this year already."

Webb said however that he worries about legal action by solar opponents and Delaware County residents because the council declared much of rural Delaware County as an Economic Revitalization Area.

The designation identifies an area as being in such poor economic condition that it is "undesireable for, or impossible of, normal development and occupancy," according to the Indiana Department of local Government Finance. The ERA declaration is necessary to provide tax abatement to the solar developers.

"Personally, I am more concerned about possible litigation from the residents of northern Delaware County who might sue the council or Delaware County for inappropriately declaring an ERA in an area that wasn't eligible, simply to to qualify for a tax abatement for these solar farms," Webb said.

Meanwhile, solar supporters continued to press for a changes in the solar ordiance to make it more welcoming of solar.

The ordinance is going back to the Delaware County - Muncie Plan Commission to consider a reduction in available farm acreage for solar projects. That change was proposed Monday by county commissioners.

Linda Hanson, speaking as a representative of the Delaware County League of Women Voters, told council members that part of the existing ordinace states the county is to support renewable energy in the county. But the latest iteration of the ordinance placed setbacks of the solar panels 500 feet from the property lines of nonparticipating land owners.

"That is a regrettable amendment," she said.

It is significantly more distant than the 50-feet setbacks suggested by the General Assembly. Hanson suggested that the solar developers would not be able to work with such restrictive setbacks, causing the county to lose millions of dollars in solar energy development.

She said such regulation was counter to being supportive of renewable energy.

Council members all voted to have the tax abatement committee of the council review the abatements and contact representatives of the developers in December to determine the status of the projects. The full council will then likely conduct a special meeting in January to discuss the abatements for solar farms.

David Penticuff iws a report5er with The Star Press. He can be contacted at dpenticuff@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Delaware County Council to review abatements with solar developers
The court has received both praise and criticism for wading into the issue

Pollution in India's capital Delhi has made global headlines in recent years, but it's not a new problem. For around four decades, the country's top court has actively discussed the issue, sometimes passing orders that have significantly reshaped life in Delhi.

Its latest intervention came in early November, when the Supreme Court called for "immediate action" after air quality in the capital deteriorated to alarming levels.

The court heard arguments on measures implemented by the Delhi government to tackle the situation, from reducing stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana, to a proposal to allow motor vehicles only on alternate days, depending on whether the last number on their licence plates was odd or even.

The court left the decision of formulating these policies to the government - but last week, it pulled up authorities for not following its instructions to allocate funds for a rapid rail system, calling it a "gross breach of assurances". The project aims to connect Delhi with its neighbouring cities through high-speed rail corridors to reduce vehicular pollution.

The top court also accused the Punjab state government of not doing enough to stop stubble burning and said that farmers in the state were being vilified due to its poor management of the problem.

The Supreme Court has often taken the lead in reforms to clean up Delhi's air - some of its orders include rules on the kind of vehicles that should run in the city; the relocation of thousands of smoke-spewing factories; and the sealing of businesses to reduce emissions. It has also been lauded for making the government act, even when it was unwilling.

But critics have questioned the efficacy of the court's decisions and accuse it of wading into executive action often. Some have also pointed out that despite reforms, pollution in the capital has only worsened over the past 40 years.

People have held marches in Delhi to raise awareness about air pollution levels

Shyam Divan, a senior lawyer, has recently wrote that India's top court plays the role of a "policymaker, lawmaker, public educator and super administrator" all at once.

"In the US, they have the Congress, the Federal Environment Protection Agency and bags of money to protect the natural environment. Here, we have our Supreme Court," he said.

However, the court's defenders view it as a protector and a forum where problems can be solved collaboratively.

The top court first began hearing cases on Delhi pollution in 1984, when environmentalist MC Mehta filed a clutch of pleas on three main issues: rising vehicular pollution in Delhi, the impact of pollution on the iconic Taj Mahal, and the pollution of the rivers Ganga and Yamuna.

These pleas are still pending but the court has continued to add newer issues to these petitions - last year, the court clubbed together a plea on Delhi's smog problem with an ongoing case on vehicular pollution.

Sometimes, the measures taken by the court have also been drastic.

In 1998, it ordered that the entire fleet of public transport vehicles which ran on diesel - estimated to be around 100,000 - switch to compressed natural gas, or CNG, by 2001.

For decades, the Supreme Court has intervened in how the capital should address its severe pollution problem

Even though the government opposed the move, fines from the court and the fear of being held in contempt, ensured that the rule was followed.

In its order, the court has also waded into smaller details such as what type of vehicles should ply in Delhi - for instance, it froze the licences of tuk-tuk drivers for more than a decade.

The measures paid dividends, but only briefly. Studies have shown that the shift to CNG did help clean up Delhi's air. However, experts say that these gains have been negated by the increase in the number of private vehicles in the city.

In his book Courting The People, lawyer Anuj Bhuwania, wrote that the order also adversely affected the lives of millions of workers employed in the public transport sector such as the tuk-tuk drivers, who never got the chance to present their side in court.

He says that the public interest litigation system in India, which was once considered one of the "most powerful weapons" to bring about societal change, has been taken over by a handful of lawyers and litigants who push for reforms while ignoring the interests of poor workers.

"At this point, if they [the court] washed their hands off it, we may not be worse off because they've done so much damage," Mr Bhuwania told the BBC.

On the day after the festival of Diwali, Delhi was among the world's top cities for air pollution

But some judges believe that the court's intervention is necessary and has often been successful.

PN Bhagwati, a former chief justice who heard the pollution cases and was instrumental in expanding the court's role into policy-making, once said that "judicial activism" was "inevitable".

Another former chief justice, KG Balakrishnan said that although the court's decisions have caused inconvenience to many, the initial success of the CNG order showed that the judges were willing to take "unpopular decisions" to clean up the environment.

Some legal experts, however, say that while the court has been clear-eyed in its aim to clean up the city's air, some of its decisions have been questionable.

In November 2019, the court directed the federal government to install smog towers, which work like large-scale air purifiers, in the capital. At the time, several experts told the BBC that there wasn't enough scientific evidence to prove that these towers would curb air pollution. Four years later, the capital's pollution control board also concluded that the towers had been ineffective.

However, not everyone is of the opinion that the Supreme Court has made matters worse.

Environment lawyer Shibani Ghosh says that some of the court's interventions have had a positive impact on the ground.

But when it comes to enforcing new laws and enacting policies, it "has to allow the government to take the lead," she added.

Ritwick Dutta, an expert in environmental law, says that lower courts or specialised tribunals could play an important role in enforcing the existing environmental laws.

India has at least a dozen other laws, aiming to protect forests, wildlife, water and noise pollution for more than four decades.

"Even the Supreme Court, which has taken the lead in Delhi, listens to the case only when pollution is at its peak in the city", Mr Dutta said.

"But the moment the air quality improves, the cases are once again put on the backburner."

BBC News India is now on YouTube. Click here to subscribe and watch our documentaries, explainers and features.

Read more India stories from the BBC:
The ex-Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer who was convicted for killing George Floyd was attacked while locked up in federal prison this past week.

Derek Chauvin was stabbed by another inmate at the Federal Correctional Institution(FCI) in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday, The Associated Press reported citing an anonymous source. The attack left the former cop seriously wounded.

Derek Chauvin. (Photo: Hennepin County Sheriffs Office)

Although the Bureau of Prisons did not identify Chauvin, in a statement to the AP, the agency said an inmate was attacked after 12 p.m. and staff performed life-saving measures. The individual was then transported to a hospital, and no employees were injured.

According to the report, Chauvin was transferred to the facility last August. He is slated to serve 21 years for violating Floyds civil rights during the May 2020 incident that sparked anti-police brutality demonstrations around the world. He was captured on camera pinning his knee in Floyds neck for more than nine minutes while the Black man struggled to breathe.

I really dont know why you did what you did, the judge said during his sentencing hearing last year, CBS News reported. To put your knee on a persons neck until they expired is simply wrong.  Your conduct is wrong and it is offensive.

Chauvins federal prison term is being served concurrently with his 22 1/2-year sentence for murdering Floyd. Last week, the Supreme Court denied his appeal request to overturn his state conviction.

According to CNN, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison denounced the attack against the former cop and confirmed that he was in stable condition.

I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence, Ellison told the outlet in a statement. He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.

Per the outlet, Chauvins attorney Greg Erickson said that his clients case makes him a target: Theres a huge portion of the inmate population that wants to make a name for themselves by killing him.
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is sentenced after being found guilty of the murder of George Floyd

(Reuters) - Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the death of George Floyd, is expected to survive following an attack in a prison in Arizona on Friday, according to a spokesperson from the Minnesota Attorney Generals office.

The Associated Press earlier reported Chauvin had been stabbed and seriously injured on Friday.

"I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence," Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in an emailed statement on Saturday.

"He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence.

Ellison did not give further details.

In a statement on Sunday, Attorney Generals Office spokesperson Brian Evans said regarding Chauvins condition: "We have heard that he is expected to survive.

Chauvin is serving a 21-year federal sentence for violating Floyd's civil rights, as well as a concurrent 22-1/2 years for murder on his conviction in Minnesota state court.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons confirmed an unidentified inmate was assaulted at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. It said employees "initiated life-saving measures" for one individual, who was taken by emergency medical services to a hospital. A spokesperson for the Bureau of Prisons said it was not providing the name of the victim or their medical status due to privacy reasons.

Floyd's death in 2020 unleashed protests worldwide against police brutality and racism after Chauvin, who is white, knelt on the neck of the handcuffed Black man for more than nine minutes in a murder caught on cellphone video.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang in Washington, David Ljunggren in Ottawa and Steve Gorman; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Josie Kao)
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin is expected to survive a stabbing attack he suffered while serving time for the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

Chauvin was attacked on Friday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona, a medium-security prison that has been plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages, The Associated Press first reported.

A spokesperson for the Attorney Generals Office told Reuters over the weekend that the convicted former law enforcement officer is expected to survive the injuries he sustained, but declined to elaborate on Chauvins condition.

An earlier press release by the correctional facility stated that guards had initiated life-saving measures upon finding the victim at around 12.30pm on Friday and that the inmate was later transported to a hospital.

Prosecutors who successfully pursued a second-degree murder conviction against Chauvin at a jury trial in 2021 condemned the attack.

I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said in a statement on Saturday.

Chauvins mother Carolyn Pawlenty told news agency AlphaNews that she had learned about her sons stabbing on the news.

I cant even think what to say. I havent been to bed and made a path in my kitchen and living room floor by pacing. I am worried and scared, Ms Pawlenty told the agency. How the hell do these news agencies know and his own mother doesnt even know? And that [prison] has an emergency contact number [for me].

Floyd, who was Black, died on 25 May 2020 after Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes on the street outside a convenience store where Floyd allegedly tried to use a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyds brother, Terrence Floyd, told The Associated Press on Saturday that he wouldnt wish what happened to Chauvin on anyone, and that he felt numb when he initially learned of the news.

Im not gonna give my energy towards anything that happens within those four walls  because my energy went towards getting him in those four walls, Terrence Floyd said. Whatever happens in those four walls, I dont really have any feelings about it.

The stabbing came just days after Chauvin spoke out in his first prison interview as part of the recently released documentary The Fall of Minneapolis.

At the end of the day, the whole trial, including sentencing, was a sham, Chauvin said.

No employees were injured during the stabbing on 24 November and the FBI was notified, the Bureau of Prisons said.

Visiting at the facility, which has about 380 inmates, has been suspended in the aftermath of the stabbing.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Democratic counterpart in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom, agreed in September to the terms of a one-on-one televised debate, it was billed as a chance for two ideological opposites to present their radically different approaches to governing to a national audience.

Now, for DeSantis, at least, it may be more than that.

For days, the Florida governor and his allies have been dropping hints that he sees the Thursday night debate with Newsom not just as a showdown with a blue state governor, but as a chance to take on a potential rival for the presidency, either in 2024 or some time in the future. The hour-and-a-half-long debate will take place in Alpharetta, Georgia, at 9 p.m. EST and will air on Fox News.

During a town hall on the conservative network Newsmax last week, DeSantis urged Republican voters not to assume that President Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee in 2024, and said that someone like Newsom or Vice President Kamala Harris may still step into the race.

A day later, he accused the California governor of running a shadow campaign for the White House, adding that Republicans have got to be ready for a scenario in which Newsom mounts a White House bid.

A lot of Democrats want to move Biden out, DeSantis said during an appearance on Fox & Friends last week. You could have Harris, you could have Newsom, you can have a lot of different people. But I think its important that Republican voters get the sense that we may not be running against Biden.

In a statement to the Miami Herald, DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier called the upcoming debate the biggest one yet, claiming that Democrats have become increasingly eager to replace Biden at the top of the ticket in 2024.

A Newsom presidency would accelerate Americas decline, and November 30th will be the first chance to expose to a national audience just how dangerous his radical ideology would be for the country, Uthmeier said. Ron DeSantis will take this responsibility seriously and looks forward to sharing the stark contrast between his vision to revive our nation and Newsoms blueprint for failure.

Knocking down 2024 speculation

Newsom, for his part, has repeatedly shot down speculation that hes angling to run for president in 2024 and has said that hes all in on Bidens reelection campaign. Still, his national profile has been on the rise.

Newsom has emerged as a top surrogate for Bidens reelection bid, even appearing on the sidelines of the second Republican presidential debate in September on behalf of the presidents campaign. Hes also shown a willingness to appear on conservative-leaning networks, like Fox News, where hes readily sparred with host Sean Hannity.

And in a surprise move, he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing during a weeklong trip to China last month.

All that has fueled speculation that Newsom may be setting himself up for a presidential bid in 2028  or even in 2024, should Biden decide against a run.

Nathan Click, a consultant for Newsom, said that the California governor plans to use the debate  which will be aired by Fox News and moderated by Hannity  to defend Bidens record and push back against what he described as DeSantis misinformation machine.

We are under no illusions. This is a 2 on 1 match with the refs in the tank for the home team, Click said in a statement to the Herald. But Gov. Newsom has long believed that Democrats have to go on offense in enemy territory, and thats exactly what he intends to do.

In need of a boost

Regardless, the debate offers both men the opportunity for a much-needed political lift.

Newsom is facing a souring electorate in California, where a recent poll from the University of California-Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies found his approval rating underwater for the first time since he took office in 2019. As of late October, 49% of California voters disapprove of the job Newsom is doing, while 44% approve  an 11-point decline since February.

DeSantis challenges are even more glaring, given that hes in the midst of a national campaign.

Once seen by Republicans as the candidate best-positioned to beat former President Donald Trump in the race for the GOPs 2024 White House nomination, hes now found himself competing with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for a distant second place in the primary contest. Back home in Florida, a recent Florida Atlantic University poll found DeSantis approval rating split; 50% of voters said they approve of his job performance, while 49% said they disapproved.

Click said those struggles are exactly why DeSantis accepted Newsoms challenge to debate.

We were shocked when he accepted, Click said. Newsom had been challenging DeSantis for months to debate, and the fact that he finally accepted as his campaign was circling the drain shows just how bad DeSantis needs to distract from his disaster of [a] candidacy.

Theres plenty on the line for DeSantis on Thursday night. Keith Naughton, a veteran Republican strategist, said that the debate will allow DeSantis to put himself and his message in front of millions of Republican voters  including influential political donors  just weeks before the 2024 presidential primary contest formally kicks off.

And for both DeSantis and Newsom, the debate is an opportunity to galvanize their parties respective bases.

Hes on national television, and he gets an hour-and-a-half to fight against someone that Republicans universally dislike, Naughton said. Anything Newsom attacks him on probably benefits him, and vice versa. Its good for both of them.

But even by many Republicans own admissions, Newsom is an adept debater, whos well-practiced in parrying GOP attacks on his record as governor. Hes also already telegraphed at least one issue that he plans to hit DeSantis over. Last week, he released a TV ad accusing DeSantis of criminalizing women who pursue abortions and their doctors.

You can say what you want about Gavin Newsom, but hes one hell of a defensive communicator, Ford OConnell, a Republican strategist, said. This is not going to be easy for DeSantis.
The new Dollar General store in my rural Illinois hometown couldnt open for the longest time because it couldnt find workers. Apples rotted on the ground at Arends Orchard nearby because the 50-year proprietor couldnt find help  for the first time in his long history of providing apples and cider to our area.

How many times have you heard this lament from small business owners? People just dont want to work anymore.

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Labor force participation as a percentage of possible workers has been trending down in recent decades. One factor out of several possible explanations for workforce reduction? Among the able-bodied in my childhood post-World War II, work was required to eat. Today, it isnt. Many people, young and not so, have apparently developed lifestyles that support them adequately  to their minds anyway  with no, or minimal, work on the books, that is, in a regular job.

I am fascinated, for example, by a family that lives on the edge of my hometown. For at least two decades, the nine members of this family have been existing largely to play video games, it seems, and laze around the two-bedroom ranch home that is deteriorating around them, not so slowly. One of the three men in this family has fathered three children by three mothers, some of whom live in the home.

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(This account is based on an interview with the father of the 50-ish patriarch of the family. My source lets his son and clan live there rent-free, though his patience has reached its end. The source lives elsewhere. Two social worker friends in the area tell me this type of family is far from unique in rural Illinois.)

How does the family support itself? Two of the women are certified nursing assistants and work a few hours a month each at nursing homes. Two of the men are skilled at digital technology. Infrequently, they work off the books, repairing computers. The two seemingly able-bodied men are also on disability, for mental health and physical reasons, respectively.

Then, there is the panoply of nonprofit and government support programs. Food is largely supplied with visits to more than one area food pantry each month  pantry hopping is the term among social workers  and by the Link card, which debits the government for food for the low-income.

There are also the federal and Illinois income tax credit programs, which provide tax reductions and in Illinois cash tax refunds for individuals whose work income is below a certain level. There are also utility bill, rental assistance and other support programs for the low-income.

I am not opposed to any one of these programs, nor to helping people in need. And I know many single parents struggle mightily to make a decent life for themselves and their kids, even with these programs.

I simply point out that strategies can be  and are  developed by some to create an alternative lifestyle that avoids participating in conventional work.

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 >

There are indeed costs involved in working, which are obvious, but not often thought about, at least not by me. For example, work hours take away from opportunities to play video games, as well as pursue other avocations. Work may also be stressful, hard, unrewarding, boring and exhausting. Not working avoids these costs.

The result of the work or no-work conundrum may be, rationally for some, to opt for no work. This doesnt seem fair to those who work and indirectly support those who dont.

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According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, our nations labor force participation rate (the number working divided by the number of working-age adults) declined steadily from 67% in 2000 to 63% this year. By my back-of-the-envelope reckoning, each percentage point of difference represents about 2 million potential workers who werent participating. Thus, if we were back at year 2000 levels of labor force participation, there would be roughly 8 million more Americans working today than are doing so.

What to do? Options range from kicking people off the dole to making work more attractive, with higher pay and better workplace environment. Another option that I think bears more discussion: Admit that adults have a right to an alternative, de minimis work lifestyle, yet calibrate their government and other benefits to the value they add to society. Little value added equals few benefits. For example, at one time, volunteering in ones community was required in return for food stamps.

People who dont want to work should not live off the sweat of our brows.

Jim Nowlan is a former Illinois legislator, state agency director, professor and newspaper columnist. He is co-author, with Melissa Mouritsen and Kent Redfield, of a new edition of Illinois Politics: A Citizens Guide to Power, Politics, and Government to be released by University of Illinois Press in early 2024.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
Rachel Hext hopes that statements to the Inquiry from people like her will bring lessons

A nurse fears she will lose her job because of the after-effects of contracting Covid-19.

Rachel Hext, from Paignton in Devon, told the BBC how her life had been changed by the virus.

"I've been disabled for three years and about to lose my job because I'm not well enough to return," she said. "I'm 36 and facing ill-health retirement."

Ms Hext was also among those sharing their pandemic experiences with the UK Covid-19 inquiry in Exeter.

The hearings, which opened in 2022, are expected to conclude in 2026.

Mum-of-two Ms Hext said she hoped lessons could be learned from statements made to inquiry representatives from people like her.

"It's important that they listen to that," she told the BBC.

Drop-in sessions are being held at Exeter Community Centre for people affected by the virus or people can book 30-minute slots online.

Inquiry secretary Ben Connah said: "Each of us has a story to tell about the pandemic.

"Sadly, hundreds of thousands of people lost loved ones, and many more became ill or suffered hardship or isolation. We really want to hear what you have to say."

He told BBC Radio Devon sessions were helping to ensure the "human impact of the pandemic is at the centre of this inquiry".

The inquiry was established to "examine the preparedness for, the response to, and the impact of the pandemic and to learn lessons for the future".

It has since opened seven investigations, with more expected.

Follow BBC News South West on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@bbc.co.uk.
New diabetes drug Mounjaro is more effective for weight loss that the popular drug Ozempic, an analysis found.

The analysis, conducted by Truveta Research, found that patients taking Eli Lillys diabetes drug Mounjaro were significantly more likely to experience 5 percent, 10 percent and 15 percent loss of their body weight while taking the drug than those who were taking Novo Nordisks Ozempic. Using health record data, Truveta looked at adults deemed overweight or obese who had started taking either Mounjaro or Ozempic between May 2022 and September 2023.

The research included results from 18,386 patients. Within one year of treatment, the analysis found that a patients taking Mounjaro experienced larger reductions in weight at three, six and 12 months.

Those who took Mounjaro were nearly twice as likely to achieve 5 percent weight loss, six times more likely to achieve 10 percent weight loss and three times more likely to achieve 15 percent weight loss than those on Ozempic, according to the analysis.

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[W]eve been able to compare the head-to-head efficacy of these two important medications for weight loss in advance of randomized clinical trials, Nick Stucky, an author of the study and vice president of Truveta Research, said in a statement. This study can help to inform patient care and outcomes today, not months from now.

Neither drug is approved under the names of Mounjaro or Ozempic to manage weight loss, but many people have been taking the weekly injections off-label for that purpose.

Tirzepatide, the drug under the name Mounjaro, was formally approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) earlier this month for weight loss management. The drug will be marketed as Zepbound for chronic weight management in adults who have obesity or are overweight with at least one weight-related condition.

A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said in a statement that it was not involved in this analysis and emphasized that Ozempic is not indicated for weight management. Instead, the company said its Wegovy drug is intended for weight loss. Wegovy features semaglutide, which is the same ingredient thats included in Ozempic.

The Hill has reached out to Eli Lilly for comment.

Updated at 3:26 pm on Nov. 28.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Amidst record-high temperatures, deluges, droughts and wildfires, leaders are convening for another round of United Nations climate talks later this month that seek to curb the centuries-long trend of humans spewing ever more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

For hundreds of years, people have shaped the world around them for their benefit: They drained lakes to protect infrastructure, wealth and people. They dug up billions of tons of coal, and then oil and gas, to fuel empires and economies. The allure of exploiting nature and burning fossil fuels as a path to prosperity hopped from nation to nation, each eager to secure their own energy.

People who claimed the power to control nature and the energy resources around them saw the environment as a tool to be used for progress, historians say. Over hundreds of years, that impulse has remade the planet's climate, too  and brought its inhabitants to the brink of catastrophe.

CONTROLLING THE ENVIRONMENT

Mexico City traces its roots to a settlement centuries ago on islands in the midst of Lake Texcoco. These days, most of the lake is gone, drained long ago to make room for the building and growth that today has more than 22 million people sprawling toward the edges of the Valley of Mexico.

Getting water in the arid valley  a need that has spiked as droughts have worsened  relies on pumping from deep underground. The toll of centuries of such pumping can be seen in curbs that crumble and structures that tilt atop the resulting subsidence, with some areas sinking around 30 centimeters (11.8 inches) a year. At the same time, neighborhoods are at increased risk of severe flooding because of climate change-fueled extreme rain events and drainage systems that are less effective because of the subsidence.

Nature doesnt create these huge problems, said Luis Zambrano, professor of ecology at the National University Autonoma of Mexico. Nature behaves as nature ... we are increasing our vulnerability by allowing the city to sink by pumping as much water as we possibly can from the aquifer."

Mexico City is just one example of people and empires altering their natural environments in ways they believe will benefit themselves and the land. Elsewhere, huge swathes of land have been deforested for agriculture or livestock grazing, or degraded and contaminated by quarrying and mining for metals and minerals. Tapping nature for its resources drove progress and productivity for some, but it's also been a major driver of emissions and environmental degradation.

Anya Zilberstein, a historian of climate science at Concordia University in Montreal, highlighted the example of Europeans colonizing the Americas in the 16th and 17th centuries as an early catalyst for modern-day climate and environmental crises.

They bring with them this idea that conquest and then the development of the cultivation of landscapes, like taking down trees, opening up lands to European style agriculture, that the draining of swamps ... will also change the climate, usually for the better, Zilberstein said.

The Aztecs built Tenochtitlan  what became Mexico City  on the lake's islands and chinampas  small, artificial fields. When the city later fell under Spain's rule, it was seen as the most gorgeous jewel in the Spanish empire," with ornate palaces and commercial hubs, said Vera S. Candiani, a historian of Latin America at Princeton.

Catastrophic flooding in the mid-16th century led the Spanish to pursue drainage projects that aimed to keep the city dry and prosperous, and stretched on for three centuries, Candiani said.

But not everyone benefited equally.

Candiani said that capital-owning elites got technicians, engineers and other professionals to implement a system of extracting resources and labor from the countryside to benefit the city in colonial Mexico, and more broadly from the colonies for the gain of the home country. Rural populations, who contributed the most to the project through coerced labor, didn't benefit.

Jan Golinski, a professor of history at the University of New Hampshire, said Europeans of the time thought that their changes  cutting down forests, draining swamps, plowing land  would change the climate as well, to something closer to their homelands. He said they saw this engineering as positive.

They believed that their society was making progress, that it was gaining greater control over nature, that they were becoming more civilized and were civilizing the environment around them, Golinski said.

Its a belief that several historians say is rooted in feelings of racial and cultural superiority.

We hear echoes of these tropes" in the present day, said Deborah Coen, a historian of science at Yale. Being more vulnerable to climate extremes is associated with populations of color, and at the same time, we find white elites pursuing projects of climate adaptation that protect themselves at the expense of communities of color, she said. For example, residents in areas that were deemed safer from extreme weather following wildfires in Maui this summer are now getting priced out of their own neighborhoods.

The early modern period's ideas on race have long tentacles into the present, said Zilberstein, and also solidified notions of environmental control, productivity and growth as positive, making it harder to tackle the current climate crisis.

There are plenty of people who would say, yes, I believe climate change is real and Ill go on a march, but I cant accept de-growth," she said. And I understand why businesses wont commit to it and nations wont commit to it. Its sort of unfathomable. It goes against the deeply held ideology of progress.

THE FOSSIL FUEL ECONOMY

While Mexico City was built over water, Britain was sitting on vast expanses of coal that would eventually help form the blanket of carbon dioxide emissions that now clogs the atmosphere.

Coal had long been used in homes on the island for heating and cooking. It wasn't the only source of energy  timber, water and peat were in use as well  but the balance tipped dramatically in its favor through the late 18th and early 19th centuries through technological inventions like steam power, new transportation routes like canals and later railroads, and a desire to better control how, when and where energy was used.

When the steam economy arrived  engines fueled by coal to heat water and make steam power  it made it easier for factory owners to control labor and nature than an economy based on water power, for example, said Andreas Malm, an associate professor of human ecology at Lund University in Sweden.

Steam engines were mobile in space, so you could erect them anywhere, and the great benefit of this was that you could concentrate steam factories in towns where there was access to cheap and disciplined labor power, said Malm. Steam power was also less vulnerable to the droughts, floods and storms that could affect water power: You could just turn it on at any point in the day, regardless of the weather outside.

It made coal the central energy-maker for British manufacturing and transport.

Britain forcibly exported this model and integrated other countries such as India or Egypt or what became Nigeria into a kind of an economy that was dependent on fossil fuel, said Malm.

By the mid-19th century, steam power was adopted in manufacturing, cotton mills, steam ships and locomotives around the world, turning coal into a global trade.

On Barak, a historian at Tel Aviv University and co-founder of the Laboratory for the History of Climate Change, likened steam engines and coal to the British empire giving other states coffee machines and capsules. Nations consistently needed to buy new capsules, or coal, for their coffee machines, or steam engines, feeding an ongoing addiction.

This kickstarts ... searching for fossil fuels in various places in the Ottoman Empire, in the Indian subcontinent and elsewhere, he said. And while it led to some discoveries, other empires and nations kept coming back to the more energy-rich British coal.

Centuries later, the United Kingdom has nearly weaned itself off coal, with weeks or months at a stretch where the national grid gets no coal power. The U.K. plans to stop using coal for the production of electricity by the end of next year, although its still used in heavy industry like steel-making, with a new coal mine approved in Cumbria as late as 2022.

But the countrys move away from coal wasnt before its empire left its sooty footprint around the world. Its legacy can also be seen at home, where many of the mining and port towns in the north of England and parts of Wales and Scotland once buoyed by coal now languish, and abandoned mines and heaps of waste and debris scar the landscape.

A GLOBAL PROBLEM

Previous centuries created the right conditions for human-caused climate change, but the last few generations made it a reality. In 1960, humans put about 9 billion tons of carbon dioxide into the air; in 2021, they produced more than four times that amount, according to the Global Carbon Project.

Energy use skyrocketed as cars, air travel and technology became more affordable in many North American and European countries. Other nations such as China, Japan and India were assembling their own energy regimes based on fossil fuels. And this all happened amid growing understanding and concern about heat-trapping gases.

Oil use grew in the late 19th century because it wasn't as labor-intensive as coal, an industry whose workers now had strong unions in some Western nations, historians say.

Like coal, oil was easy to store. It is more energy-rich than coal, and it's easier to move; as a liquid it can be shipped through pipes, as well as by trucks, tankers and railcars, said J.R. McNeill, a historian at Georgetown University.

The rise of automobiles in the 1920s led the U.S. to build its energy system and much of its technology around internal combustion engines that still dominate cars, ships and planes. And as Europe and Japan followed suit, it made the global investment in an oil-dominated fossil fuel regime gigantic and harder, but not impossible, to reverse or replace, McNeill said.

Meanwhile, coal kept its place in the global economy.

In China and Japan, growing consumption was a barometer of economic development by the early 20th century, said Harvard historian of science Victor Seow.

After the Communist Revolution in 1949, the Chinese government measured growth by its production of items like cloth, electricity, wheat, iron, steel  and coal, too, which was key measure of growth. Japan studied Western mining to develop its own coal fields in both its home islands and empire.

China is the world's current largest greenhouse gas emitter, although the United States still trumps it historically.

In India, too, which was part of the British Empire until it gained independence in 1947, coal was used to further the country's development and help state governments win popular support, said Elizabeth Chatterjee, a historian at the University of Chicago.

India set up state-owned coal-fired plants and started electrifying its cities and larger farms, with many other rural areas not coming online until the early 21st century. And they electrified while also understanding the environmental risks of coal, she said.

Indira Gandhi, as early as 1981, spoke publicly about climate change, for example, as a threat, but plowed on with this (coal) regardless," Chatterjee said. If you're a country with few resources, what choice do you have?

In the United States, environmental issues started gaining traction in the 1960s and '70s, with the first Earth Day in 1970, said Joshua Howe, an environmental historian at Reed College in Portland, Oregon. He cited major legislation  to create the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Endangered Species Act  as really big responses to that really big moment.

But tackling fossil fuels  what Howe called the center of the global economy  was more difficult.

Yale's Coen described fear in the U.S. around discussing how to adapt to weather extremes caused by climate change that were already unavoidable in the late 20th century. Talking about adaptation was seen as a risk to detract from the will to slash emissions, she said.

Howe also noted unwillingness to join international climate agreements, including a unanimous U.S. Senate vote in 1997 against signing any climate treaty that would mandate cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

That vote "was, in my opinion, pretty much when optimism for a national-level commitment to climate mitigation  especially via international agreements  went up in smoke, Howe said.

But many historians agree, amid the gloom of spiraling concerns about the climate and environment, that radical shifts away from centuries-old ideas of progress can shape a better future.

Fredrik Albritton Jonsson, a historian at the University of Chicago, said if humans rethink the need for persistent growth, societies can operate within the restrictions of finite resources and atmospheric limits.

There are two kinds of boundaries to this economy, said Jonsson. One is a sort of upper boundary of planetary limits of what our natural world can withstand, and then theres a lower boundary, that would guarantee minimum social needs, entitlements, the right to education, the right to clean water, the right to a steady income.

___

Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations. See more about APs climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Several Georgia police departments are warning iPhone users to be careful with a new feature on the latest Apple update that shares personal information.

Apples new iOS 17.1 update comes with the NameDrop feature, which allows users to quickly share contact information with a nearby iPhone and Apple Watch.

The feature can only work with phones that are close together, but police cautioned users about the danger of contact information being stolen.

TRENDING STORIES:

However, Apple notes that NameDrop is designed to require multiple steps to get the contact information.

Heres how it works and how you can turn it off, according to Apple.

How NameDrop works

Do one of the following: Share from iPhone to iPhone or Apple Watch: Hold the display of your iPhone a few centimeters from the top of the other persons iPhone or Apple Watch. Share from Apple Watch to another Apple Watch: Open the Contacts app on your Apple Watch, tap your picture in the top-right corner, tap Share, then bring your watch close to the other persons Apple Watch. Continue holding your devices near each other until NameDrop appears on both screens. Choose to share your contact card and receive the other persons or only to receive the other persons. To cancel, move the two devices away from each other or lock your iPhone before the NameDrop transfer is complete.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

How to turn NameDrop off

Go to Settings Tap General Tap AirDrop Toggle Bringing Devices Together to off

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Editor's note: Two Alachua County school district staff members involved with facilities were present at the Nov. 14 strategic planning team meeting. The original version of this story was incorrect on that point.

The Alachua County school district may have violated Floridas Government in the Sunshine and open meeting laws when it held a strategic planning team meeting on Nov. 14.

Strategic planning team meeting days were held Oct. 23 and Nov. 14 at the Santa Fe College Blount Center to discuss priorities for the upcoming school year. The priorities include academic achievement, professional learning, teacher recruitment and retention, and systems and organizational processes.

Both meetings were advertised through one legally required notice, in accordance with state Sunshine Laws. But the meeting notices weren't shared on the districts website or the Alachua County School Boards public calendar, as other meetings typically are.

Amy Trask, co-chair of the District Advisory Council (DAC), was notified Nov. 13  the night before the Nov. 14 meeting  that the meeting was scheduled. Trask reached out to ACPS spokesperson Jackie Johnson for more information and to ask if DAC members could attend.

The DAC committee is supposed to be a supplemental, collaborative arm to the school board, Trask said. It's not supposed to be like an enforcing puppet to be used after the fact. Theyre supposed to work in tandem when it comes to planning and what topics were going to be focusing on, and so I was confused why we werent invited, we werent informed.

The meeting

There were about 30 participants at the Nov. 14 meeting, which included the school board members, school district staffers, the superintendent and principals. They separated into four subcommittees corresponding with the districts four priorities. No members of the teachers' union were present. The school board members all sat at the same table to discuss academic achievement, Trask said.

Last year: Alachua County schools workshop turns into discussion over possible Sunshine Law violation

Jacquatte Rolle, the districts chief of teaching and learning, who was in charge of the session, initially told Trask she was not welcome at the meeting because the board would determine whom to bring into the committees as the process continued, which is why Trask wasnt invited. No other members of the public attended the meeting.

Trask argued that, according to Sunshine and open meeting laws, she had a legal right to attend. She was then told to sit in an area designated for members of the public: an unlit space in the back of the room separated from the conversations at the four tables.

Unable to hear the discussions, Trask was granted permission by Johnson to pull up a chair and sit alone, a few feet away from one subcommittee table.

A designated area for members of the public to sit during an Alachua County Public Schools Strategic Planning Team Meeting Day held on November 14, 2023, at the Santa Fe College Blount Center.

However, Trask still was unable to hear conversations at individual tables as well as between school board members, as confirmed by an audio recording sent to The Gainesville Sun.

After attending the meeting, Trask said its setup did not comply with Floridas open meeting laws. She said she spoke to two school board members  who she declined to identify  who were appalled by the situation.

Florida law states that any inaudible discussions that occur between board members during an open meeting  which is defined as any gathering of two or more members of the same board or commission  constitute a violation of Sunshine Laws.

The 2023 Government in the Sunshine Manual, which is compiled by the State Attorney Generals Office, cites a legal precedent that seems to apply here. It states that a school districts advisory committee violated Sunshine Law when holding breakout sessions where members discussed business at two separate tables, resulting in members at one table being unable to hear what was being discussed at another table, as well as members of the public being unable to hear what was being discussed in the breakout sessions.

Based on the ruling in that 2018 court case, Linares v. District School Board of Pasco County, a member of the Tallahassee-based First Amendment Foundation said that the breakout sessions held during the Nov. 14 Alachua County school strategic planning meeting almost certainly were in violation of Sunshine Laws.

School Board member Kay Abbitt stated that since all school board members were at the same table, they werent listening to discussions at other tables and only participated in their own groups discussion.

She also said that the meeting area was large and that the four different tables were fairly separated. She doesnt recall any breakout sessions during the Oct. 23 strategic planning team meeting.

Johnson, the school district spokesperson, however, said there were breakout sessions at the Oct. 23 meeting, which operated similar to the Nov. 14 meeting, with all school board members at one table.

Additionally, Johnson confirmed that groups at separate tables discussed their own topics during the Nov. 14 session, and that the groups then reported on their discussions to the entire group afterwards.

The part of the room designated for members of the public  if any other than Trask had attended  was away from all four breakout groups.

A guide from the Florida Department of Health related to Sunshine Laws says to avoid inaudible discussions at meetings and to refrain from quiet discussions that can only be heard by the people at the table or the person next to you, while at the meeting.

Likewise, a Sunshine Law presentation by Volusia County states: Discussions that occur between board members in an open meeting that cannot be heard by others violate the Sunshine Law.

Johnson said that Rolle never told Trask she was "not welcome." Rather, Rolle informed Trask that she could watch and listen while sitting next to the school board members' table.

When Trask voiced concerns about not being able to participate, Johnson said she and Rolle told Trask that members of the public would be given future opportunities for participation or comment.

"It's important to note that not all meetings open to the public require an opportunity for public comment," Johnson wrote in an email to The Sun. "Members of the public must be given an opportunity to comment before a board vote, but we are nowhere near that point in the strategic planning process."

She also said Sunshine Laws only apply to elected officials. And since the school board members were seated together and the one member of the public in attendance  Trask  was able to sit next to them, within earshot of the breakout groups, there was no violation of law.

School Board Chair Diyonne McGraw said the same, stating the breakout groups were no problem at all in terms of legality. She noted that all board members sat at the same table and each individual group presented its findings to the group at large later. Additionally, community input will be considered at future meetings, she said.

McGraw said each of the four groups plan to meet individually, and those meetings wont be open to the public but will include some community members. The group meeting the school board is in will be advertised in advance, as required by law, because two or more members will attend, she said.

In terms of strategic planning, McGraw said it has not been undertaken at Alachua County Public Schools to this degree before, and she aims to include a diverse selection of community members to gain multiple perspectives.

She emphasized the importance of student achievement, mentioning the achievement gap in Alachua County, and said everyones primary goal is the quality of education for all students.

This is the first time school board members have been able to interact with administrators and principals, McGraw said. Your different departments throughout the school district, were all coming together.

Other concerns

While advertisement of the meeting abided by Sunshine Laws, the meeting was not advertised on school district websites and social media pages, the way other school meetings are. Trask said that was not in keeping with the spirit of sunshine, and could have been the reason no other members of the public attended.

Superintendent of Schools Shane Andrew told Trask the reason the meeting wasnt further advertised was because, in the past, when they had advertised a prior meeting on social media, almost no one showed. Trask took notes on the exchange.

Andrew also apologized for Trask feeling ostracized from the group but did not advocate for her to join a subcommittee table during discussions.

I told him that that really wasnt a good reason to violate the sunshine  like the spirit of sunshine, she said. I told him the way that I was being treated wasnt ethical, or acceptable, or professional, and I asked him what message this sent to the community if the message is: Youre only worth sitting in the back of the room with the lights off  by yourself  completely away from all of the conversations. That's what you're worth. You're worth nothing.

Trask said the four priorities, which were chosen from surveys completed by parents, werent fully accurate, as the surveys did not include all schools in the district. A parent herself, Trask said her childrens elementary school was not a selectable option. She only saw high schools as options, and other parents reported the same issue, she said.

Members at the meeting, which ran from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 14, participated in yoga at 11 a.m. to re-center themselves and shake off stress. Trask left at noon and said the committees discussed vague suggestions, failing to produce substantive materials despite efforts from board members Sarah Rockwell and Tina Certain.

Trask told Andrew that she planned to file an ethics complaint with the school district's director of human resources in the coming weeks if issues  including why the DAC wasnt invited and how she was treated by Rolle  werent addressed. She hopes that her complaint will spark an investigation into why the meeting was not better advertised and how the district can ensure the public has a meaningful voice.

She plans to formally object to the Sunshine Law matters after further research.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Questions raised about Alachua County Public Schools meeting.
Salutatorian Alasia Baker, 17, center, and Khyli Barbee, 15, following Baker, leave a graduation ceremony for Springfield Preparatory School at Victory in Christ church in Holden, La., Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023. Nearly 9,000 private schools in Louisiana dont need state approval to grant degrees. Non-approved schools make up a small percentage of the state total. But the students in Louisianas off-the-grid school system are a rapidly growing example of the national fallout from COVID-19  families disengaging from traditional education. (AP Photo/Matthew Hinton)

SPRINGFIELD, La. (AP)  Arliya Martin accepted her high school diploma with relief and gratitude.

It was her ticket to better-paying work, she felt, after getting kicked out of high school and toiling for eight years at factory jobs to support her children.

This is a new path for me to get on with my life, she said.

But Martin didnt take any classes or pass any tests to receive her degree. She got it in July from a school where students can get a high school diploma for $465.

Unlike public schools, formal homeschooling programs or traditional private schools, nearly 9,000 private schools in Louisiana dont need state approval to grant degrees. Nearly every one of those unapproved schools was created to serve a single homeschooling family, but some have buildings, classrooms, teachers and dozens of students.

While unapproved schools account for a small percentage of the state's students, those in Louisianas off-the-grid school system are a rapidly growing example of the nation's continuing fallout from COVID-19: families disengaging from traditional education.

U.S. public school enrollment fell by more than 1.2 million students in the first two years of the pandemic. Many switched to private school or told their state they were homeschooling. Thousands of others could not be accounted for at all, according to an analysis from The Associated Press and its partners.

The students in Louisiana's off-the-grid school system aren't missing. But there's no way to tell what kind of education they're getting, or whether they're getting one at all. Over 21,000 students are enrolled in the state's unapproved schools, nearly double the number from before the pandemic, according to data obtained through a public records request by the AP and The Advocate, a partner news outlet in Louisiana.

To supporters of the system, avoiding state oversight is entirely the point. Advocates say Louisiana's unapproved schools are a natural extension of the doctrine of parental rights.

The place where Martin got her diploma, Springfield Preparatory School, bills itself as an umbrella school for Christian homeschoolers. Most students there do attend the school to work toward an education through actual classes or tutoring.

However, principal Kitty Sibley Morrison is also willing to grant a diploma to anyone whose parents say they were homeschooled, even years earlier.

Sometimes it takes two or three times to explain to them that they are free, Sibley Morrison said. Their parents are in charge of them, not the state.

A HANDS-OFF OPTION FOR HOMESCHOOLING

Sibley Morrison says she is not selling diplomas, but rather lifetime services for homeschooling families.

Were not here to make money, she said.

Yet a list of prices is taped to the front window of the school building: $250 for diploma services, a $50 application fee, $35 for a diploma cover and $130 to walk in a cap and gown at a ceremony.

The number of students in unapproved private schools like Springfield has nearly doubled, from around 11,600 in the 2017-18 school year to over 21,000 in 2022-23, according to state records.

Theres precious little information available about these schools, which the state calls nonpublic schools not seeking state approval." To start one, an adult must only report their school's name and address, their contact information and how many students they have. Some schools have whimsical names such as the Ballerina Jedi Academy and the Unicorn Princess School. Others proclaim their independence with names like Freedom First.

Most of the schools are tiny, single-family home schools. However, last year, 30 of Louisianas unapproved schools reported they had at least 50 children enrolled.

There is no way for the government to verify safety, quality or even whether a school exists, said Laura Hawkins, a former state Department of Education official who worked on its school choice efforts up to 2020.

The department warns parents on its website that it cannot confirm whether these organizations even meet the legal definition of a school.

We didnt want to give parents or anyone a false sense that we knew anything about these schools, should they exist, Hawkins said, that we could attest to their safety, that we could attest to their actual educational program, anything.

Louisiana has two options for homeschooling.

Parents who want their child to receive a state-recognized high school diploma can apply for the official home study program. They must submit documentation such as test scores or copies of the students work to show their child has received 180 days of schooling at the same quality as a public schools. The state-recognized diploma is more widely accepted by colleges and allows students to qualify for a popular in-state scholarship program.

Alternately, families can set up their own private school without asking for state approval. There are no requirements to prove a child is getting an education. In fact, these schools dont even have to submit the names of the students who are attending.

At least two unapproved institutions have had abuse scandals, but the state Department of Education says it has no authority to do anything in response.

By law, the LDOE does not have oversight over these schools, said Louisiana Department of Education spokesperson Ted Beasley.

One of the most infamous is T.M. Landry in Breaux Bridge. A 2018 New York Times investigation found the school abused kids and made up transcripts to get students into Ivy League schools. It was still open as of last school year with 15 children, according to state records. Another unapproved school in Baton Rouge, Second Chance Academy, has come under scrutiny since its head teacher was arrested on charges of sexually abusing students.

Louisiana's unapproved private schools came into being in 1980 when Christian ministers who ran small private schools joined forces with the budding homeschool movement to push for the deregulation of private education. Lawmakers eliminated the requirement for private schools to have at least 50 students and state-certified teachers.

Opponents have tried on multiple occasions to get the law repealed but faltered in the face of lobbying efforts from Christian homeschool groups.

Today, over a dozen states allow families to open a private school as a form of homeschooling, including California, Illinois and Texas, according to the Home School Legal Defense Association. Around half the states require those schools to teach basic subjects such as math and reading; Louisiana isn't one of them.

I TAKE THEIR WORD FOR IT

Springfield Preparatory consists of two low-slung buildings on Springfields main street. One is an office, the other a former restaurant space where Sibley Morrisons daughter and other teachers lead classes on art, music and more. State records say 250 students attend, though Sibley Morrison said the school doesnt really keep count.

Some homeschooling families come for art or science, others for services like career guidance, test prep and explanation and support in their parental rights, said Sibley Morrison. Some, such as Arliya Martin, go straight for a diploma.

Kicked out of high school during 10th grade for what she said was self-defense during an altercation, Martin tried a military-style program for at-risk youths, but finished without her GED.

At 17, I was already by myself. I had my son at 18, and it was just work, work, work, she said.

Then, this summer, she met Sibley Morrison. At 75, Sibley Morrison has been involved in homeschool education since the 1970s and says her mission is to provide an alternative to the godless public education system.

Within days of meeting Sibley Morrison, Martin visited her office and had a diploma in her hand.

The document was backdated to 2015, when she would have graduated high school. It also said she had completed a program for graduation approved by the Louisiana Board of Education, which isnt true. After inquiries from AP, Sibley Morrison said there had been a mistake and that the document would be corrected.

Signs at the school advertise state-approved diplomas, even though the state has not approved anything about the school. Sibley Morrison says she can use those words because she encourages each family in her program to simultaneously sign up for the state-approved home study program.

She says the diploma recognizes the value of educational experiences outside the classroom.

I think youre working the oil field, youre working the McDonalds, all of that is just as valid as what the classroom was, Sibley Morrison said. Thats my point, and thats why I sleep well at night  because I feel good about the parents having alternatives in raising their children.

After learning later that her diploma is not approved by the state and might not be accepted by some colleges, Martin said she did not feel deterred. Friends and family members have gotten diplomas from the same school and gone on to college and successful careers, she said.

In Sibley Morrison's view, parents are the only people who get to decide if and when someone was sufficiently educated.

When parents say, My child is ready to go into the real world  I take their word for it, Sibley Morrison said.

Angela Grimberg, the executive director of the Coalition for Responsible Home Education, pointed out Louisiana law states that parents who want state approval must apply within 15 days of starting homeschooling. Backdating a diploma that claims to be state-approved would thus be fraudulent, Grimberg said.

Beasley, the Department of Education spokesperson, said diplomas generally cannot be awarded retroactively. Asked if any government agency has authority to take action if a school sells diplomas, Beasley suggested making a report to the state attorney general's consumer protection division.

The attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment.

SOURING ON PUBLIC EDUCATION

A diverse spectrum of families have come under Springfield Prep's umbrella, united by the feeling that public school just does not work for them. Among others, there are families who want more flexibility and freedom, students sick of unfair discipline and post-pandemic chaos, and conservative parents who disapprove of books assigned in public school.

Jamie Vander Meulen thought public school wouldnt be a good fit for her three daughters, who all have dyslexia, so she started her own unapproved private school. Her girls learn with her in the morning and then take enrichment classes at Springfield, dabbling in everything from harp to Irish dance. They've also participated in a homeschooling co-op hosted at Springfield.

Vander Meulen's 8-year-old girl, Ruby, described school as really fun, artsy and magical. Her daughter Rose, 12, said she likes that she can learn at her own pace and spend more time on topics she loves, including science and World War II.

You learn it and you can keep doing it, so it stays in your brain, Rose said.

Some of those science classes are taught by Harper Mumford, another mom in the co-op. Mumford says other parents thought she was crazy when she started homeschooling. But since the pandemic, families have less trust in public school.

Before, it seemed more of like a cooperation between schools and parents for education, she said. Then I think when those mandates started happening, it didnt seem so much as a cooperative effort.

Khyli Barbee, 15, celebrated her graduation from Springfield Prep in August with 22 other students. She said her public high school in Biloxi, Mississippi, had become crazy since the pandemic, with rampant bullying and drug use.

I just wanted to hurry up and get out of school, she said. She didn't have to take any classes to get a diploma: You just paid to walk.

On the July day when Sibley Morrison handed Martin her diploma, she advised her on next steps, describing scholarships she could use to go to community college.

If you want our help, Sibley Morrison said, you just come on back over here and well help.

Yall seem like good people who know how to help, Martin said. So I will be back.

___

Charles Lussier of The Advocate contributed from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

___

The Associated Press education team receives support from the Carnegie Corporation of New York. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, arrives at BBC Broadcasting House to appear on the BBC One current affairs programme, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, in London, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

LONDON (AP)  A diplomatic spat erupted Monday between Greece and Britain after the U.K. canceled a planned meeting of their prime ministers, prompting the Greek premier to accuse his British counterpart of trying to avoid discussing the contested Parthenon Marbles.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is visiting London and had been expected to meet British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at 10 Downing St. on Tuesday. He was due to raise Greeces decades-old demand for the return of the ancient sculptures from the British Museum.

Late Monday Mitsotakis issued a statement to express my annoyance at the fact that the British prime minister has cancelled our planned meeting a few hours before it was due to take place.

Greece and Britain are linked by traditional bonds of friendship, and the scope of our bilateral relations is very broad, Mitsotakis said. Greeces positions on the matter of the Parthenon Sculptures are well known. I had hoped to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart, together with the current major international challenges: Gaza, Ukraine, climate change and immigration. Whoever believes that his positions are well-founded and just is never afraid of engaging in a debate.

Britain confirmed the two leaders would not meet and said Mitsotakis would hold talks with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden instead. It was unclear whether that meeting would happen; the BBC reported that the Greek leader had declined the invitation.

The U.K.-Greece relationship is hugely important," Sunak's office said in a statement that notably failed to mention the disputed sculptures. "From our work together in NATO, to tackling shared challenges like illegal migration, to joint efforts to resolve the crisis in the Middle East and war in Ukraine.

The deputy prime minister was available to meet with the Greek PM to discuss these important issues.

Athens has long demanded the return of sculptures that were removed from Greece by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. The sculptures, which originally adorned the 2,500-year-old Parthenon temple on the Acropolis, have been displayed at the British Museum in London for more than two centuries.

About half the surviving marble works are in London, and the rest in a purpose-built museum under the Acropolis in Athens. Appearing on British television Sunday, Mitsotakis compared the separation of the sculptures to cutting the Mona Lisa in half  a remark that annoyed the British government.

The British Museum is banned by law from giving the sculptures back to Greece, but its leaders have held talks with Greek officials about a compromise, such as a long-term loan.

But Sunaks spokesman took a tough line Monday, saying the U.K. government had no plans to change our approach, and certainly we think that the (British) museum is the right place for the marbles.

These were legally acquired at the time, theyre legally owned by the trustees of the museum. We support that position and theres no plan to change the law which governs it, said spokesman Max Blain.

We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue.

Mitsotakis met Monday with U.K. opposition Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, whose party leads Sunak's governing Conservatives in opinion polls.

After Sunak's meeting with the Greek leader was called off Labour said: If the prime minister isnt able to meet with a European ally with whom Britain has important economic ties, this is further proof he isnt able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires.

Keir Starmers Labour Party stands ready.

___

Paphitis reported from Athens, Greece.
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  The state on Thursday is hosting an event in Grand Rapids to hear from residents on Michigans new climate plan.

The Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy released the MI Healthy Climate Plan in April of 2022. Now, it is looking for input from residents on how to implement the plan at five events happening throughout the state.

One of the events will be taking place in West Michigan on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health, located at 333 Michigan St. NE near Lafayette Avenue in Grand Rapids. EGLE is hosting the event in partnership with the Grand Valley Metro Council.

Attendees will learn more about the plan and will get a chance to share their thoughts on local needs.

Michigans Clean Energy Future Plan heads to governors desk

The MI Healthy Climate Plan launched in 2022 with the benefit of over a year of productive input from hundreds of Michiganders, Cory Connolly, Michigan climate and energy advisor in the EGLE Office of Climate, said in a Monday release. Its fitting that residents continue to engage with its implementation throughout the state.

There will also be two virtual sessions, one on Dec. 14 and one on Dec. 18.

Those interested in attending are asked to register in advance.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Amid unrest in the occupied West Bank over the war between Israel and Hamas, social media users claim a video shows a Doctors Without Borders medic taking a weapon from an injured person and handing it to someone else. This is false; the charity told AFP it is unaffiliated with the individual in the clip, who appears to be wearing a vest associated with a Palestinian relief group.

"In this video taken today in Jenin, a medic from 'Doctors without borders' went to a terrorist who the IDF shot, lifted him up and took his weapon then brought it to another terrorist," says Nataly Dadon, an Israeli model, in the caption of a November 9, 2023 Instagram post.

"Basically he abused his position as a medic, which the IDF cannot shoot, to break the law and assist terrorists to get a weapon."

Other versions of the same video circulated on Facebook, Reddit and X, formerly known as Twitter. Some posts claim the man is dressed as a "Red Crescent medic."

Screenshot from Instagram taken November 27, 2023

Violence has flared in the West Bank since Hamas militants poured into Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7, killing 1,200 people -- mostly civilians -- and taking some 240 hostages, according to the country's latest figures.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an aerial bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians. As of November 27, a temporary truce is in place in Gaza.

AFP could not independently verify the identity of the person handling the weapon, but Doctors Without Borders, known in French as Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), said he is not a member of their group.

"The person depicted in the video is clearly not wearing an MSF logo or any other identification related to MSF," a spokesperson said in a November 27 email.

"MSF staff do not wear orange vests seen in the video. Our staff around the world are required to wear MSF identification (T-shirt, gear) because it is one of the main protections that we have: our medical identity and credibility."

The spokesperson warned the video could incite violence, calling it "a severe threat not only against MSF staff but all humanitarian workers in the region."

Doctors Without Borders has been working in the West Bank throughout the conflict -- including the city of Jenin, where Palestinians have clashed with Israeli soldiers. But the humanitarian group's teams are clearly identified by their white vests.

At around 2am, on 27 October, our medical team arrived at Jenin hospital following an Israeli forces incursion in Jenin refugee camp. Two Palestinians were reportedly killed, and many more were injured. Our staff in collaboration with MoH staff treated the severely wounded. pic.twitter.com/rmB0UisQjV  MSF International (@MSF) October 27, 2023

Claims that the vest in the video bears the logo of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the world's largest humanitarian network, are also inaccurate.

"The person in the video is not a Palestine Red Crescent member. Their vest is completely different and they are not at all linked to this video/event," an IFRC spokesperson said in an email November 27.

Orange vest

In the footage, the person who picks up the weapon wears an orange vest with black and white stripes at the waist. The yellow logo and lettering on the back appear to match that of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society (PMRS), which operates in the West Bank and Gaza.

Screenshot of the false Instagram reel (left) and a photo shared by the Palestinian Medical Relief Society on Facebook, with matching vest elements outlined by AFP

AFP reached out to PMRS for comment, but no response was forthcoming.

Israel has occupied the West Bank since the Six-Day War of 1967 and its troops regularly launch raids across the Palestinian territory.

More of AFP's reporting on misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war is available here.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  The U.S. Department of Justice filed a statement of interest in U.S. District Court on Nov. 21 stating that an ordinance passed by the City of Brookings in 2021, which limits the number of days per week organizations can feed the hungry, may have substantially burdened a local churchs religious freedoms.

The statement was issued nearly two years after the Oregon Justice Resource Center filed a lawsuit in federal court against the City of Brookings in response to the ordinance on behalf of the St. Timothys Episcopal Church and its Portland-based diocese  the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. The ordinance was specifically passed in response to St. Timothys daily meal services, which it regularly provides for Brookings homeless residents.

DOJ Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the departments Civil Rights Division called the ordinance an act of discriminatory zoning. The DOJ also stated that the ordinance also violates the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act.

Many churches and faith-based organizations across the country are on the front lines serving the critical needs of people experiencing hunger and homelessness, Clarke was quoted as saying in an official statement. Discriminatory zoning restrictions that burden and limit religious organizations use of their land violate federal antidiscrimination laws. The Justice Department is committed to enforcing federal civil rights laws to ensure that all religious groups can freely exercise their religious beliefs.

Teacher strike over: Portland students back in class Monday

The church testified in court that providing free meals to people in need is fundamental to the faith of its parishioners, the federal statement reads. While the city has argues that the partial ban did not violate St. Timothys religious freedoms under the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, the DOJ stated that it intends to prove otherwise.

The department is refuting the citys claims, the DOJ said in a statement. Specifically, it asserts that RLUIPAs protections apply in this context, that St. Timothys provision of meals to people in need is protected religious exercise and that the citys attempt to restrict St. Timothys meal service may have substantially burdened the churchs religious exercise by forcing it to violate its beliefs in order to comply with local land use laws.

Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon Rev. Diana Akiyama issued her own statement in response to the DOJs assertion in the case.

We believe our right to religious expression by fulfilling the Gospel call to serve the hungry and outcast is protected by the Constitution, Akiyama said. We welcome the DOJs interest in our lawsuit and join numerous other religious organizations who are fighting the suppression of religious expression in order to continue serving those in need.

Motorcyclist dead after crash involving school bus in Tualatin

None of the Brookings City Council members who passed the ordinance remain in office after voters approved a sweeping recall that wiped the board clean in November, the Wild Rivers Outpost reports. The vote, which will be certified on Dec. 4, recalled Brookings Mayor Ron Hedenskog and councilors Michelle Morosky and Ed Schreiber. Hedenskog and Morosky resigned following the election. Former Bookings Councilman Brad Alcorn was elected to the Curry County Board of Commissioners in November of 2022.

While the ordinance remains in effect, organizations are limited to no more than two benevolent meal services a week within Brookings city limits. The two meal services are permitted to operate for three hours per day anytime between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am writing to express the blessings of living in this beautiful city but also to expound on my continued concern over the absence of a Department of the Environment, which was disbanded in 2012. While I reside in a different part of the city, some aldermen in the city previously expressed their dismay in a Sun-Times commentary in October 2022. Ald. Matt Martin of the 47th Ward, one of the authors, wrote on his own website that whether its more frequent street and basement flooding, growing lakefront erosion, a diminishing tree canopy, or rising energy costs, climate change is wreaking havoc across Chicago  and its not letting up. Thats why we must re-establish the Department of Environment.

I concur with Martin that given the scope and goals of the city of Chicagos Climate Action Plan, in which aggressive goals are set to establish the city as a leader in climate change policy, this cannot be done by hiring only four individuals to undertake the five pillars identified in the plan.

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Each pillar is an enormous task, requiring its own committee or department to undertake, not just a single individual to address interconnected climate strategies designed to better serve all Chicago communities. These individuals may be responsible for setting the strategy, but they alone cannot execute the plan. Where are the individuals who will be working with elected officials, business owners and in the communities to gain support for any proposed measures, ensuring they reach consensus and are inclusive?

As we enter another of the eight warmest years on record, the one thing I would be thankful for this year is a Department of the Environment.

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 Maribel Quezada, Chicago

Benefits of transfer tax plan

In a recent editorial, the Tribune Editorial Board argues, without evidence, that Mayor Brandon Johnsons real estate transfer tax plan will cause major property owners in the city to panic and sell their properties as quickly as they can. In Owners are scrambling to unload high-profile buildings. Is this a backlash to Mayor Johnsons mansion tax? (Nov. 15), the editorial board also adds, again without evidence, that the recent mandated increase in tipped workers wages, and a new city law creating legal minimums for paid time off, may have caused the closing of a popular Michigan Avenue restaurant.

Heres the problem: The editorial does not even briefly explore the possibility that the real estate transfer tax, which will dramatically increase the amount of money the city spends to address homelessness, could have any positive impact. But think of the benefits of funding long-term services aimed at eliminating homelessness. Who in the city, major property owners included, wouldnt benefit greatly from such an increased investment in eliminating a fundamental social problem?

And are we seriously going to compare such a continuing social investment adversely to the one-time-only increase in tax consequences to the very largest property owners in the city? Havent those owners all benefited from years of city investment in infrastructure and from years of reduced property taxes? Isnt a big part of the value of any major real estate property related to years of working people all over the city getting their jobs done, paying their property taxes and driving Chicago forward?

Why would any property owner in Chicago leave now, just when the city is tackling chronic problems with genuine vision? Why would a property owner in Chicago sell now, leaving all that future value behind in a city where homelessness has been eliminated?

 Jeff Epton, Chicago

Chicagoans to the rescue again

The mugging of Maureen Cassidy on her way to Ogilvie station struck a chord with me (I got mugged. Chicagoans came to my rescue, Nov. 12). I had experienced a very similar story. Although it was many years ago, to this day I still regret not somehow telling it publicly.

My sister-in-law and I were at a hot dog stand at the corner of Laramie and North avenues. We parked our unlocked bikes outside but directly in front of us. While we ate our lunch, two young men jumped on the bikes and took off, one going north on Laramie and the other west on North. I sprinted up and was in hot pursuit of the one going west, but of course I could not catch him.

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Realizing my effort was futile, I turned around. As soon as I caught my breath, I noticed the other thief coming toward me on North Avenue, so I went to knock him off my bike (both bikes actually belonged to me), but he immediately cut across the street veering south. I started chase but once again realized the impossibility. Although this time, I yelled to a bunch of guys, Twenty-five bucks to anyone who gets my bike! (That was all the cash I had on hand.)

While I crossed the street in search of my sister-in-law, a car stopped, and the passenger asked if I was looking for a bike. Somewhat confused, I replied yes. He told me a police officer parked at Petes Produce had it. It turned out that a guy on the North Avenue bus saw the whole scene. He apparently exited the bus, knocked the thief I was originally chasing off the bike, then handed it over to police officers who were parked at Petes.

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Elated, I returned to the area where I had offered the $25. The group of young men had gotten my other bike back! I went to hand them the money, but they vehemently refused to take it. A woman, who I believe was one of their mothers, said, This is a good neighborhood, and we do what is right. I profusely thanked the group, but it saddened me that I was unable to thank the guy from the bus.

Because of the kindness of strangers, Maureen will not forget her story as I have not forgotten mine. Also, because our experience brought us both an immeasurable feeling of joy.

For all those who fear Chicago, Maureen and I know better.

 Elizabeth DeBock, Arlington Heights

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Join the conversation in our Letters to the Editor Facebook group.

Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email letters@chicagotribune.com.
It was New Years Eve 2021, and brothers Robert and Darius Harris were celebrating by popping fireworks in Lexington, Mississippi. However, the night of excitement turned sour when the brothers were allegedly harassed by officers from the local police department.

That night, the cops arrived at Roberts house, telling the duo that they would arrest them for violating the fireworks ordinance. It prompted the unarmed brothers to resist the threat and ask them to leave before the situation escalated. After Robert held up his hand to de-escalate the conflict, Darius was randomly stunned with a Taser in the chest and abdomen, making him fall to the ground.

The J. Edgar Hoover Building of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is seen on April 3, 2019, in Washington. (Photo: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images)

While Darius was stunned, the officer put a flashlight on his face and ordered him to put his hands behind his back. He was ultimately arrested and taken into custody.

When Robert got to the police station, he was instructed to leave, but was also detained and taken to the chiefs office. He was allegedly told if they kept bumping heads there would be a killing.

These details stem from allegations included in a 2022 lawsuit filed by several Black residents against the city of Lexington  which has a population of less than 1,500  and the police department, including its former and interim chiefs of police, Sam Dobbins and Charles Henderson, who both are white. The mayor and other city leaders are also white.

The complaint comes after a slew of complaints about local officials to the agency. The U.S. Department of Justice has now launched an investigation into the city.

Dobbins was present the night of the Harris brothers arrest, the lawsuit said. However, things took a turn for the duo again after participating in a Know Your Rights meeting on April 7, 2022, that involved the Black community vocalizing their concerns about the police force. The brothers were arrested the next day and charged with marijuana possession and retaliation against an officer, according to the complaint. One of the brothers claims an officer planted drugs in his car.

Another plaintiff in the lawsuit, Malcolm Stewart, was also targeted and arrested in the days after the meeting.

Throughout 2021 and 2022, Plaintiffs and other Black Lexington citizens have been falsely arrested, forced to undergo baseless searches and seizures at roadblocks and subjected to unreasonable force by LPD officers when they verbally object to police mistreatment, court documents stated. The tactics employed by LPD against these Black citizens are like those recommended for use by the United States Army to quell armed rioters in occupied nations. These tactics are wholly unnecessary on peaceful Americans.

The lawsuit also alleges:

Police officers purposefully set up roadblocks in predominantly Black areas, especially near Holmes County Central High School when it held events. The complaint insinuates that the officers executed about 300 roadblocks last year to monitor Black motorists.

Interim police Chief Henderson started harassing not only Stewart but also his family members, including his children and nephews. In one instance, after his daughter declined Hendersons advances, he began to approach her and pin phony crimes on her such as taking too long to get out of her car.

Henderson is accused of breaking into a 60-year-old womans home without a warrant. While only wearing a nightgown during the winter, she was maced, arrested without her Miranda warning being read to her, and hosed down before Henderson left the scene.

From June 27, 2021, to May 17, 2022, the department arrested 100 Black individuals, and more than 40 stemmed from minor traffic violations. Only seven white people were arrested during this time period.

A woman decided to only to leave her home during certain hours after officers physically assaulted her during a roadblock. They are accused of handcuffing and throwing her to the ground after they found out she had old fines.

More than 20 officers turned in their badges due to not aligning with the behaviors and citys culture of corruption. For instance, one officer resigned after he saw Dobbins strike a suspect in the head while they were handcuffed.

The department pushed out at least four officers after refusing to violate individuals rights.

Now, more than a year later, the U.S. Department of Justice announced a probe into the police department and the city, which is about 62 miles away from Jackson and has a predominately Black population, about 77%.

The DOJ made the announcement on Nov. 8 and said it would zero in on use of force and its stops, searches, and arrests. They also plan to reach out to the community for insight into their experiences. City officials are cooperating with them.

In June of this year, I requested the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate allegations of police misconduct by the Lexington, MS, police department. I commend the Department of Justice for stepping in and addressing these complaints in a timely manner.  Bennie G. Thompson (@BennieGThompson) November 8, 2023

We are opening this investigation to determine whether the Lexington Police Department engages in a pattern or practice of discriminatory policing, excessive force or First Amendment violations, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division said in the press release.

This investigation should send a clear message to small and mid-size police departments that they are not exempt from the obligation to provide fair, effective and non-discriminatory policing. We will leave no community behind, including underserved regions in the Deep South, in our quest to ensure lawful and constitutional policing in America.
Attorneys for Donald Trump told the court Monday that they plan to call the former president to the stand on December 11 as their last witness in the New York civil fraud trial.

His son Eric Trump, also a defendant, is slated to testify on December 6, according to Trump attorney Chris Kise.

This will be the former president and Eric Trumps second trip to the witness stand as they were called by the New York attorney generals office earlier this month.

The defense has previously said it will finish presenting its case by mid-December.

Trump Org. doesnt keep a personal financial statement for Donald Trump anymore, executive says

A Trump Organization executive testified in court Monday that the company no longer compiles the personal financial statement  the statement of financial condition  for the former president because they are not required by any lenders at this time.

It is not prepared to my knowledge, Mark Hawthorn said. There is not a roll up financial statement of the company.

Trial evidence has shown Trump Org. contracted an accounting firm to compile a statement of financial condition for Donald Trump at least until 2021.

Donald Trump and his co-defendants have already been found liable for committing fraud, in part, for inflating those personal documents over a period of years to obtain better loan terms.

The all-encompassing financial statements are not required by any Trump Org. lenders at this time, Hawthorn said.

Hawthorn, who is the chief operating officer for the Trump Org. hotels division, testified Monday that he was never personally involved in the preparation of Donald Trumps personal statements of financial condition.

He does oversee compilations and audits for certain Trump Org. entities, so he is familiar with the loan requirements for several properties including Trump Doral Golf Resort Spa, Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, and the Old Post Office  all of which are at issue in this case.

Hes dealt directly with Deutsche Bank on annual compliance requirements for the loans for the last few years before they were paid off in full.

Four Deutsche Bank officials who were involved in the Trump loans are expected to testify under subpoena starting on Tuesday along with another expert at the end of the week.

Independent monitor witness debate

Monday afternoon, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled to preclude testimony from the independent monitor appointed in the case, Judge Barbara Jones, and a member of her staff, denying a Trump defense request to call them in the case.

Trumps attorneys had indicated they intend to call Jones and a lawyer on her staff to testify about her findings and the Trump Org.s cooperation since Jones was appointed as monitor last fall.

Engoron said the request is untimely and inappropriate because Jones and her staff are arms of the court and you cannot question the court in this manner.

The independent monitor submits status reports to the court about ongoing Trump Org. business and those reports speak for themselves, the judge said.

Engoron also said he would not want to risk the creation of a conflict of interest that would require a new monitor be appointed in this case.

Hawthorn, who is a liaison for Trump Org. with the monitor, said Jones has not expressed any findings of fraud or irregularities within the company and that the company has fully complied with the reporting process.

Trump attorney Kise renewed the request for the monitors testimony at the conclusion of Hawthorns testimony, arguing that Jones should be permitted to testify about her report because the parties dispute whether an August status report had negative implications.

The attorney general is the only one claiming fraud, Kise said. The bank hasnt, the monitor hasnt. Theyre the only ones jumping up and down and saying theres fraud.

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Donald Trump will return to the witness stand next month in his civil fraud trial in New York as the final witness for the defence in a case that threatens his brand-building real estate empire.

His son Eric Trump will also testify a second time as their attorneys begin to close their case.

Donald Trump Jr testified as the first witness for the defence earlier this month.

Eric Trump is scheduled to testify on 6 December, and his father is scheduled to appear on the witness stand on 11 December, according to lead attorney Christopher Kise.

On 6 November, the leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president was among the closing witnesses for lawyers from the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing Mr Trump, his two adult sons, their chief associates and the Trump Organization for defrauding banks and investors with grossly inflated statements of his financial condition.

Mr Trumps oldest daughter Ivanka Trump, who successfully removed herself as a defendant from the lawsuit, was the last witness introduced by lawyers for Ms Jamess office.

Judge Arthur Engoron already has found the defendants liable for fraud. The civil trial, now in its ninth week, could result in tens of millions of dollars in fines against them, and largely prohibit the Trumps from doing business in the state.

In his meandering testimony, Mr Trump lashed out at the attorney general, the judge overseeing the case, the trial itself and the lawyers who questioned him as he dodged responsibility for the allegedly fraudulent valuations of his net worth and assets.

Neither Mr Trump nor Eric Trump were cross-examined by their attorneys during their previous testimony.

State attorneys have argued that Mr Trumps annual statements of financial condition  the documents at the heart of the case  included false or misleading valuations of the Trump Organizations vast real estate portfolio and other assets that were then shared with banks, lenders and other institutions to gain more favourable financing terms.

Ms Jamess lawsuit argues that Mr Trump fraudulently inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2bn in one year and by hundreds of millions of dollars in other years over a decade.

The trial has placed Mr Trump under a level of scrutiny that threatens to expose the narrative that built up his political persona as he campaigns for president once again while facing four criminal trials and several lawsuits. His attorneys have roundly rejected the premise of the lawsuit and have defended the Trump Organizations business practises against what they believe is a politcally motivated stunt.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr claimed they had nothing to do with the creation of their fathers financial statements, while evidence reviewed at trial appeared to show they were involved with the information contained inside them. Mr Trump, meanwhile, claimed that those documents were not only unimportant to the banks and lenders who used them but that his net worth is actually much higher than what was reported.

The civil trial inside New York State Supreme Court will determine remaining claims in the lawsuit  including insurance fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy charges  and what penalties, if any, Mr Trump and his co-defendants will face.

Ms James is seeking at least $250m to recover ill-gotten gains, and to effectively block the Trumps from doing business in the state. The judges pretrial judgment ordered a receiver to take control of the Trumps properties, but an appeals court has frozen that decision, for now.

A parallel case is playing out in a state appeals court, after an appellate judge paused a gag order that blocked all parties in the trial from disparaging court staff, after Mr Trump lashed out at the courts chief clerk.

Lawyers for the judge and attorney general last week argued that a gag order is necessary to protect the safety of the courts staff, and a sworn statement from the court systems top security official revealed that hundreds of threats, disparaging and harassing comments and antisemitic messages followed Mr Trumps attacks.
Donald Trumps lawyers urged a New York appeals court Monday to keep blocking the gag order in his high-stakes civil fraud trial by arguing the restrictions were too broad and the judge had imposed $15,000 in fines "in a fit of pique."

The judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, had placed a series of restrictions on the former president and his lawyers to prevent them from commenting on court staff. The restrictions came after Trump posted a picture of law clerk Allison Greenfield that falsely accused her of being Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's "girlfriend." Engoron fined Trump a combined $15,000 for two violations of the gag order.

But on Nov. 16, a state appeals court judge suspended Engoron's order, setting the stage for new hearings over possible limits the 2024 Republican presidential front-runner's speech and his demand for a mistrial in the $250 million case.

This Star Chamber approach is particularly indefensible when the gag orders actually shield the Court itself from public criticism for perceived bias  one of the most fundamental rights under the First Amendment, Trumps lawyers wrote in a 1,900-page filing Monday.

Trumps lawyers submitted evidence of Greenfield's contributions to Democratic campaigns to justify his comments about her partisanship. And they argued that the former president couldn't be blamed for a tsunami of threats and harassment against the judge and his clerk.

Trump's comments on his civil and criminal cases have caused thorny legal battles as the courts struggle with putting a leading presidential candidate on trial. Trump has appealed gag orders in two cases: the New York fraud trial and his pending federal election conspiracy trial. Last week, Georgia prosecutors sought to revoke the bond of Harrison Floyd, one of Trump's co-defendants in a state election racketeering case over his social media posts, but the judge refused.

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

Hundreds of pages of threatening emails

Lisa Evans, deputy counsel in New York's Office of Court Administration, representing Engoron and Greenfield, said in a filing last Wednesday that threats, harassment and disparaging comments increased exponentially after Oct. 3. That was the day Engoron issued his first gag order, after Trump posted the picture of Greenfield with Schumer.

Although Mr. Trump did not directly threaten Ms. Greenfield, the comments made in his post resulted in hundreds of threatening and harassing voicemail messages that have been transcribed into over 275 single-spaced pages, Evans said in her affidavit.

Evans argued "it is unquestionable" that "the deluge of the courts chambers phone and the law clerks personal cell phone, personal emails and social media accounts with hundreds of threatening, harassing, disparaging and antisemitic messages  which threatens the safety of court staff, is the type of countervailing interest being served that warrants the imposition of the limited gag orders imposed by the Court."

Greenfields personal cellphone number and email addresses have been compromised, Evans said. Greenfield receives 20 to 30 calls a day and 30 to 50 messages through social media and email with harassing and disparaging comments, Evans said.

Justice Arthur Engoron presides over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump and his children at New York State Supreme Court on Nov. 13, 2023, in New York. Seated next to him is clerk Allison Greenfield.

State Attorney General Letitia James has accused Trump, his two elder sons, two company executives and several business entities with defrauding banks and insurance companies by inflating the value of the former president's assets, including his own Trump Tower apartment.

Dennis Fan, senior assistant solicitor general in James' office, argued Wednesday that the former president's repeated comments about the clerk were unwarranted and that Trump was unlikely to ultimately succeed in overturning the gag order.

Trump made "highly inappropriate, and personally identifying attacks against the courts principal law clerk," Fan said in his affidavit. "Each of these orders properly imposed exceedingly limited restraints on speech to protect the safety of the courts staff and preserve the orderly administration of the trial."

In this courtroom sketch, former President Donald Trump, center, answers questions at the New York Supreme Court on Nov. 6, 2023.

Judge fined Trump 'in a fit of pique,' lawyers say

The trial will determine the damages Trump his other defendants will face after Engoron determined in September that they had committed fraud for years in property valuations. James sought $250 million and Engoron ordered the cancellation of the Trump Organization's business certificates, which would prevent it from doing business in the state  although that decision is on hold while the case is appealed.

Trump's lawyers have asked for a mistrial in part by arguing Engoron provided unprecedented status to Greenfield by consulting with her during the trial. The lawyers also contend Engoron's bias was revealed in links to stories about Trump and his lawyers that the judge posted to his high school alumni newsletter from 2020 to 2022. Greenfield contributed $3,000 to Democratic candidates in 2022 and $900 in 2023, according to Trump's lawyers.

"While a Justice of the Court no doubt has ample discretion to consult with his or her Law Secretaries, this unprecedented arrangement exceeds the outer limits of such discretion," Trump's lawyers wrote in Monday's filing.

Trump's legal team contends he shouldn't be blamed for what others say about the judge and clerk.

"In essence, the Constitution does not permit Justice Engoron to curtail Petitioners speech simply because people may react to things that President Trump says," the lawyers wrote.

In balancing the interests of Trump's free speech against a fair trial, the former president's lawyers argued that restraining his comments would be justified only under a "clear and present danger" of a serious threat to the administration of justice.

"Here, the Gag Orders are not the result of any such careful balancing of interests," the lawyers wrote. "They were imposed by this Court in a fit of pique."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump's lawyers urge NY appeals court to overturn gag order
KHARKIV OBLAST, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 24: Ukrainian soldier of 57 brigade carries a mortar shell at his fighting position in the direction of Kupiansk as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Kharkiv, Ukraine on November 24, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

There's a pedantic argument going on about whether Ukraine is currently in a stalemate with Russia. A lot of writers and commentors are arguing over whether the slow Ukrainian advance is stalled or still slowly moving. Or over whether the word stalemate implies that no further gain is possible, so does it apply here? But allow one more writer to weigh in, not on the meaning of stalemate, but why this isn't one by any definition.

Ukraine has made huge, strategic gains that will serve it well next year. In just the nearly six months since the counteroffensive started, Ukraine heavily damaged the Kerch Bridge serving Crimea, precipitated a coup attempt, put increased pressure on the Russian landbridge, forced the Black Sea Fleet east, killed strategic leaders, and forced Russia to deploy its most mobile forces on defense, making it unlikely Russia will have many available for its own offensive.

And it did all of this while trading forces at near parity. That's a rare accomplishment since armies are more vulnerable on offense than defense.

So, yes, the lines on the map haven't moved much. But wars aren't won on maps. And Ukraine has done some brilliant work on the ground to set conditions for next year.

Let's look at these developments over the last 25 weeks.

The start of the offensive: June and July

We'll go over these fairly fast, since they represent the start of the offensive and so may be too early to count for most detractors to count in the stalemate conversation.

But it's important to remember that the offensive started June 4. In June and July, the biggest developments were the failed Prigohzin Coup in June and the crippling of the Kerch Bridge by a drone strike in July.

This video grab taken from a rimea24TV footage on July 17, 2023 shows the damaged Kerch bridge -- linking Crimea to Russia -- which was heavily damaged following an attack. Russia on July 17, 2023, said a Ukrainian attack on the bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland killed a civilian couple and wounded their child. Moscow said two drones had hit the bridge in the early hours and blamed "the Kyiv regime." (Photo by -/Crimea24TV/AFP via Getty Images)

While Ukraine, obviously, did not lead the coup attempt, Yevgeny Prigozhin cited his losses on the battlefield and materiel shortages as motivation. Ukraine should see the coup as a result of their victories and pressure. The coup failed to topple Putin, but it weakened the regime. And it forced Putin to sideline Wagner and then assimilate what he could of it.

The next month, Ukraine once again struck the Kerch Bridge, the key artery linking Russia to Crimea. Russia quickly allowed some light traffic to cross the bridge in an attempt to downplay the signifigance. But satellite photos in September show them continuing repairs. And the bridge is still regularly closed to traffic with no official explanation. It is likely that the July attack still hampers Russian resupply to forces from Crimea to Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts.

And those forces are especially vulnerable, since they only get major supply from across the Kerch Bridge and the "land bridge."

August and September: The land bridge and Black Sea Fleet

Yeah, about that land bridge. The vaunted Russian land bridge represented a strategic victory for Russia during the invasion. While it failed to take Kyiv, the Russian military did capture vast swaths of eastern Ukraine in early 2022. That created a connection between its forces in Donetsk and Luhansk and Crimea.

That land bridge is essential for Russian defenders in Zaporizhia and everywhere south of it. Russia sucks at getting resupply across the Sea of Azov. If the land bridge is severed, Russian forces will have to resupply solely through the damaged Kerch Bridge, like breathing through a straw.

And in August, Ukraine took Robotyne . That puts additional pressure on the land bridge and puts its forces within HIMARS range of the Sea of Azov (barely). Ukraine's movement across the terrain, yes, did freeze after that. It failed to take Tokmak or Polohy, either of which would have robbed Russia of aviation bases.

But, importantly, Russia had to redeploy forces to prevent the Ukrainian salient from becoming a rout. Russia reportedly deployed as many as 10,000 paratroopers to stop the Ukrainian advance .

Russia has tried to rebuild the VDV since the stunning losses during the invasion. But the few paratroopers it still has are exhausted from defending the land bridge. It is highly unlikely it can use them anywhere else anytime soon. (That partially explains why Russia appears to be running low on men at Adiivka only a month into its assault .)

Meanwhile, on the diplomatic front, Ukraine earned promises of F-16s in August as well , with more promises coming in September.

Finally, Ukraine managed two stunning attacks on the Black Sea Fleet, killing 33 officers and crippling a landing ship and a submarine.

Most recently: October and November

Those September strikes led to a "functional retreat" of the Black Sea Fleet east to Novorossiysk in October , according the the U.K. Armed Forces. But that didn't stop the strikes, as Ukraine hit Crimea again in November and damaged three ships over two strikes. And the U.K. thinks the fleet will become less effective at long-range strikes until it can re-build Novorossiysk to take over the mission of loading cruise missiles from Sevastapol.

DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 26: Ukrainian soldiers are seen in a trench in their fighting position in the direction of Gorlivka, as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on November 26, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

(When Russia's fleet is retreating, it really doesn't seem like the "Ukraine stalemate," just saying.)

Meanwhile, Ukraine finally got ATACMS missiles, greatly increasing the range of their HIMARS launchers. And it debuted the weapon in stunning fashion, knocking out 14 Russian helicopters in Luhansk and Berdyansk .

Then, Ukraine managed to force a crossing over the Dnipro River, establishing what appears to be a permanent foothold on the "left bank." (That's the southern bank, for those of us unaccustomed to having to imagine the flow of a river to orient ourselves on the map.) The advance promises to relieve pressure on Kherson . And, ideally, as more of the river is liberated it will give Ukraine a logistics line.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has been steadily degrading Russian air defenses over the last six months. So much so that the U.K. Ministry of Defence believes Russia is moving air defense systems from the Kaliningrad Enclave to Ukraine . That would mean that Russia is accepting risk at one of its most important bases because it can't otherwise protect assets in Ukraine.

So it's not a Russian-Ukraine stalemate

We get it. The map lines are just about where they were this summer.

But Ukraine spent the last six months weakening Russian forces in key areas.

Russian logistics are threatened, especially in the south. Ukraine has new weapons and promises of more, like F-16s, that could enable greater offensive power. Russian air defenses are weaker by the day. And the Black Sea Fleet, formerly a major offensive force for Russia, is now hiding to the east. And Russia had to spend its own offensive buildup to secure its logistics, hampering its own offensives.

Remember, Allied forces set the conditions for D-Day for over a year before launching the invasion. (Army University Press has a great new video on the long planning and preparation .)

Military operations are not always about seizing territory. Sometimes they're about breaking the enemy. And Ukraine is breaking Russia. There is not, right now, a Ukraine stalemate.

Logan Nye was an Army journalist and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Now, hes a freelance writer and live-streamer. In addition to covering military and conflict news at We Are The Mighty, he has an upcoming military literacy channel on Twitch.tv/logannyewrites.
Doritos' new AI software lets you crunch chips during calls without annoying your friends

Doritos created a program that silences the crunching sound of its chips on video calls. PRNewsfoto/Frito-Lay North America,PepsiCo

Doritos developed an AI to silence chewing sounds on calls, especially gaming sessions.

The chip brand worked with developers and hundreds of recordings of people chewing to create Doritos Silent.

The software works on PCs with any program where users rely on headphones to make calls.

Gamers, remote workers, and others who annoy others with chewing Doritos during their calls have a new tool to silence the noise.

Doritos Silent, made by the PepsiCo-owned chip brand, cancels the sound of chewing on voice calls. The software works on PCs with any medium where users rely on headphones to make calls, such as Zoom, according to the Washington Post.

But the program is aimed at one of Doritos' key consumers: Gamers.

"Crunch is one of the most distracting features that could throw someone off their game," Mustafa Shamseldin, chief marketing officer of international foods at PepsiCo, told the Post.

The software strikes a balance for consumers, according to the article. A survey of consumers conducted by Doritos found that most gamers like to enjoy a snack while playing. But many also said they don't like the sound of other gamers eating  especially when the person on the other end is chowing down on chips, according to the Post.

Using technology to silence the sound of chewing proved to be a better solution than developing a whole new, less-noisy kind of chip, Fernando Kahane, head of global marketing for Doritos, told the Post.

In 2018, Former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi floated the idea of creating chips to appeal to women that would have less crunch and leave less residue on their fingers.

Doritos later said that it had no plans to release such a chip.

Smooth Technology, an engineering and design studio, worked with Doritos to create Doritos Silent, the chip brand said in a statement.

Creating the software involved recording roughly 500 people eating Doritos, Dylan Fashbaugh, lead developer at Smooth Technology, told the Post.

Smooth then mixed the chewing noises with recordings of people talking to train an AI to tell the difference. "We needed to make something that could really separate the sounds of voices and crunches," Fashbaugh said.

Read the original article on Insider
Drug overdose deaths in the United States continue to rise.

Overdoses claimed more than 112,000 American lives from May 2022 to May 2023, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 37% increase compared with the 12-month period ending in May 2020.

The vast majority of those who died were adults. But drug overdoses are killing young Americans in unprecedented numbers: The monthly total rose from 31 in July 2019 to 87 in May 2021, the period with the most recent data.

As a scholar of substance use who focuses on patterns that vary between age groups, Im struck by how adolescents overdose deaths differ from adults in terms of gender, race and ethnicity and the drugs causing these fatalities.

These differences mean that the groups considered to be at high risk and the strategies needed to prevent overdoses in adolescents should not be the same as for adults.

Who is dying?

When the CDC examined data for Americans 10 to 19 years old, it found that, as is the case for adults, most adolescents dying from drug overdoes are male. However, the share of girls among these fatalities is larger than the share of women.

More than twice as many boys who are tweens or teens are dying of a drug overdose for every girl in that age group.

Among adults, three men die of a drug overdose for every two women.

The share of fatal overdoses of white, non-Hispanic adolescents is vastly greater than for their nonwhite peers  more so than for adults.

Fentanyls often to blame

Another difference is whats causing these fatal overdoses.

Among adults, those who use more than one drug are more likely to die from an overdose than those who use a single drug. The most common combinations are fentanyl with another opioid, like a prescription medication, and fentanyl with a stimulant, like cocaine or methamphetamine.

Fentanyl on its own is the key culprit in adolescent overdoses. For teens, 84% of fatal overdoses involved fentanyl, and 56% of all overdoses involved only fentanyl.

This is consistent with my teams research indicating that rates of prescription opioid misuse fell from 2015 to 2019 in both adolescents and young adults. It also squares with other data that shows deaths from heroin-involved overdoses have declined in recent years.

Fentanyl is among the most potent opioids available. Its estimated to be roughly 100 times more potent than morphine  a very strong opioid typically used in hospital settings. Teens and tweens usually have little tolerance to opioids because they often have not been exposed to them before, and fentanyls high potency makes them more likely to overdose.

Many adolescents accidentally take fentanyl when they ingest counterfeit pills that they believe are prescription opioids or stimulants, or other illicit drugs that are laced with the drug.

This unintentional use can make an overdose even more likely, because people who are unaware they are taking fentanyl are less likely to have the overdose-reversal medication naloxone or fentanyl test strips on hand.

In 67% of adolescent overdose deaths, a bystander was present who could have intervened. Naloxone was administered in less than half of cases where a bystander was present.

Little to no prior drug history

Only 1 in 10 teens and tweens who died from a drug overdose had a history of treatment for a substance use problem, and only 1 in 7 had ever experienced a prior nonfatal overdose. Adolescents who fatally overdose do not necessarily show the warning signs generally expected beforehand, such as problems with alcohol or other drugs or prior substance use treatment.

This pattern underscores the importance that all parents proactively talk with their children about substance use by the time they are 12 years old.

Parents who express their disapproval of substance use tend to prevent or delay it in their kids. Having children who never use substances may be an unnecessary and unrealistic goal  after all, most adults drink alcohol at least occasionally.

However, parents can emphasize that their childs brain is changing rapidly and significantly and that not using drugs or alcohol while young helps promote healthy development.

What parents can do

Having naloxone available can also be important. It prevents fentanyl and other opioids from causing an overdose by blocking access to opioid receptors in the brain. This potentially lifesaving drug is easy to use, but the cost of the over-the-counter version, which can exceed $50 for two doses, makes it out of reach for some of the people who need it most.

Think of naloxone like car insurance: You dont want to use it, but its important to have in case something goes wrong.

Even if your child never tries an illicit drug, they may be able to intervene and save a friend who overdoses. Everyone should know the signs of an opioid overdose  they include shallow or no breathing, problems staying conscious, and cold, clammy skin  and be ready to intervene when they see someone of any age who appears to be experiencing one.

Finally, more than 4 in 10 adolescents who died from an overdose had a history of mental health conditions. Thats consistent with research from my colleagues and me linking poorer mental health and opioid misuse in adolescents.

Theres also a strong link between mental health conditions and drug overdoses among adults.

For this reason and many others, such as the rising rates of adolescent depression, I recommend that all adults  whether caregivers or other people in an adolescents life  check in on their mental health regularly and recommend or seek treatment for any concerns as early as possible.

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: Ty Schepis, Texas State University.

Read more:


MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  Drivers who take Michigan Avenue every day are excited to learn that repairs are coming to the railroad crossing near Tennessee Street.

The City of Mobile is partnering with the Alabama Export Railroad to make repairs to a railroad crossing that has left drivers frustrated with its bumpiness.

You have to slow all the way down and then you got people behind you, you know, so its a big, big inconvenience because you scared you gonna tear up your car, motorist Lisa Penn explained.

Penn takes that road everyday and explained the biggest issue with the road is that certain people may not know how to drive on it.

That big hole, that big bump, but that thats the biggest the people down that people that dont know the areaitll mess them up! Penn further explained.

Other motorists like Kenny Smith own a property across the street from the intersection. He said hes seen cars get damaged from going over the railroad crossing.

Ive seen accidents on these tracks, Smith said. Ive seen police officers lose control of their cars coming through, you know, in pursuit or trying to get to an actual 911 emergency.

With a plan in motion to fix the railroad crossing, drivers are excited the issue will be soon resolved.

Drivers will have to detour on Duval Street to Houston Street to Virginia Avenue to avoid the construction.

Thank you Mobile! Penn exclaimed. About time!

According to the city, the repairs could take 7-10 days to complete.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Russias overnight attack on a front-line Ukrainian region damaged a thermal power plant operated by the countrys energy giant DTEK, the company reported on Nov. 27.

For security reasons, DTEK does not specify where plants that are hit by strikes are located, presumably to avoid giving up sensitive information about the location of Ukraine's critical infrastructure.

Residents of a nearby settlement were left without power following the overnight attack, according to the DTEK.

This was Russias fifth strike on front-line DTEK facilities over the last month, the company added.

DTEKs head Maksym Timchenko said on Nov. 17 that Ukraine needed more Western air defense systems, such as Patriot and IRIS-T, to better protect its critical infrastructure from Russian attacks.

From fall 2022 to winter 2023, Russia launched a series of mass strikes across the country, targeting critical infrastructure sites and causing widespread power outages. Local authorities were forced to install power cut schedules to preserve electricity.

All 13 of DTEK's power stations, which supply power to more than seven million Ukrainian families, have been reportedly hit by Russian attacks. Since April, eight of the 13 have been repaired and are operational, while another two are still being repaired.

So far, the power situation across the country has been rather stable, even as Russia continues to target critical infrastructure.

Read also: With winter approaching, is Ukraines energy system ready for renewed Russian attacks?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Polish President Andrzej Duda has officially appointed Mateusz Morawiecki, who has been Prime Minister of Poland since 2017, as the head of a proposed new government, Duda's office reported on Nov. 27.

"This is a time of great challenges, and they should be undertaken by energetic people with skills and experience," Duda said at the appointment ceremony.

Morawiecki's Law and Justice (PiS) party won the most seats in the Oct. 15 parliamentary elections but failed to gain an outright majority, winning 194 seats in a 460-member parliament.

In Poland, the largest party is usually given the initial right to attempt to form a government.

Morawiecki will now have two weeks to get a vote of confidence from the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament.

Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak also kept his position in the government while other ministries have received new chiefs. Duda said it was "extremely encouraging" to see that the cabinet has more female than male ministers.

It is unlikely that the Sejm will give the new government a vote of confidence.

Leszek Miller, a member of the European Parliament and former prime minister of Poland, compared how long the new government will last to the lifespan of a housefly, which exists for around 28 days.

"It reaches the larval stage within 14 days. After another few days, it becomes a pupa and then an adult and lays eggs. Morawiecki's government won't even have time to pupate, let alone lay eggs," Miller posted on X.

Opposition leader Donald Tusk proposed a three-party coalition on Oct. 24 involving center-right and left parties, which would have 248 seats in total.

Poland has been roundly supportive of Ukraine across the political spectrum, including from PiS, though tensions have risen in recent months following diplomatic spats relating to trade issues.

Morawiecki said on Sept. 20 amid a dispute on Ukrainian grain that Poland is not sending more weapons to Ukraine as it needs to rearm itself.

Tusk has also called for unwavering support for Ukraine, saying that a Ukrainian victory was in Poland's national interest.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Migrants wait with their packed up belongings to be relocated from outside of the 8th District Chicago Police Department in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on Nov. 21, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Gov. J.B. Pritzkers recent announcement that the state would spend $65 million to help Chicago set up a tent encampment for migrants before winter sets in came less than two months after the second-term Democrat tried to distance himself from the concept when it was unveiled by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Pritzker in September said he had expressed concerns to City Hall about housing asylum-seekers in winterized base camps as an alternative to police stations and city airports where thousands of migrants have been sleeping while awaiting placement in the citys overburdened shelter system.

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If we have existing facilities, we ought to use all of those that are willing to do it, Pritzker said, emphasizing his preference for bricks-and-mortar shelters and adding that tents werent the only option.

But state documents indicate the concept for housing migrants in tents took shape not at City Hall but within Pritzkers own administration.

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Months before this falls surge in migrant arrivals and Johnsons tent city plan being announced in September, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency in mid-May sought proposals from companies to assist the migrant crisis by providing shelter, noting that it was looking for both indoor and outdoor (soft sided) lodging options, bid documents show.

The purpose of the state contract, which ultimately was signed in July with controversial contractor GardaWorld Federal Services, was to meet the needs for temporary housing ... and to enable Illinois state and local governmental units to purchase a temporary housing solution, according to bid documents.

The more complete picture of how the tent plan came about emerges as cold weather approaches and as the continued arrival of migrants, largely from tropical Venezuela, stretches state and city resources and tests leaders resolve to live up to their welcoming rhetoric. It also underscores that the Pritzker administration has played a key role in efforts to address the migrant crisis even as it has at times tried to minimize its involvement in the citys shelter plan.

But as the state steps in with the money for a tent encampment, along with $95 million more for a centralized intake center and other services to help migrants transition to more permanent housing and jobs, new city and state policies are limiting shelter stays and phasing out rental assistance for asylum-seekers.

The states contract with GardaWorld, which the Johnson administration used to quickly ink its own $29.4 million base camp deal in September, includes specifications for a turnkey basecamp with ClearSpan fabric structures with rip-stop fabric weave, natural ventilation, armshield cover and multiple foundation options to allow flexibility in building location.

Police officers close a gate as dozens of protesters demand a stop to the proposed tent city for migrants near Sacramento Avenue in Chicago, Oct. 19, 2023. (Antonio Perez/Chicago Tribune)

Until announcing last week that the state would pay to set up one of the camps for the city, the Pritzker administration has pushed the idea that the city has been driving the shelter effort. The governor, for example, said in September that the state had not yet used the contract but that it was certainly available for cities and counties and others at the local level.

But in response to questions from the Tribune, the governors office acknowledged last week that the inclusion of tent-like structures in the May bid solicitation was a collaborative effort between IEMA and the Illinois Department of Human Services as they prepared for every possible outcome.

The possibility of housing migrants in tents rather than buildings had always been on the table in conversations with City Hall  under both Johnson and the prior administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot  given the few practical options to house mass amounts of people on an emergency basis and the space limitations on indoor sites, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email.

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The governors concern with soft shelter sites at that time they were announced was because cold weather was just a few months away and the preference has always been to house people in brick-and-mortar shelter sites, Abudayyeh said. But as we move closer and closer to winter, people are still sleeping outside police stations in regular tents with no resources so soft shelter sites provide better accommodations, and more importantly, allow asylum-seekers access to caseworkers and a path to independence.

While theyre a step up from the camping tents some asylum-seekers have been using, it remains an open question how well the structures GardaWorld would provide can withstand Chicagos often brutal winter weather.

Alexandro Brito, shines a light on his girlfriend Andira Munoz, both from Venezuela, before sleeping in a parking lot across the street from the 15th District police station in the Austin neighborhood Oct. 30, 2023 in Chicago. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Though outfitted with heating and air conditioning, the structures only are equipped to provide heat up to 70 degrees with an outdoor temperature of 40 degrees, according to contract documents. The average high temperature for December in Chicago is just under 37 degrees, and it dips below 32 degrees for January, according to the National Weather Service.

The Johnson administration did not provide details on the timeline of the states involvement in the tent plan.

The city has been working with the state on its base camp plans, using the states existing contract with GardaWorld to ensure new arrivals are off police station and airport floors and into secure interim congregate housing with steady meals, health care services and wraparound services, Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese said in a statement.

Our primary motivation has been to provide shelter, knowing this firm had been vetted by the state through its (request for proposals) process, and there was a critical need to find adequate temporary shelter housing, Reese said

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The state bid solicitation for shelter assistance went out May 12, three days before Johnson took office.

IEMA and Department of Human Services officials have no knowledge or recollection of anyone in the administration suggesting the concept to Johnsons team before the mayor introduced the tent proposal in early September, Abudayyeh said.

Documents indicate, however, that the state officials provided Johnsons administration with details about Garda Worlds tent proposal in August.

GardaWorld beat out three other bidders for the contract through a competitive process in which it received the highest ranking, records show.

At the time, the Virginia-based company had been working with state officials for months under a separate contract for a still-unrealized plan to turn a former CVS store in the Little Village neighborhood into an indoor shelter site for migrants.

The state and GardaWorld signed the tent-related contract July 26, two days after the citys deputy mayor for immigration, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, emailed state officials a link to a Denver Post article about officials in the Colorado capital abandoning plans for a $40 million deal with the company to provide migrant services amid a backlash from advocates and nonprofits.

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Wed like to discuss possible implications here, Ponce de Leon wrote.

Earlier this fall, the state Department of Human Services said the citys concerns were addressed by collaborating with GardaWorld on its operating policies and procedures to ensure a human services lens.

The contract the company signed in July says its training for shelter workers will include information on cultural competency and diversity.

In early August, a little over a week after the contract was signed and a month before Johnson went public with plans to house asylum-seekers in so-called base camps, a state Human Services official contacted the mayors administration to provide details about GardaWorlds tent proposal.

If youd like to be connected to GardaWorld or have us pull together some specific data, please let us know, Kirstin Chernawsky, who oversees the migrant response for the state agency, wrote to Johnsons deputy chief staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, in an Aug. 7 email with the subject line Tent Quotes.

According to a breakdown Chernawsky provided, costs would run up to $7.8 million per month to shelter up to 1,400 migrants at a site without access to existing utilities.

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Please also note that this is just for basic shelter/lodging for single men  additional costs would be added on for other services (e.g., medical, case management, etc.,) and/or to get supplies like menstrual products, cribs/baby food, etc., Chernawsky wrote in the email, to which she attached the full contract.

Thank you! This is super helpful, Pacione-Zayas, a former Democratic state senator, wrote back.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services did not answer specific questions about the context of the exchange, saying only that state and city officials have had ongoing, general discussions regarding a variety of issues concerning new arrivals and regularly share related information.

Despite being shown the exchange, DHS spokeswoman Rachel Otwell stood by a September statement in which she told the Tribune the department had played no role in planning for Johnsons proposed base camps. Otwell did not respond to a request to make Chernaswky available for an interview.

Migrants wait with their belongings to board a bus and be moved from outside of the 8th District police station in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood on Nov. 21, 2023. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Regardless of Pritzkers stated preference, the state now is making use of its own contract with GardaWorld to set up a camp, which his administration says would be able to house 2,000 people for stays lasting up to six months.

Neither state nor city officials have provided any information on the proposed location of the camp, with Pritzker telling reporters earlier this month that it would be up to Johnsons administration to identify the site.

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The city, meanwhile, recently began moving migrants out of one of the most crowded police stations and into the citys 25-shelter system.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

ayin@chicagotribune.com
Joe Biden is no friend of Israel. His constant appeasement of Tehran and blatant distancing from Jerusalem  even refusing to invite Netanyahu to the White House  as well as his feeble responses to Iranian-sponsored attacks against US forces in the region, have only weakened the Israeli governments hand in fighting terrorism.

His dispatch of two carrier strike groups to the region to deter Iran was recognition that these blunders had brought the Middle East towards a much wider conflict. It was also an effort to restrain Israel from taking the law into its own hands against Iran and its proxies by trying to give the impression that the US was ready to do the dirty work if needed. Some hope of that!

After his visit to Jerusalem at the start of the war, Biden said: My administrations support for Israels security is rock solid and unwavering. It wasnt long before his actions proved his duplicitousness. While saying publicly that Hamas had to be defeated, he began coercing Israel behind the scenes to stop short of achieving that goal. US collusion with Qatar, which has long harboured Hamas leaders, forced the Israeli war cabinet to agree a ceasefire in return for release of a few hostages.

Now the four day truce is expiring, Biden is pushing for an extension while still claiming to believe that eliminating Hamas remains a legitimate mission for Israel. He knows that the longer Israels attack on Hamas is paused for hostage release, the greater the likelihood that it will not be resumed. Hamas is reeling from six weeks of IDF assaults in the air and on the ground and all that can save them now is a permanent halt to Israeli operations.

They will continue to use their only two effective weapons to attempt to bring that about. The first is the hostages, and Hamas will try to drip feed further releases to buy themselves more time. The second is the civilian population of Gaza. If Israel does return to the fight, Hamas will ensure as many civilians as possible die to intensify international pressure on Israel. In that Biden is also their willing tool. Ever since the IDFs fight-back began he has been vocally encouraging Israel to limit civilian casualties. The subtext to that message is that the IDF is deliberately killing Gazan civilians, playing right into the hands of Hamas and its supporters around the world.

According to The Washington Post, Biden even went as far as to privately apologise to Muslim leaders in the US for questioning Hamas figures for civilian casualties a few days ago. That reflects his double-dealing approach to this war, on the one hand appearing to back Israels security objectives while on the other working to undermine them. Its all about the next election, and Biden doesnt seem to understand that the strategic outcome in the Middle East needs to take precedence over his return to the White House.

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Ukraine has launched an accelerator program in cooperation with the Kyiv School of Economics for startup companies that focus on humanitarian demining, the Economy Ministry announced on Nov. 27.

The accelerator provides startups with business development skills, mentoring from industry experts, and the ability to test technologies at a training ground, allowing entrepreneurs to attract investment and grow their company in the field of humanitarian demining.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine has made the country one of the most heavily mined nations in the world.

The scale of the issue of mines in Ukraine is "unprecedented," Economy Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said.

Nearly one-third of Ukraine's territory has been mined since the start of the full-scale invasion, and around 6 million people are threatened by mines, according to government estimates.

"We have an ambitious goal to return up to 80% of these lands to economic use over the next 10 years," Svyrydenko said.

"I believe that the technologies developed in Ukraine will not only help to clear the territory of our country faster, but will also become an export product in the future."

Tymofiy Mylovanov, the President of the Kyiv School of Economics, said that demining is an issue that Ukraine needs to solve as quickly as possible, with as much innovation as possible.

"Ideally, we need to reach a level where robots, not people, will work in areas with a high risk of explosions," Mylovanov said.

"The development of a high-tech society will determine Ukraine's recovery," he said.

The Economy Ministry is not the only ministry concerned with demining.

Ukraine's Education Ministry announced in August that it would introduce mine safety courses for Ukrainian schoolchildren as a mandatory part of the curriculum.

Landmines and other explosive devices in Ukraine have killed over 260 civilians, including 14 children, since February 2022.

Read also: First Ukrainian demining machine developed in Kharkiv

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
World leaders will gather for the COP28 United Nations climate summit in Dubai starting Thursday. And already, there are troubling signs that well see another year of powerful countries spouting a lot of hot air but ultimately shirking their obligations to protect humanity from grievous and irreversible harm caused by the burning of fossil fuels.

A U.N.-backed report released earlier this month found that despite their promises, the worlds governments still plan to produce and consume more than twice as much coal, oil and gas in 2030 as they should to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, a gap thats remained basically unchanged since 2019.

Read more: Editorial: An oil executives going to host the U.N. climate summit. It shows who's really in charge

These plans throw the global energy transition into question. They throw humanitys future into question, Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, wrote in the report. Governments must stop saying one thing and doing another.

When will leaders get serious and understand that they cant have it both ways? Humanity cant zero out greenhouse gas emissions without slashing the production and consumption of fossil fuels.

Read more: Editorial: No more half measures on climate change. The next generation is right to demand an end to fossil fuels

For two years running, world leaders at these annual climate change conferences have gone no further than a pathetic call for a phasedown of unabated coal power. It says a lot that after decades of scientific understanding of the dangers and causes of climate change, an explicit reference to fossil fuels didn't appear in the final text of a COP decision until 2021.

As a result of this failure, humanity is on track to blow past the critical threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit. Thats the rise in global temperatures that virtually every nation on Earth agreed to work to avoid under the 2015 Paris agreement in order to prevent disastrous climate impacts.

Read more: Editorial: An oil executives going to host the U.N. climate summit. It shows who's really in charge

The repercussions of countries not delivering on their pledges to cut heat-trapping emissions are life-or-death, and any shortcomings cant be easily reversed. The consequences of inaction are already manifesting in the form of more ferocious heat waves, storms and wildfires, rising sea levels, drought and damage to marine and terrestrial ecosystems. It's going to get worse, but just how bad depends on what leaders do now.

In advance of the COP28 summit, hundreds of scientists are urging President Biden to agree to a fast and fair phaseout of all fossil fuels (coal, oil, and gas), with clear timelines and science-informed targets for the near and long term." The group of more than 650 scientists is also calling on the Biden administration to push back on fossil fuel interests and their allies who might try to weaken the final agreement.

Read more: Editorial: Big Oil is exploiting California's Latinos in its latest climate disinformation push

Thats important because the summit typically draws hundreds of fossil fuel lobbyists working to stymie progress toward renewable energy. And though this year they will be required to identify themselves as such when registering, the gathering is still regrettably being presided over by United Arab Emirates oil executive Sultan Al Jaber, who has made it clear that he wants to focus only on phasing out fossil fuel emissions, not fossil fuels themselves.

That's a dangerous approach oil and gas interests have been pushing aggressively, and its not hard to see why. It leaves them free to continue extracting and burning fossil fuels, while promising to somehow offset the effects with largely unproven projects to capture and store carbon underground or suck it out of the air.

Read more: Editorial: Pope Francis is right. World leaders have a moral imperative to abandon fossil fuels

This reckless fantasy only serves to prolong the life of these planet-endangering industries. The U.N.'s recent report makes clear that uncertain technologies should not be considered escape valves because of the potential failure of these measures to become sufficiently viable at scale.

The only safe path forward is for the worlds nations to commit to ending the extraction and burning of coal, oil and gas. We simply cannot keep putting this off, year after year, and expect anything but a dark and painful future. Change has to start with the United States, which is both the worlds richest nation and the most responsible for climate change, having spewed more planet-warming pollution into the atmosphere than any other country in history.

If we dont act now, everyones future will be in peril.

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.
Over the past six years or more, Florida has been making a name for itself (and not a good one) by working to turn back the clock on fundamental human rights. Our governor in particular seems to be obsessed (and not in a good way) over the very fact that drag queens exist, and infuriated by educators efforts to create safe spaces for students struggling with their orientation or gender identity.

Its why so many groups who worry about civil rights have put Florida on watchlists and are even threatening boycotts. But even as the darkness grows, points of brilliant light still shine. And were proud to see Orlando counted among them. Earlier this month, the City Beautiful was awarded a perfect score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundations Municipal Equality Index, which recognizes cities with strong protections for LGBTQ+ residents.

Our work to put inclusion and equity at the forefront of all that we do must and will continue. Orlando will keep showing that love is stronger than hate, Mayor Buddy Dyer said in response to the recognition. Orlandos strong protections are often linked with 2016s horrific Pulse nightclub massacre, but this is the 10th consecutive year Orlando has earned a perfect score on the MEI, and Patty Sheehan, Orlandos first openly LGBTQ city commissioner, has served since 2000.

As Floridas LGBTQ+ rights are attacked, love still thrives in Orlando | Commentary

Closer to the heart

The MEI recognizes something important. Florida state leaders may gin up hatred with measures such as the infamous Dont Say Gay law, that stigmatizes and endangers LGBTQ students; attacks on health-care rights for transgender individuals of all ages and free-speech restrictions including book bans. The openly hostile political climate in Tallahassee to the LGBTQ community has rolled back decades of hard-fought, incremental gains in a state that for decades was notorious for its homophobia.

But cities can push back, and it means so much when they do.

Floridas local leaders know their communities. They know that most of their own constituents  even in parts of the state colored deep red  are not troubled by the idea that LGBTQ+ residents deserve to live their lives free of fear and discrimination.

The MEI ranking, coming from one of the nations largest civil-rights organizations, acknowledges seven other Florida cities  Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Wilton Manors, Hollywood and Oakland Park  with perfect scores. Of the 18 Florida cities in the MEI, an additional five were marked high enough to be considered All-Star cities (a designation that reflects outstanding municipal protections in so-called states of emergency where legislators and governors have cruelly targeted LGBTQ+ people. Ironically, Tallahassee  as a municipality  is among those all-stars).

Its worth noting the cities that arent ranked in the MEI, but are also standing strongly and with dignity against attempts by the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis to revive hatred as official state policy. Earlier this year, the Mount Dora City Council calmly refused to back off its adoption of a Safe Place program, despite blustery threats from members of Lake Countys legislative delegation. What triggered Sen. Dennis Baxley, and Reps. Keith Truenow, Taylor Yarkosky and Stan McClain so badly? The plan for city police to distribute stickers to merchants who want to voluntarily designate their willingness to shelter people who fear they may be targeted with violence.

That ugly confrontation brings home a fundamental message: The local policies and rules that the Municipal Equality Index strives to recognize are not special protections. They are measures meant to safeguard residents and visitors to the Sunshine State from the very real dangers that still leave LGBTQ+ people in the crosshairs for workplace discrimination, health care disparity, legal-system barriers and most of all, threats or acts of physical harm.

The standards used by the MEI reflect that. Benchmarks include anti-discrimination policies in housing, health care, employment and contracting; human rights advocacy by elected officials and city government agencies; law enforcements active efforts to meet the needs of the LGBTQ community, the strength of a commitment to an inclusive workplace: and effective leadership on LGBTQ issues by elected city officials.

Its troubling and frankly puzzling to see Daytona Beach ranked abysmally low in the MEI. Its score of 27 on the 100-point scale reflects almost no effort to safeguard against homophobia. In a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans, this could be a result of laziness rather than bigotry, but residents should demand better from elected leaders.

Keeping hope alive

Outside of Daytona Beach, however, Florida cities included in the MEI did relatively well. That gives us hope that the current levels of state-level animosity reflect nothing more than a phase Florida is going through  that our collective future is one where equality is on the agenda and discrimination is simply not tolerated. Where politicians stop looking for new culture war distractions, and tackle the real problems facing Floridians.

Orlando nonprofits rise to support homeless LGBTQ youth amid statewide restrictions

As Sheehan said in a 2022 release celebrating Orlandos ninth perfect 100 in the MEI, it is more important than ever to treat every resident in our community with respect. Amen. For now, only way for Florida to escape this hateful darkness is one city at a time, and Orlando proudly shines like a beacon of hope.

The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. This editorial incorporates parts of an editorial by the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com.
Bob Chikos has been a special education teacher at Crystal Lake Central High School for 16 years. He mostly teaches students who have learning disabilities, he said, and also co-teaches some English and math classes in which students who have special needs are integrated with students who dont.

Chikos said its great that the education system is getting better at identifying children who have special needs and getting them the help they need, but his concern is that there arent many people who can provide that help.

I have a few people in my family who have special needs, and the help theyve gotten has been essential in them becoming productive citizens, Chikos said. My concern is they would not have access to that, the same that my family members have had to become productive citizens.

Labor shortages are not unique to the educator workforce, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, but Chikos said the shortages arent as black-and-white as some people may think.

A lot of times, we hear headlines saying theres a teacher shortage and it makes it sound like it affects all places equally, and it really doesnt, Chikos said. It affects certain disciplines more than others. The vast majority of vacancies are in special education and for bilingual teachers. Its also more prevalent in rural areas, more disadvantaged areas throughout the state.

This was among the findings in The State of Our Educator Pipeline 2023: Strengths, Opportunities and the Early Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic, a report released in October by education watchdog group Advance Illinois.

Besides rural areas, teacher vacancies disproportionately affect schools serving Black and Latinx students as well as students from low-income households, according to the report.

Kimako Patterson, chief of staff for the Illinois State Board of Education, said at an Advance Illinois event about the report that teacher shortages are an equity issue. There are about 3,550 teacher vacancies across the state, Patterson said. Of 852 school districts, 79% reportedly have at least one vacancy, and 60% of minority students are in the schools with those vacancies, she said.

Every student in this state deserves an excellent education regardless of where they live, and thats just not occurring to date, Patterson said. Our imperative is to ensure that whether youre in south Cook, west Cook, central Illinois, Chicago, wherever you are in this state, we need to be able to provide the absolute best education and resources for every single student.

As one of the advisers for the report, Chikos said he doesnt see a shortage of educators in his own district, Community High School District 155 in McHenry County. In fact, he said that when teachers come to work at his district, it can put a burden on the districts they are leaving.

He said his district pays significantly better than a lot of the districts around us, but even then administrators tell him theyre getting fewer applicants.

District 155 is considered a destination district, where an educator wants to end up during their career, he said.

According to the report, Illinois had seen an increase in the number of teachers, assistant principals and paraprofessionals working in public pre-K-12 schools in all types of districts from the 2017-18 school year to 2021-22. Student-to-teacher ratios have gotten better, creating smaller class sizes that benefit students, especially in earlier years, the report said.

Paraprofessionals provide support for teachers and students while working under a licensed teacher, such as helping manage a classroom. Chikos said he advocates for paraprofessionals to become teachers, but he knows there are barriers, such as unpaid student teaching requirements.

Paraprofessionals who are already getting paid very little but want to become teachers know they might not get a paycheck for a semester or so while student teaching, and that keeps them off, especially if they have a family to take care of, Chikos said.

Enrollment in teacher preparation programs has increased in Illinois, with a slightly larger percentage of candidates also enrolling in special education programs, according to the report. In these early stages of the educator workforce pipeline, the report said diversity is increasing as well. Those enrolled in teacher preparation programs and even newly hired teachers are much more diverse, which makes for a promising future, the report said.

Latino representation has grown in Illinois at every stage of the pipeline, from student teaching and preparation programs to newly hired teachers and those with years of experience, but getting Black teachers has been more difficult, the report said.

The teacher shortage is like a food shortage, Chikos said. Some people can afford whatever organic, free-range, grass-fed food they want. Most of us get what we need, but comparison shop. And some are chronically hungry. Likewise, some districts can select from hundreds of applicants for every position, most get enough to staff most positions, and some cannot find or retain personnel on an annual basis.

____
This is a photo of three students working on an electrical circuit.

This article was originally published in The Texas Tribune.

MIDLAND  When Giovanni Parras instructor asked the class to weld the opposite ends of a wire during a lesson on soldering, the 16-year-old sprinted to the nearest workstation.

Parra is among dozens of students in a technical education program offered by the Midland school district that is preparing students to work in their own backyard, the oil-rich Permian Basin.

Unlike other classes at his high school, this one makes Parra feel connected to his familys legacy.

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My whole family works in the oil fields, Parra said. Im trying to see what Im good at.

Parra, a sophomore, is one of a few students who have access to this sort of hands-on learning. Within the 55 counties making up the Permian Basin between Texas and New Mexico, just four school districts offer classes that directly prepare students for work in the oil fields  a highly competitive market always short of workers. And two programs are fully enrolled.

In Odessa, hundreds of students are on a waitlist to take classes that teach them the basics of oil and gas.

Midland College assistant professor Anthony Cummins instructs area high school students during an Oil and Gas Production II class. ( Eli Hartman/The Texas Tribune)

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An effort to expand access to oil and gas production courses to other high schools in Texas and New Mexico is underway, led in large part by energy companies. The regions education leaders say the support helps both the schools and the industry.

From the energy industrys perspective, they are developing the next generation of workers, said Scott Muri, superintendent of the public school district in Ector County, which includes Odessa.

Working with the states education department, the Permian Strategic Partnership, an organization made up of the leading energy companies including Chevron, ConocoPhillipps and ExxonMobil, is helping two schools in the Permian Basin and two in New Mexico put in place similar coursework that Parra is learning today.

Despite the fact that the West Texas economy has long run on the extraction business, this is one of the first modern attempts to prepare high school students to work in the fields before they graduate.

Midland College assistant professor Anthony Cummins, right, directs a group of high school students during their Oil and Gas Production II class period on electrical circuits Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in Midland. The Education Partnership of the Permian Basin in collaboration with the Permian Strategic Partnership, which represents local oil and gas companies, designed a curriculum that will introduce vocational oil and gas studies to high school students. Classes will begin to roll out in one area school district starting January of 2024.

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Its part of a shift in public education to work closely with local business leaders to provide students with specific employable skills. The partnership plans to foot the cost of classroom supplies, teacher training and marketing.

The oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin is going to be around for decades to come, said Tracee Bentley, president of Permian Strategic Partnership. We want the region to be successful. We know we are missing out on so much talent right here at home.

A heated statewide debate over how to teach climate change in schools serves as the backdrop to the industrys efforts to expand vocational instruction in the Permian Basin. Last week, the State Board of Education, a 15-member body controlled by Republicans, voted to reject seven of 12 proposed science books.

The board rejected textbooks containing policy solutions for climate change, as well as those published by companies that advocate for certain policies to combat climate change.

Human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel use, are the leading cause of climate change, according to the National Climate Assessment, a federal report requested by Congress in 1990 and signed into law by Republican President George H.W. Bush.

School districts arent obligated to exclusively use state-approved titles, but most will since those books are guaranteed to comply with state standards.

The Permian partnership, which led the $4.5 million effort to put the class in place, declined to specifically address how climate change is addressed in Texas classrooms. In a statement, the partnership said it would follow all state standards.

However, in New Mexico, the partnership said, the curriculum specifically addresses energy efficiency and renewable energy, in addition to oil and natural gas.

Midland College assistant professor Anthony Cummins, right, instructs a group of area high school students in a lesson on electrical circuits during their Oil and Gas Production II class Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in Midland. The Oil and Gas Production class was designed by the Midland Independent School District to teach students vocational oil and gas studies.

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Fall College Data Shows Big Gains  And Jarring Freshmen Declines

The program is one of several industry-specific classes being taught in Texas classrooms. More than 100 courses in Texas schools are offered to educate students on jobs from farming to dentistry to pharmacy.

Establishing and maintaining these skills-specific courses is difficult, said Jeff Horner, executive director of the Career and Technical Education Center in the Midland school district. Getting courses green-lit for the classroom requires exhaustive administrative upkeep to meet requirements, a time and resource-intensive commitment schools cant always afford.

The states education agency calls for sponsors, a pilot program that lasts at least a year, and a renewal every two years. Horner said that fulfilling the states requirements while keeping up with an industry that changes frequently makes the program difficult to maintain with limited resources.

Its hard to keep the students up to date, Horner said.

In Midland, classes are outsourced in the local college, and two instructors who belong to the faculty divvy the workload. One instructor commutes to the high school two times a week, while a second instructor waits for the students to commute from school to attend classes at the college.

From left, high school juniors Kimberly Arredondo, 17, Elyse Alvarez, 16, and Frannevic Alcala, 16, take part in an electrical circuit activity during their Oil and Gas Production II class Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in Midland. The Oil and Gas Production class was designed by the Midland Independent School District to teach students vocational oil and gas studies.

More staff is always ideal but not feasible, said Anthony Cummins, assistant professor of energy at Midland College. Teachers are in short supply, and it can take anywhere from six months to a year before the college secures a qualified instructor, he said.

It can be difficult to hire instructors because we can make more in the oil fields, Cummins said.

Exxon Mobil Corporation has been a financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune, a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.
Nobody who accepts a prominent role in public office expects plain sailing. I have always relished public service and accept its ups and downs, but when the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is criticised, it is never comfortable for me as its chairwoman.

I was grateful to see the investigation into internal complaints made against me close last month. I can wholeheartedly reassure our stakeholders, and the British public we serve, that we are fully committed to learning lessons from those events and making all necessary improvements.

In the meantime, the EHRC has never ceased its work to protect and promote equality and human rights.

Unfortunately, our road to reset and renewal now faces another obstacle. This comes as a challenge, originating from UK campaign groups, to our UN accreditation as an A status national human rights organisation.

Accreditation is reviewed regularly by the relevant body on behalf of the UN, to ensure that the highest standards of human rights protections are upheld. The EHRC went through a successful reaccreditation only last year, which confirmed our A status for the next five years.

The accreditation process for a National Human Rights Institution is different from an assessment of the countrys own human rights legal framework and record. So, for instance, Belgiums and Swedens human rights bodies are rated B, owing to constraints in their constitutional set-up.

Our own reaccreditation last year showed that both our technical and procedural set-up, and our track record of protecting human rights, meet the highest standards. So we are concerned that we are now under review again.

But after our advice to government on the functioning of the Equality Act this April, we experienced targeted action by a group of campaign organisations, who again used the UN accreditation process as a means to undermine our statutory role  which involves a legal duty to advise on the effectiveness of equality laws. These allegations about us followed a letter we sent in April to the minister for women and equalities, who asked for our advice on the definition of the protected characteristic of sex in the Equality Act.

Our advice on this complex and divisive issue made clear that government should lean towards a biological definition of sex as the fairest way of protecting everyones rights, but that it should carefully identify and consider the potential implications of any such change.

We were saddened to see that Stonewall and other campaigners chose to go low with unsubstantiated claims about matters which have little to do with the daily lives of the people or groups who we are there to protect, instead of engaging with us to discuss our proposals to improve the balance of rights and protections.

If they disagree with the content of our advice to government, we stand ready to explain our analysis line by line, which I have done as recently as July 12 in a public session with the Women and Equalities Committee.

So I am disappointed that we now face a special review.

We have already written to the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) to highlight inaccuracies in the submissions made against us, and to strongly reject claims that we are not compliant with the Paris Principles.

We take our duty to champion the rights of everyone, including trans people, incredibly seriously. This has included urging the UK Government to protect individuals with the protected characteristic of gender reassignment from harmful conversion practices and calling on governments across Britain to address unacceptably long waiting times for gender identity and advice services.

We actively engage with different stakeholders on these issues to explain our decision-making and encourage open dialogue, in the spirit of more open, respectful conversations.

And that is exactly where we must strike the right balance for the benefit of everyone. This includes considering, carefully and impartially and on the basis of all the evidence, how the rights of one person, or group, might be affected by the rights of another.

This can put us in a difficult position, but it is an unavoidable part of our role in regulating such complex and evolving areas of law.

As part of the case made against us to the SCA, we were accused of being in cahoots with the UK Government in allegedly seeking to erode the rights of trans people. We absolutely refute this assertion. Our positions on sex and gender have received support from parliamentarians across the party-political divides. We take great pride in our independence from government and continue to demonstrate our impartiality through our willingness to robustly challenge them.

We were unequivocal in raising the potential for our existing human rights protections to be weakened by the Illegal Migration Act that passed over the summer, and we will actively monitor the new programme set out in the recent Kings Speech.

So we are confident that we can respond robustly to any questions the SCA may have for us in spring next year, when we will be invited to attend an interview to discuss the special review of our A-status. In the meantime, we will continue to get on with the job.

At the EHRC, we keep our eyes on our public duty first, which is to protect and promote the rights of everyone  not merely those that shout the loudest.

Baroness Falkner of Margravine is chairwoman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  The Ohio State Highway Patrol said that eight people were killed in seven crashes over the Thanksgiving holiday period. OSHP said the crashes occurred from Wednesday at midnight until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

According to OSHP, this is the fewest deaths from crashes during the Thanksgiving period in five years. Of the eight people killed, one was not wearing a seat belt and another was driving impaired, per OSHP. Last year, 19 people were killed in crashes during the holiday period.

Average gas price in Columbus nearing $3 again

Of the fatal crashes, two occurred in Franklin County with one each in Cuyahoga County, Stark County, Wayne County, Preble County, and Auglaize County. The fatal crash in Preble County was the only one where two people were killed.

The OSHPs report said during the holiday period they arrested 319 people for operating a vehicle while under the influence, a nearly 15% increase compared to 2022. They also arrested 111 people for illegal drugs, a near 16% decrease to last year.

The biggest increase was citations in distracted driving from 99 in 2022 to 181 in 2023, an 82.8% increase. Seat belt citations decreased by nearly 24% from 691 in 2022 to 526 in 2023. For the Ohio State Highway Patrols full report, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
'El Mago,' drug kingpin with ties to cartel druglord 'El Chapo,' shot dead in Los Angeles: authorities

"El Mago," the convicted drug trafficker who has ties to a cartel kingpin, was shot dead in Los Angeles County on Thanksgiving morning, according to authorities.

On Thursday, Eduardo Escobedo, 39, whose nickname "El Mago" translates to "the magician," was one of two men killed in Willowbrook, according to local sources.

Officials stated that both men died at the scene after Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call of shots fired in the area.

A third man, who was not identified, was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries, deputies said.

SON OF MEXICAN DRUG CARTEL KINGPIN 'EL CHAPO' EXTRADITED TO UNITED STATES

Authorities confirm the other victim was also a convicted drug dealer, Guillermo De Los Angeles Jr., 47.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"El Mago" was raised in East Los Angeles and went on to become the primary local marijuana distributor to "El Chapo's" eldest son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, according to reports.

US IMPOSES SANCTIONS ON 9 SINALOA CARTEL AFFILIATES AND CLAN DEL GOLFO LEADER IN DRUG TRAFFICKING CRACKDOWN

A multi-agency investigation targeting the Sinaloa Drug Cartel.

Escobedo also allegedly laundered the drug earnings by purchasing exotic cars and shipping them to the cartel's main hub in Culiacan, Sinaloas capital.

After serving nearly five years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute more than 22,000 pounds of pot, Escobedo was released from prison in 2018.





Original article source: 'El Mago,' drug kingpin with ties to cartel druglord 'El Chapo,' shot dead in Los Angeles: authorities
LOS ANGELES - Convicted drug trafficker "El Mago," who has ties to the son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was shot dead in Los Angeles County, according to authorities.

Eduardo Escobedo, 39, was one of two men killed Thanksgiving morning along Towne Avenue in Willowbrook, local sources confirmed with FOX News. The other victim was convicted drug dealer Guillermo De Los Angeles Jr., 47.

Both men died at the scene after Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call reporting shots fired in the area. A third man who was not identified was taken to the hospital for treatment of non-life threatening injuries.

Escobedo, whose nickname "El Mago" translates to "the magician," was raised in East Los Angeles and went on to become the primary local marijuana distributor to El Chapo's eldest son, Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, according to the publication.

File photo of drug trafficker Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman at Mexico's International Airport in Mexico city, Mexico, on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2014. Photographer: Susana Gonzalez/Bloomberg via Getty Images

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Escobedo also allegedly laundered the drug earnings by purchasing exotic cars and shipping them to the cartel's main hub in Culiacan, Sinaloas capital.

He served nearly five years in federal prison for conspiring to distribute more than 22,000 lbs. of pot and laundering drug proceeds. He was released in 2018.

After eluding capture for more than a dozen years, El Chapo was arrested in 2014 in Mazatlan. In 2019, he was convicted by a jury of being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, a count that includes 26 drug-related violations and one murder conspiracy, through his leadership of the Mexican organized crime syndicate known as the Sinaloa Cartel. In 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and was ordered to pay $12.6 billion in forfeiture.

El Chapo's wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, was released in September of this year from a California halfway house. Aispuro was sentenced in 2021 to three years in prison after pleading guilty to helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire. She had faced a minimum of 10 years in prison, but was subject to a so-called "safety valve" provision because she had no criminal record, was not considered a leader and was not involved with violence.


Work is underway at the tent city site in the Brighton Park neighborhood on Nov. 27, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune)

Chicagos first government-run tent encampment for migrants is slated to begin construction at a controversial Southwest Side site this week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Monday in his most hands-on involvement yet in Mayor Brandon Johnsons effort to shelter asylum-seekers.

Pritzker revealed his more prominent role in running the lot on 38th Street and California Avenue in Brighton Park as well as plans for a new temporary housing facility in Little Village that will serve as the states first migrant shelter. The two sites will hold up to 2,200 asylum-seekers combined and be funded by the state as part of its $160 million infusion toward migrant services.

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The governors new tack in dealing with Chicagos migrant crisis comes after he faced criticism from officials at City Hall who said the state wasnt doing enough to help. Hell now have an opportunity to say hes leading in addressing the unprecedented influx of asylum-seekers, but will also bear more of the responsibility if things go badly.

And hes likely to anger neighbors around the Brighton Park site who have opposed its conversion into the migrant encampment.

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Pritzker is prepared to shoulder any political blowback that may come from taking a leading role in standing up the tent encampment in the lot near 38th and California, a location chosen by the city that appears to be the most expedient option, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said.

The governor has led the state through many crises at this point, and political considerations have never been the reason to do something or not do something, Abudayyeh said. We are at an inflection point where it is quickly getting colder and colder each day. People are sleeping outdoors, and we dont have any other options.

In a statement, Pritzkers administration noted the camp will not officially open its doors until assessments on environmental concerns  part of the local alderman and community advocates frustrations  conclude.

The state hopes to have results from the environmental study by the end of the week and has reached an agreement with GardaWorld Federal Services  a private security firm the state is contracting to build and run the camps  under which the company wont bill for work performed there if the site proves not to be inhabitable, Abudayyeh said.

Both that base camp and the brick-and-mortar shelter could open as early as mid-December and will have indoor heating, meals and social services such as assistance with applying for work permits, all to be funded by the state.

Migrants walk outside the Chicago police 1st District station on South State Street as cold temperatures descend into the area on Nov. 27, 2023. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

Priority for those beds will be given to families and disabled individuals sleeping outdoors at Chicago police stations or at OHare International Airport.

Asylum-seekers have traveled thousands of miles and entered this country legally in search of a better life, and we cannot allow them to be met with subfreezing temperatures and inadequate shelter, Pritzker said in a statement. These two new shelter sites will provide transitionary housing for more than 2,000 new arrivals as they apply for work permits and strive for independence.

The latest update came on the heels of more objections to the Brighton Park encampment from Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, who said Saturday that GardaWorld would begin erecting tents Monday on the lot at 38th and California.

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Mayoral spokesman Ronnie Reese at first did not address questions about her announcement on that timeline but later said that was not the case and only delivery and staging of equipment has been scheduled for today so construction can begin at a later date.

Reached by phone Monday, Ramirez said regardless of construction being done today, I think its important that the administration be very clear about whether or not theyve made that decision.

Reese said the weekslong endeavor to assess the sites viability should conclude this week.

The city conducted site visits and investigated preexisting conditions to determine any potential environmental impacts at the site, he said Sunday. These common mitigation strategies are ongoing and anticipated for completion by the end of this week, weather permitting.

The Johnson administration has grappled with community pushback amid mixed messaging on the 38th and California site, most notably this weekend when Ramirez released her public letter on construction that the city then refuted ahead of Pritzkers own announcement Monday.

A handful of Brighton Park residents, waving American flags, gathered Monday afternoon in subfreezing temperatures outside the parking lot, saying they were glad construction hadnt begun yet but they were confused about the upcoming timeline.

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Some of them have been coming to protest on the street corner since they first heard about plans for the base camp in early October because they were anxious about the impact of thousands of migrants moving into the neighborhood, they said.

We oppose the construction of refugee camps here. We are uneasy and scared, read a sign hung up on the fence of a house facing the proposed encampment site.

Jacquelyn Zuniga, 34, has lived in Brighton Park for 15 years. She said she saw construction crews had been working at night, installing lights and pipes, and early this morning took it a step further and began leveling gravel. But despite the countless hours she and other residents have spent resisting the proposed encampment, they feel their messages to the city are going nowhere.

You cant bring issues up with the city when theyre neglecting to hear what you have to say, Zuniga said.

The mayor announced his plan in September to erect the heated tent encampments for incoming migrants as they wait for a bed in the citys shelter system, but the two pending locations at the Brighton Park lot and a shuttered Jewel-Osco at 115th and Halsted streets on the Far South Side have still not opened.

Reese said Monday that the former grocery store site too is under environmental assessment, with no state involvement.

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As for whether Pritzkers announcement signals the state is taking over from the city in running the base camp strategy, Reese said: There are no additional base camps so that question is a bit premature.

Ramirez, alderman of the Southwest Side ward where the lot is located, again voiced her frustrations this weekend in announcing the tents were going up despite protests from neighbors.

The administrations decision to proceed without addressing our concerns not only undermines transparency and efforts of co-governance, she wrote, but also disregards the well-being of everyone in our community, including the asylum-seekers who have come to our great city seeking safety and refuge.

People protest across the street from a proposed migrant tent camp site at 38th Street and California Avenue in Chicago on Nov. 16, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Ramirez referred to an environmental impact study conducted on the site, the results of which she said have yet to be shared with her or her constituents. She said her office had been informed of the presence of toxic metals in the soil, but even though the pollution had been remediated she still worried about the safety and health of new arrivals.

Local environmental justice activists have raised concerns about what testing, if any, has been carried out at the site. They also say the location proposed to house thousands of the citys most vulnerable people is in an industrial zone near an interstate and was once home to a zinc smelter that might still render the land toxic.

It is essential for residents of this community to be fully aware of the environmental impacts and potential risks associated with this project, Ramirez said. We have a right to know if the site is safe for both asylum-seekers and community members at large.

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Plans for the first migrant encampment with winterized tents to be set up at Brighton Park were floated around mid-October. The citys six-month, $548,400 land use contract for the site at 3710 S. California Ave. was approved shortly after, eliciting objections from Ramirez, who said she had not been notified the lease for the site in her ward had been signed.

Growing tensions have spilled out a few times since residents in the Southwest Side neighborhood first got wind of the citys plans: A crowd swarmed Ramirez at a protest and a few days later a group scuffled with police ahead of a community meeting.

Meanwhile, the Little Village site will be in a former CVS store in the 2600 block of South Pulaski Road, where city and state officials have been talking about opening a shelter since at least May.

The site would be able to house about 200 migrants, said Rachel Otwell, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Human Services.

GardaWorld, which will run day-to-day operations at both the tent encampment and the CVS site, has been integral in developing those plans after working with the state on previous endeavors to convert a former Kmart store into a shelter. Those plans have not come to fruition.

As of Monday, more than 22,600 migrants have arrived in Chicago in the last 15 months, per city data. But as wintry weather continues, the Johnson administration has emptied out eight of the 21 police stations where mini-tent cities had cropped up and families often slept on lobby floors in squalid conditions.

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Now 1,200 migrants remain at the Chicago police districts, with another 170 at OHare International Airport. Thats down from a peak of about 3,800 migrants across the stations and airports. Another 12,800 of them were at the city-run shelters.

ayin@chicagotribune.com

nsalzman@chicagotribune.com

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com
Elon Musk is seeking to do damage control amid an advertising pullout over antisemitic remarks he made on X, the troubled social media platform once known as Twitter that the billionaire took over last year.

Musk on Monday took a tour of an Israeli kibbutz attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his guide.

The Israeli government published photos of Musks visit, saying he was shown a residence where a Shaar HaNegev Regional Council chair was killed on the morning of the attack during an exchange of gunfire.

Netanyahu also took Musk to a second residence, where the tech and media mogul was told the story of a 4-year-old Israeli girl whose parents were killed before she was abducted by Hamas.

The trip, which at times resembled a state visit, was not without controversy. Critics of Netanyahu basked the Israeli leader and Musk for the image rehabilitation effort.

Blatant antisemite & publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel, wrote Esther Solomon, the editor-in-chief of independent Israeli newspaper Haaretz. Instead, Netanyahu  plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy  gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of them.

Musk sparked widespread outrage and condemnation days earlier with a social media post that agreed with a user who appeared to be touting the great replacement theory that Jewish people and American elites are seeking to replace white American populations with nonwhite immigrants.

The post stated: Jewish communities have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

You have said the actual truth, Musk replied to the user.

Musk was already taking heat at the time of the post after the progressive watchdog Media Matters for America issued a report laying out how X is placing advertising next to hateful content. Musk has responded by suing the watchdog, alleging it is maliciously lying about how the platform operates.

The billionaires interaction with the antisemitic post and the Media Matters report have combined to result in some of the worlds largest companies, such as Apple and IBM, pulling advertising from the platform.

It all seems contrived for the cameras and to try and salvage relationships with advertisers, Imran Ahmad, founder and CEO of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, told The Hill of Musks trip to Israel this week.

It feels like a cynical corporate whitewashing of the fact that he has been integral in spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories himself and has turned Twitter into a platform where antisemitism can run rampant, Ahmad added.

Musks visit also came as the Israeli government said Monday the country had come to an agreement for it to use Starlink satellites in Israel. Starlink, which is operated by Musks company SpaceX, is a network of thousands of satellites that can provide high-speed internet across the world.

Musk is looking to shift the narrative around his companies based on multiple factors, others say.

The trip seems less of a rehabilitation effort and more of a business deal, said Nora Benavidez, senior counsel and director for digital justice and civil rights at the Free Press Action Fund.

Musk has a long history of shutting down speech he dislikes and engaging with dangerous and extremist voices. With potential control of internet access in a war time region there are far bigger concerns beyond just the content moderation on a platform he has driven to the ground.

Musk has reshaped Xs community guidelines and loosened rules for content, some of which has led to a proliferation of far-right and unverified content spreading across the platform.

Musk himself regularly interacts with popular conservative pundits and influencers on his platform, sparking controversy last October after he promoted an unfounded theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi, Rep. Nancy Pelosis (D-Calif.) husband.

Musk, who has claimed legacy media companies are trying to destroy X by any means necessary, directly addressed the outrage his recent posts about Israel have sparked earlier this month.

This past week, there were hundreds of bogus media stories claiming that I am antisemitic, Musk said. Nothing could be further from the truth. I wish only the best for humanity and a prosperous and exciting future for all.

But tech and media watchdogs say Musks track record suggests otherwise, and as a result, the unpredictable billionaire is facing a major reputational crisis.

After he engaged with that content, he obviously realized he needed to take significant action to publicly distance himself from that, said Emerson T. Brooking, a resident senior fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Lab of the Atlantic Council.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In his latest, greatest achievement, Elon Musk has managed to do something offensive in three different countries in less than 24 hours.

The X (formerly Twitter) owner has come under fire recently for how much hate speech, antisemitism, and extremist content has flourished on the social networkincluding from Musks personal account. Rather than address a problem that has advertisers rankled anew, he spent the weekend exacerbating these problems.



On Sunday night, Musk weighed in on a new law proposed in Ireland, meant to curtail online hate speech. Irish lawmakers announced they plan to enact a law to crack down on racist hate speech online, a move that would make certain extremist memes and other online content illegal, in response to anti-immigration riots that roiled Dublin last week.



In one particularly harrowing incident, a man attacked five people outside an elementary school on Thursday, injuring at least three children and one woman. Police did not reveal the mans identity to the public, but rumors began to spread that he was an Algerian national, sparking violent protests in central Dublin.



Naturally, Musk was averse to the efforts to combat hate speech and violent rhetoric. Language being proposed as law in Ireland means this could literally happen to you for having a meme on your phone, Musk tweeted, setting off a firestorm of far-right conspiracies in his comments.



This isnt the first time Musk has felt the need to butt into Irish politics. In September, he opposed the countrys first antihate speech law, arguing that it infringed on freedom of speech. But Musk has made clear that his idea of free speech is simply the right to say whatever you want with no repercussions. That is, provided that you arent using your free speech to criticize him.



It may be that Musk doesnt want limits placed on his own social media activity, which in recent weeks has included repeatedly sharing antisemitic content on X. And yet, on Monday, he flew to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other leaders. While there, Musk toured several areas that had been attacked by Hamas.



His warm welcome is shocking considering that just two weeks ago, Musk endorsed a violently antisemitic conspiracy theory that argued Jewish communities hate white people. Meanwhile, multiple major advertisers have yanked their business from X following a report that the platform has been placing brand ads next to posts that promote Hitler and Nazi beliefs.



All of Musks antics are not going over so well in France, however. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced Monday that she has quit X because it is a gigantic global sewer that is destroying our democracies.



In the little more than a year that Musk has owned X, he has decimated the platforms value. Meanwhile, hate speech has flourished during his reign. This change occurred nearly immediately: The social media research group National Contagion Research Institute found that in the 12 hours after Musk bought X, the use of the n-word increased almost 500 percent.



Musk is often a major source of this hate speech and disinformation. In addition to promulgating aggressively antisemitic posts, Musk has been highly solicitous to neo-Nazi posters on X, habitually shared transphobic content, and repeatedly spread conspiracy theories.
Elon Musk (L) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) receive a briefing from officials as they tour Kibbutz Kfar Aza in Israel on Monday. The settlement was destroyed by Hamas during its attacks on October 7. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/Israel Government Press Office

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Elon Musk on Monday toured a kibbutz razed by Hamas alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ahead of a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who was expected to push for more to be done to tackle anti-Semitism online.

During his visit to the Kfar Aza Kibbutz, where 52 people were massacred during Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks, the pair went to the family home of the newly released hostage Abigail Edan. Musk heard how the 4-year-old's parents died and she was abducted and taken to Gaza.

Earlier, in a live-streamed conversation, Musk, who has been under fire over his apparent endorsement of an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory post on his X platform and tolerating hate speech on the site, told Netanyahu he agreed Hamas must be destroyed.

"Those who are intent on murder must be neutralized," Musk said. "Then the propaganda must stop. They're just training people to be murderers."

But he also called for Gaza to be rebuilt and made prosperous.

Elon Musk (C) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) inspect the aftermath of Hamas' attack on Kfar Aza Kibbutz in southern Israel on Monday. Photo by Amos Ben-Gershom/Israel Government Press Office

Herzog's office said representatives of the families of hostages were also expected to be present at the meeting with Musk in Jerusalem, which would be held in private.

Musk's visit came as Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi welcomed SpaceX's acceptance of what Israel said was a "vital" veto over any future planned provision of its Starlink Internet service in Gaza.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel on Monday. Herzog was scheduled to hold a private meeting later Monday with Elon Musk. Pool Photo by Ronen Zvulun/UPI

The billionaire sparked a row with Jerusalem in October after saying he wanted to deploy the satellite service over Gaza to restore telecommunications to internationally recognized aid organizations operating there, which have suffered repeated communications blackouts since Israel launched its military offensive.

Israel responded by threatening to block Starlink by any means necessary, arguing that Hamas might use it for military purposes.

"As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip," Karhi wrote on X, welcoming Musk to Israel.

"During your time in Israel, I hope that you will be able to gain valuable insight, and that it will serve as a springboard for future endeavors, as well as enhance your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire world."

SpaceX, whose network of more than 3,500 low-Earth orbit satellites provide Internet to remote regions or places where communications infrastructure has been damaged or disabled, launched 95 satellites in a six-day period in March 2022 to help Ukraine after its communications were disrupted by Russian forces.
Elon Musk toured the site of the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas in southern Israel on Monday, as the billionaire made a wartime visit to the nation amid allegations of antisemitism.

Musk has faced a flurry of criticism in recent days following his apparent endorsement of an antisemitic post on his social media platform, X, and a report by media watchdog Media Matters which found that antisemitic posts frequently appeared next to ads from companies like Apple and IBM.

Musk, who operates the satellite internet service provider Starlink through his company SpaceX, reportedly reached an agreement with the Israeli government to limit the use of the ISP in the Gaza Strip and to implement it only with the permission of the Israeli government. Musk had previously said that Starlink would offer connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza which has seen constant internet blackouts as major operators services were down due to fuel shortages. The Israeli government rebuffed Musks offer last month, arguing that Hamas could use it as an organizational tool.

Musks visit has prompted backlash from some members of the Israeli media, who criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for hosting a man they view as antisemitic. Hard to stomach welcoming someone who just days ago endorsed a virulently antisemitic trope, has dabbled for years in antisemitism and has turned this platform into a cesspool of hate, Amy Spiro, a Times of Israel journalist, wrote on X. The billionaire should be persona non grata in Israel, Haaretz editor-in-chief Esther Solomon posted, adding, Instead, Netanyahu  plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy  gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of them.

Antisemitism in the U.S. has seen an significant rise this year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported last month. The organization tracked 312 antisemitic incidents in the first three weeks of the Israel-Hamas war, and found a nearly 400% increase in hateful incidents against Jewish people when compared to the same period last year. Some of that hatred is flourishing on X: Researchers for the The Center for Countering Digital Hate found moderators on the site had failed to remove antisemitic, anti-Muslim, and anti-Palestinian content following the war. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt was recently criticized for praising Musks leadership in fighting hate after Musk said that using terms such as decolonization and from the river to the sea would result in suspension from X.

A dozen brands paused their advertising spending on X last week following the Media Matters findings. X has seen an exodus of advertisers  a key pillar of its business model  since Musk took over the platform last year. Pro-Nazi accounts are thriving on the site, and moderators have done little to prevent them from posting antisemitic content. Musks apparent endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory follows the billionaires own political shift in recent years, including his frequent engagement with influential right-wing provocateurs, Bloomberg notes.
At the Vietnam Veterans of America biennial convention two years ago, delegates voted resoundingly against a resolution that would have opened the groups membership to future generations of veterans and descendants of current members.

Only those who served on active duty during the Vietnam War are eligible for membership, and this decision cemented the fact that the organization would cease to exist when the last Vietnam veteran dies.

At this years convention, VVA approved a roadmap for planning an orderly dissolution. They established a legacy task force to develop a plan. At the same time, they voted against fixing a specific future date for dissolution, which will make VVA a Last Man Standing organization.

I fully support the Last Man Standing concept, said Father Phil Salois, who leads the James Michael Ray Memorial VVA Chapter 818 in northern Rhode Island and is the VVAs national chaplain.

In my opinion, allowing descendants to carry on would never work long-term, added Salois, who earned a Silver Star as a grunt in Vietnam before he became a priest.

Salois points to the example of the United Spanish War Veterans (a group that had a powerful presence in Rhode Island, incidentally). That group existed until 1992, when its last member, Nathan E. Cook, died one month before his 107th birthday. (Cook was actually a veteran of the Philippine Insurrection of 18991902. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1901 at the age of 16.)

RI Aviation Hall of Fame honors 10

Maj. Gen. Chris Callahan, left, Rhode Island's adjutant general, and retired Navy Capt. Rich Suttie, right, an Aviation Hall of Fame Board member, flank brothers David and Skip Carter at the Hall of Fame's annual event Nov 18. David accepted an award on behalf of their father, Lynn, a WWII bomber pilot and Brown University graduate who died in 2014. Skip accepted his own award; a naval aviator, he flew combat missions off carrier decks in Vietnam and later became a commercial 747 captain.

Some 200 family members and guests packed the Scottish Rite Center in Cranston on Nov. 18 for the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame's recognition of its 21st group of honorees. (Full disclosure: This is an organization and event in which I am actively involved.)

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner welcomed the guests, while Rhode Islands Adjutant General, Maj. Gen. Chris Callahan, participated in the individual presentations.

The honored guest for the evening was Dewey Turilli of Warwick, a WWII Iwo Jima veteran who will be 101 in February. Other highlights included awards to a father/son team with service in WWII and Vietnam, respectively (Lynn and Skip Carter); to the former CO of the Navy squadron supporting Operation Deep Freeze who later became the first manager of the Quonset Industrial park (Cmdr. John Dana); and to Merlyn OKeefe, a prominent Rhode Island businessman and political influencer who flew for Britain in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. A full list of the honorees can be found on the Hall of Fame website: riahof.org

The highlight of the event was Callahans presentation of the Rhode Island Star, the states most prestigious award, to retired Army major and Vietnam helicopter pilot David Nuttall for his many years of service to the Rhode Island National Guard. This was a surprise for Nuttall, whose brother, retired Maj. Gen. Jim Nuttall, pinned the award on his chest.

U.S. Rep. Seth Magaziner greets 100-year-old Dewey Turilli of Warwick, who was a P-51 Mustang ground crew member on Iwo Jima in 1945. Magaziner gave welcoming remarks at the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame's annual dinner and award ceremony on Nov. 18.

Italo-American veterans group arranges Thanksgiving dinner

Thanksgiving Day turned into a much more festive occasion than several veterans might have expected. The Rhode Island Chapter of Italian-American War Veterans of the United States provided a free traditional Thanksgiving dinner buffet with all the trimmings for veterans, active-duty service members and their families at Perellas Ristorante in Warren last Thursday.

Retired Army Master Sgt. John A. Cianci, Veteran Service Officer, reported that Louie Perella closed his restaurant to the public to support the event. Additionally, he allowed the veterans into Louies world  his kitchen!

The group also arranged home delivery to shut-ins and veterans and families who could not make it to the restaurant.

Meals were prepared by other veterans with the assistance of volunteers from Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut.

Announcements

Who needs volunteers? Who wants to volunteer? Many veteran-centric organizations have events or projects that are labor-intensive and could use volunteer help to get them across the finish line. On the other hand, some of you readers may have some extra time that you would be willing to donate to a worthy project or cause. If you fall in either category, please email the address below and we will try to make the appropriate connections.

Trading post/giving station: As the holidays approach, many veteran groups as well as others serving veterans and their families find themselves in need of supplies or equipment to help them with their missions. If you fall in that category, please email the address below and we will communicate your needs to those who may be able to help. Conversely, if your company or group has surplus inventory or equipment you are no longer using, please reach out. We will try to connect you so that we can all help veterans in need better face the challenges ahead.

Heres the email: veteranscolumn@providencejournal.com

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Last Man Standing: Vietnam veterans group plans to cease existence
Warm and sunny Cadiz, in South-West Spain, back in 2016, feels like a world away from rainy Britain in late November 2023. But it was there that one Joaquin Garcia, a civil servant, managed to be absent from his job supervising the construction of a waste water treatment plant for six whole years whilst still being paid.

In this respect, Britain has become just like this Spanish town, for local councils are now admitting to some employees getting caught moonlighting while working from home. In Senor Garcias case, he stayed at home and read philosophical works; but council workers back in Blighty are taking advantage of the new WFH culture by taking whole other jobs and pocketing two pay cheques.

Work from home has been a feature of the modern workplace since the lockdowns, and it is proving an intractable issue. Private sector businesses should be free to have whatever legal working practices they wish. But it should a different story in the public sector, where government bosses, both local and national, have an extra responsibility to help train the next generation of administrators and officials. Junior civil servants and council staff benefit enormously from being in the office, meeting peers and watching their superiors operate. It allows for a freer flow of ideas, for problems to be solved more quickly and for managers to assess strengths and weaknesses of their teams and address those points accordingly.

Taxpayers deserve to know that their hard-earned cash that props up the state is being spent on this kind of diligent leadership, as they are the ones who will feel the benefits (or the detriments if not addressed). That we are now discovering such flagrant abuses of the system is maddening, but it is hardly surprising.

If so many in the public sector have so little to do in the day that they can fill whole other jobs, then perhaps this also tells us about how bloated these organisations have become. You would have hoped that staff would be in the office, eager to show their bosses how hard they work for the public; for those without that zeal to show such contempt for those who pay their wages shows how much scope there is for widespread reform.

Alternatively, of course, we could embrace more part-time jobs, with pay to reflect it, and encourage civil servants and officials to have other work that positively enhances their abilities.

I passionately believe MPs ought to have second jobs, too. If the MP for Richmond, N Yorks, is able to hold down a second job (in his case at least properly declared) as First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, backbenchers should be encouraged to learn about what is happening in the worlds of business, charity and elsewhere.

Maybe then they would spend less time coming up with pointless laws banning smoking, or campaigning to block essential new houses. They might even learn a thing or two in the process, as well.

With an AI revolution around the corner, the last thing workshy officials in local government should be doing is highlighting how irrelevant their jobs actually are. But perhaps they are too busy with their second jobs to notice that.

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NEW YORK  Eric Adams threw cold water on the prospect of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo running for mayor of New York City.

Adams in a radio interview Monday dismissed talk of Cuomo seeking his job, though acknowledged the three-term former governor is considering some sort of comeback to politics following his 2021 resignation.

We talk often, Adams told La Mega 97.9. I dont see him running for mayor. I think he is looking at his next political move and there is a lot of things he can look at, but I have to be ready to run New York and that is what Im focused on doing right now.

POLITICO reported last week Cuomo is weighing a bid for mayor as Adams campaign is under scrutiny by federal investigators stemming from whether it colluded with the Turkish government in exchange for official favors.



Cuomo has indicated to allies this month he could be interested in a mayoral bid, and voters in New York City received a poll testing a variety of comeback messages for the former governor. Cuomo, 65, has not ruled out a return to politics, telling POLITICO in October he is keeping his options open.

But multiple people familiar with Cuomos thinking do not expect him to directly challenge Adams in a Democratic primary, a contest that would divide working class Black voters, unions and the business community  a coalition both men have drawn support from in their campaigns.

Adams woes have deepened further last week after he was accused in a lawsuit of sexually assaulting a woman in 1993 when he was a member of the NYPD. Adams has denied ever meeting the woman.

Cuomo, who resigned amid a barrage of sexual harassment and inappropriate conduct allegations, is also facing a new lawsuit filed against him by former aide Brittany Commisso.

Commisso alleges Cuomo groped her while at the governors mansion in Albany in 2020  a claim that Albany County District Attorney David Soares declined pursue in a criminal case. Commisso was among the women whose allegations were included a bombshell report released by New York Attorney General Tish James that preceded Cuomos resignation weeks later.

Cuomo has denied any wrongdoing.

Ms. Commissos claims are provably false, which is why the Albany District Attorney dismissed the case two years ago after a thorough investigation, Cuomo attorney Rita Glavin said. Ms. Commissos transparent attempt at a cash grab will fail. We look forward to seeing her in court.

Commissos civil case joins two other lawsuits previously filed against Cuomo by former aide Charlotte Bennett and a former member of his State Police security detail who have also alleged the former governor sexually harassed them.

Joe Anuta contributed to this report.
Paramedics transfer a survivor of a shipwreck at a hospital, on the northeastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos, Greece, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. A cargo ship sank off the Greek island of Lesbos early Sunday, leaving 13 crew members missing and one rescued, authorities said. The Raptor, registered in the Comoros, was on its way to Istanbul from Alexandria, Egypt, carrying 6,000 tons of salt, the coast guard said. It had a crew of 14, including eight Egyptians, four Indians and two Syrians, the coast guard said.(AP Photo/Panagiotis Balaskas)

ATHENS, Greece (AP)  The European Union's border protection agency Frontex has joined the search for 12 crew members missing after a cargo ship sank in rough weather the previous day near the Greek island of Lesbos, authorities said Monday. A 40-year-old Egyptian crew member was rescued on Sunday while the body of another Egyptian member of the crew was recovered by a commercial vessel that was assisting in the search. The Comoros-flagged Raptor was transporting salt from Alexandria, Egypt, to Istanbul and issued a distress signal before the vessel sank. It had a crew of 14, including eight Egyptians, four Indians and two Syrians, the coast guard said.

The ship reported a mechanical problem at 7 a.m. Sunday, sent a distress signal at 8:20 a.m. and shortly after disappeared about 4 1/2 nautical miles (8 kilometers) southwest of Lesbos, authorities said.

Frontex, which patrols the Lesbos area monitoring for illegal migration, sent a surveillance aircraft and a patrol boat to join the Greek coast guard search.
The French, German, Spanish and Italian consulates in Scotland have written to the University of Aberdeen raising concerns about potential cuts to modern language courses.

The joint letter was sent ahead of the expected publication of proposals this week which will outline the future of language courses at the university.

It is understood the withdrawal of honours degrees is an option.

Aberdeen University said it had seen falling demand for language degrees.

The joint letter, shown to BBC Scotland News, has called for "clear signs of commitment" from the university to linguistic and cultural studies, and for a solution to any cuts to be found.

It said: "We have received with concern, persistent rumours about the possibility of a closing or dramatic reduction in the academic offer of the modern languages department at Aberdeen University.

"In a time of widespread budgetary constraints, we believe it is important to defend and preserve linguistic and cultural studies as an essential part of the university's commitment to humanities."

The representatives of the four nations have urged university bosses to protect language teaching in the north of Scotland because the nearest equivalent course is at St Andrews.

'Accelerating reduction'

They added: "We would like to ask you to consider further and increased interaction with the academic staff of the linguistic department in order to find solutions that preserve their immense contribution to Aberdeen in Scotland."

The University of Aberdeen said it has set up a steering group which would bring forward any plans for consultation.

Senior management are meeting with students on Monday for a Q&A session on the changes at King's College on the campus.

Responding to the letter, Karl Leydecker, vice-principal of the University of Aberdeen said: "I would like to reassure you that the University is committed to continuing to provide opportunities for all students at the University of Aberdeen to learn languages.

"But we are unfortunately not in a position to make a commitment to the continuation of our current provision given the long term and accelerating reduction in enrolments for degrees in modern languages."

The potential changes to modern language courses follow recent cost pressures at the University.

Staff have been told they will be "supported" if they are thinking about a voluntary exit or early retirement.
Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, has admitted that the European Union will face more obstacles in getting support from the United Nations for decisions on Ukraine due to the situation in the Middle East.

Source: European Pravda, citing Borrell in an interview with La Vanguardia

Quote: "Look at the response from Latin America... Some countries have summoned our ambassadors to inform them that they consider our attitude towards Gaza inconsistent with what we stand for in Ukraine."

Details: The European diplomat noted that countries such as Chile, which had significantly contributed to condemning Russia, say they do not understand the EU's stance on Gaza.

"They don't think we are consistent. The conflicts are different, but world public opinion compares our stance on both," Borrell added.

The official stated that the EU's attitude towards the conflict in Gaza has weakened the bloc's positions.

"The leader of one of the Arab countries put it quite sharply: it seems that we do not value the lives of both sides equally," Borrell said.

Background:

Josep Borrell stated that the European Union is facing growing hostility in the Muslim world and beyond due to accusations of pro-Israeli bias and double standards concerning the war in Gaza.

The EU diplomacy chief also mentioned that the Palestinian Authority should take control of the Gaza Strip once the war between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group is over.

Before that, Borrell urged Israel against letting its rage consume it in the war against the Hamas terrorist group.

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Customers visit Limestone Coffee and Tea in Batavia on Small Business Saturday over the weekend. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News)

Chad Watson of Batavia likes to spend his consumer dollars as close to home as possible.

Shopping locally means putting money back into your community, Watson said as he stood outside Kiss the Sky record shop in Batavia on Small Business Saturday over the weekend. I think mom and pop stores are very important for the community and its a rallying point for people who live here as well as its nice to see local vendors get their due as opposed to big box stores and such.

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With the Black Friday shopping barrage behind them, shoppers the next day turned their attention to Small Business Saturday, first launched nationally back on Nov. 27, 2010, to highlight smaller independent retailers who still make up the majority of the business fabric of the country.

The first event was created by American Express and has continued to be the focus of a national campaign embraced by local communities and business groups like the Batavia Chamber of Commerce.

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Margaret Perreault, president and CEO of the Batavia Chamber, confirmed the importance of small businesses to a community and that people want to support them.

We have the philosophy all year long about shop small, shop local but we definitely want our local residents to take that to heart at this time of the year, Perreault said. Businesses are typically in the red until this time of the year and this is an opportunity to lift them up and really help them out as they are critical to our town and economic vitality and the unique features of our town.

During the pandemic, Perreault said residents really came out to support our own but unfortunately as time as gone on we dont hear it being discussed as much.

Its just as critically necessary and I really encourage out local community to get that feeling back, she said. We really need our local businesses to thrive to make our town wonderful.

Aurora resident Grace Quesada says shopping locally is something she likes to do whenever possible. Thousands across the Aurora area celebrated Small Business Saturday over the weekend which put the focus on smaller shops in the region. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News)

Many retailers around the Fox Valley were offering special incentives to celebrate Small Business Saturday.

Watson said designating a specific day for small businesses was important.

I think it does help highlight them a bit, but in general shopping local in your town is better than not, he said. Its where you live and where youre paying your taxes and youre putting money back into all the spots that are there.

In Aurora, resident Grace Quesada said she supports local and if there is a big box retailer I try and go to a mom and pop if I can.

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Becky Hagerman, who was visiting Aurora over the weekend from Virginia, said that shopping locally gives consumers the chance to buy unique things. (David Sharos/The Beacon-News)

I think the products are more authentic and if you support the local people, its better for the community, she said. I support friends that do crafts and bows and things that they like to sell on their own.

Becky Hagerman from Virginia was shopping in Aurora while visiting her daughter on Saturday and said that shopping locally offers a unique experience.

When you shop locally, youre seeing unique businesses run by people who are committed to the community and have a reason to be here, she said. I like the unique and unusual things that box stores are not going to carry. The things you look for in a small town, a small business.

David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
The European Commission has commented on a possible trip by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, together with a delegation, to attend a ministerial meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to be held in North Macedonia.

Source: Peter Stano, EC Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, during a briefing, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Stano noted that Lavrov is "of course" under sanctions, but "derogations" or "exceptions" are possible from the restrictions.

Quote: "And this is linked exactly to participation in multilateral forums such as the UN, or OSCE in this case."

He also pointed out that sanctioned individuals can travel to the EU or countries that back EU sanctions if the purpose of their stay "is linked to the reason why they were listed".

"And logically, the OSCE, as an organisation for cooperation and security in Europe, has as a very important part of its agenda the current aggression by Russia in Ukraine," Stano added.

The spokesperson said the EU would not object if the North Macedonian or other authorities permit Lavrovs plane to fly through their airspace or allow the Russian minister to personally attend the meeting.

"It would be okay if countries decide to allow the plane of the Russian Federation to fly over their territory, or if the authorities of North Macedonia allow the landing and participation of Lavrov in person," he emphasised.

Stano added that the OSCE meeting is another platform where European representatives will be able to confront the Russians face to face about the illegality of their aggression against Ukraine and expose their manipulative statements.

Background:

Earlier, reports emerged that the North Macedonian government has given permission for Russian planes to fly over its territory so that the Russian delegation can attend the OSCE ministerial meeting.

According to media reports, the delegation will consist of a total of 85 people: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, "his doctor, technical staff, security", 17 diplomats, including Maria Zakharova, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, and 24 journalists.

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Two-way trade between New Zealand and the EU is expected to grow by 30 percent under their pact (Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD)

Brussels on Monday gave the final green light for an EU-New Zealand trade deal that, while mutually lowering barriers for both markets, highlights the recent failure of EU-Australia negotiations.

The European Council, representing the EU's 27 member countries, said it adopted the New Zealand pact, setting it up come into force "probably in early 2024" once Wellington ratifies it.

The deal provides for a phased-in slashing of duties on New Zealand imports of lamb, beef, wine and fruit such as kiwifruit, while European exports, including machinery and vehicles as well as chocolate, wine and biscuits, would likewise benefit.

Two-way trade in goods and services is currently worth 9.1 billion euros (US$10 billion) but is expected to grow by 30 percent over a decade with the new deal.

New Zealand's government estimates that the deal could bring in an extra US$365 million annually from exports of its beef, sheep and dairy products.

The EU, with its population of 450 million, is the third-biggest export market for New Zealand, population five million.

The deal is not without critics in Europe.

France's beef and dairy sectors, for instance, have voiced wariness about New Zealand products coming from land using pesticides or herbicides banned in the European Union.

The European Commission, though, has stressed that all food reaching the EU market has to comply with EU standards and vowed a "robust" system of checks.

The passage of the New Zealand trade deal stood in contrast with the collapse last month of a much-bigger accord the EU had been negotiating for six years with Australia.

Those talks, aimed at expanding trade currently worth 56 billion euros, fell over agricultural issues.

One issue was how far Europe was willing to open its market to Australia's lamb, beef and sugar imports.

Another was to what extent Canberra was willing to adopt EU geographic indicators given that Australian producers currently made goods under names Brussels wants to make exclusive to European regions.

Brussels is at work trying to seal another, even bigger trade deal with South America's Mercosur bloc, where two-way trade is currently 98 billion euros.

That pact was agreed in broad terms in 2019 but has stalled since on EU concerns about deforestation and agricultural competition, and Brazil's concerns about opening public procurement to European companies.

The EU and the four Mercosur countries are seeing if they can conclude the deal by the end of next week.

But the election in Argentina of a populist with economically radical policies, Javier Milei, to the presidency has thrown a shadow over that.

rmb/lth
Evernote is experimenting with severe restrictions to its free plan, which may nudge users to upgrade or quit the app entirely. According to a report from TechCrunch, some Evernote users were greeted with a pop-up message announcing that the free plan would be limited to a single notebook and 50 notes. The pop-up also introduced a "special 40 percent off" offer, encouraging users to upgrade to a paid plan to create notes and notebooks without limits.

But despite the in-app notification, Evernote's website has no mention of changes coming to its free plan. A representative for the company explained to TechCrunch that the website had not been updated because the change was not yet final. The company confirmed it has been testing the limited plan with less than 1 percent of its free users. Based on how that goes, Evernote will determine whether to implement the new plan. If that does happen, the representative said the company would then communicate the changes to the relevant customer touch-points.

The limited version of the free plan would not prevent users from managing, editing or deleting their current notes. It would only take away the ability to create new notes unless users took the plunge and paid for their plan.

For years, Evernote was the go-to app for countless power users and productivity gurus. However, the app has been kind of on a downward slide for a while. In 2020, it appeared Evernote was trying to reclaim its crown with the release of a major cross-platform redesign. But the updates weren't enough to revive the app, which was once valued at almost a billion dollars. Last November, Evernote was purchased by a Milan-based company called Bending Spoons, which went on to lay off 129 staffers. Bending Spoons later announced it would be abandoning most of its US operations, shifting Evernote development to Europe.

If implemented, this would be a dramatic change for die-hard Evernote fans who have stuck with the free plan for lightweight note-taking purposes. The change would make the free plan basically useless, and there would be no compelling reason to use Evernote over something free and more powerful like Apple and Googles own note-taking apps.
Small agricultural enterprises suffered the most from the Russian invasion

About a third of Ukraine's agricultural enterprises have been forced to close since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, chairman of the Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation, Pavlo Koval has said, the organizations website reported on Nov. 24.

"We knew that many things would go wrong. But we did not expect that about a third of all producers would have to stop," he said.

Among the main negative factors, the UAC noted the exorbitantly high logistics costs caused by Russia's attacks on major export routes.

Read also: Slovakia hesitant to lift ban on Ukrainian grain imports

Given how high the pressure on producers remains, Koval expects another10-20% to follow suit by the end of the marketing year.

The confederation also noted that small producers have suffered the most, while large companies have more "financial cushions" to survive. However, if the situation remains the same in 2024, the consequences could be critical for them as well.

Read also: Bulgarian vegetable oil producers lobby government to end ban on vital Ukraine imports

Among other problems of the agricultural sector, Koval mentioned the mobilization of men, which deprives the agricultural sector of labor, mined fields, lack of funds, and low grain prices.

With fewer routes for exporting grain from the country, transportation prices within Ukraine remain too high, reducing producers' profits and increasing insurance and freight costs.

Read also: Ukraine tightens restrictions on grain exports

"It is no longer profitable to grow corn and wheat," Koval concluded.

The financial gap in the Ukrainian agricultural sector (the difference between the demand and supply of financial resources) is about $20 billion, Oleh Nivievskyi, associate professor at the Kyiv School of Economics, said on Telegram earlier.

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
Everything To Know About The Young Thug/YSL RICO Trial As It Begins | Photo: CHRISTIAN MONTERROSA/AFP via Getty Images

After an almost year-long jury selection process, Young Thugs trial for the alleged violent acts he committed over the past decade is finally underway.

According to CNN, prosecutors believe the rappers label, YSL, an acronym for Young Stoner Life, also stands for Young Slime Life, an Atlanta-based street gang linked to the national Bloods gang. Prosecutors say Thug, whose birth name is Jeffery Williams, is a co-founder of the gang and, if found guilty, could spend decades behind bars.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis office is taking on the case. They say YSL has caused havoc in Atlanta for years. Hours after the Tapout rappers 2022 arrest, Willis noted the 32-year-olds stardom would not stop them from seeking justice.

It does not matter what your notoriety is, what your fame is, she said at a press conference announcing the case.

The rappers lawyer, Brian Steel, has maintained Williams innocence.

Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever, he said at the time of the rappers arrest.

Williams was not the only hip-hop act sought by prosecutors for his alleged involvement in YSL. The district attorneys office also filed charges against Sergio Gunna Kitchens, as well as Deamonte Yak Gotti Kendrick, Arnold Lil Duke Martinez, Thugs brother Quantavious Unfoonk Grier and many others for their alleged criminal activity.

Read on for a refresher on what happened, what prosecutors believe these artists did and what to expect now that Williams trial is underway.

It all started in May 2022, when Willis unleashed a 56-count indictment against Thug and 27 other suspected members of YSL. Prosecutors believe the label is a front for Young Slime Life, a gang affiliated with the Bloods.

The case argues that, since 2012, YSL has committed a significant number of crimes in the Atlanta area, including murder, assault, robbery, theft, illegal gun possession, illegal drug possession and sales and more. Prosecutors believe Williams is the operations kingpin. Theyve dubbed him King Slime, who made YSL a well-known name by referring to it in his songs.

Court documents deem Williams a dangerous gang leader. They show he allegedly threatened to shoot a security guard in the face; he had flashed the gangs alleged hand signal numerous times, including on social media; and he rapped about the criminal group. Prosecutors say Williams gave other alleged YSL members the order to kill rapper YFN Lucci, who is said to have allegedly been the leader of a rival gang.

Steel said the accusations were outrageous and painted a different picture of the rappers life. During a 2022 bond hearing, music industry icon Kevin Liles jumped to Williams defense, saying he was put here to change the people around him.

The Jeffery I know? The Jeffery I know gave me the clothes off his back, he said.

Corey Jackson, a teenager Williams tutored, also rushed to support the rapper, saying that during their session, hed frequently tell him to avoid crime and drugs.

I told him, my YSL means Young Successful Life because thats something that he has created, Jackson told the judge.

According to Billboard, prosecutors are using Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, a law based on the more famous federal RICO statute used to target the mafia, drug cartels and other forms of organized crime, to come after Williams and his fellow alleged YSL members. Racketeering laws like these make it easier for prosecutors to go after members of an alleged criminal enterprise based on several individual actions.

One of the more serious accusations against Williams and YSL is the 2015 murder of Donovan Big Nut Thomas Jr., who allegedly ran a rival Atlanta gang. Five members of the gang have been charged with Thomas murder. Thug has been accused of renting the car used to commit the killing.

The court is hearing the prosecutors say that Mr. Williams is in charge of a criminal street gang and by his word, people can die, Steel told CNN affiliate WXIA. And thats just not true.

Prosecutors used song lyrics, social media posts, hand signs, clothing and tattoos as evidence against Williams and other alleged YSL members.

They initially indicted Williams for conspiring to violate the RICO statute and participating in criminal street gang activity, Blavity previously reported. In August 2022, prosecutors added charges for gang activity as well as drug and firearm violations after executing a search warrant at the rappers home, Steel told WXIA, CNN reported.

Authorities charged Young Thug with eight of the 65 total counts listed.

A few defendants, including Marquavius Huey, Deamonte Kendrick, Quamarvious Nichols, Rodalius Ryan and Shannon Stillwell, are still facing trial. Others took plea deals for various charges before jury selection, including Gunna, who entered an Alford plea, which allows defendants to maintain their innocence while recognizing its in their best interest not to go to trial on a single alleged count of conspiring to violate the RICO law. He was sentenced to five years in prison, with one year commuted to time served and the remaining four years suspended.

Williams has a long road ahead of him. It took close to a year for a jury composed of six Black women, two Black men, one White woman, one White man, one Hispanic woman and one other woman, WSB reported  to be selected, and it could take just as long, if not longer, for the trial to conclude. Many celebrities, including YFN Lucci, Lil Wayne and Killer Mike, may be called to testify.

If convicted on their RICO charge, they could receive a sentence of anywhere from five to 20 years behind bars, Billboard said.
A former top Republican strategist is repeating his warnings about the nations slide towards autocracy under former President Donald Trump and todays GOP.

Stuart Stevens appeared on MSNBC Sunday to discuss an op-ed written by three conservative attorneys that was published last week in The New York Times. It warned that the Trump threat is growing, and called for those in the legal profession to rise to the moment and protect democracy.

When White House lawyers are inventing cockamamie theories to stop the peaceful transition of power and copping pleas to avoid jail time, its clear that we in the legal profession have come to a crisis point, the authors wrote.

Stevens said those who helped legitimize fringe legal theories are people who have decided that democracy is the enemy because theyre not able to win elections in a changing America.

Pointing to Trumps largely white voting bloc in an increasingly diverse nation, Stevens said the Republican Party has failed to appeal to nonwhite voters in large numbers, so their answer is to curate the vote.

Thats really what theyre doing, and its ... a classic step in how democracies slide into autocracy, he said. These are dangerous people. Theyre very smart, theyre competent, theyre well financed, and they are absolutely convinced that they are going to win.

Despite facing 91 felony counts under four criminal indictments, including for his attempted coup, as well as being found liable for sexual abuse and fraud in New York, Trump continues to keep the support of elected Republicans, and leads the pack for the partys 2024 presidential nomination by a wide margin.

Authoritarianism experts around the world have been warning with increasing urgency that a second Trump administration would have devastating effects on American democracy, amid reports about the former presidents plans for an even more extreme agenda.

Stevens is author of the book The Conspiracy to End America: Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy, and served as a top adviser to Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) during the 2012 presidential race.

You can watch the interview on MSNBC below.

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Excluding regional mayors from key meetings harmed the UK's response to the pandemic, Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham have told the Covid inquiry.

The Labour mayors of London and Greater Manchester said their repeated requests to join emergency Cobra meetings at the start of the pandemic were refused.

London mayor Mr Khan said "lives could have been saved" if he had been allowed to attend earlier.

Greater Manchester's Mr Burnham said decision-making was "London-centric".

Cobra meetings, which were held throughout the pandemic, bring together a mixture of ministers and officials from relevant departments and agencies to coordinate the government's response to national emergencies.

Despite London facing higher rates of Covid than other parts of the country in early 2020, Mr Khan said he was not allowed to attend any Cobra meetings until 16 March.

The inquiry heard that his earlier requests to attend were rejected by No 10 on the grounds that other regional mayors would then need to be invited.

"I was told the pandemic was having an impact on London ahead of the rest of the country," Mr Khan said.

"The government was aware of the challenges in ICU [intensive care units], the challenges in our hospitals, and the government was aware of community transmission in London."

He added: "In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why the Greater London Authority, the mayor of London were not around the table.

"I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier."

He said there was also no reason other mayors could not have joined meetings virtually.

Mr Khan told the inquiry he was "kept in the dark" by the government and if he had been given a fuller picture he would have taken more action, including lobbying the prime minister for a lockdown earlier.

Andy Burnham has been mayor of Greater Manchester since 2017

In his evidence to the inquiry, Mr Burnham said he "repeatedly" asked to attend Cobra meetings but was not invited to a single one during the pandemic.

The mayor of Greater Manchester said London-centric decision-making meant his region was "stuck" with higher Covid rates for the whole of 2020.

Mr Burnham said there was "zero consultation" with him over easing the national lockdown in May 2020, which he argued was "too early" for Greater Manchester.

He added that as Covid had spread from the south to the north of England, the north was closer to a peak in cases than the south of the country at that time.

Mr Burnham told the inquiry he was "astonished" by the "massively centralised" response to the pandemic.

In the summer of 2020, Mr Burnham said he was given only an hour's notice to discuss the imposition of local restrictions in Greater Manchester with local leaders before they were announced.

He described the situation as "chaotic" and said he was "inundated" with questions from residents about whether they could go to work the following day.

In October 2020 a formal three-tier system was introduced, which imposed varying levels of restrictions in different regions of England depending on local Covid rates.

However, the system did not bring rising cases and deaths under control and in November a four-week national lockdown was introduced.

Mr Burnham said he repeatedly asked for more financial support for businesses and workers affected by tougher restrictions.

He accused the government of discussing a "punishment" for his region, because he had "stood up" for people who would have struggled with lockdown measures without extra financial support.

The mayor read out a minute of a meeting of the government's "Covid-O" committee that said: "Lancashire should have a lighter set of measures imposed than Greater Manchester since they had shown a greater willingness to co-operate."

Asked to respond to criticism that he was "obstructive" in discussions over financial support, Mr Burnham said it was the government which behaved "appallingly" by imposing a policy which he claimed ministers knew would not work.

Quoting from written evidence submitted by former Health Secretary Matt Hancock, Mr Burnham said: "He says in his evidence about tier three, 'I was in despair that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work'."

Steve Rotheram is the elected mayor for Liverpool and other surrounding areas

Giving evidence to the inquiry later, Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram also criticised the government's communication with local leaders during the pandemic.

The Labour mayor said his team had been left to wait for the evening news bulletin to find out "nearly every major announcement".

He highlighted discussions around moving his area to tier three, saying he had previously agreed with then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson that they should work together on announcing the move in autumn 2020.

However, later the same day Mr Rotheram said the PM independently announced the restrictions "without any notification to me".

"Then we had to try and pick up the pieces," he added.

Mr Rotheram said the confusion and anger around the announcement resulted in him receiving "direct threats" and needing 24-hour police protection.

The inquiry is taking witness evidence in London until Christmas, before moving to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently earned two key Iowa endorsements as he continues to push campaign resources into the state, a move that political experts tell Fox News Digital is an "all in" strategy as he looks to upset former President Trump in an uphill battle that could make or break his presidential ambitions next year.

Shortly after receiving the endorsement of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, DeSantis was endorsed by influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats who said "theres definitely a shot that the former president can be beat here" despite Trump leading DeSantis by at least 30 points, according to the Real Clear Politics average, with just over six weeks until the Iowa caucus.

"Americans like winners and want to be part of winning," David Avella, chairman of GOPAC and a veteran Republican strategist, told Fox News Digital. "History tells us that the nominee will be the individual who wins at least two of the first three contests. While history also tells us that an Iowa victory is not essential, it is clear that Team DeSantis is seeking a victory to counter the inevitability of former President Trump being nominated again. It may prove effective, yet it has to work given the resources and attention Team DeSantis has put into Iowa."

DeSantis and his primary Super PAC, Never Back Down, have poured a vast majority of their resources into Iowa in a strategy that GOP strategist Alex Conant, founding partner at Firehouse Strategies, told Fox News Digital is a strategy born out of "necessity" and that recognizes the "political reality that if Trump wins Iowa" it is "hard to see how he is stopped anywhere."

HALEY, DESANTIS OR TRUMP? WHO WILL TOP-DOLLAR DONORS BACKING TIM SCOTT SUPPORT NEXT IN 2024 GOP RACE

Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

"This is the equivalent of a Hail Mary," Conant said. "It could work like when John McCain went all in in New Hampshire in 2008, and he shocked the political world by emerging as the nominee. Barack Obama did the same thing in 2008 in Iowa when he was going up against Hillary Clinton when he went Iowa or bust, and he won Iowa and went on to win the nomination. There is plenty of precedent for a candidate going all in on one state."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Despite the historical precedent of late Iowa surges and candidates using Iowa as a springboard to the nomination, Conant said 2024 is not a "normal primary" with Trump in position as a "de facto incumbent" where he says the other candidates have so far failed to effectively explain why he should be unseated.

"The good news for Ron DeSantis is he is the front-runner in Iowa if former President Trump was not competing to win Iowa," Avella told Fox News Digital. "The bad news for Ron DeSantis is former President Trump is organizing to win Iowa. For DeSantis to win, he needs to get [there to] caucus those voters who are still keeping their options open and those voters who are only considering candidates other than Donald Trump. It is going to take him convincing voters with a clear, concise message that his ideas are the best solutions."

TOP DESANTIS BACKER RESIGNS FROM SUPER PAC AMID INTERNAL TURMOIL: 'UNTENABLE' ENVIRONMENT

Ron DeSantis speaks to members of the media after an event in Chariton, Iowa, on July 27, 2023.

In terms of the messaging needed for a late surge, Conant told Fox News Digital that the DeSantis campaign has been "too much about Florida."

"The truth of the matter is people in Iowa don't care about your record in other states. They want to know what you're going to do for them as president," said Conant, who served as communications director for Florida Sen. Marco Rubios campaign that came close to winning Iowa after a late surge in 2016.

"Republican voters are clear that the cost of everyday living and failure with border security are their top concerns," Avella said. "Ron DeSantis has to convince voters with a clear, concise message that his ideas are the best solutions."

Ashley Hayek, executive director of America First Works, told Fox News Digital that DeSantiss strategy in the next few weeks is "irrelevant" with the outcome "already decided" thanks to Trumps "significant influence" in the Republican Party.

"Voters are nostalgic for the economic successes under Trump, often referred to as Trumpanomics," Hayek said. "It's akin to a company rehiring a former CEO who previously steered them through prosperous times; the familiarity and proven track record are irresistible. The Republican nominee is essentially pre-decided with Trump's rehire on the horizon by early 2024."

DESANTIS SAYS TRUMP IS HIGH RISK, LOW REWARD GOP PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE

Former President Donald Trump greets supporters as he arrives at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12, 2023, in Des Moines.

Several prominent DeSantis donors told Fox News Digital this month that they were encouraged by how he was campaigning in Iowa and expressed the belief that Iowa voters are just now starting to pay close attention to the January caucus.

In a statement to Fox News Digital, DeSantis Communications Director Andrew Romeo said the Florida governor is the only candidate who can beat Trump regardless of where the primary is.

"Ron DeSantis is the only candidate with the organization, resources, and message necessary to beat Trump in multiple early states - including the first and most important state on the calendar," Romeo said. "That's why Team Trump continues to attack him every day."

The super PAC backing Trump's campaign revived attack ads against DeSantis last month, spending millions going after DeSantis in the past few weeks, which Romeo referred to on social media as a public admission that DeSantis is "climbing in Iowa."

DeSantis surrogates have made the case that polling is different from turnout and that responding to a poll is different from actually showing up on a cold winter night in Iowa to caucus for a candidate.

Several prominent DeSantis donors told Fox News Digital that they were encouraged by how he was campaigning in Iowa and expressed the belief that Iowa voters are just now starting to pay close attention to the January caucus.

"It will take a turnout operation unlike any in electoral history to get voters to show up on a cold night to vote for a candidate who is down 15 points," Avella said.

If DeSantis is to make a late surge, Conant said a "strong third" or "distant second" "isnt going to cut it against Trump," especially with DeSantis polling as low as fifth in New Hampshire and South Carolina being strong states for Trump and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Avella concurred and said Trump has "such a commanding lead that even a second-place finish may not be enough to alter the current likely outcome."

"The real question is how much is a second-, maybe third-place finish in Iowa worth?" Hayek said. "Despite rounds of layoffs that were part of a widely publicized reset, DeSantis has burned through more primary cash than he raised over the last three months. The DeSantis campaigns spending strategy shows they see the writing on the wall: there is not enough gas in the tank for New Hampshire or South Carolina, and at this rate, there is not going to be enough for Iowa either."





Original article source: Experts weigh in on whether DeSantis' Iowa strategy will be enough to topple Trump: 'Hail Mary'
(Reuters) -Alberta's conservative Premier Danielle Smith put the Canadian province's Sovereignty Act into motion on Monday to challenge the federal government's requirement for a net-zero electricity grid by 2035.

Smith's United Conservative Party government introduced a resolution in the provincial legislature, marking the first use of one of her signature laws enacted last year.

The Sovereignty Act is an effort to give the oil-rich province a legislative framework to defy federal laws it deems unconstitutional and is another front in Smith's battle against Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's climate plans.

Below are some key aspects of the act:

WHAT IS THE ALBERTA SOVEREIGNTY ACT?

Alberta Sovereignty Within a United Canada Act was approved by the legislature in December 2022 after the initial bill was diluted to its current form. A provision that gave Smith's cabinet the power to bypass the legislature and rewrite laws as it saw fit was deleted. The act affirmed that the Alberta legislature, not Smith's cabinet, would have the last word on lawmaking.

The Sovereignty Act was one of the most eye-catching policies Smith promised to introduce after becoming premier last year. It seeks to allow the province to refuse to enforce specific federal laws or policies "that violate the jurisdictional rights of Alberta."

Smith, 52, campaigned on an "Alberta First" slogan but the act does not allow the province to split from Canada or to defy Canada's Constitution. Some legal experts have said that courts could block the act although it has not been put to the test yet. Similarly, the province of Saskatchewan approved last year legislation to defend its economic autonomy from federal overreach, sparking plans by First Nations communities to challenge it in court.

WHAT DOES THE ACT PROVIDE FOR?

Under the act, Alberta's legislative assembly can pass a motion that identifies a specific federal program or legislation as unconstitutional or causing harm to Albertans.

The act could be used, for example, to fight federal regulation of new energy projects, climate change legislation, vaccination policies and gun control laws - issues that have historically been divisive in Alberta.

Alberta, which is usually led by conservative governments, has a long history of fighting Ottawa over its resources, including the federal National Energy Program in the 1980s.

WHY PUT THE ACT INTO MOTION NOW?

The trigger is the federal government's clean electricity regulations, which were announced in August. Smith has criticized the draft regulations as "irresponsible" and said they would endanger grid reliability.

Smith argues that the province will use the act to protect Alberta power companies from having to limit the use of highly-polluting natural gas-burning plants.

Electricity falls under provincial jurisdiction in Canada.

The draft electricity regulations aim to create a net-zero emissions power grid in Canada by 2035, but Alberta says the province's power generators can only reach that goal by 2050.

The final rules are due to come into force on Jan. 1, 2025, after a series of consultations.

WHAT ARE THE ACT'S CHANCES IN COURT?

Smith, a former journalist and leader of the right-wing Wildrose Party, has consistently criticized Trudeau, something that strikes a chord with her core rural Alberta voter base. She argues the act will enable Alberta to assert its constitutional rights and protect against "the destructive overreach of Ottawa".

But some legal experts say it would be unconstitutional under Canada's laws and likely be struck down in court.

The implementation of the act could be cumbersome as the provincial government would have to vote on every piece of federal legislation it disagrees with and could deter investment in the province, lawyers have previously told Reuters.

Former conservative premier Jason Kenney has blasted the Alberta Sovereignty Act as a "full-frontal attack on the rule of law" that risked turning Alberta into a "banana republic".

(Writing by Denny Thomas and Rod Nickel Editing by Deepa Babington and Aurora Ellis)
Claim:

Star Trek actor William Shatner said of his time in space: Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe

Rating:

Rating: Mostly True

Context:

The quote often attributed to the actor is not verbatim, but the context and majority of its content is, for the most part, accurate.

Known for his role as Captain Kirk in the hit science fiction series Star Trek, William Shatner also became the oldest person to visit space for real in 2021. Of his time spent orbiting Earth, the 90-year-old Canadian actor described his "life-changing experience" in a personal essay written for The Guardian in 2022.

Excerpted quotes from the publication have been shared in various iterations across social media posts in the time since its initial publishing, including the below post on X shared on Dec. 23, 2022, which had been viewed more than 1.1 million times:

Please spend a minute reading this note from William Shatner, the actor from Star Trek: Last year, I had a life-changing experience at 90 years old. I went to space, after decades of playing an iconic science-fiction character who was exploring the universe... pic.twitter.com/SnjmCMOaDI  Danijel Visevic (@visevic) December 24, 2022

Though the context of the above attribution is accurate, the above post  and several others  paraphrased Shatners original essay, adding and omitting words and phrases. Because of this, we have rated this claim as Mostly True.

After he went to space on Oct. 13, 2021, aboard Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, Shatner described his time above Earth in a Dec 7, 2022, article titled, My trip to space made me realise we have only one Earth  it must live long and prosper.

It opened:

Last year, at the age of 90, I had a life-changing experience. I went to space, after decades of playing a science-fiction character who was exploring the universe and building connections with many diverse life forms and cultures. I thought I would experience a similar feeling: a feeling of deep connection with the immensity around us, a deep call for endless exploration. A call to indeed boldly go where no one had gone before. I was absolutely wrong. As I explained in my latest book, what I felt was totally different. I knew that many before me had experienced a greater sense of care while contemplating our planet from above, because they were struck by the apparent fragility of this suspended blue marble. I felt that too. But the strongest feeling, dominating everything else by far, was the deepest grief that I had ever experienced. While I was looking away from Earth, and turned towards the rest of the universe, I didnt feel connection; I didnt feel attraction. What I understood, in the clearest possible way, was that we were living on a tiny oasis of life, surrounded by an immensity of death. I didnt see infinite possibilities of worlds to explore, of adventures to have, or living creatures to connect with. I saw the deepest darkness I could have ever imagined, contrasting starkly with the welcoming warmth of our nurturing home planet. This was an immensely powerful awakening for me. It filled me with sadness. I realised that we had spent decades, if not centuries, being obsessed with looking away, with looking outside. I played my part in popularising the idea that space was the final frontier. But I had to get to space to understand that Earth is, and will remain, our only home. And that we have been ravaging it, relentlessly, making it uninhabitable. 

The entirety of Shatners essay, which Snopes has archived, can be viewed here.

Sources:

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/groups/alluoxofficial/posts/3497164990496627/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

---. https://www.facebook.com/in2wildfestival/posts/last-year-i-had-a-life-changing-experience-at-90-years-old-i-went-to-space-after/5658848797496279/. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Https://Twitter.Com/Visevic/Status/1606554876648951808?Lang=en. X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/visevic/status/1606554876648951808?lang=en. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Last Year, I Had a Life-Changing Experience at 90 Years Old. I Went to Space, after Decades of Playing an Iconic Science-Fiction Charact... Quora, https://thegreatmysteriestold.quora.com/Last-year-I-had-a-life-changing-experience-at-90-years-old-I-went-to-space-after-decades-of-playing-an-iconic-scienc. Accessed 21 Nov. 2023.

Rivera, Enrique. William Shatner Experienced Profound Grief in Space. It Was the Overview Effect. NPR, 23 Oct. 2022. NPR, https://www.npr.org/2022/10/23/1130482740/william-shatner-jeff-bezos-space-travel-overview-effect.

Shatner, William. My Trip to Space Made Me Realise We Have Only One Earth  It Must Live Long and Prosper. The Guardian, 7 Dec. 2022. The Guardian, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/07/william-shatner-earth-must-live-long-and-prosper-aoe.
The former Homewood Florist shop, 18064 Martin Ave., will become home to Bergstein's New York Deli when it relocates from Chicago Heights in January. (Mike Nolan/Daily Southtown)

Bill Davis and his family have long called Homewood home and all are products of Homewood-Flossmoor High School, and within a few months plan to reopen their family business, Bergsteins New York Delicatessen, in the village.

Theyre remodeling the former Homewood Florist space at 18064 Martin Ave., with an expectation of opening the deli toward the end of January, Davis said.

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Bergsteins has been in Chicago Heights, 200 Dixie Highway, since September 2008 and looked at relocating to Homewood for a few years, he said. Davis, his parents and his sister operate the deli.

The new space will have a larger kitchen and dining room, along with space for outdoor dining, he said.

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Its kind of what we always envisioned the deli to be, with a more homey setting and outside seating, Davis said. Were excited about embedding ourselves in the community.

Bergsteins will be just east of Homewoods Metra station and immediately south of The Hartford, a mixed-use 36-unit apartment building at 2033 Ridge Road.

Davis said he expects the location will draw more foot traffic than the existing location, which is in a strip center southwest of Dixie Highway and Vollmer Road.

A sign on the former Homewood Florist shop, 18064 Martin Ave., Homewood, gives notice that Bergstein's New York Deli plans to open in the space. (Mike Nolan/Daily Southtown)

Homewoods Village Board recently approved $150,000 in assistance for the move and Davis intends to invest about $330,000 renovating the space.

The village assistance includes rebating 2% restaurant tax, up to a total of $60,000 over three years. The village will also cover a portion of renovation costs, not to exceed $60,000, according to the redevelopment agreement.

The deli estimates sales of $1 million in the first year of business, with annual sales increasing 3% a year each year after that, according to the agreement.

This past spring, Bergsteins said on its Facebook page that it anticipated moving to Homewood this fall, but Davis said the move took longer than expected, although his general contractor sees late January as feasible.

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 >

He said he talked with Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld about relocating, and was approached by the owner of the Homewood Florist property.

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Davis said he had hoped to find a space that already had a kitchen, one of the biggest costs of a move, but brought his parents to the florist spot to take a look.

It seemed like too good of a space to pass up, he said.

Davis said he wants to take advantage of the potential foot traffic, opening earlier in the morning to capture some of the Metra commuter traffic.

Davis father, Harris Davis, grew up in Brooklyns Bensonhurst neighborhood, and with Bergsteins wanted to bring to the south suburbs a taste of a real New York deli. Along with the Chicago Heights location Bergsteins operated a food truck for a time as well as a location in Chicagos Hyde Park community, although it closed in late 2018 after about four years.

Popular items are deli traditions such as pastrami, corned beef, matzo ball soup, bagels and lox, knishes and potato pancakes, although Davis said the menu has expanded to include items such as wraps and gluten-free products.

mnolan@tribpub.com
A suspect was arrested Sunday in the shooting of three Palestinian students attending college in Vermont, which advocacy groups believe was a hate crime.

Burlington police arrested 48-year-old Jason Eaton in the shooting, according to The Washington Post. A judge granted a search warrant for Eatons residence after evidence gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting, police said. The shooting allegedly took place in front of Eatons apartment building, according to The Daily Beast.

Eaton is expected to be arraigned Monday and faces three counts of aggravated assault, according to the report.

Police have not specified a motive but said it is possible the students were targeted because they are Arab, according to the Daily Beast. They were reportedly in town to celebrate Thanksgiving with one of the men's relatives.

Police said Sunday that a white male with a handgun approached the three friends and shot them at least four times without speaking before fleeing on foot.

All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement, adding that they remain hospitalized and one has very serious injuries.

The victims parents identified the students as Haverford College junior Kinnan Abdalhamid, Brown University student Hisham Awartani, and Trinity College student Tahseen Ahmed. Police said two of the students are U.S. citizens and one is a legal U.S. resident. The West Bank high school Ramallah Friends said that all three had attended school there before enrolling in American universities, according to the Post.

As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot in Burlington, the parents said in a statement, according to the Post. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime.  No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.

The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said the group believes the shooting occurred because the victims are Arab, noting that they were wearing a Kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic.

This morning, ADC was contacted about the shooting, after reviewing the information, we have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three vitims being Arab.



The three victims were wearing a Kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims, pic.twitter.com/b8yoDvK8Nv  ADC National (@adc) November 26, 2023

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday that police are investigating whether the attack was hate-motivated.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, Murad said. The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now, he added. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations issued a statement on Sunday offering a $10,000 reward for information about the shooting.

The FBI said Monday that it continues to actively investigate the shooting and has deployed numerous technical, forensic and investigative resources in support of the investigation.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

That there is an indication this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling, and this possibility is being prioritized in the BPDs investigation, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement.

The shooting comes amid growing concerns about threats and violence against Arab Americans amid the Israel-Hamas war. In October, 6-year-old Illinois boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed and his mother was stabbed 12 times in an attack allegedly carried out by their landlord days after the October 7 Hamas massacre in Israel.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said in a statement. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. My thoughts are with them and their families.
Relatives of passengers of the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 hold a sign reading "Malaysia Airlines MH370 cases" close to a court building in Beijing (Pedro PARDO)

Relatives of dozens of Chinese passengers who died when a Malaysia Airlines plane disappeared almost 10 years ago called Monday for a new investigation, as a Beijing court began hearing their fresh appeal for compensation.

The MH370 jet vanished on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 people -- mostly from China -- en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

More than 40 families have filed lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines, the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, engine maker Rolls Royce and Allianz insurance group, state broadcaster CCTV said.

The families' litigation requests focus on compensation and finding the truth behind the flight's disappearance, according to Zhang Qihuai, a lawyer quoted by CCTV.

Hardly any trace of the plane was found in a 120,000-square kilometre (46,000-square mile) Indian Ocean search zone, with only some pieces of debris picked up.

The Australian-led operation, the largest in aviation history, was suspended in January 2017.

The families on Monday released an open letter addressed to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, calling for a new search for the missing aircraft on a "No find, No fee" basis.

"Our family members hope to search for flight MH370 on our own," the letter said, adding "family members are willing to invest their own money or cooperate with capable individuals and companies".

They asked for "effective communication" with the Malaysian government to kick off a new hunt.

Outside the court, many relatives were on the verge of tears as they recounted stories of their loved ones, some holding pieces of paper saying "restart the search" and "open, fair, impartial".

Bao Lanfang lost her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the disaster, and her husband died last year.

"Personally, I do not care about the monetary compensation," the 71-year-old told the media.

"What I want is that Malaysia Airlines gives me the truth. What happened to our loved ones?

"What I want now is for them to resume the search and the investigation."

Malaysia's transport ministry and Malaysia Airlines both declined to comment on the hearings.

China's foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that Beijing "attaches great importance to the follow-up work" into MH370's disappearance and "hopes that all parties will continue to maintain close communication".

- 'Unbearable' -

It is unclear what jurisdiction the Chinese court has to enforce the claims for compensation against the defendants.

Each family filed for civil compensation of between 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) and 80 million yuan ($11.2 million), as well as moral damages of 30 million yuan ($4.2 million) to 40 million yuan ($5.6 million), CCTV reported.

The families of more than 110 other passengers have already reached a settlement with the defendants and received between 2.5 million and 3 million yuan, the broadcaster said.

Gathering outside the court on Monday despite freezing temperatures, relatives were keen to talk to journalists.

Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, said the opening of the hearing was "very comforting, and it is a turning point".

"The survival of the relatives during these 10 years, the deterioration of their living conditions... This really makes us very sad. So I hope that the legal relief can be realised as soon as possible. It is not difficult," he said.

"Ten years have really been unbearable for us," added Jiang.

The hearing was not listed on the court's public website, but Jiang wrote on social media this month the court hearings would continue until mid-December.

- Unsolved mystery -

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt for MH370 in 2018, but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories -- ranging from the credible to outlandish -- including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.

bur-ehl-je/mca
The families of the Palestinian students who were shot Saturday nightin Vermont say its hard to imagine the young men were not targeted.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, all 20-year-old college students, were out for a walk during a visit to Burlington when a gunman fired four shots at them, according to police. A suspect, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, was arrested.

All three men are still hospitalized, Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said Monday at a press conference. His nephew sustained a spinal injury in the attack and faces a long recovery, Price said, while Abdalhamid is expected to make a full recovery. Ahmad is the most seriously injured of the three, police said.

These three young men are incredible, and thats not just a proud uncle speaking, but its true, said Price, who was hosting the students for Thanksgiving. They have their lives in front of them. They are committed to building incredible lives.

The young men were speaking a mixture of English and Arabic while on a walk around the block when they were struck, police said. Two of the men were wearing keffiyehs, a traditional black and white Palestinian scarf.

The attack has shocked the Arab and Muslim communities at a time when Islamophobia and anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiments are on the rise, along with a parallel surge in overt antisemitism. Last month, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death in Illinois  allegedly by a landlord angered over the Israel-Hamas war.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called Saturdays shooting one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this citys history.

City police declined to comment on a possible motive, saying it will focus its investigation on building a case. Sarah George, the countys attorney general, said her office does not currently have the evidence to support a hate crime charge, but that there is no question this was a hateful act.

Eaton was arraigned Monday and is facing three attempted murder charges, each one carrying a maximum of a life sentence. Eaton described himself on social media as a radical citizen pa-trolling demockracy and crapitalism for oathcreepers. His now-deleted page also featured apparent anti-vaccine and anti-trans sentiment.

Eaton pleaded not guilty to the charges in the shooting, and is being held without bail.

Radi Tamimi, Abdalhamids uncle who flew to Burlington from California on Monday morning, said at the press conference that its hard to imagine it was a random act.

Abdalhamid previously lived in the West Bank, and his family hoped he would live a safer life in the U.S.

We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here, Tamimi said.

Jon Murad, Burlingtons police chief, said there were 26 shootings in the city last year, and that there have been about 15 or 16 this year.

Unfortunately, we have become all too good at this in this city, Murad said Monday.

Related...
A family of five visiting Colorado from Chicago became trapped on a snowy mountain for hours without food, deputies said.

Three adults and two children set out to hike the summit of Greenhorn Mountain from the Greenhorn Trailhead on Nov. 22, the Pueblo County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post.

But as they neared the summit, they became stranded on the mountain when the altitude and unexpected snow slowed their hike down, deputies said.

They realized they had a quite a long way to go, and it was getting dark, deputies said.

The group also didnt have food or proper clothing for the cold, so they called 911, authorities said.

Rescuers found the family and gave them food, water and warmth before helping them down the mountain in a rescue that took nearly seven hours, deputies said.

Familys thinking helps rescuers save them

Although the family needed to be rescued, deputies said they did a few things right.

First, deputies said they told other family members about their hike beforehand. They also called 911 before it got dark and before they were in a life-threatening emergency.

The family then stayed in one spot until rescuers found them.

We remind hikers or anyone going on trails or in the mountains to be prepared and aware of conditions and abilities before going out, especially this time of year when conditions can change rapidly, and the sun sets earlier, deputies said in the post.

The Greenhorn Mountain has an elevation of 12,347 feet. It has the highest peak in the Greenhorn Mountain Wilderness, which spans 23,087 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The mostly forested area includes steep and rocky slopes, small canyons, sharp ridges and no lakes.

One of the Greenhorn trails is about 7.8 miles long and includes an elevation gain of 3,880 feet, officials said.

How to be prepared while hiking

If youre planning to hike, the National Park Service says there are 10 essentials you should take:

Navigation: Pack a map, compass and a GPS system. Make sure you study your route beforehand and understand how to use the tools.

Sun protection: Sunglasses, sunscreen and a hat can help protect your skin and eyes from UV rays.

Insulation: A jacket, hat, gloves, raincoat and thermal underwear can help you be prepared for rapidly changing weather conditions.

Illumination: A flashlight, lantern and headlamp can create light if you get stuck in the dark  and dont forget to pack extra batteries.

First-aid supplies: Its a good idea to have a first-aid kit on hand while hiking. Check the expiration date on items before you pack them.

Fire: Matches and a lighter can help start fire to act as an emergency signal in times of need.

Repair kit and tools: Duct tape, a knife, screwdriver and scissors can be helpful if items break during your hike or you need assistance.

Nutrition: You should pack an extra days worth of food in case something goes wrong. Park officials recommend having salty and easy to digest snacks.

Hydration: You should drink water often and before you feel thirsty if youre hiking in hot weather. Keeping your body hydrated is of utmost importance, park officials said.

Emergency shelter: Packing a tent, space blanket, tarp and bivy can help you be prepared if severe weather breaks out or your plan takes a turn.

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It didnt matter how busy he was, Russell Norman always had time for an encouraging word or some helpful advice - Hugh R Hastings/Getty

The world of restaurants can be a fractious place. Staff fall out, sites close, critics bitch. In this fraught context, the united shock at the death of Russell Norman, the restaurateur, author and TV presenter, has been remarkable.

Norman died 10 days ago at just 57, after a cardiac arrest.

Everyone from Mishal Husain to Jay Rayner paid tribute to him, with journalists, writers and fellow restaurateurs remembering his influence on how we eat out and his unfailing generosity.

It is no great exaggeration to say that if you have eaten at a restaurant that opened since his first, Polpo, did in 2009, you have eaten at a restaurant it helped to shape. More than that, there is a good chance many of the people involved sought  and received  Normans advice.

It didnt matter how busy he was, launching his London restaurants Polpo and Polpetto and Spuntino or Brutto, or the bestselling cookbooks they spawned, or starring on the BBCs Saturday Kitchen or his own programme The Restaurant Man.

He always had time for an encouraging word or some helpful advice  even, as I learnt several times, if you were a hack looking for an expert comment on a tight deadline.

Norman was a restaurateur, in the greater sense, with an exacting  at times exasperating  eye for the details of hospitality, from lighting to glassware to the correct length of a bar and the correct price of a negroni (5). He was guided by what worked.

Venetian-style flavours were a vehicle for his hip ideas from New York: small plates and no-bookings and exposed light bulbs.

It didnt always work. Lisa Markwell, the editor of the Telegraph Magazine, remembers him talking about trying to take his idea of serving wine in tumblers  the height of chic in London  up north. They werent having it.

Norman made no outlandish claims for his food. Its just a trattoria, he would say, apologetically, when he welcomed you to Brutto, his latest restaurant. Its Instagram account says: Noisy. Not too fancy. Dont expect too much.

Correct in the sense that its food, crostini and pastas and steak, is hardly experimental. But the reality of eating there was so much more.

It was not an accident that Normans first love was theatre. Even as he was sucked into hospitality, working at Joe Allens in theatreland, he kept up a day job as a drama teacher. He knew a great restaurant, like a great theatrical performance, works through the magic of small gestures, which accrue to dazzling effect.

His success tracked Londons fortunes as a dining destination. To eat at one of Normans restaurants in its pomp was to know that you were eating at the coolest restaurant in the coolest city in the world.

Normans death was all the more shocking because he was so much in the middle of things. He had just launched the Brutto cookbook. He was out and about, presiding over his empire, doling out advice. His life was stopped horribly short, but his work will endure.

There is an exposed light bulb that never goes out.

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COGAN STATION, LYCOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  A father is being charged after not seeking medical care for his son who was allegedly shot by another child, police said.

According to the Lycoming Regional Police Department, officers were called to investigate an incident where a 7-year-old boy shot his 11-year-old brother.

Police say they learned the victim missed a few days of school, and once he returned, went to see the school nurse after bleeding through a bandage and his shorts from his injury. When the school contacted the victims father, Mark Dunlap, 35, he said that his son had fallen on rocks, as stated in court documents.

Woman killed in deadly Monroe County crash

When the boys returned to their mothers, the victim informed his mom of a secret that Dunlap did not want her to find out about, investigators stated. The victim told his mother that three weeks ago he was shot in the butt by his 7-year-old brother with their fathers .45 caliber handgun, according to the affidavit.

Officers said the mother took the victim to Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital, where a scan revealed fragments of the bullet remained inside the boys body.

Dunlap was arrested and faces a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He was later released on $10,000 bail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Federal law enforcement agencies are investigating whether the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont was a hate crime.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, in remarks from New York on Monday addressing the work of the US Department of Justice to combat hate-fuelled violence, confirmed the FBI and ATF have launched investigations in the wake of Saturdays shooting.

A white gunman fired at the three men, all in their 20s, at least four times without saying anything while they were walking near the University of Vermont, according to police. The students were speaking English and Arabic and wearing keffiyehs.

Two of the victims remain in stable condition, while one of the men remains hospitalised with serious injuries.

A suspect, Jason J Eaton, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder in the second degree during an arraignment hearing on Monday.

There is understandable fear in communities across the country, Mr Garland said in remarks from the US Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York on Monday.

Even as we speak, the ATF and FBI are investigating the tragic shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Vermont. That investigation, including whether this is a hate crime, is ongoing, he added. The Justice Department is poised to provide any assistance that our state and local law enforcement partners need as we work together to protect our communities.

Saturdays violence follows Israels ongoing seige in Gaza, where more than 14,000 people, including thousands of women and children, have been killed during retaliatory bombardments following Hamas attacks on 7 October, according to Gazas health ministry.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed, pictured in a photo from the Awartani family. (via REUTERS)

The investigation begins one month after the Justice Department opened a federal hate crimes investigation after a landlord in Illinois fatally stabbed a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy and injured his mother in what has been described as an anti-Muslim attack.

Joseph Czuba shouted anti-Muslim statements and attacked the mother of Wadea Al-Fayoume before he stabbed the boy 26 times in Plainfield Township on 14 October, one week after Hamas attacks in Israel, according to law enforcement.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations largest Muslim civil rights group, said in a statement that the latest shooting comes as Muslims, Arabs, and Palestinians across the country report a surge in anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate since the escalation of violence in Palestine and Israel last month.

Anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate incidents have spiked by more than 216 per cent compared to the same period last year, according to CAIR.

Protecting all people and all communities from hate-fueled violence was the Justice Departments founding purpose in 1870, and it remains our urgent responsibility today, Mr Garland said in his remarks.

No person and no community in this country should have to live in fear of hate-fueled violence, he added. Fulfilling that promise motivates us every single day.
A man accused of carrying out a shooting at a Beavercreek, Ohio, Walmart was potentially racially motivated, according to officials.

Police said the now-deceased gunman, Benjamin Charles Jones, opened fire at the store just after 8 p.m. on Nov. 20, leaving four people injured. The victims included two Black women, a white woman and a white man. On Wednesday, the FBI provided an update on its investigation into the attack, shedding light on Jones motivation.

Benjamin Charles Jones, left, John Crawford, right (YouTube screenshot/WDTNTV News)

Based on evidence collectedincluding journal writings from the attacker, Benjamin Charles Jonesthe attack may have been at least partially inspired by racially motivated violent extremist (RMVE) ideology, the statement said. The FBI will continue to investigate the motivating factors leading to this attack.

Jones, 20, was armed with a Hi-Point .45 caliber carbine with a nine-round magazine at the time and died following a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police and the FBI said. He was able to purchase the weapon two days before in Dayton. According to the New York Post, he had a Nazi flag displayed in his home.

Multiple 911 calls obtained by WKEF reveal how terrified people were inside the store  as some were reportedly running out to escape while others were hiding for safety. Others were calling in to report injuries at the scene.

UPDATE: There is no active threat. A male walked into the Walmart in Beavercreek around 8:35 p.m. Monday and began firing a gun, injuring four people. The victims were transported to area hospitals and their conditions are unknown at this time.  Beavercreek PD (@beavercreekohpd) November 21, 2023

Investigators are continuing to look at the background of the subject to determine if any of his answers on the ATF Form 4473 were inaccurate, the FBI continued. This investigation remains very active as the FBI thoroughly examines the attackers background, motive, connections, and online activity.

The Beavercreek Walmart is the same location where John Crawford III was killed 9 years ago by local police. Crawford was carrying a BB gun he picked up from the stores shelf before a shopper called 911 wrongly claiming Crawford pointed the gun at shoppers. Within minutes of first contact with an officer, Crawford was shot and killed.

The agency is urging the public to contact them at 1-800-CALL-FBI with any information connected to this matter. A spokesperson for Walmart also addressed the incident in a statement to PEOPLE.

Were heartbroken by whats happened at our Beavercreek, Ohio store, the rep told the outlet. This remains a developing situation, and were working closely with investigators on the scene. All questions should be directed to local law enforcement.

The shooting comes months after a gunman shot and killed multiple people at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida, in what authorities said was racially motivated.
The disease appears to pass from animals to humans, according to experts - BADRU KATUMBA/AFP via Getty Images

African health experts are urgently investigating a mystery disease outbreak in Uganda which has killed at least 14 people and seen some 40 fall ill.

The mystery disease is being probed by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and World Health Organisation (WHO) after doctors have so far been unable to identify it.

Those struck by the outbreak in Ugandas Kyotera district have developed rashes on their skin and some had swollen limbs.

The disease appears to pass from animals to humans, and medics had at first suspected anthrax, a bacterial infection typically infecting cows, sheep, and goats.

But tests have now ruled out anthrax, said Dr Jean Kaseya, director-general of Africa CDC.

Fears over traditional healers

He said: We have a disease killing people, but we dont know. We call it an unknown disease.

But what we know is it is coming from animals, because at the same time in the same area, animals are dying.

We conducted some studies, we were thinking towards anthrax, but its not anthrax, but for sure there is a linkage between animals and humans.

He went on: We are working together to continue further investigations.

The mystery disease is thought to have affected around 40 people in recent weeks, in the villages of Kyamayembe, Bugera, and Nakatoogo in Bwamijja Parish, and Mabaale, Kabutooke and Kyanika in Kyanika Parish.

Regina Nakalyango, a local councillor representing Kabira sub-county, told the Daily Monitor, a Ugandan daily, that cases were rising daily and many had lost hope of surviving.

She said: People in our villages are living in fear due to the impact of this strange disease.

The worst part is they believe in traditional healing since the medics have also failed to find answers to the deadly disease.

Dr Edward Muwanga, the district health officer, told the paper the disease may be cellulitis, a common bacterial skin infection that causes redness, swelling, and pain.

If untreated, it can spread and cause serious health problems.

He said: We are still waiting for the next set of results, but looking at the signs and symptoms, it is possible that it is cellulitis killing the people, he said.

In July last year, cellulitis was blamed for another strange disease, which killed 13 residents in Kijonjo Parish, Kasasa sub-county.

International and local health bodies are scaling up disease surveillance to spot new infections and outbreaks in Africa.

The continents poor healthcare systems and its exposure to deadly pathogens that jump from animals to humans, such as Ebola and Marburg viruses, have made it a focus of pandemic prevention.

Protect yourself and your family by learning more about Global Health Security

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Judge Randolph Moss rocked slightly in his chair as he looked out over a particularly crowded courtroom last week. He then turned to face the young woman at the podium, who was clutching a piece of paper with both hands. Moss told the woman, Cassandra Buteau, that her letter to the court might have been one of the most impactful he'd ever read.

Buteau's letter sought leniency at sentencing for her parents, Jan. 6 defendants Jamie and Jennifer Buteau of Florida. The letter included the latest, and perhaps the most visceral, in a recent wave of warnings issued in courtrooms about the dangers lurking in the 2024 presidential election cycle.

A review by CBS News of court proceedings in Jan. 6th criminal cases, including the federal prosecution of former President Donald Trump, reveals a growing series of alarms being issued about the prospects of violence, conspiracy theories and election denialism during the 2024 campaign cycle.

Some of the alarms are being sounded by judges, others by prosecutors. At the Nov. 20 sentencing of Jamie and Jennifer Buteau, it was their daughter's letter that warned of the danger of "conspiracy theory rabbit holes."

Federal court records show Jamie and Jennifer Buteau in the lobby of the Capitol Visitor Center on the afternoon of Jan. 6, 2021. / Credit: U.S. Department of Justice

Buteau's letter said her parents weren't engaged in politics until Trump came along. She said they were fed a "constant IV drip of lies, misinformation."

"The biggest lie was the election. A loss that many Trump fans could not accept, in part to do to the persistent, outrageous lies told by so many people in positions of power," Buteau wrote. "From sitting Congress members, to hosts of the highest rated cable TV channel in the country, to the very person they trusted most, the same man currently on pace to be the Republican nominee again in 2024."

As he sentenced Buteau's parents, both of whom pleaded guilty, to prison, Moss echoed the warnings about the ongoing dangers of "conspiracy theory rabbit holes." The left side of the courtroom was filled with more than a dozen family members, coworkers and friends of the Buteau family, some of whom said the Buteaus are no longer engaged or interested in politics. But Moss emphasized the broader danger ahead.

"I can't think of any event, other than the Civil War, that has driven people apart as much," Moss said, referring to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol.

Court documents show Jamie Buteau captured on CCTV video in the elevator lobby next to the Crypt in the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. / Credit: Department of Justice

Other federal judges have been more specific about their warnings. Hours earlier on November 20th, during arguments over the gag order issued in Trump's 2020 election conspiracy criminal case in Washington, D.C., appeals court Judge Bradley Garcia pressed Trump's attorney about connections between Trump's social media posts and the risk of harassment and threats ahead of Trump's forthcoming trial date in March next year.

"As this trial approaches, the atmosphere is going to be increasingly tense," Garcia said.

The appeals court has not yet ruled on whether to reimpose a gag order limiting Trump from making public statements targeting prosecutors, court staff or potential witnesses in his case. The Justice Department has said Trump's statements lead to harassment and threats, including one death threat against a federal judge.

The special counsel has argued Trump made a "threatening Truth Social post." The special counsel specified a post made "on August 4, the day after his arraignment in this case: 'IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I'M COMING AFTER YOU!'"

Trump's attorney has argued the former president has not made threatening statements. His attorney also argued, "The [court] had no business inserting itself into the Presidential election, just weeks before the Iowa caucuses. The First Amendment does not permit the district court to micromanage President Trump's core political speech."

Justice Department prosecutors have also emphasized the ongoing risk of political violence and a resurfacing of the instability and anger that existed in the months before Jan. 6, 2021. In a sentencing memo filed last month in the Capitol riot case of former Trump political appointee Federico Klein, prosecutors argued, "The passions that ignited the January 6 riot have not cooled since then," adding that "an upward variance would also support the need for 'adequate deterrence.'"

Months earlier, in a lengthy court filing in the seditious conspiracy case against a group of convicted Jan. 6 Oath Keepers defendants, prosecutors cited a recent poll by the University of California, Davis. The filing said, "One in five Americans believes political violence would be 'at least sometimes' justified, and one in 10 believes it would be justified if it meant the return of President Trump. Left unchecked, this impulse threatens our democracy. The defendants in this case sought to capitalize on this undercurrent in our society to change the result of a presidential election."

The judges hearing these cases have often been the most unscripted and frank in diagnosing the potential peril surrounding next year's elections. At the sentencing for a Jan. 6 defendant from Florida, Judge Tanya Chutkan said, "Every day we're hearing about reports of anti-democratic factions of people plotting violence, the potential threat of violence, in 2024." Chutkan is also the judge handling Trump's criminal case and issued the partial gag order under review by the appellate court.

President Donald Trump speaks during a rally protesting the electoral college certification of Joe Biden as President, Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. / Credit: Evan Vucci / AP

"It's instructive that it's the judges who are speaking out about the prospect of violence," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, who investigated the Jan. 6 attack and efforts to overturn the 2020 election as part of the House Select January 6th Committee.

"All of these courts are dealing with an unceasing stream of violent threats to their personnel and to the judges," Raskin said to CBS News. "That's a strong sign of an eroding respect for the rule of law."

"There's a belief that the 'other side' isn't just a political opponent, but an evil that represents a threat to the country," said Thomas Zeitzoff, a researcher of political violence and political psychology at American University in Washington, D.C.

Zeitzoff told CBS News, "That increases the risk of political violence" during the 2024 election cycle.

The Justice Department has argued that its prosecutions of the Jan. 6 rioters helps provide deterrence from future insurrections and political violence. Federal prosecutors have opened nearly 1,200 criminal cases against accused rioters and conspirators. Nearly half of the defendants have pleaded guilty. Every Jan. 6 defendant to go to trial by jury has been partially or fully convicted of charges. None has been acquitted by jury trial.

But the recent statements by prosecutors, judges and public witnesses indicate the prosecutions have not cooled the roiling and dangerous political atmosphere and rhetoric, with less than a year until the 2024 election.

The Buteaus' daughter teared up as she read from more of her remarks in Judge Moss's court last week. She said the amplification of lies and political toxicity have an impact on "an already angry, frustrated, and yes, overly gullible group of people."

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A student walks on campus at Moraine Valley Community College in Palos Hills. The college recently signed agreements with two historically Black colleges and universities that can help students further their studies at HBCUs. (MVCC)

Officials at Moraine Valley Community College are make it easier for students to transfer to historically Black colleges and universities after concluding their studies at the school in Palos Hills.

A transfer agreement MVCC recently inked with Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, comes on the heels of an articulation agreement signed in August with Voorhees University in Denmark, South Carolina.

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The latest agreement means Moraine Valley students who are in good standing with at least a 2.7 GPA and an associate degree will accepted as juniors at Morehouse, a mens college. They also are eligible for reduced tuition, dual admission and the possibility of being accepted into honors programs. Morehouse is a member of the Atlanta University Center Consortium, which includes nearby all-female Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University. Its also where Martin Luther King Jr. received his bachelors degree in sociology in 1948.

A Morehouse graduate has a Morehouse Man logo on his cap during a graduation ceremony in 2022 at the college in Atlanta. Moraine Valley Community College recently signed a transfer agreement with the historically Black college. (Curtis Compton/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

For us, its about saying not only do we have confidence you can be successful here, but you have a pathway to one of the greatest HBCUs in the country, said Rory Dean Smith, executive director MVCCs office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. The other really great thing about this opportunity is that Morehouse really takes this unique sense of pride in their students and helps to create leaders in this world.

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Smith said two of his nephews and a brother-in-law graduated from Morehouse, so I can say with great confidence that students would have a terrific experience there. He added the opportunity is open to students of any race.

Theres this uniqueness about HBCUs in that they consider their students part of their family and part of their legacy and that kind of connection, belonging and welcoming is transformative, Smith said.

Black students make up about 9% of Moraines student population, and Smith said the college is looking for ways to attract more Black students, including creating these pathways to further studies at HBCUs. Moraine Valley also has invited representatives from HBCUs to campus to recruit prospective students.

With a student population that is also about 27% Hispanic, the agreements are a way to foster opportunities for students from traditionally underserved populations, MVCC officials said.

Having transfer agreements with HSIs (Hispanic serving institutions) and HBCUs helps bring awareness to our students about the opportunities these institutions can offer and the unique benefits they can provide, Tina Carney-Simon, the schools transfer coordinator, said in a news release announcing the latest agreement.

Scott Friedman, MVCCs dean of Student Engagement, said staff from his school and Morehouse are working together on marketing and Morehouse was offering students preenrollment academic adviser services.

Even before they are accepted, if students are interested, well help them get connected to Morehouse, Friedman said. Obviously theres a lot of questions advisers and admissions staff can answer in advance.

Friedman said MVCC had tried to set up transfer agreements with HBCUs in the past, but the physical distance of the schools, based mainly in the southern United States, from Palos Hills made it difficult.

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This opens a lot of doors to our students who are interested in an HBCU because now we have two really solid direct transfer routes for our students, Friedman said.

Not all the efforts are directed at channeling students to far away schools. MVCCs local transfer agreements include one with Governors State University, an MSI  minority serving institution  with a 50% minority student population.

Kevin Brookins a trustee at Governors State University, who graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., said he had a wonderful experience being around so many intelligent, ambitious and ultimately successful people from backgrounds similar to mine.

The classrooms tend to be smaller and therefore more supportive to students. The cost of these HBCUs tend to be less than predominantly white institutions. They also usually have access to better financial aid, Brookins said.

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Fierce fighting is continuing around the contested Donbas town of Avdiivka, and weather conditions have added to the problems, the head ofthe local military administration Vitaliy Barabash said on national television on Nov. 27.

Especially heavy fighting is ongoing in the Avdiivka industrial zone, Barabash said Moreover, wintery conditions and poor weather have added to the military's problems.

"The weather conditions have added to the difficulties," said the governor.

There is a gusty wind. The temperature is not very low at -1, -2, but with such a powerful wind it is very difficult.

Read also: 59th Brigade rejects DeepStates claims of breach of defenses at Avdiivka

Every day in the town is the same, he said.

"At night it is more or less calm, sometimes there is massive shelling, but mostly there is no shelling, and in the daytime, there is a lot of artillery and rocket shelling," he said.

There is no silence at the positions neither day nor night as the enemy is firing around the clock, Barabash said.

The Russian invasion forces have tried several times to storm Avdiivka, throwing several mechanized columns at the city, but lost 80% of their equipment, the spokesperson for the Joint Press Center of the Tavria Defense Forces, Oleksandr Shtupun, said on Nov. 22.

Read also: ISW analysts confirm ongoing Russian advances around front-line town of Avdiivka

Earlier, Shtupun reported that Russia had sharply increased the number of assault operations near Avdiivka.

Earlier, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that during the month of active assaults on Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, Russia lost about 10,000 soldiers.

The Russian military is losing soldiers and equipment near Avdiivka "fasterand on a larger scale than, in particular, near Bakhmut," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Finland to close all but northernmost border crossing with Russia

By Anne Kauranen

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland may take more measures to stop an unusually large increase in asylum seekers crossing the border from Russia in what the country and its allies say is an orchestrated move by Moscow, the prime minister said on Monday.

Some 900 asylum seekers from nations including Afghanistan, Kenya, Morocco, Pakistan, Somalia, Syria and Yemen have entered Finland from Russia in November, an increase from less than one per day previously, according to the Finnish Border Guard.

Finland blames a change in Russian border protocol for the increase and calls this a hybrid attack.

It says Moscow is funnelling them to the border in retaliation for its decision to increase defence cooperation with the United States, a charge the Kremlin denies. Finland infuriated Russia when it joined NATO in April, ending decades of military non-alignment, due to the war in Ukraine.

It has already closed all but one entry point but is still expecting more migrants to arrive.

"Intelligence information from different sources tells us that there still are people on the move ... If this continues, more measures will be announced in the near future," Prime Minister Petteri Orpo told a press conference.

He gave no details of what the measures could entail.

Several Finnish media outlets reported on Monday, citing anonymous government sources, that the government had held talks over closing the whole border.

Finland's defence forces said last week they would assist the Border Guard in mounting temporary barriers at certain parts of the border to stop people crossing through the forests.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the press conference with Orpo that defending the Finnish border was a joint responsibility, and Sweden would provide help should Finland ask for it.

He said Russia was orchestrating the situation "with the obvious aim to cause wider problems and create fragmentation in Western countries".

"This is an EU external border and we have a common interest in (Finland's) efforts," he said.

The European Union's border agency Frontex last week agreed with Finland to deploy dozens of its border guards and other staff and equipment to help at the border from this week.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday told a news conference in Brussels the defence alliance had so far not received any request for involvement.

"In recent weeks, Moscow has been facilitating the arrival of migrants at Finland's border with Russia, prompting the closure of border crossing points, using migration as a tool to put pressure on a neighbour and a NATO ally," Stoltenberg said.

In 2021 a surge in migration from the Middle East and Africa via Belarus created a humanitarian crisis that Poland and the European Union said was deliberately created by Minsk in a bid to destabilise the bloc. Belarus repeatedly denied flying in people and pushing them across the border.

(This story has been refiled to fix a typo in paragraph 1)

(Reporting by Anne Kauranen and Essi Lehto in Helsinki and Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; Additional reporting by Andrew Gray in Brussels; Editing by Louise Rasmussen, Terje Solsvik and Alison Williams)
The Finnish company HD-Parts has exported truck parts worth millions of euros to Russia since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Source: Yles investigation, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Journalists say the company sent mainly spare parts for Swedish Volvo and Scania trucks to Russia.

At the same time, the management of HD-Parts denies the violation of sanction rules.

Lasse Lindqvist, the founder and chairman of the HD-Parts board, said that customs inspected and approved each shipment to Russia. He stated that he had all the necessary documents.

Lindqvist simultaneously confirms that at least 3/4 of HD-Parts' turnover is accounted for by Russian exports.

The Finnish customs do not comment on the situation with HD-Parts but clarify that they conduct checks when products that may be subject to sanctions are indicated in the export declaration.

The journalists checked the list of spare parts supplied to the Russian Federation by HD-Parts and concluded that the names of the HD-Parts batches largely correspond to goods prohibited for import into Russia.

Russian customs data show that trucks were also exported from Finland to Russia. In particular, about a dozen second-hand Scania and Volvo trucks, as well as semi-trailers of other brands, ended up in Russia during the war.

Customs data indicate that they were owned by Idan Liikenteenvalittys IL from Lappeenranta. The cost of supplies was hundreds of thousands of euros.

Background:

At the beginning of November, it became known that the trial of a woman accused of purchasing small arms ammunition components inside the country and smuggling them to Russia was about to begin in Finland.

Apart from that, Finland seized the real estate of Russian businessman Boris Aleshin, who is on the EU sanctions list and is connected to the Russian defence industry.

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A portion of the MBTAs oldest line will be shutting down Monday for more than a week.

The temporary Green Line closure, which includes all of its downtown Boston rails, is the first of nearly two dozen planned closures through 2024.

Its part of the MBTAs promise to eliminate all slow zones as reduced train speeds have plagued riders with frustrating travel for months.

Workers will replace rails, fix or replace deteriorated ties, install new ballast, and improve signals and switches.

The Green Line is awful. Im not gonna lie, said commuter Justin Hodo. Its ridiculous. It sucks, but were still riding it.

The MBTA released the following information about the closure that impacts riders in the heart of Boston:

Green Line Downtown: No trains between North Station and Kenmore, November 27  December 5

Green Line B: No trains between Kenmore and Babcock Street, November 27  December 5

Shuttles are available between Copley and Babcock Street

The 57 bus is free to ride between Kenmore and Packards Corner

Green Line E: No trains between Copley and Heath Street, November 27  December 5

The 39 bus is free to ride between Copley and Heath Street and runs parallel to the E Line

Green Line D and E: No trains between North Station and Lechmere, December 4  5

Shuttles are available between Lechmere and North Station

Green Line E: No trains between North Station and Medford/Tufts, November 27  December 10, from 8:45 PM through the end of service each day

Shuttles are available between North Station and Medford/Tufts

Green Line D: No trains between North Station and Union Square, November 27  December 10, from 8:45 PM through the end of service each day

Shuttles are available between Lechmere and North Station

The 86, 91, and CT2 buses run between Union Square and East Somerville. These bus routes also travel to Sullivan Square on the Orange Line.

The 87 bus runs between Union Square and Lechmere.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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ORLANDO, Fla.  Pete Antonacci, Gov. Ron DeSantis election fraud office director and former Broward County elections supervisor, lay dead or dying in a governors office hallway for 24 minutes last year before anyone came to his aid, The Florida Bulldog reported.

The Bulldog, a nonprofit news organization, also reported Sunday that no autopsy was performed by the medical examiners office.

Antonacci, 74, died Sept. 23, 2022, following a contentious meeting of the Office of Election Crimes and Security, which DeSantis appointed him to to lead two months earlier.

The Bulldogs review of five heavily redacted Florida Department of Law Enforcement reports did not reveal the meetings agenda or what was discussed. DeSantis had created the office to ensure what he called election integrity after former President Donald Trumps false claims of fraud in the 2020 election.

Antonacci abruptly left the meeting before he died, and his death was previously announced as taking place at an undisclosed location within the Capitol building, where one floor contains offices for the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, CFO, and agriculture commissioner

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement ecords stated Antonacci lay dead or dying on the hallway floor of the governors office for more than 20 minutes before anyone apparently noticed and came to his aid, the Bulldog wrote. More precisely, 24 minutes, in a hallway under real time video-only surveillance.

By the time a Capitol police officer arrived a minute or two later and hooked the pulseless Antonacci up to (a defibrillator), the machine ... assessed Antonacci and advised that no shock was needed, the Bulldog reported.

In an interview with his staff, FDLE Commissioner Mark Glass said he stepped into the hallway about 25 minutes after Antonacci left and saw the director with his face purple and blue and with a bleeding cut on his forehead after having apparently hit his head on a door or doorknob while falling. Glass said he checked for a pulse and felt none.

According to the Bulldog, FDLE Chief of Staff Shane Desguin stated he and Glass performed chest compressions and used an artificial manual breathing unit until medics arrived.

Antonacci was taken to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead by an emergency room doctor, the FDLE reports state. The reports also state that Antonaccis wife, Anne Longman, and his primary doctor, Stacia Groll, stated that he had a long history of heart disease. The doctor was willing to sign off on a death certificate, the report said.

A Florida medical examiner that the Florida Bulldog did not identify said it was unusual that no autopsy was performed. An autopsy was done when Gov. Lawton Chiles died of a heart arrhythmia at the governors mansion in 1998.

Governors office spokesman Jeremy Redfern did not respond Monday to the Orlando Sentinels request for comment on the Bulldog story.

_____
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  A statewide grand jury put into place by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to investigate migrant-related issues called on state legislators to impose new restrictions on immigration  including a tax on all wire transfers of money overseas.

In a 146-page report released Monday, the grand jury also urged lawmakers to put additional restrictions on businesses, including requiring all employers to check the names of prospective employees against a federal immigration database. DeSantis got legislators to pass a E-Verify mandate earlier this year, but it only applied to private companies with 25 or more employees amid a behind-the-scenes pushback from business lobbyists.

Illegal immigration remains a key issue in the halls of Congress and on the campaign trail. During his run for president, DeSantis has faulted former President Donald Trump for failing to get Mexico to pay for Trumps promised border wall. DeSantis has asserted during multiple campaign stops that he would place a charge on remittances to Mexico and other countries to help pay for border enforcement.

When hes saying that he couldnt get the job done, look, I wanted to send the message: I will get the job done. Im not going to make excuses, DeSantis said during an October interview with NewsNation.

The grand jury report calls for what it describes as a modest fee charged to customers similar to one imposed by the state of Oklahoma that could be around 1.5 percent per wire transfer. The grand jury claims that such a fee  which would likely require a supermajority vote in the Legislature to be approved  could generate tens of millions that could pay for beefed up enforcement, education, or money to help state agencies deal with unaccompanied migrant children.

The report suggests that those engaged in legitimate money transfers could get a refund. But such a tax could have a dramatic impact in places such as South Florida, which has a diaspora of people who have left Latin American and the Caribbean and send money back to relatives.

The governors office did not immediately comment on the reports recommendations. But Floridas Republican governor has been a loud and vocal critic of the Biden administrations handling of immigration and has spent millions on efforts, such as sending Florida law-enforcement to the Texas border and flying migrants who crossed into the country to Marthas Vineyard and California.

In the summer of 2022, DeSantis petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to impanel a statewide grand jury to investigate the transport of unaccompanied children and migrants into the state and whether local authorities were refusing to work with federal immigration authorities.

The grand jury, made up of residents from three Republican-leaning counties, has now issued five reports. The latest one was sharply critical of the Biden administrations handling of immigration while at the same time contended that Florida residents are ignoring the situation. The report estimated that as many as 1 million of Florida's nearly 23 million residents are in the state illegally.

We learned that, if anything, many Floridians are (just as we were before undertaking this inquiry) almost dangerously naive and unaware of the true magnitude and malevolence of the illegal immigration industry, the report states in its introduction.

The grand jury did its investigation with the assistance of a statewide prosecutor who works for Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody, who has sued the Biden administration over its immigration policies.

Moody, in a statement, sidestepped the actual recommendations of the grand jury and instead called the report a damning indictment of the Biden administrations complete failure to protect our border and the tens of thousands of immigrant children being smuggled into our country and in some instances, trafficked.

Some Democrats and advocates for immigrants expressed alarm at the tone of the report.

Based on this report, we can expect more incendiary language and policies next legislative session targeting immigrants, State Rep. Anna Eskamani said in a social media post.

The report included a full slate of recommendations beyond just new fees on wire transfers or revisiting E-Verify requirements. The grand jury  without disclosing any names  also blasted non-government organizations involved in immigration that it said refused to cooperate with the probe. The report urged the creation of a separate statewide grand jury to continue to investigate such outfits.

Additionally, the grand jury contended that Miami-Dade County was sidestepping a mandate that local authorities work with federal immigration authorities by citing an exemption from detainer requirements that allows them to be lifted if the person is a witness or the victim of a crime.

The county did not immediately provide a response when asked for comment.


A 5-year-old Florida girl died Saturday after the car she was riding in was hit by a police pickup truck that was responding to an emergency, Polk County Sheriff's Office said.

The crash happened just before 10 p.m. on US 92 and Havendale Boulevard in Auburndale, deputies told FOX 13.

An Auburndale Police Department sergeant was on the way to help a deputy from PCSO who was involved in a physical altercation with a suspect on US 92 and Old Winter Haven Road, authorities said.

The APD sergeant was reportedly headed east on US 92 in a marked 2020 Silverado pickup truck. A blue 2016 Kia sedan was stopped at a red light heading northbound on Havendale Boulevard. Witnesses said when the light turned green, most traffic halted for the approaching police vehicle that had lights flashing and sirens blaring.

FLORIDA DISMEMBERED BODY DISCOVERED, SUSPECT DIES FROM SELF INFLICTED GUNSHOT WOUND: AUTHORITIES

According to FOX 13, the Kia was driven by 5-year-old Jalina Anglin's mother. She told PCSO detectives that she heard the sirens, but began to drive into the intersection because the vehicle next to her moved forward. Authorities told FOX 13 the Kia crossed into the path of the sergeant's truck before the two collided. The girl was riding in the back seat.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Jalina was taken to a local hospital where she died. The family told FOX 13 that she had three younger siblings. Her mother posted to Facebook that she died as a result of head trauma.

FLORIDA MAN CONFESSES TO MURDERING BROTHER, KICKS DETECTIVE: 'I JUST KILLED MY BROTHER'

The girl's mother was taken to a local hospital where she was treated for a broken wrist. Police say the APD sergeant was not injured.

Both drivers were said to be wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, but authorities are still investigating the child's seat belt usage.

No charges are anticipated, according to PCSO, but the investigation is ongoing.

Auburndale police did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment.





Original article source: Florida police truck crashes into car on way to emergency, 5-year-old girl dies
Dream of quitting the 9-to-5 job and running a dairy farm in rural Florida?

One of Manatee Countys last two dairies, Dakin Dairy Farms, has gone on the market. The 350-acre operation is listed with SVN|Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate at an undisclosed asking price.

Owner Jerry Dakin, a former Florida Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year, said in a statement that after 22 years, the farm needs to go to the next generation of farmers to meet the dairys full potential.

The Dakin Dairy Farm includes 3,100 head of dairy cattle with a processing plant on 350 acres and is on the agricultural marketplace to be sold as a working dairy farm. While real estate brokers didnt disclose an asking price, the land itself has a market value of over $2.4 million, according to the Manatee County Property Appraisers Office.

When Dakin started the dairy with a couple hundred cows, he said he never imagined he could grow the farm to have several thousand head producing and processing products on-site delivered to markets with Dakins Fresh From Florida label.

The farm through became a destination for education and agrotourism, complete with a Farm Cafe.

Dakin Dairy Farms up for sale

Broker Trent Saunders said that his company is vetting potential buyers and arranging for them to visit the property prior to entering negotiations.

The dairy is described as a turn-key, income-producing operation currently housing a herd of up to 3,000 lactating cows.

The 350.2-acre farm has all of the necessary infrastructure including six free-stall barns, a milking parlor, production areas, commodity storage, silage storage, milk processing plant capable of processing and packaging all milk produced onsite, the SVN web page said.

The cows enjoy comfortable free stalls for the majority of their day, with dry cows and heifers typically housed offsite. Regular management ensures the well-being of the calves and efficient production processes, with a well-designed production area featuring excellent drainage and a surrounding dike system. This impressive facility has the potential to expand its herd size to 4,000 in the future with additional free stall barns accommodating an additional 1,400 lactating cows, the SVN web page said.

Jerry Dakin says it will take years for Dakin Dairy Farms, 30771 Betts Road, Myakka City, shown Jan. 26, 2023, to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Many barns there are missing their roofs.

Although the property is on the market, it is business as usual at the dairy, and Saunders said he hoped it would remain a dairy, should the property be sold.

But there would be nothing to prevent a future owner from seeking rezoning to allow other kinds of use.

Beyond the top-notch infrastructure, land and the dairy business brand associated with this property holds substantial value. A cherished multi-generation brand, it has earned a reputation through participation in the Fresh From Florida marketing campaign and partnerships with major supermarkets and milk distributors, the SVN web page says.

When it opened in 2002, Dakin Dairy Farms was touted as the most modern, highly computerized dairy among the eight dairies operating in Manatee County.

In addition to its fresh milk, Dakin Dairy Farms has also produced cheese and drinkable yogurt and opened its facility to tourism.

Cows at Dakin Dairy pass by a building whose roof was shredded by Hurricane Irma in 2017. The Myakka City dairy is the last of its kind in Manatee County.

Dakin Dairys difficulties

Dakin Dairy has been buffeted by a number of challenges in recent years, including Hurricane Ian in 2022, which inflicted more punishment on the business than any other storm in history.

In January, Jerry Dakin told the Bradenton Herald that he estimated the damage at $3 million, plus 360 cows lost during the storm.

Jerry Dakin says it will take years for Dakin Dairy Farms, 30771 Betts Road, Myakka City, shown Jan. 26, 2023, to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Ian in September 2022. Many barns there are missing their roofs.

The Myakka City community rallied with chainsaws, labor and trucks to remove storm debris.

Oh, my God, I wish our government could learn something from our community. The people out here are amazing, Dakin said in January.

In 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dakin Dairy Farms had to dump 7,000 gallons of fresh milk every day.

The pandemic lockdown took away the restaurants, other businesses and schools that were the core of Dakin Dairys market. The dairy cows still had to be milked every day, pandemic or not.

Similarly, in 2017 Hurricane Irma knocked out power to Dakins customers in southern Florida, forcing the dairy to dump milk that its customers could not accept due to lack of refrigeration.

The decision to sell

Reflecting on the last two decades of work, Dakin said he feels blessed to have had the opportunity to learn and grow, citing countless once in a lifetime experiences he sees as gifts.

However, as years passed, life events, including the loss of his two brothers and disasters like the pandemic and Hurricane Ian, played a part in his plans. The decision to sell comes with both anxiety and excitement, he said.

Community, people supporting people, I love this community, he said.

Dakin says he plans to stay in Myakka City and continue his support of local agriculture.

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North Carolina is exhibiting a new form of climate change denial.

Its not a disbelief in rising sea levels and more potent hurricanes. Instead, its building more homes and businesses in harms way. Some of the fastest growing areas of North Carolina are those most in danger  areas along the coast.

The recent National Climate Assessment noted that rapid growth in the Southeast is increasing the potential damage from climate change. A New York Times report this month focused on how development is increasing in an area hit by five hurricanes since 2016  the coast between Wilmington and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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, the Times reported. But the one thing they cant seem to do is stop people from moving here.

There are obvious reasons for this. The North Carolina coast offers beautiful beaches, a mild climate and property costs and taxes lower than many parts of the East Coast. With so much good, its understandable that the rising threats from climate change get pushed out of mind as a mere possibility.

Money, too, is a powerful driver. The coastal economy is built on tourism, vacation homes and retirees moving in. Local governments welcome a growing tax base. Tax laws and federal flood insurance also support building on the coast despite the higher risks.

We are still at the point where we are incentivizing this sort of development rather than trying to incentivize people to back off of these most vulnerable locations, said Reide Corbett, director of the Coastal Studies Institute on Roanoke Island.

Corbett said local land use plans need to reflect the effects of sea level rise, not only on the oceanfront, but on water tables further inland. A recent federal report projected a 1-foot increase in U.S. sea levels by 2050.

Land use plans havent been updated in some places in years, if not decades, and its a different world today from the prospect of climate. These land use plans need to catch up, he said.

North Carolina state government has responded by trying to make coastal areas and the states flood-prone coastal plain less exposed to damage. The states resiliency plans and programs are among the most advanced in the nation.

But state efforts are limited by the divide between state and local governments. The state coordinates natural disaster protections and recovery efforts. Local governments control, or fail to control, development.

Its a very tight spot for the state, frankly, said Amanda Martin, who leads the N.C. Office of Recovery and Resiliency, an office created after Hurricane Florence in 2018.

Martin said coastal communities pride themselves on weathering storms, but the state needs to persuade them that more needs to be done as climate change grows and more development increases the cost of storm damage.

Encouraging changes that could curtail the local economy is a delicate process.

You get nowhere in government when you just show up and say this is how its going to happen, Martin said. Building a trusting relationship is so important.

Theres also an issue with growth fed by newcomers moving from other parts of the country who may not know what theyre getting into, Martin said. A big part of resilience is learning from our past experience. Now a big chunk of your community hasnt had those types of experience to learn from.

While much of the coast lags in tempering growth, Corbett sees signs that communities are more open to adjusting.

I wish it was moving at a bit more rapid pace, but I do feel like the majority of the population isnt ignoring what is happening any longer  notice I didnt say everybody, he said.

Climate change is happening fast on the North Carolina coast. Communities there need to be changing even faster.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-404-7583, or nbarnett@ newsobserver.com
A visitor watches art works exhibited during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)



An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened in Cotonou, Benin on Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists.

The exhibition, held at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, attracted visitors including cultural players, students from the Confucius Institute, representatives from media and diplomats.

The exhibition brings together 35 works created by six Chinese artists, and around 20 works of art and sculptures by five Beninese artists.

The artists use painting, sculpture and other forms of art to express their vision of the world.

Carole Borna, representative of Benin's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts, lauded the cultural exchange between young artists from the two countries, and expected a continuation of the cross-cultural fusion.

"It's a great pleasure to see this cohesion, this ongoing passion between young Beninese and Chinese artists. I congratulate them on this exhibition, which takes us on a journey and makes us dream," she said.

Wang Guanzhou, one of the Chinese artists, said China and Benin have been friends for decades, and the exhibition is an excellent opportunity for promoting in-depth cultural exchanges between the two countries.

"We prepared this exhibition with our young Beninese friends, and we were very impressed by their attitude and approach to art," he said, hoping that the exchange would continue to contribute to cultural development of the two countries.
Demolition at a former steel plant in Weirton, W.Va., on April 11, 2018. A Boston company plans to build a plant there to produce metals for the clean energy industry. (Luke Sharrett/The New York Times)

In Weirton, West Virginia, in the heart of coal country, a company started by Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientists plans to build a plant that will produce a metal and alloy critical for clean energy, fuel cells and cleaner steel.

In Vernon, Texas, also a former coal town, a third-generation wind entrepreneur plans to manufacture turbines suitable for remote, rural locations.

And in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, and Louisville, Colorado, a window maker plans to retrofit aging factories to produce thin, insulated units that help make buildings more energy efficient.

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Theyre all projects getting federal funding designed to help small- and medium-sized manufacturers bring clean-energy jobs to former coal communities, part of a $1 trillion infrastructure package signed by President Joe Biden in 2021. The Energy Department announced the projects on Monday.

The program is an effort by the Biden administration to win support for its agenda to reduce American dependence on coal, oil and gas, the main drivers of global warming. But it also points to the broad realization that as the world transitions toward cleaner energy sources such as wind and solar, workers in fossil-fuel industries  as well as regions that depend on them  risk getting left behind.

Coal mining jobs have declined precipitously over the past decades, and there were fewer than 50,000 miners left in the United States in 2022, half the number 10 years ago, according to the latest figures from the Energy Information Agency.

And these energy workers havent been finding clean-energy jobs, despite the rapid growth in industries such as solar and wind. A recent study that examined 130 million online work profiles found that in 2021, fewer than 1% of all workers who left jobs such as coal, mining and oil and gas transitioned to green jobs in renewables.

Coal workers, in particular, have struggled in the transition, the study found. Less than one-quarter of a percent of workers who left a fossil fuel job in West Virginia moved onto a job in renewable energy, said E. Mark Curtis, an economist at Wake Forest University who led the study. Education was another factor: Fossil fuel workers without a college degree were significantly less likely to find clean energy jobs.

In places like Texas or in the middle of the country where theres a lot of solar and wind, fossil fuel communities are relatively well positioned to take advantage of renewables, Curtis said. Coal communities generally dont have that, especially when you think about Appalachia.

He said it made sense for government funding to target former coal regions, and to focus on manufacturing projects, because data showed that former fossil fuel workers most frequently sought to switch to manufacturing jobs. I think thats a very viable type of transition for a lot of these workers and communities to make, he said.

With the grant program, the United States is also trying to reclaim more clean-energy manufacturing, which China and other countries have come to dominate over the past decade.

The goal is to bring new economic opportunities and ensure these communities continue their key role in strengthening Americas national and energy security, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said.

The program will distribute $275 million to seven projects in its initial round and the DOE said it expects its funding to be matched by about $600 million more in private investment.

The companies building the new plants said they are eager to tap local expertise. The most valuable asset for the project is a legacy workforce that has played a significant role in the U.S. metals industry, Tadeu Carneiro, CEO of Boston Metal, said in an interview.

Its new West Virginia plant expects to hire 200 to 250 people and will manufacture ultrapure chromium metal and high temperature alloys that are critical materials needed for clean power, fuel cells and steel. Currently, foreign manufacturers dominate those materials.

West Virginia Northern Community College, which teaches about 1,600 students in Weirton, said in a letter of support for the project that it was ready to set up courses and internships for students interested in jobs at Boston Metal.

The proposed project, it said, can help revitalize metals manufacturing in the region after decades of decline.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
LAFAYETTE, Ind.  Fran Cohen and her ex-husband, Menashi Cohen, are responsible for thousands of dollars of thefts, money laundering and tax evasion during their ownership and operations of Deal Zone, CD Land and Treasure on Pallets, according to allegations in grand jury indictments.

Menashi Cohen was arrested in May 2022, then his indictments were unsealed.

Fran Cohen, however, has been in California the last few years, she said during her initial hearing Monday, hours after being arrested and jailed in Lafayette.

The couple operated Deal Zone in the Lafayette Pavilions, CD Land on Earl Avenue and Treasures on Pallets in the 2800 block of Old U.S. 231.

Fran Cohen faces 22 grand jury indictments for her role in the local businesses, which were shut down in March 2021 after police began to investigate.

The indictments accuse the Cohens of buying merchandise that had been stolen from retailers and then selling it in their stores.

The indictments allege that the Cohens conspired with people who stole from the retailers, and then  as part of their business model  the Cohens purchased the stolen property, resold it and pocketed profits, according to the indictments read during Fran Cohen's initial hearing.

More: Police investigate theft allegations against Deal Zone store in Lafayette

The indictments also indicated Fran Cohen is charged with fraud for misusing emergency federal funds available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, Fran Cohen was indicted for perjury, alleging she lied to the Tippecanoe County grand jury.

Fran Cohen was indicted at the end of April 2022  the same time as her ex-husband. But she was in California, she said during the initial hearing.

She turned herself in Monday morning to Lafayette police, and her initial hearing was scheduled for the afternoon.

To be released from jail, Fran Cohen will need to post a $50,000 cash bond and a $250,000 surety bond.

She requested a public defender, but her income and assets might make her ineligible for a public defender.

Her trial is scheduled for April 23.

However, Fran Cohen and Tippecanoe County Deputy Prosecutor Natasha Corbett both said during the hearing that Cohen faces charges in federal court.

More: Grand jurors indict former Lafayette business owner on money laundering, theft charges

More: Prosecutor files civil lawsuit for forfeiture of confiscated property

Fran Cohen didn't seem to understand that if she is able to post bond, she cannot leave the state of Indiana without the court's permission.

She protested saying she had court hearings in California that she must attend.

"My life has been destroyed," she said, "and my mom just passed away."

She indicated she did not know how she was going to post bond, pay for an attorney and straddle court hearings in two states on opposite ends of the country.

Menashi Cohen's trial is scheduled to begin in February.

Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Former Deal Zone owner arrested on 2022 indictments
A former corrections officer at a federal prison in Eastern Kentucky pleaded guilty last week in connection with assaults on inmates.

Ryan O. Elliott, who was a lieutenant at USP Big Sandy in Martin County, pleaded guilty Nov. 21 to one charge of violating an inmates rights and one charge of falsifying records.

He agreed as part of his plea not to appeal any prison sentence of 33 months or less.

One assault at issue in the case happened on March 26, 2021, after an inmate had been taken to a holding cell for violating a prison rule.

Elliott saw another lieutenant, identified only by the initials T.M. in the plea, kick the inmate in the shin.

Elliott had not seen any behavior by the inmate, who also wasnt fully named in the plea, to justify the assault, but he then tackled the inmate and punched him three or four times in the side, according to the court record.

Another corrections officer, Clinton Pauley, joined in the assault.

Guards put restraints on the inmate and took him to an isolation unit. The inmate was compliant and not aggressive during the entire incident, according to the plea agreement.

However, the lieutenant who kicked him, T.M., directed Elliott to write a false report about the incident.

Elliott said in a report that the inmate had been violent and assaultive, and had kicked Elliott, causing a minor injury, he said in his plea.

The next month, in April 2021, Elliott saw other officers escorting an inmate with a head injury out of the lieutenants office. He hadnt seen what happened in the office, but assumed other staffers had assaulted the inmate, his plea said.

Elliott said another officer, Lt. Kevin Pearce, listed him as a witness to an incident in the office, even though he wasnt there.

Pearce told Elliott to write a false report to help cover up the incident and looked over his shoulder while did it, Elliotts plea said.

Elliott is scheduled to be sentenced in February.

Pauley and another former Big Sandy officer, Samuel J. Patrick, pleaded guilty earlier in connection with assaults on inmates.

Pauley was sentenced to more three years and four months in prison and Patrick was sentenced to three years.

A jury convicted Pearce and he is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents walk next to the hearse carrying the casket of former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents walk next to the hearse carrying the casket of former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center

By Maria Alejandra Cardona and Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) -Former President Jimmy Carter, who is 99 and in hospice care, is expected to attend a tribute service at a church in Atlanta on Tuesday for his late wife Rosalynn Carter, who died at age 96 on Nov. 19, his office said on Monday.

The body of the former U.S. first lady will lie in repose on Monday, giving Americans the chance to pay their respects to the woman her husband called "an extension of myself."

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Bill Clinton and former first ladies Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush and Michelle Obama also are expected to attend Tuesday's service.

Rosalynn Carter died shortly after entering hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, alongside her husband, a Democrat who gave his wife a prominent voice during his presidency from 1977-1981 and supported her advocacy in the cause of mental health.

Family members joined with current and former members of her U.S. Secret Service security detail in a hearse motorcade on Monday morning to the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, where wreaths were laid. Spectators in Plains waved U.S. flags as the motorcade passed by them.

A repose service is being held on Monday in the lobby of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, followed by an opportunity for members of the public to view the casket and pay their respects.

On Wednesday, Carter's funeral will be held at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains before an internment at the family residence.

Carter and her husband were the longest-married U.S. presidential couple, having wed in 1946 when he was 21 and she was 18.

Since his single term as president ended, Jimmy Carter has lived more post-White House years than any president before him, and she played an instrumental role during those years, including as work for the Carter Center nonprofit and the Habitat for Humanity charity.

Her family disclosed in May that she had dementia. Jimmy Carter entered hospice care at home in February after deciding to decline additional medical intervention.

(Reporting by Maria Alejandra Cardona in Plains, Georgia, Rich McKay in Atlanta and Jonathan Allen in New York; Editing by Will Dunham)
Russia is using former Wagner mercenaries to storm Ukrainian positions in the Kupyansk sector, Colonel-General Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Army, said in a Telegram post on Nov. 27.

The Russians continue to actively advance in the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia operational-strategic military group, Syrskyi said.

Read also: Former Wagner mercenaries among new National Guard unit being formed at 10,000-tent camp in Zaporizhzhya Oblas

In the Kupyansk sector in eastern Ukraine, units assembled from former Russian Storm, Storm Z, and Storm V convicts are also being used to storm Ukrainian positions, Syrskyi noted.

The Russian invasion forces have had no success in this area as fighting continues near Ivanivka and Synkivka in Kharkiv Oblast.

The Russian military is trying to assault near the Serebryanskyi forest in the Lyman sector using bombers, fighter aircraft, and helicopters for fire support, the commander said.

Read also: Ukrainian military wont allow mass rotation of Russian troops on Bakhmut frontline, says unit commander

In the Bakhmut sector, the aggressor continues to try to force Ukrainian troops from their positions in Klishchiyivka. In this area, Russians have intensified the use of kamikaze drones, but they have had no success, Syrskyi said.

Since the beginning of the month, the Russian army has lost 8,690 personnel. Also, 1,002 pieces of military equipment were destroyed or damaged, including 109 tanks, 175 armored combat vehicles, and more than 200 artillery systems and mortars of various calibers.

On Nov. 26, Volodymyr Fitio, head of the public relations service of the Ground Forces Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the Russian troops are trying to find a weakness in the defense of Kupyansk in order to reoccupy it.

Earlier, UK intelligence reported that the Russian leadership was beginning to "rehabilitate" some elements of the Wagner PMC after the militants' failed rebellion in June. UK intel also claimed that Russia was trying to strengthen its control over the Wagner mercenaries or assimilate them into other military units.

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
This story was originally published by Searchlight New Mexico.

On Sept. 25, 16-year-old Vincent Chavez  Junior, as his family calls him  ran away from his aunts house, where the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department had placed him and five of his siblings in foster care the month before. Vincent has Tourettes syndrome and post-traumatic stress disorder, and he had become agitated and angry before running, according to an Albuquerque Police Department report.

His aunt called the police and officers arrived quickly. They briefly spotted someone matching Vincents description running into an apartment complex off of Central Avenue and Wyoming Boulevard; they found his red hoodie at the scene, but the teen was able to give them the slip, their report said. Officers entered his information into the National Crime Information Center database, available to law enforcement only. Then they left.

Eight weeks have passed, and nobody has seen Vincent. CYFD has still not posted his photo and information on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website  a step the agency is required to take within 24 hours of a childs disappearance, as mandated by federal law.

Kimberly Chavez holds her newborn as Vincent Chavez Sr. shows photos of their missing teenage son.

Its making us sick, Vincents mother, Kimberly Chavez, said during an interview at her home in Albuquerques South Valley. We cant sleep at night. Hes out there without his medications. Caseworkers have not answered family members repeated pleas for information, according to phone records shared with Searchlight New Mexico.

We drive around every day looking for him, because nobody else is doing anything to find him, Chavez said. Why isnt anyone else looking for him?

CYFD removed Vincent and his siblings from their parents home in mid-August, after investigators alleged abuse by Vincents father. The family maintains that those allegations are untrue; the matter is currently pending in childrens court. Vincent had never run from home before he was taken into foster care, his parents said.

More than 50 missing kids

New Mexicos child welfare system has struggled to deal with runaways for years, according to interviews with attorneys and CYFD employees. As of October 31 of this year alone, 52 kids were listed as runaways, according to CYFD.

Some teens, like Vincent, flee from foster homes, angry at being removed from their parents or unhappy with their living situation. Others routinely run away because of CYFDs practice of housing teenagers in youth homeless shelters or department office buildings.

Trying to find a kid can be an uphill battle. The law does not allow CYFD employees or foster parents to physically stop a child from running away. Law enforcement is required to enter missing children into the NCIC database, but officers dont usually proactively look for missing teens unless they believe them to be in imminent danger, according to attorneys.

It really does feel like the kids just fall into a black hole when they run from foster care, said Alison Endicott Quinones, legal director of Advocacy Inc., an Albuquerque-based nonprofit that provides legal services for at-risk youth and children in CYFD custody. There really isnt a mechanism for requiring a kid to return, or ways to bring them back.

If police do find a runaway, they usually drop them off at the CYFD office in Albuquerque, where the kids often run away yet again, she said.

Vincent Chavez in a recent photo.

A juvenile who runs from foster care is treated as any other runaway or missing person, said Albuquerque Police spokeswoman Franchesca Perdue. Officers review the case to see if the runaway qualifies as endangered, in which case a flier is completed by the detective and the media is contacted along with DPS [the New Mexico Department of Public Safety], she said.

Missing persons are considered endangered if they are believed to be at imminent risk of harm, if they have been victimized by a member of their household, or if their health and safety are in jeopardy, among other criteria. Law enforcement has not publicly issued a missing persons advisory for Vincent.

There are numerous steps that CYFD is supposed to take when children in its custody  currently numbering 1,988  run away. Crucially, foster care workers must alert law enforcement and contact the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children immediately but no later than 24 hours after theyre discovered missing. The name of the youths CYFD worker and other key details should be provided in their report, including but not limited to the child or youths basic demographic information, a recent photo and particular risks the youth might face, the policy states.

Kimberly Chavez, the mother of Vincent Chavez, looks at the toys and other things left behind in his room.

Sometimes caseworkers follow those steps and work aggressively to find a missing child, advocates say. Often they do not. Attorneys for foster youth have long complained that CYFD does not work quickly to find missing foster children. Those complaints were underscored in a 2023 audit by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which found that 51,115 out of 74,353 missing foster children were not reported in keeping with federal requirements. New Mexico was among the many states that failed to follow the rules. CYFD declined to comment about the high number of runaways.

Adding to the challenges, CYFD employees have been leaving the department in droves  the agency currently has a 27 percent vacancy rate  and the workers who remain often have crushing caseloads.

That kiddos worker would have had at least 30 other cases they had to deal with at the same time, said a CYFD employee who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the news media. The employee was not involved with Vincents case but was well familiar with the overall problem.

We never want kids to go missing, the employee said. We never want this to happen. But if a kid does run away theres only so much we can do. Were not allowed to chase a child, were not allowed to restrain a child. Hes in our custody, absolutely, but our job is to report to police.

Vincent Chavez Sr. and Kimberly Chavez stand on either side of their sons prized car, left behind in the yard of the family home.

The streets, needless to say, can be a dangerous place for kids, who can be hurt, trafficked or arrested, among other perils. The problem is devastating nationwide: As many as half of foster kids in America run away at least once and an estimated 40 percent go missing multiple times, research shows. The vast majority of those who run have mental health diagnoses, alcohol or drug use, or other factors that make them especially vulnerable.

As the days and weeks pass with no news of Vincents whereabouts, his parents keep patrolling the streets, stopping to look whenever they see a panhandler, they said.

He has loved cars since he was little and has wanted to become a mechanic so he could work at his dads auto repair business, his mother said. After he went missing, his parents felt sure he would at least come home to get his prized possession: a blue Chrysler 300 that his father, Vincent Chavez Sr., bought him a few months before his 16th birthday in September.

That car is his baby, his father said. He has a spare key. Its not a good sign that he hasnt come back to get it.

Ed Williams, a Searchlight investigative reporter, covers child welfare, social justice and other issues. In 2022, he was selected for ProPublicas Local Reporting Network to produce stories about abuses in the foster care system and the devastating impacts on children. Before joining Searchlight, Ed was a reporter in both the United States and Latin America, working for print, digital and radio outlets, including seven years in public radio. His numerous journalism awards include a 2020 First Amendment award and 2019 local accountability reporting award from the News Leaders Association. He has a masters degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: A foster teen has gone missing. Why, his family asks, is no one looking for him?
Police are investigating how a mans body ended up in the ventilation system of a Macomb Community College building in Clinton Township.

There is no reason to suspect foul play, said Macomb College Police Chief William Leavens. At this point, it is important to remember that this an ongoing investigation, with the goal to understand the circumstances.

The Macomb Center for the Performing Arts, located in Clinton Township.

The body  which was identified Monday as Jason Thompson, 36, of Clinton Township  was found Sunday evening while looking for the source of a terrible smell at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts at Hall and Garfield roads.

Police, however, did not offer speculation about how the body ended up in the ventilation system or how long it had been there.

Thompson was reported missing police Nov. 1 and last seen by family Oct. 25, the college said. The community college said it is offering its condolences to Thompson's family.

Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Body found in vent at Macomb Center for the Performing Arts building
By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) -Arab states and the European Union agreed at a meeting in Spain on Monday that a two-state solution was the answer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, with EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell saying the Palestinian Authority should rule Gaza.

Borrell said all EU members attending the meeting of Mediterranean nations in Barcelona and almost all attendees had agreed on the need for a two-state solution.

The Palestinian Authority must hold elections as soon as possible to gain further legitimacy and improve its functioning, as the only "viable solution" to the future leadership of Gaza, currently run by Hamas Islamists, he said.

"I believe is the only viable solution, but it will be viable if the international community backs it. Otherwise, we will see a power vacuum that will be fertile ground for all sorts of violent organisations," Borrell said at a press conference.

An initial four-day truce has been extended by two days, mediator Qatar said, in the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In response to that attack, Israel bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said any talk of administration of Gaza after the conflict should focus on the West Bank and Gaza as one entity and that the Palestinian people should decide who rules them.

A two-state solution envisages a state for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of the Gaza Strip in a 2007 power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza, adding: "We have been there all the time, we have 60,000 public workers there."

They were speaking at the conclusion of a meeting of the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona, a 43-member grouping of European, North African and Middle Eastern countries. Israel did not attend the summit.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke as a representative of a group of ministers from the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

"We delivered our message, it's important that we have a ceasefire immediately, that we build on the current truce that is in place," he told reporters after the conference ended.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the absence of Israel due to apparent concern over "one-sided hostility" underscored "deep rifts".

"That is precisely why I am here today, even though these meetings were not previously given a high profile by Germany. Precisely because the rifts are getting deeper, we have to sit together, we have to talk and hear each other out," she said.

(Reporting by Joan Faus; Writing by David Latona and Aislinn Laing, Editing by Ed Osmond, Alex Richardson, Nick Macfie and Alison Williams)
(WBRE/WYOU)  Three residents of New York, formally of Jamaica, have been convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges, while another man has been charged, he remains a fugitive of the law

The United States Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Caron Pitter, 47, Rohan Lyttle, 49, and Charlene Marshall, 44, permanent residents of the United States, originally from Jamaica, were found guilty on all charges against them following a two-week jury trial that concluded on Friday, November 17.

According to U.S. Attorneys, the defendants were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In addition to the conspiracy charges against all defendants, Pitter was charged with several counts of mail fraud, and Lyttle was charged with multiple counts of mail fraud, wire fraud, and interstate transportation of goods taken by fraud.

Officials say a fourth defendant, Rohan Lyttle, Jr., 26, was charged with some of the same offenses but remains a fugitive at large.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, the defendants received funds from victims of a Jamaican lottery scam between 2017 and 2020. The trial evidence showed that an individual based in Jamaica posing as a representative of Publishers Clearing House (PCH) used lead lists containing names and personal information of elderly Americans to contact potential victims.

These individuals were allegedly contacted by phone and email and falsely told that they had won multimillion-dollar prizes through PCH but, needed to prepay taxes and other fees in order to claim their supposed prizes.

Man sentenced to 16 years for sweepstakes scam

The victims were then directed to make payments in various ways, including by sending packages containing tens of thousands of U.S. dollars through the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and Federal Express.

In addition to cash packages sent by mail, the victims transmitted funds through bank-to-bank wire transfers, Zelle, MoneyGram, and Western Union. They were also defrauded in other ways by giving the scammers access to credit cards and Amazon accounts, officials say.

Karam says the defendants also obtained debit cards for victims checking accounts and used those cards to make cash withdrawals at ATMs located in Jamaica. Several of the victims testified at trial, including a 78-year-old former resident of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, a 70-year-old resident of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and a 90-year-old resident of Walterboro, South Carolina.

Officials say collectively, these victims lost over $1.1 million in connection with this fraud scheme.

All of these victims testified that they were contacted by a representative of PCH and directed to send money to claim their respective prizes. All of them sent money to the defendants charged in this case, as well as other locations. The victim from Mechanicsburg, PA, and the victim from Philadelphia, PA collectively sent in excess of $200,000 in cash packages just to these defendants.

In some cases, victims were also directed to receive funds from third parties that they didnt know and send those funds to other individuals that they were led to believe were also PCH representatives.

Evidence at trial also showed that the defendants operated an auto body shop in Queens,

New York known as Rocars Auto and an affiliated used car dealership based in Kingston,

Jamaica is known as Rolcam Company Limited.

The defendants used the proceeds of the lottery scam to purchase and repair salvaged vehicles from online vehicle auctions and ship those vehicles to Rolcam Company Limited for sale to customers in Jamaica.

The victim from Mechanicsburg, PA was also told that he had won a new Range Rover, in addition to his cash prize. He was directed to pay for and ship over $15,000 in parts from a

Land Rover car dealership to Rocars Auto in Queens, New York, under the false pretense that his

vehicle was in need of upgrades before it could be sent to him. The evidence at trial showed that

the defendants used these parts to repair a 2019 Land Rover that they purchased from a salvaged vehicle auction house. After repairing the vehicle, they shipped it from Rocars Auto to Rolcam Company Limited in Kingston, Jamaica, where it was sold to an unidentified buyer believed to be associated with the lottery scam.

The defendants used various means to disguise their receipt of victim funds, including

distributing the money among each other so that the funds could be deposited in a variety of

bank accounts and exchanged for cashiers checks so that they would not appear in bank accounts at all. The defendants also regularly broke up larger amounts of cash into smaller amounts to make their deposits look smaller in size, which had the effect of evading banks

reporting requirements for large cash transactions.

The maximum penalty under federal law for mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit

wire fraud mail fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering is 20 years for each

offense.

The maximum penalty for interstate transportation of goods taken by fraud is 10 years.

The Court may also impose on each defendant a term of supervised release following

imprisonment and a fine.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of a scam, help is available at the

National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 (372-8311).

The hotline is open Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. You may also contact the U.S. Postal Inspection Service at 1-800-372-8347 or online.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
Four people have died in a suspected murder-suicide at a homeless encampment in North Carolina.

The tragedy took place at the Autryville homeless encampment, located about 55 miles away from Raleigh.

Residents of the encampment reportedly heard an argument before the violence unfolded at around 9.30am on Sunday, NBC reported.

The Sampson County Sheriffs Office has identified the gunman as 40-year-old Dwane Paul Miller, of Marysville, Washington.

Miller allegedly shot the three victims, two women and a man, before turning the gun on himself, according to police.

One of the female victims was 41-year-old Carrie Nicole Trampel, who had ongoing domestic violence issues also involving Miller stemming from another state. It is unclear how the other two victims, Daniel Jay Wiltshire, 44, and Amber Rae King, 43, knew Miller.

Three of the deceased had multiple gunshot wounds and one appeared to have a single gunshot wound, the sheriffs office said in a statement to The Sampson Independent. Evidence shows that Miller discharged his firearm multiple times into the three victims before turning the gun on himself.

The sheriffs office added that Miller and the victims had been living in two tents in the homeless encampment for several weeks before the murder-suicide.

If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support; you can speak to someone for free over the phone, 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 National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline 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.
2.25 mln people sit China's civil servant exam

Xinhua) 08:58, November 27, 2023

BEIJING, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- More than 2.25 million people sat China's annual civil service recruitment examination on Sunday to compete for vacancies with the central authorities and their branches, according to the National Civil Service Administration.

The administration said this year's exam attracted over 2.61 million applicants, and approximately one in 57 examinees could eventually be recruited.

The written exam was held on Sunday, simultaneously in 237 cities nationwide.

China plans to recruit 39,600 civil servants to work for central agencies and institutions directly attached to them in the 2024 civil servant recruitment.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
A new campaign was initiated in Beijing's Shijingshan district on Friday to promote popular science and science fiction creation among Chinese youth.

Leaders and guests attend the launch of a national popular science and sci-fi creation cultivation campaign at Shijingshan Science Museum in Beijing, Nov. 24, 2023. [Photo courtesy of Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute]

The campaign will be open nationwide to students from elementary, middle and high schools, as well as universities, inviting them to produce literary or artistic creations in the fields of popular science and science fiction. Lectures will be organized within schools, with renowned sci-fi writers participating. The goal is to cultivate and enhance the creative abilities of sci-fi enthusiasts, enabling them to better express their imagination and insights about the future. The judging panel will comprehensively evaluate the entries based on innovation, scientific accuracy, artistic value and educational quality.

Award-winning works will be announced during the 2024 China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC) and winners will receive the opportunity to meet and learn from established sci-fi authors such as Liu Cixin and Wang Jinkang, further inspiring their creativity and improving their writing skills. The winning works will be promoted in popular science and sci-fi magazines, as well as online, and receive the chance for publication, thereby increasing their exposure and influence.

During the launch ceremony, Shi Lei, director of the Shijingshan District Science and Technology Commission, emphasized the potential of sci-fi education to foster curiosity, imagination and innovation among young people. By utilizing mediums such as painting, sci-fi stories and science fairy tales, the campaign serves as a platform to encourage young people to engage in the creation of such works, igniting their deep desire for scientific content while fostering their creative enthusiasm and innovative spirit, inspiring them to produce exceptional works of popular science and science fiction.

"Next, we will continue to innovate and diversify the forms of popular science and sci-fi education, and design a series of lecture courses," Shi said. "We will also identify and cultivate outstanding sci-fi talents from the student pool to contribute to the advancement of sci-fi creation and popular science."

Wang Weiying, director-general of the Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute, pointed out that popular science and sci-fi creation have always been an important part of China's cultural development and they contribute to improving public awareness of science, cultivating scientific literacy, and promoting the integration of technology and humanities.

"This campaign marks our commitment to further promote the development of popular science and sci-fi creation, providing creators with a broader stage," she said. "Each sci-fi story and popular science work is a creation filled with imagination, carrying the author's views on the future, expectations for technology, and reflections on the future of humanity.

"In recent years, the rapid development of technology has brought about rapid changes in our lives, and humanity is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Popular science and sci-fi creation, in their unique way, can explore the unknown world and stimulate our thinking and exploration of the future. They not only inspire our spirit of innovation but also deepen our understanding and interest in science, technology and the future."

Chen Liuqi, vice president of the Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute and host of the event, introduces details of the campaign at Shijingshan Science Museum in Beijing, Nov. 24, 2023. [Photo courtesy of Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute]

Later, during an interactive session, writers Ling Chen, Zheng Jun, Chao Xia, Jia Yu and Li Haichuan shared their experiences and personal stories on sci-fi literature creation, and answered questions from students.

China is building a sci-fi-based science and technology industrial park in a reclaimed steel plant in the western part of Beijing's Shijingshan district to promote the development of the country's sci-fi industry.
Boys and girls hold Israeli flags as they gather outside the Schneider Children's Medical Center waiting for released hostages to arrive in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday. Photo by Christophe Petit Tesson/EPA-EFE

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Eleven more Israeli hostages were released by their Hamas captors on Monday as Qatar announced that a truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended for an additional two days.

The Israeli hostages, which included nine children and two mothers, were released to the Red Cross, the Israeli Defense Forces announced.

The miliary and Shin Bet intelligence personnel were accompanying the released hostages inside Israeli territory, the IDF said, adding that after they undergo an initial medical assessment, the 11 will be reunited with their families.

"The IDF, together with the entire Israeli security establishment, will continue operating until all the hostages are returned home," the military said.

"We have now successfully facilitated the release and transfer of 11 hostages held in Gaza," the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed in a post on X. "The ICRC was not involved in the negotiations, and its role has been to facilitate the agreement as a neutral intermediary."

An International Red Cross vehicle carrying Israeli-Russian hostage Ron Krivoy, one of 18 Israelis and nationals of other countries released by Hamas on Sunday evening, drives toward the Rafah border point with Egypt ahead of being transferred to Israeli soil. Photo by Ismael Muhammad/UPI

The latest releases marked the fourth and final phase of a deal between Israel and Hamas to release 50 captives in return for a four-day pause in the Gaza war. Hamas has another 20 to 40 Israeli hostages it could release in the coming days.

"We are continuing with the outline that has been agreed to and we are also continuing with our main goal: To bring about the release of our hostages, to complete the elimination of Hamas and -- of course -- to ensure that this threat will not recur in Gaza," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said ahead of a budget meeting Monday evening,

Palestinians queue in front of a gas station to fill cooking cylinders in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday after the arrival of 150 trucks of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip. Photo by Ismael Muhammad/UPI

"What has been will not be -- neither will there be a regime that encourages terrorism, educates for terrorism and pays for terrorism," he said.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari announced earlier Monday that the cease-fire has been extended for another two days, potentially prolonging the temporary cease-fire through Saturday morning under the terms of the agreement.

Palestinians queue with jerry cans at a petrol station in Rafah, southern Gaza, on Sunday after the arrival of 150 trucks of aid supplies to the Gaza Strip for the first time in 49 days. Aid arrived as part of the humanitarian pause for prisoner exchanges. Photo by Ismael Muhammad/UPI

The deal, brokered by Qatar calls for extending the truce by one day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas, limited to 10 days in total.

Hamas had said in a statement late Sunday that it was hoping an extension would be possible with the aim of increasing the number of Palestinian prisoners freed from the 117 Israel has handed back thus far.

The announcement appeared to be the group's first formal expression of a wish to keep the truce going beyond its official expiration at 7 a.m. local time Tuesday.

U.S. President Joe Biden said in a statement Monday he has been "deeply engaged over the last few days to ensure that this deal -- brokered and sustained through extensive U.S. mediation and diplomacy-- can continue to deliver results.

"Thus far, more than 50 hostages have now been released and returned to their families. Those released include young children, mothers, and grandmothers."

Netanyahu, on a visit to Gaza on Sunday to meet with Israel Defense Forces -- the first trip inside the occupied territory by an Israeli leader since 2005 -- signaled that an extension was a possibility if Hamas continued to free hostages.

But he also talked tough, pledging that the war was not over until Hamas had been destroyed.

"We are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us," said Netanyahu, adding that he had Biden in a phone call that the military offensive in Gaza would resume with full force once any extension came to an end.

Biden pledged his administration would do everything it could to see the truce extended so that more hostages could be freed and more badly needed humanitarian aid could be brought into Gaza for civilians.

He said he would remain personally engaged with Netanyahu to ensure the truce agreement was implemented in full, as well as working to get it extended.

Biden stressed that the deal was "structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results.

"That's our goal: to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow."

Expectations were qualified by U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan who said on U.S. television Sunday that while the pause in the fighting could be extended one, two, three or "even more" days, it was up to Hamas.

"If the pause stops, the responsibility for that rests on the shoulders of Hamas, not on the shoulders of Israel," said Sullivan who acknowledged the halt in the fighting had given Hamas the opportunity to refit and retool and exploit its achievements on social media.

Qatari officials had also sought to temper expectations of a longer pause, warning that because hostages had been abducted by a number of different groups, Hamas did not know where they all were, making the task of finding the dozens needed for the extension problematic.

Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said it was understood at least 40 of the women and children held in Gaza were being held by groups other than Hamas.

"If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension. We don't yet have any clear information how many they can find because one of the purposes [of the pause] is they will have time to search for the rest of the missing people."
The fourth exchange of hostages held by militant group Hamas is expected Monday as the group and Israel weigh extending a cease-fire in Gaza slated to end later in the day.

Israel indicated last week it would be open to extending the temporary cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. The four-day truce began Friday under a deal brokered last week by Israel, Hamas, Qatar and the U.S.

Hamas has released a total of 62 hostages  mostly women and children  among the estimated 240 people taken captive in the militant groups Oct. 7 incursion into Israel. The released hostages have so far included Israelis and other foreign nationals.

In exchange for the hostages, Israel agreed to the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners and the delivery of aid to Gaza, which has been under siege since the start of the war last month. The Palestinian prisoners released were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones or firebombs in conflict with Israeli forces, or other less-serious offenses.

While Israel appears open to extending the four-day truce in fighting, it has reiterated it is determined to eliminate Hamas and its military capabilities following the groups Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which left more than 1,200 people dead.

Israels retaliatory bombardment of Gaza has killed more than 13,000 people since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-ruled health ministry in Gaza. About half of Gazas population of 2.3 million civilians have been forced to flee their homes in the violence, taking refuge in U.N. shelters, schools or hospitals alongside thousands of wounded patients.

The civilian death toll in Gaza has sparked calls from several humanitarian agencies and other world leaders for an extended cease-fire to allow civilians to leave the territory or for more aid to come in.

Two Egyptian officials who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity told the news service there are talks of extending the cease-fire for another four days. One of the officials told the AP that both sides have agreed to this prospect, though the violence in the occupied West Bank complicates negotiations.

Hamas has demanded an end to the Israeli military raids in the West Bank, which have led to the arrest of hundreds of Palestinians, the AP noted. An estimated 200 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in the violence following the Oct. 7 attack, according to Reuters.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The killing of Thomas has racheted up tensions in France (OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE)

The French government urged calm Monday after the killing of a teenage boy at a village dance party earlier this month was followed up with violent demonstrations by the extreme right.

The death of the 16-year-old, named only as Thomas, has been seized upon by the far-right who have portrayed the killing as symbolic of increasingly insecure conditions in French society.

Olivier Veran, the spokesman of President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government, went in person to the village of Crepol in southeastern France where Thomas was killed in a bid to keep a lid on tensions.

The death of Thomas is "a tragedy that puts us at risk of a tipping-over of our society, if we don't rise to the occasion," he said.

"It's up to the judiciary to render justice. Not for the French public themselves," he warned, while acknowledging that the death of Thomas was the result of more than a "simple fight at a village dance".

Around 100 extreme-right activists travelled to the nearby town of Romans-sur-Isere on Saturday, a police source said, adding that they were looking for a fight with young people from the La Monnaie neighbourhood, where many suspect the perpetrators of the November 19 killing live.

A further far-right gathering in Romans was dispersed by police Sunday.

With 24 people held in custody since Friday in connection with the events, senior prosecutor Laurent de Caigny insisted "no one can take justice into their own hands outside the law" and urged people to allow investigators to do their work.

"Those who oppose this by illegitimate violence will answer for it," he added.

- Tensions running high -

Nine people believed connected to the November 19 violence in Crepol were placed under investigation on Saturday for crimes including murder and attempted murder, prosecutors in nearby city Valence said.

Fighting appears to have broken out inside the dance before spilling outside, with a group of suspects arriving by car as the party was ending.

Conservative and far-right politicians have been swift to point to the fight at the village dance as evidence of danger from immigrants and minorities, even as details of the night's events remain unclear.

Prosecutor de Caigny said the violence appears to have broken out for "petty reasons" rather than being a premeditated attack based on "race, ethnicity, nationality or religion" -- perhaps even a passing remark about "somebody's haircut".

But prosecutors have added that nine of the 104 witnesses interviewed reported hearing hostile language "about white people" during the fight.

As well as Thomas' death, nine people were wounded in Crepol on November 19, four of them seriously.

The Crepol incident came with France already on edge, with a surge in anti-Semitic incidents since Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel and the state's bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip in response.

Last month's killing of a teacher by a Muslim former pupil originally from Russia has also stoked tensions.

mlm-chp-tgb/sjw/rox
SAN DIEGO  As the saying goes, art is forever. That is especially true for those who choose their own bodies as a canvas.

The practice of tattooing body art has been around for millenniums.

From the mummy of Otzi the Iceman discovered in the Alps to evidence of ancient Egyptian tattoos, the inking of flesh is a creative activity that has evolved as humans have.

Fast-forward to present day, its commonplace to stumble across tattoo shops and parlors on everyday streets  whether it be in rural or urban communities.

Some may say its the pain of passion that drives humans to seek out creators armed in artistry with inked needles. It takes a lot of trust to offer up your body as a canvas as youll be carrying around those art pieces for the rest of your life.

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How does one begin machining across the largest organ of the human body?

From fruit to flesh and all things in-between, four San Diego tattoo apprentices are sharing some insight on their journeys to becoming composers of the skin.

Heres a glimpse of what a day in the ink shop looks like here in Southern California for these aspiring tattoo artists.

Meet Kaitlin Jones  Apprenticing at FLYING PANTHER TATTOO

(Credit: Kaitlin Jones / FLYING PANTHER TATTOO)

(Credit: Kaitlin Jones / FLYING PANTHER TATTOO)

(Credit: Kaitlin Jones / FLYING PANTHER TATTOO)

Kaitlin, a 24-year-old whos originally from Ventura, California but has spent two years in San Diego, said shes always drawn throughout her life.

When she walked through the doors at FLYING PANTHER TATTOO in Golden Hill, a profound realization shortly followed. She was exactly where she needed to be.

Kaitlin started working as shop help and within a week of starting, she said she dropped all of her college classes and made it her mission to pursue tattooing.

After putting in time at the shop, Kaitlin was granted an apprenticeship by her mentor  tattoo artist Frank Chavez. Shes now working towards mastering the craft.

Kaitlin explained what it was like transitioning from mock skin to real flesh, saying: I think the most beneficial part of tattooing fake skin is getting comfortable with your machine and gaining that muscle memory. Nonetheless, she said theres a big difference between the two.

When it comes to her artwork, Kaitlin said it falls within the lines of American traditional style.

I think its a great place to start  to learn the fundamentals and history of tattooing. Also to show respect and appreciation to the tattooers before us that paved the way, she explained.

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When asked what fuels her passion in the industry, Kaitlin pointed to the tattooing community as a whole.

There are so many artists in the community pushing the boundaries in art and tattooing. That really lights a fire in yourself to push harder, she continued. Also getting the chance to build connections and friendships with artists all over the world through this joint love of the craft is very rewarding.

Looking ahead, FLYING PANTHER TATTOOs apprentice said shes excited to see where this journey takes her. For now, its continued practice, discipline, and gaining experience as she finds her own style.

At this phase in her apprenticeship, Kaitlin is tattooing. She encourages those seeking some ink to direct message her on Instagram (@kj_pantera).

Meet Sophie Sperrazzo  Apprenticing at Escondido Body Art

(Credit: Sophie Sperrazzo / Escondido Body Art)

(Credit: Sophie Sperrazzo / Escondido Body Art)

(Credit: Sophie Sperrazzo / Escondido Body Art)

Sophie Sperrazzo, a 27-year-old Spring Valley native, said she has been into art for as long as she can remember, always doodling on the side of her notes as a child.

When she began getting tattoos, she said she felt so inspired by the artists and all that was involved in creating them.

I knew then that I wanted to be in the industry, Sophie explained. So I could create art for people to love forever as well.

Maybe it was fate  A short time later she caught word that Escondido Body Art was searching for an apprentice to join their team. Sketches in hand, Sophie said she jumped on the opportunity immediately and the rest is history.

Everyone Ive met there is extremely helpful, and they all are willing to give feedback and tips when I need it, she said in regard to her mentors.

Sophie took the tattoo gun to her own skin just recently, diving into her tattooing journey with full dedication. In comparison to mock skin, she said it was a whole different experience, though her prior practice was still very helpful in remembering all the steps.

When it comes to her artwork, Sophie expressed a growing desire to master neo-traditional tattoos. As explained by Tattoodo, these pieces are known for their dense and richly sumptuous aesthetic that often depict flowers and portraits of women.

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Its a beautiful style, and one I would really love to be great at, Sophie explained. Of course, I would love to be great at all kinds of styles!

Looking ahead, this North County artist is working to find her groove in the tattoo industry. She plans to remain confident in the process, which she says is a key part about being an artist.

With her apprenticeship a few months in, shes looking forward to practicing more and more ahead of her first client. Sophies tattoo and art journey can seen on her Instagram (art_by_spazzo).

Meet Morgan Bruinsma  Apprenticing at Guru Tattoo

Aaron Della VeDova, owner of Guru Tattoo, is shown mentoring Morgan Bruinsma. (Credit: Morgan Bruinsma / Guru Tattoo)

(Credit: Morgan Bruinsma / Guru Tattoo)

(Credit: Morgan Bruinsma / Guru Tattoo)

Morgan Bruinsma, 26, is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania and now resides in El Cajon. She said shes always been pretty artistic, making art for fun or as a way to relax since childhood.

Once she began getting tattoos at age 21, she said her interest in the industry quickly began to grow. Tiring from the nine-to-five working grind in a position she says felt purposeless, she told herself theres no reason she couldnt pursue tattooing.

I immediately jumped online to buy everything that I would need to start tattooing. I tattooed a honeydew, myself, and then some friends, Morgan explained. It quickly became clear that this was something I did not want to try to learn on my own. I needed some guidance.

From there, she quit her job and learned how to bartend as a way to support herself through a tattoo apprenticeship. She spent that next year drawing and compiled a portfolio. Morgan took a leap of passion, leaving her small town and moving to San Diego to pursue her dream.

Thats when she found herself walking through the doors of Guru Tattoo. Shes being mentored by the owner of the shop, tattoo artist Aaron Della VeDova. She splits her time between their storefront in Little Italy and Pacific Beach.

Morgan said shes watching with intent, asking questions, and continuing to get comfortable holding her ink machine. From mock skin to tattooing herself, she explained that at some point you just have to go for it  all while having confidence that your mentors are there to guide you.

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Though she enjoys sketching animals with influence from Japanese art, portraits and portraying realism, Morgan said she doesnt have a specific style of tattooing or artwork that shes currently focused on.

I want to tattoo all types of styles and subject matters to see which one feels right for me, and I believe my personal style will fall into place over time, she explained. I dont want to rush fitting into a box, there is always time to change and grow.

So far, Morgan said apprenticing has been only the start of a lifelong journey of growth.

Being at Guru has taught me to trust myself and my intuition, and pursue things that are going to make me happy, she continued. My art has grown exponentially since starting my apprenticeship, but I wouldnt be where Im at without all of the knowledge and guidance from the amazing artists that Im around.

Morgan has been tattooing clients for a few months now. She encourages anyone ready for some ink to reach out to her on Instagram (morgan_bruinsma) or via email at Morgan@gurutattoo.com.

Meet Sophia Raglione  Apprenticing at Chapter One Tattoo

(Credit: Sophia Raglione / Chapter One Tattoo)

(Credit: Sophia Raglione / Chapter One Tattoo)

Being from a small town in rural Oregon, 29-year-old Sophia Raglione said no one around her really had tattoos when she was growing up. Becoming a tattoo artist wasnt something she had anticipated.

Though she has always felt drawn to the arts, she wasnt quite sure how she could make a career of it. Instead, she studied applied math and economics in college, later working as a data analyst for several years. That was until she grew tired of the corporate life.

I pretty quickly realized I wanted to do something more creative, so I started trying different things like website design, graphic design and illustration, she explained. It wasnt until I got my first tattoo from Colton Phillips at Chapter One Tattoo that it just kind of clicked for me that this was what I was looking for.

She first started by drawing flash tattoos for about a year, while waiting for an opportunity to arise. To her surprise, Chapter One Tattoo was eventually in search for an apprentice.

It was at the shop I wanted to be at and in the city I wanted to be in, said Sophia. Everything was pointing me in the direction of taking the leap and Im so glad I did!

When questioned about her style, she pointed to American traditional which shes been learning the basics of during her apprenticeship so far.

But her favorite thing to sketch  lady heads.

I love lady heads! said Sophia. In just about every design Ive drawn this year, Ive incorporated a lady head in some way. From the beginning of my apprenticeship, my mentor Cash Scott has been pushing me to find my own personal style and lady heads felt like something I could make my own.

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When it comes to the tattoo industry, Sophia said its inspiring to be around a community where everyone is excited about what they get to do everyday.

Its early in her apprenticeship, so she hasnt tattooed beyond mock skin just yet. However, that will all change in the next couple of months.

Once I get the go ahead from my mentor, Ill be starting the final step of my apprenticeship, which is 100 free tattoos, Sophia explained. I dont have a set date yet, but Ill be posting on my Instagram and Tik Tok (@sophiaraglione) if youd like to follow along!

Being a tattoo apprentice takes time, patience, and dedication. These aspiring San Diego artists are on their way to mastering a craft so respected in communities across the nation and the globe.

Whos ready for some ink?

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Turkish exports of goods to Russia that Moscow uses for military production have spiked in 2023, strengthening concerns about sanctions circumvention, the Financial Times reported on Nov. 27.

Turkey recorded $158 million in exports of 45 goods like microchips, marked by the U.S. as "high priority," to Russia and five "former Soviet countries" suspected of serving as intermediaries for Moscow over the first nine months of 2023, the outlet noted.

This was three times the number recorded over the same period last year. The average figure for 2015-21 was $28 million, according to the Times' analysis.

The U.S. and the EU have long sought to curb Russia's ability to import dual-use goods via third-party countries.

Companies in states like Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, and others have been accused of re-exporting sanctioned products to Russia, fueling the country's war machine amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Join our community Support independent journalism in Ukraine. Join us in this fight. Support us

Brian Nelson, the U.S. Treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, is scheduled to visit Turkey this week to discuss measures to prevent financial activities aiding Russia's war efforts.

The EU's coming financial package is also reportedly meant to include measures to hamper Moscow's ability to circumvent sanction measures.

According to Bloomberg, 80% of Russia's purchases of "high-priority items" are coming from China and Hong Kong.

Exports from countries like Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan fell in the second half of 2023 compared to the first months of the year but remain mostly higher than pre-war levels, Bloomberg noted.

Read also: Ukraine sides with Israel. How will it affect Kyivs relations with Arab world, Global South?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Deputies are searching for a man they say is armed and dangerous after a 4-year-old Georgia boy shot himself to death, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The Richmond County Sheriffs Office responded to the scene of a shooting in Augusta on Nov. 12. They found the child, Zykee Ryans, shot at least once. Deputies said the childs injuries appeared to be self-inflicted. According to the Chronicle, Zykee died Saturday.

TRENDING STORIES:

Brittany Ryans, 35, was arrested and charged with five counts of cruelty to children in the second degree.

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Ladarion Ryans, 19, is wanted on five counts of cruelty to children in the second degree. Deputies have not been able to locate Ryans and said he should be considered armed and dangerous.

Anyone with information on Ryans whereabouts is asked to contact the Richmond County Sheriffs Office.
A man was arrested over Thanksgiving weekend after police said he allegedly shot up a southwest Boise apartment near the Central Bench.

Officers from the Boise Police Department arrived at an apartment complex near the intersection of Curtis and Overland roads Friday after reports that shots were fired in the area, according to a news release from the agency. Police said they located several holes on the outside of the apartment, but no one was injured.

The department alleged the shooting was gang-related and identified, a 31-year-old Boise resident as the suspect, who was arrestedSaturday after police obtained a warrant, according to the news release. The man was arrested on suspicion of three felonies: conspiracy to commit aggravated assault, unlawful possession of a firearm by a conviction felon and an enhancement for the use of a deadly weapon in the commission of a felony.

Police said the man, who was previously convicted of a felony, had a gun. Hes a documented gang member, according to the release.

Gang violence is a complex and devastating problem that many communities across the United States have unfortunately lost control over, Boise Police Capt. Jim Quackenbush said in the news release. We will not tolerate this behavior in the Treasure Valley and will continue to take a proactive stance against it, alongside our other regional law enforcement partners.

The suspect is scheduled to appear in court for his initial appearance at 1:30 p.m. Monday, online court records showed.
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians spend time on a beach during the temporary truce in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip

KHAN YOUNIS/TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Gazans desperate for an end to their suffering said on Monday they wanted the truce to be extended, while Israelis were divided between those who wanted an extension so all hostages could come home and others worried about giving in to Hamas demands.

The truce was due to expire on Monday, and negotiators from Egypt, Qatar and the United States were trying to persuade Hamas and Israel to reach an agreement to prolong it.

In Khan Younis, a town in southern Gaza where hundreds of thousands of people displaced from the north have sought refuge in tents and schools, a large crowd had gathered at a U.N. depot where sacks of flour were being distributed.

Sabreen al-Najar said she had waited for several hours to get flour to feed her children, but the ration she had been given was barely enough to last two or three days.

"We want to go back (to our homes). We don't want war at all," she said, calling on Arab countries to help Gaza. "God willing the truce will be extended."

Al-Najar said her family did not have enough food or clean water, and when it rained they got completely drenched in their makeshift shelter.

Other displaced people talked about their difficulties with the cold and rain, the lack of food and power, the daily queues for basic goods, and their longing to return home. All of them wanted the truce to continue.

"What is this four-day truce? This is so unfair, whats been done to us. What are we going to do in only four days? Were getting by with candles. We dont have batteries, gas, electricity, or water. We get water from faraway places," said Jumaa al-Araj, a man in a wheelchair.

The war began when Hamas militants burst out of Gaza on Oct. 7 and rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, including babies and children, and seizing more than 200 hostages.

Israel responded with an all-out assault on Gaza which has killed 14,800 Palestinians, four in ten of them children under 18, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory.

WIDE RANGE OF VIEWS IN ISRAEL

On the other side of the border, Israelis were focused on the fate of the hostages. A total of 58 have been released in three phases since Friday, with more expected to be freed on Monday out of 184 still being held in Gaza.

"We want all hostages back home now, so whatever it takes and as long as we keep on getting them back home, I want the ceasefire to continue," said community manager Arava Gerzon Raz, speaking on a square in Tel Aviv that has become a hub for families and supporters of the hostages.

Ido Segev, an Intel employee, said he was optimistic the truce would be extended as long as Hamas continued handing over hostages.

"You strike deals when you have some mutual interest and as long as Hamas has an interest to get ceasefire because of military pressure or other reasons they will be paying for that, if you will, with hostages," he said.

There were, however, dissonant voices who gave a flavour of the wide range of views on the conflict within Israeli society.

Adam Sela, who runs a tourism company, said he was against the truce and thought Israel should have held out for a better deal in which all hostages were released.

"I think we're being manoeuvred into a position which is favourable for them (Hamas), and like in all conflicts, if its favourable for one side, its unfavourable for the other side," he said.

But Jerusalem resident Anat Errel felt very differently.

"I really hope that it will continue to be ceasefire because violence is not a solution for anything," she said, distinguishing between Hamas and civilians in Gaza.

"They (Hamas) need to be punished, but not all the other people in Gaza need to be punished," she said.

(Reporting by Dedi Hayun and Nathan Frandino in Israel and by Saleh Salem and Ibraheem Abu Mustafa in Gaza; Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Geordie Walker, the Killing Joke guitarist and co-founder admired by everyone from Jimmy Page to Dave Grohl, has died aged 64.

News of Walkers death was confirmed by the band in a statement, which revealed he died after suffering a stroke on Sunday 26 November.

It is with extreme sadness [that] we confirm that at 6:30am on 26 November 2023 in Prague, Killing Jokes legendary guitarist Kevin Geordie Walker passed away after suffering a stroke, the band said. He was surrounded by family. We are devastated. Rest In Peace brother.

Martin Atkins, who played drums for Killing Joke and played with Walker in his band Murder Inc, also posted to Instagram: Geordie Walker has left the building.

The Newcastle-born Walker joined Killing Joke along with bassist Youth in 1979, after spotting an advert frontman Jaz Coleman and drummer Paul Ferguson had placed in an issue of Melody Maker.

The ad said: Want to be part of the Killing Joke? We mean it man. Total exploitation, total publicity, total anonymity. Bass and lead wanted.

Killing Jokes self-titled debut album was released in 1980, influenced by their peers including Adam Ant and Public Image Ltd.

Coleman and Walker were the only constant members of Killing Joke, seeing the band through a relocation to Iceland (Coleman was concerned about the apocalypse) and their dumping by Virgin Records after the release of 1988s Outside the Gate.

They went on to release Pandemonium, one of the biggest albums of their career, in 1994. This also marked the return of Youth, replacing Paul Raven on bass, after choosing to stay in England while Walker and Ferguson joined Coleman in Iceland.

(Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA Wire/Shutterstock)

Walker often complained about the quality of British bands, claiming that US artists were putting them to shame. However, he was perhaps more disgruntled by the row that erupted over allegations that Kurt Cobain had ripped off the riff from their single Eighties for Nirvanas 1992 song, Come As You Are.

We are very pissed off about that, but its obvious to everyone, he told Guitarist magazine in 1994. We had two separate musicologists reports saying it was; our publisher sent their publisher a letter saying it was and they went, Boo, never heard of ya! But the hysterical thing about Nirvana saying theyd never heard of us was that theyd already sent us a Christmas card!

Any discussion of a potential lawsuit was dropped after Cobains death in April 1994. But it was still a surprise when Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl  a fan of Killing Joke since he was 14 years old  played on their self-titled 2003 album.

Walker is survived by his wife, Ginny Kiraly-Walker, and their son, Atticus.
Scandal-plagued New York Republican Rep George Santos has acknowledged that he expects to be expelled from the House as soon as this week.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Mr Santos, 35, said last week in a broadcast on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

In the X Space event hosted by Monica Matthews, a rightwing personality, Mr Santos said, I have done the math over and over and it doesnt look really good. But he claimed that he would wear his expulsion like a badge of honour.

House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked on Monday if there would be a vote on the fate of Mr Santos this week.

It remains to be seen. Ive spoken to Congressman Santos at some length over the holiday and talked to him about his options, but  its not yet determined, he said.

The latest blow of many to Mr Santoss short yet tumultuous political career came in the form of a 56-page report from the House Ethics Committee released earlier this month which outlined substantial evidence that Mr Santos violated federal law.

Key Points

George Santos says he expects to be expelled from Congress

Santos has survived previous attempts to expel him

Im not running for re-election because I dont want to work with a bunch of hypocrites'

Late-night shows eviscerate George Santos after damning ethics revelations

VOICES: The House has no more options but to expel George Santos

Speaker says he spoke to Santos about his options'

Monday 27 November 2023 21:11 , Gustaf Kilander

House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked on Monday if there would be a vote on the fate of Mr Santos this week.

It remains to be seen. Ive spoken to Congressman Santos at some length over the holiday and talked to him about his options, but  its not yet determined, he said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), when asked if there will be an expulsion vote this week for Rep. George Santos (R-NY):



It remains to be seen. I've spoken to Rep. Santos at some length over the holiday and talked to him about his options, but  its not yet determined. pic.twitter.com/z4zJlBQscq  The Recount (@therecount) November 27, 2023

House expulsions: James Traficant

Monday 27 November 2023 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

The Ohio Democrat served nine terms in the House between January 1985 and July 2002 when he was booted from the lower chamber following his conviction on racketeering, bribery, and fraud. He was only the second lawmaker to be expelled from the House since the Civil War.

His September 2014 obituary in The Washington Post referred to him as one of the most deliberately outrageous members of Congress in history.

Glib and voluble, he was known for wearing cowboy boots, skinny ties and out-of-date polyester suits and for a bouffant mound of hair that seemed to defy gravity, Matt Schudel wrote at the time.

The Los Angeles Times referred to it as a Planet of the Apes sort of hair helmet, while Washingtonian magazine wrote that it was a creature from Lake Erie before it was cleaned up.

Before joining Congress, he served as the sheriff of Mahoning Country. He was put on trial in 1983 after prosecutors acquired a tape that included him saying he had accepted more than $100,000 in bribes from organised crime. But despite his complete lack of legal training, Traficant represented himself and managed to argue that he had collected the bribes as part of a sting operation and he was acquitted.

He became known for his brief, rambling speeches on the House floor, often ending with a Star Trek reference: Beam me up, Mr Speaker.

In 1997, he said: Let us tell it like it is. When you hold this economy to your nosey, this economy does not smell so rosy. If there is any consolation to the American workers, I never heard of anyone committing suicide by jumping out of a basement window.

The following year, he said: Russia gets $15bn in foreign aid from Uncle Sam. In exchange, Uncle Sam gets nuclear missiles pointed at our cities, two tape decks and three cases of vodka. Beam me up.

In 2002, Mr Traficant faced a 10-count felony indictment for racketeering, bribery and fraud, with federal prosecutors alleging that he required a number of his aides to pay him kickbacks each month of as much as $2,500 just to work for him. Yet other staff were required to bale hay on his Ohio farm or repair his Washington DC houseboat. He also faced allegations that he filed false tax returns and pushed businesses in his district to provide goods and services at no charge.

He once again acted as his own attorney, but this time he was convicted on all counts.

On 24 July 2002, he was removed from the House after a vote of 420 to one.

After making a comment about what he called the political prostitutes in Congress, he said: I want to apologize to all the hookers of America for associating them with the United States Congress.

When is the George Santos expulsion vote expected?

Monday 27 November 2023 20:30 , Ariana Baio

The House of Representatives is expected to meet this week to vote on whether lawmakers should expel the embattled New York Rep George Santos from Congress.

The vote will come nearly two weeks after the House Ethics Committee published a damning report containing substantial evidence that Mr Santos allegedly broke various federal laws.

The committee alleged that Mr Santos knowingly had his campaign committee file false and incomplete reports to the Federal Election Commission (FEC), used campaign funds for personal expenses, committed violations of the Ethics in Government Act and engaged in fraudulent conduct with a company he co-owned.

Following the report, Representative Michael Guest, the chairman of the Ethics Committee, filed a motion to expel Mr Santos from Congress.

Mr Santos, who was elected to New Yorks 3rd Congressional District in 2022, said he is anticipating to be expelled.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Mr Santos said during a live Spaces event on X.

The vote could happen as soon as Tuesday, 28 November, when members of the House return from their Thanksgiving holiday break.

In order to expel Mr Santos, the House needs two-thirds of its members to vote in favour of Mr Guests motion.

Earlier this month, a similar motion to expel Mr Santos brought by New York Republicans, failed on a 179 to 213 vote. However, this was before the House Ethics Committee report was released.

The incredible rise and dramatic fall of George Santos

Monday 27 November 2023 20:00 , Bevan Hurley

Congressman George Santos tenure has been anything but dull  his rise to power and fall from grace have been equally mired in controversy.

After less than two years in Congress, his list of lies and scandals appears to have finally grown too long for him to defend anymore, as he announced he wouldnt seek re-election in 2024 after the release of a damning House Ethics Committee report.

The committee said it found substantial evidence that Mr Santos had broken federal laws after finding additional uncharged and unlawful conduct, which included using campaign funds to make purchases at Hermes, Sephora and OnlyFans.

In 2022, Mr Santos was elected as the Republican Partys first openly gay, non-incumbent member of Congress, and touted himself as a living embodiment of the American dream.

But he has since been exposed as a serial fabricator, and now an accused criminal.

Bribes, treason and hay bales: The scattered history of expulsions from Congress

Monday 27 November 2023 19:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Scandal-plagued New York Rep George Santos looks set to join an exclusive group of people as he has acknowledged that hes likely to be expelled from Congress.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Mr Santos, 35, said last week in a broadcast on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

In the X Space event hosted by Monica Matthews, a rightwing personality, Mr Santos said, I have done the math over and over and it doesnt look really good. But he claimed that he would wear his expulsion like a badge of honour.

The latest blow of many to Mr Santoss short yet tumultuous political career came in the form of a 56-page report from the House Ethics Committee released earlier this month which outlined substantial evidence that Mr Santos violated federal law.

The report included allegations that Mr Santos used campaign money to pay for his personal expenses, such as Botox, and luxury purchases at Hermes and Ferragamo, as well as smaller sums spent on OnlyFans, food, parking, travel and rent.

The House can consider the motion to expel Mr Santos put forward by ethics panel chair GOP Rep Michael Guest as soon as Tuesday when lawmakers return from Thanksgiving break but when the vote may be taken up on the floor remains unclear.

Mr Santos would be the first member of the House to be removed in modern times without first having been convicted of a crime.

Late-night shows eviscerate George Santos after damning ethics revelations

Monday 27 November 2023 18:00 , Amelia Neath

Late-night show hosts seized the moment to give George Santos a huge roasting after a damming ethics report that revealed he spent campaign money on Botox and OnlyFans.

Mr Santos, who believes the report was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights, now faces a fresh motion to expel him from the House after his indictment of 23 federal charges in October as well as the new report.

Following the release of the document, the GOP New York representative announced in a series of tirades on X that he would not run for re-election in 2024. In the report, the House Ethics Committee accused the politician of lying about loaning personal money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then paying himself back for those fake loans with actual money.

He is also alleged to have spent donor money on personal indulgences such as Botox, Hermes merchandise, trips and an OnlyFans subscription.

Something that caught guest The Daily Show host Leslie Jones eye was the report noting Mr Santos lavish trips to Atlantic City. Have you been to Atlantic City? she inquired. A lavish trip there just means you dont go home with bed bugs.

SNL stars cant stop laughing in brutal George Santos skit

Monday 27 November 2023 16:00 , Martha McHardy

George Santos was roasted on Saturday Night Lives Weekend Update after a House Ethics Committee report found he had spent tens of thousands of campaign dollars on Botox and OnlyFans.

In the scathing report, released on Thursday, Mr Santos was accused of lying about loaning personal money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then paying himself back for the fake loans with campaign funds.

He also used donor money to splash out on personal indulgences such as Botox, Hermes merchandise, vacations to the Hamptons and Las Vegas, and on OnlyFans.

The congressman, who was indicted on 23 federal charges in October, has claimed the report is a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights. He is now facing a fresh motion to expel him from the House.

On Saturdays SNL, comedian Bowen Yang appeared on the show as the congressman as he was asked about the scandal by Weekend Update co-host Colin Jost.

George, this is serious. Theyre calling for your expulsion, Mr Jost said.

Well then, girl, expul me! Mr Yangs Mr Santos replied.

VOICES: The House has no more options but to expel George Santos

Monday 27 November 2023 14:10 , Eric Garcia

It might finally be over for Rep George Santos (R-NY) and, moreover, the House Republican conference might finally be out of excuses to keep him in the House.

On Friday, Rep Michael Guest (R-MS), the chairman of the House Ethics Committee, filed a resolution to expel the embattled and disgraced freshman Republican. This came a day after the committee released its damning report detailing Mr Santoss misdeeds. (My colleague John Bowden wrote a list of the most outrageous parts of the probe.)

While many of the headlines noted how Mr Santos used campaign cash to pay for expensive meals, shopping trips to Sephora, Botox purchases and Only Fans sessions, fraud lies at the heart of the probe, specifically the fact he lied to the Federal Election Commission, with one of his staffers pretending to be a staffer for now-deposed speaker Kevin McCarthy. Similarly, he also lied about loans he made to his own campaign to qualify for assistance from the national Republican Party campaign apparatus.

As a result, Mr Guests resolution could easily be said to be speaking for the entirety of the committee.

It might easy to dismiss this effort by Mr Guest given that he is a conservative Republican from Mississippi who voted to overturn the 2020 election. Similarly, some may roll their eyes considering the House has already had two failed attempts to expel Mr Santos. But those efforts differ wildly from the current expulsion push.

The first time came when Reps Dan Goldman and Ritchie Torres, both New York Democrats, led a motion in May that the House majority immediately referred to the Ethics Committee.

Im not running for re-election because I dont want to work with a bunch of hypocrites'

Monday 27 November 2023 14:08 , Mike Bedigan

Despite his explosive criticism of the report, Mr Santos acknowledged that he may soon be exiting the House, having already said that he wont seek re-election in 2024. Im not running for re-election, not because this was a damning report, he said.

Im not running for re-election because I dont want to work with a bunch of hypocrites.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor.

The House Ethics Committee began its investigation in March 2023, after allegations of campaign finance misconduct and that Mr Santos lied about biographical details surfaced.

Last weeks 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.

Mr Santos was indicted on 13 federal charges in May 2023, and in October, a superseding indictment brought another 10 criminal counts against him, bringing the total to 23.

Santos has survived previous attempts to expel him

Monday 27 November 2023 14:06 , Mike Bedigan

Mr Santos has survived two expulsion attempts already, but some members of the GOP have indicated that they will vote differently, following the publishing of the report.

In an interview on X Spaces on Thursday, Mr Santos declared that due process is dead and described the report as flawed, before launching a searing attack on the document which he said was an affront against my rights.

The amount of hyperbole in this document is daunting. Every single person Ive had discussions about it with  I have spoken to prominent Democrats who were troubled by the work of this committee, he said.

It was designed to smear me, it was designed to force me out of my seat. That is what the intention of this report was. This report wasnt a finding of facts.

He continued: I will stand for expulsion. I want to see them set this precedent because this precedent sets a new era of due process, which means you are guilty until proven innocent.

We will take your accusations and use it to smear, to mangle, to destroy you and remove you from society. That is what they are doing with this.

This report is an affront against my rights and it should worry each and every single one of you guys.

George Santos says he expects to be expelled from Congress

Monday 27 November 2023 13:55 , Mike Bedigan

George Santos says he expects to be expelled from the House of Representatives, in the wake of a scathing report from an ethics committee accusing him of campaign finance violations.

The New York congressman said he felt like the it girl when he was first elected in 2022  as the first openly gay Republican  and that everybody wanted him, until nobody wanted me.

Last week the long-awaited House Ethics Committee investigation into the embattled congressman was published.

It stated that there was credible evidence to indicate that the Republican misused campaign funds for a wide range of personal expenses, committed fraud, and misled the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

House Ethics panel chairman GOP Rep Michael Guest of Mississippi filed a motion for Mr Santos expulsion a day later. The chamber can take up the motion on 28 November upon lawmakers return from Thanksgiving recess.
Robots work on an assembly line of a factory of a private enterprise in Zouping City, east China's Shandong Province, Sept. 13, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

China should consider amplifying macroeconomic support in a precise manner next year to underpin a steady annual economic growth rate of around 5 percent, experts said on Sunday.



A flood of stimulus measures would be inappropriate in 2024 due to potential side effects and a narrowing policy scope, they said at a forum, stressing the need to prioritize the deepening of market-oriented, rules-based reforms to drive growth.

Xiao Gang, former chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said the Chinese economy has seen continuous recovery this year but still faces multiple challenges, ranging from shrinking external demand and insufficient domestic demand to restrictions imposed by some Western economies on China and the competition from other emerging economies.

To cope with the challenges, it is sensible for China to ramp up proactive fiscal policy and optimize the debt structure as most of the government debt at present is in the form of borrowings by local governments, Xiao said at the annual meeting of the China Macroeconomy Forum, a think tank of the Renmin University of China.

Speaking at the same event, Gao Peiyong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that macroeconomic policies should precisely support the critical links in economic recovery as wide-ranging, large-scale stimulus have seen a diminishing policy effect and could trigger longer-term pain.

Deepening reform would be of most significance to deal with the prominent problem of weakening market expectations, Gao said.

The remarks come at a time when attention is focused on how the upcoming annual Central Economic Work Conference, which usually takes place in December, will set the tone for economic policy setting in 2024 after the country's GDP growth rate touched 5.2 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters.

Yu Ze, deputy dean of the School of Economics at the Renmin University of China and a member of the macroeconomy forum, said that according to the think tank's forecast, China's economy will stabilize further in 2024 and register a full-year growth of around 4.8 percent year-on-year, up from an estimated two-year annualized growth rate of 4.1 percent from 2022 to 2023.

The two-year annualized growth rate corrects the distortion of COVID-19 disruptions in 2022 on economic figures.

Drivers of growth would include improving corporate earnings, recovering household income, stabilizing property sector activity and accelerating export growth, coupled with structural growth drivers such as the combination of artificial intelligence with 5G applications, Yu said.

Experts said 4.8 percent growth would still underperform the rate seen before COVID-19  China's economic growth stood at 6.1 percent in 2019  making policy efforts necessary to bring growth back to its potential level.

"We suggest setting next year's economic growth target at 5 percent," Yu said, which will help stabilize employment, bolster market expectations and ensure the fulfillment of development goals of the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

To achieve the target, China should prioritize deepening market-oriented reforms, especially in regard to the capital market and the fiscal system, while stepping up macroeconomic adjustments, such as raising the fiscal deficit ratio and further reducing financing costs, Yu said.

Wu Xiaoqiu, former vice-president of the Renmin University of China, said the scope for using stimulus to boost growth has narrowed and policymakers must use it in crucial areas, adding that the country's total government debt burden is close to the average level seen in developed economies based on some calculations.

Wu said the country's money supply should not expand excessively, which would impair the credibility of the renminbi and hinder its internationalization. "Instead of short-term stimulus, a rules-based system with consistent, stable and effective regulations is the fundamental solution to problems facing the Chinese economy."

Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, vowed earlier this month that the country's central bank will maintain a reasonable growth of money and credit supply while amplifying support for specific areas such as technological innovation, private and small businesses, advanced manufacturing, green development and eldercare.
A murder suspect in Georgia was arrested in Lexington Saturday, according to court documents.

Demetrick Davis, 46, had a warrant out for his arrest on a felony murder charge in Lawrenceville in Gwinett County, Georgia, court documents say. Lawrenceville is located about 30 miles northeast of Atlanta.

Officers with the Versailles Police Department located Davis Saturday via a cell phone ping at the C-Worth Superstore on Versailles Road, according to court documents. Officers with the Lexington Police Department later found Davis at Red Mile Gaming and Racing, but he fled on foot.

Officers were eventually able to track down Davis, but he resisted arrest by striking, kicking and attempting to bite officers, according to court documents. He was booked into the Fayette County Detention Center Sunday.

Davis is one of two suspects accused of killing 35-year-old Quentin Cantrell in Buford, Georgia in October, according to the Gwinnett County Police Department. Cantrell was found shot early in the morning on Oct. 16 inside a parked car.

Cantrll was transported to a local hospital where he later died, Gwinnett County police said. The motive for the shooting remains under investigation.

The other suspect connected to the case is Rodericus Jackson, 33. Gwinnett County police say he has warrants out for felony murder and aggravated assault. His whereabouts were unknown Monday.

Gwinnett County police are asking people with information about the case to reach out detectives at 770-513-5300. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or by visiting www.stopcrimeATL.com.

Davis was in possession of a key to a stolen vehicle when he was arrested, according to court documents. He was charged locally with second-degree fleeing or evading police, third-degree assault on a police officer, receiving stolen property between $1,000 and $10,000 and resisting arrest.

Davis has been on probation in Woodford County since February for an out-of-state robbery conviction, according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
Sandersville police have identified the man who died in a shooting after a Thanksgiving party.

It happened early Friday morning at the Twin Cities Plaza Shopping Center on South Harris Street, according to police.

Police said there were two separate parties at the location, and after the parties ended, fights broke out.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

While authorities worked to break up the fights, someone in the area fired gunshots, leaving 42-year-old Thomas Womble Jr. of Sparta suffering from a gunshot wound.

Authorities then went on an hours-long manhunt for 27-year-old suspect Xzavious Wicker, who allegedly left the shooting scene.

Wicker was charged with murder, aggravated assault, malice murder and possession of a weapon during the commission of a crime.

Womble was taken to the hospital, where he died.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police are continuing to investigate.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the GBI regional investigative office in Eastman at 478-374-6988 or the Sandersville Police Department at 478-552-3121.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
COLOGNE, Germany  The German air force is planning an exercise tour through the Asia-Pacific region in 2024, accompanied by aircraft from France and Spain, the partners in the trinational Future Combat Air System, according to defense officials.

The weekslong deployment next summer, which also involves at least one German navy ship, follows Berlins logic that Germany must help stabilize an economically important region as China looks to grow its influence.

We recognize that the regions interests touch on ours, at least, or even are the same as ours, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Nov. 16 at event in Berlin organized by the Women in International Security network. We are coming to stay.

Also part of the governments calculus is that any German engagement on the other side of the globe will save the United States from having to get involved there, freeing up American forces to remain focused on Europe, Pistorius added. You can see the cascading effect.

Next years deployment of aircraft will be much, much bigger than the air forces initial foray to the Asia-Pacific region in 2022, service chief Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz said in an interview. That deployment aimed to prove that a smattering of aircraft  six Eurofighters, four A400M multirole aircraft and three A330 tankers  could reach Singapore in 24 hours and join various training activities from there.

The upcoming trip will take the opposite direction, flying across the north Atlantic to Alaska for a first stop. According to Gerhartz, the idea is to show up in the region with a European face, consisting of the three FCAS partner nations and possibly also involving aircraft from the U.K. and Italy along the way.

Air National Guard Director Lt Gen. Michael Loh, whose pilots will train with German counterparts during the Arctic Defender drill in July, lauded the Europeans exercise plans. It is critically important that Europe comes over to the Pacific to show interoperability and support with the U.S. and other members of the region, he said in an interview.

As of last month, the following contingent of European warplanes was set to partake in various drill elements during the summer: eight German and four Spanish Eurofighters, 12 German Tornados, six French Rafales, four German and four French-Spanish A400Ms, and four German and three A330s, according to a Luftwaffe briefing slide.

Parts of the formation will aim to participate in the Hawaii-based Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, exercise in late July, following a pit stop in Japan for a few days of what the German air service dubs local flying with Japanese crews there, the slide states. While in Hawaii, the German air force aims to rendezvous with a Germany Navy frigate, the plan goes.

Next on the calendar is exercise Pitch Black in Australia in late July, followed by a stop either in Indonesia or Malaysia before ending the deployment in India, a country defense and foreign policy leaders in Berlin have been eying as a particular anchor in the region.

In India, the European contingent will aim to partake in the countrys international Tarang Shakti exercise, if the timing works out, or perform local flying activities outside of that drill, according to the Luftwaffe.
(Bloomberg) -- German Economy Minister Robert Habeck pledged that the government will find a swift solution to the turmoil triggered by this months court ruling on off-budget funds and said it will secure the money for all projects essential for the transformation of Europes biggest economy.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Habeck, a member of the Greens who is also the vice chancellor, listed key initiatives the government remains committed to, including subsidies for expanding domestic semiconductor and battery production, greening buildings and local heating networks and building out solar energy capacity. He was speaking after talks in Berlin with counterparts from Germanys 16 states, part of an attempt to bring together federal and regional officials from across the political divide to find a fix for the unprecedented budget upheaval.

The key sentence is: All the projects we have conceived must be made possible, Habeck told reporters, adding that abandoning any of the projects would both crimp economic growth and call into question Germanys goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2045.

We quickly need clarity for 2024 as many companies have already committed money, Habeck added. He declined to provide details about funding specifics, saying he wanted to avoid any damaging public debate before final decisions are made.

The Nov. 15 ruling by the Federal Constitutional Court forced Chancellor Olaf Scholzs governing coalition to suspend restrictions on net new borrowing for a fourth straight year in 2023 and pressure is mounting for it to do so again next year.

While the government isnt planning to increase new federal borrowing, it has to shift tens of billions of euros of already authorized debt back into the regular budget from the special funds.

Habeck acknowledged that suspending the so-called debt brake next year is an option but said he wants to wait for officials to determine if that would potentially expose the government to additional legal challenges.

Finance Minister Christian Lindner, chairman of the fiscally hawkish Free Democrats, initially insisted on restoring the borrowing restrictions this year. Although he hasnt explicitly ruled out lifting it again in 2024, he would struggle to convince his party base that its justified.

Kevin Kuehnert, general secretary of Scholzs SPD, and Rolf Muetzenich, the leader of the partys caucus in the Bundestag, have both called for the debt restrictions to be suspended again next year.

Muetzenich said triggering the emergency clause that allows additional new borrowing again is justified because Germany is still dealing with the fallout from Russias invasion of Ukraine.

The threat of the Israel-Hamas war developing into a regional conflict is another source of uncertainty, he said Sunday in an interview with public broadcaster ARD.

Kuehnert made a similar argument on Monday in an interview with RBB24 radio. External factors that trigger enormous costs and are not reasonably foreseeable in advance justify suspending the debt brake again in 2024, he said.

Everyone involved in the debate must be honest and say that it is perfectly permissible to make use of the exception to the debt rule in an emergency situation, he said. Which we continue to have, because we have to make investments that can never be financed from the core budget.

Lindner is expected to present a revised 2023 finance plan later on Monday for immediate approval by the cabinet. It will then be sent to parliament, with an initial debate scheduled for Friday morning.

--With assistance from Michael Nienaber.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Germany has provided Ukraine's state grid operator Ukrenergo with 300 million euros ($328.4 million) for the repair and modernization of the energy grid, German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jaeger said on Nov. 27.

Ukrenergo is also "among the main beneficiaries of our 200 million euro ($219 million) contribution to the Ukraine Energy Support Fund," Jaeger said.

"Together, we keep the lights on."

The Ukraine Energy Support Fund was set up in April 2022 to enable international donors to support Ukraine's energy sector, which is frequently targeted by Russian attacks.

Jaeger also met with Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko on Nov. 27, where the two discussed the energy situation in Kyiv following the drone attack on Nov. 25.

Halushchenko thanked Germany for providing 89 aid shipments of energy equipment and for being the largest donor to the Energy Support Fund.

He also thanked Germany for its provision of military aid to Ukraine.

"We have once again seen that the best defence for energy infrastructure is air defence equipment," Halushchenko said.

Read also: US earmarks additional $500 million for Ukraines energy infrastructure

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Germany and the US have refuted the article written by Bild journalist Julian Ropcke about an alleged "secret plan" which would push Ukraine to start negotiations with Russia in order to end the full-scale war.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The Federal Government of Germany in response to DW that the material of Bild had no ground, and Berlin would support Ukraine "for as long as needed for the protection from the Russian aggression".

Quote: "It is clear for the Federal Government: Ukraine has to define military and political goals in its defencive fight against the Russian aggression. Only Ukraine can set a date of the start of peace talks."

In his turn James OBrien, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said at the briefing on 27 November that Washington has no policy of "inciting" Kyiv to start talks with Moscow.

"We've always said that this is a matter for Ukraine to decide," O'Brien told the Reuters agency.

Background: On 24 November the Bild tabloid reported with reference to an anonymous source that Germany and the US want to force Ukraine to resort to negotiations with Russia using limitations in armament supply as leverage.

According to the article, Berlin and Washington are considering an option of freezing the war, thus the collision line will become "a new quasi-border between Ukraine and Russia".

In early November Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, stated that nobody is pressuring him to start negotiations with Russia.

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Homosexuality should not be a criminal offence and people should be helped to understand the issue better, a top cardinal from Ghana has told the BBC.

Cardinal Peter Turkson's comments come as parliament discusses a bill imposing harsh penalties on LGBT people.

His views are at odds with Roman Catholic bishops in Ghana, who say homosexuality is "despicable".

Last month, Pope Francis suggested he would be open to having the Catholic Church bless same-sex couples.

He added, however, that the Church still considered same-sex relationships "objectively sinful" and would not recognise same-sex marriage.

In July, Ghanaian MPs backed measures in a proposed bill, which has still not completed its passage through parliament, that would make identifying as LGBT punishable with a three-year prison sentence. People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail.

Gay sex is already against the law and carries a three-year prison sentence.

In their statement in August, issued along with other leading Christian groups in the country, the Ghanaian bishops also said that Western countries should "stop the incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us", the Catholic Herald newspaper reported.

Cardinal Turkson, who has at times been regarded as a future candidate to become pope, told the BBC's HARDtalk programme that "LGBT people may not be criminalised because they've committed no crime".

"It's time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to... make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime," he went on to say.

The cardinal referred to the fact that in one of Ghana's languages, Akan, there is an expression "men who act like women and women who act like men". He argued that this was an indication that homosexuality was not an imposition from outside.

"If culturally we had expressions... it just means that it's not completely alien to the Ghanaian society."

Nevertheless, Cardinal Turkson said he thought that what had led to the current efforts to pass strict anti-gay measures in several African countries were "attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions... in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights".

"Neither should this position also become... something to be imposed on cultures which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that."

In May, Uganda's parliament approved a law that proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, and the death penalty for so-called aggravated cases, which include having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where someone becomes infected with a life-long illness such as HIV.

In August, the World Bank halted new loans to Uganda because of the measure and in October President Joe Biden said the US would be removing the country from a preferential trading arrangement because of "gross violations of internationally recognised human rights".

Cardinal Turkson became the first-ever Ghanaian cardinal in 2003 when he was appointed by Pope John Paul II. He is now chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences.
Phillip Meek, a former president and publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, died Friday in his Michigan home. He was 86.

Meek was the president and publisher of the newspaper from 1977 to 1986. He presided over the two Pulitzer Prizes in the history of the Star-Telegram.

He was just incredibly bright and incredibly caring about his employees, said Wes Turner, another former Star-Telegram publisher who worked as an advertising director under Meek.

Meek attended Ohio Wesleyan University before he went on to Harvard Business School, where he earned his masters in business administration.

While he graduated from high school and attended college in Ohio, Meek moved six times between five states during his early childhood. These moves helped Meek build his skills at making friends and easily adapting to new environments, according to an obituary released by his family.

Before working in news, Meek worked for the Ford Motor Company. This experience propelled him to leadership of a Detroit task force in charge of revamping the citys economic development following the 1967 uprising.

He went on to work for The Oakland Press in Michigan, previously known as The Pontiac Press, as a publisher before moving to Fort Worth in 1977, where he served as the Star-Telegrams general manager before becoming publisher.

It was a magnificent time for the Star-Telegram during Meeks tenure, Turner said, while adding Meek was a giant of intellect and kindness.

Today's top stories:

 Fort Worth CEO, 2 children killed in car accident

 Mom says teacher pulled out her sons dreadlocks when removing hat

 Man dies after being shot inside a car in northwest Fort Worth

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During his time in Fort Worth, Meek served on the board of the United Way of Tarrant County and held a leadership role in the Texas Daily Newspaper Association.

Meek was promoted in 1986 to president at Capital Cities Publishing, the Star-Telegrams parent company at the time. He also worked the Walt Disney Co. after its purchase of Capital Cities/ABC in 1996. He retired in 1997 after helping Disney sell its publishing assets.

According to Turner, Meek epitomized the management at Capital Cities.

Meek lived in New York and Greenwich, Connecticut, before retiring and settling in Michigan.

He is survived by family members who also live in Michigan and his daughter, who lives in Fort Worth.

The family has asked that gifts to honor Phil be made to Promedica Hospice Care of Northwest Michigan, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy or Ohio Wesleyan University. Services are being planned for mid-May 2024 to coincide with the blossoming of cherry trees on the familys Michigan farm.
This is a locator map for Sudan with its capital, Khartoum. (AP Photo) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

CAIRO (AP)  An international watchdog urged the United Nations Security Council on Monday to consider all options to protect civilians in Sudans Darfur region after the latest attacks on non-Arabs killed hundreds of civilians.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, which was born out of the notorious Janjaweed militias, has been at war against the Sudanese military since mid-April, when months of tension exploded into open fighting in the capital, Khartoum, and other urban areas in the African nation. The conflict wrecked the country and forced more than 6 million people out of their homes, either to safer areas inside Sudan or to neighboring countries.

In the first week of November, the RSF and their allied Arab militias attacked the town of Ardamata, a few kilometers (miles) north of Geneina, the provincial capital of West Darfur, Human Rights Watch said. After taking over a military base in Ardamata, the attackers rampaged through the camp for displaced people and other nearby residential areas that were all largely inhabited by the African Masalit tribe and other non-Arab groups, according to the rights group.

More than 800 people were reportedly killed in the multi-day assault, according to the U.N. refugee agency.

People who fled Ardamata described a spree of killings, shelling, unlawful detentions, sexual violence, ill treatment, and looting in the town, HRW said. The RSF and their allied militias shot at civilians as they fled, and executed people in their homes, shelters, and in the streets, they said.

A 45-year-old Masalit farmer said Arab militiamen accompanied by RSF vehicles entered the house where he was sheltering in Ardamata camp on Nov. 7. They brought seven men to the front of the house, the man told HRW.

They told me to come out of the house, HRW quoted the man as saying. The moment I came out, one or two of the Arabs shot at the seven men from close range. They immediately executed them.

Mohamed Osman, HRWs Sudan researcher, said the attack on Ardamata was the RSFs latest episode of ethnically targeted killings, which bears the hallmarks of an organized campaign of atrocities against Masalit civilians."

The U.N. Security Council needs to stop ignoring the desperate need to protect Darfur civilians, he said. "Regional and international actors have ignored the alarms that survivors have raised for months on the risks of further atrocities in West Darfur.

A spokesperson for the RSF didnt respond to phone calls seeking comment. HRW also said the RSF didnt respond to its findings and questions.

Darfur, which was the scene of a genocidal conflict in the early 2000s, has witnessed some of the worst bouts of violence in the ongoing war. International Criminal Courts prosecutor Karim Khan said in July they were investigating alleged new war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

The RSF has stepped up its attacks across the western region in recent weeks, seizing many military bases. Fighting also intensified around a military base outside Khartoum earlier in November.

The RSF reportedly took many people captive in the Ardamata attack. Footage on social media purportedly shows fighters in RSF uniform and militiamen detaining and hitting people.

HRW said it verified and analyzed five videos uploaded between Nov. 4-5 showing a group of at least 125 men and boys being forced to run toward Geneina Airport, east of Ardamata. Several of the men were visibly wounded, some limping, while one person was carried by four other men, the videos showed.

HRW was not able to determine what happened to any of the 125 people.

The U.N. has been sickened by a series of videos on social media which appear to have been made by RSF and allied personnel abusing captives, as well as pictures of dead bodies in the streets of Ardamata, Toby Harward, U.N.s deputy humanitarian coordinator in Sudan, told The Associated Press on Nov. 12.

The UNHCR reported extensive looting in the town, including U.N. humanitarian aid, and about 100 shelters were razed to the ground. At least 8,000 people have fled the town to neighboring Chad, joining at least 450,000 others, mostly women and children, who were forced out of their homes in similar attacks in West Darfur earlier this year, the agency said.

Satellite imagery taken the first week of November shows possible new graves and bodies in the street in Ardamata. Other imagery shows looting and arson in and around a camp for displaced people in the town.

The Security Council needs to take concrete measures to address the gravity of the situation, roll out sanctions against key commanders, seek the release of those unlawfully detained, and support accountability efforts in the region, Osman, the researcher, said.
Police are treating the disappearance of a satellite-tagged golden eagle in the Borders as suspicious.

The missing bird, named Merrick, came to the area last year through the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project.

She was last seen on 12 October in an area to the west of Fountainhall.

Police Scotland's Det Sgt David Lynn said that after a full search they believed Merrick had come to harm. He said the force worked with other groups to protect the "magnificent birds".

A major conservation project is ongoing in the south of Scotland to boost golden eagle numbers.

Earlier this year it reported that the population had reached record levels.

Five years ago, there were only three breeding pairs left in the region but numbers have now reached nearly 50.

The loss of Merrick is a setback to the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project.

Michael Clarke, who chairs the group, said: "The disappearance of any golden eagle is extremely upsetting, but particularly when there is evidence to suggest that they have come to harm under suspicious circumstances.

"The project's translocated eagles have captured the hearts and minds of many people, including children, who will all share in our utter shock, disappointment and sadness at the nature of Merrick's disappearance."

Map

He said they remained "more resolved than ever" to ensure the bird population in southern Scotland continued to thrive.

Police Scotland said it was working with other organisations to gather information and establish the circumstances of the disappearance.

The force urged anyone who could help with their inquiries to come forward.

The Scottish Gamekeepers' Association said it condemned wildlife crime in all its forms.

"Everyone who has supported SOSGEP will be extremely disappointed at this news," said chairman Alex Hogg.

"As an organisation our support is reflected in the fact that 23 of the project's 28 donor eaglets have come from gamekeeper-managed estates.

"We remain proud of that involvement and will continue our support."

Rural business organisation Scottish Land and Estates said it was "hugely disappointed" to hear of the disappearance.

Dee Ward, who chairs the group, added: "We're incredibly proud of the key role estates, land managers and gamekeepers have played in the success of SOSGEP.

"This incident makes us all the more passionate about continuing that support."

Follow the BBC for the South of Scotland on X. Listen to news from the Scottish Borders on BBC Sounds. If you have a Borders story for us email selkirk.news@bbc.co.uk.
A forum was held in Beijing on Saturday to examine the challenges in the global mining business for China.



A roundtable session is held during the 2023 Global Mining Business Development Forum held in Beijing, Nov. 25, 2023. [Photo provided to China.org.cn by the event organizers]

China's overseas mining investment, a key component of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), plays a crucial role in international exchange and cooperation, achieving significant accomplishments. However, it faces several challenges. The 2023 Global Mining Business Development Forum, co-organized by the Global Times and Central Merger Group, aims to address and find solutions for these pressing issues.



Coinciding with the 10th anniversary of the BRI, the forum explored new ideas and opportunities for the development of domestic and international mining. It sought to establish a platform for resource exchange between governments and enterprises, focusing on technological innovation, talent cultivation, and resolving bottlenecks and issues in industrial upgrading within the mining sector.

Additionally, the forum showcased successful cases of overseas collaboration by exceptional private mining enterprises. It also encouraged the active involvement of Chinese mining companies in international investment and cooperation, utilizing diverse perspectives and channels.

Energy and mineral resources have become an integral part of joint development under the BRI framework. Chinese mining companies are actively expanding globally, supporting the green and high-quality development of mining in BRI partner countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. This shift marks a transition from focusing on self-interest to benefiting the world.

As a major Chinese media outlet, the Global Times has stated that it will collaborate with the Central Merger Group and experts from various fields, both domestic and international. This forum aimed to enhance overseas mining cooperation and development, leverage innovation to advance the industry, and deepen cooperation between Chinese and foreign mining entities.

During his speech, Wang Qian, chairman of the Central Merger Group, shared the company's experiences when conducting research in countries across South America, Africa, Central Asia and Southeast Asia. He highlighted their successful mining projects in Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. Wang believes that Chinese mining enterprises have significant opportunities overseas and that the timing is ideal for expanding their ventures abroad.

During the forum, Wang Fan, president of China Foreign Affairs University, He Zhenwei, president of the China Overseas Industrial Development Association, and Wang Yuanfeng, vice chairman of the Chinese Association of Development Strategy Studies, delivered keynote speeches. They discussed the development of the domestic and international mining industry, the evolution and current trends of the BRI over its 10-year history, China's strategies for achieving peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality, and other relevant issues.

During the roundtable discussions, guests from embassies in China, the international engineering industry, and the mining industry shared their views and engaged in in-depth exchanges on the topic of "Overseas Business Environment and Market Opportunities for Chinese Mining Enterprises." Their discussions elicited positive reactions from the audience. Additionally, the Mining Committee (Preparatory Committee) of the National Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hardware & Electrical Chamber of Commerce was established during the forum, aiming to build a communication platform to strengthen international cooperation in the mining industry.

Zhang Ting'an, a professor at Northeastern University and a specially invited standing council member of the Nonferrous Metals Society of China, noted that as China has become a global manufacturing center, it has significant demand for mineral resources.

"China remains one of the largest consumers of mineral resources globally, providing new impetus for the development of the global mining industry and injecting new energy into its advancement. Through mutually beneficial international mining cooperation, China has established positive bilateral relationships in mineral resource development and trade with countries worldwide. China actively maintains the normal order of international mineral product trade, promotes open cooperation, and common development in the global mining industry," he said.
Lawmakers in both parties are predicting a GOP battle royal over federal spending at the start of the election year as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) struggles to balance the demands from House conservatives demanding fiscal reforms with keeping the government operating.

The new Speaker was able to prevent a shutdown earlier this month without massive repercussions to his leadership.

After his predecessor, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), was unseated in part for bringing a funding measure to the floor that relied on Democratic votes, House conservatives gave Johnson a mulligan in November for basically doing the same thing.

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Ninety-three House Republicans voted against the funding measure, but there was no effort to end Johnsons Speakership.

But Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and other conservative members of the House Freedom Caucus are signaling they wont give Johnson another free pass  even though he has limited power to get his way, given the Democratic control of the White House and Senate.

Roy said earlier this month that Johnsons concessions to Democrats to pass a funding stopgap lasting until January and February are strike one, strike two, putting the Speaker at risk of getting punched out of his job if he cuts another deal that fails to make significant cuts to federal spending.

A GOP senator who requested anonymity to discuss the bitter fighting between mainstream and conservative Republicans over spending levels for 2024 said theres no clear path forward.

I want to know what were going to do the first day we come back from the Thanksgiving break. Will there be another minibus? the lawmaker said, referring to a package of three or four spending bills.

Johnson was forced to cancel floor votes earlier this month on three different spending bills because of divisions within his conference.

The stakes for upcoming fight, Democrats and Republicans alike warn, will only get bigger as the 2024 election approaches.

President Biden looks vulnerable, as does the Democratic majority in the Senate. Yet Johnsons majority in the House is also not safe, meaning leaders across the board will have to act carefully.

Senate Democrats say they are bracing for more brinkmanship.

Realistically, well see more of the same. Theres nothing about the December holidays that is going to produce magic in the House dynamic right now. Theyre chaotically divided; theyre dysfunctional, said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

The basic problem is: There is a group of Republicans who are more interested in throwing grenades than governing, he added. Thats a recipe for disaster.

The new Speaker traveled to Mar-a-Lago to meet with former President Trump shortly before Thanksgiving in an effort to shore up his support among MAGA rebels, setting the stage for a showdown with the Senate next month.

Now the Senate will focus on passing a megabus or maxibus of nine spending bills in hopes of setting up a conference negotiation with the House, but theres little prospect of any broader deal before the new year, given the steep spending cuts demanded by House conservatives.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says the deep cuts demanded by House Republicans dont have any chance of passing the Senate.

He and Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) say they will not agree to spending levels below those set by the debt limit deal that McCarthy and Biden agreed to in May.

But some House conservatives say the $1.59 trillion discretionary spending cap that McCarthy agreed to is far too high, and they have called for cutting it by $120 billion.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), an outspoken fiscal conservative who has worked closely with members of the House Freedom Caucus, said were going try to do everything we can to get real cuts enacted in 2024.

One of the reasons the Speaker lost his Speakership is they agreed to $1.59 trillion in spending, which is $300 billion more than we spent just four years ago. Thats a problem, Johnson said, referring to McCarthy.

The situation were in is a massive failure over decades; $33.5 trillion in debt, he added.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is one of a growing number of conservatives in both chambers who say they wont vote for any continuing resolution that merely freezes federal spending levels.

I cant support spending the same amount of money were currently spending, because thats how we got a $33 trillion debt. We borrowed $1 trillion in the last three months. If we keep spending like were doing, were going to have a $2 trillion annual deficit, he said.

Paul said conservatives want Johnson to pass the annual appropriations bills individually to maximize his leverage with Senate Democrats, setting up a prolonged negotiation that could wind up lasting months.

There is still a conservative position to be had, and that would be that the Speaker continues to pass individual appropriations bills and that the Speaker insists that when they conference on them, they conference on each individual one, he said, explaining that would give the House 12 different points of leverage  to reduce spending.

The Republican lawmaker speaking anonymously said it would make sense for the Senate to next take up a batch of regular spending bills, because Democratic and Republican negotiators remain deadlocked over proposed border security reforms that Republicans say must be part of any emergency foreign aid spending package for Israel and Ukraine.

Some Republicans are floating the idea of setting up a deficit reduction commission as part of a broader spending deal as a way to mollify disgruntled conservatives.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has introduced a bill with centrist Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) to establish a bicameral fiscal commission to find legislative solutions to decrease the debt.

Maybe theres a prospect of that happening, Romney told The Hill, noting that Speaker Johnson has voiced support for a debt commission.

Senate Republicans recently invited former Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) to speak to the Steering Committee before the Thanksgiving recess about his experience as a member of the supercommittee that Congress set up in 2011 to cut the annual deficit.

That bipartisan effort, however, failed to produce a compromise, which set the stage for across-the-board cuts known as sequestration to take effect under the Budget Control Act of 2011.

Congress later canceled sequestration after Democrats and Republicans chafed at cuts to social and defense programs.

Updated at 7:12 a.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Republican National Committee is in a funding drought, listing less cash on hand as of October 30 than on any report filed to the Federal Election Commission since February 2015, according to a report from The Washington Post.

A comparative analysis by the Post found that with only $9.1 million cash on hand, the RNC has brought in only about one-seventh of the amount of cash they had ahead of the 2020 election cycle  when their coffers were stuffed with about $61 million in available funds. This dropoff comes despite former President Donald Trump once again being the leading candidate in the 2024 primaries. Comparatively, the Democratic National Committee is sitting on $17.7 million cash on hand.

The cause of the disparity is not immediately clear, but the RNCs struggles in recent midterm election cycles may have left donors skittish over the partys ability to produce results. The Post spoke to over 10 sources who raised concerns over the committees financial troubles.

The RNCs electoral record since 2017 speaks for itself, Virginia RNC member Patti Lyman told the Post, who opposed McDaniel when she was reelected to another term in January. The damage from that chair election goes far beyond the drop in donations. Our base was demoralized.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel brushed off the financial struggles in a statement to the Post. I think theres more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, Ill be there. Thats what I hear more than anything. And theyre really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal, McDaniel said, adding that there was nothing unusual about the situation.

Following the GOPs poor showing in the November elections, McDaniel was forced to fend off calls for her resignation. Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy called for her to step down from her position as leader of the committee during a November primary debate, and CNBC reported shortly after the midterms that Trump had grown increasingly sour over McDaniels ability to manage the party.

Despite the criticism, McDaniel has committed to supporting Trump if he secures the nomination. Whoever the voters choose is the appropriate nominee, she told CNN earlier this month., I know this is newsworthy, but as party chair, Im going to support who the voters choose and yes, if they choose Donald Trump.

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A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill graduate student who is accused of killing his professor isnt fit to stand trial, a judge ruled Monday.

The ruling came as a result of two separate mental evaluations requested by Tailei Qis attorneys, WTVD reports.

PREVIOUS: UNC grad student accused of killing advisor to be mentally evaluated, lawyers say

Qi was determined to be incapable of standing trial due to what Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said was likely untreated schizophrenia.

Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center and showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication, Judge Grine said.

Qi is accused of fatally shooting Dr. Zijie Yan inside a laboratory on UNCs campus on Aug. 28.

READ MORE: Autopsy report shows UNC professor was shot 7 times in campus lab

Qi requested his current attorneys during his last hearing back in September. That was also when his attorneys asked for the competency evaluation.

Grine said the mental illness means Qi is unable to help with his defense, understand his status, and understand how the court process works.

The judge ruled that Qi will be taken to a hospital in Butner to be committed for psychological treatment, according to WTVD.

The district attorney previously said they wont seek the death penalty against Qi.

(WATCH BELOW: Faculty member killed in UNC building; suspect in custody, chancellor says)








The British Horseracing Authority has done a good job in stepping up to the mark politically by persuading the Migration Advisory Committee that the shortfall of 2,500 key workers on stud farms and in racing yards is seriously damaging the industry.

The magnitude of the problem racing faces is reflected by the fact that, of the eight additions to the shortage occupation list agreed by the committee, from an application list of 300 throughout the country, racing yards and studs were granted six, which include grooms and work riders.

Now it is down to the Home Secretary to decide whether he acts on this advice and rubber stamps his approval. This is, indeed, frustrating.

There can be only two reasons why he does not do so immediately. The first is that he does not know what the right decision is. Whether to grant the exemptions or to tell the committee that they are erroneous.

The second is that he just has not got time to get his head around his new brief anytime soon, because he is snowed under with a mountain of stuff related to reason one.

So, on the one hand, we have a Prime Minister and every economist under the sun telling us growth is the only way out of the mess this country is in, but on the other we have ministers who have simple decisions to make to enable growth, but they will not, or cannot, make them.

Without the right number of qualified staff, the demise of racing in this country will shrink the rural economy. In fact, it already is. And politicians wonder why we are all becoming very cynical about politics.

The BHA is less on it, however, when it comes to looking down the line to secure the credibility of the Grand National in the eyes of the betting public.

Now that the maximum number of runners has been reduced to 34, there is a significant chance that the race could end up looking like a personal duel between the two super-power yards in Ireland of Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott. Will that be in the best interests of the race? As if any warning were needed that we are getting close to that, Elliott fielded 14 out of the 20 runners in the valuable Troytown Chase in Ireland recently.

The BHAs view is that it understands the issue and the arguments that surround it but nothing is planned in that space at the moment.

The problem is that once entries for the race have been accepted, without the necessary conditions attached, the horse, so to speak, will have bolted.

Elliotts view of the Troytown was that he did not prevent anyone else running and he was supporting the race. But I find the word support slightly hard to stomach in this context. Would he have supported the race to such a degree if it had not been worth so much and there were equally good opportunities for his horses elsewhere? Perhaps the public do not give a damn if half the field are wearing the same colours, bar a different coloured cap, as long as the horses are suitable for the race. I have every sympathy with owners who take a punt on buying horses. Why should they not run them in any race which they deem suitable? But it is also the responsibility of the governing authorities to protect the image and overall appeal of the sport.

A bit like London buses, Elliotts use of the word support was hot on the trail of Frankie Dettori saying he was going to Australia to support the Melbourne Cup, even though he could not ride in it because he was banned for excessive use of the whip on Champions Day.

He must be a big fan to go all that way. Or does the word support have financial undertones when used in racing? Come to think of it, one often hears breeders talking about supporting a stallion. Are they fans, or are they trying to breed a valuable asset? Perhaps Frankie knew he was just dropping in on the way to supporting Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here? But while he is eating snakes testicles, I will just keep on supporting The Telegraph.



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Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry is voting on whether to reinstate the Confederate flag

A showdown is due at Scotland's most famous country music club over its controversial use of the American Confederate flag.

Officials at Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry banned the flag last month, but members are now voting on its reinstatement.

The Confederate flag dates to the Civil War era of the 1860s when it was used by slave-owning states in the South.

Many Americans now view it as a racist symbol although others defend it as an emblem of southern heritage.

The Confederate flag had been the centrepiece of a flag-folding ceremony held at the end of each night at the venue.

One member of the Opry, speaking to BBC News on condition of anonymity, said: "It is a disgrace in this day and age that there are still members who wish to use the Confederate flag for their ceremony."

An earlier decision to remove the flag from the music venue had been made by club officials on 9 October - a move that led to the club's president resigning.

Club Members have requested a vote to re-instate the flag. An emergency meeting is scheduled for later this evening where a secret members' ballot will be held.

In a statement, officials at the Opry said the flag had been "causing offence to visitors and a lot of members" and had led to "disturbances" which had affected the safety of the committee, members and visitors.

Numerous bookings and events had been cancelled because of the connotations of the Confederate Flag, they said.

Modern use of the flag in the US

The confederate flag has become a controversial emblem in the US

The Confederate flag has been used by white supremacists including the murderer of nine African Americans at a church in South Carolina in 2015 and participants in a right-wing rally in Virginia in 2017, which resulted in the killing of counter-protester Heather Heyer.

It was also brandished by Donald Trump supporter Kevin Seefried, who was among those jailed for storming the US capitol building in 2021.

Following these events, along with other monuments and symbols of the Confederacy, the flag has been removed from public display in parts of the southern United States.

Mr Trump, the former Republican president, has previously defended the use of the emblem, telling CBS News: "I know people that like the Confederate flag and they're not thinking about slavery... I just think it's freedom of speech."

But the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which campaigns against racism in the US, has insisted that public bodies "should no longer play a role in distorting history by honouring a secessionist government that waged war against the United States to preserve white supremacy and the enslavement of millions."

The Grand Ole Opry takes its name from the venue in Nashville, dubbed the home of country music.

The Glasgow venue holds its flag-folding ceremony - dubbed the American trilogy - at the end of each night.

The Opry says this is to commemorate the estimated 620,000 Americans who died during the US Civil War of 1861-65.

The club's website explains: "As the Southern states lost the war, and due to the fact that this part of America supplied us then, as now, with most of the trends that influence our music, dress and dance, it is the Southern flag (often called the Confederate Battle flag) which is folded."

The ceremony is accompanied by the 1972 Elvis Presley hit, An American Trilogy, a song which combines the southern Confederacy's unofficial anthem, Dixie, with the northern Union's Battle Hymn of the Republic.

The website adds that the occasion "takes the form of a more traditional salute that encompasses both a flag folding ceremony and a number of shots fired in tribute.

"We dedicate the American Trilogy as a salute in memory of all those men and women lost from both sides," it says.
A view of the Acropolis archaeological site and the Parthenon temple ruins in Athens

A view of the Acropolis archaeological site and the Parthenon temple ruins in Athens

By Renee Maltezou and Andrew MacAskill

ATHENS/LONDON (Reuters) -Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused his British counterpart Rishi Sunak of cancelling a scheduled meeting in London on Tuesday in a diplomatic row over the status of the Parthenon Sculptures.

Greece has repeatedly asked the British Museum to permanently return the 2,500-year-old sculptures that British diplomat Lord Elgin removed from the Parthenon temple in the early 19th century when he was ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

"I express my annoyance that the British Prime Minister cancelled our planned meeting just hours before it was due to take place," Mitsotakis said in a statement.

"Greece's positions on the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures are well known. I had hoped to have the opportunity to discuss them with my British counterpart. Anyone who believes in the rightness and justice of his positions is never afraid of confronting arguments," he said.

The Greek government has been in discussions with British Museum chair George Osborne on a possible loan deal for the sculptures, which have been a source of dispute between the two countries for centuries.

Mitsotakis complained in an interview with the BBC on Sunday that talks over a possible return of the sculptures to Athens were not advancing quickly enough.

He said that the continued presence of the sculptures in the British Museum was like cutting the "Mona Lisa in half" and it was not a question of ownership but "reunification".

A British government official, who asked not to be named, said the row over the marbles meant it was not suitable for the meeting to go ahead.

Earlier, a spokesperson for Sunak said there were no plans to return the sculptures.

Asked about Mitsotakis' statement, Sunak's office said Britain's relationship with Greece was "hugely important" and the two countries needed to work together on global challenges like tackling illegal migration.

Deputy British Prime Minister Oliver Dowden was available to meet Mitsotakis to discuss these issues instead, Sunak's office said.

The British government has always ruled out giving up ownership of the marbles, which include about half of the 160-metre (525-ft) frieze that adorned the Parthenon, and says they were legally acquired.

A law prevents the British museum from removing objects from the collection apart from in certain circumstances, but the legislation does not prohibit a loan.

A meeting between Mitsotakis and British opposition leader Keir Starmer went ahead on Monday as planned. The Financial Times last week reported that Starmer would not block a "mutually acceptable" loan deal for the sculptures.

Labour declined to comment.

(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Angus MacSwan and Stephen Coates)
GREEN BAY  Every year, public school districts in Wisconsin get a report card from the state Department of Public Instruction. The report card gives schools and districts an overall accountability rating from one to five stars.

A score of three or more stars means a school or district is meeting or exceeding educational expectations.

In the most recent ratings, every public school district in Brown County got three or more stars, but how did private schools do?

What are the state report cards?

Like a performance review, the report cards show how schools are doing in key areas like student performance on state standardized tests, growth of those scores, outcomes for the lowest-performing students and whether students are on track to graduate. Statewide report cards were released Nov. 14 for the 2022-23 school year.

The state Department of Public Instruction, or DPI, gives every school and school district an "accountability score" from 0 to 100. That score then translates to a star rating: One star means a school is failing to meet educational expectations. Five stars means the school or district significantly exceeds them.

Few private schools get report cards in the Green Bay area

Many of the area's private schools participate in the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program. The program allows low-income students to attend private schools for free, using taxpayer funded vouchers.

But despite some schools receiving millions in public funding from the voucher program, the majority of Green Bay private schools don't get report cards or an accountability rating. That's because they likely don't have enough students taking state standardized tests.

Only private schools that get public funding through voucher programs get report cards  and only if they get enough students to take the state Forward Exams.

The report cards reflect only the performance of those students attending through the voucher program.

Of the 21 private schools in the area that get tax-funded voucher payments, less than a fifth of them got report cards. That means there is no way to tell whether these schools are meeting state educational expectations.

Here's how the four schools that got accountability ratings did:

Bay City Christian School: 3 stars, meets expectations

Green Bay Trinity Lutheran School: 3 stars, meets expectations

Northeastern Wisconsin Lutheran High School: 3 stars, meets expectations

Notre Dame Academy: 1 star, fails to meet expectations

How much in tax-funded voucher payments do private schools get?

In total, the 21 private schools that get tax-funded voucher payments in Brown County received about $12.5 million for the 2022-23 school year, according to data from the DPI. Schools get more money depending on how many students are attending on a voucher since voucher funding is allocated on a per student basis.

This year, the amount that private schools get per student increased under the new biennium budget.

The amount of tax dollars private schools get per student went from:

$4,200 to $4,900 per student in 4-year-old kindergarten;

$8,400 to $9,900 per student in grades kindergarten through eighth grade;

$9,000 to $12,400 per student in grades nine through 12.

Those 21 private schools are estimated to get $15.9 million this school year in voucher payments, according to DPI data.

The schools that will get the most for the 2023-24 year are:

Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE): $6.6 million

Notre Dame Academy: $3 million

Bay City Christian School: $2.2 million

Across the state, the DPI estimates the Wisconsin Parental Choice Program will cost taxpayers $195 million this year.

How many students attend private schools on publicly funded vouchers?

The number of students who can receive vouchers is capped at 8% of a student's home district enrollment. Every year, the enrollment cap increases by 1% until the 2026-27 school year when the cap will be lifted.

For the 2022-23 school year, when the enrollment cap was set at 7%, about 1,439 students in Brown County went to a private school on a voucher. This year, it's 1,542, according to the DPI.

Green Bay Area Catholic Education (GRACE), which has nine schools, has the largest number of students attending on a voucher at 681. Notre Dame Academy is second with 240 students. The smallest is the All Saints Grade School in Denmark, which has eight voucher students.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at dduclos@gannett.com. Follow on Twitter @danielle_duclos. You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105

This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Do Green Bay private schools perform better than public schools?
(Reuters) -GSK said on Monday that its blood cancer drug Blenrep had reached a key goal in a late-stage trial, as the British drugmaker looks to bolster its oncology business after a series of setbacks.

The drug, when combined with existing drug bortezomib plus steroid dexamethasone, significantly extended the time before the disease progressed, or the patients died, in those suffering from relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma - the third most common type of blood cancer which is considered difficult to treat.

Blenrep was pulled from U.S. markets last year, after it failed a separate late-stage study designed to show it was better than an existing treatment on the market.

In September, the EU's drug regulator also recommended against renewing the conditional marketing authorisation for Blenrep, in a setback to the key oncology unit that GSK has been looking to strengthen.

Barclays analysts said expectations had been very low for Blenrep in remaining multiple myeloma trials but that the results from the study dubbed "DREAMM-7" were a slight positive. They added that "investors will want to see more data before adding sales back into models".

The drug belongs to a promising category of treatments called antibody-drug conjugates, which are engineered antibodies that bind to tumour cells and then release cell-killing chemicals.

A "strong and clinically meaningful overall survival trend was also observed", GSK added.

Overall survival is defined as the proportion of trial patients on the drug who were alive compared to those on a placebo. Progression free survival, the key goal that the study met, refers to the period of time that a person lives with the disease without it getting worse after treatment.

Blenrep, which was the second-largest contributor to GSK's oncology business in 2022, has made about 30 million pounds ($37.38 million) in sales year-to-date.

($1 = 0.8025 pounds)

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Sharon Singleton)
Artisans at Gucci are striking in protest over a move from Rome to Milan. (Charly TRIBALLEAU)

Some 40 artisans from Gucci's design studio downed tools Monday in the creatives' first ever strike, held over plans to move much of the team from Rome to Milan.

The Italian luxury brand, owned by French group Kering, said in October it was transferring 153 of its 219 design employees from the capital to Milan, a move the strikers claim is "a mass redundancy in disguise".

"Gucci cuts but doesn't sew", read one banner held aloft by demonstrators outside one of the Rome offices, while another read: "At Gucci, redundancy is fashionable".

"The style office is the heart of Gucci, where the designers and couturiers work, and this is where all the collections are born. This is the first strike in its history," Chiara Giannotti, a union representative for the brand, told AFP ahead of the four-hour strike.

Last week, over 50 Gucci artisans joined a national strike organised by Italy's largest trade unions, Giannotti said.

"Kering wants to take advantage of this restructuring to reduce staff numbers and push out employees who have been offered unsatisfactory conditions or who cannot leave Rome because they have their families and children there," she said.

Gucci told AFP the move "does not envisage any reduction in personnel and will be implemented in full compliance with current regulations".

It has also provided "a series of economic and support measures" to affected staff, the company said.

While 153 employees are due to be transferred to Milan by March, the fate of the 66 other artisans due to remain in Rome "is uncertain", according to the unions.

"We are demanding the same conditions for all as part of the transfer to Milan, or else the relocation of employees to other Kering companies in Rome or Florence", said Giannotti.

Gucci changed its artistic director in January, bringing in Sabato De Sarno to replace Alessandro Michele, who transformed the label over seven years with his eccentric, gender-fluid designs and offbeat shows.

bh/ide/rl
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.  Professors at the University of Florida had high hopes for Joseph Ladapo. But they quickly lost faith in him.

In 2021, the university was fast-tracking him into a tenured professorship as part of his appointment as Floridas surgeon general. Ladapo, Gov. Ron DeSantis pick for the states top medical official, dazzled them with his Harvard degree and work as a research professor at New York University and UCLA.

Professors had anticipated Ladapo would bring at least $600,000 in grant funding to his new appointment from his previous job at UCLA. That didnt happen. They expected he would conduct research on internal medicine, as directed by his job letter. Instead, he edited science research manuscripts, gave a guest lecture for grad students and wrote a memoir about his vaccine skepticism.

Ladapos work at UF has generally escaped scrutiny. Yet interviews with more than two dozen current and former faculty members, state lawmakers and former agency heads, as well as reviews of internal university emails and reports, show that staff was worried that Ladapo had bypassed a crucial review process when he was rushed into his coveted tenured position and, moreover, was unsuited for the position.

His dual role at UF shows how DeSantis and state Republicans have used the flagship public university to further their political goals, with uncertain benefits for students and other faculty. The university also hired as its new president former Nebraska GOP Sen. Ben Sasse, who joins several former Republican lawmakers in leadership roles in Florida higher education, including former state Sen. Ray Rodrigues, who is chancellor of the university system.

Ladapo has made headlines across the country for his contentious stances on Covid mandates and vaccines as surgeon general. He has bucked the medical establishment by claiming Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are dangerous for healthy young men and warned people under the age of 65 from getting the most recent Covid boosters. He was also criticized for supporting hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malaria drug heralded as a coronavirus treatment by former President Donald Trump. A study later found the drug didnt prevent Covid-19.

While the state has provided other appointees with the same type of tenured position, Ladapo had warning signs from the start. It usually takes months to properly interview and analyze candidates for tenured professorships, but Ladapos application took less than three weeks.

A lot of people thought he had been vetted by the College of Medicine like anyone who goes through the tenure process, said one current UF professor who was not authorized to speak and was granted anonymity to freely discuss the matter. That would have caught a lot of red flags.

Some also bristled that Ladapo, in an email to the heads of the medical school, said hed only visited the sprawling Gainesville campus twice in his first year on the job, showing a lack of familiarity with Floridas flagship medical school.

Ladapo declined to comment for this story, and UF Health officials would not answer questions about his time as a professor. A spokesperson for UF did not respond to specific questions about the story.

The DeSantis administration did not respond to a request for comment.

Ladapos two confirmations by the state Senate included committee hearings that allowed senators to ask him questions about his performance at both jobs. State Sen. Tina Polsky (D-Boca Raton) said she had asked Ladapo during last years confirmation about his performance at UF, and he did not give a clear response despite follow-up attempts.

You know he never taught a class per se, and it was just his typical word salad answers for everything, Polsky said. Its really frustrating.

Polsky said in light of the intense criticism and controversy over Ladapo, she was not surprised to hear about his problems at UF.

It was very par for the course, Polsky said. This guy is a charlatan, hes not looking out for anyones health and hes going to campaign with DeSantis.

Two roles

Ladapo was the perfect fit as surgeon general for DeSantis. Like the governor, he had gained prominence by criticizing safety measures early in the pandemic, including questioning the effectiveness of boosters or the need for mandatory masking. Both of them also supported the Great Barrington Declaration, which called on governments to adopt the herd approach for Covid-19, which occurs after enough people in the population recover from the virus and develop antibodies to fight it off in the future.

And while the UF staff was initially enthusiastic about Ladapo, faculty staff began expressing concerns almost immediately over how quickly he was given a tenured position, his inability to bring over pledged grant funding, conflicts with colleagues and issues with how much time he spent at the university versus his job as surgeon general.



Former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona, an appointee of former President George W. Bush, said the arrangement allowing Ladapo to be Floridas top health official and a professor at UF could create conflicts of interest  or at the very least be viewed as one.

Carmona, a professor of public health at the University of Arizona before becoming U.S. surgeon general, said he placed his university job on hold after his appointment to avoid the appearance of a conflict  especially if his position involved decisions that would impact his university employer. Other conflicts could arise if, in a state position, he advocated for a political stance that was at odds with the university.

When you are in a political office, you cut your ties, Carmona said. Basically I still talk to my colleagues, but my responsibilities were left because my allegiance has to be with the United States of America.

Florida law allows state employees to split their time between two positions if they are recruited to lead an agency under a two year temporary interchange agreement. The agreement allows the employee to collect salaries from both jobs.

Ladapo earns a $250,000 salary as surgeon general and a $262,000 salary from UF, according to state and university records.

But some of Ladapos UF College of Medicine colleagues were concerned he bypassed crucial vetting during his whirlwind hiring process, regardless of whether it was legal.

A report by an ad hoc committee created by the UF Faculty Senate to review Ladapos hiring just months after he came aboard determined that  although parts of Ladapos speedy hiring process was not unprecedented for the university and some rules were routinely ignored  the school violated its own policies as school leaders charged on with Ladapos application.

The irregularities noted above were of concern to the members of this committee and appeared to violate the spirit, and in review the exact letter, of UF hiring regulations and procedures, particularly in the vital role faculty play in evaluating the qualifications of their peers, the report states.

Another professor who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the issue, said the process used to grant Ladapos tenure at UF was an affront to academic transparency.

Dr Ladapo has undoubtedly sullied the academic reputation of the University, the professor said. He continues to detract from the incredible science and outstanding clinical work being done by real UF scientists and clinicians.

United Faculty of Florida-University of Florida President Meera Sitharam, the union head representing the institution, said she wondered why the science and public health communities have not investigated Ladapo for scientific fraud, amid a report from POLITICO that he personally altered the results of a Covid study at the state Department of Health.

After that April POLITICO report was published, Ladapo tweeted: Fauci enthusiasts are terrified and will do anything to divert attention from the risks of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines especially cardiac deaths. Truth will prevail.

For some reason the medical and public health communities arent outright investigating him  probably because he isnt operating as a scientist or a faculty member, Sitharam said in an email. He is operating in the murky world where public health is held hostage to political fortunes, which is in part because public trust in health related institutions has been deeply eroded.

Funding issues

Some of the most serious issues arose over money. Ladapo had initially promised UF that he would transfer grant funding from UCLA, where he had been working, to the Florida school, according to emails obtained from UF.

The funding was awarded by the National Institutes of Health for a research project. But, according to emails between Ladapo and school officials, it never materialized.

A search of an NIH database shows Ladapo is still one of three researchers assigned to a smoking cessation study at UCLA, which receives more than $600,000 in grant funding each year. Another $600,000 NIH grant awarded to UCLA in 2020 lists Ladapo as the sole researcher, and it includes his UF address.

In a June 2022 email, Department of Medicine Vice Chair Mark Brantly told Ladapo that he had reassigned a UF researcher who had been helping with the UCLA project because there was no grant funding.

When we first discussed this matter you gave me the impression that your funding would follow you from UCLA, Brantly wrote to Ladapo. If you are having an issue with transferring your grant funds I strongly encourage you to talk with your NIH program project person.

In response, Ladapo asked Department of Medicine Chair Jamie B. Conti to intervene. She declined.

I am working actively on this issue with NIHs Office of Research Integrity but it is not entirely under my control, Ladapo wrote to Conti.

Brantly and Conti did not respond to questions about the emails with Ladapo, which POLITICO received through public records requests.

The same professor with the College of Medicine who raised issues over vetting said they were skeptical that Ladapo was the high-performing researcher he had sold himself as, and bucked at the salary he was receiving  especially with the medical school facing a projected $41.5 million shortfall. Like others, the professor was granted anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly.

We keep getting all of these emails about doing more to help this $42 million shortfall, and then you have this guy whos not doing anything, the College of Medicine professor said. I dont know what hes doing but its not research.

The anticipated $41.5 million shortfall was the result of rapid growth by the College of Medicine over the past few years. The college also increased wages, Gary Mans, assistant vice president of UF Health, said in an email.

Ladapos responsibilities at the College of Medicine shifted significantly by the spring of this year. The university initially hired him to spend most of his time continuing his careers work as a researcher in the UF Health internal medicine division.

His most recent quarterly effort report from spring of this year, however, shows he now spends most of his time in an undefined administrative role.

I dont know what he is doing but it definitely isnt research, said a separate College of Medicine professor not authorized to speak.

About a year after he was hired, Ladapo was defending his role at UF after meeting with the schools vice president of health, David Nelson. Among the topics they discussed was Ladapos wish to host a series of seminars on the critical evaluation of scientific evidence.

He wrote in an email to Nelson and College of Medicine deans that he spent his first several months editing research manuscripts and finishing his book called Transcend Fear, in which he explains how he grew skeptical of most vaccines.

Ladapo, who also was required to fulfill a teaching requirement, wrote that he spoke at a UF Health Cancer Center Tobacco Control Working Group meeting in January, and he gave a lecture in an HIV course in July.

I traveled to Gainesville on both occasions, Ladapo wrote.

Ladapo also asked in the email to Nelson and the College of Medicine about creating a seminar and course on the critical evaluation of scientific evidence. He and the university havent yet created the course.
You are here: China

More than 2.25 million people sat China's annual civil service recruitment examination on Sunday to compete for vacancies with the central authorities and their branches, according to the National Civil Service Administration.

The administration said this year's exam attracted over 2.61 million applicants, and approximately one in 57 examinees could eventually be recruited.

The written exam was held on Sunday, simultaneously in 237 cities nationwide.

China plans to recruit 39,600 civil servants to work for central agencies and institutions directly attached to them in the 2024 civil servant recruitment.
The editor in chief of Israeli news outlet Haaretz blasted Elon Musks visit to Israel, calling the tech billionaire a blatant antisemite and publisher of antisemitism amid backlash over antisemitic content on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Blatant antisemite & publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel, Haaretz editor-in-chief Esther Solomon wrote in a post on X, which Musk owns. Instead, Netanyahu  plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy  gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of them.

Alongside Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Musk visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz Monday, touring one of the villages targeted in militant group Hamass Oct. 7 assault into southern Israel. Following the visit, which included meeting some of the families of victims, Musk said in an X Spaces conversation that it was jarring to see the scene of the massacre.

Musk was also briefed on some of the details of the attack, along with information about Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old American-Israeli citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack. She is among the dozens of hostages released as part of Israels four-day truce with Hamas.

Musk came under fire earlier this month after appearing to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory that suggested antisemitism was carried out by minorities and that Jewish people were to blame. This claim is in line with false conspiracy theories claiming Jewish people want to flood Western countries with minorities.

He later went after he Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group that advocates against antisemitic and other hate speech, claiming the group unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel.

The White House railed against Musks post, calling it unacceptable.

Musks X faced increased controversy days later, when a report from liberal watchdog Media Matters for America said it found ads for companies including Apple, Bravo, Oracle, Xfinity and IBM placed next to posts celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party on the platform.

Several companies halted their ad spending as a result.

Two days after Musk posted the controversial message, he announced euphemisms including decolonization and from the river to the sea would be prohibited from X, saying they imply genocide.

The decision was welcomed by ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, who said he appreciates this leadership in fighting hate. Greenblatts apparent praise for the tech giant sparked backlash, to which the ADL chief said the organization will call out when they get it wrong and credit them when they get it right.

The war between Israel and Hamas has been deadly, with the militant groups attack on Israel last month killing least 1,200 Israelis, and the ensuing airstrikes and ground offensive Israel carried out in in Gaza killing more than 13,300 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the territory.

The fighting is currently under a four-day truce set to expire at the end of Monday unless the two sides can come to an agreement to extend the cease-fire. An extension would likely be contingent on the release of additional hostages, which Israel and Hamas have indicated they may be open to.

The Hill reached out to X for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Kfir Bibas, 10 months, and his family have reportedly been passed on to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a MarxistLeninist terror group

Hamas is preventing the release of a 10-month-old baby held captive in Gaza, Israel said on Monday night.

Kfir Bibas, the youngest hostage kidnapped by Hamas, has been handed over to a separate Palestinian terror group in the southern city of Khan Younis, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman said.

The city is expected to be a target of Israels next offensive, raising the prospect the infant is being used for further leverage in talks to extend the truce.

Yoav Gallant, Israels defence minister, promised to use the same amount of power and more in a renewed military assault on Gaza when the hostage exchange deal expires.

On Monday, Israel and Hamas agreed a 48-hour extension to the initial four-day agreement, with 20 further hostages set to be released.

Nine children, including three-year-old twins, and two women were freed on Monday.

11 Israeli hostages, including three-year-old twins, were released from captivity in Gaza on Monday night

However, there was outrage after it was claimed that Hamas no longer had control of Kfir and his four-year-old brother Ariel, both kidnapped on Oct 7.

They are believed to be held alongside their parents, Yarden and Shiri. The image of the terrified mother clutching the two children, both of whom have distinctive red hair, is one of the most memorable from the attacks.

The image of Shiri clutching Kfir and Ariel is one of the most memorable from the attacks - Family handout

On Monday, their aunt, Noah Abrahams, said the news amounted to just more psychological torture.

A family statement said: We are experiencing moments of great uncertainty. The realisation that we will not get the hug we wished for leaves us speechless.

Meanwhile, Avichay Adraee, an Arabic media spokesman for the IDF, said: Children and babies under the age of one who have not seen the light of day for more than 50 days are being held captive by Hamas, [who] treats some of them like loot and in some places has transferred them to other terrorist organisations in the Gaza Strip.

Michael Horowitz, a security analyst, said it appeared that the family had been handed over to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a MarxistLeninist terror group.

Rear Adml Daniel Hagari said the responsibility for the hostages remained with Hamas, even if they had passed them on to other groups.

It came as Mr Gallant warned troops that Hamas would be using the pause in fighting to prepare for the expected IDF onslaught in the south. We will fight in the entire strip, he said.

On Monday, Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas political bureau member, suggested to Qatar television that the group was prepared to negotiate the release of soldiers in a separate deal.

It raises the prospect of Israel having to decide whether to release potentially thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including high-value terror suspects.

The release of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011 came in exchange for 1,027 prisoners, including Yahya Sinwar  who is thought to have planned the Oct 7 attack  and was hugely controversial in Israel.

Yarden and Shiri Bibas and their sons

On Monday, the terror leader was reported to have visited some of the current hostages while they were being held in tunnels under Gaza.

CNN reported a Hamas source as saying that there were 40 hostages not currently under its control.

The Qatari government is believed to be putting pressure on the terror group to ensure that it has access to the abductees in order to release them under the ongoing deals.

Mondays delay from the scheduled release time was reportedly to be the cause of a disagreement on the number of mothers to be released.

After a brief setback, 11 Israeli hostages and six Thai nationals walked free in the fourth and final batch of the original deal.

French, German and Argentinian dual nationals were exchanged for 33 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Qatar said.

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.
JERUSALEM  On Sunday evening, when Israeli newscasters announced that 4-year-old Avigail Idan was among the third batch of hostages being released by Hamas from Gaza, it seemed as if the entire Jewish state breathed a collective sigh of relief.

The curly-haired toddler, an American citizen whose parents were both brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists on their kibbutz in southern Israel on Oct. 7, is only one of the hundreds of horrifying stories that have captured the publics attention here over the past seven weeks.

Yet her release  and that of other Israeli children  as part of a ceasefire deal now playing out between Israel and the terror group that governs the Palestinian enclave can be seen as a clear symbol of the psychological warfare that continues to be waged by the terrorists against Israelis.

"This is psychological terrorism, that is the only way to describe it," Lt. Col. (res) Shaul Bartal, a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University near Tel Aviv, told Fox News Digital.

ISRAELI POLICE SAY EXTREME SEXUAL VIOLENCE, RAPE BY HAMAS TERRORISTS WAS SYSTEMATIC

A man holds a banner displaying photos of kidnapped Israelis at a rally in Times Square demanding Hamas free Israeli hostages on Oct. 19, 2023 in New York City.

For the past three days, since the truce went into effect early Friday morning with the promise that some 40 children, their mothers and maybe even grandmothers, would be released by Hamas after nearly 50 days in captivity, a real-life psychological thriller  akin, some have said to the fictional survival process themed in Suzanne Collins popular trilogy The Hunger Games  has been playing out.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Under the U.S.-Qatari-Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, every day, Hamas hands Israel a list of around a dozen names of civilians it kidnapped during its terror attack, and in return, Israel gives them a list of some 30 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors convicted of terror offenses it will release and, in addition, allows truckloads of aid, including much-needed fuel, to enter Gaza.

It is a process seemingly designed to inflict  at least on the Israeli side  the maximum amount of anxiety and terror. Each day, as the Israeli media, government authorities and hostage's relatives countdown to the scheduled release time, Hamas, apparently aware that its hostage-taking extends far beyond some 200 people it still holds, seems to invent a myriad of caveats and hurdles that exacerbate the event, making it far more traumatic and stressful.

A Red Cross vehicle, part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas terrorists during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, as seen from southern Gaza Strip Nov. 24, 2023.

For example, the first group of hostages released on Friday evening, which saw 13 Israelis  mostly elderly women  and an additional 11 Thai nationals (agricultural laborers who had been working in Israel), was Hannah Katzir.

On Nov. 9, the 77-year-old Katzir was featured in a disturbing hostage video, with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terror group that operates in Gaza, saying they wanted to free her because of humanitarian concerns. A week later, instead of releasing her, however, the group announced she was dead.

UNITED NATIONS SLAMMED FOR SILENCE OVER HAMAS RAPES, MUTILATION AND MURDER OF ISRAELI WOMEN, CRITICS SAY

Then there is also the story of 13-year-old Hila Rotem. Kidnapped along with her mother, Raya, on Oct. 7, when the schoolgirl arrived back in Israel on Saturday she was alone, despite Hamas agreeing  under the terms of the cease-fire deal  not to separate families. Hamas, according to media reports, told mediators that they had lost track of Raya. Meanwhile, Hila said the two had been together until Friday, when they were forcibly separated.

There are many other cases of Hamas separating children from their parents or grandparents and wives from their husbands. In one instance, a young woman, Maya Regev, 21, was taken with her younger brother, Itai, 18, was also sent home alone.

Bartal explained that psychological terrorism is "using psychological ways to play with the minds of your victims."

"Hamas knows that Israel is really sensitive to human life, they know that Israel is really sensitive to children, to women, and to innocent people being killed," he said, highlighting a Jewish concept called "pidyon shvuyim," an ancient religious duty to do everything possible to release a fellow Jew captured by slave dealers or robbers, or imprisoned unjustly.

Bartal said kidnapping Jews was common practice in medieval Europe and is now clearly being used by the Islamists of Hamas.

"Hundreds of years ago, this was how European antisemitism played out," he said. "Now we are seeing it being used by Islamic antisemites."

ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED

The slow drip of hostages is exactly how Hamas wants this traumatic scenario to play out, said Bartal, adding, "They want to see it continue, they do not want Israel to call an end to this or to say will not continue playing this game."

"Right now, Israelis know there is a baby being held without its mother, a brother who is there without his sister or any other person who is captive with no other relatives and Hamas knows Israel will continue this process because they know those people are alive," he said.

The plight of the hostages  so far, some 40 have been released, with nearly 200 people still remaining in captivity  has taken a central role in Israeli consciousness during this war. The families of those being held have been extremely vocal over the past seven weeks, staging art installations and even a march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, to pressure the government to return their loved ones.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh speaks to the press on Sept. 22, 2023.

Strategically, Hamas has taken advantage of this sensitive issue, releasing haunting hostage videos that the local media has refused to air, as well as videos showing them "kindly" escorting those they have held in underground tunnels for weeks to the waiting vehicles of the International Red Cross.

Every detail, even down to the route the Red Cross vehicles take from Gaza to Israel, appears to be orchestrated to send a cynical message to Israelis, some analysts here say. During Fridays release, the convoy carrying 13 Israelis and 11 Thai nationals was forced to travel through southern Gaza, where it was pelted by rocks, those who were released said.

BIDEN ADMIN ACCUSED OF AIDING PALESTINIAN 'PAY FOR SLAY' AS TERRORISTS PROFIT IN HAMAS DEAL, EXPERTS CLAIM

Yahya Sinwar, middle, the elected leader of Hamas, appears during a ceremony for fighters killed by Israeli air strikes at Yarmouk football Stadium on May 24, 2021 in Gaza City, Gaza.

Saturdays release was held up for hours when Hamas claimed that aid Israel said it would deliver to northern Gaza had not arrived, even though the International Red Crescent, which has been distributing food, water and medicine in Gaza, released photographs and statements saying that it had. Hamas also said that Israel had reneged on their deal by releasing low-level Palestinian prisoners from its jails, even though they had received the list of prisoners set for release hours before.

For Sundays release, Israel managed to negotiate a route for the freed hostages and their Red Cross escorts through northern Gaza, which is a shorter journey and less perilous because it is now under Israeli control, even though three more Thai nationals who were also released, and one Israeli went through the southern part of the enclave.

"Hamas has planned for all of this, including the delay on Saturday  that was the most prominent expression of psychological warfare," Michael Milshtein, head of the Palestinian Studies Forum at the Dayan Center at Tel Aviv University told Fox.

"They said it was the result of a misunderstanding, that they did not understand the full list of prisoners being released, but they knew exactly what it was," he said. "People were shocked and astonished, but that is what they wanted to achieve."

Milshtein said that the videos of balaclava-covered Hamas terrorists escorting Israeli hostages to Red Cross cars were also a cynical attempt to convince the Arab world that they are "positive and fair players."

"It is ridiculous that terrorists, with weapons over their shoulders who shot some of the hostages, are trying to portray themselves as the good guys," he said.

The Arabic media seemed to buy the act, said Milshtein. "They said Hamas is really behaving like gentlemen, but its all part of this psychological war they are playing."





Original article source: Hamas terrorists use Israeli hostage release in game of psychological warfare
MUSKEGON  A judge has delayed a hearing that was to consider if the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners and its health officer reached a $4 million settlement on Nov. 6 for her to resign.

On Monday, Nov. 27, Muskegon County 14th Circuit Court Judge Jenny McNeill said she received several last-minute briefs from the county's corporation counsel and Adeline Hambley's attorney, Sarah Riley-Howard, and that time would be needed to pore over the documents. McNeill set the hearing to resume at 9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 4.

More: A judge will soon decide if Ottawa County must honor settlement agreement

More: Ottawa County tries to back out of $4M settlement. Hambley heads to court.

The flurry of affidavits to the judge spiked this morning after Howard issued subpoenas for county Clerk Justin Roebuck as well as Commissioners Joe Moss, Jacob Bonnema, Doug Zylstra and Roger Bergman. Corporate counsel David Kallman, of Kallman Legal Group, filed a motion to quash  meaning to reject or void  the subpoenas to prevent Roebuck and the commissioners from testifying.

Ottawa County seemingly voted to accept the agreement Nov. 6, which included paying Hambley a total of $4 million to step down 10 months after the board tried to demote her without cause  the largest settlement in the county's history and nearly the exact amount the board cut from the public health department's budget this year. The agreement would also involve the resignation of Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray.

The quest to push Hambley out began Jan. 3 when the new Ottawa Impact majority on the board, led by Moss, took office. Ottawa Impact is a far-right fundamentalist group Moss and Vice Chair Sylvia Rhodea created after they unsuccessfully challenged the previous board and county health officer over COVID-19 mitigation mandates in 2020 and 2021.

Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley leaves the courtroom Friday, March 31, 2023, at the Michigan 14th Circuit Court in Muskegon.

The commissioners were expected to formalize the Nov. 6 settlement agreement Tuesday, Nov. 14, but no such vote occurred; instead, the board recessed until Tuesday, Nov. 28.

Howard wrote in a filing Thursday, Nov. 16, that "the parties agreed to settle this matter on Nov. 6, 2023. Now, defendants have remorse and want out of the deal."

In his response, Kallman said the board "never agree to a final settlement in this matter on Nov. 6, 2023, or any other date. As such, there was never a deal to back out of."

More: District Six Commissioner Kyle Terpstra resigns from Ottawa County Board of Commissioners

The delay essentially will break down the next proceedings into two parts. On Dec. 4, McNeill will hear several arguments over legal issues in dispute, such as the subpoenaed witnesses and whether or not the minutes taken while the board was in closed session can be examined as a part of the proceedings. If McNeill decides that the testimony Howard requested would be beneficial for the court to hear, she would schedule an evidentiary hearing at the end of the Dec. 4 proceedings.

Kallman told reporters after Monday's recess of the hearing that minutes during a closed session could not be divulged. Howard, however, said the judge has the right to review the minutes taken by the clerk without making the minutes publicly available.

Howard also said there are no rules barring Roebuck from testifying about the events that occurred in closed session, as the official minutes keeper of the proceedings.

David Kallman addresses the judge during proceedings regarding a lawsuit by Ottawa County Health Officer Adeline Hambley Friday, March 31, 2023, at the Michigan 14th Circuit court in Muskegon. Hambley argues the board improperly demoted her to interim health officer during a Jan. 3 meeting to replace her with the board's preferred candidate.

In the board's response to the settlement enforcement request, Kallman spoke at length about when the board came out of closed session and the exact times emails were sent between the attorneys as negotiations continued through Nov. 6.

Howard told reporters on Monday the email times aren't the point, and that what does matter is what the board did that evening with its vote.

Moss made a motion at around 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 to accept Counsels recommendation regarding litigation and settlement activities in the case of Hambley v. Ottawa County as addressed during closed session.

Commissioners Doug Zylstra (left) and Roger Bergman (right) listen to public comment during the board's regular meeting Tuesday, March 14, 2023, in West Olive.

The motion was approved 7-3, with Bonnema, Zylstra and Bergman voting against the measure.

Kallman said the board merely voted to continue negotiations. Howard said it was to accept the terms of the agreement and for the paperwork to be drawn up.

"I've no idea why three commissioners would have voted against continuing negotiations," she told reporters Monday. "I think those three commissioners thought they were voting against agreeing to force my client out for $4 million."

Although he did not testify Monday, Moss filed an affidavit with the court asserting that "Ottawa County Corporate Counsel have never, at any time, recommended a settlement in this case to the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners, nor have they ever recommended any settlement involving a payment of $4 Million Dollars to Plaintiff."

Moss also said: "The Ottawa County Board of Commissioners has never authorized Corporate Counsel to execute a final settlement in this matter."

Howard said what she found interesting about Moss' statement is what's "missing" from it.

"I think it's really interesting what isn't noted in there. Affidavits get crafted with attorneys with an eye toward what might make a good legal argument," Howard said. "And there's a lot of things missing, which if he's up on the stand up he'll have to answer under oath."

Moss has never responded to The Sentinel's requests for comment.

The lack of resolution could affect the resumption of a special hearing that began Oct. 24 to potentially fire Hambley, after Moss leveled charges of incompetence and misconduct against Hambley. The special hearing is set to resume for a sixth session Tuesday afternoon, Nov. 28.

Moss filed notice Sept. 27 that a removal hearing was planned over allegations of incompetence, misconduct and neglect of duty. Moss allegations revolved largely around health department budget negotiations.

Commissioner and Chairperson Joe Moss sits during a public comment made by Health Director Adeline Hambley Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, at the Ottawa County Offices in West Olive.

The board could vote to recess again to allow the legal proceedings with the court to play out, or commissioners could vote to fire or not fire Hambley. There also is the possibility of adjourning the proceedings with no outcome.

"I suspect they'll go back into closed session," Howard said. "And we'll try to continue some type of negotiations with this issue hanging out there. And we're at least willing to talk to the other side and see if we can get some other kind of agreement going, but I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow."

Hambley sued the board in February, claiming an attempt to demote her in January was unlawful and alleging the OI majority has repeatedly interfered with her state-authorized health duties.

In April, McNeill granted Hambley a preliminary injunction that allowed her to remain in her role until a trial could take place later this year. However, the Michigan Court of Appeals partially vacated the injunction, saying the board has the legal right to fire Hambley if state law is followed.

On Wednesday, Nov. 22, Kallman appealed the COA ruling to the Michigan Supreme Court, challenging the finding that Hambley was the lawfully appointed health officer by the former board in December 2022. Kallman told reporters Monday that the appeal was to "preserve my clients' rights" as the legal proceedings continue.

Hambley and Mansaray remain in their positions for now.

More changes coming

The board also has a regular meeting that is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 28.

In the agenda packet released on Friday, the board indicated it was consolidating its power as well as that of Administrator John Gibbs.

County Administrator John Gibbs talks with Corporate Counsel Jack Jordan ahead of the board's meeting Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023, at the county offices in West Olive.

The county board is expected to review several policies during the meeting that could, if approved, change the way disciplinary actions are handled. The Employee Behavior and Discipline policy in Tuesdays packet changes language to remove a level of oversight held by the human resources department.

Currently, the policy states that no employee will receive a disciplinary suspension or be terminated without a thorough review by the human resources director and approval of the county administrator. The version in Tuesdays packet removes the language regarding a review by the human resources director, leaving suspensions and terminations to the administrator.

Two sentences were added to the procedure portion of the policy: As stated above, termination or disciplinary action may be taken immediately and without further action. The County Administrator may begin discipline of any employee at any time.

Subscribe: Receive unlimited digital access to your local news coverage

Potential updates to the countys Employee Selection Policy include adding provisions allowing the board or the county administrator to directly hire any applicant into any open position, and in the boards case any new position, without further process or approvals. Board hires would be by a majority vote, while the administrator could make hires at his or her discretion.

The policies are listed for "first reading" during Tuesday's meeting. The suggested motion for each policy is to approve and advance the policies for a second reading before the full board at a future meeting.

The controversial change comes after a lawsuit was filed Oct. 24, by a finalist for an executive aide position to Gibbs. Ryan Kimball sued in Ottawa County's 20th Circuit Court alleging age discrimination by Gibbs when he hired a younger candidate with fewer qualifications than the county required in its job posting.

The case has been assigned to Kent County Circuit Court.

 Sarah Leach is the executive editor of The Holland Sentinel. Contact her at sarahleach@hollandsentinel.com. Find her on Twitter @SentinelLeach.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Hambley hearing delayed as attorneys battle over who might testify
Richard Lee served in the military for more than 30 years.

The father of a girl who went missing as a two-year-old in Germany in 1981 is to hand back his Army medals in protest over the handling of the case.

Katrice Lee vanished on her birthday near a British military base in Paderborn.

Richard Lee, of Hartlepool, plans to go to Downing Street and give back his medals in "disgust" at the Government and Army's handling of the case.

The Ministry of Defence said any new information would be investigated.

Katrice had been with her mother, Sharon, and her aunt, Wendy, at a Naafi (Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes) supermarket when she disappeared.

'Medals mean nothing'

Mr Lee, a former warrant officer, served in the Army for more than 30 years, including in the 15/19 Royal King's Hussars in former West Germany.

He is planning to hand back his Northern Ireland general service medal and another medal awarded to him for 30-years' service and good conduct.

He said: "I feel like my family have been kept in the dark from day one. The medals mean nothing to me, my daughter means everything.

"I was given a gift, my gift [my daughter] was stolen and I want her back.

"I believe she is still out there, and I am totally devastated at the lack of support this case is getting."

Katrice Lee went missing on her second birthday while out shopping with her mother

Mr Lee said a meeting with the then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in May 2022 was a "publicity stunt".

He said he was given very little notice ahead of the meeting, which took place during a visit by Mr Johnson to Hartlepool, and that nothing "meaningful" was discussed.

A planned meeting between Mr Lee and Margaret Thatcher in 1982 had been cancelled because of the Falklands War.

Richard Lee said nothing "meaningful" was discussed during the meeting in Hartlepool with the then-PM Boris Johnson in 2022

In 2012, Royal Military Police (RMP) apologised for failings in the initial investigation and reopened its inquiries under the title Operation Bute.

The government agreed to review the case in 2017. The same year a photo-fit of a man seen putting a child in car, created shortly after Katrice went missing, emerged.

The following year, focus shifted to the bank of the Alme river, near where Katrice had vanished, with more than 100 soldiers carrying out a five-week excavation.

However, the MoD says "all active lines of enquiry have since been completed" and that a review of Operation Bute was carried out by an independent panel.

It added: "Our sympathies are with Richard Lee and his family as they continue to search for answers.

"The [MoD's] Defence Serious Crime Command and Unit, which now holds primacy for the investigation, continues to welcome any additional information that could help to determine Katrice's whereabouts."

Probes by Royal Military Police have been unable to determine what happened to Katrice

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An important milestone in the Israel-Hamas war was reached last week, with both parties agreeing to a hostage-for-prisoner swap and a humanitarian pause in fighting.

This may be a glimmer of hope in the physical warfare of the Middle East but there has been no such let up on the post-truth Western front, where hyperbole and lies are sowing the seeds of hatred at the expense of peace.

This is because what the Free Palestine movement really wants is not for Israel to cease its military action but to cease to exist at all.

Let us not forget that pro-Palestine celebrations erupted around the world on October 7 before Israel had responded forcefully to Hamas grotesque attacks. Let us not ignore that they marched again this weekend under the guise of demanding an Israeli ceasefire, even though there already is one.

The joy and peacefulness of Sundays 100,000-strong march against anti-Semitism compared to the violence and hostility of the Free Palestine protests is further proof that the latter are not pro-anything as much as they are anti-Israel.

The widespread, blind hatred of Israel is so severe that some Palestine supporters cannot muster up an ounce of sympathy for kidnapped Israeli children, ripping down posters of hostages. Feminists cannot bring themselves to denounce Hamas mass rape of women, with UN Women taking seven weeks to publish an Instagram post condemning Hamas barbarity  and then deleting it within moments, replaced with a toned down version calling for an investigation into reports of gender-based violence. Palestinian-American model Gigi Hadid recently shared a video on Instagram accusing Israelis of harvesting dead Palestinians organs, posting it to her 79 million followers  five times the number of Jews in the world. Amnesty International, while demanding the release of all hostages, appeared to draw specific attention only to those from Thailand.

The truth is, there is plenty to criticise Israel for  and many Jews and Israelis do. Its expansion of settlements and treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank, for one. Israelis were protesting against Benjamin Netanyahu this very weekend, as they were all year before October 7 had the unintended effect of uniting a factious country.

It is the leap from Israel must change to Israel must die that reveals the toxicity at the heart of the Free Palestine movement. As a non-Jewish friend said to me this week: When I criticise Indian policy in Kashmir, no one seriously thinks that India shouldnt exist or should be destroyed.

Criticising Israeli policies and politicians is not antisemitic. Denying Jewish indigeneity to the land and considering the entire country an occupation is.

Lamenting that too many people have been killed in Gaza is not antisemitic. Falsely accusing Israel of committing genocide when Hamas has explicitly said it will not stop until Israel is annihilated is.

Refuting hard evidence  such as the record of brutalities on October 7 or the existence of Hamas tunnels under hospitals  in favour of nonsensical conspiracy theories is antisemitic. Singling out the worlds only Jewish state as a bad actor and turning a blind eye to true horrors happening elsewhere is antisemitic. Seeing Israel as pure evil while describing the grotesque crimes of its terrorist enemy as justified resistance is not only antisemitic but perverse.

Taking these extreme positions does nothing but fan the flames of hate and obscure any chance of either side achieving a positive outcome. Until this vitriol subsides, there will be no progress towards peace. Those determined to see the issue in only black and white ignore the vast grey area where valid criticism and reasonable debate could force change on both sides.

The blinkered Free Palestine movement must ask itself honestly: what is the actual goal here? They chant from the river to the sea and brazenly call for intifada  the word used for the years of Palestinian suicide bombs at Israeli bus stops and cafes  but what would these look like in reality?

Assuming they do not actually intend to massacre Jews, do they expect seven million Israeli Jews to up sticks and leave? Where does it expect them to go? The majority of Israeli Jews are either from this very strip of land or from other Middle Eastern and North African countries that have killed or expelled their entire Jewish populations in the last century and would not welcome them back now.

Do they expect two million Arab Israelis used to living with equal rights in a modern democracy and thriving economy to accept autocratic, tyrannical leaders who subjugate women and quash freedom of expression? Do they expect 800,000 or so LGBT people to happily give up their rights? Will the high tech start-ups pack up their offices so Hamas can move its HQ to Tel Avivs skyscrapers?

A better use of Free Palestines time would be to help build a future nation, not try to tear one down.

It is true that in 1948, around 700,000 Palestinians lost their homes.

It is also true that, from 1948 onwards, 900,000 Jews were forced to flee their homes in Arab countries. This came just a few years after millions of Jews were killed or displaced in eastern Europe. My maternal grandparents, for example, moved to Middlesbrough from Leipzig and to Buenos Aires from Vienna in the late 1930s; my paternal ancestors had fled Russia a generation earlier, settling in Londons East End and Edinburgh. Theres barely a Jew in the world who doesnt have a story like this in their recent history. Yet we do not consider ourselves refugees. We do not hold the current inhabitants of those countries responsible or call for their destruction.

Palestinians, on the other hand, have been trapped in refugee status for 75 years. They are the only people with a United Nations agency dedicated solely to their refugeehood (UNRWA); all other refugees in the world fall under another body, UNHCR. UNRWA, which is the UNs largest agency, does not share UNHCRs mission to repatriate or resettle people so they are no longer refugees. Instead it has redefined the status of refugee, applicable only to Palestinians, so that their descendants for unlimited generations  including adopted children  can also register as refugees. That is why 700,000 Palestinians were displaced in 1948 but there are six million Palestinian refugees today.

The Israeli writer Yuval Noah Harari said the curse of history is that people try to save the past instead of saving the future.

Palestinians yearning for pre-1948 life is neither realistic nor particularly ambitious, given the land actually was governed then by white colonialists. There was never a sovereign state of Palestine before 1948, but there can be one today. For this to happen, supporters of both sides must bury their venomous hatred, eschew extremist positions and accept the legitimate existence of their neighbour.

A free Palestine predicated on the destruction of Israel is an empty dream. The only workable outcome is a two-state solution where Palestine has sovereignty and Israel has security. Anyone not working towards that goal has no intention of making peace at all.

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Restoring a River:



River in recovery| Water shortages| Returning to the Klamath| Restoration begins | Salmon revival

CHILOQUIN, Ore.  Don Gentry stood under a pine tree on a late summer day overlooking the confluence of the Williamson River and Spring Creek.

"We're at the headwaters of the Klamath River, the spring creek that flows out of the ground up there," said Gentry, pointing at the burbling waters that feed Upper Klamath Lake and eventually, the Klamath River.

Gentry is the former chairman of the Klamath Tribes, who have been working to reclaim their reservation lands and waters in the Upper Klamath River Basin. They're also trying to preserve the two fish species at the heart of their cultures.

The Klamath Tribes, the only tribe on the river holding a ratified treaty with the U.S., has a long relationship with Upper Klamath Lake and the Upper Klamath Basin. They own the most senior water rights in southern Oregon, and they're not afraid to use those rights to address their issues with fish in their traditional lands. That has put them at odds with farmers who also rely on the river to grow potatoes, onions and other crops after the U.S. government invited them to homestead in the now-drained Lower Klamath and Tule lakes.

The three cultures of the Klamath Tribes  the Klamath, Modoc and Yahooskin Paiute  have inhabited southern Oregon, the Tule, Upper Klamath and Clear lakes and the lands around what is now Lava Rocks National Monument for millennia. Gentry said anthropologists confirm they have lived and worked in the basin for at least 15,000 years.

In 1864, the Klamath ceded 23 million acres to the U.S., receiving a 1.8-million acre reservation in southern Oregon. They retained the right to hunt, fish and gather plants.

The tribe enjoyed prosperity, thanks to its logging and cattle operations. Tribal members also continued to hunt and fish for salmon, steelhead and the fish they are culturally affiliated with: the c'waam, or Lost River sucker and the koptu, or shortnose sucker. Those fish once inhabited both Upper and Lower Klamath lakes and the Lost River watershed.

The c'waam is at the center of Klamath culture, according to Klamath Tribes Chairman Clayton Dumont.

"Gmokamc, the Creator, chopped up a serpent who tormented the people," Dumont said. "He changed the pieces into the c'waam and told the people to care for the fish and the fish would take care of them." The tribe has worked to care for those fish ever since.

With their prosperity, the tribe confronted ancient ethics regarding how they used the land's bounty.

"We're not preservationists; we use things," Gentry said. But the land's blessings come with responsibilities. "As humans, we have a real responsibility to only take what we need," he said. For example, "We would gather duck and goose eggs but we wouldn't take them all." Those ethics and morals have survived colonization.

But the massive system of lakes, marshes, rivers and streams once known as the Everglades of the West that had sustained fish, birds, other wildlife and Native peoples would be altered to suit settler priorities.

Massive 'Klamath Project' leaves little for birds or fish

Beginning in 1905, the federal government embarked on the Klamath Project, which replumbed much of the Upper Basin. The results have reverberated across the entire basin.

The Bureau of Reclamation began draining Lower Klamath and Tule lakes to deliver farmlands to homesteaders. A railroad embankment separated the Klamath from the Lower Klamath Lake. Diversion dams dried up Tule Lake, freeing the nutrient-rich soil. The bureau built the "A" canal to deliver irrigation water to what eventually grew to about 240,000 acres of alfalfa, grass seed, potatoes and other crops. Dams, canals, diversions, pumping plants and other infrastructure followed.

Tule Lake is now completely dry and Lower Klamath Lake is nearly so, disconnected from the ancient Klamath River Basin watershed.

While one branch of government busily drained lakes and wetlands that wildlife and Native peoples depended on, and which had stored water for millennia, another branch worked to preserve the little that was left.

President Theodore Roosevelt created the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge in 1908, the nation's first waterfowl refuge. In 1928, President Calvin Coolidge established Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge. The refuges are part of a complex in the region managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which also administers the Endangered Species Act.

Upriver from the Upper Klamath Lake, the Sprague River, one of the lake's major sources, was channelized by the Army Corps of Engineers to dry out wetlands and create cattle pastures. Cattle were allowed to roam in the waterway, fouling the waters.

There were other consequences: The soil in the Upper Basin contains significant levels of phosphorus, which was once filtered by wetlands upriver from the lake. The combination of contaminants from cattle droppings and the basin's naturally occurring phosphorus that turbocharges algae growth, combined with agricultural runoff into the 25-mile-long lake, creates often deadly conditions for fish and hazardous conditions for humans and other species.

After troubled times, Klamath Tribes move to reclaim heritage, lands and fish

The coming of intensive agriculture and water diversions took a toll on the lake's aquatic life. C'waam and koptu declined greatly and were listed as endangered in 1988. Salmon, steelhead or lamphrey could no longer access about 400 miles of their cold-water spawning sites after a series of dams were built on the middle Klamath River, structures that contribute to the low fish numbers.

The c'waam and koptu are indicators of ecosystem health throughout the basin, said Mark Hereford with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. "The decline of the fish is an indicator of the decline of the lake system."

In 1954, Congress terminated the Klamath Tribes sovereign nation status, a ruinous blow to a once-prosperous people. It left the tribe without a land base, since the reservation had been put into private land status and allotted to individual tribal members.

Termination also devastated the tribe's community structures. "Termination brought about some social problems," Gentry said. Men's roles as providers and protectors was threatened, and even the use of traditional plants was shunned as "witchcraft" due to the prohibitions against Native religious practices.

Sharing with the world: Quechan filmmaker immerses himself in culture, shares Native stories through film

In 1974, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the Klamath Tribes had retained their treaty rights even though Congress had terminated their sovereignty, and the tribe regained its sovereign status in 1986. By that time, their reservation was fragmented into allotments that some tribal members managed to retain. The Klamath Tribes now have just 309 acres of noncontiguous trust land and about 2,800 acres of private land.

The tribes' senior water rights were quantified in 2012, and reaffirmed several times, most recently in June 2023.

Dumont said the 5,600-member tribe is committed to restoring its 1864 land boundaries along with its cultural heritage. But the tribe is in it for the long haul, he said, even though they face serious challenges.

"There's not enough money on the planet to compensate for what's happened here."

They must also confront challenges in maintaining water quality to preserve the c'waam and koptu. The tribe has created its own nursery for the fish, Ambodat, or "about or near the water."

Klamath River Tribes' Ambodat Aquaculturist Carlie Sharpes (left), Hatchery Maintenance Manager James Esqueda (center) and Fishery Technician Noah Nicholson (right) perform work duties at the hatchery in Chiloquin, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2023.

And the tribe is restoring the lands it has purchased. One project is the Hog Creek Ranch, located on a tributary of the Williamson River. The tribe is using American Rescue Act funds to restore the 1,256-acre marshy wetland that had been drained to use as a cattle ranch. They hope the restoration will also recreate critical habitat for the Oregon spotted frog and other semi-aquatic species.

The tribe is also dealing with a decline in forest health. As in other parts of the West, fire suppression and drought, fueled by climate change, have resulted in gigantic wildfires that damage plant, animal and aquatic life. The Bootleg Fire in 2021 burned 413,000 acres, including lands surrounding Upper Klamath Lake's tributaries, and damaged elk wintering areas.

Farmers say they're in 'survival mode'

The Klamath Tribes' use of its senior water rights to force the Bureau of Reclamation to keep water in the lake and preserve their fish hasn't sat well with other water users, such as farmers downstream in the Tulelake, Klamath and other irrigation districts and irrigators in the Upper Basin. They saw their supplies curtailed in 2001 and have dealt with uncertain supplies ever since.

"We've been in survival mode for 20 years," said Scott Seus, a farmer from Tulelake. "Other parties sit in the driver's seat."

Seus and other farmers in the area said they felt they lost their negotiating leverage after the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement failed to obtain congressional support. The farmers had supported dam removal as part of the agreement.

Seus pointed out several abandoned potato processing facilities and fallow fields. Even if a farmer wanted to sell out, the lack of reliable water supplies means that the land is worth far less than if the water were available. Also, he said, allowing fields to remain fallow too long allows weeds and invasive plants, degrading their value even more.

In 2018, the Klamath Project Drought Response Agency was formed to maximize water for irrigation water users in the Klamath Project. The agency provides conservation programs and financial assistance to farmers who agree to idle fields. The money comes from an intergovernmental agreement with the Bureau of Reclamation. It's helped the situation, but what the farmers The Republic spoke with said what they really needed was sufficient water to grow crops and support their families.

Birds land at the bottom of the water chain

Ryan Sabalow of Ducks Unlimited visits the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Tulelake, Calif., on Aug. 22, 2023.

Ryan Sabalow's voice broke when he talked about the times he and his dad enjoyed duck hunting in the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. Sabalow, communications coordinator for Ducks Unlimited, spoke of a time when they could go from duck blind to duck blind in the lush wetlands of the 50,000-acre refuge, part of a six-parcel complex on the Pacific Flyway. But this year's season was halted due to a shortage of birds making their way to the once-abundant fields of grasses, marshlands and other avian habitat.

In its heyday, the refuge and its companions gave about 5.8 million birds respite from their long migrations as well as breeding and molting sites. More recently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which manages the refuges, reported about 1.8 million birds visit the lands during the course of a year.

Ducks, shorebirds, bald eagles, herons, egrets and dozens of other bird species depend on these and other refuges along the flyway.

Ryan Sabalow of Ducks Unlimited visits the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge near Tulelake, Calif., on Aug. 22, 2023.

"There's not enough water to go around," Interior Secretary Deb Haaland admitted in April about the Klamath River Basin. Nowhere is this shortfall more apparent than in the wildlife refuges.

The refuges are all that are left of two huge natural lakes that were drained early last century. In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt set aside the 50,913-acre Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge as the nations first federal waterfowl refuge. Founded in 1928 by President Calvin Coolidge, Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge is 39,116 acres.

The refuges are fed by agricultural runoff delivered by a 6,600-foot long tunnel under Sheepy Ridge, which juts above the lakebeds, and by a canal from the Klamath River. But when the Klamath Tribes make a water call to preserve c'waam and koptu in the Upper Klamath Lake or drought lays the Klamath low, little or no water flows to refresh the reeds, grasses and the water the birds need. That's because the government never secured reliable water rights for the refuges.

At the top of Sheepy Ridge, Seus and other local farmers offered a birds-eye view of how the desert has encroached on the once-lush marshlands.

The wetlands also once harbored c'waam and koptu as well as other fish. No longer.

The situation became so dire that in 2021, the California Waterfowl Association started the process of purchasing water rights to convey to the Lower Klamath refuge. The 3,750-acre-feet of water floods 1,200 acres.

Although this falls far short of the 100,000 acre-foot requirement the refuge needs to maintain bird habitat, Mark Hennelly, vice president of advocacy for the group, said they see it as a long-term solution to provide water to at least part of the refuges.

"The Klamath Project was meant to provide water for farming," he said. "They didn't consider the refuges' needs because at the time there was water for everybody." The organization hopes to secure funding and eventually obtain up to 30,000 acre-feet of water rights, which would supply 10,000 acres within the refuge.

Ducks Unlimited also stepped in to help. The organization installed a pumping station at the Lower Klamath refuge to deliver irrigation return water made available by the California waterfowl group, a local drainage district and the Fish and Wildlife Service. Four more pumps are planned, two each in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake refuges.

But these weren't enough to wet more than a small portion of the refuges. Both refuges canceled the duck hunting season last year and Lower Klamath's 2024 hunting season has been canceled.

'Walking wetlands' may be part of the solution to restoring wildlife refuges

Marc Staunton pointed out a field within the Lower Klamath refuge. But instead of nettles, thistles and other noxious plants, this field held marshy grasses and water.

"Back in 2005, we started working on a project to develop natural lands and have farming go on at the same time," he said.

The project Staunton referred to was the Walking Wetlands program, developed by Fish and Wildlife in the 1990s. Farmers agree to put water on a plot of leased land within the refuge for a one- to four-year cycle. They plant crops as usual, but without using pesticides. This saves the growers up $200 an acre in pesticides while increasing crop yields up to 25%. It also enables the farmer to certify the crop as organic, which increases their revenues, and farmers get a break on their leases.

Staunton started the project on 500 acres of his farmland.

"It's been super successful," he said. Not only does he make more money with the organic crops, the wetlands attract birds. They even noticed some koptu living in the wetland area. "The suckers survived in the old farms until they totally drained the lake," Staunton said.

The only thing Walking Wetlands needs is more water to make it work, he said. If not he said, "you're forsaking the birds."

Reclamation attempts to bring people together for solutions

Matt Strickler, deputy secretary for fish and wildlife at the Interior Department, is also serving as lead person for Klamath Basin water issues. Interior deals with most of the stakeholders and the issues, including six tribes, the refuge complex, the National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Reclamation as water manager for the Klamath Project.

Would we have done it this way before? Strickler asked, referring to the current state of conflicting claims and projects which he acknowledged has created a socially and ecologically degraded system.

His answer: No.

But the Biden administration aims to do a better job in managing the basin. Stricker told The Republic that Interior started a new effort in 2022 to bring together people who live and work in the Klamath Basin and help them access resources to address the basin's challenges. The COVID-19 pandemic prevented in-person meetings before then, he said.

The administration now has the money to foster agreements but lack any for now. Still, he said, People forgot that they dont hate each other.

Tribal, local, state and federal partners have asked to meet with the Bureau of Reclamation to provide their opinions on water management and environmental decisions.

The meetings, including one held in nearby Ashland in September, are an opportunity for stakeholders to claim a consistent seat at the table, improve transparency and work with each other and the bureau, he said.

Strickler acknowledged that the refuges have junior water rights under water laws. That, he said, makes it critical to work with all the stakeholders on restoration work that has broad support.

He's optimistic because the parties seem to agree on the need for environmental restoration. "It promises to have multiple benefits for nature and communities," he said.

Modocs come home, at last

Restoring the Klamath comes at an important moment for one tribal community. The Modoc Nation, banished to "Indian Country," now known as Oklahoma in 1873, is reclaiming part of their homeland.

The tribe was formed from descendants of the followers of Captain Jack, a Modoc member of the Klamath Tribes. Jack rebelled against corrupt Indian agents and clashes with the Klamath people and took his band back to Tule Lake and what's now Lava Beds National Monument, which sparked the Modoc War. After Jack and three of his lieutenants were hanged at the war's end, his followers were sent away.

But the nearly 500-member tribe never forgot its origins and has been buying up land within its ancestral boundaries. The most recent purchase was a worn-out sheep ranch near Sheepy Ridge. The nation plans to restore the ranch and two other pieces of land to the condition they were in when Modoc people first set foot in the remote region of northern California and southern Oregon millennia ago.

Ken Sandusky, the nation's resource and development director, said the purchases are part of a larger investment to reconnect the Modoc people to their homelands. They will restore sage grouse habitat, bring bison to the ranch and hold more cultural events, such as a recent ancestral run.

"Our biggest priority is restoration, sustainable economy and jobs," said Sandusky, a longtime Klamath Falls resident who's a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. "This land hasn't had Indian representation in a long time."

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @debkrol.

Coverage of Indigenous issues at the intersection of climate, culture and commerce is supported by the Catena Foundation.

My articles are free to read, but your subscriptions support more such great reporting. Please consider subscribing today.

Next up:

How Klamath dam removals could open lands to tribes

Debra Utacia Krol

Arizona Republic

Madame Web





HORNBROOK, Calif. - Jenny Creek burbled cool and clear under a leafy canopy, and dragonflies flitted about the lively little waterway.



But a few hundred feet away, the dreamy little creek drains into Iron Gate Reservoir and an ecological nightmare. Scummy algae-topped water exudes a putrid odor that causes some visitors to gag. At certain times of the year, it's not safe to fish or jump in the reservoir.



Iron Gate and three other shallow, warm-water reservoirs were contributing factors in the disastrous decline of salmon from the Klamath River. The dams cut off nearly 400 miles of spawning habitat for salmon, lamprey, steelhead and other fish from the lower Klamath River, and the toxin-laden warm water flowing down the river caused a horrific fish kill in 2002.

Continue reading

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: On the upper Klamath River, tribes, farmers and wildlife face shortage
Employees of the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) have completed the investigation into the helicopter crash on 18 January 2023, in Brovary, which killed the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

Source: SBI; Prosecutor Generals Office of Ukraine.

Quote from the SBI: "The case materials are open for review by the suspects and their defenders, as well as the victims and their legal representatives.

The materials will be delivered to the court after review."

Details: In August 2023, investigators served five officials of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine who violated the safety rules of the helicopter flights, on board of which the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and accompanying persons were, with notices of suspicion:

head of the State Search and Rescue Aviation Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine,

acting commander of a special aircraft unit;

deputy commander for flight training;

the commander of the aircraft squadron;

Head of the Flight Security Service of the Special Aviation Unit and Operational Rescue Service of the Civil Protection Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine based in the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast.

Ukrainian Pravda sources report that all of them are currently under house arrest as a preventive measure.

The investigation materials indicate that they violated the safety rules of the helicopter flight carrying the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The aircraft crashed on 18 January 2023, in Brovary.

In January 2023, the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine was scheduled to visit the Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Officials of the State Emergency Service deployed a helicopter, which was on duty to respond to potential emergencies, to transport the delegation. The investigation material indicates that the aircraft did not have permits for other types of flights.

The crew commander started the flight without meteorological data along the entire route of the planned movement, and the crew did not have the appropriate permits to fly in difficult weather conditions or the necessary certificates.

None of the officials responsible for the safety of flights cancelled or postponed the departure until favourable weather conditions had been observed.

Due to difficult weather conditions, the helicopter was flying at an extremely low altitude. The crew commander saw an obstacle and, while manoeuvring, lost orientation and collided with the ground.

When the helicopter crashed, it damaged a kindergarten, neighbouring buildings and parked cars.

In addition to high-ranking officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, four women and a minor child who had come to kindergarten were killed in the helicopter crash. 31 people, including 13 children, sustained injuries of varying severity.

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Worshipers were able to gather at a historic church in Pittsburgh for a final mass on Sunday before the building is closed.

A representative from Saint Wendelin Church on Custer Avenue in Carrick confirmed that Sundays masses were the last the public would attend.

Saint Wendelin is a part of Pittsburghs Blessed Trinity Parish.

In Oct. the Diocese said the church has to be closed because it is in poor condition and in need of repairs that the parish can not afford.

Parishioners are encouraged to go to any of the four other churches in the parish including:

Saint Albert The Great Church (3198 Schieck Street., Pittsburgh, PA 15227)

Saint Basil Church (1735 Brownsville Road., Pittsburgh, PA 15210)

Holy Angels Church (408 Baldwin Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15207)

Saint Sylvester Church (3754 Brownsville Rd., Pittsburgh, PA 15227)

The decree made to close the church will go into effect on Dec. 1. at 12:01 a.m.

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A historic theater is fighting a plan for Georgias second-largest city to build a new courthouse, saying the new tower could harm the theaters building and programming.

The Springer Opera House is collecting signatures on a petition asking the consolidated city-county government of Columbus to rethink its plan for a courthouse seven or eight stories tall and directly across the street from the 1871 building.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Rather than rushing into construction without a thoughtful, coherent plan that takes the neighboring urban environment into consideration, it is essential that the city press pause, invite the neighboring Uptown stakeholders into the process, and devise a plan with an eye toward both the past and the future, Springer Executive Director Danielle Varner wrote in an online petition that began collecting signatures on Nov. 14. More than 1,300 people had signed as of Friday.

Mayor Skip Henderson denies the plan would hurt the Springer, which is designated as Georgias state theater.

We would never build anything in that spot that would subtract from the beauty in our downtown area, Henderson told WTVM-TV.

Columbus is moving out of the 12-story Government Center that has hosted city-county government and courtrooms since 1973, saying its obsolete and decaying. City hall has moved to a building purchased elsewhere in downtown. New courtrooms for the city and Muscogee County are planned for the current site, which occupies an entire block opposite the Springer. The current tower would be demolished.

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Originally, the new courthouse was going to be built in the middle of the block, preserving a landscaped plaza nearest the theater. But that plan is projected to cost $235 million, about $50 million more than the budget anticipated when Columbus voters approved the project in a sales tax referendum, the Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus has reported.

The new plan calls for a building closer to the Springer, preserving two existing low-rise wings. The building would be seven or eight stories and cost between $198 million and $205 million.

Varner has said she fears construction would damage the historic building and drive away patrons. Plans would also decrease on-street parking and the Springer would often be in the new buildings shadow.

Henderson said designers can avoid damaging the theater.

Theyve also changed the way theyre going to put the footings in. They wont use a jackhammer, theyll use an auger to minimize vibrations, Henderson said.

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He promised to meet with theater leaders and get their input.

It may not be possible for us to solve every single issue, but if we work together, were going to be able to make it work out, Henderson said.

A substantial redesign of the latest plan would likely add to the cost, however. Construction was supposed to begin around Jan. 1. The city has already sold bonds to borrow $150 million, with that money currently parked in a bank account.

IN OTHER NEWS
China is taking measures to address the recent increase in acute respiratory infections caused by different respiratory pathogens as the country enters the winter season.

Mi Feng, a spokesperson with the National Health Commission, told a press conference on Sunday that the recent respiratory infectious diseases are mainly due to the influenza virus, with additional cases caused by rhinoviruses, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial viruses, and adenoviruses.

The commission has instructed localities to ensure the implementation of classified diagnosis and treatment and make public information about medical facilities with pediatric services and fever clinics to help patients find the nearest hospital to them.

Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant consulting rooms and treatment areas, appropriately extend service hours, ensure drug supply, and fully utilize the role of traditional Chinese medicine, Mi said, while emphasizing the importance of effective epidemic response in schools, kindergartens, nursing homes, and other key venues with dense populations.

China has also promoted online diagnosis and treatment to meet the needs of patients, leveraging internet hospital platforms to set up channels for fever clinics and pediatric treatments.

Online prescription services are provided, and patients can receive medications at home for free, said Ying Xumin, deputy director of the Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission, adding that online treatment can help reduce the chances of cross-infections and patient wait times in hospitals.

Ying said that people can also check information about fever clinics through online platforms, including the remaining number of people in the queue, and choose a nearby medical institution for treatment.

The application of such digital technology is also conducive to improving the efficiency of patient transfer to a higher-level hospital, he added.

Vaccination remains the most effective preventive measure for senior citizens, especially those with underlying health conditions, said Li Yanming, head of the respiratory and critical care medicine department at the Beijing Hospital.

Li stressed the importance of maintaining a proper temperature and humidity in the home environment.

She said an overly dry home environment is also not conducive to respiratory health. She reminded older adults to avoid crowded and enclosed spaces and advised them to wear masks outdoors.
Theyre 5 feet long, can weigh up to 500 pounds, run at 30 miles per hour and according to one biologist who studies them, theyre one of the most destructive invasive species on the planet.

Feral swine, scientific name Sus scrofa, are the same species of pig you would find on a farm, but this isnt Wilbur from Charlottes Web.

As omnivores, they eat pretty much everything. They wreak havoc on farmers fields and prey on vulnerable livestock, causing billions of dollars in agricultural damage each year. Theyre also a nuisance to native species, displacing them with aggression and competition as they spread disease and parasites.

Since they were introduced to the U.S. by humans, either as pig pen escapees or as sport for hunters, wild hogs have been reported in at least 35 states, including Kentucky. The Bluegrass State is reportedly among the top 15 states where wild pigs are a big problem, according to one recent analysis.

Heres what to know about wild hogs, including how they disrupt native ecosystems and what to do if you spot them in Kentucky.

The states with the biggest wild pig problems

According to Captain Experiences, a platform that offers booking services for hunting and fishing trips, Kentucky is among the top 15 states most affected by invasive wild pigs.

Using data from the University of Georgias Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, the analysis determined which states have the biggest wild pig problems. It ranked the states based on the percentage of counties where wild hogs have been sighted, along with other factors, such as the number of feral swine reports.

Captain Experiences rated Kentucky at No. 14, with wild pigs reported in two-thirds of the states 120 counties. According to the analysis, Kentucky has 310 reports with feral pigs present in 81 counties in the state.

A distribution map of feral swine in the United States showing 2022 populations. The invasive and highly destructive species has been reported in at least 35 states, and its population is rapidly growing.

Apart from California and Hawaii, which have significant wild pig populations, the animals are most common in the South. Heres a look at the states with the biggest wild pig problems, according to Captain Experiences:

Texas Georgia Florida Mississippi Oklahoma Arkansas North Carolina Louisiana Alabama California Tennessee South Carolina Missouri Kentucky Ohio

What is the problem with wild pigs in Kentucky?

Terri Brunjes is a biologist studying wild pigs for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.

According to Brunjes, the commonwealth does have a few small, scattered wild pig populations. Many states south of Kentucky have much bigger problems, the biologist told the Herald-Leader in an email response.

The Department [of Fish and Wildlife] is actively working to eliminate wild pigs from the state and we are making progress, Brunjes wrote. Wild pigs are one of the most destructive invasive species on the planet.

That damage to natural resources can be quite widespread, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports.

They consume large amounts of vegetation; destroy plants with their rooting, soil compaction, and wallowing behaviors; and in some areas, may eat or uproot protected, sensitive, unique, or rare plants. Often, the damaged land then becomes vulnerable to erosion and non-native, invasive plants, according to the USDA.

Feral swine also hurt crop yields by rummaging through farmers fields. They usually target sugar cane, corn, grain sorghum, wheat, oats, peanuts and rice, among other crops. Vegetable and fruit crops, including lettuce, spinach, melons and pumpkins are also targets for roving wild hogs. If given the opportunity, they will also prey upon lambs, full-grown sheep, baby goats and calves.

Its estimated by the USDA wild swine are responsible for $2.5 billion in agricultural damages nationwide each year.

Altogether, according to Brunjes, Kentuckys wild pig population is estimated to be between 1,000 and 10,000 by the National Feral Swine Damage Management Program

I believe (Kentuckys) pigs are on the lower level of this number, closer to 1,000-2,000, Brunjes wrote to the Herald-Leader. A population of ~600 wild pigs was removed from Henry County in 2019 after several years of work. Several additional populations have been eradicated over the years including a population in Scott County, a population in Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties and a population in Hickman, Graves and Carlisle counties.

Wild hog populations can now be found in the eastern and southwestern parts of Kentucky, according to Brunjes.

What should you do if you encounter wild pigs in Kentucky?

The thing you definitely should not do is shoot at them. Thats according to Brunjes, who says hunting fails as a tool for wild pig population control because it scatters the group and makes members harder to track down.

The animals also reproduce too quickly for that strategy to work. Wild pigs have a rapid gestation period of only 114 days, and females are able to reproduce at just 6 to 8 months old. When they give birth, they average four to six piglets per litter.

Not to mention, theyre crafty. Pigs are smarter than dogs and could even be smarter than 3-year-old children, experts say.

Wild pigs are the smartest animals in the woods, Brunjes told the Herald-Leader. Shooting into a group of pigs may remove one or two, but it educates the rest. Wild pigs that experience hunting pressure become nocturnal, leave the area and avoid traps and all human activity.

Instead, Brunjes wrote, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources prefers trapping as an eradication strategy, and its developed an effective method for removing entire sounders. These sounders are pig families made up of females and their young. Sexually mature males will either go their own way or rove in bachelor groups.

The department uses remote operated corral traps and cell cameras with live feed. These remote operated traps allow us to determine how many pigs are in the sounder. Pigs walk into the trap, which is baited with corn. We then close the door to the trap remotely, when the whole sounder has entered. We dont have to be onsite to close the door. This technology has allowed us to be very successful in our trapping efforts,

The state agency advises the public to report wild pig populations and it offers free trapping services. To report wild pig sightings, call the agency at 1-800-858-1549 or visit its website for more information.

Created by humans, the problem of Kentuckys feral hogs is one that must also be solved through intervention. The animals arrived in the backs of pickup trucks and trailers illegally hauled in by hunters who released them for sport, according to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. That means ultimately, its up to humans to fix the problem and undo the ecological damage and disruption wild pigs unleash.

Do you have a question about the environment in Kentucky for our service journalism team? We want to hear from you. Fill out the Know Your Kentucky form below or email us at ask@herald-leader.com. And if you have a picture of a feral hog on your Kentucky property, send it along!
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Louisiana, got some construction dust on his shoes Monday as he walked through the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Johnson is in town for a fundraiser at Congressman Vern Buchanans house, his first since being elected speaker in October.

In all, there are $200 million in expansion projects at SRQ, which has seen a 300% increase in passenger traffic since 2019, making it the fastest-growing airport in the United States if not the world.

In addition to the ground-level terminal, which will add five new passenger gates, also in the works or completed are quadrupling storage capacity at the airports fuel farm, installing new escalators and a new baggage handling system and expanding parking facilities.

Our nations airports are at the top of everyones list this time of the year, Johnson said of the busy holiday travel season.

Rick Piccolo, president and CEO of Sarasota Bradenton International Airport, said that this was Johnsons first visit to the local area and he was pleased that he used his time here to see the projects underway at SRQ.

Speaker Johnson tours SRQ airport

The Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority has set a December 2024 deadline to have the ground-level terminal completed.

Buchanan called Johnson a servant leader and said that he will play an important role in getting projects like the one at SRQ over the goal line.

The House passed the Federal Aviation Authority reauthorization act earlier this year, which is now pending in the Senate, Johnson said.

It will grow the aviation workforce, improve safety, ensure reliable flights for the American people and do everything we need to do. We are duty bound to make sure that happens, Johnson said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., toured the construction site with U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key (left) for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Our bill also streamlines the FAA in Washington and it invests in our airport infrastructure through the airport improvement program. It cuts down on the red tape that makes it hard to build new airports and projects like the one we are witnessing here. It also provides the new opportunities for pilots to ensure that we have the workforce we need to safely grow service, Johnson said.

America is the gold standard in aviation in aviation safety and innovation, but the FAA needs reform, it needs investment and stability to continue that legacy, he said.

Johnson urged the Senate to take up the Houses FAA reauthorization bill and send it to the presidents desk in order to maintain the gold standard that we are all so familiar with, he said.

Johnson also took some non-airport-related questions from the press during his visit.

SRQ president and CEO Rick Piccolo walks with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., and U.S. Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, before touring the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Aid to Israel

Israel is a top priority for the United States. Supporting our ally there is critical. We passed the bipartisan Israel support package out of the House a while ago, not long after I took the gavel  about a month ago. Its been sitting in the Senate on Chuck Schumers desk. And so we are encouraging them to get that done, Johnson said.

War broke out Oct. 7, when Hamas militants in Gaza crossed the border into southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting some 240 others, the Associated Press reports.

Israel immediately declared war with weeks of airstrikes and a ground offensive, which by some estimates left over 13,300 dead in Gaza, according to PBS.

During the current truce, the two sides have been exchanging hostages for prisoners.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with U.S. Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, touring the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Aid to Ukraine

Ukraine is another priority. Of course, we cant allow Vladimir Putin to march through Europe. We understand the necessity of assisting there, Johnson said.

What we said if there is to be additional assistance to Ukraine, which members of Congress believe is important, we have to also work to change our own border policy, Johnson said.

Republicans have linked aid to Ukraine with new border security measures to help manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border.

And so there has been a lot of talk and negotiation ongoing with that. I think most of our Senate colleagues recognize that those two things need to move together because we owe that to the American people, Johnson said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., with U.S. Congressman Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, addresses the press before he touring the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Construction workers paused as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., toured the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

Construction workers paused as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., toured the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., toured the construction site for the $70 million ground-level passenger terminal at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport.
Over 100,000 people marched through London on Sunday with a message of solidarity against antisemitism, marking one of the largest demonstrations of its type since 1936.

The protest against antisemitism comes as the numbers of antisemitic incidents continue to rise following the Oct. 7 invasion of Israel by Hamas-led terrorists.

The Jewish Chronicle reported on Sunday that 1,124 antisemitic incidents were reported to the Community Security Trust (CST) from Oct. 7 to Nov. 7, which is the largest number of incidents to occur within a month since the organization began keeping records in 1984.

FAMILIES OF ISRAELI HOSTAGES MARCH TOWARDS JERUSALEM DEMANDING ACTION FROM GOVERNMENT

Over 105,000 people marched against antisemitism in London on Nov. 26, 2023.

The number represents a 500% surge and includes dozens of assaults and over 100 threats.

Dubbed the National March Against Antisemitism, Sundays march, which was organized by the Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), drew about 105,000 people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis, television mathematician Rachel Riley and multiple actors.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

People were seen waving Israeli and Union flags and signs reading "Zero Tolerance for Antisemites," and "Never Again Is Now."

ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED

The march started at about 1:30 p.m. at the Royal Courts of Justice, then led to White Hall before ending at Parliament Square.

One Israel supporter told Fox News Digital the protest was "a clash of cultures."

"No one here is screaming for the death of all Muslims. No one is calling to destroy Gaza, Ramallah, or Jenin," the supporter said. "No rioting, no violence. There were 105,000 people dancing, singing, old and young, Jews, Christians, Sikhs, Welsh and Iranians, and so many more people supporting the Jewish community and Western values."

IN PROTESTS AGAINST ISRAEL, 'AMERICAN WAY OF FREEDOM' IS BEING 'DEEPLY CHALLENGED,' SAYS AUTHOR AND HISTORIAN

During the march, the Chief Rabbi told supporters, ever since the attack on Oct. 7, they have found who their "true friends" are, thanking them "very much."

"We must teach people that they must draw their conclusions from historical facts and not from social media," the Chief Rabbi said. "Our call is the United Kingdom must be united against antisemitism."

Riley also spoke to marchers and said they have seen people show up in the tens of thousands in places like Berlin, Paris and Washington, D.C.

REPUBLICANS BLAST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS AT DNC: NATIONS CAPITAL IS UNDER SIEGE'

Riley added that today was the U.K.s turn to send a clear message to the British Jewish community that they are not alone in the "incredible sea of friendly faces."

The CAA, according to the Jewish Chronicle, called the march the largest gathering against antisemitism the city had seen since 1936, when the Battle of Cable Street saw hundreds of thousands of people block a planned march of fascists through Jewish communities.

Before the march, police reportedly told English Defense League (EDL) founder Tommy Robinson he was not welcome at the march. The EDL is a far-right, Islamophobic organization in England.

Despite being told to avoid the event, Robinson was arrested out of fear he would disrupt the march.





Original article source: Huge crowd fills streets of London in march against antisemitism, support for Israel
Charles Michel, President of the European Council, and Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister of Hungary, held a meeting in Budapest on 27 November.

Source: European Pravda

Michel announced on the morning of 27 November that he had arrived in Budapest for consultations with the Prime Minister of Hungary in preparation for the European Council summit in mid-December. "EU unity requires constant effort and its our main strength," he said.

In Budapest for consultations in preparation of the European Council with  Prime Minister @PM_ViktorOrban.



EU unity requires constant effort and its our main strength. pic.twitter.com/JSY9UGI05q  Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) November 27, 2023

In the evening, Orban wrote on his Twitter (X) that the meeting was "useful", without elaborating what he meant by that.

Had a useful meeting today with @eucopresident Charles Michel in Budapest. pic.twitter.com/WxVgdpEYnd  Orban Viktor (@PM_ViktorOrban) November 27, 2023

Background:

The negotiations took place against the background of Orban's recent letter to Michel, in which the Hungarian PM threatened to block all EU aid to Ukraine, as well as the country's future accession to the European Union, if EU leaders do not agree to review their entire strategy of supporting Kyiv.

The leaders of the EU member states will consider these issues at a summit on 14-15 December.

The Hungarian government also announced "consultations" with their citizens, the main issue of which will be support for Ukraine's membership in the EU.

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Hungary has hinted that the European Union should not discuss the 12th package of sanctions against Russia until it analyses the consequences of the previous ones.

Source: Peter Szijjarto, Hungarys Foreign Minister, on Facebook, as European Pravda reports

Quote: "While the East-West cooperation, which had long been a solid foundation for European growth, continues to break down, we are already discussing the 12th package of sanctions without any honest analysis of the effects of the 11 packages that have already been adopted," writes Szijjarto.

As he said, "failed decisions in Brussels" in recent years have led to the fact that European competitiveness "has reached a low level".

The Hungarian Foreign Minister added that today in Brussels, he will "fight" for increasing the competitiveness of Europe and maintaining cooperation between the East and the West.

Background:

The EU member states have been presented with a proposal for the 12th package of sanctions against Russia.

The proposal provides for the imposition of sanctions against more than 120 individuals and legal entities for their role in undermining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. This concerns representatives of the military, defence and IT sectors of the Russian Federation, as well as "other important economic operators".

The proposed measures also go after those who organised the most recent sham "elections" in the areas of Ukraine that Russia has temporarily occupied, those in charge of forcing Ukrainian children to undergo "re-education" and individuals who disseminate propaganda and false information in support of Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine.

The European Commission also proposes to introduce new bans on imports and exports, as well as measures aimed at tightening the ceiling on oil prices and countering the evasion of EU sanctions.

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A hunter shot an impressive buck in the Nebraska woods  then, a short time later, her boyfriend unexpectedly dropped to his knee.

He wasnt hurt, just smitten, with a ring in his hand and an important question on his mind, photos show.

I was by (her) side when she dropped the hammer on the deer of a lifetime, Cole Bures said in a Nov. 12 Facebook post. Later I dropped to one knee and asked her to spend the rest of our lives together.

Bures, 32, and his now-fiancee, Sammie Camenzind, share a love of hunting, a hobby that runs in both of their families, 28-year-old Camenzind told the Omaha World-Herald. They had spotted the buck on a trail camera outside of Lincoln, and Bures let her take the shot.

Everybody has been saying they would marry him, too, if he let them shoot this big of a deer, she told the newspaper.

Bures set up a photoshoot to commemorate the hunt  and the surprise proposal, he told the outlet.

I didnt think today could have gone any better until my best friend asked me to spend forever with him, Camenzind said in a Facebook post. Once in a lifetime buck and a lifetime of hunting with my favorite person in the world!

Injured hunter crawls to phone, calls for help after fall from tree, Michigan cops say

Bride surprises groom with one of his favorites: Waffle House. See the unique reception
Two people died after an ATV crashed into a shallow canal, trapping the driver and a passenger, Texas officials say.

Deputies with the Hidalgo County Sheriffs Office were alerted to the ATV crash at about 6:50 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, the office said in a news release.

A 911 caller said two girls had just shown up at his home, injured and pleading for help, the sheriffs office said. Deputies learned the girls were involved in an apparent ATV accident with two other people.

The callers wife drove the girls to an area hospital while deputies went to the scene of the crash, near Lake Edinburg, according to the sheriffs office.

They arrived to find an ATV lying on its side in a canal, submerged in 2 to 3 feet of water, with two females trapped inside, the sheriffs office said.

Deputies pulled them free and started life-saving efforts before they were taken from the scene by ambulance, according to the sheriffs office. But both of the occupants were pronounced dead at the hospital, deputies said.

They were 17 and 18 years old, officials told KVEO.

After speaking with the two girls who survived, investigators believe the driver lost control of the ATV and plunged into the canal.

An autopsy has been ordered for the driver and passenger who died, the sheriffs office said, adding that an investigation is ongoing.

Lake Edinburg is roughly 15 miles north of McAllen.

Injured hunter crawls to phone, calls for help after fall from tree, Michigan cops say

ATV plunges over cliff into the abyss  and helmet saves driver, Colorado rescuers say

Trucker said he thought he hit a bird, but he killed tow truck driver, Iowa cops say

Toddler killed in rollover crash when passenger grabs wheel during fight, TX cops say
Members of the emergency services observe the damage caused by the earthquakes. (Raul Moreno/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett)

Its been more than two weeks since residents from an Icelandic fishing village were evacuated from their homes over extreme seismic activity. Since Nov. 10, tens of thousands of earthquakes and tremors have hit the Reykjanes Peninsula causing roads to split in half and houses to buckle. Iceland continues to wait for the looming eruption from the Fagradalsfjall volcano.

Whats the latest from Icelands Meteorological Office?

In the early hours of Monday morning, the Icelandic Meteorological Office detected the strongest earthquake to hit the affected area in the last 48 hours. Of the swarm of 300 earthquakes that were recorded between 7 p.m. ET and 6 a.m. ET, the most powerful had a magnitude of 3.0. At least 170 of the documented earthquakes occurred 3-5 kilometers below the surface. Since 6 a.m. ET, there have been an additional 200 earthquakes bringing the daily rate to 500 earthquakes per day.

Last Friday, the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management downgraded the public safety level from an emergency level to a dangerous level. The Alert Phase that is now implemented means that there is a heightened risk in the area and that restrictions, closures and evacuation procedures are likely to be put in place.

Assessments from the Meteorological Office stated that the possibility of a sudden eruption near Grindavik has been decreasing every day and is now considered small.

Although the town of Grindavik remains relatively safe, an eruption is still possible above the magma tunnel that lies between Sylingafell and Hagafell.

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The more than 3,600 residents of Grindavik have been allowed to return to their homes for a number of hours to check on livestock and to collect personal belongings. However, until scientists can state that there is no danger, the locals will be unable to return home for good.

Due to the damage to the major infrastructure including the sewage system, it is most likely to be months before Grindavik residents can return home. Those who have been forced into temporary accommodation have been given financial support by the government to cover rent. Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir said that Parliament is set to discuss housing support for the evacuees this week and a bill on financial assistance is expected to be passed.

A fissure passes through one of Grindavik's central streets. (Raul Moreno/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images) (SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett)

The last time that an evacuation of an entire sizable settlement took place was 50 years ago, in 1973, when a volcano unexpectedly erupted on the island of Heimaey off the south coast of Iceland, Dave McGarvie, a volcanologist at Lancaster University in England, told Yahoo News.

What travel warnings have been issued?

Three major roads that connect Grindavik to other areas have been temporarily closed as a precautionary measure.

No flights have been affected as of Monday. However, Grindavik is located roughly 40 miles from Icelands capital, Reykjavik, and less than 20 miles from Keflavik International Airport.

A popular tourist attraction, the Blue Lagoon Geothermal Spa, will remain closed until Nov. 30.

Damage from earthquakes and magma in Grindavik. (Micah Garen/Getty Images) (Getty Images)

The last major volcanic eruption

The last time eruptions like this occurred in this area was circa 800 years ago, when the area was sparsely populated, McGarvie said.

The Reykjanes Peninsula has experienced a relatively small eruption every year for the last three years, and all three occurred far from residential areas. The last volcano in Iceland to cause trouble internationally was Eyjafjallajokull, which erupted in 2010. A huge ash cloud that blew five miles into the sky grounded flights across Europe, forcing a shutdown of its airspace.
By John Kruzel

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Idaho officials on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to temporarily halt a federal judge's ruling that blocked the Republican-governed state from enforcing its near-total abortion ban in medical-emergency situations following a legal challenge by Democratic President Joe Biden's administration.

Republican state officials urged the justices to pause U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill's August 2022 preliminary injunction issued after he concluded that the state's abortion restrictions conflicted with a federal law that ensures that patients can receive emergency "stabilizing care."

Idaho's Republican attorney general and top Republican state lawmakers in court papers told the Supreme Court that Winmill's ruling has permitted "an ongoing violation of both Idaho's sovereignty and its traditional police power over medical practice."

The Supreme Court's conservative majority in June 2022 overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that had recognized a woman's right under the U.S. Constitution to terminate her pregnancy. That ruling set in motion a series of new abortion restrictions imposed by Republican-led states.

In Idaho, a so-called "trigger" law banning abortion that was passed by the Republican-led state legislature and signed by a Republican governor in 2020 automatically took effect upon Roe being overturned. Idaho's law, known as the Defense of Life Act, bans all abortions except in instances in which an abortion is found to be necessary to prevent the mother's death.

Following the Roe reversal, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under Biden's direction issued federal guidance stating that a 1986 U.S. law called the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which requires hospitals to "stabilize" patients with emergency medical conditions, takes precedence over state abortion bans.

The Biden administration sued Idaho over its trigger law in August 2022, arguing that the measure conflicted with the 1986 law because the federal statute could potentially require abortions that would not be included under Idaho's narrow exception for saving the mother's life.

Winmill that month agreed, blocking the Idaho law from being enforced in cases of abortions needed to avoid putting the woman's health in "serious jeopardy" or risking "serious impairment to bodily functions."

A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in September agreed to let Idaho enforce its ban amid an appeal. But the full 9th Circuit this month reversed the panel's ruling, granting the Biden administration's request to block the Idaho law while the appeal proceeds.

The administration has waged a similar legal fight in Texas, where U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix in August 2022 preliminarily blocked the federal government from requiring healthcare providers to perform abortions for emergency room patients when it would conflict with a Republican-backed Texas abortion ban.

The administration is appealing that ruling to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

(Reporting by John Kruzel; Editing by Will Dunham)
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The Border Network For Human Rights marked the one-year anniversary of a new public charge rule put in place by the Biden Administration on Monday, Nov. 27, but also said that the administration has not done enough to educate immigrant families about the rule and its potential benefits.

Adriana Cadena, campaign director for Protecting Immigrant Families Coalition, said the new rule makes it so that immigrant families can apply for benefits that they are eligible for without facing immigration consequences.

BNHR held a media event at its offices in El Paso to discuss the one-year anniversary but also discussed what still needs to be done.

It is important for us to recognize that there is this new rule but also that the Biden Administration has not done enough to ensure that immigrant families in El Paso and across the country know that there is a new public charge rule, Cadena said.

When parents are fearful about applying for those benefits because of their immigration status, then that has an impact on the well-being of children and the entire family, she said.

Cadena said they would like to get the word out to the immigrant families about applying for government benefits.

The Biden Administration and government agencies have not communicated enough to get the word out on this and have not created a welcoming environment where families feel safe applying for benefits, she said. That deters families from applying for services that can help them thrive.

Cadena said a recent survey released by the Urban Institute says 25 percent of people in mixed immigrant status families are not accessing benefits they are eligible for because of immigration fears and concerns.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
You are here: China

This combo photo shows cross-polarized micrographs of different lunar soil particles displayed at an exhibition themed on lunar soil research achievements in University of Science and Technology of China, in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province on April 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

A research team led by Chinese scientists has mapped the chemical composition of the lunar surface with high precision, providing key data for the study of the moon's evolution.

Lunar surface chemistry is essential for revealing petrological characteristics in order to understand the evolution of the moon.

Existing chemistry mapping based on the lunar samples collected by Apollo and Luna could only reveal the evolution of the moon 3 billion years ago, missing the critical late period.

The lunar samples brought back by China's Chang'e-5 mission, however, have been proven to carry information about young volcanic activity about 2 billion years ago and distinctive material composition.

The research team accurately estimated the content of major elements on the lunar surface by combining the sample data from Chang'e-5, Apollo and Luna with a deep learning-based inversion model, said Yang Chen, a professor at Jilin University.

They subsequently created a new lunar surface chemical composition distribution map with high precision and high resolution, which comprehensively reflected the chemical characteristics of the lunar surface.

The researchers also calibrated the young mare basalt units based on the newly calculated element content, which will provide reliable data for historical studies of magmatic activity and thermal evolution in the late lunar period and for future lunar sample return missions, Yang said.

The study was jointly conducted by Jilin University, the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the University of Trento in Italy, the University of Iceland and other Chinese and foreign research institutions.

Ouyang Ziyuan, a leading Chinese scientist and the first chief scientist of China's lunar probe project, was also involved in the study.

The study was recently published in the journal Nature Communications.
Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been challenged in the Commons over the plight of a female Afghan special forces soldier who is trapped in Turkey after the UK denied her sanctuary.

The story of the mother-of-four, who was forced to flee Afghanistan after the Wests withdrawal, was revealed by The Independent in collaboration with investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports on Sunday.

Zahab, whose name has been changed for her safety, was one of a select group of women who worked for Commando Force 333, an elite Afghan special forces unit that was set up and paid for by the British government. The unit fought alongside British special forces soldiers and help the UK track and capture Taliban and Isis leaders.

Speaking at Home Office questions in the House of Commons on Monday, Alison Thewliss, an SNP MSP, raised the plight of the many Afghans who are unable to come to the UK through the designated resettlement schemes.

Home office minister Robert Jenrick said the UK was a big hearted country when quizzed about the plight of Afghans left behind (PA)

She told immigration minister Robert Jenrick: The Independent has today laid out a story of a mother-of-four, an Afghan special forces soldier who served in a unit, set up by Britain.

She explained that the soldiers application for the Ministry of Defences resettlement scheme, designed for those who worked for or with the British armed forces, had been denied along with many other members of her unit CF333 - and its sister unit ATF444.

Can I ask him, why is he failing so many Afghans?she asked.

Mr Jenrick replied saying that the government did not encourage anyone whatever their circumstances are to come across the Channel in a small boat.

He added: We have supported almost 25,000 people to come from Afghanistan since the war. Mr Jenrick added that the government has issued more than half a million humanitarian visas, which he added was a record we should be proud of.

Zahab, centre right, was trained to gather intelligence on UK and Afghan missions in Afghanistan (Supplied)

The United Kingdom is a big hearted country, he concluded.

It comes after a joint investigation with Lighthouse Reports and Sky News earlier this month, which found that dozens of former members of CF333 and ATF444 have been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban since August 2021.

It revealed for the first time that the unit was paid by the British, but that, despite this, many have been rejected for resettlement in the UK. Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said the government is aware of the rejections and has committed to re-engaging with the application process to make sure there is integrity in that process.
Driving under the influence carries serious consequences in Colorado.

About one-third of fatal crashes on Colorado roads involved an impaired driver last year, according to the Colorado Department of Transportation. In Larimer County, impaired driving contributed to more than half of the fatal crashes in 2021, according to the county coroner's office.

In 2022, about 700 Colorado roadway users didnt make it home, to their jobs, to their families, CDOT Highway Safety Manager Glenn Davis said. Theres a lot of factors in that, but we know that about 30% of those crashes (statewide) involved impaired drivers and thats something that absolutely did not need to happen. Colorado roadway users deserve better.

But a Northern Colorado attorney and her clients are also pointing out that being falsely accused of DUI can also carry serious consequences.

Five people, represented by civil rights attorney Sarah Schielke, have filed six total lawsuits against two former Northern Colorado police officers  five against former Fort Collins officer Jason Haferman and one against former Loveland officer William Gates  alleging those officers wrongfully arrested them for DUI.

Despite the DUI charges being dismissed in these cases, Schielke said her clients faced issues at work and with their families simply because they were accused of driving under the influence.

The consequences for DUI dont start after your conviction, Schielke said.

In the lawsuits and in speaking with the Coloradoan, Schielke said law enforcement officers are encouraged to make DUI arrests  with state and federal funding available so officers can work overtime DUI enforcement shifts  without much oversight for the quality of those arrests. She also claims officers are directly and indirectly incentivized to make DUI arrests.

But Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda denies that he gives any incentives to officers to rack up DUI arrests.

We dont give awards for DUI enforcement, not in Fort Collins, Swoboda said. There are zero extra incentives for officers making DUI arrests.

That may be true for individual officers, but law-enforcement agencies do have an incentive to conduct the emphasis patrols in the name of public safety. The federal and state funds distributed by CDOT to departments for extra DUI enforcements that Schielke said encourages false accusations is considered "one of our best tools to keep our roadways safer," by CDOT and law enforcement, Davis said.

'Nothing I could do or say would change it'

When Harris Elias was pulled over by Haferman on Dec. 3, 2021, he said he knew "almost immediately" that this stop wasn't going to go well for him.

Elias was turning right onto South College Avenue from Laurel Street after having dinner with his 15-year-old son when he was stopped. Elias told the Coloradoan he didn't see a pedestrian behind a power box on the southwest corner start to walk across the street, so he made a wide turn to avoid the pedestrian.

But when Haferman pulled him over, Elias said Haferman told him he smelled alcohol on Elias' breath. Elias denied having any alcohol that night.

Elias refused to answer Haferman's questions, knowing from experience "nothing I could do or say would change" the outcome. After all, it wasn't the first time Elias was wrongfully accused of impaired driving, he said. In January 2020, Elias was arrested by Loveland police officer William Gates. Charges against him were dismissed in both cases, according to his pending lawsuits against both former officers. The criminal cases do not appear in online court records.

Elias said he feels like DUI is the only crime you can be charged with where a person is considered guilty until you're proven innocent. He said his personal and professional lives were both negatively impacted by these DUI allegations.

Because Elias had his son with him when Haferman accused him of DUI, Haferman also arrested Elias for child abuse. While waiting for the blood test results to come back, Elias was prohibited from being in a car with anyone under the age of 18, including his own children, without an ignition interlock system, which he said was incredibly difficult as a single parent and sole caretaker for his son.

This also prevented him from driving his son and his friends to extra-curricular activities, which he normally did, so he said he was forced to explain the accusations to neighbors, friends and family.

(My son and I) have a pretty trusting relationship, but it undermines the trust of a developing teenager, Elias said of the allegations. As a parent, trust is everything, but when it gets undermined by wrongful accusations its really challenging and really hurtful.

Harris Elias, a Fort Collins resident who was wrongfully arrested for a DUI, poses for a portrait near the site of his arrest at the corner of Laurel Street and College Avenue on Oct. 18. His case was later dismissed after blood test results showed no alcohol or drugs detected.

Jesse Cunningham was also arrested by Haferman for suspected DUI in July 2021 and, because his children were with him as they were in the area on a family vacation, he also faced a child abuse charge.

"It was such a shock, I actually couldn't believe what was happening," Cunningham said.

Cunningham was driving through Fort Collins with his family when they came up on a multi-vehicle crash involving several motorcycles. Cunningham  who has experience as a military police officer  said he was the first person on the scene and helped save an injured motorcyclist's leg. But while waiting to give investigators their witness statements, Haferman approached him and told him another officer said Cunningham smelled like alcohol, Cunningham told the Coloradoan.

"To be immediately arrested after assisting someone in that manner and in those circumstances was pretty devastating," Cunningham said.

The day he was arrested, Cunningham said he and his family had learned a close family friend had died. The morning of the funeral, child protective services investigators came to their house to investigate because Cunningham had been charged with child abuse, Cunningham said. The trauma of this case has continued to impact him and his family, he said.

"These are lasting things that had an effect on my family that have not gone away," Cunningham said.

Internal investigation showed Haferman violated Fort Collins police policies

An internal investigation into the allegations against Haferman was initiated shortly after the five lawsuits were filed against him in April 2022. According to the report, Haferman had been assigned as the department's DUI officer from mid-2020 through May 2022.

Fort Collins police currently has one DUI officer, Swoboda said. That officer works nights into the early morning patrol shift and focuses on patrolling for impaired driving. That means that officer doesn't respond to regular calls for service like other patrol officers do, though they do make traffic stops for things other than impaired driving as they see it, Swoboda said.

"All that really means is this person is out there specifically looking for people who are impaired," Swoboda said.

Just like any opening the department, Swoboda said Fort Collins Police Services fills the DUI officer position by asking who is interested, interviewing those who apply and reviewing their performance reviews, prior work and specialty training.

Haferman was certified as a Standardized Field Sobriety Testing instructor and attended a two-day Advanced Roadside Impaired Driving Enforcement training, which focused on drug detection and covered four additional roadside sobriety tests, according to the internal investigation report.

After being assigned to DUI enforcement, Haferman told the internal investigator, his DUI arrests increased significantly. As a patrol officer in 2019, Haferman told the internal investigator, he made about 50 DUI arrests. In 2020, the year he was assigned to DUI enforcement, he made about 90, and in 2021  his first and only full year as the department's DUI officer  he made about 190, according to Haferman.

The internal investigation report concluded that Haferman violated department policy by failing to follow proper procedure in conducting roadside sobriety tests, including conducting one of the tests incorrectly and incorrectly interpreting behaviors as a clue or indication of impairment. The report stated that Haferman made poor decisions based on misinterpretation of how to conduct some of these tests, and this misplaced confidence is why he made some of those arrests.

The internal investigator wrote that Haferman said based on the totality of how many DUIs hes conducted over the last two years, he didnt feel like this was an issue because they were either spread out over time or they were unique and he believed he was doing good work; he said he didnt have any reason to believe he wasnt doing good work, based on no supervisors or experts in the field saying otherwise.

Haferman resigned the day before a scheduled meeting with Swoboda to go over the findings of the internal investigation. Had he not resigned, Swoboda said he would have been fired, according to the report.

Schielke said that a lack of proper training and supervision contributed to these alleged false accusations against her clients, but also that officers are incentivized  formally and informally  to make DUI arrests.

"The department and system is set up to not only allow this to happen but to incentivize it," Elias said.

Gates, the other police officer to accuse Elias of DUI, is no longer with the Loveland Police Department. Despite a spokesperson at the time telling the Coloradoan an internal investigation would be conducted into the allegations against him, Loveland police recently said there was no internal investigation.

Gates was on a dedicated DUI enforcement patrol in Fort Collins while working in his role as a member of the Reduce All Impaired Driving inter-police agency task force. The task force was organized by CDOT in 2019 and was comprised of officers from Loveland Police Department, Larimer County Sheriffs Office and Windsor Police Department. Loveland police told the Coloradoan that the task force is no longer operating.

Swoboda said Fort Collins police were not involved in any interagency DUI task force, though he had been asked previously if he would like to assign an officer to join.

Enforcement periods: Incentive or 'one of our best tools'?

The Colorado Department of Transportation helps distribute funds annually to local law enforcement to participate in high-visibility enforcement periods, with the goal of preventing impaired driving and having extra officers patrolling to catch impaired drivers before there's a crash.

Thats the ultimate goal, is we just dont want people driving impaired, CDOT Impaired Driving Enforcement Coordinator Brittany Janes said.

Fort Collins Police Services is one of more than 80 agencies statewide that receive funding distributed from CDOT to participate in these enforcement periods. These periods are selected using data to determine when impaired driving increases across the state, usually coinciding with holidays like the Fourth of July or Labor Day.

Enforcement periods account for half of the impaired driving arrests that occur in Colorado," Janes said.

Fort Collins police received $16,000 this year, Swoboda said. Those funds go toward reimbursing the department for overtime hours officers work during these periods doing dedicated DUI enforcement. Loveland police received about $15,000 from this grant this year.

Of the 17 wrongful DUI arrests alleged in the lawsuits against Haferman, five occurred during these enforcement periods.

Swoboda also noted that Fort Collins Police Services has an overtime budget in the millions of dollars, so the funding from CDOT only represents a small portion of the department's overall overtime fund. Fort Collins police are granted overtime for other activities in addition to DUI enforcement, including speeding or reckless driving enforcement and special event security.

Officers are not given extra overtime opportunities or bonuses for high DUI arrest numbers, Swoboda said. Officers sign up to work overtime shifts, and a professional staff member assigns officers to those shifts, trying to spread out the hours evenly, Swoboda said.

A Fort Collins police corporal interviewed as part of the internal investigation into Hafermans arrests said that he has never had anyone in the time he has been with FCPS tell him he needed to make arrests, since joining the department more than 15 years ago.

The incentive for making DUI arrests is youre keeping your roadways safer for the people that do the right thing, Davis said.

More: Drinking in Fort Collins? Here are your sober ride options

A bill passed by the Colorado state legislature this year secures $1.5 million annually for CDOT to distribute to local law enforcement agencies to conduct additional DUI enforcement, Janes said.

Janes said they do look at an agencys DUI arrest numbers in funding applications to know that they are working the grant, but the funding decisions are actually based on the problem they have, which includes looking at the number of DUI-related injuries or fatalities in the agencys jurisdiction. They also look at the number of stops and the number of arrests an officer makes while working an overtime DUI enforcement shift when departments submit their reimbursement requests, but we only look at that so we can understand what their work product was, Janes said, and theres no minimum requirement they are looking for.

Davis said these high-visibility enforcements are "one of our best tools to keep our roadways safer."

But Schielke claims that grant funding provided to departments for DUI enforcement encourages officers to make those arrests even if there isnt enough evidence.

There may not be a prize or trophy, but when you link the number of DUI arrests to how good of a job youre doing, most people want to do a good job, Schielke said.

Nuance of a 'none detected' blood test result

The internal investigation into Haferman's DUI arrests examined 11 cases between January 2021 and May 2022 where he made a DUI arrest based on the drivers behavior and ability to complete the roadside sobriety tests, but their blood tests came back with a none detected result. Haferman was the arresting officer in 10 of those cases.

The lawsuits filed against Haferman include a timeline of a total of 17 alleged false DUI arrests Schielke believes Haferman made from November 2020 through April 2022.

Fort Collins Police Services officers made 504 DUI arrests in 2021, and 11 of those cases  2.2%  had blood test results come back with no drugs or alcohol found, a department spokesperson previously told the Coloradoan. Haferman was involved in 191 of the DUI arrests that year, either as the primary arresting officer or supporting the DUI investigation.

Of the 11 Fort Collins police cases where blood test results came back with no alcohol or drugs detected, Haferman was involved in eight, police said.

But in some of these cases, other officers  either on scene or in reviewing Haferman's reports  agreed with Haferman's suspicion that the drivers may have been under the influence.

In one instance, a driver crashed into another car while making a lane change and stopped suddenly, causing a second crash. The Community Service Office who responded suspected the driver may be impaired, citing slurred and lethargic speech, according to Hafermans internal investigation report. In another case, a person ran a stop sign and drove into a home. Police found prescription medication in the car, and the driver admitted to taking prescription drugs and muscle relaxers, but the blood test results came back with a none detected result for drugs and alcohol.

But the Colorado Bureau of Investigation labs basic blood test panel does not test for the drug found at the scene in that incident, according to the internal investigation report, and Haferman did not request additional blood tests.

They cant look for every drug and they cant look for small levels of every drug, the CBI program manager  whose name was redacted from the report  told the Fort Collins police internal investigator during a July 2022 interview. ... Its like looking for a needle in a haystack.

CBIs basic blood panel looks for alcohol impairment and 14 different drugs or drug categories. If that comes back negative, no further testing is done unless it is specifically requested, according to the internal investigation report. Additional testing, including testing for the presence of prescription drugs, is sent out of the CBI lab and can be expensive.

CBI does not track how many tests it completes that come back with a none detected result, the CBI program manager told the internal investigator.

A director with the Colorado State University Analytical Toxicology Laboratory who was interviewed by the Fort Collins police internal investigator said blood tests typically look for 7-10 different types of drugs or drug categories, and synthetic versions of different drugs dont look the same as the drug itself. For example, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and doesnt look like other opioids in a blood test, so both fentanyl and opioids are tested for, according to their interview summarized in the internal investigation report.

Thats the biggest problem, keeping up with these synthetic drugs, the lab director  whose name was also redacted  told the internal investigator.

A none detected result could also mean whatever was impairing the person while they were driving dissipated from their system before they were taken to the hospital and given the drug test, according to the lab directors statements in the report.

Because some drugs may not be detectable through a basic blood panel, the lab director said law enforcement have to rely on a drivers behavior and performance on roadside sobriety tests as well to determine probable cause for DUI. But each circumstance is different, and not everything that looks like poor performance on roadsides is drug related, the lab director said in the report.

A person could have a medical issue or just didnt understand the instructions, for example.

Carl Sever was 73 when he was pulled over by Haferman for allegedly going too slow on Drake Road near the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital in July 2021. Sever's lawsuit against Haferman claims the officer falsely cited normal human behavior including slow speech and movement as signs of impairment, but Sever has a brain injury and knew he would fail the roadside tests. Sever said in an interview that Haferman didn't seem to care and arrested him anyway. Sever said he also told Haferman he had not consumed alcohol in 10 years and didn't use drugs, which the lawsuit claims Haferman failed to include in his report.

"Haferman was just convinced that I was intoxicated," Sever said in an interview.

Sever's case was eventually dismissed.

While there are situations like Sever's where other behavior gives someone the appearance they are impaired when they are not, the lab director told the internal investigator that, if there are indications of impairment the biggest reason for a "none detected" result would be the tests are not detecting a number of readily available drugs.

"Generally speaking, our officers are looking for the driving behavior," Swoboda said of DUI investigations.

Driving under the influence is prevalent in the community, Swoboda said, so officers' main priority is keeping the streets safe, and testing comes later. Breathalyzer and blood testing are typically done after someone is arrested, Swoboda said.

"People who are driving impaired cause so much damage and destruction and death in our community," Swoboda said. "I am proud that our officers are out there keeping our streets safe."

'There needs to be accountability'

The internal investigation determined that Haferman's actions may have caused "the public to lose confidence in the police department, (violated) the public trust or negatively (affected) the reputation of the Agency."

Schielke's clients tend to agree.

"It left me with a really bitter taste in my mouth," Sever said. "... I was brought up thinking cops were the good guys. I don't think that anymore."

While Sever said he lost months of his life dealing with the court process and monitored sobriety tests, what impacted him the most is what he gained from this experience: "I became angry and bitter, and I'm cynical and disillusioned about cops and authority. And that ain't right."

For Cunningham, this experience made him believe the entire court system was broken and filing a lawsuit with the "hope there is justice" is his way of trying to regain some belief in the system.

"There needs to be accountability," Cunningham said.

Elias said he is also seeking accountability from the departments through these lawsuits, claiming that there was "no oversight that would stop this from happening repeatedly" to him and the others who have filed lawsuits.

All six lawsuits are still pending in federal court, Schielke said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: What we know about alleged false DUI arrests in Fort Collins, Loveland
File - People work at the Yelp office in San Francisco on Feb. 14, 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic upended the work habits of people around the world, with millions working from home, at least for part of their week. Workers have returned in waves back to the office on some days, but navigating that transition is a significant hurdle for employers and workers alike. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

NEW YORK (AP)  Justin Ryan Horton has two jobs. When he's not putting in 24-hour shifts as a firefighter, the 22-year-old is working as an administrative assistant for a local community college from his home in Colorado Springs.

Firefighting is, of course, not a work-from-home kind of job. So when the community college position gave Horton the choice to clock in remotely, he took it.

I'm gone a lot being a firefighter, Horton said. Instead of coming home and then seeing my family for a few minutes before leaving to go to my other job... I feel like I have just more time with (them) when I work from home."

The COVID-19 pandemic upended what working looks like for millions of people all around the world. While many jobs can only be done in person, swaths of employers shuttered their physical doors and moved their workplaces increasingly online.

Workers have since begun to return to the office in waves, at least for part of the week, and navigating that transition is an ongoing and significant hurdle for employers and workers alike. And many simply cannot fathom a return to the pre-COVID status quo, changing how companies approach their staffing needs.

Retaining employees who don't want to work in person is an issue for companies, but relatively few employers (13%) have introduced new incentives that would make employees more satisfied with it, according to a newly released poll conducted by NORC at the University of Chicago.

About 3 in 4 human resources representatives say that retaining employees who dont want to work in the office is a problem  including 19% who call it a major problem. Another 54% of HR representatives call it a minor problem. And only about one-third of HR professionals say employees at their workplace are extremely or very happy about returning to the workplace.

Once workers discovered that (remote work could be) less expensive and... make their life a little easier, they just wanted to keep doing it, even once the pandemic began fading away, Marjorie Connelly, senior fellow with NORCs Public Affairs & Media Research department, told The Associated Press.

In both the HR survey and a separate poll of U.S. adults, researchers found that the top factors behind employees desire to work from home include their prioritization of flexibility and work-life balance. Other HR representatives and employees who work from home cite the length and costs of commuting as key.

Those are some of the main reasons that Megan Homis, 33, prefers remote work. As a senior account executive for an advertising and marketing firm in Southern California, Homis goes into the office once a month.

With traffic, its about an hour and 45 minute drive each way into the office," she said. And on top of that, I have two little kids  so just wrangling childcare for them with drop off and pick up is a lot.

Homis said that the ability to work remotely will continue to be a priority for her down the road. She would consider potentially going into the office more if an employer offered sufficient incentives and support for in-person work, but hasn't seen opportunities that would sway her in that direction yet.

Bill Castellano, a professor in the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, notes that flexibility is key  particularly in giving employees agency for scheduling their work.

Employees really value more of when to do work vs. where to do work, Castellano, who was not involved in the NORC surveys, said. He added that this is a key benefit for many remote workers today  and could be duplicated in physical offices with the right policy, such as having flexible start times.

There are some initiatives that could incentivize more employees to work in-person  or at least increase their satisfaction about already going into the office  the poll shows. Most hybrid workers (55%) say paying employees more for their in-office work would provide a lot of encouragement for them to work in-person more often.

Additional pay topped the list across respondents whether they were working in-person, remotely (44%) or in hybrid (50%) roles. However, just 4% of HR representatives whose companies have introduced new policies to get employees back to the workplace say that higher compensation is among them.

Employees who are already going into the office  either entirely or part-time  indicated that other incentives such as commuter benefits, in-office childcare, free food and social gatherings could also add at least some more satisfaction with returning to the office.

Those in-office perks had less sway among solely remote workers, Connelly noted  particularly social gatherings. For example, I work hundreds of miles away from the main office, so they can have a pizza party (and) all the pizza parties they want, but Im not going to be affected by it, she said.

Regardless, many U.S. employees have returned to in-person work, or had never left. Most paid employees report that they work in person per NORC's survey, and three-quarters of those in-person employees say they are required by their employer to do so. About 1 in 10 indicate that they could work remotely but prefer working from the office.

Meanwhile, about one-third of paid employees surveyed work remotely or in hybrid positions. The majority cited convenience and work-life balance, as well as a lack of in-office requirements, as reasons to do so.

The number of people working remotely has fallen significantly since the peak of COVID-19  but is still far higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Estimates are mixed, but according to a Pew Research Center survey published in March, 35% of workers with jobs that can be completed remotely were working from home all of the time. That's down from 43% in January 2022 and 55% in October 2020. Still, that's much higher than the mere 7% recorded before the pandemic.

This coincides with dwindling work-from-home options from employers. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 72.5% of private-sector establishments, for example, had little to no telework in mid-2022  up from 60.1% a year earlier.

I would think that this trend downward will continue, but I dont think its going to go down to zero... (or) where we were pre-pandemic, Castellano said, adding that he believes the hybrid model will grow in popularity. The question is, what kind of schedule will that be?
Theresa Glenn got a call from her son D.J. the night of Oct. 26, 2020. He was hysterical. "Mom, Damon got shot. Damon got shot. You need to get the f--- down here right now!"

She dropped the phone on the floor and started screaming. Her husband picked it up and heard the news. During the 50-mile drive from Indianapolis to Bloomington, Glenn realized her son was dead.

"I called the hospital while we were on the way and I asked them, 'Where is Samesha, my daughter?' And they told me she had left and went home. I knew then. She never would have left her brother."

Glenn arrived at IU Health Bloomington Hospital. Her daughter had already identified the body of Damon Brown, dead at 26 from a gunshot wound to the chest.

"After that night, our lives changed drastically, and forever," she said. "Every day is a hard day."

Three men were charged with murder in the case. One, Jamal McFadden, of Indianapolis, is serving a 56-year prison sentence after a judge found him guilty. Another, 26-year-old Keshawn Bess, was convicted Nov. 20 in a second trial after jurors in the first were undecided. A third suspect, Malik Brian Bennett, of Greenwood, is on the run, a murder warrant over his head.

Mistrial: Jury hung in trial for Arlington Valley murder of Bloomington resident Damon Brown

Body cameras show 'the last time he was alive'

Since that night, Glenn has sat through three trials connected to Brown's murder. Three times she's heard prosecutors walk a judge and jurors through what happened that night.

Three times she's heard witnesses describe the havoc that happened at D.J. Brown's trailer in the Arlington Valley Mobile Home Park on North Willis Drive after the three men who showed up to buy five pounds of marijuana stole the weed, shot Damon Brown and left him bleeding to death on the porch.

During Bess's trial this month, she stayed in the courtroom and watched and listened to audio and video from police body cameras recorded the night her son died.

"This was my first time sitting through the video of them trying to revive him," Glenn said. "It's the last time he was alive. It was so hard seeing him laying there, but that's when he still had life in him, the last time."

Mother says of Keshawn Bess: 'He has no remorse'

When Bess is sentenced Dec. 12, Glenn will be there to speak to the judge on her son's behalf. The American judicial system allows survivors to present victim impact statements.

She hasn't yet decided what to say.

"I don't want to come off as this angry person. I am hurting," she said. "But I'll tell you this, I watched Keshawn Bess sit at that table for two trials, watching him look over mean at me and my daughter. He's laughing and having a good time sitting there. He has no remorse."

Gunfire: Two dozen bullets fired at Bloomington apartment complex, no one shot

Over and over, she wonders why her son had to die. "I don't understand this senseless thing. That night, he held his hands up and said, 'Take it, just take it.' They didn't have to shoot him."

All three defendants are held responsible for the killing under state law because Brown died during a robbery all three participated in. Investigators say it was Bess who fired the fatal shot.

Court records show Bess has pending charges for armed robberies, thefts, aggravated battery and illegal gun possession in Marion and Delaware counties.

"There's not one thing anybody can do that's going to bring my son back," Glenn, a nursing home CNA, said the day before Thanksgiving.

"I don't want to be rude or mean, but Keshawn Bess can rot in hell, because he has no remorse. I am thankful for this jury, I am thankful for what they did because their verdict puts him away."

Contact H-T reporter Laura Lane at llane@heraldt.com or 812-318-5967.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Keshawn Bess guilty of murdering Bloomington resident Damon Brown
INVERNESS, Fla. (WFLA)  An Inverness home caught on fire after a recreational fire on the front porch earlier that day likely spread, according to Citrus County Fire Rescue.

Around 11:59 p.m. Friday, fire crews responded to a mobile home fire on East Mercury Street.

Man dies in Hernando County house fire after woman returns to discover home in flames

Everyone inside was able to safely self-evacuate.

Residents told fire officials that they had a fire on the front porch earlier that evening and thought it had been completely extinguished.

Citrus County Fire Rescue

Later that night, a resident awoke to find the entire front porch area in flames.

Crews discovered that two cars on the property sustained minor damage to the front bumpers and lights.

The home is a complete loss and no injuries were reported.

Fire Rescue encourages people to always use chimneys, outdoor fireplaces, and fire pits at least 10 feet away from their home, or anything that can burn.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Officials have determined that a failed wheel bearing caused the train derailment that resulted in a brief evacuation in Rockcastle County on Wednesday and Thanksgiving, according to a statement from CSX Sunday.

The company also confirmed the derailed cars had been retrieved and responders were working to replenish the area.

CSX extends its deepest gratitude to Rockcastle County authorities for their support and close collaboration throughout the response to this incident, CSX said in a news release. We are also thankful for the community members and local businesses that worked with us to help residents that were affected, especially those that assisted us in serving Thanksgiving dinners for the community.

The train derailment happened Wednesday afternoon north of Livingston. Two of the 16 railcars that came off the tracks were carrying molten sulfur and at least one of them was breached, causing a fire that burned until Thursday, CSX previously said.

Residents were urged to evacuate until the fire could be extinguished and the area deemed safe. Authorities told locals they could go back home Thursday afternoon.

After the scene was secure, crews built a temporary gravel road to give officials access to the area to remove the railcars. CSX said all 16 cars were removed from the scene by 3:30 p.m. Saturday.

Crews had removed all the spilled contaminants and about 2,500 tons of impacted soil by early morning Sunday, according to CSX. The impacted soil was replaced with clean material, CSX said.

The repairs were expected to be completed by noon, CSX said.

Anyone needing help as a result of the train derailment is encouraged to contact CSX at 1-800-805-9840. The company was also set to be available to reimburse people for any wage loss or out-of-pocket expenses caused by the derailment at the CSX Outreach Center on School Street from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.

Additional information about the derailment and resources available can be found on CSXs website.
How charming of Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to tweet of his enormous joy and relief that nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand has been reunited with her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.

Just the one problem. Emily wasnt exactly lost on a walk in the sand dunes. She was kidnapped by a brutal terrorist organisation which had just murdered hundreds of her compatriots, and only kept her alive so that she could be used as a human shield in the inevitable military campaign against it. Varadkar may point to a longer statement in which he called Emily a hostage, and acknowledged that there were some other hostages still being held in Gaza, but sorry, his tweet belies a serious problem which Varadkar and his government have with Hamas.

His full statement, by the way, didnt include the word Hamas nor properly mention the wider context of her kidnapping, as part of a terror attack. It did, however, reiterate the call for a ceasefire made by his foreign minister Micheal Martin two weeks ago, a call which effectively tells Israel: sorry, but you must not do as every other country in the world would after a murderous attack by a foreign entity  launch a military action to try to neutralise the threat and make it clear that your attackers will not be allowed to win. No, you must lay down your arms, accept these things happen and maybe sing a few peace songs.

Varadkar tries to pose as an international peace broker, but his words speak of somewhat lopsided sympathies. Earlier this month he didnt have a problem condemning Israel of overreacting, and doing so by name. He told reporters: What Im seeing unfolding at the moment isnt just self-defence. It looks like it resembles something more approaching revenge.

His difficulty in reckoning with Hamas as the terror organisation it is follows a long history of Irish sympathy for Palestinian terrorism. In 1980, long before the PLO renounced terrorism, the then government of Charles Haughey decided to recognise the PLO as the representative of the Palestinian people. Ireland has long been a supporter of a two-state solution in the Middle East  which is fair enough and one which I sympathise with  but did Haughey or any of his successors really think that a peaceful settlement was made more likely by recognising an organisation which had just spend two decades facilitating terrorist attack after attack?

Irelands troubled relationship with Palestinian terror didnt begin with Varadkar. The cause has long been romanticised as a struggle against colonial oppression, likened to Irelands own birth as a nation. But Varadkars apparent inability to see Hamas for what it is continues to shame his nation. Until he comprehensively recognises Hamas as terrorists, and frames his policies and statements on that basis, he can forget trying to position himself as an international statesman.

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***Watch previous coverage above.***

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began Friday and was due to run out. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.

The deal for two additional days of cease-fire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

Deadly head-on collision draws prison sentence

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Mondays releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.FOURTH RELEASE

The newly released hostages included three women and nine children  including 3-year-old twin girls and their mother  from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit in Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in captivity, including the father of the twins. The Israeli military said late Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel before being reunited with their families.

Most of the hostages freed so far have appeared to be physically well. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released Sunday, was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.

So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.

Ohio Supreme Court to consider how stand-your-ground law applies to two teens life sentences

France said three of the hostages released Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old. The French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian prisoners released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. But some were convicted in alleged attempts to carry out stabbings, bombings and shootings. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.

We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages, Kirby told reporters.RESPITE IN GAZA

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled entire neighborhoods.

Footage showed a complex of several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.

The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gazas population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.

Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.

Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.

My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them. said Mansour, who is disabled. I have not drunk water for two days, and theres no bathroom to use.

The U.N. says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals and water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the U.N. said.

Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction.

Many say the aid is not nearly enough.

Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.

She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics. People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
(Bloomberg) -- Israel and Hamas agreed Monday to extend a cease-fire in their devastating war until Thursday morning, as 11 more freed hostages arrived in Israel.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The current halt  which began Friday after intense negotiations brokered by Qatar, with the help of Egypt and the US  was originally due to end Tuesday. It was the first since the conflict erupted in early October when Hamas attacked Israel, which retaliated by bombing Gaza and reducing much of it to rubble.

The two sides will pause fighting for an additional two days, Qatars foreign ministry said on X, while Hamas said in a statement that a deal was reached to extend the temporary humanitarian ceasefire for an additional two days, under the same conditions as the previous ceasefire. The White House confirmed the agreement.

On Monday, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the government of Israel warmly welcomes our 11 abducted citizens who returned today to Israel. A Qatari spokesman said the 11 hostages were being freed from Gaza in exchange for Israels release of 33 Palestinians. With many Israelis holding dual citizenship, the Qatari government said the hostages freed included three French citizens, two Germans and six Argentinians.

John Kirby, spokesman for the US National Security Council, said earlier on CNN that we do not believe that there are Americans in this group coming out today.

The extended cease-fire is expected to sustain the daily ratio of hostages and prisoners released by both sides, which has been aiming for one hostage from Gaza in exchange for three Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Israel has so far allowed more aid into Gaza and was set to release about 150 Palestinians from jail. Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, has so far freed more than 50 hostages, including foreigners.

The new extension of the accord was announced after Israel came under increasing pressure to agree to an extension. President Joe Biden has said he wanted to prolong the pause in the war, which has killed thousands of people and inflamed tensions in the Middle East and beyond.

Kirby said in a briefing that the White House welcomed the announcement of the truce extension, adding that Biden spoke with Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday about the situation.

The humanitarian pause has already brought a halt to fighting together with a surge of humanitarian assistance, Kirby said. We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend on Hamas continuing to release hostages.

Despite disputes and delays, the truce has held for three exchanges of hostages through Sunday, totaling 58 people, including non-Israelis. Those freed by Hamas on Sunday included a four-year-old girl  a US-Israeli dual national  whose parents were killed in the groups Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The war started when Hamas militants swarmed into southern Israeli communities from Gaza, killing about 1,200 people and abducting 240. More than 15,000 have died in Gaza amid air strikes and a later ground assault by Israel.

--With assistance from Jordan Fabian and Jennifer Jacobs.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Izzat al-Risheq, a Hamas senior official. Both Israel and the terror group have talked up the continuation of the war after the ceasefire ends - Kyodo/Newscom / Avalon

Israel and Hamas agreed a further two-day ceasefire in Gaza on Monday to allow more hostages to be released, as the US pushed for more Americans to be freed.

Hamas said that the original four-day humanitarian pause had been extended under its existing conditions, with Israel releasing Palestinians in exchange for 20 Israeli and foreign hostages and the delivery of aid to Gaza.

The White House said the extension of the ceasefire was a calculated risk because it will allow Hamas to rest its fighters, but pushed for the release of eight or nine Americans in the coming days.

The first American hostage, four-year-old Abigail Edan, was released on Sunday and reunited with her remaining family. Her parents were killed in front of her in the Oct 7 attacks.

The announcement of a two-day extension was made by the Qatari government, which has been mediating negotiations between Hamas and Israel and its allies, including the US.

It came as more deliveries of humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, including the first shipment of cooking gas since the war began.

Palestinians wait to fill gas tanks in the Gaza Strip - MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Joe Biden, who spoke personally with the emir of Qatar to resolve a delay in the release of hostages on Saturday, welcomed the ceasefire extension and hinted a longer pause was under discussion.

We are taking full advantage of the pause in fighting to increase the amount of humanitarian aid moving into Gaza, and we will continue our efforts to build a future of peace and dignity for the Palestinian people, he said.

We will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released.

News of an extension came as the latest tranche of 11 Israeli hostages were exchanged for 30 Palestinian prisoners.

Mondays release is understood to have centred on accusations that Hamas deliberately split up families by releasing children without their parents at the weekend.

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, said the hostages were mostly from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel where almost a quarter of residents were kidnapped or killed on Oct 7.

The US estimates that eight or nine American hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, but suspects some are held by other groups than Hamas.

American intelligence officials have been unable to locate all of the hostages, amid suspicion Hamas has intentionally delayed the release of US citizens to increase its negotiating power with Israel.

Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamass politburo, indicated the terror group would be willing to negotiate the release of Israeli soldiers captured during the Oct 7 attacks separately to discussions over civilian hostages.

Hamas has long suggested it would release Israeli troops only in exchange for all Palestinians held in Israeli jails, many of whom were imprisoned on terror charges.

Despite the extension, both Israel and Hamas have talked up the continuation of the war after the ceasefire ends.

John Kirby, the White Houses national security spokesman, said there was a real risk that extending the ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup.

Without getting into intelligence issues, any pause in the fighting could benefit your enemy in terms of time to refit, to rest your fighters, to rearm them, reequip them, he said.

Antonio Guterres, the United Nations secretary-general, described the extension of the truce as a glimpse of hope and humanity, but warned that two more days was not enough time to meet the Gazas aid needs.

I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much  knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population, Mr Guterres told reporters.

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You are here: China

The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday held a meeting to review a report on policies and measures for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting, which also deliberated a set of guidelines on CPC leadership over foreign affairs.
Omar Atshan, 17, is hugged by his mother after being released from an Israeli prison in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Sunday Nov. 26, 2023. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners in a third exchange of hostages for prisoners with Hamas Sunday. | Nasser Nasser, Associated Press

As Israel and Hamas entered the fourth and final day of a temporary cease-fire that began on Friday, a fourth hostage exchange is in the works as mediators hope to extend the pause in fighting.

On Sunday, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners and Hamas freed 17 hostages  14 Israelis and three Thai nationals, The Associated Press reported.

A fourth exchange is expected Monday.

Among the hostages released by Hamas on Sunday was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old dual Israeli-U.S. citizen, according to The New York Times.

How many hostages have been released by Hamas?

So far, 62 of the approximately 240 hostages taken by Hamas have been released. One additional hostage was previously freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead in Gaza, per AP News.

Will the cease-fire continue? Qatar announces two-day extension

Hamas and Israel agreed to extend the cease-fire by two days, Qatars foreign ministry announced Monday.

Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari released a statement announcing the deal on social media:

The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip, Ansari stated.

The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.  .    Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023

The four-day pause in fighting was set to expire after Monday, but both Hamas and Israel have indicated they would be willing to extend the cease-fire.

In a statement Sunday, Hamas said it hoped to extend the pause, while Israel said it would extend the pause by one day for every 10 hostages released.

President Biden calls for pause in fighting to continue

President Joe Biden called for an extension of the four-day cease-fire Sunday.

To keep this pause in fighting going beyond tomorrow is our goal  so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief to those in need, Biden stated.

To keep this pause in fighting going beyond tomorrow is our goal  so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief to those in need. pic.twitter.com/R9RO8OnTmu  President Biden (@POTUS) November 26, 2023

White House officials confirmed that Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked Sunday about the pause in fighting.

Related

Netanyahu emphasized that a ground operation in Gaza would continue, telling Biden that at the end of the deal, we are returning full power to carry out our aims: destroy Hamas, ensure that Gaza wont return to what it was and of course to free all of our hostages, The Times of Israel reported.
Eleven more Israeli hostages were released in exchange for 33 Palestinian prisoners on Monday as part of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, Qatari officials said. Both sides have agreed to extend the truce for two more days.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have engaged in intense negotiations in hopes of prolonging the truce.

In order to extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days, John Kirby, National Security Council spokesperson, told reporters on Monday. We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.

Hamas hands over 11 Israeli hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Monday. (Stringer/Anadolu via Getty Images) (Anadolu via Getty Images)

Israel also agreed to allow more aid into Gaza, and said it will release three Palestinian prisoners for every additional hostage released  the same terms it followed in the four-day agreement.

Read more from the Telegraph: Hamas hostage deal nearly derailed over separation of mothers and children

Despite the truce, Israel has said it will continue the war with full military power after Hamas launched its brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

We will not stop until we achieve our goals: the destruction of Hamas and bringing home the hostages from Gaza to Israel, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last week after the pause was announced.

Heres what we know about the ongoing hostage and prisoner release.

How many hostages held by Hamas have been released so far?

On Monday, 11 of the roughly 240 hostages being held by Hamas were released and are back in Israel, the International Red Cross said. This brings the total number of Israeli hostages released as part of this four-day truce to 69.

In addition to this weekends hostage release, four hostages  two U.S. citizens and two Israeli women  were released on two separate occasions in October. This means a total of 73 hostages have been released since the Israel-Hamas war started seven weeks ago.

What do we know about the hostages released as part of the truce?

The 11 hostages released by Hamas to the International Red Cross on Monday did not include any Americans, but did include three French citizens, two German citizens and six Argentinian citizens, according to an X post from a spokesperson for the Qatari Foreign Ministry.

Among the 58 hostages released over the weekend were 40 Israelis, some of whom are dual nationals, 17 Thai citizens and one Philippine citizen.

The youngest hostage released over the weekend was Abigail Mor Edan, a 4-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed by Hamas in her home on Oct. 7. Abigail was reportedly in her fathers arms when he was shot by Hamas. Covered in his blood, she crawled out from under his body and ran to a neighbors house.

Released in the second swap over the weekend was Emily Hand, an Israeli-Irish girl who turned 9 years old while in captivity and was initially believed to have been killed by Hamas. Her father, Thomas Hand, expressed relief at the time, telling CNN: I knew the alternative for my daughter. I knew she'd either be found dead or kidnapped and taken to Gaza.  The thought of a little eight-year-old child in the hands of those animals. Can you imagine the sheer horror for an eight-year-old child?

A few weeks later he heard his daughter might be alive after Israeli authorities told him they didnt find her remains.

One hostage, 13-year-old Hila Rotem, was released over the weekend  but without her mother, Raya, who is still being held by Hamas. The Israel Defense Forces said children being released without their mothers violates the terms of the truce deal.

While most of the freed hostages appeared to be in good, stable physical condition, at least two needed serious medical attention, the AP reports. Alma Abraham, 84, had a preexisting condition that was not treated properly in captivity and was rushed to an Israeli hospital in Beersheba with life-threatening conditions.

Read more from Business Insider: 21 images of the release and emotional reunions of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners

What we know about the hostages still being held

There are believed to be around 170 hostages still in Gaza being held by Hamas; some are believed to be held by smaller militant groups like Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

The U.S. believes there are fewer than 10 Americans still being held. Probably in the neighborhood of about eight to nine. We dont necessarily have firm, solid information on each and every one of them, Kirby told reporters Monday. He added that theres no clarity on whether theyre being held by Hamas or other groups.

What do we know about the Palestinian prisoners being held by Israel?

So far, Israel has released 117 Palestinian women and teens who were being held in Israeli jails on a range of offenses over the weekend in the occupied West Bank, with an additional 33 to be released on Monday. The alleged offenses range from stone-throwing to supporting terrorism to attempted murder.

A record-high number of Palestinians are being held in administrative detention, without a trial, according to the Israeli nonprofit organization HaMoked. The number of Palestinian prisoners being held by the Israel Prison Service jumped from 5,192 in October to 6,704 in November.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began Friday and was due to run out. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.

The deal for two additional days of cease-fire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Mondays releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce; an additional 18 hostages of various nationalities have also been released. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.

FOURTH RELEASE

The newly released hostages included three women and nine children  including 3-year-old twin girls and their mother  from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit in Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in captivity, including the father of the twins. The Israeli military said late Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel before being reunited with their families.

Most of the hostages freed so far have appeared to be physically well. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released Sunday, was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her mother of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.

France said three of the hostages released Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old. The French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian prisoners released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. But some were convicted in alleged attempts to carry out stabbings, bombings and shootings. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.

Merav Raviv, who is related to three hostages released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.

We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages, Kirby told reporters.

RESPITE IN GAZA

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled entire neighborhoods.

Footage showed a complex of several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.

The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gazas population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.

Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.

Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.

My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them, said Mansour, who is disabled. I have not drunk water for two days, and theres no bathroom to use.

The U.N. says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals and water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the U.N. said.

Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction.

Many say the aid is not nearly enough.

Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.

She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics. People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return.

___

This story was first published on Nov. 27, 2023. It was updated on Nov. 29, 2023, to correct the total number of hostages released from Gaza since a cease-fire began.

___

Jeffery and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

___

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Palestinian Mohammed al-Awar (L), a former prisoner released from an Israeli jail in exchange for hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza, kisses his father's forehead upon return to his home in east Jerusalem (AHMAD GHARABLI)

The truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours Monday, with the militant group saying it was willing to extend the pause after it freed more hostages, including a four-year-old orphaned by its attack.

The pause that began Friday has seen dozens of hostages freed, with over 100 Palestinian prisoners released by Israel in return.

Attention now has turned to whether the truce will be extended before its scheduled end early on Tuesday morning.

"That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza," US President Joe Biden said Sunday.

He said he would like the fighting to be paused for "as long as prisoners keep coming out."

"I get a sense that all the players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and... Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza."

Hamas has signalled its willingness to extend the truce, with a source telling AFP the group told mediators they were open to prolonging it by "two to four days".

"The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners" in that time, the source close to the movement said.

Under the truce, 50 hostages held by the militants were to be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. A built-in mechanism extends it if at least 10 Israeli captives are released each extra day.

One potential complicating factor is the fact that some hostages are believed to be held by groups other than Hamas.

Israel faces enormous pressure from the families of hostages, as well as allies, to extend the truce to secure more releases.

"It would be good, helpful and necessary" to extend the truce until all hostages, who include French nationals, are freed, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told BFMTV on Sunday.

Three successive days of hostage releases have buoyed spirits in Israel, with tearful reunions weeks after Hamas militants poured across the border on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Gaza's Hamas government.

The third group of hostages released Sunday included a four-year-old American citizen called Abigail whose parents were both murdered in the Hamas attacks.

"What a joy to see her with us. But on the other hand, what a pity that she returns to the reality of not having parents," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

"She has no parents, but she has a whole nation that embraces her," he added.

Also among those freed Sunday was an 84-year-old woman who was rushed to intensive care in critical condition "after serious neglect," medical officials said.

Thirteen hostages were freed under the terms of the truce on Sunday in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners, who have been received by rapturous crowds waving Palestinian and Hamas flags.

Hamas separately freed three Thai nationals and a Russian-Israeli citizen, Ron Krivoy, who the group said was released "in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin" and his "support of the Palestinian cause".

- Mounting pressure -

Israel has faced mounting pressure to extend the pause mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, though its leaders have been keen to dismiss any suggestions of a lasting halt to the offensive.

"We continue until the end -- until victory," Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday, on the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2005.

His office has proposed a war budget of 30 billion shekels ($8 billion) for 90 days.

Wearing green military fatigues and surrounded by soldiers, Netanyahu vowed to free all the hostages and "eliminate Hamas", in footage posted online by his office.

"Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the war's goals," he said.

Elsewhere in Gaza, residents picked through heaps of rubble where homes once stood searching for belongings after weeks of bombardment.

"I came to see if there was anything left, if there was anything I could salvage. We fled with nothing," said Ous sama al Bass, inspecting the ruins of his home in Al-Zahra, south of Gaza City.

"Everything is lost," he said. "We're tired. That's enough. We can't take it anymore."

On the outskirts of Gaza City, families took to the road on foot to head south, pushing luggage and relatives in wheelchairs, and carrying children in their arms.

Israel has told Palestinians in Gaza to leave the north for the relative safety of the south, but it has now sent text messages to those in the southern city of Khan Yunis warning it knows hostages are being held there.

"The army will neutralise anyone who has kidnapped hostages," the message said.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting.

The pause in fighting has allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials.

Bbut Adnan Abu Hansa, a spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), warned of "unprecedented" humanitarian needs.

"We should send 200 lorries a day continuously for at least two months," he said.

bur-sah/kma
The pause in the fighting is also allowing a big increase in deliveries of aid to war-torn Gaza

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the four-day truce in Gaza for another two days, mediator Qatar says.

Hamas said the extension was "under the same conditions", which were for 50 Israeli hostages to be released in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has yet to comment, but it had offered a day's pause in the fighting for every 10 Israeli hostages freed.

It came as 11 hostages were released in the final exchange under the original deal that took effect on Friday.

Israeli officials said three-year-old twins and their mother were among them, along with six more children, an 18-year-old and her mother.

The Israeli military said they had crossed into Israeli territory. However all of the released children's fathers remained in Gaza.

Those freed included people who also held French, German and Argentine nationality, Qatar said.

Thirty-three Palestinian women and teenagers in Israeli jails were due to be released under the truce deal.

Hamas - which is regarded as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the UK and other Western powers - has freed 39 Israelis over the previous three days. In exchange, Israel has freed 117 Palestinian prisoners.

More on Israel-Gaza war

Nineteen foreign nationals, one of whom has Israeli citizenship, have also been handed over by Hamas under separate agreements.

The pause in the fighting is also allowing a big increase in deliveries of aid to Gaza, where there is a deepening humanitarian crisis.

Israel launched a military campaign in Gaza and imposed a siege in response to an unprecedented cross-border attack by Hamas gunmen on 7 October, in which at least 1,200 people were killed and about 240 others taken hostage.

Gaza's Hamas-run government says more than 14,800 people have been killed in the territory since the war began.

Map showing extent of Israel's ground offensive in Gaza, as of 26 November 2023

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari announced on Monday afternoon on X, formerly known as Twitter, that "as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip".

White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters the US welcomed the extension.

"This humanitarian pause has already brought a halt to the fighting together with a surge of humanitarian assistance. Now, in order to extend the pause Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days," he said.

"We would of course hope to see the pause extended further and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages."

Before the start of Monday's exchange, an Israeli official said that 184 people remained in captivity in Gaza, including 14 foreign nationals and 80 Israelis with dual citizenship.

On Sunday, a Palestinian official told the BBC that Hamas was prepared to release up to 40 additional hostages, which would mean a four-day extension under the terms offered by Israel.

Oria Brodutch was released on Sunday along with his mother Hagar and his brothers Yuval and Ofri

Israel was reported to be leaning towards a more gradual, day-by-day approach. And it has made it clear that it is preparing to resume the war in Gaza at the end of the process.

"At the end of the outline, we will go to realising our goals with full force: eliminating Hamas, ensuring that Gaza will not go back to being what it was and, of course, releasing all of our hostages," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday evening.

Earlier, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani told the BBC's US partner CBS News that the agreement would be extended if Hamas was "able to prove, to locate, and secure some of the hostages that are within the criteria of the first group, which is women and children".

But he warned that Hamas's "very complicated structure" presented a challenge for Qatari mediators, with the group's political leaders in Doha having to relay information to and from military commanders in Gaza.
In the three days since Israel and Hamas declared a truce, 58 hostages have been released and details are beginning to emerge about their nearly two months of captivity inside Gaza.

While information about the conditions has been tightly controlled, family members of the victims have begun sharing details about their loved ones experiences. Most of the freed hostages, though understandably shaken, appear to be in stable condition.

One woman said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, were fed irregularly having eaten mainly rice and bread, and lost around 15 pounds in just 50 days. Her family members said they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area and had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.

A vehicle believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas militants during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, arrives at the Rafah border, amid a hostages-prisoners swap deal between Hamas and Israel, as seen from southern Gaza Strip Nov. 24, 2023.

Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight. She said her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.

The experience of another captive, 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz who was released before the current cease-fire, illuminated a more nuanced picture.

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Lifshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.

The recently freed hostages also appeared to have been held underground. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed on Friday, said his aunt "had to adjust to the sunlight" because she had been in darkness for weeks.

International Red Cross vehicles reportedly carrying Israeli hostages released by Hamas cross the Rafah border point in Gaza on the way to Egypt from which they would be flown to Israel to be reunited with their families, on Nov. 24, 2023.

Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counseling and other support available to those who have been released.

Many of the freed hostages appeared to be in good physical condition, able to walk and speak normally, but at least two needed more serious medical care. One hostage released Sunday, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was rushed to Israel's Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition.

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The hospital's director said she had a pre-existing condition that had not been treated properly in captivity. Another young female hostage was on crutches in a video Hamas released Saturday.

The truce comes less than two months after Hamas bloody cross-border attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and left hundreds of others injured.

In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Israel has disputed those figures.

Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummeled enclave.

Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Israel-Hamas war: Details begin to emerge of life in captivity after some hostages are freed
Three-year-old twins, Emma and Yuli Aloni Cunio, were among the 11 Israeli hostages to be released from Hamas captivity on Monday night - Hostages and Missing Families Forum headquarters via AP

Three-year-old twins were among the eleven Israelis freed from Hamas captivity tonight as they had safely made it back to Israel, and to hospital for observation, after being held captive for seven weeks.

In the coming hours, 30 Palestinian children and three women will be released from Israeli jails in return. They are the fourth group to be exchanged between the two sides.

Nine of the eleven Israelis released tonight were children. 12-year-old Yagil Yaakov who had appeared in a hostage video that was released by Palestinian Islamic Jihad on November 9, was among those released, raising questions over whether Hamas has taken some of the hostages that were held by other groups in Gaza.

Sharon Aloni Cunio and her twin three-year-old children were also among those released today. Her sister Danielle Aloni, who was kidnapped from the same house, was released alongside her daughter on the first day of the hostage exchange.

All of the released hostages were from the Nir Oz kibbutz. According to the Qatari mediators, the Israelis released included three French citizens, two German citizens, and six Argentinian citizens.

Israel has yet to comment on the two-day extension of the ceasefire that was agreed at the ninth hour today, but Qatar and the US who have been mediating the conflict confirmed it. Hamas said that it had agreed to continue under the same conditions as the initial agreement.

10:00 PM GMT

Today's live blog is now closed

Thats all for tonight.

Eleven Israelis have made it safely back out of Hamas captivity in Gaza, but the 30 Palestinian children and three women set to be freed in return have not yet been released, though it is expected shortly. The ceasefire will continue for another two days, in an agreement that was finalised between the warring parties at the ninth hour.

We will be back tomorrow with all of the latest developments from the war in Gaza.

09:50 PM GMT

Macron welcomes the release of three French citizens from Hamas captivity tonight

Eitan, 12 ans.

Erez, 12 ans.

Sahar, 16 ans.



Trois de nos jeunes compatriotes font partie du groupe d'otages liberes aujourdhui. Extremement heureux de cette annonce.



Nous restons pleinement mobilises pour obtenir la liberation de tous les otages.  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) November 27, 2023

09:45 PM GMT

Blinken to make a third visit to Middle East amid war and COP28

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates later this week, a senior State Department official said on Monday, to press for more humanitarian aid into Gaza and help secure release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

The Secretary will stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, and improve protections for civilians in Gaza, a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told Reuters.

Blinken will also discuss with partners in the region Washingtons principles for the future of Gaza and the need for an independent Palestinian state, the official said. He will also attend the UN COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the official added.

09:26 PM GMT

Families of Palestinians set to be released are waiting in Ramallah

The families of the 33 Palestinians due to be released from Israeli jails are gathering in Ramallah as they await the return of their loved ones.

The Israeli hostages have made it back to Israel and are en route to hospitals, meaning that the release of the 30 Palestinian children and three women should happen shortly.

Israel has tightened security across the occupied West Bank as part of its crack down on all Palestinians since October 7, meaning that families of relatives from other parts of the occupied territory, such as Jenin, will likely be unable to get to Ramallah to pick up their relatives.

09:13 PM GMT

Hostages are en route to the hospitals

The Israeli health ministry has said that the 11 freed hostages are now en route to hospitals, where they will likely be held for at least 48 hours for observations.

08:26 PM GMT

Nine of the 11 released hostages tonight were children

Nine of the 11 hostages that were freed from Hamas captivity tonight were children, according to Israeli media. Their names and ages are listed below:

Yuly Konio, 3 years old

Ema Konio, 3 years old

Sharon Aloni Konio, 34 years old

Yagil Yaakov, 13 years old

Or Yaakov, 17 years old

Erez Kalderdon, 12 years old

Sahar Kalderdon, 16 years old

Eitan Yahalomi, 12 years old

Yuval Engel, 11 years old

Mika Engel, 18 years old

Carina Engel-Bert, 51 years old

All of them are from the Nir Oz kibbutz. They have been handed over to the Red Cross and are on their way back into Israel. 30 Palestinians children and three women are set to be released from Israeli prisons in the coming hours in return.

07:59 PM GMT

The 11 Israeli hostages released tonight, in photos

The 11 Israeli hostages released from Hamas captivity tonight: Sharon Aloni Cunio and her children Emma and Yuli, siblings Sahar and Erez Calderon,Karina Engel-Bart and her children Mika and Yuval, siblings Yagil and Or Yaakov, and Eitan Yahalomi. pic.twitter.com/dX1kFdoJi9  Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) November 27, 2023

The Israelis released from Gaza include three French citizens, two German citizens, and six Argentinian citizens, according to Qatari foreign minister spokesman Dr Majed al Ansari.

07:56 PM GMT

The 11 hostages have been transferred into the custody of the Red Cross, Israeli military says

     , 11           (@idfonline) November 27, 2023

07:33 PM GMT

Ceasefire extended by two days

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the ceasefire by two days, a spokesperson for Qatars foreign ministry has announced.

The deal will allow for the return of more Israeli hostages from Hamas captivity and the freeing of more jailed Palestinians.

A statement from Hamas said that the truce had been prolonged under the same conditions as the original agreement.

Diplomatic sources have told CNN that Hamas is searching for 40 more hostages currently held by other groups.

Hamas is expected to free more hostages later today after adding more Israeli mothers to the list of those to be released.

07:26 PM GMT

Biden welcomes ceasefire extension

Joe Biden has welcomed the two-day extension to the ceasefire in Gaza and said he will not stop until all hostages have been released, Tony Diver writes.

The US president said he had been deeply engaged in the negotiation process -- mediated by Qatar -- to secure more releases in the last 48 hours.

One of [the hostages] was a little American girl, Abigail, who turned four years old while in captivity after her parents were killed in front of her and she was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists on October 7th, he said.

I spoke with Abigails family following her release, and we are working closely with our Israeli partners to ensure she gets the care and support she needs as she begins to recover from this unspeakable trauma.

Welcoming the delivery of aid to Gaza, he added: I want to again thank Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, Amir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar, and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt for their commitment to this process and in reaching the agreement for an extension over the next 48 hours.

We will not stop until all of the hostages held by Hamas terrorists are released.

07:12 PM GMT

Captives from Nir Oz expected to be released tonight

Haaretz is reporting that the 11 Israeli captives expected to be released from Gaza tonight are from Nir Oz, a kibbutz in southern Israel.

There is a great sigh of relief among the kibbutz tonight, but at the same time great concern for our love ones who are still in the captivity of Hamas, the Israeli newspaper quoted the kibbutzchairman, Osnat Peri, as saying.

07:00 PM GMT

Images from Gaza today

Palestinians make thier way from the northern Gaza Strip to the southern Gaza Strip along Salah Al Din road, Gaza Strip, 27 November 2023. - MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Abrar Abu Taima sit amid the ruins of the family home destroyed in an Israeli strike in Khan Yonis, Gaza, on Monday November 27, 2023. - Ismail Muhammad/UPI/Shutterstock

06:41 PM GMT

Small amounts of cooking gas have entered Gaza for first time since start of the war, UN says

UPDATE: Humanitarian Pause



Number of displaced people continues to increase - 13,000 additional people sought refuge in @UNRWA shelters in Middle & South areas.



Small amounts of cooking gas have entered #Gaza for first time since start of the war.https://t.co/Ru7OVteQ7w pic.twitter.com/YIEUsIvmnO  UNRWA (@UNRWA) November 27, 2023

06:39 PM GMT

Hamas releases names of Palestinian children to be released from Israeli prisons

Hamas has now sent out the full list of Palestinians it has been told will be released from Israeli prisons tonight, suggesting that the handover of hostages could begin shortly.

06:30 PM GMT

When the fight resumes it will be across the entire of Gaza, Israeli defence minister says

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has told troops that when Israel returns to fighting Hamas in Gaza, it will take place throughout the entire Strip, according to Israeli media.

Speaking to troops of the Givati Infantry Brigade and of the Armored Corps, Gallant reportedly said: You now have a few days, we will return to fighting, we will use the same amount of power and more.

Remember that while you are organizing and resting and investigating, the enemy is also doing the same, he says.

You will meet something that is a little more ready. Therefore, [Hamas] will meet first the bombs of the Air Force, and after that the shells of the tanks and the artillery and the scoops of the D9 [bulldozers], and finally also gunfire of the infantry troops, Gallant says.

We will fight in the entire Strip, he added.

06:11 PM GMT

Pictured: Gazans inspect the unprecedented damage

Palestinians inspect the effects of destruction caused by Israeli air strikes on their homes in the Khuza'a area, in Khan Yunis, Gaza, on Monday November 27, 2023. - Ismail Muhammad/UPI/Shutterstock

05:47 PM GMT

US believes 8 or 9 American hostages still in Gaza

The US believes there are eight or nine American hostages still being held in Gaza, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Monday. (David Millward, US correspondent writes)

We want to see them back with their families, where they belong, he added.

Mr Kirby welcomed the agreement to extend the pause in the fighting by two days.

That will result in an extra 20 hostages being freed. We would like it to continue until all the hostages are released.

Extending the truce further was a calculated risk, Mr Kirby continued.

Any pause would give the enemy time to re-equip and rest its fighters.

The American and Israeli people had benefited by getting their loved ones back.

I wont speak for the Israeli Defence Forces, but once these pauses are over they have made it very clear that they are going to continue to target Hamas leadership.

05:44 PM GMT

US detained five who boarded tanker off Yemen

The United States detained five people believed to be Somali nationals after they boarded a tanker ship off Yemen, the Pentagon has said.

The five armed individuals left the M/V Central Park tanker, which is linked to an Israel-affiliated company, after a US destroyer and allied ships responded and demanded the vessels release.

Five armed individuals... attempted to flee via their small boat. The Mason pursued the attackers, resulting in their eventual surrender, Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder told journalists, referring to the USS Mason destroyer.

Initial indications are that these five individuals are Somali, Ryder said, describing it as clearly a piracy related incident.

After boarding the ship on Sunday, the armed individuals attempted to access the M/V Central Parks crew cabin, but the crew were able to lock themselves in a safe area, he said.

The attempted ship seizure was followed by the launch of two ballistic missiles from an area controlled by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

The Houthis have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel since October 7.

05:37 PM GMT

Hamas is said to be willing to negotiate release of Israeli soldiers

Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas politburo, has claimed that the group is willing to negotiate the release of Israeli soldiers held hostage.

The discussions have not yet begun, Al Risheq said, adding that the discussion on the release of hostage soldiers will be separate to the one about civilians, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is aware of this.

Since the outset of the war Hamas sources have said that it will exchange the Israeli soldiers it captured in release for all Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

05:17 PM GMT

30 Palestinian children and three women to be released tonight, Hamas says

A statement from Hamas says that it has received the list of prisoners that will be released tonight and that it is comprised of three women and 30 children.

The three women are named as: Yasmin Taysir Abdul Rahman Shaaban from Jenin, Nufuz Jad Arif Hammad from East Jerusalem and Itaf Yusuf Mohammed Jeradat from Jenin.

The children are set to be named later.

We will bring you more once we have more details.

05:15 PM GMT

A further 20 hostages to be released in two-day extension, reports say

An Israeli official confirms an agreement has been reached on extending the pause in fighting in Gaza by 2 days in return for the release of 10 additional hostages every day  Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) November 27, 2023

Hamas has said that the extension will operate under the same conditions as the original agreement, which would suggest that 60 Palestinians will be released from Israeli jails in the two-day extension.

05:13 PM GMT

Families struggle as male hostages not to be released again

Mirit Regev, whose daughter was released from Hamas captivity on Sunday, told Israels Channel 12 News: Our Mia is fine, she is a real survivor. She underwent surgery, she is in rehabilitation, still on painkillers.

Mirit added that she received the update that her 18-year-old son, Itay, is not on todays list of hostages to be released tonight. Unfortunately, Itay is not on the list, it crushes us, she said. Its very hard for Maya to be with us and Itay to be in Gaza it is a wave of emotions that is hard to describe.

05:04 PM GMT

Iran says it added a destroyer to its Caspian Sea fleet

Irans navy on Monday added a destroyer capable of launching cruise missiles to its Caspian Sea fleet, state media reported.

The 1,400-ton Deilaman destroyer, named for a town in northern Iran, is 312 feet long and 11 36 feet wide and is able to launch torpedoes while traveling at 30 knots (35 mph), the state-owned IRNA news agency said.

Deilaman can detect more than 100 targets, including vessels, drones, helicopters, submarines and aircraft, simultaneously, the report said.

Irans warships have made occasional visits to Russian and Azerbaijani naval bases in the sea in recent years, but Iran has also criticized Azerbaijan for its close military ties with Israel, which Iran sees as its archenemy.

04:49 PM GMT

Palestinian Red Crescent demands release of detained medics, reminds of international law

The Palestinian Red Crescent has expressed serious worry over the fate of the head of the medics who were arrested alongside the head of Al Shifa hospital, during a UN-led evacuation, by Israeli forces five days ago.

The PRCS is seriously worried about the fate of Awni Khattab, Head of Khan Younis Medical Center in Gaza, who was arrested by the Israeli Occupation forces together with the head of Al-Shifa hospital and two other medical staff during the WHO led evacuation of the wounded and sick from Al-Shifa hospital, the statement said.

The members of the medical team were taken at the checkpoint which separates north and south Gaza on 22nd of November, 2023. The Israeli Occupation Forces refuse to provide any information about the whereabouts or the fate of the detainees despite the repeated calls by the WHO and the UN, it continued.

The PRCS demands the immediate release of Awni Khattab along with the rest of the detained medical team members and holds the Israeli Occupation Forces responsible for their safety. The PRCS also condemns the arrest and detention of healthcare workers and reminds the international community of the protections provided for medical personnel under international humanitarian law through the Geneva Conventions, their Additional Protocols, and international customary law.

04:17 PM GMT

Emily Hand released from hospital

Emily Hand, the nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl released from Hamas captivity on Saturday has been let out of hospital, according to Israeli media.

The Sheba Medical Centre says its staff will continue to monitor Emily and all of the freed captives.

04:14 PM GMT

Pictured: Orphaned child hostage Abigail Edan reunited with family members

This photo released by Schneider Children's Medical Center on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 shows Abigail Edan, center, who returned last night to Israel, with her aunt Liron, left, and her uncle Zuli, right. Abigail was one of the third group of hostages released by Hamas on Sunday. - Schneider Children's Medical Center

This photo released by Schneider Children's Medical Center on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 shows Abigail Edan, second left, who returned last night to Israel, with her aunt Liron, third left, her uncle Zuli, second right and her grandparents Shlomit, right, and Eitan, left. Abigail was one of the third group of hostages released by Hamas on Sunday. - Schneider Children's Medical Center

03:58 PM GMT

Families of hostages notified of coming release, Israeli PM says

The Israeli Prime Ministers Office has announced that the families of the hostages slated to be released in the coming hours have been notified, in an indication that the deal could be back on track for the fourth round of hostage exchange.

There has been a delay over the past few hours with regard to Israeli problems over the list of those to be released, following a similar five-hour delay yesterday that was driven by Hamas having a problem with the list of prisoners to be released, among other concerns.

03:44 PM GMT

Israeli snipers are still targeting people in Gaza, a Palestinian doctor claims

A doctor in Gazas Al Ahli hospital has said that they have received dozens of injuries from Israeli snipers in the last few days.

During this ceasefire, unexpectedly, Dozens of injuries arrived at our hospital with direct gunshot wounds to the chest and upper thighs from Israeli snipers who targeted civilians while they were inspecting their homes that were bombed and evacuating from them, Dr Fadel Naim said on X.

Unfortunately, we lost several wounded individuals due to the severity of their injuries.

The Telegraph could not immediately verify his claims.

03:29 PM GMT

Top Palestinian diplomat makes plea for an extended ceasefire

The foreign minister for the Palestinian Authority has made a plea to extend the temporary ceasefire in Gaza.

We have to find how to apply the necessary pressure so that the Israeli government does not continue killing innocent people, so that we can continue counting cadavers, Riad al-Maliki said in Spanish during a news conference during the gathering of diplomats from the EU and Middle East in Barcelona.

Israel did not attend the meeting designed to focus on diplomatic efforts to stop the war.

The Palestinian Authority and Hamas have long been divided.

03:03 PM GMT

UN chief pushes for Gaza truce to become full humanitarian ceasefire

United Nations Secretry-General Antonio Guterres pushed for a full humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and Hamas instead of a temporary truce, as the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is getting worse by the day.

The dialogue that led to the agreement must continue, resulting in a full humanitarian ceasefire, for the benefit of the people of Gaza, Israel and the wider region, Mr Guterres spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

The United Nations will continue to support these efforts in every possible way, he said.

Mr Guterres repeated calls for the hostages held by Hamas to be released immediately and unconditionally, his spokesman added.

02:37 PM GMT

Israel-Hamas war latest pictures:

A child looks at trucks carrying aid waiting to head towards north Gaza during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel - IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS

A woman with a child walks through the mud, as Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas - IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA/REUTERS

02:18 PM GMT

No mothers on hostage release list, says Israel

No mothers appear on Mondays hostage release list, the Israeli army has said.

A spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces told CNN there were a number of ongoing issues with the list of hostages but said negotiations are ongoing.

Israel says no mothers are on the list, noting that part of the agreement means that children kept captive with their mothers ought to be released together.

Israel claims Hamas already violated the deal on Saturday when they released a child without her mother.

02:04 PM GMT

Negotiations on list of those slated to be released 'continuing,' says Netanyahu's office

Announcement from the Prime Minister's Office:



Negotiations on the list of those slated to be released under the framework of the hostages release outline are continuing.  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 27, 2023

01:32 PM GMT

'Unsure' if more American hostages will be released, says White House

The White House is unsure if more American hostages will be released on Monday.

John Kirby, a White House spokesman, told CNN that he didnt know if two American women were on the list, adding thats certainly our hope.

He added that they were working literally by the hour.

Well have a better sense I think later on this morning whos going to be in this next batch coming out today,

01:06 PM GMT

Truce extension 'close'

Egyptian, Qatari and US negotiators are close to agreeing an extension to the truce set to expire in Gaza on Monday but were still discussing the length of an extension and which prisoners would be freed under it, three Egyptian security sources told Reuters.

Hamas was seeking a four-day extension while Israel wanted day-by-day extensions, with negotiations continuing over which Palestinian prisoners would be freed, the sources said.

More to follow

12:31 PM GMT

Pictured: Musk meets Netanyahu

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosts Elon Musk - Amos Ben Gershom/Israel Gpo/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock/Shutterstock

12:29 PM GMT

Israel's finance minister defends settlement funds in budget row

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich hit back at critics of the governments proposed war time budget, ahead of a vote that has already created a rift between centrist and far right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus cabinet.

On Sunday, centrist Minister Benny Gantz demanded that Mr Netanyahu remove all political payouts from the new budget, saying they will harm the war effort. Those include so-called coalition funds intended for settlements in the occupied West Bank and for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish education system.

Mr Smotrich said the funds going there, about 4.9 billion shekels ($1.3 billion) according to the proposal and down from a prior 5.8 billion, were being mislabelled and that they would amount to less than 1 per cent of the budget.

He called the criticism a deceitful campaign spearheaded by hostile media.

The row over devoting funds to settlements comes at a sensitive moment for Israel as it seeks to mobilise international support for the war in Gaza.

Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, said that he was appalled at the funds.

11:56 AM GMT

Watch: Netanyahu and Musk tour horrors of the October 7th massacre at Kibbutz Kfar Aza

11:51 AM GMT

Gaza hostage briefly escaped captors after building was bombed, family says

An Israeli hostage who was freed as part of a temporary truce in the Gaza Strip had previously mounted a brief escape from his Hamas captors after the building where they were holding him collapsed during a barrage, his relatives said.

Roni Kriboy, 25, was a surprise addition to the roster of hostages released on Sunday, alongside 13 women and children who had been pre-agreed in mediated Israel-Hamas negotiations.

Citing the 25-year-olds dual Russian citizenship, Hamas said he was freed to show appreciation for Moscow, the only world power openly engaging the group during the now seven-week-old war.

His aunt, Yelena Magid, said in an interview with Israels Kan radio that she spoke to Mr Kriboy after his return.

He recounted being seized by terrorists, who held him in a building that was bombed, she said, in an apparent reference to Israeli shelling, adding that he sustained head wounds there.

He managed to escape and to hide out, alone, for four days. He tried to reach the border. In the end, the Gazans caught him and returned him to the terrorists hands.

11:46 AM GMT

Pictured: Avihai Brodutch is reunited with his wife Hagar and their children

Avihai Brodutch poses with his wife Hagar Brodutch, 40, and their children Oria Brodutch, 4, Yuval Brodutch, 8, and Ofri Brodutch, 10, shortly after she and their children arrived in Israel on Sunday after being held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, at Schneider Childrens Medical Centre of Israel.

Avihai Brodutch poses with his wife Hagar Brodutch, 40, and their children shortly after they arrived in Israel on November 26 after being held hostage - SCHNEIDER CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER/via REUTERS

Oria Brodutch jumps onto his father Avihai Brodutch shortly after they were reunited in Israel - SCHNEIDER CHILDREN'S MEDICAL CENTER/via REUTERS

11:33 AM GMT

Israel 'should not recolonise Gaza,' says EU's top diplomat

Josep Borrell, the EUs top diplomat, called for Israel not to recolonise Gaza, saying both Palestinians and Israelis had an equal and legitimate right to the same land.

Mr Borrell added that a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza was the best guarantee for Israels security and peace.

The EU foreign affairs chief said he regretted that Israel had not attended a Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean on Monday in Barcelona.

11:19 AM GMT

Extend pause in fighting, says Nato

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has called for a halt in the fighting in Gaza to be prolonged to allow for more aid and the release of hostages.

I call for an extension of the pause. This would allow for much needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages, Mr Stoltenberg told journalists.

His comments come as the Palestinian Authoritys foreign minister said Qatar, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and Spain are working to extend the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

11:01 AM GMT

UN experts urge war crimes probe

UN rights experts have called for independent investigations into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity carried out in Israel and the Palestinian territories since October 7.

Morris Tidball-Binz, the United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, the special rapporteur on torture, issued a joint statement stressing the need for prompt, transparent and independent investigations and accountability.

Independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict, they said in the statement.

The duty to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity, including any act of summary or extrajudicial killing, torture or other outrages on human dignity, is a fundamental legal obligation.

10:41 AM GMT

Palestinian prisoners release in pictures:

People gesture from a Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas - FADEL SENNA/AFP

A crowd surrounds a Red Cross bus carrying Palestinians prisoners released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas - FADEL SENNA/AFP

A Palestinian prisoner wearing a grey jumpers gestures among supporters and relatives after being released from an Israeli jail - FADEL SENNA/AFP

10:26 AM GMT

Israel 'reaches agreement' with Musk over Starlink

Israel said it had reached an agreement in principal with Elon Musk for using his SpaceX companys Starlink communications in the Gaza Strip. Mr Musk, who is on a visit to Israel, has yet to comment on the trip.

Last month, the entrepeneur proposed using Starlink to support communication links in the blackout-hit Gaza enclave with internationally recognised aid organizations.

At the time, Israeli Communications Shlomo Karhi objected, saying Hamas will use it (Starlink) for terrorist activities.

But in a new tack, Mr Karhi said that Israel and Mr Musk had reached an agreement in principle whereby Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip.

Elon Musk, I congratulate you for reaching a principle understanding with the Ministry of Communications under my leadership.



As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of    - Shlomo Karhi (@shlomo_karhi) November 27, 2023

In an X post addressed to Mr Musk, he said he hoped the visit to Israel will serve as a springboard for future endeavors, as well as enhance your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire world.

10:15 AM GMT

EU diplomacy chief urges 'long lasting' Gaza truce

The EUs top foreign policy official Josep Borrell called for an extension of the truce in the Gaza Strip, which is due to end on Tuesday.

The four-day pause has seen tearful reunions of families and hostages, released in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners, in the first relief in the seven-week war.

The truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours on Monday.

The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution, he said on Monday in Barcelona, at the start of a meeting of the intergovernmental organisation Union for the Mediterranean.

Mr Borrell called for a political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all.

10:04 AM GMT

More than 40 hostages 'not held by Hamas'

More than 40 hostages kidnapped on October 7th are not currently held by Hamas, a source told CNN.

The source added that Mondays hostage release was likely to be delayed due to a slight issue, without specifying what it was.

It comes after an official told Reuters that mediators are working with both parties to resolve issues and avoid delays as the truce enters its final day.

There is a slight issue with todays lists. The Qataris are working with both sides to resolve it and avoid delays, the official said.

09:47 AM GMT

Grandfather of US toddler released by Hamas thanks Joe Biden

09:27 AM GMT

Each side looks only at its own side of the tragedy, EU's Borrell says

Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, wrote in the Financial Times:

The horrors committed by Hamas and other extremists are detrimental to Palestinian interests. The leaders I met in Ramallah acknowledge this. However, for them the fundamental issue lies in the Israeli occupation. They struggle to explain to constituents why their freedom of movement is restricted, while illegal settlements flourish and settlers are free to attack them. They also cannot ensure security in the occupied West Bank while Israel is withholding Palestinian tax revenues it collects on the Palestinian Authoritys behalf. One horror does not justify another. Yet each side looks only at its own side of the tragedy, at what happened yesterday or what is happening today. But there will be a tomorrow that neither side is yet able to envisage. Israelis believe they need to eliminate Hamas to guarantee their security. Palestinians prioritise ending Gazas humanitarian catastrophe and settler provocations. Despite these challenges, we must keep the possibility for peace open.

09:09 AM GMT

Palestinian Authority 'only possible partner' to seek peace in Middle East, says Spain

The Palestinian Authority is the only possible and credible partner to seek peace in the Middle East, Spanish Foreign Ministry Jose Manuel Albares said on Monday.

He was hosting the Forum for the Union of the Mediterranean in Barcelona.

Elsewhere at the event, Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi said that the work for a two-state solution must begin with ensuring an end to this brutal aggression.

08:34 AM GMT

List 'being evaluated,' says Israel

In the most recent development, the Israeli prime ministers office has said in a statement that discussions are being held about the list of hostages it received overnight.

Announcement by the Prime Minister's Office-Coordinator for the Hostages and Missing:



Discussions are being held on the list that was received overnight and which is now being evaluated in Israel. Additional information will be issued when possible.  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 27, 2023

It comes as an official briefed on the matter told Reuters that Israel and Hamas have raised concerns over the lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners set to be released on Monday.

08:26 AM GMT

Pictured: A brother and sister with Israeli soldiers upon their release on Saturday

Naveh Shoham, 8, upon his arrival in Israel after being freed on Saturday - Israel Prime Minister Office/Israel Prime Minister Office

Yahel Shoham, 3 years old, upon her arrival in Israel after being freed. - Israel Prime Minister Office/Israel Prime Minister Office

08:20 AM GMT

Elon Musk begins wartime visit to Israel, aviation tracker says

Elon Musk landed in Tel Aviv on Monday, an aviation tracker said, beginning a visit during which Israeli leaders plan to bring his attention to the plight of hostages held in war-torn Gaza and discuss rising antisemitism online.

Israeli President Isaac Herzogs office announced on Sunday that Mr Musk would be coming to meet the head of state. According to Israeli media, he will also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Musks office had no immediate comment.

Avi Scharf, an aviation expert with Israels Haaretz newspaper, posted on Mr Musks media platform X - formerly known as Twitter - that a plane carrying the billionaire, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, had touched down in the morning.

Mr Netanyahu the met the tech leader in California on Sept. 18 and urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitic content on X.

Mr Musk responded by saying he was against antisemitism and against anything that promotes hate and conflict, repeating his previous statements that X would not promote hate speech.

07:58 AM GMT

Chinese foreign minister to host UN Security Council on Israel-Hamas

Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister, will go to New York on Nov. 29 to host the United Nations Security Council session on the Israel-Hamas issue, Beijings foreign ministry has said.

As the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month, China will hold a high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29, spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

They added: China hopes that by hosting this meeting, we can do our part to help realise a ceasefire.

07:40 AM GMT

Pictured: A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother upon release from an Israeli jail

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip - FADEL SENNA/AFP

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (R) hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail - HAZEM BADER/AFP

07:37 AM GMT

Recap: What happened yesterday

A four-year-old American girl who crawled out from beneath the bloodied body of her father before being kidnapped by Hamas was one of 17 hostages released by the terror group on Sunday.

Abigail Mor Idan, a dual US-Israeli citizen, spent her 51 days in captivity in Gaza after seeing both her parents murdered on Oct 7.

Abigail was one of 14 Israeli citizens, one of whom also had Russian citizenship, who were handed over on Sunday evening, the third day of fraught and emotional transfers under Israels four-day ceasefire deal with Hamas.

Read more about the hostages who have been released here

07:34 AM GMT

Biden urges ceasefire extension as Netanyahu says only if hostages freed

Joe Biden on Sunday night urged Benjamin Netanyahu to extend Israels ceasefire with Hamas as 17 hostages including a very sick elderly woman and an orphaned four-year old were released.

The Israeli prime minister in turn said he was open to prolonging the truce if the terror group agrees to release more captives.

The US president said he wants to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.

This deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results.

Thats my goal, thats our goalWe will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones, Mr Biden said.

Read more from Henry Samuel here

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Israels hard-Right finance minister said there are two million Nazis in the West Bank in an angry pushback against plans to divert money from settlements to the war effort.

The opposition has threatened to block the new budget unless Bezalel Smotrich, a controversial figure invited into government to prop up the coalition, transfers funds from the illegal outposts and religious schools to boost war coffers.

Israeli media on Monday quoted a letter sent by opposition leader and coalition cabinet member Benny Gantz to Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, saying his partys five ministers would vote against the new budget unless it is amended.

The opposition is accusing Mr Smotrich for reckless spending such as funding groups that support yeshiva students in refusing to serve in the army and boosting illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Mr Gantz in a letter to the prime minister said spending such large sums on controversial projects will harm national resilience and unity of Israeli society.

Mr Smotrich, who grew up in settlements, on Monday defended the move, saying the funding is crucial for his countrys survival.

There are two million Nazis in Judea and Samaria, he told the Times of Israel, using the biblical term for the West Bank, who hate us exactly as the Nazis of Hamas-Isis in Gaza do.

EUs foreign policy chief appalled

Josep Borrell, the EUs foreign policy chief, said on Monday he was appalled to learn that the Israeli government is committing new funds towards West Bank settlements in the middle of a war.

This is not self-defence and will not make Israel safer, he said on Twitter.

The settlements are a grave breach of international human rights law, and they are Israels greatest security liability.

Mr Smotrich, who urged the government earlier this year to prepare to double the settlements population to one million, came under fire from more moderate members of the cabinet earlier on in the war when he refused to transit tax revenues that Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority to the West Bank.

Smoldering tensions in the West Bank

Israeli politicians and officials from across the political spectrum including the defence minister urged Mr Smotrich to unfreeze the funds, warning that the move risks to further ignite smouldering tensions in the West Bank.

Mr Smotrich fought back in an open letter on Monday morning, claiming that the contentious 900 million shekels (190 million) in the budget would go towards teachers salaries, security needs in the West Bank and other expenses.

He also said the government will allocate 3.5 billion shekel towards funding hotel stays for over 100,000 people evacuated from border towns and villages in the countrys north and south.

Another 2 billion was expected to go to the National Security Ministry led by another far-right politician, to arm the police and establish an armed community defence team in illegal West Bank settlement.

U.S. officials previously expressed concern that the ministry was alarming the settlers who have been harassing local Palestinians.

In recent weeks, the Biden administration raised the possibility of imposing sanctions on settlements for the violence in the West Bank.

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Dozens of Irish peacekeepers have been killed since the UN force was deployed in 1978

"If you hear an alarm sounding it means you need to run to the nearest bunker," says Captain Aodhan McGuinness as we arrive at Camp Shamrock.

He is the tactical operations director for the Irish troops who run this UN peacekeeping base close to the Lebanon-Israel border.

We can hear the buzz of Israeli drones hovering overhead. They sound like hair dryers or electric razors, and are now a constant presence day and night above towns and villages in southern Lebanon.

A loud explosion nearby interrupts Captain McGuinness' safety briefing.

"Ok, today's round has started," he says.

The blast is yet another sign of escalating tensions in the area since Hamas launched its unprecedented assault on Israel back in October.

The UN peacekeeping mission, known as Unifil, is responsible for monitoring the Blue Line, the unofficial frontier between Lebanon and Israel.

During the last four decades the area has witnessed on and off clashes between the Lebanese Shia Muslim militant group, Hezbollah, and the Israeli army.

While Hezbollah is labelled a terrorist organisation by the UK, US and others, it is a mainstream political party in Lebanon, leading an alliance which fell just short of a majority in the national parliament in elections last year.

Wearing body armour and helmets we join a group of heavily armed peacekeepers in a convoy of armoured vehicles for a 20-minute drive to another base that is just 500m (1,600ft) from the Blue Line.

With Israeli military installations visible across the frontier, the commander of the outpost, Lieutenant Dylan Cadogan, says they often have to take shelter in bunkers during strikes, sometimes for hours.

"We have seen houses destroyed and we have seen civilians caught in crossfire that needed our help."

The Irish UN force has helped civilians whose homes have been hit by shellfire

From the base's watchtower he points at a pink house in the distance: "There was a mother and a child in that building only 400m (1,300ft) from us.

"Their house was shelled, and they had to run here to take refuge and we provided them with medical support and took them to safety."

The Unifil troops have recovered the bodies of people killed in the fighting but cannot say how many were Hezbollah fighters due to the sensitivity of their mission and the need to remain neutral between the warring parties.

"It is not our job to comment on these, just observe, monitor and report what we see to our headquarters," Lieutenant Cadogan says.

Since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza following Hamas's attack on 7 October, Hezbollah has regularly carried out rocket and drone attacks from southern Lebanon, some aimed at military targets, others fired more indiscriminately into northern Israel.

Israeli forces have retaliated with heavy air strikes and artillery fire.

Due to the fighting 60,000 people have been displaced from the border area on the Lebanese side, while thousands of Israelis have been evacuated from northern Israel.

Monitoring groups say that in the first week following Hamas's attack in October there were around 70 reported incidents near the Blue Line, and by mid-November it had risen to about 250 attacks a week.

A graphic showing the growing number of cross border incidents each week

The peacekeeping force was first deployed in 1978 after Israel invaded southern Lebanon in response to cross border attacks by the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

Since then, more than 300 peacekeepers have been killed, 48 of them Irish, something which is on the minds of the troops' families.

Captain Tony Smith says his family fears for him but is supportive of his work

Captain Tony Smith, 27, on his second deployment, regularly reassures his relatives back home in Wexford, in south east Ireland.

"Of course my mother wants me to go home now, which eventually I will, but she knows why we are here and despite her concerns she supports that."

Approaching the nearby town of Tebnine, posters of Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah and fallen Hezbollah fighters line the road.

It's 10km (6.2 miles) from the Blue Line and has been heavily damaged in previous conflicts.

Like most of the towns and villages in southern Lebanon, Hezbollah is very influential here and controls security in the area.

Bassima and Ali have lived through several wars on the Lebanon-Israel border

One of the local residents, 57-year-old Ali Saad, says he grew up with the Irish Unifil soldiers.

Speaking with a distinctive Irish accent, Ali says one peacekeeper helped teach him English when he was a young boy.

That soldier was one of three generations of the same Irish family to serve with Unifil. His father also served several decades ago, and his son is currently stationed in Lebanon.

Ali credits the Irish troops with helping to save his life when they picked him up from school and took him to one of their bunkers during an air strike.

In the years since, he has worked as a translator for Unifil and a group of Irish soldiers even attended his wedding to his wife, Bassima, who also helps the peacekeepers with language services.

Irish troops from Unifil attended Ali and Bassima's wedding

But while Ali values the troops' presence, he is sad that the conflict they are there to monitor has dragged on so long.

"To be honest we never thought this mission would last for over 44 years," he says.

For Bassima the current fighting has brought back painful memories of earlier conflicts, like the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

"I was putting my younger son inside an empty washing machine because I was hoping that it could project him," she says.

"Now, we keep hearing all these sounds of explosions and I just can't take it."

She believes that growing up surrounded by conflict has affected her son, who is now 23. He still gets nervous when Unifil helicopters fly overhead.

"We can't go back to where we were," she adds. "We are wasting our life from one conflict to another, I just cannot go through another war."

Lieutenant Colonel Cathal Keohane fears the crisis could worsen

Back at the base, Unifil commander Lieutenant Colonel Cathal Keohane is concerned that the level of violence in the area has been increasing.

"We have seen an expansion and more attacks deeper inside to Lebanon, we have seen a wider range of weapons being used," he says, worrying that the situation could escalate.

"Whether it arises deliberately from one side, or some inadvertent circumstances precipitate the outbreak of all-out war, that is a serious concern for us."

He hopes that the ceasefire in Gaza will lead to an easing of tensions around the Blue Line, but says it could take displaced people some time to return to their homes, even if the cross border fire ends.
Israel has released 39 more Palestinians on Sunday, 26 November, following a temporary ceasefire agreement.

Source: NBC News

Details: The International Committee of the Red Cross also said it had helped assist in the release of 19 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli detention centres.

Earlier, the Qatari foreign ministry spokesman stated that almost all the prisoners who were released on Sunday were under 18.

The Israeli authorities have not yet published information about the identities or ages of the released hostages.

Background:

On 24 November, a four-day ceasefire began between Israel and Hamas militants.

On the evening of 24 November, the first 13 Israeli hostages, accompanied by the International Committee of the Red Cross, left the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that intense fighting in the Middle East would continue for at least two months after the temporary ceasefire.

On 25 November, the Hamas terrorist group announced that it had handed over 13 Israeli and seven foreign hostages to the Red Cross for release, and the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed this information.

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 Flash

Ordos hosted a grand light show in 10 first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, with the landmarks in CBD showing Chinese characters Warm city Ordos welcomes you. The city promotion video is also played on large outdoor screens in core business areas in 100 cities nationwide, including the US and France.

Ordos, a city in North Chinas Inner Mongolia autonomous region, was ranked one of the 2023 Happiest Cities in China recently. The cities were selected by Oriental Outlook magazine and the think tank Liaowang Institute, both run by Xinhua News Agency. The selection was based on a variety of indexes and included the process of big data collection, questionnaires and panel discussions.

Located along the Yellow River, Ordos has a long history and profound cultural foundations. It also boasts various geographical sceneries of desert and grassland and quite a livable environment.




A four-day pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two days, the White House confirmed Monday, following negotiations mediated by Qatar and Egypt.

Hamas, which has released more than 50 hostages in the last three days of the temporary truce, will free 20 more women and children over the next two days, White House national security spokesman John Kirby told reporters on Monday.

The two-day extension was first announced by Qatars foreign ministry and Hamas, just 12 hours before the deal was set to expire. Israel is yet to comment on the extension.

The U.S., Egypt, and Qatar have pressed Israel for an extension in the temporary ceasefire. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly said that he will extend the truce by one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

On a trip to the Gaza Strip Sunday, Netanyahu vowed to continue the war, telling Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers in the enclave that we will continue until the end  until victory. Nothing will stop us.

An agreement to release more hostages may mean the ceasefire continues, but Israel has signaled its eagerness to return to the war. One analyst said its unlikely that the pause will continue for long. I cant see the truce lasting more than a week, Miri Eisin, a former Israeli military intelligence specialist, told The Guardian, adding that the IDFs goal of dismantling Hamas is only possible through an extended ground campaign in the Gaza Strip. That means hostilities could continue for months.

Palestinian civilians who ventured into northern Gaza during the ceasefire found their homes and neighborhoods leveled by Israels weeks-long siege. Our lives have been destroyed. Our families have been broken. There are no houses left, only stones, one woman told Israeli outlet Haaretz. Palestinians have questioned what they could hope to achieve during the brief ceasefire: Some aid has been allowed into Gaza, and residents of the enclave are now tasked with sourcing enough food, water, and winter clothing for the weeks ahead.

The fallout of the war has continued to reverberate around the world, including in the U.S., where internal divisions among White House staffers have grown as hostilities have progressed. The conflict has become the biggest crisis of U.S. President Joe Bidens term, and questions are swirling about how the administration plans to temper support for Israel with the ever-growing humanitarian toll of the war, The Washington Post reported. Bidens full-throated support of Israel has cost the U.S. some of its international standing, with some developing nations calling Washington hypocritical.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Monday said 11 more hostages held by the Islamic militant group Hamas are leaving Gaza and are headed to Israel.

The IDF said in a Telegram post that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) had confirmed the hostages were en route to Israeli territory.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said 33 Palestinian civilians, including 30 minors and three women, will be released in exchange for the hostages that had been held by Hamas.

The hostages released Monday include three French citizens, two German citizens and six Argentinian citizens, Al Ansari wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Mondays hostage-prisoner exchange is the fourth round of releases since a temporary ceasefire was implemented on Friday. About 58 hostages had been released by Hamas before Mondays announcement, and more than 100 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The truce was extended by two days on Monday to facilitate the release of more hostages and prisoners.

The White House on Monday said there will be 20 additional hostages freed in those 48 hours, all women and children, and that it was pushing for an even longer truce to release more hostages.

Hamas captured some 240 hostages when it launched a surprise attack on Israel Oct. 7.

Humanitarian groups are also working to get more aid into embattled Gaza during the ceasefire, with around 200 trucks a day carrying critical supplies of medicine, fuel, food, water and other basic necessities into the strip.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Israeli hostages released by Hamas over the last 48 hours include Hagar Brodutch and her three children, who are among eight hostages with ties to the New York City area.

Brodutch, 40, was kidnapped from her home at Kibbutz Kfar Aza with her daughter Ofri, 10, and sons Yuval, 8, and Uryah, 4. They were held captive in Gaza for over 50 days and released Sunday.

Their family learned last week that Brodutch and her children were on a preliminary list of women and children who potentially could be freed, said New Yorker Nave Strauss, Brodutchs cousin. However, it wasnt until late Saturday, after an agonizing wait that they finally received the final word that the four would be released.

It was sort of an excruciating weekend while we waited for Hagar and her kids to be released, Strauss said.

But now, theyre back in Israel.

The family lost weight while in captivity, but otherwise is in good physical health, their cousin said. They also seem to be in shock from the experience.

Strauss hasnt spoken yet to his cousin, but has talked to Brodutchs father and sister. He was overjoyed to see them return to safety and reunite with their loved ones and the family dog.

The family was part of a group of 17 hostages who were exchanged for the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel on Sunday.

Avigail Edan, a 4-year-old American dual citizen, was also part of this third round of hostages released on Sunday, marking the first release of an American hostage since the start of the ceasefire.

Around 50 Israeli hostages have been released. A two-day extension of the delicate ceasefire was announced by Qater Monday, signaling a longer pause in the fighting may soon follow. Israels counter-offensive in Gaza has claimed more than 14,000 lives, according to estimates.

Many families are still anxiously waiting for word that their loved ones will be released, and calls continue for the release of all 240 hostages.

Its bittersweet, Strauss said. Were really thankful and trying to just appreciate this moment objectively, and then, you know, theres the bigger picture of all the hostages who we just we all feel need to be back.

The Brodutch family was reunited with father Avichai Brodutch at a hospital near Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Not surprisingly, Hagar did not know that her husband is still alive, Strauss said. So that must have been an extraordinary moment of happiness and relief.

The family is also grappling with the changed world into which theyve emerged, he said. While held hostage, the Brodutch family didnt know the full extent of what happened on Oct. 7; that they wouldnt be able to return home to Kfar Aza, their kibbutz; and that they and the hostages have become larger-than-life symbols of the conflict, with their pictures plastered on posters all over the world.

Hagars sister was telling me on the phone yesterday how she was trying to explain that to the kids, Strauss said. And you can imagine how difficult it is trying to convey anything like that to children, even if it didnt happen to them directly, let alone directly like, People know who you are. Theres so much unpacking and processing that needs to happen.

_____
Israel President Isaac Herzog said in an interview Sunday that the release of hostages amid the temporary cease-fire between Israel and militant group Hamas has been a huge emotional storm.

During an appearance on CNN, Herzog told host Wolf Blitzer it is extremely important for Israelis to see good news for the first time in the duration of the war.

The fact that you see young girls, a young boy, or grandmothers walking through and going to Israeli hospitals and coming back and meeting their families is a huge emotional storm, Herzog said.

Its something that gives us happiness, but of course, happiness with a lot of sorrow in it because there are at least 200 hostages still held out there in Hamas  under Hamas duress, somewhere in bunkers somewhere without knowing what, how  they live and what theyre aware about. Some family torn apart.

Herzog also noted that some hostages who were released still have family members held captive by the militant group, saying it is the families apart.

And as you can see, throughout the last few days, Hamas is treading on our psychology with a kind of a passive aggressive approach, which wants to drive us as a nation crazy because of the emotions filled and because of the extreme pain and worry of so many relatives to their friends and family who are out there in Gaza, Herzog added.

The Israeli military announced Sunday that 17 people  14 Israelis and three foreign nationals  were released from Hamas captivity in Gaza. The ages of the released Israeli citizens range from 4 to 84.

This is the latest round of hostages to be freed amid the four-day cease-fire between Israel and the militant group; 50 hostages were expected to be released by Monday. Twenty-four of them were released in the first wave Friday, and an additional 17 were released Saturday.

Its been close to two months since Hamass surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people. Israel has since launched a wave of attacks in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of people, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
(Bloomberg) -- Italy is set to back Margrethe Vestager of Denmark for president of the European Investment Bank if its candidate Daniele Franco wont be successful, according to people familiar with the matter.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Vestager stepped aside in September as the European Unions digital chief to pursue the EIB post, while Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino has been seen as the frontrunner. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz publicly backed Calvino earlier this month.

That leaves France in a key position to help sway the outcome of the contest, which has been going on for months.

Along with Calvino, Vestager and Franco, two senior EIB officials  Teresa Czerwinska of Poland and Thomas Ostros of Sweden  are also in the running. Franco is a former finance minister of Italy.

A decision is expected by years end as the position becomes open in January. EU finance ministers could take a decision as early as next week.

Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem said last month that the views of the biggest EU member states will be key in determining who gets the job.

To become head of the EIB  the worlds biggest multilateral lender  a candidate must garner the backing of 18 member states, representing at least 68% of the share capital. The EIB is currently led by Werner Hoyer, a member of Germanys pro-business Liberal Democratic Party.

Italys Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti reiterated on Monday that Italy still officially backs Franco, a government official said.

--With assistance from Samuel Stolton.

(Adds comment from government official in last paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested in Burlington, Vt., in connection with the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent, leaving at least one of the men in serious condition. (Burlington Police Department)

When a federal agent knocked on the door of apartment No. 6 at 69 N. Prospect St. in Burlington, Vt., a tall, thin man with a beard and goatee stepped out into the hallway with his hands by his waist, palms up. From inside came the sound of a television.

"I've been waiting for you," Jason Eaton told the officer, according to court documents released Monday. He appeared nervous.

"Why's that?" a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives asked. Other federal agents and local police were canvassing the area and the building.

Eaton requested a lawyer.

Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday afternoon in connection with the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent the night before, leaving at least one of the men in serious condition. He pleaded not guilty Monday morning to three counts of attempted murder.

Police have not yet declared a motive, but the case is being investigated as a possible hate crime, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said.

"There is more investigation to be done, and that includes trying to determine motive," Murad said at a news conference Monday morning. "We still do not know as much as we want to know."

Read more: Israel and Hamas agree to extend truce for two more days, and free more hostages and prisoners

The shooting comes amid a pause in fighting nearly two months into the Israel-Hamas war, as Jewish, Palestinian and Arab communities in the U.S. remain on high alert amid a surge in reported hate crimes against the groups. At times, the tension has erupted into violence, including the fatal stabbing of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in a Chicago suburb in what was described by authorities as a hate crime, as well as manslaughter and battery charges in the death of a 69-year-old Jewish man who suffered a head injury at a Thousand Oaks protest.

"We could see decade highs in anti-Muslim hate crime and possible records in anti-Jewish hate crimes after final data comes in," said Brian Levin, who ran the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State San Bernardino until last month. "Since the outbreak of the [Israel-Hamas] war, across North America and in California in particular there has been a precipitous rise in anti-Jewish, anti-Muslim and [anti-Arab] hate crimes reported to police that is both diverse by offense and often public and brazen."

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called the shooting one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this citys history.

This horrific unprovoked attack was a tragic violation of the values and character of this welcoming, inclusive community, Weinberger said.

President Biden offered his condolences as federal law enforcement partners continued to investigate the shooting alongside Burlington police.

"While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period," Biden said in a statement. "No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that."

Though the investigation is in its early stages, an affidavit provided by the Burlington Police Department and released by the Vermont judiciary outlined events that led to the shooting of the three students and the search for a suspect.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, Tahseen Ali Ahmad and Hisham Awartani, all 20, had been in Burlington since the day before Thanksgiving and were staying at Awartani's grandmother's house on North Prospect Street, they told police in interviews after the shooting. On Saturday, they went for a walk after going bowling for Awartani's 8-year-old cousin's birthday, and they were smoking cigarettes and chatting in a mixture of English and Arabic, according to the affidavit. Ali Ahmad and Awartani were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian headscarves.

Outside a white house, Awartani said, a man walked up to them, pulled a handgun and started shooting when he was about six feet away, according to the affidavit. Awartani and Ali Ahmad fell to the ground screaming, and Awartani called 911, according to the documents. Ali Ahmad was shot in the chest, and Awartani was hit in the spine. A man emerged from the white house and, after learning they'd been shot, brought out blankets.

Abdalhamid said the gunman, whom he had never seen before, had been staring at them before opening fire, according to the affidavit. The man stumbled down the stairs of the white house in a way that Abdalhamid described to police as "wonky."

Unlike the other two students, Abdalhamid was able to run away and only realized he had been shot through his backside after he jumped a fence and knocked on a resident's door, begging them to call 911, the document says.

Police and federal agents from the ATF and FBI converged on the crime scene and immediately began searching, according to the affidavit.

Read more: Irregular meals, plastic chairs as beds. As hostages return to Israel, details of captivity emerge

Armed officers swept the apartment building Saturday but at the time didnt have the legal authority to enter any units, Murad said at Monday's news conference. Additionally, at least one witness said the shooter fled the scene.

When agents returned Sunday, Eaton refused to talk further after telling them he had been waiting, though he did admit that he had a shotgun in the apartment, according to the affidavit. He requested a lawyer repeatedly, declined to say whether any other guns were inside and would not identify himself, according to the affidavit.

Police called the landlord of the building, who identified Eaton as the sole occupant.

Authorities secured a search warrant and found a Ruger .380 LCP pistol in the apartment loaded with rounds that matched an intact bullet found at the scene of the shooting, according to the affidavit. They also found a Savage 20-gauge shotgun and a Savage .22-caliber rifle as well as ammunition for the guns, the affidavit said.

Eaton is being held without bail at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton, about 35 miles north of Burlington. A bail hearing is pending.

At the news conference Monday, Murad said Eaton had only recently arrived in Burlington and came from the Syracuse area. Eaton had one local traffic violation, and authorities were working to see whether he has previous records elsewhere, Murad said.

Eaton acquired the gun legally months before the shooting from a federally licensed dealer in Vermont, Murad said, adding that there were no flags on the purchase.

Read more: A Jewish professor at USC confronted pro-Palestinian students. He's now barred from campus

In the last few years, authorities said, gun violence has increased dramatically in Burlington, a progressive city of about 45,000 people on the shores of Lake Champlain and home to several colleges. In 2022, the city recorded 26 gunfire incidents, Murad said, up from about two per year previously. There have been at least a dozen shootings in Burlington so far this year, Murad said.

The victims' families fear they were targeted because they are Arab and were wearing keffiyehs, according to Richard Price, Awartani's uncle. "We believe in the sanctity of the presumption of innocence and due process," he said. "We'll support the authorities as they go through their investigation, but it certainly seems like that's our fear."

Successfully prosecuting a hate crime enhancement requires "direct and great evidence" that proves malicious motivation beyond a reasonable doubt, Sarah George, the states attorney for Chittenden County, said Monday. The enhancement can serve as an aggravating factor at sentencing, though with or without it Eaton faces 20 years to life in prison.

Although we dont yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, I do want to be clear that there is no question this was a hateful act, George said.

Radi Tamimi, Abdalhamid's uncle, said his nephew's family shares the same fears. "Hard to imagine in this time and with everything that's happening that it was just a random act," said Tamimi, who flew in from California on Monday. "It doesn't feel that way. But we are absolutely willing to wait to [let] the due process take its course."

We welcome the arrest of a suspect in this shooting, and we encourage law enforcement to file state and federal hate crime charges if the evidence confirms that anti-Palestinian racism motivated this attack," said Nihad Awad, executive director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The police said they did not have any information on Eatons religious background.

Mary Reed, Eaton's mother, told the the Daily Beast that Eaton suffered from depression and mental health struggles in the past but seemed happy on Thanksgiving.

I just dont understand, she said. I cant believe he would do something like this.

Eatons sister declined to comment on the situation to The Times.

All three victims were in the intensive care unit at the University of Vermont Medical Center on Monday.

Awartani suffered a spinal cord injury and faces a long recovery, Price said. Ali Ahmad was still in "quite a lot of pain," he said, and Abdalhamid was expected to make a "full and speedy recovery."

Times staff writers David Zahniser, Emily Alpert Reyes and Daniel Miller contributed to this report.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma just set up a new company called "Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food," per media reports.

It's involved in sales of pre-packaged food and the processing and retail of agricultural products, per SCMP.

Ma has shown interest in the agriculture business since retiring from Alibaba in 2019.

For years, Alibaba cofounder Jack Ma has been the poster boy for China's tech industry  but it looks like he's moving on to the food business.

On Wednesday, Ma incorporated a company called "Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food" in the city where Alibaba is based, according to media reports. Hangzhou is also Ma's hometown.

The company's registered capital is 10 million Chinese yuan, or $1.4 million, Alibaba-owned South China Morning Post reported, citing the official National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, a corporate registry.

Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food is wholly owned by Ma's investment vehicle, Hangzhou Dajingtou. No 22 Arts and Culture. The company is involved in the sales of pre-packaged food and the processing and retail of agricultural products, per SCMP.

Ma's interest in agriculture appears to have taken off in the wake of the government's crackdown on his businesses, which started in 2020 after he angered Beijing with a critical speech about China's financial-regulatory system.

The tech titan  who's known for his outspoken and flamboyant personality  vanished from public view for two years after the crackdown. His personal wealth also tanked, and his companies lost hundreds of billions of dollars. He's kept a low profile ever since, making only rare public appearances.

Instead, over the last few years, he has been traveling the world while studying agrotech.

In October 2021, Ma was in Spain learning about agriculture and technology related to environmental issues. He has also traveled to the Netherlands , Japan , and Thailand to study agrotech.

In May, Tokyo College announced that Ma would be taking up a teaching position while researching sustainable agriculture and food production.

In January, he was in Thailand, where he dined with Supakit Chearavanont, the chairman of Charoen Pokphand Group, a major animal feed producer.

Ma retired from Alibaba in 2019. His foundation, the Jack Ma Foundation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.

Correction: November 27, 2023  An earlier version of this story stated that the registered capital of Hangzhou Ma's Kitchen Food is 10 million Chinese yuan, or $1.4 billion. It is $1.4 million, not $1.4 billion.

Read the original article on Business Insider
After narrowly losing on a ballot initiative to expand the Ada County Jail, Ada County leaders are asking for the state to increase the reimbursement rate the Sheriffs Office receives for housing state prisoners.

As Ada County has grown, the population of people imprisoned at the Ada County Jail has increased, to the point that the jails population is often higher than can be housed in beds, forcing people to sleep in cots on the floor.

To pay for an expansion, the Ada County Commission chose to put the matter to voters as a bond issue, which requires two-thirds of voters to vote yes. The measure received support from 65.8% of voters, according to results from the Ada County Elections Office.

The commissioners did not pursue another option available to them, called a lease-purchase, which requires only a majority.

Now, the commissioners want the Idaho Department of Correction to pay counties more to house people who have been convicted and sentenced for crimes, but for whom there is no room in state prisons.

A big portion of the overcrowding in our jail is because of IDOC inmates, Commissioner Rod Beck told local lawmakers on Nov. 13, noting that theres an average of 140 state prisoners in the jail every day. If those inmates were not in our jail, we wouldnt be overcrowded.

The jail averages 1,008 people a day, according to data from the Sheriffs Office. It takes an average of 47 days for the Department of Correction to transfer people newly convicted of felonies from the jail to a prison, according to a spokesperson, Jeff Ray.

Jailed people sleep in a cell in the medium custody section.

Ray said the department prioritizes transfers based on a variety of criteria, including mental health or medical issues that need attention and the dates of upcoming hearings.

Beck said he wants the Legislature to increase the reimbursement amount to cover the local jails expenses.

After people incarcerated at the jail are convicted and sentenced for felonies, they enter the custody of the Department of Correction. But they often linger in the jail for days before the department picks them up.

People convicted of misdemeanors often serve time in the local jail, too. Misdemeanor-only convictions do not serve state-prison sentences.

On Nov. 16, the Ada County Jail had 112 people ready to be transported to state prisons, according to a Sheriffs Office spokesperson, Patrick Orr.

A hallway inside the medium custody section of the Ada County Jail is reserved for special management housing.

Under state law, Idaho counties are required to house people sentenced to prison until they are transported. Counties are reimbursed $55 per day to cover the costs of each person. After seven days, that rises to $75 per day.

According to the Sheriffs Office, it costs $117.34 on average to house a person, Orr said, meaning that the $75 reimbursement rate covers about 64% of the jails costs for each incarcerated person, and the $55 covers less than half. In fiscal year 2022, the state prison paid Ada County $3.8 million, Orr said.

Would higher reimbursement affect the need for a bond?

Because funding for the jail is managed by the Ada County Commission, its unclear how higher reimbursement rates in the past could have affected the need for bonding.

Money to operate the jail comes from the countys general fund, and revenue generated at the jail goes back into that fund, Orr said. He said the average amount per day the county receives from the Department of Correction for each incarcerated person is $72, and that an additional $45 per day  to get closer to the $117 cost per person for running the jail  would bring in an additional $2.4 million per year.

If successive county commissions had then saved that money exclusively for a jail expansion, it would have taken 20 years to save the $49 million the county asked voters for.

In 2019, the Sheriffs Office took the Department of Correction to court, saying the state was unfairly warehousing its prisoners in the countys jail.

Two years later, when the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced the jails population, then-Sheriff Stephen Bartlett withdrew the case.





Female dorms of the jail.

While we knew a return to historical jail population was coming, we decided to keep working together on solutions instead of fighting in court, Orr told the Statesman by email. We know we will always have IDOC inmates in our facility, and they do create some revenue for the county to offset jail costs. We are going to continue to work with IDOC on problem solving and maintaining a good working relationship.

Ray told the Statesman by email that the Department of Correction has added more than 600 new beds since 2019, and that there is funding available for 1,200 more.

The state is paying to house nearly 600 incarcerated people at a prison in Eloy, Arizona, he said.

Ray added that the agency and Gov. Brad Little requested money to construct a secure, forensic mental health facility for people categorized as dangerously mentally ill, but that the Legislature did not approve the funding.

A cot-style sleeping arrangement referred to as a boat is set up on the floor of a dorm on a day when this area of the jail was over capacity.

We understand the frustrations our partners at Ada County are feeling because were facing the same challenge, Ray said, noting that the state is growing quickly. However, adding beds is only part of the answer. In the long term, we need to reduce the demand for beds by addressing the issues that fuel crime in our communities. Doing so will require innovation and investment on all levels of government.

Why did the county pursue bonding?

At its meeting with local lawmakers, a legislator asked the commissioners why they had chosen to bring forward a bond, which requires the highest threshold to pass.

I just really felt that the bond is set out in the Idaho Constitution, its the most constitutional way to get the broadest amount of support, said Commissioner Ryan Davidson, adding that the county strongly considered pursuing the lease option.

A ballot effort in Ada County failed to garner enough votes to allow the county to take on $49 million in municipal bonds to expand and upgrade the jails infrastructure.

Tom Dayley said the state could amend the constitution if it wants to, but that until then, the best course is the one laid out in the constitution.

Beck said he would support changing the requirements for bonding to a graduated scale that would require different thresholds depending on voter turnout.

Davidson also asked lawmakers to look at changing sentencing requirements, since its state laws and state judges who decide who should be incarcerated.

I hope that the Legislature can maybe take a look at sentence lengths and mandatory minimums and things like that, Davidson said. Anecdotally, I feel that maybe sentences for a lot of different crimes and probation terms feel excessively long. I hope that we can study that issue.

He added that new technology has made it easier to track people in custody, even while they are outside the jail.

About 2,000 people are supervised in Ada County outside of the jail, through programs like pretrial release, alternative sentencing, the sheriffs labor detail, misdemeanor probation and a community transition center.

Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, told the Statesman that mandatory sentencing requirements are a mainstay conservative value that law enforcement and prosecutors generally oppose, though he said some programs have been successful at diverting people charged with nonviolent crimes into counseling.

Winder said he plans to look into what delays the state from picking up incarcerated people, but increasing the reimbursement rate doesnt really solve the problem for the counties.

At a public forum with members of the American Association of Retired Persons Monday, Gov. Brad Little said a lot of the overcrowding issue statewide can be attributed to substance abuse issues.

If I didnt have substance abuse problems, Id have lots of room in my jails, Little said.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan on Sunday weighed in on whether President Joe Biden is open to attaching conditions to the delivery of U.S. aid to Israel.

The idea was first floated by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who called for using the substantial leverage we have with Israel, in reference to the billions of dollars the U.S. provides to the country each year, in return for Israel ending its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and committing to not occupy Gaza long-term, among other things.

The blank check approach must end, Sanders wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. The United States must make clear that while we are friends of Israel, there are conditions to that friendship and that we cannot be complicit in actions that violate international law and our own sense of decency.

President Joe Biden on Friday called the idea a worthwhile thought, before adding: We have to take this a piece at a time.

Sullivan echoed Biden, noting that the current approach the president has taken with regards to the Middle East conflict, which includes direct presidential diplomacy behind closed doors with the Israelis and with our Arab partners is working, as proven by the release of hostages by Hamas during the truce deal.

But, notably Sullivan did not exclude the possibility of Biden securing concessions from Israelis before delivering more support in the future.

Some Democrats have also expressed the support for making the call on Israel.

We regularly condition our aid to allies based upon compliance with U.S. law and international law, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told CNNs State of the Union Sunday. And, so, I think its very consistent with the ways in which we have dispensed aid, especially during wartime, to allies, for us to talk about making sure that the aid we give Ukraine or the aid we give Israel is used in accordance with human rights laws.

A temporary cease-fire between Israel and Hamas that the U.S. and Qatar helped broker is set to expire after Monday, but negotiators are pushing for its extension.

The militant group on Sunday released a third group of hostages, including one American, 4-year-old Abigail Edan whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that prompted the conflict.

What she endured is unthinkable, Biden said of Edan.

A fourth group of hostages is expected to be released Monday.

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has signaled he would be willing to allow an extension of the truce to enable more hostages to be freed from captivity, he vowed his forces will resume fighting Hamas once the cease-fire is over.

Related...
Daiichi Sankyo's company logo is pictured at its headquarters in Tokyo

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese health ministry panel on Monday recommended approval for an updated version of Daiichi Sankyo's COVID-19 vaccine, the Kyodo news agency said.

The mRNA-based shot was initially approved as a booster in August, becoming Japan's first home-grown shot for the coronavirus. The vaccine was updated to provide protection against the XBB.1.5 Omicron subvariant, a contingent for the health ministry to buy 1.4 million doses.

The panel's decision paves the way for full approval by the government.

Separately, the panel recommended approval for a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine for the coronavirus that was submitted by the pharmaceuticals unit of Meiji Holdings, Kyodo said.

Meiji in April acquired the Japanese rights to the shot, developed by San Diego-based Arcturus Therapeutics.

(Reporting by Rocky Swift, Editing by Louise Heavens)
 Flash

As the cold November air wraps provinces in the upper north of China in a shimmering white and gray blanket of its chilly embrace, the southern border of Guizhou province unveils a contrasting vibrant canvas that sets it apart during the winter season. Nestled between rolling hills and away from bustling streets, this region offers a marvelous trek into natural wonders.

Landing in Xingyi, the county-level city in the Qianxinan Buyei and Miao autonomous prefecture in the southwest of Guizhou province, the silhouette of a stream of verdant peaks enveloped in a thin veil of fog flows by, offering a unique view of Wanfeng Forest, which lies less than 9 kilometers away.

Aptly named "forest of ten thousand peaks," Wanfeng Forest proudly holds the title of China's largest peak forest featuring typical karst landscape.




Vietnam's President Vo Van Thuong, left, and Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, right, shake hands at the end of a joint press conference at the prime minister's official residence in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Richard A. Brooks/Pool Photo via AP)

TOKYO (AP)  Japan and Vietnam on Monday agreed to strengthen their security and economic ties in the face of Chinas growing influence in the region.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong held talks in Tokyo and agreed to broaden their security cooperation, work on defense equipment and technology transfers and start discussing a new Japanese aid program for militaries of like-minded developing countries in the region.

The two leaders said the Japan-Vietnam relationship would become a comprehensive strategic partnership," bringing their ongoing cooperation to new heights and to further expand it to new fronts, according to their joint statement provided by Japans Foreign Ministry.

Japan has been rapidly developing closer ties with Vietnam, a key southeast Asian country that has important security and economic roles in the region faced with Chinas rise and rivalry with the United States and other Western nations.

Monday's announcement meant that Japan has now gained the status of Vietnams top-tier partners, along with the United States, China and India.

At a joint news conference after their meeting, Kishida said Vietnam is a key partner in achieving a free and open Indo-Pacific. Thuong said that close cooperation between the two countries contributes to the region's peace and prosperity.

Under the Official Security Assistance, Japan recently agreed to provide a coastal surveillance radar to the Philippines, another strategically important Southeast Asian country for Japan and the U.S. amid escalating tensions over Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its territory.

Kishidas government in December adopted new security strategy, involving significant military buildup, including counterstrike capability in a major shift from the countrys postwar self-defense-only principle.

Japan in recent years has also provided a number of patrol vessels to Vietnam to help strengthen its law enforcement capability at sea. Vietnam is one of several countries defending their territorial interest against China in the disputed South China Sea. Japan has had a longstanding territorial dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea.

Kishida and Thuong agreed to expand their cooperation in wide range of areas from trade, climate change and economy to achieve a free and open Indo-Pacific.

Thoung, who is on a four-day visit as a rare state guest marking the two countries' 50th anniversary of diplomatic ties, is also to visit the Imperial Palace for a meeting and lunch hosted by Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako. He is to give a speech at the Lower House, the more powerful of Japan's two parliamentary chambers, and visit a hydrogen energy facility in Fukuoka in southern Japan.
Members of the fishing community came together at a public drop-in session to voice their issues with the plan

Seven fishing boats in Jersey could be out of business "overnight" if a recommended plan is implemented, members of the fishing community say.

The draft Marine Spatial Plan was published in October to recommend ways of protecting the island's marine environment.

Changes to the way the fishing industry could work were made in it, including over the use of boats with mobile gear.

Deputy Jonathan Renouf said the plan could "help the fishing industry".

Deputy Renouf, the minister for environment, said: "We've been working on it [the plan] for quite a considerable amount of time and consulting with the fishers for that amount of time as well.

He said new marine protected zones would mean more fish in the sea, "and that will be good for all of us."

He added: "I hear what people are saying, and if we need a bit more time I'm sure we can do that."

Members of the fishing community came together at a public drop-in session on Thursday to voice their issues.

Gabby Mason, from Jade-S Fisheries, said she was worried about new recommended protected zones.

Nathalie Porritt and Gabby Mason say they fear for the future of dredging and trawling boats if proposed plans are implemented

The plan recommended creating marine protected areas (MPAs) across almost 30% of Jersey's waters, with boats with mobile gears not being permitted.

Mobile fishing gear includes equipment such as nets, lines and traps that can be moved around while fishing.

Ms Mason said: "From our understanding, as an industry reading through the draft document, it certainly indicates to us that they are going to put a full ban on all mobile gear boats within those proposed areas, which would put seven boats out of business overnight.

"We are certainly for a plan, but we definitely want a longer time period for the consultation; not rushing something through in a very short timescale."

'Very fearful time'

Nathalie Porritt, a fishing merchant at Aquamar Fisheries, said the proposed areas would particularly affect the scallop industry.

She said: "Last year, approximately 80% of the caught scallops came from the proposed areas that the Marine Spatial Plan will impact.

"The plan that we've seen as an industry is that no mobile gear at all will be allowed to operate in a designated area.

"So, on that pretence, it is a very fearful time for the fishermen that do operate those boats and the merchants that do rely on that product."

Don Thompson said the timeframe for the finalised plans were "totally unrealistic"

Don Thompson, president of the Jersey Fisheries Association, said the community was "concerned" politicians were "rushing something".

He said: "The Marine Spatial Plan we don't object to, per se. But the timeframe that the Fisheries Department team has been put under is totally unrealistic.

"People are really fearing for their livelihoods if we have to have this completed in such a short space of time."

Deputy Renouf added: "Marine protected areas are designed to help the fishing industry in the long term and, I think working on this together, I'm hopeful we can create a sustainable fishing industry going forward.

"The best thing we can do with marine protected areas will mean we'll have more fish in the sea and that will be good for all of us."

Follow BBC Jersey on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
Christmas decorations in the Cross Hall between the East Room and the State Dining Room. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The White House unveiled its 2023 Christmas decorations, themed "Magic, Wonder, and Joy."

Chosen by Jill Biden, the theme is inspired by how children experience the holiday season.

The decorations feature tributes to bedtime stories and sweets as well as White House history.

First lady Jill Biden unveiled the 2023 White House Christmas decorations on Monday, centered around the theme "Magic, Wonder, and Joy."

"The 2023 White House holiday theme is inspired by how children experience this festive season: completely present in the beauty and bounty around them, their senses alight, with hearts open to the magic, wonder, and joy of the holidays," the president and first lady wrote in a welcome letter in the 2023 White House Holiday Guide. "In this season of reflection and goodwill, we hope you will embrace your inner child and delight in simply being present with those you love."

Take a look at how the White House has been decked out for the holiday season.

At the entrance to the East Wing of the White House, columns have been decorated to look like candy canes and Christmas tree trunks.

Christmas tree branches and ornaments suspended from the ceiling of the East Portico of the White House. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Christmas tree branches hanging from the ceiling of the East Portico are meant to invoke the feeling of lying under a Christmas tree as a child, according to the 2023 White House Holiday Guide.

Statues of the Bidens' pets, Commander and Willow, welcome guests to the East Wing.

Statues of the first family's pets, Commander the dog and Willow the cat, are displayed in the East Wing. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Bidens' dog Commander no longer lives at the White House after repeatedly biting Secret Service staff.

At the East Entrance of the White House, Gold Star trees honor fallen soldiers.

Gold Star trees at the East Entrance of the White House. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The gold-star ornaments are engraved with service members' names, ranks, and dates of death.

As part of the first lady's Joining Forces initiative supporting military families, National Guard families were the first to tour the White House Christmas decorations on Monday.

Candy-themed ornaments hang from the ceiling in the East Colonnade.

The East Colonnade of the White House decorated for Christmas. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Ornaments shaped like peppermints and ice-cream cones are surrounded by string lights.

In the Ground Floor Corridor, a portrait of former first lady Rosalynn Carter is draped with black material following her death earlier this month.

A portrait of former first lady Rosalynn Carter in the Ground Floor Corridor of the White House. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Carter died at age 96 on November 19. She was married to former president Jimmy Carter for 77 years, making them the longest-wed presidential couple in history.

The White House Library is decorated to honor "the tradition and magic of bedtime stories," according to the White House Holiday Guide.

The White House Library decorated for Christmas. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Classic holiday books are displayed throughout the room, and Santa and his reindeer can be spotted flying through the sky in the window.

In the Vermeil Room, a tribute to holiday music and performance features a mechanical theater with United States Marine Band figures that spin and play herald trumpets.

Christmas decorations in the White House Vermeil Room. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The Christmas trees on either side of the theater are decorated with instrument-shaped ornaments.

The China Room has been transformed into a White House Sweet Shop.

The China Room decorated for Christmas. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The China Room display includes holiday baking supplies amid gingerbread houses, holiday cakes, and other themed desserts.

The East Room is decorated with Advent calendars counting down the days until Christmas.

The East Room decorated for Christmas. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The room also displays a Nativity scene with over 40 figurines that dates back to the 18th century.

The Blue Room houses the official White House Christmas tree.

The official White House Christmas tree in the Blue Room. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The 18-foot Fraser fir was grown in Fleetwood, North Carolina.

The Cross Hall is lined with glowing Christmas trees, and it also houses the official White House menorah.

Christmas decorations in the Cross Hall between the East Room and the State Dining Room. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The menorah was built in 2021 by White House carpenters using leftover wood from a Truman-era renovation. It was featured in the White House holiday decorations for the first time in 2022.

In the Grand Foyer, "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" comes to life with Santa's sleigh and reindeer flying through the air.

The Grand Foyer of the White House decorated for Christmas. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Architectural niches along the walls depict scenes from the holiday poem.

In total, the White House Christmas decorations include 98 trees and 142,425 holiday lights.

Christmas trees in the East Room looking towards the Cross Hall. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

The display also utilizes 14,975 feet of ribbon, over 350 candles, over 33,892 ornaments, and over 22,100 bells, according to the 2023 White House Holiday Guide.

Read the original article on Business Insider
ATLANTA  Former President Jimmy Carter is in Atlanta, expected to attend services Monday and Tuesday honoring the late first lady Rosalynn Carter, according to a source with knowledge of his whereabouts.

The former president is expected to attend a ceremony on Monday at the Carter Center as well as services on Tuesday at Emory University, but the source cautioned that it depends on how well he rests and how he is feeling. A spokesperson for the Carter Center confirmed separately on Monday that Carter would attend a tribute service on Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church.

Jimmy Carter, 99, entered hospice care in February and has since rarely been seen in public.

His wife died on Nov. 19 at her home in Plains, Georgia. She was 96 and had entered hospice care in her home just a few days earlier.

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife, former first lady Rosalynn Carter (John Bazemore / Pool via AP file)

Jimmy Carter said in a statement after his wife's death: "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 former president turned 99 in early October and is the longest-living U.S. president in history.

He and his wife made an appearance in September at a festival in their hometown, riding together in a black SUV through the Plains Peanut Festival.

The former president entered hospice care in February after a series of hospitalizations. He has experienced a number of health issues in recent years, including a fractured pelvis and black eye from two separate falls in 2019 and cancer that spread to his liver and brain, though he was later declared in remission.

Carter, a Democrat, was elected president in 1976, beating Republican President Gerald Ford following the Watergate scandal. Carter served one term, losing his re-election bid in 1980 to Ronald Reagan.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Former U.S. first lady Rosalynn Carter passes away at age 96 in Plains

(Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, 99, is expected to attend the memorial service for his late wife Rosalynn on Tuesday, CNN reported on Monday, citing a statement from his grandson.

Carter's grandson, Jason Carter, said his grandfather planned to travel to Atlanta to attend the service in honor of the former first lady, CNN reported. She died on Nov 19at the age of 96.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil, editing by David Ljunggren)
AMERICUS, Ga. (AP)  Hundreds turned out to salute Rosalynn Carter on Monday as the former U.S. first lady and global humanitarian made her final journey from her rural hometown to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta as her family began three days of memorials following her death at age 96.

The 99-year-old former president, who has spent the past 10 months in home hospice care, plans to attend a memorial church service Tuesday in Atlanta for his wife and partner of more than 77 years, The Carter Center confirmed. Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19.

PHOTOS: Rosalynn Carter through the years

The tributes started Monday morning as Rosalynn Carters casket traveled by motorcade through the Carters native Sumter County, where well-wishers gathered along the route in their tiny hometown of Plains and attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the college from which she graduated in 1946.

Lyndea Brown drove to the short ceremony at Georgia Southwestern State University from nearby Albany, saying she wanted to salute a remarkable woman who attended local cancer benefits and fought for rural health services.

FILE  In this Feb. 8, 2017, file photo former President Jimmy Carter, right, and his wife Rosalynn arrive for a ribbon cutting ceremony for a solar panel project on farmland he owns in their hometown of Plains, Ga Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have been best friends and life mates for nearly 80 years. Now with the former first ladys death at age 96, the former president must adjust to life without the woman who he credits as his equal partner in everything he accomplished in politics and as a global humanitarian after their White House years.(AP Photo/David Goldman, File)

They were always real hometown people, Brown said. We dont get presidents and first ladies like that anymore, people who have true hometown roots and understand what its like to grow corn and peanuts and whatever else and to struggle over health care.

During the stop at Rosalynn Carters alma mater, her four children  Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy  watched as wreaths of white flowers were placed beside a statue of their mother on the campus where she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving to advocate for millions of unpaid caregivers in American households.

Generations of the Carter family  including the former first ladys grandchildren and great-grandchildren  accompanied the hearse to Atlanta, where she was to lie in repose as members of the public paid respects Monday evening at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in Plains, are for invited guests. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, lead the dignitaries expected to attend the Atlanta service. Rosalynn Carters burial Wednesday in Plains is private.

Reactions to the death of Rosalynn Carter, former first lady and global humanitarian

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carters interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carters closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

All over the world, people are celebrating her life, said Kim Fuller, the Carters niece, while teaching a Bible lesson Sunday at Maranatha. And of course were coming into a week now where were gonna celebrate even more.

A detailed schedule is available online. Events will be streamed and broadcast by independent media.

Some well-wishers began honoring Rosalynn Carter soon after her death, including an uptick in visitors to the Carter Presidential Center campus.

Mental health is more openly talked about because of Rosalynn Carters work to reduce the stigma attached to the conditions, said Brendan Green, a high school guidance counselor who came from Chicago.

She was a pioneer in that field, Green said. What a great legacy.

Elizabeth Laudig, a registered nurse from Dallas, said she drove 12 hours to be in Georgia this week, starting with the wreath-laying ceremony in Americus. She said Rosalynn Carters emphasis on mental health and caregivers was especially inspiring to her as a nurse.

She just quietly went about the business of trying to make the world a better place, said Laudig, 54. You know, she was not a showy or extravagant first lady, but she was humble, you know, kind, hardworking, and got things done for people because she cared about people.

After the motorcade arrives in Atlanta, a brief service of repose was scheduled at the Carter Presidential Center before the public is allowed access.

The campus near downtown Atlanta includes the library and museum, and The Carter Center. The former first couple founded the center in 1982 to champion democracy, mediate international conflicts and fight disease in the developing world. Their work around the world redefined what former White House occupants can do after ceding political power.

Rosalynn Carters tiny hometown mourns a global figure who made many contributions at home

The largest single service will be held Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus. Emory helped the former first couple establish The Carter Center. Besides the Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have announced plans to attend. Also expected are former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump, according to The Carter Center.

Glenn is a Methodist congregation. The Carters married in 1946 at Plains Methodist Church, where Rosalynn Carter attended growing up. She joined her husband as a Baptist throughout their marriage.

Her final services at Maranatha will reflect their small-town Protestant roots: Church members are invited and also will eat a funeral meal with the Carter family the day of the service.

During her Sunday School hour, Fuller reminded her fellow Maranatha members that they are expected to provide dessert. Whatever you want to bring is fine, Fuller told them as she explained drop-off instructions. Spread the word if you dont mind.

___

Associated Press reporters Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Sharon Johnson in Plains, Georgia, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The Carter Center has announced the list of guests expected to attend a memorial service Tuesday for former first lady Rosalynn Carter.

Carter died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96 at the familys home in Plains. A memorial service is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the campus of Emory University.

Jimmy and Rosalynn Carters grandson Jason Carter confirmed to Channel 2s Richard Elliot that his grandfather plans to attend on Tuesday.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Who else will be in attendance on Tuesday? The White House announced last week that President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend the service.

On Monday, the Carter Center announced the rest of the guest list.

The guests include former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, former first lady Laura Bush, former first lady Michelle Obama and former first lady Melania Trump. Multiple members of Congress and Georgia officials will also be in attendance.

Country music legends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood, who are longtime friends of the Carter family, will perform along with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and ASO Chamber Chorus.

Chip and Amy Carter are expected to speak during their mothers service while one of the Carters grandsons and three of their great-grandchildren will read Bible passages.

RELATED STORIES

For those who want to pay their respects to Rosalynn Carter, there will be a funeral motorcade from the Carter Center to Glenn Memorial UMC.

The motorcade will leave at 12 p.m. via John Lewis Freedom Pkwy and turn right on Ponce de Leon Ave. The motorcade will travel east and turn left on Clifton Road and left again on North Decatur Road.

After the service ends around 2:45 p.m., the motorcade will leave Emory University on North Decatur Road. It will turn left on Briarcliff Road and continue onto Moreland Avenue then right at John Lewis Freedom Pkwy.

The motorcade will pass the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum and Carter Center for a final time before getting on Interstate 75/85 to begin the journey back to Plains.

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Former President Jimmy Carter will attend the memorial service for his late wife, Rosalynn Carter, on Tuesday, CNN reports, citing the Carters grandson Jason Carter.

The former first lady, who was diagnosed with dementia in May, died at age 96 on Nov. 19, just days after entering hospice care at her home in Plains, Georgia. Her memorial service will be held at the Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University in Atlanta, according to The Carter Center.

The Tuesday service is invitation-only and includes a list of current and former lawmakers. President Joe Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are set to attend, according to the White House. Former first ladies Michelle Obama and Melania Trump are also expected to attend, according to The Carter Center.

Rosalynn Carter, a fierce mental health advocate, was married to Jimmy Carter, who entered hospice care in February, for 77 years. He became the longest-living president in 2019.

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, Carter said in a statement after his wifes death.

Ceremonies honoring the former first lady will take place from Monday to Wednesday, according to the Carter Center. A wreath-laying and repose ceremony is set to occur Monday and a private funeral service and interment is scheduled for Wednesday.

Related...
Joe Biden will not attend the Cop28 climate talks that begin in Dubai this week, amid the war in the Middle East and domestic political pressures.

Dozens of world leaders are expected to attend the climate summit, including Rishi Sunak, as well as the Pope and the King.

Mr Biden attended last years summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, and Cop26 in Glasgow, but will stay in the US this year, the New York Times reported.

Senior White House aides indicated to the newspaper that the war between Israel and Hamas was occupying the presidents agenda.

Mr Biden is also performing poorly in polls compared to Donald Trump, a year out from the next US election.

The president could risk a backlash from younger voters for whom climate change is a political priority.

But he may be banking on this demographic continuing to vote for him over Mr Trump, who took the US out of the Paris Agreement on limiting global temperatures.

Although there is a world leaders summit at the beginning of the two-week event, heads of state do not have a role to play in negotiations, which are led by teams of officials from each country.

The US president has not always attended in previous years, but the annual summit has come under increasing global attention as climate change has risen up the agenda.

Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, is also not expected to attend the climate change summit, but both the US and China will send their climate change envoys, John Kerry and Xie Zenhua, who have a close working relationship.

The two-week Cop28 summit in Dubai will see negotiations between 198 governments on agreements designed to keep global temperatures under 1.5C.

This will include discussions on the role of oil and gas over the next few decades, and funding for developing countries worst hit by climate change.

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President Joe Biden will not attend the United Nations major climate change conference this year as he handles the U.S. response to ongoing crises in Gaza and Ukraine, the White House said Sunday.

The U.N. summit, known as the Conference of the Parties, or COP, begins this week in Dubai. World leaders and envoys are expected to travel to the Emirate as scientists continue to warn the planet has entered uncharted climate territory due to the ongoing release of greenhouse gas emissions and a slower-than-necessary response to wean the world off fossil fuels.

The New York Times, citing a White House official, said Biden will not travel to Dubai despite attending the previous two COPs in Scotland and Egypt. John Kerry, the White Houses special envoy for climate change, will be in Dubai to represent the United States.

Since day one, President Biden has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, both at home and abroad, the White House said in a statement, obtained by Axios. The administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Senior Advisor John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the Administrations historic actions to tackle the climate crisis.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his Administration's actions to address the climate crisis in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 2023.

President Joe Biden delivers remarks on his Administration's actions to address the climate crisis in the South Court Auditorium of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 14, 2023.

Other major figures are expected to be in Dubai over the next two weeks, including King Charles and Pope Francis.

Recent reports have only added urgency to scientists calls for the world to rein in the use of fossil fuels. The U.S. released its fifth National Climate Assessment earlier this month, which found the country is already dealing with a score of climate-related ills, including dramatic warming across America, an increase in weather-driven disasters and the growing threat of flood, fire and drought.

Biden at the time called climate change the ultimate threat to humanity.

The report came just before scientists warned 2023 is likely to be the hottest year since record-keeping began.

Still, the U.N. climate conference has often been touted as an annual effort to address those concerns, bringing about the likes of 2015s Paris Climate Agreement. The U.S. and China  the planets two largest carbon emitters  also recently agreed to a new partnership that would see a dramatic expansion of renewable energy in the hopes of phasing out fossil fuels.

Related...
 Flash

Guizhou's stunning landscapes, and lack of crowds, make it a perfect place to lift the spirits.

This year, domestic tourism is not just hot, it is sizzling. It seems that every popular tourist attraction is crowded and every hotel at a popular scenic area is charging top dollar.

To avoid joining the hordes of tourists  it's a challenge, believe me  you have to be patient and sometimes think creatively.

I stayed at home in Beijing in July and August, waiting for the end of the summer vacation. In September, two friends and I started thinking of finding a "cool" place to have a four- or five-day trip to get close to nature and regain our stamina, which had been consumed by the intense summer heat.

Located on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, the two southwestern provinces that grabbed our attention offered cooler climes.

We had been to Yunnan province many times, including a trip earlier this year, so Guizhou province won the toss.

But, where in Guizhou? I asked a botanist friend, who spent a month there earlier this year collecting specimens, for some recommendations. He mentioned Chishui, Xingyi and Panzhou.

Chishui is more popular than Xingyi. My friends and I never heard of Panzhou. So it was decided; we would visit Panzhou. After some further research, we found that Panzhou borders Xingyi and can be easily reached by car from the provincial capital, Guiyang.

After Panzhou, we could visit Xingyi en route for Guiyang.

So three of us flew into Guiyang from different cities, met, picked up our car at the Longdongbao airport, and drove to Panzhou.
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) on Monday said he spoke with Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) at some length during the holiday recess about his options as the embattled lawmaker faces a likely third vote on his expulsion.

The conversation came after the House Ethics Committee released its long-awaited report on Santos, which found that the congressman violated federal criminal laws and used campaign funds for personal purchases, including trips to Las Vegas and Atlantic City, Botox and payments from OnlyFans, a subscription platform that is largely used for adult content.

The report has increased calls for Santos to be expelled from office and is prompting plans among lawmakers to force a third vote on the New Yorkers ouster when the House returns to session this week.

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Asked at the Sarasota Bradenton International Airport on Monday if the House will vote on expelling Santos this week, Johnson responded: It remains to be seen.

Ive spoken to Congressman Santos at some length over the holiday and talked with him about his options. But well have to see. Its not yet determined, but well be talking about that when we get back tomorrow, Johnson added.

Santos survived two expulsion attempts earlier this year, but if a third vote is teed up, it has a chance of being successful. A handful of lawmakers who previously backed Santos say they will now vote to expel him from office, citing the Ethics report.

Santos, for his part, thinks he will be expelled when a vote hits the floor as soon as this week, which would make him just the sixth House member to be ousted from office in history.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Santos said during a conversation on X Spaces on Friday night. Ive done the math over and over, and it doesnt look really good.

Expelling Santos would be a significant development for the House GOP conference, which would see its razor-thin majority in the chamber become even more slim. It would also carry electoral implications: Democrats are likely to flip New Yorks third congressional district, which President Biden won in 2020.

Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.), the chairman of the Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to expel Santos the day after the panel published its report, a notable move against the embattled lawmaker.

Taking matters a step further, two Democratic lawmakers  Reps. Robert Garcia (Calif.) and Dan Goldman (N.Y.)  have said they plan to force a vote on expelling Santos once the House reconvenes this week, which would set the stage for a third vote on his ouster.

If Garcia, Goldman or any other lawmaker calls a Santos expulsion measure to the floor as a privileged resolution, the House would have to act on the measure within two legislative days.

Earlier this month, after the Ethics Committee released its report into Santos, Raj Shah, deputy chief of communications for Johnson, said the Speaker thanks Ethics Committee Chairman Guest for the thorough investigation the committee released today.

The Speaker has reviewed the report and its very troubling findings. As members from both parties, members of the Ethics Committee, and Representative Santos return to Congress after the Thanksgiving break, Speaker Johnson encourages all involved to consider the best interests of the institution as this matter is addressed further.

While it is unclear what Johsnon meant when he said he discussed options with Santos, the New York Republican has time and time again said he does not plan to resign before the end of his term, even amid the mounting political pressure.

During the X Spaces conversation Friday, Santos said he is not going to resign because [if] I resign, I admit everything thats on that report.

This story was updated at 3:45 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former President Donald Trump speaks to supporters during a rally at Erie Insurance Arena in Erie, Pa., on July 29, 2023. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

A drug smuggler pardoned by Trump was accused of "viciously" beating a younger employee with a belt.

Braun's "brutal assault left the 'kid's' entire body 'black and blue,'" prosecutors alleged.

Trump commuted Jonathan Braun's sentence on his last day in office as part of a slew of last-minute pardons.

A drug smuggler who was pardoned by then-President Donald Trump once beat an associate so badly with a belt that it left the man's body covered in bruises, prosecutors alleged at the time of his court case.

Trump pardoned Jonathan Braun on his final day in office as part of a slew of last-minute pardons and commutations.

In 2009, Braun fled to Canada, then Israel to avoid prosecution after his "stash house" was raided, according to court filings from prosecutors. While in his "self-imposed exile," Braun continued running his drug operation from an encrypted BlackBerry phone, the documents allege.

He later returned to the US and was indicted in 2010 on accusations of smuggling and selling $1.72 billion worth of marijuana in the US from 2007 to 2010.

Braun's attorneys said he should be released on bail, but prosecutors argued in a court document that he should stay in jail, saying he was a flight risk and pointing to an incident in which they alleged he beat his employee with a belt.

Prosecutors said the worker was younger than Braun and was told to guard $100,000 worth of marijuana in California.

But Braun found out the marijuana had been stolen and ordered the man to shell out $100,000 to pay him back, prosecutors alleged.

When the man refused, Braun and another associate flew to California, broke into the man's house, and Braun started attacking him with his belt, prosecutors alleged in the court filings.

Braun "took off his belt and proceeded to viciously whip his worker with the belt," according to court filings. "At one point, the 'kid' tried to get away from Braun, but Braun's enforcer pushed him back down on the bed so that Braun could continue the beating. In Braun's own words, his brutal assault left the 'kid's' entire body 'black and blue.'"

Prosecutors allege Braun then threatened to get the money from the worker's family and later showed up at the man's parents' house. He eventually got the money, prosecutors said in the court documents.

Prosecutors also alleged that Braun threatened an associate who threatened to rat him out to police, texting her: "[I]f you interfere with my life and make me uncomfortable you will leave me no choice but to do the same back to you in a much worse way."

Braun ultimately pleaded guilty to drug charges and was serving a 10-year sentence when Trump commuted the rest of his sentence.

Trump's decision to commute Braun's sentence scuttled the Justice Department's plan to leverage lesser prison time in exchange for his cooperation in a separate investigation into the predatory lending industry, The New York Times reported.

Read the original article on Insider
MUSKEGON, Mich. (WOOD)  Arguments over whether Ottawa County should be forced to pay its top health officer a $4 million lawsuit have been pushed back one week.

The court hearing was scheduled for Monday morning in Muskegon County Circuit Court. After conferring with attorneys privately in chambers, the judge brought the proceedings to order shortly after 10:15 a.m. and quickly adjourned them until Dec. 4.

Ottawa health officer asks court to enforce $4 million settlement

Judge Jenny McNeill said she needed time to review additional motions regarding subpoenas that she received Monday morning.

I have informed counsel that we are not going to proceed today, McNeill said. We are going to adjourn until next Monday at 9 a.m., and at that point in time, we are going to hear arguments on the various motions. Were not going to take testimony, so any of the subpoenas, everybody can kind of calm down a little bit. We will just have argument on all of the motions addressing the motion to quash subpoenas filed by the defendant and the motion to quash subpoenas filed by the clerk.

Administrative Health Officer Adeline Hambleys attorney Sarah Howard said in a court filing earlier this month that the Board of Commissioners agreed to settlement details, including the $4 million payout, on Nov. 6.

Going out to vote and saying, Were accepting the recommendation of counsel for this deal, we thought that was enough to indicate objective confirmation that theres a meeting of minds on the essential terms, Howard told News 8 after Mondays short proceedings.

Hambleys attorney says the county is trying to back out of the deal, while the commissioners attorney David Kallman said nobody ever agreed to anything. He said emails that Howard pointed to as proof of a deal were tentative only and didnt go to the board.

Theres no way the board could vote to approve email tentative discussions as a final settlement when they didnt even know those emails existed. Thats just common sense. How can you vote on something that you dont even know exists? Kallman said.

The court filing says that under the settlement, Hambley would leave her position by Dec. 15, 2023, in exchange for $4 million. Deputy Health Officer Marcia Mansaray would resign in exchange for a severance of one years pay. Howard argued that commissioners negotiated the agreement in closed session, memorialized it in writing via a series of emails and voted in favor of the settlement in open session before recessing.

On Nov. 14, the board reconvened and asked to negotiate different terms, according to the filing.

Still no vote: Ottawa County board pauses health officer removal hearing again

Kallman previously told News 8 that there was never a finalized deal and several options had been considered, including the $4 million proposal. He added that his office never recommended that the board accept any specific settlement.

Conservative county commissioners backed by the political action committee Ottawa Impact voted in their first meeting in January to remove Hambley from her job and put her in an interim role. She sued, saying that was illegal. Commissioners countered that she was never properly appointed by their predecessors. The Michigan Court of Appeals finally ruled that Hambley was rightfully appointed, but also that the board could fire her if it could prove cause under state law.

A document signed by Ottawa Impact co-founder and Commission Chair Joe Moss previously laid out a case for why Hambley should lose her job, alleging incompetence, neglect and misconduct in the way she handled and communicated to the press about this years budgeting process.

The removal hearing got underway Oct. 24 and included two days of testimony in which Hambleys lawyer tried to show her client was only concerned with ensuring her department could operate properly. Hambley testified she went to the media because her understanding was that the general fund dollars to the Ottawa County Department of Public Health would be limited to $2.5 million, which she said would cause it to close. Commissioners ultimately decided the health department would get about $4.8 million from the general fund. The health departments total allocation for the fiscal year, which started Oct. 1, was less than the previous year.

Commissioners debated for a while after the second day of testimony, but held off voting so they would have more time to consider everything they heard. The following Monday, Oct. 30, they pushed the vote back another week. On Nov. 6, they voted to accept their lawyers recommendations on litigation and settlement activities. Kallman told News 8 that motion was meant to indicate discussions would continue. During the fifth day of the hearing, commissioners voted immediately to go to closed session. After hours of negotiations, members came back said they were recessing again.

The hearing has been scheduled to resume for its sixth day on Tuesday. Kallman said the board could make a decision on whether to fire Hambley or go into closed session again to continue to meet with attorneys.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
TAMPA  Tyrell Phillips, the man accused of killing a 14-year-old boy during an early-morning shootout last month in Ybor City, will remain jailed while he awaits trial, a judge ruled Monday.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Robin Fuson concluded that Phillips posed a danger to the community and there were no release conditions that would ensure the communitys safety.

The safest place for him and our community is inside the Hillsborough County Jail, Fuson said.

He also granted a prosecutors request that Phillips have no contact with anyone affiliated with two different groups, described in court as rivals, and who are believed to be connected to the shooting. Phillips is believed to be friends with several people in one of the groups. A prosecutor stopped short of calling it a gang.

The judges ruling punctuated a nearly three-hour hearing that saw lawyers sparring over Phillips claim of self-defense and evidence a prosecutor presented of his involvement in a Town N Country-based rap group.

Assistant State Attorney Justin Diaz, though not calling the group a gang, showed a series of rap videos that the group posted to YouTube. In them, Phillips and other people can be seen holding guns and flashing various hand signs. At least two other people identified in the videos were also present on the night of the shooting. One of them was shot.

The prosecutor also played several videos that bystanders captured, which show the moments immediately before the gunshots were fired. In the videos, Phillips is seen as hes confronted by a person in a red jacket, who was later identified as the victim, Elijah Wilson.

The teen appears to raise his hands in the air before lowering them. Audio immediately thereafter captured the noise of three gunshots.

The defendant shoots somebody who at that moment is not an immediate threat, Diaz said. Hes just choosing to shoot the guy he doesnt like.

The evidence and testimony from witnesses gave the clearest public account to date of what happened that early morning.

Gunfire broke out a little before 3 a.m. Oct. 29 along Seventh Avenue, which was crowded with late-night revelers and club patrons.

Tampa police in the area arrived to find the teen lying dead in the street. Family members later publicly identified him as Wilson. A medical examiner testified that Wilson was shot twice, in his leg and through his neck. He died instantly.

A 20-year-old man who was shot later died at a hospital. His family identified him as Harrison Boonstoppel. Its believed he was a bystander and was not involved in the confrontation that preceded the shooting.

A total of 16 others were injured, 15 of them by gunfire, police said.

The spasm of violence spurred public concern over the safety of Ybor City. There have been calls to temper late-night activity there, while business owners and residents fear being pushed out.

Phillips approached police minutes after the shooting and acknowledged his involvement. Some of his first words, a detective acknowledged Monday, were, I fired in self-defense.

As Phillips made a phone call to his father and girlfriend later that morning, Tampa police Detective Joshua Kennedy heard him utter: I was scared, It was self-defense, and I had to use my gun.

Police found spent bullet shell casings from three different guns on the ground close to where Wilson fell. Only three were 10 mm, the caliber of the handgun Phillips was carrying.

Elsewhere, police found six .40-caliber casings, and more than a dozen 9 mm casings, indicating that at least two other people fired guns. The bullet that killed Boonstoppel was a 9 mm, Kennedy testified.

Phillips lawyer, David Parry, noted that the video shows a group of men making hand gestures as they confront Phillips and his group of friends, who continue to back away.

At that moment, he believed one of them was reaching for a gun and thats why he fired, Parry said.

Phillips is charged with a single count of second-degree murder related to Wilsons death. He is not accused of shooting anyone else.

Officers took from his front waistband a loaded Glock 10 mm handgun.

Phillips told detectives that he was in Ybor City with friends when he waved to a girl he recognized from school, according to court records. As he did so, several young men he didnt know approached him in what witnesses described as an aggressive manner.

He said that one person took a fighting stance, while another spit on him, a court paper states. A third began to reach toward his waistband, Phillips said, making him believe that person was armed.

As the group yelled at him, he said, he feared for his safety. He pulled his own gun and fired. He denied he aimed toward anyone in particular.

On Wilsons body, police found a loaded gun, concealed in his waistband. The gun, police noted, was stolen. It was still secured inside a holster.

The gun Phillips carried belonged to him, police and his attorney said.

Detectives analyzed a series of videos that captured the shooting from different angles. They concluded that what they saw in the videos was inconsistent with Phillips description of the shooting.

They noted that Wilson held no object of weapon when he raised his hands. He was no more than an arms length away from Phillips when he was shot, prosecutors noted.

Earlier this month, police released images of four other people they said were persons of interest. On Nov. 14, police announced they had arrested another 14-year-old boy on firearms charges. But an investigation to identify the other shooters remains ongoing.
By Andrew Goudsward

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A judge on Monday rejected Donald Trumps request to see records from the congressional investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which the former president said may be relevant to his defense against election interference charges.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in Washington found that Trump "has not sufficiently justified his requests" for information tied to the Democratic-led House of Representatives probe, which concluded in 2022.

Trump sought to subpoena materials that his lawyers said were "missing" from the House investigation, including transcripts and video recordings of interviews with law enforcement officials.

The judge concluded that prosecutors had already given Trump written transcripts of those interviews and that Trumps attorneys had not shown how video footage of those same conversations could be relevant to his defense.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to charges that he illegally sought to overturn his defeat in the 2020 election. The case, brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith, is one of four criminal cases facing Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024.

Following a separate court ruling, Smiths team on Monday made public new information about the January search warrant issued to Twitter, now known as X, for information on Trumps account. The warrant sought information on all electronic devices that accessed Trumps account between October 2020 and January 2021 as well as the content of direct messages sent and received from the account, according to court filings.

Trumps Twitter account was suspended following the 2021 riot at the Capitol by his supporters. The sanction was lifted in November 2022 after the platform was taken over by CEO Elon Musk.

Prosecutors convinced a judge to bar Twitter from informing Trump about the warrant, a move the company opposed.

Trump is also set to testify for a second time in his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York on Dec. 11, his lawyers said Monday.

In defiant and rambling testimony on Nov. 6, Trump denied the New York attorney generals allegations that he inflated his net worth to dupe lenders.

(Reporting by Andrew Goudsward, additional reporting by Jack Queen; Editing by Scott Malone and Stephen Coates)
On the tenth anniversary of the pro-Western EuroMaidan Revolution, the Ukrainian parliament approved the first reading of a bill that effectively destroys one of the key tools of the ongoing judicial reform, the Public Integrity Council.

The council is an independent civil society watchdog that assesses the integrity of judges and plays a key role in the reform.

The bill seeks to subordinate the watchdog to the High Qualification Commission, a judicial governing body, and make it effectively impossible for the council to assess judges integrity.

The move to destroy the Public Integrity Council highlights the state in which judicial reform is 10 years after the start of the EuroMaidan Revolution, commemorated on Nov. 21.

Although formally several judicial reforms have been carried out, the changes appear to be mostly cosmetic. Few tainted judges have been fired and even fewer have been jailed.

Ukraines most notorious judge, Pavlo Vovk, remains a judge on the payroll, even though his tainted court has been dissolved by the authorities. A corruption case against him is being considered by a court but the trial has been delayed and sabotaged, and its prospects are uncertain.

Another judge, ex-Supreme Court head Vsevolod Kniaziev, has also been charged with corruption. However, critics say his case is collapsing as several of his alleged accomplices still face no charges, and his bail has been cut several times.

Judges of the Supreme Court have been accused of entrenching corruption by appointing a tainted judge as Kniazievs replacement.

A third judge, ex-Constitutional Court Head Oleksandr Tupytskyi, fled abroad in 2022 after being charged.

The Constitutional Courts fate hangs in the balance as several discredited members have been appointed to a panel that will vet candidates for future Constitutional Court jobs.

Read also: Watchdogs: Parliament moves to destroy key pillar of judicial reform

Ukraines biggest judicial graft case

A key litmus test for judicial reform is the fate of Vovk, former head of the now defunct Kyiv District Administrative Court.

He has become a symbol of injustice, lawlessness, and impunity in Ukraine. In 2019-2020 he and other judges of his court were charged with usurpation of power, obstruction of justice, organized crime, and abuse of authority.

In audio recordings published by the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) in 2019-2021, Vovk is heard discussing numerous corrupt deals and giving illegal orders.

The case against Vovk and other judges of his court was sent to the High Anti-Corruption Court in June 2022.

Vadym Valko, a lawyer at the Anti-Corruption Action Center, told the Kyiv Independent that the defendants lawyers had delayed the case for many months.

First, the court was unable to select judges to handle the case for months because of multiple recusals filed by lawyers. Even after the judges were selected, the case was stalled because Vovk and several other defendants initially refused to attend court hearings.

The court is currently considering a motion to close the case because the lawyers claim the deadline for submitting it to trial was missed.

One of the reasons for the delays is that Vovk still enjoys judicial immunity, and it is impossible to suspend, fire or arrest him without the approval of the High Council of Justice, the judiciarys main governing body.

The case could have been moved forward if the High Council of Justice had authorized Vovks arrest or fired him, according to Valko and Mykhailo Zhernakov, head of judicial watchdog Dejure.

However, both the council and other government bodies have done their best to protect Vovk.

Read also: Lawyers: New head of top Ukrainian judicial body may have Russian citizenship

In 2020, the previous High Council of Justice unanimously refused to suspend Vovk and other judges implicated in his case. Since then, all members of the council have been replaced.

Several members of the council who made the decision on Vovk in 2020 were implicated in the Vovk case. In wiretapped conversations released by the NABU, Vovk mentioned their alleged involvement in his alleged corrupt schemes.

Former Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova, now ambassador to Switzerland, refused to authorize an arrest warrant for Vovk and to let the NABU search Vovks office or wiretap him.

In December 2022, the U.S. sanctioned Vovk for soliciting bribes in return for interfering in judicial and other public processes.

The same month, Zelensky signed a bill to liquidate Vovks Kyiv District Administrative Court.

Despite the liquidation of the court, Vovk still remains a judge. He keeps receiving a salary financed by Ukrainian taxpayers and has a legal right to be transferred to another court.

Firing corrupt judges

It has been impossible to fire Vovk and other tainted judges due to legislative hurdles for a long time.

In 2021, the High Council of Justice was stripped of its right to fire judges through disciplinary cases due to a law that created special disciplinary inspectors for this purpose.

Disciplinary inspectors have not been appointed since then.

Vitaly Tytych, an ex-head of the Public Integrity Council, believes that the delay with disciplinary cases was intentional and was part of the sabotage of judicial reform by the authorities.

The disciplinary inspectors were a tool for delaying the reform. Thats how they deceived our Western partners, he told the Kyiv Independent.

In February 2022, the High Council of Justice stopped working altogether when most of its members resigned. It resumed working only in January 2023 after the appointment of new members.

In September, parliament passed a bill allowing the council to consider disciplinary cases and fire judges before disciplinary inspectors are appointed. On Nov. 1, the High Council of Justice resumed considering disciplinary cases against judges, and now Vovks dismissal is theoretically possible.

But Valko said that it could be possible to fire Vovk through a disciplinary procedure only if there are new disciplinary cases against him. The deadlines for old disciplinary cases have likely expired, he added.

Another procedure that could lead to Vovks dismissal is qualification assessment, or vetting. It is carried out by another top judicial body, the High Qualification Commission.

Read also: Judicial reform formally completed as second top judicial body is appointed

In 2019, 34 judges of Vovks Kyiv District Administrative Court did not show up for vetting at the commission, claiming that they were sick. The Vovk tapes document the judges efforts to illegally sabotage and block vetting.

The vetting of judges was suspended in 2019, when the previous High Qualification Commission was dissolved. A new commission was only appointed this June.

On Nov. 13, the High Qualification Commission resumed the vetting of judges.

However, there are doubts about the commissions intention to cleanse the judiciary.

Earlier in November the High Qualification Commission overrode the Public Integrity Councils vetoes on two judges who the council says do not meet ethics and integrity standards.

One of them, Roman Koval, has arbitrarily banned video recording at a court hearing and failed to declare some of his assets, while his relatives regularly visited Russia in 2014-2018, according to the Public Integrity Council.

The other judge, Ivan Solovyov, has issued court rulings without being present at his court, which is illegal, made rulings in Russian in violation of the language law and failed to declare some of his assets, the Public Integrity Council said.

Koval and Solovyov denied the accusations of wrongdoing.

Corruption at Supreme Court

Another high-profile case, that against former Supreme Court chairman Kniaziev, is also facing obstacles.

In May, the NABU charged Kniaziev with taking a $2.7 million bribe.

The bail in the Kniaziev case has been reduced several times  from $3 million to $1 million.

The NABU said in May that several other Supreme Court judges had also taken bribes.

The judges include Iryna Hryhoryeva, Serhiy Storozhenko, and Zhanna Yelenina, according to the Anti-Corruption Action Center. They did not respond to requests for comment.

The numbers and series of the banknotes owned by these judges coincided with those received by Kniaziev as a bribe, Zhernakov and Valko said.

Supreme Court Head Vsevolod Kniaziev gives an interview on Dec. 9, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Yevhen Kotenko/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

However, eventually the judges have not been charged, prompting speculation that law enforcement agencies are covering up for them.

Valko and Zhernakov said that the NABU allegedly did not have enough evidence to charge the judges.

But if there is evidence (against the judges) and it has been hidden, then its a big problem, Valko said.

The judges could claim that they got the money as part of a foreign exchange deal with Kniaziev, although it sounds improbable and absurd, according to Zhernakov.

Kniazievs replacement as chairman of the Supreme Court, Stanislav Kravchenko, is also controversial.

According to the Public Integrity Council, he has violated ethics and integrity standards.

Kravchenko has failed to declare some of his assets and violated human rights in one of his cases, according to a 2015 decision by the European Court of Human Rights, the council said.

The Supreme Court judges response (to the Kniaziev scandal) was to choose a corrupt official as chairman, Zhernakov said. Corruption is not a problem for them. The problem is to make sure that you dont get caught, like Kniaziev.

Kravchenko denied the accusations of wrongdoing in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.

Read also: Oleg Sukhov: Ukrainian kleptocrats use war to entrench corruption, with Western experts as facade

Scandals at the Constitutional Court

The third high profile judge under investigation, ex-Constitutional Court Chairman Tupytskyi, was charged in 2021 with bribing a witness and obstruction of justice. He was also sanctioned by the U.S. that year.

He fled Ukraine after the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported in 2022.

The situation with Tupytsky epitomizes long-running controversies surrounding the Constitutional Court, which has been involved in many corruption scandals and obstructed key reforms.

Under pressure from civic activists and the West, the Ukrainian authorities passed a law on Constitutional Court reform in August.

Activists hold placards that says "no to judicial reform imitation," on March 9, 2021, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (Volodymyr Tarasov/ Ukrinform/Future Publishing via Getty Images)

According to the law, three representatives of the Ukrainian government and three experts nominated by international organizations will vet candidates for Constitutional Court jobs.

Additionally, there are six deputies who will replace them if they quit.

If the votes are split evenly (three to three), a second vote must take place, and the votes of the international experts prevail.

On Nov. 13, the vetting panel held its first meeting. However, there are great concerns about it.

The Council of Judges, a judicial self-regulation body, delegated to the vetting panel Yaroslav Romaniuk, who was the head of the Supreme Court under pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych.

Romaniuk supported Yanukovychs crackdown on EuroMaidan protesters in 2014 and has criticized Western-style judicial reforms.

Romaniuk has also issued an arbitrary ruling that constitutes denial of justice, according to a 2015 decision by the European Court of Human Rights.

He does not comply with ethics and integrity standards, and his daughters income does not match her assets, according to the Public Integrity Council.

The Public Integrity Council, as mentioned above, might soon lose its independence.

Another judge delegated by the Council of Judges to the vetting panel is Volodymyr Kuzmenko, who is implicated in the Vovk case. In the tapes from the Kyiv District Administrative Court, Vovk called him our guy.

Meanwhile, experts delegated to the vetting panel by the parliament include Natalia Kuznetsova and Vasyl Shakun. They are members of an NGO created by controversial Yanukovych allies Serhiy Kivalov and Andriy Portnov.

The members of the vetting panel did not respond to requests for comment.

Zhernakov said that the Ukrainian members of the vetting panel were tainted and would try to make sure the Constitutional Court is completely controlled by the Zelensky administration. Zelensky's spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov did not respond to a request for comment.

Zhernakov also said that everything depends on the foreign members of the panel.

I hope the international experts will cooperate with Ukraines civil society, he said. This is a key thing - its necessary for them to know the local context.

However, in the past international experts have often approved tainted candidates for top judicial bodies and rejected the candidacies of anti-corruption crusaders and whistleblowers.

Another problem is posed by candidates for Constitutional Court jobs.

Constitutional Court candidates nominated by the Council of Judges include several candidates who do not meet integrity and ethics standards, according to Dejure.

The list of Constitutional Court candidates approved by the parliament includes two lawmakers from Zelenskys Servant of the People party  Oleksandr Kopylenko and Pavlo Pavlish. This violates the constitutional requirement on Constitutional Court judges political independence, Dejure said.

Kopylenko and Pavlish did not respond to requests for comment.

The government wants to take over the Constitutional Court, Zhernakov said.

Read also: Constitutional Court reform: Will Ukraine implement key condition for EU membership?

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
We just got a first look at McDonald's secretive new spinoff restaurant CosMc's

A construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, presumed to be the first location of CosMc's. Scott Fredrickson

McDonald's has been reluctant to share many details about its planned new restaurant concept CosMc's.

But new posts on social media reveal a few hints.

McDonald's has said it will reveal more details during its investor's day conference next week.

We know just a bit more about CosMc's, McDonald's super-secret new restaurant concept based on an obscure McDonaldland character from the late '80s.

The spinoff restaurant is the latest nostalgia play by the chain and was first mentioned by McDonald's CEO Chris Kempczinski during the chain's second-quarter earnings call this summer.

"CosMc's is a small-format concept with all the DNA of McDonald's but its own unique personality," he said. Additional details were scant.

But recent posting on social media and a search of Google Maps appear to show where the first restaurant will be located and what consumers can expect, namely a lot of drive-thru lanes.

TikToker Snackloator who chronicles new snacks, posted a tour of a construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, which appears to be the future home of a CosMc's. The TikToker noted the site had four drive-thru lanes.

"The kind of conventional thinking is that this is going to be something of a competitor to like Starbucks, where it's going to focus on the McCafe stuff and the coffee and the drinks as opposed to serving burgers and fries, which makes even more sense when you realize that this CosMc's is being built directly next to an existing McDonald's," Snackloator says.

A construction site in Bolingbrook, Illinois, presumed to be the first location of CosMc's. Scott Fredrickson

A Google Maps search indicates the building is a former Boston Market restaurant that is indeed next door to a McDonald's.

CosMc's on Google Maps Google Maps

Scott Fredrickson posted a few photos of the building's exterior on Facebook. He told Business Insider he passes by the location several times a week. The building appears to have a blue exterior and the CosMc's sign logo has a retro feel.

McDonald's, or course, declined to comment on the record.

Do you have an intel on CosMc's or a story to share? Contact Gloria Dawson via phone, text, or the encrypted messaging app Signal (+1-516-721-6598) or email ( gdawson@insider.com ).

Read the original article on Insider
South Korea has given us some majorly awesome music over the last decade in particular, but they havent exactly been the nicest to their idols who identify on the LGBTQ+ spectrum.

Although its more rare for the celebrities to come out publicly in their country, it still happens every so often. One former idol whos managed to gain some attention for her YouTube channel with her girlfriend is Park Chohyeon, who was a member of the pre-debut group OAHSIS and a former MIXNINE contestant.

10 months ago, Chohyeon posted a video captioned, KPOP lesbian couple | Korean girl group idol | marriage Photoshoot Vlog, where she showed off her status as an idol and examined the hardships shes now overcome thanks to her life partner.

Said life partner is Eunha, and the two took some majorly sexy pictures together for the photoshoot that fully showcased their love for each other.

(sub)        | lesbian couple |  www.youtube.com

The YouTube channel has since been rebranded to EUN and CHO and chronicles their lives as a couple.

In a video about how they met, Chohyeon admitted she was nervous to go onto the dating apps considering her status as a Korean idol, and Eunha joked she wanted to help her out because she thought she had no experience with other girls, with Chohyeon denied.

(sub)     |    | lesbian couple www.youtube.com

Although Chohyeon isnt considered a Korean idol anymore, her openness with her relationship with Eunha showcases her life of true happiness and hopefully helps pave the way for other Kpop stars to live out their full identities, regardless of their idol status.
At night, a fire broke out in the building of the barracks of the Kantemyriv division due to an UAV attack

There was a fire overnight at the five-story barrack building of the Kantemirovskaya Division in Naro-Fominsk, Moscow Oblast, the Russian Telegram news channel ASTRA reported on Nov. 27.

The Russian authorities claim that there were no casualties as a result of the fire.

Read also: More explosions heard in Russias Tula as drones reportedly downed

The barracks of the 275th Self-Propelled Artillery Regiment of the Kantemirovskaya Division were hit during an overnight attack by a UAV, according to ASTRA. The drone struck a window on the 4th floor. As a result, a fire broke out in the building over an area of 20 square meters.

The authorities concealed the fact of the fire. Instead, they reported the "successful neutralization" of the UAV in Moscow Oblast, the news outlet writes.

Read also: Russia reports large-scale drone attack  likely conducted by Ukraines military intel

These are not the first fires at Russian military facilities caused by drone attacks in recent days. On Nov. 16, a large-scale fire broke out at a military unit in Kotluban, Russia. The same unit in Volgograd Oblast of the Russian Federation was attacked by UAVs again on Nov. 24.

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
EAST LANSING  Kathy Wilbur, who led three state departments and helped to lead two Michigan universities, died Sunday at age 70.

Wilbur was a fixture in state government, an elected Michigan State University board member in the mid-1980s and had planned to retire in the new year from her role as senior vice president for government relations for MSU, where she'd worked since 2018.

"When appointed to my current position at MSU, I was honored to serve my alma mater and consider it the capstone of my career in public service, Wilbur said in announcing her retirement plans. Educating and empowering our future generations fosters a relentless pursuit of knowledge. When you have the opportunity to work with students, you witness the transformational power a college education has and that is what motivated my long commitment to higher education.

"Kathy was remarkable and she was so well connected because she treated people fairly and respectfully," said John Engler, the former Michigan governor who appointed Wilbur to three state agencies. "She was an honest broker. People, regardless of party affiliation, knew they could talk to her."

Kathleen Wilbur portrait

Wilbur was chief of staff for state Sen. Bill Sederberg in the mid-1980s, where her work caught the attention of Engler, then a state senator contemplating a run for governor.

Wilbur's job at MSU  like similar roles at Central Michigan University, where she spent 16 years, including a stint as interim president  was to get state funding and advocate for the universities in the Capitol and beyond.

Wilbur was both competitive and collaborative, which is a rare combination at her level, said Doug Skrzyniarz, vice president of government relations for Community Health Systems. When Skrzyniarz was a lobbyist for Wayne State University and Wilbur for CMU, he came to her with an idea to help boost the number of physicians in Michigan.

CMU, and Wilbur, could have seen it as an intrusion since CMU had a new medical school, but Wilbur saw a chance to increase the number of physicians in underserved areas of Michigan and didn't care about who got the credit, Skrzyniarz said.

The collaboration turned into the MIDOCS program, which helps to boost physicians in underserved areas of the state.

"She saw the outcome, a way to get more primary care doctors in the state, and knew it doesn't matter who gets credit or if this was owned by CMU exclusively," Skrzyniarz said. "Because of her and her knowledge and ability to problem solve and gather resources and people, this kind of thing happened and not just this one."

She had a hand in many of MSU's major developments and projects in recent years, said Engler, who also was a former interim MSU president.

The crowning achievement of her work may be the many, many people she mentored in and around state government and state universities, he said.

She was director of three state departments: Licensing and regulation, commerce, and consumer and industry services.

It was a first for a woman in Michigan and Engler said he wasn't sure if a man had ever led three different departments.

Wilbur was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 2007.

She was chair of the board of Michigan Future Inc., a nonprofit think tank devoted to helping Michigan succeed in a knowledge-driven economy.

Wilbur is survived by her husband and four sons.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said, in a statement, Wilber was dedicated to moving Michigan forward.

"Her legacy will endure at Central Michigan University and Michigan State University, two places where she delivered lasting, positive changes."

U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, D-Lansing, said in a statement that Wilbur was her first and last call for anything related to MSU.

"A dedicated alumna, Kathy's steady hand helped MSU weather good times and bad, all driven by an absolute love for the school and the community around it."

Wilbur's personality and work led her to join the board, and later trustees, of the Citizens Research Council, where she helped to recruit other board members and support non-partisan public policy research, said Eric Lupher, president of the council, in a statement.

He said Wilbur was a mentor to many women in a field that had too often been dominated by men.

Contact Mike Ellis at mellis@lsj.com or 517-267-0415

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Kathy Wilbur dies at 70. She led state departments and helped MSU, CMU
China, Uruguay to elevate economic, trade cooperation

Xinhua) 09:06, November 27, 2023

BEIJING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Uruguay will see enhanced economic and trade cooperation in the future as the two countries have pushed their bilateral relations to a new height.

The two heads of state announced the elevation of bilateral relations to a comprehensive strategic partnership in Beijing on Wednesday.

Zhang Yong, a senior research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the Uruguayan president's visit to China this week will deepen bilateral strategic cooperation and promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, adding that the bilateral economic and trade cooperation will enjoy broad prospects.

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed the trade volume between China and Uruguay reached 7.44 billion U.S. dollars in 2022, 60 times that of when the two countries established diplomatic ties.

Among them, China's imports from Uruguay reached a new high of 4.46 billion U.S. dollars, a yearly increase of 23 percent. China has been Uruguay's largest trading partner and export market for 11 consecutive years.

Agricultural products have been a shining spot in China-Uruguay economic and trade cooperation in recent years.

"Animal husbandry is one of Uruguay's pillar industries, and 80 percent of Uruguayan meat products is exported, more than half of which goes to China," said Conrado Ferber, president of the national meat institute of Uruguay.

Ferber said that China's opening up to the world is very much conducive to global trade, especially to a major meat exporter like Uruguay. He said China's open and massive market is an ideal destination for Uruguayan exports.

Besides the agricultural sector, the two countries have also achieved fruitful cooperation results in infrastructure, clean energy, agricultural science and technology, and other areas.

Zhang said that China and Uruguay complement each other in economic structure and advantageous industries.

Under frameworks such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the New Development Bank, the bilateral cooperation will shift towards trade, investment and finance, and will have huge potential.

"In the future, the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is expected to see new growth points in sustainable development areas such as infrastructure, the digital economy, finance, trade in services, the green economy, and energy transition," Zhang said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
 Flash

A Palestinian prisoner (L) returns to Jerusalem after being released from the Israeli Ofer prison, on Nov. 24, 2023.[Photo/Xinhua]

The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released on Sunday the third batch of hostages from the Gaza Strip under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Israel.

"Within the framework of the humanitarian truce, we handed over to the Red Cross 13 Israeli detainees, three Thais, and one Russian," Al-Qassam said in a press statement.

Israeli Army Radio said part of the handover process took place in the northern Gaza Strip, adding that "a number of detainees crossed the border from a point between Gaza and Israel."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross the 13 Israeli hostages, including four women and nine children, with the youngest being four years old.

The army explained that "the Red Cross crews handed over 12 hostages to the Israeli Army Special Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency at the border fence in the central Gaza Strip, who will then transport them to the Hatzerim Airbase."

It added that the 13th one, an 84-year-old woman suffering from a medical condition, was airlifted directly to Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.

According to the Israeli Army Radio, "the four foreign hostages were transferred to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing by the Red Cross, before heading for the meeting point with Israeli troops in Israeli territory."

Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization's prisoners department published a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday evening, including 21 from Jerusalem, one from the Gaza Strip, and the rest from the West Bank.

Xinhua reporter stationed in Ramallah confirmed the arrival of the buses that transferred the 39 released Palestinian prisoners, all of whom are children.

At the same time, mediation efforts have been intensified to extend the current ceasefire, according to Palestinian sources.

"Qatar and Egypt conveyed a draft agreement to Israel and Hamas on extending the ceasefire due to expire Monday and facilitating a larger prisoner swap between the two warring sides," the sources, who wished to be anonymous, told Xinhua.

The sources said the discussions involved the release of 40 to 50 captives from Gaza, coupled with increased humanitarian aid flow into the strip to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday that he might agree to extend the truce by a few days if Hamas would free more hostages.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from a Hamas representative on Sunday night, "Hamas is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond the four days that were initially agreed upon with Israel."

The temporary ceasefire in Gaza, entering its third day, entails a cessation of hostilities and an increased flow of aid trucks into the Palestinian enclave.

On Saturday, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

The truce deal reached between Israel and Hamas also stipulates the release of 50 Israeli female and teen hostages from Gaza in exchange for some 150 Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons, with provisions for increasing the number of releases at subsequent stages of the agreement.
Keller school board members voted unanimously during a specially called meeting Monday morning to name Tracy Johnson, the districts chief human resources officer, as the lone finalist for the superintendents job.

Johnson is the first woman to be named to the top job in the districts 112-year history, according to a news release.

Before the 6-0 vote to name Johnson as the lone finalist, board president Charles Randklev said Johnson is the ideal candidate, as she brings years of experience to the position. Trustee Ruthie Keyes was absent.

Randklev described how Johnson taught third grade and has held several administrative positions.

She has served our district for nine years, Randklev said. She knows the weaknesses of our district and how to improve them, he said.

The board also voted to authorize Randklev to negotiate a contract with Johnson, and the board will officially name her as superintendent. By law, school boards must wait 21 days before voting to make an offer on open superintendent positions.

The 51-square mile district in northern Tarrant County has an enrollment of 34,000. It serves students in the city of Keller and portions of far north Fort Worth, Colleyville, Haltom City, Hurst, North Richland Hills, Southlake, Watauga and Westlake.

I am humbled and honored to have been chosen as the lone finalist for the KISD Superintendent position, Johnson said in a statement. This is profoundly personal for me because I truly believe we have the best students, parents, employees, and community, Johnson said in a written statement.

The board began the search for a new superintendent after Rick Westfall announced his retirement in June. It worked worked with the law firm Leasor Crass to find candidates.

The district held four town hall meetings to see what qualities the public wanted to see for the next superintendent.

Johnson earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Womans University and her Masters Degree and doctorate from the University of North Texas. She began her education career teaching third grade and gifted and talented students in the Northwest school district.

She then went to the Grapevine-Colleyville school district before coming to Keller as director of advanced academics. In 2016 she went to the Denton school district where she was human resources director before returning to Keller in 2019.

During Mondays meeting, Stewart Rainey spoke during the public comment period and said the board was not transparent in providing information to the community about the superintendent search such as how many candidates were considered.

We got nothing but a sanitized thumbnail of what the meeting revealed, he said.
For Russell Coleman, a career in law enforcement has been a lifelong calling.

His career has included working as an assistant commonwealths attorney, a U.S. Department of Justice staffer for three years, five years in the FBI and a turn as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky under former president Donald Trump.

His next stop: Kentuckys chief law enforcement officer.

Ive never been in elected office. This is my first bite at that apple, but for me, its a calling, Coleman said in an extensive interview with the Herald-Leader.

I take that term as chief law enforcement officer of the commonwealth  its not just a statutory term in the Kentucky Revised Statutes  thats the nature of this job. Its the nature of the culture I hope to build at the Attorney Generals office.

The Herald-Leader sat down with Coleman the week after his decisive victory to become attorney general-elect over State Rep. Pamela Stevenson, D-Louisville.

During that time, Coleman spoke extensively about his plans to tackle Kentuckys drug crisis, violent crime and child exploitation in the commonwealth. Coleman also acknowledged he hopes to collaborate with Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, when he can.

Still, Coleman expects there will be an inherent tension between the two.

Coleman succeeds one of his dearest friends in becoming Kentuckys top cop, outgoing Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who mounted an unsuccessful bid for governor against Beshear.

The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Herald-Leader: You had a press conference a week after the election and identified combating the drug epidemic as a top priority. What does that look like from a law enforcement and prosecutorial perspective?

Russell Coleman: Im hesitant to ever say the term opioid epidemic because we dont have just an opioid epidemic. We have a drug epidemic in the state, from the methamphetamine that we see pouring into the commonwealth, that is in some regions the primary drug of choice and the primary threat. We have, truly, a poly-drug threat. The fentanyl that were seeing pouring in, which is driving those overdoses, those almost 2,200 overdose deaths last year. The vast majority of those fatalities are driven by fentanyl. Thanks to Narcan, weve driven some of those down. A 5% decrease, those are lives saved. I celebrate that. But were still looking at 2,200 empty seats in pews, empty seats at kitchen tables. Its abysmal.

When I talk about the drug epidemic, how could the attorney general sitting in Frankfort impact that? It is working through the most important prosecutors to your readers and the people of this commonwealth. Its not the AG, and its not the United States Attorney, the job I used to have. Its your county and commonwealths attorneys. Its who Kentuckians are electing in that role. The way that the AG as a force multiplier could have an impact on it is working through our county and commonwealths attorneys. They oftentimes feel like theyre on an island. Theyre underwater with cases. I was with a commonwealths attorney last night that shared some of her statistics. Their entire docket, the criminal docket, seems to be driven by the drug epidemic. It plays a role in so many offenses in some degree.

So how do we make sure that these prosecutors are up-to-date on technology in their cases and using electronic evidence? If theres a particularly complicated matter, how do we come alongside those commonwealths attorneys? In the child exploitation area? In a particularly complex electronic matter? How do we not swoop in and take the case, but how do we come alongside them? The teach a man to fish versus offer a fish.

We want to be good partners. We have 57 commonwealths attorneys. They feel like theyre islands, and theyre underwater. And so that primary way of impacting our underwater number of drug overdose deaths and going after the traffickers with degree of vigor is through our county, our commonwealths attorneys. Youre just going to see  Ive used the term plus sizing  but I would say creative approach in how we support them going forward. And they applaud that.

Russell Coleman, right, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, was joined by other officials on July 28, 2020 during a press conference to announce charges in gang-related activity at the United States Attorneys Office in downtown Louisville.

H-L: When talking about tackling drugs, you described it as a three-legged stool with law enforcement, treatment and prevention, and you said prevention is what were collectively failing at. What do you see as the attorney generals role when dealing with that prevention realm?

RC: Im a prosecutor. My background is law enforcement. The last five minutes Ive approached the drug crisis from the perspective of enforcement. That is my starting point, but it is a three-legged stool for us to be effective.

We have to have the enforcement piece. We have to have the hammer. We have to be going after the traffickers.

We have to incentivize, at times, users to seek treatment, and the criminal justice system can be used to incentivize that. Our drug court program has seen some great outcomes from that. Its usually labor-intensive. It is a long process, but you will get some great outcomes. Thats leveraging punishment to get a good outcome. Drug courts have a treatment component. Were doing a better job at treatment. From Volunteers of America here in Louisville, to ARC, Addiction Recovery Care, is doing a great job. Were seeing some creative approaches and theyre continuing to build out their infrastructure and how they treat.

But what I mentioned in the Capitol Rotunda, and the thrust of your question, is that other leg of the stool and thats prevention, because we are failing in prevention.

One pill can take our sons and our daughters. Not in some hypothetical universe. The United States Attorneys Office, when I was U.S. attorney, prosecuted those cases. Prosecutors across the commonwealth are dealing with cases right now where a single pill took our sons and daughters, so we have no margin of error.

I can tell you, it keeps me awake at night, thinking about my three kids. Whether were talking about this poison thats coming from over a porous Southwest border  we are a border state. And I talk about the border because thats one component that the AG needs to be joined arms and engaging in Washington, D.C., because until we secure that border. The president I served, President Trump, talked a lot about the people and immigration. I know that became, for some, a divisive issue. I wish he had talked more about the stuff thats coming over that porous border because the dope thats going in our kids arms, whether its a methamphetamine or the fentanyl, we dont produce it here anymore. The readers of the Herald-Leader arent seeing those stories about kids in the University of Kentucky pediatric center at Chandler Hospital who have been exposed to clandestine meth labs. You dont see it at all. Id like to say we did a great job in law enforcement and drove them out, but what happened is the cartels business model changed. The cartel dumped a higher quality product at a low price and what did they do? They completely shifted the market.

The homelessness youre now seeing in Lexington, and youre seeing it in beautiful towns like Somerset, that semi-permanent sense of homelessness. You see it in Louisville, particularly downtown. That is driven by that new methamphetamine that were seeing dumping in. We have to look at the scale of the threat before we dive in to prevention.

We have to look nationally, look at the data and see what works most effectively in the prevention space, and beg, borrow and steal from whatever state, whatever jurisdiction is doing things that are impactful, and we have to do it on a statewide level here. That will require significant resources, whether its use of some of the opioid abatement funds, or where we find those funds, it needs to be a priority.

U.S. District Judge David J. Hale swore in Russell Coleman as the U.S. attorney in Louisville on Sept. 22, 2017.

H-L: I would like to talk about violent crime. You distinguished that this is not just a Louisville, Lexington problem, but also impacting rural communities. How does that mission look different? Rural communities are often left out when discussing the crime problem. Its very city-focused.

RC: Violent crime has been on the uptick since 2014. Theres this straw dog to look to the year before COVID and ascribe so much of the violence that weve seen to COVID. The baseline year shouldnt be 2019. You need to go back to 2014 because thats when we started seeing an uptick.

Immediately, we focus on Jefferson County and Louisville, and we should because Louisville especially is on fire. But youve seen a 68% increase in rural counties, and what does this look like on the ground? London may traditionally have seen six homicides, and I believe that year they were pushing a dozen. Trigg County, the other end of the state, had five normally, and theyre looking at doubling that to 10. Its at both ends of the state. Oftentimes its driven by a nexus in narcotics, but so often its driven by juveniles. Its driven by  and particularly in Louisville and now in Lexington  its gang, group related.

Lets talk about what the solution looks like. For one, its supporting those on the front lines of addressing this: the county and commonwealths attorneys. They deal with this every day. Its making sure they have the tools to do their job. But its partnering with law enforcement to tackle the real nexus of this, part of it is, again, narcotics, but part of this is the group-driven dynamic. I will tell you this, as much as I love Louisville and love Lexington, the rest of the state are now looking at those counties as a nexus not only to dope, to the drugs that are passing through Lexington and Louisville, to east Kentucky or the west, but the violence, too.

When I was U.S. Attorney, I went to all 53 counties. Its very important to be present outside of the Golden Triangle. In Warren County, you want people to show up. You dont want the conversation always to be Lexington and Louisville. So I showed up and listened, and when I laid out my priorities then, which are very similar if not an analogue of our priorities that were talking about now. I talked about getting our hands around violence in Louisville as a priority. Now I talk about Lexington as well. I expected push back. I expected the Drug Task Force Commander in Warren County, Tommy Loving, who runs the Kentucky Narcotics Officers Association to say, oh, there you go again. Youre focused on Louisville.

They clapped, because so much of the poison and so much of the violence were seeing across the state then came from Jefferson, now comes from Jefferson and Fayette. The No. 1 law enforcement challenge in Kentucky, outside of the drug crisis across the state, is violence in Louisville. It is affecting the rest of the state. Louisville is, for better or worse, Louisville is the economic engine of Kentucky and until we collaboratively can tackle this violence challenge, its going to be a limiting factor to economic development to growth.

I dont speak for the mayor of Louisville, Craig Greenberg, but Ive been very pleased thus far that he is willing to be collaborative. I spoke with the mayor a couple of days ago. Well be meeting soon to discuss this very issue. I reached out to the Jefferson commonwealths attorney, Gerina Whethers, the day after I was elected. She was the first person I reached out to in my capacity as attorney general-elect to start being collaborative. Of course, Im a conservative Republican from rural Kentucky. Were talking about two Ds who may view the world differently, but we have to be pragmatic about this because we are on fire. We have to approach these issues, not just at the beginning of a term, but we have to approach these issues with a sense of urgency across the board.

I would argue that the State Police is the most important agency in all of state government. Full stop. That is the most important agency, writ large, particularly as were discussing the public safety space. Its very important that I find ways in the public safety space to collaborate with the governor, to collaborate with the mayor of the city of Louisville, to collaborate with mayors and elected officials across the commonwealth.

But in terms of the governor, I hope to sit down with him in the near term. Ill be collaborative when it makes sense, when we can do so for public safety, but there may be an inherent tension there. My first duty is to enforce the laws passed by the General Assembly. Thats the job description in the constitution. So, there may be a tension there, but I want to start this relationship on a positive foot, and I hope to have that conversation. Again, not happy talk. Were losing our neighbors, so were going to approach this with a sense of urgency.

Russell Coleman, Republican candidate for Kentucky attorney general, speaks during the Fancy Farm picnic in Fancy Farm, Ky., on Saturday, Aug. 5, 2023.

H-L: About the crime bill that several Louisville GOP lawmakers have announced their intent to file. One of the things that they included is a KSP post in Louisville. I know obviously KSP is not under the attorney general, but do you have any thoughts about that? Or any other provisions in the bill that you could see being effective when tackling violent crime in the area?

RC: Im grateful for their focus on this, again, with a sense of urgency. So well take a look at their proposals. I want to be helpful however I can. You mentioned the State Police post, which I applauded and would love to see. But that said, the governor has indicated some reticence to that. What I do have a responsibility for are the prosecutors and the investigators that serve in the attorney generals office. Whether theres a new state police post here or not, it is creating a unit here thats focused on violence reduction.

Were going to be present here. I dont know necessarily what that looks like. I cant make an announcement now about specifically what matters well be working. But in terms of violent crime, we will have prosecutors present here in Louisville. I also think its very important  and I may be stepping into a bureaucratic buzz saw because of the challenges within state government  but the AG has an office that is a few hundred yards from where we sit now. I want to emphasize we sit in an office building in the East End of Louisville, some miles from where most of this violence occurs. The AGs office needs to be relocated to downtown to the west, western portions of this county. Its very important that we are located in a place thats relevant.

H-L: You mentioned reaching out to the governors office and addressed the fact that inherently there will be some tension. Different parties, different approaches. In Frankfort in recent years, we have seen the attorney general and the governor butt heads on a lot of different issues. Thats not just a Beshear-Cameron thing; that was a Beshear-Bevin thing, too. Thats what happens when you have an attorney general and governor from different parties. Do you anticipate that youll find yourself in situations like that, where you are fighting with the governor in court?

RC: As much as Ive given you filibuster answers to all of your questions, let me very succinctly address this one and save you some time: I will be collaborative where I can in terms of public safety and protecting Kentucky families, but I will enforce the law. Full stop.

H-L: Another thing weve seen with Cameron is hes been very proactive in either leading or joining coalitions of attorneys general, either pushing back on things in D.C.  which is something you said would be a priority for you  or sometimes, more corporate or civil kinds of issues he weighs in on. Is that something we can expect to see from you?

RC: I will say, one of the eye-opening aspects of running for this job is interacting and building relationships with other conservative Republican attorneys general across the country. It is a great group of very talented folks, both the AGs and their staffs. Attorney General Cameron has built a very solid foundation in that sense from which I can build. Theres a tremendous amount of talent. These are great personal relationships. Im looking at an AG like Chris Carr in Georgia, who has been a very strong AG. Georgia is a bit of an analogue with Atlanta and the violence, and the AGs office traditionally did not engage in violent crime mitigation. Theyre doing that now it Atlanta, collaboratively, two different parties: the local DA, who has been focused on some issues other than violent crime, as weve seen nationally, and the Republican conservative AG are working together in Atlanta to mitigate crime. Thats a great model for me. Theres a lot to be learned.

Dave Yost is the attorney general of Ohio, and hes offered ideas on how we can tackle both prevention and violence. Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti in Tennessee has been very helpful, as has the attorney general in West Virginia, Patrick Morrisey, looking at when there is an out-sized regulatory approach, the EPA coming on to farms in terms of the Waters of the United States case. The EPA vs. West Virginia case is an example of where an AG has demonstrated an ability to successfully push back on overreach from an agency.

The lens by which Ill evaluate looking at these national litigation is always the Kentucky nexus. Is there a strong nexus to this commonwealth? The use of those resources, partnering, does it make sense for Kentucky? Its not going to be about making news, and our administration is not going to be about generating press releases. Its about having a substantive impact on these issues.

When theres overreach from the Biden administration, we will lean in to push back when it impacts Kentucky.

Attorney General-elect Russell Coleman, November 16, 2023.

H-L: Going back to criminal work, I want to talk about child exploitation because that was something you highlighted. We all carry a cell phone with us that can put anyone in contact with us, and predators use that for the worst. Can you elaborate on what your work will look like in that child exploitation and protection realm?

RC: Of all those priorities weve talked about, and we briefly touched upon public corruption, violence in Louisville, assisting commonwealths and county attorneys really robustly. One of those is, well say, first among equals for me, and that is how we plus size our attack on those that are attacking our kids. I come at this as a parent first, of a 15-year-old, a 12-year-old and a 4-year-old that has a hard time getting my kids off screens. I saw as a prosecutor, as a U.S. Attorney during 2020. I saw this significant increase in child exploitation, not only on the dark web, which is some of the most horrendous and evil conduct that Ive ever been exposed to.

If you looked at the data, the intel, the overlay of that as a parent, we saw kids that were glued to screens, that werent in school, where parents werent able to supervise that to the degree that would have been ideal. Those converged and it was calamitous for kids.

Im planning on hiring a senior leader in our department of criminal investigations whose sole focus is to tackle exploitation at a very senior level. This is someone thats going to lead the team of whether we need additional statutory changes, whether we need to build our training capacity. Training is the difference in whether were removing some of these offenders from the street. At the end of the day, that goal is to target-harden the commonwealth. Were not going to eliminate this conduct entirely, ever, but we can target-harden Kentucky so that these offenders will move on down the road and go elsewhere. They will know that the risk of being caught, the risk of spending significant time in prison is higher if they target kids in Kentucky.

H-L: The last question I have is a little different than the other topics we covered, but still a big one. You know there is a change coming to the attorney generals office in 2025 because the legislature has now passed this bill that will require that child support enforcement move from the Cabinet of Health and Family Services to the Office of the Attorney General. Thats going to be something that you will have to deal with. Any thoughts about how to operate or improve that function?

RC: Its one of the topics Ill be discussing with Gov. Beshear when we meet because it is a topic that our transition team has discussed every day that weve met because it is an enormous elephant sitting on the desk of the next attorney general. Your readers may or may not know that the legislature has moved the entirety of the child support services function from the bowels of the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to the AGs Office. Why did they do that? The legislature was so frustrated that this program had over $1 billion of arrears that has not been collected and so thats money that kids arent getting. Thats money that oftentimes kids that are impoverished arent getting. Its not something I asked for, but as I said my role is to enforce and execute on what the General Assembly directs. And so I view that not only first and foremost, do we need to make sure were keeping the trains running on time, that we shrink the bureaucracy, that we rely on our county attorneys who are the principal agent of collecting those dollars.

What excites me, again, are whats known as fatherhood initiatives. Theres some great policy in other states. One, other states are doing it better than we are. Theyre getting money to kids. Theyre enforcing the judgments and collecting, but theyre doing things that demonstrate that when dads particularly are paying, are honoring their commitments, are paying in to funds that to support their kids, theres great data that shows these dads are also engaging more with their kids. If we can include even a small percentile of these dads, to get them engaged with their kids, I mean, the downstream impact on choose a social challenge, the downstream impact is going to be huge. So any improvement in that, how we do our jobs on the child support services component of the AGs office, that is life-changing for these families.
State Rep. Josie Raymond wants to leave the legislature for Louisville Metro Council, and former lawmaker Mary Lou Marzian says she will seek a return to Frankfort.

Raymond announced Monday that she plans to run for Metro Council's District 10 seat, which represents parts of Bon Air, Buechel, Camp Taylor and other neighborhoods. Incumbent Pat Mulvihill, a fellow Democrat, announced last week that he does not plan to run for re-election.

Raymond hopes to cinch the position.

I still want to represent my neighbors, she said in a release. And I want to do it in the environment where I can be the most effective for them. I believe thats Metro Council.

A few hours later, former state Rep. Mary Lou Marzian announced she will make a bid for Raymond's seat in the Kentucky House.

Its been hard watching the attacks on public education, the LGBTQ+ community, abortion access, labor, and our city," Marzian said in a release. I have the experience, legislative knowledge, and passion to once again be a strong voice for our community.

After redistricting in 2022, Marzian and Raymond both became part of Kentucky House District 41. Marzian, who had been in the legislature for 28 years, eventually withdrew herself from the race and threw her support behind Raymond. She said she would not play the GOP's "sadistic and misogynist game of pitting Democratic women against each other."

State Rep. and Louisville Democrat Mary Lou Marzian, right, signed a Notice of Candidate Withdrawal during a press conference on Monday, March 28, 2022. To her right is attorney and notary Mikki Adams. Marzian is bowing out after being forced into a primary battle against her colleague, Rep. Josie Raymond, when Republican lawmakers approved new redistricting plans this year that put both women in the same district.

On Monday, Raymond expressed frustrations with being a Democrat in the General Assembly and said Louisville acted "when Frankfort wouldn't."

When Frankfort wouldn't pass my paid leave for state employees bill, Louisville did it for city employees. When Frankfort wouldn't pass my bill to find and mitigate the lead eating our kids' brains, Louisville did, she said. Help is not coming immediately from the state when it comes to crucial Louisville issues like gun violence and housing-first solutions to homelessness. My hometown must continue to lead to become the thriving, inclusive city we all know it can be.

She looks forward to being a part of the majority on the council if elected, she said. Rather than fight against Republican policies in Frankfort, Raymond is ready to "play offense" in Louisville.

Fellow state Rep. Cassie Chambers Armstrong, who previously served as the Metro Council District 8 representative, expressed her support for Raymond on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

I know that @RepJosieRaymond will make a wonderful council member. Shes a thoughtful policymaker and an energetic advocate. She has my full support! https://t.co/SeP7MBR4Ax  Cassie Chambers Armstrong - KY Senate 19 (@cassieforky) November 27, 2023

Councilman Ben Reno-Weber has also thrown his support behind Raymond in a social media post, calling her his "long-time co-conspirator on all things awesome" and that he "literally did a happy dance" when he found out she was running.

"I cannot think of anyone I am more excited to have join us in doing the good work we have embarked upon," Reno-Weber said in a post on X.

Raymond said if elected, she will focus on being an ally to the LGBTQ+ community, labor unions and people who believe in abortion rights. She wants to provide her perspective as a parent to two Jefferson County Public Schools students and focus on serving her constituents, she said.

Raymond has been serving as a state representative since 2018.

Reach reporter Eleanor McCrary at EMcCrary@courier-journal.com or at @ellie_mccrary on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kentucky House: Josie Raymond; Mary Lou Marzian unveil election plans
Legal ambiguity over abortions in Kenya is pushing thousands of women to turn to backstreet clinics. BBC Africa Eye explores how abortion is shrouded in stigma and misinformation.

Short presentational grey line

Edith is lying on a bed covered in old newspaper in a backstreet clinic in Nairobi.

Her legs are held high by stirrups while a man in a white medical coat explains he is about to put some medicine inside her uterus. A red bucket of bleach containing medical instruments sits on the floor.

The mum-of-three, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, is four months pregnant and is about to have an abortion.

"I had to terminate because I had to go back to work, and I have another small baby," she later tells BBC Africa Eye.

Abortion is a complicated issue in Kenya.

The penal code, which has its origins in the colonial era, outlaws abortion, criminalising the woman, the person who carries out the abortion and the person who supplies the material required.

However, the 2010 constitution, combined with a wider body of law, does allow abortion when "the life or health of the mother is in danger" or when the pregnancy has resulted from rape or incest.

Edith discovered she was HIV-positive a few years ago. Her partner, after refusing to get tested himself, later left her.

A lawyer told the BBC that having a child while living with HIV meant "her physical wellbeing is probably in danger". This, as well as other factors, meant that Edith may have qualified for a legal abortion.

But she felt the backstreet clinic was her only choice.

Illegal abortions can be carried out in unsanitary conditions that threaten the health of the patient

Few doctors providing legal abortions are willing to talk about the issue openly.

High-profile arrests over the years have made the situation "dangerous for health workers", according to Prof Joachim Osur, a reproductive and sexual health expert at Amref International University in Nairobi. It is about how the law is understood.

"Depending on how the judge interprets the legality of the procedure that someone has done, it can go either way," he says.

In 2004, Dr John Nyamu, along with two nurses, was arrested for the murder of two foetuses, a crime that carried the death penalty.

He was held at the Kamiti Maximum Security Prison in Nairobi for 12 months before he was found not guilty.

The media sensation in Kenya around his case eventually led to the formation of the Reproductive Health and Rights Alliance. It was this group that led the debate to help draft the 2010 constitution, which for the first time in the country's history provided a legal, albeit limited, avenue for abortion.

However, Dr Nyamu, who now provides safe and legal abortions, believes that the legal ambiguity over abortion makes it hard for women to access these services, even when they should be allowed and particularly in public health facilities.

"Unsafe abortion is rampant in Kenya," he says, arguing that poor women suffer the most as safe terminations are not available in public hospitals because of the uncertainty and lack of guidelines. The unsafe abortions they then seek can lead to health problems.

"The ones who come with the post-abortion complications, most of them are young people. The women actually start [the procedure] themselves, or they do it with assistance of an untrained person," Dr Nyamu adds.

According to the global human rights organisation, Center for Reproductive Rights, around seven women and girls die every day in Kenya because of unsafe abortions. Thousands more are hospitalised.

At an unregulated clinic on the outskirts of Nairobi, the man in charge offers women abortions for 2,500 Kenyan shillings ($16; 13).

"We have girls who are still going to school. You get others who are raped.

"You get someone who is not ready, and they want to terminate it. We do help because they come for help. They need that help from us," he says, speaking on condition of anonymity.

He charges extra for the safe disposal of the foetus. If the woman cannot afford that he pays someone to throw it in the river.

Charles Kanjama, in the white T-shirt, opposes changing the law to make it easier to get an abortion

Anti-abortion campaigners and associated religious organisations in Kenya, many of whom are supported by the anti-abortion lobby in the United States, insist the law is clear: abortion is illegal.

Charles Kanjama, chairperson of the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum, regularly speaks out against abortion and organises rallies in Nairobi.

"For us, we don't think there is any contradiction. We think [the penal code and the constitution] are aligned. I do not support an amendment of our laws to remove the crime of abortion," he says.

In 2012, the government published guidelines for health workers on legal abortions. A year later they were withdrawn, and training on safe abortion care was suspended.

That remains the case and Mr Kanjama's group wants it to stay that way.

"Our position is that whether abortion is safe or unsafe, first of all, the child always dies. So, it is always unsafe for the child. And number two, you cannot train people to do something that is illegal in the country."

There are many leading voices in Kenya who disagree.

"The rich have an opportunity to take their children to five-star hospitals and procure a safe abortion, silently... But the poor have to struggle"", Source: Esther Passaris, Source description: Member of the National Assembly, Image: MP Esther Passaris

MP Esther Passaris not only speaks out in favour of abortion but is pushing for improved sexual health and family planning education too.

"Our constitution allows abortion only when the wellbeing of the mother is in question, and the wellbeing is not just physical and biological, it's emotional and economical.

"I think it's about time that we understand the emotional burden of not having access to family planning, not empowering the woman so that she knows that she doesn't have to become a baby-producing machine."

Ms Passaris says that while the 2010 constitution legalised abortion in certain circumstances, she argues that the fear around it restricts women's access to health services, particularly for those from poorer communities.

"The rich have an opportunity to take their children to five-star hospitals and procure a safe abortion, silently, without anyone knowing or speaking. But the poor have to struggle," she says.

In March 2022, Kenya's High Court affirmed abortion as a fundamental right under the terms of constitution and ruled that arbitrary arrests were illegal, but it has done little to allay the fears of some women, like Edith.

Foetuses in bags can sometimes wash up on the banks of the river in Nairobi

Back in the clinic where she is seeking a termination, the man, who says he trained as a doctor and performs around 150 abortions a month, has finished putting the medicine inside her to induce an abortion.

"We have, like, four to five hours before the medicine starts taking action. But later, when hell breaks loose, she's going to experience the same thing people experience when giving birth," he says.

Edith saved up 4,000 Kenyan shillings for the abortion. It was not enough but the clinic agreed to do the procedure on condition she would pay more later.

A week after the abortion, Edith speaks to the BBC again, describing what it was like to get an abortion in secret.

"I was alone and in so much pain that I was hitting the walls. I was wondering what was going on, if this was a birth. I was thinking: 'I don't want to die in this house alone.'

"You do it in pain, because you did not expect something like that. You love children but considering the life you live, you have to do that."

You can watch the full BBC Africa Eye documentary Breaking the Silence: Abortion Rights in Kenya on the BBC Africa YouTube channel.

More from Africa Eye:
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Most Read from Bloomberg

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke in London Sunday with Bloombergs Francine Lacqua. Here are the key takeaways from their conversation:

Bullish on UK Economy

Sunak wants the public service to give UK taxpayers more value for money but denies that hes overseeing a return to austerity, even as the official fiscal watchdog says that his tax-cutting plans assume a squeeze on state departments.

I think any commentary or accusation thats whats happening is just simply unfounded, he said. Government is already spending a lot of peoples money, and what we need to see going forward is more productivity out of the public sector.

He also said tax-cuts are the direction of travel now.

Sunak was keen to emphasize that the UK economy has turned the corner after avoiding a recession this year, pointing toward 29.5 billion ($37.2 billion) of business investment ahead of summit with business leaders on Monday.

The UK economy, he insisted, has got real momentum and on track to outperform peers in Europe, he said.

Read More: Sunak Says Claims UK Heading for Austerity Simply Unfounded

Antisemitism and Elon Musk

Sunak chose his words carefully when asked whether he will follow US President Joe Bidens office in criticizing tech entrepreneur Elon Musk for stoking the hatred of Jews on his X social media platform, saying he is denouncing antisemitism in all its guises.

It doesnt matter whether youre Elon Musk or youre someone on the street whos shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past you, he said. I condemn antisemitism in all its forms.

Musk faced a widespread backlash this month after he agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people hold a dialectical hatred of White people, saying the user was speaking the actual truth. Sunak shared a stage with Musk earlier in November at the UKs AI Safety Summit in a discussion with the tech entrepreneur that lasted for nearly an hour.

Read More: Sunak Says He Abhors Antisemitism From Anyone, Including Musk

Keeping Election Options Open

Sunak didnt want to comment on speculation that the UK will be heading to the polls in the first half of next year, an idea fueled by the fast-tracking of a payroll tax cut.

Sunak has to call an election by January 2025 at the latest, with his Tories lagging 19 points behind the main opposition Labour Party in a YouGov survey.

Im really just focused on delivering on the things that I said I would, he said. Really Im not focused on elections.

Read More: Sunak Says Not Focused on UK Election, Wont Discuss Timing

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Monday nights full moon marks the start of the king tides winter season in Washington. It means high tide will be even higher during a new or full moon for the next couple of months throughout the region.

According to the NOAA National Sea Grant College Program website, king tides occur when the moon is closer to Earth and has a greater gravitational pull on the ocean, which happens this time of year. The high tides are exacerbated further when the Earth, moon and sun are all three aligned.

King tides also occur when the sun is closest to the Earth in its orbit, which happens in early January each year. Thats when tides are expected to be the highest.

According to the Sea Grant king tide calendar, Budd Inlet in Olympia could see a high tide of around 16 feet on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Nov. 28-30. NOAA predicts Wednesday will have the highest tide at 16.09 feet.

Tuesdays high tide will be at 7:10 a.m., Wednesdays will be at 7:54 a.m., and Thursdays will be at 8:37 a.m.

Samantha Borth, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Seattle, said king tides arent a concern quite yet largely because of the high pressure system that has kept skies clear since before Thanksgiving. The lack of rain will limit tidal flooding.

Borth said king tides become a concern when rain is added to the equation. Last December, some roads in downtown Olympia were temporarily closed due to flooding during king tides. The predicted high tide level in Budd Inlet was 16.6 feet, but rain pushed tides to 18.4 feet, the highest the city had on record.

In December, NOAA is predicting Dec. 27 to have the highest high tide of 16.3 feet, with several days before then with high tides above 16 feet in Olympia. From Jan. 12 to Jan. 16, the predicted high tides will range from 16.43 feet to 16.9 feet at 9 a.m. Jan. 15.

Nisqually Reach isnt expected to reach 16 feet during any of the king tide periods. Henderson Inlet wont see high tides above 16 feet until Jan. 14. Eld Inlet will see similar king tides to Budd Inlet until Jan. 15, when the high tide is expected to be even higher at 17.12 feet.

Borth said to be wary when near high water. She said to never turn your back and dont get too close to the water when checking out king tides.
It has been close to a year and a half since the indictment involving rapper Young Thug was handed up to a judge and on Monday, Nov. 27 opening statements in YSL RICO trial are finally set to begin.

The RICO trial against Grammy-nominated rapper, Atlanta native Young Thug, and members of the alleged gang named Young Slime Life is one of the most historic trials to take place in Fulton County over recent years. There has been much controversy surrounding the case; from the expectancy of how long the trial would last, contraband being brought into the courtroom, a defense attorney being arrested, and a courtroom deputy fired and arrested after an alleged inappropriate relationship with a defendant.

Perhaps one of the most important turn of events happened in early November when a Fulton County judge made the decision to allow rap lyrics as evidence against Young Thug and other defendants.

Judge Ural Glanville conditionally admitted 17 sets of rap lyrics that prosecutors can use as evidence in the gang trial against Young Thug and his alleged associates. The judge agreed that prosecutors have to lay a foundation in order to use them.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Young Thug whose real name is Jeffery Williams, was arrested in May 2022, since then the rapper has been held in jail after numerous bond requests were denied by Judge Glanville.

In the initial indictment, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis alleged that Young Thug, fellow rapper Sergio Kitchens, known as Gunna, and 27 others were involved in events dating back to 2015 that included numerous murders, attempted murders, and other crimes.

As of Nov. 8, only Young Thug and 5 others are set to stand trial. The other initial defendants either took plea deals or have been severed from this trial.

The indictment details the 2015 murder of Donavon Thomas Jr., referred to as Nut throughout the rap industry. The indictment also mentions the attempted murder of rival rapper YFN Lucci by alleged members of the YSL gang that were incarcerated with him.

RELATED STORIES ON YSL TRIAL:

Ahead of opening statements, weve taken time to answer some questions you may have about the trial and those involved:

WHO IS YOUNG THUG?

Young Thugs eccentric style and mumble rap  along with breakout hits such as Stoner and Best Friend  have made him popular. His squeaky high-pitched vocals can be heard in the background of Childish Gambinos This is America, a social-political hit that became the first hip-hop track to win the song of the year Grammy Award.

Young Thug won a Grammy in 2019 for his co-writing efforts on the track, which included 21 Savage, Quavo, BlocBoy JB, Slim Jxmmi of the duo Rae Sremmurd. He has had several mixtapes and three studio albums including his recent Business is Business music project, which was released in June.

Young Thug has collaborated with some of musics best including Drake, Chris Brown, T.I. and Travis Scott. Elton John called working with Young Thug an amazing moment after recording the song Always Love You featuring Nicki Minaj and Gunna.

Young Thug has three chart-topping songs including Havana with Camila Cabello, Way 2 Sexy with Drake and Future and Franchise featuring Travis Scott and M.I.A.

He signed with Gucci Manes 1017 Records in 2013.

In a hyper-masculine hip-hop scene, Young Thug refused to play by traditional gender rules. He wore a dress on the cover of his 2016 mixtape Jeffery and said theres no such thing as gender as part of a Calvin Klein campaign.

On social media, some noticed Young Thug referencing his male friends as bae, lover and hubby.

Young Thug grew up in a rough suburban Atlanta housing project near Cleveland Avenue where crime was the norm. He became a father at the age of 17 and currently has six children.

Prosecutors have painted Young Thug as a gang leader known as King Slime, someone who calls the shots and directs others to engage in criminal activity.

WHAT ARE THE CHARGES YOUNG THUG FACES?

A Fulton County grand jury indicted Young Thug in May 2022, and more charges were added in a subsequent indictment in August of that year. The second indictment accuses Young Thug and 27 other people of conspiring to violate Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, known as RICO. The rapper is also accused of participation in criminal street gang activity, as well as drug and gun charges.

Prosecutors say Young Thug and two other people co-founded a violent criminal street gang in 2012 called Young Slime Life, or YSL, which they say is associated with the national Bloods gang. The indictment says Young Thug made YSL a well-known name by referring to it in his songs and on social media.

Fulton County District District Attorney Fani Willis said in a news conference in May 2022 that Young Thug and the alleged members of YSL operated as a criminal street gang and commenced to do havoc in our community, since 2012.

Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant called Young Thug one of Atlantas top offenders who needed to be taken off the streets.

They are committing conservatively 75% to 80% of all the violent crime in our community, Willis said. It doesnt matter your notoriety or fame, if you come to Fulton County, Georgia, and you commit crimes, you are going to be a target and a focus of this District Attorneys office.

Willis said some of the people being indicted could face life in prison.

Willis said social media and music played a crucial role in the investigation into Young Thug and his associates.

Social media is a wonderful tool for prosecutors in every indictment we bring these days, Willis said.

In addition to specific charges, the August indictment includes a wide-ranging list of 191 acts that prosecutors say were committed between 2013 and 2022 as part of the alleged conspiracy to further the gangs interests.

The indictment also said Williams and YSL member engaged in the activities such as:

Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through acts of racketeering activity including murder, assault and threats of violence;

Preserving, protecting and enhancing the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise by the posting of messages, images, videos and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and a willingness to engage in violence on its behalf;

Maintaining armed individuals ready and willing to preserve, protect and enhance the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise through the use of violence;

Obtaining money, weapons and other property through acts of racketeering activity, including robbery, theft and the unlawful sale and distribution of drugs;

Obstructing law enforcement investigations and court proceedings through witness intimidation and attacks upon law enforcement officers.

In May 2022, Williamss attorney Brian Steel told Channel 2s Mark Winne that his client committed no crime.

Ill tell you the response to any allegation is Mr. Williams committed no crime whatsoever and we will fight to my last drop of blood to clear him, he said.

Police said YSL claims affiliation with the national Bloods gang and Williams is one of three alleged YSL Founders.

WHO ELSE IS CHARGED?

Rapper Gunna was charged with a single count of racketeering conspiracy. Channel 2 Action News was first to break the story when Gunna entered an Alford plea in December, which means he maintains his innocence but recognizes that its in his best interest to plead guilty.

Channel 2s Mark Winne was the only reporter in the courtroom when the rapper responded, Yes, maam when a prosecutor said that YSL is a music label and a gang and that he had knowledge that its members or associates had committed crimes in furtherance of the gang.

The other two people accused of co-founding the YSL gang  Walter Murphy and Trontavious Stephens  were also charged. They each pleaded guilty in December to one count of conspiracy to violate the anti-racketeering law.

As of Nov. 8 there are only 6 defendants remaining:

Jeffrey Williams aka YOUNG THUG -- RICO charges, participation in criminal street gang activity

Deamonte Kendrick aka YAK GOTTI -- RICO charges and murder.

Shannon Stillwell aka Shannon Jackson aka SB -- RICO charges, murder, participation in a criminal street gang, gun charges

Rodalius Ryan aka LIL ROD -- RICO charges

Quamarvious Nichols -- RICO charges, murder, participation in criminal street gang activity and gun charges.

Marquavius Huey aka QUA -- RICO charges, armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, hijacking a motor vehicle in the first degree, participation in a criminal street gang, possession of a telecommunication device by an incarcerated individual and gun charges.

WHAT HAS YOUNG THUG BEEN DOING SINCE HIS ARREST?

In May, Young Thug was taken to the hospital for a second day in a row after feeling sick before court proceedings, according to the judge presiding over the trial.

More than a year after he was jailed, Young Thug surprisingly released his third studio album Business is Business, which was executive produced by Metro Boomin. The album  which featured Drake, Future and Lil Uzi Vert  debuted No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart.

Young Thugs album dropped a week after Gunna released his new project.

WHAT PENALTIES DOES YOUNG THUG FACE IF HES CONVICTED?

Young Thugs racketeering conspiracy charge and two gang charges each carry a penalty of five to 20 years in prison. The other five charges also carry potential prison time.

WHATS NEXT IN YOUNG THUGS CASE?

Jury selection began in January. Channel 2s Michael Seiden was there as hundreds of potential jurors filed into the courthouse to fill out a jury questionnaire with more than 250 questions.

It took nearly 10 months to seat a jury, which is highly unusual. Channel 2s Courtney Francisco was at the Fulton County Courthouse in November as there was a scramble to get a jury seated before Nov. 6. If the jury hadnt been seated by then, the case would have had to start over, according to speedy trial rules.

At the start of the day, the judge and attorneys were working to whittle 50 potential jurors down to the final 12.

By noon, the judge had excused one woman from the list. The trial is expected to last about nine months, and the judge agreed she could lose her job if she is out for that long.

The makeup of the 12 jurors consists of six black women, 2 black males, 1 white woman, 1 white male, 1 Hispanic woman, and 1 other woman. As for the six alternates, they consist of four black women, 1 black male, and 1 white male.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.

RELATED VIDEO:
This image provided by the Burlington Police Department shows Jason J. Eaton. Police have arrested the suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus Saturday evening. Eaton was arrested during a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. | Burlington (Vermont) Police Department via Associated Press

On Saturday an unidentified gunman shot and injured three Palestinian students in Burlington, Vermont. By Sunday afternoon, organizations around the nation were calling for the incident to be investigated as a possible hate crime, CNN reports. Federal agents apprehended the alleged shooter Sunday night near the site of the shooting, per reports.

The victims have been identified, though police have asked that their identities not be shared, per the Burlington Free Press. Two of the victims are in stable condition, while the third is being treated for more serious injuries.

The shooting comes amid news of hostilities between Israel and Hamas, the group that composes Palestines ruling government.

Burlington shooter apprehended

Federal agents apprehended the believed shooter Sunday night in Burlington near the site of the shooting, per the BBC. They identified him as 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton.

NBC News reports that Eaton is being held without bail. He will be arraigned on Monday, Nov. 27.

Police worked with state and federal agencies to identify Eaton, who they say lived in a building across from the site of the shooting, the Burlington Free Press reported. Authorities were granted a search warrant and searched his apartment Sunday night.

According to the Burlington Free Press, evidence collected during the execution of a search warrant, and additional evidence developed during the course of this investigation, gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to suspect Eaton.

Eatons mother said he was experiencing struggles with his mental health and job security, but that he had been in good spirits during the Thanksgiving holiday, per the BBC.

She added that despite his blatant struggles, she was shocked by his actions.

One of Eatons attorneys declined to discuss his motives with reporters after his arraignment, though she said, We as human beings hope that the people who were shot recover quickly and completely, per NBC News.

An agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives confirmed Eatons purchase of a Ruger .380 caliber pistol earlier this year, NBC News reported.

What happened in Vermont?

According to the Burlington Free Press, the students were walking en route to the home of one of their family members for dinner when they were confronted by the shooter.

Of the confrontation police said, Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot, CNN reports.

Per the Burlington Free Press, in a release, police said they received calls that a person or persons had been shot in the vicinity of North Prospect Street in Burlington. Officers arrived to find two injured people at the location and a third injured person at a second location a short distance away.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators of a shooting Saturday targeting three Palestinian university students in Burlington, Vermont.

Why is the shooting being investigated as a hate-crime?

According to The New York Times, the students were speaking a mix of Arabic and English, with two of them wearing a kaffiyeh  a traditional Arab headdress that has come to symbolize Palestinian identity  in the lead-up to the shooting.

In a statement, CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad said, Due to the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate and violence we have witnessed in recent weeks, local, state and national law enforcement authorities must investigate a possible bias motive for the shooting of these three young men.

The American Jewish Committee echoed the sentiment in a post on X.

We are horrified by the shooting attack against three Palestinian college students in Burlington, VT.



We hope for a quick recovery for the victims and the swift apprehension of the perpetrator.



We urge law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.  American Jewish Committee (@AJCGlobal) November 26, 2023

Jon Murad, the chief of the Burlington police said he has been in touch with federal authorities on the chance it was deemed a hate crime by investigators.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, said Murad, per the New York Times.

Murad also encouraged the public to refrain from forming conclusions without more reliable information.
Could Lexington be getting a new Northside Kroger to compete with incoming Publix?

A plan for a new Kroger Marketplace was filed on Nov. 24 for 760 Newtown Springs Dr., according to the citys planning and zoning website.

The proposal calls for a 122,000-square-foot store with a separate 5,000-square-foot liquor store next door with a separate entrance and a fuel center as part of a 20-acre development.

The new Kroger would not have an entrance directly off of Newtown Pike but would sit just behind three other new buildings.

A development plan has been filed for a new Kroger Marketplace at 760 Newtown Springs in Lexington, Ky. The plan calls for a gas station and liquor store as well as three other new buildings that would sit along Newtown Pike, top of photo.

Kroger has filed a plan to build a new Marketplace store just off Newtown Pike.

The new store comes as grocery competition is about to ramp up: Publix, the Florida-based grocery chain, is planning to build at least two stores in Lexington and possibly another in Nicholasville.

Planning and zoning considerations for new North Lexington Kroger

The site is already zoned for a commercial grocery store. The planning commission will have to sign off on the grocers development plan.

The Kroger Marketplace would have about 639 parking spaces. The plans also appear to have a drive-thru pharmacy and space for online order grocery pick up.

The site, just off Newtown Pike near the Amazon distribution facility, is a vacant field next to a new development called Newtown Springs, which is just off Citation Boulevard.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

RD Property Group, which is building Newtown Springs, has said the development also will have an Everhome Suites, slated to open Spring 2024, and the Starbucks that recently opened.

The area also is near the Marriott Hotel & Resort at Griffin Gate, the Embassy Suites Hotel and the University of Kentucky Coldstream Research Campus, all near I-64.

A development plan has been filed for the empty lot at 760 Newtown Springs in Lexington. a 122,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace store would sit behind three other new buildings, just off Citation Boulevard and Newtown Springs Drive.

Grocery store competition in Lexington

There are at least 11 other Kroger locations in Lexington already with larger Marketplace locations at Beaumont Centre and Richmond Road.

Lexington also is home to several other grocery chains including Meijer, Aldi, Target, Walmart, Sams, Costco, Crossroads IGA, Trader Joes and Whole Foods.

Florida-based grocery chain Publix has announced two stores in Lexington.

The first Publix in the Bluegrass will open in the new shopping center at Fountains of Palomar at Harrodsburg Road and Man o War Boulevard in 2024. Another has been announced for the Citation Point development at Citation Boulevard and Georgetown Road, not far from the newly planned Kroger Marketplace.

Sneak peek: New taco and tequila restaurant coming to Lexington distillery district
Kyle Rittenhouse is hoping to set the record straight about his life and upbringing as well as the events leading up to the fateful 2020 evening in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that changed his life forever.

On Aug. 25, 2020, Rittenhouse shot three men in self-defense during a Black Lives Matter riot. Two of those men died from their injuries, and Rittenhouse was charged with murder. The televised trial resulted in Rittenhouse's acquittal on all counts.

While legally cleared, Rittenhouse says a persistently false "narrative" was created about him that he couldnt control, and now he wants to set the record straight for the court of public opinion.

"The reason I decided to write a book is there are so many narratives about me, some right from wrong, and I just wanted to finally put it all to rest and tell my story. I wanted to tell what my childhood was, about how I grew up, who the true me was and how I got to where I am today," Rittenhouse told Fox News Digital in an interview.

KYLE RITTENHOUSE LAUNCHING INITIATIVE TO COMBAT 'LIES' FROM POWERFUL MEDIA OUTLETS, NAMES THOSE HE MAY SUE

Part of that false narrative, Rittenhouse says, is that he comes from means.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"I see a lot of people who will say Kyle grew up wealthy had everything handed to him his entire life. When in reality I grew up in poverty," Rittenhouse said.

"I grew up homeless. I was on welfare, food stamps, and people don't realize that."

"Im hoping that people learn that from my book  it wasn't easy. Growing up. I had a drug addict dad and I had a mom who was working 80-hour weeks," he described.

KYLE RITTENHOUSE HIT WITH LAWSUIT FROM MAN HE SHOT DURING 2020 KENOSHA CLASH: 'LITTLE BIT OF A SHOCK'

In the book, Rittenhouse describes how he dealt with panic attacks and post-traumatic stress, and how a golden retriever named Milo helped him cope.

Rittenhouse also discusses in the book those whom he describes as "grifters"  public figures who tried to take advantage of him and his case to make money.

GUN CONTROL GROUP SLAMMED OVER CLAIM KYLE RITTENHOUSE 'NOT HELD ACCOUNTABLE' FOR 2020 SHOOTING, DESPITE TRIAL

Kyle Rittenhouse testifies during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse, Nov. 10, 2021.

In speaking to Fox News, Rittenhouse praised political figures like former President Donald Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., who spoke out in his defense early on. Others, like Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz and former North Carolina Rep. Madison Cawthorn, only showed support after a non-guilty verdict was rendered, according to Rittenhouse.

"There's a handful of politicians that I trust, and the rest I tread very lightly on," Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse writes that "a decade from now, I hope to show others the love and help they need. I hope that whatever I am doing, and wherever I am doing it, I help others know they are not alone when it matters most."

"A decade from now, I want my life to be defined not by what I did in 2020 but by what I will do from this day forward. I do not need to be remembered, but I do feel called to make a difference," he said.





Original article source: Kyle Rittenhouse writes book to correct misleading 'narrative': 'Tell my story'
You are here: World

 Flash

Russia's Defense Ministry announced Sunday that the country's air defense forces had downed nine Ukrainian drones attempting to attack several regions in Russia, including Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel that the air defense forces had intercepted and destroyed several drones flying towards Moscow over the Moscow region early Sunday morning. There were no casualties or property damage, he added.

Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz also said on social media that two drones had been destroyed by the air defense system over the Bryansk region.
When a stranger arrived in the picturesque Scottish village of Tomintoul in the 1980s, he started investing millions.

Calling himself Lord Williams, he bought local businesses and property, and became a popular local figure.

But all was not what it seemed.

Anthony Williams had embezzled more than 5m from the Metropolitan Police, his title was bought, and he was jailed when his double life was eventually exposed.

It led to stinging criticism of the force in a report by MPs and an "unreserved apology" to the people of London from the head of the Met Police.

However, 30 years later some residents of Tomintoul maintain he left a positive legacy.

The businesses he invested in still employ people to this day, and he shored up old properties which may otherwise have crumbled.

Ill-gotten gains

As a finance officer at Scotland Yard, Williams had been able to defraud the Met for more than a decade.

He syphoned off money from funds aimed at combating the IRA, according to a source close to the case, as he managed to orchestrate having control of the spending.

The fraudster invested his ill-gotten gains in the quiet Moray village at the heart of the Cairngorms.

He arrived in Tomintoul with his wife, Kay, bought a cottage, and was regarded by some as the perfect gentleman with an aristocratic aura.

The Clockhouse restaurant in Tomintoul is still running to this day

He established the Clockhouse restaurant, sinking hundreds of thousands of pounds into its renovation, took over a hotel and bought properties.

When he was arrested at his home in New Malden, Surrey, in 1994 and ultimately jailed for seven-and-half years, some locals feared it could lead to Tomintoul becoming a ghost town.

Dru McPherson, who now owns the Clockhouse restaurant, remembers when Williams first appeared in the village.

"You're going back now 35 years when he arrived in the village," he told BBC Scotland News.

"He was very low-profile, no airs and graces, just a businessman coming to the village to revitalise the businesses and properties."

Dru McPherson now owns the Clockhouse restaurant

"He started here with the Clockhouse, which was formerly a village shop, and completely gutted the building from roof to basement," Mr McPherson added.

"This was a 1m project. The outer walls are fixed on to a frame of girders that hold the whole building in place and will do so for the next 200 years.

"At the time I remember thinking well why is anyone pumping these amounts of cash into Tomintoul? But these investors come into villages like this and without them you kind of wonder what would be left."

Mr McPherson said nobody in the village had any idea of Williams' wrongdoing.

"We only actually realised when policemen turned up with funny hats in the village because the Metropolitan Police wear their distinctive uniforms. They swooped in.

"Obviously shock and surprise was the initial reaction. In hindsight you look back and go 'yeah we should have figured this'. Interesting times back then."

Map

The Clockhouse owner said that while he "obviously cannot condone theft or wrongdoing of any kind", he believes the investment had a positive outcome.

"Because although subsequently proven Tony Williams was a crook, he spent it in Tomintoul and my point is had he not done that then the properties and businesses you see today simply would not exist," he said. "They would be piles of rubble.

"So his intervention has lasted 30 years, employing people, keeping the village sustainable."

Mr McPherson explained: "I get he has done something wrong. If you give a kid keys to a sweetshop. It's an ethical question versus an opportunity. There is no doubt he committed a crime.

"I am not saying you need criminals but you need random investment."

Asked what he would say to him now, Mr McPherson said: "You have done a power of good in this area, rightly or wrongly.

"The buildings and jobs would not exist so, for that, well done."

Mona Grant said she had been "devastated" to learn of the crime

Mona Grant, 86, is among local residents who also still remember Williams' arrival and impact.

"I just remember him coming to the village, and he looked a very smart man," she told BBC Scotland News.

"He did quite a lot in the village actually. I mean, stolen money, but he did up a few of the hotels and stuff. I suppose he did some good.

"I just knew him to say hello to. I think a lot of us thought he was alright you know, he was quite pleasant."

She said she was "a bit devastated" at the time after what he had done emerged.

Ebeth Coutts said: "Most of the properties he did acquire were improved, it was just unfortunate the way he went about it."

Duncan McGregor, 74, said: "It did do good for Tomintoul, there's no doubt about that, but it was stolen money at the end of the day."

Meanwhile, June Ferguson, 79, said: "He made a wonderful job with other people's money," but she added: "We could all do that."

Another local woman, who did not want to be identified, said: "I spoke to him once but he just turned away, and that told me all I needed to know."

The memory of Williams and what he did has not faded in Tomintoul itself

Following Williams' conviction, Sir Paul Condon, who was then the Met Police commissioner, offered an "unreserved apology" to the people of London for the abuse of their funds.

While he was "angry and embarrassed that the courageous work of police officers has been betrayed", Sir Paul was confident that it was a unique case that would never be repeated.

The scandal was even investigated by the UK parliament's public accounts committee, which criticised The Met for not discovering Williams' crimes sooner and for not having safeguards in place.

Robert Sheldon, the MP who chaired the committee, said Williams had been "living the life of a lord in Scotland".

He added: "We felt it astonishing that a senior civil servant could have been living such a life in Scotland, buying hotels and becoming an important figure in his local town - but coming to London to ensure that the sums of money were available.

"Mr. Williams got away with that astonishing life. There was no investigation, and I find it strange that no one was aware of his lifestyle."

Williams would now be 83 but BBC Scotland News has been unable to establish whether he is still alive.

Thirty years on, his story may have faded from the wider collective memory.

But what does remain is what some clearly see as a positive long-lasting impact in the village.

BBC iPlayer

Watch now on BBC iPlayer: David Wilson's Crime Files - Scams and Scandals: White Collar

BBC iPlayer
An elderly couple are living in a council property in Brixton that is "completely unsafe, unhealthy and unacceptable", according to their daughter.

Mary Keane said an external water leak had caused damage to the walls and ceilings, as well as creating mould.

She told the BBC that the problem started in February, but Lambeth Council had not yet fixed it.

The council said it apologised for the "failings" in the couple's case.

It said in a statement: "We are extremely disappointed that, on this occasion, we fell below our standards," adding that it had now scheduled a number of works to Mr and Mrs Keane's flat that would be carried out "as soon as possible".

'Completely unacceptable'

Maureen Keane said life had become difficult in the 10 months since the problem emerged. "It's a health hazard, I've just had a gutful of it now," she said.

Her daughter Mary said the kitchen ceiling was supported by timber beams and that it was only "a matter of time" until it collapsed.

She said that despite the situation affecting her parents' physical and mental health, they had struggled to get Lambeth Council to address the problem.

The family has also reached out to local MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy. In a statement, she said: "The situation my elderly constituents are in is completely unacceptable."

The MP for Streatham said she had approached the council on the couple's behalf several times. She told the BBC that she believed that the council's contractors could do more to rectify the problem.

She added: "This has become a persistent problem with repairs across the borough, leaving many in terrible housing conditions."

Ms Keane said her parents had both recently been treated for cancer, and her mother had asthma and her father had epileptic seizures. She said they were both now at their "wits' end".

The family say the original leak has not been fixed, so water is still entering the property.

Ms Keane said: "You have to make sure you are wearing your slippers around the house because you're walking on a soggy floor."

She said her parents had lived in the flat since the early 1980s and always paid their rent on time.

"The whole family unit has been affected by this," she added.

Ms Keane said she hoped the issue would be addressed and the damage repaired before Christmas. She said her message to Lambeth Council was a simple one: "Please just sort this out for my parents, please."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hellobbclondon@bbc.co.uk
LANSING, Kan.  A 29-year-old inmate at the Lansing Correctional Facility was found dead in his cell over the weekend, according to the Kansas Department of Corrections.

Darionce Terrell Charles-Lott died Saturday night at the correctional facility. Charles-Lott was found in his cell without a pulse.

2 killed, bus stop destroyed after high-speed crash in Kansas City

The KDOC said life-saving measures were performed at the facility clinic. He later died at the clinic.

The cause of death is pending further investigation and the results of an independent autopsy. His death is under investigation by the KDOC and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Charles-Lott was serving a 172-month sentence from Wyandotte County for one count of aggravated battery with intent for bodily harm. He was admitted to the facility on November 1, 2011.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Las Vegas police are asking for help locating a vehicle and persons of interest involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash in late October.

According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the crash happened on Thursday, Oct. 26 in the evening when a vehicle hit a pedestrian walking outside of a marked crosswalk near Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road.

The LVMPD identified the vehicle as an early to mid-2000s Silver Scion XB with noticeable front-end damage.

The driver of the vehicle did not stop at the scene.

LVMPD said this vehicle was involved in a hit-and-run crash near Boulder Highway and Flamingo Road. (LVMPD)

The victim was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. On Sunday, Oct. 29, she was pronounced dead. The Clark County Coroners Office identified her as 18-year-old Brianna Roberson from Las Vegas.

Anyone with information about the vehicle or its occupants is urged to call the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Collision Investigation Section @ (702) 828-3786 or, to remain anonymous, call Crime Stoppers at (702) 385-5555, on its website, or use the mobile app P3. Message and data rates may apply.

Tips directly leading to a felony arrest or an indictment processed through Crime Stoppers may result in a cash reward.

This incident marked the 125th traffic-related fatality for LVMPDs jurisdiction in 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Laurence Fox's life was "destroyed" by allegations of racism, the actor has told the High Court in a libel case.

Mr Fox said he could not get a mortgage after being called a "racist" by drag artist Crystal, ex-Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and actress Nicola Thorp.

Crystal - real name Colin Seymour - and Mr Blake are suing Mr Fox after he called them "paedophiles" in response.

Mr Fox, who denies being a racist, is counter-suing the over their initial social media posts.

The dispute followed the actor's call to boycott Sainsbury's in October 2020 for its celebration of Black History Month, for which he was called "racist" by the trio on Twitter.

The Reclaim Party leader said he was "horrified" when he saw the tweets, later adding it was a "career-ending word, and a reputation destroying allegation".

"It was very hurtful, firstly as it is not true, and secondly because it was baseless: it felt as if the claimants had posted it to try and destroy me," he said in his written statement.

"I felt that one of the most important things I had in this world was my good name, and they were trying to ruin it."

The former Lewis star claimed by 2020 he was earning between 500,000 and 600,000 a year from acting, but his "vibrant and busy" professional life had been "irreparably harmed, if not destroyed" following a dramatic drop in his income and loss of his former acting agent Sue Latimer.

"Without the prospect of work from her and the income from it, I couldn't get a mortgage," he said.

"The only income I earned at that point was from the Reclaim Party.

"To this day I haven't bought a house, I only received one mortgage offer very recently, and it was far too high and wouldn't have been worth my while to take it.

"It's a source of incredible sadness to me that my skill set, which has been highly trained, used at great length over 23 or 24 years - it's just been completely put away."

He said "life was destroyed by what they did", and that he had become a target.

The court heard that on two occasions after the claim against him was filed, faeces were posted through Mr Fox's door.

He said his ex-wife Billie Piper was "concerned" that their two children were no longer safe in the house.

Actor-turned-politician Laurence Fox denies being a racist

Earlier in the trial, Lorna Skinner KC, representing Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said the three "honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist".

In written submissions, the barrister said the 45-year-old "has made a number of highly controversial statements about race".

She added: "If and to the extent that Mr Fox has been harmed in his reputation, it is his own conduct and not the claimants' comments on it that caused that harm."

Ms Skinner highlighted several of Mr Fox's social media posts, including a June 2022 tweet of four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika.

"Such a disgusting post could only be made by a complete ignoramus or an intelligent racist with an agenda. Mr Fox is the latter," she said.

In his evidence discussing his call for a boycott of Sainsbury's, Mr Fox said the supermarket had been "essentially emotionally blackmailing their customers" and that he has not shopped there since.

"I felt that rather than genuinely trying to tackle racism, Sainsbury's were trying to improve their own image, branding themselves as the anti-racist supermarket," he said.

In evidence last week, Mr Seymour and Mr Blake told the court about the impact of being called a paedophile.

Mr Seymour said in a written statement that he had faced "overwhelming and distressing" abuse and felt less safe as a drag artist.

"On reading that he had called another gay man, Simon Blake, a paedophile, I felt Mr Fox was attempting to whip up a mob of bigots against us by using lies he knew would incense people," he added.

Mr Blake told the court the incorrect suggestion that gay men were paedophiles was "a trope as old as the hills".

Patrick Green KC, for Mr Fox, said on Monday in his written submissions that neither Mr Blake nor Mr Seymour had "suffered any actual, real-world consequences" due to the actor's tweets.

Instead, Mr Green said readers would have understood that Mr Fox's posts were a "retort to an allegation of racism" rather than a factual allegation.

The trial before Mrs Justice Collins Rice continues and is due to conclude this week with a decision expected at a later date.
Laurence Fox said he had lost his acting agent and suffered a dramatic drop in his income - LUCY NORTH/PA WIRE

Laurence Fox compared himself to Nigel Farage and claimed that he faced similar issues to being debanked over a Twitter row in which he was branded racist, a court heard.

The actor, 45, said his bank had regularly questioned legitimate transactions and that his car insurance premium increased by almost 9,000 in the wake of the row in which he called three people paedophiles.

The Reclaim Party founder entered a witness box on the fourth day of a libel trial in London over an exchange on Twitter, now known as X, about a decision by Sainsburys to provide a safe space for black employees during Black History Month.

Simon Blake (left), Nicola Thorp and Colin Seymour sued Laurence Fox before then being countersued the actor - LUCY NORTH/PA WIRE

Mr Fox called for a boycott of the supermarket in October 2020 and was called a racist by the drag artist Crystal, the former Stonewall trustee Simon Blake and the actress Nicola Thorp.

The 45-year-old subsequently termed each of the trio as a paedophile, prompting the libel action by Mr Blake and the drag star, also known as Colin Seymour.

Mr Fox, who denies being a racist, is counter-suing the trio over their tweets and started giving his evidence in London on Monday morning.

Reputation-destroying allegation

In his written evidence, the actor said he was horrified when he saw he had been called a racist, which he later described as a career-ending word and a reputation-destroying allegation.

He continued: It was very hurtful. Firstly, as it is not true and secondly, because it was baseless: it felt as if the claimants had posted it to try and destroy me. I felt that one of the most important things I had in this world was my good name, and they were trying to ruin it.

In a 24-page statement, the Lewis star  who said he did not consider himself to be a traditionally handsome or hunky actor  claimed by 2020 he was earning at least 500,000 to 600,000 a year from acting.

However, Mr Fox said his life was destroyed by what they did and that he had become a target.

The court heard that on two occasions after the claim against him was filed, faeces were posted through Mr Foxs door.

Children no longer feel safe

He said that Billie Piper, his former wife, was concerned that their two children were no longer safe in the house, adding: I thought she had every right to feel that way; every mother would be worried.

The actor also said his professional life was irreparably harmed, if not destroyed with the loss of his former acting agent, Sue Latimer, and a dramatic drop in his income.

Mr Fox said: Without the prospect of work from her and the income from it, I couldnt get a mortgage.

The only income I earned at that point was from the Reclaim Party. To this day I havent bought a house. I only received one mortgage offer very recently and it was far too high and wouldnt have been worth my while to take it.

Mr Fox later said he had faced similar issues to the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage being debanked, with his bank regularly questioning legitimate transactions, and claimed his car insurance premium increased by nearly 9,000.

He added in his witness evidence that he had a vibrant and busy work life before the tweets and before Ms Latimer dropped him. He said he was asked to audition for roles including Batman and Succession, and for multiple other Netflix, Disney+ and HBO productions.

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A Florida lawn care and pest control employee is accused of going into customers homes and exposing himself to the female residents, the sheriffs office said.

The worker, a 27-year-old employee of Massey Services, was charged with a misdemeanor count of lewd exhibition and a felony count of lewd exhibition to an elderly person in connection to two separate incidents, according to a Nov. 27 news release from the Polk County Sheriffs Office.

A 76-year-old woman reported the employee after she said he came to her home in Davenport on Oct. 26 to give her an estimate on pest control, deputies said.

The employee went into her bathroom, then stepped out with his penis exposed, according to the release.

He told the woman his zipper was broken and he needed help to fix it, to which she refused, deputies said.

The sheriffs office contacted Massey and were told this was the second complaint they had received about the employee, and he had been terminated.

Deputies met with the other woman who had reported the worker, and she said the employee had come to her home July 24 for some lawn care, according to the release.

Again, he told the woman his zipper was broken and had his penis exposed, deputies said.

We were notified for the first time on Oct. 24 about both the Oct. 24 and July 24 incidents. We immediately suspended (the employee) while we conducted an internal investigation on Oct. 25, then terminated his employment on Oct. 26, Massey Services Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Ed Dougherty told McClatchy News in a statement. We care deeply about our customers and their trust in us. If you ever have any concerns about a service company inside your home, we encourage everyone to immediately report concerns to the company and the police.

The employee was charged Nov. 25 and taken into custody.

This man used his work position to gain access to the homes of these women, and then sexually exposed himself  this behavior is disgusting and predatory. We believe its possible that more victims of this man could be out there, and if thats the case, we want them to come forward, Sheriff Grady Judd said in the release.

Anyone with information about the employee or who may have experienced similar acts should contact the Polk County Sheriffs Office at 863-298-6200.

Davenport is about 35 miles southwest of Orlando.

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.

Butcher knife in backyard leads deputies to body in trunk of vehicle, Florida cops say

Woman hunting shark teeth needs rescue when excavation collapses, Florida cops say

Fight at Chick-fil-A leaves man covered in cold coffee, then he attacks, Florida cops say

Car gets wedged under semi making U-turn on Florida highway, cops say. Driver killed
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Las Cruces Police Department is asking for the publics help in locating a missing teenage girl from Las Cruces who has not been seen by family since Friday.

LCPD says Norah Yoder, 13, left her home on Friday, Nov. 24, and her whereabouts are unknown. Las Cruces Police believe she may be in danger if not located soon.



Yoder is described as 4-feet-10-inches tall, weighing approximately 110 pounds, and has black hair and brown eyes. Yoder was last seen wearing a blue Chicago Bears hoodie, and black and red plaid pants.

Anyone with information on the whereabouts of 13-year-old Norah Yoder is asked to immediately call police at (575) 526-0795.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Leaked documents show fossil fuel pushes were among potential discussion areas for the United Arab Emirates ahead of this years global climate summit in Dubai.

The documents were obtained by the Centre for Climate Reporting, and their release comes just days before the start of the summit, known as COP28, which runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 12.

The Centre worked with the BBC to verify the authenticity of the documents, which were leaked by a whistleblower. It reports that they include briefings prepared by the COP28 team for meetings held by Sultan al-Jaber, who will lead the global climate conference.

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The documents, some of which were posted online, list talking points for discussions with world leaders. Many of the potential discussions the documents lay out include points pertaining to the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (ADNOC).

A page pertaining to China states that we are willing to jointly evaluate international [liquified natural gas] opportunities and particularly mentions Mozambique, Canada and Australia.

The documents, some of which bear the logo of the global climate conference, also say ADNOC has identified Brazil as a strategic country for investment and that securing an endorsement at the highest level for a potential deal to buy a Brazilian petrochemical company is important for us.

The documents also list as potential discussion points the UAEs openness to liquefied natural gas trading with Mexico, and the state oil companys eagerness to expand existing trade with Kenya.

They also say the UAE is eager, through both ADNOC and state-owned renewable energy company Masdar, to support Azerbaijan as a secure energy hub for Europe, exporting natural gas and potentially clean electricity.

A spokesperson for the COP28 conference said the documents were not used by COP28 in meetings but declined to answer a question from The Hill about how the documents were used.

It is extremely disappointing to see the BBC use unverified documents in their reporting, the spokesperson said via email.

Al-Jaber is ADNOCs CEO, making his appointment to lead the conference controversial. He is also the chair of the board of directors of Masdar.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is among the diplomats listed, but the document does not appear to discuss a fossil fuel expansion in reference to him or the United States.

Instead, it pushes for renewables funding in the U.S., saying, we hope to have the support of the administration for a waiver of approvals on Masdars participation in future joint project applications for [Department of Energy] grant funding of industrial decarbonization proposals.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove has said he is confident a bill reforming the leasehold system in England and Wales will pass by the next general election.

The bill, which would ban leaseholds for new houses but not flats, is due to be introduced in Parliament later.

It would also make it easier and cheaper for homeowners to extend their lease or buy their freehold.

Under the current system leaseholders often have to pay ground rent and expensive maintenance charges.

This is because they only own the lease, which gives them the right to use the property, but not the land it is built on.

Mr Gove said the long-promised legislation would mean leaseholders can "take back control of their property" and ensure service charges and ground rents are transparent and "reasonable".

The plans have been broadly welcomed by campaigners but some are disappointed a ban on the sale of new leaseholds does not include flats.

There are an estimated five million leasehold homes in England - 70% of which are flats.

The proportion of new-build houses sold as leaseholds has fallen from a 15% high in 2016 to just 1% in December 2022.

Mr Gove, who has previously said he wanted to scrap the "outdated" system entirely, insisted he was still committed to this aim.

"Of course what we need to do is make sure we phase out leasehold over time altogether," he told the BBC.

But he added: "We want to make sure that we proceed in a way, in a complex area of law, that helps people now."

Asked if the bill could be passed by the next general election, which is expected in 2024, Mr Gove said: "I'm absolutely confident this bill will be on the statute book by the time of a general election.

"It has widespread support in the House of Commons and the House of Lords."

There have been reports some Conservative MPs could seek to amend the bill to abolish leaseholds for new flats as well as houses. Labour has said it would back such moves.

Mr Gove said: "We'll look at every amendment as it comes forward but I think it's very important to recognise that in this complex area of law we need to move as quickly as we can, to help as many people as we can, and that's what we're doing."

Michael Gove says the leasehold system is outdated

The government said the bill would increase the standard lease extension from 90 years to 990 years. Currently, extending a lease or buying the freehold can be a complicated and expensive process, often costing thousands of pounds including legal fees.

It said other measures would include:

Providing greater transparency over service charges by making freeholders or managing agents issue bills in a standardised format that can more easily be challenged

Making it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to take over the management of their property

Scrapping the presumption that leaseholders pay their freeholders' legal costs when challenging poor practice

Banning opaque and excessive buildings insurance commissions for freeholders and managing agents

Removing the requirement for a new leaseholder to have owned their house or flat for two years before they can extend their lease or buy their freehold

The government is also consulting on options to cap ground rents for existing leases.

A ground rent is paid by owners of leasehold properties on top of their mortgage, with some facing high charges and unexpected increases which can make homes difficult to sell.

Campaigner Katie Kendrick, a former leaseholder, has welcomed the bill

Katie Kendrick, founder of the National Leasehold Campaign, said the bill was "long overdue" and its introduction to Parliament was "momentous".

However, with the bill due to be published later, she added: "The devil, as always, will be in the detail."

Ms Kendrick bought the freehold of her leasehold house in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, three years ago for around 8,000 including legal fees. But she said many of her neighbours on her estate who had more expensive ground rents could not afford to do the same and were now struggling to sell their property.

She said the legislation would "give some hope to leaseholders that they can have a way out of this... because at the moment, lots of leaseholders are trapped".

Ms Kendrick, who is also a Labour councillor in Cheshire, said all parties had failed to address issues with leaseholds over decades and it was crucial the bill was passed "swiftly".

She said her group would continue to campaign for a commonhold system for new flats, where occupants jointly own and take responsibility for their buildings without an expiring lease.

But she said she was "realistic" and believed if abolishing leaseholds for new flats was in the bill its progress would be slower and "we wouldn't have any hope of trying to get it through before a general election".

Labour has previously said commonhold should be the default tenure for all new properties, "with the system completely overhauled so that existing leaseholders can collectively purchase more easily and move to commonhold if they wish".
You are here: World

 Flash

Christopher Luxon was officially sworn in as New Zealand's 42nd prime minister on Monday.

Dame Cindy Kiro, New Zealand's governor-general, also appointed the rest of the executive council, which includes 20 cabinet ministers, eight ministers outside cabinet and two parliamentary under-secretaries, according to Radio New Zealand.
To the editor: President Bidens tireless struggles to negotiate a truce in the Gaza Strip and all the fretting over his age bring to my mind the great 1949 western film, "She Wore a Yellow Ribbon." ("President Biden just celebrated his birthday. So should voters," Opinion, Nov. 22)

Faced with an oncoming battle led by hotheaded young men, John Wayne's character says: "We are too old for war. But old men should stop wars.

Happy birthday, Mr. President, and thank you.

Douglas Green, Sherman Oaks

..

To the editor: Having not supported any Republican since Dwight Eisenhower, in recent decades I've given the nod to Democratic presidential candidates.

Still, I feel that the campaign to reelect Biden is a lost cause. It has become ever more clear that Biden does a great imitation of Jack Albertson's bedridden old-man character Grandpa Joe in the 1971 film, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory."

With the 2024 presidential election posing categorical existential risks, Democrats need a much younger and more vigorous nominee than Grandpa Joe.

Sarah S. Williams, Santa Barbara

..

To the editor: I am an almost 83-year-old, very active Air Force veteran who gave up teaching yoga on my 82nd birthday. I still practice it, I just don't teach anymore because I'm so busy.

I really enjoyed reading Robin Abcarian's column celebrating the president's birthday. Biden should challenge former President Trump to a downward-facing dog contest.

John Oppenheim, Long Beach

..

To the editor: The presidency is probably the ultimate "dont do, have done" job. Would I like Biden to be younger? Sure, but his age doesn't trouble me (I'm 70, by the way).

I'm reminded of Navy Adm. Raymond A. Spruance, commander of the 5th Fleet in the Pacific theater of World War II, widely considered the greatest combat admiral in U.S. history. In retirement, he wrote:

"When I look at myself objectively, I think that what success I may have achieved through life is largely due to the fact that I am a good judge of men. I am lazy, and I never have done things myself that I could get someone to do for me."

That's still relevant today.

Bob Wieting, Simi Valley

..

To the editor: Thanks to Abcarian for her column about Biden's age.

I have one question for those who complain that the president is too old: How many of you could keep the grueling schedule he maintains?

Just thinking of the physical and mental toll that his traveling takes gives me pause, not to mention the stresses and strains of his daily activities. So what if his public speaking leaves something to be desired?

Given the global state of affairs and the political and domestic discord this country is experiencing, we are fortunate to have someone with such experience and vision as president.

John Beckman, Chino Hills

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardment are seen in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 20. (Hatem Ali / Associated Press)

To the editor: With all due respect to UCLA historian David N. Myers, who advocates for a "Marshall Plan" for the Palestinians, can we pump the brakes before we commit billions to rebuild the Gaza Strip?

Within weeks of the destruction, I figured that somehow, some way, U.S. taxpayers would be on the hook in the aftermath. There are many reasons to question this, but let's just look at the most obvious problem: There is absolutely zero assurance that after we pay to rebuild, one side or the other will not destroy it again.

Also, the federal government would have to borrow even more money to add to the $3 billion in aid we send to Israel annually. And it would be to fix a disaster that we had no part in starting.

The war and suffering are horrendous for sure, but why ask U.S. taxpayers to help solve an unsolvable problem when there are so many critical issues here that deserve our attention?

Jeff Heister, Chatsworth

..

To the editor: We all know that Hamas is a terrorist organization. It was elected by a plurality of voters in 2006, the last time the Palestinians had a legislative election. Hamas was seen as an alternative to Fatah, which was accused of corruption and failed for decades to bring about a state for the Palestinians.

A poll conducted in Gaza last July showed that 70% of the people there did not support keeping Hamas in power. Rather, they want to live in peace like other people who are free.

It is time for the international community and especially the United States to give these oppressed people their own state and hope for the future.

The Palestinians have suffered enough, and a new Marshall Plan would somewhat correct the injustice done to them for decades, starting with the expulsion of 750,000 Palestinians from their land from 1947-49 and thousands more in 1967. The slow colonization of the West Bank will continue unless Israel is forced to obey international law.

With Hamas out, the Palestinians are ready for peace.

Beverly Ringel, Rancho Mirage

..

To the editor: For anything resembling a Marshall Plan for Gaza, let alone all of Palestine, to work, the Palestinians must first do two things.

First, they must jettison their murderous governments and amateur armies that siphon off aid to begin battles they cannot win, apparently for the purpose of watching their own people be slaughtered in inevitable retaliation. World War II ended before the Marshall Plan was concocted and Europe was able to rebuild.

Second, they need to reduce their population growth. According to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, Gaza's median age of 18 is the 13th lowest in the world.

History has proved that nations whose population growth outpaces their ability to supply education, healthcare, employment and sane leadership cannot escape poverty and misery.

Chuck Almdale, North Hills

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
SIR  Last Friday I received a flyer from Royal Mail (Motorist swerves 1,000 speeding fine because Royal Mail failed to deliver it, report, November 24), offering me a postal delivery service for NHS prescriptions. One wonders how well that would work, given that we now rarely get more than one or two deliveries a week.



Royal Mails lack of self-awareness concerning its current level of service is mind-boggling.



Chris Pilkington

Weymouth, Dorset

SIR  I read Royal Mails advertisement (Letters, November 24) in total disbelief: Keep it special. Send a card.

Royal Mail services have become unreliable and slow, and its charges have risen significantly.



While it is clearly out of touch with its customer base, surely it realises that the cost of stamps is the single reason why almost everyone I know is sending as few Christmas cards as possible this year. Some have stopped altogether. We would send cards if we could afford the stamps and had faith that they would be delivered within a day or two of posting.



Shirley Elomari

Shrewsbury

SIR  Only an organisation as tone-deaf as Royal Mail could dare to publish an advertisement urging us to send Christmas cards, given the price increases it has imposed on us.



The irony of its advertisement obviously escapes it. May I suggest a discounted stamp for Christmas cards? That just might encourage people to start sending them again.



Tim Lovett

Claygate, Surrey

SIR  My husbands birthday was on November 12. The next day, our lovely post lady most apologetically delivered a stack of cards for him, and a considerable number for me (my own birthday was on November 1). Many bore a first-class stamp. According to her (and she has more than 20 years experience), the problem is that Royal Mail is short-staffed and should be recruiting and training more people  but is not.



Royal Mails website states that its first-class service aims to deliver the next working day, including Saturdays. Is it not selling first-class stamps under false pretences, knowing it is unable to meet that claim?



Susan Fleck

Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

SIR  Kris Bartlett (Letters, November 25) posted a letter first class to Oxford, 10 miles from his home, which took six weeks to arrive. I can do better.



I received a Christmas card five weeks ago and was impressed at the efficiency of the sender, who lives one mile away from me. When I checked the envelope, which had a first-class stamp attached, I saw it had been posted in December 2022.



Karen Mullan

Hove, East Sussex



Covid charade

SIR  Camilla Tominey has rightly shone a light on the charade that is the Covid inquiry (Comment, November 25).



Not only does the prurient relish with which details of politicians tawdry behaviour have been pored over suggest that the legal cast have wandered in from the set of No Sex Please, Were British, but the central premise is apparently that lockdown was a good thing and our leaders generally a bunch of duffers.



There is also, as Ms Tominey points out, a risk of the inquiry being hijacked by activists using Covid deaths as a battering ram, when these and deaths from lockdown are equally important.



I write as one whose father was in a care home for 18 months and deteriorated with shocking rapidity as a result of draconian and inhumane regulations that ultimately served little purpose. He and thousands of elderly and vulnerable people did not go gentle into that good night, because they were betrayed by mediocrities who were obsessed with the optics and failed utterly to undertake any kind of cost-benefit analysis.



Families traumatised by their appalling failure will punish these pantomime politicians at the ballot box.



Dr Catherine Moloney

Liverpool



Pothole repair failure

SIR  Having worked for county councils, I fully endorse Ken Mitchells letter (November 25) on potholes, particularly his praise for patching gangs. The demise of the county and divisional surveyors, who were devoted to the maintenance of roads, was, in my view, the beginning of the pothole problem, which also coincided with the vast increase in road traffic.



In those days, patching was considered a permanent repair, prior to preventative maintenance, such as surface dressing. Today I see short-term patch-and-dash repairs done without any sealing to the edges, allowing the ingress of water and premature failure.



Stephen Bridgwater

Shrewsbury



Nissan drawback

SIR  News that Nissan will continue to build cars in the UK is welcome (report, November 25). I bought my Qashqai because it was built here.



However, why cant Nissan have faith enough in the product to give it a seven-year warranty, like Kia, rather than the derisory three years it currently offers? This fact alone means I am yet to decide on my next car, when it should be a given.



Paul Spencer

Thame, Oxfordshire



Shedding an accent

SIR  I can empathise with Sophie Pender and her experiences that led her to champion the old boys old news campaign (The City lawyer battling the old boys network, Business, November 22).



I was reared in Northern Ireland and went to Cambridge to do my degree. In April 1965, I had an interview to join a law firm in London where the senior partner was a friend of my mothers. The interview was brief, the tone being set by his saying to me: If you want to come to work with us, you will have to get rid of that ghastly Belfast accent.



Five hours later, I arrived at Belfast airport to be met by my mother. After a couple of minutes she turned to me and commented on my horrible English accent.



David Denton

Belfast



Bankless towns

SIR  You report (November 24) that cost-cutting at Barclays will not affect its customer-facing branch staff. That is because it has already closed so many of its high-street branches.



Here in North Yorkshire, the market towns of Bedale and Leyburn have no bank. These are towns with lots of small businesses and senior citizens, and the bank branches were heavily used by the population.



Now we have to go to Richmond or Northallerton, which are both 10 miles away. I was there last week and queued for 25 minutes. Other people left in disgust. There was a chart in the branch rating performance of banks for business and private clients. Barclays was bottom.



Bridget Garvin

Garriston, North Yorkshire



Telegraphs voice

SIR  I have been reading The Daily Telegraph since 1978. It will be nothing short of devastating if any new ownership changes the nature and freedom of the way the newspaper has always reported on events at home and across the world.



Charles Moore is right to voice his concerns about the possible buyers (It would be unforgivable to allow Abu Dhabi to nationalise the Telegraph and Spectator, Comment, November 25). We cannot let the Telegraph become a restricted voice, influenced by owners who do not share our values on freedom of speech.



Christopher Hunt

Swanley, Kent



Dropping DAB radios

SIR  It is disappointing that popular stations such as Classic FM are to abandon DAB radios in favour of DAB+ technology (report, November 25). Replacing my two old but perfectly good DAB devices with DAB+ models will cost in the region of 300.



Set against the continuing squeeze on household budgets and the drive to reuse and recycle in the interests of sustainability, ceasing a DAB service seems like an ill-conceived decision.



I will be voting with my dial in the New Year: Radio 3, here I come.



Dr Tim Brooks

London E11



Pumped-up prices

SIR  I filled up my car in Shropshire at 143.9p. On the M25 petrol costs 179.9p. How can this be allowed?



Peers M S Carter

Southfleet, Kent



The ingenuity of Doctor Whos costume makers

A Zarbi, from the Doctor Who episode The Web Planet, which aired in 1965 - alamy

SIR  I was interested to read about the 10 worst Doctor Who episodes (Culture, telegraph.co.uk, November 22). As a young child, I watched the programme from the first episode, and my imagination was captivated by the stories. I did not notice the creaky sets and costumes (although my parents might have done). Perhaps, too, the production was not so out of place when compared with other programmes at the time, such as Muffin the Mule and The Woodentops.



I particularly remember The Web Planet, and was later very impressed to discover that my new maths teacher had appeared in it. I was fascinated to hear about the ingenuity of the costume makers. For example, the insects multi-faceted eyes were plastic tea strainers.



Many years later, on discovering that the BBC had found the episode and released it on DVD, I purchased a copy, and experienced a curious moment when I heard one of the creatures speak unmistakably with my teachers voice.



Jonathan Mann

Gunnislake, Cornwall



Reasons to regret the decline of the rough collie

SIR  I was sad to read of the decline of the rough collie (Ten dogs on the brink of extinction  and what their demise says about us, Features, November 24).



The Kennel Club quotation totally undersells this marvellous breed. Yes, they need a bit of brushing, but otherwise they are very low-maintenance.



They dont need excessive exercise (in contrast, say, to a border collie). They are intelligent, full of character, deeply affectionate and wonderful companions.



I cannot recommend them highly enough to potential dog owners.



Andrew Dalgarno

Westhill, Aberdeenshire

SIR  As the proud owner of one of the few Irish red and white setters in the UK, I was saddened to read that this lovely breed achieved the unwanted accolade of being the most endangered in the country. They have delightful personalities: they are overflowing with joy, yet are also quiet, gentle family dogs.



However, I cant understand why a high price tag is given as one reason why they are not more popular, when they are the cheapest (by half in many cases) of all the breeds featured, and cost much less than the myriad currently popular designer crossbreeds.



Jan Bardey

Kineton, Warwickshire



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James Cleverly said his earlier comments about Stockton had in fact been about the constituency MP - AFP

For his debut taking Commons questions as Home Secretary, James Cleverly wore the tired, irritated face of a man calculating how much money he could be making doing any job other than this.

Two weeks ago he was the foreign secretary, hobnobbing with kings and the centre-folds of National Geographic.

Then Rishi dragged him home for an unwelcome reunion with British MPs - one that he passed verdict on at last weeks Prime Ministers Questions, when Alex Cunningham, the MP for Stockton North, asked why his constituents are so poor.

Recollections vary as to whether Cleverly said it was because Stockton was a s---hole or Mr Cunningham is a s--- MP.

Either way, Cleverly suddenly has a s---storm to deal with, prompting Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, to ask if he was up a certain kind of creek without a paddle.

Cleverly flashed her a manure-munching grin. Somewhere, in a five-star hotel, David Cameron was consuming his bodyweight in Ferrero Rocher.

No magician

Imagine going from chatting with the sultan of Bruneis delightful wife number four to being interrogated by Ms Cooper, MP for Rubbish Tip South, who has the charm of a minor official asking if you packed this bag yourself.

Twelve days ago, she declared, [Cleverly] said asylum hotel spaces are down. Four days ago, [official] figures show they are up Does he even know what is going on?

Cleverly replied Yes I do, and for a moment looked as if he was going to leave it at that, till nervous laughter prompted him to add that a fortnight in office is not enough time to turn things around. Im good but Im not a magician.

Lib Dem Richard Foord (Cesspit-on-Avon), asked if, like Suella Braverman, the new Home Secretary had made any deals with the PM as a condition for his reluctant appointment? Fantastic question, well worth asking, replied Cleverly drily, restraining himself from observing that whatever Stockton North is made from, the Lib Dems are full of it.

But his torture was far from complete. Cunningham - an MP Id never heard of but whose name is now well and truly on the map - later raised a point of order demanding an apology from the Home Secretary, who returned to the Chamber to deliver a sorry but not sorry for the history books.

Alex Cunningham damanded an apology for Cleverly's 'derogatory' remarks - IAN FORSYTH/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE

For the avoidance of doubt, he told a House that was silent but for barely repressed giggling, the honourable gentleman accused me of making derogatory remarks about his constituency I did not, would not and would never make such comments about his constituents. What I said was a comment about him.

Well thats alright then! cried Mr Cunningham, and accused Cleverly of insincerity.

What are you calling me, sir? demanded Mr Cleverly. A liar, obviously - which prompted a swift intervention by the Speaker. Thus we were treated to the spectacle, possible only under our magnificently arcane system, of an MP having to retract his criticism of a minister who called him s--- because the word liar breeches parliamentary etiquette.

Honour restored, Cleverly returned to his new office to stare angrily at Facebook updates from Dave Cameron  who, I believe, is currently representing UK interests at the International Champagne Festival in Tahiti.

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More than 400 dogs destined to be slaughtered for China's meat trade have been rescued by a Lincolnshire charity in the past two years.

Kerry Elliman, from Binbrook, near Market Rasen, runs Candy's Hound Rescue, which works with shelters in China to rehome dogs in the UK.

She said many had been beaten, starved or crammed into tiny cages.

"I'm not trying to stop the dog meat because I know that won't happen," she said. "It's about education".

Mrs Elliman added: "It's raising awareness of things people have no idea about."

Charity Humane Society International/UK said most people in China and across Asia did not eat dog meat and opposition to the trade was increasing due to the animal cruelty involved and the human health risks, such as the spread of diseases like rabies.

They partner with a Chinese group called Vshine, which campaigns across Asia for an end to the dog and cat meat trades.

In June this year, Vshine rescued 19 dogs from an illegal slaughterhouse in the outskirts of Yulin, a week before the city's annual dog meat festival at which thousands of dogs and cats are killed and eaten.

One of the dogs rescued by Candy's Hound Rescue is called Tang Tang, who was rescued from a slaughterhouse.

She had suffered repeated blows to the head and has untreated diabetes, which means she will soon need to have an eye removed.

"She was originally rescued from the dog meat trade, she was in a slaughterhouse," Mrs Elliman said.

"She's got all the scars on her back end. What they do to weigh them - especially the sight hounds - is they tie metal wire around their legs and weigh them."

She said a lot of dogs destined for the illicit meat trade were "skinned alive or boiled alive" in the belief the meat would taste better.

"I understand bringing them to this country is not going to save them [all], but it is saving the ones that we are saving," she said.

Wendy Higgins, from Humane Society International/UK, said there was "a growing and dedicated animal protection movement within China".

"[Our] Chinese partner group work tirelessly all year round to save thousands of dogs and cats from the meat trade, working with law enforcement to intercept trafficked animals who are crammed on trucks and helping to shut down illegal slaughterhouses, providing the rescued animals with lifesaving treatment and rehabilitation," she said.

"We recently supported their launch of a tip line in China for members of the public to report illegal dog and cat meat trade activity, which has proved successful in shutting down restaurants and slaughterhouses operating in various locations across the country."

Follow BBC East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and Instagram. Send your story ideas to yorkslincs.news@bbc.co.uk
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD)  Even if youve been to one of Lindsey Stirlings performances in the past, her new Christmas show coming to Grand Rapids next month is going to be unlike anything youve seen before.

It is very unique and thats something that I actually enjoy and I love that people coming to my show, even if theyre fans of my work, I dont think they ever quite know what to expect, Stirling said.

The world-renowned violinist is bringing her Snow Waltz Tour to Van Andel Arena on Dec. 5. Stirling returns to West Michigan with a whole new show featuring songs from her 2022 album of the same name.

Stirling spoke with News 8 ahead of her performance and said while guests can expect to hear the music alongside her team of dancers, there are quite of few other surprises and elements sure to leave everyone in awe.

I have a lot of fun doing it every night and I always love when people are genuinely surprised and theyre just like, I didnt know what I was expecting but I didnt expect that,' she said. And I think theres something for everyone in the show.

Stirling first gained national prominence after her appearance on Americas Got Talent in 2010. She made it all of the way to the quarter-finals of the shows fifth season. Shortly thereafter, she began posting songs and music videos to her YouTube channel which took off and has since garnered over 3 billion total views and 13 million subscribers.

Over the course of her career, Stirling has collaborated with other musicians and groups such as Pentatonix and John Legend. She also just performed at Lollapalooza Paris this summer. Even after hundreds of performances over the past 13 years, Stirling said each one still reminds her of how lucky she truly is.

I still sometimes am like, I cant believe this still works. People still show up and I still get to do what I love 10 years later,' she said.

While the shows components remain largely a surprise for those who attend the show, Stirling did reveal in the interview with News 8 that there will be aerial elements as she has been practicing the art for more than three years now.

Stirling also said that she truly enjoys crafting each show she puts on to ensure no one gets bored. And that includes the one at Van Andel Arena.

I love that it kind of takes people through a really wide range of a lot of different emotions, she said. Like youre going to laugh, youre probably going to get emotional and a lot of people cry or tear up and like the good kind of tears as some of the stories are being told or some of the ways the music is presented.

Something is always changing, something is always new. And its a great family show. Teenagers come, grandparents come, (and) children love it. Adults. We see the whole spectrum in the audience of diversity and for the holidays, its a great thing to do with the family.

You can still get your tickets to Stirlings concert by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
The Lithuanian intelligence agency (VSD) recorded a "historic" activity level by Belarus' KGB secret police, the VSD's head said in a comment for LRT Radio on Nov. 26.

"We are witnessing intensified activities of the Belarusian KGB, which are, in fact, reaching historic heights; they have never been so intense," Lithuania's intelligence chief Darius Jauniskis said.

The Lithuanian security services have concerns regarding the activity of some Belarusian residents, he added. The country has recognized 1,644 Belarusian citizens living in Lithuania as a threat to national security.

The Belarusian community in Lithuania has grown from 48,000 at the beginning of the year to over 60,000 in late September, migration data shows.

Many also arrived after the 2020 protests against the fraudulent presidential elections that solidified the power of dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

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Belarus Weekly

Vilnius has been tightening its rules on migration from Belarus after Lukashenko assisted Russia's war against Ukraine. This sparked concerns of a negative impact on Belarusian political exiles and on Lithuania's economy.

Jauniskis also pointed out that Russian propaganda in Lithuania is gaining momentum.

The VSD's chief commented that a recent string of false bomb threats the country experienced in October was designed to cause confusion and uncertainty.

He did not explicitly link these "information operations" to a specific actor.

Tensions between Vilnius and Minsk have been mounting since 2021, when Belarus orchestrated a migrant crisis on Lithuania's border. Relations became strained again following the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and the arrival of Wagner mercenaries to Belarus.

Read also: Belarus Weekly: Putin attends CSTO summit in Minsk

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A famous Fort Worth-area monster is headed back to television, this time as a way to motivate Texans to explore the great outdoors.

The Lake Worth Monster has been the subject of news stories, documentaries, books and podcasts ever since the mysterious furry creature terrorized visitors to Greer Island in the summer of 1969. Now Texas Parks and Wildlife is planning to use the legend in a segment of its weekly PBS nature series.

Lyle Blackburn, a Fort Worth native and cryptozoologist who was interviewed for the program, said the Lake Worth Monster sort of falls into the Goatman/Bigfoot category. It was a natural choice for the project because its so well known, he said. Blackburn and the TPWD media production team spent some time in mid-November filming at Greer Island.

That was kind of a good, you know, springboard that we could go off and then begin this sort of discussion about people seeing strange, unexplained things, unexplained creatures in the woods throughout Texas, Blackburn said.

The media production team from Texas Parks and Wildlife and Fort Worth native Lyle Blackburn spent some time in mid-November filming at Greer Island for a segment of a nature series. The segment will explore the Texas Bigfoot phenomenon, according to videographer Garrett Graham, but will ultimately focus on how people engage with nature.

Garrett Graham, TPWD videographer, said the PBS segment will explore the Texas Bigfoot phenomenon, but is ultimately about how people engage with nature.

Bigfoot and cryptozoology is one of those areas of interest that tends to get people excited about nature and wildlife and even conservation, Graham said.

Today's top stories:

 Fort Worth CEO, 2 children killed in car accident

 Traffic was a mess at DFW Airport. Heres what the airport told travelers

 'A little bit of mystery: Lake Worth Monster to be explored in nature show

Get free alerts when news breaks.

The first reported sighting of the Lake Worth Monster occurred the night of July 9, 1969.

Three couples parked near Greer Island told police they were attacked by a thing they described as being half-man, half-goat and covered with fur and scales, according to Star-Telegram reporting at the time.

The next night witnesses said they saw the creature again. One resident told reporters he saw the monster pick up a spare tire with the rim and throw it at parked cars  a distance of more than 500 feet, he said.

A Fort Worth man, Allen Plaster, spotted a large white shape in the tall grass near Greer Island around 1:35 a.m. on Nov. 19, 1969. He took a photo with his Polaroid camera. Years later Plaster said he thought the creature he photographed was just somebody playing a prank.

Newspapers in other parts of the country carried the story, and locals hoping to catch a glimpse of the monster frequented the area for the rest of the summer. Blackburn said its still a topic that draws a lot of interest.

It just preserves some fun history, Blackburn said. No matter what people think, or whether we can prove it or not prove it, it still adds that sense of mystery, you know, into the outdoors and, and as a whole, you know, I guess for Fort Worth in general.

Graham said he is targeting both Bigfoot aficionados and deniers in the segment hes filming for the nature series, which is scheduled to air in the spring.

In the first case, he wants Bigfoot enthusiasts to learn more about Texas cryptids and get inspired to visit new places. For those who find the subject ridiculous, Graham hopes they realize that its a harmless hobby and appreciate how it fosters love of the outdoors.

Anything that gets people excited about wildlife and conservation and being outside seems like a net positive to me, even if there is no Bigfoot, Graham said.

According to Blackburn, just because something cant be explained doesnt mean its not real. Other animals, like the okapi, were rumored to exist but not proven until modern times.

There could still be something out there that we just havent gotten our mind around or havent gotten a specimen to prove it, Blackburn said. But that doesnt mean that theres still not mysteries out there. And I think thats something we can all use in life, you know, a little bit of mystery and a little bit of fun, and obviously getting outdoors to you know, explore these areas.

The first reported sighting of the Lake Worth Monster occurred near Greer Island the night of July 9, 1969. Fort Worth native and author of Texas Bigfoot Lyle Blackburn said the subject still draws a lot of interest today.
The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation - Joe Newman

Lord Hague has described The Telegraphs proposed takeover by Abu Dhabi as disturbing and one that should be prevented.

The former foreign secretary called on Lucy Frazer, the Culture Secretary, to intervene by triggering a regulatory investigation in the public interest.

Writing in The Times, Lord Hague stressed that while there was more to admire about the United Arab Emirates (UAE) than to fear, allowing effective foreign state ownership of a major newspaper was going too far.

Lloyds Banking Group, which took control of The Telegraph and The Spectator in June from the Barclay family, is pursuing a 1.2 billion deal to hand over control of the titles to RedBirdIMI, a fund backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE vice-president.

The proposed transaction has fuelled concerns over press freedom, given the UAEs authoritarian leadership and track record of media censorship.

Most senior Tory to come out against UAE deal

Lord Hague, a former leader of the Conservative party, is the most senior Tory to date to come out against the proposed UAE deal. His intervention is significant because of his close links to Rishi Sunak - he is widely seen as a mentor - and comes at a crucial juncture in Sheikh Mansours attempts to back the takeover of the Daily and Sunday Telegraph.

Ms Frazer has said she is minded to issue a Public Interest Intervention Notice (PIIN), which would trigger regulatory scrutiny of the bid, but has not yet taken action. Lloyds must receive the funds by Friday ahead of a crucial court hearing in the British Virgin Islands on Monday.

It is possible that any decision on Ms Frazer issuing the PIIN was delayed to avoid any awkwardness at a global investment summit, held at Hampton Court Palace on Monday, which was attended by the prime minister, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and representatives from Abu Dhabi, Lloyds and several other major corporations.

In his column for The Times, Lord Hague recounted an incident when foreign secretary of receiving a telephone call from a senior figure in the UAE, who had wanted to complain vociferously about the BBC, which had broadcast news items that had reflected very badly on some powerful Emiratis.

Lord Hague refused the request to interfere with the BBCs independence.

The idea of owning or establishing a company or institution that is deliberately annoying to you, and doing nothing about that, was alien to him, wrote Lord Hague, adding: In his world, there was no clear separation between private and public interest, or between national policy and media coverage. That is why the prospect of important British media institutions, the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator, falling into the ownership of Sheikh Mansour of the UAE is disturbing and should be prevented. I say that as an avowed enthusiast for the Emirates, its achievements and its role in the world.

Lord Johnson wrong in comments

Lord Hague was also critical of the investment minister Lord Johnson, who has claimed concerns over the potential Abu Dhabi takeover of The Telegraph are sentimental, as traditional news sources now hold little sway.

Lord Hague said: Lord Johnson went wrong in his comments, however, when he concluded that we shouldnt get sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets  meaning our newspapers.

He said the UK did not have to do just as the UAE demanded in order to retain close relations.

You can have a good friend without thinking that you always have to please them. Indeed, you can be honest with a friend that some things are off limits, wrote Lord Hague. If we said to anyone in the UAE that the BBC was going to invest in their state television, or a British newspaper group was proposing to buy The National, their reliably pro-government daily, they would never stop laughing. Our cultural differences, on freedom of expression, are quite obviously too great for that. We should be honest, as our Emirati friends would be with us, that owning major newspapers is going too far.

On the question of Ms Frazers response to the complex deal, Lord Hague said: If I were her, I would certainly intervene, understanding that sentimentality is nothing to do with it.

Lord Hague then concluded: It would be a big step in the opposite direction to permit a foreign country, however friendly, to own major newspaper titles. Hostile stories in those papers would be something they would find very hard to understand. Our relations with the UAE, as well as our media, would be healthier without that.

Pressed on his comments at todays investment summit at Hampton Court, Lord Johnson pointed to the benefits of Sheikh Mansours takeover of Manchester City FC, but admitted that he did not want to comment on potential reviews of The Telegraph deal.

UAE great ally and partner of UK

He added: Fundamentally I think the UAE is a great ally and partner of ours and were an open and liberal economy. Where its possible I welcome their investment.

Lord Johnson was sacked from the Government last year after just 26 days in office after Liz Trusss administration collapsed. But he was re-appointed as investment minister in February, tasked with building relations with Gulf sovereign funds looking to invest in the UK.

The Prime Ministers official spokesman refused to endorse Lord Johnsons comments, adding: You will know there is now a formal process in place so I am limited in what I can say. The Culture Secretary believes that one or more of the public interest considerations may be triggered so she has set out that process and we are now awaiting evidence as part of that.

The spokesman stressed that Mr Sunak had highlighted the importance of the free press when asked about the proposed Telegraph deal during an interview at the weekend with a Sunday newspaper.

Tom Tugendhat, the Security Minister, said on Monday: As we know, foreign ownership and foreign control is a vital area of foreign influence in our government and of course in our society.

Lloyds last month launched an auction run by Goldman Sachs, which attracted interest from bidders including Sir Paul Marshall and Daily Mail publisher DMGT.

However, the process has since been halted while the bank considers a 1.2 billion offer that would allow the Barclay family, which had owned Telegraph Media Group, to repay its debt, In exchange, the ownership of The Telegraph would immediately transfer to RedBird IMI.

The fund is controlled by the UAE, although it is fronted by former CNN boss Jeff Zucker.

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In the fields of southwest England, those who work the land speak with pride of the fact that a Cornishman can farm anywhere in the world.

Most choose home, where over 70 per cent of the land is used for agriculture; 2,642 hectares are dedicated to fruit and veg. But as for those who pick the spoils? Dont count on it being a local.

In the past two decades David Simmons, the fifth-generation proprietor of Riviera Produce in Hayle, west Cornwall, has seen workers that might once have come from Truro or Mousehole replaced by those flying in from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

The 8,000-acre brassica farm, which began with a single cow on a smallholding in 1870, now has 600 employees  but as we got bigger, it became impossible to recruit local people, Simmons, 63, says.

While that initially led to pickers for the veg they supply to supermarkets nationwide including Morrisons, Lidl and Asda coming from the likes of Poland, Bulgaria and Lithuania when the EU was established, Brexit and Covid have radically changed the face of their workforce.

Riviera says he has the 'utmost respect' for his workers who come from overseas - Dale Cherry

Now, Riviera has more employees travelling 6,000 miles than six for their day job, which current visa regulations permit them to do for half a year before needing to return home.

There is more than distance separating Simmonss workers from local recruits. One picker, 23-year-old Ali, interviewed for BBC Twos Simon Reeves Return to Cornwall, told him that he had already bought two houses back home in Tajikistan  and he is emblematic of those who join Rivieras team, Simmons says, adding that many own their properties, or are building them.

Theyre totally dedicated to earning money and their psyche is totally different to a lot of young people in the UK now. Their psyche is to go out, earn as much money as they can as fast as they can; try and get their house, and get everything they want in life. And youve got to admire them for doing it.

Unfazed by the 5am starts, and often gruelling conditions cast by bitter winter rain or blazing summer heat or unpredictable working weeks, theyll work hard, and theyll start moaning when they havent got enough work  the top end of which can net 150 per day for those who can pick 2,000 cauliflower heads.

The end of free movement for EU workers post-Brexit meant that, when borders open and shut during the pandemic (in April 2020 emergency charter flights for fruit pickers began in order to avoid losing the entire early summer crop), Simmons doubled down efforts to attract local recruits.

He put out television adverts and social media campaigns: 250 people expressed interest, with 37 actually making it in for a days picking. After seven weeks, only one remained. Today 75 per cent of his pickers are from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan; he has none from the UK.

Employees now travel 6,000 miles to work: the Wakhan Valley, on the Tajikistan and Afghanistan border - Getty Images

Are Brits simply too lazy to tend the fields? A lot of people dont want to do manual work anymore, unfortunately, Simmons says, calling back to decades past, when people appreciated what the countryside was about. Whereas now people have become detached from the countryside. They dont really understand how it works (including eating seasonally, the disappearance of which Simmons says is such a shame).

Now, 98 per cent of the UKs 45,000 pickers come from elsewhere, including Kyrgyzstan and Ukraine, Barbados, Kenya and Nepal.

Add to this landscape the glut of opportunities in the (indoor) hospitality sector, a welfare state, which supports people that are not willing to work, and the Covid-induced home working boom, and farming simply cannot compete, Simmons says. People used to live to work. Now they live and do the work on the side.

Simmons, whose son Tom, 32, is MD and the sixth-generation family member working for the business, still holds out hope that the winds may change.

At the end of the day, our door is always open for any Cornish people that want to come across or any British people who want to come across and work. But while we do an awful lot with the local area trying to pull people into work for us  attending primary schools and sixth forms, recruitment fairs and job centres  interest remains all but nil. I dont think [there] is a way of returning to how things once were, he adds. People [in Cornwall] dont want to do this sort of work.

The droves of overseas employees arriving at his gates drew the ire of locals years ago, Simmons says, but  with some having acquired settled status  they have integrated into the community. The children are going to schools, they live in houses which they bought in the locality, and theyre mixing in with the local[s]. People now almost look up to these people that are working the hours that they are  they admire them for what they do.

As a percentage of the county at large, they still remain the extreme minority: according to the 2021 Census, 1.1 per cent of Cornwall residents defined their ethnic category as other, and 96.8 per cent as white.

Simmons knows that UK wages alone are not enough to lure overseas workers in. A survey from the National Farmers Union last year found that 60 million of produce had been wasted due to labour shortages, amounting to thousands of tonnes of perfectly good food being thrown out.

Staffing levels were on average 14 per cent below required levels, and nine per cent of workers leaving their contracts early. Reports of mistreatment for pickers also abound: one woman from South Africa described the conditions she was living and working in within the UK as being like prison, where she and her colleagues werent viewed like humans.

As such, the onus is increasingly on farmers like Simmons to prove themselves an attractive prospect to potential recruits. They come back again [the following year, per visa regulations], if we make their experiences as best as we can for them.

Riviera works with recruitment companies who source workers primarily in the old Soviet Bloc and tell them what the job entails; they then fly over and live in campervans that sleep two to six people. Recruits are mostly male but some are female, are typically aged between 20 and 40, and some arrive with relatives.

Ali was sharing a double bed with his uncle. The people that come over are wonderful people, they really are, says Simmons. Ive got the utmost respect for them, to go from one side of the world to the other and do this.

Such close quarters and long hours inevitably make for strong bonds between pickers, too. On the day war broke out in Ukraine last February, the Russians were in the office crying, because they didnt want to see this  they were distraught about it, they really were. Its been quite a stressful time for the people that were working for us, and weve tried to give them counselling and help them the best way we can.

As for British workers, Riviera says 'a lot of people dont want to do manual work anymore' - Dale Cherry

The Government raised the quota for international pickers from 2,500 in 2019 to 45,000 this year and next (which can be increased by another 10,000 a year if the Government considers it necessary to meet demand).

Boris Johnsons administration promised that the existing Seasonal Worker scheme would be in place until at least the end of 2024, but that the quota would be gradually reduced; Rishi Sunaks has instead expanded it. Promises of legislation being set in stone long-term increasingly appear to be ditched.

How can we plan, how can we work out how to invest in the future and which direction to take, without a clue what might happen 12 months down the line, Simmons remonstrates.

Grants are periodically floated, yet arent targeted towards the horticultural industry; pledges made in 2016 have failed to materialise. We were promised that all this money that we used to get from Brexit would be passed on to the agriculture and horticulture industry  well, nowhere near is that being done, Simmons says.

The Government is not supporting us financially or supporting us in spirit, and its very frustrating. Worse still, we do find that the Government is always trying to trip us up rather than actually encourage us.

This is an obvious own-goal, Simmons says: growing more produce here would strengthen our food security (following the invasion of Ukraine, food prices rose at the fastest rate for since the late 1970s, with the Bank of Englands chief economist, Huw Pill, warning in August that they may never fall back to where they were before).

The Governments disinterest is a health matter too, Simmons adds, as homegrown fruit and veg help reduce obesity. Weve got the ability to grow a lot more in the UK, fruit and veg, but we need the support of the Government to do it.

Defra says that the domestic horticulture sector is crucial to the resilience of our food system and an important part of the wider economy  In line with our manifesto commitment, we are investing 2.4 billion annually into the farming sector and at our Farm to Fork Summit this year, we announced a package of measures to protect farmers interests in future trade deals, boost domestic fruit and veg production and deliver new investment in farm technologies.

Longer-term commitment where workers legal status is concerned is required to boost growing in Britain, Simmons says. Only then can farmers actually have some confidence in our industry to invest in the future.

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Matt Dawson, a Lubbock firefighter who was seriously injured in a January 2020 crash that killed two other first responders and later advocated for legislation to support others wounded in the line of duty, has died.

Friends of Dawson confirmed his unexpected passing on Sunday.

Matt Dawson

Lubbock-area lawmakers who worked with Dawson to pass legislation in his name earlier this year shared their sadness and praised Dawson as a hero whose acts both before and after the deadly crash showed his character and commitment to service.

"Elisabeth and I are heartbroken to learn of Matts passing," State Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, said in a statement. "During this past session, I was honored to join my colleagues to pass the Matt Dawson Act that provides first responders across Texas true compensation for life changing injuries incurred in the line of duty. Without Matt, his wife and his fellow first responders, the bill would not have made it to the Governors desk. God Bless Matt and his family."

The Matt Dawson Act, which was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott this spring, amends the labor code to extend lifetime workers' compensation benefits to first responders who, while on the job, sustain "a serious bodily injury  that permanently prevents the employee from performing any gainful work." The bill was authored by Burrows along with Rep. Carl Tepper, R-Lubbock, and others, and was sponsored in the Senate by Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, according to past Avalanche-Journal reporting.

"Im saddened to hear about the passing of Matt Dawson," Tepper wrote in a statement. "Indeed the entire city is affected by this. Matt served his community well, even after the accident. He was loved by many. Deepest condolences to his family and his team of responders."

Retired Lubbock firefighter Matt Dawson, center, and wife Chanda joined Rep. Dustin Burrows, sixth from left, in Austin for a Texas House committee hearing on the Matt Dawson Act on March 20, 2023. Lubbock Fire Chief Shaun Fogerson, second from right, testified during the hearing.

Lubbock Mayor Tray Payne shared a statement praising Dawson as a fighter.

"He fought through the injury, fought through rehabilitation and fought so hard, every day, to be there for his family," Payne wrote. "He did it all with a smile on his face and a positive attitude. I know that Matt is resting in the arms of his Savior. Thank you for your service, Matt Dawson and thank you for your sacrifice."

Lubbock firefighters mourned Dawson's passing on Sunday, sharing statements reflecting on his impact and character.

Lubbock Fire Rescue and the Lubbock community are heartbroken at the sudden and unexpected loss of our friend and brother, Matt Dawson," said LFR Chief Shaun Fogerson said. "Matt was an amazing man and firefighter who displayed the true meaning of service above self. Since his accident in 2020, the Dawson family has spent every moment fighting to recover from his injuries and advocating for first responders injured in the line of duty. His bright smile and unbeatable spirit will be missed by all that knew and had the good fortune to work with him. We will never know the number of lives that Firefighter Dawson touched both in and out of the department, but we do know that his legacy, courage, and bravery will live on forever.

Joseph Wallace, president of the Lubbock Professional Firefighters Association, said Dawson will forever be an inspiration to his LFR family and to firefighters throughout Texas.

"After surviving a catastrophic line-of duty vehicle accident in January 2020 that left him with a traumatic brain injury and long-term health challenges, Matt fought back heroically  not only for himself and his family but also for all Texas first responders. Just six months ago, Matt was instrumental in the Texas Legislatures passage of HB 2864 which improves health insurance benefits for first responders seriously injured on the job," Wallace wrote. "Matt worked hard at the state capitol to help ensure that injured firefighters and police officers get better care in their recoveries. We will work in the days to come to honor Matt and his extraordinary legacy of service and sacrifice. Please keep the Dawson family in your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

Lubbock Fire Rescue firefighter Matt Dawson and his 7 year-old daughter Preslee Dawson look over the backyard of the new home that his family was presented with on Thursday, August 26, 2021. Dawson was struck by a vehicle in the line-of-duty on January 11, 2020.

Recovery, advocacy after deadly Lubbock crash

Dawson, for whom the bill is named, was one of three first responders injured while responding to a Jan. 11, 2020 wreck on icy roads on I-27 north of Lubbock.

While emergency crews were working a pair of accidents in the northbound lanes, a pickup truck traveling southbound on I-27 crossed over into the median and struck Dawson, Lubbock Fire Rescue Lt. Eric Hill and Lubbock police Officer Nicholas Reyna. The crash killed Hill and Reyna. Dawson was 30 at the time of the crash.

Dawson suffered a traumatic brain injury and bone fractures in his legs, wrist, ribs and skull, the Avalanche-Journal reported previously. After months of recovery at a specialized rehabilitation facility in Colorado, Dawson returned to Lubbock to a hero's welcome in August of 2020. He continued to work at LFR into 2022 before he retired.

Supporters gather to welcome Matt Dawson, Lubbock firefighter injured in deadly crash

Dawson and his wife Chanda joined Burrows for a House committee hearing in March. LFR Chief Shaun Fogerson testified in support of the bill.

Fogerson praised Dawson for the courage and strength he displayed during his recovery.

"Matt Dawson has learned a lot about himself on that journey and those of us that love and respect him have what we have always thought about him confirmed: Number one, he is stronger than we are," he said. "He has dealt with pain and adversity that most of us will thankfully never know. He can fight harder than we can. There's a lot of us that would have given up just part of the way into this journey but Matt, never ever gives up."

Dawson also spoke about the act during a Senate hearing on May 4.

"How this bill will change the verbiage to help any other first responders that get hurt to be able to get them the benefits that they deserve means a lot to me," Dawson said during his testimony. "It will simplify a lot of things for any other first responders that are injured. I just don't want anybody to have to go through all the trouble that I had to go through."

The DawsonStrong972 social media page, which in the past has promoted a scholarship in Dawson's name, announced his passing on Sunday, calling it unexpected.

"We do not have any answers at this time and just ask for prayers during this extremely difficult time," the post continues. "He fought like hell these last 4 years and will missed more than words can ever describe."

In August 2021, Dawson and his family received the keys to a new mortgage-free home during a dedication ceremony at the home site in South Lubbock.

Lubbock firefighter Matt Dawson, family get keys to West Texas Hero Home

West Texas Hero Homes, United Supermarkets, West Texas Home Builders Association, and Lubbock Professional Fire Fighters Association, led by retired firefighters Bryce Daniel of Aaron Daniel Homes of West Texas, Alan Tidmore of Alan Tidmore Custom Homes, and Derek Cooper of Derek Cooper Construction, all partnered to build the home.

Dawson was among several first responders honored by Prosperity Bank and The Rotary Club of Metropolitan Lubbock co-hosted the 19th Annual Unsung Heroes Award Ceremony in August 2022.

Funeral and memorial plans are still pending.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock Fire Matt Dawson obit remembered fight, advocacy deadly crash
(Bloomberg) -- President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva defied calls from activists and allies to appoint the first Black woman in the history of Brazils Supreme Court, choosing instead to nominate Justice Minister Flavio Dino for the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Rosa Weber.

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If Brazils Senate confirms the pick, which Lula announced Monday on social media, it will add another trusted ally to the bench, after the leftist leader nominated his personal attorney to the court in June.

Dinos selection will also put a mixed-race man on the court that has historically been dominated by White Brazilians. But the choice nevertheless disappointed social movements that called on the president to choose a Black woman, with many seeing it as the latest sign that his campaign pledges to promote diversity in the top ranks of Brazils government have taken a back seat to more immediate political considerations.

It was time to make history, said Monique Damas, a criminal attorney and member of Black Jurists, an organization that seeks to connect Black women lawyers. Instead, he appointed a man to a seat that belonged to a woman. The feeling is one of hopelessness and disappointment.

Lula can point to other examples of his efforts to deliver on his promises to make a largely White and overwhelmingly male governing establishment more reflective of Brazil, where more than half of the population identifies as Black, according to census figures.

After taking office in January, he created the first-ever ministries of Indigenous Peoples and Racial Equality, and tapped women to lead both. He also appointed the first Black director in the history of Brazils central bank.

More recently, however, women have borne the brunt of his attempts to shore up political support in a fractious, conservative congress. Cabinet re-organizations meant to accommodate new congressional allies resulted in the ouster of two female ministers, leaving women in charge of just nine of the governments more than three dozen ministries. The Supreme Court will now have a single female member: Judge Carmen Lucia, one of only three women to ever serve on the body.

Analysts see the decision as unlikely to generate major blowback. But it nevertheless highlights the struggles the Brazilian left has faced as it seeks to live up to its own diversity goals.

You have to go back to the base that has been giving you votes and support for 15 or 20 years and say that their interests are not a priority, said Creomar de Souza, the chief executive officer of Dharma Political Risk and Strategy, a Brasilia-based consultancy, before Lulas pick was announced. The problem is that when we talk about ethnic and racial diversity, parties on the left still have difficulty creating these frameworks.

A Major Demand

Webers approaching retirement turned the seat into a focal point for grassroots groups that saw it as chance to win a Black woman a key position atop a judiciary that ranks as one of Brazils least representative institutions.

More than 60% of the nations judges are men, according to government statistics. Black women, who make up more than a quarter of the population, hold just 8% of judgeships.

Although 56% of the Brazilian population is Black, we do not have a single item, a single marker, a single socioeconomic and cultural indicator, that places the Black population in a minimally-balanced position, Vera Lucia Araujo, a Black female attorney who has been shortlisted for Supreme Court vacancies, said in an interview before the selection was made. A population of 56% is on the margins of the system of power.

Many also saw the seat as a reward for the 2022 presidential race, in which Lula racked up sizable margins among women and in the majority-Black northeast region on his way to victory in Brazils closest-ever election.

Black women gave him the presidential sash. Now its time he gives us the justice robe, Tainah Pereira, a representative of the Black Women Decide organization that has campaigned to diversify Brazils justice system, said.

In September, nearly 40 organizations signed a letter to Lula calling for the appointment of a Black woman. A group of 25 members of congress  many of them Black women  penned another letter making the same demand. Earlier this year, a mural of a Black woman seated in the regal chairs that symbolize the Supreme Court appeared in a popular Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. Activists also purchased billboards in New Delhi and Times Square during Lulas travels to major global summits in India and New York.

Webers final moves on the court only intensified the calls, after she opened one case weighing the decriminalization of personal possession of marijuana and cast the last vote of her career in favor of the decriminalization of abortion until the 12th week of pregnancy.

To advocates, the issues illuminated the judiciarys racial and gender disparities.

Black Brazilian women are 46% more likely than white women to have had an abortion, according to a September study from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, a Rio-based public health organization. Black women, meanwhile, made up 62% of Brazils female prison population in 2018, according to national surveys. The majority are incarcerated because of drug-related crimes, the data showed.

When a Black woman enters the judicial system, or sits at the top court, its a way of facing the countrys structural racism, said Barbara Barbosa, the director of Oxfam Brazils racial and gender equality program.

I Didnt See Myself in Court

Brazil is not necessarily an outlier among other large, multiracial nations. Black women make up about 8% of the total US population but hold just 4% of federal judgeships, according to a July 2022 survey from the American Bar Association.

President Joe Biden last year nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson as the first Black woman to serve on the US Supreme Court, following through on his own campaign pledge.

Dino will give Lula another aligned judge at a time when his government and the Supreme Court are locked into political battles with the countrys Congress, according to de Souza, the political consultant.

Read More: Brazil Senate Votes to Limit Powers of the Countrys Top Court

But those behind the push see it as a missed opportunity to send a signal to Black women that they can access the highest levels of Brazils legal and governing establishment.

Damas, the attorney, recently attended a trial of participants in the Jan. 8 riots that sought to undermine Lulas election victory, and noticed that she and her friend were the only two Black people in the courtroom.

It was a familiar situation: At the law firm where she started her career, a cleaning lady was the only other Black person in her office. Damas said she has often been confused for an intern, and has been asked to undo her braids.

I didnt see myself in the court, she said. Seeing only white people, and mostly men, at the top court is distressing.

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A County Armagh man with stage four lung cancer has backed calls for a screening programme for the disease to be rolled out across Northern Ireland.

Gerard Greene, 75, from Craigavon, said that had his cancer been caught earlier it might have made a difference.

"Mine was stage four which is inoperable in my case," he said.

Cancer Research UK have said there is an urgent need for the introduction of a targeted-screening programme for lung cancer in Northern Ireland.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in Northern Ireland with about 1,000 dying from the disease each year, according to the charity.

Analysis by Cancer Research UK estimates that under a screening programme 1,400 more patients in Northern Ireland could be diagnosed with the disease at an early stage over the next decade.

In England more than 40 areas are trialling checks for current and former smokers aged 55-74 but there are no confirmed plans for an equivalent initiative in Northern Ireland.

Mr Greene, who said he smoked about 20 cigarettes a day until the age of 50, said: "If it's going to save lives in England, it's going to save lives here as well."

"To me it is simple - screening will save lives," he said.

'Cancer is devastating families'

He said if his cancer had been picked up earlier, he may have been able to have other treatments.

"Because I didn't go to a doctor until it was really bad and I never thought it was cancer in the first place," he said.

Mr Greene added that if he had thought it was cancer: "I'd have been getting screening and it would have been picked up".

Barbara Roulston from Cancer Research UK said that lung cancer is a "tragedy for Northern Ireland".

"[It] is devastating families, some of those who live among our poorest communities," she added. "Access to lung screening matters because it means more people may be diagnosed at an early stage, when more treatment options are available."Ms Roulston said there have been big improvements in how other forms of cancer are diagnosed and treated "but long-term lung cancer survival in the UK isn't much higher than it was 50 years ago"."This is unacceptable when evidence shows that earlier diagnosis through lung cancer screening can potentially help hundreds of people live longer healthier lives," she said.
Kelsey Mackay and her mother Christine Livingstone on holiday shortly before her cancer took a turn for the worse

A daughter who lost her mother to lung cancer is backing calls for targeted screening for the disease to be introduced in Scotland

Kelsey Mackay's mother Christine was a lifelong smoker who died at the age of 52.

Cancer Research UK has said thousands of deaths could be avoided through a national screening programme.

The charity will make the case for screening when it meets Health Secretary Michael Matheson later.

Kelsey was 20 years old and just starting a career as an estate agent when her mother, Christine Livingstone, first fell ill.

"Mum just thought she had a chest infection at first," the now 31-year-old said.

"The earlier cancer is detected the more successful the outcome is likely to be. I wish things could have turned out differently for my family.

Ms Mackay, from Armadale, West Lothian, added: "Mum was my best friend and I miss her every day."

New analysis by Cancer Research UK estimates at least 2,300 lives in Scotland could be saved from lung cancer over the next decade if targeted screening was introduced for those most at risk.

The UK National Screening Committee has recommended that all home nations move towards implementing lung cancer screening to target those considered to be of high risk of developing lung cancer - people aged between 55 and 74 who either smoke or used to smoke.

Cancer screening programmes help reduce deaths from cancers by diagnosing them early or preventing them from developing in the first place.

'Months to live'

It took four months before Ms Livingstone's cancer was detected, despite sudden weight loss and a cough which she could not shake.

In July 2012 she was diagnosed with small cell lung cancer and was started on a 12-week treatment which included chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

By Christmas her scan results were looking good and her family had hoped that the cancer was gone for good.

By May she appeared well enough to go on holiday to Marbella in Spain to celebrate her daughter's 21st birthday.

"I remember mum swimming in the pool and eating well," her daughter said.

"All through cancer treatment she'd said what she really wanted to do was relax on a beach and feel the warmth of the sun. It was a good holiday."

But when Ms Livingstone returned from the Spain, she developed dizzy spells and a scan revealed the cancer had spread to her brain. Doctors gave her about six months to live.

"Mum went downhill very quickly. I helped care for her at home at first with the help of Marie Curie nurses but Mum died in hospital," said Kelsey.

"Mum always spoke about how much she'd enjoy becoming a gran. She'd even knitted some baby clothes for me to give to my own children one day.

"I treasure these baby clothes and my own children have grown up hearing all about mum," the mother-of-two added.

Kelsey Mackay said she wants her two children to grow up in a healthier Scotland

Lung cancer remains the leading cause of cancer death in Scotland and the lung cancer death rate is three times higher among those who live in the country's most deprived areas, according to Cancer Research UK.

Lung checks have started to be rolled out in England, but there are currently no confirmed plans for an equivalent initiative in Scotland.

Cancer Research UK said the majority of people who are diagnosed with lung cancer in Scotland are already at a later stage (stages 3 and 4).

Ms Mackay said she was determined to see future generations grow up in a healthier country where tobacco no longer claims lives.

"I wish we'd had more time, more years, more chances to make memories with my mum. But looking back, mum grew up in a Scotland where so many people smoked," she said.

"Mum smoked around 40 cigarettes a day. And her own mum was also a heavy smoker, dying from a smoking-related illness.

"My duty to my children is to help break that cycle so they can look ahead to a healthy future."

Cancer Research UK said lung cancer deaths could be avoided if the disease was identified earlier

Cancer Research UK said if lung screening were to be introduced, around 400 extra cases could be diagnosed at an early stage (stages 1 and 2) rather than a late stage (stages 3 and 4) in Scotland per year - meaning 4,000 cases over the next decade.

The charity's chief executive, Michelle Mitchell, will discuss the case for introducing a lung cancer screening programme in Scotland when she meets Health Secretary Michael Matheson at the Scottish Cancer Conference in Glasgow on Monday.

"A comprehensive commitment by the Scottish government to implement a fully-funded national targeted lung cancer screening programme is a real chance to reduce the toll of lung cancer on Scots," she said.

"There have been big improvements in how we diagnose and treat other forms of cancer, but long-term lung cancer survival in the UK isn't much higher than it was 50 years ago.

"This is unacceptable when evidence shows that earlier diagnosis through targeted lung cancer screening can potentially help thousands of people live longer healthier lives."

Screening studies

A screening study has already been under way in the NHS Lothian health board area.

New funding from the Scottish government will also see patients from NHS Grampian, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Highlands and Islands invited for a lung check over the coming months.

The aim of the study is to provide evidence to inform the implementation of a screening programme in Scotland, on matters like staffing and access to services.

A Scottish government spokesman welcomed the recommendation of targeted screening but said the UK national screening committee itself recognised there were "significant complexities that must be worked through ahead of implementation".

"We have established a Scottish Expert Advisory Group, in collaboration with National Screening Oversight (NSO), which will consider how the recommendation can best be taken forward," the spokesman added.

"Furthermore we have agreed further funding of a one-year extension of the University of Edinburgh's feasibility study, LungScot, into targeted lung health checks for high risk individuals."
Jamie Lynn Spears became chocked up on Im a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! as she opened up about the nightmare incident in which her young daughter almost died by drowning.

The actor, best known for being Britney Spearss sister, has two daughters: Maddie, 15, who she shares with ex Casey Aldridge, and Ivey Joan, five, with husband Jamie Watson.

Despite initially struggling in the jungle  particularly due to missing her children  Jamie Lynn has now settled into life in the Im a Celebrity camp. During Monday (27 November) nights show, the Zoey 101 star said shed made friends for life on the show, with whom she opened up about the traumatic accident 2017 that almost claimed her daughter Maddies life.

After recalling her childhood in Louisiana, she told Sam Thompson, Tony Bellew and Marvin Humes: I almost lost my oldest daughter she drowned and we couldnt save her. We tried really hard. She was trapped under a little side-by-side that we ride around our pond.

Explaining that Maddie had only been eight or nine at the time, she said: My father-in-law, my mother-in-law, me and my husband, we run to jump in to save her and you kind of, in that moment, think, this is not real, shes going to pop up, this isnt real.

I could feel her arm, and Im jerking it, I couldnt get her up because its a pretty heavy machine. In that moment you think, you know logically shes been under water too long nobody can live if theyve been under water this long. You logically are thinking these things.

Jamie Lynn continued: Then you hear the sirens coming. Thank god my mother-in-law, first thing she did was call 911 [Maddie] was caught in the safety netting. So when they got there, she was not alive. They took her from me and they incubated her.

How can I ever complain about anything ever again? I was given the biggest gift  #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/DxhWQVHOSr  I'm A Celebrity... (@imacelebrity) November 27, 2023

I was sitting on the rocks, Id thrown up on myself, the adrenaline, then I heard [my mother-in-law] call my mum and say, Lynne, weve lost Maddie. Then the fire fighter came over 3 seconds later and was like, Weve got a pulse, weve got a pulse.

They airlifted her shes hooked up on life support, breathing machines and all that they come in, a priest to read her her last rights, and when they did, her body physically sat up, her spirit responded to it for whatever reason She got better and better every day and walked out of the hospital. This has no repercussions.

Jamie Lynn explained that she became Catholic after this experience. For about five minutes I thought Id lost my daughter and then I was given the miracle of having her back, she said, through tears. My biggest fear was she was going to die thinking her momma wasnt trying to save her.

Im a Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! airs Sunday to Friday at 9pm and Saturday at 9.30pm on ITV.
We spend a lot of time focusing on what still needs correcting, because without awareness  and usually, sustained pressure  change is not even possible. But in this season in between the days we set aside for giving thanks and for making new resolutions to do better, we also wanted to recognize the transformation that has already happened in the lives of some former Kansas prison inmates.

At a recent luncheon for Reaching Out From Within, a Kansas-based, inmate-led program co-founded in 1982 by community activist SuEllen Fried and the late Greg Musselman, who was serving a life sentence in Lansing when they met, 10 alumni of the program spoke about what theyd learned, how theyd learned it, and where they are today. Here are a few excerpts:

Marc Showalter served two stints in prison, the last time for 16 1/2 years. Now hes been out for five-and-a-half years, and talked about summoning the courage to tell an employer about his history. He could do that, he said, because hes not that person any more. I put in effort, and like other alums can say, look where I came from! Before I got out, I set goals, and have achieved all but one of them.

No, hes not telling what that one is, but the list of those hes already made good on includes a great job and a great group of friends. Im thankful for that, and thankful I will not be in prison any more; Im never going back.

Deon Dean said that when he first started going to ROFW meetings while inside, even he wondered how can people change just by listening to a bunch of troubled people.

But then, you start listening to the stories. Everybody wants to change and nobody knows how. He did change, though, by learning to express what Im feeling. At first, you feel like if you let it out, somebodys going to judge you, but then they dont, and you start feeling valuable by helping others help themselves. And vice versa.

Since his release five years ago, I can walk with my chest up now. He bought his first house, and with the birth of his son has a second chance at being a father. I messed up with my daughter and didnt get to raise her. He cant go back and change that, as much as hed like to, but as he now sees it, my life is a work of art. Its not done, and may not look right to everybody, but when its done, its going to be a masterpiece.

Jeremiah Parks, who came to the lunch from Michigan, along with his family, thanked all the Reaching Out From Within volunteers whose presence at their meetings while incarcerated make us feel normal. Human. What hes learned, he said, is that change happens when you decide, Im better than this, and let go of the mask. Just do a little better than the day before.

Reaching Out From Within alum Madeline Brooks poses by a portrait of herself by Nick Vedros.

Madeline Brooks has done a bunch of different jobs in the six-and-a-half years since her release: I got my CPT, went to work in warehouses, started driving trucks, and after her son with special needs was born, started my own cleaning business. Shes studying to become an aesthetician, and still sees members of her Reaching Out From Within support group. Theyre like my family now.

Jacob Waldron began by saying, I went to prison for selling drugs, not my proudest moment in life. But he does take pride in the fact that since then, hes just tried to live an earnest life, and become a real man. I settled down, calmed down and just went and got a job.  Society is really crazy, and I try to evade issues and toxicity.

Kohler Jeffries, who served 30 years straight, said that the volunteers who attended meetings with him made him start to look at himself differently. It makes us feel human to have people come in and not be afraid to sit next to us. Like the others, though, hes the one who changed his own life. Since his release, hes started his own electrical company. Your voting was made a lot smoother, he said, because I wired the new building of the Jackson County Election Office. And I cant even vote.
Industrial diver Alex Reed Paxton plunged into the bowels of Columbus Lake Oliver Dam on Oct. 27, 2020, and never got out alive.

As he descended into the water along a floodgate chain looking for damage, his left arm was sucked into a high-pressure pipe, its valve inadvertently left open, and the suctions crushing power suffocated him.

Pinned by 850 pounds of pressure, the 31-year-old lost consciousness, and died in minutes. His body did not come free until workers found the valve control and released it, about 30 minutes later.

Represented by Columbus native Jeb Butler of the Butler Kahn law firm in Atlanta, his parents sued Georgia Power, which operates the dam. The claim went to mediation, and they reached a confidential settlement last month.

Some aspects of Paxtons death remain undisclosed, as diagrams and details of how the dam operates are not public record: Federal authorities consider it critical infrastructure that terrorists or foreign agents could target, were they privy to its inner workings.

Chance Corbett, Columbus homeland security director, agreed that the power company has to keep some information confidential.

They dont want to reveal any vulnerable points to it, he said of the dam, adding authorities have to protect residents living within the rivers flood plain.

Still Paxtons case sheds light on what happened in the dark interior of the dam that powers four hydroelectric turbines and helps regulate the Chattahoochee Rivers flow to Columbus downtown whitewater course.

Industrial diver Alex Reed Paxton plunged into the bowels of Columbus Lake Oliver Dam on Oct. 27, 2020, and never got out alive. As he descended into the water along a floodgate chain looking for damage, his left arm was sucked into a high-pressure pipe, its valve inadvertently left open, and the suctions crushing power suffocated him: He could not inhale, though he had an oxygen supply. Pinned by 850 pounds of pressure, the 31-year-old lost consciousness, and died in minutes. His body did not come free until workers found the valve control and released it, about 30 minutes later.

What happened?

The 10-inch opening to the pipe that snagged Paxtons arm pulled water from a vertical space within the dam, called the headworks, where Lake Olivers backwater flows through when the chain pulls open the dams metal headgate.

The pipe, called a priming pipe, feeds water to whats called the penstock, another pipe about 20 feet in diameter, which at high velocity sends water to the turbines to generate electricity.

Opening the headgate to power those turbines first requires priming or watering up the penstock, Butler said. That requires opening valves to fill the penstock with lakewater.

Before a diver descends into the headworks where Alex Paxton was working, all valves controlling the flow to the penstock have to be closed, otherwise the differential pressure can trap the diver.

Georgia Power through its lockout-tagout safety checklist was supposed to have closed two valves where Paxton was inspecting the gate chain.

One penstock valve was a flapper, like the kind used in a bathroom toilet, and the other one was a gate valve controlled by a wheel, like on a water spigot.

First filed in Muscogee State Court in March 2022, before being moved to the federal level, the lawsuit accused Georgia Power not only of failing to close both valves, but of neglecting to note the gate valve even existed, on safety forms used at the time.

The utility showed the dive team from Glenn Industrial Group of Charlotte, N.C., a lockout-tagout list that didnt have that valve on it.

The flapper valve was noted on the form, and it was closed during the tag-out safety protocol.

The wheel controlling the other valve was behind a locked gate only Georgia Power staff had access to, the lawsuit said. Thats what took so long to free Paxton.

Georgia Power since 2018 had contracted with Glenn Industrial for maintenance work on the dam.

In depositions taken for the lawsuit, witnesses said the company had a safety meeting with Glenn Industrial on May 27, 2020, when the gate valve was shown to the dive team.

Records showed Georgia Power broke the headgate gate chain to its Unit 2 turbine on Oct. 21, 2020, a week before Paxtons death.

With no mention on the tag out form, the gate valve noted during the May safety meeting still was overlooked five months later, when Paxton made his dive.

Georgia Power later corrected that oversight.

Industrial diver Alex Reed Paxton plunged into the bowels of Columbus Lake Oliver Dam on Oct. 27, 2020, and never got out alive. As he descended into the water along a floodgate chain looking for damage, his left arm was sucked into a high-pressure pipe, its valve inadvertently left open, and the suctions crushing power suffocated him: He could not inhale, though he had an oxygen supply. Pinned by 850 pounds of pressure, the 31-year-old lost consciousness, and died in minutes. His body did not come free until workers found the valve control and released it, about 30 minutes later.

Helmet camera video

Paxton wore a wet suit and a helmet with a light and camera on it. He had radio contact with a colleague monitoring him from atop the dam.

The time stamp on footage from his dive camera shows a descent at 12:42 p.m., the chain to the floodgate in his view.

In 12 seconds, he screams.

Alex? asks his colleague.

Im stuck! he yells.

What? the coworker asks.

Im stuck! Paxton repeats.

Get him up! his contact orders.

Sucked in up to his shoulder, he could not be pulled free.

He was an experienced diver, with 10 years experience. Unmarried, he left no children. He lived in Mount Pleasant, N.C., outside Charlotte.

The coworker who monitored Paxtons dive told attorneys they were only checking the headgate chain for damage, and assumed it would be a simple task.

This was supposed to be an easy dive: Go see whats wrong with the chain, he said in his deposition.

He volunteered to go himself, he said: I said, Ill do it if you dont want to. Didnt think anything of it.

The routine task was not worth losing a life, he said. No job is worth that.

Industrial diver Alex Reed Paxton plunged into the bowels of Columbus Lake Oliver Dam on Oct. 27, 2020, and never got out alive. As he descended into the water along a floodgate chain looking for damage, his left arm was sucked into a high-pressure pipe, its valve inadvertently left open, and the suctions crushing power suffocated him: He could not inhale, though he had an oxygen supply. Pinned by 850 pounds of pressure, the 31-year-old lost consciousness, and died in minutes. His body did not come free until workers found the valve control and released it, about 30 minutes later.

Comment declined

Paxtons parents, Kenneth Paxton of Ohio and Kathryn Hartley of North Carolina, did not want to comment on the case, Butler said.

He credited colleague Tom Giannotti with handling crucial aspects of the claim, and noted the law firm has created a web page to document the accident.

The attorney representing Georgia Power was Josh Archer of the Atlanta firm Balch & Bingham. He did not respond to a Ledger-Enquirer email seeking comment.

The utility has sued Glenn Industrial, claiming the contractor signed an agreement waiving any liability claims related to its work on the dam, and was solely responsible for its workers safety.

Georgia Power is entitled to reimbursement from Glenn Industrial for any and all attorneys fees and expenses of litigation, says that suit, filed in April 2022.

Because that lawsuit continues, Glenn Industrials attorney, T. Langston Bass of Brennan, Harris & Rominger of Savannah, declined to speak about Paxtons death.

This case is still in litigation, so I will not be able to comment, he wrote in an email.

This is a portion of the Lake Oliver Dam in Columbus, Georgia. 11/22/2023
For 95 years George Marinakes and his father prided themselves on taking care of people in Richmond. They were a perfect fit.

News Center 7s James Brown stopped by the shop a few days before it closed for good last month.

George said Making a Difference came easy because they always put one shoe in front of the other.

Theres something to be said about a business tied to the same address for almost a century. This place was part of the American dream for Theodor Marinakes.

>> RELATED: More Making A Difference

Six days a week. In those days, there were 22 shops in Richmond, George said. Almost two dozen shoe repair shops and they outlived and outworked all of them.

The shop was located on East Main Street. Everything was downtown. There were no shopping centers in those days, George said.

George is now 94 years old. I started working here at the store at the age of 12 and have been here ever since.

His first job was shining peoples shoes.

They would jump up there, get their shine and theyd give us a nickel, and we were very happy, George said.

He was one of four kids. He said his mom was the one who sent him to the shop. Business was great. So, he could understand the value of a good days work.

At 94, Georges mind is still sharp. He is witty. But, after 82 years of work, not even his tools and his attention to detail can fix his rotor cups. Both are gone, and I cant move my arms up anymore, George said.

And, because of his age, surgery was not an option. So, when the doctor told him it was time to retire, George said, Ok.

George said there really was no soul-searching for him. Thats it, its totaled you see.

So, up went the small sign on the front counter. Word traveled fast about George. And, during News Center 7s visit, people topped in one last time to show how much they cared for George.

We talked a bit about his business model. He said it was simple, it was hands-on. He said everyone who walked in and out of the door, he treated like family.

Linda Sittloh of Centerville, Indiana, said George is one of those people  as soon as you walk in you have a connection with him.

Sittloh grew up in Richmond. Hes seen a lot of people come and go. She said it was still hard to believe it was now Georges time to go.

How have you made a difference in Richmond? Just being here all these years, George said.

There were no tears during our visit, but lots of hugs and laughter.

For a man who used to get paid five cents to shine other peoples shoes. Its safe to say there is no one else who would ever fill his.
A man was taken to the hospital after being shot in Springfield early Monday morning.

>>We need to come together; Neighbors speak out on shooting that hospitalized 15-year-old

Springfield police and medics were dispatched around 12:43 a.m. to the 1000 block of Jasper Road on initial reports of a male shot.

The victim was transported to Springfield Regional Hospital and later flown by CareFlight to Miami Valley Hospital, Springfield Police told News Center 7.

He suffered serious, but not life-threatening injuries.

The shooting remains under investigation.

We will continue to provide updates on this developing story.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A man told Henderson police he shot and killed a man in the Lake Las Vegas area while confronting the victim after he sexually assaulted the suspect a few weeks before the murder, according to police documents.

On Monday, Nov. 20 at around 6:40 p.m., officers with the Henderson Police Department were called to Montelago Boulevard at Lake Las Vegas area after a witness called 911 saying a man was acting spazzy on an elevator.

She told police she saw the man run into the elevator as she was getting off. As she got off the elevator, she found another man lying on the floor in the middle of the hallway, with blood on his foot and leg, the report stated. The victims phone was on the ground near him.

Arriving officers and medical personnel found the victim, later identified as Adrian Longoria, 54, with a gunshot wound to his chest. They pronounced him deceased on the scene.

The witness told police the suspect who got on the elevator was wearing a red jogging suit and had tattoos on his face, including a cross, according to the report.

In the victims apartment, officers found a spent cartridge case and blood stains on the carpet and on the walls.

Surveillance video showed a man using the keypad to open the front door before getting on the elevator and going to the 4th floor, the report stated. A few minutes later, he is seen getting back on the elevator as the witness gets off. Police saw the suspect holding a handgun in the video.

On Longorias phone, police found a text message sent to him on Oct. 31, stating Bossman, its Devonta, I got a new phone and I literally just got out of the county jail, according to the report.

In a text message sent on the day of the murder, Devonta accused Longoria of sexually assaulting him the last time Devonta was at Longorias condominium. During the conversation, Devonta tells Longoria he wants to talk, and Longoria tells him when he gets off work, the report stated.

A records check showed Devonte Bowman, 25, was previously released from the Clark County Detention Center on Oct. 31. Detectives also found a Nevada Drivers License listed under Devonta Bowmans, which matched Bowmans booking photo, according to the report.

Devonte Bowman faces charges including murder. (Credit: HPD)

Police said tattoos on Bowmans face in the photo matched the ones described by the witness.

During a search of phone records from CCDC, police found Bowman made several phone calls to a specific individual. When police went to the address of that individual, they found Bowman, who was carrying a gun in a backpack. Police took him into custody on Nov. 22.

Bowman told police he met Longoria when he bought a vehicle from him a couple of months earlier. The two began hanging out and Longoria told him he could get Bowman into the music industry with the connections he had, the report stated.

Bowman told police that Longoria would ask Bowman if he could do things for sexual gratification, and in exchange, Longoria would make payments for Bowmans vehicle, according to the report.

Bowman told police that a few weeks prior to the murder, he and Longoria were drinking and hanging out in the jacuzzi when Bowman blacked out, the report stated. Bowman said when he woke up, he was naked on the floor and Longoria was sexually assaulting him.

According to the report, Bowman blacked out again and when he woke up, he got dressed and left, going to a local hospital for a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination.

Bowman told police that Longoria told him he was behind on car payments and Bowman confronted him about not helping after what he has done for him. Bowman then began texting Longoria, telling him he was going to report Longoria for the sexual assault and sue him, the report stated.

Longoria then asked Bowman to go to his condo to talk about everything. Bowman told police he brought his gun with him for protection. During the conversation, Bowman brought out his gun and told Longoria he was going to confess to what [he] had done to him, according to the report.

When Bowman got his phone out to record the confession, Longoria got up off the couch and started yelling at Bowman, walking towards him. Bowman then shot Longoria in the chest, and Longoria walked out the door into the hallway of the building, the report stated.

Bowman then left the building, driving to an automotive dealership, where he saw the vehicle several times, and ran to his girlfriends apartment, according to the report.

Bowman faces charges of open murder with a deadly weapon, carrying a concealed weapon without a permit, and owning or possessing a gun as a prohibited person. He is being held in the Henderson Detention Center without bail.

His next court appearance is scheduled for Nov. 28.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
A man was arrested Sunday in Kentucky in connection with the murder of a Gwinnett County man last month.

Demetrick Davis, of Versailles, Kentucky, was arrested on Sunday by the Lexington Police Department, according to a news release.

Authorities said just before 3 a.m. on Oct. 16, officers received reports of a person shot at a home on Allen Street in Buford.

When officers arrived, they discovered a man who had been shot sitting inside a parked vehicle. He was taken to the hospital, where he later died. The 43-year-old Davis has been charged with murder and aggravated assault.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The victim was identified as 35-year-old Quentin Cantrell, of Buford.

Police are also searching for 33-year-old Rodericus Jackson, of Buford, in connection to Cantrells death.

Jackson has not been arrested yet. Police are charging him with felony murder and aggravated assault.

Authorities have not specified how they connected Jackson to the investigation. Its unclear if the men knew each other or what led to the shooting.

Anyone with information regarding Jacksons whereabouts is asked to call Gwinnett County Police Department detectives at 770-513-5300.

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A man barricaded himself inside a southwest Miami-Dade County home for hours Monday, threatening to kill himself and prompting a large police response that included tactical and arson officers as well as the fire department.

What led to the man holing up inside the home on Southwest 190th Street in the Redland farm area in southwest Miami-Dade County remained unclear, but by the end of the day police decided to back off rather than continue the standoff.

Miami-Dade County police Special Response Team tactical officers, arson squad detectives, Miami-Dades Critical Response Team and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue units all gathered outside of the large gated house as negotiators tried to talk the man, who has not been named, into coming outside.

Were trying to establish and maintain communication with this person, Detective Angel Rodriguez said as the situation unfolded in the morning, adding police received the call shortly after 9 a.m.

Six Miami-Dade Fire Rescue pump trucks were parked on the street, and firefighters had their hoses hooked up to hydrants ready to extinguish flames if necessary.

Detectives with the Miami-Dade County Police Departments Arson Squad stand in front of a home in the Redland agricultural area in southwest Miami-Dade County Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. A man has barricaded himself inside the home.

Detective Andre Martin, another spokesman for the department, said the man, who was the only person inside the home, made threats that police have not specified that led officers who arrived on the scene first to determine they needed an arson detective.

Im not able to confirm the nature of the threats, Martin said.

By mid afternoon officers and firefighters left the scene to try and give the gentleman some breathing room to make the right decision, Martin said.

Homes in the area of the standoff are spread out on large lots. Police did not evacuate neighbors, but the street in front of the mans home was blocked for hours to keep people away.

By 5 p.m., police decided to leave the area for the day, but officers with the departments Mental Health and Wellness Services will be following up with the man to make sure he gets the resources he needs, Martin said.

The man will not face charges for prompting the standoff, but officers with other units will be following up with the man to investigate other facets unrelated to what happened Monday, Martin said.
A man is in custody in connection with the shooting of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont over the weekend.

>>ORIGINAL COVERAGE: 3 of Palestinian descent shot near University of Vermont

News Center 7 previously reported that three men of Palestinian descent were shot Saturday near the University of Vermont Saturday night, according to Burlington Police.

Each of the victims is 20 years old, two of the victims are in stable condition while one had serious injuries, according to WPTZ TV.

Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested in connection to the shooting by police and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives on Sunday afternoon, according to CBS affiliate WCAX.

Investigators carried out a warrant at his residence right outside where the shooting took place.

Eaton is expected to be arraigned later today.

Burlingtons police chief and mayor will also hold a press conference later today.
Phoenix police were investigating a homicide that left a man dead with a gunshot wound in a north Phoenix park.

At about 12:30 p.m. Sunday, police responded to Mountain View Park near 7th and Cinnabar avenues. A passerby stated they found an unresponsive man.

When police arrived they found a man, later identified as 30-year-old Bernardo Pantaleon, on the ground with a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead.

Detectives responded to investigate the shooting, process the area and speak to witnesses.

As of Monday morning, the investigation remained active while investigators continued to process evidence. No arrests had been made.

Police said that anyone with information was urged to call Phoenix police or Silent Witness if they wished to remain anonymous.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Man found dead with gunshot wounds at Mountain View Park
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  A 35-year-old man was stabbed at a Salt Lake City TRAX station Sunday night, sending him to the hospital, according to the Utah Transit Authority.

UTA police responded to the incident at the City Center Station, located at 55 South Main St., at around 5 p.m. on Nov. 26.

Carl Arky, UTA, said they dont know who started it, but that an altercation took place between the man and four juveniles, one of whom had a very large knife.

Witnesses at the scene told police that the juvenile stabbed the man during the fight. They also said the man had been swinging a belt in the altercation.

Utah ranked most dangerous state for young drivers

After being stabbed, the man reportedly boarded the train and took it to the All Star Motel, located at 754 West North Temple. A bystander had followed the man after the stabbing to make sure he was OK, according to Arky.

UTA police found the man at the motel with three stab wounds, Arky said. He was then taken to the hospital. His injuries are believed to be non-life-threatening at this time.

The four juveniles have not been located, according to Arky. The incident is currently under investigation.

This is a developing story. ABC4 will update this post as more information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
A 38-year-old man has been jailed for 19 years for killing his father in Perth.

Craig Nixon pled guilty to the murder of Ian Menzies, 55, at the High Court in Glasgow.

He was accused of striking him on the head and body with a hammer or similar weapon.

Mr Menzies died in June 2021 at his home on Scott street, Perth. Nixon was later arrested in London.

Prosecutors said that he disposed of the hammer, changed clothes, then travelled to London to conceal or destroy evidence.

Police Scotland Det Insp Craig Ross thanked the public and the officers who worked to "ensure Craig Nixon was held to account for his violent actions".

"Our thoughts remain with Ian's family and friends who have been devastated by his tragic death," he said.

"This has been such a difficult time for them and they have shown great strength and dignity. I hope that his conviction brings them some comfort."
The parents of a former University of Cincinnati swimmer who was killed last year by an intoxicated driver told the man in court Monday that they forgive him.

But John Miller's father asked why 51-year-old Donte Bennie left Miller to die on Gilbert Avenue in Walnut Hills after striking him with his car.

"What kind of person does that?" Miller's father, Kevin, said at Bennie's sentencing Monday in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court.

"I forgive you, but I do not feel sorry for you," he added.

One of John Miller's friends, who read a statement in court, called Bennie a "coward."

John Miller, a former University of Cincinnati swimmer, was killed after being struck by a vehicle in 2022.

Bennie, who lives in Walnut Hills, pleaded guilty earlier this month to charges including aggravated vehicular homicide and failure to stop after an accident. As part of the plea, both sides agreed on a five-year prison sentence, which Judge Leslie Ghiz imposed Monday.

John Miller was originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The 26-year-old swam for UC between 2014 and 2016 and, according to his family, earned an engineering degree.

Kevin Miller told Bennie that in Louisiana he could have been sentenced to 30 years in prison for the same crime.

He said he hoped Bennie won't be a problem for the community after he's released from prison in 2028.

"You hopefully will not become another problem like you are today for the people of Cincinnati," he said.

The crash happened in the early morning hours of July 17, 2022. Bennie drove away but was located by police soon after. Court documents say he had marijuana and cocaine in his system.

Bennie sobbed as he apologized to Miller's family. He said it was an accident  the result of "one split second looking left when I should have been looking right."

"I'm sorry," he said repeatedly.

Also as part of his sentence, Bennie's received a lifetime suspension of his driver's license. Ghiz also said he will have to serve the entire five-year sentence.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Man sentenced in crash that killed ex-UC swimmer John Miller
A man accused of threatening to blow up a nonprofit organization and to harm several St. Clair County deputies has taken a plea deal.

Kevin Koschnitzke, 37, pleaded guilty to attempting to make a false report or threat of terrorism, reduced from the original charge of making a false report or threat of terrorism. A habitual offender enhancement was also dismissed as part of the plea agreement. The plea deal reduces the maximum penalty Koschnitzke could face from 20 years in prison to just five years.

St. Clair County Senior Assistant Public Defender Donald Sheldon, who is representing Koschnitzke, did not respond to a request for comment.

Koschnitzke was arrested in April after he reportedly called St. Clair Central Dispatch and said he was going to blow up the office of Michigan Works, a nonprofit organization that helps Michigan residents find employment and training for jobs. The Michigan Works office is located inside the Port Huron Municipal Office Center at 100 McMorran Blvd.

Port Huron Police arrested Koschnitzke shortly after the threat. He said he threatened the nonprofit and deputies because he was upset with the St. Clair County Sheriff's Office over another incident he was not directly involved in.

Koschnitzke was already on probation at the time of his arrest after accepting a plea deal in a previous case for making a false threat. In January he reportedly called Port Huron McLaren and said he was going to bring a gun to the hospital and shoot staff.

A sentencing hearing has been set for 9:30 a.m. Jan. 16.

Contact Johnathan Hogan at jhogan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: Man pleads guilty to reduced charge for false bomb threat
The man accused of shooting three Palestinian American students in Vermont pleaded not guilty to charges at an arraignment hearing Monday.

Jason Eaton, 48, appeared in court virtually, where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. Chittenden County Superior Court Judge Gregory Rainville ordered him held without bail until his next court appearance, which has not been scheduled.

The three victims, each 20 years old and of Palestinian descent, were walking Saturday in the street in Burlington when a man approached them with a handgun and fired at least four rounds, the Burlington Police Department said.

The three men were staying at the home of one victims grandmother for Thanksgiving and were on their way back from bowling. One victim told police he saw a man staring at them from a house porch; he then stumbled down the stairs and pulled out a pistol, The Associated Press reported.

Two of the three men were in stable condition, while a third suffered much more serious injuries, police said Saturday, adding that two men were shot in the torso while one was shot in the lower extremities.

Following a search in the area, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Eaton and collected evidence at his apartment, which is near the shooting location, police said.

The police affidavit stated federal agents found a shotgun at Eatons apartment, according to the AP. He would not identify himself but told officers he had been waiting for them.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said at a Monday press conference that Eaton repeatedly asked for a lawyer when approached by the federal agents. He also said Eaton had recently moved to Burlington and recently legally purchased the firearm that the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network connected to the one used in the shooting.

Murad also said that police are still investigating what motive there may have been.

We still do not know as much as we want to know, Murad said. But I would urge the public and you in the media to avoid making conclusions based on statements from people who know even less than we currently do. We are working hard to find out this information and we are nowhere near the end of this investigation.

Two of the victims were also wearing keffiyehs at the time of the shooting, Murad said Saturday. Two victims are U.S. citizens, and the third is a legal resident. All three are students studying at U.S. universities.

Sarah George, the states attorney of Chittenden County, said on Monday authorities do not currently have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, there is no question this was a hateful act. George emphasized that to add a hate crime enhancement, officials would need to prove that motive beyond a reasonable doubt.

The shooting comes amid a rise in threats and violence against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the United States since the beginning of the war between Israel and the militant group Hamas that has left thousands of people dead on both sides of the conflict.

Police did not reveal the names of the victims, though the Institute for the Middle East Understanding released a statement on behalf of the families that identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

The families statement said they will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice, writing, We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department will be investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime, while noting there is understandable fear in communities across the country.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the people responsible for the shootings.

Lauren Sforza contributed to this report, which was updated at 1:31 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A man withdrawing money at an ATM in Gold River was robbed Sunday at gunpoint, according to the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office.

The victim was withdrawing money at Wells Fargo in the Gold River Town Center at 2010 Gold Field Drive, according to archived radio dispatches. Sheriffs deputies went to the scene after getting the call about 4:41 a.m.

A man wearing all-black clothing and a black mask demanded and took money from the victim, said Sgt. Amar Gandhi, a sheriffs spokesman. He fled on foot toward Sunrise Boulevard, Gandhi said.

It was unclear how much money was taken.
A man swinging a sword Sunday around a busy south Sacramento shopping complex was taken into custody by officers in an incident that forced evacuations at some businesses, police said.

Officers went to the 2300 block of Florin Road just before 3 p.m. Callers from the McDonalds at 2335 Florin Road in Meadowview reported to dispatchers that a man was waving the sword around, though the weapon wasnt pointed at anyone in particular, according to archived radio dispatches.

Crisis negotiators went to the scene after the man didnt put down the sword, said Officer Anthony Gamble, a spokesman for the Sacramento Police Department.

He was detained and arrested. It wasnt immediately clear what charges the man might face.
A nature reserve in the north of the Isle of Man has been extended for the third time.

An additional 5 acres (2 hectares) will be added to Goshen Nature Reserve in Ballaugh, which is made up of of hay meadows managed for wildflowers.

The land was purchased by the Manx Wildlife Trust with the help of legacy funds left by Manx resident Anne Kaye.

Chairman Leigh Morris said it had allowed the trust to "bank" another key part of "precious conservation land".

The original land was purchased by the trust in 1995 and extended further in 1998 and 2008.

The Ballaugh reserve was also extended in 1998 and 2008

The reserve lies on the western edge of the Ballaugh Curragh Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) and the island's only Ramsar site.

It provides a home for species including orchids, lady's smock, yellow rattle, meadowsweet and purple loosestrife.

A spokesman for the trust said it was "an area of outstanding ecological importance for its wetland habitats and associated flora and fauna".

Ms Kaye's daughters said their mother was "an avid supporter" of the the charity for many years and they had been "thrilled" to learn how her legacy donation had helped to acquire an area of curragh and developing woodland.

Tina Teare and Aly Quayle said their mother would "most definitely approve" of the project as she was "especially keen on birds and orchids, which this area of the island is renowned for".

Mr Morris said the extension was an "excellent example" of how legacy funding had allowed the trust to buy and "bank another key part of the island's precious conservation land in perpetuity for the nation".

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk
In her recently released memoir, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene suggests she has a bit more on her mind than representing the people of Georgias 14th congressional district.

The dedicated MAGA legislator, who has flamboyantly supported Donald Trumps stances on rejecting the legitimate results of the 2020 election results, as well as his embrace of January 6 insurrectionists as prisoners of war, is seemingly gunning to become Trumps right hand should he retake the White House in 2024.



The new book, simply titled MTG, includes a telling foreword by Trump, praising the conspiracy-mongering lawmaker as one of the most fierce warriors in Congress for America First and all it stands for. Over the course of the ensuing 275 pages, Greene makes her (dubious) case for being a heartbeat away from the presidency.



Greene has floated the prospect of being Trumps number two before. In August, she told The Guardian that the topic is talked about frequently and that she knows her name is on a list. But, of course, thats up to [Trump]. But I would be honored and consider it. Ill help him do whatever in any way I can, she told the outlet.



The Trump loyalist does have some competition, however. Kari Lake, a 2024 GOP Senate candidate for Arizona, is also vying for the position. But Greenewho has touted QAnon conspiracy theories and claimed that the Jewish people have space lasers trained on the North Pole in an effort to wipe out Santahas insisted that Lake is too unserious to be a legitimate vice presidential pick, snubbing her opponent as a grifter who is riding Trumps coattails, according to Rolling Stone.



In the two short years since she assumed office, Greene has spawned a wild frenzy of headlines over her continually outrageous remarks and her penchant for violent rhetoric. In 2019, Greene was stripped of her committee assignments after it came to light that she had liked a Facebook post calling for Nancy Pelosi to receive a bullet to the head. She also posted a campaign poster on social media depicting her aiming an AR-15 toward Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, and Rashida Tlaib, touting herself as the squads worst nightmare.



In recent months, Greene has been at the epicenter of other House spectacles after she grouped Confederate General Robert E. Lee into an argument defending monuments to the Founding Fathers. Shes also gone full throttle against some of her fellow conservatives, even throwing some middle-school trash talk into the mix by calling Representative Lauren Boebert a whore.
A Massachusetts highway has been named among the most loathed interstates in the nation in a new poll, and for those who travel it on a regular basis, it certainly comes as no surprise.

Gunther Volvo Cars says it ran a survey of 3,000 drivers in an effort to pinpoint the top 100 interstates, freeways, and highways that are most detested by their daily commuters.

Sometimes there is nothing worse than reaching the crest of a hill on a freeway, with the citys shimmering silhouette appearing in the distance, when a relentless tide of brake lights paints a different picture, the car dealership wrote in its report.

The top 3 most loathed interstates were all located in California: US-101, I-5, and I-405. I-76 in Pennsylvania and I-70 in Colorado rounded out the top five.

Interstate 93 in Massachusetts checked in at 35th on the dealerships list.

Especially in and around Boston, this interstate often sees traffic jams, the dealership wrote of the highway.

Other New England highways that landed on the list include:

I-95 in New Hampshire: The seacoast area near Portsmouth can experience increased traffic, especially during tourist season.

US-7 in Vermont: This north-south route can see increased traffic during peak seasons, especially near tourist areas.

I-95 in Maine: Particularly during the summer tourist season, certain stretches of this interstate (like near Bangor) can see increased traffic and congestion.

I-84 in Connecticut: Around Hartford, this road can be especially congested, especially during rush hours.

I-195 in Rhode Island: Connecting Providence to the Massachusetts South Coast, this interstate can be busy at peak times.

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A Massachusetts man and convicted drug dealer wanted as a fugitive from justice in New York and Massachusetts was arrested following a chase and crash in New Hampshire over the weekend.

Childlove Gelin, 31, of Massachusetts, was held without bail following his arrest on Saturday. He is facing numerous charges including fugitive from justice, speeding, reckless conduct, open container, driving after suspension, disobeying an officer, conduct after an accident, and criminal mischief, state police said.

In 2017, Gelin, then 25 and living in Vermont, was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to charges of distributing heroin and cocaine, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Vermont. According to the Brattleboro Reformer, Gelin was later arrested in New York City in July 2022 and charged with criminal possession of a weapon.

During his weekend arrest, state police said Gelin was found to have two full extradition warrants out of the police departments in New York City and Springfield, Massachusetts.

At about 9:12 p.m. Saturday, Trooper Troy Couillard was patrolling traffic in Sullivan on Route 9.

At that time, Couillard saw a motor vehicle traveling westbound and speeding, state police said. He tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver refused. A pursuit followed, and the vehicle reached speeds of nearly 90 miles per hour, accelerating away from the trooper.

Moments later, the trooper saw the vehicle on Route 9 with heavy damage, after it had struck a utility pole.

As Couillard arrived at the crash scene, he saw two people run away in the direction of a nearby river and into a wooded area. Several troopers and Keene Police officers responded to the scene to try and find the two occupants of the vehicle.

During the search, the passenger of the vehicle emerged from the woods with minor injuries and was taken to Cheshire Medical Center for treatment, state police said.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., a trooper still on scene found a man walking down Route 9 in the area of Granite Gorge. The trooper quickly identified the man as the driver of the vehicle, later identified as Gelin, and he was taken into custody, state police said.

Gelin was taken by ambulance to Cheshire Medical Center for precautionary reasons due to exposure to the elements, state police said. He was discharged from the hospital and taken to the Cheshire County House of Corrections. He was expected to be arraigned in Keene District Court on Monday.

Additional charges are expected pending further investigation, state police said.

Authorities closed Route 9 in the area of the crash for several hours while utility companies repaired damage to the utility pole.

Troopers on scene were assisted by the Keene Police and Fire departments.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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The "Boston Red Sox," "Cape Cod & Islands" and "Right Whale" license plates seen commonly on cars in Massachusetts serve a purpose that's more than just to stand out.

They're among dozens of plates that raise thousands of dollars for charities throughout the state.

In fact, over the past five years, the Registry of Motor Vehicles has sold more than 206,500 license plates that benefit more than 30 charitable organizations.

The Massachusetts Environmental Trust, a state organization that works to protect and restore natural resources, was the first organization to work with the state to create a charitable license plate 30 years ago.

Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts, holds a "Protect and Serve" specialty license plate at the Weston Police Barracks, Nov. 15, 2023. The plate is part of a fundraising effort for the Benevolent Fund, which was established to provide resources to the first responder community, including state and local police, firefighters and MBTA Transit Police.

Too vulgar for the road?: These custom license plates were denied by the Mass. RMV

"As the first philanthropic organization to partner with the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles to develop specialty license plates, the Massachusetts Environmental Trust has provided more than $28 million in funding over the last 30 years to critical programs protecting and conserving Massachusetts species and natural systems," said Danielle Burney, a spokesperson for the trust.

The Massachusetts Environmental Trust has three specialty license plates  the Right Whale plate, the Striped Bass plate and the Fish & Wildlife plate. In all, there were more than 30,000 of those plates registered in the state in the past five years.

Popular charitable license plates

The number one charitable plate was the Cape & Islands license plate, with more than 37,000 registered vehicles. The plate raises money for various organizations on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Other organizations with a high number of plates include the Red Sox plate (24,145), which raises money for the Red Sox Foundation and the Jimmy Fund; and the New England Patriots plate (17,498), which raises money for the New England Patriots Foundation.

The Daily News had sent a public records request to the Registry of Motor Vehicles on Aug. 8, requesting the number of charitable license plates and the organizations they benefited. The RMV did not respond within the 10 days as required by law and ignored several requests made to its public records portal.

The Daily News then appealed the RMV's non-response to the Secretary of State's office on Oct. 2. On Oct. 17, the Secretary of State's Office ordered the RMV to respond to the request within 10 business days. The RMV turned over the records on Nov. 3.

How much does a specialty plate cost?

Charitable license plates can be ordered from the RMV just like any other passenger license plate, but at an additional cost. Instead of $60, charitable license plates go for $100 (except for the Cape & Islands plate and the Olympic Spirit plate, which each cost $110).

This "Protect and Serve" specialty license plate is part of a fundraising effort for the Benevolent Fund, which was established to provide resources to the first responder community, including state and local police, firefighters and MBTA Transit Police.

Organizations receive $28 of the initial extra $40 (or $38 for the two that are an extra $50) registration fee but get the full $40 every time the plate is renewed.

The money raised is important to many organizations, said Patrick McNamara, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts Benevolent Fund.

"We do a lot with it (the money)," he said. "It supports first responders and their families during different scenarios, such as sickness or death. We've really expanded beyond just health and wellness. We've created scholarships and creating a memorial for fallen officers. We do events like donating turkeys in inner cities and Trunk or Treat events where we fill our trunks with candy around Halloween."

Custom plates: Which in Mass. were approved and what do they mean?

The "Protect & Serve" plate has been in existence for three years. So far, a little more than 3,900 of the specialty plates have been registered.

"It's a really great way to support a charity," McNamara said.

How does an organization request a specialty plate?

It does take some effort for an organization to get a specialty plate. It must have at least 750 interested parties before the plates are manufactured.

In addition, the organization must put up a $100,000 bond for the plates to be made to cover any costs for the RMV. That money is held for five years or until at least 3,000 plates are issued. If fewer than 3,000 plates are issued after five years, the RMV keeps a portion of the $100,000 bond to cover its costs.

If an organization can get enough interest for 3,000 pre-paid plates prior to them being manufactured, it does not have to pay the $100,000 bond.

Despite the initial cost, organizations can benefit greatly with a partnership with the RMV, said Burney, of the Massachusetts Environmental Trust.

"The purchase of these license plates is a great way to bring awareness about our endangered species and the ecosystems they depend on," she said. "We look forward to continuing this partnership to support our conservation efforts further."

Norman Miller can be reached at 508-626-3823 or nmiller@wickedlocal.com. For up-to-date news, follow Norman Miller on Twitter @Norman_MillerMW or on Facebook at facebook.com/NormanMillerCrime.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Massachusetts charity license plates: How many are on the road
Massachusetts authorities have arrested a woman accused of "intentionally" setting fire to a donation box inside a police department lobby on Sunday.

Theresa Abichaker, 22, of West Roxbury, is charged with three counts of burning a public building, three counts of attempting to burn a public building, vandalizing property and fire negligence.

Abichaker was apparently a passenger in a vehicle that had been involved in a crash on Sunday, and a Westborough police officer gave her a courtesy ride to the department after that vehicle was towed.

Police Chief Todd Minardi told Fox News Digital that the operator of the crashed vehicle was apprehended Sunday.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Around 8 p.m. Sunday, after authorities transported Abichaker to the department, officers discovered an active fire in the lobby, which set off sprinklers in the building and prompted an immediate evacuation.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

MARYLAND MAN KILLED AFTER FIRING AT OFFICERS, WOMAN FATALLY SHOT

The Westborough Fire Department responded and extinguished the fire. Minardi said the sprinklers caused most of the damage inside the building.

Theresa Abichaker apparently left the department after creating the fire, prompting a search for the 22-year-old suspect.

Abichaker apparently left the department after creating the fire, prompting a search for the suspect.

PALESTINIAN STUDENTS SHOT, INJURED AT HOLIDAY GATHERING NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

"Officer[s] reviewed surveillance and established the female identified as Theresa Abichakerhad intentionally set a clothing donation box and its contents on fire. After a multiple agency, police K9, and drone search, Abichaker was located and placed under arrest without incident," Westborough police said in a Monday press release.

Abichaker is being held on $25,000 bond and is scheduled to appear at Westborough District Court on Monday.





Original article source: Massachusetts woman sets fire inside police station after getting courtesy ride after crash: cops
Some lawmakers from the Servant of the People party demanded to expel MP Mariana Bezuhla from the parliamentary faction after she called for the dismissal of Ukraine's chief commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Suspilne reported on Nov. 27, citing its sources.

"Most lawmakers are outraged by Bezuhla's behavior and propose excluding her. However, it is not guaranteed to be put to a vote," an MP from President Volodymyr Zelensky's party told Suspilne.

A day before, Bezuhla, a deputy head of the parliament's national security committee, claimed that Zaluzhnyi had not provided a plan for Ukraine's armed forces for next year.

"If the military leadership can't provide any plan for 2024, and if all their proposals for mobilization boil down to needing more people without any proposal for changes in the military system, then this leadership should step down," Bezuhla said.

The committee's secretary, Roman Kostenko, told Suspilne that there had been no demand for Zaluzhnyi to submit such a plan.

Read also: Zelenskys administration official criticizes Commander-in-Chief Zaluzhnyis comments in press

Asked whether Bezuhlas stance was in line with the Servant of the People party's position, its spokeswoman Yulia Paliychuk told Ukrainska Pravda that Bezuhla "is responsible for her own words."

Bezuhla's statement comes amid speculation in Western and Ukrainian media about alleged disagreements between Zelensky and Zaluzhnyi.

Kyiv-born Bezuhla, 35, has a controversial reputation among the Ukrainian public and is known for her scandalous statements.

Last year, she reportedly co-authored a draft law that would have allowed the Ukrainian military to kill soldiers deserting their service or failing to comply with command orders.

The bill sparked outrage among Ukrainians and was withdrawn from consideration shortly after being registered in the parliament.

Read also: Zelensky asks military to present new mobilization plan

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Oregon has a new Kid Governor.

Fifth graders across the state elected Zoya Shah of Beaverton School Districts Findley Elementary School as the Beaver States seventh Kid Governor, and Deputy Secretary of State Cheryl Myers was there for the announcement and to congratulate her.

Portland burger joint opens second location at Pioneer Place

Shahs platform, which is chosen by every candidate for Oregon Kid Governor, was Creating Mental Health Awareness and Acceptance in Kids, according to the Secretary of States office.

Her plan includes: creating awareness, normalizing and removing stigma; identifying triggers; and providing tools and support to cope.

In her campaign video, Shah explained this is a cause dear to her because shes suffered from anxiety.

DOJ: City of Brookings ban on feeding homeless may violate religious freedoms

I was lucky to get the support and tools I needed, but not everyone may get the needed help and thats why Im here to ensure no kid who is suffering has to fight this alone, she said.

The Oregon Kid Governor is a great civic education program, supported by the Oregon Capitol Foundation and our office, to help teach young Oregonians how their government works, Myers said in a statement, adding, The future of our state looks promising thanks to these impressive future leaders.

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Oregon Kid Governor is a program that was implemented in 2017 and is open to all fifth graders. For the 2024 Oregon Kid Governor program, 22 videos were submitted and then whittled down to seven by independent judges, according to the Secretary of States Office. The seven candidates were then voted on by thousands of fifth graders across the state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Melania Trump expected to join other former first ladies at Rosalynn Carter services

Melania Trump is poised to be among a group of all the living former first ladies  including Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush  to attend a tribute service this week honoring Rosalynn Carter.

The ex-model and wife of former President Trump was on a list of expected guests released Monday by the Carter Center.

Carter, who marked her 77th wedding anniversary with former President Carter in July, died last week at 96.

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In addition to the former first ladies, President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are all slated to attend the invitation-only service Tuesday at Emory University in Atlanta. Former President Trump was not among the guests listed.

Melania Trump has kept an extremely low profile since her husband exited the White House in 2021 and later launched his 2024 presidential campaign, with few public appearances and interviews.

Last year, in a rare interview, she told Fox News, Life is great and [Im] keeping it busy.

The Carter Center released additional details about the tribute event Monday, saying the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra would play some of Carters most beloved tunes, along with performances by family friends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Lawmakers return to Washington this week with billions of dollars in funding for Israel, Ukraine and border security up in the air  and widespread skepticism on whether Congress will answer President Joe Bidens pleas to take action on the daunting range of global crises.

The commanderin-chief has asked Congress to approve nearly $106 billion in emergency funding  $61.4 billion for Ukraines struggle with Russia, $14.3 billion for Israels war with Hamas and $13.6 billion to boost security at the U.S. border with Mexico, among other initiatives.

But with Republicans voicing skepticism on Ukraine and progressive Democrats calling for restrictions on funding for Israel, members of Congress sounded a bleak note through Thanksgiving weekend.

I think itd be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press.

He went on to criticize the White House approach to including border security in its massive spending proposal.

Its going to need policy changes, Turner said. Congress is going to require that there be laws changed to make certain that the border returns to its prior state.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said they wont support funding for Ukraine unless the U.S. cracks down on immigration.

But immigration reform has long eluded Congress, and recent months have seen more GOP lawmakers voicing opposition to funding for Ukraine, with a majority of Republican voters saying the military aid should stop.

On Israel, the Republican-controlled House passed an aid package this month. But tying the funding to cuts to the Internal Revenue Service made the legislation a nonstarter in the Democrat-run Senate.

As the House is forced to go back to the drawing board on Israel, some progressives are demanding curbs on future spending, arguing that the U.S. shouldnt fund potential human rights abuses.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), whos involved in the budget negotiations, voiced openness to such restrictions on Sunday as Hamas released 17 hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl.

We regularly condition our aid to allies based upon compliance with U.S. law and international law, he told CNNs State of the Union.

And so I think its very consistent with the ways in which we have dispensed aid, especially during wartime, to allies, for us to talk about making sure that the aid we give Ukraine or the aid we give Israel  is used in accordance with human rights laws.

Biden recently called the restrictions a worthwhile thought. But national security adviser Jake Sullivan was noncommittal Sunday on conditions for aid to Israel.

The president acknowledged the idea, Sullivan told CBS Face the Nation. And then he said  he thought the approach that he is taking is the approach that has generated the results that we have seen so far.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently called for conditions on aid to Israel including an end to indiscriminate bombing, massive humanitarian assistance and a commitment to broad peace talks for a two-state solution in the wake of the war.

Nobody has been a stronger advocate for a two-state solution than President Joe Biden, Sullivan said Sunday.

Prior to Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which prompted a fierce military response, the situation between Israel and Palestinians was widely seen as being on the back burner in Washington.

But the outbreak of war in the region and Russias invasion of Ukraine represent a major test of U.S. leadership on the global stage.

With a presidential election coming up next year, the stakes are high on the home front, too.

Recent weeks have seen a significant drop in voter support for Biden as he seeks to continue helping Israel and Ukraine. Along with a slumping overall approval rating, hes facing decreasing support from young voters, according to Politico.

In brief remarks Sunday, Biden shied away from politics as he confirmed Hamas release of 4-year-old hostage Abigail Edan, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen.

Thank God shes home, he told reporters in Nantucket, Mass., as he readied to return to Washington. I wish I were there to hold her.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A Memphis man has been charged following a deadly crash in Tunica County, Mississippi.

According to the Tunica County Sheriffs Office, the two-vehicle crash happened on Friday around 7 p.m. on Casino Strip Boulevard near Fitzgeralds Boulevard.

The sheriffs office said one of the victims, 63-year-old David Bailey Barbour of Byhalia, was dead when deputies and first responders arrived.

Crockett County, TN school principal arrested on DUI charge

Another victim, 67-year-old Elizabeth Ann Russom of Myrtle, was taken to the Robinsonville Medical Clinic to be airlifted to a nearby hospital. She died during transport.

The driver of the other vehicle involved in the accident, identified as 45-year-old Dwayne Bowens of Memphis, was taken to Baptist DeSoto with minor injuries.

When Bowens was released, he was taken to the Tunica County Jail and charged with driving while license suspended, no insurance, and two counts of aggravated DUI-resulting in death.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Two men who blew up a car amid a feud with a rival gang have been jailed.

Shakur Watson, 21, and Stephen Curry, 44, both from Liverpool, were found guilty of causing an explosion likely to endanger life at Bolton Crown Court.

Watson was sentenced to 13 years and four months for possession of a firearm and ammunition, two offences of supplying class A drugs and causing an explosion likely to endanger life

Curry was given 11 years for causing an explosion likely to endanger life.

Greater Manchester Police said due to "increased tensions" between two rival organised crime gangs - the A-team and the Anti-A-team - family members had been targeted in a series of incidents in December 2019 involving guns and criminal damage caused by an explosives.

On one occasion on 30 December 2019, a stolen BMW was driven to Crowther Avenue in Salford.

Police believe Watson and Curry wanted to hurt the occupier by blowing the car up, but the detonation triggered early.

They fled the scene and nobody was injured, police said.

Det Insp Rebecca McGuigan said: "It is believed the intent may have been to detonate the explosive device either at the front door or to alert the attention of the occupier to come to the front door before detonating the device within the vehicle.

"However, an unforeseen event has occurred resulting in the detonation system being triggered and caused the suspects to flee from the vehicle rapidly, leaving behind crucial evidence which was forensically pieced together with other lines of enquiry and partner agencies and police forces in order to identify the suspects involved."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
MetLife, Inc. and MetLife Foundation announced a $30 million multiyear commitment to support Upstate New York.

The Foundation pledged $5 million in funding while MetLife, Inc. ensured $25 million in impact investments.

As part of the commitment the MetLife Foundation made an impact investment of $1 million to Launch NY to promote entrepreneurship.

Thanks to public sector efforts and private sector investments  like this one from MetLife  Utica and the Mohawk Valley are moving in the right direction, said Gov. Kathy Hochul in a statement.

As part of the commitment the MetLife Foundation has made an impact investment of $1 million to Launch NY to promote entrepreneurship.

About Launch NY

Launch NYs Seed Fund is a for-profit limited partner fund that invests in startup companies to drive local employment and entrepreneurship. It is the most active seed fund in the state.

"MetLife Foundations investment enables us to create opportunities for talented entrepreneurs who will encourage growth and economic prosperity in Upstate New York, said Dr. Marnie LaVigne, president and CEO of Launch NY. We value their commitment to the region and look forward to building on our successful partnership.

The MetLife Foundation has already made over $1.4 million in grants to Upstate New York nonprofits including:

Food Bank of Central New York, to address food insecurity through the expansion of their weekend meal program for school-age children and Mobile Food Pantry.

Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties, to bridge the gap between community and resources through workforce development, neighborhood revitalization, and resident engagement.

Munson, to broaden access to their gallery spaces by making them accessible to visitors with mobility limitations, and summer workshops for local children and teens at no cost.

Two of the three nonprofit organizations are food assistance programs.

"As a company founded in New York, we are proud to be part of the states fabric and believe we have an important role in the communities we serve, said MetLife President and CEO Michel Khalaf.

Corporate strategy

The company engages grantees in the co-creation of programs and initiatives. Corporate employees live and work in the area to guarantee that Utica has ongoing access to support and the MetLife Foundation has ongoing access to insight.

We use collected community research and knowledge to assess need and understand where our grants can make the biggest impact, said Tia Hodges, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation and Head of Corporate Giving and Employee Volunteerism at MetLife.

The Foundations strategy centers on three portfolio areas  Economic Inclusion, Financial Health and Resilient Communities.

Our three portfolio areas are intentional. They cover everything from up-skilling and re-skilling talent to be competitive in a new economy to ensuring people have access to food and healthy food options to address food insecurity, explained Hodges. The breadth of these areas and our grants allow us to tackle the root cause of social issues.

Addressing food insecurity

We partnered with the Community Foundation to ensure our grants could provide a range of services: from food commodities and PPE to childcare," said Tia Hodges, President and CEO of MetLife Foundation and Head of Corporate Giving and Employee Volunteerism at MetLife.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP) pandemic emergency allotments (EAs) ended in March, cutting food assistance and leaving many households struggling to afford groceries.

According to data from Feeding Americas Map the Meal Gap, 10.3% of Oneida County residents were classified as food insecure as of 2021, the most recent year for which their data was collected.

The Food Bank of Central New York unofficially disclosed that 2023 marked a return to pandemic-level of need. This past October 2.1 million pounds of food was distributed  a 27% increase in comparison to last year.

MetLife Foundation supported the Food Bank of Central New York during COVID-19.

Our partnerships with Food Bank of Central New York and Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties resulted from our employees in the region and a growing need we saw both locally and nationally around food insecurity," said Hodges. Our grants help provide a range of services.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: MetLife invests in local nonprofits
CHICAGO - A Metra UP-NW train fatally struck a pedestrian Monday morning in Edison Park on Chicago's Northwest Side.

Union Pacific Northwest Line Train #634 struck the pedestrian around 8 a.m., halting trains in both directions near the Edison Park station located at 6730 N. Olmstead Ave., according to the transit agency.

Inbound and outbound service resumed around 9:20 a.m. on the Union Pacific Northwest line but extensive delays were expected.

The condition of the pedestrian is unknown.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

Inbound and outbound trains remain halted near Edison Park due to train #634 striking a pedestrian. Extensive delays are anticipated. Crews are working to resume operations. Updates will be provided as more information becomes available.  Metra UP-NW (@metraUPNW) November 27, 2023
FILE PHOTO: Registration of Claudia Sheinbaum of MORENA party as presidential candidate for 2024, in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The race to become Mexico's next president has closed slightly, but former Mexico City mayor and ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum still has double the support of her main opposition rival, an opinion poll showed on Monday.

A Nov. 17-22 survey of 1,000 Mexicans by pollster Buendia & Marquez for newspaper El Universal gave Sheinbaum, who represents the leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), 48% support, with her rival Xochitl Galvez back on 24%.

Galvez represents a three-way alliance of parties ranging from the center-left to the center-right. Samuel Garcia, who is competing for the candidacy of another center-left party, Citizens Movement (MC), polled 8% support.

One in five respondents expressed no preference for the June 2, 2024 election.

A poll published in early October had given Sheinbaum 50% support versus 20% for Galvez, although that survey included a fourth, right-wing candidate who did not feature this time.

Sheinbaum has the firm backing of President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, whose approval ratings remain strong. Under Mexican law, presidents may only serve a single six-year term.

"With the entry of Samuel Garcia as sole MC contender, the presidential ballot has been practically set in stone," Buendia & Marquez head Jorge Buendia wrote in El Universal.

He noted that Sheinbaum led in terms of image recognition as well as positive public opinion, and said Galvez's main challenge was getting positive public recognition.

"The window of opportunity for the presidential hopefuls is the uninformed population," Buendia added. "They are the segment which can most influence campaigns."

Separately, an analysis of several polls by research firm Consulta Mitofsky which stripped out undecided voters and those not backing any candidate showed Sheinbaum with 62.7% of effective support. Galvez stood at 26.9% and Garcia on 9.3%.

(Reporting by Raul Cortes and Sarah Morland; Editing by Dave Graham and Andrea Ricci)
A previous version of this article and headline incorrectly stated the Supreme Court would not "take up" the lawsuit.

In a unanimous decision, the New Mexico Supreme Court will not overturn a lower court's decision regarding a redistricting lawsuit after finding no reason to contest the district courts finding.

The decision on Nov. 27 means that Congressional District 2, previously a Republican lock in the U.S. House of Representatives, will become much more competitive between the two parties over the next decade.

In October, Ninth Judicial District Court Judge Fred Van Soelen found that the purpose in redrawing CD 2  was to entrench the Democratic Party in power by diluting the votes of citizens favoring Republicans, he said in his ruling.

Van Soelen said the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives accomplished this feat by cutting up voting blocks in Lea, Eddy, and Chaves Counties and scooping votes by adding portions of southern Bernalillo County into the district.

During a three-day trial in October, Republicans argued this was intended to splinter the influence of the oil and gas industry, which aligned itself with the Republican party in the southeast corner of the state.

Ninth Judicial District Judge Fred Van Soelen exits the bench at the conclusion of the New Mexico gerrymandering trial, Sept. 28, 2023 in Lea County District Court in Lovington.

However, Van Soelen said the move did not violate the New Mexico Constitution because it only prohibits egregious gerrymandering.

Van Soelen pointed to the close results of the 2022 election between Alamogordo Republican Yvette Herrell and Las Cruces Democrat Gabe Vasquez. Herrell and Vasquez are running against each other again in 2024.

Van Soelen said this was evidence that the gerrymandering needed to be more effective and egregious.

The Republican Party took the case to the state Supreme Court a week later. According to court records, the party agreed with Van Soelens assessment that Democrats had gerrymandered CD2 but said he erred when determining that the gerrymandering was not egregious.

Ultimately, the state high court, all Democrats, found that Van Soelen's ruling followed the law.

At around 1 p.m., the Democratic Party of New Mexico said it was glad the Supreme Court upheld the district court's ruling, calling the lawsuit and legal process "frivolous distractions from Steve Pearces New Mexico Republican Party."

After a non-partisan, deliberative process that was informed by and invited expert and public input from communities across the state, and subsequently went through the complete legislative process in committees and both chambers, the Supreme Courts decision reaffirms that these maps are fair and representative of New Mexico and our diverse communities," the statement read. "Now that this matter is finally resolved, both parties can focus on what matters - reaching voters and serving New Mexicans.

Shortly after the Democrats released their statement, the Republican Party said it was disappointed in the ruling, adding the party "intensely disagree that Democrats did not intentionally entrench the Second Congressional District by shifting it."

"We are contemplating our next course of action in conference with our legal team," the party said in the statement.

Justin Garcia is a reporter with the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico Supreme Court will not overturn GOP redistricting appeal
Editor's note: This article has been updated online to include the correct bill number.

A new Michigan law will require responding agencies to inform tenants and occupants of apartment buildings when there are imminent health and safety threats at the building, something advocates say will provide "common courtesy and decency" to residents who are forced to move when their apartment buildings are condemned.

Specifically, House Bill 4273 requires enforcing agencies to notify tenants whenever they find a building violation which "constitutes a serious and imminent hazard to the health or safety of the occupant." Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed the bill into law last week.

This bill was about communication; it ensures the right information is given at the right time to the right people, said bill sponsor Rep. Amos O'Neal, D-Saginaw, in a statement. Tenants deserve transparency to know when their apartment complex is at risk of condemnation  this bill eliminates discretion-related notification and mandates this essential communication. Folks will rest easy knowing they are entitled to receive important information about the status of their living situation.

During committee testimony in May, O'Neal spoke about the White Deer Apartments complex in Saginaw, where buildings were condemned in 2020. Residents at the complex complained about the short timeline between being informed about the building violations and having to move, according to an MLive article from the time.

They knew it was coming. Why didnt they give us more warning? Thomas McKinstry, who had lived at the complex since 2009, told MLive. Its heartbreaking, but life goes on.

O'Neal said HB 4723 is designed to avoid situations like the one at White Deer.

"This is basic common courtesy decency for tenants who are paying their rent and doing their part, maintaining their residences," O'Neal said during a May 13 committee hearing on the bill. "It's unfortunate that some (building owners) have not been forthright with sharing information with tenants."

If a building cannot be vacated, the bill states a building owner would have to correct the violation in the "shortest reasonable time." Violations also have to be reported to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The bill received bipartisan support in both chambers and is expected to take effect in mid-February.

More: Whitmer signs bills to change how teacher evaluations are done in Michigan

Contact Arpan Lobo: alobo@freepress.com. Follow him on X (Twitter) @arpanlobo.

Become a subscriber today.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: New Michigan law requires inspectors to alert tenants of building violations
Bonnie Hitchings won $1 million from a scratch-off lottery ticket she bought because a store was sold out of her preferred games. Photo courtesy of the Michigan Lottery

Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A Michigan woman found a store being sold out of her favorite scratch-off lottery tickets to be a lucky turn of events when she scored a $1 million prize.

Bonnie Hitchings, 67, of Johannesburg, told Michigan Lottery officials she stopped at the Shell gas station on West Main Street in Gaylord to buy her lottery tickets.

"I stopped at the gas station to buy a few Daily 4 tickets," Hitchings said. "When I was checking out, I asked for the Win $100, $200 or $500 ticket, but they were sold out, so I got a Cashword Times 20 ticket instead."

Hitchings scratched off the barcode of her backup choice ticket and scanned it to see if it was a winner.

"I kept getting a message to file a claim at the lottery office, so I assumed their scanner was broken and went out to my car to scan it on the lottery app," she recalled.

The app had a surprise in store for Hitchings.

"When I scanned the ticket, confetti came up on the screen with a message saying I won $1 million. I went back into the store to show the worker and everyone in the store was so excited," she said. "Everywhere I go lately I have people stopping to congratulate me. It's a crazy and exciting feeling!"

Hitchings said she plans to use her winnings to take a trip to Alaska and invest.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Law enforcement agencies across the country, including the Volunteer State, posted warnings to iPhone users on social media this weekend, urging them to be cautious following a new software update.

Authorities in various Middle Tennessee counties  such as the Algood Police Department, the Decatur County Sheriffs Office, the Grundy County Sheriffs Office, the Henry County Sheriffs Office, and the Hickman County Sheriffs Office  said the recent iOS 17 update includes a new feature called NameDrop.

Officials said the feature allows users to easily share their contact information with another iPhone or Apple Watch by holding the devices a few centimeters apart.

3 people accused of trying to steal nearly $5K in merchandise from Lebanon store

According to Apple, after the devices connect, you can choose to share your info and/or receive the other persons. You can also cancel the transfer by moving the devices away from each other or locking your phone before the process is complete.

In addition, the company said NameDrop only works for sending new info, not updating a contact thats already in your phone.

Authorities shared their concerns about the features impact on iPhone users privacy, saying that the iOS17 update turns NameDrop on by default, which could allow scammers to get your information.

Tennessees 5 biggest scams of 2023: How you can avoid falling for them

If you want to turn off this feature, officials said you should go to Settings, tap General, click AirDrop, and switch the Bringing Devices Together option to off.

PARENTS: Dont forget to change these settings on your childs phone to help keep them safe as well, the Hickman County Sheriffs Office and the Grundy County Sheriffs Office posted on Facebook.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
MIDDLETOWN - An ambitious project to redevelop almost all of the Belford section into a destination waterfront attraction is beginning to show signs of progress, after seeming to languish in the bureaucratic wilderness for the past six years.

While the concepts are still evolving, the original redevelopment plan adopted in 2017 remains its official blueprint and calls for a neighborhood that has a pinch of the cosmopolitan vibe found in Manhattans South Street Seaport, with a dash of Tuckerton Seaports rustic charm thrown in. There are even plans for a local museum on site celebrating Middletowns unique maritime role in Americas history.

We do believe that this is an incredibly important project for Middletown, said township Mayor Tony Perry. Its understood that this is important for the economic success of our town.

Encompassing an area of 384 acres in size and in made up of 46 existing properties on the local tax rolls, the Port Belford Redevelopment Plan, would see the entire waterfront area along the Raritan Bayshore reimagined as a trendy nautical-themed village divided into six sub-districts. There would be eclectic shops, restaurants, townhomes and of course the centerpiece fixtures from which this community will be built around  the existing Seastreak ferry terminal that will whisk passengers to New York or Jersey City, and back again, and the iconic Belford Seafood Co-Op Fish Market.

Related: Belford Terminal to get $4M from feds for ferry service upgrade

Middletown and Monmouth County have plans to revitalize the Belford ferry terminal and the Belford Seafood Cooperative Association Inc., shown Wednesday, October 25, 2023. The redevelopment plans will transform this section of the waterfront into a destination seaport with restaurants, stores, housing and even a museum on the history of this colonial-era settlement.

The neighborhood was identified in 2016 as a section of the township in need of economic revitalization.

Most of the redevelopment area in its current form has an antiquated feel to it, with dilapidated structures such as the Belford Marine Railway harkening back to an architecture with an early 20th-century feel. Wetlands grow wild and unabated around the area of Compton Creek, which serves as a geographic divide within the neighborhood and over empty marsh plains that hide capped landfills  relics of another distant time.

Directly to its east is the waterfront portion of Naval Weapons Station Earle, where its landmark 2.9-mile-long pier juts out into Sandy Hook Bay. The military complex lies in the adjacent Leonardo section of Middletown. The Port Monmouth section of town is the next neighborhood over to its west, just beyond the Dunes townhouse complex.

All of this waterfront area sits in the shadow of the towering New York skyline, which on a clear day seems much closer than its 19 miles north across the bay

One year ago, the ferry service Seastreak began operating the Belford-to-Manhattan ferry route from the Middletown terminal there (the most modern commercial facility in the immediate neighborhood), which was built by Monmouth County for $10 million in 2002. NY Waterway started service there in 2001 before the county took the companys operating contract away and gave it to Seastreak last December because officials said NY Waterway had failed to provide guarantees that service would continue in the future even in times of financial hardship.

Before the pandemic, NY Waterway was moving 2,300 passengers per day but that number had dropped to about 1,000 riders a day by May 2022.

The Seastreak terminal building in the Belford section of Middletown, which was built in 2002 and will remain as it is today during the redevelopment project.

Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone said the county government was working in partnership with the township government, given its ownership of the terminal.

In the short amount of years to come, we are going to see a revitalization of that area that is going to be unbelievable and its going to be extremely successful, Arnone said.

But he warned that before then, there would most certainly be stumbling blocks ahead for a redevelopment project of its size and scope: Port Belford will not be built in a day.

Perry said 90% of its taxable real estate are homes, but that his administration has been committed to maximizing the economic potential of the Routes 35 and 36 corridors  the main highways through town. The Belford redevelopment project is part of that vision, Perry said.

Because every day that were able to move $1 of property taxes away from our residents and to business, two things are happening: One, youre making it affordable for residents to continue to live in our great town and our great county.  Second, you know, that the American dream and economic progress is happening (in Middletown), because people are willing to open up small businesses on our corridors, the mayor explained.

In the late 2010s, the township held several outreach events with local residents to solicit their views and ideas for the Port Belford project. But the wheels of bureaucracy have moved slow and sometimes not at all over the past several years.

However, per municipal officials, the goals of the project remain the same, which is to maximize the economic potential of an underutilized section of prime waterfront real estate  much of which was literally a dump  that will attract commercial investors while preserving its environmental and historical character.

Residential conceptual site plan for one of the sub-districts in the Belford redevelopment zone of Middletown; looking north with the Seastreak terminal to the right and the Belford Seafood Co-Op Fish Market to the left of this artists rendering. The Compton Creek is in between.

Any new development must also be resilient to future storm events, according to the redevelopment documents. Other components of the plan require that the project:

Improve traffic circulation, including establishing a Main Street connection that provides access to the entire redevelopment site.

Ensures a consistent design and development style that pays tribute to the regions history.

A pedestrian bridge over Compton Creek and possibly the replacement of the Main Street bridge is also on the drawing board, according to the plans.

The county governments involvement is in its regulatory oversight of a planned solar farm and the promised property tax relief that is to benefit all Monmouth County taxpayers and in what Arnone described as a very large parking garage  four decks in size for commuters and visitors alike  which the county government is responsible for funding.

Concept plans for the Port Belford redevelopment area, looking south, with the existing ferry terminal in white in the foreground of the rendering.

Middletown Township Administrator Anthony P. Mercantante said the old landfill sites in the neighborhood would be subleased by the municipal government for a solar farm.

Last month, the Township Committee announced it was entering into an agreement for 151 acres to be used by an entity operating under the name Port Belford Solar Farm LLC, a company owned by CEP Renewables. The parent power company has built solar farms in South Brunswick, Old Bridge and Mount Olive, as well as other sites in New Jersey and around the world.

In actuality, the 20-megawatt solar plant would cover about 42 acres of ground over the former landfill, according to plans submitted with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. The company will pay $750,000 per year to lease the Belford site. The county will permit the land to be used for the solar farm for 20 years with a return expected of about $15 million in property tax relief.

Mercantante said the project is still a number of years away before anyone starts to see major construction underway  think late 2020s  given its scale. There are design issues that still must be worked out and any number of environmental permits from any number of multiple state agencies, he said.

Nevertheless, its starting to come together, he said.

We are very, very excited, the mayor said.

Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Middletown NJ redevelopment project in Port Belford moves forward
OAK BROOK, Ill. - Charges have been filed against two migrants from Venezuela after the men allegedly stole hundreds of dollars worth of merchandise from Macy's in west suburban Oak Brook on Saturday.

Lenguieyer Guevara-Muro, 27, and Jinder Moises Angulo-Aparicio, 20, appeared in court Sunday morning on felony charges of burglary and retail theft, according to a statement from the DuPage County State's Attorney's office.

About 12:43 p.m., prosecutors said Guevara-Muro and Angulo-Aparicio walked into the Macy's store, located at 1 Oakbrook Center, and put approximately $770 worth of clothing into a foil-lined bag.

Store security approached Guevara-Muro after he left the store without paying for the merchandise, but he continued to walk away, according to prosecutors. An Oak Brook police officer who was on patrol in the area also asked Guevara-Muro to stop but he still refused.

[L-R] Lenguieyer Guevara-Muro, 27, and Jinder Moises Angulo-Aparicio, 20. (DuPage County States Attorneys Office)

After a brief struggle with the officer, Guevara-Muro was taken to the ground and handcuffed, prosecutors said. Angulo-Aparicio left the store a short time later and was also arrested.

Angulo-Aparicio was released and is expected to appear in court again on Dec. 18 for arraignment. As a condition of his release, Angulo-Aparicio is not allowed to enter the Oak Brook Macys store, the statement said.

The next court date for Guevara-Muro is scheduled for Dec. 11 and he remains in custody.

The alleged burglary was the second involving migrants in DuPage County in as many days, according to State's Attorney Robert Berlin.

"For the second day in a row, my office has filed charges against individuals from Venezuela accused of stealing merchandise from a retail store," Berlin said in a statement.

On Black Friday, three Venezuelan migrants were arrested after they allegedly stole goods from a Kohl's store in Elmhurst, prosecutors said.
PANAMA CITY  Four military aid societies have joined to raise money for service members and families for Giving Tuesday.

The Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, Air Force Aid Society, Army Emergency Relief and the Coast Guard Mutual Assistance will engage in a friendly competition called #Battle4BraggingRights.

According to a news release, all four societies are four-star Charity Navigator-rated nonprofit organizations. Each organization is a 501c3 that provides financial support to their service-specific clients through zero-interest loans, grants, disaster assistance, scholarships and several other needs-based programs and services.

Giving Tuesday started in 2012 as a worldwide day of giving. Last year's campaign raised more than $1.25 million.

"We want to exceed our goal from last year," said Lt. Gen. Robert R. Ruark, president and CEO of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society. "A lot of troops have benefited from this program and we want to make sure our troops are taken care of."

Ruark said he wants each military aid program to raise $250,000 to help eclipse last year's success.

More Military coverage: Gulf Coast State College military program ranked among best in the United States

This competition will take place on social media using the hashtag #GivingTuesday. Giving Tuesday takes place Tuesday.

Givers and donors are asked to visit Battle4BraggingRights.com and designate their gift to one of the four military aid societies.

This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Military societies raise funds for Giving Tuesday to help out troops.
Military officials in Kyiv Oblast were charged over illegally selling food from the Armed Forces' supplies for personal gain, the State Bureau of Investigation reported on Nov. 27.

In collusion with private entrepreneurs, the officials allegedly stole at least 30% of the military food supplies stored in one warehouse, which were then sold in shops, restaurants, and markets, the bureau said.

In another scheme, a military official of the unit issued "empty" invoices for supplies worth millions of hryvnias to a private company that were never delivered, according to the bureau.

The corruption schemes, exposed by the bureau and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), reportedly led to the embezzlement of at least Hr 5 million ($138,000) in public funds.

The military officials and one of the businessmen were charged under the articles of acquisition of property by abuse of official position and acquisition of military property by fraud or abuse of official position.

They face up to 15 years in prison.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Utah isnt exactly a hotspot destination for the millennial generation, but there are three Utah cities among the list of places millennials are calling home, according to one recent study from Smart Asset.

Researchers at the financial technology company looked at 268 cities to determine where millennials were moving to the most using U.S. Census Bureau data. Cities were ranked by the highest percentage of population by newly-transplanted millennials, which Smart Asset defined as people aged 25 to 44.

Salt Lake City youth population hits new 100-year low

Of the three Utah cities that appeared on the list, Salt Lake City ranked the highest. Researchers said over 8% of Salt Lake Citys population were newly moved-in millennials. Utahs capital ranked 35th nationwide as a millennial destination.

Provo and St. George joined Salt Lake City on the list, albeit much lower. According to Smart Assets data, Provo saw a 6% increase in the millennial population and St. George increased by over 4%. In the nationwide rankings of 268 cities, Provo and St. George ranked 117th and 209th, respectively.

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So where are millennials moving to the most? May be a surprise to learn Cambridge, Massachusetts ranked in the top spot, followed by Santa Clara, California and Seattle, Washington.

The reports author, Jaclyn DeJohn, said millennials are heading to Cambridge and Santa Clara for scholastic and tech opportunities. It may not be too far of a stretch to suggest Utah may offer similar opportunities with a booming tech sector and a variety of scholastic opportunities across the Beehive State.

In an unrelated study from Smart Asset, St. George was found to be one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation. According to their findings, St. George boomed by 18% over a five-year window between 2017 and 2022.

Overall, the study found that one in four millennials moved to a different city in 2022, whether they came from within the same county, state, out-of-state or abroad.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Missiles fired toward US Navy warship during distress response in Middle East, officials say

Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen in the direction of a U.S. Navy warship as it responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker in the Gulf of Aden, the Pentagon said late Sunday.

The USS Mason, along with allied ships, responded to a distress call from the commercial vessel, the Central Park, which reported that they were under attack by an unknown entity, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.

Upon arrival at the scene, the Mason and other ships demanded the release of the Central Park, after which five armed individuals debarked the vessel and attempted to flee via a small boat.

The MASON pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender, the release states, noting that the crew of the Central Park is safe.

Additionally, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen toward the general direction of the Mason and Central Park at 1:41 a.m. local time, but they landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles away from the ships, with no damage or injuries reported.

The MASON  part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower carrier strike group President Biden ordered to the region in October  was concluding its response to the Central Park at the time of the missile launches.

The incident is the latest in a long series of attacks on U.S. troops and assets in the Middle East since war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas began Oct. 7.

Washington has claimed Iran and the militant groups it backs are behind the attacks, which Tehran has denied.

On Tuesday, Iran-backed militias carried out an attack using a close-range ballistic missile against U.S. and coalition forces at the al-Asad air base in Iraq, resulting in several nonserious injuries and some minor damage to infrastructure, defense officials said.

And Thursday, the USS Thomas Hudner, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, shot down multiple one-way attack drones in the Red Sea. The drones had been launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen, Central Command said.

Since Oct. 17, U.S. forces have been attacked at least 67 times in the region.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Missiles were fired toward a US Navy destroyer responding to an attempted hijacking near Yemen. The same warship was targeted in this area years ago.

The US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Mason pulls alongside a fleet replenishment oiler in the Atlantic Ocean, July 17, 2021. US Navy/Bill Mesta/Handout via REUTERS

Missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory toward a US Navy ship responding to an attempted hijacking on Monday.

The ship, the destroyer USS Mason, was targeted by the Iran-backed rebels near Yemen a few years ago.

The Houthis' involvement in the Israel-Hamas war has led the US to take defensive measures.

Missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory on Monday toward a US Navy destroyer that rescued a commercial vessel from an attempted hijacking off the coast of Yemen. It's the same American warship that the Iran-backed rebels targeted in the area a few years ago.

USS Mason responded on Sunday to a distress call from the M/V Central Park, which came under attack from an "unknown entity," US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.

When the Mason arrived at the scene alongside allied ships, they demanded the release of the Central Park. Five armed individuals left the ship and tried to flee on a small boat, but the Mason chased them down and forced their surrender, CENTCOM said, adding that the crew of the Central Park is safe.

A Pentagon official later told Business Insider the initial assessment indicates that the attackers were Somali pirates.

But as the Mason wrapped up its response to the Central Park distress call shortly before 2 a.m. local time on Monday morning, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen "toward the general location" of the two ships, CENTCOM said. The missiles landed around 10 nautical miles from the ships in the Gulf of Aden, a body of water that separates Yemen from Somalia, and there was no damage or injuries reported from either vessel.

A CENTCOM official told Insider the missiles came from an area in Yemen known for significant Houthi activity but did not say definitely that the Houthis were behind the missile launch.

USS Mason Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Blake Midnight/U.S. Navy via AP

"Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability," said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, the CENTCOM commander, in a statement. "We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes."

The Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group (CSG), which was dispatched to the eastern Mediterranean in mid-October in response to the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier this month, the CSG sailed through the Suez Canal into the Red Sea, and the US Navy said on Sunday that it had traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and into the Arabian Gulf. Elements of a strike group are sometimes spread out over an area, as opposed to bunched together.

Monday's incident marks the second time in recent years that the Mason has had missiles fired in its direction in this area.

In 2016, Houthi rebels launched missiles at the warship and another US Navy vessel, prompting the Mason to fire its own missiles to intercept the inbound threats. The US military later retaliated by launching several strikes on coastal radar sites in Yemen.

"Those who threaten our forces should know that the US commanders retain the right to defend their ships, and we will respond to this threat at the appropriate time and in the appropriate manner," the Pentagon said at the time.

Houthi military helicopter hovers over the Galaxy Leader cargo ship as Houthi fighters walk on the ship's deck in the Red Sea in this photo released November 20, 2023. Houthi Military Media/Handout via REUTERS

The missiles fired Monday missed the Mason by a great distance, but a Pentagon official told Business Insider that the warship and the Central Park were still in the direct path of the threats.

Given the point of origin for the missiles, Monday's incident potentially marks a notable escalation in what has been a string of provocations by the Houthis since the Israel-Hamas war began more than seven weeks ago.

The Houthis have launched drones and missiles that US Navy warships in the Red Sea have had to shoot down. Last week, CENTCOM said a destroyer on patrol downed "multiple one-way attack drones" that came from Yemen. And the militants also shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone that was operating in international airspace earlier this month.

The Iran-backed rebels also staged a dramatic helicopter raid on November 19 of an internationally flagged cargo ship and hijacked the vessel, taking its entire crew hostage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the incident as "another act of Iranian terrorism."

The Houthis have also directed their attacks at Israeli territory, firing long-range missiles and drones and forcing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to activate the upper layer of its sophisticated air-defense network.

The Houthis are one of several Iran-backed groups now directly involved in the conflict. Hezbollah in Lebanon routinely exchanges fire with the IDF across the border, while US forces based in Iraq and Syria have come under fire dozens of times in recent weeks from Iran-backed militias.

Read the original article on Business Insider
APPLE VALLEY, Calif. - An investigation is underway after a man reported missing was found dead in Apple Valley, according to authorities.

The body of 23-year-old Joey Fogle was discovered Saturday around 10 a.m. near Valley Vista Avenue and Poppy Road after authorities responded to a call reporting suspicious circumstances.

Fogle's cause of death is pending an autopsy.

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No further information was released.

Anyone with information related to this investigation should contact the Specialized Investigations Division at 909-890-4904. Callers wishing to remain anonymous should contact We-Tip at 1-800-78-CRIME (27463) or go to www.wetip.com.


Monica Lewinsky penned on op-ed Monday calling for a series of constitutional amendments, including age limits for elected officials and a ban on presidential self-pardons.

In a piece in Vanity Fair, Lewinsky offered her vision for a more robust democracy via six new amendments: no presidential self-pardons, mandatory background checks for presidents, no suspensions of the U.S. Constitution, a retirement age for elected officials, elimination of the Electoral College and codification of a womans right to an abortion.

In calling for the ban on presidential self-pardons, she did not shy away from invoking former President Trumps name explicitly, warning of the risk she said he would pose if he were to take back the White House.

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Our Constitution is not a game of Monopoly. For the head of the executive branch, there should not be a get out of jail free card, she wrote. In other words, presidents should not be able to pardon themselves.

They should not be able to wield the most power of anyone in our country and not be held responsible for illegal or unconstitutional actions while wielding that power. We have a phrase for this already: abuse of power, she continued.

Lewinsky quoted Georgetown University constitutional law professor Neal Katyal, who she said has noted that Trump, who has been indicted in four separate criminal cases, could theoretically order the Department of Justice to drop charges against him in one of the two federal ones, before the case even gets appealed.

We wouldnt even get to the pardon power question, Katyal said, according to Lewinsky.

Lewinsky concluded: So, yeah, lets roll this into whatever adjustments or amendments we devise vis-a-vis pardons and presidents.

Her piece comes amid an uptick in discussion centered on the 14th Amendment clause that disqualifies anyone from holding public office if they engage in an insurrection or give aid to insurrectionists.

I began wondering about why the US doesnt have more safeguards in the Constitution to bulwark its democracy, Lewinsky wrote. The fact that Amendment 14 is the only place that addresses the disqualification of a candidate for such behavior isto use an erudite termbonkers.

Legal scholars have also been talking for some years about the question of presidential self-pardons. While there is no official ban on them, experts are divided on whether such a pardon would hold up in court, with critics arguing a self-pardon would undermine the principles of a democratic justice system.

Trump faces a total of 91 criminal charges in four separate indictments, including two cases stemming from his efforts to stay in office after losing the presidential election. He is currently the front-runner in the Republican Partys 2024 presidential primary, leading by double-digit margins in virtually all national polls.

Without mentioning President Biden by name, Lewinsky also called for unspecified age limits for elected office. At 81, Biden is oldest-serving U.S. president in history; Trump is 77.

Not to be ageist, but there should also be a retirement age for elected officials as well as term limits, especially when you consider that long-term decisions can impact the citizens, the nation, and the world for years after youve served your time in office, Lewinsky said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
It has been five years since the Monroe Expressway was opened to provide travelers with a congestion-free option when traveling through and in Union County.

The Monroe Expressway is an all-electronic toll road extending 18 miles from U.S. 74 near Interstate 485 in Mecklenburg County to U.S. 74 between the towns of Wingate and Marshville in Union County.

The Monroe Expressway has been a wonderful addition to Union Countys road network. Not only does it provide a faster alternative for our residents to get where they want to go, it is taking through traffic off of U.S. 74, so it is easier for people to shop at businesses located on our communitys busiest corridor, said Pat Kahle, President and CEO of the Union County Chamber of Commerce.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Monroe Expressway, Charlotte area's first toll road, now open

The four-lane roadway allows seamless travel without having to slow down or stop to pay tolls.

We are in the business of working with local communities to address their critical infrastructure needs. The Monroe Expressway continues to be very popular, with a nearly 40% increase in traffic since opening, said James Eden, Executive Director of the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.

Drivers that travel with an NC Quick Pass transponder save 35% on tolls in North Carolina. Currently, there are more than half a million NC Quick Pass accounts in the state.

On the Monroe Expressway, more than half of all customers choose to travel with a transponder to save on tolls.

VIDEO: Police drone locates teens accused of throwing rocks off bridge over Monroe Expressway




A 43-year-old Montgomery man died in a motorcycle crash Sunday evening.

Randall Tennyson was killed in a single-vehicle crash at about 8:32 p.m. Sunday, said Sgt. Jeremy Burkett with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency. Tennyson was riding a 2015 Kawaski Ninja motorcycle when the vehicle left the roadway and struck a guardrail, Burkett said.

The crash was on U.S. 80 near the 123-mile marker, about three miles east of Montgomery, in Montgomery County.

Officers did not immediately release any other information. The agency's Highway Patrol Division continues to investigate the crash.

Randall Tennyson died in a motorcycle crash Sunday.

More: Riverfront Brawl Montgomery riverfront brawl: Co-captain pleads not guilty to assault charge

Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Montgomery man dies in motorcycle accident Sunday
Anisa Alamgir holds her daughter Zenattunlsa while waiting for food as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News





And you think you had a crowd for Thanksgiving dinner.

At Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries in South Salt Lake, they fed 6,000 people, give or take.

Not all at once. Or on the actual Thanksgiving Day, for that matter.

This past Tuesday morning, two days before the holiday, Rev. Dr. Leslie Whited and her trusty band of staff workers and volunteers handed out some 700 dinner boxes, complete with turkeys and all the trimmings.

Since each dinner, on average, would serve nine people, that meant the food distributed from Mosaics front porch was enough to feed the entire population of a small city like, say, Midway, or West Bountiful.

For years, the ministry has been giving away these turkey dinners a few days before Thanksgiving. This year, the demand was exceptionally high, and not just because of the holiday.

People are really stretched beyond their means right now with high prices on housing, food and gas, says Dr. Whited. Theres such a huge need out there. Youd be surprised the families that come to our food bank; they are your neighbors, your friends, your relatives.

Mosaic Inter-Faith turns no one away. It is one of those Good Samaritan kinds of places that hide in plain sight in our cities and towns and fill in the cracks.

* * *

The Rev. Dr. Leslie Whited, director of Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries, talks with a client while handing out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

The charity was just two years old in 1997 when the Rev. Whited came aboard. The organization was known as Lutheran Social Service of Utah at the time. But over time, as support came in from other churches, foundations and government entities, the name and affiliation was changed to Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries.

This is not a church, there is no proselytizing, says Dr. Whited, it is a collective that serves 13 or more religions every day  LDS, Pentecostal, spiritual but not religious, Muslim, Buddhist, and on and on. Youll see every part of Utah here, every diversity you can name, from sixth-generation Utahns to somebody whos been in Utah six days. The same goes for our board.

Were lucky to receive some government assistance, she adds, but honestly its Utah foundations and donors that do the lions share to keep us running.

Dr. Whited does her part and then some. When she arrived, the charity had just one program, senior outreach, that served 40 people. In 2023, Mosaic Ministries serves 500 to 600 families a week with food, clothing, bedding, health and employment education, and other basics of life.

Ive been here 26 years, I cant believe that much time has gone by but it has, says Dr. Whited. Raised mostly in Utah, she comes from a family with deep Utah roots. But after graduating from Orem High School, she left to attend college at Loyola of Chicago, then stayed in Chicago for ministry school. She first became a reverend, then continued on to attain her doctor of ministry degree. Its why shes a reverend and a doctor, and why most everyone calls her Dr. Whited.

For 18 years, she served at ministries in a variety of states, including Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Illinois, before returning home to spend more time with her aging grandparents. Thats when she heard about the small charity in Bountiful that needed leadership.

Her name is first on the Mosaic letterhead and she is listed on the website as CEO, but Dr. Whited insists she is just a small part of a much bigger wheel, or mosaic.

Honestly, its always been a group of people who work together really hard, she says. Other folks have been here a long time as well and we truly do run it like a collective, everybody runs their own function.

Its not the poverty and need that surrounds her daily that keeps her at Mosaic, she says. Its watching what happens when people in poverty and need get a hand up.

I have seen so many people get their first home, see their children grow and marry and prosper, see immigration stories that start out hard and then get a little easier. You see what can happen if people just get a little support.

* * *

Hal (no last name to be used) receives food as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Thanksgiving, of course, is just one day, and Thanksgiving dinner just one meal. Tuesdays turkey dinner handout was just the start of Mosaic Give-A-Way days that extend through the holidays. Every Thursday through Dec. 14 will be special Winter Food Give-A-Ways. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, theyll hold a Toy Bag Give-A-Way and on Dec. 6, a Deseret Industries Voucher Give-A-Way. All this, in addition to their regular food bank and ministering work.

No registration or paperwork is required for the Give-A-Ways. Just show up after 8 a.m. at the Mosaic headquarters at 3278 South, 540 East in South Salt Lake (lssu.org).

We try to do enough so people can gather for the winter, says Dr. Whited.

Mosaics longtime CEO says she has no timetable for retiring from a place shes given half her adult life to, adding, I dont look back on a day that wasnt rewarding.

Asked if its working at Mosaic Ministries that has made her wealthy, without missing a beat she smiles and answers, In all the ways that matter.

Nargiza Khaydaizova adds potatoes to boxes as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Zakiel Zavari receives food as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Agnes Nduwimana sorts food as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Bertha Marquez waits in the cold for food as Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Mosaic Inter-Faith Ministries hands out Thanksgiving meals in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now)  The Prince George County Police Department (PGPD) said a woman shot and killed her teenage son before killing herself on Saturday afternoon in Lanham.

Police said that at about 2:00 p.m. on November 25, they responded to the 10400 block of Greenbelt Road for a report of two dead people in a wooded area.

Names of husband, wife found dead in apparent murder-suicide in Fairfax County released

PGPD identified the teenage boy as 16-year-old Dorian Jaeger of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The teens mother was identified as 50-year-old Natalie Jaeger also of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Police said the mother and son had recently arrived in the area.

The motive for the murder is under investigation.

If anyone has information relevant to this investigation, they are encouraged to call 301-516-2512.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A Wake County man has won $100,000 after purchasing a scratch-off ticket, according to reports from WTVD.

Rodney Harrington told North Carolina Education Lottery officials that he stopped at the Cool Mart on Penny Road in Raleigh to buy a Gatorade.

I initially only went in the store to get a Gatorade, Harrington explained.

While purchasing the drink, Harrington said he decided to purchase a $20 200X The Cash ticket during checkout.

He told WTVD that he was shocked when he realized his scratch-off was worth $100,000.

ALSO READ: $1 million Powerball ticket sold in Cleveland County

My mouth just dropped wide open, Harrington said.

He said the first thing he did was call his brother to tell him what happened.

Harrington told WTVD that he took home $71,259 after required state and federal taxes were deducted.

Ive got four daughters, so Im sure they will have some ideas about how I should spend it, Harrington said.

VIDEO: $1 million Powerball ticket sold in Cleveland County
MSNBC host Katie Phang and her guests were openly amused as they analyzed statements from Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) about his looming expulsion from Congress.

Santos, the federally indicted lawmaker who fabricated much of his background and allegedly used campaign funds for Botox and luxury items, played the victim in a three-hour interview with a conservative podcaster on Friday. He said he expects to be expelled by his colleagues, but will wear it like a badge of honor.

I was, as we joke around a lot in my circles, were like, Oh my god, you were the It girl. Everybody wanted you, Santos said. Until nobody wanted me.

He also claimed Congress has felons galore and declared himself the Mary Magdalene of United States Congress.

On The Katie Phang Show Sunday, Phang read excerpts from Santos absurdly defiant interview, asking for commentary from Jennifer Rubin, a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, and Juanita Tolliver, an MSNBC political analyst and podcast host for the progressive Crooked Media network.

See their reactions to the quotes below:

"[George Santos] is clearly going to go kicking and screaming. Katie, I do question him ever being an 'it girl,' I don't think he ever checked that box within the Republican party, he was merely the extra vote" @JuanitaTolliver#KatiePhangShowpic.twitter.com/UHHt8zZskj  The Katie Phang Show (@katiephangshow) November 26, 2023

After a bout of laughter, Tolliver said she believes theres absolutely not a chance Santos survives the vote for his expulsion, which will likely be held this week.

I do question him ever being an It girl. I dont think he ever checked that box within the Republican Party, he was merely the extra vote, she said, referring to the GOPs slim majority in the House.

But the reality is that George Santos has caused even more shame to come to the Republican Party than someone like a Marjorie Taylor Greene, and thats really, really shocking, she added.

Phang had also asked Rubin what it says about the GOP that theyre seeking to oust Santos, but willing to keep extremist Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Greene (R-Ga.).

I think it shows that its ideology and MAGA subservience above all, Rubin said. No matter what youve done, so long as youre a devoted MAGA person and pay homage to Donald Trump, you can stay. However, if youre an embarrassment and kind of non-supporter or a lukewarm supporter, or doing nothing for the cause, off you go.

Rep. Michael Guest (Miss.), the Republican chairman of the House ethics committee, filed a resolution for Santos expulsion earlier this month after the release of a damning ethics committee report accusing the New York Republican of using thousands of dollars of campaign funds on personal luxuries.

Santos is also the subject of a 23-count federal indictment for conspiracy, credit card fraud and other alleged crimes tied to misuse of campaign funds and lying in reports.

Related...
Tech billionaire Elon Musk is expected to meet with Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and families of hostages taken by the terror group Hamas on Monday as he continues his damage control efforts and tries to convince Twitters fleeing advertisers that his platform does not harbour antisemitism.

Mr Herzog announced the plans for the meeting on Sunday, Reuters reported; although Israeli media had previously suggested the two men would meet. He is also expected to meet Mr Netanyahu. Mr Musks X, formerly known as Twitter, has largely ceased offering responses to the news media, and had not immediately confirmed it publicly.

The 52-year-old Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX mogul has faced a new round of public outrage in the past few weeks as his comments about Jews have sparked more accusations of antisemitic beliefs. On 15 November, he tweeted you have said the actual truth in response to a follower who had tweeted to him, 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 same tweet to which Mr Musk was responding also denied any concern for rising antisemitic hatred around the world.

It was a stunning embrace of antisemitic rhetoric from one of the richest businessmen in the world, and came at a time when his social media platform has been faulted for allowing hate speech to flourish on the platform; groups including Media Matters have published reporting over the course of the Israel-Gaza conflict which erupted in October showing how blatantly antisemitic and pro-Nazi posts had been showing up on the platform next to advertisements for major brands. Mr Musk insists the claims are unfair and has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters.

A number of brands have begun pulling ads en masse from Twitter in the latest round of a recurring advertiser boycott that seems to ebb and flow with Mr Musks own questionable behaviour. Mr Musk has responded by accusing Media Matters (without providing evidence for his claims) of manipulating images to show brands like Apple and IBMs content appearing next to neo-Nazi postings on the platform.

Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu speaking during a discussion broadcast on X in September (X)

That controversy may well be brought up on Monday as Mr Musk meets with Israels president, whose office told reporters on Sunday: "In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.

Mr Musk was separately sued himself last week and accused by a 22-year-old from Texas of amplifying a conspiracy spread by neo-Nazis falsely accusing the man, Ben Brody, of being involved in an effort to sabotage a protest held by right-wing groups.

You have said the actual truth  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 15, 2023

He has addressed accusations of holding antisemitic beliefs in a recent Twitter posting, writing: 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 during a visit to Israel on Monday toured a kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas militants as he faces backlash over antisemitic content on X, formerly Twitter.

The owner of X and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where Hamas fighters led a deadly Oct. 7 assault on Israeli civilians, including children. The pair also visited the families of victims, and Musk was briefed on some of the details of the attack.

It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre, Musk said in an X Spaces conversation with Netanyahu later in the day.

Netanyahus office also said Israeli officials told Musk about Abigail Idan, a 4-year-old American-Israeli citizen who was taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7 after she witnessed her parents being killed. She was one of the 17 hostages released Sunday amid the four-day truce struck between Hamas and Israel.

Netanyahu and Musk in their X Spaces conversation largely discussed the ongoing conflict and the subsequent effects its had around the world, but they did not discuss the antisemitic accusations Musk is facing.

Musk faced a wave of criticism after he seemed to endorse an antisemitic post on X earlier this month.

One user claimed Jews have been encouraging dialectical hatred against whites and referenced the hordes of minorities that support flooding their country. Musk then suggested the user said the actual truth. This claim echoes an antisemitic conspiracy theory that accuses Jews of wanting to flood Western countries with nonwhite immigrants.

The White House slammed the comment as unacceptable as antisemitic incidents rise around the U.S. amid the Israel-Hamas war.

Musks X also faces companies halting their advertising on the platform after Media Matters for America said it found ads for companies including Apple, Bravo, Oracle, Xfinity and IBM placed next to posts celebrating Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party on the platform. This, along with Musks post, prompted major companies, including IBM, Lionsgate, Disney, Apple and Paramount, to leave the platform.

Shlomo Karhi, the Israeli minister of communications, also said Monday he and Musk came to an agreement over the use of Starlink satellite units in Israel. Starlink, which is operated by Musks SpaceX, is a network of thousands of satellites that can provide high-speed Internet across the world.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Karhi wrote on X.

The Hill has reached out to Starlink and X for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Pedestrians in Tokyo walk past a screen displaying North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un celebrating after the launch of a spy satellite on November 22, 2023 (Kazuhiro NOGI)

North Korea's ambassador made a rare appearance at the UN Security Council on Monday to defend his country's launch of a spy satellite, as leader Kim Jong Un studied images including of the White House and Pentagon.

Western powers, Japan and South Korea have said North Korea violated Security Council resolutions by launching the satellite last week.

The totalitarian state has said that its new eye in the sky has already provided images of major US and South Korea military sites, as well as photos of the Italian capital Rome.

On Monday it took "in detail" images of the White House and the Pentagon in Washington, according to state-run KCNA news agency, which said Kim was reviewing the photos.

He also counted some aircraft carriers at a military base and a shipyard in the neighboring state of Virginia, the report said.

At the Security Council, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Kim Song, complained that other countries faced no restrictions on satellites.

"No other nation in the world is in the security environment as critical as the DPRK," said Kim, using the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"One belligerent party, the United States, is threatening us with a nuclear weapon," he said.

"It is a legitimate right for the DPRK as another belligerent party to develop, test, manufacture and possess weapons systems equivalent to those that the United States possesses or is developing."

He mocked US charges that satellite technology also helped North Korea hone its missile capacity, questioning whether the United States put satellites into orbit "with a catapult."

The US ambassador, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, rejected North Korea's assertion it was acting in self-defense and said that joint US-South Korean exercises were "routine" and "defensive in nature."

"We intentionally reduce risk and pursue transparency by announcing the exercises in advance including the dates and the activities, unlike the DPRK," she said, adding that the drills did not violate Security Council resolutions.

South Korea's spy agency said that Russia, eager for assistance in Ukraine, helped North Korea on the satellite following a summit between Kim and President Vladimir Putin.

The United States said last month that North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia.

Russia and China, North Korea's main ally, have put forward a resolution, opposed by the United States, to ease sanctions on Pyongyang as part of an effort to encourage dialogue.

Chinese envoy Geng Shuang accused the United States of "further aggravating tension and confrontation" through its military alliance with South Korea.

"If the DPRK constantly feels threatened, and its legitimate security concerns remain unresolved, the peninsula will not be able to get out of the security dilemma and only be caught in a vicious cycle of tit-for-tat aggressive moves," he said.

abd-sct/st/tjj
A 26-year-old man was arrested after he was accused of getting naked at Disneylands Its a Small World ride, California officials said.

Anaheim police helped Disneyland security remove a man who was naked in the ride on Nov. 26, police spokesman Jonathan McClintock told McClatchy News in a statement.

The man was on the ride before getting off the boat, stripping and walking around inside the attraction, McClintock said.

Officials couldnt confirm how long he had been wandering the attraction before he was arrested, but one social media user said the ordeal caused a delay for other riders.

We were stuck on the ride for about an hour and 15 minutes, one users caption on Instagram read.

Others were in shock, with one user on Twitter, now rebranded as X, saying, I AM ON SMALL WORLD AND THERE WAS A STREAKER, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING.

One post on X shows a video of the man swimming naked in the rides water before he was carried out by officers.

The man was arrested on charges of indecent exposure and being under the influence of a controlled substance, McClintock said. As a precaution, he was taken to a local hospital.

Anaheim is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

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Woman leaps from Splash Mountain log mid-ride at Disneyland, video shows. I cant!

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It started as a joke. Then man ends up at Disneyland every single day  for 8 years
Naples police responded to a shooting at Coastland Mall at around 5 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 26. One victim was injured. The suspect fled

UPDATE: 2 arrested, including juvenile victim, after Sunday shooting at Coastland mall, police say

Naples police searched Sunday evening for a suspect who shot a victim in the leg at Coastland Mall sometime around 5 p.m.

Naples Police Chief Ciro Dominguez said the area was safe. He said the shooter fled before police arrived, and the victim was flown to a Lee County hospital for treatment.

The mall was briefly locked down, but was no longer as of 5:30 p.m.

Naples police were searching for a suspect Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023 after a victim was shot in the leg at Coastland Mall. Police cruisers were gathered outside the mall entrance opposite Naples High School.

About six Naples police cruisers were gathered and crime scene tape marked the mall entrance that fronts Golden Gate Parkway, across from Naples High School.

Sgt. Erik Noe said the incident occurred between two known individuals.

There was no danger to anyone inside the mall, Noe said.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Naples Coastland Mall shooting: One injured, transported for treatment
Guest Opinion. In his Native American Heritage Month proclamation this year, President Biden touted the dozens of Senate-confirmed Native American officials, and over 80 Native American appointees serving across my Administration and in the Federal courts. While Interior Secretary Deb Haaland (Laguna Pueblo) stands out as a powerfully important example of Native representation in the federal government, Native judges remain severely underrepresented on our nations federal courts.

Before the Biden administration, fewer than 10 Native Americans, Alaska Natives, or Native Hawaiians total  out of thousands  have ever served as lifetime judges. This historical exclusion has long been unacceptable. And, while the Biden administration and this Senate have made some progress, much more is needed. To date, Native American lifetime judges have only served in six states (Arizona, California, Maryland, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington), in addition to four Native Hawaiian lifetime judges who have only served on the District of Hawaii.

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.

In 2021, Judge Lydia Kay Griggsby became the first Native American lifetime judge in Maryland and Judge Lauren King  who also possesses significant experience in tribal law  became the first Native American lifetime judge in Washington state and the first Muscogee Creek Nation citizen to serve in such a role. Last year, Judge Sunshine Sykes became the first Native American lifetime judge in California and the first Navajo Nation citizen appointed to the federal bench.

And last month, President Biden nominated Sara Hill to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Hill, who is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, has deep experience in Indian law. She would be the first Native American woman in Oklahoma to serve as a lifetime judge. Sara Hills immense experience, having served as the Attorney General and the Secretary of Natural Resources for the Cherokee Nation, provides her with unique and deep experience necessary for the federal bench. And her legal experience  like that of Judges King and Sykes  demonstrates just how tremendous experience in Indian law is and how important it is that senators and presidents look to lawyers who are Native American and who have long practiced in and on behalf of Tribal Nations. When she is confirmed, she will become just the eighth Native American lifetime judge in our nations history  and half will have been appointed by President Biden.

During her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month, Senator Alex Padilla asked Ms. Hill what her confirmation would mean to her and to the people of Oklahoma. She noted, given the states large Native population, that having a court that reflects the communities it serves is a sign that your government is thriving, that the community is thriving, that things are working well. Its an opportunity, she said, to reflect the community that is served by the Northern District. And it's a very humbling thought to be the first.

Additionally, President Biden nominated Judge Shanlyn Park in September to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Hawaii. Judge Park has shown an impressive commitment to equal justice throughout her career, including serving as a federal public defender for 20 years. When she is confirmed, she will be the only Native Hawaiian woman to ever serve as a lifetime federal judge and the fifth Native Hawaiian person ever confirmed to the federal judiciary.

This improved Native representation on the federal bench matters. But much more progress is necessary to ensure that our federal courts truly reflect the rich diversity of our nation and that our judges are well-versed in the issues facing their local communities. For example, many issues of daily life for people in Native communities are significantly affected by federal law, including federal common and criminal law. Cases involving Tribal Nations and their interests are heard primarily in federal courts. For these reasons, it is imperative that federal judges are well-versed in the unique political status, legal principles, and rights of Tribal Nations and Native individuals. Critically, there has never been a Native American judge on any federal appellate court in our nations history  including the U.S. Supreme Court  despite the high number of cases those courts hear related to federal Indian law.

We celebrate the important progress weve made over the past three years, but we must not stop now. With nearly 100 judicial vacancies across the country, including in states where there are significant Native populations  including Arizona, Montana, and California  it is critical that we see additional Native nominees and nominees with experience in Indian law. Native nominees are underrepresented on the federal bench, and they are necessary to ensure that our federal courts and judges truly understand issues facing the communities they serve.

Morgan Saunders is staff attorney at the Native American Rights Fund. Lena Zwarensteyn is the senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights.

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Help us ensure that the celebration of Native Heritage never stops by donating here.

About the Author: "Levi \"Calm Before the Storm\" Rickert (Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation) is the founder, publisher and editor of Native News Online. Rickert was awarded Best Column 2021 Native Media Award for the print\/online category by the Native American Journalists Association. He serves on the advisory board of the Multicultural Media Correspondents Association. He can be reached at levi@nativenewsonline.net."

Contact: levi@nativenewsonline.net
Ukraine's Allies in the North Atlantic Alliance will agree on recommendations for reforms that Ukraine needs to implement to become ready for NATO membership.

Source: The Guardian, citing NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg before a meeting of the North Atlantic Council, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Stoltenberg noted that the allies are in agreement that Ukraine will become a NATO member in the future and recalled the assistance that member states are providing to Ukraine amid a full-scale war.

"At [the NATO-Ukraine] meeting, we will agree recommendations for Ukrainians  reforms, as we continue to support Kyiv on this path to NATO membership," the NATO secretary general stated.

Background: In October, an updated reform plan for Ukraine's future accession to the Alliance was discussed at the NATO-Ukraine Council.

Following the October meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin announced the creation of several "capability coalitions" for Kyiv, including training for the Ukrainian Air Force.

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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said NATO members during a NATO-Ukraine meeting this week will agree on recommendations for reforms Kyiv must implement to gain membership of the alliance, UK newspaper The Guardian reported on Nov. 27.

While reinforcing the collective agreement among NATO allies that Ukraine will eventually join the alliance, Stoltenberg underscored the impracticality of full membership during the ongoing conflict.

Read also: G7 leaders officially announce security guarantees package for Ukraine

Despite this, he emphasized ongoing efforts to 'bring Ukraine closer to NATO.'

"The allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO, he said.

At (the NATO-Ukraine) meeting, we will agree on recommendations for Ukrainians  reforms, as we continue to support Kyiv on this path to NATO membership."

Read also: NATO drops MAP requirement for Ukraine, introduces conditions for entry

The first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at the foreign ministers level will be held in Brussels on Nov. 29, with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in attendance, NATO stated in a press release on Nov. 27.

The NATO summit in Vilnius concluded in July with a framework paving the way for long-term security guarantees for Ukraine to deter Russian aggression. The member states settled on a unified communique concerning Ukraines membership in the alliance, but without making any timeframe commitments as to when Kyiv might receive an invitation.

Stoltenberg indicated that Ukraine no longer needs to fulfill the Membership Action Plan, effectively saying that Kyiv will be able to ultimately join the defensive alliance on an expedited procedure.

The summit also marked the inaugural meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council, termed as a joint body within the alliance.

Read also: NATO leaders discuss extending membership invitation to Ukraine  FT

Designed to foster political dialogue and cooperation, this council positions Ukraine and its allies as equals, furthering Ukraine's aspirations for NATO membership.

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
Being the spouse of a Navy SEAL comes with unique challenges but Surinder Goode has faced harder circumstances. Now, shes using stories to help military families find the good. Pun absolutely intended.

I was born in England, and at a very early age, we moved up to Scotland. I come from a large immigrant family and I always knew that I was born in the wrong country. I never felt like I fit in and I always knew I wanted to come to the U.S. So, when the Gulf War happened I decided I was going to move to the Middle East, she laughed.

Goode gained the notice of a prince and operated most of his flights on Gulf Air. Not long after that time, one of her friends moved to Coronado to be with her boyfriend  a SEAL. While out there visiting, Goode met his roommate.

We fell in love and I moved there before I could blink. But before immigration paperwork could be put through or we could even get our marriage license, he told me he was leaving for a mission, she explained. I didnt have a drivers license, a military ID or a bank account. So, I walked everywhere. Id even go to Burger King on the days they did two-for-one whoppers to make my money stretch. I realized at that point my military marriage was going to be a case of just chopping and changing to whatever the situation was.

Goode and her pup; photo courtesy of Goode

When Goodes husband returned stateside, they were married. After things were settled and her paperwork was in order, she was determined to find work.

I found some work at another airline but it just wasnt satisfying and they didnt understand the nature of my life as a spouse of a special operator, Goode shared. Hed be gone on these long deployments and when he returned, getting time off was an issue.

Months later, she was driving her husband to work on the base and asked where he got his coffee. When she realized the base didnt have a coffee shop, it became her mission to open one.

Goode and her spouse; photo courtesy of Goode

I was like a dog with a bone. I went down to the Navy Exchange every day with my business plan, such as it was. It wasnt the best but I knew they had a need and I could meet it, Goode said. I think they finally realized they werent getting rid of me once I explained all I wanted was a space with electricity and water, that Id do the rest. I went to every organization I could think of to get funding and guidance, because, again, I'd never opened a business.

Goode opened her first Surinder's Coffee Shack on June 22, 2001.

I funded the first location myself and I distinctly remember the very first day that I went to open up. I pulled up outside the base and I vomited like the exorcist because I was so darn nervous, she laughed. I suddenly realized that I gave up a really good job in corporate America to go into business by myself and failure was not going to be an option.

Within six months, shed paid off the loan she took out, and within 17 years  shed opened 13 different locations on bases in the San Diego area. Goode thrived on talking to the service members, spouses and visitors in her shops. Hearing their stories and building the business got her through all the deployments.

When her husband retired in 2021, she felt like she was ready for the transition. But she watched many other couples go through hard struggles. With the divorce rate being high in the SOF community, Goode began thinking that opening a platform to talk about the issues and stories might be a way forward.

The Goode Show podcast was her way and the next chapter.

I want people to believe their story has a value; it has a great deal of value to the other person that's listening because we all have that common denominator of being married to a service member, she explained. Everybody's story, as far as I am concerned, is very unique and there are lessons in every story. I don't think you can get enough lessons or guidance through this military life.

Goode recording her podcast, The Goode show. Photo courtesy of Goode

Goode also speaks a lot about entrepreneurship, lessons learned through her coffee business and from others pursuing something other than the traditional career paths.

As for what she would say to another military spouse with a dream or a goal, it was direct. The only stupid questions are the ones you dont ask, she laughed. Ask for help and go all in.

To learn more about the Goode Show, click here .
Theres only one sure way for the Kings to advance to the next stage of the NBAs new in-season tournament. They have to beat the Golden State Warriors.

The will Kings conclude group play in West Group C when they face the Warriors on Tuesday at Golden 1 Center. If the Kings win, they will advance to the knockout stage with a 4-0 record in group play. The Kings can also advance based on point differential in the event of a three-way tie with the Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves.

Six group winners and one wild card team from each conference will move on to the knockout phase with a chance to advance to the Final Four Dec. 7-9 in Las Vegas. The Los Angeles Lakers have already won West Group A with a 4-0 record. The Phoenix Suns finished second in that group with a 3-1 record and a plus-34 point differential, all but assuring them of the wild card spot in the West.

That leaves the Kings, Warriors and Timberwolves fighting for the top spot in West Group C. Lets break down the standings, tiebreaker procedures and scenarios going into the last day of group play.

West Group C

Heres a look at the West Group C standings with point differential in parentheses.

 Kings 3-0 (+29)

 Timberwolves 2-1 (-3)

 Warriors 2-1 (+5)

 Thunder 1-2 (+27)

 Spurs 0-4 (-58)

Tiebreakers

1. Head-to-head record in group stage

2. Point differential in group stage

3. Total points in group stage

4. 2022-23 regular season record

Scenarios

 Kings: The Kings will win West Group C with a win over the Warriors. They can also win the group with a loss to the Warriors if the Timberwolves beat Oklahoma City and the Kings win the three-way tiebreaker over Golden State and Minnesota based on point differential. The Warriors would have to beat the Kings by 12 points or more to finish group play with a higher point differential. The Kings cannot win the wild card in the West because with a loss to the Warriors it would be mathematically impossible to top the Suns plus-34 point differential.

 Warriors: The Warriors will win West Group C with a win over the Kings and a loss by the Timberwolves. The Warriors can also win the group with a win over the Kings and a Timberwolves victory if they win the tiebreaker over Sacramento and Minnesota. The Warriors can win the wild card if they beat the Kings, finish second in the group and win the tiebreaker over the other second-place teams in West groups A and B. The latter scenario is unlikely because the Warriors would have to beat the Kings by 28 or more to top Phoenixs point differential, and in that case they would probably win the group.

 Timberwolves: The Timberwolves can win West Group C if they beat the Thunder, the Warriors beat the Kings and the Timberwolves win the tiebreaker over Sacramento and Golden State. The Timberwolves can win the wild card if they beat the Thunder, finish second in the group and win the tiebreaker over the other second-place teams in West groups A and B. The latter scenario is highly unlikely because the Timberwolves would have to beat Oklahoma City by 38 to top Phoenixs point differential.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  As police continue to grapple with thefts at Nashville malls, some shopping centers appear to have been hit harder than others over the holiday weekend.

Following a number of grab-and-runs in October, increased security measures seem to have deterred shoplifters from trying to make off with items at The Mall at Green Hills over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Retail thefts at Nashville shopping centers prompt police to step up efforts

But increased security didnt stop some thieves from targeting popular stores at the newly opened Tanger Outlets in South Nashville and Opry Mills, which is one of the citys largest shopping malls and also the location with the fourth most arrests in Davidson County.

Dispatch activity reports from the Metro Nashville Police Department show the majority of thefts reported over the holiday weekend were at Opry Mills. Police were called to the mall five times on Black Friday in regard to theft and received another four reports on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Meanwhile, officers were dispatched to Tanger Outlets twice on Saturday after receiving calls about possible thefts, adding to the more than 30 theft calls received since the outlet center opened less than a month ago and the thousands of dollars worth of merchandise stolen.

Nashville mall is hot address for arrests, police data says

In total, nearly a dozen thefts were reported at two of the citys main shopping centers over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The one shopping center that was left unscathed over the weekend was The Mall at Green Hills. According to the police department, there were no thefts reported at the mall between Friday, Nov. 24 and Sunday, Nov. 26.

Security heightened at The Mall at Green Hills in October after multiple violent thefts at Louis Vuitton, Gucci, and Nordstrom, where in some cases, the bandits reportedly used bear spray to facilitate their get-a-ways.

Mall at Green Hills ramps up security after multiple thefts

In addition to increased patrols around the mall, Cmdr. Lee Kendall of the MNPD West Precinct told News 2 in October officers have been tasked with going inside and checking on patrons, employees, and other security officers.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), an uptick in thefts this year has forced retailers to keep more merchandise under lock and key, reduce their hours, or in some cases, close down for good, even with added security measures.

Retail crime expert and president of Alert Mid-South, Glenn Alred told News 2 thieves have become bolder and more violent when stealing from retail stores, and many are reportedly traveling from out-of-state to steal from Nashville stores.

Retail theft is the worst in these 10 US cities, study finds

In a statement to News 2 regarding holiday theft, the NRF said, Retailers remain focused on providing a safe shopping environment, while ensuring products are protected and available for their customers. Leveraging partnerships with local law enforcement, property managers and peer retailers will play a key role in a safe and secure holiday shopping season.

According to Opry Mills management, several security measures are also in place at the mall, including license plate readers, surveillance towers, trained security professionals who patrol the property 24/7, hired off-duty police officers and K9 officers to detect certain contraband.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Needham man hopeful his cousins will return home as Hamas slowly releases hostages

For nearly two months, Needhams Jason Greenberg has waited for any news about his three Israeli cousins who were taken hostage by Hamas. With the slow release of hostages during this weeks ceasefire, Greenberg and his family have new hope.

Needham man anxiously waiting to find out if Hamas will release his cousins

With every passing moment, I am hopeful my family will be released, said Greenberg. I am hopeful given Hamas has indicated a willingness and interest in extending the ceasefire.

13 Israelis and four foreign nationals were released by Hamas Sunday. This was the third group of hostages handed over during the four-day ceasefire. His three cousins are believed to be alive, still hostages of Hamas.

Greenberg added, I have been in contact with officials that have given me limited information. But, I do know they are not on the list to be released.

39 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged by Israel this weekend.

Greenberg was visiting family in Israel on October 7th when Hamas launched multiple attacks. Two of his cousins, Carmela and Noya, were killed that day. Three others  Ofer, Erez, and Shahar  were taken hostage.

It has been 51 days since 200-plus people have not seen the light of day, said Greenberg. I dont want people to forget that.

Still hoping for his family to return home, Greenberg has been discouraged by pro-Palestine acts across the country.

Theres no condemnation of Hamas, Greenberg added, citing recent rallies and protests across the nation. How would you feel if someone did that to you? Whether its your family or not, these are human beings.

The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel will end Monday. Conversations about extending the ceasefire are ongoing between the two.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Days after endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on X, Elon Musk flew to Israel to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and tour a kibbutz devastated in Hamas Oct. 7 attack.

Clad in a very small bulletproof vest, Musk on Monday toured Kfar Aza, one of the sites of Hamas attack. Musk called the experience jarring in a conversation with Netanyahu on Twitter Spaces shortly after visiting the kibbutz.

Netanyahu highlighted the importance of social media platforms in combating antisemitism, to which Musk replied, We need to do everything possible to stop the hate.

Those that are intent on murder must be neutralized, Musk said. The propaganda must stop that is training people to be murderers in the future. And then, making Gaza prosperous. And if that happens, I think it will be a good future.

TODAY: @elonmusk visited Kfar Aza with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.



Last week, Musk announced that X Corp will be donating all revenue from advertising & subscriptions associated with the war in Gaza to hospitals in Israel and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza. pic.twitter.com/t1hKgiUDfL  Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) November 27, 2023

Earlier this month, several prominent companies pulled their advertisements from X, formerly Twitter, after Musk endorsed an antisemitic post on the platform, and evidence emerged that the company was not following through with promises to safeguard advertisers against extremist content.

On Nov. 15, Musk responded, You have said the actual truth, to a post claiming that Jews promote dialectical hatred against whites.

The ADL unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel, Musk added, referring to the Anti-Defamation League, which he has long criticized. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat.

A subsequent study by Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog, found that ads for major companies appeared alongside posts featuring neo-Nazi content. The conflagration of events triggered an exodus of advertisers from the platform, including Apple, Disney, IBM, Sony, Paramount, and Warner Bros. In response to their controversy, Musk sued Media Matters, alleging that the nonprofit had defamed his company and unlawfully damaged its advertising revenue.

Musk is now in Israel on a PR visit for a country embroiled in a bloody war. Prominent Israeli journalists were quick to point out the hypocrisy. Blatant antisemite [and] publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel, Esther Solomon, the editor-in-chief at Haaretz, wrote on X. Instead, Netanyahu  plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy  gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of them.

Blatant antisemite & publisher of antisemitism Elon Musk should be persona non grata in Israel. Instead, Netanyahu  plumbing new depths of amoral sycophancy  gifts him a PR visit to the kibbutzim devastated by Hamas. Profane, venal, bilious, both of themhttps://t.co/zGc10w8Y9H pic.twitter.com/XMkitJclUt  Esther Solomon (@EstherSolomon) November 27, 2023

Amy Spiro, a writer at The Jerusalem Post, wrote that it was Hard to stomach welcoming someone who just days ago endorsed a virulently antisemitic trope, has dabbled for years in antisemitism and has turned this platform into a cesspool of hate. Its quite frankly gross.

Virtually immediately after Musk finalized his takeover of Twitter, the Tesla billionaire welcomed back neo-Nazis and other extremists who had previously been banned from the platform. This and Musks rollback of past content moderation policies have turned X into a platform where hate and extremism proliferate virtually unchecked.

With the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, Xs issues controlling virulent online hatred have worsened. Misinformation about the conflict has run rampant across the platform, and a joint study by NewsGuard and AdWeek found that 74 percent of the most viral misinformation about the war on X had been promoted by users subscribed to Twitter Blue, Musks pay-for-verification program. While X has promised to continue to fight the spread of antisemitism on their platform, their track record is abysmal, and a quick trip to Israel isnt likely to do much to repair Musks reputation as he continues to engage with extremist content.

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The Netherlands' name reflects its low-lying topography, with more than a quarter of its total area under sea level.

Now a constitutional monarchy, the country began its independent life as a republic in the 16th Century, during a long struggle with Hapsburg Spain, when the foundations were laid for it to become one of the world's foremost maritime trading nations.

Although traditionally among the keener advocates of the European Union, Dutch voters echoed those in France by spurning the proposed EU constitution in a 2005 referendum.

The Netherlands has produced many of the world's most famous artists from Rembrandt and Vermeer in the 17th Century to Van Gogh in the 19th and Mondrian in the 20th. It attracts visitors from across the globe.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries, Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands - which comprises some 98% of the Kingdom's land area and population and administers most of its affairs.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS: FACTS

Capital: Amsterdam, (government) The Hague

Area: 41,850 sq km

Population: 17.7 million

Languages: Dutch, also West Frisian, Papiamento, English

Life expectancy: 79 years (men) 83 years (women)

LEADERS

Head of state: King Willem-Alexander

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima wave from the palace balcony in The Hague

King Willem-Alexander became the first Dutch male monarch in more than a century in April 2013 when his mother Beatrix abdicated to end a 33-year reign.

The generational change in the House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a moment of celebration and pageantry at a time of recession brought on by the European economic crisis.

The much-loved Beatrix ended her reign in a nationally televised signing ceremony as thousands of orange-clad people cheered outside. Her retirement followed in the tradition of her mother and grandmother.

Prime minister: Talks underway to form new government

Geert Wilders' victory has sent tremors around Europe

Former Prime Minister Mark Rutte is serving as a caretaker leader peending the outcome of talks to form a coalition government following the November 2023 general election. Veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders won a dramatic victory when his Freedom party (PVV) became the biggest party in parliament.

Mr Rutte announced his government's resignation in July 2023 when his coalition failed to agree on how to handle increasing migration.

Mr Wilders' win has shaken Dutch politics and has also sent tremors across Europe, but to fulfil his pledge to be "prime minister for everyone", he will have to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition. His target is 76 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The Dutch coalition process tends to take several months.

Centre-right VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz, whose VVD party came third in the vote, has said she would not take part in the next administration because Dutch voters had given a "clear signal".

Without the liberals, Mr Wilders will struggle to make up the 76 seats needed to form a majority. The only other major potential partners are the newly formed centrist New Social Contract and the centre-right Farmer Citizens Movement.

MEDIA

Dutch newspaper front pages

The Dutch approach to public broadcasting is unique. Programmes are made by groups which reflect political or religious currents, or other interests. These organisations are allocated airtime on TV and radio, in line with the number of members they have.

Public radio and TV face stiff competition from commercial stations. Viewers have access to a wide range of domestic and foreign channels, thanks mainly to one of the highest cable take-up rates in Europe. Every province has at least one local public TV channel. The three national public TV stations enjoy high audience shares.

Read full media profile

TIMELINE

The Netherlands parliament building in The Hague

Some key dates in the history of the Netherlands:

1396-1467 - Most of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium is eventually united by the Duke of Burgundy, Phillip the Good.

1477 - Region increasingly comes under Hapsburg control.

1500-1558 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria, King of Spain and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy. Born in Ghent he turned rule of the region over to his Spanish relatives.

16th Century - The Protestant Reformation rapidly gains ground in the Netherlands and much of northern Europe. But Charles V and later Philip II consider it a threat to the political system.

c.1566-1648 - The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt. Amid growing resistance to centralised Hapsburg rule, Philip II sends in troops to crush the rebellion and make all the Netherlands Catholic once more.

Spanish troops reconquer the southern Netherlands, now Belgium, but fail to completely suppress the rebels.

1579 - Protestant-dominated Dutch Republic established.

1609-1621 - Twelve Years' Truce: facing military stalemate and increasing financial costs, both sides agree to a halt to the fighting.

1621-1648 - Fighting resumes as part of the wider European Thirty Years' War. In 1648 Spain recognises the Dutch Republic, while retaining the southern Netherlands, in the Peace of Munster, part of the Peace of Westphalia.

1652-1674 - As major rivals in world trade and naval power, the Dutch Republic and England fight three naval wars in the 17th Century.

1672 - The "Disaster Year" for the Dutch Republic. England declares war (the Third Anglo-Dutch War), followed by France, Munster and Cologne - which then invade. The country's leader, Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are lynched and a William III is appointed the country's ruler.

1688 - William III invades England at the invitation of Protestant British nobles feuding with the Catholic James II. This leads to the "Glorious Revolution" confirming the principle of parliamentary rule and Protestant ascendency in England.

William becomes co-monarch with his wife Mary, James' eldest daughter. This secures England as a critical financial and military ally in the Republic's long-standing wars with Louis XIV of France.

1785-1815 - French-Batavian period: The French Revolution sees first a pro-French Batavian Republic, then the Kingdom of Holland, ruled by a member of the House of Bonaparte, and finally annexation by the French Empire.

1815 - Modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, which includes what is now Belgium and Luxembourg, emerges after the defeat of Napoleonic France.

1830 - Belgium secedes from the Netherlands.

1839 - Netherlands recognises Belgian independence in the Treaty of London. Luxembourg became a fully independent country.

1914-1918 - The Netherlands maintains its neutrality during World War One.

1932 - A 31km dam is completed across the Zuider Zee forming a freshwater lake known as the Ijsselmeer. Part of the lake has since been drained and the reclaimed land used to grow crops.

1940 - Nazi Germany invades. The Dutch Royal Family flees to England, accompanied by the Dutch cabinet. The Dutch army is overwhelmed and the Netherlands surrenders.

1944 - As Allied forces advance towards Germany, the Netherlands becomes the site of bitter fighting.

1945 - The occupation ends with the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands. The Netherlands goes on to become a charter member of the United Nations.

1948 - Benelux customs union between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands comes into effect.

1949 - The Dutch East Indies, which had been occupied by Japan during World War Two, becomes independent as Indonesia after a four-year independence struggle against Dutch colonial authorities.

1949 - The Netherlands abandons its policy of neutrality and joins Nato.

1952 - The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, which becomes the European Economic Community five years later in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome.

1963 - Colony of Netherlands New Guinea is ceded to Indonesia.

1975 - Dutch colony of Surinam achieves independence. Hundreds of thousands of Surinamese emigrate to the Netherlands.

1980 - Queen Juliana abdicates; Beatrix becomes queen.

2002 - The Netherlands adopts the euro.

Widespread shock as anti-immigration party leader Pim Fortuyn is killed by gunman.

2003 - Animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf sentenced to 18 years for Fortuyn killing.

2004 - Queen mother Juliana dies, aged 94. Juliana reigned for 32 years from 1948.

Film-maker Theo Van Gogh is murdered. He was reported to have received death threats after his controversial film about the position of women in Islamic society. A radical Islamist is jailed for life for the murder in 2005.

2010 - The Netherlands Antilles is dissolved and Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten become nations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, became autonomous special municipalities of the Netherlands.

2013 - Queen Beatrix abdicates; her son Willem-Alexander becomes king.

2014 - Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is shot down over Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.

2018 - Parliament votes overwhelmingly in favour of recognising the massacres of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman troops in 1915 as genocide.

The Dutch port of Rotterdam is the largest in Europe
A Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) takes place in Vienna

By Francois Murphy

VIENNA (Reuters) - The 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe agreed on Monday that Malta should take over the organization's rotating chairmanship after Russia barred Estonia from the job, officials said.

OSCE countries' foreign ministers meet on Thursday and Friday in the North Macedonian capital of Skopje to discuss the chair role and renewing four senior OSCE officials in their posts at the Vienna-based organisation.

"Breaking news from Vienna! Huge decisions opening the path towards consensus on #OSCE2024 chair to be confirmed on #MC30 in #Skopje. Thank you #Malta for your willingness to take on this vital role," North Macedonian Foreign Minister Bujar Osmani said on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. His country currently holds the chairmanship.

Western countries often describe OSCE as a key forum for former Cold War foes the United States and Russia to engage. Other members include Canada, Central Asian states, the entire European Union, Britain, Ukraine and Belarus.

In recent years and increasingly since its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has made use of what is effectively a veto since the OSCE takes decisions by consensus, meaning one country can block that consensus.

Moscow had for months objected to NATO member Estonia taking over the annually rotating chairmanship as was originally planned, prompting a scramble for an alternative. Small, neutral European Union member state Malta was acceptable to all sides.

The deal "brings with it the guarantee of another year of functionality and a legitimate chair," one senior Western diplomat said.

Russia and staunch ally Belarus have still not backed the renewal of four senior OSCE officials in their posts, including veteran German diplomat Helga Schmid as OSCE secretary-general, diplomats said. The four mandates expire on Dec. 4, and no alternatives to the four officials have been put forward.

"We do care about the top four but the chair is existential - the organization cannot operate without it," the Western diplomat said.

To some extent, the deadlock at the OSCE mirrors the wider confrontation between Moscow and Washington and their allies since the war began.

Only Belarus regularly sides with Moscow at the OSCE.

(Reporting by Francois Murphy; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
China shares opportunities with world via Maritime Silk Road

Xinhua) 09:09, November 27, 2023

Guests attend the 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence in Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Huang Zongzhi)

HANGZHOU, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Zhuge Yun, a project manager with new-energy company Chint Solar, keeps a one-pound Egyptian coin, engraved with images of the sun and photovoltaic panels, in his desk drawer.

"I brought it back from Egypt," he said, recalling his departure for that country four years ago to work on the construction of the Benban solar power plant.

The Benban solar power plant is located in the eastern part of the Sahara Desert, one of the sunniest places in the world, with little rainfall throughout the year.

Covering an area of around 37 square km, the power plant has a total installed capacity of over 2,000 megawatts. Chint Solar was responsible for the construction of a portion providing 165.5 megawatts.

"Utilizing solar power, a clean renewable energy source, to generate electricity, can alleviate the local power shortage and help improve the energy structure of Egypt," he said, adding that the power station will run for up to 25 years, and its daily operation will provide jobs and incomes for local people.

China proposed the idea of building an "economic belt along the Silk Road" in Kazakhstan in 2013, which, combined with the proposal of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, eventually became the Belt and Road Initiative.

Ten years on, many projects like the Benban solar power plant, which are mutually beneficial and promote cooperation among BRI participating countries, have been implemented, improving the lives of the local people by bringing new development opportunities.

At the 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence that was held from Friday to Saturday in the city of Wenzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, officials and business representatives from the Maritime Silk Road cities shared their experiences and practices in jointly building the BRI.

The 187-km Phnom Penh-Sihanoukville Expressway, built under the BRI, shortens the travel time between the capital city and the international deep-water seaport city of Sihanoukville from six hours to just two, said Sar Kackada, mayor of Sihanoukville, Cambodia.

"This expressway has significantly boosted the number of tourists visiting Sihanoukville," he said. "I hope that through the implementation of this initiative, new achievements will continue to occur in Sihanoukville."

Tsingshan Holding Group is one of the earliest Chinese enterprises to participate in joint Belt and Road construction. The company has invested in the construction of two industrial parks in Indonesia over the past 10 years. The industrial parks have attracted an increasing number of Chinese companies in recent years.

The company is exploring more cooperation modes with countries participating in Maritime Silk Road cooperation and hopes to share its successful experience with more partners.

Official data shows that from 2013 to 2022, the cumulative value of imports and exports between China and BRI partner countries amounted to 19.1 trillion U.S. dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 6.4 percent. The cumulative two-way investment between China and BRI partner countries reached 380 billion U.S. dollars, including 240 billion U.S. dollars from China.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
New Zealands newly sworn-in government announced it is repealing a previously announced lifetime cigarette ban on young people to help deliver on its campaign pledge of making tax cuts.

The tobacco restrictions, which were signed into law last year while former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was still in power, would have banned the sale of cigarettes to those born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, starting next summer, among other things.

But Prime Minister Christopher Luxons administration has now effectively decided to scrap the plan.

Luxon noted that the rate of smoking has been consistently falling in the country.

We will continue to make sure we have good education programs and encourage people to take up vapes as a cessation tool, Luxon said, according to The Associated Press.

The news was first announced by Nicola Willis, the countrys new finance minister, over the weekend, who noted that New Zealand First and libertarian Act, the two parties that joined Luxons conservative National Party to form a coalition government, had pushed for the ban to be reversed, and Luxons party agreed.

The two parties also opposed Luxons plans to allow foreigners back into the countrys property market, which the National Party was counting on to deliver on its campaign pledge of making tax cuts, according to the BBC.

We have to remember that the changes to the Smokefree legislation had a significant impact on the government books, with about a billion dollars there, Willis told TV3s Newshub Nation.

New Zealands smoking restrictions inspired a similar ban in England by U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who called it the biggest public health intervention in a generation.
TEL AVIV  As hostages released by Hamas this weekend try to settle back into some semblance of normal life, some of the first questions likely asked by those around them are deeply human: Where were you? What did you eat? Where did you sleep? Was there a bathroom?

Now, with the release of more than 50 hostages over the past three days, more details are trickling in from family members of those who have been freed as part of the temporary cease-fire agreement.

Hila Rotem Shoshani, who was 12 when she was taken, was released on Saturday without her mom, Raaya, who remains in Hamas custody. Raaya and Hila were kidnapped from the kibbutz in Beeri on Oct. 7.

She said they had toilets, they had food  not a lot. Sometimes there was not enough food, sometimes they were a little bit hungry. Sometimes there was more food, her uncle Yair Rotem told NBC News outside the hospital where she is currently being monitored. A video released Sunday showed Hila running into her uncles arms after her release.

Israel Hamas hostage exchange (AFP - Getty Images)

Sometimes they waited for water, Rotem said. She said they brought water every once in a while in bottles.

His niece has lost some weight, but looks fine physically, Rotem said, noting that she is still in shock and doesnt show a lot of emotion. She speaks about it like its a scene from a movie, he added.

He would not say if Hila was kept in Hamas underground tunnels while in captivity.

What is certain is that her welcome home will be a stark contrast to what she experienced over the past seven weeks. Hila turns 13 on Monday and her family back in Tel Aviv were planning to throw a big birthday party for her, complete with balloons and cake.

Raaya Rotem and her daughter Hila Rotem Shoshani. (Yair Rotem)

Hilas account of being in captivity, as recounted by her uncle, is one of several that have started coming in from family members since hostages were released in groups, one day at a time, starting on Friday.

Keren Munder, who was freed Friday along with her 9-year-old son, Ohad, and her mother, Ruthy, told her cousin, Merav Raviv, that they were given bread and rice while being held by Hamas, but food was in short supply. The trio were abducted by Hamas from kibbutz Nir Oz, where Keren and Ohad were visiting family.

They lost a lot of weight in captivity, Raviv told NBC News in Tel Aviv on Monday, and had to sleep on benches and the floor.

She said Keren told her the toilet was a disaster, and they had to knock on the door to let their captors know if they wanted to go, but sometimes had to wait up to two hours to be taken there.

Her cousin doesnt know exactly where they were held, Raviv said, because they were moved from place to place. She was also in an information vacuum, Raviv added, and had no idea how many people were killed or taken hostage in the Oct. 7 attack, or how her family knew they were kidnapped. It was just the three of them together, and they did not see other hostages. The same man supervised them the whole time, Raviv said. They mostly spoke English with him.

Keren Munder, left, and her son Ohad, center, at the Schneider Center for Pediatric Medicine in Peta Tikvah, Israel, after their release Saturday. (Schneider Center for Pediatric Medicine)

Family members of other freed hostages spoke of their loved ones having to get adjusted to sunlight again after spending their time in darkness in Hamas tunnels, where it was suspected some of the hostages were being kept.

Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed on Friday after being kidnapped from her home in kibbutz Nir Oz, said his aunt had to adjust to the sunlight because she had been in darkness for weeks, The Associated Press reported.

She was in complete darkness, Nouri said. She was walking with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She was not used to the daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected ... from all the outside world.

But the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Monday that some hostages followed Israeli media and were even informed about various events. And the aunt of Roni Krivoi, released on Sunday after getting kidnapped by Hamas from a music festival, told Israeli public radio station Reshet Bet that her nephew managed to escape from his captors, but local residents captured him and handed him back to Hamas.

The accounts come weeks after initial details shared by Yocheved Lifshitz, 85, who was released last month before the cease-fire. She made headlines when, as she was being released, she turned to one of the armed, balaclava-clad Hamas militants and shook his hand, uttered shalom  a Hebrew salutation meaning peace.

Lifshitz told reporters after her release that she went through hell when she and her husband were abducted from Nir Oz. She said the Hamas militants beat her in the ribs with sticks, but she also said that her captors treated her and others well in captivity. Lifshitz said she was held in tunnels under Gaza that resembled a spider web, where they received medical care, including medication. The captives shared food with the militants, who kept conditions sanitary, she said.

Israel has vowed to bring all hostages home, but has also signaled that the war will resume in full force as soon as the cease-fire is over. On Monday, Hamas and Qatari mediators said they had brokered a deal to extend the truce for two more days. Israel previously said that it was willing to extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

In the meantime, family members and loved ones of the hostages who are still being held wait in fear, trepidation and agony over their well-being.

Richard Engel and Raf Sanchez reported from Tel Aviv and Yuliya Talmazan from London.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A female Afghan special forces soldier who risked her life working in a unit that was set up, trained and paid for by the British armed forces is living in hiding after her application for sanctuary in the UK was rejected.

The mother of four was forced to flee Afghanistan after the Wests withdrawal and is now living illegally in Turkey in fear of deportation.

Zahab, whose name has been changed for her safety, applied for the Ministry of Defences (MoD) resettlement scheme in October 2021, designed for those who worked for or with British armed forces in Afghanistan, but was denied relocation.

Through speaking to her former colleagues, The Independent, in collaboration with investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports, has established that Zahab was one of a select group of women who worked for Commando Force 333, an elite Afghan fighter unit that was set up and paid for by the British government.

Zahab is now struggling to support her family in Turkey (Supplied)

Zahab said her rejection felt like a betrayal by the British troops she had served alongside, adding that despite all the promises made by the British, people were left behind.

Colonel Simon Diggins, a former defence attache in Kabul, called on the government to look at her case, saying: Its really important, given the added vulnerability of women and the misogyny of the Taliban, that we look after them.

Im really disappointed to hear that this woman has been turned down, he added. Not only did she work for us, but she will be extremely vulnerable if she is sent back to Afghanistan. I encourage the government to look quickly and sympathetically at this case.

It comes after a joint investigation with Lighthouse Reports and Sky News earlier this month, which found that dozens of former members of CF333  and its sister unit Afghan Territorial Force 444 (ATF444), have been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban since August 2021 after the UK failed to relocate them.

The MoDs failure to help these Afghans , known as the Triples, who are documented as having served shoulder to shoulder with UK Special Forces (UKSF), is thought to be in breach of the departments own Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap), the scheme designed to relocate eligible Afghans who served with the British.

Major General Charlie Herbert (second right) with a female member of the Triples unit (Supplied)

The investigation also revealed for the first time that the unit was paid by the British, and that, according to veterans who served with them, Afghan commandos in the CF333 unit couldnt work more hand in glove with the British. They lived together on the same base in Logar Province, Afghanistan, and would go on missions together.

Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said the government is aware of these rejections and has committed to re-engaging with the application process to make sure there is integrity in that process.

The MoD has said it assesses each application on its own merits against published criteria and has brought tens of thousands of people to safety.

Now, it can be revealed that among those serving in CF333 were around 15 women who are said to have played a crucial role in Britains fight against the Taliban. The unit was set up by British forces in 2002 to help the UK take out drug production networks funding the Talibans terrorism.

Major General Charlie Herbert, who worked alongside the Triples and was a senior Nato adviser in Afghanistan between 2017 and 2018, confirmed that 333 contained female members, in specialised combat roles.

Zahab was trained in collecting evidence at specific locations identified on joint operations (Supplied)

By August 2021, when the West withdrew from Afghanistan leaving it to Taliban rule, Zahab had spent two years fighting in the elite Afghan special forces unit. She began her career in the police force but soon rose through the ranks to join a handful of female fighters, hand-picked to help the British and Afghan armies track and capture Taliban and Isis leaders. Women were useful to the units who had to raid family houses and navigate the cultural sensitivities in Afghanistan, she said.

Our role in the unit was very essential. Without a woman in the unit, even the main members couldnt carry out operations because they wouldnt be able to enter a house with women involved.

We were sent all over the country for operations. It was a very risky job. We would carry out an operation on the house of a Taliban member, said Zahab, speaking from a small apartment in Turkey. We were playing the same role as male members but on top of that, because of the cultural sensitivities, we had to do the body searches of all women and girls.

When the rest of her unit headed to Kabul airport during the chaos of the Western evacuation, Zahab had to stay behind. A mother of four children, she felt she couldnt bring them to face the crush at the airport gates as thousands of Afghans pleaded with American and UK forces to be evacuated.

Left without help and under the threat of retaliation by the Taliban, Zahab fled with her family and crossed the border illegally into Iran and then on to Turkey.

The CF333 base was called Fort Hunter and was based in Logar Province, Afghanistan (US Army Corps)

There she is facing a lot of problems but is terrified she will be deported back to Afghanistan to face an even worse fate. One of her daughters, who is aged 21, started working in the clothing industry to support the family but six months ago, she was arrested for working illegally as she couldnt show documents, and detained for four months, Zahab said.

She went through a lot of problems in the prison. Shes still struggling with mental health problems. They kept her for four months and they were trying to convince her to sign a deportation form. I was never able to visit the prison while she was there because I dont have a work permit or documents myself. I was worried that if I went then I might be detained as well. We are living in constant fear of being arrested and deported, she added.

Speaking of her other daughters, aged 18 and 14, Zahab said: The uncertainty is the most difficult thing. They were going to school back home, now they have to work. If they dont work, we will not have anything to eat, pay rent or anything.

Zahab said she felt let down by those she worked alongside after her application to come to the UK was rejected. She said: I feel like all their promises were false. They were just using us and then, when they didnt need us any more, they just threw us away. Now they dont need us, they dont care.

A small number of Afghan women were trained to work alongside British and Afghan special forces (Supplied)

One of Zahabs former Afghan commanders, who is now in the UK, said she was a good soldier who he could trust on operations, and that she and the other women in the unit  who he said lived in their own section on the same base as the men  did essential work.

Sometimes the Taliban would give important documents or phones to women, and Afghan men cant search Afghan women, so we needed women in the force. It was essential to have one or two women for every night raid. Sometimes, when we didnt have women we had to cancel operations, he said.

Another of Zahabs colleagues in the 333 unit stressed the importance of soldiers like her. If the women were not there then we would cancel the operations. The enemy would hide themselves among the women, so they were the ones who would differentiate them he said.

An MoD spokesperson said: The UK government has made an ambitious and generous commitment to help eligible people in Afghanistan. So far, we have brought around 24,600 people to safety, including thousands of people eligible for our Afghan schemes.

Each Arap application is decided and scrutinised on its own merits against each criterion outlined in the specific Arap policy and the immigration rules, which are published online.
This undated handout photo released on November 27, 2023 by the South Korean Defence Ministry shows North Korean soldiers near a guard post on the North side of the Demilitarised zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas (South Korean Defence Ministry/AF)

North Korea is rushing soldiers and weaponry to its border with South Korea, reopening sensitive guard posts after the breakdown of the historic 2018 deal to avoid military conflict between the two countries.

North Korea has deployed heavy weapons and erected guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) border that were demolished under the peace agreement five years ago, the South Korean defence ministry said on Monday.

The deal came in a year of thawing inter-Korean tensions, beginning with talks between US president Donald Trump and North Koreas Kim Jong-un and ending in a September 2018 joint agreement at a celebratory meeting between Mr Kim and then-South Korean leader Moon Jae-in.

But progress in denuclearisation talks later stalled, and tensions are now significantly ratcheting up again between the two Koreas after Pyongyang said it had successfully placed a spy satellite into orbit, its latest show of defiance against UN-led sanctions.

In a retaliatory move, South Korea partially suspended the 2018 agreement and resumed surveillance flights along the border.

North Korea responded by fully withdrawing from the pact and vowing to make South Korea pay dearly for nullifying parts of the pact, according to state media KCNA.

On Monday, South Koreas defence ministry released pictures taken since Friday showing North Korean soldiers installing temporary guard posts in several locations.

They were also pictured setting up what appeared to be a recoilless rifle  a portable anti-vehicle weapon or light artillery piece  at a fortification, it said.

South Korean Defence Ministry shows North Korean soldiers rebuilding a guard post on the North side of the Demilitarised zone (DMZ) dividing the two Korea (South Korean Defence Ministry/AF)

A senior military official said that before the guard posts were destroyed under the deal there were observation posts and North Korea is now presumed to be rebuilding them, according to Yonhap, a South Korean news agency.

"There are only a few guard posts currently undergoing restoration work, but the North is expected to restore all of them as they are essential facilities for surveillance," the official added.

South Koreas Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the military will take "corresponding measures" in response to the Norths move.

"It depends on the enemys behavior. It is North Korea that has taken actions and broken trust ... We will take corresponding measures. Not taking an action would be more foolish," said general Kim Myung-soo, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who took office on Saturday.

According to South Koreas estimates, before the 2018 agreement North Korea had about 160 guard posts along the DMZ, while the South had 60.

Each side demolished 11 of them following the military deal.

A North Korea guard post picture by South Korea military along the DMZ (South Korean Defence Ministry/AF)

The defence pact  known as the Inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement  was aimed at de-escalating tensions at the border and preventing accidental clashes. It created a 5km buffer zone, including a no-fly zone, to reduce the possibility of an armed conflict.

Following the launch of the spy satellite last Tuesday (21 November), North Korean state media claimed Kim Jong-un was able to review photos of US military bases in Hawaii and Seoul.

North Koreas leader Kim Jong-un and his daughter meeting with scientists who contributed to the launch of a reconnaissance satellite (KCNA VIA KNS/AFP via Getty Image)

On 22 November, nine members of the UN Security Council joined the US in a statement that denounced North Koreas satellite launch for using ballistic missile technology, calling it a violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.

The United States called an unscheduled meeting of the UNSC for Monday to discuss the developments in North Korea.

Meanwhile, the foreign ministers of South Korea, Japan and China met on Sunday in the South Korean port city of Busan to discuss when to resume their leaders trilateral summits after a four-year hiatus.

A meeting between the leaders of the three countries is expected to take place sometime next year, according to South Koreas national security adviser Cho Tae-yong.

Heightening tensions due to North Koreas weapons programme were one of the agenda items of the meeting.

Additional reporting by agencies
The California Highway Patrol is increasing its operations to help curb organized retail crime under a new order from the states governor, Gavin Newsom.

When criminals run out of stores with stolen goods, they need to be arrested and escorted directly into jail cells, Newsom wrote in a statement announcing the effort.

Leveraging hundreds of millions of dollars in law enforcement investments, the California Highway Patrol  working with allied agencies  is increasing enforcement efforts and conducting and supporting covert and confidential takedowns to stop these criminals in their tracks during the holiday season, and year-round.

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The governors office said the move comes as part of Newsoms Real Public Safety Plan, aimed at fighting crime in The Golden State. The office said the additional law enforcement presence in California will help ensure the safety of shoppers and merchants while also catching retail criminals.

The CHP and its Organized Retail Crime Task Force (ORCTF) in Southern California, the Bay Area, the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento are expected to be working in collaboration with retailers, loss prevention and local law enforcement agencies.

Newsom in September announced the approval of the states largest-ever investment in combating organized retail crime. This effort provided $267 million to 55 cities and counties in California.

Since the ORCTF was created in 2019, the CHP has assisted in nearly 2,200 investigations that have led to the arrests of more than 1,500 suspects and recovery of more than $33 million worth of stolen merchandise items, according to the governors office.

The Public Policy Institute of California reported a 28.7 percent jump in reported commercial shoplifting in 2022 when compared to the low rates of the pandemic years, though it still remains 8 percent below its prepandemic levels.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Casandra Friend, of Provo, laughs as her daughter asks for a toy after collecting their luggage at the Southwest luggage carousel at the Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City on Friday, Dec. 30, 2022. | Laura Seitz, Deseret News

As you enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers and think about the 30 million people who traveled by plane or the 55 million who traveled by car over the holiday weekend, undoubtedly some of them will have travel nightmare stories to share. We all have them, it seems.

Most of my travel nightmare stories become funny over time, although the last one Ill share today has never been funny. Lets start, though, with some common ones.

Missed or canceled flights

Ive missed my share of flights. In one case, I spent an extra day in Amsterdam because I was five minutes too late. The plane was still at the gate, but the doors were closed and they would not be reopened. Another time, my daughter and I missed flights in South Africa because, in our jet-lagged brains, we did not have the right time for boarding, but rather the departure time. Oops.

In February 1991, I flew to Romania on Yugloslav Airlines. We were asked not to leave the Belgrade airport during our 10-hour layover because of political unrest. Two months later, when I was ready to return home, Yugoslavia as a country was breaking apart and Yugoslav Airlines no longer existed.

Almost five years ago, I booked an international flight on one of those cheap airfare websites for my husband, myself and two teens. We got to Dallas for our connecting flight, only to find out the flight didnt exist. It wasnt delayed  the entire route had been removed from the airlines schedule months before. That was confusing to everyone, including airline personnel.

Traveling with kids

The number of those adventures traveling with kids are as long as my arm. I traveled home from Romania (on Romanian Air) with two disabled toddlers, by myself. Those were some very long hours. Ive made the mistake, more than once, sad to say, of not being adequately prepared with diapers, wipes, extra clothes, bottles or formula. Delayed flights or baby tummy troubles have led to some, um, interesting times in airplane bathrooms, trying to jury-rig a solution.

Speaking of tummy troubles, I might also mention the time I got my first case of giardia in Ethiopia, where there are less-than-adequate public restrooms. If youve never had giardia, I am so happy for you. It feels like death is coming for you by ripping your insides out. That same trip, our newly adopted 4-year-old threw up all over the JFK McDonalds  and his clothes  on our way home.

The worst, though, was on another adoption trip. I was adopting in Russia in early 1998 and had to fly from Vladivostok, on the far eastern side of the country, to Moscow, in the west to get U.S. visas for our two newest children. The flight was nine hours, each way, with less than 24 hours in Moscow before flying back on a red-eye. The 21-month old started crying before we boarded the plane and did.not.stop. until after we landed. That was a nightmare. Nightmare. I had a teenager with me who was watching the other toddler while I literally spent eight-plus hours in the airplane bathroom. He cried, I cried. For hours. To make the whole situation worse, it was just a few months after an American couple was arrested in the U.S. after they had slapped and yelled at their newly adopted Russian children on their flight home. I was positive every single eye was on me on that plane.

That one is still only mildly amusing. However, it was another confirmation of the mantra You can do anything for nine hours. (Or a day, a week, a semester, or even a year.)

The not-funny travel story

The one travel nightmare that is not even slightly humorous was the time I had a second-trimester miscarriage. It was 1992 and I was 17 weeks pregnant when I traveled to Moscow for one week. I had been feeling the baby move and had heard her heartbeat several times. I felt that by 17 weeks, I was out of the danger zone.

I started bleeding in the airport, getting ready to go home.

During that interminable flight, the bleeding got worse and the cramping began. I was able to lie down in the back row of the plane, while emergency sanitary supplies were found. I cried my way back to the U.S.

The flight crew recommended I seek medical attention at the first stop in the U.S., but I just wanted to get home. I went straight from the Salt Lake City airport to the University of Utah Hospital, where I delivered a tiny, perfectly formed, perfectly still baby girl. We named her Aimee, French for beloved, and so she was.

All in all, I am grateful for modern travel capabilities. I just wish the Star Trek transporter was a reality.
Hamas still has nine American hostages, the White House confirmed on Monday, a day after a four-year-old girl became the first American hostage taken during the Oct. 7 attack in Israel to be released.

Abigail Edan was reunited with her extended family on Sunday, one of 17 hostages released that day. Abigails mother and father were shot dead in front of her in their home on Kibbutz Kfar Azza during Hamas massacre.

President Biden wants the remaining Americans to be included in a new round of hostage releases expected over the next few days, John Kirby, a spokesman for the White Houses National Security Council, said on Monday, soon after Israel and Hamas agreed to extend a ceasefire for two more days. Israel originally agreed to pause the bombardment of Gaza for four days and release 150 Palestinian prisoners held in the West Bank in exchange for 50 hostages being returned home from Gaza.

Biden spent the weekend making calls on the negotiations around the ceasefire from Nantucket island off the coast of Massachusetts, where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday at the waterfront house of investor David Rubenstein.

More From TIME

On Saturday, Biden spoke with Qatars Emir Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at a very critical moment to help resolve an impasse, involving which hostages would be released, Kirby said. On Sunday, Biden spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to find terms under which Israel would agree to extend the four-day pause in fighting by another two days.

The initial pause in fighting allowed the largest single convoy carrying humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza since the Oct. 7 attacks, Kirby said. Two hundred trucks were sent to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Sunday and 137 trucks of supplies were unloaded by the United Nations in Gaza. In recent weeks, the US government has assisted more than 840 American citizens and their families leave Gaza and enter Egypt, Kirby said.

As the Israeli military has waged a campaign to kill Hamass military leaders and destroy the groups extensive tunnel network built under Gaza, more than 15,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Biden has faced heavy criticism from some Democrats for not doing more to pressure Israel to do more to avoid civilian casualties.

Kirby suggested on Monday that Bidens handling of the situation thus far had played a key role in the fragile progress toward peace made in recent days. The president understands that theres strong feelings on multiple sides, Kirby said. He also believes right down to his core, that the approach weve been taking has been getting results.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
In mid-October, a new policy document on the Marine Corps website caused a stir among Marines preparing to transition to civilian life.

The document, providing direction to the active duty force, announced Marines would be limited to three or four months in SkillBridge  the Defense Department program that allows service members to spend up to six months in civilian internships before leaving active duty. The document was posted on the Corps online library of publicly releasable publications, orders and directives.

But it turns out the document the Marine Corps released was premature, and the service hasnt yet made any changes to its policy on SkillBridge, according to Marine spokeswoman Maj. Danielle Phillips.

SkillBridge allows soon-to-be veterans to work or train full-time at civilian workplaces, in a wide variety of fields, during their final months in the military. Meanwhile, they still get compensation and benefits from the military.

On Nov. 1, more than two weeks after the policy document was posted, Marines who handle the SkillBridge programs at each installation received an email letting them know that policy had been rescinded. A Marine official in the Corps Personal and Professional Development office sent that email, a confirmed source who asked to remain anonymous told Marine Corps Times.

The policy update was pulled back for corrections, reads the email obtained by Marine Corps Times. Each Marine installation has a point of contact for SkillBridge in the education or transition center, according to a Marine Corps fact sheet on the program.

The limits on time in SkillBridge will be in effect upon completion of the revised guidance, keeping with the Commandants intent to focus on mission readiness, according to the email.

To clarify, the policy established by NAVMC 1700.2, dated December 2022, is still in effect, Phillips said via email to Marine Corps Times on Nov. 8, referring to the policy that allows Marines a maximum of six months in the program. Should any policy changes be approved, they will be announced via Marine administrative message.

Phillips didnt respond to a follow-up query from Marine Corps Times asking how the document, entitled NAVMC 1700.2A and dated Oct. 14, had been published prematurely. She didnt respond by time of publication to a query about when any policy changes would go into effect or who was tasked with deciding on them.

The Corps hasnt published a Marine administrative message alerting Marines to the error and clarifying the SkillBridge policy. Phillips didnt respond by time of publication to a Marine Corps Times query about whether the service has informed Marines of the change via other channels.

In October, meanwhile, news of apparent limits on SkillBridge caused whiplash for some Marines who were on their way out of the Corps.

The now-rescinded policy would have limited the maximum time before separation or retirement that Marines can begin a SkillBridge program to four months for those of the rank sergeant and below and three months for staff noncommissioned officers, commissioned officers and warrant officers. That would have been a significant drop from the Marine Corps current maximum of six months.

The Marine Corps' now-rescinded SkillBridge policy document would have restricted the time Marines can spend in the job transition program from six months to three or four months. (Irene Loewenson/Canva)

The email that Marine points of contact for SkillBridge received on Nov. 1 says Marine commanders may either approve SkillBridge applications under the existing policy from December 2022 or require Marines to submit applications under the rescinded policys tier system, which puts limits on time in SkillBridge based on rank.

The Corps rules would have set the strictest time limits in the military.

The Army and Air Force allow the Defense Departments maximum of six months, according to each branchs respective website. The Navy in March made the maximum three or four months for more senior sailors but has kept the maximum to six months for junior enlisted sailors.

How SkillBridge works

SkillBridge began as a pilot program in 2011 to make it easier for service members to find work as the country emerged from the Great Recession. The DoD formally established the program in January 2014.

In fiscal year 2022, 22,548 separating service members participated in the program, a Labor Department leader told Congress in May. That year, there were a total of 174,813 service members who separated from the military, according to Pentagon data.

SkillBridge opportunities are available in fields as far-ranging as electrical construction, management consulting and book publishing, according to the list of authorized partners.

The program is designed to be a win-win for service members and employers, according to the SkillBridge website. Civilian partners get access to highly trained and motivated workers at no cost, while service members get training and work experience, which sometimes translates into offers of full-time employment.

But during their time in SkillBridge, service members arent working at their military jobs.

The Corps now-rescinded limits on the program would have meant Marines werent eligible for the longer opportunities, and some Marines transitioning out of the Corps would have had to scramble to make new plans.

On Reddit, LinkedIn and Instagram, active-duty Marines and Marine veterans expressed confusion, consternation and nonchalance about the apparent policy change. At least one installation, Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, North Carolina, published a guide to SkillBridge eligibility that relied on the now-rescinded policy.

Marine Maj. Antonio Contreras was thrilled when, early in October, he received an opportunity to spend six months working at the State Department. Contreras, a judge advocate and foreign area officer, must retire from the Marine Corps in July 2024 after 20 years, he told Marine Corps Times Oct. 23.

When the Marine Corps seemingly announced it was halving the time Contreras and Marines of similar rank could spend in the SkillBridge program, Contreras was left in limbo, hoping the State Department would still accommodate him.

He said he first found out about the apparent limits on SkillBridge from a coworker who had heard from an installations SkillBridge coordinator  who later confirmed it to him directly. Meanwhile, Contreras saw news of the document spreading across social media.

It was disheartening, Contreras said Oct. 23. There are opportunities to help you transition out of the Marine Corps, and all of the sudden all of that is swept from under your feet.

Contreras ultimately worked out a three-month internship with the State Department, though he said Oct. 26 not every organization might have made a similar accommodation for Marines. For now, his request to the Marine Corps stands at three months.

The premature policy document also dictates that senior Marine leaders  of the paygrades E8-E9, W4-W5, O5 and above  must get the endorsement of a general officer in their chain of command before embarking on SkillBridge. Under that policy, those high-ranking Marines wouldnt have been allowed to do SkillBridge if it would create a staffing gap.

That would have been a step up from the DoDs requirement that service members get approval for SkillBridge from a field-grade commander with nonjudicial punishment authority.

The now-unpublished policy document encourages commands to establish a formal process for determining the effect of Marines participation in SkillBridge before disapproving requests. Commands should have the same criteria for evaluating requests from officers and enlisted Marines, the policy says.

The unpublished document also notes that participation in SkillBridge can affect special or incentive pay, typically offered to keep Marines in hard-to-fill or less desirable roles.

Reevaluating SkillBridge policy

The premature policy document was labeled as being from Commandant Gen. Eric Smith, directed to all Marines on active duty. At the bottom of the first page are the words Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.

The Marine Corps webpage where the document had been linked as late as Nov. 8 now reads, CONTENT NOT FOUND. The webpage where the current SkillBridge policy, from December 2022, had been linked reads the same.

Phillips, the Marine spokeswoman, acknowledged that the Marine Corps is evaluating its SkillBridge policy.

It is imperative that the service evaluate and assess the efficacy and impact of these programs and initiatives over time, she said in the email to Marine Corps Times. SkillBridge is one of the many programs currently being assessed by the service to ensure we balance the needs of the individual Marine with Congressional intent and a mission-capable Marine Corps.

The Marine Corps now-unpublished policy document came seven months after the Navy tightened its own rules regarding SkillBridge.

In March, the Navy restricted the maximum time in the program to four months or less for senior enlisted sailors and lower-ranking officers, and three months or less for officers of the rank of commander  the same paygrade as a Marine lieutenant colonel  and up. Previously, the Navy had stated sailors normally shouldnt spend more than four months in the program, but the maximum still had been six months.

But the Navys policy from March is looser than the one in the premature Marine Corps policy: Sailors up to the rank of petty officer second class (the same paygrade as a Marine sergeant) can still do SkillBridge for up to six months, the DoDs maximum.
Russia must not be a member of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), since it has done more damage to free navigation in the recent decades than any other country.

Source: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, in an address to the participants of the 33rd Assembly of the International Maritime Organisation

Quote: "Russia has no place in the International Maritime Organisation, nor in its governing bodies, because no one in recent decades has caused greater harm to free navigation than Russia. It must be held accountable for this, and such accountability of the aggressor will guarantee the preservation of global trust in our Organisation."

Zelenskyy noted that since the beginning of Russias unprovoked war against Ukraine, the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea waters has suffered the greatest blow since the Second World War.

"On the very first day of the full-scale war, Russia blocked our ports [in] the Black Sea, disrupting our maritime trade routes. This led to enormous negative consequences  first of all, in terms of food security in the world. The food export from Ukraine affects the lives of about four hundred million people in different parts of the world," Zelenskyy said in the video, adding that "Ukraine has overcome this threat".

Specifically, Zelenskyy reminded the participants of the Assembly that even despite the unilateral suspension of the Black Sea grain deal by Russia, Ukraine has managed to release hundreds of ships with cargo to the countries of Europe, Asia and Africa. He also noted that in spite of Russias large-scale attacks on seaport and civil ships, its military potential is quite limited.

"We have driven its navy away from our part of the sea. And this allowed us to launch new alternative routes in the Black Sea  almost six million tonnes of cargo have been transported in less than three months," the president said.

Zelenskyy also expressed his certainty that the IMO, as an institution created for facilitation of global navigation safety, must pay much more attention to safe operation of seaports both in Ukraine and in the regions where aggression is or might be taking place.

He also invited the representative of the organisation to visit the city of Odesa and other port cities of Ukraine "so that you can see with your own eyes what difficulties our people have overcome".

The president stated that "anyone who tries to destroy the fundamental principles of navigation must be held accountable. The freedom of the seas is one of the key freedoms that allowed humanity to advance. We must defend it together," he stated.

In connection with this, Zelenskyy urged the IMO to "prove at the level of this Organisation that no destroyer of freedom of navigation will go unpunished".

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North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein will be making campaign stops in the Charlotte area Monday morning.

Stein will be touring the Rowan Cabarrus Community College, Research Campus, and Advanced Technology Center around 11 a.m.

At the college, he will be discussing technology and workforce development.

Stein will then pivot to a small business luncheon at Cavendish Brewing in Gastonia, where he will discuss entrepreneurship.

ALSO READ: North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announces campaign for governor

In January, Stein announced that he would be running to serve as North Carolinas next governor in 2024.

To learn more about Steins campaign, click here.

VIDEO: North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein announces campaign for governor
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An Autryville, North Carolina homeless encampment turned into a crime scene on Sunday after a quadruple shooting that left four people dead, in what law enforcement officials say appeared to be a murder-suicide.

The Sampson County Sheriffs Office said it received reports of shots being fired at about 9:20 a.m. on Sunday, just outside Autryville, North Carolina.

A local CBS station reportedly spoke with a woman who said she heard an argument coming from the camp as she was returning to her home after walking her dogs on Sunday morning.

ARMED WOMAN STEPS IN TO DEFEND MAN SHOT IN THE FACE FROM AGGRESSOR

"I heard arguing, didnt think nothing of it, just went back in the house," she told the station. "I started to cook breakfast, then I heard 10 to 15 shots back-to-back."

When deputies arrived at the scene, they discovered four dead individuals near two tents in a homeless encampment near Tanner Lane.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The sheriffs office said all four individuals  two men and two women  sustained apparent gunshot wounds.

ARMED WOMAN WHO DEFENDED HERSELF AGAINST 'DRUNK' ROOMMATE CELEBRATES LEGAL WIN

The roof of a police patrol car at night, with the blue and red lights flashing.

A preliminary investigation into the incident, the sheriffs office added, led investigators to believe a murder-suicide took place.

The investigation into the matter is ongoing, and crime scene investigators continue to collect and process evidence from the scene to ensure no additional foul play was involved.

The sheriffs office declined to identify the four individuals when asked by Fox News Digital, only to say two men and two women were victims and their "possible names" were being withheld pending identification and notification of next of kin.

The department added there does not appear to be any threat to the public.





Original article source: North Carolina shooting leaves 4 dead at homeless camp in suspected murder-suicide
(Bloomberg) -- North Korea appears to have deployed soldiers and weapons to guard posts near the border that were shut in a 2018 deal with South Korea as tensions between the neighbors ratchet up in the wake of Pyongyangs recent spy satellite launch.

Most Read from Bloomberg

South Korean military officials have spotted activity near the posts inside the Demilitarized Zone since late last week, the Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday. Images provided by the ministry showed a handful of soldiers outside of small posts inside the DMZ, positioning weapons.

Seoul pledged to take corresponding measures, according the statement, hinting at a restoration of South Korean guard posts near the border. South Koreas military also detected an increase in activity for North Koreas coastal artillery, according to the statement.

North Korea had detonated 10 of 11 guard posts inside the DMZ in the wake of a summit about five years ago between leader Kim Jong Un and then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in that led to an agreement to reduce tensions along the heavily fortified DMZ dividing the peninsula.

Current President Yoon Suk Yeol, a conservative, has been skeptical about the deal struck by his predecessor, who advocated rapprochement with Pyongyang. Yoons government last week suspended part of the 2018 agreement after North Korea put the spy satellite in orbit, with Seoul resuming reconnaissance flights near the border that were suspended under the agreement.

North Korea then announced it intended to scrap the entire accord.

After two failed tries this year, Kims regime last week launched a rocket that put a spy satellite into orbit. While North Korea has hailed the latest mission as a success, there have been no indications from the outside world about whether the probe is actually operational.

Although officials in Seoul believe a North Korean spy satellite would be rudimentary at best, it could help Pyongyang refine its targeting as it rolls out new missiles designed to deliver nuclear strikes in South Korea and Japan, which host the bulk of Americas military personnel in the region.

(Updates with defense ministry statement.)

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On October 7, Hamas launched an unprecedented terrorist attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people, with hundreds taken hostage. The attack prompted a deadly response from the Israel Defense Forces, which has reportedly left more than 10,000 people dead in airstrikes and a land incursion. Shortly after the attack, the number of internet-connected honeypots in Israel  manufactured networks designed to lure hackers in  have risen dramatically, according to cybersecurity experts who monitor the internet.
By Hyunsu Yim

SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea warned on Monday it would continue to exercise its sovereign rights, including through satellite launches, while its troops were reported to be restoring some demolished guard posts on the border with South Korea.

North Korea's foreign ministry said the launch of a reconnaissance satellite last week was prompted by the need to monitor the United States and its allies, state media KCNA reported.

"It is a legal and just way to exercise its right to defend itself and thoroughly respond to and precisely monitor the serious military action by the U.S. and its followers," the KCNA report said.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, saying it successfully entered orbit and was transmitting photographs, but South Korean defence officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified.

The launch prompted South Korea to suspend a key clause in a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement and resume aerial surveillance near the border.

North Korea in turn declared it was no longer bound by the agreement and would deploy weapons on the border with the South.

South Korea's defence ministry said North Korean soldiers had been observed bringing back heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) border and setting up guard posts that the two countries demolished under the agreement.

South Korea estimates the North had about 160 guard posts along the DMZ and the South had 60. Each side demolished 11 of them after the military deal signed in 2018 aimed at de-escalating tension and prevent accident military clashes.

Armed North Korean soldiers had been spotted restoring damaged guard posts in several locations since Friday, South Korea's defence ministry said, citing photographs from cameras in the DMZ.

They were also setting up what appeared to be a recoilless rifle - a portable anti-vehicle weapon or light artillery piece - at a fortification, it said, also citing a photograph.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again visited the control centre of the space agency in Pyongyang on Monday morning and viewed fresh satellite photos of the United States' Anderson Air Force base in Guam and other places including Rome, KCNA reported.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was briefed on the latest North Korean activities and ordered military readiness, his office said.

The United States had called an unscheduled meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday to discuss the North's satellite launch.

On Nov. 22, nine members of the Security Council joined the United States in a statement condemning the North's satellite launch for using ballistic missile technology, calling it a violation of multiple Security Council resolutions.

North Korea's foreign ministry said the statement only showed how dysfunctional the Security Council had become, with some member states blindly following the United States in issuing meaningless statements.

Two of the veto-wielding permanent members, China and Russia, have refused to join in any new Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang despite its continued testing of increasingly powerful ballistic missiles.

They did not join in the most recent statement last week.

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim, writing by Jack Kim, Editing by Kim Coghill, Ed Davies and Gerry Doyle)
North Korea is restoring previously dismantled border guard posts amid heightened tensions in the region following the countrys recent spy satellite launch.

South Koreas Defense Ministry said Monday it discovered North Korea building guard posts at border sites and deploying troops and heavy weaponry, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The news agency said ministry officials shared photos of North Korea troops installing the guard posts.

Under a 2018 agreement, the two Koreas dismantled or disarmed 11 guard posts located inside the heavily guarded border, known as the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The agreement also created a no-fly zone at the border and a ban on aerial reconnaissance and live-fire exercises.

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The deal, which left South Korea with 50 guard posts and North Korea with 150, was intended to curb front-line military confrontation, though it could be at risk following North Koreas spy satellite launch last week.

North Korea launched the reconnaissance satellite, called the Malligyong-1, atop a Chollima-1 rocket from the countrys main launch center last week, according to state-run news agency Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Pyongyang claimed the launch was successful after previous failed attempts earlier this year.

Last week, South Koreas parliament voted to suspend the 2018 military reduction agreement in the wake of the launch, allowing for restored surveillance activities at the DMZ.

South Korea reportedly said the suspension was a minimum defensive measure, since the launch showed the Norths strengthened monitoring of the South and intention to improve missiles.

North Korea railed against the suspension, claiming it would put weapons at the border and will not follow the 2018 deal.

While North Korea has advanced its nuclear and missile capabilities in recent years, it had not, until last week, deployed any major capabilities in space. In May, North Koreas first launch failed after the rocket fell into the ocean, and a second attempt in August failed due to a technical issue.

North Koreas national space agency said the space launch was justified because the U.S. and its allies have already militarized space. Both the U.S. and Japan condemned last weeks launch.

The Associated Press contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
North Korean soldiers are spotted moving heavy firearms into a guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas on Friday. Photo courtesy of South Korean Defense Ministry/Yonhap

SEOUL, Nov. 27 (UPI) -- North Korea has begun rebuilding guard posts and bringing heavy firearms along the border with South Korea after effectively scrapping a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction deal, the defense ministry said Monday.

Ministry officials disclosed photos showing North Korean troops installing temporary guard posts, carrying what appeared to be recoilless guns and standing guard at night inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

These moves came after the North said last week it would restore all military measures halted under the 2018 tension reduction deal. That decision came after South Korea suspended part of the agreement in protest of the North's successful launch of a military spy satellite.

"Before destroying the GPs, there were observation posts and they are presumed to be rebuilding them. It was made of white wood and painted with a camouflage pattern," a senior military official told reporters on background, referring to a guard post seen in a photo released by the defense ministry on Monday.

"There are only a few guard posts currently undergoing restoration work, but the North is expected to restore all of them as they are essential facilities for surveillance," the official added.

North Korean soldiers are spotted painting a guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas on Friday. Photo courtesy of South Korean Defense Ministry/Yonhap

Restoration work began on Friday, a day after the North said it was scrapping the deal, officials said.

The Comprehensive Military Agreement was signed on Sept. 19, 2018, at the height of a reconciliatory mood when then South Korean President Moon Jae-in traveled to Pyongyang for summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korean soldiers are spotted painting a guard post inside the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas on Friday. Photo courtesy of South Korean Defense Ministry/Yonhap

The deal called for demolishing border guard posts within 1 kilometer of the border, banning military drills and maneuvers near the land and sea borders, and establishing no-fly zones along the border, among a series of measures designed to reduce military tensions.

At the time, both sides demolished 10 guard posts each and withdrew troops and weapons from them.

In response to the North's latest move, the defense ministry vowed to keep close tabs on the North's activities to detect signs of provocations along the border.

"Our military will closely monitor North Korea's provocative acts, while maintaining the full readiness to be able to retaliate to North Korea's provocations immediately, strongly and till the end, based on the strengthened combined posture with the U.S.," the ministry said.

North Korea's restoration of guard posts has raised speculation that the South Korean military could take further actions in addition to resuming surveillance activities near the border following the partial suspension of the accord.

Gen. Kim Myung-soo, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who took office Saturday, said the South Korean military will take "corresponding measures" in response to the North's latest move, without elaborating on details.

"It depends on the enemy's behavior. It is North Korea that has taken actions and broken trust ... We will take corresponding measures. Not taking an action would be more foolish," Kim Myung-soo said during his first meeting with reporters on Monday.

Later in the day, Defense Minister Shin Won-shik visited the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, to discuss the security situation on the peninsula with Gen. Paul LaCamera, the commander of the CFC, U.S. Forces Korea and the United Nations Command.

During the visit, Shin condemned the North's launch of a spy military satellite and taking steps to restore military measures halted under the 2018 pact near the border, calling for the allies' strong combined defense posture against North Korea's provocations, according to the ministry.
By Josh Smith and Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -After decades of satellite surveillance by foreign governments and analysts, North Korea has sent its first spy satellite on a global orbit with a message to the world: we can watch you too.

On Tuesday North Korean state media said leader Kim Jong Un had reviewed spy satellite photos of the White House, Pentagon and U.S. aircraft carriers at the naval base of Norfolk.

North Korea last week successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite, which it has said was designed to monitor U.S. and South Korean military movements.

Since then state media has reported the satellite photographed cities and military bases in South Korea, Guam, and Italy, in addition to Washington.

"Remember when you got that toy you always wanted at Xmas and were so excited you wanted to tell everyone about it?" Chad O'Carroll, founder of the North Korea-focused website NK News, said of the KCNA reports in a post on X.

So far, Pyongyang has not released any imagery, leaving analysts and foreign governments to debate how capable the new satellite actually is.

South Korea, which said on Tuesday the Nov. 30 launch date for its own first spy satellite on a U.S. Falcon 9 rocket would be delayed by weather, has said the North's satellite capabilities could not be verified.

In Washington, the Pentagon said North Korea's satellite did enter orbit but did not comment on Pyongyang's claims about the images it had captured.

"I will say that there are plenty of images of the Pentagon and the White House online," Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder told reporters.

There's no reason to doubt that the satellite could see the large areas or warships North Korea claimed it could, as even a medium-resolution camera could offer Pyongyang that capability, said Dave Schmerler, a satellite imagery expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS).

"But how useful those images are depends on what they want to use them for," he said.

For medium-resolution satellites to be useful in a conflict, North Korea will need to launch many more to allow more frequent passes over key sites, Schmerler said, a goal that the North's space agency has said it is pursuing.

"It's a big leap for them going from zero to something, but until we can see the images they're collecting, we're speculating on its use cases," he said.

Jeffrey Lewis, another researcher at CNS, said a state media photo of Kim examining the satellite images with his daughter suggest they may be panchromatic, a type of black-and-white photography that is sensitive to all wavelengths of visible light.

North Korea released panchromatic imagery of downtown Seoul after a rocket launch in December 2022 in what it said was a test of the satellite control, image taking and data downlink for its eventual military reconnaissance satellite.

Tuesday's photos were the latest in a series of images of what KCNA described as "major target regions".

Kim also inspected satellite photos of the Andersen Air Force Base in the U.S. Western Pacific territory of Guam and a U.S. shipyard and airbase in Norfolk and Newport, where four nuclear-powered aircraft carriers and a British aircraft carrier were spotted, KCNA said.

Commercial imagery of those cities on Nov. 27, the day North Korea says it captured its photographs, was not immediately available.

The United States and South Korea have condemned the satellite launch as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions banning any use of ballistic technology.

(Reporting by Hyonhee ShinEditing by Chris Reese, Gerry Doyle and Sandra Maler)
Do registered nurses have the right to stand on a street corner across from an unopened hospital, holding signs and talking to reporters about concerns they have over working conditions and patient safety if enough nurses decide to quit their jobs?

Thats the crux of the latest dispute between the New York State Nurses Association, which represents registered nurses at Wynn Hospital in Utica, and the nurses employer, the Mohawk Valley Health System.

The health system has, according to the union, threatened to discipline nurses who participated in speak-outs on Oct. 17 and 26, claiming that the nurses were picketing in violation of their contract.

Registered nurses from the Mohawk Valley Health System, who are represented by the New York State Nurses Association, gathered across the street from the still-unopened Wynn Hospital on Oct. 17, 2023 to express their concerns about what they called disparities in their contract and the possibility that more nurses might leave, exacerbating a shortage.

The union disagrees, sending a cease-and-desist letter to MVHS on Nov. 9 and filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board on Nov. 20.

The health system and the union have been bargaining toward a transition agreement for the opening of the Wynn, but have yet to reach an agreement.

Cease-and-desist letter

The cease-and-desist letter claims that, in response to a query from NYSNA, John Kennedy, director of labor relations for the health system, sent the union a list of 21 names of nurses who would be disciplined for participating in picketing.

The employee names were apparently pulled from media coverage of the speak-outs, wrote Claire Tuck, NYSNA legal director.

RNs have a right to speak to the media about the quality of patient care and their own working conditions, Tuck wrote. Your threats and surveillance of RNs participating in these protected activities are unlawful. RNs demand that you cease and desist your threats and surveillance.

Asked about the disciplinary measures for nurses, the cease-and-desist letter and the unfair labor practice charge, MVHS officials responded with a short statement.

Recent picketing by NYSNA members is in violation of our collective bargaining agreement, wrote Patricia Charvat, senior vice president, marketing and strategy, in the statement. We have informed NYSNA of the violation and are working on next steps. We have met with NYSNA and our nurses representatives 20 times, twice with a federal mediator, and NYSNA walked out of the last bargaining session.

More: Wynn Hospital: Officials say 'rumors, misinformation, lies' scaring public

About the unions

Nurses at the health systems St. Lukes and St. Elizabeth campuses belonged to different unions, NYSNA for St. Elizabeth and the Communications Workers of America for St. Lukes. But they all needed to be in the same union before they could work together in the Wynn Hospital, which replaced St. Lukes and St. Elizabeth on Oct. 29. The nurses voted in July to join NYSNA, placing them all under that contract.

During the Oct. 17 speak-out, nurses and union representatives assembled on the corner of State and Columbia streets, across State Street from the Wynn Hospital, which had not yet opened and talked about some of their concerns with the unified contract.

They wore union garb and carried signs which elicited honks of support from passing motorists. Utica Common Councilwoman and then mayoral candidate Celeste Friend spoke on their behalf.

The nurses spoke to reporters, explaining that some of them would receive less generous benefits under the unified contract, such as lower nighttime differential pay or higher health care costs. They argued that no one should lose out because of the new beginning in the new hospital.

And they predicted that nurses would leave the hospital over these issues, exacerbating a nurse shortage that has led to the hiring of much more expensive traveling nurses.

MVHS officials, though, said there were no cuts to benefits or pay and they they were continuing to bargain in good faith.

The charge filed with the NLRB by the union accused the health system of threats, surveillance and retaliation directed against nurses who participated in what NYSNA calls a press conference on their working conditions and quality of care concerns at the Wynn Hospital, all of which is protected conduct, according to the union.

The union completely dismissed the idea that the gathering of nurses at the speak-out qualified as picketing.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: NY nurses union protests MVHS discipline for nurses at speak-out
A New York politician is calling for the resignation of a university president who he accused of finding "moral equivalence between Hamas terrorist slaughter of innocent women and children with the contested political agenda of the Palestinian people" in the wake of the October 7 attacks.

In a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital on Sunday, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said Hofstra University President Dr. Susan Posers statement last month regarding the Israel-Hamas war is "so misguided and antithetical to good moral values and judgment that it puts into question her ability to lead Nassau Countys largest private university."

"I was shocked by the comments made by Dr. Poser concerning the barbaric and cowardly attack on innocent women and children by Hamas, a vicious terrorist organization," Blakeman, a Republican whose father and uncle both attended Hofstra after returning home from World War II, wrote.

HOCHUL RIPS TIKTOK OVER OSAMA BIN LADEN LETTER, VOWS NY SOCIAL MEDIA ANTI-HATE TEAMS WON'T 'PENALIZE' POLITICS

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman thanked New York volunteer firefighters who deployed to assist Israel fire departments short handed during the war against Hamas.

Blakeman, who has also taught Business Law at Hofstra and said many of his friends and colleagues are distinguished alumni, went on to say Posers "callous and unconscionable statement is completely out of step with the vast majority of Nassau County residents. With no allies for her in business, labor or government, Hofstra would be wise to part ways with Dr. Poser."

Blakemans letter, addressed to the Hofstra University Board of Trustees, came in response to Posers October 18 message to the Hofstra Community following the school's fall break. The university president wrote in her message that she wanted "to acknowledge the emails and comments that I and other administrators have received since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman and Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder address a group of rabbis during a security briefing update given the current situation in Israel on Oct. 12, 2023 in Garden City, New York.

NY GOV. HOCHUL BOLSTERS FBI JOINT TERRORISM TASK FORCE STAFFING OVER 'RISE IN HATE CRIMES,' HARASSMENT

"That event, Israels response, and the ongoing conflict are taking the lives of thousands of people, with no end in sight. We mourn the loss of life in Israel and Gaza, which is deeply affecting many members of our community," Poser said. "There is a complex history and conflicting views about the causal underpinnings of the current crisis. This is one of the reasons that lasting peace in that part of the world has been so elusive and contested. But what is not contested is the tragic loss of life of innocent Israelis, Palestinians, and many others."

Exterior of Hofstra's Science and Innovation Center on Oct. 5, 2023 in Hempstead, New York. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman is demanding the resignation of Hofstra University President Dr. Susan Poser.

"This was not a time for fence sitting and handwringing," Blakeman said in his letter. "Dr. Poser should have been clear and strong in her condemnation of Hamas without equivocation."

Poser's message did say the university would hold a "Vigil for Peace" that evening and said, "Hofstra will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on religion or national origin."

"We continue to work with local and federal law enforcement to monitor risk and ensure that our campus is safe," she added.





Original article source: NY official demands resignation of college president who claimed 'complex history' after Hamas terror attack
NEW YORK CITY - The New York Public Library's flagship location was vandalized during a pro-Palestinian protest on Thanksgiving, with the estimated cost of damages reportedly resulting in thousands of dollars.

Some of the demonstrators allegedly put blood-red handprints on the exterior of the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch, in Midtown. Spray paint on the facade appears to read "Free Palestine."

The ornate Fifth Avenue building, guarded by its world-famous marble lions, opened in 1911 and is now a designated landmark.

The estimated cost of repairs is around $75,000.

The demonstrators allegedly put blood-red handprints on the exterior of the building, along with other graffiti.

Some of the graffiti-covered delicately carved portions of the landmark structure and will be difficult to clean without causing more damage, according to a report in Gothamist.

The vandalism comes amid Sunday service at eight New York public libraries ending due to the recently announced city budget cuts.

The cuts will mean longer wait times for books, reduced programming and maintenance and repairs will be delayed or even postponed.

Thousands march up 6th Avenue on Black Friday

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters descended Friday in Midtown, marching from Washington Square up 6th Avenue. The NYPD dedicated a large police presence and resources to keep the peace.

The protesters swarmed around Black Friday shoppers, chanting, "While youre shopping, bombs are dropping!"  demanding their attention.

The rally was organized, with online flyers circulating in big black letters, "Shut it down". The meeting spot was Washington Square Park at 10 a.m.

Thousands of Pro-Palestinian demonstrators hold banners and Palestinian flags as they take over New York City Streets after gathering at Washington Square Park on Black Friday. (Photo by Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images)

As the crowd swelled, tensions swirled. The NYPD, both uniformed and in plains clothes, kept a close eye on the protesters, and most likely were informed they intended to march to Herald Square.

The view from SkyFOX showed how large the crowd had become by early afternoon, marching down 6th Avenue with Black Friday shoppers just blocks ahead.

Demonstrators block Manhattan Bridge on Sunday

Hundreds of Jewish protesters demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza shut down the Manhattan Bridge Sunday in both directions.

The protest came during an already travel nightmare for drivers.

Traffic came to a complete standstill on one of the busiest travel days, as many New Yorkers headed home after the busy Thanksgiving holiday.

Loud honking and yelling was heard as cars piled up on the bridge.
A New York City councilwoman unloaded on the failure of "modern progressivism" after students at a Queens high school last week reportedly rioted against a Jewish teacher for attending a pro-Israel rally.

"I was sickened by what I saw at Hillcrest HS, but sadly I was not surprised," Republican New York City Councilwoman Vickie Paladino told Fox News Digital on Sunday. "Our education system is fundamentally broken, and antisemitic riots like this are sadly the natural result of years of woke leftist indoctrination replacing real education.

"Allowing progressives to gain total control over our institutions was always going to lead to tragic outcomes; theyve been working to instigate a cultural revolution here for decades, and now those efforts appear to be bearing fruit."

Chaos broke out at Hillcrest High School in Queens on Monday after 11 a.m. when students planned a protest against a female teacher for attending a pro-Israel rally last month, the New York Post reported. Students reportedly checked out the teachers Facebook account and found her profile photo showed her attending the rally while holding a sign reading, "I stand with Israel."

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS BLASTS STUDENTS VILE SHOW OF ANTISEMITISM THAT FORCED TEACHER TO HIDE IN OFFICE

Hundreds of students reportedly ran through the schools hallways with Palestinian flags and chanted in support of Palestinians, the outlet reported. Witnesses said students started a group chat to expose the teacher and planned "a riot" ahead of Mondays chaos, the New York Post reported.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Everyone was yelling Free Palestine!" a senior told the news outlet.

"Everyone was screaming [The teacher] needs to go!" another student explained.

Students reportedly even attempted to get into the pro-Israel teachers classroom, but were blocked by other faculty members. The NYPD responded to the school, which is located in Queens Jamaica neighborhood, at about 11:20 a.m.

REPUBLICANS BLAST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTESTS AT DNC: 'NATION'S CAPITAL IS UNDER SIEGE'

War broke out in Israel on Oct. 7, when Hamas launched a series of attacks on the nation. Dueling protests in support of Israel or Palestinians have since unfolded in cities across the world, including repeated protests and rallies in New York City.

"For students in a New York City public school to feel empowered to riot and hunt down a Jewish teacher, something has gone severely wrong, and it's gone wrong for a very long time. And if it's allowed to continue, 'who we are' is going to be a raving mob of children who've been brainwashed into a poisonous hateful political ideology, forever," Paladino said on Twitter earlier Sunday.

"It was terrorism, plain and simple. Terrorism is violence against civilians to achieve a political goal. And that's what we saw in one of our public schools, against a teacher whose only offense was being Jewish and peacefully expressing her support for Israel on her own time," she added.

Paladino slammed the students actions and detailed a suggested plan of action on how to ensure those who took part in the riot are held accountable.

Pro-Palestiian protesters march throughout midtown Manhattan.

"These terrorist students stalked her online, organized in chat rooms, then sparked a riot and hunted her down. She had to be barricaded in a locker room as the rioters raged in the hallway and attempted to gain access to her," Paladino said in her message on X.

She asked if the teacher would have "survived unscathed" if students had gotten to her, arguing, "I think we all know the answer to that question, and it's horrifying."

NYC PALESTINIAN MAN SENTENCED IN BRUTAL ANTISEMITIC BEATING BEFORE JUDGE EJECTS ANGRY SUPPORTERS FROM COURT

Paladino represents northeast Queens, including neighborhoods such as North Flushing and Bayside.

The Republican New Yorker argued on X that shes seen "a lot of platitudes from elected officials" and condemnation, but that "MUCH more" needs to be done to prevent a similar incident. She provided bullet points on what actions local and school leaders should take to address the violence.

"Some of us have been warning of exactly this for years. Now that its reached the point where it cannot be ignored, the only question is what are we going to do about it? Condemnations and hand-wringing isnt enough. We need major structural changes to purge this woke poison from our DOE at every level, including the teachers unions who have enabled it every step of the way. Otherwise, things are only going to get worse," she told Fox News Digital.

Paladino is calling for the immediate suspension of all faculty until a thorough investigation is carried out; the firing of any faculty found involved in the riot; suspension of students who participated in the chaos; the expulsion of any student who took part in the riot, or promoted it on social media, "with referrals to criminal prosecution as necessary; an audit of social media accounts belonging to all Department of Education personnel; and an audit of curricula "to root out critical theory, gender theory, anti-Western bias, antisemitism, and other ideological poisons."

"There must be consequences for all involved. The students who organized and participated in this riot must be expelled and face legal prosecution, and school administration and faculty must be thoroughly investigated. Its time for action. Enough is enough," she added in comment to Fox.

The unidentified teacher told the New York Post that she has never experienced such an incident in her 23 years as an educator in New York City.

"I have worked hard to be supportive of our entire student body and an advocate for our community, and was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom last week," the teacher said.

UCLA PROFESSOR RIPS SCHOOL'S GUTLESS RESPONSE TO ANTISEMITISM ON CAMPUS: COMPLICIT WITH HAMAS

"No one should ever feel unsafe at school  students and teachers alike," she added.

The school was placed on lockdown for roughly two hours amid the riot. NYPD officers safely escorted the teacher from the school after arriving on the scene, the New York Post reported.

Thousands of Israel supporters gather near Central Park in New York City on Nov. 6, 2023.

Other New York leaders and social media commenters have also spoken out against the riot, including Mayor Eric Adams, who slammed the scene as "vile." Some commenters also pinned blame for the incident on the education system for promoting liberal and "woke" ideologies.

"The vile show of antisemitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, let alone anywhere else in our city," Adams wrote on X.

PRO-PALESTINIAN RALLIES IN NYC AND DC INTERRUPT CROWDED HUBS DURING RUSH-HOUR COMMUTE

"No one should be surprised by what happened at Hillcrest High School. The indoctrination of school children into Woke ideology has consequences," Princeton University professor of jurisprudence Robert P. George tweeted.

"Whether it was one student or multiple students who did or said something, whatever the trigger was, something happened. And I know from my many years on the city council that the counterterrorism task force is not engaged unless they believe it is potentially a serious situation," Democratic City Councilman James Gennaro said, according the New York Post. He said the NYPDs counterterrorism bureau is also investigating the riot.

Paladino said "modern progressivism" has failed and it's time for local leaders to offer solutions beyond "condemnations."

CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS

"Time to face facts, as though it hasn't been obvious for a while now  modern progressivism has failed. It's failed here and it's failed everywhere it's been attempted. The only question now is whether we're going to do something about it, or if we're going to allow it to lead to the horrors we all know are coming. Condemnations aren't enough, it's time for action," she wrote on X.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march on the St, George Ferry Terminal ramp on Staten Island, New York, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Police arrested one 18-year-old in the case after finding the student allegedly posted threats against the teacher in a group chat, the New York Post reported. The student was charged with aggravated harassment.

Fox News Digital reached out to Hillcrest inquiring about Paladinos suggested plan to address the riot, but did not immediately receive a response.





Original article source: NYC councilwoman blasts failure of modern progressivism after anti-Israel high school riot
It was a not-so-smooth plane ride after a passenger allegedly jumped out of the emergency exit on a flight going to Atlanta.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The incident happened Sunday just before 8 p.m., at the Louis Armstrong International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana, according to Channels 2 ABC-affiliate WGNO.

Passengers were boarding Southwest Airlines flight 3172 from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport to Atlantas Hartsfield Jackson International Airport when the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office said a passenger opened an emergency exit and jumped onto the wing.

According to officials, the plane was still in the skyway and had not been pushed back or moved.

TRENDING STORIES:

The passenger was caught on the tarmac by deputies. When deputies made contact with the man, they reportedly found that he was incoherent and not fully aware of his surroundings.

Officials believe he was suffering from a mental health emergency. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation. He remains hospitalized at this time.

Jefferson Parish authorities said there had been no criminal charges filed, but the investigation has been turned over to federal authorities.

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Jefferson Parish deputies said there is no indication that the man left anything on the plane, nor was he found in possession of any weapons. No one was injured during the incident.

Since the man was not arrested, the 38-year-old mans identity will not be released, authorities said. He is believed to reside in Atlanta.

Southwest Airlines told Channel 2 Action News in a statement: We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our customers for their inconvenience.

The flight was canceled following the incident.

IN OTHER NEWS:
RICHMOND, Mo.  Missouri officials are searching for a missing 20-year-old last seen in the Kansas City area over three weeks ago.

Zachariah Lundholm was last seen on Nov. 1 in Richmond, where he was living with a friend. His truck was then found on Nov. 11 in Liberty.

FOX4 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

Lundholm is described as 5-foot-8, weighing 130 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Police did not have a description of the last clothing he was seen in.

Anyone with information about the 20-year-olds location is asked to call 911 or call the Cameron, Missouri, Police Department at 816-6322-6521 or the Missouri State Highway Patrol at 573-526-6178.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
A Pickaway County official wanted to deny Juneteenth, a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery, from being a holiday awarded firefighters in their new contract.

And during a Nov. 17 public meeting that was being recorded, Scioto Township Trustee Barton Fannin used a racist slur to describe the holiday.

"I did not realize that that was a frickin' federal holiday," Fannin says. Asked by another trustee "You know what it means though, right?"

Frannin responded by using the slur to describe the holiday, prompting someone else to yell "Whoa!" followed by apparent nervous laughter.

After Trustee John Maynard provided a brief description of Juneteenth, Fannin asks Terry Brill, township fiscal officer, about the recording: "You can shut that off," Fannin says. "Have you shut it off?"

"Not yet," says Brill, followed by more laughter and unintelligible dialog.

"You might want to rewind it a little bit," says Fannin, before the conversation moves to paying township bills.

The day after Thanksgiving, the trustees met to place the former township fire station up for auction following passage of a 2019 fire levy and new station. They also briefly discussed Fannin's offensive comments. Brill said that he had regrets and that an apology would be included in the minutes of the Nov. 30 trustees meeting.

According to unofficial minutes from the Nov. 24 meeting, Maynard said that "these comments were very racist in nature, and he felt that Fannin should resign from the Scioto Township Board of Trustees. Fannin told the other board members that he would not resign, but his comments were not directed at anyone, and he will apologize to anyone that he needs to."

Following backlash, trustees in the community of about 12,000 that also includes Pickaway Correctional Institution with about 2,000 inmates, plan to discuss punishment for Fannin, who is two years into his first term.

Said Brill of the incident: "I don't think he was trying to be offensive. But if you make that statement, it's always offensive."

Brill said that Fannin, a farmer, explained that his upbringing led him to believe that such language was normal.

"He said 'It's something I grew up around,' " said Brill.

Brill said he has reminded people that "When you step into the (public official) job you are required to make certain concessions. You're representing everyone."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio official uses racial slur over Juneteenth
TECUMSEH, Okla. (KFOR)  Karen Hilditch wants to honor 120 veterans at Brown Cemetery just outside of Tecumseh this holiday season. Hilditch lost her father three years ago. He was a Korean War Veteran.

Last year, she helped build a veterans memorial at the cemetery.

Front license plates arent required in Oklahoma  but should they be?

This year wants to honor all the veterans by putting Christmas wreaths on the graves.

She said she called Wreaths Across America and they offered her a deal where if she purchased 60 wreaths, they would match that to give 120 total wreaths for the cemetery.

Hilditch has about half of the money raised and her goal is to have $1,000 raised by the end of the month.

If you would like to donate and help honor the veterans at Brown Cemetery, visit the go fund me page.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Corrections & clarifications: A prior version of this story misidentified President Joe Biden.

Congress is getting older, and so is the Oval Office. We currently have the oldest president in U.S. history. Theres a minimum age to run for president, but there isnt a maximum, as evidenced by the past two commanders in chief. Both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump set the record for the oldest elected president during their respective terms.

In a USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, 72% of those surveyed endorsed setting age limits on Congress, though their desired maximum varied between 85, 75 and 65 years old. Another 22% opposed setting a maximum age limit.

Heres what to know about the current age of the 46th president.

President Joe Biden gestures with two thumbs up responding to a question from the media about the UAW deal as he leaves St. Joseph on the Brandywine Catholic Church in Greenville on Saturday, Oct. 28, 2023.

How old is Joe Biden?

President Biden is 81 years old. Biden is a Scorpio and celebrated his birthday on Nov. 20. He was born in 1942 and is part of the Silent Generation, the generation that precedes baby boomers.

Biden became a senator at age 29 and was elected vice president at age 66. Last year, he became the first octogenarian-in-chief when he celebrated the new decade in office. Though his age and health have been questioned, especially because of his "choppy" speaking style, Biden has no major medical problems. While he has struggled with a stutter, the White House physician told the public after his most recent physical exam that Biden remains a "healthy, vigorous 80-year-old male who is fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.

Biden is running again in 2024 in hopes of a second term. If elected, hed be 82 by the time he takes office and 86 by the end of his term. Heres how his age compares to some early Republican frontrunners  Trump will be 78 in 2024 and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be 46 years old.

Emerging candidates: Here's who is running for president in 2024

How old is Donald Trump?

Former President Trump is 77 years old and was 70 when he took office. At the time of his 2017 inauguration, he was the oldest elected president in U.S. history.

When is the next presidential election? Everything to know about Election Day 2024.

Who was the oldest president?

Biden was 78 years old when he was sworn into office in January 2021, earning him the title of oldest president in U.S. history. Here are the top 10 oldest presidents and their ages when they took the oath:

Joe Biden: 78 years old in 2021 Donald Trump: 70 years old in 2017 Ronald Reagan: 69 years old in 1980 William Henry Harrison: 68 years old in 1841 James Buchanan: 65 years old in 1857 George H.W. Bush: 64 years old in 1989 Zachary Taylor: 64 years old in 1849 Dwight Eisenhower: 62 years old in 1953 Andrew Jackson: 61 years old in 1829 John Adams: 61 years old in 1796

John F. Kennedy was the youngest elected president at 43 years and 236 days old. However, Theodore Roosevelt became the youngest sitting president when he took office after former President William McKinley was assassinated. Roosevelt was 42 years and 322 days old.

How old do you have to be to run for president?

Natural-born U.S. citizens must be at least 35 years old to be eligible to hold office. Senators must be at least 30 years old and representatives must be 25 years old.

Qualifications, explained: What you have to do to be eligible for US presidency

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USA TODAY is exploring the questions you and others ask every day. From "How much does the president make?" to "How many justices are on the Supreme Court?" to "Who was Jack the Ripper?", we're striving to find answers to the most common questions you ask every day. Head to our Just Curious section to see what else we can answer for you.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How old is Biden? The president's age now (and on election day 2024)
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Olivia Dean doesn't strike you as someone who would ever feel like "the odd one out".

She's had a top four debut album, played Glastonbury, been nominated for a Mercury Music Prize and has just been named BBC Introducing's Artist of the Year.

When she speaks to BBC Newsbeat she's in a Los Angeles hotel, where she's staying during her sold-out US tour.

But popularity wasn't something Olivia took for granted when she was growing up in Highams Park, north east London.

She has Guyanese and Jamaican heritage and was one of only a few black girls in her class.

Olivia, who's now 24, says she was "muted" - straightening her hair and trying to assimilate with all the other girls.

"I didn't quite know who I was," she says.

One thing she never doubted was her love of music, singing in assemblies "all the time" and, thanks to her supportive parents, bagging a place at the prestigious Brit School performing arts college.

She says that's where she found her tribe.

Olivia then got her big break as a backing singer with Rudimental, and says the decision to leave was a difficult one.

"I didn't really know if I could do it by myself," she says.

But, looking back, she probably didn't need to worry.

"I'm quite an old soul" - Olivia lists Motown, Carole King and Lauryn Hill among her inspirations

Her first album, Messy, was nominated for a Mercury prize - which she describes as "a pure curve ball".

Success has kept her busy - as well as playing Glastonbury she's also performed on Later... With Jools Holland (which she described as "a dream") and covered Beyonce in the Radio 1 Live Lounge (she "loves a challenge").

But it's also brought up feelings of imposter syndrome and wrestling with her identity again - such as feeling pigeon-holed when her single UFO was added to R&B playlists.

"There's no rhythm, there's no drums in it, so how can it be rhythm and blues?" she says.

"If I looked differently, I don't think it would have been put in that category.

"It's very confusing, especially for young women in the industry. You feel like everybody else knows - or they think they know - better."

Olivia tells Newsbeat her experiences have taught her that being in control of her own sound is a priority.

"I don't have a problem with people thinking I'm difficult," she says.

"I just don't like being told what to do."

That doesn't mean she won't accept criticism - as long as it's constructive - "but at the end of the day, I need to do what's going to be best for me because it's my name on the tin.

"In many years' time, my grandkids are going to be listening to what I thought about the world and love and how I was feeling at the time."

Although her music takes her all over the world, Olivia says she's "London through and through"

Love, and the loss of it, is a huge inspiration for Olivia. Her album Messy, featuring singles including The Hardest Part and Dive, maps falling in love again after a break-up.

But the seeds of her songs also come from some unexpected places.

The clue's in the name for Ladies Room, which came out of an overheard conversation in a south London pub toilet.

Olivia recalls a woman standing at the sinks dishing out the advice: "Don't date a man 20 years older than you!".

The boyfriend wanted to go home but this girl wanted to party.

"The ladies bathroom can be a really crazy place," Olivia says. "Stories being shared, lip gloss thrown everywhere, gossip, drama."

And see if you can spot the inspiration for this lyric: "If you can't see my mirrors, then I can't see you".

Sound familiar?

"That is one of my favourite lyrics I've ever written," Olivia laughs. "And it is inspired by stickers on the back of trucks.

"That's what I believe so strongly about music, it's about the small things.

"There's little specific details that we all see every day. They carry so much meaning, you just have to look for it and almost inject it into them."

Olivia Dean says she's manifested her milestones this year

Olivia's realised she works best in her comfort zone rather than being thrown in at the deep end.

She says she likes to chill with her team for a couple of hours before work, having long chats over cups of tea - a different approach to other artists who "work like athletes" but one that fits for Olivia.

"And then out of that, the seed of inspiration comes," she says. "What the song's going to be about, always it'll come in that conversation."

She says nurturing her mental health has been an important part of arriving at that realisation.

"Therapy has absolutely changed my life," she says.

"I think I was one of those people that had a bit of a stigma about it, where it was like, 'Well, I can't do therapy, because I don't have something particularly wrong or like crazy going on in my life'.

"I almost felt like undeserving of it."

But she says therapy has been about "really open communication, having a conversation where you're really listening and getting to the root of why you behave the way you do, why that thing made you feel that way".

With more dates on her tour next year, 2024 is set to be just as busy for Olivia, but if there's one thing she's dreaming of it's another set at Glastonbury.

"The sight of looking out at all those people on the festival stage is the most beautiful thing in the world," she says.

"I was really there in that moment and I hope I get to have another moment like that."

Listen back to the moment Olivia Dean found out she was the BBC Introducing Artist Of The Year on BBC Sounds.

Newsbeat logo

Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
By Lincoln Feast

(Reuters) - Residents of the Tahitian village that will host the 2024 Olympic surfing event remain opposed to plans to build a new smaller judging tower on the reef, saying it will still damage corals and risk the health of the lagoon.

Locals from Teahupo'o last month protested plans by Games organisers to build a new 14 metre aluminium tower and a permanent 800m service pipeline to enable up to 40 people to watch, film and judge the surfing competition.

Games organisers including Paris 2024 and the French Polynesia government said this month they had decided building a new tower that is "less imposing and substantially reduced in size and weight" was the best option, after discussing issues raised by various stakeholders.

The new tower will be the same size and location as an older wooden tower that has been used by surfing's professional world tour for its annual Teahupo'o event for years, allowing smaller equipment to install it on site.

Some facilities will be removed or made temporary, but new permanent foundations will still be needed for the tower to be certified, which is essential for insurance purposes, organisers said.

A group including local environmental organisations, residents and surfers said the planned compromise does not adequately address their concerns.

"For me, it seems impossible to build 12 new foundations without destroying the reef," famed local surfer Matahi Drollet said in a video on social media, asking organisers for evidence existing foundations were not up to standard.

Mati Hoffann, a maritime works manager who worked on installing the original tower, said drilling new foundations represented a "considerable risk" for the reef.

"I've spent my life working in the Polynesian lagoon. I guarantee you that technical specifications have been respected: 20 years later, foundations are still intact."

Paris 2024 did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.

Drollet and other residents did not comment on whether further protests or other measures were planned but said they wanted their message to reach French President Emmanuel Macron and the minister of the environment.

"We are just trying to spread the message that no contest in this world is worth the destruction of nature," Drollet said. "That goes against the true value of surfing and sport in general."

(Reporting by Lincoln Feast in Sydney; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
Publishers are required to ensure that every decision on publicity for Endgame is personally signed off by Omid Scobie - Belinda Jiao

Omid Scobie sent advance copies of his new book on the Royal family to favoured social media influencers who were asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).

The author, whose book Endgame is published on Tuesday, is understood to have masterminded his own marketing strategy  with publishers required to ensure that every decision is signed off by him personally.

Eschewing traditional practices, he opted to send the 400-page book to a select group of Sussex Squad bloggers who have long proved supportive.

One of them, who identifies herself only as Kaiser, the head writer for a blog called Celebitchy, revealed that she had signed an NDA and read it at the weekend.

She wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the Windsors came in for a mauling.

She tweeted: One of the big takeaways, for me, is how none of the left-behind Windsors can manage their way out of a paper bag.

One review said the book sets the record straight on 'petty slights', including a row between the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex - Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images Europe

The various social media influencers and bloggers who were sent the book pre-publication will be expected to give it a lucrative push online when it is published on Tuesday.

The US-based arm of Scobies publisher, HarperCollins, is understood to have largely left UK colleagues in the dark about the pre-publication plan.

The authors effort to secure favourable coverage began with an interview in the American magazine People, which tends to shy away from controversial or negative subject matter.

He then gave an interview to Paris Match, which published extracts of the book in French, and to The Sunday Times.

Scobie's book brands the Royal family 'tone-deaf, racist and financially reckless', said The New York Times' review - David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock

Scobie is expected to appear on ITVs This Morning on Thursday and has also recorded a piece for Good Morning America, on the US network ABC, for which he is a regular contributor.

A review published in The New York Times said that Endgame was devoted to setting the record straight on petty slights against the Sussexes, including the now infamous row between the Duchess of Sussex and the Princess of Wales about who made who cry at a bridesmaid dress fitting.

The tabloids have rightfully been accused of pitching one royal bride against another, and so it jars when Scobie, whose tone throughout is one of moral high ground, employs a similar tactic, the newspaper added.

Scobie brands the institution tone-deaf, racist and financially reckless, according to the review, rubbing salt into wounds by adding that it has gone downhill since Charles became King.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are 'in a good place', according to Endgame - Phil Harris/Daily Mirror/PA

When Queen Elizabeth II was at the helm she managed to keep much of it at bay, he writes.

By comparison, the Duke and Duchess were in a good place and paid no attention to negative headlines.

The Duke is said to be working on something in the military space, while the Duchess, according to a source, is building something more accessible something rooted in her love of details, curating, hosting, lifes simple pleasures, and family.

The Timess review said that Harry and Meghan emerge glowing with goodness, like extras from a Ready Brek ad, while the Independent gave it three out of five stars and said that Scobie was unfailingly sympathetic to the Sussexes  he does not hold them accountable for anything.

However, it adds that the book is crammed with gripping gems about the bilious backbiting among the Royal family and describes it as a pacey, well-written account of where the modern monarchy could be heading if it doesnt adapt and appeal to a new generation.

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.
An artist's rendering of Harriet's Hope, a 52-unit affordable housing complex for survivors of human trafficking, where they will also receive programming and support services to help their recovery journey. It will welcome its first residents on Dec. 1, and the project is a partnership between the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority and Beacon 360 Management.

On Friday, survivors of human trafficking will walk into their brand new home: a place where each fixture and detail was chosen especially for them by fellow survivors.

The home is Harriets Hope  named for abolitionist Harriet Tubman  a 52-unit housing community that can host multiple families and was designed specifically for human trafficking survivors.

The one-of-a-kind community comes out of a public-private partnership that brought together Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost; Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA); CVS Health and OhioRISE, the CVS/Aetna-owned Medicaid program; Beacon 360 Management and many others.

The Dec. 1 opening of Harriet's Hope, a community on Columbus' West Side whose exact location isn't being shared to protect survivor's safety, was announced at the Ohio Statehouse this morning.

A call to action

The project started a few years ago as a vision of Celia Kendall, the CEO of Beacon 360 Management, a nonprofit real estate developer and management firm based in Columbus with 28 communities across Ohio.

Kendall got the idea for Harriet's Hope after being unsettled by what she saw doing street outreach with women being trafficked six years ago.

Celia Kendall, CEO of Beacon 360 Management

"I could not just go back and return to life as normal," Kendall said. "Every night when I lay down, when all of us lay down, this whole world awakens where people have no choice but to participate in sex trafficking or labor trafficking."

She realized women are disproportionately affected and began to ask what the need was. By connecting with agencies who work with those who are trafficked, such as Salvation Army Central Ohio, she found out that the biggest need was housing: a safe place for survivors to go after being trafficked.

"Oftentimes that is the thing that allows trafficking to continue," Kendall found. "If your housing is held over your head by your trafficker, it's very difficult to get out of that if you don't have a place to lay your head. This should eliminate that fear."

Kendall set out to answer what she felt was a call to action and approached CMHA and others about the project.

Together they developed Harriet's Hope, believed to be the only affordable, permanent community specifically for human trafficking survivors in the nation.

The importance of housing for human trafficking survivors

Harriet's Hope is part of a larger initiative in the state to end human trafficking and fulfills a critical missing piece  safe, affordable and accessible housing for survivors  in its efforts, said Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, whose office has a human trafficking commission.

The lack of a safe place to go can make individuals very vulnerable when it comes to human trafficking, according to advocates. In a Polaris Project survey, 64% of trafficking survivors said they were homeless or had unstable housing when they were recruited. Traffickers often recruit directly from shelters, according to the Washington D.C.-based nonprofit organization that works to prevent human trafficking.

Yost's office is fighting to stem the demand for sex trafficking via law changes and other approaches, but places like Harriet's Hope "provide that highway of hope for a survivor to be able to exit the life," he said.

"One of the challenges survivors of human trafficking always face is they are dependent upon their trafficker," Yost said. "Where can they go? How are they going to get help? Where are they going to live? This is an alternative."

The project involved several agencies coming together, not only to fund it but to offer services to survivors, design the community, and more.

CVS Health provided $10.6 million in funding for the approximately $16 million project as part of its goal to address social determinants of health, like the lack of equitable access to housing. Other funders include the Affordable Housing Trust of Columbus, Franklin County, the city of Columbus, state funding and organizations like the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing.

A lack of housing or access to housing can negatively impact people's health, said Latasha Brown, CVS's first anti-human trafficking administrator.

That's part of the reason the health company, which also owns Ohio's Medicaid program, invested in Harriet's Hope and in other affordable housing projects in Ohio. It has invested nearly $80 million in affordable housing across Ohio since 2020, Brown said.

"A survivor cannot improve their overall well-being without stable access to quality housing," said Brown, who is elated about the opening of Harriet's Hope. "I hope this haven will allow them to focus on their healing journey and position them for their bright future."

Services for survivors

Harriet's Hope is open to any individual  no matter their gender identity or sexual orientation  who has experienced human trafficking or chronic homelessness, meets CMHA's income guidelines for a housing voucher and is ready to make a commitment to sobriety, Kendall said.

Most residents will be identified through the Salvation Army, but referrals can come from anyone, anywhere, she said.

What sets the community apart from others is that the services residents need are embedded within it, Kendall said.

Services include substance abuse disorder treatment by Alvis, case management through the Salvation Army, gender-affirming case management through Kaleidoscope Youth Center, a computer lab furnished by Dell, a food pantry, nutritional services, financial literacy classes, peer support, employment readiness programs, legal aid, health screenings, child care and more.

Residents will start out with a one-year lease before going month to month, Kendall said. Since the goal is that everyone is successfully housed, residents can stay in the community forever, if they want to, she said.

There are 47 fully furnished one-bedroom units and five two-bedroom units meant to provide a place where women can reunite with their children. It's an independent living recovery community and the building  the location of which is not being shared so residents can maintain their safety  will have a property manager, assistant property manager and security. Each resident pays 30% of their income for rent and utilities, meaning if they have no income, they pay nothing.

"I hope that people feel safe, I hope they feel a sense of autonomy, a sense of self, a sense of confidence," Kendall said. "I hope that they feel free. That is truly the spirit through which the project is named, I hope they feel free and all the power that comes from that."

If you suspect someone is a trafficking victim, call The National Human Trafficking 24-hour Hotline at 1(888) 373-7888 to access Central Ohio's local response network.

dking@dispatch.com

@DanaeKing

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus home for human trafficking survivors, Harriet's Hope, to open
HANGZHOU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Deals on 32 projects with a total value of over 155.8 billion yuan (about 21.89 billion U.S. dollars) were reached by leading enterprises in the sector at the just-concluded second Global Digital Trade Expo held in Hangzhou, capital city of east China's Zhejiang Province, according to the provincial department of commerce.

Themed "Digital Trade, Global Access," the expo scheduled from Nov. 23 to 27 has attracted 68 international organizations and business associations, as well as over 800 enterprises. Finland and South Africa have been invited as guest countries of honor.

Hot topics such as cross-border data flow, digital finance and digital security governance have been discussed during the five-day event. More than a hundred activities were expected to take place at the expo, as well as the debuts of over 100 cutting-edge products and services in digital trade.

The third Global Digital Trade Expo will be held from Sept. 25 to 29, 2024, and the expo will take place in Hangzhou during the last week of September in the future. 
A Boston man who prosecutors said acted out a one-man crime spree over the weekend -- by vandalizing the Holocaust Memorial, Paul Reveres grave and other tombstones, and damaging federal buildings, businesses and a police cruiser -- hurled expletives while facing a judge during his arraignment on Monday.

Lawrence Hawkins, 46, is charged with vandalizing property, two counts of malicious destruction of property greater than $1,200, and injury to a church of synagogue. Additional charges are expected, prosecutors said.

Judge Paul Treseler set bail at $22,500 cash, considerably higher than the $3,000 bail that had been requested by prosecutors. Hawkins was also ordered to stay away from all of the locations that were vandalized, to wear a GPX with an exclusion zone of downtown Boston, and ordered to undergo evaluation by a court clinician to determine whether he is competent to stand trial.

This is an individual who over the weekend was his own one-man crime spree down downtown Boston, Assistant District Attorney Samuel Jones said in court. He took bricks and rocks and threw them into businesses throughout the Commonwealth.

As Jones spoke, Hawkins began shouting expletives, loudly.

You (expletive) piece of (expletive). (Expletive), Hawkins shouted out in court.

The judge asked Hawkins to back down.

Sir, why dont you have a seat? Have a seat and relax, OK? Treseler said. Two court officers stood on either side of Hawkins, watching him.

Jones said surveillance video captured Hawkins on a vandalism spree throughout Boston.

Hawkins is accused of throwing a brick into a building on Charles Street South, smashing the front windshield of a Boston Police cruiser, breaking a window at a business on Washington Street, vandalizing another location at Court Square, and also breaking a window on Sudbury Street.

He is also accused of smashing windows at two federal buildings, the John F. Kennedy Federal Building on Sudbury Street and the Thomas P. ONeill Jr. Federal Building on Causeway Street. Prosecutors estimated damages to both federal buildings at $20,000 to $30,000.

He took bricks and rocks and threw them into the glass of businesses windows and doors. He was seen on surveillance video committing all of these acts, Jones said.

Surveillance video captured Hawkins throwing an object at the Holocaust Memorial located at 98 Union St., prosecutors said. Police later found the historic memorial, which honors the millions of people who died in the Holocaust, vandalized with a brick on the ground.

These are random acts of violence against businesses, against property, the defendant having no wherewithal for the public and just going around throwing objects, causing damage to businesses, federal property, national landmarks and also landmarks for the deceased and honor for the dead, Jones said.

Hawkins is also a person of interest in other reported vandalism, including at the Granary Burying Ground off Tremont Street where Paul Reveres tombstone was vandalized over the weekend, among more than a dozen tombstones that were pulled from the ground and broken into pieces, prosecutors said.

Six additional tombstones in the adjacent Kings Chapel Burying Ground were also vandalized. Jones said federal and park authorities are investigating and additional charges are expected.

Investigators were able to trace Hawkins to the vandalism at various sites through surveillance cameras. He also trespassed at the State House building, from where a state police trooper drove him to a local shelter, Jones said.

Police later traced Hawkins to that shelter at 112 Southampton St., where he was arrested.

Jones said that Hawkins has a litany of committed time on his lengthy criminal record, which dates back to the 1990s. He also has been to Bridgewater State Hospital.

Hes not a stranger to the criminal justice system. Hes also not a stranger to the Boston Police, Jones said.

Hawkins then began shouting in court again, and the judge asked him to quiet down.

Sir! Sir! Stop! Your attorney will have an opportunity to address me, OK? said Treseler, the judge.

Defense Attorney Robert Glotzer said at one point, Hawkins seemed to have a productive life prior to his criminal record. He is a graduate of Tyngsboro High School, attended community college for a year, is a father and has worked as a construction worker. Hawkins now resides in a homeless shelter and takes psychotropic medications, Glotzer said.

Glotzer said it is appropriate for Hawkins to undergo a competency evaluation.

Order that doctor come down. He can go. He can go at this point, Treseler said at the close of the arraignment. Lets get a doctor down here.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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One of Manatee Countys last two dairies, Dakin Dairy Farms, 30771 Betts Road, has gone on the market.

The 350-acre operation is listed with SVN|Saunders Ralston Dantzler Real Estate at an undisclosed asking price.

Owner Jerry Dakin, a former Florida Farm Bureau Farmer of the Year, said in a press release that after 22 years the farm needs to go to the next generation of farmers to meet the dairys full potential.

The Dakin Dairy Farm includes 3,100 head of dairy cattle with a processing plant on 350 acres and is on the agricultural marketplace to be sold as a working dairy farm.

When Dakin started the dairy with a couple hundred cows, he said he never imagined he could grow the farm to have several thousand head producing and processing products on-site delivered to markets with Dakins Fresh From Florida label.

The farm through became a destination for education and agrotourism, complete with a Farm Cafe.

Dakin Dairy Farms up for sale

Broker Trent Saunders said that his company is vetting potential buyers and arranging for them to visit the property prior to entering negotiations.

The dairy is described as a turn-key, income-producing operation currently housing a herd of up to 3,000 lactating cows.

The 350.2-acre farm has all of the necessary infrastructure including six free-stall barns, a milking parlor, production areas, commodity storage, silage storage, milk processing plant capable of processing and packaging all milk produced onsite, the SVN web page said.

The cows enjoy comfortable free stalls for the majority of their day, with dry cows and heifers typically housed offsite. Regular management ensures the well-being of the calves and efficient production processes, with a well-designed production area featuring excellent drainage and a surrounding dike system. This impressive facility has the potential to expand its herd size to 4,000 in the future with additional free stall barns accommodating an additional 1,400 lactating cows, the SVN web page said.

One of Manatee Countys last two dairies, Dakin Dairy Farms, 30771 Betts Road, has gone on the market.

Although the property is on the market, it is business as usual at the dairy, and Saunders said he hoped it would remain a dairy, should the property be sold.

But there would be nothing to prevent a future owner from seeking rezoning to allow other kinds of use.

Beyond the top-notch infrastructure, land and the dairy business brand associated with this property holds substantial value. A cherished multi-generation brand, it has earned a reputation through participation in the Fresh From Florida marketing campaign and partnerships with major supermarkets and milk distributors, the SVN web page says.

When it opened in 2002, Dakin Dairy Farms was touted as the most modern, highly computerized dairy among the eight dairies operating in Manatee County.

In addition to its fresh milk, Dakin Dairy Farms has also produced cheese and drinkable yogurt and opened its facility to tourism.

Dakin Dairy Farms in Myakka City is for sale. The Manatee County operation has 3,000 cows but has suffered from hurricanes and COVID-19. Damage from 2017s Hurricane Irma is shown in this in this Bradenton Herald file photo.

Dakin Dairys difficulties

Dakin Dairy has been buffeted by a number of challenges in recent years, including Hurricane Ian in 2022, which inflicted more punishment on the business than any other storm in history.

In January, Jerry Dakin told the Bradenton Herald that he estimated the damage at $3 million, plus 360 cows lost during the storm.

The Myakka City community rallied with chainsaws, labor and trucks to remove storm debris.

Oh, my God, I wish our government could learn something from our community. The people out here are amazing, Dakin said in January.

In 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dakin Dairy Farms had to dump 7,000 gallons of fresh milk every day.

The pandemic lockdown took away the restaurants, other businesses and schools that were the core of Dakin Dairys market. The dairy cows still had to be milked every day, pandemic or not.

Similarly, in 2017 Hurricane Irma knocked out power to Dakins customers in southern Florida, forcing the dairy to dump milk that its customers could not accept due to lack of refrigeration.

The decision to sell

Reflecting on the last two decades of work, Dakin said he feels blessed to have had the opportunity to learn and grow, citing countless once in a lifetime experiences he sees as gifts.

However, as years passed, life events, including the loss of his two brothers and disasters like the pandemic and Hurricane Ian, played a part in his plans. The decision to sell comes with both anxiety and excitement, he said.

Community, people supporting people, I love this community, he said.

Dakin says he plans to stay in Myakka City and continue his support of local agriculture.

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At first, Madeline Wahl thought her new kitten was having a bad reaction to medication for ringworm. After each dose, he would shake his head and flail his legs.

She and her husband, Rich, had brought the kitten to their house in a historic neighborhood in Omaha, Neb., after a friend found the stray meowing in her driveway. About 5 weeks old and barely two pounds, the cuddly black-and-white animal looked like he was wearing a tuxedo. The Wahls named him Stanley.

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But, within two days, Stanley stopped eating and developed seizures. Then he stopped breathing; Wahl's husband resuscitated him with chest compressions.

Wahl rushed him to a veterinarian, who noted that the kitten's pupils were different sizes. The vet listed nearly two dozen possible causes, including a common parasitic disease, for the animal's abnormal behavior. Last on her list was rabies, which she assured Wahl was rare in domesticated animals. "We haven't had rabies in forever," Sharon Mix, the vet, said.

The tiny feline died the next day. Test results 48 hours later showed Stanley did, indeed, have rabies. Additional genetic sequencing showed something even more alarming: The kitten had a strain of raccoon rabies that had never been detected west of the Appalachian Mountains. How did it pop up 850 miles from where the variant normally circulates in the eastern United States? And how far had it spread?

"My first thought was, 'It has to be a mistake,'" said Ryan Wallace, who heads the rabies epidemiology team at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The mystery sparked a broad emergency response showcasing how disease detectives work to figure out the origins of a lethal infection while trying to ensure people don't get sick or die.

The stakes were high. If the virus were able to spread unchecked in raccoons, transmission would easily radiate out from Omaha to surrounding areas, because there aren't many large mountain chains, rivers or deserts in that part of the country to act as natural barriers, Wallace said. The CDC estimates that the virus would expand in concentric circles at about 24 miles a year. Over five years, the rabies strain would make its way to South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas, he said, putting an estimated 7 million residents at increased risk.

More than a dozen wildlife biologists drove to Omaha from eight states, as far away as Vermont and New Hampshire, hauling trailers full of traps, injectable rabies vaccine, gallons of anise oil and cases of marshmallows - to lure, trap and vaccinate raccoons in hopes of stopping the deadly virus from spreading. CDC scientists set up labs in trailers to test roadkill for the virus.

Douglas County health officials tracked down 10 people, including the Wahls, their friend and veterinary staffers who had been scratched or bitten by the kitten so that they could receive four doses of rabies vaccine and one dose of human rabies immune globulin to neutralize the virus, treatment that can cost up to $8,000 per person. The officials also posted queries on social media, and volunteers fanned out in neighborhoods to seek information about other sightings of the kitten, possible litter mates, or the mother of the litter.

"We've never had a nine-alarm fire like this," said Richard Chipman, the coordinator of the national rabies program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

- - -

Signs of rabies

Rabies is caused by a virus that infects the central nervous system in mammals and is nearly always fatal if untreated. The virus that killed Stanley, the kitten, is transmitted readily among raccoons, animals that frequent backyards, trash cans and farm fields, where they have a greater chance of coming into contact with people.

People in the United States rarely contract rabies - with only one to three cases reported annually - but about 60,000 Americans receive post-exposure treatment each year after being bitten or scratched by infected animals or by animals suspected of being infected, according to the CDC.

More than 90 percent of reported U.S. rabies cases in animals occur in wildlife, most commonly raccoons, skunks, bats and foxes. Animals with rabies may be aggressive and try to bite, or they may be seen to drool more than normal. Others may act timidly or appear to be tame, move slowly, or allow humans to get close - unusual behavior for wild animals that also could be a sign of something wrong. Another sign: different-size pupils.

After Stanley's death, USDA wildlife biologists spent 10 days trapping and vaccinating animals - 753 raccoons, 41 skunks, four feral cats and one red fox - in an area about 61 miles around where the kitten was found. To attract the raccoons - and not other animals that are not reservoirs for the virus - they baited the traps with anise oil, which smells like black licorice, and marshmallows. Raccoons like the smell and taste of marshmallows, which resemble the chicken eggs they like to eat.

USDA, state and local officials also placed 18,000 vaccine packets in parks, along storm drains, around trees and bushes, and near walking paths in the woods in a five-mile radius. The oral rabies vaccine baits come in two-inch sachets similar to a ketchup packet and are coated with fishmeal to attract raccoons.

"As they chew on it, they are bathing their mouth and tonsils with the vaccine, and that starts the immune reaction," Chipman said.

Federal officials have been trying to control the spread of rabies in raccoons using the oral vaccine since 1997. The USDA drops about 10 million doses of oral rabies vaccine a year from planes and helicopters in a band of 16 states stretching from Maine to Ohio and south to Alabama and Texas. The goal is to stop the spread of the raccoon rabies beyond this "hot zone," officials said.

The combined surveillance and vaccination efforts of the CDC, USDA and state health departments have contributed to a 50 percent reduction in the number of rabid raccoons in the United States, Wallace said.

The vaccine distribution program typically reaches about 30 to 40 percent of an area's raccoon population, Chipman said. But Omaha has a large number of raccoons, with density as high as 104 raccoons per square mile in some parts of the city, he said.

- - -

Stopping the spread

Officials won't know until early next year whether they have stopped the virus from spreading. The incubation period of the virus ranges from one week to three months. Stanley was discovered Sept. 26, so if other animals had been bitten or scratched, they might not show symptoms until December.

The ultimate measure of whether the efforts have worked is through the testing of dead animals for the virus. Testing in Omaha is limited by how many dead raccoons animal control, the local humane society and wildlife rehabilitation groups turn over to scientists. On the basis of what officials have seen happen in the East Coast, between 1 and 5 percent of dead animals should be testing positive for rabies if the virus has gained a foothold in the Omaha area. So far, none of the more than 250 dead animals tested have had the virus.

"If we can test [a total] of 500 animals over the next few months through this surveillance program and all are negative, then there is likely no spread in local wildlife," Wallace said. "We won't know for sure until around February."

Officials credit the pet owners' quick action, the astuteness of the veterinarian who recognized the need to have the kitten tested, and the input of a state lab that was recently awarded CDC funding to conduct the genetic sequencing that prompted the emergency response.

It remains unclear how Stanley became infected.

One possibility is that the virus had been spreading undetected in the Omaha area and that a wild animal had bitten and infected the kitten. But a decade of rabies surveillance in states between Ohio and Nebraska had found no rabies cases, according to the CDC.

More likely, officials said, the kitten - or a pregnant cat - was bitten and infected by a raccoon in the southeastern United States, where the virus most closely resembles the genetic fingerprint found in Stanley. Then the kitten or his mother somehow made their way to Omaha.

"Had my husband not resuscitated him," Madeline Wahl said, "we likely would have buried the kitten in our yard and not known about him being rabies positive."

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One teenager is dead and another injured in separate shootings Sunday afternoon, according to Chicago police.

A 19-year-old man was shot in his left side and left arm Sunday at about 2:07 p.m. in the Lower West Side neighborhood. Police said he was shot by an unknown gunman while standing on the sidewalk in the 2300 block of South Oakley Avenue.

He was transported to Stroger Hospital in critical condition, where he later died, authorities said.

The Cook County medical examiners office identified him as Antonio Alvarado.

At about 5:30 p.m. Sunday, a 17-year-old boy was walking on the sidewalk in the 7100 block of South Ridgeland Avenue in the South Shore neighborhood when he said he heard shots and felt pain, police said. He walked into Rush Oak Park Hospital for treatment with a gunshot wound to his left hand and was reported to be in good condition.

No suspects are in custody in either of the shootings, and police said they are investigating.

rjohnson@chicagotribune.com
You probably already know how to scan a QR code with your phone . It's simple enough: just open the camera app, point your phone at the code, and tap the link. What if you're on your computer, though? You could point your phone at the computer screen, but that inter-device dance isnt necessary. You can open that code right from your laptop or desktop.

Scan a QR code in Google Chrome

Google Chrome users have it the easiest, as the browser has a built-in feature specifically to handle this situation. Right-click the image containing the QR code and click Search Image with Google.

Google Chrome allows you to seamlessly reverse image search by right-clicking on the QR code. Credit: Justin Pot

This will open a Google Lens panel to the right of your browser window. At the top you'll see your image. Below that you will see the words QR code: Text, along with the text contained in the QR code. If the text is a link you will also see a button for opening the link.

"Search Image With Google" opens up a Google Lens panel. Credit: Google/Justin Pot

Non-Chrome users can still access this feature, it just requires an extra step. Simply head to Google.com in your browser of choice and click the Search by image icon, which is in the right side of the search bar.

Google Search allows you to search the image by clicking on the icon on the right. Credit: Google/Justin Pot

You can upload an image with a QR code, if you want, or provide a URL for the image. Either way Google Lens will open and let you know what's in the QR code.

Scan a QR code with your webcam

Sometimes you have a QR code on a sheet of paper but your phone isn't handy. Your laptop has a camera, though, and you can use it instead.

In Windows 10 and 11 you can use the Camera app, which is included with your operating system. You can find this application by opening the Start menu and searching for "Camera". Scanning is simple: hold your QR code in front of your webcam and click the QR code button.

Apple's macOS does not have a built-in camera application capable of scanning QR codes. The good news: the free application QR Journal , which you can download in the Mac App Store, can use the webcam to scan QR codes.
Mystery lingers over why OpenAI CEO Sam Altman was thrown out of the company and then reinstated less than a week later  a dramatic reversal by the company's non-profit board that spurred an astronomical amount of speculation.

Nonetheless, theories have floated to the top of the rumor mill. One of the most intriguing: that OpenAI might have been quietly working on a highly advanced AI that could have thrown the board into panic mode and sparked the dustup.

After all, OpenAI has long made it its primary mission to realize an artificial general intelligence (AGI)  loosely defined as an algorithm that can complete complex tasks as well as or even better than humans  to "benefit all of humanity," in the words of Altman himself.

Whether the company's actually getting closer to achieving this goal remains highly debatable. The company has also historically been highly secretive when it comes to its research, making it even more difficult to read the tea leaves over recent weeks.

But an interesting new twist to the story suggests OpenAI may have been on the verge of a major leap forward, and that it may indeed have been related to the shakeup.

Last week, Reuters and The Information reported that some OpenAI leaders may have gotten spooked by a powerful new AI the company was working on called Q*, pronounced "Q star." This new system was apparently seen by some as a significant step towards the company's goal of establishing AGI, and is reportedly capable of solving grade school math problems.

According to Reuters, Mira Murati, a former OpenAI nonprofit board member who held the title of CEO for a very short period following Altman's dismissal, acknowledged the existence of this new model in an internal message to staffers.

Reuters' sources claim Q* was one of many factors leading to Altman's firing, triggering concerns about commercializing a product that still wasn't entirely understood.

While school-grade math may not sound like a groundbreaking achievement, researchers have long seen such an ability as a considerable benchmark. Instead of simply predicting the next word in a sentence like the company's GPT systems, an AI algorithm that could solve math problems would need to "plan" several steps ahead.

Think of it as a Sherlock Holmes-like entity that can string together clues to reach a conclusion.

"One of the main challenges to improve LLM reliability is to replace Auto-Regressive token prediction with planning," explained Yann LeCun, "godfather of AI" and Meta's chief AI scientist, in a tweet. "Pretty much every top lab (FAIR, DeepMind, OpenAI etc) is working on that and some have already published ideas and results."

"It is likely that Q* is OpenAI attempts at planning," he added.

"If it has the ability to logically reason and reason about abstract concepts, which right now is what it really struggles with, that's a pretty tremendous leap," Charles Higgins, a cofounder of the AI-training startup Tromero, told Business Insider.

"Maths is about symbolically reasoning  saying, for example, 'If X is bigger than Y and Y is bigger than Z, then X is bigger than Z,'" he added. "Language models traditionally really struggle at that because they don't logically reason, they just have what are effectively intuitions."

"In the case of math, we know existing AIs have been shown to be capable of undergraduate-level math but to struggle with anything more advanced," Andrew Rogoyski, a director at the Surrey Institute for People-Centered AI, told BI. "However, if an AI can solve new, unseen problems, not just regurgitate or reshape existing knowledge, then this would be a big deal, even if the math is relatively simple."

But is Q* really a breakthrough that could pose an actual existential threat? Experts aren't convinced.

"I dont think it immediately gets us to AGI or scary situations," Katie Collins, a PhD researcher at the University of Cambridge, who specializes in math and AI, told MIT Technology Review.

"Solving elementary-school math problems is very, very different from pushing the boundaries of mathematics at the level of something a Fields medalist can do," she added, referring to an international prize in mathematics.

"I think it's symbolically very important," Sophia Kalanovska, a fellow Tromero cofounder and PhD candidate, told BI. "On a practical level, I don't think it's going to end the world."

In short, OpenAI's algorithm  if it indeed exists and its results can withstand scrutiny  could represent meaningful progress in the company's efforts to realize AGI, but with many caveats.

Was it the only factor behind Altman's ousting? At this point, there's plenty of evidence to believe there was more going on behind the scenes, including internal disagreements over the future of the company.

The extraordinary rise of AI has often been spurred on by seemingly outlandish claims, plenty of fearmongering, and a considerable amount of hype. The latest excitement surrounding OpenAI's rumored follow-up to its GPT-4 model is likely no different.

One of Reuters' sources claimed that despite only performing grade school-level math problems, researchers were nonetheless optimistic about the latest model's success.

But Gary Marcus, an AI expert and deep-learning critic , called out the discourse around the system as "wild extrapolation" in a recent post on his Substack.

"If I had a nickel for every extrapolation like that  today, it works for grade school students! next year, it will take over the world!  Id be Musk-level rich," he wrote, referring to OpenAI cofounder Elon Musk, who left OpenAI's board over his own disagreements in 2018.

More on OpenAI: This Apparently Wasnt the First Time Sam Altman Was Dramatically Fired
Georgia prosecutors allege that chart-topper Young Thug, seen here at a New York fashion show in December 2018, leads a criminal street gang (Angela Weiss)

Prosecutors in Atlanta said Monday that rapper Young Thug was the "proclaimed leader" of a gang that "moved like a pack" to commit crimes, as opening statements in a long-delayed racketeering case got underway.

Controversy -- notably over the state's presentation of rap lyrics as evidence -- and hiccups have dogged the sprawling trial alleging criminal conspiracy since jury selection began in January.

The US state of Georgia holds that Young Thug's record label, YSL, is a front for a crime ring, arguing that the defendants belong to a branch of the Bloods street gang identified as Young Slime Life, or YSL.

"The evidence will show that YSL checks all of the boxes for being a criminal street gang," said Fulton County prosecutor Adriane Love as she delivered the government's statement, which she began by quoting Rudyard Kipling's "Law of the Jungle."

Love addressed the issue of songwriting head on: "We didn't chase the lyrics to solve the murder, we chased the murder and found the lyrics."

She read verses from Young Thug's track "Take It To Trial," saying the lyrics the prosecution had identified had "an uncanny similarity to very true, and very real, and quite specific events."

Using the rapper's legal name, she said "Jeffrey Williams' words, that he promotes through songs with beats behind them -- they aren't random."

Her presentation was stalled several times, including because Love failed to disclose key parts of it to defense lawyers, as is required.

The mistake caused wrangling among attorneys and more delays, provoking the ire of Judge Ural Glanville.

- Artists, or a gang? -

Max Schardt began the first defense statement on behalf of Shannon Stillwell late Monday. The defense has a six-hour time limit, one hour per defendant, and statements were set to continue Tuesday.

The defense insists YSL stands for Young Stoner Life Records, a hip-hop label that Young Thug founded in 2016 and which, they say, amounts to a vague association of artists, not a gang.

Young Thug, 32, was one of 28 alleged street gang members originally swept up in a May 2022 racketeering indictment.

Six are being tried under the original indictment and deny all accusations against them. Many of the other defendants took plea deals or will be tried separately.

The accusations included myriad underlying offenses that prosecutors say support an overarching conspiracy charge, including murder, assault, carjacking, drug dealing and theft.

Wearing a white button-up shirt with a black tie and oval spectacles, Young Thug sat quietly in the courtroom as the judge detailed the charges against him and others for the jury.

The opening statements also did not start without a hitch: one juror had car trouble, meaning proceedings began nearly two hours late.

In attendance was Kevin Liles -- the CEO of 300 Entertainment, under which Young Thug founded his label -- who told journalists rap was being persecuted.

"If this were country music, rock music," he said, "we wouldn't be here."

- 'Punishing Black expression' -

Liles was among advocates who lambasted the state for citing lyrics as admission of criminal activity.

In a motions hearing earlier this month, Glanville gave prosecutors the green light to present 17 sets of lyrics as evidence, provided they could link their content to real-world crimes.

Defense attorneys had sought to exclude lyrics from evidence, saying that "rap is the only fictional art form treated this way."

Erik Nielson, a University of Richmond professor and specialist on the subject, told AFP earlier this year that prosecuting rap lyrics "resides in a much longer tradition of punishing Black expression."

Nielson could not comment directly on the YSL case as he will testify as an expert witness.

The lengthy jury selection and Monday morning's delays are part of a much longer road to come: it's expected the trial could last well into 2024.

The prosecution has filed a list of hundreds of potential witnesses. The defense's list includes family members ans fellow rappers T.I. and Killer Mike.

Monday's opening statements took place in the same Fulton County courthouse where former president Donald Trump is himself embroiled in a racketeering case over alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election.

mdo/bgs
Editors Note: Dominic Erdozain is a historian and the author of One Nation Under Guns. Follow him on X @domerdozain. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own; view more opinion at CNN.

When does a crisis become a catastrophe? Last month, after a mass shooting in Maine left 18 dead, author Stephen King penned an essay as notable for its brevity as the bleakness of the message. There is no solution to the gun problem and little more to write, he began, because Americans are addicted to firearms. Americans love their guns, he said, and no suffering, no slaughter can loosen their grip.

Dominic Erdozain - Courtesy Dominic Erdozain

Soon afterwards, we learned that Lane Murdock, the student who led the national school walkout after the Parkland mass shooting of 2018, has left the country. Burned out and disillusioned, Murdock now lives in Scotland, where freedom is a reality and nobody lives in fear of guns.

I appreciate the sentiment. But the picture looks different when you discover that almost everything we now live with, from assault rifles to stand-your-ground laws, is new. This crushing pattern of domestic armament is not the American heritage or the will of the people. Its a political experiment, conjured and contrived by a militant minority. To see this is to know that something can be done.

America has always had a gun problem, but never on this scale. Every day, 327 people are shot in the United States, more than a hundred of them fatally. And the numbers are rising. Mass killings, involving four or more victims, have nearly doubled in five years. Gun deaths among children, already at record highs, increased by 41.6% between 2018 and 2021.

School shootings, once rare and exceptional events, are on a similar spiral. In 2010 there were 13 such incidents nationwide. Last year, there were 79. This year, the number reached 77 by mid-November. Of the 36 deadliest shootings recorded since 1903, more than half occurred in the last decade.

No other generation has endured this. The death toll is growing because the weapons now available, and the right to carry them outside the home, are new. The norms of today would have been unthinkable to Americans of any other era.

Most Americans of the mid-20th century abhorred the concept of preparatory armed carriage and shuddered at the sight of a gun in public. Regulations against going armed were as old as the republic and staples of common law. Shotguns and hunting rifles were widely owned but handguns were feared and despised.

In 1959, nearly 6 out of 10 Americans favored a total ban on handguns, and only 16% of American households contained such a weapon, many of them in the South.

In 1969, the National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence recommended drastic measures to reduce the number of handguns in circulation, then estimated at 24 million.

I am one of those persons who believe that violence and instruments of violence breed violence, said Marvin E. Wolfgang, a professor of criminology who co-directed the task force on firearms. If pushed to the wall, I would probably support the Japanese ruling that no one except a police officer should be allowed to possess or carry a pistol.

The chairman of the commission, Milton S. Eisenhower, wanted to recommend a ban, settling instead on a policy of rigorous and selective licensing. Federal law, advised the commission, should not consider normal household protection a sufficient showing of need to have a handgun.

The problem did not go away, and Republican President Richard Nixon was among those who favored a ban. I dont know why any individual should have a right to have a revolver in his house, he growled to aides in 1972. Never mind licensing; why cant we go after handguns, period? he wondered. The National Rifle Association would be against it. The gun makers would be against it. But people should not have handguns, he insisted, with the usual stream of profanities. Guns, he once said, are an abomination.

Nixon was not alone. His attorney general, John N. Mitchell, declared on The David Frost Show that he was diametrically opposed to anybody having a gun, except law enforcement officers. In 1973, the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals called for the criminalization of privately owned handguns and their complete eradication as civilian weapons by 1983. The nation was bleeding. A total ban on these agents of misery, urged Russell Peterson, chairman of the commission and a former Republican governor of Delaware, was long overdue.

Then came the storm. In June 1974, the City Council of Madison, Wisconsin, voted for a citywide ban on handguns in a mood of sonorous idealism. Maybe one day when there are no guns in this community, declared the jubilant young mayor, Paul Soglin, the cops wont have to carry them either.

Forty years later, serving his third term as mayor, Soglin was fighting a different battle: to keep handguns  now legally carried across the state  off crowded buses. The dream was over. Republican lawmakers, not resting on their victory, were pressing to remove school zones from the last redoubts of gun-free spaces.

What changed? The short answer is President Ronald Reagan, whose crisp, Cold War thinking reduced domestic policy to a series of simple choices. Good and evil. Light and darkness. Arm the righteous, he promised, and crime will take care of itself. It was a nasty truth, he said, but criminals were not fazed by gun laws. The answer was to make firepower accessible to the good people: the silent majority who sustain the nation. The good guys, who never miss.

For the new conservative, guns were more than weapons: they were symbols of Americanism and vehicles of destiny. With Reagans arrival in the White House in 1981, the conversation shifted from controlling guns to protecting gun owners. Reagan embraced a militant NRA and pressed on with a bill of rights for Americas gun owners, against the recommendation of his own task force on violent crime.

Only a madman could look at the problem we have in this country, wrote Michael Beard, head of the National Coalition to Ban Handguns, and then say that what this country needs is to weaken our handgun control laws. But that was the agenda in 1984.

When Florida passed one of the nations first concealed carry laws the following year, Gov. Bob Graham, a Democrat, vetoed it as a policy pregnant with danger. People could have come armed into shopping centers, movies and school yards, a relieved and indignant senator said. Very soon they would.

When Texas passed a similar law in 1993, Democratic Gov. Ann Richards vetoed it with simmering rage. On this day, she declared, we say no to the amateur gunslingers who think they will be braver and smarter with gun in hand. The people of Texas, she had long argued, do not need to be reminded that weapons of violence produce death to innocent children and adults. The only conceivable outcome of the bill would be that more people would be killed by gunfire.

But this was no longer a debate. It was a culture war, in which facts were optional and reality negotiable. Opposition to the concealed weapons bill cost Richards the next election, and her successor, George W. Bush, duly signed it into law. This is a bill to make Texas a safer place, he said, with uncertain gravity. A new era had begun.

In 1986, only one state (Vermont) allowed citizens to carry a gun without a permit. Twenty-five states restricted the privilege to those who could demonstrate good cause. Sixteen states prohibited the carriage of firearms altogether.

By 2023, the revolution was all but complete: 27 states now allow the permitless, unrestricted right to carry that was almost unknown in the 20th century. Seventeen states operate on the permissive, shall-issue basis that terrified Graham and Richards when the idea was first presented. The number of states criminalizing the carriage of concealed handguns is now zero. And the training requirements that had formed such an important part of the original case for concealed carry have been widely abandoned.

If that were not enough, a revolution in the right to carry a gun has been accompanied by a revolution in the legalities of killing. Stand-your-ground laws have eliminated the ancient duty to retreat from confrontation, legalizing deadly force in situations of perceived as well as actual danger.

When standing your ground became fashionable, in the late 19th century, it was derided as a holdover from the Slave Power and a mortal threat to the rule of law. A hundred years later, it was back. In 2004, not a single state enshrined such a law, leaving the question to the discretion of the courts. Now, 38 are classified as stand-your-ground states, authorizing  some would say encouraging  lethal force in situations where it is by no means the last resort.

Finally: machine guns. In the 1920s, when gangsters armed with fully automatic Tommy guns began to terrorize the nation, their weapons were condemned as the paramount example of peace-time barbarism. The National Firearms Act of 1934 taxed them out of circulation, and automatic gunfire disappeared from American streets. The University of Texas massacre of 1966 was conducted by an ex-Marine sharpshooter with a snipers rifle. Such events were rare, not to say impossible, until the return of automatic firepower in the 1980s.

When 24-year-old Patrick Purdy killed five children and wounded 29 others with an AK-47 at an elementary school in Stockton, California, in 1989, few Americans were aware that such weapons were available to civilians. And few could have expected how virulently they would now be defended as an American prerogative.

Its beyond my comprehension, said a public prosecutor in Detroit, why these warlike weapons are available to the public. What are they going to do, wondered a retired US Army colonel, shoot down the trees? Or as a former FBI agent distilled the issue with a clarity that is now poignant: Theres always going to be a Purdy out there. Its the guns we can do something about.

Among those in favor of an immediate ban was first lady Barbara Bush, and almost certainly her husband, had he dared to speak his mind. But in the plunging vortex of a culture war, protecting guns became a patriotic necessity.

A National Rifle Association that frowned upon the AR-15 when it appeared at gun shows in the 1980s now became its fiercest defender. People who never planned to buy one went out and got one, recalled the libertarian activist Grover Norquist. It was, he cheerfully reported, an F-you to the left.

A weapon that accounted for less than 1% of gun sales in 1992 represented a quarter of the market in 2019. A weapon that vastly exceeds the killing power of the Tommy guns banned in the 1930s is affordable and freely accessible.

This is not freedom. Its the unraveling of the American promise of peace and domestic tranquility. And whatever the Supreme Court decides in the gun case now under consideration, the history cannot be denied: This constitutional right to own a gun for self-defense is another product of our times  a right unknown before the dramatic upheaval of the District of Columbia v. Heller decision of 2008.

For decades, gun activists have claimed history for their radicalism, framing gun control as a failure of patriotism. But theirs is an imagined past, a brutalized freedom  and one that is now tearing American communities apart.

Any government that fails to protect the lives of its citizens from reckless shootings, warned Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1931, is out of step with modern thought. We will have to go back before we can go forwardto an America where a life was more precious than a gun.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Editors Note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radios daily program The Dean Obeidallah Show. Follow him on Threads. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. Read more opinion at CNN.

After police say he repeatedly taunted an Arab immigrant food cart worker in his Manhattan neighborhood, former Obama-era National Security Council official Stuart Seldowitz was arrested last week by the New York Police Department. He now faces hate crime and aggravated harassment charges.

Dean Obeidallah - CNN

The videos of Seldowitzs rants  which went viral  were despicable. The former government official made vile anti-Muslim comments while jeering at the Egyptian food cart worker about the Israel-Hamas war with remarks such as, If we killed 4,000 Palestinian children, you know what? It wasnt enough!

Seldowitz, who has pleaded not guilty, told a local New York paper that he regretted the incident, saying, in the heat of the moment, I said things that probably I shouldnt have said. But the heat of the moment defense rings hollow given Seldowitz allegedly returned to the food cart several times over a two-week period to spew hate.

Tragically, these types of disturbing incidents have skyrocketed since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7. The Anti-Defamation League reported a 388% increase in anti-Jewish incidents in the weeks after the war began compared to the same period last year.

Jewish Americans have seen their places of worship defaced alongside an alarming number of threats against and attacks on Jewish students on college campus. One deeply concerning incident took place at Cornell University when messages vowing to shoot up a Jewish dining hall and stab Jews on the campus were posted online. A student was arrested and accused of being behind the threats and has not entered a plea in his first court appearance.

Just as concerning, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has documented an appalling rise in reported anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents in the month following October 7. Overall, CAIR fielded a 216% increase in requests for help and reported bias incidents as compared to 2022.

Alarmingly, it appears one such horrific incident may have occurred on Saturday in Burlington, Vermont, when three Palestinian students were shot. Two are US citizens and the third is a legal resident. And two of them were wearing the traditional Arab scarf known as a keffiyeh, according to local police. The Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee noted in a press release that they were also speaking Arabic.

Thankfully, the three students survived the shooting, but two of them were admitted to the intensive care unit and one has sustained very critical and serious injuries, according to the ADC. The story is still developing, and police say they are currently looking into the white male shooters motive.

Tragically, however, 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume didnt survive his stabbing by a man who allegedly targeted the boy for his Muslim faith. He was charged with murder and two counts of a hate crime, among other charges, and he has pleaded not guilty.

The question is: What can each of us do to counter the hate and make it clear that we wont allow bigotry to become normalized against any community? One of the best responses is what we saw in New York City after Seldowitzs hate-filled rants got widespread attention: Elected officials and neighbors came together to stand with the 24-year-old Egyptian food cart worker, Mohamed Hussein, who was subjected to the rants.

Even before Seldowitiz was charged, Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine said on social media: This Islamophobic bigotry is absolutely reprehensible. No one in this city should be subjected to this venom.

But it was the response of people in the neighborhood  which deserves far more media attention  that was truly moving. As CBS New York reported, what happened at the food cart has seemingly only brought people together. One of the food cart workers, Bahaa Hassan, told CBS: We have mostly Jewish customer in this building. [Two customers] made cake for us last night.

It wasnt long before people from the neighborhood set up a table next to the food cart in an effort to encourage people to sit, eat and talk together. As Upper East Side resident Stephanie Merabet told CBS about the workers, Theyre really wonderful people and they care about the community that theyre in, and they certainly dont deserve this.

These actions send a powerful message that we will not allow hate to go unchallenged. In this vein, my longtime friend Max Brooks  author of World War Z, The Zombie Survival Guide and more  asked me to join him in making a short video to counter hate against Jews, Arabs and Muslims. Unbeknownst to us at the time, we filmed this video last weekend in the very neighborhood where Seldowitz had been taunting the Arab food cart worker.

Max and I have often been told that we look similar. There is good reason for that. We are both half-Italian and half-Semitic. In Maxs case, his Semitic half is Jewish  from his father, Mel Brooks  while my Semitic heritage comes from my late Palestinian father, Abdul. (And yes, Arabs and Jews are both Semites!)

Each of us can  and must  play a role in countering hate. In a nation as populous as the United States, there will always be some amount of bigotry. Its how we respond to the hate that matters.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
What do you want to do when you grow up? I asked Muhammad, an 8-year-old boy.

I want to kill Israeli soldiers! he replied proudly.

This was in 1998, when I was teaching English in Shatila, a Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. Id come to Beirut to study abroad and explore my Arab roots, but as an American whod never left the U.S., I was unprepared for the deep anger toward Israel that I encountered.

Read more: Opinion: I'm the child of a Holocaust survivor. I know the trauma inflicted on Gaza will last for generations

My young students provided history lessons Id never gotten. They told me of the notorious Shatila massacre in the 1980s, facilitated by Israeli soldiers. They told me about the Nakba , when many of their grandparents had been displaced and rendered stateless during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

Although theyd lived their whole lives inside Shatila, my students knew the names of the Palestinian villages their families came from. Some of their grandparents still kept the keys to houses that had been destroyed.

Read more: Opinion: Gaza's techies were dreamers and builders. After Israel's bombs, their stories shatter my heart

As much as I learned from them, I didnt have the courage then to teach these children what I knew: that Israel had been created because of the murder of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, and that antisemitism is as real and frightening as discrimination against Arabs and Muslims. I didnt tell them that my best friend and my boyfriend were both Jewish.

Instead, I listened. I heard anger, fear, sadness and, yes  hatred. Back home, I was studying to be a history teacher. I wondered how these young Palestinians could understand their current situation without hearing from Israeli kids who knew the other side of their shared history, and who might simultaneously be forming the ambition to kill Palestinian militants. There is no mention of the Holocaust in Palestinian Authority textbooks , and the Nakba is called the War of Independence in Israeli textbooks .

My experience in Shatila led me to the central questions of my career as an educator: How can we tell young people the hard truths about history without perpetuating conflict? How do we resolve the different versions of the past that groups in conflict promote? How can we give kids a sense of pride in their identity without making them think other groups are inferior?

Read more: Opinion: Even before the bombing of Gaza, generations of Palestinians were displaced from their homes

These questions have followed me throughout my career, and for me the solution remains the same. We have to teach hard histories in all their complexity. We have to create classrooms where students are free to question political orthodoxies. And we have to support the teachers who do this challenging and essential work.

Research shows that conflict thrives on simplistic narratives, when history is rarely that clear-cut. My own studies show that complicating easy narratives with messy truths can break down the misleading moral certainties people use to justify violence.

Read more: Opinion: Nothing has prepared me for the antisemitism I see on college campuses now

While traditional textbooks paint a veneer of false agreement over vigorous historical debate, an approach that includes analyzing primary source documents teaches students to weigh evidence. The Jewish State, by Theodor Herzl, the Balfour Declaration, the Palestine Mandate, U.N. General Assembly Resolution 194, speeches by Golda Meir and Yasser Arafat, the Oslo accords, and firsthand accounts from places such as Auschwitz and Shatila are just a few such examples.

A technique known as applied theater provides another helpful approach to working with hard histories. The Israeli-Palestinian organization Combatants for Peace has led role-playing activities while facilitating encounters in which the two groups can hear each others stories. Similarly, scholars have held workshops in which Palestinian and Israeli teachers work together to construct historical narratives and have studied Palestinian-Jewish integrated educational contexts to understand their possibilities and limitations.

These explorations allow people to give nuance to us vs. them narratives. Muhammad was angry at Israeli soldiers, but not particularly at Lebanese authorities who kept refugees penned at Shatila, or at Palestinian politicians who failed their people . Israeli survivors of the Oct. 7 massacre will likely blame Hamas but may not be aware of how the Israeli campaign against the comparatively moderate Palestine Liberation Organization empowered Hamas.

Read more: Opinion: Let students speak for themselves on Israel and Hamas. We don't need outside groups to doxx or threaten anyone

Exploring history in these ways is risky. Adults have to be ready for kids to challenge everything they hold dear. Educational change moves slowly and is difficult to carry out during an ongoing conflict. But if we wait for the conflict to end before trying to make such changes, the delay could be interminable.

While we wait, Israeli and Palestinian children are forming memories of carnage, which will be reinforced by the one-sided narratives they hear in school, and the cycle of violence continues.

Innovative history education is necessary, but on its own is not sufficient to interrupt that cycle. Palestinian and Israeli kids need freedom, security and prosperity, and they deserve a full account of why this has been so hard to achieve. Lasting peace relies on safety, economic stability and just societies, but it can only be maintained with truth and understanding, which starts with education.

Rosalie Metro is an anthropologist of education and an associate teaching professor in the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Missouri-Columbia.

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.
This aerial photo taken in August, 2023 shows a photovoltaic power station in Uxin Banner of Ordos City, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. (Xinhua)

HOHHOT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Amidst a cold wave sweeping through north China, Li Chengqin, a resident of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, found herself comfortably sipping tea and watching TV in her cozy living room.

A notable change this year is she no longer needs to frequently feed her stove with coal. Her new stove is powered by electricity generated from wind energy, which is not only efficient but also environmentally friendly.

"A simple press of this button can warm up the entire room in just 10 minutes," said Li, whose house is located in Jarud Banner of Tongliao City.

In her kitchen, a cubic iron box replaced the traditional coal stove and served as a heater. Once switched on, it can elevate the room temperature by three to five degrees Celsius within 10 minutes. "Despite the wind and snow outside, our room maintains a temperature of 24.5 degrees Celsius. And there are no longer ashes and the stifling smell of burning coal," Li said.

In Inner Mongolia, approximately 31.8 percent of the total population consists of farmers and herders like Li. Since their homes were not connected to the central heating system, they had to primarily rely on coal-fired heaters. To reduce air pollution, the region earmarked 160 million yuan (about 22.4 million U.S. dollars) last year to boost the use of clean energy, and aimed to continue doing so each year.

In recent years, the autonomous region has accelerated its transformation from a fossil energy base to a clean energy base. Its wind power generation has recorded an average annual growth rate of 15.6 percent over the past five years, 8.1 percentage points higher than that of all power generation.

While wind power has been harnessed in Jarud Banner, solar power is transforming lives in the Uxin Banner of Ordos City. The heating supply in herdsman Aotgan Bayar's home in Ordos is now powered by electricity generated from a photovoltaic power station set up last year.

"In the past, we needed as much as five tonnes of coal each winter, and the room was full of smoke," he said. "Now we are spending less on heating and it is more environmentally friendly."

At present, about 58,420 households in Ordos are using clean energy for winter heating, while in the city more than 78 percent of the heating systems are powered by clean energy.

In Aotgan Bayar's village alone, with 239 households shifting to clean energy, a total of 2,716 tonnes of pollutants like soot and dust, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide could be reduced in a winter heating season.

More and more people in Inner Mongolia are now bidding farewell to coal-fired stoves, thanks to the flourishing clean energy industry that leverages the region's natural advantages, including abundant wind and solar power resources.

In 2022, Inner Mongolia increased its installed capacity of new energy by 20 million kilowatts. Its gross new energy power generation topped 130 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), more than the yearly output of the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station, according to official data.

On Nov. 16, a project was put into operation in Inner Mongolia's capital Hohhot, utilizing hot water discharged from power plants for heating systems. The project is expected to save as much as 1.13 million tonnes of coal or over 675 million cubic meters of natural gas annually.

"In the long run, clean energy has the potential to not only lower heating costs but also provide residents with both warmth and a clean environment," said Yu Li, vice general manager of a local heating supply company, adding that they will strive to bring "green heat" to more families. 
An overturned tractor-trailer is causing delays on Interstate 77 in southwest Charlotte Monday morning, according to fire officials.

The incident began around 6:40 a.m. in the southbound lanes of I-77 near Westinghouse Boulevard.

The Charlotte Fire Department said that while one lane of the ramp is open, the other is closed.

This closure is causing delays.

ALSO READ: 3 hurt in crash involving tractor-trailer in Belmont, GEMS says

The fire department also said there was a minor leak of asphalt from the tractor-trailer, but it has been somewhat contained.

It is unclear when the lane will reopen.

VIDEO: 3 hurt in crash involving tractor-trailer in Belmont, GEMS says








Unite the union said a recent survey showed many of Oxfam's workers had to rely on food banks

Oxfam workers will go on a 17-day strike throughout December for the first time in the charity's 81-year history.

Unite union said this was due to staff being angry that average wages at the Oxford-based charity had been cut in real terms by 21% since 2018.

The union said 83% of workers voted in favour of strike action in a ballot with an 82% turnout.

An Oxfam GB spokesperson said the charity planned to meet with Unite to discuss further steps.

About 500 Oxfam GB staff members, who work across the charitys shops, offices and Oxford headquarters, plan to walk out between 8 and 31 December.

It would impact offices and more than 200 shops.

The decision came after workers had rejected a pay increase of 1,750 or six per cent, plus a one-off taxed payment of 1,000 for the lowest earners.

Unite said the charity had repeatedly refused to enter fresh negotiations.

The union's general secretary, Sharon Graham, accused Oxfam of hypocrisy as "its own workers report having to use foodbanks", while the charity was "an extremely wealthy organisation".

Oxfam reported cash reserves stood at 44.6 million in 2022.

'Deeply regret'

An Oxfam GB spokesperson said they were "acutely aware" of the pressures that the rising cost of living has had on their workers.

"We chose to bring forward paying the latest real Living Wage increases, and prioritised lower paid colleagues in this years award," the spokesperson said.

We deeply regret that we could not do more but the settlement Unite is asking for is simply not affordable for Oxfam at a time when many of the communities we work with around the world are also facing sharply rising costs."

Follow BBC South on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KREX)  The online portal for workers to apply for paid family and medical leave is up and running, and Colorados Family and Medical Leave Insurance Division is now accepting applications for leave starting in 2024.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employments Family and Medical Leave Insurance (FAMLI) Division announced Monday morning the My FAMLI+ portal will help Colorado workers apply for 2024 paid leave when it becomes available in January.

Were proud to give Colorado workers a best-in-class user portal to give them the support they need when facing a major life event. Not only does My FAMLI+ provide Colorado workers a stress-free application process, it also allows health care providers to certify their patients claims all online, reducing the paperwork and processing times. Tracy Marshall

Click here to visit the FAMLI website and learn more.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WesternSlopeNow.com.
Palestinian refugee Fatima al-Ashwah had visited her extended family in Gaza before the Israel-Hamas war which she said left around 12 of them dead in an Israeli strike (ANWAR AMRO)

From Lebanon, Palestinian Fatima al-Ashwah has been praying for relatives in Gaza, but received grim news that Israeli bombing killed around 12 of them days before a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas.

"They bombed their house," leaving some of them "in pieces," said Ashwah, drained by weeks of anguish and days of grief.

She is among an estimated 250,000 Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon, most of them in poverty, according to the United Nations.

When AFP first spoke with Ashwah, 61, earlier this month from southern Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp, she had expressed grave fear for the safety of about 70 extended family members in the Gaza Strip whom she had visited in July.

She was later told that Israeli bombardment had killed her cousin's daughter Sanaa Abu Zeid, 30, along with Abu Zeid's daughters aged 12, eight and six, and other relatives who were in the same building.

"Around a dozen people were killed," she said.

The Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, when fighters from Palestinian militant group Hamas broke through Gaza's militarised border and attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians and taking around 240 hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

It was the worst attack in the 75-year history of Israel which retaliated with air, artillery and naval bombardments alongside a ground offensive. Nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians, have been killed in Gaza, according to the Palestinian territory's Hamas government.

- 'Under the bombs' -

Abu Zeid and her family had taken refuge in a school in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.

But they returned to their home in northern Gaza -- still standing, unlike those of some other family members -- because the children weren't coping at the shelter, Ashwah said.

Abu Zeid's husband and their three other children survived because they had been wounded in bombing the day before, one losing a leg, and were in hospital when the house was hit, Ashwah said.

"They buried them together in a mass grave," Ashwah said, with Abu Zeid's devastated mother unable to pay her final respects.

Ashwah showed photos and video taken before the bombing of smiling members of the family, including Abu Zeid's daughter Nour al-Moqayyed, aged six, dancing.

Abu Zeid's husband and the surviving children fled back to Rafah "under the bombs" to reunite with Abu Zeid's mother, Ashwah said, and were staying in a garage.

Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh camp and others like it in Lebanon were set up after what Palestinians call the Nakba, or "catastrophe", when more than 760,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes by the 1948 war over Israel's creation.

A fragile four-day truce between Hamas and Israel is to expire Tuesday morning. Ashwah expressed hope that it would last, saying the family "can't take it anymore."

"We've seen wars, but like this? My God, not like this."

lg/it
Military equipment - probably Pantsir-S1 anti-aircraft missile defense system - on the roof of the main building of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in Moscow

A Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system smashed into a building in Moscow during a massive pre-dawn drone strike on Nov. 26, triggering a fire, the ASTRA Telegram channel has reported.

The incident unfolded at 3.30 a.m. in the Sad consumer cooperative in the settlement of Chastye, in the Kubinka Odintsovo urban district.

Read also: Air defense system seen deployed near Putins residence outside Moscow

The mobile launching unit of the Pantsir system tore through the wall of a two-story wooden structure, setting off a blaze. Quick action by homeowners averted casualties as they successfully extinguished the flames.

On the same night, Russia experienced a relentless barrage of drone attacks, with four waves reported. The Ministry of Defense claimed to have intercepted 24 drones in five regions and destroyed two missiles over the Azov Sea.

While Ukrainian authorities remained officially silent, Ukrainian media outlets, including Suspilne, suggested possible Ukrainian involvement, citing sources in the HUR (Main Intelligence Directorate).

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, at 3.30 a.m., announced the downing of drones in Moscow Oblast, leading to temporary suspensions of operations at Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports. Sobyanin confirmed air defense systems thwarted additional drone threats in the Bryansk, Tula, and Kaluga oblasts.

Read also: Each modern air defense unit Russia loses represents a serious loss, says HUR

A second attack unfolded around 5 a.m., with local governors reporting downed drones in Moscow, Tula, Kaluga, and Bryansk oblasts. Tula Oblast, however, faced collateral damage as a drone, purportedly downed by Russian air defense, crashed into a residential building, causing minor injuries.

By 9 a.m., a third drone raid, announced by the governor of Smolensk, was occurring, and coincided with fresh explosions in Tula. Videos circulating on Russian Telegram channels showed a drone flying over the city.

At 11 a.m., the Russian Ministry of Defense claimed to have downed two modified S-200 anti-aircraft missiles over the Azov Sea, prompting an air alarm in occupied Crimea and a brief suspension of traffic on the Kerch Strait Bridge.

Read also: Russian warship damaged in Nov. 4 missile attack is newly built, not yet part of Black Sea Fleet

Russia launched its most extensive drone assault on Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began on Nov. 25, unleashing 75 UAVs overnight, with nearly 60 targeting Kyiv. Air defense systems successfully destroyed 74 out of 75 targets.

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
COLONIAL HEIGHTS  During the Colonial Heights Christmas Parade, parents will walk in honor of their loved ones who died from fentanyl poisoning in Virginia. Also alongside the Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness float, parents currently going through substance use with their children, siblings affected by the crisis and Richmond recovery groups will join the procession.

Karleen Wolanin, founder of Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness, hopes the community will support this event to help spread awareness around this serious crisis.

"The only way to help save lives is to speak up, create a ripple effect and work together to help awaken those who think this couldnt happen to them," Wolanin said. "It's time for a call to action. Virginia and the entire United States is in a crisis. We are losing 150 people a day from drug overdoses and fentanyl poisoning."

Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness flyer

According to Wolanin's press release, 1,951 Virginians died from fentanyl poisoning last year, and since 2021, Virginia has lost 6,000 lives due to the fentanyl epidemic. At Park View High School in Sterling, eight overdoses occurred on October 31.

"Now, seven out of 10 pills contain fentanyl. Our next generation is dying from taking just one pill," Wolanin said. "Our mission is to save lives by cultivating a heightened awareness of substance use disorder within parents and the community."

Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness's main purpose to participate in the parade and many more future events is to help parents feel they are not alone as they cope with substance abuse of a loved one, mental health or those who have lost loved ones to fentanyl.

Virginia Fentanyl and Substance Awareness flier

"We are now involved in school systems to help break the stigma that this can happen to anyone not just those struggling with substance use disorder and teach about Narcan and how to recognize overdose," Wolanin said. "We educate the community on what to look for and how to have conversations with their kids on fentanyl and how social media is a huge outlet for where these kids are buying fake pills."

Wolanin invites community involvement: support community events, join Virginia Fentanyl and Addiction Awareness Facebook page, donate funds for the nonprofit's school programs to educate kids on these dangerous deadly drugs and to allow them to host more community events to educate and help others learn about Fentanyl and educate parents on how to be proactive with their children on these subjects.

Purple Christmas decorations are needed for the float to represent fentanyl awareness. They also seek Grinch decor as well as purple tassel to wrap around the trailer.

The parade begins at the intersection of Boulevard and Temple Ave. at 7 p.m. and proceeds south to Dupuy Ave. in Colonial Heights. If you would like to help decorate on Sunday, December 3 from 3 - 5 p.m., donate decorations or walk alongside the float, send an email to virginiafentanylawareness@gmail.com.

There is a possible chance of rain on Sunday. If this happens, the float will be decorated on Saturday, December 2 instead. Follow Decorate Virginia Fentanyl Float for Christmas Parade on Facebook for updates.

"Together, let us stand firm in our commitment to safeguard our communities and protect lives from the scourge of fentanyl," Wolanin pleads.

Fun family tradition Christmas parade list, Tri-Cities holiday events: Remember to bundle up, wave at Santa

Musicians, dogs, Bible on stage Oliver Anthony concert, Longwood University: Columnist shares experience, 30+ images

 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.

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This article originally appeared on The Progress-Index: Colonial Heights Parade: First Fentanyl and Substance Awareness float
Passengers on an Australian cruise ship have been at sea for a week after a dirty hull prevented the boat from docking in New Zealand  with some experiencing long bouts of seasickness.

The 13-day-long P&O Pacific Adventure cruise departed from Sydney on Nov. 20 and was intended to take passengers around New Zealand, including stops at Wellington and Fiordland National Park, and return to Sydney on Sunday.

The cruise has scrapped the New Zealand leg of the cruise and is slated to arrive in Hobart, a city in Tasmania, Australia, on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Carnival Australia, which owns P&O Cruises Australia, told USA TODAY.

P&O Cruises Australia can advise a change to the compensation for guests on board Pacific Adventure, after the ship was unable to visit New Zealand, the cruise line said in a statement.

Upon arrival at the Bay of Islands on Nov. 23, the ship was not allowed to dock.

New Zealand has strict biosecurity laws that require a ship to be cleaned in order to reduce the risk of invasive species entering the countrys environment, Mike Inglis, Biosecurity New Zealands northern regional commissioner, told USA TODAY in an email.

We know that almost 90% of the exotic marine species already in New Zealand likely arrived here as marine growth on the submerged surfaces of international vessels, Inglis said.

Can we have eco-friendly cruising? What to know about zero-emission ships.

A photo sent from the ship to Biosecurity New Zealand showed high-risk organisms including mussel and oyster growth and could pose a risk to New Zealand if the ship cruised in our waters, he said.

Bad diving conditions prevented the cruise staff from finishing the cleaning of the hull.

As the ship revised its itinerary, the 2,781 passengers had to stay onboard on this crummy cruise to nowhere, one passenger wrote on a Facebook page for the cruise.

Guests have been reportedly feeling seasick because of the extended time out at sea and choppy waters. A passenger told The Guardian that sick bags are quickly disappearing from around the ship.

On Facebook, multiple guests wrote they were going to abort the rest of the cruise and fly home after the board docks in Hobart.

At first, the cruise line offered a 50% future cruise credit, but that was changed to a full refund and a $300 per person on board credit.

We have listened to the feedback from our guests and understand not all of them wish to cruise with us again, the cruise line said in a statement. Again, we apologise for the change in itinerary, and thank our guests for their patience and understanding.

Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: P&O cruise rejected from New Zealand port, stuck at sea for a week
Plowing Ohio's wintry roads is serious business.

What the actual plow looks like? Well, it can be light-hearted.

Ohio Department of Transportation District 4, which is based in Coventry Township, again asked school districts throughout Northeast Ohio to paint their plows and is now asking people to vote on their favorite.

The choices include penguins, polar bears and even the Abominable Snow Monster from "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

The program allows local community groups and schools to show off their artistic skills. Schools from Ashtabula, Mahoning, Portage, Stark, Summit and Trumbull counties are participating this year.

Voting began today on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ODOTD4 and continues through 3 p.m. Dec. 8. Each "like" counts as one vote and the plow that receives the most likes wins.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Photos: See ODOT District 4's 2023 Paint-the-Plow entries
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG)  Dr. Benjamin F. Findley, Jr., Col., USAF (Retired) is among honorees selected for the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his Cabinet selected veterans from across the state for the Class of 2023. Inductees represent over 1.5 million Florida veterans; Findley reportedly is the only Pensacola-area inductee.

Milton cold weather shelter opens for three days

About the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame

The Florida Veterans Hall of Fame is administered and sponsored by the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs on behalf of the Office of the Governor.

The Hall of Fame, which is not military-based, recognizes veterans who have significantly contributed to civic, business, public service, and other pursuits. It focuses on post-military contributions to Florida and the nation.

Each inductee has their name added to the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame Plaque, which is located in the State Capitol Building in Tallahassee. He or she is also given a special medal at the annual induction ceremony, luncheon and reception.

The rules for cutting your own Christmas tree in Florida

Appreciating, advocating for, and recognizing the great value of all veterans over their lifetimes who selflessly contribute to our freedoms and liberty, Findley said, during and after military service  (is) a genuine win-win-win for all.

Heres the full list of 2023 inductees, according to the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs website:

David Abramowitz, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret)

Dennis O. Baker, Commander, U.S. Navy, (Ret)

John E. Bircher III, Colonel U.S. Army (Ret)

David Blair Craig, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret)

Dr. Benjamin Findley, Colonel, U.S. Air Force (Ret)

Michael Fleming, Brigadier General, U.S. Marine Corps/ U.S. Army (Ret)

R. Craig Ham, Colonel, U.S. Army (Ret)

Gerald Hollingsworth, MD, Colonel, U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force (Ret)

Joseph Kittinger, Colonel, United States Air Force (Ret)

Henry Lowery, Chief Warrant Officer 5, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret)

Bruce Melnick, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard (Ret)

Frederic Raymond, Major General, U.S. Army (Ret)

Walter E. Raysick, Sr., Master Chief U.S. Navy (Ret)

Leon J. Roy, IV, Command Sergeant Major, U.S. Army (Ret)

Edward C. Sheffield, U.S. Army Veteran

Joseph G. Sicinski, U.S. Air Force Veteran

Alene Tarter, Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force (Ret)

Dewayne Thrift, U.S. Air Force Veteran

Donn Weaver, U.S. Army Veteran

Ellsworth Williams, Jr., Major, U.S. Army (Ret)

About Benjamin F. Findley Jr., Col., USAF (Ret.)

Findley said he served 30 years in the Air Force and that his volunteer efforts with the Florida Veterans Foundation Board have helped veterans with emergency needs, access to education, medical care and jobs.

Crestview closes Twin Hills Park ponds for 60 days

He said he also has helped veterans through his contributions to the Florida Ambassadors Council for Veterans and is listed on their Wall of Honor at the State Capitol.

He has helped needy veterans through personal counseling sessions and by writing several nationally published veteran suicide prevention and mental health articles, presenting related seminars, completing 11 veterans suicide-prevention training courses, and working many hours with the Gadsden Flag License Plate project.

Findley also volunteers with the Veterans Memorial Park Foundation Board in Pensacola.

Escambia County teachers could get salary increase with new agreement

He supports the Disabled American Veterans, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Daughters of the American Revolution, the American Legion, the Gulf Coast Veterans Advocacy Council, Wreaths Across America for sponsoring and placing wreaths on graves of veterans, and the Florida Veterans Hall of Fame Society, he said.

ALSO ON WKRG.com: Thousands head home during long holiday weekend

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
The 36-year-old Pensacola man suspected of killing his wife the day before Thanksgiving has been found and arrested in Panama City.

Darryl Jerome Walker was wanted by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office since Wednesday for the murder of his 35-year-old wife.

The ECSO says law enforcement in Panama City found him and made the arrest on Saturday.

Walker flees murder scene: ECSO says Pensacola man fatally shot his wife the day before Thanksgiving

Local deputies received reports of a gunshot on the 12000 block of Meadson Road around 5:30 a.m. Upon arrival, they found Walker's wife dead with a gunshot wound.

The ECSO says Walker fled the scene before deputies arrived at the home.

Walker is awaiting extradition back to Escambia County where he will face homicide charges.

This is a developing story.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola man wanted for wife's murder arrested in Panama City
NAIROBI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan and Zambian travel agents on Monday signed a strategic partnership deal to boost growth in the industry.

The Kenya Association of Travel Agents (KATA) and the Travel Agents Association of Zambia (TAAZ) said the deal inked in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, heralds a new era of improved collaboration fostering both business and leisure travel between the two nations.

"This partnership marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to reshape the tourism landscape. Together with TAAZ, we are poised to drive unprecedented growth, enhancing our countries' allure as vibrant travel destinations," Joseph Kithitu, chairman of KATA, said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Kithitu said the partnership is a commitment to bolstering the competitive edge of Kenya and Zambia as premier tourism destinations.

The alliance charts a roadmap for mutual growth, enabling members of both associations to revamp their businesses, tap into fresh markets, and invigorate regional travel.

Hamida Malik, chairperson of TAAZ, said the collaboration is poised to channel a surge of visitors into Zambia. "It signifies a concerted effort to unlock the full potential of our tourism sector," Malik added.

The collaboration aims to lure tourists to the rich tapestry of attractions in both countries.

According to the agents, planned activities encompass immersive familiarization trips, educational webinars, and synchronized marketing initiatives, all aimed at catalyzing regional travel and unlocking a surge in opportunities for private sector players within the travel industry.

According to the agents, the deal involves facilitating the exchange of expertise and insights within the travel domain and encouraging reciprocal visits between Kenya and Zambia to foster a deeper understanding of each other's tourism offerings.

The partnership also aims to stimulate increased tourist traffic between the two nations and synchronize the calendar of events to inform stakeholders and enhance participation. 
An attempted hijacking of a commercial tanker Sunday in the Gulf of Aden was not carried out by Yemeni Houthis and instead appears to have been done by five Somali individuals, the Pentagons top spokesperson said Monday.

We know that theyre not Houthi, Pentagon press secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters.

The U.S. Navys USS Mason on Sunday detained five individuals after it responded to a distress call from the Central Park, a commercial vessel with ties to an Israeli-owned company that was carrying phosphoric acid.

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The five attackers boarded the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, before the Mason arrived and demanded the release of the ship.

The individuals then attempted to flee via a small boat before they were eventually captured, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

CENTCOM did not initially identify the attackers but said two missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled Yemen as the Navy ship was wrapping up a response to the distress call, leaving it open to interpretation that the hijacking could have been linked to the Iran-backed militants.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles from the Mason and Central Park. Ryder would not say whether Pentagon officials believe the missiles were targeting the two ships.

Ryder said the Defense Departments initial assessment is the five individuals are Somali and the incident is piracy related. The attackers are currently being held on the Mason, he added.

He also noted there were three vessels belonging to Chinas Peoples Liberation Army that were also in the vicinity of the Central Park at the time of the attempted hijacking, but the ships did not respond to 59 distress calls.

Under international maritime norms and laws, when a ship puts out a distress signal, all vessels in the vicinity are required to come and help and support, Ryder said, adding that the Chinese vessels are supposedly in the area as part of a counterpiracy mission.

The incident comes as Iranian proxies have launched numerous attacks at U.S. forces and assets in the Middle East amid the war between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas, which began Oct. 7.

U.S. officials fear the conflict could widen and consume the region, as Iran and Israel have been involved in a years-long shadow war.

London-based Zodiac Maritime, the company that manages the Central Park, falls under Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers larger portfolio.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A senior Pentagon official who oversaw federally operated school systems in the Americas has been arrested in a Georgia human-trafficking sting.

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office (CCSO) last week announced the arrests of 26 people, including Stephen Hovanic, former chief of staff for the Americas division of the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), in connection with an alleged human-trafficking ring.

Hovanic has apparently held the position since 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Authorities charged Hovanic, 64, with pandering  a misdemeanor in Georgia  after he allegedly solicited sex in a motel room with an undercover agent, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.

FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME AFTER CONFRONTATION WITH NYC FOOD CART VENDOR

"This kind of operation is really important to us, because, number one, sex buyers are a huge problem in the industry. Without sex buyers, there wouldn't be a market for the females to continue to be victimized," an agent told FOX 5 on the condition of anonymity. "Second, and probably most importantly for all of us, is the victimization of these females. There's not a good scenario for them in this lifestyle, so the goal is to get them out of this lifestyle."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

TOP WASHINGTON DC OFFICIAL ARRESTED OVER DOMESTIC VIOLENCE INCIDENT WITH WIFE

Hovanic has apparently held the position since 2010, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Fox News Digital reached out to DoDEA on Friday but did not immediately receive a response. The federal school system did, however, list Hovanic's former position as chief of staff for the Americas as "vacant" on its website.

PENTAGON OFFICIAL WITH SECURITY CLEARANCE CHARGED WITH RUNNING DOGFIGHTING RING

The two-day operation occurred between Nov. 15 and 16, resulting in the rescue of six human trafficking victims, who have since been "moved to safety," the Haralson County Sheriff's Office in Georgia, which assisted with the CCSO investigation, said in a Thursday post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Coweta County Sheriff's Office last week announced the arrests of 26 people, including Stephen Hovanic, former chief of staff for the Americas division of the Department of Defense Education Activity, in connection with a human-trafficking operation, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.

"A total of 26 arrests were made, 12 for prostitution, 10 for pandering, and four for pimping. Three of the individuals are currently under investigation for human trafficking and drug charges," HCSO said.

NON-BINARY EX-BIDEN OFFICIAL SAM BRINTON ARRESTED FOR YET ANOTHER BAGGAGE THEFT

The DoDEA told Channel 2 Action News in a statement that it is "aware of an alleged incident involving a DoDEA employee in the Americas Region."

"As there are ongoing legal processes, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time. Any questions regarding the incident should be directed to the local law enforcement agency involved," the entity said.

The DoDEA is described as "one of only two Federally-operated school systems" that is "responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD)," according to its website.

The DoDEA operates 160 schools located across 11 countries, seven states, Guam and Puerto Rico. The school system employs about 15,000 people and serves nearly 70,000 children of military and DoD families.

"DoDEA is committed to ensuring that all school-aged children of military families are provided a world-class education that prepares them for postsecondary education and/or career success and to be leading contributors in their communities as well as in our 21st century globalized society," the website states.





Original article source: Pentagon official overseeing federal schools arrested in Georgia human-trafficking sting
Many of us have friends and loved ones who identify as LGBTQ or as same-sex attracted. Maybe you have supported friends and loved ones as theyve sought to reconcile their sexual/gender identities and religious faith. Some of you have likely also rejoiced with friends and loved ones who have shared the peace and joy they feel as they experience such reconciliation.

But all this becomes harder to navigate in an atmosphere of hostility and contention  since even in the best of circumstances, finding answers can be challenging. For instance, you may have seen studies suggesting religion is associated with LGBTQ well-being or that religion is associated with LGBTQ harm weaponized to pressure people. As a result, our sexual and gender minority friends and family can feel at the center of a never-ending conflict instead of finding greater peace.

Without requiring anyone to abandon their convictions, a better way forward will encourage enough intellectual humility to be genuinely open to learning from each other, agreeing where we can, and disagreeing where we must.

There are a number of ways we can do this as we gather as families for the holiday season. First, we must model healthy dialogue.

In line with the importance of viewpoint diversity in social science, one of us has been a part of efforts to bring LGBTQ-affirmative and religious conservative mental health professionals together for dialogue and collaborative research examining healthy and sustainable life paths for sexual minorities, including for faith-based individuals. As we seek deeper understanding, it helps to stay open to the best information, whether or not it matches our current understanding  and push back against confirmation bias, which can be especially strong regarding issues that matter most to us.

This is why listening deeply to views and evidence outside our own experience can be helpful. In the absence of this, its only natural that the experience of those we know, or know of, get amplified and embraced as what most people experience.

Related

Confusion over competing findings

Consider your reaction to the following social science findings in relation to religion and LGBTQ adolescent well-being in Utah:

LGBTQ Latter-day Saints are more likely to consider suicide than non-LGBTQ Latter-day Saints. LGBTQ Latter-day Saints are less likely to consider suicide than LGBTQ individuals of other religions or no religion.

For those persuaded that religion is harmful to LGBTQ individuals, the first finding would likely be taken as standalone proof that their critique of faith is correct. But if your bias tells you religiosity is helpful to LGBTQ individuals, the second finding would likely be taken as sufficient proof your views are correct.

When data contradicts a popular story

This commonly-held view that Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals are at greater risk of suicidality than those not associated with the church provides a valuable example of these dynamics.

This belief can be bolstered because we may know of, or have heard of, Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals who have experienced suicidal thoughts or efforts. Yet what happens when we hear that almost every representative study of the issue actually finds Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals have lower levels of suicidality than LGBTQ individuals who are not Latter-day Saints?

How can an intellectually honest person reconcile two seemingly disparate data points? Rather than writing off whatever evidence disagrees with our current belief  or even worse, weaponizing whatever evidence seems to support our current thinking  we might consider instead trying to understand how such disparate data points can help us have a better and more complete picture overall.

The stories and the stats can work together in this. Personal stories (anecdotal evidence) help us remember that people are not statistics. And what might be true for the majority (as found through scientific study) doesnt negate individual lived experience.

In this process, each person deserves to be treated with dignity and kindness. We can listen lovingly, even if we disagree with their conclusion.

Clarity from controlled studies

But caution is also warranted. In the case of conflicting perspectives, well-done scientific research can help  with poorly done social science more likely to distort the matter.

Using data from Utahs Student Health and Risk Prevention survey (SHARP), Mike was part of a team last year that examined LGBQ adolescent suicidality in Utah. Using a population-based, representative sample of 86,346 Utah secondary school students, we found that 28% of Latter-day Saint LGBQ students had seriously considered suicide in comparison to 13% of Latter-day Saint heterosexual students.

Once again, this finding alone could be interpreted to show that being a Latter-day Saint increased the risk of suicidality for LGBQ students. However, when we compared Latter-day Saint LGBQ students with LGBQ students who were from other denominations or no denomination, a very different picture emerged. Latter-day Saint LGBQ suicidality was 28%, Catholic LGBQ suicidality was 37%, Protestant LGBQ suicidality was 50%, and those with no affiliation was 49%.

Now the data seemed to be indicating that being a Latter-day Saint was protective of LGBQ suicidality. However, when we included controls for drug use and family connection, the differences between religious denominations largely disappeared. In other words, Latter-day Saint LGBQ did have significantly lower suicidality than non-Latter-day Saint LGBQ but by controlling for drug use and family closeness, we now know the difference was largely a result of lower drug use and closer family relationships among Latter-day Saint LGBQ students.

This study is not an outlier. It matches the largest meta-analysis done to date on the relationship between religion and LGBTQ well-being, which found that religion has a small but positive relationship with the health of sexual minorities (defined as mental health, well-being, physical health, sexual health, substance use, and self-harm/suicidality.)

And the fact is most studies using representative samples and controls and comparison groups find that religious LGBTQ individuals in general, and Latter-day Saint LGBTQ individuals in particular, have better mental health.

All that being said, we know that some LGBTQ individuals struggle mightily to reconcile their experience and their faith. Instead of weaponizing findings, we would be far better served by seeking to understand how different LGBTQ-identifying family and friends may experience religion differently. Such nuanced research is beginning to help us do just that. For example, rather than oversimplifying the relationship between religion and LGBTQ well-being we can examine why and how some LGBTQ individuals thrive within religion while others struggle.

Of course, what constitutes quality research isnt merely subjective. Whether or not a study uses a representative sample, controls, and appropriate comparison group(s) are widely agreed upon as crucial aspects of the most rigorous studies. And it turns out, they make a significant difference in the interpretations we end up making. For example, comparison groups and controlling for other issues that are known to impact suicidality such as gender, mental health and elevation helps us know our findings are not caused by extraneous issues.

In short, knowing that religious LGBTQ suicidality is elevated raises a concern but doesnt help us know why it is elevated. But if we compare religious to nonreligious (or differently religious) LGBTQ individuals, we can begin to see what role religion may have in those elevated rates.

So, back to the original point of this article. Instead of fighting each other, if we truly care for our LGBTQ family and friends, we will want them to have the best information available as they seek to navigate their path forward. That means combining personal insight with the best social science findings.

That can provide us with a more accurate understanding of what is helping and what is not and how we can all try to be part of the solution rather than part of the animosity that often exists surrounding these sensitive issues. This could help lead us to join together as advocates to help rather than as adversaries in the cultural wars so rampant around us. We dont have to agree with every stand others take in order to stand together in our efforts to help those in our families and communities most at risk.

Michael Goodman is a professor of religion at Brigham Young University with a doctorate degree in marriage, family and human development. He is a researcher on the Family Foundations of Youth Development study and serves on the board of North Star, a faith-based ministry for Latter-day Saint sexual and gender minorities.

Ty Mansfield is a practicing marriage and family therapist, a professor in Religious Education at Brigham Young University, and a co-founder and current board of North Star, a faith-based ministry for Latter-day Saint sexual and gender minorities. He also participated for several years as part of the Reconciliation and Growth Project and as part of the 4 Options Survey research study examining healthy and sustainable life paths for sexual minorities.
In 2020, political thinker Yuval Levin blasted an ineffectual Congress over its preference for performance over the work of legislating. In an Atlantic article titled Transparency is Killing Congress, Levin charges members with using the institution of Congress as a platform on which to perform for their respective culture war comrades.

The idea that transparency could ever be overdone or cause harm is anathema for many Americans, and particularly journalists, who understand transparency as an unmitigated good. The more transparency, the better, in pretty much anything  a relationship, a job, a community, an institution.

Yet Levin goes on to suggest that once members of Congress try to gain status and prominence by endlessly scorning the institution they worked so hard to enter, there is ultimately a loss of protected spaces for deliberation in Congress in the name of transparency. All of this ultimately holds the legislative process, and the compromise it requires to function, hostage to public factions. In this way, rather than create accountability, increased public scrutiny incentivizes performance and turns the legislature into a stage.

Sunlight might be the best disinfectant, but perhaps killing the good bacteria can create an environment where pathogens thrive.

Congress is not the only institution in which deliberative spaces have become performative spaces. Classrooms and churches are likewise becoming culture war battlegrounds. Students tweet class materials they find offensive, professors publicly criticize administrators, and congregants broadcast incendiary snippets of a talk or private meeting  all of which effectively corrode the trust necessary for the continued life of beneficial institutions.

Social media has made it possible to put every mishap, failure and conflict before condemnatory public mobs  giving every participant, as Jon Haidt puts it, a dart gun armed and ready to fire. As a result, any member of any institution can summon partisan outrage with just a few clicks, mobilizing the full might of the culture war army upon those whose views they find threatening.

Related

This newfound mobocracy is concerning to say the least. Yet this isnt to say there are no legitimate grievances or failures that need to be addressed. People make mistakes, well-intended policies can have negative consequences, and there are, occasionally, truly bad actors who should be confronted. There needs to be public accountability for these reasons.

But if an institutions continuance matters to you (and it should), then your social media followers are not always the appropriate audience for processing these problems. Using internet shame campaigns to agitate for reforms sows a cynical and simplistic narrative about the world  buying into the troubling notion that those on the other side of every conflict can only be reached through public humiliation or threats to their livelihood.

While public shaming can act as a powerful motivator, its a blunt instrument and often fosters change at a great cost. The New York Times found that over half of its readers self-censored in the previous year to avoid retaliation. Forty-six percent of respondents said they felt more restricted in what they could openly share than they did 10 years ago. The Times editorial board warns that human beings cannot flourish without the confidence to take risks, pursue ideas and express thoughts that others might reject.

This is intuitive to many of us when it comes to our more intimate relationships  a marriage, a family, a friend group  where such chronic tension would be suffocating. But sometimes we assume that at a larger institutional level, different rules apply. Yet Harvard Business professor Ethan Bernstein found that unlimited transparency within an organization actually decreased openness, accountability and problem-solving. While transparency is important, he found that privacy is just as essential for performance.

Why? Because even when everyone involved had only the best of intentions, the act of being observed actually distorted behavior instead of improving it. In an atmosphere like this, employees ended up being preoccupied by managing others judgment and catering to expectations  which diverted energy away from problem-solving and innovation and left them feeling distrustful.

Theres a bigger lesson here on the limits of our tell-all culture. Exposing the inevitable conflicts of life in institutional settings to outrage-hungry outsiders wreaks havoc on trust, internal unity and connectedness. It discourages sincerity and candor and pressures any institution to subordinate its goals to the whims of an often uninvested public.

No institution can survive without the privacy to make decisions consistent with their own goals. Levin adds that every institution needs an inner life  a sanctum where its work is really done. Without that privacy, decisions affecting the institution come under scrutiny from public actors with big opinions and little commitment to the institutions health or purposes.

The truth is that indiscriminate disclosures in the name of transparency are anything but transparent. A photograph yields a more accurate record than the painters brush, but the choice of what to capture  and what to exclude  is still subjective.

What is bad in the candid friend, suggested G.K. Chesterton, is simply that he is not candid. He is keeping something back  his own gloomy pleasure in saying unpleasant things.

Underlying all the candor and uber-transparency is something not being disclosed. And its fair to say that tattling on our institutions to our fellow partisans probably reveals more about our own goals and motives than it does about that institution and its members.

As with so many of the best things in life, institutions are much easier to destroy than to create. Notre-Dame de Paris took over 100 years to build; a fire destroyed the roof and spire in three hours. Institutions turn our values into action, they channel diverse talents toward common goals, generate needed social capital, engage individuals in causes bigger than themselves and transmit hard-won knowledge and practices across generations. Perhaps we ought to challenge ourselves to find solutions to conflicts, mistakes and even wrongdoing that preserve and build institutional integrity.

One practical way to protect the inner life of institutions is to resolve problems with the people whom they concern  and only those people. Jesus Christ taught his disciples that if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.

Real transparency requires trust  an environment and people with whom one can reveal ones flaws without fear of reprisals. This is not something that can be imposed from the outside by keyboard warriors looking to extract their pound of flesh. Lets welcome transparency in its place. And appreciate its healthy tension with the other important value of privacy.

Meagan Kohler is a Latter-day Saint convert and writer who studied philosophy, French and Latin at BYU. She lives in Utah with her husband and four sons. She writes on X @TresClare
A majority of Phoenix City Councilmembers said they wouldn't sign a preliminary legal agreement that the U.S. Department of Justice could propose before it wraps up its civil rights investigation of the Phoenix Police Department.

The Justice Department could release findings any day on a wide-ranging two-year probe that has involved more than 100 interviews and 80,000 documents. In past probes elsewhere, the feds have released findings after about 18 months.

Once it releases its report, the Justice Department typically asks cities to sign on to an agreement, known as a consent decree, that brings in federal monitors to oversee reforms at the police department.

For now, councilmembers are unenthusiastic about that prospect. Phoenix appears ready to reject a legal offer to cooperate and avoid litigation.

If the council were to reject a consent decree, it would make Phoenix the largest city in the nation to resist Justice Department involvement in police reforms. It could set up a heavy-hitting, potentially costly and lengthy legal battle as it has in seven other locales, two of them in Arizona.

But city officials say it may be worth it to protect local decision-making.

Influenced by the city's police union, political advocacy groups, a fierce email campaign from Phoenix residents, and their own personal discretion, four City Council members say changes the Justice Department might request from the city could jeopardize the city's finances without any assurance the police department would be better off.

They refuse, they say, to sign anything without proper evidence.

The Justice Department opened its inquiry in August 2021, promising to look into claims of excessive use of force by Phoenix officers, retaliation against protesters, discriminatory policing practices and the department's response to people with disabilities or who were experiencing homelessness.

The new police headquarters will be located in the 27 story building at 100 West Washington.

The inquiry came after criticism from the community about the department's use of force and investigations by The Arizona Republic and other media into Phoenix's high rate of police shootings and disproportionate use of violence against people of color.

The Justice Department did not respond to request for comment for this article.

More: Justice Department will investigate Phoenix police practices, use of force

What happens after a Department of Justice investigation?

Unless nothing improper is found, investigations conclude with a "findings letter" that outlines evidence of "specific problems" within the police department or between the department and the city, according to the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. It also includes a plan to solve root problems.

But before a findings letter, the Justice Department sometimes asks cities to sign another agreement, one that says they intend to "avoid litigation" and "come to an agreement to address the Divisions findings." The document is called a "statement of intent" or "agreement in principle."

The Justice Department would need to get at least five of the nine councilmembers to sign such a preliminary agreement.

Mayor Kate Gallego and Councilmembers Ann O'Brien, Jim Waring, Debra Stark and Kevin Robinson said they won't sign the preemptive document. They said they need to see evidence first.

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego at the GO Bond Election Night Watch Party at the Phoenix Children's Museum on Nov. 7, 2023.

Vice Mayor Yassamin Ansari and councilmembers Laura Pastor, Betty Guardado and Kesha Hodge Washington have not indicated where they stand on intent statements or consent decrees.

Pastor, Guardado and Hodge Washington did not respond to requests for comment from The Arizona Republic. Ansari's office said it was still gathering information before deciding.

The council members leaning against an agreement with Justice Department all offer similar reasons: Consent decrees don't make cities safer, and they add bureaucracy and slow progress. They lower morale in the department, which could lead to an exodus of quality officers and hamper recruitment efforts, which already have been a long-running struggle.

Essentially, the council members said, agreeing to a consent decree would be handing over the keys to the city to the Justice Department, and to do that without evidence would be akin to buying a home without an inspection first.

"I believe in everyone's civil rights, but you can't just hoist something on us without us understanding the report," Stark said.

"Theyre hoping Phoenix will roll over and sign on to a consent decree  effectively relinquishing control of our department to them," wrote O'Brien in an op-ed for The Arizona Republic.

Robinson, a 36-year veteran of the Phoenix Police Department and current criminal justice professor at Arizona State University, said he has studied departments under a consent decree, and he doesn't like what he sees.

"In a lot of those cities, you don't see a lot of, in my opinion, truly positive change because of the consent decree," Robinson said. "You see change that was happening already. And then a consent decree comes in, and things may still happen, but they happen at a really slow rate because now there's so much bureaucracy involved."

Waring said he believed a consent decree would lead to more retirements.

"It'll be harder to recruit to fill the vacancies, and I think it will actually hurt public safety," he said.

Though a council majority is not interested in signing a preliminary agreement before the Justice Department releases its conclusions from the investigation, most members said they wanted to consider those findings before deciding whether to enter a consent decree.

Other options for a resolution were less clear because the Justice Department did not respond to questions about what could happen.

Police consultant weighs in: 'They don't care about your true crime problems'

Identical points, often with verbatim wording, were made by Seattle-based police consultant Bob Scales, who has traveled to Phoenix in recent months to warn of the danger of consent decrees.

Scales formerly negotiated reforms between the Seattle Police Department and the Justice Department, then worked as the department's compliance coordinator for nearly two years starting in 2013. Now, he does data analytics for police departments through his firm, Police Strategies.

He flew to Phoenix in October to meet with City Council members and warn neighborhood groups after Operation Blue Ribbon, a local pro-police advocacy group sought him out and paid for his travel.

"They will dictate everything in the department, and they don't care what the community thinks. They don't care about your true crime problems," Scales told a north Phoenix block watch group in November over Zoom.

The 25 residents widened their eyes in disbelief, scoffing at times.

In an hourlong presentation, Scales clicked through a slideshow, explaining how the Justice Department generally bulldozes into city halls, intimidates mayors into signing agreements with vague or no evidence, then devastates local budgets, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.

More: Racial profiling lawsuit, reforms for Maricopa County Sheriff's Office top $250M in costs

Scales said recruitment struggles, hiring unqualified officers and slashes to the budget are all on the table if Phoenix doesn't push back.

"If the city signs the consent decree, it's all over because you're handing over the control of your department and the city budget to a federal monitor and a federal judge. And they will determine policing and public safety in the city of Phoenix for the next decade or more, Scales said.

He pointed to how federal oversight of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office as part of the Melendres v. Arpaio court case contributed to Sheriff Paul Penzone's decision to step down  which councilmembers highlighted, too.

Penzone, in a news conference announcing his resignation, said, "When I have more people investigating internal affairs and compliance issues than I do crimes in our community, something's wrong."

The Melendres case, in its 16th year, has cost the county more than $250 million.

Phoenix residents also shared concerns about government overreach and losing their freedoms. They discussed launching more email campaigns to City Council and starting a petition. One resident said she would contact her congressional representatives to see about changing federal law to revoke or reduce the Justice Department's power.

Pressure campaigns against Department of Justice control

Beyond the restaurant walls, outside efforts to sway City Council also were underway.

Billboards along Interstate 10 just east of downtown advertised "SavePhx.com," a website chock-full of editorials against consent decrees.

Operation Blue Ribbon, founded by Phoenix resident and former North Central Phoenix Homeowners Association president Anne Ender, paid for the billboards. But Ender said she wasn't operating the site and declined to say who was. She started the Blue Ribbon group in 2020 in response to the backlash after George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis.

The Republic sent a message to the email associated with the site, and the response was the operators were "not officers in the department and it is not the union."

The email said the residents behind the site were shielding their identity for fear of federal government retaliation.

Operation Blue Ribbon also previously launched email campaigns and hosted additional community meetings with Bob Scales.

America Pack, a right-wing political action group, sent emails and hosted events, too. It put out calls to action on its Facebook page with slogans like, "Stop the DOJ - Don't handcuff our cops. City Council MUST defend the Phoenix police..."

Local groups critical of Phoenix police also have signaled skepticism of the Justice Department and consent decrees.

A spokesperson for Poder, an advocacy group that has scrutinized Phoenix police, said the investigations typically result in high costs to taxpayers and ineffective reforms that fail "to end the killing of Black, Brown, Indigenous, poor, disabled, unsheltered and LGBTQ+ people."

Shalae Flores of Poder said the organization took one meeting with the Justice Department in fall 2021 but "decided not to continue our engagement ... after that."

What could happen next?

Scales said he's never seen anything like it.

"If the City of Phoenix stands their ground against the DOJ juggernaut, the entire consent decree system will come crashing down," he wrote on LinkedIn. "DOJ's pattern-or-practice findings are simply a bluff."

In a 2017 report, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division said seven jurisdictions had tried  unsuccessfully in the end  to resist agreements for reform.

Maricopa County and Colorado City in Arizona, along with Alamance County, North Carolina; Meridian, Mississippi; Columbus, Ohio; and New Orleans resisted until the Justice Department ultimately won concessions after filing court actions. Ferguson, Missouri, entered a consent decree in response to the government's lawsuit.

It was unclear what would happen if Phoenix City Council refused to sign an initial intent statement. But if the council resisted a consent decree, the Justice Department said in its 2017 report it "is fully prepared to litigate" when municipalities are uncooperative.

Scales says litigation would be worth it. It would be costly, but no costlier than the changes required from a potential consent decree, he said.

"Why would the city agree that they have a pattern or practice of unconstitutional policing inside a consent decree without making DOJ prove its case?" Scales said. "It would essentially be like being charged with a crime and pleading guilty without ever seeing the evidence."

Reporter Taylor Seely covers Phoenix for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com. Reach her at tseely@arizonarepublic.com or by phone at 480-476-6116.

Reporter Miguel Torres covers public safety for The Arizona Republic / azcentral.com and contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Phoenix City Council may challenge DOJ police investigation
FILE - Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Kenta Maeda throws during the fourth inning in Game 1 of an American League Division Series baseball game against the Houston Astros, Oct. 7, 2023, in Houston. Right-hander Maeda and the Detroit Tigers agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023, because the agreement was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Free agent right-hander Kenta Maeda and the Detroit Tigers agreed to a $24 million, two-year contract, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity Sunday night because the agreement was subject to a successful physical and had not been announced.

Maeda, who turns 36 on April 11, spent the past three years with the Minnesota Twins. He was 6-8 with a 4.23 ERA in 20 starts and one relief appearance this year in his return from Tommy John surgery on Sept. 1, 2021.

He was hit on the left ankle by a 111.6-mph drive off the bat of Boston's Jarren Duran in his third outing on April 20. After giving up career highs of 10 runs and 11 hits against the New York Yankees six days later, he went on the injured list because of a strained right triceps, an injury that sidelined him until June 23.

Maeda made a pair of relief outings in the AL Division Series against Houston, allowing three runs in four innings.

He completed an eight-year contract he agreed to with the Los Angeles Dodgers that guaranteed $25 million and included $81.2 million in potential innings and roster bonuses. He earned $650,000 in bonuses this year.

Maeda is 65-49 with a 3.92 ERA in 155 starts and 35 relief outings for the Dodgers (2016-19) and Twins (2020-21, '23), who acquired him in February 2020 along with minor league utilityman Jair Camarago for right-hander Brusdar Graterol and first baseman/outfielder Luke Raley.

Maeda reached 32 starts only in his first season with the Dodgers, when he pitched 175 2/3 innings, which remains his big league high.

In Detroit, he would join a rotation projected to include right-handers Matt Manning, Alex Faedo and Reese Olson.

Left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez opted out of the final three years and $49 million of his contract to become a free agent. Left-handers Joey Wentz (19 starts) and Tarik Skubal (15) saw significant time in the rotation, along with right-hander Reese Olson (18).

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/
An Abu Dhabi-backed investment fund appears increasingly likely to buy The Telegraph newspapers and the weekly Spectator magazine, raising concerns over the publications future direction.

The paper has been shopping for possible buyers after it emerged this summer that its owners were struggling to pay their debts. That the newspaper may be sold to a firm with ties to the United Arab Emirates has particularly rattled some senior members of the ruling Conservative Party, who look to the Telegraph titles as the partys outlets of choice.

U.K. Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer has said that she may order a government probe into the sale. While there might be a whiff of nationalism or something worse in the Tories objections, interrogating it further is a wise move, writes Guardian columnist Jane Martinson. No other businesses have the same power to influence public opinion as the media, she writes. Anyone arguing that no one reads or cares about a dead tree newspaper should ask why so many very rich men still want to own one. In a text message to Semafors Ben Smith, Martinson added that owning a newspaper isnt just a money-making venture: it also confers the power to influence lawmakers and the people who elect them.

Senior Tories have expressed fears over the possibility that Emirati-linked owners could dictate the newspapers angles. In a column published in The Telegraph late last week, Charles Moore, a former editor of the newspaper, wrote that it would be unforgivable" to allow such a sale. It would be nationalisation by a country which does not have press freedom, Moore writes. The UAE may be one of the better governed Arab states and is traditionally friendly to Britain, but its best friends would not pretend that it is a democracy, or that it has institutionalised the rights and liberties of the Western world.

The possible purchase represents a move by Abu Dhabi to further its influence campaign. The UAE has already funded broadband internet and committed to billions of pounds of investment in the U.K.s infrastructure, Oliver Shah noted in The Times of London. What do you buy when you have everything? You buy a more intangible kind of power, he writes. Even if the UAE is just a passive investor in the paper, its very presence would soften coverage of controversial Gulf issues at the margin.
Im often identified as someone who writes issues plays, but Im less high-minded about my subject matter than I should probably admit. Generally, I dont decide to write a play because I know I want to say something important about gun violence, military veterans, or the exploitation of young womenalthough I care deeply about these topics.

Im activated to write about a subject when I have a WaitWhat? moment. Its what I call the moment when I find an idea so difficult to fathom that I react by saying to myself, sometimes out loud:

Waitwhat?

I come across loads of stories where I think, I could write about that, but I feel no urgency. A Wait What? moment tells me that theres a question begging to be investigated. And that if I dont give it the attention it demands, someone nimbler will discover it and carry it forward.

Certain Wait What? ideas land with an iron thunk so heavy I cant ignore them if I try. In 2014 I read an article about a 95-year-old German woman who had just come forward to tell her story of being conscripted to be one of Adolf Hitlers food tasters. She claimed that he chose only young women who were of good German stock to test his food for poison.

Waitwhat? Just when I thought I had heard every abhorrent thing about Hitler, I learned he had people test his food for poison. He didnt choose Jews, Poles, homosexuals, or members of any number of communities he hated for this job. Rather, he conscripted young German women who were ostensibly the future of the Reichthe anticipated bearers of his ideal Aryan children. I imagined a room of girls alternately amusing and turning against each other to kill time between meals; waiting to see if they would die.

Suddenly, through the lens of incredible, reportedly true events, I had my opportunity to work through long-simmering questions I had about the way society treats young women as expendable, and the dangers of complacency.

I told myself I would not write my H*tlers Tasters idea before I could do airtight research. But then, in 2016, I took part in a 48-hour playwriting challenge. Each participant got a sealed envelope containing writing prompts, and we had 48 hours to create a playthe only rule was that we could never look back and edit what we had written. The process is grueling, but also thrilling, in the way that you dont have time to censor yourself.

When I started working on my newest play, Room 1214, the WaitWhat was more like, Wait What the F***? While researching another project, I had the great honor of meeting Ivy Schamis, a teacher at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Two students in Ms. Schamis classroom were killed when a young gunman, swastikas etched into his combat boots and the bullets in his gun, shot his way through the school on February 14, 2018.

I thought I knew all the details of that event. But I hadnt realized that Ms. Schamis was teaching a Holocaust history classstudents literally studying hate crimeswhen the shooting took place. Wait What? Room 1214 became my attempt to make sense of a seemingly endless well of hate, and our collective cultural ability to shrug, shake our heads, and go back to business as usual.

When the Wait What strikes, it sparks something in me that desperately needs to connect, to know if this feeling of pained disbelief resonates with anyone else. If Elizabeth Gilberts theory is correct, then perhaps there is some metaphysical design that causes ideas to circle back in search of a medium, demanding we wrestle with them until, perhaps, we assign them their deserved value.

We live in a time when we are besieged with information, when its easy to feel numb to absurdity and bad news. I offer that sitting in a theater, collectively breathing and receiving stories, we experience a collision of past, present, and future in a space where everyone is vulnerable. The playwright offers her work to be scrutinized. The actors lay bare their bodies to sink into someone elses skin. The audience members open themselves up to myriad discomfortsfrom turning off their phones for a couple of hours to watching a bitter truth on stage.

In that small moment in time, in the dark, we have the time and space to collectively feel the WaitWhat together. Perhaps it is here, where strangers seem safe instead of suspicious, that we can open ourselves up to reckon with the sins of our past and their implications for our collective future.

Michelle Kholos Brooks is a playwright based in Los Angeles. Her play "War Words" runs November 10 - December 17 at A.R.T NY Theaters.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: As a playwright, I look for the 'Wait...What?' moment
It seems like only yesterday that the entire Republican Party was calling for smelling salts over the shocking decision by Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that senators would no longer be required to wear suits and ties on the floor of the Senate. The keening and wailing from the members of both chambers over the loss of decorum could be heard from coast to coast. How could the nation survive such a blow to the dignity of the U.S. Congress?

Republicans were so outraged they sent a letter to the majority leader registering their supreme disappointment and resolute disapproval of the decision. The outcry was so overwhelming that the chamber voted to restore the old dress code so that the Senate would once again be a place of honor and tradition.

How absurd it all was in light of what commonly happens these days in those same sacred halls  mostly at the hands of the Republicans themselves.

Just a week or so ago we had a senator from Oklahoma challenging a witness at a congressional hearing to a fist fight, right there on the Senate floor. Supreme Court nominees are blatantly lying under oath about their intentions and beliefs and suffering no repercussions from the supposedly co-equal branch. A single freshman member has completely shut down military promotions in order to force the Pentagon to change a policy the majority in the government and the country support. And let's not forget that fateful day when thousands of Republican voters stormed the Capitol and trashed the place in order to force Congress to refuse to follow the Constitution and install their Dear Leader for a second term. Decorum you say?

And why wouldn't they believe that acting like barbarians is acceptable behavior? The leader of the GOP has become downright lewd on the campaign trail and his crowds are delirious with delight.

This was very dignified as well:

Trump: "If somebody is beating you by 10, 15, or 20 points, like were doing with crooked Joe Biden -- lets indict the motherf*cker." @KateSullivanDC

pic.twitter.com/NtZfJWR5fq  The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) November 25, 2023

Those are actually more unusual examples of Trump using crude adult language. Generally, he sticks to childish insults, referring to his rival, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, as a "birdbrain" and repeatedly mocking former Gov. Chris Christie as "a fat pig" (something he calls his former Attorney General Bill Barr that as well).

His boorishness is rubbing off on the people who work for him. When confronted with a recent article in which many of Trump's closest advisers in the first term said they are shocked that none of the exposes and revelations about his manifest unfitness have made a dent in his popularity among Republicans, Trump spokesman Steven Cheung issued this statement:

These media whores are always looking for their next grift  whether its book deals or cable news contracts  because they know their entire worth as human beings revolve around talking about President Trump..."

For the record, Kelly hasn't made even one appearance on television that I'm aware of nor has he written a book.

Trump's rhetoric has always been violent and lurid going back to the days when he proclaimed, "I love waterboarding," and regaled his audiences with tales of generals in days gone by summarily executing dozens of Muslim prisoners with bullets dipped in pigs' blood. But recently, he's adopted the language of fascists from the 20th century, declaring that immigrants are "poisoning the blood of our country" and promising to rid the country of the communists, Marxists, fascists and radical left thugs that live like vermin" within it. He has defied the proclamations of judges in his various lawsuits and criminal cases to refrain from intimidating witnesses and causing his rabid followers to issue threats against them. The violence is coming to a boil just below the surface.

I suspect that most journalists and pundits just shrug their shoulders and say, "oh that Trump, you know how he is." And maybe his more sophomoric rhetoric isn't really that important in the grand scheme of things, particularly compared to his actual plans and policies which are truly terrifying and require that the media pay close attention and make it their mission to ensure that the public understands the threat he poses in a second term.

But there is an effect on our culture and our politics from his crude behavior. Chris Christie appeared on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday and said it plainly:

When you show intolerance toward everyone, which is what [Trump] does, you give permission as a leader for others to have their intolerance come out. Intolerance toward anyone encourages intolerance toward everyone.

I think to be more precise, Trump shows intolerance toward people who disagree with him and that can be anyone. And his example has given permission to vast numbers of Americans who now believe that they have no obligation to tolerate anyone they don't like.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Now, it's perfectly true that there was never a time in America when everyone just got along beautifully. Our history of racism and xenophobia alone puts the lie to that. But Trump's intolerance truly is ecumenical in that it could be any group, any individual, any foe or (former) friend at any given moment. It's entirely self-serving.

It's making more and more people embrace political violence. The recent American Values Survey from Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution think tank found that one in three Republicans agree that because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country  up from 15% in 2021. (22% of Independents and 13% of Democrats agree, all numbers having increased since 2021.) The truly frightening number is that among those who believe the Big Lie, 46% believe they may resort to violence, as well as 41% of Trump fans and 41% who buy into the "Great Replacement Theory." 39% of Christian nationalists are ready to take up arms to "save the country." Those numbers represent tens of millions of Americans.

I think this is part of what's making so many of the rest of us feel so off-balance right now. Sure, Trump is a classic mid-20th-century racist and xenophobe in the old Archie Bunker mold. But over the course of the last eight years, he has created a political environment of coarse intolerance. A whole bunch of young people don't remember anything else  this is normal political discourse to them. And it's translating itself in many different ways into Trump's stated ethos of "either they win or we win" which makes a pluralistic democracy virtually non-functional. "My way or the highway" isn't a joke. It's the road to civil war.
Poland's Minister of Infrastructure Andrzej Adamczyk, sent a proposal to his Ukrainian counterpart, Oleksandr Kubrakov, concerning the ongoing protests by Polish truckers at the border, according to the Polish government on Nov. 27.

As well protesting the liberalization of EU transport rules for Ukrainian trucks, Polish truckers are against Ukraine's use of an electronic queue system, according to the Infrastructure Ministry.

This system leads to longer lines for EU-registered vehicles and reduces the competitiveness of transport companies, the minister said.

Adamczyk proposed that Ukraine exempts trucks returning from Ukraine to the EU without cargo from being registered in the electronic queue at two border crossings.

"The minister hopes that the Council of Ministers of Ukraine will accept this request as it would benefit the well-being of Ukrainian and Polish drivers, carriers, and entrepreneurs from other sectors of the economy."

The minister also requested that the European Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean establish a joint committee to analyze the impact the liberalization of EU transport rules for Ukrainian trucks has had on the European transport market.

"The above actions are a continuation of the efforts of the Ministry of Infrastructure, made since the beginning of the protest, to remove its causes, which lie with Ukraine and the European Union," the Infrastructure Ministry claimed.

According to EU rules, Ukrainian trucks do not require permits until June 30, 2024, after the EU and Ukraine signed an agreement in June 2022 to liberalize transport rules.

Polish truckers claim that the lack of entry permits for Ukrainian trucks is hurting business for Polish drivers and blocking three border crossing points since Nov. 6.

As a result of the blockade, around 2,100 vehicles are stuck, unable to get into Ukraine as of Nov. 26, Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry said.

The flow of traffic at Dorohusk-Yahodyn, Ukraine's largest cargo crossing, is usually 680 trucks per day. It is now down to a few dozen every 24 hours, according to the ministry.

Negotiations have so far yet to bring an end to the situation.

Read also: Trucker protests: Unraveling the standoff between Polish and Ukrainian haulers

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
TEHRAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Monday stressed that the country's cooperation with Russia in different sectors "does not mean confrontation with Ukraine."

He made the remarks at a weekly press conference in the capital Tehran while responding to recent remarks by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that "a reasonable sanctions policy and political signals to the leadership of Iran are required from the international community" to prevent any potential missile supply to Russia.

Kanaani said Iran wishes to maintain friendly relations with both Ukraine and Russia, noting that "we have explicitly said that we are against war, killing and displacing people and the destruction of infrastructure, and call for an end to the (Russia-Ukraine) conflict."

"We have reiterated this position and informed Ukrainian officials of it," he said. "We should not let media hypes influence Ukrainian officials' positions and impact the two countries' relations any further."

Kanaani said Iran and Russia have cooperation in military, political and trade areas, which is of the two countries' common interests and is not to the detriment of any side.

Ukraine, as well as some Western countries, have accused Iran of exporting suicide drones to Russia for use in the ongoing conflict with Ukraine. Iran has repeatedly rejected the accusations as "baseless," saying it had only given "a limited number" of drones to Russia months before the start of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 
AKRON, Ohio (WJW)  Police said three 15-year-olds were hurt in what appeared to be a drive-by shooting on Saturday afternoon.

Officers responded at about 3 p.m. to the intersection of South Arlington and Delos streets, according to a Monday news release from Akron Police Department.

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One boy, who was shot in the leg, ran into a nearby Dollar General store. Officers found another boy at a home along Santee Avenue with an apparent gunshot wound to the lower extremity, reads the release.

Both boys were transported to Akron Childrens Hospital. Soon after, a third teen transported himself to the hospital with a leg injury.

All of the injuries are considered non-life-threatening.

A preliminary investigation suggests the teens were walking along the street when an unknown suspect fired several shots from a vehicle traveling north on South Arlington Street. Officers collected more than a dozen shell casings and other evidence from the scene.

Rite Aid announces more closures, 5 in NE Ohio

Investigators are still working to determine the totality of the circumstances involved with the shooting, as well as hoping to identify the person or persons responsible, wrote Akron police Capt. Michael Miller.

Anyone who can offer information on the investigation is urged to call Akron detectives at 330-375-2490 or 330-375-2TIP (330-375-2847).

Anonymous tips can also be provided by:

Calling Summit County Crimestoppers at 330-434-COPS (330-434-2677)

Texting TIPSCO with your tip to 274637

Downloading the Akron Police Department app and texting Tips411 or visiting the police departments website

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
L.A. police are asking for the publics help in identifying a person responsible for shooting a man to death Sunday morning in the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Vermont Vista, authorities announced.

Officers with the Los Angeles Police Departments Southeast Area responded to calls of the shooting in the 800 block of West 110th Street at around 7 a.m.

By the time police arrived, the victim, described only as a possibly Hispanic male, approximately 30-40 years old, he had already been declared dead at the scene by medical personnel with the Los Angeles Fire Department.

L.A. police on the scene of a fatal shooting in Vermont Vista on Nov. 26, 2023. (KTLA)

L.A. police on the scene of a fatal shooting in Vermont Vista on Nov. 26, 2023. (KTLA)

L.A. police on the scene of a fatal shooting in Vermont Vista on Nov. 26, 2023. (KTLA)

The victim has not yet been identified, nor have police provided any description of a suspect in the deadly shooting.

Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to contact LAPDs South Bureau Homicide Division detectives at 323-786-5100. Anonymous tips can be made at 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.
The man shot and killed at a Springfield bar on Thanksgiving has been identified.

Around 11:30 p.m. Springfield police were called to Club Hollywood on East Pleasent Street to reports of a man shot and unresponsive.

Officers found Shyheim Gibson unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds, according to a Springfield police report.

Medics attempted lifesaving efforts but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead.

Club Hollywood said on social media they have made it clear to customers that weapons are not allowed inside the bar.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Springfield bar halts operations after deadly shooting

We have made the decision to pause our operations until further notice, the social media post states.

911 calls obtained by News Center 7 detail the hectic scene following the shooting.

Somebody just got shot inside, one caller tells dispatchers. Hes dead.

None of the 911 callers had any details about who shot the man.

Suspect information is also not included in the police report.

Police are expected to hold a press conference Tuesday to release additional details.
A Johnston police officer returned fire at a suspect during a chase that went into Providence early Monday, the Johnston police said.

The officer was not hit by gunfire, and it's unclear if the suspect was hit, Johnston Police Chief Mark A. Vieira said in a press release.

The incident happened around 1:50 a.m. near Maynard Street and Unit Street in Providence.

The Johnston officer began chasing the suspect after the North Providence police broadcast a message to look out for a silver GMC Savana in relation to a shooting in Providence, Vieira said.

Within minutes of the broadcast, the officer spotted the GMC on Newman Avenue in Johnston and pursued it, the police said. The pursuit continued into Providence on Manton and Chalkstone avenues, the police said.

Near Maynard and Unit streets, the GMC stopped and both occupants ran away, the police said. While the officer ran after the suspects, one of them turned and fired multiple times at the officer, the police said. That's when the officer returned fire, the police said.

The suspects got away and the police are still trying to identify them, Vieira said.

What triggered the chase?

The initial incident that led police to focus their attention on the GMC Savana vehicle was a shooting in the area of 89 Vandewater Street in the Wanskuck neighborhood at about 1:30 a.m., according to Providence police Maj. Detective David Lapatin.

A man was shot while in a car, Lapatin said, adding that the man's injuries were non-life-threatening and he was taken to Rhode Island Hospital for treatment.

Some residents said Monday that a street that crosses Vandewater had been streaked with tire marks that were new.

The officer-involved shooting is under investigation by the Johnston police, the state police and the attorney general's office, Vieira said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Police: Johnston officer returns fire at suspect in Providence
A Tarrant County sheriffs deputy was shot Monday afternoon at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Brentwood Stair Road and rushed to a hospital, where he underwent surgery. A suspect was taken into custody around two hours later at a house about half a mile from the bank.

Sheriff Bill Waybourn identified the deputy as 35-year-old Brent Brown, who has worked for the sheriffs office since 2011. Waybourn told reporters outside John Peter Smith Hospital that Brown was in good condition on Monday night and is expected to survive.

Were very optimistic that hell have a good recovery, Waybourn said.

A sheriffs office spokesperson said the deputy was shot while working an off-duty security job at the credit union. According to Waybourn, Brown was in a gunfight with the suspect who shot him twice, in the upper chest and lower abdomen. Brown returned fire but did not wound the suspect.

Brent stood his ground, Waybourn said. He did his duty, and the nobility of what he did today is what law enforcement expects out of all of our officers and he did it well.

Law enforcement investigates the shooting of an off-duty Tarrant County Sheriffs deputy working a security job at Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Brentwood Stair Road on Monday, November 27, 2023. A suspect was taken into custody.

Tarrant County Judge Tim OHare first announced on X about 5:30 p.m. that the suspect was taken into custody. He and other county officials offered prayers.

We ask for prayers for the Tarrant County Sheriffs Office and especially this deputy, spokesman Robbie Hoy said at a news conference Monday evening. This is just a tragic situation and were praying for a good outcome.

#MediaUpdate from @fwpdchiefnoakes on the shooting of a @tarrantcountyso deputy - 6454 Brentwood Stair Rd. in Fort Worth. https://t.co/BGIn8ftXFH  Fort Worth Police (@fortworthpd) November 27, 2023

We are praying for a @tarrantcountyso Sheriffs Deputy whos been shot and transported to the hospital, Tarrant County Commissioner Manny Ramirez wrote on X.

The suspect is now in custody.  Tim O'Hare, Tarrant County Judge (@TimothyOHare) November 27, 2023

No other injuries were reported in the incident.

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Dozens of police vehicles responded to the credit union at 6454 Brentwood Stair Road when the 911 call came in shortly after 3:40 p.m., and a Star-Telegram reporter saw multiple law enforcement vehicles and a MedStar ambulance rushing away from the scene, transporting the injured officer to JPS. Numerous deputies parked at the ambulance entrance to the hospital and went inside.

Tarrant County sheriffs deputies wait outside the emergency room at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where an injured deputy was taken after being shot at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.

Witnesses say it appears the credit union was robbed at the time of the shooting. One witness said she thought she saw the suspect leave the scene.

Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said the departments Major Case Unit is investigating. He said the investigation is in its early stages and that he could not confirm what happened leading up to the shooting or whether it happened inside or outside the bank.

According to neighbors and reports on the police scanner, the suspect was barricaded in a house in the area before being taken into custody.

Noakes confirmed the arrest but said information about the circumstances and the suspects identity would be released later.

Noakes said police used witness interviews and video camera footage from the credit union to identify the suspect and locate him. He did not elaborate on what methods were used to find the suspect after investigators were able to identify him.

Police fill the street where a suspect accused of shooting a sheriffs deputy was arrested in Fort Worth on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.

Neighbors in the 1800 block of Lynnwood Hills Drive in east Fort Worth said at least 50 officers, most of them with tactical gear, descended on the neighborhood en masse shortly after 4 p.m.

The roads through the area were blocked off and two residents told the Star-Telegram they were ordered back into their homes when they tried to step outside and see what was going on.

None of the residents reported hearing gunshots or explosions at any point during the standoff and arrest.

Jerald Myers said he watched SWAT team officers stack up and then move together, several with ballistic shields, around the corner on the street and toward the house where the suspect was. He and other residents also said they saw multiple helicopters and at least two police drones.

Its unclear whether the suspect lived in the house where the arrest was made.

Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes joins officers at the scene where a Tarrant County sheriffs deputy was shot Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.

Police blocked off access to the area around the credit union Monday afternoon. A law enforcement helicopter was circling the area, and police appeared to be searching along a nearby highway.

A glass door at the business was shattered, and investigators placed evidence markers in the parking lot. Officers also walked a dog through the area.

The FBI was also on the scene and is assisting with the investigation.

Officers arrived at the credit union within a minute of the first 911 call and provided first aid to Brown, Noakes said.

The deputy was working security in full uniform, Noakes said at a news conference about 6 p.m. outside the credit union. Its unclear whether he was wearing a bullet-proof vest.

Noakes said he had spoken to Waybourn and, Hes right where he needs to be, hes with his deputy at the hospital. The police chief later joined the sheriff at the hospital.

This is a developing story. For the latest updates, sign up for breaking news alerts.

Fort Worth police respond to a 911 call reporting that an officer was shot Monday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2023 at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Brentwood Stair Road.

Fort Worth police respond to a 911 call reporting that an officer was shot Monday afternoon, Nov. 27, 2023 at the Fort Worth Community Credit Union on Brentwood Stair Road.

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Police Scotland is warning that 3000 officer and staff jobs are at risk without further investment from the Scottish government.

In a report due to go before the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) on Thursday, the force has asked for 128m in additional funding.

If this is not met, Police Scotland said it would look at cutting numbers.

It comes after finance Secretary Shona Robison said Scotland's public sector workforce would have to shrink.

Police Scotland said its request for a further 128m would also fund body worn video cameras and allow a new model of community policing to be developed.

It said that if there was a flat cash settlement - equivalent to a 161m real terms cut over four years - then frontline officer and staff jobs would have to be cut.

This would include a reduction of 1,427 officers - equal to 6.4% of officer numbers - though a continued recruitment freeze and an "extensive voluntary redundancy/voluntary early retirement programme".

The report states: "Tactical, short-term measures would have to be taken to deliver maximum savings.

"The impact of flat cash could be minimised by implementing a pay freeze for 2024-25, but this would have further operational implications and would still require significant workforce reductions."

'Hard choices'

In January, Police Scotland cancelled plans to take on 200 new recruits to save money in the face of a 19m projected overspend.

And in August, the force announced plans to cut civilian staff jobs and freeze recruitment in order to save money and maintain officer numbers.

It was believed that the cuts would allow officers numbers to remain at around 16,600, with support staff numbers to be reduced "proportionately".

The force said that "hard choices" had to be made to deliver policing with its current Scottish government budget.

Speaking on the BBC's Sunday Show, Finance Secretary Shona Robison warned that jobs across the public sector workforce are at risk following the chancellor's autumn statement.

She said: "This will be one of the most difficult budgets under devolution and we will be having a number of challenges around how to make sure we can invest what we can in public services."

Scottish Conservative justice spokesman Russell Findlay MSP said officers were "being pushed beyond breaking point" by the Scottish government.

He added: "This document is the latest in a series of clear and ominous warnings that continued cuts are impacting on Police Scotland's job of keeping people safe."

The Scottish government will publish its tax and spending plans next month.
Polish hauliers have threatened to block the operation of all checkpoints on the border with Ukraine, sparking tensions.

Source: European Pravda, citing Polsat news

Quote: "We will intensify the protest by not letting vehicles from Ukraine through all border crossings with Poland. But I think a solution will be found by then as everything is going in the right direction," said Adam Izdebski, a representative of the Polish Committee for the Protection of Carriers and Employers in the Transport Sector.

Details: The TV channel reported that the queue of lorries at the Medyka-Shehyni checkpoint stretched for 30 kilometres. The average waiting time is 127 hours.

Firefighters and volunteers in the area of Przemysl are providing warm food to the stranded drivers.

Polish drivers have also been waiting in queues on the Ukrainian side for several days.

Background:

Polish hauliers, who have been blocking three checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border for road freight since 6 November, commenced a blockade of another checkpoint, Medyka-Shehyni, on 23 November. The blockade may last until 3 January.

On 22 November, the Ukrainian parliament approached the new Polish Sejm (lower chamber of the Polish parliament) and Senate with a proposal to unblock the border for hauliers.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had an understanding of how to act and that "it takes a little time" to make progress.

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WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's president on Monday swore in members of a government that will likely only last until December, in what opposition parties say is a "farce" intended to delay them from taking power after they won a majority in October's election.

The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, in power since 2015, came first in the election but fell well short of the 231 seats needed for a majority and appears unlikely to win a vote of confidence in parliament.

A broad alliance of pro-European Union parties, led by Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk, secured 248 seats and declared their readiness to form a government, but nevertheless PiS ally President Andrzej Duda gave Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki the first shot at doing so.

"We abide by tradition by appointing a government formed by a candidate selected by the political camp which won parliamentary elections," Duda said after swearing in the ministers.

The next step is for Morawiecki to win the confidence vote in two weeks' time, but given the numbers of seats, that looks unlikely.

That would lead to another nomination for prime minister and that person needing a simple majority in another confidence vote. The opposition is hoping a Tusk-led cabinet would achieve power during this step.

Morawiecki's new government will be composed of 50% of women and is set out to be a cabinet of experts. Several officials from his previous cabinet stayed on and some deputy ministers were promoted.

However, several prominent PiS politicians, including former State Assets Minister Jacek Sasin, have said they will not join the new government, leading opposition politicians and commentators to say that the party's big-hitters do not want to be in an administration that is doomed to failure.

PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Monday the suggestion that the party's heavyweights did not want to participate was "an outright lie" and that forming a government made up of experts rather than politicians had been his idea.

"The point is that there should not be too many politicians in this government," he told state-run news agency PAP. "We want to show that it is possible to govern differently."

The prime minister has vowed to implement the policy proposals of opposition parties in a bid to persuade them to work with him.

However, his appeals have gained little traction with opposition lawmakers who accuse PiS of presiding over democratic backsliding that has blocked EU funds, an erosion of women's rights, the demonisation of minority groups like the LGBT community and rampant nepotism in state companies.

"We all know that this is one big comedy and farce," Marcin Kierwinski, a lawmaker from the liberal Civic Coalition (KO) grouping, told private broadcaster Radio Zet. "It is a fight for time."

(Reporting by Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, Anna Wlodarczak-Semczuk and Marek Strzelecki; Editing by Ed Osmond and Alison Williams)
Blockades have been set up around the clock to prevent the free flow of goods into Ukraine - Wojtek Jargilo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Polish truckers and farmers on Monday started a round-the-clock blockade along the border to boost the countrys economy.

They blocked the key border checkpoint at Medyka, one of the busiest on the frontier, further expanding the protest that started at three other crossings on Nov 6.

The truckers are demanding the restoration of transport permit quotas for Ukrainian lorries entering the European Union, which were lifted last year to help Kyivs war against Russia.

Ukrainian officials have argued the protest is damaging its fragile war-time economy by hampering exports of wood, car parts, furniture and vegetable oil.

They also warn it prevents supplies of motor fuel from entering the country.

Roads in and out of Ukraine have become key logistical routes with the countrys Black Sea ports under a partial naval blockade by Russian forces.

Ukrainian officials say the protest is harming its fragile war-time economy - Wojtek Jargilo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Ukraines infrastructure ministry has estimated that an average of 40,000 and 50,000 trucks cross the border with Poland every month at eight points.

But the Polish truckers argued that they are losing out to Ukrainian companies which offer cheaper rates for their services, with the firms now transporting goods throughout the EU, rather than just between Ukraine and the bloc.

Tomasz Borkowski, leader of the Polish Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers, said: I would like to end this protest as soon as possible, because it is as burdensome for us as for everyone around us.

We have no intention of giving up and we will stand until we get our terms.

The queue at the Medyka checkpoint, one of eight road crossings between Poland and Ukraine, stretched for 30 kilometres on Monday, the Polsat broadcaster reported on Monday.

Ukrainian drivers wait near their trucks, blocked by Polish protesters - Global Images Ukraine/Getty

The average wait time for trucks to cross the frontier was 127 hours, according to data from the Polish border guard.

At the moment, protesters are allowing two lorries to pass into Ukraine each hour, with exemptions for humanitarian and weapons supplies.

Firefighters and volunteers are waiting in Przemysl, the Polish border town, to provide warm food and aid to stranded drivers.

Polish drivers hoping to re-enter the EU have also been stranded in the queues on the Ukrainian side of the frontier.

The Medyka crossing was one of the main gateways for refugees fleeing Ukraine.

It has also served as a key transport hub for military and humanitarian aid arriving at the airport in the Polish city of Rzeszow.

Protesters are allowing two lorries to pass into Ukraine each hour - Wojtek Jargilo/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Andriy Sadovyi, the mayor of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, said the blockade was preventing humanitarian supplies from reaching the country, describing the protest as disgraceful.

The whole of your massive contribution to Ukraines victory in this war is being nullified by a group of people on the margins who are blocking the deliveries of humanitarian supplies to a country that is defending its independence and the security of Europe for a second year, he wrote on X.

But his appeal to end the protest action caused a row with one of the organisers.

In response, Roman Kondrow, the leader of Deceived Countryside, said: The mayor is lying; it is nonsense to say that we are blocking humanitarian aid. This is provocative, and if they continue to lie so blatantly we will escalate the protest and will not allow any lorry to pass.

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FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian trucks are parked near the Poland-Ukraine border, near the village of Korczowa, Poland

FILE PHOTO: FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian trucks are parked near the Poland-Ukraine border, near the village of Korczowa, Poland

By Karol Badohal and Alan Charlish

WARSAW (Reuters) -Polish truckers and farmers on Monday started a round-the-clock blockade of access to one of the busiest border crossings with Ukraine, extending a protest that has left over a thousand lorries stranded for days in queues that stretch for miles.

The truckers, now blocking the Medyka crossing as well as three other border crossings, complain they are losing out to Ukrainian companies which offer cheaper prices for their services and which are transporting goods within the European Union, rather than just between the bloc and Ukraine.

"I would like to end this protest as soon as possible, because it is as burdensome for us as for everyone around us," said Tomasz Borkowski, leader of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers, a Polish union.

"We have no intention of giving up and we will stand until we get our terms."

Polish truckers started their protest on Nov. 6, demanding that the European Union reintroduce a permit system for Ukrainian truckers entering the bloc and for EU truckers entering Ukraine, with exemptions for humanitarian aid and military supplies.

The system was lifted after Russia invaded the country in 2022.

The truckers also want empty trucks from the European Union to be excluded from an electronic queuing system in Ukraine and measures to stop Belarusian and Russian hauliers setting up companies in Poland to get around sanctions.

The current waiting time for trucks to cross at Medyka, one of eight road border crossings with Ukraine, is 91 hours according to data from the Polish border guard.

Ukraine says the protest is damaging its fragile war-time economy by hampering exports and stopping supplies of essentials like motor vehicle gas (LPG) from entering the country. Kyiv also says humanitarian aid has been blocked, which the protesters deny.

'NO CONSTRUCTIVE TALKS'

Poland's Infrastructure Minister Andrzej Adamczyk has written to Ukraine to request that EU drivers with empty trucks be exempt from the electronic queuing system at at least two crossings, his ministry said in a statement.

The infrastructure ministry also said that Adamczyk had asked Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport, to establish a joint committee to analyse the effects of lifting the requirement to have permits in the bloc's transport market.

However, truckers say that both the outgoing Polish government and a coalition of pro-European Union parties that looks set to take power following last month's national election, have shown a lack of interest in their problems.

"There are no constructive talks, nobody wants to meet with us," said Jacek Sokol of the Committee to Protect Transporters and Transport Employers, referring to the government.

With much attention in Poland focussed on attempts to form a new government, the far-right Confederation party, which argued during the election campaign that Poland had gone too far in helping Ukraine, has been the most vocal supporter of the protests.

The mainstream opposition has laid responsibility at the door of Mateusz Morawiecki's outgoing nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) government.

"It would be good if Polish carriers... blocked Mr Morawiecki, because he is responsible for this situation," said Marcin Kerwinski, a lawmaker from the liberal Civic Coalition (KO) grouping.

In Medyka truckers are joining a protest organised by farmers who are demanding that government support to help them deal with low grain prices be continued.

Two trucks per hour are being let through at Medyka, the protesters say, with exemptions for humanitarian aid and war supplies.

With Ukraine's Black Sea ports - a key export route before the war - virtually blocked by Russia, Ukrainian businesses rely on roads and railways to reroute exports and imports.

(Reporting by Karol Badohal, Alan Charlish, Pawel Florkiewicz, editing by Susan Fenton)
BERLIN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Twelve percent of German companies are using artificial intelligence (AI), notably in areas such as accounting, controlling and financial management, according to a survey published by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) on Monday.

While usage among small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) is still relatively rare, more than one in three large companies are already using AI, according to the annual survey of around 20,000 businesses.

For car manufacturer BMW, for example, AI has long been an integral part of production and is used for process optimization, which prevents 500 minutes of downtime per year at the company's Regensburg plant in southern Germany alone.

German industrial giants Siemens and Schaeffler have recently jointly presented "Industrial Copilot," an AI-supported assistant that enables automation code to be generated using natural language input.

"This is the beginning of a new era," said Cedrik Neike, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company's digital industries division. "In the past, we had to speak to machines in their language. With the Siemens Industrial Copilot, we can speak to machines in our language."

Still, many German companies remain hesitant to use AI. According to Destatis, only 10 percent of companies that have not yet used AI are considering doing so. A lack of knowledge cited by 72 percent was the main reason for this reluctance.

Although most German companies consider AI to be the most important technology of the future, almost one in three still think it is a "massively overrated hype," according to a recent survey conducted by the German digital association Bitkom.

"In order for Germany to gain momentum in AI, companies must continue to step up their efforts and investments," Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst said in September, calling on policymakers to do their part.

The German government plans to invest 1.6 billion euros (1.74 billion U.S. dollars) in the research, development and application of artificial intelligence by 2025. Of this, 500 million euros are earmarked for the coming year alone. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollar) 
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A Polk County lawn care and pest control worker was arrested twice for allegedly exposing himself to customers while inside their homes, according to deputies.

The Polk County Sheriffs Office said it first arrested Tyler Mountain, 27, of Lake Wales on Nov. 22 after a 76-year-old Davenport woman reported him for exposing himself.

Some Florida residents puzzled by string of lights in sky

Investigators said the incident happened on Oct. 26 when Mountain, an employee of Massey Services at the time, was supposed to be giving the woman an estimate for pest control work.

According to the sheriffs office, the victim said Mountain left her bathroom with his genitals exposed, saying that his zipper was broken and that he needed her help.

During the investigation, a detective learned that Massey Services fired Mountain after getting the womans complaint. However, the sheriffs office said the company confirmed that was the second time Mountain was accused of exposing himself to a customer, the previous time being in Haines City.

This man used his work position to gain access to the homes of these women, and then sexually exposed himself, Sheriff Grady Judd said. This behavior is disgusting and predatory.

Because the victim in the Haines City incident was not in the county at the time, deputies arrested Mountain on a charge of lewd exhibition to an elderly person for the Oct. 26 incident.

They later arrested him again on Nov. 25 after the Haines City victim returned. The sheriffs office said that the victim told a detective that Mountain was supposed to be working on her lawn when he exposed himself and said his zipper was broken.

He was charged with lewd exhibition in this case as well, according to deputies.

We believe its possible that more victims of this man could be out there, and if thats the case, we want them to come forward, Judd said.

If you have any information on the suspect, you can call the Polk County Sheriffs Office at 863-298-6200.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Mike Pompeo, a former U.S. State Secretary in Donald Trump's administration, said in a comment for New Voice on Nov. 27 that whether his former boss or any other candidate wins the 2024 presidential election, the support for Ukraine will continue.

Trump has criticized the level of support the Biden administration throws behind Ukraine, causing concerns in Kyiv about the future of U.S. backing. The former president's allies in Congress have also been stalling additional funding for Ukraine.

Pompeo, who recently joined the directors' board of Ukraine's largest mobile service provider Kyivstar, voiced confidence that Trump would "do the right thing" when it comes to backing Ukraine.

The besieged country should receive what it needs to win, not end up in a stalemate, Republican Pompeo commented while criticizing the Democrat-led administrations of Biden and Barack Obama.

An unconfirmed report by the German tabloid Bild from Nov. 24 claimed that the U.S. is restraining the scope of arms deliveries to quietly push Ukraine to the negotiation table with Russia.

The Biden administration never publicly made such a statement and has repeatedly pledged to back Ukraine as long as necessary.

U.S. support for Kyiv has been growing thin as the White House's $105 billion funding package, including $61 billion for Ukraine, meets opposition from Republican lawmakers.

The Senate announced a vote on the Ukraine aid bill as early as Dec. 4, but some officials believe it would not be passed earlier than 2024.

Read also: POLITICO: Democrats increasingly frustrated with Ukraine aid strategy

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Pope Francis said he had "turned his thoughts to Ukraine" as it commemorated the anniversary of the Holodomor of 1932-1933 during his Sunday meeting with pilgrims, Vatican News portal reported on Nov. 26.

"Yesterday, suffering Ukraine honored the memory of the victims of the Holodomor, a genocide committed by the Soviet regime, as a result of which millions of people died of starvation 90 years ago, the Pope said.

That lacerating wound, instead of healing, is made even more painful by the atrocities of the war that continue to make those dear people suffer."

Read also: Papal mediation not possible due to Vaticans bias towards Kremlin, says Podolyak

The Pope was unable to address the pilgrims personally due to illness, and the appeal was read on his behalf by a representative.

Francis also called for prayers for all peoples torn apart by conflict, and thanked God for the ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas.

The Pope said in September that arms dealers were interested in the war in Ukraine, implying that some countries were playing with Ukraine.

Before that, in August, Francis extolled the supposed virtues of Russias imperial past in a speech. However, after an outcry the Vatican quickly denied this was the case, and said the Popes statement had been misconstrued.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Pope Francis is receiving antibiotics to treat lung inflammation, the Vatican said Monday. The health update came after the pontiff canceled his weekly window appointment to greet people in St. Peters Square, sparking concerns for the pope, whose 87th birthday is next month.

After Pope Francis began exhibiting respiratory difficulties, he was transported Saturday to a Rome hospital, where he underwent a CT scan that ultimately ruled out pneumonia, according to Matteo Bruni, the Vaticans press office director.

The next day, Francis gave his weekly blessing from the chapel of his residence. During the televised remarks, the pope revealed he had lung inflammation. He was seen with a bandage on his hand and an IV tube used to administer the antibiotics. During the Angelus noon prayer, Pope Francis was also seen coughing and covering his face.

"The pope's condition is good and stable, he does not have a fever and his respiratory condition is decidedly improving," Bruni said, according to Reuters. "To facilitate the pope's recovery, some important engagements that were scheduled for these days have been postponed so that he can dedicate his time and energy (to recovery)."

VATICAN BLOCKS DOCTRINAL CHANGES ON HOMOSEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS, FEMALE PRIESTS

The Vatican said later that his activities over the next few days would be limited in order for the Pope to conserve his strength.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Appointments "of institutional character or easier to maintain given the current health conditions have been maintained," Bruni said.

CHRISTIAN LEADERS IN BETHLEHEM DEFEND CANCELING CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS TO EMPHASIZE 'SPIRITUAL MEANING'

Faithfuls gather to attend the Angelus prayer on a screen, led by Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on November 26, 2023.

Details about which appointments would be held or which would be postponed were not provided.

On Monday, Pope Francis held an international meeting with the president of Paraguay, Santiago Pena.

The private, half-hour-long meeting was held at the Vatican guest house, where the pope lives, rather than the Apostolic Palace, where such meetings are traditionally held.

Recovering from flu symptoms, Pope Francis led the recitation of the midday Angelus prayer from his residence at the Casa Santa Marta instead of the usual window of the Apostolic Palace overlooking Saint Peter's Square on this cool autumn day.

On Friday, Pope Francis kept an appointment at the Apostolic Palace, when he met with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, First Lady Philippa Karsera, and others.

Francis has also indicated that he intends to go ahead with a three-day trip, beginning on Dec. 1, to the United Arab Emirates. During the trip, the pope is expected to deliver a speech on climate change at the United Nations COP28 climate talks in Dubai.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Pope in 'good and stable' condition after lung inflammation diagnosis, Vatican says
The 86-year-old Pope delivered the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday from his residence after being ill (Alberto PIZZOLI)

Pope Francis is improving after suffering from flu symptoms at the weekend, the Vatican said Monday, noting that the 86-year-old pontiff was postponing some appointments during his recovery.

"The pope's condition is good and stable, he has no fever and his respiratory situation is clearly improving," Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement.

On Saturday, Francis cancelled his scheduled activities due to what the Vatican called "light flu symptoms", but a CT scan ruled out "risks of pulmonary complications."

Bruni reiterated Monday that the scan had ruled out pneumonia, "but it showed lung inflammation causing some breathing difficulties".

"For more effective treatment, a cannula was inserted for infusion of intravenous antibiotic therapy," he said, describing the thin tube that can insert fluids into the body.

Some important appointments had been postponed, Bruni said, while less taxing ones were still on the pope's schedule.

Due to his condition at the weekend, Francis recited the traditional Angelus prayer on Sunday from his residence rather than overlooking St Peter's Square.

The leader of 1.3 billion Catholics is due to make a much-anticipated speech at the UN climate summit in Dubai next Saturday.

Francis has suffered a series of health issues since his election in 2013, from hip problems, knee pain and weight gain, to an inflamed colon and respiratory infection.

He now relies on a wheelchair due to recurring knee pain and underwent surgery in June to remove a hernia.

ams/rox
He has used science to underpin his moral missives on climate change. Now Pope Francis hopes his historic presence at UN talks will help tip the balance in critical negotiations.

The 86-year-old pontiff, a defender of the poor who has made environmental activism a cornerstone of his 10-year papacy, will address the COP28 meeting in Dubai on December 2.

It will be the first time a pope has attended a COP since the process began in 1995, and Francis is expected to use the platform to castigate countries for a lack of action, and seek to persuade them to dramatically cut their greenhouse gas emissions.

He may also be able to play a role in rebuilding trust between climate-vulnerable nations and rich, consumerism-driven polluters.

"At a moment of global development as dark and challenging as the present one, the presence of a moral authority is more important than ever," professor Sverker Sorlin, a specialist in global environmental governance at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, told AFP.

"The pope may not turn the tables at the meeting, but be a 'tipping point' that may nudge and push the negotiators... in the right direction," said Sorlin, whose work the pope has cited.

The leader of 1.3 billion Catholics, more than half of whom live in the developing world, Francis has long insisted on the link between climate change and poverty, with the world's most marginalised paying the highest price for global warming.

- 'Change of direction' -

Two years after picking a papal name in honour of the patron saint of ecology, Francis in 2015 published a landmark thesis called "Laudato Si" (Praise Be To You) which lambasted manmade climate change and -- in an unprecedented move for a religious leader -- used science to do so.

A few months later, there was a breakthrough in UN climate talks in Paris, where countries committed to limit warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, and preferably the safer 1.5C limit.

But the UN warned this year that the world was far off track -- prompting Francis to publish an impassioned follow-up.

In "Laudate Deum" (Praise to God), released in October, he stressed that the world in which we live "is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point", with some damage "already irreversible".

Despite that, the Dubai talks "can represent a change of direction", if countries commit to ditching fossil fuels for clean energy sources, he wrote.

Tebaldo Vinciguerra, a member of the Vatican office for environmental concerns, told AFP that a "central theme" in Dubai would be the financing of a "loss and damage" fund to help poorer countries hit by climate-induced disasters.

Catholic communities around the world describe struggles with pollution, limited access to drinking water, deforestation, desert encroachment and extreme weather events, Vinciguerra said.

Dubai negotiators cannot "act as if nothing has happened, or only seek to treat the symptoms", he said.

Vinciguerra said there was also "much to do" regarding a global stocktake of the world's progress on curbing warming.

- 'Tremendous importance' -

Pope Benedict XVI kicked off the Vatican's green initiatives in 2008 by installing solar panels on its audience hall.

Fifteen years later, the Vatican produced its first nationally determined contribution (NDC) -- efforts to reduce emissions under the Paris Agreement -- in which it pledges to reduce greenhouse gases to 20 percent below the 2011 level by 2030.

Francis has drawn up an "Ecological Conversion 2030" plan for carbon-neutral projects and technologies, including switching to electric vehicles, although the tiny city state's contribution to global emissions is already negligible.

The Holy See also signed an environmental interfaith declaration earlier this month with 27 others including Chief Rabbi David Rosen, representatives of the grand imam of Cairo's Al-Azhar mosque, Patriarch Kirill, leader of the Russian Orthodox Church and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby.

In a sign of the increasing engagement of religion in climate issues, this year's COP will include a faith pavilion for the first time, which Francis will inaugurate, and which will host over 65 sessions with religious figures, scientists, and political leaders.

"The pope's decision to engage personally and profoundly in environment and climate has been of tremendous importance," Sorlin said.

Amid "worrying reports" of many countries increasing rather than decreasing fossil fuel production, "the pope stands out as almost a divine presence among hordes of sinners".

ide/ar/lth
A popular fast-food chain that was founded in Rockford and is now expanding into other states will soon have a location in Freeport.

City officials say the permitting process to open a Beefaroo in The Meadows Shopping Center on West Avenue has begun.

The City of Freeport is excited at the prospect of Beefaroo opening in Freeport," said Wayne Duckman, Freeport's community and economic development director.

A construction timeline has not been announced. Beefaroo will be the sixth restaurant, joining Arby's, Subway, Applebee's, Burger King and Taco Bell, in The Meadows complex.

Related: Forget the penny. Free Beefaroo cheese fries for your thoughts on Rockford area tourism

"We are looking forward to working with their development team," Duckman said. "(Beefaroo) has long been a staple in Rockford. Freeport welcomes their expansion into our city."

Beefaroo was founded in 1967 in Rockford and is noted for its beef sandwiches, burgers, chicken strips, cheese fries and milkshakes. The restaurant has received several awards, including being named "Best Regional Fast-Food Chain In Illinois" by Mashed.com. The mini chain was acquired in 2021 by NEXT Brands and Development.

Jim Hagerty covers business, growth and development and general news for the Rockford Register Star. Email him at jhagerty@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Beefaroo plans to open first location in Freeport
Portland Public Schools (PPS), Oregons largest public school district, announced Sunday that it has reached a tentative agreement with the Portland Association of Teachers (PAT), ending a three-week strike.

In a news release, the PAT said its tentative agreement with the school district includes expanded language on target class sizes and caseloads including new committees to discuss growing class sizes, improved overage thresholds that cover new classifications of educators, and a guarantee of 410 minutes of protected planning time for educators at every grade level.

The agreement also includes protection for educators and students from unsafe building conditions and a three-year cost-of-living adjustment for educators.

There will also be increased access to mental health support teams for students throughout the district, the news release said.

This contract is a watershed moment for Portland students, families, and educators, PAT President Angela Bonilla said in a statement. Educators have secured improvements on all our key issues. These changes will make a huge difference on priorities like mental health supports for students, educator workload relief, and safe and welcoming school environments. Educators walked picket lines alongside families, students, and allies  and because of that, our schools are getting the added investment they need.

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The PAT, which represents more than 4,000 educators, launched its strike against the school district earlier this month, noting its frustration with growing class sizes, lack of classroom support and planning time, and low wages, according to The Associated Press.

The union has been bargaining for a new contract with PPS since its previous one expired in June.

The school district has said it did not have enough funds to fulfill the unions needs and demands. In June, the state Legislature approved a record $10.2 billion K-12 budget for the next two years, but school district representatives said that wasnt enough, the AP reported.

The members of the Portland Association of Teachers have worked tirelessly to ensure that students and educators have access to the positive, safe, and healthy working and learning environments they deserve. Through their collaborative efforts with parents, the school district, and the community, they have guaranteed that students and teachers return to improved schools, National Education Association President Becky Pringle said in a statement.

The steadfast dedication and unity shown have not only strengthened Portland Public Schools but have set a powerful example to districts across the nation. When we organize and work together, we can create positive change and foster an environment where teachers and students alike can thrive.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Portland students will return to classrooms Monday after the Portland Association of Teachers signed a tentative agreement with Portland Public Schools on Sunday, ending a weeks-long strike that shut classrooms down, according to statements from both.

This contract is a watershed moment for Portland students, families, and educators, union President Angela Bonilla said in a statement. Educators have secured improvements on all our key issues. These changes will make a huge difference.

The strike was part of a wave of picketing across the country in recent months as thousands of workers went on strike, including Hollywood writers, nurses, factory workers and autoworkers.

Some of the top issues behind the Portland strike included compensation, student discipline, class size and the use of school resources to provide housing for students experiencing homelessness, CNN has reported.

The agreement includes expanded language on target class sizes and caseloads, as well as new committees to discuss growing class sizes and a guarantee of 410 minutes of protected planning time for educators at every grade level, according to the teachers association.

Additional gains include critical contract language that protects students and educators from unsafe building conditions like extreme classroom temperatures, and a 3-year cost-of-living adjustment that reflects the critical role that educators play in our schools and communities, the association said.

Portland Public Schools is one of the largest school districts in the Pacific Northwest, with more than 49,000 students across 81 schools, according to the districts website. The union represents more than 4,000 certified educators in the district, according to its Facebook page.

We are relieved to have our students returning to school and know that being out of school for the last three weeks  missing classmates, teachers, and learning  has been hard for everyone, the school district said in a post on X.

We also want to express our deep appreciation for our educators, who are the backbone of our district, and who enrich the lives of our students, the district statement added.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
PORTSMOUTH  Kyle Hendrickson, arrested last spring for allegedly threatening to "shoot up" Portsmouth High School, now intends to plead guilty to two federal charges, according to U.S. District Court records.

The Berwick, Maine, man has switched his plea from not guilty to guilty for interstate threatening communication and possessing a firearm in a school zone.

In April, Hendrickson allegedly posted a Snapchat video of himself outside Portsmouth High School holding a handgun. The video, taken from inside a car he allegedly used to drop his mother off at the school, contained a text overlay reading: Imma gonna shoot up the school.

Kyle Hendrickson, a Berwick, Maine resident, was arrested in April 2023 for allegedly threatening to shoot up Portsmouth High School.

The incident led the Portsmouth school district to close all city schools for one day, April 13, as police sought the suspect. Hendrickson was arrested in Portland, Maine, later that day.

Court documents state the handgun Hendrickson brandished in the video was a Smith & Wesson SD40v VE handgun. Prosecutors allege a number of weapons were found in the 2014 Ford Explorer Hendrickson was allegedly driving, including an AR-15 rifle, a shotgun, camouflage body armor, a handgun holster, a red-dot sight and several rounds of ammunition.

The penalties for each federal charge include a maximum five-year prison term, a fine upwards of $250,000 and a term of supervised release lasting no more than three years, court documents state.

Still shots of the Snapchat video allegedly made by Kyle Hendrickson, who is facing a criminal charge for allegedly threatening to shoot up Portsmouth High School.

The defendant acknowledges, understands (and) agrees that he/she is pleading guilty freely and voluntarily because he/she is guilty. The defendant further acknowledges, understands and agrees that he/she is pleading guilty without reliance upon any discussions between the United States and the defendant, without promise of benefit of any kind, and without threats, force, intimidation, or coercion of any kind, Hendricksons change of plea document states. The defendant further acknowledges his/her understanding of the nature of the offense(s) to which he/she is pleading guilty, including the penalties provided by law.

Hendrickson and his attorney, Murdoch Walker II, signed off on the change of plea on Nov. 17. Walker could not be immediately reached for comment.

A change of plea hearing in Hendricksons case has been scheduled for Monday, Dec. 11 before Judge Samantha D. Elliot. A trial in his case previously set for Dec. 12 has been canceled in light of Hendricksons change of plea.

Hendrickson allegedly told police the video was meant to be a joke, a comment that drew criticism from the leader of Portsmouth's Police Commission.

Its hard to see it as a joke when the individual is driving around with an arsenal in their car, commission chairperson Stefany Shaheen said in April.

Hendrickson was immediately charged with interstate threatening communication by federal prosecutors. In September, a federal grand jury indicted him for possessing a firearm in a school zone.

In New Hampshire, there is no law preventing people who are not students from possessing a firearm in a school zone. But the 1990 Gun-Free School Zones Act banned individuals from knowingly possessing a firearm in a school zone, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

In August, U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrea Johnstone approved a motion from Hendricksons lawyers recommending he take part in a therapeutic community program at the Strafford County House of Corrections.

The swift investigation into Hendrickson was led by the Portsmouth Police Department and the FBI. The agencies were assisted by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Somersworth Police Department, the Portland Police Department, and the Berwick Police Department.

This story may be updated.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Portsmouth High School shooting threat suspect to plead guilty
(CNN)  Are you ready for it?

Taylor Swift has announced that her Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour concert film will be available to rent or buy on streaming services starting on her birthday, Dec. 13.

I was thinking a fun way to celebrate the year weve had together would be to make The Eras Tour Concert Film available for you to watch at home! Swift wrote on social media. Very happy to be able to tell you that the extended version of the film including Wildest Dreams, The Archer and Long Live will be available to rent on demand in the US, Canada & additional countries to be announced soon starting on  you guessed it, December 13.

The streaming version will include three of the songs cut from the original theatrical release that premiered in October.

Swift played in Sao Paulo, Brazil on Sunday and will break until Feb. 7, when shell resume her tour in Tokyo, Japan.
In the aftermath of a severe winter storm, more than 2,000 populated areas across 16 oblasts in Ukraine are currently grappling with power outages as of the morning of Nov. 27.

The storm has also disrupted road traffic, with the highway between Kyiv and Odesa being blocked by snow drifts 160 kilometers north of Odesa.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported on the situation and expressed gratitude to communal workers and rescuers for their efforts.

Read also: Russia might resume massive air strikes in cold weather, Ukraine warns

All our services are working around the clock, Zelenskyy wrote on his Telegram channel.

Please, if needed, immediately seek assistance from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the National Police, and municipal services. Please take care of those who are currently facing particular difficulties.

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
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  President Biden confirmed 4-year-old American hostage Abigail Idan made it to Israel, following 50 days in captivity.

He says so far, the deal is working.

The proof is little Abigail.

The president said hostages freed by Hamas are just the beginning.

We will not stop working until every hostage is returned.

Aid trucks continue to flow into Gaza under the protection of the cease-fire, including much-needed fuel.

President Biden says he hopes the pause in fighting will extend beyond Monday.

For two purposes. To increase the assistance, get into Gaza civilians who need help and to facilitate the release of hostages.

But Ohio Republican Mike Turner says the Biden administration should have pushed for American hostages to be released first.

Especially since American aid is going into Gaza right now, into northern Gaza as part of the conditions that Hamas had.

California Democrat Ro Khanna is calling for a lasting cease-fire.

So, we need a real solution, and that needs to be a Palestinian state with an Israeli state.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
President Joe Biden has visited Colorado a few times since he was first elected president, but hes set to make his first trip to Pueblo this week.

Biden is scheduled to visit Pueblo on Wednesday after postponing a visit previously scheduled in October, according to a White House media advisory. Biden is set to visit CS Wind, one of the biggest wind turbine manufacturing facilities in the world, which announced an expansion earlier this year.

The president previously mentioned CS Wind in August when visiting New Mexico. The plant's expansion is largely enabled by provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act that give tax breaks to green energy buyers.

Biden is also going to be attending a campaign reception in Denver on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in Nantucket, Mass., on Friday, Nov. 24, 2023, about hostages freed by Hamas in the first stage of a swap under a four-day cease-fire deal.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis attended a ribbon cutting ceremony for the CS Wind expansion in April. He welcomed the presidents planned visit to Colorado in a statement released Monday.

We are thrilled to welcome President Joe Biden to Pueblo, the home of heroes and the best chile in the world  the Pueblo chile. Colorado is leading the nation in transitioning to 100 percent renewable energy, and our wind manufacturing capabilities are helping to power our clean energy economy, create jobs, and save people money on electricity, Polis stated in the release.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks at a CS Wind expansion groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, in Pueblo, Colo.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics at the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: President Joe Biden set to visit Pueblo Wednesday, tour CS Wind
(Bloomberg) -- Israel is coming under increasing pressure to agree to an extension of a four-day pause in its war with Hamas.

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US President Joe Biden said he wants to prolong the cease-fire in the devastating war, which has killed thousands of people since it erupted seven weeks ago and inflamed tensions in the Middle East and beyond. The halt in fighting  part of a deal for Hamas to free hostages held in Gaza and Israel to release Palestinian prisoners  is due to end on Tuesday morning.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said negotiations were continuing on Monday afternoon over list of people to be freed next.

We are aware of the stress that families are under, and we will add information when it becomes possible, his office said.

The temporary halt began last Friday after intense negotiations brokered by Qatar, with the help of Egypt and the US. Hamas and Israel agreed the Iran-backed militant group would free 50 captives in stages in return for the Israeli government releasing 150 Palestinians.

Egypts government-run information service said Monday that negotiators were close to an agreement on a two-day extension.

Netanyahu, speaking to Biden on Sunday, said every extra day of the truce is conditional on Hamas freeing 10 more hostages. Hamas said it wants a longer pause, but didnt specify if it would release more captives.

A longer truce would be welcome, Netanyahu said. At the same time, I also told President Biden that at the end of the outline, we will go to realizing our goals with full force: Eliminating Hamas, ensuring that Gaza will not go back to being what it was and  of course  releasing all of our hostages.

The US leader said the pact was delivering life-saving results.

This deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results, he said. Thats my goal.

Despite disputes and delays, the truce has held for three exchanges of hostages through Sunday, totaling 58 people, including non-Israelis. Those freed by Hamas on Sunday included a four-year-old girl  a US-Israeli dual national  whose parents were killed in the groups Oct. 7 attack on Israel. That attack sparked the war.

Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union, and other Islamist groups killed around 1,200 people that day and abducted 240. Israel retaliated with a massive bombardment of Gaza, which is run by Hamas, and a ground offensive. Around 15,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, and much of the Mediterranean enclaves been reduced to rubble.

Hamas was slated to free another 11 Israelis on Monday. Israel has released around 120 Palestinians, all of them women and minors.

Some Israeli officials worry the longer the pause goes on for, the more Hamas will regroup and the harder it will be for Israel to restart the war.

Hamas will stretch this out a long time, said Joshua Krasna, a former senior Israeli diplomat and intelligence analyst. The question is how much legitimacy Israel will have to restart its campaign after an extended cease-fire.

The civilian death toll in Gaza is causing concern among Democratic politicians in the US. Some have called for the White House to tie further military aid to Israel to more compliance with international humanitarian law.

The truce includes the delivery of more food and medicine into Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The United Nations and Palestinian officials say the wars created a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory. Israel said 200 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday.

The West Bank Is Being Reshaped Along With the Gaza Strip

The UN says many people still have no food or cooking fuel and that bakeries arent operating, raising concerns about nutrition, especially in northern Gaza, the focus of Israels ground offensive.

The aid barely registers against the huge needs of 1.7 million displaced people, Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said in a statement. The humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza is getting worse by the day.

The war continues to reverberate in the Middle East. On Sunday, a chemical tanker linked to an Israeli billionaire was saved by a US warship after armed men boarded the vessel in the Gulf of Aden. The men were forced to disembark and were then caught by the navy.

While the US didnt confirm the identity of the attackers, two missiles were fired at the warship  a destroyer called the USS Mason  shortly afterward from Houthi-controlled territory in Yemen.

No one on the chemical tanker, called the Central Park and part of Israeli businessman Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group, or the Mason was injured.

The Houthis, an Iran-backed rebel group based in Yemen, support Hamas and have fired missiles toward Israel in recent weeks. Theyve also threatened Israeli ships and, on Nov. 19, seized a vehicle carrier called the Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea. Its yet to be released.

--With assistance from Fadwa Hodali.

(Updates with Israeli statement starting in second paragraph.)

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A crowd surrounds a Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli jails in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank (Fadel SENNA)

In Palestinian cities in the occupied West Bank, long the turf of president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party, the green flag of Islamist rival Hamas is flying ever higher thanks to prisoner-hostage exchanges.

For three nights, Palestinians have celebrated the return of dozens of detainees freed from Israeli jails, in exchange for women and children seized during October 7 attacks by Hamas fighters.

That has seen the popularity of Hamas soar in the West Bank, run by Abbas's Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA).

Ahmed Abdelaziz, 63, joined the celebrations on Sunday.

"I'm here in solidarity, and because I appreciate what Hamas has done. Seeing these young people get out of prison thanks to the resistance, I'm overjoyed," he said.

"The joy of the prisoners' families, the mobilisation of the people, all that is pushing me towards supporting Hamas."

Israel released 117 Palestinian prisoners during the first three days of a four-day Gaza truce deal.

Hamas freed 39 hostages under the agreement, plus 19 foreign nationals in additional releases, out of the roughly 240 people it snatched during the deadliest attack in Israel's history.

The cross-border raids left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, launching air strikes and a ground offensive into Gaza that the Hamas government says have killed nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children.

In Ramallah, freed prisoners carried on the shoulders of their supporters and draped in the Hamas flag said they prayed for "God to give strength to the resistance" -- referring to Hamas and the other armed groups in Gaza.

"They say Hamas are terrorists, but we are all Hamas," shouted the crowd.

- 'Attacked every day' -

In Al Bireh, a Ramallah suburb where the elected Hamas mayor was detained by Israel at the start of the war, a few yellow Fatah flags can be seen.

But for marcher Tareq al-Omla, Hamas -- listed as a terrorist organisation by the United States, Israel and the European Union -- has more legitimacy than Fatah.

The group was acting on "behalf of the Palestinian people who are attacked every day by Israeli soldiers and settlers", he said.

Asked about the violence against civilians at Israeli kibbutzim and a rave during the Hamas attacks, demonstrator Jihad Ayuch told AFP: "The story started before that, and the real question is what Israel has been doing to the Palestinians before October 7."

Observers expect the crowds marching in the West Bank to swell in coming weeks.

Hamas still holds around 200 hostages, among them soldiers who are excluded from the exchange agreement, and will want to use them to secure the release of all or some of the more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners still detained in Israel, many of them far more prominent than the youngsters and women freed so far.

The agreement in force since Friday effectively only concerns women prisoners and those under 19 years of age, almost all of whom are unknown to the wider public.

In 2011, more than 1,000 Palestinians were exchanged for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who had been taken prisoner by Hamas five years earlier.

Among those released was Yahya Sinwar, Hamas's leader in Gaza, who is suspected of masterminding the October 7 massacre and is now being lauded in the West Bank.

"The prisoners are what have always united all Palestinians," said Qaddura Fares, head of the PA's commission for prisoners.

The PA has itself been largely silent on the subject of the releases and, like the image of its president Abbas, conspicuously absent from the recent celebrations.

It is a political choice, according to one of its officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"The Authority doesn't want to be associated with what Hamas is doing."

- 'Stand up' to Israel -

Political commentator Jihad Harb said the West Bank crowds "want to stand up to the Israeli authorities, who don't want any celebrations or shows of support for the Palestinian resistance".

If even more releases follow after the current agreement, he predicted, "the popularity of Hamas will double".

No election has been held in either the Gaza Strip or the West Bank since 2006, and support for rival parties can only be measured in the street.

The last vote was won by Hamas in both parts of the Palestinian territories and was followed by factional fighting that saw them split -- Hamas in power in Gaza, and secular Fatah running the West Bank.

Years of political stagnation have followed, while Israeli settlements and army raids have expanded in the West Bank.

Israel has normalised ties with some Arab states whose governments are deprioritising the Palestinian issue.

Hamas has put it back on the international agenda, though at a high human cost.

"We Palestinians were all waiting for this day," said Um Muhammad, mother of freed Palestinian prisoner Noorhan Awad.

"We thank the resistance who made an effort so they get released thanks to the blood of the martyrs."

ha/sbh/dla/smw/slb/dr
Gov. J.B. Pritzkers recent announcement that the state would spend $65 million to help Chicago set up a tent encampment for migrants before winter sets in came less than two months after the second-term Democrat tried to distance himself from the concept when it was unveiled by Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Pritzker in September said he had expressed concerns to City Hall about housing asylum-seekers in winterized base camps as an alternative to police stations and city airports where thousands of migrants have been sleeping while awaiting placement in the citys overburdened shelter system.

If we have existing facilities, we ought to use all of those that are willing to do it, Pritzker said, emphasizing his preference for bricks-and-mortar shelters and adding that tents werent the only option.

But state documents indicate the concept for housing migrants in tents took shape not at City Hall but within Pritzkers own administration.

Months before this falls surge in migrant arrivals and Johnsons tent city plan being announced in September, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency in mid-May sought proposals from companies to assist the migrant crisis by providing shelter, noting that it was looking for both indoor and outdoor (soft sided) lodging options, bid documents show.

The purpose of the state contract, which ultimately was signed in July with controversial contractor GardaWorld Federal Services, was to meet the needs for temporary housing ... and to enable Illinois state and local governmental units to purchase a temporary housing solution, according to bid documents.

The more complete picture of how the tent plan came about emerges as cold weather approaches and as the continued arrival of migrants, largely from tropical Venezuela, stretches state and city resources and tests leaders resolve to live up to their welcoming rhetoric. It also underscores that the Pritzker administration has played a key role in efforts to address the migrant crisis even as it has at times tried to minimize its involvement in the citys shelter plan.

But as the state steps in with the money for a tent encampment, along with $95 million more for a centralized intake center and other services to help migrants transition to more permanent housing and jobs, new city and state policies are limiting shelter stays and phasing out rental assistance for asylum-seekers.

The states contract with GardaWorld, which the Johnson administration used to quickly ink its own $29.4 million base camp deal in September, includes specifications for a turnkey basecamp with ClearSpan fabric structures with rip-stop fabric weave, natural ventilation, armshield cover and multiple foundation options to allow flexibility in building location.

Until announcing last week that the state would pay to set up one of the camps for the city, the Pritzker administration has pushed the idea that the city has been driving the shelter effort. The governor, for example, said in September that the state had not yet used the contract but that it was certainly available for cities and counties and others at the local level.

But in response to questions from the Tribune, the governors office acknowledged last week that the inclusion of tent-like structures in the May bid solicitation was a collaborative effort between IEMA and the Illinois Department of Human Services as they prepared for every possible outcome.

The possibility of housing migrants in tents rather than buildings had always been on the table in conversations with City Hall  under both Johnson and the prior administration of Mayor Lori Lightfoot  given the few practical options to house mass amounts of people on an emergency basis and the space limitations on indoor sites, Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in an email.

The governors concern with soft shelter sites at that time they were announced was because cold weather was just a few months away and the preference has always been to house people in brick-and-mortar shelter sites, Abudayyeh said. But as we move closer and closer to winter, people are still sleeping outside police stations in regular tents with no resources so soft shelter sites provide better accommodations, and more importantly, allow asylum-seekers access to caseworkers and a path to independence.

While theyre a step up from the camping tents some asylum-seekers have been using, it remains an open question how well the structures GardaWorld would provide can withstand Chicagos often brutal winter weather.

Though outfitted with heating and air conditioning, the structures only are equipped to provide heat up to 70 degrees with an outdoor temperature of 40 degrees, according to contract documents. The average high temperature for December in Chicago is just under 37 degrees, and it dips below 32 degrees for January, according to the National Weather Service.

The Johnson administration did not provide details on the timeline of the states involvement in the tent plan.

The city has been working with the state on its base camp plans, using the states existing contract with GardaWorld to ensure new arrivals are off police station and airport floors and into secure interim congregate housing with steady meals, health care services and wraparound services, Johnson spokesman Ronnie Reese said in a statement.

Our primary motivation has been to provide shelter, knowing this firm had been vetted by the state through its (request for proposals) process, and there was a critical need to find adequate temporary shelter housing, Reese said

The state bid solicitation for shelter assistance went out May 12, three days before Johnson took office.

IEMA and Department of Human Services officials have no knowledge or recollection of anyone in the administration suggesting the concept to Johnsons team before the mayor introduced the tent proposal in early September, Abudayyeh said.

Documents indicate, however, that the state officials provided Johnsons administration with details about Garda Worlds tent proposal in August.

GardaWorld beat out three other bidders for the contract through a competitive process in which it received the highest ranking, records show.

At the time, the Virginia-based company had been working with state officials for months under a separate contract for a still-unrealized plan to turn a former CVS store in the Little Village neighborhood into an indoor shelter site for migrants.

The state and GardaWorld signed the tent-related contract July 26, two days after the citys deputy mayor for immigration, Beatriz Ponce de Leon, emailed state officials a link to a Denver Post article about officials in the Colorado capital abandoning plans for a $40 million deal with the company to provide migrant services amid a backlash from advocates and nonprofits.

Wed like to discuss possible implications here, Ponce de Leon wrote.

Earlier this fall, the state Department of Human Services said the citys concerns were addressed by collaborating with GardaWorld on its operating policies and procedures to ensure a human services lens.

The contract the company signed in July says its training for shelter workers will include information on cultural competency and diversity.

In early August, a little over a week after the contract was signed and a month before Johnson went public with plans to house asylum-seekers in so-called base camps, a state Human Services official contacted the mayors administration to provide details about GardaWorlds tent proposal.

If youd like to be connected to GardaWorld or have us pull together some specific data, please let us know, Kirstin Chernawsky, who oversees the migrant response for the state agency, wrote to Johnsons deputy chief staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, in an Aug. 7 email with the subject line Tent Quotes.

According to a breakdown Chernawsky provided, costs would run up to $7.8 million per month to shelter up to 1,400 migrants at a site without access to existing utilities.

Please also note that this is just for basic shelter/lodging for single men  additional costs would be added on for other services (e.g., medical, case management, etc.,) and/or to get supplies like menstrual products, cribs/baby food, etc., Chernawsky wrote in the email, to which she attached the full contract.

Thank you! This is super helpful, Pacione-Zayas, a former Democratic state senator, wrote back.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services did not answer specific questions about the context of the exchange, saying only that state and city officials have had ongoing, general discussions regarding a variety of issues concerning new arrivals and regularly share related information.

Despite being shown the exchange, DHS spokeswoman Rachel Otwell stood by a September statement in which she told the Tribune the department had played no role in planning for Johnsons proposed base camps. Otwell did not respond to a request to make Chernaswky available for an interview.

Regardless of Pritzkers stated preference, the state now is making use of its own contract with GardaWorld to set up a camp, which his administration says would be able to house 2,000 people for stays lasting up to six months.

Neither state nor city officials have provided any information on the proposed location of the camp, with Pritzker telling reporters earlier this month that it would be up to Johnsons administration to identify the site.

The city, meanwhile, recently began moving migrants out of one of the most crowded police stations and into the citys 25-shelter system.

dpetrella@chicagotribune.com

ayin@chicagotribune.com
One of Brevard County's most prominent charities has been all but shut down amid a wide-ranging crisis that includes crumbling finances, a criminal investigation into its former CEO and a flurry of questions about an obscure executive account, according to dozens of leaked emails between its executives and board of directors.

Crosswinds Youth Services in Cocoa runs one of Brevard's only dedicated shelters for homeless and runaway teens. Since opening in 1974, its board of directors has included a Who's Who of local business and political figures, including most recently several prominent attorneys, a Port Canaveral commissioner and Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey.

However, the organization, known for its popular annual rubber duck race fundraiser, now appears to be on the verge of collapse.

The Florida Network of Youth and Family Services, which oversees a major portion of Crosswinds' annual funding, on Monday suspended new admissions to its network-funded programs and ordered the reassignment of shelter residents housed under its contract.

It cited a laundry list of concerns, detailed in an extensive cache of internal emails, reports and meeting minutes separately obtained by FLORIDA TODAY.

Among them, Jan Lokay, its recently retired CEO, is under investigation by the Brevard County Sheriff's Office over a series of questionable transactions involving the nonprofit's assets. The inquiry comes as its board of directors reckon with years of losses and a steep operating deficit, the emails show.

The irregularities were first uncovered as the organization sought for cash to fund a $50,000 severance payment to Lokay, authorized in May by the Crosswinds executive board.

More: Chairman of Brevard veterans nonprofit arrested amid state financial investigation

Lokay did not return messages seeking comment. Her attorney said she maintains she has done nothing wrong.

The dire financial situation has meanwhile trickled down to staff and the children who depend on the shelter for support. Roof leaks and a runaway mold problem shuttered its executive offices in August. A/C outages at its shelter over the summer  after the board was unable to afford repairs  reportedly forced teens to sleep in common areas to escape the oppressive heat. Unpaid electric bills nearly led to the lights being shut off earlier this month.

Crosswinds received about $2.48 million in government grants and contracts in the 2021-2022 fiscal year, along with about $300,000 in charitable contributions, against $3.3 million in expenses, tax forms show.

As the board scrambles to put out the fires, over half a million dollars sits idle in an exclusive executive retirement account Lokay was set to walk away with after leaving the nonprofit in June.

Emails show the paper trail for the account was slim, with little or no supporting documentation. Worse, payments into the account appear to have had little oversight, bypassing the nonprofit's payroll system, possibly for years, the emails show.

The fund's murky origins have fueled uncertainty over tax liabilities, its ownership  and even its legality.

Crosswinds Youth Services in Cocoa, which runs a shelter for homeless and runaway teens, is in crisis as it faces the termination of its funding contract with its parent network over a long list of concerns.

The mounting concerns have triggered a forensic audit and shakeups among Crosswinds staff and directors, including the resignation of at least four board members since July and the pending resignation of its new CEO after only five months.

The trove of internal communications offers unprecedented access into the organization's unraveling since May, but many questions remain about how and why. Multiple interview requests to Crosswind's current CEO were not returned, and board members contacted by FLORIDA TODAY did not respond to messages or declined to comment.

With the suspension of programs this week and its funding under threat, it's unclear when or if the nonprofit can recover.

Former CEO under investigation

Florida Network officials warned the Crosswinds board of directors in a stark five-page letter Monday to get its act together or face the termination of its contract, in past years worth up to 30% of Crosswinds' annual revenue.

The letter cited poor performance metrics and the nonprofit's flagging finances, which have caused recurring problems paying its staff and creditors. The board only narrowly avoided disaster on Nov. 2 when Florida Power and Light workers arrived on site, threatening to cut the power of unpaid energy bills, the emails show.

Other issues cited include persistent problems with employee morale; hostile work environment complaints lodged against a senior executive; record-keeping and reporting deficiencies; and a string of recent incidents involving teens and shelter staff.

"We have become increasingly concerned with the ongoing instability of programs operated by Crosswinds Youth Services," wrote Amy Orman, the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services' chief operating officer.

Orman ordered the suspension of most network-funded services while the board worked through an onerous list of demands to retain its contract funding, though the nonprofit would continue to offer community counseling and SNAP food benefits, according to the letter.

Of special concern is an ongoing criminal investigation into Crosswinds' former CEO, Jan Lokay, whose June retirement came amid rumblings from some board members over her use of nonprofit funds.

Internal emails show board members raised concerns over Lokay's use of the charity's credit card. Among the purchases, according to bank statements obtained by FLORIDA TODAY:

Hundreds of dollars spent at craft stores and online retailers, including $85 to a luxury pen company and $315 to a company specializing in high-end wool blankets;

Over $400 spent on flowers and artisanal cookies;

Purchases from overseas electronic and appliance outlets;

Monthly subscriptions to the New York Times and AOL, which Lokay used in place of a nonprofit email address.

Board members also questioned write-offs Lokay allegedly made, which they said included billing the nonprofit for her Spectrum home internet and a portion of her homeowner's insurance, according to the emails.

Perhaps the most serious issue involved a Crosswinds-leased van, which Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey told the board she may have bought out for a steep discount using equity financed by the charity, according to the minutes from an Aug. 16 board meeting.

"There is definitely some criminality, especially regarding the issue of the van," the summary of Ivey's presentation reads. "She clearly used equity in the van that could have gone towards the purchase of the other Crosswinds van in order to make the purchase."

Lokay's attorney, Scott Robinson of Eisenmenger, Robertson & Peters, P.A., said she was "completely, 100% adamant" that she had not broken any laws.

"There's a distinction between something that, say, is criminal, and something that was not optimal or was done wrong somehow. That's what we're trying to figure out," Robinson said.

He declined to comment on specifics, saying that there has been no communication from the sheriff's office or Crosswinds since the early part of the investigation, which emails show began in July.

"I know Ms. Lokay. She ran the organization for over 30 years. I don't know what nonsense they're trying to throw at her. We've been trying to figure it out for months and no one has told us anything," he said.

Lokay has not been charged with any crimes. Whether the investigation remains open was not known Wednesday. Questions sent to a sheriff's office spokesman were not returned before the time of publication.

Financial problems affect staff, shelter teens

Crosswinds' financial woes aren't new. Tax filings show the nonprofit has long operated in the red, with rising expenses outstripping fluctuating revenues for six of the last seven years.

A $388,000 operating deficit this past year contributed to problems meeting payroll and delays in needed repairs and facility maintenance. That came to a head this summer, impacting both Crosswinds staffers and teens staying in its shelter, the emails show.

To pay its staff, in September the board took out a $170,000 cash advance from the Florida Network, just two months after borrowing from its investment account to cover payroll gaps. Network officials have demanded the return of a $46,000 balance in light of the ongoing issues.

Unable to afford roof repairs at its administrative building on Dixon Boulevard, employees were forced to catch leaking rainwater in trash cans, according to a June 13 email to the board from current CEO Kevin Maloney.

"We have water leaks in many parts of the building where the tiles have become so saturated that they have given way and fell from the ceiling," Maloney wrote.

A mold infestation from the prior year resurged after the board couldn't afford the $6,000 cost to clean the air conditioning ducts, affecting the health of the staff and forcing them to relocate to a secondary office nearby, the Aug. 16 meeting minutes show.

History: Crosswinds gets its duck race in a row

At the children's shelter, A/C outages during the hot summer months led teens to sleep in common areas, according to the emails. Staff brought in temporary air conditioning units in September after a complaint to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, the emails show.

Florida Network staff also recently reported concerns that Crosswinds was unable to fund outings for the teens in its care due to lack of money, Orman said in the Monday letter.

Obscure executive fund raises unanswered questions

As facilities languished, emails show the nonprofit's four-person executive board for years has annually approved the transfer of tens of thousands of dollars into an exclusive retirement account, available only to Lokay and two other high-ranking employees.

As of September, just as the board was borrowing to pay its hourly employees, the balance on the account was over $620,000, according to a Sep. 29 email from Maloney to the board. Lokay was not required to pay into the account, which was financed entirely by nonprofit funds, the emails show.

The account began to raise alarm bells this year after the board learned the transfers, paid in bi-weekly installments, were bypassing payroll, creating a potential tax liability and concerns about unreported income.

The reason, like most everything about the obscure fund, is unclear. A staff review led by Maloney (initiated at Lokay's request) revealed almost no documentation about the origins or specifics of the account, Maloney told the board in the Sep. 29 email. A single document referencing the account as far back as 2006 brought little clarity.

The lack of a paper trail led to confusion about even what kind of account it was, evidenced in emails and board minutes between June and August, for a while leaving it unclear to whom the money belonged and the organization's responsibilities under federal tax laws.

Further research revealed several years worth of payments may have exceeded federal contribution limits, Maloney reported.

"From what weve been able to establish thus far, is that the account was not setup appropriately and there was no oversight on the amount of money being bypassed by the payroll system," Maloney wrote in the September email.

The current status of the account is not known. Communications between board members in October show they resisted touching the funds until they could hire an attorney, which they were then unable to afford.

More: State investigates Brevard Sheriff's charity for ignoring fundraising ban

Minutes from the August board meeting showed the account had been rolled into the criminal investigation, as agents sought to determine whether the board had approved the creation of the fund in the first place.

As of Aug. 16, according to the report, Lokay had not received any money from the account.

"Though it is a poor management issue and possibly a civil issue, the fact that she has not received the money may mean that it does not rise to the level of criminality," the minutes read. "If the Board had never authorized the account, then there may be cause for criminality."

Leadership crisis leaves future unclear

The mounting problems led the Florida Network of Youth and Family Services to initiate a forensic audit of the nonprofit's books in July. On Monday, however, that audit had not been completed.

The network blamed the failure of Crosswinds leaders to provide critical financial records in its letter to the board.

"This investigatory accounting engagement has been ongoing for over 4 months without receiving adequate responses from management which would facilitate the review of charges to the Florida Network contract," Orman wrote.

As a condition of restoring its funding, officials have given Crosswinds until Wednesday to produce the requested documents.

A leadership crisis threatens to further derail any plans to get back on track. At least four board members have resigned since July, including two in October as rising tensions led to board infighting, the emails show.

This week, Maloney announced in an email to staff that he too was stepping down, after only five months on the job.

"It is with a mix of emotions that I share with you my decision to resign as the CEO of Crosswinds. This has been a difficult choice, but one I believe is in the best interest of the organization," he wrote, citing the network letter.

Maloney's email didn't include any mention of a transition of leadership. Resolving that issue was another condition set by the Florida Network to maintain its contract.

In the face of already major cash flow problems, it's uncertain whether the long-serving charity could survive the hit.

With no clear leadership plan in place and next week's deadline fast approaching, the future of Crosswinds  which will next year celebrate its 50th anniversary  appears to hang in the balance.

Eric Rogers is a watchdog reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Rogers at 321-242-3717 or esrogers@floridatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Crosswinds, a prominent Brevard nonprofit, in crisis amid criminal probe
Some of the most popular tobacco products in the U.S. may be banned soon.

The White House is considering two new federal proposed rules that would pull menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars from shelves nationwide.

Theres no purpose for these products other than to cause death and disease for millions of Americans, said Erika Sward, Assistant Vice President for Advocacy of the American Lung Association.

The American Lung Association supports this effort by the FDA. Sward said the dangers of menthol are clear.

Everything from heart disease, lung disease, lung cancer, a whole host of other cancers, she said. But also some perhaps lesser-known causes, including diabetes, all of those can be caused by smoking,

>> Lawmakers push to expand access to food assistance for military families

The organization is urging the Biden administration to approve these federal changes by the end of the year.

There is no reason for menthol cigarettes to be on the marketplace other than to make the poison go down easier and attract new users and to keep current users addicted, said Sward. We know that for some communities, including many black Americans, menthol cigarettes are actually harder to quit than regular cigarettes.

But others say a ban isnt the answer.

The National Association of Tobacco Outlets, the national retail trade association with more than 66,000 retailers that sell tobacco products, says it would lead to more criminal activity. In a written statement, the association said Further the supply of these products will shift from responsible, licensed and regulated retailers to drastically expand an already existing illicit marketplace.

Additionally, some community leaders believe a ban would disproportionately criminalize Black neighborhoods because menthol is the preferred choice for many Black smokers.

The potential ban would give just an enormous opportunity for an unproductive, unnecessary encounter between law enforcement and people in communities, said Rev. Markel Hutchins, Chairman, and CEO MovementForward, Inc.

These concerns stem from incidents like the death of Eric Garner in 2014. He died from a police chokehold after officers attempted to arrest him for selling loose cigarettes.

His mother, Gwen Carr, sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer expressing her concerns.

Many opponents say they arent supportive of smoking. Instead, they want the federal government to find other ways to address this health issue.

Leveraging every asset and resource that the FDA and other federal entities have to increase the scrutiny on tobacco companies to continue to push tobacco companies to reduce their advertising, reduce their targeting, said Hutchings.

A few states arent waiting for a federal ban. California, Massachusetts, and DC have already banned the sale of all flavored tobacco products.




Knox County prosecutors have dismissed all three charges against a Starbucks shift manager who was injured by Knox County sheriff's deputies at the Cedar Bluff Road coffee shop, and the sheriff's office has opened an internal investigation into the man's arrest Oct. 21.

Nashon Bain-Greenidge, a recent college graduate who worked at Starbucks to put himself through school, suffered serious cuts to his head and face and injuries to his hand when deputies arrested him outside the shop after he asked them why they had blocked entry to the parking lot.

"My office received additional body camera evidence from this incident on the day of the preliminary hearing," Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen told Knox News in a written statement. "After review of the body camera evidence, I asked the court to dismiss the charges."

Deputies Wyatt Brown and Travis Field submitted reports about the incident at the Starbucks that were sparse, contradictory and filled with descriptions that set off alarm bells among policing watchdogs. They said they were at the Starbucks responding to a call from a man who reported he had been the victim of a domestic assault. The man went to the coffee shop to get away from a woman who assaulted him, he said, but she followed him there and he called for help.

Deputies' accounts of what happened when Bain-Greenidge approached them outside to ask what was going on included discrepancies, including whether the arrest of the shift manager and deputies started inside the entryway or outside the coffee shop.

Nashon Bain-Greenidge, 29, a shift manager at the Starbucks on Cedar Bluff Road, was arrested and injured by Knox County sheriff's deputies after he asked them why they had swarmed and blocked the coffee store's parking lot. Prosecutors last week dismissed the three charges he faced: resisting arrest, assault on a first responder and disorderly conduct.

Brown reported that Bain-Greenidge obstructed their investigation by asking repeated questions and made a fist, leading to a physical altercation. 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."

In contrast, Field reported they moved to arrest Bain-Greenidge after he grabbed a push bar on the store's 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.

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.

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 initially declined to talk to Knox News about the incident, which is not unusual, said Melba Pearson, a civil rights and criminal justice expert at Florida International University. She told Knox News people who are injured by police during an arrest are often fearful of how speaking out may be used against them.

After all the charges were dismissed, Bain-Greenidge told Knox News on Nov. 27, "I am relieved that the charges against me have been dropped so I can move on with my life, but all of this happened and for what? This taught me that the system really needs reform."

Bain-Greenidge's mother, Verna Greenidge, told Knox News she and her son are happy the charges have been dropped but the permanent physical and emotional damage can't be reversed.

"I look at my son's injuries to his face every single day and it hurts me as a parent. To watched the video and saw my son lying on the ground with officers on top of him. That is a feeling you can't describe," she said. "He was just working a shift on Saturday and trying to do the right thing. I still wonder what would be if we didn't have the means to get a lawyer. It seems as if the institution of policing is broken."

Pearson 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, she 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.

Sheriff's office spokesperson Kimberly Glenn declined to answer questions after the incident, including whether either of the deputies has previously been the subject of civilian complaints. At 6 p.m. the evening before Thanksgiving, Spangler released a statement.

He said the domestic assault report "potentially involved two firearms" and that several officers nearby "responded to this call due to the high-risk nature involving firearms at an establishment that was open for business and likely contained patrons."

In his written statement, Spangler said, "On Nov. 2, 2023, the Office of Professional Standards was made aware of the incident that occurred between the officers and the Starbucks employee and began to gather preliminary information," Spangler said in the written statement.

"Now that the criminal case has been adjudicated, the Office of Professional Standards has proceeded with the administrative investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding the incident between the officers and the Starbucks employee."

Spangler said he will not answer questions about the incident until the internal investigation has been completed. He promised to make the findings of that investigation public.

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.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Prosecutors drop charges against man hurt in Knoxville Starbucks arrest
The office of the New York judge overseeing Donald Trump's civil fraud trial has received an onslaught of death threats and antisemitic abuse in the wake of the former president's online attacks.

New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron and his principal law clerk, Allison Greenfield have been bombarded with hundreds of threatening, harassing and disparaging telephone and social media messages, according to a new court filing reported by The Guardian. New York state court system attorneys in the filing argued for the imposition of gag orders on Trump, citing the serious and credible threats against Engoron and Greenfield.

Transcribed voicemails, which were disclosed in the filing, exposed the extent of the vitriol directed at the duo. Several death threats came alongside racist and sexist attacks. I mean, honestly, you should be assassinated, one said. You should be killed. You should be not assassin executed [sic]. You should be executed.

Resign now, you dirty, treasonous piece of trash snake. We are going to get you and anyone of you dirty, backstabbing, lying, cheating American. You are nothing but a bunch of communists. We are coming to remove you permanently," said another.

Last month, the former president posted an image of Greenfield on his social media platform Truth Social falsely describing her as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's "girlfriend" and linking to her personal Instagram account. The act prompted Engoron to issue a partial gag order barring Trump  and later his legal team  from commenting on court staff.

A New York appeals court earlier this month, however, paused the gag order, allowing Trump to speak freely about court staff while a longer appeals process takes place.

Greenfield's personal contact information has since been compromised, a court safety official, Charles Hollon, told The Guardian.

I have been informed by Ms. Greenfield that she has been receiving approximately 20-30 calls per day to her personal cellphone and approximately 30-50 messages per day online, Hollon said. Ms Greenfield also informed me that since the interim stay was issued lifting the gag orders on November 16, 2023, approximately half of the harassing and disparaging messages have been antisemitic.

Former Obama Associate White House Counsel Ian Bassin argued that Trump had to be aware that his attacks could incite that kind of barrage and accused the former president of using his influence as part of a strategy.

"This is on purpose," Bassin wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "This is Trumps intent. He wants these people to feel threatened and intimidated. Hes taking a page right from the mafia, plain and simple. And the courts have a duty to stop it."

This is on purpose. This is Trumps intent. He wants these people to feel threatened and intimidated. Hes taking a page right from the mafia, plain and simple. And the courts have a duty to stop it. https://t.co/a29n2dOBpk  Ian Bassin  (@ianbassin) November 23, 2023

"There is a dynamic here, where judges in an individual case have to be aware of Trumps incendiary and dangerous rhetoric nationwide and the genuine risk that someone somewhere will get grievously hurt," former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman added.

There is a dynamic here, where judges in an individual case have to be aware of Trumps incendiary and dangerous rhetoric nationwide and the genuine risk that someone somewhere will get grievously hurt. https://t.co/ZziywtNC66  Harry Litman (@harrylitman) November 23, 2023

CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen asserted that the threats and attacks against Engoron and Greenfield justify the reinstatement of Trump's gag order.

"The threats that Trump is triggering against the New York judge & his law clerk are violent & anti-Semitic," CNN legal analyst Norm Eisen tweeted. "They shot up after the gag order was temporarily lifted on appeal 1st amend. protections are not absolute and the gag order should and eventually will be reinstated."

The threats that Trump is triggering against the New York judge & his law clerk are violent & anti-Semitic



They shot up after the gag order was temporarily lifted on appeal



1st amend. protections are not absolute and the gag order should & eventually will be reinstated



At  Norm Eisen (norm.eisen on Threads) (@NormEisen) November 23, 2023

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance argued that Trump's attacks and the subsequent onslaught of threats on his targets will ultimately hurt him.

"The danger is to the clerk, but it's really to the entire staff of this courthouse because the former president well-knows of the impact his words have," Vance said during a Sunday MSNBC appearance. She noted that if Trump was posting on social media innocently and without that awareness of his influence, then he would likely have stopped upon seeing the 275, single-spaced pages of threats that Greenfield has received.

"The fact that he hasn't stopped and he has accelerated while the gag order is temporarily lifted for purposes of this appeal really tells you what his intentions are here," Vance continued, calling it "disruptive" for the New York courts and "dangerous" for all court employees. "It's completely unacceptable. It makes clear that a gag order is going to be necessary."

The fraud lawsuit, which was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accuses Trump, his sons, other Trump Organization executives and the company of heavily exaggerating the value of the company's properties to receive more favorable loan terms and deals. She seeks $250 million in penalties and a ban on the Trumps' ability to do business in the state.

Engoron issued a pre-trial summary judgment in September, ruling Trump liable for defrauding banks and insurers and ordering the dissolution of Trump's businesses. The latter decision is currently paused pending appeal.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case and has previously defended his property valuations.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

Former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade warned that the latest filing in the New York gag order case could influence the federal appeals court reviewing a gag order imposed by D.C. Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is overseeing Trump's election subversion case.

In that case, lawyers for the former president have been "misleading" the court as they spar with the Department of Justice, McQuade said, asserting that arguments they made had nothing to do with the subject at hand. The appeals court hearing oral arguments Monday will likely take the threats against Engoron and Greenfield into perspective "because it shows that it's not imaginative or speculative harm," McQuade told MSNBC. "These are real threats coming in every day and disrupting the business of the court, putting its employees in harm's way.

"One of the things that the Trump lawyers have done, that is very misleading here, is to look at cases outside of the context of court, of opinion criminal cases," McQuade continued. "You know, prior restraints are frowned upon, of course. Anything that limits core political speech is antithetical to the 1st Amendment. But that's not the world that we're in. We are in the world of a trial."

She elaborated: "Inside a trial, to protect the parties, to protect court staff and to protect the fair administration of justice, those rules are different. And so I hope that the court sees the light and understands the very real threat on the one hand versus the restriction on the other."
(CNN)  Gratitude gets credited with making improvements in just about every life sphere, including benefiting decision-making, self-esteem and stress reduction and boosting cardiovascular health, immunity and sleep. You dont have to look far to find countless recommendations for a gratitude practice as a key to happiness.

But is making a daily list of what youre thankful for really the panacea its cut out to be? Researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky, distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, says the facts of the matter are not so straightforward.

Its true that encouraging gratitude can increase happiness, but studies have shown that not everyone benefits from gratitude practices such as counting your blessings  and some people might actually fare worse. Marshaling her decades of research in the positive psychology field, Lyubomirsky, author of the best-selling The How of Happiness and The Myths of Happiness, shares insights on how gratitude practices work  and when they backfire.

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

CNN: In The How of Happiness, you call gratitude a metastrategy for achieving happiness. How does it work?

Sonja Lyubomirsky: Gratitude bolsters well-being by redirecting peoples attention, reframing their interpretations and coloring their memories toward positivity. Research has shown that gratitude can effectively neutralize negative emotions. Its hard to feel jealous, resentful, angry or anxious when youre also feeling grateful.

In a larger sense, gratitude also highlights a big-picture vantage point that helps you cope with adversity. For example, if someones house burns down, focusing on the fact that their family survived can help mitigate the pain of everything lost. Gratitude helps you deal with challenges and stressors in your life.

CNN: You write that part of why gratitude can be helpful is because it disrupts hedonic adaptation. What do you mean?

Lyubomirsky: Hedonic adaptation is our remarkable capacity to adjust rapidly to any new circumstance or event. Its the reason why the boost we feel when we gain something good in life is usually short-lived. Gratitude helps us interrupt hedonic adaptation. To be grateful is the opposite of taking good stuff for granted.

CNN: What does research tell us about engaging in gratitude as a practice?

Lyubomirsky: The correlation between happiness and gratitude has been well-documented. Randomized, controlled studies have also demonstrated causation  that well-being and happiness increase for people when theyre prompted to express gratitude in different ways. We need more preregistered studies, we need bigger studies, but Im pretty confident in that finding.

CNN: If happiness and well-being are the goals, what does an effective gratitude practice look like?

Lyubomirsky: That depends on the person. What works is whatever works best for you at that time in your life. Some people are very verbal. For them, finding a gratitude buddy to talk with might work best. If youre going through a rough period, maybe the best way to practice gratitude is by spending time with friends and family and discussing what you appreciate.

Some people love writing, so thank-you letters, whether they send them or keep them private, might be helpful. Others keep a gratitude journal. One study found that expressing gratitude by composing a narrative or a letter is more powerful than just writing a list. There are lots of nuances, but the goal is to find a practice that fits with who you are at this moment.

CNN: You mention that introducing a visitor to the things, people and places that you love can increase gratitude. How does that work?

Lyubomirsky: Sharing your world with others helps you see the ordinary details of your life through new eyes, in a fresh way, making you appreciate them as though you were experiencing them for the very first time.

I live in Santa Monica and have an incredibly beautiful view of the ocean. I have adapted to it, but if a visitor comes and gasps, Oh my God! that might make me go from a 60% level of appreciation of the view to 80%. Spending time with children can help with this, too. They see the world in such a vibrant, excited, new way.

CNN: Is it possible to overdo a gratitude practice?

Lyubomirsky: If the goal is increasing happiness, yes. Gratitude interventions may be detrimental when administered too frequently. A study found differences between participant groups based on how frequently they wrote down five things for which they were thankful.

Students were randomly assigned to count their blessings once per week or three times per week, or to a wait-list control. Participants who counted their blessings once a week showed significant improvements in well-being, but those who did so three times a week showed either no benefit or slight decreases in well-being.

My interpretation was that maybe three times a week was too much. Perhaps people got bored or the activity became a chore or lost its meaning.

CNN: Could a gratitude practice actually cause harm?

Lyubomirsky: There are circumstances in which a gratitude practice can backfire. Early in my career, I heard from mental health professionals who expressed concern that using gratitude exercises might worsen the health of their depressed clients. I was very interested in that, so I did a study with depressed college students. So many participants reported getting less happy that I had to stop the study. Some reported feeling embarrassed or ashamed about receiving whatever help or kindness theyd included in their gratitude list. Others said they had trouble finding things to be grateful for, which made them feel worse about themselves and their lives.

I talked with a clinician who works with severely depressed teenagers in Canada about how one risk factor of suicidality is feeling that youre a burden on your friends and family  that things would be easier for them if you were gone. We havent yet researched this, but I imagine asking people who are already feeling that way to think about all the different ways that their friends or family have helped and supported them over the years might make them feel even more of a burden.

Just generally, if I asked you to count your blessings every day for 10 days, it might be hard for you to keep coming up with things to be grateful for. That might lead you to conclude maybe you arent that fortunate in life.

CNN: What advice do you have for avoiding pitfalls while engaging in a gratitude practice?

Lyubomirsky: Use your intuition. Do your own me-search. If youre engaging in a practice and you find yourself feeling less positive or less connected, then stop and try something else. Be cognizant of some of the factors weve discussed. Are you finding it hard to think of things to be grateful for? Is keeping a gratitude journal making you feel embarrassed, ashamed or like more of a burden? Has the practice become just a chore? Then switch it up. Maybe take a break or express gratitude in a new way.

And if your goal is happiness, keep in mind that gratitude is one of hundreds of activities you can do to be a happier person, to flourish more. Others include performing acts of kindness and spending time savoring the moment. Practicing gratitude is just one strategy.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Is there such a thing as too much gratitude? Turns out sometimes less is more."
When Finland officially joined NATO in April this year as a consequence of Russias invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin threatened that it would respond with counter measures. Now, seven months later, it appears Putin is trying to take his revenge on its neighbour.

Over the past ten days, Finland has hurriedly been shutting its border crossings with Russia. On 18 November, Helsinki shut four; another three were closed on the 24th. Now just one checkpoint along the 830 mile border - the most northern Raja-Jooseppi crossing - remains open, although according to the Finnish press it may not stay so for long.

The reason for Finlands rush to shut down its crossings is the sudden surge in the number of third-country asylum seekers arriving at the border. Since the beginning of November alone, some 900 migrants from countries including Morocco, Somalia and Afghanistan have crossed over from Russia with the aim of claiming asylum in Finland, the countrys border agency has claimed. Helsinki has accused Russia of engaging in hybrid warfare by encouraging and aiding migrants to make the crossing in what it says are efforts to sow discord in the country and cultivate a new migrant crisis.

Finlands actions have triggered a diplomatic row that is now threatening to escalate. The Kremlin audaciously denied its accusations, calling them far-fetched; the Finnish ambassador was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry last week to provide an explanation. Meanwhile the Finnish prime minister Petteri Orpo has declared he has no intention of personally negotiating with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Compared to the hundreds of thousands who arrive in Britain every year, a thousand or so migrants pitching up on Finlands borders since mid-August may not seem like a number worth the worsening row. However, with a population of just about 5.4 million, such an irregular increase in migration into the country is enough to give Finlands government cause for concern.

Indeed, on the last day before the additional three crossings were closed, 58 migrants turned up at the Salla crossing alone. A further 55 who missed the chance to cross there were helpfully sent to Raja-Jooseppi by the local Russian authorities.

Finland claims to have evidence supporting their accusations. These migrants are believed to be arriving in Russia and Belarus with valid visas, before being transported to the Finnish border by people traffickers. There, Russian border control guards have been allowing them to pass to Finnish territory without the correct legal paperwork to enter the country.

Whether these border guards were initially operating on the instructions of the state, or simply out of their own greed and corruption is unclear. What is evident, though, is that the Kremlin has clearly sought to capitalise on the situation, at best doing nothing to prevent the flow of people and at worst actively now facilitating it.

Finlands European allies are taking the situation very seriously: Estonias defence minister Hanno Pevkur has branded Moscows actions weaponised illegal immigration. Meanwhile, Norway has said it too would be willing to close its borders with Russia if targeted in a similar way. The EUs border agency Frontex announced on Monday that 50 guards will be deployed to help patrol the Russo-Finnish border, with the first set to arrive on Wednesday.

There is precedent for the Kremlin using similar destabilisation tactics in the past: in 2015 and 2016, following an increase in joint training exercises between Finland and Nato, a similar surge of third-country migrants occurred at the border. In 2021, too, Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko orchestrated a deliberate campaign  almost certainly with the Kremlins blessing  to encourage and facilitate the illegal passage of several thousand migrants into Lithuania, Poland and Latvia from his borders.

Putin is under no illusion that such a tactic would cause the West to crumble by itself. But by putting further strain on European countries whose politicians are already feeling the pressure to deal with increasingly high migration, his hope is to chip away at Western cohesion, causing chaos and sowing distrust among the native populations.

The unexpected increase in the number of migrants not only poses Finland with obvious security issues, but also with a humanitarian problem: temperatures along the border now regularly fall below -10C and many migrants have reportedly been arriving ill-dressed and underfed.

The main hold up at the moment in closing the last open border crossing is the Finnish governments concern over breaching its human rights obligations towards asylum seekers. Polling suggests that currently Finns are broadly supportive of the governments actions.

Closing the Raja-Jooseppi crossing will likely stop the flow of migrants into Finland, but with the Kremlin likely to stew over the row, not to mention Finlands hawkish support of Ukraine, diplomatic relations between the two countries are unlikely to improve any time soon. The new iron curtain that has fallen between Russia and the West has just become a little more impenetrable.

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It's been just over a year since federal charges were filed against a magnetics company in Louisville and three top executives, alleging they sent confidential U.S. military data to China and defrauded the Department of Defense.

The case is still working its way though the court system, with a trial for the company and three defendants tentatively set for early next year and a nearly $100 million planned company expansion in Louisville on hold.

Lawyers for all parties declined to comment for this story. But here's what a review of documents filed by both sides in U.S. District Court reveals about where the case stands:

The company

Headquartered nationally in San Diego and founded in 1992, Quadrant Magnetics opened its Louisville business hub in 2001 and expanded in Jeffersontown 18 years later.

Charges were in the fall of 2022 against the company along with three of its officials  Phil Pascoe, Monica Pascoe and Scott Tubbs.

Phil Pascoe was the company's president at the time of the arrest, and had previously served as its vice president of operations before his promotion in 2018. Monica Pascoe, his wife, served as accounting manager, while Tubbs was vice president of sales and marketing.

Billing itself on its website as "the worldwide leader in the magnetic industry," Quadrant produces magnetic products used in common devices such as computers and smartphones, along with more complex applications, such as pumping technologies in the oil field and generators and magnetic assemblies used to harness wind energy.

This case focuses on rare earth magnets the company supplies for "aviation systems and other military items" used by the U.S. Department of Defense, according to a grand jury indictment.

At the time of the arrests, Quadrant's investment in Louisville was growing.

Gov. Andy Beshear and then-Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer used its local office to host a press conference in February 2022 touting recent economic growth in the state. A month earlier, Quadrant had announced plans to build a $95 million production facility in the city, its first such complex in the U.S. That project, dubbed "Project Neograss," was expected to create 200 full-time jobs, officials said at the time.

Beshear: The state of the commonwealth is strong, and one of the major reasons is the state of Louisville. Several state economic records were broken in 2021 he says, and in January over $660M in new investment and 1,400 jobs were announced. pic.twitter.com/ENx15S3G2n  Lucas Aulbach (@LucasAulbach) February 11, 2022

But the planned expansion stalled by November 2022 when the U.S. Department of Justice announced the charges.

The case

The indictment's allegations include claims the three defendants repackaged rare earth magnets smelted in China to appear they'd been smelted domestically, and then shipped them to two American companies that used them in parts for the military's F-16 and F-18 fighter jets.

Between early 2012 and late 2018, Quadrant also allegedly exported about 70 drawings that contained classified technical data to a business identified in court documents as Chinese Company 1. Those drawings belonged to the two U.S. companies that supplied parts for military jets and related to submersible vessels and related articles, along with "fire control, laser, imaging, and guidance equipment."

Rare earth magnets, which are stronger than typical magnets and are made from rare metals such as neodymium, are required by the Department of Defense to be smelted in the U.S. or another approved country.

The three individual defendants are accused of ordering magnets for the two U.S. companies and then emailing technical data received from those businesses to Chinese Company 1. Quadrant would then allegedly import magnets smelted in China to fulfill orders for those two companies for aviation systems and other military items. The magnets were repackaged with Quadrant labeling before being shipped, and Phil Pascoe and Tubbs are accused of instructing employees to conceal the country of origin before shipping.

Monica Tubbs was charged with conspiracy and wire fraud while Quadrant, Phil Pascoe and Tubbs were charged with conspiracy and wire fraud, along with exporting technical data without a license and smuggling goods from the U.S.

The case is still pending in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

The next steps

A jury trial was initially set for early 2023 but has been tentatively pushed back to February.

Quadrant's planned investment in the new Louisville facility came after the Kentucky Business Alliance approved $3.4 million in tax incentives. The project was expected to employ 200 people for Quadrant. Phil Pascoe in 2022 told Business First the company already employed about 60 people in the U.S.

But Brandon Mattingly, spokesperson for the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development, told The Courier Journal that agreement never received final approval and "no action has been taken by the company to claim tax incentives from the state."

The cabinet and Quadrant have not had contact since the indictments were unsealed in November 2022, he said. The $95 million project, which the company had hoped to open by mid-2023, has not materialized.

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Quadrant Magnetics: Where company's federal case stands
New Zealand plans to scrap its landmark smoking ban for young generations. This policy was thought to have inspired Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to introduce similar smoking restrictions in the UK.

While New Zealand's U-turn may lead to a set back for anti-smoking campaigns globally, there are still several countries getting ever tougher on tobacco. Here's what you need to know about global efforts to quit smoking.

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wants to create a "smoke-free generation"

Under the UK government's proposed legislation, anyone aged 14 or under will never be able to legally buy cigarettes or any other tobacco product. The idea is to prevent future generations from smoking, as nine in 10 people say they started the habit before the age of 21, according to data from Cancer Research. The proposed law will not criminalise the act of buying tobacco and won't prevent anyone currently older than 14 from being sold tobacco in future.

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This policy is believed to have been inspired by New Zealand

New Zealand's previous government wanted to have a sweeping crackdown on smoking, passing a law which meant anyone born after 2008 would not be able to buy cigarettes or tobacco products in their lifetime. They also restricted where tobacco could be sold and reduced the level of nicotine (the addictive drug) in cigarettes. But, the new government (voted in from October 2023) are moving to repeal the law, saying it would help fund tax cuts.

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Other countries are still hoping to raise "smoke-free generations"

Mexico has some of the strictest anti-smoking laws in the world, including smoking bans at beaches, parks and in some cases private homes. Portugal aims to have a "smoke-free generation" by 2040, and wants to pass a law that would stop bars, cafes and petrol stations from selling tobacco products. Canada is hoping to reduce tobacco use to less than 5% by 2035 and earlier this year, became the first country to rule that health warnings should be printed on individual cigarettes.

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Today, over 70 countries have "smoke-free" policies that cover all indoor places

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over one quarter of the world's population are covered by complete smoking bans in public places, workplaces and public transport. In 2007, just 10 countries had "smoke-free policies". Today, it is 74. Ireland was the first country in the world to ban smoking in all indoor workplaces in 2004, including restaurants and bars.

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In South America, citizens of every country are now covered by anti-smoking laws

In 2006, Uruguay became the first country in the region to adopt a "100% smoke-free national policy," says WHO. Measures included a ban on smoking in all enclosed public places and restrictions in some outdoor areas such as near hospitals and schools. In 2020, Paraguay became the last country in the region to pass national laws to create "smoke-free environments" - meaning its citizens can only use tobacco products in specific uncrowded open air spaces.

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In the EU, several countries have anti-smoking measures but they vary greatly

The European Commission said there was a problem with getting people and authorities to actually follow anti-smoking measures in reality, with laws on paper often being ignored. Greece, Hungary, Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Spain have "strong" enforcement, according to Smoke Free Partnership, a group of European NGOs. However Cyprus, Czech Republic, Latvia, Poland and Slovakia are among countries that have limited protections, and even these are sometimes ignored.

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In the UK, smoking has been banned in virtually all indoor places since 2007

The 2006 Health Act put an end to smoking in "enclosed or substantially enclosed" spaces - meaning workplaces, bars, restaurants or public transport became spaces free from smoke. In 2014, the Children and Families Act restricted smoking in cars carrying children. Today, smoking rates in the UK are at their lowest on record, according to government. However, 6.4 million adults are still smokers.

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By Rosemary McCabe
QUINCY  The Quincy Village Council agreed on Nov. 21 to sell about 10 acres the village wants developed into 28 single-family homes to Glass Slipper LLC developer Chris D'Avignon.

The $28 sale requires the company to construct all infrastructure in the designed subdivision by Jan. 25, 2028.

Councilwoman Christy Berry raised her concerns about needing more information about the developer.

Quincy village attorney Chuck Lillis and village manager Britanny Butler at last Tuesday's council meeting.

Village Manager Brittany Butler and council members said D'Avignon answered those questions at a work session on Nov. 7. The council approved the sale 6-1.

D'Avignon also applied for a marijuana provisioning center and purchased several other lots in the village, Butler said.

In April, the council sought proposals to develop the project on the 10.32 acres east of Quincy Schools.

Butler said the village had purchased "a small portion of the land" from the schools with a revision in the agreement that the property would go back to the schools if infrastructure is not installed by January 2028.

D'Avignon made the only proposal.

Butler told the council roads and curbs would cost at least $1.2 million. With utility costs, Butler estimated a $2 million project investment.

The manager said the project is "a huge benefit to the schools. More houses in Quincy, that's more kids going to school, more taxes."

The development would add "a nice road, not a dirt road, to the back parking lot" of the schools at the east end of Jefferson Street.

Glass Slipper proposed three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bath homes in mid-century style "for multi-generational living."

The development is next to the Rotary Recreational projects planned by the service club.

Of D'Avignon, "He's got to obviously do all of his engineering from the ground up, architects and getting their people lined up," Butler said.

Butler said the developer must obtain agreements with Consumers Energy and Michigan Gas Utilities.

Berry said she could not find projects to match the presentation homes in the proposal.

Glass Slipper is a newly formed Wyoming LLC.

D'Avignon wrote the principals "have extensive developmental experience in both residential, commercial, and industrial developments in California, England, Taiwan, and China." He listed two projects in La Mesa, California.

Berry asked for a background check on D'Avignon.

Butler told her, "We have a background check for him because he's also the owner of the company that's going behind McDonald's."

That company planned a marijuana provisioning grow facility, which is now delayed by permit licensing, according to Butler.

Village attorney Chuck Lillis said the village could not use that background check for the new project without D'Avignon's permission.

Butler said D'Avignon purchased other lots in the village.

County records showed June purchases of 54 West Chicago and 48 West Chicago from the village where the village tore down houses. The price was $37,800.

Glass Slipper also purchased 58 West Chicago from a private investor, a location where a now-demolished apartment house burned in June 2020, killing two people.

The company purchased 136 West Chicago in February from a private owner.

Subscribe Follow this issue. Subscribe to the Daily Reporter.

Realtor Angie Marsh told the council D'Avignon was a "private person" but had plans for the property she could not disclose.

D'Avignon listed himself as a "nonmember manager" of Glass Slipper LLC in the proposal.

Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Quincy accepts proposal to sell subdivision land near Quincy schools for $28
Two kittens that were exposed to a rabid kitten have tested negative for the deadly virus. Officials at Rockland Green, the countywide solid waste authority that operates the countys animal shelter, said the incident has led to an ongoing state review of protocols for the shelter and its operator, Four Legs Good.

Kitten dies of rabies: Students who helped care for young feline face vaccines for fatal disease

"That's a positive outcome in a sense," said Rockland Green Executive Director Gerard Damiani. The agency wants to make sure it follows best practices, he said, and that its fosters do, too.

Rocky, the original kitten that was later discovered to have rabies, was placed with a foster in October. Damiani said that protocol would have had the kitten, too young to be vaccinated against rabies, kept away from other animals or people.

But he said, the foster brought in two other kittens that she apparently found on her own, and housed them all at a therapeutic private school in Nyack.

Approximately 85 students and staff at Summit School are undergoing a series of rabies vaccinations after caring for Rocky, the first kitten, according to the New York State Department of Health.

A total of 98 individuals, including those at the school, needed post-exposure rabies vaccinations, according to the Rockland County Department of Health.

Why were kittens at school?

Rocky had been surrendered to the Rockland Green shelter on Oct. 23. Because the Pomona shelter couldn't accommodate the tiny kitten's needs, which included isolation and bottle feeding, Four Legs Good contacted a foster.

Rocky was estimated to be around 4 weeks old; kittens can't be vaccinated against rabies until 12 weeks. She had visible injuries, but Damiani said two veterinarians had cleared her.

The other two kittens appeared to be around the same age. They were cared for through Summit School's Pets for Purpose Animal Care Program, in which day and residential students participated.

This kitten was brought to Rockland Green animal shelter in Pomona. Four Legs Good, which operates the shelter, placed the kitten with Pets for Purpose Animal Care Program at Summit School at Nyack. The cat later fell ill, died and was diagnosed with rabies.

Rocky fell ill a few weeks later and was euthanized and tested for rabies Nov. 2.

"We didn't know until Nov. 6 that (Rocky) was with the other two at Summit," Damiani said.

Rockland County Department of Health and Four Legs Good determined the two kittens would be quarantined for up to six months.

During quarantine at Four Legs Good's New City headquarters, one of the kittens fell ill and died. The other was euthanized and they were both sent to the state's Wadsworth Lab for rabies testing.

Testing returned Tuesday night showed the kittens were negative for rabies, Damiani said.

Risks, best practices

Damiani said Rockland Green continues to review the system breakdown, which he said involved a failure to follow quarantine protocols. "You don't bring an animal that's not fully vaccinated and share it with (other) animals."

Hudson Valley Humane Society, located in Pomona, doesn't place animals in foster care, HVHS Executive Director Ann Marie Gaudio said, because the animals are usually very young.

"These animals are not age-eligible to be properly vaccinated," Gaudio said, "and that puts the foster guardians at risk. It also puts anyone those guardians permit in contact with the animal at risk."

Damiani said more quarantine space is part of the plans for a new shelter that is expected to be constructed in Haverstraw.

He also said the agency has launched the first countywide trap, neuter, vaccinate and release program, often referred to as TNR, to tackle the county's feral cat problem. "They get the rabies vaccination and that's important," Damiani said. "If we don't address the feral cat population in Rockland County, you can never build a big enough shelter."

TNR: Rockland Green program aims to reduce feral cat populations, working with advocates

Four Legs Good took over operation of the county animal shelter in September. The change came as Rockland Green terminated its temporary contract with longtime nonprofit operator Hi-Tor Animal Care Center. Rockland Green said the change was made after a reported outbreak of a feline virus which went uncontrolled and resulted in the death of a considerable number of felines.

Rabies in the region

Rabies is present throughout the continental United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. While mandatory pet vaccinations have made the disease rare over the decades, the disease is widespread among wildlife in New York, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

It can take weeks or months for symptoms to show. The rabies virus is fatal by the time symptoms appear.

Meet Maybie: Fieldstone Middle School's facility dog helps students and staff alike

Preventive treatment in humans consists of a series of rabies immune globulin. After the first course, or the "Day 0" dose of rabies vaccination, follow-up rabies vaccinations are given on Days 3, 7 and 14 from exposure. Those shots are given in the deltoid muscle, alternating arms for each sequence.

For those exposed through contact with Rocky, the first doses were given by Nyack and Good Samaritan hospitals, and subsequent doses are being administered by the Rockland County Health Department.

Gaudio of HVHS said several years ago, she and another HVHS worker had been exposed to rabies while caring for a 5-week-old kitten. They both underwent the vaccine series.

Rabies is a risk for animal welfare workers even when they take precautions, Gaudio said, which is why it's so important to mitigate the risk for the general public.

"We keep it very, very contained," Gaudio said Tuesday. "The general public only meets our animals that have been vaccinated, neutered, microchipped."

Rockland Green, in its notice about the rabies case, issued a reminder that various organizations in the county monitor and manage feral cat colonies.

Anyone who encounters feral cat colonies can contact Rockland Green for assistance at 845-753-2200.

Nancy Cutler writes about People & Policy for lohud.com and the USA Today Network New York. Reach her at ncutler@lohud.com; follow her at @nancyrockland on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Threads

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rabies tests on kittens negative for deadly virus after case in school
Georgia Democrats scored minimal gains in the General Assembly in last years elections  and even lost one congressional seat  despite population growth during the last decade among Blacks, who tend to vote for Democrats.

But Democratic prospects likely will look a lot better after lawmakers gather under the Gold Dome for a special session starting Wednesday to redraw the states legislative and congressional lines on the orders of a federal judge appointed by then-President Barack Obama.

(Republican incumbents are) either going to end up in districts highly likely to elect a Democrat or in a district with another Republican incumbent, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia who has written extensively about redistricting. They will have to decide which Republicans are going to walk the plank.

The General Assemblys Republican majorities drew the current maps two years ago in a redistricting exercise legislatures around the country go through every decade following the decennial U.S. Census to account for changes in population that occurred during the previous 10 years.

Almost immediately, civil rights and voting rights groups sued the state, claiming the new district boundaries ignored strong population growth among minorities in Georgia since 2010 and an actual decline in the states white population.

All of Georgias population growth in the last decade was attributable to people of color, said Rahul Garabadu, senior voting rights staff director at the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Georgia could have and  importantly  should have drawn additional Black majority state House and state Senate districts. Not drawing these additional Black majority districts diluted the power of Black voting strength and violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

U.S. District Judge Steve Jones agreed in a ruling last month that ordered the legislature to redraw the 2021 congressional and legislative maps. The lengthy 516-page ruling specifically instructed lawmakers to add one Black majority congressional district, two more Black majority Georgia Senate districts, and five additional state House seats.

This is a huge win for Black voters in Georgia and for all Georgians who want a level political playing field and progress from the past, said Ari Savitzky, a lawyer with the national ACLU Voting Rights Project.

The state has appealed Jones ruling, but  importantly  did not seek a stay in the order. As a result, the new maps lawmakers draw during the special session will be in use at least during the 2024 elections while the appeal winds its way through the courts.

While majority Republicans lost two state House seats and one state Senate seat in last years elections, the congressional map lawmakers drew in 2021 snared one additional GOP seat in Georgias U.S. House delegation.

Republicans went from an 8-6 edge to a 9-5 margin by extending Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBaths 6th Congressional District in Atlantas northern suburbs further north through heavily Republican Forsyth and Dawson counties and a portion of Cherokee County.

That allowed the GOPs Rich McCormick, who had lost a 2020 a bid for Congress in Gwinnett County to incumbent Democratic Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, to shift his focus to the redrawn 6th District seat last year and win that seat. McBath responded to being drawn an unfriendly district by running against Bourdeaux in the 7th District Democratic primary and capturing the Gwinnett-based seat.

While Jones ruled that five of Georgias congressional district maps violate the Voting Rights Act, the action during the upcoming special session is expected to focus on McCormicks 6th District or the 11th Congressional District centered in portions of Cobb and Cherokee counties represented by GOP Rep. Barry Loudermilk.

Of the two, McCormick is the more likely target, said Kerwin Swint, a political science professor at Kennesaw State University. While McCormick is a freshman in the House, Loudermilk has served in Congress since 2015 and before that was a member of the General Assembly.

Loudermilks been around awhile, Swint said. Hes bult a base of support.

Jones was more specific in the portion of last months ruling pertaining to legislative seats. The judge ordered the legislature to draw two additional Black majority Georgia Senate seats in the southern portion of metro Atlanta and five more Black majority state House seats  two in the south metro, one in the western portion of the metro region, and two in the Macon area.

Swint said the most vulnerable legislative Republican incumbents in the upcoming redistricting session will be those serving in the areas Jones singled out for new Black majority districts.

But with Republicans currently holding solid majorities in both legislative chambers, theres little likelihood the new Black majority districts will be enough to give Democrats control of either the House or Senate in the immediate future, he said.

They think they can get close  by 28 or so to be in a position to take it then, Swint said.

The special session isnt expected to take long. For one thing, Jones order gives lawmakers only until Dec. 8 to draw the new congressional and legislative maps.

Bullock said another factor that could allow this round of redistricting to go smoothly is that lawmakers only will be focusing on those parts of the state the judge pointed to in his ruling.

If youre in South Georgia, you wont have to worry about any of these changes, he said. It wont be a complete redraw.


Twelve more hostages being held by Hamas were released Tuesday, the Red Cross and IDF shared on Tuesday in exchange for 30 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons. The release comes amid an temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that was extended for two more days on Monday.

The group of freed hostages included ten Israelis, and two Thai nationals, according to the Israeli Prime Ministers office. The group of freed Palestinians included fifteen women and fifteen children, according to Dr. Majed Al-Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatars Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council at the White House, said earlier Monday during a press briefing that Hamas had committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days.

Following Tuesdays hostage release, the total number of hostages released by Hamas now stands at 81 and includes 60 Israelis - all women and children - and 21 foreign nationals. Israel has released 180 Palestinian prisoners since the temporary truce began on Friday.

Under a deal brokered by Qatar and Egypt, Hamas and Israel agreed to exchange 50 hostages for 150 prisoners, stop fighting for four days, and allow more aid to enter Gaza.

Hamas took an estimated 240 people hostage in its Oct. 7 attack on Israel. The militant group released four before Nov. 24an American mother and daughter on Oct. 20 and two Israeli women on Oct. 23, both for "humanitarian reasons," according to Hamas.

Heres what has happened so far.

Nov. 27: 11 Hostages transferred to Red Cross, Truce extended by two days

Eleven Israeli hostages were transferred to the Red Cross, according to IDF. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released in exchange.

As hostages continue to be released, more details are also emerging regarding the conditions of the hostages captivity. At least one hostage released on Sunday, 84-year-old Elma Avraham, is in critical condition, the director of Soroka Medical Center in Southern Israel told reporters.

Merav Raviv told the Associated Press that her aunt and cousin had each lost 15 lbs over the course of their 50 days in captivity. The Associated Press also reported that hostages were forced to sleep on chairs and sometimes had to wait hours before using the bathroom.

Nov. 26: Hamas releases 17 hostages, Israel releases 39 Palestinian prisoners

Hamas released 13 Israeli hostages, three Thai nationals and a Russian to the Red Cross, the militant group and Israeli military reported at 6 p.m. local time. Among those released was four-year-old Abigail Edan, one of three hostages with American citizenship, U.S. President Joe Biden said. Hamas killed Edans parents at their home on the Kfar Aza kibbutz near Gaza, Bloomberg reported.

Israel, in turn, released 39 Palestinian prisoners, the Israel Prison service reported.

Nov. 25: Hamas frees 17 hostages, Israel releases 39 Palestinian prisoners

On the second day of the truce, 13 Israeli citizens and four foreigners were released and 39 Palestinian prisoners freed, Dr. Majed Al Ansari, the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed on social media.

Around 11:15 p.m. local time, Al Ansari said the hostages had been handed over to the Red Cross and on their way to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.

The hostages released included men, women and children. The Palestinian prisoners were women and boys.

The Israel Defense Forces listed some of the returned hostages as Emily Hand, Hila Rotem Shoshani, Shiri and Noga Weiss, Adi and Yahel Shoham. The Israel Prison service published a list of the 39 Palestinian prisoners released (in Hebrew).

The exchange happened after an hours-long delay. Hamas military arm, the Al-Qassam Brigades, had said in a statement on Telegram just after 6 p.m. that it decided to delay the release of hostages until Israel followed the agreement related to the entry of relief trucks into north Gaza.

In an interview with the BBC, a Hamas official also claimed Israel flew drones over Gaza, killed two Palestinians and changed the agreed list of Palestinian prisoners to be released. This was echoed by Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan during a news conference in Beirut, the BBC said. Israel denied to the BBC that it broke the truce. TIME reached out to both parties for comment.

Since Friday, more humanitarian aid has entered Gaza, where food and clean water have been running out during seven weeks of war.

The U.N. said 61 trucks of aid that included food, water and emergency medical supplies were delivered to north Gaza on Saturday with the help of the Palestinian and Egyptian Red Crescent Societies. The Palestinian branch confirmed it delivered some aid in a post on X (formerly Twitter). In its daily update on Saturday, the U.N. said Israeli authorities still had not allowed fuel to reach north Gaza.

After a tense couple of hours, Al Ansari said just before 9 p.m. that the deal would move forward after a delay from both sides that was resolved by Qatari and Egyptian mediation. Al Ansari said seven foreign national hostages would also be released outside of the agreement, but later said four were freed.

Two senior officials in President Joe Bidens administration told NBC News the U.S. was disappointed no Americans were included in the first two hostage releases, but remained hopeful that at least three Americans would be freed as part of the total 50 expected.

Nov. 24: Hamas frees 24 hostages, Israel releases 39 Palestinian prisoners

On Friday, the first day of the truce, Hamas freed 24 hostagesmen, women and children including 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals, and one Filipino citizenas confirmed by Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Israel also released 39 Palestinian prisoners, women and children, which was upholding the commitment of the first day of the agreement," Al Ansari said in a post on X.

The Israeli Prime Ministers office published a list of the names and ages of the released hostages, and the Israel Prison Service put out a list of the names of freed Palestinian prisoners.

Thailand Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on X just before 4 p.m. that 12 Thai hostages had been released by Hamas, as part of a separate agreement that the Egyptian government helped negotiate. The Thai foreign ministry corrected its announcement on Saturday to say that 10, not 12, Thai hostages had been released on Friday, and that at least 20 more Thai hostages remain in Gaza.

At around 4:30 p.m., 13 Israeli hostages were transferred from Hamas to the International Committee of the Red Cross, per The Times of Israel. Just before 5 p.m., hostages were transferred to the Egyptians, Israeli TV stations, as cited by Sky News, reported.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced Friday that 24 hostages had been released. "We are relieved to confirm the safe release of 24 hostages," a social media post said. "We have facilitated this release by transporting them from Gaza to the Rafah border, marking the real-life impact of our role as a neutral intermediary between the parties."

Israel Defense Forces brought the released hostages to a hospital where they met their families, videos and photos show.

The IDF and Israel Foreign Ministry said earlier on Friday that they were ready to receive hostages with medical care and supplies, sharing pictures and a video on social media of toys, toiletries, blankets and clothes.

President Joe Biden said in an address on Friday that the release was the start of a process and expected that dozens more hostages will be returned to their families. He vowed to not stop until all the hostages are home and stressed he was still working to free two American women and one four-year-old child, Abigail.

Biden told reporters hes urged Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reduce casualties while trying to eliminate Hamas, which he said was a difficult task. He also said the chances are real that the ceasefire could be extended by a few days or more.

With additional reporting by Koh Ewe.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
A group of religious leaders is calling on Congress to pass aid to Israel and to take action against antisemitism in the United States.

Fifteen leaders from religious organizations across the country co-signed a letter Monday addressed to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.).

The letter was led by the conservative Faith & Freedom Coalition with signees including pastors from Christian churches and leaders from organizations such as the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, American Center for Law and Justice, Outreach International and the Christian Broadcasting Network.

With this letter, we issue a united condemnation of antisemitism and proclaim our support for Israels right to self-defense. The United States government, and the peoples representatives in Congress, cannot waver both in combatting antisemitism and in supporting the State of Israel, the religious leaders wrote.

We call on the United States Congress to without delay take the following specific steps to fight antisemitism and ensure that the Jewish state survives this horrific attack, they added.

Signers outlined steps they are urging Congress to take, including passing legislation to fund Israels defense, passing the Countering Hate Against Israel by Federal Contractors Act and passing the Antisemitism Awareness Act.

It is also calling on Congress to refreeze the $6 billion of Iranian funds that were a part of the Iranian hostage deal from earlier this year and urging federal agencies to prevent, prosecute, and punish antisemitic hate crimes in the United States.

Lawmakers are split over how to approve aid to Israel amid its war against Palestinian militant group Hamas, which launched a deadly attack on Israel early last month. Some Democrats are calling to put specific conditions on aid to Israel.

House Republicans had passed a $14.3 billion aid deal earlier this month solely for Israel, but that package was quickly shot down by Senate Democrats and the White House given its cuts to IRS funding and lack of funding for Ukraine. Schumer announced that the upper chamber would not take up the House GOP proposal, and the White House has maintained that President Biden would not sign a bill that aids only Israel.

The House will take up a separate measure this week that that would refreeze the $6 billion in funds that were unlocked as part of a prisoner exchange with Iran earlier this year. The agreement, which was struck in exchange for the release of five American prisoners, came under scrutiny after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on Oct. 7.

The letter from religious leaders was first reported by Politico.

The Hill has reached out to the offices of Schumer, McConnell, Johnson and Jeffries for comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
WASHINGTON  The George Santos saga could soon come to an end on Capitol Hill, though his legal troubles will continue well into 2024.

As soon as this week, the House could vote to expel Santos, the indicted New York Republican congressman, after a blistering Ethics Committee report concluded he had used his campaign funds to pay for personal expenses, including rent, trips, luxury items, cosmetic treatments like Botox and a subscription to the adult content site OnlyFans.

The report also found that Santos deceived his donors and knowingly filed false campaign finance statements. (Santos, who blasted the report as "biased," has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.)

Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., filed a resolution before the Thanksgiving break to expel Santos from Congress. When the House returns Tuesday, Guest could move to force a vote on his resolution later in the week.

"The amount of fraud and abuse was something that was unprecedented. We've never seen that before," Guest said Monday on the SuperTalk Mississippi radio network. "I do believe that, based on the extent of the conduct, that expulsion is an appropriate remedy."

Earlier this month, Santos easily survived an effort by his fellow New York Republicans to oust him from office. But now, following the release of the scathing ethics report on Nov. 16, many of those who voted no and argued that Santos deserved due process have flipped and say they will vote to expel him.

Santos, who has ruled out resigning, said Monday on X that he plans to stand for an expulsion vote. The New York Republican previously acknowledged that his days in Congress were numbered, even though it takes two-thirds of the full House to expel a member. In a lengthy, expletive-laden online rant Friday, he predicted he would become just the sixth person in history to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Santos said in a three-hour appearance on X Spaces. Ive done the math over and over, and it doesnt look really good.

Expelling Santos would trigger a special election for his competitive Long Island-based seat  one of the 18 House districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020 that are now represented by Republicans. New York law states that Gov. Kathy Hochul must issue a proclamation within 10 days of the vacancy to declare a special election and that the election must take place 70 to 80 days after Hochuls action.

It's a pickup opportunity for Democrats. While Santos won the seat last year by nearly 8 percentage points, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the race as "Lean Democrat."

More immediately, Santos expected expulsion would cut Republicans razor-thin advantage over the Democrats to 220-213, giving new Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., even less wiggle room to pass legislation when it comes to things like GOP absences or defections. On top of that, there has been persistent chatter that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., could resign in the middle of the term, though he has batted down those rumors.

During Santos short time in Washington, drama has seemingly followed him everywhere. It will be no different this week. On Tuesday morning, members of the progressive group MoveOn Political Action will greet returning lawmakers on Capitol Hill with a 15-foot inflatable depiction of Santos and demand that he resign.

In the radio interview, Guest did not discuss the timing of a potential expulsion vote. Speaking to reporters in Sarasota, Florida, Johnson said "it remains to be seen" whether there will be an expulsion vote this week.

"I've spoken to Congressman Santos at some length over the holiday and talked with him about his options," Johnson said. "But we'll have to see. It's not yet determined."

In Monday night's tweet, Santos said his "conversation with the speaker was positive," adding that he told Johnson he would "be standing for the expulsion vote" instead of resigning.

Expel me and set the precedent so we can see who the judge, jury and executioners in Congress are, Santos said on X. The American people deserve to know!

Expulsion from Congress is extremely rare. Three of the five expelled members were removed for disloyalty for fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The two others  Reps. Michael Myers, D-Pa., and James Traficant, D-Ohio  were expelled in 1980 and 2002, respectively, after they were convicted of federal crimes.

The Justice Department has charged Santos with multiple federal counts, including identity theft, money laundering and theft of public funds. He is set to go on trial in September.

Santos and others have argued that expulsion now would break precedent  he would be ousted from office before he has been found innocent or guilty.

I will stand for expulsion, Santos said on X Spaces. I want to see them set this precedent. Because this precedent sets a new era of due process.  You are guilty until proven innocent.

You want to expel me? Ill wear it as a badge of honor, he said, adding: Im through with the insanity of this place.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
The local tribes hope taking down the four dams along the Klamath River, which created lakes such as the Copco Lake, will help restore fish habitats.

Restoring a River:



River in recovery| Water shortages| Returning to the Klamath| Restoration begins | Salmon revival

HORNBROOK, Calif.  Jenny Creek burbled cool and clear under a leafy canopy, and dragonflies flitted about the lively little waterway.

But a few hundred feet away, the dreamy little creek drains into Iron Gate Reservoir and an ecological nightmare. Scummy algae-topped water exudes a putrid odor that causes some visitors to gag. At certain times of the year, it's not safe to fish or jump in the reservoir.

Iron Gate and three other shallow, warm-water reservoirs were contributing factors in the disastrous decline of salmon from the Klamath River. The dams cut off nearly 400 miles of spawning habitat for salmon, lamprey, steelhead and other fish from the lower Klamath River, and the toxin-laden warm water flowing down the river caused a horrific fish kill in 2002.

For people who lived along the river, the solution seemed obvious: Take down the dams. And now, after years of legal wrangling, the failure of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement, shuffling the dams to several owners and finally, signoff from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in November 2022, the nations largest dam removal project has commenced.

Other sources of generating electricity have replaced the dams and, by the time they were officially cleared for removal, they were producing just 2% of owner PacifiCorp's portfolio.

"Those dams are obsolete," said Yurok fish protector Georgianna Gensaw.

PacifiCorp was given a choice to install fish ladders instead, but it was the utility's choice to take the dams down, a cheaper option.

The nonprofit Klamath River Renewal Corp. is managing the huge task of moving more than 100,000 cubic yards of concrete, 1.3 million cubic yards of excavated soil and 2,000 tons of demolished steel out of the river channel. Both Native and non-Native construction firms are involved in deconstructing the dams.

Copco No. 2, the smallest of the four, was removed over summer 2023. The Klamath renewal corporation is currently dismantling Copco No. 1, and will watch for the best time during winter 2024 to start drawing the water down. The entire removal project is due to be complete by fall 2024.

Mark Bransom, head of Klamath River Renewal, said the project aims to restore resiliency and balance to the river.

"I think that there's a future, if people will take a little bit longer view of things so they can see the restoration of that balance," he said.

Former Yurok Chairwoman Susan Masten said she never believed she would see the dams come down.

While Im ecstatic to witness it, Im sad that so many people who spent their lives protecting the fish and the river wont be able to see the Klamath begin to heal itself, she said.

Even partial recovery of salmon and other fish would provide recreation and community benefits, Bransom said. Also, he said, after the dams are removed, local economies will look different, but can support many communities, ways of life and world views.

"There's a sign in Happy Camp that says, 'Happy Camp, Steelhead Capital of the World,'" Bransom said. He hopes Happy Camp will regain that status as both salmon and steelhead runs are restored after the dams are gone.

Hand collecting billions of seeds and telling the story of restoration

Before the first chunk of concrete was chipped from a dam, crews prepared for land restoration.

"We've been working in the reservoir areas for five years now," said Barry McCovey, director of the Yurok Fisheries Department.

Removing the dams will expose bare hillsides, which workers will revegetate. Tribal members collected seeds from native plants by hand in the area and sent them to seed farms and specialized nurseries in the Northwest, where they eventually grew to hundreds of thousands of plants, trees and shrubs, ready to be planted or spread when each dam removal is complete.

Dave Meurer, director of community affairs for Resource Environmental Solutions, the firm that's overseeing the land restoration, said oak trees about as tall as his knee, plants, plugs and seeds from 98 local species are ready to help repopulate the barren land.

The process was fascinating, Meurer said. "We're now up to somewhere around 17 to 19 billion native seeds that are ready to go on the ground," he said. "When the reservoirs get drained down, it will be the pedal to the metal."

One of Meurer's biggest tasks is planting and nurturing good information to crowd out misinformation "weeds." He said he does a lot of weeding.

"I was just at a meeting with Copco residents and someone had heard from someone else that we will be replanting native plants. 'Well, are you going to be planting foxtails and poison oak?'"

That, Meurer said, was a definite "no." McCovey said plant crews were removing invasive and noxious plants.

"But I think that in the absence of information, there is speculation and rumor and that can really alarm people," said Meurer, who added that his job is to disseminate accurate information to stakeholders and the public to make the restoration process less frightening.

The Shasta Indian Nation makes its bid to regain lands

The Iron Gate Reservoir near the Iron Gate Dam outside Hornbrook, California

While the Klamath River dam removal corporation and the ecological restoration firm continue their work, the Indigenous community whose ancestral home was drowned under the rising waters in the 1900s is trying to regain its land.

For millennia, or since time immemorial, the Shasta people have inhabited the region from Seiad Valley east, surrounded by the Klamath, Scott and Shasta rivers and northeast to Jenny Creek and into southern Oregon.

But portions of the lands soon to be reclaimed after the dams are gone are the ancestral home of the Kikaceki and Kutarawaxu bands of Shasta, who today are known as the Shasta Indian Nation. And they want at least some of that land back.

Kikaceki land encompasses Kucascas, a place sacred to tribal members around the mouth of Fall Creek along with what's now known as Ward's Canyon, said Sami Jo Difuntorum, cultural preservation officer for the nation.

"Within the traditional river channel are traditional fishing sites where we traditionally dipped-net fished for time immemorial, as they say," she said.

Unratified treaties, genocidal attacks, eminent domain seizures

The coming of the Americans threw the Shasta peoples and other Indigenous peoples of California into a time of terror, chaos, mass murder and land losses.

Several bands of Shastas, known as "Upper Klamath" of the Shasta and Scott rivers, signed onto the third of 18 treaties negotiated with California tribes with agent Redick McKee in November 1851.

In return for ceding all "right, title, claim or interest of any kind which they or either of them have to the lands they now occupy, and to all other lands or soil in California" to the U.S., they would receive reservation lands.

The U.S. Senate never ratified that or the other 17 treaties, instead locking them away in secret for decades. The Shastas, along with several hundred other California tribes, were left to their own devices to defend themselves against an ever-growing incursion of gold miners, farmers, loggers and other settlers determined to take land for themselves.

Between 1910 and 1962, the Siskiyou Electric Light and Power Company built three more dams, including the Iron Gate, to bring electricity to Northern California and southern Oregon.

Tribes up and down the Klamath endured many atrocities. In one 1854 incident, a small family band led by Chief Bill holed up in a cave in the Kikaceki district where Army troops and vigilantes attacked them with a howitzer to force them out over an alleged attack of a settler. The first assault on the cave hideout killed three Shasta men, two women and three children.

The Army representative felt the miners were to blame for the unprovoked attack on the Shasta people with the goal of kidnapping women. But the vigilantes still managed to get Bill, killing him two weeks later.

Brian Daniels, director of research and programs for the Penn Cultural Heritage Center at the University of Pennsylvania Museum, said every member of the Shasta Indian Nation today had an ancestor hiding in the cave. Daniels said the Shastas worked to rebuild their community in the wake of the genocide.

Under the leadership of Shasta leader Bogus Tom Smith, the Shastas began to acquire land to recreate their homeland. Bogus Tom arranged marriages between Shasta women and white or non-Indian landowning families. They obtained allotments through the Dawes Act. And sometimes, Daniels said, they squatted on newly privatized land.

The land submerged behind Copco I Dam is all Shasta land, said Daniels and Difuntorum. They pointed out Kitty Ward's ranch, the Keaton homestead and Difuntorum's great-aunt Lucy Raymond's ranch, all reacquired to ensure their tribe would have a home. Ancient villages also lie beneath the waters, waiting to reemerge.

Change: New Tribal Water Institute will help Arizona tribes navigate water law and policies

"This is this space that this entire community is trying to hold together and keep together," said Daniels, who has worked with the Shastas for several years on anthropological and historical research.

But those lands would soon be wrested from the hands of Bogus Tom's descendants. The state used eminent domain to seize the community the Shastas had worked to rebuild for the first of the dams in the early 1900s.

Difuntorum burst into tears as Daniels described Kitty's refusal to be removed from her land. "I no move, water come, I die here, Ward was reported to have said. Ward died of a cerebral hemorrhage after she was lured to leave her home only to be barred from returning. "All this happened just 100 years ago," Difuntorum said.

That lack of a land base also meant the Kikaceki and Kutarawaxu Shasta peoples were not included on the rolls of federally recognized Indian tribes established in 1934 through the Indian Reorganization Act, while other Shasta bands were recognized, some in Scott Valley and others who were incorporated into tribal confederations in Oregon.

Lacking federal recognition means that the Shasta Indian Nation isn't eligible for a multitude of programs and protections, including health care, education and housing. Although the federal law mandating the return of Indigenous remains and funerary objects only covers federally recognized tribes, California has some stronger protections for all Indigenous California tribes' ancestors and culturally important items.

But reclaiming ancestral remains and cultural items is still a process fraught with grief and frustration to not only the Shastas but the rest of all California tribes  one third in all  not on the government's list of recognized tribes.

Hope to reclaim Kikaceki rises as dams and reservoirs fall

With the dam removal underway, the Shasta Nation has requested the return of about 2,000 acres of what's known as "Parcel B" lands. It's land previously owned by PacifiCorp that under the dam removal agreement will be transferred to the states of California and Oregon or a designee by the state to be managed for public interest purposes.

Difuntorum said the nation was assessing an empty building left behind in the wake of PacifiCorp's departure to use as a cultural and visitor center. She said The Republic was among the first to learn of the tribe's plans, which Difuntorum said would likely lead to opposition.

The Shastas know that to restore and regain their land, more damage may occur. Difuntorum said being on site when burials are disturbed or cultural resources damaged can be painful.

Sami Jo Difuntorum, a culture preservation officer of the Shasta Indian Nation, says the nation wants more than just the fish restored, its members want to return home.

Shasta Tribal Councilmember Michael Olson, who serves as a cultural monitor when construction crews operate in known village or burial sites, said it's certain more damage would occur.

"Everybody wants a healthy river and healthy fish," Difuntorum said.

But the 300 members of the Shasta Indian Nation want more than their fish restored; they also want to return home. Difuntorum said when Shasta Nation members, most of whom still live in Siskiyou County, heard the tribal council planned to ask for a portion of their homeland to be returned, they were already putting in for homes.

Difuntorum, an experienced community planner, was already assessing homesites, water and wastewater availability.

And even more important: "We want ceremony back," she said. Native religions are land-based and the Shastas want to restore their religion, so Kikaceki, their most significant land, deserves to return to Shasta hands as it emerges from its watery grave, Difuntorum said.

"I look at my little grandsons and I believe they deserve to have culture, have ceremony and to have tradition."

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach Krol at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter @debkrol.

Coverage of Indigenous issues at the intersection of climate, culture and commerce is supported by the Catena Foundation.

My articles are free to read, but your subscriptions support more such great reporting. Please consider subscribing today.

Next up:

On the lower Klamath River, tribes guard the water, land

Debra Utacia Krol

Arizona Republic

Madame Web





REQUA, Calif. - Queen Gensaw skylarked around and between her parents, Oscar and Georgianna, at the Yurok Tribe's boat ramp at Requa, or Rek-woi, the mouth of the creek where the Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean.



Here, millennia of flowing water infused with sand, silt and the occasional river-smoothed rock has created a cleft about 125 feet deep by nearly 1,000 feet wide. Queen, who is 7, examined shells and danced around the asphalt as her parents talked nearby. For the Yurok fighting to restore the river and secure one of their cultural touchstones  the salmon  Queen and her friends are the future.

Continue reading

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Klamath River dam removal could open lands for tribal nations
BRICS countries speak up for justice, peace on Palestinian-Israeli issue

09:13, November 27, 2023 By He Yin ( People's Daily

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 21 attended the BRICS extraordinary virtual summit on the Palestinian-Israeli issue and delivered an important speech.

Explaining China's position on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, he pointed out that its urgent and imperative to end hostilities and achieve a ceasefire immediately, keep humanitarian corridors secure and unimpeded and prevent the conflict from spilling over. He stressed that the only viable way to break the cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the two-state solution.

His remarks addressed both immediate and long-term priorities and identifies the direction of effectively solving the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

The virtual summit was the first summit since the enlargement of BRICS, and an important meeting convened by the BRICS countries at a critical moment of escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

The BRICS cooperation mechanism is an important platform for emerging markets and developing countries to strengthen solidarity and cooperation and safeguard common interests. It always focuses on promoting world peace and development and addresses major international issues based on their merits, making fair remarks and taking fair actions, and bringing to the world more certainty, stability and positive energy.

As Xi pointed out, given the current circumstances, it is very timely and very important that BRICS countries meet and speak up for justice and for peace on the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

Xi noted that the parties to the conflict must end hostilities and achieve a ceasefire immediately, stop all violence and attacks against civilians, release civilians held captive, and act to prevent loss of more lives and spare people from more miseries.

He stressed that humanitarian corridors must be kept secure and unimpeded, and more humanitarian assistance should be provided to the population in Gaza. The collective punishment of people in Gaza in the form of forced transfer or water, electricity and fuel deprivation must stop.

Besides, the international community must act with practical measures to prevent the conflict from spilling over and endangering stability in the Middle East as a whole, he added.

These Chinese proposals are highly targeted and constructive, aligning with the common aspirations of the majority of countries and reflecting the unanimous call of peace-loving people worldwide.

The Palestinian issue has always been at the core of the Middle East problem. Without a just resolution to the Palestinian issue, there would be no lasting peace and stability in the Middle East.

Xi has emphasized on many occasions that the only viable way to break the cycle of Palestinian-Israeli conflict lies in the two-state solution, in the restoration of the legitimate national rights of Palestine, and in the establishment of an independent State of Palestine.

The root cause of the Palestinian-Israeli situation is the fact that the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, their right to existence, and their right of return have long been ignored. The historical injustices done to the Palestinian people should not be left unattended indefinitely. The legitimate rights and interests of a nation are not up for trade, and the demand to establish an independent state shall not be denied.

China calls for early convening of an international peace conference that is more authoritative to build international consensus for peace and work toward an early solution to the question of Palestine that is comprehensive, just and sustainable.

Since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict, China has been working actively to promote peace talks and a ceasefire. The fact that the delegation of Arab-Islamic foreign ministers made China its first stop for international mediation reflected their trust in China and the tradition of mutual understanding and support between the two sides.

At the UN Security Council, China has acted in its capacity as president to facilitate the adoption of the resolution, which calls for extended humanitarian pauses and corridors, the protection of civilians, and the provision of humanitarian assistance.

The international community highly praised China for consistently upholding a fair position on the Palestinian issue and commended China's role as the rotating president of the UN Security Council in pushing for the adoption of the first resolution since the outbreak of the latest Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

China has provided humanitarian assistance to help ease the humanitarian plight in Gaza. This includes $2 million of emergency humanitarian assistance provided through the Palestinian National Authority and UN agencies, and emergency humanitarian supplies worth 15 million yuan ($2.11 million), such as food and medicine, to the Gaza Strip with the help of Egypt. China will provide more supplies and assistance according to the needs of the people in Gaza.

The BRICS virtual meeting to coordinate positions and actions on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict marked a good start for greater BRICS cooperation following its enlargement. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, China will continue to maintain close communication with relevant parties, and make utmost efforts to protect civilians, ease tensions, restart negotiations, and strive for peace.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  The Philippines has started negotiations with Japan on a Reciprocal Access Agreement, Department of National Defense (DND) Sec. Gilbert Teodoro said Monday, referring to a deal that would allow temporary visits of Japanese troops in the country.

"Our formal negotiating team led by [DND] Usec. Pablo Lorenzo has left this morning to start the formal round of negotiations with Japan," Teodoro told reporters in an interview on Monday.

The defense chief said he ordered the team to iron out all the issues as soon as possible so that the RAA could have an early ratification by the Senate.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, during the latter's visit to Manila, announced that the Philippines and Japan had opened talks to allow troops from one country to freely visit the other temporarily.

Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri told CNN Philippines' The Source that the upper chamber would likely ratify the deal next year.

He said 16 senators out of 24 would have to vote in favor of it. He said he believes the Senate will support the measure.

READ: Senate eyes ratifying proposed PH-Japan military access deal in 2024

Aside from the proposed deal with Japan, the Philippines has a Visiting Forces Agreement with the United States and a Status of Visiting Forces Agreement with Australia.

Japan, meanwhile, has RAAs with Australia and the United Kingdom.
The Republican Party's finances are heightening concerns amid party members, advisors to Donald Trump and other operatives involved in the 2024 election effort, 10 people familiar with the matter told The Washington Post. The Republican National Committee revealed that, as of Oct. 30, it had $9.1 million in cash on hand, the lowest amount its recorded in any Federal Election Commission report since February 2015. At the same point in the 2016 and 2020 election cycles, the RNC had about $20 million and $61 million, respectively. In contrast, the Democratic National Committee reported having $17.7 million as of Oct. 30.

Its a revenue problem, Tennessee RNC member Oscar Brock told the Post. Were going through the same efforts we always go through to raise money: the same donor meetings, retreats, digital advertising, direct mail. But the return is much lower this year. If you know the answer, Id love to know it. The staff has managed to tighten down on expenses to keep the party from going into the red. RNC donor support has dwindled in recent years while the party's small-dollar program has also taken a hit, sources told the outlet. Some donors aren't giving money to the RNC because they believe doing so will aid Trump, the sources added, while others said they prefer to wait until 2024 to make a donation. Some have also grown frustrated by party leadership, sources close to major donors said.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told the Post that donors are more focused on supporting individual candidates during the primary and predicted that the party's finances will improve once there's a nominee. Theres nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that well be working together to win the White House, McDaniel said.
Recent alumni who participated in Senior Survivor helped cut a banner to celebrate the completion of the Survivor Playscape on Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Genoa Township Park, 2911 Dorr Road.

GENOA TWP.  Howell High School's Senior Survivors are finally able to celebrate the fruits of their labor.

Genoa Township Park wouldn't have its new all-inclusive Survivor Playscape if not for graduates of the classes of 2021 and 2022, students across the district and community sponsors.

Senior Survivor takes a group of seniors and locks them in the high school for several days to compete in various challenges and collect donations toward a selected cause. Students who raise the least amount of money each day are sent home. In recent years, that cause was the Survivor Playscape.

Recent alumni who participated in Senior Survivor helped cut a banner to celebrate the completion of the playscape Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Genoa Township Park, 2911 Dorr Road.

Howell High School graduate Aidan Ralko, 19, tries out a slide at the new Survivor Playscape at Genoa Township Park, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023

Aidan Ralko, 19, who won 2022 Senior Survivor, was home from Western Michigan University for Thanksgiving and didn't want to miss the celebration.

"It's kind of, I guess you would say, surreal, because we were all shown mockups when they were first planning everything out, and to see it actually here and see people on it already and enjoying it, it's very rewarding," Ralko said.

More: Howell senior's big win includes everyone. Here's how a fundraiser will boost inclusivity

Seniors who graduated in 2021 and 2022 raised more than $462,000 for playground construction. Genoa Township and playscape designer Michigan Recreational Construction also contributed to the cost.

Ingrid Laasko, 10, ride the zip line at the new Survivor Playscape at Genoa Township Park, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

Features of the playground are designed to be accessible to all children, including those with disabilities, autism, and mobility, sight or hearing impairments. It includes many nature-inspired elements like logs and stumps to climb, a rope bridge, and boulders.

Katie Smith poses by a mural she painted on a vertical climbing tunnel at the new Survivor Playscape at Genoa Township Park, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

Katie Smith, who works as a barista at Captains on Main in Brighton, painted a colorful mural on the outside of a vertical climbing tunnel.

The playscape also has slides, a zip line, a spinning structure, a basket swing, water features and musical elements.

The new Survivor Playscape at Genoa Township Park features many natural elements to climb on, shown Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023

Speakers at the playscape's dedication ceremony included teacher and advisor Aaron Metz, Howell Schools Superintendent Erin MacGregor, and Michigan Recreational Construction President Craig Sheffer.

"Great things take time, and so I appreciate our students, our community members, who had a vision and then stuck with it to make sure this could happen," MacGregor said.

A crowd enjoys the new Survivor Playscape at Genoa Township Park during a dedication celebration, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

Subscribe: Get all your breaking news and unlimited access to our local coverage

"The goal of inclusivity is that everybody can be on a place and play together, no matter of age, ability," Metz said. "They're here together."

 Contact reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jeberbach@livingstondaily.com.

This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: The ribbon has finally been cut on Howell's Survivor Playscape
A long succession of Rhode Island governors have doled out low-numbered license plates as favors to supporters, family members and well-connected insiders  or used them for political horse-trading.

So shouldn't the public be able to find out who's getting those coveted status symbols?

The Providence Journal thinks so. Gov. Dan McKee's administration disagrees. And Attorney General Peter Neronha's office sided with the governor on this one.

Thats one of two license-plate related developments that Political Scene is covering this week. Later in this column, well also have an update on why its taking so long to bring back vanity plates.

In 1986, Carmine Carcieri, a distant relative of future Gov. Donald Carcieri, paid Joseph McDevitt $25,000 to surrender Plate 7 to the Division of Motor Vehicles. Carcieri then made a special application to the DMV and got the plates. [Journal files]

The fight for low-numbered plates

Low-numbered license plates  meaning any passenger, combination or commercial plates with four digits or fewer  are officially known as "preferred plates." They're assigned by the governor's office, not the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Back in June 2022, The Journal filed an Access to Public Records Act (APRA) request for a list of all individuals who'd been assigned a "preferred plate" in the previous 18 months. That time frame would include anyone who received one in the final months of Gov. Gina Raimondo's administration or during McKee's first year in office.

The governor's office denied that request, so The Journal's lawyers appealed to the attorney general's office, which issued a decision in favor of the McKee administration in June. LMG Rhode Island Holdings Inc., publisher of The Providence Journal, has since filed a Superior Court complaint against the ruling.

The legal back-and-forth has been somewhat wonky. Essentially, the governor's office claims that the federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act prohibits the office from handing over the list. But The Journal's attorneys argue that it only applies to state DMVs, not to the governor's office.

The law "was not intended to provide agencies carte blanche to withhold from public access any information it collects, so long as such information is (a) in any way 'connected to' an individuals motor vehicle registration and (b) forwarded to the DMV for processing," states The Journal's complaint, filed in September.

License plate lookup: These are all the vanity plates in Rhode Island

The McKee administration contends that the law does apply, because the governor's office performs "certain DMV functions" when it comes to low-numbered license plates.

With preferred plates, the DMV "subcontracts a small portion of its overall motor vehicle registration operation to the governors office," legal counsel Claire Richards wrote in response to The Journal's complaint to the attorney general. "As such, the governors office  when it performs these functions  is acting as an agent or subcontractor of the DMV."

In 2002, then-Gov. Lincoln Almond laughs at a joke before he pulls the first card in a state low-numbered license plate lottery.

Why the AG rejected the appeal and The Journal is going to court

The AG's office, which hears public-records appeals, concurred that "with respect to this category of license plates, the governors office effectively stands in the shoes of the DMV."

"Despite the fact that this practice has been in existence for over thirty years, neither party has pointed us to any statutory authority or DMV regulation that clarifies the Office of the Governors authority to issue these plates, and we found none," states the decision. "But the propriety or wisdom of the preferred plate program is not within the purview of this offices review under the APRA."

Authored by Assistant Attorney General Katherine Sadeck, the decision goes on to say that withholding the records was consistent with the intent of the federal privacy law.

The Journal's attorneys are now seeking a court ruling that would compel the McKee administration to hand over the list  and cover the paper's legal fees.

Even if the Drivers Privacy Protection Act does apply to the governor's office, the specific information that The Journal is seeking "is not the type of information protected from disclosure under the DPPA," states the complaint filed in Superior Court by attorneys Stephen M. Prignano of McIntyre Tate and Michael J. Grygiel and Kelly McNamee of Greenberg Traurig.

As the complaint notes, The Journal did not request information such as addresses and Social Security numbers  only a list of names.

Disclosing those names "would serve an important public interest by providing Rhode Island citizens insight into an opaque process facilitated by the states highest elected official that appears to favor the politically well-connected," it argues.

Vanity plates also remain elusive

If you can't get a low-numbered license plate, you can always pay for a custom vanity plate. Right?

Wrong. Nearly three years have passed since the DMV stopped accepting new applications. Officials are now suggesting that orders will reopen by 2025, while acknowledging that vanity plates previously weren't a priority.

Jane Epstein first got the vanity plate XNYKID (read: ex-New York kid) in 1977, and she hopes she'll be able to obtain one in Rhode Island as well.

Jane Epstein, who lives in Cranston, is among those who are growing increasingly frustrated.

"It's ridiculous," she said. "I've had the same license plate since 1977. This would have been my fifth state."

Epstein grew up in New York and later moved to California, where she first got the plate XNY KID  as in, ex-New York kid. Subsequent moves brought her to Minnesota, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, where she claimed the same combination.

Last year, she and her husband moved to Rhode Island. Since the DMV wasn't issuing new vanity plates, she had to give up hers.

After more than 40 years driving around as XNYKID, she now has trouble finding her car or remembering her license plate number. And her friends don't recognize her car the way they used to.

"That's how people know me," she said.

DMV says vanity plate rules 'were not a priority'

Vanity plates might not be the most pressing issue facing Rhode Island, but the prolonged freeze does mean that the state is missing out on revenue, and it's been hard to understand what's behind the delay.

Consider this: In 2014, the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down that state DMV's broad policy of rejecting vanity plates that "a reasonable person would find offensive to good taste."

Vanity plate applications were temporarily put on hold while the New Hampshire DMV came up with new rules, which took only two weeks.

A similar scenario played out in Rhode Island in February 2021 when a federal judge struck down the DMV's vague policy of prohibiting license plates that "might carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency."

But two years and 10 months have passed since then, not that anyone's counting. The DMV still hasn't adopted a new set of regulations and still isn't issuing vanity plates.

So what's taking so long?

"The court case was decided in the middle of the pandemic," DMV spokesman Paul Grimaldi wrote in an email. "Our primary goal was to maintain operations for all daily transactions, expand on line services, provide a safe environment for in-person transactions."

"Vanity plate rules and regulations were not a priority," he continued. "Now that the pandemic is for all intents and purposes behind us, we have begun working on the new rules and regulations."

More: Will RI start issuing vanity plates again? DMV and McKee not responding to questions

Almost 3 years down, but at least one more to go

Back in October 2021, Grimaldi told The Journal that the DMV was reviewing public comments and planned to present McKee with possible options for a new vanity plate policy "within the next couple of weeks."

Last month, DMV administrator Walter "Bud" Craddock told WJAR that vanity plates could be back "within a year to 18 months at most."

"Ive got the first draft of regulations that we are going to start reviewing in a little more detail, he said.

In other words, it took two years to get a first draft. And it will be at least another year before vanity plate applications reopen, if not longer. (The draft is done but remains "a work in progress," Grimaldi told The Journal.)

The delay would be easier to understand if Rhode Island were alone in trying to strike a balance between public decency and free speech.

But other states have faced this same dilemma and come up with policies that outline what you can and can't put on a license plate. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators even publishes guidelines for best practices. (Among them: Have a review committee made up of "a diverse group of individuals" weigh in on all requests.)

Do we really need to reinvent the wheel here?

"There is no existing single policy that our legal team feels would be a solution in light of the court cases," Grimaldi said. "They have had to take information from several states in working towards a solution for Rhode Island."

What happens now?

According to DMV officials, adopting a new vanity-plate policy won't require the General Assembly to pass legislation.

Instead, the regulations will go through the rule-making process for government agencies.

In an interview earlier this month with WPRO's Gene Valicenti, Craddock indicated that the DMV is required to solicit public comment as part of that process, which is one reason it will take "at least another year."

The DMV and its lawyers also "have to pay attention to what other states are doing" and how those policies are faring in court, he said. (South Dakota, for instance, was recently sued over the vague wording in its policy.)

Vanity plates previously generated at least half a million dollars in revenue each year. The state isn't passing up all that money, since drivers with existing vanity plates still have to pay $120 to renew them every two years. But it is missing out on the fees for new vanity plates, which typically cost about $70 or more.

"It's expensive here, and I'm willing to give you the money," Epstein said. "Take my money."

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: When will RI issue vanity plates again? Check back in 2025
Suella Braverman claims Rishi Sunak gave her "firm assurances" he would adopt her policy proposals on migration

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to toughen up migration rules under a Tory leadership contest deal with Suella Braverman, the former home secretary's allies say.

The Telegraph newspaper says it has seen a copy of a plan Mr Sunak agreed with Mrs Braverman last year.

The document includes a pledge to increase the salary migrants would have to earn to enter the UK.

But Mr Sunak's allies dispute the idea he struck a deal with Mrs Braverman.

Sources close to the prime minister insist there was a more general policy discussion about legal and illegal migration, rather than an agreement on specific policy proposals.

The claim of a deal came in Mrs Braverman's scathing letter to Mr Sunak after the prime minister had sacked her as home secretary.

In the letter, Mrs Braverman said she supported Mr Sunak's Tory leadership bid last year because of "the firm assurances you gave me on key policy priorities", which included reducing "overall legal migration".

The Telegraph reported that it had seen "a copy of the pact" over the weekend, days after official figures showed net migration into the UK reached a record 745,000 last year.

The figures represent a challenge for the prime minister, whose party has repeatedly promised to reduce the numbers during its 13-year stint in power.

Mr Sunak has faced pressure from his own MPs to bring down net migration, which is the difference between the number of people coming to live in the UK and those leaving.

When asked about the figures on Monday, the prime minister said he was clear net migration was "too high" and it needed to "come down to sustainable levels".

He said restricting some foreign postgraduate students from bringing family members to the UK - a move announced in May - had been a significant move.

But he did not comment on a proposal to raise the salary threshold for skilled foreign workers from 26,000 to 40,000.

This proposal was in the four-point migration plan agreed by Mrs Braverman and Mr Sunak, according to the Telegraph.

The document also contains other ideas, such as closing down the graduate visa route, and prioritising Russell Group university applicants when evaluating student visa applications.

Allies of the former home secretary claim the prime minister to agreed to implement this plan.

Mr Sunak previously said he had conversations with lots of people during the leadership contest, not just Mrs Braverman.

Mr Sunak's allies also point out that while Mrs Braverman was home secretary, the government did cut the number of dependents some students were able to bring with them.

Last week, Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick shared a set of proposals to attempt to cut immigration with No 10, which are being discussed internally.

Among the suggestions was a required minimum annual salary of 35,000 in order to receive a work visa.

But this will be another unwelcome intervention from Mrs Braverman when he is under pressure from some restless Conservative MPs over net migration numbers.
The Government's position is that the Elgin Marbles are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and belong here, a senior Conservative source said - MATTHEW FEARN/PA

Rishi Sunak has cancelled a meeting with the Greek prime minister after a diplomatic row flared up over the future of the Elgin Marbles.

Mr Sunak had been set to meet Kyrios Mitsotakis in Downing Street for wide-ranging talks over migration and other topics, but pulled out at the last minute.

The Telegraph understands that the British Prime Minister was left frustrated after the Greek leader publicly lobbied for a change to the UK Government stance on the Marbles on the BBC on Sunday.

One senior Government source said: Its a respect thing.

Mr Sunak is understood to have personally called off the meeting.

Instead the Greek leader is now expected to meet Oliver Dowden, the Deputy Prime Minister.

A senior Conservative source said: It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin marbles prior to it.

Our position is clear  the Elgin Marbles are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and belong here. It is reckless for any British politician to suggest that this is subject to negotiation.

Sources with knowledge of the Greek prime ministers itinerary said he was formally told at 6pm on Monday that the meeting was off, but had learnt an hour earlier that it was going to be cancelled, about the same time that he was meeting Sir Keir Starmer and a Labour delegation to discuss Labours views on returning the sculptures to Athens.

The sources said Downing Street gave no official reason for the meeting being cancelled and that Mr Mitsotakis was baffled by the decision.

He had toned down his demands over the Parthenon sculptures since his last visit to the UK, when he told Boris Johnson that Britain had stolen them and should give them back.

He has now parked the issue of ownership, and wanted to talk about the sort of loan deal that Sir Keir has proposed.

Greek sources said Mr Mitsotakis was prepared to lean into proposals on controlling migration, but now assumes that comments he has made about the Elgin Marbles ahead of the proposed meeting have upset Mr Sunak.

A spokesman for the Greek premier said: The prime minister is disappointed that Prime Minister Sunak cancelled their bilateral meeting at the 11th hour. Greece and Britain have a very deep history of friendship and co-operation, and the Greek government is extremely surprised by this decision.

The prime minister was looking forward to discussing a range of topics of mutual interest including the Israel/Gaza conflict, Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine, climate change, as well as common challenges such as migration, and of course the Parthenon sculptures.

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.
Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel downplayed donor concerns following reporting on the GOP finances, saying the situation is not unusual.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported concerns over the national partys finances were growing as donations to the RNC appear to drop ahead of next years presidential election.

The Post noted the RNC reported having $9.1 million in the bank in October, which is significantly less than the $20 million the party reported having on hand at the same point in the 2016 presidential campaign cycle. Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee reported having $17.7 million cash on hand in October.

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However, McDaniel argued in an interview with the publication that the numbers are not indicative of the RNCs financial prowess, but they show donors are still focused on donating to individual presidential candidates.

I think theres more donors just fully committed to their candidate right now, saying I am all in, and once the nominee is set, Ill be there. Thats what I hear more than anything. And theyre really solidly in the camps of their candidate, which is normal, McDaniel told the publication. Theres nothing unusual about this, because they know that once their candidate gets in that we will merge and that well be working together to win the White House.

The party also noted it has already sent staff to 15 swing states to get a head start on get-out-the-vote efforts and election monitoring. Additionally, it said it has filed more than 70 election integrity lawsuits and established a permanent Election Integrity Department. The RNC under McDaniel also launched the Bank Your Vote program to encourage Republicans to vote early and by mail.

The RNC will continue to communicate with all campaigns and candidates as we look forward to putting our battle-tested infrastructure behind our Presidential nominee, an RNC spokesperson said.

Republicans note that without transfers and when comparing the RNCs sister committees and Democratic committees, the RNC beats the other committees in direct fundraising by $10 million, with the exception of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Additionally, the party noted that when comparing the RNCs current fundraising to the DNCs fundraising without an incumbent in 2020 and 2016, the RNC is either on par with the DNC or outraising it.

McDaniel has faced some criticism for her leadership amid Republican losses in recent election cycles. McDaniel was reelected to a fourth term as chair in January after facing challenges from California attorney Harmeet Dhillon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
MILAN  The Romanian government has solicited bids from defense manufacturers for short-range air defense systems at a cost of up to $2.1 billion, setting up a race between between French and Israeli suppliers with longstanding ties to the European country.

Per a tender notice published by the Romanian Ministry of Defense earlier this month, the country is seeking so-called short-range air defense and very short-range air defense systems, known, respectively, by the acronyms of SHORAD and VSHORAD.

Romanias quest to procure these weapon systems predates Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine last February, with improved defenses against short-range aerial threats identified as a priority for the air force as early as 2019.

Bucharest has bought the U.S.-made Patriot system for the longer-range segment. All air and missile defense system will plug into the emerging NATO-wide network, known as the alliances Integrated Air and Missile Defense concept.

We intended to launch this tender last year, but only managed to do so now, a Romanian defense ministry official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media, told Defense News.

A spokesman for pan-European missile maker MBDA told Defense News that the company is interested in Romanias SHORAD-VSHORAD business.

MBDA will respond with the most suitable solution for the Romanian Armed Forces, notably allowing increased efficiency with the Mistral currently offered to the customer. This makes the VL Mica system a most relevant candidate in this context, spokesman Julien Watelet wrote in an email.

The reference to the Mistral missile touches on a separate missile-defense acquisition eyed by Romania, explained the Romanian defense official.

There are two courses of action currently: The SHORAD-VSHORAD program has a strategic dimension, as indicated in our Defense White Paper, and was approved by Parliament so it already has a dedicated budget line, the official said. However, the [joint] Mistral procurement is also being considered taking into account our privileged relationship with France.

Issue experts believe Israels Rafael, with the Spyder air defense system, could also join the race, a prospect that the company confirmed in an email to Defense News.

Rafael is confident that its multi-layered air defense capabilities, which have proven their effectiveness in operational scenarios, can provide the precise solutions for the Romanian MoD, a spokesperson wrote in an email.

The Haifa-based company signed an agreement in 2018 with Romaero, a Romanian aerospace company, to launch an industrial partnership aimed at locally producing air defense weapons.

Editors note: This story was updated to include a comment from Rafael.
No other event on the political calendar boasts the storied history of the New Hampshire primary: antiwar crusader Eugene McCarthy stunning Lyndon Johnson in 1968 with an epic showing; Ronald Reagan stealing a line from an old Spencer Tracy movie in 1980 as he shouted, I paid for this microphone; and Bill Clinton promising voters in 1992 that, if they rescued his scandal-plagued campaign, he would remember them until the last dog dies.

New Hampshire may again be in the crosshairs of history on the night of January 23, as the returns rush in from the first-in-the-nation Republican primary. The Granite State will provide an answer to one of the most pivotal questions ever facing American democracy: Can Donald Trump be stopped in his drive for his third GOP nomination?

If Trump sweeps the January 15 Iowa caucuses and then romps in the New Hampshire primary eight days later (the date is still unofficial), the GOP race would be effectively over. With the Republican primary calendar filled with winner-take-all states in March and beyond, the dwindling chances of derailing the Mar-a-Lago megalomaniac would depend on either the legal system or divine intervention palsying the hands of Trump supporters as they fill out their ballots. The importance of this years New Hampshire GOP primary transcends symbolism and history. The reason: The verdict from the Granite State will dominate media storylines for a full month, given the long pause between its primary and South Carolinas the following month.

With its GOP primary open to independent voters, New Hampshire is the last best hope of Never Trump Republicans. This is Horatius at the bridge. In fact, New Hampshire is Horatius and the bridge all rolled into one.

New Hampshire has never been a true Trump bastion. Vying with Massachusetts as the most secular state in the union, New Hampshire lacks the evangelical conservatives whose Faustian bargain with Trump has defined Republican politics since 2016. Trump did win the 2016 New Hampshire primary, but with just a bit over one-third of the vote. With its educated electoratemore than 40 percent of voters have four-year college degreesNew Hampshire is a swing state that has been tilting blue for years: Democrats have captured the state in the last five presidential elections. In 2020, Joe Biden won the state by 59,000 votes. Then in 2022, Trumpian clones got wiped out as Democratic incumbents easily retained a Senate seat and two House seats.

Yes, polls do show Trump pulling in more than 40 percent of the New Hampshire primary vote. But parsing the numbers from two mid-September surveys (CBS News and CNN) leads to the conclusion that only about one-quarter of the Republican primary electorate is unequivocally committed to the oft-indicted former president. Moreover, New Hampshire is a difficult state to accurately poll, since primary voters are constantly changing their minds. A 2019 paper on the primary by New Hampshire pollsters David Moore and Andrew Smith pointed out, typically, leading up to the election anywhere between half and three quarters of voters are still trying to decide whom to choose. After Nikki Haley spoke in mid-October in Rochester, I met the quintessential New Hampshire primary voter: Kathy Morin, a retired hairdresser. When I asked Morin if she was committed to Haley, she replied, Im sold. Maybe.

There are enough maybes in New Hampshire to hand Trump a stinging defeat on January 23. At least, thats the theory.





I have covered every New Hampshire primary since I arrived in 1980 tracking a candidate named George Bushno middle initials were needed in those dayswho was out to prove that he was up for the Eighties. Returning to the Granite State in mid-October of this year, I felt for the first time ever that the primary was being conducted in slow motion. Instead of neighbors proudly proclaiming their political allegiance, the only lawn signs visible across the state were for municipal candidates in the November local elections. I was not alone in noting the political torpor. Tom Rath, a Concord attorney whose primary history dates back to his youthful support for Nelson Rockefeller in 1964, told me, Ive never seen a New Hampshire primary where theres been so little movement. Over lunch, Chris Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College in Manchester, cracked, I feel like Im watching a high school production of a presidential primary.

Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are the two candidates who, based on polls and finances (including Super PACs), appear to have the staying power to challenge Trump in New Hampshire. With his anti-Trump fervor, Chris Christie is also betting on the Granite State. But Christie, who finished sixth in the 2016 New Hampshire primary, is saddled with a near-fatal disapproval rating of more than 65 percent in the CNN poll of the state. Yet watching Haley and DeSantis on their mid-October swings through the state highlighted that they, too, have serious problems. More than their predictable right-wing ideology, more than their timorous refusal to engage with Trump unless pressed, both candidates were guilty of the cardinal sin in politicsbeing boring.

Haley, as ambassador to the United Nations under Trump, is perceived as the only major Republican challenger with foreign policy heft. The New York Times even declared in a recent page one print headline, Haleys Strong Support of Israel Could Be Crucial to Campaign. But in New Hampshire, less than a week after Hamass October 7 assault on Israel, Haley bizarrely refused to emphasize the Middle East as a major campaign theme. It was far less a political decision and far more the unwillingness of a fledgling candidate to jigger with the structure of her stump speech. Haley, it seems, suffers from the same malady that made Marco Rubio a laughingstock in the 2016 Republican primaries: She is so wedded to her uninspiring talking points that she clings to them like a security blanket.

Speaking to a mostly gray-haired crowd of about 150 at an American Legion hall in Rochester, Haley talked for 21 long minutes before she ever mentioned Israel. Instead, voters heard the former South Carolina governor rail against $7.4 billion in Republican-sponsored earmarks in Congress, as if they mattered at a time of a $1.7 trillion deficit. They were treated to the riveting tale of her epic battle in the South Carolina legislature to demand recorded votes on pay raises. And the audience even applauded when Haley declaredinvoking an extreme niche issueLets put vocational classes back in our high schools.

When she finally got there, Haleys words on Israel were fierce, but she had buried the lede. She invoked her 2017 visit to Israel, when she toured a captured tunnel built by Hamas under the border with Gaza. And she used that experience to say flatly, They dont value life. But they know that the Israelis do. Then she went on to frame the geopolitical struggle in religious terms: Ive always believed that no one can destroy what God has blessed. God has blessed Israel.

In later appearances at a candidate forum in Exeter sponsored by Gannett newspapers and at a state Republican Party event in Nashua, Haley moved up her Israel material. But only slightly. At both events, Republicans heard Haley target earmarks and extol vocational education long before she commented on the news that was dominating the headlines.

If Haley was too inflexible as a candidate, then DeSantis erred in the other direction by coming across as a political changeling. The flailing Florida governormaking his first trip to New Hampshire in nearly two months as part of an overhyped campaign rebootspoke to more than 200 business types at a venerable preprimary event called Politics and Eggs at Saint Anselm College.

Instead of the war-on-woke warrior, DeSantis came across as a shorter, less handsome version of Mitt Romney running in 2012 on his record as a severely conservative governor of Massachusetts. But try as he might to be a Happy Warrior, DeSantis 2.0 still struggled to make a human connection in a speech that aroused scant applause.

The silence was deafening as DeSantis boasted, The results weve been able to produce are second to none. Weve run massive budget surpluses every year Ive been governor. We have paid down almost 25 percent of the states total outstanding debt. I could go on quoting DeSantis, but I might fall asleep at the computer keyboard.

That was DeSantis as kindly Dr. Jekyll. Three hours later, at the Republican Partys First in the Nation Leadership Summit in Nashua, DeSantis went full Mr. Hyde. In a speech that H.L. Mencken in another era might have mocked as boob bait, DeSantis declared to cheers, People like Fauci need to be brought to justice. Predictably, DeSantis ran through his greatest-hits album, bragging about eliminating critical race theory from Florida schools and boasting, We stood up to the most powerful company in the history of the state of Florida, Disney, to say that we are not going to let the sexualization of our curriculum happen, particularly in elementary school.

Candidates routinely make different pitches to different audiences. But rarely are the changes in tone this extreme in a single day. These abrupt rhetorical shifts may help explain why authenticity is almost as much of a problem for DeSantis as likability.

Part of the problem in defining the race in New Hampshire is that both Haley and DeSantis, unless specifically questioned, treat Trump as He Who Must Not Be Named. While Trump in his cruelty does have a certain resemblance to Lord Voldemort, the leading contenders are carrying the Harry Potter cosplay to ridiculous extremes. Haley, for example, in Rochester never mentioned the name of the president who appointed her as U.N. ambassador.

At Politics and Eggs, DeSantis was asked whether the 2020 election was stolen. The Florida governor has, in the past, reluctantly admitted that Biden was duly elected. This timeeven though there were few Sidney Powellstyle conspiracy theorists in the business crowdDeSantis went full maybe, assailing Trumps competence as an election denier. If that is true, DeSantis said, reveling in the conditional tense, he was the sitting president of the United States and let that happen to him. I would never let that happen. During his lengthy convoluted answer, DeSantis only once dared to utter Trumps name.

Instead, Haley and DeSantis communicate by code, as if they were dissidents trying to get a political message past the censors in a totalitarian country. In Nashua, at the GOPs so-called Leadership Summit, the 51-year-old Haley declared, To win the majority of Americans, youre gonna have to have a new generation of conservative leader. You gotta leave the negativity and the baggage and the headlines of the past and move forward. DeSantis is fond of talking about a president who can serve two full terms to get the job done. The 77-year-old Trump, of course, could only serve one more termassuming he would abide by the Constitution.

Haley and DeSantis somehow believe that they can successfully get through the primaries without enraging the Former Guy or his most ardent supporters. In fact, they recently seem more interested in going after each othershades of Jeb Bush and Rubio squabbling in 2016 as Trump burned through the primaries. Confronted with an unavoidable direct question about Trump at the town hall in Exeter, Haley first gushed, Donald Trump was the right president at the right time, before she had the moxie to add, But I dont think hes the right president now. Haleys problems with Trump are not ideological, however. She quickly stressed, I agree with a lot of his policies. Somehow Haley wants Republicans to believe that she is the only bulwark against the most dreaded outcome: President Kamala Harris.

What gives outsize importance to New Hampshires primary is a quirk in the political calendar: There will be no major Republican contests between New Hampshire and the February 24 South Carolina primary. (To be technical, there will be Republican caucuses in Nevada on February 8, but the state party has so rigged things for Trump that the preordained outcome will probably be discounted.)

Political handicappers should mind the gap. A New Hampshire victory for Haley, DeSantis, or even a surprise candidate would spark nonstop speculation that maybe, just maybe, Trump is finally yesterdays man. But for that to happen, the candidates must be brave enough to confront Trump directly. Haley and DeSantis should realize that the history of the New Hampshire primary was not forged by timorous candidates spouting vaporous platitudes about new generations of leadership and serving two full terms in the White House.
The life and legacy of former first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, will be celebrated over three days this week in a series of memorial services across Georgia, from Atlanta to her hometown of Plains, where she will be laid to rest outside the home she shared for decades with the nation's 39th president.

The events will begin Monday with a wreath laying ceremony at her alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, according to a schedule from the Carter Center. In the evening, Rosalynn Carter will lie in repose for several hours at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta.

A tribute service is scheduled to take place Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. And Rosalynn Carter's funeral service will occur in Plains on Wednesday at the Maranatha Baptist Church, where the former president taught Sunday school for decades.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will attend the Tuesday tribute service. Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff will also travel to Georgia for the memorial.

The former first lady will be buried in a private ceremony at the home she's shared with her husband since they had it built in the 1960s. Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter were married for 77 years. They had four children, 11 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

Former President Jimmy Carter and former first lady Rosalynn Carter sit together during a reception to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary on July 10, 2021, in Plains, Georgia. The Carter family shared news that Rosalynn Carter has dementia, The Carter Center announced Tuesday, May 30, 2023.

Scott Kaufman, a professor of history at Francis Marion University and the author of a "Rosalynn Carter: Equal Partner in the White House," told USA TODAY speakers and reflections at the week's events will likely focus on her many initiatives, especially her work on mental health care and advocacy for the rights of caregivers and gender equality.

Kaufman said her time as first lady will also be highlighted, as she transformed the role into a full-time job. She was the first to sit in on Cabinet meetings, set up an office in East Wing and hire a full staff. Regarding her time in the White House, Kaufman called her "a groundbreaker."

"I have no doubt that during the ceremonies a lot will be mentioned about all that she worked for, and, in a good number of ways, accomplished in terms of trying to get these initiatives promoted and enacted into law," he said. "When it comes to activist first ladies Rosalynn Carter  if she's not at the top, she's darn close to it."

Amber Roessner, a professor at the University of Tennessee who has written extensively on the Carters, told USA TODAY the locations of the funeral events are significant because they're places of great importance to the couple, especially their shared hometown of Plains.

The pair lived in Atlanta for years during the former president's governorship. It's where in 1982 they founded The Carter Center, a nonprofit foundation committed to advancing human rights through various programs. Rosalynn Carter created the organization's mental health program to fight the stigma and discrimination of people with mental illnesses  an issue for which she's been a fierce advocate since her husband ran for governor.

Americus is where the former first lady attended college at Georgia Southwestern State University. In 1987, she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers at her alma matter which has helped caregivers through direct service programs and reform policy initiatives.

Rosalynn Carter sits next to her Caring for Children lifetime achievement award during a ceremony in Washington on July 12, 2002. She was honored for her contribution to improving the quality of life for vulnerable children and their families.

For both Rosalynn and Jimmy Carter, however, no place compares to Plains.

It's where they both grew up, just 3 miles apart, and where they'd eventually forge the longest marriage in U.S. presidential history. The Carters always returned to Plains after several years away, such as when Jimmy Carter was in the Navy, and then during his time as governor and president. After losing reelection in 1980, the Carters moved back to Plains for the last time and settled in the modest one-story ranch they built in 1961.

"I don't think you can stress the significance of Plains enough," Roessner said. "In addition to it being home, it was such an nourishing and regenerating space for them where they could find themselves in these key moments of their lives."

Roessner said the week's events provide opportunities to regard Rosalynn Carter's life, especially for the people of Plains and others throughout Georgia who saw and interacted with the former first lady on a daily bases.

"As much as it's a somber time, it's a special time for the citizens of Plains, citizens of Atlanta and citizens of our country to really reflect upon the life and legacy of Rosalynn, and the ways in which her life shaped that of so many," Roessner said.

Complete schedule of Rosalynn Carter's memorial services

Monday:

10:25 a.m.: The Carter family motorcade will arrive at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia. Rosalynn Carter's remains will be moved 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. The public is invited to pay respects along the motorcade route.

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 the former first lady 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:

11:30-11:45 a.m.: Carter Presidential Center departure ceremony. Motorcade proceeds to Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University.

1-2:30 p.m.: Tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University with invited guests.

Wednesday:

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.

Contributing: Marina Pitofsky

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: Remembering Rosalynn Carter: 3-day memorial services begin in Georgia
Former first lady and humanitarian Rosalynn Carter, who died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96, is lying in repose on Monday at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum, where members of the public have been invited to pay their respects.

Rosalynn Carter's remains were transported via motorcade to Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, and the public was invited to pay its respects along the motorcade route. Her casket then arrived at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University, which both Jimmy and Rosalynn attended. A formal wreath-laying ceremony was also held.

Rosalynn Carter: A life in photos

Monday marks the first of three days of services for Rosalynn Carter, who was married to Jimmy Carter for 77 years. A tribute service will be held on Tuesday and the former president is expected to attend, according to the Carter Center. The couple's son, Chip Carter, told The Washington Post that his father was having a suit made for the funeral since none of his suits currently fit due to his ill health.

President Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff are also expected to attend Tuesday's tribute service at Glenn Memorial Church at Emory University. According to the Carter Center, all the living first ladies  Hillary Clinton, Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump  will attend Tuesday's service, as will former President Bill Clinton. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, Georgia first lady Marty Kemp and other elected officials from the state and members of the congressional delegation are also expected to attend on Tuesday.

Mr. Biden last week ordered the flags at the White House to be flown at half-staff out of respect for Rosalynn.

The service on Tuesday is for invited guests, according to the Carter Center.

Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, carry casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. / Credit: Alex Brandon / AP

On Wednesday, there will be a funeral procession to Maranatha Baptist Church, where a funeral service will take place for friends and family. Her casket will then be transferred to a hearse that will head to the Carter family residence for private interment.

Chip Carter told the Post that Jimmy Carter was by his wife's side in her final moments.

"Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished," the former president said in a statement released by the Carter Center after her death. "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 husband, four children and 22 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Carter family members gather before the departure ceremony with the casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia, on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. / Credit: Alex Brandon / AP

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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  The two Filipino seafarers who were among the crew onboard another vessel attacked by an unknown armed group in the Gulf of Aden are now safe, a government official said.

Migrant Workers officer-in-charge Hans Leo Cacdac confirmed that another hijacking incident happened, this time involving a Liberian-flag chemical tanker.

"The latest report that we got, there were US Navy forces in the area that thwarted the hijacking. The ship itself is now free and so is the crew," he said.

The official added that the hijackers were pursued by the US forces.

"We're just trying to further confirm this because it is a welcome development," Cacdac said.

This marked a second incident where Filipino sailors were put at risk amid the Israel-Hamas war in the Middle East.

Last week, news emerged about a vessel, including 17 Filipino seafarers, held hostage by Yemen's Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. The Houthis are believed to be members of the so-called "axis of resistance" led by Iran, which has been mobilized to oppose Israeli power.

Negotiations continue for the release of the 17 Filipino seafarers, officials said.

Amid these recent incidents, Cacdac said the DMW has recommended to maritime stakeholders to expand the high-risk zones in Red Sea areas.

"There is already a high-risk area dahil ito ay haven of piracy. We have proposed the high-risk zones. Ibig sabihin nun, there will be a fair warning on the part of seafarers that they will be joining a voyage in high-risk zones," he said.

Cacdac said compensation and benefits of those seafarers may also double.

Reacting to the news, Sen. Imee Marcos called on the DMW and Department of Foreign Affairs to deploy a long-term strategy for the release of hostaged Filipino sailors.

She said Monday that Filipino seafarers now face higher risks amid the expanded conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

Israel's attacks in Gaza could draw in more militant groups seeking to avenge the deaths of thousands of Palestinians, she said.

"There's no end in sight to this conflict and more Filipino seafarers could become collateral damage. The ongoing truce to release hostages on both sides is temporary," the lawmaker added.
Rosalynn Carter was set to lie in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta on Monday evening as the funeral for the formidable first lady approaches later this week.

Monday marks the first of three days of tributes and celebrations of Rosalynn Carter, who died a week ago at age 96 in her home of Plains, Georgia.

She was a key adviser and political campaigner for her peanut farmer husband, Jimmy, a Democrat who served a single term in the White House from 1977 to 1981. The 99-year-old former president entered hospice care in February.

The Carter family has invited the first ladys fans and admirers to offer their respects as she lies in repose from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. at her husbands presidential library. A repose service was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

A family motorcade stopped at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University on Monday morning.

About 200 people gathered under buzzing helicopters and watched as a wreath of white flowers was placed outside the science complex, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jimmy was not in the motorcade, the newspaper said.

The family motorcade is set to continue on to a church at Emory University in Atlanta on Tuesday, according to a schedule of the ceremonies. The funeral service is scheduled for Wednesday.

Rosalynn Carter, nicknamed Steel Magnolia, represented a new type of first lady: She carried a briefcase to the White House, attended Cabinet meetings and traveled widely, pushing for human rights abroad and at home.

In a statement after her death, Jimmy Carter said, Rosalynn was my equal partner in everything I ever accomplished.

She gave me wise guidance and encouragement when I needed it, he said in the statement. As long as Rosalynn was in the world, I always knew somebody loved and supported me.

_____
PLAINS, Ga. - Rosalynn Carter made her final journey to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta on Monday as her family and the nation begin three days of memorials for the former first lady.

The Georgia native and global humanitarian died on Nov. 19 at the age of 96.

After brief ceremonies in the Carters native Sumter County in south Georgia, Rosalynn Carters remains traveled by motorcade to Atlanta, where she will lie in repose at The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

The motorcade left around 10 a.m., traveling through downtown Americus before making a brief stop at Georgia Southwestern State University. That's where a wreath-laying ceremony at the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Science Complex took place.

From there, the motorcade started its journey to the Peach State's capital, where hundreds of people gathered to watch the motorcade for Georgia's "Steel Magnolia" pass by.

Route for Rosalynn Carter motorcade released

The library was open from 6 to 10 p.m., offering the most direct opportunity for the public to pay their respects during the three-day tribute. Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in the Carters hometown of Plains, are for invited guests.

"We just wanted to pay our respects to the Carter family. They're an amazing couple," said Melanie Brasher.

Former President Jimmy Carter and Rosalynn Carter attend church on Easter Sunday at Maranatha Baptist Church on April 20, 2014 in Plains, Georgia. (Photo by Chris McKay/Getty Images)

As people prepared to say their final goodbye to Mrs. Carter, many shared a favorite memory or story.

"Mr. and Mrs. Carter have been a part of my world since he was governor of Georgia. In 76, when Jimmy ran for president, it was my first vote," said Don Drennon.

"To me, they've been the epitome of someone who lives out there fate and knows how to be a leader and servant to the public. I had the opportunity to meet them both a couple of times," said Randy Hubbard.

Reed Elliotte and his mom, Larrietta, came from Kentucky to pay their respects.

"I love Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter. They were my favorite president and first lady," said 13-year-old Reed.

Reed says he first met President Carter in 2019 when he was teaching Sunday school in Plains. Since then, he says he's become good friends with the Carter family. Reed says Mrs. Carter's death hit him hard.

"It took me awhile to compose myself after finding out. It took two to three days to stop crying, and just think about the happy times we got to spend with them," said Reed.

Visitors say it was an emotional night. As they passed by Mrs. Carter's casket, which was covered in flowers, it was a time for reflection.

"It was very quiet, people paying their respects. Going through the library part, everyone taking it in, reading and paying their respects to the former first lady," said Chad Hunt.

Earlier, during a private repose ceremony at the Carter Center, library and museum staff joined members of the Carter family.

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander paid tribute to the former first lady who, alongside former President Carter, co-founded the Carter Center.

Mrs. Carter was remembered as a person who led by example, and rarely asked anyone to do something that she wouldn't do herself. She treated everyone with respect and dignity, was unpretentious. Never seeking recognition for herself.

Former Carter Center CEO John Hardman offered words of reflection, expressing the impact Mrs. Carter had on all who knew and loved her. He said she was selfless, caring, and kind, down to earth, genuinely interested in others and tirelessly working to improve lives around the world.

The Carter family penned a letter of appreciation to the Carter Center Staff that was printed in the service program stating:

"All of you and the work you do for the Carter Center and the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum have been very meaningful to Mrs. Carter. This private service honors your partnership with her.

"The Carter family is grateful for your continuing commitment to Mrs. Carter's dream of a more caring world."

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, are expected to attend the Atlanta service. While motorcade routes will be open throughout the schedule, Rosalynn Carters burial on Wednesday in Plains is private.

It is not known whether former president Jimmy Carter, who is 99 and in his 10th month of hospice care, will take part in the events. Those close to his immediate family have said he will make every effort as he grieves his partner of more than 77 years.

Funeral, memorial plans announced for former first lady Rosalynn Carter

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carters interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carters closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

"We're going to make sure that she knows that we all love her," said Kim Fuller, the Carters niece. "We're going to send her off with a wonderful, wonderful send-off."

Georgia Girl Scouts pay tribute to Honorary National President Rosalynn Carter

A detailed schedule is available here. Events will be streamed and broadcast by FOX 5 online.

Rosalynn Carter has asked for donations to the Carter Center's Mental Health Program or the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregivers in lieu of flowers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Former and current U.S. Secret Service agents carry casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Ga., Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The former first lady died on Nov. 19. She was 96. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

AMERICUS, Ga. (AP)  Hundreds turned out to salute Rosalynn Carter on Monday with the former U.S. first lady and global humanitarian's final journey from her rural hometown to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta as her family began three days of memorials following her death at age 96.

The former president, who is 99 and has spent the past 10 months in home hospice care, plans to attend a memorial church service Tuesday in Atlanta for his partner of more than 77 years, The Carter Center confirmed. Rosalynn Carter died Nov. 19.

The tributes started Monday morning as Rosalynn Carter's casket traveled by motorcade through the Carters' native Sumter County, where well-wishers gathered along the route in their tiny hometown of Plains and attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the college from which she graduated in 1946.

Lyndea Brown drove to the short ceremony at Georgia Southwestern State University from nearby Albany, saying she wanted to salute a remarkable woman who attended local cancer benefits and fought for rural health services.

They were always real hometown people, Brown said. We dont get presidents and first ladies like that anymore, people who have true hometown roots and understand what its like to grow corn and peanuts and whatever else and to struggle over health care.

During the stop at Rosalynn Carters alma mater, her four children  Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy  watched as wreaths of white flowers were placed beside a statue of their mother on the campus where she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving to advocate for millions of unpaid caregivers in American households.

Generations of the Carter family  including the former first lady's grandchildren and great-grandchildren  accompanied the hearse to Atlanta, where members of the public paid respects Monday evening as she lay in repose at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in Plains, are for invited guests. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, lead the dignitaries expected to attend the Atlanta service. Rosalynn Carter's burial Wednesday in Plains is private.

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carter's interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carter's closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

All over the world, people are celebrating her life, said Kim Fuller, the Carters' niece, while teaching a Bible lesson Sunday at Maranatha. And of course were coming into a week now where were gonna celebrate even more.

Some well-wishers began honoring Rosalynn Carter soon after her death, including an uptick in visitors to the Carter Presidential Center campus.

Mental health is more openly talked about because of Rosalynn Carter's work to reduce the stigma attached to the conditions, said Brendan Green, a high school guidance counselor who came from Chicago.

She was a pioneer in that field, Green said. What a great legacy.

Elizabeth Laudig, a registered nurse from Dallas, said she drove 12 hours to be in Georgia this week, starting with the wreath-laying ceremony in Americus. She said Rosalynn Carters emphasis on mental health and caregivers was especially inspiring to her as a nurse.

She just quietly went about the business of trying to make the world a better place, Laudig said. You know, she was not a showy or extravagant first lady, but she was humble, you know, kind, hardworking, and got things done for people because she cared about people."

After the motorcade arrived in Atlanta, the family joined staff at the Carter Presidential Center for a short, private service.

The campus near downtown Atlanta includes the library and museum, and The Carter Center. The former first couple founded the center in 1982 to champion democracy, mediate international conflicts and fight disease in the developing world. Their work around the world redefined what former White House occupants can do after ceding political power.

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander recalled Rosalynn Carter as a tough and fiercely intelligent advocate who in every respect was her husbands full and equal partner.

Her compassion, her ability to connect, her political savvy was something that helped build the support for all of our programs over the past 40 years, Alexander told co-workers and the family.

At the public viewing, visitors passed poster boards with quotes by Rosalynn Carter and walked through the museum before being allowed to pay their respects in small groups in front of her casket, which was in the lobby, flanked by members of the Georgia State Patrol Honor Guard.

Teresa Lass, 65, approached the casket with tears in her eyes. She said she was a big admirer of Rosalynn Carter, particularly her work for Habitat for Humanity and her tight bond with Jimmy Carter.

Rosalynn encouraged him to keep going and not give up, Lass said.

Genevieve Lewis, 76, took a photo of a quote by Rosalynn Carter equating mental illness with physical disease.

I admire her for taking away the stigma of mental illness, Lewis said.

Gary Jackson, a municipal judge in Atlanta, said he met the Carters when Jimmy Carter was governor and again when he volunteered to work on Carters presidential campaign. He said he came to admire Rosalynn Carter, wearing a Carter pin on his coat that he said was from the campaign.

She was fiercely determined to help people, he said.

The largest single service will be held Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church, a Methodist congregation. The Carters married in 1946 at Plains Methodist Church, where Rosalynn Carter attended growing up. She joined her husband as a Baptist throughout their marriage.

Her final services at Maranatha will reflect their small-town Protestant roots: Church members are invited and will eat a funeral meal with the Carter family the day of the service.

___

Associated Press reporters Sudhin Thanawala in Atlanta, Sharon Johnson in Plains, Georgia, and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed.
Welcome to the weekly recap of things you need to know in Northern Kentucky. I'm Northern Kentucky reporter Jolene Almendarez.

If this is your first time reading our newly launched roundup, you should know I'm gathering news nuggets from throughout the week and presenting it to you here in quick, easy-to-scan bullet points. I am also providing links where you can get more information.

Want to be included in this list? Send your events, business openings, or any other news you think is important to Northern Kentucky to me. I can be reached at jolenea@enquirer.com and you can follow me on X, formerly known as Twitter, @jolenea1.

Things to know

The Purple People Bridge is home to a new mural that pays tribute to the unique Ohio and Kentucky connection. Local artist Matt Grote gave nods to Cincinnati chili, Kentucky bourbon, and local sport teams in the piece. You can find it on the bridge where the two state lines officially meet.

Campbell County Public Library is getting a new director. Chantelle Phillips is taking the reins Monday after working at the Newport and Carrico/Fort Thomas branches over the last 15 years. The Xavier University and Kent State University graduate earned the position after longtime library director JC Morgan retired.

The Campbell and Boone county public libraries are joining forces with Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport to usher in books to its recently created Airport Library. The Kenton County Public Library was first to partner with the airport on the project in May and has provided it with about 3,000 books. The library is located in Concourse B, does not require a library card, and returning the books is optional.

The Covington Business Council annual dinner is Thursday at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center and will give a nod to all the development along the Riverfront. About 500 people are expected to attend. This year's Founder Award will go to DBL Law partner Patrick Hughes for his community work.

In case you missed it

The Enquirer's food writer Keith Pandolfi gave us a "completely random list" of what he's thankful for this year. His list includes kudos for Northern Kentucky eateries in Fort Mitchell, Covington, Newport and more.

Frontier Airlines announced plans last week to open a new crew base at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport in May. The company plans to recruit at least 80 pilots and 160 flight attendants from the area.

As high school wrestling season gets underway, here are some Northern Kentucky high school athletes to keep an eye on.

Hospitals in Kentucky are facing a worker shortage. That means patients have to wait longer to receive care.

Louisville Metro Police officials released a report last week from its investigation into the Old National Bank mass shooting earlier this year that left five people dead. It offers insights into motive, mental health factors, and other findings by police.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Roundup: Things to know in Northern Kentucky
Russia has intensified its network of sleeper spies in Ukraine over the past two months, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov, said in an interview with the UK newspaper the Times on Nov. 27.

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is attempting to destabilize the situation in Ukraine and undermine its unity, said Danilov, adding that Russia has activated its spy network within state institutions, particularly in Ukraines SBU security service.

Read also: Ukraines SBU exposes two Russian spies trying to recruit agent at Kyiv defense plant

They (the Russians) understand that they cannot win militarily, so attempts at internal destabilization have become a priority, Danilov said.

UPD: In a comment to NVs sister publication Ukrainska Pravda, Danilov said that The Times had misunderstood him, and that the SBU is actively working on (catching) spies.

Read also: SBU detains Kharkiv-based top Russian spy monitoring Ukrainian military

In the spring of this year, the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk said that the service had identified over 300 enemy agents in the past year.

Counter-intelligence is a constant job, searching for a needle in a haystack, said Malyuk.

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
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said Moscow has been directly involved in the appearance of an increasing number of asylum seekers at the Finnish border.

Source: Stoltenberg, before the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers on Monday, 27 November, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Stoltenberg stated that Russia has "brought war back to Europe" and is now trying to destabilise western democratic countries with the help of cyber attacks, disinformation, energy blackmail and migration.

Quote: "In recent weeks, Moscow has been facilitating the arrival of migrants at Finlands border with Russia, prompting the closure of border crossing points, using migration as a tool to put pressure... NATO stands in solidarity with our allied Finland, and I welcome that Frontex is helping to bolster Finlands borders."

Background: From the middle of November, significantly more people without documents that give them the right to enter the EU territory began to arrive at the checkpoints on the Finnish-Russian border. Previously, Russian border guards did not allow such travellers to leave.

Finland closed all its checkpoints on the border with Russia, except for one in Lapland, and it does not rule out the complete closure of the border to combat the growing migration pressure.

Vaalimaa, Nuijamaa, Imatra and Niirala border crossings were closed to traffic since Saturday.

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Russia has stepped up the activities of its spy network in Ukraine, whereas the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) has been taking extensive action to combat it, Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of Ukraine's National Security and Defence Council, has said.

Source: Radio Svoboda (Liberty) citing Danilov in an interview with The Times; Ukrainska Pravdas sources

Details: Danilov said the Russian agents aim is to "drive a wedge between the political and military leadership of Ukraine, as well as inflame anti-government sentiments among the population".

Danilov noted that Russia is trying to take advantage of the "so-called tension" between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

He also emphasised that Russia makes attempts to "spread disinformation and propaganda to destabilise the situation in Ukraine".

Quote from Ukrainska Pravda: "Radio Liberty wrote that Russia has also intensified spying activities in the SSU, but Danilov told Ukrainska Pravda that the Times misunderstood him and that the SSU is 'actively tracking down spies'".

Background:

On 16 November, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told a group of journalists that the Kremlin was seeking to split Ukrainian society, wreak havoc inside the country, and ultimately overthrow the president. Intelligence reports indicated that Russia referred to this plan as Maidan 3

Later, Zelenskyy said Russia wanted to remove him from the post of Ukrainian president by the end of 2023 and that it had come up with a destabilisation plan codenamed Maidan-3.

Zelenskyy also stressed that military personnel who are going to enter politics should not "deal with war". The president added that "with all the respect to Gen Zaluzhnyi and to all the commanders who are on the battlefield, there is an absolute understanding of the hierarchy," as otherwise, it does not lead to the unity of the nation.

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Russia has added Meta spokesperson Andy Stone to its wanted list on unspecified terrorism charges, according to media outlets.

Mr Stone, who is the communications director of Meta  the parent company of social media giant Facebook  is wanted by Russias Ministry of Internal Affairs, reported Mediazona, an independent news website that covers Russias opposition and prison system.

Russia banned Facebook and Instagram in March 2022, labelling its parent company Meta as extremist. It also designated Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organisation in October 2022.

The Kremlin launched a sweeping crackdown on western social media platforms, protesters, and independent news outlets since it launched the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The Meta spokesperson was quietly added to the Interior Ministrys wanted list in February this year, reported Mediazona.

The Russian Tass news agency also reported that Mr Stone was placed on Moscows wanted list article of the Russian Criminal Code.

The Interior Ministrys database did not provide details of the charges against Mr Stone.

Tensions between the Russian government and Meta escalated after the latter said it was relaxing its policies on hate speech towards Russian president Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine.

The relaxed rules allowed temporary changes to Metas hate speech policy, allowing all forms of political expression that would normally violate (its) rules, like violent speech such as death to the Russian invaders.

The calls for the leaders deaths will be allowed unless they contain other targets or have two indicators of credibility, such as the location or method, an email at that time said, according to Reuters.

A court in Moscow that banned Facebook and Instagram accused the platforms of carrying out extremist activities and creating an alternative reality to kindle hatred for the Russians.

A Meta lawyer told the court the company opposed any type of Russophobia and denied carrying out extremist activities.

In April 2022, Russia also formally barred Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country.

It comes as Russia sent a wave of kamikaze drones into Ukraines capital of Kyiv in what Ukrainian officials said was the largest drone attack on Sunday since the war began.

Four people were injured and several buildings damaged, officials said, adding that they repelled 74 of the 75 drone attacks.

Russian authorities claimed they repelled dozens of drone attacks overnight, with the air defence system bringing down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region  which surrounds but does not include the capital  and four other provinces to the south and west.

The Independent has requested Meta for a comment.
The occupiers do not return children to Ukraine, even if there are relatives in the free territory

Russian occupiers are in the process of compiling new lists of children in temporarily occupied territories for subsequent forcible removal, Ukraines National Resistance Center (NRC) said on Nov. 27.

The occupation administrations in the temporarily occupied lands have received instructions to prepare new lists of children without guardianship for their further deportation, says an NRC report.

Read also: PACE recognizes deportation of Ukrainian children as genocide

According to the NRC, the invaders are refusing to return children to Ukraine, even when their relatives are present in free territory. They are also simplifying the adoption process for these children within the territory of Russia.

The goal of this is the assimilation of Ukrainian children, that is, the destruction of an entire generation of the nation, the NRC added.

Read also: Nearly 400 Ukrainian kids held in Russia, Kremlin children's official says  real total much higher

On March 17, the International Criminal Court in The Hague issued arrest warrants for Russian dictator Vladimir Putin and Russias Childrens Ombudsman Maria Lvova-Belova. They are accused of the illegal deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia during the period from Feb. 24, 2022.

On April 27, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution recognizing the forced relocation of Ukrainian children to Russia as genocide.

According to the Ukrainian state platform Children of War, as of Sept. 27, at least 19,546 children have been deported or forcibly displaced by Russia.

In total, the number of Ukrainian children illegally taken to Russia could between 16,000 and 300,000, says the European Parliament. MEPs believe that Russians began taking Ukrainian children back in 2014 when they started their military occupation of Ukraines Crimea and parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

Read also: Ukraine successfully returns nearly 400 children kidnapped by Russia

Lvova-Belova stated on Nov. 9 that 380 Ukrainian children are currently under care and guardianship in 15 regions of Russia.

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
Russia's Interior Ministry has placed Andy Stone, spokesperson for the tech giant Meta, on a federal wanted list, the Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported on Nov. 26.

The ministry's database does not provide details on Stone's alleged crimes. It states only that he is wanted on a criminal charge.

While Russian state news agency TASS and Mediazona first reported Stone's status on Nov. 26, Mediazona said the Russian government quietly added Stone to the wanted list in February 2023.

Meta is the company that owns Facebook and Instagram. Russia designated Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organization in October 2022, after banning Facebook and Instagram in March.

Moscow claims that the company enabled calls for violence against Russians after the full-scale invasion of February 2022.

Meta announced certain temporary changes to its hate speech policy in the wake of the invasion. Stone issued a statement saying the platform would allow forms of political expression that would normally violate [its] rules, like violent speech such as death to the Russian invaders.

Stone's announcement stipulated that Meta would still ban credible calls for violence against Russian civilians.

Russia barred Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country in April 2022.

Read also: Opinion: Putin wants to complete Stalins unfinished genocide in Ukraine

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Russian forces attacked six settlements in Sumy Oblast on Nov. 26, the local military administration reported.

The day's attacks caused 142 recorded explosions.

The Russian military targeted the communities of Khotin, Seredyna-Buda, Bilopillia, Velyka Pysarivka, Yunakivka, and Myropillia, firing at the border 14 times with various weapons, including drones.

No casualties or damage to civilian infrastructure were reported.

Sumy Oblast lies along Ukraine's northeastern border with Russia. Russian forces have targeted the border with daily attacks since April 2022, when occupied areas of the region were liberated by Ukrainian troops.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russias increased weapons production may lead to new attacks elsewhere, commander says

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Russia is wrestling with a labor crisis  and is making it even worse by sending highly-skilled workers to war

People carrying luggage walk past the Russian side of the border toward the Nizhniy Lars customs checkpoint between Georgia and Russia on September 25, 2022. -/AFP via Getty Images

Russia is experiencing a severe labour shortage.

But contradictory policies are worsening the situation, a think tank said.

Russia is deterring potential workers by trying to send them to fight in Ukraine.

Russia is wrestling with a labor crisis  but making it even worse by sending highly-skilled workers to war, a think tank said.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington, DC-based think tank, said Russia is failing to tackle its severe workforce shortage because of "inconsistent and contradictory" Kremlin policies

These policies "seek to achieve mutually exclusive objectives of reducing negative shocks to Russia's domestic labor force, while disincentivizing migrants from working in Russia and enticing Russians to return from abroad while not providing them opportunities to work and trying to recruit them into a war they fled," The ISW said.

Around 900,000 Russians have left the country in the wake of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, according to independent policy group Re:Russia. Many of them feared being drafted into the military to fight in Ukraine.

At the same time migrants to Russia, many from Central Asian countries, are being pressured to sign contracts to fight with the Russian military in Ukraine, rights activists told RFE/RL.

The Russian economy has struggled in the wake of the invasion, with the European Council in August saying it would likely continue to shrink as international sanctions and workforce problems bite.

Last week Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said that Russians who fled were returning because they'd been unable to find work abroad, but that "no one here is waiting for them with open arms," adding that "they have committed treason against Russia, their homeland, and their loved ones."

The ISW noted that a prominent member of the Russian military blogger community, who has long been critical of the Kremlin's policies, said that the number of Russians returning to the country was "catastrophically small."

Russia has experienced steep casualty rates in Ukraine, with reports saying that it's lost around 300,000 soldiers.

In October 2022, Russia drafted 200,000 civilians into the military to bolster its forces in Ukraine, with reports saying that many were provided with minimal training, shoddy equipment, and placed in highly dangerous front-line positions.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The dispersal unit of a Russian-made Pantsir-S anti-aircraft system broke through the wall of a residential building in the suburbs of Moscow during a drone attack on Moscow on the night of 25-26 November.

Source: Astra Telegram channel, with reference to sources; Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin

Details: According to sources of the Telegram channel, the Pantsirs booster unit broke through the wall of the house of local residents; the incident took place at 03:30, in the Sad consumers cooperative in the village of Chastsy, Moscow Oblast.

A two-storey wooden house was damaged. A fire broke out on the spot, which the owners put out themselves. There are no casualties.

Background:

Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor of Moscow, stated that on the night of 25-26 November, there was a massive drone attack on Moscow. In particular, he claimed that air defence had shot down drones that were heading for Moscow near Naro-Fominsk and Odintsovo city district.

Reminder:

In July of this year, a booster unit of a Pantsir anti-aircraft system was found on a clothesline in the village of Marushkino in Moscow Oblast.

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Russia carried out attacks on nine of Ukraine's oblasts over the past day, injuring at least two people, local officials reported early on Nov. 27.

In Donetsk Oblast, Russian attacks injured one person in Toretsk, the Donetsk Oblast Military Administration reported.

Russian forces launched 56 strikes on Kherson Oblast, leaving one person injured, Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said.

Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts also came under attack, but local officials reported no casualties.

The situation of the civilian population is further complicated by bad weather conditions in much of the country. Strong winds, storms, heavy rain, and snowfall resulted in power outages, traffic problems, and floods.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russias increased weapons production may lead to new attacks elsewhere, commander says

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British intelligence believes that the heavy losses of the Russian Federation were caused by the offensive on Avdiivka

Russian forces, facing their most substantial losses in the past six weeks, are facing one of their most significant setbacks since the start of Moscows full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defense said on Nov. 27.

Figures from the Ukrainian militarys General Staff indicate that Russian losses in November average approximately 931 individuals per day, the UKs Defense Intelligence said in its report.

Read also: UK Intelligence predicts 'unfortunate' outcome for Russia in battles near Krynky, Kherson Oblast

Previously, the Russian military encountered its most substantial losses in March 2023, with an average of 776 military personnel eliminated daily. This occurred during the peak of the Russian advance on Bakhmut.

Taking into account the overall count of killed and wounded Russian military personnel, the UK Ministry of Defense recognized that, despite intelligences inability to independently verify the calculation methodology, the figures appear credible.

Read also: British intelligence explains static nature of Ukraine's and Russia's offensives

UK intelligence explained that these significant losses were primarily attributed to Russias offensive on Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. Some 750 Russian occupiers were reportedly eliminated in Ukraine over the past day, said the General Staff.

Overall, Russias losses since the onset of the full-scale invasion have surpassed 325,000 military personnel.

Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov said on Nov. 22 that Russia had lost 36,000 military personnel in Ukraine over the last six weeks.

Ukraines Ground Forces commander, Oleksandr Syrskyi, indicated that the Eastern Group of Troops (EGT Horytsia) eliminated over 6,500 Russian occupiers since the beginning of November.

Read also: UK intel flags Russian military morale cracks amid family protests decrying indefinite front duty

Meanwhile, Russia lost 3,500 occupiers on the left bank of the Dnipro River in the Kherson Oblast within a month, reported Colonel Janno Mark, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Estonian Division for Operational Affairs.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ukrainian forces repelled 30 Russian assaults on the Avdiivka front and 10 on the Bakhmut front over the course of the past 24 hours.

Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook, information as of 06:00 on 27 November

Details: Over the course of the past day, Ukraines Defence Forces clashed with Russian forces 63 times. Russian forces carried out a missile strike and 34 airstrikes and deployed multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS) 51 times to attack the positions of Ukrainian troops and civilian settlements.

Russian attacks injured civilians and damaged private residential houses and other civilian infrastructure facilities.

Russian aircraft struck areas in Donetsk Oblast.

Russian forces shelled more than 100 civilian settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Kherson oblasts.

On the Kupiansk front, in the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational Strategic Group, Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations near Synkivka (Kharkiv Oblast) and Novoselivske (Luhansk Oblast), with Ukrainian forces repelling seven Russian assaults.

Russian forces also conducted offensive operations near the Serebrianka forest on the Lyman front, but were unsuccessful.

On the Bakhmut front, Ukrainian forces repelled 10 Russian assaults near Bohdanivka, Klishchiivka, Andriivka, and to the east of Pivnichne (Donetsk Oblast) and are continuing assault operations to the south of the city of Bakhmut (also in Donetsk Oblast). They are inflicting personnel and equipment losses on Russian forces and consolidating their positions.

In the area of responsibility of the Tavriia Operational Strategic Group on the Avdiivka front, Russian forces are continuing their aircraft-supported attempts to encircle the city of Avdiivka (Donetsk Oblast). Ukrainian forces are holding the line and inflicting significant losses on the Russians. Russian forces conducted unsuccessful offensive operations to the east of Novobakhmutivka and to the south of Novokalynove, Sieverne, Stepove, Avdiivka and Pervomaiske (Donetsk Oblast), with Ukrainian forces repelling 30 assaults.

On the Marinka front, Ukrainian forces repelled seven unsuccessful Russian aircraft-supported assaults in the vicinity of Marinka and Novomykhailivka (Donetsk Oblast).

Russian forces did not undertake offensive operations on the Shakhtarsk front.

On the Zaporizhzhia front, Russian forces carried out unsuccessful offensive operations to the west of Verbove (Zaporizhzhia Oblast).

Meanwhile, Ukraines Defence Forces are continuing to pursue the offensive on the Melitopol front and are inflicting personnel and equipment losses on the Russian forces and wearing them out all along the frontline.

On the Kherson front, in the areas of responsibility of the Odesa Operational Strategic Group, Ukrainian forces are holding the positions they took on the left (eastern) bank of the Dnipro River [which is largely Russian-controlled - ed.], are engaging in counter-battery fire, and striking positions beyond the Russian frontline.

Over the course of the past day, Ukrainian aircraft carried out three airstrikes on clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment.

Units of the Ukrainian Rocket Forces and Artillery struck two clusters of Russian military personnel, weapons and equipment and an ammunition storage point.

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A Russian-Israeli hostage who managed to escape from Hamas was recaptured by Gazans and returned to the militants, before being finally released on Sunday, his aunt has said.

Roni Kriboy was abducted from the Nova music festival during the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and was then held at a building in Gaza, Yelena Magid told Israeli radio station Kan Reshet B on Monday.

Kriboy pictured after his release on November 26. - Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

The 25-year-old dual national managed to escape when the building was bombed, but after hiding out for a few days, he was caught and returned to Hamas, Magid said during a call to the radio station.

He said that he was kidnapped by terrorists and they brought him inside some building, she said.

I understood from the bombings, the building collapsed and he managed to escape from there and for several days he hid there and was alone and in the end the Gazans caught him and returned him to the hands of the terrorists, Magid added.

He tried to reach the border. I think that because he didnt have the means to understand his whereabouts and where to run away, he probably got into a bit of disorientation there in the area. He was alone for four days, she added.

Kriboy suffered a head injury when the building he was being held in collapsed, but is doing fine now, Magid told the radio station.

Kriboy is the first adult male captured on October 7 to be released by Hamas. His release was not officially part of the hostages-for-prisoners deal between Israel and Hamas.

That deal paved the way for potentially 50 women and children held captive in Gaza to be released, while Israel will release up to 150 Palestinian women and child detainees.

Hamas credited Kriboys release to the intervention of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the supportive Russian position for the Palestinian cause.

Magid said her nephews parents moved from Russia to Israel in 1992, six years before Kriboy was born. The boy was born here and grew up here all of his life. He hardly speaks Russian, she told the radio station.

Amir Tal reported from Jerusalem, and Stephanie Halasz wrote in London.

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Spare parts used to repair Russian military airplanes and helicopters appear to have been imported from a number of Ukrainian factories, according to an investigation published by the independent Russian news outlet Important Stories on Nov. 27.

Customs data reportedly shows that Avia FED Service, a Moscow-based spare parts dealer, supplied the Russian aircraft sector with $7.3 million worth of spare parts between January 2022 and July 2023.

Important Stories assessed that over half of the total value of these parts, or $4.2 million, came from Ukraine.

This number reportedly includes $1.4 million worth of spare parts for repairing Antonov An-124 transport planes, imported from Kharkiv's "FED" Machine-Building Plant.

Important Stories noted that Russia used to account for around 70% of the company's sales, but the plant "officially stopped all deliveries to Russia" in 2014, following the Russian occupation of Crimea and Donbas.

The investigation showed that other factories that have supplied parts include the Motor Sich aircraft engine manufacturer in Zaporizhzhia.

In October 2022, Motor Sich President Viacheslav Bohuslaiev was arrested for treason and collaborating with Russia, as was Oleh Dzyuba, Motor Sich's former chief of foreign economic activity.

The Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau, the "Radar" and "Artem" factories in Kyiv, and companies in France, the U.S., and the U.K. also appear to have delivered spare parts, Important Stories said.

According to Russian state procurement data, the Russian Defense Ministry and state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec are among Avia FED Service's clients. The company was sanctioned by Ukraine in 2021.

Avia FED Service therefore used an intermediary company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to import supplies from abroad between 2022 and 2023, Important Stories reported.

Both the manager and owner of the UAE-based intermediary company appear to be Ukrainians, the investigation suggests. The owner denied that his company has ever supplied goods to Russia.

Customs data shows that the last time a delivery was sent from the intermediary company in the UAE was January 2023.

The director of Avia FED Service told Important Stories that Ukrainian-made parts were purchased by his company before February 2022 and had simply been stored abroad.

In early 2023, a new intermediary supplier in Kyrgyzstan started sending the deliveries, Important Stories reported.

The Kyiv Independent has not independently confirmed the investigations findings.

Read also: Investigative Stories From Ukraine: Russian military helicopters get Czech components despite sanctions

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Russian occupation regime in Ukraines Crimea is recruiting additional personnel to the Centre for Countering Extremism of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Republic of Crimea (Centre E), including civilian collaborators.

Source: Ukraines National Resistance Center

Details: The Centre for Countering Extremism monitors social media, Telegram channels, blogs, forums and websites that have the comment function enabled.

Its aim is to find "unreliables" and enter their names into a special database. Commenting or even "reacting" in response to social media posts criticising Russian aggression or expressing a pro-Ukrainian stance can become grounds for a person to be entered into the database.

The Centre also works alongside Russias Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor) to block peoples access to sources that share information unfavourable to the Kremlin. The Centre staff carry out special checks on candidates for positions in Russian occupation administrations and at critical infrastructure facilities.

The Russian occupation regime has entered information about over 7,000 people into their database to date, including over 1,000 indigenous Crimean Tatars.

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Russian students are being asked to turn in their vapes, per a report.

A group organizing the push said the circuits and batteries can be used in drones.

Russia is pushing hard to produce more weaponry for its invasion of Ukraine.

Students at a Russian university are asking their peers to donate their vapes to help the Russian military, a report said.

Their components can be repurposed to make drones for Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Russian publication Novaya Gazeta Europe.

The "Falcon patriotic military club" in Russia's University of Samara is collecting vape pens, distributing flyers, and putting collection boxes around campus, the report said.

The group's flyer said that the military can make use of circuits and batteries in particular, the report said.

They are said to be easily adapted to help operate ammunition release systems.

The flyer  seen here on the Russian social network VKontakte  is a riff on the famous Soviet "Nyet!" poster encouraging citizens to refuse alcohol.

The Soviet anti-drinking propaganda poster which inspired the vape-donation campaign. USSR

The new version said "1 e-cigarette = 1 drone attack on the enemy!" according to Ukrainian outlet the Kyiv Post's translation of the report.

The group said it started the collection effort after it was approached by "people involved in the special military operation," which is how Russia describes its war, according to the Kyiv Post.

The Falcon patriotic military club was founded in 2008 by the university's Military Department.

The group has been collecting items for Russia's troops, including faulty mobile phones, camping stoves, clothing and food, since the invasion began in February 2022, the Kyiv Post reported.

Both Russia and Ukraine are using repurposed parts to fight the war.

Ukraine is making decoy weapons to try and fool Russia into wasting its expensive weapons.

A Ukrainian company says it is repurposing Russian oil barrels to make fake radar reflectors, and a project in Ukraine is using vapes too, for charging drones and night-vision gear.

Russia and Ukraine are also boosting their own domestic weapons manufacturing, trying to reduce their reliance on being donated or purchasing weapons from other countries.

This includes Ukraine trying to ramp up its own production of missiles, drones, and ammunition, in the hope of making itself less reliant on donations from its Western allies.

Russia has relied on Iran for many of the drones it uses in Ukraine. It is now working to manufacture a version of an Iranian drone within Russia, according to one research group.

Read the original article on Business Insider
(CNN)  Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old American dual citizen abducted by Hamas on October 7, has been released  marking the first successful release of an American hostage since the start of a truce between Israel and Hamas. Edan is one of the 17 hostages released Sunday.

President Joe Biden welcomed Abigails release, saying in a speech from Nantucket, Massachusetts, that she is receiving love, care and the supportive services she needs and adding that he was hopeful this is not the end of the temporary truce.

Biden said the girl has been through a terrible trauma. Her mother was killed in front of her, the president said. She then ran to her father, Biden said, who used his body to shield his daughter and was killed.

What she endured was unthinkable, he said. Biden added that Abigail was now in Israel but said that he did not have details on her condition.

Abigail was taken to Schneider Childrens Medical Center, where the other child hostages have been transferred, a spokesperson with the Hostage and Missing Families Forum told CNN.

Biden spoke with Abigails family Sunday afternoon, the White House said.

This afternoon, following the release of Abigail Edan by Hamas, President Biden spoke by phone with members of Abigails family in the United States and Israel, the White House said in a statement.

Biden also spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Sunday, the White House said. The two leaders discussed the latest developments in Israel and Gaza and the recent release of hostages, including Abigail Edan, by Hamas.

Abigails great-aunt and cousin thanked Biden, the Qatari government and other informal actors involved in releasing hostages held by Hamas in a joint statement Sunday.

We hoped and prayed today would come. There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail is safe and coming home, Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali said in the statement.

We will continue to stand with the families of all the hostages still held captive, and we remain committed as ever to securing their safe and swift return, they added.

US officials believed that Abigail was being held in the northern part of Gaza along with her neighbors, and throughout the negotiations pushed for Abigail  along with two other American women  to be included on an early list of hostages to be released, a senior administration official said.

On Sunday, the US was able to track the girls movements through Gaza to the hands of Red Cross officials and into Israel. Biden spoke with his senior advisers throughout the process, but there was no sigh of relief until she crossed the border and was safely in Israel, the official said.

Two American women who are unaccounted for are also expected to be part of the group of 50 women and children hostages released as part of a four-day truce, now in its third day.

No Americans were released as part of the deal on Friday or Saturday. There are 10 Americans who are unaccounted for at this time.

Twenty-four hostages  including 13 Israeli civilians and 11 foreign nationals  were freed on Friday, followed by 17 more  13 Israelis and four Thai nationals  on Saturday as part of the brokered deal between Hamas and Israel. All 41 foreign nationals released by Hamas from captivity in Gaza are stable, according to medical professionals.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan told CNNs Dana Bash that it is difficult to know the true status of the Americans who were taken captive in Gaza during Hamas brutal cross-border assault on October 7.

We cannot say for certain whether all three of them are still alive. But we do know this: We have reason to believe that today, one American will be released, he said earlier Sunday on State of the Union.

Omer Neutra, a dual US-Israeli citizen, is among the Israel Defense Forces soldiers kidnapped by Hamas, his parents have told CNN. Sullivan said he has been candid with Neutras parents and the parents of other American hostages.

I told them directly  that we do not know the specific whereabouts or condition of Omer or other Americans because until the end of this deal, until the end of tomorrow we will not have, from the Red Cross, proof of life or other information, Sullivan said.

Sullivan also spoke about Hamas agreeing to allow the Red Cross to visit the remaining hostages in Gaza and said the US is leaning on Qatari and Egyptian officials to ensure that happens by the end of Monday.

We do believe that Hamas has obliged to maintain its part of the commitment on Red Cross visitation of the hostages and we expect Qatar and Egypt and other countries to hold Hamas accountable to hold that commitment by the end of tomorrow, Sullivan said.

Sullivan said Israel is prepared to extend the pause in fighting in exchange for Hamas releasing 10 hostages each day, adding, The ball is really in Hamas court.

If Hamas wants to see an extension of the pause in fighting, it can continue to release hostages, Sullivan said. If it chooses not to release hostages, then the end of the pause is its responsibility, not Israels, because it is holding these hostages completely illegitimately and against all bounds of human decency or the laws of war.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said in an interview with CNNs Wolf Blitzer on Sunday that it was up to Hamas to free more hostages to extend the pause.

It was agreed in the original agreement, which has been violated constantly by Hamas but still implemented piecemeal, that if they bring another 10 prisoners or so  there will be an extension of another day of humanitarian pause, Herzog said.

Hamas said in a statement Sunday evening that it wants to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.

Israels war cabinet also discussed the possibility of extending the temporary truce with Hamas when it met Sunday evening, an Israeli source told CNN.

While Israeli officials work to care for the released hostages and reunite them with their families, Sullivan said, they will also look to glean any information about Hamas in hostage debriefings on their time in captivity.

Israel is focused on learning anything it can about whereabouts, locations and other information based on conversations they have with the released hostages in the days ahead, he said.

Humanitarian aid into Gaza

Sullivan also detailed some of the inspection mechanisms involved with getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Before aid goes into the Rafah crossing into Gaza, Sullivan said, it is checked by Israelis to make sure that it is in fact humanitarian supplies and not goods that could help Hamas in its military campaign.

The aid trucks then go to United Nations depots and other humanitarian organizations that, he said, are vetted and trusted partners.

From there, he said, the aid is distributed directly to the people.

As humanitarian assistance has ramped up, weve seen it work  that its actually getting to people and that its not being diverted into the hands of Hamas, Sullivan said.

The United Nations said Friday that 137 trucks carrying aid, including 129,000 liters of fuel and four trucks of gas, were offloaded in Gaza on the first day of the pause, marking the largest humanitarian convoy to enter the strip since October 7. Another 70 trucks carrying food, water, fuel and medical supplies entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Saturday, according to a border crossing spokesperson.

Biden is in close touch with Israel and UN leadership to ensure the aid is getting to where it belongs, which is the innocent people who are suffering.

This story has been updated with additional developments.
Russian invasion forces have seen partial success in the Avdiivka industrial zone, but havent established full control there, Ukrainian military personnel Serhiy Volkov said in an interview with Radio Svoboda on Nov. 27.

"The situation is difficult. They (the Russians) have made some advances in certain areas, but it is too early to claim they control the industrial zone," he said.

The Russians are throwing a lot of their forces and infantry into consolidating their positions and making further progress, Volkov said.

"Hovewer, not everything is going well for them because they are getting their asses kicked by our Armed Forces," he added.

Read also: Fierce fighting continues around Avdiivka, poor weather conditions add to defenders problems

Volkov emphasized the importance of awaiting confirmation from the General Staff regarding the situation in Avdiivka.

"The Russians are applying pressure from three sides, advancing roughly from the Yasynuvata side, from the frontal part," he said.

Russian invasion forces have tried several times to storm Avdiivka, throwing several mechanized columns at the city, but they lost 80% of their equipment, the spokesperson for the Joint Press Center of the Tavria Defense Forces, Oleksandr Shtupun, said on Nov. 22.

Earlier, Shtupun reported that Russia had sharply increased the number of assault operations near Avdiivka.

Earlier, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that during the month of active assaults on Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, Russia lost about 10,000 soldiers.

The Russian military is losing soldiers and equipment near Avdiivka "faster and on a larger scale than, in particular, near Bakhmut," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Russia's daily casualties in Ukraine are likely higher now than at any other time in the war, says UK intel

A Ukrainian soldier from the "White Angel" special unit convincing a local to leave his home in Avdiivka, Ukraine, on October 30, 2023. Getty Images

Russia may be losing more soldiers in Ukraine now than at any other time in the war, per UK intel.

The UK Ministry of Defence put it down to those killed and injured in Russia's attacks on Avdiivka.

Russian casualties in November are outpacing those of its March offensive in Bakhmut, Ukraine said.

Russia is losing more soldiers this month in Ukraine than it has at any time over the past 20 months of the war, British intelligence reported on Monday.

An average of 931 Russian soldiers are being injured or killed on a daily basis in November, compared to 776 at the height of Russia's assault on Bakhmut in March, the previous high, the UK Ministry of Defence said in a daily intelligence update, citing Ukrainian General Staff figures.

"The last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far," the MOD said.

Neither Business Insider nor the UK's MOD could independently verify the methodology used by the Ukrainian General Staff.

But the MOD said the figures are "plausible," putting it down to mounting casualty figures from Russia's attacks on Avdiivka, a small town on the edge of occupied Donetsk.

Russia's military has suffered heavy losses in the region because of its reliance on Soviet-era military tactics, according to military analysts.

Russian troops are resorting to the "classic military maneuver" of encircling the enemy on three sides, which they have used "many times" in Bakhmut, Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic International Studies, told Business Insider last week .

George Barros, a Russia analyst at the Institute for the Study of War, made a similar assessment, telling Business Insider that Russia is launching brutal attacks with an enormous quantity of combat power.

Russia has lost so many soldiers in the city that a Ukrainian drone operator compared it to scenes from a "zombie movie," the AFP news agency reported last Thursday.

The drone operator, who goes by the call sign "Trauma," told the news agency that "columns of tanks and armored personnel carriers" fell one by one into minefields and were hit by drones and anti-tank missiles.

Russian assaults have caused massive losses to armored vehicles, according to aerial footage shared by General Oleksandr Tarnavskyi, commander of Ukraine's Tavriia Operational Strategic Group.

Despite their efforts, Russian forces have made only marginal gains, bringing them about 4 miles away from Avdiivka, the Institute for the Study of War think tank reported on Sunday, citing geolocated footage.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Head teacher Ruth Perry took her own life in January

The family of a head teacher who took her own life after Ofsted rated her school inadequate have launched an appeal for help with their legal costs.

An inquest into the death of Ruth Perry is due to open on Tuesday, but her family was told last week that their request for legal aid had been refused.

Ms Perry died in January, less than two months after the Ofsted inspection of Caversham Primary in Reading.

She told friends and family that the inspection had left her "broken".

The report downgraded the school from outstanding to inadequate, after inspectors said they had discovered problems with safeguarding.

A later inspection by Ofsted judged the school to be have earned a grade of good.

The family have argued that help funding legal representation would be in the public interest.

They said, in contrast, the costs of a seven strong team representing Ofsted and counsel for Brighter Futures for Children, the council-owned company that runs Reading's schools, will both be funded from the public purse.

The family has described the decision as "unjust," adding that without legal aid, Ruth's husband and school age daughters will have to rely on the late headteacher's widower's pension to help meet their legal bills.

They say they want the inquest to uncover the details of what led to Ms Perry's death and what "lessons can be learnt to prevent future such deaths from occurring".

The crowdfunding appeal was almost half way to its 50,000 target less than 48 hours after it was launched on Saturday.

The family said any excess over and above their legal costs would be donated to the charity Inquest, which supports the families of those challenging the authorities over the death of a loved one.

Follow BBC South on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to south.newsonline@bbc.co.uk.
The new President and CEO of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Robert W. Heidt Jr. expects dealing with the areas homelessness crisis will be a key issue for the organization.

Homelessness and the unhoused is a national problem, all the way from whatever the city it is to the smallest town, he said. And they are tough situations. They are very complex.

Heidt, who takes over the chamber in early January, said there will be no easy answers.

The number of people who are unhoused has rapidly grown.

Federal data shows that in Sacramento County between 2020 and 2022, the number of homeless people grew to 9,278, a 68 % increase.

The chamber has been aggressive in pushing for laws allowing city officials to move the unhoused from the street including pushing for an August law approved by the city council that gave the city manager the power to create emergency shelters.

The law also gave the city the ability to clear homeless encampments off the street more quickly.

The chamber announced on Nov. 17 that it had chosen Heidt to replace Amanda Blackwood, who left the organization in October after a six-year tenure.

Heidt has served as president and CEO of the Glendale Arizona Chamber of Commerce since 2013. Glendale is located 9 miles from Phoenix.

He was selected as the head of the Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber after a national search.

We are super excited to have Robert decide to lend his gifts and his talent to the Sacramento Metro Chamber of Commerce, and we are really glad to work with him, Chamber Board Chair Darrell Teat said in a statement.

Heidt said he is still studying many of the issues facing the Sacramento region. He said he has not taken a position yet on whether the city of Sacramentos tax on businesses should be increased.

Voters will decide on March 5 whether businesses should be required to pay what is expected to be a $6 million increase in taxes.

I think the increase is a little bit more than people would like, he said. Once I can get to Sacramento and get boots on the ground and talk to our stakeholders and partners I will have a better idea of my position.

Heidt looks forward to immersing himself in the Sacramento community come January and connecting with as many people as he can.

Heidt said Sacramento is an emerging destination. He said while there are challenges, there is also a lot of potential for business growth.
As one of the youngest members of the Planning Commission, Oak Park resident Dov Kadin is representative of not only his community but also a generational shift within the city of Sacramento on housing policy.

If youre not trying to change the status quo, then youre are locking disparities in amber, Kadin told me at a coffee shop in Oak Park.

Kadin, along with the rest of the citys Design and Planning Commission, are some of the most influential people in the city.

Opinion

(The Planning Commission) actually have the power and authority to make final land use decisions, said councilmember Caity Maple, who appointed Kadin to the commission. They can make the decision that doesnt even involve the city council, so that means a lot of power and also a lot of responsibility.

Whats different here is that Kadins sensibilities reflect the frustration that young people feel with how the city of Sacramento does housing.

The 33-year-old is originally from San Luis Obispo but moved to the Sacramento region in 2017 and began working as a Senior Planner at the Sacramento Area Council of Governments after he got his Masters in city planning from UC Berkeley.

At 31, Maple is the youngest member of the Sacramento City Council. Fittingly, Maple said she discovered Kadin on X (formerly Twitter), and was impressed by his knowledge of the citys housing issues. Kadin said he first met the councilwoman while she was canvassing the neighborhood prior to her election, and they immediately clicked on policy.

Were both very much of the mindset that Sacramento is a great place, Kadin said. We need to be willing to right past wrongs, to open up our community to people of all income levels.

The Missing Middle

The Planning Commissions latest project is for the city to amend decades-old zoning laws to encourage Missing Middle Housing development. Think duplexes, triplexes, cottage courts or small-courtyard buildings. Theyre needed because cities like Sacramento were, for too long, addicted to single-family homes that priced young and poor people out of the market and exacerbated a housing shortage across California.

On average, the study found, that about 81% of residential land is restricted to single-family homes only, while only 10% of total land is available for multi-family developments. Zoning ordinances throughout the Sacramento region are exceptionally hostile to density, researchers wrote.

To meet housing targets assigned by the state, Sacramento needs to produce 45,580 housing units by 2029, at an average of 5,700 units for the next six years. Yet, for the past decade, only about 2,000 new units have been produced annually in the region.

In Sacramento, a major obstacle for years has been that the city has restricted the number of units that could be built on a single lot. For the last two years at least, the city has tried to remove barriers to building needed duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes that people can afford. The city is moving to formalize its own General Plan so that this type of housing can be built more quickly, and a city council vote on the issue is expected in February.

When city staff came in October with a recommendation to reinstate the unit cap, the city council balked at the idea of holding to a status quo for housing that clearly hasnt worked.

Of course, more housing doesnt necessarily equate to cheaper housing, but quickly getting a mass amount of more units onto the market will help every level of the states housing crisis.

Absolutely, there is a subset of households that are at a certain income level that will never be able to afford market-rate rents, and we need to provide subsidies for them, Kadin said. But we absolutely have to dig ourselves out of the shortage of private units.

Stopping neighborhood segregation

Sacramento also needs to be thoughtful about exactly where these units go in the city. The amount of land currently locked up by zoning regulations is directly linked to the racial makeup of the community  its modern-day redlining for communities that cant afford single-family homes. (Redlining, famously the practice of labeling typically low-income and diverse neighborhoods as hazardous to investment; and thereby excluding them from development.) The citys report on where the Missing Middle housing could go is also rife with potentially exclusionary practices. can we spell some of them out?

Consistent with advocates advice, the city marked prioritization for middle housing in areas of high opportunity, with multiple options for transportation (including access to mass transit such as light rail), in neighborhoods near employment centers, and labeled parts of the city according to those amenities, with transitional neighborhoods less suitable than a neighborhood deemed compact and connected.

What makes Elmhurst or East Sacramento transitional but Oak Park compact (and) connected? asked Kadin on X. Its not transit (the former has light rail and decent bus service). Its not lot size or access to jobs. Its that those neighborhoods have managed to exclude multifamily (development) historically.

Its questions like these that help keep a city on alert against too-long-tolerated discrimination. Kadin will be present at an update the city is giving at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 28 about missing middle housing, the draft 2040 General Plan, and the citys draft climate action and adaption plan. I highly suggest you be there too, to ask questions of city officials. and figure out how they plan to implement these plans. Public comment is a powerful tool to hold the elected to account. Dont let the opportunity slip by.
The Sacramento County Sheriffs Office said one of the owners of a popular south Sacramento nightclub was among two victims killed after alleged gang members fired into a crowd Sunday outside the establishment.

Sheriffs deputies went to Sacto By Night lounge, 7121 Governors Circle, after getting a call at 1:45 a.m. of a shooting in the unincorporated Parkway neighborhood. The two men who died at the scene have not yet been identified by the Sacramento County Coroners Office.

Investigators said in a later update that a group of alleged gang members at the club refused to leave when it closed. Social media posts show the bar was celebrating Hmong New Year on Saturday night with a 20% off on all bottle services.

Sacto By Night lounges operators noted in a social media post that the shooting didnt happen on its property and that it remains open with events starting Wednesday.

All events are still on, the social media post said.

Employees eventually got every patron out of the club, but a fight erupted, a news release said.

At least one purported gang member fired shots killing two people, the Sheriffs Office said.

Witnesses reported the suspect fled in a white vehicle. The California Highway Patrol found a vehicle matching the description and detained the people inside, the news release said. Firearms were found in the vehicle, the Sheriffs Office said.

The Sheriffs Office hasnt released the suspects names and said deputies would do so when charges have been filed. Its also unclear how the other three occupants of the vehicle were involved.

The investigation is still ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call the Sheriffs Office at 916-874-5115 or the Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357. Tipsters who divulge information leading to an arrest may get a $1,000 reward and can remain anonymous.

Anonymous information can be left by calling 916-874-8477.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Despite a booming population, Salt Lake Citys youthful demographic is shrinking according to new research from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.

Researchers found that while Utahs capital city grew 7% between 2010 and 2020, Salt Lake Citys under-18 population shrunk by 12%, or about 5,000 residents. The decrease marks a new 100-year low in Salt Lake Citys youthful demographic, according to the Policy Institutes data.

The Point bringing over 3,000 homes and multi-use entertainment center in Phase 1

In 1930, Salt Lake reportedly had over 49,000 residents under the age of 18. The demographic spiked in the 1960s with nearly 66,000 under-18 residents but then saw a sharp decline to a low of about 39,000. Despite a small recovery, Policy Institute researchers say the under-18 population dropped to its new record-low of about 37,000.

Public Policy Analyst and the reports lead author Heidi Prior said the decline has been disproportionate among the citys youngest youth. Only the citys under-10 age group decreased while the population of youth aged 10 to 17 increased.

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The under-5 population in Salt Lake City experienced the largest declines of any age group in the city in recent years, said Prior. According to her report, the under-5 population in Salt Lake City dropped by about 4,200 residents and the population of children aged between five and nine decreased by about 1,600 in the same ten-year period. Meanwhile, 10 to 17-year-olds actually increased in population by nearly 1,000.

Prior said Salt Lake Citys trend of declining youth isnt unique and actually mirrors a larger trend of declines in many western cities. While Boise, Denver and Reno also experienced their youth population decrease, Salt Lake Citys decrease was larger. Even in the last 20-year time period, Salt Lake Citys decreases were similar to Boise and Sacramento.

Researchers with the Policy Institute did not speculate as to why Utahs youth population decreased to its new record low, however, there could be a link to a nationwide trend of having fewer children.

2022 research from the institute found Utahs fertility rate dropped by almost 22% between 2010 and 2020, the seventh fastest in the nation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Have you ever seen an ad claiming you can get a brand-new product for cheaper than is reasonable? A select few of Samsung's Cyber Monday deals feel exactly like that, offering up a pair of Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for $49 or a Galaxy Watch 6 for $99 when you bundle it with new Samsung phones like the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Galaxy Z Fold 5, or Galaxy Z Flip 5.

To put those prices into perspective, Galaxy Buds 2 Pro are normally $229, while a Galaxy Watch 6 is normally $299. That means you can walk away with a Galaxy S23 Ultra, a brand new watch, and a brand new pair of Samsung's best wireless earbuds for under $500 if you trade in your old phone.

When ordering a phone on Samsung's website, just scroll down to the "Limited time bundle offers" section and click on the accessory you want. Simple as that!

Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 Pro: $229 As low as $49.99 when you bundle at Samsung

Order a Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, Z Fold 5, or Z Flip 5 from Samsung and you can get a pair of Galaxy Buds 2 Pro for just $50! That's nearly $200 off the normal price, making this the best deal we've ever seen on Samsung's best earbuds.View Deal

Considering the elevated trade-in values Samsung is offering right now, even phones as old as a Galaxy Note 8 or Galaxy S9 will get you at least $300 off any of the three aforementioned phones. Plus, if you activate the phone today with your carrier of choice, you could get up to $1,030 off the phone after trade-in.

Verizon will even take any Samsung Galaxy phone in basically any condition, so long as it's not reported as lost or stolen or has a damaged battery. That means you can trade in something as ancient as a Galaxy S3 and still get the full $800 off a Galaxy S23 Ultra.

If you want to go grab an old phone from Swappa for a few bucks real quick, you'll be able to save $800 on a new phone. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone.

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6: $299 As low as $99.99 when you bundle at Samsung

Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic: $399 As low as $200 when you bundle at Samsung

Samsung's best watch yet is on sale for the best price ever when you buy one alongside a Galaxy S23 Ultra, Z Fold 5, or Z Flip 5 from Samsung. Just scroll down to the "Limited time bundle offers" section and add the one you want!View Deal

Now, I know Samsung requires you to buy a phone from them to unlock the full deals, but it's difficult to fathom how the company makes any money at all in this situation.

Older phones like the Galaxy S21 trade in to Samsung for at least $400 right now, which would already drop the price of the Galaxy S23 Ultra or Z Flip 5 down below what we'd expect to see. But then Samsung goes and chops around 75% off the price of either the Buds 2 Pro or Galaxy Watch 6, substantially improving the value of your purchase this year.

Android Central's Cyber Monday deal hubs:

Tech | Phones | Tablets | Wearables | TVs | Smart Home

And here's the thing. Samsung is one of those companies that makes its Galaxy products in a way that they work particularly well with other Galaxy products. A pair of Buds 2 Pro, for instance, will enable spatial audio recording when paired with a Galaxy phone, so you'll be able to enjoy 3D audio playback on any video recorded with the duo.

The Galaxy Watch 6 will work with any Android phone but it works better with a Galaxy phone because of deep tie-ins in Samsung's One UI.

But let's say you don't feel like spending that much on a phone this year. That's where the Galaxy S23 FE comes in.

Samsung Galaxy S23 FE 128GB: $629 as low as $229 with trade-in at Samsung

Get a great phone for a much lower price, especially when you trade in your old phone at Samsung. The company is offering elevated trade-in values through the end of Cyber Monday as well as incredible bundle options, like the Galaxy Buds FE for just $50.View Deal

The Galaxy S23 FE packs in last year's flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor and the cameras from the Galaxy S22 alongside an extra year of software updates, all at a reduced price. Plus, Samsung is offering elevated trade-in values until the end of Cyber Monday.

Better yet, you can still get a pair of Galaxy Buds FE for $49.99 when you bundle it with a Galaxy S23 FE purchase on Samsung's website. The Galaxy Watch 6 can be bundled for as low as $150, which is obviously more than the $99 Samsung offers bundled with its more expensive phones. But that still makes the Galaxy Watch 6 50% off its normal price, so it's still an incredible deal.
Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) will find himself in the spotlight when the House returns to session this week, which could feature a third  and potentially successful  vote on his ouster.

Tuesday will mark the first time lawmakers are back in the Capitol since the House Ethics Committee released a damning report that said the embattled lawmaker violated federal criminal laws. The chair of that panel  Rep. Michael Guest (R-Miss.)  introduced a resolution to expel Santos, and other lawmakers have said they plan to force a vote on the New York representatives ouster this week.

Santos has acknowledged that his days in Congress are likely numbered, declaring during a conversation on X Spaces last week, I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor. He is set to hold a press conference Thursday.

Also this week, the House will consider a resolution calling on Hamas to release all hostages taken during the Oct. 7 attack, in addition to other legislation related to Israel and Iran.

On the other side of the Capitol, senators will continue talks on border security with hopes of a deal unlocking consideration of Ukraine aid. Republicans have demanded U.S. border security to move in tandem with funding for Kyiv.

Santos press conference, potential expulsion vote

Santos will come face-to-face with his congressional colleagues in the Capitol this week for the first time since the Ethics Committee published its scathing report into the New York Republican, significantly increasing calls for his ouster.

And a vote on expelling the embattled lawmaker could come as soon as this week.

Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), who previously said he would submit a privileged resolution to expel Santos when the House reconvenes Tuesday, told Axios over the weekend that he would move to force a vote on ousting the New York Republican the second that the House opens Tuesday. Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) also previously said he planned to force a vote on Santoss expulsion.

If a lawmaker moves to force a vote on a resolution to expel Santos, the House must act on the measure within two legislative days.

Guest, the chair of the Ethics Committee, introduced a resolution to expel Santos one day after the panel released its report, which found that the first-term lawmaker blatantly stole from his campaign, using official funds for trips to Atlantic City and Las Vegas, on botox and other cosmetic procedures, at the luxury brand Hermes and for purchases from OnlyFans, a subscription platform that is largely used for adult content.

Santos survived two expulsion attempts earlier this year, but after the Ethics report dropped, a handful of members previously against booting him from Congress said they will now back his ouster, bringing the chamber closer to the two-thirds majority needed to expel a sitting lawmaker.

Santos said Friday that he expects the next expulsion effort against him will be successful, telling listeners during a conversation on X Spaces, Ive done the math over and over, and it doesnt look really good. But he once again said he is not going to resign because [if] I resign, I admit everything thats on that report.

Santos is set to hold a press conference Thursday. He announced the event hours after the Ethics Committee released its report in a social media post that began with the phrase My year from Hell.

Senate continues border talks to unlock Ukraine aid

The Senate this week will continue talks on a border security package as Republicans demand that immigration reform be attached to any legislation that includes funding for Ukraine.

Negotiations were in bad shape heading into the Thanksgiving recess. Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters before the break that talks were not good at the moment, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said they were not going well.

Republicans want the talks to be focused on the border and decreasing the number of people crossing the border, while Democrats want their counterparts to also include measures that would allow individuals to immigrate into the country.

The talks come months after the White House unveiled a massive national security supplemental funding measure that includes roughly $61 billion for Ukraine.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told colleagues in a letter Sunday that border security negotiations continued through the holiday, while emphasizing the need for bipartisanship in the process.

We will need bipartisan cooperation and compromise to achieve a reasonable, realistic agreement that both sides can support, Schumer said.

However, the New York Democrat slammed the GOP border demands, arguing that they are the biggest holdup to passing a national security assistance package.

This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities. Democrats stand ready to work on common-sense solutions to address immigration, but purely partisan hard-right demands, like those in H.R. 2, jeopardize the entire national security supplemental package, he added.

Schumer also said he plans to bring President Bidens national security supplemental to the floor as soon as the week of December 4th. He added there will be an all-senators classified briefing on Ukraine in the coming days, adding, I urge every Senator to attend.

House to consider resolution calling on Hamas to release hostages

The House this week will consider a resolution that calls on Hamas to immediately release hostages taken during its attack on Israel last month.

Consideration of the resolution, which has 236 co-sponsors, comes amid a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas that has led to the release of several hostages. The terms of the agreement include the release of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

On Sunday, the third day of the truce, 4-year-old Abigail Edan, a dual Israeli-American citizen taken hostage Oct. 7 whose parents were killed in the attack, was released. The truce could be extended.

The House this week is also set to vote on a resolution Reaffirming the State of Israels right to exist. The two-page resolution, sponsored by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), also recognizes that denying Israels right to exist is a form of antisemitism, rejects calls for Israels destruction and the elimination of the only Jewish State and condemns the Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel.

The legislation could put another spotlight on the divisions within the Democratic caucus over Israel that have been exposed on a number of occasions since Hamass attack last month. Pro-Israel Democrats have backed the response to the attack, while some liberals have accused Israel of committing human rights crimes in Gaza.

Additionally, the House is looking to consider a separate measure this week that would refreeze the $6 billion in funds that were unlocked as part of a prisoner exchange with Iran earlier this year, and impose sanctions on any foreign or international institution that facilitates the transfer of the funds.

The Biden administration finalized a deal in September that would grant a waiver to allow Tehran to regain $6 billion in assets that had been stuck in South Korea in exchange for the release of five American prisoners. The U.S. also said it would release five Iranian nationals it had in its custody.

That agreement, however, came under bipartisan criticism after Hamas, an Iranian-backed group, launched its attack on Israel last month.

The House is eyeing consideration of the bill this week after conservatives tanked a rule governing debate for the Iran legislation and an appropriations measure before the Thanksgiving recess in part because of how the Iran bill was handled.

Nineteen hard-line conservatives, frustrated that it was brought up under a closed rule, voted against it, blocking the chamber from considering the legislation and prompting GOP leadership to send lawmakers home early for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Updated at 8:45 a.m. ET

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The satellite image shows the absence of at least one of the buildings intended for ammunition storage

The Russian service of Radio Liberty has shared satellite photos showing the aftermath of explosions in the village of Kotluban, Volgograd Oblast, where a military unit was set on fire overnight on Nov. 15-16.

The journalists compared the images from Nov. 11 and Nov. 24. The photographs confirm the statements of the locals that the fire was on the premises of a Russian military unit. Residents assumed that warehouses or a train with ordnance had exploded.

Read also: Russia reports large-scale drone attack  likely conducted by Ukraines military intel

The images show that the building no longer has a roof, and there is a burnt debris in its place.

"According to the Wikimapia service, the arsenal of the Main Missile Artillery Directorate (GRAU) of the Russian Defense Ministry is located here," Radio Liberty writes.

After the accident, at least one of the buildings intended for storing ammunition was destroyed on the grounds of the arsenal.

Read also: More explosions heard in Russias Tula as drones reportedly downed

Overnight on Nov. 15-16, a military unit was reported to be on fire in Volgograd Oblast. Russian media reported a drone attack.

Ukrainian special services and the military have not officially confirmed their involvement in the incident.

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
Beijing (CNN)  For nearly 10 years, Jiang Hui has been searching for answers as to why the plane carrying his 70-year-old mother back from vacation in Malaysia vanished without a trace.

Jiangs mother, Jiang Cuiyun, was one of 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it deviated from its scheduled path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

To this date, the fate of MH370 remains one of historys greatest aviation mysteries, and Jiang has never given up on his quest to find out what happened.

On Monday, a Chinese court will begin hearing claims for compensation for families of MH370 passengers, who say the disaster not only deprived them of their loved ones, but also plunged some into financial distress.

Almost 10 years on, the family members (who refused to accept settlement offers) did not receive any apology or a penny of compensation, Jiang, 50, told CNN in an interview ahead of the hearings at the Chaoyang District Peoples Court in Beijing, more than seven years after the lawsuits were initially filed.

In fact, my mood is very complicated now. There is both a sense of relief and a deep feeling of helplessness.

Jiang is suing Maylasia Airlines, its insurer, Boeing and the manufacturer of the planes engine  companies he believes should be held responsible under Chinese law for damage occured during transportation. His demands include compensation, a formal apology, and the resumption of psychological assistance to family members, as well as the creation of a fund to continue searches for the plane.

About 40 Chinese families are taking these companies to court with varying but largely overlapping appeals, with hearings expected to last until December 5, Jiang said. His own case will be heard on Friday, he added.

Of the more than 200 people aboard the flight, 153 were Chinese nationals.

The complete lack of legal remedies over the past decade has made our painful lives even more unbearable, Jiang said.

In a statement to CNN on the court hearings, Boeing said: Our thoughts continue to be with those who were on board MH370 and their loved ones.

CNN has also reached out to Malaysia Airlines, Allianz and Rolls-Royce for comment.

Legal uncertainty

Its unclear what enforcement power the Chinese court can wield over the defendants if it rules in favor of Jiang and the other plantiffs. All of them are international companies headquartered outside China, though Malaysia Airlines, Boeing and Roll-Royce have offices in China.

Similar cases brought in the United States by the victims families have been dismissed on the grounds that these lawsuits should be handled by the Malaysian legal system.

In Malaysia, two young boys who lost their father on the flight sued Malaysia Airlines for breach of contract and the Malaysian government for negligence in 2014. The case was settled out of court the next year.

In China, families who signed a settlement agreement with Malaysian Airlines received 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) in compensation. Only a few dozen Chinese families signed initially, but over the years more have opted to settle.

By March 2021, about 90 families had still declined to settle, but the number halved after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Jiang.

Now, only about 40 families have not settled, according to Jiang, who said they refused to sign the agreement because it removed all responsibility from the airline and the Malaysian government.

Three years of Covid lockdowns and other stringent control measures wreaked havoc on the Chinese economy, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.

On our long journey seeking the truth, many families fell into a tough livelihood or even survival situation. They settled as a last resort to ensure their lives, Jiang said. But no matter having settled or not, our ultimate goal remains the same  which is to find the plane and our loved ones.

A 2018 report by Malaysian authorities concluded the investigation team was unable to determine the real cause of the disappearance of MH370. Human interference or error were more likely the cause of the planes disappearance than an aircraft or system malfunction, the report found.

The lack of conclusive evidence led to various theories and speculation about what happened to the flight, and Jiang said some family members still believe their loved ones are alive. He says hes keeping an open mind  and will accept any outcome, as long as there is evidence.

While the jetliner was never found, pieces of apparent debris have washed up on islands in the southern Indian Ocean and the shores of Africa  suggesting the plane had broken up.

Years-long quest

Jiangs persistence was driven by a key motivation  the urge to do something for his mother, who enjoyed traveling in her retirement.

Im at an age where I should pay filial piety to my mother, but I no longer have the chance to do that. So, finding her is the only way I can be filial to her, he said.

Before the MH370 tragedy, Jiang was an ambitious manager at the Beijing office of a state-owned communications company. But one year after the flight went missing, he left the company and has since focused his time and energy on finding the plane.

Over the years, he has visited search teams in Australia and roamed the remote shores of Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion  a French island in the Indian Ocean  to scour for the Boeing jetliners debris.

In Beijing, he has held regular gatherings with family members of other flight victims to discuss the next step in seeking answers and justice for their loved ones disappearance.

I used to get completely immersed in my job, but now I can truly understand whats the meaning of life, and what are its most precious things, he said.

If I can push for any progress (in finding MH370), or I can try my best till the end, I would feel very gratified and happy  and such happiness is beyond comparison with earning a higher salary.

This story was first published on CNN, "Chinese court starts hearing lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines over missing flight MH370."
A highly acclaimed satirical play about President Vladimir Putin and his allies facing a war crimes tribunal is making waves in Bulgaria, a country historically close to Russia.

Titled "The Hague", the play by Ukrainian author Sasha Denisova recounts the story of an orphaned teenager from Mariupol who imagines how Russia's top brass is brought to justice over its devastating war in Ukraine.

After premiering in Poland and the United States earlier this year, celebrated guest director Galin Stoev adapted the play for a Bulgarian audience, seeking to challenge the Balkan country's pro-Kremlin sentiment.

In the drama currently staged at Sofia's National Theatre, Putin is portrayed by a woman -- Bulgarian actor Radena Valkanova -- donning a sleek black suit and red shoes.

"If we can't watch the Hague trial in real life, let's watch it in the theatre," Denisova said of the scene she penned before the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

In the same way as Charlie Chaplin mocked Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on screen, "Putin must be laughed at without mercy," she told AFP, stressing the power of satire.

- 'Eye-opening' -

Historically close to Russia, EU and NATO member Bulgaria still has many citizens nostalgic for what they see as the glory days of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union.

The nostalgia also refers to Russia as a protector for the Slavic people of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

Studies suggesting that 30 percent of Bulgarians are pro-Putin -- despite Moscow's relentless war on Ukraine -- encouraged Stoev in his determination to stage an "eye-opening" adaptation of the play in Sofia.

And he seems to have hit a mark.

"The audience is deeply moved and asks questions," Stoev told AFP, after the actors received another round of standing ovations from the crowd.

But the main challenge lies in constantly updating the script to reflect the current state of the war.

Yulian Vergov -- who plays Russian Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin -- said working with a changing script was challenging, as both the aborted mutiny and Prigozhin's death in a plane crash had to be "newly added" while leaving his fate in doubt.

"The play is fiction, but after all you play a real character, who then dies during rehearsals -- this is impressive," Vergov said.

The troupe also has to stay on top of the latest rumours about the state of health of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian president.

- 'Polarised opinions' -

Amid all the accolades, detractors have criticised the play as a "biased propaganda vaudeville", with one actor reportedly declining a role for ideological reasons.

"With this show, we're inviting spectators to reflect on real events" and draw their own conclusions, theatre director Vasil Vasilev countered.

"Politicisation is just the opposite: when we're told what to think and do."

Putin impersonator Valkanova said she was glad the play has sparked "very polarised opinions", deeming them "the purpose of this type of theatre".

"I am happy that there is something like this to wake up people's thinking -- something that we lack as a nation."

After a stopover in the French city of Toulouse, where Stoev heads the national drama centre, he hopes to stage the play in the Bulgarian countryside, known to be susceptible to pro-Russian sentiment.

ds-vs/anb/kym/imm
A Ukrainian regional council member in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast is suspected of treason for supplying Russian occupying forces with fuel and food through multiple companies under his control, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported on Nov. 27.

The council member, Yurii Kovalev, re-registered more than 20 companies in his control under Russian legislation, the SBU said.

One company owned by Kovalev reportedly exported over 35,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain to Russia this year, worth Hr 140 million ($3.86 million) in total.

Kovalev also controls gas stations that refuel Russian military equipment, including tanks, and a company that supplies ration packs for some of the Russian soldiers occupying in the region, the SBU said.

These companies pay taxes and fees to the Russian state budget, with one of his agricultural companies paying over $33,000 to Russia in August 2022 alone, according to the SBU.

Kovalev's younger brother, Oleksii Kovalev, was a Ukrainian MP who was murdered in August 2022 in Russian-occupied Kherson Oblast.

In the months before his death, he had openly admitted to cooperating with the Russian authorities in the region.

The older Kovalev, who still lives in Russian-occupied territory, has been notified in absentia of being suspected of treason and collaborationist activity, the SBU said.

"Comprehensive measures are being taken to bring him to justice."

Read also: SBU: Russian commander who ordered killing of civilians in Bucha identified

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
When teacher Mary Wood stepped back into the classroom this semester, she didnt just have the usual back-to-school jitters.

This wasnt the veteran teachers first time starting a new English class, but it was the first since her lesson plan for last year put her in the center of a very public spat about how race is taught in South Carolina classrooms.

It was a discussion that she at times welcomed and at others worried how it was affecting her standing both professionally and in her community at large.

Starting school was weird, Wood said in an interview at her Chapin home. I was unsure how I would be received. I dont venture much outside the English department.

But Wood hasnt hidden since controversy erupted earlier this year over her choice to use Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates in her advanced placement language arts class at Chapin High School. She pushed back against administrators decision to stop teaching the book in a letter to the superintendent and school board, and in subsequent media interviews with national and international outlets that picked up the story.

But the blowback she received was also something she had never experienced before. Community members spoke at Lexington-Richland 5 school board meetings calling for her to be fired. Her school email address, which previously just received questions from students and parents about assignments, filled up with messages from strangers telling her theyre coming for you, you cant hide, and I hope you get cancer and rot.

Coates 2015 memoir takes the form of a letter to the authors teenaged son, recapping American racial history and its impact on Coates life growing up Black in inner-city Baltimore.

Wood said she used the book because it fit with the courses objective of having students engage with and analyze an argument. Its a really well-written book, so in addition to argument and rhetorical analysis, they get lessons in writing well from reading it, in what these rhetorical devices theyre learning look like when used in an argument.

Its also the kind of material that students will encounter in a college course, for which an AP class is meant to prepare them. A college-level class is not going to be things you already know about, she said. Its not an echo chamber. If the lesson had moved forward, students would have had the opportunity to research the topic on their own and present their own perspective, Wood said.

Ta-Nehisi Coates and Mary Wood, a teacher at Chapin High School, speak with Woods supporters before a meeting of the Lexington-Rchland 5 school board on Monday, July 17, 2023.

But the lesson plan she had for the class last spring was disrupted when complaints from students sent to the school board all but shut down the course.

I actually felt ashamed to be Caucasian, one student wrote in an email to a school board member, arguing that Woods lesson portrayed an inaccurate description of life from past centuries that she is trying to resurface.

I dont feel as though it is right because these videos showed antiquated history, the student wrote. I understand in AP Lang, we are learning to develop an argument and have evidence to support it, yet this topic is too heavy to discuss.

School administrators instructed Wood to stop teaching the book out of concerns it violated a state proviso that prohibited the teaching of ideas or concepts critics have tied to critical race theory, an academic framework for studying how the development of laws and public policy contribute to racial inequity in high-level university courses. But in recent years, critical race theory has become shorthand for almost any discussion of race or racism in public schools. State lawmakers last year prohibited the discussion of classroom topics that could cause children to feel discomfort, guilt, (or) anguish because of their race.

Students who had been assigned the book had their copies taken away without explanation. I couldnt say anything, Wood said. I couldnt speak to them about it. The free-flowing discussion and debate she had nurtured in class was also shut down, replaced with quiet, rote, test-focused learning that both Wood and her students found boring, she said. They would ask, can we please have a debate? and I just said, no.

Only after the school year, when the controversy spilled outside of Chapin Highs administrative offices, did Wood think, Maybe in retrospect, they look back and say, Oh, she said. Maybe experiencing the censorship of a Black perspective gave a lesson on systemic racism.

The experience changed the way Wood teaches her class this year. Wood is more reserved in expressing herself in classroom discussions, and in engaging with the perspectives her students bring to the class. Now when students ask questions, Ill say, what do you think? she said. That doesnt really develop conversation or debate skills... That requires knowing how to lead conversations, which students dont really know how to do.

She worries the student-teacher relationship has been disrupted. I dont want to be taken the wrong way or misconstrued, after the complaints about her presented that I was trying to subtly indoctrinate them. I dont know how they got that. Ive always tried to make my students feel comfortable, feel engaged, to see the value in the class.

When the time came last summer to sign up for another year of teaching, she thought about leaving. I thought long and hard about it, she said. All of the attention compounded what has become the usual amount of stress from teaching over recent years.

The stress thats associated with it, it manifests physically. Im not certain how sustainable it is. The idea of leaving has crossed my mind on a number of occasions. I dont know what I would do. But I just dont know if its a healthy environment to live inside.

But she still believes she can contribute to her students education, giving them a wider perspective of the world outside Chapin. Plus, the tone of a lot of the public criticism of her over the lesson led her to think their intention was to push me out, she said. That was the goal.

Wood is unsure why her lesson plan stirred up so much dissension. She said she taught the book in the same class previously without any controversy. Wood thinks she made herself a target because Im bold with my personal beliefs, which dont necessarily align with the folks around me, she said. She was also active last year in the school board campaign of her father, former Chapin High School principal Mike Satterfield, who won election by just 16 votes in a contentious Lexington-Richland 5 school board race, which she thinks might have also created some enemies.

Shes also somewhat skeptical if her students were actually the ones behind the emailed complaints that led to the lessons premature end. I read my students writing when they wrote essays, and I didnt see their voice in those emails, she said.

Wood said the atmosphere around education has become more contentious since the COVID-19 pandemic, when many school board meetings descended into angry shouting matches over school shutdowns and COVID safety measures. As schools returned to normal from the pandemic, the same energy carried over to other controversies about what was happening in the classroom.

I saw a shift at the local board meetings, Wood said. People went from being angry about social distancing and hybrid classrooms, and then they started complaining about books... and the voice certain people had developed from COVID was emboldened to come after books and literature. The divide between education and parents because of COVID was heightened and carried over to literature. Youd start hearing people complain about certain topics, and most of the books I heard lambasted had to do with people of color, the LGBTQ population, and its just grown from there.

Mary Wood, a teacher at Chapin High School, shows her signed copy of Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates on Thursday, November 16, 2023. Wood used the book in a lesson about argumentative writing, and was stopped by the school district.

Even as the experience has disrupted Woods educational work, it has garnered wider attention outside of school. Last week, Wood appeared on a panel for the Center for Journalism and Democracy at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she shared her experiences in the classroom and the challenges teachers face. The panel was called Not a Culture War, meant to critique the usual media framing of schoolhouse disputes.

The idea is that the media often presents attacks on education as a culture war, as if there are two even sides, she said. And there are attacks on education, but teachers arent attacking anybody. Were not dismissing other people or other perspectives. Our goal is to teach, which is the antithesis of fighting. Its about empathy for other peoples perspectives and finding connections with other people.

She also met the books author after the controversy was reported in The State. Coates reached out to Wood and visited her over the summer, even attending a Lexington-Richland 5 school board meeting where Woods lesson plan was discussed.

I was stunned that he reached out, but hes a normal person, he cares, and its good to know that people you admire share your integrity, Wood said. He listened a lot. He was here to listen, here to understand... I felt really isolated when this first happened, but then when I speak to people from other places, its good to know that people are paying attention.

Now, the state Board of Education is considering a proposal by S.C. Education Superintendent Ellen Weaver to have all classroom materials approved by the Department of Education, whose decisions would then be binding on all school districts in the state. Wood fears that will only have a more chilling effect on classroom instruction.

English teachers dont rely solely on textbooks, on novels and articles, and if you limit it to what the state selects, its just state-sanctioned indoctrination, Wood said. How all-encompassing is the selection committee going to be? Is it going to include people from all backgrounds, belief systems, and experiences, or is it limited to a singular one?

Schools are supposed to be representative of all students, and if gay students, Black students, students of color are told theyre not welcome, or their experiences are not appropriate, there are long-term implications for students. There are mental health implications, implications for socialization. There are marginalized students who need to know they have a seat at the table.

She still believes that the lesson she had planned last spring is one that would benefit her students  and is fearful of what efforts to shut down those kinds of conversations will mean for students and for society as a whole.

Its harmful not just to a teacher, she said. It hurts students. It hurts democracy. To prevent civil discourse from taking place, it limits students ability to be comfortable outside their bubble. If you go to college without understanding systemic racism, youll have a hard time engaging with other perspectives, or perspectives in general.

Many teachers may not be willing to speak out in such an environment, but Wood says its important for teachers to be advocates for themselves and the good of the children in their care.

Its important teachers learn their worth, and they arent afraid to use their voices, not just for them but for their students, for democracy as a whole, she said. You might say you dont want to lose your job. There are other jobs. I dont get paid enough not be outspoken and suffer the indignities that I suffered last year.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has announced that hes set to bring a spending package connecting funding for Ukraine and Israel to the floor of the upper chamber.

In a letter to colleagues on Sunday, the New York Democrat wrote, One of the most important tasks we must finish is taking up and passing a funding bill to ensure we as well as our friends and partners in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region have the necessary military capabilities to confront and deter our adversaries and competitors.

Both GOP congressional leaders  Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson  have argued that any Republican backing of aid to Ukraine must be tied to restricting immigration, CNN noted. Mr Schumer said talks regarding the border issue had gone on over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

The biggest holdup to the national security assistance package right now is the insistence by our Republican colleagues on partisan border policy as a condition for vital Ukraine aid. This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities, Mr Schumer argued.

He urged his party to work with the GOP quickly to help push for a bipartisan path forward in the coming weeks.

If Mr Schumers version of the package passes the chamber, its likely to face stiff opposition in the House, where hard-right Republicans are against further funding for Ukraine and balk at the possibility that it could be tied to funding for Israel.

Mr Johnson put forward a bill earlier this month which only included funding for Israel and which cut funding for the IRS. The legislation was quickly struck down by Senate Democrats.

Mr Schumer may also have to deal with criticism from the left of the Democratic Party as a number of progressives have pushed the idea that Israel funding be connected to humanitarian requirements.

On Sunday, Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy said hes open to the suggestion that aid to Israel be conditioned on reducing civilian deaths in Gaza.

In October, the White House issued a funding request which included $13.6bn of border funding to hire 1,300 Border Patrol agents and 1,600 asylum officers to aid the processing of asylum claims.

The request also included more than $61bn for Ukraine, more than $14bn for Israel, as well as $7.4bn for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific region.

Senators should be prepared to stay in Washington until we finish our work, Mr Schumer wrote to colleagues.

He said that they should prepare for long days and nights, and potentially weekends in December. The majority leader noted that there will soon be a classified briefing on Ukraine for senators.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will bring the Biden administration's $106 billion national security funding request to the floor for a vote as early as next week, Schumer said in a Dear Colleague letter Sunday night.

"One of the most important tasks we must finish is taking up and passing a funding bill to ensure we as well as our friends and partners in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region have the necessary military capabilities to confront and deter our adversaries and competitors," he wrote.

The White House's supplemental request, which was sent to Congress in October, includes $61.4 billion for Ukraine, $14.3 billion for Israel (with $10.6 billion allocated for military aid), $13.6 billion for some border security provisions, and significant investments in Indo-Pacific security assistance, totaling around $7.4 billion. Additionally, there's $9 billion earmarked for humanitarian aid in Ukraine, Israel and Gaza.

GOP SENATORS INTRODUCE STAND-ALONE BILL TO AID ISRAEL WITHOUT MORE FUNDING TO UKRAINE

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer conducts a news conference in the U.S. Capitol on June 21, 2023.

But GOP lawmakers have thrown a wrench in plans to unanimously pass a supplemental that ties Ukraine and Israel aid together. Instead, they've argued for weeks that they should be split up and voted on separately.

Republicans in the upper chamber also reject the border provisions, as outlined, and argue its current form does not address much-needed policy changes like stricter asylum standards at the southern border. The supplemental request only proposes more money to speed up processing of migrants, but no policy reforms.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

On Sunday, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said on Fox News that "in return for providing additional funding for Ukraine" there needs to be "significant and substantial reforms to our border policy."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., have both signaled the GOP will pass more Ukraine funding if a deal is struck for tighter immigration laws.

BIDEN ADMIN URGES MAJOR FUNDING INCREASES FOR AID TO UKRAINE, ISRAEL AND GAZA CIVILIANS

"The biggest holdup to the national security assistance package right now is the insistence by our Republican colleagues on partisan border policy as a condition for vital Ukraine aid. This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities," Schumer said in the letter.

Negotiations between Democrat and Republican senators continued over the Thanksgiving recess, Schumer said, and he urged GOP lawmakers to quickly "help push for a bipartisan path forward in the coming weeks."

This week, Schumer also announced a classified all-senators briefing on the Ukraine-Russia war.

Schumer also hopes to pass hundreds of military promotions in the coming weeks through a resolution that would change the Senate's rules to override Sen. Tommy Tuberville's nine-month objection over the Pentagon's abortion policy, calling the move "brazen and reckless." Tuberville, R-Ala., has shown no signs of backing down.

"Senators should expect long days and nights, and potentially weekends in December," he said.

Senators also have their work cut out for them in finalizing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), or the federal military spending package for the next fiscal year.

CRUZ SAYS BIDEN'S $105 BILLION FUNDING REQUEST DESIGNED TO WORSEN BORDER CRISIS

Immigrants wait to be processed by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico, on Aug. 6, 2022, in Yuma, Arizona.

Democrats in the upper chamber have a 51-49 majority and any legislation will need at least 60 votes to advance. Then, any agreement will need to pass the GOP-controlled House.

Earlier this month, Johnson attempted to push an Israel-only aid bill and deep IRS budget cuts through Congress, but Senate Democrats quickly shot that proposal down.





Original article source: Schumer to send Biden's $106 billion supplemental package request to Senate floor as early as next week
Scientists have invented a breakthrough safe liquid fuel that they claim cannot start accidental fires during storage or transport.

Normally when a fuel catches fire, it is not the liquid itself that burns, but instead the volatile fuel molecules hovering above the liquid ignite on contact with oxygen and flame.

The innovative fuel required an electric current to ignite and did not easily combust with just a flame, the new research published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society found.

If you throw a match into a pool of gasoline on the ground, its the vapor of the gas thats burning ... If you can control the vapor, you can control whether the fuel burns, study co-author Prithwish Biswas from the University of California - Riverside explained.

In the new study, scientists modified the chemical formula of the fuels base  a type of ionic liquid  replacing the chlorine in it with the perchlorate.

When they used a cigarette lighter against the new liquid, they found that it did not burn.

The temperature from a normal lighter is high enough, and if it was going to burn, it would have, Yujie Wang, another author of the study, said.

But when scientists applied a voltage to the liquid and then followed it by a lighter flame, the fuel was found to ignite.

Once we shut off the current, the flame was gone, and we were able to repeat that process over and over again  applying voltage, seeing smoke, lighting the smoke so it burned, then turning it off, Dr Wang explained.

We were excited to find a system we could start and stop very quickly, he added.

Scientists say one major feature of the fuel is that it is safe from accidental, unintended fires.

This approach presents a paradigm shift, offering the potential to make a safe fuel, the study noted.

However, scientists said further research on its efficiency when used in different types of engines was needed before it could be commercialised.

While scientists said it could be used along with conventional fuel, they called for additional research to understand what percentage can be mixed and still have it be not flammable.

This would definitely be more expensive than the way they currently manufacture fuels. These compounds are not normally produced in bulk, but if they were, the cost would go down, Michael R Zachariah, another author of the study, said.
In May 2021, a team of astronomers made an exceedingly rare discovery: an extremely high-energy cosmic ray beaming from outer space  which, confusingly, seemed to be coming from nowhere in particular.

"When I first discovered this ultra-high-energy cosmic ray, I thought there must have been a mistake, as it showed an energy level unprecedented in the last three decades," said Osaka Metropolitan University associate professor Toshihiro Fujii, author of a new paper published in the journal Science, in a statement.

Fuji was referring to the "Oh-My-God" particle, which was detected back in October 1991 and remains the highest-energy cosmic ray ever detected.

Cosmic rays are highly charged subatomic particles from outer space that can reach energy levels roughly a million times higher than those produced by the most powerful particle accelerators ever built back on Earth.

Despite their incredible power, their origins have remained a complete mystery. A perfect example? That 2021 cosmic ray, which was named after the Japanese Sun goddess Amaterasu.

"No promising astronomical object matching the direction from which the cosmic ray arrived has been identified, suggesting possibilities of unknown astronomical phenomena and novel physical origins beyond the Standard Model," said Fuji in the statement.

Fuji has been collaborating with an international team of scientists known as the Telescope Array experiment. Since 2008, the team has been chasing ultra-high-energy cosmic rays using a Utah-based observatory made up of 507 surface detectors spread out over 270 square miles.

That's where they detected the extraordinary 2021 Amaterasu signal. At 240 exa-electronvolts, it was so powerful that it rivals the 1991 "Oh-My-God" particle, which was measured at around 320 exa-electronvolts.

Despite being the second most powerful cosmic ray ever detected, Fuji and his team ran into trouble trying to pinpoint the source of Amaterasu. According to the team's calculations, the ray came from a relatively empty corner of the universe that's home to only a few spread-out galaxies.

"There was nothing," Fuji told Nature.

That perplexing conclusion led the team to suggest that our understanding of how magnetic fields can influence the path of these cosmic rays before reaching the Earth may be inherently flawed. In other words, Amaterasu may have come from an entirely different region.

"We think weve got good estimates, but maybe were wrong," Clancy James, an astronomer at Curtin University in Perth, Australia, who was not involved in the research, told Nature.

Even events like supernovas are "nowhere near energetic enough for this," said coauthor and Telescope Array co-spokesperson John Matthews in a university press release. "You need huge amounts of energy, really high magnetic fields to confine the particle while it gets accelerated."

Another possibility: entirely unknown physical processes could allow these rays to cover even longer distances than previously thought.

"These events seem like theyre coming from completely different places in the sky," said coauthor and University of Utah professor John Belz in the press release. "Its not like theres one mysterious source."

"It could be defects in the structure of spacetime, colliding cosmic strings," he added. "I mean, Im just spit-balling crazy ideas that people are coming up with because theres not a conventional explanation."

For now, Fuji and his colleagues hope to glean more insights into these mysterious particles after upgrading the Telescope Array to make it four times as sensitive.

But whether they'll have a second chance to detect another cosmic ray nearly as powerful as Aamterasu remains to be seen.

More on cosmic rays: Scientists Puzzled by Weird "Strands" at the Center of Our Galaxy
The Scottish Parliament has no authority on matters of immigration. That doesnt mean it cant encourage emigration, accidentally or otherwise. And if its latest net zero initiatives go through, we can expect an outflow of older, more wealthy Scots to the sanctuary of England.

The latest wheeze is to effectively deny the households a real choice over whether they replace their gas boilers with expensive heat pumps by threatening financial sanctions. A taskforce chaired by zero carbon buildings minister Patrick Harvie, who is also co-leader of the Scottish Greens, has expressed some impatience with Scots choosing gas boilers because theyre cheap and tend to heat homes quickly.

This is not very helpful to the Scottish Governments self-imposed target of net zero carbon emissions by 2045  a date chosen, incidentally, after Westminster selected 2050 for itself  and such impertinence has all-but forced the taskforce to consider giving new powers to local authorities to penalise homeowners by adding surcharges to their council tax if they maintain hold-out status.

These are the self-same heat pumps recently described by Lord (formerly Willie) Haughey  a supplier of heat pumps, no less  as ineffective in Scotland on account of their tendency to stop working when the temperature drops to freezing temperatures. This problem might be considered, by some, as a rather fundamental weakness, given heat pumps primary objective is to provide heat when the weather gets cold. But such inconveniences are of no consequence to the keepers of Scotlands conscience, particularly if it means Edinburgh can say it reached its own arbitrary target before Westminster did.

However, its the methods proposed, rather than the aims of the policy themselves, that are most worrying. The taskforces latest report, as well as suggesting financial retribution for uncooperative homeowners, even suggests that over-55s whose mortgages have been paid off could use some of the equity in their homes to fulfil the Scottish Governments ambitions. Such a move would represent, even by nationalist standards, an unprecedented and outrageous infringement on private property.

The report talks of incentives to encourage Scots to improve their bad behaviour, yet threatening to penalise people financially unless they do as politicians ask does not fall into the category of incentivisation. An incentive is a positive inducement; what is being proposed by Harvie is a threat  a threat to make millions of people worse off unless they behave in a certain way.

Time and again, the Net Zero agenda is promoted by politicians as something that has no negative aspects, no drawbacks: everything will be rosy, everyone will have a cleaner, better paid job, and no one will be worse off than they are now. Politicians, being politicians, dont want to be unpopular, which is what would happen if they were up front about the true costs.

This shouldnt mean we abandon the drive to Net Zero, even if we dont adhere to the entirely arbitrary deadlines that have been agreed based on the attractiveness of round numbers, rather than the sustainability of those deadlines. But we should be honest to voters about what they will be expected to pay.

As Scotlands cold weather starts to bite once more, and as millions of Scots start to fret about how they will afford Christmas while paying sky-high heating bills, they have the right to ask whether the Scottish Greens and their political bosses in the SNP have the same priorities as those they govern.

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Crime rates in Scotland have escalated to record levels and police are taking twice as long to solve them than four years ago, according to a report.

The warnings will be presented by Police Scotlands Chief Financial Officer on Thursday at a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority in Edinburgh.

It states that the national police force needs 128 million to buy time to implement efficiency savings over the next three years that will not involve job losses. The report states bluntly that if budget requirements are not secured there will be internal and external reputational implications for policing.

The report states that the average number of days to detect crimes has increased year on year  doubling from 16.43 in 2018-19 to 33.83 in 2022-23  amid a steady rise in rates of violent crime, fraud and theft.

Comparing crime rates recorded between April and October against the five-year average, the report warns that car thefts and common assaults are at their highest levels.

It states that crimes of robbery and assault with intent to rob were up 22.4 per cent while threats and extortion, driven by an overall increase of online-based crime, have risen by an average of 326 offences each year since 2019.

Fraud offences are up 37.2 per cent against the five-year average and shoplifting offences since the coronavirus pandemic are up 42 per cent.

Catastrophic cuts to force

The admission undermines boasts by SNP ministers that they have overseen a drop in crime to the lowest levels in decades.

David Kennedy, the general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, said last month that the reality was that catastrophic cuts meant in many cases people have to wait days for a response, and many are no longer reporting crimes to Police Scotland.

The force warned in September that it could be forced to shed 2,000 jobs, close stations and scrap a promise by Humza Yousaf, the First Minister, to give all officers bodycams.

Senior officers told MSPs it will have to cut 600 officers and 200 staff by April next year if it is given a flat-cash budget settlement, with compulsory redundancies on the cards. The job losses would surge to 2,070 over the next four years.

The latest report states that the creation of a single national police service in April 2013 has saved public finances 2 billion by removing over 200 million from the annual cost base compared to legacy arrangements.

Amid ongoing pressure from the Scottish Government for efficiency savings across the public sector, the report warns that it is not possible for policing to deliver substantial savings for a second time through efficiency alone.

An extra 128 million in funding is needed over the next three years to help the single force to reshape and resize, adding that this should be seen as a spend-to-save proposal as the investment would enable policing to move into the next phase of reform and continue to contribute to the redesign of the wider criminal justice sector.

It warns that without the additional funding, further workforce reductions will be necessary.

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Ancient Scythian artifacts from Crimea were returned to Ukraine after being kept for almost 10 years in the Netherlands, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine announced on Nov. 27.

Ukraine's Customs Service brought the 2,694 kilograms of artifacts to be identified at the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine on the territory of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra.

The Scythian treasures will be kept in the National Museum of the History of Ukraine until the liberation of Crimea.

The artifacts were on loan to the Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities in Amsterdam when Russia illegally seized Crimea in 2014, and both Ukraine and museums in the now-occupied peninsula claimed them once the exhibition in Amsterdam ended.

As the museum awaited a final legal decision on what to do with the artifacts, it kept them in storage.

A long legal battle followed, with Dutch courts ruling several times that the artifacts should return to Ukraine. The Dutch Supreme Court concurred, ruling in June 2023 that they should be returned to Kyiv.

Ukraine's acting Culture Minister Rostyslav Karandieiev signed an agreement with Dr. Fred Virmen, acting director of the University Library of the University of Amsterdam, in November to finalize the return of the artifacts.





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(CNN)  On the morning of October 7, Hamas fighters streamed into the quiet lanes of kibbutz Alumim, setting off on a rampage of killing and destruction. But most of their victims in the community werent Israeli, or even Jewish, they were Thai and Nepali farm workers, sleeping in a dormitory right in the militants path.

Some of the men limped, others were pushed. Flanked by gunmen, the men were marched to their deaths.

Security staff watched helplessly on CCTV from just a few hundred meters away as the 23 men were massacred.

Among the more than 1,200 victims of the Hamas attacks, Thais make up the largest group of foreign nationals. Most were workers on agricultural sites close to the perimeter fence that separates Israel from Gaza. Hamas freed a group of 10 Thais taken hostage on Friday but others remain captive.

The violence has set off an exodus of foreign workers from Israel, with some 10,000 farmworkers estimated to have left since October 7, according to the Israeli government.

For Israels dairy and agricultural farms, that has posed an almost existential problem. Dairy cows need milking several times a day by specially trained staff, while the past weeks have been the harvest window for many crops.

Without hands to work on the farms, crops and animals would have been left to die. Volunteers from across Israel have stepped in to prop them up, but much-needed foreign workers are still yet to return, and farmers fear that without guarantees of security, the future of Israeli farming near Gaza is impossible.

No return

I am still frightened, farm worker Nattaphong Duangchan told CNN, now back home in Thailand after the October 7 attacks.

Wounded by shrapnel, he hid for two days on the farm where he worked along the Gaza border, before being rescued by Israeli security forces. Return is not an option for him, he said.

Nothing is left there, and I am too afraid to go back.

But workers like him are sorely needed. On Israels farms, the vast majority nowadays of the kind of the people who are doing the grunt work, you know, the heavy work for low wages are Thai and have been since the early 90s, Matan Kaminer, an anthropologist studying Thai labor in Israel, told CNN.

Israeli farms largely relied on Palestinian workers up until the 1990s. But following the wave of violence during the First Palestinian Intifada, or uprising, and the ensuing Israeli crackdown on the freedom of Palestinians to work outside the occupied territories, Israel started to look elsewhere for farm labor.

Today, many farm workers come from poorer areas in Thailands northeast, providing a cheap labor force for Israel. Strict conditions govern their work in Israel, keeping them on short contracts in manual work, with no right to raise families there. The farms around Gaza employed about 6,000 Thai workers before the war began, according to Israels ministry of interior.

The Israeli ministry of agriculture told CNN as many between 30,000 and 40,000 workers are now missing from the countrys farms, half of whom are Palestinians barred from entering Israel from the Israeli-occupied West Bank since the October attacks.

With no sign yet of a mass return of Thai workers, the Israeli government is looking to recruit some 5,000 workers from other countries, including Sri Lanka.

After the killing, a deep wound

Israels agriculture minister Avi Dichter told CNN he thought the Hamas militants were deliberately targeting Israels economy, such was the damage they wrought on local industry on October 7.

And the significance of agriculture in Israel is more than economic.

Agriculture and farming are an inseparable part of Zionism. Working the land is an important value among the people of Israel, said Lior Simcha, chief executive of the Milk Producers Association.

However, as Israels economy developed, the countrys citizens were able to take higher-paying jobs in different sectors, leaving agricultural jobs unfilled.

Farming in the dusty plains of southern Israel is almost ingrained in the national identity of the country. The frontier spirit of the kibbutz pioneers, who did much to establish large-scale agriculture in Israels south, is a source of national pride for many in the country.

But those farmers require watertight guarantees of security for their work to continue and for their families to feel safe.

Echoing views CNN heard from other locals along the Gaza border, vegetable farmer Yosi Inbar offered an unvarnished, uncompromising assessment of how to achieve it.

We need to open the border to Egypt, (so) that all the (Gazan) people go to Egypt, live there. And we close the border, and we grow potato(es) all the way to the sea, he said from one of his fields. This is the safety that we need to come back. And its not going to happen, you know, two million people there, you cannot just throw them, shoot them, its people.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not outlined a defined, post-fighting strategy for Gaza, where more than two-thirds of the 2 million inhabitants are now internally displaced, and where more than 40% of all housing units have been either destroyed or damaged, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), citing the Ministry of Housing in Gaza.

Any forced displacement of Gazas population into Egypt would constitute a war crime and the United States has warned against Israel re-occupying Gaza.

A lifeline in the fields

Inbar feels lucky, he told CNN, as a handful of volunteers stripped zucchini plants, the yellow flowers bobbing in their wake. About half of his Thai workers stayed in Israel; his neighbor only has around a third of his former workforce.

Inbars remaining foreign workers quietly motor up and down the rows of zucchini. Nearby, some of his Israeli volunteers, chatting amongst themselves, stoop to gather up zucchini that lie splayed across the dirt, the result of a clumsily overturned cart. The contrast between the two groups couldnt be starker.

Inbar said the manpower shortage has already forced him to abandon his tomato crop. Without the volunteers, the zucchini would have met a similar fate, he said. Long-term, he doesnt know how he can keep his farm running at capacity without the return of foreign laborers.

At the dairy farm at Kibbutz Alumim, where the buildings of Gaza City cluster the horizon less than 3 miles away, the burned-out shells of barns and the skeleton of living quarters where nearly two dozen Thai and Nepali workers were slaughtered are a constant reminder of the violence of October 7.

The foreign workers run the farm, they do all the milking, farm manager Stevie Marcus said of the working of the farm before October 7.

Today, four volunteers help him milk his herd twice a day. Requiring special training from a veterinarian to work with the animals, these volunteers are in short supply.

Were doing the bare minimum we need to do, making sure they have food and clean water, milking them, he said.

Before October, the 350 cows were milked three times a day. After going days without food and care after workers fled following the attacks, the cows now only have milk for two sessions.

On recent weekends, the group organizing Inbars volunteers, Brothers and Sisters for Israel, has gathered up to 1,000 volunteers from across the country, many driving down from around Tel Aviv, to keep local farms running. Even weekdays see hundreds give up their time, organizer Lisa Perlman told CNN. Her organization has matched some 50,000 volunteers with farms across Israel since the war began.

Standing among Inbars zucchini, tech worker Avi Leibovich - volunteering on a day off from his day job - said he came to help Israeli farms survive.

Without them, probably the markets will be empty, he said, adding: I dont think that this kind of industry can be relying only on imports. Foreign produce is one of the governments short-term solutions to the manpower crisis, boosting import quotas on milk and plant products.

These are our vegetables. This is our produce, solutions engineer and volunteer farm worker Danny Parizada told CNN. The 35-year-old said that working in the fields was the very minimum that we can do.

He was laid-back about the risk of coming so close to Gaza while rockets do still occasionally streak across the sky. Volunteers have seconds to find shelter if the alarm sounds.

We live in such an insane environment where this is okay. Theres a war zone, he said, admitting that he hadnt told his mother where he was.

After the October 7 attacks, fellow farm volunteer Mei  who didnt want to give her last name - had ferried soldiers and civilians around Israels south in her car, helping however she could.

The ferocity of Hamas attacks sparked calls for immediate revenge among many Israelis. And the relentless bombing of Gaza has been welcomed in some quarters. But on Meis long car rides, she soon grew uncomfortable with what she called the celebration of the destruction in Gaza shared by some of her passengers.

She turned to picking vegetables, more comfortable with the thought that her days werent supporting Israels bloody campaign in Gaza.

For feeding people, unlike helping them fight, posed no moral qualms for Mei.

Theres no question about it, she said of her labor in the fields. Its undeniably good.
The Allard Pierson Museum in Amsterdam has handed over artefacts belonging to four Ukrainian museums in Russian-occupied Crimea to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv. The treasures had been shown in an exhibition entitled "Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea" and stored in the Netherlands for almost 10 years.

This was announced by the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, where the Scythian gold will remain until Crimea is liberated.

"Crimean treasures have come back to Ukraine from the Netherlands! After almost 10 years of legal action, artefacts from four Crimean museums which were shown in the Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea exhibition in Amsterdam have made their way back to Ukraine," the museum said.

PHOTO: THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

PHOTO: THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

Fedir Androshchuk, Director General of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, said the institution would make every effort to preserve the recovered items. "During the legal disputes, our museum was designated as the place where the artefacts belonging to the Crimean museums should be stored. Therefore, the museum will make every effort to preserve them and to ensure that Ukrainian citizens and visitors to Ukraine can see them," Androshchuk emphasised.

PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

Androshchuk also stressed that since the collection's fate has gained international political resonance, its condition is now under international scrutiny: "This, in turn, places responsibility on all those who stood behind the political decision to move the collection back to war-torn Ukraine. They must provide it with unprecedented protection and provide appropriate economic support to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine."

PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

PHOTO: NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE HISTORY OF UKRAINE

The museum said a total of 565 objects have been recovered, including antique sculptures, Scythian and Sarmatian jewellery, and Chinese lacquer boxes dating back 2,000 years. The Crimean museums artefacts were independently inspected in November, meticulously packed according to museum rules, and then transported to Kyiv.

Ukraine's State Customs Service reported that it had started customs clearance of the Scythian gold and posted a video of it being transported by lorry to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra (Kyivs Monastery of the Caves).

"A lorry carrying 2.7 tonnes of cultural treasures known as 'Scythian gold' has now entered the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, where customs officers will identify the valuables in the Treasury of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine," customs officials said.

      



   2,7   ,         - ,           pic.twitter.com/6WWKGxyNlb      (@UkraineCustoms) November 27, 2023

How the Scythian gold made its way back to Ukraine

In 2013, the state-run Bonn museum LVR-Landes opened an exhibition entitled Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea (De Krim. Goud en geheimen van de Zwarte Zee). The exhibition was arranged jointly by Ukraine's Institute of Archeology at the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Ancient History at the University of Bonn. The Museum of the History of Ukraine in Kyiv loaned artefacts from its collection, as did four Crimean museums: the Tauric Chersonesos National Reserve (Sevastopol), the Central Museum of Taurida (Simferopol), the Bakhchysarai Historical and Cultural Reserve, and the Kerch Historical and Archaeological Reserve.

The exhibition closed in January 2014 and moved from Bonn to Amsterdam to the privately-run Allard Pierson Museum, where it was on view from February to August 2014. Russia commenced its invasion of Crimea in February 2014. The objects loaned by the National Museum of the History of Ukraine were sent back to Kyiv after the exhibition closed, but it was unclear whether the artefacts from the Crimean museums should be sent to Kyiv or Russian-occupied Crimea.

A court in Amsterdam ruled in December 2016 that the Crimean treasures should be sent to Ukraine under the Law on Heritage. However, the Crimean museums under Russian occupation began legal action to contest the ruling. The Amsterdam Court of Appeal also upheld the claim that the Crimean artefacts should be transferred to the state of Ukraine.

The final ruling was handed down on 9 June 2023 by the Supreme Court of the Netherlands. It dismissed the appeal brought by the Crimean museums and upheld the appeal judgment. This ruling required Ukraine to pay the Allard Pierson Museum 111,689 plus interest for the period during which it stored the Crimean museums' artefacts.

However, last week, the Allard Pierson Museum waived the fee owed by Ukraine for its storage of the Scythian gold since 2014.

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Sen. Joe Manchins (D-W.Va.) decision to retire has made the Senate landscape in 2024 even more complicated for Democrats.

The party was already facing an uphill slog to hold on to its Senate majority, as it prepared to protect seats in West Virginia, Montana and Ohio  three states where the GOP nominee for president will be heavily favored.

Manchins name on the ballot suggested a competitive race. Without him, the Senate seat seems wrapped for the GOP as a gift.

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Losing the state would leave no room for another loss for Democrats if they hope to keep their majority, which now stands at 51-49 with Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) voting with Democrats.

Still, the party is hopeful it can carry the day even as a recent run of polls show former President Trump, the frontrunner for the GOP presidential nomination, leading President Biden.

Trumps rise has given a major boost to Republicans, who believe they can win not only in red territory, but purple states as well if that stays true a year from now.

Here are the five Senate seats most likely to flip.

West Virginia

If gambling sites took political bets, they would have taken this race completely off the board this month after Manchin announced his retirement from the Senate.

The decision by Manchin  who was considered by most, if not all, to be the only Democrat with a prayer to keep the seat blue  virtually guaranteed West Virginia will go red next year and put Republicans one step closer to retaking the majority.

Manchins decision not to seek a third full term in office came as he was staring down a daunting match-up with West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) and had seen his favorability ratings dip.

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Justice is the heavy favorite to win the GOP primary over Rep. Alex Mooney (R-W.Va.), who is backed by the Club for Growth. Former President Trump last month threw his weight behind Justice, who is seemingly on a glidepath to replace the outgoing senator.

Manchins decision also does wonders for the GOP financially speaking.

Theres a real world where not only does Justice not have to spend any of his personal fortune, but that the GOP doesnt have to spend any of ours either, one GOP operative told The Hill. Thats obviously huge, and it means more resources for the Pennsylvanias and Wisconsins of the world.

Montana

Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.)

With Manchin out of the way, the battle for the Senate majority truly boils down to two states, and Republicans are desperate to oust Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and put Montana in their own column.

Like Manchin, Tester is widely considered the lone Democrat with a chance in Montana, a state Trump won by 16 points. But he, too, has a mountain to climb.

He is expected to square off against Tim Sheehy, a highly sought GOP recruit, in a presidential election year expected to feature Trump atop the ballot.

Tester isnt a stranger to outperforming presidential nominees, having won by nearly 4 percentage points in 2012 while then-President Obama lost the state by nearly 14 points. But times have changed, and Trump remains a dominant figure in ruby-red territory such as Montana.

Despite their confidence in Tester, Democrats are clear-eyed about the challenge ahead.

This is going to be a hard, hard, hard race, said John LaBombard, a former top aide to Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) and former Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and a Democratic strategist with ROKK Solutions. But I wont bet against Sen. Tester.

Tester is already up across the state with TV ads  a necessity, especially as Sheehy has been on the air since the summer as he seeks to introduce and define himself to voters.

For Republicans, things seem to be moving Sheehys way. A pro-Sheehy Super PAC released a poll showing him leading by 3 percentage points over Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.), who has still yet to announce a bid for the upper chamber despite indications over the summer that he would.

Ohio

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) questions former executives of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank at a Senate Banking Committee hearing on May 16, 2023.

Ohio Democrats havent seen many wins in the past decade, but that changed earlier this month when voters codified abortion rights into the states constitution. That gave Democrats a major shot in the arm as they look to follow suit next year and secure Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) a fourth term.

It wont be easy. The political transformation of Ohio from the swingiest of swing states as recently as 2012 to reliable territory for Republicans is unmistakable.

Nevertheless, the Issue 1 vote that saw 56 percent of voters cement abortion rights is a blow to the states GOP  including a top Senate candidate.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose (R), one of the leading Senate candidates alongside businessman Bernie Moreno, has had a particularly difficult stretch. A GOP-led effort to raise the vote threshold needed for referendums failed earlier this year, and he had a lackluster third-quarter fundraising report that puts him far behind the eight ball. Moreno and state Sen. Matt Dolan (R) are both able to self-fund their operations.

On paper hes impressive, one Democratic strategist said of LaRose. But how many of these candidates have we seen that are great on paper, but lack some of this X factor that the GOP base wants?

LaRose and Moreno are considered the leading contenders for the primary nomination, but the main question at this point is whether Trump weighs in with an endorsement. The former president did just that two years ago and helped push Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) over the top in a six-way race.

Moreno is considered the favorite to land it, but Trump has been much more measured in his Senate endorsements this cycle, having only done so for Justice, Kari Lake in Arizona and Rep. Jim Banks (R) in Indiana.

No matter the candidate, the general election against Brown is shaping up to be one of the key races of the cycle as the incumbent looks to overcome what has become a reliably red electorate.

Arizona

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.)

Republicans are making their first foray into the Arizona Senate race as they try to hit two birds with one stone while boosting GOP Senate candidate Kari Lake.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee rolled out a new ad with the goal of lifting incumbent independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema among Democratic voters and taking a sledgehammer to Democratic candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego, all in a bid to raise Lakes standing with Republicans.

The reason: Nearly a quarter of all GOP voters would back Sinema, according to a recent survey, prompting Republicans to attempt an early softening of that group.

News of the effort was welcomed among Republican operatives, who are still questioning how real their chances are in the state as many jump balls remain in the air. Among those is whether Sinema sticks with her independent campaign or drops out entirely, and whether Lake continues to stick to the less-bombastic message shes rolled out in the early stages of her campaign.

Its good that theyre doing this now. It will tell us the long-term viability of this race before presidential spending is absurd in the state, the GOP strategist said. Thus far, it seems like Lake has learned some lessons, but that can change any day that she wakes up and does something off playbook.

The ad intensely attacked Gallego, labeling him a deadbeat dad without any evidence, and it took aim at him for a number of items related to his personal life, including his divorce.

The poll released earlier this month showed him leading with 39 percent support, followed by Lake and Sinema with 33 and 29 percent backing, respectively.

Pennsylvania

Sen. Robert Casey (D-Pa.)

Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) is likely facing his toughest reelection fight yet this year as he stares down a contest against David McCormick in one of the few match-ups that is virtually set in stone.

McCormick has essentially cleared the field in a primary, giving him a free runway ahead of next November. Thats a far cry from what he encountered last year when he lost to Mehmet Oz in a razor-thin primary.

Hes also starting to make some Democrats nervous, including Tester, who spoke frankly about the 2024 Senate lay of the land at a fundraiser recently.

Bob Casey was supposed to have an easy race, Tester told Democratic donors in Hollywood. Ive watched that race very closely, because it may not be near as easy as we were hoping.

Adding a layer to the Democratic nerves is Trumps standing as he leads President Biden in a recent wave of polls. The ability for Trump to pull off a 2016 reprisal in Pennsylvania would also do wonders for McCormick, who will likely attempt to replicate former Sen. Pat Toomeys (R-Pa.) victory in the same year. Toomey nabbed a second term by riding Trumps coattails in the rural counties and peeling off enough votes in the suburbs.

Its not going to be easy, but the path is there, Republicans argue.

This is an uphill fight, said Charlie Gerow, a Harrisburg-based GOP operative. But its one that can and will be won.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The college has proposed a redundancy scheme for its staff to account for budget constraints

South Eastern Regional College (SERC) has proposed a redundancy scheme for its staff due to budgetary pressures.

In a document seen by BBC News NI, the college has suggested redundancy for 32 full time and 27 part time workers.

"In terms of SERC, our estimated budget pressure into 24/25 is 7.086m," the document said.

"At this stage it appears the budget pressures... can only be addressed by reducing the number of staff employed."

SERC employs 833 permanent staff and 156 part-time lecturers across college sites in Bangor, Newtownards, Downpatrick, Lisburn, Newcastle, Holywood and Ballynahinch.

'Unwelcome news'

The redundancy process is expected to be completed between March and June 2024.

In a letter to SERC staff, principal and chief executive Ken Webb outlined that full-time staff could be offered a redundancy package of one month's gross basic salary for every full year of continuous service up to a maximum of 21 months, subject to approval.

"The college anticipates that these proposed redundancies will be achieved entirely through volunteers and does not envisage any requirement for compulsory redundancy," he said.

"I appreciate this is unwelcome news and whilst perhaps not unexpected, may be unsettling for you. At this stage, we remain fully committed to protecting our front-line delivery wherever possible and working with staff representatives to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to reduce the number of staff to be made redundant."

The college is expected to hold a consultation meeting with trade union representatives next week to discuss the proposals.

"The Further Education (FE) sector is facing recurrent pressures totalling 35 million for 2023/24. This pressure comprises 29m inescapable pressures and 6m non-contractual pay (including outstanding 2023/24 teaching and nonteaching staff pay settlements)," the document detailed.

There are over 50,000 students taking hundreds of different courses at Northern Ireland's six FE colleges.

The Department for the Economy (DfE), which is responsible for further education, faces an overall budget shortfall of 55m this financial year.

In September, a letter from college employers informed staff at all six FE colleges of potential redundancies.

It is understood that further redundancy schemes at other colleges will be proposed in coming weeks.

The DfE has been approached for comment.
The press service of the pro-presidential Servant of the People party has issued a response to the recent statement made by one of its own MPs, Mariana Bezuhla, calling for the resignation of General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

NVs sister publication Ukrainska Pravda asked the Servant of the People spokesperson Yuliia Paliychuk for clarification on whether Bezuhlas statement represents the official stance of the party or faction.

Please contact Ms. Mariana Bezuhla. She is her own press service and is responsible for her own words, Paliychuk said in response.

Read also: Rumored plans to dismiss military commanders are likely government intrigue  expert interview

Bezuhla, who is a member of the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, said that the Ukraines military leadership must go due to the absence of a clear plan for 2024.

On Nov. 7, MP Volodymyr Ariev, citing a reliable source, released information claiming that Defense Minister Rustem Umerov had purportedly submitted a request to the Supreme Commander-in-Chief (Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy) for Zaluzhnyis dismissal. Russian channels amplified Arievs post. Later, Ariev retracted the statement, citing many other sources that, according to him, contradicted the claims of the initial source.

On the same day, Umerov denounced Arievs statement on Facebook as disinformation. Umerov said that, unscrupulous politicians today are attempting to divide Ukrainian society, likening these actions to those of Russian propagandists.

Read also: National guard officer says General Zaluzhnyi told Economist what ordinary soldiers say on frontlines

In an earlier series of articles in the Economist, General Zaluzhnyi warned that the war might transition into an arduous positional phase for Ukraine. Subsequently, the Presidents Office issued several statements indirectly refuting the generals assertions.

Information surfaced on Nov. 3, regarding the dismissal of Special Operations Forces Commander Viktor Khorenko without the knowledge of Khorenko and Zaluzhnyi. The Presidents Office clarified that Umerov had submitted a dismissal request for the commander in accordance with the law.

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
MT. VERNON, Ill.  The Wednesday before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest days for drinking and partying all year. Police in Mt. Vernon, Illinois, decided to test several bars and liquor stores to see if they were checking IDs. They found that seven of the eight establishments they checked sold alcohol to a 19-year-old.

All the establishments that sold alcohol to the undercover agent now have citations. Mayor John Lewis says that more compliance checks will be conducted in the future.

Win tickets to see Chris Tucker on December 4th at Stifel Theatre!

In the United States, the legal age to purchase and publicly possess alcohol is 21, as mandated by the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This law aims to curb the negative impacts of underage drinking on public health and safety.

While exceptions may exist for private consumption under parental supervision, the purchasing and public possession restrictions are consistently enforced. Violations can lead to legal consequences, including fines and suspension of driving privileges for individuals under 21.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
What started out as an ordinary workday for Falicia Douglas, a 50-year-old single mother of three, quickly turned into a living nightmare that would leave her homeless.

Douglas was born in Puerto Rico. Her youngest son, 16, lives with his father. Her two daughters, 25 and 30, are grown and living on their own. She has been a loyal employee of Curleys House Food Bank in Miami for five years. She started as a volunteer and quickly worked her way up to the position of senior program director.

It was her sunny disposition and uplifting attitude that captured the attention of Lavern Spicer, founder of Curleys. These days, Douglas helps to serve over 1,000 homeless people daily from all walks of life.

Falicia is so dedicated to helping others, Spicer said. Shes there at the food bank sometimes from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. getting bags ready for the homeless and the community. She works extra hard to make sure that everyone is taken care of through her selfless acts of humanity.

This nonprofit agency where she works has nominated her for help from Wish Book, a holiday fundraising drive held annually by the Miami Herald to support South Floridians in need, after that nightmarish day.

Douglas, who speaks, reads and writes fluently in English and Spanish, has become an invaluable asset to the organization, Spicer said.

While on the job, Douglas came to know a frequent visitor to Curleys House. Their day-to-day interactions led to romance.

On the morning of Aug. 11, Douglas and her boyfriend of three years warmly exchanged greetings as she hurriedly set out for work. But it wasnt long before she started receiving text messages from him, demanding that she ask her boss for money and that she bring home a case of beer.

Douglas grew more concerned when she received a text saying, Did you get it? Make sure you have it before you get home. Dont come home without it.

She hardly recognized the man texting her.

Falicia Douglas standing in front of Curleys House Food Bank on Nov. 8, 2023. A man she met on the job became her boyfriend.

Before going home, she went to a doctors appointment for an MRI on her fractured foot, the result of an accident a month earlier. Away from her phone, she was unaware of the escalating, incoming messages. Once she checked her phone and realized that his agitation had grown significantly, Douglas became terrified.

In my head I was thinking, Oh my God, what am I going to go through now?

At home, she found her boyfriend impatiently waiting at the door. He demanded to use her phone to call a friend for drugs. His anger grew when his phone calls werent answered. Douglas said she tried to deescalate the situation by offering to make him dinner. When she overheard him talking to himself, she ignored it.

Next thing you know, BOOM, Douglas said. He drops the plate on the ground and breaks it, spilling the dinner I had just cooked him.

Douglas boyfriend threatened to destroy their apartment. She called 911 while he paced around the room frantically.

He tore the closet door out of my room and pulled it off the ground, snatched it, and slammed it on the living room floor, stepping all over it, she said.

Falicia Douglas apartment, destroyed and in shambles on Aug. 11.

Overcome with fear, Douglas waited for police to arrive, staying as far away from him as possible. Because he had been living in the apartment for over six months, police said there was nothing they could do to make him leave.

Fearing for her safety, she left and waited at a nearby bus stop for a friend to finish a work shift so she could stay with her.

I was there from 8:30 until 2 a.m., at a bus stop by myself with nothing but a small bag with some clothing, she said.

Though Douglas was safe, her apartment was trashed.

It was all destroyed. I was in tears. I had never seen anything like this, she said.

She has been sleeping on her friends couch and living out of a suitcase for more than three months.

Douglas wish is for a queen-size bedroom set so she can begin in a new home and not have to impose on her friends hospitality any longer.

Douglas said she is grateful to have made it out of her situation safely. But she wants to move forward.

I wanted to make a change for the better, she said. After everything that Ive been through, I am still standing above everything. I am not going to give up because I am a fighter.

How to Help

To help the more than 180 other nominees who are in need this year:

 To donate, use the coupon found in the newspaper or pay securely online through www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

 For more information, call 305-376-2906 or email Wishbook@MiamiHerald.com

 The most requested items are often laptops and tablets for school, furniture, and accessible vans

 Read all Wish Book stories on www.MiamiHerald.com/wishbook

This story is the product of a partnership between the Miami Herald and the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media at Florida International University

Both parents work. But they cant keep up with the cost of specialized care for their son

Displaced and struggling families need a hand this season. Heres how you can help
Police in Winnipeg, Manitoba are investigating a shooting that left three people dead and two in critical condition over the weekend. Image by Simaah from Pixabay

Nov. 26 (UPI) -- Police are investigating a shooting early Sunday that left three people dead and two others critically injured in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, police said.

The Winnipeg police said the shooting happened just after 4 a.m. about a mile west of the downtown area.

Officers on the scene described the five victims "with injuries consistent with being shot," police said in a press release.

"This incident occurred in a multi-suite residence; no further information regarding a possible motive is available," Constable Jason Michalyshen, a Winnipeg police spokesperson, said.

A man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Three of the victims were taken to a hospital, and one of those victims later died of his injuries. Two of the victims, one man and one woman, remain hospitalized.

The victims' names have not been released, and police said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

"The Winnipeg Police Service Forensic Services Unit will be on scene for an extended period due to the gravity of this incident," they said.

Winnipeg Police's 2022 Annual Statistical Report shows violent crime rates in Manitoba's capital reached the highest levels since 2009 last year, and, with 53, reported a record number of homicides.

In another weekend incident, police in Vermont are investigating the shooting of three Palestinian students attending college in the U.S. who had been visiting family in the town of Burlington over the Thanksgiving holiday break.

They were shot in the home's front yard by an unidentified gunman after the students, two of whom were reportedly wearing traditional Palestinian headscarves known as keffiyehs, returned from bowling.
(Bloomberg) -- Sierra Leone security forces arrested several perpetrators who attacked a key military base in the capital Freetown and invaded prisons, President Julius Maada Bio said Sunday.

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Most of the leaders have been arrested, Bio said in a televised address. The attackers are being repelled by a combined team of security forces and police. Calm has been restored, he said.

An indefinite curfew that was imposed in the hunt for the assailants has been lifted from 6:00 a.m. on Nov. 27, the information ministry said in a statement. A new one starting from the same date is imposed everyday from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. until further notice, it said.

In the early hours of Sunday some assailants attacked the military barracks at Wilberforce in Freetown. The assaulters released inmates following the invasion of the countrys prisons while taking some hostages.

The prisoners are now on the run, Issa Bangura, a spokesman for the army, said by phone.

The central prison and the special court prison where the most serious offenders are held were broken into, Bangura said. One of the attackers was killed and three soldiers were critically injured, he said.

The developments in Sierra Leone come after military takeovers in Gabon and Niger this year and others in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad over the past three years. The July putsch in Niger, which the Economic Community of West African States is currently negotiating to overturn, created a belt of military-run countries stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

We shall continue to protect the peace and security of Sierra Leone against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability, Bio said.

The aggression was a plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in the country, the regional bloc known by its acronym Ecowas, said in a statement. Ecowas condemns this act and calls for the arrest and prosecution of all participants in this illegal act.

The disturbances disrupted flights on Sunday, the West African nations civil aviation agency said in a statement. It told airlines to reschedule departing flights after the curfew is lifted.

Second Term

Bio, 59, won a second mandate to lead Sierra Leone earlier this year. The results were rejected by the opposition and questioned by international observers including the US, which raised concerns about irregularities in the election results.

The military headquarters lies strategically near the presidential palace.

Bio, a retired military officer, briefly led a military junta during an 11-year civil war that ended in 2002. The June election was the fifth since the end of civil war, which claimed 50,000 lives and devastated the economy.

(Updates curfew in third paragraph.)

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Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa, has a special significance in the history of the transatlantic slave trade as the departure point for thousands of west African captives. The capital, Freetown, was founded as a home for repatriated former slaves in 1787.

But the country's modern history has been overshadowed by a brutal civil war that ended in 2002 with the help of Britain, the former colonial power, and a large United Nations peacekeeping mission.

Sierra Leone has experienced substantial economic growth in recent years, although the ruinous effects of the civil war continue to be felt.

The country is also rich in diamonds and other minerals. The trade in illicit gems, known as "blood diamonds" for their role in funding conflicts, perpetuated the civil war. The government has sought to crack down on the trade.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

REPUBLIC OF SIERRA LEONE: FACTS

Capital: Freetown

Area: 71,740 sq km

Population: 8.6 million

Languages: English, Krio

Life expectancy: 58 years (men) 61 years (women)

LEADER

President: Julius Maada Bio

Julius Maada Bio won a second term as president in June 2023 in hotly disputed presidential elections, with the opposition claiming voting irregularities and international election observers highlighting problems with transparency in the tallying of votes.

Official figures gave Mr Bio, of the Sierra Leone People's Party, 56% of the vote. His main rival, Samura Kamara, of the All People's Congress (APC), trailed far behind with 41%.

President Bio, a retired army brigadier took part in a military coup during the country's civil war in 1992, only to overthrow the military junta itself in 1996 and pave the way for free elections that year.

The rivalry between him and Dr Kamara was a repeat of the closely fought 2018 election, which went to a second round.

The campaign took place against a backdrop of a troubled economy, the rising cost of living and concerns about national unity.

Mr Bio, who blamed the country's woes on external factors such as the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine, now has the task of solving these problems.

The election is the fifth since Sierra Leone's brutal 11-year civil war officially ended in 2002. But since then the country has had a tradition of largely peaceful, free and credible elections, according to Marcella Samba Sesay, chairperson of the non-governmental organisation National Elections Watch.

MEDIA

Sierra Leone's diamonds helped fund years of conflict

Media freedom in Sierra Leone has its limits; media rights monitors say high-level corruption is a taboo topic, with officials using libel laws to target errant journalists.

Challenges facing broadcasters include unreliable power supplies, poor funding and low advertising revenues. There are dozens of radio stations, most of them privately owned.

Dozens of newspapers are published in Freetown, despite low literacy levels.

TIMELINE

Sierra Leone suffered a lengthy civil war. Child soldiers took part in the fighting

Some key dates in Sierra Leone's history:

c 500BC onwards - Sierra Leone is settled by successive groups of peoples, though its dense tropical rainforest partially isolates the region from other West African cultures.

1462 - Portuguese explorer Pedro de Sintra maps the hills around what is now Freetown, naming them "Serra da Leoa" or "Serra Leoa" - Lioness Mountains.

1495 - Portuguese traders build a fortified trading post on the coast. They are followed by others, as as the Dutch, English and French who also establish trading stations which quickly began to primarily deal in slaves.

1787 - Following British defeat in the American Revolutionary War, thousands of Black Loyalists are settled in Canada, the West Indies or come to London. British philanthropists establish a settlement in Sierra Leone with the aim of lifting them out of poverty. British government officials are also involved, although their interest is in resettling a large group of poor citizens elsewhere away from London. This first settlement is attacked by locals, and struggles.

1792 - Black Loyalists are settled in Nova Scotia, Canada, after the American Revolution but face harsh northern winters and racial discrimination. Helped by philanthropists, nearly 1,200 decide to move to Sierra Leone and build the settlement of Freetown.

1808 - Freetown settlement becomes crown colony. With abolition of slavery, the Royal Navy begins delivered thousands of formerly enslaved Africans to Freetown, after liberating them from illegal slave ships.

1896 - Britain sets up a protectorate over the Freetown hinterland.

1961 - Sierra Leone becomes independent.

1967 - Military coup deposes Premier Siaka Stevens' government, but he returns to power the following year and becomes president in 1971, after Sierra Leone becomes a republic.

1991 - Start of civil war. Former army corporal Foday Sankoh and his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) begin campaign against President Joseph Saidu Momoh, capturing towns on border with Liberia.

1992 - President Joseph Momoh is ousted in military coup led by Captain Valentine Strasser. Under international pressure, Strasser announces plans for the first multi-party elections since 1967. In quick succession, however, the country goes through several presidents after a series of coups.

2000 - UN forces - in the country to help end the war - come under attack in the east. Several hundred UN troops are abducted. Rebels close in on Freetown. British paratroopers are sent to Freetown to evacuate British citizens and to help secure the airport for UN peacekeepers, rebel leader Foday Sankoh is captured.

2002 - Civil war ends. UN mission says disarmament of 45,000 fighters is complete. Government, UN agree to set up war crimes court. British troops leave Sierra Leone after two-year mission to help end the fighting.

2003 - Rebel leader Foday Sankoh dies of natural causes while awaiting trial for war crimes.

2004 - First local elections in more than three decades; war crimes trials begin into atrocities committed by both sides during the fighting.

2014-2016 - Sierra Leone declares a state of emergency to tackle the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa which persists into 2016, killing more than 11,000 people in the region.

2023 - Gunmen attack the country's main military barracks in Freetown, and free a number of inmates held in prisons amid political tensions following President Bio's contested reelection.

Foday Sankoh led the RUF rebel movement, which was notorious for mass rape and mutilations
(Bloomberg) -- Sierra Leones authorities have said that an attack at the weekend by gunmen on a key army base in the capital, Freetown, was a failed coup.

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Thirteen military officers and one civilian suspected of being involved in the Nov. 26 assault have been arrested, Inspector General of Police William Fayia Sellu said at a press briefing on Tuesday.

At least 21 people, including 14 of the West African nations soldiers had been killed in clashes with the gunmen, Sellu said. Some civilians caught in the crossfire died while three assailants were killed with others still on the run, he said.

We continue to pursue them outside of Freetown, Chief of Defense Staff Peter Lavahun said during the briefing. The invasion of two prisons by the gunmen also led to the escape of over 2,200 inmates, of which about 70 have since been captured or returned voluntarily, according to correctional services.

The unrest comes amid increasing tension in the West African nation after President Julius Maada Bios disputed reelection in June.

Read More: US Questions Vote That Extended Sierra Leone Presidents Mandate

Some of the groups leaders fled to the hills on the outskirts of Freetown, where authorities are working to capture them, Information Minister Chernor Bah said on Monday.

They have been surrounded and were very confident that they will be apprehended the next day or so, he said. Were reviewing everything that happened to understand why this breach happened. The president has instructed that additional security measures are put in place.

The developments in Sierra Leone come after military takeovers in Gabon and Niger this year, and coups in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Chad over the past three years. The July putsch in Niger, which the Economic Community of West African States is trying to resolve, created a belt of military-run African nations that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea.

Sierra Leones military headquarters lies strategically near the presidential palace and some of the attackers have been identified as former and current members of the security forces, according to Bah. A night curfew will remain in place, he said.

The aggression was a plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in the country, the regional bloc known by its acronym Ecowas said in a statement. Ecowas condemns this act and calls for the arrest and prosecution of all participants in this illegal act.

Flights Disrupted

The clashes disrupted flights on Sunday, the civil aviation agency said in a statement. It told airlines to reschedule departing flights for after the curfew is lifted.

Bio, 59, won a second mandate to lead Sierra Leone earlier this year. The results were rejected by the opposition and questioned by international observers including the US, which raised concerns about irregularities in the election results.

A retired military officer, Bio briefly led a military junta during an 11-year civil war that ended in 2002. The June election was the fifth since the end of the war, which claimed 50,000 lives and devastated the economy.

--With assistance from Michael Ovaska.

(Recasts with government citing attack as coup attemp.)

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(CNN)  As the bulldozers worked their way through the remains of the southern Gaza town of Al Qarara on Sunday morning, a group of people watched with anxiety.

They were hoping the truce between Hamas and Israel would allow enough time for the bodies of their loved ones to be recovered from underneath the rubble.

Then they can finally be buried.

For nearly seven weeks, most people in the Gaza Strip have been just trying to survive, focusing on the basics: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting, getting access to food and water.

The pause in hostilities has given Gazans a moment to breathe  and take stock of the devastation around them.

The town of Al Qarara is in the southern Khan Younis governorate, an area that has seen a marked increase in the damage to buildings in the past two weeks, according to analysis of radar satellite data.

CNN footage from Deir El Balah, a city in central Gaza, showed thousands of people flocking to the streets and going to the market, trying to buy supplies that were out of reach for many weeks but are now  if only perhaps temporarily - available again.

Speaking to CNN in the market, residents of Deir El Balah told of the relief they felt when the truce came.

One woman, called Um Ihab, said Sunday was the first time she had been out with her family. We were always afraid of going out and being struck by rockets and airstrikes. But since the first day of the ceasefire, we have been able to go buy what we need safely, she said. For 47 days, we were living in war and fear. Our kids were terrified.

Another resident, Um Mohammad, told CNN that prices have skyrocketed during the war.

Everything seemed very expensive, not like before (the war), she said, adding: We thank God that at least we can come and feel safe.

The market had been deserted for most of the past seven weeks, with most shops closed and people afraid to go out. On Sunday, it was buzzing with activity, shoppers rushing out to stock up, children running around among the stalls with vegetables, garbage piling up on the sides of the streets.

We hope that the ceasefire can be permanent and that (Israeli forces) will withdraw from the north, so all those who were forcibly displaced can go back home, even if they go back to tents, Abu Udai, another local resident, told CNN.

Yet for many in Gaza, the truce brought heartache as they were able to see the full scale of the devastation for the first time. The weeks of fighting have left entire neighbourhoods levelled to the ground. Thousands of people have been killed.

Of the 2 million people living in Gaza, 1.7 million are internally displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The situation is most dire in northern parts of Gaza, where some civilians have remained despite repeated orders by the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

As part of the truce agreement, more humanitarian aid is now allowed into Gaza.

On Saturday, 61 trucks delivered food, water, and emergency medical supplies to northern Gaza, according to the United Nations. It was the largest shipment to reach the north since October 7  but nowhere near enough to meet peoples needs.

Hamas said on Saturday night the truce agreement could be in danger if sufficient trucks failed to make it to northern Gaza, where the needs are greatest. The dispute over the amount of aid entering Gaza contributed to a brief delay in the planned handover of a group of hostages held by Hamas on Saturday.

UNRWA said Sunday the amount of aid reaching the Gaza Strip remained completely insufficient.

We need 200 aid trucks a day continuously for two months at least to meet the needs. We need even more fuel so we can operate the services and sectors we support, like water desalination, sewage, hospitals, bakeries and UNRWA services and communications. The aid going in at the moment is just a drop in the ocean of humanitarian needs, said Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA media adviser.

Before the war, about 455 trucks entered Gaza daily with aid supplies, according to the United Nations.

The (humanitarian) situation in northern Gaza is dangerous, there is no drinking water and no food, so the aid we are sending is important. Today we are also sending convoys towards Gaza City and northern Gaza. The humanitarian situation is dangerous in both southern and northern Gaza, he added.

This story was first published on CNN.com, "Truce gives Gazans moment to breathe  and reveals scale of devastation"
The president of Sierra Leone has described a foiled assault on a military barracks in the capital Freetown as an attack on democracy.

In a video statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, late Sunday, President Maada Bio said most of the ringleaders had been arrested and calm restored. He vowed to ensure that those responsible are held accountable through due process.

Bio said in the statement following the attacks on the barracks, there was also a security breach at a Freetown prison, where an undisclosed number of inmates escaped.

The news sparked fears of another potential coup attempt in West Africa.

A nationwide curfew was imposed following an attack in the early hours of Sunday on the military barracks, leading to widespread flight disruption.

Authorities revised the indefinite curfew, saying it would now run from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. daily local time, starting Monday.

The countrys airspace was also closed but the countrys aviation authority later said the Freetown International Airport would resume full operations after the curfew was lifted.

This will be in effect until further notice, the countrys information ministry said.

A divisive election

President Bio described the incident as an attack on democracy, but did not state outright that it was a coup attempt. Global condemnation has however been swift.

In a strong statement, the West African regional bloc ECOWAS said it has learnt with utter disgust a plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in Sierra Leone.

ECOWAS, which has been trying to prevent a contagion effect after a spate of coups in the region, called for the prosecution of the masterminds behind the attacks while reiterating its zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government.

The US embassy in Sierra Leone condemned the attacks while adding in another statement on X, on Monday that: We honor and remember those who gave their lives yesterday in defense of Sierra Leones Constitution and government.

Sierra Leone has grappled with a political crisis since the conclusion of a disputed general election in June. Bio was sworn in for a second term after being declared winner of a fiercely contested presidential election that was fraught with controversies and described by international observers as lacking adequate levels of transparency.

According to local media in the West African nation, there have been three failed coup attempts to depose Bios government in the last year.

Oluwole Ojewale, an analyst with the Institute for Security Studies told CNN that this latest incident signals cracks in the country following the divisive election period.

The victory of the incumbent left a trail of legitimacy crisis, Ojewale told CNN. That is a major challenge to the relative stability which the country has experienced for about a decade.

West Africa has been plagued by recurring coups in recent years, including one in Sierra Leones closest neighbor Guinea.

Bio assured residents following the Sunday attacks saying, As your Commander in Chief, I want to assure everybody who is resident in Sierra Leone that we have overcome this challenge, and together, we will continue on the path of progress and development.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The News

Sierra Leones president said security forces foiled an attempt to break into a military barracks close to his official residence in the capital Freetown, prompting a daily curfew and international condemnation of anti-democratic plots in the West African nation.

The United States, European Union, and regional bloc Ecowas all issued strongly worded statements denouncing the latest sign of unrest in a sub-region that has been hit by a spate of coups in the last two years.

Residents and journalists in Freetown reported hearing gunshots before 5am local time on Sunday in Wilberforce, a neighborhood that houses Sierra Leones main barracks. President Julius Maada Bio later tweeted that a breach of security had occurred but insisted his government had restored calm.

Most of the leaders of the barracks attack have been arrested and investigations are ongoing into their actions, Bio stated in a video posted on his X account. An unspecified number of detainees at Pademba Road prison in Freetown escaped after a breach that followed the barracks attacks, he said.

An indefinite daily curfew in Freetown begins today between 9pm and 6am, information and civic education minister Chernor Bah said.

Know More

Eight countries in West and Central Africa are currently ruled by military governments formed after coups in recent years.

The Sierra Leonean government and foreign embassies in the country have yet to describe Sundays events as an attempted coup. However, the U.S. and EU condemned a forceful seizure in their separate statements. Ecowas expressed utter disgust at the attempt to disturb the peace and constitutional order in Sierra Leone.

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It was the second jailbreak in West Africa this month following an attempt in Guinea, which shares a 493-mile border with Sierra Leone. Attempted coups in the subregion were staged in Guinea Bissau in February 2022 and the Gambia last December.

Bio won a second and final five-year presidential term in June, in elections that some observers  including the U.S.  faulted for irregularities. Some soldiers arrested by the government in August were accused of plotting a possible overthrow.

Alexanders view

Bios four-minute national address on Sunday evening served as a proof-of-life video to assure Sierra Leoneans to be calm but also underscored the sense of fear that gripped the nation. We have overcome this challenge, the president said.

Analysts are hedging their interpretations but there are signs that the country might well have survived a coup.

What happened has all the hallmarks of a coup, at least an attempt, Kieran Mitton, a researcher at the Kings College London who studies Sierra Leone, told Semafor Africa. He points to the attackers effort to go after weapons in an armory and even an apparent attempted capture of the state broadcaster as such marks. State broadcaster SLBC did not broadcast programming for many hours after the first gunshots until 5pm local time, but it is unclear if its offices were attacked.

To describe it as an attempted coup would justify so-called contagion theories that project the spread of more military takeovers in Africa as a result of successful attempts in places like Mali, Burkina Faso and Gabon. Analysis of potential hotspots have noted the Congo basin as being particularly high risk. However, a general theme appears to be that mutinous soldiers will make a move where they envisage little resistance due to weak state structures or ineffective leadership.

Sierra Leone, a country of eight million people with fresh memories of deadly conflict, has been on a gradual shift towards democratic stability in recent years. But Sundays events were reminiscent of the war in too many ways as one resident put it. Life in Freetown over the coming days is likely to be tense as soldiers have begun stop and search operations on residents. Soldiers reportedly fought those behind the barracks attacks in Jui, a town on the capitals outskirts.

Bio, a former coup leader himself, will be under scrutiny to see his continued response to the threat posed to his power. I think they have passed the test because this could have toppled past Sierra Leonean governments, Mitton said. But a political challenge remains because Bio hasnt always done a good job of building consensus with opposition parties. There is a danger that he goes down the wrong path of seeking punishments against opposition figures suspected of being involved [in the attacks] without evidence, Mitton said.

Quotable

The US embassy in Freetown, in a note of strong support for President Bio, said: We honor and remember those who gave their lives yesterday in defense of Sierra Leones constitution and government. We call for those responsible for these heinous attacks to be held accountable in accordance with due process and the rule of law.
Security forces have been patrolling the streets of capital, Freetown, following a series of attacks on Sunday

Thirteen soldiers were among the 19 killed during Sunday's violence in Sierra Leone, which saw gunmen attacking a military barracks and prisons, an army spokesman has said.

Sierra Leoneans spent Sunday under a nationwide curfew amid disarray in capital, Freetown.

The information minister described the attacks as "co-ordinated and planned".

A BBC correspondent saw armed men on the streets chanting that they would "clean" Sierra Leone.

As well as the 13 soldiers, one police officer, one civilian and a private security employee were also killed along with three of the attackers, Army spokesman Col Issa Bangura said.

Eight soldiers were also wounded in action.

In the attack on one of the prisons, some 1,890 inmates escaped, the Reuters news agency said, citing a situation report.

The violence was a "very serious breach", Information Minister Chernoh Bah told the BBC's Newsday programme on Monday morning, after the curfew had been lifted.

"These were co-ordinated and properly planned attacks on the security and wellbeing of our state."

Mr Bah said current and former military officials were among those involved, some of whom have been detained by security forces.

Gunmen, witnessed by the BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown on Sunday, wore military uniforms and balaclavas.

Addressing suggestions that there had been an attempted coup, Mr Bah said: "We have apprehended some of the major leaders of yesterday's attack and they are currently being interrogated by our security forces.

"Once they can ascertain the full intent of their actions... we will make a declaration on whether it was an attempted coup."

Several countries in West and Central Africa are under military rule after a series of recent coups. These include Sierra Leone's neighbour Guinea as well as Mali, Niger and Chad.

Our correspondent says he understands that the gunmen intended to storm the presidential residence on Sunday morning. However, they moved on after failing to take control a nearby armoury and overcome President Julius Maada Bio's security.

A former President, Ernest Koroma, also came close to Sunday's violence.

A military source on Sunday told the BBC that one of Mr Koroma's guards had been detained - hours later the former leader announced that a guard of his had been killed and another abducted.

In a statement, Mr Koroma said he "strongly condemned" the violence, in which "Corporal Eddie Conteh was reportedly shot at point blank range while his colleague, Warrant Officer John Swarray was whisked away to an unknown location".

The information minister echoed President Bio in insisting order has been restored in the capital. The sound of gunshots had drastically decreased overnight and the atmosphere was calmer, witnesses said.

However, Mr Bah said a "manhunt" for gunmen and the escaped prisoners is ongoing.

In a televised address on Sunday evening, the president described the events as a "breach of security" and an attack on democracy.

A new nine-hour night-time curfew will begin at 21:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Monday, the information ministry says.

As daily life began to resume in Freetown, one passer-by told the BBC: "Yesterday was like hell on earth for some of us that reside beside the central prison or close to the state house.

"We are happy that from the government's side, they have put everything under control for now."

Another complained: "We don't want to see this type of thing in this country because we have day-to-day activities I have my family. This is too much. Every five or six months we get this."

The political situation in Sierra Leone has remained tense since June, when President Bio was re-elected - narrowly missing out on the need to have a run-off.

International observers have condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

In August, a number of soldiers were arrested and accused of plotting a coup against the president.

The US, European Union, UK and regional bloc Ecowas released statements strongly condemning Sunday's violence.

On Monday afternoon, Sierra Leone's information ministry said a delegation from Ecowas and Nigeria was set to arrive in Freetown for a meeting with the foreign minister.
By Umaru Fofana

FREETOWN (Reuters) - Twenty people were killed and nearly 2,000 inmates escaped during Sunday's attack on a military barracks, a prison and other locations in Sierra Leone, officials said on Monday.

The West African country was thrown into panic in the early hours when the assailants sent gunfire ringing across the capital Freetown. The government blamed "renegade soldiers" that it said had been repelled.

President Julius Maada Bio said in an address on Sunday that most of the leaders of the attack had been arrested and that efforts to apprehend others were under way. An investigation has been launched, he said.

Army spokesman Colonel Issa Bangura told Reuters that the 20 dead included 13 soldiers, three assailants, a police officer, a civilian and someone working in private security. Eight people were wounded and three arrested, he said.

Some 1,890 inmates escaped from the Pademba Road central prison after the attackers broke in, according to a situation report that prison officials shared with Reuters on Monday. So far, 23 have returned, it said.

In a two-hour raid, the assailants rammed open the main gate with a vehicle after gunfire and a rocket launcher failed to breach prison defences, said Colonel Shek Sulaiman Massaquoi, the acting director general of the Sierra Leone Correctional Service.

Inside the prison on Monday, a Reuters reporter saw cell doors broken open or removed entirely, and piles of trash from an ongoing clean-up.

The police urged inmates to return to prison in a statement on Monday, and offered the public rewards for details on the whereabouts of escapees or the attackers.

TENTATIVE CALM

Life returned to Freetown on Monday afternoon as shops and businesses opened after the government reduced an all-day curfew to a nightly one running from 2100-0600 GMT.

In a show of a return to normalcy, Bio's X social media account on Monday shared a picture of the president behind his desk in his office saying he was at work.

"The task before us is too great and urgent to be derailed by those who seek to truncate the peace and security that we have enjoyed as a country," he said in the post.

Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a 1991-2002 civil war in which more than 50,000 were killed, has been tense since Bio was re-elected in June, a result rejected by the main opposition candidate and questioned by international partners including the United States and the European Union.

In August 2022, at least 21 civilians and six police officers were killed in anti-government protests.

(Reporting by Umaru Fofana; Writing by Anait Miridzhanian, Bate Felix and Edward McAllister; Editing by Alison Williams and Mark Potter)
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  The Oklahoma History Center is putting together a special display to commemorate the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor.

On December 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma was one of eight battleships docked at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, when there was an attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The USS Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties, and the battleship capsized due to multiple torpedo strikes, says OHC.

LOCAL NEWS: Fatal motorcycle crash victim donates organs, saves lives

Officials say the display will include presentation silver sets, which were a tradition for American warships of the first rank beginning with the USS Maine in the 1890s. The tradition will carry on since the Oklahoma Legislature allocated $7,500 in 1913 to create a silver service to show the states pride in the battleships name.

According to OHC, it was drawn by Walter Dean of Oklahoma City and created by Gorham Silversmiths of New York. The USS Oklahoma was christened on March 23, 1914, and the service was introduced to the ship at that time. The service was used on the battleship from 1914 until 1941 but was removed before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. It was then kept at the Puget Sound Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington.

In 1946, after World War II, the Oklahoma Historical Society put together a committee to find the silver service and bring it back to the state. In 1947, the U.S. Navy loaned the silver service to the Oklahoma Historical Society. After thorough polishing and repair, it went on public display.

The display will be open Monday, November 27, with only select pieces on display. The complete set has 55 pieces.

For more information, visit okhistory.org/historycenter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Oklahomans will get a chance to visit and view silver from USS Oklahoma on Display at Oklahoma History Center Museum to Commemorate Pearl Harbor Anniversary starting Monday, November 27th.

According to museum officials, the Oklahoma History Center Museum will have pieces of silver service from the USS Oklahoma on display to commemorate the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. The complete set consists of 55 pieces. Only select pieces will be available for public view.

Guthrie Christmas parade canceled, other events still planned

On December 7, 1941, the USS Oklahoma was one of eight battleships docked at the Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Honolulu, Hawaii, when it came under attack by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. The USS Oklahoma suffered 429 casualties, and the battleship capsized due to multiple torpedo strikes.



The Oklahoma History Center Museum says, the tradition of creating presentation silver sets for American warships of the first rank began with the USS Maine in the late 1890s. Continuing this tradition, the Oklahoma Legislature appropriated $7,500 in 1913 to create a silver service to express the states pride in having a new battleship named for the state. It was designed by Walter Dean of Oklahoma City and executed by Gorham Silversmiths of New York. The USS Oklahoma was christened on March 23, 1914, and the service was presented to the ship at that time. The service was used on the battleship from 1914 until 1941 but was removed before the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and stored at the Puget Sound Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington. In 1946 after World War II, the Oklahoma Historical Society appointed a committee to find the silver service and return it to the state. In 1947 the U.S. Navy loaned the silver service to the Oklahoma Historical Society. After thorough polishing and repair, it went on public display.

For more information click here.





For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
(Bloomberg) -- Singapores High Court granted injunctions against the estranged brother of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, preventing him from making defamatory statements against two of the countrys ministers.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The injunctions announced Monday were sought by Law Minister K. Shanmugam and Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. The officials had previously demanded Lee Hsien Yang withdraw allegations made in a Facebook post on July 23 in relation to state-owned residences that they rented. They also sought damages, which they said would be donated to charity.

The court ruled that Lee Hsien Yangs refusal to remove the social media post, and to continue to highlight it in other online posts, signaled that it is likely he will repeat the defamatory allegations. A decision on damages is scheduled for a later hearing, the court said.

Lee Hsien Yang had responded on July 29, saying that the ministers misinterpreted his comments about them and that he had not asserted they acted corruptly or for personal gain, as alleged. The state issued him with a fake news notice for the July 23 post and ordered him to correct it.

Read More: Singapore Hits PM Lees Estranged Brother With Fake News Notice

Earlier, a government review into the homes rented by the two ministers found no evidence of corruption or criminal wrongdoing.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Six teenagers are standing trial in Paris on Monday on charges of inciting the 2020 beheading of schoolteacher Samuel Paty, who showed cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad during a class discussion on the French values of freedom of expression and secularism.

Five of the charged minors, who were between the ages of 14 and 15 at the time of the attack, are accused of waiting for Paty for several hours until he left their school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a suburb near Paris, and helping the 18-year-old Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Moscow-born Chechen refugee and Islamic extremist, identify the teacher in exchange for promised payments of between 300-350 euros ($348-$406). Authorities say Anzorov stabbed and beheaded Paty outside the school on Oct. 16, 2020. Anzorov was shot and killed by police.

The youngest suspect, a 13-year-old girl at the time of the murder, is accusing of lying to her father that she had been disciplined for confronting Paty, falsely claiming the teacher had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons.

The girl allegedly later told investigators she had lied, and an investigation showed Paty did not make such a request. The girl also had been suspended from school over an unrelated incident nine days before Patys murder, according to the BBC, and was not in the classroom when Paty showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by Islamic extremists in January 2015, during a debate on free expression.

FRENCH STUDENT ADMITS HER LIE GOT TEACHER SAMUEL PATY BEHEADED

A person holds a placard with the portrait of history teacher Samuel Paty as people gather on Place de la Republique in Paris on Oct. 18, 2020, two days after he was beheaded by an attacker who was shot dead by police.

Nevertheless, the girls false allegation prompted her father, Brahim Chnina, to post videos on social media calling for mobilization against the teacher. Prosecutors believe the videos inspired Anzorov to travel some 50 miles from Normandy to Conflans-Sainte-Honorine to carry out Patys slaying.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The trial is scheduled to end on Dec. 8. All six teenagers are facing two and a half years in prison if convicted.

All hearings at a Paris juvenile court are to be held behind closed doors in accordance with French law regarding minors. The defendants arrived Monday morning at the Paris court, their faces hidden behind masks and hoods, accompanied by their families, according to The Associated Press, which added that the media are not allowed to disclose their identities.

Louis Cailliez, the lawyer for Patys sister, Mickaelle, said she wants "to understand the real causes" that led the students to commit something irreparable. He pointed to the "fatal combination of little acts of cowardice, big lies, calumnies, arrangements, complicity and help without which Samuel Paty would still be alive."

LOUVRE MUSEUM IN PARIS EVACUATED AFTER THREAT WHILE FRANCE ON HIGH ALERT FOLLOWING DEADLY STABBING

"Without the denunciation, there would be no visibility (on the social media), without visibility, there would be no crime," the lawyer said.

The lawyer for one of the defendants, Antoine Ory, said his client is "tormented by remorse and very much afraid of the confrontation with Mr. Patys family."

A French police officer stands next to a portrait of Samuel Paty on the facade of the Opera Comedie in Montpellier on Oct. 21, 2020, during a national homage to the teacher who was beheaded for showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammed.

He said the teenager "obviously didnt know about the criminal plan" of the killer.

The trial comes six weeks after another teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people injured in a school attack in the northern city of Arras by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization. The killing, which came during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, led French authorities to deploy 7,000 additional soldiers across the country to bolster security and vigilance.

Chnina is among eight adults to stand a separate trial that will open next year in connection to Patys killing.

Among those defendants are two of Anzorovs friends charged with "complicity in a terrorist murder"  the most serious offense to be brought in the case. A radical Islamic activist who allegedly helped Chnina disseminate the virulent messages naming Paty has also been charged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Six teens stand trial for allegedly inciting beheading of French teacher who showed Muslim cartoon
It was, perhaps, the most expensive fast-food item ever consumed in Ljubljana.

This particular burek - a Balkan cross between a pie and pasty - cost a famished delivery rider 400 (350). All because he sat down on the steps of a church to tuck into his snack during the Slovenian capital's first Covid lockdown.

The scene was caught on camera. And the photo of police surrounding a worker who was taking food to others - for the crime of having a quick bite of his own - quickly became a cause celebre.

It was seen as a symbol of the harsh manner in which the authorities were enforcing Covid restrictions.

Now that rider will be getting his money back - and his police record cleared. The same goes for more than 60,000 other Slovenians who fell foul of anti-Covid measures.

Police issued almost 6m (5.2m) worth of fines over a period of more than two years. But as of this week, legislation to refund that money is coming into force.

It fulfils a pledge made by Prime Minister Robert Golob before his centre-left Freedom Movement was elected last year.

The previous right-wing administration, led by former prime minister Janez Jansa, had imposed tight restrictions on freedom of movement and assembly.

At various points, Slovenians were not allowed to travel beyond their local areas - and a night-time curfew was in place.

The hungry food delivery driver was one of many to be fined for breaking a face mask mandate that applied outdoors as well as inside. And doing anything without a Covid certificate became nigh-on impossible.

The Constitutional Court struck down all these measures. But it has taken until now for the authorities to reverse the punishments imposed on those who were deemed to have transgressed.

Environmentalist Rok Rozman, who received multiple fines for taking part in protests, feels vindicated.

"The decrees they used to impose the fines were not based in law," he says.

"The government knew that - and if this means they now have to give the money back, that's how it goes. If you live in a country with the rule of law, that should apply to everyone."

That perspective is shared by the current administration.

Justice Minister Dominika Svarc Pipan said repaying the fines would help to rebuild Slovenians' trust in the rule of law, "which was significantly undermined by the use of excessive and unconstitutional repression during the pandemic."

But the restitution legislation has not received a universal welcome.

One MP from Mr Jansa's SDS party said repaying the fines "spits in the face of all those health workers who fought tirelessly for the lives of our fellow citizens".
For more than a year, patrons of the bars and restaurants on the Pepper Distillery campus in Lexington have been watching for a new one to open.

Now that day is finally here: Desperados Cantina will have a grand opening Dec. 15-16, beginning at 4 p.m.

Co-owners Alex Coats and Eric Boggs, who also own Goodfellas Pizzeria next door, have been building the tacos and tequila concept for two years, taking over the space left empty when Middle Fork Kitchen Bar closed in 2021, and expanding it with a new garage-style bar with roll up doors and a covered porch area with a fireplace over looking the tree-shaded creek.

The result is a quick-service gourmet taco joint that looks to disrupt the norm, according to the restaurants motto.

Desperados Cantina on the Pepper campus in Lexingtons Distillery District will have gourmet tacos with housemade tortillas and more than 20 salsas to choose from. Its located next to Goodfellas in Lexingtons Distillery District.

The scorpion logo of the Desperados restaurant painted on the side of the building faces toward Goodfellas Pizzeria and Ethereal Brewing.

A large themed mural on an entire wall within the Desperados Cantina restaurant on Manchester Street near Goodfellas Pizzeria. Its owned by the same partnership of Alex Coats and Eric Boggs.

What does that mean? Maybe leaning into tequila and mezcal in the middle of bourbon country. The idea, Coats said, is to give bourbon tourists a great option when they are done visiting distilleries on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and fill a vacant food niche on the campus.

Made-from-scratch tortilla chips and a 20+ salsa bar

Besides tacos and a salsa bar, Desperados Cantina has hundreds of tequilas and mezcals to try alone or in cocktails.

Desperados Cantina will have lots of different taco options on its menu. Its located in the James E. Pepper Distillery District.

Just like at nearby Goodfellas Pizzeria, customers will queue up to order from a menu of different taco options including vegan choices. They can order a platter of freshly ground and housemade tortilla chips and then select from an eclectic bar of more than 20 salsas.

Coats said they will have traditional versions and then some surprises such as a pineapple apricot ghost pepper or black garlic habanero.

Plans to add brunch on weekends

After the first of the year, the menu will expand on weekends from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to include a Latin-inspired brunch, Coats said, such as churro waffles with habanero cream cheese.

Besides tacos and a salsa bar, Desperados Cantina has hundreds of tequilas and mezcals to try alone or in cocktails.

Besides cocktails, Desperados Cantina will serve frozen drinks including margaritas and much more.

All of Desperados menu will be complemented by a bar full of more than 200 different tequilas and mezcals, he said. Besides craft cocktails, theyll have lots of fun options such as frozen espresso martinis or frozen palomas.

To finish up, Desperados will have crazy desserts, Coats said, including an Instagram-worthy ice cream taco.

A new building was added to the under-utilized patio; it has a vintage gas staion vibe, with garage doors that can roll up and seating for about 115 inside and out.

The two bars inside Desperados Cantina have hundreds of tequilas and mezcals for drinking alone or in cocktails. Plus there are frozen drink machines for fun cocktails.

The inspiration for Desperados is a little bit California taco truck and a whole lot of outlaw, Coats said  think motorcycles and vintage gas stations.

The desperado is the western relative of the goodfella, he said.

Patio space of the new building at Desperados Cantina has a vintage gas station vibe. The covered porch with the fireplace overlooks the creek.

Desperados Cantina

Where: 1224 Manchester St. Suite 110 on the Pepper Campus in the Distillery District

Opens: Grand opening Dec. 15-16

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The new Desperados Cantina is off Manchester in Lexingtons Distillery District, on the Pepper campus. It is near Goodfellas Pizzeria and is owned by the same partnership of Alex Coats and Eric Boggs. They took the space left empty when Middle Fork Kitchen Bar closed and expanded it by adding a retro gas station-style building on the under utilized patio overlooking the creek.

Hours: Thursday 11 a.m.-11 p.m., Friday 11 a.m.-midnight, Saturday 10 a.m.-midnight, Sunday 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Closed Monday-Wednesday for the first few months.

Online: Desperadoscantina.com

Dining booths inside the Desperados Cantina restaurant provide for semi-private seating.
(CNN)  An agreement has been reached to extend the truce in Gaza between Israel and Hamas by two more days, Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said on Monday on X.

CNN has reached out to the Israeli government for comment.

The announcement comes after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held a call on Monday with the prime minister of Qatar, which helped broker the original four-day truce, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

Egypt had said earlier that there were ongoing efforts to extend the pause by two days.

The four-day truce in Gaza, which was slated to end on Tuesday, marked the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict, bringing temporary respite for Palestinians in the besieged enclave and allowing the release of 40 Israeli hostages.

Hamas said it agreed with Qatar and Egypt, to extend the truce for an additional two days under the same conditions reached before.

Mark Regev, the senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed to CNNs Dana Bash that a two-day extension had been reached but will not go into effect until the hostages set for release on Monday are freed.

Regev said that under the agreement Hamas will release 10 hostages each day.

For every 10 hostages released, were willing to give an extension of another day, and if Hamas will release Israeli hostages as agreed we will extend  thats the bottom line, Regev said.

Regev said he believes the hostages released over the next two days would be women and children.

My understanding is that theres still enough women and children in Gaza held by Hamas for the next 20, Regev said.

Regev credited US President Joe Biden for helping arrange the parameters of the deal.

These were negotiated with the help of President Biden and we thank him for putting his effort and his office behind these arrangements. I dont think we would have reached the deal without his input, he said.

The initial deal to secure the release of 50 women and children hostages was struck with the understanding that the cessation in fighting could be extended by additional days if Hamas was able to produce additional hostages, as CNN has previously reported.

Israeli and US officials believed that there were more women and children being held in captivity than 50, but agreed to the terms of the deal as Hamas insisted that it needed to use the pause in fighting to gather up additional hostages.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed news of the extension of the truce Monday, saying that Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days. The White House also said they hope to see the pause extended further.
With chillier temps, many in Greater Cincinnati might be wondering about snow.

With chillier temperatures moving into Greater Cincinnati early this week, a certain four-letter word is on everyone's mind: snow.

It might come as no surprise that snowfall in the Buckeye State has been sporadic over the years. Last year, it first started falling around mid-November (Nov. 12, to be exact, according to WeatherWorks). However, records show that Cincinnati has seen snowfall as early as mid-October and as late as the beginning of May.

And, of course, 30 years ago Cincinnati experienced a chilling White Halloween, when 6.2 inches of snow fell over the course of Oct. 30 and Oct. 31.

So what's on the forecast for this winter? It's hard to say for sure, but here is when Cincinnati's first snowfall could arrive in 2023-24.

When will it snow in Cincinnati?

The Farmers' Almanac forecast for the Ohio Valley indicates that Cincinnati could see light snowfall starting around Dec. 4. Colder temperatures and heavier snowfall might kick in near the end of December, around Dec. 20.

However, the National Weather Service forecasts a chance of rain and a high near 53 for Dec. 4.

How the El Nino jet stream, or storm pattern, moves across the U.S. Ohio is expected to be drier and warmer than average this winter.

How will El Nino affect the 2023-24 winter season?

El Nino, which means "little boy" in Spanish, is a weather pattern stemming from the warming of the Pacific Ocean near the equator every two to seven years. Colder flows coming from the depths replace the ocean's warm surface waters, which changes global weather patterns between October and March.

In short: El Nino means abnormal weather everywhere. Kristen Cassady, lead meteorologist with the National Weather Service at Wilmington, calls it a general "flipped pattern" in which the South is cooler than average and the North is warmer.

Those in Greater Cincinnati can expect less precipitation and higher temperatures this winter, as meteorologists predict a drier, warm winter across the entire Ohio Valley region.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: When will it snow in Cincinnati? What to know about 2023-24 winter
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  The City of Socorro will be entering into a new era of leadership on Monday, Nov. 27.

Socorros new police chief, Robert Rojas, will be sworn in at 9 a.m. Monday at City Council Chambers, 860 N. Rio Vista Road.

Here is Rojas biography as listed on the City of Socorro web site:

Robert Christopher Rojas was born and raised in El Paso County Texas and is a graduate from Montwood High School (Class of 1999). He began his career in public service at 20 years old. He joined the El Paso County Sheriffs Office in 2001 as a detention officer assigned to the Jail Annex. He remained in that position until 2004 when he was accepted to the basic peace officer course and graduated a deputy sheriff.

As a deputy sheriff he held assignments as a field training officer, special traffic investigator, and an academy instructor. He was promoted to deputy sergeant in 2014 and had assignments in Patrol, Criminal Investigations, and Special Traffic Investigations. He was promoted to deputy lieutenant in 2018 and held assignments in Patrol  Special Operations & the Criminal Investigations Division.

He was appointed to deputy commander in April 2022 and assigned to lead the Criminal Investigations Division. He obtained his Bachelors of Science Degree in Criminal Justice (Kaplan University) in 2014 and his Masters Degree in Public Administration (Purdue University) in 2022. He is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigations National Academy (279th Session), Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Institute of Texas Leadership Command College (88th Class) and the El Paso Chamber Leadership Program.

After 22 years, 5 months, and 15 days of service to the County of El Paso, he retired to become the police chief for the City of Socorro, Texas.

We will update this story when we learn more.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
JOHNSTOWN  Twenty Somerset County organizations will benefit from over $70,000 in grants that were awarded on Tuesday, Nov. 21 by the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies as part of its fall 2023 grant distribution.

In total, the foundation awarded $336,974 to 87 projects in Somerset, Cambria, Bedford and Indiana counties in its latest round of grant awards, which are awarded in the spring and fall each year. This time, the event was held at Sandyvale Memorial Gardens and Conservancy, a historic green space in Johnstowns Hornerstown neighborhood which is being repurposed as a community park and environmental education and events space.

Mike Kane, left, president and executive director of the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, presents a $7,500 grant on Nov. 21 to Diana Kabo, president of the Sandyvale Memorial Gardens and Conservancy in Johnstown. Sandyvale was one of 87 projects in a four-county region, including Somerset, to be awarded grant funding during the foundation's 2023 fall grant distribution.

Mike Kane, president and executive director of the foundation, said the grant dollars that are awarded each year are the start of a circle of giving, in which donors get to see first-hand how grant dollars directly benefit their community.

The grants are only part of the story, he said. The Community Foundation is based on a model that says people care about their community. Nonprofits can serve the people in their community (with these grant dollars), and in turn, people see the things that are going on and that encourages more support (to the foundation).

Our goal is to make that (circle) happen. With these projects, I know I will have stories to tell our donors  so these dollars represent more than just dollars.

The foundation also reported in its fall grant announcement that a total of 105 applications were received for this latest round, requesting over $600,000 in grant funding.

From this past grant round, I can tell you the need is extensive, Kane said in a statement from the foundation. We, unfortunately, could not support them all. We encourage anyone who wants to be able to make a contribution that can be used toward a wide variety of needs to visit our website and make a gift to our Fund for the Future, or reach out to us to learn more.

The foundations website is cfalleghenies.org.

Who are the Somerset County grant recipients?

In Somerset County, the foundation awarded $71,145 in grants to these 20 organizations:

The Salvation Army, $7,500 for its Operation Warm Hearts heating assistance program; Windber Municipal Authority, $7,500 for a disability-accessible project at the Windber Recreation Pool; Boswell Volunteer Fire Department, $7,000 to replace some of the departments fire hoses; The Historical and Genealogical Society of Somerset County, Inc., $7,000 for its Pennsylvania Maple Museum paving project; Somerset County Foundation for Higher Education, $5,000 for equipment for the Penn West Clarion Nursing program at the Somerset County Education Center; Stoystown Volunteer Fire Department, $5,000 to purchase fire equipment; Somerset Volunteer Fire Department, $4,800 for the purchase of mobile tablets and stream straighteners; Guild of American Papercutters, $4,000 for its Crafting Stories with Paper project; Rockwood Area Historical and Genealogical Society, $3,700 for an energy upgrade project; Somerset County Library, $3,500 for its Organize and Grow: Childrens Collections project; Windber Food Pantry, $2,800 for its Windber Area School District backpack feeding program; Humane Society of Somerset County, $2,500 for its Raise the Roof project; Meyersdale Public Library, $2,000 for an Accessibility for All project; YWCA of Greater Johnstown, $1,645 for an expansion of the Kuddle Korner child care center in Windber; Friedens Volunteer Fire Company, $1,500 for a kitchen upgrade project at the fire station; Meyersdale Area School District, $1,500 for various projects; Meyersdale Drama/Musical Boosters, Inc., $1,500 for the high schools annual musical production; Mary S. Biesecker Public Library, Somerset, $1,200 for a variety of projects at the library; Childrens Aid Home of Somerset County, $1,000 for health upgrades; Windber Area Public Library, $500 for a literacy project.

Multi-county grant recipients

Another $59,750 was awarded to organizations that offer services in a multi-county area, 11 of which involve Somerset County:

Keystone Family Alliance, $7,500 for an Awareness and Engagement program for Somerset and Indiana counties; Scalp Level-Paint Volunteer Fire Company, $7,500 for wildland firefighting equipment; The Stonycreek-Quemahoning Initiative, $7,500 for phase III of the Quemahoning Trail; The Learning Lamp, $7,500 for its Best Day Ever! lesson plan program; Johnstown Symphony Orchestra, $4,800 to expand its music education engagement program into Somerset and Bedford counties; Easterseals Western and Central Pennsylvania, $3,550 for its Equitable Hearing Health program; Circle of Support Child Advocacy Center, $3,400 for computer and phone equipment; Conemaugh Township Rotary, $3,000 for its 2023 Wishes of Christmas project that supports families in need; Laurel Highlands Education and Robotics, Inc., $3,000 for its drone Code for the Skies and STEM training project; Pennsylvania Society for Biomedical Research, $2,500 for its mobile STEM education program for students in Somerset, Bedford and Cambria counties; and Make-A-Wish Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia, $1,300 for a Wishmaker project.

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Community Foundation for the Alleghenies awards $336K to 87 community projects
A South Korean man will serve time in jail for praising the North in a poem

A South Korean court has sentenced a 68-year-old man to 14 months in jail for praising the North in a poem.

Lee Yoon-seop advocated for unification in his piece that was published in the North's state media in 2016, South Korean media report.

He wrote that if the two Koreas were united under Pyongyang's socialist system, people would get free housing, healthcare and education.

He was convicted under a law that prohibits public praise of North Korea.

In the piece titled Means of Unification, Lee also argued that in a united Korea, fewer people will take their own lives or live in debt.

The poem was one of the winners of a poetry contest in the North in November 2016.

Lee had been jailed for 10 months in the past for a similar offence, The Korea Herald reported.

In its ruling on Monday, a Seoul court said he "continued to generate and disseminate a considerable amount of propaganda that glorified and praised the North", the Korea Herald said.

He posted comments online praising North Korea's military in 2013, while posting anti-state content on South Korean blogs and websites in subsequent years.

South Korea's National Security Act outlaws the praise and promotion of "anti-government" organisations.
A builder from South London has won a 1m battle with HMRC after being accused of flipping properties without paying tax.

Gary Ives renovated and sold three family homes between 2008 and 2013, but the tax authority said these activities amounted to a trade and therefore the profits should be liable for income tax.

HMRC claimed he owed more than 712,000, plus penalties of over 283,000  a total of almost 1m.

It put forward a second argument that  if Mr Ives was not carrying on a trade  then capital gains tax should apply.

Homeowners do not have to pay capital gains tax on their main house under principal private residence (PPR) relief, but the tax authority believed the properties purchased were not family homes. Had it won this argument, Mr Ives would be charged around 400,000 in capital gains tax and around 160,000 in penalties.

Stephanie Sharpe, of accountancy firm Moore Kingston Smith, said: HMRC had decided at an early stage that the properties were not lived in by the Ives family or if they had lived there, it was as temporary occupation and not as a family home.

The HMRC officer seemed to be influenced by the fact that Mr Ives had described his self-employment as builder on his tax return, but he mainly undertook plastering and odd job work, not major property renovation.

Mr Ives told the tribunal that the type of large family house he and his wife wanted was always out of their price range or did not exist, so they set out to create the perfect family home instead.

However, financial difficulties and the desire to live close to family meant the couple sold up shortly after.

The broad facts are that each purchase was intended to be a permanent home for the family, but circumstances got in the way, Ms Sharpe added.

In 2008, Mr Ives and his wife bought the first property in Fulham as two flats for 760,000. A large amount of work was needed to make the place hospitable, so Mr Ives and his son moved in soon after completion to start the renovations. His wife remained in their previous property.

However, the renovation was meant to be funded by the proceeds from the sale of this former family home  and when a sale did not come through, the couple ran into financial difficulties.

The couple sold the property as a single dwelling in 2010 for 1.8m and then bought another house in Wandsworth in a partly renovated state. Mr Ives told the tribunal it soon became obvious the purchase was a disaster.

Traffic noise and a lack of parking drove them to sell up earlier than intended, he said. They sold it in 2012 for 1.5m, having bought it for 750,000.

A third property  also in Fulham  was much better suited to them, the tribunal heard. They bought it for 1.7m in 2012. However, by the time it was renovated, their adult children had decided to leave Fulham and the couple decided to move in order to be close to them and their grandchildren. They sold it for 3.25m at the end of 2013.

A number of friends and family members gave evidence that the Ives had furnished the properties, as well as holding dinner parties there and hosting guests overnight.

The tribunal concluded that the properties were not purchased with a view to make a profit in the short term, but had been bought as family homes and therefore the transactions were not trading in nature.

It then decided that Mr Ives was using the properties as his residence and therefore no capital gains tax was due.

Jeremy Johnson, of inTax, the firm that instructed Mr Ives lawyer, said they had encountered a number of cases like this over the years.

We have also dealt with cases where HMRC has challenged whether an individual has occupied a property to the extent that private residence relief would be due on any capital gain, he said. However, in relation to property, HMRC is frequently also interested in undeclared income or gains on second homes or rental properties.

He added: We werent overly happy about needing to take this to tribunal, as it was very stressful for our client, but we are pleased that our client got the right result.

An HMRC spokesman said: We are reviewing the tribunals decision and considering next steps.

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A Southwest Airlines passenger was hospitalized after allegedly opening a planes emergency exit door and then climbing onto the planes wing.

The plane was preparing for takeoff at 7:41 p.m. Sunday at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana when the incident took place before the plane left the gate, the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office said in a release.

Its not clear what prompted the episode, though authorities said the man appeared to be experiencing a mental health emergency, adding that he was incoherent and not fully aware of his surroundings.

Southwest Airlines airplanes are shown in Houston. Authorities in Louisiana said the man was hospitalized Sunday after being apprehended on the tarmac of New Orleans' airport.

Southwest Airlines airplanes are shown in Houston. Authorities in Louisiana said the man was hospitalized Sunday after being apprehended on the tarmac of New Orleans' airport.

Video posted on social media appears to show the man being tackled on the tarmac while travelers watch stunned from windows at the gate after being evacuated from the plane. Some of the people reacting in the video claimed that the man left something on the plane before exiting, creating a slight panic, but this turned out to be unfounded, authorities said.

He is not expected to face any criminal charges locally, however the investigation has been referred to federal authorities, the sheriffs office said.

No one was injured during the incident and the man, who was described as 38 years old, was taken to a hospital for evaluation, authorities said.

A Southwest Airlines spokesperson referred questions to local law enforcement.

We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our Customers for their inconvenience, the airline said in a statement.

The incident came during an especially hectic day for airline travel, with the Transportation Security Administration reporting that it processed more than 2.9 million passengers nationwide on Sunday. That made it the busiest travel day ever recorded, the TSA said.

Related...
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said he is confident and optimistic that Congress can push through supplemental funding for Israel and Ukraine  but he did not commit to tying the two together, saying Ukraine funding must be accompanied by border policy changes.

His comments come as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has pledged to bring a vote on the supplemental funding for Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region as soon as next week.

We have some negotiations that are going on in earnest. In fact, I was on the flight before we landed texting back and forth with Senate colleagues and others who are working on the negotiation, Johnson said during a Monday event in Florida when asked about the supplemental funding package.

The Speaker has long said, however, that Israel and Ukraine funding should be separated  and called on the Senate to take up a House-passed bill that tied aid to Israel with funding cuts to the IRS.

Listen, Israel is a top priority for the United States, and supporting our ally there is critical. Its one of the first things we did.  Its been sitting on this in the Senate and on Chuck Schumers desk. And so we are encouraging him to get that done, Johnson said.

Schumer has rejected the House-passed bill.

Johnson also expressed support for passing a Ukraine funding measure that includes changes to U.S. border policy.

Ukraine is another priority. Of course, we cant allow Vladimir Putin to march through Europe. And we understand the necessity of assisting there. What weve said is that if there is to be additional assistance to Ukraine  which most members of Congress believe is important  we have to also work on changing our own border policy, Johnson said. And so theres been a lot of thoughtful negotiation ongoing with that. I think most of our Senate colleagues recognize that those two things need to move together because we owe that to the American people.

Johnson indicated the rest of the details for a larger funding package are in flux.

With regard to the rest of it, theres some other items in the supplemental package  I think all that will come together in the coming days, Johnson said.

We have a sense of urgency about this, and there are deadlines on it as well. So, Im confident and optimistic that well be able to get that done, Johnson said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  The St. John site is officially under a Master Development Agreement contract between the City of Austin and Greystar Development Central, LLC, according to an announcement from the City of Austin Economic Development Department.

After 15 years, could Austins St. Johns site finally see redevelopment?

The Master Development Agreement, or MDA, partnership, which is in collaboration with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, aims to redevelop the 19-acre, city-owned site into a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income community, featuring open spaces and commercial services tailored to enhance the St. John neighborhood, a release from the city stated.

The MDA agreement will bring to fruition a development featuring 526 units, with 50% designated as income-restricted affordable housing, the release states. Notably, the project will significantly expand the St. John Pocket Park, creating a larger open space complete with walking trails and a splash pad between St. John and Blackson Avenues. The sites layout was developed in close consultation with the St. John community and the Council-initiated Community Advisory Committee, in alignment with the 2020 community vision.

According to the release, prior to its acquisition by the city in 2008, the St. John Site held significant historical importance for the African-American community. The release says its roots trace back to the 1890s when the St. John Regular Missionary Baptist Association obtained 350 acres north of Austin to establish a freedman community with the St. John Industrial Institute and Orphanage as its anchor.

In 2017, the Austin City Council directed staff to collaborate with the St. John community in creating a new community vision, which was officially adopted in 2020.

This agreement represents a pivotal step toward realizing our vision for a more inclusive and vibrant St. John community, stated Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, Director of the Economic Development Department. The collaboration exemplifies our commitment to creating lasting positive impacts through thoughtful urban development.

In August, the city hosted a celebration of the demolition of the former site of the Home Depot store, which sat on the land. The celebration marked the start of the redevelopment of the site.

PREVIOUS: City of Austin celebrates old Home Depot site demolition, prepares for more affordable housing

Construction is slated to start in 2024, with units becoming available as early as 2026.

More information about the St. John Site Redevelopment Project can be found online.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
PHILADELPHIA - Philadelphia police say a man was stabbed twice during an incident at one of the city's prisons Sunday afternoon.

The stabbing happened at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center in Holmesburg just after 1 p.m.

A 30-year-old man was stabbed once in the back and once in the chest, according to authorities.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he is said to be in stable condition.

Police have yet to release details about what led to the stabbing, or if the victim was an inmate.

No weapons have been recovered, and no arrests made at this time.
The State Bureau of Investigation completed its investigation into the Brovary helicopter crash in January that killed 15 people, including Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky, confirming the conclusions of an initial report in August.

The materials are open for review by involved parties and will be subsequently handed over to the court, the bureau said in a statement on Nov. 27. Foreign experts were also involved in the investigation, including French manufacturers of the helicopter.

In line with earlier findings, the investigators concluded that the helicopter flew in bad weather without a permit and without data on meteorological conditions.

Five officials of the State Emergency Service were arrested in August in connection to the deadly Jan. 18 crash that damaged a local kindergarten.

All 10 people aboard the helicopter, as well as four women and a young child who were on the ground, were killed, the Bureau reported. Some 31 people were injured, including children.

The head of the Emergency Service's Department of Aviation and Air Search and Rescue, its acting commander, the commander of the aviation squadron, the deputy commander for flight training, and the head of the flight safety service of a special aviation unit were charged with safety violations and negligence.

The Aviation and Air Search and Rescue department head and one of the suspects, Ivan Korobka, refuted the accusations.

The suspects face prison terms of up to 10 years.

Read also: How kindergarten morning in Kyiv suburb turned into tragedy

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Wind speeds of over 140 kilometres per hour (about 90 mph) were recorded during the storm (STRINGER)

Over 400,000 people in Crimea were left without power on Monday, after hurricane force winds and heavy rains battered the Russian-annexed peninsula over the weekend.

One local official said a man on the peninsula's southern coast was killed, according to early reports, while wind speeds of over 140 kilometres per hour (about 90 mph) were recorded in some places.

"The man went out to look at the waves and, unfortunately, tragically died," Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the region's Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, said on state television.

"To date about 425,000 people remain without electricity. About 500 trees have fallen," Aksyonov said in an address Monday.

"It is planned to restore electricity throughout the territory of the Republic within two days," he said, adding that emergency services had been "mobilised".

Crimean lawmaker Vladimir Konstantinov said on state television that the peninsula had experienced an "armageddon" like scenario.

"Old-timers can't remember this kind of wind and waves," he said.

Parts of the coastal highway linking the cities of Yevpatoria and Simferopol were closed due to flooding, and ferry services from Crimea's largest city of Sevastopol were suspended.

About 500 marine animals in Sevastopol's aquarium were killed during the storm, which flooded one of its floors, the city's Moscow-installed governor said.

The Ukrainian mainland and southern Russia were also affected.

Train traffic on Russia's Black Sea coast was disrupted after rail tracks fell into the sea, while oil loading at the port of Novorossiysk was suspended.

More than two thousand towns and villages on the Ukrainian mainland were also left without power due to bad weather on Monday, Kyiv's government said.

Ukraine's energy grid has been targeted systematically by Russian forces since Moscow's assault began last year, and officials have warned strikes could intensify over winter.

bur/rox
A student was killed and another was hurt in a stabbing at a North Carolina high school, WTVD reports.

It happened Monday at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, which is in southeast Raleigh.

ALSO READ: Grad student charged with killing UNC professor not fit for trial, court rules

Police told WTVD that two students were stabbed and both were taken to the hospital. One died from their injuries.

A juvenile suspect is in custody, WTVD reported.

The school was under lockdown until 2:20 p.m. Monday. Some students were taken to the Walnut Creek Amphitheatre for pickup.

No further information was released.

(WATCH BELOW: MEDIC: 1 hurt in overnight stabbing in northeast Charlotte)




This is a photo of a committee of the UNC System Board of Governors meeting.

This article was originally published in NC Newsline.

A controversial report on the return on investment of a UNC System education is on its way to the North Carolina General Assembly, which required the system to study the issue two years ago.

Key findings from the 80-page report, discussed Wednesday by the UNC System Board of Governors:

North Carolinians who receive bachelors degrees through the UNC system were found to earn a median of $572,000 more than those without, a return on investment for students of about $500,000. Those with bachelors degrees earned a median of about $1.2 million over their lifetimes.Those who earn graduate-level degrees saw a median return on investment of $938,000 compared those with bachelors degrees, earning a median of about $2.1 million over their lifetimes.

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To come to those numbers, the private research firm Deloitte worked with the consulting firm rpk GROUP and The Burning Glass Institute to study more than 700 undergraduate and 575 graduate programs in the 16-campus university system along with decades of earnings data for graduates still living in the state.

Using that data, the researchers compared the expected lifetime earnings of UNC graduates against the expected lifetime earnings of those without a college degree for undergraduate programs or with a bachelors degree for graduate programs, as measured by the American Community Survey, in the state, according to the report.

The way to essentially interpret it is, the instant you graduate from that program, its like I wrote you a check for $500,000, said Peter Fritz, the higher education analytics expert from Deloitte, in a committee meeting with members of the UNC System Board of Governors Wednesday.

As mandated by the legislature, the report also looks at the cost to the state and the return on that investment. It found for every dollar the state invests in the UNC system, students can expect to earn an additional $23 in lifetime earnings.

Of course, Fritz said, some degrees are more lucrative than others.

The report found 94 percent of the systems undergraduate programs and 91 percent of its graduate programs resulted in a positive return on student investment.

The highest return was in science, technology, engineering and mathematic (STEM) fields, the report found. Degrees in Biotechnology were found to be the most lucrative, with a median lifetime return of more than $3.2 million.

Related

North Carolina Lawmaker Proposes Bill to Help College Students with Children Graduate

Among graduate students, the study found medical science programs provided the highest return on investment, with a median lifetime return of over $5.2 million.

The study found graduates of 42 of 235 undergraduate programs and 83 of 244 graduate programs earned a median lifetime return on investment of more than $1 million. Many of these high-return programs are aligned to critical workforce needs in the state.

But the study doesnt just emphasize which programs lead to the highest earnings for students or concentrate on creating the next wave of millionaires, Fritz said.

Upward economic mobility for graduates across programs and disciplines is significant, he said, with 89.6% of graduates whose families were in the lowest income group at the time of enrollment moving up at least one income band as their careers progress.

For low-income students (defined here as students with an income of less than $17,900 at time of enrollment), 89.6% experienced some economic mobility  meaning they moved up at least one income band from where they started over a 20-year period, the report reads [Forty-two percent] of all low-income students rose four income bands leading to a yearly income of $91,300 or greater after 20 years while 65.4% of low income students rose at least 3 bands to an income of more than $51,800 per year.

This data demonstrates that by removing barriers to access, the State of North Carolina and the UNC System have ensured that students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds have a high likelihood of upward economic mobility if they complete a degree, the report reads.

Limitations and political friction

While important in demonstrating the value of higher education at a period when more American are skeptical about it, the studys authors acknowledge it has limitations.

An important blind spot in the study: students who earn degrees in the UNC System but move to other states to pursue their careers, making their wage data unavailable through the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

One of my early questions was about the school of the arts, said UNC System President Peter Hans Wednesday. Most of their graduates immediately go to New York and Los Angeles and such.

Graduates in journalism and media related fields often leave for major media markets outside the state as well and high performing graduates in political science and the social sciences may also decamp to Washington D.C. or to political careers in other states.

In Wednesdays committee discussion of the return-on-investment report, members of the board of governors and UNC System President Peter Hans suggested it took as long as it did to produce  more than 18 months  because of resistance from the state Department of Commerce.

The system and its outside firms needed to partner with the department to get wage data. The system would also like the department to approve a partnership that would help them access wage data at the federal level, board members said Wednesday.

Those criticisms came as a surprise to the Department of Commerce.

Having worked closely with UNC to deliver (in August 2022, 15 months ago) 26 years of confidential wage data  dating back to 1996 and representing more than 47.5 million data records and more than $543 Billion in wages, were surprised by todays comments, said David Rhodes, communications director for the department.

Related

North Carolina State Board Discusses How to Improve Literacy in Later Grades

No one from the UNC System has raised such concerns with us directly since weve been working with them, Rhodes said.

The wage data is derived from information submitted by employers as part of their unemployment insurance tax accounts, Rhodes said. As such, the data set contains highly sensitive personal identifiable information, so called PII, so as you can appreciate the upmost care must be taken to ensure all parties entrusted with such data have the equipment and procedures in place to keep it secure, a process that is complex and can take some time.

Even so, our team produced the requested data in a timely manner, Rhodes said.

Commerce Secretary Machelle Baker Sanders is a Democrat appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper while members of the UNC System Board of Governors are political appointees of the General Assemblys Republican majority.

Political tensions over the return-on-investment report have been apparent since before the legislature mandated and funded it two years ago in the state budget. Questions about how it may be used and whether those decisions will be made with politically have only grown louder.

A controversial undertaking



Members of the board of governors emphasized Wednesday that the study is just the beginning. More information is needed, they said, before decisions are made about investing in some programs more than others or, as administrators, faculty and students across the system fear, eliminating some programs entirely because they are found to provide a lower return on investment.

But tensions are high across the system, as illustrated by UNC-Greensboro, where the UNC Board of Governors met Wednesday and Thursday of this week.

As Newsline has reported, thousands of faculty, students and alumni at the school have signed a petition opposing a review of academic programs at the university that could result in the elimination of some programs.

Protests were held on campus last month and again this week, as the board of governors met on campus.

An independent audit of the universitys finances, funded by the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, found that though UNCG has struggled with enrollment and funding challenges in the last few years, it is on firm financial footing and doesnt need to cut programs.

Chancellor Frank Gilliam has criticized that audit and its conclusions, saying the university has to align its programs with student and workforce demands.

More business focused language regarding academia  discussions of students as customers, of return on investment and upper level administrators as CEOs  has gone from conservative think-tank literature to Republican-led legislatures down to the campus level.

One of the firms used to produce the system level return on investment report and in the academic program review now underway at UNCG is rpk GROUP. That firm was involved in a similar study at West Virginia University, where earlier this year university leaders proposed the elimination of 169 faculty and more than 30 degree programs.

Gilliam has waved off comparisons between West Virginia and whats happening at UNCG, but in a board of governors committee meeting Wednesday he spoke to the philosophical tie between the return-on-investment report, his own universitys academic program review, and the pushback to both.

We have made the argument, and we are coming under some fire for it, that we really need this data to do an analysis of how much it costs us to produce a student credit hour, Gilliam said. And does that line up strategically with where were trying to take the institution. Does it line up, let me say it more bluntly, with student demand? Student demands are high in certain areas. Theyve changed over time. And theyre less high in other areas.

Gilliam said he was worried public perception will be that if the return-on-investment study shows almost all UNC system programs provide a good return on investment, there is no need for program reviews like the one now underway at UNCG.

Were doing well in North Carolina but there are going to be headwinds, Gilliam said. Ive been doing this almost 40 years. The environment is changing at a sea change level. Its not just little changes. And theyre not going anywhere. So Ive argued we need to sharpen our focus. Its not about cutting programs. Its about meeting student demands and labor market demands.

NC Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. NC Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Rob Schofield for questions: info@ncnewsline.com. Follow NC Newsline on Facebook and Twitter.
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Rishi Sunak said he condemns antisemitism in all its forms, in a careful criticism of Elon Musk that stopped short of the full-throated condemnation by US President Joe Biden and others who have accused the tech entrepreneur of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his X social media platform.

I dont tend to get in the business of scrutinizing what every single person says who Ive interacted with. Of course I abhor antisemitism, Sunak said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Sunday, when asked about his views on Musk. It doesnt matter whether youre Elon Musk or youre someone on the street whos shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past you, thats wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong.

Musk triggered a backlash this month when he agreed with a post on X, formerly Twitter, that falsely claimed Jewish people are stoking hatred against White people, saying the user was speaking the actual truth. Firms including Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. withdrew advertising spending. Bidens office condemned the abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms.

Sunak has been dragged into the furor because he chose to share a stage with Musk at the UKs AI Safety Summit in early November. The premier interviewed the tech entrepreneur for nearly an hour, discussing how technology could make paid work redundant  though without generating any particular controversy.

Still, the event raised eyebrows at the time, and Musks subsequent remarks on X have led to questions about Sunaks judgment.

In his weekly Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons last week, Sunak was asked by an opposition Labour Party lawmaker to condemn Musk. He declined to do so, instead turning the question into an opportunity to attack the MPs record and accusing him of not understanding the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended a march against antisemitism in central London. The Israel-Hamas conflict has exacerbated community tensions and led to a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. Pro-Palestinian marches have also taken place regularly since Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Antisemitism is kind of like an old spore of a virus that lurks beneath the floorboards of Western civilization, our collective memory, and it comes out from time to time, Johnson told GB News on Sunday. Were seeing a flare up, and we need to call it out.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sunak said incidents of antisemitism in recent weeks were unacceptable and that the police are under orders to bring people to justice. Weve been unequivocal from the start of this situation, that it is not acceptable in our society, he said.

Musk is set to join a closed-door discussion Monday with both Israeli President Isaac Herzog and representatives of families of hostages held in Gaza about the need to curb online antisemitism, a spokesperson for the presidents office said in a brief statement. Israelis Channel 12 TV had reported Sunday that Musk would also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive has denied being anti-Semitic in a post on X.

--With assistance from Ellie Harmsworth.

(Updates with Musks planned meeting with Israeli president in 10th paragraph.)

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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the UKs next general election wasnt a priority for him right now, days after releasing a fiscal plan widely seen as laying the ground for a vote as soon as the spring.

Im not focused on elections, Sunak said in an interview with Bloomberg, when asked how hell decide when to call a national vote. Thats something that we announce in the normal way.

Sunak declined to comment on the timing of the vote, following growing speculation around a potential May ballot. Such talk was fueled by the government fast-tracking a payroll tax cut for January and not ruling out holding an earlier-than-usual spring budget.

The prime minister has to call an election by January 2025. Sunaks Tories are currently 19 percentage points behind the main opposition Labour Party, according to the latest YouGov survey.

Sunaks aides have previously suggested he was planning a November election, with the conventional wisdom being that he would want a later vote to extend his time in office. However, some officials also worry that delaying to the latest possible moment may leave Sunak more open to Labour attacks that hes running scared of the electorate.

Sunak has yet to make a call on the election date and is keeping his options open, according to people familiar with his thinking.

In the interview, Sunak reaffirmed his commitment to stopping the small boats carrying migrants across the English Channel. The government is trying to save his plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, after the UK Supreme Court ruled the proposal unlawful due in part to concerns about migrants being returned to the countries they had fled.

Asked whether it was critical for the first plane carrying asylum seekers to leave for Rwanda before the election, Sunak sidestepped the question.

I think the British peoples priority is to stop the boats, to stop illegal migration, he said. But I do want to deliver on our Rwanda plan because thats how we will finish the job. And were going to do everything that is necessary to make that happen.

--With assistance from Kitty Donaldson and Ellie Harmsworth.

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The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an effort by Arizonas two top state legislators to avoid sitting for depositions in an ongoing lawsuit challenging two state voting laws as racially discriminatory.

Arizona House Speaker Ben Toma (R) and Arizona Senate President Warren Petersen (R) had filed an emergency request urging the justices to pause a lower ruling that mandates the lawmakers hand over documents and be deposed in the case.

Toma and Petersen argued that doing so would violate legislative privilege.

Without any noted dissents, the justices rejected the lawmakers request in a brief order issued Monday.

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Last year, Arizonas Republican-controlled Legislature passed voting bills that require individuals to submit documentary proof of citizenship in order to vote and change rules dictating when individuals are dropped from voter rolls.

Among others, the Justice Department, the Democratic National Committee and voting groups filed legal challenges, with some condemning the legislation as voter suppression bills.

Toma and Petersen voted for the bills but did not assume their current leadership positions until months later. Earlier this year, they intervened in the consolidated lawsuit to defend the laws.

The plaintiffs then responded by seeking to depose the duo about the Legislatures intent in enacting the laws and requiring them to produce related documents.

Toma and Petersen unsuccessfully sought to block the effort in lower courts by arguing the requests would violate legislative privilege.

Allowing discovery of these irrelevant topics implicates the separation of powers at the highest level of government, embodying a federal courts significant intrusion into legislative affairs without legal justification, the lawmakers attorney, Kevin OMalley, wrote to the justices.

The district courts unprecedented ruling will chill both the atmosphere for all legislators to freely express their views during the legislative process and the ability and willingness of present and future legislative leaders to participate in litigation to defend the constitutionality of state laws, OMalley continued.

The Hill has reached out to OMalley for comment.

The Justice Department did not file a response to the lawmakers emergency request at the Supreme Court. The other plaintiffs did, arguing that the duo waived their privilege by intervening in the suit.

Until the legislators intervened, no party sought discovery from either of them, wrote Seth Waxman, a former U.S. solicitor general in the Clinton administration, representing those plaintiffs.

But once they voluntarily joined the litigation, and then made assertions about a key disputed question of factwhether the Arizona legislature passed the challenged laws with discriminatory intentplaintiffs sought to test the legislators position in discovery, as plaintiffs had done with other defendants, he continued.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A pub landlord forced to use a canoe to transport staff and deliveries said flooding was costing him tens of thousands of pounds annually.

Harry Linder said floods had prevented wedding events at Coldham Hall in Surlingham, Norfolk, over the past two summers, losing him 80,000 a year.

He said the problem was getting worse.

"I've got a truck that can do some pretty good water levels but sometimes it goes too far and we have to use the canoe," he said.

Mr Linder's family took on the pub beside the River Yare 15 years ago, but he said flooding had got worse over the past seven years.

The private road, called The Carnser, that leads to it often floods, leaving the pub inaccessible by vehicle.

Mr Linder is concerned by conservation efforts focused on local wetland habitats, which he fears are worsening the problem.

A marsh on the west of the road was dredged two years ago, but land to the north was not, he said.

"The problem with it all turning into a wetland is that we turn into a wetland as well," he said.

Mr Linder said the pub company initially told him it allowed five days a year for loss of trading due to flooding, but he was now losing 40 to 45 days.

In 2022 he experienced only one flood-free month, July, while in 2023, only August had been dry, he said.

Not knowing if the road would flood has prevented him from hosting weddings, which had brought in the majority of his revenue, he added.

As well as the pub, there are half a dozen homes at the end of the road, plus Coldham Hall Sailing Club.

A BBC reporter recently spoke to a boat owner heading for the sailing club who decided not to attempt to drive along the flooded road to reach his boat.

Gary Corbett, from the sailing club, told the BBC that flooding had caused the cancellation of racing and social events.

"We have had to cancel the last three weeks' Sunday racing out of four and all social sailing over that period as we have not been able to gain access along the Carnser," he said.

"The water levels as reported make it impassable for vehicles and pedestrians unless you wear waders.

"Once there, the water levels in the car parks and around the club house make it difficult, slippery and dangerous."

The stretch of the Carnser prone to flooding is owned by the RSPB and Wellington Pub Company.

Both have been approached for comment.

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830
Suspect accused of shooting 3 Palestinian students in Vermont enters plea in first court appearance

A suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont over the weekend made his first court appearance during an arraignment Monday morning.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, appeared virtually in Chittenden County Superior Court and entered a not guilty plea to all three counts of attempted second-degree murder.

Eaton is currently being held without bail ahead of a bond hearing, which the judge said will be scheduled in the coming days.

The three college students  Hisham Awartani of Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College and Tahseen Ahmed of Trinity College  were shot and injured at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday while attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering in Burlington, Vermont.

FORMER OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL CHARGED WITH HATE CRIME AFTER CONFRONTATION WITH NYC FOOD CART VENDOR

The students were visiting the home of one of the victim's relatives and were walking to dinner when they were confronted by a White man with a handgun, according to police, who had said the gunman opened fire on the victims "without speaking."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

The shooting happened in front of Eaton's apartment building, police said. Eaton was detained Sunday afternoon near the scene of the shooting.

The three victims, who are all 20 years old, remain hospitalized as of Monday morning. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens, while the third is a legal U.S. resident.

NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS BLASTS STUDENTS' VILE SHOW OF ANTISEMITISM THAT FORCED TEACHER TO HIDE IN OFFICE

Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn by some in the Middle East. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said they were speaking Arabic when the shooting occurred.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

Fox News Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: Suspect accused of shooting 3 Palestinian students in Vermont enters plea in first court appearance
By Rich McKay and Steve Gorman

(Reuters) - The man accused of shooting and wounding three college students of Palestinian descent in Burlington, Vermont, over the weekend pleaded not guilty to attempted murder charges on Monday and was ordered by a judge to remain held without bond.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arraigned in Chittenden County Criminal Court in Burlington, appearing via a video feed from the county jail where he has been detained since his arrest on Sunday, the day after the attack.

Police have said investigators were treating Saturday evening's gun violence in the heart of Vermont's largest city as a suspected hate-motivated crime.

Two of the three men who were shot recounted they were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, and one said they were conversing in a mix of English and Arabic when the gunman confronted them, according to charging documents filed in court.

The three friends - identified in court documents as Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Aliahmad and Kinnan Abdalhamid, all aged 20 - remained under medical care on Monday with gunshot wounds to the spine, chest and buttocks, respectively, authorities said.

The victims told police they were shot while strolling near the University of Vermont, about a block from the house of Awartani's grandmother, following an afternoon at a bowling alley, according to a police affidavit filed in support of the charges.

All three men are undergraduate students at colleges in other cities but were staying with Awartani and his relatives in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday.

According to police, Eaton approached the three men right outside his apartment, drew his pistol and wordlessly opened fire from a few steps away, then vanished from the scene. Investigators said he fired four shots in all.

'I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU'

The shooting sparked an intense manhunt by local, state and federal law enforcement, including the FBI and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Eaton was taken into custody the following day after an ATF agent knocked on his door while canvassing the neighborhood and was greeted by the suspect, who held his hands out with palms upturned and said to the officer, "I've been waiting for you," according to the police affidavit.

A search of the apartment later turned up a handgun, ammunition matching the rounds found at the crime scene, a .22-caliber rifle and two shotguns, police said.

He was charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder, a felony punishable by a prison sentence of 20 years to life if convicted.

"Although we do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act," said Sarah Fair George, state's attorney for Chittenden County, during a briefing on Monday.

The shooting came amid a surge in anti-Islamic, anti-Arab and antisemitic incidents and threats reported around the United States since a bloody conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

"In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime," Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit at his three-minute arraignment, Eaton responded "yes, sir" when asked by the judge if he understood the charges against him.

Police said the suspect had legally acquired the gun used in the shooting a few months ago.

The U.S. Department of Justice is assisting local authorities in the investigation, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday.

"No person and no community in this country should have to live in fear of lethal violence," Garland said ahead of a separate meeting at the department's Southern District of New York office.

The White House said President Joe Biden was horrified by the shooting. "There is absolutely, absolutely no place for violence or hate in America," White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news briefing.

According to the victims' families, Awartani is a student at Brown University in Rhode Island, Abdalhamid is enrolled at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Aliahmad attends Trinity College in Connecticut.

Police said all three are of Palestinian descent - two of them U.S. citizens and the third a legal U.S. resident.

They are graduates of the Ramallah Friends School, a private Quaker secondary school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the families said.

(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey, Luc Cohen, Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu and Katharine Jackson; Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank McGurty, Bill Berkrot and Matthew Lewis)
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson denounced the leader of the far-right party propping up his government Monday after he called for some mosques to be torn down.

Sweden Democrats (SD) leader Jimmie Akesson called for some mosques to be seized and levelled during a speech to his annual party conference on Saturday.

"We need to start confiscating and tearing down mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, anti-Semitic propaganda or general disinformation is being spread," Akesson said.

Kristersson, whose coalition government does not include SD but relies on its support, condemned the statements as "disrespectful".

"I think it is a disrespectful way of expressing oneself, a polarising way of expressing oneself," Kristersson told broadcaster SVT.

"This misrepresents what Sweden stands for internationally," he added.

Akesson's speech sparked anger both in Sweden and abroad and forced Kristersson to issue a statement on X, formerly Twitter, reiterating Sweden's "constitutional right to freedom of religion".

"In Sweden, we do not demolish places of worship. As a society, we must fight back against violent extremism whatever its grounds -- but we will do so within the framework of a democratic state and the rule of law," he said.

Former Social Democrat prime minister Magdalena Andersson called for Kristersson to remove all SD officials working at the cabinet offices in Stockholm.

"It worsens the image of Sweden, does not facilitate our NATO application and further increases polarisation in our country. This is not putting Sweden and the Swedish people's safety and security first," Andersson said on X.

Sweden, whose NATO application still needs ratification from Hungary and Muslim-majority Turkey, has seen a slew of incidents spark tensions with countries around the Middle East.

A series of Koran-burnings earlier this year led to protests and widespread condemnations of Sweden, with several Middle Eastern countries summoning Swedish envoys.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound during the second incident.

Last year Sweden was the target of a vast disinformation campaign claiming its social services were "kidnapping Muslim children" and placing them in Christian homes, forcing the authorities to publicly deny the allegations.

jll/fg
DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Syria's delegation to the United Nations climate summit in Dubai will be headed by its prime minister, a delegate said, without specifying whether President Bashar al-Assad would eventually pay a visit to the COP28 gathering.

Assad was invited by the United Arab Emirates in May, as Arab states warmed up to Damascus following a decade of isolation stemming from his crackdown on protests against him.

Those demonstrations spiralled into a full-scale war that displaced millions, gutted the country's infrastructure and sank Syria into a devastating economic crisis deepened by sanctions.

Syria's agriculture industry has been hit hard by those factors. Last year, its wheat harvest amounted to around 1 million tonnes, down some 75% from pre-crisis volumes.

The invitation to attend the climate summit was extended last spring by United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed. A COP28 spokesperson told Reuters at the time that an inclusive process could "only happen if we have everyone in the room."

But a member of the Syrian delegation told Reuters that Prime Minister Hussein Arnous would lead the ministerial delegation and would focus on drumming up funding for climate projects in his war-ravaged country.

"We will present the climate situation in Syria to several parties and organisations. Our primary goal will be to bring in funding," said Manhal al-Zoaby, who heads the natural resources department at the agriculture ministry and who will also attend.

Zoaby said Syria would seek to "attract projects and funding to implement important climate adaptation activities in Syria." Zoaby did not say whether Assad would take part.

The UAE once backed some anti-Assad insurgents, although its role was less prominent than that of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and mainly centred on ensuring that Islamist forces did not dominate the insurgency.

Abu Dhabi has led the way in bringing Assad back into the Arab fold after he had driven back rebel fighters across most of Syria, aided by Russia and Iran.

(Reporting by Firas Makdesi; Writing by Maya Gebeily, Editing by William Maclean)
Its no secret that the price of groceries has skyrocketed, causing hardship for a lot of families. Add the cost of Thanksgiving dinner and the problem is amplified.

But for lucky shoppers at the WinCo on 72nd Street in Tacoma, Thanksgiving dinner was free thanks to a group of downtown businesses.

ETC Tacoma, Epic Law and Injury, The Wooden City Restaurant, and the Tacoma Urban League raised $12,000 to reimburse families the money they spent on Thanksgiving dinner.

Instead of having them come down to our shop and make an extra stop, we meet them where theyre spending the funds, and we just reimburse them on the spot because everyone needs a little help, honestly, business owner Umi Wagoner said.

This is not the first year businesses have held the event, but this year, they decided to make it easier for families already busy with the holidays.

Usually, we try to bring people to our store to give them these meals, but this year, we felt like people had a lot going on, and we would rather meet them where theyre at, Wagoner said.

Plus, reimbursing outside the store ensures families get exactly what they like to eat.

We would rather buy the dinner that they want versus giving them some type of traditional thing. Everone does eat their own version of Thanksgiving dinner, Wagoner said.

Families are spending an average of $150 on their meals.

This story was originally published on the MyNorthwest website.
(Bloomberg) -- Taiwans vice president is leading the first poll since China-friendly opposition parties failed in their last-ditch efforts to form an alliance aimed at winning the presidential election in January.

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Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party got the support of 34% of respondents in the survey conducted Nov. 24-26 by broadcaster TVBS that was released on Monday.

Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang was second with 31% and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan Peoples Party had 23%. The margin of error for the poll is 2.3 percentage points.

See: Taiwan Draws Clear US-Vs.-China Battle Lines in Key Election

A deal that Hou and Ko reached to run together fell apart on Nov. 23 over who would lead the ticket. Hou and senior KMT figures including former President Ma Ying-jeou walked out of an acrimonious media event that was called to broker a deal. Hou and Ko later announced running mates and officially registered to run as president on their own tickets.

The collapse of the alliance should improve Lais chances at victory by splitting the opposition vote between two candidates. An administration under the DPP, which has sought to strengthen Taiwans ties with the US and its allies as a counterweight to China, would further obstruct Chinese President Xi Jinpings stated goal of bringing Taiwan under Beijings control.

China has said in the past it doesnt interfere in Taiwans elections but on Monday it criticized Lai. Chen Binhua, a spokesman for the government department in Beijing that handles issues related to Taiwan, said in a statement that the people of the island should understand that a Taiwan independence pursuer such as the DPP candidate is a troublemaker and war instigator.

Lai has referred to himself as political worker for Taiwanese independence.

More: Taiwan Candidates Quarrel on Television as Unity Ticket Implodes

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, and while it has pledged to seek peaceful unification, Beijing has also not ruled out the use of force.

A separate poll released Monday by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation that was conducted Nov. 19-21 had Ko leading with the support of 31.9% of respondents. Lai came in with 29.2% and Hou 23.6%.

--With assistance from Jing Li.

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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  For the first time in nearly a month, students in Portland Public Schools will have classes after the historic teachers strike was settled on Sunday.

Students are expected back in schools two hours after their normal start time on Monday. And as part of the agreement, students will be in classes on 11 days they previously would have had off: December 18, December 19, December 20, December 21; January 26; February 19; April 8; June 12, June 13, June 14.

PPS, PAT reach tentative contract agreement

PPS 6th grader Ben Vallance is glad the teachers strike is over, November 26, 2023 (KOIN)

Im looking forward to seeing my teachers again after theyve been trying to get what they need, 6th-grader Ben Vallance said. Its going to be great seeing my teachers. They work so hard every day and its going to be really nice to see them again.

Well, Im very excited, get things a little bit back to normal again. Get back on a routine. Get these guys (his 2 kids) back getting educated, PPS parent Rob Vallance told KOIN 6 News. Its going to be a good thing. Glad it happened. I didnt expect it . It was very surprising when I found out about it.

Its about time. I think it took longer than it needed to get done but Im really glad its here, parent Tony Palomino said. Im glad they get to go back and learn tomorrow (Monday).

Our whole school community is excited to welcome our students and educators back (Monday), PPS Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said in a statement when the deal was announced.

The 3500 teachers and the PPS board will need to ratify the deal. Both are expected to vote on the deal Tuesday.

The new contract will target class sizes and caseloads, one of the biggest sticking points in the protracted negotiations. Teachers will also get 410 minutes of protected planning time, up from the 320 minimum previously.

And the teachers pay increases. Over the next three years, teachers will get a 13.8% cost-of-living increase and about half of them will also get an extra 10.6% boost from yearly step increases.

KOIN 6 News will have more information throughout the day.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Palestinians spend time on a beach during the temporary truce in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip

Palestinians spend time on a beach during the temporary truce in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip

By Bassam Masoud and Fadi Shana

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) - Children played on a Gaza beach as displaced families left their cramped shelters for a short break during the truce between Israel and Hamas, but amid the laughter their parents could not forget the hardships of war and homelessness.

As children splashed in the shallow water, jumping over small waves, adults in bare feet watched from the shore. Asmaa al-Sultan, a displaced woman from northern Gaza, sat on the sand with her arm around her mother. The older woman was crying quietly.

More than 30 members of the al-Sultan family are sheltering in a U.N. school in the town of Deir Al-Balah with hundreds of other displaced people.

"We came to the beach to take a breather, to escape from the feeling of the crowded schools and from the depressing and polluted environment we are in," said Asmaa.

"People come to the beach to relax, to swim, for their children to have fun, they take food with them. But we are so depressed. We are on the beach but we want to cry."

Hundreds of thousands of people have left their homes in northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of Israel's military assault, to seek refuge in tents, schools or the homes of friends and relatives in the southern part of the strip.

The gruelling conditions in the tent camps and schools, with overcrowding, a dearth of toilets and showers, and long daily queues for small rations of food and water, have been compounded by the psychological impact of bombardment and displacement.

The beach at Deir Al-Balah has a row of fishermen's huts at the back, towards the bottom of a slope strewn with rubbish. Some displaced people had taken up residence in the flimsy huts, clothes hanging on strings outside.

'WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO US NEXT?'

Waleed al-Sultan, one of Asmaa's younger relatives, was trying to untangle a net near the huts as he prepared to go out fishing in a small boat, hoping the truce would mean he could do so without danger.

"I brought nothing with me when I was displaced, so I thought I would make a living from fishing, but the (Israeli) guards stopped me and started shooting at us," he said.

The war began when Hamas militants burst out of Gaza on Oct. 7 and rampaged through southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, including babies and children, and seizing 240 hostages.

Israel responded with an all-out assault on Gaza which has killed 14,800 Palestinians, four in ten of them children under 18, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory.

While some displaced people have seized the opportunity of the four-day truce, which began on Friday, to check on their homes, others have been too fearful to return to the north, much of which has been reduced to a wasteland.

"We are afraid about the end of these four days. We don't know what will happen to us next," said Hazem al-Sultan, Asmaa's husband.

He said they and their relatives had not dared to head north for fear of being shot at by Israeli soldiers, and had no idea what state their homes might be in.

"We are afraid for our children, for ourselves, and we don't know what to do," he said.

(Writing by Estelle Shirbon; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Two teenagers were apprehended after they attempted to steal merchandise from a Macys department store in Rancho Cucamonga on Saturday.

At around 7:51 p.m. on Nov. 25, authorities with the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department responded to calls of a theft in progress at the Macys located on the 12500 block of South Main Street, according to a news release.

The teens, a 17-year-old male and a 16-year-old female, attempted to leave the store without paying for the items. They ran out of the store once Macys loss prevention officers contacted them but were later located in the mall, detained and transported to the police station, authorities said.

137 arrests made, $60K in stolen merchandise recovered in California retail crime bust

The teens were later issued a citation for shoplifting and released to their parents.

Anyone with additional information regarding this case is urged to contact the Rancho Cucamonga Police Department at 909-477-2800. Callers who wish to remain anonymous can call the We-Tip Hotline at 1-800-782-7463 or visit www.wetip.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Gov. Bill Lee will propose legislation this week to establish a new statewide school voucher program in Tennessee, offering $7,075 in state funds to 20,000 students to attend a private or home school of their choice in the 2024-25 school year  with a plan to open universal eligibility beginning in 2025.

Lee will unveil his Education Freedom Scholarship Act proposal on Tuesday at 2 p.m. CT at the Tennessee State Museum, according to the governor's office. Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who led her state to adopt a universal school choice policy this year, will join Lee as he outlines the legislation, according to an official familiar with the plan.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee speaks with the media after signing an executive order creating the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council during an event at the Zeanah Engineering Complex on the University of Tennessee's campus in Knoxville on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.

This is an idea that Ive believed was appropriate for a long time, and I think parents across America are coming to understand more and more is important  and thats why were seeing this movement across the country, Lee told The Tennessean in a recent interview.

Tennessee legislative leaders, and students participating in the state's existing Education Savings Accounts school choice program will also attend the event. Key lawmakers have recently indicated movement to expand school options statewide next year. Rep. Mark White, R-Memphis, chair of the House Education committee, earlier this month told The Tennessean he would pursue a statewide plan.

Alex Tyler, senior at Lighthouse Christian School, stands in the halls of her school in Antioch, Tenn., Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023. She is one of more than 2,400 students in three Tennessee counties who are enrolled in private schools with tuition and other expenses paid with public funding through the states Education Savings Accounts program this year.

Lee has long been a proponent of school choice, having first proposed a statewide school choice program in his first weeks in office in 2019. His Education Savings Accounts program, which was implemented last year after surviving a years-long legal challenge, currently offers about $9,000 in state funds to 2,400 low- and middle-income students in Davidson, Shelby, and Hamilton counties.

Lee's initial program has proved controversial. It initially passed the legislature by one vote, and some Republicans only voted for it with assurances that their counties would not be included.

More: Families tout voucher success as test scores spark doubt and critics worry over expansion

TCAP test scores for ESA students show participants performed lower than their public school peers during the first year of the program in 2022-23. School administrators say that number may be more indicative of the student population the program is designed to reach  or administrative hiccups due to the swift rollout of the program weeks before school began. According to the Tennessee Department of Education, 91% of participating parents reported they are satisfied with their student's academic growth during the first year of the program.

The Tennessee Education Association has pledged to roundly oppose any effort to expand the ESA program, decrying expansion as "irresponsible and reckless." Meanwhile, Democrats already are voicing their fierce opposition to any expansion, accusing the Lee administration of devaluing public education.

How the program would work

If approved by the state legislature, Lees Education Freedom Scholarship Act would offer 20,000 Tennessee students about $7,075 to attend any private school, and most home schools, beginning in the 2024-25 school year.

Of the 20,000, half will be made available to students whose families income are below 300% of the federal poverty level, students with disabilities, and those who meet eligibility requirements for the existing ESA pilot program. The remaining 10,000 will be made available to any student currently entitled to attend a public school.

Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, eligibility for the program would be opened to all Tennessee students, regardless of income or previous school enrollment. If demand exceeds available funding, previously enrolled program participants, low-income students, and students enrolled in public schools would be prioritized.

Approved uses for Education Freedom Scholarship funds would include:

Private school tuition, fees, and uniforms

Textbooks, curricula, and instructional materials

Tutoring services

Transportation fees

Computers, tablets, devices and tech fees used for education

Tuition, fees and textbooks for summer and afterschool academic programs

Fees for early postsecondary opportunity courses or exams, entrance exams required for post secondary admission, and state-recognized industry certification exams

Educational therapy services

It is unclear whether students participating in the Education Freedom Scholarship Act will be required to take any state achievement tests.

Everyone knows that Im a proponent of school choice, Lee told The Tennessean earlier this month. Anytime we can appropriately expand choice for parents, Im very interested in looking at it.

Several states have recently implemented universal school choice laws that offer families state-funded scholarships to pay for tuition, books, transportation and technology costs at non-public schools that are the best fit for their child  regardless of their income or county residency.

Arkansas, Arizona, Iowa, West Virginia, and Utah have all recently adopted such policies. Critics of such policies argue that they take state funding away from already underfunded government schools.

NewsChannel 5 and the Tennessee Lookout previously reported on some details of Lee's planned announcement.

Vivian Jones covers state government and politics for The Tennessean. Reach her at vjones@tennessean.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee school vouchers: Gov. Bill Lee to propose statewide plan
FILE PHOTO: The logo of a Tesla electric vehicle is seen on a car seen outside a dealership in Drogenbos

By Marie Mannes and Johan Ahlander

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) -A court in Sweden ruled on Monday the country's transport authority must find a way to get licence plates to Tesla that are being blocked by postal workers, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported.

The decision comes hours after the U.S. electric car maker sued the agency and state-run PostNord because postal workers had stopped delivering plates for its new cars.

PostNord workers on Nov. 20 joined industrial action aimed at forcing Tesla to sign a collective bargain agreement for mechanics in Sweden, and the transport agency refused to deliver the plates by other means, saying it was contractually bound to use PostNord.

However, Norrkoping district court ruled the agency must get the plates to Tesla within seven days or pay a fine of 1 million Swedish crowns ($95,000).

"It is correct that a decision has been made, siding with Tesla's claim," Johannes Ericsson, Tesla's lawyer, told Aftonbladet.

The district court, transport agency, Tesla and its lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The ruling is the latest twist in a battle between Tesla and labour groups in Sweden. Union IF Metall put mechanics on strike on Oct. 27, refusing to service Tesla's cars because the company would not accept collective bargaining.

Members of other unions, including dockworkers, electricians and cleaners have since taken action in sympathy.

Tesla has a policy of not signing collective bargaining agreements and says its employees have as good, or better, terms than those demanded by IF Metall. The union says it is vital to the Swedish labour market model that all companies have collective agreements.

Tesla, in its court filing, called the transport agency's decision not to let it pick up the licence plates "a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden".

Seko, the union that organised the PostNord workers, told Reuters an easy solution for Tesla was to sign the collective bargaining agreement with IF Metall.

"We see this as a sign that they have not been able to circumvent our sympathy notice," its spokesperson said.

($1 = 10.4988 Swedish crowns)

(Reporting by Marie Mannes, Johan Ahlander and Louise Breusch RasmussenEditing by Bernadette Baum and Mark Potter)
FILE - Tesla vehicles line a parking lot at the company's Fremont, Calif., factory, on Sept. 18, 2023. The Swedish Transport Agency on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, reportedly was sued by Tesla because the company does not get access to registration plates for new cars. (AP Photo/Noah Berger, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

STOCKHOLM (AP)  Tesla on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Swedish state via Sweden's Transport Agency as striking postal workers in the Scandinavian country halted the delivery of license plates of new vehicles manufactured by the Texas-based automaker.

Tesla is non-unionized globally, but the Swedish workers are demanding that the carmaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, which most employees in Sweden have. Tesla has no manufacturing plant in Sweden, but has several service centers.

Tesla said it was suing the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Agency because not accessing the registration plates constitutes an unlawful discriminatory attack directed at Tesla.

Mikael Andersson, a press spokesperson for the agency, told The Associated Press in an email that we at the Swedish Transport Agency do not share this view" that the agency was blocking the distribution of license plates. "Therefore Tesla has decided to have the issue tested in court, which is their right.

We have not yet seen the lawsuit and it is therefore difficult for us to give any direct comments. We need to look at the lawsuit and Teslas reasoning in it, Andersson said.

According to the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press, Tesla demands that the district court fine the agency 1 million kronor ($95,383) to oblige" the Swedish Transport Agency to allow Tesla retrieve license plates within three days from notification of the district courts decision.

The lawsuit was handed in on Monday. Tesla said that the agency has "a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to vehicle owners.

The fact that the license plates are withheld "cannot be described in any other way than as a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden.

The lawsuit argues that should the agency not fulfill its constitutional obligation," it "obstructs the applicants right."

The trade union ST whose members work for the postal and delivery service PostNord, said that they were blocking the delivery of mail and packages to Tesla in accordance with the rules of the Swedish labor market.

By going to court, Tesla, shows that they do not accept the rules that prevail in Sweden, Asa Erba Stenhammar of the ST trade union said.

On Oct. 27, 130 members of the powerful metalworkers union IF Metall walked out at seven workshops across the country where the popular electric cars are serviced, demanding a collective bargaining agreement.

Swedish mechanics stopped servicing Tesla cars and several unions, including postal workers, have joined in a wave of sympathy with IF Metall's demands. Dockworkers at Swedens four largest ports also stopped the delivery of Tesla vehicles to put more pressure on the automaker.

Last week, Teslas CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns, that it was insane that Swedish postal workers were refusing to deliver license plates for new vehicles.

IF Metall earlier said that Tesla Sweden has refused to sign a collective agreement and violates basic principles in the Swedish labor market. It called such agreements the backbone of the Swedish model.

The union also asked consumers for their understanding, saying, We are doing this for the sake of our members, to ensure that they have safe working conditions.

In the lawsuit, Tesla demanded the district court ensure the Swedish Transport Agency delivered its license plates.
Firefighters at Fire Station 48 in Houston on Nov. 22, 2023. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

For more than a decade, Sam Buser watched the lights of fire trucks bounce off the city streets of Houston, heard the roars of burning blazes and stood before the caskets of too many firefighters.

He never held a hose or kicked in a door, but, as senior psychologist for the Houston Fire Department, he spent many sleepless nights at fire stations.

His job was to convince those who run toward the fire that it's okay to help themselves. But for much of his career, he was something of a rarity in Texas. Even as resources have been poured into law enforcement agencies for decades to solve well-publicized mental health issues, the same cant be said for fire departments.

The reasons are simple: There isnt enough money to go around at many cities or volunteer jurisdictions, and many fire departments have not been ready to drop their stigma around mental health.

With the primary focus placed on law enforcement, there must also be a recognition that the needs of the fire service are different, and the programming and training should reflect that, said Leonard Chan, a contributing author of First Responder Mental Health: A Clinicians Guide. The taboo for seeking mental health services has been tempered, but this really depends on the department and individual firefighter.

But lately, advocates say, more departments are seeing the need for that kind of work. And in some big city and suburban departments, along with in the Texas Legislature, small steps are being taken to address firefighters' mental health needs.

The problem

The danger  and fear  brought by rushing into a fire is well-known. But firefighters spend the majority of their time responding to emergency medical service calls that can involve suicides, abuse, shootings, fatal car accidents, major weather events, and other distressing incidents that can also take a toll on someones mental health.

Data suggests that those mental tolls are some of the biggest dangers of the job. According to the Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance, more firefighters die from suicide each year than in the line of duty, and many additional suicides are likely unreported.

A Dallas Fire-Rescue Safety Division resiliency survey found that 8% of that big-city departments firefighters thought about committing suicide at some point in their careers. The national average for suicidal ideation is 4.9%, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

Still, studies show many firefighters will mask their mental health challenges until its too late.

Firefighters' lockers at Fire Station 48 in Houston on Nov. 22, 2023. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

The Texas Commission on Fire Protection, the primary regulatory body over the states fire service, reported this year in their annual injury report only 1% of firefighters reported a psychological injury.

Dr. Sara Jahnke, the director and a senior scientist with the Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research, a nonprofit research firm, said the awareness of mental health needs came into focus about a decade ago and only became a central talking point in the last five years.

I think we have underestimated the mental health impact of being on the job for firefighters, she said. 9/11, in particular, put the stress of the tasks firefighters have to do on center stage.

But, she added, the bravado around firefighters still discourages some from seeking help. Firefighters, who are 95% male, say theres an intense feeling of team among departments, and nobody wants to be considered the weak link of the group.

Many fear that if anyone finds out about a mental health need, they might get reassigned or fired altogether because they are deemed no longer reliable.

So when a firefighter says, gee, Im depressed, or I have post-traumatic stress disorder, what happens is their fellow firefighters start to wonder, maybe I cant count on this one, Buser said. Maybe if we go into a fire, this person is going to freak out, and theyre not going to be able to help.

When Dallas firefighters were surveyed, they reported concern that the creation of a counseling center in or around a fire station and would focus more on checking a box than helping members.

While there is progress, there remains a bravado around being a firefighter that discourages some from reaching out for help, Jahnke said.

But Hutto Fire Chief Scott Kerwood, who has been fighting fires for 45 years, said fire departments have begun to get serious about mental health this past decade.

When I started, you didnt talk about anything like this, he said. Its just like, Suck it up, kid, and just do your job.

Kerwood said he remembers a push in the 1980s to get mental health services into fire departments, but there was a strong distrust of that notion back then.

We see some pretty nasty stuff. But we tend to internalize that and say, well, its just part of the job, he said. Youre not a macho firefighter if youre having trouble dealing with what youre seeing on the job.

Firefighters and other first responders pause for a moment of silence for the victims of the Alfred Murrah Federal Building car bomb explosion, in Oklahoma City on April 26, 1995. Credit: Jim Argo/The Oklahoman-USA TODAY NETWORK via REUTERS

Firefighters fight the fires that sprout up from within the rubble of the World Trade Center in New York City Sept 19, 2001, days after the 9/11 attack. Credit: REUTERS/PA2 Tom Sperduto/US Coast Guard

But then the suicides started happening, and everybody went ok, let's figure out what is going on.

The departments are beginning to get outside help, too. Lawmakers unanimously passed House Bill 2143 in 2019, which allows first responders to receive workers' compensation for post-traumatic stress disorder caused by one or more instances at work.

But smaller departments, including many volunteer departments, lack the financial resources to provide the same offerings.

Unfortunately, it all comes down to money and support, Jahke said. Strong mental health programs require funds and effort.

Changing the culture

The Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 was the start of a broader recognition of the mental health tolls on the job. A study done 34 months after the disaster showed the rising alcohol disorders among the rescue workers.

The Houston Fire Department was one of the first departments in the country to hire a full-time psychologist in 1999. Busers friend, who worked at the Baylor College of Medicine, created the position after studying how people cope after a major disaster.

Buser took over the position 13 years ago when his friend died.

When he died, they provided him a firefighter funeral, which is rarely ever given to a civilian, but they were there with their fire trucks and hundreds of firefighters in uniform. He had done a tremendous job of gaining acceptance within the department, he said.

Tania Glen, who runs a mental health clinic specializing in treating first responders and veterans in Central Texas, said when she started 30 years ago, she met a lot of resistance from the entire public safety community.

I was poked fun at quite a bit just for choosing this line of work. You know, it was an uphill battle, but what I saw underneath all the skepticism is all the trauma, Glen said. I saw all the angst, and I saw the divorces and dysfunction.

Changing the culture is a significant undertaking, but progress is happening in places like the Cedar Hill, which created the First Responder Resiliency Coalition to help firefighters get mental health assistance. The program was designed seven years ago as a grant-funded initiative to provide mental health resiliency education to firefighters and inform them how to form peer support in their fire departments.

Story said he has already seen the culture change in their fire department.

Were at a point now where if something does get missed, we have people asking why, he said. Why did somebody not check on this person? Why did somebody not make a referral? Did anyone see any signs? So weve done a lot of things to really kind of put notifications in place.

The program has now expanded into providing free advocacy, grant writing assistance, quarterly resiliency meetings and critical incident response guidance to cities nationwide.

Concepts like peer-to-peer support groups have also found success in fire departments across the state, allowing firefighters to convince each other to get help.

It has been exciting to watch because I think the new wave is affecting the older generation and inspiring them to get help, said Leah Belsches, current staff psychologist for the Houston Fire Department. I love seeing people who have been with the department for 20 to 30 years come in for the first time asking for help.

Dr. Leah Belsches, staff psychologist for the Houston Fire Department, at Fire Station 48 in Houston on Nov. 22, 2023. Credit: Mark Felix for The Texas Tribune

For 24/7 mental health support in English or Spanish, call the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administrations free help line at 800-662-4357. You can also reach a trained crisis counselor through the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988.
Russia downs 9 drones targeting Moscow, other regions

Xinhua) 09:26, November 27, 2023

MOSCOW, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Russia's Defense Ministry announced Sunday that the country's air defense forces had downed nine Ukrainian drones attempting to attack several regions in Russia, including Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on his social media channel that the air defense forces had intercepted and destroyed several drones flying towards Moscow over the Moscow region early Sunday morning. There were no casualties or property damage, he added.

Bryansk Governor Alexander Bogomaz also said on social media that two drones had been destroyed by the air defense system over the Bryansk region.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) just checked an item off his bucket list: going skydiving with a 106-year-old World War II veteran.

The Texas Tribune reported Monday that the governor traveled to an area near San Marcos to go skydiving with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran who has years of experience as a skydiver.

Blaschke, who first completed the aerial feat when he turned 100 in 2017, broke a world record three years later for becoming the oldest person to do a tandem parachute jump, the Texas Tribune reported.

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In a post on X, a social media platform formerly known as Twitter, post former state Rep. Jon Cyrier (R) shared a video showing Abbott and Blaschke landing in separate tandem parachutes, each attached to another person.

Nice landing for both @GregAbbott_TX and a 106 year old WWII veteran, Cyrier said in his post.

After he landed, Abbott described his skydive jump as a thrilling experience, Texas Fox affiliate KDFW reported, noting it was the governors first sky diving experience.

Abbott, 66, has been in a wheelchair for nearly forty years after an oak tree fell on him while he was jogging in 1984. The incident left him paralyzed from the waist down.

My biggest fear was realized, and that is, I would land, and I would not be able to walk away from the landing spot. It was absolutely fascinating, Abbott said.

The event comes a week after Abbott officially endorsed former President Trump for the GOP primary nomination at an event honoring service members stationed on the Texas border.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott skydives in tandem Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. Abbott was invited to jump by 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FENTRESS, Texas (AP)  Add this to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott 's high ambitions: Parachuting from a plane.

The three-term Republican governor skydived Monday for the first time, completing a tandem jump from about 8,000 feet (2,400 meters) above the suburbs between Austin and San Antonio. He was joined on the plane by 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, who jumped separately.

Blaschke is a previous Guinness World Records title holder for oldest tandem skydive. Last month, a 104-year-old Chicago woman skydived in an effort to become the new record holder. She died a week after her jump.

Abbott said skydiving has crossed his mind before.

"The most shocking sensation is when you immediately exit the plane, and youre just in freefall, Abbott told reporters after landing.

Abbott, 66, uses a wheelchair and has been paralyzed from the waist down since a tree fell on him as a young law school student. He joked to reporters after the jump that his biggest fear was realized: I would land, and I would not be able to walk away, he said, smiling.

Abbott said they had wanted to skydive several weeks ago when the weather was warmer but that rain scuttled those plans. There was a morning chill in Texas when Abbott and Blaschke made their jumps.

He's an old pro, Abbott said.
Rowan Hayes, a 25-year-old Clackamas resident and former swim instructor, found herself in need of support when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down pools and paused lessons. Between April 2020 and March 2021, she applied for and received various forms of unemployment to help make ends meet.

Its a decision she has come to regret.

Hayes, like thousands of other Oregonians, must now pay back thousands of dollars the department later determined that it overpaid her. In Hayes' case, she could be paying them back for nearly 50 years.

And she isn't alone. Other residents have issued challenges to the state's rules for handling unemployment overpayments. One group sued the Oregon Employment Department and its director last year, contending the agency's processes deny residents their constitutional rights to due process.

Since March 2020, the department has waived more than $4.5 million in 1,175 overpayments made in unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Oregon Legislature approved Senate Bill 172 in 2021, creating an option to request a waiver for overpayments, and the agency has encouraged people who have received overpayment notices to apply for a waiver at unemployment.oregon.gov/waivers.

But the system in place for overpayments remains confusing, according to the lawsuit. The Oregon Law Center filed the suit on behalf of six low-income individuals who were ordered to pay back benefits.

The six individuals each followed up with OED when they were told the state had overpaid them, according to the law center's attorneys.

"Despite these efforts, OEDs impenetrable, fragmented system utterly failed to provide them what the Constitution guarantees: a clear explanation for why the government could take back benefits already paid, and a fair chance to contest that decision at a hearing. They filed this lawsuit to change the system so they will never again have to suffer through the same experience," the motion states.

They are asking the court to declare that the agency's overpayment processes violated and continue to violate the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and asking the court to immediately stop the collection of overpayments until OED establishes and implements a new system with safeguards in place.

Both the state and the half-dozen people have asked a judge to rule in their favor. A hearing on those requests is scheduled at the end of the month.

A 'SUPER confusing' process

Oregon Employment Department on Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 in Salem, Ore.

For Hayes, trouble began when she received notice around December 2020, eight months after receiving benefits, that she was actually not eligible for regular unemployment benefits. Hayes requested an appeal and was soon contacted by a claims specialist at the Oregon Employment Department.

In their first exchange, according to emails her lawyer provided the Statesman Journal, Hayes is urged to immediately apply for another form of unemployment called Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which the specialist told Hayes would be a backup plan in case her current claim was still denied.

In another email, Hayes is told that she has two options: proceed with her request for a hearing or withdraw the request and continue with her PUA claim. The denial of her regular claim would be offset with PUA benefits, shes told.

I really just dont fully understand whats going on at all, Hayes replies on Jan. 8, 2021.

All of this is SUPER confusing, agrees the specialist the next day before telling Hayes she would only technically have an overpayment. Paying back regular benefits and being issued PUA benefits would be handled by the department electronically, the specialist adds.

With further explanation, Hayes agrees to withdraw her request for a hearing and checks again with the specialist that she wont have to take any action herself concerning using PUA benefits to pay back unemployment.

In follow-up emails, Hayes asks about additional notices she has received in the mail, saying she got a stack of claim restarts in the mail.

These are safe to disregard, writes back the specialist.

'Miscommunication/misinformation', waiver denied

Emails between Hayes and the specialist spanned December 2020 through March 2021.

In February 2022, nearly two years after originally being approved for benefits, Hayes said she received a letter from the OED telling her the department had determined she was overpaid for regular unemployment, pandemic-era unemployment, and federal pandemic unemployment claims she received.

I have received a letter from unemployment saying I have been overpaid and owe the money back within 15 days, Hayes emailed the specialist.

The specialist never replied, Hayes said.

Hayes, who was pregnant at the time, requested another hearing challenging the decision before she went into labor. The hearing was held on her due date, but the overpayment decision was upheld. With a newborn to care for, Hayes said she let the deadline to appeal slip by. When she did appeal later, her appeal request was denied.

Hayes' waiver application also was denied, with the department claiming Hayes was ineligible because she caused the overpayment because she "misreported information."

During a conversation with the Statesman Journal, Hayes said she still does not understand how the specialist gave her what turned out to be incorrect information or why the agency fails to recognize I made the decisions I made" based on exchanges with its own employee, she said.

At the hearing, the claims specialist submitted a response confirming she encouraged Hayes to apply to PUA and that she told Hayes the regular benefits she received would need to be paid back but balanced if she was determined eligible for PUA.

"I shared this based on guidance from PUA," wrote the specialist. "I apologize for any miscommunication/misinformation, and especially for the impact it had on the claimant. I acted based on guidance and information I had at that time."

Six Oregonians sue the Oregon Employment Department

The confusion surrounding overpayments at the OED prompted the Oregon Law Center to file suit on behalf of six other low-income individuals who were ordered to pay back benefits. The current system in place for overpayments is so confusing and disjointed that the notices represent a violation of due process, the center alleges.

In their motion, the center writes that OED's notices not only fail to provide the information people need to challenge alleged overpayments but that critical information is withheld until after deadlines for hearings pass under their two-notice system.

It is a process Melina Martinez, an attorney at the Portland State University's Student Legal Services, said she herself still struggles to understand.

The PSU Student Legal Services office provides free legal services to students. Martinez has been with the office since 2022 and has represented 10 students challenging overpayment decisions.

Martinez said she won all 10 of her cases, as the department is often wrong. She also questioned the OED's two-notice procedure.

Not a single one of her clients understood the significance of the first notice they got in the mail that told someone they were not eligible for benefits they already received, she said. When they don't appeal the first notice, an overpayment is created.

"This is an ongoing problem. It's not just affecting the plaintiffs in the case. It's affecting a wider number of people, most of whom don't have access to legal counsel," Martinez said. "It's sinking people."

The exact number of people who were determined to owe money is unclear. In their motion, the plaintiffs say at least 61,236 overpayments became final between January 2020 and May 2023.

OED told the Statesman Journal it did not have records immediately available.

At least 4,400 people have been found at fault for their overpayment but may still be eligible for a waiver, representatives for the OED told the Statesman. The total amount that could be waived is more than $5.5 million, they said.

Overpayments generally fall into one of three categories, they explained. Either the individual makes a mistake and gives incorrect information by accident, or they give false information on purpose to receive benefits despite being ineligible. The third is when the department makes a mistake.

Waivers can be requested in the first and third cases but cannot be granted by law in the second.

Ongoing changes, an overwhelmed department

The department declined to comment on pending litigation. They forwarded information from when the lawsuit was first filed and announced in June 2022.

Agency director David Gersentfeld said the agency was disappointed the Oregon Law Center submitted a complaint about the overpayment process, adding they had been working with the nonprofit law firm for years to find solutions to challenges faced by the unemployment insurance system.

"We share the common goal of providing our customers with the best possible service, and we understand that we are often the lifeline they need at a difficult point in their life," Gerstenfeld said at the time. "However, we are also responsible for operating the Unemployment Insurance program within the laws and rules set down by the federal and state governments."

He added that the agency had been transparent and open about what the department can and cannot do regarding overpayments and waivers within those rules.

In court records, Gerstenfeld said the agency continues to modernize its system and pointed to the historic number of claims made during the pandemic as a direct cause of the lag in making eligibility decisions. Hundreds of new employees were hired at the time, many with less experience and less time to do training.

There also were backlogs in amending initial decisions and establishing related overpayments.

"OED aims to issue overpayment decisions as soon as possible after issuing the decision reversing eligibility. In fact, as a part of the agencys ongoing modernization project, beginning March 2024, OED intends to combine both the eligibility and overpayment determinations in a single notice whenever possible within the new systems capabilities," Gerstenfeld wrote in his declaration.

As the hearing date approaches, Hayes is hopeful others will get relief. But she's cautious about being too optimistic.

Under her current payment plan, Hayes said the agency estimates she'll pay back the $14,000 she was determined to owe in 2066.

"I trusted the employment department and that was my mistake," Hayes said.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on Twitter @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Fight over Oregon's COVID-19 unemployment 'overpayments' rages on
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  Three Cleveland-area attorneys have been added to the Ohio Supreme Courts vexatious litigators list for filing frivolous appeals.

The court ruled Nov. 22 that three attorneys from Stafford Law Company repeatedly filed baseless claims in multiple cases, including most recently in a spousal support dispute. Rendered vexatious litigators under Ohio law, the attorneys will no longer be able to file appeals in the Supreme Court without first seeking permission from the justices.

Ohio Supreme Court to consider how stand-your-ground law applies to two teens life sentences

Joseph Stafford, Nicole Cruz and Kelley Tauring have joined the ranks of about 50 attorneys restricted from filing in the Supreme Court. The trio had argued in at least three cases that a courts denial of a motion for continuance  a delay in proceedings  is the type of order that can be appealed.

But in a unanimous, unauthored ruling, the justices pointed to the well-established case law of no fewer than 10 Supreme Court cases directly contradicting the attorneys argument. The attorneys appeals failed to consider any of the legal precedent barring such an appeal, the court ruled.

We cannot countenance the Stafford counsels failure to acknowledge the body of law directly adverse to the proposition of law advanced in the jurisdictional memorandum they filed, the decision reads.

Courts, including appellate and courts of common pleas, can deem attorneys vexatious litigators for filing appeals habitually, persistently, and without reasonable cause. The Supreme Court maintains databases of attorneys ruled as such by lower courts and the high court.

Shake up with Ohio teachers pension fund

In their ruling, the justices said unnecessary appeals work a particularized harm on the other party  and the judicial system  by forcing court proceedings to a halt.

We must be particularly vigilant in guarding against attorneys who file frivolous appeals that serve only to delay the administration of justice, the decision reads.

The sanction is not the first time Stafford, managing partner of Stafford Law Company and attorney since 1985, has been disciplined by the Supreme Court. In 2012, he was suspended from practicing law for a year after the Office of Disciplinary Counsel determined he intentionally withheld important information in filings in an effort to mislead a lower court.

Neither Cruz nor Tauring, admitted to the bar in 2016 and 2021, respectively, have been professionally sanctioned otherwise, license records indicate.

In addition to needing to seek leave before filing in the Supreme Court, the attorneys also must pay the other partys attorney fees and notify the Eighth District appellate court of the Supreme Courts ruling in all active and future cases on appeal.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Update: South Plainfield man charged with murdering three of his family

SOUTH PLAINFIELD  Police are investigating after three people, two men and a woman, died Monday following a shooting at a Coppola Drive home.

Police responded around 9 a.m. to the home after receiving a report of shots fired, according to the Middlesex County Prosecutors Office.

Arriving officers found three victims with gunshot wounds. A man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, and another man who suffered multiple gunshot wounds was taken to the hospital where he later died, the Prosecutors Office said.

The names of the victims have not been released pending notification of their family.

An investigation by South Plainfield Detective Thomas Rutter and Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office Detective Javier Morillo determined that this was not a random act of violence and there is no threat to the public, the Prosecutors Office said.

Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Rutter at 908-226-7663 and Detective Morillo at 732-745-8843.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: South Plainfield NJ fatal shooting leaves three dead
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Fierce storms killed three people on the Russian and Crimean Black Sea coast on Monday, with hundreds evacuated.

State news agency TASS reported that one person had been killed in the resort city of Sochi, another on the Russian-held Crimean peninsula, and a third person onboard a vessel in the Kerch Strait, which separates Crimea from the Russian mainland.

Storms have been raging in the Black Sea since Friday.

Video published online showed large waves sweeping over the seafront in Sochi, and carrying away cars. In the Crimean town of Yevpatoriya, streets were flooded.

The Russian-installed governors of Crimea and Sevastopol, both of which Moscow seized and unilaterally annexed from Ukraine in 2014, declared states of emergency.

Russia's emergency services ministry said it had evacuated more than 350 people.

And the Energy Ministry said bad weather had left about 1.9 million people without electricity on Monday morning in the southern Russian regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Rostov, as well as Crimea and the regions of Ukraine that Russia unilaterally said it had annexed last year.

In the Russian port of Novorossiysk, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium and Russia's Transneft state oil pipeline company announced a halt to loadings due to weather conditions.

(Writing by Felix Light; Editing by Kevin Liffey)
Three Palestinian students have been shot in Vermont in what is feared to have been a hate crime linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

The victims, all aged 20, were named by the Institute for Middle East Understanding as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

A 48-year-old man has been arrested.

The young men were in Burlington to visit family for Thanksgiving when they were approached by a white man with a handgun who, without speaking, fired at least four bullets and then fled.

Two of the three students were wearing keffiyehs  a scarf popular in the Middle East  police said. It is understood they were speaking Arabic at the time of the attack.

First responders at the scene of the attack in Burlington - Wayne Savage/Reuters

All three are being treated in hospital. Two were described as being stable, while the third sustained much more serious injuries, according to local police.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, said Jon Murad, the chief of Burlington Police.

And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven.

Jason J Eaton was arrested by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday afternoon, the Burlington Police Department said.

Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kinnan Abdulhamid were on their way to a family dinner - Institute for Middle East Understanding

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eatons apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to appear before court on Monday, police said.

Bernie Sanders, one of Vermonts senators and a former presidential candidate, condemned the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, he wrote on X.

Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. My thoughts are with them and their families.

Miro Weinberger, the mayor of Burlington, described the shooting as unacceptable.

The shooting was the latest incident in which anger over the war in Gaza has spilled over into the US.

Jewish students have faced harassment on several campuses in the US and there has also been a spike in anti-Muslim hate crimes over the past month.

Within days of the Oct 7 Hamas attack on Israel, a six-year-old Muslim boy died after being stabbed 36 times and his mother was seriously injured after suffering more than a dozen stab wounds.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has offered a $10,000 (7,900) reward for information leading to the arrest of the Vermont shooter.

Nihad Awad, the national executive director of CAIR, said: Due to the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate and violence we have witnessed in recent weeks, local, state and national law enforcement authorities must investigate a possible bias motive for the shooting of these three young men.

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An undated photo posted on social media of (from left to right) Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalahmid, and Hisham Awartani, the three 20-year-old Palestinian students who were shot and injured in a potential hate crime in Vermont on Saturday. Credit - <a href="https://twitter.com/hzomlot/status/1728796630399234434">Husam Zomlot/X</a>

Three college students of Palestinian descenttwo of whom are U.S. citizens and the other a legal resident, according to policeremain under intensive care after a white man shot them on Saturday night in Burlington, Vermont, while visiting relatives over Thanksgiving.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, Tahseen Ahmed, and Hisham Awartani, all aged 20, were shot in the front yard of a house belonging to one of their relatives after theyd returned from bowling, according to police. Two of them were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian headscarves, and were speaking in Arabic. The three men were initially identified in a joint statement by their families, which called on authorities to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime.

Ramallah Friends School, a private school that teaches kindergarten through high school in the West Bank, also identified the three victims as alumni. The three had been friends since first grade, said Rania Maayeh, head of the school, the AP reported.

Burlington police chief Jon Murad told CNN that one of the students has suffered a spinal injury with long-term implications, while another who was struck in the torso has a good prognosis. The third student, who was shot in the lower extremities, might be released in the coming days, he said.

Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said the three were houseguests for their Thanksgiving celebrations who had just attended the 8-year-old birthday party of his twins. If youre in college, who wants to go to an eight-year-olds birthday party? Price told reporters at a news briefing. But these three guys didthey came, they played with my boys. We had just come home and they were walking around the block, and this is when this happened.

The families of the victims as well as rights organizations have urged authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime.

The suspected gunman, who authorities identified as nearby resident Jason J. Eaton, was charged with three counts of attempted second-degree murder on Mondaybut the 48-year-old pleaded not guilty.

U.S. President Joe Biden, who has been briefed about the shooting, said he has spoken to Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to offer support, and that additional resources will be provided to aid in the investigation of the crime.

While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period, he said Monday night. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence.

Read More: The Israel-Hamas War Is Leading to an Uptick in Hate Crimes

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said in a statement on Sunday, we have reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

Heres what we know so far about the victims of the shooting.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, 20

Abdalhamid, a pre-med junior at Haverford College who was described as Illinois-born when he was quoted in the colleges student newspaper last month, was shot in the backside. He is part of the schools track team and runs in 200- and 400-meter races for the Division III track team, NBC reports.

In a statement published by the Pennsylvania liberal arts college on Sunday, school authorities said they were in contact with Abdalhamids family, who live overseas.

Kinnan and his friends are all Palestinian students studying at U.S. colleges and universities. Police are investigating the shootings, and we await word on whether it will be pursued as a hate crime, the statement said. In the meantime, know that Haverford College condemns all acts of hatred.

He is a really bright kid, a friend of Abdalhamid told the Philadelphia Inquirer. The kind of kid who gets the homework done for the whole semester on the first week of class.

Abdalhamids Instagram bio identifies himself as a registered EMT sprinter and includes a link to a pro-Palestinian advocacy and fundraising website.

Abdalhamid had hid and called for help when the shooting started, his mother told ABC News, so he thought that his friends had passed away when he was taken by the ambulance.

This was incredibly difficult for him and painfulboth as a trained EMT who couldn't help his friends as he said, and second, they're not actually just his friends but his brothers in a sense, they've grown up together, she said.

Rati Tamimi, Abdalhamids uncle, said in a press conference Monday night that they thought there would be more risk to his safety if he stayed in the West Bank and thus sending him to the U.S. would be the right decision. We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here, he then said.

Kinnan is expected to make a full and speedy recovery, said Price.

Tahseen Ali Ahmad, 20

Ahmad, who was shot in the chest according to the Ramallah Friends School, studies mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn.

A school staff member visited Ahmad on Sunday morning, according to a statement from Trinity College. Tahseen wants the Trinity community to know that he is in stable condition, the statement said. At this moment, please keep Tahseen and his friends in your heart.

Hisham Awartani, 20

Awartani, who has been identified as Palestinian-Irish-American, is a junior studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown University in Providence, R.I.

Awartanis great-uncle Marwan Awartani, a former education minister of the Palestinian Authority, told the New York Times that a bullet had struck Hishams spinal cord, and the 20-year-old lost feeling in the lower part of his body. Elizabeth Price, Awartanis mother, told ABC News on Monday that the bullet remains lodged in his spine and doctors are unsure if he will be able to walk again.

A statement from Brown University President Christina Paxson to the university community on Sunday evening said that they were very relieved and grateful to learn that he is expected to survive his injuries. The school will be holding a vigil on Monday afternoon to condemn anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian discrimination and acts of violence and hate, and express care and empathy for one another, Paxson said. In October, Hisham had attended a vigil hosted by Brown Students for Justice in Palestine in response to the violence in Gaza, according to the student newspaper the Brown Daily Herald. If Palestinians had to hold vigils every time our people were massacred, we would be bankrupt from buying candles, he said during his speech at the event. There is no respite for us.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Ambassador of Thailand in Israel Pannabha Chandraramya meets with thirteen Thai citizens who were released from the Gaza Strip, at Shamir Medical Center in Be'er Ya'akov

Ambassador of Thailand in Israel Pannabha Chandraramya meets with thirteen Thai citizens who were released from the Gaza Strip, at Shamir Medical Center in Be'er Ya'akov

By Chayut Setboonsarng

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai Muslim group that spoke directly with Hamas said its efforts were key to ensuring that Thai hostages were among the first to be released in Gaza during a temporary truce with Israeli forces.

"We were the sole party that spoke to Hamas since the beginning of the war to ask for the release of Thais," Thai-Iran Alumni Association President, Lerpong Syed told Reuters on Monday.

Three more Thais held by Hamas militants were released from Gaza on Sunday, taking to 17 the number of Thai nationals freed since the four-day truce began on Friday.

Lerpong is part of a group of Thai Muslims convened by the country's parliamentary speaker Wan Muhammad Noor Matha, which travelled to Tehran in October and directly spoke with a Hamas representative. While not official negotiations, the parallel talks were not condemned by Thailand's government.

"If Thailand only relied on the foreign ministry or asked other countries for help - the chances of getting released with the first group would be very low," Lerpong said, adding that other countries with hostages such as the United States, Germany and France have more influence.

Thailand's foreign ministry could not immediately be reached for comment on Lerpong's claim of credit, but Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara separately thanked all involved for the releases so far in a post on social media platform X.

"Congratulations to all and our deep gratitude for all the efforts in securing their release. We continue to call for the release of the remaining Thais still held hostage," the foreign minister's post said.

Lerpong said the Thai-Iran group conveyed to Hamas during a three-hour meeting last month that Thais were not party to the conflict and should be freed, after which the Palestinian militant group gave their assurances that Thais would be released first and unconditionally once there was a ceasefire.

The temporary truce is first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages back into Gaza.

Before the war, around 30,000 Thai labourers worked in Israel's agriculture sector, making up one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country.

"Our team hit the right spot from the beginning by going to Iran and talking directly to Hamas," said another member of the Thai group, veteran politician Areepen Uttarasin.

However, a source briefed on the talks said the hostage agreement was mediated by Qatar and Egypt in a negotiation track that was opened when Thailand's foreign minister visited Qatar on Oct. 31.

Iran has also said it facilitated the release, while Hamas has said the release was due to the efforts of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan.

Asked about Iran's claim, a Thai foreign ministry spokesperson said on Saturday that: "we have provided lists since the beginning to everyone," including Qatar, Egypt, Israel and Iran," adding "Different actors would have different influence on Hamas."

Thailand's population of 70 million are predominantly Buddhist and have largely co-existed peacefully with its Muslim minority, although a long-running separatist insurgency in the south periodically flares into violence.

(Additional reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Editing by Tom Hogue, Lincoln Feast)
Fed up with iguanas occupying county parks, Miami-Dade wants to hire some reptile trappers to capture and kill the invasive intruders.

Miami-Dades contracting arm posted draft solicitation documents earlier this month for planned iguana control services that an internal memo said could be worth a combined $700,000 a year. The county wants private companies to set traps in parks with large iguana populations, then dispose of the reptiles humanely.

The shooting of iguanas, pellet gun or otherwise, is strictly prohibited, reads the draft solicitation, posted Nov. 16. Euthanasia of iguanas must be conducted off-site in a safe and careful manner.

READ MORE: Florida homeowners are encouraged to kill iguanas whenever possible, wildlife cops say

Native to Central America and some Caribbean islands, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says green iguanas made their way to the Miami area in the 1960s and established themselves as unwelcome arrivals in the decades that followed.

A government pool contract for #IguanaControl Services is imminent.



The vendor shall regularly provide iguana control and/or related services to be considered for award. Vendor shall provide two (2) different references from customers to whom the Vendor has provided and/or is pic.twitter.com/Vh4iN5bMYv  GAZITUA (@gazi2a) November 27, 2023

There are infrastructure complaints, with iguanas damaging seawalls and roadways with burrowing. There are nuisance complaints, with iguanas climbing into gutters and plopping into swimming pools. And there are complaints about iguanas leaving big messes.

A tremendous iguana mess

They produce a tremendous amount of feces, said Ron Magill, communications director at Zoo Miami, one of the iguana hot spots identified in county correspondence about the pending solicitation. Every week Ill get someone who sends me a photo of a big pile of feces. Ill say: Thats from an iguana. Theyll say: Oh, my God, thats bigger than from my dog. 

In an email, a Parks administrator emphasized Miami-Dade was following the lead of Fish and Wildlife commission in seeking the humane removal of iguanas.

Just as in the case of the Burmese Python, the invasive iguana, non-native to Florida, is wreaking havoc on Floridas native wildlife and natural environment, and Parks seeks to humanely remove them due to that impact, said Maria Padron, a special projects administrator at Parks.

With residents complaining, iguanas are increasingly in the cross hairs of local governments. In Coral Gables, Mayor Vince Lago said the City Beautiful is considering how to humanely remove the reptiles.

This is becoming a real problem Lago said at the City Commission meeting earlier this month. Right when you step out of City Hall and youre walking to your car, look down, and all youll see is invasives.

Key Biscayne already has iguana trappers on contract for its village parks. But Mayor Joe Rasco said unchecked populations in larger parks in Key Biscayne  Floridas Bill Baggs and Miami-Dades Crandon  make it an uphill task to keep iguanas at bay. He said he welcomed a Miami-Dade effort to target Crandons iguanas.

Its about time, he said. Weve had problems with these iguanas for years ... There isnt a resident who wont tell you about their iguana story.

The hunt for unwelcome iguanas hasnt brought the kind of delicate tactics used by Miami-Dade in a recent effort to reduce another invasive population: peacocks.

READ MORE: Pinecrest has a peacock problem. This vet hopes to fix it, one vasectomy at a time

County law prohibits euthanizing peafowl, and Miami-Dade is currently encouraging local governments to pay for peacock vasectomies to reduce the numbers pecking at neighborhood cars and roosting on residential roofs.

Iguana recipes: Chicken of the Trees

State and local law offer no specific protections for iguanas other than they not be treated cruelly. Florida promotes iguana recipes as a motivator for hunting the Chicken of the Trees. While the University of Floridas agriculture extension office in Broward encourages making Iguana Tacos (boil the meat, add onions to the water for flavor) it warns against getting too experimental. DO NOT TRY TO MAKE IGUANA CEVICHE, reads the recipe newsletter.

County documents dont mandate a euthanizing procedure. Florida recommends a shot directly to an iguanas head with a firearm, air gun or other device. Michael Ronquillo, who owns a Miami company called Humane Iguana Control, said his operation uses that approach and that he expects to pursue county work once Miami-Dade formally opens the application process.

The recent move by Miami-Dade County is great news, not only for homeowners and business owners, but also for our native species, he said.

Raquel Regalado, the Miami-Dade commissioner who sponsored the recent peacock effort, said shes getting ready for some iguana action early next year. Her district includes Key Biscayne and other leafy suburban areas in and around Miami where iguanas are plentiful.

Were working with the cities to do a district-wide round up, she said. The idea is to take action in the winter, when cold temperatures leave iguanas somewhere between sluggish and temporarily paralyzed.

I have yet to find an iguana lover.

She said shes not concerned about backlash. Its different from the peacocks, Regalado said. I have yet to find an iguana lover.

Jeff Wood, owner of Miami Pest Animal Removal, said possums and raccoons still provide more business than iguanas do. He said iguana calls tend to drop after Miami experiences the rare deep freeze, when cold temperatures shift from immobilizing iguanas to actually killing many of them. But thats not going to be the end of it.

The iguanas are never going to be gone, he said. In my opinion, its part of living down here.

Miami Herald staff writer Tess Riski contributed to this report.
The Middletown Division of Police provided a few tips on how to avoid porch pirates this holiday season.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Tips to keep packages safe from porch pirates this holiday season

Porch pirates are thieves who steal packages that are left outside.

The division suggests those who shop online to:

Track your packages.

Be available for delivery.

Require a signature for drop-off.

Choose in-store pickup.

Keep a security camera or doorbell camera pointed at your doorstep.

A previous News Center 7 report identifies two Ohio cities that were ranked among the top 10 cities with the worst package theft in the country.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Ohio cities rank amongst worst for package theft, report says

According to a report by home security company Vivint, Cincinnati was ranked No. 9 and Cleveland was ranked No. 10.

The study analyzed search volumes for phrases like package stolen per 100,000 residents in the United States.

A few additional tips that were provided by Vivint include:

Have your packages delivered to your office rather than your home.

Opt for an Amazon locker delivery.

Opt for a smart garage door opener that allows you to open and close your garage door remotely so that deliveries can be left inside.

The data also suggests that porch pirates are most active during the holidays.
Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is surrounded by police during the march against anti-Semitism in London on Sunday - Alishia Abodunde/Getty Images Europe

Tommy Robinson is led away by police during the march in central London - Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire

Tommy Robinson has been charged with a criminal offence after allegedly refusing to leave a march against anti-Semitism in central London at the weekend.

The Metropolitan Police said the 40-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is accused of failing to comply with a direction to leave an area and will appear in court on Jan 22.

Robinson was arrested near the Royal Courts of Justice, from where the demonstration began on Sunday, after organisers said he would not be welcome at the event.

Police said on Monday: A man has now been charged in connection with this incident.

Stephen Lennon, of Bedfordshire, has been charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.

He has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Jan 22.

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MADISON - Conservatives are raising concerns about Gov. Tony Evers using a pseudonym to communicate via email  a longstanding and bipartisan practice Wisconsin governors have engaged in for years to communicate about public business.

The concerns come after conservative website Wisconsin Right Now published a now-defunct email address used by Evers to communicate with other government officials about public business. The email, warren.spahn@wisconsin.gov, is named after Hall of Fame Milwaukee Braves pitcher Warren Spahn. It is not listed in public directories.

Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who was in office between 2011 and 2019, also used the pseudonym kevin.scott@wisconsin.gov to communicate via email, according to Walker's former chief legal counsel Katie Ignatowski.

The alternative email allowed Walker to use an inbox "that wasn't flooded with emails from constituents," though she noted constituent emails were handled by staff, and that Walker still saw such emails as needed.

Ignatowski said Walker's administration worked with attorneys in the state Department of Justice and felt there was a legal basis to protect Walker from being emailed directly, given there were other ways for constituents to contact the governor's office.

"If there were things he needed to see, it's not like he never saw them. It would just come through alternative channels," Ignatowski said. "There's lots of triage that happened."

The practice was discouraged by the Department of Justice under former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel, according to former Assistant Deputy Attorney General Daniel Lennington, who now works for the conservative legal firm Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.

Evers spokeswoman Britt Cudaback said in an email Monday that non-public-facing email addresses are a digital security practice used for more than a decade. Such threats include phishing, spam and other email correspondence that could monitor, disrupt or otherwise breach state information technology infrastructure.

Both Walker and Evers regularly provided public records from the alternate email addresses, according to Ignatowski and responses to past requests for records from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

"In fact, in every instance in which our office has provided such responsive records, we have explicitly made requesters aware of these addresses, and the purpose of their redaction, in providing responsive records," Cudaback wrote.

Lennington told the Journal Sentinel the practice "definitely has happened in previous administrations."

However, he said it was not condoned or recommended by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and Office of Open Government, at least since he worked in the DOJ from 2012 to 2019.

"In fact, it's been explicitly discouraged," Lennington said.

Lennington said the "entire purpose" of using an alias email is to evade public scrutiny. If the idea is that there should be multiple email addresses for the governor because he needs one to avoid clutter, Lennington said, officials could easily create an additional email address using a name that makes it clear who the official is.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Josh Kaul did not respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel.

Rick Esenberg, president and chief counsel for the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, said "the problem some are overlooking is that there is no need to use an alias unless you are trying to mask the sender or recipient of the e-mails."

"No matter who does it, that raises questions of whether an account was used for improper purposes," he said. "People asked that question about Walker. And they are now going to ask it about Evers."

Government watchdogs question email practice, but concerns differ

Bill Lueders, president of government transparency watchdog Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, questioned the Evers administration's justification for withholding the email address from public records.

"It strikes me as just nonsense," Lueders said. "There's a way in which digital security can be compromised for every email address. Basically, if that argument holds, then no email addresses of anyone should ever be made public."

Tom Kamenick, president and founder of Wisconsin Transparency Project, an open records watchdog group, didn't think the email's use was "inherently problematic" as long as public records were being shared properly.

Still, Kamenick questioned what he called a "fox in the henhouse" problem.

"It doesn't violate the open records law, but the real risk is that it creates the opportunity for abuse. If people make records requests for the governor's emails, how do you know if they're searching these secondary email accounts? You don't unless they admit they exist."

The alternative email reported by Wisconsin Right Now has been inactive "for years," according to the governor's office, and bounced a Monday morning inquiry from the Journal Sentinel.

It appears Evers continues to use a different non-public-facing email that is redacted on records sent from the governor's office, based on records response letters sent to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as recently as September.

Molly Beck of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Evers' use of alternate email follows precedent set by past governors
Traffic was a mess at Dallas-Fort worth Airport Sunday night just as hordes of travelers were coming home after the Thanksgiving holiday.

People caught in the jam were all over social media, with many responding to a 9:23 p.m. post from DFW Scanner on X, formerly Twitter, about how traffic was backed up heavily in terminals A and B.

Lots of folks wondering what is going on at @DFWAirport. Traffic is jammed at Terminals A and B. Some have been sitting in park for over an hour. Very busy airport on one of the busiest travel days of the year. Are you stuck in the mess?  DFW Scanner (@DFWscanner) November 27, 2023

There were helpful responses:

If anyone is trying to pick up someone flying in from the DFW airport, tell them to take the rental car shuttle to the rental car center and pick them up there! You bypass the dumpster fire of traffic gridlock b/t Terminals A&B and you dont have to pay the toll either!  Teresa (@Teresa7277) November 27, 2023

Then the more cynical commenters weighed in:

Busiest day of the entire year and ppl expect it to go smoothly? Have they ever flown before?  CityGirl75219 (@girl75219) November 27, 2023

And, the hopeful ones:

Almost an hour to crawl out of Terminal A. Two broken down cars on the left as you exit- if you can make it to this point, freedom is a few breaths away   Anna-Lisa Leefers (@WhoozAl) November 27, 2023

Sunday was one of the busiest travel days of the year for DFW, with more than 249,000 people expected to pass through the airport. In total, DFW estimated that it would see 2.9 million travelers between Nov. 16-28.

About 25 minutes later, DFW posted that the airport was seeing significant traffic backups on an exceptionally busy travel night.

Were seeing significant traffic backups on a very busy travel night this evening. If parking or picking up from the airport, allow additional time and thank you for your patience!, DFW posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Were seeing significant traffic backups on a very busy travel night this evening. If parking or picking up from the airport, allow additional time and thank you for your patience!  DFW Airport (@DFWAirport) November 27, 2023

As the Christmas and New Years holidays approach, DFW Airport is expecting a busy holiday travel season.

Between Dec. 14 and Jan. 2, 2024, DFW expects estimates 4.5 million travelers will visit the airport. During that stretch the airport is projecting the busiest days of travel will be on Dec. 22 (245,000 customers), Dec. 15 (243,000) and Dec. 21 (241,000).

Combining the 2.9 million people traveling on Thanksgiving and the 4.5 million on Christmas, DFW Airport is expecting around 7.4 million travelers this year. That number is 6.4% higher than the same holiday travel periods last year, according to the airport.
A man suspected of killing his girlfriend and her unborn child and then hiding their bodies in a Wisconsin farmhouse was arrested in a Missouri traffic stop after three years on the lam, according to the Gladstone Police Department.

Jose Eduardo Dominguez Garcia, 26, was pulled over shortly after midnight on Nov. 23 when an automated license plate reader indicated that the red Ford Fusion he was driving northeast of Kansas City, Missouri, was stolen, the department wrote in a press release.

The driver reportedly had a number of fake ID cards on his person and gave officers several different names around 12:34 a.m. on NE Englewood Drive in Gladstone, police said.

ARREST MADE IN LOS ANGELES AFTER REMAINS OF MISSING MAN FOUND BURIED IN BACKYARD: POLICE

Jose Eduardo Dominguez-Garcia was charged on Dec. 12, 2020, with first-degree murder, murder of an unborn child and hiding a corpse in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. He was apprehended by police during an early morning traffic stop on Thursday in Gladstone, Missouri, after an automatic license plate reader determined the car he was driving was stolen.

MICHIGAN MAN CHARGED WITH MURDER IN WIFE'S 2021 DISAPPEARANCE

Ultimately, police identified him as Jose Eduardo Dominguez-Garcia, 26, who was wanted on first-degree murder, murder of an unborn child and hiding a corpse charges in Missouri's Chippewa County, per the release.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Dominguez-Garcia was issued those charges on Dec. 12, 2021, after a dark-haired, pregnant corpse recovered a year earlier in an abandoned farmhouse in Wheaton was positively identified as Rosaly "Cindy" Chavarria Rodriguez, 24.

An informant reportedly told officers about the body's location during a drug investigation, per the Leader Telegram.

The corpse, found hidden in a purple suitcase on the abandoned property on Oct. 14, 2020, was found wearing a shirt that read "Sprecher's Restaurant and Pub," per NBC 15.

Staff at the restaurant told police that Chavarria Rodriguez had worked there as a pantry cook for two weeks and was last seen there on July 2 before she stopped showing up for work and, ultimately, the corpse was found, per the Leader Telegram.

Rosaly "Cindy" Chavarria Rodriguez, 25, was reported missing in July 2020. Although police suspected a body recovered in an abandoned farmhouse three months later was hers, boyfriend Jose Eduardo Dominguez-Garcia wasn't charged in her murder until her body was positively identified a year later.

Dominguez-Garcia also worked at the restaurant, according to KMBC. He reportedly picked her last paycheck up for her on July 23, according to the Leader Telegram.

In an interview with the Reedsburg Police Department on July 23 that year, Dominguez-Garcia told detectives that he had broken up with Chavarria Rodriguez on July 4 after he learned she had been cheating on him, per the Leader Telegram. He said he knew the woman was pregnant, and that she had told him the unborn child's father was a different man.

Investigators found Dominguez-Garcia's abandoned 2003 Volkswagen Jetta in the Wisconsin Dells area on Aug. 26, 2020, per the Leader Telegram. In the trunk, they noted fluids that indicated a decaying body may have been stored there at one point, per the outlet.

Surveillance footage captured the same car along 2655 Highway T, in the area where the woman's body was uncovered, on July 23.

Chavarria Rodriguez's ex-husband had reported the Peruvian national missing on July 21.

TRAVELING NURSE PRACTITIONER GOES MISSING ON HIKING TRAIL IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Dominguez-Garcia is currently behind bars at Clay County Detention Center in Liberty, Missouri, jail staff confirmed to Fox News Digital. It is unclear when he will be extradited to Wisconsin to face the charges against him.

Former Chippewa County Sheriff Jim Kowalczyk said Chavarra Rodriguez's was the only unresolved murder investigation he left before his retirement, and that he was glad to see an arrest made.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE US NEWS

"This has been a very long and intense investigation," Kowalczyk told the Leader Telegram on Friday. "A lot of time and effort was put into this investigation by many agencies, and as a result, he will be brought to justice."

The former sheriff said he was surprised Dominguez-Garcia was arrested in the United States, as "all indications led us to believe he went back to his country of origin."

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Fox News Digital could not reach the Chippewa County Sheriff's Office, the Chippewa County Prosecutor's Office or the Gladstone Police Department at press time.





Original article source: Traffic stop leads to arrest in years-old unsolved murder of woman, unborn child
Following a dry end to the post-holiday weekend, AccuWeather meteorologists say that the pattern during the first half of the week across the interior West will highlight a similar theme. Residents across Oregon, Northern and Central California and Nevada into the Rocky Mountains experienced mostly sunny skies and dry conditions through Tuesday afternoon as high pressure dominates the region.

However, a new storm started to push into the California coast Tuesday night with rounds of showers. Locations such as San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego will share chances of showers as this feature tracks into the Southwest and brings slightly cooler conditions.

Temperatures are likely to fall between 5 and 10 degrees Fahrenheit from early in the week to late in the week along the California coast. Places like Santa Monica, California, are expected to range in the mid-60s F through Tuesday then dip to the upper 50s F from middle to late parts of the week. Similarly, San Diego residents are on track to have afternoon highs near 70 through Tuesday, but temperatures will reach only the lower to middle 60s by late in the week.

Many locations will tip the scales this week from starting out slightly above typical late-November conditions to temperatures falling just below the historical averages.

The midweek storm will be far from a drenching atmospheric river, but it will be enough to have Californians reaching for their umbrellas.

Rain will taper off in most of California by Wednesday night as the system loses some steam as it tracks inland. As it continues its journey eastward over the Four Corners and eventually the South Central states, it will draw in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico that will deliver rain and thunderstorms to more than a dozen states.

Forecasters say that by later this week into the weekend, the activity will ramp up even more across portions of the West.

"After a short dry stretch across Washington and Oregon, a series of rain and snow is expected to move into the Northwest beginning Thursday and continuing through early next week," AccuWeather Meteorologist Haley Taylor explained.

GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

Have the app? Unlock AccuWeather Alerts with Premium+

The first of many storms will advance into the British Columbia coast, Washington and Oregon on Thursday, spreading periods of coastal rain and even wintry conditions to the Cascades and Olympic Mountains. Even metro areas like Seattle and Portland, Oregon, are expected to have damp conditions to finish the last day of November.

"Some of this rain could be heavy at times, and we could be looking at some flooding concerns for the region going into next week although the rain will be beneficial for the drought," said Taylor.

Portions of the Northwest are currently facing moderate to severe drought levels, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

In addition to the rain and mountain snow, gusty winds are expected to accompany the rounds of storms, especially for locations along the coast. Gusts directly along the shorelines could reach speeds of 45-55 mph as storms approach over the coming week. Mariners operating small craft should exercise caution and closely monitor area watches and warnings.

Beginning Thursday night, snowfall can begin to accumulate across the higher terrain in the Northwest. Through the weekend and even into early next week, chances will remain high for snow to spread into the northern and central Rocky Mountains.

"Snow levels can drop as low as 2,500 feet by Thursday night as the first storm moves through," Taylor said. Snow levels are predicted to rise by Sunday, but snow could still potentially impact travel through major passes, like Snoqualmie Pass.

The heaviest snow totals could occur across the Cascade range, which can quickly disrupt travel across the higher terrain heading into the weekend. Even travelers on roads across the lower elevations near the coast could face travel delays due to rain and wind alone.

The influx of moisture will continue to target the West through the weekend and into early next week. From Saturday to Sunday, a setup for significant rainfall can develop in western Washington and Oregon as yet another storm advances inland.

As ample rainfall persists into the first half of next week, it is not out of the question for some upslope regions on the western sides of the Cascades and coastal locations in Washington and Oregon to collect anywhere from 3-5 inches of rain from Thursday to Tuesday, with locally higher amounts possible.

AccuWeather meteorologists will continue to monitor the upcoming weather pattern across the West and provide the latest updates as the storms approach 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.
The trial for two teenagers accused of killing British trans teen Brianna Ghey started today in a Manchester courtroom.

Ghey, 16, a high school student who also posted videos to TikTok, was found suffering from multiple stab wounds in a wooded park in Warrington earlier this year. Two local youths, a boy from Leigh and a girl from Warrington, were quickly arrested and both pleaded not guilty to murder charges at earlier court hearings. The two accused teens, now 16 but 15 at the time of Gheys murder, cannot be named due to their age. The boy is instead identified as X and the girl as Y in public proceedings.

Gheys parents were present at court today for the trial. Y wore a dress and cardigan sweater while X wore black slacks and shirt and a grey tie in court today, according to the Standard. Potential jurors were given questionnaires. Judge Amanda Yip cautioned jurors against allowing biased or misinformed opinions to influence their responsibilities in the case.

There was quite a bit of press reporting and social media coverage at the time, one feature that was given some prominence was the fact that Brianna was transgender, Yip said, according to the Standard. If you did see things you may have even formed some initial uninformed views about the case.

Police said Ghey was discovered by passersby on a path in Culcheth Linear Park just after 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 11. She had been stabbed multiple times. Medical personnel were called but Ghey was pronounced dead at the scene. The two youths were arrested on February 15. Police provided few details about the crime and the accused, but did describe Gheys murder as a targeted attack during the investigation, according to Planet Radio. The two have been held in pretrial detention since their arrest.

 (@)

Ghey had thousands of followers on TikTok where she often talked about being bullied in school for being trans. Her family remembered her as a much-loved daughter, granddaughter, and baby sister. Gheys mother, Esther, told the Daily Mail her daughter dreamed of becoming a star on TikTok.



I think one of her main goals in life was to be famous, and she wanted to be TikTok famous, Esther said of her daughter. She just absolutely loved the attention. I remember her coming downstairs when one of her TikToks, in inverted commas, blew up. And she was absolutely over the moon with all of the attention that she would receive.

The trial will continue after jury selection and is expected to last up to four weeks.
TRAVIS COUNTY, Texas (KXAN)  The annual United Nations Conference of the Parties begins Thursday in Dubai, and one Central Texas leader will bring her local experiences to the international gathering.

The conference, also called COP, brings countries together to focus on climate change, and this year will have a distinct focus on local government.

Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea will serve as the US board chair of the ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability and lead a delegation of local elected officials who look at what local governments are doing and can do to have an impact.

Shea said most people probably dont think local governments have much of a role in climate change.

But because local governments are where the population is and local governments have the responsibility to help put their communities back together after a disaster, I think the role of local governments has been maybe underappreciated in the work thats gone on on this issue, Shea said.

She said about 2,700 local governments will participate in the COP this year.

Shea, who will be going to her sixth UN climate conference, hopes to share some local successes in Travis County, such as the neighborhood-based wildfire evacuation drill, improved cell phone emergency response systems and the countys work-from-home policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

She also hopes to find best-case solutions and bring home examples of other local initiatives.

The reality is, its an all-hands-on-deck moment, she said.

Also unique to this years conference is the presence of Pope Francis  the first pope to attend the climate conference. Shea said his attendance is another indication of the severity of the climate issue.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Doreen Ashley (left) and Gloria Mattz (right), fish technicians at the Yurok Fisheries Program, do all they can to help the fish of the Klamath River.

Restoring a River:



River in recovery| Water shortages| Returning to the Klamath| Restoration begins | Salmon revival

REQUA, Calif.  Queen Gensaw skylarked around and between her parents, Oscar and Georgianna, at the Yurok Tribe's boat ramp at Requa, or Rek-woi, the mouth of the creek where the Klamath River meets the Pacific Ocean.

Here, millennia of flowing water infused with sand, silt and the occasional river-smoothed rock has created a cleft about 125 feet deep by nearly 1,000 feet wide. Queen, who is 7, examined shells and danced around the asphalt as her parents talked nearby. For the Yurok fighting to restore the river and secure one of their cultural touchstones  the salmon  Queen and her friends are the future.

Requa, on the north side of the Klamaths massive mouth, is one of California's longest continually inhabited places. It's at one end of the Yurok's 44-mile-long by 2-mile-wide reservation and it was once home to a prosperous fishing industry. Redwood trees and other vegetation tower over homes and a 110-year-old hotel, and at the rivers edge, the Yurok Tribes fisheries department sits within the now-tranquil community.

Sea lions cavort in the Klamaths waters, their growls and barks adding sharp accents to the gentle lapping of the river as it completes its 263-mile journey. The Klamath winds from its headwaters in Upper Klamath Lake through the high desert and grasslands of southern Oregon, between the peaks of the Cascades, eventually creating its own valley as it swells from its meetings with the Salmon, Shasta, Scott and Trinity rivers and numerous creeks and finally kisses the Pacific Ocean.

The south side is part of Redwood National Park, portions of which lie within the tribes reservation boundary, and the location of Wehl-kwew, a Brush Dance site that belongs to the family of Yurok General Counsel Amy Cordalis.

Since time immemorial, Yurok people have built plank homes, raised families, harvested salmon, steelhead and surf fish and carefully stewarded their waters and lands along the lower Klamath.

Traders, settlers, lost treaties

The Yurok and other tribes along the Klamath and its watershed had little contact with Europeans, other than a few traders, until California became a U.S. state in 1850.

After the failure of treaties, the U.S. established a reservation for the Yurok along the final 20 miles of the Klamath from Requa in 1855, hoping to keep Indians and settlers apart. The "Klamath River Reservation" was soon joined by the larger Hoopa Reservation in 1864, and the two were joined into one in 1891 when the Yurok's trust land was extended to the confluence of the Klamath and Trinity rivers.

The Dawes Act, also known as the General Indian Allotment Act of 1887, led non-Indians to claim part of the Yurok's lands through homesteading. Lumber companies grabbed land as well as farmers, and many Yuroks were forced out of their villages. Some moved to Hoopa, others contrived to stay within their ancestral lands.

Non-Indians took commercial fisheries from Yuroks and established canneries around Requa in the early 20th century. In just a generation, fish numbers plummeted, and, in 1933, the California Department of Fish and Game closed the Lower Klamath to fishing. Native people were prohibited by law from fishing for subsistence or commercial purposes even after recreational fishing returned.

That didn't stop the Yurok from continuing their millennia-long practices of feeding their families from the Klamath's bounty.

Tribal fishing rights affirmation leads to salmon wars

In 1969, Yurok tribal member Raymond Mattz was arrested and charged with illegal fishing by the state. Mattz took his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed the tribe's fishing rights in 1973.

The state again halted fishing in 1978, citing low fish numbers. The Yurok disagreed, pointing to damage from logging and other upriver activities that had degraded water quality, and they resumed subsistence fishing.

That sparked the Klamath Salmon Wars.

Yuroks were harassed, beaten and threatened by federal and state officials as they tried to enforce yet another fishing moratorium. Mattz, who was Masten's uncle, told PBS station KAET that agents woke his family in the middle of the night to look for fish. Yurok elders feared for their lives when agents tried to pull nets out of their hands as they fished in small boats.

The Klamath River and its tributaries once were the West Coast's third-largest producer of salmon.

Eventually, the war ground down as authorities realized the tribe would continue to assert its inherent authority.

A massive fish kill in 2002, caused after warm algae-infested waters flowed down the lower Klamath River from Iron Gate Dam, reinforced the Yurok's determination to restore the river.

Klamath River tribes started a campaign to persuade the dams' owners to dismantle the four dams they identified as a major cause of the salmon's decline. Fish protectors went to Scotland to persuade the dams' new owners, Great Britain-based Scottish Power, to dismantle them. They traveled to Scottish Power's headquarters, then to Omaha after Berkshire Hathaway purchased the dam complex, to protest. They drove all night to Sacramento to protest and attend public hearings on the issue.

"Unless you've had to stand and smell the stench of death from the road and look at your river and feel like it's dying and there isn't anything you can do about it, unless you felt that frustration and that anger of knowing those dams are obsolete, let's not make any forums about it," Georgianna Gensaw said.

"I did all those rallies and protests, being pregnant and having both my kids," Georgianna Gensaw said. She recalled driving their canoes to Omaha, where they had to stop and water them down so they wouldn't dry out, all so they could confront the dam owners and operators about how they were destroying their salmon, their river and their culture.

"We are a land-based religion," she said. "We cannot move. We cannot go anyplace else. You can take your reservoir house and boat house and go anywhere else but we can't."

Karuk: Restoring water with fire and fish

A Yurok Tribal member depicts slamon swimming freely in the Klamath River post-dam removal.

Upriver from the Yurok, in Orleans, Bill Tripp works with a team of wildland firefighters to return fire to the lands that Karuk people have lived in and stewarded for millennia. Tripp, director of natural resources and environmental policy for the Karuk Tribe, is one of the leaders of a tribal movement to return cultural fire to lands to help restore not only the lands but the waters that flow through the land.

Tripp and the Karuk people know well the consequences when tribes are barred from traditional stewardship. In 2020, the tribe lost half the town of Happy Camp to the Slater Fire, including all its elder housing and many homes. Two residents also lost their lives. Indian Creek is still being rehabilitated, Tripp said, as part of the fire recovery effort.

'Our right to fire': Tribes battle agencies, old policies to restore fire practices

The 2022 McKinney Fire further contributed to the Klamath's water quality and fish woes. Four people who couldn't escape the racing flames died and the debris flow from the fire killed thousands of fish in the Klamath.

The Karuk also suffered greatly from the failed treaty effort after California statehood. They were removed from their ancestral home along the Klamath from Weitchpec to Seiad Valley and placed on the Hoopa Reservation, which was meant to house many tribes.

The Karuk people crept back to their rightful lands only to find that the U.S. government had appropriated nearly all their 1 million-acre ancestral homeland, creating the Six Rivers and Klamath National Forests. Some land was held in private hands.

Like other river tribes, the Karuk depend on salmon and other fish for subsistence. They suffered from the near death of the salmon fishery and the collapse of the lands and waters. And like other tribes, the Karuk have taken action to reclaim their ancestral stewardship.

Dead, infected salmon gathered by fish technicians at the Yurok Fisheries Program.

The tribe, which has about 3,500 members and about 5,000 descendants, has regained control of just a tiny fraction of that land. As of January 2023, when President Joe Biden signed the Katimiin and Ameekyaaraam Sacred Lands Act, the Karuks held 2,100 acres of noncontiguous trust land and 822 acres of private land. But they're still determined to exert their ancestral sovereignty to clean up and sustain their lands and waters.

Karuk formed the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership with the Forest Service, water and forest restoration groups, universities and environmentalists to address the situation. They hold TREX, or training and fire exchange, events to train fire personnel, restore fish habitat and develop an overall strategy based on tribal ecological knowledge.

It's not been an easy journey to bring fire back to the land. In 2022, the Forest Service halted prescribed burning, which threw Karuk's cultural burning plans off track, forcing them to delay their summer burning schedule until October when conditions weren't as favorable.

Tripp said cultural learning that Native peoples had employed over thousands of years had become removed from land and water management systems.

"It only takes 2,000 years for species to evolve with something that's constant in our environment," he said. Karuk and other Indigenous peoples have been interacting with the Klamath Basin ecosystem for 11,000 and more years, and Tripp said local species would have evolved alongside human stewardship activities. He said he hopes management policies shift to looking at species in decline more generally to avoid the years-long delays in implementing management plans that current policies call for.

"But we can still be looking at having some forethought and saying, 'Hey, this is how the dynamics exist,'" he said. "Let's create our prescriptions in a way that will benefit those habitat dynamics."

East of where Tripp and his crew are returning fire to the land, groups work to restore side creeks damaged by recent huge fires and earlier gold mining. Their goal is to give salmon clean, quiet waters to spawn and for the juvenile fish to grow strong for their eventual journey downstream.

About 150 river miles upriver from the Klamath's mouth in the Horse and Eagle creek areas, a consortium of nonprofits and tribes showed how they're sprucing up salmonid homes in preparation for the return of historic salmon runs.

Mitzi Wickman, a fishery and GIS specialist with Mid Klamath Watershed Council, said the Karuk and Yurok tribes did in-depth studies on what juvenile salmon need to grow and thrive during the winter and spring, when water in the main channel is high.

"They found you really need off-channel habitat like low-velocity water," she said.

The group dredged new ponds in the side creeks starting in 2010 to harbor the juveniles.

"The results were amazing," Wickman said. "The juvenile fish loaded up in these lower velocity habitats and thrived."

The bigger and fatter the small fish grow, the better chance they have of surviving in the ocean long enough to come back and create new fish generations, she said.

That success spurred the group on to build even more habitats while cleaning up the leftover debris from gold mining operations. They also added wood structures to the ponds, which the salmon love to inhabit, Wickman said. And, the numbers of returning adults are also growing.

The past seven years, the number of Coho salmon redds, or nests, has grown from about 44 to more than 200 in the Horse Creek watershed alone, Wickman said.

"You can do restoration that makes a difference," Wickman said. "It's so rewarding to see the numbers of returning salmon that are pretty dramatic."

Debra Krol reports on Indigenous communities at the confluence of climate, culture and commerce in Arizona and the Intermountain West. Reach her at debra.krol@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @debkrol.

Coverage of Indigenous issues at the intersection of climate, culture and commerce is supported by the Catena Foundation.

My work is free to read, but your subscriptions support more such great reporting. Please consider subscribing today.

Next up:

Klamath Dam removal is just the first step, say tribes

Debra Utacia Krol

Arizona Republic

Madame Web





REQUA, Calif. - The last of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River is expected to come down in 2024, restoring the river's full flow and the spawning grounds for fish for the first time in more than 100 years.



Fish protectors like Oscar and Georgianna Gensaw of the Yurok Tribe expect the salmon's return to take years. Also ahead are the arduous tasks of restoring forests ravaged by huge wildfires, repairing the damage to creeks and rivers that were dredged and channelized to dry up wetlands that once made their waters clear and pure, and mitigating other damage to lands and waters occurring over the past 150 years.



But for the people who live there - and some who have lived on the river for up to 15,000 years - the removal of the dams is just the beginning of the Klamath's recovery.

Continue reading

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Tribes work to protect the water, land on the lower Klamath River
Two former state police commanders accused of orchestrating and trying to cover up overtime theft are slated to go on trial Monday in federal court in Worcester.

WORCESTER - Two former state police commanders accused of orchestrating and trying to cover up overtime theft are slated to go on trial Monday in federal court in Worcester.

Lt. Daniel J. Griffin of Belmont and Sgt. William R. Robertson of Westborough are slated to begin selecting jurors Monday morning for whats expected to be a weekslong trial in U.S. District Court.

Its been nearly three years since Griffin, then 57, and Robertson, then 58, were arrested in December 2020 in connection with the allegations.

Federal prosecutors, then under the direction of former U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Andrew E. Lelling, alleged Griffin and Robertson directed and tried to cover up overtime theft within a traffic unit they supervised.

Five troopers ensnared in the probe, including the pair, collectively stole more than $132,000 in federal funds from 2015 to 2017, the government alleged in a 2020 indictment.

The indictment alleges that Griffin directed Robertson and the others to show up late and leave early from multiple federally funded traffic enforcement assignments.

It alleges the supervisors, after a separate overtime theft scandal involving the later-disbanded Troop E emerged, hatched a plan to mitigate their own thefts.

The indictment alleges that Robertson ordered an unnamed trooper to shred a folder containing incriminating forms. It says the same trooper later took more forms home and burned them.

Good, the government alleges Robertson told the trooper when informed of the burnt documents.

The indictment alleges that Griffin, after learning of a grand jury inquest in September or October 2020, contacted the same trooper and said, Dont tell them [federal investigators] (expletive) anything.

Lelling said that when state police investigated what happened to the forms, Griffin misled superiors by telling them the forms were inadvertently discarded or misplaced during office moves.

Court documents filed recently indicate that federal prosecutors aim to call some of the implicated troopers not named in the indictment as witnesses in the case. Also listed as a witness is former State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin.

Robertson is charged with one count of conspiracy to steal federal funds, one count of aiding and abetting theft of federal funds and three counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud.

Griffin is facing the same charges as Robertson, along with four additional counts of wire fraud and 11 counts of aiding and assisting in the filing of false tax returns.

The latter counts relate to allegations Griffin hid income from the IRS and a pricey private school to which he sent his kids.

According to the indictment, Griffin owned a company, Knight Protection Services, that escorted art to museums nationwide and provided security at Massachusetts college campuses.

The indictment alleges he hid $700,000 in profits from the company from the IRS.

It also alleges Griffin hid $175,000 in income from an unnamed private school in Belmont to which he sent his children when he applied for financial aid.

According to a trial brief the government filed earlier this month, the false statements allowed Griffin to obtain more than $100,000 in financial aid from about 2016 to 2020.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Former Mass. state police commanders facing trial for overtime fraud
As the bulldozers worked their way through the remains of the southern Gaza town of Al Qarara on Sunday morning, a group of people watched with anxiety.

They were hoping the truce between Hamas and Israel would allow enough time for the bodies of their loved ones to be recovered from underneath the rubble.

Then they can finally be buried.

For nearly seven weeks, most people in the Gaza Strip have been just trying to survive, focusing on the basics: finding shelter, fleeing the fighting, getting access to food and water.

The pause in hostilities has given Gazans a moment to breathe  and take stock of the devastation around them.

The town of Al Qarara is in the southern Khan Younis governorate, an area that has seen a marked increase in the damage to buildings in the past two weeks, according to analysis of radar satellite data.

Residential buildings, destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, lie in ruin, amid a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, in southern Gaza City on November 26, 2023. - Bassam Masoud/Reuters

CNN footage from Deir El Balah, a city in central Gaza, showed thousands of people flocking to the streets and going to the market, trying to buy supplies that were out of reach for many weeks but are now  if only perhaps temporarily - available again.

Speaking to CNN in the market, residents of Deir El Balah told of the relief they felt when the truce came.

One woman, called Um Ihab, said Sunday was the first time she had been out with her family. We were always afraid of going out and being struck by rockets and airstrikes. But since the first day of the ceasefire, we have been able to go buy what we need safely, she said. For 47 days, we were living in war and fear. Our kids were terrified.

Another resident, Um Mohammad, told CNN that prices have skyrocketed during the war.

Everything seemed very expensive, not like before (the war), she said, adding: We thank God that at least we can come and feel safe.

The market had been deserted for most of the past seven weeks, with most shops closed and people afraid to go out. On Sunday, it was buzzing with activity, shoppers rushing out to stock up, children running around among the stalls with vegetables, garbage piling up on the sides of the streets.

We hope that the ceasefire can be permanent and that (Israeli forces) will withdraw from the north, so all those who were forcibly displaced can go back home, even if they go back to tents, Abu Udai, another local resident, told CNN.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter southern Gaza through the Rafah crossing on November 25, 2023. - Mohammed Abed/AFP/Getty Images

Yet for many in Gaza, the truce brought heartache as they were able to see the full scale of the devastation for the first time. The weeks of fighting have left entire neighbourhoods levelled to the ground. Thousands of people have been killed.

Of the 2 million people living in Gaza, 1.7 million are internally displaced, according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The situation is most dire in northern parts of Gaza, where some civilians have remained despite repeated orders by the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate to the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

As part of the truce agreement, more humanitarian aid is now allowed into Gaza.

On Saturday, 61 trucks delivered food, water, and emergency medical supplies to northern Gaza, according to the United Nations. It was the largest shipment to reach the north since October 7  but nowhere near enough to meet peoples needs.

Hamas said on Saturday night the truce agreement could be in danger if sufficient trucks failed to make it to northern Gaza, where the needs are greatest. The dispute over the amount of aid entering Gaza contributed to a brief delay in the planned handover of a group of hostages held by Hamas on Saturday.

UNRWA said Sunday the amount of aid reaching the Gaza Strip remained completely insufficient.

We need 200 aid trucks a day continuously for two months at least to meet the needs. We need even more fuel so we can operate the services and sectors we support, like water desalination, sewage, hospitals, bakeries and UNRWA services and communications. The aid going in at the moment is just a drop in the ocean of humanitarian needs, said Adnan Abu Hasna, UNRWA media adviser.

Before the war, about 455 trucks entered Gaza daily with aid supplies, according to the United Nations.

The (humanitarian) situation in northern Gaza is dangerous, there is no drinking water and no food, so the aid we are sending is important. Today we are also sending convoys towards Gaza City and northern Gaza. The humanitarian situation is dangerous in both southern and northern Gaza, he added.

CNNs Ibrahim Dahman and Sarah El Sirgany in Cairo contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks to media outside his office on Parliament Hill in Ottawa

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday condemned an attack on a Jewish community center in Montreal and said antisemitic violence must stop immediately.

A Molotov cocktail was thrown into the entrance of the Jewish Community Council of Montreal just after midnight on Sunday, according to the council. No one was present at the center at the time and the building suffered minimal damage, the council said.

"The rise in antisemitism in our city is frightening, and the repeated violence and attacks on our community are abhorrent and condemned in the strongest terms," said Rabbi Saul Emanuel, the council's executive director.

Montreal police's arson squad is leading an investigation into the incident, and its hate crimes unit has been advised of the case but it is not yet actively involved, according to CBC News.

The attack adds to the growing cases of violence in Montreal since the start of the Gaza conflict between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7. Earlier this month, two Jewish schools in Montreal reported that shots were fired at their entrances.

"These continued acts of antisemitic violence are deplorable and unacceptable  and must stop immediately. We must all stand united against such vile, hateful acts," Trudeau said on X.

Police in Toronto, Canada's largest city, have reported a significant spike in the number of antisemitic and anti-Muslim hate crimes since the start of the Gaza conflict.

(Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Sandra Maler)
Donald Trump would like people to know he ACED a cognitive test, and that he totally knows who the current president of the United States is.

The former president claimed in a Truth Social screed Monday morning that hes been referring to former President Barack Obama as the sitting president sarcastically, to suggest that Obama is secretly calling the shots instead of President Joe Biden.

Trump lashed out at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is also seeking the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, and at Democrats for highlighting his misstatements and suggesting he must be cognitively impaired.

No, I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country. Also, and as reported, I just took a cognitive test as part of my Physical Exam, and ACED it, Trump wrote. Also ACED (a perfect score!) one taken while in the White House.

Trump has heavily leaned into this particular Obama conspiracy theory before, though hes also appeared to genuinely confuse Biden and Obama multiple times in recent weeks. (Biden, for his part, has also committed a number of verbal blunders during his time in office.)

Donald Trump's Monday morning post on Truth Social.

Donald Trump's Monday morning post on Truth Social.

In his post on Monday, Trump didnt offer any justification for his other past slips, like when he called Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban the leader of Turkey, or when he appeared to mix up former President George W. Bush and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The struggling DeSantis campaign has seized on these moments and posted a running social media thread of the verbal stumbles.

Last week, Trumps campaign released a vague note from a doctor declaring that his overall health is excellent and his cognitive exams were exceptional, without providing any specifics about the results.

Trump has repeatedly bragged about a cognitive test he passed as president that required him, in part, to remember five words in a row.

He famously boasted during a 2020 Fox News interview that he amazed his doctors when he was able to recall the words person, woman, man, camera, TV in order.

Related...
Former President Trump over the weekend revived his calls to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act if he wins the 2024 presidential election.

In a Truth Social post, the leading GOP presidential candidate claimed hes seriously looking at alternatives to replace ObamaCare, and that the failure to repeal the health law in 2017 while he was in office was a low point for the Republican Party.

Republicans were one vote away from repealing the law in 2017 after the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) voted with Democrats to keep ObamaCare in place. Ever since, Trump has knocked and mocked McCain, even years after the senators death from brain cancer.

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Democrats retook control of the House in 2018 after making the GOP repeal efforts the center of their campaigns, promising to protect Americans from losing coverage for preexisting conditions.

Trump reinjecting life into the health care debate could backfire for Republicans, who have largely given up campaigning against ObamaCare, an acknowledgment that health care is a losing issue for them.

Three GOP-led attempts to repeal the law through the courts have also failed, including one backed by Trump in 2020.

We had a couple of Republican Senators who campaigned for 6 years against it, and then raised their hands not to terminate it. It was a low point for the Republican Party, but we should never give up! Trump said.

Republicans instead have focused on issues like crime, immigration and the economy. Thirteen years after its passage, ObamaCare is popular and fully ingrained in the U.S. health system. Close to 60 percent of adults now have a favorable opinion of it, according to a KFF tracking poll.

Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa indicated the White House is more than willing to make the Affordable Care Act a focal point of the reelection campaign.

40 million people  more than 1 in 10 Americans  have health insurance today because of the Affordable Care Act and Donald Trump just said he would try to rip it away if he returns to power. He was one vote away from getting it done when he was president  and we should take him at his word that hell try to do it again, Moussa said in a statement.

Donald Trumps America is one where millions of people lose their health insurance and seniors and families across the country face exorbitant costs just to stay healthy. Those are the stakes next November, he added.

Updated at 12:04 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The man who essentially ended the federal right to abortion thinks that he can now run for president in 2024 as a moderate on the issue.

In recent weeks, according to two people familiar with the matter, Donald Trump has privately remarked that several anti-abortion leaders  people who spent the past year pushing him to commit to enacting a draconian national ban  now have no leverage to force him to do anything.

Despite their very public pressure campaign for that abortion ban, the former president insists that they will all fall in line and back him soon enough  with or without specific policy promises  in large part because they have nowhere else to turn. Trump has also mocked certain disloyal and out of touch leaders in the movement for tacitly supporting Florida governor and GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, who has failed to loosen Trumps grip on the party, one of the sources adds.

According to the two sources and other Trump allies and aides familiar with the situation, Trump and his team are looking past the primary towards a general-election fight against President Joe Biden  and they think they can somehow run the former president as a supposed moderate (as three sources put it) on abortion, at least compared to the majority of the 2024 Republican field. For months, the sources tell Rolling Stone, Trump and some of his closest aides  such as top campaign adviser Susie Wiles  have planned for the ex-president to position himself in a way that makes both Republicans and Democrats very happy, as Trump is fond of saying.

Such a premise seems, on its face, laughable. Its a complete joke, says Pat Dennis, president of the Democratic super PAC American Bridge 21st Century. Highlighting the absurdity of the idea, Dennis points to the fact that Trump is, at this very moment, running campaign ads in Iowa taking credit for the destruction of Roe v. Wade.

In the ads, Trump calls himself the THE MOST Pro-Life President in history  a boast that accurately characterizes the former presidents anti-abortion track record: appointing Supreme Court justices who would play pivotal roles in nullifying the landmark decision, reinstating and expanding the global gag rule, and stripping Planned Parenthood of Title X funding, among other decisions.

When Trump was in office, and years before Roe became history, he and his White House also backed a 20-week abortion ban. His softer rhetorical approach nowadays reflects a broader pattern of Trump triangulating on some issues to appeal to more moderate-leaning voters and independents, even if his equivocations are flimsy. For instance, during the 2016 campaign, Trump began trying to brand himself as a different type of Republican who would protect widely popular entitlement programs, veering away from the conservative dogma of demanding spending cuts. While president, though, Trump said he was open to slashing federal entitlements, even Medicare. Towards the end of his term, some of his most senior administration officials plotted a blitz of big spending cuts to occur after a reelection, when Trump would be less politically vulnerable.

But the political fallout from the end of Roe has been cataclysmic for the GOP. Across the country, Republicans dramatically underperformed in both the 2022 and the 2023 elections; all seven times abortion has been directly on the ballot since Dobbs, majorities of voters  even in conservative states like Kansas and Kentucky  have either voted against restrictions or in favor of expanded protections. Trumps awareness that he would have to run against Biden with the Dobbs decision hanging around his neck has led the ex-president and his senior staff to prevaricate  especially on limits and a federal ban  in ways that infuriated anti-abortion organizers who hoped to condition their support on Trump bowing to their demands.

For more than a year, anti-abortion groups have been publicly and aggressively pressuring Trump  holding back their support, lavishing praise on his rivals, even picketing outside his events  all in an effort to force the former president into a more full-throated commitment to advance their anti-abortion agenda if he returns to the Oval Office. At the very minimum, these activists want the former president to support a 15-week national ban on abortion if they help put him back in the White House.

A year ago, Kristan Hawkins, president of Students For Life of America, harshly criticized Trump, stating she and her group were not looking for ambivalence in those we support. We understand that we are at the beginning of a fight, and not the end. Lila Rose, founder of Live Action, told Rolling Stone at the time: Pro-life voters will not take a back seat or be treated like a second-class constituency[We] are a powerful block, and we demand more than just lip serviceThe candidate who takes the boldest stance in defense of our nations most vulnerable should earn the pro-life vote.

But that was then  when the humiliating rejection of Trumpism during the 2022 midterms and the assumed strength of a DeSantis 2024 run had the former president appearing freshly vulnerable. (Representatives for Students for Life and Live Action did not respond to Rolling Stones requests for comment.)

Nowadays, instead of granting concessions, Trump and his advisers now brag that not only have they consolidated enough support to very likely win the primary in a cake walk  they did it while calling abortion hardliners bluff. The [anti-abortion] activists who thought they could force Donald Trump to commit political suicide were deeply mistaken, a Republican close to the Trump reelection campaign tells Rolling Stone. These were all-or-nothing types who should realize that he doesnt need them. They need him.

In recent months, Trump has argued to confidants and key allies that even Republican voters generally dont want a national ban, based on the polling hes been shown, the two sources say. Hes also blasted some conservative activists for pushing Republican candidates, not just him, to be too extreme on the issue, in a way that scares off suburban women voters.

Publicly, he has called Gov. DeSantis six-week abortion ban in Florida a terrible mistake.

Trumps strategy appears to be to promise to remain pro-life if reelected, but to avoid endorsing policies like a national ban in 2024  and hoping just enough voters dont notice the cynical triangulation.

It defies reality that Donald Trump and his advisers are greenlighting ads touting Trumps role in killing Roe v Wade while millions of women in 21 states live every single day under laws severely restricting abortion access  and somehow simultaneously they have a strategy to moderate his position on the same issue? Biden campaign spokesperson Seth Schuster said in a statement to Rolling Stone. No one is buying that, and it obviously wont work. Donald Trump spent his first term laser focused on ripping away a fundamental freedom from millions of women and he did it  and now he will live with the consequences next November.

Just how many people  on both sides of the aisle  will end up buying what Trump is selling remains to be seen. When Trump first announced his candidacy more than a year ago, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, one of the largest and most powerful anti-abortion organizations in the country, did not rush to boost Trump. Instead, the group put out a statement calling on the former president to outline his pro-life vision and post-Dobbs platform. SBA has since declared that it will not endorse any candidates who do not support a 15-week ban.

In theory, that would include Trump, who has refused to make such a declaration. But the group is hardly backing away from the former president. Were thankful former President Trump was the most pro-life president to date, as he actively reminded voters through his recent pro-life ads, says Mary Owens, spokeswoman for Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America. The organization, she tells Rolling Stone, recognizes it will take more than 18 months to build a culture of life in this country.

Owens did not respond to specific questions about whether anyone at the organization had meetings with the former president or his team trying to move him toward a 15-week national ban or if the group would endorse Trump if he refuses to back such a ban. The group has declared it would not endorse candidates for House or Senate candidates who did not back a 15-week ban.

Instead, in a statement to Rolling Stone, SBA Pro-Life America sought to highlight the contrast between Trump and his general election rival  proving the Trump campaigns logic: Just as former President Trump exposed Hilary Clintons abortion extremism for voters in 2016, we urge him to do the same in 2024. We must not forget who the real extremists on abortion are.

The Trump campaign, for its part, cited SBAs praise of the former president in a statement of its own. The former president has given movement leaders negotiating power they have never had before and his actions are without parallel, spokesman Steven Cheung said. Throughout these unprecedented successes, President Trump has always advised Republicans must learn to talk about this critical issue the right way and remind voters that it is Democrats who are the extreme ones, not Republicans, despite the lefts attempt to paint it that way.

During his time in the White House, Trump would sometimes make it clear to anti-abortion allies why he wasnt as rhetorically gung-ho as many of them were. Last year, Robert Jeffress, a Dallas megachurch pastor and a faith adviser to Trump over the years, relayed a conversation he had with Trump at the White House, shortly after the 2020 Republican National Convention.

According to Jeffress, the then-president said that there were a lot of Americans with nuanced opinions on the subject. He said the American people were conflicted on the issue, and that polls indicated there are Americans who object to abortion on demand, but dont agree on an outright ban; that the majority of Americans are somewhere in between.

Jeffress added: Its a tough issue, I believe, were his exact words.

The pastor tells Rolling Stone he spoke to the former president more recently about the matter, saying that some months ago when I was talking on the phone with President Trump about this issue, I agreed with him that Republican losses were due to extreme positions on this issue and that he had the right strategy. He is, of course, still very, very pro-life, but it is not going to do him, or the movement, any good to pretend that he should campaign on a six-week ban, like others have.

Jeffress continues, He is going to be the Republican nominee to take on Joe Biden  and anyone who thought they could muscle Donald Trump into doing or saying anything on this important issue clearly does not know Donald Trump.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
NEW YORK  Two months into Donald Trump's civil fraud trial, the case does not seem to be going well for him.

The judge has already ruled that he committed fraud, fined the former president twice for violating a gag order and declared him to be "not credible." Trump and his lawyers, meanwhile, have repeatedly antagonized the judge, attacking him in the press and even disparaging his law clerk.

And now, as Trump's lawyers roll out a defense that at times has looked more like a PR pitch, his New York real estate empire hangs in the balance, with a verdict expected in mid-December.

But even the most punitive verdict is unlikely to immediately devastate Trump's businesses. The case will be subject to lengthy appeals in the New York state courts  and Trump seems to be counting on that appeals process to avoid exorbitant fines and salvage his businesses.



Here are some of the most significant questions remaining as Trumps trial heads into the home stretch:

What has the judge already decided, and what is the trial about?

The question at the heart of New York Attorney General Tish James lawsuit was resolved before the trial even started: Did Trump fraudulently inflate his net worth on financial documents to get favorable treatment from banks and insurers? Justice Arthur Engoron ruled yes.

Engoron also granted one of the most significant punishments sought by James: the cancellation of all of Trumps business certificates.

An appeals court, however, put that action on hold while it considers Trumps appeal of Engorons ruling.

In the meantime, the ongoing bench trial focuses on other punishments that Trump, his adult sons and the other defendants could face. James is seeking $250 million in penalties, and she wants the judge to permanently bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump from serving as officers or directors of any business in New York. She is also seeking to bar Trump and the Trump Organization from acquiring real estate in New York for five years.

What is Trumps legal defense strategy?

Trumps lawyers have been presenting his formal defense since mid-November, and so far theyve relied heavily on expert witnesses, plus one day of testimony from Donald Trump Jr. about the magnificence of Trump properties. Gloating aside, the gist of the defense seems to be that the properties were, in fact, properly valued at the estimates recorded on Trumps financial statements.

Beyond the testimony, however, Trumps lawyers appear to be focused on appealing the verdict, just as they have already appealed the pretrial ruling on fraud. They  and Trump  have repeatedly claimed bias on the part of the judge and his principal law clerk, including in a recent request for a mistrial in which they complained about the clerks political donations and about the judges contributions to his high school alumni newsletter, in which he included links to articles referencing the case. Engoron quickly denied that request, but such arguments about political bias are likely to help form the basis for Trumps appeal.



Last week, Trump got a sliver of a sign that the appeals courts may indeed be his best hope  or at least a more favorable venue than Engorons Manhattan courtroom. In a swift emergency ruling, a New York appellate judge temporarily lifted gag orders that Engoron had placed on Trump and his lawyers.

Is Donald Trump on the hook for the entire $250 million?

Its up to the judge. Engoron could order that various defendants pay various financial penalties, so it is not necessarily the case that Trump himself will be responsible for paying the full amount. However, Trump is effectively the chief executive of the operation and  according to testimony by Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer  Trump instructed those crafting the financial statements to inflate his net worth. So Engoron would likely deem Trump responsible for most, if not all, of any financial penalty he metes out.

Cohen said Trump didnt explicitly order him to enter larger numbers on the statements, but he added: Donald Trump speaks like a mob boss and what he does is he tells you what he wants without specifically telling you. So when he said to me, I'm worth more than five million. I'm actually worth maybe six, maybe seven, could be eight, we understood what he wanted.

Does Trump have enough cash on hand to pay such a penalty without selling assets?

A Trump spokesperson didnt respond to a question about whether Trump has adequate cash to pay a potential $250 million fine. In a recent interview on MSNBC, Cohen said Trump couldnt afford such a penalty without offloading some assets. No, no, Cohen said. Hes going to have to sell.

Would he have to pay right away?

Probably not. If Engoron orders Trump to pay immediately, he may need to pay an appeal bond, money that gets held until after the resolution of an appeal. But the more likely scenario is that when Trumps lawyers appeal, they can also seek an emergency stay of the payment, thereby delaying the date by which he needs to turn over the money.

Catherine Christian, a former prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorneys office, predicted the states intermediate appeals court would fast-track Trumps appeal, estimating that it might take a year. Either side could then appeal that ruling to the states highest court, known as the New York Court of Appeals. Christian said the only way the matter could then reach the U.S. Supreme Court is if Trump argues that the penalties somehow violate his federal constitutional rights.

What about the cancellation of Trumps business certificates?

The intermediate appeals court, known as the Appellate Division, has already paused Engorons order canceling Trumps business certificates while it considers Trumps appeal of Engorons pretrial ruling that found Trump had fraudulently inflated his net worth on financial documents.

If the appeals court eventually upholds Engorons ruling and lifts the pause on the order, however, that could deliver a significant blow to Trumps company, potentially removing the certificates of Trump Tower, 40 Wall Street, the Trump International Hotel and the Trump Organization, among other New York entities controlled or beneficially owned by Trump. Diana Florence, a former prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorneys office, compared stripping a company of its business certificate to issuing a death certificate to a person.

It literally means the company is dead, and once a company is dead, they cant take their stuff with them, she said. An executor appointed by the court would dispose of the assets, and once the bills and receivables are sorted out, the rest goes to the owners of the company.

If most of those proceeds go to Trump, he may incur an additional penalty, said Florence. Hes going to be hit with a whopper of a tax bill.
A New York appeals court reinstates the gag order imposed on former President Donald Trump that prohibits him from making critical comments about Judge Arthur Engorons court staff, including his clerk. Upon learning that news, Engoron tells Trumps lawyers that he intends to enforce the gag orders rigorously and vigorously. Here are the latest updates from the legal cases brought against the man looking to return to the White House.

New York financial fraud

Appeals court reinstates Trump gag order

Key players: Judge Arthur Engoron, clerk Allison Greenfield, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Trump lawyer Christopher Kise

On Thursday, a New York state appeals court reinstated the gag order imposed on Trump by Engoron that prevents him from commenting about the judges staff, Politico reported.

The ruling by the judges states, upon reading and filing the papers with respect to the motion, and due deliberation having been had thereon, It is ordered that the motion is denied; the interim relief granted by order of a Justice of this Court, dated November 16, 2023, is hereby vacated.

After Trump spread an unfounded rumor about Greenfield, Engoron issued a gag order that was designed to prevent the former president from attacking his staff. But Trump went on to violate the order, and was fined a total of $15,000 by the judge.

After Engorons gag order was paused by a justice on the appeals court on Nov. 16, Trump resumed attacking Greenfield and lawyers for Jamess office told the appeals court that Greenfield received a flood of threats, many of them antisemitic, from Trumps supporters.

Trump regularly criticizes Engoron and has begun attacking his wife in social media posts, accusing the two of being biased against him, but those comments are not prohibited by the gag order.

On Thursday, Engoron responded to the appeals court ruling, saying: I intend to enforce the gag orders rigorously and vigorously. I want to make sure that counsel informs their clients of the fact that the stay was vacated.

Kise, who had sought to have the gag order permanently lifted, called its reinstatement a tragic day for the rule of law.

Why it matters: Trumps persistent attacks on the witnesses, judges, prosecutors and court staff in the many legal cases against him have created a legal gray area in which appeals courts are having to weigh the former presidents First Amendment rights with the safety of those he targets as well as the impact the attacks may have on finding an impartial jury.

Recommended reading

NBC News: Trump financial watchdog informs judge of $40 million in undisclosed cash transfers

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Wednesday, Nov. 29

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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images, Ben Hasty/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images, Samuel Corum/Getty Images, Getty Images (3)

In a filing made to the Colorado Supreme Court, lawyers for former President Donald Trump say that he never took an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and should therefore not be banned from the states presidential ballots in 2024 based on Section 3 of the 14th Amendment. In the New York financial fraud civil trial, an executive with Deutsche Bank testifies about the favorable loan rates the bank gave Trump and the decision to part ways with one of its most famous clients. Here are the latest developments in the legal cases involving the man looking to return to the White House.

Jan. 6 election interference

Trumps lawyers say he never took oath to support the Constitution

Key players: Colorado Supreme Court, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace

Filings submitted to the Colorado Supreme Court this week from lawyers for Trump and CREW presented opposing views on whether Trumps role in the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol violated his oath of office and, under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, made him ineligible to run again, Truthout reported.

Section 3 bars those found to have engaged in insurrection or rebellion and who had previously taken an oath to support the Constitution from holding elected office again. But Trumps attorneys argued it was not applicable due to the stature of the presidency and the wording of the oath.

Section Three does not apply, because the presidency is not an office under the United States, the president is not an officer of the United States, and President Trump did not take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States,' Trumps lawyers wrote .

Instead, the attorneys noted, Trump swore to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution.

CREW, which is representing six Colorado voters appealing Wallaces ruling that Trumps name could remain on state ballots, argued Trumps argument was merely semantic.

The Constitution" CREW stated in its brief to the court, "explicitly tells us, over and over, that the Presidency is an office. The natural meaning of officer of the United States is anyone who holds a federal office. And the natural reading of oath to support the Constitution includes the stronger Presidential oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.

The court has scheduled a hearing to hear arguments in the matter on Dec. 6.

Why it matters: Whatever the Colorado Supreme Court decides, its ruling will likely be appealed and the case will likely make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court. At the heart of the case is the question of what limits the Constitution puts on presidential power.

New York financial fraud

Deutsche Bank executive testifies about ending relationship with Trump

Key players: Former Deutsche Bank managing director Rosemary Vrablic, New York Attorney General Letitia James, Judge Arthur Engoron

In testimony Wednesday the court saw evidence that Vrablic expressed concern about the public nature of Trump's 2012 acquisition of the Old Post Office building in Washington, D.C., fearing the deal might publicize the favorable loan terms offered by the bank, ABC News reported.

"Will our terms and conditions with you be made public? Not a credit issue, but we want to be prepared if 'other clients' see it and ask for the same deal," Vrablic wrote in a 2013 email shown at trial.

"He was president of the United States  going to become president of the United States  and the bank's position was they did not want to increase its exposure at that time," Vrablic testified.

Earlier, however, Vrablic described efforts the bank made to court Trumps business and disclosed that it made millions off of loans to his business.

Trumps lawyers argue that there was no crime committed because he kept up payments on the loans and the lenders were happy with the arrangement.

In her $250 million lawsuit, James alleges that Trump reaped more than $1 billion in profits by lying about his financial condition to banks and insurers, who then gave him favorable terms for loans and rates.

Engoron, who has already ruled Trump, his adult sons and their family business committed fraud, said this week that "the mere fact that the lenders were happy doesn't mean the statute wasn't violated."

Why it matters: While the trial will decide what penalties the defendants must pay after being found liable for fraud, Engoron will also rule on Jamess argument that the Trump Organization should be barred from purchasing New York real estate for five years and that Trump and his adult sons should not be permitted to serve as officers of any company in the state, Politico reported.

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Tuesday, Nov. 28

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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images, Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, Darron Cummings/AP, Department of Justice via AP, Jon Elswick/AP, Getty Images

In a new court filing, lawyers for former President Donald Trump make their case that former Vice President Mike Pence spoke to special counsel Jack Smiths team in an effort to curry favor and avoid being charged in a Justice Department investigation into Pences handling of classified documents. A new report recounts what Pence told Smith, including his decision to oversee the certification of the Electoral College tally showing that Joe Biden won the 2020 election despite his view that doing so would be hurtful to Trump. Meanwhile, the judge in the election subversion case denies a Trump motion requesting records from the House Jan. 6 select committee and seeking testimony from its members and witnesses.

Jan. 6 election interference

In a filing, Trump says Pence cooperated with the special counsel to avoid charges in a documents inquiry

Key players: Former Vice President Mike Pence, President Joe Biden, Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira, Trump valet Walt Nauta

In a Monday court filing, Trumps lawyers accused Pence of trying to curry favor with Smiths team by providing information that is consistent with the Biden Administrations preferred, and false, narrative regarding this case, Rolling Stone reported.

Trumps filing noted that the Justice Department closed its investigation into Pences handling of classified documents in June without filing any charges against him, implying, without evidence, that the former vice presidents testimony had factored into that decision.

In the filing, Trumps lawyers requested that Smith provide information into the decision not to charge Pence.

Trump is charged with 40 felony counts for his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House, including 32 violations of the Espionage Act and eight charges alleging efforts to obstruct the investigation.

Two Trump employees, Nauta and De Oliveira have also been charged with aiding the efforts to obstruct the recovery of the documents.

Pence and President Joe Biden both cooperated fully with investigators seeking the return of other documents with classified markings.

Why it matters: Smith is likely to call Pence to the witness stand in the election interference case against Trump that is scheduled to begin on March 4, and the former president is attempting to discredit him beforehand.

What Pence told Smiths team

Key players: former Vice President Mike Pence, special counsel Jack Smith, President Joe Biden

In interviews with Smiths team conducted earlier this year, Pence described the pressure Trump applied to persuade him to refuse to certify the Electoral College votes showing Biden had won the 2020 election, sources told ABC News .

While Pence told Trump in December of 2020 that he saw no evidence that the election was stolen, he considered simply not showing up on Jan. 6, 2021, to certify the results because doing so would be too hurtful to my friend.

"Not feeling like I should attend electoral count," Pence wrote in notes he wrote to himself obtained by ABC News. "Too many questions, too many doubts, too hurtful to my friend. Therefore I'm not going to participate in certification of election."

But Pence, who will almost certainly be called by Smith as a witness in the election subversion case against the former president, ultimately informed Trump that he would oversee the certification.

"I told him I thought there was no idea more un-American than the idea that any one person could decide what electoral votes to count," Pence allegedly told Smith's team, according to sources. "I made it very plain to him that it was inconsistent with our history and tradition."

Why it matters: Pence is the highest-ranking member of the Trump administration who will testify in the case. He will be able to describe firsthand conversations he had with Trump prior to the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and the efforts to subvert the election results.

Judge denies Trump motion for Jan. 6 committee records

Key players: Judge Tanya Chutkan

On Monday, Chutkan denied a motion filed in October by Trumps lawyers that sought records from the House Jan. 6 select committees investigation and the issuance of subpoenas for some of its Democratic members and witnesses, BBC News reported.

Trumps request, Chutkan wrote, provided only a "vague description of their potential relevance" that the records and subpoenas would provide. She also noted that the transcripts of video interviews with witnesses had already been given to Trumps lawyers.

In their October motion, Trumps lawyers said they sought missing materials relating to the 2020 election. But Chutkan called the request a fishing expedition.

Trump is charged with four felony counts relating to his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results.

Why it matters: Trump is seeking to relitigate the handling of the 2020 election to try to show that he had good reason to contest his loss to Joe Biden. Seeking additional records and testimony could also drag the trial out past the 2024 election.

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Monday, Nov. 27

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Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images, Shannon Stapleton-Pool/Getty Images, Getty Images (3)

In a Monday appeals court filing, lawyers for former President Donald Trump argue that hundreds of recent threats made against Judge Arthur Engoron and his law clerk do not justify keeping a gag order in place in the New York financial fraud trial of Trump, his adult sons and their family business. While Trump already faces 91 felony charges, he could yet see even more pending the results of ongoing state investigations in at least four states into the fake elector scheme to keep him in power. Here is the latest legal maneuvering in the criminal and civil cases facing the man seeking to become the next president.

New York financial fraud

Trump lawyers: Threats to judge and his clerk dont justify gag order

Key players: Judge Arthur Engoron, clerk Allison Greenfield, New York Attorney General Letitia James

On Monday, lawyers for Trump said in a court filing that threats made toward Engoron and Greenfield by Trumps supporters did not justify keeping a gag order put in place by the judge of the financial fraud trial, CNN reported.

At base, the disturbing behavior engaged in by anonymous, third-party actors towards the judge and Principal Law Clerk publicly presiding over an extremely polarizing and high-profile trial merits appropriate security measures," the filing stated. "However, it does not justify the wholesale abrogation of Petitioners First Amendment rights in a proceeding of immense stakes to Petitioners, which has been compromised by the introduction of partisan bias on the bench.

Engorons gag order, which the appeals court has paused until it issues a final ruling on the matter, was designed to prevent Trump from attacking the judges staff.

Since the October start of the trial, Engoron and Greenfield have been deluged with threats that have been serious and credible, Jamess office told the court, with hundreds coming in the past week alone.

Engorons clerk receives dozens of messages each day on her personal cellphone, on social media platforms and at her personal email addresses, court papers filed by Engorons lawyers stated, about half of them expressing antisemitic views.

Why it matters: Trump has repeatedly criticized Engoron and Greenfield, which James has characterized as a form of intimidation that endangers their safety. Trumps attorneys counter that leaving the gag order in place is a violation of the former presidents First Amendment rights.

Jan. 6 election interference

More states could file charges stemming from fake elector plot to keep Trump in power

Key players: Pro-Trump lawyers John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, former Georgia GOP chair David Shafer, Georgia state Sen. Shawn Still, Georgia GOP official Kathleen Latham, Georgia bail bondsman Scott Hall

State attorneys general in at least four states are continuing to investigate whether to bring charges stemming from the fake elector plot to keep Trump in power following his loss in the 2020 election, The Hill reported.

Officials in Arizona, Nevada, Michigan and Pennsylvania are among those weighing whether to charge more people with crimes in the scheme pushed by Eastman for states to certify an alternate slate of electors to try to block Joe Bidens victory.

In Georgia, Eastman, Shafer, Still and Latham have all been charged with felonies stemming from those efforts. Chesebro, one of the architects of the fake elector plan, has already pleaded guilty and may yet face charges in other states, as have Ellis, Powell and Hall.

In Michigan, 16 people who posed as "duly elected and qualified electors" are already facing charges.

Why it matters: Trump and his allies held meetings with officials in multiple states in their efforts to overturn his 2020 losses in key swing states. Already charged with 91 felonies heading into the 2024 Republican primary, he could yet be hit with even more.
Donald Trumps pardon of loan shark Jonathan Braun on his last day in office in 2021 destroyed a Department of Justice investigation, according to a report.

Braun was convicted of running an illegal marijuana cartel. He was one of the 142, including rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black, who were issued surprise pardons by Mr Trump in the waning hours of his presidency.

At the time of his pardon, Braun had served a quarter of his ten-year sentence.

The commutation of his sentence reportedly dealt a substantial blow to the Justice Departments criminal investigation that was aimed at members of the predatory lending industry who harmed small businesses.

The New York Times report added that the commutation destroyed any leverage the government had in the investigation.

The report also revealed ties between Braun and Jared Kushner and his father Charles Kushner in guiding the pardon proposal for Trump.

Mr Brauns family reportedly used a connection to Charles Kushner, the father of Jared Kushner to bring the case before Mr Trump, according to NYT.

The report also mentioned that the language for the news release announcing commutations for Mr Braun and others was drafted by Jared Kushners White House office.

After being released from prison in early 2021, Braun resumed his involvement in the merchant cash advance industry, the report added, facing renewed allegations from regulators and certain customers who accused him of employing intimidating tactics.

The Braun family hired Alan Dershowitz, a pro-Trump lawyer with connections to Jared Kushner, to advocate for his request. Individuals who interacted with Braun subsequently informed investigators that they were informed of the Braun familys role in securing the commutation, citing their connections to the Kushner family, the report states.

Mr Trump declared that should he be re-elected as president, he planned to issue more pardons, specifically for those convicted in connection with the 6 January Capitol attack. He also told his allies privately that he intended to pardon higher-level people who were involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
By Ted Hesson and Nathan Layne

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Donald Trump has vowed to intensify his crackdown on immigration if he returns to the White House and has left the door open to resuming his most controversial policy - family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border - but key allies who could join a new Trump administration as immigration enforcers are wary.

Five former Trump officials and conservative allies told Reuters that even as Trump weighs harsher anti-migrant measures, they are concerned about implementing a new version of the 2018 "zero tolerance" policy that separated thousands of children from their parents at the southwest border.

They said they worry about a repeat of the widespread public backlash provoked by the original policy.

"The family separation that resulted from the zero tolerance caused an uproar in the country," said Tom Homan, a former Trump immigration official who could join a second administration. "The best way to do it, rather than deal with all that chaos that comes with it, is to keep them in a residential center together and have their hearings together."

Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination and has made border security a major theme of his campaign. He is vowing to restore the hardline policies from his 2017-2021 presidency, and implement new ones that clamp down further on both legal and illegal immigration.

Trump touted the efficacy of family separations during a CNN town hall in May, and declined to rule out reinstating them. He defended them again in an interview with Spanish-language television channel Univision that aired on Nov. 9.

"It stopped people from coming by the hundreds of thousands because when they hear 'family separation,' they say, 'Well, we better not go.' And they didn't go," he said.

Trump's hardline position has been seized upon by Democratic President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, which says it is an example of the "extreme" policies the Republican would pursue if he returned to the White House.

Civil rights activists are alarmed by Trump's comments and are ready to return to court to fight any new version of the policy, they told Reuters.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

'LOT OF WAYS TO DO THIS'

How to handle the thousands of families crossing the southwest border illegally has bedeviled successive Republican and Democratic administrations. Biden has struggled with record numbers of migrants crossing the border illegally since he took office, including a recent rise in families.

The Trump administration launched its "zero tolerance" policy in April 2018 as a way to discourage illegal border crossings, including by families. Under the policy, parents were charged with immigration crimes and sent to jails while children were placed in shelters.

Trump ended it in June 2018 amid the backlash and instead said he would seek to detain families together. But family detention remains limited to 20 days under a 2015 court order, typically not enough time to process family asylum claims and potentially deport them.

With some opinion polling showing battleground state voters favoring Trump over Biden on immigration issues, Biden's campaign is reminding them about Trump's separation policy, which was unpopular among most Americans, including some Republicans.

"Trump has been unapologetically open about the extreme, inhumane, and fundamentally un-American policies that he would enact," Biden campaign manager Julie Rodriguez said on a Nov. 18 press call before a Trump border visit.

Among the Trump actions that Rodriguez highlighted was family separation, calling it a "cruel policy of ripping babies from their mothers' and fathers' arms."

Homan said he was not sure what he would do if Trump asked him to revive family separation.

"I would suggest there are a lot of ways to do this," he said. "I'd have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

Homan added that it would need "more safeguards in place to make sure these families get reunited quickly."

Chad Wolf, Trump's former acting homeland chief and current executive director of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank, said "all options need to be on the table" when asked about revisiting family separations.

But Wolf said the U.S. public clearly did not support it and that other actions could achieve the same goal.

ACTIVISTS READY LEGAL FIGHT

If Trump did implement a family separation policy, he would likely face legal challenges. Days after he ended "zero tolerance" in 2018, a federal judge ordered the administration to reunite the families in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The effort is still ongoing due to lack of record-keeping.

Another hurdle for Trump could be a settlement agreement signed by the Biden administration that would bar similar separations for eight years.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said the group would go to court to enforce the prohibition if separations resumed.

"We take very seriously the recent talk about it still being on the table and will be prepared if it happens again," he said.

Mark Morgan, a top border official under Trump, said he does not believe a new Trump administration would implement a family separation policy in the way it did the first time.

Morgan - like Homan, Wolf and others - cited Trump's 2019 "remain in Mexico" policy as a better option. That program forced certain non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. cases and coincided with a drop in border apprehensions, including of families.

Biden moved to end "remain in Mexico" but Trump has pledged to bring it back if reelected.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson in Washington and Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Additional reporting by Gram Slattery in Washington; Editing by Ross Colvin and Daniel Wallis)
Ninety-one. That's the number of felony counts former President Donald Trump faces in criminal cases spanning four states. It's the number that Edythe Ford, a longtime community activist in Detroit, said she can't get out of her head as she's begun canvassing and assisting voters for the 2024 presidential election.

Ford said Trump caused racial divisiveness in the country, made it harder for communities of color to get jobs and helped obstruct voting and women's rights.

"He's just caused so much pain and suffering. I don't want to... we can't go back to that," said Ford, a member of Detroit Action and community engagement director for MACC Development, a nonprofit. "The middle-class and low-income communities will suffer greatly  again."

Andrea Mercado, the executive director of Florida Rising, a nonpartisan nonprofit that leads civic engagement and helps to educate and register voters in Black and Latino communities, is just as blunt in her assessment of the leading GOP contender.

"(Trump) built a campaign stoking racial animus with a promise to deliver solely for white working-class voters, and we saw corporations and the rich get richer and others hurt in the process," Mercado said. "If he wins, we enter a new chapter in American history, as his playbook is no friend to marginalized people."

With the presidential election a year away, members of several grassroots voting rights groups say underrepresented people nationwide are concerned about the prospect of having Trump once again as commander-in-chief. But theyre just as worried about voter accessibility and suppression efforts, the rising cost of living, affordable health care, a continued lack of jobs and an uneasiness about whether President Joe Biden is paying attention to their concerns.

This all comes as many surveys of registered or likely voters, including a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll last month, show a presidential race that is effectively tied. Meanwhile, a USA TODAY/Suffolk University Poll of unlikely voters  those who are eligible to vote but say they probably won't  gives Trump a significant lead over Biden with one year to go.

"There is already a lot of noise out there that feels like a food fight in a high school cafeteria," said Julie Fernandes, associate director of the Rockefeller Family Fund, a nonprofit that manages the Democracy & Power Innovation Fund, which works with state-based organizing groups. "It can make some voters feel less powerful and less seen and heard on the issues that matter to them."

'Trump takes up all of the space in the room'

Some Americans from underrepresented communities said they are terrified about Trump winning and fearful of the policies he might enact if given another four years in office, said Ford. The Detroit activist said she is especially troubled after reading reports about a conservative presidential administration shaped according to the template set out in "Project 2025." Created by the conservative Heritage Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank led by several former Trump administration officials, Project 2025 seeks "to rescue the country from the grip of the radical Left" by reducing the government's independence on federal agencies and giving more power to the president.

She said that consolidation of power scares her, and many of the voters she represents.

"Trump takes up all of the space in the room," said Kendra Cotton, CEO of New Georgia Project Action Fund, an Atlanta-based nonprofit that works with historically marginalized voters. "When you ask about a second Trump presidency from most people's perspective that we work with, he's an existential threat."

Those concerns also come for voters in marginalized communities at a time when Trump is considered by the broader population as the second-best Republican president in modern history, according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in July. Only Ronald Reagan ranked higher among the GOP presidents of the last 40 years, Pew found.

The survey was conducted after Trump was indicted in federal court in Florida on charges related to improper handling of classified documents but before he was indicted, in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in state court in Georgia, on allegations he attempted to overturn the 2020 election. The survey also came after Trump was indicted on 34 felony counts by a Manhattan grand jury in March, making him the first former U.S. president to be indicted in history.

Trump has denied wrongdoing in all of these cases. He has stated, without evidence, that prosecutors and officials in Washington, Georgia and New York are targeting his reelection bid.

Polls indicate that Trump will likely emerge as his party's choice for a rematch with Biden come next November.

Issues 'not necessarily' about Trump, Biden in Georgia

In a battleground state such as Georgia, where Biden beat Trump by slightly more than 12,000 votes and Trump urged Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find 11,780 votes," Cotton said, New Georgia Action members are finding that voters want candidates to address the issues affecting them every day.

Cotton noted her organization said while voters are concerned about a rematch, they are just as concerned about how the economy affects their bottom line. Will their schools and neighborhoods be safe? Will they have a job a year from now?

Ebony DeLoach, right, a member of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, a voting rights organization, talks to a Cincinnati resident, right, about registering to vote before the 2022 midterm elections.

"What I'm telling you is these 'kitchen table issues,' according to our polling, are top of mind for Black and brown voters, not necessarily about Donald Trump, not necessarily about Joe Biden," Cotton said. "Folks are saying to us, 'Im trying to carve out a good life for myself, for my family.'"

Cotton said voters are also looking to her organization to help break down other issues they are not familiar with and prepare them for when candidates are dodging important questions.

"We try to arm them with good nonpartisan information," Cotton said.

Mercado, of Rising Florida, shares a similar sentiment about preparing voters to challenge candidates on the issues.

"It's important we push both political parties to take action, especially on behalf of working people, but were clear that we cant negotiate with those who are fundamentally against democracy," Mercado said.

In Michigan, 'No voter's voice is going to be silenced'

Having "regular, everyday people be heard," is going to be a challenge in Michigan, said Art Reyes, the executive director of We the People Michigan, a left-of-center nonprofit that conducts voter canvassing and engagement across the state.

But Reyes said constituents of color are determined to make headway in the battleground state, especially now that Trump allies in Michigan are facing criminal charges that they tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election using a phony certificate to pledge the state's electoral votes to Trump.

"We haven't forgotten what 2020 looked and felt like with a very concerted effort from Trump and his allies to disregard Black and brown votes," Reyes said. "It didn't happen then, it won't happen now. No voter's voice in Michigan is going to be silenced."

Reyes said providing more affordable housing and making driver's licenses accessible to immigrants, regardless of their status, are key to voters, among other issues. People need to see candidates responding to issues like these if they expect voters to show up at the polls.

"There are significant chunks of our communities that haven't seen participation in elections as a pathway for improving their lives," Reyes said. "We need to change that perception."

'Trump is a symptom, but it's bigger than him' in Ohio

In Ohio, where election outcomes can have national implications, grassroots organizations like the nonpartisan Ohio Organizing Collaborative are facing broader issues in getting voter participation in underrepresented groups. Trump won the state in record fashion in 2020.

Prentiss Haney, a co-executive director of the collaborative, said grassroots organizers concerns extend beyond Trump, who he describes as "a symptom" of the problem. Haney estimates that there may be an "untapped electorate" of a half-million eligible but unregistered Black voters in the state.

Haney said the collaborative's recent research shows that Black voters in Ohio feel candidates are not in tune with issues that concern them, such as the lack of good-paying jobs and their declining quality of life.

"What were finding is that voters, especially underrepresented folks, are looking for someone who can represent them and fight for them," Haney said.

"They are searching for how they can have empowerment, period," he said. "Theyre seeing that not every candidate is creating a path to see their political power.

"Theyre not deciding between Trump and Biden," Haney said. "They are deciding on voting or not voting."

Concerns over Ohio's controversial voter-purge law looms

Haney also said his organization is concerned with how Ohio's controversial voter purge law affects underserved voters. In September, nearly 27,000 voters were purged from the rolls. He said people who were stricken and did not register before October 10 could not vote in Ohios closely watched election this month, in which voters approved a constitutional amendment protecting abortion rights.

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, said such purges are necessary to prevent election fraud and said that voters get plenty of chances to remain on the rolls.

Based on his organization's research, Haney said Ohio has systematically disenfranchised Black voters, including purging more than 2 million voters from rolls in the past decade, having stringent voter ID laws, and pushing through extreme gerrymandering.

"Its up to organizations like ours to make sure their voices are heard," Haney said. "Were not doomed to be in this place forever."

Tied up OnPolitics: Joe Biden and Donald Trump tie in new poll

Mississippi matters Black voters are making the Mississippi governors race more competitive. How will they use that power in 2024?

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Voting rights groups across the US are focused on more than just Trump
(Reuters) - The December inauguration of Argentina's President-elect Javier Milei will likely not count former U.S. President Donald Trump among the attendees, a person familiar with matter told Reuters on Monday.

The press office of the Argentine libertarian had announced on Nov. 23 that his fellow conservative would travel to Buenos Aires, but did not specifically say Trump would attend Milei's formal swearing in as president on Dec. 10.

But a source close to the campaign of Trump, who is currently seeking his party's nomination to win back his old job in next year's U.S. election, cited a tight campaign schedule as the likely impediment.

"There's nothing that's currently planned," said the source. "With the Iowa caucuses, New Hampshire and the rest of the primaries approaching so quickly, it is something that would be difficult in the short term," the source added, ticking off the first U.S. states with presidential primary votes scheduled early next year.

The first nominating context for Trump's Republican party is set for Iowa on Jan. 15, followed by New Hampshire on Jan. 23.

Trump also faces several criminal and civil court cases in the U.S. over the same time period, which is also seen as competing for his time as the presidential race heats up.

Milei, a far-right outsider who won Argentina's run-off presidential vote by a 12-point margin earlier this month, has often drawn comparisons to Trump for his abrasive style and conservative policies.

(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Josie Kao)
The federal racketeering case against Ed Burke is pure Chicago.

At its core, the Burke trial, which just wrapped its third week, is about a series of alleged shakedowns by the longest-serving alderman in City Council history  a potential highlight reel for the sordid legacy of City Hall.

The former 14th Ward alderman is not accused of taking bribe money in an envelope, in a brown paper bag or slapped directly into an outstretched hand.

That cold cash approach may have been a little too ordinary for Burke, an old-school Democrat whose extraordinary clout is as much on trial as he is for the 14 charges he faces. Its a case expected to stretch well past the fifth anniversary of the Nov. 29, 2018, FBI raid of the aldermans City Hall offices.

Even Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Chapman suggested in opening statements that Burkes style was less greasy palm and a bit more sophisticated.

Burke himself may have inadvertently labeled the alleged take from his political style as the tuna, as in, So did we land the, uh, the tuna? A secret FBI recording caught that phrase in one the alleged shakedowns, and it is fast becoming part of Chicagos political lexicon.

Sure, there was an extra step or two required in each of the four chapters that prosecutors have outlined to date in their book on Burke, but the allegations boil down to the most elemental Chicago corruption: Anybody who wanted something had to give something in return.

Over and over, Chapman charged, Burke sought to line his own pockets with money by making his public office a conduit to turn his private law firm into a cash register.

To no ones surprise, Burkes lawyers, Chris Gair and Joseph Duffy, have said there is no evidence that Burke ever demanded anything in exchange for taking official action  or made such threats to anybody. The Burke defense team portrayed a highly respected politician whose 54-year run on the City Council ended in May with a distinguished public record.

In court, Burke has eschewed the flashier pinstripe suits from his council days and opted for a more subdued and serious attire as a jury of nine women and three men prepares to determine his fate.

Though his pink ears sometimes turned reddish as prosecutors put on parts of their case, Burke occasionally slipped into a smile, such as when his lawyers described him as a man with a strong family, one highlighted in the courtrooms front row by the matron of his clan: former Illinois Supreme Court Chief Justice Anne Burke.

Undoubtedly benefiting from her husbands former lead role in the Cook County Democratic Partys judicial slating process, she became an accomplished jurist before retiring last year. But her judicial status has yet to be highlighted, perhaps a move designed to play up the familys cohesion rather than its political connections.

But the jurors arent being asked to consider most of Burkes five-decade aldermanic career. They wont hear about the judge-making, the countless backroom deals, or the time Burke spent infamously trying to thwart the agenda of Mayor Harold Washington, the citys first Black mayor, during the 1980s era of Council Wars.

In fact, many jurors live far outside of Chicago, and some have barely heard the name of the man whose guilt or innocence is in their hands.

Four chapters

In three of the four chapters alleged by prosecutors, Burke pulled levers at City Hall to help businessmen cut red tape, as long as his tax appeals law firm could get their business.

For example, the government said Burke went all out for developers working on the $600 million renovation of the Old Post Office in the West Loop and the owners of a Burger King in his Southwest Side ward once he sensed that getting their tax business could bring his law firm a financial windfall.

But Burke allegedly didnt even have to ask for tax work when a desperate developer voluntarily sent him tax work while begging for help with getting a permit for a 30-foot-high sign for a Binnys Beverage Depot on West Irving Park Road miles from Burkes ward.

In their fourth chapter, prosecutors said Burke threatened to block a proposed admission fee increase at the Field Museum, home of Sue the T. rex. All because the daughter of his longtime council ally, former Ald. Terry Gabinski, 32nd, did not get a paid internship, the sort of political faux pas in Chicago that left Burke complaining of being embarrassed in front of friends.

So far, prosecutors have only gotten to the Burger King and Field Museum installments.

Still weeks away is Burkes defense case, when his lawyers have said they will call to the witness stand former 25th Ward Ald. Daniel Solis, the government mole whose recordings have played a major role in the corruption cases of both Burke and former House Speaker Michael Madigan, the Chicago Democrat who faces his own trial in April.

Along with racketeering, Burke, 79, is charged with federal program bribery, attempted extortion, conspiracy to commit extortion and using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity.

Longtime Burke associate Peter Andrews, 73, is charged in the alleged Burger King scheme with one count of attempted extortion, one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of using interstate commerce to facilitate an unlawful activity and one count of making a false statement to the FBI.

A third defendant, real estate developer Charles Cui, faces bribery-related counts in an alleged scheme to get Burke to push city bureaucrats into approving a permit for the Binnys sign.

They have all pleaded not guilty.

Riot act

As the first few witnesses took the stand, prosecutors made Burke sound as if he were a politician stuck in the glory days of the old Democratic machine, where a patronage job could be secured by a phone call and aldermanic clout.

Burke, who became an alderman in 1969 under Mayor Richard J. Daley, acknowledged on one secret recording that he read the riot act to a Field Museum official in 2017 after the slight over the internship.

Caught on a recording, Burke unleashed his anger when he received a call from Deborah Bekken, then the Fields government affairs director, who wanted his imprimatur for a museum admission fee increase even though it was up to the park board to make the decision.

To her surprise, she testified, Burke gave her a stern message that he could make a quick call to the park board and that fee hike would suddenly go nowhere.

Bekken said she considered it a threat and immediately sent an email up the chain with a warning in the subject line: We have a problem.

While hardly the shakedown of the century, the Field Museum episode  perhaps more than any other allegation in the indictment  demonstrated Burkes clout when he was in office, not only over the City Council but with connections and friendships that gave him sway over large swaths of city life.

The recordings played for the jury last week showed that when Burke expressed his displeasure over the internship snafu, officials at one of the top museums in the world fell over themselves trying to placate him, brainstorming ideas to get back on Burkes good side even though he had no direct oversight of the museums affairs.

Bekken testified she suggested offering Burke a mea culpa prize, such as an internship that he can award as a scholarship to an intern of his choosing?

The museums mad scramble to figure out how to undo any damage, including the top brass wringing hands over the potential Burke backlash during a high-level meeting of the institutions executive team, may be as illustrative as it gets in Chicagos know-somebody politics.

The amount of deference museum officials gave Burke became more obvious in a secretly recorded apology call from Field President Richard Lariviere.

While he admitted to jurors he was pouring it on thick in trying to smooth things over with Burke, Lariviere turned up on one telephone recording telling Burke that, when you call, Ed, everybody knows, we jump.

Lariviere conceded he immediately called Burke when the alderman dressed down Bekken.

Despite Burkes annoyance, though, Lariviere testified he did not think the museums pitch for a $2 fee increase was ever in jeopardy.

The museum eventually offered Gabinskis daughter the chance to apply for a full-time paid position with starting pay in the range of $47,500 a year, but she didnt apply because she had landed elsewhere and was happy, according to testimony.

On cross-examination, both Bekken and Lariviere testified they never heard Burke actually demand that she get a job, a point the Burke team sought to drive home.

The question hanging is whether the jury will consider a recommendation from Burke as tantamount to a direct order.

Have it your way?

The major testimony in the Burke case at this point focused on how he took a special interest in a Burger King nestled in his Southwest Side ward along South Pulaski Road, allegedly because he wanted the owners to give his law firm all of the property tax business for their dozens of Chicago area fast-food restaurants.

In a moment of high drama, Shoukat Dhanani, CEO of the Texas-based company that owns the local Burger Kings, testified that he agreed to hire Burkes law firm in hopes that it would free him to move ahead with a long-stalled remodeling of his restaurant inside the 14th Wards borders.

One striking piece of evidence jurors saw last week was a 2017 FBI surveillance photo from inside that Burger King, then a dingy restaurant in the Archer Heights neighborhood, where the impeccably dressed alderman met with Dhanani, his son and other company officials dressed more casually on a sweltering June day.

For all the mega-deals Burke made through the decades, the image of him holding court at a Burger King while sitting at a small plastic table in his dark suit, shiny black shoes and silver hair  right next to a yellow folded wet floor warning sign  gave a somewhat bush-league whiff to Burkes alleged scheme.

A separate photo, taken as the group toured the Burger Kings parking lot, showed that Burkes aide, Andrews, wore shorts to the meeting, befitting the Part-Time Pete image his defense team pushed in opening statements.

Prosecutors used Dhananis testimony, emails and wiretapped calls to tell a tale of Burke actively throwing up roadblocks to the remodeling project as he pressed for his law firm to represent all of Dhananis Burger Kings on tax matters.

Unbeknownst to Dhanani, Burke had requested that his staff look into who was handling real estate tax work for Dhananis company, according to evidence presented by prosecutors.

At one point, Burke allegedly told Andrews to shut down the remodeling work when Dhanani initially failed to come through.

The jury also heard a recording of Andrews telling Burke hed play as hardball as I can with Dhananis company.

In December 2017, with the Burger King rehab in limbo for months, Dhanani testified he flew to Chicago and met with Burke at the downtown Union League Club. It was there that he agreed to put Burkes firm in touch with his property tax people in Houston, Dhanani said.

My gut feeling was maybe since I had not responded about the property tax business, maybe thats why we had been shut down, Dhanani testified. I didnt see any other reason why it would be.

Testimony also indicated Burkes office pressed Dhanani for new driveway permits even though the Burger King had been open for years.

Under questioning from one of Burkes lawyers, Dhanani acknowledged nobody actually told him the Burger King project was held up because he had yet to hire Burkes law firm.

Nevertheless, Dhanani testified hed never had to meet with a local alderman over a building permit issue for any of his restaurants, not just in Chicago, but anywhere in the country.

Ever had a public official ask you to hire his private business after you sought approval for a permit? asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Streicker.

No, Dhanani testified.

Along with being one of the four main schemes in the Burke trial, the Burger King chapter contributed heavily to the downfall of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkles 2019 mayoral candidacy.

Following Burkes urging, Dhanani testified, he also attempted to donate $10,000 to Preckwinkle but ran into a snag because it was over the limit for an individual donor.

The revelation of the donation became an explosive campaign issue that hurt Preckwinkles campaign because it highlighted her political ties to Burke when he was charged in January 2019 with extortion, an allegation later folded into his racketeering case.

Former federal prosecutor Lori Lightfoot seized upon the political connection to attack Preckwinkle and ended up defeating her in a landslide in 2019s mayoral runoff.

Dhanani, meanwhile, finished his remodeling and never ended up giving any tax appeal business to Burke.

After the Burger King evidence is finished later this week, prosecutors will queue up the allegations against Burke in the trials chapters about the Old Post Office and the developers efforts to put up the Binnys sign.

Then the defense teams will have a chance to try making sure the once-mighty alderman and his co-defendants dont have to worry about putting sentencing dates on their calendars.

____
(Bloomberg) -- A Turkish ex-employee of the US Consulate in Turkey was released from jail recently, according to people with knowledge of the matter, ending a long imprisonment that had frayed ties between the two nations.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Metin Topuz, a Turkish national who worked as a liaison for the Drug Enforcement Agency at the consulate in Istanbul, was arrested in 2017 on terrorism-related charges in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt. The US diplomatic mission publicly denied the charges, demanded his release, and the issue became a bitter diplomatic spat.

Topuz was released due to time served, according to the people. The news comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government is seeking F-16 fighter jets from the Biden administration as well as looking to attract foreign funds.

Topuzs lawyers declined to comment on the matter when reached by Bloomberg via phone. We are aware of reports about Metin Topuz. Out of respect for the Topuz familys wishes, we have nothing further to offer, said a spokesperson for the US Consulate in Istanbul.

Ties with the US deteriorated in the aftermath of the failed coup in 2016, which Turkish officials blamed on US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network. Turkish authorities detained several local staffers working for the US mission, accusing some of them being part of that network.

Gulens movement, dubbed FETO locally, was listed as a terror organization by Turkey after the coup attempt. It was previously an ally of Erdogans government, and established strong roots in the police forces, the military and judiciary.

Relations with the US were worsened further after Turkey rejected calls to free an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was arrested in late 2016. Brunson was eventually released in 2018 after the U.S. imposed symbolic sanctions on Turkish officials, with former US President Donald Trump threatening to follow suit with more punitive economic measures if he wasnt set free.

U.S. Lifts Sanctions on Turkish Officials After Pastors Release

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Turkey fryer explodes in home after Thanksgiving cook nods off

A family Thanksgiving ended in disaster when a turkey fryer was left unattended, exploding and destroying a home in North Carolina.

Burlington Police said the blast unfolded last week when the family member who was cooking the turkey nodded off and left the boiling hot oil bubbling away.

Burlington Police Chief Daniel Shoffner told WAVY that the propane tank fuelling the piping hot fryer then exploded, blowing out the windows of the back of the house and causing fire damage to the walls and roof.

Firefighters arrived at the house just before 1am to find flames and heavy smoke engulfing the sides and rear of the property, the Burlington Fire Department told ABC11.

After half an hour of battling the flames, the blaze was fully extinguished.

The fryer which caused the explosion (WAVY)

Luckily, no one was seriously hurt in the blast and the familys pet dog was safely rescued from the home.

The family cat had managed to escape the fire by itself.

Authorities estimate the explosion has left around $150,000 worth of damage to the home and an additional $50,000 worth of damage to their personal items.

The explosion was so strong it blew out the windows (WAVY)

Mr Shoffner said that having the propane tank attached to the boiling oil was a dangerous thing to do.

That [explosions] can happen if that much fire heats it up to that degree, he said.

Mr Shoffner said that cooking accidents are a lot more common around the holidays.

Theres more house fires due to unattended cooking, or cooking incidents, on Thanksgiving than any other day of the year, Mr Shoffner told WAVY.

We want people to be safe, stay safe this holiday season, he said. You know, be cautious when youre cooking. If you are using a turkey fryer with oil or anything else.

The fire left serious damage to the house (WAVY)

Turkey fryers, on average, cause 60 injuries, five deaths and around $15m in property damage each year in the US, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

Officials remind families to always use turkey fryers outside and far from any property and trees and to never leave them unattended.

The turkey should always be defrosted before frying it, as frozen turkeys can cause flare-ups. The fryer should also always be stood on a level surface.
ByteDance's gaming ambition has been an expensive, short-lived pursuit.

In late 2021, the TikTok parent's plans for video games came into the spotlight after it became one of the firm's six core business units, posing a new threat to incumbents such as Tencent and NetEase and rising star MiHoYo. Nonetheless, after two years of tepid performance, the gaming department, called Nuverse, is significantly scaling back its operations in a move that has surprised many employees.

"We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas. Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business," a ByteDance spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement.

This round of mass layoffs started on Monday and many members of Nuverse are still anxiously awaiting a verdict on their future, people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. It's unclear how many employees will be affected by the restructuring eventually, but Nuverse had quickly grown to around 3,000 people in 2021 and has largely remained that size over the past few years, according to Chinese tech news outlet LatePost.

ByteDance has also spent heavily on acquisitions, including a $4 billion purchase of a promising Shanghai-studio studio called Moonton. Reuters reported earlier this month that the firm is looking to divest the studio and has met with a Saudi Arabia-based firm for discussion.

Reuters first broke the news about the layoffs on Monday morning, reporting that ByteDance would soon announce the "winding down of its Nuverse gaming brand and full retreat from mainstream video games," citing sources. But ByteDance's comment suggests that portions of the team will be retained.

ByteDance's debacle in video games -- and its virtual reality endeavor Pico -- casts doubt over the universal applicability of its data-driven, A/B testing strategy that has catapulted TikTok to global dominance. Through its short-video apps, ByteDance has amassed an unparalleled wealth of consumer insights. The success of video games, however, demands a much longer, more patient creative process and is arguably less predictable than the instant gratification delivered by dopamine-fused video clips. Both of its rivals Tencent and NetEase have been pouring more resources into games with longer development cycles.

Without a breakthrough title or commercial success after two years, Nuverse's positioning as one of ByteDance's key revenue drivers is likely under close examination by the firm's management team. ByteDance remains one of the rare Chinese internet giants that have not gone public, partly due to its entanglement in rising U.S.-China tensions.

The mass layoffs at Nuverse add more bad news to the Chinese internet industry, which is reeling from a widespread regulatory crackdown in recent years, leading to dampened businesses and slashed workforces. The video gaming sector in particular was hit hard by a hiatus in license approvals, and even though the process has resumed, the space's recovery has been limited by macroeconomic challenges.
The French president has promised to clean up Frances corruption-strewn political system - TERESA SUAREZ/AFP via Getty Images

Emmanuel Macrons labour minister stands trial on Monday on corruption charges just days before judges will rule on whether his justice minister used his office to settle personal scores.

In a difficult week for the French president - who has promised to clean up Frances corruption-strewn political system - Olivier Dussopt, 45, stands accused of favouritism related to a 2009 public sector contract passed when he was a mayor. He has denied any wrongdoing.

On Wednesday, a special court will also decide whether Mr Macrons justice minister is guilty of having used his office to settle personal scores. Eric Dupond-Moretti, 62, the first serving government minister to be prosecuted for a criminal offence in modern France, told the court the trial was an abomination. He denies wrongdoing.

For his part, Mr Dussopt is suspected of having favoured a private company, the Saur group, in the awarding of a water contract when he was the mayor of the small town of Annonay in the southeast of France, Frances financial prosecutors office said.

Speaking on France 3 earlier this month, Mr Dussopt said: Im going before the court to prove I acted in good faith.

Appointed in 2022, Mr Macrons Left-leaning labour minister championed the unpopular plan of raising the retirement age from 62 to 64. The changes prompted months of mass protests at the beginning of the year.

Mr Dussopt is suspected of having favoured a private company in the awarding of a water contract when he was the mayor of the small town of Annonay - Nicolas Tucat/AP

The timing of Mondays trial is unfortunate for Mr Macron as it comes on the day his much-awaited immigration bill arrives in parliament. While the bill tightens immigration rules, Mr Dussopt was behind a key clause aiming to grant undocumented migrants work permits in sectors suffering from staff shortages. With the court case hanging over him, Mr Dussopt has been conspicuously absent from public debate over the rule in recent weeks.

As for Mr Dupond-Moretti, the unprecedented case has been brought by prosecutors and judges who are answerable to the justice minister, raising questions over the independence of the judiciary.

Once a high-profile lawyer, Mr Dupond-Moretti is accused of abusing his position to order probes targeting magistrates who investigated him, his friends or his former clients.

Prosecutors have called for a years suspended sentence.

His refusal to resign, or at least to step aside from his role overseeing Frances justice system during the trial, has drawn wide criticism.

Mr Dupond-Moretti is accused of abusing his position to order probes targeting magistrates who investigated him, his friends or his former clients - LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP via Getty Images

In an ironic twist of fate, the Dussopt trial opened on the day that Frances disgraced former tax tsar said he wouldnt rule out a return to front-line politics.

Jerome Cahuzac, a former budget minister tasked with cracking down on tax evasion, was in 2018 sentenced to four years in jail, two suspended, for tax fraud and money laundering after having concealed offshore accounts for two decades.

The socialist was also barred from holding public office for five years.

However, after holding two local political meetings in the Lot-et-Garonne, where he used to be MP, he told France Inter on Monday: I rule nothing out.

Having paid my dues, I have got all my rights back, he said.

French judges have been increasingly successful in bringing high-profile politicians to book. Their most spectacular recent verdict was against Nicolas Sarkozy.

In March 2021, the Right-wing former president was sentenced to three years in prison  two of them suspended and one at home with an electronic bracelet  for corruption and influence peddling. Judges upheld the ruling in May.

Last Friday, he vigorously denied any wrongdoing as he appealed another one-year jail sentence for illegal campaign financing.

Mr Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his sole term in office between 2007 and 2012 and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling and breaking campaign financing laws.

In October, he was charged in a separate witness tampering case relating to alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 presidential win.

Despite his legal woes, the diminutive conservative is a hugely influential figure on the French Right, courted by politicians and writing bestselling memoirs.

He has also maintained a relationship with Mr Macron and French media have said the pair often dine together to discuss politics.

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Two men accused of stealing over one thousand pieces of mail covered their faces after their arraignment in Newton District Court Monday afternoon.

Yasser Teixeira Mendonca, of New York, and Dahshein Karon Perry, of Massachusetts, were both charged with receiving stolen property and failure to stop for police.

Wellesley Police warned Newton officers around 4 a.m. that they were in pursuit of a car involved in mail theft in their city, according to officials. Newton authorities located the suspect vehicle on Route 9 and pulled them over on Hammond Pond Parkway. During the traffic stop, the vehicle allegedly fled at a high rate of speed towards Brookline.

Police say a short time later they found the car crashed on Newton Street in Brookline. Both Mendonca and Perry were arrested after a brief foot pursuit.

Officers allegedly found over a thousand stolen pieces of mail in the car.

In court, a judge ordered both Mendonca and Perry were ordered held on $5,000 cash bail, to stay away from each other, surrender their passports, and not leave Massachusetts.

The pair both posted bail and will appear back in court on December 19.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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Two men who spent a combined half-century in prison for murder had their names cleared in Manhattan on Monday, but only one walked free.

At back-to-back hearings, District Attorney Alvin Braggs office asked judges to vacate the decades-old convictions of Wayne Gardine and Jabar Walker after separate reinvestigations with The Legal Aid Society and the Innocence Project revealed authorities built their cases on shady police work and lying witnesses.

Both men were convicted in separate homicide cases based on investigations by Manhattans then-notoriously corrupt 30th Precinct nicknamed the Dirty 30. Nearly three dozen of the Harlem stationhouse cops were arrested in the 1990s for corruption and other crimes.

In Walkers case, Manhattan prosecutors under former DA Bob Morgenthau offered him nine years to plead guilty to Ismael De La Cruz and William Santana Guzmans 1995 killings as they sat in a car on 148th St. After he declined the deal  citing his innocence  and lost at trial in 1998, a judge gave him 50 years.

I made it, Walker, 51, quietly said in court Monday, wiping a tear from his eye, as state Supreme Court Judge Miriam Best vacated his conviction.

The 49-year-old Gardine has been in custody since he was 20 for the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Robert Mickens in 1994. He was sitting in a federal detention facility in New Jersey on Monday when Braggs office asked state Supreme Court Judge Kathryn Paek to approve a joint motion with Legal Aid, who initiated the reinvestigation of his case, to clear his name.

He [was] not able to be there because ICE has refused to let him out, Fox told the Daily News. Its a horrible position to put someone in who has been wrongfully convicted. He spent nearly 30 years behind bars, and hes still not free. Its a very bittersweet ending to this story.

Gardine has languished in the custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement authorities awaiting deportation to Jamaica, where he left at 13, since completing his prison sentence last year, Fox said.

In a statement provided by his attorneys, Gardine thanked them and DA Bragg for re-examining his case and their respect for the truth.

I also want to thank my mom for being there all these years, and I want to thank myself for never giving up, Gardine said. Im happy that the justice system finally worked.

Gardine, who left behind a baby boy when he went away, has for decades maintained his innocence, including each of the four times the parole board turned him down.

Well, I cried. I just cant explain in words. I dont know what to say, Gardines mother, Grace Davis, said. So long  30 years, you know? Ive been through a lot of sickness and depression, depressed because I know hes innocent.

Davis implored federal immigration officials to release her son from custody immediately. Fox said Gardine never had an opportunity to apply for legal status and hopes ICE will release him so he can get his life back on track.

An agency spokesperson did not comment by press time nor confirm if ICE will release Gardine.

Gardines lawyers said his 1996 conviction resulted from the eyewitness accounts of two teenagers who dealt drugs and were nearby when Mickens was gunned down.

The older ones testimony against Gardine was found to be unreliable in the reinvestigation. The younger teen, who was 14 at the time, told Legal Aid and Braggs office that both teens had pinned the murder on Gardine so their boss, who was friends with Mickens, wouldnt make them retaliate.

The lead detective on Gardines case, who no longer stands by his work on it, told investigators he was new to the 30th Precinct and was discouraged by his supervisor  Willie Parson, who was later convicted of drug dealing  from pursuing another suspect or following up on Gardines alibi.

Wayne Gardine was just 22 years old when he was sentenced to decades in prison following a trial that we now believe relied on an unreliable witness and testimony  losing years of freedom due to an unjust conviction, Bragg said.

Walker waited 27 years to clear his name  and another three hours to walk out of the courtroom a free man on Monday, with Judge Best noting the paperwork would take a while.

Mr. Walker has paid a heavy price for insisting on his innocence [since] the day his prosecution began, Walkers lawyer, Vanessa Potkin, said inside the courtroom, noting he spent decades in prison law libraries fighting his conviction.

Investigators with the Innocence Project and Braggs office interviewed more than 30 people when reexamining Walkers case. The probe found he received ineffective legal representation, shoddy work by police and prosecutors, and that not a single eyewitness at trial could be relied on.

The day he was sentenced, a key witness sought to recant his testimony, saying hed been pressured to blame Walker for the shootings of 32-year-old William Santana and Ismael De La Cruz, 30, as they sat in a parked car on W. 148th St. near Broadway. He remained adamant Walker was innocent in 2021 when he spoke with investigators taking a fresh look at the case.

Not only was the case against Jabar Walker built upon unreliable and recanted testimony, he did not have the benefit of an effective defense attorney  one of the constitutional bedrocks of our justice system, Bragg said.

Along with the recanted testimony, Potkin said the joint investigation revealed a myriad of ways where the system failed Mr. Walker and uncovered pervasive misconduct that led to his wrongful conviction and new evidence of what he has stated all along  he is innocent.

Walkers doting mother and father, Patrice and Terry Walker, were among dozens of his loved ones who packed into the courtroom Monday to see his conviction vacated. His daughter, Alexis, 27, who was less than a year old when he was convicted, was there too.

After the hearing, they waited for hours in the hallway, ready to tearfully embrace him when he officially walked out dancing and smiling around 2 p.m.

Terry Walker, 71, told The News he had no choice but to keep the faith over the decades that his son would see his name cleared.

We had to believe, you know? Thats really all we had, he said. We knew our boy was innocent.

The elder Walker said he didnt believe there was any way to rectify the horrific wrongs his son experienced in New Yorks justice system.

I dont believe so. I really dont believe so. We have to accept what happened and move on with our lives, Terry Walker said.

He missed a lifetime. He missed his daughter growing up. He missed us getting older, things that we could have done together. He missed all of that.

In the final moments of decades painfully spent waiting for her son to come home, Walkers mother, Patrice Walker, 69, told The News she remembered when state Supreme Court Judge Edwin Torres announced his sentence inside the same courthouse at 111 Centre St. like it was yesterday.

I had to leave the court, I almost fainted, she said, recalling how she felt overcome with guilt for supporting his decision to reject the plea deal when his older brother had told him to take it.

Walkers parents were able to visit him about once a month in recent years and more often when he was closer to them at Sing Sing. They plan to move back to the city from Poughkeepsie to be closer to him.

Im feeling so good. My stomach is jumping like crazy. I cant stop it, but to hold him out in the hall, then I will know hes home to stay, Patrice said as she waited for corrections and court officials to finish his paperwork.

I really wanted to cry, she said of the moment Best cleared his name.

I really wanted to say, I told you so! Terry added.

Hours later, outside the courthouse with his arms wrapped around his mom, Walker said he had never lost hope and his only plans were to spend time with his family. His daughter said shed catch him up on how to use a cell phone.
Two ballistic missiles were fired from Yemen toward a Mayport-based warship Monday morning. The USS Mason had just responded to a cargo ship under attack in the Gulf of Aden.

The ship left Naval Station Mayport October 13th for a scheduled deployment.

Read: 2 missiles fired from Yemen toward Mayport-based USS Mason after it responded to attack on tanker

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

U.S. officials said it was responding to a commercial cargo ship that was seized. Two hours later the missiles were fired and landed about ten miles from the ship in the Gulf of Aden. Retired Mayport Navy Captain Rick Hoffman said these are the moments sailors train for.

This is a years-long process and it continues from the moment you leave sight of land in the US, to the moment you get back.

Last week, the USS Thomas Hudner shot down attack drones and last month, the USS Carney took out three missiles. Each of the ships is stationed at Mayport.

Read: US Navy warship shoots down drone from Yemen over the Red Sea

Read: Mayport-based U.S. Navy warship in Red Sea intercepts three missiles heading north out of Yemen

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

No one was hurt on the USS Mason and there was no damage. U.S. officials would not comment on whether the ship was the intended target.

It happens in split seconds, it happens very specifically, and the terminology is very precise. And these guys work as a team, Hoffman said. Theres a huge amount of pressure on these guys and theyre young. So, they have to be good. They have to work as a team. They have to feel empowered to do their job and they have to be trained to do their job.

It all comes as Iran-backed Houthi forces have increased attacks against U.S. interests and Israel as fears grow across the region that the Israel-Hamas war could widen.

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Dr Sultan al-Jaber, the president of COP28, is also the chief executive of the UAE state-owned oil company Adnoc - Bryan Bedder/Getty Images North America

The UAE has been accused of a real scandal after the Cop28 host was alleged to be planning to use climate change talks to push its oil and gas interests.

Leaked documents show the UAE preparing to discuss potential fossil fuel agreements with 15 nations ahead of the summit, which starts this week in Dubai.

A Cop28 spokesman said the documents were inaccurate and had not been used by Cop28 in meetings.

The UAE appointed Dr Sultan al-Jaber, the chief executive of the oil company Adnoc, as president of the summit, a role that includes holding several bilateral talks in the run up to Cop28.

According to the documents, briefing notes prepared for Dr Jaber for these meetings include discussing a willingness to co-operate on a liquefied natural gas pipeline project in Mozambique, and others in Canada and Australia.

The president of the Cop summit is tasked with steering negotiations between the 198 parties to some form of agreement at the end of the summit, and is expected to put national interests aside during the talks.

UAE interests in Norfolk wind farm

But the leaked documents suggest the UAE may be using the process to pursue the aims of Adnoc and Masdar, the renewable energy company of which Dr Jaber is the chairman.

Briefing notes ahead of a meeting with Graham Stuart, then minister for energy security and net zero, suggest the UAE planned to push its interests in extending a wind farm off the coast of Norfolk and expediting connections to the electricity grid.

Reports of the plans, which were revealed by the Centre for Climate Reporting and initially reported by the BBC, were met with criticism.

The outcome of the talks has already been cast into doubt by the UAEs role as hosts of the summit because of concerns the wealthy petrostate will push deals that delay the end of fossil fuels.

Trust will quickly collapse

The Cop presidents first responsibility is to elevate themselves above national interests and represent the whole, said Tom Rivett-Carnac, a former political strategist for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which convenes the conference.

If countries show up to negotiate and they feel like the president is not being transparent about their agenda, then trust will quickly collapse and that can be extremely damaging to the process.

So that is a basic requirement for success. And right now, the implication is that he is not meeting that basic requirement.

The second thing is that obviously, the way in which he is not meeting that requirement is completely contradictory to the objectives of the Cop.

He added: Using his Cop28 hat to meet with countries and then use that opportunity to advance his other agenda is completely unacceptable.

A real scandal

Amnesty International called for the UAE to remove Dr Jaber as president of the talks, which begin on Thursday.

Documents suggesting he was briefed to advance business interests in Cop meetings only fuel our concerns that Cop28 has been comprehensively captured by the fossil fuel lobby to serve its vested interests that put the whole of humanity at risk, said climate adviser Ann Harrison.

Kaisa Kosonen, from Greenpeace International, said: If the allegations are true, this is totally unacceptable and a real scandal.

The climate summit leader should be focused on advancing climate solutions impartially, not backroom deals that are fuelling the crisis.

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: We are supporting the UAE as Cop president and the UN in delivering an ambitious and successful Cop28 Summit  a key moment to focus global attention on the urgent action needed to address climate change.

Minister Stuart and Dr Sultan al-Jaber met in New York in September to discuss the upcoming summit.

They discussed the UKs unwavering commitment to working with the UAE and other partners to help make the summit a success, particularly on the crucial Global Stocktake process.

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 boogey man By Robert T. Smith

web posted November 27, 2023 The new liberal boogey man to scare the folks into seeking their governing better's protection is the reported existence of a nefarious organization of white-religious-nationalists, aka WRNs. Every person of decent character must now check under their bed or in the closet at night for the new WRN boogey man. The copious coverage of the WRNs in the media highlights the imperative of voting for those who will provide the government umbrella of protection from the evil WRNs. As full disclosure, my skin color is not white, but as the government would racially profile me it is white. We have been instructed that it is racist to profile people by the color of their skin, but since it is the government, it must be alright. I have been known to attend church services. I do believe in higher authority than the government or those who are elected to the government offices. The competition for authority between my God and the government officials more often now than ever seems to be in play. Congress shall make no law regarding an establishment of religion, or the practice thereof seems to have fallen from government-grace. I believe that, as designed, America was and is still the best country in the world. Individuals are more free to seek their own life trajectory beyond any other place in the world as the foundation of our country. It is no wonder that millions risk life and limb just for the chance to migrate to America. Disconcertingly, after having thought through this evil WRN consideration, I am perhaps the epitome of evil. I am white, religious, and apparently a nationalist. I hope that this admission may be the first step toward healing into a better person. Alternatively, I wonder if the bountiful coverage of the WRNs is a new code word similar to those used by others whose stated goal was to heal our country and bring us together. In former President Obama's vernacular for "the folks," maybe the WRNs are those small minded, simple folks who cling to their guns and religion with antipathy to those different from them. Or perhaps the WRNs are the basket of deplorables in the terms of Bubba's hench wife Ms. Clinton. Maybe the WRNs are those who support the thoughts of making America great, aka, MAGA, or now even more threatening Super MAGA according to our current senile grandpa President Biden, or whoever wrote those words for him to read. On second thought, the WRNs may just be Americans, trying to live their lives morally and responsibly, as good Christians, spouses, parents, and citizens. Perhaps it is the current crop of liberal boogey man attestors who are the racists that segregate people by the color of their skin, who are secularly bigoted toward those who believe in a God, and are xenophobic against the last of the Americans. Robert T. Smith is an environmental scientist who spends his days enjoying life and the pursuit of happiness with his family. He confesses to cling to his liberty, guns and religion, with antipathy toward the arrogant ruling elites throughout the country. Home
COP28 climate change summit president Ahmed Al Jaber is also head of the UAE's state oil company and state renewable energy firm (Ryan LIM)

The United Arab Emirates planned to exploit meetings with foreign governments arranged due to its COP28 hosting role to strike fossil fuel deals, according to leaked documents obtained by the BBC.

The leaked briefing notes, obtained by journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) working alongside the British broadcaster, were prepared by the UAE's COP28 team for summit president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber ahead of meetings with foreign governments between July and October this year.

Leaked "talking points" prepared for a meeting with China said that ADNOC, the UAE's state oil company, was "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG (liquefied natural gas) opportunities" in Mozambique, Canada and Australia.

Briefing notes prepared for meetings with Colombia, Germany and Egypt suggested that ADNOC "stands ready" to support each country to develop fossil fuel projects.

The documents showed the UAE prepared talking points for meetings with 20 countries, including the United States, UK and Germany, on commercial opportunities for state renewable energy company Masdar.

COP28 president Al Jaber is also CEO of ADNOC and Masdar.

A COP28 spokesperson told AFP that the documents cited by the BBC "are inaccurate and were not used by COP28 in meetings. It is extremely disappointing to see the BBC use unverified documents in their reporting".

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the body responsible for the COP28 summit, which starts on Thursday, told the BBC that the "cardinal principle" for hosts was "the obligation of impartiality".

Asked about the report, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters "I can't believe it's true" without offering further comment.

Climate campaigners have raised concerns about the influence of fossil fuel interests at the talks in Dubai, noting Jaber's role as head of an oil company.

In an interview with AFP on Saturday, Jaber defended the large presence of heavy emitting industries including the oil and gas sector.

"Everyone needs to be part of this process and everyone needs to be held responsible and everyone needs to be held accountable," he said.

COP28, which will be held until December 12, is due to be attended by 167 world leaders, including King Britain's Charles III and Pope Francis.

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The host of the upcoming COP28 climate summit, the United Arab Emirates, planned to use its role as an opportunity to try to make oil and gas deals with other countries, CBS News partner network BBC News reported Monday.

The BBC obtained leaked briefing documents showing that the president of COP28, Dr. Sultan al-Jaber, planned to discuss oil and gas commercial interests with 15 nations during meetings with foreign officials in the leadup to the global climate conference on Nov. 30.

Al-Jaber is also the CEO of the UAE's state oil company, Adnoc, and its renewable energy company, Masdar. It is the job of the president of the U.N.-sponsored climate summit to encourage countries to be as ambitious as possible in their climate goals. As part of its preparations for this year's conference, al-Jaber hosted meetings with governments around the world.

The president of the upcoming COP28 climate change summit, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, speaks during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition on Oct. 2, 2023. / Credit: RYAN LIM/AFP via Getty Images

The documents obtained by the BBC showed prepared objectives for al-Jaber's meetings, as well as information on the officials he would be speaking with. For more than two dozen countries, the documents included talking points put together by the oil company, Adnoc, and the renewables company, Masdar.

Discussing commercial opportunities

Ahead of his meeting with Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva, the talking points provided to al-Jaber by Adnoc said the company had "identified Brazil as a strategic company for investment" and that it was in the early stages of a deal to try to acquire another petrochemical company there, the BBC reports.

"Securing alignment and endorsement for the deal at the highest level is important for us," the talking points say. "Ask: Your support in facilitating a call with the appropriate minister."

For his meeting with China, the Adnoc talking points provided toal-Jaber laid out the possibility of a new deal over liquified natural gas, saying it was "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities (Mozambique, Canada, and Australia)."

To the oil-producing nations of Venezuela and Saudi Arabia, Adnoc reportedly advised al-Jaber to say "there is no conflict between the sustainable development of any country's natural resources and its commitment to climate change."

There were also notes provided by the renewable energy company, Masdar, ahead of al-Jaber's meetings with 20 countries, including the United States, the BBC reported.

In its notes for al-Jaber, Masdar said the U.S. was "a key market" and that the renewable energy company was "aiming to grow its presence in the U.S. through acquisitions in the short term." It also said it hoped "to have the support of the administration" for certain approvals.

It was unclear how many times, if at all, al-Jaber raised the talking points provided by Adnoc and Masdar in his meetings with foreign officials. A State Department spokesperson told the BBC that U.S. climate envoy John Kerry never discussed Masdar or commercial activities in any of his meetings with al-Jaber.

In its response to the BBC, the UAE team did not deny using COP28 meetings for business talks, and said "private meetings are private." It declined to comment on what was discussed and said its work has been focused on "meaningful climate action."

Violating standards

The standards of conduct for COP presidents (COP stands for "Conference of the Parties," a series of global summits on climate) are set by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which told the BBC that "the obligation of impartiality" was the "cardinal principle."

COP presidents are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favoritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgment," the UNFCCC told the BBC. "They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer."

A person walks past a

Michael Jacobs, a professor at England's Sheffield University who focuses on U.N. climate politics, told the BBC that the COP28 team's actions looked "breathtakingly hypocritical."

"I actually think it's worse than that, because the UAE at the moment is the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global emissions," he said. "And yet, in the very same meetings where it's apparently trying to pursue that goal, it's actually trying to do side deals which will increase global emissions."

Members of Congress, alongside members of the European Parliament, had written to President Biden, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell in May to call for the removal of al-Jaber as COP28 president.

"The decision to name as president of COP28 the chief executive of one of the world's largest oil and gas companiesa company that has recently announced plans to add 7.6 billion barrels of oil to its production in the coming years, representing the fifth largest increase in the world risks undermining the negotiations," the letter said. "With commonsense reforms to help restore public faith in the COP process severely jeopardized by having an oil company executive at the helm, we respectfully submit that different leadership is necessary to help ensure that COP28 is a serious and productive climate summit."

"The chances for real progress at COP28 were badly damaged early this year when an oil company CEO was appointed to lead the negotiations," former Vice President Al Gore said in response to the BBC's report. "And now investigative journalists have confirmed some of the worst fears of those who criticized that absurd appointment with the shocking news that the President-designate has been using the meetings he has set up with nations around the world to sell more oil and gas. Using international climate talks as leverage to shore up support for pumping more oil and gas at a time when we urgently need to phase out fossil fuels is  to say the least  utterly appalling."

Fighting the good fight against ALS

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LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A renewed grant to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences will further efforts to increase primary care doctors in the state.

The $17.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services four-year Medical Student Education program will continue a program first begun in 2019. While the program is intended to increase the number of Arkansas primary care doctors, it places an emphasis on providing doctors for rural and underserved communities.

UAMS launches statewide Naloxone training program to help reduce number of opioid overdose deaths

The UAMS program will recruit and retain students from rural and underserved communities who are interested in returning to those communities when they complete their residencies.

Other than funding recruitment, the grant will be used to provide scholarships for medical students interested in primary care specialties, support a faculty mentorship program, support rural community immersion rotations, and continue the development of community physician faculty development.

UAMS aims to reduce violent crime in Pine Bluff schools with $1 million federal grant

Primary care doctors will train in one of four specialties: family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics/gynecology or pediatrics

These efforts allow us to highlight the significant value that primary care physicians bring to their communities, specifically communities in rural Arkansas, said Marcia Byers, Ph.D., RN, senior director of UAMS Regional Campuses.

New UAMS program provides patients with treatment at home

According to UAMS officials, a 2020 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges ranked Arkansas thirteenth as a state with the greatest need for primary care physicians. The study found that Arkansas had 83 active primary care physicians per 100,000 people, compared with a nationwide rate of 94.7 physicians per 100,000 people.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
An Uber driver rushed his passenger to a hospital after the man was shot in the backseat, Tennessee police said.

Stephen Rouse III, 26, died from his injuries, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department said in a Nov. 26 news release.

Officials called the incident a targeted shooting.

The driver picked up Rouse at the Citi Trends store shortly before 3 p.m. Nov. 25, police said. The driver told investigators he noticed a white Nissan Maxima with its headlights on parked outside the store when he picked up Rouse.

He headed onto Interstate 65 north toward Madison, a neighborhood in Nashville, and noticed the same car following him, police said. As they approached a split in the interstate, the Maxima pulled up next to the Uber and fired rounds into the backseat, hitting Rouse, according to police.

The Maxima split off the interstate, while the Uber driver continued on.

He took Rouse to TriStar Skyline Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Homicide unit detectives are asking anyone with information to come forward. Police did not disclose any additional information.





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(FOX40.COM)  Scientists at the University of California, Davis, examined why some people suffer from headaches when drinking small amounts of wine as soon as 30 minutes after consumption.

Researchers think that a natural compound found in fruit such as the grapes used to make red wines interferes with the proper metabolism of alcohol and can lead to a headache. The study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.

UC Davis opens new student housing with 1,500 beds

When it (natural compound) 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.

According to the UC Davis study, there are still many unknowns about the causes of red wine headaches. Clinical trials on their theory for wine headaches are in process at UC Davis San Francisco.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Leroy Moore, a disabled scholar studying at UCLA, is a writer, poet and community activist who for years has been speaking out for disability rights on the campus. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

For the record:

4:31 p.m. Nov. 28, 2023: A previous version of this story misstated the department where CSUNs disability minor is housed. It is an interdisciplinary minor in the College of Humanities.



UCLA junior Vivek Chotai doesn't plan to pursue his school's new disability studies major  the first of its kind at any public university in the state  or even take classes in it.

Yet for the 21-year-old leukemia survivor and thousands of other disabled students across the University of California and California State University systems, the program is a critical victory in a decades-long battle for visibility and recognition.

"We're judged by our medical histories," Chotai said. "[We're] told that we won't graduate, that we won't be healthy, that we are not able to live the lives we want to. Any effort that advances the understanding of our community ... is education that can be used to create change."

California's state universities nurtured many of the early leaders of the disability rights movement, whose work on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act opened public schools to millions of disabled children.

UC Berkeley and San Francisco State went on to become early incubators of disability studies, a field of scholarship dedicated to the culture, history and political movements of disabled people. But neither institution offers a full-fledged major in the discipline.

Public universities in Illinois, Wisconsin and Ohio have created successful disability studies programs. Yet California universities  among the best and most elite in the discipline  have struggled to institutionalize disability scholarship and to hire disabled faculty to teach it.

That UCLA now has a disability studies major, announced this month, is a sign that "the stigma around disability is shifting," said Victoria Marks, a professor of choreography and chair of the UCLA program. "More and more of our communities are speaking up."

This fall, San Francisco State became just the second CSU school to inaugurate a disability studies minor. The first was Cal State Northridge last spring. UC schools have fared better, starting with the first disability studies minor in the system at Berkeley in 2003.

"My entire time at S.F. State weve been trying to get a disability studies minor," said Emily Smith Beitiks, interim director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability, whose founder was one of the earliest scholars in the field. "That we had eugenics courses on the books but were fighting to get disability studies on the books is painful."

These days, the discipline is booming. Annual submissions to Disability Studies Quarterly have more than doubled in recent years, and the number of majors and minors in the subject has soared, said Jeffrey A. Brune, co-editor of the journal.

"We see disability as a social construction, very much the same way as race, gender and sexuality are constructed," he said.

But disability studies programs still face barriers that ethnic and LGBTQ+ studies don't.

"You've got plenty of disabled students, but there's still very much a pressure to pass as non-disabled  there's a reluctance even among students who are in wheelchairs," Brune said. "Now you're starting to see more students come out and identify as disabled, but not to the extent of students who are queer or who identify with many other groups."

Instead, many feel pressure to downplay their disability, even as their ethnicity or sexuality may be celebrated, said Quinn O'Connor, one of the student activists behind the push for disability studies at UCLA.

"A lot of people who come to UCLA, they don't think of disability as one of these identities," the recent graduate said. "Growing up in an Asian household, I put a lot of pressure on myself to be a great student. I 'overcame' [cerebral palsy]  that was the language I grew up with."

Disabled scholar and community activist Leroy Moore raises a fist in support of disability rights on the UCLA campus. Moore, a doctoral student in anthropology at the school, was born with cerebral palsy and has dedicated much of his writing and activism to disability rights. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Still, stigma is only part of the problem. Another major barrier is institutional bureaucracy.



Many disability studies programs are housed inside departments of special education. Others end up in rehabilitation or nursing programs, where the "medical model" of disability still often trumps the "critical" perspective most scholars espouse.

"The core of disability studies has been in social sciences and humanities, so it's a little awkward when it depends on the patronage of professional schools," Brune said.

Newer programs have found refuge in interdisciplinary studies or in large humanities programs. But these also struggle to hire disabled scholars, who risk losing public health insurance or funding for home care over jobs that are often low-paid and ineligible for tenure.

"They often couldnt make a lot of money, and they didnt have the conventional credentials that a department at UC would permanently hire," said Susan Schweik, professor emeritus and a founder of Berkeley's program. "UCLA is going to lead the way as a department where disabled faculty are hired in with tenure."

Many see the current surge in interest in disability studies as part of a sea change sweeping their discipline, and the student populations they serve.

Disability studies came of age alongside the last large generation of polio survivors. Early scholars often lived with highly visible physical or sensory conditions, such as dwarfism, blindness and cerebral palsy.

Today, childhood polio has been all but eradicated. Rates of congenital disabilities such as cerebral palsy, spina bifida and Down syndrome have been falling for decades, as have rates of disabling childhood injuries.

At the same time, advances in treatments for chronic illnesses such as juvenile arthritis mean they no longer create the kind of impairments they once did, while the widespread adoption of cochlear implants has radically altered the experience of deafness.

The number of students who look disabled has plummeted, yet the number of disabled students enrolling in universities has soared.

"We saw a 40% increase in students registering with our disability office" since the pandemic, said Beitiks of San Francisco State.

The number of students receiving disability accommodations across the 10 UC campuses jumped from 5% in 2018 to 7% in 2021.

That's due in part to the growing rates of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in young people. But it also reflects the different legal landscape for disability rights in universities.

Disabled primary and secondary students are mainly covered by the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, a law narrow enough that even some wheelchair users do not qualify for its protections. That law doesn't apply to universities.

Accommodations in college and beyond come mainly from Section 504, which covers conditions as varied as anxiety and ulcerative colitis, ADHD and asthma, quadriplegia and cancer. (Section 504 can also be applied in primary schools, but just 85,000 California students use it, compared with 800,000 who are covered by IDEA.)

As more students qualify for disability accommodations, and feel empowered to take them, long-stigmatized diagnoses have transformed into points of identification and affinity.

For Chotai, that meant comparing central line scars with the girl next to him at the Disabled Student Union meeting during freshman year. Central lines are tubes placed in large veins, generally to give fluids, blood or medications.

"Something as simple as bonding over that shared scar made me feel more proud of that memory, instead of shameful," he said.

But not everyone is so sanguine about the shift.

"I'm glad UCLA has a disability studies program, but what does that do for the community?" asked Leroy Moore, a writer, activist and founder of Krip-Hop Nation, an association of artists with disabilities. Moore, 56, is finishing his PhD in anthropology at UCLA. "The Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act was passed in 1975, and it hasn't been fully funded since."

Almost 50 years later, most disabled students still don't go to college.

"I'm a graduate student talking about the same issues I talked about when I was a teenager," Moore said. "We all see education as a key to success, but if our laws are not fully funded and not enforced, we don't have no key."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arrives at at Hampton Court Palace for the Global Investment Summit (Stefan Rousseau)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday announced 29.5 billion ($37.2 billion) of private funding for new UK projects as more than 200 CEOs descended on London for the 2023 Global Investment Summit.

The UK government said the new investment would create 12,000 jobs "in our most innovative sectors, including tech, life sciences, renewables, housing and infrastructure.

"Today's investments... are a huge vote of confidence in the future of the UK economy," Sunak said in a statement before the opening of the event at Hampton Court Palace, just outside London.

"Attracting global investment is at the heart of my plan for growing the economy," he added.

Investments announced on Monday included 10 billion over the next four years from Australian fund IFM Investors "for large-scale infrastructure and energy transition projects".

Spanish energy company Iberdrola announced 7 billion of funding for offshore wind infrastructure while US tech giant Microsoft plans to invest 2.5 billion in artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, including data centres.

Germany's BioNTech Laboratories will invest around 1 billion over 10 years, expanding its research and development activities with a new laboratory in Cambridge, eastern England, as well as a centre of expertise for Artificial Intelligence in London.

The announcements came as Japanese car giant Nissan said on Friday that it would inject up to 2 billion to build two new electric car models in the UK, as well as an additional gigafactory to produce batteries.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt in last week's budget announcement earmarked 4.5 billion in aid for strategic industrial sectors, including automotive, aerospace, green energy and life sciences.

It is the second edition of the summit, which was first held in 2021.

Sunak and Business & Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch opened the event, with CEOs in attendance including Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, Amanda Blanc from Aviva, David Soloman from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase.

jwp/phz/lth
Russian forces in Ukraine have likely suffered some of the highest" casualty rates in the past six weeks, mainly caused by Russias offensive against Avdiivka, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 27.

The ministry cited reports by the General Staff of Ukraines Armed Forces saying that Russias losses have reached a daily average of 931 troops throughout November.

Previously, the deadliest month for Russian forces was March this year, with an average of 776 losses per day at the peak of Russias assault against the city of Bakhmut, the ministry wrote in its latest intelligence update.

Although Defense Intelligence cannot verify the methodology, taken as a total including both killed and wounded, the figures are plausible, reads the update.

According to Ukraines General Staff, as of Nov. 27, Russia has lost 325,580 troops in Ukraine since the beginning of its full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.

The Ukrainian military doesnt disclose how it has been calculating Russian losses. Neither Kyiv nor Moscow have revealed the exact numbers of their own losses in the war.

Read also: Ukraines victory will send a message to all dictatorships  Umerovs speech at Ramstein

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The first human case of the swine flu strain H1N2 has been detected in the United Kingdom, health officials there announced Monday.

The U.K. Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says the case of Influenza A(H1N2)v was discovered in the North Yorkshire area after a person began "experiencing respiratory symptoms." That person, who suffered a mild illness, has now fully recovered, and an investigation is ongoing to determine the source of the infection, the agency added.

"It is thanks to routine flu surveillance and genome sequencing that we have been able to detect this virus. This is the first time we have detected this virus in humans in the UK, though it is very similar to viruses that have been detected in pigs," UKHSA Incident Director Meera Chand said in a statement. "We are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce any potential spread."

The UKHSA also said, "There have been a total of 50 human cases of Influenza A(H1N2)v reported globally since 2005; none of them related genetically to this strain."

CHINESE OFFICIALS SAY SURGE IN RESPIRATORY ILLNESS LIKELY NOT CAUSED BY NOVEL PATHOGEN

Pigs are seen at a farm outside Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2019. The UKHSA says "Influenza A(H1N2)v is similar to flu viruses currently circulating in pigs in the UK."

One case was detected in Michigan over the summer after a person came into contact with an infected pig at an agricultural fair, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"According to the report, the case is under 18 years old, with no comorbidities, resident in the State of Michigan, who developed respiratory illness on 29 July 2023. The case presented with fever, cough, sore throat, muscle aches, headache, shortness of breath, diarrhea, nausea, dizziness, and lethargy," the WHO said at the time. "On 29 July, the case sought medical care at an emergency department, and an upper respiratory tract specimen was collected on 30 July. The specimen tested positive for influenza A virus on the same day."

MOTHER OF 2 DIES IN ENGLAND AFTER DRINKING TOO MUCH WATER WHILE MEDICAL STAFF WAS DISTRACTED BY PHONES, INVESTIGATION FINDS

A feral pig rambles through a park in a southern Utah canyon. A case of Influenza A(H1N2)v was recorded in a person in Michigan over the summer.

The UKHSA described H1N1  once referred to as the "swine flu" -- H1N2 and H3N2 as "major subtypes of swine influenza A viruses in pigs and occasionally infect humans, usually after direct or indirect exposure to pigs or contaminated environments."

The human case of Influenza A(H1N2)v is the first confirmed one in the United Kingdom.

An H1N1 influenza outbreak in 2009 caused at least 18,500 laboratory-confirmed human deaths.





Original article source: UK detects 1st human case of swine flu strain H1N2
The Parthenon Marbles have been on display at the British Museum since 1817 -- but Greece is determined to secure their return (Daniel LEAL)

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has "no plans" to facilitate the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens, his spokesman said Monday, as the British leader prepared to meet his Greek counterpart.

The sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles, were taken from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Greece in the early 19th century by British diplomat Thomas Bruce, the earl of Elgin.

Athens maintains the marbles were stolen, which Britain denies, and the issue has been a source of contention between the countries for decades.

Greece's prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday he would push for their return when he meets Sunak in London this week.

But Sunak's spokesman told reporters that the UK leader has been "robust" in his view that the marbles are a "significant asset" to Britain, which has "safeguarded" the treasures "for generations".

"I think the prime minister's on the record that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws at the time," he said.

"They're legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum. We fully support this position -- indeed the British Museum Act prohibits the removal of objects from the museum's collection.

"We have no plans to change the law," he added, claiming "the world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles".

In his comments Sunday, Mitsotakis likened the collection being held at the museum to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Athens had been lobbying London for a deal that would return the sculptures under some kind of loan arrangement, he told the BBC.

In January, the UK government ruled out a permanent return after media reported the British Museum was close to signing a deal to return them on loan.

Mitsotakis said he would also raise the issue with UK opposition leader Keir Starmer, who is the frontrunner to be Britain's next prime minister after an election expected next year.

The Parthenon temple -- built in the 5th century BCE to honour the goddess Athena -- was partially destroyed during a Venetian bombardment in 1687, then looted.

Its fragments are scattered throughout many renowned museums.

The 2,500-year-old collection has been on display at the London museum since 1817.

Earlier this year, three marble fragments of that had been held by the Vatican for centuries were returned to Greece.

jj/phz/yad
Thirty-five years since the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement By Mark Wegierski

web posted November 27, 2023 Mark Wegierski looks at Mulroney's main "right-wing" achievement. It had appeared, in the summer of 1987, that Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservative federal government was headed for one of the worst defeats in Canadian political history. In many of the 1986 and 1987 polls, the federal P.C. party stood at about a quarter of committed popular support, behind both the Liberals and the New Democratic Party (NDP), Canada's social democrats. Indeed, the NDP had temporarily surged into first place. Despite the early hopes placed on him, and his overwhelming majority (won in 1984), Brian Mulroney was being buffeted about almost continuously by major and minor crises and scandals, and, it could be argued, had failed to develop any coherent or consistent public policy. It appeared that virtually every region, province, or interest group in Canada had in some way been alienated from, or offended by, Mulroney. Sometimes, it seemed that his only true supporters were his business pals, for whose benefit he appeared to make most of his personal exertions. The Mulroney government seemed, in many important areas, incapable of formulating and implementing serious policy decisions, and winning popular support for them. Indeed, it looked like, in almost every area, Mulroney had no real policy or objectives, apart from maintaining, or strengthening, the status-quo of the previous federal Liberal governments. However, he did appear to have a real interest in Free Trade. Throughout most of Canadian history, the Tories had opposed free trade with the United States, while the Liberals had championed it. In the 1980s, however, the roles were reversed. Indeed, John Turner, the Liberal contender in 1988 -- who expressed considerable patriotic sentiments, and was often perceived as a "right-wing Liberal"  could be seen as, comparatively-speaking, more "traditionalist-conservative" than Mulroney. The Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, ironically, gave Mulroney the one, perfect issue, on which to wage the election of 1988. A simple issue, appealing to a combination of people's fear and greed, it became the centre-piece of his efforts. Mulroney was able to win a strong majority in the federal election of November 21, 1988, but it could be argued that the true time of reckoning came in 1993, when the federal P.C. party was reduced to a total of two seats. Presumably, Mulroney did not try for a third term because he sensed that a humiliating defeat was in the offing for the P.C. party. Kim Campbell proved a lackluster Prime Minister. Canada was also in a period of economic recession. The P.C. coalition fell apart between the pincers of the Reform Party from the West, and the Bloc Quebecois from Quebec. Ontario voted massively for the Liberal Party in 1993. In 1987, Mulroney had reached the Meech Lake Accord, a deal with the provinces, which was going to finally break Canada's constitutional stalemate. Quebec had never agreed to accede to the Constitution Act, 1982, which Liberal Prime Minister Trudeau had  in the opinion of many Quebecois  arbitrarily imposed on Canada and Quebec. The most salient aspect of the Constitution Act, 1982, was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which Quebec objected to, because it believed it undermined the province's collective rights, which had been deployed in previous decades to uphold Quebec as a French-speaking and culturally distinctive province. The central statement of the Meech Lake Accord was the recognition of Quebec as "a distinct society". In return, Quebec would accede to the Constitution Act, 1982. The debate over the Meech Lake Accord would drag on until 1990, when the opposition of two smaller English-Canadian provinces, and what was perceived as a groundswell of popular resistance to it in most of English-speaking Canada, would be enough to sink the deal. The Meech Lake Accord was opposed both "from the right" (Preston Manning), and "from the left" (Pierre Elliott Trudeau). The failure of the Meech Lake Accord would lead to another attempt to break through the impasse, the Charlottetown Agreements of 1992. However, when put to a general, countrywide referendum in late 1992, the Charlottetown Agreements failed. Near the end of his second term, Mulroney had brought in the Goods & Services Tax (GST), the Canadian equivalent of the VAT (value-added tax). Set at 7%, it was applied to virtually all economic transactions in Canadian society. The Liberal contender in the 1993 election, Jean Chretien, explicitly promised to abolish the GST. However, he never did so, and the revenue from the GST was doubtless a major element in the federal Liberals' ability to have huge government spending but also to eventually balance the federal budget. The Canadian media never held Chretien accountable for breaking such a truly major promise to the Canadian electorate. When the Liberal M.P. John Nunziata voted against the Liberal budget on account of that broken promise, he was summarily expelled from the Liberal Party. Forced into a difficult run as an independent candidate, he was nevertheless re-elected in his riding in the 1997 federal election. During his Prime Ministership, Mulroney was plagued by a terrible combination: he was attacked by the media as both "sleazy" and "hard right"  while actually he himself was mostly viscerally a "small-l liberal," and  for example  raised immigration to the unprecedented level of about a quarter-million persons a year  where it has basically remained until recently, when it was raised further (to about 400,000 a year) by the Justin Trudeau Liberals. His "strong leadership" was mainly used to suppress any "small-c conservatism" in the federal P.C. party. So, it could be argued that Mulroney's main putatively "right-wing" historical accomplishment, would be the Free Trade deal. Indeed, in September 2000, Mulroney said he saw it as his greatest achievement, and urged the abolition of border posts along the Canada-U.S. border. Mark Wegierski is a Canadian writer and historical researcher. Home
Losses of Russian occupying forces over the past six weeks have reached the highest level since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UK Defence Intelligence has reported.

Source: UK Defence Intelligence review on Twitter dated 27 November, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The UK MoD attributes these losses to the Russian attack on the town of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The UK intelligence cites data from the Ukrainian General Staff, which indicates that the average daily losses of Russian forces in November reached 931 soldiers.

Before that, the Russian occupying army suffered the highest losses in March 2023, with an average of 776 dead Russian troops over 24 hours, which occurred at the peak of the battle for the town of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast.

The UK MoD admits that it cannot verify the methodology used by the Ukrainian General Staff to determine the extent of Russian losses, noting that it appears reliable.

Background:

Earlier, UK Defence Intelligence reported that Russia had moved strategic air defence assets from Kaliningrad Oblast in November to replace those lost in the war against Ukraine.

The analysts also suggested that the logistical challenges of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in the port city of Novorossiysk were affecting Russia's ability to launch cruise missiles towards Ukraine.

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The aviation industry of Russia continues to receive supplies from the Russian company Avia FED Service, which, for its part, bought most of the spare parts in Ukraine.

Source: an investigation by Vazhnye Istorii, a Russian outlet focused on journalistic investigations

Details: Since the beginning of the full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, Avia FED Service has supplied the Russian Defence Ministry, Rostec and the presidential Air Force with spare parts worth at least 650 million roubles ($7.3 million) (2022-July 2023). Most of it, 370 million roubles ($4.1 million), came from Ukraine.

According to customs data, the company imported:

spare parts for An-124 aircraft manufactured by the Kharkiv FED Machine-Building Plant for almost 120 million roubles ($4.1 million);

spare parts for radars of Ka-32 helicopters, manufactured by the Kyiv plant Radar, for more than 67 million roubles ($757,000);

spare parts for An-24 and An-12 aircraft engines produced by Motor Sich (in Soviet times known as Motorobudivnyk Zaporizhzhia Industrial Association);

products of the Kyiv Artem Plant, the Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau, the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant and other Ukrainian enterprises, for approximately 170 million roubles ($1.9 million).

There were also deliveries from France, the USA and the UK.

Before the start of the war in Ukraines east in 2014, the Kharkiv FED Machine-Building Plant (KhMZ) was the main supplier of Avia FED Service; Russia accounted for 70% of sales, the outlet writes.

Originally, Avia FED Service was founded in 1993 as a representative office of KhMZ. Oleksandr Reshetnyk, the current director of the plant, was born in Luhansk, studied at the Kharkiv Aviation Institute, and there is a section on his personal website with photos of FED employees.

With the beginning of the war in Donbas, the plant officially stopped deliveries to Russia. In 2018, Avia Fed Service came under Ukrainian sanctions.

According to Vazhnye Istorii, this did not prevent the supply to the Russian Federation  not directly, but through the Linker company registered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The company has a website in several languages, including Russian; it says that it is focused on the supply of aircraft parts for Mi-8, Mi-17, and Ka-32 helicopters "anywhere in the world".

Linker received Ukrainian products, in particular, from Motor Sich, whose director Viacheslav Bohuslaev was detained last October on suspicion of high treason for "illegal supplies of military goods for Russian attack aircraft."

The website of Linker's related company Amis says that the company is the official representative of Motor Sich in the UAE and "has all the necessary permits and licenses."

The last delivery from Linker was made in January of this year, Vazhnye Istorii notes with reference to customs data. After that, deliveries continued through the company Bakaitorg1 from Kyrgyzstan, which was registered in April 2023. During this time, it managed to sell 40 million roubles (US$451,000) worth of Ukrainian KhMZ products to Russia.

The Linker's owner on LinkedIn is Oleksii Palchyk, probably a native of the city of Poltava, a graduate of the Irkutsk Higher Military Aviation School, the outlet notes.

Vazhnye Istorii contacted Palchyk, but he stated that "the Linker company has never delivered and isn't delivering anything from Ukraine to Russia." To a clarifying question whether Linker supplied goods for the company Avia FED Service, Palchyk said that he was "not ready" to answer.

Alexsandr Reshetnik, director of Avia FED Service, told Vazhnye Istorii that the Ukrainian products that came to the company in 2022-2023 were purchased earlier and were simply "lying abroad."

However, he could not answer the question of how it was possible in the case of deliveries through Bakaitorg1, registered a few months ago.

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Ukrainian Air Force believes that more technologically advanced Western fighter jets will be crucial for gaining air superiority, air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat has said in an interview with NV.

Ukraine needs not just F-16s, but fighter jets that will help it technologically surpass Russia in the air and allow the nation to push back the enemy's air force effectively, Ihnat said.

Read also: Ihnat dismisses concerns over Kyiv anti-aircraft missile footage

"Another key point that needs to be discussed is the modernization of the F-16 aircraft, he said.

We must understand that an aircraft that is inferior in technical characteristics to the Russian Su-35 cannot achieve air superiority, he said.

Read also: Ukraine's most promising pilots join UK-based NATO program to master F-16s

There are different F-16s  block 15/25/40, block 50/52, block 70/72 (the latest modification). Naturally, we would prefer to have more modern equipment because we need to surpass the enemy technologically."

The radar, the missile system, and the pilot are all important in a fighter jet, Ihnat said. The pilot must detect the enemy promptly, lock onto them, and launch a missile for effective destruction.

If we have the new modernized F-16s, then the Russian Air Force will not dare to approach our borders or the line of contact where these aircraft patrol. They will understand that they will simply be destroyed. However, this also requires coordination with air defense," Ihnat said.



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Abrams tank is seen in a green camouflage at an unidentified location in Ukraine - @OSINTtechnical

An American-made Abrams tank has been seen on the front-line in Ukraine for the first time, images circulated from Ukraine suggest.

Photos emerged on social media of four Ukrainian soldiers appearing to pose on top of an Abrams painted in green camouflage.

The US delivered 31 M1A1 Abrams to Kyiv in September but they have not been seen in action yet, with lighter Western-donated Bradleys and Leopards being used more often instead.

Ukrainian soldiers have been trained by the US Army to operate the Abrams, which were used extensively in Iraq and Afghanistan.

More of the tanks are likely being held back until weather conditions improve, analysts say.

Ukraine has not commented on the photo.

03:10 PM GMT

That is all for today

Thank you for following todays live blog. Come back again tomorrow for all the latest developments in the war in Ukraine.

03:09 PM GMT

Today's headlines

A Russian tank factory was rocked by a mystery explosion overnight

More than 2,000 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages were left without power this morning amid freezing temperatures, high winds and heavy snowstorms

Two million people were left without power in Russia and occupied Ukraine by the storm

Russia advanced near the eastern Ukrainian town of Avdiivka, the ISW said

Volodymyr Zelensky hailed soldiers and rescuers saving lives and fighting in brutal weather

Russia has been forced to move anti-air defences from its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad to backfill recent losses on the Ukraine front, the MoD said

Russia has activated a network of sleeper spies to cripple Ukraine from within, SBU spy chief Oleksiy Danilov said

The SBU later walked back the claims, saying Mr Danilov had been misinterpreted

The Abrams tank was spotted on the front-line in Ukraine for the first time

03:03 PM GMT

What weapons does Ukraine have?

Since the outbreak of war in February 2022, The Telegraph has been tracking donations and deliveries of weapons to Ukraine  including the Abrams tank

Our correspondents have reported on their use on the battlefield and our experts have analysed their effectiveness.

Our catalogue of weapons being used in Ukraine can be found here.

02:58 PM GMT

Analysis: Why the Ukrainians have used the Leopard more than the Abrams

The United States agreed to provide Ukraine with the Abrams tank at the same time as Germany agreed to supply Leopard tanks.

But the Leopards have been used much more often so far.

Although they may be the most advanced of a new wave of armoured vehicles heading to the battlefield, they come with a number of challenges that have limited the speed of their rollout onto the front-lines.

Read why in this analysis by Dominic Nicholls, our Associate Editor (Defence).

02:54 PM GMT

What is the M1 Abrams tank?

The Abrams is an advanced battle tank with a 120mm cannon and a .50 calibre machine gun.

But Abrams require a high level of maintenance and are powered by a jet-like turbine engine.

The logistical challenges it poses were cited as reasons not to send them to Ukraine, but Germany refused to send Leopards without them.

Read our full guide to the M1 Abrams here.

02:47 PM GMT

'Three homeless Ukrainians found frozen to death' in Odesa

Three Ukrainians have been found frozen to death in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, police have said.

Two men and a woman are believed to have died in the severe cold weather that is battering the Black Sea.

Dumska, a local newspaper, said they are believed to have been homeless.

02:36 PM GMT

Ukrainian soldiers charged for selling army rations

A number of Ukrainian soldiers have been charged for selling army rations for private gain, Ukraines State Bureau of Investigation has announced.

The military officials are accused of stealing 30 per cent of the supplies in a warehouse and selling them on in shops, restaurants and markets.

They are also accused of a second scheme where they issued invoices for non-existent supplies.

Together, the two schemes led to the embezzlement of 109,000 ($138,000) in public funds.

A businessman has also been charged. The detainees face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

02:20 PM GMT

Russian tank factory hit by mystery explosion

A mystery explosion rocked a Russian tank factory which produces engines and artillery for the war in Ukraine.

Online footage showed a fireball engulfing the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in Chelyabinsk, a city near the border with Kazakhstan.

The factory is under sanctions from the Ukraine and the US as an enterprise specialising in the production of diesel engines for military equipment.

Ukraine has not commented but if responsible, it would be its furthest attack behind enemy lines of the war so far.

But Russian officials have insisted the huge blaze was caused by a short circuit.

01:44 PM GMT

Map: Where the tank factory explosion happened

01:43 PM GMT

Pictured: Abrams tank in Ukraine

An Abrams tank has been pictured in Ukrainian service for the first time after receiving a shipment of 31 from the US in September.

US-supplied M1A1 Abrams MBT in Ukrainian service, sporting a woodland paint scheme. pic.twitter.com/gndVwxmacI  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) November 26, 2023

12:50 PM GMT

Ukrainian partisans blow up Chechen fighters near Melitopol

Ukrainian partisans blew up Chechen fighters as they drove through occupied Ukrainian territory near Melitopol over the weekend.

Ivan Fedorov, the citys exiled mayor, said the car was engulfed in flames but did not confirm the number of Chechens killed.

Melitopol, a city with a pre-war population of about 150,000 people, has been occupied since March 2022.

12:22 PM GMT

Spy chief comments were 'misinterpreted', says Ukraine

Comments made by Ukrainian spy chief Oleksiy Danilov have been misinterpreted, the SBU secret service has insisted.

Mr Danilov said in an interview with the Times that a network of Russian sleeper agents has been activated inside Ukraines secret service and other institutions.

But the SBU has now insisted it is able to neutralise agents and does everything possible to ensure that enemy networks are entirely eradicated.

We emphasise that some of the accents voiced today in the media regarding the activation of the network of spies within the Ukrainian special service do not correspond to reality and are a manifestation of the incorrect interpretation of words of the head of the National Security and Defene Council, it said in a statement to Ukrainska Pravda.

12:07 PM GMT

Nato: Ukraine inflicting 'heavy losses' on Russia as fighting intensifies

Ukraine is inflicting heavy losses on Russia in recent weeks amid some of the most intense fighting seen throughout the whole war, Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg has said.

We see high casualty numbers and some of the most intense fightings that we have seen throughout the whole war has actually taken place over the last weeks and couple of months, he said.

Again we are impressed by the bravery, the competence of the Ukrainian forces, and also their ability to actually strike behind the Russian lines, deep into Russian-controlled territory.

And of course military achievements can partly be measured in square metres but also on the losses you are able to inflict on your adversary.

He added: Of course we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible as quickly as possible, but even though the frontline has not moved, Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders.

11:57 AM GMT

Russia intensely attacking Avdiivka and Robotnye, Ukraine says

Russia is intensely attacking the eastern town of Avdiivka and the southern village of Robotnye, the Ukrainian army has said.

Russian soldiers have launched more than 150 attacks on Ukrainian positions in villages around Avdiivka, an industrial hub in Donetsk that appears to be almost encircled by the Russians.

The army did not say if it had gained or lost any ground there.

In the south, Kyiv said Russian forces had conducted around 20 attempts to restore lost positions near Robotyne of the Zaporizhzhia region, but gained no success.

Ukraine recaptured the village in August and Russia has been attempting to retake it ever since.

11:45 AM GMT

Ukrainian positions on left bank of Dnipro 'stable', say Russian bloggers

Ukrainian positions on the left bank of the Dnipro river are stable, a military blogger closed to the Russian army has said.

The Russian army with the help of the artillery counter-attacked in Krynky and got back part of their positions, the WarGonzo Telegram account said.

But the foothold of the Ukrainian army in this village remains quite stable.

Ukraine established a foothold on the left bank of the Dnipro earlier this month.

11:34 AM GMT

Two million in Russia and occupied Ukraine without power

Almost two million people have been left without power in Russia and occupied Ukraine after a severe storm, Moscows energy ministry has said.

About 1.9million people remained without power supply as of 10am Moscow time due to unfavourable weather conditions, it said in a statement.

It listed the Russian regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Rostov and the occupied Ukrainian territories of Crimea, Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

Three people have now been confirmed dead in the storms, state news agency Tass added.

11:22 AM GMT

Putin sending more Russians to die than ever before, says Shapps

Vladimir Putin is senselessly sending more Russians to die than at any time since the war began, Britains defence secretary Grant Shapps has said.

Ukrainian bravery and western support is holding back their advance, but we cannot be complacent, he said.

Ukraine needs our unwavering support to fight and win.

His remarks came after the Ministry of Defence said Russian casualties have soared to 931 per day this month, up from a peak of 776 earlier this year during the assault on Bakhmut.

10:58 AM GMT

Man dies after going out to watch storm in occupied Crimea

A man has died in occupied Crimea after going out to watch the storm that has swept over the Black Sea.

The man went out to look at the waves and, unfortunately, tragically died, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the regions Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, said on state television.

How exactly the man died has not been disclosed.

Mr Kryuchkov added that 425,000 people remain without electricity and 500 trees have fallen down.

10:38 AM GMT

Russia 'activates sleeper spy network to cripple Ukraine from within'

Russia has activated a network of sleeper spies to cripple Ukraine from within, SBU spy chief Oleksiy Danilov has said.

They realise they cannot win this militarily so attempts at internal destabilisation have become the priority, Mr Danilov told the Times, adding that the spies were spreading false narratives to exploit so-called tensions between Volodymyr Zelensky and army chief Valery Zaluzhny.

He also said there were traitors within Ukraines security services left over from the Soviet period and the pro-Russia presidency of Viktor Yanukovych between 2010 and 2014.

We made a big mistake in 1991 when we didnt close down the KGB but just changed its name to SBU and the metastases of the KGB remained, he said.

We are all adults here. Unfortunately, we recognise that we have not been able to clean up all of the security systems. So of course there are traitors that exist there.

The fact that there is an ongoing trial over Oleh Kulinich [the former head of the SBU in Crimea] on charges of high treason is a solid proof of that.

10:13 AM GMT

I will never leave Avdiivka, says embattled resident

Retiree Oleksandre Makarov, 65, is one of the few Ukrainians who remain in the embattled city of Avdiivka, AFP reports.

A former employee from the towns coking plant, he lives in a nine-storey block in the Khimik district, survives on humanitarian aid packages and has a wood stove to keep warm and cook.

The situation in Avdiivka has worsened since October 10, he said, when it started to come under heavy bombardment.

But, he said he wants to stay, because this is where I come from.

I studied in Donetsk... I was sent to work in Avdiivka, Mr Makarov said.

Where am I going to find another flat? With what money?

09:45 AM GMT

Half a million without power in occupied Crimea

Half a million people are without power in occupied Crimea after heavy storms overnight.

Russian state news agency Tass report that roads have been flooded, powerlines downed and one person killed.

Hospitals, schools and government offices are closed today as the bad weather continues.

Wind speeds have reached a high of 90 mph, Tatyana Lyubetskaya, a Russia-installed official at the Crimean environmental monitoring department, told Tass.

09:30 AM GMT

MoD: Russia casualties surge in Avdiivka assault

Russian casualties have surged as it continues its assault on Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine, Britains Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

In its latest intelligence briefing, the MoD said Ukraines estimates of Russias daily casualties have increased from 776 in March to 931 this month.

Although Defence Intelligence cannot verify the methodology, taken as a total including both killed and wounded, the figures are plausible, it said.

The last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.

The heavy losses have largely been caused by Russias offensive against the Donbas town of Avdiivka.

09:08 AM GMT

Storm has cut 2,000 settlements off from power, says Ukraine

More than 2,000 Ukrainian cities, towns and villages are without power this morning amid freezing temperatures, high winds and heavy snowstorms.

In total, 2,019 settlements in 16 regions are cut off from the grid, the interior ministry said.

At least 1,370 cargo trucks were stuck and 840 cars had to be towed away because of snow drifts up to two metres high, minister Ihor Klymenko added.

Authorities in the southern city of Odesa have had to free 1,624 people who were snowed in.

Ukraines largest private energy provider, DTEK, said early on Monday that it had been able to restore power to nearly 250 settlements.

Volodymyr Zelensky said last night that around 400 settlements had been cut off, meaning the number of power cuts increased fivefold overnight.

09:00 AM GMT

In pictures: The Ukrainian frontline

Ukrainian soldier is seen with his dog in a trench near Gorlivka in Donetsk - Diego Herrera Carcedo

The bearded Ukrainians are settling in for a long and cold winter at the front - Diego Herrera Carcedo

Ukraine's 56th brigade fires a mortar towards Russian positions near Bakhmut - Madeleine Kelly

08:47 AM GMT

MoD: 'Overstretched' Russia forced to move anti-air from Kaliningrad

Russia has been forced to move anti-air defences from its Baltic enclave Kaliningrad to backfill recent losses on the Ukraine front, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

In a defence intelligence briefing, the MoD said the move follows an uptick in losses of SA-21 surface-to-air missile systems in October.

As its most westerly outpost and bordered on three sides by NATO member states, Russia sees Kaliningrad as one of its most strategically sensitive regions, it said.

The fact that the Russian MoD appears willing to accept additional risk here highlights the overstretch the war has caused for some of Russias key, modern capabilities.

08:30 AM GMT

Zaluzhny should be sacked, says MP from Zelensky's party

Valery Zaluzhny should be sacked, an MP from Volodymyr Zelenskys Servant of the People party has said.

Mariana Bezuhla, who is deputy head of parliaments national security committee, said the Ukrainian armys commander-in-chief had not drawn up a plan for next years fighting.

If the military leadership cant provide any plan for 2024, and if all their proposals for mobilization boil down to needing more people without any proposal for changes in the military system, then this leadership should step down, she said.

A party spokesperson told the Ukrainska Pravda newspaper that Ms Bezuhla is responsible for her own words.

Tensions between Ukraines military and political leadership have increasingly spilled out into the public domain amid the faltering counter-offensive.

08:19 AM GMT

US will back Ukraine no matter who the next president is, says Pompeo

The United States will back Ukraine no matter who the next president is, former secretary of state Mike Pompeo has said.

Mr Pompeo said Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, would do the right thing and continue to support Ukraine.

Trump has previously called on Congress to withhold additional Ukraine funding until the FBI, IRS and justice department hand over every scrap of evidence on the Biden familys business dealings in the country.

Republicans are currently blocking a bill in Congress that would provide 19bn ($24bn) in new aid to Ukraine.

08:02 AM GMT

Meta spokesperson on Russian wanted list

Russia has placed a spokesperson for the parent company of Facebook and Instagram on a federal wanted list.

The reason why Metas Andy Stone is wanted by Russias interior ministry is not known.

Russia added Mr Stone to the list quietly in February, independent Russian outlet Mediazona reported.

Russia designated Meta as a terrorist and extremist organisation in October 2022, after banning Facebook and Instagram that March.

07:55 AM GMT

Russia has sold 800m of stolen grain, says Ukraine

Ukraine has accused Russia of selling 800m ($1bn) of grain taken from occupied territory, prime minister Denys Shmyhal has said.

The occupiers have prepared technical means to steal and take away 12,000 tonnes of grain from the captured territories every day, he said at a grain market forum in Kyiv.

They succeeded only partially, because the heroic resistance of the Ukrainians forced the enemy to retreat.

But the volume of stolen goods is impressive  it is millions of tons of grain worth about $1bn.

Russias robbery of Ukraine continues even now.

07:46 AM GMT

Zelensky hails soldiers and rescuers in brutal weather

Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed Ukraines soldiers and rescuers amid brutal winter weather conditions.

The president said 400 settlements in 10 different regions have been left without power by snowstorms and high winds.

I would like to thank everyone who is working now and will continue to work tomorrow to protect us from this bad weather and to restore normal living conditions in all our Ukrainian communities as soon as possible, Mr Zelensky said on Sunday in his nightly address.

Now, when it is so difficult, in such conditions, we should all be especially grateful to those who defend our country, who carry out Ukrainian offensive operations, who are in combat positions, at combat posts, on duty in mobile fire groups and in all our other units that protect Ukraine, the life of our state and our independence.

Footage posted on social media shows blizzards near Odesa.

Wild weather in the Black Sea region today, with a large low pressure system dominating the area.



On the western side of the Black Sea, Odesa is currently experiencing a blizzard, with many roads completely impassable. pic.twitter.com/eUnzt6AYrK  OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) November 26, 2023

07:41 AM GMT

Five wounded over the weekend in Russia's largest drone attack

Five Ukrainians were wounded in Kyiv on Saturday when Russia launched its largest drone attack of the war so far.

An 11-year-old girl was among the injured after 75 Iranian-made Shahed drones were launched at dawn on Saturday.

Ukraine said its air defences shot down 74 of them before launching an armada of 35 drones in retaliation.

The enemy is intensifying its attacks, trying to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians, Oleksiy Kuleba, the Ukrainian presidents deputy chief of staff, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.

It was doing so deliberately, just like 90 years ago [during Holodomor], when Russia killed millions of our ancestors, he said.

07:34 AM GMT

Russia advances near Avdiivka, says ISW

Russia has advanced near the eastern Ukrainian city of Avdiivka, the Institute for the Study of War think tank has said.

Geolocated footage published on November 26 shows that Russian forces marginally advanced northwest of Krasnohorivka (7km northwest of Avdiivka) and in the eastern part of the industrial zone on Avdiivkas southeastern outskirts, it said.

Geolocated video footage on November 26 shows Russian armored vehicles attacking Ukrainian positions in the northern part of the industrial area on Avdiivkas southeastern outskirts.

Russia has been assaulting Avdiivka with great ferocity since October in an attack reminiscent of its efforts to take Bakhmut earlier this year.

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.
Ukraines SBU security service on Nov. 27 addressed the misinterpretation by UK newspaper the Times of a statement by Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, regarding spies and the SBU.

Claims in todays media about the building of a spy network within the Ukrainian special service do not correspond to reality, the SBU said. The service said the claims resulted from an inaccurate interpretation of the words of the head of the National Security and Defense Council.

Read also: Russia activates sleeper spies network in Ukraine, says Danilov

The SBU neutralizes any attempts by Russias FSB and GRU to exploit their intelligence potential during the war, striving to eradicate hostile networks entirely, the services press service said.

Countering attempts by hostile intelligence services to establish their networks and destabilize the situation in Ukraine is a key focus of the SBUs activities. Such manifestations are identified and systematically and effectively countered to protect the states security, said the service.

Read also: SBU and SBI search Dubinskys residence in state treason case  NV sources

Between 2022 and 2023, the SBU exposed over 2,000 traitors and identified more than 300 agents of foreign intelligence services. Among those exposed are public figures such as MPs Viktor Medvedchuk, Andriy Derkach, Oleksandr Ponomariov, Oleksandr Dubinsky, and former head of the SBUs Main Directorate in Crimea, Oleh Kulinich.

The agency highlighted that these results are a consequence of the SBU intensifying counterintelligence activities, implementing personnel changes, and undergoing internal cleansing.

In the last two months, Russia has activated a network of sleeper spies in Ukraine, Danilov said in a recent interview with the Times. The newspaper reported that Danilov had said that Russia had built up its spy network in government institutions, including the SBU.

Read also: Former deputy Vadym Rabinovych charged with high treason

Later, Danilov clarified that the Times had misunderstood him, emphasizing that the SBU is actively working on countering espionage.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
An overhead view of silos at a grain handling and storage facility in central Ukraine, Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. In recent months, an increasing amount of grain has been unloaded from overcrowded silos and is heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war. (AP Photo/Hanna Arhirova)

KYIV, Ukraine (AP)  Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world.

Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war.

It was tight, but we kept working  we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraines new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity.

Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraines Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating explosive mines. Its giving a boost to Ukraines agriculture-dependent economy and bringing back a key source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products for parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where local prices have risen and food insecurity is growing.

"We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes, said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyds, whose members make up the worlds largest insurance marketplace.

Ihor Osmachko, general director of Agroprosperis Group, one of Ukraines biggest agricultural producers and exporters, says he's feeling more optimistic than two months ago.

At that time, it was completely unclear how to survive, he said.

Since the companys first vessel departed in mid-September, it says it has shipped more than 300,000 metric tons of grain to Egypt, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Tunisia and Turkey.

After ending the agreement brokered by the U.N. and Turkey, Russia has attacked Ukraines Black Sea ports  a vital connection to global trade  and grain infrastructure, destroying enough food to feed over 1 million people for a year, the U.K. government said.

The risk to vessels is the main hurdle for the new shipping corridor. Russia, whose officials haven't commented on the corridor, warned this summer that ships heading to Ukraine's Black Sea ports would be assumed to be carrying weapons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allies had agreed to provide ships to help his country protect commercial vessels in the Black Sea but that more air defense systems were needed.

Air defense is in short supply, he told reporters Saturday at an international food security summit in Kyiv. But whats important is that we have agreements, we have a positive signal and the corridor is operational.

While a deadly missile strike on the port of Odesa hit a Liberian-flagged commercial ship this month, not long afterward, insurers, brokers and banks teamed up with the Ukrainian government to announce affordable coverage for Black Sea grain shipments, offering shippers peace of mind.

Despite such attacks, Ukraine has exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through the new corridor, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted Friday. Before the war, it was nearly double that per month, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said.

The way that theyre transporting right now, its certainly much more expensive and time consuming, said Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

But they are getting product out the door, which is better than I think many were anticipating with the grain initiative coming to an end, she said.

Farmers also are facing low prices for their grain, which makes sending trucks to Odesa's often-attacked port not worth the risk for one agricultural company near the front line.

Instead, Slavhorod, which farms near the border with Russia in the Sumy province that faces daily shelling, has chosen to store its peas, wheat, soybeans, sunflower and corn in warehouses.

There's risk in keeping the 3,500-hectare (8,650-acre) farm running at all: Signs warned of explosive mines near where workers were collecting corn in a field 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) from Russia.

But who, if not us? Its the only industry that brings some income to the country, said Slavhorods chief agronomist, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who survived driving over a mine last year.

But it's becoming increasingly challenging to maintain morale.

This year, there is less enthusiasm because grain prices are low, the product remains near the border and at any moment" it could be destroyed, he said. Its a big risk.

Since the war started, Ukraine has struggled to get its food supplies to countries in need. Even during the yearlong U.N. deal, when Ukraine shipped nearly 33 million metric tons of food, Russia was accused of slowing down ship inspections required to be done by all sides.

That corridor worked in an unpredictable way for us, said Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association.

Now, the Ukrainian military decides when its safe to sail.

This may incur additional costs, but it is still more predictable than it was before, Horbachov said.

Osmachko of Agroprosperis Group agrees. Before the invasion, the exporter paid $50 per metric ton to ship grain through the Black Sea. Alternatives since the war  including river routes through Europe  cost the company nearly three times more, Osmachko said. Under Ukraines new corridor, the company pays $70 to 80 per metric ton.

Its more efficient, more profitable, he said.

Plus, Ukraines shipping corridor allows vessels to travel less in dangerous areas compared with the grain deal and avoid those often-delayed inspections, said Anderson of Vessel Protect.

Agroprosperis Group no longer needs to pay for ships to wait around. Inspection delays cost the company $30 million in losses during the yearlong grain deal, Osmachko said.

While the delays are gone, there still is military risk, safety risk, war risk. And not all of the insurance companies are ready to take this risk, Osmachko said.

To ease that hurdle, an insurance program launched this month to provide affordable coverage to shippers carrying food from Ukraines Black Sea ports. The partnership between insurance broker Marsh McLennan, Lloyds, two Ukrainian state banks and the government offers up to $50 million for each of two types of coverage protecting against damage and other losses.

In another boost, a humanitarian program was extended Saturday that donates Ukrainian grain to nations facing food shortages with support from countries worldwide. Next, it will bring enough grain to help nearly 400,000 people in Nigeria, Zelenskyy said.

The goal for the new shipping corridor is to export at least 6 million metric tons of grain a month, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said. It has a lot of work to do: Ukraine exported 4.3 million metric tons of grain in October through all routes, the ministry said.

We maintain cautious optimism, based on the fact that we have been fighting before and will continue to fight further, he said.

___

Bonnell reported from London.

___

Follow APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 23: A Ukrainian soldier of the 80th brigade fires artillery as Russia-Ukraine war continues in the direction of Bakhmut, Ukraine on November 23, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Ukraine's military rapidly modernized after 2014. But it still shows some of the Soviet Union's wartime preferences, including a heavy reliance on artillery. While it cannot put the mass of fire downrange that Russia can, it is slowly whittling away Russia's artillery advantage. This appears to be from a combination of Western aid, natural weapons fatigue, and Ukrainian's destruction and capturing of Russian systems. But Ukraine faces tough logistics to prevent a reversal.

Russian artillery advantage

Russia had a larger artillery corps when it launched its 2022 full-scale invasion which greatly broadened the conflict beyond the lines of 2014-2022. That artillery corps, combined with the larger Russian industrial base, allowed Russia to fire many more artillery shells than Ukraine.

According to a paper by Army Lt. Col. John Q. Bolton in Military Review , Russia managed to fire twice to four times Ukraine's artillery rate daily in early 2023. That represents a huge disadvantage if you're the Ukrainian in the trenches, trying to survive strikes. Worse if you're attacking Russian lines.

And Russia maintained that advantage despite losing 5-10% of its guns, according to Bolton.

But Russia continues to gamble its men, artillery and other assets away in shockingly cavalier style. It is waging a static defense with conscripts quite wastefully, despite thick defensive belts. Some estimates say that Ukraine inflicted as many losses as it took during the recent counteroffensive. Justin Crump of made that point on the BBC's Ukrainecast on November 7.

That's a frankly shocking possibility since military science dictates that attackers, without some advantage, always take heavier losses than defenders.

He also pointed out that artillery trendlines are moving in Ukraine's direction, though they remain in Russia's favor.

What could be causing the shift?

The trend change is more about Russia losing artillery mass than Ukraine gaining it. So, looking at developments in the last six months, it seems likely that changes are resulting from Ukraine destroying and capturing guns, Russian guns naturally wearing out, and Ukraine getting some added Western aid.

First, Ukraine has done a great job capturing and destroying Russian weapons across the board. The now retired Oryx website was the most famous tracker for Russian losses. It only counted losses with photographic proof and tallied over 1,000 Russian artillery pieces and support vehicles lost. Kyiv claims over six times that number .

DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - NOVEMBER 22: Ukrainian soldier of the 67th Brigade, preparing artillery shells at his fighting position in the direction of Kremmina, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on November 22, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

In fact, David Axe follows the war for Forbes and estimated in July that Ukraine is killing four Russian guns for each gun it loses .

But Russia isn't losing guns just to Ukraine. It's also just wearing out barrels and guns. An anonymous Western official told Reuters and other journalists that they believe Russia has expended over 10 million artillery rounds in the conflict but can only produce 1 to 2 million rounds a year.

So, in addition to a pending ammunition crunch, Russia has to be facing widespread weapons fatigue. Weapons that rely on gunpowder explosions, from handguns to railroad artillery, face enormous stress every time they fire. The explosion and friction heat the metal components, which become soft. The high barrel pressure stresses the heated metal. And the exiting round shears off metal bits, especially from rifled barrels.

So even Russia's guns that never suffer a Ukrainian strike just naturally age out of the system, adding to Moscow's woes.

And finally, while Ukraine will always make the case that it could use more guns, it is getting shells and barrels almost as fast as the West can produce them. That helps prevent Ukraine sliding down in artillery power. And the addition of more powerful rocket artillery and missiles, like HIMARS systems and ATACMS missiles , help Ukraine strike from further back, reducing losses.

Ukraine's artillery logistics are hard

Militaries know that supply and logistics are hard. The U.S. splits its supply into nine military classes plus economic aid. Class V supply, ammunition, starts out hard and gets vastly more challenging the more different weapon systems an army has.

It can be tough to supply a single rifle company, even if most of its shooters are firing 5.56mm ammo. That's because ammo is explosive, can be damaged by water or salt, is heavy, and is restricted from traveling on some roads. Now imagine serving an artillery division with a mixture of guns, with fuzes separate from shells separate from propellant powder.

Now imagine the division has battalions and batteries with guns from different countries, built to different standards, and needing different ammunition. So even a 155mm battery in one battalion might have different supply needs than a 155mm battery in another battalion.

And the overall mixture of guns includes NATO guns, mostly 155mm and some 105mm weapons, as well as Soviet weapons more likely to be 122mm, 130mm, or 152mm.

Add it all up, and it's a wonder that Ukrainian supply officers aren't falling victim to rampant migraines and panic attacks.

Hope for future Ukrainian artillery

DONETSK OBLAST, UKRAINE - 11 NOVEMBER: A Ukrainian soldier prepares artillery at his fighting position in the direction of Bakhmut as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on November 11, 2023. (Photo by Diego Herrera Carcedo/Anadolu via Getty Images)

There may be some light on the horizon, though, even if its pretty far out. NATO officials are pushing for more countries to comply with NATO's voluntary standardization . While all NATO members agree to 155mm, other dimensions of the weapons and ammunition have only voluntary standards. So, some shells are longer than others or taper differently or work with different packages of propellants.

If NATO manages to convince more countries to adopt a complete standardization, then it could reach a day where all 155mm shells are interchangeable...sometime in the next few years or decades. After all, guns built to take a specific 155mm shell will still need that specific shell until retrofitted or retired.

Hopefully, Ukraine will win long before the standardization is finished.

Logan Nye was an Army journalist and paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. Now, hes a freelance writer and live-streamer. In addition to covering military and conflict news at We Are The Mighty, he has an upcoming military literacy channel on Twitch.tv/logannyewrites.
Editors Note: This is the speech of Ukraines Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, which he delivered on Nov. 22 at the 17th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (Ramstein format). Defense leaders from more than 50 partner countries participated in the meeting. The Kyiv Independent publishes the speech with permission.

Let me start by mentioning one Ukrainian town. It is called Oleshky. It is a small town in the Kherson region. I mentioned it because our soldiers right now are bravely fighting the enemy not far from it  on the left bank of the Dnipro River.

Because Russia leaves us no choice.

I mentioned the town of Oleshky because it is six hours away by car from my hometown Alushta in Crimea.

Please reflect on this for a minute. Just six hours away from my home  if measured by peacetime standards.

How fast can we get there? What will it cost? What do we need to make it happen? I think about it every day.

And I am sure that every one of you is helping Ukraine cover this distance.

For a year and a half now, your support brings us closer to home.

Abrams, Challengers, Leopards, Bradleys, Caesars and Zuzanas, Himars and M270, M777 howitzers, Patriots and NASAMS, ATACMS, Bayraktars  and hundreds of other types of weaponry your governments have provided  make us stronger in our fight with the aggressor.

By developing coalitions  Artillery, Armor, Aviation, Maritime, IT and Demining. And working to create new ones. Together we protect millions of innocent people. Every Ukrainian, who was forced to leave home. Whose home was destroyed. Who is stuck in occupation.

Russia kidnaps our children. Literally. They separate children from families by force and deport to Russia  20,000 of them!

Our people are all waiting for a chance to come back home. To rebuild their house. To be back with their families.

There are also millions of children, who every night wake up from air raid alerts and take cover in shelters. Or spend their nights sitting in the bathroom to be protected by one more wall. We have a name for it  the rule of two walls. Every kid knows it.

Because Russia leaves us no choice.

Our cities are shelled every day. Even several times a day. As in Kherson. As in Kharkiv. Cities, where missiles destroyed high-rise residential buildings, killing entire families. As in Dnipro. As in Zaporizhzhia.

Unfortunately, we cannot provide one hundred percent protection to them all. We need more air defense. And we are extremely grateful for every system you have provided.

Read also: Russia launches record number of drones against Ukraine on Holodomor Memorial Day

Because we are protecting not only our homes. But also the grain elevators, grain storages, and ports. We are doing everything in our power to sustain the grain corridor. The security and stability of the entire African continent depends on it.

Russia is weaponizing food and hunger. Hybrid war is a Russian weapon of choice. In Ukraine they also began with hybrid warfare. And soon enough  continued to the full-scale war.

Now, they are expanding their hybrid methods to other countries. Russia is already causing waves of migration at the borders of Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland. Whats next?

For sure, Russia is not going to stop by itself.

The only language Moscow can understand is power. And we learned this language well.

Because Russia leaves us no choice.

We have pushed Russian warships out of the Black Sea with asymmetric weapons. We kicked out their fleet virtually without any fleet of our own.

Just like HIMARS made a drastic difference, when they first came to Ukraine, our naval drones together with Storm Shadow and SCALP missiles, demonstrated amazing results. These missiles were a painful surprise for the aggressor.

And then another one  ATACMS. And your artillery, especially the long-range munitions, inflicts enormous damage to the enemy infantry, logistical hubs, warehouses.

According to our General Staff report, Russia lost almost 36,000 soldiers just since our last meeting  six weeks ago. In the same period, Ukrainian forces also destroyed more than 500 enemy tanks, almost 1,000 armored vehicles, and seven planes.

I know that after this meeting you will have to explain, once again, to your fellow citizens why you provide aid to Ukraine. Why that much, why it takes so long, why it still matters.

Read also: Charles Michel: I dont think this counteroffensive has failed

Yesterday, Ukraine commemorated the Air Assault Forces Day.

I called their commander, major-general Myrhorodsky, to give my regards.

And I asked him what he needs to have an advantage over the enemy.

The general was clear: electronic warfare systems, UAVs, ammunition, armor, portable air defense. His guys storm the Russian trenches every day. And they clearly know what they need to crush the enemy.

Every shell is a chance to destroy an enemy position.

Every tank is an opportunity to liberate a village.

Every electronic warfare station is an asset to protect a part of the front line from enemy drones.

Now let me switch the focus a little bit.

We spend a lot of time talking about weapons. But let me show you one photo.

This is an ordinary Ukrainian family. Vitaliy joined the Army in March 2022. He is fighting now. ryna works at a defense factory.

Their daughter Diana goes to school in Kyiv. She is very proud of her parents. And she is proud of the Ukrainian air defense system that our partners helped to deploy, giving her a chance to study and play with her friends.

This is not the future this family dreamed about!

This is how thousands of our families had to transform in order to survive. And  to win. We are building a strong partnership to strengthen the Ukrainian Army. Together with you, we are developing a powerful defense industry. To give this child a future.

Because Russia leaves us no choice.

Every air defense system is a message to the soldier, whose photo I just showed you. The message that his wife and child are protected and safe, while he is fighting at the front line.

Every long-range missile is a contribution to the freedom of navigation in the Black Sea. And  constant supply of grain to 400 million people in Africa.

All of this brings the moment of Russias defeat on the battlefield closer. And the day of Ukraines Victory, too.

This will be the message to other dictatorships. The message that they will be punished for the crime of aggression. Even if they disguise it as a special military operation.

They will be punished for destroyed houses, hospitals, and schools. For murdered and kidnapped children.

They will be punished for the fact that this Christmas, 10 million Ukrainians are separated from their homes by a six-hour drive down a dangerous road.

We have already come a long way to this point. We did it together.

So, let's make the remaining six-hour drive possible.

Read also: Investigation: Czech parts make their way to Russian military helicopters despite sanctions

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Key developments on Nov. 27:

Russian casualty rates' some of highest' over last 6 weeks, UK Defense Ministry says

Ukrainian resistance blows up car with pro-Russian Chechen fighters near Melitopol;

Ukraine reportedly hits aircraft factory in Russia's Smolensk

SBU says Kherson regional council member supplies Russia with fuel, food

Russian media: Russian company imports aircraft and helicopter parts from Ukrainian factories

Military officials charged over illegally selling army food supplies

Russian attack on power plant in front-line Ukrainian region causes power outage

Over the past six weeks, Russian troops have likely suffered "some of the highest" casualty rates in Ukraine, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported on Nov. 27.

The heavy losses "have largely been caused" by Russia's offensive against Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, the ministry said.

Throughout November, Russia's losses reached a daily average of 931 troops, the ministry reported, citing the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces. As of Nov. 27, Russia has lost around 325,580 troops in Ukraine.

"Although Defense Intelligence cannot verify the methodology, taken as a total including both killed and wounded, the figures are plausible," reads the update.

The Ukrainian military had previously reported that Russian forces lost around 10,000 soldiers, more than 100 tanks, over 250 other armored vehicles, and seven Su-25 aircraft in the month of fighting near Avdiivka.

Before that, the deadliest month for Russian forces was March this year, with an average of 776 losses per day at the peak of Russia's assault against the city of Bakhmut, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.

Russian forces intensified ground attacks against Avdiivka and surrounding settlements in early October in an attempt to encircle the town. The campaign has been supported by heavy shelling and air strikes, which continue to inflict casualties among civilian residents.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote on Nov. 25 that Russian troops continued operations near Avdiivka and had made a "confirmed advance."

Geolocated videos posted on Nov. 24 indicate that Russian forces advanced north of Krasnohorivka, a settlement seven kilometers northwest of Avdiivka, according to the ISW.

Read also: Charles Michel: I dont think this counteroffensive has failed

Attacks in Russia, occupied Melitopol

Ukrainian forces struck an aircraft plant in the Russian city of Smolensk overnight on Nov. 27, Hromadske media outlet reported, citing its source in Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR).

Later in the day, Hromadske updated the report, saying that HUR confirmed that the strike was their "special operation." No further details were provided.

Local Telegram channels reported explosions in Smolensk, western Russia, late on Nov. 26. Russian Defense Ministry later claimed its forces had intercepted a Ukrainian drone over the Smolensk region at around 11 p.m. Moscow time.

The acting governor of Russia's Smolensk region, Vasily Anokhin, claimed there were no damages to infrastructure and casualties.

Smolensk lies nearly 400 kilometers southwest of Moscow and around 300 kilometers from the Russian-Ukrainian border.

The exiled mayor of occupied Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, also reported on Nov. 27 that the local Ukrainian resistance allegedly blew up a car with Chechen soldiers fighting on Russia's side near his city.

Local residents reported gunfire near the village of Myrne, lying a few kilometers north of Melitopol in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia Oblast, over last weekend, according to Fedorov.

A fight took place between Chechen fighters loyal to dictator Ramzan Kadyrov and Ukrainian partisans, the exiled mayor said. While the Chechens were waiting in their car for assistance, the vehicle reportedly blew up and burnt down.

The number of those killed in the attack has not yet been confirmed, Fedorov said.

Melitopol, a city with a pre-war population of about 150,000 people, has been occupied since March 2022. The Ukrainian resistance has been active here since then, reportedly detonating a car with Russian soldiers last month.

Read also: Ukraines victory will send a message to all dictatorships  Umerovs speech at Ramstein

Suspected treason

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) on Nov. 27 reported that a Ukrainian regional council member in Russian-occupied Kherson is suspected of treason for supplying Russian occupying forces with fuel and food through multiple companies under his control.

The SBU said that council member Yurii Kovalev re-registered more than 20 companies under his control under Russian legislation.

One company owned by Kovalev reportedly exported over 35,000 metric tons of Ukrainian grain to Russia this year, worth Hr 140 million ($3.86 million) in total.

Kovalev also controls gas stations that refuel Russian military equipment, including tanks, and a company that supplies ration packs for some of the Russian soldiers occupying in the region, the SBU said.

These companies pay taxes and fees to the Russian state budget, with one of his agricultural companies paying over $33,000 to Russia in August 2022 alone, according to the SBU.

In a different report on Nov. 27, the SBU said some military officials in Kyiv Oblast were charged over illegally selling food from the Armed Forces' supplies for personal gain.

In collusion with private entrepreneurs, the officials allegedly stole at least 30% of the military food supplies stored in one warehouse, which were then sold in shops, restaurants, and markets, the bureau said.

In another scheme, a military official of the unit issued "empty" invoices for supplies worth "millions of hryvnias" to a private company that was never delivered, according to the bureau.

The corruption schemes led to the embezzlement of at least Hr 5 million ($138,000) in public funds. The military officials face up to 15 years in prison.

On the same day, independent Russian news outlet Important Stories published an investigation finding that spare parts used to repair Russian military airplanes and helicopters appear to have been imported from a number of Ukrainian factories.

Customs data reportedly shows that Avia FED Service, a Moscow-based spare parts dealer, supplied the Russian aircraft sector with $7.3 million worth of spare parts between January 2022 and July 2023.

Important Stories assessed that over half of the total value of these parts, or $4.2 million, came from Ukraine.

This number reportedly includes $1.4 million worth of spare parts for repairing Antonov An-124 transport planes, imported from Kharkiv's "FED" Machine-Building Plant.

The media also said that Russia used to account for around 70% of the company's sales, but the plant "officially stopped all deliveries to Russia" in 2014 following the Russian occupation of Crimea and Donbas.

The investigation showed that other factories that have supplied parts include the Motor Sich aircraft engine manufacturer in Zaporizhzhia.

In October 2022, Motor Sich President Viacheslav Bohuslaiev was arrested for treason and collaborating with Russia, as was Oleh Dzyuba, Motor Sich's former chief of foreign economic activity.

Important Stories said that the Kharkiv Aggregate Design Bureau, the "Radar" and "Artem" factories in Kyiv, and companies in France, the U.S., and the U.K. also appear to have delivered spare parts.

The Kyiv Independent has not independently confirmed the investigation's findings.

Read also: Investigative Stories From Ukraine: Russian military helicopters get Czech components despite sanctions

Russian attack causes power outages in front-line Ukrainian region

Russian troops launched an attack on a front-line Ukrainian region overnight on Nov. 27, damaging a thermal power plant operated by the country's energy giant DTEK, the company reported.

DTEK does not specify where plants that are hit by strikes are located for security reasons.

Residents of a nearby settlement were left without power following the overnight attack, according to the DTEK.

The company said this was Russia's fifth strike on front-line DTEK facilities over the last month.

DTEK's head, Maksym Timchenko, said on Nov. 17 that Ukraine needed more Western air defense systems, such as Patriot and IRIS-T, to better protect its critical infrastructure from Russian attacks.

From fall 2022 to winter 2023, Russia launched a series of mass strikes across the country, targeting critical infrastructure sites and causing widespread power outages. Local authorities were forced to install power cut schedules to preserve electricity.

In October, President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that this winter, Russia will attempt to demolish Ukraine's energy infrastructure with more attacks.

"They cannot understand that Ukraine will not be conquered anyway. But (Russian troops) will try to launch more attacks and have more attempts to bypass our defenses," Zelensky said. "We realize the threat completely."

So far the power situation across the country has been rather stable, even as Russia continues to target critical infrastructure.

Read also: Russia launches record number of drones against Ukraine on Holodomor Memorial Day

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Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, will spend the next two days on a visit in Brussels.

Source: Ukraine's Foreign Ministry, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Kulebas visit will be conducted on 28-29 November, focusing on "mobilisation of political and military support of the EU and NATO member states, promotion of Ukraines accession to both organisations, specifically in the context of the next meeting of the European Council in December, as well as integration of defence industries of Ukraine and NATO, enhancement of production and armament and ammunition supply for Ukrainian soldiers."

It is planned to hold the meeting with Josep Borrell, top EU representative for foreign affairs and security policy, on 28 November.

In addition to this, Kuleba will make a speech in the European Parliament at the opening of the conference on the responsibility for Russian crimes, and open a VR-exhibition called Living the war.

On 29 November, Ukraines Foreign Affairs Minister will participate in the meeting of the Ukraine-NATO council at the NATO headquarters, which will be conducted on the foreign ministers level for the first time.

"The head of Ukrainian diplomacy will inform the NATO allies about the current situation on the front and priority military needs of Ukraine, and discuss the adapted Annual National Program for 2024 amid the preparation for the NATO Summit in Washington," Ukraines Foreign Ministry reported.

Dmytro Kuleba will also hold a number of bilateral meetings in Brussels, specifically with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and foreign affairs ministers of NATO member states.

Background: Stoltenberg reported that at the NATO Council meeting, the allies will agree on the recommendations concerning the reforms Ukraine has to implement to be ready for NATO accession.

He also expressed his certainty that the allies will continue supplying Ukraine with a significant amount of military aid.

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A new poll of Palestinians: Supporting terror and rejecting peace By Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch

web posted November 27, 2023 The results of new market research conducted by the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) among Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip and Judea and Samaria (West Bank) give a penetrating insight into the mindset of the Palestinians. For over three decades, the international community has supported both the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority; the results of the survey show that Palestinians overwhelmingly support terrorism, reject peace, and are fundamentally ungrateful towards the countries that have supported and funded them. The Palestinian attitudes reflected in the survey do not grow a vacuum. Instead, they are representative of the complete adoption of the constant and poisonous messaging of the PA. They are an accurate, albeit bleak, and painful reflection of the total implosion of the Oslo paradigm. If the international community truly seeks peace in the Middle East and a brighter future for all its residents, policies must change, and a new paradigm must be adopted. As Israel's war on Palestinian terror continues, the following are selected results from the AWRAD survey. Palestinians Support Terror, Reject Peace, and Deny Israel's Right to Exist When taken as a whole, the results indicate that an overwhelming percentage of Palestinians support the October 7 massacre (75%), reject coexistence with Israel (85.9%), are committed to the restoration of "historical Palestine" as a final resolution (71.1%), and support the creation of a Palestinian state "from the river to the sea" (74.7%) as the end of the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Interestingly, there is more support for the 10/7 massacre from the Palestinians resident in Judea and Samaria (83.1%) than those residing in the Gaza Strip (63.6%). Support for Terror Organizations The Palestinian positive perception of the terror organizations remains high despite their role in carrying out the massacre and the disastrous results. Breaking down the response, 76% believe that Hamas plays a somewhat to very positive role; 84% believe that Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) plays a somewhat to very positive role; 79.8% believe that Fatah's terror wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, plays a somewhat to very positive role; and 88.6% believe that Hamas' armed wing, the Al-Kassam Brigades, plays a somewhat to very positive function. Palestinians Hold Fundamentally Racist Views When asked about U.S. and Western support for Israel against the terrorists, 91.5% agreed with the attitude that the support is the result of the "influence of the Israeli lobby;" 85.5% agreed that the support is the result of "hatred of Arabs;" and 79.5% agreed with the belief that the support is the result of "hatred of Muslims and Islam." Palestinians Reject the Hand that Feeds and Supports Them As opposed to the perceived positive role played by the terror organizations, and notwithstanding the political and financial support the Palestinians receive from the U.S. and Western countries, 98.2% of Palestinians see the U.S. role as unfavorable, 96.7% consider the UK role as negative, and 92.6% ascertain the EU role as unfavorable. Alongside the disdain for the U.S. and Western countries, the Palestinians also believe that moderate Arab countries also play a negative role. According to the Palestinians, the United Arab Emirates plays the most negative role (96%), followed by Saudi Arabia (95.5%), Egypt (84.6%) and Jordan (75.6%). All these countries have made peace with Israel or consider the possibility. The Palestinians Reject the Palestinian Authority and Fatah While support for terror organizations is high, 87.3% of the Palestinians believe that the Palestinian Authority plays a negative role. Only 23.2% believe that Fatah plays a positive role. When asked who should govern the Gaza Strip and the areas in Judea and Samaria that are under the control of the PA, only 8.4% supported the PA. In comparison, 85.8% supported Hamas continuing to play a role in the Palestinian government  13.6% supported a Hamas-only government, while 72.2% supported a "national unity" government  i.e., a government comprised of Fatah and Hamas. Palestinian self-delusion When asked who would emerge victorious from this war, 72.6% said "Palestine" would, while only 3.1% said Israel. 74.3% expect the war to end with a Palestinian victory that "achieves the liberation of Gaza from the Israeli invasion." Lt.-Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch served as Director of the Military Prosecution for Judea and Samaria. Since retiring from the IDF, Hirsch worked as the Head of Legal Strategies form Palestinian Media Watch, as a Senior Military Consultant for NGO Monitor, an advisor to the Ministry of Defence, and head of an advisory committee in the Ministry of the Interior. Hirsch was the architect of the Israeli law that strips citizenship from Israeli terrorists who have been convicted for terror offences, sentenced to a custodial sentence, and receive a payment from the Palestinian Authority as a reward for their acts of terror. Home
The entire graduating class of the Kharkiv Air Force University Flight Faculty has been sent to the United Kingdom for pilot training, Ukrainian Air Force Yuriy Ihnat spokesman told NV in an interview on Nov. 25.

The Ukrainians have been studying aviation terminology in English for several months, he said. He said that the graduates of the Flight Faculty of the Kharkiv Air Force University have been studying in the UK for several months now on a two-year program.

Read also: How Russia will respond to Ukrainian F-16s

Pilots, navigators, combat controllers, and aviation engineers (technicians who will maintain the aircraft) are among the Ukrainians undergoing training.

"Their entire class was sent to the UK," explained Ihnat.

Indeed, there are no F-16s there, but there is basic training that they will undergo. First of all, it is an intensive study of English with aviation terminology. This is a very important point in order to be adapted to NATO. The next step will be theoretical training  familiarization with the functionality of the aircraft, how they are used, and so on. After that, there will be training on NATO-standard T-6 single-engine trainer aircraft.

Read also: Ukrainian pilots F-16 training to take between 5 and 9 months  Pentagon

These light-engine aircraft are adapted to the NATO model, and their cockpit will actually be a transitional stage to the F-16, the Ihnat said.

After completing the two-year program, the young pilots will be sent to another country to train on F-16 fighters.

It remains to be seen where they will be sent: either to Romania, Denmark, or the United States, where most pilot training centers are located, Ihnat said.

These pilots will already be trained according to NATO standards, he said.

"These young people are our future! They will be very well trained and will defend the country in the future.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The Office of the President of Ukraine has organised work trips for a few groups of members of the Parliament, governmental representatives, veterans and children to the US in order to promote the support for Ukraine on the ground and establish contacts with Republicans in case Donald Trump wins the presidential election in the US.

Source: the NV media outlet with reference to American and Ukrainian sources; Yaroslav Zhelezniak, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament, on his Telegram-channel; European Pravda

Details: According to NV, the trips of the Ukrainian delegation to the US will be headed by Ukrainian ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova. First and foremost, the states which tend to vote for the Republican party will be targeted.

The delegation "will conduct an information campaign about what is happening in Ukraine, will advocate for the allocation of additional aid for Ukraine the consideration of which is basically stuck in the Congress at the moment," NV reports with reference to a Ukrainian source.

A source close to one of the Republican congressmen told NV that "the strategy of what Ukraine will do next, the combat action plan and, of course, a clear joint plan of political and military command" are expected from the Ukrainians.

Yaroslav Zhelezniak, Ukrainian MP from the Voice party, confirmed the information of NV and specified that two Ukrainian MPs would come to each district or state of separate Republican congressmen. "The Office of the President has also chosen the MPs to send there," he added.

Background: Earlier this month, an official Ukrainian delegation headed by Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister, visited the US. The delegation has discussed the situation on the front, the increase of sanctions pressure on Russia and working out a mechanism for using frozen Russian assets for the reconstruction of Ukraine with their American counterparts.

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The Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SOF) have directed a high mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) fire on a Russian Giatsint self-propelled artillery system on the Kupiansk front.

Source: SOFs press service

Details: Operators of the SOFs 3rd Regiment discovered the position of a Russian 2S5 Giatsint-S artillery system on the Kupiansk front.

The Special Forces conducted additional reconnaissance activities and guided a Ukrainian unit's HIMARS fire.

"The enemy lost 1 artillery unit during these efforts," the SOF reported.

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A group of Ukrainian citizens, formerly prisoners from the occupied territories, who were taken to Russia and deported after their time in prison, have been blocked on the border of Russia with Georgia for a long time.

Source: Georgian media, citing Volunteers Tbilisi volunteer initiative, as reported by European Pravda

Volunteers say that 16 former prisoners, citizens of Ukraine, are waiting for permission to enter Georgia at the Verkhnii Lars checkpoint. Some spent three days there, and some spent 18 days already.

The Volunteers Tbilisi says that among these people are several prisoners from Crimea who were behind bars even before the occupation of the peninsula. The men live in an unheated basement, and some have fallen ill. On three occasions, they would get some aid: water, food, medicine, and personal hygiene products.

Activists say that the Embassy of Ukraine in Georgia is aware of the situation, as is Ukraine's Foreign Ministry.

Background: This is not the first such case on the border of Georgia. In August, the released Ukrainians spent almost 11 days at the border, and the group of people that was deported in October spent two weeks there.

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The Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, the main cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC), was damaged during a massive Shahed drone attack on Kyiv on the night of 24-25 November.

Source: UGCCs Information Department

  

all photos: UGCC

Details: During the attack, one of the Shahed UAVs was shot down in Kyivs Dnipro district near the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ and the residence of the head of the UGCC. The blast wave damaged the doors and shattered windows in the cathedral. A high-rise building near the church suffered more extensive damage.

"As a result of the drone attack on Kyiv, six windows in the basement of the Patriarchal Cathedral were damaged. The blast wave knocked out the double-glazed windows. The fittings on four doors of the church were damaged, and the door locks were pretty much torn out," said Vasyl Bukatiuk, director of the Construction Directorate under the Patriarch of the UGCC.

As well as the cathedral, he said, the archbishops residence was also damaged: "The fittings of three doors in the Patriarchal Residence and the Patriarchal Curia were damaged."

In addition, minor damage was recorded to the facade of the Patriarchal Cathedral. A large quantity of drone debris in various sizes was collected on its territory.

"Instead of gifts from St Nicholas, we will have these original souvenirs," said Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the UGCC.

Background:

The Russians launched a record number of attack UAVs on Ukraine on the night of 24-25 November: 75 Shahed kamikaze drones, 74 of which were shot down.

Five people were injured in the attack on Kyiv, including an 11-year-old child. Falling debris caused damage in two districts of the city.

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Ukrainian MP Mariana Bezuhla from the pro-presidential Servant of the People party made more accusations against Ukraines Commander-in-Chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi on Facebook on Nov. 27.

Bezuhla claims that in 2021, the former U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley requested that the Ukrainian command pay attention to mining the border. Zaluzhnyi, she alleges, "argued so much that he refused to communicate with Ukraines U.S. partners for a certain time."

Read also: National guard officer says General Zaluzhnyi told Economist what ordinary soldiers say on frontlines

The MP also accused the general of saying that "drones are not needed" at a committee meeting on the approval of purchases before the full-scale Russian invasion. She claimed that "literally a few drones" were included in defense procurement as a proposal to the military leadership.

Although Bezuhla asserts the existence of documents that back her claims, she has not provided further evidence to support her claims.

The MP also complained about the lack of an independent system for assessing the effectiveness of the operations conducted by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) and "unpunished" generals.

Read also: Ukraines top general unveils his strategic blueprint  The Economist

This is not the first time the MP has posted accusations against Zaluzhnyi. In one of her latest statements, Bezuhla, a member of the Committee on National Security, Defense, and Intelligence of the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraines parliament, said that the Ukraines military leadership must go due to the absence of a clear plan for 2024.

Meanwhile, the Servant of the People party has distanced itself from the MP, saying that Bezuhla is responsible for her own claims. The Ukrainian command did not respond to her accusations.

Many public figures and military personnel were outraged at the MP's statements, which have been picked up by Russian propaganda.

Yuriy Hudymenko, Political Council Member of the Demokratychna Sokyra party and Junior Sergeant of the AFU, called her statements a "crime" and said he intends to approach Ukraines SBU security service about them.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ukrainian soldiers from the Artan Special Forces unit have shared details of a continuous 30-hour battle near Kupyansk, the Chernivtsi media agency ACC reported on Nov. 22.

The call signs of the interviewed special forces scouts are Val and Kremin.

Read also: Ukrainian soldier rescued after spending 12 hours stranded in the Black Sea  video

"The enemy was numerous. We all stayed in the trenches, soaked for several days, and this was probably one of the biggest difficulties," said Kremin.

At one point in October, Russian forces made another attempt to launch an assault on Ukrainian positions along the Kupyansk sector, and Val recalled that his position was surrounded.

The soldiers engaged in a 30-hour battle. Kremin hit an enemy tank with a Swedish-made Carl Gustaf grenade launcher, while Val destroyed a Russian armored vehicle.

Read also: Ukraines military intelligence on some of its boldest operations

"At some point, I heard equipment next to our position. I realized that I had three seconds before (the enemy) reloaded," recalls Val.

Climbing onto the observation post, he spotted the barrel of a DShKa Soviet heavy machine gun.

"I took a shot, and in those seconds of complete silence... in my mind, the realization hit me  this is life, now Im alive!" said the scout.

The special forces soldiers managed to repel the massive Russian attack and hold their positions in the end.

The scouts emphasized the importance of preparation and mental stability in combat clashes with the enemy.

"When a critical situation occurs, all your skills are reduced to a minimum  to what you do reflexively," said Val.

Kremin and Val are continuing to defend Ukraine.

Read also: Ukrainian forces vigilant as Russians plan Kupyansk reoccupation, army says

"I realized what patriotism is  not on paper, not in loud words, but what it is like to love your homeland, your country and give the most precious thing for it, because we will donate our lives, said Val.

Until my last breath, I will destroy the enemy to take a step closer to victory."



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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Ukrainian hackers have infiltrated the Department of Information and Mass Communications (DIMC) of the Russian Ministry of Defence, headed by Igor Konashenkov, and gained access to the Russian media monitoring and analytics system Katyusha.

Source: InformNapalm (IN) intelligence community with reference to Cyber Resistance hackers

Quote from IN: "Employees of the department and the press services of the military districts and fleets under its control are constantly analysing the Russian information field. Everything that is directly or indirectly related to news about the activities of the Russian Armed Forces is reflected in various reports. The publications of foreign media are analysed separately."

Details: InformNapalm published examples of "daily media reviews" prepared by the department. The community reports that a weekly report on the number of materials produced and the pace of plan implementation is sent to its head, Konashenkov, for approval.

SCREENSHOT FROM THE REPORT

Later, this document is sent out along with the Russian Armed Forces planned information events for the next week and a weekly report on the print media outlets to all heads of press services of districts, branches of the armed forces, fleets, etc.

The Katyusha online monitoring information and analytical system is used to collect information on media activities. InformNapalm reports that hackers gained access to this system and were able to analyse its properties.

Quote from IN: "For those who know about media monitoring systems, Katyusha is a system that is a kind of Russian analogue of SemanticForce (a platform for media monitoring and analytics - ed.).

The developer is a M13 private company. They claim to specialise in information technology in the field of media monitoring. They have three systems: Arsenal, Arena and Katyusha.

Their software is used by the Russian presidential administration, the government, federal ministries and agencies, regional state executive bodies, commercial companies and non-governmental organisations. In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Defence purchased a licence to use Katyusha, allocating RUB 320 million (US$ 3.6 million) for this purpose until 2023 inclusive."

More details: According to the developer data, Katyusha's database includes 40,000 sources: Russian federal and regional media outlets, foreign Russian-language media outlets and "key" foreign media outlets.

The developer claims that the system allows classification of information by time, topics, headings, named objects and types of media; assessment of the quality of information by tone and audience coverage; the possibility of monitoring key Russian print media; monitoring of both traditional media outlets and new media (social networks); display of the main news events of the day, week or selected period; and detection of coordinated information attacks.

Weekly and monthly reports on foreign media are also being added to the system.

At the same time, Katyusha displays posts published on Vkontakte, Telegram, LiveJournal, Odnoklassniki, etc. in real time. It also adds Facebook and Instagram, but in a small amount. Videos from YouTube, including Ukrainian YouTube channels, are also recorded.

Quote from IN: "However, when analysing this system, we came to the conclusion that Katyusha is a kind of Potemkin's village (is a construction whose purpose is to provide an external facade to a situation, to make people believe that the situation is better than it is - ed.). Obviously, the Russian Defence Ministry's DIMC uses it for reporting purposes.

The system clearly incorrectly reflects the tone of the messages. Negative messages about the Russian Armed Forces and the military and political leadership of the Russian Federation are either not taken into account or marked as neutral. It's a kind of euphemism": everything is fine, beautiful marquise [it is usually said when someone wants to hide the true state of affairs - ed.], no negative about the charming Putin or the army, no failures. It's a kind of digital Konashenkov  there are no losses."

More details: In addition, as InformNapalm notes, the system analyses mainly the Russian information space. Western and Ukrainian media outlets are present in the database, but they need to be searched manually. The "overall picture" is not affected by Ukrainian and Western sources, and any analysis is mainly based on Russian censored and self-censored sources.

Thus, according to InformNapalm, the value of such a system is only in reflecting the Russian information reality: an extensive network of controlled media, coordinated information waves and total censorship are clearly visible.

There was also negative news in the system. However, the extensive Russian propaganda system throws dozens of positive news pieces at one negative news piece.

Cyber Resistance hackers also found a letter from Konashenkov to Shestakov, Deputy Director General of All-Russia State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company (Rossiya-1 and Rossiya-24). It mentions "unreliable" Russian Telegram channels. The hackers did not get the app itself with a list of these channels. However, as can be seen from the internal system of the Russian Ministry of Defence's DIMC, Russian military propagandists segregate reliable and unreliable Telegram channels.

InformNapalm notes that Konashenkov's letter regarding "unreliable" channels is dated 14 November, a day after Russian media reported a "goodwill gesture" by the Dnipro group of troops in Kherson Oblast.

Then the Russian media published and soon "cancelled" the news of the retreat of Russian troops. Ukraine claimed that this was a Russian information operation and there is no sign of any Russian preparation for retreat.

Thus, according to InformNapalm, it was an attempt to "catch" unreliable Telegram channels.

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A North Carolina home went up in flames after a turkey fryer was left unattended in the middle of the night, firefighters said.

The Burlington Fire Department received a report of a raging house fire at about 1 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, according to a news release. Firefighters arrived in about 2 minutes to search the house for anyone inside.

Everyone was evacuated from the burning home, officials said, so firefighters began to put out the flames. While extinguishing the fire, firefighters found a dog, which was rescued, inside the home, according to the release. The family cat also escaped the fire, officials said.

Putting out the fire took about 30 minutes, officials said. While conducting its investigation, the department said it determined a turkey fryer was left alone for an extended period of time.

Damages totaled around $200,000, though officials said that one room was virtually undamaged by heat and smoke because the door was closed.

The fire department warned people to remain extra vigilant during the holiday season to avoid dangerous situations such as the house fire caused by a turkey fryer.

Thanksgiving is reported to have three times more house fires caused by cooking than the U.S. daily average, according to the National Fire Protection Association. Christmas and Christmas Eve rank as the next highest days in the year for cooking-related home fires, the association said.

In 2021, there were more than 1,100 home fires related to cooking reported to fire departments across the country, according to the association.

Among recommendations for frying a turkey, the Federal Emergency Management Agency suggests that the fryer is used at least 10 feet away from a home. It also warns against using a partially frozen turkey, as it can cause a grease fire, FEMA said.

Electric or air fryers can be safer alternatives to using a turkey fryer, according to FEMA.

Burlington is about 55 miles northwest of Raleigh.

Arson suspected as wildfire burns in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, rangers say

Mom found stabbed to death in burning home with three kids inside, Florida cops say

Lost hiker kept himself and dog warm by building fire with hand sanitizer and lighter
The man accused of shooting and killing a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor in August was deemed unfit to stand trial and referred to a mental health facility Monday.

Tailei Qi, a UNC Chapel Hill Ph.D. student who previously studied in Louisiana and Wuhan, China, allegedly shot and killed Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, inside Caudill Labs, a chemistry laboratory building on Aug. 28, 2023, prompting an hours-long campus lockdown until his arrest in a nearby town.

According to several reports, Qi was ruled "incapable in proceeding to trial" by reason of mental illness during a court proceeding on Monday.

UNC-CHAPEL HILL FACULTY MURDER: WHO IS SUSPECT TAILEI QI?

Suspect Tailei Qi appears in court after allegedly shooting and killing a UNC college professor in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on Aug. 29, 2023.

The first-degree murder charge came with the possibility of the death penalty, but the district attorney had said his office would not pursue the death penalty if Qi was convicted, WTVD reported.

UNC-Chapel Hill associate professor Zijie Yan "was a beloved colleague, mentor and friend to many on our campus," UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said in a statement. He was allegedly shot and killed by Ph.D. student Tailei Qi.

UNC-CHAPEL HILL SHOOTING SUSPECT TAILEI QI APPEARS IN COURT FOR FIRST TIME

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine ruled Monday that Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations and paranoia, engaged in self-harm while in detention, and showed behavior consistent with severe mental illness, according to The News & Observer.

Two separate mental health evaluations reportedly found that the suspect likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia, rendering him unable to cooperate with his legal counsel.

The judge ruled Monday that Qi will be committed to Central Regional Hospital in Butner, North Carolina.

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The court said doctors there must notify the district attorney if Qi's condition improves so that court proceedings may continue.





Original article source: UNC Chapel Hill accused shooter Tailei Qi found unfit for trial, referred to mental health facility
Team members work in the Alamo Regional Security Operations Center at Port San Antonio, which opened in late 2021. It was another indication of the growing importance of cybersecurity in Military City USA. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Data is a current battlefield for the U.S. military, and it was the subject of a conference this month in San Antonio that drew about 4,000 people. Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images A cybersecurity operation center simulation at the San Antonio Museum of Science and Technologies at Port San Antonio. Bob Owen/Staff photographer The San Antonio region is home to more than 16,500 cybersecurity professionals, the largest group in the U.S. outside of the Washington, D.C., region. Billy Calzada, San Antonio Express-News / Staff photographer

Securing the nations data and information is a center of gravity for the military today  and one in which San Antonios growing cybersecurity industry is playing a key role.

I would offer it is probably more important today than its ever been, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Robert J. Skinner, director of the Defense Information Systems Agency and commander of the Joint Force Headquarters-Department of Defense Information Network.

Skinner  whos responsible for maintaining and safeguarding the Defense Departments communications networks that support the president, secretary of defense, joint chiefs of staff and more than 200,000 military people across 150 countries  spoke at a San Antonio conference this month.

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About 4,000 people attended the annual Armed Forces Communications & Electronics Association conference hosted by the Alamo Chapter of the national nonprofit. Known as Alamo ACE, the event has run for 13 years in San Antonio, the city with the largest number of cyber professionals outside the D.C. region. Attendance was up from more than 3,000 a year ago.

The conferences theme, Enabling the High-End Fight, hinted at the dangerous realities of the world today. With an explosion of misinformation and disinformation from both foreign and domestic entities, it made clear that the protection and use of data is a growing priority for the military.

Target: The U.S.

In his remarks, Skinner cited a recent report that China has the worlds largest online disinformation operation  and its targeting the United States. The report didnt say against the department of defense or federal government, he said, but the nation itself.

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If that doesnt highlight the strategic importance of data, and what we do with data, how we turn that into information, how we turn that into intelligence, how we turn that into decision superiority, what does? Skinner said. Think about Russia, Ukraine and the conflict over in Europe and how important data is.

As an example of the importance of protecting data used in traditional warfare, he cited SpaceXs Starlink network of communications satellites that provides internet access to Ukrainians in their war with Russia.

He also spoke about the challenges of sharing data with allies in secure and safe ways that wont compromise the information. The systems to securely share information with partners are part and parcel to everything we do whether in competition, crisis or conflict, Skinner said. They require trust on all sides and continued protection.

He mentioned the ongoing Israel and Hamas crises and how people in his organizations have played roles in supporting more than 200 requests for access to U.S. satellite communication capabilities. Helping allies increase their bandwidth, he said, helps them communicate more freely and have the correct data.

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S.A.s cyber economy

The growing conference  featuring sessions with titles such as Data for the next fight, NSAs role in cybersecurity and collaboration and How the DOD benefits from AI  was a reminder of the citys increasing role in such issues.

Were a nexus for the country here, and its important because we have a growing cyber economy, said Chris Kinne, president of the Alamo chapter of the association. There are many, many businesses ranging from big, well-known, national defense firms to entrepreneurial startups that are one or two people working in their garages.

Outside of private businesses, thousands more government employees work in the cyber field across the area at NSA Texas and various organizations on Joint Base San Antonio, including the 16th Air Force and U.S. Army North. Theres also a growing cyber focus in local universities and schools.

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Ultimately, Kinne said, Alamo ACE is an opportunity for government, academia and industry to exchange ideas. His organization exists to create environments like this where people can participate in an ethical dialogue about national security issues.

In addition to speakers, breakout sessions and an exhibit hall, Alamo ACE hosted 20 high school and eight college teams from area campuses in a capture the flag exercise in which teams tried to hack one anothers computer systems.

There was also a high school robotics demonstration and competition in partnership with the nonprofit Cyber Texas.

And the organization presented $275,000 in scholarships to support STEM education and $125,000 to wounded warriors and military families.

I always enjoy reminding folks that this is our brain trust. This is our brand. This is our heritage, and its in our blood, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in remarks to open the conference. San Antonios cyber roots go far as far back as 1948 with military intelligence operations at Lackland Air Force Base.

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The man charged with killing his UNC professor has been found mentally ill and unfit to continue with court proceedings in the case.

Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of shooting Zijie Yan, a professor in UNCs Department of Applied Physical Sciences, on Aug. 28. Qi was charged the next day with first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property.

According to Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine, Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations and paranoia, engaged in self-harm while in detention and showed behavior consistent with severe mental illness.

Two separate evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia rendering him unable to cooperate with his legal counsel..

Grine also ruled during a Monday hearing that Qi will be committed to Central Regional Hospital for mental health treatment. If his condition improves, doctors there must notify the district attorney so that court proceedings can progress.

Qi has been held in the Orange County jail without bail since his arrest.

An autopsy released in November showed Yan was shot multiple times in his office in Caudill Labs on campus. Nine 9mm cartridge casings were found in Yans office, police said.

The shooting prompted law enforcement to lock down the campus, local schools and the surrounding area for three hours. It was one of two lockdowns announced as UNC students started the 2023-24 school year.

Worked on same research team

Qi, who earned his undergraduate degree from Wuhan University in China and a masters degree from Louisiana State University, started working in UNCs Applied Physical Sciences department last year. He was on the same research team as Yan, and his social media posts showed he was frustrated with what appeared to be conflicts in the lab.

Students rallied after Yans death for local and state action to stem gun violence, while UNC faculty called for a mental health task force to help graduate students with mental health issues.

Yans former academic adviser at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute mentioned in a Facebook post that Yan was having problems with one of his graduate students and had told department officials about the students mental health problems, The News & Observer previously reported.

UNC Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz also called for more action, including training for all faculty and staff in how to handle active shooter situations on campus. UNC does not require such training, although a 2020 audit recommended it, The N&O reported.

UNC Police Chief Brian James has said license plate readers and more surveillance cameras will be installed on campus.

State lawmakers have not acted in response to Yans shooting or the second incident involving a gun on campus, despite a Sept. 12 protest in Raleigh that packed a House gallery with UNC and N.C. A&T State University students and a rally on the legislative buildings lawn.

9mm handgun used in shooting

Prosecutors and law enforcement officials have not said how Qi obtained the 9mm handgun used in the shooting. The gun has not been recovered.

Qi was in the United States on a student visa, which would not have qualified him to legally purchase or possess firearms, Orange County District Attorney Jeff Nieman has said.

Federal law makes some exceptions, however, including for someone with a valid hunting license or permit. A foreign national who violates the law  and anyone who knowingly sells or gives that person a firearm  can be charged with a felony under federal law.

Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood told The N&O that Qi did not apply for a permit to buy a firearm before the state removed that requirement in March and also had not applied for a concealed carry permit.

Staff writers Dan Kane, Josh Shaffer and Korie Dean contributed to this report.
FILE - Law enforcement respond to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill campus in Chapel Hill, N.C., Aug. 28, 2023, after the university locked down and warned of an armed person on campus. Tailei Qi, a graduate student at the school charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser, has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Hannah Schoenbaum, File)

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)  The University of North Carolina graduate student charged with fatally shooting his faculty adviser has been found unfit for trial after two mental evaluations, a judge ruled Monday.

Tailei Qi, 34, is accused of killing associate professor Zijie Yan in a science building at the states flagship public university on Aug. 28. He is being held without bond on charges of first-degree murder and misdemeanor possession of a firearm on educational property.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Alyson Grine said Monday that two separate mental evaluations found Qi likely suffers from untreated schizophrenia.

Qi demonstrated delusional thinking, experienced auditory hallucinations, engaged in self-harm in the detention center, showed fragmented thought processes that impeded his communication," she said.

Severe mental illness has rendered him unable to comprehend his situation, assist in his legal defense and understand court proceedings, even with a Mandarin interpreter present, Grine said. She ruled Monday that Qi will be committed to Central Regional Hospital in Butner for psychological treatment. Doctors will be required to notify the Orange County district attorney if his condition improves.

An hourslong campus lockdown and police manhunt that resulted in Qi's arrest frightened students and faculty who had just returned to campus for the start of the fall semester. Chapel Hill police arrested Qi without force in a residential neighborhood near campus within two hours of the attack, UNC Police Chief Brian James said.

The campus locked down again two weeks later after police received a 911 call that someone had brandished a weapon in the student union.

An autopsy released earlier this month showed that Yan had been shot multiple times in his office in Caudill Labs. Police found nine 9mm cartridge casings scattered around his office, but they have not recovered the handgun used in the shooting. Prosecutors and police have not said how Qi  who was in the United States on a student visa and would not have qualified to purchase a firearm legally  obtained the gun.

Yan was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences who had worked for the university since July 2019. He led the Yan Research Group, which Qi joined last year, according to the groups UNC webpage. Students held a candlelit vigil for Yan and rallied for gun control measures after his death.

___

Hannah Schoenbaum 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.
FILE - Travelers walk through Miami International Airport ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023, in Miami. A record number of passengers traveled through U.S. airports over Thanksgiving weekend, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday, Nov. 27. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)

A record number of passengers traveled through U.S. airports over Thanksgiving weekend, the Transportation Security Administration said Monday.

The TSA said it screened just over 2.9 million passengers on Sunday, surpassing the previous record of 2.88 million set on June 30. That was 10% more than the Sunday after Thanksgiving last year.

Travel was relatively smooth despite the crowds. On Sunday, just 55 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were cancelled, according to FlightAware, a tracking service. Nearly 8,000 flights were delayed, including several hundred that were impacted by snow in Denver and Chicago.

Airlines were eager to avoid the meltdowns that marred travel last December, when severe winter storms knocked out thousands of flights and left millions of passengers stranded.

Southwest, which canceled nearly 17,000 flights last year, said it purchased additional deicing trucks and updated its crew-scheduling technology. The airline was under particular scrutiny; the government recently threatened to fine Southwest for failing to provide enough help to passengers who were stranded last year.

The government also stepped up operations, hiring more air traffic controllers and opening new air routes along the East Coast ahead of the holiday travel season, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said last week.

Brett Snyder, president of the airline industry blog Cranky Flier, said Thanksgiving was a remarkably good weekend for the countrys airlines.

Between Tuesday and Sunday, no airlines canceled more than 1% of their flights, he said.

Snyder said airlines have figured out that they need to increase staff ahead of the holidays. But mild weather in most of the country also helped, he said.
Jason Eaton was arrested in connection with the Burlington, Vermont shooting of three university students of Palestinian descent (HANDOUT)

An American man on Monday was charged with attempted murder in Vermont over the shooting of three men of Palestinian descent, in a crime authorities described as an act of hatred.

Vermont state attorney Sarah George said there was not yet sufficient evidence to support a hate crime enhancement of the charges against the suspect, identified as Jason Eaton, 48.

But "I do want to be clear," George told reporters in Burlington, the northeastern US city where the shooting occurred. "There is no question this was a hateful act."

Police said the gunman stepped off a front porch and -- "unprovoked" -- opened fire on the three college students as they walked together Saturday on a city block.

The attack comes during heightened tensions in the United States over the Israel-Hamas war. College campuses and other locations have seen mounting threats and incidents of violence including acts of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

President Joe Biden said he was "horrified" by the shooting of the students, who had gathered to observe the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

"There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period," Biden said in a statement.

The attack also prompted anger and shock among several US lawmakers.

Eaton was arrested Sunday, and appeared before a judge in a Burlington court on Monday. NBC reported he pleaded not guilty to the shootings.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad described how law enforcement agents encountered Eaton when they knocked on his apartment door, and he responded by saying "I've been waiting for you."

When the agents asked why, Eaton said "I would like a lawyer."

Authorities searched the premises and retrieved a weapon and ammunition that matched the shells recovered from the scene of the shooting.

- 'Domestic violent extremists' -

US Attorney General Merrick Garland warned Monday of increasing threats from "domestic violent extremists" amid growing attacks against minority groups, as he vowed a full investigation into the shooting.

"There is understandable fear," Garland said, as the United States experiences a "sharp increase" in threats and attacks against Jewish and Muslim communities since October 7, when Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip launched a deadly raid on Israel, sparking a brutal war.

Burlington police had earlier described the shooter as a white man with a handgun.

"Without speaking," police said, "he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot."

A police statement said two of the victims were in stable condition, and the third suffered "much more serious injuries." It said two are US citizens and one a legal resident.

Two of the young men were wearing keffiyehs, the traditional black and white Palestinian scarf.

All three victims were graduates of the Ramallah Friends School, a private Quaker school in the West Bank, and are now attending different universities in the northeastern United States.

"This was a crime fueled by hate," the families said in a statement.

"We welcome the decision by law enforcement and the Vermont Attorney Generals office to continue the investigation and pursuit of hate crimes charges.

"We believe a full investigation is likely to show our sons were targeted and violently attacked simply for being Palestinian."

mlm/caw/bgs
By Raphael Satter and Diane Bartz

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States, Britain and more than a dozen other countries on Sunday unveiled what a senior U.S. official described as the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are "secure by design."

In a 20-page document unveiled Sunday, the 18 countries agreed that companies designing and using AI need to develop and deploy it in a way that keeps customers and the wider public safe from misuse.

The agreement is non-binding and carries mostly general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering and vetting software suppliers.

Still, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, said it was important that so many countries put their names to the idea that AI systems needed to put safety first.

"This is the first time that we have seen an affirmation that these capabilities should not just be about cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs," Easterly told Reuters, saying the guidelines represent "an agreement that the most important thing that needs to be done at the design phase is security."

The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives - few of which carry teeth - by governments around the world to shape the development of AI, whose weight is increasingly being felt in industry and society at large.

In addition to the United States and Britain, the 18 countries that signed on to the new guidelines include Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore.

The framework deals with questions of how to keep AI technology from being hijacked by hackers and includes recommendations such as only releasing models after appropriate security testing.

It does not tackle thorny questions around the appropriate uses of AI, or how the data that feeds these models is gathered.

The rise of AI has fed a host of concerns, including the fear that it could be used to disrupt the democratic process, turbocharge fraud, or lead to dramatic job loss, among other harms.

Europe is ahead of the United States on regulations around AI, with lawmakers there drafting AI rules. France, Germany and Italy also recently reached an agreement on how artificial intelligence should be regulated that supports "mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct" for so-called foundation models of AI, which are designed to produce a broad range of outputs.

The Biden administration has been pressing lawmakers for AI regulation, but a polarized U.S. Congress has made little headway in passing effective regulation.

The White House sought to reduce AI risks to consumers, workers, and minority groups while bolstering national security with a new executive order in October.

(Reporting by Raphael Satter and Diane Bartz; Editing by Alexandra Alper and Deepa Babington)
Passing legislation to allocate U.S. aid to Ukraine and Israel by year's end would be "very difficult," House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) told Bloomberg on Nov. 26.

Read also: Biden to stress importance of supporting Ukraine in meeting with Xi  White House

According to Turner, the main point of contention in passing the bill requested by the White House in October lies in disagreements on amendments that mandate increased security measures at the southern U.S. border.

Congress is going to require that therell be laws changed to make certain that the border returns to its prior state, the congressman describes a precondition for the House approving the joint Ukraine-Israel aid bill.

I think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year and the impediment, currently, is the White House policy on the southern border.

The report notes that in absence of additional financing, the volume and pacing of U.S. assistance to Kyiv have already diminished.

Read also: Longtime Russian assistance to Hamas permitted latest brutal attack on Israel, Zelenskyy says

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) indicated in a letter that he aims to introduce a national security bill requested by the White House by Dec. 4, emphasizing aid to Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific as a critical year-end objective.

On Oct. 20, the White House sought nearly $106 billion from Congress for military aid funding for Ukraine and Israel.

Read also: Zelenskyy meets with US House of Representatives delegation in Kyiv

The House of Representatives, under new Speaker Mike Johnson, approved $14.3 billion for Israeli military aid on Nov. 2, excluding provisions for Ukraine.

Senate Democrats blocked separate aid for Israel on Nov. 7.

Read also: Biden security adviser warns US ability to help Ukraine shrinking weekly without aid approval from Congress

On Nov. 9, the Pentagon said aid to Ukraine would continue in small increments until Congress approves funding.

Congress is poised to vote on a Ukraine aid package worth $61 billion only if tied to border security measures, with possible approval by Christmas, as reported by NBC on Nov. 19.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen toward a US warship in the Gulf of Aden, after the US Navy responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker that had been seized by armed individuals, the US military said Sunday.

The tanker, identified as the Central Park, had been carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid when its crew called for help that they were under attack from an unknown entity, the US Central Command said in a statement.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that under international maritime norms and laws, when there is a distress signal, all vessels in the vicinity, are required to come and help and support. Though Ryder added that there were three Chinese Navy vessels in the vicinity that did not respond.

Supposedly, those ships are there as part of a counter-piracy mission, he said. But they did not respond.

The incident comes after Iran-backed Houthi forces launched numerous attacks against US interests in the region, and Israel, since the October 7 Hamas attacks, as fears continue to ripple across the region that the Israel-Hamas war could widen.

The Houthis are a Shia political and military organization in Yemen that have been fighting a civil war in the country against a coalition backed by Saudi Arabia. They have voiced support for the Palestinians and organized protests in Yemen against Israels offensive in Gaza.

Ryder told reporters on Monday that initial indications showed the attackers, who are currently being held on the Mason, are Somali.

The USS Mason, a guided-missile destroyer, and allied ships from a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia responded to the call for help and demanded release of the vessel upon arrival, Central Command said.

Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat, said the statement posted on social media platform X.

The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender, the statement added.

The individuals attempted to access and take control of the ship, but when the combined task force responded they essentially fled. Ryder said a Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) team from the Mason pursued the attackers and detained them, before going back to the Mason, clearing the ship and making contact with the crew ensuring they were safe.

Less than two hours after the Navys VBSS team cleared the Central Park  at 1:41 a.m. local time on Monday  two ballistic missiles were fired from areas controlled by Houthi rebels in Yemen toward the general location of the USS Mason and Central Park, the statement said.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships, the statement said.

The Mason was finishing its response to the Central Parks distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from the Central Park or the Mason as a result, it added.

Ryder declined on Monday to say if the missiles were believed to be targeting the Mason and Central Park. He said that while the Mason was tracking the missiles, they did not attempt to shoot them down and they landed harmlessly in the water.

A statement from UK-based Zodiac Maritime, which manages the Central Park, said Sunday the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker was safe and all of the crew, the vessel, and cargo are unharmed.

The tanker appears to have links to an Israeli-owned company; Zodiac Maritime is listed as a business belonging to Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Ofer Global, though a spokesperson speaking on behalf of Zodiac Maritime, Janni Jarvinen, said Sunday that Zodiac is not owned by Ofer Global.

Gen. Erik Kurilla, commander of US Central Command, said in the statement on Sunday that maritime domain security is essential to regional stability.

We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes, Kurilla said.

Since Hamas attack on Israel, the US has emphasized the priority of avoiding the conflict from spilling over into a broader conflict in the region, as US forces in Iraq and Syria have also been under regular attack by Iranian-backed groups. Among the groups Tehran supports, the Houthis are of particular concern as they are more independent of Iran than some others.

Despite the escalation of attacks in the region, however, CNN reported previously that intelligence showed Iran and its proxies have been thus far calibrating their responses to avoid direct conflict with US or Israel.

But, over the last several weeks, the US has intercepted a number of cruise missiles and attack drones fired by the Houthis toward Israel or US assets. Last week, the USS Thomas Hudner shot down multiple one-way attack drones launched from Yemen while it was patrolling in the Red Sea. On November 15, the Hudner also shot down a drone believed to have been heading toward the ship. Earlier this month, the Israeli military said it thwarted an aerial attack of ballistic missiles and drones launched against targets in Israel.

Houthi naval forces renewed a warning in a statement last week to ships in the Red Sea flying the Israeli flag, managed by Israeli companies or owned by Israelis.

The group declared its intent to persist in military operations against Israeli ships and interests until Israels aggression against Gaza stops.

The statement warned any military units providing protection to Israeli ships, stating that they would be considered legitimate targets for Houthi operations.

Ryder said Monday that the Pentagon still assesses that the Israel-Hamas conflict has not yet spread into the region despite the recent attacks.

We largely see the conflict contained between Israel and Hamas. Thats not to say that you havent seen Iranian proxies attempt to take advantage to further their own goals, Ryder said.

In the case of Iraq and Syria, you know, weve known that these groups for a long time have wanted to see us forces depart. But  no, we do not see that this has become a regional conflict. Although again, tensions are high, and its something that were taking seriously and attempting to ensure does not happen.

This is a developing story and has been updated with additional information.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
FILE PHOTO: Signage is seen outside of FDA headquarters in White Oak, Maryland

By Pratik Jain and Christy Santhosh

(Reuters) -The U.S. health regulator on Monday approved SpringWorks Therapeutics' drug for treating adult patients with desmoid tumors, making it the first approved treatment for this type of non-cancerous soft-tissue growth.

Shares of the company were up about 18% after the bell.

The company expects the monotherapy nirogacestat, branded as Ogsiveo, to be available in the United States within 10 days of approval, CEO Saqib Islam had told Reuters ahead of the Food and Drug Administration's decision.

The FDA approval was supported by data from a late-stage trial, which tested 142 adults with progressing desmoid tumors, where the treatment showed a 71% lower risk of disease progression or death compared to placebo.

After two years, there was no evidence of tumors getting worse in 76% of people who received Ogsiveo, compared with 44% of people who received a placebo.

People treated with Ogsiveo also reported reduced pain and improved physical functioning, the data showed.

The drug works by blocking the activity of an enzyme called gamma secretase that helps activate a signaling protein called Notch, that is believed to drive the growth of desmoid tumors.

TD Cowen analyst Yaron Werber estimates a slow and gradual launch for the therapy, that would build especially as patients can stand therapy for a long period of time.

The brokerage estimates U.S. sales of $3 million in 2023 and $79 million in 2024 and peak sales of $544 million in 2032.

"(We are) positive that payers will recognize the value that Ogsiveo brings to patients and provide coverage," CEO Islam said.

Desmoid tumors are rare, abnormal non-cancerous growths that occur in connective tissues and are associated with a high rate of recurrence.

An estimated 1,650 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with desmoid tumors each year, according to data from the National Institutes of Health.

(Reporting by Pratik Jain and Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Shailesh Kuber)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien has said a report by Bild tabloid suggesting that Washington and Berlin aim to push Ukraine into talks with Russia is untrue, Reuters reported on Nov. 27.

"We have always said that Ukraine should decide on this matter," O'Brien said.

Read also: Slowing arms supplies could force Ukraine into negotiations with Russia, Lithuania warns

The German federal government also denied the claims made in Bild's report, saying that Berlin "firmly stands by Ukraine."

"Since the beginning of Russia's aggressive war, the United States and Germany have been committed to ending Russian aggression and achieving a just peace in Ukraine, the government stated.

This cannot be an imposed peace... We will support Ukraine as much as necessary to protect it against Russian aggression."

Read also: US and China will lead peace negotiations, not Putin, as Russias dependency on China grows  says Ukrainian diplomat

Bild, citing an unnamed source in German government circles, reported on Nov. 24 that the United States and Germany want to force Ukraine into negotiations with Russia by reducing arms supplies.

U.S. news channel NBC reported that U.S. and European officials began privately discussing the possibility of "peaceful negotiations" with Russia on Nov. 4. The EU and the United States later denied this.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy implemented the National Security and Defense Council's decision to prohibit negotiations with Putin on Sept. 30. This was in response to the attempted annexation of Ukrainian territories.

Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov reiterated on Oct. 21 that there would be no negotiations with Russia as long as it continues to occupy Ukrainian territories.

President Zelenskyy also stated the impossibility of negotiations with Russia, emphasizing that Putin does not want peace.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
This weekend has been a busy time for the Iranian-backed Houthis of Yemen. Not content with their precarious but ultimately successful helicopter-enabled hijack of the MV Galaxy Leader and her 25 crew last week, they have now doubled down, attempting to hijack another vessel and then firing ballistic missiles at the US Navy warship which drove off the attack.

This failed hijacking was of the Liberian-flagged Central Park, owned by Zodiac Maritime which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. The ships cargo is phosphoric acid, used in production of fertilisers.

In between the successful and the failed hijacking (or acts of piracy if you would prefer), the Houthis fired a Shaheed-136 drone at container ship CMA CGM Symi in the Indian Ocean which damaged the ship but no crew were hurt.

These three events deviate from their previous attacks in a couple of important ways. First, this is the first time the US Navy has been directly targeted by Houthi missiles since 7 October  previous engagements and intercepts in the Red Sea were all categorised as crossing targets, i.e. meant for someone else. This will change the US metric on self-defence.

Second, the Houthi area of operations is expanding further from their home in North-western Yemen. The closest port in this instance, Aden, is controlled by the legitimate Yemeni government, not the Houthis. They clearly continue to grow in confidence as their Iranian technical and intelligence support increases. This has resource implications for anyone choosing to address it.

But lets get back to the failed hijacking. Being a former escort captain myself, I can well imagine the story from the point of view of USS Masons commanding officer.

The tanker, MV Central Park, had left the Red Sea and was transiting the Gulf of Aden. The tanker crew had been on high alert since the Galaxy Leader incident and had their Automatic Identification System (AIS) switched off to make themselves harder to find.

United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, an information and warning service for merchant ships, warned shipping in the area of approaches by two black and white craft carrying eight people in military clothing. The Central Park was then boarded 35 miles south of Yemen, 50 miles east of Djibouti and 70 miles northeast of Somalia.

On being boarded, the crew retreated to the ships citadel, a fortified safe compartment which it is difficult for attackers to gain access to. Establishment and use of citadels was a major anti-piracy lesson of the last ten or so years: it prevents attackers from taking the crew hostage and makes things much simpler for responding naval or military forces. The crew then put out a distress call. Ships of the regional counter-piracy task force (TF 151), USS Mason and Japanese destroyer Akebono, responded.

As a side note, three ships of the 45th Naval Escort Task Force of the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) were also in the area and did not respond. This is absolutely not the same as being actively involved, which some are already suggesting.

At this point, things for the captain of the USS Mason would have become busy.

The first thing is to establish an accurate location. Hopefully this came in the initial Mayday call but if not, find out where they are, and therefore how quickly you (and your helicopter) can get there. You wouldnt relay that information back to them as its too useful to the hijackers, but you would want to reassure them that you are now closing at best speed.

You need more information on the nature of and timing of the boarding. How many, what are they armed with, what communications have you had etc. Youd want confirmation of the situation on board. If the attackers have hostages, the situation becomes much more complex and a normal warship crew would not normally be allowed to deal with it: any boarding of a vessel with hostages held aboard is normally a job for Special Forces, who will seldom be present aboard a normal warship.

Then its a call to your Marine Engineering Officer, I need every engine you have, without limitations. You think youre being punchy: the engineers think youre being overdramatic, and besides they were probably doing it anyway.

Next, its a chat with your Flight Commander, how quickly can you get airborne armed with these weapons and then some quick speed-times-distance on the electronic chart to agree on the best place to launch. You want to throw the helicopter out in front of you to get early eyes-on so that they report back what they can see and react accordingly. The earlier conversation with the merchant ships master about what the attackers were armed with pays dividends here  you can now decide on your helicopters approach limitations.

Given the missile threat in the area and that you are now rushing at full speed and therefore blind on sonar, a chat with your Operations Officer will be in order about taking the ship to Action Stations, the highest state of readiness. You want everyone up, weapons ready and all sensors pointing at the boarded vessel and all around.

All of this happens in the first five minutes including a quick address to the ships company to let them know what is going on.

Houthi commanders aboard the captured ship Galaxy Leader, seized on 22 November. The Houthis have threatened shipping with Israeli connections following the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war - Houthi handout/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

In this case, it appears that a combination of not being able to reach the crew and hearing the chatter from the approaching the US and Japanese warships was enough to spook the hijackers. They scarpered in a skiff, heading at best speed for Yemen  their promise of glory fading with every wave taken in the face as they tried to outrun an armed helicopter.

If they didnt give up at this point, a short burst of small arms fire in front of the skiff would have done the trick. Royal Navy warships on anti-pirate duty seldom have full-blown Special Forces aboard  there arent enough of those to go round  but they often have Royal Marine snipers who can disable small boat engines from the back of the helicopter if shots across the bow dont work. They usually do.

Boats are then launched to recover the hijackers whilst the captain calls the operational commander in Bahrain and asks what to do with them. This can be problematic, as seen during previous counter piracy operations in the area, and they may be on board for some time. Sooner or later, your purser is going to ask if hell get an extra allowance to pay for their food, only partly in jest.

So now you have boats in the water, people on the upper deck to recover them and process the detainees and a helicopter ranged on deck. You also have a skiff to deal with  you cant just leave that floating around a busy shipping lane. You are just considering relaxing from Action Stations when someone blows a whistle to indicate that two ballistic missiles are heading your way.

This is the perfect time to attack. The ship is in no state to conduct anti-ship missile defence. Youve got minutes to recover the boats and get everyone off the upper deck, including the helicopter, before you need to start firing countermeasures and your own missiles.

Maritime snipers of the Royal Marines in the door of a Royal Navy helicopter. Such snipers can often stop small boats without harm to the crew, a useful capability in operations against hijackers such as the Houthis of Yemen - Anthony Upton

Fortunately, in this case, the missiles were poorly aimed and splashed harmlessly about ten miles short. The USS Mason, as she did in 2016 during her last brush with the Houthis, lived to fight another day.

So what might we see next?

Militarily there are three broad options. First, conduct counter-Houthi operations now  destroy missile launchers, radar stations, headquarters, port infrastructure etc. The US Navy has so many options in this regard already in theatre that many, myself included, are surprised it hasnt happened already. Action against targets ashore has taken place during previous episodes when the Houthis got out of hand and needed to be put back in their box. Now, US forces having been targeted directly, US Central Command may feel it has good enough reason to do so. Its true that the Dwight D Eisenhower carrier group has now left the Houthis neighbourhood, passing through the Straits of Hormuz into the Gulf, but US has plenty of other ships and options remaining.

Second, re-energise the counter-piracy operations which took place off the Horn of Africa from circa 2008 to 2016. Many of these systems and command structures are still in place and being used, just at a reduced tempo. It sounds like basic measures such as citadels and counter boarding measures have been quickly reintroduced post Galaxy Leader which is good. More proactive counter-measures will be considered  there is no doubt that the Galaxy Leader hijack could have been prevented by an armed security team of the sort that was often deployed during the heyday of the Somali pirates, when they were operating from the other side of the water.

Third, do nothing proactive. Deter, defend, de-escalate and conduct diplomacy, assisting with intelligence sharing and advice where possible. This seems to have been the posture so far  time will tell if this latest attack changes anything.

From a commercial perspective these activities are already having an effect. Two ships with Israeli connections, the Glovis Star and the Hermes Leader have significantly altered their routes since. Lloyds List reports at least two more, unnamed for now, have followed suit. Insurance premiums will be affected soon  presumably a desired Iranian outcome.

Economically it is worth remembering that whilst the military activity at sea to counter the Somali piracy helped, it was disrupting the criminals funding that proved decisive in the end. In this case, Iranian sanctions are already in place but there will be plans afoot to disrupt the economic model between them and the Houthis that might now be accelerated.

Finally, the strategy of it all. It is hard to determine when it comes to the Houthis who is pulling which strings and at what level. There is no doubt that Iran are providing them with equipment and intelligence but how actively they are instructing them to act on it is less clear.

Either way, all three of the military responses carry resource implications. As various US warship deployments are extended in the region and the UK discusses sending a Type 45 destroyer to the Red Sea, those who thrive on disruption and chaos  and there are a few  will be delighted with the role that the Houthis are playing. Regardless of the temporary cessation of hostilities ashore, the maritime component of the Gaza conflict is still very much underway.

Tom Sharpe is a former Royal Navy officer and warship captain

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Dr. Leonard Lawrence, a trailblazer in San Antonios medical and Black communities, died Nov. 23 following a series of medical issues. He was 86. JOHN DAVENPORT/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS Dr. Leonard Lawrence, a trailblazer in San Antonios medical and Black communities, died Nov. 23 following a series of medical issues. He was 86. Staff Photo Leonard Lawrence, right, is shown with Dolph Briscoe in a 1991 photo. Jose Barrera/San Antonio Express-News Guest of honor Jim Lehrer, from left, is shown with Nancy Loeffler, Alamo Public Telecommunications Council board member; and Dr. Leonard Lawrence, board chairman, at a 1991 KLRN-TV reception. Mario Villafuerte/San Antonio Light Dr. Leonard Lawrence is shown with Veronica Boldt, co chair; Mertie Wood, president of the Ecumenical Center; Leslie Kingman, honoree; and Nancy Torgerson, co chair, at a 2008 Ecumenical Center gala. LELAND A. OUTZ/SPECIAL TO THE EXPRESS-NEWS

Michael Lawrence usually knew what his father, Leonard Lawrence, wanted even before the psychiatrist and community leader said a single word.

When he was in high school, for instance, Michael got accepted to the University of Notre Dame and the U.S. Naval Academy. Prestigious schools both, but unlike at Notre Dame, tuition to the Naval Academy was free.

My father didnt say anything, but I kind of got the message that, you know, Notre Dames nice but   Michael recalled recently with a laugh.

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Leonard Lawrence, a trailblazer in San Antonios medical and Black communities  and someone who could communicate with few words  died Thursday after a series of medical issues. He was 86.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, Lawrence earned his medical degree from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

He met his future wife, Barbara, while still in medical school when he asked her to dance at a social event they were attending.

However, Lenny, as he was known, apparently had been imbibing in some adult beverages at the time, so she refused.

He said, If you wont dance with me, Ill dance with this pretty lady sitting here, Barbara recalled. And that was my mother, who was with me at the time. And I said, Oh, no, no, no, Ill dance with you.

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The couple married in 1962 and had three children.

CARY CLACK: Your inner light can brighten a world going dark

Upon joining the Air Force as a general medical officer in 1963, Lawrences interest in child psychiatry was sparked when he began to see kids he described as having emotional problems that manifested as organic symptoms.

He soon became the first person the military ever sponsored in child psychiatry. Later, he was given the choice between two of the Air Forces child guidance clinics, one in Wiesbaden, Germany, the other at Wilford Hall in San Antonio.

Because hed minored in German in college, he requested the Wiesbaden posting. Instead, his superiors decided that the then-small German town of New Braunfels was close enough and shipped him off to San Antonio.

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After leaving the Air Force, he joined the faculty at San Antonios new medical school, expecting to be there only a year or so. He stayed for 33 years, serving as dean of students for 24 of those years before retiring in 2005 from the school, now known as the Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

As a teacher, Lawrence was known by students as being tough but fair  so long as they didnt lie to him. They knew he had a well-tuned BS detector.

His son Michael, an anesthesiologist, says several of his colleagues have told him that, as students, their biggest fear was being summoned into Dr. Lawrences office for doing something wrong.

Leonard Lawrence also served in a variety of high-profile volunteer positions. He was president of the National Medical Association, often described as the Black version of the American Medical Association.

He was also the first Black man to serve as chairman of a number of local organizations, including the United Way, KLRN-TV, the San Antonio Area Foundation and the Texas Youth Commission, which oversees juvenile correction facilities throughout the state.

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He was enlisted to help set up a mental health services program for youth on the citys predominantly Black East Side.

Although Lawrence moved easily through the corridors of power, both in San Antonio and elsewhere, he was well aware that he was a Black man in a white society. His views on race were forged in part by the story of his grandmother, a diabetic, who once was left out on a gurney in a hospital hallway, according to his sister Lynda Browne.

THE STORYTELLER: Granddaddy passed down the magical art of spinning tales

And she heard one of the doctors say, Oh, shes just a Black woman, Browne said. Only he didnt use those words. Lenny was very aware of inequality, but he never held back. He could be sitting at a table and be the only Black person there, and hed still tell it like it is.

According to his wife, Lawrence didnt deliberately set out to be a trailblazer. It was all because of his innate skills.

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Circumstances put him in positions that, because of his capabilities and his intelligence and his ability to interact with other people, led him to be respected, she said. From one organization to another, he was drawn in and asked to help.

And he was charming, added his daughter, Courtney Lawrence. He could walk into a room not knowing anybody  and before you knew it, thered be a crowd of people around him.

But he also didnt mince words, according to family members. If there was an issue that needed to be discussed, hed address it head on.

That was also how he dealt with his family.

He was somewhat less charming with us, Courtney Lawrence said with a wry grin.

As the family patriarch, he had high expectations for his children. One was that they had four years to complete college; if they needed more time, they were on their own.

When Courtney Lawrence spent a semester in Rome, she fell behind on her studies and needed an extra semester to get her degree in order to apply to medical school.

In that instance, that was allowed because shed been unable to take any science classes while she was in Europe, Barbara Lawrence said.

Even Dr. Lawrence would make the occasional exception.

Visitation is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Friday at Lewis Funeral Home, 811 W.W. White Road, with the funeral at 11 a.m. Saturday at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, 1819 Nevada St., and interment at 11:15 a.m. Dec 5 at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Road.
Mike Turner, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, said on Nov. 26 that new aid for Ukraine and Israel "will be difficult to pass before the end of the year," Bloomberg reported.

"I think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year, and the impediment, currently, is the White House policy on the southern border," Turner said, as quoted by Bloomberg.

Turners comment comes amid 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.

According to Bloombergs report, "Congressional Republicans are seeking to link their approval for the foreign military assistance to stricter border policies," after U.S. President Joe Biden signed a bill extending US government funding into early next year, but leaving the issue of continued aid for Ukraine unaddressed.

On Nov. 20, however, Biden approved a new military aid package for Ukraine worth up to $100 million.

The new package includes Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), 155-mm and 105-mm artillery shells, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, and over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Austin visits Kyiv, US announces new $100 million military aid package

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The United States, along with 17 other countries, unveiled an international agreement that aims to keep artificial intelligence (AI) systems safe from rogue actors and urges providers to follow secure by design principles.

The 20-page document, jointly published Sunday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the United Kingdoms National Security Centre, provides a set of guidelines to ensure AI systems are built to function as intended without leaking sensitive data to unauthorized users.

Broken down into four sections, the guidelines lay out recommendations that can be taken during each step of the process, from AI system design and development to its deployment and maintenance. The guidelines generally discuss threats to AI systems, the protection of AI-related assets like models and data, the responsible release of AI systems, and the importance of monitoring such systems after they are released.

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Other countries featured in the agreement include Australia, Canada, Chile, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Nigeria, Poland and Singapore.

While the agreement is nonbinding and includes more general recommendations for AI providers, Jen Easterly, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, told Reuters the guidelines represent the importance of prioritizing the safety of AI systems.

This is the first time that we have seen an affirmation that these capabilities should not just be about cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs, Easterly told the news outlet.

The race to deploy AI systems has accelerated in the past year among tech firms, though lawmakers and some tech leaders have expressed concerns over the risk of uncontrolled AI development.

Last month, the Biden administration issued a sweeping executive order on AI focused on managing the risks of AI. The order includes new standards of safety, worker protection principles, along with directing federal agencies to accelerate the development of techniques so AI systems can be trained while preserving the privacy of training data.

The order will also evaluate how agencies collect and use commercially available information with personal data, along with introducing a tool to expand grants for AI research in areas like health care and climate change.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Residential buildings, destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, lie in ruin, in Gaza City

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. said on Monday that after Hamas' assault on Israel last month, it and several allied nations established an international task force aimed countering the flow of money to the militant Palestinian group and supporting anti-terrorism efforts.

THE TAKE

Since 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7 attack, the U.S., UK and allies have sought to cut off funding for Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist group by Washington and other governments.

CONTEXT

The task force will enhance sharing of financial intelligence on terrorist-financing related matters and will discuss best practices and opportunities for additional actions and partnerships, the U.S. Treasury Department said in a statement.

It will also strengthen relations between the financial intelligence units, public authorities and the private sector to address the threat, the statement said.

The task force is made up of financial intelligence units from Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Germany, Israel, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Switzerland, the UK and the U.S. as well as other units.

Since the Oct. 7 attack, Washington has imposed several rounds of sanctions on Hamas. It has targeted the group's investment portfolio and issued an alert to financial institutions on countering Hamas financing while senior officials have discussed the group's access to funds on trips abroad.

KEY QUOTE

"The Oct. 7 terror attacks on Israel served as a grave reminder of a core mission of our FIUs: to detect, disrupt and prevent the financing of terrorism," the statement said.

(Reporting by Daphne Psaledakis; Editing by David Gregorio)
The U.S. Senate will hold a vote on President Joe Biden's billion-dollar aid request for Ukraine and Israel as early as Dec. 4, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a letter to senators Nov. 26.

"I intend to bring the Presidents national security supplemental package to the floor as soon as the week of December 4th," Schumer said.

He also said the "biggest holdup" in passing the security assistance package was the Republican's party's demand that Ukraine funding be tied to U.S. border policy.

"This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities," Schumer said in the letter.

Mike Turner, chairman of the U.S. House Intelligence Committee, said on Nov. 26 that conflict over border policy would likely prevent the aid bill from passing before the end of 2023.

Congressional Republicans are lobbying for enhanced restrictions at the U.S.-Mexico border, and have said they will only consider funding for Ukraine if the bill includes border security provisions.

Amid Republican stonewalling and congressional turmoil, Biden signed two emergency funding bills that included no aid for Ukraine.

Schumer's announcement sets a deadline for negotiations in the Senate.

"Negotiations between Democrats and Republicans have continued through the Thanksgiving holiday. We will need bipartisan cooperation and compromise to achieve a reasonable, realistic agreement that both sides can support," he said.

Biden's latest security assistance request earmarks over $61 billion in funding for Ukraine.

Read also: We cant allow Putin to prevail, says Speaker Johnson after being elected, but his track record says opposite

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to hold a vote on U.S. President Joe Bidens request for billions in assistance for Ukraine and Israel as soon as the week of Dec. 4, news website Politico reported on Nov. 26.

Schumer's statement puts pressure on lawmakers to come up with a border security deal that can pair with assistance for U.S. allies, says the publication.

Senate Republicans are seeking border security policy changes as part of any supplemental spending bill.

Schumer called this demand the "biggest holdup" to delivering new funds to Ukraines defense against Russia and Israels war with Hamas.

This has injected a decades-old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities, Schumer said in a Dear Colleague letter to senators.

The Democratic leader said his 51-member caucus was ready to work on common-sense solutions to address immigration but warned that if the GOP took too hard a line, it could jeopardize the entire supplemental bill.

Schumer's effort to hold a vote in the Senate early in December gives negotiations in the Senate a deadline. This could be beneficial, Politico believes, because Congress has twice passed spending bills this fall that leave out Ukraine aid, and things will only grow tougher in the new year.

Nothing would make autocrats like Putin or Xi happier right now than to see the United States waver in our support for the Ukrainian people and its military, Schumer wrote in his letter, referring to the leaders of Russia and China.

This is not just about Ukrainian or Transatlantic security, its about American security as well, because an unchecked Putin would be an emboldened Putin.

Read also: US spent 96% of allocated funds for supporting Ukraine  White House

He also said there would be an all-senators briefing on Ukraine in the coming days.

Mike Turner, US Congress House Intelligence Committee chairman, expressed doubts on Nov. 26 that congressmen would approve funding for Ukraine and Israel by the end of 2023.

It was revealed on Nov. 19 that the U.S. Congress would vote on a $61 billion support package for Ukraine only in conjunction with measures to strengthen the U.S.-Mexican border.

In October, the White House requested nearly $106 billion from the U.S. Congress for Ukraine, Israel, and other priority areas. However, Congress split the project into two packages.

On Nov. 2, the U.S. House of Representatives, led by new Speaker Mike Johnson, passed a bill to provide military aid to Israel totaling $14.3 billion. The bill does not include any aid for Ukraine.

On Nov. 3, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that the United States has begun sending smaller packages of military aid to Ukraine to continue to support it while Congress is in a "stalemate" over funding.

Read also: US has clear plan to help Ukraine defend itself against Russian invasion, Blinken says

U.S. Senate blocked a Republican proposal to provide U.S. military assistance to Israel separately from aid to Ukraine, Reuters reported on Nov. 7.

Until Congress approves funding, aid to Ukraine will be provided in small packages, the Pentagon said on Nov. 9.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted on Nov. 15 to support a bill for the extension of temporary government funding to prevent a possible shutdown without additional aid to Israel or Ukraine.

On Nov. 17, President Joe Biden signed a bill to temporarily fund the government without additional aid to Ukraine and Israel to avoid a shutdown.

The United States could delay military aid to Ukraine until mid-December or later, Bloomberg reported.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
The US State Department is optimistic about the prospects for Congress's approval of additional funding for Ukraine.

Source: James O'Brien, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, on a briefing on Monday; European Pravda

Quote: "On Ukraine, were optimistic about a U.S. supplemental package."

Details: O'Brien noted that the Senate is preparing to make a decision on the package "in the next several weeks", and in the US House of Representatives, "there is substantial majorities in the House that are supportive of a supplemental that will provide crucial security aid to Israel, Taiwan, and Ukraine, along with potentially addressing other crucial issues, such as migration."

"Obviously, any political process is not done until its done, but we do think there are substantial majorities in favor of the package  should come to a vote in the Senate and the House," O'Brien added.

In September, the White House asked Congress to approve a US$106 billion supplemental funding package that includes more than US$61 billion in funding for Ukraine along with assistance to Israel, Taiwan, and funding for border security.

But the initiative was stalled by the opposition of far-right Republicans in the House of Representatives, whose new speaker, Mike Johnson, proposed splitting assistance to Ukraine and Israel.

Earlier, it was reported that Chuck Schumer, the majority leader in the US Senate, plans to hold a vote regarding President Joe Biden's request for billions of dollars in assistance to Ukraine and Israel as early as next week.

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Community members wave to the crew aboard the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw during a send-off party held at the Cheboygan County Marina on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. The ship and crew were destined for Chicago with 1,200 Christmas trees aboard.

CHEBOYGAN  Santa Claus joined the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw on Sunday, Nov. 26 as they embarked on a journey through the Straits of Mackinac and Lake Michigan to Chicago with 1,200 Christmas trees on board.

The community gathered at the Cheboygan County Marina at 2 p.m. to support the local service members and wave goodbye as they departed. About 50 spectators, including friends and family of the crew, gathered along the water to view the ship, bid farewell to the crew and catch a glimpse of Santa Clause in what is, for many, an annual tradition.

A spectator views the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw from a dock at the Cheboygan County Marina on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023.

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More: Christmas Tree Ship sets sail on annual voyage

Rosie the Riveter, portrayed by Angie Morthland, vice president of the Cheboygan and Emmet chapter of the American Rosie the Riveter Association, volunteered with others to distribute cookies and hot chocolate to those in attendance.

Santa Claus signals to community members attending the send-off party to cover their ears before the ship's horn sounds Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023.

Angie Morthland, vice president of the American Rosie the Riveter Association Cheboygan and Emmet chapter, waves as she distributes cookies and hot chocolate to visitors attending the U.S. Coast Guard's send-off party for the Cutter Mackinaw at the Cheboygan County Marina on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023.

A fresh layer of snow blanketed the Christmas trees, stacked on the deck at the ship's stern, and also provided ammunition for snowball fights among the children watching from the marina.

The Christmas Tree Ship tradition dates back to the Rouse Simmons, a three-masted schooner that sank in a storm on Lake Michigan in 1912 with a cargo of Christmas trees. According to christmasship.org, the Mackinaw is expected to arrive in Chicago on Dec. 1 with its cargo, which will then be distributed to families throughout Chicago.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: USCG Mackinaw makes annual Christmas trip to Chicago
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  The price for a gallon of gas in the Beehive State has finally fallen below the national average as gas prices continue a steady year-long decline.

According to gas pricing data from auto-insurance company AAA, Utahs national average gas price fell to an average of $3.22 a gallon for regular-grade fuel on Monday, Nov. 27. Meanwhile, the price of diesel has fallen to $4.18 per gallon.

Heres the top cheeseburger joint in Utah, according to Yelp

Utahs gas prices, while lower than the national average, are still comparable. AAA reports the nations average for gas is $3.25 per gallon for regular and $4.22 for diesel. Even with Utahs prices seeing a steady decline, not every corner of the Beehive State is experiencing relief.

AAA reports counties along the Wasatch Front and in the northwest corner are seeing the greatest relief with prices averaging $2.93 in Tooele County and $3.18 in Davis County. In Southern Utah, however, prices are still higher than the national average. An average gallon of regular gas in Garfield County is reportedly $3.58 and $3.80 in Grand County.

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The trend for Utahs lowering prices at the pump matches a year-long trend of declining prices. According to AAA data, Utahs average price for a gallon of regular gas a year ago was $3.92, well above the then $3.55 national average. Just within the last month, Utahs regular gas prices fell over 50 cents from $3.77 per gallon.

The price for a gallon of diesel has dropped dramatically in Utah over the last year. AAA data reports last year Utahs average for diesel was $5.73 a gallon. In the year since it has dropped well over a dollar to $4.18.

Still, while below the national average, Utah is still among the more expensive states across the nation. According to AAA, Utah is the 21st most expensive state for a regular gallon of gas. California remains the most expensive with a gallon of regular gas averaging $4.90 for drivers.

Looking to escape high gas prices? Youll have to make your way to Texas, where a regular gallon of gas will cost you an average of $2.70, the lowest average in the nation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Rescue operations have been going on for over a fortnight in Uttarakhand

Authorities are working on new ways to reach the 41 Indian workers trapped inside a tunnel in Uttarakhand state after the main rescue plan suffered a major delay.

Until now, rescuers were drilling a hole horizontally through the rocks to allow the men to crawl through.

But the operation was halted after the drilling machine broke down on Friday.

The workers have been stuck for two weeks after a part of the tunnel collapsed due to a landslide.

The operation has been challenging from the beginning, mainly due to the presence of falling boulders, loose soil and metal inside the tunnel.

On Friday, the rescuers seemed to be making steady progress when the drilling machine broke down inside the tunnel after getting stuck on pieces of metal that have been mixed in with the debris.

The machine was completely removed on Monday morning.

In the meantime, rescuers have started to dig vertically into the tunnel to carve an alternative route for the trapped men.

Officials say they are also exploring other techniques, including manual digging, to reach them faster.

Vertical drilling

As per the plan, the rescuers will try to reach the workers from the top of the hill in Silkyara of Uttarakashi district, under which the tunnel was being constructed.

Officials have already created access roads and platforms to reach the top.

The rescuers will have to drill 86m (282 feet) downward to reach the workers - that's nearly double the distance of the horizontal route (46.6m).

By Monday morning, authorities had managed to dig 31m into the tunnel.

A boring machine is being used to drill a vertical hole into the collapsed tunnel

Mahmood Ahmed, a senior official at the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation, which is leading the rescue operations, said that at the given pace, the rescue operations could be completed in another 100 hours "if no other hurdle comes our way".

If the process is completed smoothly, the workers will be pulled out in buckets through the vertical hole, according to The Hindu newspaper.

Officials say that bad weather, with approaching thunderstorms and the possibility of snowfall in the Himalayan region, could complicate the process - but add that they are prepared to deal with the situation.

Perpendicular drilling

Until now, authorities had been working to send multiple pipes of differing widths through the estimated 60m (197ft) debris wall to create a micro-tunnel through which the workers could be wheeled out on stretchers.

Now, they are also planning to drill 180m perpendicular to the main site of drilling to create an alternate route to reach the workers.

Army personnel are helping with the rescue efforts

A platform was erected on Sunday to mount the special drills which will be used for this process, the Hindu reported.

But officials have not yet commented on the status of the operation.

Manual digging

Rescuers had managed to drill 34m downwards horizontally, with just 12m remaining, when the auger machine broke down on Friday.

The operation was put on hold until the emergency crews removed the machine from the tunnel, which was completed on Monday morning.

Now rescuers will start digging manually to remove the remaining debris from the route.

But they will continue to use a drilling machine to push the pipes into the opening, officials said.

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As Arnold Dix says, this ranks as the "toughest" tunnel rescue operation he's ever encountered.

Mr Dix, an Australian underground expert summoned as a consultant by the Indian government, has been spending days and nights outside an under-construction road tunnel in Uttarakhand, where 41 workers have been trapped for more than a fortnight now.

The Silkyara tunnel is part of a $1.5bn (1.19bn), 890km-long flagship Char Dham project connecting key Hindu pilgrim sites through two-lane paved roads in the Himalayan state. Efforts to clear the 60m blockage and create an exit passage for trapped workers using crawl-out pipes, have faced numerous roadblocks, including the breakdown of the main drilling machine.

"I think this is the toughest [operation] not purely for technical reasons. This is tough because the stakes are very high. No one has been injured and we have to make sure every person inside comes out fine," Mr Dix told me.

Things can get tricky, Mr Dix reckons. Even what looks like a straightforward fix of using a vertical drill or pipes to bore into the tunnel from the top has hurdles. Instability is a concern in a young and changing mountain topography. There's a gamble with potential water sources above the tunnel - messing with them could leading to flooding, putting both rescuers and the trapped men at risk.

Efforts to clear the 60m blockage and create an exit passage for trapped workers have faced roadblocks

Bernard Gruppe, a German-Austrian engineering consultancy hired by the Indian company building the tunnel, had said in August that since "the start of tunnel driving, the geological conditions have proved to be more challenging than predicted in the tender document". It is not clear why an "escape passage" approved for the tunnel in 2018 had not been built until the time when the tunnel collapsed.

To grasp the magnitude of the crisis, it's important to understand its location - the Himalayas.

The Himalayas are the world's youngest mountain range, home to the highest peaks, formed some 45 million years ago as a result of the collision and folding of two continental plates. The upward climb of the Himalayas comes with seismic activity - in other words, it's an earthquake-prone region.

Geologists say many of the rocks in the northern Himalayas where Uttarakhand is located are sedimentary rocks - phyllite, shale, limestone, quartzite - which form when loose sediments of the Earth's surface become compressed and bond together.

"The problem in this region is that you have varied types of rocks with different strength. Some are really soft, some are more hardened. The soft rocks crumble. This makes the region inherently unstable," CP Rajendran, a well-known geologist, told me.

In 2013, a massive flood killed thousands of people and caused heavy damage in Kedarnath

To make sense of this, understanding the wider significance of the region hosting the Char Dham project, spanning four districts of Uttarakhand, is essential.

This region, the birthplace of the Ganges and its major tributaries, sustains over 600 million Indians with water and food. The landscape is dotted with forests, glaciers, and water springs. Crucially, India's climate is influenced by this area, as its topsoil serves as a significant carbon sink - naturally absorbing and storing carbon dioxide to mitigate the impact of greenhouse gas emissions.

It is here the Char Dham highway project plans to widen the existing highways to double-lane paved shoulder ones with some 16 bypasses, realignments and tunnels, 15 flyovers and more than 100 small bridges.

There are two main road tunnels in the project: the Silkyara tunnel and a shorter 400 metre tunnel in Chamba. Apart from that, there are tunnels being bored for railways and hydropower, including a dozen over 110km (68 miles) for a 125km railway link. Then there are tunnels for a number of hydropower projects - there are 33 such state-run hydro projects in operation, and another 14 being built, according to official documents.

"There has been an intensification of tunnel work in the last 15-20 years", Hemant Dhyani, an environmentalist, told me. "These mountains are not built for such massive building of infrastructure."

The Char Dham project connects key Hindu pilgrim sites through two-lane paved roads in Uttarakhand

According to official data, more than 1,000 landslides have hit Uttarakhand, killing more than 48 people so far this year - much of it has been attributed to excessive monsoon rains. Earlier this year cracks developed in hundreds of homes and many streets in Joshimath, a small town in the state. Research indicates that the topsoil in the Himalayas is eroding at three times the national average, leading to the depletion of the region's carbon sink. In 2013, the town of Kedarnath was hit by devastating floods - triggered by heavy monsoon rains - in which thousands of people were swept away.

Mr Dhyani, a former member of the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee, says the committee's suggestion to construct a narrower tunnel was disregarded, resulting in heightened blasting activities and an elevated risk of collapse. He believes environmental risk assessments were neglected, as tunnels were exempted due to the project's segmentation into sections of less than 100km each.

There are contrasting views as well. Manoj Garnayak, an underground construction expert, told a newspaper that that tunnels, if properly executed, do not harm the mountain or hill ecology. He told the Indian Express that tunnel-building technology, dating back about 200 years, is not inherently hazardous - and proper execution involves thorough investigation of the rock intended for tunnel construction, assessing its fragility and solidity.

A general view outside the entrance of the tunnel where rescue operations are in progress

Environmentalists, such as Mr Dhyani, advocate for a "terrain-specific approach" in all tunnel construction projects, emphasising the unpredictable reactions of geology in different regions. Infrastructure development in the Himalayas should prioritise being "disaster and climate-resilient". Also, authorities should engage with a broader range of stakeholders to formulate improved policies for environmentally fragile pilgrimage sites, they say.

Authorities now admit that timelines provided for the rescue of 41 men could change due to "technical glitches, the challenging Himalayan terrain, and unforeseen emergencies". This, for a road, which was designed to offer all-weather connectivity, reducing the sometimes snow-affected stretch from 25.6km to 4.5km and slashing travel time from the current 50 minutes to a mere five minutes.

Ironically, the prolonged wait to rescue the trapped workers building the road is turning out to be a distressing ordeal. "This is a serious wake up call for all of us," says Mr Dhyani.

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For the second time in two weeks, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport partially closed Monday morning due to a suspicious item.

The roadway leading to departures/upper level was closed about 9:45 a.m. as law enforcement responded. West side ticket counters, checkpoints 2W and 3 also closed.

Austin-Bergstrom officials warned that travelers should expect delays.

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At 10:30 a.m., officials announced that the Austin Police Department had concluded its investigation. Shortly after that, all TSA checkpoints were reopened.

By 11 a.m., officials said that normal TSA wait times had resumed and the west side ticket counters were up and running. The roadway also reopened.

No further details were provided about the suspicious item.

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A projected 29,000 passengers are set to fly out of Austin-Bergstrom on Monday, according to KXAN in Austin.
Veterans Affairs officials will postpone a controversial rule change regarding ambulance service reimbursements after objections from industry officials and members of Congress who worried the move could endanger some veterans living in rural areas.

Department leaders have not completely given up on the plan, but promised lawmakers on Nov. 22 that they will not implement the changes until February 2025 at the earliest. The new rules had been set to go into effect by mid-February 2024.

VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said leaders are making the reimbursement changes to better align with the rest of the health care industry. A VA inspector general report from 2018 found the department had been paying 60% more than typical industry rates for air ambulance services, potentially wasting taxpayer money.

DoD misspent more than $100 million on ambulance rides, audit reveals

In remarks at the National Press Club earlier this month, VA Secretary Denis McDonough said the goal of new reimbursement rules is not to cut costs for emergency medical care but instead to push local providers into formal contracts with VA for the services, ensuring stability and consistency in pricing.

As near as we can tell, VA alone among all major health care systems in the country pays for each individual ambulance, he said. Were just paying cash for each run.

But industry opponents have said sharp cuts in reimbursement rates for ambulance services could severely cripple operations in rural areas, potentially even forcing the closure of some emergency response services.

And lawmakers have decried VAs proposed fixes as too broad and possibly dangerous. In a statement, Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester, D-Mont., hailed the one-year delay as critical time needed to work out disagreements between VA and the emergency services companies.

The availability of emergency air and ground transportation services in Montana and rural America can be the difference between life and death, he said. VAs hasty implementation of its rate change for these services could have been the final straw for providers in rural America, and Im glad to see VA answering my call and taking steps to fix this reimbursement issue.

Both the House and Senate are considering legislation on the issue. Lawmakers can now work on those proposals without a looming deadline early next year.

Ben Clayton, CEO of Life Flight Network, one of the groups involved in the lobbying efforts against the rule change, called the decision a significant victory for veterans.

I look forward to working with the VA to ensure that reimbursement rates for air medical care are sustainable, protecting veteran access to this lifesaving service, he said. Although there is still work to be done, this delay reflects a genuine effort by the VA towards a solution.
(Reuters) - French drugmaker Valneva said on Monday that the application for its vaccine candidate against mosquito-borne viral disease chikungunya was accepted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) which would now examine the drug in a fast-track procedure.

The EMA "has determined that all essential regulatory elements required for scientific assessment were included in the application," Valneva said in a statement.

Accelerated assessment reduces the timeframe the EMA review to 150 days from 210 days, Valneva said.

(Reporting by Olivier Sorgho)
Pope Francis, 86, is getting antibiotics intravenously to address a lung inflammation and will delay some of his upcoming meetings, the Vatican said in an update Monday. NBC News reported that Francis disclosed his respiratory condition on Sunday to explain his absence from his appearance from a window in St. Peters Square. Matteo Bruni, the Vaticans press office director, wrote in a Monday statement that the inflammation has led to some breathing problems but ruled out pneumonia. The condition of the pope is good and stationary, he doesnt have a fever, and the respiratory situation is in clear improvement, Bruni said after results from a CT scan came in. On Sunday, Francis, who has just one lung, gave a public address, announcing he would still embark on his Dec. 1 trip to the United Arab Emirates to discuss climate change at the United Nations COP28 conference. A cannula used for intravenous treatment could be seen on his right hand.

Read it at NBC News

Read more at The Daily Beast.
The three men, all aged 20, were shot on Saturday night in Burlington, Vermont

A 48-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder over the shooting of three men of Palestinian descent in Vermont.

Jason J Eaton, who appeared in court in Burlington, was arrested near the site of the shooting on Sunday.

Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed and Kinnan Abdalhamid were attacked near the University of Vermont on Saturday.

The men were speaking Arabic and two were wearing keffiyeh - a traditional scarf - when they were shot.

The three men, who are all aged 20, were visiting the home of one of their relatives over the Thanksgiving holiday when a white man confronted them with a gun outside the property, police said.

He allegedly fired at least four rounds at them without speaking and then fled.

Two of the victims were shot in the torso while the third was hit in his lower extremities, police said. Two are in a stable condition while the third sustained more serious injuries.

The attack comes as the US deals with a surge in Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents, including violent assaults and online harassment, since the Israel-Hamas conflict began on 7 October.

The FBI has warned of potential attacks by "homegrown violent extremists" since the war began.

Police have not given a potential motive in the shooting.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad urged the public to avoid jumping to conclusions "based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less" than investigators.

"In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime," he said. "I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven."

At a hearing on Monday, the suspect was ordered to be held without bail until a second hearing takes place in the next few days.

Mr Eaton lived in an apartment building opposite the location of the shooting on Prospect Street, according to police. He was reportedly arrested as federal agents were canvassing near the scene on Sunday.

They searched his home shortly after. "Evidence collected during that search warrant, and additional evidence developed during the course of this investigation, gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr Eaton perpetrated the shooting," police said.

Jason Eaton appeared in court in Burlington on Monday

Mr Eaton's mother, Mary Reed, told The Daily Beast her son had struggled with mental health and job security but had been "in such a good mood" when they met for Thanksgiving on Thursday.

"Jason has had a lot of struggles in his life," she said. "I am just shocked by the whole thing."

Two of the victims are US citizens and one is a legal resident, police said.

Mr Abdalhamid, was named by Haverford College in Pennsylvania as one of its students. Mr Awartani attends Brown University in Rhode Island and Mr Ahmed is a student at Trinity College in Connecticut.

They attended Ramallah Friends School, a Quaker-run private non-profit school in Ramallah, together and were visiting Mr Awartani's grandmother for Thanksgiving, according to family members.

"These are very bright students, they are close friends from first grade," the school's head, Rania Maayeh, told CNN.

She added that Mr Awartani was hit in the spine and "we are praying that he can walk".

Police conducted a search of a property close to where the shooting happened

Rich Price, an uncle of one of the victims, said the three men had been visiting an eight-year-old's birthday party. "The last thing that we imagine could be possible was that in our family neighbourhood, they would walk down the street and this would happen to them," he said.

"Less than five minutes [after] them leaving our home, we saw the sirens and the flashing lights of police cruisers go by our house. And we thought, boy, something's going on.

He had "no idea that it was my nephew and his friends."

Earlier, the families of the victims released a statement through the pro-Palestinian non-profit organisation Institute for Middle East Understanding.

They called on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation and to treat the attack as a hate crime.

After the shooting, the Council on American-Islamic relations offered a $10,000 (7,900) reward for information leading to an arrest.

Ambassador Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, posted a photo of the three victims on social media and added: "The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop."

More on Israel-Gaza war
Vice President of the Ukrainian Chess Federation Artem Sachuk has been killed in action.

Source: Ukrainian Chess Federation; Suspilne, Ukraine's public broadcaster

Quote: "Ukrainian military volunteer Artem Sachuk, a well-known chess player, candidate for master of sports, vice president of the Ukrainian Chess Federation, organiser of many national and international competitions, was killed in the war of liberation against the Russian occupiers."

Details: According to Suspilne, the Zhytomyr City Territorial centre for recruitment and social support confirmed the information about the death of Artem Sachuk. They also said that they are currently investigating the circumstances of his death.

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HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam's parliament is set to approve on Wednesday a top-up tax for multinationals, which will raise the effective rate of the corporate levy to 15% from January in line with a global agreement.

Vietnam had initially planned to combine the approval of the tax with measures to partly compensate large foreign investors affected by the higher levy, including South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp, but the separate resolution is not on the parliament's agenda.

In a sign of how controversial the new tax is, as it could reduce Vietnam's appeal among foreign companies if not matched with accompanying subsidies, the parliament had initially ruled out a vote in its current session, the last of the year.

But it has eventually added it back to its schedule, with the vote on the tax expected now at the last day of its month-long session.

It is unclear whether additional incentives for some foreign investors could be adopted in this session in separate legislation, without passing a specific resolution on that. The parliament could in any case adopt the incentives resolution in a later session.

Under the new rules being shepherded through by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), companies paying less than 15% in a low-tax jurisdiction will face a top-up levy either in that jurisdiction or in their home country from next year.

Vietnam's corporate income tax is already set at 20%, but the country has offered for years effective rates as low as 5% and lengthy zero-tax periods to large foreign investors.

With the new top-up tax, 122 foreign companies will face a steep increase in their tax costs in Vietnam, according to a document prepared by the Vietnamese government which estimated the additional intake for the state at 14.6 trillion dong ($601.05 million) a year.

(Reporting by Khanh Vu and Francesco Guarascio; Editing by Stephen Coates)
Proposed changes are set to modernise the scheme, which protects Isle of Man savings

Companies, trusts and charities could receive greater protection for their savings if a bank on the Isle of Man collapses under new proposals.

The Manx depositors' compensation scheme (DCS) currently pays out up to 20,000 but that could rise to 50,000.

A consultation has been launched by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to gather views on the modernisation of the scheme.

The FSA said the proposed updates would "safeguard" the island's reputation.

The authority has been working with the Treasury and the banking industry on a review, which could see compensation for companies, trusts and charities match the current level for individuals and sole traders.

While the FSA acknowledged the proposed greater compensation limits would increase the burden on participant banks, it would provide "consistent levels of cover across all areas".

The consultation notes views had been "divided equally" over the proposed increase, but some have suggested it may make banks more commercially attractive.

Customer deposits held by banks in the UK are protected up to 85,000.

Significant change

A system to gather data about depositors' bank account balances to allow for same-day calculations, which would be facilitated by a third party following the introduction of legislation, could also be introduced.

A single customer view (SCV) process, which is in place in Jersey and Guernsey, would allow for "smoother and faster pay-outs", the FSA said.

The proposed revised framework would also see pay-outs to customers made within seven to 14 days, to meet international standards.

Paul McAuley from the FSA said: "While bank failures are rare, the international banking environment has changed significantly over the last 12 months."

"Closely aligning our DCS with international standards will help to safeguard the island's reputation as a well-regulated and responsible jurisdiction".

Written feedback can be emailed to the FSA until 21 January 2024.

Why not follow BBC Isle of Man on Facebook and X? You can also send story ideas to IsleofMan@bbc.co.uk
NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  The Virginia Zoo is asking the Hampton Roads community to help raise $6000 for animal enrichment.

The fundraising efforts are part of Giving ZooDay, a movement started by zoos across the country in partnership with Giving Tuesday to demonstrate support for zoos working to preserve wildlife for generations to come.

A spokesperson for the zoo says all of the money raised will be used for animal enrichment to keep the animals mentally-stimulated, happy and healthy. Examples of animal enrichment could include physical items, special food or toys that mentally engage the animals and keep them active.

Giving locally not only strengthens our communitys efforts towards wildlife conservation, but

your generosity directly impacts the animals that call the Virginia Zoo home. Christabelle

Fernandez, Director of Development at the Virginia Zoo, said.

Supporters can donate on the zoos website by choosing their favorite animals team. Online donors will receive the following perks depending on their donation level:

$25, name recognition in blog

$50, magnet

$100, coaster

$250, invitation to exclusive Turtle Oasis experience

The zoo has raised more than a third of its $6000 target but is asking for the communitys help to meet its goal by 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 28.

Last year, the zoo raised a little over $6000 and the money was used to purchase items from the zookeepers enrichment wish list.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
ADDISON, Texas - The 11th annual Vitruvian Lights holiday display is open in Addison.

Organizers decided to begin this year's display early, starting it on November 18, to spread holiday cheer for an extra six days.

Many families kicked off the holidays at Vitruvian Park.

More than 1.5 million sparkling LED lights are wrapped around 555 trees, transforming Vitruvian Park into a holiday wonderland.

As people made their way around the Addison park, kids were in for a surprise as Santa and Mrs. Claus made a visit from the North Pole.

Mrs. Claus helped people write letters to Santa, while the big man in the red suit took photos with everyone who wanted one.

This was the first time Beth Wahl and her family came out to see the Vitruvian Lights.

"It absolutely is getting us in the spirit. Weve got our family here. Weve got my mother-in-law here. We really just wanted to bring the family together and have a great time," she said.

This the 11th year for the Vitruvian Lights and Saturday was the second event night at the park this season.

The first event night happened last week as part of the tree lighting.

People also enjoyed food trucks and live music.

"The kids have all been dancing, running in circles, and the letters to Santa, with Mrs. Claus, was just the cutest thing," Ashley Chase said.

Chase brought her 2-year-old son, and it was his first time writing a letter to Santa and meeting him.

"He is terrified, equal parts terrified and excited. But its just awesome for them to put on something like this," Chase said.

Something for the whole the family to enjoy.

"Weve got cousins, aunts, uncles, from Forney to Fort Worth and in between. We all get to come out and just have a little bit of fun together," Chase added.

The Vitruvian Lights will be open every night from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. until January 1.

The light display is free and open for everyone to enjoy.
Vladimir Putin has "stepped up his invasion" of Ukraine resulting in nearly 1,000 Russian casualties a day, the Defence Secretary warned on Monday.

Grant Shapps said the Russian president was "senselessly" sending more of his troops to die "than at any time since the war began".

"Ukrainian bravery and western support is holding back their advance, but we cannot be complacent," he added.

"Ukraine needs our unwavering support to fight and win."

It comes as the Ministry of Defence said that Russian casualties, reported by the Ukrainian General Staff, were running at an average of 931 per day in November. The deadliest month for Russia had previously been March 2023, where Putin's army saw an average 776 losses each day during the height of the battle for Bakhmut."Although Defence Intelligence cannot verify the methodology, taken as a total including both killed and wounded, the figures are plausible," the Ministry of Defence said. "The last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.

"The heavy losses have largely been caused by Russias offensive against the Donbas town of Avdiivka."

Russia has continued its attempts to advance near Avdiivka, the eastern town that has been a Ukrainian stronghold and seen fierce fighting since the early days of the war, according to analysis by the Institute for the Study of War.

The Ukrainian General Staff said on Sunday that Kyiv's forces had beaten back Russian assaults as Moscow's troops strain to encircle the city. Meanwhile, Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Ukraine will become a member of Nato, subject to reforms, when the war is over.

The secretary general said all allies agree Nato will join the military alliance.

However, he acknowledged that full membership would be impossible while the war is ongoing.

This month Germany and the Netherlands pledged 10bn for Ukraine, he added.

Mr Stoltenberg also said that Swedens pending Nato membership will make us all safer".
Trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and SK injects stability to region

09:34, November 27, 2023 By Zhao Yusha ( Global Times

China is willing to make efforts with both South Korea and Japan to promote the resumption of trilateral cooperation, Chinese top diplomat said at the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea which was held in the South Korean city of Bushan on Sunday.

The three sides agreed to create conditions for the trilateral meeting of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, and speed up preparations, according to a statement issued by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday night.

Chinese experts believe the meeting, held after a hiatus of four years, will not only pave way for higher-level meetings between the three Asian countries, but will also inject stability in the region and shore up the three countries' cooperation to offset the negative consequences of the current challenges from the global turmoil.

However, both Seoul and Tokyo are urged to take more actions and show sincerity if they want cooperation between the three countries to yield substantial results, Chinese experts said as there are still unsolved divergences that are plaguing trilateral ties. Meanwhile, extraterritorial forces are also seeking to use Japan and South Korea to contain China and seek to scuttle the trilateral cooperation. Experts said that inviting non-regional countries to interfere with regional issues is detrimental to cooperation, thus it is of vital importance for both Japan and South Korea to remain autonomous.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting. This year marks the resumption of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan, and South Korea after a four-year hiatus, as close neighbors, China will continue to adhere to the principles of being friendly and cooperative with its neighbors and work together with South Korea and Japan to promote the resumption of trilateral cooperation, Wang was quoted by CGTN as saying.

Wang said that as important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the three countries should base themselves on the peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region and the interests of its people, deepen regional cooperation, jointly address risks and challenges, and maintain regional peace and prosperity. He stressed that the three countries should oppose drawing ideological lines and resist regional bloc formation.

Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul should act as "stabilizers" for maintaining regional peace and security, practice a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, and insist on resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and peaceful means. They should also act as "pressure relief valves" for resolving hotspot issues, said Wang, noting that the continued tension on the Korean Peninsula is not in the interest of any party. The urgent task is to cool down the situation, create necessary conditions for restarting dialogue, and take meaningful actions to achieve it.

Before the trilateral meeting, Wang held meetings with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Sunday and Saturday respectively.

In his meeting with Park, Wang said China and South Korea are neighboring countries and this fact will never change. Both countries can benefit from a positive relationship, while both sides will suffer if the relationship deteriorates.

Wang also stressed that both sides should jointly resist the tendency to politicize economic issues, instrumentalize technological issues, and over-securitize economic and trade issues, in order to maintain stable and smooth supply chains and promote greater development in bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Wang and Park exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation. Wang emphasized that China has always been a stabilizing force in the Northeast Asian and will continue to play a constructive role in easing the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

During a meeting with Kamikawa, Wang said China and Japan should earnestly implement consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to push forward bilateral relations along the right track of sound development.

Wang told Kamikawa that both sides should respect each other's legitimate concerns. Japan should honor its commitments on the Taiwan question, strictly abide by the one-China principle and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs.

Noting that Japan's discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean concerns marine safety and public health, Wang said China opposes Japan's irresponsible action.

Amid complicated international atmosphere, the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between the three major Asian countries can inject much needed stability in Northeast Asia; as well as deepen cooperation, exchange between the three countries to offset negative impact of current geopolitical tensions, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Da noted the meeting between the three countries' foreign ministers may pave way for higher-level trilateral meetings in the near future. It will also help to control current divergences among Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, whilst expanding cooperation in areas where the three share common interests, he added.

Sincerity needed

Ties between the three countries have been frayed since the last trilateral meeting among the leaders of the three Northeast Asian nations was held in Chengdu, China, in 2019.

Historical issues such as Japan's wartime atrocities during WWII, as well as current tussles like Japan's irresponsible releasing of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean; Tokyo and Seoul's role as US vassals in the region, continued to plague the ties.

South Korea and Japan are eager to mend ties with China not only because the prospect of cooperating with China is in line with their national interest, but the warming up China-US ties after a summit in San Francisco between leaders of the two countries earlier this month propelled Seoul and Tokyo to reach out, Lu Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"As the international society is at a historic turning point as it faces major challenges and changes, we hope to discuss our strategic significance of Japan-China-South Korea cooperation," Kamikawa told reporters Friday, according to a report from AP.

While meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and signing The Downing Street Accord last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's made remarks related to China's Taiwan and the South China Sea. "China urges relevant parties to stop making irresponsible comments on issues bearing on China's core and major concerns and be very prudent about what they say or do," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.

Similar to the US, Japan and South Korea tend to talk up cooperation with China whilst disrespecting China's core interests, which create obstacles for the three to cooperate, said Lu. He noted that China is willing to meet Japan and South Korea half way to expand cooperation, but also won't hesitate to strike back any unilateral crackdown on China and disrespectable remarks or behaviors that are against China's core interest.

"For the three countries to pick up momentum in deepening cooperation, we need to see more actions, more sincerity from both Tokyo and Seoul," Lu noted.

Extraterritorial threats

Although the easing of China-US ties partly stimulated Japan and South Korea's willingness to reach out to China, Chinese experts believe a closer China-Japan-South Korea trilateral tie is will not make the US happy.

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed at Camp David in August to deepen military and economic cooperation and made their strongest joint condemnation yet of "dangerous and aggressive behavior" by China in the South China Sea.

Da said that in recent years, the US has been plotting to work with its allies to create an Asian NATO, which extremely threatens regional stability.

In a forum held in Qingdao in July this year, Wang Yi urged that China, Japan and South Korea, as well as other Asian countries, should practice open regionalism, promote inclusive Asian values, cultivate strategic autonomy, safeguard regional unity and stability, resist the Cold War mentality, and avoid coercion by hegemony.

Asian countries should solve our differences by ourselves, while inviting extraterritorial powers to intervene is extremely detrimental to the stability and cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea, said Da, urging the two to remain autonomous.

He warned that those countries should learn from history that relying on non-regional countries to solve regional issues will eventually backfire, which will threaten the whole region.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Military personnel salute Monday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio as Pfc. Clinton E. Smith Jr.s casket is moved into place for his memorial service. Smiths remains were identified nearly 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe during World War II. William Luther The family of Army soldier Pfc. Clinton E. Smith Jr. listen Monday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery to Chaplain Maj. Erik Yielding as he gives the eulogy during Smiths funeral service. Smiths remains were identified nearly 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe during World War II. William Luther The flag that covered Pfc. Clinton E. Smith Jr.'s casket is examined after being folded Monday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery during the World War II veterans funeral service. Smiths remains were identified nearly 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe. William Luther Family members of WWII soldier Army Pfc. Clinton E. Smith Jr. stand Monday as taps is played during Smiths funeral service at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery. Smith was buried with full military honors after his remains were identified almost 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe. William Luther A U.S. flag is presented to Douglas Smith Jr. on Monday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio by Capt. Robert Lajeunesse during funeral services for WWII Army soldier Pfc. Clinton E. Smith, Jr. Clifton Smith's remains were recently identified nearly 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe and he was buried with full military honors. William Luther The family of Army soldier Pfc. Clinton E. Smith Jr. listen Monday as Chaplain Maj. Erik Yielding gives the eulogy during Smiths funeral service. Smiths remains were identified some 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe during World War II. William Luther Chaplain Maj. Erik Yielding salutes the casket containing Army soldier Pfc. Clinton E. Smith, Jr.s remains Monday at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery during funeral services for the World War II veteran. Smiths remains were identified some 80 years after he was killed in action in Europe during World War II. William Luther

Clinton E. Smith Jr. and his men had reason for hope after making progress against the Nazi defenses, only to be cut off by another division.

As the days passed, food and ammunition ran low. The soldiers formed a small defensive perimeter and put the wounded in foxholes near Reipertswiller, in northeastern France. Smith, an Army private first class, manned a machine gun as the men contemplated a breakout.

Only two soldiers made it. Hit by mortar fragments, Smith wasnt one of them.

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He was 19 years and 8 months old when he died on Jan. 14, 1945.

Nearly 80 years passed without anyone knowing exactly where his remains were, but historians with the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency found a set of remains buried at Lorraine American Cemetery in St. Avold, France, which they identified as his.

On a chilly Monday morning, Smith was finally given a heros burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. A lone, elderly nephew received a folded American flag from the casualty assistance officer in the case, Capt. Robert Lajeunesse.

Its amazing that this young man has finally been identified, said Sallyann Smith, 85, whose husband, Douglas Smith Jr., is the soldiers nephew.

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The family initially was told Clinton Smith was missing, but they later learned that he had died. Still, they never had the chance to put Smith, who graduated from Texas Military Institute in San Antonio, to rest on American soil.

Im the oldest relative alive, said Douglas Smith Jr., 84, of San Antonio. He was my uncle, of course. He was my fathers brother, and none of the uncles are alive now. Im 84 years old, and I never really remember seeing him or talking to him because he was already in World War II.

Smith was a freshman music major at Baylor University when the war snared him from his passion.

He got caught up in the last World War II German offensive on the western front  Operation Nordwind. It began on Dec. 31, 1944, in southwestern Germany and northeastern France and ended Jan. 25, 1945.

The better-known Battle of the Bulge was raging at the same time, but the clashes in Operation Nordwind were every bit as intense, with troops facing the same bitter weather conditions as soldiers did farther north. The offensive aimed to destroy the U.S. and French Army lines in the Upper Vosges mountains and Alsatian Plain and seize Strasbourg.

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Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler, who had been placed in charge of Nordwind, promised Strasbourg would be captured by Jan. 30.

News accounts of the day described the young enlistee as having been from Corpus Christi and said hed fought in Anzio through Italy before arriving in Europe.

One news account said hed joined the Army on Jan. 6, 1944, and fought in Anzio only a few months later. Another clipping said he began serving in 1943.

During that time, Smith sent a few letters  one that still stands out in his nephews mind.

He went to Baylor, and he was studying music, and he played the piano, Douglas Smith Jr. said. In fact, in one of his notes or letters, he said he was playing the piano when he was on Normandy Beach.

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As the closest family member, Douglas Smith Jr. sat in the middle of eight other extended relatives facing the casket as an honor guard folded the American flag that covered it. Relatives from Austin, Dallas and Houston were flanked by a small band of well-wishers who came to give Clinton Smith a soldiers sendoff.

They included Amy Schoenfeldt, daughter of a World War II veteran, and Ellen Kennard, who drove 90 minutes from Gonzales.

Its a very, very small sacrifice compared to Mr. Smiths sacrifice, said Schoenfeldt, 47, of La Vernia.

Kennard, 71, said Smith was like the young soldiers from Gonzales who died in World War II. She didnt care about the weather.

They didnt have family, Kennard said. They didnt have a chance to have family, and so just being here to honor him is our pleasure.

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Cathy Williams Sadler, a member of the Alamo chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, credited the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency with making the burial in San Antonio possible.

The American Graves Registration Command, which recovered fallen American personnel in the European Theater, began searching the area around Reipertswiller in 1946. It found 37 unidentified sets of American remains, but none were identified as Smith.

Smith was declared non-recoverable March 29, 1951.

Then, historians conducting ongoing research into soldiers missing from the Reipertswiller area found a set of remains called X-6985 St. Avold that had been buried at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Belgium.

The remains were disinterred in August 2021 and transferred to a DPAA Laboratory at Offutt AFB, Neb., for analysis. Scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, circumstantial evidence and mitochondrial DNA analysis to make a positive identification.

Once rare, its become increasingly common for the government to identify fallen troops. DPAA said since the renewal of recovery efforts in the 1970s, the remains of 1,543 Americans killed in World War II have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. Thats in addition to the roughly 280,000 Americans whose remains were identified in a massive effort right after the war.

Still, 72,135 remain unaccounted for, even as services for six identified through DNA analysis have taken place in Texas since August.

Theres going to be a lot more, and we are constantly finding more and more and bringing them home for closure, said Sadler, who works with families to submit DNA to help identify troops that are missing and presumed dead.

As a soldier, an old news story recounted, the notes Smith played in Europe were on a .30-caliber machine gun. But he played another instrument after landing in Anzio on March 9, 1944.

I remember playing Lili Marleen on the beachhead on a battered old piano that looked as though it had been through the last war, with German artillery shells supplying the base, he said in a news account.

The story said he thought for sure that his piano-playing days would be done that afternoon.

Taps sounded by a bugler at a ceremonial burial in San Antonio as Smiths flag-draped casket was carried to the cemeterys assembly area in a horse-drawn caisson  a pair of men dressed in the uniform of Revolutionary War Minutemen.
As a consultant for small businesses in the Kansas City area, Jannae Gammage heard story after story of startups being denied loans. She wanted to find out why and discovered something surprising.

When I first began researching, my assumption was something needed to be done on the lenders side, says Gammage. I found most times it was the small businesses not having the supporting documents or having financial reports in several different apps and bank accounts, and these things led to them being denied.

So Gammage created her startup Foresight in September 2022 to help lenders make better assessments of small businesses. Foresight is set to formally launch next month after raising $2 million in seed money  and garnering acclaim from the national business community.

She started by speaking with people in every step of the process and began to dissect the common issues why banks deny loans. She found that many lenders wanted to invest in small businesses but lacked a criteria to judge them.

For most of these owners the only interactions they had with banks prior to starting a business was setting up a checking or savings account, she says. There are so many small businesses that dont understand the infrastructure or documents that they need in order to attain the funds.

In its first year, Foresight captured lenders attention by becoming a finalist in the NXTSTAGE Financial Tech Pilot Competition, where Intrust Bank chose the company to be its pilot customer.

The local startup also received $100,000 from Northwestern Mutual under its Black Founders Accelerator program, and a $50,000 grant from Launch KC. Foresight is working with several local banks and has 200 banks from around the country signed up on the waiting list, according to Gammage.

Gammage, who moved to Kansas City in 2019 for a previous business endeavor called Market Base, saw firsthand as an entrepreneur how outdated metrics like credit scores could paint an inaccurate picture of a borrower. Applicants with good finances can get dinged for having no established credit history or if theyre still paying off student loans.

Credit scores are taken into account, which can be super biased and eliminate a lot of business owners, especially Black and brown business owners, she says. We saw a problem and we wanted to be the solution.

Foresights solution is an app that draws on artificial intelligence to gather data and provide lenders with a score based on the business and not the personal financial history of the owner.

It works within minutes instead of the usual weeks. The report not only allows a bank to see any red flags but also provides entrepreneurs the information they need to move forward instead of a simple denial with no details as to why.

Brandon Calloway, who co-founded the nonprofit GIFT KC to help close the gap in Black-owned startups receiving funding, is excited that an app could even the field.

Unfortunately, you need to have more than a dream, says Calloway, whose organization has given 63 grants totaling over $1 million since 2020. Creating an outside score that is representative of your business progression and not a credit score would be vital in the minority business sector because the traditional credit score is also biased.

There are so many trends and small challenges that small businesses face and none so much as getting funded. Being denied can be a soul crushing experience, so to have a program where a lender can tell them exactly why and what they need to do to be viable is a major asset to new businesses.

Gammage says the technology includes safeguards against system errors or outside manipulation. It can search online databases and assemble incomplete information as well as verify the information applicants provide.

We only need the owners name, their business name, their business address and their tax ID, says Gammage. With that we can create a complete profile that a lender can use to make a decision very quickly without having a full credit score or having to go back and forth with the business owner to get information.

The app price starts at $250 a month, but Foresight offers a discount for lenders who sign up for a year, and plans vary depending on the volume of applicants.

Gammage, though not a Kansas City native, believes this was the best place for Foresight to start. With organizations like GIFT and Porter House KC supplying new minority businesses with funding, more people are turning their hobbies into fully functioning businesses.

I have been in a lot of startup ecosystems in my life and Kansas City is very unique because of the support I have seen for small businesses, says Gammage. It has been really inspiring for me and it has definitely contributed to my own mission of accelerating financial inclusion.
The new Staffordshire Police inclusive language guide discourages using the word policeman. In general, it urges, we word our content to avoid masculine and feminine pronouns (he or she). Gender-neutral language is always preferable, even when talking about a police officer who is a man.

Elsewhere in the 12-page document, the tenets of people-first language  the idea that everyone is first and foremost a person, not their disability or other characteristics  abound in instructions not to use words such as diabetic person and mentally ill; person with diabetes and person with mental health problems are encouraged instead.

Communities with high poverty rates are not disadvantaged, but under-resourced. Christians, Jews and Muslims should be replaced by Christian people and so on, while Christian name is a non-inclusive no-no.

The document is the latest in a recent spate of similar guides handed by organisations to employees, instructing them to cleanse their language of any words or phrases which could be deemed derogatory or exclusive. Many, like the Staffordshire police forces guide, have been accused of virtue signalling, attracting derision and even anger at what some see as the imposition of restrictions on freedom of speech.

These guides arent a new phenomenon in either the public or private sector, but their proliferation has increased greatly in recent years as part of a wider trend which some regard as the woke cultural revolution and others simply as an attempt to make workplaces reflect the pace of change in society.

Its right that we re-evaluate the language we use

According to Cathy Hastie, an HR expert and lecturer at the University of Derby, the documents are an acknowledgement by organisations that striving for diversity among its workforce isnt enough; more important is the culture within it.

People need to feel included  meaning valued, accepted and supported  once theyve got the job, she says. Research shows language plays a critical part in that; in retaining people, in their productivity and in overall organisational effectiveness. Theres a moral argument, and also a business one.

She says the thinking behind language guides is: If you want people to change, you need to set out your expectations and show them examples of what good practice looks like.

Reading these guides in detail, though, its not difficult to see why they might evoke strong responses from certain quarters. Most people understand that a careful, compassionate choice of words is part of addressing prejudice and inequality, and some of the phrases condemned in these documents should have long been consigned to history. Thats a womans job is an example from the Staffordshire Police guide, along with the equally offensive cry like a girl. In an organisation such as the police, often criticised for displaying outdated values, few could argue with the logic in encouraging greater sensitivity among staff.

Other examples, however, make treating people with consideration seem fraught with myriad potential pitfalls, often hinging on what could be perceived as tiny linguistic distinctions. Elderly people, to give an example from Oxfams much-lampooned guide, issued earlier this year, is deemed offensive, but older people is not.

The difference between the two may be difficult for some to discern, but, says Hastie: Its about how it makes someone feel. Society has changed  people are living longer and when they hit a certain age, they may not feel or behave like an elderly person. So its right that we re-evaluate the language we use to reflect that.

The Oxfam Inclusive Language Guide, published in March this year, seemed deliberately designed to bait the tabloids, even apologising in its introduction for being written in and about the English language, the language of a colonising nation. It goes on: We acknowledge the Anglo-supremacy of the sector as part of its coloniality, adding: We recognise that the dominance of English is one of the key issues that must be addressed in order to decolonise our ways of working and shift power.

It urges employees to avoid the word headquarters (as it implies a colonial power dynamic); aid sector (which cements ideology where an agent with resources gives support on a charitable basis); and field trip (because it can reinforce colonial attitudes). It also seeks to replace simple phrases such as migration challenge and refugee crisis with unwieldy formulations such as migration as a complex phenomenon.

Some guides edicts can be downright confusing. NHS guidance bans the word BAME, which stands for Black And Minority Ethnic, despite it only coming into use a relatively short time ago. Its reasoning, that minority ethnic is too broad and that its better to be as specific as possible, is clear and fair, but is undermined by its recommendation that ethnic minorities be used instead.

In the US, where the culture wars continue to escalate, outrage has been sparked by moves such as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors replacing the word felon [convicted criminal] with justice-involved person and the environmental organisation the Sierra Club denouncing words including poor, urban, vibrant and migrant. In an article for The Atlantic, journalist George Packer argued that we risk replacing vivid language with jargon, and in doing so, fail to create empathy for the groups being discussed.

Were not censoring people, just encouraging people to learn and be considerate

Of course, language is constantly evolving, but rather than emerging from the changing way people communicate in broader society, these edicts are imposed from above by a select group of people. Dr Laura Bailey, senior lecturer in English language and linguistics at the University of Kent, says that waiting for language to change organically is a slow process.

Once were in our late teens, our language is set and doesnt change very much throughout our adult lives, which means for language to change in the culture at large, we have to wait for new generations to come along, she says. Thats unless we change it consciously, which we can all do.

Research shows that the words we use affect the way we feel, even if its subconscious  cleaning lady and chairman, for instance, perpetuate the stereotype that men are more capable and should be in charge. Research also demonstrates clearly that explicit intervention  saying, Dont use these terms, use these instead  does make a difference. By changing our language, we can try to change the culture.

This is precisely why some instinctively abhor these guides, viewing them as a tool of indoctrination into an overly politically correct ideology. Dr Bailey says she can understand why language is such a flashpoint: Our language is part of our identity; its who we are. So, if somebody says to us, This word youre using is offensive, we feel theyre saying, Youre offensive. Usually, thats not whats meant  its more, Please can you try to use something else?

Although some of the guides suggestions undoubtedly go beyond what many people over the age of 40 would recognise as reasonable, Hastie says that, in the best cases, they are the result of trying to adapt based on what different communities say they prefer.

It should be about trying to listen to and understand different perspectives and do whatever we can to avoid offending people, acknowledging that we wont get it right every time, she explains. She points out that employees wont be fired if they fail to use the language set out in the guides. Were not censoring people, just encouraging people to learn and be considerate, she says.

However, she admits the guides are far from easy to implement in practice. Its a long-term process, she says. Although these guides seem to be trying to force change at a rate some find alarming, If we look at workplaces over the past few decades, change has been slow  were still far from where we need to be on issues such as the gender pay gap. So perhaps we need to speed up.

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A New York man has been charged in Cherokee County after officials accused him of asking underage girls for inappropriate images online.

According to warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News, 36-year-old Michael Merle of Miller Place, New York, was arrested this month after authorities investigated his online activity.

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During the investigation, authorities learned that Merle had contacted three 14-year-old girls on Instagram between July 1, 2022, and Sept. 30, 2022, asking them for sexually explicit content.

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Authorities have not said if Merle has contacted any other underage girls besides the victims in Cherokee County.

Merle was arrested and charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of children.

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IN OTHER NEWS:
Nov. 27 (UPI) -- Visitors to a Queensland, Australia, beach braved crocodile-infested waters to rescue a disoriented wallaby struggling in the surf.

Angus Burnett, 32, said he was walking on Trinity Beach in Cairns when he spotted a woman looking out into the water at what turned out to be her husband attempting to lead a wallaby back to shore.

The woman told Burnett her husband had been out in the water for about 10 minutes.

"I just swam out and helped him," Burnett told 7News.

He said the wallaby was more than 150 feet from shore.

"It was a bit disorientated and wouldn't come back in at all," he said. "It was kicking around a bit and was a bit tired. It would go limp and go under at time, so you had to pick it back up."

A third witness, a woman, swam out to help, and the trio were able to guide the marsupial back to dry land, where it hopped away.

Burnett said the rescue is "something you do to help out, isn't it, as an Australian."

He later found out the rescue had been caught on video.

"I was a bit embarrassed," Burnett said. "I was just in my jocks. I was wearing my favorite undies from Kmart."

Wallabies have been known to become disoriented in the surf at Queensland beaches in the past. A police officer came to the rescue of an exhausted wallaby swimming off Bed Beach in Bribie Island in 2020, and another was found swimming four miles offshore earlier that same year.
WASHINGTON  Congress will begin formal negotiations on a compromise defense policy bill this week, with final votes likely to occur before the holidays.

The annual bill is usually a bipartisan product, but conference committee talks over the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act may be trickier than usual this year. House Republicans added numerous partisan provisions from the right-wing Freedom Caucus to their version of the bill. The Senate version contains several of its own amendments that enjoy bipartisan  though not always unanimous  support.

The House passed 219-210 its $874 billion defense policy bill largely along party lines in July after Democrats defected when Republicans added the Freedom Caucus amendments. Later in July, the Senate passed 86-11 its $886 billion defense policy bill without the socially conservative provisions.

Both bills nonetheless have significant areas of overlap, some of which have generated opposition from the White House. These provisions include the procurement of an amphibious transport dock ship and language institutionalizing the sea-launched cruise missile nuclear program. Less controversial items in both bills include a provision to deepen counter-fentanyl cooperation with the Mexican military and require the Pentagon to coordinate with Taiwan on cybersecurity.

The conference committee must still sort through the differing provisions from each chamber as it hammers out a compromise bill that can pass both the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-held Senate.

Here are some of the key differences lawmakers will need to resolve to make that happen.

Freedom Caucus amendments: In order to secure Freedom Caucus support to pass the House bill, Republicans voted to add several of their amendments. These amendments would overturn the Pentagons abortion leave policy, restrict medical care for transgender troops, eliminate military diversity initiatives and block the Defense Department from implementing President Joe Bidens seven climate change executive orders.

Democrats cited their opposition to these measures as part of their reason for joining Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., in his ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. While removing these amendments would restore Democratic support for what is usually bipartisan legislation, it remains to be seen whether House Republicans would allow a vote on such a compromise bill.

Ukraine Inspector General: A House provision added by Gaetz would establish an independent inspector general to oversee Ukraine aid. The White House opposes creating this position, and the Biden administration is almost out of money to continue arming Kyiv. The defense bill aside, its also unclear whether Congress will pass Bidens separate $61 billion Ukraine aid request for FY24.

AUKUS: The Senate bill includes two provisions from Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., needed to implement AUKUS, the trilateral submarine-sharing pact with Australia and Britain. One authorization would allow the U.S. to begin training Australian private sector personnel to use nuclear-powered submarines while the other provision would allow the State Department to loosen export controls for Canberra and London.

Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, blocked two other key AUKUS authorizations from the bill: one that would allow the transfer of Virginia-class submarines to Australia and another that would allow the Biden administration to accept Australias $3 billion contribution in the U.S. submarine-industrial base.

Wicker has demanded more money for the submarine-industrial base before lifting his two AUKUS holds. While Wicker has spoken positively of Bidens $3.4 billion request to expand submarine-industrial base capacity as part of a broader defense supplemental spending package, it remains to be seen whether hell allow the final two AUKUS authorizations in the final defense policy bill.

A rendering of the SSN-AUKUS. (Business Wire)

NATO: Senators adopted 65-28 an amendment from Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., that would require Senate approval if a president tries to withdraw the U.S. from NATO. Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican presidential primary, threatened to withdraw from NATO in 2018 if U.S. allies did not meet their commitments to spending 2% of GDP on defense.

Buy America: Senators unanimously agreed to an amendment from Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., mandating that 100% of components for all Navy ships be manufactured in the U.S. by 2033. Baldwins amendment would allow the defense secretary to wave those requirements under certain circumstances.

Chief Management Officer: A provision from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., would revive the Pentagons short-lived chief management officer, a position tasked with reforming defense business practices that ranked No. 3 in the Defense Department until Congress abolished it three years ago. The White House opposes reviving the office.

Cost assessment office: House Republicans included a provision in their bill that would abolish the Pentagons Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation Office and move its duties elsewhere, citing the offices role in the Defense Departments decision to pause amphibious ship purchases. The Senate bill would not abolish this office.

Space Command headquarters: Both bills include a now-dated provision intended to force the Pentagon to make a decision on a final location for the Space Command headquarters. The Biden administration announced in August that it wished to place the headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colorado, revoking a previous decision to locate it in Huntsville, Alabama. The Republican House Armed Services chairman, Mike Rogers, is from Alabama. It remains to be seen if the final bill will include updated stipulations on the final location for Space Command after a years-long dispute.
Nov. 27 (UPI) -- A Denver woman said she was lucky to escape injury or worse when a metal pole flew into the windshield of her car on the highway.

Jessica Valov said she was merging onto Interstate 25 in Denver when she saw the airborne pole headed directly for her windshield.

"Within like a split two seconds, I just saw the pole hurling at my window and I literally ducked to avoid it," Valov told KDVR-TV.

The impact sent tiny glass shards raining down inside the car, but the pole did not enter the vehicle.

"It was a pole, like a foot-and-a-half pole that may be like 3-4 inches in diameter," Valov said. "I can't tell if it fell off the truck in front of me, or if it was already on the highway and his wheel picked it up."

Valov shared a photo of the damage to her car online, and soon learned her experience was far from unique.

"I posted it on Reddit, on the Denver subreddit, and apparently this has happened to a lot of people," she said.

The driver said she wants the city to crack down on drivers who fail to secure their loads.

"There's no enforcement of things falling off of people's trucks. I've seen ladders on the highway so often and I don't know if it has anything to do about that, but it's definitely a severe problem in Denver," Valov said.
Three years ago, almost to the date, I rediscovered my blood does, indeed, bleed Hoosier red.

Transplanted from Indiana into the deep south when I was 10, I moved away from four living grandparents and scores of cousins I saw nearly every week  all of us running through snap bean fields and getting tan from the rich loam soil.

Deanna Miller Watson, getting help from her father, Larry Miller, to blow out the one candle on her first-birthday cake, in Clarksville, Ind., Feb. 6, 1967, announced she's retiring as editor of the Lafayette Journal & Courier, Muncie Star Press and Richmond Pal-Item.

Nightly rituals included checking our heads for ticks.

Those were grand days where I didnt go a week without seeing someone who shared my DNA or, better yet, my Miller blue eyes.

Adolescence and college in the Peach State gave me a southern accent that adds four more syllables to sweet tea and an obsession for the University of Georgia, the only school where I applied and, blissfully, attended.

A rom-com courtship and marriage to a soon-to-be college professor took me to Texas, where everything truly is bigger and where any family I had, I chose.

I fell into a life in Texas much like I stumbled into a career in a newsroom, where Ive been for four decades. My degree from the University of Georgia is in public relations and marketing, but a job as a cub reporter was the only thing I could find in the fall of 1992, my husbands first semester as a professor.

An editor took a chance on me, and for 32 years, a newsroom has been my home away from home.

Three years ago, when the country was locked down and focused on a world-wide pandemic, something deep within me stirred. I cant explain it, not now and certainly not then, when I told friends and colleagues I wanted to go back to Indiana.

To work. To reconnect with my family. To rediscover my roots.

In these three years, Ive done just that.

The journey from Texas to Indiana, after first leaving the state nearly 45 years earlier, was the right decision. The shock to the system seemed the appropriate response  for me  to the isolation of a shutdown.

Wed already visited Indiana earlier that year, dropping off our younger daughter at Indiana University to start her freshman year in a global pandemic. Shed decided, at 8 years old during a trip to see grandparents, her blood might also bleed Hoosier red  crimson and cream, to be exact.

Something within her stirred as well. Her decision looks brilliant as she enters her last semester in Bloomington.

Little did she know, or any of us Watsons, that her mother would follow her to Indiana three months later.

Funny how things happen, right? A supervisor called me in late 2020 and asked, Hey, werent you born in Indiana?

Yes, I said. Random, I thought.

Lafayette, he said. Lafayette, I asked.

To Lafayette, I said yes. The position also came with being the editor in Muncie and Richmond.

These three communities came in my life when I needed them most. Professionally, I was reenergized by a new set of outstanding journalists dedicated to a craft that doesnt always return the love. Every day, they show that dedication.

They don't need me to continue that dedication.

Ive been blessed.

In these communities, I discovered kindred souls who share my never-met-a-stranger tendencies. Ive yet to meet a truly mean person. Even the Purdue loyalist who booed at me when I ran to pick up a pizza in an IU sweatshirt  rookie mistake  changed his tune when I told him, Well, she got a big scholarship.

Meanness is out there, but I was shown anything but that.

Three years, almost to the date, its time for me to move again. To leave Indiana. To retire from journalism.

In December, Ill pack up and head back to Texas, where my husband, who traveled countless times back and forth to support my career, will finish out his own in a few years or so.

Its time for me to move again. I leave with a U-Haul full of blessings, of treasured memories both professional and personal.

I leave knowing one thing, though. With tearful Miller blue eyes, my blood will always bleed Hoosier red.

Deanna Watson, until Dec. 15, 2023, is the editor of The Journal & Courier, The Muncie Star Press and the Richmond Palladium-Item. Follow her on X at deannawatson66.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Watson: It's time to make another life-changing decision
All 41 construction workers who were trapped in the Silkyara tunnel in Northern India for 17 days have been freed after rescuers used hand drills to reach the workers.

Images emerged Tuesday of the workers being greeted by officials and adorned with flower garlands. A rescuer told the BBC that there was an outburst of happiness inside the tunnel" when they broke through and cleared the remaining debris.

"The trapped men started clapping and shouting in excitement. Then the officials asked them to keep calm, be patient. They told them, 'we will get you out one by one'." The men are expected to be individually pulled out of the tunnel using stretchers on wheels.

All the men were extracted from the tunnel within an hour on stretchers via a pipe that is 3ft in diameter. Rescuers had broken through the final meters of debris using a horizontal channel just hours earlier.

The workers survived on a diet of dried fruits and nuts, puffed rice, and chickpeas. They received their first hot meal last weeka rice and lentil dish known as khichdi.

Rescue teams had been working around the clock to create a safe passageway for the workers to exit, facing setbacks due to faulty machinery that broke last week. But since turning to manual excavation, rescuers became optimistic on Tuesday that men would be freed before the end of the day.

Heres a timeline since the collapse.

Tunnel collapse

On Nov. 12, a 4.5-km highway tunnel that was being built as a way to ease travel to Hindu pilgrimage sites caved into itself, around 200 meters (656 ft.) from the tunnels entrance. Rescue efforts had proven difficult because the tunnel collapsed in Uttarakhand state, a mountainous region.

The workers who were inside have been identified as migrant workers mostly in their 20s from northern and eastern Indian states, including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha and West Bengal. The rescue mission took longer than expected, leaving those trapped inside with limited access to food, water, and medicine.

Rescuers install a steel pipe to get supplies inside the tunnel

Rescuers installed a six-inch wide steel pipe to deliver food, water, and other supplies to trapped workers on Nov. 21.

Through the pipe, workers are being fed rotis, flat bread, lentils, and other dishes. Video of the workers also became available after the construction of the pipe. A separate pipe is delivering oxygen, as doctors monitor both the mental and physical health of those trapped.

Rescuers try drilling to reach workers inside

Rescuers initially planned on using a heavy drill to break through 60 meters (197 ft.) of debris from the landslide, but plans were paused on Nov. 24, when the machinery meant to drill a hole wide enough for the trapped workers to travel through was damaged.

Originally, the hope was the drill could push in a pipe that was wide enough to wheel out the trapped construction workers on stretchers, but the drill broke after it hit an obstacle on Friday, Reuters reported.

Rescuers manually drilled through enough debris to finally reach the workers Tuesday.

Final hours of rescue effort announced

In the early hours of Tuesday, officials said there was 5 meters (16 ft.) of debris separating them from the trapped workers, which sparked optimism after a lengthy effort.

Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami confirmed on social media platform X that the installation of a microtunnel was complete and the men would be rescued soon.

Family and friends were camped at the rescue site, waiting to be reunited with their loved ones.

From the moment the first worker was evacuated from the tunnel, it took rescuers less than an hour to pull all of the men to safety, where they were greeted by officials. The Uttarakhand government confirmed that the operation was complete and that the men were not injured.

Hospital beds are prepared for the men

Chinyalisaur health center has been put on high alert in preparation for the arrival of the workers. Ambulances were set to take the men from the rescue site to the hospital where 41 beds have been made up for treatment. The men are believed to be in fair health and reportedly kept active while trapped in the tunnel.

Helicopters have also been made available in the instance that any workers need treatment from facilities that are further away.

While 41 beds were made available at the local health center in Chinyalisaur, authorities have since readied a larger hospital space at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Rishikesh. The hospital is home to a trauma center and can be reached by helicopter if needed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi makes a statement

Taking to X, Modi praised the rescuers and the construction workers. "The success of the rescue operation of our labour brothers in Uttarkashi is making everyone emotional, he wrote.

"I want to say to the friends who were trapped in the tunnel that your courage and patience is inspiring everyone. I wish you all well and good health. It is a matter of great satisfaction that after a long wait these friends of ours will now meet their loved ones, the statement continued.

Modi also lauded the patience and courage of the trapped workers' families, before celebrating everyone involved in the rescue efforts. Everyone involved in this mission has set an amazing example of humanity and teamwork.

Write to Armani Syed at armani.syed@time.com.
The 20mph speed limit has been introduced but not without a fair bit of controversy - Wales News Service

Britains leading statistician has accused the Welsh Government of a lack of transparency over its 20mph speed limit claims.

Leaflets put out by the Welsh Labour government claimed the new default limit would only add one minute to journeys. The three-page document, funded by the tax-payer, said that the new slower speed limit would help save lives and that most journeys would only take around one minute longer.

The head of the Office for Statistics Regulation Ed Humpherson, however, wrote to Stephanie Howarth, Wales chief statistician, criticising the lack of transparency of the information.

Mr Humpherson said in an email last week that it would be challenging for a reader to unpick this detailed document and understand the data and calculations used to support the claim.

Conservative shadow transport minister for Wales, Natasha Asghar MS, said the criticism over transparency made it even more clear that the speed limit rollout had been an absolute shambles.

Mr Humpherson also said: In the course of engaging with your team on this matter, they helpfully shared a technical note on the journey time calculations within the Regulatory Impact Assessment.

This more clearly sets how the claim was derived in a way that would allow scrutiny from readers, but this technical note was not publicly available for citizens to access.

He added: In short, I do not consider that the presentation of this analysis in the leaflet fully aligns with our expectations for Intelligent Transparency.

Putting tourists off coming to Wales

The Welsh Government later published the technical explanation of their one-minute figure, saying that the types of trips made on affected roads are typically short and involve stop-start travel conditions, making the actual impact of the slower speed limit marginal.

Mr Humpherson also told Ms Howarth that improvements could have been made to aid transparency and better support users. He also recommended that Welsh Government analysts should continue to work with and support communications and policy staff to improve the presentation of data and statistics.

The Welsh Government and Transport for Wales should continue to review the evidence on journey times when communicating with citizens about the policy.

According to the Office for National Statistics, average free flow speeds on 30mph and 20mph roads are 31mph and 26mph respectively, resulting in an average delay of 46 seconds per mile.

The Welsh governments own advisers warned that the 20mph limits only reduced speeds by 3mph in a study released before the restrictions were rolled out across the country.

Shadow tourism minister Tom Giffard on Monday called the policy tone-deaf. He added the government was making a colossal mistake as its 20mph speed limits were putting tourists off visiting Wales.

A bit slower, but a whole lot better

The Welsh government, however, has insisted that most people are getting used to the speed limit changes.

When those changes were introduced earlier this year, more than 460,000 signatures were added to a petition against the new limit which was delivered to the Senedd.

Elsewhere in the leaflet, the Welsh Government said that most people in Wales (63 per cent) support a lower speed limit where they live, and added: 20mph. A bit slower, but a whole lot better.

Gareth Parry, a councillor for Gwynedd whose brother was killed in 1994 by a car travelling at 30mph, called the policy move a fantastic change.

A spokesperson for the Welsh Government said: We welcome the letter from the Office for Statistics Regulation.

The figure referred to is supported by a technical document that explains how population, car journeys and distances travelled data were used within the calculation.

We have taken OSRs advice and have made this additional information available online.

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In this courtroom sketch, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, right, is cross-examined by Assistant U.S. Atty. Danielle Sassoon while Judge Lewis Kaplan listens in federal court in Manhattan in October. (Elizabeth Williams / Associated Press)

When a group of wealthy Californians launched a ballot measure campaign in late 2021 aimed at improving pandemic preparedness after the deadly COVID-19 outbreak, they netted more than $21 million in less than six months.

The money backing the initiative, which would raise taxes on the wealthy, came from two groups with ties to Silicon Valley: one underwritten by Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz, the other by cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried.

Months later, Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency empire collapsed. As quickly as the campaign money had appeared, it dried up.

The ballot measure now has $78.56 on hand, and has not attracted a new donor or received a cash contribution in 15 months, according to state filings. Although several public health and medical organizations support the measure, none have donated to the campaign.

"We're in a quiet period," said Max Henderson, a former Google executive who is one of the proponents of the Californians Against Pandemics initiative.

The measure gathered more than 1 million signatures to qualify for the November 2024 ballot.

Henderson said he still plans to keep the issue on next year's ballot, despite the lack of funds. He said he doesn't know yet how much more money the campaign will need to raise, but he is "confident that we can raise it."

But Bankman-Fried's support has exposed the Californians Against Pandemics measure to some risks, experts say, including that potential donors will shy away from an initiative associated with a man convicted of fraud on Nov. 2.

"If I'm an opponent, I'm going to go right at him," said Matt Lesenyie, an assistant professor of political science at Cal State Long Beach whose dissertation examined ballot measures. "I would ask: Why does Sam Bankman-Fried get to write the law? Why does a convicted criminal get to decide the future of California policy?"

Henderson said the measure was inspired by his work on the board of CovidActNow, a nonprofit that built a real-time tracker of COVID-19 risk levels across the U.S.

If approved by voters, the measure will raise taxes on personal income above $5 million by 0.75% for a decade. Legislative analysts said the tax increase could generate $500 million to $1.5 billion per year, the largest infusion of money into the state's public health system since its creation.

Half the revenue would go to a new state agency aimed at detecting diseases and preventing future pandemics. The so-called California Institute for Pandemic Prevention would distribute grants to researchers studying the transmission of pathogens, including through metagenomic sequencing.

Public health programs would receive 25% for pandemic preparedness, and K-12 schools would receive 25% for infrastructure upgrades to limit disease transmission.

Californians "love the idea of soaking the rich" at the ballot box, Lesenyie said. But such measures aren't guaranteed to pass. In 2022, voters rejected Proposition 30, backed by the ride-hailing company Lyft, which would have raised taxes on income above $2 million to build out the state's electric vehicle infrastructure.

The other major backer of the pandemic ballot measure was the Open Philanthropy Project, a foundation funded by Moskovitz, a co-founder of Facebook, and his wife, Cari Tuna.

Open Philanthropy's political action arm contributed $10 million in late 2021 and early 2022, filings show. Mike Levine, a spokesman for Open Philanthropy, said: "We previously supported the measure but aren't for 2023-2024."

The ballot measure committee reported $38,519.75 in noncash contributions from Open Philanthropy this year, described in campaign finance reports as "legal treasury fees and expenses." Henderson and Levine said the filings were a clerical error and are being corrected.

Open Philanthropy is one of the best-known proponents of "effective altruism." The movement, popular in Silicon Valley, encourages donors to focus their charitable giving on reducing long-term risks to humanity, including pandemics.

Bankman-Fried, who became the face of the movement, poured tens of millions of dollars into the cause, including the California pandemic ballot measure and contributions to congressional candidates, including California Reps. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles) and Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach), who said they would prioritize pandemic preparedness.

His hedge fund, Alameda Research, sent $12 million in late 2021 and early 2022 to a nonprofit called Guarding Against Pandemics, which was run by Bankman-Fried's younger brother.

The nonprofit then funneled the same amount into the pandemic ballot measure campaign, according to state filings.

After the cryptocurrency market plunged, bringing down multiple trading platforms, the contributions from the Bankman-Fried brothers stopped, filings show.

FTX collapsed in November 2022. Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud and arrested the following month.

Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried siphoned at least $10 billion from FTX customers and investors. Former employees testified during the trial that Bankman-Fried directed them to defraud customers by using cash from FTX customer accounts to repay debts, fund cryptocurrency investments and make political contributions linked to Alameda Research.

Whether creditors in FTX's Chapter 11 bankruptcy will try to claw back contributions made through Alameda remains unclear.

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.
Police shot and killed a man while attempting to stop a vehicle on the West Side, according to Police Chief William McManus. kali9/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Two San Antonio police officers shot and killed a man while conducting a traffic stop Monday on the West Side, according to Police Chief William McManus.

He is the 13th person shot and killed by police this year, and this is the 22nd officer-involved shooting.

The shooting occurred as officers were attempting to stop a vehicle near Southwest 29th and West Commerce Street around 1 a.m.

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As officers approached the vehicle, the two people inside fled, McManus said. They ran to a nearby parking lot.

READ MORE: Stolen ambulance sends police on wild chase from downtown San Antonio past Boerne

At some point during that encounter, the person (officers) were chasing pulled a handgun and two officers fired, McManus said. He was struck, and he is deceased in the parking lot.

Police did not immediately release the name of the person killed, but McManus described him as a man in his late 20s or early 30s. Police also did not say what happened to the second occupant inside the vehicle.

McManus said both officers have completed about five years of service. They will be placed on administrative duty while the San Antonio Police Department investigates the incident.

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Rodrigo Duterte speaks at the 25th International Conference on the Future of Asia, in Tokyo, May 31, 2019. Credit - Tomohiro OhsumiGetty Images

As President of the Philippines in March 2019, Rodrigo Duterte withdrew the country from being a party to the International Criminal Court. But it was too late to stop a probe the ICC had started in 2016 that was looking into Dutertes war on drugs, a bloody anti-illegal-narcotics campaign defined by mass extrajudicial killings that left an estimated more than 6,000 people dead.

The investigation was initially put on hold at the request of the Philippines in November 2021, but in January 2023, the ICC announced that it was resuming its investigation, and in July, it rejected the countrys grounds for appeal.

After Duterte left office last year, his successor Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said, the Philippines has no intention of rejoining the ICC. But more recently, Marcos has admitted that hes considering rejoining the court, as some lawmakers have requested that the new government cooperate with the investigation. Only one other state, Burundi in 2017, has withdrawn from the ICC, which has 123 members.

Should we return under the fold of the ICC? Marcos told reporters in Metro Manila Friday. Thats again under study. So, well just keep looking at it and see what our options are.

More From TIME

But at the same time, Marcos has emphasized his continuing opposition to the ongoing ICC investigation into his predecessor.

Its not right for outsiders, foreigners to tell us who our police should investigate, who our police should arrest, who our police should imprison, he told reporters in Tagalog. Thats not right. Only Filipinos should do that. We have our police, anyway. We have our National Bureau of Investigation, anyway. We have our Justice Department. They can do that job.

To date, however, no independent Philippine investigation has been made into Dutertes drug war.

Read More: Leila de Lima Is Free but Not Finished Fighting: Exclusive Q&A With Dutertes Fiercest Critic

Heres what to know about the ICC investigation.

What is the ICC investigating?

Former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda first made note of the violence in Dutertes drug war in October 2016. At the time, Bensouda flagged that the Philippines already reported some 3,000 extrajudicial killings of alleged drug users and pushers since the government began its anti-narcotics campaign in June.

Duterte founded his presidency on this war on drugs where he repeatedly threatened to kill those involved in the illegal drug trade. A similar campaign was also present during Dutertes time as long-time mayor of the southern Philippine city of Davao, where he supposedly had a death squad carry out his orders.

Rights groups say Dutertes provocative remarks enabled state forces to commit summary executions and extrajudicial killings. When he was President, he urged Filipino citizens to kill drug dealers, vowed to pardon policemen who kill criminals and civilians in their fight against crime, and ordered his then-customs bureau chief to shoot drug smugglers.

Government records say more than 6,000 have been killed in anti-drug operations since June 2016 until May 31, 2022, a month before Dutertes presidential term ended, but human rights groups estimate that the death toll may be as high as 30,000.

Bensouda announced that the ICC will conduct a preliminary examination of these deaths in February 2018. The pre-trial investigation began five years later on Sept. 15, 2021covering crimes allegedly committed in the country between Nov. 1, 2011 and March 16, 2019, ,the day before the countrys withdrawal from the ICC. This expands the scope of the investigation beyond the Duterte presidencys war on drugs to also include killings during Dutertes time as Davao city mayor. Judges ruled that the crime against humanity of murder appears to have been committed and that cases that come out of the probe will fall into the courts jurisdiction.

Portraits of alleged victims of the Philippine war on drugs are displayed during a protest of Dutertes State of the Nation Address, in Manila, Monday, July 22, 2019. Richard James MendozaNurPhoto/Getty Images

What has Duterte himself said about the investigation?

From the get-go, Duterte has rejected the ICC investigation. Weeks after the statement from Bensouda, he publicly attacked the ICC, calling it useless, and threatened to withdraw the country from the court.

In March 2018, a month after the ICC launched a preliminary inquiry into the Philippines drug war, in a 15-page-statement, Duterte expressed outrage and unilaterally announced the countrys withdrawal from the courts foundational treaty the Rome Statute, because of baseless, unprecedented and outrageous attacks from U.N. officials and the ICCs actions which were in violation of due process and the presumption of innocence expressly guaranteed by the Philippine Constitution.

The Philippines ceased to be a member of the court a year later on March 17, 2019, but the ICC has since ruled that prosecutors may still investigate the alleged crimes against humanity of murder in the country, because they occurred when the Philippines was still a party to the statute.

You do not scare me that you will jail me in the International Criminal Court. I will never allow myself to answer these whites, Duterte said in December 2019. I will never, never, never answer any question coming from you. Its bullshit to me. I am only responsible to the Filipino. Filipinos will judge And if you hang me for all what I did, go ahead. It will be my pleasure.

What could happen next?

ICC investigations may or may not lead to trials, according to an analysis by Human Rights Watch. If, during investigations, the prosecutor finds sufficient evidence to prosecute, they must identify a suspect and request for either an arrest warrant or a summons to appear. A group of pretrial judges ultimately decides whether a case should be brought to trial.

The ICC, however, has limited powers, since its function is to complement countries judiciary systems. It prosecutes only in the absence of genuine, independent legal proceedings, and it neither has its own police force or independent enforcement mechanisms. The level of success for investigation and prosecution depends on how cooperative participant countries are.

Arrests, in particular, remain difficult. ICC judges have issued 40 arrest warrants since the courts inception in 2002, but 15 still remain at large. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example, has had an ICC-issued arrest warrant issued against him since March, but analysts believe the chances of apprehending him are slim to none.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
White House says 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont should be back in school... not in a hospital room

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot near the University of Vermont over the weekend "should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room."

The statement came soon after suspect Jason Eaton, 48, appeared virtually in Chittenden County Superior Court and entered a not guilty plea to all three counts of attempted second-degree murder.

"The president and the first lady were horrified to learn about the three college students of Palestinian descent, two of whom are American citizens, who were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont. The president continues to receive updates from his team about the ongoing investigation," Jean-Pierre told reporters gathered at the White House on Monday.

"These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition, gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving. They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room," she continued.

SUSPECT ACCUSED OF SHOOTING 3 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS IN VERMONT ENTERS PLEA IN FIRST COURT APPEARANCE

"While we are waiting for more facts, we know this. There is absolutely, absolutely no place for violence or hate in America," Jean-Pierre added. "No person should worry about being targeted while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Eaton is currently being held without bail ahead of a bond hearing, which a judge said will be scheduled in the coming days.

The three college students  Hisham Awartani of Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid of Haverford College and Tahseen Ahmed of Trinity College  were shot and injured at about 6:30 p.m. Saturday while out for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering in Burlington, Vermont.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 PALESTINIAN STUDENTS NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

The students were visiting the home of one of the victim's relatives and were walking to dinner when they were confronted by a White man with a handgun, according to police, who said the gunman opened fire on the victims "without speaking."

The shooting happened in front of Eaton's apartment building, police said. Eaton was detained Sunday afternoon near the scene of the shooting.

The three victims, who are all 20 years old, remain hospitalized as of Monday morning. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens, while the third is a legal U.S. resident.

Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, traditional scarves worn by some in the Middle East. The Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee said they were speaking Arabic when the shooting occurred.

"The president, first lady, and everyone here at the White House join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery," Jean-Pierre said.

Fox News Stephen Sorace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.





Original article source: White House says 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont should be back in school... not in a hospital room
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  First lady Dr. Jill Biden, is announcing this years holiday theme at the White House. She said the theme, Magic, Wonder and Joy, is designed for visitors to see the holidays through the eyes of a child.

The White House says the decor includes 98 Christmas trees, more than 142,000 lights and nearly 34,000 ornaments. There are also numerous tributes to the 200th anniversary of the publication of Twas the Night Before Christmas.

The first Christmas tree displayed inside the White House is decorated with wooden Gold Star ornaments that are engraved with the names of fallen service members.

The 18.5-foot-tall official White House Christmas tree, located in the Blue Room, celebrates cheerful scenes, landscapes and neighborhoods from across the country.

The East Room features Advent calendars counting down the days to Christmas with a surprise behind each number.

The official White House Menorah is on display in the Cross Hall, which runs between the State Dining Room and the East Room.

National Guard families will be among the first members of the public to see the decorations following an event hosted by the first lady Monday afternoon. The White House is also treating military families to a performance by the cast of the North American tour of the Disney musical Frozen.

It takes over 300 volunteers from across the country a full week to decorate the inside and outside of the White House, according to officials.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Delaware elections officials have the authority to investigate campaign finance violations, but that oversight has never been used.

The state Department of Elections said that it has no records of probes conducted using the most basic power given to Delaware election commissioners: investigating information coming to the attention of the commissioner that, if true, would constitute a violation of campaign finance laws.

Even though Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long publicly acknowledged campaign finance issues, the Elections Department has steered clear of using its investigatory powers to ensure that the gubernatorial candidates campaign hasnt violated Delaware law.

Instead, Delaware voters and taxpayers are left to take Hall-Longs campaign at their word when it announced the internal audit found no wrongdoings or violations.

Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long and her husband, Dana, at Legislative Hall in Dover in 2017. Hall-Long is running for Delaware governor in 2024 and has had issues with her campaign finances.

The campaign has repeatedly declined to release the audit, instead claiming the amended campaign filings fully convey the results of the probe. Yet, those filings do not provide clarity on what the hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans paid for, causing some to question whether payments went directly to Hall-Longs husband and campaign treasurer, Dana Long, according to reporting by WHYY.

CAMPAIGN ANNOUNCEMENT: Filings show Lt. Gov. Hall-Long improperly reported over $300K in campaign-related expenses

RELATED: How Hall-Long's refusal to release audit findings sparked elections reform talks

Department officials said they have neither received a copy of the audit nor are they conducting a third-party review of Hall-Longs campaign finances, and refused to answer questions on what Delawareans must do to prompt the election commissioner to use their investigatory powers.

The department does not comment on any potential or pending campaign finance-related reviews or investigations that may be conducted, said department spokesperson Cathleen Hartsky-Carter in an email following repeated Delaware Online/The News Journal questions regarding this authority.

What authority do election officials have?

The duties and responsibilities of the Department of Elections and respective election commissioner are spelled out in the State Code, but elections officials have provided contradictory statements on those powers.

Per Title 15, Section 302 of Delaware Code, election commissioners have the authority to investigate information coming to the attention of the commissioner that, if true, would constitute a violation of Chapter 80 of this title, which is to say election officials can investigate campaigns for compliance with state laws regarding campaign expenditures and contributions.

Yet, elections officials say they have no records of probes conducted under this authority, and when a News Journal reporter asked about these powers, Hartsky-Carter initially said State Code does not authorize the department to review or audit campaign finance reports.

Pressed further, the department spokesperson responded that she was not referring to the authority the department has under Title 15, Section 302, but stating that the department is not required by Delaware Code to review the content of submitted campaign finance reports.

How one can investigate potential violations of campaign finance law without reviewing the reports is unclear, but even the department website notes the commissioners duties to investigate violations of the states campaign finance laws.

2024 DELAWARE RACES: Our updated list of Delaware candidates, announcements

The commissioner is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Delaware Senate for a four-year term, and is an ex officio member of the State Board of Elections who attends all board meetings; provides supervision of the department; and develops regulations, policies and guidelines as outlined in Delaware Code.

The commissioners powers are further enumerated in Title 15 Ch. 80 Subchapter V on enforcement, which says the commissioner shall at the request of any person, make a ruling that applies this chapter to a set of facts specified by the person.

The last time those powers were used was in 2018 when the election commissioner at the time issued two advisory opinions, both of which found no violations of state campaign finance laws.

Using campaign finance enforcement authority

The election commissioner has issued seven advisory opinions in the last 15 years, which are prompted by questions voters, political committees and candidates may ask in regard to campaign finances and the election process.

The commissioner weighs in on a variety of questions and concerns, from a 2010 opinion on whether a candidate can use campaign funds to pay legal fees to a 2018 opinion on whether two elected officials violated state campaign finance laws.

In the latter opinion, then-election Commissioner Elaine Manlove absolved state Treasurer Ken Simpler and Senate Minority Leader Greg Lavelle of wrongdoing, but noted Lavelle serving as treasurer of a political action committee that spends money backing his campaign toed the line.

Elaine Manlove, a former Delaware Election Commissioner, answers questions during a meeting with the Bond Bill committee as they approve the purchase of new voting machines for the 2020 election. Manlove in 2018 issued two advisory opinions as part of the election commissioner's duties to respond to questions on campaign finance and election laws.

While I believe his use of the mailings at issue steps right up to the legal line and the distinction in the statute, I reluctantly conclude his use of electioneering communications to support his own campaign does not step over the line is technically permitted, Manlove wrote in the Oct. 26, 2018 opinion. In my view, however, though legal, the practice is not consistent with the spirit of the law intended to promote transparency, fairness and clarity for voters and the election process.

THE 2018 COMPLAINT: Election campaign finance complaint against Republican candidates Lavelle, Simpler rejected

State Justice Department officials say there have been only two instances when potential campaign finance issues were referred to the departments Office of Civil Rights and Public Trust for criminal prosecution. But after state attorneys reviewed the cases, they determined there wasnt enough evidence to move forward.

One of the few powers that Delaware election commissioners have exercised is issuing penalties for campaigns and candidates when they file late reports, but even those instances have lacked teeth.

A law recently passed by the General Assembly caps the $50 a day citation at 100 days and revised the commissioners duties so that the election official can pick and choose when to levy a fine for tardy reports. It also allows the election commissioner to negotiate a settlement of the outstanding fine, which applies retroactively, opening the door for people with huge outstanding fines to potentially waive them entirely.

How voters can prompt action

The public can contact the Elections Department with questions or concerns about filed campaign finance reports, Hartsky-Carter said.

The departments campaign finance team reviews the concern raised and provides a response and, if necessary, contacts the committee about which the inquiry was made (without revealing the identity of the individual inquiring) to share the concern or question raised, she said.

If the inquiry reveals that an amendment may be needed to a filed report, Hartsky-Carter said the department works with the committee to ensure those amended reports are filed.

To contact the Elections Department with questions or concerns, email COE_Vote@delaware.gov or call 302-739-4277.

Got a tip? Contact Amanda Fries at afries@delawareonline.com, or by calling or texting 302-598-5507. Follow her on X at @mandy_fries.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Delaware elections leaders can enforce finance laws, but rarely do
Monica Fulton poses at her home Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, in Houston. Fulton prioritizes giving to organizations that serve the city's residents, like the food bank, a homeless shelter and an arts education organization. The Tuesday after Thanksgiving, GivingTuesday started in 2012 as a hashtag and it has become a central part of nonprofit fundraising. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

What motivates people to donate to charities or causes they care about is often deeply personal. Donors name relatives or friends who have survived or died from illnesses. They recount tearful conversations with their children. They point to their aspirations for how their communities and the larger world could be improved.

In advance of GivingTuesday, The Associated Press interviewed people from across the country with a variety of life experiences about why they give, which organizations they choose to support and how they plan their giving throughout the year.

While not all will participate in GivingTuesday, which started in 2012 as a hashtag, the date has become a central part of nonprofit fundraising and a kind of last chance to meet their budget goals for the following year.

These interviews have been edited for length:

HOUSTON  A longtime resident of Houston, Monica Fulton, 51, prioritizes giving to organizations serving the citys residents. Shes volunteered with the Houston Food Bank for decades, doing everything except the cold room. Because I dont like the cold, she joked.

Fulton, who is originally from Panama, sees her giving and volunteering as a way to make a difference, something she has tried to pass on to her children, who are now 18 and 20 years old.

You look at whats happening in the world and you tend to feel helpless. And what I try to teach my kids instead of feeling helpless is find one little patch of grass that you can make better, she said.

Usually, at the beginning of the year, Fulton sets aside the funds that she intends to give to nonprofits, with the majority going to the food bank, a nonprofit that provides services to people without housing, a womens fund and an arts education organization. But she keeps aside a portion to respond more flexibly, including on GivingTuesday when she seeks out nonprofits that are running matching campaigns.

My advice for people for Giving Tuesday is, do a little bit of research and see who needs help, who has matching challenges, she said. And that makes it kind of fun and exciting to think that even though you give something small, it gets doubled or tripled.

___

CHICAGO  Alicia Bailey said her philanthropic giving was not always intentional.

An executive producer who now works in real estate, Bailey would give $5 when checking out a store or attending a charity gala when invited by a relative. That changed in 2018 when she joined a group of donors who pool their funds to support small organizations serving women and girls on Chicagos South Side.

Bailey's involvement with philanthropy has since grown to the point where she joined the board of the Chicago Foundation for Women, which hosts her giving circle and also makes its own grants.

To go through the process of understanding and getting educated about the grantmaking process, all the way through to deciding and doing site visits, and seeing and hearing the work thats actually happening in the Chicagoland area and being able to put faces and names and sounds to these women who are making things possible with very little, Bailey said was incredibly beneficial to her.

The giving circle makes relatively small grants to organizations that have budgets of less than $500,000, where those grants can make a big difference.

People may have an idea of like, My dollars are too small, they wouldnt matter, right?" Bailey said. "But in these cases, we know that it is because of people giving what they can that it literally has changed the way that organizations are able to do their work. And then that changes lives in the community.

She doesn't plan to mark GivingTuesday specifically for donations because she's already found, through the foundation and the giving circle, ways to pursue her mission of improving the lives of women, girls and gender-nonconforming people in her area.

I will be doing much of the same work that Ive been doing every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday," Bailey said, though she is glad the date will prompt many people to consider how they can make a difference in a cause they care about.

___

ATLANTA  The amount that Ruben Brooks, 56, will give each year varies, but what doesn't change are the causes he supports: financial literacy, scholarships and mentoring for young people in the African American community.

If you want a healthier society, if you want a more productive society, a safer society, then it probably behooves all of us to give in an effort to effectuate the desired result, said Brooks, who is the chief operating officer of Atlanta Beltline.

Years ago, he volunteered as a mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, an organization that he continues to support financially, along with Junior Achievement of Georgia, where he is now a board member. While he has less time to volunteer nowadays, he has extended his network to students who receive scholarships through another nonprofit, the Ezekiel Taylor Foundation, sometimes hosting them at his home.

Hearing the stories, hearing the challenges, providing solutions, letting them know Im available, my friends are available, and there are solutions to the problems that they will encounter, Brooks said of his time with those students.

He usually makes his donations in November and December when he has a sense of his income for the year, in part because he will claim tax advantages. While he may donate on GivingTuesday, it's not a priority, Brooks said.

I want to give on my own terms and what I think is appropriate and not sort of with a commercial day thats sort of put out there, he said.

___

LAFAYETTE, Colorado  Lynne Garfinkel, 55, and Pam Lowy, 58, met through a mutual friend when they both moved to Lafayette, near Boulder, Colorado, several years ago. During the height of the pandemic, they took an online training through the organization Philanthropy Together about how to run a giving circle. They eventually decided to co-lead a new group, Moving Mountains, in part to deepen their connection to the area.

The members of the group vote on a cause to support and then they research local organizations, including sometimes visiting the nonprofits and asking them questions about how they would use a donation, which has ranged from $4,000 to $16,000 depending on the cycle.

We want a project or something that we know where our money is going to make a bigger impact, Lowy said.

The only requirement for joining the group, which uses an online platform called Grapevine to manage donations and voting, is to donate to the pooled funds. Garfinkel said they have never met some of the members in person.

They trust that the group is doing the vetting and that their moneys going to a good cause. They like being part of something bigger," she said. "But they dont have the time to do the research themselves, to participate, to volunteer, and thats okay.

For Garfinkel, her contributions to the giving circle represent one of her main charitable donations each year, but she said of GivingTuesday, I still use that time to pull together all my receipts and what have I given this year? And what did I plan to give? And where do I still have some room in this last month of the year to give?

___

Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and non-profits 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.
Despite all the Democratic star power in the frantic California Senate race, its very possible a Republican could wind up as one of the top two in next years primary

Heres why:

 Republicans could be more motivated to turn out. Supporters of former President Donald Trump are enthusiastic about his candidacy. He had 53% backing from Republican primary voters in the October 3-19 Public Policy Institute of California poll, a level of support thats been steady for months. No other Republican has come close.

The PPIC poll surveyed 1,395 likely voters for the entire poll. Margin of error is plus-or-minus 4%.

Republicans have a lot of reasons to vote. They could have a competitive presidential primary. That Tuesday could be when Trump will win or lose the presidential race. For Democrats its a nothingburger, said Paul Mitchell, vice president of Political Data, Inc., a California-based analytics firm.

Mitchell suggested that if Republicans are at a much higher turnout  maybe upwards of 55% like they were in 2020  and Democrats are down at some abysmal 35% turnout or something, then it makes it much more likely that in a three-way Democratic fight, that one decent Republican should make the top two runoff (for Senate).

Republicans have claimed one of the top two positions in the past, usually when Democrats were united behind a single candidate. They advanced to the November 2022 general elections for governor, attorney general, controller, Senate and other statewide offices. In each case they lost.

Next year, it will be tougher for a Republican to finish at or near the top, though. I still think theres a good chance of two Democrats advancing, but I expect this race to ramp up fully after the holidays, with a sprint to the March 5 primary, said Jessica Taylor, Senate and governors editor for the Cook Political Report, a nonpartisan firm that analyzes races.

The top two vote-getters move on to compete in the November general election.

 Democratic voters could scatter. With three big Democratic contendersReps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Leeclaiming chunks of the vote while Republicans rally around a single candidate, that could be enough to propel the GOP contender into first or second place.

Republican Steve Garvey is already close. He was third, with 10%, in the November 11-14 Emerson Polling Institute/Inside California Politics survey of 1,000 registered voters. The polls margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points, so the former Los Angeles Dodgers star is in the mix with frontrunners Schiff, D-Burbank, at 16%, and Porter, D-Irvine, at 13%. Lee, D-Oakland, had 9%.

John Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College and former Republican National Committee staffer, suggested another Republican-friendly scenario: If two of the three (Democrats) fade in the stretch, then a Republican could place second, he said.

 History suggests Democrats wont turn out as heavily as Republicans. Mitchell found that in 2008, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama competed for the nomination, Democratic turnout in California was 63%, 20 percentage points higher than the partys 20-year average.

But in 2012, when Obama ran unopposed, Democratic turnout plunged to 31%. It went up again in 2016, when Clinton battled with Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind.-Vt., to 54%. It was 55% when Sanders opposed Biden in 2000.

What this means, said Mitchell, is Democrats have a tougher time turning out their voters when there is no top of the ticket partisan battle in the Democratic primary side. On the Republican side we dont see the same drop in turnout .

In 2020, Trump had the nomination secured long before Californians voted in their presidential primary, but Republican turnout was 55%..

Its possible that Republicans continue to turn out in bigger numbers not only because of Trump, but because they tend to be older and part of a socioeconomic strata that doesnt just miss elections as much when they are less interesting, Mitchell said.

The Garvey factor

Matt Rexroad, general consultant for the Garvey campaign, agreed with the Mitchell analysis, calling it part of the reason he was involved in that race.

In the Emerson poll, Garvey did particularly well among older voters, who are more likely to remember him from his playing days and who usually turn out in higher numbers. He tied with Lee at 13% among voters in their 60s, while Schiff had 24% and Porter 19%.

Among those over 70, Schiff drew 30% support while Garvey was next with 17%.

Porters campaign was confident about her standing in the race. Since announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate nearly a year ago, Katie Porter has finished in the top two in every poll taken of likely California voters. With overwhelming support from young voters, Latinos, and women specifically, Katie is well-positioned for the general election, said Mila Myles, campaign communications director.

A Schiff campaign spokesperson declined to comment. Lees campaign did not respond to a request for comment.

No GOP candidate for statewide office has won since 2006, but independent analysts wont rule out a GOP surprise.

I think that could be a completely plausible scenario, but until this race gets more engaged its just hard to tell, said the Cook Reports Taylor.
From a few thousand feet in the air, the upper Verde River carves a stark contrast into the desert surrounding it. Its verdant green ribbon twists through an otherwise arid, rocky landscape. Leafy trees and vegetation line the river banks, allowing glimpses of the water flowing beneath.

In the cockpit of a six-seat propeller plane, representatives from regional, Indigenous and state governments cram together for an overhead perspective of a decades-long campaign to protect this stretch of the Verde.

As the river's base flows continue to decline, organizers worry the upper Verdes lush ecosystem may eventually disappear. The flights are among of the latest efforts by the Upper Verde Wild and Scenic River Coalition to gather support to protect the river with a Wild and Scenic River Designation.

The designation, which requires congressional action, adds federal protection to free-flowing rivers with exceptional natural, cultural and recreational values.

Wild and Scenic status would allow land managers to improve or maintain river water supplies and quality, prohibiting future dams or diversions without limiting existing water rights.

The designation would protect 76 river miles and over 24,000 acres of riverside lands. It would promote recreational activities, protect fish and wildlife, and most importantly, supporters say, prevent the river from drying up in the decades to come.

The coalition has gained backing from numerous cities and towns in Yavapai County and the Yavapai-Apache Nation, and they hope to persuade Arizonas federal lawmakers to introduce a bill next year.

Activists partnered with EcoFlight, an eco-tourism nonprofit that advocates for protections on wildlands using small aircraft, to bring officials and legislators together to see the river and to garner support.

When youre in the plane, you have a lot in common. Youre physically touching even when you might have people from opposite sides of the aisle, said Jane Pargiter, the executive director of EcoFlight. They visually identify what theyre talking about instead of an abstract in maps or paperwork, and its mind changing.

A Wild and Scenic waterway: How Fossil Creek wildlife and vegetation are recovering 16 months after wildfire

What is a Wild and Scenic River designation?

The upper Verde would join two Arizona rivers that have received Wild and Scenic designation. A 40.5-mile expanse of the Lower Verde River was protected in 1984, and in 2009, a 16.8-mile stretch of Fossil Creek was added to the system.

Since the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was passed in 1968, over 220 rivers have been added to the system, covering more than 13,400 miles of waterways across America.

Congress passed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act when dam-building was at a high. Lawmakers wanted to balance constructing dams with preserving free-flowing rivers that have "outstandingly remarkable values."

These values, also known as ORVs, are aspects of a river that are rare, unique or exemplary to the region or nation overall, and include scenery, recreational opportunities, unique geological features, essential fish and wildlife habitats, prehistory sites with ties to Native Americans, historical sites, and other values like hydrology, paleontology or botanical resources.

To receive the designation, a river must be deemed eligible by the federal land management agency that oversees it and have one or more ORVs. The Prescott National Forest confirmed the upper Verde's eligibility, finding seven ORVs.

Then Congress can pass legislation that is signed into law by the president

Organizers believe the upper Verde is a prime candidate to join the Wild and Scenic Rivers system.

If the framers of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act had a river envisioned when they wrote that legislation, it could have been this river. It fits perfectly, said Gary Beverly, the chair of the Yavapai Group of the Sierra Club.

On the Verde: How an Arizona river became a water conservation success story, for now

Support is widespread for protecting the Verde

Members and supporters of the Upper Verde Wild and Scenic River Coalition believe the designation is essential to preserving the upper Verde.

Two factors affect water flow in a river: flood flows from local precipitation or snowmelt, and base flow from groundwater or springs seeping into the river bed. While water from precipitation can be sporadic, base flow is perennial and sustains rivers year-round.

The Verde Rivers base flow has declined since the 1990s, due to increased groundwater pumping and climate change. Advocacy groups fear that if the rate of decline continues, the Verde will dry up in a few decades.

Its important because this is the last living, perennial river in the state of Arizona, Beverly said. The Colorado, the Gila, the Santa Cruz and the Salt have been deeply compromised by dams and diversions of groundwater pumping.

The upper Verde River starts above Clarkdale and flows to Sullivan dam near Paulden. The coalitions proposal includes 44.5 miles of the upper Verde, 1.6 miles of lower Granite Creek and 28 miles of Sycamore Creek, totaling 74.1 miles.

Protection would benefit the entire river, as the upper Verde supplies one-third of the water flowing through the Verde Valley.

The Verde River headwaters, July 8, 2021, near Paulden, Arizona.

In its eligibility report on the upper Verde, the Prescott National Forest recognized seven ORVs applicable to the river: scenic, fishery, wildlife, cultural and historic, recreational, geologic and botanic.

Multiple towns and cities support the designation, including Camp Verde, Chino Valley, Clarkdale, Cottonwood, Jerome, Prescott, Prescott Valley and Sedona.

Over 100 local businesses and 18 partner and supporting conservation organizations have also expressed support, including American Rivers, Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter and Friends of the Verde River.

The Yavapai-Apache Nation has signed a letter of support for the designation and will provide input and assist in managing the river under the designation.

Nancy Ruiz, an environmental protection supervisor for the Environmental Protection Department of the Yavapai-Apache Nation, said the upper Verde was a lifeline to the Yavapai and Apache people historically and continues to be culturally significant today.

As weve remained here, we still continue to uphold our traditional practices, stay involved with stewardship and ensure we protect the land that helped us survive back in the day, she said.

Subscribe to AZ Climate: The Republic's environment and climate newsletter brings you news like this every Tuesday morning.

Maintaining or improving the upper Verde

Although landowners and parties with water rights to the upper Verde may fear that a Wild and Scenic designation could limit their access, supporters say protections would not affect current uses.

The act ensures the free-flowing character of rivers as they are at designation, allowing existing uses for private property, water rights and grazing permits to continue.

A lot of times people are really concerned that some kind of federal designation is going to be like Big Brother and black helicopters swooping in and controlling things you value, said Beverly. Thats not the case. Recreation access will be maintained or improved.

Access for recreation, hunting and fishing will continue, and the public would be involved in planning river management.

Fish and wildlife habitats would be better protected under the designation. The upper Verde is an essential riparian zone, which is land along the edges of rivers and streams that is influenced by the presence of water.

Riparian areas provide food, cover and water for a variety of animals and are a stopping point for migratory species during their travels.

The Verde River supports a large percentage of Arizonas wildlife, including 78% of breeding bird species, 89% of bat and carnivore species and 76% of reptiles and amphibians. Nine of the 22 native fish listed under the Endangered Species Act in Arizona inhabit the Verde River.

Activists believe a Wild and Scenic designation would allow more resources for monitoring and managing these ORVs, while ensuring existing water rights are respected.

In March, representatives from the coalition will travel to Washington, D.C., to present their proposal to Arizona delegates during Wild and Scenic Rivers Hill Week. Their goal is to persuade delegates to introduce a bill establishing the designation.

Something that makes the upper Verde really special is that people across the spectrum of political beliefs, cultural associations and areas really share the feeling that its an important area to protect, said Rachel Ellis, an associate director for American Rivers Southwest River Protection Program. Its not particularly controversial.

Hayleigh Evans covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to hayleigh.evans@arizonarepublic.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust. Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, X and Instagram.

You can support environmental journalism in Arizona by subscribing to azcentral today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How 'Wild and Scenic' status could protect upper Verde River
The widow of a French serial killer who sought out virgins to rape and murder will face trial from Tuesday over her role in three murders dating back several decades, including the killing of a British woman whose body was found in a river in 1990.

Monique Olivier was married to Michel Fourniret, who was charged with abduction, rape and murder in the cases but died in 2021, aged 79, before he could be brought to trial.

The crimes date back to 1988 in the case of Marie-Angele Domece, who disappeared aged 18 from Auxerre, and 1990 for 20-year-old British woman Joanna Parrish, whose naked body was found in the Yonne river that runs through the department of the same name in central France.

Olivier is charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and murder of the girls.

Her third charge is for complicity in the 2003 disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, whose body has never been found two decades on, despite intensive searches.

French gendarmes control the access to the excavation site in Issancourt-et-Rumel, northern France, on October 11, 2022, as part of a new search campaign for the body of Estelle Mouzin, alleged victim of serial killer Michel Fourniret in 2003. / Credit: FRANCOIS NASCIMBENI/AFP via Getty Images

The body of Domece has also never been found.

All of Fourniret's victims - most of whom were raped - were shot, strangled or stabbed to death, the BBC reported. Most were killed in the Ardennes region of northern France and in Belgium.

Many of the witnesses set to be called in the three-week trial are investigators from France and Belgium, where Fourniret was arrested in 2003.

They are also set to include Sabine Kheris, the investigating magistrate who took Fourniret's confession.

She is now in charge of a recently created cold cases unit based in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. This case is the first of the unit's to come to trial.

The "ogre of the Ardennes"

France has for years been simultaneously repelled and fascinated by the crimes of Fourniret, who was dubbed the "ogre of the Ardennes" by media after the hilly region on the French-Belgium border where he lived and preyed on his victims.

Monique Olivier, left, and her husband Michel Fourniret, who were convicted of hunting for young virgins to rape and kill in crimes committed in France and Belgium from 1987 to 2003, are shown in 2008 file photos. / Credit: AP Photo

The trial is "the result of a very long battle", said Didier Seban, a lawyer representing Estelle's father, Eric.

The fact Fourniret never stood trial for the crimes shows "we didn't manage to run the investigation the way it should have been", Seban said.

Fourniret himself asked in 2008 to be tried in all three cases but "nothing was done", said Monique Herrmann, a lawyer for Domece's family.

The trial of Olivier alone is "somewhat short of the mark" for Eric Mouzin, who threw all his energy into finding out what happened to his daughter.

"It will be difficult to pass judgement with only a single defendant," he said, even though Olivier herself is charged with "significant" crimes.

Neither does he hope for anything from the woman in the dock herself, beyond seeing her "sentenced in line with the seriousness of the crime".

Olivier's lawyer, Richard Delgenes, said the court should "not expect any revelations" on her part but that her "participation" in the process is what sets her apart from her husband.

"Unlike him, she takes no special pleasure in the pain of his victims or of the families," he added.

The 75-year-old has already been convicted twice of aiding and abetting in some of her husband's crimes.

She fled in the early 1980s from her violent first husband, with whom she had two children, before becoming a pen pal of Fourniret while he was serving a jail sentence for rape.

The two sealed a pact that she would find him virgins to rape if he would kill her then-husband -- which he never did.

They lived together after he was released in 1987 -- buying a chateau with stolen gold dug up from a graveyard -- and had a son together.

Olivier received a life sentence in 2008 over her role in four murders and a rape committed by Fourniret.

In 2018, Olivier was given a further 20 years' jail for her part in the killing of Farida Hammiche, the wife of one of Fourniret's former cellmates.

In 2019, she overturned her husband's alibi for the day Estelle Mouzin disappeared, prompting him to admit responsibility months later.

Fourniret had earlier admitted killing Parrish and Domece.

"I am the only one responsible for their fates... If those people had never crossed my path, they would still be alive," he told investigators.

Olivier said in 2020 that her husband kidnapped, raped and killed Mouzin, a fragment of whose DNA was found on a mattress seized from the couple's home in 2003.

And in 2021 she admitted her own role in the case for the first time, saying she was with her husband when he buried the girl's body near a forest in the Ardennes.

Who were the victims?

The BBC reported that the couple's first victim was 17-year-old Isabelle Laville.

In 1987, Olivier pulled her van up to Laville when she was walking home from school, told the student she was lost and convinced her to het in the vehicle to help her with directions, the BBC reported. They later stopped to pick up Fourniret, who ultimately raped and murdered the teen, the BBC reported.

Jean-Pierre Laville, father of Isabelle, the first victim of Michel Fourniret In Mulhouse, France on March 11, 2008. / Credit: Pool DEMANGE/MARCHI/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

For 16 years, the couple worked together in the abduction and murder of at least eight girls and young women, the BBC reported. They were finally stopped in 2003, when a 13-year-old girl Fourniret was trying to kidnap managed to escape, leading to his and Olivier's arrest.

The BBC reported that Fourniret's known victims were Isabelle Laville, Fabienne Leroy, Jeanne-Marie Desramault, Elisabeth Brichet, Natacha Danais, Celine Saison, Mananya Thumphong, Farida Hammiche, Marie-Angele Domece, Joanna Parrish and Estelle Mouzin.

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Leader of the Party for Freedom (PVV) Geert Wilders, right, speaks to the press about the immediate departure of scout Gom van Strien - ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN/AFP

Geert Wilders efforts to form a coalition that would allow him to become prime minister were thrown into turmoil on Monday as his chief negotiator quit amid fraud allegations.

Mr Wilders, the leader of the hard-Right Party for Freedom (PVV), said the resignation of Gom van Strien was not my dream start , after his shock election victory last week.

Mr van Strien, a PVV senator appointed as a scout for Mr Wilders, stepped down immediately after it was alleged he was involved in fraud and bribery investigations by his former employer, in a report by the NRC Handelsblad newspaper.

The 72-year-old was accused of swindling Utrecht Holdings  a subsidiary of Utrecht University and the UMC Utrecht hospital  where he worked as a director until 2009.

He denied the allegations, but opted to stand down to prevent any further unrest with the formation of a Dutch government.

Annoying to start like this

The senator was due to hold talks with Mr Wilders, Frans Timmermans, leader of the Labour-Green-Left alliance, Dilan Yesilgoz, leader of the conservative VVD, and Rob Jetten, of the liberal D66 party.

This is not what you are hoping for, Mr Wilders, whose party won 37 seats, said on Monday.

Vera Bergkamp, the speaker of the Dutch parliament, urged the hard-Right leader to find a new scout quickly who can start working immediately.

It is annoying to start like this, she added.

Mr Wilders is expected to appoint a new scout  someone with more distance from politics  by Tuesday.

It came as he warned mainstream Dutch politicians that their refusal to back him in forming a government would lead to his support getting bigger and bigger.

Now we have become the largest party in the Netherlands by far, he wrote on social media.

But still some politicians dont get it. Does the political box of tricks open again? Is it forgotten that if we do not get a chance to convert the vote and democratic mandate of millions of people into managerial responsibility, we will only get bigger and bigger? Because the genie is out of the bottle and wont go back in?

Wilders frustrations aimed at Ms Yesilgoz

Much of Mr Wilders frustrations are aimed at Ms Yesilgoz, whose VVD has led the last four Dutch coalitions after she refused to join his government.

I find it incomprehensible that they are not participating now, the PVV leader said, adding that it is an emotional decision of the VVD not to join his cabinet.

I hope they come to their senses. It would be a shame if there was no centre-right cabinet.

Mainstream politicians have been cautious about committing to support Mr Wilders because of his history of Islamophobic and Eurosceptic views.

The PVV leader had already dropped plans to ban mosques and the Koran, and to hold a Nexit referendum on the Netherlands European Union membership, to tempt potential coalition partners into a government.

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Temperatures in November have ranged from the low 20s to the mid 50s in Indianapolis. Will the weather continue to fluctuate this winter?

While current forecasts show that we are experiencing warmer weather than is typical for this time of year, cold snaps are still possible. According to meteorologist Cody Moore at the National Weather Service in Indianapolis, the weather this time of year can change drastically and quickly.

Bundle up! Winter-like temps and single digit wind chills are in the forecast for Monday and Tuesday. Moderating temps by the end of the week with rain chances returning Friday. For the latest forecast visit https://t.co/mH4VPithfj #inwx pic.twitter.com/sdKNtmqPht  NWS Indianapolis (@NWSIndianapolis) November 26, 2023

For now, we can expect above normal temperatures and precipitation based on the one-month outlook for December, since Dec. 1 marks the beginning of the meteorological winter.

"So that's not to say we won't get any snow later this winter, but for now the main weather pattern does support temperatures above average with warmer than normal temperatures and more precipitation than average," Moore said.

317 Project: The people behind the National Weather Service office in Indianapolis

How will Indianapolis weather change in the coming months?

Looking at the three-month outlook which provides a brief look at what the weather pattern could potentially support in the coming months, we could continue to see above normal temperatures into January and February.

When is the next full moon? Everything to know about the Beaver Moon in November 2023

Moore recommends checking the forecast regularly this winter while making your holiday plans in order to have the most up to date weather information and don't get caught in the weather.

"Make sure you're consistently checking the forecast because things do change this time of year," Moore said. "Just make sure  no matter how you get your weather, whether it's on your phone, whether it's on a TV, whether it's online  you're checking the weather, consistently, daily for any changes that come up."

Moore recommends going to weather.gov/ind and that's where you can find the National Weather Service's local forecast for all of Central Indiana.

Farmers' Almanac: How cold will it get this winter? Check out these predictions

Old Farmer's Almanac: How much snow will we get this winter? Another prediction

Current forecast for Central Indiana

Monday: Partly sunny, with a high near 33. West wind 14 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

Monday night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 19. West wind around 14 mph, with gusts as high as 23 mph.

Tuesday: Sunny, with a high near 30. West northwest wind 10 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.

Tuesday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 21. South southwest wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 46. West southwest wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. West southwest wind 8 to 10 mph.

Thursday: A 40 percent chance of rain after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 52. South wind 10 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.

Thursday Night: Rain. Low around 41. South southwest wind 15 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Friday: Rain likely, mainly before 1pm. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 49. South wind around 14 mph becoming north northwest in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.

Friday Night: A 20 percent chance of rain before 1am. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 31. North wind 7 to 13 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 46.

Saturday Night: A 30 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 37.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 54.

Contact IndyStar reporter Katie Wiseman at klwiseman@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @itskatiewiseman.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis winter weather: What to expect in Central Indiana this year
Miguel Angel Fuentes, 42, was arrested Sunday after he was accused of sexually abusing two girls. Bexar County Sheriff's Office

A San Antonio man is behind bars after being accused of sexually assaulting two girls  one since she was 6 years old.

Miguel Angel Fuentes, 42, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and continuous sexual abuse of a child. His bail has been set at $200,000.

According to an arrest affidavit, authorities learned about a possible assault after a 12-year-old girl told family members that Fuentes had sexually abused her since she was 6 years old.

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The girls sister, 18, also reported that Fuentes had sexually abused her since she was at least 10 years old, according to the affidavit.

The 12-year-old reported last being abused by Fuentes on Nov. 24. She said he inappropriately touched her on multiple occasions, one of which was witnessed by another family member who told the girls mother, according to the affidavit.

The 18-year-old also recalled instances when she was 10 years old when she was sexually abused by Fuentes in her bedroom at night after everyone had fallen asleep, according to the affidavit.

Their mother confronted Fuentes and then reported the accusations to the police, according to the affidavit.

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Fuentes told police he did not touch the two girls, according to the affidavit. He requested an attorney and refused to speak any further.
One day, Emma Schlamm, then 25, felt an unusual pain in her left side. It didnt feel like menstrual cramps, so she visited her doctor to learn more. A scan revealed a mass, which was later removed along with her ovary. While she felt concerned about the growth and the potential loss of her fertility, doctors told her it was a borderline tumor and that she didnt need to worry.

25-year-old felt a

They really made it seem like, 'Youre fine. Youre really fine.' They told me to calm down when I would cry. They really tried to minimize the emotions, the 29-year-old from Newport Beach, California, tells TODAY.com. I felt incredibly dismissed. A year later, though, a routine scan found another tumor, and she was then diagnosed with ovarian cancer. She felt shocked.

Cancer was just not on my radar enough, and had it been, I think I would have pushed more, she says. There is no screening tool for ovarian cancer, but there are some things that could have helped my case.

Unusual pain eventually leads to a diagnosis

When Schlamm first experienced pain on her left side, she visited several doctors before undergoing a scan that found a mass growing on her ovary. At first, doctors didnt think it needed to be removed, but she felt concerned about it.

I pushed and pushed and pushed because I was getting worried, she says. I (didn't) love the idea of anything that was growing in my body that wasnt supposed to be there.

Finally, they decided to perform surgery but faced a complication. The mass had attached itself to her ovary.

There was no way to remove just the mass. They had to take out the whole ovary, Schlamm says. I was very upset about what the implications could be for fertility.

About a year passed, and she was visiting her family in New York when she decided to visit a doctor for a checkup and get a scan. She couldnt believe the results.

They saw a tumor on the other ovary, she says. It was a full- fledged low-grade serous ovarian cancer, meaning it started growing in the serous membrane of the ovary. It was also stage 2 and had spread to other parts of her pelvis.

The cancer diagnosis felt overwhelming to her and her family.

There was just no way, at 25 years old, I was having cancer, she recalls thinking. I blacked out for most of the conversation. I dont remember a lot of it. Ive never heard my mom wail like that, the guttural kind of primal cry she let out.

As Schlamm and her family grappled with their grief over the diagnosis, they visited three cancer centers for a treatment plan. She felt overwhelmed by the therapeutic options and possible outcomes.

It basically took until someone at (Dana-Farber Cancer Institute) said to me, If you were my daughter, this is what I would tell you to do, and thats what I needed, she says. I needed that level of compassion to look at me like I could be their daughter and not just like any other patient."

25-year-old felt a

Schlamm froze her eggs before starting cancer treatment. Doctors told her that chemotherapy only had a 15% chance of putting her into remission. Still, she decided to pursue it.

I wanted to throw everything I possible could at it, she says. I was so desperate and willing, and theres so few (treatment) options for this kind of cancer.

Schlamm underwent six rounds of chemotherapy over 18 weeks and surgery to remove her remaining ovary. Now, she takes an aromatase inhibitor, a drug that lowers estrogen levels and is usually used to lower breast cancer risk in post-menopausal women.

While she responded well to treatments, she grappled with a lot of emotions due to her stage 2 cancer diagnosis.

Dealing with menopause at 25 is not fun. Its brutal, she says. A lot of my grief came from feeling like I lost my youth and vibrance and vitality because ... of not just the chemo but also the medication I am on and will be for the foreseeable future.

The medication causes osteoporosis, and now, Schlamm worries about falling and hurting herself. Last year, her husband hugged her, and she cracked a rib.

I do feel like Im 100 years old inside this body, and its confusing because I want to live, she says. Im 29 now and I want to feel 29.

Low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma

According to the Ovarian Cancer Research Alliance, high-grade carcinomas are the most common types of ovarian cancers. Low-grade serous ovarian cancer often grows slower than other types of ovarian cancer, but it's usually not discovered in early stages, in part because it has few symptoms. Theres also no screening test available.

Low-grade (serous ovarian cancer) is a subtype of ovarian cancer, Nicole Andrews, chair of the board of directors of STAAR Ovarian Cancer Foundation, tells TODAY.com. The studies are now being done in understanding this type of cancer because its rare.

Andrews, who also had low-grade serous ovarian cancer, says this type of cancer most often occurs in younger women.

We have all these 20 and 30 years old that get ovarian cancer, and its a big shock because they get it at later stages, she says. Their doctors didnt even consider they could have ovarian cancer.

25-year-old felt a

Traditional cancer treatments dont work as well on these types of cancer, according to University of Chicago Medicine, so many women with low-grade serous ovarian cancer experience a recurrence.

Like any cancer, catching it early improves outcomes. But it is difficult to detect ovarian cancer, in part because it doesn't cause many symptoms, and the few it does are similar to those of other conditions, such as fibroids or endometriosis. What's more, doctors sometimes dismiss patients symptoms, Andrews says.

However, if you experience any of the following symptoms, which could indicate ovarian cancer, talk to your doctor, Andrews says:

Bloating

Back pain

Irregular menstrual cycles

Indigestion

Feeling full quickly

Bowel changes

Pain during sex

Frequent urination

A recent poll of patients with low-grade serous ovarian cancer by STAAR Ovarian Cancer Foundation and pharmaceutical company Verastem Oncology found that few women knew the warning signs or about the cancer itself.

"Does more need to be done to educate? Absolutely," Andrews says.

The survey asked participants if their doctors dismissed their symptoms or concerns, and many said yes. Andrews adds that it's important for women experiencing symptoms of ovarian cancer to advocate for themselves to their doctors.

25-year-old felt a

It took Andrews 18 months to be diagnosed. Her primary symptom was indigestion and doctors conducted a scan, but the results were normal. Eventually a sonogram revealed what doctors first thought was a complex cyst. It was the cancer, which was spreading.

During the pandemic is when I began the bloating part, and I looked nine months pregnant, she says. I couldnt make it across town  I live in Houston  without needing to go to the bathroom.

While the pandemic shutdown delayed her testing, she ultimately was diagnosed with stage 3 low-grade serous ovarian cancer, which doctors treated with surgical removal of her uterus, ovaries and fallopian tubes plus chemotherapy and aromatase inhibitor.

The experience has taught Andrews how little many women know about their bodies and ovarian cancer.

I have cancer and its likely to come back, she says. In the meantime, Im sure going to go down fighting, no matter what, to make a difference.

Making a difference

Schlamm and her husband enjoy visiting farmers markets, walking on the beach, trying new foods and traveling. While she sometimes struggles with her health, she focuses on enjoying life and educating others. Prior to joining STAAR as a board member, she worked in reproductive health education. She thinks that helped her with her experience.

My career was literally working with young people to advocate for their health, she says. I thought to myself that I needed to take my own advice, like this is what I would want a 14-year-old girl in Fresno that Im working with to do. I should do the same.

Right now, theres no evidence of disease, but Schlamm feels anxious each time she gets a scan.

Thats the hardest part of all this, living with the fear of recurrence because the numbers are just so defeating, she says. I try to do what I can, stay active and healthy. It makes me feel like I have some control over my body.

Schlamm hopes her story raises awareness of low-grade serous ovarian cancer.

I hope that people see me (and) my age, and theyre like This is what ovarian cancer can look like, she says. This is not your grandmothers ovarian cancer. Do not write it off. Do not dismiss it.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
RENDON, Texas - A 25-year-old woman accused of a murder in the Tarrant County community of Rendon has been taken into custody.

Kaitlyn Marie Bailey faces charges of murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The Tarrant County Sheriff's Office had sought help from the public to find her, but released no details about the murder she is accused of committing.
A woman linked to the disappearance of a 21-year-old Georgia man has been given a bond, leaving the victims family frustrated.

Destiny Stephens, 20, has been charged with concealing a death and murder in connection to the lengthy disappearance of Leondre Flynt of the Atlanta suburb of Loganville. On Tuesday, Stephens was granted a $150,000 bond and ordered not to contact Flynts family.

The family is devastated about the decision.

They actually took my auntie in custody  when she heard that she [Stephens] had bond, Shannon Wilson, the victims cousin, told local station WXIA. You know she just yelled out [in court], Wheres his body? Because we still havent found his body.

Destiny Stephens, 20, was charged with concealing a death and murder in connection to the apparent death of Leondre Flynt.(Photo: 11Alive/Youtube/Screenshot)

Flynt was last seen earlier this year, on July 29, when he informed a relative that he was heading to a store to pick up an auto part, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. He was reported missing about three days later to authorities in Gwinnett County, where Loganville is located.

In mid-August, the Atlanta Police Department executed a search warrant at an apartment in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, where items of evidentiary value were obtained, according to the report. Investigators said they believed the victim was killed in that apartment based on their findings.

His family reports that on the day of his disappearance, he told a family member he was going to see a woman in Buckhead. Police later traced his phone location history and found that on the day he disappeared, hed visited the apartment complex where the search warrant was executed.

According to reports, Flynts vehicle was traced to Detroit, Michigan, days after his disappearance.

Stephens was taken into custody in October. Two other individuals, described as a man and woman, were also charged but have yet to be identified by law enforcement, per 11 Alive.

Security footage obtained by police shows Stephens and another woman hop out of Flynts truck in the parking lot of an Atlanta shopping center the day he vanished, authorities say. The two reportedly purchased a bolt cutter and hand saw from a home improvement store.

Its very hard. I mean, I say it a lot, but it makes me extremely angry, Wilson told the outlet. You have to be responsible for your actions.

Jail records appear to show that Stephens is still behind bars.
Glynn County Police Department is asking for the publics help in locating the person responsible for a shooting early Saturday morning, November 25, on Park Drive in Brunswick.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Officers reported that a woman was returning home from a night out saw a cream-colored Buick SUV sitting on the street near her home.

As the woman drove past the vehicle, she heard shots fired and her vehicle was struck several times.

Although authorities state the woman was not injured, at least one bullet had penetrated her vehicles headrest.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

The woman managed to drive safely away from the scene and alerted GCPD.

She described the unknown gunman as a black male wearing all black clothing who had been standing outside the vehicle smoking when the shooting occurred.

The shooting took place at approximately 4:30am Saturday.

Anybody with any information about the incident or the shooter is asked to contact Investigator Ethan Varnedoe with the Glynn County Police Department Major Crimes Unit at (912) 554-7800.

Or if you have information and with to remain anonymous, contact Silent Witness at (912) 264-1333.

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(Bloomberg) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Shanghai for the first time since the financial hubs bruising two-month Covid lockdown, local media reported, as he tries to boost waning private sector sentiment.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Xi is set to visit the Shanghai Futures Exchange and several technology giants operating in the mega-city on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Hell also urge officials to spur cross-border trade and capital flows during his three-day trip, according to the Monday report.

The Chinese leaders first public visit to Shanghai since November 2020 will come about one year after the city saw rare street protests against strict Covid curbs that upended business activity and daily life. Xis trip will send a powerful signal about his determination to reinvigorate investor confidence as the nations post-pandemic recovery continues to struggle.

Chinas most-powerful leader since Mao Zedong vowed to make life easier for foreign investors at an economic summit in California this month, where he sat down with US President Joe Biden in a bid to steady ties between the worlds largest economies.

Shanghai is also home to several of the nations leading tech firms, which are central to Beijings ability to counter US efforts to throttle its access to future technologies, such as cutting-edge chips.

While the Posts report didnt specify which firms Xi would visit, Shanghai-based semiconductor stocks including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. and Will Semiconductor Co. rose Monday on the news of the trip.

I believe the visit aligns with the governments strategy to bolster chip autonomy in the future, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Shum. As Chinas most advanced chipmaker, SMIC is well-positioned to gain a larger market share, particularly in mature node chips, bolstered by increased state support.

The ruling Communist Partys recent overtures to foreign investors have been met with skepticism, after years of policy swings. One measure of foreign investment into China turned negative for the first time since records began in 1998 in the third quarter.

The tech sector has been particularly bruised, with a Communist Party crackdown wiping out billions in market value from firms. China signaled an end to that campaign earlier this year, and Xis visit to companies will be closely watched for further signs of reassurance.

Shanghai is a major outpost for some of Chinas biggest tech operations, including SMIC, which made the 7nm processor hailed as a major triumph after years of US sanctions. Other major firms include AI firm SenseTime Group Inc., which has approval to roll out large-language models to the public, and e-commerce upstart PDD Holdings Inc.

Representatives for SMIC, PDD and SenseTime didnt immediately respond to requests for comment about whether they were expecting Xi to visit.

The Chinese leaders stop at the Shanghai Futures Exchange is likely to show the importance he attaches to energy security, said Bruce Pang, chief economist at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The exchange runs commodity warehouses in the citys free-trade zone, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2023.

China locked down Shanghai for more than 60 days last year to contain the coronavirus, severely hurting firms operations. The city of 25 million was among the dozens around the nation that experienced protests in late 2022 partly due to discontent with Covid measures.

Xis visit to the commercial hub comes as Chinese officials are expected to hold the annual Central Economic Work Conference next month to flesh out policy objectives for the coming year.

That will likely include setting strategies to stabilize the nations faltering property sector, after previous measures failed to arrest the slump in the market.

--With assistance from Iris Ouyang, Edwin Chan, Zhu Lin, John Cheng and Sarah Zheng.

(Updates with requests for comment to tech firms on Xis visit.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
XL Bully owners protest against the ban in central London. (Getty) (SOPA Images via Getty Images)

Rescue centres have revealed that hundreds of XL Bully dogs are set to be destroyed as a ban on the dogs approaches.

The new rules, which start from 31 December, will make it illegal to breed, sell, advertise, exchange, gift, rehome, abandon or allow the animals to stray in England and Wales.

The RSPCA, Blue Cross, and Battersea Dogs and Cats are among charities worried about the future of some of the dogs they are keeping.

They have warned at least 246 of the breed could be euthanised by the end of the year if a new home is not found for them.

The Blue Cross says it could cost as much as 90,000 for charities to destroy the dogs due to higher costs associated with their larger size.

The government has offered 200 to XL Bully owners to go towards the cost of euthanising their animals.

As the deadline for XL bully breeds registration approaches, a campaign group has taken legal action to delay the ban.

Here Yahoo News UK takes a look at the latest developments as XL Bully owners decide what to do next:

XL Bully dogs are being banned. (Getty) (alberto clemares exposito via Getty Images)

Applications opened for owners to register XL bully dogs

Owners who wish to keep their dogs must apply to an exemption scheme or they can choose to have their dog euthanised and apply for compensation.

Owning an XL bully from 1 February 2024 will be illegal unless the animal is on an exempt list, called the Index of Exempted Dogs.

Those who want to keep their dogs will have until the end of January to register them with the list and will then be forced to comply with strict requirements.

Recommended reading

This will include the requirement to muzzle them and keep them on a lead in public, but the dogs must also be microchipped and neutered.

Dogs more than a year old on 31 January must be neutered by 30 June next year, while those under 12 months old must be neutered by 31 December 31 2024.

Owners without a certificate of exemption will face a criminal record and an unlimited fine if they are found to be in possession of an XL bully as of 1 February, and their dog could be seized.

Campaigners are trying to launch a judicial review

A campaign group of XL bully owners has raised over 160,000 to fund a potential judicial review to overturn the ban.

The Don't Ban Me - Licence Me organisation confirmed it had submitted a pre-action protocol to the UK government, instructed a lawyer and then hoped to submit an application to delay the new law by the next month.

The groups head Sophie Coulthard told the Guardian: We would like the government to consider licensing, because that is something thats been presented to them, even through their own commissioned research, and has been ignored.

Theres lots of really good models that are successful, where countries have just done away with breed specific legislation because what they found is they just kept banning more dog breeds and it clearly wasnt working.

It can involve mandatory training, making sure breeders are licensed properly, and stops people impulse buying dogs which you obviously see a lot.

Watch: Hundreds of XL bully dogs to be destroyed at end of year when ban comes into force

What is an American XL bully dog?

The American bully is a relatively new dog breed from the US, with its first official breed registry, the American Bully Kennel Club (ABKC), founded in 2004.

As it is not registered as a recognised breed by the UK Kennel Club, it is unclear how many of the dogs or breeders are currently in the country.

The UK government has estimated there are about 10,000 American XL bullies in the UK while the Blue Cross animal charity has suggested it is more like 15,000.

The breed comes in a variety of sizes, including pocket, standard and XL, the latter of which has become a cause of concern.

The breed is responsible for killing at least nine people, including three children, since 2001.
A Suffolk County, New York correctional officer has been arrested after he allegedly forced an inmate to perform a sexual act while threatening repercussions if the inmate were to disobey him, according to the district attorneys office.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierneys office said 35-year-old Jason Middleton of Central Islip, New York, was arrested on Friday and charged with third-degree criminal sexual act and official misconduct.

"This defendant is alleged to have violated his oath and preyed upon an individual whom he was sworn to protect," Tierney said. "Hard-working corrections officers play an essential role in our criminal justice system and are entrusted with the care and safety of incarcerated individuals. My office will not tolerate any abuse of that trust. I thank the Sheriffs Office for their assistance in this investigation."

NEW YORK PROSECUTOR DROPS CHARGES AGAINST GOP COUNCILWOMAN WHO BROUGHT GUN TO PROTEST IN SUPPORT OF ISRAEL

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney in Judge Tim Mazzeis courtroom at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead on Wednesday, Sept. 27, 2023.

An investigation into the allegations against Middleton found that between April 26 and Sept. 29, 2023, Middleton was working as a correctional officer at a correctional facility in Riverhead, New York.

As part of his role, Middleton was tasked with guarding the inmates.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Between April 26 and Sept. 29, Middleton allegedly took an inmate into a utility walkway between jail cells that he knew was a blind spot that the security cameras could not capture on video.

GILGO BEACH SERIAL KILLER SUSPECT REX HEUERMANN APPRECIATES WIFE ATTENDING COURT, LAWYER SAYS

After taking the inmate into the walkway, Middleton allegedly shut the door and demanded the inmate perform oral sex, and the inmate complied.

Before the sexual assault, Middleton allegedly threatened the inmate and if the inmate ever disobeyed him, he would place contraband in the inmates cell. If the contraband were to ever be found, it would likely result in additional charges being filed against the victim, the DAs office said.

On Friday, Middleton was arrested by Tierneys Public Corruption Squad and was expected to be arraigned in Southampton Town Justice Court.

DOJ WON'T SEEK DEATH PENALTY AGAINST ALLEGED MS-13 GANG MEMBERS ACCUSED OF MULTIPLE KILLINGS IN LONG ISLAND

Suffolk County Police Department vehicle.

Because the offenses are not bail eligible, the DAs office added, Middleton would likely be placed on supervised release.

"I am shocked and disgusted by the acts of this Correction Officer and this is something we have absolutely no tolerance for," Suffolk County Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. said. "Make no mistake, this is no reflection of the men and women of the Suffolk County Sheriffs Office who work hard day after day and take their oath of duty seriously."

Original article source: New York corrections officer arrested after allegedly forcing inmate to perform sexual act
A Bronx couple and their five-year-old son were found stabbed to death inside their apartment early Sunday morning, according to law enforcement officials.

Just after 6:30 a.m., police responded to an apartment building at 674 East 136th Street in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx for a 911 call.

Upon arrival, officers discovered a 38-year-old man with stab wounds to the chest, lying in the hallway of the first floor of the apartment building.

As they began their investigation, officers broke into a nearby apartment unit after seeing a child lying on the ground and also located a 33-year-old woman with fatal stab wounds.

3 PEOPLE STABBED TO DEATH IN NYC HOME AS LANDLORD CONFESSES TO DOING 'SOMETHING BAD': POLICE

Bronx couple and 5-year-old son found stabbed to death inside apartment, officials say.

Both the woman and child were pronounced dead at the scene by first responders.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

Authorities said an autopsy was being conducted to determine the cause of death and an investigation is ongoing.

3 CHILDREN AMONG 5 INJURED IN STABBING OUTSIDE IRISH SCHOOL

Neighbors told investigators that all three had recently moved into the unit and had mostly kept to themselves.

The names of the victims were not immediately made public as police are working to identify and notify any relatives.





Original article source: New York couple, 5-year-old son, found stabbed to death in apartment: officials
Rapper Young Thug speaks onstage at the 2021 REVOLT Summit at 787 Windsor on November 13, 2021 in Atlanta

Rapper Young Thug's racketeering trial has begun with Georgia prosecutors accusing him of being a gang leader in charge of a "wolf pack".

The Atlanta rapper, born Jeffery Lamar Williams, is accused of co-founding a violent street gang in his hometown.

Prosecutors are using the critically acclaimed performer's own lyrics as evidence against him.

The rapper is accused of racketeering - the same charge facing ex-US President Donald Trump in the state.

Mr Williams, 32, has been in jail since his May 2022 arrest on charges that also include participating in criminal street gang activity.

He is being tried alongside five co-defendants.

Fulton County Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love told the jury the rapper oversaw dozens of crimes that left a "crater" in Fulton County. That crater "sucked in the youth, innocence and even the lives of some of its youngest members", she alleged.

In Monday's colourful opening statement, which was interrupted several times by defence attorneys, Mrs Love said that Mr Williams' lyrics "bore a very eerie significance to real life" and the crimes the gang is alleged to have committed.

Her opening statement included portions of lyrics, including one from another allegedly associated gang member referring to a murder.

"We didn't chase any of the lyrics to solve any murders," she said. "Law enforcement in Fulton County chased the murders and found the lyrics."

Prosecutors in Fulton County argue that the rapper's music label YSL is not a true business, despite its success at producing Grammy-winning talent. Instead, they allege, it is a street gang affiliated with the US-based Bloods gang.

In an indictment in May, the district attorney's office alleged the YSL co-defendants were linked to offences including murder, armed robbery and carjacking.

Mrs Love said that the group "moved like a pack" that "had an agreement - unspoken, but no less an agreement" to obtain "things of value" and property through illegal activity.

If found guilty, Mr Williams could face decades in prison.

The opening day of the trial, however, was marred by repeated objections, delays and a call for a mistrial, prompting Judge Ural Glanville to remark that he is "not happy about this".

Georgia prosecutors used the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (Rico) Act - famously used in mafia prosecutions - to charge the rapper and 27 associates who were allegedly involved in the criminal enterprise at various levels.

Fulton County prosecutors also cited the Rico Act to build a case against Mr Trump and 18 co-defendants, alleging they "unlawfully conspired" to change the 2020 election outcome as part of a "criminal enterprise".

Neama Rahmani, a trial lawyer who is closely watching both cases in Fulton County, says that if prosecutors can win their case against YSL, they are more likely to succeed in prosecuting Mr Trump and his alleged co-conspirators.

The challenge, he says, is that "organisation" under the Rico law is "really loosely defined". In both YSL and the Trump campaign's case, prosecutors are wading into "uncharted waters", Mr Rahmani says, as it is unclear whether they will meet the legal standard.

Prosecutors say they plan to call up to 400 witnesses in Mr Williams' trial to clarify the "organisation" at its centre. Popular rappers such as Killer Mike, Lil Wayne, and TI could be among those set to testify.

The trial, which is expected to last around six months, is part of an investigation that prosecutors said has been ongoing for about 10 years.

During that period, Young Thug - who co-wrote the Donald Glover song This is America - has been a growing force in hip-hop.

This month Judge Glanville ruled that prosecutors would be allowed to use some of Mr Williams' rap lyrics as evidence that crimes had been committed by the defendants.

That lyrics from his songs are being used as evidence in the case has raised questions about free speech, artistic expression and racial bias, but prosecutors dismissed those arguments.

The judge's ruling allowed 17 sets of lyrics to be introduced, but only as long as prosecutors could tie them to crimes that they say were committed by YSL members.

Prosecutors argue that lyrics from the 2018 track Anybody featuring Nicki Minaj refer to a killing authorised by Mr Williams.

"I never killed anybody, but I got something to do with that body," he repeats in the song's chorus, adding that he is the "general" of the group.

Another lyric cited by prosecutors refers to a "hundred rounds in a Tahoe". They allege that one of YSL's murder victims was inside a Chevy Tahoe when he was gunned down.

Kevin Liles, the CEO of Warner Music's 300 Entertainment, which represents Mr Williams, was present at the trial on Monday and is among the witnesses expected to be called to testify.

"If this were country music, rock music," he told reporters outside court, "we wouldn't be here."
The trial of Atlanta-based rapper Young Thug is set to begin in Georgia, nearly 11 months after jury selection first began.

The chart-topping artist, along with several others, is accused of violent crimes and racketeering as part an alleged criminal street gang named YSL.

Jury selection for the trial began in January, but faced numerous challenges  from getting the defendants housed in different jails to court each day to dealing with contraband in the courtroom and  wildly  the arrests of a defence attorney and a courtroom deputy.

The saga in the courtroom has led to lengthy delays in the trial, which is expected to last months, getting under way.

Finally, opening statements are scheduled to begin on Monday 27 November.

Heres what you need to know.

Who is Young Thug?

Born in 1991 as Jeffrey Lamar Williams, Young Thug is an Atlanta-born rapper. He also goes by the name Slime.

After starting his career at the age of 19, he signed with Gucci Manes record label, and went on to become one of the most influential artists on the contemporary hip-hop and trap music scene.

His first two albums So Much Fun, in 2019, and Punk, in 2021, debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, as did his 2021 joint compilation album with Gunna, Slime Language 2.

Young Thug has also featured in multiple collaborations that have earned him several number one hits.

These include guest spots on Camila Cabellos Havana in 2018, Travis Scott and MIAs Franchise in 2020 and Drake and Futures Way 2 Sexy in 2021, all of which topped the Billboard Hot 100.

He also co-wrote the hit song This Is America with Childish Gambino, real name Donald Glover, which became the first hip-hop track to win Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2019.

Rapper Young Thug, real name Jeffrey Lamar Williams (2021 Invision)

Young Thug is also noted for his style, with a 2016 GQ article describing him as a leader of the psychedelic fashion movement of rap hippies.

He is unapproachable. He radiates volatility. I cant even imagine him making actual, on-purpose eye contact with another human, the article states.

What is YSL?

It depends who you ask.

YSL is Young Thugs own record label  Young Slime Life. Artists on his record label are considered part of the Slime Family, and a compilation album, Slime Language 2, rose to number one on the US charts in April 2021.

Its artists include Gunna and Lil Keed, though several contemporary artists, including Future, Lil Uzi Vert, Playboi Carti, Lil Baby, and Travis Scott have also expressed allegiance to YSL without being contractually signed.

However, according to prosecutors, YSL is actually a criminal street gang, which started out in the Cleveland Avenue area of Atlanta and claims affiliation to the national Bloods gang.

According to a sprawling 88-page indictment, the members of YSL use a variety of identifiers including colours, clothing, tattoos, and hand signs to show their allegiance to the group.

The most predominant colours used by members of YSL are red for Bloods and green for Slime.

Defence attorneys meanwhile insist that YSL is just a music label.

What are the charges against YSL members?

The YSL members named in the indictment are charged with conspiracy to violate Georgias Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

The act is similar to its federal counterpart, which is used to convict large-scale organisations such as the mafia.

According to the indictment, associates of YSL conspired to associate together and with others for the common purposes of illegally obtaining money and property through a pattern of racketeering activity.

It claims that YSL members were involved in murder, attempted murder, armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, theft, drug dealing, carjacking, and witness intimidation.

Other activities include the posting of messages, images, videos and songs, demonstrating allegiance to the enterprise and willingness to engage in violence on its behalf.

Prosecutors claim they can show that some of the groups lyrics are related to crimes that they are accused of committing.

The indictment portrays Young Thug as the leader of the gang (2022 Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Through these activities and more the gang aimed to preserve, protect, and enhance the reputation, power and territory of the enterprise, prosecutors said.

Where does Young Thug fit in?

The indictment portrays Young Thug as the leader of the criminal gang, which was responsible for multiple violent crimes, including murders, shootings and carjackings.

Prosecutors say the rapper also used his music and social media posts to promote the gang,

He is also alleged to have committed multiple crimes that he has not been charged with.

While he is not being charged for such overt acts, they lend credence to the allegation that the group of defendants were together engaged in a criminal conspiracy.

Brian Steel, Young Thugs lawyer, told The New York Times: Mr Williams came from an incredibly horrible upbringing, and he has conducted himself throughout his life in a way that is just to marvel at. Hes committed no crime whatsoever.

How long has Young Thug been behind bars?

Young Thug has been in prison since his arrest in May 2022.

Earlier this month, a jury was finally selected after almost one year  with over 2,000 people having been summoned to possibly serve.

Now, opening statements in the trial are set to begin on 27 November.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the trial could end up being the longest in Georgias history.

Has the case been controversial?

The use of lyrics from rappers associated with YSL and Young Thug in the case has been an ongoing point of contention.

Earlier this month, Fulton County Superior Court Chief Judge Ural Glanville ruled that he would allow prosecutors to introduce 17 sets of lyrics, as long as they can show that the lyrics are related to crimes that the rapper and other defendants are accused of committing.

Defence attorneys had asked the judge to exclude them, arguing the lyrics are constitutionally protected speech and would be unfairly prejudicial.

Drake is among those in the music industry who has expressed support for YSL (Getty Images)

The question is not rap lyrics. The question is gang lyrics, prosecutor Mike Carlson said, during a pre-trial hearing. These are party admissions. They happen to come in the form of lyrics.

Mr Carlson had argued that First Amendment speech protections do not apply because the defendants are not being prosecuted for their lyrics. Instead, he said, the lyrics refer to the criminal act or the criminal intent related to the charges.

Another prosecutor, Simone Hylton, also separated the lyrics into three categories: those that prove the existence of YSL as an enterprise, those that show the gangs behaviour and actions, and those that show that Young Thug is a leader of the gang.

How has the music industry reacted to the trial?

Several big names in the music industry have expressed support for YSL and hit out at prosecutors efforts to use their own lyrics against them.

Canadian superstar Drake referenced the case in the track Sticky on his new album Honestly, Nevermind.

Somebodys getting paid and/Free Big Slime out the cage, Drake says in the song.

Killer Mike of rap group Run The Jewels previously told ABC News: Hip hop is not respected as an art because Black people in this country are not recognised as full human beings.

If we allow the courts to prosecute these men based on characters they created and stories of pretend that they tell in rhyme then next, theyll be at your door.
John "Danny" Diaz, president of the San Antonio Police Officers' Association, said a recent campaign on social media is an attempt to highlight issues the officers see with the DA's office. Jerry Lara, Staff / San Antonio Express-News Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said in statement that he hopes SAPOA can contribute to the efforts to improve pubic safety. Kaylee Greenlee Beal

The San Antonio Police Officers Association has launched a social media campaign against District Attorney Joe Gonzales after a string of violent officer-involved shootings.

We will no longer stay silent, states the first video, posted earlier this month on X, formerly Twitter. Tune in to the DA Chronicles to uncover the truth.

In a second video, SAPOA said Gonzales is putting law enforcement at risk by not keeping repeat offenders behind bars.

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It focused on Jesse Garcia, 28, the man accused of wounding three police officers in August during a four-hour standoff. He was indicted by a Bexar County grand jury earlier this month.

The SAPOA video showed Garcias criminal history dating back to 2018. It stated that several of his cases were dismissed and he was released twice on bond, most recently in February.

Gonzales released a statement after the video was released, calling it false and blatantly misleading.

The standoff with Garcia kicked off a public feud between Police Chief William McManus and Gonzales.

Garcia has been in and out of jail several times since 2015. He was out on two bonds and wanted on outstanding warrants for felon in possession of a firearm, evading arrest in a vehicle and burglary of a vehicle.

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Why wasnt he in jail? Why (werent) his bonds increased? People want to know, McManus wrote in a social media post.

The DAs office held a news conference the next day, defending itself and emphasizing it is not responsible for setting bond amounts. Gonzales has since said his office has had to dismiss cases for lack of evidence from law enforcement.

ALSO READ: DA Joe Gonzales creates team to review cases involving violent offenders

Danny Diaz, president of SAPOA, said there seems to be a revolving door. Officers put felons in jail only to have them released.

Its disheartening, not only from a police officer standpoint but for this community, because these people (felons) get out, and they keep doing more crimes, Diaz said.

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Diaz said the solution to fixing the problem is to follow the system in place and not the Joe Gonzales justice system, which is basically just letting people go.

They need to stand up and ask for him to do his job, Diaz said. Or, I said this before, he just needs to resign so that the city of San Antonio can find a DA that will do the job and do the job correctly.

Gonzales emphasized that SAPOA is aware that under Texas law, an elected district attorney does not set bonds nor do they have the legal authority to order the release of a defendant on bond.

He added that he is disappointed in SAPOAs attempts to undermine his efforts to improve public safety alongside city and county leaders.

In recent months, SAPD and the DAs office have tried to improve the communication between the two departments by implementing a new evidence system to keep criminals off the streets.

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Gonzales said law enforcement, the judiciary and prosecutors are working more closely than ever to make Bexar County even safer by building a stronger and more efficient system of justice.

He also is meeting with McManus and other city/county leaders as part of the efforts to improve communication, Gonzales statement said.
The Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) teetered on the edge of a complete blackout on Nov. 26, the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine, Energoatom, reported on Telegram.

A line break occurred approximately 100 kilometers north of the Zaporizhzhya NPP at 10.30 a.m. on Nov. 26, resulting in the disconnection of its last (fourth) connecting line with Ukraines power system  the 750 kV ZNPP  Dniprovska. Many parts of Ukraine are experiencing a severe winter storm at this time.

The three other lines were previously damaged by Russian shelling.

Read also: Stay online during blackouts caused by Russian airstrikes, Digital Minister explains xPON tech

During the crisis, the ZNPP relied on its sole available 330 kV backup power transmission line, said International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Simultaneously, the fourth power unit experienced a partial outage, triggering the automatic startup of a backup diesel generator. Workers were able to manually deactivate the generator after ten minutes.

Energoatom described the incident as indicative of broader power supply challenges at the nuclear facility. Ukrainian specialists repaired the damaged 750 kV line at 8.52 p.m.

Since the Russian occupation, the ZNPP has faced repeated external power source disruptions, resulting in seven complete blackouts and one partial blackout.

ZNPP under Russian occupation  What is known

Europes largest nuclear power plant, ZNPP fell under Russian control on March 4, 2022 following clashes in Enerhodar. The plant suffered extensive damage from Russian shelling, leaving buildings in ruins and station workers in captivity. The occupiers swiftly transformed the facility into a military and logistical base, deploying personnel, military equipment, and ammunition.

Russia was contemplating a terrorist act at the seized NPP, with preparations allegedly completed, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in June.

Explosive devices were strategically placed near four out of six power units, and the cooling system was rigged with charges, said Kyrylo Budanov, Ukraines military intelligence chief.

However, on Aug. 4, the IAEA gained access to the roofs of two reactor buildings after a month of requests. The IAEA declared that no traces of explosive substances were found, providing a crucial update on the situation at ZNPP.

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine
New Zealand is planning to scrap its flagship generational smoking ban in order to fund tax cuts  a move that experts warn will have adverse effects on public health.

Last year, New Zealand became the first country in the world to ban smoking for the next generation. As per the policy, anyone born after 1 January 2009 would not be able to buy any tobacco ever. The ban would have come into effect next year.

The legislation passed last year by the liberal government aimed to prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths and save thousands of dollars in the healthcare system.

New Zealands new finance minister, Nicola Willis, said on Saturday that the measures will be eliminated from March next year and the revenue from cigarette sales will be directed towards the coalitions tax cuts.

Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the government books  with about $1bn there, she said.

New prime minister Christopher Luxon emphasised that the reversal of the smoking legislation would prevent the emergence of an underground tobacco market and deter criminals from targeting shops.

Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime, Mr Luxon told Radio New Zealand.

However, public health officials in New Zealand say that the reversal would put thousands of lives at risk and be especially damaging to the Maori communities who have higher smoking rates.

This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry  whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives, Professor Lisa Te Morenga, chair of the non-government group Health Coalition Aotearoa, told the Guardian.

Other health groups in the country also criticised the governments move. Prof Richard Edwards, a public health expert at the University of Otago, told the BBC: We are appalled and disgusted. This is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures.

Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the governments done and are calling on them to backtrack.
Tobacco's popularity has long been a scourge of public health advocates, from the idea that smoking is "cool" to Big Tobacco spreading pseudoscience. Now public health advocates in New Zealand are grappling with a new headache: The reversal of a law intended to phase out tobacco use among young people.

The law  which created a steadily rising smoking age so people born after January 2009 could never legally purchase cigarettes  was intended as a so-called "generation ban." The policy included other measures that decimated the number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes (from 6,000 to 600), as well as reduced the amount of nicotine legally allowed in tobacco products. While those have taken effect, the generation ban was not scheduled to be implemented until July 2024.

Now it won't be put into effect at all, thanks to recent political negotiations in The Land of the Long White Cloud. Finance Minister Nicola Willis announced on Saturday that the policy is being reversed as the new coalition government seeks alternative methods to fund its tax cuts. The new approach has been met with dismay from public health advocates.

This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry  whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives, Prof Lisa Te Morenga, the chair of non-government industry group Health Coalition Aotearoa, told The Guardian.
FILE PHOTO: Christopher Luxon, Leader of the National Party speaks to supporters in Auckland

By Lucy Craymer

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealands new right-of-centre government was sworn in on Monday, with parliament expected to sit next week and begin working on new policies including a new central bank mandate and lifting a ban on oil and gas exploration.

New Zealand Governor General Cindy Kiro, who represents British monarch King Charles III as head of state, swore National Party leader Christopher Luxon in as New Zealands 42nd prime minister along with ministers of his cabinet at Government House in Wellington.

Centre-right National signed coalition agreements with libertarian ACT New Zealand and populist New Zealand First on Friday allowing the three parties to form a government, bringing an end to six years of left-wing governments in New Zealand.

Former airline executive Luxon told TVNZs 1News he was excited about taking on the role of prime minister.

Weve got the team, weve got the ideas, weve got a clear policy program for the next three years, he said.

The incoming governments coalition agreements, released Friday, outlined a number of policy plans including a single mandate for the country's central bank, a plan to roll back the use of Maori language and an end to a ban on oil and gas exploration.

The New Zealand Green Party on Monday launched a petition to keep the ban on oil and gas exploration.

We ask everyone to stand with us to tell this government that the oil and gas ban has to stay, Green Party co-leader James Shaw said in a statement.

The Green Party has said they will re-introduce a ban on new sources of fossil fuels when they return to government.

(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
Pain management clinics have long been at the forefront of novel treatment procedures in New York City, providing relief and hope to many patients suffering from chronic pain.

Today, these clinics are starting on a daring voyage of international expansion, with Japan as a major target for their innovative techniques and cutting-edge therapy modalities. This development has the potential not just to transform the Japanese healthcare market, but also to have a substantial impact on the global pain treatment environment.

The State of Pain Management in NYC

The pain management clinics in New York City are well known for their cutting-edge procedures and holistic approach to pain relief. These clinics have changed pain management standards by offering treatments ranging from basic physical therapy and acupuncture to sophisticated therapies such as Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy and Electromagnetic Transduction Therapy (EMTT). The city's pain management doctors are highly trained experts, with many receiving international praise for their clinical skills and creative pain medicine research.

Understanding the Japanese Healthcare System

Japan, with its advanced healthcare system and growing aging population, represents a distinct and fertile market for New York's pain treatment products. The country's healthcare system is dealing with the challenges of an aging population, which has led to an increase in the prevalence of chronic pain illnesses such as arthritis, neuropathy, and musculoskeletal disorders. However, Japan's existing pain management practices, which rely primarily on medication and are less focused on sophisticated non-invasive therapies, have substantial space for improvement.

Bridging the Gap: Advanced Pain Management in Japan

The introduction of modern pain treatment procedures from New York into the Japanese market is expected to close this gap. For example, in Japan, therapies such as EMTT and PRP, which have demonstrated exceptional outcomes in treating numerous pain disorders without the need for surgery or long-term medication, are still relatively new concepts. These therapies represent a possible alternative for the elderly, who are frequently at a higher risk of problems from invasive operations and long-term drug use.

Cultural Awareness and Adaptation

The necessity for cultural awareness and adaptability is a critical part of a worldwide venture. New York's pain management clinics are ready to negotiate Japanese society's cultural intricacies, emphasizing the necessity of polite communication and patient-centered care that adheres to local conventions and expectations. Clinical and administrative training programs are being established to guarantee a smooth transition into the Japanese healthcare system.

This growth is not simply a one-way path; it also opens the door to joint research and knowledge exchange between medical specialists in New York and Japan. This collaboration can result in the development of novel pain treatment protocols and technology, which will help to advance the area on a global scale. Joint clinical trials and research projects are already in the works, with the goal of combining the best of both worlds' pain treatment knowledge.

Impacts on the Economy and Healthcare

The expansion of New York City's pain clinics into Japan is expected to have a huge economic and healthcare impact. It will not only offer new career opportunities, but it will also help to improve pain management standards in Japan. Patients will have more therapy options available to them, resulting in better health outcomes and a higher quality of life.

Patient education is a critical component of this expansion. Clinics in New York intend to conduct educational efforts to educate Japanese patients about the benefits of modern pain management methods. Giving patients information about their diseases and treatment options is a critical step in ensuring the success of this international venture.

The Way Forward

As the premier pain management clinics in New York set their sights on Japan, they bring with them the promise of innovation, hope, and better patient outcomes. This growth is more than a business initiative; it is a commitment to change people's lives by providing innovative pain relief options. The global medical community will be watching the impact of this cross-cultural adventure intently, as it sets the path for future international collaborations in healthcare.

As we watch this extraordinary global spread, it is critical to acknowledge the work of local pioneers such as the BayWayPain clinic in Brooklyn, New York, which has played an important part in creating the pain management landscape. BayWayPain is a testament to the efficacy of modern pain management approaches, providing a complete range of services to meet patients' different demands. BayWayPain has been a cornerstone in the community, giving relief and enhancing the quality of life for countless individuals, emphasizing non-invasive and drug-free treatments.

BayWayPain: A Global Expansion Model

The BayWayPain clinic's approach to pain care reflects the type of cutting-edge procedures that the New York clinics hope to bring to Japan. BayWayPain has been in the forefront of employing cutting-edge technology to address chronic pain, specializing in a variety of therapies such as Electromagnetic Transduction Therapy (EMTT), Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy, and advanced cervical traction techniques such as Cervi-Trac. The clinic's emphasis on personalized care, along with its use of cutting-edge pain relief technology, makes it a model worth replicating on a global scale.

What distinguishes BayWayPain is not only its modern treatment procedures but also its dedication to compassionate, patient-centered care. The clinic recognizes that effective pain management entails more than just physical therapies and also includes emotional and psychological assistance. This holistic approach is critical in the treatment of chronic pain, especially in a fast-paced city like New York. The New York pain management clinics seek to bring this combination of scientific expertise and compassionate treatment to the Japanese healthcare environment.

Furthermore, BayWayPain's dedication to patient education and community outreach serves as a model for the company's planned growth in Japan. BayWayPain allows patients to take an active role in their pain management journey by informing them about their illnesses and available treatment alternatives. This teaching program is an important aspect of the clinic's concept and will play a vital role in the development of New York clinics in Japan.

Creating a Global Pain Management Excellence Network

The expansion into Japan is about more than just exporting innovative pain treatment procedures from New York; it's about developing a global network of excellence in this profession. Clinics such as BayWayPain act as critical nodes in this network, exchanging knowledge, expertise, and best practices. This collaborative ecosystem has the potential to improve the quality of pain management services worldwide, benefiting patients from various cultures and healthcare systems.

The entry of New York's pain management clinics, such as BayWayPain in Brooklyn, NYC, into the Japanese market, is a trailblazing move toward globalizing modern pain reduction options. This enterprise has the potential to significantly alter how chronic pain is addressed across cultures, setting the way for a future in which pain care is more accessible, effective, and patient-centered. As these clinics expand into new areas, they bring with them the promise of a world in which pain is properly treated via the greatest of medical innovation and compassionate care.
TOKYO, Nov 27 ( News On Japan ) - An attempted robbery at a jewelry store in Tokyo was thwarted on Sunday by a store personnel swinging a "sasumata", a medieval tool that is gaining popularity as an anti-burglary device.

"Sasumata" is used to sweep away an opponent's weapon, and wrap around their torso to restrain them.

These defensive tools have been enhanced for high performance, especially at the request of police. Among the new models is "Cerberus", designed to restrain an opponent. It's a traditional "sasumata" with a band attached to its tip. When pressed against an opponent, a spring-loaded band instantly wraps around their torso, restraining them.

The company's president explains, "Named after the watchdog of the underworld in Greek mythology, it symbolizes the ability to swiftly seize and control an opponent."

"Fudo" restricts the movement of arms and legs. This slightly shorter "sasumata" has a band attached. When its tip is pressed, a band instantly wraps around the legs, demobilizing an opponent.

Specializing in lightweight design is "benkei". This "sasumata" weighs less than 1 kilogram, making it manageable even in sudden situations by women. It can be used to trip the opponent or sweep away their weapon.

The president concludes, "It's not about offensively capturing someone, but purely for protecting ourselves."
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New Delhi: In some good news for students and travel aspirants, the Malaysian PM has scrapped the visa entry requirements for Indian and Chinese citizens. The Prime Minister made the announcement while addressing a public rally. The Prime Minister said that Chinese and Indian nationals can now enjoy visa-free stays upto 30 days in the country. The move is taken to boost the tourism industry and to improve the financial sector. Meanwhile, China also announced that citizens from six countries including Malaysia will be allowed to enter their city without a visa. The move will come into effect from December 1st.

Malaysian Government made the move to the uplift tourism industry, strengthen diplomatic ties and to encourage students and travellers to visit their country. According to the Prime Ministers office, screenings will be conducted for all the tourists and visitors entering Malaysia. If someone is found with a criminal record or of suspicious background then that person will not be allowed to enter.

Currently Malaysian Airlines run over 158 flights run weekly between India and Malaysia. According to official records, Malaysia recorded over 9.6 million tourists between January and june this year. And in a similar move, Thailand and Srilanka also announced visa waivers giving travelers a hassle free journey. Thailand tourism also expressed their excitement

https://t.co/chL7KDtFk6 pic.twitter.com/dpGptuetOo

 BFM News (@NewsBFM) November 27, 2023

Thailand also allowed Visa-Free entry for Indians

Thailand also allowed visa-free entry for Indian Citizens recently to improve their economic growth. According to the official statement by the Thailand government, Indians are allowed to travel without a Visa from November 30th till May 2024. Indians are also allowed to stay for 30 days without a Visa.

Srilankan Govt took the step to promote Tourism

In Srilanka Indians are allowed to travel without a Visa till March 31st 2024. This move was introduced by the government to boost the Tourism Industry which was badly hit during Covid-19 Pandemic.

Countries that allow Visa-Free Travel

Other Countries that allow Indians for Visa-Free Travel are Bhutan, Hong Kong, Barbados, Qatar, Oman, Micronesia, Dominica, Greenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St Kitts, St Vincent, Grenadines, Trinidad, Tobago, Kazakhstan, Macao, Nepal, Senegal and Tunisia. The fresh entry to this list is Srilanka and Thailand which provided Visa Facilities to Indian Citizens.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  An Israeli hostage freed by Hamas said in an interview that she was initially fed well in captivity until conditions worsened and people became hungry. She was kept in a suffocating room and slept on plastic chairs with a sheet for nearly 50 days.
Morocco is stepping up efforts to build a competitive merchant fleet in line with the countrys Atlantic ambitions and port investments.

Transport minister had told MPs last week his department was set to promote investments aiming at bolstering Moroccos commercial marine fleet.

The announcement came after King Mohammed VI urged transforming Moroccos Atlantic coast into a space for human interaction and economic integration, and to make sure it plays a key role at continental and international levels.

He also urged the government to facilitate connectivity between the different countries bordering the Atlantic, provide for means of transportation, build logistics platforms and consider the development of a strong, competitive national commercial marine fleet.

With closed land borders with Algeria, Morocco has capitalized on ports. It now has one of the worlds most competitive port infrastructure with Tangier med outperforming Mediterranean peers in recent years.

It also plans a 1-billion-dollar port in Dakhla in the Sahara territory that would further enhance Moroccos connectivity with the rest of Africa and Atlantic countries.
Migrants await processing beneath one of the two international bridges in Eagle Pass in September. The latest surge in migrant crossings prompted federal authorities to close one of the bridges to U.S.-bound traffic on Monday, Nov. 27 Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News After surrendering to Texas National Guard, migrants wait to be transported under the Camino Real International Bridge in Eagle Pass, Texas, Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022. A surge of migrants crossing has been seen in the area. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott started busing migrants from South Texas to Chicago in late August in response to what he called a lack of federal government action on the border issue. The arrival of migrants in New York City and Chicago came as a surprise. Migrants in Chicago have been housed at area hotels and the Salvation Army. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News Migrants walk to a U.S. Border Patrol processing center under International Bridge II in Eagle Pass, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. A surge of migrants started early in the week leading to Customs and Border Protection to suspend vehicular processing operations on Bridge I to assist with the processing of the migrants. Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News A pedestrian crosses one of the two international bridges in Eagle Pass in September. The latest surge in migrant crossings prompted federal authorities to close one of the bridges to U.S.-bound traffic on Monday, Nov. 27 Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News

The latest surge of migrants into Texas has prompted federal authorities to close one of two international bridges in Eagle Pass.

Starting at 3 p.m. Monday, U.S. Customs and Border Protection closed International Bridge I to people and vehicles crossing into the country from Mexico. The span remained open to traffic in the opposite direction. The bridge is normally open to pedestrians and vehicles from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.

Customs and Border Protection said it was closing the bridge and reducing vehicle crossings at an international bridge in Lukeville, Ariz., to cope with increased levels of migrant encounters at the Southwest Border, fueled by smugglers peddling disinformation to prey on vulnerable individuals and encourage migration.

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Closing the one bridge and limiting traffic at the other allows authorities to redirect personnel to assist the U.S. Border Patrol with taking migrants into custody, CBP said in a statement.

In response to this influx in encounters, we will continue to surge all available resources to expeditiously and safely process migrants, the statement said. We will maximize consequences against those without a legal basis to remain in the United States. CBP will continue to prioritize our border security mission as necessary in response to this evolving situation.

International Bridge I connects downtown Eagle Pass and Piedras Negras, Mexico. Its one of two international bridges in Eagle Pass. The other, International Bridge II, also known as Camino Real International Bridge, remains open. That bridge is larger and is open 24 hours a day.

Bridge I was closed for several weeks starting in late September after thousands of asylum-seekers crossed into Eagle Pass, according to the news site Border Report. Authorities closed Bridge I so they could divert CBP personnel to help process migrants beneath Bridge II.

That earlier closure cost the city at least $500,000 in trade and cargo traffic, Eagle Pass Mayor Rolando Salinas Jr. told Border Report.

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Maverick County officials announced the latest bridge closure Monday by posting a Traffic Alert to Facebook.

Eagle Pass has been a busy crossing point for migrants entering the U.S. between legal ports of entry. For that reason, it has been a focus of Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts border security measures, which include construction of a state-built border wall.

In July, Abbott had a 1,000-foot line of massive buoys installed in the middle of the Rio Grande near Eagle Pass to discourage border-crossers. Texas National Guard soldiers and state troopers also have installed coils of razor along the rivers banks.

In September, CBP reported encounters with nearly 270,000 undocumented migrants along the nations southwest border  and a record high 2.47 million encounters for the entire fiscal year.
Malian forces have taken Kidal the stronghold of Tuareg rebels marking the end of a deal brokered by Algiers in 2015 and the erosion of Algerias diplomacy in its Sahel neighborhood.

More than a week after Bamako soldiers, backed by Russian Wagner mercenaries, took the strategic town, Algerias resounding silence reflects the countrys fading role in a wider Sahel region, plagued by military coups, jihadists, climate change, and under-development.

Both the Tuaregs and their Arab allies, under the umbrella of the Azawad movement, seek an independent state in northern Mali and have taken arms after they blamed Bamako for failing to honor the power-sharing agreements under the Algiers deal of 2015.

The Tuaregs and their Arab allies formed the CSP, a war command, that said it withdrew from Kidal for tactical purposes, in a move that suggests a long guerrilla warfare in the upcoming months.

Observers see the deal as inherently flawed due to Algerias self-serving approach which consisted more in exporting the Jihadist issue and keeping refugees away.

As the war escalates between Malian forces and Tuareg rebels, Algeria looks impotently at the real risks of a spill over. Algeria together with Niger have a significant Tuareg population that does not believe or respect colonial borders. Algeria, which has for long exported homegrown Jihadist leaders to the Sahel, fears a return of terrorist fighters who would seek a safe-haven in its vast southern desert.

Most of all, Algiers 2015 deal was on the wrong track since it did not offer any genuine prospect for autonomy for the Tuareg people for the simple reason that Algeria, as a centralized state, fears that its own Tuaregs and other groups in its oil and gas-rich south would ask for the same right.

Algiers deal crumbled under the rule of an anti-French and pro-Russian military junta that has asked Algeria literally to mind its business.

Le Monde writes that the outgoing Algerian foreign minister Ramtane Lamamara was humiliated during a visit to Bamako and asked to leave Malian issues to Malians.

As the Sahel burns, Algerias voice has become inaudible in its own neighborhood. Sahel military juntas are not ready to receive lessons from Algeria, another military-ruled country behind a thin civilian curtain.
Tunisias national carrier TunisAir will acquire next month two narrow-body A320ceos and two others next year, CEO Khaled Chelly announced during the annual general meeting amid declining financial performance by the airline.

K. Chelly said the four jets will be added to the current 17 being operated by the airline as part of efforts to revamp the fleet. The company has already sold five aircrafts and several other jets, Boeing 737-600, have been on sale.

The sales of the jets will provide the airline with $31.1 million in total.

The future acquisition will take place despite difficult financial times that the airline is going through. K. Chelly indicated that the cash-burning company recorded a revenue deficit of $59 million in 2019.

K. Chelly also argued that the company suffered tremendously from the global Covid-19 pandemic and never received any substantial financial backing from the State, unlike most state-run airlines around the world.

The airline is over-staffed, the CEO indicated adding that the objective is to downsize further in view of reaching the target of 2,000, down up from 3,100 who currently work for the sluggish airline.
The Central bank of Mauritania, BCM, has reportedly suspended the acquisition of Societe Generale Mauritanie, the subsidiary of Paris-based Societe Generale, by Burkina Faso-based Coris Holding over an alleged fraud accusation leveled at Coris.

Societe Generale in June 2023 announced the sales of several of its subsidiaries in the southern Sahara including Mauritania.

The bank indicated that it was relinquishing its majority shares in its subsidiaries in Mauritania and Chad to Coris Holding. The transaction, financial institution indicated, will be completed by end of 2023 but are subject to regulators.

BCM, local media Taqadomy reports citing some sources familiar with matter but who did not want to be named, suspended the deal after Mauritanian investors including a Mauritanian businessman based in Burkina Faso lodged accusation of fraud against Coris.

The regulator, the sources also stress, could cancel the entire transaction that has been in advance phase.
Ado Al-Hajji Abu, the Executive Secretary of the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) began Saturday November 25 work from the organizations permanent headquarters in Tripoli, in Libya.

Ado Al-Hajji Abu was received by the Minister of Youth, the Prime Ministers envoy to Africa, Fathallah El-Zeni, and a number of directors of departments and offices in the Ministries of Labor and Foreign Affairs, Libya Observer reports.

The Cen-Sad Secretary General and his delegation are scheduled to attend this Monday November 27 the work of the Conference of Labor Ministers in Tripoli.

The two-day Conference will discuss the establishment of a database and information that includes developing an action plan to enhance cooperation between the Sahel and Sahara countries, establish ways of peace and security in the region, and a number of related files, the Libyan media notes.

The CEN-SAD is the largest grouping in Africa, and includes more than half of the member States of the African Union.

Created in 1998, the CEN-SAD is made of 29 African countries. The grouping aims at creating a free trade area within a region of Africa. President of the Libyan Presidential Council (PC), Mohamed al-Menfi in March 2022 welcomed the final arrangements for the return of the organization to its headquarters.
British multinational oil and gas company, British Petroleum (BP) has left the Senegalese Yakaar-Teranga natural gas field following a fallout with authorities over the utilization of the commodity, Sputnik reports.

The move came after Senegals Minister of Oil and Energy Antoine Felix Diome told media that both sides are on opposite sides when it comes priorities.

We didnt agree with BP on the daily production capacity, on the commercial strategy or on the date of the first gas delivery. BP favored exports, while we want to develop the gas for the domestic market, Diome was quoted by the media as saying.

The West African country wants to use the 25 trillion cubic feet of gas located at the field to enhance electrification and reduce fuel prices.

Diome also stressed the Senegalese government is at loggerheads with the energy giant on the development timeline for the site. The African country reportedly planned to speed up the development for gas delivery by 2026, while the company set the deadline for 2028.

Senegal cant wait that long, Diome was cited as saying. BP, the state official also added, relinquished its stake without any financial compensation.

United States Kosmos Energy company, another shareholder in the field has however increased its stake in the project from 30% to 90%, while the Senegalese State-owned enterprise Petrosen plans to eventually acquire a majority interest in the field. Senegal is looking forward to a new partner for a 34% stake in the production phase.
Morocco is leading the way in Africa and the world in establishing new special economic zones (SEZs) and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI), thanks to its higher value-added technology industries, according to a new report by Oxford Business Group.

Entitled How Special Economic Zones are shaping Africas industrial landscape, the report, published last week, states that between 2010 and 2016 Moroccos exports increased by $2bn, with automotive exports rising from 2% to 16% of the total. Between 2008 and 2015, the share of medium and high-tech exports rose from 23% to over 40%, the report adds.

Noting that Morocco has focused over the past decade on high-tech activities such as the automotive industry, Oxford Business Group points out that the Moroccan government has been instrumental in attracting a high level of industrial investment, having launched the National Pact for Industrial Emergence in 2008 and the Industrial Acceleration Plan in 2014, besides providing a range of fiscal incentives to investors.

The government also prioritized specific industries, such as automotive, aerospace, electronics, and agro-industrial processing, based on their suitability for investment, the document stresses, adding that the development of SEZs in the country has been supported by political stability, the comparatively low cost of skilled labor, and proximity to Europe.

In 2020 advisory firm FDI Intelligence ranked Moroccos Tanger Med Zones  a group of eight free zones around the port of Tangier  as the top free zone in Africa and second in the world, recalls the report.

Several emerging economies have tried to follow Moroccos example in high-tech industrial development, but many have been unable to connect local low-tech industries, such as agriculture and manufacturing, with high-tech industrialized solutions, it notes.

The authors of the report explain that the lack of adequate training for highly skilled workers means there is often a gap between local economic activities and the expectations of international investors.

Oxford Business Group stresses that moving forwards, the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to enhance integration across the continent, spurring the structural transformation of African economies from a focus on low value-added industries to more diversified and knowledge-based economic activities.

The recent wave of free zones development in Africa has largely been aimed at adding value to traditional economic activities, such as agriculture and manufacturing, the report stresses.
Photo: WAYNE SAVAGE/via REUTERS

Police in Burlington, Vermont, have arrested a suspect for the shooting of three Palestinian men on Saturday night, which state and federal authorities are investigating as a possible hate crime. All three victims are expected to survive, though one is seriously injured. Below is everything we know about the shooting and its aftermath.

Suspect Jason Eaton has been charged with second-degree attempted murder

In a statement on Sunday, Burlington Police Department identified the suspect as 48-year-old Jason Eaton, who lives adjacent to the crime scene. According to the Burlington Free Press, an agent from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Eaton on Sunday afternoon while doing a routine search of the crime scene. NBC News reports that when Eaton opened his door, he told the agent Ive been waiting for you, and that the suspected possessed ammunition that matched ammunition at the scene. Eaton was arraigned on Monday morning and pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder in the second degree. He is being held without bond.

Burlington Police Dept. just released the photo of Jason Eaton, 48, the man accused of shooting three Palestinian students on Saturday. I am at the courtroom right now awaiting the arraignment.



Full details throughout the day on @wcax pic.twitter.com/dn9mxbEt1P  Katharine Huntley (@KatharineNews) November 27, 2023

Is this a hate crime?

It is still unclear. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said on Sunday that there is an indication this shooting could have been motivate by hate and that this possibility is being prioritized in the BPDs investigation. In a statement on Sunday night, Vermont U.S. Attorney Nikolas Kerest announced that his office and the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division will also investigate the possibility of a hate crime.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, Burlington Police chief Jon Murad said on Sunday. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven. Earlier that day, police said they had no additional information to suggest the suspects motive beyond the kaffiyeh worn by two of the students.

After Eatons arrest, details began to trickle out about his life, though none so far point to a clear motive. Eatons mother told the Daily Beast that he seemed totally normal on Thanksgiving and did not mention the war in Gaza. She also described him as a very religious person. Social media profiles found by Vice News and NBC News found that Eaton described himself as a radical citizen patrolling demockracy and crapitalism for oathcreepers. On an archived Substack, he also wrote that COVID was a government conspiracy. Eaton, who also wrote about finance, was employed until earlier this month as an assistant to a financial officer at Cusco Financial services, according to the Daily Beast.

How the shooting unfolded

Police say that on Saturday night around 6:30 p.m., three 20-year-old men were walking near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, speaking both Arabic and English. They were

then confronted by a white man, later identified by authorities as Eaton, with a handgun from just a few yards away. Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said in a statement on Sunday.

The Burlington polices probable cause affidavit cites the account of one victim, Hisham Awartani, who stated that they were shot outside the house of his grandmother whom he and his friends were visiting for Thanksgiving. During their walk past a white house, a wonky man stared at them, descended his house steps, and then fired at them with a pistol.

Who are the victims?

Kinnan Abdalhamid, Tahseen Ahmed, and Hisham Awartani, were identified by their families as the victims in a joint statement. Raised in the West Bank where they attended a K-11 school in Ramallah, they later emigrated to the United States and currently attend colleges in the Northeast. Police previously said that two of the men are U.S. citizens and one is a legal resident.

Awartani was shot in the back, Abdalhamid in the backside, and Ahmed was shot in the upper chest. Police said Awartani and Abdalhamid were in stable condition at a local hospital, while Ahmed suffered much more serious injuries.

In an interview with the New York Times, Awartanis uncle Marwan, a former education minister for the Palestinian Authority, said that the group was visiting Hishams grandmother over the Thanksgiving break. Minutes before the attack, the three took a picture together to send to their families, which was soon widely circulated online:

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, & Tahseen Ahmed, all Palestinian college students, were shot last night in Vermont while two of them were wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic.



Anti-Palestinian racism has no place in our societyand must be rooted out in its entirety. pic.twitter.com/TH7zbdeC2c  Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 27, 2023

Marwan Awartini said that his great nephew had lost feeling in the lower half of his body after a bullet made contact with his spinal cord. The president of Brown University, where Tahseen goes to school, told the Times that he is expected to survive his injuries.

No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony, their parents joint statement read. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.

This post has been updated to include additional reporting.
Jewish Voice for Peace protest in Grand Central Terminal on November 12. Photo: Colin Schappi

In the early-morning hours of October 7, when most Americans were asleep, Elena Stein began to get word of something happening in southern Israel. Scrambling to get a sense of what was going on, a handful of her colleagues in Jewish Voice for Peace, a Jewish-led pro-Palestinian group, leaped into action and started contacting everyone they knew in the area.

By 5 a.m., the scale of the unfolding massacre by Hamas was becoming unnervingly clear: One staff member was on the phone with contacts in the Gaza and Israel when he learned that two of his own family members had been killed, according to Stein, the groups director of organizing strategy.

That is how it began for us, she said. There was never a moment where any of this was theoretical.

Four days later, after Israel ordered more than 1 million people living in the northern half of Gaza to evacuate and was already pounding densely populated neighborhoods with air strikes, Jewish Voice for Peace held its first demonstration. In Brooklyn, nearly 1,000 Jewish New Yorkers gathered at Grand Army Plaza, chanting for hours until they were hoarse, before marching to the home of Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, where dozens sat in the street until police carted them away.

JVP, as its known, has been agitating for an end to what it describes as Israels apartheid regime for the past 30 years. With the outbreak of the current war, though, the group has never been more prominent. It has thrust itself into the white-hot center of discourse around the conflict. Led by Jews, it rebukes arguments from some pro-Israel voices who expand the definition of antisemitism to include virtually all criticism of Israel. For its part, JVP says it is intolerable that Israel is destroying Gaza in the supposed interest of their safety as Jews. Not in our name, is its rallying cry; its most pressing demand: Cease-fire now.

The groups demonstrations have broken out among larger protests through its guerrilla tactics: Jewish people and their allies appearing by surprise in a high-security location, clad in identical black T-shirts, and singing in unison. On October 18, hundreds massed inside the U.S. Capitol and were led away in handcuffs. In Philadelphia and Chicago, JVP members shut down the citys train stations during rush hour. In Oakland, 700 activists staged a sit-in at a federal building. In Los Angeles, more than 1,000 came out in the rain to shut down a stretch of Hollywood Boulevard. Similar demonstrations took over slices of Atlanta, Durham, and Seattle.

And in New York, JVP has appeared again and again. On October 27, it staged its biggest action yet with hundreds of protesters flooding into Grand Central Terminal and shutting the station down during the evening rush hour. A little over a week later, hundreds arrived incognito at the Statue of Liberty, sneaking enormous banners through security and unfurling them at the base of the monument to once again demand a cease-fire. In its most recent action on Sunday afternoon, hundreds assembled on the Manhattan Bridge, shutting down traffic for hours.

In sheer scale and size, the protests against the Israel-Hamas war  many of which have dwarfed the comparatively smaller JVP actions  have come as a welcome shock to veteran activists like Kaleem Hawa, an organizer with Palestinian Youth Movement. The immense showing of popular support for Palestine, in the West, is not emerging spontaneously  its a product of years of mobilization and relationship building and the development of infrastructures, Hawa said. And so for me, its beautiful to understand that the careful, principled work of a movement over the years is helping to mobilize in such a major, disruptive way.

The most contentious JVP action so far took place two weeks ago outside the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee in Washington, D.C., a demonstration co-sponsored by the progressive Jewish group IfNotNow and the Democratic Socialists of America. As hundreds of protesters laid 11,000 electric candles on the ground to commemorate the number of Palestinians reportedly killed up to that point, a small group from JVP took positions at several of the buildings entrances and linked arms to block the doors. When Capitol police officers arrived, they immediately began making arrests, kicking over candles and firing jets of mace into the faces of protesters. Online, accusations flew that the protesters had tried to storm the building. California representative Brad Sherman went on X to call them pro-#Hamas demonstrators and accused them of trying to break into the building. Police meanwhile accused protesters of resisting arrest and pepper-spraying its officers, a claim JVP strenuously denied. The goal, organizers said later, was not to trap lawmakers inside but rather to force them to exit through one remaining open door so they would have no choice but to hear protesters voices.

The D.C. dustup notwithstanding, these actions have for the most part proceeded peacefully, and police have been relatively restrained  especially in contrast to police conduct toward Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Rosalind Petchesky, a JVP member whos been arrested twice at recent protests, including the sit-in at Grand Central, said she and others had been treated with unusual respect by police. I was very aware, both times that I was arrested, that if I were a Black woman, a brown woman, a Palestinian woman, I might not be treated this way, she said.

JVPs actions are highly choreographed to maintain the element of surprise. According to several people familiar with the process, would-be participants must provide two references from people familiar to the group, and once they are accepted, they are organized into smaller groups acting in concert with one another. The protests are planned by a small central group of organizers, who typically tell participants the details with less than 24 hours notice .

Discipline around messaging is similarly tight, which includes avoiding chants that have sparked controversy at other rallies and limiting slogans to a handful of preplanned songs and demands for a cease-fire, an end to what the group describes as genocide in Gaza, and freedom for Palestinians. (The group does include an allusion to the controversial From the river to the sea chant in its mission statement: We picture Palestinians  from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea  living with their inalienable rights respected, building schools and hospitals and planting olive groves with the resources they need.)

JVP has also kept up its work during the long stretches of uneasy calm. Over the years, it has taken part in campaigns against the main U.S. pro-Israel lobbying group, AIPAC, and against companies like Caterpillar, whose bulldozers Israeli authorities have used to demolish Palestinian houses in the West Bank. In 2015, the board of JVP voted to fully endorse the economic pressure campaign known as Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions.

And it is this dogged organizing, in relatively normal times, that has helped the group seize the moment so decisively amid the urgency of the current war. It can pursue high-risk actions in secrecy by what Jay Saper, a JVP organizer based in New York, likes to say is moving at the speed of trust.

We built such incredible trust through organizing together through the years, Saper said. That has prepared us to be able to recognize our role and be able to move together through this crisis.

For as long as Zionism has existed as a political force in Jewish life, so too have Jewish anti-Zionists. From its birth in the late-19th century, the nationalist movement for a Jewish homeland in Palestine has met some resistance from within Jewish communities. One strain of thought, especially common in Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox communities, opposed the creation of a Jewish state on religious grounds, arguing that the reclamation of the Holy Land can only come with the Messiah. Another camp, which included the socialist Bundist movement, argued that Jewish safety would be better secured by simultaneously strengthening Jewish cultural ties and the power of organized labor in the Diaspora than by emigration to Palestine. After the Holocaust, both strains of anti-Zionism were greatly reduced but never disappeared. Religious anti-Zionism persists to this day in pockets of Haredi communities, most notably with the Neturei Karta, whose members have been ubiquitous at antiwar marches in New York since October 7.

Jewish Voice for Peace partially follows in the footsteps of the Bundists, basing its opposition to Zionism in secular politics of anti-colonialism and anti-racism, rooted in the idea that the millennia of persecution should instill in Jews the importance of solidarity with Palestinians. Founded in 1996 by UC Berkeley undergrads, the group  which welcomes non-Jewish members but is overwhelmingly made up of Jews  has spread nationwide and has long found a home on college campuses like Columbia, which earlier this month banned its chapters of JVP and Students for Justice in Palestine.

While many progressive Jewish groups take issue with Israeli treatment of Palestinians and are sharply critical of the far-right government of Benjamin Netanyahu, JVP is perhaps the most prominent among them to explicitly call itself anti-Zionist, which the group defines as criticism of Israeli state policies, and/or moral, ethical, or religious criticism of the idea of a Jewish nation-state. Still, few in JVP would deny that their position puts them at odds with most Jews in the U.S., including friends and family. When I grew up, Zionism was in the water, said Stein. And Im in profound pain to see loved ones continue to invest in an answer to the question of Jewish safety that requires Palestinian repression.

Jewish Voice for Peace shut down the Manhattan Bridge for hours on Sunday, the latest in a series of high-profile protests since October 7. Photo: Alex Kent

While outright opposition to the idea of the Jewish state is distinctly minority opinion among Jewish Americans, there is a growing generational divide over Israel. According to recent polling, older Jews were significantly more likely to express a deep emotional connection to Israel and to reject criticism of the Jewish state. In a 201920 Pew Research Center poll, eight out of ten American Jews surveyed said that caring about Israel was either essential or important to their understanding of what it means to be Jewish. Among those under 30, just one in three consider caring about Israel to be essential to being Jewish, while one in four say it is not important. And a 2021 poll by the nonpartisan Jewish Electorate Institute, younger Jews were far more likely to support sharp criticisms of Israel, including the assertion that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians. A quarter of all respondents, regardless of age, agreed with the description of Israel as an apartheid state.

In a conflict so often reduced to Arabs versus Jews, the Jewish identity of JVP comes into play beyond simply guiding the personal politics of its members. As one small part of a broader movement for Palestinian rights, JVP sees great strategic value in turning out large numbers of Jewish dissenters to Israeli policy, according to Saper. We know that we have such an important role to challenge false accusations of antisemitism, Saper said, and also make it so clear that, actually, our Jewish values teach us to take action for justice.

The groups critics have been largely unmoved by the groups professions of faith, dismissing JVP and its allies as a fringe minority at best and, at worst, as cynically using Jewish identity to fight against other Jews. For them, Zionism and Judaism go hand in hand, and the response to JVP actions from their fellow Jews who support Israel has at times been vitriolic. After recent JVP actions in New York, some online commentators accused the protesters of self-hatred, calling them garbage Jews, tokens, and kapos  a gravely serious accusation that recalls Jews who collaborated with the Nazis.

Mainstream Jewish and pro-Israel organizations have been less inflammatory but no less critical. As JVP-led protesters occupied the Capitol Rotunda last month, the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League excoriated them. We long have said that these are hate groups, the photo inverse of white supremacists, Jonathan Greenblatt wrote on X. And in a report published earlier this month, the ADL included a number of actions and rallies organized by JVP and other Jewish antiwar groups in a list mapping antisemitic incidents nationwide.

For Stein, it is precisely because her family faced oppression for being Jewish that she has dedicated years of her life to working in solidarity with Palestinians. Steins grandmother was on a trip from her native Lithuania to New York when World War II started, leaving her no choice but to stay in the U.S. while the rest of her family was murdered in the Holocaust. I spent years agonizing over the question of Where were the neighbors? Why did they just stand by? she said. The only way that I can honor that fluke and the miracle of getting to be alive is to try to refuse to be a neighbor who just stands by.

Many whove demonstrated with JVP say it has provided a community for Jews who feel alienated by both Israel and the majority of American Jews who support it.

For many years, Petchesky, 81, felt cut off from her Jewish roots. Raised in a religiously observant Jewish family, she began to drift from her faith after witnessing racism against Arabs during a trip to Israel as a teen. Decades later, at the urging of Palestinian friends, she joined JVP and said she found herself reconnecting to Judaism thanks to activists who embraced both anti-Zionism and strong Jewish cultural traditions. As I got closer with the young generations in JVP, I realized theyre much more identified with Judaism: They speak Hebrew, they translate Yiddish, and they know so much about the history of Yiddish and Eastern European Jews. And thats where my grandparents came from! She even joined an anti-Zionist congregation in Brooklyn frequented by members of the group.

Cookie Hagendorf, 40, a self-described rich Jewish girl from Westchester, described a similar feeling after taking part in four JVP actions over the past month, starting with the sit-in at the U.S. Capitol. Sitting in the Rotunda that day with a bunch of Jews and rabbis singing in Hebrew, I was weeping, she said. I felt so connected to my Jewishness to a real legacy of generations of Jews.

Despite the attention theyve garnered, JVP-led actions have been dwarfed in number and scale by the thousands of protests, marches, and direct actions largely led by Palestinians and Muslims  which the group encourages its followers on social media to attend as part of its central principle of solidarity with Palestinians. Weve spent years working on what it means to be accountable to a Palestinian-led movement, Stein said.

One such group is Palestinian Youth Movement, which has put to use years of organizing experience and decades of personal and family history to meet the current moment. For a lot of people, this crisis began on October 7, said Munir Marwan, a PYM organizer who asked to be identified by his first and middle names in light of the doxing campaigns that have been launched against pro-Palestine activists. For us, this has been going on for 75 years, and it goes back to our grandparents.

Marwan has worked closely enough with JVP that at one point during our interview, he spoke unprompted of his appreciation for Jay Sapers maxim about moving at the speed of trust.

In recent weeks, PYM has focused much of its attention on the recurring Shut It Down for Palestine demonstrations held on the past three Fridays, which JVP has amplified through social media. On November 17, groups participating in the day of action staged demonstrations at the offices of House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Schumer as well as the headquarters of JPMorgan, at a bank linked to an Israeli weapons manufacturer, and at Penn Station.

For many Palestinian activists, like Kaleem Hawa, whos been working with PYM for about five years, the past weeks have been full of conflicting emotions. Hawas family were expelled from their homes along with more than 750,000 Palestinians during Israels founding, an event known to Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. Now, he says, many Palestinians fear they are witnessing a second Nakba in Gaza. But mixed with the abject horror, he said, is the exhilaration at the sudden eruption of mass protest in solidarity with people like him. Its a complicated dance to hold ones grief and rage and joy all together, said Hawa.

For organizers, the question of what comes next is ever present in their minds. In the short term, JVP and its allies in other groups are focused on maintaining that momentum, continuing to pressure lawmakers to support a permanent cease-fire in the wake of the temporary pause that began on Friday.

Part of bringing those people in for the long term is helping them to develop an understanding that cease-fire is the floor and not the ceiling, said Saper. Palestinians deserve to live with freedom and dignity. That starts by getting the bombs to stop that are falling over Gaza  but that is only the beginning.

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File photo of emergency vehicle

A Thai para-athlete and former soldier shot his bride and three others before killing himself on his wedding day, police told the BBC.

Groom Chaturong Suksuk, 29 and Kanchana Pachunthuek, 44, were married on Saturday in north-east Thailand.

According to reports, he left the wedding party abruptly and returned with a gun, shooting his wife, her 62-year-old mother and 38-year-old sister.

Stray bullets hit two guests, who were taken to hospital. One of them died.

Police told the BBC Chaturong "was quite intoxicated at the time", but his motive remains unclear. He had bought the gun and ammunition legally last year, they added.

Thai media, citing what guests at the party told the police, said the couple had an argument during the party. It also reported that Chaturong had felt insecure about the age gap between him and Kanchana.

But police said this was still speculation, adding that they had collected evidence and expected to close the case "soon".

Chaturong and Kanchana had lived together for three years before they married, according to Thai media.

Chaturong had clinched a silver medal in swimming at the Asean Para Games in Indonesia last year. He was also believed to be on the list of athletes competing in the World Abilitysport Games in Thailand next month.

He had lost his right leg while on duty with the paramilitary light infantry force, which patrols Thailand's borders.

While mass shootings are rare, gun ownership is common in Thailand.

Last month, three people were killed in a shooting in a luxury mall in Bangkok. And in October last year, a former policeman killed 37 children in a gun and knife attack at a nursery in north-east Thailand.
A class in 2021 at the charter school Great Hearts Monte Vista in San Antonio. The Texas Education Agency has launched a special investigation into Great Hearts Texas that might focus on the networks recent dispute with its parent organization in Arizona. Josie Norris /Staff photographer

The Texas Education Agency has launched a special investigation of Great Hearts Texas, a San Antonio-based charter network that last month accused its Arizona parent organization of illegally siphoning millions of dollars from its state funding.

The Texas groups board, meanwhile, accepted the resignation Monday of Brendan Miniter, the superintendent who had steered it on a more independent course that clashed with the Arizona leadership. It was unclear if his departure was connected to the state probe. The boards president, Shannon Sedgwick Davis, thanked him for his contributions but neither she nor other board members mentioned the investigation.

A TEA spokesperson confirmed it was underway but could not say why or provide any other details.

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After Mondays meeting, Miniter declined comment and said he planned to send an email to parents in the coming days.

In a prepared statement provided to the San Antonio Express-News in response to questions about the TEA action, Great Hearts Texas said it was aware of an investigation and is fully cooperating with the agency. It declined to make anyone available for an interview.

Great Hearts Texas serves 10,000 students in 22 schools, including seven in San Antonio, where the first one was planted almost a decade ago. The investigation comes just weeks after it abruptly dropped a lawsuit against its affiliate, Great Hearts America, based in Arizona, where the group was founded.

The litigation convinced a judge to issue a temporary restraining order on Oct. 24, halting an alleged attempt by Great Hearts America to assert control of the Texas groups board, agreeing that it likely violated guidelines to their relationship that had made the Texas charter possible.

Parents received a letter from Great Hearts Texas the next day describing a serious rift between the groups triggered by the Texas boards decision to no longer cooperate with Great Hearts Americas practice of charging millions of dollars in fees to Texas since at least 2017 in a manner that was not compliant with the law.

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Great Hearts Texas has declined to provide specifics about those payments, but IRS filings show that Great Hearts America has received more than $18 million in management fees since 2015. In 2020 alone, it was $4.3 million.

Neither the TEA nor Great Hearts Texas would describe what the states investigation covers, but it might be focused on finances. The Oct. 25 letter to parents called out the national groups CEO, Jay Heiler, accusing him of trying to operate outside his authority. Heiler had served as a board member for several years until being appointed CEO in 2020. While the national groups bylaws state that a trustee cannot receive compensation, Heiler had been drawing a generous salary since at least 2015, when he was paid $102,640 for one hour of work per week as a director, according to the IRS reports.

Great Hearts Texas declined to provide clarity on whether his compensation was part of the significant legal and compliance issues that its letter said came to light after its board leadership changed in 2020 and Miniter was hired in 2021.

The letter contained other allegations, including numerous potential state conflict-of-interest issues and prohibitions that apply to out-of-state charter management companies.

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After Miniter was hired, the lawsuit claims, Great Hearts America began to assert influence over the Texas charter networks finances, human resources, recordkeeping, employee benefits, real estate acquisition, board governance and overall operational authority and control. It said the local board had worked for two years to take control of its own ledger and build the infrastructure it needs to comply with Texas law.

During a board meeting a year ago, for example, trustees approved a motion to create a separate bank account, insurance and payroll functions for the Texas group. The dispute led Great Hearts America to pursue a strategy to forcibly remove GHTXs duly elected board and its chosen superintendent, the court document states.

Last month, after the Great Hearts Texas board voted unanimously to appoint several trustees to another one-year term, the Arizona group scheduled a meeting of its own board to take action on those appointments. That would violate the charter agreement with the state, which only allows Great Hearts America a fairly limited oversight authority on board additions or removals, but not reappointments, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was dropped before it could reach a formal hearing scheduled for Nov. 7. A letter to parents by both groups said they had made very significant progress in resolving the dispute.

The board on Monday named Kurtis Indorf to lead Great Hearts Texas as interim superintendent. He founded and led the national Great Hearts online schools division, called Great Hearts Nova, but since October he has headed the Indorf Group, a consulting firm that includes providing crucial executive capacity during transformative shifts among its services.

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after listening to the song I regret to inform the priest that it wasn't worth it

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Lol

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the song and video are adorable but my sweet lord, she's a dreadful lipsyncer.

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She actually gives Chaka Khan a run for her money.

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When musical.ly was a thing before TikTok, I found some really pretty people who couldnt lip sync worth shit.



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so the Catholic church CAN take action against bad behaviour very quickly when it wants to..interesting.

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Maybe they've got different definitions for 'bad'.

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I mean tbf a lot of times they did take action by sending them to other churches far away where people hadnt heard the allegations.

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Probably because they see this as desecrating the church (little C, because I'm referring to the building.)

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I agreed to the filming after a general search of the artists involved did not reveal anything questionable. This is making me laugh so hard

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He probably watched a few clips of Girl Meets World and stopped looking.

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lol he probably only saw that weird clip making the rounds a couple weeks ago where they all dunk on an atheist

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it's so funny like HOW did he not ask for a script?? 'I googled the girl and found her hot and non-satanic so it will be fine'



also good work, location scouts, bc that church is gorge

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Demoted for this but abuse a kid and you just get a transfer.

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I really did wonder how she was able to film all of that in a church and figured it might be a set because surely this would be offensive to the people working there, but lol, okay.

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lmao fucking losers

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There can be 100 priests in the church, and 99 don't believe in you. But one did and that was pastor, Msgr. Jamie J. Gigantiello 

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I'm crying laughing

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But all the pedophilia was fine?

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How about reading the fucking room and taking care of all those pedos instead, assholes?

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A whole nunnery in the Vatican, of all places, also got raped and used as sex slaves by Vatican priests and all the Pope did was exile the nuns and move them into another nunnery. I guess the rapist Vatican priests just had to pray harder so God can forgive them.

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There weren't any empty churches around?

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Catholic imagery is fire. Pity about the Catholicism itself.

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I mean, he was only demoted from administrative duties, that's basically the punishment that all the pedo priests got initially

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I would understand a reprimand but not a demotion. Also this compared to sexual abuse of minors is nothing.

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Back in July, China announced export restrictions of germanium, gallium and their chemical compounds used to make parts for chips, telecommunications equipment and electric vehicles. Graphite, a key material for EV batteries, is also set to come under export controls on Dec. 1. Although Beijing has claimed that the export ban of these critical minerals was done on national security grounds, observers have cried foul play and claim China has just escalated its tit-for-tat trade war with the U.S. and Europe.

After a two-month hiatus, China has now resumed export of the minerals, albeit half-heartedly. Chinese traders looking to export germanium and gallium are now required to apply for licenses from the government and also provide information on the identity of their customers and how the minerals are used. Chinese traders exported small quantities of germanium and gallium in October after exporting almost nothing in the preceding two months. Just 0.65 tons of germanium was exported in October compared to 8.78 tons in July while the numbers for gallium were 0.25 tons vs. 7.58 tons. China exported 44 tons of germanium and 94 tons of gallium in 2022.

Its likely that there will be some improvement in strained relations between the two countries after presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden met in San Francisco last week. However, investors should not expect too many concessions from China given that the U.S. and the EU have not relaxed trade restrictions on specialized semiconductor chips and solar equipment on China. Last month, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it will prevent the sale of some advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China over concerns they could be used for military development purposes. To wit, companies will not be allowed to export chipmaker Nvidia 's A800 and H800 chips to China. Related: China's Global Economic Dominance Begins to Wane

In July, the United States Senate overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the annual defense bill that prohibits China from purchasing oil from the United States emergency stockpiles. The amendment aims to restrict sales of U.S. oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) to companies under the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

Nordic Countries Could Be The Answer

The U.S. unenviable position of utter dependence on Chinas rare earth minerals is in full glare now. China accounted for 70% of world mine production of rare earths in 2022, with the U.S. importing nearly three quarters of its rare earth supply from the Middle Kingdom. That leaves the country in a particularly precarious position as has become abundantly clear.

Luckily for the country and its western allies, theres a way out. The Nordic countries, particularly Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Finland, are rich in cobalt, nickel, lithium, graphite and a variety of rare earth elements (REEs) which remain largely unexploited. According to the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Nordic bedrock hosts over 43 million tons of economically viable deposits of rare earth minerals. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, Finland, Sweden, and Norway are among the top eight countries highly favorable for critical minerals and battery supply chain development. Further, Nordic governments have a history of commitment to sustainable mining practices, making them ideal for western industries looking for responsibly sourced minerals away from China.

The U.S. and its allies have already laid the groundwork that makes establishing future supply deals possible. In June 2022, the United States and its G7 partners launched the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGII) that is intended to build clean energy supply chains by friendshoring clean energy supply chains. The countries also signed the Minerals Security Partnership to produce, process, and recycle critical minerals. In January 2023, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced that a key element of the blocs new industrial strategy will be forging global partnerships to access inputs necessary for industry. This builds on existing EU initiatives, including the Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Battery Alliance, both of which aim to secure and onshore supply chains.

All these initiatives mark the emergence of a joint industrial policy whereby the G7 states aim to coordinate their industrial strategies at the international level and also build their supply chains collaboratively. This, in effect, means these countries will be working together to secure supplies of needed technologies and create markets in pursuit of net-zero industries in their individual countries.

Its not such a long shot: Studies done by the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University have concluded that democratic countries have the potential to produce enough minerals to enable the world to limit global warming to not more than 1.5 C above pre-industrial levels. However, the same studies say that it would require extraordinary technological and financial cooperation between these countries if they are to successfully exploit these resources.

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The risk premium for oil prices resulting from the ongoing Israel-Hamas War has not risen as dramatically as it did after Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022. This has largely been due to the exceptional job done by the U.S. in preventing a widening out of the conflict across the region, which would almost certainly produce a massive spike in oil and gas prices. Part of the U.S.s success has been down to extremely deft diplomatic efforts across the Middle East, spearheaded by Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, involving the use of serious carrots and equally serious sticks. The other part has been due to the same approach being used on China, which, through its multiple projects centered around its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), wields enormous influence over several key power players in the region. This was again highlighted in the 10 March relationship resumption agreement between the Middle Easts major Sunni power, Saudi Arabia, and its major Shia power, Iran  a deal exclusively brokered by China, as analyzed in depth in my new book on the new global oil market order. However, the rise in oil and shipping insurance premiums following the 19 November seizure by the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis of Israeli-owned cargo ship Galaxy Leader highlighted that the war-risk premium connected to the Israel-Hamas conflict for the global oil sector could spike at any time if the current delicate diplomatic balance is lost.

The key to this is whether the U.S. can continue to exercise influence over China, which has become the major superpower player on the ground across the Middle East since Washington effectively abandoned that role in a series of withdrawals from the region. These effectively began with its unilateral exit from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (nuclear deal) with Iran in 2018, and then its pull-out from Syria in 2019  including protracted internal White House discussions about the catastrophe of pulling out from the strategically crucial Al-Tanf exclusion zone that was the tri-border junction of Syria, Jordan, and Iraq  then Afghanistan in 2021, and finally its end of combat mission in Iraq in December 2021. China stepped into the power vacuum created by the U.S. withdrawal through the expansion of finance offered to its targeted Middle Eastern countries via the BRI project and by leveraging the influence that Russia had built up in the region over decades, especially across the Shia Crescent of Power, centered on Iran and Syria. China laid the groundwork to effectively make Iran a client state through the all-encompassing Iran-China 25-Year Comprehensive Cooperation Agreement, as first revealed anywhere in the world in my 3 September 2019 article on the subject and also fully examined in my new book on the new global oil market order. By dint of this, Beijing has also been able  with very active assistance from Russia  to exert a similar control over neighboring Iraq, which has long been heavily influenced by Iran through several political, economic, and military proxies.

Aside from unlimited access at deeply-discounted prices to the vast oil and gas reserves of the Middle East, Chinas other principal objective in its dramatic expansion across the region has been to control all the key transport routes for the worlds oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies that come out of the Middle East. China already had much control over the Strait of Hormuz through its 25-year deal with Iran. The same deal also gave China a hold over the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which crude oil is shipped upwards through the Red Sea towards the Suez Canal before moving into the Mediterranean and then westwards. This was achieved as it lies between Yemen - heavily controlled by the Iran-backed Houthis, and now subject to the new China-brokered relationship deal between Iran and Saudi Arabia - and Djibouti, over which China has also established a stranglehold. It should not be forgotten that prior to the seizure of the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on 19 November  supposedly for being Israeli-owned  Iranian forces seized two oil tankers in a week at the beginning of May in and around the Strait of Hormuz. Neither the Niovi nor the Advantage Sweet were anything to do with Israel. Instead, a senior oil industry figure who works closely with the European Unions (E.U.) energy security complex exclusively told OilPrice.com at the time, that Iran seized them to demonstrate that it still had control over that transit route and, perhaps even more importantly, it was done with the full blessing of Beijing.

As a result of those two seizures in May, oil and shipping insurance prices did rise, albeit temporarily, as also happened after the taking of the Galaxy Leader. It is interesting to note, though, that the price follow-through has been limited, despite threats from the Houthis spokesman, Alameed Yahya Saree, that the group intends to sink Israeli ships in the Red Sea. Currently, the oil market can see that the U.S. is successfully preventing the Israel-Hamas War from widening out, but that can change very quickly, especially if China decides for whatever reason to take its foot off the brake with Iran, said the E.U. source. Even with Chinese pressure for moderation, Iran has already betrayed its true intention of widening out the Israel-Hamas War on two notable occasions. The first was early in the conflict when it warned Israel not to expand its attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon. The second occurred earlier this month when Irans Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, called on the Islamic members of OPEC to halt oil exports to Israel immediately. The veiled threat was of a full oil embargo from all Islamic OPEC member states on countries that support Israel in the War.

Saudi Arabia did exactly the same thing in 1973 for exactly the same reason  a war between Israel and Islam, as it also sought to portray it. The upshot was the 1973 Oil Crisis that saw oil prices spike around 267%, from about US$3 per barrel (pb) to nearly US$11 pb. This, in turn, stoked the fire of a global economic slowdown, especially felt in the net oil-importing countries of the West. A broader oil embargo of the sort that Iran still wants would have similarly dramatic effects, if not worse. According to the latest assessment by the World Bank, a loss in global crude oil supply of 6-8 million bpd  which it refers to as a large disruption scenario comparable to the 1973 Oil Crisis - would result in a 56-75% increase in prices to between $140 and $157 a barrel. However, a broadening out of the embargo on Israel by the Islamic members of OPEC, as called for by Iran, would likely lead to a much bigger loss of global oil supplies than the World Bank has calculated. The Islamic members of OPEC are Algeria, with an average crude oil production rate of around 1 million barrels (bpd), Iran (3.4 million bpd), Iraq (4.1 million bpd), Kuwait (2.5 million bpd), Libya (1.2 million bpd), Saudi Arabia (9 million bp), and the UAE (2.9 million bpd). This totals just over 24 million bpd - or about 30% - of the current average total global production of about 80 million bpd.

It is apposite to note in this context that last week also saw Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, state that flames of war will spread across the Middle East if the Israeli truce with Hamas is not extended. And 27 November saw the Iran-backed Houthis significantly escalate tensions even more in the region  especially with the U.S.  by firing missiles at the U.S. Navy destroyer, the USS Mason, off the coast of Yemen. The U.S. ship had been responding to a distress call from the Israeli-linked chemical tanker, Central Park, in the Gulf of Aden at the time.

By Simon Watkins for Oilprice.com

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Jordan is considering diversifying its natural gas supplies amid fears that there could be disruptions in the flow of gas from Israel.

According to a report by a state-owned TV channel, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh had said Jordan was in discussions with two potential suppliers from the Persian Gulf, Bloomberg reported. Both had expressed readiness to supply gas to the Middle Eastern nation.

The main concern of the Jordanian government appears to be the possibility of a supply disruption from the Leviathan field, operated by Noble Energy, according to Prime Minister Khasawneh, who noted that it was not considering canceling this project.

We have not seen any signs that this will happen, Khasawneh said, regarding a possible supply disruption. But Jordan is planning for various scenarios and possibilities amid ongoing aggression and war on the Gaza Strip.

The Leviathan field, along with the Tamar field are the two sources of natural gas in Israel, with part of the output exported to Jordan and Egypt, where the gas gets liquefied and sent on to international markets.

When Hamas struck Israel in early October, however, the Israeli government ordered the Tamar field shut down for fear of it becoming a target for the Palestinian group. Production at the field resumed earlier this month. Tamar produced somw 10.25 billion cubic meters of gas last year.

The Leviathan field has an annual production rate of some 12 billion cubic meters but the partners operating it earlier this year agreed to sink another $100 million into field developments, including a new floating LNG terminal in a move that the companies say will boost the fields production to 21 bcm per year.

The partners have dedicated $45 million to expanding production and $51.5 million to preparing the floating LNG terminal, which is expected to have an annual capacity of 6.5 bcm.

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Mozambique has approved an energy transition strategy worth $80 billion, seeking to raise funding from wealthy nations to boost the share of renewables and reduce fossil fuels use in its energy mix.

The detailed plan will be unveiled by President Filipe Nyusi at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai later this week, Mozambique said in a statement to Bloomberg.

The first measures of the strategy through 2050 include adding 2 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower generation capacity by 2030 and bolstering and expanding the grid to accommodate more renewable energy sources.

The African country has one of the largest untapped coal reserves in the world, and a lot of natural gas offshore, as well as copper and graphite, which are key materials for the energy transition.

We are still fine tuning the document and hope to publicly release it later this week, Pedro Simao, who is a special advisor to the minister of energy, told Reuters on Monday.

Mozambique is the latest developing country looking to win funding from wealthy countries to help it through the energy transition.

Last week, Indonesia launched its $20-billion renewable energy plan to cut emissions and boost the share of renewables in its energy mix.

At the end of last year, Indonesia, the worlds top coal exporter and heavily reliant on coal for power generation, signed an agreement to launch a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) co-led by the U.S. and Japan and including Canada, Denmark, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Under the partnership, Indonesia will target to have renewable energy generation accounting for at least 34% of all power generation by 2030, which would roughly double the total renewables deployment over the course of this decade compared to current plans.

Indonesia needs billions of U.S. dollars in investment to shift away from coal the country doesnt have. The wealthy international partners in the JETP have pledged half of the $20 billion investment while the other half is expected to come from large banks under the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero.

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Crude oil prices began the week with a slide ahead of the postponed OPEC+ meeting that will now be held on Thursday.

The decline followed a modest increase last week on traders expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia, the de facto leaders of the OPEC+ extended cartel, would extend their voluntary supply cuts into 2024.

However, prices were pressuredand the pressure remainsby disagreements among OPEC members. According to reports citing insiders, the disagreements had to do with two membersNigeria and Angolawanting to have their production quotas increased so they could sell more crude.

News of the disagreements weighed on prices last week but since then follow-up reports have suggested that OPEC is making progress on a resolution of these differences, lifting some of that weight.

It appears, however, that the most important question is whether Saudi Arabia will roll over its supply cuts of 1 million bpd and the impact on prices if it decides to not do it. There is also the possibility of deeper cuts as well.

Expectations are that Saudi Arabia will at least roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1MMbbls/d into next year, INGs head of commodity strategy Warren Patterson and commodity strategist Ewa Manthey wrote in a note.

Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market, given the surplus over 1Q24. We believe that the Saudis will roll over this cut and there is a growing possibility that we see a deeper cut from the broader group.

Saudi Arabia and other OPEC+ members will be keen to avoid any disunity, Vivek Dhar, an analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, told Bloomberg. OPEC+ will have to show significant supply discipline, or at least jawbone such ability, to alleviate market worries of a deep surplus in oil markets next year.

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Italy and Saudi Arabia discussed on Monday possible partnerships and joint investments in the oil and gas and mining sectors, Italian Industry Minister Adolfo Urso said after meeting with Saudi officials in Riyadh.

Italy and Saudi Arabia discussed potential partnerships and joint investments in the energy sector, especially in critical raw materials, in Italy, Saudi Arabia, and third countries, such as those in Africa, Urso said in a statement on Monday after meeting with Khalid Al Salem, President of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu.

The officials also discussed investments in Italy and Saudi Arabia in industrial sectors, including oil and gas, automotive, defense, green technologies, hydrogen, and aerospace, Minister Urso added.

Representatives of several major Italian companies, including engineering group Maire Tecnimont and energy and telecoms cable maker Prysmian, took part in the meeting, Urso added.

Before arriving for talks in Saudi Arabia, the Italian minister visited Qatar for talks with the Qatari Minister of Commerce and Industry, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al-Thani.

The ministers discussed in Doha boosting commercial and industrial ties with a focus on energy, construction, real estate, and digital technology.

In the energy sector, Urso pitched Italy as a potential European gas hub and a hub for blue and green hydrogen thanks to the infrastructure at the port of Trieste in northeastern Italy, the Italian industry ministry said.

Italian and Qatari energy firms boosted their cooperation last month after QatarEnergy signed another 27-year agreement to ship LNG to Europe by agreeing to deliver cargoes for Eni in Italy beginning in 2026, after similar deals with Shell and TotalEnergies for supply to the Netherlands and France, respectively.

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Under the deal with Eni, QatarEnergy and the Italian major will deliver LNG to FSRU Italia, a floating storage and regasification unit located in the port of Piombino, in Italys Tuscany region.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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Under a new state law, those who own property in the extraterritorial jurisdiction, where most of the development in our region is occurring, can forgo compliance with municipal regulations. San Antonio should join the fight against this new law. COURTESY PHOTO Annalisa Peace Courtesy

While recently reviewing documents I write for the Greater Edwards Aquifer Alliance  grant proposals, alerts and advocacy correspondence  I was struck by how often the word "mitigate" pops up.

We ask to mitigate pollution, flooding and all manner of degradations to our environment. Perhaps we should be asking to prevent harm by  dare I say it?  regulation.

Reviewing bills passed by the 88th Legislature, all I can say is a lot of mitigation will be required to counter the negative impacts from bills that roll back regulations enforced by local governments.

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In addition to the Death Star bill (House Bill 2127), which severely curtailed the powers of cities to enforce local regulations, the passage of SB 2038 will also gut many environmental protections municipalities enforce. Under this new law, those who own property in an extraterritorial jurisdiction (known as an ETJ), where most of the development in our region is occurring, can leave the ETJ and any corresponding regulations. San Antonio's North Side, thanks to JBSA, is exempted.

Why does this matter? Because Texas has severely limited the tools county governments can use to regulate land use. And many of the counties in our region are reluctant to exercise the limited powers they do have.

Along the fast-growing Interstate 35 corridor, growth in unincorporated areas is indistinguishable from urban development  lacking only the benefits of zoning and other planning prescriptions accorded to cities.

Many of the newest subdivisions will build out four to six houses per acre. No small portion of these will be built in environmentally sensitive areas that cannot sustain such high densities without seriously compromising the ecosystem benefits that undeveloped land provides.

Developers who would profit from enfeebling local regulatory powers were quick to claim their newly granted advantages. Immediately after SB 2038 became effective Sept. 1, cities across the state began receiving petitions for the removal of property from their extraterritorial jurisdiction.

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Austin-based developer Milestone filed on Sept. 1 to be removed from the jurisdictions of Austin and the city of Hays for two high-density developments over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone in order to skirt enforcement of those cities aquifer protection ordinances, which set strict limits on lot size, impervious cover and wastewater disposal for development over the recharge zone.

Fortunately, it appears that some cities are fighting back. According to the San Antonio Business Journal, the city of Grand Prairie has challenged the new law, calling it an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority to private parties.

Lockharts City Council quickly joined the fight by unanimously voting to reject a petition to remove a 389-acre property near the city and voting to join Grand Prairie as a party in its lawsuit.

Given the impacts SB 2038 is inflicting on our fast-growing region, we would love to see San Antonio and all municipalities within the Edwards Aquifer region join Grand Prairie and Lockhart in this suit or file amicus briefs on their behalf.

We believe that this effort will send a strong message to our legislators, telling them Dont mess with Texas cities.
Industry sources and shipping statistics cited by Reuters indicate that Shell (SHEL.L) is expected to resume exports next month at its Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) project offshore Australia, where significant maintenance is almost finished, with operations likely to resume next week.

While huge stockpiles have constrained buying so far this year, the timing of the massive floating facility's resumption to operations is likely to coincide with peak consumption in Europe and China, as winter in the northern hemisphere increases demand.

Shipping data show that the LNG tanker Symphonic Breeze is scheduled to arrive at the floating plant on December 6, indicating that the work, which began in August, is almost finished.

Shell declined to provide a direct statement to Reuters regarding the state of the repairs. However, last month, the oil giant stated that it had targeted December for a production ramp-up.

Estimates place Prelude's cost at over $12 billion, making it the first floating LNG facility in the world to deploy innovative technology.

Prelude has been under maintenance since August, with initial assessments that it would take between two and several months. Originally, the turnaround was expected to be completed last year; however, a trade union dispute and cyclone season forced Shell to reschedule for 2023. At that time, Shell decided to undergo a shorter maintenance period to shore up production for North Asian winter demand.

Last week, S&P Global reported that Asian LNG importers were angling to resell some December-delivery LNG cargoes amid high inventories and slower demand.

Citing the Chongqing Petroleum and Gas Exchange, S&P Global said that Chinese companies had resold at least five LNG cargoes so far this month.

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"It's a contango market now. Currently, prices in January are the highest. But prices start to move down from H2 January to H1 February by almost 30 cents," an industry source based in Singapore told S&P.

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A man shot and killed himself in Omaha after a police pursuit late Wednesday that passed through Council Bluffs.

The pursuit began near 15th Street and Cornhusker Road in Bellevue, Nebraska, at about 11:06 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Bellevue Police Department.

Police said they attempted to pull over a vehicle driven by Rashad Harris, 38, a Bellevue man who had multiple warrants for his arrest out of Sarpy County, Nebraska. Instead, he allegedly fled from the area and officers began a pursuit.

Harris crossed into Council Bluffs, according to Bellevue police, and officers lost sight of his vehicle. He was later located in Omaha by the Omaha Police Departments helicopter.

The pursuit came to an end near 39th and Farnam streets  in the heart of Omaha's Blackstone neighborhood  after multiple officers used their cruisers to pin Harris vehicle and prevent him from fleeing. Harris then shot and killed himself inside his vehicle, according to Bellevue police.

Court records show that an arrest warrant had been issued for Harris in Sarpy County on Wednesday alleging domestic violence assault, child abuse and kidnapping related to an incident a day earlier in Bellevue. Harris, who had a Nebraska drivers license, was described as homeless in court documents.

Other than the police helicopter surveillance, no Omaha police officers were directly involved in the pursuit. Three Bellevue police officers and a Nebraska State Patrol trooper were at the scene at the end of the pursuit when Harris was found dead.

The investigation into the death is ongoing. A grand jury will convene to investigate Harris death, which is considered an in-custody death since it occurred in the presence of law enforcement.
Members of the public are invited to pay their respects to Bellevue Police Officer Christopher Abbott during his funeral procession Tuesday.

A 22-year veteran of the Bellevue Police Department, Abbott, 48, died unexpectedly after a medical emergency Nov. 18.

The procession for Abbott will begin around 11:30 a.m. at the Bellevue Christian Center and last until noon with his interment at the cemetery in Glenwood, Iowa. The procession will be preceded by Abbotts funeral service at the Bellevue church.

The procession route will cover about three miles in Bellevue. From the church, the procession will go west along Harvell Drive to Galvin Road South. The procession will then travel southeast down to Mission Avenue, where it will go directly east into Iowa and over to Glenwood. Abbott lived with his wife, Amie, and their two sons, Gaven and Brecken, in Glenwood.

In Bellevue, police ask that people line up along Mission Avenue to view the procession.

The procession route in Glenwood will go along Sharp and Coolidge Street and then head north along North Locust Street. The route will then bend northwest where North Locust Street turns into 221st Street. Abbotts body will be taken to the Glenwood Cemetery just off 221st Street.
A 13-year-old girl and another teen were injured Sunday night when a stolen vehicle crashed in north Lincoln while fleeing from law enforcement.

The 13-year-old, who was allegedly driving, and a 17-year-old girl were taken to a Lincoln hospital with injuries that were not thought to be life-threatening. A spokesman for the Nebraska State Patrol said Monday that Lincoln police received a report of a Hyundai Elantra that had been stolen near 17th and South Streets at 9:30 p.m.

A Nebraska State Patrol trooper spotted the Hyundai about 30 minutes later traveling west on Superior Street, the spokesman said. The vehicle turned north onto 14th Street and fled as the trooper attempted a traffic stop.

The vehicle went through a residential area near 14th Street and Julesburg Drive before heading south on 14th Street in the northbound lanes. The vehicle reached over 70 mph while driving eastbound on Fletcher Avenue, and the trooper backed off the pursuit, the spokesman said.

The trooper observed the Hyundai go through a red light at 27th Street, lose control and crash into a pole. The entire pursuit took about three minutes, the spokesman said.

The driver was released from the hospital and booked into a youth detention facility for theft over $5,000, flight to avoid arrest and not having a drivers license. The 17-year-old will be cited for aiding and abetting after she is released from the hospital, the spokesman said.
BLOOMINGTON  The McLean County Coroner's office has identified a 31-year-old man whose body was found Saturday in a ditch south of Bloomington.

A statement from the Bloomington Police Department said Coroner Kathy Yoder identified the man as Jamere D. Bew, of Bloomington. According to initial autopsy results, Bew died from several gunshot wounds.

Police previously said that McLean County Sheriff's Office dispatched deputies to 1375 East Road and 700 North Road, where a female person was reportedly looking for a male.

The male subject was alleged to be the victim of violence, and that police saturated the area to look for him, according to a joint statement from the sheriff's office, city police department and coroner's office.

The police department said it was granted a search warrant for a residence in the 1600 block of Springfield Road, Bloomington, and fulfilled it with help from its SWAT Team, the Sheriff's office and BPD's Crisis Negotiation Unit.

BPD said two people were detained from that apartment; as of Monday afternoon, no formal charges had been announced.

Police said the Sheriff's office was informed at 12:30 p.m. Saturday about a male lying in a ditch near Illinois Route 136 and 1025 East Road. Deputies then found an unresponsive male lying in the ditch off of 1025 East Road.

BPD asked anyone with information about this death to contact McLean County Sheriff's Detective Hanner by calling 309-888-5063; Lt. Tuttle at 309-888-5928, or the sheriff's office at 309-888-5019.

The coroner's office, BPD, the sheriff's office, and Illinois State Police continue to investigate.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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FinGreen, a financial literacy programme by QNET, an international wellness and lifestyle focused direct selling company, has successfully trained around 700 people including small business owners, young adults, and women running micro enterprises, in Accra, as well as in the regional capital of the Volta Region, Ho.



FinGreen was launched by QNET in October in partnership with esteemed Ghanaian accounting firm JA Abrahams, as a free programme to benefit the underserved communities in Ghana, which are often vulnerable to financial scams and predatory lending, due to limited financial literacy. FinGreen focuses on young adults, women, and small-scale business owners, providing them with the tools necessary for informed personal and business-related financial decisions.



The launch event of FinGreen, held in Accra on October 24, 2023, drew an impressive array of attendees, including financial experts, banking sector leaders, university professors, local government officials, students, and female traders, alongside significant media coverage. This gathering highlighted the critical need for financial literacy and showcased FinGreen's comprehensive approach to addressing these challenges.



Voices from the Ground



Mr. Lawrence Adjatey a manager of a small savings and money-lending scheme popularly called Susu, said he learnt how to manage the funds of susu contributors better and how to make faster and more accurate financial decisions that would improve the scheme.



Ms. Abass Bushira, a young woman leading an agricultural venture said: The FinGreentraining felt like it was designed with me in mind. The curriculum covered topics such as budgeting, investment strategies, debt management, banking, financial planning and others. These are areas that are very relevant to my business and personal finance. I really learnt a lot and Im in the process of improving my business and my life.



According to Robert Kwasi Asmah, a level 400 of the University of Professional Studies, Accra, he learnt how to manage his finances better and how to analyse risk factors that affect his finance. He added that he is now in a better position to advise others on how to manage their personal finances.



FinGreen's curriculum, tailored to the Ghanaian context, is designed to be accessible and relevant, ensuring participants can apply their newfound knowledge effectively. The programme is facilitated through a strategic collaboration with J. A. Abrahams & Co, a distinguished 65-year-old firm with extensive expertise in assurance services, accountancy, tax, and business advisory services. The first phase began in October and will run through December 2023.



FinGreen is fully aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Addis Ababa Agenda, recognizing that achieving financial inclusion is a critical component of sustainable development. Since its launch in 2022 in Nigeria and Turkey, QNETs FinGreen has empowered about 2200 individuals to take control of their financial future.



For more information about QNET and FinGreen, please visit

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Featured Video
Afigya Kwabre North Member of Parliament (MP), Collins Adomako-Mensah, has supported the government's intent to restrict the importation of some food commodities.



The Minister of Trade, Kobina Tahir Hammond, is pushing a regulation in the hope of boosting Ghana's currency and local industries.



This regulation will restrict the importation of rice, fruit juice, margarine, cement, fish, sugar, and 16 other "strategic products."



But this initiative has been met with fierce opposition from the minority in Parliament and some business associations.



Addressing journalists on Thursday, November 22, the Minority Leader described the regulation as a bad policy and called for its immediate withdrawal.



We are urging the President to have a rethink because this is not a policy that we should encourage, and they have to withdraw it, he implored.



A Joint Business Consultative Forum comprising associations such as the Ghana Union of Traders Associations (GUTA), Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG), Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana, Ghana Institute of Freight Forwarders (GIFF), Chamber of Automobile Dealership Ghana (CADEG), and Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) have also opposed the bill, arguing it would have detrimental effects on their businesses.



The associations have therefore submitted a petition to Parliament urging the House to reject the import restrictions bill proposed by the government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry.



But Hon. Collins Adomako-Mensah believes the restrictions are what the nation needs to help local businesses grow and strengthen the cedi.



Speaking on Peace FM's "Kokrokoo" morning show, the MP gave a breakdown of the commodities imported into Ghana, shockingly revealing that the state spends 10.8 billion dollars each year on importation.



Listing the major imports and costs involved, he enumerated that every year the government spends $164 million to import tripe, $200 million on beverages, $100 million on toilet papers and tissues, $100 million on fresh tomatoes, $800 million on rice, $300 million on sugar.



Other products include poultry and meat, with its import costs being $400 million, $250 million on textiles and apparel, $300 million on cooking oil, $200 million on tiles and ceramics, $500 million to import plastics, $600 million on the importation of papers, $600 million on iron and steels, $250 million on furniture, and $900 million on home appliances.



The bigger fraction of the cost goes into the importation of tin tomatoes, cars, and spare parts, which cost $1 billion and $2 billion, respectively, Hon. Collins Adomako-Mensah disclosed.



"These are the monies we spend to import these things each year...All these things I have stated are quoted in dollars, not cedis. What it means is that we have to make sure that we have this import cover to ensure that when a trader wants to import something, government should be able to or must make sure that it has this amount of dollars", he stated.



"Once you continue to transfer the money outside, you are creating jobs outside," he added, and he asked the host, Kwami Sefa Kayi; "Is it still shocking to you that there is pressure on our cedi?"



To him, when the government restricts imports, "businessmen in Ghana can see an opportunity out of it," hence enhancing local production.



He, however, called on the government to hold a stakeholder meeting to keep the associations, especially the opposing parties, abreast of the policy.





Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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The Gbetsile Circuit Court has remanded Benjamin Akpabla, 51, a carpenter, into custody for knowingly attempting to sell an already sold piece of land in Prampram.



The act is contrary to Section 131(1) of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60.



Akpablas appeal for bail was opposed by the Persecutor, Inspector Maxwell Ayeh because he did not cooperate with the police at the first bail.



The court presided over by Eleanor Kakra Banes Botchway, remanded the accused to reappear on December 6, 2023, for a witness statement to be filed.



Prosecution said the complainant, Kofi Yeboah, a mechanic was a resident of Tema Community Four, while Akpabla, alias Opele, the accused, was a carpenter residing at Prampram.



In 2019, Akpabla told the complainant that he had two plots of land, situated at Prampram, which he wanted to sell at the cost of GH40,000.00.



Based on that, Yeboah initially paid GH27,000.00 to the accused and later paid GH13,000.00 to him for the land document.



Afterward, all efforts to get the land document from the accused proved futile, hence Yeboah confronted the family, who indicated that the land in question had already been sold.



On May 21, 2023, Yeboah made a formal report to the police, and the accused was arrested.



An investigation revealed that at the time the accused purportedly sold the land to the complainant, he knew that the land had already been sold by his family.



Inspector Ayeh said although the accused refunded GH15,000.00 to the police, he was later charged after the investigations.





Source: GNA









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In an inspiring tale of entrepreneurship and innovation, a former student of Kumasi Technical University has transformed her final-year project into a flourishing commercial venture. Ms. Anastasia Acquah, an alumna of the University who pursued a Bachelor of Technology programme in Pharmaceutical Sciences under the Faculty of Health Sciences, has harnessed the power of natural remedies to create a very efficacious skincare product.



Anastasia's journey to success began when she joined the four-year bachelor's degree programme as a Top-up student, following the completion of a Higher National Diploma (HND) programme in Dispensing Technology within the same institution. In her final year, she undertook a research project under the supervision of Prof. Samuel Osei-Djarbeng, focusing on the formulation of a unique bar soap utilizing the leaf extract of Azadirachta indica, commonly known as Neem.



The Neem tree, known for its myriad medicinal properties, is a revered plant in Ayurvedic medicine and Indian mythology. Motivated by the remarkable potential of Neem for enhancing skin health, the decision was made to formulate a bar soap from Neem leaves, aimed at addressing various skin conditions. The project was executed with resounding success, and the positive feedback from early users of the Neem soap was amazing.



Reflecting on her journey, Ms. Anastasia Acquah expressed her profound appreciation for pursuing the Bachelor of Technology in Pharmaceutical Sciences programme offered at Kumasi Technical University. She sees the programme as a gateway for serious students to acquire practical skills that empower them to become self-employed upon graduation.



"I must say, I am proud of myself, proud of my supervisor and proud of KsTU," she said.



Anastasia's venture showcases the power of dedication, innovation, and the pursuit of meaningful solutions. It does not only exemplifies the potential of higher education to nurture budding entrepreneurs but also underscores the significance of utilizing natural resources for the benefit of society.



As Ms. Anastasia Acquah continues her journey in the world of business, her Neem soap stands as a testament to the transformative potential of ideas born in the lecture hall. It's an extraordinary reminder of the many untapped opportunities that await those with the vision to see them and the courage to pursue them.



I will advise potential university students to seek professional guidance in the selection of programmes to pursue at the universities so that they select programmes that will empower them to become entrepreneurs. As my supervisor would always say, the future does not hold for job-seekers but embraces job-creators, it is therefore important that individuals make adequate use of the knowledge they acquire from such programmes to make them self-sufficient.



Additionally, it is beneficial to choose project topics with tangible outcomes and concentrate on developing such projects after graduation. Individuals should be courageous enough to develop and market such project outcomes after adequate research. This approach, to me, will not only empower individuals to be self-employed but will also contribute to job creation, thereby addressing the issue of unemployment in the country.





Source: University Relations Office









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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.
World War II veteran Al Blaschke, 106, skydives in tandem with instructor Victor Krusi at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott also skydived with Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Governor Greg Abbott tandem skydives at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Also skydiving with Abbott was 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott comes in for a landing as he tandem skydives at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Also skydiving with Abbott was 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News World War II veteran Al Blaschke, 106, gives a thumnbs up after tandem skydiving at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Gov. Greg Abbott skydives in tandem Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. Abbott was invited to jump by 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Eric Gay/Associated Press Governor Greg Abbott, bottom, tandem skydives alongwith 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, top, at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News After landing, Governor Greg Abbott smiles at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, prepares to skydive with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, left, and Betty Schleder, right, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. Eric Gay/Associated Press Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, prepares to skydive with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, left, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press

Gov. Greg Abbotts priority private school voucher plan is up in the air  and he is, too.

Abbott went skydiving Monday morning with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran. The daredevils headed to Skydive Spaceland in Fentress, a small town about a 20-minute drive from San Marcos.

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We did some hard turns, Abbott told reporters after the jump, according to Fox 7 Austin. Its an upside-down ride a couple of times, but its a lot of fun.

The Texas Legislature was set to reconvene a few hours later in Austin, where the fourth special legislative session of the year is underway. While Abbott called lawmakers back to pass the voucher plan, the Texas House voted last week to quash the proposal, creating a deadlock.

The governors push to give students taxpayer dollars to spend on private education faces steep opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans who fear that vouchers would take away much needed funds from their districts public schools. Abbott and other supporters, who also call the plan school choice, say the vouchers are needed to give parents the option to send their children to the schools that best fit their needs.

Abbott has threatened to keep calling legislators back to the Capitol until they pass the voucher plan. He also has said hell campaign against GOP members in their upcoming primary races if they continue to oppose the education savings accounts.

Abbott declined to say Monday if or when he planned to call another special session.
The Chairman of the National Democratic Congress Council of Elders of South Africa, Mr. Benjamin Kofi Quashie has berated President Akufo-Addo for labelling members of the NDC as troublemakers.



He describes the president's actions as very unfortunate and unfair.



Speaking to Joy News, Monday, 27th November, 2023, the NDC Council of Elders chair averred that, for the president to criticise the actions of people he finds as unlawful is apt but, lacks fairness if always directed at members of the NDC.



Highlighting some examples of incidences which members of the NPP committed which were unlawful, but which the president failed to raise a whisker, he narrated the situation where "Kennedy Agyapong openly ridiculed a judge when he used very unprintable words against him. The president was silent about it ", he emphasised.



Again, he recounted that, at a public event when the president criticised a chief for sitting down when the National Anthem was being played, "we applauded him" for that show of statesmanship.



Coincidentally, after a week or later, his daughter did a similar thing and the president hasn't condemned it", adding the chief apologised afterwards for his actions, citing ill health as the reason but up till today, the President's daughter hasn't said anything concerning her behaviour, neither has she apologised.



"Is it that there are different sets of rules for Ghanaians?; that if you're an NDC person the president sees you as a trouble maker?", he quizzed again.



However, Mr. Quashie concurred the president has the right to criticise any Ghanaian whose actions flout the laws of the land and has the tendency to jeopadise our collective peace but, cannot pick and choose which one to criticise. To him, that is unfair, unacceptable and doesn't befit a president.



He argued that the NDC members were at the former President's office to embark on a clean up exercise and it had nothing to do with violence, which the president chose to criticise.



"I think that it is brilliant to condemn actions that are deemed unlawful; it's a good call and the call should be to all Ghanaians by the president, but he cannot pick and choose", he affirmed.



Mr. Quashie claimed leaders who want their countries to grow and progress must be even in their actions and our leader, the president, must be exhibiting same tendencies, adding "If you pick and choose, people don't take your issues seriously", he emphasised again.



Background



The Ghanaian Times reports that, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has condemned the brandishing of machetes and weapons at the office of the flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), former President John Dramani Mahama, stressing that no individual or group will be allowed to destabilise the peace and security of the country.



The story adds, the President was of the belief that the brandishing of those weapons was not a sign of things to happen in the 2024 election and that Ghanaians would be allowed to go about their duties without disturbances from any quarters.



I want to state that under my watch, no person or group of persons, no matter their political coloration will be allowed to destabilise our country to destroy the peace all of us are enjoying. It will not happen! he emphasized.



President Akufo-Addo, who was speaking at the valedictory service of the outgoing moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rt Rev. Professor Joseph Ofori Yeboah Mante, at the Victory Congregation of the church at Frafraha in Adenta yesterday, said, there was the need for all Ghanaians to pray for the countrys peace and unity in order to move forward as a people.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Former President John Mahama has addressed some questions raised as far as his 24-hour economic policy is concerned.



The flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress plans on implementing this policy to deal with unemployment in the country as well as increase productivity.



However, the ruling government believes some sectors of the economy are already operating 24 hours; hence it's nothing new.



Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia speaking to this policy said Today, there are many businesses that are already working for 24 hours. Hospitals are open for 24 hours. You can buy electricity for 24 hours. Because of digitalisation, you can transfer money for 24 hours. There are many chop bars and restaurants that are open for 24 hours"



In a Q and A session, Mahama says such claims "are terribly wrong"



"Currently, Ghana does not have any deliberate policy that supports or incentivizes businesses or companies to operate 24/7. The 24-hour economy strategy will be the first government policy intervention that will provide tax incentives, cheaper and reliable power and in some cases, financing support for businesses that operate 24/7 in Ghana. This is what makes the policy a novelty.



The fact that few companies currently operate 24/7 in Ghana does not mean that the 24-hour Economy is already being implemented. This is because such companies operate on their own without any support whatsoever from government. More importantly, the fact that few companies currently operate 24/7 in the country goes to show that the 24-hour Economy is possible, has a huge potential and can create more sustainable jobs if properly supported by a deliberate government Policy intervention".



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" " Joshua Byrd is a member of 100 Black Men of Atlanta where he chairs the Anti-Gun Violence Committee. Here he's teaching a group of students about how walking away from a fight could save their life. 100 Black Men of Atlanta

Gun violence in America has exploded since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the victims of deadly shootings are disproportionately young and Black.

In 2020, for the first time ever, firearm deaths outpaced automobile accidents as the leading cause of death among children 1 to 19 years of age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And Black teens are the hardest hit. Of all Black teenagers (15-19) who died in 2020, more than half were victims of gun violence, according to a 2022 report from the John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions.

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"African American youth are 20 times more likely than their peers to die from gun violence," says Joshua Byrd, vice president of Hawque Protection Group and criminal justice professor at American InterContinental University, both in Atlanta. "Gun violence is at an all-time high in Atlanta."

Byrd also is the committee chair of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, a nonprofit mentoring and education organization that recently launched the Anti-Gun Violence Committee. It's a public awareness project aimed at teaching de-escalation strategies to young people in Atlanta's most at-risk communities.

"What I teach the kids is that you want to survive and you want to make it home," says Byrd, who grew up in some of those same hard-hit Atlanta neighborhoods. "I often tell them, 'Winning a fight is actually losing your life.' You might win the verbal argument, but a lot of folks don't take that well, and gun violence is the next step."

" " Gun violence in Atlanta has increased significantly since 2020. Here a man holds a gun after protesters blocked the road next to a Wendy's restaurant after Rayshard Brooks was killed a police officer in the Atlanta restaurant parking lot, June 16, 2020. CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
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Figure showing the diffusion of spin-polarized electrons within a graphene layer placed on top of a ferrimagnetic insulating oxide Tm 3 Fe 5 O 12 (TmIG). The strong exchange interaction between the graphene and TmIG results in a significant spin splitting of the graphene band structure. This spin splitting, in turn, results in a substantial difference in the density of charge carriers with spin orientations labeled as "spin up" () and "spin down" (). This difference in carrier density gives rise to the generation of a spin-polarized current. Credit: Advanced Materials

National University of Singapore (NUS) physicists have developed a concept to induce and directly quantify spin splitting in two-dimensional materials. By using this concept, they have experimentally achieved large tunability and a high degree of spin-polarization in graphene. This research achievement can potentially advance the field of two-dimensional (2D) spintronics, with applications for low-power electronics.

Joule heating poses a significant challenge in modern electronics, especially in devices such as personal computers and smartphones. This is an effect that occurs when the flow of electrical current passing through a material produces thermal energy, subsequently raising the material's temperature. One potential solution involves the use of spin, instead of charge, in logic circuits. These circuits can, in principle, offer low-power consumption and ultrafast speed, owing to the reduction or elimination of Joule heating. This has given rise to the emerging field of spintronics.

Graphene is an ideal 2D material for spintronics, due to its long spin diffusion length and long spin lifetime even at room temperature. Even though graphene is not inherently spin-polarized, it can be induced to exhibit spin-splitting behavior by placing it near magnetic materials. However, there are two main challenges. There is a lack of direct methods for determining the spin-splitting energy and a limitation in graphene's spin properties and tunability.

A research team led by Professor Ariando from the Department of Physics, NUS, developed an innovative concept to directly quantify spin-splitting energy in magnetic graphene using the Landau fan shift. Landau fan shift refers to the shift of intercept when plotting linear fits of oscillation frequency with charge carriers, which is due to the splitting of energy levels of charged particles in a magnetic field. It can be used to study the fundamental properties of matter. Moreover, the induced spin-splitting energy can be tuned over a broad range by a technique called field cooling.

The observed high spin polarization in graphene, coupled with its tunability in spin-splitting energy, offers a promising avenue for the development of 2D spintronics for low-power electronics.

The findings have been published in the journal Advanced Materials.

The researchers performed a series of experiments to validate their approach. They began by creating a magnetic graphene structure by stacking a monolayer graphene on top of a magnetic insulating oxide Tm 3 Fe 5 O 12 (TmIG). This unique structure allowed them to utilize the Landau fan shift to directly quantify its spin-splitting energy value of 132 meV in the magnetic graphene.

To further corroborate the direct relationship between the Landau fan shift and spin-splitting energy, the researchers performed field cooling experiments for tuning the degree of the spin-splitting in graphene. They also applied X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Singapore Synchrotron Light Source to reveal the origins of the spin-polarization.

Dr. Junxiong Hu, the lead author for the research paper, said, "Our work solves the long-standing controversy in 2D spintronics, by developing a concept that uses the Landau fan shift to directly quantify the spin splitting in magnetic materials."

To further support their experimental findings, the researchers collaborated with a theoretical team led by Professor Zhenhua Qiao from the University of Science and Technology of China, to calculate the spin splitting energy using first principle calculations.

The theoretical results obtained were consistent with their experimental data. Moreover, they also used machine learning to fit their experimental data based on a phenomenological model, which provides a deeper understanding of the tunability of spin-splitting energy by field cooling.

Prof Ariando said, "Our work develops a robust and unique route to generate, detect and manipulate the spin of electrons in atomically thin materials. It also demonstrates a practical use of artificial intelligence in materials science. With the rapid development and significant interest in the field of 2D magnets and stacking-induced magnetism in atomically thin van der Waals heterostructures, we believe our results can be extended to various other 2D magnetic systems."

Building upon this proof-of-concept study, the research team plans to explore the manipulation of spin current at room temperature. Their goal is to apply their findings in the development of 2D spin-logic circuitry and magnetic memory/sensory devices.

The ability to efficiently tune the spin polarization of current forms the basis for the realization of all-electric spin field-effect transistors, ushering in a new era of low-power consumption and ultrafast speed electronics.

More information: Junxiong Hu et al, Tunable SpinPolarized States in Graphene on a Ferrimagnetic Oxide Insulator, Advanced Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/adma.202305763 Journal information: Advanced Materials
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Detection plot for Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1. Tangent plane-projected sky positions of all stars within a 12  12 region around the overdensity. Credit: arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.10147

By analyzing the images from the Ultraviolet Near Infrared Optical Northern Survey (UNIONS), an international team of astronomers has discovered a new compact satellite of the Milky Way, which received designation Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1. The newfound object turns out to be the least luminous known satellite of the Milky Way. The finding is reported in a paper published Nov. 16 on the pre-print server arXiv.

The Milky Way is known to be orbited by dozens of smaller, gravitationally-bound galaxies or star clusters. Although the list of identified satellites is relatively long, astronomers believe that some dwarf and faint galaxies are still undetected.

One of the astronomical surveys that is capable of finding such satellites is UNIONS, which observes the sky over 4,800 square degrees in the northern hemisphere. It is a collaboration between two Hawai'ian observatories: the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) and the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS). One of the survey's main goals is to investigate the assembly and structure of the Milky Way.

A team of astronomers led by Simon E. T. Smith of the University of Victoria in Canada, has investigated the data from UNIONS as part of the search for new galaxies in the Local Group. As a result, they found the Milky Way's satellite, not reported by previous studies.

"Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 (UMa3/U1) was discovered during an ongoing search for faint Local Group systems in UNIONS," the researchers wrote.

The team initially identified Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 as a spatially-resolved over-density of stars in the UNIONS data. Next, they obtained radial velocities from the Keck telescope and proper motions from ESA's Gaia satellite, which confirmed that it is a coherent system.

Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 has a total absolute V-band magnitude of +2.2 mag, which makes it the faintest satellite of the Milky Way so far detected. The previous record holder was Kim 3an ultra-faint star cluster with a total absolute V-band magnitude of +0.7 mag.

According to the paper, Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 is very compact as it has a half-light radius of approximately 10 light years, and contains only about 5060 stars. Its total mass is therefore also estimated to be very lowabout 16 solar masses.

The results indicate that Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 has a pericenter of 41,700 light years and passes through the disk of the Milky Way around 52,100 light years from the Galactic center. The data also suggest that Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 is at least 11 billion years old and has a metal-poor stellar population.

When it comes to the origin and nature, Ursa Major III/UNIONS 1 may have been accreted into the Milky Way halo, and may be a dwarf galaxy or a star cluster. Hence, follow-up observations are required in order to disclose the true nature of this compact and faint satellite.

More information: Simon E. T. Smith et al, The discovery of the faintest known Milky Way satellite using UNIONS, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.10147 Journal information: arXiv

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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The warnings about the disastrous impact we are having on our planet are becoming more dire. The UN Environment Program's most recent emissions gap report, which tracks our progress in limiting global warming, revealed that the world is on course for a "hellish" 3C of global heating before the end of this century.

How can you plan for a family when the outlook is so bleak? A recent study, conducted by Hope Dillarstone, Laura Brown and Elaine Flores from University College London, has reviewed existing evidence to shed light on how the climate crisis is shaping decisions about whether to have children or not.

Analyzing research published between 2012 and 2022, the researchers found that people who were concerned about the climate crisis typically wanted to have few children or no children at all. Concerns about overpopulation and overconsumption, uncertainty about the future, and worries about meeting their family's needs were among the factors driving people's desire for smaller families.

Overpopulation and overconsumption

Do you feel guilty about your potential child's carbon footprint? Perhaps you're frustrated by the materialistic values of modern society and the inevitability of overconsumption? These issues also came up in several of the reviewed studies.

There is a long, problematic, and very political history behind the idea of overpopulation. In various forms, the idea has been floating around since at least the late 18th century. It has led to unethical "population control" measures in some countries.

Some (such as Paul Ehrlich, author of the controversial 1960's book "The Population Bomb") argue that there are already too many people living on our planet, and that the sheer number of people is causing our current environmental crisis. But what overpopulation arguments frequently miss is that it's not just about how many people are on the planet, but also how sustainably we live that matters. Numbers cannot tell the full story.

The urgency with which we need to tackle the climate crisis also implies that opting not to have children for the sake of the climate would now prove insufficient and ineffective. Even with reduced fertility, the population will continue to grow because of population momentum. Even if the fertility rate is declining, there is still a large number of people of reproductive age in the global population, resulting in more births than deaths.

The participants of several studies pointed out that more structural solutions, such as drastic reductions in carbon emissions, are urgently needed and promise to be more effective than reducing family size.

Uncertainty about the future

Are you worried your future children may not be able to enjoy nature due to damaged ecosystems? Perhaps you're concerned about a more catastrophic outcome, such as full societal collapse? The review shows that these are major themes influencing people's decision to have fewer children, particularly for those living in the US, Canada, Europe and New Zealand.

These concerns are understandable. The UN's recent emissions gap report concluded that there is only a 14% chance that the world will limit global warming to the maximum 1.5C rise that is being called for by climate scientists.

At the same time, hundreds of millions of people around the globe are already experiencing the catastrophic consequences of climate change in their everyday lives. In Zambia and Ethiopia, for example, climate change concerns are having much more immediate impacts on childbearing.

In a study from 2021, which explored the impact of droughts on Zambian women's social and financial well-being and their reproductive lives, one participant said, "The six children I desire to have may not have enough food to eat." But in order to have fewer children, people require access to contraception, the supply of which can be disrupted, particularly in times of crisis.

In parallel, other respondents in Zambia reported that they are considering having more children to provide financial and labor support. This highlights how the climate crisis is already and very directly impeding reproductive justicethe right to have children, to not have children, and to parent in safe and healthy environmentsespecially in the global south (lower income countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America).

Childbearing as a political choice

Ultimately, the climate crisis is a collective, and therefore political, crisis. We are much more likely to avoid the worst climate outcomes if we mandate our governments to drastically reduce the emissions generated by industry and consumers than if we concentrate on changing our own individual behaviors.

One study included in the review made this point by analyzing how environmental activists approached childbearing decisions. Some decided not to have children as a means of exerting political pressure and advocacy, for example, through the former BirthStrike movement.

For others, not having children was a choice made to free up time and energy for political and advocacy activities centring on the climate crisis. Some people instead saw having children as a way of raising future activists.

In the end, the choice is deeply personal. The only "right" answer is the one that is best for you. But we can all do more to make sure policies help everyone enact their own choices.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Tsiafajavona Ankaratra, Madagascar. Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Communities around the world face increasingly severe and frequent impacts from climate change. They are on the "frontlines" of droughts, flooding, desertification and sea level rise.

International climate finance is supposed to help. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, the world's wealthiest countries pledged US$50 billion annually to support climate adaptation among those "particularly vulnerable" to climate change. Climate adaptation is the adjustments humans make to reduce exposure to climate risk.

Eight years later, it is clear that this money is failing to reach vulnerable "frontline communities", especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Recently, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Sudan and Niger have been among the top ten most affected countries.

The host country of the upcoming annual United Nations climate negotiations (COP28), the United Arab Emirates, has announced it is focused on "fixing climate finance".

I am a researcher who has studied international climate finance for seven years, both at the annual COPs and through research in Madagascar, Mauritius and Namibia. My work explores how to make climate finance more equitable and accessible for vulnerable communities.

It's my view that the countries that contribute the bulk of the funding for climate adaptation can ensure more money reaches those who need it most. To do that they must first understand why financing isn't reaching frontline communities. Otherwise money will continue to fall well short of need.

Why funding isn't reaching vulnerable communities

The clearest reason why adaptation finance does not reach these communities is that there is simply not enough of it. Wealthy countries have consistently failed to deliver on the US$50 billion commitment. Every year the gap between needs and support grows. The latest Adaptation Gap Report estimates that international adaptation finance is 1018 times below need.

Beyond this shortfall, the current structure of climate finance prevents frontline communities from accessing support. Studies show that the poorest and most vulnerable countries receive less than their fair share of adaptation finance. Support for sub-Saharan African countries is as little as US$5 per person per year.

Two key barriers explain this disconnect. The first is the overlap of climate vulnerability with conflict and political instability. Twelve of the 20 countries most vulnerable to climate change are also affected by conflict. Vulnerable countries are also prone to political turmoil, frequent changes in government, and high levels of government corruption.

UN climate funds and other major funders like the World Bank see these countries as less "ready" for adaptation projects. My research has also found that wealthy countries worry their taxpayers' money will be lost to corruption.

The second barrier is the finance application process. Proposals for UN climate funds, such as the Green Climate Fund, can number hundreds of pages. Application requirements differ from fund to fund. It can take years to develop a proposal and to receive the money.

Reaching frontline communities

Even when vulnerable countries receive international support, further barriers can prevent it from reaching frontline communities. Currently, only 17% of adaptation finance has reached local levels. My research in Madagascar and Mauritius found both administrative and political barriers.

National governments consume resources administering grants, often hiring expensive foreign consultants to plan, implement and monitor projects. These costs eat into the money intended for local communities. The focus on large, individual projects tends to concentrate funding in one area, limiting how far benefits can reach.

Funds also require clear evidence of success. Governments might invest in projects they know will succeed rather than take innovative approaches or choose riskier areas.

National governments also make decisions for political reasons. They tend to distribute resourcesincluding money for adaptationbased on what will help them stay in power. They are more likely to fund political supporters than opponents. Communities are often vulnerable precisely because they are politically marginalized.

Finally, studies show that adaptation finance, like development funding, can be lost to corruption and mismanagement. Wealthy and powerful elites can "capture" the benefits of internationally financed projects, such as a disproportionate share of rice seeds for a project to build the resilience of agriculture in Madagascar.

How to fix it

It is not too late to change how adaptation finance flows to ensure more of it reaches vulnerable communities. The first step is to increase funding for adaptation. Support for adaptation actually declined in 2021, the most recent year for which we have data. Wealthy countries must meet the commitments they made in the Paris Agreement.

The second step is for UN funds, the World Bank and wealthy countries to dedicate a greater proportion of funding to the most vulnerable countries. They must do so regardless of whether these countries are affected by conflict, instability and corruption.

For UN funds this can be accomplished by simplifying and standardizing application procedures. Funds can also dedicate more resources to help countries prepare proposals. They should focus less on demanding clear results and more on supporting adaptation that aligns with national and local priorities.

Wealthy countries that contribute to climate funds need to give up some power over the money. They will have to accept imperfect governance and that some funding will be lost to mismanagement and corruption. They have tolerated such trade-offs before, such as during the COVID pandemic, when urgency outweighed concerns over waste and fraud.

But funders should also push for increased transparency around projects. They can encourage scrutiny by local civil society groups, for example, by publishing project information in local languages.

The third step is to experiment. For example, the Green Climate Fund is currently experimenting with "decentralized" adaptation finance in Namibia. Rather than a single large project, the Namibian government broke the funds into 31 small grants for community-based organizations. Together with the University of Namibia, we are examining whether and how this approach helps more funding reach frontline communities. Early results are encouraging.

Fixing climate finance is not simple, but it is urgent. Failing to do so means leaving the most vulnerable alone to face the increasing threats of climate change.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Monk parakeets were introduced to Europe by the pet trade. Credit: Debbie from Pixabay

In the 50 years since monk parakeets arrived in Europe and spread across the continent, the species has developed distinct dialects that vary across countries and cities, according to a team of researchers from the Max Planck Institutes of Animal Behavior in Konstanz and for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

Using a novel analytical method, the scientists compared the calls made by monk parakeets in eight cities across four countries in Europe, finding that the parrots now "sound" different in each city. The work is published in the journal Behavioral Ecology.

"Just like humans, monk parakeets in Europe have unique ways of communicating based on where they live," says lead author Stephen Tyndel, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior.

Europe doesn't have any native parrot species. However, several species, including the monk parakeet, have established populations after individuals escaped from the pet trade. Originally from South America, monk parakeets now exist in huge numbers in several countries in Europe.

Like all parrots, monk parakeets have an exceptionally flexible vocal repertoire and can imitate and learn new sounds throughout their lives. Because the invasive parrot spread through Europe only recently, says Tyndel, "monk parakeets are the perfect test tube for studying how complex communication evolves in a species other than our own."

To find out if monk parakeets in Europe developed dialectsthat is, calls that differ based on where individuals liveresearchers recorded monk parakeets in eight cities across Spain, Belgium, Italy, and Greece. A novel statistical method allowed them to test if parrot calls were different from city to city, and also if calls were different among parks within the same city. "We wanted to find out not only if there are different dialects, but at what geographical scale they occur," says Tyndel. Monk parakeets have dialectic differences in European cities

City-specific dialects

They discovered that parrots did have different dialects in each city. Parakeets in Brussels, for example, had contact calls that were particularly different from those of other cities, says co-lead author Simeon Smeele, an affiliate scientist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

For the most part, dialects differed in the frequency modulation structure within each call, "which is super difficult for humans to hear," adds Smeele.

But when scientists looked for dialects within parks in each city, they found no differences. Parrots did not have unique calls from one park to the next. "Taken together, this suggests that parrot dialects separated early when birds invaded European cities, but then didn't significantly change further over this time period," says Tyndel.

The results were surprising, says Tyndel. "This suggests that dialects came about through a passive processbirds copying birds make small errors and therefore cities slowly become different from each otheror that they were different to begin with, and that these differences were maintained over time."

But the team hasn't ruled out that dialects might also be formed by an active process that could help birds with social communication, such as recognizing group mates. In parks, monk parakeets live in nests that are highly clustered. The researchers think there might be vocal differences, like slang, in these smaller social units.

"We think that dialects could be used to communicate who is part of what nest cluster, like a password," says Smeele. In the future, the team plans to find out how individuals learn from each other and if smaller groups show dialects within parks.

"This will add to our understanding of parrot communication," says Tyndel, "and provide insights into the ways in which complex communication is linked to the complex social lives of humans and animals."

More information: Simeon Q Smeele et al, Multilevel Bayesian analysis of monk parakeet contact calls shows dialects between European cities, Behavioral Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arad093 Journal information: Behavioral Ecology
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Continued high emissions of greenhouse gases mean the well-being of all people now depends on profound changes in policies and practices to effect climate change adaptation.

Climate change adaptation reduces the impacts of climate change. It involves a wide range of processes and practices to make our lives better suited to a changing climate, for example by greening our cities to reduce heat stress, stopping building in hazardous locations, living shorelines for coastal protection and changing how we plan for and respond to disasters.

Yet as a recent United Nations report shows, government efforts at climate change adaptation are even worse than their efforts at reducing emissions.

We know that climate change already impinges on fundamental human rights, including rights to health, life, food, and water. These impacts are greatest in places where there is less capacity for investment in the kinds of engineering, planning, regulation, social services, social safeguards and technologies that reduce vulnerability to climate change. "The human right to climate adaptation," has been published in npj Climate Action.

These factors are the difference in vulnerability to sea-level rise between Port Moresby and Port Melbourne, to drought between Ethiopia and Australia or to cyclone risk between Dili and Darwin. In all cases, adaptation could remedy these human rights violations and ensure against further violations in the future.

Yet in many places, like Australia, governments fail to facilitate adaptation because they see no legal obligation to do so. In others, like the Marshall Islands, governments lack the resources and capacity to undertake necessary interventions.

It's the law

But this perception that there is no legal imperative to ensure adequate adaptation measures is wrong. Individuals and peoples are guaranteed a right to climate adaptation as an indispensable part of existing human rights law.

These laws oblige States, to the extent they are able, to implement adaptation that is comprehensive, effective and equitable. It also means the international community has obligations to assist States thatthrough no fault of their ownlack the resources and financing to implement rights-protective adaptation.

Virtually all States have ratified the main international human rights treaties, under which they are legally obliged to uphold and protect the human rights of all their citizens, including the right to health, life, food, water and culture.

Given existing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, these human rights are and will continue to be impinged upon even with the most ambitious emissions reduction actions. This means that states are legally obligated to undertake adaptation actions to protect the human rights of their citizens.

We must help those at greatest risk

Under well-established human rights principles, the rights of individuals in small or remote communities cannot be afforded a lower level of protection. In fact, because the human rights of marginalized and vulnerable groups are already more compromised, States are obligated to take extra care to ensure their protection.

This is why the UN Human Rights Committee found in 2022 that Australia violated the human rights of Torres Strait Islanders by failing to provide adaptation to protect them against the impacts of climate change.

Human rights law also has the potential to address the transboundary nature of climate harm. In recent years the Inter-American Court on Human Rights and the United Nations Human Rights Council have relied on the transboundary harm principle to hold States responsible for human rights violations beyond their borders that were caused by their pollution.

Moreover, developed States are obligated to assist developing States to achieve their citizens' economic, social and cultural rights.

These two legal duties show that developed States have a responsibility to assist with climate adaptation in vulnerable countries, both as a remedy for violations stemming from their conduct, and to fulfill their duties to advance human rights globally.

Protecting the right to self-determination

One of the foundational principles of international law writ large, the right to self-determination, guarantees all peoples' inalienable rights to political independence and self-governance, territorial integrity and permanent sovereignty over their natural resources.

Climate change threatens this right by depriving affected peoples of land and resources.

Already, the self-determination of many vulnerable peoplesincluding small island states, non-self-governing territories and indigenous peoplesis being affected as climate change degrades resources, erodes coastlines and imperils the survival of culturally essential species.

In the most existential of cases, sea level rise threatens to render many of the small islands in Oceania uninhabitable in the near future, threatening their ability to maintain (or achieve, in the case of non-self-governing territories) political independence and self-governance.

Adaptation could prevent such rights violations, but those most at risk largely lack the resources to undertake necessary interventions.

All States hold strict obligations to uphold the peoples' right to self-determination, with no exceptions permitted. These obligations are owed by the entire international community to each member and vice versa.

Thus, the principle of self-determination obliges states to assist vulnerable peoples with adaptation sufficient to preserve territorial integrity and sovereignty, regardless of cost or difficulty.

The perceived smallness or remoteness of an affected people is immaterialall peoples are entitled to the same right to survive and thrive.

Australia's obligation to our pacific neighbors

The human right to adaptation casts Australia's engagement with Pacific small island states in a different light. Consider the case of Tuvalu, for example, which is a least developed country comprising atolls that are on average only 2 meters above sea level.

Tuvalu has shown how it can adapt to climate change, but it relies on financial and technical assistance to do so and the assistance provided to date is vastly inadequate.

Through the lens of international law, the goal for adaptation in Tuvalu is to protect human rights and the right to self-determination, and countries like Australia have absolute legal obligations to provide the assistance necessary to achieve this no matter the cost of difficulty.

Supporting adaptation in Tuvalu and other small island states in our region is therefore not a matter of 'aid,' or diplomacy, or largesse, but rather is simply a legal obligation that must be met.

More information: Autumn Bordner et al, The human right to climate adaptation, npj Climate Action (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s44168-023-00079-w Journal information: npj Climate Action
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Paige Van de Vuurst, a Ph.D. student in translational biology, medicine, and health, conducts field research on vampire bats in Colombia this summer. Credit: Paige Van de Vuurst

Vampire bats may soon take up residence in the United States and bring with them an ancient pathogen. "What we found was that the distribution of vampire bats has moved northward across time due to past climate change, which has corresponded with an increase in rabies cases in many Latin American countries," said Paige Van de Vuurst, a Ph.D. student in Virginia Tech's Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health Graduate Program.

Van de Vuurst is the lead author of research recently published in Ecography that predicts that vampire batscurrently only found in Mexico and Central and South Americaare on the move, with the United States being a viable home in 27 years. The findings concluded that with shifting seasonalitythe differences in temperature between the coldest and warmest seasonsvampire bats have expanded their locations in search of more stable, temperate climates.

The research team, which included both undergraduate and graduate students, also found this expanded reach could be linked to a spillover of rabies. Vampire bats are known carriers of rabies, a disease known for its high mortality rates and often considered the oldest pathogen known by humans, dating back 3,000 years.

Latin America is currently feeling the bite of the rabies spread through the loss of livestock, which has generated fear as the bats' migration patterns expand. The Virginia Tech team aims to vigorously identify and track the bats by traveling to Colombia to help contain the spread to other countries, including the United States and its vital cattle industry.

Why Colombia?

"Colombia is a mega-diverse country, making it a perfect natural laboratory," said Luis Escobar, assistant professor in the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment. The country boasts having the highest number of hummingbirds and bats, attributed to its tropic climate and proximity to the equator.

Collaborating with three local universitiesUniversity of La Salle, Universidad Distrital, and Universidad del Tolimathe collective team traveled all across Colombia to collect more than 70 samples of bat species. This included a range of geographic and climate changes, starting in the hot and humid jungles to cold and cloudy parts of the Andes Mountains that are only accessible by cable car. This allowed the team to secure a variety of samples and observe how changes in climate can change the emergence of diseases in bats.

The team also explored places in Colombia that were previously closed to scientists, including Chaparral, a municipality in the Tolima region that was allowed to start welcoming tourists after the 2016 peace agreement.

The team's research sought to address a knowledge gap that limits the understanding of the spread of rabies and its spillover from wildlife to humans. Their work had three primary aims:

Determine the role of habitat and virus mutation on rabies spillover to humans and livestock across Latin America

Identify the effect of changes in biodiversity in rabies virus spillover

Investigate geographic and environmental factors influencing the spread of bat-borne

Bat-borne rabies outbreak increase in Latin America. (a) Percentage change in rabies outbreaks in cattle for Latin American countries between the 1970s and 2010s. (b) Regression relationship between northern range expansion of Desmodus rotundus and outbreaks of rabies in Latin America(19702019). (Slope = 86.61, R2 = 0.36, p < 0.001.) (c) Reduction in temperature seasonality in D. rotundus capture locations across time. (Slope = 0.01, R2 = 0.07, p < 0.001.) Black points and lines: distribution of temperature standard deviations of all D. rotundus occurrence locations from each corresponding year. Credit: Ecography (2023). DOI: 10.1111/ecog.06714

Sinking teeth into the experience

This field experience allowed four undergraduate and two graduate students to travel to Colombia. Van de Vuurst led the team's campuswide recruitment efforts, yielding 30 interested students from across disciplines.

In advance of the trip to Colombia to study vampire bats, Escobar and his team met near the Duck Pond to review critical safety information and field sampling protocols.

"We selected a truly stellar group of students, and I could not be prouder of them," said Van de Vuurst.

She was provided an opportunity as an undergraduate to go on an international excursion to Peru. "That trip changed my life, and really opened up the world of ecology for me. I am so glad that we were able to offer that same kind of once in a lifetime research experience to so many students through Luis' hard work and generosity."

For undergraduate Julia Alexander, it was a series of firsts, including first field experience, first time on a plane, and first time out of the country.

As part of the Escobar Lab's research staff, Alexander was able to study disease transmission in vampire bats and other local bat species, working with local communities in the Tolima region. It was critically important for Escobar and Van de Vuurst to be able to offer the international research opportunity, knowing that undergraduate students are not usually able to participate in such an experience.

"I not only learned valuable field skills for my career, but also important life lessons from every challenge faced," Alexander said. "Although this journey was not easy, I wouldn't exchange the experience for anything else."

Crossing borders to collaborate

The value of building a network of international collaboration cannot be understated, especially in terms of the commonalities of technology, facilities, and students between Virginia Tech and their international partners.

In fact, Escobar is hosting Diego Soler-Tovar, assistant professor from Universidad La Salle, who will be working in the Escobar lab through late January 2024, to study the drivers of rabies spread in Latin America.

"We all have one goal: generating samples, new data, and new knowledge," Escobar said.

More information: Paige Van de Vuurst et al, Climate change linked to vampire bat expansion and rabies virus spillover, Ecography (2023). DOI: 10.1111/ecog.06714 Journal information: Ecography
Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores listens during a Bexar County Commissioners meeting. Robin Jerstad / Robin Jerstad

Four years ago, then-political newcomer Rebeca Clay-Flores was one of only two Democrats to challenge four-term incumbent Sergio Chico Rodriguez for his South Side seat on the Bexar County Commissioners Court.

After trailing in the party primary, Clay-Flores  to the surprise of many  handily ousted the 16-year incumbent, whose family long had been a force in South Side politics. She won by a nearly 3,500-vote margin.

Clay-Flores made county history that November when she won the general election to become the first woman of color elected to Commissioners Court.

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This election cycle, theres far more competition for the Precinct 1 seat. At least five Democrats have lined up to challenge Clay-Flores in the March 5 primary. Candidate filing for a place on the ballot runs through Dec. 11.

Her challengers cite what they call her inaccessibility to constituents as one of their main motivations in challenging her. Its the same criticism Clay-Flores leveled against Rodriguez in the 2020 campaign. She also accused him of ignoring neighborhood and community groups.

To me, if you have that many people running against you, then somethings wrong, said Ernesto Arrellano Jr., a current South San Antonio Independent School District trustee and former San Antonio Water System trustee. To me, its a sign that theres weakness.

Arrellano was the first of Clay-Flores opponents to appoint a campaign treasurer, which allows someone to collect campaign contributions. He did so in late February.

Clay-Flores says her opponents are eyeing the upcoming primary election because her 2020 upset victory lowered the barriers for future candidates. She dislodged an incumbent who few thought could be beaten.

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Before me, in recent history, someone had to die and get appointed, or someone retired and didnt run again and it was an open seat, she said. I am the only woman on the court, the first Black female or the first Latina. So I have really paved the way for women of color to run.

I did the hard work of beating a 16-year incumbent who wasnt doing the things that Precinct 1 needed, who wasnt making change in the community, and so now that I did the hard work and got him out, these people  who are rumored to run  are running, she continued. I know that my track record speaks for itself, and I know that my constituents are going to vote for me for a second term because of the relationships that Ive built, the work that they have seen, the changes they have seen in the community.

Clay-Flores has tapped longtime civil rights activist Rosie Castro, the mother of U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro and former Mayor Julian Castro, as her campaign treasurer.

Only Arrellano so far has filed for a spot on the ballot.

Alamo Colleges District trustee Anna U. Bustamante, Amanda Gonzalez, Lawson Alaniz-Picasso and Ismael Garcia have submitted campaign treasurer paperwork. All said they will file for a place on the Democratic primary ballot closer to the Dec. 11 deadline.

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The only challenger who previously had sought the Precinct 1 seat is Gabriel Lara, who intends to run as an independent in the November 2024 general election against the party primary winners.

Lara, a retired city of San Antonio paramedic, ran unopposed in the 2020 Republican primary but came up short against Clay-Flores in the general election.

Precinct 1, which spans from the southwest county line to Alamo Ranch on the far Northwest Side, long has been a Democratic stronghold.

So far, the Republican primary has drawn one candidate. Aurelina Lina Prado, a senior supply chain manager at Boeing, said she plans to file for a spot on the ballot in the coming days.

Lara believes that Democrats view the first-term commissioner as easier to defeat than a politically connected, entrenched incumbent. Rodriguezs brother, Ciro Rodriguez, is a former congressman and former Precinct 1, Place 2 justice of the peace.

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He was there 16 years, and one of the reasons that I ran against him was because he had been there that long, Lara said. I live out in unincorporated Bexar County. Unincorporated Bexar County does not get much attention from Commissioners Court. Thats the way its been, and I think its going to continue that way until we get somebody different in office.

Lara also attributes the increased candidate interest in the office to greater awareness about county government and the role of commissioners.

The 2020 general election put two women  Clay-Flores and Republican Trish DeBerry  in half of Commissioners Courts four seats. The court last had a woman member in 2001, when Cyndi Taylor Krier stepped down as county judge to serve on the University of Texas System board of regents.

Clay-Flores and DeBerrys election was followed by the 2022 race for Bexar County judge, the first time the judges seat was open since Nelson Wolff was appointed to succeed Krier. DeBerry ran and lost to Democrat Peter Sakai.

The political climate has also shifted a lot in four years, and there is much more of a desire to see younger, more ambitious, more accountable type of leadership, said Alaniz-Picasso, who at age 31 is the youngest candidate so far. Were looking for diversity in leadership today, and we want people that are honest, and we want people that are willing to ask those uncomfortable questions.

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Alaniz-Picasso left her position as communications and public engagement manager for engineering firm WSP USA in June to campaign full time. She previously worked as communications director for then-District 1 City Councilman Roberto Trevino.

Asked why they didnt run in 2020, many said they werent in a place to launch a campaign.

Bustamante, a music teacher at Southside High School who directs its conjunto program, said she wasnt ready to retire.

I couldnt drop the program because it was at a point where, if I left, it was going to die, she said. I didnt want to leave those kids, and also I didnt really feel confident running against Chico. But I could have been successful  who knows?

Bustamante said she ultimately voted for Rodriguez that year. Arrellano and Garcia also said they supported Rodriguezs 2020 reelection bid.

Garcia, a truck driver, has appeared on the ballot for other offices. He lost the 2018 Republican primary for Precinct 2.

Gonzalez said an illness in her family halted plans to seek the seat in 2020, despite her disappointment in Rodriguezs leadership. She voted for Clay-Flores.

Throughout her tenure, I havent seen the improvements that she was advocating for or campaigning on, Gonzalez said, highlighting what she described as Clay-Flores inaccessibility to constituents.

Gonzalez is executive director of Blue Cares, the charitable arm of the San Antonio Police Officers Association. She served on the state-appointed Edgewood ISD board of managers from 2016 to 2017, until the state stripped her of the post. Many attributed her ouster to her reputation as a voice of dissent on the board.

Clay-Flores brushed off her opponents criticism that she and her staff are not responsive to constituent concerns.

I dont hear that from neighborhood association meetings where Im at, or community events, Clay-Flores said. When constituents call, theyre often surprised that we answer the phone.
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

China has repeatedly stunned the U.S. intelligence community in the last five years with rapid progress in its space exploration program, landing a rover on the far side of the moon and completing its very own space station orbiting Earth.

Their advances have established that a new space race is on between Washington and Beijingthis time with the ultimate goal of sending a crewed mission to Mars, each vying to be the first to land humans on another planet.

America's success may come down to a team of scientists based out of Idaho Falls.

Engineers at the Energy Department's Idaho National Laboratory are leading a nationwide team of scientists to enhance the capabilities of nuclear thermal propulsion, a technology that NASA hopes will cut the travel time to Mars by half.

It is an ambitious project that could transform the future of human space travel.

"What NASA ultimately is looking for is a nuclear thermal solution to get to Mars," Sebastian Corbisiero, senior technical advisor for advanced concepts at the Idaho National Laboratory, told McClatchy in an interview. "There's additional technology that needs to be developed to have the higher capability that you need for the Mars mission."

NASA aims to reach Mars by 2040 and is working on entirely new technologies for the mission, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson told McClatchy in an interview.

With conventional technology, launch opportunities to Mars come along just once every 26 months, Nelson told McClatchy. Missing a launch window could mean a delay of several years, and if something goes wrong midflight, the crew will be on its own in deep space.

"I don't think it's practical to go to Mars with conventional technologyconventional propulsionbecause it takes us seven to nine months to get there. Once you get there, you're going to have to stay on the surface maybe a year, maybe two, until the planets realign so you can get back," Nelson told McClatchy. "So I think one of the essentials is we're going to have to get nuclear electric or nuclear thermal propulsion that will get us there faster."

The sheer length of the journey means a crew will need more food, equipment, and physical and mental stamina than any previous mission ever tested, Nelson said. A heavy launch vehicle will be necessary to carry an unprecedented payload off the Earth. The longer the journey into deep space, the longer astronauts will be exposed to dangerous levels of microgravity and high doses of radiation. They will steer their final approach to Mars with their vestibular systems out of whack, muscles atrophied, immune systems degraded, eyesight impaired.

Then they will have to land through an atmosphere that is thick enough to kill them but too thin to be used as a break to slow their descent to the surface. Should they succeed, they will be on the other side of the sun with no one there to help them.

Today's rockets are fueled by conventional combustion engines that require substantial amounts of fuel onboard to power a journey. While a chemical engine could get a spacecraft to Mars, an engine fueled by a nuclear reactor would be far more fuel efficientheating up freezing hydrogen to high temperatures and using the exhaust as a thrusterand could continue accelerating the vehicle on its long trip to Mars, cutting the travel time.

The Idaho National Laboratory is working to enhance control over the velocity of the engine, increase its efficiency and control its heat generation, Corbisiero said.

Cutting their travel time could reduce many of the logistical hurdles and risks currently burdening the mission, Nelson said. NASA is also working on radiation shielding that avoids the use of a heavy metal such as steel, and the generation of a centrifugal force in the spacecraft that would create artificial gravity for the crew.

'A very powerful sense of urgency'

At the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, in Arlington, Virginia, Tabitha Dodson is working to resurrect a thermal nuclear engine project that began in the Apollo era, but sat on a shelf after the United States abandoned manned spaceflight in the 1970s.

In an interview, Dodson compared Washington's decision to let the technology languish to a directive from Beijing in 1525 to gather China's world-class fleet of ships and destroy them, relinquishing naval power for generations to come.

"I feel a very powerful sense of urgency," said Dodson, program manager for the nuclear thermal rocket engine program at DARPA. "There's just this perfect storm of support, all up and down the various government agencies nationwidein Congress and at the presidential levelto the point where I feel like we have to get this done, right now, because we might miss our chance."

Dodson said she has "high confidence" that DARPA and its main private industry partner, Texas-based Lockheed Martin, will successfully demonstrate their rocket, known as DRACO, in 2027.

But DRACO would only be an initial spaceflight test of nuclear propulsion technology in near-Earth orbit. Corbisiero explained that his team is working to build on DRACO's anticipated success, increasing the efficiency of the propellant and velocity scale of nuclear thermal propulsion in preparation for longer missions.

Dodson and Corbisiero both acknowledged working toward an internal deadline of reaching Mars by 2040 and expressed confidence it could be reached.

"From a technology standpoint, it's certainly within our grasp," Corbisiero said. "This isn't something where you need to invent new physics or some magical breakthrough."

A senior official in President Joe Biden's administration told McClatchy that it is indeed a priority of the White House to advance this technology with haste.

"Some of this foundational technology is very important for us to get toward a crewed Mars mission," the senior official said. "We know it's going to take significant time for us to be able to develop that technology early on, because these are long-lead needs."

Jim Bridenstine, NASA administrator under former President Donald Trump, told McClatchy that traveling to Mars makes a trip to the moon look easy.

"Humanity is going to eventually walk on the surface of Mars, and I think that is going to be an exceptional moment," Bridenstine added. "Who will be there first? I don't know."

China works to develop nuclear propulsion

Chinese officials, too, appear to be working on a nuclear propulsion project of their own.

In November 2022 on Hainan Island, where China has built a launch site for its heaviest rockets, Wu Weiren, an architect of China's lunar program, made a presentation that previewed China's plans for future missions that included spaceship designs to accommodate nuclear electric engines, according to slides of the proposal obtained by McClatchy.

"This comes with real technological repercussions, including the command of different environments in space," said Chris Carberry, CEO and co-founder of Explore Mars, Inc. "And if they're beating us to Mars, they're probably doing very well closer to Earth, as well."

Chinese officials have remained quiet on their plans for a manned mission to Mars. But in 2021, at a conference on space exploration in Russia, a senior executive at China's main space launch vehicle manufacturer said that Beijing had a roadmap to send humans and establish a base there in the mid-2030s.

U.S. intelligence and national security officials told McClatchy that China's space program is advancing with remarkable speed, and could inhibit the United States' freedom of movement in space by the end of the decade.

"Mars is the horizon goal," said Scott Pace, executive secretary of the National Space Council under Trump. "Landing on Marsif they're able to do itwould play into China's narrative as the great power of the 21st century."

"But having that goal and doing it are two different things," he added.

2023 Idaho Statesman. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
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Credit: Sebastian Konig

New research from North Carolina State University and Michigan State University opens a new avenue for modeling low-energy nuclear reactions, which are key to the formation of elements within stars. The research lays the groundwork for calculating how nucleons interact when the particles are electrically charged.

The work appears in Physical Review Letters.

Predicting the ways that atomic nucleiclusters of protons and neutrons, together referred to as nucleonscombine to form larger compound nuclei is an important step toward understanding how elements are formed within stars.

Since the relevant nuclear interactions are very difficult to measure experimentally, physicists use numerical lattices to simulate these systems. The finite lattice used in such numerical simulations essentially acts as an imaginary box around a group of nucleons that enables physicists to calculate the properties of a nucleus formed out of these particles.

But such simulations have so far lacked a way to predict properties that govern low-energy reactions involving charged clusters arising from multiple protons. This is important because these low-energy reactions are vital to element formation in stars, among other things.

"While the 'strong nuclear force' binds protons and neutrons together in atomic nuclei, the electromagnetic repulsion between protons plays an important role in the nucleus' overall structure and dynamics," says Sebastian Konig, assistant professor of physics at NC State and corresponding author of the research.

"This force is particularly strong at the lowest energies, where many important processes take place that synthesize the elements that make up the world we know," Konig says. "But it is challenging for theory to predict these interactions."

So Konig and colleagues decided to work backward. Their approach looks at the end result of the reactions within a latticethe compound nucleiand then backtracks to discover the properties and energies involved in the reaction.

"We aren't calculating the reactions themselves; rather, we're looking at the structure of the end product," Konig says. "As we change the size of the 'box,' the simulations and results will also change. From this information, we can actually extract parameters that determine what happens when these charged particles interact."

"The derivation of the formula was unexpectedly challenging," adds Hang Yu, graduate student at NC State and first author of the work, "but the final result is quite beautiful and has important applications."

From this information the team developed a formula and tested it against benchmark calculations, which are evaluations done via traditional methods, to ensure the results were accurate and ready to be used in future applications.

"This is the background work that tells us how to analyze a simulation in order to extract the data we need to improve predictions for nuclear reactions," Konig says. "The cosmos is enormous, but to understand it you have to look at its tiniest components. That's what we're doing herefocusing on the small details to better inform our analysis of the bigger picture."

NC State graduate student Hang Yu is first author of the work. Dean Lee, professor of physics and theoretical nuclear science department head at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams at Michigan State University, co-authored the work. Lee was formerly at NC State and remains an adjunct professor of physics at NC State.

More information: Hang Yu et al, Charged-Particle Bound States in Periodic Boxes, Physical Review Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.131.212502 Journal information: Physical Review Letters
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Dr James Strutt, Senior Postdoctoral Associate at SMART CAMP, operating the Oxford Nanopore GridION long read sequencer. Credit: SMART

Researchers from Critical Analytics for Manufacturing Personalized-Medicine (CAMP) Interdisciplinary Research Group (IRG) at Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART), MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, in collaboration with Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering (SCELSE) and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), have developed a novel method capable of identifying contaminants in T-cell cultures within 24 hours.

This method, adept at detecting low-abundance levels of microbial contaminants while effectively determining their types, ensures that therapeutic products like T-cell therapies are safe from contamination, with a faster turnaroundreducing the risk for patients and speeding up the process of getting these treatments to those in need.

The team's study is published in the journal Microbiology Spectrum.

Cell therapies are increasingly prevalent in the treatment of incurable diseases. For example, chimeric antigen receptor T-cells (CAR-T) are used for the treatment of blood-related cancers. Because these living medicines cannot be sterilized, assuring that cell therapy products are safe from microbial contamination before administering them for use in patients is of paramount importance.

Current traditional sterility tests help to guarantee microbial safety by ensuring that medical treatments are free from harmful contaminants. They improve the safety and efficiency of cell therapy manufacturing, playing an essential role in reducing the risk of treatments for patients. These traditional sterility methods are laborious and take between seven to 14 days; hence, faster methods could potentially be lifesaving for patients who cannot afford delays in their treatment. SMART CAMP's breakthrough method could enhance both the safety and efficiency of cell therapy manufacturing, resulting in improved patient outcomes and a more streamlined production process.

In their paper, SMART researchers detailed a novel method to detect contaminants in T-cell cultures within 24 hours, significantly faster than traditional methods that can take 7-14 days. The researchers employed cutting-edge technology like third-generation nanopore long-read sequencing and DNA extraction alongside machine learning algorithms to improve the overall process and ensure accuracy and speed. The primary objective is to differentiate between clean and contaminated samples and pinpoint the organisms most likely causing the contamination.

SMART's novel method utilizes third-generation nanopore long-read sequencing methodology to identify harmful microorganisms, followed by an advanced machine learning algorithm, computational analysis and optimization. Through this process, the researchers successfully identified the presence and types of microbial contaminants even at low abundance levels while also achieving this more quickly than standard compendial tests.

"The practical application of this discovery is vast; it offers faster product validation for biopharmaceutical manufacturers, reducing downtime and potentially accelerating product-to-market timelines. These advancements hold significant promise for the biopharmaceutical industry, as they not only enhance quality control but also improve overall efficiency and cost-effectiveness, ultimately benefiting patients by ensuring the safety and reliability of cell therapy products," said Dr. James Strutt, Senior Postdoctoral Associate at SMART CAMP and first author of the paper.

The research was presented by Dr. James Strutt at the A*STAR Mini Symposium in the Advances in Cell and Gene Therapy (A*CGT) in Singapore, and at the 31st Annual Intelligent Systems For Molecular Biology and the 22nd Annual European Conference on Computational Biology held in Lyon, France.

SMART CAMP is preparing to initiate testing to evaluate the integration of the novel T-cell sterility test into their processes and to further enhance the accuracy of contamination detection, while future research will focus on providing a similar level of detection for viruses and is currently being finalized at MIT. This advancement aims to provide more robust and dependable sterility assessments, in line with the SMART researchers' core goal of swiftly and accurately identifying sample contamination.

"Our rapid method offers a more efficient way to not only detect microbial contamination, but identify the contaminating species. We demonstrated that this method can deliver a high-sensitivity microbial sterility assessment within just 24 hours, providing a valuable tool for researchers and hopefully practitioners in the near future," added co-corresponding author Dr. Stacy L. Springs, Principal Investigator at SMART CAMP and Executive Director at MIT Center for Biomedical Innovation.

More information: James P. B. Strutt et al, Machine learning-based detection of adventitious microbes in T-cell therapy cultures using long-read sequencing, Microbiology Spectrum (2023). DOI: 10.1128/spectrum.01350-23

Provided by Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART)
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Map showing location of Ghana in West Africa (a) and the two field sites within Ghana where the study was based (b), indicated by black stars: LEKMA Hospital in Accra, near the coast, and Navrongo in the Upper East Region. Credit: Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01516-6

Scientists have developed a technique to rapidly and reliably detect genetic changes in malaria parasites in Ghana, using just a gaming laptop and portable MinION sequencer from Oxford Nanopore.

Researchers from the Wellcome Sanger Institute and University of Ghana were able to demonstrate for the first time that end-to-end, real-time pathogen monitoring from clinical blood samples is possible in rural, resource-limited malaria hotspots. They looked for key drug resistance markers in the malaria parasite, and diversity in the vaccine target gene.

The findings, published in Nature Microbiology (23 November), pave the way for local monitoring of drug resistance and evaluating new malaria vaccines in affected regions.

Despite intensive control efforts in recent decades, malaria still kills over 600,000 people annually, most of which are young children in sub-Saharan Africa. A key factor is the ability of malaria parasites to rapidly evolve resistance to antimalarial drugs and other medical interventions.

Genomic surveillancethe continuous monitoring of changes in the parasite's DNAprovides the tools to analyze the genomic data behind parasite drug resistance. But until recently, it has mostly been carried out in labs in high-income, non-malaria-endemic countries, concentrating capacity away from affected regions.

In this new study, researchers set out to develop an accessible, near real-time technology to monitor parasite mutations within the communities most affected by malaria.

Researchers employed standard molecular biology equipment for collecting parasites from blood spot samples, prepared by a simple finger prick. They then sequenced and analyzed the malaria parasite DNA using the portable MinION device and a laptop computer to detect known drug resistance markers, emerging mutations and targets of new malaria vaccines.

The team successfully carried out the study from two sites: an urban hospital in the Ghanaian capital Accra and a rural town 11-hours' drive to the north. They were able to generate sequencing information in as little as 48 hours after receiving a sample, while keeping costs minimal, at around 27 per sample in batches of 96.

The team showed frontline treatments remain widely effective against local malaria strains in Ghana currently. However, ongoing monitoring is essential, including to protect high-risk groups that receive targeted interventions.

They also discovered multiple genetic differences between circulating malaria strains and the protein targeted by newly recommended malaria vaccines. While requiring further study, these could impact the latest vaccine rollouts across Africa.

Edem Adika, co-first author of the study at University of Ghana, said, "By taking sequencing to the source, insights arrive in days rather than yearsenabling rapid, localized responses. This unprecedented speed promises to be a powerful game-changer against infectious diseases outpacing our countermeasures. We hope this on-site approach is soon applied here to other pathogens."

Dr. William Hamilton, senior author of the study at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, said, "The repeated evolution and spread of resistance to key antimalarial drugs has thwarted efforts to eliminate malaria over the last 70 years. Expanding molecular surveillance in Africa is now critical for tracking emerging drug and diagnostic test resistance, and informing interventions like new vaccines."

Dr. Lucas Amenga-Etego, senior author of the study at the West African Center for Cell Biology of Infectious Pathogens (WACCBIP), University of Ghana, said, "This sequencing workflow has tremendous potential for addressing the sequencing gap in sub-Saharan Africa given its lower cost and ease-of-use. But scaling capacity sustainably requires expanding local training programs, bioinformatics infrastructure, and data science expertise. These should be priorities for the global pathogen genomics community going forward."

More information: Sophia T. Girgis et al, Drug resistance and vaccine target surveillance of Plasmodium falciparum using nanopore sequencing in Ghana, Nature Microbiology (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41564-023-01516-6 Journal information: Nature Microbiology
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This map depicts global temperature anomalies for meteorological summer in 2023 (June, July, and August). It shows how much warmer or cooler different regions of Earth were compared to the baseline average from 1951 to 1980. Credit: NASA's Earth Observatory/Lauren Dauphin

The effects of climate change are increasingly tangible. Reforms at the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) could serve to increase its political clout and thus advance the battle against global warming, argues sustainability researcher Bernd Siebenhuner.

How important is the IPCC?

The IPCC provides a basis for science-based political decisions on climate change. It points out options for action but does not make any direct recommendations for measures by states. This has prompted some people to say that the IPCC is just a show, but I don't see it that way.

The IPCC wields significant political power and has achieved many successes. It is highly visible internationally and has a special role at the interface between science and politics. It is listened to in climate talks, and also by governments, and it is a key point of reference in the scientific community.

The IPCC's reports provided a strong scientific foundation for the Paris Agreement of 2015, in which almost all the countries in the world agreed to act to keep global warming significantly below 2 Celsius.

Nevertheless, together with an international group of researchers you recently outlined scenarios for a reform of the IPCC in an article published in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change. Why do you think reforms are necessary?

Now that the current assessment cycle has ended, the IPCC finds itself to a certain extent at a crossroadswith the opportunity to reconfigure itself for the future. This poses questions such as: What lessons have been learned in the current cycle? What can be done differently in the future?

As a result of various political, scientific and ecological developments, today's environment is very different to what it was in the last decades. This was the motivation behind the article in Nature Climate Change and also for our recently published book.

What has changed?

In the early days of the IPCC, the focus was very much on the questions: Does climate change actually exist? Is it caused by humans? And where is the critical threshold of climate change which must be avoided at all cost? These questions have now been answered: Yes, the climate is changing, very clearly. The point at which it becomes dangerous has also been clarified.

For a long time, it was assumed that the threshold was an average global warming of 2 Celsius. In the Paris Agreement of 2015, the signatories agreed to limit the rise in temperature to 1.5 if possible, because there were indications that an increase of 2 would already be pretty risky.

The IPCC's special report on the 1.5 target, which was published in 2018, confirmed how serious the situation is, and how quickly we need to act on greenhouse gas emissions to keep temperatures from rising by more than 1.5. It shows very clearly how dramatically the climate, natural landscapes and ecosystems are changing. This has significantly changed the political discourse landscape in the last five years.

What challenges do you see the IPCC facing in its work?

The IPCC is bound by its original mandate, which stipulates that its reports should be relevant to government policy without, however, prescribing those policies. And states make sure that this is adhered to.

The IPCC report contains measures for climate protection, but only points out options. It does not give a breakdown of what would have to be done in Germany, for example, in order to meet the climate targets. Nor does the IPCC allocate an emissions budget to each individual country. It is therefore not allowed to give a detailed analysis of the measures that need to be taken by each of the actors in the key category of actors, the nation states, which after all lead the global climate negotiations. This restricts its impact on national policy.

The reports are in effect nothing more than a menu: governments are free to pick and choose what they take from them.

Why is this problematic?

If we want to avert the biggest dangers of climate change, we need to act very fast. The IPCC needs to be able to specify measures for individual countries, because the logic of the Paris Agreement is different from that of the preceding Kyoto Protocol, which set binding global emissions limits.

The Paris Agreement has given nation states more leeway and left them more or less free to decide for themselves by how much they want to cut their emissions, and how to achieve their own targets. Ideally, these Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) were to add up and limit global warming to 1.5 Celsius.

At the time of the Paris Agreement, however, taken together there were only enough NDCs to limit global warming to around 3.5 Celsius. Today that figure stands at around 2.6 Celsius. But we should bear in mind that these are only declarations of commitment for now. We can see in Germany, as in other countries, that these targets are often not met. It is a shortcoming of the agreement that the pressure it exerts at the international level to make countries formulate and implement ambitious targets remains relatively weak.

There are further points of criticism regarding the IPCC, for example that the social sciences should be more involved.

Exactly. Up to the 2000s, climate research on the whole was very science-oriented. In the meantime, however, the climate debate has become far more sociopolitical in orientation. The question now is: how can we curb climate change, what do we need to do differently? The third part of the Assessment Report, which deals with climate protection, has also been dominated by economic considerations so far.

What do you see as the IPCC's task now?

The perspective needs to be broadened. Problems regarding social development are already being taken into consideration in the climate discourse; climate justice is a buzzword. But problems such as overuse of resources haven't received much attention so far: if we invest massively in renewables and electric cars, this involves extracting a lot of resources and high energy consumption.

The planet's resources are not infinite, so there's a risk that problems will simply be shifted rather than resolved. We know all too well from observing environmental policy how one problem is solved, but another created in the process. We need to avoid this. A lot can be achieved without using new resources or energy-intensive technology, simply through changes in behavior or policy changes, for instance.

What concrete scenarios do you see for the future of the IPCC?

The first is what we called "business as usual": the IPCC carries on as before, which could be translated as resting on its laurels, perhaps becoming less and less relevant and heeded. To put it bluntly, the IPCC threatens to sink into insignificance if it chooses this path.

What about the other scenarios?

The second scenario calls for a greater diversity of perspectives: the IPCC could open up to actors other than nation states. This would include state actors at other levels, for example. Local governments or regions in states where climate protection is not at the top of the agenda can also make a difference.

Under the Trump administration, the individual states of the US were comparatively activeCalifornia, the states of the New England region, even Texas. Civil society also plays an important role, of course. Fridays for Future and other such organizations. They want to have a say, ask questions and work on solutions. Companies also have huge scope for action and increasingly want to get involved. They are an important social actor and also potential recipients of recommendations.

And the third scenario?

[That] would be for the IPCC to provide greater impetus for political change. However, for the IPCC to wield more political clout, major institutional reforms would be necessary.

Are there also examples of how environmental reports can have a stronger political impact?

As a highly regarded organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has been publishing environmental assessment reports for 30 years. These reports provide member states with sometimes very critical feedback on how, for example, their chemicals policy or energy policy need to be improved.

It is my hope that countries will increasingly come to accept the IPCC's recommendations, too. This could set in motion reforms which could then have an impact in the next assessment cycle, and also on climate policy.

Provided by Carl von Ossietzky Universitat Oldenburg
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Sieving one of the nearly 5,000 soils samples taken with SIBES on the intertidal mudflats of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Credit: Kees van de Veen

As tidal flats subside due to gas extraction, their composition changes. This is shown in a paper published in this month's Journal of Applied Ecology. "The average grain size in the parts of the mudflats where gas is extracted has decreased over 10% in 12 years. With that, sand is getting finer," says NIOZ researcher Allert Bijleveld. In this period, the composition of the benthic life in subsided areas has also changed in comparison to similar areas where subsidence due to gas extraction did not occur.

Long-term monitoring

The data on soil composition and benthic life are derived from the long-term monitoring program SIBES. In this Synoptic Intertidal Benthic Survey, soil has been sampled annually for 15 years along a web of nodes spaced every 500 meters across the intertidal mud flats. In total, this includes about 5,000 sampling locations.

SIBES shows that the grain size in the areas that are affected by gas extraction around Ameland decreased by an average of 1 micrometer each year between 2008 and 2020, while no decrease was seen in reference areas. Over the entire period, the average grain size decreased from 154 to 138 micrometers. Bijleveld says, "This means that there is increasingly fine soil material in the 'bowl' that is created by gas extraction. That may have consequences for the benthic animals that live there."

Altered life

This study provides the first indication of these alterations in benthic life. The total biomass in the subsided area decreased slightly, although that decrease was not statistically significant compared to the reference areas. The composition of the bottom life did change statistically significant in favor of animals that prefer deeper bottoms, such as cat worms. Conversely, there has been a reduction in animals that prefer shallow mudflats, such as mudsnails, for example.

Taking a soil sample from the boat to determine sediment composition and biodiversity of benthic life. Credit: Kees van de Veen

Cockles that were collected at a sampling station. Credit: Kees van de Veen

Hand on tap

In the legal permit for mining activities under the Wadden Sea World Heritage Site, it was agreed upon that gas and salt will be extracted "with a hand on the tap." According to the permit, if gas extraction has effects on natural values, extraction must be slowed down. Because "natural values" are difficult to measure, attention is primarily paid to subsidence. This research now shows that subsidence in itself is not a good signal for a vigilant hand on the tap. Bijleveld says, "Strictly spoken, there has been no net subsidence in recent decades, because the affected area has been refilled on average. But the quality of the soil did change and with it the composition of soil life."

The Dutch petrol company NAM has been extracting gas from under the mud flats near Ameland since the 1980's. The gas extraction area is currently comprised of more silt than expected. However, due to a lack of proper monitoring in the time before extraction began, it is now impossible to determine with certainty whether the silt was already present or if it was caused by the extraction. This research gives a preliminary indication of the latter.

Out of sight

Bijleveld advocates for the inclusion of long-term research such as the SIBES monitoring program in decisions regarding mining and other activities in the Wadden Sea. "For the legally required 'hand on the tap," the salt extraction around Harlingen now only looks at the bottom at a very limited number of stations. This leaves the actual effects of subsidence out of sight. For a serious assessment of effects, it is necessary to start measuring even before an intervention and to automatically monitor comparable areas as well through an extensive and long-term study such as SIBES. In addition to any net decrease in the soil elevation, the composition of the soil and soil life in particular, should become a measure," Bijleveld argues.

More information: Paula de la Barra et al, The effects of gas extraction under intertidal mudflats on sediment and macrozoobenthic communities, Journal of Applied Ecology (2023). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2664.14530 Journal information: Journal of Applied Ecology
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Global agricultural N input through ammonium phosphate fertilizers (APF) on an absolute basis (stacked bars) and as a proportion of global N input (black dots), during 20022019 based on FAOSTAT data. Credit: Agricultural & Environmental Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ael2.20116

A promising new form of ammonium phosphate fertilizer has been field-tested by University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers. The fertilizer, struvite, offers a triple win for sustainability and crop production, as it recycles nutrients from wastewater streams, reduces leaching of phosphorus and nitrogen in agricultural soils, and maintains or improves soybean yield compared to conventional phosphorus fertilizers.

"There have been some lab and greenhouse projects showing the potential of struvite, but this is the first field-scale assessment of nutrient loss and yield benefits together," said principal investigator Andrew Margenot, associate professor and faculty Extension specialist in the Department of Crop Sciences, part of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) at U. of I. "We found that struvite can be a full substitute for monoammonium phosphate (MAP) or diammonium phosphate (DAP) for soybeans yield-wise, and it reduces nonpoint source nutrient losses relative to conventional fertilizer options."

His team's results are published in the Journal of Environmental Quality.

Applying MAP or DAP in the fall as a source of phosphorus for crops is common practice for corn and soybean production in much of the Midwest. But because the phosphorus in MAP and DAP is highly water soluble, much of the nutrient is lost during the ensuing winter and early spring months. Not only can this contribute to downstream nutrient pollution, it also means there may be less phosphorus available in the soil by the time crops are planted in spring.

Importantly, MAP and DAP also contain soluble forms of nitrogen, an overlooked fact that Margenot says is contributing to the problem of nitrate loss across the Midwest.

"There is a major blind spot in the nitrogen cycle," Margenot said. "In the U.S. and the Midwest specifically, the overwhelming majority of our phosphorus fertilizers are ammoniated. When farmers buy a phosphorus source to apply in the fall, their options are generally limited to MAP or DAP, so they can't avoid co-applying nitrogen."

He did the math in a companion paper published in Agricultural & Environmental Letters and found DAP applied at the typical rate (200 pounds per acre) adds 36 pounds of nitrogen per acre that most farmersand land grant recommendationsdon't account for. Adding it up across Illinois, Margenot estimated that 198 million pounds of nitrogen are added every fall in the form of MAP or DAP.

"That number is 11% more than our statewide nitrate loss reduction target of 178 million pounds," he said. "Managing this overlooked fall-applied nitrogen is low-hanging fruit that could make a large dent in nitrate losses in Illinois and other Mississippi River Basin states, and we could do it without changing phosphorus application rates."

Struvite also contains nitrogen, but struvite is less water soluble than MAP. That explains why Margenot's team found phosphorus and nitrogen leaching were significantly lower under struvite than MAP, comparable to natural leaching measured in unfertilized soils.

But if the nutrients are less soluble, does that mean plants have a harder time accessing them? Not according to the Journal of Environmental Quality study. Soybean yields weren't significantly different under either fertilizer. And in the study's southern Illinois site, struvitebut not MAPactually increased soybean yield compared to no-fertilizer control plots. Margenot thinks the yield bump could have resulted from the magnesium in struvite.

Struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate, a 5-22-0 [10 Mg] source) forms when magnesium is added to wastewater, where it reacts with phosphorus and nitrogen and pulls those nutrients out of the waste stream. Chicago and St. Louis have leased portions of their wastewater streams to a company to manufacture the recycled fertilizer, but Margenot says the struvite manufacturing industry is currently too small to satisfy the phosphorus needs of the entire Corn Belt.

"Struvite isn't scalable right now, but we're proving the efficacy of a solution that will be on the shelf one day. Our results point to the benefits of scaling up struvite production and use on the farm," he said.

Although struvite decreased nutrient losses relative to MAP, Margenot notes that nutrient loss happens even without added fertilizer, and recommends cover crops to mitigate these "background" losses that occur regardless of fertilization.

"When we added no fertilizer, be it MAP or struvite, we still saw substantial losses, especially in the higher organic matter Mollisols [black prairie soils] of our Central Illinois site," he said. "Our soils are so rich; they hold a lot of organic nitrogen and phosphorus. If it's warm enough, these nutrients will mineralize and become nitrate and phosphate. If there's no crop there to grab it, like a cover crop or wheat, then those nutrients will be leached."

More information: Patricia Leon et al, Fieldscale evaluation of struvite phosphorus and nitrogen leaching relative to monoammonium phosphate, Journal of Environmental Quality (2023). DOI: 10.1002/jeq2.20522 Andrew J. Margenot et al, The fate of nitrogen of ammonium phosphate fertilizers: A blind spot, Agricultural & Environmental Letters (2023). DOI: 10.1002/ael2.20116 Journal information: Journal of Environmental Quality
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An example of a tailings dam. Credit: Ferenc

Nearly a third of the world's mine tailings are stored within or near protected conservation areas, University of Queensland research has found. A study led by UQ's Bora Aska, from the Sustainable Minerals Institute and School of the Environment, said these waste facilities pose an enormous risk to some of Earth's most precious species and landscapes.

The work is published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

"Mine tailings contain the waste and residue that remains after mineral processing, and the storage facilities built to contain it are some of the world's largest engineered structures," Aska said.

"We found of the 1,721 disclosed tailings facilities, nine percent were within declared protected areas and 20 percent were within five kilometers. Our findings suggest that mine wastes threaten biodiversity within protected areas all over the world, including eight active tailings storage dams in Australian protected areas, recognized by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature."

The 2015 Samarco dam failure in Brazil killed 19 people when a giant wave of mining waste washed across villages, farmland, and waterways. Four years later, 270 people were killed in another dam collapse near the town of Brumadinho in Brazil, destroying 133 hectares of Atlantic Forest and 70 hectares of Protected Areas downstream.

The aftermath of the Burmadinho tailings storage facility disaster: The waste spilled from the storage facility destroyed 133ha of Atlantic Forest and 70ha of protection areas downstream of the facility. Credit: Diego Baravelli

"Given the size of tailings facilities, we're concerned about the future risks of failures on areas important to biodiversity and conservation of species," Aska said. "To assess the risks, we analyzed a database of global tailings facilities and compared it with spatial data on protected areas."

Information was drawn from the disclosures of publicly listed companies as part of the Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative, set up after the Brumadinho disaster.

UQ's Associate Professor Laura Sonter said managing mine waste will become an increasingly complicated sustainability challenge.

"Total tailings production is predicted to increase significantly in the next 30 years due to the growing demand for energy transition metals and declining ore grades," Dr. Sonter said.

"Considering the current global distribution of tailings storage facilities and their failure rate, the consequences for biodiversity could be devastating. Luckily, the data needed to manage these risks is emerging, and opportunities exist to factor this knowledge into the design of new facilities and manage those already in place. We must work expediently toward completely mitigating negative impacts of mining wastes on people and the environment," she added.

More information: Bora Aska et al, Biodiversity conservation threatened by global mining wastes, Nature Sustainability (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41893-023-01251-0 Journal information: Nature Sustainability
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Gelanor siquirres, a species of pirate spider, descends from its dragline while pursuing prey in a Costa Rican rainforest. Credit: Gilbert Barrantes / Laura Segura Hernandez / Diego Solano Brenes

Headlamps alone illuminated the trail bisecting the Costa Rican rainforest. Having waded the black of the Tirimbina reserve so often before, Gilbert Barrantes, Laura Segura Hernandez and Diego Solano Brenes knew the routine.

It was time, dusk informed the surrounding spiders, to let loose the wind-aided, floating lines of silk that might latch onto leaf, branch or ground, fortifying the first beams of the food-snaring webs to come. But even on a night so familiar, the team would encounter a hunting scene unfamiliar not just to these arachnologists, in this forest, but all of them, anywhere.

"It was completely serendipitous," said Segura Hernandez, who earned her doctorate from the University of NebraskaLincoln in August.

What the trio stumbled on was a trap: lines floated not for framing but for fishing, part of a gambit that gives other forest-dwelling spiders just enough silk to hang themselves. And at the center of the scheme, not to mention the lines? A venomous pirate.

Four lines of that silk, the researchers realized, were running horizontally and diagonally from the underside of the same leaf. From elsewhere, the end of another thread had drifted in and caught on one of those leaf-dangling lines. That thread was the product of a spiderling now skittering along it to inspect the joint and, with its silken pillar secured, commence the construction of a full-fledged web.

"And then," Segura Hernandez said, "we just saw this other spider shoot in out of nowhere."

The interloper was Gelanor siquirres, a species from the family known as pirate spidersnamed for their willingness to invade already-built spider webs, strategically pluck threads to draw out their eight-legged inhabitants, and dine on them. This was something different. This G. siquirres emerged from its hiding spot beneath the leaf, scuttled across its own floating line, paralyzed its harried, hapless prey with a bite, then retreated to the leaf with the spiderling clutched in its ultra-long jaws.

A close look at that leaf would reveal the swashbuckler's identity. A close look at the research literature would reveal that no one had ever reported the devious hunting technique, which the team has since witnessed multiple times. With a recent paper published in the journal Animal Behaviour, the Tirimbina-trekking team would become the first.

"It's working as a spider web for catching spiders," Segura Hernandez said of the lines floated by G. siquirres, which, like its pirate brethren, does not build circular webs. "That's one of the cool things about it."

Not the only thing, though. Pirate spiders are known as slow, deliberate killers: While venturing onto another spider's web, Segura Hernandez said, some pirates might advance no more than a few centimeters in an hour, lest they risk triggering any unwanted vibrations. The stealth makes sense when considering that the prey are also accomplished predators with venom of their own, and that G. siquirres, at no more than a half-inch long, is more David than Goliath.

Yet when another spider approaches one of its floating lines, G. siquirres darts forward with an alacrity that initially stunned Segura Hernandez and her colleaguesthe equivalent of a sloth turning cheetah.

"So it's not just a modification of web-building behavior," she said. "It's a modification of the spider's locomotion, as well."

G. siquirres seems to have adapted its schedule, too, getting an early start to ensure that its floating lines are in place by the time its potential prey is releasing its own.

"It's not like spiders make webs all night," Segura Hernandez said. "There's clearly a peak period of activity, right after dark, where you see all of these floating lines on the trail. So it's not like (G. siquirres) can do this in the morning. They are targeting this specific time period."

There remains a lot to learn about G. siquirres, which was officially described and named in 2016 but had not, until now, been the subject of any peer-reviewed research. The fact that the first G. siquirres behavior ever documented happens to double as a behavior never seen in any spider speaks to how much remains unknown about the eight-legged wonders as a whole, Segura Hernandez said, especially those residing in prey-rich rainforests.

For her, it also underscores the value of not overlooking observation itself, of remembering to seek ideas, questions and answers not just in pages but the wild. She hasn't forgotten the words of Bill Eberhard, who mentored her as an undergrad at the University of Costa Rica and was commemorated in the same journal issue that features the G. siquirres study.

"One of my favorite things about this paper is that it highlights how important it iswhat Bill Eberhard taught usto observe and just pay attention to detail," she said. "Sometimes people are so focused on hypotheses and questions that they kind of forget about the organisms. But I think both things are equally important.

"Can we even envision how many more incredible hunting strategies there are just waiting to be observed?"

It was that spirit, in part, that encouraged her to spend so much time wandering in Tirimbina. At this point, she can't recall any specific reason that she and the others were out that fateful night. Not that she needed one. The rainforest itselfthe trill of insects and pattering of lizards, the aromas of wildflowers floating, like the spider silk, on a breezeoffered its own draw.

"Everything is alive. And at night, it has a mystery. You realize how much you rely on vision, because you're restricted to what your headlamp can show.

"But that one time, we were just walking down the trail, talking about something," she said, "and then we noticed the silk."

More information: Gilbert Barrantes et al, A novel prey capture strategy in pirate spiders (Araneae: Mimetidae), Animal Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2023.07.001 Journal information: Animal Behaviour
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Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

A large amount of the heavy automobile pollution from Copenhagen's Bispeengbuen thoroughfare goes straight into people's homes, according to a study by researchers at the University of Copenhagen. A sensor developed by one of the researchers can help fill in the blanks of our understanding about local air pollution.

Air pollution cuts the lives of more than four thousand Danes short every year. Locally, we have a very limited understanding how many harmful substances waft in the air we breath. Indeed, air pollution is only monitored at fourteen locations across Denmark.

This prompted University of Copenhagen chemists to set up their own measuring devices along one of the Danish capital's busiest thoroughfares, a place where air quality is not otherwise measured: Bispeengbuenan elevated roadway that bisects densely populated residential areas and leads into and out of the heart of the Copenhagen.

The team has found that pollution from the 50,00070,000 cars that drive over the six-lane raised road every day goes directly into nearby homes. The results are presented in a study led by University of Copenhagen chemistry student Frederik Hildebrand, which has just been published in the journal Dansk Kemi.

The scientists placed a range of low-cost pollution sensors along Bispeengbuen, outside an inhabited apartment thirty-five meters from the roadway and inside one of the apartment's rooms. The devices, which were developed by researchers at the Department of Chemistry, measured air pollution levels for over four weeks.

"The sensor in the apartment was placed in a storage room where there were no people and where the doors and windows were closed for the entire period. Here, we found a close correlation between indoor and outdoor air pollution. This means that the air pollution originated outdoors and came into the room, despite it having been completely shut off. It was surprising," says Frederik Hildebrand.

Result: 48% of the pollution came from the roadway

The scientists' measurements demonstrate that 48% of the apartment's indoor air pollution comes directly from Bispeengbuen-generated car pollution.

"This could in part be due to it being an old building, which is not as well insulated as the newer ones. But for the most part, most of Copenhagen's buildings are old. If one assumes that the same is true in other types of buildings that are similar, indoor pollution could be significant. Some of the homes are just five meters from the roadway," says Matthew S. Johnson, the Department of Chemistry professor who supervised the project and helped develop the sensor that was used.

The most alarming types of pollution the researchers measured were nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) and fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ). NO 2 is notorious for wreaking havoc on the lungs, causing cancer, dementia and cardiovascular diseases. Because they are so small, fine particles (PM 2.5 ) can enter the lungs and find their way into the bloodstream and body. Among other things, the particles can lead to pulmonary diseases, diabetes, blood clots and cancer.

Exceeds WHO guidelines

While the average concentration of fine particles measured outdoors along the Bispeengbuen remained within the WHO guidelines for healthy air quality, the average level of NO 2 exceeded the WHO's 24-hour limit values during the measurement period.

When PM 2.5 concentrations were at their highestwhich particularly occurred during the morning rush hourthey were more than ten times as high as the 24-hour limit values. For NO 2 , the values were six times as high.

"Our measurements at Bispeengbuen are as high as levels at the most polluted stretch of road in DenmarkH.C. Andersens Boulevard in downtown Copenhagen. The difference is that here we are up on the second floor, so the pollution is spread even more into the local area and most likely into people's homes," says Professor Johnson.

Within the apartment, concentrations remained below WHO limit values throughout the measurement period, during late spring of 2022.

"But that doesn't mean that it doesn't require attention. After all, the concentrations depend on the amount of traffic. In winter, we suspect that car traffic increases and alongside that, the amount of air pollutionas studies from elsewhere show. So, it is not impossible that the limits are exceeded," says Frederik Hildebrand.

"It is definitely worrying that there is such a close link between outdoor and indoor pollution. It finds its way in and is very likely to harm people's health. Part of the problem can be alleviated through building renovations. Still, it is very unfortunate planning for the roadway to be so close to the building," says Johnson.

After years of political discussion, it has been decided to demolish one of Bispeengbue's two elevated roadways, which will be reduced from six lanes to three. What do the researchers think about this solution?

"Car traffic is still constant, so you really just move pollution from one place to another. If, on the other hand, you move traffic underground, you will not spread the pollution to the nearby areas, and you would be able to control it through filters and other things that can clean the air in the tunnel," says Hildebrand.

For the time being, measurements only gathered at three places in Copenhagen

Today, official air quality monitoring in Denmark is conducted with instruments that provide very precise measurements, but are large, expensive and energy intensive. Therefore, the number of measuring stations is severely limited, with only 14 stations spread across Denmark. Three of them are in Copenhagen.

"So, you need a more accurate picture of the rest of Copenhagen and of local effects in general. This is what the sensors we've deployed here can providefaster, better and cheaper. For example, we have set up 225 of these measuring devices around the Borough of Camden in London. They serve as a good complement to official measurement networks. Working side-by-side these networks can provide us with much better knowledge than we have today about how polluted the air we breathe really is," concludes Johnson.

Air pollution fatalities

Danish calculations show that air pollution in Denmark in 2020 resulted in 4,030 premature deaths. 3,170 of the deaths are due to sources of air pollution abroad, while 860 cases are due to Danish sources. Danish sources also contribute approximately 1,930 premature deaths annually in Europe.

According to a 2019 estimate, 11.65% of all deaths worldwide are due to air pollution. This makes air pollution the third leading cause of death after smoking and high blood pressure.

In 2019, outdoor air pollution was estimated to cause 4.2 million premature deaths worldwide.

The measuring devices used by the researchers in the study are low-cost sensors developed by the Danish company DevLabs. The low-cost sensors are compact, have low energy consumption and cost 100 to 1,000 times less than traditional air pollution monitoring devices. This makes it possible to create affordable networks of devices for studying local pollution at a previously unheard of level. However, the sensors must be calibrated against a more accurate and more expensive measuring instrument.

More information: Frederik B. Hildebrand et al, Smog i stuen med hovedvej pa 2. sal, Dansk Kemi (2023).
Russia's Defence Ministry showcases the loading of an intercontinental ballistic missile equipped with the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle into a launch silo in southern Russia.

This development is a stark reminder of the ongoing advancements in military technology, with the Avangard missile representing a potent addition to Russia's arsenal.

Russia's Military Advancements, Security Concerns

President Vladimir Putin first announced the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle in 2018, positioning it as a response to the United States' development of a new generation of weapons.

The key distinguishing feature of the Avangard is its hypersonic speed, capable of reaching up to 27 times the speed of sound, approximately 21,000 miles per hour or 34,000 kilometers per hour.

As it approaches its target, the Avangard detaches from the rocket and can perform sharp maneuvers, making it extremely difficult to intercept and defend against.

The recent footage from the Zvezda television channel, owned by Russia's Defence Ministry, shows a ballistic missile being transported to a launch silo in the Orenburg region near Kazakhstan. This isn't the first time the Avangard has been deployed at this facility; Russia installed its first Avangard-equipped missile at the exact location in 2019.

The Avangard's capabilities have sparked concerns in the international community and have led to a renewed focus on arms control and disarmament efforts.

Both Russia and the United States, as the world's largest nuclear powers, have expressed regret over the erosion of arms-control treaties designed to mitigate the risks of nuclear escalation.

However, developing and deploying advanced weapons, including hypersonic systems, continue to be a reality, as per to Al Jazeera.

Read Also: Starbucks Walkout Expected at Hundreds of US Stores Ahead of Red Cup Day

Russia's Avangard Missile Defense

The Avangard's hypersonic glide vehicle is reportedly capable of leaving the Earth's atmosphere and striking targets anywhere in the world within 30 minutes of launch. Its exceptional speed and maneuverability make it a challenging target for missile defense systems.

President Putin has been outspoken about the Avangard's invulnerability to existing and prospective missile defense measures.

The timing of this revelation is notable, as it follows President Putin's recent visit to China, where discussions likely included matters of international security and cooperation.

The Avangard missile's deployment underscores Russia's commitment to maintaining a robust military presence and advancing its technology.

The Avangard missile also serves as a reminder of the evolving global strategic landscape. With the United States considering China as its principal competitor and Russia as its primary nation-state threat, there is a growing emphasis on great-power competition.

President Joe Biden has framed the 21st century as an era defined by an existential contest between democracies and autocracies, further intensifying the focus on military capabilities and technological advancements.

While the recent deployment of the Avangard missile may raise concerns among some nations, it is essential to recognize that it highlights the importance of ongoing dialogue and diplomacy in managing international security challenges.

As the world continues to grapple with the complexities of arms control, the need for cooperative efforts to prevent the spread of advanced weaponry and reduce the risks of nuclear conflict remains paramount, Mail Online reported.

Related Article: Vladimir Putin Restricts Media Coverage Ahead of Russia's 2024 Presidential Election

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Have you ever encountered a subpar hotel breakfast while on holiday? You don't really like the food choices on offer, but since you already paid for the meal as part of your booking, you force yourself to eat something anyway rather than go down the road to a cafe.

Economists and social scientists argue that such behavior can happen due to the "sunk cost fallacy"an inability to ignore costs that have already been spent and can't be recovered. In the hotel breakfast example, the sunk cost is the price you paid for the hotel package: at the time of deciding where to eat breakfast, such costs are unrecoverable and should therefore be ignored.

Similar examples range from justifying finishing a banal, half-read book (or half-watched TV series) based on prior time already "invested" in the activity, to being less likely to quit exclusive groups such as sororities and sporting clubs the more effort it took to complete the initiation ritual.

While these behaviors are not rational, they're all too common, so it helps to be aware of this tendency. In some circumstances, you might even use it for your benefit.

Sunk costs can affect high-stakes decisions

While the examples above may seem relatively trivial, they show how common the sunk cost fallacy is. And it can affect decisions with much higher stakes in our lives.

Imagine that Bob previously bought a house for $1 million. Subsequently, there's a nationwide housing market crash. All houses are now cheaper by 20% and Bob can only sell his house for $800,000. Bob's been thinking of upgrading to a bigger house (and they are now cheaper!), but will need to sell his existing house to have funds for a down payment.

However, he refuses to upgrade because he perceives a loss of $200,000 relative to the original price he paid of $1 million. Bob is committing the sunk cost fallacy by letting the original price influence his decision makingonly the house's current and projected price should matter.

Bob might be acting irrationally, but he's only human. Part of the reason we may find it difficult to ignore such losses is because losses are psychologically more salient relative to gainsthis is known as loss aversion.

While most of the evidence for the sunk cost fallacy comes from individual decisions, it may also influence the decisions of groups. In fact, it is sometimes referred to as the Concord fallacy, because the French and British governments continued funding the doomed supersonic airliner long after it was likely it would not be commercially viable.

Another example is drawn-out armed conflict that involves a large loss of lives for the losing side. Some may think it impossible to capitulate because the casualties will have "died in vain."

Knowing about sunk costs can help you

If you find yourself justifying behavior due to costs you've paid in the past rather than circumstances of the present, or predictions of the future, it's worth checking yourself.

Identifying sunk costs allows you to cut your losses early and move on, rather than perpetuating larger losses. This is apparent in the housing example: the larger the crash, the cheaper the bigger house; and yet the larger the crash, the greater the perceived loss from selling the existing house. Hence, the greater the loss in opportunity inflicted by the sunk cost fallacy.

If you find it difficult to overcome the sunk cost fallacy, it may help to delegate such decisions to others. This may include the decision of whether to go to a buffet or subscribe to Netflix, with the latter potentially being a double whammy: one may feel compelled to binge-watch due to the flat fee structure and, as mentioned earlier, to finish mediocre series once halfway through.

Use sunk costs to your advantage

A second, less obvious benefit is actively using the fallacy to your advantage. For example, many gym memberships require upfront payments regardless of how much you use the facilities. If you find it hard to ignore sunk costs, choosing gym memberships that have large upfront fees and minimal pay-per-usage fees may be a way to commit yourself to a regular gym habit.

This can also apply to other activities that involve short-term pain for long-term gainfor example, paying for an online course will make you more likely to stick with it than if you found a free course.

But be warned, this doesn't work for everything: it seems that spending wildly on a wedding ceremony or engagement ring doesn't have a "sunk cost" effectit fails to increase the likelihood of staying married.

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An 1820 depiction of three marara (carved trees), a dhabuganha (burial) in the centre and 'mourning' seats to the right. Credit: G. H. Evans / National Library of Australia

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that the following contains information about deceased persons, ceremonial practices, and Men's and Women's Business with the permission of the Gaanha-bula Action Group.

People have long used symbols (marks or characters) to communicate ideas and concepts. It is something that sets humans apart from other beings.

The oldest dated example of symbolic thinking is a 77,000-year-old carved ochre object found in South Africa. While we will never know what its symbols meant, it is a different story in Australia, where we are privileged to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today about symbols made by their ancestors in the past.

One remarkable example of symbolic expression is the marara (carved trees or dendroglyphs) of Wiradjuri Country, in southeastern Australia. In a new Wiradjuri-led study, we have combined traditional cultural knowledge and archaeological methods to develop culturally and scientifically informed understanding of these sacred locations for the first time.

Our study of marara and dhabuganha is guided by the principles of the Wiradjuri philosophy Yindyamarra (cultural respect).

Carved trees and burials

Marara are trees with elaborate muyalaang (tree carvings), marking the dhabuganha (burials) of Wiradjuri men of high standing. They represent a traditional cultural practice with deep roots.

Wiradjuri people created marara by removing a large slab of bark, then intricately carving muyalaang into the fresh tree surface. Muyalaang often appear as a series of curved lines or geometric patterns like diamonds and zig-zags.

The British explorer John Oxley described marara and dhabuganha in an 1817 diary entry. Three years later, painter G.H. Evans depicted the scene, with several marara carved to face a central dhabuganha and three "mourning" seats:

"The form of the whole was semi-circular. Three rows of seats occupied one half, the grave and an outer row of seats the other; the seats formed segments of circles of fifty, forty-five, and forty feet each, and were formed by the soil being trenched up from between them. The center part of the grave was about five feet high, and about nine long, forming an oblong pointed cone."

Today, a diminishing number of marara remain. Most dhabuganha are no longer visible due to erosion and modern land-use practices.

Two burial sites

We used ground-penetrating radar at one location to non-invasively analyze and map changes in soil to refine our understanding of the resting place of a Wiradjuri man of high standing, whose dhabuganha is no longer visible today but remains marked by a marara. We created a 3D model of this marara.

Not far away, on the other side of a creek, is a fallen scarred tree reported to mark the dhabuganha of the man's "wife." The man's marara and the woman's fallen scarred tree would have faced each other when the fallen tree was still standingperhaps as a symbol of their connection.

We also studied marara and dhabuganha at Yuranigh's Grave, a public tourist site near Molong. Yuranigh was a Wiradjuri man of high standing who accompanied explorer Thomas Mitchell on his inland expeditions during the 19th century.

Mitchell valued Yuranigh so much that, after Yuranigh's passing, he added a European headstone to Yuranigh's dhabuganha, which is also surrounded by several traditionally carved marara. The headstone inscription reads:

To Native Courage Honesty and Fidelity. Yuranigh who accompanied the expedition of discovery into tropical Australia in 1846 lies buried here according to the rites of his countrymen and this spot was dedicated and enclosed by the Governor General's authority in 1852.

A bigger cultural landscape

Despite the remarkable appearance of marara, our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders make it clear that marara are not just artistic objects. They are sacred locations with specific cultural (or symbolic) meaning that is not clear without deeper understanding of Wiradjuri people and Country.

Wiradjuri Elder Uncle Neil Ingram reveals that muyalaang speak to "the different clan groups and their stories." Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that muyalaang are "connected back to the totems" of the area. Wiradjuri Knowledge Holder James Williams states that marara show "a path from herethis lifeto the next life," between the earth and "sky world" where Baiame the Wiradjuri Creator, or Sky Spirit, lives.

Our interviews with Wiradjuri Elders and knowledge holders also highlight that marara and dhabuganha should not be understood as individual locations or isolated "sites."

Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Alice Williams explains that "you need to open your mind and think further than what's on the tree, and what's in the ground, and have a look around, and see what's there  within a bigger cultural landscape." Marara and dhabuganha form part of a connected system of Wiradjuri lore, beliefs, traditional cultural practices and Country that involved men, women and children together.

Marara and dhabuganha encourage us to look beyond what we perceive in physical form to understand the different ways of seeing the world around us.

We have had the privilege of working together to document these sacred locations, and to shine a light on this important and fragile part of Australian history. Marara and dhabuganha tell a hidden story that is not apparent without deeper cultural understanding.

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This image is from a simulation of two merging black holes. The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory should be able to detect binary black holes before they merge. But the vexing problem of false positives needs a solution. Credit: Simulating eXtreme Spacetimes (SXS) Project

When galaxies merge, we expect them to produce binary black holes (BBHs.) BBHs orbit one another closely, and when they merge, they produce gravitational waves that have been detected by LIGO-Virgo. The upcoming Vera Rubin Observatory should be able to find them before they merge, which would open a whole new window into the study of galaxy mergers, supermassive black holes, binary black holes, and gravitational waves.

As far as researchers can tell, large galaxies like ours have a supermassive black hole (SMBH) in their centers. When galaxies merge, the SMBHs enter into a close orbit with one another, becoming a binary black hole (BBH.) Eventually, they merge, and these mergers produce the most powerful gravitational waves.

The Vera Rubin Observatory (VRO) will perform a massive, multi-year time-domain survey that repeatedly images the sky looking for changes. It's called the LSST: the Legacy Survey of Space and Time. It'll detect everything from asteroids to supernovae explosions. But new research shows how the VRO can also detect binary black holes.

The paper is titled "Reliable Identification of Binary Supermassive Black Holes from Rubin Observatory Time-Domain Monitoring." It's been submitted to The Astrophysical Journal and is currently in pre-print on the arXiv server. The lead author is Megan Davis from the Department of Physics at the University of Connecticut.

"Periodic signatures in time-domain observations of quasars have been used to search for binary supermassive black holes," the authors write. The searches have produced several hundred candidate BBHs, but the problem is the high rate of false positives, as high as 60%. That's way too high to produce useful data. Can researchers figure out how to get that rate down to something more manageable?

Underneath the clear blue sky of Cerro Pachon ridge in Chile, construction continues on the Vera C. Rubin Observatory. The 8.4-meter telescope is equipped with a 3.2-gigapixel camera  the worlds largest digital camera ever fabricated for optical astronomy  and is expected to see its first light at the end of 2024. It will conduct an unprecedented, decade-long survey of the optical sky called the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST). New research shows how the LSST can successfully detect binary black holes, a difficult task complicated by false positives. Credit: NOIRLab/Vera Rubin Observatory

The authors say they're making progress.

Quasars are a sub-class of active galactic nuclei (AGN) that are more luminous than other AGN. AGN are what we call SMBHs that are actively accreting material and emitting light. The problem is that quasars can be variable as they accrete material. That variability masks a BBH's amplitude, leading to false positives.

"Binary amplitude is overestimated and poorly recovered for two-thirds of potential binaries due to quasar accretion variability," the authors write.

Modern astronomy is dominated by data, not observational skills. The researchers say the answer to the false positive problem lies in data and computation.

"Rubin's LSST, our best chance at identifying binary SMBHs with electromagnetic observations, also pushes us further into the era of big data, as it is predicted that it will produce over 20 terabytes of data per night," the researchers write in their paper.

That huge amount of data means that the LSST will have to triage data as it arrives, and preparing an effective method for doing that in the search for BBHs starts with simulations. In this work, the researchers simulated millions of LSST Deep Field light curves for both single and binary quasars.

"Our goal is to create realistic light curves of quasars, both isolated (single-SMBH) and binary systems, for Rubin's LSST deep drilling fields (DDFs)," the researchers write in their paper. DDFs are separate from the large survey the VRO will perform. They're intense observations that provide deeper coverage and more frequent temporal sampling.

Quasars are complex objects, and the complexity increases when they're binaries. Scientists think that both isolated and binary quasars have variable accretion disks. Binaries that are close to one another have a circumbinary accretion disk. But each individual SMBH has its own mini-disk, which complicates the picture. Generating realistic light curves for these different arrangements is the first step in the authors' research.

Illustration of an active quasar. Their luminosity and variability can lead to false positives in the search for binary black holes. Credit: ESO/M. Kornmesser

"Our goal is to simulate light curves for a broad and representative range of the quasar population to be observed by Rubin," the authors explain.

The researchers generated more than 3.6 million Rubin/LSST light curves from quasars, and a large number of them were for binary SMBHs. When examining and fitting all those curves, false positives remained a problem. "We conservatively estimate that over 40% of isolated, single quasars will result in a false positive detection of a binary SMBH system with a simple sinusoidal fit," the authors write.

They also found that massive and luminous quasars are more likely to be a false positive than a real binary.

"We recommend exercising caution when using sinusoidal fits for binary SMBH detection," the researchers conclude.

Differentiating between quasars and BBHs is not easy. Nature doesn't hold up a sign telling us which is which. But nature does provide clues, though in this case, they're entangled and difficult to discern. This work shows which type of quasar light curves are most likely to produce false positives, which is a big step toward dealing with the problem.

The researchers were also able to reduce false positives in some cases from around 60% down to around 40%. This is an important step in the right direction, though the problem still needs more work.

This shows some of the simulated LSST light curves that the Deep Drilling Fields will produce. The top panel shows a simulated light curve for a single, isolated quasar. The bottom panel shows a simulated light curve for a binary quasar. Credit: Davis et al. 2023

"The purpose of this paper was to explore the detectability of binary SMBHs for a representative quasar population in Rubin/LSST DDF observations," the authors explain. The next step is to use light curves generated not from simulations but from the observed population of quasars. Gravitational wave searches based on binary SMBHs will also be part of the effort.

Sinusoidal fits produce false positives, but there's also another way of fitting the light curve data. It's called DRW: Damped Random Walk. DRW is an economical computational method that could help manage the massive amount of data the Vera Rubin Observatory will produce. Davis and her colleagues intend to revisit their analysis with computationally inexpensive DRW fits in the future. "This could result in a more effective triage of false positives," they conclude.

In its 10-year run, the LSST is expected to detect between 20 million and 100 million active galactic nuclei. Determining which ones are BBHs means working through an enormous, unprecedented amount of data. If the LSST does produce 20 terabytes of data per night, then the task of working through all that data in search of BBHs takes on monumental proportions.

The researchers haven't completely solved the two-headed problem of massive amounts of data and false positives populating the data, but they've made progress.

More information: Megan C. Davis et al, Reliable Identification of Binary Supermassive Black Holes from Rubin Observatory Time-Domain Monitoring, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.10851 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal , arXiv
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In mid-November, the temperature in the Halkidiki region of Polygyros, northern Greece was still over 15 degrees Celsius.

Greek organic farmer Zaharoula Vassilaki looks with admiration at a huge olive tree on her property believed to be over two centuries old, still yielding despite a direct lightning hit years ago.

But climate changein this case, the absence of deep winteris proving too much for even this gnarled veteran to cope with.

"The climate has changed and the trees cannot cope with these big changes. We no longer have winter at all," she told AFP.

In mid-November, the temperature in the Halkidiki region of Polygyros, northern Greece, was still over 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit).

"I consider climate change the main challenge this season," noted Nikos Anoixas, a board member of Doepel, the Greek national interprofessional organization for table olives.

"At this time, temperatures should be 10 degrees Celsius... the year is already lost, and we fear next year will be similar. I don't even want to think what will happen if another such year follows," Anoixas said.

Vangelis Evangelinos has been growing edible olives on his family land in Halkidiki, northern Greece since he was a child.

At 62, he does not recall adverse weather conditions such as his area has endured this yearor such a poor cropever before.

"We've never had a year such as this," Evangelinos told AFP, two months after the Thessaly region, to the south, was devastated by massive floods.

"The rainfall is intense and brief," the opposite of what is needed to enrich the soil," he said.

In many cases, growers did not deem it worth the trouble to harvest their estates.

The warm weather has affected some six million trees in the region, according to producers and experts.

"This year the phenomenon of 'fruitlessness' was very intense, but it is an issue that we have noticed mainly in the last five years," said Vassilaki, 48.

The European Union's olive production giants Italy and Spain have faced similar problems, pushing up prices.

Spain, the world's biggest producer of olive oil, suffered a very difficult year in 2022 and drought this year has compounded the problem.

In Italy, this year's olive harvest is down by an estimated 80 percent, according to producers.

The EU estimates global olive oil production will fall more than 26 percent in 2022-2023 compared to a year earlier, to just over 2.5 million tons.

In the EU itself, production is expected to drop 39 percent.

'No winter at all'

"The old growers here say it is very important for the trees to rest in the winter. It takes about one to two months of good cold weather for the tree to rest... so that it can yield later," Vassilaki said.

Athanassios Molassiotis, an agronomist and head of the arboriculture lab of Thessaloniki's Aristotelio University, said his team recorded an increase in temperature of two degrees during October, November and December 2022 compared to a year earlier.

At a local olive processing unit, which also handles intake from across the country, management says production is down at least 60 percent.

This affected the olive buds "because we know that the tree bears fruit after cold winters, especially the Halkidiki variety, which has high requirements at low temperatures in winter," he said.

"We found that in many trees, there was no flowering and therefore no fruit afterwards," Molassiotis said.

Halkidiki accounts for around half of edible table olives produced in Greece.

According to the regional chamber of commerce, more than 20,000 local producers cultivate 330,000 acres of olive trees in the area, generating an average of 120,000 to 150,000 tons of edible table olives annually.

More than 150 companies are active in olive processing and marketing, and more than 90 percent of the products produced are exported the world over, as far as Brazil, China and Australia.

This year, however, the crop shortage has in some cases exceeded 90 percent, plunging sector entrepreneurs into despair.

'Things will get worse'

"I'm afraid things will get worse in the future," said chamber president Yiannis Koufidis, noting the economic impact on growers has been "huge" with a loss of some 200 million euro ($) just in Halkidiki prefecture alone.

In many cases, growers did not deem it worth the trouble to harvest their estates.

At the local olive processing unit, which also handles intake from across the country, management says production is down at least 60 percent.

In the Halkidiki region more than 20,000 local producers cultivate 330,000 acres of olive trees.

A climate change study for the Halkidiki area in January showed the local average temperature is expected to increase by 1.5-2 degrees Celsius in coming years, according to the best-case scenario.

At worst, it could be three degrees.

The Aristotelio University study also predicts less rain.

The overall "thermal stress" is ultimately expected to impact fruit quality, it warned.

And because Halkidiki is also one of Greece's main tourism destinations, there is an added draw on the area's water resources, said study author Christina Anagnostopoulou.

"Climate changes will happen. We need to learn and prepare so that we can reduce the effects," the climatology professor told AFP.

Koufidis said the Halkidiki chamber is working with the university to create a variant of the local olive variety that requires less wintry weather.

"It's a very difficult project. But we can't stand idly by," he said.

 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:

Summary of data. Credit: Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06771-5

Research led by Nathan Nakatsuka of the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Boston, has found evidence supporting migrations into California from Mexico and the presence of Mexican-related ancestry in Central and Southern California starting around 5,200 years ago.

In a paper, "Genetic continuity and change among the Indigenous peoples of California," published in Nature, the researchers reveal new genetic data that links ancient individuals and languages to the cultural landscape of ancient California.

The Chumash region of California runs along the coast from Malibu to north of Paso Robles, inland into Central California and encompasses the Channel Islands.

The earliest DNA sequenced from the Chumash region in California dates back to at least 7,400 years old and was most closely related to modern people from South America and an Anzick individual from Montana who is dated to approximately 12,800 years before present and is associated with Clovis culture.

The Anzick remains, specifically a young boy named Anzick-1, were discovered alongside Clovis artifacts and are considered among the oldest human remains found in North America. Anzick's genetic profile has shown connections and shared ancestry with various Indigenous populations across the Americas.

Ancient individuals from Brazil (9,600 BP), Chile (12,000 BP), and a cave site in Nevada (10,000 BP) are more closely related to the Montana Anzick-1 boy than to later populations in the same regions or early individuals from the Central Andes or Peru.

Affinity to the Clovis culture individual persisted for many millennia more in the Chumash region of California than in any other sampled regions of the Americas.

Analysis of ancient individuals from Northwest Mexico suggested ancestry with the earliest people from Peru. This suggests that the Indigenous people from Mexico had a distinct (Peruvian) lineage that split from those in the Chumash region of California, Brazil and Chile pre-Montana Clovis culture 12,800 years ago.

Signs of migrations and mergers

Just before the occupation by Catholic Mission forts in California, the Chumash people lived in 150 independent towns and villages with a population of over 25,000 people. The Chumash spoke six different but closely-related Chumashan languages across the region. In-place genetic continuity among the Chumash people persisted from the earliest sequence (7200 years before present) until Spanish contact around 200 years ago. This stands as a distinct language and genetic history to the many surrounding area Uto-Aztecan speakers.

The Uto-Aztecan language family has long been a mystery, stretching from Shoshone in Idaho to Pipil in Costa Rica and covering the American Southwest down into Mexico. While the language is diverse, with dozens of distinct versions, the shared root of the language has puzzled researchers because it has yet to offer a precise location of origin.

There are many proposed homelands for Uto-Aztecan, including the Great Basin, California's central valley, the Sonora desert, Southern Arizona, and Central and Northern Mexico, with different linguistic and archaeological evidence for each model.

Using genetic clustering of individuals by geography and language with groups likely to have spoken Chumashan, Uto-Aztecan and Utian, the study finds evidence for large-scale movement of genetic lineages characteristic of ancient and modern individuals from Northwest Mexico into both Southern and Central California by at least around 5,200 years ago.

This result raises the possibility that this movement was responsible for spreading Uto-Aztecan languages and documents a significant migration period from the south before the spread of maize agriculture.

A robust genetic relationship was found between the earliest individual from Pacific Grove, Central California, dated around 5,200 years ago and ancient individuals from Baja California.

This result further supports the theory that people speaking languages from an earlier linguistic substrate were once dispersed across large parts of California and that populations of the region were transformed by new migrants who changed both the genetic and linguistic landscapes.

The Polynesian connection

There was no evidence of Polynesian or Australasian genetic contributions in ancient Californian and Northwest Mexican individuals. This dispels some past attempts to connect the Chumash people with those in Hawaii based on shared similarities in elements of the Chumash tomolo canoe construction.

Tomolo canoes are often built of redwood planks, lashed or sewn together, and can reach 30 feet long. The reasoning behind the Hawaiian contribution stems from the Chumash word for the canoe, tomolo'o, which is somewhat similar to the Hawaiian one for "useful tree" or redwood, kumulaa'au. Redwood was a favored wood for Hawaiian canoes, though it has to wash up on shore, carried by the favorable direction of winds and tides from California and the Pacific Northwest.

The Polynesian import idea ignores the fact that the Chumash inhabited the archipelago islands off the coast of California for over 7,500 years, a good 6,300 years before Hawaiians arrived in Hawaii and thousands of years before any Polynesian lived on an island. Even the technology specific to the canoe similarities predates the Hawaiian population by several hundred years.

With a lack of Polynesian genes in the Americas and having winds, currents and chronology working against a Hawaiian visit to the Chumash coastal region, there may be no connection after all.

New World versus Old World

Some housekeeping is required whenever talking about ancient Native Americans. While the use of location names like Paso Robles and California are in this story, the time frames discussed include those long before these names were assigned to them by Europeans.

The study covers a time frame long before current Europeans arrived in Europe or developed a European language with which to later name locations in what European languages refer to as the "New World."

This a useful concept to keep in mind, considering the Americas are frequently cited in geographic and scientific literature as the "New World," despite having pyramids older than those in Egypt and evidence of civilizations that predate ancient Greece, China or any ancestry of a modern European in Europe.

More information: Nathan Nakatsuka et al, Genetic continuity and change among the Indigenous peoples of California, Nature (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06771-5 Journal information: Nature

 2023 Science X Network
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OCEAN CITY  Not much has changed in the second floor corner office at the Ocean City Police Department since Bill Campbell moved in as the new chief.

There are different photos on the shelf, and a few more plants around than when Jay Prettymans name was on the desk. Campbell said his officers and the public should not expect major changes since Prettymans retirement.

Chief Prettyman really left the department in tremendous shape. He was a fantastic chief, a fantastic leader, Campbell said. My standard answer is, look, Ive inherited a well-oiled machine as opposed to a Dumpster fire.

There are a few changes planned, including a more detailed system for tracking complaints reported to police, including the amount of time spent on investigations, and a standard responsibility for an officer to contact the person making the complaint, typically within a week or two.

He described a customer service approach to policing, citing an example of someone reporting what may seem like a minor crime in some jurisdictions, such as something stolen from a front porch.

For the person making the report, he said, it is a big deal, and that person deserves to have it taken seriously.

Ocean City has a low crime rate, but like anywhere else, there are crimes, and at times there have been violent crimes. Campbell said officers have to be ready for anything, projecting a friendly demeanor in most circumstances but remaining prepared for the worst.

During the course of your shift, you could be responding to a homicide, and the next call you might get is a cat stuck in a tree, Campbell said. He admitted the cat was an exaggeration, saying police rarely get that call, but that Ocean City officers do respond to a wide variety of calls.

Bill Campbell named Ocean City police chief Ocean City Council members unanimously approved a resolution naming Bill Campbell police chief, officially replacing former Chief Jay Prettyman.

He said residents and visitors should not feel reluctant to call the police, even for minor issues.

If nothing else, if you report it, at least we have a record of it and its data we can track, Campbell said.

Campbell, 55, served as Prettymans deputy chief for about a year before taking the reins at the department. He said he was Prettymans pick as the new chief, and was backed by Mayor Jay Gillian and city Administrator George Savastano.

Its up to the mayor who will serve as Ocean Citys chief, but he also received the unanimous support of City Council at a recent meeting, at which many of the citys officers attended.

Members of council congratulated the new chief, and Gillian praised the police and other public safety professionals in the city.

Our public safety is the best, Gillian said at the meeting. Nothings more important to me as mayor than that: When you come to Ocean City, you feel safe.

With 68 officers, Ocean City has the largest municipal police department in Cape May County, and in the summer, it almost doubles, hiring about 65 summer officers to handle the significant crowds.

In a recent interview before he ended his time as chief, Prettyman said New Jersey policing has undergone significant changes in the past six years, including the legalization of marijuana and new guidance from Trenton on how officers deal with juveniles.

Ocean City police chief's one regret? No new headquarters. After almost six years as police chief in Ocean City, Jay Prettyman says he cared for his officers, but he would have liked to have gotten a new police station completed. He retires Friday.

Many of those changes have been described with a note of frustration by law enforcement officers, but Campbell spoke positively of having clear rules in place for police.

If were going to be considered professionals, then there are guidelines and procedures that have to be in place, he said.

Campbell cited Ocean Citys being an accredited department six times in a row, an extensive process that includes community input and reviews of police operations.

We have a system of policies and procedures in place that pretty much dictate how we do everything, he said. Changes to laws, court decisions and guidance from the state Attorney Generals Office have a direct influence on how policing can be done, he said.

For the summer of 2024, he does not expect a change to one of the highest-profile decisions of the year for Ocean City, an 8 p.m. curfew on the beach and a rule against backpacks on the Boardwalk starting at the same time.

The change came as large crowds of unruly teens continued to gather on the beach. In 2022, Prettyman allowed the gatherings, with the idea that it was better to have one large group where officers could keep an eye on things than to have smaller groups around the city.

But by the start of last summer, locals agreed that things had gotten out of hand. Prettyman said in previous interviews that parents from other communities were dropping off their kids in Ocean City, leaving police to babysit, as he described it.

Im an advocate for keeping the beach curfew at 8 oclock, Campbell said. He said Ocean City should keep in place the rules that turned things around for the summer, not relax them too early. It put the control back with us, and made it more of a family environment again on the Boardwalk.

Ocean Citys response to teens gets good marks from merchants Earlier this summer, Ocean City enacted sweeping changes, with beaches closed at 8 p.m. each night, 10 p.m. closing times for Boardwalk bathrooms and an earlier curfew for juveniles. Business owners and leaders have said the changes have worked.

Campbell lives in Egg Harbor Township. He has been married 25 years, and he and his wife have a 22-year-old son. He has spent his entire career in Ocean City, starting in summer 1994 and working his way through the ranks.

He said his salary is still to be determined, saying he has not yet signed a contract for his new position. As chief, Prettyman made $165,194, according to a listing of police salaries in New Jersey.
PLA conducts drills on border as conflicts continue in north Myanmar

09:35, November 27, 2023 By Yang Sheng and Xu Yelu ( Global Times

Live-fire drills and training exercises conducted by the Chinese military force along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border are defensive and aimed at safeguarding Chinese sovereignty, stability of border area and safety of personnel from impacts caused by the civil war in Myanmar, rather than an act to intervene in the internal affairs of the neighboring country, experts said on Sunday.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command announced on Saturday that it will conduct a series of real combat training and drills along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border, which is aimed to test the rapid maneuverability, border sealing and firepower capabilities of the military units of the theater command.

In accordance with the annual training plan, the PLA Southern Theater Command organized its army units to conduct "live-fire drills starting from Saturday along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border," according to Senior Colonel Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the PLA Southern Theater Command.

"The theater command forces are always prepared to respond to various emergencies and are resolute in safeguarding national sovereignty, border stability and the safety of the people's lives and property," Tian said in a statement released by the official account of the PLA Southern Theater Command.

The PLA Daily on Sunday published a commentary which said that "Recently, due to many reasons, military conflicts have broken out in multiple regions of north Myanmar, causing casualties and severe security situation."

Since the latest outbreak of armed conflict in Myanmar, apart from calling for peace and a cease-fire, China is making great efforts to work with Myanmar to place and help evacuees, and also to help nationals from the third party to evacuate from Myanmar through China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The PLA Daily said the recent live-fire drills and training exercises will further strengthen the awareness of crisis and sense of duty among the officers and troops, and will comprehensively test and improve the military's capability of managing and controlling the border region.

Non-interference principle

After the fighting in Myanmar intensified in recent days, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Friday urged Chinese nationals to evacuate the Laukkai area of the Kokang region in northern Myanmar immediately, and stay away from the zone, as conflicts continue in the area, according to media reports.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military experts and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Saturday that "Myanmar is a country that has been suffering from a long-standing civil war the periodic conflicts within the country are a persistent threat to China's border security, so taking into account the worsening situation within Myanmar, it's reasonable for the Chinese military to take necessary actions to deal with emergencies and the potential escalation of any conflict."

In March 2017, when military clashes in north Myanmar caused casualties, the PLA also staged an air-ground live-fire drill along the border region. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the joint drill at that time, carried out by the Southern Theater Command of the PLA was "according to an annual training schedule, [and] was aimed at testing the troops' capabilities in rapid maneuver, precise destruction, vertical blockade and joint strike."

Experts said that conducting military drills along the China-Myanmar border is an act to deal with the periodic instability in northern Myanmar. It is not the first time the PLA has taken similar action, which is aimed at self-defense and dealing with emergencies and potential escalation. It will strictly follow the principle of non-interference.

Zhu Zhenming, a professor at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the drills will reassure people on the Chinese side of the border, and it is also a message to the all conflicting parties in Myanmar that they should try their best to avoid damaging the border security, as well as the safety of Chinese communities near border regions.

"The fights between them are not our business, but China will not allow any shell or bullet to be fired across the border and harm Chinese people. We also oppose any force within Myanmar to use China to serve their interests to fight other parties," Zhu noted.

Some ethnic minority regional armed forces in Myanmar claimed that they are "countering telecom fraud" for China and are attempting to persuade others that China is supporting them in their fight against the Myanmar government. "This is absolutely not China's position, and we oppose anyone using China to serve their own interests," Zhu said.

Necessary measures

For the conflicting parties in Myanmar, neither the government forces nor the local warlords want to see an incident that might harm the security of China and Chinese people, but if there are outbreaks of clash close to the border, bombs or shells could be fired across the border and cause damage on the Chinese side. A potential inflow of refugees represents another big challenge, experts said.

Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Saturday that the training exercises like rapid maneuverability and border control or border sealing are flagging that PLA forces are able to be deployed at speed and are capable of effectively controlling the border in an emergency situation.

Song said that live-fire drills are mainly defensive, as it might test the capability of China's air defense to deter and defend against military aircraft, bombs and missiles that could potentially encroach on the border while armed conflict in Myanmar is ongoing. Some observers added that the live-fire drills might include artillery firing, which is an act to warn the warring parties in Myanmar to stay away from China's territory.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
New York Rep. George Santos says he expects to be forced out of Congress by the resolution involving his legal challenges.

The embattled lawmaker said he would wear the expulsion "like a badge of honor." During an X Space hosted by the conservative media personality Monica Matthews, Santos revealed his expectations that he would be forced out when the resolution goes to the floor.

George Santos Expulsion

Earlier this month, the Ethics Committee released a 56-page report that said there was "substantial evidence" that the New York representative violated federal law. It also alleges that Santos funneled large sums of money through his campaign and businesses to pay for his expenses.

These include cosmetic procedures such as Botox at luxury stores Hermes and Ferragamo, on smaller purchases at OnlyFans, meals, parking, travel, and rent. Following the report's release, the Ethics Committee chairman, Rep. Michael Guest, introduced a resolution to expel Santos.

The Mississippi Republican said the report's findings were "more than sufficient to warrant punishment and the most appropriate punishment is expulsion." On the other hand, the New York representative dared Guest to introduce his resolution as "privileged." This would mean that the House must consider the measure within two legislative days, as per CBS News.

Santos said that Guest thought he would bully him out of Congress, adding that he would not resign. Guest also called the report a "political opposition hit piece at best." The New York lawmaker wanted to see his critics set this precedent.

He noted that it would set a new era of due process where someone is guilty until proven innocent. Santos said that those who criticize him are taking accusations and are using them to smear, mangle, destroy him, and remove him from society.

The Republican lawmaker declined to address the specific allegations in the report, claiming they were "slanderous." He also said that defending himself against the accusations could be used against him in the federal case. He has so far pleaded not guilty to 23 federal charges.

Read Also: Former Andrew Cuomo Aide Files Civil Lawsuit Against Former New York Governor

A Series of Legal Challenges

The report also comes after Santos has already survived two expulsion attempts by his Republican colleagues. The Ethics Committee's investigation into the New York lawmaker began in March following allegations of campaign finance misconduct and Santos lying about his biographical details, according to The Hill.

Santos was later indicted on 13 federal charges in May 2023 and in October, a superseding indictment brought another ten criminal charges against him. He was charged with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making false statements to the House.

After the report was published, Santos said that he would not be running for re-election despite saying otherwise in the past. To be expelled from the House, two-thirds must vote him out, and reports suggest that enough members are prepared to do just that, said The Guardian.

Related Article: NY: Sexual Assault Lawsuits Increase Due to Adult Survivors Act Deadline

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Tempo heading from Mumbai to Chennai caught fire, leading to a standstill in traffic for several hours

A series of accidents unfolded on Sunday night on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, causing significant disruption. Near the Bhorghat area, a tempo heading from Mumbai to Chennai caught fire, leading to a standstill in traffic for several hours.

The incident occurred late on Sunday night, prompting a rapid response from the police, fire brigades, and local rescue teams. The tempo, carrying both goods and passengers, caught fire, trapping the driver and passengers. While the individuals were successfully rescued, the entire tempo was engulfed in flames.

To prevent further complications, the highway police implemented traffic control measures on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Despite the challenging situation, traffic flow was eventually restored in the early hours of Monday morning.

Preliminary investigations suggest that a short circuit in the tempo's cabin may have triggered the fire. The authorities are now conducting a detailed examination to ascertain the exact cause of the incident and to ensure the safety of commuters on the expressway.
A Davenport man on parole in Scott County for selling crack cocaine was arrested Wednesday on numerous drug charges alleging he was selling heroin, cocaine, crack and marijuana.

LaQuel Artoris Demond Carrol, 47, also known as LaQuel Carrol and Lacquel Carrol in court records, is charged in Scott County District Court with one count of possession with the intent to deliver more than 5 grams of heroin. The charge is a Class B felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of 25 years.

Carrol also is charged with one count each of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine and possession with the intent to deliver cocaine base, known as crack. Each of those charges is a Class C felony that carries a prison sentence of 10 years.

He also is facing one count of possession with the intent to deliver marijuana and four counts of violating Iowas drug tax stamp law. Each of those charges is a Class D felony that carries a prison sentence of five years.

According to the arrest affidavits filed by Scott County Sheriffs Deputy Greg Hill, agents of the Special Operations Unit served a search warrant on Carrols residences in Davenport and Eldridge and on his vehicle as part of an investigation into a heroin overdose investigation.

Agents conducted their search at 10:01 a.m. Wednesday.

On Carrols person, officers seized 31.9 grams of marijuana and $412 in cash.

From Carrols vehicle, officers seized 9.1 grams of marijuana and three plastic bags that each contained 1 gram of crack cocaine.

From the Eldridge home, officers seized three bags of marijuana (about one-half pound). One of the bags totaled 93.9 grams, another contained 122.2 grams while the last bag contained 14 grams. Also located were 17.6 grams of heroin, 19.4 grams of crack cocaine and 97 grams of cocaine.

All of the drugs came back positive, except no field test was done on the heroin because of the possibility that it contained fentanyl  it will be sent to the state crime lab for testing.

Carrol was being held Sunday in the Scott County Jail on a bond of $50,000, cash or surety.

Carrol is on parole in Scott County until Dec. 23, according to electronic records for the Iowa Department of Corrections.

On April 5, 2019, he pleaded guilty to the Class C felony charge of possession with the intent to deliver cocaine base, or crack, and one Class D felony count of possession of a controlled substance-marijuana-third or subsequent offense. Scott County District Judge Joel Barrows sentenced Carrol to 10 years on the Class C felony and five years on the Class D to be served concurrently, or at the same time.
CHICAGO  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.

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
Editor's note: This is the third in a series of stories on children that Jackie Hendry, producer and host of South Dakota Public Broadcasting's "South Dakota Focus" will write for South Dakota News Watch. Each month, she will preview the show that will air the following week.

This piece contains discussions of violence, sexual assault and suicidal thoughts. If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 for 24-7 support.

SIOUX FALLS  Phil Hamman knew someone died. The rumors began over a November weekend in 1973. He was a sophomore at Sioux Falls Washington High School.

"We'd gotten some word in the neighborhood that some kids from our school had been killed, but we didn't know any details," Hamman remembered. "We thought maybe it was a car accident or something."

The following Monday, as he got ready for school, Hamman heard four names announced on the radio: 18-year-old Stewart Baade; his 14-year-old brother, Dana Baade; 17-year-old Roger Essem; and 15-year-old Mike Hadrath, Hamman's childhood best friend.

"I became physically sick. I went to the bathroom and almost threw up," Hamman said.

All four boys had been shot to death near their campsite in Gitchie Manitou State Preserve, just across the border in northwestern Iowa. A couple driving through the park found their bodies the next morning. At first, there was no suspect or motive.

Hamman went to school to find other students crying in the hallways. All, like him, were shocked and desperate to understand what happened.

"But the teachers were starting to get irritated," Hamman said. "They were yelling at kids. 'Don't talk about this! Just go to class. No more talking about this Gitchie Manitou thing!'"

Hamman said he and other students obeyed without much resistance. "It's not that the teachers were doing anything out of line. That was the philosophy in those days. You just be quiet."

Privately, though, friends talked among themselves about who could've done such a terrible thing and why. When the suspects  three brothers  were captured, new questions arose. Turns out, there had been a witness: a 13-year-old girl named Sandra Cheskey.

The Gitchie Girl

Cheskey met Essem at a drive-in movie theater earlier that summer, and they'd been smitten with each other ever since. He'd invited her to join him and his three friends for a campfire at Gitchie Manitou the night of Nov. 17, 1973.

Three men, later identified as brothers Allen Fryer, James Fryer and David Fryer, posed as law enforcement. They shot Essem to death before taking the rest hostage. Cheskey was separated from the others, raped and threatened into silence before one of the Fryers dropped her off at her home late at night.

The next day, as rumors began spreading in Hamman's neighborhood that some kids had been killed, Cheskey learned none of the boys made it home. She took her story to the authorities. Despite her fear and the officer's initial doubt of her story, Cheskey played a crucial role in finding the Fryer brothers. She served as the only witness in the subsequent trial that landed each brother with a life sentence.

By age 14, Cheskey had witnessed murder, been raped and faced intense scrutiny throughout the criminal justice process. Rumors spread throughout school that she was somehow responsible for the murders. People called her the Gitchie Girl.

The social stigma remained well after the trail ended.

'For 40 years, I walked with my head down'

Cheskey would later tell Hamman that she wished, year after year, that someone would talk to her about that night.

Family members avoided the subject, thinking it would only upset her further. Her friends didn't talk to her anymore, pressured both by peers and parents who didn't know what to make of the trauma she'd experienced. Cheskey eventually dropped out of school.

Decades later, she reached out to Hamman with an idea. The two had crossed paths through the years, and Hamman had written a memoir that included his memories of the Gitchie Manitou murders.

"She said, 'I think if you want to write a book about my life and that night, I'll open up and finally tell about it. Maybe it can help other people get through emotional things if they can read my story,'" Hamman said.

With Cheskey's help, Hamman and his wife, Sandy Hamman, published "Gitchie Girl: The Survivor's Inside Story of the Mass Murders That Shocked the Heartland" in 2016. The book also details Cheskey's struggles after that fateful November night, including suicidal depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that followed her for years.

The publicity that accompanied the book proved Cheskey's instincts correct. The first chapter of 2019's companion book, "Gitchie Girl Uncovered," describes dozens of people at book signings sharing their own stories of trauma and survival with her.

Cheskey did not respond to requests for an interview ahead of the 50-year commemoration of the murders, but Phil Hamman remembered a conversation the two had following the release of "Gitchie Girl." During the 1974 trial, a lawyer advised young Cheskey to keep her head down so journalists posted outside the courthouse couldn't get a good photo of her.

"And she said, 'Phil, for 40 years I've walked with my head down,'" Hamman remembered. "'Now I can finally start walking with my head up.' So how important for her emotional state of mind to finally share that story."

'Children look to adults on how to respond'

Phil Hamman recently retired from 40 years as a public school teacher, mostly in Sioux City, Iowa. He's witnessed how much things have changed since crisis struck his sophomore year.

"It's slowly evolved from, 'You don't talk about this,' to, 'You need to talk about this.' I've taught in big schools, and it seems like something tragic happens every year," he said. "Any time (we lose a student) there's an army of counselors that will come in and be ready to talk to teachers that are upset, and students."

Talking through loss and trauma can mitigate mental health impacts in many cases. Kari Oyen is director of the school psychology program at the University of South Dakota, the only school psychology program in the state.

It's not a matter of if a crisis will touch a particular school population but when, she said.

"I think what's so critical for adults to know is that kids look to adults on how to respond," Oyen said. "That's why when we see someone who's calm in front of us telling us, 'Here's the things that you can do. Here's how we are going to get through this next phase,' that's very comforting and actually limits the impact of stress."

Oyen said staying silent can have the opposite effect, as Cheskey experienced.

"Adolescents are known for trying to seek rewards and approval from peers. If I'm being further socially isolated from my peers, that can make it so I'm even more vulnerable than I was before," she said.

In Phil Hamman's case, learning the truth of what happened the night his friend died helped him gain some closure.

"I finally got a lot of my questions answered through the research, through the court records, through the police report and through our long talks with Sandra Cheskey," he said. "We thought maybe (the boys) were dealing drugs or something, and they weren't. It was another one of the vicious rumors that went around."

Rumors were all Phil Hamman had to help him process the loss in 1973. He suffered nightmares after Hadrath's funeral.

"In those days, if you were a rich movie star or whatever, you might go see a psychiatrist if you were having emotional issues. But back then, a lot of people just kept it to themselves. I kept it inside," he said.

'There's not enough help'

The philosophy surrounding responses to child trauma has certainly changed in the 50 years since the murders at Gitchie Manitou. The challenge now is providing adequate resources.

"We have a lot of kids that are going through a lot of things, and even though there's help, there's not enough help," said Phil Hamman.

Schools serve as a central resource hub for most children. Oyen said 1 in 5 children today has a diagnosable mental illness, but only a quarter of those children receive any kind of treatment. "Of those who do get help, about 75% of them get help at school," she explained.

That help can come in the form of school counselors, social workers and school psychologists. There are nationwide shortages in all three categories. South Dakota is no different, with one school psychologist available for every 1,650 students  about three times the ratio recommended by the National Association of School Psychologists.

The shortage is driven in part by the cost of the degree and the cost to school districts to maintain the position.

The University of South Dakota recently received a $3 million federal grant to address the shortage of school psychologists in the state. Oyen said the grant will include tuition stipends for school psychology students and incentives for districts to take interns from the program.

"I'm most excited because this grant, more than anything, is going to students. And we know that when we invest in students and when we invest in addressing the shortage, we know that it will have a big impact," Oyen said.

In the meantime, a little understanding can go a long way. Phil Hamman uses his personal experience to advise other teachers.

"You have to remember the test (students) just took was on the very bottom of their priority list," he said. "Maybe there was fighting in the home, something traumatic happened. Yes, we want them to do well on a test. Yes, we want them to do the school work, and we don't want to let them get out of that stuff. But some days they're not gonna be in a very good place, and you have to be ready for that."

This article was produced by South Dakota News Watch, a non-profit journalism organization located online at sdnewswatch.org.

________________________________________

How to watch 'South Dakota Focus'

The next episode of "South Dakota Focus" airs on Thursday, Nov. 30, at 7 p.m. Central time / 6 p.m. Mountain time. It can be viewed on SDPB-TV 1, Facebook, YouTube and SD.net.

The episode includes:

How support for child victims has changed in schools and the court system since the 1973 Gitchie Manitou murders

How adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can influence a child's future, and how understanding that influence can help break cycles of trauma

Peer support for mental health makes a difference on the Lower Brule Indian Reservation
The Broadwater County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol said David Ruymen, 54, of St. Petersburg, Florida, was struck and killed about 4:30 a.m. on U.S. Highway 287 at milepost 95 south of Townsend. The MHP report stated the man "was walking northbound in the middle of U.S. Highway 287 when he was struck by a vehicle."




Kathmandu, Nepal, November 27, 2023: President Ram Chandra Paudel has extended his best wishes to all Sikh communities living home and abroad on the occasion of 555th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak on Monday.





Extending the best wishes, the president has said that the Guru Nanak Jayanti will inspire everyone to end all forms of anomalies and abbreviations prevailing in the society and maintain social justice, equality and fraternity.




Kathmandu, Nepal, November 27, 2023: Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal is going to visit the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to attend the 28th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) on November 29.





The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoHP) has stated that Prime Minister Dahal will attend the High-level Segment of the COP 28-World Climate Action Summit that is being held on December 1 and 2.





Prime Minister Dahal will also deliver a national statement during the summit and scheduled to host a high-level side event Call of the mountain: Who saves us from the climate crisis? to raise Nepals voice on climate change as well as promote mountain agenda in the COP negotiation process, the press statement issued by the MoHP has stated.




The frequently arrested woman whose false rape allegations about a local grocery store manager cost him more than two years behind bars has been arrested again.

Buckingham County Circuit Court records show that 31-year-old Chelsea Eileen Steiniger has been charged with more than 20 offenses and held without bail.

Transported last month to Albemarle County General District Court to resolve several other criminal cases, Steiniger appeared jovial despite her handcuffs and leg irons standing before Judge Matthew Quatrara. He found her guilty of the Albemarle charges, which included contempt and check larceny, but imposed suspended sentences on most of them. The judge did, however, assign her 30 days on a charge of driving under the influence.

This is an exceptional outcome that youre getting, Quatrara told Steiniger during the Oct. 17 hearing.

With 63 arrests, according to a state database, Steiniger is one of the most often arrested people in Central Virginia. One of her recent convictions involved the theft of a nurses scooter from University of Virginia Medical Center. In February, Charlottesville General District Court Judge Andrew Sneathern accepted her guilty plea to that caught-on-video crime, but he assigned no active jail time and gave her a year to pay restitution to the nurse.

The most extensive criminal case involving Steiniger positioned her as the supposed victim. That was her 2012 claim that she was abducted by a local man who gave her a ride in his car. Mark Lawrence Weiner served more than two years in jail before winning release in 2015 after sworn defense evidence portrayed Steiniger as a fabulist who concocted a tale of rape inside an abandoned house to anger a boyfriend.

Five years ago, federal Judge Norman K. Moon branded Steinigers testimony false, but she has never been prosecuted for any crime pertaining to her allegations. Moon dismissed Weiners wrongful prosecution suit on the basis that government employees cannot be sued.

While Steinigers current slate of 21 charges in Buckingham include allegations of identify theft, trading in stolen goods and entering a house to commit assault and battery, many of her current and past charges also involve drugs.

Ms. Steiniger, asked Quatrara at her recent hearing, what is the longest period youve been drug-free?

Six months, she answered.

Im happy to see you alive, said the judge. When I didnt see you for a long time, I was concerned that your issues had gotten the best of you and that I was going to read your obituary in the newspaper.

Quatrara seemed intrigued by Steinigers assertion that she once thrived while working in construction and living with her mother on the Eastern Shore.

Why dont you go there? he asked

Her answer, if any, was not audible in the Albemarle County General District courtroom.

Her number of arrests exceed those of anyone else that Ive ever heard of, veteran Charlottesville lawyer Scott Goodman told The Daily Progress.

Goodman said that people eventually grow out of committing crimes, but until then the justice system gets clogged by the crimes of drug addicts.

Its become a philosophy that you dont want to put someone in prison for a low-level, low-dollar-amount crime, Goodman said. Its basically treated as a sickness as much as it is a crime these days. If you show any kind of an effort that youre trying to overcome your addiction, that goes a long way with the courts.

Now held at Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, Steiniger has her next hearing slated for Jan. 22 in Buckingham Circuit Court.
A 25-year veteran of the Richmond Police Department has joined the Division of Capitol Police as its second in command.

Maj. Christopher M. Gleason retired from the Richmond police force last month, after serving most recently as commander of special operations. He previously was a disciplinary review officer in the departments professional standards division.

His background in special operations, professional standards and patrol services makes him an excellent fit for this agency, as well as our Capitol Square stakeholders, said Col. John McKee, who became chief of Capitol Police in April after serving in an interim capacity for several months after the retirement of Col. Steve Pike. We are fortunate to be able to bring on someone with such a strong track record of service in the Richmond region.

Capitol Police, established in 1618 to guard the colonial governor in Jamestown, provides 24-hour-a-day security for the 140 members of the General Assembly, the governor and his family, the lieutenant governor and attorney general, members of the Virginia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals, thousands of state employees in the seat of state government and more than 100,000 visitors to the Capitol complex each year.

Now based in the renovated Old City Hall, the division has jurisdiction in the city beyond Capitol Square, working with Virginia State Police, Richmond police and other law enforcement and emergency response agencies in the region. A legislative branch agency, Capitol Police employs 125 sworn officers and civilian support staff.

A native of New York, Gleason has a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Hilbert College and graduated from the FBI National Academy.

He joined the Richmond Police Department in 1998 as a patrol officer and a member of the crowd management team. In 2005, he was promoted to sergeant and became a member of the departments special investigations team. He was promoted to lieutenant in 2012 and captain in 2015. He worked in the professional standards division in 2019 and 2020, before taking command of special operations.

PHOTOS: Demonstrations around Richmond for Lobby Day 2021 A car in downtown Richmond for car rally demonstrations Monday. Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 Pro-gun car rally in Richmond 2021 T-shirts for sale Pro-gun rally in Richmond 2021 9th Street Japharii Jones and Earl Lewis with BLM 757 -- HIDE VERTICAL GALLERY ASSET TITLES --
A deputy commissioner of behavioral health will lose his job as part of a reorganization of the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services.

Commissioner Nelson Smith told department employees earlier this month that he will eliminate the job of deputy commissioner for administrative services, held by Cort Kirkley, who has been with the department for nearly five years after a career that included high-ranking finance positions at the former Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, the Medical Society of Virginia and the Rockbridge Area Community Services Board.

Kirkley, who also serves as the agencys chief administrative officer, has not yet left the department in the layoff, according to Meghan McGuire, the departments deputy commissioner for policy and public affairs.

Administrative services will report instead to Smiths chief of staff, Andrew Diefenthaler, who has worked at the department for more than 10 years after spending nearly 16 years as a senior budget and policy analyst at the Department of Planning and Budget.

Smith told employees on Nov. 13 that he is making the change to expand our strategic planning, project management, and quality capabilities.

The shakeup is aimed at carrying out the Right Help, Right Now reforms promised by Gov. Glenn Youngkin to improve delivery of services for people facing psychiatric or substance use crises.

The reorganization includes the creation of an Office of Strategic Planning and Execution, which will report directly to the commissioner, who told staff that he also is considering the creation of a new office for delivery of behavioral and developmental disability services at the community level.

Youngkins reforms have focused on expanding crisis services, launching new mobile crisis teams and expanding places where people in a mental health crisis can go for immediate help, including an innovative effort to set up psychiatric emergency rooms, one in Hampton and a second in Chesapeake.

Youngkin and Secretary of Health and Human Resources John Littel have said the initial focus on crisis services is a first step toward a transformation that would include beefed-up preventive and post-hospitalization services.

However, the reorganization at DBHDS also comes as Youngkin is pushing state agencies to find savings of up to 10% in their operating budgets as he prepares a two-year budget for presentation to the General Assembly money committees on Dec. 20.

Two prominent state government operations  the Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority and the Department of General Services  recently lost their longtime leaders to early retirement, while under pressure to reduce operating costs.

There is certainly nothing wrong with looking for efficiencies, but I remain concerned that this administration is not looking for ways to better serve those in need, but rather is trying to justify further tax cuts, said Sen. Creigh Deeds, D-Charlottesville, chairman of the Virginia Behavioral Health Commission and a budget negotiator with the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee.

McGuire said the changes at the behavioral health agency are designed to improve the delivery of critical services.

Last year, the department reorganized its state facilities division, which oversees nine mental hospitals, a training center for people with severe developmental disabilities, a general medical center and a facility for behavioral rehabilitation of sex offenders who have served criminal sentences.

McGuire said the reorganization enabled the facilities to function more like a true hospital system with better coordination, more efficiencies, and targeted metrics.

Smith, in his message to staff, wrote the department is seeing a multitude of benefits from the new structure, which is why he is making more changes, beginning with the elimination of the role of deputy commissioner for administrative services.

McGuire said the new organization, by consolidating oversight by the commissioner and his chief of staff, works to break down the traditional silos that develop as a state agency.

This change helps (DBHDS) administrative offices better achieve programmatic and operation objectives while keeping the trains moving day-to-day, she wrote in an email message. And it allows us to shift limited resources to develop more capability to implement plans and meet strategic goals to improve Virginias behavioral health system.

From the Archives: Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital Central State Hospital
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited military troops in Gaza on Monday and received security briefings amid a ceasefire with the Hamas militant group.

Netanyahu said they would continue the fight until the end and until they achieved victory against their attackers. In a video statement, the Israeli prime minister said nothing would stop them. His remarks were made while being surrounded by Israeli soldiers and he was seen wearing protective gear.

Netanyahu's Trip to Gaza

It was not immediately clear when Netanyahu visited the troops as the Israeli government withheld information about his visit until he exited the Palestinian enclave. However, he was most likely in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli military has established control.

The visit was the prime minister's first to Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli ground invasion nearly a month ago. Officials who traveled with him included his national security adviser, Tzachi Hanegbi, and his military secretary, Maj. Gen. Avi Gil, and the Israeli military's deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, as per the New York Times.

The Israeli government also released photographs that showed Netanyahu wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and a khaki flak jacket and helmet. He was looking at a map and consulting with commanders while standing inside a tunnel the military had recently exposed.

The ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas militant group started on Friday and is part of a deal that includes the release of at least 50 Israeli hostages by the latter. This would be in exchange for at least 150 Palestinian prisoners and increased aid for Gaza.

The Middle Eastern nation has offered to extend the ceasefire by one day for every additional ten hostages that Hamas releases. On Sunday evening, the militant group announced that it sought to extend the truce, which was initially set to expire on Tuesday.

During his visit, Netanyahu also said that they were making every effort to return the hostages home and pledged to bring back all of them. According to AA, the four-day humanitarian pause was mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the United States.

Read Also: How Israel's AI Usage Can Reduce Unwanted Civilian Casualties

Releasing of Hostages

The development comes as Israel launched a military campaign in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas militant group's attack on Oct. 7. The fighting has since resulted in the death of at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and more than 4,000 women.

The latest batch of hostages that Hamas released totaled 17, including 14 Israelis and the first American. Some of the hostages were directly handed over to Israel, while others traveled through Egypt. The Israeli military said that one of the hostages was airlifted directly to a hospital.

In a statement, United States President Joe Biden said that the elderly woman was "very sick and was in need of immediate medical help." The latest batch of released hostages range in age from four to 84. They included Abigail Edan, the youngest whose parents were killed in the initial Hamas assault, said Inquirer.

Related Article: Israel, Hamas Begin Exchanging Prisoners, Hostages

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
National Guard arrest American with $56,000 in unclaimed cash

Tijuana, Baja California  An American man found attempting to enter Mexico with unclaimed cash has been arrested. The arrest of the unnamed man happened at the Tijuana Customs check at the Baja California border with the U.S.

Baja California members of the National Guard (GN) and the National Customs Agency of Mexico (ANAM ) arrested a person who intended to enter Mexican territory in possession of more than $56,000 USD in cash and checks, the agency reported in a statement.

The man was taken into legal custody after failing to prove he declared the money with Mexicos tax administration  Servicio de Administracion Tributaria (SAT).

Personnel from the Agencia Nacional de Aduanas de Mexico (ANAM) found the cash during an X-ray inspection at the El Chaparral checkpoint. The money was found stashed in his backpack.

In the backpack they located wads of bills as well as five checks of different amounts. When questioning him about the amount he had he said it was $20,000 dollars. They asked if he had the corresponding declaration before SAT and he stated that he did not have it, thereby violating Article 9 of the Customs Law, the agency explained in a statement.

To corroborate, staff counted the amount of $47,300 USD in cash and five checks that totaled $9,543.08 in foreign currency. The total of the cash and collectible documents was $56,843.08 dollars, which according to the exchange rate of the day, is equivalent to more than 981,000 Mexican pesos, they added.

The unnamed American man was detained and registered in the National Registry of Detentions and, together with the bills and checks, were made available to the Federal Public Ministry Agency of Baja California.

Last week, a Canadian man was arrested from inside the Cancun International Airport after being found in possession of $300,000 in unclaimed money.
Boring a tunnel to allow a natural gas pipeline to cross under Interstate 81 will be an around-the-clock job that may take the rest of this year.

Mountain Valley Pipeline was given permission last week by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to drill horizontally  24 hours a day, seven days a week  about 50 feet below I-81 in Montgomery County, just north of the Ironto exit.

The boring, which will be largely out of view to passing motorists, is not expected to impact traffic, according to Jason Bond, a spokesman for the Virginia Department of Transportation.

A contractor doing the work started Nov. 9, and a week later had progressed only about 20 feet. The interstate crossing is 329 feet wide. Its going pretty slowly because theyre in solid rock, Bond said on Nov. 17.

The project is expected to be completed late this year or early next year, according to Bond.

In a request to FERC filed Oct. 13, Mountain Valley said it needed to work 24-7 in order to improve feasibility/constructability of the crossing of Interstate 81 and reduce the risk of bore collapse.

Such a risk exists with any construction-related boring project, and one measure MVP can take to reduce this risk is to bore continuously, Mountain Valley spokeswoman Natalie Cox wrote in an email.

Drilling has already been completed successfully under many of the primary and secondary roads that the pipeline must cross on its 303-mile path from northern West Virginia, through the New River and Roanoke valleys, to connect with an existing pipeline near the North Carolina line.

Mountain Valley completed crossings of U.S. 221 and the Blue Ridge Parkway in the Bent Mountain area in 2018, before legal challenges began to delay work on the $7.2 billion project.

Construction resumed this summer after Congress passed a law fast-tracking completion of the pipeline, which it said will serve a national interest by increasing the countrys energy supply.

VDOT has issued permits for the pipeline to pass under about 60 state-maintained roads in the counties of Giles, Craig, Montgomery, Roanoke, Franklin and Pittsylvania.

Boring generally entails digging two pits on either side of a road. Drilling equipment is then placed in one of the pits, and a channel for the pipeline is then bored horizontally across to the other pit. A similar method is being used to cross some of the streams and wetlands along the buried pipelines route.

For the I-81 project, construction crews will install vinyl blankets or plywood around water pumps to reduce noise. The steps are required to bring nighttime noise levels below FERC-imposed limits for the closest two homes, which are 1,200 and 675 feet away.

FERC is also requiring the use of lighting that shines downward.

Construction of the controversial project has been repeatedly delayed by lawsuits from environmental and community groups, who say that running a 42-inch diameter pipe across steep slopes and through clear-running streams will do serious harm to the regions natural resources.

Mountain Valley hopes to complete most major construction by years end. Final work, including testing and commissioning, will be done early next year. The company says the pipeline will begin to transport natural gas to East Coast markets by late March.
MARTINSVILLE  Two people have been arrested in Henry County related to a kidnapping and larceny of a vehicle that occurred in Eden, North Carolina.

Gary Lee Alverson, 40, and Sarah Michele Newton, 35, were arrested Thursday and charged with first-degree kidnapping and larceny of a motor vehicle.

On Wednesday, a mother parked her 2016 Honda Odyssey just outside Lees Little Explorers Child Care Center in Eden and left the engine running, the doors unlocked and her 1-year-old child in the vehicle while she walked other children into the day care to drop them off. Witnesses said they saw a man and a woman get into the vehicle and drive off, a release stated.

At 9:05 a.m., Eden police responded to the day care after receiving a report of the abduction, and at 9:18 a.m. they received another call saying that someone had rung the doorbell of a residence on Settlement Loop Road and left the child in a car seat on the porch. The caller described seeing a white female with short brown or reddish hair running to a white van parked in the roadway and getting into the passenger seat. The vehicle then left the area, headed toward Highway 770, the caller said.

Investigators recovered the child, who was unharmed, and returned the child to the mother.

On Thursday, police received a call from a resident in Henry County who said he or she had seen the two people wanted for the abduction and vehicle larceny, and police arrested them at an undisclosed location in Henry County.

Alverson and Newton have previous addresses from Bardstown, Kentucky, about a seven hour drive from Eden and Henry County. Both are in jail in Henry County, awaiting extradition to Rockingham County, North Carolina, the release said.

The release did not state whether Alverson and Newton were wanted in Kentucky, what their connection with Eden, or Henry County may be, or why they may have stolen a vehicle with a child in it at the daycare. The release also did not state whether the vehicle had been recovered.
ABINGDON  After 125 years and four families of owners, one of Abingdons oldest fixtures in town is going out of business in the coming weeks.

Greer Jewelers, an independently owned store front will close its doors after Christmas when owners Susie Buckner and her brother in-law Carson Jackson retire from a business that has served generations of families in the community.

The owners are currently liquidating the merchandise at discounts from 30% to 80%, and plan to sell the inventory until everything is gone.

It was a hard decision but the time just seemed right, said Buckner, 68, who has owned and operated the business for 48 of those years.

I dont know what its going to be like when I flip that light switch off for the last time, but after this many years Im ready to do something different.

Neta Farmer, executive vice president of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce, helped celebrate the longevity of the business by conducting a ribbon tying event last week, the opposite of a ribbon cutting ceremony.

Farmer said a ribbon tying is a new trend among chambers of commerce throughout the country. This is the first one we have done, she said.

During the informal ceremony at the store, Farmer closed the ends of a ribbon held at each end by the two owners, symbolizing the closing business being united to the chamber of commerce, customers, friends, and family.

They are one of our oldest members, said Farmer. Our members are our life blood of the Chamber. Were always looking for ways to go above and beyond for our members in the community.

Many memories

Greer Jewelers has enjoyed a steady flow of traffic since the closing was announced earlier this month.

Customers are sharing their memories of the store while browsing the shelves.

A cute young couple came in and told us his grandfather bought his grandmother an engagement ring at the store years ago. A lady came in today to buy a piece of jewelry that she could keep to remember us by. Weve heard so many sweet stories, related Buckner.

Its bittersweet  we say that word a lot lately because its sad. Greer Jewelers is sort of an institution in Abingdon. Its a fixture in town. Its hard to imagine it not being here, Buckner said.

A brilliant history

The jewelry store, known for its eye-catching decorative store windows on Main Street, also has a brilliant history.

Buckner and Jackson are the fourth owners to operate the business which actually began 125 years ago.

The store was started in the late 1800s in downtown Abingdon by M.A. Barbee and Buck Hagy, and was named the Barbee Hagy Jewelry Store. The business was later sold to the McChesney Lester family who also owned a jewelry store on State Street in Bristol.

When they decided to retire, Aline Greer, an employee at the store, and her family purchased the business, naming it Greer and Son Jewelers. In 1959, the owners built the store that currently occupies the business.

At the age of 20, Buckner went to work for the Greers, working for the family for nearly 10 years.

When they decided to retire, they offered the business to my family and me and we changed the name to Greer Jewelers Inc., Buckner said.

Buckners sister Judy, her husband Carson, their mother Millie Woody, and Buckner all worked together until Judy left to pursue a career and their mother retired as the bookkeeper in the early 2000s.

Its always been a family-run business, Buckner said.

Their employees also have deep connections to the business.

Doris Tyler of Abingdon started working at the store when she was only 12, making bows for the gift wrapping. She still works here, Buckner laughed. I think shes the longest employee of Greer Jewelers.

Penny Arrington Hite said shes shopped at the store since she was as young as 14, picking out small pieces of jewelry back in the day when the owners allowed customers to charge. Sometimes it would be $2 and sometimes it was $10.

Mary Alice Bodenhorst, a longtime customer, was present during the ceremony at the store. Ive been a customer since we moved to Abingdon in 1976. This store is where Ive bought all my Christmas and wedding gifts, my children got their fine china here when they got married.

William Denton, a partner in White Birch Kitchen & Juice Bar in Abingdon, remembers shopping with his mother when he was a young child. There used to be a bench that sat over there, said Denton pointing to the front of the store. I stood and climbed all over that bench, he laughed.

Ive bought all my jewelry here. This place is like family to me, said Denton.

Timeless treasures

Buckner and Jackson have seen many changes in the jewelry industry throughout their careers. Customer tastes have evolved from faddish items like mood rings, and identification and charm bracelets.

But, something that has stood the test of time are the timeless pieces, such as beautiful strands of pearls and diamond solitaire pendants, she said.

During the 1880s, she speculates the best sellers were fine china, crystal and silver, along with pocket watches, wedding rings and brooches.

I think jewelry became more accessible to people during the early 1900s, said Buckner. Mr. Hagy was a watch maker and did repairs. And, back in the day, they did eye exams and fitted customers with glasses.

As a small family-owned business, they have always tried to put customer service first, she said.

Thats what sets us apart from other businesses. We go the extra mile for our customers. We know our customers. They are our friends, the people we go to church with and see at club meetings. We know their children and their grandchildren, Buckner said.

Were just like a big family.
As organizations get geared up for Giving Tuesday, held every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, heres a story about a Fredericksburg student who gives almost half of his allowance every week to others.

Luke Finlayson is 9 and a fourth-grader at Hugh Mercer Elementary School. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when so many medical issues were in the news, he decided to give some of his weekly allowance to help.

His earnings usually total $7, depending on how many chores he does, and Luke began to set aside $3 each week for the Mary Washington Hospital Foundation. Long after the pandemic ended, the younger son of Ian and Caitie Finlayson has continued his giving ways.

I like helping others, he said. I dont know, it just feels like the right thing.

His efforts came to the attention of Tamra Wheeler, Mary Washington Healthcares public relations coordinator, who talked with the foundations leadership.

Everyone agreed that we have a budding philanthropist in the making, she said.

Wheeler invited Luke to a recent meeting of the foundations board of directors, where he met Mayor Mary Katherine Greenlaw and received a resolution signed by Xavier Richardson, foundation president, and Joe Wilson, board chair.

It praised his heartfelt donations, noting that he is the kindling that sparks change through his acts of charity.

He understands it is not how much he gives but how much love he puts into giving, states the resolution. When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.

His mother said how lovely it was that he was treated like a big donor, and how cool it was to meet at Mary Washington Hospital, where Luke was born.

Neither was sure how much hes given since 2020. He usually sets aside his $3, which is 43% of his weekly pay, until hes got $20 or $30 stuffed in an envelope.

Hes done such a great job and been diligent about it, she said.

Luke, who wants to rescue animals when he grows up, has one older brother, Ryan.

People across the globe will get their chance to help others on Giving Tuesday, which originated in 2012 with a simple idea, encourage people to do good, according to the campaign website. The actions can take the form of helping neighbors, performing random acts of kindness or giving to charitable causes which often have donors who will match every contribution, dollar-for-dollar.

Local efforts range from supporting performing arts in the region through ArtsLive! to helping the Friends of the Rappahannock plant more than 75,000 trees, from assisting the disAbility Resource Center in its quest to Give the Gift of Independence to providing meals this holiday season through the Fredericksburg Regional Food Bank.
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DBS/POSB, UOB and OCBC customers can now digitally lock up their money, from which funds cannot be withdrawn online. (PHOTO: REUTERS/Edgar Su) (Edgar Su / reuters)

SINGAPORE  Customers of DBS/POSB, UOB, and OCBC bank can now "lock up" their money in bank accounts that will not allow the funds to be digitally transferred out.

The security feature, which will only allow for in-person withdrawals or transfers at bank branches, is set to be launched by UOB and OCBC on Thursday (30 November), while DBS/POSB announced the progressive roll out of its digiVault from Monday (27 November) to 7 December.

The added security measure is designed to prevent scammers from digitally funnelling customers' funds out of a compromised bank account and is part of broader anti-scam efforts by the three banks.

DBS/POSB digiVault and Fixed Deposit Lock

The DBS/POSB digiVault enables customers to store their money digitally in a designated account with the security of a physical vault. Customers will need to visit a DBS/POSB branch personally to verify their identity and make a request in order to access or transfer funds in the digiVault. The closing of a digiVault account will also need to be done at a DBS/POSB branch.

Applications for a digiVault account requires an existing DBS/POSB account and can be done online via the DBS/POSB digibank. The process to set it up can be done within a minute, according to the bank. Customers will need to locate the digiVault button under the "Apply" section on the "more" tab. Upon approval, customers will receive a push notification in digibank and can start to deposit funds in digiVault.

In addition to the digiVault, DBS/POSB announced that all customers can now choose to lock up their fixed deposits  as an enhanced security feature  from Monday onwards. The bank said that with the introduction of this new option to lock their fixed deposits, customers would reduce the risk of scammers prematurely withdrawing their fixed deposit funds digitally, should there be any unauthorised access to customers' phones and accounts.

Story continues

Customers can request to lock their fixed deposit accounts online through "digibot", which can be accessed via the bank's digiVault page or digibank online. Upon launching "digibot", customers will need to enter "Fixed Deposit Lock" and will be prompted to authenticate the request.

After successful authentication, customers must select the existing fixed deposit account they wish to lock up and confirm the request. The request will then take around two working days to be processed. Once locked, customers will receive an email notification to inform them that their fixed deposit has been successfully locked.

Like the digiVault, all customers will have to personally visit a DBS/POSB branch and verify their identity in order to unlock their fixed deposits.

UOB LockAway

The UOB LockAway account is the bank's version of the money lock-up security feature that can be opened digitally via the bank's website and UOB TMRW app or at the bank's physical branches starting from 30 November.

Funds deposited in the UOB LockAway Account will be "locked away" from all online transactions, such as digital payments and outbound transfers.

Customers can only access their locked-up funds at the bank's physical branches by presenting their identity cards or passports to branch staff for verification before any transactions can be made. UOB said it is also evaluating ATM withdrawals as an additional mode of cash dispensation and may introduce the feature soon, subject to customer feedback.

There will be no minimum initial deposit or balance requirement on the LockAway account. As an additional safeguard, the bank said that no cheque book will be issued either, and existing cards cannot be linked to it. Account holders will still be able to view their balances and deposit funds into the account digitally.

UOB added that customers' funds held in the UOB LockAway Account will also enjoy interest on their deposits, with rates to be announced in the coming days.

OCBC Money Lock

Similarly, OCBC will roll out the OCBC Money Lock feature starting 30 November and will be available to all new and existing OCBC current and savings accounts without needing to open a separate or new account. The money lock feature can be done through the OCBC Digital app or internet banking site.

With OCBC Money Lock, customers can opt to lock funds in their existing accounts, thus preventing the funds from being digitally transferred or used for unauthorised transactions.

Customers can only unlock their funds in person at OCBC branches or OCBC ATMs located there. The ATM unlock feature will be expanded to all OCBC ATMs island-wide by the end of December 2023.

OCBC added that the locked funds will continue to accrue interest, as the interest calculation will include both locked and unlocked funds in the account. Customers of the bank can choose the amount they wish to lock up, with the minimum being S$10 and the maximum subject to the user's available account balance.

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Andrea shares her story of leading a secret double life as a teacher in Singapore by day and BDSM dominatrix at night. (Photo: Getty Images)

My name is *Andrea. Im a cisgender teacher in my 30s in Singapore by day and a professional dominatrix by night. My journey into this unique world started about four years back when a friend introduced me to the BDSM lifestyle, which is growing among young Singaporeans.

It all began with an unexpected connection on Bumble BFF after I matched with a person who I did not realise was a trans woman. *Carissa, as she went by, shared her love for dressing up and wearing makeup. I had enjoyed speaking to Carissa, and after a few days, we decided to meet so I could give her some clothes I no longer wear and get to know each other better.

Little did I know, this encounter would open doors to a whole new world.

Learning the dominatrix world

When we met, Carissa shared more about her life and difficulties with dating and dating apps. It was then that she bravely shared her unique interest in the bedroom. Cass, as I affectionally call her, enjoyed being told what to do by a strong female figure.

Through Cass, I discovered the intricate world of a dominatrix. I learned about dominance and submission as I asked her more about the lifestyle.

Patiently, Cass shared what it was like to be a submissive (or sub, for short) and how she had met other subs in the community, too. She told me about her first encounter with a dominatrix and what the experience was like.

According to Cass, the first few meetings were tame and involved the mistress ordering Cass around the house and teaching her how to apply makeup. Eventually, their meetings evolved and became more sexual. Unfortunately, as the dominatrix moved overseas, their relationship had to end. Since then, Cass has been looking for a new mistress to obey.

Cass also shared how much she paid for each session with her mistress. It was then that I realised how lucrative being a dominatrix could be.

On average, Cass paid $500 per session. According to Cass, though, highly experienced dominatrixes could ask for $800 to $1,000 per session.

Story continues

Financial temptation

While Andrea loves her job as a teacher, she wasn't earning enough. Wanting to make more money, she knew she had to explore other options. (Photo: Getty Images)

While I love my job as an educator, I didnt make much money. My full-time job was enough to sustain most of my living expenses, but I had to look for a second job if I wanted more.

Seeing just how much a dominatrix could make, I thought it was worth exploring this option and having someone like Cass show me the ropes from a submissives perspective.

Before I even began my journey as a dominatrix, I spent months researching the role to understand more about the various dominatrix practices, safety considerations, and its psychological aspects.

Cass also introduced me to the social media accounts of other dominatrixes so I could reach out to them and gain some form of mentorship and support. The community, as I found it, was supportive and kind.

Guided into the role

BDSM bondage cuffs. (Photo: Yahoo Lifestyle Singapore)

To my surprise, many of the people I spoke to were willing to provide insights, and one mistress, *Grace, even invited me to assist in their sessions, unveiling the careful balance of care and dominance in this world.

The first time I joined Graces session, she explained that her client had a praise and humiliation kink. The 38-year-old enjoyed being told what to do and praised for it.

Before the session began, Grace carefully communicated what the session would be about, introduced me, and explained the safety protocols we all needed to follow.

I could see how caring and communicative she was towards her client.

While she remained communicative throughout the session, Grace was fierce and dominating.

Seeing her clients interest, she made him clean her home while dressed in a maid costume. As he cleaned, she would purposefully spill things on the floor and make degrading comments about his work.

My job was to observe the session and ignore the client for that particular session.

I learned that defining the type of dominatrix I wanted to be and what my niche was essential.

According to Grace, my presence added to the humiliation he felt. After he was done cleaning, she took him into the room, where they completed the session. I won't go into too much detail about what that means.

After the session, Grace checked in with her client, asking him how he felt and whether there was anything she could do to improve the session. Her genuine concern for her client and her ability to connect with him on an emotional level helped create a safe space for him to explore his kink safely.

She also shared that she would often text her clients to ask how theyve been and share ideas of what could be done in the following sessions to keep them excited.

Having been a dominatrix for almost 15 years by that point, Grace says going the extra mile and maintaining a relatively small roster of loyal clients allows her to connect with them better.

Through Grace, I learned that defining the type of dominatrix I wanted to be and what my niche was essential.

Parallels in roles

Andrea likened her dominatrix journey to her teaching philosophy. (Photo: Getty Images) (Artrotozwork via Getty Images)

Transitioning from teaching to dominatrix, I found similarities in understanding individual needs, just like my diverse students. While different, both roles demanded communication, responsibility, and a deep understanding of the other person.

In my opinion, learning to become a dominatrix was similar to my journey of becoming an educator.

In an educational setting, I needed to embody the teaching philosophy I believed in and the type of teacher I wanted to be. Every student I taught was different, and enjoyed being approached differently. Some students dont respond to stern teachings while others do, so, as a teacher, I really needed to make sure I understood what my students were like and how best I could help them.

Learning to become a dominatrix was similar to my journey of becoming a teacher.

While the nature of my work as a dominatrix isnt like what I do at work full-time, a part of me feels that the principles are pretty similar.

I needed to learn and understand what my clients were interested in, and I needed to continue becoming communicative, explaining what I was doing and why I was doing it. I was also responsible for everything during the session, like my clients safety, and cleanliness, and checking in on them after each session.

Unique client connections

Some dommes form strong attachments with their subs. (Photo: Getty Images) (Fuse via Getty Images)

My first client was Cass friend, *Arthur, who had a mild pain kink. I was nervous about doing a session alone, but thankfully, this was also Arthurs first time with a professional domme.

After our session, we debriefed and discussed what could have been done better. I remained Arthurs domme for about a year, helping him explore his kinks before he met his life partner and moved on.

One thing people dont often speak about when it comes to being a domme is how much of an attachment or bond we might have with our subs.

Theres also an emotional side that comes with seeing their (subs) growth, learning about them, and connecting with them.

Besides the fact that many of these subs become regular sources of income, theres also an emotional side that comes with seeing their growth, learning about them, and connecting with them.

Ill admit that I got emotional the first few times a client left me.

However, as I always try to keep my relationships with my subs positive, we usually end on a good note and become friendly.

The fear of others finding out what I do

Andrea found solace and guidance within her supportive community. (Photo: Getty Images) (Hans Neleman via Getty Images)

Another challenge I face is the possibility of my students parents or my colleagues finding out what I do.

Thankfully, Ive hardly encountered anyone I know through the apps, forums, or social media platforms I use to meet new clients. Ive also dealt with the moral dilemma of what I do.

Growing up in Singapore with Asian parents, I was taught that sex or any sort of sexual act before marriage was wrong.

And, if these things are wrong before marriage, imagine what my ancestors would think about what I do and how it helps pleasure others.

While no one has found out what I do, I sometimes drive myself crazy thinking that I dont deserve to be a teacher.

While no one has found out what I do, I sometimes drive myself crazy thinking that I dont deserve to be a teacher and sometimes think Im a terrible person.

As none of my closest friends know what I do, I often turn to others in the community whenever I feel down or disheartened. Thankfully, many in the community are helpful. As many of them face the same emotions I do, we help each other.

To continue or retire?

As I approach my fifth year as a dominatrix in 2024, Ive saved up quite a bit from my clients, and Ive thoroughly enjoyed my work thus far. While Ive contemplated ending my journey as a domme, I dont think Im ready to give it up just yet.

Im happy with the financial freedom the job brings me. At the same time, Ive also realised there are kink communities overseas that I could meet with.

Its also difficult to see what my future will be like as a domme.

Maybe one day Ill retire, and start helping others the way Ive been helped. Maybe Ill make more inroads as an educator and end my career as a domme because its just too risky.

Life as a dominatrix, despite its challenges, has been a revelation for me, offering financial freedom and emotional connections that transcend societal norms.

*Names and certain details have been changed for privacy. As told to Arika Kim.

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.
New Zealand's now cancelled legislation is thought to have been the basis for the proposed law in England (Jonathan Brady/PA Archive)

New Zealands new government will ditch a new law to ban smoking for future generations to help pay for tax cuts despite warnings from health experts.

The country passed legislation in 2022 that introduced a steadily rising smoking age to stop those born after January 2009 from ever being able to legally buy cigarettes. The law was aimed at preventing thousands of smoking-related deaths and saving the health system billions of dollars.

The legislation is believed to have been the basis for the plan in the UK to phase out smoking for future generations.

The proposed New Zealand law included dramatically reducing the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products, allowing their sale only through special tobacco stores. It included cutting the number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes from 6,000 to just 600 nationwide.

The legislation was due to come to effect from July 2024.

But as part of its coalition agreement with populist New Zealand First, the government has ditched the plans.

Finance minister Nicola Willis said the measures will be axed with the revenue from cigarette sales going towards the coalitions tax cuts.

The prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said the reversal would prevent a hidden tobacco market cropping up and stop shops from being targeted for crime.

But is there anywhere in the world that has banned smoking completely?

Where is smoking banned?

There is no complete ban on smoking on any country in the world and New Zealand was set to be the first to make it illegal to buy tobacco.

But there are strict smoking laws throughout the world.

Thailand banned smoking on its most popular tourist beaches in 2017.

Smoking in all public places in Bhutan became illegal in February 2005, making it the first nation in the world to outlaw this.

A total of 17 European Union countries have well-enforced comprehensive smoke-free legislation in place, according to the EU.

Among these, Ireland, Greece, Bulgaria, Malta, Spain and Hungary have the strictest smoke-free provisions, with a complete ban on smoking in enclosed public places, on public transport and in workplaces, with only limited exceptions allowed.

Story continues

What are the laws in the UK?

The prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has pledged to raise the legal age for buying cigarettes in England by one year every year to reduce the amount of people smoking. The changes would need a vote in Parliament, just like the free votes for the ban on smoking in public places and raising the smoking age to 18.

In Mr Sunaks words, the proposed legislation would mean that a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette and that they and their generation can grow up smoke-free.

The prime minister said it would not be fair to stop someone from smoking who already did but he hoped that raising the legal age would prevent teenagers from picking the habit up in the first place.

The current legal age for buying cigarettes and other tobacco products across the UK is 18, the same as for alcohol. This is also the age at which teenagers become legal adults, enabling them to vote and exercise various other rights.

The legal age to buy cigarettes was raised from 16 in 2007 by the last Labour government, the first change to the age since 1908.

In July 2007, it also became illegal throughout the UK to smoke in any pub, restaurant, nightclub and most workplaces and work vehicles.
Pope Francis announced that he has lung inflammation. The Roman Catholic Church leader confirmed this after he missed his weekly Sunday appearance at window overlooking St. Peter's Square.

Every Sunday, the supreme pontiff usually stands at an overlooking window facing Rome's large plaza in front of St. Peter's Basilica. Surprisingly, he didn't do it on November 26. Instead, he gave his traditional noon blessing during a televised appearance from the chapel in the Vatican hotel where he lives. Here's what the bishop said.

Pope Francis Says He Has Lung Inflammation

ABC News reported that Pope Francis is suffering from lung inflammation. He confirmed that this was the reason why he wasn't able to appear at the window.

"Brothers and sisters, happy Sunday. Today I cannot appear at the window because I have this problem of inflammation of the lungs," said the supreme pontiff.

People who watched the footage said that the pope had a bandage on his right hand, saying it could be a cannula, a tube inserted into the body for fluid removal or delivery.

As of writing, the Vatican hasn't confirmed whether the religious leader is receiving intravenous or similar treatments. However, the announcement of Pope Francis raises questions because of what the Vatican shared recently.

Before announcing his lung inflammation, the Roman Catholic Church said the pontiff traveled to Rome's Gemelli hospital on the Tiberian Island on November 25. According to Vatican News, Pope Francis had a lung CT scan in connection with his flu-like symptoms.

The Vatican said that the test yielded negative test results. Because of this, the Roman Catholic Church said that the negative CT scan result already ruled out the risk of pulmonary complications.

Now that the religious leader has confirmed that he has lung inflammation, the statements that Pope Francis and the Vatican shared create a discrepancy, raising questions about the real health condition of the supreme pontiff.

Read Also: Vatican Announces Baptism for Transgender People, Church Welcomes LGBT Community

Pope Francis to Attend Dubai's COP28

Despite his current health condition, Pope Francis confirmed that he will still attend the upcoming COP28 (2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference), which will happen at the Expo City in Dubai on December 12.

The supreme pontiff said that aside from war and other global conflicts, the world is also threatened by "another great peril." Pope Francis explained that climate change also risks life on Earth, especially for future generations.

"I thank all who will accompany this voyage with prayer and with the commitment to take to heart the safeguarding of the common house," added the bishop.

Related Article: Pope Francis Fires Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Marimekko Singapore store at Ion Orchard. (PHOTO: Marimekko)

For most of us fashion fans who've been shopping long enough, would remember that Marimekko, the iconic Finnish design house, was operating in Singapore circa 2015 and left in 2018 under a different operator. This year, the house returns to our island "with an attitude," shared by Jay Chantarasakha, head of operations of Tanachira Retail Corporation. The lifestyle retail division of Thailands Tanachira Group has had success with over 13 concept stores in Thailand, and the Singapore outlet marks a strategic move for Marimekko as it focuses on scaling its business in international markets, especially in the Asia-Pacific region. Singapore, Marimekko's seventh market in Asia after Japan, Mainland China, Thailand, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan, is poised to accelerate brand awareness and positioning in the region.

Not just contented with a retail store, Tanachira Retail Corporation has created a "lifestyle concept store" that comprises retail and cafe at Ion Orchard, B1-12. Fans of Marimekko can expect to shop a unique blend of fashion, accessories, home decor and enjoy cafe culture, all under one roof.

To celebrate the grand opening, Yahoo Life Singapore got the chance to speak to Ms. Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President & CEO of Marimekko as well as Rebekka Bay, Creative Director of Marimekko.

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Shop Marimekko here Shop Marimekko x Adidas here

(From L to R): Rebekka Bay, Creative Director and Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President and CEO of Marimekko Singapore. (PHOTO: Marimekko)

Yahoo Life Singapore: Tiina, why is Marimekko keen on expanding in Asian territories?

Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko: Basically, we're very excited about this, as we feel that within the last year, Marimekko has really found a good recipe to bring joy to people around the world with our blueprints, colours and this lifestyle concept. And now when we're looking ahead, it's all about scaling up our brand phenomenon and growth, especially in the international markets. Asia represents the most important geographical region for our future international growth.

First of all, we have been building our presence in the market for over 10 years already. And we have found out that our brand really, authentically, resonates with people. So we know that there's a good brand match lifestyle match and the growth in these markets. And then thirdly, the partnership model that we have has proven to be a really good one because we can also learn from the partner about the market and the consumer. Being passionate about understanding the lifestyles and preferences of the local consumers is really, at the heart of us being successful. So the partnership model allows us to do that.

Rebekka, because of your background as a European designer, how do you feel about this expansion for Asia?

Rebekka Bay: I think over the recent years, we've actually addressed that, of course, we are expanding to Asia. So I think maybe, whereas previously, we very much had one collection, but now we're really focused on wanting to be consistent across all our markets. So the model we're working on is more modular, where we have our core collections, which are divided into what is our classics, which live on the shop floor for six months versus those that live for three months.

In addition to that, we now have these modules or capsules, that can be more region and market-specific. So for example, we are addressing the customer preferences in the sector, in the scale of print. As you know, we originate from a very cold climate and I think the learning curve that we are in now, is knowing how much of the core production should be in the market and how much we need to address specific needs.

I have never applied for a job. I didn't know how to go about this (laughs). So I asked people to write really nice reviews for me and I asked Tiina, 'Could I ask you to write a nice review of what you believed in?' And she was like, 'No!'Rebekka Bay, Creative Director of Marimekko

Does the company apply AI in any key divisions?

Tiina: So from end-to-end digitally and developing that is, of course, important from the company strategy point of view. We believe that data and new technologies provide a lot of opportunities to increase our efficiency, seamlessness and customer experience. The way that we look at these tools is mostly when it comes to sort of, operational excellence. I think that when it comes to design, actually, human integrity plays such an important role.

The cafe at Marimekko Singapore store at Ion Orchard. (PHOTO: Marimekko)

Rebekka: I think everyone's talking about is what is the role of AI in design. But for us, the art of printmaking is very important. Printmaking is not just applying to a surface; it is actually understanding that there is something to do with the hand, like what the hand does and feels when you're screenprinting. So it is extremely important for us to protect that. But in terms of our intuitive digital strategy, we are incorporating 3D design to a much larger degree  3D printing and the prototyping kind of process.

When you start modeling in 3D, before you make decisions, it actually allows you to be more creative in the process, because you can try out things. The 3D printing also allows us to, of course, shorten the prototyping, because instead of sending things back to print them out, we can first form an opinion.

With the rise of multiple trends like fast-fashion, quiet luxury and slow fashion, does Marimekko adopt any of these trends or is the brand charting its own terms?

Tiina: Our company was founded in 1951 by this visionary woman, Armi Ratia, who wanted to bring optimism and positive energy to people. That's how Marimekko was started to empower people to be happy and bring joy to their everyday lives through bold prints and colours. One of the key foundations and of course, the art of printmaking, is not just the unique design language, but also timelessness and long-lasting design. So Armi Ratia said that Marimekko is not about trendy fashion; it has never been as we walk our own path in life  that's a quote from the 1970s.

And if you think about the world that we're living in today, with an increasing kind of preference and placing a sort of importance on sustainability by consumers; we feel that this timelessness and long long-lasting design philosophy is extremely topical and and maybe even more topical than it has ever been before. So even in Finland, you can find in the vintage shops and market, vintage Marimekko pieces from the 50s to 70s, and I think that that is a true testament to a brand expanding its value of timelessness.

I think that the most important thing is that everybody has the courage to find their own passion in life. Because when you enjoy what you do, that's when you learn and want to learn, and that's how you develop and progress.Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President & CEO of Marimekko

Marimekko's bold and timeless prints continue to resonate with loyal consumers who seek fashion that stands out and makes a statement. How has the brand captured the younger consumers?

Rebekka: So acknowledging that wearing prints head-to-toe might not be for everyone. A few years back, we introduced a new concept called Kioski, as I was inspired by the idea of a souvenir shop where you can buy a monumental souvenir or a piece of clothing. I want to be careful with using the word 'younger' audience, as Kioski is more concerned with a youthful mindset more than just a demographic.

Tiina, I'm really interested in your career path, because you mentioned to us, that you started out as an intern and you've risen to the top; I love that. So what would your career advice be for those who like to be in management positions like yourself?

Tiina: I think that the most important thing is that everybody has the courage to find their own passion in life. Because when you enjoy what you do, that's when you learn and want to learn, and that's how you develop and progress. So at least personally, I think that has been the key, the kind of the guiding light in my career. I have felt that I've always been very lucky; I've been with the company for 18 years. But I think what I've reflected upon is that I have never actually kind of proactively progressed my career; I've always been very happy in the positions that I have had in the different years, and been very hungry and curious to learn. And, of course, I've been very, very lucky to have superiors and bosses, who have also allowed me the possibility to learn and develop.

I noticed that you have this vibrant and colourful personality but I was wondering if there's something you'd say no to?

Rebekka: I think you're spot on. But I think that's the one thing Tiina has to learn. I've known Tiina for a while now, as you can see. I think it's a new training ground, possibly post-pandemic, sort of?

Tiina: Yeah, I think during the pandemic, which was, of course, a big crisis. I think it showed us how important it is to focus on what is important. And then like, even in a situation where you have no visibility, and you have no idea whether you're doing the right thing, but then actually having the courage to then decide and follow through, and change direction, if that is needed  I think that experience actually sort of taught us to be also quite firm.

From L to R: Rebekka Bay, Creative Director and Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, President & CEO of Marimekko in Singapore. (PHOTO: Marimekko)

So Rebekka, what do you love most about working with Tiina?

Tiina: This is like a friend's quiz! (laughs)

I know, right?

Rebekka: Tiina is extremely good at creating loose frameworks. So you'll always know what the expectation is but you are also free to figure out how to work with it. It is amazing to work together and also hang out together. This sounds like we're teenagers (laughs) but of course, the most important thing is being in an organisation like ours, where we are extremely ambitious, I always feel like Tiina has my back. So it allows me to be bold and ambitious in whatever I do.

And Tiina?

Tiina: Rebekka is such a wise visionary. I've never met a person who has such a forward-looking, visionary view. At the same time, having the deepest understanding of our roots, and an amazing passion for the customers. You have such an amazing ability to think conceptually and philosophically, and then look into the future and translate the ethos of what we are into the future. I will just say that, you know, we spend so much time of our lives when we're at work, so it's important that we have fun. When we have fun at work, that translates to our customers.

I read somewhere that you mentioned you never really wanted to work in fashion. And now you're here. Do you see your life differently now?

Rebekka: I'm not someone who looks back at their life. Of course, I've tried to learn from my mistakes but I really don't have regrets. So I spent very little time imagining what could have been, as I spent a lot of time imagining what could be really. I've really strong intuition and I am surrounded by people who are really good at having a very strong business case. Of course, it's important to understand how to operate in a big organisation but I'm also constantly someone who's proposing new ways of working on new processes or new ways of thinking and I'm quite heavy in being the one who proposes the next step.

Whats a day in the life of Rebekka Bay like?

Rebekka: Let's do a good day. For me, a really good day is walking from home to work. I'm someone who needs physical activities to clear my mind. I definitely prefer working face-to-face with the team. I really thrive in this workshop way of working, especially ideation versus presentations. I also prefer my team to work with me. I hate signing off on things that I have not been involved with. An ideal day is a mix of working on tech, reflection and sort of dynamic. And then, of course, I am very lucky to be working between Helsinki and Copenhagen. So I try to take my management or role work more when I'm alone. And then when I'm in Helsinki, I could spend time with both teams.

Tiina: It was always a dream to work with Rebekka.

This brings me back to your career path when you previously worked with Gap, Cos and you left Uniqlo. Did you see this opportunity to grab Rebekka?

Rebekka: Should I tell this story?

Tiina: You go!

Rebekka: It's a really funny story. It was during the pandemic when I was working for Uniqlo at that time. I had a team in New York and I was working with another in Tokyo. I was so used to going back and forth, which made it manageable. But then of course, we went into lockdown and I would have to take meetings at 2am in the mornings and I lived in a loft with my husband and my son and I would drive them crazy. In an odd way, it made me subconsciously think maybe it's time to restart our lives. I also missed designing. I sort of missed designing, the European way of working. So I was thinking, maybe I need to make changes to my life. But I have never applied for a job. I didn't know how to go about this (laughs). So I asked people to write really nice reviews for me and I asked Tiina, 'Could I ask you to write a nice review of what you believed in?' And she was like, 'No!'

Tiina: I was like, 'Where are you going?' Rebekka had been part of our board of directors before, so that's how we have known each other for so long. That's what I meant by it was a dream to work (with Rebekka). And you know, it's been so much fun ever since.

Rebekka: I still don't know how to apply for a job (laughs).
Today is Monday, Nov. 27, the 331st day of 2023. There are 34 days left in the year.

Todays highlight

On Nov. 27, 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White. (White served five years for manslaughter; he took his own life in October 1985.)

On this date

In 1901, the U.S. Army War College was established in Washington, D.C.

In 1924, Macy's first Thanksgiving Day parade  billed as a "Christmas Parade"  took place in New York.

In 1942, during World War II, the Vichy French navy scuttled its ships and submarines in Toulon (too-LOHN') to keep them out of the hands of German troops.

In 1962, the first Boeing 727 was rolled out at the company's Renton Plant near Seattle.

In 1970, Pope Paul VI, visiting the Philippines, was slightly wounded at the Manila airport by a dagger-wielding Bolivian painter disguised as a priest.

In 1973, the Senate voted 92-3 to confirm Gerald R. Ford as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who'd resigned.

In 1998, answering 81 questions put to him three weeks earlier, President Bill Clinton wrote the House Judiciary Committee that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was "not false and misleading."

In 2000, a day after George W. Bush was certified the winner of Florida's presidential vote, Al Gore laid out his case for letting the courts settle the nation's long-count election.

In 2003, President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with U.S. troops and thank them for "defending the American people from danger."

In 2008, Iraq's parliament approved a pact requiring all U.S. troops to be out of the country by Jan. 1, 2012.

In 2015, a gunman attacked a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing three people and injuring nine. (The prosecution of suspect Robert Dear stalled in state court, and then federal court, after he was repeatedly found mentally incompetent to stand trial.)

In 2020, President Donald Trump's legal team suffered another defeat as a federal appeals court in Philadelphia roundly rejected the campaign's latest effort to challenge Pennsylvania's election results.

In 2021, the new potentially more contagious omicron variant of the coronavirus popped up in more European countries, just days after being identified in South Africa.

In 2022, protesters pushed to the brink by China's strict COVID measures in Shanghai called for the removal of the country's all-powerful leader and clashed with police as crowds took to the streets in several cities.

Today's birthdays: Footwear designer Manolo Blahnik is 81. Academy Award-winning director Kathryn Bigelow is 72. TV host Bill Nye (the Science Guy") is 68. Actor William Fichtner is 67. Caroline Kennedy is 66. Academy Award-winning screenwriter Callie Khouri is 66. Rock musician Charlie Burchill (Simple Minds) is 64. Actor Michael Rispoli is 63. Jazz composer/big band leader Maria Schneider is 63. Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is 63. Rock musician Charlie Benante (Anthrax) is 61. Rock musician Mike Bordin (Faith No More) is 61. Actor Fisher Stevens is 60. Actor Robin Givens is 59. Actor Michael Vartan is 55. Actor Elizabeth Marvel is 54. Rapper Skoob (DAS EFX) is 53. Actor Kirk Acevedo is 52. Rapper Twista is 51. Actor Jaleel White is 47. Actor Arjay Smith is 40. Actor Alison Pill is 38. Actor Lashana Lynch (TV: "Still Star-Crossed") is 36.

 Associated Press
SIOUX CITY -- A 24-year-old Sioux City man is dead after leading police on a pursuit and crashing a stolen vehicle on the city's north side.

Sioux City Police identified the man as Gunnar Lee Kratz in a statement. After the crash, Kratz was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. He was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the statement.

At 7:51 p.m. Sunday, officers attempted to stop a 2014 Dodge Charger that had been reported stolen earlier that day.

Kratz refused to stop for police and continued to elude officers through the city's west side and north side, according to the statement. He lost control of the vehicle and crashed in the 1700 block of Floyd Blvd.

Sioux City Police Sgt. Tom Gill said the vehicle Kratz was driving reached speeds in excess of 80 mph during the pursuit.

Kratz also led Sioux City police on a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle in 2018, according to court documents.

On March 16 of that year, law enforcement attempted to stop Kratz for driving 60 mph in a 50 mph zone in the southbound lanes of Interstate 29. Kratz accelerated to more than 100 mph, and police found that the gray 2006 Chevrolet Monte Carlo he was driving had been reported stolen from South Sioux City about five hours before.

Police pursued Kratz into South Sioux City and then back into Sioux City "on numerous Sioux City streets and highways," according to documents. The vehicle drove more than 40 mph over the speed limit and ran numerous stoplights and stop signs.

Kratz admitted to using meth approximately an hour before that pursuit.

Kratz pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to felony eluding and was sentenced to five years in prison. Charges of operating while intoxicated -- first offense and second-degree theft were dismissed.
SAC CITY, Iowa  There was "nothing new to report" Monday in the search for missing Wall Lake, Iowa truck driver David Schultz, the Sac County Sheriff's Office said in an update Monday.

Over the weekend, volunteers searched for Schultz in Wright, Webster, Calhoun and Sac County, according to the sheriff's office. Nothing was found. The search continued Monday.

Schultz, a 53-year-old married father of 10-year-old twin boys, vanished last week. He was last heard from in the early morning hours last Tuesday, according to the Lake View Police Department.

His truck was found Tuesday afternoon northeast of Sac City, parked on northbound U.S. Highway 71, about five miles north of the old U.S. Highway 20 intersection. The truck was reportedly turned off, but it wasn't pulled over, and the trailer was still loaded with young pigs.

The Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations is assisting the Sac County Sheriffs Office and the Lake View Police Department in this investigation. The United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit organization that organizes search and rescue teams, has been involved in the searches.

Northeast Sac County property owners have been asked to check their property and outbuildings for "anything out of the ordinary."

The Lake View Police Department has asked anyone who has seen or heard from Schultz to contact them at 712-657-2513. The Sac County Communications Center can be reached at 712-662-7127.
SIOUX CITY  The Woodbury County Law Enforcement Center Authority will provide recordings of their meetings on the county website.

The authority is unable to livestream the meetings like the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors, but they will be able to put video recordings up afterward, according to the board of supervisors.

The recordings will be available on the same page as the meeting and minutes of the LEC Authority and on YouTube. No indication was given as to how long it will take the recordings to be available after the meetings.

The idea was proposed last month during the board of supervisors' discussions on the jail project and its delay. Supervisors Matthew Ung and Jeremy Taylor proposed the idea.

It is unknown when the board will begin recording the videos and posting them. The videos will be available at www.youtube.com/@WoodburyLECAuthority
SAC CITY, Iowa -- A search along U.S. Highway 71 near Sac City for missing Wall Lake, Iowa truck driver David Schultz yielded "nothing of interest" Sunday, but a significant amount of land was scoured, one of the searchers wrote in a social media post Sunday evening.

Schultz, a 53-year-old married father of 10-year-old twin boys, vanished last week. He was last heard from in the early morning hours Tuesday, according to the Lake View Police Department.

His truck was found Tuesday afternoon northeast of Sac City, parked on northbound U.S. Highway 71, about five miles north of the old U.S. Highway 20 intersection. The truck was reportedly turned off, but it wasn't pulled over, and the trailer was still loaded with young pigs.

The United Cajun Navy, a nonprofit organization that organizes search and rescue teams, was involved in the search Sunday. Jake Rowley, Midwest team leader with the United Cajun Navy, wrote on Facebook that the search will continue Monday starting at 10:30 a.m., with a "command post" at Sparky's One Stop, a gas station near the intersection of U.S. Highway 20 and Highway 4, north of Rockwell City, Iowa.

"As we go into the week we understand that our numbers of volunteers will diminish please consider taking some time during the week if you are able to help," Rowley wrote on Facebook.

Schultz's wife, Sarah, echoed that sentiment in a Facebook post earlier in the day Sunday.

"Today is the last day of the weekend and we won't get the turnouts on weekdays like we do on the weekend. We are running short on daylight too," Sarah Schultz wrote Sunday.

Northeast Sac County property owners have been asked to check their property and outbuildings for "anything out of the ordinary."

The Lake View Police Department has asked anyone who has seen or heard from Schultz to contact them at 712-657-2513. The Sac County Communications Center can be reached at 712-662-7127.
A temporary truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended for two more days, the key mediator Qatar announced on Monday, which would have been the final day of the cease-fire.

In the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, 11 Israeli hostages, all women and children, were released from Hamas captivity Monday night in the Gaza Strip. Early Tuesday, 33 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons were freed and driven to the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

The truce deal has brought more shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza  although aid groups say that barely makes a dent in the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians who have endured weeks of Israeli siege and bombardment.

Mondays releases bring the number of Israelis freed to 50, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

Roughly 240 hostages were captured by Hamas in its Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

Currently:

 As freed hostages return to Israel, details of captivity emerge.

 Qatar is the go-to mediator in the Mideast war. Its unprecedented Tel Aviv trip saved a shaky truce.

 Suspect in U.S. shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent pleads not guilty.

 Elon Musk visits kibbutz attacked by Hamas.

 Representatives of European and Arab countries meet in Barcelona to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.

 U.S. Navy seizes attackers who held an Israel-linked tanker.

 With antisemitism rising as the Israel-Hamas war rages, Europes Jews worry.

 Find more of APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.

Heres what's happening in the war:

FREED PALESTINIAN PRISONERS ARRIVE IN WEST BANK CITY

A Red Cross bus carrying Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah early Tuesday.

Israels prison service said it was releasing 33 Palestinian prisoners in the fourth such release as part of the cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The prisoners were greeted by cheering crowds who surrounded the bus as it made its way through the streets of the West Bank city.

So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

THREE OF THE NEW HOSTAGES RELEASED FROM GAZA ARE FRENCH CITIZENS

France says three of the hostages released from Gaza on Monday were French citizens, all three children.

France welcomes the liberation of three of its children today: Eitan, Erez and Sahar, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement. They are now in security in Israel. We share the relief of their families and all those who mobilized for their freedom.

France thanked Egypt and the ICRC and for mediation efforts and Qatar for its decisive role in the release, and said the French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage. Frances president, foreign minister and defense minister have traveled to the region to push for the release of the hostages.

French media has identified the three children hostages as Franco-Israeli citizens Eitan Yahalomi, 12, Erez Calderon, 12, and Sahar Calderon, 16.

US SECRETARY OF STATE TO VISIT ISRAEL AND WEST BANK THIS WEEK

BRUSSELS  U.S Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East for the third time since Israels war with Hamas began, a senior State Department official said Monday.

Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering, the official said. The official spoke to reporters traveling with Blinken on condition of anonymity ahead a form State Department announcement.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee contributed.

11 MORE HOSTAGES RELEASED BY HAMAS ARE BACK IN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM  The Israeli military says 11 hostages have been released from Hamas captivity in the Gaza Strip late Monday

This is the fourth such release under a cease-fire deal with the Hamas military group. Israel is to free 33 Palestinian prisoners later Monday. The hostages were back on Israeli territory and undergoing initial medical checks before being reunited with their families.

The cease-fire had been set to expire early Tuesday. But Qatar, which has been mediating between the sides, said Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the truce by two more days.

Israeli media said the hostages included two women and nine children. Two of the children are 3 years old.

200 AID TRUCKS ENTER GAZA, ISRAEL SAYS

JERUSALEM - Around 200 container trucks brought humanitarian aid into Gaza on Monday after being inspected by Israel, including a small amount of fuel, according to the Israeli military body that handles civilian affairs.

Four containers carrying diesel fuel and four containers carrying cooking gas were transferred from Egypt to U.N. humanitarian aid organizations in the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, COGAT said in a statement.

The aid trucks brough food, water, shelter equipment, and medical supplies, the statement said.

FAMILY OF FREED 4-YEAR-OLD HOSTAGE SAYS SHE IS SAFE AND BEING EVALUATED AT A HOSPITAL

A day after 4-year-old Israeli American hostage Abigail Edan was released by Hamas, her family has given an update on the girl's well-being.

Abigail is still being evaluated at Schneider Childrens Medical Center, where she was taken immediately upon her release, the statement said.

The girl is safe and being looked after by her aunt, uncle and grandparents, the statement said. Her parents were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.

MULTI-NATION TASK FORCE WILL CRACK DOWN ON HAMAS FUNDING

WASHINGTON  A multi-nation financial task force is working to crack down on funding for Hamas and other militant groups, U.S. officials said Monday.

Financial Intelligence Units in 13 western nations are looking to more effectively coordinate on financial intelligence and information sharing, and created the task force shortly after Hamas' Oct. 7 incursion into Israel, according to a U.S. Treasury statement.

The task force members emphasized the importance of the private sector in achieving these goals, particularly in identifying and mitigating terrorists use of the global financial system, the Treasury statement said.

The U.S. State Department designated Hamas a terrorist group in 1997. The European Union and other Western countries also consider it a terrorist organization.

Co-chaired by Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, and the U.S., the task force includes Australia, Canada, Estonia, France, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Switzerland and the U.K.

QATAR SAYS ISRAEL AND HAMAS AGREE TO EXTEND TRUCE FOR TWO MORE DAYS

Qatars Foreign Ministry said Monday that an agreement has been reached to extend the Israel-Hamas truce for another two days.

The announcement, made by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary in post on X, came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the truce.

ELDERLY ISRAELI HOSTAGE STILL IN CRITICAL CONDITION A DAY AFTER RELEASE

The 84-year-old Israeli hostage Elma Avraham is still in critical condition a day after she was released from Hamas captivity and airlifted directly to a hospital, her doctors said Monday.

"If she wasnt brought to us yesterday, or if there was any delay in her arrival, her condition would have deteriorated further, Dr. Tzachi Slotsky, the deputy administrator of Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheba, said in a news conference.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother left Gaza just hours from death with a body temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (84 degrees Fahrenheit). Avraham is currently intubated and sedated, but Amano was able to tell her mother beforehand of a new great-grandchild born while she was in captivity.

Amano said her mother had several chronic conditions that required regular medication, but her health was stable before she was kidnapped. She said the family met multiple times with the Red Cross, medications in hand, imploring the aid group to find a way to get the medications to her mother.

We are so happy to see everyone who returned before her, waving and healthy, but my mother did not deserve to return this way, she was severely medically neglected, said Amano.

We are here today to try to save who is still left," Amano told reporters, "so someone will be able to convince the Red Cross and all the womens organizations to act, so someone will raise their voices and ask: Why are you there? What are you doing?

Responding to Avrahams comments, The International Committee of the Red Cross said Monday that they are currently unable to deliver medicine directly to hostages despite requests from family members.

As soon as we would have the right to visit the hostages, we will be ready with the necessary medicines and other aid in hand to deliver, said ICRC Media Chief Jason Straziuso, in a brief statement shared with The Associated Press.

We continue calling for access to the hostages, as weve done from Day 1, and we are ready to carry out those visits, he said. The statement did not offer details about what has prevented the organization from accessing hostages.

ELON MUSK VISITS A KIBBUTZ THAT WAS ATTACKED BY HAMAS

Elon Musk, whos been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants.

The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was stormed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahus office.

The platforms you lead, unfortunately, have a huge reservoir of hatred, hatred of Jews, and anti-Semitism, Israeli President Isaac Herzog told Musk during their meeting.

Its amazing what humans can do if there are fed lies since they were children, they will think that murdering innocents is a good thing, which shows how much propaganda can affect peoples minds, Musk said, according to a statement released by Herzogs office.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy declined to say whether Musk was invited or came on his own. X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Israels communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, posted on X earlier Monday about a deal that his ministry had reached with Musks Starlink satellite internet company.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Karhi wrote, without providing further details.

Musk had responded on X this month to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism by saying, You have said the actual truth.

PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS TRUCE MUST BE EXTENDED

BARCELONA, Spain  Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad al-Malki says the pause in fighting that is about to expire in the Israel-Hamas war must be extended to avoid more deaths in Gaza.

We have work so that this truce continues  so that Israel does not continue attacking, al-Malki said Monday at a meeting of delegations from members of the European Union and countries from north Africa and the Middle East in Barcelona, Spain.

The truce went into effect with 15,000 deaths. If we see the war resume, then the number of deaths will double because the concentration of the population is now twicefold, he said.

The population of Gaza has concentrated in the south of Gaza, he said, speaking in Spanish. So any attack that before killed one child will now kill two. That is why it is important to extend this truce.

Al-Malki is one of 42 representatives of different countries and territories attending the Union for the Mediterranean meeting, which is focused on the war that has raged since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

The pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas continued Sunday with a third day of releases of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. It was scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

FREED HOSTAGE WAS ABLE TO FLEE FROM CAPTORS FOR SEVERAL DAYS, AUNT SAYS

JERUSALEM  A 25-year-old Israeli Russian hostage who was released from Gaza on Sunday night told family members he was able to flee from his captors and hide within Gaza for a few days before being recaptured, his aunt told Israeli public radio, Reshet B.

He said he was taken by terrorists and they brought him into a building, but the building was destroyed (by Israeli bombing) and he was able to flee, Yelena Magid, the aunt of Roni Krivoi, said in an interview Monday.

He was trying to get to the border, but I think because he didnt have the resources to know where he was and which direction to flee, he had some trouble, Magid said. She added that he told her in a phone conversation that he was able to hide himself for about four days before Gaza residents discovered him and returned him to Hamas captivity.

One thing that gave us hope from the start is that hes a boy whos always smiling and he can figure things out in any situation, Magid said.

IN NORTH GAZAN TOWN, VIRTUALLY EVERY BUILDING IS DAMAGED

BEIT HANOUN, Gaza  In the north Gazan town of Beit Hanoun, virtually every building has been damaged by the ongoing conflict, some entirely leveled and others ripped open.

Associated Press videos captured on Monday show the extent of the destruction as the planned four-day truce between Israel and Hamas enters its final 24 hours.

A handful of residents searched beneath the rubble for anything of use or value. The U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA's Beit Hanoun school was one of few buildings still standing, but with holes in its walls and roof, likely caused by missile or artillery fire.

The war-ravaged city has been largely abandoned after Israel called for Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate and head for the south.

UN EXPERTS CALL FOR A FULL INVESTIGATION OF ANY WAR CRIMES

BERLIN  Experts from the United Nations have called for full and independent investigations into any crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.

The U.N. experts, Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said in a joint statement in Geneva on Monday that independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict.

They urged all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians, comply with their obligations under international law, and cooperate fully with investigations.

CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAD SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

BEIJING  Chinas top diplomat will travel to New York to lead a U.N. Security Council meeting on the war in Gaza on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting, spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced Monday. China currently holds the Security Council presidency.

China hopes that by holding this high-level meeting, we can ... contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realizing a cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, protecting civilians and ultimately promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue through a two-state solution, Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

The Chinese government has joined Arab states in calling for a cease-fire as Israel mounted counterattacks in response to the initial Hamas attack and taking of hostages. Hamas has released some hostages during a truce that began Friday in return for Israeli releases of Palestinian prisoners.

The pace towards peace, no matter how small, should be encouraged, and the difficulty in protecting civilians, no matter how daunting, should be overcome, Wang Wenbin said of the hostage and prisoner releases. We have repeatedly emphasized that violence cannot create real security and the use of force cannot bring lasting peace.

GERMANY TO HELP RECONSTRUCT HAMAS-DESTROYED COMMUNITIES IN ISRAEL

BERLIN  Germany says it will provide financial support for the reconstruction of communities destroyed by Hamas in Israel.

During a visit on Monday to Kibbutz Beeri, which was brutally attacked by Hamas on Oct. 7, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country would provide 7 million euros ($7.6 million) for the kibbutz in 2024. The money is for reconstruction of a cultural center and a meeting center for senior citizens, German news agency dpa reported.

It is far too early to think about reconstruction now, Steinmeier said during his visit, adding that nonetheless many residents who are currently staying elsewhere in Israel are already thinking about returning to Beeri.

Beeri and the many other kibbutzim deserve not only to be part of Israeli history, but above all to be part of Israels future, the German president said.

HEZBOLLAH WILL COMPENSATE LEBANESE WHOSE HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY ISRAEL, LAWMAKER SAYS

BEIRUT  A senior Hezbollah legislator said Monday that the Iran-backed group will compensate Lebanese whose homes along the Lebanon-Israel border were damaged by Israeli shelling and strikes.

Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops have clashed along the border since Oct. 8, stoking fears that the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip will spill over into the rest of the region. Though the clashes have been intense, with both combatants and civilians killed on both sides, they have remained largely contained to areas near the border. Hezbollah was not officially a party to the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel that took effect Friday, but calm has largely prevailed on the Lebanon-Israel border since then.

What we are offering those affected is money and the efforts and capabilities of Hezbollah, and that is part of our battle, said parliament member Hassan Fadlallah, who made the announcement at an event honoring a slain Hezbollah militant in the border town of Aita al-Shaab.

Fadlallah said the group surveyed most of the damaged areas in southern Lebanon, widely seen as a political and military stronghold for the group.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a draw. Israel sees Hezbollah as its most direct threat and estimates that the group has about 150,000 precision-guided missiles pointed at it.

SIX TEENAGERS GO ON TRIAL IN THE 2020 BEHEADING OF A FRENCH TEACHER

PARIS  Six teenagers go on trial Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm Frances cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Patys name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 MEN OF PALESTINIAN DESCENT NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus.

Agents arrested Jason J. Eaton while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eatons apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said. Online court records did not list an attorney who could speak on Eatons behalf.

The attack that injured the three men on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington police said Sunday.
Earlier this month, voters in a number of states once again made it clear that they want people to be able to access abortion care when they need it. Ohio adopted a pro-choice stance after it became the seventh state since the Dobbs ruling to ask voters to weigh in by ballot measure. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear won reelection in part by focusing on his opponents anti-abortion position. Polling shows that most Americans want abortion to be legal in the first trimester, want abortion medications to be accessible, and do not think abortion is immoral. A poll released on Monday found that 55 percent of respondents, a record number, believe that a pregnant woman should be legally able to obtain an abortion for any reason.

But even when voters choose to protect abortion, people can be thwarted in their efforts to get the care they need. Crisis pregnancy centers are a highly effective tool that anti-abortion groups use, even in blue states such as Massachusetts, to prevent people from making informed decisions and receiving quality maternal care.

CPCs often present themselves as health care clinics offering reproductive care. But that is a lie. At a time when reproductive health access is in crisis, CPCs, pretending to offer abortion care or information about that care, provide inaccurate medical information. They delay and divert patients from finding medically legitimate care, leading to worse health outcomes. Volunteers in white coats masquerade as clinicians. They tell visitors that abortion can cause mental illness, cancer, and infertility or that most pregnancies end in miscarriage, so no need to worry about finding an abortion.

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This is a big misinformation business with questionable finances. In half a dozen states, including Ohio, CPCs are at least partially financed by funds from a programTemporary Assistance for Needy Familiesmeant to help low-income families with children. In 2023 Texas alone will spend $100 million in taxpayer money to support CPCs. And CPCs, with 3,000 centers active in the United States today, appear to be flourishing, outnumbering abortion clinics 3 to 1.

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In much of the country, full-service reproductive health care that includes abortion care is increasingly hard to come by. Nor is there adequate prenatal care and support, particularly for low-income and marginalized groups, and especially for Black women. These gaps drive people to CPCs, which target vulnerable populations, putting themselves forward as providers of low-cost, accessible health care. And post-Dobbs, more people are seeking ultrasounds to date a pregnancy or confirm that abortion pills have worked, which results in even more people ending up in CPCs for free services.

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Some states have tried to make CPCs disclose that they are not licensed medical facilities or providing medical care. But in 2018, the Supreme Court concluded that a California law requiring unlicensed centers to make it clear that they dont provide medical care violates the First Amendment. This one case undercut most legislation related to CPCs.

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Related From Slate The Next Republican President Has a Plan to Ban Abortion Nationwide Without Congress Read More

But we believe that legal tools can still limit the impact of CPCs. And that lawmakers and legal professionals have an obligation to think creatively to ensure that patients are not deceived by CPCs.

States where access to abortion is not restricted should focus on regulating the unauthorized practice of medicine, to limit CPCs most harmful practices. Practicing medicine without a license is illegal in all states and usually carries a penalty of one to eight years in prison. States can additionally make CPCs meet the same standards as medical clinics, increasing their costs and making it more difficult to provide deceptive, low-quality services. For example, bills in New Jersey and Arizona would require ultrasounds conducted at CPCs to be performed only by licensed physicians. States could also hold CPCs to the same data-privacy standards HIPAA imposes on medical providers.

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And to eliminate bad care, states can place legal limits on the services provided by CPCs. Colorado recently enacted a law classifying the provision of what the anti-abortion movement calls abortion reversal pillswhich do not work and are dangerousas unprofessional conduct.

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In states hostile to abortion access, reproductive health advocates should look to torts and civil lawsuits as tools to limit the most harmful practices of CPCs. Tort claims do not require prosecutors or other government actors to be involved. Battery claims, for example, arise when someone is intentionally touched without consent in a way that is objectively harmful or offensive. Thus, a woman who received a physical exam or ultrasound from an untrained CPC volunteer under the mistaken impression that she was receiving medical care from a licensed professional might have a case for battery. In one instance, a clinic provided a trans-vaginal ultrasound using expired disinfectanta disinfectant not intended for that use. Surely such practices would meet the legal definition of battery and should make a CPC liable for medical malpractice.

Misleading people into thinking they are getting a medical service is unacceptable, especially when bad maternal health outcomes are at a crisis level, and even more so in marginalized communities. Lets experiment with some states that are treating CPCs as health clinics and force them to comply with medical norms and requirements. In other states, lets help those who have been harmed by CPC services sue for battery and other civil claims. Winning at the ballot box is not enoughwe need these legal approaches to help unmask CPCs and protect people from harm.
Cadavers have been used in medical training for centuries, and dissections are a rite of passage for first-year students in medical school. Traditionally, the cadavers being dissected were real human beings who donated their bodies to science before their death, and the process of dissectingor at least inspectinga cadaver gives students a physical representation of human anatomy.

Over the past decade, however, medical schools have been experimenting with ways of teaching anatomy without the body, supplementing or replacing real cadavers with virtual ones. In 2019 Case Western Reserve University debuted its HoloAnatomy program, which runs on Microsofts mixed-reality HoloLens headset.* During the height of the coronavirus pandemic, many other schools were forced to implement digital options. And despite the return to in-person learning, body shortages could make virtual anatomy more of a necessity.

Morgan Wiley is an aspiring OB-GYN who is currently in his fourth year at a medical school in Kentucky. Like most med school students, he had to take a semester of anatomy. Its meant to teach you anatomy in a spatial fashion, he explained. Its supposed to help you study the different structures, how they are in the body, so you can have a better idea of how everything is incorporated.

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Wileys program used prosectionscadavers already dissected by a professionalbut the course also integrated all sorts of virtual tools. There was an app in which students could play with pictures of the human body, with an overlay of color so they could identify the structures on the picture of the cadaver. And there was Wileys favorite app, Anatomy Atlas, which presented a 3D rendering of the body. You can take out certain structures of the body. You can look at only the bones or only the muscles or only the lymphatic [system] or all three at the same time. You can twirl it around and frame it however you want to.

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Michael Denham, a medical student at Columbia University, used a similar software as Wiley in his first year of medical school. Although cadavers were still very much a part of the curriculum, the software functioned as a supplement. We would go through some of the 3D models together to try and understand how all the structures were related to one another spatially, in a way that you cant do with a physical body on the table, Denham said.

As Mark Griswold, a radiology professor at Case Western, explained, physical cadaver labs are expensive to run. There are biohazards, and its costly to create a lab thats up to modern environmental regulations. There are other compelling reasons not to use physical cadavers, including the fact that its difficult to see anatomy like lymph nodes, certain blood vessels, and the pancreas on a physical cadaver. These were the primary motivations for Case Westerns integration of HoloAnatomy into its anatomy program. Students use virtual reality headsets that project 3D models of either the male or female bodyaccording to studies, this has been a relative success.

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Ohio State University also uses similar reality toolsbut as a supplement to physical cadaver instruction. It really helps the students build that spatial 3D relationship in the body that you can only really do in the lab, hands-on, said Derek Harmon, a professor at OSU. No other resource really gives you that mental map.

Using virtual anatomy doesnt just make it easier to see certain structures. It also standardizes the process. Its consistent for everybody, said Marc J. Kahn, the dean of the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. If you have human cadavers, theyre all different in some way, shape, or form. With the virtual, theyre all looking at the same body. The arteries are in the same place. The veins are in the same places.

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Some virtual tools provide students the ability to mimic surgical proceduressomething that isnt realistic with cadavers. Using virtual cadavers also allows more time for other important aspects of medical school training. For Wiley, that meant spending more time in radiology and looking at imagingexperience that, as he points out, is applicable to every field, not just procedural subspecialties. If adding more virtual things means we can learn more information in our first and second year, Im all for it, he remarked.

Some are more skeptical about the feasibility of these tools on their own. Since its inception eight years ago, UNLV has used solely virtual tools. But this semester, it introduced a physical cadaver program into its medical school curriculum, citing the importance of sensory input for anatomical education. Seeing it in books or seeing it in pictures or on virtual cadavers is always nice and neat, in a sense, UNLV anatomy instructor Owen McCloskey explained. But in the actual human body, its not as pretty.

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Related From Slate What Happens to Medical Education When the Dissection Lab Is Closed? Read More

Others highlighted the importance of being able to feel the body during dissection in anatomy education. When you get to have the ability to be hands-on and actually explore this area yourself as a learner, its one of those things that those memories are engrained in your head, Harmon, the OSU professor, said. You can only get so much at looking at an image or drawing. By being hands-on, in person, and manipulating the tissues, students gain this very valuable 3D spatial map.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio has also stuck to a more traditional head-to-toe anatomy experience for that reason.* The school offers a digital anatomy lab as an enhancementnot a replacementbut the primary focus is on the physical cadaver.

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Theres no way, at least right now with this day and age, its impossible to have the same complexity that a human body presents, explained Omid Rahimi, the director of the human anatomy program at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio. A future surgeon, you would want them to have their hands on the real person before they do any procedure on anyone.

Beyond its practical role in teaching students about anatomical structures, there are additional intangible lessons wrapped up in cadaver educationabout death, the frailty of life, and how to respect bodiesthat cant always be replicated with virtual tools. A cadaver is the first patient students encounter, Griswold says, and its the students first encounter with death. Because of this, students at Case Western spend the first two weeks doing conventional cadaver dissection, writing reflections about death and their first patient.

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I dont think its an inferior way to do things, Wiley said about using virtual cadavers. The bigger question is: How much do we value tradition? Is that enough to keep something going? Its a huge resource burden to do a cadaver lab. If we cant prove that its better, is it worth doing simply for tradition? I think thats a question we need to answer as a field.

Correction, Nov. 27, 2023: This article originally misidentified the names of Case Western Reserve University and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
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The latest ranking of the largest law firms in Slovakia presents results in 12 categories, mostly based on the fields in which they practice law.

The Slovak Spectator, in cooperation with the Finstat company, has been bringing the professional and general public a more comprehensive picture of law services in Slovakia since 2014.

In this article, we are bringing the results in the main category, while the articles with the results for partial categories are the following: M&A, Banking & Finance, Real Estate & Development, Intellectual property, Litigation & Arbitration, Labour law, Restructuring & Insolvency, Regulation & Compliance and Competition law.

The law firm SOUKENIK  STRPKA placed first in the general ranking with the highest number of lawyers working for the company. These are its references from the last 12 months in the legal fields where the firm ranked in leading positions:

National Highway Company (2021  Ongoing)

Leading the team representing the client in international arbitration against the former constructor in relation to the construction of the Visnove tunnel. Deal value: 310 mil.

Leading the team representing the client in international arbitration against the former constructor in relation to the construction of the Visnove tunnel. Deal value: 310 mil. Ceskoslovenska obchodna banka, a.s. (2022  Ongoing)

Preparation of loan documentation (LMA standard) and security documentation for the granting of four credit lines (green commitment loan). Deal value: 62 mil.

Preparation of loan documentation (LMA standard) and security documentation for the granting of four credit lines (green commitment loan). Deal value: 62 mil. SLOVENSKY VODOHOSPODARSKY PODNIK, statny podnik (2023  3Q/2023)

Employers support during short-time work period in a state-owned enterprise in the context of the war conflict in Ukraine.

Employers support during short-time work period in a state-owned enterprise in the context of the war conflict in Ukraine. HAUSBERG (2020  ongoing)

Complex legal engineering. Representation before banks, before authorities in permit proceedings, before buyers. Deal value: 45 mil.

Related article

Related article Why & when arbitration is better than a court Read more

LARGEST LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2023

SOUKENIK  STRPKA Allen & Overy Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS HAVEL & PARTNERS Dentons Europe CS LLP TaylorWessing e/n/w/c RUZICKA AND PARTNERS Kinstellar G. Lehnert Bartosik Svaby

Law firm G. Lehnert had the highest growth in sales and in profit. In 2022, the 10 largest law firms saw a 3.5-percent increase year-on-year in revenues. The aggregate net profit of the first 10 law firms went down 4.9 percent compared to profits in 2021.

The annual Investment Advisory Guide 2023/24 published by the English language newspaper The Slovak Spectator provides more detailed data with published results of the analysis as well as complex ratings.

When looking at partial criteria used for setting up the general ranking, Allen & Overy Bratislava achieved the highest sales revenues and profit in 2022 out of all assessed law offices, while SOUKENIK  STRPKA dominated in the number of law graduates (53) as well as attorneys (33).

The position of law firms in the ranking of local and international attorneys is interesting when considering whether they have most of their lawyers in the Czech and Slovak republics or not.

LARGEST LOCAL LAW FIRMS 2023

SOUKENIK  STRPKA Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS HAVEL & PARTNERS RUZICKA AND PARTNERS Skubla & Partneri act MPH advocates Bartosik Svaby G. Lehnert Advokatska kancelaria MCL PRK Partners

Allen & Overy Bratislava placed first among international law firms operating in Slovakia. These are references to some major cases in which the law firm provided legal services in the 4Q2022- 3Q2023 period:

Significant energy companies (2023  Ongoing)

Representing clients in multiple Geneva-seated ICC arbitrations against a natural gas supplier arising from under-delivery of natural gas.

Representing clients in multiple Geneva-seated ICC arbitrations against a natural gas supplier arising from under-delivery of natural gas. Slovenska sporitelna, a.s. (2022  4Q/2022)

Advised SLSP as issuer, on EUR 500,000,000 3.500% green covered notes, the inaugural green covered bond benchmark issuance in Slovakia. Deal value: 500 mil.

Advised SLSP as issuer, on EUR 500,000,000 3.500% green covered notes, the inaugural green covered bond benchmark issuance in Slovakia. Deal value: 500 mil. Elkem ASA (2022  2Q/2023)

Advised Elkem ASA on the acquisition of a 100-percent stake in VUM, a.s. an important manufacturer of carbon-based products in central Europe.

Advised Elkem ASA on the acquisition of a 100-percent stake in VUM, a.s. an important manufacturer of carbon-based products in central Europe. Vseobecna uverova banka, a.s. (2022  4Q/2022)

Advised VUB on the acquisition of a stake in VUB Generali DSS from Generali, resulting in VUB becoming a majority shareholder in VUB Generali DSS.

LARGEST INTERNATIONAL LAW FIRMS IN SLOVAKIA 2023

1. Allen & Overy Dentons Europe CS LLP TaylorWessing e/n/w/c Kinstellar PETERKA & PARTNERS bnt attorneys-at-law BDO Legal CMS Slovakia WOLF THEISS Eversheds Sutherland

More complex information was published in the yearbook about the investment environment Investment Advisory Guide 2023/24.

Financial data on profits and revenue has been provided by the company FinStat.sk, which is published along with other details concerning Slovak companies. This data helps companies analyse business partners, competitors, and the whole general market. It also leads to potential new deals and the development of new business.

A few law firms decided not to provide information and were not analysed in this ranking. Based on the calculations of The Slovak Spectator, their potential involvement this year would have had a minimum impact on the ranking of the top positions.

Investment Advisory Guide

The yearbook on the business environment, published yearly since 2000 by The Slovak Spectator, gives an overview of investors either from Slovakia or abroad. This years edition was published thanks to the cooperation of the Investment Support Association (ISA). The general partner of the guide is the law firm SOUKENIK  STRPKA. The content provides well-arranged information on the economy, labour market, investor support, legislation, and real estate, as well as investment opportunities in Slovakia. This guide also contains a large analysis of the law firm market, providing more detailed information on the most important ones. Within this section, rankings of the largest law firms in Slovakia are also published. The yearbook traditionally contains a wealth of statistics, including the regional comparison of wages, unemployment rates, industrial structure and an overview of the largest companies in individual regions.
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson joined tens of thousands in London in rallying against antisemitism amid the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group.

The people who gathered for the march on Sunday took to the streets a day after large crowds turned out for a pro-Palestinian rally. UK Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and other senior government officials joined Johnson.

London March Against Antisemitism

The march had people who wanted to express solidarity with the Jewish community, and organizers billed it as the largest gathering against antisemitism in London for nearly a century. The attendees were seen waving Israeli flags and Union Jacks. They also held placards that read, "Never Again Is Now" and "Zero Tolerance for Antisemites."

Sunday's rally was organized amid concerns about rising tensions that were sparked by the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Malcolm Canning, a 75-year-old resident from London, said that anything associated with the Jewish religion now feels like it is under attack, as per ABC News.

Law enforcement personnel detailed Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, the former leader of the far-right English Defense League, at the march. He is more known by his alias Tommy Robinson and he joined crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police during an Armistice Day march in London earlier this month.

Officials said that Yaxley-Lennon refused to leave even after he was warned about concerns that his presence would cause "harassment, alarm, and distress to others." The chief executive of Campaign Against Antisemitism, Gideon Falter, said that the march came after weeks of pro-Palestinian protests.

He added that antisemitic incidents in the UK have skyrocketed since the Israel-Hamas conflict began. Falter also condemned "appalling" placards at the protests, including ones that showed a Star of David thrown in the bin with a caption that read, "Please keep the world clean."

Tens of thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered on Saturday to call for a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. Police said that the majority of the people in the rally marched peacefully but added that 18 were arrested for offenses that include suspicion of inciting racial hatred, according to the Washington Times.

Read Also: Finland Closes Borders With Russia, Accuses Moscow of Instrumentalizing Immigrants

Support for Israel

On the other hand, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned antisemitism "in all its forms" and said that it was not acceptable in society. The remark came after Tesla CEO Elon Musk sparked an outcry this week. This was because of his response to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism.

Johnson said that it was very sad that the march he joined needed to take place. He noted that all they were doing was showing solidarity with Jewish people, which he said was necessary.

A Campaign Against Antisemitism spokesperson noted that week after week, central London is becoming more of a no-go zone for Jewish people. They added that they had witnessed mass criminality, including the glorification of terrorism, support for banned terrorist organizations, and incitement to racial or religious hatred against Jews, said Daily Mail.

Related Article: Germany: Extensive Search of Properties Linked to Hamas Backers Conducted by Police

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The ranking of the 10 largest Mergers and Acquisitions law deals.

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The sale of a share in an e-shop with bicycles, the changeover in the steelworks based in Ziar nad Hronom in central Slovakia, and the purchase of Slovak farms.

These are among the biggest and most interesting deals the largest law firms in Slovakia active in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) have been involved in over the past 12 months, provided to The Slovak Spectator newspaper and the Sme daily.

M&A: 10 largest law firms Allen & Overy TaylorWessing e/n/w/c HAVEL & PARTNERS Kinstellar WOLF THEISS G. Lehnert HKV Law Firm Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS Hillbridges Advokatska kancelaria MCL Ranking created based on the following criteria (values for 2022): number of M&A deals with regard to reward law firm received for them (70% weight); sales revenues (10% weight); points for number of lawyers (20% weight). The ranking reflects also the proportion of each firms hours spent on this category.

The deals were dominated by transactions consulting.

Norwegian giant buys Slovak steelworks

The VUM company from Ziar nad Hronom has been manufacturing carbon-based products used in the production of ferroalloys and calcium carbide for over 20 years. It became part of the international group Elkem ASA in June 2023, and rebranded to Elkem Carbon Slovakia. It is a significant business step for the Slovak company and is expected to help with investments into new technologies and improving the work environment.

The Elkem ASA group received legal advice from the Allen & Overy law firm, which tops the Largest Law Firm ranking in the M&A category.

Its lawyers also counselled VUB bank, which acquired a majority stake (55.26 percent) in the VUB Generali DSS pensions funds management company. Until last year, the bank owned a 50-percent stock, while the other half was controlled by Generali Ceska Pojistovna.

Given that the target operates in a highly regulated involvement, the deal required multiple regulatory approvals  three from the National Bank of Slovakia and one from the European Central Bank, said Martin Magal, managing partner at Allen & Overy.

A project supporting sustainability

In the energy sector, the Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP) gas utility joined forces with the Brantner company in 2023, resulting in the joint venture CEBZ, which will build and operate energy and biological waste recovery centres in selected locations across Slovakia.
Top lawyers in Slovakia provide details on litigation deals with an impact on every-day life.

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It is not just court rulings granting millions of euros that are of significant importance - for instance, some people say no figure can be put on the value of a Slovak court ordering authorities to respect the rights of same-sex couples.

Litigation & Arbitration: 10 largest law firms Advokatska kancelaria RELEVANS Allen & Overy SOUKENIK  STRPKA Dentons Europe CS LLP Skubla & Partneri TaylorWessing e/n/w/c Squire Patton Boggs BBH PRK Partners act MPH advocates Ranking created based on the following criteria (values for 2022): number of points for active deals (85% weight), sales revenues (5% weight), points for number of lawyers (10% weight). The ranking reflects also the proportion of each firms hours spent on this category.

This was what happened with Mariano Ruiz and Jakub Sanko. Thanks to the help of the Dentons law firm, they succeeded at the Zilina Region Court in a case in which the Foreigners Police, the immigration authority in Slovakia, had refused to grant Ruiz a residence permit on the grounds of family unification, claiming that the state does not recognise their marriage, which had taken place in Argentina.

The ground-breaking decision from October 2022 is one of a number of inspirational litigation deals the largest law firms in Slovakia have worked on in the past year. Based on references provided by lawyers, The Slovak Spectator newspaper and the Sme daily prepared The Largest Law Firms ranking.

This year, we allowed law firms to report not only their largest litigations, but also new cases in which a significant ruling has been issued in the past 12 months, or in which an innovative approach was taken, said Jan Pallo, publisher of The Slovak Spectator which is responsible for the rankings methodology.

The ruling in the case of Ruiz and Sanko is also important for the future, said Peter Kubina, partner at Dentons.

Once this judgement becomes final and cannot be appealed, it will form an important precedent for other couples in similar situations and may serve as a basis for acknowledgment of further rights that LGBT+ citizens are currently being denied, Kubina explained.

Potential to change the health insurance system

Once there is a ruling in a legal dispute between private health insurers and the state, it may also have great importance for the future. Private insurer Dovera, which is owned by the Penta financial group, claims it has suffered the consequences of an unequal approach by the state.
The interior minister had barely started, and already hes facing a no confidence vote.

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Welcome to your weekly commentary and overview of news from Slovakia. Interior minister faces a no-confidence vote shortly after being confirmed in his post. Fico visits Prague and says he wont go to Kyiv. Pellegrini would win the first round of the presidential election if it was held now.

If you have a suggestion on how to make this overview better, let me know at michaela.terenzani@spectator.sk.

Sutaj Estok keeps MPs busy

Never before in the history of the Slovak parliament has the opposition tried to oust a minister so soon after the government received the confidence of MPs.

Opposition MPs are going to try and see whether someone from the coalition hasnt changed their mind in the last 48 hours, Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok commented on the extraordinary session that the opposition initiated in order to debate his performance during just his first month in office.

Sutaj Estok was appointed by the president, together with the rest of the ministers of the cabinet of Robert Fico, on October 25. The government then had 30 days to propose a programme statement and ask parliament to approve it by means of a simple majority in a confidence vote. That happened on Tuesday, November 21, when the coalition tested its majority in the house for the first time. The programme statement passed with the support of 78 MPs (out of a total of 150). Subsequently, the opposition filed a motion of no confidence in the interior minister, a move they had previously signalled in response to his early moves.
Katarina Benzova alleges, in her lawsuit, that the band stole her photos.

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Slovak photographer Katarina Benzova, renowned for her work with Guns N Roses, has embarked on legal battles against the iconic rock band, delving into both copyright disputes and allegations of sexual harassment, writes the Slovak daily Pravda.

In her lawsuit, filed just over a week ago, Benzova primarily contends with the bands alleged infringement of her copyright, asserting that they falsely declared ownership of a substantial portion of her photographic portfolio. According to the Rolling Stone music magazine, Benzova filed the lawsuit on November 14, accusing the band and the bands Team Brazil management of commercially exploiting at least 145 of her photographs without her permission.

Benzova, who had been working as a freelancer for Guns N Roses, asserts that during her formal contract period of 18 weeks in the 2010-2022 period, she did not need to authorise or approve any commercialization of her photos as they fell under the category of work for hire. However, she claims ownership of the photos taken during the rest of her time without a contract.

The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants falsely claimed ownership of her work, leading to widespread violations of third-party rights and the unauthorised use of her photographs across various media.

Alleged toxic environment

However, the legal fracas has also brought to light the alleged toxic work environment and accusations of sexual harassment the photographer claims to have endured from the bands manager, Fernando Lebeis.

The legal document outlines alleged unwanted advances, unsolicited messages, and forced kissing by Lebeis. Benzovas lawsuit states that Lebeis exhibited animosity and aggression towards her after she rebuffed his advances.

This legal saga comes amid a broader societal conversation about the prevalence of sexual misconduct within the music industry. In recent years, the #MeToo movement has prompted increased scrutiny of such allegations, prompting individuals to come forward with their experiences.

The controversy surrounding Guns N Roses doesnt end with Benzovas legal action. Another serious accusation has emerged, this time against the bands frontman, Axl Rose. Former model Sheila Kennedy accused Rose of sexually assaulting her in a New York hotel room in 1989.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231126/in-rhetorical-shift-two-democratic-senators-say-us-shouldnt-give-israel-blank-check-1115221773.html

In Rhetorical Shift, Two Democratic Senators Say US Shouldnt Give Israel Blank Check

In Rhetorical Shift, Two Democratic Senators Say US Shouldnt Give Israel Blank Check

Two Democratic Senators have said US aid to Israel must be conditioned on greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties, marking a shift in rhetoric from the party since the early days of Israels military campaign in Gaza.

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Two Democratic Senators have said US aid to Israel must be conditioned on greater efforts to avoid civilian casualties, marking a shift in rhetoric from the party since the early days of Israels military campaign in Gaza.We regularly condition our aid to allies based upon compliance with U.S. law and international law, said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) in an interview with US media on Sunday. And that will be a conversation we will all be engaged in when we get back to Washington on Monday.Sen. Murphy sits on the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, perhaps suggesting a broader institutional shift within the Democratic Party.I do believe that the level of civilian harm inside Gaza has been unacceptable and is unsustainable, added Murphy.Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), a political independent who caucuses with Democrats, expressed similar sentiments in an op-ed on Thursday, saying the US blank check approach to funding for Israel should end.The United States must make clear that while we are friends of Israel, there are conditions to that friendship and that we cannot be complicit in actions that violate international law and our own sense of decency, wrote Sanders.Although Sanders is typically considered a representative of the left wing of the Democratic Party, the Vermont senator and former presidential candidate has resisted calls for a long-term ceasefire in Gaza. Earlier this month, dozens of protesters were arrested while demonstrating at the Senate offices of Sanders and others over US policy in regard to Israel.Sanders has a mixed track record regarding military policy; the progressive politician famously opposed the Iraq War but strongly supported NATOs 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia that resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths.White House national security advisor Jake Sullivan acknowledged calls for the conditioning of aid Sunday but confirmed President Biden wouldnt seek any restrictions at this time. Sullivan suggested that an ongoing four-day ceasefire allowing Israel and Hamas to exchange captives represented a victory for the presidents diplomatic approach.He is going to continue to engage in exactly that kind of diplomacy, said Sullivan in an interview with US media.The temporary ceasefire has resulted in the release of dozens of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, with most of them reportedly being minors. Some 39 Israelis held captive by Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, have been released as well, including a four-year-old American-Israeli girl and a nine-year-old Irish-Israeli girl.Irish lawmakers had cited ongoing negotiations to achieve the girls release as they resisted calls to expel Israels ambassador in Dublin; opposition to Israel is high among the Irish public.Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the countrys military incursion in Gaza will continue full power after the current ceasefire ends, but the head of state suggested the suspension of hostilities may be extended if a further release of hostages is negotiated.Tensions remain high over the issue in the United States with dueling protests from supporters and opponents of Israels military operation in Gaza. Three Palestinian college students were recently wounded after being shot Saturday evening in Burlington, Vermont. The young men were reportedly speaking Arabic at the time and wearing the keffiyeh, a black-and-white scarf that serves as a symbol of Palestinian culture.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/ex-wh-doctor-warns-biden-cant-do-the-job-as-his-cognitive-decline-happening-quickly-1115224788.html

Ex-WH Doctor Warns Biden Cant Do the Job as His Cognitive Decline Happening Quickly

Ex-WH Doctor Warns Biden Cant Do the Job as His Cognitive Decline Happening Quickly

Ronny Jackson has repeatedly expressed doubt about Biden's physical and mental competence to perform his duties, especially in light of next year's US presidential election.

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US President Joe Biden's cognitive decline is happening quickly, Texas GOP Congressman Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, told a US broadcaster.Referring to the 46th US president, the ex-White House physician added that its just unbelievable how much he's degenerated just during his time in office.The GOP Congressman also singled out a series of concerns he has regarding his country, pointing to the crisis at the US southern border, international tensions and the economic issues that have arisen under Biden."[Look at] the wars that we're getting drawn into. Things that wouldn't happen if Donald Trump were there because our enemies don't fear us anymore. They have no respect for us anymore and our adversaries don't trust us anymore, and it's because we don't have the leadership in the White House that we need," Jackson added.The remarks come a week after Jackson told a US news network that Biden does not have "cognitive ability" to serve another term."He's got these people that surround him that are inappropriately encouraging him to continue to run because it builds up who they are and what they do. [] And it's just on display every day that he's not capable of doing this job anymore," Jackson stressed.Biden turned 81 on November 20, 2023. He was the oldest president to have ever been inaugurated, taking the oath of office at the age of 78. If Biden wins the 2024 presidential race, he will turn 86 before completing his would-be second term as US president.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230928/over-half-of-us-voters-very-concerned-about-bidens-cognitive-health---poll-1113779583.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/four-reasons-us-troops-should-pull-out-of-syria-and-iraq-asap-1115238924.html

Four Reasons US Troops Should Pull Out of Syria and Iraq ASAP

Four Reasons US Troops Should Pull Out of Syria and Iraq ASAP

Washington's military presence in Syria and Iraq does not contribute to Middle Eastern peace but makes American soldiers a target, a new Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft report has concluded.

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American and coalition forces deployed in the Middle East have come under attack a whopping 73 times since October 17, according to the US press. The number of strikes against US military deployments has increased amid the Gaza War between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Palestinian Islamists.For his part, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah hinted in his statement earlier this month that attacks on US assets and personnel from Yemen, Iraq and other locations are related to Washington's support to Israel, as well as an unprecedented US military buildup in the region. "The regional reverberations of the Israel-Gaza war demonstrate why the White House should scrap, not reinforce, Americas outdated and unnecessarily provocative troop presence in Syria and Iraq," argued Jason Brownlee, a professor of government at the University of Texas, in his op-ed for the Quincy Institute of Responsible Statecraft website.Per Brownlee, it's time for US President Joe Biden to redeploy US forces to a safer position offshore. The academic cites four reasons for that move.First, the American military presence in Syria and Iraq provides an opportunity for Shiite militias allied with Iran to influence US national strategy by targeting American soldiers in the region, according to the professor. He draws attention to the fact that some 900 US troops in Syria and 2,500 in Iraq "have been taking fire" from local militias since October 17. These attacks have led to "approximately 62 US personnel injuries," as per Deputy Pentagon Press Secretary Sabrina Singh.Second, the protracted US military deployment is fraught with the risk of a potential US-Iranian conflagration that would be much more dangerous and larger in proportions than the Gaza War.Third, if US military installations in Syria and Iraq are still aimed at fighting Daesh (ISIS/ISIL)* remnants, the US government should cede this noble task to regional militias, argued Brownlee. Per him, locals would do the job much quicker. To prove his thesis, the academic referred to Afghanistan, which US military forces hurriedly left in August 2021.Contrary to gloomy prognoses that Afghanistan would be dragged into instability and bloodbath after the Taliban's** takeover, "political violence in Afghanistan plummeted by 80% in the first year after American forces left," the academic noted. Moreover, the Taliban managed to curb the threat posed by the Daesh local affiliate, "accomplishing in a matter of months what the Pentagon and CIA had been trying to achieve since 2015," he stressed.Given that such results have been achieved by the "impoverished agrarian country", one can expect that well-armed and trained Syrian and Iraqi armies could thwart the Islamist terror threat posed by "the dead-enders of ISISs defunct caliphate" even more efficiently, per the scholar. When it comes to Damascus, it is also assisted both by Iran and Russia, he added.Fourth, those who believe that the US military withdrawal from the region will increase the danger to Americans and US interests, appear to be wrong too, continued the professor.The academic explained that as the Israel-Gaza war broke out on October 7, he was finishing his trip through "once the deadliest zones of Americas recent wars", namely: Kabul, Kandahar, and Helmand provinces in Afghanistan; and the cities of Baghdad, Fallujah, Ramadi, and Mosul in Iraq."I traversed dozens of Taliban and Iraqi government checkpoints, as I toured cities and rural areas without any sense of threat from officials or terrorists," he stressed. "The physical security I experienced in both countries dispels the most common fear about withdrawing American troops."Given all of the above, Washington needs to wrap up its unneeded presence in the two Mideast states, which would at the same time enable "a nimbler US foreign policy," Brownlee concluded.*Daesh (ISIS/ISIL/Islamic State) is a terrorist organization banned in Russia and many other countries.** The Taliban is an organization under UN sanctions for terrorism.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231122/to-the-last-drop-us-continues-looting-of-syrias-oil-even-amid-attacks-on-illegal-bases-1115145089.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/gop-suffering-revenue-problem-as-donations-slowly-dry-up-1115240559.html

GOP Suffering Revenue Problem as Donations Slowly Dry Up

GOP Suffering Revenue Problem as Donations Slowly Dry Up

Less than a year before the November 2024 election, the Republican Party is short by millions of dollars in donations compared to the same time period before the 2020 election.

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Recent filings with the Federal Election Commission show that as of October 30, the Republican National Committee had just $9.1 million in cash, its lowest amount since February 2015. Four years ago, in the lead up to the 2020 election, the party had $61 million in its war chest.By comparison, the Democratic National Committee said last month it had $17.7 million of cash on hand.Previous monthly donations reports show a similar trend: in September, the DNC outpaced the RNC by more than twice the amount, raising $13.3 million as compared to their $6.3 million. In August, when former US President Donald Trump, a Republican, was booked at a Georgia courthouse on charges that he incited the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol, the RNC raised $9.7 million while the DNC raised $7 million. In July, the Democrats raised $9.6 million and the Republicans $6.4 million.However, the money flow doesnt necessarily reflect a change in party loyalties: a recent CNN poll found voters almost evenly split, with 48% saying they would support a generic Republican and 47% saying they would support a generic Democrat candidate.RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told US media that more donors were fully committed to their candidate instead of giving to the party, which she said is normal.However, the last few months have hurt Republicans reputations, as the party brought down its own House Speaker, then squabbled for nearly a month over who should replace him. US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), the lawmaker who introduced and championed the resolution that forced Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) from the Speakers chair in early October, was recently blamed by a conservative-leaning news outlet for being an agent of chaos in Congress.Juan Williams, an analyst for Fox News, wrote in a Monday op-ed in The Hill that Gaetz is politician of the year - a title the journalist bestowed ironically, calling Gaetz a provocateur who is dangerous and corrosive.Gaetz takes the prize for successfully paralyzing the House for the entire year," Williams continued. " With his hands on the wheel and driving toward revenge and chaos - all to raise his personal profile and stir up small, online donations - Gaetz crashed the House of Representatives in a ditch on a low road."In January, Gaetz was instrumental in making McCarthy speaker, as the narrow Republican majority in the House gave inordinate kingmaking power to his small faction of right-wing Republicans. McCarthys downfall came after he was seen as abrogating a deal with Gaetz for brinkmanship politics regarding the US federal budget and the national debt, including 11th-hour deals with Democrats to avert a pair of crises in June and September in which Republicans had hoped to extract concessions from the Dems.Williams said Gaetz won out over other conservative politicians, including Reps. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and George Santos of New York, all of whom had similarly damaged the party's standing. He added that some antics by McCarthy had done nothing to contribute, either.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231109/oldest-ever-us-president-drops-49-million-on-election-ads-downplaying-age-1114849223.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231112/mccarthy-blasts-gaetz-and-other-republicans-may-not-seek-reelection-1114910138.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/humanoid-ai-driven-robots-to-become-150-billion-market-by-2035-as-china-plans-for-mass-production-1115238468.html

Humanoid AI-Driven Robots to Become $150 Billion Market by 2035 as China Plans for Mass Production

Humanoid AI-Driven Robots to Become $150 Billion Market by 2035 as China Plans for Mass Production

In the coming decade, humanoid robots stand to both augment human workers in many fields, but could also replace large numbers of them, too, experts have said.

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Earlier this month, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published new guidelines on robot manufacturing for the countrys rapidly advancing artificial intelligence sector, predicting the country could mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025. By 2027, humanoid robots could begin to make an impact in the economy, they noted, although pointing out that there were several key technological breakthroughs still to be made.China has been a world leader in artificial intelligence and robotics, with the socialist countrys economic planners pushing a massive effort to advance the field in education, research, and manufacturing sectors. Chinas State Council has laid out the New Generation AI Development Plan, a roadmap to becoming a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, and set aside 400 billion yuan ($59.07 billion) to develop the core of its AI industry by 2025.However, the race for both AI and for humanoid robots is global. Earlier this year, the European Union banned the export of certain AI technologies to China, and the US has banned the sale of certain AI-related computer chips to Chinese companies as well. Companies like Tesla, Agility, Apptronic, and Hanson Robotics have all introduced humanoid robots in recent years, and numerous research facilities and universities are pursuing similar projects.Goldman Sachs predicted earlier this month that by 2035, the humanoid robotics industry could be worth $150 billion worldwide, saying it could fill 4% of the projected US manufacturing labor shortage by 2030 and 2% of global elderly care demand by 2035.Experts who spoke with British media recently highlighted many of the potential uses for intelligent humanoid robots, from caring for elderly people to performing precision medicine in remote parts of the countryside or on the battlefield.Another expert noted: We now have robots also reacting to emotions, and reading behavior. We will have robots coping with mental disorders, behavioral disorders, with children and also with adults. If we think about the old people, we'll have a lot of 65-plus people. Robots can come into play, to support and to help, which also enables people to live longer.Another noted that robots can more easily do repetitive tasks and could even replace large numbers of human workers in manufacturing industries, but pointed out that we will always need robot technicians, humans who monitor and provide maintenance for the robots.For example, humanoid robots could be employed in flexible manufacturing factories, working with people to assemble equipment parts. They could also be used for social care, or also as teaching helper tools in schools.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230301/new-frontier-scientists-lay-out-plan-for-building-ai-using-human-brain-cells-1107912980.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/israel-elon-musk-agree-on-starlink-operation-in-gaza-1115229234.html

Israel, Elon Musk Agree on Starlink Operation in Gaza

Israel, Elon Musk Agree on Starlink Operation in Gaza

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi announced on Monday that he had reached a preliminary agreement with US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk to deploy Starlink satellite communication services in the Gaza Strip.

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In late October, Musk said that his company SpaceX, which operates Starlink, would support communications with internationally recognized aid groups in Gaza amid a telephone and internet blackout in the enclave. He also welcomed Musk's visit to Israel and expressed hope that the billionaire would strengthen his "relationship with the Jewish people and [their] values." On Sunday, The Times of Israel reported that Israeli President Isaac Herzog would meet with Musk on Monday. Earlier in the month, Palestinian Authority Communications Minister Ishaq Sadr told Sputnik that Musk had not provided satellite network services to Gaza because of threats from Israel.

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China claims that the respiratory illness surge happening across the Asian country is not caused by a new novel virus. The Chinese health ministry shared this detail after the World Health Organization began investigating the alarming outbreak.

As of writing, China's healthcare system is becoming the main focus of WHO and other international health organizations as a mysterious pneumonia outbreak sweeps across the country.

Because the COVID-19 virus allegedly originated in China, many health experts started to become worried as they believed that the mysterious respiratory infections could become another global pandemic.

China Claims Respiratory Illness Surge Isn't Caused by Novel Virus

On Sunday, Nov. 26, the Chinese health ministry clarified that the respiratory illnesses are caused by the flue and other known pathogens, as reported by Politico.

A PRC National Health Commission spokesperson specifically said that the infections happen because of the overlapping of common viruses. These include rhinoviruses, influenza virus, the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), mycoplasma pneumoniae, and the adenovirus.

Before the National Health Commission's explanation, WHO said that it wants China to provide specific details regarding the mysterious pneumonia outbreak as cases are alarmingly increasing across the country.

Some experts that this scenario is familiar since the World Health Organization also asked the same thing from China when the COVID-19 pandemic was still starting.

As of writing, internal accounts in China said that the respiratory illness outbreaks have swamped some hospitals in northern China, such as Beijing.

WHO officials said that since there's too little information about the ongoing pneumonia surge in China, it is still difficult to assess the risk of these respiratory illnesses.

Read Also: Bird Flu Detected in Antarctica for the First Time, Raising Concerns for Local Species

China Seeking More Fever Clinics

According to CNBC's latest report, China is urging local authorities to make efforts to increase the number of fever clinics so they can handle the rising respiratory illnesses among children.

"Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours, and increase the supply of medicines," said PRC NHC spokesman Mi Feng.

He added that health officials should do a good job in epidemic control and prevention, especially in key crowded areas. These include schools, nursing homes, and childcare institutions.

Mi Feng further stated that they should make more efforts to reduce the flow of people and visits to these key places.

Related Article: WHO Investigates Mysterious Pneumonia in China as Cases Increase-Will This Become Another Pandemic?

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/lavrov-speaks-at-exhibition-dedicated-to-russia-brazil-relations--1115226426.html

Lavrov Speaks at Exhibition Dedicated to Russia-Brazil Relations

Lavrov Speaks at Exhibition Dedicated to Russia-Brazil Relations

Brazil is an important trading partner for Russia and one of key members of the BRICS bloc. 27.11.2023, Sputnik International

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Sputnik brings you a broadcast from Moscow where Russias top diplomat Sergey Lavrov speaks at an exhibition dedicated to the 195th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Russia and Brazil.Earlier, Lavrov penned an article on Russian relations with the Latin America power in which he stressed that Moscow eyes Brazil as a natural candidate for the UN Security Council. Russias top diplomat added that Brazil plays an important role in the formation of a more just polycentric world order.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/libya-closer-than-ever-to-elections---high-state-council-head-1115235040.html

Libya 'Closer Than Ever' to Elections - High State Council Head

Libya 'Closer Than Ever' to Elections - High State Council Head

Libya is now "closer than ever" to holding presidential and parliamentary elections and is moving towards a period of stability, the chairman of the Tripoli-based High Council of State, Mohamed Tekala, told Sputnik on Monday.

2023-11-27T14:31+0000

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Earlier in the day, Russian Ambassador to Libya Aydar Aganin told Sputnik that Tekala would lead the council's delegation to Moscow on Monday. It will be his first visit to Russia. Libya's High Council of State was formed in 2015 under the terms of the Libyan Political Agreement. It is an advisory body and performs parliamentary functions in the western part of the country. In eastern Libya, the House of Representatives, whose speaker is Aguila Saleh Issa, plays the role of a parliament. Libya is currently ruled by two rival governments. The western part of Libya is controlled by the UN-backed Government of National Accord, based in Tripoli, while the eastern part is under the Government of National Stability, backed by the Libyan National Army. The southern part of the country remains in turmoil due to civil unrest, the continuing threat of terrorism, and armed tribal violence.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230920/obamas-hypocrisy-in-begging-aid-for-libya-after-destroying-country-in-2011-1113522896.html

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Biden Says Spoke With Family of 4-Year-Old American Hostage Released by Hamas

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he spoke with the family of a four-year-old American-Israeli hostage released by Hamas and pledged to work with Israel to provide all the necessary care and support to the girl who lost her parents in the October 7 attack.

"I spoke with Abigails family following her release, and we are working closely with our Israeli partners to ensure she gets the care and support she needs as she begins to recover from this unspeakable trauma," Biden said in a statement.

Biden said Abigail Edan turned four years old during her captivity after her parents were killed in front of her.

Abigail Edan was released on Sunday and is currently in the custody of International Committee of the Red Cross officials. Abigail will be reunited with her siblings and live with their aunt, uncle and grandparents in Israel, the family previously said.

Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day pause in military operations to exchange some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. On Monday, they agreed to extend the truce by two more days to allow the release of more hostages.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/netanyahu-musk-visit-israeli-kibbutz-attacked-by-hamas-1115234519.html

Netanyahu, Musk Visit Israeli Kibbutz Attacked by Hamas

Netanyahu, Musk Visit Israeli Kibbutz Attacked by Hamas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk on Monday visited the southern Israeli kibbutz of Kfar Aza to see firsthand the aftermath of attacks carried out by Palestinian movement Hamas last month, Netanyahu's office said.

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"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk, this morning, toured Kibbutz Kfar Aza. The Prime Minister showed him the horrors of the massacre at the kibbutz on Saturday October 7th," the office said in a statement. Netanyahu and Musk visited several kibbutz residences, where the latter heard about the experiences of army and local officials on the day of the attack, according to the statement. Earlier in November, the US entrepreneur was criticized for endorsing a social media post that claimed Jewish communities were pushing hatred against White people, saying it was "the actual truth." Film companies Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, Paramount, and Lionsgate suspended advertising on Musk's social network X due to his "anti-Semitic" comments. A similar decision was made by Walt Disney, as well as technology giants IBM and Apple. Last week, Musk said that the network would donate all its proceeds from the content related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip to Israeli hospitals and an international humanitarian organization providing medical assistance to Palestinians. On October 7, Hamas launched a surprise large-scale rocket attack against Israel from the Gaza Strip and breached the border, killing and abducting people. Israel launched retaliatory strikes and ordered a complete blockade of Gaza, cutting off supplies of water, food, and fuel. On October 27, Israel launched a ground incursion into the Gaza Strip. On Friday morning, the sides declared a four-day truce to exchange some of the prisoners and hostages, as well as allow the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. The conflict has so far resulted in the deaths of an estimated 1,200 people in Israel and over 14,800 in Gaza.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/israel-elon-musk-agree-on-starlink-operation-in-gaza-1115229234.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/scythian-gold-belongs-to-crimea-where-it-should-be---kremlin-1115232905.html

Scythian Gold Belongs to Crimea, Where It Should Be - Kremlin

Scythian Gold Belongs to Crimea, Where It Should Be - Kremlin

So far, for nearly a decade, the long-time debate over the ancient and invaluable Scythian gold has been in the media. With each court ruling and subsequent appeal, public outrage has fired up, as people question its rightful place. Russian officials once again reiterate that the collection rightfully belongs to Crimea, the place of its origin.

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Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov recently commented on the fact that the entire Scythian gold collection was wrongfully transferred to Ukraine by the Netherlands after a strenuous legal battle.Earlier in the day, the Allard Pierson Museum of Antiquities (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) confirmed the transfer of the collection to Ukraine.Previously, the Ukrainian customs service reported that a truck carrying the gold had moved to the premises of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (a historic 11th-century monastery that belongs to the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church). The National Museum of the History of Ukraine is to identify each item of the collection there.Back in 2013, four Crimean museums sent the Scythian gold as part of the vast Crimea, a Golden Island in the Black Sea collection (consisting of almost 2,000 artefacts) to be shown in Bonn and later in Amsterdam.The museums in question are the Kerch Historical and Cultural Reserve (later merged into the East Crimean Museum), the Tavrida Central Museum, the Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve and the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos (Chersones Tavrichesky).After Crimea voted to reunite with Russia in 2014, the Dutch were hesitant which of the two countries to send the gold back to. On October 26, 2021, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ruled that the collection was to be transferred to Ukraine.In January 2022, the four museums filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands (officially called the High Council of the Netherlands). However, the Supreme Court ended up upholding the previous decision made by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal, under which Ukraine was to get the gold.Russian called out the stance as biased. Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea, suggested that the Scythian gold might have ended up in private Western collections. According to Crimea Head Sergey Aksenov, the collection had simply been stolen.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20211027/court-decision-on-scythian-gold-creates-dangerous-precedent-russia-says-1090249508.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20200916/five-different-civilizations-used-ancient-burial-ground-in-crimea-and-archeologists-have-no-idea-1080479382.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/three-palestinian-college-students-shot-in-vermont-1115222664.html

Three Palestinian College Students Shot in Vermont

Three Palestinian College Students Shot in Vermont

Local authorities are investigating a possible hate crime after three Palestinian college students were shot Saturday evening in Burlington, Vermont.

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Local authorities are investigating a possible hate crime after three Palestinian college students were shot Saturday evening in Burlington, Vermont.The attack occurred around 6:25 PM local time near the campus of the University of Vermont as the friends, all 20 years old, were on their way to a family dinner. According to police a white male with a handgun appeared, firing at least four shots at the young men. The victims are recovering at a nearby hospital, with one of them reportedly suffering serious injuries.The men were identified on the X social media platform by Husam Zomlot, Palestines head ambassador to the United Kingdom.Three young Palestinian men, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, students at Brown and other US universities, were shot last night on their way to a family dinner in Burlington, USA, wrote Zomlot. Their crime? Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh.The keffiyeh is a black-and-white scarf considered a symbol of Palestinian culture.The attack shocked residents of Burlington, a liberal-leaning college town of less than 45,000. Police have not yet apprehended a suspect in the shooting or confirmed a motive, but the possibility of a hate crime is being investigated.In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, said local police chief Jon Murad. I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven.The US Federal Bureau of Investigation is reportedly investigating the incident and has an agent on the scene in Burlington.Meanwhile the Ramallah Friends School, where the three men reportedly attended high school in the occupied West Bank, posted a statement on social media.While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, read the post. We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of injuries  as Hisham has been shot in the back, Tahseen in the chest, and Kinnan with minor injuries.Bias attacks in the US have been on the rise since Hamas October 7 surprise attack in Israel, which spurred the country to respond militarily in the Gaza Strip. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reports a 216% increase in reported incidents of bias against Arab-Americans compared to 2022.Theres evidence that public demonstrations of antisemitism are on the rise as well, with police in New York City reporting a 214% increase in reported hate crimes against Jewish people in October.The shooting in Vermont comes just a week after a Muslim man was shot and wounded outside of a mosque in Providence, Rhode Island, although police are still uncertain of a motive in that crime as well. In October, a six-year-old Palestinian boy in Illinois was stabbed to death by his landlord, who was reportedly radicalized by anti-Muslim talk radio programs.In another highly-visible incident of Islamophobia, Stuart Seldowitz, a former US State Department employee and advisor to President Barack Obama, was charged with stalking and aggravated harassment last week after a video of him berating a New York City food cart vendor went viral online.Earlier this month a 69-year-old Jewish man in Ventura County, California, died after an altercation with a pro-Palestine counter-protester. The local sheriffs office says they havent ruled out the possibility of hate crime charges.Some Jewish students have reported incidents of harassment during pro-Palestine demonstrations at US colleges. The issue has prompted a debate over free speech after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis moved to ban chapters of a pro-Palestine group from university campuses across the state. George Washington University in Washington, DC and Columbia University in New York have also banned pro-Palestine groups in recent weeks.The move at Columbia was particularly controversial as one of the groups that was banned, Jewish Voice for Peace, is composed primarily of Jewish activists. Students and professors have demonstrated against the suspension of the groups while alumni of the university protested last week by throwing away their caps and gowns.Israel has been engaged in military action against Hamas since the Palestinian movement launched a surprise October 7 attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis. Since then Israel has reportedly killed more than 15,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including about 10,000 women and children. US media has reported that the rate of death during Israels assault has few precedents in this century.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/trump-claims-he-was-being-sarcastic-when-mixing-up-biden-obama-1115241466.html

Trump Claims He Was Being Sarcastic When Mixing Up Biden, Obama

Trump Claims He Was Being Sarcastic When Mixing Up Biden, Obama

Trump defended his mix-up of former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden on Monday, claiming the verbal flub was a sarcastic attempt to suggest Obamas alleged influence on the Biden administration.

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Former President Donald Trump defended his mix-up of former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden on Monday, claiming the verbal flub was a sarcastic attempt to suggest Obamas alleged influence on the Biden administration.I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country, wrote Trump in a post on his Truth Social online platform.Whenever I sarcastically insert the name Obama for Biden as an indication that others may actually be having a very big influence in running our Country, Ron DeSanctimonious and his failing campaign apparatus, together with the Democrats Radical Left Disinformation Machine, go wild saying that Trump doesnt know the name of our President, (CROOKED!) Joe Biden. He must be cognitively impaired.The post was a response to attacks from the presidential campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, which has questioned the former presidents mental acuity in recent days.Trumps dislike for Obama is well documented, with some news outlets reporting the real estate magnate first decided to enter politics after being mocked by Obama during a comedy routine at the 2011 White House Correspondents Dinner.Trump has been echoing a conservative conspiracy theory in recent weeks that former President Obama is secretly in control of the Biden White House. Its never been worse than it is now under crooked Joe Biden and, frankly, his boss, Barack Hussein Obama, said Trump at a campaign event in New Hampshire last month.But Trumps advanced age  at 77, hes just four years younger than President Biden  may lend credence to suggestions the former president is suffering mental decline.Polling has consistently suggested the majority of Americans believe Biden is too old to serve another term as president, but voters may increasingly share the same perception of Trump. A survey earlier this month showed 39% of voters in six battleground states believe Trump is now too old to be commander-in-chief.Trump has made a series of apparent verbal gaffes recently, once referring to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as the leader of Turkiye (Turkiye is led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan). Trump has also mistakenly claimed that Hungary shares a border with Russia and apparently confused DPRK President Kim Jong Un with Chinese President Xi Jinping.Trump has consistently rejected doubts over his cognitive abilities, once claiming in 2018 he is a very stable genius. He continues to lead all other candidates for the Republican Partys presidential nomination by wide margins despite facing 91 felony charges across four separate criminal cases.

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/ukraines-blame-game-begins-who-is-responsible-for-kievs-looming-defeat-1115235705.html

Ukraine's Blame Game Begins: Who is Responsible for Kiev's Looming Defeat?

Ukraine's Blame Game Begins: Who is Responsible for Kiev's Looming Defeat?

As Russia's victory looks increasingly imminent, Ukrainian politicians are starting to seek a scapegoat to blame.

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The Ukrainian leadership is coming face-to-face with not only the failure of its counteroffensive but also seemingly imminent defeat in the more than 20-month-long conflict with Russia - despite months of triumphalist rhetoric from Kiev.While Western leaders appear to be seeking a face-saving exit from their proxy war, past and present Ukrainian officials are busy finding someone to blame. How come Ukraine is losing? Wasn't it clear from the outset that Ukraine had considerably less troops, military equipment and resources to prevail? So who is to blame?Volodymyr ZelenskyAccording to Sergey Kryvonos, a retired general of the Ukraine Armed Forces and former deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, it's President Volodymyr Zelensky's fault that Ukraine is losing.The president's promises of victory to Ukrainians have never turned into reality, Kryvonos said on air at the "Pryamoy" News Channel."Last year and in the first half of this year, we were told about victory, that the Russians were already exhausted, that they no longer had missiles, that their economy had fallen. Did they say that? Yes, they did. () But did all this really happen? No", the retired general said, adding that the Kiev regime's words about a "powerful counteroffensive" were also just hot air.Kyvonos argued that Zelensky "must think not only about himself but also about training the population [in security]," which is not happening. He recommended that the Ukrainian president hire professionals instead of mere speechwriters who "write speeches for him to read.""Let me remind you that in June of this year, Washington claimed that Zelensky had received everything he needed for a successful offensive. The army was mobilized, and it launched a counteroffensive in early June and stalled. That's the problem. This is a general miscalculation. Zelenskys ambitions are understandable because he's a mercenary. They were hired to fight with Russia, to fight for a long time, but it doesnt work. This is where the grievances of both the West and [Zelensky] originate from," he continued.General Valery ZaluzhnyFor her part, MP Maryana Bezuglaya from Ukraine's Servant of the People Party blames Commander-in-Chief Gen. Valery Zaluzhny for the unfolding situation at the front. Per her, he failed to offer a strategic vision for 2024, including training, rotation and funding."The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was unable to provide a plan for 2024," Bezuglaya wrote on her Facebook* account. "Neither large nor small, neither asymmetrical nor symmetrical [plans have been proposed]. The military simply said that they need at least 20,000 citizens per month."However, Bezuglaya immediately came under criticism from her partymate Fyodor Venislavsky, who said that her presence on the Verkhovna Rada Committee on National Security and Defense "may threaten the national security of Ukraine.""Well, they accuse Zaluzhny of not having a plan for the winter, and everyone at the same time says that it is necessary to work out a defense plan - not a counteroffensive, but a defensive plan," Suzdaltsev said. It's not the first time that Zaluzhny has been criticized by Ukrainian politicians. In early November, the Ukrainian top commander gave an extensive interview for the Economist and published an essay about the balance of power on the battlefield, outlining what equipment and training the Ukrainian military needs to launch a future offensive. Zaluzhny made it clear that the Ukrainian counteroffensive attempt is over and there is no sense in proceeding with military actions through winter. Zaluzhny was lambasted by the Office of the Ukrainian President for his interview and op-ed. Soon after, Zaluzhny's close aide was killed by a grenade blast at home in an unclear situation that Kiev blamed on an "accident".Per Suzdaltsev, no matter how hard the Ukrainian political establishment lambasts Zaluzhny the crux of the matter is that there is no replacement for him in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, even though he can't be called a successful military leader.Former UK Prime Minister Boris JohnsonPer Davyd Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People's parliamentary faction, it was then-UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson who encouraged President Volodymyr Zelensky to pick the battle and fight to the bitter end.The lawmaker, who headed the Ukrainian delegation during the March 2022 Istanbul talks with Russia, said that Moscow was ready to end the conflict if Ukraine committed to neutrality and refused to join NATO. "When we returned from Istanbul, Boris Johnson came to Kiev and said: 'We wont sign anything with them at all, and lets just fight'," Arakhamia recalled in an interview with Ukrainian TV channel 1+1.Ukrainian Western AlliesAlexey Arestovich, ex-adviser to President Zelensky, argues it's Kiev's NATO allies which are responsible for Ukraine's defeat as they have not provided enough assistance for the military to rise victorious."The real responsibility lies with those who promised us, Ukraine, real support and () did not provide it. That means they conned us," Arestovich wrote on his Telegram account.Per him, the Ukrainian authorities' "stupidity and corruption" provided Ukraine's Western allies with "a reliable set of arguments () to justify" their decision to dump Kiev.The former Zelensky adviser argued that Ukraine needs military aircraft, long-range missiles and a fivefold increase in supplies for its ground forces. In his opinion, Kiev allies want to force Ukraine into signing a peace deal with Moscow, which would envisage recognizing the Donbass, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions as part of Russia. Arestovich said he opposes that.So - Who is to Blame?According to Suzdaltsev, Washington is mostly responsible for the Ukrainian military crisis, because Ukrainians are just US proxies.For eight years the Ukrainian leadership provoked Russia into a conflict "with all their might" by shelling Donbass Russian speakers, violating the Minsk agreements and proceeding with militarization, Suzdaltsev noted. Nonetheless, they were very surprised when Russia stepped in to stop this and launched its special military operation, the academic noted, adding that it appears that the Ukrainian elite couldn't connect the obvious dots.*Meta's Facebook is banned in Russia over extremism.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231105/zelensky-vs-zaluzhnyi-ukraines-president-censures-top-commander-over-stalemate-comments-1114746026.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20231125/us-german-peace-talks-plot-shows-west-on-brink-of-losing-ukraine--professor--1115207552.html

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https://sputnikglobe.com/20231127/watch-russian-soldiers-risk-their-lives-to-save-wounded-ukrainian-fighter-1115227019.html

Watch Russian Soldiers Risk Their Lives to Save Wounded Ukrainian Fighter

Watch Russian Soldiers Risk Their Lives to Save Wounded Ukrainian Fighter

Russian servicemen have once again demonstrated courage and mercy by saving a wounded surrendering Ukrainian trooper from Ukrainian fire.

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The Russian Defense Ministry has released footage of the troops rescuing a surrendered Ukrainian serviceman under fire from his own side near the village of Kleshcheyevka in the Artemovsk (Bakhmut) area. Despite the fact that many of the Ukrainian soldiers promote a neo-Nazi ideology, those who surrender have a right to live. Thus, one who was an enemy just a minute ago but is now an unarmed person in need of assistance will get help since the Russian troops always offer a helping hand.

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A new orthopedic surgeon has joined Regional West Medical Center, helping to build the offerings available to patients in the Panhandle.

Dr. Austin McPhilamy is the newest addition to the orthopedic staff at Regional West Medical Center, joining Regional West in August.

He attended medical school in Indiana before completing his fellowship at the Reno Orthopedic Clinic in Nevada. Following his experience there, he moved back home to Michigan working in private practice before moving to Phoenix with his wife. During their time there, McPhilamy said, he realized that he was not enjoying his time at the hospital and briefly returned to private practice.

We did a large number of trauma, in multiple Level I centers, and downtown and just realized that wasnt an opportunity for us and so we migrated back into the private practice world only to have that kind of fizzle out, McPhilamy said.

He and his wife discovered Scottsbluff and an opportunity at Regional West Medical Center through circumstances McPhilamy described as serendipitous.

He was returning with his wife from her parents cabin in the Black Hills in South Dakota and they passed through the Panhandle, where McPhilamy discovered the scenery of western Nebraska. During that trip, he became aware of RWMC here in Scottsbluff.

It was shortly after that we started looking for other opportunities when we realized that partnership wasnt gonna work out, and sure enough, we ran across this opportunity here at Regional West in its orthopedic department, McPhilamy said.

McPhilamy joins Dr. Timothy Friedlein, who has been working as an orthopedic surgeon at RWMC for the past 28 years. He moved here in 1995 after serving with the Air Force in North Dakota from 1991-95.

He decided to move to Scottsbluff because Regional West offered the opportunities he was looking for in orthopedics. He and his wife were searching for somewhere a little bit warmer, he said.

Friedlein and McPhilamy are the two full-time orthopedic surgeons on staff at the hospital, serving along two others who rotate in and out between other hospitals. McPhilamy said he felt it was important to be able to provide stability to their patients so they feel more comfortable when coming in for procedures.

Part of my goals were to help bring some stability to the trauma delivery on the orthopedic side here in the community, as traditionally they had some rotating part-time surgeons who had come in here, McPhilamy said.

Frieldein said he was appreciative of McPhilamys help and thought that patients would be happy to see more familiar faces when they come in for checkups and procedures.

Patients want to see the same people, they dont want to get pushed from one provider to another provider ... so having a consistent group of people is clearly the best way to go for the community, Friedlein said.

McPhilamy specializes in hip, knee and shoulder replacements although he considers trauma surgeries to be his bread and butter.

Trauma cases are always unique, you know, interesting. Theyre challenging in their own way, McPhilamy said.

Friedlein has tried his best to avoid specializing during his career so he can provide the widest range of services possible for his patients, an effort for which McPhilamy expressed admiration.

Ive always wanted to provide as much care as possible to as many people as I can, Friedlein said.

McPhilamy pointed out how difficult it can be to maintain a wide range of skills in surgery over a long career. He even admitted that he had to stop performing ACL repair procedures because he had fallen out of practice and had not performed them since his residency.

Instead, he focuses on the joint replacement surgeries for knees, hips and shoulders and maintains his skills in other areas as well.

There are some similarities between the two surgeons as well, namely how they discovered their passion for orthopedics.

Both surgeons made the decision to pursue orthopedics following visits during their time in medical school when they had the opportunity to watch a surgeon performing knee replacement surgery. McPhilamy said he was hooked after watching the procedure and knew the profession was for him.

Friedlein said he was also trying to find an emphasis to pursue in medical school when he shadowed a orthopedic surgeon. He said he discovered that it was the profession from him while watching that surgeon perform a knee replacement.

RWMC has been different than some of McPhilamys previous practices but he and Friedlein are hard at work providing orthopedic care to the citizens of Scottsbluff and the Panhandle.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk is set to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog amid an antisemitism controversy with X, formerly known as Twitter.

The billionaire entrepreneur is facing accusations by civil rights groups of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his social media platform. Musk will make the trip to also meet with Israelis whose relatives have been held by the Hamas militant group in Gaza.

Elon Musk To Meet With Israeli President

The Israeli president's office announced the meeting on Sunday night and said that the two would emphasize the need to combat rising antisemitism online. Musk did not respond to requests for comment regarding the scheduled meeting.

The visit coincides with a four-day truce between Israel and the Hamas militant group where so far, 58 of the roughly 240 hostages that Israel says have been held by the militant group have been released.

Local Israeli media also noted that Musk would meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. However, there was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister's office regarding the supposed meeting, as per The Guardian.

Netanyahu previously met with Mush on Sept. 18 in California, where the Israeli prime minister urged the Tesla CEO to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech. The request came after several weeks of controversy over antisemitic content on X.

The tech billionaire responded by saying that he was against antisemitism and against anything that "promotes hate and conflict." He repeated his previous statements that social media platforms do not promote hate speech.

Read Also: Stuart Seldowitz Filmed Hurling Islamophobic Remarks at Halal Cart Vendor

During that particular visit, which came before the war between Israel and Hamas, roughly 200 hundred people protested efforts by Netanyahu's government to curb judicial powers. They gathered outside Tesla's California factory, where the meeting was held.

Musk is facing criticism after a Nov. 15 incident where he agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed that Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people. He said that the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking the "actual truth," according to Reuters.

Addressing Antisemitism on X

The White House later condemned what it called an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that runs against America's core values. Following the controversy, major US companies, including Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, and NBCUniversal parent Comcast, paused their advertisements on X.

The conspiracy theory in question claims that Jewish people and leftists are manufacturing the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants. After the start of the Israel-Hamas war, antisemitic incidents in the US rose by nearly 400% from the prior year.

The situation also comes as Musk is developing an artificial intelligence startup, xAI, and Israel is considered a world leader. The Middle Eastern country's nearly $500 billion economy is estimated at around 2%, with slow growth expected next year after it was previously on track to top 3% this year with low unemployment.

Musk also came under fire for blocking Starlink access in Crimea to prevent Ukraine from targeting occupying Russian forces with drones. The decision came after the billionaire entrepreneur spoke with Russian officials who expressed fears that such assaults would lead to a nuclear response, said Business Insider.

Related Article: US Expresses Eagerness To Work on Release of American Citizens Captured by Hamas

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The holiday season will be brighter for those in need as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated roughly 28,000 pounds of food to two local charitable organizations.

The first bit of work came at FeedNC in Mooresville as more than 20,000 pounds of food was unloaded.

The reason we choose FeedNC is there are so many people who need it, and theyre progressive in their approach to helping people become independent, and theyre very concerned and dedicated to peoples dignity, training them to have the skills to be valuable members of the community, and more importantly help themselves, Sue White said, speaking on behalf of President Tim Smith, the churchs leader in the greater Lake Norman area. We feel that they are dedicated, have integrity and support the people in the community theyre in.

That donation isnt just important in the amount, it also will be enough to get FeedNC through the holidays and into the beginning of the year, a period of time when donations tend to slow down for many organizations, according to Lara Ingram, FeedNC executive director.

Its life changing for FeedNC at this time of year. Our demand grows by the day for families that need to be served. Were inching toward 7,000 people being served this year, Ingram said.

Ingram said with children out of school around the holiday, the need only grows.

It will help us feed so many people for Christmas dinner, as well as this will get us into the dead season in the winter. Not a lot of people think about nonprofits in January and February, so this will be incredibly helpful during winter.

Ingram said at their old location on Main Street such a shipment would be difficult to unload and store. Since moving to their new location on the Charlotte Highway, they can easily unload and store this and other needed donations.

The second part of the shipment  more than 7,000 pounds  went to Dallas High Shoals Christian Ministry in Gastonia.
On the second day of the Gaza truce, a tragic airstrike in Idlib claimed ten innocent lives, Saba Madawar writes in al-Modon.

On the second day of the truce in Gaza, a tragic incident unfolded in Idlib as an air strike by the Syrian regime claimed the lives of ten farmers who were innocently picking olives. While Syria has been plagued by crimes and atrocities for the past 12 years, this event stood out not only because of its criminality but also because of its timing, compelling us to address some pressing questions. These are questions that some may find uncomfortable or believe should be deferred until the Gaza war concludes. However, the urgency of the Syrian situation cannot be ignored.

Syrians are grappling with a perplexing paradox that portrays their oppressors as part of a supposed resistance. They question whether this characterization will once again prove hollow, as the international community has failed to support them and halt the atrocities committed by their own regime and its Iranian backers. Instead, the world has moved towards normalizing official relations with this murderous regime, all while attempting to downplay the crimes of the regime and its Iranian allies. Meanwhile, Syrians find themselves merely attached to the coattails of the resistance, with no significant influence on the ground in Gaza.

These Syrians ponder the sacrifice of hundreds of thousands of their martyrs in sectarian war crimes at the hands of the regime and Iranian forces, the displacement of millions, and the countless cases of disappearance, torture, field executions, and widespread demographic changes. They wonder whether all this suffering was in vain. Is it justifiable to withhold judgment on a clearly defined criminal and heinous crime solely because of the misguided belief that the same criminal might exhibit nobility, honesty, and truthfulness elsewhere, even in Palestine?

Syrians also reflect on their honourable history of supporting Palestine and its cause, dating back to figures like Izz al-Din al-Qassam and the thousands of true martyrs who sacrificed their lives for Palestine without seeking personal gain or political advantage. This stands in stark contrast to their own regime, which has shamelessly exploited the Palestinian cause while being among its most egregious violators. Iran, in its quest for one-upmanship and self-interest, has surpassed even Syria in this cynical exploitation of others for its gain.

Does this rich history of Syrian support for Palestine hold any sway over those who feel discomfort, or even hostility, when Syrians raise concerns about our killers whom you praise, victims of crimes who should not be discriminated against, and the friend of my friend whom they insist should be their friend against their will, while their blood continues to flow from his daggers? This same individual deploys criminal militias to plunder their land, ravage their country, and displace their people. Ironically, these very militias are now presented as part of the axis of resistance, and their victims are expected to either applaud them or remain silent in the name of the greater battle.

This is not merely a matter of ignoring Syrian questions, as some may attempt to do, but rather a moral failing that should be evident to any fair-minded person. Those who seek truth and refuse to distort reality for temporary convenience cannot ignore the distortion, whether deliberate or unwitting, of the image of Palestine and the justice of its cause when associated with criminals, murderers, bandits, and terrorists. Such sectarians can never be genuine proponents of a just cause or noble actions.

The issue at hand goes beyond simply evading Syrian questions; it is a moral dilemma that plagues those who claim to uphold morality. Syrians find themselves in a real crisis unless they choose silence, for in doing so, they suppress their questions, allow their oppressors to be glorified undeservingly, and inadvertently distort the truth and history.

Regrettably, our Arab world today finds itself entangled in a web of interconnected interests, where opposing forces are in close proximity. While the Syrian killers continue their atrocities with impunity, proponents of the priorities theory demand that the victims postpone their self-defence and permit the slaughter to continue unabated, all because the butchers are somehow part of these supposed priorities.

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.
An SDF-affiliated sniper shot a young man from al-Ashara on the Euphrates River bank, according to Athr Press.

After midnight on Friday, the towns and countryside of the Jazira region witnessed a series of attacks by Arab tribal forces, directed at the headquarters and military installations of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

According to local sources reported by Athr Press, Arab tribal forces utilized machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades to target al-Sur Square and SDF military points in the towns of al-Ezba and al-Sabha, near the irrigation canal. Similar attacks occurred in the villages of al-Jasmi, al-Hajna, al-Rabidah, al-Harijiya located in the northeastern countryside. Additionally, one of the SDF headquarters in the town of Abu Hardoub in the eastern countryside was abruptly assaulted.

These sources highlighted that the attacks also impacted military points and headquarters of the SDF in the northwestern countryside, particularly in the areas inhabited by the Bakara tribe. The attacks targeted SDF points in the towns of al-Hussan and Muhaimida, as well as the SDF regiment stationed at the mills site adjacent to the town of al-Jeya, all occurring on Saturday night.

Tribal sources, in an interview with Athr Press, indicated that the northwestern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor had been experiencing a cautious calm since the initiation of movements by Arab tribal forces. These movements had, until then, facilitated permanent supply lines of equipment and resources to the SDF. However, the recent escalation in attacks may signal the potential resurgence of confrontations, possibly extending to encompass all areas of Deir-ez-Zor clans.

Simultaneously, in an unrelated incident, a young man from the city of al-Ashara, under the authority of the Syrian state, was shot by a sniper affiliated with the SDF while he was on the bank of the Euphrates River near the city above.

Since the commencement of clashes between Arab tribal forces and the SDF on August 27th, these conflicts have persisted for four months despite ongoing efforts for negotiated resolutions. The latest attempt involved negotiations with Musab al-Hafel, the elder brother of the sheikh of the Akidat tribe. However, these negotiations faced obstacles after the SDF insisted that Hafel issue a statement expressing support for the SDF and meet with its commander-in-chief, Mazloum Abdi.

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.
Despite repeated Israeli airstrikes on Damascus and Aleppo international airports, the Assad regime remains silent, Sawt al-Asima writes.

Media sources affiliated with the Assad regime reported that the runway of Damascus International Airport was targeted within the past 24 hours, following its recent return to service, in Israeli raids on the evening of November 26th. The sources did not disclose the extent of material and human losses resulting from the attacks.

A publication associated with the regimes media stated that Damascus International Airport was subjected to Israeli aggression, according to preliminary information, without providing specific details on the damage. It confirmed the occurrence of strong explosions in Damascus as a consequence of the Israeli raids.

As of now, media linked to the Assad regime has not issued statements regarding measures taken to confront the Israeli raids. However, they did acknowledge the sound of explosions in Damascus and observed smoke rising in the Mezzeh, Moadamiya, and Sumaria areas. There are reports of Israeli shelling targeting regime military sites, including Damascus International Airport.

Sawt al-Asima Sources confirmed that Damascus International Airport is currently out of service due to Israeli airstrikes targeting its runways. It was noted that Israeli planes carried out two separate rounds of air raids, initially targeting air defence systems followed by the runways of Damascus International Airport.

Intelligence sources affiliated with the Assad regime estimated that within 48 hours, there were approximately 23 hours of intense aerial activity over southern and central Syria and the vicinity of the capital, Damascus. This was attributed to Nachshon Oron 452 of the 122nd Squadron in the Israeli enemy air force, with hostile warplanes flying near the Sea of Galilee on multiple occasions. The sources expressed a heightened risk of aggression against Syria, estimating that Israeli planes were in flight for more than 23 hours during this period.

Cham Wings Airlines had previously announced the resumption of services at Damascus International Airport, redirecting incoming flights to Aleppo and Lattakia airports. However, with the recent developments, it is confirmed that Damascus International Airport is once again out of service.

It is worth noting that Israeli planes have repeatedly targeted Damascus and Aleppo international airports. The Israeli occupation army stated that these attacks were in response to mortar shells launched from Syria, with a pledge to target additional sites in Syria in the coming days. Meanwhile, the Assad regime has not responded to calls from its loyalists, citing the need for the right time and place for a reaction.

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 Ports Directorate of the regime announces the closure of all Syrian coast seaports due to adverse weather conditions, Syria TV reports.

On Sunday, the Ports Directorate of the regime declared the closure of all seaports along the Syrian coast owing to adverse weather conditions. According to a statement on Facebook, the closure encompasses fishing and excursion ports, marinas, and commercial ports along the Syrian coast due to the heightened weather conditions characterized by escalating wind speeds and high sea waves.

Warnings of winds exceeding 85 km

On Saturday evening, the General Directorate of Meteorology issued a warning, indicating that the Syrian coast was experiencing robust winds exceeding 85 kilometres per hour, accompanied by dusty conditions in the eastern regions of the country.

The Meteorological Directorate forecasted that the night from Saturday to Sunday, as well as the entirety of Sunday, would see variable weather, transitioning to rainy and cloudy conditions over the coastal and northwestern regions, as well as isolated areas in the northeast of the country.

The report added that rainfall is anticipated to be moderate to heavy intermittently, with expectations of highly active westerly winds featuring strong gusts along the coasts and elevated sea waves. In the east and northeast, a southeasterly wind will prevail, becoming active in the early hours of Sunday.

By Sunday evening, weather conditions are predicted to intensify in the coastal and northwestern regions, gradually spreading to most of the interior after midnight. Sporadic instances of these conditions will reach the Syrian island, marked by active wind gusts and an initial decline in temperatures.

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.

Sunday saw Israeli airstrikes rendering Damascus airport non-operational, leading to the redirection of incoming flights, according to both the Syrian army and a pro-government newspaper. Simultaneously, Syrian government forces shelled a northwestern village on Saturday, resulting in the tragic death of at least 10 people, including seven children who were picking olives. Additionally, the Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces dispatched military reinforcements to its posts in the town of al-Boukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor on Saturday.

Syria says Israel strike puts Damascus airport out of service

Israeli air strikes put Damascus airport out of service on Sunday, forcing incoming flights to be diverted elsewhere, the Syrian army and a pro-government newspaper said.

Israel has for years carried out strikes against what it has described as Iranian-linked targets in Syria, including against Aleppo and Damascus airports, Reuters reports.

The Syrian army said in a statement its air defences intercepted Israeli missiles flying from the Golan Heights. It said the Israeli strikes, which also targeted outposts in the Damascus countryside, led only to material losses but did not elaborate on the extent of damage to the countrys biggest civilian airport. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

Flights scheduled to arrive in Damascus were being diverted to Lattakia and Aleppo, Al Watan newspaper said.

At least 10 people killed in Syrian government shelling of a rebel-held village, the opposition says

Quoting a paramedic group and relatives of the victims, the Associated Press reported that Syrian government forces shelled a northwestern village Saturday killing at least 10 people, including seven children, as they picked olives.

The shelling of the village of Qawqafeen, in Idlib province, is the latest violation of a truce reached in March 2020 between Russia and Turkey, who back rival sides in Syrias 12-year conflict that has killed half a million people.

Syrian government officials have not commented on the strike.

Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded over the past years in violations of the truce that ended a monthslong Russian-backed government offensive on northwestern Idlib province, the last major rebel stronghold in Syria.

The shelling of the farm was reported by the Britain-based opposition war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the oppositions Syrian Civil Defense, also known as White Helmets.

The White Helmets said it treated one woman who was wounded and handed over the bodies of the dead to their families.

Omar Qadda, whose cousin, Abdallah Saeed, was killed in the strike along with Saeeds children, sister and sisters children, said he was nearby when the shells landed and rushed to the scene.

There was no attack launched from our area, he said. They were civilians and children.

Munir Mustafa, deputy director of civil defence, said the emergency responders have seen an escalation in strikes launched by government forces since October, including on farmers.

US forces came under attack 4 times in Iraq and Syria on Thanksgiving

CNN reported that US and coalition forces in Iraq and Syria came under attack four separate times on Thanksgiving Day, according to a US official.

On Thursday morning, multiple one-way attack drones were launched against troops at Al-Asad Airbase, and one one-way attack drone targeted Erbil Airbase in Iraq. A multi-rocket attack was also launched against forces at Mission Support Site Euphrates in Syria. On Thursday afternoon, another one-way attack drone was launched against forces at Mission Support Site Green Village in Syria.

All four followed an attack on Wednesday afternoon when a one-way attack drone was launched against Erbil Airbase, the official said.

There were no casualties or infrastructure damage reported in any of the attacks, according to the official.

The latest attacks mark at least 73 against US and coalition forces since October 17. They also follow a US air strike on Tuesday evening  Wednesday morning local time  on two facilities used by the Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah group in Iraq.

US Central Command said that the airstrikes were in direct response to the attacks against U.S. and Coalition forces by Iran and Iran-backed groups, including the one in Iraq on November 21, which involved the use of close-range ballistic missiles.

A defence official added that the facilities  an operations center and command and control node near Al Anbar and Jurf al Saqr, Iraq, south of Baghdad  were used by Kataib Hezbollah to support recent attacks on US and coalition bases in Iraq and Syria.

At least eight Iranian-backed Kataib Hezbollah fighters were killed and four others wounded following the US strikes, the group said in a statement.

While the strikes were the first in Iraq since attacks on US and coalition forces began, they were the fourth US strike against targets associated with Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since the attacks started on October 17.

Government sends military reinforcements to Syrias Deir-ez-Zor

The Fourth Division of the Syrian government forces sent on Saturday military reinforcements to its military posts in the town of al-Boukamal in the eastern countryside of Deir-ez-Zor, eastern Syria, North Press reported.

A military source from the government forces told North Press that the Fourth Division transferred ammunition and more than 200 soldiers from Homs, central Syria, to the town of Abu Kamal. The military reinforcements were deployed in three headquarters that were newly established in al-Boukamal neighbourhoods.

Residents are concerned that more taxes will be imposed on them, as groups of the National Defense Forces of the government forces have already imposed taxes continually, according to the source.
Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Influencing the U.S. election or the U.K.'s political future by using a combination of the personal information posted on Facebook by millions of people and powerful data analysis technologyit wasn't that long ago that this would have seemed like something out of a sci-fi novel, but the 2018 Cambridge Analytica scandal proved that it can happen and that, as a result of advancing technology and machine intelligence, we are now facing fundamental dilemmas that we never had to think about before.

The neurorights initiative led by the Neurorights Foundation advocates for the recognition of a new set of protection measures against the challenges of these technical advances. Some of these are being debated in connection with the Artificial Intelligence Act that is currently being negotiated within the EU's governing bodies. This law must regulate, among other matters, the ability of AI to influence our subconscious (similarly to the Cambridge Analytica case but at much deeper levels).

Ignasi Beltran de Heredia, dean of the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and author of the book "Inteligencia artificial y neuroderechos" (Aranzadi, 2023), has just published an open-access article (in Spanish) in Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de Mexico examining the challenges we face as a result of the advances in AI and questioning the EU's latest bill from the perspective of neuroscience.

The risks of giving AI access to our subconscious

According to estimates, only 5% of human brain activity is conscious. The remaining 95% takes place subconsciously and not only do we have no real control over it, but we are also not even aware that it is taking place. As noted by Beltran de Heredia in his article, we are unaware of this extraordinary torrent of neural activity due to the high complexity of the interaction between our conscious mind and our subconscious behavior and our complete lack of control over the forces that guide our lives.

However, this does not mean that people cannot be influenced subconsciously. "There are two ways for artificial intelligence to do this," he explained. "The first one is by collecting data about people's lives and creating a decision architecture that leads you to make a particular decision. And the otherwhich is currently less developedinvolves using applications or devices to directly create impulses that are irresistible for our subconscious mind in order to generate impulsive responses at a subliminal level, i.e., to create impulses."

"As we gradually develop better and more powerful machines and become more closely connected to them, both options will become increasingly widespread. Algorithms will have more information about our lives, and creating tools to generate these impulsive responses will be easier [] The risk of these technologies is that, just like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, they will make us dance without knowing why."

In Beltran de Heredia's opinion, the field in which we are most likely to see the first attempts to influence human behavior through AI is that of work, more specifically occupational health. He argues that a number of intrusive technologies are currently in use. These include devices that monitor bus drivers to detect microsleep or electroencephalography (EEG) sensors used by employers to monitor employees' brainwaves for stress and attention levels while at work. "It's hard to predict the future but, if we don't restrict such intrusive technologies while they're still at the earliest stages of development, the most likely scenario is that they'll keep improving and spreading their tendrils in the name of productivity."

The (blurry) limits proposed by the EU

The new artificial intelligence regulation currently being discussed by the EU seeks to anticipate the possible future risks of this and other uses of AI. Article 5.1 of the original bill contained an express prohibition on placing on the market, putting into service or using an AI that is capable of influencing a person other than at a conscious level in order to distort that person's behavior. However, the amendments and modifications gradually introduced since then have slowly diluted the absolute nature of the prohibition.

The current bill, which will be used as reference for the final wording of the law, bans such techniques only if they are intended to be manipulative or deceptive, they significantly affect a person's ability to make an informed decision such that they make a decision that they would not otherwise have made, and they cause significant harm to someone in some way. In addition, the prohibition will not apply to AI systems for approved therapeutic purposes.

"Under the proposal, the AI ban will apply when there is serious harm and the person ends up doing something they wouldn't otherwise have done. But that's an unrealistic standard. If I can't access my subconscious, I can't possibly prove what I would've done without the stimulus, and I can't prove the harm either [] If subliminal advertising is now completely banned without qualification, why are we leaving room for subliminal conditioning by artificial intelligence?"

According to Beltran de Heredia, if we leave the door open to our subconscious mind, even for good reasons, we won't be able to control who has access to it, how it is accessed or the aims of this access. "Some may think that these concerns belong to an unlikely dystopian future. And yet there's no doubt that we're already being intruded upon at a depth that was unimaginable only a few years ago and that the public should be given the fullest protection possible. Our subconscious mind represents our most private selves and should be completely sealed from outside access. Indeed, we shouldn't even be discussing it."

There's still much we don't know about how our brain works and how the conscious and subconscious parts of our mind interact with each other. The brain remains a very elusive organ and, although science is making great strides in this field, we don't know about many of the ways in which its functioning could be affected by certain stimuli.

"We need to be aware of the risk of giving other people and companies access to our inner selves at such deep levels. In the context of the data economy, many public and private institutions are competing for access to our information but, paradoxically, it's been shown time and time again that individuals place little value on their privacy," he concluded.

More information: Ignasi Beltran de Heredia Ruiz, Algoritmos y condicionamiento por debajo del nivel consciente: un analisis critico de la propuesta de Ley de Inteligencia Artificial de la Union Europea, Revista de la Facultad de Derecho de Mexico (2023). DOI: 10.22201/fder.24488933e.2023.286.86406
United States President Joe Biden apologizes to Muslim Americans for doubting the Palestinian death toll that the Gaza Ministry of Health released.

The Democratic leader made the apologies privately and pledged to do better during his meeting with a group of Muslim Americans. The 81-year-old president met face-to-face with five community figureheads who were angered by his public dismissal of the Palestinian death toll that was released on Oct. 25.

Joe Biden Apologizes for Doubting Palestinian Death Toll

One person organizing the meeting said the process was a "sh**show." During the press conference at the White House on that day, the president said that he had no notion that the Palestinians were telling the truth about the exact number of casualties.

The next day, on Oct. 26, Biden had fraught discussions with five community public figures who were furious by his remarks. Their group went back-and-forth over the president's allotted time by 30 minutes. All five attendees were hand-picked by the White House, as per the Daily Mail.

The guests at the meeting included Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Chicago-based Rami Nashashibi, interfaith leader Imam Mohamed Magid, Muslim lobbyist Wa'el Alzayat, and healthcare advocate Suzanne Barakat.

One person involved in the talks questioned the attendees why they were sitting down with Biden without any agreement that he would retract the statement he made and publicly apologize.

A participant at the talks said that the objective of the meeting was to press the Democratic president on the issue of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The invitees were "livid" that Biden was debating the fatality data just one day before instead of accepting that thousands of people were being killed in the war-torn region.

During the meeting, Biden said, "I'm sorry. I'm disappointed in myself." The president's remarks came as more than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including thousands of children and women, were killed amid the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group, according to the New York Post.

Read Also: Joe Biden Makes Thanksgiving Address, Calls for Unity Amid Series of Challenges

Handling the War Between Israel and Hamas

The Israeli government said that it suffered more than 1,200 deaths, mostly civilians, during the Hamas militant group's initial attack on Oct. 7. The Muslim American leaders who met with the president called on him to show more empathy to Palestinians. Biden reportedly embraced one of the talks' participants at the end of their meeting.

The situation comes as Biden has been facing mounting pressure from members of his administration for a strategy to curtail civilian deaths in Gaza. Some prominent Democrats have publicly disparaged the president's response to the conflict.

Since the beginning of the war, Biden has endorsed America's support for Israel but has also called on the Jewish state to agree to a ceasefire. This would allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip. He had also been working to have hostages taken by the militant group freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

On Sunday, Biden said that he had been advocating for weeks to pause the fighting in the region for two purposes. The first is for assistance to reach Gaza civilians who desperately need help. The second is to facilitate the release of the hostages taken by the group, which includes American nationals, said Fox News.

Related Article: US Expresses Eagerness To Work on Release of American Citizens Captured by Hamas During Israel-Palestine Conflict

@ 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:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

In a study published in Scientific Reports, a research team from the University of Passau compared the quality of machine-generated content with essays written by secondary school students. The upshot: The AI-based chatbot performed better across all criteria, especially when it came to language mastery.

The language model ChatGPT is making enormous progress. After version 3.5 had failed the Bavarian Abitur (a test given at the end of secondary school in Germany) in early 2023, its successor version 4 earned a solid 2 nearly six months later.

A study by the University of Passau has now been able to demonstrate to what extent AI-generated content could revolutionize the school system. The researchers also experimented with the two language model versions.

In a study entitled "A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays" and published in Scientific Reports, they concluded that the machine writes better English essays. They evaluated machine-generated texts and essays written by secondary school students according to guidelines established by the Ministry of Education of Lower Saxony.

"I was surprised by how clear the outcome was," says Professor Steffen Herbold, who holds the Chair of AI Engineering at the University of Passau and initiated the study. Both Open AI chatbot versions scored higher than the students, with GPT-3 ranking in the middle and GPT-4 achieving the best score. "This shows that schools shouldn't turn a blind eye to these new tools."

Reflecting on AI models

The interdisciplinary study was carried out by the computer scientists in collaboration with computer linguist Professor Annette Hautli-Janisz and computer science didactician Ute Heuer. "I find it important to prepare teachers for the challenges and opportunities coming their way as artificial intelligence models become increasingly available," says Heuer.

She initiated a training course on "ChatGPTOpportunity and Challenge" that the research team conducted. This event, which took place in March 2023, was attended by 139 teachers, most of whom teach at German gymnasiums. The teachers were first briefed on selected technological ideas behind general text generators and ChatGPT. The practical stage then specifically involved English-language texts where the training course participants were left unaware of the origin of these texts.

Using questionnaires, the teachers were asked to evaluate the essays presented to them based on grading scales established by the Ministry of Education of Lower Saxony. Content was evaluated based on the criteria topic, completeness, and logic as well as linguistic aspects like vocabulary, complexity, and language mastery. The research team from Passau defined a scale from 0 to 6 for each criterion, with 0 being the worst score and 6 the best.

The machine scores above average in language mastery

One hundred eleven teachers completed the entire questionnaire and evaluated a total of two hundred seventy English language essays. The research team found the biggest difference in language mastery where the machine scored 5.25 (GPT-4) and 5.03 points (GPT-3) respectively, whereas the students scored an average of 3.9 points.

"This does not mean that students have poor English language skills. Rather, the scores achieved by the machine are exceptionally high," underscores Annette Hautli-Janisz, Junior Professor of Computational Rhetoric and Natural Language Processing at the University of Passau.

For Hautli-Janisz, who analyzed the texts from a linguistic perspective together with doctoral student Zlata Kikteva, the study provides further exciting insights into the machine's language development. "We have seen how the models change over time and are able to demonstrate with our studies that they have improved in performing the task we give them."

The researchers have also been able to identify differences between human and machine-generated language. "When we read more AI-generated texts going forward, we'll have to ask ourselves whether and how that affects our human language," says Hautli-Janisz.

More information: Steffen Herbold et al, A large-scale comparison of human-written versus ChatGPT-generated essays, Scientific Reports (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-45644-9 Journal information: Scientific Reports

Provided by Universitat Passau
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Google logos are shown when searched on Google in New York, Sept. 11, 2023. Google will start deleting 'inactive' accounts in December. Under Googles updated inactive account policy, which the tech giant announced back in May, accounts that havent been used in at least two years could be deleted. Accounts deemed inactive could be erased beginning Friday, Dec. 1. Credit: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File

Have a Google account you haven't used in a while? If you want to keep it from disappearing, you should sign in before the end of the week.

Under Google's updated inactive-account policy, which the tech giant announced back in May, accounts that haven't been used in at least two years could be deleted. Accounts deemed inactive will be erased in a phased-approach beginning Friday.

If you have an account that's at risk for deletion, you should receive multiple notices from Google sent to the email affiliated with that account and its recovery address (if one exits). But if you're still catching up on this new policyand want to ensure that your content on Google Drive, Docs, Gmail and more is savedhere's what you need to know.

WHY IS GOOGLE DELETING INACTIVE ACCOUNTS?

In May's announcement, Google attributed its inactive-account update to security issues.

Accounts that haven't been used for a long time are more likely to be compromised, the company said, noting that "forgotten or unattended accounts" typically have old passwords, often lack two-factor authentication and receive fewer security checks. As a result, these accounts could be hijacked and used for spam or other malicious content, as well as identity theft.

HOW CAN I PREVENT MY ACCOUNT FROM BEING DELETED?

The easiest way to keep your Google account active (and thus prevent it from being deleted) is to sign in at least once every two years.

Other actions that fulfill account activity requirements include sending or scrolling through emails, using Google search and watching YouTube videos (YouTube is owned by Google) all while signed into your Google account. Existing subscriptions set up through your Google account, including profiles for third-party apps and publications, can also account for activity.

Preserving content on Google Photos requires a specific sign-in. As previously announced by Google, Photos content may be similarly deleted after two years of inactivitymeaning you should open the application every so often to keep images from going into the trash.

ARE THERE ANY EXCEPTIONS TO THIS POLICY?

Only personal Google accounts that haven't been used for two years or more will be impacted under this inactive-account update. Accounts made for organizations, like schools or companies, will not be affected, Google says.

Per Google's online policy, other exceptions include Google accounts that manage active minor accounts, accounts containing a gift card balance as well as those that have been used to purchase Google products, apps or subscriptions that are ongoing.

There are also no plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time, a Google spokesperson confirmed to The Associated Press Monday.

CAN I SAVE DATA FROM MY GOOGLE ACCOUNT?

Beyond keeping your Google account active, there's a few tools to help manage and backup your data.

Google Takeout, for example, allows users to download and export account data outside of Google at any time. And its Inactive Account Manager lets you choose what would happen to your account and data if it becomes inactiveincluding options to send select files to trusted contacts or delete the account entirely. Google's online policy also says the company can work with immediate family to close the account of a deceased loved one and/or provide some account contentwithout sharing login credentialson a case-by-case basis.

Google asks users to provide and update a recovery email for their accountwhich is also helpful for sending inactive account notices and other communications.

 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the world's largest dedicated multilateral climate fund, and aims to support climate mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries. Mobilizing financial resources from the private sector is an important priority for the donor countries backing the GCF. However, so far the GCF has underperformed in this respect.

According to a Climate Policy study by Thomas Kalinowski (Ewha Womans University, Seoul, and Research Institute for SustainabilityHelmholtz Center Potsdam) this is due to numerous shortcomings in the GCF's strategy. The Green Climate Fund was established in 2010 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

It currently administers some 200 projects with a total value of USD 40 billion, of which the private sector accounts for only a small share. This is due to a number of reasons, as Thomas Kalinowski explains, "This shortfall in private sector engagement is largely driven by the perception that investments are unlikely to be profitable. There is a lack of attractive business models, especially when it comes to climate adaptation, and investments in particularly vulnerable countries in the Global South are considered excessively risky."

An exception to this is the renewable energy sector, where private sector engagement with the GCF is concentrated. According to Kalinowski, this suggests that private climate financing from the Global North is unlikely to play a decisive role in enabling the paradigm shift towards sustainable development in the Global South. In light of this, public funding for development cooperation should not be reduced.

Private sector projects are financed from public funds

In September 2022, the Green Climate Fund had 47 approved private sector projects (out of a total of 207 projects). Five of these 47 projects had lapsed and were no longer under implementation, which is a much higher rate of failure compared to the public sector, where only two of 160 projects failed. This leaves 42 private sector projects, with a volume of USD 16.9 billion, out of a total of USD 40.2 billion in GCF funds. This means that 21% of all projects and 42% of all project funds are allocated to private sector projects.

This is not the full picture, however, as Kalinowski's analysis shows. In fact, 22% of the total volume of USD 16.9 billion invested in private sector projects are funds provided by the Green Climate Fund itself. The remainder comes from other, largely public institutions, such as the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other regional or national development banks.

"In other words, a large proportion of the Green Climate Fund's project financing for the private sector does not come from the private sector, but from public sources," explains the political scientist.

Short-term profit interests vs. long-term transformation

More important than the quantity of private projects, however, is their quality. Kalinowski highlights the urgent need to ensure that private sector projects are compatible with the principles of the GCF and of good development cooperation in general.

"It is critical that climate projects in the Global South are embedded in national development and climate strategies. Efforts to strengthen the involvement of private sector actors and civil society in the Global South, and to improve the broader business environment in recipient countries, are more important than maximizing private capital flows."

If these aspects are not properly considered, the GCF and private climate finance risk adding to the already high external debt burden of countries in the Global South, further destabilizing financial markets and exacerbating economic dependency.

Kalinowski concludes that although renewable energy generation is preferable to the continued exploitation of natural resources, this alone will not provide a pathway to sustainable development in the Global South.

More information: Thomas Kalinowski, The Green Climate Fund and private sector climate finance in the Global South, Climate Policy (2023). DOI: 10.1080/14693062.2023.2276857

Provided by Forschungsinstitut fur Nachhaltigkeit Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam
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Magnetic excitation in two non-conductive magnetic layers serve as planar thermal waveguides (labeled WG1 and WG2) for transmitting information stored in the temperature of local spin excitations. Credit: Advanced Electronic Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/aelm.202300325

Physicists at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) and Central South University in China have demonstrated that, by combining specific materials, heat in technical devices can be used in computing. Their discovery is based on extensive calculations and simulations. The new approach demonstrates how heat signals can be steered and amplified for use in energy-efficient data processing. The team's research findings have been published in the journal Advanced Electronic Materials.

Electric current flow heats up electronic devices. The generated heat is dissipated and energy is lost. "For decades, people have been looking for ways to re-use this lost energy in electronics," explains Dr. Jamal Berakdar, a professor of physics at MLU. This is extremely challenging, he says, due to the difficulty in directing and controlling accurately heat signals. However, both are necessary if heat signals are to be used to reliably process data.

Berakdar carried out extensive calculations together with two colleagues from Central South University in China. The idea: instead of conventional electronic circuits, non-conductive magnetic strips are used in conjunction with normal metal spacers. "This unusual combination makes it possible to conduct and amplify heat signals in a controlled manner in order to power logical computing operations and heat diodes," explains Berakdar.

One disadvantage of the new method, however, is its speed. "This method does not produce the kind of computing speeds we see in modern smartphones," says Berakdar. That is why the new method is currently probably less relevant for use in everyday electronics and is better suited for next-generation computers which will be used to perform energy-saving calculations.

"Our technology can contribute to saving energy in information technology by making good use of surplus heat," Berakdar concludes.

More information: Xiguang Wang et al, PTSymmetry Enabled Spintronic Thermal Diodes and Logic Gates, Advanced Electronic Materials (2023). DOI: 10.1002/aelm.202300325
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Left image shows the CAD design in an exploded view with the Silicon paw with the pattern on the bottom, aluminum housing in the center, and the board with camera and microphone. The right image illustrates the neural networks used to estimate force based on the pattern deformation and the neural network used to classify the terrain. Credit: Vangen et al

Legged robots that artificially replicate the body structure and movements of animals could efficiently complete missions in a wide range of environments, including various outdoor natural settings. To do so, however, these robots should be able to walk on different terrains, such as soil, sand, grass, and so on, without losing balance, getting stuck or falling over.

Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay recently developed a new artificial paw with sensing capabilities that could help to improve the ability of legged robots to move on a variety of terrains. This "sensorized" paw, introduced in a paper posted to the preprint server arXiv, can recognize different terrains and their properties by estimating the force applied to its surface from the ground underneath.

"Our past research activities for the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, which was ultimately won by Team CERBERUS led by Prof. Kostas Alexis, indicated the importance of robust response to challenging terrain," Tejal Barnwal, Prof. Alexis and Jrgen Anker Olsen, authors of the paper, told Tech Xplore.

"Our team participated in the competition with the legged robot ANYmal, a platform provided by our ETH Zurich partners, and this was key to our success. Understanding the limitations of the state-of-the-art we concluded that enhancing a legged robot's perception through sensorized paws could render locomotion control even more reliable and adaptive."

Past studies have consistently reported the difficulties that legged robots can experience when moving on uneven and complex terrains. For instance, they have found that difficult terrains can restrict the movements of legged robots and create occlusions, preventing the robots from effectively sensing their surrounding environment.

In recent years, roboticists and computer scientists have thus been trying to develop computational methods that can recognize different terrains and modulate the movements of legged robots accordingly, to ensure their optimal locomotion. Yet many approaches proposed so far rely on sensors that are already integrated in the robots, such as LiDAR sensors and cameras, which offer only a limited view of the surrounding environment and of the terrain the robots are walking on.

"The integration of information from sight, touch, and sound empowers humans and animals to swiftly adapt while walking or running on diverse terrains," Barnwal, Olsen and Alexis said. "This multisensory approach boosts spatial awareness, enhances balance, and facilitates rapid decision-making for safe navigation in varied environments. Similarly, providing quadrupeds with sound-based terrain recognition and pressure information on foot exertion in real-time can aid them in maintaining balance and can help them adapt their control and navigation strategies effectively in various terrain situations."

Barnwal, Olsen, Alexis and their colleague Alexander Vangen set out to develop a new system that could gather more detailed information about the terrain that robots are moving on in real-time. They ultimately created an artificial paw or foot, dubbed TRACEPaw, which can be integrated at the bottom of a robotic leg.

"Featuring a silicone-based hemispherical point end-effector, TRACEPaw utilizes silicon deformation, an embedded micro camera, and a microphone for the real-time estimation of 3D force vectors and recognition of various terrain types, including gravel, snow, sand and more," the researchers explained.

"The paw end-effector responds to contact forces by deforming, while an embedded micro camera captures images of the deformed inner surface inside the shoe. Simultaneously, a microphone captures audio signals during the interaction between the paw and the terrain."

The paw-like system created by Barnwal, Olsen, Alexis and Vangen collects a variety of sensory data from the surrounding environment, particularly from the terrain below it. Subsequently, this data is analyzed by a computer vision model trained via supervised learning, which can make predictions about a terrain and estimate the so-called contact force, based on the deformation of its silicon surface and the noise produced by the soil.

"The system employs simple yet efficient supervised learning models for vision-based 3D force estimation on silicone deformation and audio-based soil classification, allowing for on-edge sensing, computing, and inferencing in real-time," the researchers said.

A further advantage of the sensing system created by this research team is that it was created using off-the-shelf and readily available electronic components. This means that it could easily and affordably be fabricated on a large scale.

"Our sensorized paw was fabricated using off-the-shelf electronics and standard components," Barnwal, Olsen and Alexis said. "This can contribute to the system's accessibility, scalability, and ease of in-house fabrication, which could facilitate its widespread adoption and replication."

The researchers evaluated their system's performance in a series of experiments carried out within a laboratory setting. Their initial findings were highly promising, suggesting that TRACEPaw can significantly enhance the mobility and utility of legged robots, enabling them to recognize and adapt to specific terrains.

"Our study also shows that on-edgeinside the pawcomputing with supervised learning models can help with rapid and dependable decision-making, enhancing the robot's adaptability and responsiveness, crucial for navigating dynamic environments and preventing incidents like slipping or stumbling in unpredictable terrains," the researchers said.

In the future, the artificial paw created by Barnwal, Olsen, Alexis and Vangen could facilitate the deployment of legged robots in real-world settings, for instance during search and rescue or exploration missions. Meanwhile, the team plans to continue improving their system by training its underlying algorithm on more data, as this could further refine its force estimation and soil classification capabilities.

"In our future work, we will aim to boost the system's environmental understanding by incorporating data from the on-board IMU, offering insights into terrain slope and force direction in the Earth's frame," the researchers added.

"We also plan to assess its performance on more complex multi-classed diverse terrains. Eventually, the potential integration of TRACEPaw with a physical legged robot will enable a comprehensive evaluation of the integrated system's performance in real-world scenarios."

More information: Aleksander Vangen et al, Terrain Recognition and Contact Force Estimation through a Sensorized Paw for Legged Robots, arXiv (2023). DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2311.03855 Journal information: arXiv

 2023 Science X Network
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Credit: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05445

Bitcoin mining is often perceived as environmentally damaging because it uses huge amounts of electricity to power its intensive computing needs, but a new study demonstrates how wind and solar projects can profit from bitcoin mining during the pre-commercial development phasewhen a wind or solar farm is generating electricity, but has not yet been integrated into the grid.

The findings suggest some developers could recoup millions of dollars to potentially invest in future renewable energy projects.

The study, "From Mining to Mitigation: How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development and Climate Action," was published in the journal ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering and is authored by Cornell University doctoral student Apoorv Lal and Fengqi You, professor in energy systems engineering at Cornell. Jesse Zhu, professor from the Western University of Canada, also contributed to the research.

Texas emerged from the analysis as the state with the most potential, with 32 planned renewable projects that could generate combined profits of $47 million using bitcoin mining during precommercial operations. Projects in California produced the second highest profits in the study, while Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Nevada and Virginia had fewer installations but still show profitability.

"Profitability of a mining system hinges on periods of steady energy availability since renewable energy sources can vary significantly," said You. "Therefore, it is important to site the mining farm strategically to maximize productivity."

As an example, You pointed to California, Colorado, Nevada and Virginia as states where solar installations were the only type of renewable energy project that proved profitable in generating bitcoin during the precommercial phase.

The researchers suggest several policy recommendations that could help improve the economic feasibility of renewable energy projects and reduce carbon emissions. One is to provide economic rewards for environmentally responsible cryptocurrency mining, such as carbon credits for avoided emissions.

"These rewards can act as an incentive for miners to adopt clean energy sources, which can lead to combined positive effects on climate change mitigation, improved renewable power capacity, and additional profits during precommercial operation of wind or solar farms," Lal said. "We also recommend policies that encourage cryptocurrency-mining operations to return some of their profits back into infrastructure development. This would help create a self-sustaining cycle for renewable energy expansion."

While the study's authors acknowledge other aspects of cryptocurrency mining still have environmental costs, for example, metal depletion and hardware that becomes obsolete within a few years, they said the results indicate that there are ways to mitigate some of the environmental costs of cryptocurrency mining and foster investments in renewable energy.

More information: Apoorv Lal et al, From Mining to Mitigation: How Bitcoin Can Support Renewable Energy Development and Climate Action, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2023). DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.3c05445 Journal information: ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Amid the loud fans and a towering wall of supercomputers, a digital gold rush is taking place in Texas.

The Lone Star State has emerged as the bitcoin mining capital of the United States because of access to cheap energy, open land and support from state leaders such as Gov. Greg Abbott. But it's also faced criticism from Texans about energy consumption, the industry's deals with ERCOT, environmental effects and more.

Without the knowledge of how bitcoin mining works, the anger and confusion from citizens is understandable, Lee Bratcher, president and founder of the Texas Blockchain Council, said.

"If I didn't work in this industry and hadn't been knee-deep in this ERCOT stuff for the last four years, I would also hear the headlines and think, 'Man, is bitcoin mining a good thing to have in Texas?'" he said. "But having this background knowledge, I'm like, 'Absolutely, it's a good thing.' In fact, we want more of it because it can help stabilize the grid, it can increase renewable generation, it's got incredible economic development potential and [it's] creating a lot of jobs."

Getting people's attention for long enough to show them how bitcoin mining works is the biggest challenge bitcoin miners are currently facing in Texas, Bratcher said.

Fort Worth-based 360 Mining, an oil and gas company that also mines bitcoin, and Austin-based cryptocurrency tech giant CoreScientific gave The Dallas Morning News tours of their North Texas facilities on Nov. 15 as part of the 2023 Texas Blockchain Council Summit.

How do its deals with ERCOT work?

Riot Platforms, another bitcoin mining company, faced criticism from Texans in October over its deals with ERCOT, which helped the company snag $13 million over the summer. But the Castle Rock, Colo.-based company isn't the only one benefiting from those deals.

CoreScientific also works with ERCOT in a similar capacity using ancillary services, said Steve Gitlin, senior vice president of investor relations at CoreScientific.

Big power generators, like bitcoin miners, are able to provide ERCOT with ancillary services to increase or decrease the electricity supply.

"We have deals with ERCOT that allow us to purchase power and use that power to drive our operations," Gitlin said. "The interesting thing about these kinds of facilities is because they're so large when the grid needs electricity back, they [ERCOT] can come to us and ask us to power down and return some of that power to the grid. Think of our site as a really big battery that can provide energy to the grid."

ERCOT did not respond to an interview request from The News.

However, 360 Mining's Fort Worth facility is off the grid, meaning it has to work with ERCOT in a different way, CEO Chris Alfano said.

"Instead of pushing megawatts of electricity back through transmission lines, we'll shut down the generators and push natural gas back into the pipeline," he said. "So our way of curtailing would be shutting down our bitcoin mine and freeing up all of that natural gas to go to power plants, so they can generate more electricity."

If the state is working with bitcoin miners to help with power capacity, it's because it was the state's cheapest option, Bratcher said.

"ERCOT paid about a billion dollars for ancillary services," he said. "It would have been higher had there been no bitcoin miners here because those traditional loads would have been able to bid more and still extract that value from the ratepayers if that makes sense."

What is bitcoin mining and how does it work?

360 Mining and CoreScientific aren't physically digging for gold or coal underground to get bitcoin.

Bratcher said miners are instead using advanced computers to solve complex mathematical problems in order to get bitcoin: "The mining aspect is the process of securing the bitcoin network through computing power."

The computers' equations are trying to find a number, called a hash, that will help validate and send the bitcoin off to the blockchain, a decentralized and public ledger that tracks every bitcoin transaction. However, getting the answer to the problem can be difficult mathematically speaking, Bratcher said.

"Imagine you had one dice with a thousand sides to it instead of six, and you're trying to roll a number under three," he said. "You're going be rolling that dice for a while, and that's really what these miners are doing."

CoreScientific's 30-acre complex in Denton is among the biggest in North Texas, meaning it has to scale its "dice" up, Bratcher said.

Once the computer solves the problem, miners in the network are able to add the bitcoin to a transaction.

However, these computers require a lot of power, Gitlin said.

"They do generate a lot of audio energy, and that's mostly because of the fans operating," he said. "They're transforming energy into high-value commodities, and by doing so, they're generating heat, and the fans help those machines stay cool in the process."

Unlike CoreScientific, 360 Mining uses a much smaller facility to mine bitcoin in Fort Worth.

The company credits House Bill 591, which aims to provide support and incentives for miners and allows former gas sites to be turned into data centers, for its ability to integrate its oil business with its bitcoin business, Alfano said. The company's mining facility sits on an old oil and gas mining site.

"The opportunity here is massive to take these older, distressed, marginally economic, or stranded gas wells and turn them into bitcoin mining sites," Alfano said. "We're taking one commodity, natural gas, and we're turning it into another commodity, bitcoin, that's a lot more valuable on the open market than natural gas."

What's the future outlook for bitcoin mining in the state?

Whether it's giant facilities like CoreScientific's or off-the-grid miners like 360 Mining, bitcoin mining isn't leaving the state any time soon.

Even traditional oil and gas miners may turn to bitcoin mining for an additional profit, Alfano said. The company is making 10 times as much as it would by selling gas, he said.

"We think bitcoin mining is going to become ingrained in the traditional toolkit that oil and gas operators have," he said. "If you're an oil and gas operator that's distressed, not making a lot of money on your gas, or if it's stranded, this [bitcoin] is something you can deploy. So it's very sustainable, very economic and it creates a lot of tax revenue for the state of Texas."

Texas is crucial to CoreScientific's growth plans as it aims to bring 370 megawatts of capacity online within four years, Gitlin said.

"The state of Texas has been very welcoming to businesses like ours because they see the value we can provide not only from an economic perspective but also from helping the grid," he said. "The fact that it's a deregulated energy market is helpful, because there's a lot more flexibility in terms of accessing power here. Most of the growth we're projecting for the next few years is coming here in our Texas facilities."

2023 The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
New Zealand has sworn in Christopher Luxon as the prime minister, who has pledged to prioritize improving the country's economy.

The nation's new right-of-center government was sworn in on Monday and parliament is expected to sit next week to work on new policies. These include a new central bank mandate and lifting of a ban on oil and gas exploration.

New Zealand Prime Minister Sworn In

New Zealand Gov. Gen. Cindy Kiro was the one who swore National Party Leader Luxon as the nation's 42nd prime minister along with ministers of his cabinet at Government House located in Wellington.

On Friday, Center-right National signed coalition agreements with libertarian ACT New Zealand and populist New Zealand First. This allowed the three parties to form a new government and end six years of left-wing governments in the country.

Luxon, a former airline executive, said he was excited about taking on the role of New Zealand's prime minister. He noted that they have a team and ideas and a clear policy program for the next three years, as per Yahoo News.

The new government's coalition agreements, released on Friday, outlined several policy plans. These include a single mandate for New Zealand's central bank, a plan to roll back the use of the Maori language, and an end to a ban on oil and gas exploration.

On Monday, the New Zealand Green Party launched a petition to keep the latter policy in place. In a statement, Green Party co-leader James Shaw said they were asking everyone to stand with them to tell the new government that the oil and gas ban must be maintained.

The Green Party said they would reintroduce a ban on new sources of fossil fuels when they return to government. The newly sworn-in prime minister said he would hold his first Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

Luxon also looked to quickly finalize a 100-day plan as he is set to visit Australia before Christmas Day. According to the Associated Press, he noted that he needs to get a Treasury briefing on the state of the government's finances.

Read Also: Elon Musk To Meet With Isaac Herzog Amid Antisemitism Controversy on X

New Coalition Agreement

He said that they are concerned and worried that the finances have painted a deteriorating picture for several months now. Under the new coalition agreement, Luxon promised to deliver tax cuts and train 500 more police officers within two years.

The prime minister also pledged less government bureaucracy, including a 6.5% cut to the public service. Luxon noted that it would be up to the ministry chief executives to determine how to make the cuts work. This could be stopping programs, not filling vacancies, or laying off some workers.

On top of Luxon serving as prime minister, the coalition agreement would have Winston Peters as foreign minister and he would share the role of deputy prime minister with ACT's David Seymour.

The new prime minister said on Friday that the new government would aim to rebuild the economy to ease the cost of living and deliver tax relief to increase the prosperity of all New Zealanders, said Aljazeera.

Related Article: Boris Johnson Joins London March Against Antisemitism

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Todays new technologies have led to widespread change in corporate America. If your company wants to stay competitive in the digital age, you need to know how to streamline your communication processes for maximum productivity.

It wont do you any good to have all of the newest technologies if everyone uses a different platform, like a different email or a different project management software, says Raja Subramanian, GM of Power Wizard. Then, all youll have is a really hard time getting everyone to collaborate for meetings or share business information.

This article explores the critical importance of streamlining business communication in the digital age and offers insights into how companies can leverage modern tools and practices to enhance efficiency, collaboration, and overall productivity. Lets break down how companies like yours can streamline communication for efficiency, a positive workplace culture, and other benefits.

1. Use a Centralized Communication Platform

Your first step is to provide and enforce the use of a centralized communication platform across your organization, like Slack. If everyone uses the same platform, your staff wont need to open multiple apps simultaneously, and you can minimize time spent understanding new software tools.

By having a centralized platform, you eliminate both the confusion of attempting to communicate across multiple apps and the annoyance of having to train new employees to use more than one tool, says Ryan Rottman, Co-Founder and CEO of OSDB.

Look at all the different communication platforms and tools available, weigh their pros and cons, and choose the right platform based on your teams needs and preferences.

2. Practice Email Prioritization

Say that you get 100 emails per day, like many employees do. In that case, you simply don't have enough time to respond to each individual email, no matter how much you may want to  at least, not if you want to take care of your other duties! Thats why you need to prioritize your emails using a standardized system.

By prioritizing your emails, you can tackle them in the order that makes the most sense based on your energy and business needs, says Datha Santomieri, Co-Founder and Vice-President of Steadily, a company that specializes in landlord insurance.

Practicing email prioritization is key to streamlining your communication and managing your energy accordingly. Dont spend your time constantly replying to all the emails youll receive from your workers; only reply to the communications that demand responses.

3. Standardize Reporting Practices

Similarly, its a smart idea to standardize your companys reporting practices. If everyone reports project results, data, sales, and other figures in the same way, your company can absorb and organize that information more easily.

On top of that, standardized reporting lets you cut down on the time you have to spend going through endless files and reports and reorganizing them into data silos, says Agatha Relota Luczo, Founder and Chief Creative Officer of Furtuna Skin.

This is doubly true if you oversee multiple departments or teams. If this is the case, make sure that each team leader has a standardized reporting sheet they fill out. Then, you can look at the reports from each department quickly and easily, absorb the information, and make key executive decisions without having to meet with each team leader individually.

4. Provide Feedback and Encourage Openness

In an era where digital communication tools have transformed how businesses interact, fostering a culture of feedback and openness remains paramount.

As Bill Gates, co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, once remarked, We all need people who will give us feedback. That's how we improve. Creating channels for constructive feedback not only aids personal and professional growth but also clears ambiguities, reducing unnecessary back-and-forths.

Furthermore, encouraging an open dialogue allows team members to voice concerns, suggest improvements, and understand company objectives more clearly. In essence, by integrating regular feedback loops and promoting transparent communication, businesses can ensure that messages are not just sent but understood and acted upon, streamlining the entire communication process.

5. Check-In Frequently

Everyone in your organization should check in frequently with each other. Regular check-ins are beneficial because they ensure that everyone is on the same page regarding projects and deadlines. They also help maintain a sense of team cohesiveness and comfort between employees and their supervisors, which creates a work environment conducive to innovation. That said, try not to check in too frequently.

If you take up too much of peoples time checking in with them or asking for project updates, youll not only be an annoying boss. Youll also be robbing people of the most productive hours of the day, says Jim Mitchell, Chief Growth Officer of Awesome CX by Transcom. Thats bad for morale and for business.

As with most things in business (and life), balance is key!

6. Practice Overcommunication

Overcommunicating might sound like a bad idea, but its actually an important part of streamlining communications. Positive overcommunication means repeating messages several times, sending out summaries of meetings via email, and generally stating every key piece of information twice.

Overcommunication prevents you from miscommunicating your ideas, needs, or objectives to your employees, says Lioran Pinchevski, Founder and CEO of Finaloop, a company known for their ecommerce accounting software.

More importantly, overcommunicating ensures that everyone knows the same information and hears each message in the same way. It also repeats information multiple times, which is crucial if you have sensitive info that needs to be retained or repeated exactly as you give it out

7. Designate Channels for Non-Work Chat

Even if your employees have a physical water cooler to gather around, they probably still have the urge to chat and talk about non-work-related topics online. That's fine! In fact, chatting about things other than work is a cornerstone activity for a healthy workplace culture.

You should designate specific non-work chat channels on your communication platform for this type of socializing, says Greg Hannley, Founder and CEO of Soba Texas. That way, non-work-related chat won't clog up the official chat channels or require everyone at the workplace to see what people taking breaks are chatting about.

Fortunately, this is fairly easy with most modern communication platforms, and it can help bond employees beyond passing pleasantries around the office.

8. Allow Time for One-on-One Conversations

Despite the prevalence of work happy hours and other bonding events, there can be a lack of one-on-one conversations between employees and their bosses or each other in the office. This is especially true if your office has closed-off offices or cubicles. To combat this, you should allow time for one-on-one conversations between yourself and your employees.

One-on-one conversations prevent group conversations from being derailed by other topics, streamlining your communications at your remote company, says Marc Boelen, CEO of 2XU, a company that specializes in men's compression pants.

Similarly, make an understood, company wide policy that anyone can schedule a one-on-one meeting with someone else when necessary. This is important for socialization, just like it's needed to ask sensitive questions, request raises, and more.

9. Use Agendas for Meetings

Odds are your company will need to host several meetings in the near future. To prevent these meetings from taking up too much time and to keep everything on track, draw up an agenda for each meeting and stick to it.

Agendas are valuable for meetings since they ensure that all the important items are covered and give everyone at the meeting a chance to speak or voice their opinions, explains Mara Dumski, Chief Fragrance Experience Officer of Pura, a company known for their smart Car Diffuser and line of premium fragrances.

Plus, having an agenda can help prevent the meeting from dragging on for too long in general, which would eat into other productive time for your company

10. Keep Meetings Short and Minimal

While meetings and other get-togethers are important, try to keep your meetings short and minimal. Its all too easy for Monday and Tuesday to be consumed with endless meetings, especially if you have a large team. Everyone has to agree on the right time, show up, and go through each meetings agenda before they can finally get started on work.

Nabeel Abdullah, CEO of Sapphire says, Only schedule meetings that are absolutely necessary. Those meetings should also be scheduled for the minimum time required to get them done.

The more meetings you have, the less work your brand will complete since you necessarily have to take time away from other business processes and tasks.

11. Enhance Cybersecurity Measures

In the digital age, the integrity of business communication hinges significantly on cybersecurity.

As Richard Clarke, the former US National Coordinator for Security, Infrastructure Protection, and Counter-terrorism, aptly points out, "If you spend more on coffee than on IT security, you will be hacked. What's more, you deserve to be hacked."

Ensuring a robust cybersecurity infrastructure isn't just about preventing data breaches  it's about safeguarding trust, confidence, and efficiency in every digital interaction within the organization. By prioritizing cybersecurity, businesses can assure stakeholders that their communication is not only efficient but also secure from external threats.

Get Connected!

Ultimately, streamlining your communication practices is one of the best ways to make your office run better than ever. With streamlined communication, your employees will be able to get more work done without wasting time sending useless emails. Follow each of the tips above in combination with the others for maximum benefits!

Lee Enterprises newsroom and editorial were not involved in the creation of this content.
Texas A&M students are expected to take a field trip next May. Theyll need a suitcase and a passport to go, though.

Top officials at the A&M University System and Taiwans University Academic Alliance signed a student exchange and research agreement Monday. This memorandum of understanding (MOU) was created to leverage the United States bourgeoning domestic semiconductor industry to collaborate with Taiwanese officials since Taiwan is an established worldwide leader in semiconductor manufacturing. The MOU was signed by A&M Chancellor John Sharp and President Wen-Chang Chen, coordinator of Taiwans University Academic Alliance.

The collaborative agreement is between the 11 A&M System universities and the 12 universities of the University Academic Alliance in Taiwan. This agreement also allows the two sides to collaborate on quantum technology, agriculture, the health sciences, engineering, space technology and the Mandarin language. Mondays signed MOU spans five years and can be renewed by mutual written agreement.

Its going to be a great deal for the students of our 11 universities and, I think, the students of their 12 universities, plus the faculty, Sharp said. They have obvious expertise in semiconductors. We have semiconductor space and so many other things here that students are going to really benefit from and I think its going to enhance the research portfolio of all of the universities that are involved in this.

There were 11 members from Taiwans University Academic Alliance who attended Mondays ceremony in person. Almost another 20 watched virtually from home 14 hours ahead of Texas time.

I really look forward to exciting synergy between the two systems based on their core competencies and mutual interest, Chen said in a statement. Indeed, recently TAMU and UAAT have formed teams to work closely on the 2023-2026 Taiwan-U.S. Advanced Chip Engineering Design and Fabrication Research Program jointly supported by the National Science Council of Taiwan and the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Semiconductor chips were developed by American scientists and are used to power items such as cars, cellphones and computers.

The strong push for domestic semiconductor production is rooted in concerns to Chinas threat toward Taiwan. Last August, the CHIPS and Science Act was signed into law after it combined two bipartisan bills, one of which was sponsored by local Congressman Michael McCaul. The act appropriated $52.7 billion in funding toward the domestic semiconductor industry. The United States is expected have at least two new large-scale clusters of leading-edge logic fabrication facilities by the end of the decade, according to the Department of Commerce (DOC), and Texas is a frontrunner for one.

A&M and the University of Texas have been designated by Gov. Greg Abbotts office to coordinate the states response to DOC solicitations in different areas. A&M has been designated to coordinate the response to projects for the National Semiconductor Technology Center (NSTC) and Manufacturing USA Institutes. NSTC decisions have been expected to occur this fall. Should Texas land one of the coveted clusters, A&M officials are expected to take a leadership role in making it serve the entire state. Both of these clusters are expected to employ thousands.

Honestly, the manufacturing that we are going to increase in the U.S. is going to be based upon what the [Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company] has learned in Taiwan, said David Staack, interim director of A&Ms Semiconductor Institute. When TSMC expands in Arizona, obviously, theyre going to be looking to hire American students. Those will be graduates from A&M who engaged in these exchange programs. So, our engagement, our learning from them both to serve Taiwans needs and our own as we expand the industry will benefit everyone.

Students from the A&M System are hopeful to visit manufacturing sites in Taiwan for two weeks next May, according to Staack.

At A&Ms main campus, Staack said they have identified three professors and courses in electrical engineering centered on semiconductor design and manufacturing to participate in the short-term study abroad trip and will reach out to those students in the coming weeks. Staack noted the best part of this agreement is the opportunities it will give students.

Going to Taiwan and being able to be exposed to some of their industries, weve already had faculty go over there and engage with TSMC, the lead manufacturer of semiconductors in the world, and talk about how our students during their visits can go get tours at the facilities, how our researchers can engage with these companies and these universities, Staack said.
Aryzta (OTCMKTS:ARZTF  Get Free Report) and BellRing Brands (NYSE:BRBR  Get Free Report) are both consumer defensive companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Aryzta and BellRing Brands gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Get Aryzta alerts:

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Aryzta N/A N/A N/A C$1.18 1.51 BellRing Brands $1.67 billion 3.94 $82.30 million $1.24 40.28

BellRing Brands has higher revenue and earnings than Aryzta. Aryzta is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than BellRing Brands, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Aryzta 0 0 1 0 3.00 BellRing Brands 0 1 13 0 2.93

This is a summary of current ratings and target prices for Aryzta and BellRing Brands, as reported by MarketBeat.

BellRing Brands has a consensus price target of $46.93, indicating a potential downside of 6.05%. Given BellRing Brands higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe BellRing Brands is more favorable than Aryzta.

Profitability

This table compares Aryzta and BellRing Brands net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Aryzta N/A N/A N/A BellRing Brands 9.93% -49.86% 24.26%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

44.2% of Aryzta shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of BellRing Brands shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of BellRing Brands shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

BellRing Brands beats Aryzta on 9 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Aryzta

(Get Free Report)

ARYZTA AG provides products and services for in-store bakery solutions in Europe and internationally. It offers pastries, cookies, buns, bread, rolls and artisan loaves, sweet baked and morning goods, and savory and other products. The company also provides asset management services; and distributes food products. It serves large retail, convenience, and independent retailers, as well as quick service restaurants and other foodservice customers. In addition, it sells product under the Hiestaud, Mette Munk, Pre Pain, Cuisine de France, Coup de Pates, La Carte, Oh My Sweetness, and Fornetti brands. ARYZTA AG was founded in 1897 and is based in Schlieren, Switzerland.

About BellRing Brands

(Get Free Report)

BellRing Brands, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides various nutrition products in the United States and internationally. It offers ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and other products primarily under the Premier Protein and Dymatize brands. The company sells its products through club, food, drug, mass, eCommerce, specialty, and convenience channels. BellRing Brands, Inc. was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri.

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Teachers in Portland, Oregon, ended their weeks-long strike on Sunday after reaching a tentative deal with the city's public school district.

The strike had kept nearly 45,000 students out of their classes in the state's largest district for nearly a month. The union represents roughly 3,700 teachers and other school employees, and it was at odds with the district over salary, class sizes, and the amount of time educators had to plan, among other issues.

Oregon Teachers' Strike Ends

The tentative deal includes a 6.5% salary increase for employees in the contract's first year, followed by 4.5% and 3% raises in the following years. That amount is roughly in the middle of what the district had offered and what the union had asked for at the beginning of the strike.

Portland Public Schools repeatedly said that its budget was limited by state education funding, an assertion that state fiscal analysts at least partly supported. The district said it would have to find more than $100 million in cuts to afford the new contract, as per the New York Times.

Accounting for various holidays, including Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, and other days off, students would have missed 11 days of classes. The extended stoppage, which pressured many families and educators, was considered one of the longer teacher strikes in the past few years.

As part of the new agreement, Portland plans to shorten its winter break and extend the school year to compensate for missed classes. The situation comes as Portland Public Schools stayed remote longer than other districts during the coronavirus pandemic.

It returned to partial, in-person instruction in April 2021 and, like other districts across the United States, struggled with lower student attendance since the health crisis. Roughly 36% of students in the city were chronically absent last school year. This is defined as missing at least 10% of school days.

Read Also: NY: Sexual Assault Lawsuits Increase Due to Adult Survivors Act Deadline

A New Tentative Deal

According to CBS News, the new agreement must still be voted on by teachers who have joined the picket line since Nov. 1. However, the union said they have agreed to let classes resume while the votes move forward.

In a statement, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero said they were relieved to have students finally return to school. He added that missing the last three weeks, including not seeing classmates and teachers and having time to learn, has been hard for everyone.

The teachers' union noted that the tentative deal, while still needing to be voted on, is a major victory for teachers and students alike. Portland Teachers Association President Angela Bonilla said the new contract is a watershed moment for the city's students, families, and educators.

Photographs the union posted on its Facebook page during the strike showed teachers sitting on the bridge, donning blue clothes and holding banners. They were calling for better pay and teaching conditions before going back to work, said Fox News.

Related Article: Joe Biden Apologizes to Muslim Americans for Doubting Palestinian Death Toll

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
R&R Therapeutic Massage Clinic in Grand Island is celebrating its 25th anniversary this month.

Founded in 1998 by Kathy Ripp and Celeste Bartunek, the clinic at 2343 N. Webb Road offers a range of therapeutic massage services to promote healing and relaxation.

Kathy and Celeste, a mother-daughter team, attended massage therapy school together with the goal of opening their own business.

Time has flown by and we owe all our success to our wonderful clientele, Bartunek said. We have been truly blessed in being able to do what we love.

Ripp retired from the business eight years ago, but was essential in its creation and success, Bartunek said.

Under Bartuneks ownership, R&R Therapeutic Massage Clinic has grown to include a team of four licensed massage therapists who are "gifted in their work and ensure that clients receive personalized and expert care."

Our clinic prides itself on creating an individualized massage experience tailored to each clients needs, Bartunek said.

The clinics most popular treatment session is the therapeutic custom massage, which is offered as a 30-, 60-, or 90-minute treatment and combines techniques of Swedish massage, deep tissue massage and Myofascial Release Techniques to provide a customized massage experience.

Clients interested in essential oil treatments can add raindrop therapy to follow the therapeutic custom massage, whereby nine specific Young Living Essential Oils are applied one after another, like raindrops, over the back to reduce muscle spasm and fatigue, and boost the immune system.

For those seeking a unique and balancing experience, La Stone Therapy is available. This treatment utilizes hot and cool stones to provide a deep, nurturing massage that "connects individuals to the essence of the earth," according to the clinic.

In addition to these services, R&R Therapeutic Massage Clinic also offers integrative reflexology, prenatal massage, intern/student massage and an infant massage class.

This class teaches parents and loved ones how to massage their infant and can improve bonding, sleep, and decrease discomfort from gas and colic.

The clinic is known for its commitment to ongoing education and offers internships to massage therapy students to complete their required 80 massages.

Bartunek said networking with staff offers an avenue for students to field questions and learn about different techniques. Clients also provide feedback to the students to help improve their skills.

The benefits of massage therapy are well-documented, Bartunek said.

Massage therapy can improve circulation, muscle tone, immune function, and can also help relieve stress, promote relaxation, and improve overall well-being, she said.

R&R Therapeutic Massage Clinic is open six days a week, with hours from 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. weekdays and 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.

Contact the clinic at 308-389-9177. More information about its services and schedule availability can be found online at rrmassageclinic.com.
SPRINGFIELD  Want to spread a little holiday cheer to those who have served our country in the military?

The Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs on Monday launched its 2023 "Operation Rising Spirit" campaign. The annual effort aims to encourage service organizations, schools, communities, and individuals to write letters of appreciation and support to veterans residing at state veterans' homes.

The veterans' homes are located in Anna, Chicago, LaSalle, Manteno, and Quincy. While they offer varying services, such as independent domicile living in Anna and Quincy, all five also provide around-the-clock care for veterans with significant clinical needs.

Letters are to be disseminated equally among the facilities, the department said.

Last year, over 5,000 letters were distributed to veterans in our care which provided an abundance of holiday cheer into the homes, said Terry Prince, director of the state agency, in a statement. We encourage volunteer groups, families, and schools to participate in this kind gesture of gratitude to Illinois veterans.

How to participate

To participate, notes may be sent directly to the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs.

Crystal Womack The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs Central Office 833 South Spring Street Springfield, IL 62794-9432

Notes may also be sent online via bit.ly/operationrisingspirit2023.

These states offer the greatest benefits to veteran-owned businesses These states offer the greatest benefits to veteran-owned businesses Here are some key findings The top 10 states for vet-owned businesses Runners-up
CHICAGO  Federal prosecutors are seeking more than a year in prison for a retired Chicago firefighter who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, with a far-right militia group and tried to force his way through a line of police officers to an area where some lawmakers had taken shelter.

Joseph Pavlik, 66, of Chicago, came to the Capitol prepared for violence and fanned the flames of the mob through his actions that day, prosecutors wrote in a memo filed on Friday seeking a sentence of 13 months behind bars.

Pavlik, who retired from the Chicago Fire Department in 2013 after a 33-year career as a firefighter, pleaded guilty in August to one count of entering restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon.

His attorney, Lawrence Beaumont, filed a memo if his own Friday evening asking for a term of probation, calling Pavlik a dedicated public servant whose participation in the events of Jan. 6 was a less-than-one-hour departure from a lifetime of otherwise law abiding, respectful, and helpful citizenship.

Pavlik is scheduled to be sentenced Friday, Dec. 1, by U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden.

According to prosecutors, Pavlik was a member of the Guardians of Freedom, an organization founded by his nephew and loosely affiliated with the right-wing militia group Three Percenters.

Pavlik made numerous right-wing statements in the weeks leading up to the Capitol attack claiming that the election had been stolen from then-President Donald Trump and calling for violent action, prosecutors said.

These arent Americans they are indoctrinated socialists that hate America and hate Americans, he allegedly posted on Facebook in December 2020. We need to be much more brutal than punching and kicking. This is not some simple street disagreement.

On Jan. 6, Pavlik met up with other members of a Three Percenters-aligned faction called Group B to serve as security at Trumps rally to protest the certification of the Electoral College vote by Congress, according to the charges.

He was later seen in surveillance images and police body-worn camera footage wearing a gas mask and vest with patches depicting anti-government phrases, including, When tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty, prosecutors said.

Once at the Capitol, Pavlik and five other members of his group joined a throng of rioters trying to force their way past a line of officers defending the buildings west terrace tunnel, which provides immediate and unobstructed access to sensitive areas and offices used by members of Congress.

Some members of Congress were sheltering in place near that entrance, prosecutors said.

Pavlik was among the first to start skirmishing with the officers, who remained under siege for almost two and a half hours from Pavlik and others, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Ontell wrote in his 25-page sentencing memo.

After Pavlik pushed against officers in the tunnel for about 10 minutes, police successfully expelled him, Ontell wrote. Nevertheless, he stayed at the tunnel entrance and took out a canister of chemical spray that he had brought with him.

Video of the assault showed Pavlik was jostled by the mob and fumbled the can before he could use it against officers, Ontell said. But as he walked away from the tunnel entrance, he passed another can of chemical spray to a rioter, who grabbed it and blasted officers with spray multiple times, the filing stated.

Although the attempt by the rioters to gain access through the tunnel eventually failed, Pavlik stayed at the west terrace site until officers cleared it with tear gas hours after the assault began, according to Ontell.

The other members of Pavliks group, who are all from Florida, were arrested in the last year on charges stemming from the same tunnel incident, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Following the riot, Pavlik posted statements on social media alternately whitewashing his actions, shifting blame, and encouraging insurrection, Ontell wrote.

In August 2021, he called the ongoing investigation into the attack a farce and labeled members of Congress filthy demon rats, according to the prosecution filing. Two months later, he posted a comment on a friends Facebook page saying it was past time for the overthrow of the government.

We need an insurrection or a revolution and it has to be so convincing that the left will never raise their head above ground again, Pavlik allegedly wrote.

Ontell said that despite his relatively normal middle-class upbringing, Pavliks criminal conduct on Jan. 6 was the epitome of disrespect for the law.

Pavliks attorney wrote in his filing that Pavlik has no previous criminal history, did not harm anyone on Jan. 6 and never entered the Capitol building.

In addition to his service as a firefighter, Pavlik volunteered at ground zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York, where he spent two weeks sifting through the disaster site searching for bodies, and body parts, mostly by hand, Beaumont wrote.

Six months before the events at the Capitol, Pavlik suffered a devastating family tragedy when his only child, Joseph Jr., a Justice police officer and suburban SWAT team member, killed himself, Beaumont wrote.

Pavlik was among 42 Illinoisans to be federally charged as part of the ongoing investigation into the Capitol attack, which prosecutors have described as one of the largest criminal investigations in American history.

Nationwide, more than 1,200 people have been arrested in all 50 states and the District of Columbia on charges stemming from the Capitol breach, according to the U.S. Justice Department.

Photos: Pritzker Military Archives Center
The Orangeburg County School District has created academic improvement plans for eight schools in the district that scored below average or unsatisfactory on their 2022-2023 school year report cards.

The underperforming schools are:

 Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Elementary  below average

 Marshall Elementary School  below average

 Mellichamp Elementary School  unsatisfactory

 Vance-Providence Elementary  below average

 Edisto High School  unsatisfactory

 Lake Marion High School  unsatisfactory

 North Middle/High School  below average

 Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School  unsatisfactory

New Holly Hill school named Orangeburg County School District announced the new school being built in Holly Hill will be named East Lake Elementary School.

The school report cards are based on South Carolina's education accountability system. They are required for all elementary, middle and high schools, which receive overall ratings based on a 100-point scale.

The eight schools represent 27 percent of the district's 31 schools.

2 OCSD schools named among America's Healthiest Vance-Providence Elementary and St. James-Gaillard Elementary have been named among America's Healthiest Schools for the 2022-2023 school year. This recognition places them in an elite group of just 781 schools nationwide to receive this distinction, awarded by the Alliance for a Healthier Generation (Healthier Generation), a children's health organization.

Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Bernard Frost said 65 percent of the districts schools would have to be below average or unsatisfactory for the district to be considered underperforming.

We will not get there, Frost told OCSD trustees last week. I am claiming we will not get to an underperforming district.

The district is doing a number of things to improve the schools as part of the turnaround and improvement plan, Frost said.

The steps include:

 Providing academic support for students

 Providing professional development for teachers and principals

 Providing credit and attendance recovery opportunities, student intervention and remediation

 Providing testing and exam workshops

 Promoting dual enrollment for college and career readiness

I hope we are going to be very intentional about our plans and that we are going to monitor them and do follow-ups, OCSD Vice Chair Dr. Debora Brunson said. She stressed the importance of consistently monitoring the improvement plans and ensuring they are being implemented as intended.

I am very pleased with the progress that we are making, she said.

Trustee Betty Pelzer noted there are 23 schools in the district that are not underperforming and stressed the importance of focusing on all schools lest currently successful schools fall by the wayside.

We have to focus on all 31 schools, Pelzer said.

Dr. Wanda McMichael, district director of testing and accountability, noted some schools are very close to becoming underperforming and that nothing can be taken for granted.

The district and board are required to work with the principals of underperforming schools to inform parents of the ratings and the steps being taken to improve performance.

OCSD Superintendent Dr. Shawn Foster noted 50 percent of the districts schools were underperforming last year, compared to this year's 27 percent.

Instruction takes time, Foster said. It is a building block, so I see us going in that direction. I think it is coming and I think we just need to stay vigilant.

Get TheTandD.com for $1 for 26 weeks Support local journalism by becoming a member at www.TheTandD.com Get the first 26 weeks for just $1 at https://go.thetandd.com/nov5

Trustees voted to accept the schools continuous improvement plans. Dr. Sylvia Bruce-Stephens abstained.

The turnaround plans will now be submitted to the S.C. Department of Education for review and approval.

Once approved by the SCDE, the plans must be posted on the district's and schools websites. The SCDE will also continue to monitor the plan and students progress.

Foster and the board are required to submit annual updates to the state department regarding the implementation of the plans.
In a statement on their official Telegram channel, Hamas condemns a report released earlier today by Human Rights Watch regarding the Oct. 17 explosion at al-Ahli Hospital, determining that it was likely caused by a rocket that misfired. The report stopped short of assigning any blame.





"The report attributed the responsibility for the airstrikes to the factions of the resistance without providing any clear material evidence to support this conclusion. Despite numerous international investigations confirming the occupation's responsibility for the targeting, the report overlooks the systematic policy of targeting hospitals across Gaza, a fact well-documented before the world," Hamas says.





The statement from Hamas also explains that the report's credibility is "weakened by its lack of access to the field, failure to gather evidence, meet witnesses, or listen to reports from relevant authorities."





For their part, the NGO acknowledges that it was not able to go to the scene and was not able to conclusively identify the remains of the fired projectile, however, various factors  the noise preceding the explosion, the fireball triggered, the size of the resulting crater, the type of traces on the ground, and the type and pattern of fragmentation visible around the crater  are consistent all with the impact of a rocket," the report noted. Read more here.





"We demand that the organization review its report and await the end of the aggression. We welcome them to visit Gaza for a direct investigation into the incident," Hamas concluded in the statement.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdel Rahman al-Thani told the Financial Times on Monday that Hamas must find dozens of hostages held by other Palestinian Islamist groups in order to extend the truce.

In an interview with the British daily, he clarified that the extension of the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas depends on the willingness of the Palestinian Islamist group to locate dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza by civilians and gangs, he said. More than 40 other women and children are being held captive in Gaza, and are not believed to be held by Hamas, according to the Qatari prime minister.

A four-day pause in the Gulf state-brokered war, which began Friday, is set to end Monday. The Islamist group agreed to release 50 women and children. In return, Israel agreed to increase aid to the besieged Gaza Strip and to release 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

Al-Thani stressed that the Jewish state had provided Qatar with a list of more than 90 women and children seized during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, which left around 1,200 dead according to Israeli officials. Around 240 hostages were captured and returned to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. Other captives include Israeli soldiers and elderly civilians.

According to the Qatari Prime Minister, Hamas informed him that its fighters had not captured civilians, blaming other militant groups and Palestinians who had also breached Israeli security barriers around Gaza, the Oct. 7.

Hamas said in a statement on Sunday that it was seeking to extend the truce by increasing the number of "people released from prison." The Qatari official said Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another Islamist faction in Gaza, was coordinating its actions with Hamas for the release of the hostages.

For an end to the conflict

On another level, the Qatari Prime Minister insisted on the need for the war between Israel and Hamas "to stop in order to find a solution to address Israel's concerns."

Since the hostage agreement came into force on Friday, Hamas has released 39 women and children and 18 foreigners. Israel has released 117 Palestinian women and children from its prisons. Qatar, which hosts the Hamas political office in Doha, has sent officials to Israel and Gaza to coordinate the parties' actions.

The Qatari prime minister, who is also foreign minister, said that if a prolonged cease-fire is not achieved, the war between Israel and Hamas risks spreading and destabilizing "the 'entire region." He criticized Western powers for not putting more pressure on the Jewish state to end the fighting, warning that Israel's bombing and siege of Gaza threatened to radicalize a generation of young Arabs.

Al-Thani also noted that Israel's stated goal of destroying Hamas and eradicating it from Gaza was not realistic.

Ultimately, the destruction of Hamas through the continuation of this war will never happen. This will only fuel the narrative of extremism and radicalization, he argued, emphasizing the need to find a political solution that guarantees the security of the Palestinian people and the Israeli people.

He stressed in this context that Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank should have a "political horizon" for a viable state of their own, that they should be able to choose their own leaders and that a single government should administer both territories. Apart from that, there will be no solution, he concluded.

This article originally appeared in French on L'Orient-Le Jour.
The UK Safer Internet Center warned students using AI to generate indecent images of their classmates or other children. UKSIC officials said this is the first time they have seen rising numbers of harmful AI-generated images of students.

They explained that several schools began reporting incidents of students using artificial intelligence to create images of their classmates that are considered child sexual abuse material.

UK SIC Warns Students Using AI To Generate Indecent Photos of Children

UK Safer Internet Center Director Emma Hardy described the indecent AI-generated images of students as "terrifyingly" realistic.

"The quality of the images that we're seeing is comparable to professional photos taken annually of children in schools up and down the country," said Hardy via The Guardian.

"The photo-realistic nature of AI-generated imagery of children means sometimes the children we see are recognizable as victims of previous sexual abuse," she added.

Emma Hardy said that students using AI to create these alarming photos of other children should be warned. They should know that what they are doing can spread across the internet.

In worse cases, the AI-generated images they create might be seen by strangers and sexual predators. The UKSIC official said that the school reports clearly show that the potential abuse of artificial intelligence is terrifying.

David Wright, another UKSIC director, said it is unsurprising for children to use AI generators and other new technologies since younger people tend to be curious.

He added that harmful behaviors should be anticipated when new technologies become more accessible to the public. Wright explained that many kids explore the use of AI image generators to see the potential of these tools.

However, these young individuals do it without fully knowing the risks artificial intelligence poses.

Read Also: Google Upgrades Bard AI's YouTube Extension To Better Answer Questions About Videos

UK SIC Asks for Help to Educate Students

Via Express UK, David Wright explained that students and other younger people can't comprehend the dangers of what they do, such as exploring the capabilities of artificial intelligence.

He added that the United Kingdom's officials and citizens-should make efforts to educate pupils and other children regarding the risks of AI tools.

Wright urged them to do this before schools become overwhelmed by issues posed by AI. In the U.K., imagery of child sexual abuse is illegal.

Even if these images are AI-generated or photographic, they violate the country's law. Experts said that cartoons and other less realistic photos of child sexual abuse are still illegal to distribute, possess, and make.

Related Article: Artists Poison AI Image Generators To Prevent Data Theft, Safeguard Personal Works

@ 2023 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Domestic violence affects every second woman in Belarus, but the few shelters in the country can help only a tiny fraction of its victims.

The detached house in the Belarusian capital has space for 30 beds, and most are usually occupied. Women with children have separate rooms; several women on their own share a common room. Interior doors have no locks in case someone needs urgent help, but there is a safe for money and documents. The kitchen is shared, but each room has a fridge. Some staple foods are kept on hand for those in need.

This was the first shelter in Belarus for women victims of domestic violence when the non-governmental organization Radislava set it up 15 years ago. Elena has ended up here twice. A 45-year-old with a subtle smile and quiet voice, she speaks softly of events so painful that she weeps.

Elena found refuge at Radislava after spending three nights hiding in a forest. Photo by Hanna Liubakova.

Before finding herself in the shelter, she had to spend three nights in a forest. She ate berries and washed herself in the rain. After years working on a local collective dairy farm, she knew how to find drinking water.

This was no reality show. Elena was in the forest to hide from her abusive partner. After he attacked her, she left home secretly, with a severely injured leg. Finally, she called a friend for help before her phone battery ran out of power.

Before she fled her home, Elenas partner used to beat her senseless, repeatedly and severely. He twisted my legs and arms, punched me in the head. I could not fully recover from one brain injury before I sustained another.

She made several complaints, but the police refused to arrest the abuser. One police officer humiliated her and called her a drunk. When the case finally made it to court, the only thing the judge suggested was for the couple to reconcile.

Kira tells a similar tale of how she was forced to seek help outside of law enforcement. When her then husband beat and threatened to kill her, police declined to take action on her reports of domestic violence because, they said, the situation was a family matter.

They even told me that I, and only I, was to blame, because I chose him myself, she says.

Originally from the southern city of Homel, Kira, 35, is tall, with gray-blue eyes and strawberry-blonde curly hair, which she tidied up when we met. Her ex-husband would call her a whore because of that, she says. She shows me his text messages. There are other strong words, too.

They have two daughters, Eva, 8, and Sofia, 7. Its been almost a year since Kira and the girls moved to the shelter, where they have their own room. Radislava also dispenses counseling services and, in Kiras case, legal advice on how to contest her ex-husbands claim to be awarded sole custody of their children.

Every Second Woman

Elena and Kira are among 451 women who have found temporary home at the shelter since 2016.

Radislava, the non-governmental organization that operates the shelter, was established in 2002 by women who had suffered from violence. In 2004, they set up their first shelter in a two-bedroom apartment in Minsk. Several times they had to shut it down when they ran out of money, until in 2012 a helping hand appeared from nowhere, when Richard La Ruina, a British writer and, curiously, a speaker on seduction, offered funding.

Kira and one of her daughters. Photo by Hanna Liubakova.

Radislava offers more than safe shelter. Last week, we received around 30 calls on our hotline. No one asked about accommodation. More than 700 women a year receive psychological support or a legal referral, says Darya Tsaryk, a staff member.

Who are these women in need? All kinds, it turns out. Wealthy, poor, and middle-class. Women who are tortured by their children or grandchildren. Wives and girlfriends who are beaten, raped, and threatened with death by their partners. Sisters. Daughters. Transgender women. Refugees.

Their stories share many similarities, above all the pain of physical, emotional, economic, or sexual abuse. The prevalence of violence against women comes as a shock. In Belarus, every second woman has experienced some form of domestic violence, according to findings released last year by the Institute of Sociology of the National Academy of Sciences.

And yet, existing Belarusian law contains no specific regulations against domestic violence. When a draft bill to criminalize domestic abuse was prepared, President Alyaksandr Lukashenka dismissed the issue as Western nonsense. He promised to follow Belarusian, Slavic traditions, and said a good belting could be useful in raising children.

Radislava was a member of the working group that advised the drafters of the bill. The Interior Ministry lobbied for the bill, but after the presidents disapproval, it was rejected last year.

We are still hoping the law on domestic violence will be approved, Tsaryk says.

Seeking Financial Security

Radislava organizes events and activities to raise awareness of domestic violence: photo exhibitions, theatrical performances, conferences, feminist camps, and more. Among the recent initiatives was a course in Wen-Do self-defense and assertiveness training.

A family room at the shelter. Photo courtesy of Radislava.

The organizations members give lectures at schools. They train public servants who work with domestic violence victims, such as local police. Training police, however, is quite useless, due to the constant staff turnover, Tsaryk explains. You come, give a lecture, and then the person quits because of the low salary.

Tsaryk joined Radislava five years ago, from a background in journalism. She became interested in the topic of domestic violence while reporting on it. She ultimately chose activism, because journalism in Belarus is not effective enough to solve systemic problems.

She still writes, though. She regularly contributes to Imena (The Names), an initiative and crowdfunding platform in support of socially responsible journalism. Through Imena, Radislava has raised 38,000 Belarusian rubles ($18,500) in the last two years.

Radislava also promotes itself on social media and by word of mouth. As it is one of the best-known womens support groups in Belarus, police often suggest that women contact it directly.

Radislava relies on funding from international organizations, such as the Heinrich Boll Foundation, and anonymous private donors, one of whom donated 60,000 euro ($66,430). Most of this money goes to the shelter.

If theres extra funding, Radislava sometimes helps women learn a new trade or complete their training as a hairdresser or manicurist, even tattoo artist. The group once paid a students tuition fee for two semesters of college. The girl, who couldnt pay for her studies, had ended up in the shelter on the run from her violent brother.

Life After Radislava

Work at the shelter is demanding and stressful. The staff work irregular hours, sometimes at night, and are constantly on call to serve the needs of other people. Burnout levels are high.

A core team of eight keeps the shelter running: coordinators, psychologists, psychotherapists, an accountant, and an administrator.Other staff members come and go. It is not easy to find an unbiased specialist who has expertise and no subjective opinions, Tsaryk remarks.

There are and will be women who live at the shelter for up to two years, Tsaryk says. Although we dont have any time limits and treat each case individually, at times we have said that it was time to leave. Afterward those women were grateful when they realized they were able to manage their lives themselves.

Some women reunite with their abuser after just one night, a sign they are not ready for a permanent separation, Tsaryk explains. For this reason, Radislava doesnt come to womens homes to pick them up, although staff will meet women at a nearby metro station if needed.

The staffs first priority is to ensure that a client is out of physical danger, and is not having suicidal thoughts. Nearly seven in 10 clients succeed in starting new lives, according to Radislava. One in five returns to live with their abusive partner, at least for a time, often because they have nowhere else to live, and most of the remainder return to live under the same roof with abusive parents, siblings, or children.

Elderly women find it especially hard to break away from their abusers. There was a case when a woman cooked for her abusive son and sent his food home, while living in the shelter, Tsaryk recalls.

For years, Radislava was the only organization in Belarus to provide shelter for victims of domestic abuse. There is now one, though not well publicized, shelter run by a religious organization, and a shelter for women and children operated by the Belarusian branch of the SOS Childrens Villages charity.

There is also the network of 254 state-funded crisis rooms around the country, set up to offer temporary shelter for anyone in need, for instance after a house fire. Concerns about safety and anonymity put off many women from using this service. Some fear losing custody of their children if the information about family abuse were to reach the child protection services.

These worries can be left at the door of the Radislava shelter, since it is independent of the state and doesnt share information about its clients. The group plans to expand into a larger house, with space for 50 beds.

Almost a year after Kira moved to the shelter, Radislava is now looking for a room for her and her daughters in Minsk, as a way of showing child care services that their living conditions have improved. Had it not been for Radislava, Kira says, she would be living on the street. The last time we met, she was smiling and said she felt stronger.

Elena is living in Minsk with her son, working two jobs to make ends meet. She still experiences headaches and memory loss as a result of her injuries, but says she feels happy and safe. Elena keeps in touch with other women she met in the shelter.

Apart from the psychological counseling Radislava gave, the friendship there also helped me, she says. Whenever she has time, she visits friends still living in the shelter. I feel that these women need my help. And I want to pay something back, because nobody will understand them better than I do.

Hanna Liubakova is a freelance journalist from Belarus, currently based in Poland.
Recent elections in Moldova have revealed challenges the country may face regarding its democratic future and EU accession. From the London School of Economics.

On 5 and 19 November, Moldova held local elections  the first in a series of elections to be held in quick succession. The local elections will be followed by a presidential election in 2024 and parliamentary elections in 2025.

Each of these elections will shape Moldovas future relationship with the European Union. Their importance was underlined by the European Commissions announcement on 8 November, just a few days after the first round of the local elections, that it recommends EU accession negotiations with Moldova should now begin.

Hybrid Threats

The stakes were high during the local elections. Russia is aiming to block Moldovas European path and pro-Russian politicians at the local level make for powerful allies. Prior to the vote, Moldovan authorities accused Russia of attempting to influence the elections through illegal campaign financing, vote buying, and disinformation.

The allegations centered around pro-Russian oligarch Ilan Shor, who lives in exile after being convicted of fraud. Earlier this year, Shors political party was banned by the countrys Constitutional Court, but groups linked to Shor were alleged to have received funding from Russia prior to the local elections. Senior Moldovan politicians have also accused Russia of trying to foster instability in the country through cyberattacks, sponsored protests, and bomb threats. These actions aim not only to undermine the countrys European orientation but also to discredit elections and other democratic processes in Moldova.

They also underline the importance of the current electoral cycle for Moldovas European aspirations.

The vote ultimately saw widespread support for candidates aligned with Moldovas pro-European president, Maia Sandu. However, Sandus Party of Action and Solidarity failed to secure a mayor in any of the countrys major cities. In Moldovas capital, Chisinau, incumbent mayor Ion Ceban was reelected ahead of the Party of Action and Solidarity candidate.

Ceban is now shaping up as a potential contender for the 2024 presidential elections. Ahead of the local elections, he founded a new centrist party, the National Alternative Movement (MAN). This party now controls the capitals city council and draws support from both the left and right, as well as from pro-Russian and pro-European voters.

Elsewhere, the pro-Russian opposition excelled in the cities of Balti and Orhei, as well as in Chisinau. These results do not constitute a major threat to Sandu, as her Party of Action and Solidarity has its electoral base in the large Moldovan diaspora, which tends to exhibit low turnout rates at local elections. However, they nevertheless demonstrate the sharp socio-political divisions that exist between those who have left Moldova and those who remain within the country.

Future Challenges

The upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections will be pivotal moments for Moldovas democratic future and Sandus political commitment to achieve EU membership by 2030. Russias alleged interference in the local elections is a forewarning of the challenges that might intensify in these electoral contests.

Moldovas ability to conduct free, fair, and transparent elections while preventing external interference will be crucial in this respect. Bolstering the integrity of Moldovas electoral processes should be a key priority. Strengthening the institutions responsible for oversight, ensuring transparency in campaign financing, and enhancing mechanisms to counter disinformation campaigns are critical steps for securing electoral integrity.

The lessons learned from the local elections should serve as a call to action, underscored by the need for continued international support and collaboration to fortify Moldovas democratic institutions. This assistance not only safeguards the integrity of the countrys electoral processes but also reinforces Moldovas resilience to external pressures, securing its path towards a European future.

The Path to EU Accession

In its 8 November announcement, the European Commission also recommended the EU should start accession negotiations with Ukraine. For the negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine to be successful, both countries will need to continue their progress toward democracy, the rule of law, and better quality of governance. This will require technical assistance programs in addition to financial aid.

There are several important milestones in this respect. Both countries will need to show significant progress on rule of law reforms, especially when it comes to countering corruption and ensuring the transparent and efficient use of public resources. A recurring request from international partners in Moldova is for the country to pursue judicial reforms, while accountability mechanisms in Ukraine have been identified as an area for improvement.

Both countries would also benefit from upholding territorial reforms, empowering local governments and local communities. This will require developing an architecture of opportunities at the local level rather than the clientelistic system of central transfers that is often found elsewhere, including in neighboring EU member states.

Finally, free and fair elections will be needed to showcase the strength of both countries democratic processes. While Ukraine is currently at war with Russia, Moldova must also wage a battle on multiple fronts to counter Russian propaganda, without furthering social and cultural cleavages. The local elections on 5 and 19 November were merely the first step in what promises to be a crucial period for Moldovas future.



Clara Volintiru is a professor of international relations at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) and director of the Black Sea Trust of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF).

Laurentiu Plesca is a PhD candidate at Bucharest University and senior policy researcher at the Black Sea Trust of the German Marshall Fund.

This article was originally published in the European Politics and Policy blog of the London School of Economics. Reprinted with permission.
It looks like an effort to extend Natrona Countys 1-cent tax indefinitely has, for now, failed.

The proposal to extend the tax indefinitely is split down the middle. Casper, Edgerton and Midwest all passed ordinances approving an extension. Mills, Bar Nunn and Evansville are content to leave the tax on the ballot every four years.

The extension is not synonymous with making the tax permanent, per se, but it would take it off the ballots. Natrona County voters see the tax every four years. (The last time it was voted on was in 2022.)

To recap: The 1-cent tax adds another penny to Wyomings 4% sales tax; said penny stays in the county, however. The proposed ordinance calls for the tax to be extended indefinitely  not made permanent  the Star-Tribune previously reported. (In the future, community members could still vote to end the indefinite extension, thereby putting the sales tax back on the four-year ballot cycle.) The city doesnt have the ability to say yea or nay to extending the tax by itself, since its a county-level tax.

Wyoming state statute does, however, provide a path for counties and the communities within them to collectively decide to approve the optional 1-cent tax, sometimes also known as 5th cent, indefinitely. Other cities in the state, such as Cheyenne and Laramie, also have a 1-cent tax; Cheyenne has a 6th-cent tax, too.

Passing this indefinite extension would require the approval of a majority of the municipalities; in this case, four out of six, plus the approval of the county commissioners. The city and the municipalities are therefore, in this case, a house divided evenly.

If the extension had gotten safely to the county commissioners, the county clerk would then have to certify to the county treasurer at least 90 days before the 2026 election season that Natrona County has met the requirements to axe the tax from the ballot, the Star-Tribune reported previously.

Bar Nunn didnt discuss an extension, Mayor Peter Boyer told the Star-Tribune in early November. In August, the court treasurer for the town told the Star-Tribune that since there was no interest, it wouldnt be scheduled to go before the town council.

Minutes from the Sept. 11 town council meeting for Evansville state that the council almost unanimously decided that they thought it was best to just leave the tax to the voters every four years. Mills Mayor Leah Juarez said in a text to the Star-Tribune that their council felt the same way; no need to bring it up during a council session, she said.

Casper City Council saw a heated debate between residents in favor of extending the tax and residents against it this summer, but the ordinance passed unanimously (sans Councilor Brandy Haskins, who was not present at that meeting) on third reading. Edgerton and Midwest passed it without issue in August and October, respectively.
PORTLAND, Ore.  Oregon's first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children.

The inability for people to live their day-to-day life without encountering open-air drug use is so pressing on urban folks minds, said John Horvick, vice president of polling firm DHM Research. That has very much changed peoples perspective about what they think Measure 110 is.

When the law was approved by 58% of Oregon voters three years ago, supporters championed Measure 110 as a revolutionary approach that would transform addiction by minimizing penalties for drug use and investing instead in recovery.

But even top Democratic lawmakers who backed the law, which will likely dominate the upcoming legislative session, say they're now open to revisiting it after the biggest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states that have reported their numbers.

The cycle of addiction and homelessness spurred by fentanyl is most visible in Portland, where it's not unusual to see people shooting up in broad daylight on busy city streets.

Everythings on the table, said Democratic state Sen. Kate Lieber, co-chair of a new joint legislative committee created to tackle addiction. We have got to do something to make sure that we have safer streets and that were saving lives.

Measure 110 directed the states cannabis tax revenue toward drug addiction treatment services while decriminalizing the possession of so-called personal use amounts of illicit drugs. Possession of under a gram of heroin, for example, is only subject to a ticket and a maximum fine of $100.

Those caught with small amounts of drugs can have the citation dismissed by calling a 24-hour hotline to complete an addiction screening within 45 days, but those who dont do a screening are not penalized for failing to pay the fine. In the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1% of people who received citations for possession sought help via the hotline, state auditors found.

Critics of the law say that doesnt create an incentive to seek treatment.

Republican lawmakers have urged Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek to call a special session to address the issue before the Legislature reconvenes in February. They have proposed harsher sanctions for possession and other drug-related offenses, such as mandatory treatment and easing restrictions on placing people under the influence on holds in facilities such as hospitals if they pose a danger to themselves or others.

Treatment should be a requirement, not a suggestion, a group of Republican state representatives said in a letter to Kotek.

Law enforcement officials who testified before the new legislative committee on addiction have proposed re-establishing drug possession as a class A misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to a year in jail or a $6,250 fine.

We dont believe a return to incarceration is the answer, but restoring a (class A) misdemeanor for possession with diversion opportunities is critically important, Jason Edmiston, chief of police in the small, rural city of Hermiston in northeast Oregon, told the committee.

However, data shows decades of criminalizing possession hasnt deterred people from using drugs. In 2022, nearly 25 million Americans, roughly 8% of the population, reported using illicit drugs other than marijuana in the previous year, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Some lawmakers have suggested focusing on criminalizing public drug use rather than possession. Alex Kreit, assistant professor of law at Northern Kentucky University and director of its Center on Addiction Law and Policy, said such an approach could help curb visible drug use on city streets but wouldn't address what's largely seen as the root cause: homelessness.

There are states that don't have decriminalization that have these same difficult problems with public health and public order and just quality-of-life issues related to large-scale homeless populations in downtown areas," he said, mentioning California as an example.

Backers of Oregons approach say decriminalization isnt necessarily to blame, as many other states with stricter drug laws have also reported increases in fentanyl deaths.

But estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show, among the states reporting data, Oregon had the highest increase in synthetic opioid overdose fatalities when comparing 2019 and the 12-month period ending June 30, a 13-fold surge from 84 deaths to more than 1,100.

Among the next highest was neighboring Washington state, which saw its estimated synthetic opioid overdose deaths increase seven-fold when comparing those same time periods, CDC data shows.

Nationally, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl roughly doubled over that time span. Roughly two-thirds of all deadly overdoses in the U.S. in the 12 months ending June 30 involved synthetic opioids, federal data shows.

How access to naloxone medication like Narcanused to reverse opioid overdosesvaries in each state How access to naloxone medication like Narcanused to reverse opioid overdosesvaries in each state #1. Alabama #2. Alaska #3. Arizona #4. Arkansas #5. California #6. Colorado #7. Connecticut #8. Delaware #9. Florida #10. Georgia #12. Idaho #13. Illinois #15. Iowa #17. Kentucky #19. Maine #20. Maryland #21. Massachusetts #22. Michigan #23. Minnesota #24. Mississippi #25. Missouri #26. Montana #27. Nebraska #28. Nevada #30. New Jersey #31. New Mexico #32. New York #33. North Carolina #34. North Dakota #36. Oklahoma #37. Oregon #39. Rhode Island #41. South Dakota #42. Tennessee #43. Texas #44. Utah #45. Vermont #48. Washington DC #49. West Virginia #51. Wyoming
Wyomings Black Butte Mine in January 2021 applied to add federal coal reserves at its Sweetwater County operations, which supplies the Jim Bridger Power Plant and a sizable share of baseload thermal energy throughout the West.

It was a run-of-the-mill application that state regulators expected to be approved smoothly. Instead, it has become mired in a nightmarishly tedious approval process thats brought state leaders to their wits end.

Concerns at the Black Butte Mine are among a host of recent complaints coming out of coal country, whose collective frustrations this month came close to fever pitch in a pair of congressional hearings where representatives accused a gatekeeper agency of weaponizing its regulatory authority by binding up coal permits and reclamation projects in red tape.

The agency in question is the Office of Surface Mining and Reclamation Enforcement (OSMRE), housed within the Department of the Interior. Typically tucked away in Washingtons bureaucratic warrens, representatives have dragged the agency into the public spotlight for a walloping.

Rep. Harriet Hageman, R-Wyo., during a Nov 14 House Natural Resources Subcommittee hearing in Washington suggested that after a long record of state-collaboration, OSMRE is now just a roadblock, that single handedly delays coal mining and thwarts the permitting process.

Hagemans comments are the latest in a wider salvo against the agency, as states in the west and across Appalachia say their applications for new reserves as well as remediation projects are being stymied, despite a massive injection of federal money made available for such projects through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The Black Butte Mine has become a poster child for these frustrations: What began with a 2021 Presidential Executive Order increasing environmental review requirements on new coal leases has become for the Sweetwater County operation a seemingly endless cycle: review, revise, reapply, repeat. Almost three years and as many Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) later, its application for added coal reserves is still awaiting approval.

The process has become politicized, and the NEPA process has become weaponized. The end result is costly permitting delays, increased land disturbance in mining costs, delayed reclamation, fuel supply reliability concerns for the nations baseload power, said Kyle Wendtland, administrator for the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality, testifying on Nov 14 before the House Natural Resources Subcommittee in Washington, DC.

In April of this year, Gov. Mark Gordon issued a letter to the Interior Department requesting resolution for the mine. The response, according to Wendtland, has been and continues to be deafening silence from the OSMRE headquarters.

OSMRE Deputy Director Glenda Owens refuted those claims, and said elongated processes have more to do with legal changes over the enforcement of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). Owens says her agency is being meticulous on the front end of the process in order to preclude litigation down the road.

There are ongoing court decisions that have a direct impact and bearing on our NEPA review of these various mine plans, Owens said. As a result of these court decisions we have had to reassess and make changes in our review based on the legal requirements. We need to make sure we adhere to those decisions and that when we render a decision it will pass judicial scrutiny. We dont want to have to go back again in six or seven months and have a court tell us to go back to square one.

Lawmakers conceded the wisdom of avoiding litigation, but nonetheless said the length of delay surpassed what was reasonable and is threatening to result in economic losses.

In Montana, for example, delays for the approval of new coal at three mines  Spring Creek, Bull Mountain and Rosebud  have become an existential threat to operations. During a Nov. 9 Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee hearing, Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., forcefully implored Director Owens to increase efforts to get reviews approved.

If OSM does not complete these reviews in a timely fashion, these mines are going to run out of permitted coal, Daines said. It threatens the energy security of our state. This is the baseload power that keeps the lights on.

He continued saying, These [mining jobs] are the best paying jobs in these areasand their livelihoods are going to be lost because OSM is dragging its feet.

Adding insult to injury, state regulators say, the agency has also excluded states in key decisions, including a rule change to a central function known as the ten day rule.

The rule is a guideline for addressing citizen complaints. However the offices recent redraft, according to Kyle Wendtland and Don Newton of the WDEQ, has undermined states regulatory primacy and led to arbitrary delay.

Glenda Owens responded that the rule change came in response to a wave of citizen complaints.

There were unnecessary burdens put on citizens who wanted to file a citizens complaint, which [the law] gives them the right to do.

Elsewhere the office has stated that the rule change will increase efficiency and make it easier for citizens to report possible violations and simplify the processes for filing a citizen complaint and requesting a Federal inspection.

State officials say that by leaving local authorities out of the rule change decision the agency has created an air of mistrust. Furthermore, they believe distrustfulness is now manifesting within the OSMRE, whose administrators headquartered in DC are suddenly second guessing the work tendered by its regional offices, according to Wendtland.

Paradoxically, some of the application approval challenges could be related to the influx of new money made available for programs administered by the OSMRE. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $11.3 billion for the agencys Abandoned Mine Lands Program, for instance. But with new money comes new administrative requirements, and there is some consensus that understaffing at the agency has impacted its ability to keep up with applications across its jurisdiction.

It was a point made by Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Cali., during the Nov 14 hearing, who said, I will remind my colleagues that cutting agency funding as proposed in their appropriations legislation wont help get these applications approved faster.

At the conclusion of the hearings, Deputy Director Owens pointed out that her office has still managed to approve millions of dollars of BIL money for OSMRE projects in several states. She sought to allay states and said she would work earnestly to find solutions.

Im directing my staff to look at ways to expedite state program amendments and to identify processes to streamline and address the backlog. We are aware of it and are taking actions to address it. She said, I can assure you that [the delays] are not intentional.
THE current financial imbalance, which has the potential to deplete the National Insurance Boards assets by 2035, is not rooted in investment issues but rather stems from the challenges posed by this countrys ageing population, the acting chief operating officer, Business Services at NIBTT, Andy Edwards has said.
Nailah Blackman believes shes entering her creative prime.

Nailah, on the eve of her 26th birthday celebrations, says she is creatively firing and feels evolved.

The Sweet & Loco singer will mark the occasion with a special performance, at La Tropical nightclub in San Fernando, tomorrow night. The public is invited to purchase tickets to the festivities at the door.
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.
China, Japan should push forward ties along right track of sound development: Wang Yi

Xinhua) 09:50, November 27, 2023

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China and Japan should earnestly implement consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to push forward bilateral relations along the right track of sound development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Saturday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in the South Korean port city.

Wang said that during their meeting in San Francisco, leaders of the two countries reiterated their commitment to principles stipulated in the four political documents between China and Japan, reaffirmed the positioning of comprehensively advancing strategic and mutually beneficial relations between the two countries, and agreed to dedicate themselves to jointly building a constructive and stable China-Japan relationship that meets the demands of the new era, which has been an important political guidance for bilateral ties.

Noting that China and Japan are neighbors that can not move away, Wang said peaceful coexistence, lasting friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation and common development serve the fundamental interests of the two peoples.

The two sides should fully push forward strategic and mutually beneficial relations by drawing up corresponding roadmaps and timetables, he added.

Wang put forward a three-point proposal on rebuilding strategic and mutually beneficial relations.

First, the two countries should establish a correct mutual understanding, and make it clear that the two sides are cooperative partners rather than threats to each other, and they should be committed to peaceful development.

Second, both sides should respect each other's legitimate concerns. Japan should honor its commitments on the Taiwan question, strictly abide by the one-China principle and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs.

Noting that Japan's discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean concerns marine safety and public health, Wang said China opposes Japan's irresponsible action.

At present, it is necessary to establish a comprehensive, effective and independent long-term monitoring mechanism for all stakeholders, he added.

Third, China and Japan should strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly resist anti-globalization and protectionism, and maintain stable and smooth production and supply chains.

For her part, Kamikawa said the two leaders reached important consensus in San Francisco, affirming the positioning of strategic and mutually beneficial relations, agreeing to dedicate themselves to jointly building a constructive and stable Japan-China relationship that meets the demands of the new era, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and jointly cope with global issues such as climate change.

Japan is willing to coordinate closely with China, strengthen dialogue and communication, accumulate positive factors, and push forward Japan-China relations in the direction pointed out by the two leaders, she said.

Japan's position on the Taiwan question remains unchanged, Kamikawa said, adding that Japan stands ready to find a proper way to resolve the issue of nuclear wastewater discharge through dialogue in a constructive manner.

The two sides agreed to actively explore a new round of high-level economic dialogue as well as a meeting of high-level consultation mechanism on people-to-people exchanges, and hold at an appropriate time the China-Japan strategic dialogue, the China-Japan security dialogue, and regular consultations between diplomatic authorities.

The two sides also exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in Busan, South Korea, on Nov. 25, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Six teenagers are set to face trial in closed-door proceedings, accused of involvement in the beheading of French history teacher Samuel Paty in 2020, an attack that shook the foundations of France's secular values.

Paty had displayed cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad during a class on freedom of expression, which had offended some Muslim parents. Depictions of the Prophet are considered blasphemous in Islam, as per Reuters.

Samuel Party Trial Highlights French Free Speech Debate

Paty had used the cartoons as part of an ethics lesson to discuss France's laws on free speech, where blasphemy is allowed, and caricatures of religious figures have a long history. His murder occurred shortly after the Charlie Hebdo magazine republished the cartoons. In 2015, the magazine's office was attacked by Islamic extremists, resulting in the deaths of 12 people.

In a separate incident last month, another teacher named Dominique Bernard was killed in Arras, northern France, by a radicalized young Islamist. Similar to Paty's suspected killer, Anzorov, Bernard's assailant, Mohammed Moguchkov, also hailed from Russia's predominantly Muslim North Caucasus region.

Five of the adolescents on trial, who were 14 or 15 years old at the time of Paty's murder, will be tried behind closed doors in juvenile court for criminal conspiracy with the intent to commit violence. They are accused of having kept an eye on Paty and identifying him to the killer in exchange for money.

A sixth teenager, who was 13 at the time, is accused of false accusation for wrongly claiming that Paty had asked Muslim students to identify themselves and leave the classroom before showing the cartoons.

Paty's family considers the trial of these teenagers crucial, as the minors played a pivotal role in the events leading up to his assassination, according to News 18.

Read Also: Party Poopers? Pro-Palestinian Protesters Glue Hands to Disrupt NYC Thanksgiving Parade

Teenagers on Trial for Samuel Paty's Murder

During questioning, the teenagers admitted that they thought, at most, Paty would be exposed on social media, humiliated, or possibly roughed up, but they never imagined it would escalate to murder. Now high school students, they face up to two-and-a-half years in prison.

The trial is scheduled to continue until December 8. Additionally, a sixth teenager, who was 13 at the time, is accused of making a false accusation by wrongly claiming that Paty had asked Muslim students to identify themselves and leave the classroom before showing the cartoons.

Her false allegation triggered violent reactions on social media by her father, Brahim Chnina, and militant Islamist Abdelhakim Sefrioui, who publicly denounced Paty by name. These two men, along with six others, will be tried in a criminal court in late 2024.

The trial is expected to shed light on the events that unfolded in the 10 days leading up to Paty's murder, from the false accusation to online attacks and the killer's arrival at the school on October 16, 2020. Anzorov, the perpetrator, approached one of the teenagers outside the school, offering him money to identify Paty.

The teenagers, who initially hesitated, eventually agreed, going back and forth between the school and Anzorov's hiding place, acting as lookouts or filming themselves with the money.

As the trial unfolds, it will provide further insight into the complex circumstances surrounding this tragic incident, highlighting the role of these teenagers in the sequence of events that culminated in Samuel Paty's assassination, France 24 reported.

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The Holiday Arts and Crafts Fair has been held for more than four decades and offers the community a place to support small businesses drawing over 140 businesses vendors from all over the Southwest.
Arizona is taking the first steps to possibly legalize medicinal use of certain psychedelic mushrooms  specifically psiloocybin  at least for some people.

It wont make Arizona into Colorado or Oregon. And whatever happens will take years.

But officials at the Arizona Department of Health Services have published a notice that they will accept applications to conduct clinical trials on the efficacy of psilocybin whole mushrooms to treat various conditions, disorders and diseases.

Theyre not doing this on their own. A law approved earlier this year by the Arizona Legislature specifically mandates the study to see whether the drugs in the mushrooms, which have been called magic mushrooms, can help people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study wont be limited to that, however.

Health officials also want to find out whether the mushrooms and various other substances in them also can be effective in helping those with everything from eating disorders and substance abuse issues, to depression, to symptoms associated with long COVID.

Lawmakers set aside $5 million in the state budget for the research.

Even if the research results are promising, dont look for the mushrooms to be available the way they are now in Oregon and Colorado. Voters in those states decriminalized their use for adults, though officially, the mushrooms are supposed to be used at healing centers where patients are under the guidance of certified facilitators.

While Arizona lawmakers approved the research and funding, they put something else into the law: Use of the mushrooms would not be allowed unless the federal government also approves them as a prescription drug. That has not yet occurred, although a private company is doing trials of MDMA, a synthetic form of the drug.

Still, having the state start its own clinical trials and research could give Arizona a jump on being ready to make the drug available to patients here if the FDA gives the go-ahead.

Former UA doctors role

The legislation came from Rep. Kevin Payne, R-Peoria, who said he was concerned about issues affecting veterans and law enforcement officers.

The big push appears to have come from Dr. Suzanne Sisley. If that name seems familiar, its because Sisley has for years been at the forefront of pushing for research into the medical use of marijuana, specifically for PTSD.

Sisley was a doctor and researcher at the University of Arizona who got permission from the federal Public Health Service to do research on campus about whether marijuana could be useful to treat symptoms of the disorder. Shortly after, the school terminated her employment in three separate positions, a move she blamed on political pressure from some state lawmakers.

She now is president of the Scottsdale Research Institute, where she not only has conducted investigations into marijuana but also has a license from the FDA to grow psilocybin mushrooms for research. That means she is likely to be the source of the mushrooms that any researchers getting state contracts will need.

Sisley also hopes to be one of those who gets a grant.

That will be decided by a new Psilocybin Research Advisory Council also created in the 2023 legislative session. Along with Jennie Cunico, the state health director, the panel will include a physician who has a federal license to study psychedelics, a military veteran, a law enforcement officer, and a professor or researcher from one of the states three public universities who specializes in clinical research or psychedelic studies.

Names of the members have not yet been made public. The panels recommendations are due by Feb. 1.

First study of its kind

Sisley told Capitol Media Services that Arizonas decision is significant because its study would become the first in the nation about the effects of psilocybin whole mushrooms, versus work underway about MDMA, the name for the synthetic version of the drug.

Theres no question but that natural mushrooms are going to perform different than synthetic psilocybin, she said.

Its a hyper-concentrated molecule, Sisley explained of synthetics. So you get, potentially, maybe more efficacy but also more side effects when you concentrate something.

Personal preference also comes into play. A lot of people just prefer taking the natural material, she said. They believe that natures already provided what you need. And they dont like synthetic stuff.

The research is needed all the more, Sisley said, because you and I already know theres people taking this mushroom, regardless of what the law is.

For the moment, evidence is largely anecdotal. That was on display earlier this year at Arizona legislative hearings.

Robert Steele, a former Pinal County sheriffs deputy and Marine Corps combat veteran, told lawmakers that PTSD and the effects of traumatic brain injuries left him suicidal, unable to work and nearly destroyed his family life.

He said he turned to mushrooms out of sheer desperation to get relief and the effects were profound.

This medicine has restored my relationships, brought me closer with my wife and children and allowed me to have a life worth living again, Steele said.

Not to be played with

Sisley said its best to do the research first versus having a voter-approved initiative to legalize the drug and then figure out how to deal with it.

This is a mushroom thats incredibly potent and is not to be played with, she said.

Theres plenty of cautionary tales of people who use them improperly, without the correct setting, without the correct preparatory work and integration afterwards and have had really bad outcomes with it, Sisley said. People are left with residual terrors that theyre not able to properly integrate.

Americans got a sense of that just last month when an off-duty pilot, flying in the jump seat in the cockpit of a Horizon Air flight, tried to shut off the engines, according to authorities. He would later tell investigators he had taken magic mushrooms 48 hours earlier and was distressed by the death of his best friend.

One of the requirements of the Arizona law is that the research wont be done on just anyone. It specifically requires the trials to use veterans, first responders, frontline healthcare workers and people from underserved communities.

Sisley figures it will take one year to get the necessary approvals from various federal agencies.

So if they launch those studies a year later, its going to take them a year to complete the trials, to get the data published, another six months to get through peer review, she said.

Then, The outcome of these studies will help lawmakers determine what is the potential for natural psilocybin mushrooms to be a medicine.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  In a city known for its excesses, whether reaching toward the sky with the worlds tallest building or hard partying at its beach resorts and bars, Dubai has pulled off another record-breaking feat in the rolling dunes of its desert outskirts.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, named for the ruling sheikh of Dubai, stretches across some 47 square miles and represents a pledge of billions of dollars by this city-state to reach its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Its a solar-paneled gamble in a city where casinos have yet to arrive  though it always seems to be betting big no matter the risk.

Rising rapidly from a creek-bound pearling village to a city associated with international glamor, Dubai has a long history of finding economic success amid the war-ravaged woes of the wider Middle East. Its ruling family likely views the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate talks as another such opportunity, though it carries the significant peril of becoming synonymous with a collapse in negotiations on limiting greenhouse emissions, or being overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Theres a risk of reputational damage to the UAE if they fail to make any traction in the talks, particularly as they are a major oil producer, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute who has long studied the region.

There is also a risk that media and civil society coverage will focus critically on issues such as the UAEs planned expansion of oil production capacity and depict the UAE as part of the problem rather than the solution in terms of climate politics.

In response to questions from The Associated Press about criticism over its foreign policy and other issues, the Emirati government insisted that the UAE is deeply committed to human rights and building upon its steady progress in this field.

As the host of COP28, the UAE will welcome constructive dialogue and continue to work with international partners and stakeholders to deliver impactful results, the statement said. Climate change is a global problem that demands a collective effort, and this significant, momentous event will be a conference of action.

Given the futuristic skyline of downtown Dubai  and how it gleams at night as one side of the Burj Khalifa lights up with a massive 2,525-foot LED display  it can be easy to forget that the city only received its first electrical generator in 1952. Before that, only candles and kerosene lamps lit the night along its eponymous Dubai Creek where the village first grew.

In recent years, Dubai has started to focus on renewable energy  despite a moment where it appeared it would launch a coal-fired power plant before switching it to be fueled by natural gas as its hosting of COP28 loomed.

The jewel of Dubai's clean energy efforts is the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, some 30 miles southeast of the city's downtown. There, solar panels stretch far into the distance, taking in the rays in a country that sees, on average, 10 hours of sunlight some 350 sunny days a year.

By 2030, the city hopes to get 5 gigawatts of electricity from the plant, which could power some 1.3 million homes based on United States averages. These days, peak demand in the city-state is nearly 10 gigawatts, according to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, its sole utility provider.

Overall, the Emirates says it plans to be carbon neutral by 2050. While not specifically outlining its plans to achieve the goal, projects like the solar park and Abu Dhabi's Barakah nuclear power plant, the first on the Arabian Peninsula, aim to make generating electricity a green endeavor.

On top of all that, while the UAE pledges to zero out its own emissions, its also planning to ramp up oil production. A member of OPEC, the UAE produces some 4 million barrels of crude oil a day. In the coming years, it aims to produce 5 million barrels a day  fuel that will be exported, used by other countries and contribute to climate change.

Those plans have sparked criticism by activists ahead of COP28, with most aimed particularly at the upcoming talks president-designate, the oil company chief Sultan al-Jaber.

Al-Jaber, who also has led billions of dollars in Emirati investments in renewable energy, has dismissed criticism from those who just go on the attack without knowing anything, without knowing who we are.

Dubais $7 billion Expo City, built for the 2020 world fair that was delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, will host the upcoming climate talks. But its selection also raises questions about Dubai's reliance on low-paid foreign workers in its construction boom.

The Expo site work saw at least three workers killed and some 200,000 laborers exposed to high heat and potentially exploitative labor practices ahead of the world's fair. Those labor abuses continue at Expo City, renewable energy projects and elsewhere in the Emirates, according to Equidem, a labor advocacy group.

While the Expo didn't draw all the world's biggest names, the climate conference already has King Charles and Pope Francis confirming they'll attend, along with other world leaders. That makes it an opportunity for Dubai, as well as a risk given the wider regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.
BISMARCK, N.D.  About 200 wild horses roam free in a western North Dakota national park, but that number could shrink as the National Park Service is expected to decide next year whether it will eliminate that population.

Advocates fear a predetermined outcome that will remove the beloved animals from Theodore Roosevelt National Park. An extended public comment period ended Friday on the recent environmental assessment of the parks three proposals: reduce the horse population quickly, reduce it gradually or take no immediate action.

The horses have some powerful allies  including North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and U.S. Sen. John Hoeven  while advocates are pulling out all the stops to see that the animals stay. Park officials say they want to hear from the public.

The horses are popular with park visitors, who often see and photograph them along the park's scenic road and hiking trails through the rugged Badlands.

Evaluating whether the horses belong in the park has been a long time in coming, and it realigns us with our overarching policies to remove non-native species from parks whenever they pose a potential risk to resources, said Jenny Powers, a wildlife veterinarian who leads the wildlife health program for the National Park Service.

This isn't an easy decision for us, but it is one that is directly called for by our mission and mandates, she said.

One of the horses biggest advocates fears park officials have already decided to oust the horses. Chasing Horses Wild Horse Advocates President Chris Kman cites several alternatives for keeping horses that park officials considered but dismissed in the recent environmental assessment.

In the document, the Park Service said those alternatives wouldnt be in alignment with NPS priorities to maintain the native prairie ecosystem and wouldnt address the animals impacts, among its reasons.

Kman said she is optimistic that we will ultimately win this fight. I dont have any faith that the park will do the right thing and keep the horses in the park.

Even if the horses ultimately stay, Park Superintendent Angie Richman said they would have to be reduced to 35-60 animals under a 1978 environmental assessment. The ongoing process is part of the park's proposed management plan for livestock, a term the horses' allies reject.

Wild horses were accidentally fenced into the park in its early years. They were eventually kept as a historic demonstration herd after years of efforts to eradicate them, according to Castle McLaughlin, who researched the horses' history in the 1980s as a graduate student working for the Park Service in North Dakota.

Wild horse advocates would like the park to conduct a greater environmental review, and want to ultimately see a genetically viable herd of at least 150 horses maintained.

A vast majority of previous public comments opposed removal of the horses, making it "really difficult to understand why the government would choose to take them away from the American people, said Grace Kuhn, communications director for the American Wild Horse Campaign.

The wild horses have a right to be in the national park and align with Roosevelt's sentiment to preserve cultural resources for future generations, she said.

Essentially, the Park Service by implementing a plan to either eradicate them quickly or eradicate them slowly, they're thumbing their noses at the American public and their mission, Kuhn said last month.

Burgum in January offered state collaboration for keeping the horses in the park. His office and park officials have discussed options for the horses. State management or assistance in managing the horses in the park are options North Dakota would consider; relocation is not, spokesperson for the governor's office Mike Nowatzki said last week.

Park officials are certainly willing to work with the governor and the state to find a good outcome," Park Superintendent Richman said last month, adding that the park was working with the governor on a lot of different options."

It would be premature to share pre-decisional discussions at this time, she said last week.

Hoeven has worked on negotiations with park officials, and included legislation in the U.S. Interior Department's appropriations bill to preserve the horses. If that doesn't get it done, he would pursue further legislation, he said last month.

My objective is to keep horses in the park, Hoeven said.

The park's ultimate decision also will affect nine longhorn cattle in the park's North Unit. All of the horses are in the park's South Unit.
Arizonas top Republican lawmakers cant avoid having to answer questions about their backing of legislation making it more difficult to register to vote.

Without comment Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a claim by House Speaker Ben Toma and Senate President Warren Petersen that any inquiries into the background of how 2022 legislation became law runs afoul of legislative privilege. The justices did not explain their decision.

But it is in line with prior rulings by the trial judge who is hearing the challenge against two Arizona laws brought by several voting and civil rights groups as well as by the U.S. Department of Justice.

The challengers contend the laws were enacted with discriminatory intent. They seek to question Toma and Petersen to buttress their arguments, and U.S. District Court Judge Susan Bolton said the questions are relevant.

The information sought in discovery does in fact go to the heart of plaintiffs claim and the constitutionality of the voting laws, Bolton wrote in her order compelling Toma and Petersen to comply, the order the Supreme Court declined Monday to disturb. Motive is often most easily discovered by examining the unguarded acts and statements of those who would otherwise attempt to conceal evidence of discriminatory intent, the judge wrote.

I will comply, Petersen told Capitol Media Services. There was no immediate comment from Toma.

Being challenged are two separate laws approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature.

One sought to limit who can vote for president. Bolton already ruled that provision is illegal, saying state laws requiring proof of citizenship to cast a ballot in presidential elections are trumped by the National Voter Registration Act.

But she has yet to rule on several issues that remain.

One would require county recorders to forward to the attorney general the names of people who are suspected of trying to register without being citizens. Challengers say that referral can be based solely on the inability of the recorder to locate these names in certain specific databases. They say use of these databases amounts to intentional race, national origin, and alienage discrimination.

Also yet to be decided is the legality of a new requirement for people to provide documentary proof of residency, above and beyond what already was necessary.

The challengers laid out a series of issues they want to discuss with Petersen and Toma ahead of the upcoming trial.

One is any instances the Legislature has identified, was aware of, or was provided evidence that someone who is not a U.S. citizen registered to vote which supported the introduction, passage, and/or enactment of the challenged laws. Ditto about any non-U.S. citizen having voted.

They also want to know whether lawmakers considered if the laws would affect certain groups of voters more than others, including racial or ethnic groups, naturalized citizens, disabled voters or voters in any particular age group.

Also sought are any communications between members of the Legislature with outside groups, including the Free Enterprise Club, which backed the restrictions, regarding the purpose or potential effects of the laws.

They also want to know the objectives motivating the Arizona Legislatures introduction, passage and enactment of the challenged laws, as well as any state interest believed to be advanced by the challenged laws.

The groups seeking to void the laws, including the Justice Department, contend the changes amount to intentional race discrimination in voting.

None of this would have become an issue and reached the Supreme Court had Petersen and Toma stayed out of the case. In fact, neither were defendants, as the challenged laws were being defended by Republican former Attorney General Mark Brnovich.

But Attorney General Kris Mayes, a Democrat who took office in January, said she was not interested in defending some aspects of the law. So the two GOP leaders got permission from Bolton to intervene and become defendants.

That new status provided the legal basis for challengers to ask them to answer certain questions.

Attorneys for the legislative leaders said they already produced more than 90,000 pages of documents and answers to written questions. They refused to provide some other documents  the petition to the Supreme Court does not say how many  and declined to answer other questions, citing legislative privilege.

In seeking high court relief, Toma and Petersens lawyers gave a hint of what they dont want to disclose. They said that leaving Boltons decision undisturbed could result in challengers questioning not only their participation in the legislative process, but also private conversations with other legislators or third parties about the voting laws.
The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:

A CNN opinion piece purports to explain what we have all been wondering. Why doesnt President Biden do more to stop the slaughter of innocents in Gaza? (Why Biden wont do more to restrain Netanyahu, Nov. 20, CNN)

Here are the pieces stated reasons for Biden doing virtually nothing about the war, and a brief readers response.

America and Israel are special friends, and so staying the course with Netanyahu is the right politics, good for America, and in the national interest. Unfortunately, there is no explanation of how it is in Americas national interest and how it is good for ordinary folks here.

America shares Israels goal of eliminating terrorists. But can terrorism be eliminated only through war, or would education help a little?

Evil resides in Gaza, not Israel. Oh, so no good people in Palestine?

Biden is a politician, and most in Congress support whatever Israel wants to do. Possibly true, but do political factors always have to trump humanitarian factors in American politics?

Humanitarian pauses will take care of most of the issues. So, after a few days of silence in the bombing, then back to killing women, children and elderly?

Any actual ceasefire will be to Hamas advantage. This begs for an explanation, but none is given.

The U.S. does not like to use a heavy hand in international affairs. Wow, has the author ever heard of World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq?

We dont know how to advise Israel regarding urban warfare. So, the answer is to not try?

Not mentioned are the more salient reasons why Biden wont budge. These come from an understanding of the history of the American presidency, the history of democracy, and the history of religion.

First, Biden is doubling down on an unspoken dictum among executive department leaders of nations: a good, lusty war cures a lot of leadership doubt among voters right before an election. An ancient proverb says we must not change horses in the middle of a stream.

Secondly, nations that are veering toward autocracy dont care much for the old-fashioned democratic values of humane treatment of human beings and standing pat with ones own allotted territory. Leaders of such nations consolidate power at a furious pace and want to usurp not only the legislative power to make war, but the judicial power to put the brakes on illegal or immoral activity. Trump has set a new standard here and some of it has rubbed off on Biden.

Thirdly, not a word has been offered about the most foundational issue of all: Christianity and Judaism line up a little more sweetly with each other than with Islam. Or so it would seem. Religious doctrine often results in overriding public policy.

In case you havent noticed, think about the debate over abortion in America. But do we really understand the theo-political issues dividing the three Abrahamic religions, and is there only one right side to be on?

Fourthly, Biden and Americans in general are victims of Netanyahus sophistries or truly delirious reasoning used to pull the wool over peoples eyes. Here are a few. Hamas uses human shields, so we have no choice but to blast through those shields to get at the bad guys.

We cant go back to Oct. 6, because we must end terrorism forevermore. The Bible says there is a time for war. The death count includes a whole lot of soldiers, maybe, so the loss of life is not really so bad. Any dissent against Netanyahus war policies is antisemitism.

Fifthly, there is plenty of military-industry lobbyist pressure on Biden to continue supplying Israel with lots of shiny steel that helps American super capitalists grow their profit margins.
Dogs deserve ice cream, too.

It was last Christmas when Wendy Roberts gifted Virginia Roy take-and-make ice cream for dogs. Over a bottle of wine, the two came up with an idea.

"Baskin-Robbins for dogs," Roy says. "A dog-safe place where everything is just for them."

The idea became a reality last month when the duo opened Cones For Bones, Tucson's first doggy ice cream bar. There are eight flavors to choose from: peanut butter, banana, birthday cake, bacon, vanilla, cheddar, blueberry and a dog-safe version of chocolate. Toppings like cookies and mini sausages are also part of the fun. The ice cream comes in a package from a supplier, but Roberts, Roy and employee Lori Day spruce it up before putting it in giant tubs to scoop up for the dogs.

You can bring your pup to eat the ice cream inside the shop, 6121 E. Broadway, or you can get a pint to-go. There are tasters, too  like a beer flight but with doggy ice cream.

"Everyone who walks in here says, 'I wish there were more of these,'" Roberts says.

Beyond the ice cream, there are dog toys, racks of pet clothing and shelves of cookies soon to be supplied by Tucson's Dogs-n-Donuts. Cones For Bones also has an area that they plan to use for doggy birthday parties.

"I've heard of parties of every kind under the sun (for dogs)  birthday parties, adoption parties, even baby showers for your dogs," Roberts says. "There's parties for everything nowadays so we figured, why not? It would be a lot of fun and less mess for people to clean up at home. And who wants six or seven dogs at their house eating birthday cake?"

Cones For Bones provides dog-friendly birthday cake, plus treats to the partygoers. Roberts has even thought about using the space to host corporate events.

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The entire concept for Cones For Bones is rooted in Roy, Roberts and Day's love for dogs. They started Karma's Corner, named after one of Roy's Australian Shepherds, which is an area of the shop where community members can drop off pet items to be donated to local rescues.

There's also a "Dogs of Tucson" wall  pay $20 to have a photo of your dog displayed. Half goes to the Pima Animal Care Center (PACC), the other half goes to printing services and the picture frame. Roberts hopes the entire wall will be filled one day.

Once the duo breaks even on the business, the plan is to donate proceeds to PACC after rent, utilities and products are paid for. Even though they aren't yet breaking even on the business, Roy says they're donating out of pocket to PACC each month because they want to remain true to their mission.

"What started as, 'Isn't this a cute idea?' turned into the giving spirit and compassion for animals," Roy says.

The business has been a hit so far. One dog came in and sniffed every single cookie before deciding on the one he wanted. Two friends came in with coffee, bought cookies for their dogs and simply enjoyed the space. One couple visited the shop on their first date, both their dogs in tow.

All three of the women behind the business have full-time jobs elsewhere, but Cones For Bones is their passion project and they're dedicated to making it work.

Of course, the three have their own dogs at home: Roy has two Aussies named Karma and Doodle; Roberts has an English bulldog named Maggie and a chihuahua named Max; and Day has a heeler named Bailey.

Ultimately, the goal is to provide a safe and fun space for pet parents to bring their best friends. In the long run, Roberts would love for Cones For Bones to open locations beyond Tucson to help rescues and pet organizations in other cities.

"I can't stress enough how passionate we are to save dogs and find homes for them," Roy says.

Cones For Bones, 6121 E. Broadway, is open 4-7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; noon to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday; closed Monday. Ice cream is $4 for one scoop, $6 for two, $8 for three. For more information, visit the Cones For Bones website.
Andrea Eger Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Andrea Eger 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 parent company of Hillcrest HealthCare System confirmed Monday that it has suffered a ransomware attack and that all its affiliates must continue to reschedule or divert some patients.

As first reported by the Tulsa World on Friday, the issue affecting access to electronic records such as patient charts was discovered Thursday.

Some non-emergent, elective procedures are being rescheduled. Additionally, Ardents hospitals are currently operating on divert, which means hospitals are asking local ambulance services to transport patients in need of emergency care to other area hospitals. This ensures critically ill patients have immediate access to the most appropriate level of care, Hillcrests parent company stated. All Ardent hospitals are continuing to provide a medical screening exam and stabilizing care to any patients arriving at our Emergency Departments.

Ardent also announced Monday that it has reported the malware attack on its information technology system to law enforcement and has retained third-party forensic and threat intelligence advisers.

Ardent says it proactively took its network offline, suspending all user access to its information technology applications, including corporate servers, Epic software, internet and clinical programs to try to safeguard data while the extent of the attack is probed. Ardents IT teams are working around the clock to restore access and establish a timeline for returning to normal operations.

At this time, we cannot confirm the extent of any patient health or financial data that has been compromised, Ardent said in a written statement. The investigation and restoration of access to electronic medical records and other clinical systems is ongoing. Ardent is still determining the full impact of this event, and it is too soon to know how long this will take or what data may be involved in this incident.

Ransomware is a type of malware, or software specifically designed to disrupt, damage or gain unauthorized access to a computer system with the intent of continuing the disruption until a ransom is paid.

Hillcrest is a comprehensive health system with approximately 6,500 employees. Its hospitals and clinics across eastern Oklahoma include Hillcrest Medical Center and Hillcrest Hospital South in Tulsa, the Oklahoma Heart Institute, Bailey Medical Center in Owasso, Hillcrest Hospital Claremore, Hillcrest Hospital Cushing, Hillcrest Hospital Henryetta, Hillcrest Hospital Pryor, Tulsa Spine & Specialty Hospital and Utica Park Clinic.

The new Tulsa World app offers personalized features. Download it today.
Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, fired missiles at a US Navy destroyer near Yemen's coast, representing a major increase in tensions with US military presence in the region.

The USS Mason reacted to a distress signal from the Central Park, a chemical tanker associated with Israel, in the Gulf of Aden. This tanker had been taken over by armed insurgents, suspected to be Houthi rebels, as per Mail Online.

Biden Delists Houthi Rebels Amid Yemen Tensions

The Houthi rebels in Yemen were categorized as a terrorist group by the US during the Trump administration, but President Joe Biden delisted them in 2021. The company Zodiac Maritime, responsible for the Central Park, confirmed the tanker's identity following its seizure.

After the Navy tried to apprehend the armed hijackers, the Houthi rebels launched two ballistic missiles at the USS Mason. Both missiles fell short and ended up in the sea. Many view this incident as a major escalation, highlighting the Houthi rebels' direct threat to US Navy ships.

The US Central Command released a statement providing a comprehensive account of the events, underscoring the safety of the Central Park's crew and confirming no harm or casualties.

General Michael Erik Kurilla, the head of USCENTCOM, emphasized the crucial role of maritime security in maintaining regional stability. He committed to working alongside allies and partners to protect international shipping routes.

This incident is part of a string of attacks in the waters of the Middle East since the conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7. Additionally, the incident occurred following the Houthi rebels' capture of an Israeli-affiliated cargo ship in the southern Red Sea, which raised concerns about further attacks on Israeli vessels.

The Central Park is a relatively small chemical tanker with a capacity of 19,998 metric tons. It is overseen by Zodiac Maritime Ltd, an international ship management firm headquartered in London and owned by the Ofer family of Israel, according to i24 News.

Read Also: Pope Francis Calls German Synodal Way a Threat to Catholic Church's Unity

Tanker's Suspected Pirate Encounter

The vessel flies the flag of Liberia, was built in 2015, and is under the ownership of Clumvez Shipping Inc, as indicated by data from LSEG.

Zodiac Maritime verified that the Central Park was caught in a suspected piracy event while navigating international waters, roughly 54 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. The vessel was transporting phosphoric acid, primarily utilized in fertilizer production.

The company extended its appreciation to the coalition forces for their prompt intervention in safeguarding assets in the region and enforcing international maritime regulations. There has been no immediate comment from Houthi officials.

Houthi officials have not provided an immediate response or comment on the incident. The UK's Maritime Trade Operations agency acknowledged a potential attack in the southwest of Aden and cautioned other vessels to be vigilant.

In recent times, the US has attributed unclaimed attacks on multiple ships in the region to Iran, even though Tehran has consistently denied any involvement. This event happened subsequent to the reported unauthorized boarding of the commercial ship Galaxy Leader by military personnel using a helicopter on November 19.

Additionally, two ballistic missiles were launched from regions controlled by the Houthi rebels in Yemen toward the USS Mason, an Arleigh-Burke class destroyer, as reported by the US Central Command on Sunday night. These missiles struck approximately 11 miles away from the ship, causing no harm or damage.

The USS Mason is a component of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which recently passed through the Strait of Hormuz to assist in CENTCOM operations in the Arabian Gulf.

The Houthi rebels in Yemen had previously captured the cargo vessel "Galaxy Leader," which was initially thought to be owned by Israel but was subsequently sold to a Japanese company. This incident was part of a larger pattern of threats by Iranian-backed groups against Israel and its interests amid the Gaza conflict with Hamas, CBS News reported.

Related Article: Pope Francis To Attend Dubai COP28 Despite Lung Inflammation

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School board vacancy: Skiatook Public Schools Board of Education is seeking applicants to fill seat No. 5 through 2025.

The seat was vacated at the boards Nov. 13 meeting with the resignation of board President Katy McLain.

Anyone interested in the seat must submit a resume and cover letter to the SPS Education Service Center, 355 S. Osage Ave., by 4 p.m. Dec. 5. Potential appointees must be at least 18 years old and be a registered voter who has lived within the seats attendance area for at least six months.

Locations within the seats attendance area include the Education Service Center, Marrs Elementary School, John Zink Park and Skiatook Central Park.

Ag assist: The Native American Agriculture Fund and Tribal Agriculture Fellowship have announced a new partnership with the National FFA Organization to expand access for Native American, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian students who are interested in agriculture.

The partnership will include providing resources to build new Future Farmers of America chapters and support existing chapters at schools with large Indigenous communities, as well as those at Bureau of Indian Education schools.

Our goal simply is to make sure that Native American students not only continue to be engaged but feel like they have a place at FFA, Native American Agriculture Fund CEO Toni Stanger-McLaughlin said. Its no secret that when FFA was founded, it did not include minorities. Over the years, thats changed.

With 29,213 members across 367 chapters statewide, Oklahoma is home to the sixth largest state-level chapter of the National FFA Organization. Oklahoma FFA is affiliated with the Oklahoma CareerTech systems Agriculture Education Division.

Parent workshop: Tulsa Public Schools Parent Resource Center, 525 E. 46th St. North, will host its monthly Talking is Teaching workshop at 11 a.m. Monday for parents and guardians of children age 8 and younger. Preregistration is required through TPS website.

Alisdayvdii (time to eat): The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Tuesday that the Cherokee and Chickasaw nations will participate in the summer 2024 launch of Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer, a supplemental nutrition program for children who qualify for free or reduced price school meals during the academic year.

Similar to the Pandemic EBT program that ran from 2020 through summer 2023, each eligible child will receive $40 per month during the summer on a preloaded card that can be used at farmers markets and stores to purchase food and drinks.

To date, 14 states nationwide have also signed on to participate in the program: California, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.

Cultural night: In honor of Native American Heritage Month, Broken Arrow Public Schools Indian Education Department will host its annual cultural night from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at Oneta Ridge Middle School. The event is free and open to the public.

Stay home days: Monday is a distance-learning day for Liberty and Wagoner.

Friday is a distance-learning day for Bartlesville, Broken Arrow, Catoosa and Prue. Classes are not in session Friday for Tulsa Honor Academy.

School board calendar: The Board of Education for Tulsa Public Schools is scheduled to meet Monday.

The Oklahoma State Board of Education will meet Thursday in Oklahoma City.
Steven Moore never learned his contacts name.

For security reasons, he couldnt give it to him.

But the situation the man and his comrades were facing had been briefly laid out for him.

And that was all Moore  an American volunteer there to support Ukraine in any way he could  needed to know.

Basically, this guy had just helped drive the Russians out of Bucha, Moore recalled. And he did it not only without proper footwear but while carrying his munitions in a My Little Pony backpack. He didnt have (a backpack), so a 9-year-old girl had let him borrow hers.

He didnt have a lot of things  and yet they won, Moore added. So I had this thought: Imagine if you give this guy the weapons he needs, night vision goggles, body armor and stuff like that. Imagine what he can do.

Moore, who rendezvoused with the man on a Kyiv street to deliver a shipment of combat boots, was already doing everything in his power to help his Ukrainian friends.

But it was meeting that fighter and others like him that gave Moores mission greater clarity.

A former Tulsan and Union High School graduate, Moore has been on the ground in Ukraine for almost two years now, leading a team of volunteers in support of the Ukrainian war effort.

Shortly after the Russians invaded in February 2022, he started a nonprofit organization, Ukraine Freedom Project, to offer support of various kinds, including delivering humanitarian and military aid to the conflicts frontlines.

More recently, Moores mission has evolved further, and as a result he finds himself returning more often to the U.S.

That includes a trip back to Tulsa three weeks ago, and from there on to Washington, D.C., where he met with Oklahomas congressional delegation.

A former congressional staff member and political strategist, Moore has become a prominent voice for continued American support for Ukraine, particularly among fellow Republicans.

A lot of the information Americans are getting is not accurate, and some of it is willfully not accurate, Moore said. So were getting good information to policymakers in D.C. and opinion leaders around the country about whats really happening there in Ukraine.

Because of his firsthand knowledge of the situation, people tend to listen when Moore talks.

What I like to say about Ukraine is its better than you think  and its worse than you think, he said of how the war stands currently. Its better than you think because most of the country is pretty highly functioning. But where its bad, it is really, really bad. And all the worst things you can imagine are happening.

Doing something right

Moores work is garnering him attention, including as the subject of a recent article in Politico.

Its also put him on Russias radar, though.

They have put me on the list of foreign combatants, which means I can be killed, as opposed to being like an aid worker.

Its one of my favorite things, actually, Moore said. Because you wonder sometimes  youre over there in a war zone and youre like, Does anyone care what Im doing? Does anyone know what Im doing here? Well, the Russians care. So, clearly, Im doing something right.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Moores relationship with Ukraine dates back a few years.

He previously lived there, working for an artificial intelligence firm that employed a few hundred Ukrainians.

After Moore left the company early in 2022, he was relaxing at his mothers home in Bixby when the news broke: Russia had invaded Ukraine.

Im sitting on my moms couch, and my Ukrainian friends start calling me and saying things like: Theyre bombing. We dont know what to do.

Fortunately, Moore did know what to do. His career had included a lot of experience in high-conflict areas. Hed spent nearly two years in Iraq at the beginning of that war working with democratic activists.

So, determined to help in any way he could, Moore jumped on a plane.

He arrived in Kyiv five days after the fighting started.

From the start, his goal was simple  to try to solve problems that no one else is solving.

He started by setting up a safe house for Ukrainian refugees in Kyiv.

Over the more than a year and a half since, his organization has gone on to distribute 260 tons of food into various places and supplies to more than 32 hospitals in one region.

Basically, we try to help these guys survive this war, Moore said.

Motivating Moore is a strong affection for the guys in question.

Every Ukrainian who is now fighting was something else before, he said. They were software engineers. They were lawyers, auto body repairmen, marketing executives. My physical trainer for my gym when I was there in 2018 is a special forces guy now.

So I have a real heart for them  normal people that are now fighting for the existence of their families and their lives.

World War III

Moores work has benefited from his many D.C. connections.

Most of them were made during his years on Capitol Hill when he was chief of staff for former Rep. Pete Roskam, R-Illinois, onetime chief deputy GOP whip.

When he returned to D.C. earlier this month, he was accompanied by Tulsan Karl Ahlgren, a longtime GOP operative.

Ahlgren traveled to Ukraine recently as Moores guest and has embraced the mission wholeheartedly.

Whomever his audience, Moore doesnt mince words. The stakes are too high, he said  higher than most Americans currently comprehend.

Countries such as Russia, China, North Korea and Iran, along with Hamas and other terrorist groups, are increasingly working together, causing the world to become more volatile, Moore said.

Right now weve got people in Israel and Ukraine who are willing to fight and die for their freedom and to keep the world more stable, he said. And all weve got to do is send them the weapons.

The alternative to supporting these efforts now, Moore said, is to face threats later that affect Americans personally.

Theres going to be a point at which our young men and women are going to be called upon to fight in places like Taiwan, Ukraine, the Middle East and elsewhere. This is not a problem we can avoid.

The way I see it is were in World War III, he added. And the only people acting on that information are our adversaries.

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Actor and producer Elliot Page and others who have received gender-affirming care are opposing a new Oklahoma law that bans the treatment for minors with gender dysphoria.

Page and 56 other individuals with a wide range of backgrounds claim in a court filing that gender-affirming care, which the state law blocked for minors, was lifesaving for their gender dysphoria.

The care banned by SB 613 has alleviated the suffering of countless transgender people and has paved the way for them to live more fulfilling and joyful lives, according to a friend-of-the-court brief filed on behalf of Page and others.

Page is known for his roles in the Netflix series The Umbrella Academy and was nominated for an Oscar for the movie Juno.

The list of individuals favoring gender-affirming care who were included in the court filing includes a professional triathlete, a teacher, health care providers and a prosecutor.

Transgender people reside in every region of our country, work in numerous professions and come from all types of backgrounds, the filing on behalf of the 57 people says.

The filing is among several friend-of-the-court briefs filed in a case before the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The appeal stems from the passage and signing into law of Oklahoma Senate Bill 613 earlier this year. The law criminalizes the providing of gender-affirming medical care to transgender adolescents with gender dysphoria.

Chief U.S. District Judge John F. Heil III, in an Oct. 5 ruling, denied the plaintiffs request to issue a preliminary injunction, which would effectively ban enforcement of the law while the case progresses.

The appellate court is considering whether to overturn that lower-court ruling.

The suit was brought on behalf of five minors and a physician who provided gender-affirming care prior to the enactment of the law.

Under the law, medical providers who provide such treatment to minors risk board discipline and a potential felony charge.

Others filing friend of the court briefs in support of gender-affirming care for minors include 20 states, 13 biomedical ethics and public health scholars, the American Medical Association and more than 21 other health groups, several LGBT rights groups and a handful of European organizations.

Those favoring the law who have filed friend-of-the-court briefs include Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and 16 other states.

The Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs and the group Do No Harm filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief in favor of the law.

The two groups said in their filing that gender dysphoria treatment, which includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-transition surgeries, carries serious unknown risks and offers no proven benefit.

They cite countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Sweden and Norway, as those that placed severe restrictions on the treatment after having found that the evidence of benefits from gender-affirming care is too uncertain to outweigh the risks.

But attorneys for countries cited by the two groups claimed in their friend-of-the-court brief that unlike Oklahoma, those countries have not banned gender-affirming care for minors.

In all four of those countries, and in many other developed nations around the world, transgender adolescents have access, when needed, to appropriate gender-affirming healthcare, including care that the State Healthcare Ban prohibits, according to the filing on behalf of the United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden and Norway.

The filing states that while a review by the United Kingdoms National Institute for Health and Care Excellence concluded that the evidence of the effectiveness of treatment with puberty blockers was of a very low certainly, it still permits the use of puberty blockers followed later with gender-affirming hormones for adolescents when appropriate.

A filing on behalf of various medical groups, including the American Medical Association, said studies have found that adolescents who receive gender-affirming care experience improvements in their overall well-being.

One study, published in January, followed 315 participants age 12 to 20 who received gender-affirming hormone treatment. The study found that the treatment was associated with decreased symptoms of anxiety and depression.

If not treated, or treated improperly, gender dysphoria can result in debilitating anxiety, depression, and self-harm, and is associated with higher rates of suicide, proponents of the law say.

The Denver-based appellate court is scheduled to hear oral arguments in the case Jan. 17.

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University researchers in Oklahoma are excited about the potential impact a popular weight loss medication also could have in treating alcohol and addictive disorders.

A team of researchers from the University of Oklahoma and Oklahoma State University announced this week that it has published the first evidence that the drug semaglutide specifically reduces symptoms of alcohol use disorder.

Semaglutide has made headlines as an FDA-approved drug for the treatment of diabetes under the name Ozempic and weight loss under the name Wegovy.

This research marks a significant step forward in our understanding of the potential therapeutic applications of semaglutide in the field of addiction medicine, said Dr. Jesse Richards, OU assistant professor of medicine and director of obesity medicine.

The team said larger, controlled studies will be needed to validate and expand on the initial findings. One such clinical trial is underway at the OSU Hardesty Center for Clinical Research and Neuroscience in Tulsa.

Richards said the anecdotal evidence about semaglutides possible effect on alcohol use has been piling up.

Thats one of the big things that brought this up  people were spontaneously reporting this, he said.

Richards recalled one of his patients who used to consume a case of beer over just a few hours at the lake. After starting to use semaglutide for weight loss, he lost all craving for beer and cut back.

That was the first one that really made me sit up and take notice, Richards said.

Also promising, officials said, is that low doses of the medication are producing the reported results.

The team published its initial evidence on Monday in a paper in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The paper outlines the outcomes of six patients who received semaglutide during treatment for weight loss, demonstrating a significant decrease in their test scores that identify alcohol disorders.

Dr. Kyle Simmons, the papers senior author and professor of pharmacology and physiology at the OSU Center for Health Sciences, is conducting the current clinical trial in Tulsa.

The effort, dubbed STAR (Semaglutide Therapy for Alcohol Reduction), is funded by the Hardesty Family Foundation and OSU-CHS.

With the publication of this case series, the stage is set for future clinical trials, such as the STAR studies, which can definitively tell us whether semaglutide is safe and effective for treatment of alcohol use disorder, Simmons said.

A sister study is underway in Baltimore, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Richards said the team is motivated in part by what the research could mean for Oklahoma. The state has some of the nations highest rates of obesity, diabetes and alcohol intake, with rural, underserved populations being hit especially hard.

One of the things that is really driving us is how we may end up helping improve the lives of a lot of Oklahomans who deal with multiple issues, Richards said. This could help their primary care providers take better care of them.

Its a medication that addresses a uniquely Oklahoma problem, Simmons said. Here we have a single medication that may address some of the long-term health outcomes and consequences of these big public health problems that we have here in Oklahoma.

Simmons cautioned, however, that the new research shouldnt prompt people to start requesting the drug to treat alcohol disorders just yet.

We dont know if its safe and effective in well-validated trials, he said. Also, we currently have FDA-approved treatments, and really thats where people should be focusing right now.

Its important to make that point because Im worried that patients are going to run out and pressure their providers, he added.

The researchers praised the spirit of teamwork that the effort represents and which they expect to continue.

This is an example of what can happen when our two R-1 research institutions in Oklahoma collaborate, Simmons said.

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HANOI -- Vietnam's parliament is set to approve on Wednesday a top-up tax for multinationals, which will raise the effective rate of the corporate levy to 15% from January in line with a global agreement.

Vietnam had initially planned to combine the approval of the tax with measures to partly compensate large foreign investors affected by the higher levy, including South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and U.S. chipmaker Intel Corp, but the separate resolution is not on the parliament's agenda.

In a sign of how controversial the new tax is, as it could reduce Vietnam's appeal among foreign companies if not matched with accompanying subsidies, the parliament had initially ruled out a vote in its current session, the last of the year.

But it has eventually added it back to its schedule, with the vote on the tax expected now at the last day of its month-long session.

It is unclear whether additional incentives for some foreign investors could be adopted in this session in separate legislation, without passing a specific resolution on that. The parliament could in any case adopt the incentives resolution in a later session.

Under the new rules being shepherded through by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), companies paying less than 15% in a low-tax jurisdiction will face a top-up levy either in that jurisdiction or in their home country from next year.

Vietnam's corporate income tax is already set at 20%, but the country has offered for years effective rates as low as 5% and lengthy zero-tax periods to large foreign investors.

With the new top-up tax, 122 foreign companies will face a steep increase in their tax costs in Vietnam, according to a document prepared by the Vietnamese government which estimated the additional intake for the state at VND14.6 trillion ($601.05 million) a year.
The total cash reserves of Vietnam's 30 largest property developers, excluding Vinhomes, have dropped to their lowest level in five years, standing at just over VND15 trillion (US$652 million) at the end of September 2023.

Their cash reserves started dramatically declining in 2022 and then plunged to the lowest level in September 2023.

According to the latest report from Vietnam Investors Service and Credit Rating Agency (VIS Rating), a rating agency co-owned by Moodys, both revenues and profits of Vietnamese developers fell 38 percent and 81 percent, respectively, in January-September compared to the same period last year.

Against the backdrop of the real estate market, there are still a few developers such as Vinhomes, An Gia, Nam Long, and Nha Khang Dien that can show Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization (EBITDA) growth.

This is due to the deliveries of completed apartments/real estate in their large projects last year.

VIS Rating believes that the debt servicing capacity of most developers has deteriorated further due to high leverage and weak cash flows.

Developers total cash reserves have fallen to their lowest level in five years.

At the same time, their annual bond payments of around VND114 trillion ($4.70 billion) in 2023 and 2024 makes refinancing riskier.

On a positive note, however, developers ability to tap new sources of capital has improved, mainly thanks to the restructuring of banks' debt and projects.

In VIS Ratings outlook, credit growth in the real estate business increased 22 percent in the nine-month period.

Why do they run out of cash reserves?

The total cash reserves of Vietnam's 30 largest property developers, excluding Vinhomes, amounted to VND15,824 billion ($652 million) in September this year, according to data provided by VIS Rating to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

This includes cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

In comparison, the figure ranged between VND18 trillion ($743 million) and VND22 trillion ($908 million) in 2018-22.

Their total cash has slipped sharply since 2022, dropping to its lowest level in September.

In an interview with Tuoi Tre, Duong Duc Hieu, senior director of VIS Rating, said that cash flows from operations have deteriorated dramatically since 2022 due to less cash from new property sales.

Access to bank loans is limited while developers' debt repayment date is approaching.

The fact that cash is decreasing poses many risks for developers when it comes to refinancing, while they also have to deal with large bond maturity, Hieu said.

He said that it is a general trend that real estate firms do not keep too much cash. Therefore, if they have cash, they invest in projects and elevate their real estate assets.

It is still difficult to assess the debt servicing ability of developers based solely on the data provided by VIS Rating, said the corporate finance expert.

Hieu emphasized that under typical business conditions, property developers, as well as the entire industry, must maintain a cash reserve equal to their total assets to ensure liquidity."

The dwindling cash is therefore an indication of a lack of liquidity on the condition that other accounts on the balance sheets, particularly debt, remain balanced, he remarked.

Hieu also pointed to other indicators of financial difficulties.

These include a weak cash flow and a high debt to EBITDA ratio which signifies that the companys debt is many times its EBITDA.

Many developers are under high pressure to make their bond payments and are struggling with a limited ability to pay interest, which Hieu believes indicates financial challenges.

Efforts to restructure existing debt

According to VIS Rating officials, it is normal for developers to sell assets to service their debt in the midst of an economic downturn.

Recently, such companies have been actively working on restructuring its project portfolio through mergers and acquisitions or considering transferring some of the invested capital from one project to other strategic initiatives.

This is reflected in a robust rise in cash flow for investment purposes in the third quarter of 2023, which compensated for a lack of cash for operating activities.

VIS Rating noted that recent statistics show a continued climb in the overall value of M&A activity in the real estate industry.

There have been recent reports of internal restructuring measures supported by bank credits, examples including LPBank with Hung Thinh and MB Bank with Phat Dat.

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The spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently suffering is not as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic, a World Health Organisation official said, reiterating that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said the increase appeared to be driven by a rise in the number of children contracting pathogens that they had avoided during two years of COVID restrictions.

"We asked about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that theyre seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019," Van Kerkhove told health news outlet STAT in an interview on Friday.

"This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago," she added.

China's National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Sunday the surge in acute respiratory illnesses was linked to the simultaneous circulation of several kinds of pathogens, most prominently influenza.

The spike became a global issue last week when the World Health Organization asked China for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.

China and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of reporting early in the pandemic, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The WHO said on Friday no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent illnesses.

Health officials urged local authorities on Sunday to increase the number of fever clinics, as hospitals are warning of long waits in northern areas like Beijing and Liaoning province where cases among children appear to be especially high.

Spread by young adults in the workplace and children at school, new cases of respiratory illnesses could peak in the next couple of weeks, Li Tongzeng, the chief physician at the infectious diseases department at Beijing You'an Hospital told the Global Times newspaper.

In the report published on Monday, Li also warned of the potential for a second wave peaking during the New Year holidays, as the elderly could become more at risk of infection during family gatherings.
Read what is in the news in Vietnam today:

Politics

-- Vietnamese State President Vo Van Thuong, his spouse, and a high-ranking delegation of Vietnam arrived at Haneda International Airport in Tokyo on Sunday evening (local time), starting their official visit to Japan at the invitation of the Japanese state.

Society

-- Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed building an elevated road or subway under a river to improve connectivity to Can Gio District, a peninsula separated by major rivers, at a meeting with Ho Chi Minh City authorities on Sunday. This plan aims to enhance access to the area for the development of an international transit port while ensuring the protection of Can Gios UNESCO-designated mangrove forests.

-- A large fire erupted in the semi-boarding housing section of an ethnic minority school catering to both elementary and middle students in Son La Province, northern Vietnam, resulting in the loss of one students life on Sunday.

-- Six houses in Quoc Oai District, Hanoi experienced subsidence, prompting the residents to relocate to a cultural house after a neighbor had recently drilled a well.

-- High tides are in the forecast for the southern and Mekong Delta regions, including Ho Chi Minh City, from Monday through Wednesday, according to the Southern Hydro-meteorological Station.

Sports

-- Mong Cai City in Quang Ninh Province has announced a cross-border race to China and back, slated for December 3, as part of the 2023 Vietnam-China International Trade and Tourism Fair. The event is expected to attract 1,000 participants from Vietnam, China, and other Southeast Asian nations.

World News

-- A U.S. Navy warship responded to a distress call from a commercial tanker, which has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals, in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by armed individuals and is now safe, Reuters quoted U.S. officials as saying on Sunday.

-- One person has died and 12 people were missing on Sunday after a cargo ship carrying salt with 14 crew on board sank off the island of Lesbos, Reuters quoted the Greek coast guard as saying.

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Nguyen Ngoc Thi Thu, 14, and her younger sister, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy Trang, 11, have commuted around 100 kilometers round trip from their home in Hoa Binh Province, northern Vietnam to Hanoi each Sunday morning to join a symphony orchestra for nearly one year.

They play the trumpet in the Vietnam Youth Orchestra.

Thu and Trang reside in Luong Son District under Hoa Binh Province.

Thu started to learn how to play the trumpet when she was in grade one, while her younger sister began playing the musical instrument when she was five years old.

Their trumpet instructor was their father, who is a trumpeter.

He often practices playing the trumpet at home, so he instructed his daughters to play.

The father frequently records their trumpet practice, and posts the videos on his Facebook account.

Once Tran Hien, conductor of the Vietnam Youth Orchestra, watched some of these videos, he quickly contacted the two sisters to invite them to the orchestra.

Since then, each Sunday morning, the two young girls wake up at 5:00 am and take a bus at 6:30 am to Hanoi to play with the orchestra.

After nearly one year of their efforts in trumpet practice in the Vietnamese capital, the two young sisters will perform as members of the orchestra at the Hanoi Opera House this Sunday.

With the participation of over 70 young music players coming from multiple schools and having different nationalities, the Vietnam Youth Orchestra is expected to offer audiences a party of classical music.

Founded in 2022, the Vietnam Youth Orchestra, financed by individuals, is meant to create a classical music space for children and bring this type of music closer to the public.

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The Department of Culture, Sports, and Tourism in Lai Chau Province, northern Vietnam announced on Monday that it would hold a trekking competition on the picturesque Ta Lien Son mountain range next month.

Participating trekkers will have a chance to immerse themselves in the natural unspoiled scenery and conquer the peak of the mountain.

Ta Lien Son Mountain stands in Ta Leng Commune under Tam Duong District.

It is the sixth-highest mountain in Vietnam at a height of 2,996 meters above sea level.

As planned, the inaugural race will take place at Ta Leng Ethnic High School in the district early on the morning of December 17.

Trekkers aged from 16 can join the race.

The trekking race on Ta Lien Son Mountain is aimed at promoting the spirit of sports, improving health, developing the adventurous sports, and spurring trekking.

Through the trekking competition, the province expects to introduce its potential for travel and the beauty of its natural landscapes and cultures to domestic and international visitors.

The race is meant to entice tour operators and investors to the province to sound out cooperation and investment opportunities.

The projected Ta Lien Son Mountain trekking journey will bring trekkers to real-life enchanted woods.

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In central Ukraine, grain thunders into rail carriages and vehicles as they speed around a storage facility.

The end of a UN-brokered grain deal in July, caused by Russia's withdrawal, threatened this vital flow. However, Ukraine's resilience and strategic maneuvering have opened a new chapter, as per ABS News.

Ukraine's Maritime Lifeline in Turmoil

Roman Andreikiv, the facility's general director, recounts the challenging times following the deal's collapse. Despite the hurdles, the establishment of a new, militarily protected shipping corridor has been a game-changer, allowing for the revival of export activities and alleviating storage pressures.

This corridor has seen a surge in ships navigating towards Ukraine's Black Sea ports, laden with essential commodities like wheat, corn, barley, and sunflower oil. The significance of this corridor extends beyond Ukraine's borders, directly impacting regions like Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, where food insecurity looms large.

Munro Anderson of Vessel Protect highlights the growing confidence among commercial operators in this new venture. Ihor Osmachko of Agroprosperis Group echoes this optimism, a stark contrast to the uncertainty that prevailed just months ago.

The corridor has not been without its challenges. Russian aggression continues to threaten these vital routes, having already destroyed substantial food supplies and posing risks to vessels with floating explosive mines.

However, the Ukrainian government and international allies have been proactive in addressing these threats, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy securing support for naval protection and insurance coverage for the shipments.

Despite the missile strikes and ongoing military risks, Ukraine has successfully exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through this corridor. US Ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, emphasizes this achievement, highlighting Ukraine's vital role in the global food supply chain, according to Independent.

Read Also: Vatican Announces Baptism for Transgender People, Church Welcomes LGBT Community

Ukraine's Agri-Path, Military-Guarded Sea Routes

The journey of Ukraine's agricultural products is now more costly and time-consuming, but it remains a vital lifeline. Farmers, like those in Slavhorod, persevere despite the risks and low grain prices, driven by the necessity to sustain the nation's economy and contribute to the global fight against hunger.

The Ukrainian military now plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of these maritime passages, offering a more predictable and efficient alternative to the unpredictable corridor operated under the UN deal. This efficiency is reflected in the reduced shipping costs and the avoidance of costly inspection delays experienced previously.

The establishment of an insurance program to offer affordable coverage for these shipments is a testament to international collaboration and support for Ukraine's cause. Additionally, humanitarian programs are in place to distribute Ukrainian grain to nations facing acute food shortages.

Despite the challenges, Ukraine's new grain corridor stands as a beacon of hope, showcasing the country's determination and adaptability in the face of adversity. It not only bolsters Ukraine's economy but also plays a critical role in mitigating global food crises.

With the support of the international community and the resilience of the Ukrainian spirit, this corridor promises to be a key factor in sustaining global food security amidst ongoing conflict, New York Post reported.

Related Article: Pope Francis Calls German Synodal Way a Threat to Catholic Church's Unity

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Dong Ho Lagoon and a charming long coastline hugging Den Mountain, coupled with numerous tasty dishes such as bun ken (noodle soup), grilled chicken, and stretchy rice noodles make Ha Tien City an ideal getaway for domestic and international tourists, mainly travelers from neighboring Cambodia.

Nguyen Thi Mong Quyen, director of the Ha Tien trade and tourism promotion center, said on Sunday that the city, situated in Vietnam's Kien Giang Province, shares both land and maritime borders with Cambodia, smoothing the path for the neighbors visitors to enter the city.

Over the past few months, the number of Cambodian travelers visiting Ha Tien to explore its natural beauty and savor delicacies has been growing.

Since the start of the year, Ha Tien City has welcomed over three million domestic and international tourists," Quyen said.

"In particular, throngs of holidaymakers from Cambodia have toured the city.

Some 1,000-2,000 Cambodian tourists travel to the city each holiday or festival."

A beach in Ha Tien City woos locals and foreigners. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

'Bun ken' (noodle soup), a must-taste specialty in Ha Tien City Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

To get ready to welcome Cambodian travelers on the forthcoming Christmas and 2024 New Year holidays, travel agencies in Ha Tien are working to offer new tourism products and adorn the current tourist attractions such as Dong Ho Lagoon, a seaside path skirting Den Mountain, Thach Dong Cave, and Da Dung Mountain.

Tourists are fond of sea bathing, playing water sports, and savoring seafood as well as the citys specialties.

Du To Tuan, director of travel firm Vietravels branch in Rach Gia City under Kien Giang Province, said that Cambodia is a potential tourism source market.

A huge number of tourists from the country have traveled to the province over the past few months.

They often go sightseeing in Ha Tien first, and then take a speedboat ride to famous Phu Quoc Island, he said.

We are looking forward to welcoming the crowds of tourists to Ha Tien City during the upcoming 2024 New Year holiday," Tuan said.

"We will roll out various community-based tourism products to diversify services to delight international visitors.

'Bok lo hong,' a popular dish of the Khmer ethnic group in Ha Tien City, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

Visitors enjoy an alpine coaster ride to explore a breathtaking mountain in Ha Tien City, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

Tourists explore the beauty of Thach Dong Cave in Ha Tien City, Kien Giang Province, southern Vietnam. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

Travelers on an electric three-wheeled motorcycle take a look around Ha Tien City at night. Photo: Chi Cong / Tuoi Tre

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ABC Ombudsman, Fiona Cameron, has cleared the broadcaster of complaints lodged after the Q+A episode on November 13 which discussed the Israel  Hamas war.

ABC received 882 complaints about the show, which featured Labor MP Tim Watts, former Liberal MP Dave Sharma, a former Australian ambassador in Israel, and UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese.

The panel also included Australia / Israel & Jewish Affairs Council chairman Mark Leibler and Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni.

The broadcast from Melbourne was without a studio audience but with a contingent of police outside the studio for security reasons.

Nearly all the complaints claimed the program was not impartial, with some using idential wording, suggesting a co-ordinated campaign.

Complaints included that it had two Jewish spokespeople, gave disproportionate time to Jewish speakers, that host Patricia Karvelas frequently interrupted Mr Mashni, and that she asked Mr Mashni to condemn Hamas killing Israelis while not asking Mr Leibler to condemn Israel killing Palestinian civilians.

However ABC does not require that all sides are given equal airtime, only that contrasting views are couched within news and current affairs programs.

Mr Mashni spoke considerably more than other panellists, which in part explains why he was interrupted more, Ms Cameron wrote. She also noted that there was only one Jewish panellist  Mr Leibler. Mr Sharma stated on the show that he was not Jewish.

The program included highly polarised views which were appropriately challenged by the host and critically discussed by other panellists, including views that were likely offensive and hurtful to some viewers, she concluded. We consider that the program impartially presented these views and did not favour any perspective.

The Ombudsman concluded the program did not breach the ABCs editorial standards for due impartiality and harm and offence, issuing that the highly polarised views platformed on the episode were appropriately challenged by the host and critically discussed by other panelists.

We consider that the program impartially presented these views and did not favour any perspective. By altering the presentation format of the program and actions by the host, including an introduction asking how do we de-escalate tensions and restore respect, the risk of harm and offence, while justified by the editorial context, was minimised.

Source: AFR, Mumbrella
Tonight on ACS: The Investigators, two women, both married to the same man, died in suspicious circumstances.

ACS uncovers one of the most bizarre murder investigations in Australias history. Two women die in suspicious circumstances: coincidence or as their husband Thomas Keir describes it, just bad luck! Three years after Keir alleged his first wife, Jean, deserted him and their young son for another man, his second wife, Rosalina was found burning in their home, strangled on her bed. Arriving on the scene, Detective Peter Seymour was unsure if he was investigating with the worlds unluckiest husband or a serial wife killer.

While Keir was eventually found not guilty of Rosalina murder, her death unlocked the mystery of Jeans disappearance. A subsequent police investigation lead to the discovery of seven small fragments of Jeans bones  fingers, knuckles, and toes  buried deep under the same house in which Rosalina died. Keirs grieving husband act was suddenly in question.

We follow Peters relentless pursuit of justice, and his own family sacrifices, through the drama of the police investigation into Jeans death, and the three trials, convictions, and appeals that would take fifteen years to reach their final conclusion.

8:40pm tonight on Nine.
ABC has denied breaking promises to keep identities of WA Woodside protestors confidential.

WA Police obtained a court order requiring the ABC to hand over all Four Corners footage, including scenes that were not broadcast.

An ABC spokesperson told Media Watch, Claims are being made about this matter which are false and which wrongly accused our journalists of breaking promises.

Any suggestion that the ABC has disclosed or will disclose material in breach of any undertaking to a confidential source is incorrect.

Any commitment to not reveal sources have been kept.

All material was otherwise filmed in the clear expectation that it could be made public by the ABC including by national broadcast.

ABC indicated activists charged were not confidential sources, but willing participnts in the program which was broadcast.

It further maintained while they must comply with compulsory legal processes, the ABC does not reveal confidential sources.
Screen Producers Australia has announced the first three international guests taking part in Screen Forever 38 next March.

From the UK, Head Gear Films Founder and CEO Phil Hunt will be in Australia for the first time in over a decade on the hunt for Australias next big hit.

Head Gear Films is a leading financier of independent film, TV and games projects and has been partnering with producers for over 20 years to help bring productions like Churchill, You Wont be Alone, The Kill Room and critically acclaimed Australian indie film Talk To Me to audiences internationally.

Last time I came to Screen Forever was around 15 years ago, and I am very happy that Im returning to spend a few days with Australian film and TV business professionals. Ive now Exec Produced and financed over 100 movies in Australia, including many global hits like Talk To Me. Its a country that is very dear to me, with some incredible talent, wonderful people, and beautiful culture. It feels like my second home, Hunt said.

Rodrigo Herrera Ibarguengoytia, the Vice President of Scripted Acquisitions and Co-Productions at Red Arrow Studios International, a global TV distributor and a subsidiary of Seven.One Studios, will also attend. Based in Germany, he oversees all scripted development and acquisition activities, working directly with production companies and creatives, with the aim of packaging, co-financing, and co-producing projects. Delegates will have the chance to secure meetings with him in SPA Connect Market sessions.

Red Arrow distributes Australian comedies and dramas including titles Australian Gangster, Bad Mothers, Squinters, Summer Love, and most recently While the Men are Away.

Weve been delighted by our recent collaborations with exceptional talent in Australia and New Zealand, uncovering exciting perspectives that offer bold, distinctive concepts. While these connections have flourished from a distance, Im thrilled to be attending Screen Forever 38, eagerly seeking to deepen these ties and forge new collaborations that will bring an array of captivating stories to audiences worldwide, he said.

Delegates can also hear from and pitch to Ava Mustos, Associate Director of Acquisitions at Fifth Season, a global film and TV studio. Fifth Seasons slate includes Jack Thornes BBC One drama Best Interests, crime drama Tokyo Vice for Max and Nine Perfect Strangers for Hulu, alongside Australian titles such as courtroom drama The Twelve, Strife, The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, One Night and Wolf Like Me.

Ava said: The last edition of Screen Forever was a great experience and I had so many productive and engaging conversations, as well as being presented with an array of unique local projects. At Fifth Season, we have a robust slate of premium, fresh and talent-driven Australian-rooted content that is ideal for global audiences  including some exciting upcoming projects that we are deficit financing or co-producing with international partners  and Screen Forever provides an ideal springboard for unearthing these type of collaboration opportunities. I cant wait to return to the Gold Coast and explore new opportunities with both new and existing partners.

Screen Forever takes place 19-21 March 2024 on the Gold Coast.
European Investment Bank (EIB) President Werner Hoyer visited Kyiv on Monday to discuss a multi-million dollar recovery initiative for Ukraine. It's his first visit there since the beginning of Russias invasion in February 2022.

According to an EIB press release, the initiative includes two loans totalling 450 million, recently approved by the EIB Board of Directors.

The EU for Ukraine Fund, part of the EIB's EU for Ukraine (EU4U) Initiative, which is spearheading efforts to Ukraines recovery and reconstruction agenda is backed by contributions from member states, totalling 500 million to date.

Hoyer also inaugurated the Kyiv-based EIB Regional Hub for Eastern Europe, which is coordinating construction efforts with similar outlets in Moldova and Tbilisi (Georgia).

According to the EIB website, the bank, which has been operating in Ukraine for 16 years, has a portfolio of projects adding up to 7.3 billion, "focusing primarily on transport, energy, and municipal infrastructure."

However the EIB Ukraine visit comes amid pressure from Hungary's Victor Orban, who has threatened to derail Brussel's Ukraine policy.

Funds frozen

(With newswires)



Read more on RFI English



Read also:

Russia launches 'record' 75 drones on Ukraine as the country marks Holodomor Day

Brussels recommends opening EU membership talks with Ukraine

Is Hungary shifting the focus of its nuclear sector from Russia to France?
Russell Robinson has been arrested in connection with the death of Carlos DeLeon, who was last heard from in June

LAPD HQ Excavation of Carlos De Leon excavation's remains

A California man was arrested last week after police allegedly discovered on his property the remains of a man last heard from in June, according to reports.

Los Angeles Police Department officers arrested Russell Robinson, 48, in the citys North Hills neighborhood after they allegedly discovered the remains of Carlos DeLeon in his backyard, the LAPD said in a statement last week.

Family members have said DeLeon, a 35-year-old man from Guatemala, had last been in contact in mid-June, according to the statement. In November, the LAPDs homicide unit began work on the case and received a tip that DeLeon was buried at an address that was eventually determined to be Robinsons.

Police were tipped off by a citizen and carried out a search on Nov. 21 and found a structure at the rear of the property, the statement said.

The concrete foundation under the structure was also removed. A careful excavation commenced, and the remains of DeLeon were located, it read.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

"This investigation started as a missing persons investigation in June of this year," LAPD Deputy Chief Alan Hamilton said, according to CBS Los Angeles. "The missing persons unit has been working the case since that time."

Robinson has been booked under murder charges and is being held without bail, according to the LAPD statement.

Hamilton told KTLA that police sought the assistance of the Los Angeles Fire Department knowing the case would not be an ordinary one, and the fire department helped with the excavation.



Robinson was scheduled to appear in court on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear if he has retained an attorney or entered a plea.

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Read the original article on People.
Before I launch into - spoiler alert - a rave review for what I consider to be the best film of 2023 (sorry, Barbie and mea culpa, Marty), I want to say right up front that I'm not a Christopher Nolan fanboy. While I respect Nolan immensely as a director and writer, I find his movies to be a mixed bag. I love Memento and the Batman trilogy and appreciate the visceral power of Dunkirk, but the dazzling Inception continues to baffle me and Interstellar left me cold. Tenet was a big miss for me, too, so despite all the hype for Oppenheimer, I went into the IMAX screening this past summer with some trepidation, unsure of how this massive epic about the man who spearheaded the development of the atomic bomb would hit me.

To say Oppenheimer blew me away would be not only a bad pun and tired cliche but also a gross understatement. Nolan outdoes himself, crafting an ambitious, innovative, and beautifully constructed film that absorbed me from the get-go and held me spellbound for three solid hours. (I can't recall a more enriching cinematic experience over the past decade.) Intelligent, intricate, thought-provoking, emotional, visually stunning, and brimming with potent performances, Oppenheimer is the complete cinematic package, a movie that satisfies on multiple levels and demands repeat viewings to absorb all the nuances. Of course, the big bang that occurs about two-thirds of the way through is the film's central component, but it's the small, intimate moments that reverberate the loudest and make this movie so memorable.

Oppenheimer isn't just a biopic about an arrogant genius who's driven by ambition, wracked by demons, and tortured by guilt. That would be enough. But Nolan goes further. The most fascinating parts of Oppenheimer actually occur after the bomb goes off. The repercussions and fallout (and I'm not talking about radiation) resonate so much more strongly than the intrigue surrounding the weapon's development. Yes, this is a tale about scientific breakthroughs, crossing dangerous boundaries, grappling with weighty moral issues (like the potential destruction of mankind), and creating a beast that can't be controlled, but more importantly, it's about political persecution, unbridled ego, and the petty jealousies and insecurities that fuel small-minded men and inspire them to destroy the lives of others.

The bomb is the elephant in the room, but the crux of Oppenheimer is the bitter conflict between J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and government official Lewis Strauss (Robert Downey Jr.). As the film opens, both men face critical trials that will ultimately scrape away their smug veneers and expose their faults, frailties, and carefully guarded secrets. Oppenheimer meekly battles a biased group of political operatives seeking to revoke his security clearance due to his prior association with the Communist party, while Strauss (pronounced Stroz), President Eisenhower's nominee for Secretary of Commerce, must endure the probing questions of a Senate confirmation committee to secure his crowning career achievement. Nolan the writer, who based his screenplay on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, deftly and lyrically tells their parallel and intertwining tales, while Nolan the director keeps their stories distinct by filming Oppenheimer's perspective in color and Strauss's in black-and-white. The device may be off-putting at first, but it's a stroke of genius that not only helps simplify the challenging narrative structure, which continually jumps forward and backward in time, but also adds even more style to an already visually arresting film.

One character calls Oppenheimer "a dilettante, a womanizer, a suspected Communist, unstable, theatrical, egotistical, neurotic," and that's all true, but he also possessed one of the most brilliant minds of the 20th century. Other films like A Beautiful Mind and The Imitation Game have explored such brilliance and shown it to be a burden and a curse. Oppenheimer treads similar territory but on a larger scale and broader canvas. The stakes are higher here and some of the film's themes strongly resonate in our current social climate. We can relate to a world in crisis that's hurtling toward chaos and possible destruction, where political enemies are targeted and attacked. And with the dawn of Artificial Intelligence, we now have our own debate about a new technology that can potentially threaten human existence.

Oppenheimer asks important questions: How far do we take science and how do we deal with the consequences of what we unleash? One of the film's most powerful scenes shows a shell-shocked Oppenheimer addressing his colleagues after the A-bomb test. As he delivers his remarks, we see how the weight of what his team has produced and the devastation it will soon deliver hit him with almost the same force as the world-changing detonation he just witnessed.

That detonation, the lead-up to which instills palpable dread, fear, and uncertainty despite the fact there's no mystery about the test's success, is breathtakingly depicted. I won't spoil it, but it's just one more example of Nolan's brilliance. He leads us down a well-worn path, then rips the rug out from under us. It's tough to creatively depict a seminal event, especially one as monumental as this, but Nolan finds a way to combine artistry with the sobering gravity and sheer awe of the moment.

While I often enjoy seeing films with star-studded casts, sometimes the plethora of high-profile personalities can be distracting and take me out of the movie. "Oh, there's so-and-so. Wow, I didn't know he/she was in this! What a great cameo!" I had none of those feelings here. Yes, the initial glimmer of recognition causes a spark, but the roles are so well cast, the actors disappear inside them. The list of luminaries in Oppenheimer is large. In addition to Murphy and Downey, there's Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Florence Pugh, Josh Hartnett, Kenneth Branagh, Rami Malek, Casey Affleck, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Tom Conti, Matthew Modine, Tony Goldwyn, and others. All of them nail their parts (though Pugh is saddled with a sketchily drawn role), but Murphy and Downey shine the brightest. Both men deserve Oscars for their finely etched portrayals of complex, fascinating, and deeply flawed men who scale massive heights, but must live with the consequences of their deeds and misdeeds. Murphy is riveting throughout, never striking a sour note, and Downey is a revelation. After far too many Marvel movies, he reminds us what a terrific actor he can be when given the opportunity to sink his teeth into a juicy part.

Oppenheimer isn't perfect. Some of the story's time shifts can be confusing and with so many characters popping in and out of the story - often for only a few fleeting moments - remembering all the names and how they relate to the narrative can be a challenge. Like almost every biopic, there are historical inaccuracies and liberties taken with facts for dramatic effect. The pivotal exchange between Oppenheimer and Albert Einstein upon which much of the story hinges is complete invention, but it's nevertheless an inspired device to set up the division between Strauss and Oppenheimer and define the finer points of Strauss' character.

Nolan bites off a lot here, but never more than he can chew. Yes, Oppenheimer is long, but unlike its fellow 2023 epics Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon, it doesn't feel long. The pacing has a lovely ebb and flow as it mixes massive scope with searing drama, bits of humor, and a whole lotta visual stimuli. With insight, deep commitment, and tremendous care, Nolan has made a movie for history buffs, science nerds, political junkies, and - most importantly -- movie fans. Oppenheimer is what cinema is all about. Dig in and enjoy.

Vital Disc Stats: The Ultra HD Blu-ray

Oppenheimer arrives on 4K UHD packaged in a standard case inside a sleeve with raised lettering. The three-disc set includes a 4K UHD disc and standard Blu-ray disc, along with a separate Blu-ray that houses all the supplements. A leaflet containing the code to access the Movies Anywhere digital copy is tucked inside the front cover. Video codec is 2160p/HEVC H.265 with HDR and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the animated menu with music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.
President Joe Biden as the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28, commences in Dubai this week.

The decision not to attend the major climate summit, expected to be attended by leaders from nearly 200 countries, including King Charles III and Pope Francis, has raised questions about the administration's commitment to addressing the pressing issue of climate change, as per New York Times.

President Biden's Absence at COP28

A White House official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, confirmed President Biden's absence but did not provide a specific reason for his non-participation in the two-week summit.

However, senior White House aides have pointed to the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, particularly the war between Israel and Hamas, as a primary reason for the president's diverted focus in recent weeks.

John Kerry, Biden's special envoy for climate change, acknowledged the challenges, stating, "They've got the war in the Middle East and a war in Ukraine, a bunch of things going on."

Despite the president's absence, Kerry and his team will be present in Dubai, representing the US in the discussions on climate change.

Reuters had reported in October that President Biden was unlikely to attend COP28 as he juggled the demands of the Middle East conflict and prepared for a presidential campaign expected to intensify in January.

The president's schedule for the day of the summit reveals conflicting engagements, including hosting a bilateral meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola and attending the National Tree Lighting ceremony, according to The Straits Times.

Read Also: Chinese Jets Shadow Filipino Planes While on Joint PH-AU Patrol

US President's Absence Raises Concerns

The absence of the US president at COP28, especially when dozens of countries are pushing for a historic deal to phase out CO2-emitting coal, oil, and gas, has sparked concerns about the role of the United States in global climate initiatives. President Biden had attended both COP summits since his inauguration in 2021, emphasizing his commitment to tackling climate change.

The fortnight-long talks, beginning in Dubai, will host scores of world leaders, senior ministers, and officials from 198 countries. The significance of this COP summit is underscored by its status as the biggest annual gathering held under the 1992 UN framework convention on climate change, with an estimated 70,000 delegates in attendance.

Notable leaders, including the UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, are expected to participate, with King Charles III delivering the opening speech alongside UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan.

The pope, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and an invitation extended to Bashar al-Assad, the president of Syria, further highlight the global importance of this climate conference.

However, the absence of President Biden leaves a void in the representation of one of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters. In contrast, Xi Jinping of China is also not expected to attend, though envoys for both Biden and Xi have signaled their close cooperation ahead of the talks.

As the world grapples with the escalating climate crisis, President Biden's decision not to attend COP28 raises questions about the United States' commitment to leading global efforts in mitigating climate change. The international community will closely watch the outcomes of the summit, hoping for meaningful progress despite the absence of key leaders, The Guardian reported.

Related Article: NY: Sexual Assault Lawsuits Increase Due to Adult Survivors Act Deadline

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HA NOI - Global IT services provider FPT announced that it has joined the SAP Regional Strategic Services Partner (RSSP) initiative, established by SAP Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) to expand the capabilities and reach of established partners in the APJ region that are on a rapid growth trajectory.

Through the RSSP initiative, SAP will provide eligible partners with strategic support, which may include coordinated industry-aligned solutions, a joint go-to-market strategy, and access to SAP regional and market unit industry expertise.

The RSSP initiative will enable FPT to scale its SAP practice more rapidly across the APJ region and work more closely with SAP to drive joint customer success.

"At FPT, we are passionate about building a happier future for individuals, fostering success for organisations, and prosperity for nations, said Truong Gia Binh, FPT chairman.

The 20 years of partnership between SAP and FPT had been a journey of happiness, because the two sides had shared a purpose, which enables enterprises in Viet Nam and worldwide to manage their resources with efficiency, with transformation and with growth and expansion, he added.

SAP is very important to FPT because digital transformation must be based on the SAP foundation, Binh told Viet Nam News.

SAP essentially makes the most efficient use of resources including machinery, equipment, materials, people, and production processes and based on the most effective use of these resources, the next one is using data and artificial intelligence to turn an organisation into the most competitive and efficient one, he noted.

It could be said that the signing with SAP was a foundation to be able to carry out digital transformation for large corporations in the world, added Binh.

Another thing that SAP was different from other ERP products was that it went very deeply into each industry, it had a specialised solution in every economic industry, added the chairman.

Therefore, implementing SAP was very, very fast, so it will also help FPT go deeper into the industry's knowledge and expertise in banking, manufacturing, retail, and more, he said.

"We have fostered collaborations with many world-class leaders to enable successful digital transformation for our customers. This collaboration with SAP allows us to leverage their industry expertise and resources to offer enhanced SAP S/4HANA Cloud migration service and managed service to meet the growing needs of our customers in the Asia Pacific Japan region," said Pham Minh Tuan, CEO of FPT Software.

"SAP has a vibrant and fast-growing partner ecosystem in the region. Many of our APJ-based partners have thousands of SAP-certified consultants worldwide and deliver hundreds of SAP-related projects every year. We have a unique opportunity to do more with our regional partners and drive more innovation and value for our customers," said Utkarsh Maheshwari, Chief Partner Officer, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.

"We welcome and congratulate FPT Corporation on joining the SAP Regional Strategic Services Partner initiative, he added.

To qualify for the SAP RSSP initiative, candidate partners must meet or exceed a defined set of SAP criteria, including geographic presence, vertical industry competencies, and alignment on a common sustainability strategy.

FPT's collaboration with SAP dates back to 2003, with many successful joint digital transformation projects across various sectors, including Manufacturing, BFSI and Energy. VNS
HA NOI Numerous enterprises engaged in capital-intensive sectors like infrastructure construction are facing challenging situations with limited cash resources.

Cash and cash equivalents, which encompass cash on hand, demand deposits at banks, cash in transit, and short-term investments with a maturity of up to three months, play a vital role as a financial indicator. They reflect a company's ability to meet short-term obligations and serve as a reserve for contingencies such as equipment repairs and replacements, or unforeseen circumstances.

At Ho Chi Minh City Infrastructure Investment Joint Stock Company (CII), as of the end of the third quarter of 2023, their cash and cash equivalents stood at VN307.7 billion, marking an 11.6 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. However, this figure appears relatively modest when compared to the total assets of VN26 trillion and liabilities of VN18 trillion.

With short-term debts amounting to VN8 trillion by the end of the third quarter of 2023, CII's cash ratio stands at 0.04 times. In fact, CII's cash ratio has consistently remained below 0.1 times from 2018 to the present.

The cash ratio, calculated by dividing total cash and cash equivalents by current liabilities, measures a company's ability to repay short-term debts. A ratio below 1 indicates that the available cash within the business is insufficient to meet these obligations.

In reality, it is rare for businesses to possess enough cash and cash equivalents to cover all short-term debts, resulting in cash ratios typically falling below 1. However, a ratio below 0.1 raises concerns.

The company experienced a negative primary business cash flow of VN1.4 trillion in 2020, a negative VN881.7 billion in 2021, and a positive VN973 billion in 2022. However, in the first nine months of 2023, CII reverted to a negative operating cash flow of VN758.3 billion.

Between 2024 and 2030, CII has set ambitious goals for investment in six transportation infrastructure projects, with a total capital investment of nearly VN75 trillion. Among these projects, the HCM City - Trung Luong - My Thuan expressway phase 2 represents the most significant investment, totalling VN22 billion. This strategy is implemented as CII focuses on capital resource restructuring to address major operational risks. However, it imposes substantial financial pressure in the short and medium term due to CII's utilisation of a high leverage ratio in the BOT project investment process.

A similar scenario faces Cuong Thuan IDICO Development Investment Joint Stock Company (CTI). According to CTI's consolidated financial report for the third quarter of 2023, as of September 30, 2023, the company held VN41.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents, reflecting a 21.7 per cent decrease compared to the beginning of the year. Meanwhile, CTI's total assets amounted to VN4.57 trillion, with liabilities reaching VN3.16 trillion and short-term debt totalling VN537.5 billion.

CTI has experienced a recent downturn in its business situation. In the third quarter of 2023, the company reported a post-tax profit of VN6.5 billion, marking an 81.7 per cent decline compared to the same period last year. Throughout the first nine months of the year, CTI's after-tax profit amounted to VN55.3 billion, representing a 37.4 per cent decrease compared to the corresponding period.

HUD3 Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company (HU3) also faced a decline in cash and cash equivalents. As of June 30, 2023, the company's cash and cash equivalents stood at only VN2 billion, signifying an 85 per cent decrease compared to the beginning of the year. By the end of the second quarter of 2023, HU3's total assets amounted to VN263 billion, while the company carried VN120 billion in short-term debt.

During the first half of the year, HU3 recorded revenue of VN31 billion, indicating a 66.4 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year. Moreover, the company reported a negative post-tax profit of VN2.6 billion, whereas during the same period the previous year, it achieved a profit of VN268.5 million. HU3 attributed the decline in business performance to the lack of new projects and slower-than-planned payments for ongoing construction projects.

Licogi 13 Joint Stock Company (LIG) faced a cash payment ratio of only 0.03 times in the third quarter of 2023, which was consistent with the previous four quarters at approximately 0.01 times. As of September 30, 2023, LIG held VN85.2 billion in cash and cash equivalents, while carrying VN3.37 trillion in short-term debt.

In April 2023, LIG approved a plan to conduct a private offering of over 22.5 million shares to professional securities investors at a price of VN10,000 per share. The capital raised from this offering is expected to be utilised for capital contributions to three entities: Licogi13 Joint Stock Company - Construction Foundation, Licogi13 Joint Stock Company - Infrastructure Mechanics, and Licogi13 Joint Stock Company - Construction Materials, as well as for supplementing working capital.

Throughout the first three quarters of the year, LIG reported a post-tax profit of VN7.2 billion, representing a 21.7 per cent decrease compared to the same period last year.

Vina2 Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company (VC2) also faced a cash shortage. At the beginning of 2023, VC2 held only VN4.5 billion in cash and cash equivalents, despite having assets worth VN2.29 trillion and short-term debt of VN1.47 trillion. By the end of the third quarter, cash and cash equivalents had increased to VN48.3 billion, but short-term debt rose to VN1.6 trillion. The company's cash payment ratio stood at 0.03 times in the third quarter. VNS
HCM CITY  The future of environmental, social and governance will be shaped by innovation and sustainable solutions, Dzeneta Mulabegovic, strategic specialist, UNDP, Viet Nam, said.

Speaking at the Viet Nam Innovation Summit held by InnoLab Asia and the HCM City Department of Science and Technology in HCM City on November 25 and 26, she said: Enterprises that pioneer eco-friendly technologies, circular economy practices, and renewable energy initiatives will lead the way in creating a greener and more sustainable future.

While it is on the corporate radar in Viet Nam, different sources indicate that the actual level of ESG practice is still low, she said.

As much as 80 per cent of businesses in Viet Nam might have made ESG commitments, or plan to do so in the near future.

However, around 70 per cent of them indicate a lack understanding of the data required and to have none to very limited reporting. Only 24 per cent indicate to have a clear governance structure to drive the ESG commitments forward.

Merely adhering to ESG-related legislation and regulations, or having some kind of ESG programme in place, falls short of genuine ESG practice.

She said the desired benefits of ESG for people, planet and profit could only be achieved with an ESG strategy with clearly defined targets and metrics, with rigorous data collection and disclosure, and a strong ESG management framework in place.

She listed lack of knowledge, human resources and government regulation as among the challenges and barriers to advancing ESG in Viet Nam.

We see the need for a comprehensive programme to work on capacity building for businesses, to support their access to the ESG and Impact investors, to develop clear regulatory frameworks for businesses and financial institutions, and to raise awareness about the importance of doing ESG the right way, with focus on scientific validity and real-world impact.

The expectation is that both at the global and national level, the political commitment and regulatory pressure for corporate sustainability would continue to increase, as would the demand from potential investors and consumers. Access to financial services and investment, also in Viet Nam, is expected to increasingly become related to ESG performances, she said.

The future of ESG lies in data, she said, noting that Harnessing the power of advanced analytics and technology will enable organisations to unlock deeper insights into their sustainability performance.

Data-driven decision-making will become a strategic imperative for enterprises aiming to thrive in the age of sustainability. High-quality ESG data will be crucial to attract sustainable investments.

Bert Grobben, founder and CEO of Budding Innovation, said: Corporate innovation in Viet Nam must align with the countrys green transformation goals. Companies should be incentivised to invest in sustainable technologies and practices. This involves not only adopting renewable energy but also innovating in areas like waste reduction, sustainable supply chains, and green product development.

They need to adapt to changing market dynamics that favour sustainability, including responding to consumer demand for environment-friendly products and services and adapting to international standards and expectations in sustainability, which could open up new markets and opportunities, he said.

Viet Nam has advantages in green transformation compared to Singapore thanks to its unique geographical and socio-economic advantages that could foster sustainable agricultural practices, green urban development, and offer diverse renewable energy potential, among others, he said.

Embracing green transformation can open doors to new international markets, particularly in the west where there is a strong focus on sustainability.

Firms need to adopt sustainable business practices, develop and market green products and services to meet the growing consumer demand for sustainable options, and engage in corporate social responsibility activities, he said.

Over the long term they need to allocate resources for research and development in sustainable technologies and practices that can provide a competitive edge, and build sustainable supply chains, he said.

They need to prepare for potential regulatory changes by proactively adapting higher environmental standards, he said.

In addition to businesses determination and efforts, the policy foundation is very important, he said, noting more cohensive, long-term policies are needed.

Mulabegovic said: While currently lagging behind in ESG practice, Vietnamese businesses have the opportunity to leapfrog on their sustainability path.

UNDP has developed the SDG Impact Standards and the Impact Measurement and Management Tool, which can guide you on this path.

The annual summit titled "Innovation for a Greener Vietnam" featured four panel discussions where experts and corporate leaders shared insights on how innovation can drive positive ESG outcomes and fostering a sustainable and responsible approach to business and society among others.

Representatives from VinFast, Datbike and Ecotruck also shared their stories on producing and popularising electric vehicles in the country.

Five start-ups with ESG solutions made pitches at the event to raise funds.

The organisers also presented Make the Future Green Award to companies that have made outstanding contributions to sustainability.  VNS
HA NOI  Le Hoang Tai, deputy head of the Viet Nam Trade Promotion Agency (Vietrade), and Pascale Delcomminette, CEO of the Wallonia Export & Investment Agency (AWEX), signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) for collaboration between the two agencies on Monday in Ha Noi.

The LOI was signed on the occasion of the Wallonia economic and trade delegation coming to Viet Nam to look for business opportunities. The business delegation comprises 21 companies and organisations from the Wallonia region of Belgium in the fields of construction (materials, civil engineering), digital services, food and beverages, medical equipment, industrial equipment and industrial engineering.

The delegation's working programme runs in Ha Noi on Monday and Tuesday, then continues in HCM City from Wednesday until Friday.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Belgium's ambassador to Viet Nam HE Karl Van den Bossche, said this was the sixth time a delegation of Belgium's enterprises came to Viet Nam to seek business opportunities.

He added that the people-to-people contacts should lead to more business opportunities, especially when considering a visa-waiver that already applies to seven European countries.

"The delegation is made up of companies of very different sizes, business sectors and experience in the Vietnamese market. But all the participants are driven by the same common desire to make fruitful contacts during their stay in Viet Nam," said AWEX CEO Delcomminette.

At the signing ceremony, Tai said that Belgium was the sixth largest trading partner of Viet Nam in the European Union, while Viet Nam was the second largest partner of Belgium in the ASEAN bloc. The bilateral trade value reached US$4.73 billion in 2022.

"The visit of more than 20 Belgian businesses this month and a Vietnamese enterprise delegation visiting Belgium in the coming time are important milestones for Viet Nam - Belgium economic cooperation to promote trade activities between Viet Nam and Belgium in general and the Wallonia region in particular," Tai said.

Dimitri Duong, Secretary General of the Belgian Vietnamese Alliance (BVA), a bilateral chamber of commerce, who is accompanying the delegation, also saluted the event and emphasised the role his chamber plays in regularly organising B2B/matchmaking sessions for Vietnamese enterprises in Belgium.

Vietrade under Viet Nam's Ministry of Industry and Trade performs the function of state management of trade promotion and brands, and coordinates with partners to carry out trade promotion and branding activities.

AWEX is the trade and investment promotion organisation of the Wallonia region of Belgium. It has a network of over 100 offices abroad, including one in HCM City.  VNS
HA NOI  The Department of E-commerce and Digital Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, will organise the Viet Nam E-commerce Development conference on December 1 at Daewoo Hotel, Ha Noi.

With the theme Sustainable E-commerce Development, the event is part of the National E-commerce Week (November 27 to December 3, 2023) and the 10th Viet Nam Online Shopping Day - Online Friday.

The conference will be attended by representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy, Industry and Trade Newspaper, National Competition Commission, businesses like Stationery Deli, GEM Group, AccessTrade, E-commerce platforms (TikTok Vietnam, ViettelPost, Postmart, Shopee), Payment Intermediaries, and Banks (MB Bank, VnPay).

At the event, the Department of E-Commerce and Digital Economy will coordinate with the Industry and Trade Newspaper to deploy many measures to promote e-commerce development going hand in hand with protecting the rights of consumers and parties in the online environment.

Speakers who are experts from management agencies and leading businesses in e-commerce, finance, electronic payment, distribution and logistics will share important strategies for orientation for sustainable e-commerce development in the period 2023  25 and policy orientation to protect consumer rights in the online environment in Viet Nam.

Participants will focus discussion on the topic "Sustainable e-commerce development - Strengthening the protection of consumer rights and parties in online transactions" which promises to attract a lot of attention from the business community and media agencies.

They will also deliberate important topics such as the current status of e-commerce development in localities; the current situation of the banking industry with e-commerce development in Viet Nam; Trust of all parties is the key to promoting electronic payments in e-commerce; the role of delivery in e-commerce to build customer trust and give the image of a sustainable e-commerce market.

Participants will also debate measures to develop SMEs in Viet Nam, solutions to develop a digital ecosystem to protect the interests of parties in online transactions; and experience the guaranteed payment model - Escrow in e-commerce.

At the event, representatives of management agencies, e-commerce platforms, payment intermediaries, and banks will join hands to sign cooperation agreements, participate in the Digital Ecosystem, and protect consumer rights in e-commerce. This is an important activity in supporting the building of a comprehensive ecosystem to develop a sustainable e-commerce market, contributing to promoting the process of digital transformation and digital economic development in Viet Nam.  VNS
HA NOI  Artists from South Korean Gwangju Museum have displayed their paintings at Viet Nam National Fine Arts Museum (VNFAM) for the first time.

The exhibition entitled The Melody of Korean Art features seven artists including Lee Hyung-woo, Yoon Nam-woong, Lee In-sung, Kim Sung-nam, Pyo In-bu, Kim Byoung-taeg and Kim Chang-duk.

"The exhibition is a good chance for Vietnamese fine arts lovers to get to know Korean fine arts and have a chance to enjoy paintings by Korean artists in Ha Noi," said Nguyen uc Kien, deputy-director of VNFAM. "I believe that it will promote co-operation between the two museums in future to strengthen bilateral relationship between the two countries."

Made in a wide range of materials including oil, lacquer, silk, ceramic and Korean traditional hanji paper, the works portray the beauty of Korean country, people and joy.

Arist Lee Hyung-woo uses diverse colours to depict the daily life of Koreans. With generous brushstrokes and metaphorical and witty situations, the artist brings laughter to viewers.

Yoon Nam-woong expresses human emotions through his honest and humorous works. He evokes joy and love of life by capturing life's milestones with a humorous perspective, artistic freedom and idyllic rural images.

Lee In-sung's paintings reflect images of human life. The artist recounts stories that could happen to anyone and emphasises its meaning through metaphorical expressions.

Kim Sung-nam captures and expresses nature full of raw energy, rather than the familiar, peaceful and beautiful natural landscape from the usual human perspective.

Artist Pyo In-bu creates his works with hanji paper. His painting series entitled Memories of the Wind is a reflection of memories in life.

Kim Chang-duk uses natural materials such as quartz, stone powder and natural colours to create unique ceramic paintings. The works deeply express the spirit and customs of Korea.

Artist Kim Byoung-taeg is the one who repeatedly uses red or blue for images of water, sea and mountains, which are considered the source of life. For him, nature carries many important symbols conveying messages of hope and healing in life.

Gwangju museum is a renowned cultural hub with a deep-rooted tradition of art. Since its opening in 1992, Gwangju Museum of Art has been a part of modern art history in Korea and gained ground as a cultural zone.

Gwangju museum plays an important role in connecting museums and artists around the world, organising exhibitions in many countries like China, Japan, Britain, Germany and the US, according to the museum director Gim Jun-gi.

"The selected works displayed in Viet Nam contain the landscape of Korea and cheerful emotions of the people," said Gim. "I want to popularise Korean art to the Vietnamese audience and I expect to have art exchanges between artists of the two countries."

The exhibition runs until November 30 at 66 Nguyen Thai Hoc Street.  VNS
HA NOI  National Assembly (NA) deputies proposed establishing mechanisms and policies to facilitate the development and contributions of talented individuals during discussions on the amended draft Law on Capital on Monday.

Chaired by NA Chairman Vuong inh Hue, the session focused on policies to actively seek and identify human talent.

Deputy Nguyen Manh Hung from Can Tho City underscored the importance of provisions related to attracting, appreciating and cultivating talent in the draft law. He highlighted that these provisions would play a crucial role in the robust development of the capital city and the achievement of its set objectives.

The experiences of countries that have overcome the middle-income trap and gained developed status such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore, showed that these countries relied very little on resources and mostly on attracting human talent.

However, Hung pointed out that the provisions on attracting and appreciating human talent in Article 17 remained unclear and incomplete.

Hung emphasised that merely offering specific incentives and waiting for talented individuals was insufficient; instead, there should be a proactive effort to search for, discover and attract talent.

He pointed out that in the period from 2013 to 2022, Ha Noi only attracted 55 talents who were valedictorians from universities. HCM City, a locality with many policies to attract talent, only attracted five talents from 2018 to 2022.

"In many countries, the governments, large corporations, research institutions and businesses have all proactively sought and discovered talent very early. Even when they were still students, they were given financial support for study expenses, provided salaries and signed employment commitments, he said.

Hung also said it was necessary to clarify the concept of human talent.

According to the deputy, a talented person did not necessarily mean the most intelligent, with the highest number of degrees or the highest academic qualifications. A talented person was someone most suitable for the job, achieving the highest results in the assigned tasks, possessing vision, and having the potential for future development.

In particular, Hung proposed a separate chapter on training, fostering, discovering, attracting and employing talents, and developing a high-quality workforce.

It was necessary to study and supplement mechanisms and policies for early detection of talents, thereby creating a support roadmap for training, fostering and recruiting in key sectors and areas, both in the public and other important regions.

Mechanisms and policies must be supplemented to build a fair, professional, civilised and modern working environment, creating conditions for talented individuals to develop and contribute. This would help implement the four nos principle, including no permission, no ability, no desire and no courage, against corruption.

"Consider supplementing housing support and other assistance policies for the families of talented individuals to help them work with peace of mind," he said.

Deputy Duong Khac Mai from ak Nong Province asserted that designing a specific legal section regarding the attraction, appreciation and development of high-quality human resources in the capital city was crucial.

To enhance the feasibility of the regulations, the deputy suggested granting authority to the city People's Council to issue more specific regulations with clear classifications for targeted individuals. This would enable the formulation of policies and practices tailored to effectively attract and retain talented individuals.

Offering recommendations on the number of deputies in the city People's Council, NA deputies agreed with the draft law, which stipulated an increase in the number of deputies from 95 to 125.

Deputy Nguyen Thi Viet Nga from Hai Duong Province argued that increasing the number of deputies in the city People's Council to 125 was appropriate given Ha Noi's status as one of the two most populous areas in the country, with an annual natural population growth rate of 1.4 per cent.

"With the current number of 95 deputies, the ratio is too low, affecting the representation and rights of voters and the people of the capital, she stated.  VNS
As customers around Houston took advantage of Cyber Monday deals, Amazon's regional fulfillment centers were moving at full steam to get the crush of orders out. Its five-story Richmond fulfillment center packages and sends more than 300,000 items per day. The center, opened in 2021, specializes in smaller and single-item orders.

Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
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Mobilising the intellectual potential of Overseas Vietnamese to contribute to the nation's collective strength is a priority. Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang, who also serves as the Chairwoman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, stressed the importance of determination and collaborative efforts to overcome obstacles in resource mobilisation. She talks to Viet Nam and the World magazine about the matter.

Can you provide an overview of the Overseas Vietnamese intellectual situation?

According to estimates, among the nearly 6 million Overseas Vietnamese today, approximately 10 per cent possess university degrees or higher, constituting around 600,000 individuals. This group encompasses two categories: intellectuals from Viet Nam who pursue education abroad and work, as well as intellectuals who are the offspring of generations of Vietnamese residing in foreign countries.

Across pivotal industries and modern scientific domains, spanning electronics, biology, new materials, new energy, information technology, aviation, space, and oceanography, Vietnamese experts actively engage in research and professional activities.

In the ongoing process of nation-building and development, Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals play a crucial role by contributing significantly. They facilitate the transfer of knowledge, incorporate new scientific and technical advancements, and mobilise international resources to enhance Viet Nam's educational infrastructure, thereby elevating the quality of the country's human resources.

Notably, in recent years, Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals have strengthened their regional and global networks, establishing flexible working and cooperation mechanisms for both domestic and foreign experts involved in various projects and programmes. This collaborative effort aligns with Viet Nam's national development strategy.

Given the current era of globalisation and profound international integration, the community of Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals is expected to grow in numbers, diversify across fields, and increasingly assert its standing in the global knowledge environment.

The emerging generation, characterised by creative thinking, is gradually taking the reins from the older generation, serving as a formidable driving force contributing to both the host and home countries.

With a substantial number operating in countries renowned for their advancements in science, technology, and economics, and having undergone training in highly developed and competitive environments, experts and intellectuals from the Overseas Vietnamese community represent a valuable asset.

In the contemporary landscape of science and technology, intellect increasingly stands as a linchpin in the development and resilience of nations. Effectively mobilising the intellectual resources of Overseas Vietnamese holds the potential to significantly contribute to the country's progress, particularly in the realms of science, technology, innovative start-ups, and sustainable development.

Could you elaborate on the progress in attracting Overseas Vietnamese resources over the past two years?

Over the past two years, since the active implementation of Conclusion No. 12/KL-TW by the Politburo on Overseas Vietnamese Affairs in the new situation, the efforts to mobilise Overseas Vietnamese resources have been executed comprehensively, yielding encouraging initial results.

Foremost, there has been a continual elevation of societal awareness regarding the pivotal role of human resources in serving national development. In 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with relevant agencies, spearheaded an extensive communication campaign to disseminate the content of Conclusion 12 across the entire political spectrum and among people from all walks of life.

Based on this foundation, various departments, ministries, branches, and localities have convened numerous conferences and seminars throughout 2022-2023, specifically focusing on the promotion of resources from the Overseas Vietnamese community. The Government, along with central and local entities, has translated the Party's overarching policies on human resources, particularly in the context of promoting these resources, into tangible legal documents, programs, and field-specific action plans and projects.

Efforts to harness Overseas Vietnamese resources for the country's development are increasingly prioritised, featuring diverse formats, innovative approaches, and creative endeavours, all aimed at unlocking the potential of Overseas Vietnamese resources for the homeland.

Numerous seminars and conferences have been conducted to solicit input from Overseas Vietnamese on development issues, alongside forums and investment trade promotion programmes. Regular initiatives, such as addressing and assisting in problem-solving for Overseas Vietnamese upon their return to their localities for collaboration, are consistently organised. The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs has taken the lead in orchestrating approximately 30 conferences and seminars, both in-person and online. Overseas Vietnamese experts, intellectuals, and scientists continue contributing ideas to the Government, offering solutions to challenges that arise during the development process. They provide valuable counsel on effective policies, addressing contemporary issues such as clean energy, green economy, circular economy, high technology, and innovation.

In the economic domain, as of October 2022, Overseas Vietnamese from 35 countries and territories have invested in 385 Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) projects across 42 out of 63 provinces and cities in Viet Nam, amassing a total registered capital of US$1.72 billion. Additionally, there is a noteworthy influx of investment capital from Overseas Vietnamese, taking various forms, including indirect forms or domestic investments (statistics for the latter are not separately available).

Remittances remain a significant positive aspect in leveraging Overseas Vietnamese resources. In 2022, as per the World Bank's report, the total amount of remittances to Viet Nam is projected to reach nearly $19 billion, solidifying Viet Nam's position among the top 10 largest remittance-receiving countries globally.

The role of Overseas Vietnamese in various domains, such as culture, tourism, trade connections, and soft power, is becoming increasingly evident. In alignment with the foreign policy set by the 13th Party Congress, emphasising "building economic diplomacy to serve development with people, localities, and businesses at the core," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has played a pivotal role in facilitating connections between Overseas Vietnamese's resources and localities.

While celebrating these achievements, it's crucial to acknowledge that the recent initiatives to attract Overseas Vietnamese resources have yet to fully harness the immense potential of this community. The connections and relationships between Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and business figures and their counterparts in the country are not as robust as they should be, hindering the full utilisation of their strengths.

Additionally, there is a lack of viable programmes and projects to attract overseas experts and intellectuals for collaborative work, and remittances have not been strategically directed towards investments aligning with the country's development orientation and specific industries.

Several subjective and objective factors contribute to these challenges, such as Overseas Vietnamese lacking information about the resources available for attraction, and domestic policies, processes, and procedures requiring refinement. Cumbersome administrative procedures persist in some places and at certain levels, impacting people's enthusiasm to contribute to the country. Many Overseas Vietnamese remain apprehensive, sceptical, and uncertain about long-term investments and employment opportunities in Viet Nam.

Moreover, the absence of a comprehensive national database on Overseas Vietnamese poses a challenge, limiting the collaborative exploitation of this resource by ministries, localities, and businesses. Addressing these issues will be pivotal in unlocking the full potential of Overseas Vietnamese contributions to the country's development.

In your view, what breakthrough policies are essential for more effectively attracting Overseas Vietnamese resources, particularly in key science and technology industries that significantly contribute to the country?

As previously mentioned, the potential of our Overseas Vietnamese in terms of human resources, material assets, and intellectual prowess remains substantial, presenting itself as both an external and internal force driving the country's development.

Recognising the pivotal role of Overseas Vietnamese resources in national development, we must acknowledge that a robust Overseas Vietnamese community contributes to a robust nation and vice versa. A concerted effort is required to overcome obstacles and integrate this crucial resource into the nation's collective strength, aligning with the development goals set forth by the 13th Party Congress.

Several comprehensive measures can be outlined as follows:

First, there is a need to continually refine and enhance the quality and effectiveness of mechanisms and policies aimed at attracting, recruiting, and acknowledging Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and experts. This entails a thorough review and specific guidance to eliminate obstacles in the implementation of regulations encouraging foreign workers to engage in various activities in Viet Nam, with a special emphasis on priority areas such as science and technology.

Streamlining administrative procedures, empowering authorities, expanding decentralisation, and granting increased autonomy to ministries, branches, localities, and grassroots units requiring the expertise of Overseas Vietnamese professionals should be pursued.

Second, the focus should be on establishing a truly professional, modern, and state-of-the-art scientific research and working environment. This environment will serve as a platform for recruiting Overseas Vietnamese talents, experts, and intellectuals for long-term collaboration, contributing significantly to enhancing the country's indigenous capacity in science and technology. Implementing an investment strategy for key centres in priority fields, acting as hubs connecting with leading global research centres, will serve as a catalyst for advancements in the country's science and technology.

Third, each locality, ministry, and sector should develop flexible strategies and policies tailored to the unique characteristics and practical needs of utilising appropriate talent. This includes effective policies for integrating skilled workers trained in developed countries, fostering trust, and creating opportunities for young talents and outstanding graduates returning from overseas.

Substantial financial investments are required to develop and implement plans and projects to attract Overseas Vietnamese resources. Initiatives may include constructing a comprehensive database of Vietnamese experts and intellectuals, providing support for their return to work in Viet Nam, establishing internationally accredited centres of excellence, and offering preferential credit loans to support Overseas Vietnamese establishing businesses in the high technology and innovation sectors within the country.  VNS
HA NOI  The capital city of Ha Noi has been rolling out multiple initiatives to accelerate digital transformation, as experts agree that technology application is key to growth.

One of the key guidelines for the city's digitalisation process is Resolution No 18-NQ/TU of the citys Party Committee on digital transformation and smart city development to 2025, with a vision to 2030 which was issued in November 2022.

Last year, Ha Noi jumped 16 places in the Digital Transformation Index (DTI) to rank 24th out of 63 cities and provinces.

The capital city placed 18th nationwide in the digital economy development index (up 20 ranks compared to 2021), and 30th in the digital society development index (up 17 ranks compared to 2021).

The citys departments and district-level Peoples Committee have also been working with tech companies to issue nearly 39,000 digital signatures free of charge for Ha Noi citizens, with the aim of facilitating transactions and procedures on digital platforms.

In the central Hoan Kiem District, a campaign has been launched to promote cashless payments, which is considered a pilot to scale up the model to the entire city.

Ha Minh Hai, vice chairman of Ha Noi Peoples Committee said: It is a must to eliminate formality in digital transformation.

Our actions must be practical, effective and lead to measurable results.

People working in digital transformation must pioneer and be determined to shift the working processes to inspire and lead others, he added.

Leverage data for growth

Experts believe that it is a must to accelerate data utilisation to generate more value for both businesses and their customers.

This is an aspect that many companies are facing challenges in their digital transformation progress, having moved past concerns about funding, human resources and the transition period.

With rich experiences in providing digital services to approximately 500,000 businesses in Viet Nam, Viettel Group pointed out that some of the main obstacles in digital transformation today are a matter of data integration and connection, in addition to data quality for management and operations, exploring new values and making decisions based on data, and the application of artificial intelligence (AI) among businesses.

Sharing the same perspective, Nguyen Thuong Tuong Minh, CEO of tech solutions provider Base said that a significant number of companies are overwhelmed by complex technology that leads to incoherent and fragmented workflows that span various platforms.

This is why managers could not fully take advantage of the resources and identify the key issues in the overall picture to make decisions based on data, he said.

According to o Thi Thu Ha, senior partner at KPMG Viet Nam and Cambodia, a majority of businesses have turned a profit from investing in data management and analysis.

However, challenges remain in addressing scattered blocks of data that are not fully integrated into their systems, she said.

KPMG also recently published a global tech report, which was conducted with 2,100 businesses that have a minimum annual revenue of US$100 million from digital transformation.

The document revealed that most companies understand the advantages that digital transformation brings to their business, as well as customer experience and employee satisfaction.

Approximately 66 per cent of the companies surveyed have made efforts in digital transformation and data analysis to improve profits and productivity in the past 12 months.

On average, around 15 per cent of these businesses can regularly generate profits from monitored indications in data management.

Ha Thanh Tung, chairman of data analysis firm Metric said that a survey showed 60 per cent of companies well conduct their market research through data will see higher profits than those that do not.

Around 54 per cent of businesses also agreed that data analysis directly impacts revenues, he said.

A business that knows how to leverage big data has a 25 per cent chance of doubling its profits, he added.

Base CEO Nguyen Thuong Tuong Minh said that good data utilisation will boost organisational management.

In fact, many businesses have been investing in internal data systems, which allow for faster decision-making processes and improvement in results.

Speaking from his experience assisting digital transformation in enterprises, deputy CEO of Viettel Solutions oan ai Phong said that firms that know how to analyse and leverage data will have more chance of success and growth compared to those that follow the conventional, more traditional paths.

Therefore, each business must have a data-based development strategy to better understand its customers and optimise the production process.  VNS
HA NOI  Proposal of adding tutoring or extra class activities to the conditional business sector has been causing controversy among teachers.

In this months National Assembly (NA) meeting, Minister of Education and Training Nguyen Kim Son proposed making tutoring or extra classes a conditional business.

Conditional businesses must meet set requirements in scope, form or content of operation.

Son said that extra class operation is a big problem, stemming from practical needs of students and teachers.

In fact, the ministry has many regulations, including a circular dated 2012 to control extra teaching and learning activities within the school framework, as well as on issues of ethics, public service of teachers, and school behaviour, he said.

However, especially in the non-school environment, there is currently a lack of legal basis to monitor, regulate, and handle violations.

The minister said since 2020, in the process of amending the Investment Law, the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) had sent a written proposal to the Prime Minister, the National Assembly's Economic Committee and the Ministry of Planning and Investment on making tutoring a conditional business, but it was not approved.

In Sons point of view, adding tutoring to the list of conditional business sectors will create a legal basis to handle violations outside of school.

He also affirmed that to make tutoring and extra-learning activities healthier required many synchronous solutions, not separate ones.

Deputy Nguyen Van Huy, in a NA debate session, raised his opinion that if doctors could open private clinics after office hours and many people in other professions could do other jobs after official working hours to earn more money, after-school tutoring is also a legitimate right of teachers.

Tutoring comes from the learners' wishes, it does not deserve condemnation and it should be regulated as a conditional business to avoid distortions, Huy said.

For and against

Many teachers applauded the proposal. They said legislating these activities will create favourable conditions for both teachers and schools.

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Dung, principal of Minh Khai Secondary School in Ha Noi, said that the need for extra classes is real.

I agreed with Huy's opinion. If extra learning comes from students' needs, it is not bad. This is the advantage of tutoring, Dung told tienphong.vn.

However, the principal said that to make the tutoring business a truly quality service, there must be clear regulations such as licensing and teachers qualification.

"Granting permissions must be really serious, she said.

With concerns that tutoring raises many negative things such as forcing students into extra classes, linking with centres, not teaching enough content in classes or giving students tests with the types of exercises practising in extra classes, Dung said: Tutoring in schools is managed by the managers and the education division. And of course, the school must be responsible for organising the activity.

Private tutoring is indeed a problem. But if strictly monitored, it still will be fine, she said.

Nguyen Van Xuan, principal of Ha Bang Secondary School in Ha Nois Thach That District, affirmed that extra learning is a 100 per cent real need of parents and students.

In the current curriculum, the amount of work and knowledge is still very large. There are parts of the curriculum that students who do not go to extra classes will definitely not get, because teachers cannot teach everything in class, Xuan told vov.vn.

"The regulation making tutoring a conditional business is reasonable, this also helps reduce bad reputation for schools. Tutoring and extra learning centres need to be managed to ensure they have the expertise and facilities to be allowed to operate; this is appropriate, Xuan said.

But the important thing is that licensing agencies need to be very objective because there will be many ways to circumvent the law in order to get a licence, he added.

A literature teacher in Ha Noi said that the fact is that for a long time schools have been banned from organising extra classes, so students who do poorly in classes have to hire tutors at home or look for extra classes outside school, the teacher said.

The teacher admitted the reality that currently, tutoring activities in many schools are uncontrolled and have a bad reputation.

Schools do offer extra classes, but they are in mandatory voluntary form. With the mindset of being apprehensive and a little worried, students and parents sign up for these classes, she said.

There is a real bias toward students who take part in extra classes. There is a phenomenon of teachers having a negative attitude towards students who do not accept extra lessons," the teacher said.

In reality, there are teachers who reserve part of the required curriculum for extra classes, she said.

Therefore, many people think that tutoring and extra learning are "evils" that need to be eliminated.

Reducing the negatives of tutoring, the teacher said, depends on the teacher's awareness, true professional self-esteem and self-respect.

On the other hand, reduction in extra classes also depends on the parents themselves.

In fact, many parents whose children study well often put pressure on themselves for better scores, passing entrance exams to top schools or taking international certifications.

If the regulation on tutoring is a business, schools will make it public and transparent. And students and parents will feel free to choose extra classes, she added.

Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, a co-founder of inh Tien Hoang High School in Ha Noi, agreed with the ministrys proposal saying that it is the right of every learner and should not be banned.

"The important thing is how to organise this activity in accordance with the provisions of law, not to leave it uncontrolled as at present, Lam said.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Xuan Khang, principal of Marie Curie School, said that for many years, there has been a widespread phenomenon of extra tutoring, causing frustration in public opinion.

Primary school students of 6 - 10 years old, whether good or bad at studying, all participate in extra classes. They study to the point that they become dazed and lose much needed rest time, Khang told suckhoedoisong.vn.

Secondary and high school students also take additional classes during the week. Students from specialised schools attend more classes than non-specialised schools, Khang said.

There are children who want to go to extra classes. Parents also force them to take extra classes. The worst thing is that teachers force their students to come to their extra classes to learn more, he said.

Widespread tutoring, beyond what is necessary or forced by parents or teachers, is the downside of teaching in general and of tutoring and extra learning in particular.

"I strongly oppose the widespread practice of tutoring. And there is no need to add the activity to the conditional business sector, he added.

Prof. Dr. Pham Tat Dong, former vice president of the Viet Nam Association for Learning Promotion, said that if education is included in the list of conditional business sectors, it will be very dangerous, because business is often associated with the problem of loss and profit.

When chasing profits, there can be many negative consequences, because the principles of business require focused effort. Once allowed to teach extra lessons, teachers may neglect teaching in class and at school," Dong said.

There should be an organisation to monitor extra teaching and learning activities to avoid shortening the main curriculum and sparing knowledge in extra classes, he said.

Besides, it is also necessary to consider the situation of students participating in tutoring classes.

In his opinion, there are two types of students who need extra lessons: excellent students and poorly performing students.

For excellent students, the general curriculum is too easy so they need a more advanced programme to develop their own abilities. For poorly performing students, teachers need to offer classes to help them keep up with the minimum requirements, he said.

If there are no regulations or sanctions on tutoring activities, negative phenomena will continue, such as teachers bias to students based on whether or not they join extra lessons, he added. VNS
The investigation agency accused defendant Truong My Lan, Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group, of instructing his accomplices to legalize documents to appropriate more than 304,096 billion VND from SCB for personal purposes.

The Police Investigation Agency of the Ministry of Public Security has just issued an investigation conclusion, recommending the prosecution of 86 defendants in the case related to Van Thinh Phat Group Joint Stock Company (abbreviated as Van Thinh Phat Group), Bank Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Company (SCB) and some units.

Among the 86 defendants, Ms. Truong My Lan, Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group, was proposed to be prosecuted for 3 crimes: Bribery, Violating regulations on banking operations and asset embezzlement.

Among the State Bank (SBV) officials, defendant Do Thi Nhan, former Director of Bank Inspection and Supervision Department II - SBV was proposed to be prosecuted for accepting bribes. Defendant Nguyen Van Hung - former Deputy Chief Inspector in charge of the State Bank's Inspection and Supervision Agency - was charged with abusing his position while performing official duties.

Defendant Nguyen Cao Tri, Chairman of Van Lang Company and Capella Company, was proposed to be prosecuted for abuse of trust and appropriation of property.

The other defendants were charged with the following crimes: Property embezzlement, Violation of regulations on banking operations, bribery, abusing positions and powers while performing official duties, and lack of responsibility, causing serious consequences.

From left to right: Defendants Truong My Lan, Truong Hue Van, Nguyen Phuong Hong and Ho Buu Phuong. Source: Ministry of Public Security



Notably, the Ministry of Public Security still wants 7 defendants who are former SCB leaders.

7 accused wanted in the case are wanted. Source: Ministry of Public Security

Behind the Van Thinh Phat ecosystem

According to the conclusion, during its operation, Van Thinh Phat Group has built a "Van Thinh Phat ecosystem" with more than 1,000 businesses, divided into 4 main groups with close relationships, including financial institutions, groups of companies with business activities in Vietnam, groups of "ghost" companies in Vietnam and company networks abroad.

In the group of financial institutions, SCB plays a particularly important role, used by defendant Truong My Lan as a financial tool to finance companies in the ecosystem. All activities of this bank serve the activities of the female president of the group.

With the policy of taking advantage of the bank's activities in mobilizing capital to meet the business needs of the "Van Thinh Phat ecosystem", defendant Truong My Lan acquired 3 private banks by purchasing, owning, and manipulating the majority of shares.

Since December 2011, by asking someone to own the shares, Ms. Lan holds more than 81% of Saigon Commercial Joint Stock Bank (old) shares, more than 98% of the shares of Vietnam Tin Nghia Commercial Joint Stock Bank and more than 80% shares of First Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

After the three banks above merged into SCB, defendant Truong My Lan asked someone to hold more than 85% of this bank's shares in her name. Also, with the trick of asking someone to sign her name, the businesswoman bought shares and increased her share ownership to more than 91% on January 1, 2018.

By taking control, defendant Lan brought his people or used and trusted individuals who were all qualified and had many years of experience in the banking and finance sector to hold SCB's key positions. These people followed Ms. Lan's instructions and were paid high salaries, from 200 - 500 million VND/month.

Regarding SCB's activities, it is worth noting that this bank is "a financial tool to mobilize deposits from people and organizations". However, SCB mainly serves Truong My Lan's purposes in lending activities.

Investigation results determined that from January 1, 2012, to October 7, 2022, SCB lent and disbursed loans to 1,366 customers, of which 2,500 loans were related to the responsibility of Truong My Lan and her accomplices with a total of 1,066,608 billion VND in money.

As of October 17, 2022, outstanding loans at SCB of more than 677,286 billion VND are unrecoverable. The principal balance of defendant Truong My Lan's loans alone accounts for 93% of the total principal balance of more than 23,000 outstanding loans at SCB.

Ms. Truong My Lan's criminal behavior at SCB

According to the conclusion, after acquiring SCB, defendant Truong My Lan, through trusted individuals holding key roles here and at Van Thinh Phat Group, withdrew money from the bank in the form of disbursement to Loan documents prepared falsely. There are even many loans that withdraw money first and complete documents later.

Each withdrawn amount will be assigned to each group to set up a "ghost" company, "draw" investment plans for projects, and assign departments to calculate appropriate collateral...

The investigation conclusion showed that SCB mobilized deposits from 50 branches but only focused on disbursement to Truong My Lan group at 3 headquarters units, 3 large branches, and 6 small branches. Loan and disbursement documents of this group at the above units and branches all have separate tracking symbols such as "HSTT", "plan", " and " project" so that bankers look at them and understand that they are lending to companies in the "ecosystem".

The investigation agency of the Ministry of Public Security pointed out that the tricks used by Truong My Lan's group to borrow money from SCB included:

Creating customers with false loans.

Rent or ask someone to name the property.

Creating false loan documents.

Offering valued collateral to create documents by regulations to hide and deal with inspection and examination agencies, essentially to "gut" the bank.

Most Truong My Lan - Van Thinh Phat Group's loans are first disbursed and legalized later.

According to the normal process, the bank only disburses money when the legal procedures for mortgaging the collateral have been completed. But in reality, 1,284 of defendant Lan's outstanding loans had no mortgage procedures when disbursed; The remainder have collateral assets, mainly shares and property rights.

Results of verifying loan documents for the above 1,284 loans at SCB showed 201 loans and loan documents without approval from competent authorities. These loans disbursed more than 10,000 billion; the total outstanding debt is 11,600 billion.

Truong My Lan's group also created and used customers to borrow money without credit, hiring people to sign collateral for 1,200 loans at SCB. Ms. Lan's group also established thousands of legal entities, hired thousands of individuals to act as legal representatives, act as shareholders, sign loan documents, and sign collateral to legalize money withdrawal.

"The reason this "repository" of legal entities is increasingly expanding is because we have to establish many legal entities and "build" many new individuals to take on the loan, so when checked, there will not be a large credit balance" - conclusion state.

For defendant Truong My Lan and his accomplices to withdraw and appropriate money from SCB through loan tricks, there was also the assistance of subjects at valuation companies. Leaders and employees of these companies did not perform appraisal work but issued asset appraisal certificates at the request of SCB to collude and legalize loan procedures and falsely increase the value.

The investigation agency determined that from February 9, 2018, to October 7, 2022, Truong My Lan prepared 916 false loan applications and withdrew money, appropriating 415,666 billion VND from SCB, and has just paid back. Due to a secured loan of more than 11,570 billion VND, the investigation agency determined that Truong My Lan and her accomplices had appropriated more than 304,096 billion VND from SCB.

In addition, Truong My Lan's property embezzlement also caused damage of more than 129,372 billion VND, which is the amount of interest arising from the principal amount appropriated above.

Also read: Before Le Diep Kieu Trang, which startups were once very famous with CEOs with a reputation profile and millions of dollars in capital but failed?  Vietnam News - Latest Updates and World Insights | Vietreader.com

State bank officials "indulge."

To hide the weak financial situation and violations that can be detected through inspection and prevent SCB from being placed under special control and continuing to restructure, Truong My Lan met and discussed with Do Thi Nhan - head of the inspection team of this bank's activities. At the same time, direct subordinates to contact and raise the issue of giving money and gifts to the inspection team members.

Agreeing with defendant Truong My Lan, in the report on the inspection results at SCB presented to the Government by the State Bank, Director of Banking Inspection and Supervision Department II - State Bank of Vietnam Do Thi Nhan and Deputy Chief Inspector in charge SBV inspection and supervision agency Nguyen Van Hung instructed delegation members to only state in general terms, not to record truthful data, and not to state SCB's weak financial situation. The purpose is to mitigate and "obscure" SCB's violations.

After reporting to the Government, Do Thi Nhan continued to request to remove the proposal's content to classify debt 4 and 5 with 3 projects at SCB Cong Quynh branch in the draft. The inspection team also discovered many violations in the loans of 71 customers at the same address but should have included them in the inspection results report sent to State Bank leaders and the Government, as well as transferred to the regulatory agency.

Notably, when inspection team members proposed "putting SCB under special control", defendant Hung removed this content from the State Bank's report to the Government. In addition, in the recommendations section, the inspection team proposed that the Government continue to create conditions for SCB to restructure.

According to the conclusion, from April 2016 to October 1, 2018, Nguyen Van Hung repeatedly received 390,000 USD (equivalent to 8.7 billion VND) from SCB leaders Dinh Van Thanh and Vo Tan Hoang. Defendant Do Thi Nhan received the highest bribe from SCB in the case, up to 5.2 million USD. Inspection team members received money from SCB ranging from 1,000 to 21,000 USD and many other material benefits.

Read more: Since the SCB-Van Thinh Phat case, the State Bank has banned banks from forcing employees to sell bonds  Vietnam News - Latest Updates and World Insights | Vietreader.com

Tycoon Nguyen Cao Tri was accused of appropriating 1,000 billion VND.

The investigation agency accused Mr. Nguyen Cao Tri, Chairman of Van Lang Company and Capella Company, of knowing the Chairman of Van Thinh Phat Group, Truong My Lan, since 2017 and cooperating in investing in several real estate projects and buying company shares.

After that, the suspect repeatedly received money from defendant Lan, a total of 1,000 billion VND, through three forms: transferring 65% of the charter capital of the Industrial Rubber Company and purchasing 100% of the Company's charter capital. Saigon Dai Ninh and project investment in Hai Ha district (Quang Ninh Province).

The investigation agency determined that all three of the above investments had no documents or receipts, so in January 2021, Tri met Ms. Truong My Lan and agreed to take 1,000 billion VND from the female chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat Group.

To gain Ms. Lan's trust, Tri agreed to transfer 10% of Van Lang Company's charter capital to her representative's name. However, the company's accounting books do not record the above transfer of charter capital.

In October 2022, after defendant Truong My Lan was arrested, Nguyen Cao Tri directed his assistant to draft price adjustment documents and liquidate all previously signed transfer contracts. Tri aims to eliminate Ms. Lan's ownership rights at Van Lang Company to appropriate money.

Initially, at the investigation agency, defendant Tri affirmed that he did not receive any money and many applications was sent to other places claiming that "Mrs. Lan's honor was defamed". However, he later admitted his actions and paid 640 billion VND to overcome the consequences.

Cunning, sophisticated, "scripted" criminal acts

The investigation agency assessed that defendant Truong My Lan had dominated, manipulated and completely criticized SCB's operations, acting as an organizer, mastermind and leader to carry out acts of embezzlement of assets with exceptionally large amounts of money.

The criminal acts of female chairwoman Van Thinh Phat and her accomplices were committed with "direct intention", with prior planning, and were prepared and organized meticulously and scripted".

"This is a very large-scale criminal organization, operating dynamically but also sophisticated and cunning. The consequences that this criminal organization causes are especially large in economic terms, with a significant impact on the operations of the banking industry and the state's reputation in economic management," - the conclusion stated.
The cable car system at Vietnam's famous tourist destinations has created a hit with the world media. The New York Times and a series of international newspapers have continuously praised and "favored" these top positions in the list of things to experience when exploring the S-shaped land.

"Rain of compliments" from the international community

On October 25, 2023, the American daily newspaper New York Times published an article with a curious title about cable cars at famous tourist destinations in Vietnam: "If you can take the cable car to the Colosseum, you are in Vietnam". As soon as it was published, the article ranked first in the Travel section and appeared on the home page of America's leading daily newspaper, attracting readers worldwide.

What author Patrick Scott describes about Vietnam's cable car in the New York Times article is full of brilliance and impression. Across the country, there are 6 Sun World parks with cable cars, earning 9 Guinness World Records. At the Pearl Island of Phu Quoc, the cable car line crosses 8 km of sea to see the "crystal clear" ocean from above. In the Northwest, there is a cable car route to the top of Fansipan - the roof of Indochina, crossing the sea of thick and white clouds. And not to mention the cable car route to the top of Ba Na (Da Nang) - the first milestone of Sun Group in Vietnam, turning the former French resort into Sun World Ba Na Hills - an industrial complex. European-style amusement park, with the Golden Bridge - a world media phenomenon, a symbol of Vietnamese tourism.

The international press has been impressed with cable car systems in Vietnam before. The most typical example is the Hon Thom cable car, which has been continuously receiving attention from the world media recently, with the consensus being that it is a must-try experience when coming to Phu Quoc.

In October 2023, Yonhap news agency called the Hon Thom cable car "a unique experience, seeing the Mediterranean landscape in a tropical country". "Bible of the travel world" Lonely Planet, in its post in early November, commented that the Hon Thom cable car experience has a reasonable price, and visitors can see the panoramic view of Phu Quoc Sea from above, which is extremely beautiful.

Travel and Leisure, at the end of July, suggested the cable car to Ba Na Peak as one of the best experiences in Da Nang. Meanwhile, Australia's Escape magazine also said that going to Sun World Ba Na Hills tourist area at about 1,500m above sea level makes "Da Nang more interesting for all tourists".

The cable car has also become a "magnet" that attracts tourists to Vietnam because it suits the needs of modern tourists. Mr. Yong Sun Ok - Head of Southeast Asia at Korea's leading travel company, Hana tour, said that Vietnam attracts Korean tourists because it can access the mountains by cable car. "I like to ride the cable car. I think the most attractive thing is seeing the scenery from above," he said.

Sustainable value

The cable car is not only a means of transporting passengers but also a symbol of the creativity of Vietnamese tourism workers. Suppose our country's nature is endowed with undeniable beauty and appeal. In that case, the cable car can reach them most completely.

However, such values alone cannot cause the international media to spend so much "paper and ink" on the cable car system.

Positive comments and continuous praise from leading international newspapers have shown the influence of cable cars on the image of Vietnam's tourism industry. The cable car system is one of the typical examples showing the outstanding growth of Vietnam's tourism infrastructure, making an important contribution to promoting the local economy in recent years, as the New York Times commented: "Vietnam is home to the world's four longest cable car lines, all built in the past decade, showing the spectacular transformation of the country's economy and tourism industry."

Also read: Vietnam's Tourism Sector: Opportunities for Investors in 2023  Vietnam News - Latest Updates and World Insights | Vietreader.com

Cable cars are considered a way to develop sustainable tourism, bringing a "new face" to the destinations where they appear, improving the lives of indigenous people, and contributing to local economic development.

As noted by the New York Times article, with the Sa Pa government, the locality only welcomed 65,000 tourists in 2010, before the highway from Hanoi was built in 2014 and the cable car was inaugurated in 2016. By 2019, visitor numbers had skyrocketed to 3.3 million and reached 2.5 million last year to recover from the Covid pandemic.

Fansipan cable car, along with an attractive tourism ecosystem including Sun World Fansipan Legend and Hotel de la Coupole - MGallery Sa Pa, is a boost that helps Sa Pa's GRDP per capita increase from more than 40 million VND/person to more than 80 million VND/person, in just 5 years.

In Da Nang, along with iconic works and a series of large-scale events, the cable car and Sun World Ba Na Hills have become important driving forces, creating impressive growth numbers since their inception. According to statistics, from 2009 to 2018, the number of visitors to Da Nang increased by 463%, and visitors to Ba Na increased more than 160 times. 2019 marked the outstanding development of the city's tourism industry, reflected in the number of 8.6 million visitors, of which international visitors were estimated at 3.5 million, bringing in an estimated total revenue of 30,973 billion dong.

Locating Vietnam on the world tourism map

In a sustainable tourism development roadmap, the cable car lays the foundation for developing tourism infrastructure to "lead" tourists to attractive tourism products, such as " man-made wonder". The most successful example can be mentioned as the Golden Bridge at Sun World Ba Na Hills (Da Nang).

Also read: Explore 12 coolest and most interesting places to experience in Ba Na  Vietnam News - Latest Updates and World Insights | Vietreader.com

Right from the moment it was formed in the middle of Chua Mountain, the Golden Bridge has surpassed the mission of a bridge, leading tourists to a fairyland to become a new symbol of Vietnamese tourism. Visitors can easily see images of the Golden Bridge "covering" everywhere in souvenir shops.

Recently, an article by Bored Panda commented that the image of Da Nang is now "synonymous" with the Golden Bridge in the eyes of international visitors: "It is no exaggeration to say that the Golden Bridge has put Da Nang on the tourist map of hundreds of millions of tourists across Asia and beyond."

In Phu Quoc, Sunset Town is a symbol every time international media mentions Pearl Island. South Korea's Yonhap news agency commented that Sunset Town is "a unique experience when viewing the Mediterranean landscape in a tropical country", while Australia's Traveler website said that "Visitors will enjoy exploring every corner of this town of Italian beauty."

It can be seen that when mentioning Vietnam's image on the world tourism map, international media no longer mentions only natural wonders such as Ha Long Bay or Son Doong Cave but also tourism products. Attractive calendar created by people. The image of Vietnam is now associated with the extraordinary creativity of tourism workers, with records recorded by the world, such as cable cars.
In mid-November, the prime minister sent an express dispatch to ministries, ministerial-level agencies, agencies under the government, peoples committees of provinces, and centrally-run cities on the implementation of solutions to prevent and control African swine fever (ASF).

African swine fever (ASF)

The dispatch came amid continuing outbreaks of the dangerous infectious disease. According to a report from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD), since early this year, over 530 ASF outbreaks have appeared nationwide, forcing the cull of over 20,000 pigs in 44 cities and provinces, especially in Lang Son, Cao Bang, Son La, Quang Binh, and Dak Lak.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Luu Quang, on behalf of the government, asked for an urgent review and organise vaccination to prevent dangerous infectious diseases in pigs such as foot-and-mouth disease, and blue ear, especially the ASF vaccine for pig herds in localities that have had or are currently having epidemics, or are at risk.

High-risk animals include pigs that have been vaccinated, but the dose has expired or is about to. The plan is to ensure the rate reaches over 80 per cent of the total herd at the time of vaccination.

We must continue coordinating with international organisations and countries in supporting Vietnam in disease prevention and control, research, and production of ASF vaccines for sows, males, and breeds, DPM Quang said.

Vietnam was the first country in the world to embark on the approval of various ASF vaccines. Currently, the country has given marketing authorisation for vaccines from the companies AVAC and Navetco.

Dabaco, the third vaccine producer, also announced plans to have a vaccine developed.

In October, AVAC entered into an export cooperation agreement with five partners from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, and Myanmar.

In the domestic market, although the MARD asserted that the vaccines were eligible for circulation and use nationwide, a number of livestock companies are still concerned about the efficacy of the products.

A representative of a foreign-invested livestock company told VIR, We have yet to be absolutely convinced by the ASF vaccine. The products safety is ensured, but we are not sure about the efficacy. To date, we have just been allowed to organise vaccinations at a few farms for pilot testing. We are still prioritising biosecurity measures.

The vaccine is recommended for sows only, meanwhile the risk of infection of this virus is high. This is one of the biggest disadvantages of ASF vaccines.

According to the representative, the information about efficacy of the vaccine is also unclear. Some local media reports stated that more than 650,000 doses of the vaccines were tested on hog herds in 40 provinces, with an efficacy rate of 95 per cent.

According to the June 2023 Swine Health Information Center Global Disease Monitoring Report, the AVAC ASF LIVE vaccine has shown promise in clinical trials conducted since March 2022 and has been used in some pig farms after receiving conditional distribution approval in July 2022.

The report states that preliminary results on over 600,000 pigs from 545 pig farms, in partnership with livestock company C.P. Vietnam, demonstrated over 93 per cent of the technical requirements as a result of sample tests on almost 6,000 randomly selected pigs.

The 650,000 pigs combined with over 600,000 pigs at C.P. Vietnam Group means the testing result is not convincing enough. In addition, the evaluation of vaccines efficacy involves many factors, for example, safety, genetic stability of continuous clinical replication, characteristics of horizontal transmission, and vertical transmission, all affecting pig farming productivity, the representative said.

A new draft standard for the production of safe and effective vaccines against ASF was proposed in the September report from the Biological Standards Commission under the World Organisation for Animal Health.

The organisation urges vaccine manufacturers and members to consider these draft standards when developing and evaluating ASF vaccine candidates for regulatory approval, and to provide their comments.
Chairman of Dong Thap Peoples Committee Pham Thien Nghia met with foreign investors

In light of Dong Thap industrial zone (IZ) development planning to 2030, with vision towards 2050, the areas specified for investment priority are local agricultural product and food processing; mechanical engineering in service of agriculture; electronics; production and processing of aromatic and pharmaceutical products; and handicraft production using locally sourced materials, among others.

The plan is for the province to develop an additional 11 IZs covering more than 4,400 hectares.

These IZs are Cao Lanh industrial, urban, and service area; Cao Lanh II and III; Song Hau 2; Ba Sao; Song Hau 3; Hoa Tan; Tan My industrial, urban, and service area; Thuong Phuoc; Binh Thanh, and Dinh Ba.

The province is currently home to four IZs covering nearly 400ha in total area, in which three IZs are operational, including Sa Dec in Sa Dec city, Song Hau in Lai Vung district, and Tran Quoc Toan in Cao Lanh city.

Tan Kieu IZ in Thap Muoi district is now in the technical infrastructure investment stage.

Dong Thap also hosts one border economic zone and two international border crossings, Thuong Phuoc and Dinh Ba, as well as five subordinate crossings namely So Thuong, Thong Binh, A Don, Binh Phu, and Moc Ra, in which the latter is oriented to become a key crossing in the forthcoming period.

As of now, Thuong Phuoc and Dinh Ba international border crossings accommodate six investment projects valued at $5.4 million in total registered capital.

The provinces existing IZs all connect to arterial national routes, lying along Tien River and Hau River sides, deemed convenient for both road and waterway transport.

Particularly, Sa Dec IZ runs next to provincial road 848, adjacent to the Tien River and Lap Vo Sa Dec channel. It is 4km from national highway 80 and 140km from Ho Chi Minh City.

Sa Dec IZ features a complete road system, accommodating Sa Dec port accessible to 5,000DWT ships, and a wastewater treatment plan with a total capacity reaching 8,500cu.m per day.

Meanwhile, Song Hau IZ runs parallel to the National Highway No.54 and faces the Hau River. The IZ, about 30km from Can Tho city centre and 165km rom Ho Chi Minh City, is home to a central wastewater treatment plant with a capacity reaching 300cu.m per day.

Tran Quoc Tuan IZ runs parallel to the National Highway No.30 and the Tien River. It is 11km from Cao Lanh and about nearly 150km from Ho Chi Minh City if travelling via the National Highway N2.

This IZ is nearby Cao Lanh Port, which is accessible to 5,000DWT ships. It hosts a central wastewater treatment system with phase 1 capacity reaching 250cu.m per day.

Existing IZs are home to 62 projects valued a total $489.3 million in total investment value, including 12 foreign-invested projects worth $232 million.

These IZs have enticed businesses chiefly operating in fields such as seafood processing; cattle, poultry, and aqua feed production; by-product processing for the seafood industry; shrimp cracker and noodle processing; garment and footwear production; building material production, and more.

The average occupancy rate of the three existing IZs has reached almost 90 per cent. Several eminent businesses based in these IZs are Hung Hau Agricultural, Cadovimex II Seafood, Cuu Long Fish Import-Export, Cargill Vietnams Dong Thap branch, New Hope Dong Thap, and Sethia Hemraj Rice Oil, to name but a few.

Part of the Mekong Delta region, Dong Thap boasts almost 3,375sq.km in total area and shares a 48km border with Cambodia.

Dong Thaps policies come to fruition Dong Thap province has recorded positive achievements in terms of socioeconomic development this year so far, thanks to efforts by provincial authorities to issue effective policies to support progress.

Dong Thap creates space and resources for urban overhaul The Mekong Delta provinces Dong Thap province is prolonging its growth momentum, particularly in urban metropolises.
Alibaba Group has acquired a minority stake in Vietnamese beauty retailer Hasaki, it was reported on November 18, marking the groups strategic expansion in Southeast Asia.

The WinMart system under Masan will benefit from the latters financial strength

Backed by Hong Kong-based venture capital firm Excelsior Capital Asia, Hasaki has demonstrated both resilience and growth in a currently challenging economic environment.

Hiep Dinh, founder and CEO of Hasaki, said, We are thrilled to welcome Alibaba International as a financial investor. Despite the challenging macroeconomic conditions, this transaction is a testament to Hasakis business model and capability.

Hasaki, which has been operational since 2016 with over 140 stores and a dynamic online presence, commands a significant market presence with 3.8 million members and 750,000 monthly consumers.

Targeting around a 35 per cent domestic market share by 2027, Hasaki wants to capitalise on Vietnams burgeoning $2.2 billion beauty sector, which is rapidly modernising.

This investment follows AIDC, a unit of Alibaba Group, spinning off in March this year. AIDC is overseeing Alibaba.com and other international ventures, reporting a 53 per cent revenue jump to $3.36 billion in Q3/2023.

Alibabas strategy focuses on lucrative international markets, with this acquisition complementing its previous investment in Masan Groups The CrownX in Vietnam.

In 2021, along with BPEA EQT, it led an investor group to acquire a 5.5 per cent stake in The CrownX complex, totalling $400 million.

Meanwhile, private investment firm Bain Capital in October agreed to invest at least $200 million into Masan Group in equity capital at a price of VND85,000 ($3.50) per share.

Proceeds from the transaction will be used to strengthen Masans financial position and de-lever its balance sheet. This marks Bain Capitals first-ever investment in Vietnam and underscores its confidence in Masans ability to realise the immense opportunity to fulfill 100 million Vietnamese consumers daily grocery, financial, and other life needs, Masan said.

According to Bain Capital, Vietnam stands as Southeast Asias leader in consumption growth, projected at an annual rate of 7.7 per cent from 2022 to 2040.

This surge is fuelled by rapid urbanisation and the emergence of a booming consumer class, characterised by rising disposable incomes and shifting demands that span from fundamental necessities to lifestyle and financial products, it said.

A fortnight ago, Japans Sojitz Corporation announced that it, together with Sojitz Asia Pte., Ltd. and Sojitz Vietnam Co., Ltd., has jointly acquired full ownership of New Viet Dairy, Vietnams largest wholesaler of commercial food (see Page 8).

Sojitz believes that Vietnams dairy market is poised to reach $8.4 billion, growing annually by over 8 per cent.

Masataka Sam Yoshida, head of the Cross-border Division of RECOF Corporation said, Key sectors drawing investor interest for M&A opportunities in Vietnam include fast-moving consumer goods, retail, food manufacturing and processing, logistics, and also financial services.

He added, Particularly, the logistics sector has become a major area of focus for investors, alongside the cold storage supply chain, which is also attracting considerable attention in Vietnam in particular.

Masan continuous to open CVLife stores with integrated multi-experience Masan has been continuously opening multi-experience stores CVLife to integrate more services from its latest acquired startup Mobicast. At CVLife stores, customers can buy necessities at WinMart+, make financial transactions at Techcombank, buy medicine and functional foods at Phano, enjoy famous Phuc Long tea and coffee, and soon use Mobicasts digital services.

WinCommerce launches first franchised WinMart+ outlets WinCommerce General Commercial Services JSC, a member of Masan Group has opened the first two franchised WinMart+ stores in Hanoi and Bac Giang. The opening marks an important milestone in Masan Groups goal to develop 20,000 franchised stores and 10,000 its own outlets to serve 30-50 million consumers by 2025.

WinCommerce introduces WinMart with new name and strategy WinCommerce, a member of Masan Group, has officially changed the brand name of VinMart retail system into WinMart.
Le Huu Quang Huy,

Former investment counsellor Embassy of Vietnam to Japan Japanese investors need to pay attention to four points when investing in Vietnam. First are the various free trade agreements that Vietnam and Japan have both entered into over the years. Secondly, Japanese investors need to pay attention to incentives. Thirdly, they should pay attention to choosing the industry that you have a good position to foster investment in Vietnam. They should also embrace the difference between Vietnam and neighbouring nations, focussing on funding forms such as joint ventures and M&A. Meanwhile, investment in tourism is now limited for Japanese interests. Vietnam is renowned as a regional tourism hub. But in Hanoi, even in Ho Chi Minh City, few are hotels developed by Japanese investors. A cooperation area with promise, however, is chip manufacturing. Vietnam, like China, also has rare earths and is in a strong position in terms of manufacturing chips. Currently, the north of Vietnam has more advantages compared to the south in attracting capital inflow from China, simply because of geography. In addition, many Japanese and South Korean firms also choose the north for their investment for this reason. Japan boasts original technology, power, and know-how, and can focus on green tech and renewable energy. It should become a bigger base in the near future for global investors to invest in not only Vietnam but also for Asia-Pacific as a whole. When it comes to semiconductors, while the US wants to focus more at home, many big groups from the likes of South Korea are paying attention to Vietnam. Thus, investors should concentrate on semiconductor assembly here. Furthermore, Japanese firms could also focus more on AI technology and applications in manufacturing in Vietnam. Le Anh Dung,

General director, ISC Japanese investors need to pay attention to four points when investing in Vietnam. First are the various free trade agreements that Vietnam and Japan have both entered into over the years. Secondly, Japanese investors need to pay attention to incentives. Thirdly, they should pay attention to choosing the industry that you have a good position to foster investment in Vietnam. They should also embrace the difference between Vietnam and neighbouring nations, focussing on funding forms such as joint ventures and M&A. Meanwhile, investment in tourism is now limited for Japanese interests. Vietnam is renowned as a regional tourism hub. But in Hanoi, even in Ho Chi Minh City, few are hotels developed by Japanese investors. A cooperation area with promise, however, is chip manufacturing. Vietnam, like China, also has rare earths and is in a strong position in terms of manufacturing chips. Currently, the north of Vietnam has more advantages compared to the south in attracting capital inflow from China, simply because of geography. In addition, many Japanese and South Korean firms also choose the north for their investment for this reason. Japan boasts original technology, power, and know-how, and can focus on green tech and renewable energy. It should become a bigger base in the near future for global investors to invest in not only Vietnam but also for Asia-Pacific as a whole. When it comes to semiconductors, while the US wants to focus more at home, many big groups from the likes of South Korea are paying attention to Vietnam. Thus, investors should concentrate on semiconductor assembly here. Furthermore, Japanese firms could also focus more on AI technology and applications in manufacturing in Vietnam.
Lineage, one of the worlds leading temperature-controlled industrial REIT and integrated solutions providers has been the latest transaction in logistics industry by setting up a joint venture with Hanoi-based cold-storage warehouse operator SK Logistics.

Logistics acquisitions attract billions in US dollars, photo Le Tpan

Although the financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, Brooke Miller, Asia Pacific president at Lineage commented that partnering with SK Logistics is a remarkable opportunity for the company to continue delivering its cold storage solutions in the Asia Pacific region.

Vietnam is an important market for Lineage, and partnering with a reliable and proven operator like SK Logistics helps us to continue delivering excellence in supply chain solutions in the region, Miller said.

SK Logistics two cold storage warehouses, totaling almost 400,000 square feet, represent a strong increase in capacity in the north of Vietnam for Lineage. These facilities offer storage, distribution, stamping, weighing, classification, packing, and picking services for important customers in the region.

Toan Thang Commercial Service Development Company is expanding its operations following the acquisition in August of more than 21.2 million shares from Saigon Port JSC, equivalent to 9.83 per cent of capital.

After the transaction, Toan Thang became a major shareholder of Saigon Port.

At the end of May, Gemadept sold all 84.66 per cent of its equity in Nam Hai Dinh Vu Port to a group of investors including Vietnam Container JSC (Viconship). This transaction brings Viconship into the largest logistics enterprise in the northern port of Haiphong, commanding 30 per cent of the market share.

At the same time, PSA Cargo Solutions Vietnam Investments Pte., Ltd. of Singapore spent nearly $54 million to purchase 24.46 million shares, equivalent to 24.9 per cent of the charter capital, at Southern Logistics JSC (Sotrans).

Sotrans is a major name in the international freight forwarding industry and its strength is 230,000sq.m of warehouse system in the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, surrounding areas, and industrial parks adjacent to the Saigon River.

In addition, Sotrans also holds shares in Southern Port JSC, Dong Nai Port, Vietranstimex, and Southern River Road.

At its AGM held in June in Ho Chi Minh City, chairman Tran Tuan Anh said that after nearly two years of negotiations, port operator PSA had become a strategic shareholder of Sotrans.

We see many development opportunities in the seaport and logistics fields after cooperating with PSA. In the coming years, Sotrans funding opportunities will be many and will become a dominant and important unit in Vietnam. The enterprise hopes that shareholders will accompany the board in the next stages of development and that cooperation will bring good results in the long term, Anh said.

Along with those deals, in July, America LLC fund bought 20,200 shares of Dinh Vu Port Investment and Development JSC, increasing the ratio holding from 4.97 to 5.02 per cent of charter capital and becoming a major shareholder of this enterprise.

In its draft project to restructure over 2021-2025, Vietnam Maritime Corporation planned to reduce the parent companys capital ownership ratio in five ports (Can Tho, Cam Ranh, Quy Nhon, Danang, and Cai Lan) to 51 per cent.

At present, the Vietnamese logistics market has more than 30,000 domestic businesses and 25 global forwarding corporations in many different business forms. Around 5,000 of these businesses are participating in international activities, with nearly 70 medium or large-scale logistics centres. According to Agilitys annual ranking in 2023, Vietnam is in the top 10 emerging logistics markets in the world, and ranked fourth in Southeast Asia.

Michael Kokalari, chief economist at VinaCapital, assessed that Vietnam is one of the countries with the fastest growing logistics service industry in the world. However, it is still fragmented.

This provides attractive opportunities for private company funds and other investors capable of helping domestic businesses grow revenue and profits by applying international best practices, said Kokalari.

According to a VinaCapital report, the industry has grown 14-16 per cent annually in recent years, and total logistics expenditures in Vietnam are over 20 per cent of GDP, among the highest in the world and due to the industrys innumerable inefficiencies.

We see several potential strategies. These are investing into top logistics companies, aggressively growing assets into an integrated platform which offers clients economies of scale, identifying particular assets which need capital for upgrading or re-purpose, and driving new business by increasing efficiencies and consolidation, Kokalari explained.

The adoption of global practices, such as digitalisation, together with capital injections are critical to all of these strategies, he added, although capital injections are particularly essentially if the investors strategy is to grow the capacity of the target firm  by adding additional trucks in a trucking firm, for example, or by adding additional cranes/heavy equipment in a port/warehouse business.

Logistics providers in Hong Kong eye Vietnamese market Logistics service providers from Hong Kong are looking to strengthen partnerships with their Vietnamese counterparts to tap into the nation's logistics market.

Logistics talent needs foot up Despite Vietnams rapid logistics expansion, the sector is at a critical juncture in talent development to sustain its significant expansion and global competitiveness.
Author Sophie Hannah. Onur Pinar

This week, Brazos Bookstore hosts former Illinois Congressman Adam Kinzinger, while Murder By The Book features international bestselling crime fiction writer, Sophie Hannah.

TUESDAY

Katherine Howe: The New York Times bestselling and award-winning historian and novelist, will discuss "A True Account." 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597; murderbooks.com

Adam Kinzinger: The former Illinois congressman will be in conversation with Ernie Manouse to discuss "Renegade: Defending Democracy and Liberty in Our Divided Country." 7 p.m., $30 tickets include a copy of the book, Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, 6221 Main; brazosbookstore.com

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Former Illinois Congressman, Adam Kinzinger. STEFANI REYNOLDS, STR / NYT

WEDNESDAY

Jeffery Deaver: The author of The Bone Collector, which was made into a movie starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie, will discuss his new book, "The Watchmaker's Hand." 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597; murderbooks.com

Murder By The Book presents author Jeffery Deaver. TED RICHARDSON, STR / NYT

MORE FROM ANA KHAN: 9 Houston holiday, nutcracker markets to shop local this season

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THURSDAY

Sophie Hannah and Kemper Donovan: Authors will discuss "Hercule Poirot's Silent Night" and "The Busy Body" via Murder By The Books YouTube and Facebook pages. 1 p.m.; murderbooks.com

Author Kemper Donovan. Courtesy photo

Martin Walker: The British writer will be in conversation with Abby Endler to discuss "The Other Half." 6:30 p.m., Murder By The Book, 2342 Bissonnet; 713-524-8597; murderbooks.com

Uzma Jalaluddin and Marissa Stapley: Authors will discuss their new book, "Three Holidays and a Wedding," via Zoom. 7 p.m.; bluewillowbookshop.com

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Author Uzma Jalaluddin. Courtesy photo

FRIDAY

Amir Safi: Author will read from his books, followed by an open mic. The event is presented as part of Inprint's First Fridays Reading Series. 7:30 p.m., Inprint House, 1520 W. Main; inprinthouston.org

SATURDAY

Helena Greer: Author will appear in conversation with Angelina Lopez to discuss her new book, "For Never & Always." 5 p.m., Blue Willow Bookshop, 14532 Memorial; bluewillowbookshop.com

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General manager of Pegasus International College Pham Minh Thu and SISH Institute executive director Stephen See at the agreement signing ceremony

A member of KinderWorld International Group, Pegasus will now offer the chance to achieve Singapore and international qualifications in an Advanced Diploma in hospitality and tourism management, as well as a Diploma in aviation and travel operations.

The partnership brings together the expertise and resources of both institutions, providing students with the opportunity to study in Vietnam while earning Singapore qualifications.

Accordingly, the two-year Advanced Diploma in hospitality and tourism management prepares students to embark confidently in the global hospitality and tourism industry. Designed to empower students with essential skills and knowledge, this comprehensive course unlocks the gateway to success in the dynamic hospitality and tourism industry while adding further value to their future employability.

A key feature of the programme allows students the unique opportunity to select the location of study for the second year of the course. Whether they choose to study at Pegasus International College in Vietnam or at SISH Institute in Singapore, students will receive a well-rounded education, gain cross-cultural experiences, and be better equipped to thrive in the industry.

Upon successfully completing the two-year programme, qualified students can choose to work in the industry to gain working experience or continue their academic journey by advancing to third-year study at SISH Institute in Singapore.

The new programmes offer up a world of opportunities

This additional year of study leads to the attainment of a Bachelors degree in International Hotel Management, awarded by Vatel Hotel & Tourism Business School from France. Students who successfully complete the degree could then pursue Vatels MBA in International Hotel Management in Singapore for an additional year. This pathway provides students the opportunity to bridge vocational training into an extended academic journey with operational and management career prospects in hotel management.

Meanwhile, the Pegasus Diploma in aviation and travel operations is a specialised course that focuses on developing students to become competent and functioning practitioners in the aviation service and travel sector.

This 15-month programme, including industrial attachment, provides students with the essential skills and operational skills needed to pursue careers in the industry. Students will benefit from the expertise of faculty members from both Pegasus International College and SISH Institute in Singapore, ensuring an outstanding educational experience.

Upon completion of the Diploma, students can enrol at SISH Institute in Singapore for a 3-year Bachelors degree (Hons) in Air Transport Management, awarded by the University of West London.

This partnership brings together the best of both institutions, opening up boundless opportunities for our students to receive an exceptional education in Vietnam and earn esteemed qualifications from Singapore, said Pham Minh Thu, general manager of Pegasus International College.

Together, we are shaping the future of education, empowering our students to thrive in the vibrant industries of hospitality, tourism, aviation, and travel. The possibilities are limitless, and I couldnt be more excited to witness our students success stories unfold on this remarkable journey.

Enrolment information

Enrolment is now open for March and September 2024 with scholarship up to 50 per cent. Entry requirements: students aged 17 and above, and English proficiency equivalent to IELTS 5.0.

Without an international English certificate, students will take a Pegasus placement test at the beginning of the programme.

For more information, visit https://pegasus.edu.vn
On November 25, Danang held a ceremony to announce Danang planning for the 2021- 2030 period, with a vision to 2050. Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha attended the ceremony.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Le Trung Chinh, Chairman of Danang People's Committee, said that the city was deeply aware of the important role and highly focused on planning for the period, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the Planning Law and the new context.

With a long-term vision, the plan promotes the advantages of the city, serving as a scientific and practical basis for organising territorial, socioeconomic space and building five-year and annual development plans, he said.

Under the close direction of the government leadership, the attention and support of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, ministries, departments and central branches, the plan has been completed and approved by the prime minister in Decision No. 1287/QD-TTg dated November 2, 2023.

The plan is a critical legal basis, creating a solid corridor for the city's sustainable development in the new period. It is also the foundation for the city to continue exploiting and promoting the local potential and strengths, ensuring the completion of growth goals and achieving the highest efficiency in the shortest time," Chinh said.

According to the leader, the plan was developed and approved uniformly, in sync with the socioeconomic development strategy of the whole country. The plan is in line with the orientation and policies in Resolution No. 26-NQ/TW dated November 3, 2022 of the Politburo on socioeconomic development and ensuring national defence and security in the northern central region and central coastal region to 2030.

According to Chinh, 2023 "The year focusing on unlocking resources, attracting investment, maintaining economic growth and ensuring social security."

To facilitate the goal, Danang has implemented key tasks and solutions to ensure completion of established targets. As a result, the city's economy continues to recover, although it still faces many difficulties, he said.

The service sector continues to be a bright spot, positively contributing to the city's overall growth. The city continues to promote investment promotion activities, approaching and inviting domestic and foreign investors.

As of November 15, the city issued new and adjusted Investment decisions and investment registration certificates for 40 projects with the total registered investment capital of nearly VND47 trillion ($1.98 billion). The city has also attracted nearly $200 million in foreign investment.

Danang is building a socioeconomic development plan for 2024. Thus, the plan approved by the prime minister is vital for the city to build a suitable growth scenario.

The city can identify key targets and solutions for effective implementation on the basis of maximising all local internal resources and strongly attracting external resources. Danang aims to create stronger and more breakthrough growth momentum to achieve its socioeconomic development goals in the new period.

Danang leverages strategic location for logistics growth With diverse transport infrastructure and a strategic location, Danang has set its sights on becoming a central logistics hub.

Danang lines up fresh urban areas to match Asian standards Danang is aiming to become an international seaport city and the growth pole of the key economic zone of the central Vietnam and Central Highlands regions.
PM Pham Minh Chinh chairs the conference.Source: VGP/Nhat Bac

HCM City - Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired the 2nd conference of the Coordinating Council for the Southeastern Region in Ho Chi Minh City on November 26 to consult about the Master Plan of the region for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050.

PM Chinh, who is also chairman of the council, said in his opening speech that following the 13th National Party Congress, the National Assembly and the Government have issued resolutions to realise the Politburos resolutions on socio-economic development for regions, including the southeastern region.

So far, the drafting, appraisal and approval of 107 out of 111 master plans in the national planning system have been completed. Therefore, the building and perfection of the master plan for the southeastern region have advantages, the government leader said.

He requested that the master plan for the southeastern region should take into account leveraging human and natural resources, culture, history, and external resources such as finance, technology, and management to fully and sustainably develop the southeast into a dynamic and growth-driving region of the country.

The PM asked delegates to discuss development perspectives and directions for the region, delving deeper into the solutions mentioned in the regional master plan which will be submitted to the council for consideration before being presented to the PM for final approval.

Ho Chi Minh City consul generals support Mekong Deltas development Three consul generals based in Ho Chi Minh City  Susan Burns (United States), Sarah Hooper (Australia), and Ono Masuo (Japan)  visited Can Tho city from October 24 to 25 to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation and drive the Mekong Deltas development.

UK to support Ho Chi Minh City to become ASEAN health innovation hub On October 25, the British Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Emily Hamblin led a UK delegation in a meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, and announced the UK governments support for Ho Chi Minh City to become a regional health innovation hub.

Dutch firm BESI to foray at SHTP in Ho Chi Minh City BE Semiconductor Industries NV (BESI) from the Netherland envisions injecting nearly $5 million investment for first-phase advanced electronic component production at Saigon Hi-tech Park in Ho Chi Minh City.

HCM City to organise 10 job transaction floors Ho Chi Minh Citys Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs plans to organise ten job transaction floors in the coming time with some to be held online to connect job seekers and employers amidst increasing unemployment in the city.
With beautiful footage and unique storytelling, the 45-minute documentary " The Tao of Coffee " delivers a fascinating story about the Vietnamese coffee industry and its desire to shape coffee culture globally.

The documentary has made a big splash, bringing many emotions to coffee lovers around the world.

This is the first documentary about Vietnam's coffee culture and coffee philosophy, produced by global media company Warner Bros. Discovery in collaboration with Trung Nguyen Legend Group.

It took Discovery more than a year to research and make the film. The channel made efforts to get beautiful footage, showing the true spirit of Vietnamese coffee culture and providing an objective view of Vietnam's coffee industry.

Discovery spent more than a month recording and interviewing many key figures in Vietnam, China, the US, the UK. The post-production work was carried out two months before the first official broadcast in Australia and New Zealand. The documentary will also air in Vietnam, Korea, Japan, China, India, and other countries and territories in Asia on November 30.

For the first time, international audiences can gain insight into the potential and internal strength of Vietnam's coffee industry.

Discovery presents an intriguing portrayal of Vietnamese coffee culture, featuring moments of people enjoying iced milk coffee and filter coffee in all spaces and times.

The appeal of Vietnamese coffee culture is demonstrated by Discovery by quoting British coffee historian Jonathan Morris and journalist Kim Hanh who say, "Vietnam actually has its own method of burning coffee that is quite distinctive" and "In Vietnam, the word coffee now means 'Let's Meet.' It indicates that people are not only addicted to coffee, but also the atmosphere of coffee shops and gatherings."

The intriguing story of Vietnam, the worlds coffee powerhouse which holds over half of the global supply of Robusta coffee, is showcased globally for the first time by Discovery Channel

In addition, Discovery noted, "Vietnam is staking its claim on the global coffee industry."

Vietnam is not only the world's leading robusta coffee exporter, but also emerging as a global coffee powerhouse. As Vietnamese coffee brands and products are loved globally, Vietnam building a global coffee hub in Buon Ma Thuot, which is home to the world's best Robusta coffee beans.

According to Discovery, the Vietnamese government and the local authority of Buon Ma Thuot, Dak Lak province, have played a key role in transforming Vietnam's coffee industry since the 1980s.

Discovery claimed, "one unique company is leading the Vietnamese caffeine revolution, turning coffee from a simple beverage into a way of life." The documentary tells the story of Trung Nguyen Legend as a business representing Vietnamese coffee culture globally. It takes viewers to the coffee raw material area to discover how to grow and harvest coffee. It also offers a view inside the production factory using the most advanced Western technology combined with Eastern secrets for modern processing.

It also reviews the community activities that the company pursues, with its mission of "building a Vietnamese brand to conquer the globe."

Discovery shows that the Vietnamese company has elevated coffee from a common drink to a source of creative energy with the spirit of daring to aspire and daring to take action.

Discovery also introduced Trung Nguyen Legend's new perspective of coffee, summarised after many years of research, "All great human civilizations have completely different achievements before and after coffee came into existence. The Trung Nguyen Legend has crystallised three coffee civilizations: Ottoman coffee, Roman coffee, and Thien coffee civilizations."

"The company promotes the idea that society has evolved in tandem with coffee drinking" and "All the way of coffee, deeper philosophical approach, promoting coffee as a source of caffeinated awareness and a way to develop both the self and wider society," said Discovery.

Trung Nguyen Legend's contributions to enhancing the value of Vietnamese coffee are also portrayed in the documentary. The company has implemented various projects to enhance the value of Robusta coffee and its position as a global coffee, such as the Buon Ma Thuot Coffee Festival, the World Coffee Museum, Coffee City, Coffee Village, and Dray Nur Waterfall, all introduced as unique destinations for coffee lovers around the world.

In The Tao of Coffee film, Discovery acknowledges that Buon Ma Thuot Plateau in Dak Lak province possesses ideal conditions for producing high-quality Robusta coffee beans

The documentary also unveils cultural and artistic coffee products and services by Trung Nguyen Legend, such as Thien Coffee, a performance art show of three coffee civilizations with 3D mapping technology, and the dance performance "The Tale of the Three Coffee Cultures."

"All of Trung Nguyen Legend's approaches are completely consistent with enhancing the value of Vietnamese coffee from a common drink to the level of cultural coffee," said Discovery.

"The Tao of Coffee" has submerged international audiences for the first time in a thorough, inspiring story about Vietnam's coffee culture and coffee philosophy, exploring the potential and internal strength of a coffee powerhouse.

The documentary promises to become a bridge to bring Vietnamese coffee culture, along with products, closer to a global audience. Vietnam is not only a country that exports raw coffee, but it has a unique culture, philosophy, and art related to coffee.

The government and local authorities are implementing a policy to contribute to building a more attractive Vietnamese coffee culture, increasing the trust and confidence of Vietnamese people in Vietnamese coffee culture. This will be the foundation to help Vietnam's coffee industry bring in a profit of $20 billion per year, contributing to the economy and enhancing the country's position globally.

Click here to watch the television commercial for the documentary "The Tao of Coffee," which is being broadcast widely by Discovery in countries around the world.

G7 coffee to speedy grows in the world Local leading coffee brand Trung Nguyen Legend has made Vietnamese Robusta coffee beans stand out in the world thanks to its unique-flavor products like instant coffee G7 and Trung Nguyen, which have been dizzily developing in the globe.

Trung Nguyen Legend's journey to bring Vietnamese coffee to the world The launch of Trung Nguyen Legend Brand Store on Amazon a strategic step for Trung Nguyen Legend Corporation on the journey to realize its ambition to claim a title on the international coffee map.
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A yearslong legal battle over the ownership of a strip of farmland near Brazos Park East has ended in favor of the heirs of the Dollins family, which has farmed it for generations.

In a settlement this summer, Dead River Ranch, the land investment firm that owns nearly 200 acres flanking the Dollins homestead, relinquished its claim to the property in exchange for a partial refund of what it paid for it in 2020. The firm also paid Dollins family members an undisclosed sum under the settlement.

This month, the Houston-based grandson of former owner Jim Dollins finished buying out other family members for the 46-acre tract between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and J.J. Flewellen Drive.

James Springer Jr., who owns an oil and gas investment firm, said he hopes to move his business to Waco and live on the property where he grew up visiting his grandparents, Jim and Debbie Dollins. The land includes a stone house, an ancient live oak 20 feet in circumference, corrals for a herd of stocker cattle, and a view of Brazos Park East.

While his plans for the land are still in their early stages, he is firm on what those plans will not include.

Im going to do everything as long as Im alive to make sure its never developed, he said. And when Im gone, Im trying to make sure that it will be protected for the next hundred years.

Springer, 27, joined a tangle of lawsuits that sprang up after Jim Dollins signed off on a deal in January 2020 to sell the property to Dead River Ranch for $1 million without notifying the family.

Dead River Ranch, owned by former tech company CEO James McDonald, of Riesel, is one of the largest landowners in the county. Its holdings along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the Brazos River are bisected by the sliver of Dollins land, which is as wide as a city block and two-thirds of a mile long.

Springer said he would oppose any efforts to create access easements through the land.

David Dickson, a Waco attorney for McDonald, did not return a call seeking comment for this story.

Jim Dollins continued to live on the property until his death on July 19, 2020, at age 77.

Son and executor of Dollins estate, John Dollins, argued in court that the sale was invalid, partly because the deed record failed to account for the 50% interest Dollins late wife, Debbie Dollins, had left to her children.

In 2021, Judge Jim Meyer of Wacos 170th State District Court declared the general warranty deed invalid because of the split ownership.

In a countersuit, McDonald sought repayment of the purchase price plus $200,000 in damages from the Jim Dollins estate, saying the late landowner had fraudulently represented himself as the sole owner of the land. The estate of Debbie Dollins also sued the Jim Dollins estate because of the flawed transaction.

In the meantime, Springer joined the litigation in January 2021, presenting a private agreement Jim Dollins signed in 2018, agreeing to sell his 50% undivided interest to Springer for $500,000 and agreeing not to sell land to any entity associated with McDonald.

A settlement entered in the 170th District Court on Aug. 23 ended the litigation by all parties, and the deed to Dead River Ranch was ruled void.

Dead River Ranch was allowed to recoup $940,000 of the remaining $1 million of the sale proceeds that were in Jim Dollins frozen bank account.

Jim Dollins ownership interest reverted to his heir, the teenage son of John Dollins.

With John Dollins blessing, Springer bought out that interest. Springer said the Debbie Dollins interest in the land is now fully owned by an entity he set up, which is under the control of his mother, one of the heirs.

John Dollins, who is living with his family in his parents former house, said he plans to build a new house on nearby family land.

Were absolutely happy, John Dollins said.

Everything turned out the way it was supposed to.  Not only did we get it all rescinded but (Dead River Ranch) paid out a large sum.

John Dollins said he could not comment on the details of that payment because of the confidential terms of the settlement.

Overall, we won, because this is what we wanted, he said. This is what we fought for.

Springer said he hopes to continue running cattle on the homestead and eventually move there.

He said being on the property gives him a sense of peace and belonging as he recalls summers he spent with Jim and Debbie Dollins there.

Since I was 5 years old running out here with my grandmother, it has been an extraordinary place for me, he said. While they may be gone, for me this is the place. I still feel them around here, and a lot of who I am today is made up of this property and the experiences I had here.

Springer said his research indicates his ancestors from Kentucky acquired the land in 1859 from the Kellum family. The family grew cotton in the rich bottomland soil, and in 1902 started a well-known dairy business that survived until 1993 under Jim Dollins control.

We have kept the legacy of this of this continued property under one fence, and now Im going to continue to do the same for my grandparents legacy, he said. Its important to me, because if you have a thing thats 164 years old, I think you ought to take into consideration who had it before you, what they put into it and why it meant something to them that would make them want to continue with the property so many years.

Springer said he and his family trust are working with attorneys to create a long-term conservation easement that will ensure the property remains agricultural in perpetuity.

Springer said he hopes to get involved in development and civic life elsewhere in Waco.

Waco is a unique city in the middle of Texas, and theres continued growth that is going to happen, he said. Id like to be a part of that and use the Dollins legacy as a segue into building other things here.

He said he would be interested in buying other land around the homestead as it becomes available.

He said he is ready to move on from the long legal battle.

I wish James McDonald, his family and all other parties in the suit the very best going forward, he said.
GRUNDY CENTER  Alexa Hachs job title is a mouthful: Integrated disease specialist and special projects coordinator for NuCara Pharmacys Capacity Extension Program.

NuCara is an independent contractor with the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.

I usually just tell people Im a public health professional, she said, smiling. If they want to know more, I tell them I work in field epidemiology, helping Iowans have better health outcomes. I work collaboratively with a variety of other professionals; we rarely do public health alone.

Hachs duties include developing products and tools and helping to streamline operational tasks for the Iowa HHS Sexually Transmitted Infection Program. She also fills interim roles in Iowa HHS offices as they arise and assists with things like pilot projects and ad hoc committees.

While essential, public health  especially epidemiology  isnt a traditionally high-profile career. That changed, however, with the COVID-19 pandemic.

When functioning as it should, public health is done mostly in the background, said Hach, 38, who led Grundy Countys COVID-19 campaign. Its been tough in the last few years but the field of public health in general is seeing increases in people enrolling in programs. I hope we learn from it and are better prepared for whatever the next public health crisis may be.

Erika Allen of Reinbeck noted Hachs varied contributions when nominating her for The Couriers 20 Under 40 recognition.

Alexa is  an exemplary model for a life lived in service to others, explained Allen.

Allen is particularly impressed by Hachs ability to connect with people at the state and local levels through her work while also miraculously managing to volunteer in her community.

In all, Allen believes Hach embodies Woodrow Wilsons assertion, There is no higher religion than human service. To work for the common good is the greatest creed.

She dedicates her intellect, talent and heart to the betterment of others through her professional and volunteer activities, said Allen. She works with patients and medical professionals statewide to ensure good health outcomes for Iowans and has taken on statewide process improvement projects to actuate system-wide change at the state level.

Hach is motivated by a love of learning, keen interest in science and a desire to help. She started as a certified nursing assistant while attending Gladbrook-Reinbeck High School. She went on to become a nurse.

She earned her associates degree in nursing at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo. Her bachelors and masters degrees in community health education and health promotion, respectively, were earned at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. She is a doctoral candidate in public health at the University of Nebraska Medical Center-Omaha.

I was introduced to public health through an internship, she recalled. I liked that it emphasized population health and a systems-thinking approach. Once I went that route, I never turned back!

Service is essential to Hach  a great way to show support and get involved.

She chairs the Grundy County Community Foundation and County Board of Health and volunteers regularly at Grundy Center Chamber Main Street events and UnityPoint Health-Allen Hospital in Waterloo.

She also serves on the 4-H Youth Committee and as a rabbit superintendent for the Grundy County Fair rabbit barn and show.

Both of my parents instilled in my brother and me a good work ethic and a sense of giving back to your community, said Hach, who is married to Eric Neverman.

Her father, David Hach, is mayor of Morrison and previously served on City Council and Grundy County committees.

That set an example for me. (My parents) instilled that idea of volunteering, Hach explained. When I was involved in activities growing up, I saw that we needed volunteers to make those things happen. Volunteering now is my way of paying that forward and making sure the next generation has those opportunities.

Hach also enjoys opportunities to work with Iowa HHS colleagues and classmates in her doctor of public health degree program. She mentors a master of public health degree student each semester and has opportunities to supervise internships.

There are 50 different public health folks in our bureau, and theyre doing some really great work across the state. That inspires me, she explained. My classmates do, too. Theyre doing amazing things all over the world. Were building a global health network.
WATERLOO  A judge has ruled that a Waterloo mans lawsuit over a 2021 mayoral campaign mailer that called him a sexual predator can go forward.

Jamodd Amaul Sallis, 43, said he suffered mentally and physically after a Cedar Valley Backs the Blue mailer and Facebook post highlighted his arrest as part of a criticism against incumbent mayor Quentin Hart.

Sallis, a church youth leader and community organizer, had been appointed to a city police re-branding committee in 2020. He was then arrested on charges of sexual abuse in October 2021.

The CVBB material questioned the decision to name Sallis to the committee and called him a sexual predator.

Sallis took CVBB and mayoral challenger Margaret Klein to court, noting that at the time of the political ad he hadnt been convicted and was awaiting trial.

Attorneys for Klein and the pro-police organization asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit on free speech grounds.

But District Court Judge John Sullivan overruled the request

It is axiomatic in our jurisprudence that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, and an arrest is not an admission of guilt. Based entirely upon the petition, a conceivable set of facts exist that support plaintiffs request for relief, Sullivan wrote in his ruling, which was issued in September.

In October, the judge also agreed to partially quash a subpoena Sallis sent to Des Moines attorney Kristin Stone, who had been contracted by the city to prepare a censure report targeting Klein, who was a City Council member.

Klein was ultimately censured by the council a December 2021 vote for her comments about allegations of dumping raw sewage, a misprint on the Mayors Fun Run T-shirts and the sexual predator comment, claiming the statements violated Waterloos strategic plan by damaging the citys reputation.

Judge Sullivan ruled Stones subpoena will be modified to prevent the disclosure of material protected by attorney-client privilege.

A trial for Sallis lawsuit has been tentatively scheduled for September 2024.

Sallis still faces felony criminal charges over the sexual abuse allegations, and trials have been set for December. He was also convicted of misdemeanor lascivious conduct with a minor in an August 2023 trial and is awaiting sentencing.

Keeping your child safe from online dangers Keeping your child safe from online dangers
Katy Mills Mall offers several opportunities for photos with Santa, including an event for pets. Alan Warren/The Rancher

Its that time of year when Santa sits for family photos, which for many, may include four-legged family members.

From big box pet supply stores to specialty boutique pet shops, there are several businesses offering opportunities to include pets in the family holiday celebration.

Here are a few locations around Houstons suburbs where pet parents can get photos of their fur babies with Santa this season.

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Petco

Petco locations are celebrating the holidays by offering customers an opportunity to pose with their pet or pets for a family photo with Santa. Petco welcomes all domesticated pets to join the family fun, including bearded dragons, hamsters and more.

A donation for a print copy is welcome and all proceeds will go to helping sheltered pets throughout the Houston area.

Address: Several locations are offering photo opportunities. To find one near you, visit www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/c/photos-with-santa.

When: Dec. 2 from 13 p.m.

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PetSmart

PetSmart locations are hosting the company's annual Paws and Claus photo event for customers to pose alongside Santa with their pet or pets.

Appointments are recommended and walk-ins may be accommodated according to time restrictions. Photos may be taken with a personal device or store device and then delivered via email.

To find one near you, visit www.petsmart.com/santa-photo-days.html.

The Woodlands Mall

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The Woodlands Mall is welcoming pets for a photo op with Santa at Level 1 near Macys.

Address: 1201 Lake Woodlands Dr #700, The Woodlands

When: Mondays and Tuesdays through Dec. 5 from 47 p.m.

Katy Mills

Katy Mills Mall will give pets a chance to strike a pose with Santa in Neighborhood 6 near American Eagle Outfitter.

Address: 5000 Katy Mills Cir., Katy

When: Dec. 10 from 67:30 p.m.





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Willowbrook Mall

Pet pictures with Santa are being held in the J.C. Penney court at Willowbrook Mall. Reservations are encouraged, but walk-ins will be accepted.

This is a pet-friendly photo opportunity for pet owners who want to see their pets  big or small  on a family Christmas card.

Address: 2000 Willowbrook Mall, Houston

When: Monday and Tuesdays through Dec. 5 from 47 p.m.

Woof Gang Bakery and GroomingSugarland

This pet boutique is hosting a reservations-only, one-day-only Santa event for pets and their families. A photo booth will be set up outside with a holiday backdrop, and pictures will be sent to participating customers by email.

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Address: 4755 Sweetwater Blvd., Sugar Land

When: Dec. 10 from 10 a.m.6 p.m.; visit the stores Instagram for any updated times.

Pet Supplies PlusFriendswood

Pet Supplies Plus in Friendswood will be offering a free photo opportunity for pet families. This independently owned pet shop has a self-serve dog washing station and will add a one-day-only holiday-themed station for pet and Santa portraits.

Address: 1720 S Friendswood Dr., Suite 100, Friendswood

When: Dec. 2, starting at noon

Pet Supplies Plus - Conroe

Pet Supplies Plus in Conroe will also be offering a free photo holiday opportunity for pet families.

For one day only, pet owners can bring their pets to pose solo against a Christmas-theme backdrop, or along with the family. The store will also be judging an ugly Christmas sweater contest for pets.

Address: 1317 W Davis St. F, Conroe

When: Dec. 23 from 13 p.m.

Gimmie A BarkFriendswood

This pet boutique and grooming shop will host a Santa photo opportunity and holiday adoption event.

Customers will be able to take advantage of discounts on store items, including clothing, sip hot cocoa and wine, and snack on holiday-themed treats for humans and dogs. A tea truck set up outside courtesy of the stores special needs volunteers.

There will also be a chance to visit with adoptable pugs and potentially take one or two home for Christmas, which is an annual adoption tradition for the boutique store owner Ashley Mclaughlin.

Santa pet family photos are $10 and an extra $5 for any additional dog. All the proceeds go to Pug Hearts Rescue in Houston, which currently has more than 200 pugs available for adoption, according to its website.

Address: 103 Shadwell Ln., Friendswood

When: Dec. 3 from 124 p.m.

Pet Spa and RetreatPearland

This full-service dog grooming, bathing and boarding facility will host holiday-themed pet photo opportunities for the whole family through the month before Christmas. Reservations can be made by calling 281-997-7387.

The boutique and boarding facility is open 8 a.m.1 p.m. Monday-Saturday, and 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Sunday.

Address: 9430 Broadway St. #156, Pearland
WATERLOO  Attorneys for the estates of Tyson workers who died of COVID-19 related complications during the 2020 pandemic are asking the court to reconsider a ruling that dismissed their lawsuits.

In October 2023, Judge John Sullivan ruled that suits brought by representatives of Kabeya Axel Mukendi and Felicie Joseph lacked jurisdiction in civil court because workplace injuries are covered under workers compensation system, not the courts.

The ruling mirrored a January 2023 decision in suits brought by the representatives of Isidro Fernandez, Sedika Buljic, Reberiano Leno Garcia and Jose Luis Ayala Jr. that failed to find claims of wanton neglect needed to give the court jurisdiction.

While the court recognizes the tragic circumstances that arose from the situation, the law requires that plaintiffs claims proceed under the Iowa Division of Workers Compensation pursuant to the IWCA. This Court lacks the subject matter jurisdiction to consider the plaintiffs claims, Sullivan wrote in his ruling.

The court does not find that the plaintiffs have pled sufficient facts as to each individual defendant that rise to the level of gross negligence amounting to wanton neglect that would remove these matters from the jurisdiction of the Iowa Division of Workers Compensation, the opinion reads.

Workers compensation claims, which have lesser opportunity for damages, have been filed, according to court records.

Attorneys John Rausch, Thomas Frerichs and Mel Orchard III  who are handling the Mukendi and Joseph cases  asked the district to reconsider the ruling in papers filed earlier this month.

An earlier challenge brought by attorneys in the others suits was defeated in district court.

The lawsuits alleged Tyson officials misled employees at Tyson Fresh Meats in the spring of 2020 about the dangers of the coronavirus and the presence of the virus at the hog-processing facility.

Waterloo Tyson workers get COVID-19 vaccine Tyson COVID-19 Vaccine Photo 1 Tyson COVID-19 Vaccine Photo 2 Tyson COVID-19 Vaccine Photo 3 Tyson COVID-19 Vaccine Photo 4 Tyson COVID-19 Vaccine Photo 5
Congressional dysfunction took a dangerous turn recently. In the House, former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., allegedly elbowed Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., in the kidney (McCarthy denied the claim). Not to be outdone, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., challenged the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters union, Sean OBrien, to a fight, with the two men exchanging insults.

For those inclined to believe that these childish provocations auger the end of the republic, please consider life in Congress in the decades before the Civil War. If the politicians of that era could be magically transported to our own Congress, they would likely roll their eyes  thinking that todays antics are child's play  and say: Hold my beer.

When Congress first met in 1789, political parties didnt yet exist. That changed quickly, and by the decades end, the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans were at each others throats  literally. In 1798, Rep. Matthew Lyon of Vermont, a Democratic-Republican, called Rep. Roger Griswold of Connecticut, a Federalist, a coward.

Lyon promptly spit in Griswolds face. Griswold got hold of a hickory walking stick and beat Lyon 20-plus times. As Lyon ran from his attacker, he managed to pick up a pair of fire tongs and hit back. The melee would continue for some time before the audience pulled the men apart.

Such was toxic masculinity in the new nation. The historian Joanne Freeman, who has written two books examining how political partisanship in this era often turned violent, describes these clashes as ritualistic affairs of honor where men would ratchet up provocations in a predictable, if dangerous, fashion.

Typically, disputes would begin with insults and counter-insults that make our own eras taunts look pretty tame by comparison. Instead of calling someone a Smurf, as one legislator did recently, politicians of the early republic favored old-school insults: coward, liar, rascal, scoundrel, and most delicious of all, puppy.

As Freeman notes, these insults demanded an immediate challenge, for they struck at the core elements of manliness and gentility. Once someone resorted to these fighting words, it was pretty easy for the conflict to turn physical. A surefire way to escalate: grab your opponents nose and twist it. Nose-tweaking was tantamount to challenging someone to a duel, but even nasty insults published in newspapers could lead to deadly encounters, as Alexander Hamilton could posthumously attest.

These disputes, whether fatal or not, could arise from all manner of misunderstandings and rivalries, many of them quite trivial. The same cannot be said of the violent battles over slavery that consumed Congress from the 1830s through the start of the Civil War. During these decades, particularly the 1850s, the desire to defend ones political honor converged with the most divisive, powerful political issue in the nations history.

In her research, historian Joanne Freeman has uncovered upward of 70 different violent altercations between members of Congress during this time, either in the Capitol building or in and around it. These incidents almost invariably pitted Northerners and Southerners against one another, with slavery the principal disagreement.

Southern politicians increasingly turned to violent threats to advance their agenda of protecting and expanding slavery. For example, when Congress debated the vexed legislation that would become known as the Compromise of 1850, Rep. Thomas Clingman and Sen. Henry Foote, both of Mississippi, announced they and their allies would bring guns into Congress and open fire if they didnt get their way.

For the remainder of the decade, many in Congress carried guns and knives. Famously, Massachusetts Sen. Charles Sumner made a speech calling South Carolina Sen. Andrew Butler a noise-some, squat, nameless animal who consorted with a metaphorical mistress: the harlot, slavery.

The insult provoked Rep. Preston Brooks, a relative of Butlers, to ambush Sumner as he answered mail at his desk. Armed with a metal-tipped cane used to discipline dogs, Brooks beat Sumner senseless, leaving him semi-conscious in a pool of his own blood. Henry Wilson, the other senator from Massachusetts, called the attack brutal, murderous, and cowardly, provoking Brooks to challenge Wilson to a duel. (Wilson, no shrinking violet, disdainfully declined.)

Other melees erupted over far less but almost always traced their origins to disputes over slavery. In 1858, for example, another South Carolinian, Rep. Laurence Keitt, made the mistake of getting a little too close to Pennsylvania Rep. Galusha Grow in a heated argument over an out-of-order motion. Grow punched Keitt, inaugurating an epic brawl that culminated in 50-plus lawmakers throwing tobacco spittoons at one another. Just another day at the office.

No single lightning-rod issue drives division today. Still, Senate leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., grabs his Republican counterpart Sen. Mitch McConnells nose and called him a puppy, be afraid. Be very afraid.
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (26 November 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation, artillery, and heavy flamethrower systems repelled four attacks of assault detachments of the AFU 57th Motorised Infantry Brigade and 43th Mechanised Brigade near Sinkovka and Ivanovka (Kharkov region).

In addition, Russian units inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 14th Mechanised Brigade, 101st, 103rd, 105th territorial defence brigades near Ivanovka, Kislovka, and Kotlyarovka (Kharkov region). The AFU losses amounted to up to 20 Ukrainian troops and two pickup trucks.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops hit one U.S.-made M777 artillery system and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system.

In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, helicopters, and artillery repelled one attack launched by assault detachments of the AFU 12th Special Operations Brigade near Serebryansky forestry.

Strikes were delivered at manpower and hardware of the AFU 67th Mechanised Brigade and 125th Territorial Defence Brigade near Serebryanka, Grigorovka, and Yampolovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 60 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled three attacks launched by assault detachments of the AFU 24th Mechanised Brigade and 79th Airborne Brigade close to Leninskoye, Shumy, and Maryinka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

In addition, strikes were delivered at manpower and hardware of the AFU 5th, 80th assault brigades, 28th, 30th, 42nd, 93rd mechanised brigades close to Artyomovkoye, Kleshcheyevka, Bogdanovka, Kurdyumovka, and Andreyevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The AFU losses in this direction amounted to up to 200 Ukrainian troops, one tank, and six motor vehicles.

In the course of the counter-battery warfare, one Polish-made Krab self-propelled howitzer, two Akatsiya howitzers, one Msta-B howitzer, one D-20 howitzer, one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system, one D-30 howitzer, and one U.S.-made M119 howitzer were neutralised.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled one attack launched by assault detachments of the AFU 72nd Mechanised Brigade near Shevchenko (Donetsk Peoples Republic) and improved the tactical situation along the front lines.

Moreover, the Russian Armed Forces inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 127th Territorial Defence Brigade near Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region). The enemy lost up to 80 Ukrainian troops and three motor vehicles.

In Zaporozhye direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery struck manpower of the AFU 33th Mechanised Brigade near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 35 Ukrainian troops, one tank, and two motor vehicles.

In Kherson direction, units of the Russian Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 35th Marines Brigade near Tyaginka (Kherson region).

The enemy lost up to 55 Ukrainian troops and four motor vehicles.

In the course of counter-battery warfare, one Msta-B howitzer, one electronic warfare station, and one U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery system were neutralised.

Operational-Tactical and Army aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, and Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces wiped out AFU aviation fuel depots in Poltava region, one aviation ammunition depot in Cherkasy region, and engaged AFU manpower and hardware in 128 areas during the day.

Air defence units intercepted three Ukrainian Air Force aircraft, namely, two Su-27 aircraft near Novoraisk and Velikaya Aleksandrovka (Kherson region), as well as one MiG-29 close to Pyatikhatki (Dnepropetrovsk region).

17 HIMARS MLRS projectiles have been intercepted over the past 24 hours.

Moreover, 53 unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down near Nyrkovo, Zolotaryovka, Konoplyanovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic), Gorlovka, Lipovoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Tavolzhanka (Kharkov region), and Sagi (Kherson region).

In total, 542 airplanes and 255 helicopters, 9,236 unmanned aerial vehicles, 442 air defence missile systems, 13,629 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,185 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,187 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 15,642 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

WtR
Russian Defence Ministry report on the progress of the special military operation (27 November 2023)

The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation continue the special military operation.

In Kupyansk direction, units of the Zapad Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery repelled three attacks of the AFU 43rd and 57th mechanised brigades near Sinkovka and Ivanovka (Kharkov region).

Up to 30 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, two pickup trucks, and one Gvozdika self-propelled artillery system have been eliminated.

In Krasny Liman direction, units of the Tsentr Group of Forces, helicopters, and artillery repelled one attack of an assault detachment of the AFU 63rd Mechanised Brigade close to Chervonaya Dibrova (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

In addition, strikes were delivered at manpower and hardware of the AFU 81st Airmobile Brigade close to Belogorovka (Lugansk Peoples Republic).

The enemy losses were up to 280 Ukrainian troops, two armoured fighting vehicles, and two motor vehicles.

In Donetsk direction, units of the Yug Group of Forces supported by aviation and artillery inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of the AFU 24th, 93rd Mechanised Brigades near Kurdyumovka and Kleshcheyevka (Donetsk Peoples Republic).

The enemy has lost up to 110 Ukrainian personnel, as well as two armoured fighting vehicles.

In South Donetsk direction, units of the Vostok Group of Forces in cooperation with helicopters and artillery inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of the 58th Mechanised Brigade close to Ugledar and Pavlovka (Donetsk Peoples Republic), as well as the 102nd Territorial Defence Brigade near Priyutnoye (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy losses in this direction amounted to up to 110 Ukrainian troops, three motor vehicles, and one Msta-B howitzer.

In Zaporozhye direction, two attacks launched of assault groups of the AFU 33rd Mechanised Brigade were repelled by the Russian Group of Forces, air strikes, and artillery fire near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region).

The enemy lost up to 30 Ukrainian troops and two motor vehicles.

In Kherson direction, as a result of artillery fire and air strikes, the AFU suffered losses of 35 troops and two motor vehicles.

In the course of the counterbattery warfare, the enemy lost one Akatsiya self-propelled artillery system and two Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems.

Operational-tactical and Army Aviation, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile troops and artillery of the Group of Forces of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation destroyed one control post of the AFU 5th Assault Brigade near Krasnoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), as well as manpower and military hardware in 107 areas.

Air defence systems shot down two S-200 anti-aircraft guided missiles converted to hit ground targets over the southern part of the Azov Sea waters.

In addition, 26 unmanned aerial vehicles were destroyed near Vasilevka, Belogorovka, Yasnoye (Donetsk Peoples Republic), Ocheretovatoye, Chervonogorka, and Peremozhnoye (Zaporozhye region).

In total, 542 airplanes and 255 helicopters, 9,257 unmanned aerial vehicles, 442 air defence missile systems, 13,647 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,185 combat vehicles equipped with MLRS, 7,192 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 15,666 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.

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LEBANON  St. Peters Lutheran Church of Lebanon, W4661 Highway MM, will host its 25th annual Christmas Cookie Sale with more than 3,000 pounds of Christmas cookies and candies offered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday. Hot beverages and cinnamon rolls will be available for purchase.

To celebrate the milestone, the bakers will bring back some heritage recipes including old fashioned sugar cookies and spiced cherry bells. Look for decorated cut-outs, gingerbread men, turtle bars, snickerdoodles, Andes mint cookies, fudge, cranberry hootycreeks, lemon shortbread, Grinch cookies and more, including elf stockings created in 2022.

More than 130 kinds of Christmas cookies and candies available and Kranz KuchenGerman wreath cake at $11, a variety of homemade soups by the quartchili, vegetable beef, cheesy vegetable, stuffed pepper, roasted butternut squash, potato soup, harvest tomato, chicken dumpling, bacon cheeseburger and more, at $10 per quart.

All cookies and soups are prepared at the churchs kitchen. For more information, call 920-925-3547 or 920-925-3342. Cookies are $9.50 per pound and proceeds support mission work.

Pre-order forms available at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdr5nYRdXudkeOUtbVXHQiuAevQfkYDQTxbetGk4RRzDeA_Jw/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1&flr=0. Pre-order price is $11 per pound.
The world of artificial intelligence seems to involve more drama today than a daytime soap opera. The unexpected ouster of OpenAI executive Sam Altman by the companys board of directors  followed by Altmans equally surprising return  is one such example. Global worries about autonomous drones being able to carry out military strikes absent a final human order, which is technically already possible, is another.

Enter the steadying voice of Charles Isbell Jr., a nationally recognized expert in computing and AI who started work this summer at the UW-Madison as its latest provost.

If the UW-Madison were a private company, the role of provost might best be described as chief academic officer. It is historically the No. 2 position on campus behind the chancellor. Isbell is settling into that role across UW-Madisons many colleges and schools, but he also brings a wealth of experience in what is one of the defining technological moments in a generation.

The former dean of computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, Isbell is also a prominent figure in the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, the Association for Computing Machinery and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He met Nov. 21 with a tech-savvy luncheon crowd in Madison to talk about computing, computing education and the intersection with social sciences, but the discussion quickly turned to the pros and possible cons of AI.

In essence, Isbell said, AI has been a concept in computing since the 1940s and it is now a powerful tool that is with us to stay. Its how people use the tool that matters.

If you ask the question about how AI is going to shape the future and whether its going to put us into some kind of doomsday spiral, what youre really asking is whether computers will do that, Isbell said. The answer is sure: They could. They are wonderful tools, like fire. You wouldnt worry about fire. Its necessary. It keeps us warm through long winter nights. But it can also burn you. Computers are like that. What computers let you do is whatever you were going to do anyway, just a whole lot faster and with a whole lot more efficiency.

Artificial intelligence is possible today because its married with data, which we didnt have 50 or 60 years ago and scalable computing, which we didnt have access to 50 or 60 years ago, he continued. Once you have the data and the computing and the people together, you can do amazing things.

Its the people part that has some observers worried, simply because not everyone sets out to do good in the world. Isbell said he believes a system of checks and balances is evolving. In fact, he outlined some principles more than five years ago in testimony to the House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Isbell advocated then for more transparency in the development of AI, which includes being able to inspect algorithms and create long-lived systems  not just single-use systems that are transactional and capable of being used for unintended purposes when released into the wild.

So, who should be thinking about using AI in their everyday work or lives? Just about everyone, Isbell told the Tech Council Innovation Network luncheon.

Its like asking the question, Maybe computers can help me? Maybe I should be thinking about networking and data? Of course, you should be, he said. The people who are going to be in trouble are (those who) dont think carefully about who their audiences and who their customers are and bring them into the design process.

Artificial intelligence is changing industries ranging from medicine to manufacturing, and from financial services to logistics. As those business sectors across Wisconsin adapt, its good to know Isbell comes with the background to help point the universitys many programs in a direction that will help.
Former President Donald Trump waits to take the witness stand during his civil fraud trial at New York Supreme Court, Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, in New York. (Brendan McDermid/Pool Photo via AP)
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, right, arrives at the Union for the Mediterranean event in Barcelona, Spain, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Delegations from the European Union member states and from Middle East and northern Africa countries are meeting Monday in Barcelona, Spain, to discuss the crisis in Gaza where a fragile pause in fighting is set to expire. Forty-two delegations will gather at the Union for the Mediterranean event with many represented by their foreign ministers. Israel is not attending. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
This image provided by the Burlington Police Department shows Jason J. Eaton. Police have arrested the suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus Saturday evening. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Eaton while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023 the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. (Burlington Police Department via AP)
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaks during an informal meeting of the North Atlantic Council in Foreign Ministers' session in Berlin, Germany, May 15, 2022. Blinken is turning his attention to Ukraine, NATO and the Western Balkans after weeks of intense focus on Israels war against Hamas in Gaza. Amid signs that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas due to expire on Monday may be extended, Blinken departs for Brussels where he will attend a NATO foreign ministers meeting at which the alliance will reaffirm its support for Ukraines defense against Russias invasion. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn, File)
A rendering shows LSC-University Park's new Visual and Performing Arts Center. LSC-University Park

An art studio, gallery, and two theaters are just a few features of Lone Star College-University Parks new 30,000-square-foot visual and performing arts center, set to make its debut next month.

The college will cut the ribbon on the $21.7 million center Dec. 6 during a grand opening event.

The center, which will begin hosting classes next semester, includes a 338-seat mainstage theater with an orchestra pit, 100-seat black box theater, art gallery, art studio, and lobby with LED video walls. The project was part of the colleges 2014 voter-approved bond package but experienced delays due to supply chain and weather-related issues.

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Lone Star College Chancellor Mario K. Castillo said in a news release that the new center will ensure students and community members will have a place to grow and learn.

"The addition of the Visual and Performing Arts Center to the Lone Star College-University Park campus is a testament to the unwavering commitment of Lone Star College to educational excellence and community enrichment," Castillo said in a statement.

The new facility will join the Energy & Manufacturing Institute and the Center for Science & Innovation as one of the campus three field-focused centers representing a holistic approach to academic excellence, the release details.

The grand opening will include guided tours of the center, speeches by community leaders including State Representative Sam Harless, and a student performance of A Christmas Carol radio play.

"The VPA is more than a building; it's a bridge connecting our students to the global stage and stands as a testament to our belief in equitable access to the arts. LSC-University Park President Virginia M. Fraire said in a statement. It promises to be a cornerstone of cultural enrichment and a platform for students of diverse backgrounds to engage with the world through the universal language of the arts."
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A group of Israelis celebrate as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel, Sunday Nov. 26, 2023. The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis and the first American, in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners in a third set of releases under a four-day truce.
Merriam-Websters choice for Word of the Year is not a sexy pick  authentic  but it is an (apparently) earnest statement about the fact(!) that its become increasingly difficult to tell whats real and whats not.

The companys announcement cites the rise of artificial intelligence tools in 2023, and, as a result, growing concerns about its impact on deepfake videos, actors contracts, academic honesty, and a vast number of other topics as the line between real and fake has become increasingly blurred.

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We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity, editor at large Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press. Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper? Can we trust whether a politician made this statement? We dont always trust what we see anymore.

Many people find it hard to pin down the real meaning of the word itself, Sokolowski said: The number of searches on Merriam-Websters site for the definition of authentic were particularly high this year.

The dictionary defines it as:

not false or imitation: real, actual, as in an authentic cockney accent;

cockney accent; true to ones own personality, spirit or character;

worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact;

made or done the same way as an original; and

conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.

Authentic follows 2022s choice of gaslighting. And 2023 marks Merriam-Websters 20th anniversary of choosing a top word.

Other big words for 2023

The companys data crunchers filter out evergreen words like love and affect vs. effect that are always high in lookups among the 500,000 words it defines online. This year, they also filtered out many five-letter words because Wordle and Quordle players now use the companys site in search of them as they play the popular online games, Sokolowski said.

Other words that attracted unusual traffic on the dictionarys site in 2023 included:

coronation: the act or occasion of crowning. King Charles III had one on May 6.

covenant: a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement. Lookups swelled on March 27, after a deadly mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. This year also saw the release of Guy Ritchies The Covenant and Abraham Vergheses acclaimed novel The Covenant of Water.
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When hopping on Instagram Live on Saturday, November 25, the 62-year-old insisted that he's always aware of the legalities around working with minors due to his own signings to his label.

Nov 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Luther Campbell a.k.a. Uncle Luke was furious by Gloria Velez's recent allegation against him. Having been accused of grooming by the actress, the 2 Live Crew member took to social media to slam clap back at her.

When hopping on Instagram Live on Saturday, November 25, the 62-year-old insisted that he's always aware of the legalities around working with minors due to his own signings to his label. "We know the rules and the regulations of this s**t," he began.

"You know what you got to do when you sign an underage person? You gotta go get consent by the court," he explained. "The kid gets his own lawyer, parents get their own lawyer, then you have your lawyer. That's how you - man, I don't play about that paperwork!"

"Now you get your business told, f**kin' with me. I ain't none of them dudes man. I don't know what the f**k they talkin' about. So make it make sense. Bring all the smoke. I ain't hard to find. I'm not hard to find," the emcee continued fuming. "Everybody gon' run with their own thing, and create their own narrative."

Gloria brought up her claims on Instagram Story earlier on Saturday. "If you don't think grooming is happening in this business, your (sic) sadly mistaken. It's started 1994 with Luke and a few others in this business. I was in high school," the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School graduate penned in the post.

Aside from Luke, Gloria also claimed that older men often "scouted and groomed" young women by frequenting teen clubs in South Florida around that time. Luke himself also shut down Gloria's first claim by writing in an Instagram comment, "No no no, Luke don't get down like that baby. Keep your Convention on your baby daddy before you get a defamation lawsuit."

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Among those who criticized Blue's dancing skills was blogger Tasha K, who saId in a YouTube video back in July, 'Everybody knows that Blue Ivy was very stiff up there.'

Nov 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Blue Ivy has inspired online users with her determination. After it was unveiled that she used criticism about her "Renaissance" performances as motivation instead of a setback, the daughter of Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z earned praise on social media.

Following the "Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce" premiere, the New York Times reviewed the movie by writing, "Though she finally relented, Beyonce was dismayed when Blue Ivy read comments on social media that criticized her lackluster moves." It added, "But it thrilled her mother that instead of quitting, she decided to put in the work and train even harder for future stops."

Having read the news, many people on X (formerly Twitter), were quick to show their admiration to Blue. "Y'all been talking real hot about Blue Ivy since she was a baby so when you get a hot one to the face don't switch up," one person tweeted.

"So Blue Ivy actually saw some of the terrible things GROWN ADULTS were saying about her," another penned. "And instead of giving up after what was supposed to be her only performance and at 1st against Beyonces wishes, she decided to come back and end all you jobless heauxs, MULTIPLE TIMES!"

A third gushed, "blue ivy read the comments y'all made on her dancing with her own eyes, & STILL decided to train even harder. that's what we call a QUEEN!" Someone else added, "I love her mindset she's hustle hard for her bread. Go girl."

Among those who criticized Blue's dancing skills was blogger Tasha K. In July, she argued in a YouTube video, "Everybody knows that Blue Ivy was very stiff up there. Beyonce just gon tell this girl that she got it. We've seen 13-year-old girls from the hood outdance and hula-hoop her!"

"I like Blue Ivy, I think she's beautiful, I think she's going to be a model. Her momma already has her life being set up. But her momma has to be honest with her and tell her the truth," she continued. "I need Beyonce to take a day trip back down to Houston. I need her to take a trip to the projects, alright?"

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Royal family journalist Omid Scobie details the British monarch's fury over 'Harry and Meghan' in his upcoming book, 'Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

Nov 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - King Charles III was beyond mad at his son Prince Harry and daughter-in-law Meghan Markle following the release of their Netflix documentary, "Harry & Meghan". Royal family journalist Omid Scobie detailed the British monarch's fury in his upcoming book, "Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival".

According to an advance copy of the book obtained by Page Six, a source said, "[The show] took the wind out of everyone's sails." It was additionally said that Charles was "doing his damnedest best" to get positive media attention after claiming the throne to replace his mom Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September 2022.

The source, however, noted, "no one [was] watching" because of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's highly publicized Netflix release. The King was allegedly frustrated and it prompted him to go "from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticizing 'that fool.' "

King Charles III "was genuinely sad about the entire situation," said the insider. "He was angry but didn't want people to speak ill of his son in front of him, either. It was a brief moment where he paused and realized how bad things had become."

In his book, which is scheduled to be released on Tuesday, November 28, Omid further shared that Charles' sympathy for Harry and Markle "soon disappeared" after he got overshadowed by the couple. The author added that "Harry & Meghan" "eclipsed" Charles "at every turn."

Charles and Harry's relationship hasn't been the same after the latter and his wife Meghan decided to step down as working senior royal family member in 2020. The couple's Netflix docuseries and the 39-year-old prince's scathing memoir "Spare" only further worsen their relationship.

The father and son duo allegedly hadn't spoken to each other until the King's birthday a few weeks ago. According to the Telegraph, the Sussexes called King Charles to wish him a happy 75th birthday. They also sent a video of their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, sweetly singing "Happy Birthday" for their grandfather.

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The 42-year-old heiress, who also shares Phoenix with husband Carter Reum, announced earlier this week that they had welcomed daughter London and over the weekend.

Nov 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - Paris Hilton is having a "pink Christmas" with her children. The 42-year-old heiress already has 10-month-old Phoenix with husband Carter Reum but the pair announced earlier this week that they had welcomed daughter London and over the weekend, she posed with her eldest in front of a bright pink Christmas tree to celebrate the new arrival.

She wrote on Instagram, "Celebrating our baby girl London with a pink Christmas." The former "Simple Life" star initially sparked speculation that she had become a mother for the second time earlier this week when posted a picture of a pink outfit emblazoned with the word "London", which she has repeatedly said she would choose as a name if she had a little girl, alongside a pair of tiny red sunglasses and a teddy bear. She captioned the post, "Thankful for my baby girl (sic)."

And amongst the photos from her Thanksgiving celebrations shared to her Instagram Story, Paris also posted a picture of Phoenix which was captioned, "The big brother. The socialite previously revealed she had always wanted a daughter named after the English capital.

Speaking on a "This is Paris" podcast titled "This is I'm Pregnant??" before she had her son, she said, "One day I want to have a little girl, and I want to name her London. That's always been my dream ever since I was a little girl, because I just love London and Paris together."

"For a boy, I want to name him after a city or a country or a state as well. I have a name, but I'm not going to say it yet, I want to keep it a surprise, and I don't want anyone stealing my baby name for that one. I've said London for a long time so I can't really hide that one now," she continued. And when she confirmed Phoenix's name, she admitted she had chosen a moniker that would complement London.

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The new report comes after the 28-year-old model and reality TV star appeared to hint at her breakup with the Puerto Rican musician in an Instagram post earlier this month.

Nov 27, 2023

AceShowbiz - There seems to be trouble in paradise between Kendall Jenner and Bad Bunny. If a new report is to be believed, the supermodel and her musician are "drifting apart" after dating for a few months.

In a new episode of Deux/U podcast with Molly McPherson, Deuxmoi claimed that "somebody told me that they've heard that [Kendall and Bad Bunny] have been drifting apart." The blogger, however, didn't think that the couple has "100%" broken up "because we might see them walking out of Carbone next week."

"Whenever there is a Jenner or a Kardashian or anyone in that world. I'm sorry. It's just the hat that I wear. It's what I do for a living," Molly opined. "I'm always looking at the mutual beneficial part of the relationship that maybe they're just out of sync for the opportunity and the benefit. And again, absolutely could be real and it could be there, but sometimes it just kind of runs its course."

The PR crisis expert continued, "You can still have a relationship, like a normal relationship where you get together, you're hooking up in a corner. Yeah. You don't want to be seen or photographed, but when when you're in the celebrity realm, you're going to look for opportunities that your relationship brings you," adding that it could be a "campaign" or "buzz online." She stressed, "It's not manipulation," but rather called it an "optimization."

Later in the episode, she talked about PR relationships. "People think these relationships are manufactured in like a factory and that they like, sign their names in blood, and they go out out there on the scene and pretend to be a couple. That's what the general public's idea of a PR relationship is," she explained. "Your definition is what it actually is. So people need to stop misdefining what a PR relationship is or find a different term because they all sound like a f**king clowns."

The new report came after Kendall appeared to hint at her breakup with Bad Bunny in an Instagram post. Earlier this month, "The Kardashians" star shared a picture of a beautiful sunset while writing in the caption, "What's meant for me, will simply find me."

Fans quickly assumed that the 28-year-old beauty was suggesting that she split from the Puerto Rican star. "Sounds like a break up post," one fan wrote. "Damn bro, who hurt you!!!" another chimed in. One other believed that the Kendall and the Puerto Rican musician had split, adding, "She and Badbunny just break up."

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Chipotle Mexican Grill opened a new Kingwood location with a Chipotlane on June 17 according to a press release. Courtesy of Jenny Nailing Five Guys is making its way to Stafford, scheduled to open by mid-2024. Five Guys

Missouri City and Stafford may be welcoming a wave of new businesses in 2024, including new locations for popular fast-food joints, a gym, and a convenience store.

The companies recently registered projects with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Though details from the TDLR filings are subject to change, heres more information about the businesses and when they may open their doors.

Chipotle

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Construction is planned for a new Chipotle Mexican Grill in Missouri City, kicking off in July 2024 and slated for completion by October 2024.

Address: 10010 Highway 6, Missouri City

Estimated Cost: $850,000

Size: 2,325 square feet

McDonalds

Missouri Citys Viksburg subdivision may be getting a new drive-thru McDonalds restaurant by mid 2024, with construction expected to be complete by May 2024.

Address: Highway 6 & Vicksburg Blvd., Missouri City

Estimated Cost: $750,000

Size: 4,268 square feet

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Amigo C-Store

Amigo C-store is planning a location in Stafford, offering a selection of tacos and burritos at their convenience store. Construction is expected to be completed by October 31, 2024.

Address: 12303 Murphy Road, Stafford

Estimated Cost: $1,800,000

Size: 6,000 square feet

Retro Fitness

A new Retro Fitness gym is planned in Stafford in spring 2024, with construction expected to kick off in the new year and wrap up by March.

Address: 11753 West Bellfort Street, Stafford

Estimated Cost: $500,000

Size: 15,021 square feet

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Five Guys

Five Guys is making its way to Stafford. Consturction will begin in June 2024, and finish by August, according to its TDLR filing. With 68 locations in Texas, including ones in Sugar Land and Missouri City, this Virginia-based burger chain continues to expand.

Address: 11123 West Airport Boulevard Suite 105, Stafford

Estimated Cost: $500,000

Size: 2,376 square feet

Chick-Fil-A

Fast food chain Chick-fil-A has plans to open a restaurant in Missouri City. Construction is slated to be complete by early 2025.

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The 'Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle' actress appears in good spirits as she is caught on camera leaving a yoga studio with the well-known perfumer and florist.

Nov 28, 2023

AceShowbiz - Demi Moore appeared in good spirits as she stepped out in California with her friend Eric Buterbaugh. The actress portraying Madison Lee in "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle" was all smiles after attending a yoga class with the well-known perfumer.

On Saturday, November 25, the 61-year-old actress and the entrepreneur were spotted out and about in Studio City. In pictures making their rounds online, the two friends could be seen leaving a yoga studio together.

One of the photos captured Demi walking next to Eric as they flashed their megawatt smiles. During the walk, the two, who looked in sync in their all-black ensembles, were having a seemingly fun conversation while carrying their yoga equipment in their hands.

For the yoga class, the "Please Baby Please" actress proudly showed off her stunning figure in a black top that came with a low rounded neckline and two long sleeves, which she rolled up to reach her elbows. She also donned a pair of long black leggings, matching suede flat mules and high white socks with gray cat graphics.

Demi put on a pair of brown sunglasses, a red bracelet and sporty white wrist watch as well as a number of silver rings. In addition, she was carrying a black handbag with gold embellishments, black water bottle and a matching yoga mat bag.

In the meantime, Eric sported a black tee, matching hoodie and a pair of long black sweatpants. In contrast, he added a pair of light blue shoes. The florist covered his eyes with a pair of brown shades and carried black tumblr.

In other news, Demi's daughter Rumer Willis, whom she shares with her former husband Bruce Willis, recently had heartwarming interactions with her father. On Thursday, November 23, Rumer spent Thanksgiving with her family members, including Bruce, who was diagnosed with dementia.

During the family time, the "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" actress documented the actor holding her hand when the father and daughter duo sat next to each other. She also filmed him sweetly touching her face with one of his hands. The clips were uploaded on her Instagram Stories, which were later reshared by a social media user via X, formerly known as Twitter.

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Making the revelation is a celebrity psychic and body language expert, who defends the reality TV star amid claims that she and her family interfere with Ye's marriage to Bianca Censori.

Nov 28, 2023

AceShowbiz - Kim Kardashian was left traumatized after her marriage to Kanye West ended with a divorce. Making the revelation was a celebrity psychic and body language expert, who defended the reality TV star amid claims that she and her family had something to do with Ye's marital issue with Bianca Censori.

Inbaal Honigman told The Mirror, "The Tarot is unequivocal in stating, that Kim K is absolutely not interfering in Ye and Bianca's marriage." Instead, Inbaal noted that "The Kardashians" star's relationship with the Chicago star "has left her with a lot of emotional deposits, meaning that she's a bit traumatized by what she experienced while married to him."

The psychic added that Kim "doesn't think about him therefore, unless she needs to, she tries not to talk to him and prefers to go through the day without even hearing his name." Inbaal later pulled the 9 of Cups Tarot card, meaning that the SKIMS founder was happy for his ex-husband "when Kanye found love because she prefers him when he's happy."

Ye and Bianca were previously hit with split rumors when Bianca left Ye and headed to Australia alone. The "Gold Digger" rapper also appeared to fuel the rumors when he was spotted ditching his wedding in an Instagram picture.

However, the couple recently put the rumors to an end when they reunited at a party in Dubai. In a video shared on Instagram, the "Donda" artist and the Yeezy architectural designer were seen dancing to Chris Brown's song with Ye wrapping his arms around his wife.

Fully enjoying the night, the couple swayed side to side to the music while flashing big smiles on their faces. Ye opted for his signature all-black get-up that included a black hooded T-shirt for the date night. As for Bianca, she seemingly returned to her sheer bodysuit.

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BBH India, a leading creative agency within Publicis Groupe India, has brought on board Ashwin Palkar as Executive Creative Director (ECD) and Head of Experience. Palkars mandate involves working across brands handled by both offices of the agency and reporting directly to Parikshit Bhattacharya, Chief Creative Officer of BBH India.

Parikshit Bhattacharya said, Ashwins appointment aligns with our objective of building a high-talent-density team. He is one of the best talents globally, and we are pleased that he will be playing for us. His enviable body of work, boatload of awards, and that easy smile make him an ideal creative leader for us. His ability to craft engaging brand experiences is precisely what we want for our clients. With Ashwin, Swati, and Arvind, we are nearing the formation of an optimally skilled creative leadership team. Heres to some great Tiki Taka between them and a significant advantage for our clients.

A seasoned creative leader with 17 years of experience in advertising, Palkar is among the most awarded professionals in the industry. As a digital-first thinker, he excels at leveraging digital platforms to infuse creativity and technology, creating ideas at the intersection of internet culture and consumer brands. Palkar has led and mentored creative teams, art directors, designers, and animators whose work has been recognised at national and international award shows, including Cannes Lions, One Show, and D&AD. His portfolio includes impactful work for brands such as Flipkart, Google Pay, Vice Media, Uber, Swiggy, IKEA, Google Merchants, WeWork, and Airtel, among others.

For his work on The Unfiltered History Tour with VICE World News, he was ranked as the worlds top creative director at Cannes Lions 2022 and the worlds top executive creative director at the One Show Awards. Palkar appreciates brands that embrace bold creativity and marketing.

His most recent role was on the brand side working at Singapore-based FMCG company Believe Pte Ltd, where he led the Creative & Digital teams for a portfolio of brands, including Zayn, Myza, and The Lafz.

Speaking about his new role, Ashwin Palkar said, I have always been a fan of BBHs vast global body of work. It is diverse, culturally rich, and filled with meaningful creativity. After my stint on the brand side, this was exactly what I was looking for. So, when this opportunity presented itself, I was certain I wanted to be part of the team. I am truly grateful to Parikshit for giving me this opportunity, and I am incredibly excited to work with him and the rest of the team at BBH. As Sir John Hegarty says, All roads lead to the work.
The global Indian is helping usher in new festive occasions for brands to exploit. For several years now, occasions like Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day, et al, have been converted into marketing opportunities by brands. In recent times, we have seen typically Western events such as Halloween, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Thanksgiving being brought under the marketing umbrella. This shift represents not only a departure from the conventional marketing calendar, but also a conscious effort by brands to stay attuned to the pulse of a globalised marketplace. For example, e-commerce giants organise Black Friday sales, offering exclusive discounts and deals, mirroring the excitement generated by the event in the West. Clothing and lifestyle brands curate Halloween-themed collections, tapping into the growing enthusiasm for this among Indian consumers.

Emphasising on the evolving nature of consumer-brand interaction, Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist & Angel Investor, said, Today, there are a lot more opportunities because of social media. Earlier, brands did two or three big campaigns in a year, but now they almost have a constant dialogue with the consumer. Every occasion is an opportunity to interact or to communicate with the consumer because of moment marketing and the fact that it takes nothing to create a small social media post.

He added, Were in a globalised world, the fact that today a vast quantity of urban Indians are very familiar with whats happening, whether its Valentines Day or Halloween, a lot of these festivals have truly become relevant for a lot of Indians. The number of people travelling overseas has also increased and therefore, brands are seeing it as a great opportunity to create interesting stories and interesting selling strategies around it.

He pointed out that while historically, major communication and selling opportunities revolved around Indian festivals, the growing awareness of Western events provides yet another avenue for brands to connect with consumers. Mathias sees this as an increasing trend rather than a passing fad, offering brands additional opportunities for communication and interaction.

Nisha Singhania, Co-Founder & Director, Infectious Advertising, shed light on the perspective of the youth, asserting that todays youth in India are global citizens, exposed to both Western and Indian cultures. To connect with them, it is important for brands to participate in events and trends that are relevant to them, she added.

Singhania saw this trend as a positive sign of cultural acceptance, emphasising that it doesnt indicate a shift from Indian to Western culture, but rather reflects an inclusive approach where consumers embrace all cultures.

On the other hand, Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chairman, Rediffusion, adopted a more sceptical stance, questioning the significance of sale events at e-commerce sites in signifying a shift towards Western festivals.

He remarked, Karwa Chauth in India is any day bigger than Valentines. That is not likely to change in the times ahead. Halloween is a largely South Delhi/ SOBO phenomenon, with kids from IB schools behaving like they are back home in New York. My belief is that one drop of rain on your window pane doesnt mean to say there is a thunderstorm coming.

Jayapradeep V, Chief Business Officer, Raptee Energy, took a broader perspective, viewing the emergence of Westernisation in marketing as a crucial step toward a more inclusive and globalised business ecosystem. He observed, This trend is enabling businesses to tap into new markets, reach a wider audience, and gain valuable insights into consumer behaviour. Additionally, it provides consumers with access to a broader range of products and services, while also enhancing their overall shopping experience.

He saw the adoption of Western events as an inevitable and positive trend driven by globalisation and cultural integration.

Vejay Anand, CEO, Ironhill India & Branding Expert, saw this change as a strategic evolution, noting that while Indian marketing traditionally revolved around indigenous festivals, the integration of Western events presents a dual-edged opportunity for brands.

He said, The younger urban demographic, in particular, embraces a more cosmopolitan worldview, is open to diverse cultural experiences, and is keen on exploring and adopting elements from various cultures. Therefore, the shift towards a more globalised approach in marketing and consumer engagement is likely to persist. This approach seeks to fuse global trends with local values, resulting in a mutually beneficial outcome for businesses and consumers. By adopting a more inclusive and diverse practice, companies can cater to the evolving needs and preferences of Indian consumers.

Echoing similar sentiments, Dhara Patel, Marketing Head, Nksha Restaurant Churchgate, commented on creating a universal appeal through the adoption of Western events. She remarked, Western events create a significant buzz on social media platforms, and integrating these campaigns allows brands to leverage online platforms and engage with real-time audiences in innovative ways.

Deepali Shetty, Co-founder, narrative too said, "Western influence on brands and marketing is not a new thing. What's changed now is that there are many more avenues to capitalise on this influence. Beyond Christmas, Valentines Day and New Year, brands are strategically working to gain from days like Halloween, Black Friday and Thanksgiving."
Union Petroleum and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri is optimistic about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir joining India "soon". Replying to questions from Rajat Sharma in 'Aap Ki Adalat' show, on India TV, Puri said, "the economic situation in Pakistan has deteriorated so much that after some time, some parts of that country may like to merge with India".

Asked by Rajat Sharma when people of India will see Pak Occupied Kashmir joining India, Puri replied: "Jaldi" (soon). He did not elaborate. Puri, who has been a diplomat for 39 years, said: "There has been a sea change in India-Pakistan relations in the last nine years. No more is India tagged with Pakistan. This has been possible because of Prime Minister Modi. Modi has three big characteristics: One, he does what he promises. Two, his dream of making India a developed nation by 2047 will become a reality. Three, in a deeply divided world, Modi is playing the role of a unifier. This became clear at the recently held G20 summit in India."

On the demand for Khalistan by separatists based in Canada, Hardeep Singh Puri said: "Let them create Khalistan in Canada, because most of the Khalistanis are based there. I consider this a cuckooland....... Our 10th Guru Gobind Singh had formed the Khalsa. Today Sikhs constitute less than two per cent of India's population, and yet Punjab dominates in agriculture, transport, medicine, law and other fields. .....With India fast emerging among the top three economies of the world, very soon we will find Indians living in US and Canada returning to India because of better economic opportunities."

On a recent report by Financial Times, London about US foiling a plan by Indian operatives to kill separatist Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannu, Hardeep Puri said: "I have a different opinion about Financial Times. It publishes news reports about oil daily, which I do not trust. It is not India's policy to eliminate terrorists on foreign soil."

Asked by Rajat Sharma why enemies of India like Pannu should not be eliminated, Puri only replied: "Let me keep my feelings in my heart. I should not say more. But let me tell you, this is not our policy, not is it our system....Will they say Indian operatives carried out the Air India Kanishka bombing in 1985? Why is there violence, extremism, and drugs in Canada? The terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar who was killed, was denied visa several times by the Canadian authorities."

Puri said, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had been supporting separatists since long. "When he came to Amritsar, I and Navjot Singh Sidhu, then a minister in Punjab, received him and took him to Darbar Sahib. Trudeau had been critical of India since long on the issue of Khalistan separatists. Their behavior on this issue was 'chid-chida'(harsh)".

Puri disclosed how at a lunch hosted for the Canadian PM by Modi, one of the Canadian ministers, Navdeep Singh Bains openly said, "I went to Canada and became a minister". "I replied to him, 'Look, I stayed in India and became a minister", Puri said.

Puri disclosed how in 2017, he got a sudden call from the Prime Minister's office to come and meet Modi. "I was in Colombo at that time attending an Indian Ocean conference. I met the Prime Minister at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg. He invited me for breakfast and asked me to go to Rashtrapati Bhavan to take the oath of minister. I almost literally fell off my chair when he said this. Later, I got the ticket for Rajya Sabha."

On Rahul Gandhi, Hardeep Singh Puri denied that he ever called him an "ass". "It was a proverb that I was quoting. I was 'getting an ass to run a horse's race'. I never said, Rahul was a donkey.(Maine kabhi nahin kaha woh gadhaa hain). But on foolishness, I had said, there are three kinds of fools in the world - an ordinary one, an extraordinary one, and the third I call Chakravarthi."

Puri disclosed how as a special emissary of the government he had to travel through the jungle of Jaffna to meet LTTE chief V. Prabhakaran in 1987 to get his approval for India-Sri Lanka peace agreement. "There were landmines on the way, and we had to travel at night to avoid attacks. Our military adviser was an Indian Navy officer. It was a secretive mission. It was a professional high water for me", Puri said.
KFC has launched a new menu item, "Crispy Zabb Skins," in response to the intense demand from passionate fans. The popularity of this item soared, with sales skyrocketing to a sell-out in just 7 days of its release! This immensely successful campaign not only boosted brand awareness to a monumental level but also solidified KFC's position as a leader in the fried chicken market in Thailand. Fans are raving about the uniquely flavorful taste of this menu item, available exclusively in Thailand, and eagerly anticipate its return thanks to the overwhelmingly positive response from enthusiasts.

Following the insistent customer call for the return of KFC Thailands popular Crispy Zabb Chicken Skins, an unexpected challenge was set by KFCs Marketing Team, with a Page Admin post on the 6November that read: if you really want it on the menu, send us 10,000 heart emojis in the comments. Fueled by fans' insatiable cravings, the KFC page went berserk, with more than 300,000 hearts pouring in from fans online! Staying true to its promise, KFC Thailand wasted no time in announcing the imminent arrival of KFC Crispy Zabb Skin in 59 of its participating quick-service stores. From a call-out to a fully blown campaign, Crispy Zabb Skins exploded on social media with a 50% engagement increase, while influencers eagerly shared the anticipation across Thailand for the official KFC Crispy Zabblaunch date of 09 November 2023.

The online results were astounding: The Crispy ZabbSkin campaign accelerated KFC's brand awareness by a staggering 7 times, paralleled with a 4-times increase in visits to KFC's Facebook Page. Moreover, user growth of the KFC TH mobile app rose by a remarkable 180%, while user traffic on the platforms met a 175% spike within the first four days of the meals re-entry in store. KFC experienced unprecedented coverage as media outlets, influencers, and die-hard KFC fans organically shared reviews about the finger lickin' crispy delight - now demanded by craving customers across all KFC outlets. With an unmatched online response, and with Crispy Zabb Skins being sold at an affordable 129 Baht per 130 grams, its no surprise that the brand witnessed a skinsational sell-out of its highly popular meal within 7 days of launch.

KFC Thailand's Chief Marketing Officer, Suhayl Limbada, told the press he was overcome by the response and expressed his gratitude to the fans: "Thank you KFC fans, for your overwhelming love and support! Your response to our Crispy Zabb Skin menu has been nothing short of spectacular, and because of you, we at KFC are inspired to keep bringing you the best of our service and recipes, says Limbada.

If youre a KFC fan that missed out the Crispy ZabbSkin promotion, youre still in luck since KFC always has bucket loads of surprises coming for you.
A pioneer in the short film format in India, Seagrams Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films presents Select Films, Select Conversations. The celebrated short film platform has always recognized and fostered a creative environment encouraging brilliance in short format film making. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films over the years has won 6 Filmfare awards and Oscar qualifications which has made the platform the largest and most credible destination for short films in India. Through this interactive activation platform, the brand aims to foster a creative environment for artists in the industry in two unique and engaging formats with host Mandira Bedi.

The On-Ground format : This live format travels to three hubs in India  Gurugram, Kolkata and Pune  bringing together some of the most dynamic and discerning film artistes from Indian cinema for an evening of engaging discussions, interactive conversations, and screenings of some of the select movies from the celebrated short film platform, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films

: This live format travels to three hubs in India  Gurugram, Kolkata and Pune  bringing together some of the most dynamic and discerning film artistes from Indian cinema for an evening of engaging discussions, interactive conversations, and screenings of some of the select movies from the celebrated short film platform, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films The On-Air format: A unique chat show concept spread across three episodes, where five prominent voices from the film industry  Jim Sarbh, Vijay Verma, Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi and Sujoy Ghosh  discuss all things cinema with host Mandira Bedi. The On-air Episodes will be launched with the brands streaming partners, Jio Cinema

The first of three on-ground events took place at DLF Club, Phase IV, Gurugram on Saturday, November 25. During the evening, host Mandira Bedi held an engaging conversation with Vijay Varma, Huma Qureshi, Kalki Koechlin and Swanand Kirkire. Short Films - The Select Choice being the theme of the evening, the discussions revolved around the evolution of Indian cinema, diversity of genres and the short film format. It covered the evolution of the cinematic landscape from full length Feature films to Short Films, OTT and Anthologies. The conversation received immense engagement from the audience present at the event. This was followed by the screening of select Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films.

Commenting on the ideology behind the activation platform, Kartik Mohindra, CMO, Pernod Ricard India, said, Through the years, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has evolved, creating an ecosystem that brings world class storytelling to curious and discerning audiences, thus becoming the destination for Indian short films. Select Films, Select Conversations, the brands interactive platform, is an embodiment of this ideology, where we seek to explore the originality and creativity of the short film format and set it in the context of cinema today.

Speaking about her association with the platform as the host, actress Mandira Bedi said, I am thrilled to be associated with Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films. Getting to interact with different storytellers, artistes and understanding their diverse perspectives on cinema is a wonderful opportunity. Im looking forward to all the riveting conversations, behind the scenes stories about the short film universe and the interactions with #TheSelectOnes.

Actor Vijay Varma said, It really feels nice to be a part of this unique platform provided by Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films. Any opportunity that brings together artists and stirs up conversations around cinema is precious to me. It's a great learning experience.

Lyricist and Actor Swanand Kirkire spoke about the platform, sharing, The Indian film industry has evolved tremendously since the time I started my career. There are so many different kinds of films being made and appreciated today. When it comes to short films, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has been a real gamechanger. The platform brings out the brilliance of short films like nothing else. I am happy to be associated with them in their endeavor to foster a creative environment for artists in this industry.

Actor Huma Qureshi said, I am so happy to see Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films curate an evening where select artistes and storytellers known for their craft come together under one roof and talk all things cinema. From discussing different genres to personal processes, it is absolutely amazing to be a part of this. I look forward to more such opportunities in the future!

Actor Kalki Koechlin shared, With the changing content consumption patterns in todays world, its an exciting time for cinema in India. I feel it is a transformational time for our industry and it is platforms like these that bring about the positive shift. I am delighted to have the opportunity to delve deeper into the world of cinema thanks to Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films.

After successfully kicking off in Gurugram, Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films is set to travel to Kolkata and Pune in December 2023. This will be followed by the release of on-air episodes.

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films :

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has become the destination for Indian short films where viewers can experience the taste of great films. The platform has collaborated with successful storytellers who truly stand for originality and creativity. Large Short Films has evolved to create an ecosystem for aspiring and established directors alike to bring world class storytelling to curious and deciphering audiences.

Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films has released some of the most prodigious and award-winning short films with renowned artists and directors from the industry which truly reflects originality, imagination and perfection. Ahalya, Chutney, Devi and Anukul are just some of the phenomenal films that have been released on this platform. Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films as a platform for original short films has been the pioneer in popularizing this genre of filmmaking.

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The eagerly awaited Netflix film "The Archies," directed and produced by Zoya Akhtar, brings a fresh take to the classic Archie Comics by relocating the gang to a 1964 Anglo-Indian hill station. The cast, including Vedang Raina, Mihir Ahuja, Aditi Dot, Yuvraj Menda, and star kids Suhana Khan, Agastya Nanda, and Khushi Kapoor, sparked initial excitement.

However, the buzz is not only about the cast; the film's marketing team has played a crucial role, implementing numerous out-of-the-box strategies to sustain the excitement.

Set to release on December 7, 2023, the movie has unveiled a 100-day countdown billboard on the Western Express Highway in Mumbai. The primary purpose of the billboard is to serve as a daily reminder of the film's upcoming release on Netflix.

In June, at Netflix's TUDUM event in Sao Paulo, the cast members of The Archies stole the show with their dance performance on the song "Suno."

Suhana also posted a social media video and said, "Thank you for having us, Brazil, you were incredible."

On Independence Day the cast of the film The Archies gathered together for a special initiative in a unique and meaningful celebration. The cast served meals in a Mumbai restaurant. On Independence Day, the restaurant threw a feast with the noble purpose of donating all revenues to those in need.

Additionally, the movie has partnered with several iconic brands that explore the beloved characters from Archies. Some of the notable brand collaborations are as follows:

Tinder

Tinder has roped in DOT., the mysterious girl from soon-to-be released Netflixs The Archies film, to spotlight Incognito Mode. Incognito Mode is a step up from fully hiding your profile. It offers Tinder subscribers the ability to maintain full control over their visibility while engaging with the Tinder app. Subscribers can still Like and Nope profiles, but only those whom they've liked will see them in their recommendations.

Maybelline

Following the announcement of Suhana Khan as the brand ambassador in April 2023, the brand has forged a collaboration with "The Archies" and introduced the Limited Edition Pack featuring Fit Me Foundation, Colossal Bold Eyeliner, Mascara, and a 60s-tinted Blush. This collection is carefully curated to evoke the essence of the 60s with a contemporary twist.

,

Skybags has announced an exciting collaboration with the upcoming Netflix original movie The Archies. The Archies Backpack Collection' by Skybags is a range of new backpacks that not only celebrates the much-anticipated Gen-Z-focused movie but also redefines the standards of style and innovation for the youth.



Starbucks India

Starbucks kicks off the Holiday season with the announcement of a collaboration with Netflix for the highly anticipated film 'The Archies.' As part of this unique collaboration, Starbucks introduces #TheArchiesHolidayClassicsa special range of beverages inspired by Archie, Veronica, and Betty.

Tata Vistara

Vistara, a joint venture of the Tata group and Singapore Airlines, recently announced its exclusive collaboration with Netflix for the highly anticipated upcoming film, The Archies, for a one-of-a-kind experience - 'Flight to Riverdale.' The special flight UK 1964, welcomed aboard the cast of the film for this unique experience along with lucky fans and select Club Vistara members amongst others. Set in the 1960s, the film reimagines the legendary Archie comics as a live-action musical set in the imaginary idyllic town of Riverdale in India.

As brand collaborations and social media buzz peak for "Archies," only time will reveal if the film lives up to the hype.
Indian superstar and entrepreneur Vijay Deverakonda takes a bold step into the fashion industry with the relaunch of his apparel brand, 'RWDY - Street Indian Culture.' The announcement, made through a compelling video on his social media channels, introduces a brand-new philosophy and vision for the fashion line.

The heart of RWDY lies in its powerful mantra  'Reclaiming Your Indian Superiority.' In the video, narrated by Vijay Deverakonda himself, the charismatic actor outlines the brand's philosophy, emphasizing the need to embrace and celebrate India's rich heritage and culture. The narrative delves into history, asserting that India's forefathers were kings before external influences disrupted the nation's prosperity, leaving it in debt and fighting for survival. The video passionately declares that the time has come for India to reclaim its respect on the global stage.

"We are not here to play; we are here to take over and make the world say namaste," declares Vijay Deverakonda in the video and the brand aims to empower individuals with a sense of pride in their Indian identity, fostering a connection to the nation's cultural roots.

Indians were the kings of fashion and the textile industry and the original market leaders and trendsetters. Indian cloth and fashion were exported all around the world. Every piece of RWDY designed, made, bought, and worn is the brands way of reclaiming Indian superiority in fashion. Starting from the streets of India, RWDY aims to take over the streets of the world.

The rebranded RWDY features a fresh logo and an all-new collection that encapsulates the essence of Indian culture and heritage. Due to its significance in ancient traditions, religions, and mythology, the lotus was chosen as the siren of the brand (RWDY). The collection, set to drop on December 6th, promises to be a unique blend of contemporary street style with traditional Indian elements.

The quality and design of RWDYs products and their focus on creating a movement that reclaims our rich cultural supremacy with the utility and convenience of contemporary design have enabled them to create experiences that currently define and differentiate. This has inspired a movement where fashion is no longer fast but something that connects us to our roots, our history, our people, and inspires the world to join our rich culture. RWDY aims to make clothes that can be passed onto future generations of friends and familypieces to hold and feel proud about owning.

Vijay Deverakonda expressed his enthusiasm when he announced the brand's relaunch on his social media, as he posted, "A new wave. An era of pride. Rooted in Indian Culture, Let Culture reign the streets. Time to reclaim Indian Supremacy. Let the revolution begin."



With this RWDY - Street Indian Culture is positioned to become a prominent player in the fashion industry, challenging norms and setting new standards for self-expression through clothing.
Federal Mint Swissmint

Bern, 27.11.2023 - On 30 November, Swissmint will launch the new Swiss linguistic diversity gold coin. Cultural diversity and plurilingualism are part of the very essence of Switzerland and the latest issue will honour these qualities.

Swissmint produces exclusive and limited-edition collector coins under the name "Swiss special coins". The latest special coin celebrates a special feature and a defining characteristic of Switzerland: plurilingualism. According to Nicoletta Mariolini, Federal Delegate for Plurilingualism, this really is worth its weight in gold.

The 5.64g, 900 gold alloy "Swiss linguistic diversity" special coin depicts the four language regions on the obverse. From left to right, French-speaking Switzerland, German-speaking Switzerland, Italian-speaking Switzerland and Romansh-speaking Switzerland. These four language regions are skilfully combined to form one overall view: four languages, four regions, one Switzerland. The coin's name "Varietad Linguistica" comes from the Romansh (Rumantsch Grischun, "standard" Romansh) and is a tribute to paragraph 5 of Article 70 of the Federal Constitution: "The Confederation shall support measures by the Cantons of Graubunden and Ticino to preserve and promote the Romansh and the Italian languages."

The reverse features four speech bubbles, which together form a Swiss cross, with passages from Article 70 of the Federal Constitution. In German, paragraph 3, which lays the foundation for the promotion of plurilingualism. In French, paragraph 4, which guarantees federal support to plurilingual cantons; and in Italian and Romansh, paragraph 5, which guarantees federal support to the cantons of Graubunden and Ticino for the preservation and promotion of the Romansh and Italian languages. In addition, the reverse bears the words CONFOEDERATIO HELVETICA (clockwise), the year of issue 2023 and the face value of CHF 25.

The coin was designed by CIT Coin Invest AG and Swissmint engraver Remo Mascherini. 5,000 coins will be issued in proof quality.

Each of these special coins is a miniature work of art

The Federal Mint Swissmint produces Swiss franc coins on behalf of the Swiss Confederation. These have been created in the heart of Switzerland since 1855, and in the popular Kirchenfeld district of Bern since 1906. Since 1936, Swissmint has also minted special coins to commemorate important historical and cultural events and to honour prominent figures. Each of these special coins is a miniature work of art in a unique tradition of artistry and craftsmanship.

Address for enquiries

media@swissmint.ch

Publisher

Federal Mint Swissmint

https://www.swissmint.ch/swissmint/en/home.html




Danielle Friedland Courtesy of Friedland family

Family members from California were scouring Houston early Monday in search of a missing 36-year-old woman who disappeared shortly after being discharged from a local clinic.

Danielle Dani Becker Friedland, 36, has been missing since she was released from a mental health facility the day before Thanksgiving, her husband, Jordan Friedland, told the Houston Chronicle. She had been set to fly home to her family in California that same day but never got on the flight.

Jordan Friedland said the family filed a missing persons report with the Houston Police Department for the mother of two  a 2-year-old and a 5-year-old  and that detectives have been incredibly helpful gathering tips about where she might be.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

MORE FROM HOUSTON CHRONICLE: 19-year-old bystander killed during Houston police chase along I-45

An official with the Houston Police Department said it received a missing persons report Monday morning and detectives were working to locate the woman.

The woman disappeared without her phone and isnt from Houston, so its not clear where she might be, Jordan Friedland said. Family members as of Monday morning were responding to a number of tips about her potential whereabouts, including locations in downtown Houston and a grocery store on the west side.
Baxter Healthcare Corp. accepted about $3.3 million in state and local government incentives tied to the expansion of its Alabama plant. In exchange, the company agreed to hire and keep at least 200 employees through last year.

This month, with the decade-long deal done, the company is closing the facility in Opelika and laying off 459 employees. So was this a good deal for Alabama? For Opelika?

No question about it. Its a huge capital investment, Gary Fuller, Opelikas mayor, told AL.com on Wednesday, emphasizing that the citys incentives were performance-based. It was an excellent arrangement for us.

The small city paid Baxter $1.3 million in cash incentives over the last eight years, in addition to providing other tax breaks, according to city records obtained by AL.com.

The medical device manufacturer also received $2 million from the state, said Stefania Jones, spokeswoman for the Alabama Department of Commerce.

Representatives for the Commerce Department didnt respond to specific questions about the impact of the incentives given the closure, though Jones said that Alabama and Baxter fulfilled their obligations in the agreement.

Fuller pointed to two ways the city directly benefited from Baxters presence: education-related taxes, which he said supported Opelika city schools, and the citys occupational license fee, for which the city collects 1.5% of payroll.

Baxter was eligible for more than $5 million in total cash incentives through its decade-long agreement with Alabama, Opelika and Opelika Industrial Authority, per a copy of the original 2014 agreement. In exchange, Baxter invested $270 million into expanding the facility thats operated since the early 2000s, doubled the existing space to 400,000 square feet and doubled its workforce to 350 employees.

As of Nov. 30, Baxter is laying off hundreds more employees than it was incentivized to hire. Thats per a WARN notice reported Sept. 27, which major employers are legally required to file to notify the state that it plans to cut a lot of jobs. The company reported to Opelika that it employed 564 full-time workers at the Alabama plant, as of June 2022, per a company memo obtained by AL.com.

Sam Addy, a senior research economist who has served on committees reviewing the states incentive program, said that the Departments of Revenue and Commerce examine what a company like Baxter presents early on while making incentive agreements.

They get [incentives] for when they are meeting the terms on an annual basis, so we dont lose out, he said. The main risk is, do they get successful enough to stay?

Greg LeRoy, executive director and founder of Good Jobs First  a watchdog group for state and local economic development subsidies  said Alabama and Opelika couldve made a stronger deal. The agreement couldve required a longer maintenance period than the incentives and tax credit period, he said.

Business basics drive these decisions, not incentives. In this case, obviously, the incentives apparently dont matter, or marginally, because even if the company had left earlier they wouldnt have had to pay back very much and still got a lot of benefits.

The bigger question, he said, is: Why isnt Opelika sticky enough for this company to stay?

Addy, who is also associate dean for economic development outreach at the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business Center for Business and Economic Research, noted that Baxter progressed further than some other companies have before closing. He pointed to the states pay-as-you-go incentive program as why its successful, as opposed to handing over the incentives up front.

As a whole program, its really good. The ROI on it is very high, he said. But you will always find single firms that dont achieve success as we wanted.

Why Baxters plant is shutting down

The company announced the closure of its plant in July, blaming the closure on rising costs of production and a competitive market. The facility in Opelikas Fox Run Business Park produces dialyzers used in the treatment of advanced kidney disease.

After layoffs, Baxter will shut down all operations of the plant during the first half of next year, a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement to AL.com. The spokesperson declined to comment on the incentives. In the meantime, the company said its offering employees severance packages and assistance programs as well as connecting employees with other jobs within the company.

This decision was made with considerable thought for our employees, the Opelika community and our patients and customers, and only after exploring other options, the spokesperson said. Based on the strength of the Opelika community and its talented workforce, we are exploring possible alternative uses for our facility in the future, but dont have anything specific to share at this time.

Baxter International Inc. also pointed to the global competition of the dialyzer market in its quarterly report posted July 27, for the three-month period ending June 30. We believe that there is more than adequate availability of dialyzers in the United States and globally, the company said in the financial report.

Its unclear what will happen to the plant. Fuller said hes asked corporate leaders at Baxter about that, noting that the plants design is specific to medical or pharmaceutical production.

Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller said he's monitoring what will come of Baxter's local facility.

The company has been pretty close-mouthed of what their intentions were with the facility, he said. Thats a lot of money sitting there on that piece of property.

In the meantime, Fuller said he hopes to recruit more companies to the city  including one that could be interested in taking over the facility. The citys current top employers include the hospital East Alabama Medical Center, auto parts manufacturer Mando America Corp., vitamin producer Pharmavite, meat processor Golden State Foods and bottling plant Niagara Bottling.

Opelika is working with Southern Union State Community College, Baxter, Alabama Industrial Development Training  the states workforce agency  and local employers to host several job fairs for the affected employees, Fuller said.

Our number one concern is those employees and helping them get situated, he said. Weve got industry in Opelika that definitely needs additional folks, and finding workforce has been a tremendous challenge for us.

When the original Gambro Renal Products plant first opened in the early 2000s, it was the largest capital investment in Lee County at the time, Fuller said. Baxter Healthcares parent company, Baxter International Inc., based in Deerfield, Illinois, acquired Gambro in 2013 and took over the Opelika plant.

The company has recently landed itself more cash in a $4.25 billion sale of its spun-off biopharma solutions business to two private equity firms. The company has two other plants that continue to produce dialyzers in other states. For now, only Baxters Alabama facility is closing, per the company.

LeRoy, who previously worked at a grassroots organization to prevent plant closings, said that the closure of the Baxter facility doesnt make sense to him, pointing to the facilitys recent upgrade and expansion.

Why cant they make it there? From the outside, its like, whats going on here? I would love to know the backstory, he said. The mysterious press release about global forces, its just mumbo jumbo until you unpack it.

Baxters government incentive deal

In addition to cash incentives, Baxter also qualified for millions of dollars in state and local tax breaks from Alabama and Opelika. Lee County didnt have any agreement with Baxter, per county administrator Holly Leverette.

Alabama also pledged to help with recruitment and training through the states workforce agency as well as cover some road improvement costs, provide fast-track permits and help the company qualify for income tax credits and tax exemptions tied to its electricity use. The State Industrial Development Authority also offered to pay $150,000 of the companys expenses, but a representative said there was no record of that payment to Baxter.

Over the past nine years, Opelika has paid almost all of its incentives that it had originally pledged to Baxter, including milestones in its facilitys expansion, reimbursements for purchases from local vendors, cash tied to hiring goals, tax rebates, and relocation stipends to Baxter managers who moved to Opelika, according to payment records between the city and Baxter.

The citys most recent check to Baxter was on Sept. 29: a $110,736.80 tax rebate for the prior tax year, according to a review of receipts. The most recent payment from the city tied to Baxters employee count came in August 2022, for $70,000.

The Opelika Industrial Development Authority pledged more grants for training opportunities, and entered a ground lease with Baxter for the 10.35 acres of land it needed for its facilitys expansion.

It bothers me to think of someone being without a job during the holidays, Fuller said. Im just keeping my fingers crossed that Baxter will make us all smile here in a few months with something new and exciting for their Opelika facility.
Its coming back  again.

This summer, Country Music Hall of Fame group Alabama held June Jam, their iconic all-day concert, for the first time since the Clinton administration.

The concert took place in the groups Fort Payne hometown, drawing a sold-out crowd of 11,000 fans to hear Alabamas headlining performance, as well as sets by other country stars, including Jamey Johnson, Jake Owen, Oak Ridge Boys, Janie Fricke and Chapel Heart.

Alabama, currently led by frontman Randy Owen and bassist Teddy Gentry, announced June Jam will be returning in 2024. The music lineup has yet to be announced.

June XVIII (thats 18 for those who arent Roman numeral fluent) go on sale to the general public 10 a.m. central Dec. 1, via ticketmaster.com. A presale begins 10 a.m. Nov. 28.

As of publishing, ticket prices have not been released. But for reference, prices for 2023 June Jam tix ran from $50 to $250 plus fees. According to a press release, last years concert raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, which will be used as future grants for those in need of disaster relief. In total, the previous 17 June Jams have raised more than 20 million dollars for charities, according to the band.

Alabama is the best-selling group in country music history. Their more than 40 country number-one hits include signature songs like Mountain Music, The Closer You Get, Feels So Right and Song of the South.

The group held their first June Jam in 1982. Alabama held them up to 1997  all taking place in Fort Payne, which has a population of 15,000. The concerts drew as many as 67,000 fans.

In addition to Alabama, performers at past June Jams included the likes of Garth Brooks, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, The Judds, Charley Pride, Steve Earle, Clint Black, Charlie Daniels Band and Glen Campbell.

2023s concert was the first June Jam without Jeff Cook, Alabamas beloved guitarist, who died in 2022 at age 73.

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How Prince, Michael Jackson fit into 80s rock band Warrants story
First a food truck.

Then a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Now, three and a half years after selling their first ear of fire-roasted street corn, Birmingham entrepreneurs Phillip and Avrie Powell are ready to start franchising their Aww Shucks Gourmet Fire Roasted Corn concept throughout Alabama and beyond.

Once we realized, Hey, this is bigger than Birmingham; it needs to be all over the world, franchising became an option, Phillip Powell told AL.com.

Franchise opportunities are available for those who want to start their own Aww Shucks food truck or restaurant or both, Powell said, adding that he has already received several inquiries from potential franchisees.

The Powells hope to open the first franchise in the first quarter of 2024, he said, and they plan to travel to cities around the Southeast to market the concept.

More details about franchise opportunities are available on the Aww Shucks website.

The Powells -- driven by a desire to offer a healthy dining option that fit in with their plant-based lifestyle -- launched Aww Shucks on July 4, 2020, when they parked their recently purchased food trailer in Birminghams Five Points West area and sold a couple hundred ears of street corn their first day in business.

Picture, if you will, two people inside of a 6-by-10 (foot) trailer with hot corn, 95 degrees in July, and a line out the wazoo of people begging for more corn, Phillip Powell recalled in a 2021 AL.com feature story. We sold out in an hour.

By the end of that first summer, their corn had become so popular that the Powells had to rethink their business plan. They purchased a second, bigger food trailer and another, larger corn roaster, and they hired more employees.

Then, in December 2022, the Powells cut the ribbon on their first Aww Shucks brick-and-mortar restaurant at 4120 Messer Airport Highway in Birmingham.

Along the way, Aww Shucks also set a Guinness World Record for the most corn shucked in a minute when their team of four people shucked 38 ears in 60 seconds on Sept. 25, 2021.

Also, in 2022, AL.com included Aww Shucks street corn on its lists of 68 must-try Alabama dishes.

The Aww Shucks menu features about a dozen flavors of fire-roasted corn, including garlic-herb parmesan, creamy lemon-pepper, Buffalo ranch and traditional Mexican street corn, as well as a skillet corn baked potato.

For more information about Aww Shuck Gourmet Fire Roasted Corn, go here.
Sometimes, after a recipe becomes associated with a whole region, it becomes hard to pin down who, if anybody, deserves credit for it. But thats not the case with the Mobile-area staple known as West Indies Salad.

No, the legend points unequivocally to one guy: Bill Bayley Sr., who opened Bayleys Seafood Restaurant in south Mobile County in the late 1940s. As the oft-told story goes, hed played around with a concept years before, when his work in the Merchant Marine took him to the West Indies. Hed boiled some lobster, added onion, then marinated those in oil and vinegar.

Once he and his wife, Ethel, had their own restaurant going, he switched to locally available lump crab meat and refined the notion. People liked it. A lot. And its not hard to see why: Its fairly easy to make, it showcases a fresh coastal treat and its an appealing alternative to the fry-it-all-and-let-the-cardiologist-sort-it-out school of seafood cuisine.

Bayleys is long gone, though the Dauphin Island Parkway intersection where it stood probably will always be known as Bayleys Corner. Bill Sr. closed his restaurant in 1986, but continued his catering operation. Bill Bayley Jr. opened a new version of Bayleys in 1993 and ran it until June 2022.

Most likely, plenty of home chefs (and other restaurateurs) tried their hand at it even before the Bayleys recipe was published in a Junior League of Mobile cookbook in 1964. But at that point, the cat was out of the bag.

If you can manage to get a window seat at the Grand Mariner, the view is pretty much guaranteed to be interesting.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

No wonder variations on the theme can be found in restaurants, seafood markets and catering spreads throughout the Mobile area. One prime case in point would be Grand Mariner Restaurant & Marina, which seems to serve something very close to the original. (Meaning: If there was something in there other than crab, onion, salt, pepper, vinegar and oil, this writer couldnt spot it.)

The restaurant sits in a highly picturesque location, flanked by a marina and Dog River, with boats everywhere you look and the waters of Mobile Bay sparkling brightly on the other side of the Dog River Bridge. A recent Sunday-afternoon visit found that market price for a quarter-pound of West Indies Salad was $16.45, which gets you a heaping side-dish portion, enough for everyone in a party of three or four to have a few bites.

The thought occurred that this is a dish that should be right at home on the regions holiday tables. Its crisp, clean and light and showcases a local bounty. It could definitely provide a counterpoint, or even an alternative, to the heavier fare served from Thanksgiving through Christmas.

West Indies salad is often eaten on crackers, so don't be shy.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

Crabmeat, onion, salt, pepper, oil, vinegar, ice water. Its a dish so simple its almost impossible to mess up. Its also one thats almost impossible not to mess with. Even the folks at Southern Living cant help but pretty it up with lemon zest and mint and a bed of lettuce.

Youll find a lot of variations out there. You can spice it up in any way you please, or use alternate seafood rather than crab. Bayley reportedly used lobster in his prototype version. But the beautiful simplicity of West Indies Salad is what has made it iconic.

And heres the recipe, from the Press-Register archives. (You also can find it online at www.food.com.) It calls for one medium onion, chopped fine; one pound of fresh lump crab meat; four ounces of Wesson oil; three ounces of cider vinegar; four ounces of ice water; and salt and pepper. Spread half the onion over the bottom of a large bowl. Cover with separated crab lumps and then with the remaining onion. Salt and pepper. Pour oil, vinegar, ice water over it all. Cover and marinate it for two to twelve hours. Toss lightly before serving.

The Grand Mariner sits on Dog River within sight of the Dog River Bridge.Lawrence Specker | LSpecker@AL.com

As longtime Press-Register Food Editor David Holloway once advised, its usually eaten over saltines with impunity.

And there you have it: an iconic coastal favorite thats perfect as is, but easy to modify. Its so simple that it seems highly likely other coastal cultures have their own versions; but be that as it may, Lower Alabama owes a debt of gratitude to Bill Bayley Sr.
On Sunday night, Keke Palmer hosted the BET 2023 Soul Train Awards, an annual award show highlighting the biggest names in Soul and R&B.

Palmer hosted the award ceremony at her home. During the shows opening segment, as she greeted her guests, she said she had a few house rules, including treating her furniture like its your own. Each chair was specifically flown in from Montgomery! she said, referencing the Montgomery riverfront brawl that made national headlines during the summer. Remember how they was hitting them people? They was throwing them chairs!

Not Keke saying she flew the chairs in from Montgomery  #SoulTrainAwards  Sephyr Patriq (@Sephyrpatriq) November 27, 2023

The joke stemmed from the Aug. 5 brawl when large groups of white and Black people fought on a riverboat dock in the states capital. The incident caused a national conversation about racism and the differences in how white and Black people react in moments of confrontation.

The fight broke out when group of people from a pontoon boat refused to move their boat while the Harriott II riverboat, a tourist attraction in Montgomery, was trying to dock in its designated spot. Videos from the brawl showed a Black riverboat co-captain being attacked by a group of white people as other Black people rushed to his defense.

Dameion Pickett, co-captain of a passenger riverboat who was beaten on the dock in Montgomery in August, recently pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor charge of third-degree assault in the incident. Municipal Judge Angela Starr scheduled Picketts trial for Jan. 30, after the trials of two men who are charged with assaulting Pickett in the Aug. 5 riverfront brawl. Zachery Shipman and Allen Todd are scheduled for trial Dec. 8 in Montgomery Municipal Court. Both are also charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor. Read more about the legal fallout from the brawl.

Palmer isnt the only notable performer to reference the brawl on national television this fall. Birmingham-raised standup comic and actor Roy Wood Jr. appeared dressed as a folding chair during a Halloween season episode of the ABC talk show The View.

Whats wrong? Wood said, as the studio audience and View co-hosts erupted into laughter. Black history right here; thats all Im doing. Well, as you know, the modern folding chair (was) invented by a Black inventor, Nathaniel Alexander, and a chair similar to this one was used earlier this year in Montgomery, Alabama, was used in, uh, well just call it some peacekeeping efforts down on the water. That brother is currently awaiting trial.

We do not condone violence; I dont condone violence, Wood said. But Im just saying this chair is a symbol of, you know, why we need to ... If they aint gonna put CRT in the schools, were gonna put CRT at the boat docks. Thats what that brother was doing down in Montgomery, he was just, you know, educating.

Palmer has recently been in the headlines for filing a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend and father of her sole 8-month old child. Not long after filing the protection order, Palmer was announced to be the host of the BET Soul Train Awards. The annual televised awards have taken place since 1987 with previous hosts like Luther Vandross, Patti LaBelle, and Queen Latifah.
The music world was shocked when half of the beloved duo Hall & Oates filed a confidential legal battle against the other, leaving fans to wonder what sort of rift or feud could be behind the litigation.

The mystery was, in part, solved after portions of the case were made public, revealing that Daryl Hall sued John Oates in a bid to block his long-time collaborator from selling off his share of their Whole Oats Enterprises to Primary Wave IP Investment Management LLC.

On Nov. 16, a Nashville chancery court judge issued a temporary restraining order, preventing Oates from moving forward with the sale until an arbitrator in a separately filed case weighs in on the deal, or until the judges order expires  typically within 15 days unless the deadline is extended.

Chancellor Russell Perkins issued the order the same day Hall filed his lawsuit, which was largely brought forth under seal. In it, lawyers noted Hall initiated an arbitration process on Nov. 9 with Oates and the other defendants in the lawsuit, Oates wife, Aimee Oates, and Richard Flynn, in their roles as co-trustees of Oates trust. Still, Hall feared Oates team would push the sale through regardless.

As Hall sought to block the deal, Oates team implied it could close within a matter of days  despite the fact that no arbitrator had yet been picked to untangle the disagreement, according to the suit. It further noted Oates team had already entered into a letter of intent with the investment firm, which allegedly detailed parts of the duos confidential joint business agreement.

Thus, the entire Unauthorized Transaction is the product of an indisputable breach of contract, the lawsuit states.

While what exactly is at stake in the sale remains unclear, Primary Wave already owns significant interest in Hall and Oates song catalog. In the past, Hall has expressed some regret over the sales of his music.

Oh, in the early days, it got sold off for me and I didnt get the money, he told Sky News. In the same 2021 interview, he advised artists to retain their publishing rights, saying all you have is that.

Oates for his part has remained mum on the litigation. He made his first public comments since the filing on Thursday, but did not directly address his legal feud with Hall.

During this time of communal reflection and connection with loved ones, lets not forget those experiencing challenges globally, he wrote in an Instagram post. As we come together, consider reaching out to support those in needwhether through local charities or international humanitarian initiatives. May our collective efforts contribute to a more compassionate and supportive world.

Hall and Oates first connected at Temple University as students before signing with Atlantic Records in 1972. Since then, they have released 18 studio albums, featuring six No. 1 singles, including Maneater, Rich Girl and Out of Touch. Theyve parted ways and reunited several times over their decades-long career, with both musicians touring separately this year.

The case will be taken up at a Nov. 30 court hearing.

With News Wire Services

2023 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A 72-year-old man was killed in a weekend hit-and-run on Interstate 59/20 in Birmingham.

The Jefferson County Coroners Office identified the fatality victim as James Edward Laffitte. He lived in Birmingham.

The wreck happened at 7:51 p.m. Saturday on I-59/20 at the I-65 exit.

Authorities said Laffitte was driving a Buick Lesabre that was struck in the rear by a Toyota Corolla.

Laffitte was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 8:23 p.m.

The driver of the Toyota fled the scene but was later taken into custody by police. No suspect information has yet been released.
President Joe Biden confirmed Sunday that Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old American girl held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed, was released as part of the cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.

Thank God shes home, Biden said. I wish I were there to hold her.

Abigail has dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship, and Biden said she was safely in Israel. She was the first U.S. hostage to be released under terms of the cease-fire. Biden said he did not have immediate information on Abigails condition. The White House said later that the president spoke by telephone with members of the girls family in the United States and Israel. He also spoke with Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas militants stormed Abigails kibbutz, Kfar Azza, on Oct. 7 and killed her parents. She ran to a neighbors home for shelter, and the Brodutch family  mother Hagar and her three children  took Abigail in as the rampage raged. Then all five disappeared and were later confirmed to be captives. They were among the more than 200 people taken to Gaza in the attack that touched off the war. Abigail had a birthday while she was held.

Two of Abigails family members on Sunday thanked Biden, the Qatari government and others involved in securing her release, saying in a statement they remain committed to the safe and swift return of all hostages.

Todays release proves that its possible. We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, said Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali, Abigails great aunt and cousin.

The Brodutch family was also in the group, ranging in age from 4 to 84, released Sunday. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza. Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt. Israels army said one was airlifted directly to a hospital.

Theyve endured a terrible ordeal, Biden said, and can now begin the long journey toward healing.

According to the White House, Biden and Netanyahu agreed the work was not yet done. Biden described the negotiations as a day-by-day, hour-by-hour process and said he would continue working until all hostages were free.

Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted. But the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again. The proof is little Abigail, the president said.

Biden said in remarks from Nantucket, the Massachusetts islands where he spent Thanksgiving with his family, that the cease-fire agreement was delivering lifesaving results.

Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal Sunday. A fourth exchange was expected on Monday  the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners were to be freed. All are women and minors.

Netanyahu issued a video statement after speaking with Biden. He talked about the happiness of bringing Abigail home, but also the sadness that her parents were killed. She has no parents, but she has an entire nation that hugs her, and we will take care of all her needs, he said.

Netanyahu reiterated his offer to extend the cease-fire by an additional day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. But he also said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas with all of its power once the cease-fire expires.

International mediators led by representatives from the United States and Qatar are trying to extend the cease-fire for as long as possible.

Critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out, Biden said. And this deal is structured so that it can be extended to keep building on these results. Thats my goal, thats our goal to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those who are in need in Gaza.

Before the pause in fighting, the first hostages were released on Oct. 17  Judith and Natalie Raanan, an American woman and her teenage daughter. Their release was regarded as a successful test-case for negotiating the larger deal, according to U.S. officials.

There are believed to be eight other U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident still held hostage. Two were women, seven were men. Its not clear whether they are alive.

Biden said he was hopeful the others would be released. We will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones, he said.

The war has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians killed by Hamas in the initial attack. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
The Alabama Medical Cannabis Commission voted Monday to disregard scores from third-party evaluators that had been used to rank applicants for business licenses.

The AMCC approved an agreement reached in mediation between the AMCCs lawyers and those representing companies that sued the commission over the use of the scores and other issues in the licensing process.

The scores, compiled by graders hired by the University of South Alabama, have been one of the most contentious parts of the licensing process, which has been stalled since June, delaying when products could be available to patients awaiting the startup of the new industry.

Some companies that ranked poorly on the scores said the scoring system failed to adequately consider key factors in qualifying for a license, including a requirement to begin cultivating marijuana within 60 days of receiving a license.

The decision to disregard the scores means the AMCC is essentially starting over in the awarding of business licenses. The commission approved new rules and a timeline in October.

The plan includes allowing license applicants to make presentations to the commission for the first time. The presentations began on Monday and will continue through next week.

The timeline calls for awarding licenses in December, followed by a due diligence period, then issuing the licenses in late December and early January. If the timeline holds and the process is not stopped again by litigation, that would mean products would be available next year.

The decision on Monday to disregard the scores marks a major change in the licensing process because the AMCC had closely followed the scores when it awarded licenses in June and again in August. Most of the companies awarded licenses ranked at the top of the scores in their categories.

The AMCC later rescinded both rounds of those license awards because of the litigation and because of mistakes.

All 90 business applicants are again under consideration. The categories are cultivator, processor, secure transporter, dispenser, and testing lab, as well as an integrated category that will include cultivation, processing, transporting, and dispensing.

Cultivator applicants were the first to begin making presentations to the AMCC on Monday morning.

Thirty-eight of the 90 applicants are in the integrated category, and that category has been the main focus of the litigation.

Mark Wilkerson, an attorney for the AMCC, explained the mediation agreement at Mondays meeting before the commission voted. Seven of the 13 commissioners voted for the agreement. None voted against it.

More than 25 companies are involved in a consolidated lawsuit against the AMCC that is pending in Montgomery County Circuit Court. Circuit Judge James Anderson ordered the mediation that resulted in the settlement.

Wilkerson said not all of the companies involved in the litigation agreed with the settlement.

When the Legislature passed the medical marijuana bill in 2021, it created the AMCC to oversee seed-to-sale regulation of the industry, which is intended to operate fully intrastate.

The law allows companies to make gummies, tablets, capsules, tinctures, patches, oils, and other forms of medical marijuana products. Patients who receive a medical cannabis card from a doctor will be able to buy the products at licensed dispensaries.

The products can be used to treat a wide range of conditions, including chronic pain, weight loss and nausea from cancer, depression, panic disorder, epilepsy, muscle spasms caused by disease or spinal cord injuries, PTSD, and others.

Alabama is one of 38 states that have approved medical marijuana, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
China, S. Korea reaffirm bilateral strategic cooperative partnership

Xinhua) 09:59, November 27, 2023

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in Busan, South Korea, Nov. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China and South Korea on Sunday reaffirmed their strategic cooperative partnership and expressed willingness to continue to move forward in this direction.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in Busan, South Korea.

Wang said that since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 30 years ago, China and South Korea have seen comprehensive and rapid development in their relations with mutual achievements and common prosperity, bringing huge benefits to the two peoples and contributing to regional peace and stability.

In recent years, profound changes have taken place in the international and regional landscapes, and China-South Korea relations have also faced new situations, he said.

However, China and South Korea being neighbors is a fact that will never change, Wang said, noting that both sides benefiting from their good relations and suffering otherwise is also common sense that will never change.

The development of bilateral relations should always keep to the general direction of friendly cooperation, Wang said, adding this represents a question both sides must answer well, which is compulsory and not optional.

Wang said that China is ready to work with South Korea to strengthen exchanges and communication, stick to the original aspiration of establishing diplomatic ties, maintain mutual respect and trust, exclude external interference, and reaffirm and constantly enrich the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership.

China and South Korea have become cooperative partners with highly integrated interests as well as highly embedded production and supply chains, said Wang.

With a complete industrial system and a huge market, China will open up at a higher level, which will continue to provide new opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation with South Korea, he added.

The two sides should jointly resist the tendency of politicization of economic issues, instrumentalization of scientific and technological issues and pan-securitization of economic and trade issues, maintain stable and smooth production and supply chains, and push for greater development of economic and trade cooperation between them, Wang said.

For his part, Park congratulated China on successfully hosting the Asian Games in Hangzhou, adding that the South Korean government attaches great importance to relations with China, and believes that the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership is in line with the interests of the two countries and their peoples and is willing to continue to move forward, which is South Korea's clear position.

South Korea stands ready to strengthen dialogue and communication with China at various levels, deepen economic and trade cooperation, maintain the stability of the supply chain, promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges and push for new progress in the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, Park said.

While strengthening bilateral cooperation, South Korea and China can also work together for peace and stability in East Asia and the world at large, he said.

Noting that the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between South Korea, China and Japan resumes after a hiatus of more than four years, Park said he expected the meeting to achieve positive results and deepen trilateral cooperation.

Wang said that China supports South Korea in hosting the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting and is willing to work with South Korea and Japan to push for a new start in trilateral cooperation.

The two sides exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula. Wang emphasized that China has always been a stabilizing force in Northeast Asia and has always played and will continue to play a constructive role in easing the situation on the peninsula.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin on the sidelines of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea in Busan, South Korea, Nov. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
A Kia sedan sits at the site of a crash in the 17400 block of the North Freeway on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. Police said the 16-year-old driver of the Kia was running from police when he crashed into a motorcyclist. The rider was killed Courtesy/OnScene.tv Breaking news Houston Chronicle

A teenager was charged with five felonies, including murder, in connection to a police chase and crash that left a 19-year-old motorcyclist dead on the North Freeway early Monday, authorities said.

The 16-year-old driver, who was not named because he was being charged as a juvenile, was charged with murder, failure to stop and render aid involving death, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, intoxication manslaughter and evading arrest, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

The charges are related to the death of Andres Sorto, 19, and a police chase that preceded the crash that killed him, officials said.

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Just after 2 a.m., Houston Police Department officers saw two vehicles, including a Kia Forte, racing on Interstate 45, near Gulf Bank Road, said Houston Police Department executive assistant chief Larry Satterwhite. An officer got on the freeway and called for air support, but the driver of the Forte accelerated north. The officer then gave chase because of the danger on the highway, Satterwhite said. The racing cars were going more than 100 mph, he said.

MORE ON POLICE CHASES: Crash & Burn, a Houston Chronicle investigation

The chase continued north until, around six minutes later, the Forte got off the freeway at the exit for FM 1960, Satterwhite said.

The driver went through a red light and hit Sorto. The driver then continued without stopping for half a mile before the vehicle broke down.

Video taken of the crash scene shows the black Kia with damage to the front driver's side section of the car and its windshield. One officer stopped to help Sorto, but he died at the scene, police said.

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The 16-year-old got out of the Kia and tried running before officers stopped him, Satterwhite said. He was taken to a hospital and treated for minor injuries before being released to a juvenile holding facility, according to the district attorney's office

The Kia the teen was driving was listed as stolen, Satterwhite said.

The sheriffs office will handle the investigation into the chase and crash, Satterwhite said. The officer who initiated it  a three-year veteran of the Houston Police Department  will be placed on administrative duty while the investigation continues.

A spokesman for the district attorney's office said the office hadn't determined if prosecutors would seek to certify the Kia driver as an adult.
A 33-year-old man pleaded guilty today to the murder of his co-worker at the Elyton Meat Market earlier this year.

Christopher Kendricks entered a blind plea to intentional murder Monday morning before Jefferson County Circuit Judge Kandice Pickett. A blind plea means the length of a prison sentence was not part of the agreement and Kendricks does not yet know what that sentence will be.

Kendricks fatally shot 37-year-old Cortez Ware, a longtime butcher who was remembered as always going the extra mile for others.

The shooting happened at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, at the business on Center Street North and Third Avenue North. Ware collapsed on the sidewalk just outside the front door where he was pronounced dead at 2:16 p.m.

Police marked at least 10 shell casings near Wares body.

Cortez Ware, a 37-year-old father, was shot to death Jan. 4, 2023, at Elyton Meat Market where he was a beloved butcher. (Special to AL.com)

Ware was a longtime employee, and Kendricks had only recently started working there.

Ware was working Wednesday, but his family said they understand Kendricks was off that day. The two were involved in a dispute the previous day.

Community members and information obtained through the departments Real Time Crime Center quickly led police to the suspect. He was taken into custody at nearby Elyton Village public housing community.

Kendricks has been held in the Jefferson County Jail on $1.5 million bond since his January arrest.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Roberts and Deputy District Ty Henderson are prosecuting the case. Kendricks was represented by attorneys Sammie Shaw and Catelyn Swindall of the Jefferson County Public Defenders Office.

A shooting happened outside the Elyton Meat Market on Center Street North and Third Avenue North on Jan. 4, 2023. (Carol Robinson)

Sentencing for Kendricks is set for Feb. 20, 2024.

This was a brutal, senseless murder committed by the defendant in broad daylight right in front of The Elyton Meat Market where both Cortez Ware and the defendant worked, Roberts said. While the defendant admitted his guilt today that does not absolve him from responsibility or even entitle him to a break in regard to his sentence.

Roberts said prosecutors will be asking that Kendricks receive a life sentence.

Ware was a longtime butcher, first at Angel Foods Meat Market in north Birmingham and in recent years at Elyton Meat Market. Those mourning his death said he was popular with customers who requested he be the one to cut their meat. He was also known for carrying customers groceries to their car for them.

Ware was a father and in a long-term relationship. He was well-loved, his family said, and always smiling.
Willie J. Lenard said that when the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed a ruling that meant Alabama would have a second majority Black or nearly majority Black congressional district, he saw an opportunity to become a forceful advocate for changes he said are long overdue.

Lenard, 78, who lives in Pike Road, believes he can be the voice for change in the redrawn 2nd District. He is one of 13 Democrats running for the nomination in the district, which changed from one that was strongly Republican to a district where Democrats can win.

Lenard said he will propose an $8 billion grant program for career training, affordable housing, and other initiatives in the district, as well as a $5 billion bond issue for Tuskegee University to develop a medical school, regional hospital, and programs intended to quadruple the enrollment to 10,000 students by 2035.

Lenard acknowledges that his ideas are ambitious but said that is needed to reverse a history of neglect that has led to poverty, crime, and a lack of affordable health care, housing and opportunity. Lenard, who worked in cotton fields and said his stepfather was the son of a slave, said Black voters in what is now the 2nd District have been underrepresented since the end of the Civil War.

The Supreme Court said that the voices of these people in the state of Alabama have not been heard and were going to give them a voice, Lenard said. I want to make sure that that voice that theyre being given is being heard and heard prominently.

There are some problems that are the result of our voices not being heard in 158 years, there are some things that we need to solve. And I want to make sure that this district that theyve created has the resources or receives the resources that it needs in order to start resolving those problems.

Alabamas new 2nd District goes from the Georgia line to the Mississippi line and includes Montgomery and Macon counties at the north end and a portion of Mobile County at the south end. The voting age population is 49% Black, up from 30% on the old map. The new map gives Democrats a chance because most Black voters support Democrats in Alabama.

Eight Republicans are running for the seat, which is open because the current representative, Republican Barry Moore of Enterprise, is running in the 1st District instead. The new map put Moores hometown in District 1, where he is challenging Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile. The primary is March 5.

Read more: Whos running? 21 candidates join race in Alabamas redrawn 2nd Congressional District

Lenard said he would donate his congressional salary of $174,000 a year to programs for hungry children, senior citizens, and other families in need in the district.

Lenard is a Tuskegee University graduate and Air Force veteran, according to the biographical information from his campaign. He holds masters degrees in information technology and human resources from Webster University. His long career includes employment in the public and private sectors. He worked in an administrative position for the South Carolina Department of Corrections for 10 years. Lenard now runs a travel business that specializes in trips to Africa.

But my basic career has been mostly in training, Lenard said, either at the college level, at the technical school level, or at the national level with Job Corps.

Lenard said he grew up in poverty and worked with his family in cotton fields because there were few other opportunities for Black people in Alabama. His said his stepfather was a sharecropper.

So Ive experienced some things, Lenard said. I know what it took for me to get from out of that poverty situation to being a wealthy person. I can offer that same thing to my kids.

When he says my kids, Lenard means young people in the 2nd District. He said too many are being lost to gun violence.

Im tired of seeing my kids being shot, Lenard said.

Lenard said the $8 billion grant program would be used to develop training programs in high-tech fields that he said would be open to everyone. He said it would be available in every county in the district through an online program. A central training hub for the district would be developed for in-person, hands-on training. He said the idea was to try to remove all barriers to participation and include as many support services as possible.

My proposal is to provide them with substantive training, Lenard said. Open an avenue up for them to receive the type training that they would want to pursue. And allow them the avenues to pursue that. The financial resources that they might need. The mental support that they might need. All the support, the health issues that they might have, help them with that.

Affordable housing, Lenard said, is another priority. He proposes rural, suburban, and urban programs to rehabilitate vacant houses and make them available at affordable prices.

Its difficult to buy a house at current market price and then turn around and pay to repair that house, Lenard said. If that house is 30, 40, 50, 60 years old, all of the plumbing, all of the electrical everything in the house, youve got to replace it. It takes money to do that.

Lenard said state government has ignored the blight and waste caused by neglect and abandonment of houses.

The political system, the state Legislature, they have not passed any kind of rules, any kind of laws, any kind of substantive assistance to provide the people in resolving this issue, Lenard said. We just have housing that is available that no one can afford.

Lenard met his wife, Delorias Macon Lenard, when they were students at Tuskegee. Delorias Lenard became a veterinarian who retired in 2018 after 36 years with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dr. Lenard died in December 2020.

The political race will be Lenards first. He tried to run for sheriff of Montgomery County in 2022 but could not because of a law that passed in 2020 requiring the Montgomery County sheriff to be a certified law enforcement officer for at least three years. Lenard said he opposed the law because it unnecessarily excluded the vast majority of county residents. He filed a lawsuit to challenge the law but it was unsuccessful.

In the congressional race, Lenard said he knows it will be a challenge to establish name recognition with voters. But he said the confidence that he can be their advocate has motivated him since the Supreme Court order changing the district map.

At that point I said Ive got to run for this office and Ive got to give these people a voice, Lenard said. And a voice that can be heard that is not going to acquiesce. Were going to deal with our problems no matter what they are. And face them.
A federal prisoner being housed in a Florida Panhandle jail died Sunday after what the Santa Rosa County (Fla.) Sheriffs Office described as a use of force incident.

The sheriffs office said in a release the Federal Bureau of Prisons inmate was being held in the Santa Rosa County Jail. The identity of the deceased prisoner is not being released out of respect and to maintain privacy for the family.

Jillian Durkin, Public Information Officer for the SRCSO, told the Pensacola News Journal the officer involved has not been placed on administrative leave because the incident involved normal use of force, as opposed to deadly force.

Incidents like this deeply affect us all, Durkin wrote in the release. We value the lives of all the members of our community and those in our custody. This incident is currently being investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigations, with whom we are working with fully.

We ask for your patience as this thorough investigation ensues. It is at times like these that our agency self-assesses and evaluates our current practices to ensure we are operating in the best interests of the community.
Thanksgiving Day is considered the peak day for home cooking fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association which reports that more than three times the daily average for cooking fires occur on the holiday.

What about fires destroying a fast food restaurant on Thanksgiving? No statistic seems to be available on that.

You wouldnt think of a fast food joint catching fire, said Chris Ellis, chief of the Fairhope Volunteer Fire Department.

But thats exactly what happened on Thursday, as more than 30 firefighters from multiple agencies in Baldwin County battled a blaze to a McDonalds restaurant at 111 Greeno Road N.

No one was injured in the fire that started before 3 p.m. Firefighters from Fairhope, Daphne, Silverhill and Fish River/Marlow were on the scene until 7:30 p.m. putting out a blaze that led to the eaterys roof to collapse, and leaving the building at a complete loss.

Ellis said Fairhope fighters had to return to the restaurant around 9 p.m. after the fire restarted.

There was a hot spot inside and it was getting oxygen, said Ellis, adding that the response from fighters on Thanksgiving -- many of whom are volunteer firefighters -- helped Fairhopes agency contain the blaze.

I just appreciate all the hard work of the firefighters who were there, he said.

Ellis said there was staff inside the restaurant at the time of the fire. Its unclear if any customers were inside.

He said the State Fire Marshal is expected to be at the restaurant to investigate an official cause on Monday.

The restaurants owner could not be reached.

According to Baldwin County property records, the owner is FST and Greeno Properties Northeast Inc. of Spanish Fort. The propertys appraised value is $1.4 million, and the restaurant was built in 1992.

They are going to have to rebuild, for sure, he said. The owner seemed to indicate that.
The deadline to avoid deletion of your inactive Google accounts is nearing.

Tech giant Google will start enforcing its updated inactive account policy on Dec. 1, Forbes reported. The policy, first announced in May, will cover accounts that have been inactive for two years and includes content within Google Workspace such as Gmail, Docs, Drive, Meet, Calendar and Google Photos. The policy will only apply to personal Google Account and not accounts for organizations such as schools or businesses.

According to a blog post earlier this year by Ruth Kricheli, VP of Googles product management, the purge is part of a security measure to protect accounts.

If an account hasnt been used for an extended period of time, it is more likely to be compromised. This is because forgotten or unattended accounts often rely on old or re-used passwords that may have been compromised, havent had two-factor authentication set up, and receive fewer security checks by the user, Kricheli wrote. Meaning, these accounts are often vulnerable, and once an account is compromised, it can be used for anything from identity theft to a vector for unwanted or even malicious content, like spam.

Deletion will be done in a phased manner, starting with accounts that were created and never used again.

Want to keep your account active?

The simplest way to keep your account active is to sign on - at least once every two years. If youve signed into your Google account, it is considered active and wont be deleted. That activity includes signing in and:

Reading or sending an email

Using Google Drive

Watching a YouTube video

Downloading an app on the Google Play Store

Using Google Search

Using Sign In with Google to sign in to a third-party app or service

Anyone with an existing subscription set up through your Google Account is also considered to have an active account. Also, you will need to specifically sign in to Google Photos every 2 years to be considered active and ensure your photos and other content are not deleted.

You can see more details here.
A Gulf Shores man was killed and two Summerdale residents injured in a head-on collision in Baldwin County Friday night, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The crash occurred just before 5 p.m. Friday on Baldwin County 9, about five miles south of Summerdale. A 2008 Toyota Avalon driven by 41-year-old Cameron A. Onjukka crashed head on into a 2018 Hyundai Elantra driven by a 17-year-old Summerdale resident.

Onjukka was pronounced dead at the scene, while the teenage driver and his passenger, 20-year-old Macy E. Bishop, also of Summerdale, were transported to a local hospital for treatment of injuries sustained in the crash.

No additional details were provided as ALEA continues to investigate the cause of the crash.
Authorities say a Huntsville woman was shot to death in Owensboro, Ky. last week.

Owensboro police Dylan Evans said Stephanie Green, 40, of Huntsville, has been identified as the victim of a shooting that happened last Wednesday.

According to Evans, officers were called to a shooting in the 500 block of Orchard Street Nov. 22 at 8 p.m. They found Greens body there, dead from an apparent gunshot wound.

Greens body was identified by the Daviess County Coroners Office.

Owensboro police are looking for security camera footage that may reveal other information about the shooting.

Anyone with information is asked to call police at (270) 687-8888 or leave an anonymous tip at Crime Stoppers at (270) 687-8484.
This story is republished with permission from The Birmingham Times

At 17 years old, Lorenzo Brown was shot in the neck and paralyzed from his chest down. The first time he opened his eyes after being gunned down, he woke to find that he was permanently paralyzed, on life support, and his chances of making it out of the hospital alive were slim.When I awoke for the first time, the doctor was standing right over me. He looked me in my eyes and asked, Do you know whats wrong with you?  [Then] he said, Im afraid youre going to be paralyzed for the rest of your life. Youll never walk again, talk again. As a matter of fact, youre going to be a vegetable for the rest of your life.  Tears started rolling down my face, said Brown, who has quadriplegia  a form of paralysis that affects all four limbs, plus the torso.

Quality Of Life

Now age 47, Brown is executive director of the Is-Able Center, which he operates with five payroll employees and three volunteers, who serve as employment specialists, including his wife of 17 years, Amy Brown, and center assistants. The center is dedicated to empowering, educating and encouraging people in the disability community.

We took the ds out of disabled, [and] we are The Is-Able Center. Our mission is to enhance the quality of life of individuals with disabilities, their loved ones, and their caregivers. Our aim is to equip them with tools, resources, and information so that they can live more independent lives, Brown said of the center, which opened in 2017.

The IS-Able Center, located in Homewood at 244 West Valley Ave., Suite 206, operates five days a week and provides job readiness, computer and self-advocacy training, life skills, and depression and grief support groups.

The center also does outreach programming in Birmingham-area high schools, including at Arthur Harold Parker A.H. Parker, George W. Carver, and Minor high schools, all part of Birmingham City Schools.

Our services are specific to those with special needs, said Brown, adding that the center has served 56 students this year, offering the same programming thats available at the center in Homewood.

All services provided by The IS-Able Center are free. That makes a huge impact on the community, said the director. For people to be able to have access to services and not have to bear the burden of how they are going to pay for them is huge.  To also be able to come into an atmosphere where they are loved, appreciated, and respected is bigger. We treat them like theyre doing us a service, and we thank them for coming.

The IS-Able Center also has job placement partnerships with the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital Services and Sodexo, a food and facilities management company, with which Brown has had contracts with for years.

In fact, the center has placed hundreds on UABs college campus, he said: So far this year, our employment program has serviced about 68 referrals and about 200 individuals [overall].

The Marion, Alabama, native never attended high school but earned a General Education Development (GED) diploma in 1998 and then went on to attend UAB, where he studied business finance for two years before leaving in 2000 to pursue his call in the ministry.

In 2002, he began apprenticing under Bishop Steve Franklin of Covenant Heirs International Church in Birmingham and was ordained as a minister in 2004.

On the spiritual side, Brown has authored several books, including 31 Principles for Daily Living: 31-Day Devotional and Journal and Moments of Inspiration: 52-Week Devotional and Journal. He also speaks and works with various organizations, programs, and services to serve people with disabilities.

Brown especially has a heart for those suffering from depression and grief and would often host support group meetings because of what he had been through.

A Mothers Love

He remembers a very rough childhood.

My dad wasnt part of my life, and my mother was an alcoholic and addicted to crack cocaine, he said, recalling his years growing up with his two brothers. There were times we didnt have running water, working appliances, lights, or heat, which led to me having a pretty hard heart and mentality. I was out in the streets doing a lot of things to survive: [selling drugs, breaking into cars, and stealing from stores]. The streets are [part of] the reason I became a teenage father.  I got involved in a lot of things that a child with a normal upbringing wouldnt have gotten involved in.

The night he was shot, Brown recalled walking out from between two trailers and bumping into a guy whose hat had fallen off.

I bent down to pick it up, and the guy started mouthing off at me, Brown said. At that time, I was a hotheaded 17-year-old, and I thought it was a big deal when somebody would mouth off at me.  We got into an argument, and I left with the guys hat. An hour-and-a-half later, he and another guy came back and did a drive-by shooting. The bullet went in through the front of my neck, [struck] my spinal cord, and instantly paralyzed me.

Brown was taken to a hospital in serious condition, and his mother, who was inebriated that night, was told by a doctor that she should pull the plug.

She was drunk and high on crack, and she told the doctor, I dont care how he has to live. Im not pulling the plug on my sons life. So, I thank God for a mothers love, Brown said. A mothers love is so strong that even crack cocaine and alcohol cant overpower it.

Living conditions at Browns home were still dire when he returned. I came home to the same situationno running water, no working appliances, no heat. We only had electricity, so my mother put a single-eye hot plate up in my bedroom and a blanket under the door, [and that] served as my heater.

We cooked on [the hot plate], we sterilized my catheters on it. My brothers would carry buckets of water from the next-door neighbors house and [use that hot plate to] heat it. My 12-year-old brother was my primary caregiver.

Brown said his mother has been clean since April 2004, and she is part of his life. She comes to his home every day to help him get ready for the day.

Recovery

A year after becoming paralyzed, Browns familys inability to care for him led him to a nursing home in his rural hometown of Marion.

I stayed in two different nursing homes for a total of two years, three months, and five days. The whole time I was there, I never got one visit from a family member. I was totally abandoned, said Brown, who made a note of when he went into the nursing home (March 16, 1995) and his last day there (June 22, 1997)a Sunday, he recalled.

I literally thought I would die there, he added. At 19 years old, I thought I would live out my life alone in a home.

That was until a visiting nursing instructor called and asked Brown, If you ever had the chance to change your life, what would you do with it?

Then she asked me what I was going to do about getting out of there, Brown said. That thought had never crossed my mind.

After he left the home, a series of interventions, media attention, and speaking engagements led to Brown getting aid from the Alabama Department of Rehabilitation (ADR), which helped him with a move to a transitional living facility in Birmingham in 1997. There he met his best friendthe late David Bailey, who died of health complications in October 2010and they conceived the idea of the IS-Able organization out of desperation and despair.

We were literally about to kill ourselves when we came up with the idea, Brown said. [Bailey had quadriplegia] and was paralyzed just like me. He had been paralyzed for almost 30 years, and he knew a lot. We became best friends, and we were both struggling with depression. One day, [he and I] started discussing ways that [someone with quadriplegia] could commit suicide.

We said, Well blow our brains out, but neither one of us could pick up the gun and pull the trigger. We said, Well, were going to cut our wrists, but we couldnt pick up the razor blade. So, we said, Well take a bottle of pills, but we couldnt take the top off the bottle. Then we said, Were going to jump off a building, but then we said, How are we going to get to the top of the building? And even if we do, How are we going to get over the edge?

Eventually, they came up with an idea that they thought would work, Brown said.

We used to sit around a pool at an apartment complex next door to the facility we were in.  We could roll our wheelchairs into the deep end of that swimming pool and drown ourselves. All we needed was for our caregivers to buckle our seatbelts in our chairs so we could sink to the bottom. We put our plan together. We woke up the next day, met up outside, and were on our way to go drown ourselves.

Moments before following through, Brown recalled Bailey speaking up.

He turned to me and asked, Why hasnt anybody ever told us about different programs and services [that could help us] before we even got to this point? I said, Man, I dont know, but we need to do something about it. We need to call the president, the governor, or the mayor.  We need to tell somebody. Right then, a lightbulb went off in my head. I turned to [Bailey] and said, Lets start some type of nonprofit organization.

As soon as a purpose was discovered, the desire to live was restored, said Brown.

Full Circle

The very same day, Brown and Bailey set out for the Homewood Library to begin their research. We were in our wheelchairs and didnt have any idea where the library was, Brown said. We traveled about four miles by wheelchair.

Later that night, Brown had an epiphany: The Lord told me, Youre taking the ds out of disabled. The name of your organization is The IS-Able [Foundation], Brown recalled.

The next morning, he shared the epiphany with Bailey, and their organization was formed in 1998.

At that time, we primarily provided information and referrals, Brown said. We would go and see people in the hospital when they were first injured and share information about how they could get medical equipment, wheelchair ramps, home health services, and financial assistance for things they may need.

The Is-Able Center has come a long way. Nearly 20 years after the ADR moved Brown to Birmingham and helped him get his own apartment and a vehicle, he could operate himself, the IS-Able nonprofit formed a partnership with Alabama Department of Rehabilitation (ADR) in 2017.

It came full circle, said Brown. Who does The IS-Able Center have a contract with? The ADR. I went from being a client to being one of their service providers.

In October, Brown spoke before the National Coalition of State Rehabilitation Councils and the Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation as the keynote speaker for the progression of the quality of life for people in the disability community.

A Blessing

Future plans for the IS-Able organization include opening a transitional living facility similar to the one that changed Browns life.

That facility was a game-changer in my life, he said. With a transitional living facility, we would bring in people who are injured, train them, and give them the same services offered at our center.

People in other states or rural communities would live at the facility for 30 to 90 days, and wed provide them with those services, as well as physical therapy and occupational therapy to equip them to live an independent life, said Brown, adding that strategic plans are underway to open the transitional living facility, which he hopes to open in two years.

Brown, a father of fourdaughter, Marilyn, 29; twin sons, Isaac and Isaiah, 13; and his youngest son, Jeremiah, 6looks back on his life before he found resources and says the memories have not faded.

He considers being shot a blessing.

If someone can say that being shot and becoming paralyzed is a blessing, that goes to show you they had a pretty rough life before that, said Brown. This led to me having a better life and becoming a better man. When I look in the mirror now, I like the man that I see. This was a blessing in disguise.

He added, If I had to go back and live my journey all over again, even becoming paralyzed, if its going to lead to being the man I am today and living the purpose I live now, Id do it all over again.

The IS-Able Center is located at 244 West Valley Ave., Suite 206, Homewood, AL 35209. To learn more about the center, call 205-777-4017; email isablecenter@gmail.com; or visit www.isable.org, Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/isablecenter), or Instagram (@isablecenter).
A woman hunting ancient shark teeth was buried alive when an excavation wall collapsed on her, according to rescuers in southwest Florida.

The woman survived, but required hospitalization, North Port, Fla. Fire Rescue reports. Her identity and details of her injuries were not released.

It happened around 8 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 24, near the Grand Palm subdivision in Venice, rescue officials said in a news release. The North Port-Venice area is about 90 miles south of Tampa.

The call was initially dispatched as a possible fall with a suspected leg injury. Rescue (personnel) arrived to find an adult female at the base of an excavation site where she had been digging for sharks teeth, North Port Fire Rescue reports.

The digging at the base caused the wall to collapse, briefly covering the victim completely. Friends who were with the victim were able to free her from underneath the pile.

She was alert and oriented when North Port Fire Rescue arrived. However, the woman was stuck at the bottom of a 12-foot excavation site that was bordered by water on the opposite side, officials said.

Ropes and a basket were used to bring the victim up to ground level so she could be taken by helicopter to a hospital, officials said.

Collecting ancient shark teeth, particularly megalodon teeth, is a common hobbyist pursuit along waterways and excavation sites in Florida.

Screams for help lead deputies to car submerged in Florida pond. See dramatic rescue

Off-duty cops fishing 6 miles off Florida Keys spot adrift diver desperate for rescue

Large tree falls on man, pinning him to tractor in 7,000-acre park, Florida cops say

2023 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Poarch Band of Creek Indians, Alabamas only federally recognized Native American tribe, are descended from a segment of the Creek Nation. Today, the tribe manages the powerful Wind Creek Hospitality brand, OWA Parks and Resort, a federal contracting company, and a Natural Resources Department that manages Perdido River Farms, wildlife reserves, and next year is opening a $15 million meat processing facility.

Stephanie Bryan was elected tribal chair and CEO in 2014, the tribes first female tribal chair, according to their website. She previously served as vice chair of the Poarch Creek Indians tribal council. Bryan oversees all of the tribes operations, including the government, Creek Indian Enterprises Development Authority (CIEDA) and the PCI Gaming Authority.

This past week, the Poarch Band of Creek Indians held their 51st annual Pow Wow. Thousands were expected to come to the tribes Atmore reservation for the annual celebration. Here, Bryan discusses the Pow Wow, how the tribe is working to address labor shortages for its many businesses and the importance of sovereignty.

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

I want to start with the Pow Wow. Its the 51st annual Pow Wow, tell me a bit about, the tradition behind it, and anything special you have planned for this years.
Union Pacifics Englewood rail yard, photographed Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Houston. Authorities have identified higher rates of cancer than expected in Fifth Ward around the rail yard. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer Leisa Glenn, of Impact Greater Fifth Ward, tries to find her family home on a map with assist from United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 Superfund Remedial Program Manager John Meyer, left, and a representative from Houston City Council member Letitia Plummers team following a meeting with community affected by creosote contamination on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023 at Fifth Ward Multi-Service Center in Houston. Glenns family has been living in the house on Lavender Street just across from the railyard owned by Union Pacific Railroad for decades. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer Contractors for Union Pacific measure sand poured into a hole under the sidewalk while setting up a testing site in 5th Ward for contaminants in the area near the Union Pacific rail yard on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023 in Houston. Several testing sites are being installed near the Union Pacific rail yard near Liberty Road to test for potential creosote vapor intrusion. This is the first of several tests supervised by the EPA. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer A test well is shown as Kathy Blueford-Daniels, a Fifth Ward resident and community activist, talks about health concerns in the area near her home from the creosote contamination at the former Union Pacific Railroad site wood treatment facility shown Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Houston. Residents had previously picketed at the contaminated rail yard on Valentines Day, but decided not to picket as they are frustrated and tired of fighting. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

A group of Fifth Ward residents for years has pushed for confirmation that contamination from a shuttered wood preserving site caused the rash of cancers and other diseases they have witnessed among neighbors and family members. Union Pacific Railroad, which inherited the site with its purchase of a prior owner, resisted for much of that time, saying it did not believe an underground plume of contamination reached residents at levels that would make them sick.

Eventually, a revealing cancer cluster study from the Department of State Health Services and an unusual level of involvement from the City of Houston led Union Pacific to start performing a slew of new tests this fall under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency supervision.

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The contamination in the historically Black community is one part of its broader environmental justice legacy. Robert Bullard of Texas Southern University first wrote about the concept when surveying the concentration of Houston landfills in neighborhoods like Fifth Ward, but the area is also home to a range of large and small industrial facilities that compromise its air, land and water. Still, the area's rail yard has one of the clearest sources of chemical contamination that is spreading through the ground. Here are some things to know:

When did the operation shutter?

The Houston Wood Preserving Works was an open-air facility run by Southern Pacific Transportation where workers dipped wooden rail ties in a chemical mixture that preserved and weatherized them. The site operated from 1899 to 1984 according to representatives from Union Pacific, which merged with Southern Pacific in 1997.

Creosote is mixed with extenders and used across the country as a wood preservative to this day. The Fifth Ward operation held large amounts of the substance in an open-air pit, and environmental assessments submitted to the state show officials knew decades ago that it had seeped into the earth at the site, contaminating the groundwater and soil.

Under state supervision, Union Pacific took over site cleanup in the late 1990s and continued to drill, monitor and regularly extract creosote from 40-foot wells on the site and at the edge of the neighboring community, where they found a creosote "plume" had spread under about 110 adjacent lots including many homes.

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What is in the Fifth Ward creosote plume?

Coal tar creosote, a toxic substance and probable carcinogen that has a number of other negative health impacts, is a thick, oily coal-derived liquid. The fluid itself is a mixture of many chemicals, including a group of substances also found in gasoline called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The EPA lists these along with creosote, dioxin and pentachlorophenol as the main substance families of concern for the Fifth Ward site.

The mixture that seeped into the ground in Fifth Ward was more than just creosote. Companies often would use an extender to stretch the volume of the coal tar substance, and Southern Pacific included liquid waste from multiple Houston-area Superfund sites among those extenders. While Union Pacific still periodically removes creosote mixture from the observation wells it drilled around the neighborhood, the substance remains and continues to shift underground.

Is the contamination harming residents?

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The Texas Department of State Health Services identified several cancer clusters in the area, meaning they could prove that residents were getting certain cancers at significantly higher rates than the general population. Such findings are rare, since the data is skewed when people move or do not seek treatment in the place they are exposed. The study found heightened rates of adult esophagus, larynx and lung and bronchus cancers, as well as childhood leukemia.

For the City of Houston, this was enough to raise alarm bells: the Houston Health Department started engaging the community and doing its own testing starting in 2019. According to their limited probes, the surface water, drinking water and ambient air appeared safe, but they identified contaminants in underground storm sewers and found chemicals of concern in some soil, vapor intrusion and dust samples that they said suggested a need for further testing.

TESTING UNDERWAY: Fifth Ward residents will see crews testing for creosote contamination through May 2024

Who is responsible for the cleanup?

The City of Houston identified patterns during its soil and dust sampling that they said suggest the contamination which still exists around the site is most likely from the creosoting operation, since they said levels of certain toxic substances were higher closer to the site and on top of the creosote plume.

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City officials announced a "strike force" to offer voluntary relocations for the households on top of the plume and seeded the fund with $5 million, though the project is expected to cost much more. The city has publicly suggested Union Pacific should be paying for the relocations.

The company pointed to other sources of industrial contamination in the brownfield-dense historic Fifth Ward, and it has said it cannot step in to fund relocation before it can be certain its operation is what has made residents sick.

What happens next?

Union Pacific is digging wells at different depths and preparing to test residents' yards for dangerous levels of contamination under the supervision of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Next summer, the agency plans to consider all of the new data and produce a risk assessment, which will determine if the neighborhood is considered safe or if the company will be required to clean it up.

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This EPA report will compare current contamination levels to federal safety standards to make that determination, asking not whether there is contamination but whether residents are likely to be exposed at levels that are considered dangerous under current regulations.
The hostage-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas is being called a ceasefire in the media, playing on the central demand of leftist demonstrators and others who favor the Palestinian cause. But the proper term is truce, a temporary pause in fighting to allow humanitarian actions. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared The war continues. until we have achieved complete victory Eliminating Hamas, liberating our captives and making sure that post-Hamas there will be no threat to Israel. The October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas killed 1,200 people, nearly all civilians, in sadistic fashion. Israel cannot allow Gaza to be a base for more such attacks as the Iran-backed group has pledged to do until Israel is destroyed.

Hamas, however, needs the truce to become a ceasefire to survive. The Israeli counterattack is methodically working its way through Gaza City with skillful tactics backed by superior firepower. Hamas as lost an estimated 5,000 fighters, including several leaders. The bulk of its forces (perhaps 20,000 fighters) have fled into southern Gaza, mixing in with refugees in the same way it tried to use civilians as human shields in the north. In pursuit, Israeli forces will have to fight in other urban centers smaller in size but overcrowded with refugees engaged with international relief agencies.

It is supposed concern for civilians caught in the combat zone that is generating the calls for a ceasefire and the opening of supply routes into Gaza. These calls should be ignored for several reasons. The most obvious is that those in the forefront of the peace movement with their calls for liberating Palestine from the river to the sea are working for the genocidal Hamas cause. They are pro-war, not anti-war, as they favor a victory by Hamas. Those who understand and support the Israeli cause see the chants of the Left as confirmation that the destruction of Hamas is imperative.

Even those who are sincere in their concern for the loss of life are basing their appeal on mistaken ideas about urban warfare and military history. Which side is putting civilians at risk? Israel is on the attack dropping bombs and sending in ground troops, but who has chosen the targets? The answer is Hamas by deploying in populated areas, hiding in Mosques, schools, and hospitals, digging tunnels under city blocks of apartments and shops. They picked the battlefield for their own purposes, one of which was to curry international sympathy as victims -- a status they clearly do not deserve.

Let us step back from the emotions of the moment and seek perspective from military history. When Japan invaded the Philippines on December 8, 1941 (only 10 hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor), a prime objective was Manila. Gen. Douglas MacArthur wanted to spare the civilian population of the capital so declared Manila an open city and withdrew his troops to the Bataan peninsula and the fortress of Corregidor. They fought on until May 6, 1942, when they had to surrender. MacArthur escaped and vowed to return to free the islands, which he did on October 20, 1944. At that time General Tomoyuki Yamashita imitated MacArthur by declaring Manila open and retiring to the mountainous north. But Rear Adm. Sanji Iwabuchi refused to follow orders, instead turning Manila into a fortress complete with tunnels and booby traps. Iwabuchis elite Special Naval Landing Force marines set parts of the city on fire to slow our advance while targeting the citys civilian population for indiscriminate slaughter.

Urban combat has not changed much. We relied on firepower to support infantry who had to clear the city block by block. With defeat inevitable, the defenders turned on the civilians with torture, rape, and executions. While MacArthur considered the Filipinos to be his people and sought to spare them, the Japanese considered them as enemies. After the war, Yamashita was hanged for the Manila Massacre as a convicted war criminal.

So, does Hamas consider the people of Gaza City to be its people or enemies? They care nothing for Palestinian lives even though they claim to be fighting for their cause. Hamas takes its orders from Iran, which provides money, training, and weapons as it does for armed groups across the region (in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen). Hamas is different in one major respect: it is a Sunni organization. Iran is ruled by a Shiite theocracy at war with the Sunni Arab states as well as with the Jewish state of Israel. The Tehran strategists are delighted to use Sunnis as cannon fodder. Iran cares little for the fate of a Sunni Palestine. Its aim is to destroy Israel. Though Irans armed Shiite groups are harassing Israel and American bases, it is leaving the heavy fighting to its Sunni pawns who are expendable (whether fighters or civilians). Israel, with its attempts to evacuate the combat zone, is showing more concern for the Palestinian people than Hamas (though like our forces in Manila, they have victory as their first duty).

The Iran-Shiite hatred for Sunni civilians was demonstrated during the Syrian civil war. A majority of Syrians are Sunni but the Assad family are Alawites, who are Shia. When a popular uprising started in 2011 demanding democratic reforms and an end to corruption, Bashar al-Assad responded ruthlessly. The rebel stronghold was in Aleppo, the countrys economic center. With help from Iranian special forces, Hezballah, and other militia groups armed by Tehran, the city fell to regime forces in 2016. Civilians had been targeted during the siege, including with the use of chemical weapons. It was a peoples war that included everyone. The United Nations called the final days of the siege a complete meltdown of humanity. Russia had also intervened with air strikes against the rebels, a campaign that continues to this day. The Russian-Iranian partnership offers mutual support for aggression both in Europe and the Middle East. It was not a coincidence that Russia launched a new offensive in Ukraine the same week Hamas attacked Israel.

Since the dawn of history, cities have been the focus of war because that is where the people are. Capital cities are obvious objectives but so are ports, industrial centers, and transportation hubs. One of the first signs of civilization was when villages built walls for defense. Walls have been superseded by modern cities where concrete and steel offer defense in depth. Sieges have been common since ancient times where starvation and disease are more effective than bombardment. Urban combat and social mobilization have blurred the line between soldier and civilian. The troops on the front line are supported by the civilian economy and reinforced by recruits. Rosie the Riveter is a military asset.

In World War II, the American and British strategic bombing of Germany aimed at destroying the industrial and logistical foundations of Axis military power. This inevitably meant targeting civilians in their role as part of the enemys war machine. While the U.S. aimed at factories in daylight raids, the British bombed at night, hitting where the factory workers lived. Residential areas were larger targets for saturation bombing before the development of precision technology. In the decades since, the U.S. and its allies have invested billions to become more precise in hitting military targets, but civilian casualties are inevitable because the sharp line armchair critics claim exists between war and society does not exist in the real world. The fight for cities is the ultimate proof of this.

The first duty of the Israeli government is to protect its own people, which is the duty of all responsible governments. The objective of war is to create a better situation (for the victor) than existed before its outbreak. Eliminating Hamas is both an essential and moral war aim. However, as a civilized people, the Israelis have tried to limit innocent civilian casualties. Hamas has counted on this restraint (while showing none itself). It would be a grave blunder for Hamas to be proven correct by turning virtue into a defeat. Israel must liberate Gaza from Hamas just as we liberated Germany from the Nazis by whatever means necessary. Everyone will be better off when this mission is accomplished and peace is secured.

William R. Hawkins is a former economics professor who served on the professional staff of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee. He has written widely on international economics and national security issues for both professional and popular publications.

Image: RIA Novosti
As each year winds down, holiday celebrations, including Thanksgiving and Christmas, bring families together. With our mobile society, many return home from all around the globe.

For American citizens returning home, its a long flight, passport control at the airport, then a ride home. For those without a U.S. passport, wanting to visit friends and family in the U.S., the process is a nightmare, far more difficult than Kevin McCallister getting home after being stranded in NYC in Home Alone 2.

I am referring to the visa process which foreign nationals must navigate to travel to, or even transit through, the United States.

Tourist visas are called B1 or B2 visas and are used for non-U.S. residents desiring to travel to the U.S. to conduct business, attend a professional conference, visit family, or just take a vacation.

Residents of 41 specific countries are eligible for a visa waiver, allowing a 90-day stay in the U.S. for business or tourism without having to apply for a visa.

These countries are primarily first-world countries in Europe and a few in Asia and Oceania. Notably absent are countries in the Middle East, Africa, or South America.

One might consider this racist or xenophobic but there are also practical concerns over potential terrorism or visitors wanting to travel to the U.S. and never return to their home countries.

YouTube screen grab

After recent events in Israel, this is more than just a passing concern. Not to the Department of Homeland Security however as millions of unvetted migrants are sashaying across the U.S. Southern border each year with the blessing and encouragement of the Biden administration.

Missing from the visa waiver program are the 150 remaining countries where most residents want to simply visit friends and family for the holidays, or otherwise travel to and spend money in New York, Las Vegas, or Miami. How can they get to the U.S.?

An interview at a U.S. embassy or consulate is required to obtain a travel visa. This should be easy and straightforward. It is anything but, a nightmare for visa applicants.

For some countries, the wait time a visa interview at a U.S. consulate might be days. For other countries, it can take years.

Current wait times for a visitor visa interview, according to the State Department are 459 days for Abu Dhabi, 686 days for Istanbul, 416 days for Lagos, and 849 days for Mexico City.

Ironically, one could take a bus or train from Mexico City to the Texas border and be in the U.S. within a few days.

Corporate media has little interest in visa delays, instead castigating all who advocate for border security as racists or xenophobes. The Wall Street Journal, in a random act of journalism, did weigh in a year ago,

The State Department has been struggling to keep up with visas since 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the closing of U.S. consulates around the world, bringing the application process for entry into the country temporarily to a halt. Two and a half years later, some consulates are still offering only emergency appointments. Though visa issuance has mostly rebounded to prepandemic levels, demand for visas is so high that appointments for anyone looking to apply are often booked months or even years out, and the Biden administration has faced mounting anger from business groups, Silicon Valley companies, universities, hospitals and the travel industry over the delays.

COVID is over, but the excuses persist.

A real-life example of how these delays affect visitors is a semi-retired Australian international businessman invited to a friends wedding in Seattle with 160 days advanced notice.

He was told he would have to wait anywhere from 216 to 300 days for a visa interview, meaning, he could not attend his friends wedding despite having spent a decade traveling around the world, including the U.S., on business.

Here are some hypothetical examples.

If a Lagos, Nigeria woman wants to visit her boyfriend in Atlanta or Denver and she will have to wait 416 days just for an embassy appointment. A family from Bogota, Colombia hoping to visit Disney World will wait 760 days for their visa appointment. A physician in Mumbai, India wanting to attend an American medical conference wont get an appointment for 491 days, long after the medical meeting is over.

The irony is that if that same physician, family, or woman made their way to the U.S. Southern border, they could waltz across, and if even apprehended crossing, they could claim persecution, ask for asylum, and be granted entry into the U.S. They would also receive a welcome basket of goodies including food stamps, Medicaid health insurance, Social Security income, and other forms of assistance, including free education for their children.

How about a personal example?

My sons girlfriend is Nigerian. She owns a travel tour company and has visited many countries in the EU, Middle East, and Africa, without overstaying any visa. Yet she cannot obtain a tourist visa for the U.S. The consulate gives no reason, other than a no.

As such, my family and I are traveling to Mexico, where she can travel, so she can spend Thanksgiving with our family. How much easier it would be for everyone if she could simply come to the U.S. and spend Thanksgiving with my family at home. We will spend money in Mexico rather than in the U.S. over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Why does the State Department not fix this? The U.S. economy would benefit, a good thing considering its current state.

Illegal immigration costs U.S. taxpayers over $100 billion a year, yet tourism nets the U.S. more than $1 trillion a year, a ten-fold plus difference to the U.S. economy. Why are we making it so difficult to visit and stimulate our economy?

Can this be fixed, assuming the Biden admiration wants to fix this? Why would they not want to streamline the visitor visa process?

Visitors visit, then go home. Illegal migrants come to America and stay, and perhaps vote. According to the Verifythis website, Undocumented immigrants and other noncitizens cant vote for federal or state offices, but they can vote for local offices in more than a dozen municipalities.

Since when do Democrats follow rules? There are allegations of more votes cast than there are registered voters in particular jurisdictions, so why would illegal migrants not be registered and have their ballots counted?

If the Biden administration did want to solve visitor visa delays, they could hold interviews virtually via Zoom or another similar platform, clearing the backlog, allowing foreigners to travel to America to visit, celebrate, holiday, and spend their money on American goods and services?

For an interview lasting three to five minutes, an embassy could perform 10 interviews per hour, 80 per day, 400 per week. More than 100 embassies, or 40,000 interviews, could be conducted each week, clearing and eliminating any backlog. The U.S. has more than 250 embassies and consulates worldwide.

Yet the Biden administration allows millions of illegal migrants to enter the U.S. each year, most unable to speak English, without skills, carrying diseases, now living in American hotels at taxpayer expense with no plans to return home or assimilate into American culture.

Individuals from foreign countries, seeking to visit the U.S. legally, playing by the rules, and spending their own money while in the U.S. are told to wait in a multi-year line. At the same time, those entering the country illegally, not playing by the rules, not stimulating the U.S. economy, are enjoying the largess of U.S. taxpayers, and are shuttled to the front of the line.

Is this incompetence? Or a planned and coordinated Cloward-Piven strategy to undermine America? You decide.

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
There are recent headlines and talk about Israel relaxing gun control laws and arming citizens since the Hamas terrorist attacks October 7th. But these narratives can be deceiving. One Israeli tactical expert, Yonatan Stern, has exposed some concerning actions on behalf of the Israeli government that tell a different story.

Yonatan Stern was born in Israel in 1984, and joined the Israeli police at age 16, after growing up in Hebron, where he witnessed constant terror attacks. At age 18, he joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), where he served for three years. He then attended college, where he studied government and counter-terrorism operations before moving to the United States in 2007. Several years later he founded the Cherev Gidon Israeli Tactical Training Academy. Cherev Gidon means sword of Gideon, referring to the military leader, judge and prophet whose victory over the Midianites is recounted in the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Stern brings a unique approach to firearms training that aims to address weak spots that he has identified in Americans firearm habits.

Is Israel Truly Willing to Give Citizens the Right to Self-Defense?

According to Stern, almost nobody is allowed to own guns at all in Israel. But most citizens enter the Israeli military at 18, and they are issued a rifle. Americans who enter the military are also issued rifles, but the difference is that American soldiers arent permitted to keep their rifles in their possession off base. But in Israel it doesnt work like that, in Israel, the soldiers usually leave their bases carrying their rifles with them, says Stern. Upon discharge from the IDF, however, the rifle is taken from the Israeli soldier. And from the sounds of it, that soldier may never be able to even get a handgun, never mind a rifle, again. Images in the news recently of IDF soldiers carrying their weapons are contributing to public deception around the idea of loosened gun-control laws in Israel. The problem is that people see these off-duty soldiers, very often who walk around in civilian clothes, carrying M16s on their back, says Stern. And the conclusion that outsiders come to, oh look at that all these civilians in Israel are armed, they can just walk around lugging M16s on their back, and they see [Israel] as a gun utopia.

If you are worried about gun control in America, you would not want to be an Israeli citizen. There is no Second Amendment in Israel. In fact, the second law that the Israeli legislature passed in 1949 was the confiscation of all firearms and munitions. About 2% of private citizens in Israel own firearms, as compared to 30% of people in the United States. Out of those 2%, those lucky few who do have a firearm license in Israel, its only good for one pistol, no rifles, no shotgun, just one measly pistol.

There has been a recent increase in the amount of ammunition a gun owner can possess in Israel from 50 to 100 rounds. But that might not make much of a difference, considering what Israeli citizens are now up against. Whoop-de-doo -- thats a huge improvement. You know youre up against heavily armed terrorists with AK 47s, and youve got now youve got a whole hundred rounds of 380 in your little Glock 42, laments Stern.

Another problem is that very few Israeli citizens are eligible to apply for a gun permit. Even if you are eligible, you can be denied a permit without explanation. I lived in a frontline settlement called Kiryat Arba which is next to the city of Hebron, its smack in the middle of the West Bank, we were getting shot at all the time, surrounded by Palestinian terrorists, I was eligible to apply but they denied me without giving a reason, says Stern. You know thats the problem when youre dealing with a bureaucracy, and you have these power-hungry bureaucrats, they dont like the look on your face one day, they just decide nope.

Failures of Israeli and American Leadership Prior to Hamas Attacks

How did Israels advanced and heavily funded intelligence services (including Shin Bet, Mossad, and the IDF) miss this impending attack from Hamas, which put its unarmed citizens in danger? Israels agents and informants have followed militant leaders such as those in Hamas in the past, and managed to stop them in their tracks. Israels intelligence services have motion sensors, cameras, army patrols and even a "smart barrier" along the border between Gaza and Israel. Obviously heads are gonna have to roll for this, says Stern. Im sure there are going to have to be investigations looking into who is responsible for these failures, and those responsible are going to have to face judgment for what they did.

President Biden is making gun control a priority in America, with the regulations issued by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the new White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, but the president is now under investigation for being a potential accessory to supplying Hamas terrorists with arms. When the U.S. pulled out of Afghanistan in 2021, it left behind $7.12 billion in military equipment, including 316,000 weapons. Some of these weapons were sold to Palestinian resistance groups through the black market.

Stern feels that Biden is also too focused on protecting Hamas and civilian casualties, and that his behavior in pressuring Israel on how to prosecute the war is unforgivable. He should not be trying to place any conditions, and try to hinder Israel in any way, and Im definitely disappointed about that, but Im not surprised.

Politically Motivated Disarmament in Israel Endangers Citizens

There also appears to be politically motivated disarmament going on in Israel since the Hamas attacks. Stern mentions the story of Amishov Melet, a security coordinator in Geulat Zion, a small community on the West Bank. Melet was issued an M16 rifle by the IDF to protect the settlement. Israels Shin Bet, which is the Israeli equivalent of the United States FBI, had been monitoring Melets political activity and communications. They didnt like this guy because of his political views, hes a right winger whos outspoken, hes conservative, hes been critical of the government, and they decided he is not someone that they believe should have the right to defend himself or his community, says Stern. So they ordered the IDF to confiscate his rifle, his M16. That left his entire community exposed and vulnerable.

After Stern drew attention to this story, other Israelis who were disarmed for similar reasons reached out to the press and on social media. This is treason, to disarm your own people on the front lines in the midst of a war, thats the worst betrayal that you can do.

The good news is that some action has taken place on behalf of Israeli lawmakers, thanks to Sterns exposure of the corrupt political establishment in Israel. Ministers Amichai Chikli (Likud) and Yitzhak Wasserlauf (Otzma Yehudit), along with 11 MKs addressed a letter to the Shin Bet, demanding that previously confiscated rifles be returned to the residents of Judea and Samaria.

Israels gun-control policies are much stricter than those of other countries typically known to be anti-gun, including Australia and England, says Stern.He believes that recent media narratives paint an all-too-forgiving picture of the willingness of Israeli leaders to arm and protect their citizens.

Jessica Geraghty is an established freelance writer and blogger who has over 15 years of experience writing for businesses, political candidates and news publications. Most recently, topics she has written about include human resources, informed consent, the Second Amendment and real estate.

Image: Ralf Steinberger
It's no secret that the Biden administration's diplomacy is run by amateurs.

That's the verdict of experienced U.S. diplomats who have watched what the 'C' team under Joe Biden, assigned to the diplomatic backwater of Venezuela.

Calling them "the three stooges" former U.S. ambassador to Colombia Michael Skol and Venezuelan Pedro Burelli marveled at the embarrassing ineptness and improvisation of three or four members of the Biden team whose bright idea was to get Venezuela to pump oil for us so that Joe could continue to keep U.S. domestic oil drilling off limits in the name of "going green." These included James Story, the U.S. ambassador to the interim government of Venezuela (led by Juan Guaido) resident in Colombia, Roger Carstens, the Special Envoy for Hostage Affairs, and Juan Gonzalez, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, all flying to Caracas meeting with the much-sanctioned Maduro regime to beg him to pump oil for us. Amos Hochstein, a White House energy advisor, was also viewed as part of the team.

Their final result was a deal with Maduro to get sanctions dropped in exchange for American hostages held by the regime freed, and free and fair election in Venezuela. Sanctions got dropped all right...

In exchange for this:

and this:

That's some smart diplomacy.

Now the team that brought that diplomatic fiasco has been failed upward.

Meanwhile, Gonzalez is scheduled to meet with Argentina's new president-elect, Javier Milei on Monday.

All of them go way back as Obama operatives, according to the YouTube speakers. In addition, Gonzalez is an old Biden crony from the days at Penn Center:

Meanwhile, former fellows and administrators of the Penn Biden Center now have key positions in the Biden administration. ... Juan Sebastian Gonzalez, a senior fellow at the center from April 2018 to September 2020, is special assistant to the president and the national security director for the Western Hemisphere at the White House, according to his LinkedIn page.

Feel confident these characters, known as "the three stooges" by diplomats for their amateurish performance in Venezuela, are going to do a good job in Israel with the Hamas war or with the important matter of managing Argentina relations? Regarding dollarization, defense cooperation and other matters? He'll mess it up because Argentina is not an enemy of the U.S. for him to kowtow to, so he won't know what to do. He'll alienate Argentina and waste a lot of opportunities for both countries.

It comes down to leadership and watching these failures fail upward is dismaying.

But it's not surprising. The U.S. diplomatic operation is headlined by Antony Blinken, our current Secretary of State.

Mark Levin had some choice words about Blinken's competence as regards Israel:

Antony Blinken, the great traitor



Blinken is a despicable con who is organizing Arab and European countries and the U.N. around the backs of our Congress and Israel to carve up Israel and gift the Palestinians massive swaths of Israels country, including Judea and Samaria.  Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) November 23, 2023

It's all blind hands on an elephant -- or jackass -- as the case may be.

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
The newest talking point from the Hamas apologists is that they are fighting not only against an Israeli apartheid and occupation but also against a Jewish genocide against the Gazastanians. The problem with this claim, of course, is that the Gazan population has grown ten times over 70 years. Faced with this challenging reality, Hamas apologists are busy redefining what genocide means.

For a good analysis of the lie behind the genocide claim, I recommend Milli Sands essay, which looks at population growth in Gaza and the West Bank. She also examines the mass slaughters across the world in recent years, none of which have raised a peep from Hamas supporters, leftists, and other people utterly bereft of any moral compass. Indeed, a meme thats been making the rounds nails the issue.

This tweet does, too:

 Breaking: Israel  killed nearly one thousand civilians yesterday, many of them women and children!



Sorry for the typo, they were killed yesterday in Darfur, Sudan 



Nobody cares.#NoJewsNoNews pic.twitter.com/EGbJKyzdx0  Dr. Eli David (@DrEliDavid) November 7, 2023

So, there is no historic mass extermination of Arab Muslims living in Gaza and the West Bank. Of course, any Jews unlucky enough to find themselves wandering into those territories will be slaughtered, and Christian Arabs have been systematically killed and uprooted (which makes it baffling to me why so many Christian Arabs support the Gazastanians and West Bankians).

But what about now? Are Gazans being massacred in unprecedented numbers during the current war? No. Theyre not.

First, Hamas has repeatedly been caught over the years faking deaths and injuries:

Instead, Hamas is taking a page out of the Nazi playbook, which wildly overstated deaths from the Dresden air raids in an effort to make themselves look like the victims rather than the aggressors. For several reasons, the Gazan claims about deaths are risible:

We're happy to report his condition has been upgraded to alive. pic.twitter.com/0u7NHLgZbL  The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) November 5, 2023

When you get your casualty numbers from the "Gaza Ministry of Health". pic.twitter.com/cgukGVf7Pm  The Mossad: Satirical, Yet Awesome (@TheMossadIL) October 30, 2023

If you're going to be a crisis actor, at least be a good crisis actor. These are Razzie candidates. https://t.co/CqUStcujnW  Andrea Widburg (@Bookwormroom) November 10, 2023

Second, as Hamass leader, Ismail Haniyeh, has said, Hamas desperately needs civilian deaths, so its not going to be picky about whether people are actually killed or whether its able to sell inflated numbers to the West. Its noteworthy that Haniyeh, rather than leading his troops, is sitting out the war in Qatar, where he enjoys the lifestyle of a multi-billionaire.

To achieve Haniyehs propaganda goals, Hamas has actually contributed to the number of civilian deaths, not just by placing its tunnels, weapons, and fighters in, around, and under hospitals, schools, and apartment buildings but also by straight out slaughtering those of its own people who dont want to be grim statistics.

Third, Hamas lies about the number who have died, whether by inflating the actual numbers or listing as civilians people who are clearly combatants. Ive included at the end of this post a careful study detailing the many fallacies behind the Hamas genocide claim.

Mostly, Hamas and its useful idiots on the left across the West can ignore the data as they insist that Israel is the real Nazi nation. However, occasionally, the fact that the Gazastanians and West Bankians have consistently grown in number, whether under Israels aegis or with Israel as a neighbor, has been impossible to avoid. So, whats a good Jihadist or leftist to do? Simple: Redefine what constitutes genocide.

I stumbled across this because Jon Lovitz has been waging a valiant war on Twitter against American Hamas supporters. For example, he took on Katie Halper, a hard-left Jew who is busy demanding that Israel stop fighting the terrorist organization that wants to wipe out Jews from the river to the sea and who thinks Hamas is a humanitarian organization. The resulting back and forth generated Halpers astonishing claim that Reduction of population is not required to fulfill the definition of genocide.

Shes great actually. You can do your genocide denial without trying to sic the dogs on Jewish women who simply dont want thousands of innocents to be killed by a right wing ethnostate.  Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) November 26, 2023

Reduction of population is not required to fulfill the definition of genocide.  Katie Halper A Jew For #CeasefireNow (@kthalps) November 26, 2023

Well, thats actually the exact definition of genocide: Trying to exterminate a race, as the Nazis did when they successfully slaughtered almost the entirety of Europes Jewish population. Or, as Hamas explicitly intends to do, a sentiment expressed in its slogan that Palestine shall be free from the river to the sea.

George Orwell, whose 1984 is no longer being read in Western schools, made it very clear that controlling language is the fundamental way to control people. Unlike all other animals, we make sense of the world and our relationship to others via words:

Dont you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thoughtcrime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.

In the lefts wonderful new world, genocide is simply a calumny to throw against disfavored groups like Jews and whites, irrespective of whether the people against whom they have allegedly committed this act grow or diminish in number.

Image: Internet meme by @stopterrornow.

The media and UN have parroted the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry "statistics" of 12,300 were killed, of whom 5,000 (40%) were children and 3,300 women (26%) with more than 74% of the Palestinians killed in Gaza are children, women, and the elderly.  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

The Hamas ministry does not reveal how many of the men are civilians and how many combatants. Nor are reporters aware of the vast discrepancy between women and children casualties in 2023 and those who died in previous Gaza engagements on which the Hamas Health Ministry published  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

The New York Times noted that some ages in the population were most likely to be militants. Those ages are between 15 and 39 (although the Times erroneously omitted 15 to 19 men as combatants).  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Why such a vast change? First, after October 7, 2023, Hamas stopped giving details about the casualties age and sex. The unchallenged numbers issued by Hamas ministry and repeated by the press are fanciful propaganda statistics. pic.twitter.com/EAql82uWLi  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

The dead Hamas terrorists at just Kibbutz Beeri numbered more than 30. (Beeri counted more than 100 of its members dead, and dozens were kidnapped to Gaza.) pic.twitter.com/xmADUucT5L  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Al-Kidra uses a very broad definition of civilians, saying the term applies to anyone who has not been claimed by one of the armed groups as a member.4 [Armed Palestinian fighters rarely wear uniforms and can appear as civilians.] pic.twitter.com/YuNjojrltj  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Hamas fighters are not mainly in the 20-19 age range. Large numbers are also in the 15-19 age range, opening Hamas to charges of child soldiers. pic.twitter.com/HBQXi6kWaF  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Israel repeatedly warned North Gaza residents to evacuate their homes. Leaflets were dropped in their neighborhoods, and private phone calls made by IDF Arabic-speaking soldiers. An estimated 1 million Gazans took the warnings seriously and avoided becoming Hamas' human shields. pic.twitter.com/rVx0RCYqmk  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Two bombings by Israel in Gaza caused mass casualties, according to Hamas Ministry of Health: the purported destruction of the Al-Ahli hospital on October 17, 2023, and the bombing of the Hamas headquarters under the Jabalya refugee camp on October 31, 2023.  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

Few bombs can cause so many casualties, and Israel has been cautious with its targeting. Then reports began to surface that the al-Ahli hospital was not hit, but its parking lot and the explosion failed to produce an expected crater from a bomb.  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023

The Palestinian Health Ministry reported on October 31, 2023, that more than 400 Palestinians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza. Videos from the scene, however, show little rescue activity at the site pic.twitter.com/c6aohgF6M5  Jerusalem Center (@JerusalemCenter) November 26, 2023
Its entirely possible that, given enough time, probable Dutch Prime Minister Geert Wilders will prove to be yet another ostensibly conservative politician who has feet of clay. Weve certainly seen enough of that across the West, especially in America. However, Wilders is off to an awesome start because hes been loudly defending both Israel and his country against Islamic depredations.

Western Enlightenment ideas that have long governed America and the post-WWII West cannot exist simultaneously with Islam. Because Islam is the integration of politics and faith, it will not tolerate a system in which the government (1) cannot mandate faith or (2) must provide equal protection under the law for all, regardless of race, religion, sex, etc.

Combining Islam and classic Western values is like combining matter and anti-matter. The consequences are violent. However, unlike a real chemical reaction in which both are destroyed, in this case, you can plan on Islam winning. Its more vicious, and the West has lost faith in itself, along with the will to fight. Or maybe, just maybe, the will to fight is returning.

Europe has been on the receiving end of virtually unchecked Muslimand often radically Islamistimmigration since 2015. Add that new population to Europes already large, preexisting Muslim population (mostly from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in England, Algeria in France, and Turkey in Germany), and you have the recipe for the disaster that comes to every non-Muslim culture that allows its Muslim population to explode.

Image: Geert Wilders. YouTuber screen grab.

Were beginning to see pushback, though. In Ireland, where 20% of the population isnt native to Ireland, people in Dublin went on a rampage after hearing that an immigrant had stabbed multiple people, including children. Perhaps these residents of a famously anti-Israel country will start to figure out that Israels war is their war. The Islamists who want to purge the Middle East of the tiny Jewish nation have already turned their eyes to the West.

Geert Wilders, the leader of what is now the biggest party in parliament, unlike so many elite Westerners, gets this. If the West doesnt make a stand to defend itself in this existential war (which includes backing Israel, the current frontline), the West is over, and Islams spread, which was checked for a few hundred years, will resume.

In keeping with his support for Israel, Wilders got Arab nations knickers in a collective twist when he said that the Gazastinians and West Bankians should go to Jordan. Hes right, too. Since 1922, the true two-state solution has been for Israel to be the Jewish land, with Jordan being the Arab landbut of course, this was another plan the Arabs rejected. (And as a reminder, unlike the Jews, Arabs have no long-standing historical connection to the land of Israel.)

But Wilders isnt just keeping his eye on events thousands of miles from the Netherlands. Instead, hes taking a stand close to home, too. One day ago, he announced that, unless the 700,000 Muslims who subscribe to Sharia law are willing to comply with Dutch values and laws, they need to get out and head to an Islamic country:

Normal Dutch people, raised in the nations longstanding values of tolerance, are thrilled. While the media may dream that Wilders will be unable to put together a coalition following his partys majority victory in the Dutch parliament, a recent poll shows that 65% of Dutch people want him to become the Prime Minister. No wonder Wilders is confident that he will get the job. After that, he intends to have a referendum to remove Holland from the EU.

If Wilders is the new Prime Minister, he could be the tipping point for a resurgent Western culture. Once, I would have said Europe was doomed, but maybe theres still a little fight left in the old gal.
Geert Wilders, who won a blowout parliamentary race in the Netherlands last week, gaining 37 seats, is primarily viewed through the prism of his opposition to Islamist immigration, which has been creating problems in his home country.

His victory was bad news for Hamas, the Taliban, ISIS, assorted Jihadis, and masses of would-be rapists, loafers, and crimigrants who view the Netherlands as a fine harvest.

But there's another group that fared just as badly -- the greenie fanatics, who seek to create a "net zero emissions" society -- by any means necessary. That means an increasingly oppressive, coercive and extractive state. They are all in on shutting down and expropriating farms, and driving energy prices through the roof as well as putting the manacles on industry through draconian regulation.

Their leader, Frans Timmermans, was widely expected to win the election, and got the surprise of his life with the news that his biggest nghtmare, Geert Wilders instead had come out on top -- and that voters had sent him packing.

Now it's panic time.

According to Spiked:

One of the big losers of this weeks Dutch elections, in which right-winger Geert Wilders romped to victory, was Frans Timmermans, leader of a newly formed alliance of the Labour and Green parties. Timmermans is best known internationally as the former vice-president of the European Commission, where he was the architect and face of the EUs flagship climate policy, the European Green Deal. To fans, he was hailed as the EUs climate pope. Yet it is no exaggeration to say his stringent climate targets are set to impoverish Europe. It seems the European mainstream media are finally taking note of the disastrous consequences of Timmermanss Net Zero zealotry. Last week, Politico warned that his EU climate policies could be about to set off a wave of deindustrialisation on a scale we havent seen in 50 years. The report asked the question: Does the architect of Europes Green Deal truly understand what hes unleashed? The answer can only be a resounding Yes.

Timmermans is no ordinary tree-hugging green with some tree spikes in his pocket. He's an establishment green, a greenie with a draconian Klaus Schwab-style agenda seeking to destroy capitalism and progress in the name of going green, and forcing subsistence poverty onto previously prosperous societies.

He was the right hand man of sanctimonious European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and bore the extended title of Executive Vice President of the European Commission for the European Green Deal, as well as the European Commissioner for Climate Action. Fancy titles like that made him a 'let them eat bugs' kind of guy.

Spiked notes that he was a pretty merciless one:

One of Timmermanss flagship policies is the EUs Nature Restoration Law, which formally demands that countries restore, by 2030, at least 30 per cent of poor-condition agricultural land, peatlands, forests, rivers and marine habitats such as seagrasses or sediment bottoms. That requirement then rises to 90 per cent by 2050. [Big corporations are fans.] The problem with this scheme is that it will significantly reduce the land available to farmers. It is this type of measure that has led to recent protests not just in Timmermanss home country of the Netherlands, but also in Italy. Timmermans hasnt just confined himself to wreaking havoc in agriculture  hes also taken aim at the automotive industry. Under him, the European Commission has required that makers of new city buses switch to 100 per cent zero-emissions vehicles by 2030, and that manufacturers of new lorries meet ever more demanding targets.

The list goes on, all of his greenie hobbyhorses utter crushers for working people.

Spiked sums him up for what this nasty character stands for:

The truth is that Timmermans is simply indifferent to deindustrialisation in the EU. Indeed, as noted in Politico, he has been candid about the cost of his revolution and has warned that the journey will be harder on some than on others. Back in 2020, Timmermans admitted to the European Parliament that his wild goose chase for Net Zero would be bloody hard.

He's an EU and Klaus Schwab loyalist, not a loyalist to the Netherlands. Ruling that country would be all about imposing their green agenda on the Dutch as a conquered people, not serving as their leader.

Any questions as to why this human nightmare lost his election? He gained a few seats in his broad leftist coalation, but nothing like what Wilders gained.

Now it's panic time for the green left as their green agenda heads for the compost pile with Wilders. That's a good thing.

Which suggests that maybe immigration so loudly touted by the press wasn't the biggest key issue among voters, though I am sure it was uite strong.

With Timmermans and his greenie diktat agenda standing on the other side of Wilders, it's quite likely that the green agenda was what drove the Dutch to vote for Wilders. Wilders did experience a sharp surge at the last minute in voter support, which explains why his victory was such as surprise.

It may have come down to this guy being green and oppressive and determined to make a hash of the Dutch economy which did it.

Republicans in the states should take note of the green havoc Joe Biden's comparable straitjacket policies have caused in the U.S., and hammer him on that for all it's worth, too. Greenism is at least as potent as illegal migration for patriots and populists determined to beat back the left.

Image: PxHere / CC0 public domain
If theres one constant in America, its Democrats toxic effect on blacks. After the party was formed, it became the slavery party. After the Civil War, it became the Jim Crow party, with the KKK acting as its militia. When the Civil Rights Act was up for a vote, Democrats opposed it vociferously. But then LBJ had his genius insight: Pretend to support the blacks to get their vote. The Democrat party has been doing that ever since, with disastrous effects on American blacks. Now, in a true return to its roots, the Democrat party is all in on segregation.

Since 1964, every Democrat initiative has further destroyed the black community. Welfare destroyed ambition, initiative, and self-reliance. It also destroyed families by making men unnecessary. The black family also took a hit because of the lefts ongoing war against faith. The only faith growing amongst American blacks is Islam, which hasnt raised up blacks but has eaten away like a canker at Americas constitutional pluralism. And, of course, Democrats have given black communities their soft on crime policies, which are remarkably hard on law-abiding citizens. And all this, of course, in the name of racial love.

The one area I havent mentioned yet is the Democrat assault on education. Under Democrat aegis, blacks have been taught that education is a white thing and that doing well in school, which requires self-discipline, hard work, responsibility, and ambition, is a white thing, too. If you, as a black person, are achieving academically, youre abandoning your blackness.

Image: Segregated drinking fountain, Oklahoma, 1939 (edited). Public domain.

To sum it up, since 1964, Democrat policies that are ostensibly intended to benefit blacks have, instead, impoverished them, broken up their families, ravaged their communities with unchecked crime, and left their children illiterate and uninformed. These inculcated societal problems have spread to Hispanics, too, but theyre a little less vulnerable to them because they dont have the blacks long, tangled history with the Democrats.

But Democrats arent done. Most recently, in the name of equity, Democrats are using their war on childrens education to reinstatesegregation. Its not just for college dormitories anymore. According to the Wall Street Journal:

School leaders in this college town just north of Chicago have been battling a sizable academic achievement gap between Black, Latino and white students for decades. So a few years ago, the school district decided to try something new at the high school: classrooms voluntarily separated by race. Nearly 200 Black and Latino students at Evanston Township High School signed up this year for math classes and a writing seminar intended for students of the same race, taught by a teacher of color. These optional so-called affinity classes are designed to address the achievement gap by making students feel more comfortable in class, district leaders have said, particularly in Advanced Placement courses that historically have enrolled few Black and Latino students.

I dont know about you but, when I read that, all I could think of was Alabama Governor George Wallace, a Democrat, standing before the state capital on his inauguration, hollering, Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever! I stand behind my post title that Democrat policies for blacks have always been Jim Crow with a smiley face.
In early October, I wrote a blog on a social media fatfluencer whose very serious demands for widened hotel hallways and extra airplane seats for the morbidly obese had rolled her into my sphere of awareness. The young woman, who is in her mid-twenties, was petitioning businesses to adopt a customer-of-size policy and urging private establishments to provide size-inclusive amenities so that ultra-fat people could enjoy the same things as everyone else.

But, at the time I penned the essay, I had no idea that in New York City, an ordinance of this very nature was already on the books, and now its gone into effect. From a report out at the New York Post yesterday:

A new city law that bans discriminating against someone because of their height or weight went into effect last week, six months after Mayor Eric Adams first signed the legislation.  All New Yorkers, regardless of their body shape or size, deserve to be protected from discrimination under the law, NYC City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilman Shaun Abreu said in a joint statement Sunday. Body size discrimination affects millions of people every year, contributing to harmful disparities in medical treatment and outcomes, blocking people from access to opportunities in employment, housing and public accommodations, and deepening existing injustices that people face, the statement added.

Here come the lawsuits! Landlords, business owners, and taxpayers beware.

How soon until a fat tenant demands changes to the living space on the dime of the property-owner with the full force of the judicial system behind him/her?

How long until a fat patron who feels embarrassed about his/her size blames a discriminatory business for his/her inability to enjoy a particular good or service? What happens when the nature of a business means compliance is out of the question, as in the case of bungee jumping? Will these businesses simply take fine after fine and payout after payout until bankruptcy, or just shut down now?

How long until every government building needs to undergo renovations to comply with the new ordinance? Whos going to pay for that?

Of course, this all comes down to someone in the moral wrong attempting to justify their lifestyle, using the government to club people and society into change and acceptance, and this is a defining aspect of leftism. The completely perverse sexual behaviors of the LGBTQ++ cult find promotion through public school curriculum and crony corporationsthey call this LGBTQ acceptance and Pride. The sins of gluttony and self-indulgence accompany obesity and come through city ordinancesin their words though, this is fat acceptance and body inclusivity. Murder gets a new cover as choice and reproductive freedom and finds legal protection thanks to legislatures.

The obvious takeaway from all of this the complete lack of responsibility, which permeates all leftist philosophiesthe right thing to do is reorganize society (at great cost) to bend to the desires and will of the immoral, irresponsible, and incompetent.

Image generated by AI.
Octavia Johnson is a general assignment reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at octavia.johnson@houstonchronicle.com.

Before joining the Chronicle, Octavia worked as a digital content producer at WATE-TV in Knoxville, Tenn., where she became a leader in producing fast paced, audience-focused content.

Octavia graduated from UNC Pembroke with a bachelor's degree in journalism before earning her master's degree in media and communications at Norfolk State University.
As Pariss mayor Anne Hidalgo said, I refuse to endorse this evil scheme.

Dont get it confused though, she wasnt relinquishing her allegiance to the World Economic Forum and its agenda, she wasnt renouncing her belief that baby murder is something to be celebrated, she wasnt abandoning the elitism that squashes the very people shes supposed to serve, she wasnt finally coming around to the idea that open border policies sow and reap chaosHidalgo was talking about X, formerly Twitter, because of free(r) speech, and today, she announced her departure from the platform. From Reuters via Yahoo:

This platform and its owner intentionally exacerbates tensions and conflicts, Hidalgo said in lengthy posts in English and French, citing manipulation, disinformation, antisemitism and attacks on scientists, climatologists, women and liberals.

If Elon Musk and his site are guilty of inflaming civic discord, then whats that say for Hidalgo and her leftist colleagues?

A little over a week ago, a group of migrants went on a fatal stabbing spreenow, it wasnt Paris, but the attackers were new migrants whose desire to murder white people was vocalized; I wrote a blog on it here. (Seems like real attacks are a greater threat to the safety and wellbeing of a person than online trolls.)

How about this, from The Guardian:

Antisemitic acts have exploded in France since 7 October, interior minister says France has recorded more than a thousand antisemitic acts since the deadly 7 October attack by Hamas gunmen on Israel, the interior minister, Gerald Darmanin, has said. The number of antisemitic acts has exploded, he told France 2 television, adding that 486 people had been arrested for such offences, including 102 foreigners.  Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said on Sunday that there had been 257 antisemitic acts in the Paris region alone, and 90 arrests.

But heres where it gets hilarious, and makes you question whether or not were living in the Twilight Zone or a new Truman Show social experiment.

Hidalgo denigrated Musks social networking site as a gigantic global sewer that was destroying our democracies by allowing a free(r) flow of information but forgets shes the mayor of a city known for its sewer rats, all while acting in opposition to the will of the people whose interests shes supposed to represent? Under the leadership of Hidalgo, the rat problem spiraled out of control, and she eventually surrendered, appealing to Parisians for a peaceful state of coexistence between human and rodent. Furthermore, the 2024 Olympics, which are set to be held in Paris, have been called into question, because of waterways contaminated by yep, you guessed it, sewage and bacterial contamination.

Image generated by AI.
Texas needs more good leaders, and Suzanne Harp, a sixth-generation Texan on her mother's side, emerges as a compelling figure, vying for a seat in the United States Congress for Texas's 3rd District, which is encompasses suburbs north and northeast of Dallas, including the cities of McKinney and Allen.

Her father, an immigrant from Athens, Greece, taught her to appreciate her country and yet be mindful of government overreach. Thus, Harp's unique perspective, strong Christian values, and commitment to challenging the status quo position her as a Washington outsider with the potential to bring about positive change.

Image: By permission from Suzanne Harp

Today, she is a vice president with a leading mergers and acquisitions investment bank, building win-win relationships and alliances within the professional communities of CPAs, wealth advisors, attorneys, financial services people, and consultants.

However, Harp says her most significant accomplishment is raising and home-schooling her four children in Judeo-Christian values with her husband, Bill. They cultivated a relationship with the Lord by studying God's Word alongside the great philosophers to develop a Biblical world view, a deep understanding of the Constitution, and the blessings of being an American.

It is good that she has decided to run for Congress. She could be the one that's going to provide Texas' 3rd Congressional district with the missing leadership and give it the much-needed voice to fight for religious liberties, election integrity, and border security, as well as counter human trafficking, runaway spending, and unconstitutional mandates.

In an interesting turn of events, Harp played a significant role in exposing a scandal involving another Republican candidate, Van Taylor, who had been caught in 2022 having an affair with an American-born widow of an Islamic State recruiter and dropped out of his race. She had been accused of using her position to reveal her rival's affair though it certainly seemed to be in the public interest to know.

Harp's policy priorities reflect her values and commitment to the American people. She is for preserving religious liberties, thus ensuring that individuals can practice their faith without government interference. Her various campaign speeches can be observed to emphasize the importance of election integrity in that she supports measures such as cleaning up voter rolls, implementing voter ID, and conducting audits to maintain public trust in the electoral process.

On the issue of border security, Harp proposes common-sense reforms to restore peace and security at the border, addressing illegal immigration. She is also keen on upholding the Second Amendment, underlying the fact that she stands firm in defending the right of Texans to keep and bear arms, resisting any attempts to infringe upon these rights.

In the realm of social issues, Harp advocates for pro-life policies, emphasizing the protection of the unborn and opposing laws that infringe upon these rights, including late-term abortion laws.

In an issue that's popular in energy powerhouse Texas, she calls for renegotiating the Keystone XL pipeline, highlighting the need to bring back jobs and money and rebuild America.

While Harp's campaign materials don't explicitly outline strategies to combat runaway spending and unconstitutional mandates, her general stance as a candidate suggests supporting spending cuts in non-essential areas, advocating for constitutional limits on government power, promoting transparency and accountability, and encouraging public participation.

Suzanne Harp's candidacy represents a fresh voice that blends business acumen with a commitment to constitutional principles.

As Texas contemplates its representation in Congress, Harp offers a unique perspective and a promise of unwavering dedication to the values that have defined her journey from a sixth-generation Texan to a candidate for national office.
Members of the Biden administration have mastered the art of concealing their activities from the public and Congress.

Just about everything is under investigation and, therefore, cannot be discussed.

Some questions are answered with easily misinterpreted meanings.

Although there have been no consequences for perjury in the cases of James Clapper , John Brennan , James Comey, and others, Biden officials have tried not to lie under oath before Congress.

In a carefully worded letter, more than 50 former intelligence officials stated they were deeply suspicious that there was Russian influence in the New York Post stories published about Hunter Biden. Business Insider described the Post stories as dubious. The intel officers said they believe the stories about emails purportedly belonging to Hunter Biden have all the classic earmarks of a Russian information operation. They did not say it was Russian disinformation. However, it was worded in such a manner that it could easily be suggested that it was. This is exactly what Joe Biden and his supporters did.

During the Oct. 22, 2020, presidential debate, Biden said, There are 50 former national intelligence folks who said that what hes accusing me of is a Russian plan. They have said that this has all the characteristics  four, five former heads of the CIA, both parties, say what hes saying is a bunch of garbage.

Two and a half weeks before the election, Former DNI James Clapper claimed, To me, this is just classic textbook Soviet Russian tradecraft at work.

Press secretary Jen Psaki tweeted, Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo dozens of former intel officials say.

Virtually all Biden supporters and some Trump supporters accepted this interpretation of what these officials said. We now know without a doubt that the Hunter laptop was not Russian disinformation. The signers of this letter undoubtedly knew this at the time.

During a March 2021 congressional hearing in Minnesota, Democrat Senator Amy Klobuchar sympathized with FBI Director Christopher Wray, claiming, There must be moments where you think if we could have known if we could have infiltrated this group or found out what they were doing. Do you have those moments? Wray responded, Absolutely ... we aim to bat a thousand percent and to thwart every attack that is out there ... you can be darn tootin that we are focused very, very hard on how we can get better sources, better information, better analysis, so that we can make sure that something like what happened on January 6 never happens again.

This exchange had to have been rehearsed. It was too perfect. We are left with the impression that the FBI did not infiltrate these groups. Aw-shucks, in fact, were darn tootin sure the FBI is doing its best to infiltrate groups intent on violence. If only they could have infiltrated these groups or found out what they were doing.

Well, we now know that the FBI had infiltrated these groups. Former Capitol Hill Police Chief Steven Sund has said that, in addition to the paid informants, the FBI had at least 18 undercover agents in the crowd, plus an estimated 20 from the Department of Homeland Security. The Metropolitan Police also had undercover agents in the crowd. How many other government agencies had undercover agents in the crowd? So far, there has been no mention of the Peace Corps. The only question now is about how extensive was the governments role in the violence.

FBI participation in the January 6 event is being questioned more frequently. During a Congressional hearing, Rep. Clay Higgins asked Wray, Can you confirm that the FBI had that sort of engagement with your own agents embedded within the crowd on January 6?

Wray responded, If you are asking whether the violence at the Capitol on January 6 was part of some operation orchestrated by FBI sources or agents, the answer is emphatically no.

After Higgins was going on to his next query, Wray interrupted repeating, No. Not violence orchestrated by FBI sources or agents. Wray wanted to emphasize the word orchestrated.

In all likelihood, the FBI did not, in fact, orchestrate the violence on January 6. Higgins's next question should have been, Well, who did orchestrate it?

Of course, Wrays response would have been that he could not discuss that.

John Dietrich is a freelance writer and the author of The Morgenthau Plan: Soviet Influence on American Postwar Policy (Algora Publishing). He has a Master of Arts Degree in International Relations from St. Marys University. He is retired from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security. He is featured on the BBC's program " Things We Forgot to Remember :" Morgenthau Plan and Post-War Germany.

Image: Caricature by Donkey Hotey, via Flickr // CC BY 2.0
It seems like Google potentially lost Google Drive data for multiple users. Do note that this could just be a bug of some sort, though it remains to be seen. What exactly happened? Well, lets delve into it.

Google Drive users lost data, as Google is investigating what happened

A user by the name Yeonjoong reported an issue less than a week ago, on Google issue tracker. He basically said that his Google Drive files suddenly disappeared. He claims that the Drive literally went back to condition in May 2023.

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So, basically everything he put on the Drive after May 2023 is not there anymore. He did not delete any files manually, and there are no files in the Trash. The user also mentioned that he never syncs or shares his files with anyone else.

He also tried to fire up the recovery program after reaching out to the Google support team from South Korea, but it didnt help. He reported the issue to the Google support team, he guesses in the United States, and was then passed on to the companys engineer.

That user did not get a response, it seems, but another one did. User 18316101495719567270 said that the Google Support team said that theyre continuously tracking this case, and that this is not an isolated case.

Google is trying to figure out what happened, and retrieve lost data

It was said that the issue is being investigated by our Product Engineers and we are also waiting for a root cause analysis as well on how we can fix it. The message also asked the user not to make changes on the root/data folder in Google Drive until further notice.

A number of other users reported the same thing in the same thread, basically. Lets hope that Googles Project Engineers will be able to find a way to recover lost data, and that this is not permanent. If it is, then its an even bigger problem than initially thought.
With iOS 17.1 and watchOS 10.1, Apple brought a new feature to its iPhones and smart watches called NameDrop. The feature lets Apple users exchange their information by placing the iPhone display a few centimeters from the top of the other persons device. While NameDrop makes it much easier to pick up other peoples contact info, a local police division in Ohio is warning parents about it.

According to the Middleton Police Division, parents need to disable NameDrop on their kids devices in order to prevent them from exchanging contact information with others. The feature transfers personal data, including phone numbers, pictures, and email addresses.

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Police departments across the US are asking parents to disable NameDrop on kids iPhones

The Watertown, Connecticut police is another law enforcement agency in the United States urging parents about NameDrop on iPhones. The agency issued its warning through Facebook and asked parents to disable the feature. Some parents noted theyve updated their kids device but didnt know about the addition of NameDrop and its functionality.

While NameDrop is causing concern among Police and parents, some iPhone users stated that the feature needs a persons approval to exchange information, and its not working automatically. The official Apple video for the feature also shows users needing to choose to share their contact cards.

The biggest concern about NameDrop is that kids could exchange their information with strangers. As a parent, its much safer to disable the feature on your kids device and give them instructions on never exchanging their personal data with people they dont know.

To turn off NameDrop, go to Settings > General > AirDrop > Bringing Devices Together and turn off the toggle switch.

NameDrop is also available on the Apple Watch Ultra, Apple Watch Series 7 and later, and Apple Watch SE (2nd generation). So, if your kids are using an Apple Watch along with an iPhone, you need to ensure they dont use the feature on their wearable too. The Apple support page notes that the NameDrop on Apple Watch is accessible through the Contacts app.
Samsung is rumored to launch an XR (extended reality) headset next year. The company is developing the product in collaboration with Google and Qualcomm. It appears the Korean firm also has a pair of smart glasses in the pipeline. It recently filed a trademark application for Samsung Glasses.

Samsung registers a trademark for its upcoming smart glasses

The trademark application for Samsung Glasses was submitted to the UK Intellectual Property Office in August of this year. The Office approved and registered the trademark earlier this month. The moniker concerns a product in the following categories: virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) headsets, headphones, smartphones, and smart glasses.

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As usual, the trademark application doesnt reveal additional details. However, the moniker and product category give us an idea of what Samsung is cooking. It should be a pair of smart glasses encompassing VR, AR, and everything in between. The product may feature built-in speakers and microphones for music and calling capabilities. We might be looking at something akin to the Meta Smart Glass or even more advanced.

The Korean firm has showcased smart glasses in tech events on a few occasions in the past, so it may have been working on this product for several years now. It even filed trademark applications for Galaxy Glasses earlier this year. By the looks of it, Samsung is still evaluating the market for the product and taking its time to design it according to what consumers look for in smart glasses.

Unfortunately, with no other information available, its hard to tell what Samsung plans to offer with its Galaxy Glasses or Samsung Glasses. We may get to know more in the coming months as the company continues its development behind the scenes. The product may not be market-ready anytime soon, though. Or maybe the Korean behemoth plans to release it alongside the XR headset, time will tell.

Samsungs Infinite XR headset may arrive in the second half of 2024

According to the Korean media, Samsung plans to launch its first XR headset in a limited quantity at the end of 2024. Codenamed Infinite, the product may be unveiled during the companys second Galaxy Unpacked event of the year, the event where it will debut the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Galaxy Z Flip 6 (the first event in January will bring the Galaxy S24 series). It plans to produce just 30,000 units of the headset initially, with the final production volume demanding on the market reception.
(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 27 - Camorra drug trafficker Raffaele Imperiale has handed over to the Italian authorities an island he owns in an arcipelago off the coast of Dubai, judicial sources said on Monday.

The announcement came during the trial in Naples involving some 20 defendants, including the notorious international drug trafficker turned state witness who was arrested in the United Arab Emirate city in August 2021 after five years on the run and extradited to Italy the following March.

Imperiale, 49, had been on the run since 2016 and was living high on the hog in Dubai and spending 400,000 a month to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

Co-defendants in the accelerated trial procedure before a preliminary hearing judge include business partner Bruno Carbone, accountant Corrado Genovese, logistician Daniele Ursini and a number of collaborators and employees, are also charged.

Imperiale, who begun his criminal career from a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, is believed to have been at the head of an alleged super drug cartel along with former Dutch most wanted criminal Ridouan Taghi, Irish reputed gang boss Daniel Kinahan and Bosnian drug trafficker Edin Gacanin.

The group was observed having meetings in the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the base of the alleged cartel in 2017.

The Italian authorities regard this as one of the world's fifty largest drug cartels, with a virtual monopoly on Peruvian cocaine. (ANSA).


(See related stories) (ANSA) - ROME, NOV 27 - Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Monday he would be "very happy" to meet the president of the Italian magistrates' union ANM Giuseppe Santalucia to clarify his position after saying in an interview on Sunday that judicial opposition represented the only major threat facing the government of Premier Giorgia Meloni.

"If interested, I would be very happy to meet the president of the Magistrates' Association Santalucia and his executive board to clarify my words and motivations," Crosetto said on X, formerly Twitter.

"That way they will understand that at the base there is only an enormous respect for the institutions. All of them. The judiciary first and foremost," he added.

On Monday opposition MPs called for Crosetto to report to the Lower House as soon as possible on his remarks.

Roberto Giachetti of the centrist party Italia Viva said "perhaps he should also come accompanied by the Justice Minister" Carlo Nordio. (ANSA).


Leisa Glenn, a Fifth Ward resident whose family home is across from the former Southern Pacific rail yard, lists off the people in her childhood neighborhood who have died of cancer, Friday, Sept. 8, 2023, in Houston. The site used creosote, a wood preservative the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says has been been shown to increase cancer, for decades prior to Union Pacifics takeover of the site in 1997, but a toxic plume of contamination remains underground. Glenn still maintains her familys home on Lavender Street, but hasnt lived in the familys home full-time since 2005. I stopped living there full time because I just dont want to die of cancer like so many others, she said. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

There was a simple question before a handful of Fifth Ward residents and advocates gathered around a wooden table in a small room tucked inside the East End office of Coalition of Community Organizations last Wednesday: stay or leave.

For years now, theyve sat in meetings like this one to discuss the possible lingering contamination from a long-running wood preserving operation in the Fifth Ward that ceased work in the 1980s. Now, finally, someone is actually offering the historically Black community some money, thanks to a proposed $5 million voluntary relocation fund put forward in City Council last week by Mayor Sylvester Turner. Up to $250,000 for homeowners and $10,000 for renters looking to relocate.

Leisa Glenn listens thoughtfully at the meeting. Nearly a decade ago, she helped organize the advocacy group IMPACT. Back then, they were asking for testing, community investment and a health clinic to help the family members and friends who had fallen ill. Thanks to IMPACTs work, the state conducted a cancer cluster analysis between 2019 and 2021 that found elevated levels of five different types of cancer. It validated what families had suffered through for years. The community is still losing residents. In August, Barbara Beal, one of the longtime organizers, died of cancer at age 77. Seated at the table alongside Glenn, Robert Lewis is currently battling cancer.

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Who wouldnt want out?

But the question isnt so simple.

Im not clear, at-large Councilmember Letitia Plummer tells the group, I cant tell you what to do.

The link between the railyard that once used creosote to treat railroad ties and the elevated cancer levels seems obvious. But so far, theres no conclusive evidence. After the city health department conducted limited soil sampling in the area that found dioxins, the state reviewed the data and ultimately found there was no clear connection to cancer. That was back in January. The public didnt see it until Union Pacific, the current owners of the site, released it in August. Around the same time, the company finally began gathering permission from residents for the EPA-approved testing plan that promised to offer the most comprehensive results of just exactly what lurked in the soil or had vaporized into the air.

The assumption behind the mayors program is that the area is actively in harms way, and that the testing will bear that out when results eventually come sometime in 2024. That could trigger even more funding for remediation or even relocation.

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But Plummer sees another possible outcome: The research and data were seeing currently in the soil right now may not substantiate the funding.

This catches everyones attention. It was easy to see Union Pacifics release of the state report as self-motivated. But as Plummer, who reviewed all the current data with experts at the Morehouse School of Medicine, shares her own concerns, others begin to nod in agreement and speak up with their own questions.

Nobody wants to lose Fifth Ward. Development is already closing in on the area. Residents are concerned about what would happen to their property if they accept a buyout. Its unclear. Generally, buyouts require that the property not be resold because of the present risk, but what if there isnt one? Would the city change its mind and allow future development?

Fifth Ward made my family, Plummer tells the group. We all know it is a key location in the city.

Glenns home on Lavender Street just across from the railyard owned by Union Pacific has served as a kind of refuge for family members who needed it, where people recover after hurricanes or divorces or other struggles. She doesnt plan to give it up.

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Thats the most beautiful site on Lavender, she said. You can stand there and look at downtown and see the fireworks.

We understand the sense of urgency the mayor seems to be feeling. Beal felt it, too, according to her friends. But clearly many arent sure. Without sufficient data, how could they be?
The estranged British wife of a prominent Indonesian businessman who wants a judge in England to decide how much she walks away with has won an initial round of a London divorce fight.

Deputy High Court Judge James Ewins has ruled that Monisha Mahtani, 49, is still married to husband Vivek Mahtani, 51, under English law.

Mrs Mahtani told the judge that Mr Mahtani was a prominent businessman worth more than 35 million and said the then-president of Indonesia had been a guest at their wedding celebration 20 years ago.

But she argued that a divorce, obtained by Mr Mahtani in Indonesia in 2017, left her with no rights to his assets and should not be recognised in England.

She said she wanted to pursue financial claims against Mr Mahtani before the English court.

Judge Ewins has ruled in her favour after concluding that Mr Mahtani had misled an Indonesian court.

He has refused recognition of the Indonesian divorce and says the Mahtanis marriage is still subsisting under English law.

The judge, who has outlined details of the case in a ruling after considering evidence at a recent hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, was told that the couple had married in London in 2003  then staged a Hindu wedding celebration in Indonesia.

He said Mr Mahtani had, without any notice to Mrs Mahtani, obtained a court order in Indonesia.

That order appeared to give Mrs Mahtani no rights to any of Mr Mahtanis assets or property and meant that she may not claim anything back from a joint property, except bed linen and personal clothing, said the judge.

Mrs Mahtani said her husband came from a very wealthy and prominent family in Indonesia.

She states that during the marriage they lived a life of luxury where money was never an issue, said Judge Ewins.

She describes the respondent as a prominent businessman in his own right, being the director of and holding shares in several companies including those concerned with iron and steel and industrial chemicals, forestry products and spices and coconut plantations and related products.

(Mrs Mahtani) states that (Mr Mahtani) mixes with high society in Indonesia, including the president.

Indeed, she states that the then-president of Indonesia was a special guest at their wedding celebration in 2003.

(She) conservatively estimates the respondents wealth to be in the region of 45 million US dollars.

He added: With full respect to the Indonesian court, which was misled by (Mr Mahtani) in 2017, I refuse recognition of the Indonesian divorce.

Judge Ewins said Mr Mahtani had not participated at all in any of the English proceedings.

He had not acknowledged receipt or service of, or responded to, any of the documents arising out of Mrs Mahtanis divorce petition, said the judge.
Sadiq Khan will join regional mayors Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram in giving evidence at the Covid-19 inquiry later.

The appearance by the three Labour politicians kicks off a highly anticipated week at Lady Halletts probe, with former health secretary Matt Hancock and ex-deputy prime minister Dominic Raab among those giving evidence.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove and former health secretary Sajid Javid will also appear, alongside former deputy chief medical officer Professor Dame Jenny Harries.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will appear before the Covid inquiry later (Yui Mok/PA)

Mr Hancock in particular has faced repeated criticism from a number of witnesses before the inquiry, with the independent MP down to give evidence across Thursday and Friday.

Various witnesses have expressed concern about his performance as health secretary, with the inquiry hearing that the countrys most senior civil servant at the time, Lord Sedwill, wanted Mr Hancock sacked.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Mr Burnham and Mr Khan are scheduled to give evidence on Monday morning, with Liverpools Metro Mayor Mr Rotheram down to appear later in the afternoon.

The mayors will likely be questioned about engagements with the Government during the crisis, as lockdowns and restrictions were imposed across the country.

Me Burnham in particular was involved in intense negotiations with Downing Street in October 2020 over the imposition of tough Covid restrictions and the need for a local support package for businesses and workers.
The former environment secretary who started the process of banning American XL bully dogs says she has received death threats as a result.

Therese Coffey, who stepped down from her cabinet position two weeks ago as part of a reshuffle, said there had been no knee-jerk reaction in bringing forward the ban.

She said the Government had acted due to the high number of XL bully attacks and the difficulty in preventing them.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in September that the XL bully would be banned after a spate of attacks, including fatalities, linked to the dog type.

Ms Coffey was tasked with leading the legislation.

I must admit Ive had several death threats about this particular legislation that has been brought into place and Im conscious it is driving strong emotions, she told MPs during a Westminster Hall debate about petitions relating to the ban.

Politicians also heard, during the opening of the debate by Petitions Committee member Nick Fletcher, that a mother whose son was killed by an XL bully had also been threatened after campaigning for improved safety.

Defending the decision to bring in a ban, Ms Coffey said: The reality was that there were simply too many attacks happening and the proportion of attacks happening by XL bully-type dogs was considerably higher than others.

Since Mr Sunak said he was taking action, the Government has announced that new rules due to come into force on December 31 will make it illegal to breed, sell, advertise, exchange, rehome, abandon or allow XL bully dogs to stray in England and Wales.

It will be illegal to own an XL bully from February 1 unless the animal is on an exemption list, called the Index of Exempted Dogs.

Ms Coffey said the build and stature of XL dogs meant they required a high degree of training to handle effectively.

If we think about an adult XL bully dog, we are talking about something that is about 70 kilos  these are big dogs, she said

These really have a lot of strength and frankly, the only way to unlock their jaws once they latch on to somebody is to basically choke it. Not kick it in the head or anything like that  that will make it grab on even tighter.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the XL bully ban in September (Ian Forsyth/PA)

And that is what we are dealing with where, sadly, some of these dogs do get out of control and it is the characteristics that lead them to have that physical strength.

And also we must not get away from the fact that they are originally parts of various bits of pit bulls, mastiffs and similar.

Ms Coffey said a less hardline approach had been taken by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs than with other dogs on the Dangerous Dogs Act, saying everybody who loves their XL bully can keep their XL bully.

Those who wish to keep their dogs have until the end of January to register them with the exemption scheme or they can have their dog put down and apply for compensation.

Owners will be forced to comply with strict rules including the requirement to muzzle the dogs and keep them on a lead in public, but the animals must also be microchipped and neutered.

The Government took an approach that would allow time for people to rehome, if they feel they could not keep an XL bully-type dog, Ms Coffey said.

But also, very different to what has happened more recently when people have a pit bull and similar, they can still apply to get a certificate to join the Index of Exempted Dogs.

Therese Coffey said she had received death threats (James Manning/PA)

The default here is that every person who registers their XL bully-type dog will get a certificate automatically and they will automatically join the index. So that is quite a significant difference, even though Im conscious it will cost some money to do that.

Sir Robert Goodwill, Tory chairman of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee, said his cross-party panel supported the ban.

He called it a sensible way forward when ministers were faced with a ticking time bomb of future attacks.

But Ian Lavery, Labour MP for Wansbeck, said it would be a challenge to ban a dog that was not a pure breed.

What is an XL bully? It is basically a cross-breed. And you cannot just say, Well that dog looks like an XL bully so it qualifies to be euthanised.

That is not the right approach, it really isnt. A lot of these XL bullies are absolutely wonderful dogs.

Environment minister Mark Spencer said the ban was coming in after it was found that XLs appears to have been disproportionately involved in a rise in dog attacks.

That is why we have taken decisive action to ban the XL bully breed type and to attempt to keep our communities safe, he said.

Before the debate, MPs were told that the Governments ban faces potential legal challenges.
Fred Sirieix has said former Ukip leader Nigel Farage destroyed the economy with his Brexit campaign on the latest episode of Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!

The campmates have previously had an argument on the ITV1 reality TV show over advertisements used by Farage during the vote to the leave the European Union.

During Sundays episode, Farage said when he first stood in an election he said he did not care if no one votes for him.

Nigel Farage is competing on Im A Celebrity (ITV)

He added: I feel better about myself for doing this. I believe Im doing the right thing.

While making dinner, Sirieix interrupted saying: The thing is Nigel, you destroyed the economy.

The former politician turned GB News presenter called it absolute bollocks and said there are issues in European economies.

Sirieix also said: One thing they said during the Brexit vote is were going to get 350 million a week that we can redirect to the NHS and build new hospitals and free care and all that. Never happened.

Farage told the Bush Telegraph that the French maitre dhotel loves the European Union which is fine.

He added: Fred cant help himself occasionally. Occasionally, that bubbling resentment and anger brims up to the surface.

Youve chosen Josie & Grace to hang out Down The Tubes! See how many Stars they win for Camp tomorrow at 9pm #ImACeleb pic.twitter.com/8hOS6YEXfa  I'm A Celebrity (@imacelebrity) November 26, 2023

Sirieix also said that Farage has created a big mess and asked him to name three benefits of Brexit.

Farage named control of borders, self-governance and the nuclear submarine deal with Australia  the later of which he said was good that the French were upset about.

The point about it is we can make a mess of it ourselves if we choose to, he said.

Sirieix said that the UK is making a mess before Farage replied, saying: Ive always that.

The episode also announced This Morning presenter Josie Gibson and restaurant critic Grace Dent will face the next trial, which has been dubbed Down The Tubes.

Im A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! continues on ITV1 and ITVX
The Greek prime minister has expressed disappointment that Rishi Sunak cancelled a meeting in which he planned to raise the prospect of the return of the Elgin Marbles.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis had been expecting to meet the British Prime Minister during his visit to London.

But a source on the Greek side said he and his team had been left baffled, surprised and not a little bit annoyed at an apparent sudden cancellation, especially when preventing migrant sea crossings  one of Mr Sunaks top five priorities  was high on the agenda.

Downing Street suggested a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden had been offered instead.

The diplomatic spat comes after Mr Mitsotakis had used an interview ahead of the anticipated talks to push for the return of the Elgin Marbles, saying the current situation was like the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Athens has long demanded the return of the historic works, also known as the Parthenon Sculptures, which were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Labour said that, if Mr Sunak had scrapped the talks because of controversy over the Elgin Marbles, then it showed he isnt able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires.

Downing Street, which pushed back against the Greek leaders Mona Lisa comparison, had indicated that Mr Sunak would reject pleas for the ancient Greek artefacts, on display at the British Museum in London, to be handed back.

Asked about the Greek prime ministers claims of a last minute cancellation, a No 10 spokeswoman would only say that the UK-Greece relationship is hugely important.

                    .                . pic.twitter.com/hc2aap9OUs  Prime Minister GR (@PrimeministerGR) November 27, 2023

In a statement, a spokesman for Mr Mitsotakis said: The prime minister is disappointed that Prime Minister Sunak cancelled their bilateral meeting at the 11th hour today.

Greece and Britain have a very deep history of friendship and co-operation, and the Greek government is extremely surprised by this decision.

The prime minister was looking forward to discussing a range of topics of mutual interest including the Israel/Gaza conflict, Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine, climate change, as well as common challenges such as migration, and of course the Parthenon Sculptures.

Mr Mitsotakis, in a statement published on X, formerly Twitter, spoke of his dismay that the meeting had been cancelled just hours before it was due to take place.

According to an online translation, he said: Anyone who believes in the correctness and justice of their positions is never afraid of opposing arguments.

Sections of the Parthenon Marbles in the British Museum (PA)

No 10 officials confirmed Mr Dowden was available to meet with Mr Mitsotakis to discuss issues such as migration and the conflict in the Middle East.

On Monday, the Prime Ministers official spokesman stressed Mr Sunaks support for the law that prevents the marbles from being permanently returned and suggested he would not be in favour of any loan arrangement.

British Museum chairman George Osborne, a former chancellor, has previously said he is exploring ways for the Elgin Marbles to be displayed in Greece, with speculation that this could involve a loan deal in which part of the set would be sent to Athens.

Asked about such an agreement, Mr Sunaks spokesman told reporters: We have no plans to change our approach and certainly we think that the museum is the right place for them.

I havent asked him specifically about short-term or new ideas that have been put forward, but I think hes been fairly robust on his position.

The official also said the Government had no plans to change the 1963 British Museum Act which prohibits the removal of objects from the institutions collection.

Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer met prime minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his trip to London (Leon Neal/PA)

We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue. The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law, he said.

Mr Mitsotakis did manage to meet with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to the UK capital.

Sir Keir had indicated he would tell the Greek premier that a Labour government would not change the law, but that he would not stand in the way of a loan deal that was mutually acceptable to the museum and the Greek government.

A Labour readout published after the meeting on Monday did not mention the sculptures.

After Mr Mitsotakis said his meeting with Mr Sunak had not gone ahead, a spokeswoman for Labour said: If the Prime Minister isnt able to meet with a European ally with whom Britain has important economic ties, this is further proof he isnt able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires.

Keir Starmers Labour Party stands ready.

On Sunday, Greeces prime minister argued a return of the sculptures was about reunification of the monument.

He told the BBC: It is as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum.

Asked if Mr Sunak recognised that characterisation, his spokesman said: Obviously its not something we would agree with.

These were legally acquired at the time, theyre legally owned by the trustees of the museum. We support that position and theres no plan to change the law which governs it.
Irelands ambassador in Tel Aviv has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after the Irish premier was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of a Hamas hostage, a move described by Dublin as an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Irish cabinet ministers have described Israels decision to summon and reprimand Irelands ambassador Sonya McGuinness an overreaction.

On Sunday Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

This is the full statement I issued yesterday regarding the release of Emily Hand pic.twitter.com/v6N6bmbbmo  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 26, 2023

Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministrys director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and deputy premier Micheal Martin following the release of Emily Hand.

A spokesperson said: These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

The ambassador also reiterated Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.

She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution, which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.

Earlier, Irelands further education minister Simon Harris said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand was a bit of an overreaction.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris (Brian Lawless/PA)

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at the childs release.

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel has decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also described Israels response as an overreaction.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA)

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
Irish author Paul Lynch said he thought he was dooming his career by writing Prophet Song before winning the 2023 Booker Prize.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Dublin, was presented with his trophy by last years winner Shehan Karunatilaka, at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate, London.

Lynch told Sundays event: Well, there goes my hard won anonymity. This was not an easy book to write.

The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel. Though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters.

Lynch also thanked all the children of this world who need our protection, yet have lived, and continue to live through the terrors depicted in this book.

He added: Thank you for opening our eyes to innocence. So that we may know the world again as though for the first time.

It is with immense pleasure that I bring the Booker home to Ireland.

He is the fifth Irish author to win the award, worth 50,000, according to the Booker Prize, following Dame Iris Murdoch, John Banville, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright.

The event on Sunday had a keynote speech delivered by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released from a prison in Iran last year.

Lynchs fifth novel Prophet Song  which is a tale of a tyrannical government  is about a mother-of-four working as a scientist whose husband is taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police.

Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan, chairwoman of the 2023 judges and a previous Booker-shortlisted author, called the tale a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave.

With great vividness, Prophet Song captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment, she said.

The Queen with author Paul Lynch, centre (Chris Jackson/PA)

Readers will find it soul-shattering and true, and will not soon forget its warnings.

She was asked during a press call if the judges had considered recent events in Dublin, where after a knife attack on children, there followed a series of violent disturbances.

Edugyan said that it was mentioned at some point when the book was chosen on Saturday.

I really have to stress that, that was not the reason that Prophet Song won the prize, (and) that we werent sort of  taking our cue  from world events in such a direct fashion. I think it would have done a great disservice to the (prize), she added.

Esi Edugyan, a judge for the 2023 Booker Prize (Lucy North/PA)

Edugyan also said the judges felt that it would have massive impact, that it would outlast this age.

The violence in the Irish capital, which involved far-right elements, on Thursday saw Garda cars, buses and trams set alight, and shops looted and damaged.

The judges also included Peep Show actor Robert Webb, Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh, poet and critic Mary Jean Chan and James Shapiro, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University.

During the ceremony, Andoh also read an extract from the 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel Possession, in honour of British author AS Byatt, who died earlier this month at the age of 87.

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: The judges established at the start of the final meeting that any of the six books on the shortlist would be a worthy winner.

Prophet Song is composed of masterful sentences, and packs a profound emotional punch.

Lynch told the PA news agency in September that the book did not have to be a warning about authoritarianism as its actually already occurring.

He said: What informs this book is the sense of liberal democratic slide thats been ongoing around the world for the past six, eight years, perhaps 10 years?

Prophet Song is a tale of a tyrannical government (Oneworld/PA)

It was the sense of unravelling that so many of us have just been tuning into and feeling anxious about the thought that could this happen here? No, it couldnt but yet, there are so many countries around the world where they thought the very same thing.

Lynch also beat fellow Irish writer Paul Murray, who was shortlisted for The Bee Sting, which follows an Irish family facing financial and emotional troubles.

All of the shortlisted authors  which also include British author Chetna Maroo, American novelist Jonathan Escoffery, Canadian author Sarah Bernstein and US author Paul Harding  received 2,500 and a bespoke bound edition of their book.

Margaret Atwood, Dame Hilary Mantel and Sir Salman Rushdie are among previous Booker winners.
A two-day extension of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas offers the chance to free further hostages, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell received reports of the deal while answering questions in the House of Commons and having previously insisted that the pause in hostilities should not be a one-off.

Addressing the chamber, he said: There is some suggestion that while Ive been on my feet in the House, Qatar has announced a truce would be extended by two days.

The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.  .    Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023

Obviously, we all hope that is true and that more hostages, as a result, will be able to leave.

The Qatari government has said Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the humanitarian pause for two more days past Monday.

The announcement came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides, and raises the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said: The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had said the cessation of hostilities delivered some relief after weeks of pain and suffering, before insisting more time is needed if we are to build on this progress.

He said: Todays agreement to extend this cessation of hostilities shows further such extensions are possible.

Therefore, I call on all parties to build on this progress and work urgently towards a further extension. This would allow the release of further hostages and deliver more humanitarian relief for those in desperate need. And an extension would undoubtedly ease tensions across the region.

Humanitarian aid trucks arrive in Rafah on the Gaza -Egypt border (Hatem Ali/AP)

Labour announced that Sir Keir has filled positions left vacant after a host of frontbenchers quit their roles or were sacked after voting in favour of a Gaza ceasefire motion in the Commons earlier this month.

The official party position had been to back humanitarian pauses to allow aid in and for people to leave, without going as far as to demand a total cessation of hostilities.

Alex Davies-Jones has replaced Jess Phillips as shadow minister for domestic violence as part of the changes, with Jim McMahon returning to frontbench duties as a shadow local government minister two months after resigning as shadow environment secretary on health grounds.

Speaking in the Commons about the situation in Israel, Labour MP Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) accused the UK Government of not contacting family members of hostages for more than a month.

Ms Creasy said: This weekend, the immigration minister for this Government, on a public platform, said this Government would not rest until each and every one of the hostages is returned back to the loving embrace of their families.

It is now more than a month since anybody at all from the UK Government has had any contact at all with the UK citizens who have family members as hostages. Not a single phone call.

Ms Creasy said she had pleaded with ministers to ensure the families could have just five minutes of Foreign Secretary Lord Camerons time to discuss their cases.

She added: Its been other governments who have helped identify that their family members are alive.

Mr Mitchell, in his reply, said: My understanding is not the same as hers in respect of the British hostages.

She will know over 200 British nationals and their dependants have so far left Gaza and were working around the clock to get the rest of those who want to leave out.

But in terms of the hostages, my understanding is not the same as she has said.
Sadiq Khan has accused the Government of failing to keep him informed about the severity of Covid-19 in early 2020, saying lives could have been saved if he had been invited to emergency Cobra meetings.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

He also criticised a lack of communication from the Government, saying it was unusual that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Mr Khan told the inquiry: The Government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. Im disappointed the Government werent giving us information in February about what they knew then.

He described requesting a meeting with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, on March 11 2020, at which he was told the virus would develop into a global pandemic and London could expect really serious consequences within two or three weeks.

Mr Khan said: It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge.

On the basis of that meeting, Mr Khan said, he took the decision to cancel Londons St Patricks Day parade, but it was not until he was finally invited to a meeting of the Governments emergency Cobra committee on March 16 that he understood the full extent of the crisis.

In a witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Mr Khan said: I remember that the PM referred to the need for draconian measures and said the country would not have faced anything like it since the Second World War.

I simply could not understand why, particularly given the increasing severity of the outbreak in London and my repeated requests to attend previous (Cobra) meetings in order to be kept informed, this information was only being shared with me at this stage.

I was both deeply worried and furious that London had not been involved in conversations until this point.

Giving evidence on Monday, he added: In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.

Sadiq Khan said he could have lobbied the prime minister more effectively if he had been invited to Cobra meetings (UK Covid-19 Inquiry/PA)

Asked by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett what more he could have done if the Government had told him what was happening earlier, he said: Some of the things that happened subsequently.

So it was me that lobbied the prime minister to go to lockdown, it was me that lobbied the prime minister in relation to the inability to keep social distance on public transport, so people shouldnt be using public transport unless they had to.

A further meeting with Boris Johnson in Downing Street followed on March 19, at which Mr Khan claimed the then-prime minister had shown a lack of awareness about what was happening in other countries.

He said: The prime minister wasnt aware that in other parts of the world they had lockdowns in place and fines could be issued if you breached the lockdown.

I was surprised he wasnt aware of that in relation to what was happening elsewhere.

Mr Khan said he felt that the UKs advantage in being able to see what was happening in the rest of the world wasnt being used.

He went on to say that Mr Johnson agreed to stage a press conference with him later that day, announcing the need for restrictions in London, but later cancelled this so it could be discussed at Cobra the next day and because of the impact such an announcement might have on the financial markets.

Mr Khan said: I couldnt disagree with him saying the impact on the markets and so forth, my frustration (was) a further 24 hours of this virus spreading. What impact would that have on the financial markets, on our productivity and so forth?

Later on Monday, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, also criticised the lack of communication from central government  both at the start of the pandemic and as restrictions changed throughout 2020.

Mr Burnham said he had not been invited to a single Cobra meeting despite repeatedly asking to attend, and had been left with no formal way to raise concerns about policy.

He said a London-centricity meant the experience of places such as Manchester did not receive the attention it should have, citing the decision to lift lockdown in May 2020 when cases had fallen in London but were still high in the North.

Mr Rotheram said his team had been left to wait for the evening news bulletin to find out nearly every major announcement.
Mobile network giffgaff is giving the Big Issue 250 refurbished phones, which will be given to new vendors, enabling them to boost their cashless sales.

This is the Big Issues first phone partnership with a mobile network and the first time vendors will have access to phones equipped with near-field Communication (NFC) technology, meaning they can take cashless payments from a smartphone without the need for an additional card reader.

The Big Issue said the move will make sales smoother and easier for vendors, as well as making it quicker and more secure for customers to buy from them.

During the pandemic, the organisations frontline teams started supplying vendors with card readers, allowing them to continue selling the magazine in line with health guidelines.

Vendors quickly saw results when they started offering customers this payment option. In an average week, they sold five more magazines, adding up to 520 per year in additional earnings.

The refurbished phones supplied by giffgaff will replace existing handset and card reader combinations, helping vendors to make faster, easier payments, and increase their sales.

Ash Schofield, giffgaff chief executive said: Weve all been in situations where people have been trying to sell us the Big Issue and theres an awkward moment when you realise you havent got any cash, because a lot of us dont carry it anymore.

So, by providing phones through this partnership, we help to remove that barrier. The partnership is steeped in shared values around connection, accessibility and sustainability.

Were trying to make connectivity through mobile as accessible as possible, because fundamentally its the right thing to do.

Marsilia Cimpeanu, who sells the magazine in North London with cashless payments, said: Ive seen a big difference in my sales because a lot of people dont have cash on them as much as they used to.

Its more convenient and secure. I can ask customers if they want a receipt via email, and when you tell them that, you give them a sense of security. I think its very useful for vendors and for customers.

Once they see that they have that security and trust, they can come back to buy the Big Issue with you if they dont have any cash, or if they want to continue using contactless because they prefer it. It saves time.

Russell Blackman, managing director of the Big Issue, said: The pre-Christmas period is always busy for the Big Issue, with more and more vendors signing up to sell the magazine and sales dramatically increasing.

On these cold, dark days, we know our customers want to support vendors by buying the magazine, whilst also wanting it to be as quick and easy as possible. Thats why this winter, Big Issue is partnering with giffgaff to help vendors become cashless, connected and technologically confident, while also ensuring you dont have to spend time in the cold digging through your wallet.
Texas law does not allow phones in the voting booth, so take a printed copy of this summary page with you. To view full-length endorsements, visit the endorsements web page of the 2023 Texas Voter Guide.

The editorial board interviewed candidates in each race to make the following recommendations presented in the order they are shown on the ballot.

Most voters stayed home in November when several City Council races and important ballot measures were decided. In nine races, though, no candidate won an outright majority and the winner will be decided in the runoff. So voters have another chance to weigh in, including for mayor and controller. Early voting is Monday through Dec. 5. Election Day is December 9 . Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mail-in ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day if the carrier envelope is not postmarked.

West Gray Multiservice Center election workers setting up before the doors open for general election on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 at in Houston.

West Gray Multiservice Center election workers setting up before the doors open for general election on Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 at in Houston.

After 50 years in Legislature, he's a proven bridge-builder guided by data and common sense  not unbending ideology. The longtime chair of the Texas Senates criminal justice committee is uniquely qualified to address voters top concern: public safety. Having represented a majority Black and brown district, he understands Houstons diversity and will promote equity. Hes a Democrat who has assembled a broad coalition of liberal and conservative support for his goals of transparency and good governance in this nonpartisan position.

City Council At-Large

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Position 1: Julian Ramirez

Both candidates boast significant support from law enforcement, but former prosecutor Julian Ramirez has the experience and vision to carve out a role on council as a watchdog for corruption and inefficiencies.

Position 2: Nick Hellyar

A realtor who ran constituent services for a former councilmember and served as district director for a state representative, he's experienced, pragmatic and focused on public safety and infrastructure. His opponent, Willie Davis, claims a home outside Houston as his primary residence for a homestead exemption.

Position 3: Richard Cantu

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A former director of citizens' assistance for two mayors who lost his daughter to gun violence, he emphasizes community policing without expanding the police budget.

Position 4: Letitia Plummer

Her willingness to be an independent voice for Houston and a check on the mayor is refreshing in a strong-mayor form of government in which some councilmembers shrink from engaging on controversial issues such as ShotSpotter.

RUNOFF ELECTION FAQ: Your most common questions, answered

Controller

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His communication skills will help average Houstonians better understand the citys financial challenges. Hollins has worked as a management consultant for governments writing billion-dollar budgets and he shined during his brief stint as Harris County clerk during the 2020 elections, transforming the office into a center of innovation in establishing 24-hour and drive-thru voting access. He promises to inject the same kind of energy and public-facing purpose to the controller's office.

City Council Districts

In this fast-changing district, rootedness and experience help her advocate for the communitys best interests, from opening a police substation to hosting job fairs to opposing a proposed historic district.



District G: Mary Nan Huffman

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No doubt, trial lawyer Tony Buzbee, who won Attorney General Ken Paxtons impeachment acquittal, would be a louder voice for the district. As the incumbent following a special election, Huffman has proven to be hard-working and effective conservative, earning a full term.

District H: Mario Castillo
The King has met business and finance leaders from across the world at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the conclusion of the UKs Global Investment Summit.

Charles was introduced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to attendees from the summit including Stephen A Schwarzman from Blackstone, Jamie Dimon from JP Morgan Chase and Nissans Makoto Uchida.

In the Palaces White Drawing Room, Charles also met Yasir Al-Rumayyan, who is governor of Saudi Arabias public wealth fund and chairman of Newcastle United, as well as Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, managing director of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Mr Sunak praised Microsofts very good announcement today investing billions in building the infrastructure for AI here in the UK, as he introduced Charles to Microsoft UK chief executive Clare Barclay.

Other business leaders who were introduced to Charles on Monday evening included Goldman Sachs David Solomon, Bank of Americas Bernard Mensah and Dame Anne Richards from Fidelity International.

The King during a reception at Buckingham Palace (Daniel Leal/PA)

Charles then met other financial leaders and chief executives at a reception in the Palaces Picture Gallery, attended by senior Government ministers including Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Home Secretary James Cleverly.

The reception came ahead of Charless attendance at the opening ceremony of the World Climate Action Summit at Cop28 in Dubai on Friday.

The Global Investment Summit was hosted by the UK Government at Hampton Court Palace earlier on Monday.

A great day for the British economy. The #GIS2023 has secured 29bn of investment which will:  Create 12k jobs across the country Support our fastest-growing industries Make the UK one of the best countries in the world to do business pic.twitter.com/k1VIv6U5ai  UK Prime Minister (@10DowningStreet) November 27, 2023

In a speech to open the summit, Mr Sunak highlighted the UKs low rate of business taxation, despite official forecasts suggesting the overall tax burden will reach a post-Second World War high.

The Prime Minister said there was positive momentum behind the UK economy as around 200 chief executives gathered at Henry VIIIs former palace, with Mr Sunak rolling out the red carpet to global investors for the summit aimed at attracting funding and jobs to the UK.

Downing Street said leading investors had committed 29.5 billion in new UK projects and capital  triple the sum raised at the last Global Investment Summit in 2021.

No 10 said the investments had sealed the UKs reputation as one of the best places in the world to do business.
Rishi Sunak will reject pleas to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece when he meets the countrys prime minister this week, Downing Street has indicated, saying the British Museum was the right place for the treasures.

Athens has long demanded the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, which were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he will raise the issue during meetings with Mr Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to London.

Downing Street on Monday pushed back against the Greek leaders likening of the British Museums possession of the sculptures to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Mr Sunaks spokesman stressed the Prime Ministers support for the law that prevents the marbles from being permanently returned and suggested he would not be in favour of any loan arrangement.

British Museum chairman George Osborne, the former chancellor, has previously said he is exploring ways for the Elgin Marbles to be displayed in Greece, with speculation that this could involve a loan deal in which part of the sculptures would be sent to Athens.

Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis said the return of the marbles was about reunification of the monument (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

Asked about such an agreement, Mr Sunaks spokesman told reporters: We have no plans to change our approach and certainly we think that the museum is the right place for them.

I havent asked him specifically about short-term or new ideas that have been put forward, but I think hes been fairly robust on his position.

The official also said the Government had no plans to change the 1963 British Museum Act which prohibits the removal of objects from the institutions collection.

We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue. The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law, he said.

Sir Keir has indicated he will tell Mr Mitsotakis that a Labour government would not change the law, but that he would not stand in the way of a loan deal that was mutually acceptable to the British Museum and the Greek government.

A Labour readout published after the meeting between the pair on Monday did not mention the marbles, however.

Greeces prime minister on Sunday argued a return was about reunification of the monument, saying: Its as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum.

Asked if Mr Sunak recognised that characterisation, his spokesman said: Obviously its not something we would agree with.

These were legally acquired at the time, theyre legally owned by the trustees of the museum. We support that position and theres no plan to change the law which governs it.
Rishi Sunak has offered a rebuke of billionaire Elon Musk, as he said that he condemned antisemitism in all its forms.

The Prime Minister also said that scenes of hostages being released by Hamas were very heartening, after militants freed 17 more hostages in the third set of releases under a temporary truce.

The comments by Mr Sunak come after Mr Musk sparked an outcry this month with his own posts responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism.

You have said the actual truth, Mr Musk tweeted in a reply on Wednesday.

Mr Musk has also faced accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has faced increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

The Prime Minister did not criticise Mr Musk directly, stopping short of the stronger condemnation by the White House of the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mr Sunak said: I dont tend to get in the business of scrutinising what every single person says who Ive interacted with, of course I abhor antisemitism.

And as you said, weve been unequivocal from the start of this situation that that is not acceptable in our society.

And weve been very firm about that. Ive personally been very firm about that. Its very sad what is happening.

But pressed again, he said: I condemn all antisemitism, right. Its not about any one particular personality.

I condemn antisemitism in all its forms. It doesnt matter whether youre Elon Musk or youre someone on the street whos shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past, thats wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong.

The Prime Minister, who is an avid fan of tech entrepreneurship, had an unusual sit-down interview with Mr Musk to close his AI summit earlier this month.

Mr Sunak also used the interview to call on on all sides to honour the temporary ceasefire deal.

People take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism in central London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

It came on the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Weve been consistently clear during this awful tragedy that Israel does have a right to defend itself, Mr Sunak said.

It should do that in accordance with humanitarian law. And weve also consistently called for sustained humanitarian pauses where aid can get in but also hostages can come out.

And Im glad that that that is now happening.

I think all of us will have seen some of the scenes over the past day or two and found that very heartening.

Its important that everyone honours the agreement and we can continue to see more progress.

Sunday saw tens of thousands of people, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, attend a march against antisemitism in London.

Hugely uplifting to see such strong support for the March Against Antisemitism. It shows the very best of this country  people coming together peacefully to reassert British values and stand with Jewish communities. There is no place for any form of hate in this country. https://t.co/HS8Z7uiwc2  Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) November 26, 2023

Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers said the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a no-go zone for Jews.

Charity Campaign Against Antisemitism called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosleys British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.

The day before, tens of thousands had also gathered for the latest demonstration, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the UK was open to foreign business talent despite Tory pressure to cut record levels of net migration.

Mr Sunak rolled out the red carpet to hundreds of global investors for a major summit aimed at attracting funding and jobs to the UK, delivering a sales pitch to highlight the opportunities on offer.

In a speech to open the summit at Hampton Court Palace, Mr Sunak highlighted the UKs low rate of business taxation  despite official forecasts suggesting the overall tax burden will reach a post-Second World War high.

Mr Sunaks comments about the contribution made by foreign business chiefs came just days after official figures showed net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022.

The Prime Minister has said the figure is too high and has hinted at further action to bring it down, but in his speech to global business chiefs he insisted the UK was open to international expertise.

He said: We dont have the monopoly on talent in this country and we recognise that nearly half of our most innovative companies have an immigrant founder.

So if you are an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the UK.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

He highlighted the high potential individual visa which allows someone who has graduated from a top 50 global university to come to the UK for two years to explore, work, study or invest  nothing like that exists anywhere else in the world, Mr Sunak said.

When I say that this country can be the best place in the world to invest in to do business you should believe me because of three big competitive advantages that we have  our low tax approach, our culture of innovation, and our people.

He added: The purest expression of this Governments economic philosophy is that people and businesses make far better decisions about their own money than any government could.

And I believe that allowing you to keep more of the return on your capital, our country becomes more competitive as a place to invest, grow and create jobs.

And make no mistake, we are cutting taxes. Not only do we have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.

Last week, we announced that we would make full expensing permanent. That means you can write off the cost of many capital investments in full. It makes our capital allowances regime one of the most generous in the world and it was the biggest business tax cut in modern Britain.

The Prime Minister said there was positive momentum behind the UK economy as around 200 chief executives gathered at Henry VIIIs former palace.

Bosses including Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, David Solomon from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase were attending the gathering, aimed at attracting financial support for UK projects.

Before the summit, the Government said a total of 29.5 billion had been committed by investors, triple the sum raised at the last global investment gathering in 2021.

Australias IFM Investors will sign a memorandum of understanding with the Department for Business and Trade with the intention of investing 10 billion over the next four years for large-scale infrastructure and energy projects.

BioNTech, which developed the mRNA-based Covid vaccine with Pfizer, has committed to a new lab in Cambridge, as well as a centre of expertise for artificial intelligence in London.

Ministers also announced plans for a new expert panel to look into how to best create a UK corporate re-domiciliation regime to make it easier for foreign firms to move here.

Today, more than 200 of the most prominent investors and businesses from around the world will meet in the UK for the 2023 Global Investment Summit  Find out why they're choosing the UK https://t.co/W5zx6JF2PP#GIS23 #UKInvestment pic.twitter.com/2rnSVXXGrc  Department for Business and Trade (@biztradegovuk) November 27, 2023

The Government has hailed the opportunities for thousands of jobs to be created as a result of the new investments.

A reception will also take place at Buckingham Palace, hosted by the King, in a sign of the attention being lavished on the chief executives.

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the UK economy is doing well despite significant headwinds.

She told Sky News: We are dealing with the same problems that many other countries around the world are dealing with.

Investors who I hosted at a reception yesterday were telling me about the concerns they have in the US, in France and so on.

The focus on economic growth comes after an autumn statement where the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded the forecasts for the coming years.
Rishi Sunak insisted he was determined to bring net migration down amid reports he reneged on a leadership contest deal with Suella Braverman to raise the salary threshold for migrant workers to 40,000.

The Prime Minister said we need to do more and indicated he would look at the number of dependants students can bring when they come to study in the UK, which has already been limited.

It comes after the Telegraph newspaper reported he had agreed on a four-point plan to lower levels of immigration in exchange for his sacked home secretarys support, which included new restrictions for foreign workers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arriving at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace, in East Molesey, Surrey (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Speaking at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace, Mr Sunak said: Im very clear that the levels of net migration are too high. They need to come down to more sustainable levels.

It is encouraging that the Office for National Statistics last week said the numbers are slowing but we need to do more.

I have already taken action to tighten the number of dependants that students can bring when they come to study here.

He added: As we need to do more, well look at that and where there are abuses of the system we will of course act.

The levels do need to come down, they are too high.

Official figures published last week showed net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022, prompting Tory calls for curbs.

It follows claims made in a scathing attack by Mrs Braverman that the PM agreed to a number of policy priorities as part of a secret pact in exchange for her backing during his leadership bid.

The Telegraph reported that they included a commitment to raise the salary threshold for foreign workers, which is currently set at 26,200 for a skilled worker visa although roles on the shortage occupation list can be offered at 20,960.

Downing Street earlier this month rejected the former home secretarys characterisation of a secret pact allegedly being reached, but did confirm the pair had been discussing policy prior to her appointment.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is understood to have worked up a plan designed to appease calls from right-wing Tories for the Government to take action.

During Home Office questions on Monday, his opposite number Stephen Kinnock accused him of becoming a law unto himself who had set himself on a collision course with his new boss, Home Secretary James Cleverly.

He said: To add insult to injury he went behind his new bosss back to present his laundry list to the Prime Minister, including a cap on social care visas and abolishing the shortage occupation list.

Does the immigration minister have any respect whatsoever for the authority of the new Home Secretary and, given hes said to be on resignation watch, can he confirm that he will resign if his proposals are rejected?

Mr Jenrick dodged the question and hit back, accusing the Opposition of offering no solutions of their own and having complete disdain for the British public.

He suggested the Government will set out further plans to reduce legal and illegal migration in due course.

Labour has sought to win over voters dissatisfied with the Tory record, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper telling the Sunday Times her party would increase salary requirements for workers coming from overseas.

Appearing on the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones also signalled that Labour sees a normal level of migration at a couple of hundred thousand a year.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel topped 28,000 for the year so far after 364 people in eight boats made the journey on Sunday. This is only the second time in almost a fortnight that arrivals have been recorded.
Timothee Chalamet and Olivia Colman are among the star-studded cast of Wonka who have returned to promoting their work following the resolution of the US actors strike.

The actors were pictured alongside fellow cast members Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key and Sally Hawkins at Potters Field Park in London on Monday.

Chalamet, who plays the titular character, donned a black pinstripe suit while Colman, who portrays Mrs Scrubbit, dressed in a bottle green jumpsuit for the photocall, which saw them pose beside a giant Wonka chocolate bar with Tower Bridge in the background.

Olivia Colman and Timothee Chalamet both star in the new adaptation of Roald Dahls classic tale (Ian West/PA)

Grant, who transforms into an Oompa-Loompa for the film, paired a bold blue shirt with a navy winter coat for the occasion and Atkinson co-ordinated with Colman in a green suit with a white shirt.

The new adaptation of Roald Dahls classic tale will host its world premiere at the Royal Festival Hall in central London on Tuesday, with many of the stars expected to be in attendance.

Screenwriter Simon Farnaby, Hugh Grant, Calah Lane, Olivia Colman, Timothee Chalamet, director Paul King, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter, Paterson Joseph, Matthew Baynton, Tom Davis and Tom Davis pictured in London as promotion for Wonka gets back underway (Ian West/PA)

The surge in promotion comes after US actors union Sag-Aftra reached a deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers (AMPTP) to end the 118-day walkout earlier this month.

The strike, which began on July 14, was raised due to concerns over a number of issues including pay and the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

It led to the film and television industry being paralysed as major Hollywood productions, events and award ceremonies were stalled and actors were forbidden from engaging in any promotional activity for work.
Update: The suspect has been charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree. Read the latest here. Our earlier story is below.

Burlington, Vermont, police have arrested a white man who is suspected of shooting three 20-year-old college students of Palestinian descent on Saturday, police said.

The three men were in Burlington visiting the home of one of the victim's relatives for Thanksgiving, police said. They were on Prospect Street when an armed white man confronted them and, without speaking, allegedly discharged at least four rounds around 6:30 p.m. ET.

Two of the victims were shot in the torso while the third man was shot in his lower extremities, police said. Two of the victims were in what police described as stable condition. The third victim "sustained much more serious injuries."

Two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs, scarfs that have come to symbolize Palestinian solidarity, officials said. Police said two of the victims are U.S. citizens and one is a legal resident.

Police detained Jason J. Eaton, 48, around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Burlington police said Sunday night.

Evidence collected during a search of Eaton's home several hours after he was detained "gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting," police said. He was then arrested and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said.

Police did not immediately provide any information on a possible motive.

Jason Eaton / Credit: Burlington Police Department

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Vermont on Sunday night said it was investigating to determine whether a federal crime had been committed.

"We recognize the suffering and heartbreak that the three men who were wounded, their families, and their communities are experiencing," Nikolas P. Kerest, U.S. Attorney for Vermont, said in a statement.

The FBI Albany field office said Sunday night it was also investigating the shooting.

President Biden on Monday said he and first lady Jill Biden were "horrified" by the shooting. The three young men "were simply spending Thanksgiving gathered with family and loved ones," Mr. Biden wrote in a statement, adding, "While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period."

Investigators don't know as much as they'd like, Burlington police chief Jon Murad said on Sunday. He urged the public to avoid jumping to conclusions "based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less."

"In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime," Murad said. "And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven. But now that the victims are safe and receiving medical care, our next priority is identifying, locating, and apprehending the suspect. We're working every investigatory angle on this case, and will continue to provide reliable, factual information to public while protecting the victims and our investigation."

Police did not identify the victims by name, but the victim's families later identified them in a statement. All three victims attended Ramallah Friends School, a Quaker-run private nonprofit school in Ramallah. Currently, Hisham Awartani is a student at Brown University, Kinnan Abdalhamid is a student at Haverford College and Tahseen Ahmad is a student at Trinity College, according to their family members.

From left to right, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisham Awartani are shown.

"As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot in Burlington, VT. At this time, our primary concern is their full recovery and that they receive the critical medical support they need to survive. We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children," the parents said in a joint statement.

"We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime," the parents said. "We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. We need to ensure that our children are protected, and this heinous crime is not repeated. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures."

Awartani's uncle, Rich Price, told CBS Boston station WBZ-TV the three students were spending the holiday weekend with his family in Burlington when it happened.

"We were so happy to have them visit us for Thanksgiving," said Price.

"They grew up in the occupied West Bank under military control... they just couldn't imagine this could happen in a place like Vermont," he said. He told the station the thee students had gone for a walk in the neighborhood Saturday after returning from an 8th birthday party for Price's twin boys.

"They were approached by this individual who pulled a handgun on them and shot all three of them," Price said.

Haverford's president and dean shared a joint statement about the shooting on Sunday.

"Kinnan and his friends are all Palestinian students studying at U.S. colleges and universities," they wrote. "Police are investigating the shootings, and we await word on whether it will be pursued as a hate crime."

Trinity's president and vice president also shared a joint statement, saying they were "heartbroken" to learn Ahmad was one of the victims of gun violence.

"A member of the Trinity Student Life staff went to Vermont early this morning to provide support and reports that Tahseen wants the Trinity community to know that he is in stable condition at an area hospital, and that he is aware this message is being released," they wrote.

Awartani remained hospitalized Sunday, Brown University President Christina H. Paxson said in a statement. He is expected to survive his injuries.

"There are not enough words to express the deep anguish I feel for Hisham, his parents and family members, and his friends. I know that this heinous and despicable act of violence  this latest evidence of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian discrimination and hate spiraling across this country and around the world  will leave many in our community deeply shaken," Paxson said. "The family has given us permission to share that Hisham Awartani, a junior at Brown, remains hospitalized, and we were very relieved and grateful to learn that he is expected to survive his injuries."

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said it has "reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab."

"We are praying for a full recovery of the victims, and will stand by to support the families in any way that is needed," said ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub. "Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that the hate was a motivating factor in this shooting, and we call on law enforcement to investigate it as such. The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent."

A White House official on Sunday said President Biden had been briefed on the shooting.

Sen. Bernie Sanders responded to the shooting in a post on social media.

"It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT," he said. "Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. My thoughts are with them and their families."

Saturday's shooting comes more than a month after the stabbing death of a 6-year-old Palestinian boy in the Chicago area. The Council on American-Islamic Relations, which describes itself as the country's largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, in early November said there'd been an "unprecedented surge" in anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents reported in the U.S. since the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Love letter from Jimmy to Rosalynn Carter read by their daughter, Amy Lynn

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New group of hostages, including 1 American, expected to be released by Hamas soon
President Biden on Monday condemned the shooting in Burlington, Vt., that seriously injured three Palestinian college students visiting the city for Thanksgiving.

They were simply spending Thanksgiving gathered with family and loved ones, Biden said in a statement regarding the Saturday shooting.

While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.

Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives authorities arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, in the area of the shooting around 3:30 p.m. Sunday, according to the Burlington Police Department.

Eaton has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder. His next court hearing hasnt been scheduled as he remains behind bars.

Authorities have said two of the victims, all of whom are 20 years old, were wearing traditional Palestinian keffiyehs at the time of the shooting.

The three young men are Hisham Awartani, who is a student at Brown University; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Tahseen Ali Ahmed, who attends Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.

Two of the three were reportedly in stable condition as of Sunday, and one sustained serious injuries. The mother of Awartani told NPR that her son may lose the use of his legs because of his injuries.

Anti-Palestinian and antisemitic hate has escalated in the month-and-a-half since war broke out between Israel and Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger (D) told reporters Monday that the shooting was one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this citys history. He said he had spoken with Biden before addressing the media.

We are very fortunate to have dedicated public servants working in the federal government who are committed to holding shooters accountable for gun violence, despite the enormous barriers and the law and regulations that they face in trying to conduct that mission, Weinberger said.

Our Administration will provide any additional federal resources needed to assist in the investigation, Biden said, acknowledging their conversation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The body of a 45-year-old man who went missing more than two months ago was found in the depths of a well outside his Massachusetts home, authorities said.

Keith McKechnie, of Avon, disappeared after leaving his home on Sept. 7, according to a Nov. 22 news release from the Avon Police Department.

On Nov. 25, McKechnies relative found him dead inside a well on his property, Avon police and the Norfolk District Attorneys Office confirmed in a news release issued that day.

Police and McKechnies loved ones had been searching for him since his disappearance, according to authorities.

Our thoughts are very much with the McKechnie family tonight, District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey said in a statement. This is a very sad result.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Boston performed an autopsy of McKechnies body, district attorney office press officer David Traub told McClatchy News in a statement on Nov. 27.

The preliminary information from the autopsy does not suggest foul play or any sign of suspicious trauma, Traub said.

No obvious signs of trauma were seen when Massachusetts State Police homicide investigators and other officials initially looked at McKechnies body on Nov. 25, authorities said.

McKechnies brother told NBC10 Boston that a relative was searching the well with a GoPro camera when they found McKechnies body Nov. 25.

Avon police told NBC10 Boston they had visually searched the well before the relative found McKechnie.

According to Traub, investigators searched the well at ground level.

He told McClatchy News a cadaver dog was also deployed directly at and around the well site and added that the canine did not hit on the scent at that time.

The investigation into McKechnies death is ongoing, Traub said.

Christine Connolly, McKechnies cousin, told NBC10 that the family felt something nefarious happened because Keith didnt have his wallet, cell phone or his glasses.

The glasses were found by the well on the ground. We were told that they had determined due to the size of the well and Keiths build, he wouldnt fit, Connolly said.

McKechnie was known to walk around his neighborhood, according to authorities.

Avon is about 20 miles south of Boston.

Butcher knife in backyard leads deputies to body in trunk of vehicle, Florida cops say

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Loose dogs lead cops to 4-month-old, 9-year-old and parents dead in apartment, cops say
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Sunday said former President Trumps intolerant language contributed to widespread intolerance, including the recent rise in antisemitism in the United States.

When you show intolerance towards everyone, which is what he does, you give permission as a leader for others to have their intolerance come out, Christie said in an interview on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday, referring to Trump.

So intolerance towards anyone encourages intolerance towards everyone. And thats exactly whats going on here, he said.

He added that this concern extends beyond the former president to other leaders.

And thats been going on for quite some time, not just with Donald Trump, but with university professors on some of our most elite campuses in this country, with university administrators and presidents who have been unwilling to stand up against antisemitism on their campuses most particularly, he added.

Since Hamas launched the Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israels southern border, a surge in antisemitism and Islamophobia has emerged throughout the country.

In the two weeks following the initial attack, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a group dedicated to fighting hate and antisemitism, documented a 388 percent increase in antisemitic incidents compared with the same time period the year before.

One area that has seen such a rise is on college campuses across the U.S., where reports of antisemitism have also spiked. In just one example, the building hosting Cornell Universitys kosher dining hall had to shut down temporarily following vile death threats posted online by a fellow student against members of the community.

[T]here should be no campus in this country where a Jewish student is afraid to leave their dorm, a Jewish student is afraid to go to their classes, a Jewish student is afraid to go to even have a meal in the dining hall. I mean, that is outrageous and its wrong, Christie said, referring to whats been happening on college campuses since the war began on Oct. 7.



And so, in the end, look, I think that there have been a lot of people who contributed to it, and I believe Donald Trumps intolerant language and his intolerant conduct gives others permission to act the same, he added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden shakes hands with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott after Abbott handed him a letter about the border at El Paso International Airport in El Paso Texas, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, second from left, and Rep. Vicente Gonzalez Jr., D-Texas, right, look on. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik) Andrew Harnik/Associated Press

Do what you do best

Regarding "Abbott auditioning for VP, Trump promising massive labor shortage," (Nov. 22): This column by Chris Tomlinson caught my attention. Basically another political screed, Tomlinson veered off course from his occasional hard-hitting exposure of business malfeasance that he is so good at researching. His fact-based reporting on the greed of gas pipeline owners who diverted natural gas during the 2021 catastrophic freeze and likely caused the deaths of hundreds of Texans was masterful. But then, all too often, Tomlinson seems seized by an all-possessing episode of attacking former President Donald Trump.

Today he included Gov. Greg Abbott. Much of the policies proposed by Trump criticized by Mr. Tomlinson are now being reimposed by the Biden administration. Examples include building the border fence and flying oppressed Venezuelans back to the dictator arms of the socialist running that nation.

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Please, Mr. Tomlinson, return to what you do best: exposing malfeasance and criminal behavior of greedy business people and politicians.

Jerry DeFoor, Jersey Village

Latino representation

Regarding "Houston exhibit reflects on John F. Kennedy's speech and visit with LULAC," (Nov. 21): I certainly appreciate the reflection of John F. Kennedy's stop in Houston, and appreciate LULAC for the new exhibit highlights, as well as a reminder of the importance of JFK's speech to LULAC. I also want to point out the significant role the Latino vote played in Kennedy's 1960 victory, as mentioned in the article.

However, it is disheartening to see that, even today in 2023, the struggle for Latino representation still persists, echoing the challenges the Latino community faced in 1960. Latinos must continue advocating for increased Latino representation to ensure a more inclusive political landscape. This will only happen by mobilizing the Latino electorate. Hopefully, after Dec. 9, we will have more Latino representation in city government.

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Blanca Blanco, Houston

Untested

Regarding "For Mike Miles, HISD 'innovation' means more control (Editorial)," (Nov. 22): You rail against Houston Independent School District and Superintendent Mike Miles regarding uncertified teachers and insist that parents should know if their child is being taught by an untested teacher for more than 30 days. By that same token, are you going to insist parents know their child is being taught by a first-year teacher who is certified but also untested? What about teachers who are now teaching a certain grade or subject matter for the first time? They too are untested in that arena.

Teaching is a calling, and sometimes people are called to that profession later in life. A teacher is not simply someone with knowledge who conveys knowledge to others. Its much more than that. A teacher has to engage with the students, elevate the C student to a B, the B to an A, all while engaging and encouraging the A student to excel even higher. Many of those exiting the corporate world for that of academia bring with them a plethora of talents honed by years of diverse work with a variety of people. In some cases an uncertified, untested teacher may excel in areas where a newbie certified teacher cant just yet.

HISD has been failing students for years. The status quo wasnt working in HISD, so lets give Superintendent Miles the support he needs to bring about the changes needed for all students to excel.

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Tim Graney, Katy

Honk happy

When I took driver's education in high school, we were taught that the only time we should ever use the car horn was to warn others of impending danger. It made perfect sense. Car horns, when rarely heard, grab one's attention and pique awareness. That understanding of horn usage must have been common throughout the southwestern United States. It was no different in Texas when we moved here from Oklahoma in 1978.

Car horns in Texas were once a seldom used tool. When you needed to warn other drivers of a present hazard, they really came in handy. Or at least, that's the way it worked until more recently, when people from other parts of the country started moving here in greater numbers.

In other major cities (I'm thinking primarily the tightly packed eastern cities) drivers use their horns to communicate displeasure with other drivers.

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HONK: Are you waiting for that sign to say 'go'?

HONK! Speed up! Move it!

HONK! Get out of the fast lane!

HONK! I dont care if you want to go straight. I want to turn right on red.

Such usage of car horns leads to a lot of honking and a lot of honking leads us to tune out car horns as just another layer of noise. In addition to masking true warnings, frivolous horn usage is aggressive and can trigger anxiety leading to road rage.

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With all the disturbing situations that exist in the world today, this matter clearly does not rise above the lowest of priorities, and there is probably little anyone can do about it anyway. Frequent honkers will continue to honk inappropriately unless it becomes a finable offense. My only suggestion is this: Don't honk, even if you love Jesus. He might prefer that you remain calm and follow good driving etiquette.
A cyclist struggles in a winter storm in Utica, N.Y., in January 2016. Heavy lake-effect snow and cold temperatures are expected across the Great Lakes through Wednesday. Mark DiOrio, Observer-Dispatch V

It's lake-effect snow season near the Great Lakes, and the first significant event of the year is forecast to dump as much as 1-2 feet in some areas, leading to what the National Weather Service calls "difficult to impossible" travel.

"Moderate to heavy lake-effect snow is expected today into Wednesday morning downwind of the Great Lakes," the weather service said Monday.

The worst of the weather is expected Monday night: "The lake-effect snow is expected to reach peak intensity across the entire Great Lakes from Monday afternoon through Tuesday morning," AccuWeather meteorologist Jake Sojda said.

The weather service warned that "if traveling, be prepared for rapidly changing road conditions and visibilities."

Most of the heavy snow should stay closer to the lakes, and parts of northern Michigan, northwestern Pennsylvania and northern New York are the most likely targets for feet of snow, according to Accuweather.

The weather service said the snow is forecast to remain south of the Buffalo metro area.

What is lake-effect snow?

Lake-effect snow, which can last for only a few minutes to several days, develops from narrow bands of clouds that form when cold, dry arctic air passes over a large, relatively mild lake.

These snows typically occur only in the fall or early winter, before the lakes freeze over. (But if the lakes don't freeze, lake-effect snow can occur throughout the winter and into the spring.)

Wind direction is also key to determine which areas will receive lake-effect snow. Heavy snow may be falling in one spot, while the sun may be shining just a mile or two away in either direction.

One of the biggest lake-effect snowfall events on record hammered areas near Buffalo, New York: 5 feet of snow in a span of two days in November 2014, AccuWeather said.

Heavy lake-effect snow is expected downwind of the Great Lakes this week, forecasters said.

Will there be a white Christmas in 2023? Forecasters have some predictions.

Dangerous snow squalls also possible

Snow squalls well away from the Great Lakes are also possible into Tuesday evening, AccuWeather senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

"Snow squalls are especially dangerous as they pass over high speed, busy highways, such as Interstates 79, 80 and 81 in the region, where the volume of traffic may prevent motorists from seeing the squalls coming in advance," he said.

Squalls can occur when a strong Arctic front rolls through a region and are comparable to quick-moving summer rain showers and thunderstorms.

Snow squalls have caused massive and deadly chain-reaction highway pileups in recent winters because of their brief but intense snowfall rates, which can drop visibility at a moment's notice while slickening roads.

Chain-reaction accidents can kill or injure dozens of people each winter and can wreck hundreds or even thousands of cars and trucks.

Cold season is here: Chill spilling into the US this week with below-average temperatures for most

Coast-to-coast cold taking hold

While snow will be the primary weather threat around the Great Lakes, below-average temperatures will continue to be the main story across much of the nation this week.

"Highs Tuesday will be in the 30s and 40s for New England, the mid-Atlantic, and even into the Carolinas, with 50s for the Southeast and Gulf Coast/north Florida," the weather service said. "Chilly highs in the 20s and 30s are expected for the Great Lakes/Midwest with 30s and 40s from the central Plains into the middle Mississippi and Ohio Valleys. Highs will be in the 50s for Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley."

These temperatures are about 10-20 degrees below average for this time of year.

The West will also see unusually cold weather. In portions of California, a freeze warning is in effect until Thursday. "Frost and freeze conditions will kill crops, other sensitive vegetation and possibly damage unprotected outdoor plumbing," the weather service warned. "Temperatures can be dangerous to unsheltered or vulnerable pets and people."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lake-effect snow weather event to dump 1-2 feet near Great Lakes
The Supreme Court will return for its final argument session of the year Monday, hearing several major finance and administrative law disputes.

Among the highlights of the two-week session include the Justice Departments bid to block Purdue Pharmas bankruptcy deal, and a couples attempt to strike down a key provision in Republicans 2017 overhaul of the tax system.

As the justices take the bench for the seven scheduled arguments, they are also weighing whether to take up a number of major cases for later in the term.

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The court, during its Dec. 8 closed-door conference, is scheduled to consider whether to take up the legal battle over mifepristone, the common abortion pill. The justices have also been sitting on petitions implicating the Biden administrations now-defunct vaccine mandates for federal employees and the military, among others.

Heres a look at three arguments set to headline the upcoming session.

2017 tax bill challenge

On Dec. 5, the Supreme Court will contemplate what may seem like a simple question: What is income?

Specifically at issue is the constitutionality of a tax enacted as part of the sweeping 2017 tax law passed by Republicans and championed by then-President Trump.

But experts and advocates on both sides of the issue are closely monitoring the case for how the decision could impact a broader set of policy proposals, including a federal wealth tax.

The mandatory repatriation tax at issue imposed a one-time tax on Americans who owned shares in foreign corporations, based on the corporations earnings over the preceding three decades, even if the corporation didnt distribute those earnings to the taxpayer.

The Constitution requires that direct taxes be apportioned among the states based on population, but the 16th Amendment provides a carveout for income taxes.

Charles and Kathleen Moore are seeking a refund of roughly $15,000 in taxes they said they were required to pay over their investment in an Indian company that supplies farmers in impoverished regions with tools and equipment.

The Moores say the tax is unconstitutional because they didnt realize any income, as the couple never received any dividends or payments from the company.

The case has also been thrust into the ethics crosshairs at the Supreme Court.

Democrats and some activist groups have called for Justice Samuel Alito, one of the courts conservatives, to recuse.

Alito sat down with one of the Moores attorneys for two interviews that were published in The Wall Street Journals opinion section, in which Alito said Congress had no authority to regulate the court, apparently responding to Democrats push for ethics legislation.

The conservative justice, who regularly recuses himself from cases when he has financial investments with one of the parties, said there is no valid reason for his recusal in this case.

Similarly, many of my colleagues have been interviewed by attorneys who have also practiced in this Court, and some have co-authored books with such attorneys. Those interviews did not result in or require recusal, Alito wrote in September.

The case is Moore v. United States.

Purdue Pharma bankruptcy

On Dec. 4, the Supreme Court will consider what some experts have described as one of the most important corporate bankruptcy disputes in decades.

Purdue Pharma, the maker of prescription painkiller OxyContin, filed for bankruptcy in 2019 as it faced thousands of lawsuits in connection with the opioid crisis.

The companys reorganization plan would have the wealthy Sackler family, who previously controlled Purdue Pharma, contribute up to $6 billion to the settlement in exchange for being released from civil liability.

About 95 percent of creditors  which include personal injury victims, states and various governmental entities, among others  voted to approve the plan, court filings show.

But the U.S. Trustee Program, a component of the Justice Department that serves as a watchdog in bankruptcy cases, is bringing its objections over the Sackler releases to the Supreme Court.

The trustee contends the Bankruptcy Code does not allow courts in Chapter 11 cases to approve reorganization plans that release liability for nondebtors like the Sackler family, who did not themselves file for bankruptcy, without the consent of all creditors.

In August, the Supreme Court paused the bankruptcy settlement on an emergency basis as the justices agreed to take up the case in full.

The Justice Department, backed by a single claimant and another representing a group of Canadian municipalities, are now attempting to block Purdue Pharmas reorganization plan on the merits.

The issue has attracted significant interest, with many noting the cases potential impacts on other large corporate bankruptcies.

The case is Harrington v. Purdue Pharma L.P.

SEC administrative law

The Supreme Court this term is hearing several major cases that could dramatically reel in bureaucratic power.

After hearing arguments in a challenge to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in October, next in the justices lineup of administrative law cases is one that challenges certain in-house enforcement proceedings brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as unconstitutional.

On Wednesday, the Biden administration will attempt to defend the SEC before the justices.

George Jarkesy, who was found to have violated federal securities laws by misrepresenting his hedge funds to investors, contends the SECs setup of using administrative law judges violated his constitutional rights in three different ways.

Jarkesy first contends the setup violates his Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial.

He also argues that Congress impermissibly delegated legislative power by giving the SEC authority to decide whether to bring civil penalties. Finally, Jarkesy asserts that SEC administrative law judges double for-cause removal protections are unconstitutional.

A Justice Department loss on any of the three issues could claw back the SECs ability to use administrative law judges to secure penalties and take other enforcement actions.

The case is SEC v. Jarkesy.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk doesnt think highly of hybrid vehicles. Last year he dismissed them as a phase and said its time to move on. But Toyota doubled down on themand the move has proved prescient.

Hybrid sales have been on a tear in 2023, jumping 48% in the first three quarters compared to the same year-ago period, the Wall Street Journal reported. Last year, hybrid sales dropped about 6% compared with 2021.

Its a smoking-hot market, David Christ, head of sales for Toyotas North American business, told the paper, adding that Toyota is making as many hybridswhich save fuel by combining a gasoline engine with an electric motoras it can.

Demand for electric vehicles, meanwhile, has chilled. The market is still expanding, but the pace of growth has slowed considerably. After growing 63% globally in the first half of last year, it rose only 49% in the same period this year, the Journal reported.

That has carmakers rethinking investments in EV production, among them GM and Ford. Part of the problem is that the first wave of buyers has already bought their EVs, and the next group of would-be buyers is less willing and more price-sensitive.

A large number of people are living paycheck to paycheck, and with a lot of debt, they have got credit card debt, mortgage debt, Musk said on a third-quarter results call last month. We have to make our cars more affordable.

His comments came as Tesla disclosed its lowest quarterly earnings per share in two years, coming in 10% below already negative analyst forecasts.

Ford in its third quarter, meanwhile, reported a 41% increase in hybrid saleseasily outpacing EV salesand said it expects to quadruple them in the next five years.

All this leaves Toyota chairman and former CEO Akio Toyoda, long a skeptic of the hype surrounding electric vehicles, feeling vindicated. Hes long felt the industry should hedge its bets on EVs by continuing to invest in hybrids and hydrogen-powered cars.

People are finally seeing reality, he said recently.

A little over a year ago, he told dealers gathered in Las Vegas that electric vehicles are just going to take longer than the media would like us to believe... Toyota is a department store of all sorts of powertrains. Its not right for the department store to say, This is the product you should buy.

Last year, Toyoda resigned as CEO as investors clamored for Toyota to do more by way of all-electric vehicles.

Toyota is not correctly responding to calls from the market to take a lead in electric vehicles, Satoru Aoyama, senior director at Fitch Ratings, told the Financial Times in October last year, warning the company could lose investor confidence.

As it turns out, more confidence was merited, not less.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty

Geoffrey Holt was an enigma. Over the years, he lived a simple life as the caretaker of a mobile home park in Hinsdale, New Hampshire, teaching drivers education to high school kids, and collecting model cars. In the process, he amassed a small fortune of just shy of $4 million.

Then he gave it all away to the people of Hinsdale, a town of 4,200.

According to WBAL-TV in New Hampshire, Holts instructions indicated that the money was intended to benefit the community in the areas of education, health, recreation and culture. Holts apparent frugality was on display in his threadbare clothes and inside his own mobile home, which was devoid of most furniture; he didnt even own a TV or computer.

The news site says that some residents have proposed some ideas for the money, including upgrading the town hall clock, restoring buildings, buying a new ballot counting machine, or setting up an online driver's education course.

Holt didnt own a car himself, but his best friend Edwin "Smokey" Smith (who became the executor of Holt's estate) told WBAL that his friend had a collection of hundreds of model cars and train sets, as well as historic books about Henry Ford and World War II. Mostly, Holt kept to himself.

"[Geoffrey] always told me that his main goal in life was to make sure that nobody noticed anything," his sister Alison Holt said. Hed add "or you might get into trouble."

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Seven entrepreneurs in Westchester and Putnam  a longtime distiller, two sisters with a background in business, an avid baker and her mom, and an engaged couple who love tradition  are making a name for themselves in the food and drink space. Their stories follow.

Somers resident Albert Savarese owned Still the One Distillery (now closed) in Port Chester 11 years; now he's launched Syndicate Distillers.

Somers resident Albert Savarese, a veteran of the liquor industry, launched Syndicate Distillers in August featuring a host of spirits. The founder of the now-defunct Still the One Distillery in Port Chester (remember 914 bourbon? ), Savarese has a thing for area codes. That means one of Syndicate's new spirits is Hudson Region 845, a bourbon whiskey made in collaboration with another New York state distiller.

What makes his new blends different, he said, is that they're made with New York corn, rye and malted that's distilled to make a single-barrel straight bourbon in white oak barrels. It's a "trade-secret recipe of certain infused vanilla staves," specially made to create a dark walnut color with hints of honey, smoked bacon, vanilla, caramel and burnt orange, explained Savarese.

Syndicate Distillery, which distills its New York Rocks vodka in Yonkers and its Hudson Region 845 in Stanfordville in Dutchess County, currently has four products. Seven more are coming soon, including Black Brim gin; five types of Kentucky bourbon; and a gin made from the same vodka base as NY Rocks Vodka that should launch in January. Savarese and his new business partner, David Spezzano, are also looking at farms in the Clinton Corners area of Dutchess (to buy) and working with Economic Development in Westchester for a possible lease of a White Plains annex for Syndicate Distillers until they close on a farm property. More info at syndicatedistillers.com.

More: 'Little bit of voodoo magic': First look at New Orleans-themed Westchester restaurant

Briarcliff Manor resident Tracy Luckow, left, together with her sister Lori Gitomer, right, are disrupting the whipped cream space with their recently launched Whipnotic brand.

Whipnotic

New York City resident Lori Gitomer has always loved whipped cream, but it wasn't until later in life when she was seeking low-sugar dessert options after giving birth to her daughter, that she realized how little the category had changed. Inspired by baristas in coffee shops, pancake houses and ice cream parlors that have been swirling chocolate, caramel sauces and fruit purees into whipped cream to make it more multi-dimensional, Gitomer and her sister Briarcliff Manor resident Tracy Luckow, decided to change the paradigm.

Their result is Whipnotic, a keto-friendly, gluten-free whipped cream with no artificial flavors and only 15 calories and one gram of sugar. Whipnotic launched in June 2021 and is now available in four flavors: Strawberry Swirl, Vanilla Salted Caramel, Brownie Batter and Peach Mango.

Gitomer said the new whipped creams, available online and at DeCicco & Son's, work on everything from ice cream to cappuccino or on morning pancakes, fresh fruit, cobbler and even cocktails.

The sisters have years of business experience, which led them to this entrepreneurial venture. Gitomer worked in sales at Viacom, NBC and CAA, and Luckow, who has a PHd in food science and nutrition, spent more than 20 years creating successful innovations for PepsiCo, Dannon and Sabra. So not only did the two women change the flavor of traditional whipped cream, but they also changed the experience by inventing a new technology that makes the nozzle more like a frozen yogurt dispenser with the capability of swirling two flavors together.

Whipnotic holds a global patent with more than 30 claims for the breakthrough packaging innovation. And there's now a sleek new cap and nozzle, reducing plastic usage by 60 percent. Go to whipnotic.com for more details.

Brewster residents Jackson Fisher-Diotte, left, with his fiance Regan Kelly. The two recently launched Grem's Rugies, a rugelach-baking company powered by a single kitchen-aid mixer and lots of love: Fischer-Diotte's grandmother aka "Grem."

Jackson Fischer-Diotte grew up eating his grandmother's rugelech. More than enjoying the flaky sweet treat, he also grew up respecting its history. Helen Fischer, aka Grem, got the recipe from her mother, who was of ambiguous Eastern European descent and who inspired Fischer's unique take on rugelach, an Old World traditional recipe that's flakier and more traditional  and NOT filled with chocolate or raspberry. "'Elegant and satisfying,' we like to say," said Fischer-Diotte, who lives (and bakes) out of Brewster.

More: How to find the best food in Westchester, Rockland and see what new spots are opening soon

Helen Fischer had ambitions to start a rugelach business but could never find time to do so while raising three kids. She would still bake her "rugies" constantly and handed them out to family and friends well into her 70s. She also used to hand roll between 600 to 800 pounds of her rugies each holiday season and give them away for free.) Now, with her blessing  she's 86!  Fischer-Diotte and his fiance Regan Kelly are working to fulfill her dream, not just for them, but to create a family legacy. The two always wanted to open a bakery and cafe.

Since launching in September, the two have been spreading the love of Grem's Rugies, mainly with online orders and from sales at farmers markets. Their goal is to eventually sell frozen rugelach raw in grocery stories. Details at gremsrugies.square.site.

You can thank Hurricane Katrina for Allison Kushnick's New Orleans-inspired nut mixes. Her parents evacuated the city when the 2005 hurricane hit and they relocated to New York. Wanting to do something to lift their spirits, the NOLA native and now longtime Scarsdale resident started working on recipes side by side with her mom, Barbara Gendler, to recreate the sugared meringue pecan that had always been a staple in their home. Although Kushnick worked for many years in health care and marketing, she was always an avid baker. She started Geaux Nuts as a hobby but elevated the brand this July to improve the look and feel of the product. This twist on the praline, said Kushnick, is now available in three flavors: Original Cinnamon; White Chocolate Crunch and White Chocolate and can be found online as well as at select retailers including June & Ho in Rye and Ovder coffee shop in Bronxville

This is not the first venture for the mother-daughter duo. When Kushnick and Gendler were in New Orleans, they sold flourless chocolate cakes to local restaurants. "She's the master behind the recipe and I play the business role," said Kushnick. "Though we divide and conquer when we get big orders!" Details at geauxnuts.com.

Scarsdale resident (and New Orleans native) Allison Kushnick started Geaux Nuts with her mother, Barbara Gendler.

Jeanne Muchnick covers food and dining. Click here for her most recent articles and follow her latest dining adventures on Instagram @lohud_food or via the lohudfood newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New food, drink businesses from these Lower Hudson Valley entrepreneurs
Running a Formula 1 racing team may sound like the ultimate dream job.

Yet there was little evidence of the glamorous lifestylefor which this elite motorsport is so famouswhen Zak Brown took over McLaren Racing in 2016.

The former professional driver said he inherited a highly resistant workforce, whose morale had hit rock bottom. On top of that, years of mismanagement under Brown's various predecessors had taught them to view leadership changes with extreme skepticism.

I had to rebuild trust. There was a lot of guilty until proven innocent type of mindset on the shop floor, Brown said at the Fortune Global Forum in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

McLaren Racing is an icon of the motorsports scene, boasting the second oldest active team in F1 racing, behind only Ferrari.

Parent company McLaren Group separately operates a boutique manufacturing business called McLaren Automotive that specializes in street-legal performance cars such as the 750S that can retail for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A rare American in a traditionally European motorsport, Brown said the 1,200 employees of the F1 team had cycled through four or five different leaders over the span of six or seven years.

Whatever company youre running, if you have that much change at the top then the team below dont know who to follow, what theyre following, and how long theyre going to be following them for, he said.

Brown knew such a demoralized group of people would not immediately believe in him or his strategy given their previous experiences. Instead, he needed to earn their buy-in before they would start collectively rowing in the same direction.

Getting McLaren Racing back on track meant spending the better part of three years provingin particular to those that were hardest to reachthat he could finally bring stability to the organization.

Those [resistant] employees are the ones that you need to focus on. And then if you can kind of shift everyone up through the belief chain, then you can really start building a lot of momentum, he explained.

From back of the pack to fourth place this year

Brown credited his entire management team for quickly responding to their poor start at the beginning of the year when their cars were anything but competitive. The first race in Bahrain saw lead driver Lando Norris finish the Bahrain Grand Prix in 17th place.

Brown's team sprang into action in a high-pressure environment to find a solution by the middle of the calendar, when Norris ended up placing just shy of the podium at the Red Bull Ring in Austrias Grand Prix.

McLaren as a team overall ultimately finished fourth this season, which concluded in Abu Dhabi this past weekend. Norris meanwhile was personally ranked the sixth-best F1 pilot of the year.

The momentum we have going into the off-seasonthe belief, the energy everyone hasI think is going to carry us forward to a more productive 2024, Brown continued.

Brown described his leadership style as not only accepting of different opinion, but actively seeking out and demanding it. He is prone to going into a meeting with conviction only to emerge having changed his mind following a robust debate with his team.

We encourage challenging each other," he said at the Fortune Global Forum. "I think, in any good organization, theres no point in having 10 people around the table all agreeing with me.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
By Christian Kraemer

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's ruling coalition unveiled a supplementary budget on Monday that will temporarily lift a self-imposed cap on borrowing after a constitutional court ruling tore up the government's spending plans.

The budget, which parliament must approve, will see Germany suspend its constitutionally enshrined debt brake for a fourth year in a row to borrow roughly an extra 45 billion euros as Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government fights its way out of a crisis that has triggered warnings about growth and an industry exodus.

Berlin was forced to freeze most new spending commitments after the court blocked plans to re-purpose billions of euros of unused pandemic funds towards green projects and industry subsidies.

It will suspend the debt brake for the 2023 budget to allow higher borrowing prompted by the court's ruling, before finalising a 2024 budget that could see cuts in some ministries in order to keep spending commitments elsewhere.

The brake sets a limit on new borrowing, though it can be exceeded in "exceptional" circumstances.

The government said the spillover effects from the energy crisis that hit in 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and caused rocketing prices had created an emergency situation that justified suspending the debt brake.

"There was and is a risk that falling household consumption could trigger a downwards spiral in the German economy, causing significant declines in prosperity and employment," the draft law said in its justification.

The new borrowing will not fully cover the 60 billion euro hole blown in the budget by the court ruling: 2023 expenditures will fall by 15.1 billion euros, but the government said this would be sufficient to cover all commitments.

Time was now running out for parliament to approve a 2024 budget this year, meaning this could get delayed until the end of January, a government spokesperson earlier said.

The leader of Scholz's SPD urged the government to consider suspending the debt brake next year, a move rejected in particular by the fiscally hawkish Free Democrats (FDP).

"We don't have a revenue problem," FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Duerr said. "The debt brake must remain."

FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai, in remarks to the broadcaster ZDF, on Monday also spoke out against reforming the debt brake, a move that has found growing support elsewhere in the wake of the crisis.

COMPANIES WORRIED

The court ruling has called into question Germany's traditionally strict fiscal policy and sparked warnings that German companies could be starved of support to keep them globally competitive.

Germany has by far the lowest debt in the G7 grouping of major economies, but memories of how frugality paved the way for postwar reconstruction and how costly it was to re-integrate indebted ex-communist East Germany have shaped a uniquely debt-averse political culture.

A spokesperson said the government believed the latest budget measures were on a sound legal footing but could not rule out another legal challenge.

The conservatives, who brought the original challenge, have said they will not do so again.

In order to keep backing industry, Finance Minister Christian Lindner from the FDP has ruled out tax rises and said savings would have to be found elsewhere, backed up by reforming the welfare state.

The debt brake, introduced after the global financial crisis of 2008-2009, was first suspended in 2020 to help the government support firms and health systems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck, from the Greens, has criticised the debt brake as inflexible and as blocking vital support for industry to stop jobs and value creation from moving abroad.

On Monday he stressed the need to give companies, which have been worried by the uncertainty caused by the budget crisis, clarity as quickly as possible.

"We can't waste a lot of time," he said, adding it was not clear whether the government would extend an energy price cap that supports industry into next year.

($1 = 0.9168 euros)

(Reporting by Christian Kraemer, Riham Alkousaa, Amir Orusov, Rachel More; Writing by Matthias Williams and Thomas Escritt; Editing by Alison Williams and Tomasz Janowski)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP)  Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began Friday and was due to run out. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.

The deal for two additional days of cease-fire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Mondays releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.

FOURTH RELEASE

The newly released hostages included three women and nine children  including 3-year-old twin girls and their mother  from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit in Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in captivity, including the father of the twins. The Israeli military said late Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel before being reunited with their families.

Most of the hostages freed so far have appeared to be physically well. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released Sunday, was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her mother of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.

So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.

France said three of the hostages released Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old. The French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian prisoners released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. But some were convicted in alleged attempts to carry out stabbings, bombings and shootings. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.

Merav Raviv, who is related to three hostages released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.

We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages, Kirby told reporters.

RESPITE IN GAZA

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled entire neighborhoods.

Footage showed a complex of several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.

The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gazas population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.

Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.

Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.

My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them, said Mansour, who is disabled. I have not drunk water for two days, and theres no bathroom to use.

The U.N. says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals and water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the U.N. said.

Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction.

Many say the aid is not nearly enough.

Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.

She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics. People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return.

___

Jeffery and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.

___

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Jessica Chastain attended day two of the 2023 Marrakech International Film Festival in Marrakech, Morocco, to promote her upcoming psychological thriller Mothers Instinct. However, the film wasnt the only piece of art that was appreciated Saturday nightalso worthy of attention was Chastains elegant custom Balmain gown.

Stephane Cardinale - Corbis

The Zero Dark Thirty actor stepped out onto the red carpet in a black long sleeve dress that featured a train, square shoulders, and a plunging neckline with a pink satin bust. The detail showcased various folds and offered a pop of color to her form-fitting frock. Chastain styled her iconic fiery red hair down in soft waves and tucked behind her ears. For makeup, she opted for a smokey eye, glossy lips, and full eyelashes. She went sans jewelry for the night, but brought plenty of bling the day before.

Pascal Le Segretain

Dazzling from head to toe at the Hit Man screening on day one of the event, Chastain showed out in an exquisite beaded and pearl-decorated cape over a gilded rhinestone jumpsuit by Armani Prive. She kept the shimmer going with glittery peep-toe platform heels by Casadei, and glammed up with a dark smokey eye and red lip. For this look, she pulled her gorgeous locks back into a voluminous high ponytail.

Chastain, who serves as jury president for the 20th festival, kicked off the film showcase on Friday with a speech , in which she spoke about art as a medium of communication, raising awareness, and affecting positive change.

[Cinema can] break down barriers and start important conversations about difficult topics, Chastain said. We can sublimate pain and suffering and give rise to a consciousness of healing and unification, to create a deeper protection for all.

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Editors Note: CNN Travels series often carries sponsorship originating from the countries and regions we profile. However, CNN retains full editorial control over all of its reports. Read the policy.

In the bottom left-hand corner of Africa, just before the landscape gives way to the arid terrain of Namibia, sits a green and temperate region that could be one of the most beautiful on the continent  and yet few people beyond this part of the world know about it.

Lubango, in southwestern Angolas Huila province, is the countrys second biggest city by population, is rich in history and culture and is located on a steep-sided plateau that gives rise to spectacular landscapes.

Located at 5,774 feet (1,760 meters) above sea level, its one of the coolest cities in Angola  temperatures range between 8-31 Celsius (46-89 Fahrenheit) allowing for the cultivation of crops that are difficult to grow in the rest of the country.

Formerly known as Sa da Bandeira, Lubango was a major settlement site from 1885 for the colonial Portuguese, who arrived from Madeira islands from Portugal and saw the climates potential.

From the streets to the surrounding countryside, Lubango has plenty to offer. - Zute Lightfoot/Alamy Stock Photo

Today, the region is rich in agriculture and livestock  an abundance that can be seen in the variety of food on offer  including local cheeses and old Portuguese chorizo sausage recipes.

Lubango is considered one of Angolas most important cities thanks to its status as a travel hub with great connections to other provinces by road and railway, plus an international airport with flights to Luanda, other parts of the country and Namibias capital, Windhoek.

Visitors will find a wealth of history and colonial art deco architecture. Its also an unrivaled place to mingle with a great variety of ethnic groups, including members of the local Mumuila people and many other nomadic communities who call into the city to trade or pass through en route to elsewhere.

Unlike many places in Africa, this is a region where multiethnic groups cohabit peacefully and are visible within the city.

Most of them are nomadic people, loyal and proud of traditional roots and ways of living, differentiated by distinct colorful clothes, unique and symbolic jewelry and hairstyles.

The parade of diverse ethnic groups in Lubango is a rich experience, says Florinda Ramos, a businesswoman who is a regular visitor to the region. This is a magical place.

Rosemaire Luis, an environmental engineer from the Angolan capital Luanda who recently spent time in Lubango for work, is also impressed. Lubango is an excellent place for discovery tourism, she says. It is safe and diverse in terms of landscape and places of interest, both built and natural.

I really enjoyed the popular markets inside and outside the city, the mountains and remote locations where the geology is lush and fascinating.

Here are six of the best places to visit in and around Lubango:

Tundavala Gap (Fenda da Tundavala)

The Tundavala Gap offers breathtaking views over the hot plains beneath. - jbdodane/Alamy Stock Photo

One of the top wonders of Angola, Tundavala is a breathtaking gorge, just over 10 miles northwest of Lubango, over the border into the neighboring province of Namibe.

Here, the cool reaches of the higher-altitude Huila plateau tumble over a steep-walled cliff, into the hotter plains below.

Tundavala is considered by locals as a place where the souls of their ancestors take refuge, and its easy to see why.

The panoramic views from this volcanic fissure are mindblowing. Visitors are also rewarded with the beautiful flora, including orchids, growing amid the rocky cracks.

Here, youre above the clouds. The air is clear, and you might be lucky and see eagles and rock monkeys.

Locals visit to escape the city, especially at weekends, for picnics or just to have a beer, relax with friends and enjoy the sunset.

Its also a popular spot for wedding photos.

A visit to Tundavala may be an opportunity to encounter local Mumuila people, who also regularly come and contemplate this scenic place.

Serra da Leba

The incredible zig-zag road at Serra da Leba. - Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images

About 50 kilometers west of Lubango city center, the road reaches the Serra da Leba mountains, with peaks reaching up to about 2,650 meters. The mountains arent the most spectacular thing here though, its the road.

Built in 1970 by the old colonial administration to connect Lubango with the province of Namibe, the road is one of the most beautiful in the country, if not the continent, and is one of Angolas most famous sights.

As it nears Serra da Leba, the road drops off the Huila plateau and descends 1,600 meters over the next 20 or so kilometers. It does this through a series of dizzying switchback curves  56 in total  that rival anything in the European Alps.

This scenic marvel of engineering is best viewed from the mountains alongside it.

Travelers heading farther along the road will, at around the 100-mile (160-kilometer) mark, be rewarded with more breathtaking sights as the green landscape transforms into the barren sands of Namibe, one of the worlds oldest deserts and home to the Mucubal people.

Lubango municipal market

The market is worth a visit for its architecture and fresh produce. - Eric Lafforgue/Alamy Stock Photo

The municipal market of Lubango is a small colonial building located in the commercial area of the city center.

Surrounded by a bustle of small stores and a semi-open marketplace in the middle, its worth a visit for the atmosphere as well as the produce and people watching.

On sale are a variety of products, from fresh seasonal food to cut flowers, mainly grown and sold by women. There are baskets handmade from different natural dried materials and a diverse range of medicinal herbs. Its a great place to pick up pure local honey.

City center architecture

These vibrant apartments are among many examples of Art Deco architecture in the city. - Zute Lightfoot/Alamy Stock Photo

Angolas turbulent history has left its architectural mark on Lubango with a mix of contrasting styles, both historic and new, creating a dynamic urban landscape thats home to coffee shops and restaurants.

There are leftovers from centuries of Portuguese colonial rule plus some striking buildings from the past century.

Art Deco can be seen in numerous locations, including the imposing modern gothic Sao Jose cathedral, built in 1939. Its worth a visit to see the impressive vaulted ceiling that curves over its congregation.

There are also numerous commercial Art Deco buildings, with particularly epic examples including the CTT post office and the Odeon Cine theater.

These stand in contrast to new African art expressed in colorful murals on the city walls.

Christ The King statue

The Christ The King statue overlooks Lubango. - Eric Lafforgue/Art in All of Us/Corbis/Getty Images

Standing with arms stretched wide out toward the horizon, the statue of Christ the King is one of the first things many people see when they arrive in Lubango.

Similar to the gigantic Christ statues overlooking Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon, this white, marble edifice is located high above the city, atop the 2,130-meter Serra da Chela mountain.

The 30-meter tall monument was built in 1957 to the designs of Portuguese engineer Madeira Frazao Sardinha.

Designated an Angolan World Heritage site in April 2014, this spot  just a few minutes drive from the center, is the perfect place to view all of Lubango and understand the buzz and scope of the city below.

Huila Regional Museum

The history of the city of Lubango comes to life in this well-preserved collection that was first opened in the 1950s.

The permanent exhibition is organized into thematic rooms that showcase the habits, customs, beliefs and traditions of communities in southern Angola.

Visitors can see ornaments, textiles, ceramics and other pieces related to agriculture, fishing, hunting and spirituality.

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Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and state Sen. John Whitmire are pictured together in this composite photo. Houston Chronicle

State Sen. John Whitmire maintains a 7 percentage point lead over U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee in the Houston mayoral race, with a fifth of likely voters having yet to make up their minds just weeks before the December runoff, a latest poll shows.

Researchers identified 805 likely Houston voters from Nov. 13 and 18 and found that 42% of them supported Whitmire and 35% backed Jackson Lee. These figures are nearly identical to their vote shares in the general election, where Whitmire had 42.5% and Jackson Lee 35.6%. The two advanced to the Dec. 9 runoff because neither garnered a majority of votes. The poll was conducted by the Houston Chronicle, Houston Public Media, and University of Houston Political Science and Population Health.

RUNOFF VOTER GUIDE: A comprehensive guide to the local runoff elections that your vote will decide on Dec. 9.

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Twenty-two percent of likely voters remain undecided, which is not unusual in city elections typically marked by low turnout, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor and co-author of the poll.

While the undecided electorate represents an opportunity for Jackson Lee to potentially overtake Whitmires lead, convincing these voters to support her could be a "Herculean task" given the limited time frame, Rottinghaus said. In past Houston mayoral contests, the first-place finisher in the general election has won every runoff since 1977.

Among all likely voters, the ones most certain to cast a ballot in the runoff lean toward Whitmire, whereas those less sure about voting in December appear to favor Jackson Lee. For the congresswoman to secure a victory, her path hinges on quickly energizing these less committed voters, according to Rottinghaus.

It's not completely insurmountable, but it is really a challenge in a municipal election when you've got to juice up turnout, and that's always a hard thing to do, he said.

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In line with previous survey results, the latest poll reveals Houstons voter bases are markedly divided along demographic lines.

Whitmire is projected to have a 43 percentage point advantage among white voters (63% to 20%) and a 20-point lead among Latino voters (43% to 23%). Jackson Lee, on the other hand, holds a strong lead among Black voters (63% to 15%).

More male likely voters said they would cast their ballot for Whitmire (51% to 34%), while women voters are evenly split between the two contestants (35% to 35%).

Though Houston city elections are nonpartisan, voters party affiliations continue to play a notable role in the latest poll: Whitmire garnered 68% of Republican support to Jackson Lee's 12%, while Democrats backed Jackson Lee by 55% to Whitmire's 25%.

Despite both candidates being established figures in Houston's Democratic scene, respondents reported disparate perceptions of their ideological stances: Over half labeled Jackson Lee as "liberal" or "extremely liberal," whereas a majority considered Whitmire "moderate" or "conservative."

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THE PROGRESSIVE VOTE: As Houston turns more blue, the mayoral race thrusts young progressives into the political limelight

Former mayoral candidate Jack Christie, a Republican who secured 7% of the vote in November, recently endorsed Whitmire. Rottinghaus suggested this could potentially nudge more conservative voters toward Whitmire, especially those who were undecided.

Of all voter groups, young women were most significantly affected by the recent leak of a recording allegedly featuring Jackson Lee berating a staffer, the poll shows. Overall, most said the incident had little to no impact on how they would vote in the runoff.

Rottinghaus said he does not expect any potential new revelation in the coming weeks to change the candidates vote share by more than a few percentage points.

It would have to be something pretty significant that would shift the electorate, and it would have to be one that does it among certain constituencies, he said.

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Poll respondents said they would like the next mayor to focus on reducing crime, improving city infrastructure and making housing more affordable. Notably, voters who named public safety as their top priority favored Whitmire 60% to 22%, while those who wanted to prioritize addressing homelessness backed Jackson Lee 56% to 26%.
WASHINGTON  Lawmakers will reignite a debate over approving U.S. aid to Israel and Ukraine when Congress returns from Thanksgiving recess this week, with deep uncertainty underscoring the path forward amid divisions between the two parties.

Along with a defense policy bill and reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of the year, Congress must also grapple with a two-part deadline to fund the government that could creep up on it sooner than expected.

Under the official calendar, the House has just 12 legislative days left this year, during which top lawmakers believe they must break the logjam over foreign aid to maximize its chances of passage.

The goal is complicated by multiple factors. Republicans insist on enacting tougher U.S. border enforcement and stricter asylum laws in exchange for any Ukraine aid. And as the civilian death toll rises in the Middle East, theres a new division among Democrats about whether or not to condition funding for Israel on its government taking active steps to stop the fighting.

The blank check approach must end, said Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., a leader in the progressive movement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told colleagues Sunday that he plans to bring Bidens national security supplemental package to the floor as soon as the week of December 4th.

The biggest holdup to the national security assistance package right now is the insistence by our Republican colleagues on partisan border policy as a condition for vital Ukraine aid. This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities, Schumer, D-N.Y., wrote in a letter. Democrats stand ready to work on common-sense solutions to address immigration, but purely partisan hard-right demands, like those in H.R. 2, jeopardize the entire national security supplemental package.

Biden weighs in on conditional Israel aid

Biden, meanwhile, is not drawing a hard line.

Thats a worthwhile thought, Biden said, referring to the idea of conditions on Israel aid, while speaking with reporters Friday about a U.S.-brokered deal to release hostages in the Israel-Hamas war. But I dont think if I started off with that wed ever gotten to where we are today.

Pressed Sunday on NBC News Meet the Press, Bidens national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, did not say if the president prefers to slap conditions on Israel aid. He is going to continue to focus on what is going to generate results, Sullivan said.

Between the Democratic division on Israel, the Republican fracture over Ukraine funding and the dim prospects of an immigration deal that has eluded Congress for decades, its a tough puzzle to solve.

Biden seems to care more about Ukraines borders than he cares about Americas borders, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in an interview on Fox News Sunday.

We want to secure our border, we want to stop the flow of illegal immigrants in this country, Cotton said. So in return for providing additional funding for Ukraine, we have to have significant and substantial reforms to our border policy, specifically asylum and parole.

Rep. Jake Auchincloss, D-Mass., said on Fox News Sunday that the GOP stance on Ukraine shows the party is now prepared under the leadership of Donald Trump to hand Ukraine back over to Russia.

A tight calendar and funding deadlines

Beyond foreign aid, the House has only 20 legislative days between now and the first Jan. 19 deadline to fund part of the government. Then another four days in session before the second deadline on Feb. 2 to fund the rest of it and prevent a damaging shutdown.

The pressure is on Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to produce the progress that hard-liners are demanding on party-line appropriations bills.

They overthrew his predecessor, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., for failing to move quickly enough and resorting to a short-term bill in late September. For now, theyre willing to give Johnson more time to figure it out, given that he just assumed the job one month ago.

But the hard-liners arent a patient bunch.

And the remaining appropriations bills will be a slog to pass. Johnson canceled votes on two of them before the Thanksgiving break, lacking enough support due to East Coast Republicans objecting to Amtrak cuts and centrists rebelling against anti-abortion language.

Other lingering GOP appropriations bills, like the one to fund the departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, also have anti-abortion provisions that make swing-district Republicans nervous. The bill to fund the Commerce and Justice departments and science policy includes provisions targeting federal law enforcement that have divided GOP lawmakers, along with conservative demands for amendments to defund former President Donald Trumps prosecutors.

Some Republicans are backing Johnson to find a way.

I dont think that most Republicans blame Speaker Johnson for the problems that he is now facing, the challenges hes facing, Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., who voted to oust McCarthy as speaker, said Sunday on CBS "Face the Nation." "Those were created during the McCarthy time period, and Speaker Johnson is doing a good job to work his way through those issues. So, no, I dont think hes going to face a rebellion.

Buck said he favors aid to Israel and Ukraine  if theyre paid for: We have three weeks of legislative business ahead of us, if not more, and we can get those things done and theyre very important to get done."
Many people love to hate the Constitution these days. (Its not democratic enough! It was created by racist, white men! It envisions an oligarchy! It undermines government today!) Progressives in particular increasingly demand sweeping revisions to our founding charter, so as to align it more closely with what they take to be the nations contemporary values.

As a matter of civics education, this is not a good idea. One of the great advantages of our Constitution is that it remains an eminently readable document. The average person can read and comprehend it during the length of time between dinner and bedtime. Its prose, while dated, is still crisp, thanks in no small part to the stylings of Gouverneur Morris, who led the committee that transformed the rough draft of the Constitution into its polished version. And this accessibility enhances the republican quality of our government. Compare the federal Constitution to the state constitutions, which are overlong and overladen precisely because they are so easily amendable. Nobody can practically read the constitution of Illinoisnobody except lawyers getting paid to do so would even try.

The practical reality is that the Constitution is a very hard document to amend. In the 236 years since the Constitutional Convention of 1787, it has only been altered 27 times, including the original 10 amendments in the Bill of Rights. One of them (the 21st Amendment) negated another (the 18th amendment), correcting the policy mistake of Prohibition. Most of the remaining 15 amendments were either modest adjustments to the process of government or expansion of the scope of civil society. There has only been one major change to the way the government functions: the 17th Amendment, allowing the direct election of senators.

For good reason. Besides keeping it accessible for the peoplea major concern of the framersthe Constitution privileges consensus. The animating idea behind its rules for government is that the larger, broader, and more durable majority, the more power it will should have to govern. The framers thinking was that such majorities are likely to operate in the interest of the whole community, rather than just a faction within it. Conversely, small, narrow, and fleeting majorities are less likely to have the public good in mind and will usually face gridlock. As the stakes for governance become higher, the supermajority requirements in the Constitution tend to increase, which is why it is so hard to change the document itself. Alterations to a communitys fundamental law should be approved by the vast majority of the community. Such majorities are rare, so the Constitution is rarely amended.

Critics of the Constitution complain that this is unfaira trap set by the framers to lock us in 1787. That certainly was not their motive, and its worth noting that the framers established that burden for themselves. The Constitution lacked the force of law until it was ratified in nine of 13 states (more than two-thirds, a supermajority) and nobody was subject to it until their own state had ratified it.

In other words, the American people in 1788 and 1789 found the common ground that we today claim cannot be found. Maybe our inability to achieve consensus is an us problem, not a they problem.

In fact, we often do not need to change the Constitution to effect the political outcome we desire. Many aspects of our system could be transformed without touching the Constitution. And as we consider what ails our body politic, it makes sense to prioritize the least drastic ways to cure it.

For instance, many progressives bemoan that the Electoral College elected minority presidentsor presidents who won an Electoral College victory despite having lost the popular votetwice in the last 20 years. In 2000, the gap between Al Gore and George W. Bush was so narrow Gore could have conceivably won the Electoral College but lost the popular vote. Not so in 2016, when Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by millions of votes but lost the Electoral College. And if Donald Trump were to defeat Joe Biden next year, theres a good chance he would do so while losing the popular vote.

Progressives are not wrong to be upset about this. Minority presidents are excusable in the case of a virtual tie like 2000, but theyre otherwise a violation of what James Madison in Federalist 10 called the republican principle, which enables the majority to defeat a faction of less than a majority. But this doesnt mean we should abolish the Electoral College. There are less dramatic ways to ameliorate the problem of minority presidents. For one, we could expand the House of Representatives.

Expanding the House of Representatives would actually make it more representative. That would be a good thing. The total number of House seats was capped at 435 over 100 years ago, and the typical House district now has more people in it than the largest state in 1787. To say that a single individual can meaningfully represent three-quarters of a million peoplethe average size of a House districtmight work for the Senate, which is supposed to bypass swings in public opinion, but not for the House, which is supposed to be responsive to the people. A 435-member House is hardly stretching the bounds of practicality. After all, the British House of Commons and the German Bundestag both have more members than our House.

A larger House would also redistribute political power in the Electoral College to the more populous states, as they would get the additional House seats and therefore more Electoral College votes. For instance, we might cap the number of House seats by formula, such that the least populous state sets the maximum number of people in a district. Right now, that would be Wyoming; if each House district was the size of the Equality State, that would yield a House of approximately 573 membersstill less than the Commons or the Bundestag. A larger House would also mean a larger Electoral College, and more political power for the more populous parts of the country, while still keeping the historic role the small states have enjoyed. The framers themselves preferred a continuous expansion of the House, and one of Madisons proposed amendments in the Bill of Rights would have set a very low ceiling for House district sizes.

Expanding the House seems like an obvious improvement to our current arrangement, but one small group never mentions the idea: current House members. After all, the power of each individual House member would decrease as new seats are added, but its the height of cynicism to ignore the solution, especially for those liberal Democrats in the House who complain about the Electoral College. But the fact that our political leaders refuse to do what the framers did, keeping the House growing with the public, means that this is an us problem, not a they problem. Expanding the House doesnt require a constitutional amendment; it requires a policy update.

Such a solution could be paired with reforms to how Electoral College votes are apportioned. The overwhelming majority of votes527 out of 538are apportioned on a winner-take-all basis. That means, for example, that a candidate who wins Wisconsin gets all 18 of its electoral votes, even if he or she carries the state by just a single vote. Only Nebraska and Maine operate differently, allocating electors in part based on whether candidates win the House districts in the state. The winner-take-all rules create massive vote sinks, especially for Democrats in California, where their oversized victories do not add any extra Electoral College votes.

But there is no constitutional reason for winner-take-all presidential elections. In fact, in the early decades under the Constitution, many states allocated electors in some kind of proportional manner. Why not do that now?

Getting rid of winner-take-all presidential elections would make the final Electoral College vote more reflective of the popular vote. It would also incentivize presidential candidates to pay more attention to states that arent purple. Importantly, the reform depends on Democrats and Republicans initiating the reform altogether. If Democrats were to allocate, say, Californias electors on some kind of proportional basis, but Republicans in Texas do not respond in kind, then Democrats would suffer a decisive blow to their presidential prospects. The same is true if Republicans were to act but Democrats did not reciprocate.

That might be politically inconvenient to do, but that is a testament to the failures of political leadership in 2023, not of the Constitution. The framers deferred questions of electoral allocation to the states as part of their overall pursuit of federal power-sharing. If political leaders choose to do so in a way that works to advance partisan advantages rather than benefit the whole political community, once again that is an us problem, not a they problem.

And what about the Senate? Critics of the Constitution complain bitterly that its a countermajoritarian institution that slows down the tasks of governance. And in part, theyre correct. The framers intended the upper chamber as a compromise between the populous and less populous statesand they were wise to do so.

In a nation as geographically large as the United States, simple majoritarianism would be dangerous. Political power would easily accrue in populous areas, leaving people outside high-density enclaves left to the rule of those within. Would the people in the disfavored places remain loyal to the regime? Maybe for a while. But free government ultimately requires the consent of the governed, which in turn requires the governed to believe that their interests are meaningfully reflected within its institutions. To hold a large country like ours together, we must make sure every place feels included. The Senate helps us accomplish that task: Its both a geographical check on the House and the forum in which less populous places have a meaningful say in the formation of public policy.

Some may argue that the Senate has accrued too much power, especially through the courts. Again, a fair point. The courts wield vast power, and the Senateby virtue of its authority to advise and consent on presidential nominations to themserves as a major chokepoint on judicial authority. But in the original constitutional schema, the judiciary was far less powerful than it is today.

We have allowed the Supreme Court to grow its power by an order of magnitude over the last century, in ways that many of the framers, especially Madison, would downright detest. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires this. The Court has seized power in fits and starts, but ultimately the other branches have allowed it to do so. Perhaps retaking power from the courts, and returning it to the states or the political branches of the federal government, is a viable alternative. Maybe we need to reimagine the Courts role in public life more as the framers did, giving it final say on individual cases and controversies, but expecting it to defer to the people on significant matters of community life. Once more, our problems are an us problem, not a they problem.

Pretty much everybody in this countryleft, right, and centeragrees that our political system is deeply dysfunctional and in need of significant reforms. Maybe, in some instances, reform does require alterations of the Constitution. But when we think about many of our challenges, we can see that something less than an amendment is necessary. The problem is not with the Constitution, which does little more than set the basic framework of politics, but in how we have gone about filling in the details over the years. And our Constitution, with its simple and clear prose and its provisions that have generally worked so well for over 200 years, is a blessing. We shouldnt adjust it when we dont have to. Insofar as we can fix our problems without recourse amendmentand usually, we canthat is the course of action we should take.

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Police are investigating an alleged acid attack on an ex-adviser to the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan at his home in Hertfordshire. There are claims by a senior Tory MP it was carried out by an agent of the countrys feared intelligence agency, the ISI.

Shahzad Akbar, who sought refuge in Britain after leading Pakistans efforts to combat corruption and becoming an outspoken opponent of the regime, told The Independent he was lucky not to lose his sight in the attack on Sunday afternoon.

He was saved by his spectacles, which were badly damaged. Mr Akbar described how the attack was launched in front of his four-year-old daughter, and left him with acid burns on an arm and the top of his head.

The Tory MP and former cabinet minister David Davis said foreign secretary Lord Cameron should summon Pakistans high commissioner over the incident.

Mr Akbar said he was lucky not to lose his sight (Shahzad Akbar)

The circumstantial evidence that this attack was conducted at the behest of the ISI is persuasive, Mr Davis said. The Pakistanis have to understand that whatever the standards of law at home, they cannot be allowed to attack British residents on British soil.

The foreign secretary should summon the high commissioner and demand an explanation. Likening the incident to the poisonings of Yulia and Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, he said such behaviour would be no more acceptable from the Pakistanis than from the Russians.

Describing the alleged attack, Mr Akbar said that at 4.35pm on Sunday he was washing pots in his kitchen with his daughter when there was a knock at his front door: I saw a thin person, around 5ft 6ins, wearing a red padded jacket like a delivery person. He had a motorbike helmet with the glass drawn down. I think he had gloves.

In his right hand he had a plastic bottle. He squeezed and aimed for my face. It happened in a split second, and I slammed the door. Acid came on my face and clothes but the door got most of it. I shouted to my wife to call 999.

Her first question was: Have you been shot? The father-of-two replied: Not yet. He had the presence of mind to rush to his downstairs washroom and spent many minutes dousing his face, but said the top of my head and an ear started burning.

Paramedics arrived in an ambulance and took him to Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, where nurses in bodysuits had me strip and washed me from head to toe. After eight hours he was discharged, with his acid-burnt arm and other injuries bandaged.

The lawyers glasses after the attack, showing signs of damage (Shahzad Akbar)

Mr Akbar, who read law at Newcastle University and is a member of the English bar, was appointed head of the asset recovery unit Khan set up when he became prime minister in 2018, spearheading high-profile attempts to investigate officials and politicians suspected of stealing millions and aiming to return the money to the Pakistani treasury.

He had previously led Pakistans pre-eminent human rights law firm, which had sued the American government over the deaths of civilians in US drone strikes and defended clients, some of British origin, in cases where they faced the death penalty.

Mr Akbar also became a minister in Khans cabinet, but stepped down in January last year, shortly before Khan was ousted after falling foul of Pakistans establishment  the term often used locally to describe the shadowy alliance between the military, the ISI and compliant political leaders, which both generates wealth and wields immense power. Some of those responsible had been targets of investigations by Mr Akbar and his colleagues.

He fled first to the Gulf and then Britain after Khan was deposed in March last year, finding work with two human rights organisations and settling in Royston, a market town in Hertfordshire. He continued to attack the establishment and the government that succeeded Khan on Pakistani TV and social media.

In May 2023, the ISI kidnapped Mr Akbars brother Murad from his home in Islamabad and held him without charge at an undisclosed location. The following month, a senior government official told a press conference that Murad would be held indefinitely unless Mr Akbar returned to Pakistan.

Murad was finally freed on 27 August after prominent figures including Mr Davis and the Labour MP Chris Bryant wrote an open letter to then-foreign secretary James Cleverly, saying he was at risk of torture, disappearance and death, and asking him to do all he could to secure his release.

Mr Akbar kept his Royston address secret, but last month he received a package of documents there sent from the High Commission in London. Obviously they had discovered where we live, he said.

Police escort Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khan as he arrives at the high court in Islamabad on 12 May 2023 (AFP via Getty)

Two weeks ago, he sent an email, seen by The Independent, expressing concern at this development to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Hertfordshire Police. He told said their advice was that his personal threat level remained low, but added: I suppose I agreed with them. It was one thing to try to intimidate me remotely through my brother, but I never really thought they would attack me in Britain.

An authoritative Pakistani source known to have links with establishment figures told The Independent he warned Mr Akbar weeks ago that he was being targeted, adding: Hes very lucky he left Pakistan when he did and isnt dead. But here in Britain, hes on his own.

It is understood that the bottle that had contained the acid has been recovered by police, who are currently guarding Akbars house.

The incident comes two months after Canadas prime minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of murdering the Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

Hertfordshire Police said: Police were contacted by the ambulance service just before 4.45pm on Sunday to reports of an assault in Royston.

It is believed an acidic solution was used. A 44-year-old man received hospital treatment and has now been discharged. Safety of any victim is paramount and we believe this is an isolated incident. Active enquiries are underway.

The Pakistan High Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
JLS star Marvin Humes shared intimate details of his relationship and marriage proposal to wife Rochelle.

His Im A Celebrity campmates appeared surprised when Humes shared how he took his now wife to the Maldives for Christmas and hired a small island for the proposal.

He told campmates Nella Rose and Josie Gibson I stood next to her for a picture, and then showed the pair how he got down on one knee to propose.

Humes then shared how the pair had to separate for six weeks due to hectic work schedules, only to meet for one night in New York, where they conceived their first child.
Map of the Netherlands

The Netherlands' name reflects its low-lying topography, with more than a quarter of its total area under sea level.

Now a constitutional monarchy, the country began its independent life as a republic in the 16th Century, during a long struggle with Hapsburg Spain, when the foundations were laid for it to become one of the world's foremost maritime trading nations.

Although traditionally among the keener advocates of the European Union, Dutch voters echoed those in France by spurning the proposed EU constitution in a 2005 referendum.

The Netherlands has produced many of the world's most famous artists from Rembrandt and Vermeer in the 17th Century to Van Gogh in the 19th and Mondrian in the 20th. It attracts visitors from across the globe.

The Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries, Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and the Netherlands - which comprises some 98% of the Kingdom's land area and population and administers most of its affairs.

Read more country profiles - Profiles by BBC Monitoring

KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS: FACTS

Capital: Amsterdam, (government) The Hague

Area: 41,850 sq km

Population: 17.7 million

Languages: Dutch, also West Frisian, Papiamento, English

Life expectancy: 79 years (men) 83 years (women)

LEADERS

Head of state: King Willem-Alexander

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima wave from the palace balcony in The Hague

King Willem-Alexander became the first Dutch male monarch in more than a century in April 2013 when his mother Beatrix abdicated to end a 33-year reign.

The generational change in the House of Orange-Nassau gave the Netherlands a moment of celebration and pageantry at a time of recession brought on by the European economic crisis.

The much-loved Beatrix ended her reign in a nationally televised signing ceremony as thousands of orange-clad people cheered outside. Her retirement followed in the tradition of her mother and grandmother.

Prime minister: Talks underway to form new government

Geert Wilders' victory has sent tremors around Europe

Former Prime Minister Mark Rutte is serving as a caretaker leader peending the outcome of talks to form a coalition government following the November 2023 general election. Veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders won a dramatic victory when his Freedom party (PVV) became the biggest party in parliament.

Mr Rutte announced his government's resignation in July 2023 when his coalition failed to agree on how to handle increasing migration.

Mr Wilders' win has shaken Dutch politics and has also sent tremors across Europe, but to fulfil his pledge to be "prime minister for everyone", he will have to persuade other parties to join him in a coalition. His target is 76 seats in the 150-seat parliament.

The Dutch coalition process tends to take several months.

Centre-right VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz, whose VVD party came third in the vote, has said she would not take part in the next administration because Dutch voters had given a "clear signal".

Without the liberals, Mr Wilders will struggle to make up the 76 seats needed to form a majority. The only other major potential partners are the newly formed centrist New Social Contract and the centre-right Farmer Citizens Movement.

MEDIA

Dutch newspaper front pages

The Dutch approach to public broadcasting is unique. Programmes are made by groups which reflect political or religious currents, or other interests. These organisations are allocated airtime on TV and radio, in line with the number of members they have.

Public radio and TV face stiff competition from commercial stations. Viewers have access to a wide range of domestic and foreign channels, thanks mainly to one of the highest cable take-up rates in Europe. Every province has at least one local public TV channel. The three national public TV stations enjoy high audience shares.

Read full media profile

TIMELINE

The Netherlands parliament building in The Hague

Some key dates in the history of the Netherlands:

1396-1467 - Most of what is now the Netherlands and Belgium is eventually united by the Duke of Burgundy, Phillip the Good.

1477 - Region increasingly comes under Hapsburg control.

1500-1558 - Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria, King of Spain and Lord of the Netherlands as titular Duke of Burgundy. Born in Ghent he turned rule of the region over to his Spanish relatives.

16th Century - The Protestant Reformation rapidly gains ground in the Netherlands and much of northern Europe. But Charles V and later Philip II consider it a threat to the political system.

c.1566-1648 - The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt. Amid growing resistance to centralised Hapsburg rule, Philip II sends in troops to crush the rebellion and make all the Netherlands Catholic once more.

Spanish troops reconquer the southern Netherlands, now Belgium, but fail to completely suppress the rebels.

1579 - Protestant-dominated Dutch Republic established.

1609-1621 - Twelve Years' Truce: facing military stalemate and increasing financial costs, both sides agree to a halt to the fighting.

1621-1648 - Fighting resumes as part of the wider European Thirty Years' War. In 1648 Spain recognises the Dutch Republic, while retaining the southern Netherlands, in the Peace of Munster, part of the Peace of Westphalia.

1652-1674 - As major rivals in world trade and naval power, the Dutch Republic and England fight three naval wars in the 17th Century.

1672 - The "Disaster Year" for the Dutch Republic. England declares war (the Third Anglo-Dutch War), followed by France, Munster and Cologne - which then invade. The country's leader, Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are lynched and a William III is appointed the country's ruler.

1688 - William III invades England at the invitation of Protestant British nobles feuding with the Catholic James II. This leads to the "Glorious Revolution" confirming the principle of parliamentary rule and Protestant ascendency in England.

William becomes co-monarch with his wife Mary, James' eldest daughter. This secures England as a critical financial and military ally in the Republic's long-standing wars with Louis XIV of France.

1785-1815 - French-Batavian period: The French Revolution sees first a pro-French Batavian Republic, then the Kingdom of Holland, ruled by a member of the House of Bonaparte, and finally annexation by the French Empire.

1815 - Modern Kingdom of the Netherlands, which includes what is now Belgium and Luxembourg, emerges after the defeat of Napoleonic France.

1830 - Belgium secedes from the Netherlands.

1839 - Netherlands recognises Belgian independence in the Treaty of London. Luxembourg became a fully independent country.

1914-1918 - The Netherlands maintains its neutrality during World War One.

1932 - A 31km dam is completed across the Zuider Zee forming a freshwater lake known as the Ijsselmeer. Part of the lake has since been drained and the reclaimed land used to grow crops.

1940 - Nazi Germany invades. The Dutch Royal Family flees to England, accompanied by the Dutch cabinet. The Dutch army is overwhelmed and the Netherlands surrenders.

1944 - As Allied forces advance towards Germany, the Netherlands becomes the site of bitter fighting.

1945 - The occupation ends with the surrender of German forces in the Netherlands. The Netherlands goes on to become a charter member of the United Nations.

1948 - Benelux customs union between Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands comes into effect.

1949 - The Dutch East Indies, which had been occupied by Japan during World War Two, becomes independent as Indonesia after a four-year independence struggle against Dutch colonial authorities.

1949 - The Netherlands abandons its policy of neutrality and joins Nato.

1952 - The Netherlands is a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community, which becomes the European Economic Community five years later in 1957 with the Treaty of Rome.

1963 - Colony of Netherlands New Guinea is ceded to Indonesia.

1975 - Dutch colony of Surinam achieves independence. Hundreds of thousands of Surinamese emigrate to the Netherlands.

1980 - Queen Juliana abdicates; Beatrix becomes queen.

2002 - The Netherlands adopts the euro.

Widespread shock as anti-immigration party leader Pim Fortuyn is killed by gunman.

2003 - Animal rights activist Volkert van der Graaf sentenced to 18 years for Fortuyn killing.

2004 - Queen mother Juliana dies, aged 94. Juliana reigned for 32 years from 1948.

Film-maker Theo Van Gogh is murdered. He was reported to have received death threats after his controversial film about the position of women in Islamic society. A radical Islamist is jailed for life for the murder in 2005.

2010 - The Netherlands Antilles is dissolved and Aruba, Curacao, St Maarten become nations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba, became autonomous special municipalities of the Netherlands.

2013 - Queen Beatrix abdicates; her son Willem-Alexander becomes king.

2014 - Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 travelling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur is shot down over Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.

2018 - Parliament votes overwhelmingly in favour of recognising the massacres of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman troops in 1915 as genocide.
Police in Niagara Falls have warned the public about the dangers of misinformation about the deadly crash at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing.

Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53 and from Grand Island, New York, were killed last Wednesday when their speeding Bentley rammed into the border crossing, which connects the US and Canada.

The blast instantly sparked fears of a terrorist attack, but officials later ruled this out.

Now, investigators are still working to piece together what caused the deadly crash with authorities probing the possibility of a mechanical failure on the car or a medical emergency involving the driver.

Police are also using 3D scanning technology to help create a digital crash scene.

While information remains scant, Niagara police chief of police hit out at the rampant speculation which is causing significant and unnecessary anxiety within the local community.

We saw an immense amount of misinformation and speculation on both mainstream and social media platforms, which created significant and unnecessary anxiety in the community, he said.

Key Points

Who were the two people killed in the blast?

Casino where car stopped before crash cooperating with police

Dramatic surveillance footage captures fiery car crash

New York Governor Hochul says no sign of terrorist activity

Right-wing figures bashed for rushing to label crash a terrorist attack

Watch: Niagara police chief warns against misinformation following Rainbow Bridge crash

Monday 27 November 2023 18:00 , Ariana Baio

What we know about Rainbow Bridge explosion

Monday 27 November 2023 16:00 , Bevan Hurley

Two people died after a vehicle exploded at a US-Canadaborder crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, on Wednesday 22 November.

The car was attempting to enter Canada from the United States when it sped toward a checkpoint, crashed into a fence and erupted into a fireball just before midday, according to witnesses.

At 11.50am ET, the Rainbow Bridge was closed due to a traffic event, according to an incident alert from the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition.

Witness Mike Guenther told NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV that he had been walking on the bridge when he saw a speeding car approach the border checkpoint, hit a fence and go airborne before exploding.

Another witness told reporters that he had seen the vehicle catch fire, before seeing black smoke and flames.

Video footage and photos showed flames and thick black smoke billowing from the checkpoint, and a security booth that had been charred by flames.

Ambulances arrived soon afterward to find the vehicle completely burned out. Two individuals travelling in the car died, officials said.

Niagara Falls police identify couple killed in crash

Monday 27 November 2023 15:00 , Kelly Rissman

The couple tragically killed in the crash at the Rainbow Bridge crossing have now been identified.

Kurt Villani, 53, and his wife Monica Villani, 53, were residents of Grand Island, New York, Niagara Falls police announced on Friday.

The City of Niagara Falls would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families as they deal with this tragedy, police said in a statement.

Although little is known about the couple at this time, an obituary for Kurt Villanis father revealed the pair are survived by two children.

The couple had been planning to attend a KISS concert in Toronto on Wednesday, but the gig was cancelled when frontman Paul Stanley fell ill with flu.

Video captures the speeding car ahead of the crash

Monday 27 November 2023 14:00 , Mike Bedigan

CBP is working closely with @FBI, federal, state & local partners in response to a vehicle explosion at Rainbow Bridge which remains closed. Out of abundance of caution, CBP temporarily suspended inbound/outbound traffic at 3 other Buffalo crossings that have since reopened. pic.twitter.com/pTXyUsavRB  CBP (@CBP) November 22, 2023

Police use 3D scanners to create digital crash scene following Rainbow Bridge explosion

Monday 27 November 2023 13:00 , Mike Bedigan

Police are using 3D scanning technology to help create a digital crash scene, as the investigation into the Rainbow Bridge vehicle explosion continues.

Read the full story here:

Police use 3D scanners to create digital crash scene following Niagara explosion

Police guard the Rainbow Bridge in the aftermath of the crash

Monday 27 November 2023 12:00 , Mike Bedigan

Police stand guard as the Peace Bridge, one of four major crossings into the US from Canada, is closed after a car crashed and exploded at The Rainbow Bridge on 22 November 2023 (Getty Images)

Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and local authorities block traffic to the Rainbow Bridge, one of four major crossings between the U.S. and Canada that is closed after a car crashed and exploded at the bridge on 22 November 2023 (Getty Images)

A member of the Border Patrol stands guard as Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and local authorities block traffic to the Rainbow Bridge (Getty Images)

Right-wing figures bashed for rushing to label crash a terrorist attack

Monday 27 November 2023 11:00 , Mike Bedigan

A number of right-wing figures quickly branded the crash a terrorist attack, sparking criticism.

Senator Ted Cruz also claimed the incident was a terror attack, tweeting: This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.

Congressman Byron Donalds also chimed in. Todays apparent terrorist attack must be a wake-up call to all Americans. Nowmore than everwe need a change in leadership in our nation, he said. As authorities respond to this ongoing situation, I extend my prayers to all those impacted by this terror and pray for our great nation.

Florida Senator Rick Scott and presidential contender Vivek Ramaswamy, as well as Donald Trump Jr, among others, also suggested the explosion was a terrorist incident, linking it to border enforcement policies.

CNN reporter Oliver Darcy criticized Fox News initial terrorist attack reporting in an interview with Abby Phillip on Wednesday.

This was irresponsible reporting, this was reckless reporting and by all accounts, it was inaccurate reporting, he said, adding that it was reported for hours and the network sent out a push alert on the terrorism report.

Political strategist Lindy Li also criticised Fox News, tweeting: Contrary to what Fox News wants you to believe the car explosion on the Rainbow Bridge was NOT a terrorist attack but a terrible accident, she said.

Trumps violent insurrection against our Capitol WAS a terrorist attack and NOT a normal tourist visit. Learn the b****y difference.

Who were the two people killed in the blast?

Monday 27 November 2023 09:00 , Mike Bedigan

Law enforcement sources told CNN on Wednesday night that the Rainbow Bridge crash is believed to have involved a local New York individual and a passenger who had planned to attend a KISS concert in Toronto, Canada.

The concert was cancelled earlier in the day due to frontman, Paul Stanley, falling ill with the flu.

Police identified the couple on Friday as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani, both 53; they lived in Grand Island, New York. They are survived by two children, according to an obiturary for the husbands father.

The Villanis own Guis Lumber, a business with eight locations across western New York.

In a statement to CBC, the business wrote: We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all that [have] extended prayers, condolences and well wishes. We are deeply touched. At this point, we would request privacy so we may begin the process of healing.

Read the full story...

What we know about the deadly Rainbow Bridge explosion

Niagara police chief warns against misinformation following Rainbow Bridge crash

Monday 27 November 2023 07:00 , Mike Bedigan

Niagara Regions chief of police, Bryan MacCulloch, said that although the incident was quickly confirmed to be non-terrorist related, speculation in the mainstream media and online had caused significant and unnecessary anxiety within the local community.

Niagara police chief warns against misinformation following Rainbow Bridge crash

Watch: NY Gov. Kathy Hochul says no sign of terror activity at Niagara Falls border crash

Monday 27 November 2023 05:01 , Mike Bedigan

Tributes pour in for couple killed in fiery crash on Rainbow Bridge

Monday 27 November 2023 03:00 , Mike Bedigan

The couple were named by police on Friday as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani, though devastated friends, neighbours and loved ones in the upstate New York community of Grand Island knew the victims identities before they were officially confirmed.

Tributes pour in for couple killed in fiery crash on Rainbow Bridge

What happened at Rainbow Bridge?

Monday 27 November 2023 01:00 , Mike Bedigan

At 11.50am ET, the Rainbow Bridge was closed due to a traffic event, according to an incident alert from the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition.

Witness Mike Guenther told NBC affiliate WGRZ-TV that he had been walking on the bridge when he saw a speeding car approach the border checkpoint, hit a fence and go airborne before exploding.

Another witness told reporters that he had seen the vehicle catch fire, before seeing black smoke and flames.

Ambulances arrived soon afterward to find the vehicle completely burned out. Two individuals travelling in the car died, officials said.

Cause of crash still a mystery

Monday 27 November 2023 00:00 , Mike Bedigan

Though police investigations continued throughout the weekend, the cause of the Rainbow Bridge blast remains something of a mystery.

Some previously speculated that the driver of the vehicle may have suffered from a medical emergency, though investigators are now exploring whether a mechanical failure in the car could be to blame.

Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls, told The New York Times that the Bentley the couple was driving in was an older model and may have experienced some sort of mechanical glitch that caused it to suddenly accelerate as it approached the border checkpoint.

However, a spokesperson for the American arm of Bentley Motors told the paper that the automaker was yet to hear from investigators about the incident.

Automotive analyst Laura Fix told NBC-affiliate-WGRZ that acceleration data recovered from the vehicles Event Data Recorder (EDR) may determine the cause of the crash.

They could actually see that the driver applied the accelerator pedal, not unintentionally, then it could have been [possibly] a medical issue, Ms Fix said.

A message from the family

Sunday 26 November 2023 23:00 , Mike Bedigan

Grand Island residents Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani were identified on Friday as the victims of the crash.

Online records revealed that the family owns Guis Lumber, a business that spans locations across western New York.

We would like to extend our sincere gratitude to all that extended prayers, condolences and well wishes, the families and the lumber company said in a joint statement released by the Erie County Sheriffs Office on Friday. At this point, we are requesting privacy so we may begin the process of healing.

NY Gov: Shocking crash almost looked AI generated

Sunday 26 November 2023 22:00 , Mike Bedigan

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that when she first saw footage of the crash which killed two people, she wondered whether it could have been AI generated  such was its shocking nature.

Ms Hochul quickly ruled out that the incident was terrorist-related, but described it as surreal and said the vehicle was basically incinerated with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris.

You actually had to look at it and say, was this generated by AI? she told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.

Because it was so surreal to see. How high in the air this vehicle went, and then the crash, and the explosion, and the fire.

Niagara Police Chief warns about the spread of misinformation

Sunday 26 November 2023 21:30 , Mike Bedigan

The Niagara Regions chief of police has warned the community about the dangers of misinformation, following the crash at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on Wednesday.

Bryan MacCulloch said that although the incident was quickly confirmed to be non-terrorist related, speculation in the mainstream media and online had caused significant and unnecessary anxiety within the local community.

Several outlets including Fox News were forced to walk back on parts of their coverage, after previously suggesting that the attack was linked to terrorism.

Addressing the Niagara Region Police Services Board on Thursday, Mr MacCulloch said: We saw an immense amount of misinformation and speculation on both mainstream and social media platforms, which created significant and unnecessary anxiety in the community.

I think what we saw on Wednesday was really the speed at which misinformation [spreads] in todays environment of social media and how quickly it can spiral.

Mr MacCulloch did not refer to any specific piece of msinformation or outlet, but said there were claims of an attack, that the car had come from Canada and that the vehicle was filled with explosives.

None of that information was accurate. None of it was corroborated. Yet that didnt stop individuals, and in some cases media outlets, from putting that information out, he said.

We have four international bridge crossings here in the Niagara Region that lead into the United States and [I think] their closing [out of] an abundance of caution added to that fear and anxiety that there was the potential for another attack when in fact, there wasnt an original attack.

The timeline

Sunday 26 November 2023 21:00 , Mike Bedigan

Wednesday, 22 November:

The band KISS cancelled its Toronto show due to frontman Paul Stanley catching the flu

A New York couple, who had been planning on going to the concert, decide to go to a casino

The couple left the casino, and headed toward the bridge

11.50am: The Rainbow Bridge was closed due to a traffic event

Gov Kathy Hochul announces there is no indication of a terrorist attack

The FBI also said no terrorism nexus was identified

Friday, 24 November:

Police identify the couple as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani from Grand Island New York

They were survived by their two children

Investigators employ the use of 3D scanners to help create a digital crash scene

Saturday and Sunday 25/26 November:

Police investigations continue

Surveillance footage shows car speeding moments before Rainbow Bridge explosion

Sunday 26 November 2023 20:00 , Mike Bedigan

A cancelled KISS concert to a fatal crash

Sunday 26 November 2023 16:30 , Mike Bedigan

The deadly crash at a border crossing between the US and Canada involved New York couple Kurt and Monica Villani, who had planned to attend a Kiss concert in Toronto on Wednesday night.

Law enforcement sources told CNN that the couple, who lived in the small town of Grand Island in western New York, were speeding in their Bentley when the car rammed into the Rainbow Bridge crossing, killing them both.

The blast sparked fears of a terrorist attack and prompted Canadian and US officials to briefly close all border bridges between the two nations and ground planes at nearby Buffalo Airport.

Hours later, the FBI Buffalo office and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that there were no signs that the incident was terror-related.

Instead, the investigation so far indicates that the couple were planning to cross the border to go to a Kiss concert in Toronto that night. But the concert was cancelled earlier in the day due to frontman Paul Stanley becoming ill with the flu.

Rainbow Bridge crash couple were always plugged in to local community

Sunday 26 November 2023 15:30 , Mike Bedigan

Eric Fiebelkorn, president of the Chamber of Commerce on Grand Island, where the Villanis lived, said the couple were well known in the business community and always happy to help with charitable causes and community projects.

Everybody knows everybody on Grand Island... Its the smallest town of small towns. There are some people who are always plugged in. Their family always was, Mr Fiebelkorn told The Buffalo News.

They are a very generous and community-oriented family, Mr Fiebelkorn said. It leaves a void in our small-town business community that will be very difficult to fill. Our prayers and our thoughts certainly go out to their family and staff.

He added that news that the crash had involved a Bentley and a couple from Grand Island had sparked concern amongst friends and other members of the community.

Its a nice community, but not too many of us have Bentleys, Mr Fiebelkorn said, adding: Its so sudden. Almost, really unbelievable.

Niagara Falls Mayor: We may never find out exactly what happened'

Sunday 26 November 2023 14:42 , Mike Bedigan

Niagara Falls Mayor Robert M Restaino paid tribute to Kurt and Monica Villani, describing them as two kind, easygoing people.

Mr Restaino, who was a longtime friend of Mr Villanis father, Kurt Villani Sr, told The Buffalo News: Our families have known each other for decades. I knew Kurt and Monica, two kind, easygoing and very hardworking people.

This was just a tragic, horrible incident, and because of the condition of the vehicle and sadly the human remains, we may never find out exactly what happened.

Mr Restaino said he would be astonished if the crash was intentional, adding: I know police are looking into every possibility, but from my conversations with investigators, that appears very unlikely.

The Villanis had a son and a daughter, and are also survived by Mr Villanis mother, according to Mr Restaino.

Sunday 26 November 2023 10:00 , Mike Bedigan

What New York officials have said about the crash

Only one day after the horrific incident on the Rainbow Bridge closed nearby cross-border travel for hours, the bridge is now reopen.



I am grateful to the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, @CBP, & all working to keep New Yorkers safe during the busiest travel time of the year.  Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) November 23, 2023

Im closely monitoring the situation on the Rainbow Bridge crossing between the United States and Canada in Niagara Falls. Please follow guidance from local officials. Im deeply grateful to all of our brave first responders responding to this situation.  Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) November 22, 2023

Ive been newly briefed by the @FBI this evening on the incident at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.



They have now confirmed that there is no reason at present to believe this was terrorism.



And they believe they have the identity of the driver.  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 22, 2023

The timeline

Sunday 26 November 2023 04:00 , Mike Bedigan

Wednesday, 22 November:

The band KISS cancelled its Toronto show due to frontman Paul Stanley catching the flu

A New York couple, who had been planning on going to the concert, decide to go to a casino

The couple left the casino, and headed toward the bridge

11.50am: The Rainbow Bridge was closed due to a traffic event

Gov Kathy Hochul announces there is no indication of a terrorist attack

The FBI also said no terrorism nexus was identified

Friday, 24 November:

Police identify the couple as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani from Grand Island New York

They were survived by their two children

Saturday 25 November 2023 22:00 , Mike Bedigan

ICYMI: What we know about the Rainbow Bridge crash

Two people, Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani, died after a vehicle exploded at a US-Canadaborder crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, on Wednesday 22 November.

The car was attempting to enter Canada from the United States when it sped toward a checkpoint, crashed into a fence and erupted into a fireball just before midday, according to witnesses.

Video footage and photos showed flames and thick black smoke billowing from the checkpoint, and a security booth that had been charred by flames.

The blast killed two, reportedly injured one Border Patrol officer and led to the closure of four border crossings between the US and Canada in New York state.

Within hours, investigators had ruled out that the car had been carrying explosives or was connected to terrorism.

Read the full story...

What we know about the deadly Rainbow Bridge explosion

Saturday 25 November 2023 20:59 , Mike Bedigan

WATCH: Surveillance footage shows car speeding moments before explosion

Niagara Falls identify victims of Rainbow Bridge crash

Saturday 25 November 2023 18:59 , Mike Bedigan

Police named the two people who died in the Rainbow Bridge crash as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani on Thursday.

Crash couple were ingrained in local community

Saturday 25 November 2023 16:59 , Mike Bedigan

Scott Henderson, treasurer of the Niagara Sailing Club on Grand Island, told NBC-affiliate-WGRZ that the Villanis were so ingrained and influential in this community.

The Niagara Sailing Clubhouse, which was heavily damaged by a March 2021 fire, and the couple had made multiple donations, both personal and through their business, to help with its rennovation.

Without those folks we would have never, never been able to this extent rebuild this beautiful club, Mr Henderson said.

Neighbours of crash couple: They were so loved'

Saturday 25 November 2023 15:59 , Mike Bedigan

Members of the community described the crash victims, now identified by authorities as Kurt P Villani and Monica Villani, as very kind, wonderful people.

Chuck Meyer, a close friend and neighbour, told NBC-affiliate-WGRZ he had seen multiple vehicles at the Villanis house on Wednesday, initially assuming that the couple were throwing an early Christmas or Thanksgiving party.

Then about an hour later, heard the news and Im like, oh my God, he told the outlet.

Mary Meyer said: Its really shock and devastation and its just gut wrenching really, really. They were so loved.

She added: They were so generous and kind and always willing to help. You know, just plowing everybodys driveway for the love of it, you know what I mean? Just always willing to help and lend a hand. Always. always, always.

They were just so very, kind wonderful people.

Mr Meyer saidd: "Without ever being asked, they would just be giving and gifting, and that's the type of people we lost."

Vehicle black box critical to investgation

Saturday 25 November 2023 15:30 , Mike Bedigan

Automotive analyst Lauren Fix said that the Event Data Recorder (EDR)  similar to an aircrafts black box, which collects vehicle data to share with manufacturers  maybe be a critical piece of evidence in the ongoing investigation into the Rainbow Bridge crash.

"Every vehicle it collects your data, that data is shared with the manufacturers," Ms Fix told NBC-affiliate-WGRZ.

"It knows steering input, because we have steer by wire, it has accelerator information," Fix said. "It would tell you if the pedal was put to the floor."

Ms Fix believes that acceleration data recovered from the EDR may help investigators narrow determining factors of the crash.

"They could actually see that the driver applied the accelerator pedal, not unintentionally, then it could have been [possibly] a medical issue," she told WGRZ. They're going to have to make a decision based on the knowledge that they have."

The investigation was turned over to local law enforcement, after it was determined there was no sign of terrorist activity by the FBI.

3D scanners being used to help recreate Niagara crash scene

Saturday 25 November 2023 14:58 , Mike Bedigan

According Niagara Falls Police Department Chief John Faso, 3D scanners are being used to help create a digital crash scene to help discover the cause of the crash at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing.

"They take it to the scene, it scans the scene and reproduces a 3D image for them to work on of the of the entire scene," Mr Faso told NBC-affiliate-WGRZ.

Mr Faso added: This is not something thats going to happen overnight. Its a monumental task.

Saturday 25 November 2023 13:00 , Kelly Rissman

What caused the crash?

The cause of the Rainbow Bridge blast remains something of a mystery, with investigators now exploring whether a mechanical failure in the car could be to blame.

Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls, told The New York Times that the Bentley the couple was driving in was an older model and may have experienced some sort of mechanical glitch that caused it to suddenly accelerate as it approached the border checkpoint.

However, a spokesperson for the American arm of Bentley Motors told the paper that the automaker was yet to hear from investigators about the incident.

Whatever the cause, getting to the bottom of what happened could take time as the car was effectively incinerated in the fireball blast.

On Thursday, Niagara Falls Police Department  which is now leading the investigation after the FBI found no signs of terrorism  carried out an accident reconstruction, including retracing the last known movements of the couple.

In a press conference on Wednesday evening, Ms Hochul said she would not go so far as to declare the blast an accident just yet as the probe continues but that the two people killed were local residents with no ties to terrorism. No other potential motive had been discovered.

I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers, at this time there is no indication of a terrorist attack, Ms Hochul said.

She added: Based on what is happening in the world, everyone is on edge. This is an international border. I wont call it an accident yet. All we know is there was a horrific incident, a crash, a loss of life  but at this time: no known terrorism activity.

The FBIs Buffalo division also released a statement saying that no explosives had been found at the scene and that no terrorism nexus was identified.

Saturday 25 November 2023 11:00 , Kelly Rissman

Mystery as investigators probe possible cause of Rainbow Bridge crash

The cause of the Rainbow Bridge deadly vehicle explosion remains something of a mystery, with investigators now exploring whether a mechanical failure in the car could be to blame.

Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53, were killed on Wednesday when their speeding Bentley rammed into the border crossing along Niagara Falls, which connects the US and Canada.

The blast instantly sparked fears of a terrorist attack, prompting Canadian and US officials to briefly close all four border bridges between the two nations and ground planes at nearby Buffalo Airport.

Hours later, the FBI Buffalo office and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that there were no signs that the incident was terror-related.

Now, two days on, investigators are still working to piece together what caused the deadly crash which has left the couples upstate New York community of Grand Island in mourning.

Saturday 25 November 2023 09:00 , Kelly Rissman

Gov Kathy Hochul said she initially thought the crash was AI-generated

At a press conference earlier this week, the governor said, You actually had to look at it and say, was this generated by AI?

Because it was so surreal to see. How high in the air this vehicle went, and then the crash, and the explosion, and the fire, she explained.

She and the FBI have ruled out that the incident was a terrorist act. The investigation into the cause is ongoing.

Saturday 25 November 2023 01:00 , Kelly Rissman

Bentley spokesperson weighs in

In the wake of the incident, Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls, told The New York Times that the Bentley the couple was driving in was an older model and may have experienced some sort of mechanical glitch that caused it to suddenly accelerate as it approached the border checkpoint.

Erin Bronner, a spokesperson for Bentley USA, told WIVB 4: We will work with the authorities quickly as soon as we are contacted and if we can aid in any investigation.

Friday 24 November 2023 23:00 , Kelly Rissman

What caused the crash?

The cause of the Rainbow Bridge blast remains something of a mystery, with investigators now exploring whether a mechanical failure in the car could be to blame.

Robert Restaino, the mayor of Niagara Falls, told The New York Times that the Bentley the couple was driving in was an older model and may have experienced some sort of mechanical glitch that caused it to suddenly accelerate as it approached the border checkpoint.

However, a spokesperson for the American arm of Bentley Motors told the paper that the automaker was yet to hear from investigators about the incident.

Whatever the cause, getting to the bottom of what happened could take time as the car was effectively incinerated in the fireball blast.

On Thursday, Niagara Falls Police Department  which is now leading the investigation after the FBI found no signs of terrorism  carried out an accident reconstruction, including retracing the last known movements of the couple.

In a press conference on Wednesday evening, Ms Hochul said she would not go so far as to declare the blast an accident just yet as the probe continues but that the two people killed were local residents with no ties to terrorism. No other potential motive had been discovered.

I want to be very, very clear to Americans and New Yorkers, at this time there is no indication of a terrorist attack, Ms Hochul said.

She added: Based on what is happening in the world, everyone is on edge. This is an international border. I wont call it an accident yet. All we know is there was a horrific incident, a crash, a loss of life  but at this time: no known terrorism activity.

The FBIs Buffalo division also released a statement saying that no explosives had been found at the scene and that no terrorism nexus was identified.

Friday 24 November 2023 22:20 , Kelly Rissman

Mystery clouds the cause of the Rainbow Bridge crash

The cause of the Rainbow Bridge deadly vehicle explosion remains something of a mystery, with investigators now exploring whether a mechanical failure in the car could be to blame.

Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53, were killed on Wednesday when their speeding Bentley rammed into the border crossing along Niagara Falls, which connects the US and Canada.

The blast instantly sparked fears of a terrorist attack, prompting Canadian and US officials to briefly close all four border bridges between the two nations and ground planes at nearby Buffalo Airport.

Hours later, the FBI Buffalo office and New York Governor Kathy Hochul said that there were no signs that the incident was terror-related.

Read the full story...

Mystery as investigators probe possible cause of Rainbow Bridge crash

Friday 24 November 2023 22:00 , Kelly Rissman

ICYMI: What happened in the fatal crash

A couple from New York died after a vehicle exploded at a US-Canada border crossing at Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, on Wednesday 22 November.

The car was attempting to enter Canada from the United States when it sped toward a checkpoint, crashed into a fence and erupted into a fireball just before midday, according to witnesses.

Video footage and photos showed flames and thick black smoke billowing from the checkpoint, and a security booth that had been charred by flames.

The blast killed two, reportedly injured one Border Patrol officer and led to the closure of four border crossings between the US and Canada in New York state.

Despite mounting speculation the crash was a terrorist act, within hours, investigators had ruled out that the car had been carrying explosives or was connected to terrorism.

Read the full story...

What we know about the deadly Rainbow Bridge explosion

Friday 24 November 2023 21:40 , Kelly Rissman

The latest from the Niagara Falls police

Friday 24 November 2023 21:20 , Kelly Rissman

Moments before the crash

Kurt and Monica Villani had been planning on going to a KISS concert in Toronto. But after hearing that the show was cancelled, due to the frontman catching the flu, they rerouted to a casino.

A spokesman for the Seneca Niagara Resort & Casino confirmed to the New York Times that the pair had been at the casino just minutes before the fatal crash. Footage captured the Bentley the couple was driving burst into flames after speeding down the road near the US-Canada border.

The cause of the explosion remains unknown.
The Independents travel correspondent Simon Calder has revealed the top cut-price holiday destination for 2024.

While Albania may not be at the top of everyones travel list, the travel journalist expects to see a rise in its popularity.

Appearing on ITVs Lorraine show on Monday (27 November), he said: I am going to Albania next week. That is going to cost me 30 return.

Albania, of course, the island of Corfu faces over to it. It is beautiful and very friendly.

Its not quite as sophisticated as Corfu, but I think for 2024 its going to be a real highlight if you want a cut-price holiday and theres a fare war going on.
Three college students reportedly of Palestinian descent were shot and wounded on Saturday night in Burlington, Vermont, according to police.

The students were travelling to a family dinner when they were attacked, The Guardian reports.

The victims were identified as Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who are undergraduate students at Brown, Haverford, and Trinity, according to Husam Zomlot, the head of Palestine's mission to the UK.

Mr Zomlot wrote on X/Twitter that the victims were wearing Palestinian kuffiyeh when they were shot.

While police have not publicly identified a motive in the attack, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee wrote on X/Twitter that "we have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three [victims] being Arab."

Three Palestinian students who were shot while walking to a family dinner in Burlington, Vermont. They have been identified as Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid (@@hzomlot/Twitter)

The three victims were wearing a kuffiyeh and speaking Arabic. A man shouted and harassed the victims," the organisation wrote in its statement.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said during a press briefing that the suspect was a white male who shot the three men without speaking.

Preliminary investigation has determined that all three were visiting the home of one victims relatives in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday. The three were walking on Prospect Street when they were confronted by a white male with a handgun, Mr Murad said. The suspect was on foot in the area. Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot.

The Council on American Islamic Relations have put up a $10,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the attacker or attackers.

All three of the men were graduates of Ramallah Friends School, which is a Palestinian learning institution.

We extend our thoughts and prayers to them and their families for a full recovery, especially considering the severity of injuries  as Hisham has been shot in the back, Tahseen in the chest, and Kinnan with minor injuries, the school said in a social media post. While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light.

Both Islamophobia and antisemitism have been on the rise in the wake of the 7 October Hamas terror attack that killed 1,400 Israelis, and Israel's devastating military response, which has reportedly left more than 14,500 Palestinians dead.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported that it received 1,283 requests for help and reports of bigotry toward Arabs and Muslims since the beginning of October, account for a 216 per cent increase when compared to the same period in 2022.

The Anti-Defamation League has reported a nearly 400 per cent jump in antisemitic incidents when compared to the same time in 2022.

On Thursday, the LAPD began investigating a demonstration outside the house of AIPAC president Michael Tuchin's home. The LAPD is reportedly considering treating the incident as a hate crime.

Shortly after the war began, a Palestinian-American boy, Wadea Al-Fayoume, was stabbed and killed, allegedly by his family's landlord, who had reportedly argued with the boy's mother about the conflict in Israel just before the attack.

Approximately a week before the three Palestinian students were shot, a Muslim man selling goods outside a mosque in Providence, Rhode Island, was shot and wounded.

The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop, Mr Zomlot wrote on X/Twitter. Palestinians everywhere need protection.
The private jet company flyExclusive can do just about anything to its fleet of 100 airplanes at the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston.

Repairs and routine maintenance, sure, but the company also has a hangar for stripping paint off planes and another for painting them. Theres a room for assembling and laying out the miles of wiring needed in each jet and another for turning the hides of Austrian and German bulls into leather seats and wall coverings.

But one thing flyExclusive cant do in Kinston is train its pilots. And for that, its getting help from taxpayers.

The state budget passed by the General Assembly in September provides $30 million to the N.C. Department of Transportation for construction of a flight training and corporate office facility at the Global TransPark. That money will allow the state-owned park to build a five-story building for flyExclusive that will include office space as well as flight simulators where pilots can hone their skills.

FlyExclusive is an anomaly in Eastern North Carolina  a luxury brand that jets well-heeled customers to vacation houses, resorts and business meetings all over the country and beyond. Founder and CEO Jim Segrave, a Kinston native, chose to build his company here in part at the urging of his family, which has deep connections to the TransPark and its mission to attract businesses to a region battered by declines in traditional industries such as textiles and tobacco.

Segrave wants his company to handle every aspect of its business in-house, from answering calls from customers to fixing planes. Pilot training is the biggest missing piece. FlyExclusive has about 300 pilots scattered across the country and expects to hire dozens more in the coming years, and now relies on training centers elsewhere.

Were not having a lot of trouble recruiting them, but getting them trained is the bottleneck, Segrave said in an interview. Getting slots for simulators at the sim centers all over the country, and the delay and the expense on top of it, is why this was so important to us.

Segrave wanted the training center in Kinston, both for efficiency and to help steep pilots in company culture. But he said other airports were making offers. So flyExclusive hired a lobbyist and, along with the Global TransPark, went to lawmakers looking for money.

So its where can we make our best deal, he said. That said, we want to be here. Wed like to come up with the best deal and build our campus out and our business right here in Eastern North Carolina.

Segrave said he isnt sure who put the $30 million into the state budget, which is crafted behind closed doors. Neither House Speaker Tim Moore nor Senate leader Phil Bergers offices responded to repeated requests for comment about the money from The News & Observer.

Segrave estimates the building will cost between $35 million and $40 million, with flyExclusive making up the difference. The company will also install three flight simulators, at a cost of $12 million each.

State government has helped flyExclusive grow

FlyExclusive has gotten help from the state before. In 2018, the company received a $2.3 million Job Development Investment Grant or JDIG, $2 million from NCDOT and $1 million from the N.C. Global TransPark Foundation to help build the paint buildings. In that case, the company had to create 145 jobs to receive the money, something it has done.

In contrast, there are no strings attached to the $30 million grant in the state budget. But the Global TransPark will own the building that it will lease to flyExclusive through a long-term agreement that is still being worked out.

So we get the benefit of that $30 million investment for some period of time, Segrave said. But they invested in themselves, and they still own it.

A rendering of the five-story headquarters and training center that the state plans to build for private jet company flyExclusive at the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston. The General Assembly included $30 million to help build it.

The General Assembly created the N.C. Global TransPark in the early 1990s as a place where companies would set up manufacturing plants around a runway, shuttling components in and completed products out.

But the park, about 80 miles southeast of Raleigh, has struggled to attract tenants, and most of its 2,500 acres remain empty. FlyExclusive is the parks largest employer, followed by Spirit Aerosystems, which produces fuselage sections for Airbus passenger jets and ships them to France, through the port at Morehead City, for final assembly.

The General Assembly hopes to attract more. In addition to the flyExclusive grant, this years budget includes $175 million over the next two years to build a Navy aircraft repair and overhaul facility. The Navys Fleet Readiness Center East at Cherry Point leased a hangar at the TransPark in 2020 to work on H1 helicopters and is interested in expanding, according to NCDOT spokeswoman Bridgette Barthe.

The budget anticipates the state eventually spending $350 million on the Navy facility, assuming the state and federal governments can settle on a lease agreement. The TransPark would repay the money over time when the Navy starts paying rent.

The Global TransPark provides plenty of room

The Global TransPark is built around one of the longest civilian runways in the eastern United States, at 11,500 feet. But what makes it attractive to flyExclusive is all the space around the runway to park planes and build hangars. Plus the company is not far from large Marine, Navy, Army and Air Force bases from which it can recruit people with skills to work on aircraft, says Tommy Sowers, the companys president.

They can really build a career and a life down here, Sowers said. Kinston isnt the bug, its the feature of this company.

A worker removes paint from a small jet at flyExclusive in the N.C. Global TransPark in Kinston. The company has about 500 workers in the TransPark, making it the parks largest employer.

About 500 of the companys 800 employees are located at the TransPark; only about 15 software engineers in Durham and the pilots work elsewhere.

The heart of the Kinston operation is a command center, with big digital screens that track all the companys planes around the country and list all the flights scheduled that day. Dozens of people at computers take requests from customers, coordinate flights and arrange hotel rooms for pilots.

On the walls in big letters is the phrase Minutes Matter, a reminder, Sowers says, that were in the business of time.

Company expects to keep growing

Founded in 2015, flyExclusive has become one the countrys largest private jet operators and the fastest growing, Sowers said. The company expects to continue growing 20% to 30% a year, mostly by taking business from smaller competitors, and has ordered 44 new Cessna Citation jets to keep up with demand. (Next month, flyExclusive expects to become a publicly traded company through a merger with a Special Purpose Acquisition Company or SPAC.)

The private jet business was slowly recovering from the global financial crisis of 2008 when the COVID-19 pandemic gave it a boost by making commercial air travel unreliable and more difficult. At the same time, the number of ultra-wealthy people continues to grow, says Doug Gollan, whose Private Jet Card Comparisons provides a buyers guide to private jet services.

Gollan says more than half of his subscribers cite poor airline service, flight delays and connections and the overall airport experience as reasons for using private jets.

FlyExclusive can be successful gaining share in a stagnant market, Gollan wrote in an email. But they could also grow faster if the wealthy keep getting richer and the airlines continue to make flying via hubs a poor experience.

Aside from the new office and training building, flyExclusive would like to double its hangar space for plane maintenance, Segrave said. While it wants that work done in Kinston, that wont stop the company from seeking a JDIG grant from the state to help build the hangars, he said.

Theres lot of hangars all over the place, and a lot of airports chasing us right now, he said. Weve got to make sure we can make a deal to build the facility to make it make sense for us.
Voters take advantage and cast their ballots during early voting at the West Gray Multiservice Center Monday, Oct. 23, 2023 in Houston. Michael Wyke/Contributor

Early voting begins Monday in Houston's City Hall runoffs, with voters set to select a new mayor, a new city controller and seven City Council members.

There will be 41 early voting sites for the runoff, and the Chronicle has a searchable map here. Residents who are registered to vote can visit any one of those sites through Dec. 5. They will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day except Sunday, when they will open at noon.

The registration deadline has passed, but residents can check their voter registration status here. If you are registered to vote in the city, you can vote in the runoffs even if you did not vote in the first round of balloting last month.

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Mayoral candidate State Sen. John Whitmire speaks to his supporters during his election watch party on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023 in Houston. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer

State Sen. John Whitmire and U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee headline the ballot in the mayor's race. Whitmire finished with 42.5% of the vote and Jackson Lee 35.6%. Mayor Sylvester Turner faces term limits and will leave office in January.

Sheila Jackson Lee visits with supporters before speaking during an election watch party at Bayou Place, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, in Houston. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Former Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins and former County Treasurer Orlando Sanchez are facing off in the race to be the next controller. Controller Chris Brown faces term limits and will leave office in January.

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Chris Hollins (left) and Orlando Sanchez (right) are headed for a runoff. Elizabeth Conley/Jon Shapley/Staff photographers

City voters also will find four at-large council races up for grabs. Residents of three City Council districts will get to pick their district council member as well.

WHERE THEY STAND: Here's how Whitmire and Jackson Lee say they would tackle the key issues at City Hall

Those races include:

At-Large 1: Julian Ramirez and Melanie Miles, both attorneys

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At-Large 2: Willie Davis, a pastor, and Nick Hellyar, a real estate broker and former City Hall staffer

At-Large 3: Richard Cantu, a board trustee for the Harris County Department of Education, and Twila Carter, a former executive for the Houston Astros

At-Large 4: Incumbent Letitia Plummer, a dentist, and Roy Morales, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and perennial candidate

GOT A QUESTION? Answers to the most common voting questions in Houston elections

District D: Incumbent Carolyn Evans-Shabazz, a retired teacher, and Travis McGee, a community activist

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District G: Incumbent Mary Nan Huffman, an attorney for the Houston Police Officers Union, and Tony Buzbee, a high-profile trial attorney and former mayoral candidate

District H: Mario Castillo, a nonprofit executive and former City Hall staffer, and Cynthia Reyes Revilla, a real estate broker
Oregon volleyball coach Matt Ulmer talks to his team during the match against Washington State in Eugene Sunday, Oct, 1, 2023.

A 26-5 campaign and runner-up finish in the Pac-12 helped the Oregon Ducks volleyball team earn a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, announced on ESPN Sunday afternoon.

Because the Ducks are ranked in the top-16, they get to host for the first two rounds of the tournament at Matthew Knight Arena in Eugene.

The Ducks will open their 2023 NCAA Tournament against Southeastern Louisiana at 7 p.m. Thursday. The winner of that game will play the winner of No. 7 Iowa State and Hawaii the following day in Eugene.

The four No. 1 seeds, Nebraska, Stanford, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin, will host the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight matches.

The Ducks are in Wisconsins corner of the bracket and would head to Madison if they won their first two matches.

Other Pac-12 teams to make the tournament were No. 4 Washington State and No. 8 USC in the Pittsburgh corner of the bracket, and No. 1 Stanford and No. 5 Arizona State, in the Palo Alto corner of the bracket.

Oregon will look to improve upon its run a year ago, when it ran all the way to the Elite Eight before falling in five sets to eventual national runner-up Louisville.

Alec Dietz covers University of Oregon football, volleyball, womens basketball and baseball for The Register-Guard. You may reach him at adietz@registerguard.com and you can follow him on Twitter @AlecDietz.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: Oregon Ducks volleyball earns No. 2 seed in 2023 NCAA Tournament
Taiwans main opposition parties have filed individual bids to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn dropped out of the presidential race hours before the nomination deadline last Friday.

A potential alliance aimed at increasing the prospect of a pro-China government failed to materialize. The plan was announced last Wednesday, but imploded live on local television Thursday. Candidates from the more established Kuomintang and the smaller Taiwan Peoples Party could not agree on the leader for a combined ticket.

Last weeks drama would appear to strengthen the hand of the ruling DPP government, which has been leading in independent opinion polls for the election. Taiwans president and vice president are directly elected, serve one term of four years and may be re-elected for one additional term.

Chinas Taiwan affairs office has characterized the self-ruled islands election as a choice between peace and war, prosperity and decline. This election comes as China has escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and other nearby waters as Beijing presses its sovereignty claims over an island it sees as its own.

Taiwans elections kick off a year that is littered with numerous elections globally at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions as two major wars rage on. President Joe Bidens re-election bid bookends 2024.

The outcome of Taiwans elections will likely go some way in influencing testy U.S.-China ties and impact security in the Asia-Pacific region more broadly.

China President Xi Jinping told Biden that Taiwan has always been the most important and sensitive issue in Chinas relations with the U.S., according to an English-language readout from Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the two leaders first bilateral meeting in a year on the sidelines of the recent APEC leaders summit in San Francisco.

Biden has pledged to defend Taiwan in the event of a China invasion, irking Beijing. Last year, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island in over two decades. Her trip was one reason that communication between the worlds two leading powers ground to a halt before a tentative resumption just months ago.

These are the three parties contesting Taiwans Jan. 13 polls to elect a new president.

Democratic Progressive Party

Lai Ching-te, who has served as Taiwans vice president since 2020, is the ruling DPPs presidential nominee for the 2024 election.

The Oberlin College and Columbia University-educated Hsiao Bi-khim, who was most recently the Taiwanese envoy to the United States, is the vice-presidential candidate on the DPP ticket.

After Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen met then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in April, Beijing again sanctioned Hsiao, prohibiting her and her family members from entering the mainland, while also barring financial investors and other institutions who have worked with Hsiao from working with mainland entities.

Lai and Hsiao are running to succeed the incumbent Tsai, who is not running due to term limits. Lai and the DPP have consistently topped opinion polls, although the gap between Lai and second-place candidate Ko Wen-je has been slowly narrowing in the last few months.

Beijing sees the DPP as separatists because the partys foundational goal to establish Taiwan as a sovereign, independent, and autonomous nation runs against Beijings claims over the island.

Taiwan Peoples Party

Ko is chairman of the TPP and its presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. Ko is medically trained and was most recently the mayor of Taipei, Taiwans largest city and capital, from 2014 to 2022.

Taiwans main opposition parties have filed individual bids to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn dropped out of the presidential race hours before the nomination deadline last Friday. (Sam Yeh / AFP - Getty Images)

Cynthia Wu, his vice presidential nominee, is an alumna of Wellesley College and the eldest daughter of prominent Taiwanese business leader Eugene Wu, the founding chairman of Shin Kong Group.

Ko has consistently ranked second in various opinion polls. Some observers say the failure to see through a combined ticket with the Kuomintang may split the opposition vote and strengthen the ruling DPP.

Kuomintang Party

Hou Yu-ih is the presidential candidate for the KMT. He is formerly the director-general of Taiwans National Police Agency and the current mayor of New Taipei City, the broader municipality that includes the main Taipei city area.

Taiwans main opposition parties have filed individual bids to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn dropped out of the presidential race hours before the nomination deadline last Friday. (Sam Yeh / AFP - Getty Images)

He named prominent local television personality and talk show host Jaw Shaw-kong as his vice-presidential candidate. Jaw is also chairman of Taiwans Broadcasting Corporation of China.

Hou has consistently lagged both the DPPs Lai and TPPs Ko in third in various opinion polls, though the 66-year-old was just re=elected New Taipei mayor a year ago by a landslide.

Tapping on Chinas framing of this election, Hou reiterated on Saturday his partys warning to the Taiwanese people that voting for the DPP would most likely lead to war with the mainland.

Withdrawn: Terry Gou, Independent

Hours before nominations closed, Terry Gou  the billionaire founder of Hon Hai Precision Industry, also known as Foxconn  withdrew his presidential bid after failing to broker an agreement among the opposition parties.

Gou has consistently lagged behind his rivals in opinion polls despite a publicity blitz across Taiwan after launching an independent bid for the Taiwanese presidency in August.

Taiwans main opposition parties have filed individual bids to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn dropped out of the presidential race hours before the nomination deadline last Friday. (Annabelle Chih / Getty Images)

He has kept a low profile after the Chinese state-owned Global Times reported Oct. 22 that China was investigating Foxconns activities in several provinces. There were some indications in other reports that Chinese authorities may have been concerned his candidacy could split the opposition vote.

As I step down from this presidential race, my determination to bring change to Taiwan remains strong. Taiwan needs to Stop, Reset, Restart, Gou said Friday in a statement, where he did not clearly state his reason for withdrawal. We need a change in the ruling political party to bring change to Taiwan.

While he remained coy on his future plans, Gou was explicit in his criticism of Tsai and the DPPs leadership when he launched his presidential bid, accusing them of pushing Taiwans economy from prosperity to the edge of a cliff as a result of their perceived incompetence.
Rishi Sunak will reject pleas to return the Elgin Marbles to Greece when he meets the countrys prime minister this week, Downing Street has indicated.

No 10 has insisted that saying the British Museum was the right place for the treasures ahead of talks.

Athens has long demanded the return of the Parthenon Sculptures, which were removed from Greece by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century, when he was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he will raise the issue during meetings with both Mr Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to London.

But Downing Street pushed back against the Greek leaders likening of the British Museums possession of the sculptures to the Mona Lisa painting being cut in half.

Mr Sunaks spokesman stressed the PMs support for the law that prevents the marbles from being permanently returned, and suggested he would not be in favour of any loan arrangement.

British Museum chairman George Osborne, the former chancellor, has previously said he is exploring ways for the Elgin Marbles to be displayed in Greece  with speculation that this could involve a loan deal in which part of the sculptures would be sent to Athens.

Asked about such an agreement, Mr Sunaks spokesman told reporters: We have no plans to change our approach and certainly we think that the museum is the right place for them.

I havent asked him specifically about short-term or new ideas that have been put forward, but I think hes been fairly robust on his position.

The No 10 official also said the government had no plans to change the 1963 British Museum Act which prohibits the removal of objects from the institutions collection.

We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue. The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law, he said.

Sir Keir has indicated he will tell Mr Mitsotakis that a Labour government would not change the law  but that he would not stand in the way of a loan deal that was mutually acceptable to the British Museum and the Greek government.

Greeces prime minister on Sunday argued a return was about reunification of the monument, saying: Its as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum.

Asked if Mr Sunak recognised that characterisation, his spokesman said: Obviously its not something we would agree with.

These were legally acquired at the time, theyre legally owned by the trustees of the museum. We support that position and theres no plan to change the law which governs it.
Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) said Sunday that the proposed aid package to Ukraine should be approved without negotiations on the U.S.-Mexico border.

During an appearance on CBSs Face The Nation, Bennet told moderator Margaret Brennan that he and his Senate colleagues recognize that they have to include funding for Ukraine in the proposed funding request from the Biden administration.

The White House last month proposed a roughly $106 billion national security supplemental funding request that included money for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan as well as humanitarian aid and border security measures.

And before that, [we] tried to see if we can get to some sort of solution, Bennet told Brennan, noting that he had good conversations with Republicans on the issue in the past few days.

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I believe, of course, that the Ukrainian people have earned a vote to support them without a negotiation on the U.S. border, but there are others in the Senate who feel differently, and were trying to see if we can get to a solution.

This comes as lawmakers on both sides have butted heads over the proposed aid package, with GOP lawmakers saying that border funding should be bundled with the proposed aid package to Ukraine.

Some House Republicans have shared their opposition to approving more aid to Ukraine, which has been at war with neighboring Russia for nearly two years.

Last month, House Republicans passed a $14.3 billion aid package solely for Israel, which is currently at war with the militant group Hamas. The proposed deal also includes major cuts to the IRS.

Bennet also told Brennan that the U.S. has an obligation to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia, calling it a fight for democracy.

And I dont know whether the House will come to the conclusion that thats enough for them. So, were continuing to see if theres something we can do on the border, Bennet added.

My  my view is, theres always room to make our immigration system better on behalf of the American people. And I hope people of good faith can come together and reach a solution.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Streets in Freetown were largely deserted on Sunday after a curfew was declared

Sierra Leone's night-time curfew imposed after armed men freed prison inmates has been lifted for now.

Detainees from a number of "major" facilities were released on Sunday morning, said the West African nation's information minister.

President Julius Maada Bio later said most of the leaders behind the attack had been arrested.

In a televised address, he described the events as a "breach of security" and an attack on democracy.

He carefully avoided calling them an attempted coup.

He said calm had been restored but gave no details about who the perpetrators were or what they wanted.

There will be a new nine-hour night-time curfew beginning at 21:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Monday, the information ministry says.

The political situation in Sierra Leone has remained tense since June, when President Bio was re-elected - narrowly missing out on the need to have a run-off.

International observers have condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

After the attack, the Ministry of Information declared an immediate curfew, which was due to be lifted at 06:00 (GMT) on Monday. Residents across the country were "strongly" recommended to stay indoors and flights to and from the nation's only international airport have been cancelled.

On Sunday morning, the BBC witnessed soldiers in Freetown carrying heavy weaponry in a seized police vehicle and saw others chanting that they planned to "clean Sierra Leone".

It is unclear exactly how many prisoners were released but videos shared on social media show several people fleeing from the area of Freetown's Central Pademba Road prison.

One video appeared to show popular rapper Boss LAJ, who was imprisoned last year on robbery charges, running free.

The BBC has not been able to authenticate these videos.

In August, a number of soldiers were arrested and accused of plotting a coup against the president.

Eight countries in West and Central Africa are under military rule after a series of coups, including in neighbouring Guinea.

The US, European Union, UK and regional block Ecowas have released statements strongly condemning Sunday's violence.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP)  The Dominican Republic on Thursday accused Haiti of multiple border violations in the latest dispute involving their shared frontier on the island of Hispaniola.

Foreign Minister Roberto Alvarez held a news conference on the issue just days after an armed confrontation between Dominican soldiers and members of a Haitian environmental government brigade.

The brief standoff stemmed from apparent confusion over border limits. It occurred Tuesday on the northern tip of the shared island near one of more than 300 concrete barriers that delineate the border.

What happened is a flagrant violation of Dominican territory, Alvarez said. We make a strong call to the Haitian authorities to assume control of order in their territory and avoid situations that continue to aggravate the already delicate situation.

A spokesman for the office of Haitis prime minister declined comment on Thursday and referred to a statement the government issued on Wednesday in which it accused Dominican soldiers of violating Haitian territory.

It also said that Haitian Foreign Affairs Minister Jean Victor Geneus spoke with Alvarez after Tuesdays incident, and that both sides agreed to try and calm tensions to avoid further escalation.

Long simmering tensions between the two countries boiled over in recent months when Dominican President Luis Abinader announced he would stop issuing visas to Haitians and closed all land, air and sea borders for nearly a month in an economic blow to Haiti.

The border closures were sparked by an ongoing dispute over construction of a canal in Haitian territory targeting water from a river that runs along the border.

Abinader partially reopened the borders last month, although the visa ban remains in place, and Haitians are not allowed into the Dominican Republic for work, education, tourism, medical issues or other purposes.
STOCKHOLM (AP)  Tesla on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Swedish state via Sweden's Transport Agency as striking postal workers in the Scandinavian country halted the delivery of license plates of new vehicles manufactured by the Texas-based automaker.

Tesla is non-unionized globally, but the Swedish workers are demanding that the carmaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, which most employees in Sweden have. Tesla has no manufacturing plant in Sweden, but has several service centers.

Tesla said it was suing the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Agency because not accessing the registration plates constitutes an unlawful discriminatory attack directed at Tesla.

Mikael Andersson, a press spokesperson for the agency, told The Associated Press in an email that we at the Swedish Transport Agency do not share this view" that the agency was blocking the distribution of license plates. "Therefore Tesla has decided to have the issue tested in court, which is their right.

We have not yet seen the lawsuit and it is therefore difficult for us to give any direct comments. We need to look at the lawsuit and Teslas reasoning in it, Andersson said.

According to the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press, Tesla demands that the district court fine the agency 1 million kronor ($95,383) to oblige" the Swedish Transport Agency to allow Tesla retrieve license plates within three days from notification of the district courts decision.

The lawsuit was handed in on Monday. Tesla said that the agency has "a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to vehicle owners.

The fact that the license plates are withheld "cannot be described in any other way than as a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden.

The lawsuit argues that should the agency not fulfill its constitutional obligation," it "obstructs the applicants right."

The trade union ST whose members work for the postal and delivery service PostNord, said that they were blocking the delivery of mail and packages to Tesla in accordance with the rules of the Swedish labor market.

By going to court, Tesla, shows that they do not accept the rules that prevail in Sweden, Asa Erba Stenhammar of the ST trade union said.

On Oct. 27, 130 members of the powerful metalworkers union IF Metall walked out at seven workshops across the country where the popular electric cars are serviced, demanding a collective bargaining agreement.

Swedish mechanics stopped servicing Tesla cars and several unions, including postal workers, have joined in a wave of sympathy with IF Metall's demands. Dockworkers at Swedens four largest ports also stopped the delivery of Tesla vehicles to put more pressure on the automaker.

Last week, Teslas CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns, that it was insane that Swedish postal workers were refusing to deliver license plates for new vehicles.

IF Metall earlier said that Tesla Sweden has refused to sign a collective agreement and violates basic principles in the Swedish labor market. It called such agreements the backbone of the Swedish model.

The union also asked consumers for their understanding, saying, We are doing this for the sake of our members, to ensure that they have safe working conditions.

In the lawsuit, Tesla demanded the district court ensure the Swedish Transport Agency delivered its license plates.
(Corrects number of injured in headline and first paragraph)

KYIV (Reuters) -A severe snowstorm injured 13 people in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, causing power outages in more than 1,600 settlements across the country and forcing authorities to close over a dozen motorways to vehicles, officials said on Monday.

The extreme weather comes as tens of thousands of troops man front-line positions in the 21-month-old war with Russia amid fears Moscow could attack the power grid with air strikes this winter.

"In the Odesa region, eight people got hypothermia and five people were injured as a result of falling trees," the state emergency service said on the Telegram messenger.

1,638 settlements in 17 regions of Ukraine remained without power, most of them in the central Kyiv and southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a press officer of the state emergency service, told a press conference.

Nearly 1,700 cargo trucks were stuck and 1,130 cars had to be towed away amid snow drifts that in some places were two metres (6.56 ft) high, the service said on Telegram messenger.

12 motorways remained closed as over 1,200 rescue workers were involved in a massive clean-up effort, the service added.

Ukraine's largest private energy provider, DTEK, said early on Monday that it had been able to restore power to nearly 250 settlements.

On Sunday, the mayor of the Black Sea port of Odesa urged residents to stay at home, and authorities warned that water supplies were being interrupted by power cuts that stopped pumps from working.

"Weather conditions have stabilized, which makes it possible to speed up rescue operations... By the end of the day, we hope to free all people and clear key routes," the Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Monday in comments on Telegram.

Ukraine's border service also said on Sunday that Moldova had temporarily suspended vehicle access to its territory from two crossing points in the Odesa region.

In the capital Kyiv, city officials had to replace the country's largest flag as the weather had caused a tear.

(Reporting by Dan Peleschuk; editing by Tom Balmforth, Bernadette Baum, William Maclean)
A new type of swine flu has been detected in a United Kingdom human for the first time, the regions Health Security Agency announced Monday.

Symptoms of influenza A(H1N2)v, clade 1b.1.1, were mild in the individual, who has fully recovered, health authorities said in a news release. Hundreds of documented cases of swine flu occur globally on an annual basis, each transmitted from a pig to a human, and typically no further.

But authorities are unsure of how the UK patient became infected, leaving open the possibility that the virus is spreading in the community. And mild symptoms in one patient isn't a guarantee of mild symptoms in others, if they become infected, experts tell Fortune.

The HSA is working to assess the risk to humans, searching for other possible cases, and increasing surveillance in health facilities in parts of North Yorkshire, as part of an ongoing investigation.

We are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce any potential spread, Meer Chand, incident director at the HSA, said in a statement.

In the meantime, it recommends that those with general symptoms of respiratory viruses like the following avoid contact with others, particularly those who are elderly or have medical conditions:

continuous cough

high temperature, fever, or chills

changes in senses of taste and/or smell

shortness of breath

unexplained fatigue

muscle aches and pains not due to exercise

lack of appetite

headache longer lasting/more severe than usual

sore throat

stuffy or runny nose

diarrhea

Apparent first human swine flu case of its exact kind

The infection marks the first time the exact type of H1N2 virus has been detected in humans, though an incredibly similar strain has been detected in area pigs. There have been a total of 50 human cases of H1N2 reported globally since 2005. But none are genetically related to the clade, or subgroup, just detected in the U.K.: 1b.1.1.

A single case of the new flu clade isn't concerning to Rajiv Chowdhury, professor of global health at the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at Florida International University in Miami.

What concerns him, however, is the possibility of cases going undetected outside of the the UK, which has far better genomic surveillance capabilities than most other countries in the world.

While it's reassuring that the individual experienced only a mild course of illness, it doesn't rule out the possibility of a more severe course in other humans, if they're infected. Factors that can influence the severity of a disease course include age, other medical conditions, immunity status, and the amount of virus they were exposed to, Chowdhury told Fortune.

And features of a virus can change with time, and as the number of reports potentially increases. Mortality rates during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 initially appeared higher in Mexico, but dropped with time as the number of cases grew, Dr. Bruce Y. Lee, professor of health policy and management at the City University of New York School of Public Health, told Fortune.

Dr. Michael Osterholmdirector of the University of Minnesotas Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP)agreed with Chowdhury, telling Fortune that sporadic cases of swine flu are not unexpected. He pointed to the lack of report of human-to-human transmission so far as an encouraging sign.

Hundreds of cases of swine flu occur in the U.S. each year, usually linked to agricultural fairs, Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease specialist and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told Fortune. An 18-year-old was infected with A(H1N2)v in Michigan in this summer, after visiting an agricultural fair, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He recovered outside of the hospital and apparently did not infect any others.

"Most of these viruses do not have the capacity to spread between humans," Adalja said. "So it will be important to understand the transmission chain that led" to the human's infection, including if that human had any exposure to pigs.

If not, the case could signal community spread.

'Isolated case or the tip of an iceberg?'

One difficult aspect of tracing flu spread is that symptoms can be unspecific, and asymptomatic carriers can spread the virus without ever knowing they're sick, said Lee, who was embedded in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services during the country's H1N1 pandemic response.

"Whenever we see cases like this, the big question is always, is this an isolated case or the tip of an iceberg?" he said.

Humans are occasionally infected with the swine flu by pigs, usually after exposure to pigs or contaminated environments. Even more rarely, the virus transmits from an infected human to other humans, as was the case during the H1N1 pandemic of 2009. The H1N1 flu virus was a combination of bird, swine, and human flus, and now circulates as a seasonal flu.

The detection of any new variant of flu "warrants further investigation to assess the pandemic potential and to look for similar or related cases," Nita Madhav, senior director of epidemiology and modeling at Boston-based biotech firm Ginkgo Bioworks, told Fortune.

Monday's report of a new H1N2 clade makes the case for heightened genomic surveillance worldwide, even after the COVID pandemic, she said.

Chance of another pandemic soon 'similar to flipping a coin'

Madhav is co-author on a paper released this month by the Center for Global Development, which found a high probability of another pandemic on the scale of COVID in the next quarter centuryin particular, a respiratory pandemic like a flu or coronavirus. Regardless, her team expects such viruses to cause at least 2.5 million deaths annually.

"Our simulations suggest that an event having the mortality level of COVID-19 should not be considered a 'once in a century' risk," Madhav and colleagues wrote. "... To the contrary, over the next 25 years, we estimate that a pandemic with magnitude similar to or worse than COVID-19 has a roughly 50% probability of occurrence, similar to flipping a coin."

Without adequate monitoring, humans may have no clue if a swine flu, bird flu, or other pathogen is regularly spilling over from animals to humans, and could be blindsided by the next pandemic, Madhav said.

The data released so far on the new clade of swine flu is reassuring, Dr. Stuart Ray, vice chair of medicine for data integrity and analytics at Johns Hopkins Department of Medicine,, told Fortune.

"If this particular H1N2 variant spreads rapidly and causes more severe or widespread infections in people with the seasonal flu vaccine, that might drive additional public health measures," he said. "For now, it's wise to recognize the value of high-quality surveillance."

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
World War II veteran Al Blaschke, 106, skydives in tandem with instructor Victor Krusi at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Texas Governor Greg Abbott also skydived with Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Governor Greg Abbott tandem skydives at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Also skydiving with Abbott was 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott comes in for a landing as he tandem skydives at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Also skydiving with Abbott was 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Governor Greg Abbott talks with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke after the two skydived alongside each other at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News World War II veteran Al Blaschke, 106, gives a thumnbs up after tandem skydiving at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Gov. Greg Abbott skydives in tandem Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. Abbott was invited to jump by 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke. Eric Gay/Associated Press Governor Greg Abbott, bottom, tandem skydives alongwith 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, top, at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News After landing, Governor Greg Abbott smiles at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Fentress, Texas. Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, center, prepares to skydive with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, left, and Betty Schleder, right, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. Eric Gay/Associated Press Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, right, prepares to skydive with 106-year-old World War II veteran Al Blaschke, left, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Fentress, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay) Eric Gay/Associated Press

Gov. Greg Abbotts priority private school voucher plan is up in the air  and he is too.

Abbott went skydiving Monday morning with Al Blaschke, a 106-year-old World War II veteran. The dare-devils headed to Skydive Spaceland in Fentress, a small town about a 20-minute drive from San Marcos.

"We did some hard turns," Abbott told reporters after the jump, according to Fox 7 Austin. "It's an upside-down ride a couple of times, but it's a lot of fun."

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The Texas Legislature was set to reconvene a few hours later in Austin, where the fourth special legislative session of the year is underway. While Abbott called lawmakers back to pass the voucher plan, the Texas House voted last week to quash the proposal, creating a deadlock.

The governors push to give students taxpayer dollars to spend on private education faces steep opposition from Democrats and rural Republicans who fear that vouchers would take away much-needed funds from their districts public schools. Abbott and other supporters, who also call the plan school choice, say the vouchers are needed to give parents the option to send their children to the schools that best fit their needs.

Abbott has threatened to keep calling legislators back to the Capitol until they pass the voucher plan. He has also said hell campaign against GOP members in their upcoming primary races if they continue to oppose the education savings accounts.
Netflix; Screenshot/YouTube

Queen Elizabeth faced criticism for her lack of response to Princess Diana's death, so upon her return to London ahead of Diana's funeral, she delivered a televised address.

"She was an exceptional and gifted human being," the Queen said. "In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness." The Crown did a remarkable job of recreating this speech, using the exact same words as the real speech, and with Imelda Staunton in a replica of the Queen's outfit and jewelry.

Here, watch Queen Elizabeth's tribute to Princess Diana after her death, broadcast from the balcony of Buckingham Palace on September 5, 1997:

The full text of Queen Elizabeth's televised speech is as follows:

"Since last Sunday's dreadful news, we have seen throughout Britain and around the world an overwhelming expression of sadness at Diana's death. We have all been trying in our different ways to cope. It is not easy to express a sense of loss, since the initial shock is often succeeded by a mixture of other feelings: disbelief, incomprehension, anger, and concern for those who remain. We have all felt those emotions in these last few days.

So what I say to you now, as your queen and as a grandmother, I say from my heart.

First, I want to pay tribute to Diana myself. She was an exceptional and gifted human being. In good times and bad, she never lost her capacity to smile and laugh, nor to inspire others with her warmth and kindness. I admired and respected herfor her energy and commitment to others, and especially for her devotion to her two boys. This week at Balmoral, we have all been trying to help William and Harry come to terms with the devastating loss that they and the rest of us have suffered.

No one who knew Diana will ever forget her. Millions of others who never met her, but felt they knew her, will remember her.



I for one believe that there are lessons to be drawn from her life and from the extraordinary and moving reaction to her death. I share in your determination to cherish her memory.

This is also an opportunity for me, on behalf of my family, and especially Prince Charles and William and Harry, to thank all of you who have brought flowers, sent messages, and paid your respects in so many ways to a remarkable person. These acts of kindness have been a huge source of help and comfort.

Our thoughts are also with Diana's family and the families of those who died with her. I know that they too have drawn strength from what has happened since last weekend, as they seek to heal their sorrow and then to face the future without a loved one.

I hope that tomorrow we can all, wherever we are, join in expressing our grief at Diana's loss, and gratitude for her all-too-short life. It is a chance to show to the whole world the British nation united in grief and respect. May those who died rest in peace and may we, each and every one of us, thank God for someone who made many, many people happy.

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YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has received Masatsugu Asakawa, the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

The Prime Minister praised the close cooperation between the Armenian government and the ADB and underscored that it contributes to the development of infrastructures in Armenia, the Prime Ministers Office said in a readout. Prime Minister Pashinyan added that the Armenian government is interested in the implementation of new projects and emphasized that the development of infrastructures is a priority for the Armenian government.

ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa noted the productive partnership with Armenia and said that the ADB is ready to expand the joint projects. In this context, the current programs and possibilities of implementing new programs in school building within the framework of improving seismic safety project, road construction, development of healthcare infrastructures and other directions were discussed.
According to sources, Shiv Sena wants at least 18 seats it had won in 2019 while NCP will not agree to contest fewer seats than Shiv Sena

Mumbai: Days after claiming that the BJP would contest 26 out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis on Monday said the final call on the seat-sharing formula will be taken after a meeting with Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. He also said that the seats won by alliance partners should remain with them, but necessary changes regarding seat swapping will be made.

Going by Mr. Fadnaviss logic, the Ajit Pawar group can get a maximum of seven Lok Sabha seats, which will not be acceptable for the NCP leader.

Earlier, the BJP had said that his party will contest 26 out of the 48 seats in the state and the remaining 22 seats will be shared by the Shiv Sena and NCP.

Changing his stand, Mr, Fadnavis said, Discussions between allies are yet to begin and a formula would be decided only after the deliberations. The basis of the formula will be: the seats should go to those (parties) who have already contested that particular constituency.

In 2019, the BJP and its ally Shiv Sena had contested 25 and 23 seats respectively. While the NCP, which was the alliance partner of the Congress had contested 19 seats and won four of them. The Shiv Sena had won 18 seats out of which 13 MPs are now with Mr. Shinde.

According to sources, Shiv Sena wants at least 18 seats it had won in 2019 while the NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) will not agree to contest fewer seats than the Eknath Shinde-led party.

Mr. Pawar has also indicated that the Mahayuti (grand alliance) of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Shiv Sena led by CM Shinde and Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) will hold seat-sharing talks after the results of five state Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Mizoram and Telangana.

Mr Fadnavis said the seat-sharing formula will be flexible. We will make necessary changes and discuss with the alliance partners, he said.
Texas State Troopers talk with migrants behind razor wire along the Rio Grande River in Eagle Pass, Texas, US, on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg

WASHINGTON  At least 74 people have been killed in car chases under Operation Lone Star, according to a new report detailing one toll of Gov. Greg Abbotts multibillion-dollar border security initiative.

Vehicle pursuits have risen sharply since the border crackdown began, occurring on a weekly basis and leading to nearly three deaths and seven injuries per month, according to a review of state data and media accounts by Human Rights Watch. The chases have reached speeds well over 100 mph and virtually all began with minor traffic violations, such as failure to obey an attempted stop by law enforcement, speeding or not obeying signals.

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State troopers now are averaging 201 chases a month under Operation Lone Star, up from 140 per month the year before it began, according to the report. The majority of those chases  68% of them  happened in the 60 counties participating in the border operation, which represent just 13% of the states population, the report found.

The increase in chases is even more staggering in some of the counties that have been most active in Operation Lone Star and have seen the most migrant traffic in recent years. In Kinney County, for example, vehicle pursuits by state troopers increased from 22 in the 12 months before Operation Lone Star began to 227 in the 26 months that followed, according to the report.

Abbott has been clear that a key goal of his border program is curbing human smuggling and has touted thousands of arrests of suspected smugglers.

A spokeswoman for the governor on Monday blamed President Joe Biden's border policies, which she said "invite Mexican cartels to profit off the chaos through dangerous human trafficking and smuggling operations along the border that endanger innocent lives.

"Mexican cartels and human traffickers have a clear disregard for human life as they smuggle people in high-speed pursuits and in dangerous conditions, like the 53 migrants who died in a tractor trailer in San Antonio last year," Abbott spokeswoman Renae Eze said. "Governor Abbott has deployed thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers and DPS troopers to respond to this Biden-made border crisis and save lives."

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But Human Rights Watch, which opposes Operation Lone Star, argues Abbotts border initiative has driven up deadly chases with few guardrails in place to protect Texas residents and migrants alike.

Public safety doesnt require careening around Texas roadways or crashing into Texans cars and homes, Alison Parker, deputy U.S. director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement. Texas Operation Lone Star is maximizing chaos, fear, and human rights abuses against Texans and migrants, which might be a cynical way to win political points but is not a responsible way to run a government.

In response to a request for comment on the Human Rights Watch report, the Department of Public Safety referred to comments Director Steve McCraw provided the New York Times earlier this month, saying the agency relies on troopers to decide when to start a chase and when to end it. McCraw told the Times that he expected his troopers to pursue in a judicious manner and that they would be held accountable when they did not exercise appropriate caution.

I would argue you can certainly mitigate risk, McCraw said. But he said not giving chase is rewarding the Mexican cartels in their smuggling efforts.

Quite frankly, I think thats a far better approach as opposed to capitulating to the cartels, he said.

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The drivers who die during the chases are overwhelmingly young Texans, many of whom were recruited on social media platforms to drive people from the border to other destinations in the state, according to the report. The report found that passengers, who are mostly migrants, perish at an alarming rate, and the chases also have killed and injured unsuspecting drivers who live in those border communities.

The report notes that the rise in chases along the border comes as police departments across the nation, including Houston, have tamped down on when officers can engage in a vehicle pursuit.
Pandian was inducted into the BJD by CM Naveen Patnaik in the presence of senior leaders of the party

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with his close aide and former IAS officer V. Karthikeyan Pandian as the latter formally joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Bhubaneswar on Monday.  PTI

BHUBANESWAR: As anticipated, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaiks former private secretary V. Karthikeyan Pandian on Monday formally joined the states ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), adding credence to the wide speculation that he would be the next-man-in-command in the ruling party after the CM.

Pandian was inducted into the BJD by CM Naveen Patnaik in the presence of senior leaders of the party.

Seen as the successor of the 77-year-old Odisha CM, Pandian, a 2000-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, had taken voluntary retirement from service last in November.

A close confidante of the CM, the Tamil Nadu-born bureaucrat served as CMs private secretary from 2011-2023.

Naveen Patnaik, who has been in power as CM of Odisha since 2000, is a bachelor. Neither his Delhi-based elder brother Prem Patnaik nor his children have shown any interest in Odisha politics. In this scenario, the growing clout of Pandian and the CM strongly backing him has fuelled a speculation that he might take the reins of administration, sooner or later. His formal entry into BJD has lent credence to it.

It is also speculated in political circles that Pandian might contest the upcoming Odisha Assembly elections from any seat in Ganjam, the CM's home district. Besides, many others speculate that the ex-babu might go to Rajya Sabha to serve as a link between the State and Union governments.

After his VRS, Pandian was on October 24 was appointed as chairperson of Nabin Odisha and 5T Initiative, two special missions, with a Cabinet minister rank. The two missions not only gave him the legal authority to supervise performances of all the state government departments but also conferred on him the power to monitor the development works.

A huge allocation of Rs 3,397 crore has been made for rural development works in 6,794 gram panchayats in the state under the Nabin Odisha initiative. Each gram panchayat will get Rs 50 lakh under the programme.

Pandians first appointment was as Sub-Collector in Dharamgarh in Kalahandi district and served in the post from 2002 to 2004. During his brief stint, he earned love and affection of the local people as he ensured to farmers the Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy and regularised the procurement of the crop by government-run mandis (procurement centres). His work attracted the attention of the state government.

Later, he was posted as District Collector of Mayurbhanj from 2005 to 2007 and Ganjam district from 2007 to 2011.

Speculations are rife that Pandian will look after the election management of the BJD in 2024. Odisha will go to the State Assembly elections along with the Lok Sabha polls in May next year.

There is a strong possibility of the BJD retaining power in the state for the sixth consecutive term post the 2024 Assembly elections. Hence, in all likelihood, the influence of Pandian on state politics will grow further.
Kerala Guv Arif Khan should have known better than to use the office of governor as an obstacle in functioning of the CPI(M)-led-LDF govt

The post of the governor remains a constitutional anomaly. The governor is supposed to head the executive of the state in the same manner as the President is the head of the executive at the Centre. The President is an elected executive, chosen through the two Houses of Parliament and the state legislatures.

The governor, however, is appointed by the President. But the functions of the governor in the state are the same as that of the President. Article 53 vests the executive power of the Union in the President and Article 154 vests the executive power of the state with the governor, and Article 174 says: There shall be a council of ministers with the Prime Minister at the head to aid and advise the President Article 163 says: There shall be a council of ministers with the chief minister at the head to aid and advise the governor There is a provision for the impeachment of the President in Article 61. There is no similar provision for the governor.

We know that the Presidents authority is nominal and real power lies with the Prime Minister and his or her party which has a majority in the Lok Sabha. Though the President appoints the governor and the governor holds his/her office at the pleasure of the President, the fact is the governor is nominated by the ruling party at the Centre. And the governor is beholden to the Prime Minister and the ruling party. In political terms, the governor is an agent of the Centre and of the Prime Minister in the state. We have been talking too piously about how the governor is a constitutional head and he or she has to fulfil constitutional duties. The governor becomes an office of divided loyalties when the ruling parties at the Centre and in the state are opposed to each other.

The Congress, in its long years in power at the Centre, set a precedent of using the governor in confronting the state governments run by other political parties. The Bharatiya Janata Party has been following in the footsteps of the Congress, and Prime Minister Narendra Modis government has left no stone unturned as it were in sending governors to states ruled by other parties with the plain intention of harassing them. The governors of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal and Punjab and the lieutenant-governor of the National Capital Territory of Delhi have been doing their best to frustrate the state governments under the DMK, Left Democratic Front (LDF), the All-India Trinamul Congress (AITMC) and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). It would be naive to expect the Narendra Modi government to play fair when the rulebook can be used to play foul. The long-term solution would be to change the mode of appointment of governors, but there is every possibility that move can end up in a rigmarole of rules as in the appointment of the election commissioners, the Lok Pal and the director of the CBI, which remain unsatisfactory.

The Supreme Court verdict of November 10 in a case filed by the Punjab government against its governor, Mr Banwari Lal Purohit, said that the governor cannot withhold assent to bills passed by the state legislature indefinitely. But it is quite an embarrassing situation when state governments have to approach the Supreme Court against governors. When the Supreme Court held that the lieutenant-governor of Delhi cannot veto the state legislature, then the Modi government brought an amendment in Parliament overturning it. What the Supreme Court has to say about the supremacy of elected legislatures against unelected governors is commonsensical and unexceptionable, but the Modi government will find ways to subvert the judicial view.

The parties in power at the Centre tend to think and act with an imperial mindset. It was so with the Congress governments, it was so with the non-Congress governments of the Janata Party, the National Front, the United Democratic Front and the BJP. The headiness of ruling a vast country like India is perhaps understandable, but not forgivable. India cannot be governed from Delhi, and this was the theme song of the BJP when it was confined to state governments.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a prominent anti-Delhi voice when he was chief minister of Gujarat. It is the BJP governments in the states which used to berate the governors appointed by the Congress when it was in power at the Centre. Mr Modi is only repeating all the political sins that he used to accuse the Congress of in violating the spirit of federalism.

Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who has now become an ardent right-wing politician, should have known better than to use the office of governor as an obstacle in the functioning of the CPI(M)-led-LDF government. Mr Khan can be ideologically opposed to the Communists but an experienced politician should know that he should not interfere in the democratic process of governance. The governor is not a class monitor nor a teacher to correct the biases of the state government. Tamil Nadu governor R.N. Ravi has expressed his opposition to the ideology of the DMK and to Dravidian politics, and this bias plays a role in his withholding assent to bills, especially with regard to appointment of vice-chancellors of universities in the state. It is quite clear that the Tamil Nadu governor would want to appoint right-wing vice-chancellors. But that would be misusing the powers of the governor because the universities in the state are funded by the state government.

There was a similar confrontation when then West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar wanted to use his power as governor to appoint vice-chancellors in the state.

It is a fact that every party in power, whether in the states or the Centre, is appointing vice-chancellors to universities who believe in the partys ideology. So, the BJP appoints Hindutva-leaning vice-chancellors in all Central universities, and in the states where the party is in power. The erstwhile CPI(M)-led Left Front government in West Bengal had appointed leftist vice-chancellors to the universities in the state. It can be criticised, but that is the imperfect way that democracies work. So, if the state governments want to pass a bill in their legislatures vesting the power of appointing vice-chancellors in the state government, then they are justified. But unelected governors cant be allowed to have their way to carry out the ideological biases of the party in power at the Centre.
by Nirmala Carvalho

One of the world's busiest and most important "waterways" has seen assaults rise again in recent times. The president of the Goa Seamen's Association calls on the Indian premier for joint action to strengthen security measures.

Goa (AsiaNews) - The Goan Seamen Association of Goa (GSAI) has reiterated its concern over the growing number of pirate-related attacks suffered by seafarers sailing through the Strait of Malacca - the Indian Ocean waterway that separates Indonesia and Malaysia - and in other areas such as the Singapore Strait - which divides Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.

Frank Viegas, president of GSAI, underlined the gravity of the situation, highlighting increasing incidents of pirate attacks in the Straits of Malacca, a route located between the Indonesian island of Sumatra and the Malaysian peninsula.

In a petition addressed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other international maritime organizations, the GSAI called for the implementation of additional security measures to protect maritime traffic from the growing threat of pirates.

It came after the latest case seriously endangered the safety and security of the sailors of a ship under attack. The category requires immediate attention and appropriate action. The GSAI for its part urged the authorities to take immediate and concrete measures to safeguard the lives and interests of seafarers: The Strait of Malacca is one of the busiest and most crucial shipping routes globally and serves as a key link between the Indian and Pacific Oceans. However, recent incidents of piracy in the region have raised serious doubts about the adequacy of security measures aimed at protecting the lives and property of seafarers and shipowners, Viegas comments.

He adds: Piracy attacks in the Strait of Malacca are a constant, but they have increased in recent years and it happens more and more often that, as in the last episode, a sailor is seriously injured during the attack when the pirates come on board of the ship."

Joint action is needed to strengthen security measures to prevent piracy in the Strait of Malacca and other areas of the region, such as the Singapore Strait: Greater collaboration is needed between the relevant authorities, including naval forces, coast guard agencies and international organizations. It is essential to ensure everyone's safety and security."

These pirate attacks not only result in huge financial losses for the shipping industry, but also pose serious threats to the safety and mental well-being of seafarers who become victims of piracy. The traumatic experiences faced by seafarers, including kidnapping, physical aggression and even the death of some comrades, require strengthened compensation measures, at least three times higher than those provided today", concludes Viagas.

Since 2009, intergovernmental cooperation has drastically reduced the phenomenon: in Indonesian waters alone in 2004 there were 93 cases of piracy. Today they are in the order of a single dozen.

According to piracy expert Catherine Zara Raymond: Piracy has certainly been a source of concern in this sea route in the past, with up to seventy-five attacks documented in 2000 in the Straits of Malacca alone. The number of cases has been decreasing since 2005, with growth however below the levels seen last year, an increase confirmed in 2023".
by Vladimir Rozanskij

At the Minsk summit, Kazakhstan's President Tokaev responded to Secretary Tasmagambetov (a Moscow loyalist) by saying that 'there is no need to constantly raise alarms, even when problems exist'. There is a tendency for several members of the post-Soviet alliance to sideline themselves in pursuit of their own national interests.

Minsk (AsiaNews) - At the summit of the CSTO, the Eurasian military alliance gathered in Minsk in recent days, the president of Kazakhstan Kasym-Zomart Tokaev invited us not to overestimate the level of threats facing the member states (Russia, Belarus , Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and also Armenia which this time withdrew).

The impression is that the Kazakh president wanted to somehow respond to the statements of the Kazakh general secretary of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov, a politician very loyal to Moscow in office since 1 January this year.

The secretary had spoken of the worsening of confrontation at a global and regional level, and "the worsening of the international political context is accompanied by an ever decreasing management capacity of the international relations system".

All of this is made even more difficult by the use of "hybrid technologies", which make it increasingly difficult to recognize the real threats and the authentic nature of violations of national sovereignty. For Tokaev, while not ignoring these threats and inviting us to "keep the various tactics and strategies of the alliance in line", it is not necessary to raise continuous alarms, even when problems exist.

Moreover, the Kazakh president observed, "threats have always existed, it is the very nature of the international community", but the continuous appeals in this regard "spread the illusion that we are afraid of something or someone", creating false interpretations.

As Kazakh political scientist Gaziz Abisev observed, "these words do not only mean a brake on Tasmagambetov's aggressiveness, but are a clear signal for all the other members of the organization, and above all for the Kremlin."

The secretary is in reality only the spokesperson of the heads of state and their security apparatus, and here Russia together with Belarus dominates above all, "a bit like the secretary of NATO reflects above all the position of Washington", observes Abisev . Precisely the invasion of Ukraine was justified by Putin and Lukashenko as "defense from security threats" of the two countries bordering Ukraine.

Another expert in international politics, the Kazakh historian Danijar Asimbaev, also agrees with this assessment, seeing the escalation of "concerns about responding to threats" as a strategy aimed more than anything else "at giving weight to the CSTO itself, which wants to be more incisive than he is actually able to express."

The Eurasian alliance has formally existed for many years (it was founded in 1992, almost immediately after the end of the USSR), but it has never really intervened to resolve crises, and the only demonstration action that we remember is that of January 2022 in Kazakhstan to quell street riots, shortly before the start of the invasion of Ukraine.

As Asimbaev underlines, "Tokaev's words reflect the traditional peacemaking position of our country" which does not want to enter into conflict with anyone, and therefore "wants to prevent the CSTO from becoming an instrument of global conflict", becoming a direct political-military force against some declared enemy.

Tasmagambetov also tried to "cover" Moscow in the ongoing disagreement with Armenia, denying his formal exit from the CSTO: "we maintain contact with them, and we will officially inform them of the results of the meeting", declared the secretary.

Ultimately, Armenia is orienting itself on the model of current Georgia, moderately pro-Russian and pro-Western at the same time, concludes Asimbaev, "trying to make the most of both directions". All CSTO members, in reality, mainly pursue their own national interests, and future scenarios could change in unexpected and unforeseeable ways.
The 17-year-old (16 and nine months old at the time of the alleged crime) was executed last Friday at Sabzevar prison in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The teenagers "forced" confession was broadcast on television. In Tehran, "women in chadors and men with cameras in hand" monitor headscarf compliance.

Tehran (AsiaNews)  Iran executed a 17-year-old male after he was sentenced to death for murder in a legally murky case.

According to human rights groups Hengaw and Iran Human Rights (IHR), Hamidreza Azari was a minor at the time of the crime as well as his execution, which took place last Friday by hanging at Sabzevar prison, Khorasan-e Razavi province in northeastern Iran, near the border with Turkmenistan.

Local witnesses report that the young man was only 16 when, last May, he allegedly killed a man in a brawl. For rights groups, his execution constitutes another human rights violation by the Islamic Republic as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child defines a child as anyone under the age of 18.

According to a source, Hamidreza Azari was born on 1 August 2006, so he was 16 years and nine months at the time of the crime attributed to him and for which he was sentenced to death.

What is more, his forced confession was later broadcast on pro-government TV channels and media, with his age given as 18.

This was a blatant lie designed to cover up the latest execution of an underage person, and a deliberate attempt to avoid accountability for violating international law that explicitly bans the use of the death penalty against juvenile offenders.

Iran is one of the few countries that sentences children to death and executes more minors than any other country, IHR said, adding that according to its data, at least 68 minors had been executed in Iran since 2010.

In Iran, you have to be 18 years old to obtain a driver's licence, but you only need to be 15 years old to be executed, IHRs director, Mahmood-Amiry Moghaddam, said.

Excluding China, for which there are no official statistics, about 90 per cent of death sentences in the world are carried out by Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

According to IHR, at least 684 people have been executed in Iran this year, mostly for drug trafficking and murder offences.

Last Thursday, a 20-year-old man was executed. He was the eighth person to be hanged in a case linked to the massive protest movement triggered by the case of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old Kurdish woman who died in police custody in September last year.

Ordinary Iranians and activists report that Iranian authorities have tightened controls with respect to the compulsory headscarf for women, which was the reason Amini was stopped by the morality police.

More and more women in chadors and men with cameras in hand" are seen at metro stations and other public spaces, including crowded squares, parks, and university campuses, to monitor women who fail to uphold the rule.

As protests gain traction on social media, some government media outlets have described hijab enforcers as "spontaneous groups of people who treat others with good manners and respect."

A government paper, Hamshahri, referred to the actions of hijab enforcers as "simple and kind reminders," adding that the latter operate "within the framework of the law."

However, many ordinary Iranians, especially female students, complain about the harsh treatment they receive.
by Melani Manel Perera

Dairy farmers have been protesting for 74 days against a group of Sinhala outsiders who have seized their land by force. A court ruling in the dairy farmers favour is still not being enforced. These areas are our life, they say. Without food, their animals are going to die.

Batticaloa (AsiaNews)  Milk producers in Batticaloa, Mailattamadu and Madavani, in Sri Lankas Eastern Province, have been protesting for weeks, demanding justice from the authorities because of criminal acts committed against them and their livestock by a group from outside the province.

The silent protest has been going on for 74 days in front of the Sitthandi Junction milk collection centre in Batticaloa, after a group of Sinhala farmers forcibly settled in the Madawani-Maiylaththamadu area, seizing pastures and destroying Tamils' temporary sheds.

On 13 November, a court ordered their eviction, but the situation has not changed, even though President Ranil Wickremasinghe spoke about the matter during a recent visit to the region.

"These are our pastures and our sheds were destroyed, set on fire on 13 October by a group of Sinhala farmers. Now we live in fear," said Muththupullai Siyanthar, a dairy farmer who was brutally attacked by the group, speaking to AsiaNews.

"We call on the government and the authorities to clear our grazing lands. These areas are our life. If our animals don't have food, we don't get milk. They're going to die."

Fr Kandaiyah Jegadas, secretary of the Batticaloa District Inter-Religious Committee, which is contributing to the farmers silent protest, spoke to AsiaNews about the situation.

When the president came to this province last month, he asked the police and the courts to remove the Sinhala farmers occupying the pastures of the dairy farmers, the clergyman said. Unfortunately, none of these orders have been fulfilled.

According to the protesting farmers, about 7,000 cows have been destroyed so far, with serious consequences for the 3,000 families of Tamil farmers who depend on livestock.

There are more than 980 farms in the area and the situation is having serious repercussions for them.
by Sumon Corraya

The Mirpur Agricultural Workshop and Training School celebrated its 50th anniversary. Since it was founded, it has offered opportunities to more than 48,000 young people. We provide quality technical education to needy and marginalised people, operating in accordance with the values of Jesus Christ, said Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka.

Dhaka (AsiaNews)  Last Friday, the Mirpur Agricultural Workshop and Training School (MAWTS), a foundation of Caritas Bangladesh, celebrated its 50th anniversary at its campus in Pallabi, Mirpur (Dhaka). More than 3,000 current and past students were present, many expressing their gratitude.

The school began in 1973 thanks to the cooperation between Caritas Bangladesh and Caritas Switzerland. Initially, the focus was on maintaining and repairing machinery and vehicles used in relief and rehabilitation projects by Caritas itself.

Since the 1980s, MAWTS has organised modular courses of 4 to 14 weeks, responding to requests from various NGOs and the private sector.

Since it was created, it has successfully trained more than 48,000 unemployed or unskilled young people, who are now employed, many working around the world.

MAWTS has also established a skill test examination system for expatriate technicians. To further promote technical education, MAWTS also introduced a four-year diploma course in 2004 in engineering, which was approved by the Bangladesh Technical Education Board (BTEB).

Some 1,745 trainees have completed their diploma course and are actively engaged in their respective professions, while many pursue higher studies both at home and abroad.

Numerous authorities attended the celebrations for the 50th anniversary, including the Honourable Speaker of the National Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury; Dr Atiur Rahman, professor emeritus and former governor of the Bank of Bangladesh; Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka, Archbishop Emeritus Card Patrick D'Rozario; and Bishop James Romen Boiragi of Khulna, who also chairs Caritas Bangladesh.

"I belong to a very poor family. Even though we didn't have land, MAWTS gave me the opportunity to attend for free, said Halwer Hossen, a former student who trained in mechanical technology.

After receiving a technical education, I now work at Unilever Bangladesh Limited and that has changed my life," he added. Thanks to quality education, I can now live in society with dignity."

Mossraf Hossen, another Muslim, also told AsiaNews how MAWTS changed his life. "I came from a very simple family; I trained in motor vehicles. Now I work as an inspector at the road division of the Ministry of Transport."

Archbishop Bejoy N. D'Cruze of Dhaka, who also chairs the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh, said he was happy for the celebration of MAWTSs anniversary.

Male and female students can study at this technical school, he explained. This makes me happy. We provide quality technical education to needy and marginalised people, operating in accordance with the values of Jesus Christ who taught us to feed the hungry.
Aspen-based Global Warming Mitigation Project founder and executive director Jacquelyn Francis, left, conducts an interview at the COP27 conference in Egypt in 2022. Francis will attend COP28 this year in Dubai.
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Dialogue, cooperation the only right choice for China, U.S.

10:08, November 27, 2023 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily

"No way you make progress over the long term without China and the U.S. deeply talking to each other on something like AI," said the head of an American multinational technology conglomerate. "It has got to be an integral part of the process."

The recent meeting between the Chinese and U.S. heads of state in San Francisco has yielded multiple outcomes, including the establishment of government talks on AI, which, once announced, has greatly encouraged the international science and technology community.

It signified that the leaders of both countries agreed to promote and strengthen dialogue and cooperation in various fields, which aligns with the common expectations of the two peoples and the international community. It will also help establish a stronger bond of interest between the two sides and increase international confidence in stabilizing and improving the China-U.S. relations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out during the San Francisco meeting that China and the United States have broad common interests in a wide range of areas, including traditional areas such as the economy, trade and agriculture, as well as emerging areas such as climate change and AI. Under current circumstances, the common interests between China and the United States have increased, not decreased.

This has laid a foundation for the two countries to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation. The important consensus and outcomes achieved during the San Francisco meeting once again proved the mutually beneficial nature of China-U.S. relations, and demonstrated that dialogue and cooperation is the only right choice for the two countries.

The relationship between China and the United States is the most important bilateral relationship in the world, and it is also highly complex.

To accurately grasp the relationship between the two major countries, it is necessary to not only observe the phenomena and details but also understand the essence and the overall picture, avoiding hasty generalizations or loss of essence.

In recent years, some people in the United States have been mistaken about the definition of the China-U.S. relationship, constantly emphasizing competition as if it was the dominant theme or even the sole focus of the relationship. This perspective not only deviates from the fundamental reality of China-U.S. relations but also carries the risk of pushing both sides toward conflict and confrontation.

It is normal for China and the United States to compete in certain areas. But from the overall picture and a broader perspective, it is easy to see that competition is just a tributary, while common interests are the mainstream.

It is in their mutual and fundamental interest to prevent conflict and confrontation and achieve peaceful coexistence. The two economies are deeply integrated, and both face new tasks in development. It is in their mutual interest to benefit from each others development. It is also in their interest to promote post-pandemic global recovery, tackle climate change and resolve regional issues through China-U.S. coordination and cooperation.

Advancing mutually beneficial cooperation requires necessary conditions and atmosphere.

Cooperation should be a two-way journey, not a one-way street. Both sides need to respect each other, pursue mutual benefit, focus on the larger picture, and nurture a sound atmosphere for cooperation.

Some people in the United States want to demand unconditional cooperation from China in areas in need, while continuing to contain and suppress China and damage China's legitimate rights and interests. This logic is untenable and China cannot accept it.

China advocates win-win cooperation with the United States. At the same time, China has interests that must be safeguarded, principles that must be upheld, and red lines that must not be crossed. Only by adhering to mutual respect, equal treatment and win-win cooperation, can dialogue and cooperation proceed steadily and tangibly benefit the two peoples.

Advancing mutually beneficial cooperation requires necessary channels and mechanisms.

Xi noted that it is important to fully utilize the restored and new mechanisms in foreign policy, economy, finance, commerce, agriculture and other fields, and carry out cooperation in such areas as counternarcotics, judicial and law enforcement affairs, AI, and science and technology. This fully demonstrated China's sincere desire and responsible stance in promoting mutually beneficial cooperation and improving China-U.S. relations.

In recent years, due to reasons known to all, China-U.S. relations have encountered severe difficulties, leading to the interruption of some dialogue and cooperation channels that have been established over decades. This is not in line with the fundamental interests of both countries, nor does it reflect the true aspirations of the two peoples.

Important consensus has been achieved on advancing dialogue and cooperation during the San Francisco meeting. The two sides decided to step up high-level interactions, advance or launch regular consultations in such areas as commerce, economy, finance, export control, the Asia-Pacific, maritime, arms control and nonproliferation, foreign policy planning, China-U.S. joint working group, and disability issues.

The two sides also 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. They should make good use of these channels and mechanisms to effectively promote mutually beneficial cooperation.

History and reality have repeatedly shown that as long as China and the United States advance mutually beneficial cooperation, they can create opportunities to better address their respective challenges and pursue development. China and the United States have developed $760 billion in bilateral trade and $260 billion in their two-way investment, bringing growth momentum and well-being to both sides.

The exhibition area of American companies has been the largest for six consecutive years at the China International Import Expo, and over 200 U.S. enterprises joined the event this year. This clearly demonstrates that the American business community sees opportunities in China, and hopes to continue mutually beneficial cooperation with China.

China is pursuing high-quality development, and the United States is revitalizing its economy. There is plenty of room for their cooperation, and they are fully able to help each other succeed and achieve win-win outcomes.

Win-win cooperation is the trend of the times, and it is also an inherent property of China-U.S. relations. Both China and the United States should seize the opportunities, meet each other halfway, and jointly promote mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to consolidate the positive momentum of bilateral relations.

(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
(Photo : Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash )

Finding a job can be difficult, especially with many layoffs. Because there are so many unemployed people, there is more competition than ever for available positions. Utilizing every resource at your fingertips is crucial if you want an advantage in the job market.

You should start using ChatGPT to search for jobs in 2023 if you're looking for employment. This chatbot, driven by artificial intelligence, can assist you in your job search.

What is ChatGPT, and How Does it Work?

ChatGPT is a chatbot that uses artificial intelligence that OpenAI, a research lab, released in November 2022. It has many applications: you can use it to write a speech or song, troubleshoot code, find answers to exam questions, or use it as a regular search engine (like Google or Bing) to find information. This works through "prompts," or messages you type in and send to the chatbot to start a "conversation."

While ChatGPT is free for anyone to use, there are some cautions for job seekers regarding the chatbot. Pete Huang, the co-founder of The Neuron, an AI newsletter, pointed out that the tool has a learning curve. Writing your prompts precisely how you want them to be takes some practice. Therefore, Huang said, "it's one of those situations where you really have to get over that mental hurdle if you're uncomfortable trying new tools." he told The Muse.

As a result, he continued, "There is a sort of art and science to crafting a prompt to get it to do what you want it to do." Since the chatbot cannot read your mind, it is likely you haven't provided it with enough or the correct information to work from.

Best Ways to Prepare for a Job Interview Using ChatGPT

Before utilizing ChatGPT for questions about jobs, take into consideration these easy rules:

Maintain confidentiality:

Refrain from disclosing any private company information you may have signed as part of your employment application process to ChatGPT. It's advisable to avoid pasting sensitive information into the chat as OpenAI gathers data.

Give context:

Detailed information helps ChatGPT function more effectively. Provide information about yourself, your working style, the role or company you are discussing, and your background in your initial messages. ChatGPT can be more precise and valuable the more information you give it. To further hone the responses, you can carry on the discussion.

Follow your Instincts:

Keep in mind that ChatGPT has its limitations like any other technology. A second opinion is wise if something doesn't feel right or you have concerns about the advice. Seek advice from a friend, relative, mentor, or career counselor to gain another viewpoint.

READ ALSO: Why Altresume helps Job Candidates find Work

Sample ChatGPT Prompts for Job Seekers

The following examples of ChatGPT prompts for a variety of objectives when looking for work:

1. Resume Writing:

"Can you help me craft a resume for [indicate your desired position]?"

"Please provide suggestions on how to improve the structure and content of my resume."

2. Job Search Tips:

"What are some effective strategies for discovering remote employment?"

"Please give me advice on networking for job seekers."

3. Interview Preparation:

"Can you help me practice common interview questions for [indicate your desired position]?"

"Please provide me with tips to ace an interview for [indicate your desired position]"

4. Salary Negotiation:

"Please cite strategies to use when negotiating a pay raise during job offers."

"How can I get insight and determine a reasonable pay scale for my position?"

5. Personal Branding:

"How can I build an effective personal brand for professional networking?"

"Provide advice on how to establish a solid online presence to draw in prospective employers."

Remember to customize these prompts based on your specific needs and the stage of your job search. Use ChatGPT to gather insights, gain valuable advice, and enhance your job-seeking efforts.

RELATED ARTICLE: The Ultimate Guide: 2023 Killer Resume Tips and Templates

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
AMG

kW

Based on the previous generation Mercedes-GT, as there is an entirely new one out in case you forgot, the Black Series P One Edition debuted over three years ago, shortly after the normal Black Series was shown to the world.Featuring an F1-inspired livery, it was only available to those who placed an order for the Mercedes-AMG One hypercar, hence its new given name. This copy has a silver finish that gradually turns black at the rear, the typical three-pointed star design, some turquoise accents on the lower parts of the body and wheels, and a few other things, including that massive wing out back. The interior has black leather with turquoise accents and a whole lot of carbon fiber, joined by the usual gear.Powering it is the same engine found under the hood of the regular Black Series model , namely the ubiquitous 4.0-liter bi-turbo V8. The mill generates 720 hp (730 ps/537) and 590 lb-ft (800 Nm) of torque, with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission directing the thrust to the rear wheels. The Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series takes 3.2 seconds to 62 mph (100 kph), less than 9 seconds to 124 mph (200 kph), and has a 202 mph (325 kph) top speed, regardless if it is the normal or the P One Edition version.With only 69 miles (111 km) under its belt, you are looking at a brand-new supercar and a collectible, for that matter, given the low production number. It is advertised by Mecum, which will try and find a new home for it during their Kissimmee auction that will be hosted between January 2 and 14, 2024, in Florida, at the Osceola Heritage Park, where it will shine alongside many other vehicles, some more affordable than others.But there is nothing affordable about the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series P One Edition , as even if the auction house hasn't released an estimated selling price, we all know this model costs more than the proverbial arm and leg. You'll have to throw in some organs to afford it, as it is usually valued at well over half a million dollars. In fact, RMSothebys recently sold one with 32 miles (51 km) on the clock for $775,000, and we think this one will fetch a similar sum. But do you think it's worth it when you could buy a faster supercar for a whole lot less?
AWD

The former will replace the subtle yet popular 2024 Venza starting next year. That's quite a shame because the Venza is only sold as a hybrid and is also quite affordable at under $35k. As for the Camry, some treat it like an extended facelift of the XV70 generation, but Toyota says the XV80 is an all-new generation  one that is only offered as a hybrid and with 'just' four grades: LE, SE, XLE, and XSE.There's no Nightshade (though we reckon it will make a comeback as soon as possible), no TRD version, and especially no V6 powertrain option. While the hybrid powertrain is quite potent indeed, offering up to 232 combined ponies on the-equipped model, it's not exactly a muscle sedan either  especially since the current V6 model offers a little over 300 horsepower.Of course, you can still choose the 2024 Camry with the V6 option for a little while because the 2025 Camry will only be coming out to dealerships in the spring of 2024 if everything goes according to plan. However, what if you want the goodies brought by the latest incarnation of the best-seller combined with a feistier powertrain than the hybrid system? So, what if Toyota gave its blessing to Gazoo Racing to include the popular Camry in the pantheon of GR models?Well, that is not possible in the real world, at least for the time being. After Toyota launches the 2025 Camry sales, it needs to wait at least another model year before starting to fine-tune the model's lineup. And a halo vehicle like the GR Camry wouldn't arrive, for sure, until it's time for the mid-cycle facelift. However, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators doesn't have to wait so long.Instead, they can always bring to life whatever they dream. For example, this virtual artist, known as Theottle on social media, has resorted to CGI slicing and dicing the new XV80 Toyota Camry to make it worthy of Gazoo Racing even before the regular version is ready for mass-market series production. So, in his latest behind-the-scenes making-of video, the pixel master takes the Camry and mixes it with the widebody allure of the GR Corolla hot hatchback, now adapted for a new lease of life as a four-door sedan.Interestingly, the author's implementation shows the Camry can become sportier, with bulging wheel arches, a wider track, larger air intakes, as well as a nice black rear wing, and a big diffuser. Even the oddly designed three-piece exhaust system looks spot on  probably because it's wider-spaced now. As for the powertrain, should we also consider the little-yet-mighty 1.6-liter turbo inline-three?
If you still need evidence that blindly trusting Google Maps is never a good idea, here's the story of several Formula 1 fans who ended up in the middle of the desert after following the faster route suggested by the app.

Shelby Easler revealed on TikTok how she was heading back to Los Angeles after the Formula 1 race in Las Vegas, only to be rerouted by Google Maps to avoid a dust storm on Interstate 15. According to Google Maps, the new route would have saved them 50 minutes, so the driver decided to follow the app's suggestion and leave the interstate.They weren't alone, as a video on TikTok shows a long line of vehicles going the same route, likely running Google Maps, too.The only problem with the route was the road surface. The unpaved road was going through the middle of the unexplored desert, so it wasn't necessarily a surprise that the convoy eventually came across wild donkeys.Some cars following the route didn't feel comfortable on the off-road terrain, so the drivers got stuck. Google Maps even lost the GPS positioning, showing their location in the middle of nowhere, away from the suggested route. It was the time to call 911 because a bunch of people stuck in the desert couldn't be good news.Easler says the 911 dispatcher told the group that the police were busy dealing with the craze on the highway, so their next option was to call for roadside assistance. They still had to wait several hours in the forest until the towing company reached the stranded vehicles. They got towed and brought back to Las Vegas, where they received the necessary repairs before going back home.Following the suggested "faster" route didn't pay off, as they ended up spending more time in "traffic," putting their lives at risk, and eventually going back from where they started the journey in the first place.However, while I won't defend Google Maps, I can only wonder if all drivers who followed the suggested route used the navigation app with the "unpaved roads" option disabled. Google Maps shouldn't suggest such routes unless you specifically ask it to, so if you were driving on the I-15 and the application suggested a route through the Nevada desert, chances are you weren't using the proper Google Maps configuration.Google hasn't commented on this potential Google Maps blunder, but the video has since gone viral, showing the nightmare that blindly trusting a navigation app could produce. As general advice, if you use sat-nav and are sent on a dangerous road, you should stay on the main route, regardless of how faster the alternative is.
Internally referred to as L663, the Land Rover Defender from 2019 onward can be had in three main specifications: the two-/three-door 90, the four-/five-door 110, and the stretched 130. An estimated 121 examples of the latter version have been hit with a safety recall, namely 2023 model year Defender 130 vehicles modified by JLR North America for the 2023 edition of the TReK off-road competition.

NHTSA

Photo: Land Rover Monmouth on Facebook

TReK is the British automaker's way of demonstrating the off-road capability of the unibody sport utility vehicle, which received a fair share of criticism over the switch to unibody construction and reliability concerns. TReK dates back to 1996 in the image of the Camel Trophy. It should be mentioned that TReK is a North America-specific challenge in which dealers from the United States and Canada participate to bolster their off-road expertise.Attached below, a press release from October 2023 reads that US and Canadian teams participated in this year's competition. As expected, all the Defender 130 P400 SE vehicles intended for TReK were modified with the likes of a remote control winch, additional exterior lighting, a hitch-mounted jack, a suspension lift, a set of off-road tires, a set of traction boards, a body wrap, as well as some TReK badging.In September 2023, a vehicle unexpectedly suffered a brake caliper detachment. JLR North America immediately opened an investigation, from which the safety boffins determined that dealers may not have followed the proper reinstallation procedure. Indeed, it's the US and Canadian dealers who modified these vehicles for competition rather than Nitra, Slovakia assembly plant workers.In case of detachment, poor braking performance is joined by the high possibility of structural damage to the wheel, therefore increasing the risk of a crash. Published on the's website, the recall report lists the brake caliper bolts as the recalled components. The brake caliper bolts in question bear part numbers LR033274 and SYG000013.Jaguar Land Rover's North American division isn't aware of any incidents related to this concern other than the detachment from September 2023. The remedy is pretty straightforward: take off the brake calipers and reinstall them following the correct procedure. Dealers will be informed no later than December 6 of their very own blunder, whereas the peeps who purchased TReK vehicles following the competition will be notified on January 19.Considered a standalone brand within JLR (although it clearly isn't), the Defender can be had with a variety of powertrains, ranging from the usual 2.0-liter turbo I4 to inline-six mills and the good ol' 5.0-liter supercharged V8 we all know and love. Defender 130 vehicles modified for TReK are dubbed P400 SE, with P400 being Land Rover's vernacular for petrol (gasoline) and 400 metric ponies (395 horsepower), while SE stands for Standard Equipment.The P400 is a mild-hybrid affair built around the Ingenium 3.0-liter turbocharged I6, a powerplant derived from the original 2.0-liter turbo I4. Manufactured in the UK and China, the Ingenium family also includes a 1.5-liter turbo I3 engine.At press time, Land Rover wants $69,100 (excluding the destination freight charge) for the most spartan Defender 130 in production for the US market. At the other end of the spectrum, the supercharged V8 option carries a sticker price of $116,600.
At the end of October 2023, we learned of an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer taking on multiple targets at the same time. It was not something that happened in of the many of our planet's hot spots, but during a test event called Vigilant Wyvern which took place in the Pacific Ocean.

Last month's piece of news involved the use of an updated version of the Aegis Weapon System, a piece of technology developed by Lockheed Martin with the single goal of protecting Navy ships against threats heading its way.Two months after we first learned of that achievement, one of the companies involved in the exercise, defense contractor Kratos , let us in on more details about the test.Aegis is a collection of hardware and software that gives ships unprecedented defense capabilities. It comprises everything from displays and radars to detection and tracking computers.At the top of it all sits the missile launch element that can fire anti-aircraft, anti-surface, anti-submarine, and ballistic missiles either to defend the ship it's based on, or to engage targets during offensive operations.Aegis has been around for a while, and it's currently deployed on over 110 U.S. Navy ships. Technically, each one of these systems is capable of engaging multiple targets at the same time, but it wasn't until the exercise which took place at the Pacific Missile Test Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii that this knowledge was actually put to the test.We learned this week the test involved Aegis taking on two Short-Range Ballistic Missiles (SRBM) and, at the same time, fighting off a pair of subsonic anti-ship cruise missiles, a role played during the exercise by aerial target drones.The SRBMs were engaged with two Standard Missile 3 Block IA (SM-3 Blk IA) interceptors fired from the USS Carl M Levin destroyer, one of the most recent ships of its class made  the ship was commissioned in the summer of this year.The drones used during the live-fire, raid scenario were of the BQM variety, the "only subscale aerial target platform operated by the U.S. Air Force." These things can play the role of incoming missiles at speeds of Mach 0.9, and come in as low as 6.6 feet (two meters) off the surface of the water.The four-week exercise is described as "one of the largest Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) events ever conducted in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Area of Responsibility," but, most importantly, it was the first one to show off a concurrent engagement of both ballistic and anti-air missiles.It's clear that we average civilians don't have an exact picture of what went on in the Pacific during the tests, but it's not unlikely we'll learn more about that as both the Navy and its partners punch in the numbers and draw some conclusions.
One of the most passionate promoters of hydrogen fuel cells for clean maritime transportation has reached a significant milestone.

kW

Two years ago, a clean technology company in Norway was announcing its ambitious plans to build a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to hydrogen fuel cells. On one hand, it would be the country's first large-scale fuel cell production plant. On the other hand, it would also act as a pioneering research and education hub. TECO 2030 had partnered with UiT (the Arctic University of Norway) which is also located in Narvik. The collaboration would be beneficial for both sides. Experts at the University's Faculty of Engineering Science and Technology would support the future factory with their expertise, while the center's testing facilities would provide unique resources for researchers and students.Last month, the Norwegian startup officially introduced the FCM400, described as the most compact and energy-dense system primarily for maritime vessels but also for heavy-duty applications. The module starts at 400and can be scaled up in increments of 400 kW to adapt to various applications.The powerful FCM400 fuel cell is mainly intended to be used for vessels' main or auxiliary engines but can also make a difference at construction sites or at stationary shore power stations.The first unit was installed into the bench test at Graz, Austria, where TECO's technology development partner is located. Recently, TECO and AVL confirmed the successful running of the first FCM400 system, meaning that the breakthrough technology is now officially validated.What's next? AVL will continue to produce the first series of units before TECO 2030 can take over production. Its giga factory in Narvik is set to kick off large-scale production by the first half of 2024.The FCM400 claims to be one of the most powerful hydrogen fuel cells in the world. In addition to the optimal energy efficiency, it promises inherent safety, durability, a fast dynamic-load response, and a practical design in terms of size and weight.TECO says that a single FCM400 unit could save more than 9,000 tons of CO2 compared to a diesel generator. In terms of production, this is only the beginning. The clean-tech startup is aiming to drastically ramp up its capacity by the end of this decade. The ultimate goal is to produce up to 4,000 units per year by 2030.TECO 2030 is also supporting green maritime transportation through another innovative concept. It's a zero-emission, floating power barge that could help charge ships while at anchor in places where the onshore grid is insufficient.It also worked with Shell Shipping and Maritime and with DNV on the Hy-Ekotank project  the conversion of a conventional tanker to hydrogen-electric propulsion using TECO 2030's powerful fuel cell solution.
Porsche spent six years developing a brand-new suspension system and wrapped it as a gift for the third-generation Panamera. However, only buyers who are willing to spend more money will be able to experience it. Here's how much it costs over the pond and what it can do. Be warned, though: it's not for the faint of heart!

kWh

Photo: Porsche

Absurdly impressive

Photo: Porsche

To tick, or not to tick this box, that is the question

Photo: Porsche

Many people argued that the first-generation Porsche Panamera looked like a beached whale, a beluga whale, or a whale on roller skates. Some even went as far as to compare it with Captain Ahab's arch nemesis Moby Dick. Though it may sound demeaning or even outlandish at first, this was more of a compliment than criticism. People just wanted to emphasize the size of a Porsche sedan that completed the automaker's impressive lineup.Keep in mind that the Panamera was launched six years after the "off-road-ready" Cayenne was introduced. Purists were already angry, but the automaker's executives understood what they had to do to ensure profitability and they pushed forward.Twenty years later, the Panamera is reborn in true Porsche fashion. Little has changed visually, but the ideal four-seater looks better than ever and is as advanced as any vehicle can be today.One of the most exciting novelties brought forward with this iteration is the Active Ride suspension system. It can put well over 2,000 lb of force into action in every corner thanks to four hydraulic motor-pump units hooked to the plug-in hybrid's high-voltage 25.9-battery.In a way, it reminds us of Citroen's Xantia Activa solution. That '90s hatchback was able to pass the moose test with flying colors. But the main disadvantage of that implementation was the stiff ride. Still, over thirty years ago, the French's hydropneumatic trickery was hailed as a near-perfect setup.But Porsche's effort brought forward a solution that offers the all-new Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid an unrivaled duality; the sedan can waft along beautifully but also maintain its composure when the driver intends to put the V8 to work. And that's despite the single-chamber air spring! The V6-powered Panamera and Panamera 4 still have the two-chamber solution.The beauty of it? No more squatting when launching the thing! At the same time, cornering becomes a breeze because the suspension can control body roll impeccably. It also rapidly raises the vehicle by around two inches when you open the door to get behind the steering wheel.The optional suspension system with no traditional anti-roll bar can improve grip, too! Thanks to the adaptive roll compensation, there's less pressure on the tire sidewall when cornering. That keeps the contact surface at an optimum level and ensures better traction. Theoretically, the driver should be more confident on the track.We can see Porsche's British relative Bentley borrowing this discovery and making the next-gen Continental GT an unrivaled grand tourer. But maybe that idea makes more sense when we look at the Active Ride's cost.Over the pond, people can already order the 2024 Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid . The vehicle has a price of 192,500 ($210,407). That figure comprises the German value-added tax (VAT). While it may include the European equivalent of the American sales tax, the unit can still be optioned with many extra features.One of those optional pieces of equipment is the Active Ride suspension. It has a price tag of 8,086 ($8,840). No matter how you look at it, there's no escaping the "expensive" stamp. The cost can even become a tad bit controversial when you realize that the base chassis didn't change.Porsche's technicians developed this special suspension system for the automaker's upcoming all-electric models. But once executives had a taste, they wanted it on the market as fast as possible. That's why the plug-in hybrid Panamera got it. It may have a V8 as a center piece, but that's not the only great thing about it.So, is it worth it? Well, nobody can say for sure. The system is undoubtedly important for Porsche since it was developed in-house. But will customers appreciate it enough to spend 4% of the Panamera Turbo E-Hybrid's base price? It remains to be seen. The Stuttgart-based automaker is certainly invested.At the end of the day, we must remember that Porsche is all about customizing your vehicle. That's why the most expensive Panamera can be equipped with heated seats, a heated steering wheel, a 360-degree parking camera, soft-close doors, rear sun blinds, and four-zone climate control.You would think such a pricey sedan would include at least some of these options as standard equipment. But, no. Not with Porsche.Getting the brand's best vehicles is synonymous with splurging, and that's okay. There aren't many car companies out there that can bring legendary vehicles to the market. And, if we are to be honest for a second, well-off buyers will be more than happy to spend more money on a novelty that took Porsche years to develop. For them, it might be worth it.
More Tesla Cybertrucks are hitting the roads as part of various test drives, and the electric pickup starts to get the wrong kind of attention. The Thanksgiving weekend brought us videos of a Cybertruck getting busted by a speed camera in Montreal and another one impounded after getting a parking ticket in San Francisco.Tesla will deliver the first Cybertrucks to their owners on November 30, but rumors indicated that only ten lucky people will leave Giga Austin driving one. This starkly contrasts with the relatively high number of Cybertruck pickups spotted on public roads, not to mention those parked inside Tesla showrooms across the country. It appears that Tesla has already produced a significant number, acting like rolling billboards for the company.Not all advertising is good advertising, though, and some of these trucks made the headlines for the wrong reasons. In some cases, they broke down in the middle of the road and had to be towed away. We recorded two instances when the Cybertruck was covered with a tarp before a tow truck came to the rescue.On other occasions, Cybertruck drivers got ticketed after parking in restricted areas. Two weeks ago, we saw the pictures of the first Cybertruck getting a parking ticket. The internet filled with jokes about the gigawiper, which probably needed to be lifted by a crane for the police officer to slip the parking ticket underneath. Police apparently got better at this because another Cybertruck was seen this weekend with a parking ticket under the wiper.Not only that but the electric pickup was towed away on Saturday, with the parking ticket still fluttering from under the wiper. The video surely answers people's questions about the possibility of towing a Cybertruck. Well, it's not only possible, but it's on the record now for all to see. You don't even need a big tow truck for the job.As some people said in the comments on X , it was one of those karma moments after the Cybertruck driver berated bystanders who got too close to the truck at a Supercharger earlier that day. Considering that not even Tesla employees are allowed to touch the Cybertrucks in the showrooms, the guy who lost this one will have a lot of explaining to do on Monday. Leaving headquarters in a Cybertruck and returning to work in an Uber must be embarrassing.In another vide o from last week, a Cybertruck was busted by a speed camera in Montreal. Before that happened, the pickup truck was recorded overtaking other vehicles at high speed and switching lanes aggressively. To be fair, I'm surprised we haven't seen a Cybertruck crash by now. Regardless of whether they were Tesla test drivers or influencers getting a taste of the Cybertruck before anybody else, these are still humans, and humans make mistakes.
(Photo : Unsplash/Maria Oswalt )

The Albanese government has made a significant commitment by pledging $255 million to support security measures that track freed people from indefinite detention. This pledge shows that the party is taking proactive steps to mitigate any risks that may arise from releasing these people.

The funds allotted are for security organizations that are in charge of monitoring the whereabouts and actions of people freed from detention without charge. The ruling emphasizes the party's dedication to maintaining public safety and preventing any security risks that might emerge from people who have experienced this kind of detention.

Operation Aegis

The Australian federal police and Australian Border Force have formed Operation Aegis to ensure detainees released following a high court ruling follow the stringent new requirements imposed on their visas.

"Hardcore Criminals"

This month, the high court made a decision that helped NZYQ, a Rohingya man without status, who was in danger of being held in detention permanently since no nation had agreed to take him in. Following the high court's successful challenge to a 20-year-old precedent, the government was compelled to free 92 detainees. The government has come under fire from the opposition, which claims it was unprepared for the ruling by the high court and was endangering public safety.

Since they could not be deported, some of the cohort-who had committed crimes-were placed in indefinite detention upon serving their sentences. Some were detained due to their moral character or for non-violent offenses. Even so, Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, called the group "hardcore criminals" on numerous occasions. Yet, labor approved changes made by the Coalition to laws it drafted that imposed strict standards on those who had been freed.

READ ALSO: Daniel Pearl Suspect Released; Pakistani Anti-Terrorism Court Frees Suspect Due To Lack Of Evidence

Funding Breakdown

A $255 million funding package to be split between the federal police and border force was announced by Attorney General Mark Dreyfus, Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, and Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

The AFP will receive $88 million for "regional response teams and personnel to investigate breaches of visa conditions." In comparison, the Border Force will receive $150 million for more employees in "compliance, removal, and surveillance functions."

Operation Aegis will concentrate on monitoring the detainees freed following the ruling by the high court to make sure they don't violate the terms of their visas, which include tight curfews and ankle monitors. The funds will also be utilized to "increase in capacity to bring prosecutions" against violators of the terms. As part of the operation, federal agencies will collaborate with their counterparts in states and territories.

The action creates significant concerns about how to strike a balance between personal rights and security measures because it may harm privacy. These funds and the techniques used to keep an eye on people who have been released will probably be the main topics of public conversation.

The implementation of this commitment will be closely monitored to evaluate its efficacy in attaining increased security without jeopardizing fundamental civil liberties as the political landscape continues to change. The Labor Party's commitment to setting aside a sizable sum of money for this purpose shows that it understands the difficulties of releasing people from indefinite detention and will take proactive measures to resolve any issues that may arise.

RELATED ARTICLE: LAURETHA VARID: PHILADELPHIA RAPPER WHO KILLED POLICE OFFICER DURING BANK ROBBERY GETS DEATH WARRANT

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
2023 was probably one of the most important years for Lilium, the German air mobility company that's building what it claims to be the world's first eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) jet. During this final quarter, Lilium is stepping up its plan for global expansion.

9 photos Photo: Lilium
When I started working for Volvo in 2018, I noticed all the XC60s, XC90s, and other models driving down the road. Recently, I've been increasingly interested in custom Hot Wheels cars. One or two people in my local community get involved in the phenomenon every other day.

It's either all a matter of mental programming, or diecast tuning is taking off. It's definitely on my New Year's Resolution for 2024 to try, and there are plenty of online resources to learn from. Not long ago, I highlighted five of the most prolific artists in the industry, and it's no wonder one of them has come up with another exciting project.Daigo Saito recently decided to sell several of his drift cars, including the Nissan Skyline Kenmeri. The guys at Jakarta Diecast Project chose to ride the wave and created a miniature version of that car. And it's likely to be considerably more affordable than the real thing. For the following project, the artists opted to enhance a Matchbox Volvo 240, turning it into a Time Attack monster that reminded me of the IMSA GTO series.But projects revolving around Japanese cars are often the most successful. The 2023 Nissan Z is the starting point for something that does not exist in real life, at least not yet. Wataru Kato has built two spectacular Nissans in the past few years, following the Silhouette approach: the R35 GT-R and the S15. The two cars featured the same white and yellow livery and used four-rotor engines! Kato-san hired Tetsuya Hibino to drive these monsters, and I recommend you look them up one of these days.But both the S15 and the R35 are old news in 2023, and you have to get with the times. Liberty Walk's latest take on the Fairlady Z is pretty conservative, but it's all baby steps, right? This custom diecast artist might have just predicted the future in this video, but only time will tell if Kato-san will go down this route with the Z, too. The starting point for the LB machine is one of three Seiran Blue iterations on the market, but not the Premium model.The transformation process is exciting to watch from start to finish and shows most, if not all, of the tools and steps you need to accomplish such a vision. You need a pair of steady hands and a lot of patience to work at this tiny scale, but I imagine it's all worth it knowing there's no other car like it. The artist has listed some of his older projects for $500 or even $600, which sounds a tad pricey considering the available options. You can already start browsing through 1/18-scale Ignition products in this price range, but those are not unique items.
Considering how rare and thirsty supercars are compared to Regular Joe sedans and hatchbacks, driving a mid-engine Lambo can be considered a bit of a flex. Be that as it may, a higher tier of automotive flexing exists in the form of the Essenza SCV12.

AWD

Photo: Automobili Lamborghini SpA

PHEV

EV

Unleashed with much pomp in July 2020, the Aventador-twinned Essenza SCV12 is a track-only affair that follows in the footsteps of the Murcielago R-SV GT1. As opposed to the now-discontinued Aventador, the limited-run supercar differs in quite a few ways. From the standpoint of chassis technology, Lambo says that only the lower part of the carbon-fiber monocoque is shared with the road-going model.Another difference comes in the form of transmission. As opposed to the loathsome automated manual of the Aventador, the Essenza SCV12 uses a sequential racing box supplied by Xtrac. Gifted with a custom-designed and ultra-light Capristo exhaust system, this incredible-sounding machine howls exactly as you would expect from a V12-powered racing car.Pictured at Autodromo Nazionale Monza in Italy, and captured on video by 19Bozzy92, the Essenza SCV12 in the clip below shames every other vehicle on the circuit in regard to aural pleasure. Obviously enough, the beating heart of this fellow is the result of the Squadra Corse division and Lamborghini Centro Stile. Rear-wheel drive as opposed to the-only Aventador, the most extreme track car from the Raging Bull of Sant'Agata Bolognese develops 830 ps (819 hp).It's a bit funny that 819 mechanical ponies don't seem enough in this day and age. Ferrari also promises 819 horsepower from the V6-engined 296, although we're also dealing with an electric motor. On its own, Ferrari's wide-angle V6 belts out a hugely respectable 654 horsepower (or 218 per liter).Similar to the Aventador, the Essenza SCV12 is an all-motor screamer with 6.5 liters of displacement to its name. Looking at the bigger picture, it's remarkable that Lamborghini could make a case for an entirely new 6.5-liter V12 in the Aventador's plug-in hybrid successor. The long-awaited replacement of the Huracan isn't as lucky as the Revuelto , though.Spied on numerous occasions making twin-turbo V8 noises, the heir apparent is visually inspired by its V12-engined sibling. The front end has a bit of Essenza SCV12 to it, especially the hexagonal signature lights that integrate the turn indicators.It's not known whether the Baby Lambo will mirror the Revuelto's three-motor setup or not, and we don't whether the flagship's transverse dual-clutch transmission will carry over or not. In any case, you can bet your bottom dollar that Lamborghini will better the 296 series in terms of power and twist.In related news, the Urus is going exclusively plug-in hybrid in 2024 for the 2025 model year. Fast forward to 2028, and that's when Lamborghini's first series-production EV is scheduled to arrive in dealer showrooms. The following year, the aforementioned Uruswill be replaced by the Urus
You would still need a few extra million dollars to become the owner of this beautiful modern classic. Still, it's far more affordable than a superyacht, with the added benefit of a more intimate and cozy cruising experience.

Photo: Ocean Independence

Photo: Ocean Independence

Photo: Ocean Independence

Photo: Ocean Independence

If you are one of those folks who find today's superyachts tacky and outrageously decadent, you'll most likely enjoy the calming and nostalgic experience offered by Willow, starting with a classic-looking profile. Willow is one of the contemporary yachts that successfully combine the traits of older boats with the typical features of modern luxury pleasure craft. The result is a vessel that can easily take its owners on extensive journeys to exotic destinations while pampering them with the unique experience of a true home away from home.Willow is a Moonen 84 that made its debut in 2006. The names behind the original vessel are Stolk Marimecs BV for the naval architecture, Rene van der Velden Yacht Design for the exterior design, and Art Line for the interior. It was built in steel and aluminum by the Dutch shipyard almost two decades ago and remained a fairly discrete presence at sea.Like most yachts its age, it had to undergo an extensive refit as it got older. From this point of view, 2017 was a turning point. That year, the vessel was extended to its current size of 89 feet (27 meters). Its interior style was also refreshed. More specifically, the entire main deck interior was completely restyled by the well-known Laura Pomponi.Two years later, after Willow arrived at its new home in New Zealand, where it's still located today, the yacht underwent a second, smaller refit. That time, its hull went from the standard bright white to a deep navy blue that emphasized the white superstructure and complemented the yacht's classic-style silhouette.

For a yacht in this size category, the 2006 Moonen is remarkably spacious and, most of all, delightfully comfortable and informal, just like a warm family home. The redesigned main salon is beautifully framed by large windows that ensure uninterrupted views. It's bathed in natural light and big enough to include a sumptuous U-shaped sofa. An elegant bar and a large dining table turn the salon into a perfect spot for fancy dinner parties onboard. The table can seat up to eight guests, and it faces the bar.Willow's salon opens onto the beautiful main deck through modern glass doors that blur the line between the outdoors and the indoors. On deck, guests will discover enough space for a luxurious al-fresco dining setup and a separate lounge area with comfy seating. The main deck boasts an open-plan configuration where the salon, the galley, and the pilot house are all on the same level. This creates an intimate, homely ambiance on board and the illusion of wider, uninterrupted spaces.At the same time, there's enough privacy. Although on the same level, both the galley and the pilot house can be closed off from the main salon. In terms of accommodation, Willow features a four-cabin configuration with a larger master suite and three guest staterooms, all with en-suite bathrooms. Willow is comfortable enough for eight guests but can welcome a total of ten. A small crew of four people also enjoys separate quarters.Style-wise, Willow displays a harmonious blend of classic and contemporary features. The neutral color palette has the same calming and relaxing effect as that of modern yachts, while dark wood panels and furnishings in warm shades of yellow and orange add a nostalgic touch. Last but not least, decorative accents in various shades of blue add the typical beach house vibe, particularly when it comes to the outdoor socializing areas.Willow reveals a surprisingly spacious sundeck, considering its overall length. It extends over three-quarters of the yacht's length, turning into a sunbathing sanctuary at sea. Down at the water level, the swim platform is also wider than what you'd expect, and it's perfect for fishing.Powered by twin Caterpillar engines, the refitted yacht can reach a top speed of 12 knots (22 kph) and cover more than 2,600 nautical miles (4,800 km) at a little over 10 knots (18.5 kph). Despite its serene and carefree appearance, Willow is a proven world cruiser. One of its most memorable voyages was a trip from New Zealand to France, with stops in Bermuda, California, and Hawaii.In addition to its extensive cruising capabilities, reliability, and onboard comfort, the 2006 Moonen also promises low vibration and noise levels, which makes cruising onboard even more comfortable. It's said to be one of the best Moonen yachts currently on the market, and it shows.After a price cut of nearly $400,000 last year, Willow is now asking for 3,2 million ($3.5 million). It's a decent offer considering the most recent refit in 2021, the overall impeccable maintenance, and the yacht's cruising capabilities  Willow is the perfect family yacht for cozy, private cruising.
Truck drivers said that the Russian customs service is subjecting them to stricter sanitary and other checks, causing long lines of the heavy vehicles on both sides of the Upper Lars crossing vital for the Armenian economy.

Im stuck at Lars for a second day, one driver told RFE/RLs Armenian Service. There is a problem with paperwork. Its not just me but also other Armenian trucks.

According to our information, several trucks have already returned [to Armenia] and about 200 others are waiting in line, Garnik Danielian, an opposition parliamentarian, wrote on Facebook.

Deputy Economy Minister Arman Khojoyan confirmed that Russian customs officers have turned away some of the Armenian trucks carrying goods for the Russian market. But he did not give any numbers.

As the head of the State Revenue Committee told me yesterday, its not that they are turning away all goods or entire categories of goods, he told reporters. We also have cargo crossing the border.

Khojoyan would not say whether he believes there is a political reason for the stricter border checks introduced by the Russians.

Artur Khachatrian, another Armenian opposition lawmaker, suggested that Moscow is retaliating against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinians decision to boycott last weeks Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) summit in Minsk which highlighted a significant deterioration of Russian-Armenian relations.

I think that Russia is sending certain messages [to Yerevan], said Khachatrian. Lets acknowledge that this is not accidental.

The truck driver, who did not want to be identified, also felt that he and his Armenian colleagues remain stuck at Upper Lars because of the tensions between Moscow and Yerevan.

The [Armenian] government picked a fight with the Russians and the Russians are now retaliating in this way, he said.

Russia is Armenias leading trading partner, accounting for more than one-third of the South Caucasus nations foreign trade. It has long been the main export market for Armenian agricultural products, prepared foodstuffs and alcoholic drinks.

The total volume of Russian-Armenian trade, mainly carried out through Upper Lars, has skyrocketed since Russias invasion of Ukraine and the resulting barrage of Western sanctions against Moscow.

Armenian entrepreneurs have taken advantage of those sanctions, re-exporting various goods manufactured in Western countries to Russia. This explains why Armenian exports to Russia nearly doubled to $2.6 billion in January-September this year.
27 November 2023 12:45 (UTC+04:00)

By Mazahir Afandiyev

Having paid attention to the processes that are taking place now in our ever-changing globe, we can see that the world's countries primarily require economic and political stability and peace. States and governments that organize these types of discussions through international platforms understand that healthy dialogue and increased cooperation are the primary mechanisms for achieving sustainable development and better, more effective organization of the emerging new political architecture.

Today, Azerbaijan continues its commitment to partnership and cooperation on all international platforms based on mutual respect and trust, successfully proving to the entire community the path to sustainable development. The multi-vector economic policies executed under President Ilham Aliyev's leadership during the previous 20 years, as well as the excellent management model used, have had a considerable impact on the development of not just the South Caucasus but also the Central Asian region.

In general, our country has created relations with Central Asian governments in multilateral forms based on mutual respect and confidence in recent years; the President of Azerbaijan attends high-level meetings of the region's heads of state as an honored guest.

RecentlyAzerbaijan, under the auspices of the United Nations (UN), has brought new breath into these relations. The Summit meeting of the leaders of state and government of the UN Special Program for the Economies of Central Asian Countries - SPECA took place in Baku for the first time in history.

The United Nations Special Program for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) was launched in 1998 to strengthen subregional cooperation in Central Asia and deepen its integration into the world economy. SPECA countries consist of Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

President Ilham Aliyev's speech at the Summit held on November 24, 2023, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of SPECA, as well as a series of bilateral meetings with the heads of states participating in the meeting, which determined the future directions of SPECA's activities, highlighted the importance of our country for the institution and revealed the state's consistent work in the fields of regional integration and socio-economic development.

The presence of the Prime Ministers of Georgia and Hungary, as well as the Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, as guests of honor at President Ilham Aliyev's request, will open the way for a broader framework of economic cooperation.

These initiatives, of course, are a result of Azerbaijan's consistent policy, which has resulted in political stability and an autonomous economy. "Without stability, no economic growth can be achieved. Today, wars, conflicts, and bloody clashes are raging in various regions across the globe, whereas, our countries enjoy peace, stability, and security, with successful growth and development processes underway," President Ilham Aliyev remarked during his speech at the Summit.

Over the last two decades, the fourfold increase in Azerbaijan's GDP, the reduction of poverty from approximately 50 percent to 5.5 percent, and the fact that our foreign exchange reserves have exceeded our direct foreign debt by tenfold have all contributed to a favorable investment environment for foreign countries and companies in our country. Thus, over the last 20 years, more than 310 billion US dollars have been invested in Azerbaijan's economy, with approximately 200 billion US dollars landing in the non-energy sector.

President Ilham Aliyev also mentioned the centuries-old historical and cultural relations between Central Asian countries and Azerbaijan, as well as our ongoing collaboration in the fields of transportation and logistics, during his speech. The President stated that Azerbaijan has become a reliable partner in this field. He pointed out how useful our investments of billions of US dollars for the expansion of the capacity of the Eurasian East-West and North-South transport corridors are to strengthen the transport security of SPECA countries.

It is no surprise that the importance of SPECA to the UN has grown in recent years. This year, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution commemorating SPECA's 25th anniversary, and the SPECA Trust Fund was formed under UN auspices. Azerbaijan, for its part, will contribute 3.5 million US dollars to the Trust Fund.

I'd like to emphasize that the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), a UN sub-structure, supports SPECA activities. This year, on October 1920, 2023, the Republic of Azerbaijan, including the Milli Majlis, was represented at a high level in the Regional Conference held in Geneva, Switzerland, under the auspices of UNECE.

As a result of improving connections, the SPECA countries are heavily involved in the restoration and reconstruction of our territories liberated from occupation. During his speech, the country's leader underlined this issue specifically, and the work of these states was lauded. President Ilham Aliyev mentioned the school and creative center being built as a gift for the people of Azerbaijan by brotherly Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan and emphasized that additional steps have been taken to enhance cooperation in this area.

The involvement of Central Asian countries in the work being done to turn Garabagh into a paradise opens up new avenues of cooperation by increasing the volume of foreign investment flowing into Azerbaijan as well as creates conditions for the Great Return to accelerate.

As a result, Garabagh, in addition to being a source of pride for the Azerbaijani people, is also becoming a global center of peace, justice, and mutual collaboration.

Mazahir Afandiyev is the Member of the Milli Majlis (the Azerbaijani Parliament).

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27 November 2023 12:11 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva

The Economy Ministry of Azerbaijan has started creating a Unified Register of Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Entrepreneurs, Azernews reports.

The ministry informs that after the registry is created, it will be integrated into the electronic government information system.

The creation of the register was reflected in the law on the development of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, adopted by the Milli Majlis on December 2 last year and approved by President Ilham Aliyev on January 26 this year.

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27 November 2023 14:43 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

The Azerbaijani Health Ministry has held a meeting with Tajik Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Ilhom Abdurahmon, Azernews reports, citing the Health Ministry.

Welcoming the guests, Health Minister Teymur Musayev emphasised the successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan and noted the special contribution of mutual visits at the highest level to the expansion of ties between the two countries.

Teymur Musayev recalled that the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had recently met within the framework of the SPECA summit held in Baku. The Minister expressed confidence that such visits are important for further strengthening of bilateral relations.

The minister also mentioned that there is a wide potential for the development of Azerbaijani-Tajik relations in the field of healthcare.

"There are all necessary conditions for the exchange of modern methodological and scientific-practical information in the field of continuous professional training of medical specialists," he added.

In turn, Ilhom Abdurahmon emphasized that Tajikistan attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral relations with Azerbaijan.

"Diplomatic relations between our countries were established in 1992, and during this period, cooperation between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan has been developing on an increasing scale," he noted.

During the meeting, the sides also discussed further expansion of cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical science, training of medical personnel, and exchange of experience between medical universities and national public health institutes.

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27 November 2023 15:43 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

The State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) intends to start production of chemical reagents and oil and gas equipment in the Kashgadarya region of Uzbekistan, Azernews reports.

According to information cited by the Uzbek press, it is planned to create production of chemicals and drilling muds in Uzbekistan in order to replace imports. Also under consideration is the development of equipment for well workover and field development, as well as the provision of services for the storage and distribution of components of drilling and plugging fluids used in drilling wells.

It is reported that the expert groups of Uzbekneftegaz and SOCAR's Scientific Research Design Institute Neftgaz discussed the preparation of the initial business plan of the project.

In addition, the Uzbekneftegaz working group familiarised itself with the activities of testing laboratories that have received international certificates for drilling and cementing fluids.

Neftgaz Research Design Institute plans to build a testing laboratory in Uzbekistan to study drilling and cementing solutions.

Following the negotiations, the members of the joint working group agreed on further stages of the project implementation.

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27 November 2023 18:40 (UTC+04:00)

On November 27, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, and the Minister of Defense of Georgia, Mr. Juansher Burchuladze held a bilateral meeting in Baku. Azernews reports

Colonel General Z. Hasanov welcomed the guests at the meeting with the participation of the delegations of both countries, and expressed his satisfaction with seeing them in Azerbaijan. The Defense Minister emphasized that the meetings of the heads of state play an important role in the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. He noted that the relations in the military field are developing as in other fields.

J. Burchuladze expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan and conveyed his congratulations to his colleague on the restoration of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He emphasized that mutual visits and such meetings are a clear example of the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Prospects for the development of military cooperation between the countries were discussed and a detailed exchange of views on increasing the intensity of joint exercises was held at the meeting. Support of the territorial integrity of the countries recognized at the international level was emphasized.

Then the sides discussed in detail issues of ensuring peace and security in the region, prospects for the development of cooperation in the military, military-technical, and military-educational fields, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, a plan of bilateral military cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Georgia for 2024 was signed.

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(Photo : Unsplash/LinkedIn Sales Solutions )

Gen Zers are drawing criticism from older generations like millennials did before. Gen X and boomers are increasingly upset about Gen Zers' alleged lack of work ethic and commitment to success.

While it's common for different generations to despise one another, the conflict between Gen Z and boomers has gotten more intense recently as the younger generation enters the workforce and demands flexibility and a work-life balance.

Some Gen Zers have lost faith in corporate life because they grew up witnessing their parents or older siblings endure the pandemic, the 2008 financial crash, and massive layoffs during the last two years.

Statistics on Gen Zs Not Prepared

As they say, the next generation is our future. However, 4 out of 10 business leaders disagree, believing that recent college graduates are ill-prepared for the workforce due to their lack of work experience and communication skills.

To learn about their experiences working with Gen Z (those born between 1997 and 2012) who will graduate from college in 2020-2023, Intelligent.com surveyed 1,243 business leaders.

Of the leaders surveyed, 88% believe that the recent graduates are not ready for the workforce. Nearly half of the respondents (40%) think recent college graduates are unprepared for the workforce. They give a variety of excuses, including a lackluster work ethic, poor communication skills, entitlement, and inadequate technology knowledge. Of those who voiced concerns, 88% believed that graduates today were less prepared than three years ago, and 94% acknowledged that they occasionally avoided hiring recent graduates.

Turning to Social Media Platforms

Some people use TikTok as a platform to vent about their nine-to-five jobs and even about deciding to work from home or at other jobs deemed "lazy-girl jobs."

A TikToker named Brielle, who just started a corporate job in the New York area, uploaded a video on October 19 with a caption on screen: "In a 9-5 how do u have time for ur life?"

Brielle said in the upload that it was her first job out of college and that she worked from an office, meaning that she had to commute into the city even though it took "forever" because she couldn't afford to live there. According to Brielle, she boarded her train at 7:30 a.m. and claimed that by the time she got home, it was "6:15 earliest," she had neither the energy nor the time to prepare dinner or work out. She claimed the commute and the 9-5 schedule destroyed her days.

Some older generations who learned that climbing the corporate ladder was the path to success and grew up appreciating the benefits of discipline and hard work have found this annoying. Public criticism from businesspeople, academics, and celebrities has resulted from the anger.

READ ALSO: How Technology Is Transforming The Way We Work

Gen Z are 'weakened' kids

Tunku Varadarajan wrote an opinion piece for The Wall Street Journal that concluded 2022 regarding Generation Z's "national crisis" after speaking with social psychologist and business professor at New York University's Stern School of Business Jonathan Haidt. Varadarajan holds fellowships at the Classical Liberal Institute of New York University Law School and the American Enterprise Institute.

According to Haidt, "We have a whole generation that's doing terribly," Varadarajan's opinion piece quotes Haidt. He blamed the high rates of anxiety and depression among youth on the "performative" culture of social media. Gen Z, commonly referred to as people born between 1997 and 2012, is constantly in "defend mode," he added.

Gen Z is now joining the workforce, and some critics argue that these individuals are perceived as "less innovative and less willing to take risks," potentially undermining aspects of American capitalism, according to Varadarajan's op-ed, which references Haidt. Managers express difficulties in supervising and providing feedback to Gen Z employees, echoing concerns raised a decade ago when millennials entered the workforce. The challenge of offering feedback coincides with the impact of social media, which, according to Haidt, can contribute to an organizational culture of fear, potentially having broader consequences.

RELATED ARTICLE: Key Leadership Skills for Our Rapidly Changing World

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
27 November 2023 19:00 (UTC+04:00)

On November 27, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkiye, Mr. Yashar Guler in Baku. Azernews reports

Colonel General Z. Hasanov warmly welcomed the guests and noted that cooperation and strategic alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkiye in the military field is based on friendship and brotherly relations as in other fields.

The memory of Shehids who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of both fraternal countries was honored with respect and reverence.

The Defense Minister emphasized that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan highly value the current cooperation and prospects in the field of defense between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, and noted the necessity of such meetings in terms of further expansion of the relations.

Expressing satisfaction with his visit to the fraternal country, Y.Guler thanked for the hospitality and conveyed confidence that the cooperation between the countries, based on mutual trust and support, will continue to develop successfully.

It was highlighted that Azerbaijani-Turkish ties are based on allied relations according to the Shusha Declaration. The exceptional role of the declaration in the development of bilateral relations was emphasized.

A detailed exchange of views on the importance of increasing the intensity of joint exercises, military-political processes in the region and in the world, ways to ensure stability in the region and other issues of mutual interest was also held at the meeting.

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27 November 2023 11:25 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Nizami Cinema Center will host the Festival of Humor of the Turkic World as part of the Creativity Week.

The event will be attended by comedians from Azerbaijan, Turkiye, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tatarstan, Azernews reports.

At the festival, comedians from the Turkic world will perform in the stand-up genre. The jury will choose one of the countries as the winner.

The festival aims to promote professional and creative activities and the implementation of joint creative projects in this area.

Note that the Culture Ministry will host Creativity Week from November 28 to December 3.

The project will be implemented in the framework of the Promoting the development of Cultural and Creative society of the Strategy for the Socio-Economic Development of the Azerbaijani Republic for 2022-2026, approved by the presidential decree dated July 22, 2022.

The main goal of the project is to support the formation of cultural and creative industries as a single sphere and activities of market participants, including promoting industry clustering.

As part of the week, Heydar Aliyev Center will host a Forum of Culture and Creative Industries, bringing together heads of relevant government agencies, representatives of the creative sector, dozens of international and local organizations, creative individuals, companies and public associations.

At the forum, steps will be taken to create a music industry platform for the first time in Azerbaijan.

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27 November 2023 13:28 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Azerbaijani flutist and composer Agharahim Guliyev has presented a unique project in partnership with a well-known photographer and musician, Maya Bagirova.

The project dedicated to Gobustan is the combination of a photo frame and musical sound effects to recreate an intuitive abstract sensation and sense of time, a description of the era and objects reflected in petroglyphs, Azernews reports.

Considering the interest of Europeans in contemporary art and abstraction in art in general, this project was intended both to present Azerbaijani contemporary art and to maximize the interest of the viewer in objects of the Azerbaijani heritage.

The whole difficulty of this project was to combine not only music and footage but also to evoke the feeling that a person experiences while in Gobustan - emotions, energy, mystery, in a sense, fear, and at the same time euphoria.

Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve is a destination that should be at the top of any history buff's list.

The area has been inhabited for thousands of years and boasts over 600,000 distinct paintings, ranging from 20,000 years old to as recent as 5,000 years ago. In 2007, Gobustan was declared a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Among the 6,000 drawings found in Gobustan are petroglyphs - stone and iron-age figures depicting hunting scenes, ceremonies, and rituals.

The famous explorer Thor Heyerdahl investigated the Gobustan petroglyphs and concluded that the oldest known images of a pirogue boat are found there.

He also made a sensational hypothesis about a connection between Norwegians and Azerbaijanis, suggesting that the ancestors of Scandinavians migrated from Azerbaijan.

Most of the rock engravings in Gobustan depict primitive men, animals, battle scenes, and other cultural practices.

In addition to the petroglyphs, visitors can see the musical gemstone known as Gaval Dash, which produces a tambourine-like sound when struck in various places.

Many Azerbaijani musicians have used Gaval Dash to create wonderful music pieces.

The musical stone and the Yall chain dance were also featured in the interval act of the semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012 held in Baku.

There is also a stone slab with a Latin inscription from the first century, left behind by the 12th Roman legion of Emperor Domitian, indicating their stay in the area.

Gobustan has been granted national status since 2006.

The reserve's main goal is to safeguard the ancient rock carvings and burial mounds found in the area.

Every year, this awe-inspiring open-air museum attracts thousands of visitors from all over the world.

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Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

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27 November 2023 10:00 (UTC+04:00)

In accordance with the instructions of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the return of former internally displaced persons to the restored city of Fuzuli continues, Azernews reports.

Another group of former IDPs, consisting of 25 families or 106 people, left the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in Garadagh for Fuzuli on November 27.

The resettled families will settle in the houses where they once lived in Fuzuli, which were restored or rebuilt on the basis of instructions from the head of state after the end of the Armenian occupation. Fuzuli residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for their comprehensive care and expressed gratitude to the valiant Azerbaijani Army, which liberated the lands from occupation.

Thus, until today, a permanent settlement in the city of Fuzuli has been provided for 308 families - 1106 people.

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27 November 2023 10:37 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov has expressed condolences to the Turkish National Defense Minister Yashar Guler, Azernews reports.

According to the press service of the Defense Ministry, the condolence message reads:

"I am deeply saddened by the news of martyrdom and injuries of soldiers of the glorious Turkish army as a result of an attack by members of a terrorist organisation in the Pence-Kilit anti-terrorist operation area. Your pain is our pain.

We are always with the brotherly Turkish Armed Forces in the fierce fight against terrorism and support you with all our strength.

I pray for mercy for the tortured Turkish soldiers, share the pain of their loved ones and express my deepest condolences to their families. I pray for God's healing for all the wounded."

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27 November 2023 10:55 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Georgia will discuss regional security issues, areas of defense cooperation and future plans at a trilateral meeting in Baku today, Azernews reports.

The meeting will be attended by the Head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, Turkish Defence Minister Yashar Guler and Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze.

The head of the Turkish Defence Ministry arrived in Baku yesterday.

Last time the defence ministers of the three countries held a meeting in Turkish Kars in February this year, during which they discussed the importance of joint military exercises. The ministers noted the importance of cooperation in the trilateral format, which serves security and stability in the region.

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27 November 2023 13:11 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

A draft law on the creation of the Agdere district has been put up for discussion in the Milli Majlis Committee on Regional Issues, Azernews reports.

Chairman of the Committee Siyavush Novruzov presented the draft.

According to the draft law, the territory of Agdera district abolished in 1992 as an administrative-territorial unit and divided between Kalbajar, Tartar and Aghdam districts, is organised in the previous order.

Thus, 735.84 square kilometres of the territory of Kalbajar district, 851.25 square kilometres of the territory of Tartar district and 73.74 square kilometres of the territory of Aghdam district will be transferred to the administrative territory of Agdere district.

Sugovushan settlement will be returned to Agdere district, and the district centre will be Agdere town.

After discussions in the committee, the bill will be submitted to the plenary session of the parliament.

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27 November 2023 16:42 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

Russian journalist Anastasia Kashevarova writes that Armenians from Garabagh are being trained in France for their subsequent transfer to Ukraine, Azernews reports.

According to her sources, not only the training centre in Fontevraud L'abe is involved in training Armenian soldiers, but there are several (possibly about seven).

"Soldiers were recruited by French instructors, including ethnic Armenians. There were volunteers, mostly young guys who came from Garabagh. But, since this programme, as far as I know, operates with the full support of the Armenian Ministry of Defence, soldiers who were forced to do so also ended up in France. These are those who served on the territory of Armenia.

At the moment, the soldiers are being trained to work with NATO weapons, and later they are going to be redirected to the Defence Forces Zone," Kashevarova writes.

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27 November 2023 17:19 (UTC+04:00)

Abbas Ganbay Read more

A delegation led by Deputy Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Hasan Hasanli, who is on a visit to Tbilisi, met today with Georgian Minister of Education and Science Giorgi Amilakhvari, Azernews reports.

The meeting centered on the prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the field of science and education. In the course of the conversation, the exchange of teachers and students between the relevant universities of the two countries, joint scientific research, etc. were exchanged on these issues.

The importance of increasing the number of mutual visits in terms of further expansion and development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the field of science and education was noted.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Georgia Faig Guliyev and other officials attended the meeting.

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27 November 2023 17:07 (UTC+04:00)

By Asim Aliyev

Today, Minister of Digital Development and Transport Rashad Nabiyev held a reception of citizens in the city of Salyan.

Azernews informs that during the reception of residents of Hajigabul, Shirvan, Salyan, Neftchala, and Bilasuvar districts, appeals related to transport and telecommunications, including the Internet, broadcasting, and postal services were considered.

The Minister gave instructions to the heads of the relevant structures of the Ministry in connection with the operational study of appeals in accordance with the requirements of the current legislation.

Some of the problems raised in citizens' appeals immediately found a positive solution. Questions and appeals not related to the sphere of activity of the Ministry are registered and will be sent to the relevant authorities.

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Ratio of those aged 19 to 34 set to fall to 11 percent in 30 years

By Yi Whan-woo

Korea will see the population of young people decline at an accelerated pace, with the number of those aged 19 to 34 expected to drop by half about 30 years from now, according to a report, Monday.

Released by Statistics Korea, the report on the demographic trend of the young generation forecast that the number of Koreans in that age bracket will dip to 5.21 million in 2050 from 10.21 million in 2020, which is expected to deal a huge blow to the country's economic growth.

The pace of decline has grown more precipitous, with the number falling from 13.85 million in 1990 to 12.88 million in 2000 and 10.97 million in 2010.

Correspondingly, young people now account for a smaller proportion of the countrys total population, and those aged 19 to 34 are estimated to make up only 11 percent of the total number of Koreans by 2050.

The figure will be cut almost in half from 20.4 percent in 2020, in an extended downward trend after peaking at 31.9 percent in 1990.

The gloomy outlook for the young population comes as Asias fourth-largest economy faces a demographic crisis characterized by the worlds lowest birth rate and a super-aging society.

The crisis is accompanied by a dwindling population across the nation except for Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and western port city of Incheon, with more young Koreans flocking to the capital region in hopes of improving their job and lifestyle prospects.

According to the statistics agency, more than half of those aged 19 to 34 across the country has been living in the Seoul metropolitan area since 2005.

The rate stood at 51.7 percent back then and climbed to 52.7 percent in 2010. It fell slightly to 52.1 percent in 2015 but bounced back to 53.8 percent in 2020.

In the meantime, the high cost of living and other worsening economic conditions apparently hindered young people from getting married.

The report showed 7.84 million of those aged 19 to 34 were not married in 2020. The number accounted for 81.5 percent of the corresponding age group, up from 75 percent in 2015.

By gender, 86.1 percent of men and 76.8 percent of women in that age group were not married in 2020.

Also, 87.4 percent of those aged 25 to 29 were not married, up from 54.2 percent in 2020.

During the same time period, the ratio of Koreans aged 30 to 34 who are not married jumped to 56.3 percent from 18.7 percent.

The number of young Koreans living alone accounted for 20.1 percent of their peer group in 2020, marking a sharp increase from 6.6 percent in 2000.

Some 96.9 percent of the single households in that age group were not married.

Of those living alone in 2020, 55.7 percent said they opted for such a lifestyle due to their careers, while 23.6 percent responded that they simply preferred to live alone. Another 14.8 percent cited school as the main reason for remaining single.

According to levels of education, women led men 58.4 percent to 47.8 percent in the ratio of those who earned college and upper-level degrees in 2020, in the midst of improvements in womens empowerment in Korean society.
27 November 2023 15:36 (UTC+04:00)

By Asim Aliyev, AZERNEWS

Today, the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in Baku held a press conference about the referendum to be held on the Essequibo territory of Venezuela. Speaking at the event, Ambassador Christopher Alberto Martinez Berroteran talked about the acquisition of Esequibo from Venezuela, which has been a territorial dispute since the colonial period of Venezuela. Note that the purpose of the event is to inform the Azerbaijani public about the processes taking place in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through media representatives.

According to the Ambassador, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is calling for a referendum to decide the fate of the Essequibo territory given to Guyana by Britain.

"The government of Guyana, which is currently opposed to the referendum, has sent a letter to the court of justice regarding the cancellation of the referendum. Negotiations regarding the referendum are currently underway in the Supreme Court. Venezuela demands the acceptance of the Geneva Agreement and the return of the territory of Essequibo to Venezuela," the ambassador said.

The Essequibo area is rich in natural resources such as gold, oil, and gas. However, according to the Venezuelan diplomat, due to the influence of foreign countries, such as the United States of America, Guyana does not want to return that territory to Venezuela.

"As in the past, the policy of colonization against Venezuela continues. Our dispute is not with Guyana, but with the states, including the USA that influence them by establishing military outposts in territories," the ambassador added.

In conclusion, the diplomat said that Venezuela is trying to solve the problem of the Essequibo territory more diplomatically.

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27 November 2023 16:16 (UTC+04:00)

By Asim Aliyev, AZERNEWS

In order to protect against colonization, it is very important for peoples in the world to know their history, and unity of peoples is crucial.

Ambassador Christopher Alberto Martinez Berroteran said these words in an interview with Azernews at the press conference in Venezuela's embassy in Baku regarding the referendum to be held on the Essequibo territory of Venezuela.

"The government of Guyana, which is currently opposed to the referendum, has sent a letter to the court of justice regarding the cancellation of the referendum. Negotiations regarding the referendum are currently underway in the Supreme Court. Venezuela demands the acceptance of the Geneva Agreement and the return of the territory of Essequibo to Venezuela," the ambassador added.

The diplomat also said that the United States of America is militarily influencing the state of Guyana and is threatening the sovereignty of Venezuela by interfering from outside.

"As in the past, the policy of colonization against Venezuela continues. Our dispute is not with Guyana, but with countries like the United States that influence them," the ambassador added.

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27 November 2023 18:15 (UTC+04:00)

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Model Simulation" conference was held for three days at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan, organized by the Eurasian Regional Center of the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum (ICYF-ERC) and the National ModelOIC Pakistan in partnership with the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS), Azernews reports.

After reciting a verse from the Holy Quran at the event's opening ceremony, Rutaba Tariq, Project Country Coordinator of ICYF, declared the event open and gave detailed information about the program's objectives and the OIC Model events held in this country so far.VusalGurbanov, Acting Director General of the Eurasian Regional Center of ICYF, Aygul Gabdrakhmanova, Board Member of ICYF-ERC, and Astrid NadyaRizgita, Chairman of the OIC Youth Indonesia, welcomed the participants and wished the event a success. Ambassador Bilal Akram Shah, Director of the OIC Division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, and Ambassador NadimNiyaz, President of the Institute of Regional Studies, who acted as keynote speakers, talked about climate change, which is currently a global problem and the role that young people can play in this process as well as the problems faced by OIC countries in the post-Covid era.

V. Gurbanov noted: According to the final decision of the 5th conference of OIC Labor Ministers held in Baku, the OIC Labor Center was established. The hosting of ICYF-ERC and the recent inauguration of the Labour Centre of OIC in Baku reaffirm the Azerbaijani government's profound commitment to fostering strong relations and collaboration with the OIC and its member states." V. Gurbanov also brought to the attention of the participants that the member organizations of the ICYF strongly condemn Israel's military aggression against the Palestinian people.

About 50 Pakistani young leaders from various universities and cities of Pakistan, as well as a special delegation of Indonesian youth, participated in the Model OIC" conference, which simulated OIC meetings, and the main topic discussed was Charting a Greener Future: OICs Role in Combating Climate Change and Protecting the Environment". Emphasizing that climate change is a priority issue in the OIC countries, the participants expressed the importance of young people's more active participation in this process in the future. Regarding this topic, V. Gurbanov stated that the production of green energy in the liberated territories of Azerbaijan is a priority, and noted that the OIC countries are also participating in the process of reconstruction and ecological restoration in these territories together with Azerbaijan.

On the first day of the program, academic sessions and training were held on the topics In the Trenches of Diplomacy: Real Approaches for Real Results by Amb. Nadeem Riyaz, President of the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad, and Impact of Political Conflicts on the Environment: A Case Study of Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh by Amb. Altaf Hussain Wani, Chairman of the Kashmir Institute of International Relations, and Zaman Bajwa, Executive Director of the Youth for Kashmir Forum.

On the second day of the program the academic session titled Youth Entrepreneurship and Agri-tech Innovation for Sustainable Food System in the OIC Member States was delivered by Prof Dr. Zulfiqar Ali, Director of Programs and Projects at Islamic Organization for Food Security, Astana.

The "OIC Model" program was implemented in Azerbaijan for the first time in 2011 at the initiative of the Eurasian Regional Center of ICYF. Since then, this program has been successfully implemented annually in more than 40 OIC member countries, both at the national and international levels, based on the experience of Azerbaijan. The main goal of the program is to contribute to the leadership abilities of young people operating in the OIC countries, and to communication and representation skills in the international arena.

It should be noted that during 2023, the OIC Model program was held at the national level in Azerbaijan, Indonesia, Tatarstan (Russian Federation), Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan with the support of the Eurasian Regional Center of ICYF.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
27 November 2023 19:35 (UTC+04:00)

Brazil has high expectations for Russias BRICS presidency in 2024, the countrys Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira said in a message, Azernews reports, citing TASS.

"I also reaffirm Brazil's commitment to work in concert with Russia to strengthen our dialogue within the framework of multilateral forums. In particular, on the platform of the UN, the G20 and BRICS. We expect a lot from the Russian chairmanship of the BRICS group in 2024, which will open a new chapter in its history after our new partners join the organization," Vieira said in the message read out by Brazilian Ambassador to Russia Rodrigo de Lima Baena Soares.

The message was read out at the ceremony to unveil an exhibition marking the 195th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was in attendance.

The new configuration will further enhance the diversification of BRICS, the top diplomat emphasized. "In the face of the major changes underway around the world, BRICS' credibility as an advocate for building a more sustainable world order, free from hegemony, in which developing countries will be able to benefit from progress, will grow," he added.

In addition, the top Brazilian diplomat expressed hope that Russia would support Brazil in its upcoming chairmanship of the G20. "Brazil's main tasks as the chair of the G20 will be to fight hunger, poverty, inequality, to ensure sustainable development and reform the institutions of global governance," Vieira pointed out.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
27 November 2023 20:40 (UTC+04:00)

The Roads Department of Georgia on Monday imposed traffic restrictions on several sections in the west and north of the country due to heavy snowfall, Azernews reports, citing Agenda.

Traffic has been prohibited for trailers and semi-trailers on the kilometre 39-52 section of the Nakerala Pass of the Kutaisi-Tkibuli-Ambrolauri highway in the west of the country.

Trailers and semi-trailers are also not allowed on the Sachkhere-Uzunta-Skhmeri-Zudali road in the west, while access is open to other types of vehicles.

The Department on Sunday said traffic on the Gudauri-Kobi section of the international Mtskheta-Stepantsminda-Larsi road, connecting Georgia and Russia through the Caucasus mountains, was restricted for trailers and semi-trailers due to snow and low temperature.

The National Environment Agency said traffic on the section would be allowed only through avalanche tunnels under direct supervision and coordination of police.

A message was sent on Sunday via Georgia's Emergency Service 112 to residents of the country, warning about a "sharp deterioration" in the weather and heavy precipitation for November 27-28.

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Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Sal Moretti served as a captain in the U.S. Air Force, is a retired city superintendent and a former county supervisor district director. You can email him at morettis3313@gmail.com.
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By Lee Kyung-min

KB Financial Group held the KB Tech Forum to share know-how and growth strategies regarding the groups businesses in the tech, data, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital sectors, the group said Monday.

Among the over 200 attendees were Chairman Yang Jong-hee, firm executives and IT employees. The event was held at KB Kookmin Bank's headquarters in Yeouido, Seoul, Nov. 24.

The forum was first held in October 2021 to fortify the groups competitiveness in operating financial platforms.

This years event was titled as the KB Tech Forum for Young Leaders to nurture the younger generation, followed by sessions on sharing the experiences and knowledge of platform developers.

Yang said that the IT and digital sectors will help push the banks business to the forefront.

We need to shift our perspective to prioritize non-face-to-face business models instead of face-to-face. Customer experiences should be improved accordingly. More IT and digital experts should be nurtured to strengthen their capabilities," he said.

In the era of working with artificial intelligence (AI), it is important to spread a culture whereby both technology and developers are respected, and convergence and integration experts are fostered for the sustainable growth of KB Financial, a KB Financial official said.

KB Financial will continue striving to establish and enrich a corporate culture of learning, sharing and growing.

Meanwhile, at the forum, a new technology booth was installed, enabling users to experience new technology services provided by KB Kookmin Bank and KB Securities and share their opinions.
Ireland's "woke" Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has responded to the release of an Irish-Israeli child hostage by saying she had been "lost" and "has now been found". The response of the public was that Varadkar "has no moral compass" to trivialize the kidnapping of a child by terrorists that way.

This is the same prime minister who said last week that the government of Ireland was "too white" and who downplayed the mass stabbing attack at an elementary school by an Algerian immigrant a few days ago, saying that the problem was the "far right" instead. This is also the same prime minister whose government proposed mass slaughter of the country's dairy cows in the name of "climate justice".

Sadly, the party Varadkar leads, Fine Gael, has historically been right of center.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12792453/Ireland-PM-Leo-Varadkar-hostage-Emily-Hands-lost-found.html

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/11/26/irish-pm-sparks-anger-for-saying-freed-child-hostage-found-after-she-was-lost/

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2023/11/26/conor-mcgregor-blasts-irish-pm-for-response-to-hamas-release-of-child-hostage-officials-investigate-him-for-hate-speech/

Here is a great interview: Can Conor McGregor save Ireland?

https://redstate.com/videos/2023/11/27/can-conor-mcgregor-save-ireland-n2166871
Here are five anesthesia-related stories that Becker's has covered since Nov. 14:

1. U.S. Anesthesia Partners filed to dismiss a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission accusing the provider of forming a monopoly in Texas. In September, the Federal Trade Commission sued the company and its creator, private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, alleging the two groups executed a multiyear anticompetitive scheme to consolidate anesthesiology practices in Texas.

2. Portland, Ore.-based Providence Portland Medical Center and Providence St. Vincent Medical Center will likely restrict the number of surgeries they perform in late November and December this year due to a shortage of anesthesiologists.

3. As the shortage of anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthesiologists continues to grow, the average cost of hiring an anesthesiologist has risen 20% to 40% since 2022. Here are three ways to address the anesthesia shortage.

4. Blue Cross Blue Shield Massachusetts will no longer cover the use of monitored anesthesia for certain gastrointestinal patients undergoing endoscopic, bronchoscopic or interventional pain procedures. It will no longer consider the use of monitored anesthesia "medically necessary" for these procedures unless a patient receives documentation by the operating physician that specific risk factors or significant medical conditions are present.

5. Anesthesiologist Anna Gabrielian, MD, a former employee of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital, and her spouse, Jamie Lee Henry, MD, who are accused of sharing medical records with Russia, are set for retrial Nov. 27. The two physicians, who pleaded not guilty in May, are accused of being involved in a conspiracy wherein they gave confidential medical records to an FBI agent posing as a Russian representative.










Emanate Health has filed a suit against Optum, alleging the company steered patients away from physicians who left Optum to join the Covina, Calif.-based health system, according to a Nov. 20 suit.

The suit, which was filed in federal court in California, accuses Optum of anticompetitive practices such as preventing patients from contacting their physicians who left to join other medical groups.

Additionally, according to the suit, Optum aimed to intimidate physicians who wanted to leave by using tactics like threatening legal action. The lawsuit alleges Optum "acted with intent to destroy a competitive marketplace for physicians and physician group practices."

The suit cites several Optum-employed physicians who left to join Emanate in December 2022. Optum then allegedly transferred the patients of those physicians to other Optum physicians without informing them.

"These are baseless assertions related to a contractual dispute in a highly competitive market, and we will defend ourselves vigorously," an Optum spokesperson said in a statement shared with Becker's.
Yitzchok Kurtzer, MD, and his wife, Robin Kurtzer, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging them with conspiracy to violate the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute.

Dr. Kurtzer is a primary care physician with offices in the Scranton, Pa., area, and his wife Ms. Kurtzer helped manage the offices.

Starting in 2018, Dr. Kurtzer and Ms. Kurtzer allegedly solicited and received monthly cash kickbacks and bribes in exchange for collecting DNA samples from Medicare patients and sending them for genetic tests to clinical laboratories in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, according to a Nov. 22 news release from the Justice Department.

Medicare was billed more than $1.3 million for the tests coming from Dr. Kurtzer's practice, according to the release.

Two of Dr. Kurtzer's employees, Amber Harris and Shanelyn Kennedy, have pleaded guilty for their roles in the kickback scheme. Lee Besen, MD, and Kimberly Schmidt have also pleaded guilty for a related cash-for-genetic-tests scheme.
Here are 11 legal battles involving anesthesiologists and anesthesia companies that Becker's has reported on in 2023:

1. U.S. Anesthesia Partners filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission accusing the provider of forming a monopoly in Texas.

2. Anesthesiologist Anna Gabrielian, MD, a former employee of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Hospital, and her spouse, Jamie Lee Henry, MD, who are accused of sharing medical records with Russia, are set for retrial.

3. The trial for anesthesiologist Raynaldo Ortiz Jr., MD, who allegedly injected heart-stopping drugs into IV bags at Baylor Scott & White Surgicare North Dallas, has been set for Feb. 5, 2024.

4. The Federal Trade Commission sued U.S. Anesthesia Partners and its creator, private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.

5. Former Victorville, Calif.-based anesthesiologist Wendell Mark Street, MD, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally prescribing and distributing oxycodone to buyers.

6. A Fort Lewis, Wash.-based military anesthesiologist Michael Stockin, MD, at Joint Base Lewis McChord, was charged by the Army with alleged sexual assault.

7. A Sioux City, Iowa-based anesthesiologist, Dale Klein, MD, who was fired from MercyOne Siouxland Medical Center in December 2021, is alleging in a lawsuit that he was blacklisted by the hospital's administrators to prevent him from getting another job.

8. Anesthesiologist Roland Pinkney, MD, was cleared in a malpractice trial where he "danced, gestured and appeared to sing along to music" in a video filmed during a 2017 surgery.

9. Former Escondido, Calif.-based anesthesiologist Leng Ky was sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexually assaulting patients while they were unconscious.

10. Austin Harris, MD, a cardiothoracic anesthesiologist in California, was charged for participating in the Capitol riot that occurred Jan. 6, 2021.

11. A San Diego jury has found the University of California San Diego Medical Center and former anesthesiologist Bradley Hay, MD, not guilty in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Rome (N.Y.) Health has lowered the age for patients it accepts who need inpatient psychiatric care.

The nonprofit system's 12-bed behavioral health unit now accepts patients 45 and older who need inpatient psychiatric care due to acute symptoms associated with mental health illnesses such as clinical depression, anxiety disorders or bipolar illness, it said in a news release shared with Becker's on Nov. 27. Rome Health previously accepted patients 65 and older.

"We opened the behavioral health unit more than 20 years ago for seniors 65 and older," Chief Nursing Officer Ashley Edwards, MSN, RN, said in the release. "We've lowered the minimum age to 45 to meet the growing need in our community."

Rome Health said it accepts referrals for inpatient psychiatric care at all hours of the day, and the behavioral health unit medical director makes decisions regarding admissions.

The health system is an affiliate of Syracuse, N.Y.-based St. Joseph's Health and an affiliated clinical site of Valhalla-based New York Medical College.
Hospitals in at least four states across across the South and Midwest experienced disruptions Nov. 24 due to potential cybersecurity incidents, although there is no evidence officially linking the incidences.

On Thanksgiving Day, UT Health East Texas in Tyler told CNN its hospitals reverted to downtime procedures after a security incident forced computer systems offline. The 10-hospital system locked down its network after network outage, according to the report. During the downtime, the hospital diverted ambulances to other ERs.

BSA Health System in Amarillo, Texas, also reported an outage and diverted ambulances after a "potential security incident," according to a report from ABC affiliate KVII. A hospital spokesperson told the news outlet BSA experienced the outage Nov. 24 and reverted to paper records.

The University of Kansas Health System St. Francis Campus in Topeka also went on ER diversion after a network outage Nov. 24. The health system noted a "potential security incident" led to the outage and the hospital practiced standard downtime protocols, according to news station WIBW.

Tulsa, Okla.-based Hillcrest HealthCare System discovered a potential security incident Nov. 24 as well and told the Tulsa World the issue affected access to patient charts. The health system diverted some ER patients as a precaution but told the publication patient care has not been negatively affected.

Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn., identified a cybersecurity incident Nov. 24 that compromised a database, according to The Record. The health system said the database did not contain personal or protected information. Ransomware gang Meow added VUMC to its "leak site," indicating information was leaked on the dark web.

Lovelace Health System in Albuquerque, N.M., is experiencing a network outage that is affecting its emergency care and told KOAT Action News that local EMS are rerouting patients requiring emergency care to alternative facilities. The health system also said it is in the process of rescheduling certain non-urgent elective surgeries while it works to restore its systems.
Korea will double the maximum limit of purchases eligible for an immediate tax refund by foreign tourists to 5 million won ($3,836) next year to attract overseas visitors and bolster the tourism industry, the finance ministry said Monday.

Currently, the country provides on-the-spot tax refunds for an individual purchase of up to 500,000 won at designated stores, with a maximum cap being set at 2.5 million won on total payments.

"Starting Jan. 1, 2024, the maximum per-payment amount for tax refunds will be raised to 1 million won and the total to 5 million won," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said during an emergency economy-related ministers' meeting.

"The move aims to promote foreign tourists' shopping here and to bolster the tourism industry," he added.

At departure halls, there are no restrictions on purchases eligible for tax refunds.

The number of visitors from overseas to Korea more than quintupled from a year earlier to come to 4.43 million in the first half of this year following a sharp fall over the past couple of years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the country saw around 3.2 million foreign tourists, compared with 17.5 million in 2019.

Earlier this month, Culture Minister Yu In-chon said the country seeks to attract 20 million foreign visitors by the end of next year, and the government will strive to create various content and programs for them.

Meanwhile, Choo called on the National Assembly to revise the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, which penalizes the owners and management of companies for failing to fulfill their duties to prevent serious industrial accidents.

The act, which took effect in January 2022, is currently applied to firms with 50 or more workers, and businesses with fewer than 50 employees are supposed to be subject to the regulation starting next year, though the government seeks a grace period for smaller entities.

"Small and midsized companies do not have the capabilities to be fully prepared for the act. I once again ask for the National Assembly's passage of the revision within this year so that smaller companies can have more time to be prepared for the regulation," Choo said, vowing additional measures to prevent industrial accidents and help boost smaller firms' safety management capabilities. (Yonhap)
As the rural maternity care crisis roars on, a northwest Connecticut-based hospital could soon be shutting down their birthing unit, CT Insider reported on Nov. 27.

Sharon Hospital, a 78-bed general hospital owned by Nuvance Heath of Danbury, is seeing $3 million in annual losses on their labor and delivery unit staffing due to demand decline and staffing difficulties, a Nuvance attorney told state Office of Health Strategy (OHS) officials during a Nov. 8 hearing.

A push to close the hospital's maternity unit isn't new. In January 2022, Nuvance formally petitioned state closure of the birthing unit, citing financial issues, declining births and aging area demographic. Sharon Hospital saw operating losses hit $23 million in fiscal 2022.

The move has been met with community resistance, as Sharon Hospital acts as the town's largest employer. "We're a hospital town  everything's interconnected," Brent Colley, outgoing first selectman of Sharon, told CT Insider.

Following the Nov. 8 hearing, the state is expected to issue a decision on the health system's appeal in 90 days.
Members of 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East have approved a new labor contract with Northampton, Mass.-based Cooley Dickinson Hospital.

The union represents about 600 workers at the Mass General Brigham facility, according to an 1199SEIU news release shared with Becker's. Workers, which include unit secretaries, respiratory therapists, ultrasound technicians, surgical technologists, food service assistants, radiologic technologists and other titles, approved the deal on Nov. 11 after a year of negotiations.

"This hard-fought agreement is a victory for not only the caregivers at Cooley Dickinson and those they care for, but for the future of care in western Massachusetts," Tim Foley, executive vice president of 1199SEIU, said in the union release. "To keep high-quality care accessible and address the staffing crisis impacting communities all across the Commonwealth, we need to ensure that healthcare workers can afford to stay and thrive in the jobs and community they love."

Under the contract, workers will receive an average wage increase of 21% over 20 months, according to the union. Incumbent workers will be making at least $18 per hour by July 2024, with long-time workers receiving step increases based on their experience.

Additionally, full-time workers will receive a $1,000 ratification bonus, which was prorated for part-time employees, according to the union. The contract also includes a 43% increase to the weekend differential, a 44% increase to the call rate, as well as four additional holidays.

A hospital spokesperson shared the following statement with Becker's: "We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with SEIU 1199, which represents many of our dedicated health care workers. This agreement was a collaborative effort, which reflects our shared dedication to improving patient care and addressing the needs and concerns of our colleagues. We are proud of this milestone and excited to continue our ongoing commitment to provide exceptional care to our Pioneer Valley community."
Eli Lilly's Mounjaro helped patients lose weight more effectively than Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, according to a preprint study that included more than 40,000 patients.

The research evaluated 41,223 EHRs of overweight or obese patients taking Mounjaro (tirzepatide) or Ozempic (semaglutide) for Type 2 diabetes. The cohort was restricted to patients with available weight data and those who had not received a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist prior to May 2022.

Although about 77% of the patients took Ozempic, those who took Mounjaro "were significantly more likely to achieve 5%, 10% and 15% weight loss and experience larger reductions in weight at 3, 6, and 12 months," the study found.

Truveta, a healthcare data company that collects EHR information from more than 30 systems, conducted the research. It is the first real-world comparative effectiveness study between Mounjaro and Ozempic, Truveta said in a Nov. 27 news release.

"Assessing the real-world effect of semaglutide and tirzepatide on weight loss provides a glimpse into what we may see with the recently approved obesity drug tirzepatide (brand name Zepbound) and how it might compare with semaglutide (brand name Wegovy)," Tyler Gluckman, MD, a study co-author and the medical director of Providence St. Joseph Health's Center for Cardiovascular Analytics, Research and Data Science, said in the release.
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Some companies are working to make their spaces more instagrammable in a bid to attract younger workers back to the office  one that pairs the comfort of a living room with the stylish and glamorous appeal of a vacation, according to The New York Times.

Reporters with the Times spoke to designers, executives and workers who said the trend, known as "envy office," is not all new, but it is becoming a go-to among start-ups and tech companies competing for young workers. Such offices often feature colorful walls, upholstered furniture and greenery.

"It's taking cues from home, from hospitality, from Pinterest," Jordan Goldstein of Gensler, one of the world's largest architecture firms, told the news outlet. Gensler has recently worked on these types of office transformations for LinkedIn and Barclays.

According to a survey of 14,000 workers around the world last year, nearly 40% said their companies redesigned their offices during the pandemic. Experts say many of these aesthetic changes are an attempt to get employees to spend more time back at the office after peoples' homes became their offices when COVID-19 arrived.

The conventional American office has undergone a number of transformations throughout the years  cubicles to the open table concept, for instance. It's not the first time office aesthetics are shifting and it won't be the last, experts say.

"If you're looking at the history of the office, you're looking at the history of changing attitudes toward what constitutes work, who workers should be," Craig Robertson, a media historian and author of "The Filing Cabinet," told the Times. "The design of an office is shaped by dominant social values."

Read the full story here.
Pyam Toobian, MD, a Kings Point, N.Y.-based physician, was found guilty of a kickback scheme providing gift cards in exchange for patient referrals, according to a press release from the New York State Attorney General.

A jury found Dr. Toobian and his practice, America's Imaging Center, guilty of third degree grand larceny, third degree healthcare fraud and four counts of falsifying business records. He was also found guilty of violating the Social Services Law statute prohibiting kickback payments.

The Nov. 22 statement alleges Dr. Toobian provided kickbacks to two physicians in exchange for referrals from 2006 to 2017, and then told employees to add unordered radiological procedures to the referring physicians' orders for increased Medicaid reimbursement.

The radiological tests added without the referring physician's approval included cervical and lumbar spine MRIs "with contrast" that required unnecessary and invasive injections, according to the statement.
Coffee and sandwich chain Pret a Manger has revealed its first Northern Ireland store will open on December 7.

The Donegall Square West store, on the site of a former Patisserie Valerie shop, will bring 20 new jobs.

In September the Belfast Telegraph reported that this would be the first of five stores planned for NI, as part of the brands commitment to open 20 stores across Ireland in the next decade.

In the last 18 months the chain has already opened five stores in the Republic.

The new store will be operated by Prets long-standing franchise partner Carebrook Partnership, which has operated shops in London, including Camden, Belsize Park and Finchley.

Clare Clough, UK & Ireland managing director at Pret A Manger, said: Our first Northern Ireland shop is a huge moment for Pret. We know the community in Belfast have long been calling out for a local Pret shop, so to be opening in the heart of the city brings us a lot of joy.

"We are delighted to be working with our longstanding franchise partners Carebrook, who have a proven track record of excellence operating Pret shops in the UK and Northern Ireland. Weve got big plans to keep growing in Ireland and look forward to bringing our freshly made food and organic coffees to new customers across Belfast.

Carebrook co-owners Gerard Loughran and Ray McNamara grew up in Ireland and have 30 years of experience working with the chain. They are behind the four Pret shops in Dublin.

Gerard Loughran, chief executive at the Carebrook Partnership Ltd, said: This is an exciting milestone in our expansion of the Pret brand on the island of Ireland with the grand opening of our first shop in Belfast.

The team has been working hard to prepare for the opening and to welcome our first customers through the door. Were excited to introduce Belfast to Prets freshly made food, organic coffee and friendly service.

Pret has announced that the new store will work with a number of Northern Irish suppliers, including Lynas Foodservice in Coleraine.

The chain has also confirmed that surplus food will be donated at the end of each day the Welcome Organisation via The Pret Foundation.

Since opening the its first London store in 1986, Pret now operates 446 shops in the UK and over 600 shops internationally.

It has operates in 16 markets on three continents and expects to have 700 shops worldwide by the end of 2023.

Earlier this year, Pret announced that half year revenue in 2023 reached 429.9m, growing by 20.2% compared with the same period in 2022. International expansion has been a key driver of this growth, with international sales now accounting for 18.9% of Prets revenue.
Novelist Liz Nugent shares her best and worst financial choices

Best-selling novelist Liz Nugent is the author of five crime novels. Her latest book, Strange Sally Diamond, has spent 28 weeks in the Irish bestseller charts. Liz who worked in theatre and TV before turning her hand to fiction, lives in Dublin with her husband.

What did you learn about money while growing up?

I learned that there was never enough. Growing up in the 1970s and 1980s was tough. My mum had an antiques business that put us through private school.

We had the appearance of having a lot of money because we lived in Dublin 4 and went to private schools but there was never money for anything else.

There were never any foreign holidays in my childhood and I remember I only had one pair of shoes.

When were you most broke?

During the years when I was a freelance stage manager. There were periods when I wasnt working at all, and there were periods when I was working in profit-sharing shows, where even if there was a profit, the stage manager wasnt getting any of it. One stage show I worked on definitely turned a profit as we were performing to packed houses every night, but the producer said there was no profit and I didnt get paid at all.

There was a lot of that in the early 1990s, taking advantage of young people who wanted to be involved in the industry.

One freezing cold January night, when there was a big party for a friend, I was loading up a truck at a warehouse outside Santry. I thought: Thats it. Im not doing this anymore.

Have you ever seen anyone spend money in a way that shocked you?

I remember being in a Michelin-starred restaurant for a very special occasion, around 2006 or 2007, and seeing a table of a sweet 16th birthday party, and just thinking what a waste it was on these 16 year olds.

It was just gratuitous spending. These appallingly-behaved brats were constantly summoning the waiters and treating them like crap.

What was your best ever investment?

I bought a five-year-old Audi in 2009 and its still going strong. Its nearly 20 years old and has never broken down, never failed me or let me down in any way.

My husband and I own a much newer model with many buttons and a dashboard like the Starship Enterprise but I still prefer the old car.

Whats the most expensive place youve ever visited?

Iceland. Paula Hawkins, the author of The Girl on the Train, had given me an endorsement quote for my book and I was going to meet her at the Iceland Noir Festival.

I went into a small shop to buy her a scarf as a gift and paid with my Revolut card because you can change currencies with it.

I had changed currency to Icelandic krona and paid for the scarf.

A week or two later, I was looking at my account and realised I had paid 300 for the scarf.

It wasnt that special a scarf Paula Hawkins probably thought: Well, theres a regift.

What was your biggest ever financial mistake?

Eircom shares.

What was your worst ever job?

Working in a cafe in Soho. I left after one day. Id gone downstairs to the staff toilet and it was like the toilet from Trainspotting.

Are you a spender or a saver?

A saver. Im just cautious. I was broke for so long as a freelancer. Every chunk of money goes to my pension and my mortgage.

Youre only as good as your next book, and if it flops, you might not get another book deal. 
Move over John Lewis...the retail giant known for its festive TV campaigns hails bar after tear-jerking promo video starring Martin (74) as lonely OAP proves massive hit online

The star of a Co Fermanagh pubs Christmas ad has said I dont feel lonely today after a short video racked up millions of views online and made headlines around the world.

Rosslea man Martin McManus (74) is the central character in the promo, which focuses on the themes of isolation and companionship.

A member of Knock Drama Group, he had no idea when he accepted the part it would make him famous.

Martin McManus with co-stars Meagan Daley, Alex Middlemas and Missy at Charlies Bar

He explained: It was quite simple how this came about.

A friend of mine who comes in here, who I had worked with in drama several times over the years, was asked if he could recommend anyone.

He instantly thought of me, and had my photograph on his phone, which they thought looked good.

Now Im the face of Charlies Bar, which is just amazing.

The two-minute ad begins with an elderly man standing alone at a graveside, before being shunned as he strolls along Church Street in Enniskillen.

The character is finally befriended by a couple and their dog as he sips on a pint of Guinness beside a pub open fire.

It has resonated with people around the world after going viral online.

The short film even caught the eye of retail giant John Lewis, which is well-known for its annual festive advert.

Were not crying, you are, the company posted on TikTok.

Mr McManus is not surprised that the clip has struck a chord with so many people.

I live on my own and I feel lonely at times  you do when you get old, he said.

I was always busy with work, and then Covid changed everything, so I decided it was time to retire. But I dont feel lonely today.

He has been contacted by old friends as a result of his newfound fame, and has been getting stopped in the street by passers-by who now exclaim: Youre the guy in the video!

Its been very nice, Mr McManus added.

The film has a very simple plot with a very real message and Im glad people are seeing it.

I cant believe the response, it caught me completely unawares.

Its fantastic that John Lewis has seen it; it just goes to show that you dont need millions of pounds to pull it off.

Regulars at Charlie's Bar are interviewed by the media

He has even managed to wangle a few free pints from the bar because of the success of the ad, but insisted upon keeping the exact number a secret.

Meagan Daley (27) and her fiance Alex Middlemass (32) star as the young couple in the ad with their pet pooch Missy.

Charlies Bar regulars from nearby Kesh, they were approached by the owner who thought they would be the perfect fit.

They never expected to rise to fame as a result.

Ms Daley explained: We said: Give us a couple of pints and yes, well do it.

I dont think any of us thought the traction it has gained would be this much.

We had a lot of fun and we wanted to make sure the message was conveyed.

I think it came across beautifully and it has resonated with people.

The couple spent what was supposed to be a quiet Monday doing local and national media interviews.

For people to turn on the TV and see us on Lorraine and This Morning is massive, she said.

This is a tiny little rural town and everyone is really enjoying the fact that we are still standing together as a community and saying this is Enniskillen.

I have received messages from friends in Canada who I havent spoken to in years and the number of views on the video is just going up and up and up.

Her partner has also been inundated with messages from friends who recognised him from the video.

Its great to take on the big companies and get back to an ad that really pulls on the heart-strings and what Christmas means  which is about getting family around you.

Bar owner Una Burns chats to the Belfast Telegraph

Publican Una Burns came up with the theme after someone suggested the bar, which is known for humorous social media posts, produce a Christmas ad.

She said: Unfortunately, it (Christmas) does look like this for a lot of people.

Its a sad time and its a tough time.

I wanted that to come across in the video.

I also wanted it to be a reminder for people to be kind because sometimes a friendly smile can make all the difference.

Anyone comes in here who wants company wont be long waiting.

She never expected to strike a chord with so many people and has been blown away by the response.

She added: Never in our wildest dreams did we expect this reaction.

We thought its a nice video that might stir up some emotions.

But I think its a universal message  you dont have to be from Enniskillen to feel something when you see it.

It has gone far and wide and even made headlines in America.

Aoife Teague shot the ad

Ms Burns recruited local content maker Aoife Teague (23) to shoot the advert two weeks ago and it was done within three hours on a shoestring budget.

She explained: I sent the final cut to Una, and obviously you are so critical of your own work, I kept saying if there is anything that needs changed, Ill change it.

You doubt yourself, but then she put it up and this has happened.

The marketing graduate from Lisnaskea has also been overwhelmed by how many people have embraced her work and still cant believe she pulled off what companies spend millions trying to do.

I look forward to Christmas adverts every year, so Ive definitely been inspired by them in a general way, Ms Teague said.

But all the concepts were different this year from what we have done.

It was just me and my iPhone, it was no more than a few hundred pounds.

I live and breathe this work and cannot believe that it caught the attention of so many people, including John Lewis.
Seoul also suggests possible restoration of guard posts in response

By Nam Hyun-woo

North Korea has recently restored guard posts and beefed up its military presence in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas after declaring that it was no longer bound by the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement that had banned all hostile acts against each other, Seouls military officials said, Monday, citing photographs of the region.

The South Korean military and defense ministry officials said in a press briefing that they detected increased military activity across the border area, with North Korean soldiers building guard posts and setting up heavy weaponry in them.

As specified in the 2018 military agreement, the two Koreas destroyed 10 out of the 11 guard posts they each had in the border area and left one each for historical or other reasons. However, the North vowed Thursday to resume all banned military measures in response to Seouls partial suspension of the pact, which came after the Norths launch of a military spy satellite, Nov. 21.

A military official said the restoration work was first observed last Friday, and the North appears to be restoring the guard posts following its threat to break the military pact.

There are a few guard posts which are not showing signs of restoration, but the North is expected to restore all of them as they are essential facilities for surveillance, the official said.

There have been several occasions where North Korean military activities have been observed near destroyed guard posts since the 2018 pact was signed, but the military said this is the first time that restoration, heavy arms and soldiers standing guard duty have been observed.

In response, new Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Chairman Kim Myung-soo explained that South Korea might also restore guard posts in the DMZ.

It depends on how the enemy acts, Kim said in a meeting with reporters, referring to the North as the enemy. North Korea has broken the trust between the two Koreas, so our militarys response will be known soon. There will be countermeasures.

Kim continued that he wants to create a proactive military that embodies a true military spirit and added that maintaining a readiness posture in response to North Korea's actions is the most significant mission for him.

The Ministry of National Defense also released a statement in line with Kims view.

Through its statement, the North distorted the facts and virtually declared the breakdown of the military agreement, resuming military activities that were banned under the agreement, the statement reads.

Our military will be fully prepared to implement prompt response measures to North Korea's restoration actions.

President Yoon Suk Yeol also ordered the military to beef up its readiness.

According to presidential spokesperson Lee Do-woon, JCS Chairman Kim briefed Yoon on the recent border activities of the North on Monday morning, and the president ordered the military to maintain a robust military readiness posture and closely monitor North Korea's movements to reassure national safety.
The traditional music session in the Hearth Bar takes place from 8pm to 10pm every Thursday evening

The Hearth Bar in Ballyhackamore plays host to the weekly event and one of the organisers said it has been a resounding success so far.

Uileann piper David Armstrong started the session with his pipes teacher, Lachlan McKibben, and their fiddler friend, Laura Henderson, five weeks ago. All are from East Belfast.

Mr Armstrong explains: "I wasn't brought up with traditional music but I've always loved it and when I started in my 30s to learn the pipes, that love grew stronger.

"I enjoy playing in trad sessions in the city centre bars but it's lovely for me to now have a high quality session on my doorstep.

"I was brought up in the east of the city and I know there's a great appetite for traditional music here.

In our new session we play everything from the fiddle and bodhran to the uilleann pipes. We also have a wide range of ages, its all very inclusive. One of our main aims is to make this type of music accessible to everyone.

The owner of the Hearth bar, Phil Patterson, said he hopes the music session will be beneficial for musicians in the east of the city and other local businesses

Its early days but feedback on the session from staff and customers has been positive and the trad vibe is very consistent with what we are aiming for in Hearth more generally," he said.

"Hearth is made up of two words, heart and earth - and so were from the heart and down to earth.

The session embraces music from all over the island of Ireland, Scotland and further afield. We have a free open music session every week to bring people together in Northern Irelands pub of the year right in the heart of east Belfast.

If we establish this, I reckon itll be great not just for many live music lovers in east Belfast but also for local business and the wider Ballyhackamore experience.

The traditional music session in the Hearth Bar takes place from 8pm to 10pm every Thursday.
The ninth celebrity has said they are really gutted to depart Strictly Come Dancing.

Irish TV presenter Angela Scanlon has missed out on dancing in the quarter-finals for the BBC One shows musicals special as she went home during Sundays results show episode.

The 39-year-old faced Bad Education star Layton Williams, 29, in the dance-off after they both landed in the bottom following the judges scores and a public vote.

Judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke chose to save Williams and professional Nikita Kuzmin after they re-performed an American Smooth routine to Its Oh So Quiet by Bjork.

Carlos Gu and Angela Scanlon during their appearance on the live show on Saturday for BBC1s Strictly Come Dancing (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

Du Beke said: I dont think either couple danced as well as they can. It was the closest dance off weve had in the series so far.

This is the only thing, I saw an error from one of the couples, so Im going to vote to keep in to the quarter-finals, Layton and Nikita.

However, head judge Shirley Ballas opted for Scanlon and professional Carlos Gus cha cha routine to I Will Survive by Gloria Gaynor.

Ballas, known as the Queen of Latin, said: Well important for me always when it comes to Ballroom and Latin is the character of the dance, that its true to the dance, timing and quality and I would have voted for Angela and Carlos.

However, she did not have to put down her casting vote and Scanlon, who previously presented the rebooted Robot Wars with Irish comedian Dara OBriain and hosts Your Home Made Perfect, was eliminated.

Scanlon said: Its been honestly incredible, Im gutted, really gutted that its finished now, but it has been the most wonderful experience.

I have made the best friend in this man (Carlos).

We have had so much fun, he is such an incredible guy.

He has supported me and picked me up and made me laugh so much.

I dont know what to say, its been magical honestly  all of those people up there.

My husband at home, my two little girls and all my friends.

Layton Williams and Nikita Kuzmin during their appearance on the live show on Saturday for BBC1s Strictly Come Dancing (Guy Levy/BBC/PA)

Gu said she has worked so hard before adding: Look at her now  I am so proud, her sense of humour and we had so much fun everyday  she cracks me up laughing.

The results show also featured Scottish rock band Texas singing Inner Smile, a dance from professionals Vito Coppola and Luba Mushtuk and what the show described as whodunnit-inspired routine from Strictlys dancers.

Strictly Come Dancing returns for a musicals special on Saturday December 2 at 7.25pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.
Two men who involved themselves in the supply of cocaine for reward were both sent to jail today.

Francis James Magee (66), from Cloverfield Street in Belfast, and Trevor McCarter (43), from Tynan Drive in Newtownabbey, appeared at Belfast Crown Court where they pleaded guilty to a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine on May 27, 2022.

A third defendant  Edward Samuel Jackson (57), from Rockview Street in Belfast  was due to be sentenced along with Magee and McCarter. However, he passed away last Wednesday and his case is due to be mentioned again in front of Judge Mark Reel next month.

While Magee was handed an 18-month sentence, McCarter had a 13-month sentence imposed, and the pair were informed the sentences will be divided equally between jail and licence.

Read more UVF-linked cocaine dealer who took sick on day he was to be sentenced dies

Their offending emerged due to the actions of the PSNIs Paramilitary Crime Task Force whereby on May 27 last year police observed McCarter enter his home address.

Ten minutes later, they saw Jackson letting himself into the house whilst carrying a white carrier bag.

Five minutes after this, Magee was also observed letting himself in whilst in possession of an orange bag. Within a minute Magee left the property without the orange bag but carrying a saw.

A short time later Jackson left the house carrying the orange bag.

Later that day his property was searched by police. Located was the orange bag which contained 1.25 kilograms of very low-purity cocaine.

When arrested, Jackson told police: I was told to mind it because I got in trouble with paramilitaries.

Magee and McCarter were also arrested, and when McCarters home was searched, a small quantity of cocaine was seized along with deal bags, a strap list and a burner phone.

Regarding McCarter, Judge Reel said that, after reading texts on McCarters phone, it was clear he had an involvement in moving and dealing drugs for commercial reward.

Messages such as Can I get some weed? were found on Magees phone and when he was arrested he initially denied any knowledge about drugs.

Judge Reel said Magee was offered and took an opportunity to move drugs for reward.

All three defendants subsequently admitted a charge of being concerned in the supply of cocaine on May 27, 2022.

Magee admitted a further charge of being concerned in the supply of cannabis between June 1 and September 5, 2020, while McCarter pleaded guilty to a additional charge of possessing the class A drug on May 22, 2022, which was found when his home was searched.

Sean OHare, the barrister representing Magee, said his client accepted he took the plastic bag to McCarter, was in the house for less than a minute and that that was the height of Magees offending last May.

McCarters barrister, Richard McConkey, told Judge Reel his client allowed his home to be used as the venue for the handover of the drugs.

Mr McConkey also revealed McCarter fell into the cycle of drugs misuse, owed 2,000 to dealers and allowed the offending to occur in his home to help pay off that debt.

Prior to his clients passing, his barrister Jonathan Browne said Jackson had spent a period on remand and found his time in prison very difficult.

Mr Browne also spoke of Jacksons limited role, which he said was carried out after being put under pressure from paramilitaries.

As he sentenced Magee and McCarter, Judge Reel said that whilst both men became involved for reward, he accepted neither displayed any trappings of wealth.
A bad-tempered pensioner who was caught on camera throwing bleach over a homeless man in Coleraine town centre narrowly avoided going to jail today.

Imposing an eight-month prison sentence on James Hull at Coleraine Magistrates Court, District Judge Peter King told the 69-year-old that although the custody threshold is well and truly crossed, he would suspend the sentence for three years given Hulls plea and background.

Hull, from Hezlet Court in Coleraine, had earlier entered a guilty plea to a single charge of common assault and the court heard how the victim, a Polish national, had been sitting outside Poundland in Church Street on August 2 this year when Hull approached him.

After remonstrating with the injured party, Hull went into Poundland and bought bleach, which he then used to squirt over his defenceless victim.

Following the afternoon attack, Hull fled the scene on his mobility scooter, but returned while his victim was still on the ground and attacked him again, squirting bleach into his face.

The homeless man tried to protect his face while the defendant continued to try and squirt him with the substance, before members of the public came to the victims aid and removed the bleach from Hull, who was arrested.

He told officers he had gone into the shop to get bleach to clean his toilet, stating: I had to retaliate; it wasnt intentional.

After a Good Samaritan offered to take the victim to his home for a shower and to wipe the bleach from his face, the injured party, who had suffered reddening to his skin, said: I just want to get out of the area and go back to Belfast.

Defence solicitor Emma Glenn said the pensioner suffered from a multitude of health conditions and added: He had been wound up by the injured partys actions. He believed this man was trying to scam vulnerable members of the public.

He is extremely regretful about what happened and had come off his medication, which caused him to behave out of character. He accepts full responsibility and is extremely thankful the injured party was not more seriously injured.

District Judge King told the defendant: This could have been absolutely disastrous. You could have caused life-changing injuries. The fact you didnt was not due to design, it was due to good luck.

We could be looking at somebody who was scarred for life or blinded or worse. The papers are full of stories about people becoming damaged by acid attacks. The custody threshold is well and truly crossed.

I have absolutely no idea what was going through your mind. This was not a one-off; you returned.

Imposing the suspended sentence, he warned the defendant: If there is anything remotely similar to this in the next three years, the starting point will be eight months imprisonment.
Victims of the troubles in Northern Ireland take legal action, at the High Court in Belfast, against the British Government over their Legacy Act. Martina Dillon(centre), whose husband was shot dead in 1997 by loyalists, is one of the families brining the case. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye

Perpetrators who fail to earn conditional amnesties offered under the new Troubles Legacy Act risk prosecution and long-term imprisonment, the High Court heard today.

Counsel for the UK Government argued that the threat of serving full sentences in jail is an incentive for offenders to reveal the full truth about their conflict-related crimes in Northern Ireland.

Tony McGleenan KC said: The sword of Damocles hangs over all those who participated in Troubles-related offences.

Bereaved relatives and other victims are mounting a major legal challenge against the controversial new legislation.

The Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Act includes potential offers of immunity from prosecution in return for cooperation with a truth recovery body.

Perpetrators must provide a full account to the Independent Commission for Reconciliation and Information Recovery (ICRIR) headed up by Sir Declan Morgan, a former Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland.

Lawyers representing the victims claim that it will wrongly permit killers to escape punishment.

But setting out a detailed chronology of events surrounding the drafting of the Bill and its ultimate passing into law, Mr McGleenan cited correspondence from Downing Street in early 2022, during Boris Johnsons tenure as British Prime Minister.

He stressed how the terms around any conditional amnesties had been underwritten at the highest level.

The Prime Minister made it clear that immunity had to be earned, and that concept, looking at the Act, is exactly what Parliament enshrined, he said.

This is a conditional system, immunity is earned by being truthful about your involvement in Troubles-related incidents.

That truthfulness is incentivised by the prospect of prosecution remaining.

The ICRIR panel assessing applications for immunity will be able to access other relevant information held by government bodies, the court heard.

If the Commission ultimately decides the perpetrator is not being fully candid it has the power to refer them to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Mr McGleenan pointed out that anyone ultimately found guilty will no longer be able to benefit from the Good Friday Agreement early release scheme.

The protection of the 1998 Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 is disapplied and, if convicted, they will serve a full term, he said.

The jeopardy of prosecution is very real.

Referring to South Africas Truth and Reconciliation Commission as a precedent for the ICRIR, he also suggested that its lifespan could be extended beyond the anticipated five-year period.

It is a question of whether the panel is satisfied, the barrister maintained.

If someone comes forward seeking immunity for a major terrorist bombing, making the case they were a peripheral figure such as a getaway driver, the panel can require full disclosure from relevant government bodies of any material that has a bearing on the incident.

They are entitled to all information available, and assessing the truthfulness of that account is not something done on the fly.

Mr McGleenan argued the Government remained committed to obtaining information for victims, but that there was a vanishing possibility of securing convictions in Troubles-related cases.

Although there is uncertainty about the exact number of civil actions for compensation, the court heard that an estimated 1,000 claims have been lodged.

The case continues.
A suspended sentence was today imposed upon a Belfast man who attacked another man with a hammer.

Daniel Flynn admitted wounding the injured party in an early morning incident branded as bizarre by his defence barrister.

Flynn, from Mourneview Court in Hannahstown, was handed a 22-month sentence, suspended for two years, by Judge Mark Reel.

Belfast Crown Court heard that around 4am on April 28 this year, Flynn (25) had finished a long work shift and was asleep in the family home but was woken by a disturbance at the front of the property.

His mother and younger sister were sleeping in the house and, concerned for their safety, he got out of bed and lifted a hammer from the hallway.

The injured party, whom Flynn knew from the area, appeared to be angry and, as Crown barrister David Russell revealed, Flynn walked out the door, confronted him and then lashed out with the hammer and struck the victim on the head.

The injured party sustained a wound to his forehead, which required staples, as well as a fractured eye socket.

Judge Reel said that despite the injured party having little recollection of what occurred outside Flynns home, it has resulted in physical scars and has had lasting psychological impact.

Defence barrister Sean Devine said the incident was isolated, impulsive and bizarre and one which has taught Flynn a salutary lesson.

Mr Devine said that after being woken, Flynn recognised the injured party outside his house acting in an angry manner and that Flynn lifted the hammer to protect himself and hopefully frighten away the injured party.

Defence submissions also set out Flynns stable family situation, a complete lack of relevant record, steady work history and an absence of mental health or addiction issues.

Also noted by Judge Reel was probations assessment that Flynn presents a low likelihood of reoffending.

Judge Reel handed Flynn a sentence of 22 months, which he suspended for two years.

Before leaving the dock, Flynn was warned of the consequences should he reoffend within the next two years.
Two Co Down men were remanded into custody today accused of what a police officer described as a vicious and sustained knife attack.

Standing side by side in the dock of Downpatrick Magistrates Court, Philip Danny Burch (22) and his 21-year-old co-accused, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, confirmed they understood the charges against them.

Burch, from Cedar Drive in Ards, and his co-accused are jointly charged with causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent and possessing a weapon, namely a kitchen knife, with intent to cause GBH on November 24 this year.

Burch faces a further accusation of criminal damage to a G4S electronic tag.

Giving evidence that he believed he could connect each co-accused to the offences, a detective told the court police were objecting to bail due to a risk of further offences and because the pair pose a significant risk to the public.

Outlining how the victim was stabbed during what he said was a vicious and sustained knife attack, the officer told the court how police received a report of three people fighting at Bridge Street in Comber and that there was a knife involved.

The victim, who was seen on CCTV walking away and climbing over a wall, was discovered by a member of the public, who helped him get treatment while an ambulance was tasked to the scene.

He was taken to hospital where he was treated for lacerations to his hand, leg and back, while the two defendants were arrested a short distance away at Newtown Green in Comber.

Police enquiries revealed CCTV footage which allegedly shows the unidentified defendant chasing the victim with a kitchen knife before Burch enters the scene and, while he is armed with the knife, there is a struggle on the ground with the victim.

Arrested and interviewed, Burch refused to answer police questions, while his co-accused claimed the pair had been assaulted by the victim and that he himself had sustained stab wounds and a broken nose.

Burchs defence counsel Steven Molloy conceded that while the defendant is on the footage and is seen struggling with the victim, he didnt set out to do any harm at all and he denies actually stabbing the individual.

Chris Holmes, defence counsel for the co-accused, submitted that the case is obviously going to have a significant distance to go before there would be any trial, given the CCTV footage analysis and potential forensic evidence.

Both barristers argued that neither man posed a risk to the public and any perceived risk could be assuaged with bail conditions.

District Judge Amanda Brady, however, said she shared police concerns about further offences and the risk to the public.

Refusing bail and remanding both defendants into custody, District Judge Brady adjourned the case to December 20.
The slower NIEA takes to address the failures...worse the situation will become

A farm linked to a planning application scandal was fined just 21.89 in what an expert has branded a new low for environmental protection in Northern Ireland.

It emerged last year that farms had used either fake or altered official documents around the export of manure in a bid to get planning permission for new livestock sheds.

The documents were purportedly from Teagasc, the Republic of Irelands agriculture and food development authority, an investigation by website The Detail found.

But almost 18 months on, less than a dozen farms have been fined by authorities in Northern Ireland. And experts have criticised the low level of fines and the length of time it is taking government departments and councils to tackle the issue.

Between 2015 and 2021, a Teagasc review found that 23 Northern Ireland farms submitted planning documents which falsely claimed they would deal with any extra manure generated in new livestock sheds by exporting it to specific farms in the Republic.

A new investigation by The Detail can reveal:

 A total of 31 farms have now been implicated in the scandal, including eight in Northern Ireland which accepted manure from others which used the fake documents

 Instead of exporting their manure to the places stated in the documents, some of the farms sent it to undisclosed farms in the north or the Republic, in breach of pollution regulations

 Just 11 farms have been fined by the Department of Agriculture, the Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera)

 The fines, which are taken from a farms government subsidy, ranged from 456.67 to just 21.89

 Of seven local councils affected by the scandal, only one has identified planning breaches and taken action

The scandal comes after a separate investigation by The Detail, published earlier this month, revealed that 108 planning applications for new pig, poultry and cattle sheds and biogas plants submitted false soil sample results in a bid to bypass environmental legislation.

Experts have said the scandals have seriously called into question the effectiveness of Northern Irelands planning system and environmental oversight.

The 11 farms were fined under rules aimed at limiting agricultural pollution for not telling the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) where they were sending their manure or if they were receiving any from other farms.

Manure in the form of slurry run-off has been blamed as the main cause of toxic blue-green algal blooms seen in Lough Neagh, Lough Erne, the River Bann and other waterways over the summer.

Environmental expert Professor John Barry, from Queens University Belfast, said the relatively small fines were a new low for regulation here, particularly given serious issues linked to manure.

It is not even a slap on the wrist, he said.

NIEA said the planning breaches were all classified as low, on farm, permanent and negligent and farms were fined in line with standard penalties.

Teagasc first raised concerns about the use of fake letters in March 2021, with an internal report stating there exists a significant level of falsification and alteration without consent of documents in support of (Northern Ireland) planning applications.

However, the scandal only came to public attention following an investigation by The Detail, Noteworthy and the Guardian in July last year.

Almost 18 months on, only four farms which used the letters have actually been inspected by NIEA.

The agency found that none of these were sending their animal manure to the recipient stated in their planning documents.

In two cases, the manure was instead being sent to farms in Northern Ireland, rather than being exported to the Republic. One farm was exporting its manure but not to the one listed in planning documents.

The fourth farm kept its own manure, even though it said it would export it.

More farms are due for inspection over the next 12 months.

However, planning expert Professor Geraint Ellis, from Queens University, said the governments response was not good enough, given serious issues with water pollution.

The slower NIEA takes to address the failures found by your investigation, the worse the situation will become, he said.

Of our 11 local councils, seven received farm planning applications which used fake Teagasc letters.

The seven were: Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon District Council; Mid Ulster District Council; Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council; Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council; Newry, Mourne and Down District Council; Fermanagh and Omagh District Council, and Mid and East Antrim Borough Council.

So far, only Armagh council has found planning breaches. It asked three farms to submit new planning applications showing where they were sending their manure.

Since the serving of those notices, planning applications have been submitted to the council and they are currently under consideration, a spokeswoman said.

Mid Ulster council had nine applications - the highest of any of the seven councils.

A spokesman said: To date, we have established that no planning breaches have occurred.

The other councils said they could not comment.
Former MP and civil rights leader Bernadette McAliskey was one of the speakers

Blue-green algae on the shores of Lough Neagh during the summer (Photo: Aodhan Roberts/Belfast Telegraph)

People Before Profit activists who staged a protest at a sand dredging company on the shores of Lough Neagh on Saturday. Pic: People Before Profit

Former MP and civil rights leader Bernadette McAliskey addressing the crowd at the Save Lough Neagh rally. Pic: Save Our Shores Facebook group

Northern Ireland needs a single governmental body to protect its natural environment, a rally to raise awareness of issues facing Lough Neagh has heard.

During the summer months, the lough was seriously affected by blue-green algae, as warm weather, heavy rainfall and excessive nutrient content in the water resulted in the rapid growth of naturally-occurring cyanobacteria which turned the surface into a green sludge.

The blooms occurred not only in the lough, but in the waterways that surrounded it, being carried all the way to the beaches of the north coast.

The Loughshore Stands Up rally at Toome on Sunday was the second protest organised by the Save Lough Neagh campaign group.

Blue-green algae on the shores of Lough Neagh during the summer (Photo: Aodhan Roberts/Belfast Telegraph)

Former MP and civil rights leader Bernadette McAliskey was among the main speakers at the rally.

"What is needed in the first place is one single environmental body," Mrs McAliskey told the BBC.

"We need a Lough Neagh strategic plan."

The event was also attended by a number of local swimmers and anglers who use the Lough on a daily basis.

Save Lough Neagh have demanded an end to the private ownership of the Lough, an independent Environmental Protection Agency and urgent investment in a research and recovery plan.

They are also calling for an end commercial dredging, a reduction in sewage dumping and run-off and the securing of a Rights for Nature status for Lough Neagh.

People Before Profit activists who staged a protest at a sand dredging company on the shores of Lough Neagh on Saturday. Pic: People Before Profit

It comes after People Before Profit held a protest at the premises of sand dredging company Norman Emerson on the south shore of the Lough on Saturday night.

The five sand dredgers of Lough Neagh extract over a million tonnes of sand from the lough bed each year, leaving scars up to 70ft deep and devastating the ecosystem, said a spokesperson.

"Each of these ecological pillagers pays a royalty to the absentee-landlord who owns the lough; the pampered, parasitic Earl Of Shaftesbury.

"Shaftesbury's ancestor, Arthur Chichester, butchered and pillaged their way across the north to claim our lough, and the ownership remains in his family to this day.

We demand that all commercial sand dredging cease immediately, and is prohibited going forward. We must take the lough back from the greedy hands of the Earl of Shaftesbury and grant it legal protections under the Rights of Nature framework.

"If we want to enjoy Lough Neagh for generations to come, we must put an end to commercial sand dredging and prioritise the needs and wants of the many over the profits of the few.

"It's time to put the planet before profit.

Watch: Sam McBride's in-depth look at Lough Neagh's blue-green algae crisis
The BMA said the blurring of roles and the confusion caused to patients must stop now (PA)

Top NHS consultants in Northern Ireland have received almost 9m on top of their normal salaries over the past three years.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said there should be equality when it comes to awarding payments for clinical excellency in Northern Ireland.

In 2020/21 3,554,262 was handed out, 2,894,678 in 2021/22 and 2,493,121 in 2022/23.

Consultants can receive up to 76,000 each according to a report published in 2013.

Northern Ireland's health service is currently facing significant budget pressures.

The National Clinical Impact Award (NCIA) scheme in England and Wales  formerly the National Clinical Excellence Awards (NCEA) scheme  aims to reward consultants who contribute most to the delivery of safe and high-quality care and the improvement of NHS services.

This includes consultants and senior academic GPs who do so through their contribution to academic medicine.

In Wales, consultants can also receive commitment awards. In Scotland, consultants can apply for discretionary points.

The Northern Ireland Clinical Excellence Awards scheme (NICEA) was introduced by the Department in 2005.

Clinical Excellence Awards were introduced to recognise and reward exceptional personal contributions of individual doctors in Northern Ireland.

The scheme in Northern Ireland has been paused to new entrants since 2010.

No new awards have been made since then but existing recipients continue to be paid where applicable.

The value of existing awards here has remained frozen at 2010 values.

RCN Northern Ireland Associate Director Dolores McCormick said the nursing trade union is considering its response to this latest consultation on the future of clinical excellence awards and we will publish its submission when it has been finalised and agreed.

In our response to the previous consultation on this issue back in 2015, the RCN stated that clinical excellence awards should, on the basis of equality, be available to all health care professions and not just one, Ms McCormick said.

However, in light of the deepening financial crisis within health and social care and the absence of a pay award for nursing and other health care staff in Northern Ireland this year, we will need to give serious consideration to the continuing viability of these awards in the current climate.

Department of Health permanent secretary Peter May

It was agreed in August 2022 that the Department of Health would engage with the BMA and other stakeholders to inform the Departments design of a revised scheme, which is fit for purpose for the modern-day HSC.

Now, the Department of Health has opened a consultation to seek views on reforming the NICEA. It runs until February 13 next year.

The Department has engaged with key stakeholders, including the British Medical Association and Health and Social Care Trusts, to help inform a revised scheme.

The overall aim is to introduce a new scheme which is affordable, has a fair and inclusive application process and rewards the highest-performing clinicians who go over and above the standards expected of them.

The proposals put forward also include an option to broaden access to the scheme to include other senior medical staff within the HSC.

The health service in Northern Ireland is facing severe financial pressures, and last week a senior official warned any extra funding provided for Northern Ireland would be mostly consumed by pay and overspend pressures.

Peter May, permanent secretary at the Department of Health, also said that "we will never have enough money to do everything we want" in health and social care.

Northern Ireland has the longest hospital waiting lists in the UK. No health minister is in place while the powersharing institutions remain suspended.
The Cyber University of Korea (CUK), the online university established in 2001, has introduced new majors and cutting-edge teaching technology to adapt to the rapidly changing online learning environment.

For the new academic year in 2024, the university will open the Division of Architectural Engineering in response to growing demand for a professional workforce in sustainable architecture and environmental design.

The divisions curriculum covers the scientific, artistic and technological aspects of architecture. Students are encouraged to acquire related engineering qualifications in the fields of industrial architecture, construction safety, building mechanics and urban planning while completing a degree.

Another new division created for the coming academic year is computer engineering, which features a comprehensive curriculum covering both hardware and software system development.

The division consists of computing systems, network systems and computer programming majors and offers development operation training opportunities, in which students are to manage all stages of a program from development to testing, deployment and operation.

Once completing a degree, students are given a Bachelor of Engineering, which could open career opportunities in the fields of software development, information and communications technology, automatic driving and medical information systems.

The university initiates new approaches to online learning to make it dynamic and effective.

CUK introduced its one-person recording studios at its buildings in Seouls Jongno and Seongbuk districts. There, professors can record and edit video lectures independently and communicate with students more easily.

These new studios feature multimedia tools and a chroma-key screen.

Professors can make their recording environments more vivid and engaging by using and manipulating images, videos and sound in the production of their content. Some studios feature a livestreaming function, enabling real-time communication between teachers and students.

The university expects these new recording facilities to free professors from time and space constraints posed by editing video lectures with a technician. By enabling lecturers to become independent creators, the school aims to develop 620 additional online lectures.

Meanwhile, the school is also gearing up its research and development in online teaching and learning.

The school provides workshops and guidelines on effective online teaching, curriculum building, presentation delivery and use of multimedia to its teachers to make their courses more engaging, according to the university.

To provide a wider range of learning opportunities to its students, CUK is in partnership with several private and public organizations, including TikTok, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, the Software Policy and Research Institute, the Korea Radio Promotion Association, the Korea Metaverse Industry Association, the Korean Institute of Defense Technology and the Broadcasting Content Promotion Foundation.
The final member of a people-smuggling gang linked to the deaths of 39 men, women and children in Essex has been convicted.

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley, 26, from Co Tyrone, plotted to bring migrants into the UK from mainland Europe three times in October 2019.

One of the trips was scuppered by French border officials, with some migrants from that trip believed to have died days later in a fatal run overnight on October 22-23 2019.

Gormley had denied being involved, claiming he thought he was helping bring alcohol into the UK illegally.

On Monday, a jury deliberated for just over an hour to find Gormley guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

His conviction brings the total number of people to be convicted over the plot to 11.

Judge Richard Marks adjourned sentencing until Friday.

CCTV from October 23 2019 of lorry driver Maurice Robinson leaving Purfleet port, Essex (Essex Police/PA)

Previously, prosecutor Ben Holt told jurors the people smugglers exploited the victims desperation to get to the UK, charging more than 10,000 a head.

The migrants would be loaded into a container lorry on the continent and transported across the English Channel to be picked up for onward transfer in the UK.

Gormley was recruited by ringleader Ronan Hughes and deployed his driver Christopher Kennedy to help move the human cargo.

He was implicated in three trips, overnight on October 10 to 11, a failed run on October 14 to 15, and October 18 to 19, just days before the tragedy.

Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy was jailed for seven years at the Old Bailey in London for his role in the people smuggling plot (Essex Police/PA)

On the first trip, residents near Orsett in Essex saw migrants jumping out of the back of a lorry before being whisked away by vehicles to their destinations.

Mr Holt told jurors: The other trip was thwarted by customs officials in France. Remarkably, the driver on that occasion  Kennedy  was effectively given a slap on the wrists and told to go on his way. The migrants were similarly allowed to go.

Tragically, some of those migrants would end up in the lorry part of the 39 men, women and children who died during the night (of) October 22 and 23.

Irish haulier Ronan Hughes, from Co Armagh in Northern Ireland, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter (Essex Police/PA)

On that occasion, another driver, Maurice Robinson, picked up a container at Purfleet docks and found all 39 Vietnamese people aged between 15 and 44 dead.

He opened the doors after being instructed by Hughes to give them air quick but not let the migrants out.

Snapchat message from Ronan Hughes to Maurice Robinson on October 23 (Essex Police/PA)

Following the discovery, Robinson called his boss Hughes before dialling 999.

Giving evidence in his trial, Gormley said he was taking a break at a truck stop in Sandbach, Cheshire, on his way to deliver racehorse bedding to Cambridge when he spoke to Hughes.

He said: He called me the night before and I was returning the call. I remember when he answered he sounded different, panicked, making no sense at all. It was just mumbo jumbo. He was making zero sense.

At 3.46pm, Gormley got a text from his mother in Co Tyrone asking if the truck in the news belonged to one of Hughess brothers.

He replied: Dont know and neither do u (sic).

Gormley told jurors he was trying to stop his mother from gossiping because she works in a doctors surgery and thought there might be repercussions.

The victims (Essex Police/PA)

He described his total disbelief this had happened, adding: I was just shocked, to be honest.

Later the same day, Gormley dumped the burner phone he used to communicate with Hughes.

Gormley was asked why he denied to the bitter end being the owner of that phone when interviewed by police.

He said: I lied about it because I didnt want to confess (to) a crime I had committed in relation to alcohol smuggling.

I had contacted Ronan Hughes on the phone. At that time the news had come out about what happened with the 39 dead and I didnt want any affiliation with that.

Gormley also told jurors he had no reason to question Kennedys explanation for being caught with migrants in his lorry on October 14.

He said: Kennedy said he stopped at the supermarket to buy alcohol and cigarettes on his way to the crossing. At that time he was actually covering his tracks for what had happened.

He just said they must have got in the trailer while he was in the shop. Its a very hot spot for migrants in the Calais area. Its very common. I had no reason not to believe his account.

A consignment of biscuits from Belgium was ruined during the October 18 people-smuggling run, the court was told.

After the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: The people who were part of this international network were ruthless in their financial greed  their behaviour and their actions are reprehensible.

They have shown no regard for the law and, most importantly, the value of human life.

We have consistently promised the families of the 39 victims that we would deliver justice in its entirety. We have been committed to hunting down every person we know to have been involved.

In Essex and with international partners, we have done that. The investigation has broken up a sophisticated international criminal operation and it has seen the conviction of 11 people here in the UK as well as 18 people earlier this month in France.

Today, as this final guilty verdict is reached, we think of our Vietnamese friends and the families of the victims. But most of all we think of the 39 people who will never leave our hearts here at Essex Police.
Bloody Sunday was one of the darkest days in the Northern Ireland Troubles (Liam McBurney/PA)

The body of Jackie Duddy being carried away led by Fr Edward Daly in 1972. Photo: Fulvio Grimaldi

Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford was in command of the Parachute Regiment in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday (PA)

Families of those killed on Bloody Sunday have said the death of Colonel Derek Wilford will not be mourned by those who lost loved ones.

The Bloody Sunday Trust has said Wilford, who was awarded an OBE by the Queen not long after the massacre in January 1972, lived in a constant state of denial.

The Commander of the Parachute Regiment on Bloody Sunday died at the age of 90 after suffering from Parkinsons disease.

Wilford maintained until his death that his soldiers were fired upon on Bloody Sunday despite the Saville Inquiry conclusively finding that all those killed were unarmed civilians.

In 2010 then Prime Minister David Cameron said the inquiry was "absolutely clear" and there were "no ambiguities" about the conclusions.

Cameron told the Commons: "What happened on Bloody Sunday was both unjustified and unjustifiable. It was wrong."

He added: The government is ultimately responsible for the conduct of the armed forces, and for that, on behalf of the government and on behalf of the country, I am deeply sorry."

Tony Doherty, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust whose father was murdered on Bloody Sunday, said that the passing of Derek Wilford, while felt by his family, will not be mourned by the families of the innocent men and boys whose lives were taken by armed British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.

He added: Colonel Wilford lived in a constant state of denial, never once accepting any measure of responsibility for his actions on that fateful day.

History, though, will ensure that his actions that led directly to the deaths of many innocent people which, in turn, led to years of conflict and hardship for our communities, will be properly recognised.

"He left a terrible legacy and will rightly be remembered for that.

Former BBC journalist Peter Taylor was in Derry on Bloody Sunday and interviewed Wilford a number of times, including as recently as 2019.

Speaking to BBC Radio Foyle he said the 1 Para hard men with a fearsome reputation were brought in the week before Bloody Sunday because there was going to be a demonstration at Magilligan internment camp.

Derek Wilford was adored by his men and the thing about Derek Wilford, and I interviewed him on two or three occasions over the past 50 years, is that he told me in my last interview, he would believe until his dying day that his soldiers were fired upon, Mr Taylor added.

Derek Wilford believed that because in a way, he had to be believe it. He believed his men would never be responsible for what they were being accused of doing.

The admiration Taylor spoke of was documented in the Saville report by a soldier known as Private L who recalled seeing him at Kells Walk ramp in the Bogside: Our spirits certainly rose to see him - he was not like Colonel Gray, his predecessor.

He was always with us on the front line and this boosted our confidence.

My recollection now is that Colonel Wilford said, In your own time, commence firing, if you have a target or take shots when you are ready, or words to such effect.

The Inquiry recorded that Colonel Wilford later gave an instruction that if anyone was to fire it should be Sergeant K, because he was the regimental sniper.

In his own 1972 statement, Wilford said, I warned them all to keep their heads down and to fire only at identifiable targets.

At Widgery, Wilford said he saw one of his soldiers firing shots, but it was then put to him that he had seen a soldier fire one shot, and he agreed with that proposition.

There was no evidence after the Widgery Inquiry, widely regarded as a whitewash, that Wilford provided the name of a soldier he had witnessed firing from Kells Walk at someone next to a rubble barricade.

However, many years later in a written statement to the Saville Inquiry, Wilford changed his mind, arguing he did not now recall seeing the soldier firing.

Lord Saville noted: He could not now identify any of the soldiers at the low wall, nor could he say whether he had seen the soldier fire more than one shot, although he inclined to the view that he had not.
Police are becoming increasingly concerned for the welfare of Aaron McKinney , who has currently been missing for a fortnight.

Aaron, aged 32 and from Dunmurry, was last seen in the Glen Road area of west Belfast on Sunday, November 12.

He is described as being approximately 6ft tall, with dark hair and hazel eyes. He is of slim build.

If you have seen Aaron or know of his whereabouts, please contact police on 101 quoting serial number 391 of 24/11/23.
The PSNI has commenced an investigation into the clinical practices of former consultant neurologist Michael Watt.

The Belfast Telegraph understands that work regarding the police probe has been taking place behind the scenes.

In a letter seen by this newspaper, the PSNI have confirmed that the investigation is called Operation Begrain and it is being conducted by Major Investigation Team lead Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness and Detective Inspector Gina Quinn.

It is further understood that senior officers have been in contact with a number of those affected by Watts previous medical treatments and diagnoses.

The letter adds that police have reviewed available material, sought legal advice and considered our position.

Police are set to publicly announce the investigations existence imminently.

Watt was at the centre of Northern Ireland's largest ever recall of patients in 2018 when more than 4,000 of his patients attended recall appointments.

A previous Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) tribunal had granted the Belfast-based doctor voluntary removal from the medical register.

However, the High Court quashed that ruling due to concerns it was "not sufficient to protect the public".

An assessment report into the ex-neurologist found that he repeatedly failed to make correct diagnoses, which led to patients inappropriately being given drugs with "serious and toxic side-effects", another recent fitness to practise tribunal had heard.

The MPTS hearing into Watt in September was also told that the assessment found his use of "idiosyncratic diagnostic criteria" had led to patients receiving unnecessary invasive treatment.

At the end of last month, Watt withdrew his legal representative from the same tribunal.

His barrister, Matthew McDonagh, said there were concerns about his clients serious mental health condition.

The tribunal then determined Watt's removal was the only available option it had to protect the public.

Removal from the medical register takes place 28 days after a tribunal's decision, unless an appeal is made.

In the meantime, Watt's registration has been immediately suspended.
Snow is set to fall on parts of the UK ahead of the Christmas period, the Met Office has said (PA)

The weather in Northern Ireland is expected to get colder in the coming week but wintry showers expected in parts of Britain are likely to bypass NI, according to the Met Office.

As the week progresses temperatures are set to drop below or just above freezing across NI.

The Met Office said: Northern Ireland will have a predominantly dry week, though it will be cold.

The snow showers through the week are focused in the north of Scotland and along the north sea coast with the possibility of something developing in the south later in the week.

You may see the odd shower through the week, though these will fall as rain.

Conditions across the UK are forecast to turn colder with the prospect of snow for later in the week.

Colder air is feeding from the north across many pars of the UK over the next few days.

This brings the potential for wintry showers across North Sea coastal areas as well as some inland parts of northern Britain. These may bring some snow and ice impacts in the coming days.

Towards the end of the week there is a possibility of snow across parts of the south, but this is far from certain.

David Oliver, a Met Office deputy chief meteorologist, explains: After some rain on Monday, conditions will turn mainly dry in the south for a time before a very uncertain period on Thursday and Friday for the southern half of England and Wales.

The weather models are highlighting several possible solutions from very wet to mainly dry, with a mainly dry picture the most probable outcome at present.

However, some models include the prospect of an area of low pressure developing and moving in from the south or southwest. If this solution proves to be correct, we could see an area of warmer and moisture-laden air bumping into the cold air further north.

He added: Along the boundary of the two air masses lies a zone across southern and central Britain where snowfall could develop fairly widely.

Snow in any affected area is unlikely to be anything more than transient and short-lived, but it could lead to small totals and some disruption over a few hours before melting.

The UKHSA has issued a yellow cold-health alert for the health sector covering northern regions of England which runs through the whole week.

Snowfall in late autumn or early winter doesnt generally linger  especially in southern Britain - because ground temperatures broadly remain relatively high after the summer, especially compared with values in late winter, after the ground loses more of its warmth.
DUP MLA Deborah Erskine has condemned the act as disgraceful.

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine (centre) along with former leader Arlene Foster and current leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

Ms Erskine posted a photograph of the graffiti to her Facebook page.

Police are investigating after IRA graffiti was scrawled on the wall close to the site of the Enniskillen bomb.

Unionist politicians and a victims campaigner condemned the graffiti on the wall of the Clinton Centre in Enniskillen, which was spotted on Sunday evening.

The centre is close to the site of the Enniskillen bomb memorial.

The PSNI said it is being treated as a hate crime, with officers appealing for information.

Eleven people  10 civilians and a police officer  were killed when the IRA exploded a bomb close to the towns cenotaph during a Remembrance Sunday service on November 8 1987.

A 12th victim  headteacher Ronnie Hill  died 13 years later aged 69 after spending the rest of his life in a coma.

Some 63 people were also injured in the blast, which the IRA said was targeting soldiers parading to the memorial.

A PSNI spokesperson said: Police in Enniskillen are investigating a report of criminal damage caused to a building in the Belmore Street area of the town.

A report was received on Sunday evening, November 26, that graffiti had been sprayed on a wall.

Enquiries into the incident, which is being treated as a hate crime, are ongoing. Anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity in the area, or who has any information which could assist, is asked to contact police on 101, quoting 1600 26/11/23.

Ms Erskine said she was disgusted at the incident.

"It is completely disgraceful and does not represent this town or any right thinking person, she said.

"This is a wholly despicable act. Those responsible should be utterly ashamed for trying to whip up public tensions.

DUP MLA Deborah Erskine (centre) along with former leader Arlene Foster and current leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

"The IRA was a terrorist organisation who killed and murdered scores of people. They do not deserve any public show of support.

"This is also criminal damage to a property. I have reported this incident to the police and I hope those responsible are caught.

"No doubt this incident will upset Enniskillen Bomb families. This graffiti is very close to the memorial that Enniskillen Bomb families placed in remembrance of their loved ones.

"A few short weeks ago I joined with those families in a dignified remembrance event on November 8.

"The respect of those families is in sharp contrast to those that carried out this disgusting graffiti incident, in such a public way.

Earlier this month Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, UK Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris and PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher were among those who attended the annual Remembrance service at the memorial in Enniskillen.

"The annual remembrance event means a lot to the people of Enniskillen and surrounding area, Mr Heaton-Harris said after the commemoration.

"The 1987 bombing was a horrific act, the pain of which is still felt 36 years on. Today, I was humbled by the incredible dignity of the victims families as they remember those lost on that fateful day.

South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF)  a group who provide support to survivors and victims of the Troubles  said they would be supporting those affected by the incident.

This is a deplorable action by those intent on inflicting further pain and anguish upon those already so grievously wronged, said director Kenny Donaldson.

"The memorial to the innocents of the Enniskillen bomb remembers 12 innocents murdered by Provisional IRA terrorists - an act of demonic proportions, indiscriminately attacking people as they came together to mourn the dead of previous wars and conflicts.

The truth hurts and for some the truth being represented at that site does hurt - the terrorists, those who justify their actions, other apologists and the fools who believe that the pathway to reconciliation is paved through airbrushing away the actions of others, and/or sanitising their behaviour.

Our thoughts, prayers and support remains with the Enniskillen families this day and in each day that lays ahead.
The party is quitting Connolly House on the Andersonstown Road in west Belfast 40 years after they bought it

Sean Downes (22) was killed at an internment anniversary rally in 1984. The moment when Sean Downes was hit in the chest by a RUC baton round

Abuse survivor Mairia Cahill says Connolly House should become a victims centre to help those who suffered at the hands of the IRA  after Sinn Fein announced it is leaving its former HQ after 40 years.

And the former Irish senator says Sinn Fein should foot the bill.

Last week it emerged the republican party would be quitting Connolly House on the Andersonstown Road in west Belfast 40 years after they bought it.

Its understood the party is ready to splash the cash on a new premises after a 4million estate was left to it by English recluse William Hampton five years ago.

Hamptons express stipulation was that his money be spent to cover election expenses and to fund Sinn Fein offices and advice centres.

The party has revealed it will move its political hub out of Connolly House  named after 1916 hero James Connolly  though its not clear whether they plan to sell the property immediately.

The iconic building was widely seen as Sinn Fein HQ and was rarely out of the headlines over four decades.

During an anti-internment protest outside the building in 1984, Sean Downes was shot dead with a plastic bullet fired by the RUC.

Connolly House has also been bugged by MI5 and hit with a rocket fired by loyalists.

Connolly House in west Belfast. Photo: Kevin Scott for Belfast Telegraph

It has hosted many high-profile press conferences which attracted the worlds media and it was where crowds gathered to celebrate the IRA ceasefire in the 1990s.

It also had a notorious reputation  MI5 agent Martin McGartland claims to have been abducted from it.

More recently, it has had a quieter existence as the constituency office for West Belfast MLA Orlaithi Flynn.

This week, she told the Andersonstown News that the former doctors surgery has become rundown and not fit for purpose.

Mairia Cahill  who was interrogated by the IRA inside another Sinn Fein office  says the party now has an opportunity to give something back.

They should turn Connolly House into a state-of-the-art victims and trauma centre specialising in treating victims of IRA violence, she told the Sunday World.

They should fill it with trained counsellors who have no links to republicanism. It could be a proper trauma centre which could do some good after all the hurt the IRA caused over the years.

We all know they have the finances to pay for it themselves.

I was interrogated by the IRA inside a Sinn Fein office and it has been reported that others were too. Martin McGartland was abducted by the IRA from within Connolly House.

Mairia  whose great-uncle Joe Cahill was one of the founding members of the Provos  waived her anonymity in 2014 to reveal she had been sexually abused by a member of the IRA.

Coincidentally, Joe Cahill was one of two veteran republicans Hampton named as the executors of the massive estate he left to Sinn Fein in 2018.

To date, this process has brought in 3.9m for Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland, with more to come. The proceeds have gone to the party in Northern Ireland as there is a ban on foreign donations and tighter political funding laws in the Republic.

If Sinn Fein hit the jackpot with the Hampton legacy, they appear to have got lucky once again with Connolly House.

The planned redevelopment of Casement Park, in time for Euro 2028, means Connolly House  a couple of hundred yards away  is now prime real estate.

Alex Maskey, the former MLA and current speaker of the Assembly, told the Andersonstown News that Connolly House played an important role for the party.

After the partys first electoral success in the Assembly election in 1982, we opened an office in Beechmount Avenue, he said.

Following more success at the Westminster election, we wanted to open another office and make a statement that we were here to stay.

We came across Connolly House. We bought the property in 1983 and refurbished it. It became our hub in west Belfast for constituents.

But Connolly House has had a colourful past with a number of controversies and attacks.

In 1994, Johnny Adairs Shankill UFF team blasted it with an RPG-7 rocket which wrecked the roof.

A few days later, loyalists launched a gun attack on men building a blast wall to protect the building from another attack, riddling the building with gunfire. Incredibly, nobody was injured.

The death of Sean Downes (22) outside Connolly House was one of the most shocking incidents connected to the building.

He died after being struck by a plastic bullet fired by an RUC officer during an anti-internment rally as the RUC tried to stop former Noraid publicity director Martin Galvin from speaking.

In 2004, Connolly House hit the headlines again when Sinn Fein found a sophisticated bugging device planted by MI5.

Ms Flynn says the time has come to move out.

The building has become really rundown and is not fit for purpose anymore. There are also parts of the building we are not utilising like the top floor due to very tight stairs, she said.

The time is right to move into a more modern and comfortable working space for our team and constituents. Connolly House was our centralised office for many years but we now have very good offices in West Belfast.
Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland -27th November 2023 - Photo by William Cherry/Presseye Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army. Pictured are Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir)]. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

Press Eye - Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree with with Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir) Jessica, Toby, Valentina and Gideon. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army.

Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland -27th November 2023 - Photo by William Cherry/Presseye Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army. Pictured are the Speaker, Assembly Chief Executive Lesley Hogg and Isibeal from Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir)]. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland -27th November 2023 - Photo by William Cherry/Presseye Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army. Pictured are Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir)]. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland -27th November 2023 - Photo by William Cherry/Presseye Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army. Pictured are Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir)]. Photo by William Cherry/Presseye

Schoolchildren sang carols at Stormont on Monday afternoon as the Christmas tree was lit up in aid of charity.

Speaker Alex Maskey switched on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree with youngsters Jessica, Toby, Valentina and Gideon from the Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir, who performed an array of festive songs at the Parliament Buildings.

This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army.

While the lighting of the tree marks the start of the double charity appeal, Northern Ireland continues to be without a functioning government for almost two years now.

The DUP has been blocking power-sharing at Stormont since February 2022, in protest at the internal UK trade barriers created by Brexits Northern Ireland Protocol.

Press Eye - Speaker Alex Maskey switches on the Northern Ireland Assemblys 2023 Giving Tree with with Phil Kids (Belfast Philharmonic Youth Choir) Jessica, Toby, Valentina and Gideon. This years giving tree is in support of both St Vincent de Paul and Salvation Army.

The party has been involved in negotiations with the British government about the Windsor Framework, which reformed the protocol and is seeking further assurances, by way of legislation, over Northern Irelands place in the UK internal market.

There has been growing speculation that the DUP is on the brink of an imminent agreement with London which would see the power-sharing institutions return.

However, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party isnt fixated with timelines and wont be calendar led in its talks to reach a deal.

Stormont continues to currently be run by departmental permanent secretaries.
Hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospital

Gardai at the scene on Parnell Square East following a serious stabbing incident. Photo: Gerry Mooney

The five-year-old girl who was critically injured in last Thursdays stabbing attack in Dublin remains gravely ill in hospital on Monday.

The hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospital.

The only suspect in the case, an Algerian man aged in his fifties, also remains in hospital where he is being treated for serious head injuries.

Gardai continue to maintain a discreet presence at the medical facility he is being treated in.

Sources say that because of his condition, it is highly unlikely that he will be medically fit to be arrested for questioning by investigating gardai today.

He suffered the least serious injuries of the three people who remain being treated in hospital.

On Saturday, a six-year-old girl injured in the horrific attack was released from hospital.

Earlier, a five-year-old boy who had also been wounded in the same incident was discharged after treatment.

At this stage, detectives have still not established any link between the suspect and the school he attacked but it is not considered to be a terrorism incident.

Information has come to gardai that the suspect was highly agitated in recent days about an issue that had nothing to do with the school.

The grievance is the suspected motivation for the stabbing attack.

For a reason only known to himself, this individual seems to have targeted children and their carer in a dispute that has nothing to do with them, a source said.

The man was not born in Ireland but became a naturalised Irish citizen a number of years ago.

Dublin riots: What happens next after night of anarchy?

Riots

Shortly after the incident at the school, a group of protesters gathered at the scene.

It was not long before they attempted to break through a garda cordon. Within a few hours, hundreds of people were on the street as the situation gradually grew more violent.

As darkness fell on the capital, chaos ensued, with gardai suffering assaults, public transport being torched and shops being looted.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Friday said it was disgraceful that garda inquiries into the knife attack had been disrupted by the riots in Dublin.

He told a press conference: These [riots] are scenes that we have not seen in decades but what is clear is that people have been radicalised through social media and the internet.

But I dont want to lose focus on the terrible event in terms of the dreadful assault on schoolchildren and their teacher. Theres a full investigation ongoing. Theres also a full investigation in respect of the disorder.

Watch: 34 arrests, 11 garda vehicles destroyed as Dublin city wakes up to aftermath of night of chaos

Meanwhile, a hero Deliveroo rider who helped stop the attacker has told how he sprang into action when he saw a child being stabbed.

Father-of-two Caio Benicio described how he used his helmet to hit the man who had attacked three young children and the female creche worker.

Mr Benicio is originally from Rio de Janeiro and arrived in Ireland a year ago.

Mr Benicio told the Irish Independent that he had not been frightened when he intervened on Thursday.

I didnt have time to be afraid. I have two kids myself and I didnt have time to be afraid, I just acted, he said.

Mr Benicio said he originally thought it was a fight between a man and a woman.

I was working like a normal day. And I was passing by in Parnell Square. For me, at first, it looked like a fight, a normal fight. I slowed down my motorcycle and it was a man and a woman, he said.

Mr Benicio then described how he saw a woman fighting for a young girl.

She was very, very brave. She was fighting for a girl, a little girl.

I was like, Whats happening here and then I saw him with a knife and he grabbed a little girl.

It was then that Mr Benicio saw the man stab the little girl.

I stopped my bike and I dont know, I acted by instinct I took off my helmet and hit him with the helmet on the head.
North Korea claimed Monday that South Korea has breached a 2018 inter-Korean military accord and other key agreements between the two Koreas, condemning joint military drills between Seoul and Washington as a provocative act that violates the military accord.

The condemnation came as North Korea vowed last week to resume all military measures halted under the 2018 deal and deploy new weapons to the border in response to Seoul's partial suspension of the military tension reduction accord over the North's launch of a military spy satellite.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said Monday that South Korea has been clinging to a scheme to provoke war against North Korea in collaboration with the United States and Japan.

Since the two Koreas adopted inter-Korean summit agreements signed in April and September 2018 and the military accord, South Korea "has violently breached the inter-Korean agreements and constantly trampled peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," the paper said.

North Korea said Seoul and Washington conducted around 250 rounds of joint military drills last year alone to prepare for preemptive attacks on Pyongyang and staged such a "war of aggression" about 600 times over the past four years. The North has long denounced the Seoul-Washington military exercises as rehearsals for an invasion.

"Such a fuss of playing with fire is the manifestation of an extremely provocative and dangerous hostile act that points to the violation of the North-South military agreement," the newspaper said.

The 2018 military accord calls for setting up buffer zones and no-fly zones near the inter-Korean border in a bid to prevent accidental clashes between the two Koreas.

Under the deal, the two sides agreed to cease live-fire artillery drills and field training along the border. But the agreement does not include a clause that bans joint military drills between Seoul and Washington.

South Korea and the U.S. have expanded joint military exercises as North Korea has ramped up its weapons tests, including of solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles.

North Korea launched a military spy satellite Tuesday night after two previous failed attempts in May and August, respectively, and vowed to launch several more satellites within a short span of time. (Yonhap)
An Irish Government minister said there will be a full review into the policing of Thursday nights Dublin riots, which followed a stabbing attack in the city centre.

Further Education Minister Simon Harris said quite a lot will need to change.

Garda cars, a bus and tram were set alight, shops damaged and looted and officers attacked during violent scenes, which involved far-right elements.

It came shortly after three children and a women were hurt in the stabbing attack outside a school in the north city centre.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris (PA)

Opposition politicians have called for the resignation of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Mr Harris said: What happened on Thursday was the most despicable, horrific attack on democracy, on our city and on the institutions of the State, and it will be met with a full response and there will have to be a review.

Mr Harris, who previously served as justice minister, said there had been a very significant conflation of issues and the riot was not just a far-right gathering.

He said: We had the horrific, despicable attack on children and care workers on Parnell Square, and we think of all of them; we than saw a far-right gathering, if I may call it that; we then saw absolute opportunistic criminality and thuggery.

He added: I dont think we can conflate each of those issues.

Speaking to RTE radio, he said the scale and speed at which Thursdays events unfolded was unprecedented and unforeseen: It happened in real time. It happened in rapid speed and the gardai responded and responded in force.

But it is also fair to say that the far right have been trying to sow division in this country and communities right across the country for a significant period of time.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald at the scene of the stabbing in Dublin city centre (PA)

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city.

She repeated her call for Ms McEntee and Mr Harris to quit.

The events were unprecedented, the viciousness of the attack on the young children and the childcare worker, and then the ensuing violence, which was predictable, which was organised, which was not the first occasion upon which violence had been instigated by some of these elements, she told the BBC.

This is just part of a wider pattern that has been the reality for the last year, the last 18 months, in truth probably since the Covid lockdown.

The truth is the Minister and the Commissioner have failed to resource the gardai correctly. They have failed to bring forward plans for the safety of citizens.

We now have a scenario where people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city  that includes children going to school, their parents and grandparents dropping them off, it includes people going to work, people who visit the city, and we are now at a point where the position of the Minister and the Commissioner are simply untenable.

She added: There is an absolute unified demand across the capital city that we are safe on our streets and in our communities.

The days of excuses or dodging the realities on the ground by the Minister, by the Government or by the Garda Commissioner are over.

People have been patient with them.

She added: We have asked for resources, we have asked for planning, we have asked for leadership, and those in charge have failed, and now they have to be held to account and we move to resourcing the gardai, resourcing our communities and ensuring that children can go to school safely and that people can go about their lives in the capital city without fear of the violence that we saw.

Ms McDonald has said the garda should have had a plan which would have nipped in the bud an assembly of people who rioted in Dublin city centre.

She said: That didnt happen. Some of that was around resources and capacity, others it seemed were around decision-making and leadership.
Irelands ambassador in Tel Aviv has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after the Irish premier was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of a Hamas hostage, a move described by Dublin as an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Irish cabinet ministers have described Israels decision to summon and reprimand Irelands ambassador Sonya McGuinness an overreaction.

On Sunday Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

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Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministrys director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and deputy premier Micheal Martin following the release of Emily Hand.

A spokesperson said: These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

The ambassador also reiterated Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.

She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution, which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.

Earlier, Irelands further education minister Simon Harris said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand was a bit of an overreaction.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris (Brian Lawless/PA)

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at the childs release.

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel has decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also described Israels response as an overreaction.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA)

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
Consultant strikes in England could be over after a new deal was reached between medics and the Government (Dave Higgens/PA)

The Government and consultants have finally agreed a deal after being locked in talks for weeks.

Heres all you need to know on the latest development in NHS doctors strikes in England.

 What has happened?

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said it reached an agreement with consultants from the British Medical Association (BMA) and the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association (HCSA) after weeks of negotiations.

 Does this mean strikes are over?

Not quite yet. The deal will now be put to consultant members of the unions. If members agree to the deal, strikes by top hospital doctors will come to an end.

 What does the deal include?

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Officials have agreed a deal which will see consultants earn more money from January 2024, though it will not be paid until April 2024.

There will be an increase to the starting salary for a consultant, and to the salary at the top of the new pay scale structure, the union said.

DHSC has also said that it will also work with unions to review the operation of the pay review body (Doctors and Dentists Remuneration) which advises Government on doctor pay.

Meanwhile, the BMA has agreed to end the use of its controversial rate card  which advises doctors on how much to charge for non-contractual work, including cover, during strikes, DHSC said.

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 Didnt the Government say that pay for 2023/24 was off the table during talks?

The Government did say said that headline pay for 2023/24 was not on the table during negotiations.

However, consultants have left the talks with a deal which will see them earn more money from January 2024, though it will not be paid until April 2024.

But, technically, the Government wont be paying the uplift until the next financial year.

 So how much more will each doctor get?

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The BMA said these proposals will mean that consultants will receive a minimum of 6% in 2023/24 as a result of the previously implemented pay award and the majority of consultants will also receive an additional uplift, of up to 12.8%, depending on their pay point.

 Is everyone happy with this deal?

The Royal College of Nursing said nurses will be appalled by the announcement.

The unions chief nurse, Professor Nicola Ranger, said: Nursing staff will be appalled by this announcement and where it leaves them. The government has shown it has the political will to reform pay for some of the highest earners in the NHS while our members are left with the lowest pay rise in the public sector.

But other health commentators have expressed relief over the deal being struck, particularly as the NHS approaches another challenging winter.

 Why did consultants strike in the first place?

The BMA said pay for consultants has fallen by 35% in real terms since 2008/09.

The Governments initial public sector pay offer saw consultants given a 6% rise.

The deal was imposed in the summer and as a result, frontline doctors ramped up strike efforts, with the most recent strike seeing both junior doctors and consultants on picket lines together.

 What has the impact of the strikes been on the NHS?

Strikes in the NHS  which have also included other staffing groups including nurses, physiotherapists and paramedics, have led to more than a million appointments, procedures and surgeries being rescheduled  with some patients facing disruption on multiple occasions.

The industrial action has also cost the NHS more than 1 billion.

 What about other doctors?

The Government has confirmed that talks with specialist, associate specialist and specialty (SAS) doctors and junior doctors are ongoing.
Rishi Sunak has offered a rebuke of billionaire Elon Musk, as he said that he condemned antisemitism in all its forms.

The Prime Minister also said that scenes of hostages being released by Hamas were very heartening, after militants freed 17 more hostages in the third set of releases under a temporary truce.

The comments by Mr Sunak come after Mr Musk sparked an outcry this month with his own posts responding to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism.

You have said the actual truth, Mr Musk tweeted in a reply on Wednesday.

Mr Musk has also faced accusations of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has faced increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

The Prime Minister did not criticise Mr Musk directly, stopping short of the stronger condemnation by the White House of the owner of X, formerly known as Twitter.

Speaking to Bloomberg TV, Mr Sunak said: I dont tend to get in the business of scrutinising what every single person says who Ive interacted with, of course I abhor antisemitism.

And as you said, weve been unequivocal from the start of this situation that that is not acceptable in our society.

And weve been very firm about that. Ive personally been very firm about that. Its very sad what is happening.

But pressed again, he said: I condemn all antisemitism, right. Its not about any one particular personality.

I condemn antisemitism in all its forms. It doesnt matter whether youre Elon Musk or youre someone on the street whos shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past, thats wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong.

The Prime Minister, who is an avid fan of tech entrepreneurship, had an unusual sit-down interview with Mr Musk to close his AI summit earlier this month.

Mr Sunak also used the interview to call on on all sides to honour the temporary ceasefire deal.

People take part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism in central London (Jordan Pettitt/PA)

It came on the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Weve been consistently clear during this awful tragedy that Israel does have a right to defend itself, Mr Sunak said.

It should do that in accordance with humanitarian law. And weve also consistently called for sustained humanitarian pauses where aid can get in but also hostages can come out.

And Im glad that that that is now happening.

I think all of us will have seen some of the scenes over the past day or two and found that very heartening.

Its important that everyone honours the agreement and we can continue to see more progress.

Sunday saw tens of thousands of people, including former prime minister Boris Johnson, attend a march against antisemitism in London.

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Those who addressed the marchers included Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and immigration minister Robert Jenrick, as organisers said the pro-Palestinian rallies in recent weeks had made the capital a no-go zone for Jews.

Charity Campaign Against Antisemitism called the rally the largest gathering against antisemitism London had seen since the Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when hundreds of thousands of people blocked a planned march by Sir Oswald Mosleys British Union of Fascists through an area populated by many Jewish families.

The day before, tens of thousands had also gathered for the latest demonstration, demanding a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was determined to bring down net migration figures (Ian Forsyth/PA)

Rishi Sunak insisted he was determined to bring net migration down amid reports he reneged on a leadership contest deal with Suella Braverman to raise the salary threshold for migrant workers to 40,000.

The Prime Minister said we need to do more and indicated he would look at the number of dependants students can bring when they come to study in the UK, which has already been limited.

It comes after the Telegraph newspaper reported he had agreed on a four-point plan to lower levels of immigration in exchange for his sacked home secretarys support, which included new restrictions for foreign workers.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak arriving at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace, in East Molesey, Surrey (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Speaking at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace, Mr Sunak said: Im very clear that the levels of net migration are too high. They need to come down to more sustainable levels.

It is encouraging that the Office for National Statistics last week said the numbers are slowing but we need to do more.

I have already taken action to tighten the number of dependants that students can bring when they come to study here.

He added: As we need to do more, well look at that and where there are abuses of the system we will of course act.

The levels do need to come down, they are too high.

Official figures published last week showed net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022, prompting Tory calls for curbs.

It follows claims made in a scathing attack by Mrs Braverman that the PM agreed to a number of policy priorities as part of a secret pact in exchange for her backing during his leadership bid.

The Telegraph reported that they included a commitment to raise the salary threshold for foreign workers, which is currently set at 26,200 for a skilled worker visa although roles on the shortage occupation list can be offered at 20,960.

Downing Street earlier this month rejected the former home secretarys characterisation of a secret pact allegedly being reached, but did confirm the pair had been discussing policy prior to her appointment.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is understood to have worked up a plan designed to appease calls from right-wing Tories for the Government to take action.

During Home Office questions on Monday, his opposite number Stephen Kinnock accused him of becoming a law unto himself who had set himself on a collision course with his new boss, Home Secretary James Cleverly.

He said: To add insult to injury he went behind his new bosss back to present his laundry list to the Prime Minister, including a cap on social care visas and abolishing the shortage occupation list.

Does the immigration minister have any respect whatsoever for the authority of the new Home Secretary and, given hes said to be on resignation watch, can he confirm that he will resign if his proposals are rejected?

Mr Jenrick dodged the question and hit back, accusing the Opposition of offering no solutions of their own and having complete disdain for the British public.

He suggested the Government will set out further plans to reduce legal and illegal migration in due course.

Labour has sought to win over voters dissatisfied with the Tory record, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper telling the Sunday Times her party would increase salary requirements for workers coming from overseas.

Appearing on the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones also signalled that Labour sees a normal level of migration at a couple of hundred thousand a year.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel topped 28,000 for the year so far after 364 people in eight boats made the journey on Sunday. This is only the second time in almost a fortnight that arrivals have been recorded.
Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners in a third exchange of hostages for prisoners with Hamas (AP)

International mediators are pressing to extend a ceasefire in Gaza that has halted the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades.

The ceasefire is scheduled to expire after Monday, as Israel and Hamas prepare for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the four-day truce, which came into effect on Friday after several weeks of indirect negotiations mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

But Israel also says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza.

That would likely mean expanding its ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crammed into United Nations shelters, and where dire conditions persist despite the ramping up of aid delivery under the truce.

A group of Israelis watch as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Childrens Medical Centre in Petah Tikva (AP)

The release of dozens of people  mostly women and children  who were among the roughly 240 captured by Hamas in its wide-ranging October 7 attack into southern Israel that ignited the war has rallied Israelis behind calls to return the rest of them.

Sixty-two hostages have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces, and two were found dead inside Gaza.

Relatives of Abigail Edan, a four-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement: We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing.

Families of the hostages have led mass marches and demonstrations accusing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring them home, and the mounting pressure could push him to extend the truce and make additional concessions to Hamas.

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But Israel also remains deeply shaken by the October 7 attack and determined to remove the militant group as a threat.

At the end of the day we will return every one, Mr Netanyahu said of the hostages, as he donned body armour and paid a rare visit Sunday to troops inside Gaza.

We are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis, in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Most hostages appeared to be physically well, but 84-year-old Elma Avraham was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Those released on Sunday included nine children and three Thai nationals. With a total of 17 freed, Thailand said it was pursuing the safe return of the 15 remaining Thai hostages, who were the largest single group of foreigners held by the militant group.

(PA Graphics)

Thais working in Israel are mostly employed as semi-skilled farm laborers.

The Palestinian prisoners released were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offences.

Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

A fourth exchange is expected on Monday, for a total of 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners as agreed upon in the ceasefire deal.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight.

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One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. Some 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The pause has given some respite to Gazas 2.3 million people after weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled entire neighbourhoods.
The posts had been dismantled as part of a 2018 deal designed to dial down the tension between the countries (AP)

South Korea has said the North is restoring frontline guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, following Pyongyangs recent spy satellite launch.

The two Koreas each earlier dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border under a 2018 deal meant to ease frontline military confrontations.

But the deal is now in danger of being scrapped, as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it amid rising animosities over the Norths satellite launch.

After North Korea claimed to place its first military spy satellite into orbit last Tuesday, South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal and resume front aerial surveillance in response.

The satellite launch has significantly raised tensions (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)

Seoul called its step a minimum defensive measure to respond to the launch that it says involved the Norths intentions of improving its missile technology as well as establishing a space-based surveillance system.

North Korea immediately slammed South Koreas decision, saying it would deploy powerful weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure. The North said it also will not abide by the 2018 deal any longer.

In a background briefing for local journalists, South Koreas military said it detected North Korea building guard posts and trenches at border sites where its dismantled guard posts once stood.

The military said it found North Korea had deployed troops and heavy weapons there.

South Koreas defence ministry also distributed to the media four photos that it said showed related activities on the northern side of the border, with North Korean soldiers building a guard post and moving a suspected recoilless rifle to a newly built trench.

After being briefed on the North Korean move, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the military to keep a close watch on the North and maintain a firm readiness.

Demolition work on the posts takes place in 2018 (AP)

South Korea, the United States and others strongly condemned the Norths satellite launch which they viewed as a provocation that threatened regional peace.

UN Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea because the world body regards them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology.

North Korea says it has sovereign rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it calls escalating US-led military threats.

On Monday, Kim Son Gyong, a senior North Korean foreign ministry official, called the US and others condemnation of the satellite launch such a brigandish idea and a typical expression of the most hideous and brazen-faced violation of sovereignty that denies the justification of the existence of North Korea.

South Korean officials said they confirmed the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But they said they need more time to verify whether the satellite is functioning normally.

South Korea suspects Russian technological assistance likely enabled North Korea to send the spy satellite into space.

South Korean, US and Japanese officials accused North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to enhance its military programmes in return for shipping conventional arms to support Russias war in Ukraine.

Both Russia and North Korea denied their alleged weapons transfer deal.
Its Israel that needs a reality check after criticising Varadkars hostage comments

Ireland will take no lectures from country engaged in bloody conflict

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Malachi O'Doherty Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 21:30

Israel is in no position to lecture Ireland about its moral compass. But the Israeli foreign minister presumes to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand over language used by the Taoiseach in welcoming the release of an Irish child kidnapped by Hamas.
Revelation comes months after conductor admitted sex offence

A paedophile musician is still on the board of a childrens church choir despite pleading guilty to trying to sexually communicate with a minor.
Uncle of slain LVF drug dealer charged with his murder

Convicted robber Liam Christie blasted to death as he slept

Liam Christie

Sunday Life Reporter Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 11:00

An uncle of slain drug dealer Liam Christie has been charged with his murder.
Japan's reported pledge to support Korea in the race to host the World Expo 2030 indicates its "positive response" to Seoul's campaign efforts, Korea's top diplomat said Monday.

Foreign Minister Park Jin made the comment after Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun reported that the Japanese government has decided to endorse Korea's southeastern port city of Busan as the next World Expo host.

Japan reportedly also made clear its position during the bilateral talks between Park and his Japanese counterpart, Yoko Kamikawa, in Busan on Sunday ahead of the three-way foreign ministers' talks joined by China.

"We've had seven summits between the leaders of Korean and Japan so far, and six meetings between the foreign ministers," Park said in an interview with Yonhap News TV.

"As Korea and Japan have been building trust through this process of improving the relationship, I think that Japan is responding positively to our Expo campaign efforts," Park said.

Noting that the Japanese city of Osaka is the next host for the World Expo in 2025, Park held out hope that Korea will win the competition as it can create momentum for the two countries to "make synergy in various areas."

"Korea will actively participate in the expo to be hosted by the neighboring country, and we expect that Japan will do the same if we get to host the World Expo 2030," Park said. (Yonhap)
Shutterstock.com

When our loved ones die, we mourn and wonder whats next for the people we cared for so deeply. Are they watching over us? Can we communicate with them? Will we ever see them again?

Next to God, the dead are the only group of people who really know what happens when you die. Since we cant hear directly from the dead, we often turn to explanations from scientists on what happens when we die.

Death, just like life is a process, scientists say. The first stage of the process is known as clinical death. It lasts from four to six minutes, beginning when a person stops breathing and the heart starts pumping blood. During this time, there may be enough oxygen in the brain that no permanent brain damage occurs. Other organs, like the kidneys and the eyes also remain alive throughout clinical death.

In the second stage of dying, known as biological death, the cells of the body begin to degenerate, and the bodys organs  including the brain  shut own. In this stage, doctors are sometimes able to stall it by inducing hypothermia  cooling the body to below its normal temperature. This method can stop the degeneration of cells and has been used to revive cardiac-arrest patients.

While these stages of death are well understood, what remains vague is what happens to a person once he or she is both clinically and biologically dead. To get some insight on what happens after we die, we can turn to the Bible which speaks directly on life after death.

The Bible says, The living are conscious that they will die, but as far as the dead, they are conscious of nothing at all (Ecclesiastes 9:5). Therefore, when we die, we cease to exist. The dead cant act, think, or feel anything.

According to Scripture, we will return as dust. God explained what happens when we die when he spoke to the first man, Adam. Because Adam was disobedient, God said to him, Dust you are and dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19). Before God created Adam out of dust from the ground, Adam did not exist (Genesis 2:17). Likewise, when Adam died, he returned to dust and ceased to exist. The same thing happens to those who die now. Speaking of both humans and animals, the Bible says, They have all come from me by dust, and they are all returning to the dust (Ecclesiastes 3:19, 20).

For believers, the Bible tells us that after death believers, souls are taken to heaven, because their sins are forgiven by receiving Jesus Christ. For believers, death is to be a home away from the body and with the Lord. We also know from Scripture that death is not the end. The Bible often compares death to sleep. Psalm 13:3 says, Look on me and answer, LORD my God. Give light to my eyes or I will sleep in death.

John 11:11-14 says, After he had said this, he went to tell them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. A person who is fast asleep is unaware of what is happening around them. Likewise, the dead are not conscious of anything.

Jesus promised at the moment of our death, He will personally take us by the hand and escort us to our new home in heaven. This is not the job of the angels. He reserves the right for Himself the right to personally accompany us to heavens glory. The Bible tells us, Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. My Fathers house has many rooms; if that were not so, would have I told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. You know the place where Im going (John 14:1-4).

Death is nothing to fear. In fact, we Christians can look forward to it with anxious anticipation. In Philippians 1:21-23, Paul declared, For me to live is Christ and to die is gain, I am torn between the two: I desire to depart to be with Christ, which is better by far.

Was it Gods original purpose for people to die? Not at all. God made man to live forever on earth. As we learned in Genesis, God placed the first human couple in a delightful paradise. He blessed them with perfect health. God wanted only good for them. Does any loving parent want his children to suffer the pain of old age and death? Of course not. The Bible says, God created us with the desire to live forever ever, And He has opened the way for that desire to be fulfilled (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

God created us with desire to live forever, and He has opened the way for that desire to be fulfilled.

Gods Word also provides assurance of life after death. God promises that we will return through a resurrection of the dead. This is how mankind will receive the gift of eternal life. Even though are bodies are temporary, subject to decay and death, God has planned for us much more than just this limited existence.

Lesli White is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth with a Bachelors degree in Mass Communications and a concentration in print and online journalism. In college, she took a number of religious studies courses and harnessed her talent for storytelling. White has a rich faith background. Her father, a Lutheran pastor and life coach was a big influence in her faith life, helping her to see the value of sharing the message of Christ with others. She has served in the church from an early age. Some of these roles include assisting ministry, mutual ministry, worship and music ministry and church council.
Cambodias Prime Minister Hun Manet talks to his Foreign Minister Sok Chenda Sophea as he attends the retreat session of the 43rd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sept. 5, 2023.

Shortly after being appointed Thailands new foreign minister in early September, Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara made a telling remark: We want the Thai people to feel that the foreign ministry is contributing to their lives.

Sok Chenda Sophea, Cambodias new foreign minister, appointed a few days before Parnpree, told his new ambassadors: All of you should work to represent the nation and enhance the Kingdoms prestige, especially in areas like diplomacy, economics, food, sports, and the arts. These are the focus of the new governments foreign policy.

Thailands Foreign Minister Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara arrives at the government house in Bangkok, Thailand, Sept. 5, 2023, to take his oath of office. [Sakchai Lalit/AP]

The two new foreign ministers bear a striking resemblance. Neither are career diplomats. Parnpree, whose father and grandfather were prominent in the foreign ministry, instead rose through the ranks of the commerce ministry under the Shinawatra siblings governments and then became chairman of the state oil company PTT.

Sok Chenda cut his teeth in the tourism ministry in the 1990s. Parnpree served as chairman of the Thailand Board of Investment. Sok Chenda was head of the Council for the Development of Cambodia, the countrys investment board, from 1997 until this year. Parnpree was head of a negotiation team for the creation of a free trade zone with India. Sok Chenda headed the Cambodian Special Economic Zones Board. Parnpree studied public administration at the University of Southern California. Sok Chenda studied economics at the University of Aix en Provence.

Moreover, both are unlike their predecessors. Don Pramudwinai, a career diplomat and foreign minister under the years of Prayut Chan-ochas military-run government, was often accused of putting geopolitics, chiefly relations with Beijing, ahead of more balanced, economics-focused policy, as well as for conducting cowboy diplomacy over the Myanmar crisis that badly dented ASEAN unity.

Another charge against Don was that, because he was appointed by a junta that had just taken power in a coup, he spent a large part of his time explaining when, how, and to what extent his country would return, or has returned, to democracy. As Benjamin Zawacki added, His tenure has been marked by a conservative and defensive posture rather than one of enterprise or ambition.

Similar accusations have been leveled at Cambodias former foreign minister, Prak Sokhonn, who was quick to lash out against the perceived Western interference in Cambodias domestic affairs, was more aligned with Beijing than some officials in the economic ministries liked, and, one hears, not entirely trusted by the former prime minister Hun Sen. Indeed, Hun Sen is believed to have ignored Prak and the foreign ministry by condemning Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Economics at the center

Parnpree and Sok Chenda are new brooms, appointed to refashion their ministries away from a defensive posture on their relations with China and a fixation with stoking geopolitical tensions and towards a more sustainable, front-foot policy that puts economics at the center. As one Thai newspaper put it, Parnpree is expected to impart a new momentum to the countrys foreign policy with a strong emphasis on exploring economic dimensions of bilateral and multilateral relationships.

A Cambodian analyst has argued, To maintain economic development, Cambodia cannot become subject to US or Western economic sanctions. Maintaining economic development may be Cambodias main priority under the leadership of Prime Minister Hun Manet. This appears to be the case with the appointment of Sok Chenda Sophea as the minister of Foreign Affairs.

These ideas arent radical. Surakiart Sathirathai, Thailands foreign minister between 2001 and 2005, sought to create CEO ambassadors. Surin Pitsuwan, a predecessor, established a Team Thailand approach, with diplomats supposed to represent the nation as much as the foreign ministry. But the return to a more stable, stripped-down foreign policy makes sense as Thailand and Cambodia undergo political change.

Hun Sen speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly after a vote to confirm his son, Hun Manet, as Cambodia's prime minister in Phnom Penh, Aug. 22, 2023. [Cindy Liu/Reuters]

Thailand has its first civilian, democratically elected government again for more than a decade. Cambodia has just undergone a once-in-a-lifetime generational succession of its ruling elites, with almost the entire old guard resigning in August to make way for a younger generation, mostly the children of that old guard.

Neither Parnpree nor Sok Chenda are big characters. Indeed, theyre rather bureaucratic. And they are on the senior end of the age spectrum. At 66, Parnpree is one of the oldest in the new Thai cabinet. Sok Chenda, aged 67, is the oldest of Cambodias important ministers. (Hes 20 years older than the PM.) They are also excellent counterparts to their prime ministers. Srettha Thavisin, the Thai premier, is a businessman at heart.

Although Hun Manet rose through the ranks of the military, he studied economics and played a guiding role in the companies owned by his wife. Parnpree and Sok Chenda appear happy to defer much of the more razzamatazz foreign policy, such as showing up for international summits, to their prime ministers. Srettha, the self-styled salesman-in-chief, clearly likes traveling around the world and meeting foreign leaders, and posing for rather ingratiating and embarrassing selfies with them.

Cambodias ruling party obviously wants Hun Manet to be front-and-center of Cambodias engagement abroad, a role similar to the one played by his father. As such, having nose-to-the-grindstone foreign ministers makes sense alongside globetrotting premiers.

Experienced foreign policy thinkers

In part, too, the two new foreign ministers are also designed to appease the private sectors, especially as Cambodia and Thailand have untested and unsteady governments; Thailand in the form of an odd coalition and Cambodia with its dynastic succession of Hun Manet and almost the entire cabinet. Its not quite the Biden administrations evocation of a Foreign Policy for the Middle Class, but its not far off.

How the new foreign ministers translate their briefs into action remains to be seen. In fact, we probably might not see too much of them. Sok Chenda hasnt been as publicly active as one might have expected since his appointment in August. That may be because Hun Manet needs the limelight when he visits Beijing or New York.

Thailands Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin arrives for the leaders and spouses dinner during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders Week at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2023. [Josh Edelson/AFP]

But it may also be, I hear, because hes slowly purging the foreign ministry of those officials who felt their job was to play-act at geopolitics or who simply arent up to the job. He has brought in some experienced foreign policy thinkers as secretaries.

And he has proposed reforms to the institutional structure of the ministry, including higher wages for diplomats, which may go some way toward ending the practice of people buying ambassadorships.

Call it boring, but it seems likely that Parnpree and Sok Chenda will steer their ministries and ambassadors away from controversy or grand statements. That means a greater respect for ASEAN and multilateralism and a more convivial policy of boosting trade and investment.

David Hutt is a research fellow at the Central European Institute of Asian Studies (CEIAS), the Southeast Asia Columnist at the Diplomat, and writes analysis pieces for several newspapers and magazines. He has covered Southeast Asian politics since 2014. The commentary was first published by Radio Free Asia (RFA), a news service affiliated with BenarNews.
Nawawi Pomolango was sworn in as the interim commissioner of Indonesias anti-corruption agency on Monday, after the previous chief was suspended over allegations of extortion.

Nawawi takes the reins of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) after police named ex-commissioner Firli Bahuri as a suspect in a corruption case involving the former agriculture minister, who was detained on graft charges last month.

The reshuffle is a blow to the credibility of the anti-graft watchdog, which has traditionally been regarded as one of most effective and independent institutions in a country that has long struggled with corruption.

Nawawi, a former deputy commissioner, said he would focus on improving the KPKs internal governance and restoring public trust.

I hope that all KPK employees can work together to carry out the mandate and duties of the KPK, he said after being sworn in by President Joko Jokowi Widodo. We will continue to work hard to eradicate corruption in this country.

On Thursday, police named Firli in a corruption case involving Syahrul Yasin Limpo, who served as the agriculture minister under Jokowi until he resigned last month.

Investigators suspect that Firli demanded money from Syahrul in exchange for leniency in his corruption case. The police did not disclose the amount of money involved, but local media reported it was about U.S. $200,000.

Firli, who has denied any wrongdoing, is the first KPK chairman to face criminal charges since the agency was established in 2002.

Credibility in question

The independent reputation of the KPK has been tarnished in recent years following the passage of a 2019 law to reform the agency.

The law, passed by Parliament under Jokowis watch, included the establishment of a supervisory board that curbed the agencys investigative powers, as well as a requirement for employees to take a civics test.

In 2021, dozens of employees and senior investigators were sacked after failing the so-called National Outlook Test, which was required for them to keep their jobs. Critics likened the exam to an ideological purity test, alleging it was designed to get rid of the agencys most veteran graft investigators.

The commission has also faced hostility from some politicians and government officials, who have accused it of being biased and politicized.

Firli had been accused of several ethical and disciplinary violations before and during his tenure as KPK chairman, including using a private helicopter for personal trips and meeting with corruption suspects.

Firli Bahuri, ex-chief of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), enters his car after responding to a summons at the KPK Anti-Corruption Education Center in Jakarta, Indonesia, Nov. 20, 2023. [Antara Foto via Reuters]

His suspension has raised hopes among some anti-corruption advocates that the agency can regain its credibility and independence.

Yudi Purnomo, an anti-corruption activist who worked for the KPK until 2021, praised Nawawi as the right person to lead the commission.

Nawawi is highly competent and is accepted and trusted by all parties, Yudi told BenarNews. He is far from being a controversial figure and he rarely appears in public.

But he said that Nawawi had a lot of homework to do.

He has to consolidate the KPK internally, and answer the doubts and declining public trust, he said.

A dirty broom

Corruption remains a major problem for Indonesia, which ranked 110th out of 180 countries in Transparency Internationals 2022 Corruption Perception Index.

The index measures how corrupt each countrys public sector is perceived to be, according to experts and businesspeople.

The KPK was established as part of wide-ranging reforms to promote good governance following the fall in 1998 of Indonesias authoritarian leader Suharto, who has been accused of massive corruption.

The agency has the power to investigate, prosecute and freeze the assets of corruption suspects.

Feri Amsari, a professor of law at Andalas University in Padang, said Nawawi faced a daunting task of restoring the credibility and morale of the embattled anti-graft agency.

Firli is not the only one who is potentially involved, because the KPKs decisions are made collectively and collegially, not just by him, Feri told BenarNews.

It is unrealistic to expect that a dirty broom can sweep a dirty house, he said.

Feri also noted that Jokowi had extended the term of Firli and his colleagues by one year to the end of 2024, despite widespread criticism from civil society groups.

The president is the root cause of this damage, Feri said.
An F/A-18 Super Hornet prepares to take off from the carrier USS Carl Vinson in Philippine Sea waters, Nov. 5, 2023.

Fighter-jets roared off into the night from the aircraft carriers flat top, their afterburners glowing.

The scene aboard the USS Carl Vinson  as witnessed by Radio Free Asia journalists who were embedded on the ship  unfolded during recent joint exercises in the Philippine Sea that involved two U.S. aircraft carriers and a Japanese helicopter carrier.

It was a show of force in a patch of ocean where Chinese provocations have increased. Farther west and to the south, in the South China Sea, a Chinese coast guard ship collided with a Philippine fishing boat last month.

Naval officers aboard the U.S. and Japanese ships said the exercises were meant to maintain freedom of the seas and improve cooperation between their navies, not send a warning signal to China or North Korea.

We just conducted the joint exercise or activities for maintaining the free and operating Indo Pacific Ocean and also for or improving our interoperability, just as our normal activity, Rear Admiral Kazushi Yokota of Japans Maritime Self Defense Force told reporters at a joint press conference Nov. 6 aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, another aircraft carrier, also visited by the RFA journalists.

We just conducted the joint exercise or activities for maintaining the free and operating Indo Pacific Ocean and also for or improving our interoperability, just as our normal activity, he said.

For its part, China has bristled at the exercises. The state-run Global Times cited Chinese military experts saying the joint drills "tightened the instability of the region, and definitely are not in the interest of the regional countries.

Come what may, said U.S. Rear Admiral Patrick Hannafin, the American Navy would be ready.

We are not directing this exercise for our activities or training against any particular crisis, Hannafin said during a separate news conference. Are we ready to respond to any crisis across the world whether it's this theater or others? Absolutely.

Radio Free Asia journalists were among several members of the press invited by the U.S. 7th Fleet, headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan, to spend two days aboard ships involved in the exercises that took place in early November.

The engine exhaust of a fighter-jet glows in preparation for take off aboard the carrier USS Carl Vinson during an exercise in the Philippine Sea, Nov. 5, 2023. [Eungyu Lee/RFA]

As they were taken for a helicopter ride over the fleet, the RFA journalists got a birds eye view of the two U.S. aircraft carriers  the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson  churning through the water.

Nearby sailed Japans Hyuga, a light carrier equipped with helicopters, an Aegis destroyer and a cruiser escort, among other support ships.

Dangerously ill-founded presumptions

All told, the United States has 11 aircraft carriers total, and deploying two to the same exercise is somewhat unusual.

Both the Carl Vinson and the Ronald Reagan are Nimitz-class aircraft carriers that have about 5,000 crew and transport more than 60 aircraft, including F/A-18s, with the first of these ships also carrying F-35s.

The exercises should dispel notions that crises in different parts of the world leave the U.S. overextended, said Harry Harris, the former ambassador to South Korea and a retired admiral who once headed the U.S. Pacific Command.

This is a highly visible depiction of America's resolve and immense capability to defend our national interests and our allies in the Western Pacific, he said. It answers those naysayers who believe that the U.S. is overextended in the Middle East and Europe. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Sailors talk on the bridge of the carrier USS Ronald Reagan, Nov. 6, 2023. [Eungyu Lee/RFA]

Gen. Vincent Brooks, a former commander of the U.S. Forces in Korea, said the exercises underscored the importances of alliances in the Asia-Pacific region.

The U.S. took advantage of two carriers available to practice naval operations in the area, Brooks said. The U.S. is a global power and presumptions of the U.S. being distracted are dangerously ill-founded.



The exercises are meant to reassure American allies in the region and dissuade potential adversaries in different regions simultaneously, said Patrick Cronin, chair for Asia-Pacific Security at the Hudson Institute, a Washington think-tank.

A crew member on the flight deck gives the thumbs up aboard the USS Carl Vinson during an exercise in the Philippine Sea, Nov. 5, 2023. [Eungyu Lee/RFA]

Chinese PLA (Peoples Liberation Army) forces regularly conduct peacetime confrontation operations designed to make the United States, Japan, the Philippines, and others feel anxious and uncomfortable, he said.

Beijing wants others to comply with their wishes and to change any behavior they dislike.

Radio Free Asia (RFA), a news service affiliated with BenarNews, produced this report.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Partly cloudy early then becoming cloudy with periods of rain this afternoon. High 49F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Commentary: 'Once opened, the door of China-U.S. relations cannot be shut again'

People's Daily Online) 10:19, November 27, 2023

"I am convinced that once opened, the door of China-U.S. relations cannot be shut again. Once started, the cause of China-U.S. friendship cannot be derailed halfway. The tree of our peoples' friendship has grown tall and strong; and it can surely withstand the assault of any wind or storm," said Chinese President Xi Jinping in a speech at a welcome dinner hosted by friendly organizations in the U.S. on Nov. 15, 2023.

China and the U.S., as the world's two largest economies, account for more than a third of the global economy and nearly a quarter of the world's population. Bilateral trade represents about a fifth of the global total.

The establishment of a harmonious coexistence between China and the U.S. is vital for global peace and the future of humanity.

On Nov. 14, 2022, President Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden met in Bali, Indonesia. President Biden stressed that the U.S. does not seek a new Cold War with China, has no intention of trying to change Chinas system, is not revitalizing its alliances to oppose China, does not support Taiwan independence, and is not seeking conflict with China.

However, over the past year, the U.S. fell short of taking necessary actions and even deviated from the consensus spirit, posing new challenges to the bilateral relationship.

In recent months, there has been an increase in bilateral interactions between China and the U.S. This includes visits by high-ranking U.S. officials and friendly personnel to China, indicating a positive trend toward stabilizing the relationship.

During the San Francisco summit meeting, the two presidents acknowledged their respective teams efforts to discuss the development of principles related to China-U.S. relations since their meeting in Bali. They stressed the importance of all countries treating each other with respect, finding ways to coexist peacefully, maintaining open lines of communication, preventing conflict, upholding the U.N. Charter, cooperating in areas of shared interest, and responsibly managing competitive aspects of the relationship. These discussions laid out a roadmap for steering China-U.S. relations back on a positive course.

Correctly recognizing the realities of each side and the call for greater people-to-people exchanges are crucial for advancing mutual respect and understanding between China and the U.S., said Dr. Kenneth Hammond from New Mexico State University in an interview with People's Daily Online.

There has been an apparent deeply flawed perception of China on the American side, failing to understand Chinas great efforts to develop its economy and improve the lives of its people. China has a social and economic system which differs from that of the United States, and it has clearly been difficult for American politicians to comprehend this. A better, less biased appreciation that China has its own long history and culture would be a sounder basis for a healthy relationship which could yield benefits for both sides, said Hammond.

China and the U.S. have broad common interests in a wide range of areas. Annual bilateral trade between the two countries has reached $760 billion, and two-way investment has surpassed $260 billion. The countries have established 284 pairs of sister provinces/states and sister cities. Up to 300 scheduled flights operated between the two countries every week, and more than 5 million trips were made annually between them.

The summit meeting between the two heads of state produced deliverables in several areas. The two sides discussed dialogue and cooperation in various fields in the spirit of mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefits. They reached more than 20 deliverables in areas such as political affairs and foreign policy, people-to-people exchanges, global governance, and military and security. Some of these deliverables had already been achieved in the lead-up to the summit, and others were agreed upon through consultation during the summit.

Suisheng Zhao, professor and director of the Center for China-US Cooperation at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver, U.S., said the outcomes of the San Francisco summit meeting demonstrate the significance both countries place on their shared interests.

Both countries recognize the importance of stabilizing and enhancing China-U.S. relations during this crucial historical period. Zhao commended the progress achieved in reestablishing high-level military communication and institutionalized dialogue, as well as expanding cooperation in cultural exchanges, judicial law enforcement, and global governance.

During the summit meeting, President Xi called on China and the U.S. to adopt a new vision and jointly build five pillars for bilateral relations. The two countries should develop a right perception together, manage disagreements effectively, advance mutually beneficial cooperation, shoulder responsibilities as major countries, and promote people-to-people exchanges.

Through joint efforts in these five areas, five pillars can be established for steady growth in China-U.S. relations and foster the "San Francisco Vision" for their future.

Zhao emphasized that these joint efforts highlight the common interests and shared vision between China and the U.S. The aim is to find a suitable path for coexistence between the two countries and offer guidance for bringing bilateral relations back on the right track.

The five pillars set out a basic approach to U.S.-China relations which is based on mutual respect and the recognition that while the two countries have their differences, these should not be seen as antagonistic. Each side should act responsibly, and both should seek the best ways to cooperate on addressing issues of great importance to their peoples, expressed Hammond.

The recent meeting in San Francisco between the two presidents was a very important moment in the ongoing development of U.S.-China relations. Actions speak louder than words, so the true significance of the San Francisco meeting will be seen in the way American policies and practices develop in the months and years to come, Hammond noted.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
By Jung Da-hyun

A decisive vote to determine the venue of World Expo 2030 through ballots cast by the representatives of 182 member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) is scheduled to take place Tuesday night.

Korea's southern port city of Busan is competing fiercely against Riyadh and Rome.

Ahead of the vote, each of the three candidate countries will deliver a 20-minute final presentation of their World Expo projects. Ban Ki-moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations, is slated to be one of the speakers representing Korea.

Following the presentations, a secret ballot will be conducted by government-appointed delegates representing member states. An outright winner will be announced after the first round of votes if two-thirds of all 182 member countries, totaling more than 122 votes, are obtained.

If this threshold is not reached, the remaining countries, excluding the last-placed candidate, will participate in a second round of voting. The candidate with the most votes in the second round will ultimately be selected as the host country.

In a last-minute, all-out effort, the bidding committee for the Expo, including Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, Busan Mayor Park Heong-joon, and Chey Tae-won, the chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) and co-chair of the Bid Committee for World Expo 2030 Busan, gathered in Paris.

Han is scheduled to meet with delegates from BIE member states, making a last-minute pitch before the vote, highlighting Koreas vision to transform the World Expo into a platform addressing humanity's challenges, including war and conflict, the digital divide and climate change, according to his office.

Bang Moon-kyu, minister of trade, industry and energy, and Oh Young-ju, second vice minister of foreign affairs, will actively seek support during the meetings, while citizens from Busan's private bidding committee plan to showcase the city's appeal to tourists at Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre Museum.

President Yoon Suk Yeol also actively promoted Busan's bid during his three-day visit to the French capital late last week, emphasizing the city's potential to lead innovations and contribute to the sustainable growth of humankind.

The government remains optimistic about Busan's chances, particularly in the event of a second round of voting. While initial assessments leaned towards Saudi Arabia, there is speculation that European votes may sway in favor of Korea, given recent expressions of support for Palestine by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman amid the conflict with Israel.

Furthermore, the Japanese government expressed its support for Busans bid on Sunday, amid improving relations between Seoul and Tokyo, according to a report by Yomiuri Shimbun, a Japanese daily newspaper.

The final vote results are anticipated to be disclosed between midnight and 1 a.m. on Wednesday.
The shop takes some of the elements of Kings and Gelinass successful Wigwam Western Summit establishment in North Adams, but, among other changes, adds boba tea.
This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle.
When the Berkshire Museum gives two sets of human remains to the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians, it will be a successful
I have a favorite poster in my office. Goslings are bunched together, facing in all directions, milling aimlessly and going nowhere. The caption reads: Lead, follow or get out of the way. It reminds me of our current United States Congress.

Now, in addition to the aimlessness, we have violence in Congress. Admittedly, it is petty violence compared to the near-death experience of Sen. Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, delivered by Rep. Preston Brooks, of South Carolina, in 1856. But then, everything in Congress today is petty. The violence, lethal or petty, prevents Congress from being the "world's greatest deliberative body.

Theres more. We have attorneys general supporting a criminal defendants filing against the governments filing. Lets be clear. Some things should be censored; some speech should be curbed. Notwithstanding all the clever questions posed to undermine the limits  Who decides what is censored? On what basis? Is it a slippery slope?  the answer to each is simple. The norms of the culture decide. If violence is not an acceptable solution, then threatening violence is not permitted free speech nor should it be.

I have a gun. Give me your money or I will shoot, is not free speech. It is speech in furtherance of a crime.

We have a senator openly undermining our military. When did weakening our country at any time, but especially at a time of growing world tension, cease being treason or that which aids and comforts the enemy?

We have a presidential candidate promising, if elected, to overturn our form of government, and yet he is discussed as a viable option.

Young. Communist. Gun-owner. Multimillionaire. Pro-Palestine. Pro-Hamas. Berkshire landowner. Meet James 'Fergie' Chambers The Eagle interviewed Berkshire Communists founder and heir to the Cox Media empire James Fergie Chambers about his social media posts, gun ownership and what kind of training is going on at his Alford properties in Berkshire County.

Closer to home, in The Berkshire Eagle, Heather Bellow reported that Alford resident James Fergie Chambers said We need to start making people who support Israel actually afraid to go out in public.

Perhaps that is not what we need to do.

All these folks  senators, representatives, wealthy men  are beneficiaries of our form of government, and yet they dont seem to like our republic as presently constituted. Is that what they have in common? Do they prefer not to support this country and encourage others not to? Are they wealthy folks who prefer oligarchy to equality?

Could it really be that what unites these folks in Congress, courts and even locally is genuine love of fascism, dictatorship or a violent medieval theocracy? Is one of those a reasonable choice for people born and raised in freedom and people who risked their lives and treasure to get away from dictatorships and come here?

In the midst of the melee, what have we lost? Our way.

What have we embraced? That which once was unthinkable.

Can the melees merge and become maelstrom that sucks us under? Maybe.

We blame the internet, the speed and breadth of its transmission. Perhaps, but first we must be gullible to misinformation. We started decades ago when we undermined and short-changed education. Young people are vulnerable to nonsense because they were not taught the fundamentals: civics, history, philosophy and, oh yes, reading, writing and arithmetic.

Democracy, our version, did not arrive full-blown in a pub in Boston in 1770 over stout, ale and flip. The elements were culled from what we used to call Western Civilization. Those men  yes, sorry, they were all men no matter how clever and persuasive their women were  were similar in antecedents and education. They followed principles from Greece through Rome into Europe. At some point, we diluted our language, diminished our own ancestors and decided we should judge the past by current standards  standards even we cannot attain.

Chambers also said, We need to make all of wyt [white] America afraid that everything they have stolen is going to be burned to the ground.

It is a common theme today: Western Civilization stands for white men ruined everything. In fact, Western Civilization gave us the rule of law, equality under the law, freedom of speech, the right to congregate, the right to vote, the peaceful transfer of power, negated violence as an acceptable political tool and more. Do you really want to live without those things?

A bunch of dead white guys studied their lessons, read their books and fashioned what they hoped would be a more perfect government. Benjamin Franklin was 81 when he stood and gave the speech that finally brought the representatives together and convinced them to sign the Constitution. He was an old white guy then, and they are all dead white guys now. To add other stories to our education is laudable and necessary; to eliminate our origin story and the stories of our founders makes us vulnerable to those who want to burn it all down.

Here we are, in the place where our forefathers wrote the Sheffield Declaration, considered by many as the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. Here we are in the former colony where the pub was in which they met and contemplated a better form of government, where they plotted and executed the Boston Tea Party, where the first shot was fired.

Its a good story when told accurately. It is akin to blasphemy when twisted. All we are required to do is know the difference. All we are required to do is remind the critics and enemies of our way of life  were still here.
RICHMOND  So, in this often cruel and thoughtless world, what was there to be thankful for on Thursday when too many people around the world were hungry, poor, held hostage or imprisoned?

Not to mention those who hit the road weeks ago, wading and walking and stumbling for miles because their country threatened their very existence.

Well, it was amazing and heartwarming last week to read about all the places in the Berkshires where the poor, the hungry and the just plain lonely could find a welcome and, importantly, free food.

It was not only the traditional food pantries providing a robust Thanksgiving dinner, but also restaurants like Ottos Kitchen & Comfort in Pittsfield, where the owners throw the door open and put on a dinner party with no check. And the Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, which welcomed guests to a sit-down dinner for the first time since the pandemic eliminated such there.

Free sit-down feasts or the boxed makings of Thanksgiving dinner were available in various other places in the Berkshires. The recipients were thankful, and the rest of us should be thankful for all the people willing to share time, money and food donations to bring so much to so many for a special holiday.

At South Congregational Church, the large parish hall once used for social events, church suppers and rummage sales, is now filled on certain days of the week with the chatter of volunteers who work in a production line filling big boxes with foodstuffs. It is just one site of many in Berkshire County. Pittsfield has a number of spots where the hungry can get a meal, and many towns have smaller pantries and periodic food collections (like the fill-the-trailer event in Lee).

Its all in the true spirit of Thanksgiving, no matter whether the art and stories about the original Thanksgiving in Plymouth are accurate or fictional. What is pretty certain is that the Pilgrims celebrated their survival after they harvested their crops and began to believe they might be able to live in a land that was more hostile than welcoming.

But a group that ran away from England and Holland to escape persecution unfortunately came to have little tolerance for the way others lived, especially the Wampanoag tribe that they displaced.

For me, this Thanksgiving was a round robin of eating and driving. Initially, I was going to the home of our youngest, but they decided to go to relatives in Maryland. The oldest renewed his invitation and then had to cancel three days before the turkey was going in the oven because COVID entered the picture.

The middle child reiterated that I was welcome in southeastern Connecticut so on Wednesday, the worst day to travel, I hit the Massachusetts Turnpike, I-91 and various other numbered roads for about three hours. A couple of those long, stop-and-go delays of inexplicable cause occurred, but all was OK. The gathering was full of laughter and talk, the stomach full of good food. Although I held out, again, that green bean casserole is not traditionally part of New England Thanksgiving.

The Maryland contingent was returning to the New York area by Friday, so I braved I-95 and headed south. The trip included a welcome intermission with an outdoor, masked visit with the COVID victim, who had to feast at a separate table from the immediate family, with the extended group quickly carving new plans. (The COVID house these days is sort of like when we had to put a bright pink card on our front door labeling us Scarlet Fever.)

On to the youngest, who on Friday put together a repeat of the holiday offerings. With few moments of gridlock, the circle closed with return to Richmond on Sunday.

It was a time to see everyone, plus car intermissions to listen to many chapters of Ann Patchetts new book, Tom Lake. Time to enjoy driving, family and friends and come home without a dish to put away, nor a bed to be changed. But also plenty of time to wonder why so many Americans are hungry in the first place.
James B. Karugu, the second attorney general of Kenya attended the prestigious Holy Ghost College Mangu in Tika, Kenya, where he was shaped by the school's code of ethics, discipline and character. He credits his early education - and his school's distinctive uniform - as the catalyst for learning about studying in America and discovering BGSU.

"A former mayor of Nairobi, Mr. Mark Kaigwa, noticed me in my uniform as I stood waiting for a bus for home one evening. ... A former Mangu student himself, he took me under his wing and encouraged me to pursue my dream," Karugu recalled. "He introduced me to Dr. Julius Kiano, who held a Ph.D. from Stanford University (the first Kenyan ever to do so). Dr. Kiano further emboldened me, advising me to visit the American Embassy for more information about studying in America."

It was during this time that he learned about the University's reputation for academic excellence and its welcoming atmosphere for international students.

"Eventually, I concluded that BGSU, a university in a rural setting, was the best option," Karugu said. "I wrote a letter of application and soon received my acceptance letter from BGSU. The task that now remained was for me to find my way to BGSU, Ohio, America."
Korea will bring in an all-time high of 165,000 non-professional migrant workers next year under the Employment Permit System to cope with growing labor shortages hitting many industries, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said Monday.

The government will also expand the industries in which the foreign workers arriving here with the non-professional employment visa (E-9) can work, to newly include restaurant, mining and forestry sectors, the ministry said.

In the case of the restaurant industry, for instance, Jeju, Sejong and 98 local governments plan to recruit foreign workers as kitchen assistants for Korean restaurants.

By industry, manufacturing will accept the largest number of E-9 visa holders at 95,000 people, followed by 16,000 for agriculture and livestock, 13,000 for service, 10,000 for fishing, 6,000 for construction and 5,000 for shipbuilding, the ministry said, adding the remaining 20,000 will be distributed regardless of industry.

The E-9 visa is issued for migrant workers wanting to engage in jobs that require manual or non-professional labor. The number of migrant workers entering Korea with the E-9 visa has steadily increased in recent years, rising from 52,000 in 2021 and 69,000 in 2022 to 120,000 this year. (Yonhap)
Equipped with most advanced Distributed Control System automation technology

Ahmedabad-based Cadila Pharmaceuticals recently inaugurated its state-of-the-art Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Plant at Dahej in the Bharuch district.

The facility, set up with an investment of Rs 200 crore, is equipped with the latest Distributed Control System (DCS) automation technology, marking a significant milestone in Cadila Pharmaceuticals dedication to innovation and excellence in drug manufacturing.

Dr H. G. Koshia, Food Drug Commissioner for Gujarat, and Dr M. P. Nakarani, Assistant Commissioner of FDCA, Baruch Circle, graced the event with their presence.

Speaking on the occasion, Biswajit Mitra, Chief Mentoring Officer at Cadila Pharmaceuticals and Convener Pharma Panel, CII Gujarat State, said, The DCS technology used in this facility will allow us to produce APIs with a high level of purity and consistency, while also reducing the environmental impact. The implementation of the plant project will further extend our impact by generating employment opportunities for both permanent and contractual positions, thereby continuing our dedication to creating positive social change. 

Cadila Pharmaceuticals had earlier signed an MoU with the government of Gujarat for investing Rs 1,000 crore in Gujarat. The Dahej API facility is one of the projects for which the MoU was signed.

The new API manufacturing facility will enable Cadila Pharmaceuticals to provide customers with the high-quality products they have come to expect from the company, while also helping it to expand its reach into new markets.
Renowned bariatric surgeon Dr Mohit Bhandari to lead the centre as the President-IRCAD India

IRCAD India, a mirror institute of IRCAD France (Strasbourg), was inaugurated on November 24th in collaboration with Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS) in Indore. This marks the establishment of the first Indian centre of excellence solely devoted to training and research & development in the realm of minimally invasive surgery. It adds to the existing Six IRCAD mirror institutes worldwide.

IRCAD India is poised to become one of the world's largest animal and cadaver labs in the SAARC region, boasting 42 state-of-the-art stations equipped with robotics, 3D, and 4K technology. This cutting-edge facility will serve as a global hub, providing advanced training to surgeons from around the world in the latest surgical techniques.

Dr Mohit Bhandari a renowned Indian bariatric surgeon globally known for his work in Bariatric and robot-assisted surgery will lead the centre as the President of IRCAD India.

Speaking on IRCAD Indias vision Dr. Mohit Bhandari, President IRCAD India said, "Both the institutions will be able to share their expertise in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR). Apart from this, surgical training of IRCAD will also be given in SAIMS, which will directly benefit the doctors and surgeons of Indore and entire India including SAARC countries. This collaboration anticipates the establishment of at least 20 new startups in India dedicated to producing medical devices for research and development."

The signing ceremony for the joint venture witnessed the presence of Prof. Jacques Marescaux, the President of IRCAD Global, who expressed his admiration for the exceptional infrastructure and facilities at SAIMS.

Under the distinguished chairmanship of Dr Mohit Bhandari, the IRCAD India board features eminent individuals such as Dr Vinod Bhandari, Chairman IRCAD India, and Dr Mahak Bhandari, Vice President IRCAD India. IRCAD India is slated to commence operations in 2024.
Nine Judges in three different courts have now ruled that a KwaZulu-Natal marketing company had a binding contract with the ANC and the party owes millions of rands for the supply of election banners ahead of the May 2019 general elections. (Read: Bid to seize ANC assets after failure to pay R102-million bill

In the latest ruling, unanimous from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), Judge Trevor Gorven said the partys version that it had no contract with Ezulweni Investments was utterly untenable.

Denial

The denials of the ANC fall into the category of bald, uncreditworthy denials designed to create fictitious disputes of fact, said the judge. The court had also refused an application by the ANC to lead further evidence during its appeal in the form of a forensic report, ostensibly done by EMS Forensics into the procurement.

The denials of the ANC fall into the category of bald, uncreditworthy denials designed to create fictitious disputes of fact

In refusing to consider this, Judge Gorven said the report itself was not put up but only an executive summary and it was unsigned and undated. It made reference to a Whatsapp message indicating that the company and the ANCs representatives could make millions out of the deal. Judge Gorven said this had not been presented as evidence when the matter came before the two lower courts.

Ezulweni had requested access to the device on which the message was reportedly received but this had been refused. An IT expert had also testified, unchallenged, that WhatsApp messages could be amended, edited or faked. Previously Ezulweni applied to seize assets worth more than R102m from the ANC after the party refused to pay it despite two judgments in the companys favour: one handed down in September 2020, and an appeal heard by a full bench of the Johannesburg High Court in June 2022.

In the High Court appeal ruling, the three judges said the ANCs defence was far-fetched. The ANC applied to the SCA for leave to appeal that ruling, but the appeal lapsed. After Ezulweni obtained the writ of execution, the ANC reinstated the appeal, which was heard early in November and handed down on Friday. Read the judgment here.

Judge Gorven, writing for the court, dealt with the stance of the ANC that there had been no verbal agreement between the two officials who negotiated the deal with Ezulweni boss Renash Ramdas, and if there was, the officials had no authority to do so. Judge Gorven said Ramdas, who described himself as a long-standing, loyal member of the ANC, had at a meeting in February 2014 met a Mr Mabaso, the partys finance manager, and a Mr Nkholise, the personal assistant to Fikile Mbalula, who headed the election campaign.

It was at that meeting that an oral agreement was concluded for the design, ordering, printing and placing of the banners. Ramdas said he was in constant communication with Nkholise and Mabaso. He sent almost daily WhatsApp messages, including photographs of the banners. He sent three invoices for R87m, R100m and about R2.4m.

In response to one, Mabaso and Mkholise sent a document bearing the signature of Mbalula, addressed to Paul Mashatile, informing that comrade Nkholise has been assigned as the signatory for bookings and money for the duration of the election campaign. Another was a photograph of a letter addressed to Mashatile containing the signature of Mbalula which requested assistance with the payment of the first invoice.

Invoices not paid

The invoices were never paid. The ANC claimed that there had been no agreement, that Ramdas had been told that only Matashile could authorise election material, and that Mbalulas signature on the document had been electronic, inserted by Nkholise. Judge Gorven said there were serious difficulties with the ANCs version.

He questioned why Ezulweni would have gone to the expense of ordering materials and then printing the banners and why Ramdas had kept the two officials constantly informed, sending photographs and then invoices, if there was no contract. In response to one message, Ezulweni put up a response by Mabaso of a clenched fist.

The judge said the ANC had not rebutted this.

The ANCs version is not capable of belief in the face of the cascade of communications from Ramdas that were met with deafening silence from the ANC. The only credible response of an entity in its position, if its version were true, would have been to immediately set the record straight so as to prevent Ezulweni proceeding at risk.

Those responsible for the election were provided with evidence of the work that was being done to produce banners and then install them. How did these officials imagine that this was happening, save on the basis of an agreement with Ezulweni?

Judge Gorven ruled further that Nkholise did have authority to conclude the agreement as was evidenced by the letter to Mashatile with Mbalulas signature. He dismissed the appeal, ordering the ANC to pay the costs.

Ezulweni attorney Shafique Sarlie told GroundUp his client was now owed just under R150m, including legal costs.

I have now demanded immediate payment from the ANC, failing which we will execute. This will entail the attachment and sale in execution of assets. If this falls short of what we are owed, we will bring liquidation proceedings against the party.

Published originally on GroundUp
Up to 15%* of the $8bn global programmatic market is being siphoned away by profiteers in the made-for-advertising industry, diverting attention from readers and draining advertising budgets on platforms that often promote misinformation, disinformation, or clickbait.

Source:  123rf 123rf TrustList is a home-grown new digital initiative that aims to protect media buyers and brands by providing real-time warnings against placing programmatic advertising on 'red-listed' online media

This erodes trust, a vital component of successful advertising, which not only hinders meaningful connections with disillusioned consumers, but can create a knock-on effect for digital news media.

New home-grown digital initiative

TrustList is a home-grown new digital initiative that aims to protect media buyers and brands by providing real-time warnings against placing programmatic advertising on 'red-listed' online media known for systematic disinformation infractions, or 'grey-listed' media susceptible to disinformation amplification due to weak internal editorial systems.

Developed by a team of digital media experts, led by Code for Africa (CfA), Africas largest indigenous non-profit civic technology and DYDX, a digital innovation organisation and digital transformation practice.

It is funded through a Google News Initiative (GNI) grant, in alignment with GNIs mission to work with publishers and journalists to combat misinformation, share valuable resources, and cultivate a diverse and innovative news ecosystem.

The South African National Editors Forum (Sanef), is leading the charge to drive the adoption of TrustList in newsrooms, while the Internet Advertising Bureau-SA (IAB-SA) is being engaged to secure buy-in from over 150 major advertising brands and media buyers.

Exploitation of the advertising ecosystem

AI-driven made-for-advertising websites pose a significant threat to the digital media environment, leaving advertisers grappling with a challenge that compromises their investments and trust.

These deceptive websites exploit the advertising ecosystem, generating low-quality traffic and perpetuating ad fraud, resulting in financial losses and reputational risks for advertisers, says Geoff Cohen of DYDX.

To combat the challenges of ad fraud, advertisers must be vigilant and exercise due diligence, explains Cohen, with industry-wide initiatives that prioritise transparency and accountability set to play a vital role.

Advertisers should demand visibility into the ad supply chain and support technologies like TrustList that combat ad fraud.

Scrutinising ad placement data, selecting trusted partners and employing robust fraud detection mechanisms are crucial.

Sharing best practices and collaborating on solutions will fortify the digital advertising ecosystem, adds Cohen.

First line of defence against disinformation profiteers

TrustList employs machine learning and robust AI tools to meticulously review every single website and digital page where an ad appears.

This process generates a comprehensive audit that empowers advertisers to update their permission lists with confidence, explains Cohen.

"Our TrustList technology is the first line of defence against disinformation profiteers. By providing real-time insights and recommendations, TrustList ensures that advertisers can make responsible choices in their media placements.

Our mission is to empower brands to make informed choices about where their advertising dollars go, ensuring they dont inadvertently support disinformation and skew true return on investment, he says.

A trustworthy digital advertising landscape

Analysis of selected large digital media campaigns in the last quarter indicates that up to 40% of open web programmatic advertising was distributed to destinations that were either not brand-safe, part of a network of Made for Advertising publishers or had warning signs of ad-fraud behaviours.

The concern is that 40c in every rand invested in digital marketing through open programmatic advertising is not just wasted, but funding bad actors in the digital media space and taking valuable commercial oxygen from local digital media platforms, Cohen continues.

As advertisers navigate the challenges posed by AI-driven made-for-advertising websites, Cohen says resilience and adaptability are paramount.

Investing in verification measures, demanding transparency, and fostering collaboration will safeguard investments, restore trust, and steer the industry toward a future where authenticity and value prevail.

Together with our partners, we're committed to building a cleaner and more trustworthy digital advertising landscape. TrustList is a step toward ensuring the integrity of online media."

*According to a recent report from the US Association of National Advertisers.
In the rapidly evolving landscape of financial services, the integration of geospatial data is marking a new era of efficiency and precision. Financial institutions are increasingly employing this data to refine their decision-making processes, elevating both their investment strategies and customer service paradigms. This trend represents a significant shift towards digital transformation and data-driven decision-making, deeply impacting how financial services approach customer interaction, risk management, and regulatory compliance.

Charl Fouche, chief operations officer at AfriGIS

Enhancing KYC with geospatial insights

At the heart of this transformation is the integration of geospatial data into Know Your Customer (KYC) processes. Traditionally viewed as a regulatory checklist item, KYC is now evolving into a more dynamic and insightful practice. By incorporating geospatial data, financial institutions enhance the accuracy of customer verifications, elevate their risk assessment capabilities, and ensure robust compliance with ever-changing global regulations.

Geospatial data allows for a nuanced understanding of customers, going beyond basic demographic information to include their physical locations and transactional behaviours. This geographical context is crucial in detecting and preventing fraud. For instance, if a customers transactions occur in widely different locations within short timeframes, it might indicate fraudulent activities, necessitating further investigation.

Real-time location analytics: Mapping the customer journey

Real-time location analytics stand out as a key component in this new approach. Financial institutions map their customers' data, analyse geographical patterns, and derive valuable insights into their behaviours and preferences. This data-driven approach informs more personalised service offerings and tailored marketing strategies, fostering deeper customer engagement.

Moreover, these analytics play a pivotal role in understanding the customer journey, which typically involves four stages: mapping the customers data, analysing it for trends and patterns, learning about the customers profile, and making informed predictions about their future needs and behaviours.

Address compliance: A cornerstone of modern KYC

In the realm of KYC, address compliance is becoming increasingly important. Geospatial data helps verify and standardise customer addresses, ensuring they are complete and accurate. This process is vital not only for regulatory compliance but also for efficient customer onboarding and profiling.

Address compliance solutions are usually hosted on secure cloud platforms, adding an extra layer of security to sensitive customer data. They enable financial institutions to swiftly validate and complete customer addresses, thus streamlining the onboarding process and enhancing overall customer satisfaction.

Fraud detection and security

These solutions also assist in fraud detection by monitoring the frequency and patterns of address usage. Unusual patterns, such as multiple accounts linked to a single address, can trigger alerts for potential fraudulent activities, enabling banks to take pre-emptive action.

Enriching customer experience

The integration of geospatial data goes beyond compliance and risk management; it significantly enriches the customer experience. With efficient address validation processes, customers enjoy a hassle-free and seamless interaction with their financial institutions. The process becomes as straightforward as a Google search, eliminating the frustration often associated with financial transactions.

A future-oriented approach

As technology continues to advance, the synergy between KYC, geospatial data analytics, and customer experience is becoming increasingly important. This integration is not merely about regulatory compliance; its about providing a secure, efficient, and personalised banking experience. Financial institutions that embrace this technology are well-positioned to lead in a future where understanding and meeting customer needs are paramount.

In summary, the integration of geospatial data into financial services is transforming the industry, making KYC a more dynamic tool and significantly enhancing customer experience. This paradigm shift is not just a step towards digital transformation; it's a leap into a future where data empowers every transaction and interaction in the financial world.

About AfriGIS

AfriGIS is the leading Geospatial Information Science company in Southern Africa that specialises in location-sensitive data and solutions. It provides customers across the board with a suite of web-based tools and APIs to connect to, enhance, and enrich their own data with location intelligence, insights, and trusted data. The organisation was founded in 1997 and celebrates more than 25 years in business. It is a level 1-certified broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) business, with more than 100 employees, in Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town in South Africa, Dublin in Ireland, and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
The 2024 intake for the MultiChoice Bursary Scheme, valued at R32m, has officially opened and is available to over 200 students to advance their studies. Applications close on 27 January 2024.

Image supplied.MultiChoice Bursary Scheme open for 2024 intake, with space for over 200 South African students to advance their studies

Open to students in all years of study, the Scheme includes students who have enrolled for their first post-graduate degree that is focused on the STEM discipline (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), particularly:

Actuarial science



Electrical, electronic and information engineering



Computer science and applied mathematics



Information technology (AI and robotics)



Data and information science



Digital media technologies

Uplift and empower students

Designed to not only provide financial assistance to students who demonstrate academic excellence, the MultiChoice bursary scheme also aims to uplift and empower students to have access to quality education by covering tuition fees including registration, accommodation as well as an annual living allowance.

Each year, the cost of studying at one of South Africas universities becomes more and more expensive, add the increasing cost of living and it's obvious why students across the country looking to complete their studies comfortably should apply for the Scheme right away.

Education is critical, and MultiChoice recognises that this Bursary Scheme is a crucial step in promoting and developing young talent and assisting students in making their dreams and aspirations a reality. As a result, MultiChoice encourages eligible students to apply and grasp this opportunity to reach their full potential, says Tshepiso Malatjie, chief people officer at MultiChoice Group.

External bursary management entity

To apply for the 2024 MultiChoice bursary scheme South African students need to be registered at a South African Institution of Higher Learning and are full-time students between quantile one to quantile three schools in all years of study up to NQF 9.

Other requirements are indicated on the application form.

An external bursary management entity (Skills 123) has been procured to support the facilitation of the bursary administration. This bursary management provider has partnered with youth marketing specialists, Student Village, who have a wide reach across different campuses countrywide.

Click here to register.
Korea is set to attend an international cyberdefense exercise led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) for the first time to enhance collaboration with NATO in the cyberspace domain, the defense ministry said Monday.

NATO's flagship annual cyber exercise, called Cyber Coalition 2023, takes place in Estonia from Monday to Friday, involving 35 NATO members and partners as well as the European Union to strengthen their joint ability to counter threats in the cyber domain.

Korea's Cyber Operations Command dispatched three service members to Estonia for this year's exercise, while eight others are participating in the training through virtual networks, the ministry said.

In light of adopting the Individually Tailored Partnership Program (ITPP) in July, Korea and NATO have been stepping up collaboration in 11 areas ranging from antiterrorism and nonproliferation to emerging technologies and cyberdefense. (Yonhap)


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The anti-corruption investigation agency on Monday demanded a five-year prison sentence for a prosecutor accused of conspiring in 2020 with a then opposition lawmaker to file complaints against then ruling camp figures.

The demand was made by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) against prosecutor Son Jun-sung in a hearing at the Seoul Central District Court.

The CIO indicted Son, a former aide to then Prosecutor General Yoon Suk Yeol, on charges of secretly asking People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Kim Woong, just before the general elections in April 2020, to file complaints against three pro-government figures for their alleged involvement in negative news reports about Yoon's wife. Son is currently serving at the Daegu High Prosecutors Office.

The CIO requested a three-year term for Son on the charge of violating the election law and an additional two years in prison on other charges, including a leak of official secrets and a violation of the personal information protection law. (Yonhap)
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Postal Code
A former solicitor from Michael Lynn's practice has repeatedly denied in his multi-million euro theft trial that she was ever involved in conveyancing in the firm.

Mr Lynn (55), of Millbrook Court, Redcross, Co Wicklow is on trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court accused of the theft of around 27 million from seven financial institutions.

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He has pleaded not guilty to 21 counts of theft in Dublin between October 23rd, 2006 and April 20th, 2007.

It is the prosecutions case that Mr Lynn obtained multiple mortgages on the same properties, in a situation where banks were unaware that other institutions were also providing finance.

The financial institutions involved are Bank of Ireland, National Irish Bank (later known as Danske Bank), Irish Life and Permanent, Ulster Bank, ACC Bank, Bank of Scotland Ireland, and Irish Nationwide Building Society (INBS).

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Fiona McAleenan returned to the stand for a third day on Monday to continue being cross-examined by Paul Comiskey O'Keeffe BL, defending Mr Lynn.

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Internal emails

Ms McAleenan was brought through a number of internal emails from Michael Lynn & Co Solicitors at that time, along with office documents and phone messages.

The court was shown internal emails that Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe said showed Ms McAleenan was being sent weekly conveyancing reports.

Ms McAleenan replied that she didn't remember getting these and she probably didn't pay any attention to them.

The court heard the Law Society carried out a random audit of the practice in 2006. Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe suggested to Ms McAleenan that as a solicitor, she had a professional obligation and legal obligation in relation to the conduct of the files and client ledger cards.

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Ms McAleenan replied that she did not employ staff in the practice and that Mr Lynn was the principal of the practice. The ultimate responsibility was his, she said. I did my work properly in the practice.

She added no issues were raised with her litigation files. As I have said countless times, Michael Lynn was the principal solicitor in the practice  a conveyancing solicitor.

Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe put it to Ms McAleenan that she was being completely disingenuous in relation to the matter.

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She said she took grave exception to this term.

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Defence counsel also showed the court internal documents from Michael Lynn & Co solicitors in which one trainee solicitor stated Ms McAleenan had requested that client ledger cards be printed out for every client in the office.

Ms McAleenan said she did not accept that she carried out a review of all the clients when she was in the practice. She said the trainee solicitor was probably asked to print out all the client ledger cards by someone and then discussed it with her.

Diligence

The court was also shown a memo in March 2007 from Mr Lynn to Ms McAleenan entitled 'management of all files' in which he asked her to work with a colleague to take over the management of all files. We need to carry out full diligence on this to ensure we are covered properly by professional indemnity insurance, Mr Lynn wrote in the memo.

Responding to this memo, Ms McAleenan said she did not carry out an audit of all the files.

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An email dated May 2007 from another solicitor in the firm stated that Ms McAleenan would take control of all litigation matters. Fiona will hand over any conveyancing files she is currently working on.

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Ms McAleenan said the solicitor was perhaps referring to the fact she was involved in litigation issues relating to some conveyancing files. She told the court a number of times that she was not involved in conveyancing in the firm.

We keep finding documentary evidence that seems to constitute it, Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe said.

I continue to say I was not involved in conveyancing and the people who were can be called to court to give evidence of that themselves, Ms McAleenan replied.

The court was also shown minutes from a February 2007 meeting between Mr Lynn, Ms McAleenan and other people described by defence counsel as high level employees in the practice.

In the meeting, Mr Lynn was recorded as saying: From now on we should have very clear systems that Fiona sees. I know you trust me Fiona, but trust is also much easier if is on the basis of transparency, not that there was anything being hidden from you.

Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe put it to Ms McAleenan that this showed she was a partner in the practice. The court heard the High Court later found she was holding herself out as partner.

Ms McAleenan said she was in negotiations to become partner but that before she left the practice, she decided not to become partner at that time, on the advice of another person.

In the same meeting in February 2007, the court heard Mr Lynn said he would not put his name at the top of an org chart and we should put Fiona on top there. Ms McAleenan agreed.

Mr Comiskey O'Keeffe said that this conversation showed Ms McAleenan was without doubt accepting she was a partner.

That was my mindset, Ms McAleenan replied. That's what I thought was going to happen.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and the jury.
A Government Minister said there will be a full review into the policing of Thursday nights Dublin riots, which followed a stabbing attack in the city centre.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris said quite a lot will need to change.

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Garda cars, a bus and a luas were set alight, shops damaged and looted and officers attacked during violent scenes, which involved far-right elements.

It came shortly after three children and a women were hurt in the stabbing attack outside a school in the north city centre.

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris. Photo: PA.

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Opposition politicians have called for the resignation of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Minister for Justice Helen McEntee.

Mr Harris said: What happened on Thursday was the most despicable, horrific attack on democracy, on our city and on the institutions of the State, and it will be met with a full response and there will have to be a review.

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Mr Harris, who previously served as minister for justice, said there had been a very significant conflation of issues and the riot was not just a far-right gathering.

He said: We had the horrific, despicable attack on children and care workers on Parnell Square, and we think of all of them; we then saw a far-right gathering, if I may call it that; we then saw absolute opportunistic criminality and thuggery.

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He added: I dont think we can conflate each of those issues.

Speaking to RTE radio, he said the scale and speed at which Thursdays events unfolded was unprecedented and unforeseen: It happened in real time. It happened in rapid speed and the gardai responded and responded in force.

But it is also fair to say that the far right have been trying to sow division in this country and communities right across the country for a significant period of time.

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Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald at the scene of the stabbing in Dublin city centre. Photo: PA.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city.

She repeated her call for Ms McEntee and Mr Harris to quit.

The events were unprecedented, the viciousness of the attack on the young children and the childcare worker, and then the ensuing violence, which was predictable, which was organised, which was not the first occasion upon which violence had been instigated by some of these elements, she told the BBC.

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This is just part of a wider pattern that has been the reality for the last year, the last 18 months, in truth probably since the Covid lockdown.

The truth is the Minister and the Commissioner have failed to resource the gardai correctly. They have failed to bring forward plans for the safety of citizens.

We now have a scenario where people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city  that includes children going to school, their parents and grandparents dropping them off, it includes people going to work, people who visit the city, and we are now at a point where the position of the Minister and the Commissioner are simply untenable.

She added: There is an absolute unified demand across the capital city that we are safe on our streets and in our communities.

The days of excuses or dodging the realities on the ground by the Minister, by the Government or by the Garda Commissioner are over.

People have been patient with them.

She added: We have asked for resources, we have asked for planning, we have asked for leadership, and those in charge have failed, and now they have to be held to account and we move to resourcing the gardai, resourcing our communities and ensuring that children can go to school safely and that people can go about their lives in the capital city without fear of the violence that we saw.

Ms McDonald has said the garda should have had a plan which would have nipped in the bud an assembly of people who rioted in Dublin city centre.

She said: That didnt happen. Some of that was around resources and capacity, others, it seemed, were around decision-making and leadership.
Irelands ambassador in Tel Aviv, Israel has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of an Irish-Israeli girl who was taken hostage by Hamas.

Government figures have described the move by Israel as an overreaction.

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It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's comments, in which he said an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped, adding the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)

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Referring to Mr Varadkar, Mr Cohen posted on X: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

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Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Irish Ministers have described Israels decision to summon and reprimand Irelands ambassador Sonya McGuinness as an overreaction.

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On Sunday, Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

This is the full statement I issued yesterday regarding the release of Emily Hand pic.twitter.com/v6N6bmbbmo Advertisement  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 26, 2023

Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministrys director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.

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According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin following the release of Emily Hand.

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A spokesperson said: These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli government.

The ambassador also reiterated Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.

She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.
Minister for Higher Education Simon Harris, has said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand over comments made by the Taoiseach was a bit of an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

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Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped, and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Mr Cohen posted on X directed at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Minister for Further and Higher Education Simon Harris. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA.

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Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

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Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at Emily's release.

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Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Brian Lawless/PA)

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel have decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

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On Sunday, Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

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Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald (Brian Lawless/PA)

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
By Jung Da-hyun

The 2023 Seoul Big Data Forum is set to take place from Thursday to Friday and will focus on the concept of a sustainable future city through the exploration of solutions to urban challenges by using big data and cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI).

This annual international event is jointly hosted by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the University of Seoul, the Seoul Institute and the Seoul Digital Foundation. In particular, Statistics Korea joins as a special co-organizer for this year's forum.

Under the theme of Seoul Innovation Vision powered by Big Data and AI, the forum will feature insights from both domestic and international experts.

Illia Polosukhin, acclaimed author of "Attention is All You Need," a book credited with innovating large language models (LLM), will deliver a keynote speech, shedding light on the evolution of AI and big data technology.

The keynote session, preceding four main sessions, will include a presentation by Weijie Su, an associate professor of statistics and data science at the University of Pennsylvania, addressing solutions for the secure utilization of data by public institutions. Kim Yoo-won, CEO of Naver Cloud, will also present a direction and vision for the sustainable development of big data and AI technologies.

The two-day forum comprises four sessions, all centered around the common theme of "administrative innovation using big data and AI."

Discussions will encompass the history of e-government, the latest applications of big data and artificial intelligence in administrative services, strategies for implementing smart cities and future considerations around social technology and ethics, according to a city official.

"We aimed to showcase cases of urban administrative innovation through the use of big data and artificial intelligence technology through the forum. Moreover, we sought to create a platform for sharing diverse insights, spanning from technological applications to ethical considerations," stated Jeon Jong-june, a professor of statistics at the University of Seoul.

Through the 2023 Seoul Big Data Forum, the city will enhance the quality of life for its citizens through the scientific administration enabled by new digital technologies, said Kim Jin-man, an officer from the digital policy bureau at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

The forum, welcoming participants interested in big data, AI, and smart cities, offers advance registration until Wednesday at seoulbigdataforum.kr. The content will be provided in both Korean and English.

For citizens unable to attend in person, the event will be livestreamed on the forum's official YouTube channel, parallel to the offline proceedings.
The seven shortlisted finalists for the prestigious 2024 Car of the Year title are the BMW 5-series, BYD Seal, Kia EV9, Peugeot E-3008/3008, Renault Scenic, Toyota C-HR, and Volvo EX30.

The choice was made from a longlist of 28 new cars by the 59 eligible jury members from 22 countries who cast their votes in the first round and selected the shortlist.

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BYD Seal

A big talking point is the inclusion of the BYD Seal, the first time the Chinese brand has made it onto the Car of the Year shortlist, but a model that has really impressed in terms of styling, driving ability and competitive pricing. BMW also makes the list with its new 5-Series, a nomination that includes the new all-electric i5 version.

BMW 5 Series and i5

Volvos all-electric EX30 small SUV is the brands new entry-level model and will hope to follow on from the success of the XC40, which picked up the COTY title in 2018.

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Volvo EX30

Kia has won the race to deliver an all-electric seven-seat SUV to the market with its new EV9 and has pedigree in this competition, winning the 2022 title with the EV6.

Kia EV9

Toyota had a challenge this year, with two strong candidates in the running: the new Prius and the C-HR. Jury members opted for the small crossover to make the final shortlist, perhaps influenced by the fact this car is designed specifically with European buyers in mind, so honed to our tastes.

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Toyota C-HR

Renaults new all-electric Scenic is significantly different from previous models with the same moniker, delivering a sleek looking EV crossover that seeks to define a new styling direction for cars post-SUV, while also offering a touch of the roominess once associated with people carriers like the original Scenic.

Renault Scenic

Its the first model in a major product offensive by the brand, under the leadership of renowned auto executive Luca de Meo, who has steered several European brands to success.

Finally, Peugeots new 3008 crossed the line in time to make it onto the shortlist. A regular winner of the awards, the French car brand has built on the success of the previous 3008 to add a premium interior trim and an impressive all-electric powertrain to the mix. The 3008 previously won the award in 2017.
Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock knew Tier 3 restrictions would not work when he imposed them on Greater Manchester, the UK's Covid inquiry has heard.

Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, accused the UK government of administering a punishment beating on the city in late 2020, following an argument over financial support for residents who were unable to work due to the restrictions.

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Quoting from written evidence from Mr Hancock, Mr Burnham said: He says in his evidence about Tier 3, I was in despair that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work.

Andy Burnham said Manchester had been subjected to a punishment beating (UK Covid-19 Inquiry)

Mr Burnham also referred to a minute of the Covid-O committee, responsible for co-ordinating the UK governments operational response to the crisis, which he said discussed a punishment beating for Greater Manchester.

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Reading from the minute, he said: Lancashire should have a lighter set of measures imposed than Greater Manchester since they had shown a greater willingness to co-operate.

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Tougher measures should be imposed on Greater Manchester that day.

Mr Burnham added: Because we stood up for people in our city region who would otherwise have really struggled had they gone into that lockdown without the funds to help them, because we took that stand they decided to make an example of us.

Its unbelievable for me now to look at evidence saying they knew it didnt work, they knew Tier 3 didnt work.

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They knew that, but they were still going to impose it on us without enough financial support.

The tier system was introduced in October 2020 and imposed different restrictions on English regions in an effort to contain the spread of Covid-19.

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The system was, however, unable to stem infections and a month-long national lockdown was introduced in November 2020, followed by a stricter tier system in December.

Mr Burnham had argued that those unable to work because of regional restrictions should receive 80 per cent of their salary under the furlough scheme, rather than the 67 per cent suggested by the UK government.

The same Covid-O minute that Mr Burnham referred to described his behaviour during the row as appalling.

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Giving evidence to the Covid inquiry on Monday, Mr Burnham said: I have seen that minute, the Covid-O minute, and frankly its nothing short of disgraceful, the points that were made in that minute.

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He added: It wasnt me that was behaving appallingly, it was the people in that room that were behaving appallingly because they were about to impose a policy on Greater Manchester which they knew didnt work.

And thats something that Ive only now realised looking at other peoples statements to this inquiry, and it makes me angry on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester that they sat in that room and they imposed a policy that they had been advised by Sage and others would not work.

Mr Hancock himself is due to give evidence to the Covid inquiry on Thursday and Friday.
Sadiq Khan has accused the UK government of failing to keep him informed about the severity of Covid-19 in early 2020, saying lives could have been saved if he had been invited to emergency Cobra meetings.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

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He also criticised a lack of communication from the UK government, saying it was unusual that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Mr Khan told the inquiry: The government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. Im disappointed the government werent giving us information in February about what they knew then.

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He described requesting a meeting with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, on March 11th 2020, at which he was told the virus would develop into a global pandemic and London could expect really serious consequences within two or three weeks.

Mr Khan said: It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge.

On the basis of that meeting, Mr Khan said, he took the decision to cancel Londons St Patricks Day parade, but it was not until he was finally invited to a meeting of the UK governments emergency Cobra committee on March 16th that he understood the full extent of the crisis.

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In a witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Mr Khan said: I remember that the PM referred to the need for draconian measures and said the country would not have faced anything like it since the Second World War.

I simply could not understand why, particularly given the increasing severity of the outbreak in London and my repeated requests to attend previous (Cobra) meetings in order to be kept informed, this information was only being shared with me at this stage.

I was both deeply worried and furious that London had not been involved in conversations until this point.

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Giving evidence on Monday, he added: In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.

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Sadiq Khan said he could have lobbied the UK prime minister more effectively if he had been invited to Cobra meetings Photo: UK Covid-19 Inquiry.

Asked by inquiry chairperson Baroness Heather Hallett what more he could have done if the UK government had told him what was happening earlier, he said: Some of the things that happened subsequently.

So it was me that lobbied the prime minister to go to lockdown, it was me that lobbied the prime minister in relation to the inability to keep social distance on public transport, so people shouldnt be using public transport unless they had to.

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A further meeting with Boris Johnson in Downing Street followed on March 19th, at which Mr Khan claimed the then-prime minister had shown a lack of awareness about what was happening in other countries.

He said: The prime minister wasnt aware that in other parts of the world they had lockdowns in place and fines could be issued if you breached the lockdown.

I was surprised he wasnt aware of that in relation to what was happening elsewhere.

Mr Khan said he felt that the UKs advantage in being able to see what was happening in the rest of the world wasnt being used.

He went on to say that Mr Johnson agreed to stage a press conference with him later that day, announcing the need for restrictions in London, but later cancelled this so it could be discussed at Cobra the next day and because of the impact such an announcement might have on the financial markets.

Mr Khan said: I couldnt disagree with him saying the impact on the markets and so forth, my frustration (was) a further 24 hours of this virus spreading. What impact would that have on the financial markets, on our productivity and so forth?

The inquiry is expected to hear from Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, later on Monday, before hearing from a number of other senior figures throughout the week.

Former UK health secretary Matt Hancock is due to give evidence on Thursday and Friday, after the inquiry has heard from former UK deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and communities secretary Michael Gove.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their ceasefire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel on Monday night in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began on Friday and had been due to run out.

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Israels prison service said early on Tuesday that it was releasing 33 Palestinian prisoners as part of the ceasefire deal. The prisoners were heading to the West Bank.

The deal for two additional days of ceasefire, announced by Qatar, raises hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza.



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Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

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Israel has said it would extend the ceasefire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

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But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamass military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its October 7 attack into southern Israel.

That would probably mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Mondays releases bring to 50 the number of Israelis freed under the truce, along with 19 hostages of other nationalities.

So far, 117 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prison.

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After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.



Abigail Edan, centre, who returned on Sunday night to Israel, with her aunt Liron and her uncle Zuli (Spokespersons Office, Schneider Childrens Medical Center via AP)

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a four-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released on Sunday, said in a statement.

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Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the ceasefire for two-and-a-half weeks.

But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.

The newly released hostages included women and children  including three-year-old twin girls and their mother  from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit in Hamass October 7 attack.

The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in captivity, including the father of the twins.

The Israeli military said late on Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel before being reunited with their families.

Most of the hostages freed so far have appeared to be physically well.

But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released on Sunday, was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Centre in a life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.



(PA Graphics)

Ms Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital.

Ms Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Ms Amano said she told her of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

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Ms Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Ms Amano said on Monday.

So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals.

Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm labourers.

France said three of the hostages released on Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old.

The French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian prisoners released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less serious offences.

Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.



Humanitarian aid trucks arrive in Rafah, Gaza Strip (Hatem Ali/AP)

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight.

One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together.

Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

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In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.

We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages, Mr Kirby told reporters.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.

At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.
Rishi Sunak agreed to increase the salary threshold for migrant workers to 40,000 as part of a leadership contest deal agreed with Suella Braverman, it has been reported.

The Daily Telegraph said it had seen a copy of the deal, which saw the British prime minister agree to a four-point migration plan with Mrs Braverman.

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The claim comes after the former home secretary, in a scathing letter following her sacking, said she had struck a deal with Mr Sunak that saw her agree to serve in his Cabinet because of firm assurances he gave her on key policy priorities.

She said they included a commitment to reduce net migration into Britain and efforts to tackle international blocks on deporting those who arrive across the English Channel via small boats.

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Downing Street earlier this month rejected the former home secretarys characterisation of a secret pact allegedly being reached, but did confirm the pair had been discussing policy prior to her appointment.

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According to the paper, Mr Sunak agreed also to close down the graduate visa route while restricting dependents who migrants can bring and prioritising Russell Group university applicants in visa applications.

The claims emerged as Mr Sunak comes under pressure from his own MPs to bring down net migration after it reached record levels.

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Many also want swift action to rescue the Rwanda asylum plan after the Supreme Court defeat earlier this month.

The net migration figure peaked at 745,000 in the year to December 2022, according to revised estimates published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Thursday.

The data places migration levels at three times higher than before Brexit.

British Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is understood to have worked up a plan designed to appease calls from right-wing Tories for the British government to take action.

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Mrs Bravermans replacement as Home Secretary, James Cleverly, is expected to give a statement on net migration levels when he takes questions in the Commons on Monday.

The newspaper cites sources close to the Fareham MP who say that, while not signed by Mr Sunak, the deal was verbally agreed on several occasions and that he left a meeting with a physical copy of a document.

In her letter, Mrs Braverman told Mr Sunak: Our deal was no mere promise over dinner, to be discarded when convenient and denied when challenged.

In an interview with the Mail on Sunday, Mr Sunak played down the claim that Mrs Braverman had struck a deal with him last year.

Of course you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella, Mr Sunak said.

Asked about whether she could produce proof of a deal, he said: Thats a question for her. Im getting on with actually delivering things.
Far-right figure Tommy Robinson has been charged with a criminal offence in the UK after allegedly refusing to leave a march against antisemitism in London at the weekend.

London's Metropolitan Police said the 40-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is accused of failing to comply with a direction to leave an area and will appear in court on January 22nd.

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Robinson was arrested near the Royal Courts of Justice in London, from where the demonstration began on Sunday, after organisers said he would not be welcome at the event.

Police said on Monday: A man has now been charged in connection with this incident.

Stephen Lennon, of Bedfordshire, has been charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.

He has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on January 22nd.

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A man has now been charged in connection with this incident.



Stephen Lennon, of Bedfordshire, has been charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.



He has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 22 January.  Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 27, 2023

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Officers sprayed Robinson with synthetic pepper spray and handcuffed him as he was arrested at the event.

He uploaded a video of himself with partially closed eyes to social media after the confrontation.

Other footage of him arguing with police officers was also posted on his X account, with Robinson claiming to be present as a journalist at the march.

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Following his release from custody, he claimed that bail conditions preventing him from entering London or taking part in protests were a blatant abuse of my human rights.
Energy producer AGL says its confident there wont be power outages over the months ahead as it fast-tracks preventative maintenance on its fleet of coal, gas and hydro generators ahead of an expected long, hot summer with high bushfire risk.

AGL chief operating officer Markus Brokhof said the power generator had prioritised $1 billion in maintenance and capital expenditure over the year to prepare for peak energy loads from mid-January when households switch on air-conditioners as the mercury rises and summer heat sets in.

AGLs ageing Loy Yang coal fired power station. Credit: Paul Jones

Theres most probably a lot of baseload generation available in the national energy market because everybody should have done a proper job with regard to summer readiness, Brokhof said. Im more confident than maybe a year ago. We have prepared further maintenance strategies to get our availability high.

Australians will need as much reliable power as we can get in coming months to combat heatwaves from the forecast El Nino phase. As well as sapping the grid, hot and dry weather raises the risks of bushfires damaging power lines and interrupting electricity supplies.
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In Brent Harris surreal painting I Weep My Mothers Breasts (1996) two identical young men shed pendulous tears that end in nipples. Magic realism comes to mind: a Diego Rivera painting or a self-portrait by Frida Kahlo. Yet Harris title is both numbly straightforward and startlingly vulnerable in its autobiographical declaration; the portrait of the artist as a young boy confronting himself and his past in an imaginary mirror.

The New Zealand-born artist tells me about an incident that occurred when he was eight years old: We were driving home from a pleasant day at the beach in this old Austin A70 with a bench seat. I was just nestling into my mother. And my father grabbed me and dragged me off, really aggressive and bellowed at my mother isnt he too old for that now!

From that minute, I had very little physical affection from my mother. She withdrew. Her body became distant to me. The same with my sisters. She showed little physical affection with them. But my father was completely dominant. My mother had to follow the rules.

Brent Harris in his Collingwod studio. Credit: Penny Stephens

So far, so 1950s. But underlying the scene of repressed affections is something far more disturbing. At the same time his father was asserting appropriate rules of tenderness he was abusing his children, Harris says.

The figurative painting is one of Harris most explicit images. As a major retrospective and monograph of his four-decade career reveals, much of his work is ambiguous, amorphous and metaphoric. While his style has undergone dramatic shifts over the years, two central themes preoccupy him, writes curator Maria Zagala in the accompanying monograph: his relationship to death and the psychic inheritance from his family of origin.

[Art] is probably cathartic, admits the 67-year-old. But I dont go at it because I want to work out a problem. Its more playful than that. Even just taking things to absurd figuration is of interest.
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The setting on Melbournes fringe feels like a tropical hideaway, the perfect backdrop for Babajis coastal cuisine.

As featured in the December hit list. See all stories .

Babajis Kerala Kitchen, a restaurant that blossomed from a market stall to become a hatted south Indian restaurant in Belgrave, has opened a second location that might just be its spiritual home.

Against a backdrop of mountains, forest and river in Warburton, the setting feels exactly like the mountains of Kerala, says co-owner Billy Crombie, whose husband Max Kamil Hossan hails from the southern Indian state and proudly serves the food he grew up with.

Sadhya, a traditional dish of 12 different elements served on a banana leaf. Hugh Davison

Ive tried to tie the nature of Warburton in with the nature of Kerala, says Crombie.

The couples first restaurant in Belgrave has slowly built a following of Keralans missing the flavours of coconut milk, seafood and curry leaves, and non-Indians who relish the chance to try a different strand of the countrys cuisine.
Tensions have erupted in federal parliament over workplace protections for first responders and domestic violence survivors.

Independent senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock pulled off a rare parliamentary tactic as they tried to force the changes through before Christmas.

The pair plucked four elements from Labors proposed industrial laws, which cleared the upper house against the governments wishes.

Labor has fought against splitting the bill, which also contains changes to gig economy work and labour hire rules.

An emotional Senator Lambie chastised Employment Minister Tony Burke for not passing the four reforms in the lower house.

One amendment would give emergency workers easier access to compensation for post-traumatic stress, while another would protect domestic and family violence victims from discrimination at work.

We want these protections in place by Christmas and there was not one damn reason why they shouldnt be, Senator Lambie told parliament on Tuesday.

She said the government was using the four measures to hold the cross bench hostage over its broader legislation, which the opposition and business groups did not support.

Were about to come into a fire season, were going to be heavily relying on first responders, Senator Lambie said.

You dont want to give them some relief before Christmas time so they can stop fighting a bureaucratic system that ... not only destroys you as a person, but destroy your family and those around you.

This is beyond a joke and you should be ashamed of yourself.

The two senators pushed for a conference between the two houses of parliament, which was last attempted in 1950 and hasnt succeeded since 1932.

A conference brings together delegates from both chambers to thrash out an agreement.

The motion passed the Senate 32 votes to 30, with the coalition and crossbench in support and government and Greens against.

Mr Burke is pushing ahead with amendments to the wider bill in the lower house, despite it not being able to pass the Senate until at least February because a committee is examining it.

If the four independent amendments pass the lower house, they could take effect on January 1.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

AAP
Critics concerned about intelligence void amid intensifying security threats

By Jung Min-ho

After returning from an overseas trip on Sunday, the first thing President Yoon Suk Yeol did was to accept the resignations of the chief of the National Intelligence Agency (NIS) and his two deputies. Yet given the deep, long-running tensions between top agents over the past year, few believe their departure was voluntary.

Despite rising security threats from North Korea, which claims to have successfully launched its first reconnaissance satellite last week, Yoon took the risk of leaving the spy agencys top post  held by Director Kim Kyou-hyun  empty for the time being. Meanwhile, Hong Jang-won and Hwang Won-jin, veteran NIS agents, replaced Kwon Chun-taek and Kim Soo-youn as first and second deputy directors, respectively.

Speaking to The Korea Times on Monday, insiders refused to disclose details of how the infighting and feud within the NIS started and apparently aggravated under Kims watch. But one said the bone of contention had nothing to do with ideological differences suspected by some.

Conflicts over personnel affairs are known to have largely caused and deepened the division among NIS leaders  particularly between Kim, a former vice foreign minister who became the first NIS director under Yoon, and Kwon.

Their discord was first exposed when Cho Sang-joon, a former prosecutor known as a close associate of Yoon, stepped down as the head of planning and coordination at the agency in October 2022, just four months after assuming the post. This came a month after some 20 high-level agents left the organization.

That issue was immediately thrust into the media spotlight. For an organization that regards secrecy as a necessary virtue, this was an embarrassment for the director. After a while, however, his leadership appeared to stabilize  but not for long.

In June, the appointments of top agents, a list approved by Kim and Yoon, were revoked due to some of the problematic officials included. This put the director back in a bind. There was speculation that a former NIS agent close to Kim exerted significant influence over the promotion process.

Although it is difficult to a get a full picture of what was going on within the NIS because of its secretive nature, it looks bad that its personnel affairs keep appearing in media reports, Ma Sang-yoon, a professor of political science at the Catholic University of Korea, said.

Speaking to reporters, Rep. Park Seong-jun, a spokesman for the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, expressed concern over the leadership void at the NIS as North Korea ratchets up tensions near the inter-Korean border, vowing to dispatch more soldiers and new weapons to the area. Pyongyang made the decision after declaring the termination of a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement in response to Seouls partial suspension of the accord.

Void of intelligence would lead to void of security, which forces us to raise questions over why President Yoon is risking it, he said.

The presidential office said in a statement that the director played a key role in repairing the tarnished reputation of the NIS and reinforcing its intelligence networks with allies and other friendly countries.

The office is now searching for a successor. Kim Sook, former first deputy director, and Kim Yong-hyun, head of the presidential security service, are known to be among the candidates under consideration. Meanwhile, Hong, the current first deputy director, will serve as acting director at the spy agency.
He came in really, really agitated  lost the plot and was accusing me of being with a person down at the hotel  not true  picked up a samurai sword, taking it out of its sheath, and started waving it around, says Nicholls, a 62-year-old factory worker who loves collecting antiques, including the three decorative swords. He brought it down to my head, [and] I put my arm up instinctively. She believes that, if I hadnt put my arm up to block the first blow, I would have had my throat cut  it was one or the other. Thousands of people participated in the Walk Against Family Violence in the Melbourne CBD on Friday. Credit: Luis Ascui I jumped out of bed, went to my bathroom, grabbed a towel and wrapped my arm up and said, Ive got to get to hospital, Im in trouble here. He said, no grabbed me by the hair, brought me back and said to me, Im going to cut your f---ing head off, and Ill do the 25 years. Nicholls says she is grateful for training she received when working in security, as it meant she knew she needed to try to stay calm. But it did not help her get out of the house.

I said, Ive got to go to hospital, and he just wouldnt let me leave. Hes 67, says the grandmother of 10. He just got in my face, had his teeth on my cheek  as he was speaking, his teeth were gnashing on my face, he said I wasnt going to hospital, I could just bleed. The next step is  we ring the undertaker. There doesnt seem to be any middle ground: they dont take it seriously unless youre dead. Helen Nicholls, family violence victim-survivor, He then suggested he could fix the wound, to which Nicholls agreed, and when he went for the first aid kit she grabbed the keys and ran. She went to Rye police station, which was unattended, called police and ambulance services for help and was taken to hospital. On the day of the court case, Nicholls says she was assured her perpetrator would be in custody for some time, even though she did not feel she could cope with what she had been warned would be an aggressive cross-examination that was necessary to pursue a further charge of deprivation of liberty.

I said, Im not going to get up there and have to relive this again, and then get told that I brought it on, deserved it, or whatever, thats just so wrong. The perpetrator was released on a community corrections order, having already served four months in prison. Nicholls says this left her feeling dismayed and let down by a system she believed would offer heavier consequences for offenders, and more protection for victim-survivors. Helen Nicholls says she no longer feels safe outside her home. Credit: Simon Schluter The court has actually made me angrier than [the perpetrator] did, she says. Hes my [now former] husband and hes supposed to protect me, but when that fails, the only step youve got is the court to protect you: they say theyre going to send a message, and then they do nothing. The next step from there is, we ring the undertaker. There doesnt seem to be any middle ground: they dont take it seriously unless youre dead  and there was another lady killed in South Australia yesterday  nothings changing.

I seriously realise now that its all about the perpetrator, it [the justice system] has got nothing to do with the victim, it really doesnt. As thousands took to the streets on Friday in the 2023 March Against Family Violence, Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, board chair of Victorias family violence primary prevention agency, Respect Victoria, said victim-survivors should not be facing a justice system that fails to secure their safety and retraumatises them. Many victims feel they cant safely give evidence and be cross examined and thats an example of the system  failing to provide justice. Fiona McCormack, Victorian Victims of Crime Commissioner The justice system was made by men and for men, and all too often survivor accounts tell us, continues to serve the interests of men, Fitz-Gibbon said. The evidence has long told us that all too often the justice system is traumatising and can leave women in fear of further violence once court proceedings are finished. If we are to achieve effective legal system responses to violence against women then we need to reexamine our laws and policies  and how they are interpreted and applied by those in power.

It takes victim-survivors immense courage to report to police and navigate the legal systems, Fitz-Gibbon said, and despite significant efforts, systemic inequalities persist. Loading Victims of Crime Commissioner Fiona McCormack said many victims felt they could not safely give evidence and be cross-examined. I have heard time and time again that victims are being further traumatised by a system which makes them feel unsafe, unheard, and unprotected from people who terrify them, she said. Ive heard of too many cases where authorities failed to act on not one, but several red flags, and it is time agencies started talking to each other in real time, so things dont fall through the cracks. Its incredibly frustrating that urgent changes arent being made when peoples lives and wellbeing are at risk.
The grieving sister of a gunman who plunged Merredin into lockdown on October 21 before turning the weapon on himself has apologised to his victims but believes her brother was also a victim.

Speaking to 9 News Perth Jessica Sexton threw her support behind the West Australian governments gun reforms but has party blamed WAs mental health system.

She said her 31-year-old brother Nathan Sexton couldnt get the mental health help he needed.

Hes not a monster, hes a good person...I wish I could help him, I just want it to be a bad dream, she said. I just wonder what was going through his head. How down and out he was feeling.
The federal parliament should be significantly expanded by up to 49 extra MPs to ensure the electoral system delivers one vote, one value for every Australian, according to a new committee report on electoral reform.

And Australias two mainland territories should each have twice the number of senators in federal parliament, under changes proposed in the joint standing committee on electoral matters report into the 2022 election.

Special Minister of State Don Farrell. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

It also backs slashing to $1000 the threshold at which political donations are made public, up from the current level of $16,300. Donation details would be made in real time rather than more than a year after an election.

The committee received a range of submissions that argued for the number of seats in the lower house to be increased from 151 to either 175 or 200, while senate seats for states would rise to as many as 16, up from 12.
The NSW oppositions shadow cabinet has backed the Minns governments push to extend the term of Racing NSW chair Russell Balding, which will give him an unprecedented 14 years on the board.

The decision to extend Baldings tenure, for what will be the third time, caused division in the Coalition, with some Liberals expressing concerns about governance issues with his reappointment.

Russell Balding will be given two more years at the top of Racing NSW. Credit: Jessica Hromas

However, a senior frontbencher who cannot speak publicly because it would breach shadow cabinet rules, said the Coalition would support Labors bill on the condition that there would be amendments to improve the governance of future appointments of Racing NSW.

Labors bill will extend Baldings position for a further two years.
A clinical review is under way into the death of a newborn baby at a Queensland hospital after concerns were raised by the parents.

The baby girl died just hours after being born at Redcliffe hospital north of Brisbane in September.

Parents Meg and James Flaskett  aged 21 and 22  have told media their baby daughter Thea died after staff did not take their concerns seriously.

I still think if they listened to me [about concerns] ... that things couldve been different, Flaskett said.
Liberty Financial has successfully priced its 79th term securitisation, the $1.25 billion Liberty Series 2023-4 RMBS issue, marking its 51st securities-backed portfolio of residential mortgages.

In response to robust investor demand across all tranches, the transaction was upsized from the initial $750 million to A$1.25bn. The Commonwealth Bank acted as the sole arranger and joint lead manager, alongside BofA Securities, Deutsche Bank, NAB, and Westpac Banking Corporation.

The transaction includes $1.25bn of notes rated by Moodys Investors Service and Fitch Ratings (AAA notes only).

The Class A1 notes, totaling $937.5m, are rated Aaa(sf)/AAAsf with a weighted average life of approximately 1.6 years, priced at a margin of 150 basis points over one-month BBSW.

The Class A2 notes, amounting to $220m, are rated Aaa(sf)/AAAsf with a weighted average life of about 3.3 years, priced at a margin of 195bp over one-month BBSW.

The issue also includes Class B, C, D, E, and F notes with undisclosed ratings.

The pool of residential mortgages carries a weighted average LVR of 63% and is seasoned at 16 months. The settlement for the Liberty Series 2023-4 transaction is set for Dec. 5.

Peter Riedel (pictured above), Libertys CFO, expressed gratitude for the investor support.

Liberty is a leader in providing households and small businesses with the freedom to choose from a wide range of products and services to meet their financial needs, Riedel said in a media release. We are grateful for the support investors have extended to our business.

Liberty holds a strong rating from Standard & Poors for servicing prime and non-prime residential mortgages, commercial mortgages, and auto loans. As Australias only investment-grade rated non-bank issuer (BBB-, outlook positive by S&P), Liberty maintains an unblemished capital markets record with no ratings downgrades or charge-offs in its securitization program's history.

Get the hottest and freshest mortgage news delivered right into your inbox. Subscribe now to our FREE daily newsletter.
Queensland mortgage and property industry experts are urging the state government to prioritise stamp duty reform over other housing initiatives that they say do nothing to alleviate the pressure on the housing market.

The Sunshine States first home concession currently applies to a home valued under $550,000 with no stamp duty paid for residences under $500,000.

However, the median dwelling value for Brisbane is over $770,000 for November, according to CoreLogic data.

The calls come after the Queensland government doubled the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) to $30,000 when building or purchasing a new home despite many new builds costing well-above the $750,000 threshold.

The stamp duty concession is also unusable in todays market in Queensland at $500,000, said Alex Gee (pictured far left), director of Brisbane-based brokerage Kingfisher Finance Group.

It also needs to be realigned to NSW, where a full exemption from transfer duty will be available if you are buying a new or existing home valued up to $800,000, while homes valued over $800,000 and less than $1,000,000 may qualify for a concessional rate, Gee said.

Why should a first home buyer north of the Tweed pay $25,000 in stamp duty, but $0 a few kilometres down the road in NSW?

Stamp duty: Top revenue generator for states and territories

Far from a Queensland issue, stamp duty has been a crucial revenue generator for all states and territories for decades.

In the 2021-22 financial year, state governments collected a total of $35.7 billion from stamp duty, with tax rates ranging from 4.5% to 6.5% of the purchase price.

Queensland's stamp duty revenue reached $13.1 billion for the year ending June 2022, with a rate of 5.75%. While this rate is not the highest among Australian states, with Victorias current rate at 6.5% (though this will change in 2024), Queensland's stamp duty revenue has experienced a significant 108% increase over the past decade.

So, for Simon Pressley (pictured above centre left), director of Brisbane-based buyers agency Propertyology, the Queensland governments plan to provide a cost of living boost for first home buyers came across as disingenuous.

How can they pretend to care about housing while charging each buyer of Queensland real estate tens of thousands of dollars per pop? said Pressley. How can they pretend to care about social housing when theyve only added a miserable 6,000 homes over the last 15 years, including building zero since 2021? Pressley said.

One in every three households depend on rental accommodation. How can they keep pretending to care about having enough supply and containing rent prices when they continually tax and legislate against the very people who the community desperately depends upon to add more supply?

Does the First Home Owner Grant fix the housing issue?

For some brokers in Queensland such as Home Loan Experts senior mortgage broker Jonathan Preston (pictured above centre right), the governments boost to the First Home Owners grant was a welcome move.

Preston said the Queensland market was already pretty warm, but a larger FHOG always helped.

It is definitely good for both first home buyers and people who already own property in Queensland, Preston said. Its pretty useful. Queensland prices are more modest so this will help a lot of people struggling with deposits, as long as they can meet the current harsh serviceability requirements.

For someone taking out the grant, if they have some savings and are trying to save more, this can bring forward their purchase. It will help a lot with the deposit for, say, properties in the range of $400,000 to $600,000.

Still, the governments intentions were far from altruistic, apparently pursued due to political reasons, according to Preston.

Home Loan Experts CEO Alan Hemmings agreed, saying any increase to FHOG is good. However, he is not sure of the size the benefit unless there is a huge increase in new homes coming online in the time period.

There is a window of opportunity for first home buyers, as it does run to June 2025. Giving buyers time to find the right property and get it built, Preston said. I think it is more an election ploy than anything else. The government will be able to say they have supported first home buyers without necessarily fixing the issue  supply.

Why first home buyers shouldnt be punished

Gordon MacVicar (pictured above far right), director of Mortgage Choice Peregian Beach and Noosaville on the Sunshine Coast, agreed that stamp duty needed to be addressed first as it was one the biggest barriers for first home buyers.

We need wholesale stamp duty change for first home buyers for land and purchases, said MacVicar. It would get more homebuyers in the market as it wont punish people who live in cities and regional centres.

As an example, MacVicar imagined a first home buyer who has the First Home Guarantee (FHG), and they want to purchase for $700,000 in Queensland. For them to purchase at 95% LVR, they would need over $57,000 in deposit.

Of that figure, they are paying around $21,000 in stamp duty and other government costs.

If youre a first home buyer family, saving $35,000 is a fantastic effort in todays economy. But you need to save an extra $21,000 to pay the government costs? MacVicar said.

Now imagine the family missed out on the FHG, they would have to spend another $22,000 on LMI  thats around $43,000 in total costs, more than the 5% deposit of $35,000. Its the biggest rort going.

What do you think about Queenslands First Home Owner Grant and stamp duty policies? Comment below.
By Emanuel Pastreich

If Koreans rise to the demands of this historic moment and see the current weakening of institutions in both the North and South as an opportunity for profound institutional innovation that is in the long-term interests of citizens, and then draft an inspiring constitution for a unified Korean Peninsula, the next step, logically, will be to convince the Korean people of the authority, legitimacy and wisdom of this brave proposal for a unified nation.

Only if an effective movement that highlights the historical inevitability of the constitution is launched will Koreans be able to embrace the constitution for unification wholeheartedly, thus giving it the organic vitality necessary to make that constitution more than words, but a living law of the people.

The final step after a constitutional convention should the promulgation of a series of Unification Papers, powerful writings and speeches by thoughtful Koreans that bring home the abstract language of the constitution for all Koreans and make it real.

In a sense, those Unification Papers will be a speech act, an expression in words that has an absolute transformative effect. One example of a speech act is when a celebrant presiding at a wedding states, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Those simple words change utterly the relationship between the two individuals involved.

The Unification Papers drafted in powerful language, perhaps even a new Korean language that brings together the language of North and South, will serve to transform the Koreans, and the Korean nation, by their promulgation and acceptance.

The concept of Unification Papers draws inspiration from the United States Federalist Papers, a series of 85 essays written by three of the most articulate advocates for constitutional governance in the United States  Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay (who contributed only six essays)  that address a wide range of institutional and ethical concerns relating to the establishment of a new nation. The Federalist Papers stimulated at the time a rational and scientific discussion on the nations future among committed citizens that led to the natural and effective adoption of the Constitution by all thirteen state legislatures.

Ratification of the Constitution in the United States became a movement of great intensity.

The power of the writing in the Federalist Papers made possible the broad acceptance of this vision for a new nation, despite considerable differences of perspective at the time. Without the Federalist Papers, the Constitution would have just been a beautifully written document that was detached from the actual governance of the nation.

In the Korean case also, the drafting of a Constitution for a united Korea must be followed up on with a similar series of essays, speeches, television broadcasts and social media discussions involving Koreans with deep insights on Koreas past and future from North and South, and from around the world, that engage citizens and permit for the formation of a strong consensus concerning the concrete aspects of unification.

It is important to stress that because the Constitution defines what a nation is, and what it is not, it, therefore, cannot be created by elections, by charismatic politicians or by public opinion polls. It demands a small group of responsible and accountable individuals who have the bravery and the tenacity to engage in an honest assessment of what is required for governance, and to write it up in the most powerful and elegant language.

If Koreans can launch this process, there is a real possibility that the free and democratic Korean republic that emerges will become a model to inspire the world and that will encourage a return to true constitutional governance in Japan, China and even the United States.

Preston Moon has advocated a mass movement among the Korean people for unification that includes all citizens and inspires a new vision, starting with the assumption that if many share the same dream, it will become, perforce, a reality. That is precisely the model for the "Unification Papers."

The "Unification Papers" can be a chance for intense discussions between youth, ordinary citizens, professors, businessmen, politicians, and Koreans from every walk of life. The more that Koreans write about the value of the constitution of a united Korea, the more real it will become in their minds and hearts, and the more concrete it will become in the institutions and practices of Korea.

Emanuel Pastreich is president of the Asia Society, a researcher at the Council on East Asian Studies, Yale University and a senior fellow at Global Peace Foundation. The views expressed in the above article are the author's own and do not reflect the editorial direction of The Korea Times.
In commodity markets oil was weak for a third day amid anxiety about a rise in supply after talks among producers collapsed this week. Brent futures were last down 0.5% at $73.09 a barrel and U.S. crude fell 0.6%. (Photo: Reuters / Ramzi Boudina)

Reports citing OPEC+ representatives revealed on November 27 that Saudi Arabia, the de facto leader of OPEC+, is urging other oil-producing nations in the group to reduce their oil production quotas to stabilize the global market. However, this proposal is not receiving unanimous support from all member countries.

Following this news, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures saw an intraday increase of over 0.6%, reaching a daily high of $76.16, while Brent crude futures rose by 0.5%, peaking at $81.14. Nevertheless, oil prices later fell, with WTI January crude futures closing down at $74.86 per barrel, a 0.90% decrease, equivalent to a $0.68 drop.

Since July this year, Saudi Arabia has unilaterally slashed its oil supply by 1 million barrels per day and is now seeking further support from its allies. However, the negotiation process is proving to be challenging and difficult to coordinate. This difficulty led OPEC+ to postpone its November meeting by four days to November 30 and switch from an in-person meeting in Vienna to a virtual one, a move that initially caused a significant drop in the oil market.

The main point of contention lies with African oil-producing countries within OPEC+, particularly in Nigeria and Angola, where there are obstacles regarding production quotas. Insiders revealed that over the past weekend, the oil-producing nations were nearing a compromise on this issue, but as of Monday, a final agreement had not been reached.

It remains unclear whether the United Arab Emirates, another significant oil-producing country in OPEC+, is facing pressure to abandon its plans to increase production. The UAE had been granted a slight increase in production at the OPEC+ meeting in June, allowing it to boost its capacity by 200,000 barrels per day starting from January next year to utilize its new production investments.

Analysts from the Eurasia Group stated in their latest report that given the weak fundamentals and bearish market sentiment, OPEC+ might need to announce another formal production cut. If the additional daily reduction is less than 1 million barrels, the current oil price, which is hovering around $80 per barrel, could face downward risks, potentially dropping to near $75 or just slightly over $70. OPEC+ might not want to take this risk, especially considering the seemingly weak market in the first half of 2024.

The final outcome largely depends on whether Saudi Arabia is willing to bear the largest share of any new production cuts. The delay of the OPEC+ meeting indicates that managing the market has become more challenging in the short term, particularly as it raises questions about the group's cohesion.

Banks like JPMorgan Chase anticipate that OPEC+ might proceed with further production cuts.

Over the past two months, oil prices have cumulatively fallen by 17%, increasing the pressure on OPEC+ to intervene in the market. Early next year, the crude oil market might weaken further, with institutions including the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicting a new surplus in oil supply.
Sembcorp Industries on Monday announced that it has signed two separate agreements to acquire 428 MW of wind power assets in China and India for 200 million Singaporean dollar (about Rs 1,247 crore).

The Singaporean energy company, backed by state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte, will acquire 228 MW of operational wind power assets of Leap Green Energy Pvt Ltd for 70 million Singaporean dollar and 200 MW of Qinzhou Yuanneng for 130 million Singaporean dollar, the firm said in a statement.

Sembcorp has been operating in India for more than 12 years, with a presence across 18 states. With this acquisition, the company now has a balanced portfolio of 3.7 GW of renewable assets, comprising 2.25 GW of wind and 1.45 GW of solar assets. Last year, it announced the acquisition of Vector Green to add 583 MW of renewable assets in India.

"Sembcorp's wholly-owned subsidiary, Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai) Holding Co Ltd has signed an agreement with Envision Energy Co Ltd to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital in Qinzhou Yuanneng Wind Power Co Ltd (Qinzhou Yuanneng) for an equity consideration of approximately 130 million Singaporean dollar. Qinzhou Yuanneng owns 200MW of operational wind assets in Guangxi, China," the statement said.

Separately, its "wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Infra Wind Energy Limited (GIWEL), has signed an agreement with Leap Green Energy Private Limited (Leap Green Energy), an independent power producer in Tamil Nadu, India. Under the agreement, GIWEL will acquire from Leap Green Energy, 100 per cent of the share capital in two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for an equity consideration of approximately 70 million Singaporean dollars. The SPVs own 228MW of operational wind assets in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, India," it said.

Sembcorp has signed agreements to secure 673MW of renewables capacity since it announced its 2028 target to achieve 25GW of gross installed renewables capacity.

This includes the proposed acquisition of 245MW of renewables assets in Vietnam, announced on November 10, 2023. Upon completion of these acquisitions, Sembcorp's gross renewables capacity will reach 12.6 GW globally.

"The acquisitions will be funded through a mix of internal cash resources and external funding, and are expected to be completed by the first half of 2024, subject to fulfilment of applicable conditions precedent in each case, including regulatory approvals," the statement said on the buyouts announced on Monday.

Also Read Inox Wind gets 150 MW wind energy project from NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd Denmark announces 'Wind Alliance India' to boost net neutrality efforts Suzlon secure 100.8 MW wind energy project deal from Everrenew Energy Suzlon bags 31.5-MW wind energy project from Integrum Energy Infrastructure Asiad 2023 India vs China football highlights: China thrashes India 5-1 After Air India, IndiGo launches AI-powered chat assistant for customers Indian GCCs increasingly emerge as a hub for global leadership roles Ganga Realty plans over Rs 1,000 cr investment on Gurugram housing project Not involved in collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel's construction: Adani Group Blue Dart Express launches 40 new franchisees, company-owned retail outlets

These acquisitions are in the ordinary course of business and will not have a material impact on the earnings per share, and net tangible assets per share of Sembcorp for the financial year ending December 31, 2023, it added.

Sembcorp is a leading energy and urban solutions provider, holding a balanced energy portfolio of 20.1GW, with 12.6GW of gross renewable energy capacity comprising solar, wind and energy storage globally. The company also has a proven track record of transforming raw land into sustainable urban developments, with a project portfolio spanning over 14,000 hectares across Asia.

Sembcorp is listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange.
In a stern message on maintaining sanctity of the poll code, the Election Commission on Monday withdrew permission to the Telangana government to distribute financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme after a state minister violated the code by going public about it.

Assembly elections in Telangana will be held on November 30 and results announced on December 3.

The poll panel had given its nod to the state government to disburse the rabi installment during the model code of conduct period on certain conditions, and had asked it not to publicise the disbursement.

The Congress slammed the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) over the Election Commission's (EC) withdrawal of permission, alleging it was a result of the irresponsible and self-serving approach of the K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR)-led party.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and (minister) Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the EC has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu installments.

The money is the right of farmers and it is what they deserve for their year-long hardwork, he said.

Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana, Venugopal said.

The ruling BRS in Telangana, on the other hand, slammed the Congress for lodging a complaint with the EC urging it to stop the state government's proposal to make payment to the beneficiaries.

BRS MLC K Kavitha blamed "dirty politics" of the Congress. She also said the scheme is not an election promise and an ongoing one.

She told PTI that the Congress is to be blamed for the delay in payment to the farmers.

After the state finance minister made a public announcement about the release of disbursements of rabi instalments, the poll panel asked the chief electoral officer to convey its decision on withdrawal of permission.

It also sought a compliance report from the state government by 3 pm on Monday.

"The commission has observed that T Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath and Family Welfare, Govt of Telangana ... has not only violated the provisions of MCC (model code of conduct)... but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process," the EC letter to the state chief electoral officer read.

Harish Rao had reportedly said, "The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account."



In the letter, the commission "directed that the permission granted vide its letter dated November 25, 2023, for disbursement of rabi season instalment under the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme during currency of MCC, shall stand withdrawn immediately and there shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the model code of conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its form".

The 'no objection' was granted, based on the premise that the scheme is an ongoing scheme and rabi instalments were disbursed during October-January in the past five years, the EC pointed out.
The two-day Punjab Assembly session, which begins on Tuesday, is likely to be a stormy affair with the opposition parties trying to corner the AAP government over several issues, including law and order, illegal sand mining and the state's debt.

During the session, the Bhagwant Mann government will table three Money Bills - the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (Amendment) Bill, 2023, the Punjab Goods and Services Tax (Amendment) Bill, 2023, and the Indian Stamp (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2023.

Another Bill, the Punjab Canal and Drainage Bill, 2023, is also likely to be tabled in the House. The Bill aims to regulate and manage canals and drainage in the state.

The session will start with obituary references on Tuesday, said officials.

Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit had summoned the two-day session of the state Assembly.

The opposition parties have slammed the AAP government for holding the session for a short duration.

When the last session ended abruptly, the chief minister assured that in the next session in November, enough time will be given to the opposition to discuss the issues of Punjab, said Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa.

I want to ask the CM why he was scared, said Bajwa.

The present government has a lot to hide, the Congress leader alleged as he slammed the AAP government for calling the session just for two days.

Though they have 92 MLAs in the House, they do not have the strength to face the opposition, said Bajwa while speaking to reporters in Chandigarh.

When AAP was in the opposition, it used to raise a "hue and cry" that not enough time was given to the opposition in the House, he said, demanding at least 10 sittings of the House for a detailed discussion.

Bajwa said there are several issues like the law and order situation, drugs problem, illegal sand mining, the state's debt and poor fiscal situation, which need to be discussed in the House.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, while addressing a gathering in Dhuri, slammed the opposition parties for "not having any issue" to raise.

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Tomorrow, the Vidhan Sabha session will start. Many Bills will be brought in the House, said Mann.

The governor summoned the session after he prorogued the Budget Session held in March.

The issue of summoning the session by extending the Budget Session by the AAP government was a sore point between the Bhagwant Mann dispensation and the Raj Bhavan.

On November 10, the Supreme Court had pulled up the Punjab governor for "indefinitely sitting over" some Bills passed by the Assembly. "You are playing with fire," it had remarked.

The apex court had also questioned the state government for repeatedly adjourning the Budget Session sine die instead of proroguing it. It, however, upheld the Speaker's supremacy in conducting the business of the House or adjourning its sessions.
On the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the Punjab government Monday launched the 'Mukhya Mantri Tirth Yatra Yojna' under which elderly people of the state would be sent on pilgrimage free of charge on trains and buses.

AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, who attended the launch event along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, said the state government will bear the expenditure for the pilgrimage.

"Today is a pious day. It is the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev. On this day, I am happy to note that the Mukhya Mantri Tirath Yatra Yojana for elderly people started in Punjab."



The first train carrying devotees left Amritsar for Hazur Sahib in Maharashtra. Around 300 pilgrims from Amritsar, 200 from Jalandhar and 500 from Dhuri were on this train, said Kejriwal, who is also the chief minister of Delhi.

Under this scheme, people will be able to visit religious places such as Hazur Sahib in Nanded, Patna Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Mata Naina Devi temple, Chintpurni among others on trains and buses free of charge.

Kejriwal chief said it was his government in Delhi which first started the pilgrimage scheme a few years ago and till now, 80,000 people have visited various religious places.

The Punjab cabinet on November 6 gave a nod to the 'Mukhya Mantri Tirath Yatra' scheme. The state government has earmarked Rs 40 crore for it.
Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was mobbed and heckled by a group of pro-Khalistani elements while on a visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York. The Ambassador had gone to the Gurdwara to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab.

According to a purported video shared on various social media accounts, Sandhu can be seen being confronted by extremist elements who were making statements about India designated terrorists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The Indian envoy could be seen leaving the premises in his vehicle, while a lone protestor raised the Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara.

Indian envoy to the US Taranjit Sandhu had visited the Guru Nanak Darbar in Long Island, New York and joined the local Sangat to celebrate Gurpurab"Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak's everlasting message of togetherness, unity, and equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all," Sandhu posted on X (formerly Twitter).

There has been a rise in pro-Khalistani incidents by extremist elements in countries like Canada, the UK, Australia and even the US.

In a shocking incident in July, a group of Khalistan extremists had indulged in an arson attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco.

After a probe was launched into the incident, India requested evidence from the US authorities regarding suspects of the attack under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in connection with the case.

In a separate incident in March, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco came under attack from suspected Khalistani elements. After the incident India had registered its "strong protest" with the United States calling for "appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents"

Notably, this is the second such incident involving the heckling of an Indian envoy by Pro Khalistan elements in a span of around two months.

Earlier in September, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from entering a Gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of 'Sikh Youth UK,' a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

Following this, India taken up its concerns regarding the security of diplomats and premises with the UK authorities.

Last week, the US had also shared some inputs pertaining to the nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others during the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement.

The MEA said India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on its own security interests as well. The MEA said the the inputs were a cause of concern for both countries and necessary follow-up action is being taken.
At least two civilians were killed and 10 injured in a suicide bombing by a splinter group of the banned Pakistani Taliban terror group targeted a convoy of security forces in Pakistan's restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

An explosives-laden two-wheeler hit the security forces convoy on its way to Bannu from the North Waziristan district near the Azad Mandi in Bannu Cantonment on Sunday, the military's media wing said on Monday.

The bombing killed two civilians and injured three security personnel and seven civilians, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

Those injured were shifted to the Combined Military Hospital, Bannu and the condition of the three security personnel is stated to be critical.

The Hafiz Gul Bahadur group of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) terror group claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing, according to the statement.

The suicide bomber was identified as an Afghan national, it added.

This comes after Pakistan's security forces killed eight terrorists during an intelligence-based operation in the province on Sunday, according to the military's media wing.
Attackers seized and later let go a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday, authorities said.

Yemen's internationally recognised government blamed the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, which followed at least two other recent maritime attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the US and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkiye and Vietnam were unharmed.

"We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said. It offered no details on how the attackers left the vessel, nor identified them.

The Pentagon told The Associated Press that the vessel was currently safe without elaborating on what happened to the attackers. American forces aboard the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason responded to the distress call from the Central Park, two US defence officials said on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the incident.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have controlled the capital, Sanaa, since 2014, offered no comment on the seizure. However, Yemen's internationally recognised government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the attack in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory is under the control of that government's forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider years-long shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the US and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiac's oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemen's coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire came under attack on Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from the AP about that assault.

Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days.

The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analysed by the AP.

Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. In the Central Park's case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Earlier this month, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The Houthis have repeatedly threatened to attack Israeli ships in the waters off Yemen and have launched drone-and-missile attacks targeting Israel during the war.

The Shiite Zaydi rebels' slogan has long been: God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.

Analysts say such attacks both back its Iranian benefactors as well as bolster the Houthis' position in Yemen as anger has grown against their rule as the civil war there grinds on without resolution.

Meanwhile Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower travelled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the US military said.

The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.
China should act more responsibly to realize summit

The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan met in Busan, Saturday to discuss a diverse range of issues of mutual concern, such as the potential trilateral summit, among others. The three-way meeting drew special attention, because it was the first one to take place since a gathering of foreign ministers in Chengdu, China, in August 2019. In a preliminary meeting before the gathering, the three sides agreed on the need to hold the summit at the mutually convenient and earliest date possible." Despite this, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi took flak for failing to give an exact answer over the summits concrete itinerary.

Wang deserves criticism for refusing to hold a joint press conference, citing he had no time to lose. Given this, the envisaged trilateral summit is not likely to be held within this year, notwithstanding the expectation it would help find a breakthrough for major regional issues. South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said the participants agreed to speed up efforts to make the three-way summit feasible.

Seoul-Beijing relations have remained lackluster under the current Yoon Suk Yeol administration amid an intensifying hegemonic rivalry between the United States and China. The two countries have also remained poles apart regarding the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and North Korea. Prompted by Russias alleged assistance of military technology to the North, Seoul-Moscow relations have also deteriorated.

Close cooperation between Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing cannot be overemphasized. China is the only nation that can apply the brakes on North Koreas bid to build up its nuclear capabilities. On the economic front, it is also necessary to strengthen cooperation with China, which is South Korea's largest trading partner. For China, cooperation with South Korea is also significant in its bid to counter the U.S.

Seoul and Beijing should closely consult with each other to cope with growing regional tensions, most recently triggered by the Norths launch of a surveillance satellite in violation of United Nations resolutions. China attempted to avoid responsibility by saying, We are not the corresponding part. But this is not appropriate considering the fact that China is a member of the U.N. Security Council. China, along with Russia, invited criticism for opposing retaliatory measures against Pyongyang, claiming that the Norths provocation does not constitute a violation of U.N. resolutions.

The international community, regrettably, has failed to take any steps against the North despite its alleged provision of weapons and ammunitions to Russia in its war against Ukraine. China should remember that the possible stabilization of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula will also help promote its national interests.

The much-touted summit between President Yoon Suk Yeol and Chinese President Xi Jinping did not occur on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) event in San Francisco. Xi became the target of criticism here for bypassing Yoon, even though he met the leaders of other nations, such as Brunei and Fiji as well as the United States and Japan. In contrast, Yoon met Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for the seventh time this year.

The recent ministerial meeting clearly shows that the three neighboring countries still have a long and bumpy road ahead toward mutual cooperation and prosperity. The three account for more than 20 percent of the global population and economy. This means they can make greater contributions to solving pending global problems as well as regional issues once they join hands and beef up cooperation based on the spirit of mutual benefit and respect.

Already intertwined with their history, the three countries have an indispensable relationship in terms of global supply channels, trade and investment. They should meet more often to narrow the difference in opinions while expanding the basis of mutual understanding. Wang also expressed hopes of strengthening communication with Korea. This should not end in words only. China should act more proactively to enhance bilateral relations with South Korea. For this, mutual efforts to realize the Yoon-Xi summit is most essential.
A Pakistani accountability court on Monday sent Imran Khan on a 14-day judicial remand in a corruption case, rejecting the request of the country's anti-graft body for extending the jailed former prime minister's physical remand.

Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Islamabad Accountability Court presided over the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case held at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan is currently jailed, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.



Khan had moved the Supreme Court for bail in the corruption case in which the jailed former prime minister and his wife are accused of receiving land worth billions of rupees as a bribe from a real estate tycoon, according to a media report.

The Ali-Qadir Trust case is about the settlement of 190 million pounds, about Rs 50 billion, which the UK's National Crime Agency sent to Pakistan after recovering the amount from a Pakistani property tycoon.

Khan, being the prime minister then, instead of depositing in the national treasury, allowed the businessman to use the amount to partly settle a fine of about Rs 450 billion imposed by the Supreme Court some years ago.

Reportedly, the tycoon, in return, gifted about 57 acres of land to a trust set up by Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, to establish the Al-Qadir University in the Sohawa area of the Jhelum district of Punjab.
By Raphael Satter & Diane Bartz



The United States, Britain and more than a dozen other countries on Sunday unveiled what a senior US official described as the first detailed international agreement on how to keep artificial intelligence (AI) safe from rogue actors, pushing for companies to create AI systems that are secure by design.



In a 20-page document unveiled on Sunday, the 18 countries agreed that companies designing and using AI need to develop and deploy it in a way that keeps customers and the wider public safe from misuse.



The agreement is non-binding and carries mostly general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering and vetting software suppliers.



Still, the director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, said it was important that so many countries put their names to the idea that AI systems needed to put safety first.



This is the first time that we have seen an affirmation that these capabilities should not just be about cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs, Easterly told Reuters, saying the guidelines represent an agreement that the most important thing that needs to be done at the design phase is security. The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives  few of which carry teeth  by governments around the world to shape the development of AI, whose weight is increasingly being felt in industry and society at large.



In addition to the United States and Britain, the 18 countries that signed on to the new guidelines include Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore.



The framework deals with questions of how to keep AI technology from being hijacked by hackers and includes recommendations such as only releasing models after appropriate security testing. It does not tackle thorny questions around the appropriate uses of AI, or how the data that feeds these models is gathered.



The rise of AI has fed a host of concerns, including the fear that it could be used to disrupt the democratic process, turbocharge fraud, or lead to dramatic job loss, among other harms.



Europe is ahead of the United States on regulations around AI, with lawmakers there drafting AI rules. France, Germany and Italy also recently reached an agreement on how AI should be regulated that supports mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct for so-called foundation models of AI, which are designed to produce a broad range of outputs.



The Biden administration has been pressing lawmakers for AI regulation, but a polarised US Congress has made little headway in passing effective regulation.
Hands-on experience in obtaining all UN R155/156 related certifications

Providing a one-stop solution tailored to customers needs

SMBs and emerging automakers prefer Cybersecurity Tier 0.5 company FESCARO

FESCARO, a pioneer in automotive cybersecurity, today announced a groundbreaking achievement: becoming the first company in South Korea to attain a Grand Slam in consulting and delivering all four major international automotive cybersecurity certifications for its clients, while complying with international laws and standards.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231123078664/en/

FESCAROs CEO Seok-min Hong (Left), CTO Hyun-jung Lee (Right) (Photo: FESCARO)

As automotive software technology advances, so do cybersecurity vulnerabilities and hacking threats. In response, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE WP.29) enacted regulations on automotive cybersecurity (UN R155, R156) in 2020. These mandate that automakers seeking to sell vehicles in the 27 EU countries must obtain three critical certifications: CSMS (Cyber Security Management System), SUMS (Software Update and Management System), and VTA (Vehicle Type Approval). It applies to all new vehicle types from July 2022 and all new vehicles produced from July 2024.

FESCARO played a pivotal role in helping K Group, a global automaker, achieve all the certifications over three years since 2021, demonstrating its ability to deliver practical and effective solutions. Its comprehensive approach included integrated regulatory consulting, TARA (Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment), security solutions, customized engineering, security testing, deployment of mass production, IT infrastructure, and Security Gateway (SGW).

FESCARO also secured Kanavi Mobility, a global controller development company, the ISO/SAE 21434 certification in April 2023. This international standard for cybersecurity engineering provides the criteria for implementing CSMS.

Born from the synergy of an automotive electronic system developer and a white hat hacker, FESCARO delivers practical and tailored solutions to its customers varied needs. The company successfully developed a unique software solution compatible with HSM (Hardware Security Module) for a global automaker, empowering them to meet security requirements without replacing existing semiconductor chips. Compared to traditional methods, this solution resulted in significant cost, workforce, and time savings of over 50%.

FESCARO's automotive cybersecurity solution, equipped with internationally patented technology, became the first in South Korea to obtain FIPS 140-2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), validating its security reliability for use by the U.S. Department of Defense. Additionally, FESCARO attained Automotive SPICE Level 2, a development process evaluation model for enhancing automotive software quality. The solution has been applied to 11 vehicle types from five global automakers.

FESCAROs international standing is further underscored by its strategic partnerships with the worlds first and second-leading automotive semiconductor companies. The companys commitment to excellence and innovation has also earned it recognition as one of the Top 10 Automotive Solutions Providers 2023 by CIOReview APAC.

"FESCARO has excelled in fulfilling the cybersecurity tier 0.5 role and has garnered recognition for its practical capabilities throughout the vehicle lifecycle. Our competitive edge lies in our proactive approach," stated Seok-min Hong, CEO of FESCARO.

We are committed to providing even more advanced and sophisticated solutions based on our extensive experience and success cases. If you are facing challenges with automotive software, FESCARO is here to identify technical breakthroughs and provide support along the way, said Hyun-jung Lee, CTO of FESCARO.

About FESCARO

FESCARO is a company specializing in automotive cybersecurity co-founded in 2016 by an automotive electronic system developer and a white hat hacker. It has been expanding the business to include the next-generation ECU and SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) solutions, making practical breakthroughs to realize the Mobility for All. | www.fescaro.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231123078664/en/
On the November 24, the 5th World Science and Technology Development Forum (WSTDF) opened in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, Wan Gang, Deputy Secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee attended the main forum and delivered a speech.

Wan Gang emphasised that peace and development are the guiding principles of the people for a brighter future and the everlasting theme of humankind. Moving forward, every nation worldwide should strengthen openness and collaboration on science and technology to address important international issues. We shall build a new model for scientific governance and a new ecosystem defined by joint contribution and shared benefits.

Centered around the theme of Openness, Trust, Cooperation, the 5th WSTDF comes to Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area for the first time. Esteemed guests include Nobel Laureate in Economics Thomas J. Sargent, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine Thomas Sudhof, Academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Bai Chunli and Ling Wen. They shared enlightening analysis on topics such as global innovation, science and technology partnerships in the Belt and Road Initiative, medicine development, and green energy transformation.

Those invited to engage in high-level talks included Yang Xueming, head of Shenzhen Free Electron Laser Project; Zhao Zhentang, Director of Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) Science Center; Feng Donglai, Director of National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory in Hefei; Song Yonghua, President of the University of Macau; and Eiji Kako, senior professor of High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, along with other renowned directors of major scientific installations, who engaged in lively and passionate exchanges. The 5th WSTDF also announced the top ten cutting-edge new technologies in chemistry and the top ten industry development directions for Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area.

The WSTDF is jointly organized by the China Association for Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Peoples Government of Guangdong Province, Shenzhen Municipal Peoples Government, with generous support from more than ten other international and national institutions. Until November 26, 11 parallel forums will be hosted alongside the main event. More than 200 academics and professionals from 21 countries and regions will conduct in-depth discussions on the future development of a civilization of science and technology.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126538653/en/
By Casey Lartigue Jr.

Today is 'GivingTuesday'! While almost every South Korean I have asked is familiar with American Thanksgiving, few South Koreans I have talked with are aware of the frantic shopping and giving movement following it.

The Thanksgiving holiday, held on the fourth Thursday of November, dates to the 1620s. Since the mid-20th century, Black Friday has followed Thanksgiving. It is regarded as the day it is acceptable to start advertising Christmas shopping.

Small Business Saturday was founded in 2010. Cyber Monday is still relatively new, with the term being coined in 2005 to describe online sales that day. Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday have merged into four days of sales in-person and online, with surveys estimating that about 70 million people shop in-person and about 180 million shop online.

The newest kid on the block is #GivingTuesday, which started in 2012. The GivingTuesday movement encourages people to set aside at least one day to do good by giving, collaborating, and celebrating generosity. It can be through giving your time, making a financial or item donation, or using your voice in your local community. Anyone can join GivingTuesday and it isnt isolated to only the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. You can check the GivingTuesday website for weekly tips for #GivingEveryTuesday.

In 2016, I became aware of GivingTuesday and did what many other organization leaders do: I set up a fundraiser. A few years later, I checked and saw that GivingTuesday had 70 chapters set up around the world, but there wasnt a GivingTuesday chapter in South Korea. In 2019, I contacted GivingTuesday to ask: Is there a reason you arent operating in South Korea?

It turns out that Asha Curran, the CEO and co-founder of GivingTuesday, had visited South Korea before that, but no one who met her started a national chapter in South Korea. I sent in a proposal and was approved along with Lee Eun-koo as the founding co-chapter national leaders of GivingTuesday Korea.

I did not fully embrace being the leader because I saw myself as a placeholder. I told the GivingTuesday executives that I could be a leader until a more appropriate leader (i.e., an influential South Korean) could take over. It has now been three years and no one has walked through the door to replace me.

I held back because Im not Korean and it didnt seem that I should be the main representative of GivingTuesday Korea. I encouraged others around me, especially business leaders, to take charge and have attempted to appoint others as the GivingTuesday Korea leader.

It didnt help that as our chapter status was approved, a global pandemic began destroying the world. We held our opening event on Dec. 1, 2020, speaking behind plexiglass.

Lately, I have started to shed the placeholder mindset, and next year plan to ramp up efforts so we can invite the GivingTuesday CEO to return. Earlier this year, I joined the GivingTuesday Global Leaders Summit held in Portugal. I met most of the 90-plus global leaders. After a few years of messaging with the top executives and leaders of GivingTuesday, I was in a room with a bunch of do-gooders who spread generosity. I stopped seeing myself as a placeholder. I had taken a step back and encouraged others to be leaders.

It has been high school students in the FSI-Global High School Union who have embraced GivingTuesday and they have gotten more active since I began embracing my leadership role (and Eun-koo has been the enforcer). South Korean high school students have started a running club, held walkathons, launched online fundraisers, and held bake sales. South Korean moms have joined us and donated items for bazaars to raise money for North Korean refugees. North Korean refugees have volunteered, spoken, and performed at our GivingTuesday events. Last week, we proudly submitted a video, titled What Your Giving Tuesday Story, highlighting the many activities we have engaged in as GivingTuesday Korea.

Now I take the GivingTuesday Korea banner with me to events and talk about it for a few minutes. Last week, I watched touching presentations by about 40 graduate students in my public speaking class at the Seoul University of Foreign Studies (SUFS) about what they had done with the assignment I had given them to engage in an act of kindness for GivingTuesday. They thanked me and GivingTuesday for encouraging them to do something good. They could see how rewarding it can be to be generous to others. They now all have GivingTuesday stories.

How about you, dear reader? Do you have a GivingTuesday story? You may have known or participated in Thanksgiving or even joined the start of the shopping season. Next year at this time, you can share your GivingTuesday story to let others know how you helped spread generosity.

Casey Lartigue Jr. (CJL@alumni.harvard.edu) is co-founder and co-president of Freedom Speakers International (FSI) and co-national leader of GivingTuesday Korea with Lee Eun-koo.
Delivery, patrol robots roam sidewalks alongside humans

By Baek Byung-yeul

Robots are gradually becoming part of daily life in Korea, as the countrys recent amendment to the act governing the use of robots has allowed outdoor autonomous robots to drive on sidewalks for delivery, patrols and other purposes.

This change has opened new avenues for related industries, as various advantages are expected for companies utilizing robots such as labor cost reduction, increased efficiency in last-mile delivery and improvement in safety, industry officials and experts said Thursday.

On Nov. 17, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the National Police Agency implemented the revised Act on Development and Supply of Intelligent Robots. Previously, robots were not permitted to operate on sidewalks, but the revised law allows for new businesses to utilize robot delivery and patrols in outdoor environments.

These outdoor self-driving robots are required to comply with the Road Traffic Act, just like pedestrians. Jaywalking or walking on roadways is illegal, and operators of these robots who violate the regulations will be fined 30,000 won ($23). Additionally, businesses seeking to use outdoor autonomous driving robots are obliged to have insurance coverage.

Gwak Kwan-woong, a professor of mechanical engineering at Sejong University, welcomed the revision of the Intelligent Robots Development and Distribution Promotion Act, saying that more attempts in the future will lead to significant advancements, resulting in labor cost reduction and improvements in business efficiency.

"If asked whether these outdoor robots can immediately replace delivery drivers, my answer is no because this industry is still in its early stages. Until recently, testing the robots was limited to restricted areas. The fact that these robots can now be deployed on sidewalks is the most noticeable development, the professor said.

Delivery requires someone to physically deliver the items. If humans are involved, it is difficult to lower prices and, moreover, it is challenging to meet heavy demand all at once. In this respect, if these robots become more active, many businesses will be able to respond more effectively to higher demand at a lower cost.

He added that the use of robots for security purposes is also expected to increase in the future. "Patrolling is, in a way, the simplest and most feasible technology to implement with robots. By running it 24/7, a robot can provide continuous monitoring of an area."

As the professor mentioned, the delivery robot industry seems promising. Market researcher MarketsandMarkets forecast that the delivery robot market will grow rapidly from $210 million in 2021 to $960 million in 2026.

"Robot delivery is expected to help meet demand during peak hours and even lead to the development of specialized delivery services for offices. No one can guarantee the exact direction this business will take, but the possibilities are endless, an official from a local delivery company said on condition of anonymity.

Following the trend, domestic companies like Woowa Brothers, which operates the popular food delivery service Baemin, and robot startup Neubility have already entered the market and are conducting pilot projects.

Following the revised laws, Neubility announced that it would provide robot delivery services in the area of Seolleung Station on Seoul Metro Line 2 and the Suin-Bundang Line in collaboration with KT and Gangnam District Office.

The company, known for its self-developed delivery robot called Neubie, has gained experience in Seoul, Incheon and on university campuses. Under the revised law, its robots are conducting deliveries in the Teheran-ro area, which has a high population density, to further enhance its services.

Neubility has been accumulating technological and operational capabilities through extensive pilot operations to provide robot delivery services optimized for complex urban environments. This validation on Teheran-ro will be a valuable opportunity to provide a differentiated robot delivery experience and raise expectations further for the era of outdoor self-driving robots, Neubility CEO Lee Sang-min said.

Woowa Brothers is also conducting a pilot project for robot delivery in Gangnam District using its self-developed robot called Dilly.

"Until recently, outdoor autonomous driving robots were unable to operate on pedestrian sidewalks. However, with the revision of the act, they are granted the status of pedestrians and allowed to use sidewalks. This can be seen as a foundation for developing various services and new businesses using these robots," a spokesperson of Woowa Brothers said.

"For now, we are operating outdoor delivery services on a small scale as a pilot project. However, with the broader implementation, we will make efforts to develop delivery robots that can deliver various items such as food and books to a wider range of customers."

As experts predict that robot delivery could potentially perform tasks that humans cannot do and replace human workers, delivery riders mostly showed lukewarm reactions to such estimations.

"While it is true that delivery robots are now becoming viable, it is currently just a pilot project, and most delivery drivers are not overly concerned. There are still many challenges to overcome, such as environmental obstacles like elevators, where networks may be disrupted, a member of an online community for delivery drivers commented. Many delivery workers view this as a discussion of a future scenario that is not immediately feasible.

Safety concerns

One of the main concerns regarding self-driving robots is pedestrian safety. However, the professor said this is not a significant concern due to safety measures such as weight restrictions, speed limits and insurance coverage for robots.

To ensure pedestrian safety, robots that can travel on sidewalks are limited to a weight of 500 kilograms or less and a width of 80 centimeters or less. The speed of movement is also regulated, with a maximum speed of between 5 and 15 kilometers per hour depending on the weight.

"The key feature of these robots is autonomous driving, and they have reached a level where they can identify and avoid collisions with humans in typical situations without much worry. Furthermore, since the speed is limited, even in the event of contact accidents, there is not much risk of serious injury to pedestrians," the professor stated.
St Andrew's Day, observed on November 30th, is a day for Scots to honor and celebrate their patron saint. The Scottish celebration, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew, is similar to other national saint's days in England, Ireland, and Wales, where families and friends come together to celebrate their country's culture.

Who is St. Andrew's?

St Andrew was one of Jesus Christ's earliest followers and a leader in spreading his teachings. He was the brother of Simon Peter and the son of Jonah. St Andrew is recognized as a patron saint in various countries, including Russia, Spain, Romania, Barbados, and Ukraine. He was crucified on a cross shaped like an X in Greece on November 30, 60 AD, which is symbolized by the white cross on the Scottish flag

History and Meaning of St. Andrew's Day

St. Andrew's Day is celebrated on November 30th each year, in honor of St. Andrew, the patron saint of Scotland. The day is marked as a national day in Scotland and is also recognized as a bank holiday. As per historical records, St. Andrew was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ, known for his humility and kindness. Scots celebrate this day to honor his values and teachings.

Celebrations of St. Andrew's Day

St. Andrew's Day is celebrated with great fervor throughout Scotland. It is a day when Scots pay tribute to their heritage with music, dance, food, and festivities. Traditional celebrations include ceilidh dancing, which is a form of social dancing accompanied by Gaelic folk music. Streets are adorned with the Scottish flag, and a grand feast is prepared, often including the famous haggis, a traditional Scottish dish.
White House officials announced Sunday that US President Joe Biden will not attend a key United Nations climate meeting starting Thursday in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, skipping a gathering set to be attended by King Charles III, Pope Francis, and leaders from almost 200 countries. The official, who requested anonymity in order to disclose the president's agenda, did not elaborate on why Biden will not attend the two-week gathering known as COP28.

The White House has revealed the president's schedule for Thursday, which includes a bilateral meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola and attendance at the National Tree Lighting. At the Dubai gathering, dozens of countries intend to press for the world's first agreement to phase out CO2-emitting coal, oil, and gas.

In Biden's absence, Kerry and his entourage will attend the summit. Leaders like as King Charles III and Pope Francis are expected to attend. The Dubai gathering will be Biden's first absence from a UN climate conference - an annual event conducted in a different venue each year - since becoming president. Most previous US presidents have not attended the meeting every year, but Biden's absence is certain to enrage climate activists. Officials attending the meeting will analyse and debate their positions on controlling greenhouse gas emissions and global warming temperatures.
On 26th November 2023, the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) announced the CGPSC Recruitment 2023 Notification on its website for a total of 242 positions. The online application link will be available from 1st December 2023 and the deadline to apply is 30th December 2023. According to the official notification, the preliminary examination will take place on 11th February 2024.

Overview

Name of Post CGPSC State Services (CGPCS)

Notification Released

Vacancies 242

Job Location Chhattisgarh

Category CGPSC Notification 2023-24

Official Website psc.cg.gov.in

CGPSC Exam Notification

Every year, the CGPSC releases a notification providing detailed information about the examination. This notification is crucial for all aspirants as it contains important details such as the eligibility criteria, syllabus, exam dates, application process, selection procedure, etc. It is highly recommended for all candidates to thoroughly read and understand the CGPSC exam notification before applying for the exam.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the State Service Examination organized by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission, candidates must meet certain requirements. Only those who meet these requirements can participate in CGPSC Bharti. Candidates who do not meet the CGPSC Eligibility Criteria 2024 will be disqualified from the competition.

Steps to Apply

Go to http://psc.cg.gov.in/

Click on "Online Applications" and choose "State Service Examination - 2023"

Read the exam details and click on "Online Application"

Register by providing your name, email, and mobile number, and fill out the form

Upload the necessary documents

Make the payment for the application fee online

Save and print a copy of the application form and fee receipt for future reference.

Qualification in Education

A Bachelor's Degree or an equivalent qualification in the relevant discipline from a recognised university is required for candidates sitting the CGPSC Exam. Degrees from universities recognised under the University Grants Commission Act of 1956 are also accepted. Candidates that are appointed will serve a three-year probationary term after being chosen.
Respiratory illnesses are a major public health concern worldwide. Recently, the emergence of a new type of respiratory illness in China has raised concerns about the potential for a similar outbreak in India. Government officials are closely monitoring the situation and believe that the risk of a similar outbreak in India is low.

The Chinese health commission stated that a combination of pathogens is causing an increase in acute respiratory illnesses across the country, confirming previous comments aimed at assuaging fears that a novel virus is to blame.At a press briefing on Sunday, National Health Commission spokeswoman Mi Feng noted that influenza is one of the key causes of the increase in cases. According to him, rhinovirus, mycoplasma pneumoniae, and respiratory syncytial virus are also circulating. According to Feng, the country should ensure medicine supplies and expand medical treatment regions.

Preventive measures are crucial in controlling the spread of respiratory illnesses. These include practicing good hand hygiene, avoiding close contact with people who are sick, and getting vaccinated. The public is also advised to seek medical attention if they have symptoms of respiratory illness, such as a fever, cough, and difficulty breathing.
If theres one thing you could say about the Honda CR-V is that its comfortable in its own skin. In each of its six generations, there was ...
China's industrial profits up in October

Xinhua) 10:27, November 27, 2023

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's major industrial firms saw their combined profits increase for a third straight month in October, official data showed Monday.

The profits of major industrial firms with annual main business revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about 2.81 million U.S. dollars) went up 2.7 percent year on year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The raw material production sector emerged as the most important growth driver with a robust 22.9-percent profit surge as the recovering downstream demand led to an overall price upswing.

As the consumer market continued to warm up due to favorable government policies, the profits of consumer goods manufacturers posted a stable increase of 2.2 percent from a year earlier, up for three consecutive months.

Other industries including equipment manufacturing and power, natural gas and water supply also registered profit growth last month.

In the first ten months of the year, the profits of major industrial firms reported a 7.8-percent decline, narrowing by 1.2 percentage points from the January-September period. More than 70 percent of China's 41 industrial categories monitored by the bureau reported an improved performance in profits.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
By Park Jae-hyuk

Kakao founder Kim Beom-su urged the CEOs of its affiliates to be wary of lax management during their fifth emergency meeting on Monday, although he is said to have not mentioned plans for a personnel reshuffle this time.

I strongly recommend you to thoroughly inspect any laxity in management processes and to reform the system in the direction of managing our companys compliance, personal affairs and finance more carefully, Kim said, according to Kakao.

Kim also asked management to take care of employees who are going through a hard time.

Amid legal risks involving Kim and other executives, Kakao began holding weekly emergency meetings on Oct. 30, with the aim of announcing several tangible reform measures by the end of this year.

On Nov. 13, Kim told reporters on his way to the third meeting that a reshuffle of Kakaos management was included in the reform plans. Kakao CEO Hong Eun-taek, Kakao Mobility CEO Ryu Gung-seon and several other CEOs of Kakao affiliates will face expirations of their terms in March next year.

After the latest meeting, however, Kakao Games CEO Cho Kye-hyun said there was no discussion regarding plans for a personnel reshuffle. At the recent meeting, around 20 Kakao executives reportedly discussed details about the companys agreement with the compliance and credibility committee last week.

The founder emphasized during his first meeting with the committee members last Thursday that Kakao supports the panels independent operation. Former Supreme Court Justice Kim So-young, who leads the committee, vowed to make efforts for Kakao to start discussions on the agenda suggested by the panel by the end of this year.

During Kakaos fourth emergency meeting on Nov. 20, executives discussed follow-up measures after Kakao Mobilitys meeting with taxi drivers, who have complained about excessive commissions paid to the taxi-hailing service provider.

Kakao Mobility was expected to have another meeting with taxi drivers this week, but the Kakao Games CEO told reporters that this issue was not on the agenda during the latest meeting.
President and Mrs. Biden, Vice President, Former First Ladies to Attend

Georgia Governor, Atlanta Mayor, Emory Presidents Expected

Motorcade Routes Established for Before and After Service

ATLANTA (Nov. 27, 2023)  An invitation-only tribute service for former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, featuring family members and some of her favorite Scripture passages and songs, will be held at 1 p.m. Tuesday at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church on the campus of Emory University. Mrs. Carters surviving grandchildren will serve as honorary pallbearers.

Members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra will provide gathering music, including some of Mrs. Carters most beloved tunes and an arrangement by legendary ASO conductor Robert Shaw and Alice Parker. Pianist David Osborne, long a favorite of Mrs. Carter and her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, will play a medley of hymns as a prelude to the service. The service will include musical performances by the ASO Chamber Chorus and family friends Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.

The Rev. Mark Westmoreland, pastor of Glenn Memorial, will give the call to worship and invocation, followed by opening remarks by Pastor Tony Lowden, President and Mrs. Carters personal pastor. Mrs. Carters son James Earl Chip Carter III will welcome attendees, and daughter Amy Carter will present a reading. One grandson and three of Mrs. Carters great-grandchildren will read Scripture passages, and tributes will be delivered by longtime aide and friend Kathryn Cade, journalist Judy Woodruff, and grandson Jason Carter.

The service will close with Lowdens benediction and a song by the ASO Chamber Chorus. Osborne will play a recessional song, followed by a postlude by organist Norman Mackenzie and the ASO Brass Quartet.

Expected Guests

Here is a partial list of people expected to attend the tribute service:

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Vice President Kamala Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff

Former first lady Laura Bush

Former first lady Michelle Obama

Former first lady Melania Trump

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and first lady Marty Kemp

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and his daughter, Bailey

Emory University President Gregory L. Fenves

Former Emory Presidents Claire E. Sterk, James W. Wagner, and William M. Chace

Multiple members of Congress and Georgia elected officials

Motorcade Routes

Before the Tuesday service, the funeral motorcade will begin at the Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta. It will depart at noon from the Center via John Lewis Freedom Parkway toward Ponce de Leon Avenue, where the motorcade will turn right. Continuing east, the motorcade will then turn left on Clifton Road Northeast and left again onto North Decatur Road. It will arrive at Glenn Memorial Church on the campus of Emory University for the service honoring Mrs. Carter.

After the service ends about 2:45 p.m., the motorcade will depart Emory University via westbound North Decatur Road before turning left onto Briarcliff and continuing on Moreland Avenue, then turn right at John Lewis Freedom Parkway. Crossing Highland Avenue, the motorcade will pass The Carter Presidential Center for a final time before joining I-75/I-85 South for the return to Plains.

Approaching Macon, the motorcade will proceed on I-475 South, rejoin I-75 South and continue until Exit 149, where it will turn right on GA 49 toward Byron. It will continue 34 miles (utilizing the bypass at Fort Valley) before turning left at Butler on U.S. 19 South for 21 miles and then joining GA 153 south in Ellaville. The motorcade will enter Plains via GA 45 for a private arrival at Maranatha Baptist Church.

The public is welcome to greet the motorcade as it passes by. Please be aware that there may be temporary road closures; be mindful of traffic safety and respect private property.

###

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 partnership with Emory University, to advance peace and health worldwide.
A four-year-old American girl is safely in Israel after being released Sunday from captivity in Gaza, U.S. President Joe Biden said as he urged the pause in Israel-Hamas fighting be extended to allow for more hostage releases.

"She's free and she's in Israel now," Biden told reporters shortly after the Israeli army announced that 17 hostages were being freed by Hamas.

"She's been through a terrible trauma," Biden said of the child, Abigail, whose parents were murdered by Hamas militants when members of the Islamist group attacked Israel on Oct. 7. On Friday in captivity, she marked her fourth birthday, the president said.

"Today, she's free, and Jill (Biden) and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright," he said.

"She is now safely in Israel, and we continue to press and expect for additional Americans will be released as well. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones."

The White House has said that 10 Americans -- seven men, two women and Abigail -- were missing and presumed held hostage by Hamas.

Abigail's case particularly gripped Biden, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Since the conflict's onset, Biden "raised Abigail in nearly all of his phone calls with counterparts as well as with the emir of Qatar yesterday," the official said.

Witnesses helped US officials track Abigail's ordeal more closely than that of other US hostages, many of whom are in unknown locations in Gaza.

"We learned early from witnesses what happened. Her mother was murdered in front of her eyes. Her father tried to protect Abigail  and then he was killed," the official said.

She ran to a neighboring family but militants took the family and Abigail into northern Gaza, the official said.

U.S. officials insisted that Abigail be included on an early list for release.

Her release Sunday held moments of drama. The convoy bearing Abigail and other freed hostages was diverted from the crossing at the border point of Rafah into Egypt to a more direct route into Israel due to another freed hostage, an 85-year-old woman, needing urgent medical care, the official said.

Questioned by reporters about when other U.S. citizens might be released, Biden  speaking from Massachusetts, where he was wrapping up a Thanksgiving break  said: "I don't have anything firmly to tell you at this moment."

Biden said a total of 58 hostages have been released by Hamas during the current temporary halt in fighting, through what he called "intensive U.S. diplomacy" by himself and administration officials working with Israel, Qatar, Egypt and others.

The U.S. president said he hoped to see the pause extended.

"That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza," Biden said.

Asked for how long he would like to see a pause in fighting, he said: "As long as prisoners keep coming out."

"I get a sense that all the players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and... Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza."

He also pointed to the humanitarian benefits of the break in fighting, saying hundreds of aid trucks have been able to enter the besieged Gaza Strip, providing much-needed food, water, medicine and fuel.

The three-day-old truce "is delivering life-saving results," Biden added.

"Critically needed aid is going in, and hostages are coming out."

U.S. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, said without mentioning Biden that it was "a great relief" Abigail was released. But he noted that a native of Tillis's state of North Carolina, Keith Siegel, remained captive by Hamas.

Siegel's spouse, Aviva Siegel, was released on Sunday even as her husband remained captive, the senior official said. (AFP)
A local connection to another post World War II trial involving German officers and soldiers involved participation by the late Chattanooga attorney Ralph Schumacker (1908-2001).

He graduated from City High School (Valedictorian) and the University of Chattanooga and received both a law degree and master of law degree from the Chattanooga College of Law (1931-1933).

He began his legal career in 1937 as an associate of the law firm of Sizer Chambliss (John) and Kefauver (Estes) in Chattanooga and was a practicing attorney for over 70 years!

During the post war criminal trials Ralph was part of the legal prosecution team before a military tribunal in part of one of the Dachau Trials from 1945-1947.

The above name was given to the cases because they were tried in the former concentration camp against 75 German Waffen-SS soldiers accused of the Malmedy Massacre that involved the execution style killing of the 84 U.S. Army prisoners of war (POW) during the Battle of the Bulge (December 16, 1944- January 25, 1945 near Baugnez.

The gory details are well documented in history and a comprehensive article in Wikipedia under the above title and the reported case of United States versus Valentin Bersin case No. 6-24 review and recommendations of the Deputy Judge Advocate for War Crimes 20 October 1947. (A copy of the book containing the proceeding is listed as being available in the Public Library in Ringgold, GA.)

For meritorious service Ralph Schumacker was awarded a Bronze Star while serving in the Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) corps.

The total number of victims of the combined atrocities during the 40-day period described above was allegedly 362 American POWs and 111 Belgian civilians.

After being taken prisoner those who surrendered were summarily executed by machine guns and shots to the head.

The trials and the follow up hearing were controversial and became a political quagmire that included allegations of torture and threats of violence against many German prisoners in order to extract confessions.

The United States Senate in Washington, D.C. would ultimately conduct an investigation of the cases which would contain political implications by Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin in support of the the Malmedy defendants.

Two national veteran groups (American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars) allegedly got into a major difference of opinion on the issue of whether the Malmedy defendants convicted with sentences of death should be punished accordingly or have leniency shown in their convictions with reduced time to serve.

Ralph Schumacker was a participant in these historical trials but eventually returned to the Chattanooga legal community and loved the practice of law. He established a successful clientele base that included the CBL conglomerate of shopping malls throughout America including Hamilton Place after forming a partnership with his longtime friend and surviving partner Frank M. Thompson.

(His contributions to his country, legal profession, Mizpah Congregation and family are acknowledged.)

* * *

You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
A man on Relocation Way told police he recently had his vehicle stolen and wished to make a report. He said he placed his vehicle on Turo for rental, where it was then rented by a man. He said that the vehicle was scheduled to be returned the next day, but it was not. He said he took the proper steps in attempting to get the vehicle back, including messaging the man and giving three weeks for the vehicle to be returned. He said that he never received a response and would like the vehicle to be entered as stolen.The vehicle was entered into NCIC and will be followed up on accordingly.* * *A woman on Long Street told police that while she was at military drill, someone entered her 2017Toyota Tacoma and stole her Apple MacBook Air 13-inch.* * *The employees of 8 F Ice Cream, 1913 Gunbarrel Road, called police about a man that was refusing to leave the store. Police found the man inside the store, standing very close to an employee who was blocking him from entering the "employees only" area of the restaurant. When the man saw police enter the business, he yelled, "Leave!" at police. Police informed the man that they would not leave, but he was going to leave the establishment per the employees' request. The man then left the business. Police (later the same day) informed the man that per the landlord, if he returned to 1913 or 1919 Gunbarrel Road, he would be arrested for trespassing. The man seemed to understand.* * *An employee at the Guardian Storage, 1016 Dallas Road, told police that two of the Chattanooga Plumbing vans had their catalytic converters cut off sometime over the weekend.* * *A woman on Jenkins Road called police for a well-being check on a neighbor. She said she had not seen the neighbor in weeks, which was unusual. She said his vehicle was in the driveway and hasn't been moved in quite some time. She said this, coupled with his physical health issues, prompted her to call 911. Police knocked on the door, but there was no answer. Police could see the house was in disarray. Police and CFD were able to make entrance in the house through the back door, (no forced entry was necessary). Police and CFD observed the house had trash strung across the kitchen and dining room floors, feces and urine on most floors, and the house was left in somewhat of a suspicious mess. Police canvassed the house, but did not find anyone. Police later received information that the man may have left for Florida. Police and CFD locked the doors and left the scene.* * *A woman on Regency Court told police that sometime overnight someone broke out the passenger window of her Nissan Versa and stole her wallet. Inside of her wallet were her identity cards.* * *Police observed a broken down Infiniti G35 bearing a TN tag at the 200 block of Georgia Avenue. Police stopped to check on the vehicle and identified the driver and owner. Her vehicle was not drivable. She was unable to call her own tow truck, and did request for police to call her one. Police did as asked and United Transport responded. Police then gave her a ride home.* * *Police responded to the Chattanooga Rescue Mission for reports of a disorderly man that they wished to have trespassed. Police spoke with the man and informed him that he was being trespassed per staff. The man left the area without incident.* * *Police responded to a wellness check that turned out to be a theft at 100 Manufacturers Road/Renaissance Park. While en route, police learned a woman was frantically screaming. Police learned someone stole the woman's suitcase sometime during the night while she was asleep. The suitcase contained personal belongings.* * *A woman on Vance Avenue told police that at some unknown time, someone broke out the rear window of her 2000 Honda Accord. There is no suspect information.* * *Police responded to check 1390 Spears Ave./Stringers Ridge Trailhead for a suspicious package. While en route, police learned the package was a trunk with a Christmas label on it. Police observed a silver storage trunk in a parking space. The trunk had a hand written "Christmas" label on the front. A supervisor responded to the scene and consulted with a bomb technician. Police opened the trunk and learned it was empty.* * *A woman on Douglas Street told police that overnight someone entered her unlocked Subaru Forester and stole her credit/debit cards, $60 cash and a vintage Pentax camera.* * *An employee at Chattanooga Whiskey, 890 Riverfront Pkwy., told police they found a mountain bike behind some bushes on the property and wanted to turn it over to police. The mountain bike was a blue and white Schwinn, which probably was either stolen or belonged to a homeless person. Police took the bike and turned it into the CPD Property.* * *A man on Gunbarrel Road told police that sometime overnight someone stole a MQ46 walk-behind 46-inch Trowel 9 HP from the back of his truck.* * *An employee at the Speedway, 3956 Brainerd Road, told police a middle-agedblack male stole two cases of Heineken beer valued at $20. The employee said the man told him, "It's not eight o'clock yet - you can't sell it," as he exited with the merchandise. At this time the store does not wish to prosecute.
Plastic chairs as beds. Meals of bread and rice. Hours spent waiting for the bathroom. As hostages return to Israel after seven weeks of Hamas captivity, information about the conditions of their confinement has begun to trickle out.

The 58 hostages freed under a cease-fire deal over the past three days have largely stayed out of the public eye, with most still in hospitals around the country.

Nearly two months after Hamas militants dragged them into Gaza during a bloody cross-border attack on Israel that also killed 1,200 people, most freed hostages appear to be in stable physical condition.

Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones' experiences.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around seven kilos (15 pounds) in just 50 days.

Raviv said she'd heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area. They said they sometimes had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.

Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight.

She counted the days of her captivity," Adar said. "She came back and she said, I know that Ive been there for 50 days.'

Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: she also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants.

For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes," said Adar. She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her.

In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummeled enclave.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.

Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

The fullest image yet of life under Hamas captivity was conjured by 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz, a hostage who was freed before the current cease-fire. Upon her release, Lipschitz said she had been held in tunnels which stretched under Gaza like a spider web. She said her captors told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldnt hurt us.

Lifshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.

There were initial indications that the recently freed hostages had also been held underground. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed on Friday, said his aunt had to adjust to the sunlight because she had been in darkness for weeks.

She was in complete darkness," said Nouri. "She was walking with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She was not used to the daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected ... from all the outside world.

Nouri said that Moshe didn't know that she was going to be released until the very last moment.

Until she saw the Red Cross, he said. "This is the moment when she realized, okay, these horrifying seven weeks are over.

She emerged to the news that her husband had been killed by the militants and her son's family had miraculously survived.

Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counseling and other support available to those who have been released.

But most of the freed hostages have appeared to be in good physical condition, able to walk and speak normally.

But at least two needed more serious medical care. One hostage released Sunday, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was rushed to Israel's Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition.

The hospital's director said she had a pre-existing condition that had not been treated properly in captivity. Another young female hostage was on crutches in a video Hamas released Saturday. The girl grimaced at her captors as she entered a Red Cross vehicle bringing her out of the besieged enclave.

Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece, Hila Rotem-Shoshani, was released Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her she didnt need to whisper.

They always told them to whisper and stay quiet, so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice, said Rotem. He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13th birthday on Monday, slept well during her first night back in Israel and has an appetite.

Ohad Munder, Raviv's 9-year-old nephew, was surrounded by friends soon after his release, as they celebrated his ninth birthday a month late with ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward.

Ohad's friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israel's Channel 13 that his friend was emotionally strong and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity. But Ohad's friends refused to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.

Vilchik said teachers have canceled Munders homework requirements but his friends will help him make up the subjects he missed in school.

He said Ohad was still able to solve a Rubiks cube in less than a minute. (AP)
Here are the new marriage licenses from the County Clerk's office:

KENNETH DEWAYNE EVERETT EMILY MARGARET STINNETT

4314 SPRING PLACE RD SE 7510 SAWYER PIKE

CLEVELAND, Tennessee 373238492 SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, Tennessee 373771618



ADRIANUS JOHANNES LAMBERTUS THIJSSEN AVERIE ELLIS WELLER

4813 ELDRIDGE RD 4813 ELDRIDGE RD

HIXSON, Tennessee 37343 HIXSON, Tennessee 37343



SHELIA ANN GANN KEVIN FARRELL MERKEL

10143 TITMOUSE RD 10143 TITMOUSE RD

TAMAROA, IL 628883312 TAMAROA, IL 62888



ADDISON GRAY PERKINS ABIGAIL IRENE MARIE HILGERS

513 SALUDA AVE APT 2 513 SALUDA AVE APT 2

COLUMBIA, South Carolina 29205 COLUMBIA, South Carolina 29205



REBECCA ROSE BURDEN LUKE THOMAS CALHOUN

2414 PINE HILL CT 2414 PINE HILL CT

TRAVERSE CITY, MI 496863830 TRAVERSE CITY, MI 496863830



ZACHARY BANKS THOMAS ANNKATHERINE LEE GOBBLE

500 JONES RD 142 RAILROAD BED PIKE

ROSwell, Georgia 30075 SUMMERTOWN, Tennessee 38483



KAITLYN ANSLEY SONGER SETH ALEXANDER SWADER

1209 PARK FORREST DR 20749 HIGHWAY 11

FORT OGLETHORPE, GA 307423423 WILDWOOD, GA 307574182



ABDULRAHMAN YAHYA ALAMMARI LETFIAH NAGEEB ABDULKARIM MURSHED

6821 NORTHSIDE DR 6821 NORTHSIDE DR

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421



LUCAS RYAN MOORE RAFAELLA DA FONSECA RODRIGUES

1765 SEVEN PINES LN 1765 SEVEN PINES LN

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374156652 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374156652



DELBERT RAY HANEY MAGDA LUZ CARDONA

6820 ROBIN DR 6820 ROBIN DR

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37421



KALEBH OBED MUNOZ GENESIS SARAI RAMIREZ

9207 MAGIC MOUNTAIN DR 9207 MAGIC MOUNTAIN DR

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374213413 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374213413



RIANA MICHELLE MAVITY BRYCETON ONEAL JERNIGAN NOBLE

1101 LONDON WAY 1101 LONDON WAY

LITHIA SPRINGS, GA 301226819 LITHIA SPRINGS, GA 301226819



NICHOLAS REID SHATUS COURTNEY ANN TOCCO

4752 CALDERWOOD CIRCLE 4752 CALDERWOOD CIRCLE

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37416 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37416



JONATHAN LES GRIESE PAMELA LILLIAN SMITH

1507 MCAMIS RD 1507 MCAMIS RD

SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, TN 373771501 SIGNAL MOUNTAIN, TN 373771501



JOSE ISMAEL PACHECO GUTIERREZ GLADYS ARACELY BARRIENTOS MARTINEZ

3408 GAIL DR 3408 GAIL DR

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37412



JOSIE ELLA THOMAS JAMES EDGAR JANOW

2912 LAKE HOWARD RD 3825 EDWARDS TER

LAFAYETTE, Georgia 30728 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374121938



ZOIE SHANE ROBERTS MANUEL ADRIAN MONTEJANO

604 MARLBORO AVE 604 MARLBORO AVE

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374122640 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 374122640



SNEH SURESH PATEL HETABEN CHANDRAKANT PATEL

8661 KEYSTONE CIR 57 MONTROSE AVE

CHATTANOOGA, TN 374218332 JERSEY CITY, NJ 073073981



STEPHEN GARY WHITLEY BETTY JO BEARDEN

513 COUNCIL FIRE DR 513 COUNCIL FIRE DR

CHATTANOOGA, TN 374214285 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374214285



MICHAEL SCOTT BECKWITH MACKENZIE NICOLE BEEKMAN

6601 WATERVIEW LN 6601 WATERVIEW LN

HIXSON, TN 373433182 HIXSON, TN 373433182



ALEJANDRO RAGAZZONI CHACON AMANDA CHRISTINE MCKENZIE

4103 PARK CROSSINGS DR 4103 PARK CROSSINGS DR

CHELSEA, Alabama 350431113 CHELSEA, Alabama 350431113



LINDSAY BRIANN KOERNER JAMES BARTHOLOMEW HUSKEY

1444 SHADY ACRES RD NE B 1444 SHADY ACRES RD NE B

DALTON, GA 307218450 DALTON, GA 307218450



BRIAN EDWARD TRUELOVE DAVID CODY LEE OGLE

556 REAGAN RD SE 556 REAGAN RD SE

CLEVELAND, Tennessee 37323 CLEVELAND, Tennessee 37323



TIMOTHY LANE ALEXANDER BARBARA ANN BRAYFORD

801 OGLETHORPE RIDGE LN 78 TRADEWIND DR

FORT OGLETHORPE, GA 307423892 FORT OGLETHORPE, GA 307424234



JOSE JOUSHOU FLORES MICHAELA CHRISTINE MILLER

251 WATERWALK PL APT 130 251 WATERWALK PL APT 130

CHATTANOOGA, TN 374061764 CHATTANOOGA, TN 374061764



JESSE LYNN CONNER PAULINE LOUISE S.

TISHAW1003 W ELMWOOD DR 1003 W ELMWOOD DRCHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37405 CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee 37405JOHN ANDREW BUCKNER KATHERINE MARGARET KOHLER2704 LIVE OAK RD 2704 LIVE OAK RDNASHVILLE, Tennessee 37210 NASHVILLE, Tennessee 37210
Hamilton County Health Department and the city of Chattanoogas Office of Community Health are partnering to expand the Health Departments Women, Infants and Children Program to offer mobile WIC services beginning Tuesday. WIC is a program that provides nutrition education, breastfeeding education and support, nutritious foods, and health referrals to women, infants, and children who qualify. The WIC mobile service will be available inside the East Lake Community Center every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Bilingual staff will be on-site to assist Spanish-speaking clients.

This additional service option allows our programs to meet the community and their needs where they are, breaking down barriers," said Felicia Jenkins, regional WIC coordinator, Hamilton County Health Department. "We appreciate the partnership with the city of Chattanooga to help us expand our services and utilize our community centers. This mobile WIC will provide supplemental nutrition to help promote growth and development to women, infants, and children who qualify for the program."

The Office of Community Health in the city of Chattanooga is excited about this partnership with the Hamilton County Health Department to open a WIC clinic in the predominantly Hispanic neighborhood of Eastlake," said Dr. Geeta Maharaj, deputy director of the Office of Community Health and Safety for the city Chattanooga. "This partnership addresses one of the key priorities of the Mayor's One Chattanooga Plan: that all Chattanoogans have access to fresh, healthy, and affordable foods. We are grateful for the partnership and the expertise of the Health Departments WIC team, who will provide the care. We look forward to increasing this partnership to provide more care to many of Chattanooga's underserved communities."

Appointments are required. Call 209-8050 to schedule an appointment. Participants must bring proof of ID, income and residence to receive WIC services. If applicants are on TennCare Medicaid, receive FNS SNAP benefits, or Families First, they are automatically income eligible for WIC.

Those eligible to receive WIC services are pregnant women, breastfeeding women (up to the infants 1st birthday), non-breastfeeding, postpartum women (up to 6 months after the birth of an infant or after pregnancy ends), infants (up to 1st birthday) and children (including foster children) up to their 5th birthday.

East Lake Community Center is at 3610 Dodds Ave. For more information call the Health Department Hotline at 209-8383. For Health Department information, visit: Health.HamiltonTN.gov.

To read this information in Spanish, visit the Health Departments Spanish Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SaludHamiltonTN






The Catoosa County Board of Commissioners has adopted an emergency resolution declaring a ban on all outdoor burning in the county until further notice.



Catoosa County, like surrounding counties in Northwest Georgia, is experiencing a prolonged, extreme drought due to a lack of rainfall. These conditions significantly enhance the danger of brush, forest, and wildfires that pose a serious risk to the property, health, safety, and welfare of Catoosa County residents, said officials. The Catoosa County Fire Department and Georgia Forestry Commission are responding to an increased number of outdoor fires.

This ban applies to all outdoor burning including leaves, brush, debris, campfires, and trash burn barrels. Anyone wishing to report banned outdoor burning should call Catoosa County 911.

This burn ban will remain in effect until the Board of Commissioners repeals the emergency declaration upon the advice of the Catoosa County Fire Department and Georgia Forestry Commission.






Daniel Gordon Earl, 74, was born on March 12, 1949, and went to heaven on November 26, 2023, after battling pancreatic cancer.

He was born in Rochester, NY to Paul and Alene (Ward) Earl. After graduating from Greece Arcadia High School, he went on to study physical therapy at the State University of New York at Buffalo and did his graduate clinical doctorate at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

His family dearly loved him for his warm sense of humor and commitment to the Lord and his family.

Dan, being a physical therapist and disability expert, traveled the world serving the Lord through Joni and Friends, Wheels for the World, taking wheelchairs and the gospel to third world countries to those in need.

He founded Christian Physical Therapists International providing support, encouragement in faith, education and ministry opportunities to its many members. This organization continues to this day as part of the Christian Medical and Dental Society.

Dan was involved in his church, North Shore Fellowship for many years as an elder and deacon. He loved connecting with people, making life better for those around him and serving especially the disabled.

He was predeceased by both his parents and dear family in Illinois and Rochester, NY.

He is survived by his wife Jennifer Lyn, his deeply loved children Matthew Earl (Elizabeth Gray), Noelle Earl and Noah Earl; and his five grandchildren, Eli, Ezra, Daniel, Tobias and Nicolette.

A memorial service will be held at North Shore Fellowship, 118 Woodland Ave., Chattanooga, Tn. 37405 on Dec. 2, at 10 a.m.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to North Shore Fellowship.

Arrangements are entrusted to Cremation Center of Chattanooga 1345 Hickory Valley Rd. Chattanooga, Tn. 37421, 423 362-5999.
Third District U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) told the Pachyderm Club at its meeting Monday that he visited former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago and told him hed do everything possible to aid in his re-election as President.

I am all in for Donald Trump, Rep. Fleischmann said, and I believe Donald Trump will be our nominee.

The President is in great spirits, he said.

Rep. Fleischmann predicted that President Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee, and that keeping Kamala Harris on his ticket would be the best thing for Republicans.

He wanders around, hes clueless, hes controlled, he said. Its a shame. If Mr. Biden does not run again, he said, the Democratic Party will look to California and to Michigan for candidates.

He said the Democratic Party is well-organized and good at raising money as election season approaches. He said its strong resolve scares him.

They will lie. They will cheat. They will steal, and they will worry about it later, he said.

He said Republicans should win West Virginia and Montana in the Senate. Earning the swing states will solidify Supreme Court appointments, he said.

Weve got to make it even more conservative, he said.

He said that Senator Marsha Blackburn should win in a landslide and that Tennessees eight incumbent Republicans in the House of Representatives should win easily.

Theres a pathway for us to hold the House, he said.

ELECTION INTEGRITY

Hamilton County was the last Tennessee county to vote out use of Dominion Voting Systems machines, converting to Election Systems and Software this fall. Last year, Dominion machines were blamed nationwide for some inaccurate tallies. They are still used in other states, but Rep. Fleischmann said mail-in ballots are of more concern to him.

Were doing a better job, he said, but that Republicans must watch swing states like a hawk.

Tennessee is safe, he said.

NATIONAL DEBT

He said Congress and the debt commission announced by newly elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson must deal with the federal governments mandatory spending without scaring seniors.

Thats the most important thing, he said.

He blamed the federal governments $33.6 trillion in debt on this mandatory spending which includes Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, and interest on the national debt. He said half the debt is owned by China.

Rep. Fleischmann serves on the House Committee on Appropriations, which he said spends about 20 to 25 percent of the federal budget. This discretionary spending does not drive the deficit, he said, and includes defense, education and the Department of Energy spending.

Rep. Fleischmann said as chairman of the Energy and Water Development subcommittee, he continues to push for Department of Energy spending which funds all nuclear weapons in the Navy and Air Force. A fully funded defense is the only thing, he said, that solidifies the U.S. role as a superpower for Russia and China.

CHICKAMAUGA LOCKS

Rep. Fleischmann said he earmarked $237 million in the new $54-billion Energy and Water Development appropriations bill to finish the Chickamauga Locks restoration, which he said is 70 percent complete today. The project had been fully funded in a previous budget, he said, but the job was sold to a smaller company that got overrun through no fault of the Biden administration, he said.

We will have that fully funded in the next budget, he said.

ISREAL-GAZA STRIP

Rep. Fleischmann said in all his tenure as a congressman he has never seen pro-Palestinian or pro-Hamas demonstrations in the United States until now.

Thats disgusting. That's wrong, he said. He said 46 percent of Democrats support Hamas in Israel and he blames rhetoric in schools from elementary to college for the change.

He said he will continue to push to fund the Iron Dome air defense system in Israel while Democrats push to de-fund it.

He Middle East aid packages must continue to flow to manage the tinderbox, as Iran-backed Hezbollah fires on northern Israel and Hamas gains popularity in the West Bank Palestinian territory.

He said there have been 70 attacks on U.S. troops in Syria and in Iraq.

UKRAINE SUPPORT

Rep. Fleischmann said he will vote with 40 percent of Republicans to send aid to Ukraine.

We cant let Putin win, he said, and predicted that Mr. Putin would use tactical nuclear weapons if not controlled.

He tied the situation his belief that the U.S. should be energy independent.
The East Ridge Police Department is seeking the help of the community to locate the vehicle shown in a photo the department released.

The occupant(s) of the vehicle are believed to have vital information relating to the fatal shooting of a juvenile at 5420 Connell St. last Tuesday.

The vehicle is believed to be a black Dodge Charger manufactured between 2011 and 2014, with chrome wheels and a rear spoiler.

If you have any information, please contact Detective Stojnic #549 at sstojnic@eastridgetn.gov or call the Confidential Tip Line at 423-867-0016.
With the approval of funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the State of Rhineland-Palatinate, BASF has come a major step closer in building a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer. In cooperation with Siemens Energy, work on the water electrolysis at the Ludwigshafen site  the so-called Hy4Chem-EI project  is now entering the next phase of construction. Dr. Franziska Brantner, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, presented the official notification of funding to Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and Site Director Ludwigshafen, in the presence of Malu Dreyer, Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate.

The core elements of hydrogen electrolysis are these so-called "stacks". These are currently being manufactured in Siemens Energy's new gigawatt factory in Berlin. BASF is one of the first customers to be supplied from the new gigawatt factory. Copyright: Siemens Energy

With an output of 54 megawatts (MW) and a capacity of up to 8,000 metric tons of hydrogen per year, the PEM electrolyzer will be one of the largest of its kind in Germany once it is operational. Powered using electricity from renewable energy sources, the system will produce CO 2 -free hydrogen and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions at the site by up to 72,000 metric tons annually. BASF will primarily use this hydrogen as a raw material in the manufacture of products with a reduced carbon footprint. In addition, the company will supply hydrogen for mobility in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region to support the ramp-up of a hydrogen economy in the area.
True to form, a strange metal quantum material proved strangely quiet in recent quantum noise experiments at Rice University. The measurements of quantum charge fluctuations known as shot noise provide the first direct evidence that electricity seems to flow through strange metals in an unusual liquidlike form that cannot be readily explained in terms of quantized packets of charge known as quasiparticles.

The noise is greatly suppressed compared to ordinary wires, said Rices Douglas Natelson, the studys corresponding author. Maybe this is evidence that quasiparticles are not well-defined things or that theyre just not there and charge moves in more complicated ways. We have to find the right vocabulary to talk about how charge can move collectively.

The experiments were performed on nanoscale wires of a quantum critical material with a precise 1-2-2 ratio of ytterbium, rhodium and silicon (YbRh2Si2), which has been studied in great depth during the past two decades by Silke Paschen, a solid-state physicist at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien). The material contains a high degree of quantum entanglement that produces a very unusual (strange) temperature-dependent behavior that is very different from the one in normal metals such as silver or gold.

In such normal metals, each quasiparticle, or discrete unit, of charge is the product of incalculable tiny interactions between countless electrons. First put forward 67 years ago, the quasiparticle is a concept physicists use to represent the combined effect of those interactions as a single quantum object for the purposes of quantum mechanical calculations.

Some prior theoretical studies have suggested that the charge in a strange metal might not be carried by such quasiparticles, and shot noise experiments allowed Natelson, study lead author Liyang Chen, a former student in Natelsons lab, and other Rice and TU Wien co-authors to gather the first direct empirical evidence to test the idea.

The shot noise measurement is basically a way of seeing how granular the charge is as it goes through something, Natelson said. The idea is that if Im driving a current, it consists of a bunch of discrete charge carriers. Those arrive at an average rate, but sometimes they happen to be closer together in time, and sometimes theyre farther apart.

Applying the technique in YbRh2Si2 crystals presented significant technical challenges. Shot noise experiments cannot be performed on single macroscopic crystals but, rather, require samples of nanoscopic dimensions. Thus, the growth of extremely thin but nevertheless perfectly crystalline films had to be achieved, something that Paschen, Maxwell Andrews and their collaborators at TU Wien managed after almost a decade of hard work. Next, Chen had to find a way to maintain that level of perfection while fashioning wires from these thin films that were about 5,000 times narrower than a human hair.

Rice co-author Qimiao Si, the lead theorist on the study and the Harry C. and Olga K. Wiess Professor of Physics and Astronomy, said he, Natelson and Paschen first discussed the idea for the experiments while Paschen was a visiting scholar at Rice in 2016. Si said the results are consistent with a theory of quantum criticality he published in 2001 that he has continued to explore in a nearly two-decade collaboration with Paschen.

The low shot noise brought about fresh new insights into how the charge-current carriers entwine with the other agents of the quantum criticality that underlies the strange metallicity, said Si, whose group performed calculations that ruled out the quasiparticle picture. In this theory of quantum criticality, the electrons are pushed to the verge of localization, and the quasiparticles are lost everywhere on the Fermi surface.

Natelson said the larger question is whether similar behavior might arise in any or all of the dozens of other compounds that exhibit strange metal behavior.
Chemical injection is a process that enhances sand strength and its water-sealing capacity, making sandy soil suitable for various applications in construction. However, a unified understanding of how this process results in increased strength remains elusive. Some studies in the past have suggested that chemical injection separates soil particles, which causes volume expansion. This creates pockets of vacuum, resulting in "negative pressure," which pulls soil particles together and strengthens it. Increased tensile strength (which determines the load the soil can endure) is also thought to influence this behavior. Other studies have proposed that shrinkage of hydrogels (water-retaining polymeric structures) leads to soil particle compression and confinement, imparting strength to the soil. However, there is still a lack of clear understanding of the underlying mechanism behind strength development of sandy soils.

Despite the use of chemical treatment for strnegthening sandy soils, an understanding of how it gains strength is lacking. Now, scientists have studied how sandy soil is made stronger through the injection of chemicals. The image above shows the dynamic changes in the molecular structure of hydrogels over time, as revealed through theoretical modeling. Shinya Inazumi from Shibaura Institute of Technology, Japan

Now, a team of scientists from Japan, led by Professor Shinya Inazumi from the Department of Civil Engineering at Shibaura Institute of Technology, has conducted a thorough investigation into the behavior of chemically injected sandy soil. Talking about the motivation behind this study, Prof. Inazumi says, We were driven by a passion for sustainable development and the desire to contribute to safer and more efficient construction practices, particularly in the context of climate change and increasing urbanization. Additionally, the researchers were also motivated by the goal of advancing geotechnical engineering, with the hope that it can have implications for public safety, by enabling the development of technologies that mitigate the risk of natural disasters.

In this study, the researchers first chemically injected sand-gel and hydrogel mixtures with an acidic solution, and conducted various tests. This included the consolidation drainage triaxial compression tests which isolate and measure the cohesive strength and the angle of internal friction in chemically enhanced soils. This testing method was chosen for its ability to provide accurate insights into soil behavior under static conditions, which is crucial for the safety and reliability of construction soil.

Additional techniques for mechanistic and structural analysis included unconfined compression tests, small-angle X-ray scattering, volume shrinkage studies, and theoretical modeling. Notably, this study marks the first instance of independent examination of the effects of dilatancy and hydrogel shrinkage on soil strength development. This distinction holds significance for the field, offering the potential to guide more targeted and efficient soil treatment methods.

The experiments revealed that the enhancement of strength in chemically treated sandy soil can be attributed to increased cohesion and the internal friction angle of the soil particles. Moreover, this improvement exhibits no long-term strength loss, and interestingly, the initial weakness of untreated sandy soil can be traced back to the hydrogel itself.

This understanding of hydrogels at the molecular level holds immense potential in civil engineering and environmental management. For example, this breakthrough can be used in earthquake-prone regions to enhance building safety, impart seismic resilience, and diminish soil liquefaction risks. Furthermore, flood-prone areas also stand to benefit from this new understanding as the water-sealing properties of these treated soils can mitigate floods and safeguard human settlements and agriculture. In the long term, this technology can also protect coastal communities against rising sea levels, storm surges, and saltwater intrusion.
Sunlight illuminates the exterior of the North Dakota House of Representatives and the state Capitol tower in Bismarck, N.D., on Friday, Nov. 10, 2023. A federal judge ruled on Friday, Nov. 17, that North Dakota's 2021 redistricting plan for state legislative districts violates the Voting Rights Act for how the Legislature reapportioned districts comprising two tribal nations. The Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians and the Spirit Lake Tribe filed their lawsuit last year, which went to trial in June 2023, resulting in the Nov. 17 ruling.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he hoped the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas can go on as long as hostages are being released after the militant group freed 17 more people, including a four-year-old Israeli-American girl.

Hamas said it wanted to extend the pause in fighting, which will enter its fourth and final agreed day on Monday. Israel has previously offered to agree to an additional day for each additional 10 hostages freed, and to release three times the number of Palestinian prisoners each time.

Thirty-nine teenage Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel on Sunday, taking the total since the truce began to 117.

Hamas said it had handed over 13 Israelis, three Thais and one with Russian citizenship, and the International Committee of the Red Cross confirmed it had successfully transferred them from Gaza on Sunday.

Biden said the four-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, had witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas fighters during their Oct. 7 rampage into Israel and had been held since then.

"What she endured is unthinkable," Biden said at a news conference in the United States.

Abigail was on her way to the hospital for checks, Israel's Channel 13 said. Her grandfather, Carmel Edan, told Reuters he "simply could not believe" she had been returned, thanking Biden "for all the help he's offered us."

Israel said on Monday it had received what could be the final list of hostages slated for release. The list was being reviewed, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that it would provide further information when possible.

Netanyahu said on Sunday he spoke to Biden about the hostage release, adding he would welcome extending the temporary truce if more hostages could be freed.

However, Netanyahu said that once the truce ends "we will return with full force to achieve our goals: The elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages."

'Can't believe I'm free'

The four-day truce agreed last week is the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza.

In response to that attack, Israel has bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Palestinians gave the freed prisoners a jubilant reception in Ramallah, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Omar Abdullah Al Hajj, 17, one of the detainees released on Sunday, told Reuters he'd been kept in the dark about what was happening in the outside world.

"I can't believe I'm free now but my joy is incomplete because we still have our brothers who remain in prison, and then there is all the news about Gaza that I am having to learn about now," said Al Hajj, who Israel's Justice Ministry accused of belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group and posing a security threat which it did not specify.

The latest three Thai hostages released were in good health, Thailand's prime minister said. Efforts to free the remaining 15 Thais would continue, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs added.

Sunday's hostage release follows the liberation of 13 Israelis and four foreigners on Saturday. Hamas released 24 hostages on Friday, the first day of the truce. A Palestinian source has said up to 100 hostages could ultimately go free.

Qatar, Egypt and the United States are pressing for the truce to be extended but it is not clear whether that will happen.

Clashes and recriminations have threatened to torpedo the existing deal.

The killing of a Palestinian farmer in the central Gaza Strip had earlier added to those concerns. The farmer was shot by Israeli forces east of Gaza's Maghazi refugee camp, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Violence has also flared in the West Bank, where Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including two minors and at least one gunman, late on Saturday and early Sunday, medics and local sources said.

Immense relief

The deal survived an earlier threat when Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday it was delaying hostage releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.

Qatari diplomats are now on site in Gaza to supervise the entry and delivery of their country's aid, Qatar's Foreign Ministry said.

A U.N. official who took part in a humanitarian convoy to northern Gaza said on Sunday aid groups were on track to deliver

the biggest shipment in over a month, describing thin, gaunt residents slaking their thirst as soon as water arrived.

"People are so desperate and you can see in adults' eyes they haven't eaten," the U.N. children's agency's James Elder told Reuters by video link from southern Gaza after returning from Gaza City.

Even as the aid deliveries flowed north, Elder said he saw hundreds of Gazans heading in the other direction, fearing the renewal of Israeli bombardments if the four-day truce is not prolonged.

"People are so terrified that this pause won't be continued," he said. (Reuters)
Cherokee Nation citizen Julie Baldwin, a professor at Northern Arizona University, accepts her induction into the National Academy of Medicine from the organizations president, Victor J. Dzau.
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College and university professors in the liberal arts (humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences) are almost entirely left-leaning, liberal, or progressive, and this is especially true among faculty in the humanities and social sciences. The trend is even more pronounced in certain selective schools.

Students who attend liberal arts colleges or universities often adopt more liberal or progressive points of view as a result of their education. There are many great literary depictions of this transformation and the ensuing alienation that often results when such students return home from college. (My favorite is in Flannery OConnors short story Revelation, where a young woman in a doctors office throws her human development textbook at the unenlightened, uncouth, hometown character Ruby Turpin.)

Is this phenomenon accidentally related to the demography of the professoriate or somehow intrinsically related to the craft and content of the liberal arts themselves and the culture and atmosphere of the campus? 

The terms liberal and progressive represent different political traditions in the West, and, when applied to the liberal arts, represent different approaches to education.

Liberal liberal arts education represents a modern vision of an Enlightenment-style view of objective truth pursued by rational and empirical methods. The progressive model, on the other hand, is often associated with postmodern visions of education, ones suspicious of privileged categories such as knowledge, truth, and understanding. It aims at dismantling systems of illegitimate power, ensuring equal outcomes, and achieving other goals connected to the mission of social justice.

New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that these visions of the liberal arts are ultimately incompatible and that universities should choose between the aims of objective truth and social justice. He calls the liberal approach Truth U and the progressive approach Social Justice U. He notes that most major liberal arts institutions in America today have become Social Justice Us by default, owing simply to the makeup of their faculties.

Haidt notes that some religious colleges present themselves as pursuing an entirely different telos, or guiding purpose. As an example, he points to the evangelical Wheaton College, whose mission statement mentions serv[ing] Jesus Christ and advanc[ing] His Kingdom. Haidt calls this exceptional case Jesus U, but he doesnt seem to take it seriously, given his commitment to an Enlightenment-style vision of the liberal arts.

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Both the liberal and progressive approaches to the liberal arts retain something essential from earlier traditions, but they also deviate significantly from the classical and Christian view of the human person that gave birth to the earliest universities and liberal arts colleges in Europe and America.

The liberal liberal arts approach of Truth U retains a fundamental insistence on the connection between intellectual cultivation and citizenship, but it abandons the transcendent framework that understands pursuing truth as an expression of our deepest human telos. The progressive approach of Social Justice U retains an insistence on the connection between liberal learning and neighbor-love, but it abandons the redemptive vision the Christian story brings to critiques of power, care for victims, and confession of sin.

For these reasons, we ought to take Christian liberal arts institutions more seriously than Haidt does. Such a model is a viable alternative to the liberal or progressive adaptations of the liberal arts on offer today. This tradition is capacious enough to be appealing to Christians and non-Christians alike and is adaptable to other religious or philosophical approaches. The Christian university of the 21st century ought to present a picture of the human person and the role of intellectual cultivation in human flourishing that transcends the impasse of liberal and progressive approaches to the liberal arts.

Tools of intellectual agility

The ancient Greco-Roman view of the liberal arts was associated with the special status of being a free person (liber) rather than a servant or slave (servus), for whom training in the manual or mechanical (servile) arts was most fitting. Free people needed the intellectual agility and capacity for thought and communication to participate in free, self-governing societies, and the liberal arts equipped them to engage a variety of viewpoints with subtlety and generosity.

The ancient founders of the liberal arts could not have imagined the modern American attempt to extend this vision to include all human beings. The slow unfolding of civil rights and the expansion of the liberal arts have worked in tandem in American democracy.

Yet this project is now under attack from many angles: ideological differences threaten to shatter our ideals, values, and shared sense of the past; general education in the liberal arts evaporates in an effort to expedite degree-completion and minimize costs; and career orientation discourages students from majoring in liberal arts disciplines to begin with.

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What sort of stories and symbols, what corresponding practices and habits, can revive and restore faith in the liberal arts?

Truth Us curricula are often simply too spare, too shorn of a transcendent or religious sense of the human person to provide the meaningful context for the pursuit of truth. Truth U models itself after the successful techniques of the sciences and punts on fundamental questions of morality and religion that could guide the overall direction of inquiry.

Truth in a purely objective, universal, or rational sense is too bare a telos for the liberal arts to sustain themselves. Rather, they thrive in narrative webs of meaningof words and images that come freighted with sense and value and hold capacity for shaping worldviews and affections.

Christians living in late antiquity saw that part of the Christian educators task would be migrating the liberal arts tools from their classical Greco-Roman context to a biblical contextwith its distinct stories, characters, ideals, values, images, and emotionsin order to create a Christian culture of liberal education.

Augustine of Hippo sensed the conflict between the classical and biblical texts and worked tirelessly to identify the resonance and dissonance among them. He was keen to highlight the common human inheritance of the liberal arts and their inherent dependence on a shared world of meaning. He baptized the narrative world of classical culture and embedded it in an alternative story in pursuit of a different god.

Slowly the old myths and gods were burned away. Centuries later, as the Enlightenment gave birth to a new vision of liberal arts education in modernity, it returned the favor and slowly banished metaphysics and Christian theology from the list of properly scientific disciplines.

The liberal model of liberal arts education admirably retains the central vision of these arts as the common tools of intellectual agility necessary for an intelligent, free, self-governing society, but it fails to provide a guiding web of shared meaning.

It appears impotent to resist the common and reductive vision of education and of the human person, as defined narrowly by work or material success. It appears unable to sustain moral energy around the liberal notion of scientific truth as a sacred value. This leaves the students of Truth U vulnerable to a flattened existence, vacillating between materialistic meaninglessness or relativistic consumption of meaning.

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Moral energy

The progressive model of the liberal arts is statistically the most dominant today. The movement of radical 1960s intellectual life into the mainstream of higher education through professional research in the humanities and social sciences is an intriguing and complex historical and sociological tale.

One simple way to understand Social Justice Us intellectual framework, however, is as an uneasy alliance between the deconstructive criticism of Friedrich Nietzsche and the Marxist insistence on equality.

Social Justice Us advantage over Truth U is that this uneasy alliance has created a captivating web of meaning in which the tools of the liberal arts can be acquired and tested in social criticism and activism. The critical Nietzschean accomplishment of Social Justice U is deconstructing the idea of objective truth as a coded expression of the will to dominate others, rooted in privilege, exclusion, and elitism.

This deconstructive project is then yoked with a secularized version of the Christian instinct for social justice. The result is an alternative system of moral authority, rooted in a totalizing narrative of unmasking power and defending the victim, that offers powerful resources (both motivational and practical) for those interested in achieving a better world.

The moral energy of Social Justice U is rooted in its insistence on the inherent connection between intellectual work and social concernan offshoot of the Christian perspective on the liberal arts that yokes the intellectual and practical goals of education together under the umbrella of the twin commandments of love for God and love for neighbor. The progressive approach thus retains certain Christian impulses, even when it rejects the undergirding redemptive vision Christianity offers.

Learning and love

Only by recovering a broader conception of the human person (and the way education plays a role in forming such a person) can the liberal arts move beyond the impasse between Truth U and Social Justice U. Neither telostruth or justiceis coherent apart from this broader conception.

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The Augustinian Christian tradition (at the root of both the medieval Catholic and early modern Protestant vision of the liberal arts) represents one attempt at situating the liberal arts within a comprehensive understanding of human nature and purpose.

Of course, there are many Christian traditions and other religious traditions (Jewish, Islamic, and Mormon, for example) that propose their own understandings. What they share, however, are forms of inquiry premised on a picture of a human being and an authoritative set of religious texts read in relation to and in tension with the tradition of the liberal artsin both their ancient origins and modern disciplinary extensions.

The modern secular universitys commitment to quantitative methods and techniques of empirical analysis as the highest form of inquiry makes it impossible to rationally justify any non-empirically verified telos, whether truth or social justice, which makes the choice of one over the other a matter of preference. The Christian university must reconceive its own work of liberal arts education in light of its own understanding of humanity and the unfolding dialogue between its authoritative texts and rival texts, whether these come from the Western liberal arts tradition or some other religious or moral tradition. 

In this setting, the liberal arts educator has a double roleboth preserving a particular religious framework and engaging rival standpoints to see whats wrong with them and to test ones own tradition. The Christian university can pursue what Alasdair MacIntyre calls a tradition-shaped form of inquiry, whereby ones own religious perspective is sharpened by liberal arts education and brought into meaningful dialogue with rival answers to the deepest human questions.

The telos of Jesus U is love. Here the love of learning is tethered to love for God, love for neighbor, and a healthy self-love. Here is a vision of education that eclipses any purely material view of human personality.

The social-science caricature of the human person found in both Truth U and Social Justice U reduces human desire to either bare economic self-interest or raw social power. Neither get to the true depth of human personality. Each appeals to the language of psychology (whether as trauma or happiness) at key moments to get out of the flattened secular horizon and move into the realm of true meaning.

Although the social sciences are supposedly methodologically immune to value judgments, they slide into them through the quantitative language of material well-being. This leaves the student hostage to contested visions of selfhood and identity in the digital coliseum and marketplace.

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In the Christian vision, self-love is not reducible to economic self-interest or social dominance but recognized as the divine impulse through which one meets the world not as ones oyster but as ones neighbor. The ember of self-love fuels an outward-driving process of moral formation.

In the Christian university, then, liberal education is brought toward a transcendent horizon that exceeds any purely secular view of political society. Here, citizenship is twofold: One part is committed to the proximate justice and common interest of our earthly political communities, as framed by a Christian conception of human dignity. The other part of citizenship longs for a deeper, truer form of community found in that eternal city foreshadowed throughout Scripture.

Liberal arts education is inherently linked to the formation of new citizens, and thus, Christian education imbues citizens with a shrewd sensitivity to the limits of politics. Christians ought to be fiercely loyal to local forms of community and fiercely global in outlook given the history and mission of the church. This produces a kind of spiritual restlessness that resists the temptations of nationalism and goes on pilgrimage.

What would it look like to build a liberal arts institution oriented toward this telos today? It would require a collaborative multidisciplinary team of faculty to work out a new-yet-old vision of truth, and a corresponding epistemological framework that moves beyond the fragmentation of knowledge found in the modern university.

It would need to order its communitys life around the habits and practices necessary to sustain the marriage of learning and love for God and neighbor. It would need to nurture the character traitsintellectual, moral, and spiritualmost conducive to authentic liberal education. It would need sensitivity to the form and atmosphere of the campus and creativity in engaging the intellectual and moral aims of the community.

Questions about online learning and career preparation might press upon us. But such questions should not distract us from more basic ones. We should be encouraged that educational endeavors in the Christian liberal arts tradition have emerged and succeeded in much less auspicious times than our own.

Joseph Clair is dean of the College of Humanities at George Fox University. This article is adapted from his chapter in The Liberating Arts: Why We Need Liberal Arts Education (Plough Publishing).
Donald Trumps presidency accelerated the decline of church attendance in America. While the number of people going to church was already going down steadily, data from Harvard Universitys Cooperative Election Study shows an exogeneous shock in 2016, according to political scientist Ryan Burge, who specializes in the study of religious data.

For every action there is a reaction, Burge told CT. Donald Trump is the action. His election caused all these ripple effects in American society, and you can see it in the pews.

Politically moderate and left-leaning evangelicals appear most impacted. A growing number seem to have felt estranged from their congregations in the Trump era. The rate of self-identified Democrats giving up on church in their 20s50s doubled from the end of Barack Obamas presidency to the end of Trumps, according to Burge. And the dramatic change came in 2016. At the same time, more Republicans started identifying as evangelical but not attending any worship services.

The growing consensus of social scientists is that political identities are currently much, much stronger than religious commitments.

Have something to add about this? See something we missed? Share your feedback here.
Loud Pentecostal worship is part of the soundtrack of Africas major cities. From Johannesburg, South Africa, to Lagos, Nigeria, booming preaching and boisterous worship rings through the alleys, apartments, and street corners.

But in Blantyrethe commercial capital of Malawichurch noise is conspicuously absent.

Though located in one of the poorest nations in Africa and the world, Blantyres central business district contains one of the largest concentrations of investment banks, hedge funds, insurance companies, and posh restaurants on the continent.

Banks like National Bank of Malawi tussle for space in the district with foreign behemoths like Standard Bank Group (Africas richest by assets) and the domineering skyscraper of the Reserve Bank of Malawi, the countrys equivalent of the Federal Reserve.

It is a Wall Street of the Southern Africa region. The city is just artificially too clean, too smart, and designed for banks, said Susan Mani, one of a few highly regulated mobile chefs who serve suited bankers and hedge fund managers rice and chicken during a two-hour lunch window.

The thinking of the city fathers is, Do you want some noisy, prayerful African church beating drums in the basement when hedge fund investors from Singapore or Dubai are meeting in the boardroom of a bank atop?

City officials have made it clear their answer is no. While quieter Anglican and Adventist congregations dot the streets of Blantyre, noisy African-initiated churches are unwanted. They face fines or possible removal from the district for their traditional style of worship.

Its costly to be caught leading a church where bass drums, loud prayers, and the noise of thunderous sermons is filtering into the street, said Dennis Labo, pastor of Zion Christian Church (ZCC Malawi), an African Pentecostal church that has thousands of followers across Malawi and neighboring African countries.

Labo was fined 370,000 kwacha ($220 USD) and told to relocate his 80-person congregation from the avenue that houses the National Bank of Malawi, the wealthiest bank in the country.

The Blantyre City Council wants to present the citys [central business district] as the epitome of a well-clean financial district without  noisy churches or fruit vendors, he said.

Pentecostal churches arent the only targets. Gerald Lipikwe, a council member, stressed that any church, business, party, or dwelling that goes over noise thresholds in the central business district can face steep fines, license restrictions, or removal.

Blantyre follows the harsh bureaucracy of Rwanda, which restricts African Pentecostal churches, forcing congregations to hold covert, quiet services mainly on Fridays after business hours.

We dare to hold informal services when the bankers have left town, Nisbert, an evangelical African pastor, told CT.

He avoids giving his surname because his church faces potential removal from the Blantyre central business district. Its on its last warning after holding an all-night prayer gathering that disturbed a corporate meeting at the nearby Malawi Stock Exchange.

The restrictions on African worship also hurts church growth, pastors say. In a country where three-quarters are Christian, evangelical and Pentecostal churches are eager to draw in young Black bankers who can afford to tithe generously.

Blantyre was the colonial capital of Malawi, the headquarters for banks, universities, hospitals, and government offices. In 1975a decade after the end of British rulethe government of Malawi gradually transferred offices to its current capital Lilongwe, a new city built out of the bushes.

But the banks never left the former capital, said Labo. Even today, a presidential palace remains in Blantyre.

The place where extravagant sugarcane and tobacco profits were banked by British colonial plantation owners still remains the money city of Malawi, according to John Tembo, an independent financial historian whos lived in Blantyre for the past 50 years.

The citys hostility to noisy congregationscode for indigenous African churchesis unfair, Tembo said. Many among the political and banking elite instead attend Anglican and Baptist parishes, which are considered classy and civilized.

European/American legacy churches like Adventists and Anglicans have large outlets and hold services, Tembo said, pointing to a sprawling Adventist hospital along the posh hotel lane of Blantyres city center. The so-called civilized European churches in the Blantyre business district have invested in upper-class hospitals, so they are tolerated.

Pentecostal or evangelical churches are often unregistered and informal, so the city doesnt draw taxes from them.

The history of churches in Malawi is colorful, varied, and synonymous with the colonial takeover of the territory that was formerly called Nyasaland. When Scottish missionary David Livingstone arrived at Lake Malawi (then Nyasa) in 1859, he established the countrys first missionary church. Anglican missionaries like Edward Steere followed, as did Dutch Reformed missionaries and, later, the Catholic church.

The Anglicans dominance helped solidify the colonial takeover of the country in 1891 by the British crown. Africans who converted to the faith largely joined the Anglican church because it built the most schools, hospitals, and colleges in Malawi.

Following closely were the Adventists, Dutch Reformed, and Catholics. Not many independent African churches existed in Malawi when the country overcame colonial rule in 1964 or in the couple decades after. But as the sense of independence and access to education grew in Malawi in the 80s, the spirit and confidence of establishing African-initiated churches grew too.

A scatter of numerous African-led churches mushroomed in MalawiZion Christian, Pentecostal, and evangelicalmany of these mixing traditional African ancestral beliefs and Christian ethos. Because of class differences, they hardly ever united or cooperated with believers in legacy European and American churches.

However, the only point of meeting was when congregants from upstart African churches attended Anglican or Catholic primary schools and urgent care clinics. In impoverished post-colonial Malawi, the Western-founded churches still provided education, health care, and relief.

In the early 2000s, a Pentecostal Christian re-awakening began to sweep through Africa. As African economies got hit by World Bankenforced austerity, dubious African prophets like Shepherd Bushiri in Malawi and T. B. Joshua in Nigeria began to dazzle millions of poor African believers with promises of miracles and instant wealth.

Millions of Black Malawians were won over and began leaving legacy colonial churches and older African churches for the charismatic miracle prophets. For poor believers in the country, the promise of instant wealth and miraculous breakthrough holds significant appeal.

Mani, the lunch vendor, says the restrictions and stigma around African churches reflects underlying anti-poor attitudes in a country with extreme inequality. Oxfam America says just 10 percent of the population consumes 22 times more resources than the poorest Malawians.

Its a dangerous inequality, said pastor Labo. Just a few meters out of Blantyres central banking district you will find the most chaotic slums where the real citizens, the majority of Blantyre, live and worship loudly.
Home Church & Ministries Evangelical leaders back Israel, call for US gov't support

Notable Evangelical leaders have signed a letter urging key political leaders to take a stand against antisemitism, support Israel and respond to the massacre by Hamas on Oct. 7, which they described as the most significant since the Holocaust.

The letter, a copy of which was provided to The Christian Post, urges Congress to without delay take the following specific steps to fight antisemitism and ensure that the Jewish state survives this horrific attack.

We represent many faith traditions and have come together, in one united voice, to defend our shared humanity against barbarism and terror, the letter released on Monday states.

The Christian leaders call for concrete steps from Congress, such as funding Israels defenses, passing acts against antisemitism and overseeing measures to prevent and punish hate crimes in the U.S.

The letter also urges maintaining sanctions on Iran and supporting Israels defense against Hamas and other Islamic terrorist organizations. The signatories also affirm their solidarity with the Jewish people and Israel and urge all Americans to join them.

According to the Israeli prime minister's office, more than 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, with 6,900 others injured since Hamas terrorists launched unprecedented surprise attacks on Israel on Oct. 7.

In their letter, the Evangelical leaders describe the killings as the most significant massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

In the wake of this horrific terror, antisemitic protests erupted in the United States and around the world. We will not remain silent in response. Like the signatories of this letter, the majority of Americans continue to stand by their Jewish brothers and sisters in the United States and in the Jewish homeland of Israel. As Jews remain the target of more than half of religion-motivated hate crimes in the United States and as Israel faces a fight for its survival, Americans of all faiths and backgrounds must take action now, they wrote.

With this letter, we issue a united condemnation of antisemitism and proclaim our support for Israels right to self-defense. The United States government, and the peoples representatives in Congress, cannot waver both in combatting antisemitism and in supporting the State of Israel.

Signatories of the letter include: Ralph E. Reed, chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition; Timothy Head, executive director of the Faith & Freedom Coalition; James Dobson, founder and chairman of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas; Jonathan Falwell, chancellor of Liberty University; Jentezen Franklin, senior pastor of Free Chapel in Gainesville, Georgia; Jack Graham, senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas; John Hagee, CEO and pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas; Richard Land, executive editor of The Christian Post and president emeritus of Southern Evangelical Seminary; David Olson, senior pastor of Heartland Church in Ankeny, Iowa; Gordon Robertson, CEO and president of The Christian Broadcasting Network; James Robison, founder and president of LIFE Outreach International; Jordan Sekulow, president and CEO of ACLJ Action; and Rabbi Tuly Weisz, president of Israel365 and editor of The Israel Bible.

As faith leaders representing many traditions, we affirm our support for the Jewish people and the State of Israel. We call on Americans of all religious backgrounds to join us in pledging our unwavering commitment to stand by our Jewish brothers and sisters, the letter concludes.

In October, Southern Baptist Convention leaders took the lead in releasing a statement backed by dozens of Evangelical leaders condemning attacks by Hamas and expressing their support for Israel's "right and duty to defend itself against further attack."

At the time, Land, who also signed the letter, voiced his solidarity with the Jewish community, which he said had been distressed by the lack of global outrage.

"I've been contacted by several of my Jewish friends. And they're disturbed," Land said. "They're very concerned that there hasn't been more outrage and there hasn't been more condemnation of these atrocious acts."

"Hamas is a terrorist organization," he continued. "They don't want to negotiate with the Israelis. Hamas wants to drive the Jews into the sea and eradicate them. They are promoting genocide. They're even worse than the Nazis because at least the Nazis tried to hide what they were doing. Hamas is promoting what they're doing. Israel has every right to defend itself against the savagery.

"We've heard people talking about the clash of civilizations between Islam and Christianity. This is not a clash of civilizations. This is a clash between civilization and barbarism," he said.

Land, who is also president emeritus of Southern Seminary in North Carolina, criticized attempts by some to draw a moral equivalency between Israel and Hamas, stressing that such equivalences are misplaced and indicate a "demagnetized" moral compass.

He called upon U.S. policymakers to provide Israel with the necessary means to defend itself.

"They're not asking us for any troops," he said. "They're just asking us for the means with which to defend themselves against these atrocious kinds of attacks."

"It's important that we stand in solidarity with our Jewish friends," he added. "This is barbarism, as low as it gets. Civilization just must not put up with it."

Read the letter in full below:
Home Politics 'Offensive to Christians': Republican congressman blasts 'satanic Christmas tree'

Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., on Sunday blasted a satanic Christmas tree display at a railroad museum in his hometown of Green Bay and criticized the museum for its "insufficient response" to public outrage.

Its impossible to overstate how offensive this is to Christians," Gallagher said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures."

"It would be, in quite a literal sense, the same thing as waving a Hamas flag inside of a synagogue," he continued. Its just absolutely crazy that we would allow this to happen."

The Satanic Temple Wisconsin erected one of the 66 Christmas trees that will be on display at the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon outside Green Bay until Dec. 31, according to Fox News Digital. The tree is decked out with red lights, pentagrams and ornaments proclaiming "Hail Santa!"

Another tree in the museum this year that has drawn scrutiny was reportedly put up by the Bay Area Council on Gender Diversity and is decorated with trans flags and signs saying, "Protect trans kids!"

Responding to local backlash regarding the trees, Museum CEO Jacqueline Frank told a local NBC affiliate that her museum does not discriminate.

"We believe that everybody should be included regardless of their religious group, regardless of any business or organization that they're a part of," she said. "So we don't discriminate. Since we're not a religious group ourselves, we're going to allow anyone who wants to take place to take part."

Speaking with Fox News, Gallagher noted that the museum has asserted the satanic tree is "an educational opportunity," a notion he dismissed as "completely ridiculous." Explaining that the museum annually screens the animated "Polar Express" film for kids, he said he would now refuse to take his own children to the museum.

"I don't want them to be surrounded by satanic trees. The local reporting has been insufficient. The whole thing is absurd," Gallagher said.

He concluded by pushing back on assertions that conservatives are overly fixated on the culture war, noting that the satanic tree debacle at the railroad museum is "a perfect example of how that's not what's happening."

Gallagher said conservatives are "just trying to defend basic traditions  or defend our children in the midst of these basic traditions  from the encroachment of woke ideology, or offensive upside-down cultural propaganda."

Gallagher said "the whole thing is a shame" and suggested that cultural battles once confined to elite coastal states are now encroaching on the heartland.

"I thought that Northeast Wisconsin was at least immune to something that you might see in New York or California, but we need to be vigilant as parents," he said.

The National Railroad Museum did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Christian Post.

The Satanic Temple in neighboring Illinois has drawn similar backlash in recent years for installing satanic holiday displays in the rotunda of the Illinois state Capitol next to a menorah and Christmas tree.

In 2018, it installed a Snaketivity statue that depicted a serpent coiling around Eve's hand to offer her the forbidden fruit.

Other displays in the Illinois state Capitol have included baby Baphomet swaddled in a manger and a crocheted snake resting on a leather-bound copy of astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus 1543 book "On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres," according to Fox News Digital.
Home World 'Jesus' film that has led millions to Christ will be released in 2,100th language

A global evangelism ministry will release the 2,100th foreign language translation of the 1979 movie JESUS," focusing on a language spoken by a South American tribe known for the killing of five American missionaries in 1956.

The Jesus Film Project, a Campus Crusade for Christ International ministry devoted to sharing the film with people across the globe, will release a new translation of "JESUS" in the Waorani language, spoken by roughly 3,000 indigenous Amazonian Ecuadorians.

Our mission is to reach everyone everywhere with the good news of Jesus. The way that we do that is through translating The Jesus Film into heart languages and partnering with the body of Christ to show The Jesus Film, said Josh Newell, the executive director of The Jesus Film Project, in an interview with The Christian Post.

We work together to evangelize people and to see new churches and fellowships established as a result of that missionary activity. There's a lot of stories that come around from people who share the story of Jesus through The Jesus Film, and incredible results and stories of people who are hearing about Jesus for the first time.

The film, which the Jesus Film Project says has led over 200 million people to Christ worldwide, depicts the life of Jesus Christ as told in the Gospel of Luke.

Newell said the initiative to bring the film to the Waorani tribe, a people group formerly known as the Auca, is an endeavor that he anticipates will change many lives.

Newell said the relationship the indigenous group had with Christianity has been rocky in the past, recalling the five American Christian missionaries  Jim Elliot, Pete Fleming, Ed McCully, Nate Saint and Roger Youderian  were famously martyred by the tribe in 1956.

The group of five wanted to reach the unreached tribe, known as the Waorani people. They spent a lot of time and effort to try to reach them, including flying over there to where the tribe was located in Ecuador with a plane, Newell said.

There were elaborate speaker systems calling out greetings to them, basically trying anything that they could do to meet them and bring the Gospel to them. This is a tribe that was not just unreached to the Gospel, but really was a hidden tribe in the Amazon."

Newell said that while the missionaries "finally established contact" with the tribe, the men "were speared to death five days after making contact."

News of their martyrdom became a story that has been widely retold and the subject of multiple films, namely "Beyond the Gates of Splendor" and "End of the Spear."

These films not only centered on the martyrdoms, but also how the families of the missionaries decided to live with the very tribe that had murdered their husbands and fathers, inspiring many of the Waorani people to convert to Christianity.

Since that time, ITEC, a ministry founded to serve the Waorani people and other groups, has aided in the initiative of the Jesus Film Project and connected with key leaders within the Waorani community.

Cru Ecuador will work with ITEC and other ministries to bring the Gospel message to the Waorani people.

I think much of the older generations and many of the current generations of the Waorani people don't read or write. Having the Gospel on film is a great way to access the story of Jesus. It's a great way for their culture to be honored. Because there's not a lot of other people that are taking the time and effort to produce something in their language, Newell said.

It's called a heart language for a reason. Because we speak our native language and it's close to our heart. It's what we communicate in, and when we want to express our deepest fears or thoughts or feelings, we speak that tongue. This translation will be a great tool to honor the Waorani people and to express the Imago Dei and how God's image is on every person, he added.

I think that the most honorable thing that we can do as Christians is to share about Jesus in the language that people can most easily understand. It's the most dignified thing that we can do.
Home World Theology lecturer files suit against Methodist school after being fired for tweet

A theology lecturer has initiated legal proceedings against a Methodist Bible college in England following his dismissal over a tweet concerning sexuality. The case involves issues of free speech and religious expression.

In March, Aaron Edwards, 37, was terminated by Cliff College in Derbyshire for allegedly bringing the institution into disrepute through his tweet. He has now filed a lawsuit, supported by the Christian Legal Centre, citing harassment, discrimination and unfair dismissal.

Edwards legal team plans to argue that his rights under the European Convention of Human Rights were violated, Christian Concern, whose legal arm is CLC, said in a statement.

The tweet, posted on Feb. 19, read: Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this b/c theyre busy apologizing for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not its true. This is a Gospel issue, by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Savior.

Following the post, Edwards faced online abuse, suspension and a threat of being reported to Prevent, a counter-terrorism program, during the colleges investigation.

Cliff College has attempted to refute claims of threatening Edwards with a counter-terrorism referral, but minutes from the disciplinary hearing suggest otherwise, CLC said.

The hearing also scrutinized Edwards approach to praying for same-sex attracted students. He fears that the fallout from this incident could prevent him from working in U.K. higher education again.

In his legal claim, Edwards emphasized the significance of the case for academic and Christian freedoms. Anyone concerned about academic freedom, Christian freedoms, and free speech should be deeply concerned by what has happened to me, he said, and described the reaction to his tweet and the treatment by Cliff College and the Methodist Church in Britain as illustrative of the issues his tweet addressed.

CLC Chief Executive Andrea Williams expressed dismay at the situation, highlighting the conflict between traditional Christian teachings on sexuality and contemporary societal values. She noted the Methodist Churchs deviation from its traditional stance on marriage and its implications for freedom of expression within the Church.

This case reflects broader tensions within the Methodist Church in Britain, particularly after its June 2021 decision to permit same-sex marriages in its places of worship.

Edwards insists that his post was not homophobic but a doctrinal statement addressed to Evangelicals. Despite his clarifications, Cliff College requested Edwards to remove the tweet, citing a violation of its social media policy, which he refused, believing it would compromise his conscience.

The colleges response to the tweet included a public statement distancing itself from Edwards views. This was followed by a wave of complaints from senior Methodist Church members, expressing concerns about the tweets impact on the colleges work and reputation.

During the investigation and disciplinary process, Edwards was suspended and faced questions that suggested an accusation of promoting conversion therapy. The principal of Cliff College, the Rev. Ashley Cooper, who supported the 2021 decision to allow same-sex marriages in Methodist churches, led the disciplinary hearing.

Edwards case is set for a full employment tribunal hearing in 2024.

The case has garnered support, including a crowdfunding initiative to assist his family and plans to establish a new theological college promoting free speech.

The incident adds to a growing list of cases where individuals face professional repercussions for expressing views on social media that conflict with prevailing attitudes toward LGBT ideology, as seen in several instances also in the U.S.

In January, American video game distributor Limited Run Games terminated one of its employees amid social media backlash over the fact she followed several right-leaning Twitter accounts and made statements deemed by critics as transphobic.

In 2020, The Tobias Literary Agency, which has offices in Boston, New York City and Nashville, ousted one of its assistants, Sasha White, from her job for tweeting that transgender-identifying men who say they are women are not biologically female.
Home World Gift box company working to combat anti-Semitism, educate people about Israel

An Israeli small business owner fears that hatred against Jews has reached pre-Holocaust levels in many parts of the world as his company continues to work on helping people connect with the land of Israel.

Itai Schimmel is the founder of Artza, a local subscription box that features local Israeli vendors and artisans, which he started during the COVID-19 pandemic to help small businesses in Israel and connect people to the history and biblical significance of the Holy Land.

In an interview with The Christian Post, Schimmel, who is currently stationed in southern Israel after he was called up for military duty following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that left over 1,200 dead, said that he feels Artza's mission connecting people to Israel is more relevant now than ever.

Artza is the Hebrew word that means "towards the land," referring to Israel. According to the Bible, God told Abraham in Genesis 12 to leave his birthplace and head towards the land He had shown him.

"The reason why we chose that word is because we thought that it captures what we're trying to do, which is to try to give people a taste of what it would be like to come to the land of Israel," the Artza founder said.

Each Artza gift box contains items from a specific region in Israel, and since the organization's founding, Artza has delivered over 110,000 boxes, according to Schimmel. Artza's team comprises Christians and Jews. The company provides boxes to multiple parts of the United States and has over 7,000 subscribers. Following the Oct. 7 attack, Schimmel said that Artza gained around 500 more subscribers.

The terror group's assault last month resulted in around 1,200 deaths and the abduction of about 240 people. In response to the attack, Israel declared war against Hamas, a terror group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and launched attacks in Gaza to eradicate the terrorist group and secure the hostages' freedom.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says that over 11,000 have been killed in Gaza since the war began but hasn't differentiated between civilians and hostages.

Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day truce in which the terrorist group agreed to free 50 hostages while Israel will release 150 Palestinian prisoners. The first exchanges began on Friday afternoon and continued over the weekend.

Before the Oct. 7 attack, Schimmel had always promoted Artza as an apolitical organization, explaining that the company wanted to focus on "beauty and shared commonalities." However, Schimmel no longer believes it is possible to maintain this stance.

"Firstly, I feel like I personally and Artza as a company have a responsibility to share the truth about what is happening here," he said. "Whoever has some sort of platform has a responsibility to go out there and share the truth. If you want to call that political, then I guess you can call that political."

One way that Artza is attempting to educate people about the situation is through its social media pages, including content about the Hamas hostage victims and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Schimmel also revealed that, for the next set of boxes, Artza plans to include materials that tell the story of a wounded soldier and a Christmas box that contains a letter detailing the situation with Hamas.

He stated that attempting to educate people is one of the ways to address what he sees as some of the worst displays of pure anti-Semitism since before the Holocaust.

In the last two months, protests have erupted worldwide, with some demonstrators chanting "Gas the Jews." Other incidents on college campuses include pro-Palestine protestors chanting "Free Palestine" as Jewish students were studying in a library.

"I've never seen people able to be so freely and proudly anti-Semitic and have a proud stance about their hatred of Jews up until now, which is terrifying," Schimmel said. "And I'm not even sure if that has happened since pre-Holocaust."

Many are misinformed about Israel, according to Schimmel, which he believes plays a part in why they're protesting against the Jewish State.

"You're entitled to disagree with Israel; we can discuss that," he said. "But to have that blind you so that you're so full of hate that you celebrate the deaths of innocent people who were massacred? That's completely inexcusable."

As many international bodies and politicians have called for a ceasefire, Schimmel contends that a ceasefire is "ludicrous" while Hamas is still holding hundreds of people hostage.

"What's happening now is bigger than just a war between Israel and Hamas," he said. "I think there's a real war of good versus evil, a real war between a dangerous, radical ideology and a more modern, civilized Western ideology."

Since the land of Israel holds significance for Jews and Christians, Schimmel believes people of both faiths have a duty to protect it from Hamas, as the terror group would limit religious freedom if they took complete control of the area.

"I think there's a very strong biblical responsibility to stand up and show support for Israel," Schimmel said.
Home U.S. 'Vile show of anti-Semitism': High school students mob teacher for attending pro-Israel rally

Hundreds of students rampaged through the halls of a New York high school for around two hours after learning a Jewish teacher attended a pro-Israel rally, vandalizing school property and forcing the faculty member to take refuge in a locked office.

The planned protest occurred last week at Hillcrest High School after a photo surfaced on Facebook of the unnamed teacher attending the rally on Oct. 9 and holding a sign that read "I stand with Israel."

The pro-Israel rally took place two days after the Hamas terrorist group's surprise attack in Southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and the abduction of around 240 others.

As The New York Post reported Saturday, the students behind the riot planned it in a group chat, flooding the hallways and waving Palestinian flags.

According to several students who witnessed the event, many of the protestors were chanting "Free Palestine." Others called for the teacher's dismissal.

Video footage of the students' rampage shared on social media shows multiple students assembling in the halls and outside of the school. The footage also showed a clip of a destroyed water fountain and shattered bathroom tiles, property that the students reportedly vandalized.

The students attempted to storm the teacher's classroom, with school faculty blocking their entry, according to The Post. School administrators and members of the New York Police Department later brought the teacher to an office, where she was locked inside for her own safety.

A sergeant stationed at the school and the school's deans eventually guided the students back to their classrooms while cops escorted the teacher outside the building.

During a PTA meeting the next day, the school's principal, Scott Milczewski, revealed that around 25 cops from the New York Police Department arrived at the scene to quell the riot, according to The Post.

"There are 2,500 students," Milczewski said. "Adults will always be outnumbered. I think that's something we have to understand. And that's why we're asking you to speak to your children. We need your support with this."

The Hillcrest High School principal did not immediately respond to The Christian Post's request for comment.

According to City Councilman James Gennaro (D-Queens), the NYPD also contacted its counterterrorism bureau. Police returned to the school the day after the riot to arrest an 18-year-old student, later charged with aggravated harassment, for making threatening messages inside of a group chat.

One senior at the high school told The Post that the students had found out the teacher's address, personal contact information and details about her family. While a source told The Post that some people made harassing phone calls to the teacher, the outlet could not confirm the report.

In a statement to The Post, the teacher shared that she has taught in the New York City Public School System for over 20 years and has spent seven years teaching at Hillcrest High School. The unnamed teacher said that she was "shaken to [her] core" by the violence she experienced online and outside of her classroom.

"No one should ever feel unsafe at school  students and teachers alike," she said.

"It's my hope in the days ahead, we can find a way to have meaningful discussions about challenging topics with respect for each other's diverse perspectives and shared humanity," she added. "Unless we can learn to see each other as people, we will never be able to create a safe learning community."

New York City Mayor Eric Adams responded to the incident in a Saturday X post, describing it as a "vile show of antisemitism," which the mayor declared would not be tolerated in schools or anywhere in the city.

"The vile show of antisemitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, let alone anywhere else in our city," Adams wrote.

In a follow-up post shared on the same day, the mayor revealed that the New York Department of Education is investigating the incident. He also shared that the department has begun to conduct outreach on the school's campus to help the students understand why their actions were wrong.

"No student, teacher, or staff member should fear for their safety in our schools," Adams added.

The New York-based high school is not the only learning institution where anti-Semitic incidents have occurred amid Israel's war with Hamas.

In one such incident last month at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, Jewish students were locked inside a library as pro-Palestine protestors pounded on the doors and chanted "Free Palestine." The staff later evacuated the Jewish students through tunnels.
Home World India: Christian families being denied right to bury their dead

Christians in the Bastar region are once again being denied permission to bury their dead, according to reports from Narayanpur district in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

Christian Today spoke to Phulsingh Kachlam, a local Christian civil society leader and politician from Narayanpur, who confirmed that at least five incidents have taken place since Nov. 10, where Christians have been prevented from burying their dead.

The latest incident was from the day before yesterday, wherein police officials and the Tehsildar engaged in violence and forcibly took away the body of Sukhram, a local tribal Christian from the village Koliyari, after local Hindus and other villagers objected to his burial, Kachlam said.

The mob protesting Sukhram's burial was not allowing his family to bury him on their own land, Kachlam said. Not only this, but the mob was against burial anywhere in the village or around it unless the family recants their Christian faith.

It is normal for tribal communities to bury their dead, and tribals who have embraced Christianity have continued the practice of burial.

The body of Sukhram was taken by the authorities to Narayanpur town, where he was buried in the absence of his family members, according to a local Christian leader who wishes to remain unnamed.

The family of Sukhram was pressured by the authorities and police to sign a declaration stating that they had given their consent for his body to be buried in Narayanpur town and not their own village. But they did not sign anything, he said.

The disturbance at Sukhrams funeral and the prior incidents forced Kachlam to give a memorandum to the District Collector of Narayanpur on Nov. 20, stating that tribal and non-tribal families who believe in Christianity are not being allowed to bury their dead on their own land. The memorandum also lists the recent incidents and requests the District Collector to take cognizance of the mentioned incidents and provide relief to the victim as soon as possible. It also advocates for strict action against anti-social elements who disturb social harmony. Kachlam, who recently contested elections to the State Legislative Assembly as the candidate of the Community Party of India, issued the memorandum on the letterhead of the party.

The incidents listed in the memorandum are as follows (translated):

1. On 10/11/2023, the burial of the dead body of a person named Manak Salaam was prevented at Sulenga Dhaudai village. 2. On 11/11/2023, the body of Nakul was stopped from being buried for two days in village Chotedongar after which it was finally buried outside the village. 3. On 12/11/2023, the dead body of a woman named Ramshila from village Keralapal was prevented from being buried. 4. On 14/11/2023, the body of a woman named Massi Salaam/Sanju Salam from village-Garaji, was prevented from being buried. 5. On 20/11/2023, the dead body of Sukhram, Village-Koliyari is being stopped from being buried, and the situation remains controversial.

Kachlam says the violence that erupted in the region last year around the same time was preceded by many such incidents where Christians were opposed and threatened when they wanted to bury their dead, and in many cases, the situation had even turned violent.

In December last year, over 2,000 Christians primarily from the districts of Narayanpur and Kondagaon were forced to flee their homes and properties and take shelter in Narayanpur and Kondagaon towns after incidents of violence were reported against Christians throughout the months of December 2022 and January 2023 from these districts.

Kanker district, which is nearby, also saw some violence against Christians, but it was not as severe as Narayanpur and Kondagaon. Dec. 18, 2022, marked one of the darkest days for tribal Christians as they endured brutal beatings and forced eviction from their homes across 20 villages in both districts.

The violence was not sudden but a build-up from the month of September  October 2022, as per local Christian leaders from the districts. The flare-up took place in the month of December and continued through January of this year.

We had received reports of Christians in the districts of Narayanpur and Kondagaon who were being harassed by denying them permission to bury their dead throughout 2022, especially the latter half. We also heard instances of Christians being summoned to village council meetings in both districts where they were pressured to recant their faith. But nothing prepared us for the violence and pressure that was unleashed against Christians in the region in December, said the Rev. Vijayesh Lal, General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship of India.

Lal recounts that EFI had written to the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Bhupesh Baghel, on Dec. 19, 2022, and the appeal was hand-delivered to him while he was in Delhi, but little came out of it even though Baghel had promised action.

As Christmas approaches, we are apprehensive about the repeat of the violence that took place last year. I hope the government takes proactive steps to check it, says Kachlam.

Originally published at Christian Today India
Home World Israel, Hamas extend truce by 2 days; 20 more hostages to be released

Israel and Hamas have extended their truce agreement to include an additional two days, with the plan to exchange more Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners during that time.

Qatar, which has helped mediate negotiations between the two sides, announced the truce extension on Monday via a foreign ministry spokesperson.

An official for Hamas, a terrorist group that has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, told Reuters that an agreement has been reached with the help of Qatar and Egypt "to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce."

As part of this agreement, Hamas will release 10 hostages on Tuesday and 10 more on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Israel will release 30 prisoners each day, according to The Times of Israel.

On Oct. 7, Hamas launched a large-scale surprise attack on Southern Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing an estimated 1,200 people, including 31 Americans, and taking about 240 hostages.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared war. Israel Defense Forces launched retaliatory airstrikes and a ground invasion in Gaza to eradicate Hamas and free the hostages. According to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the war. Gaza death figures don't distinguish between combatants and civilians.

The Israeli strikes have taken out multiple senior Hamas officials and prompted the militant wing of the group to retreat southward, The Jerusalem Post reported last week.

Hamas and Israel agreed to an initial four-day truce last week. Under the terms of the truce, the Islamic terror organization agreed to release 50 hostages, while Israel would agree to release 150 Palestinian prisoners.

The agreement also allowed for trucks filled with humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza to help Palestinian civilians impacted by the fighting.

The exchange occurred over four days, with Hamas releasing 13 Israelis while Israel released 39 prisoners last Friday. Hamas also freed 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino who had been taken hostage as part of a separate agreement.

Taking place on the Gaza Strip's border with Egypt, released hostages were handed over to the Red Cross first and then sent back to Israel.

On Saturday evening, following a postponement driven by the militant wing of Hamas, another 13 Israeli hostages and four Thai nationals were freed, while 39 Palestinian prisoners were released.

One of the released Palestinians was Israa Jaabees, a woman accused of attempted murder who was jailed in 2015 after her car exploded at a checkpoint, disfiguring her and seriously wounding an Israeli police officer.

Hamas freed 17 hostages on Sunday, among them including a 4-year-old American girl named Abigail Edan, who had reportedly witnessed Hamas murder her parents on Oct. 7.

According to Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency, 150 trucks with humanitarian aid and fuel have been able to enter Gaza over the weekend.
Home Church & Ministries New Jersey church gives away $30K worth of Thanksgiving food: 'A part of our DNA'

A New Jersey church gave away more than $30,000 worth of Thanksgiving food, continuing a tradition it has partaken in for nearly two decades.

In a statement shared with The Christian Post, The Life Christian Church in West Orange announced that it had compiled and distributed 250 food baskets for community members needing assistance.

A team of 60 volunteers assembled the food baskets, which contained a combined total of $30,000 worth of groceries, the week before Thanksgiving.

A flyer posted on the churchs website invited members of the congregation to donate items such as potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing mix, biscuits and other Thanksgiving staples to the food basket drive before Nov. 15. Members also had the option to make monetary donations for the effort.

In a message posted to Facebook last week, the church indicated that it had extended the deadline to drop off items for placement in Thanksgiving food baskets to Nov. 17.

In addition to containing traditional dishes associated with a Thanksgiving meal, the baskets included supplemental groceries to provide families with an additional weeks worth of food.

This years effort to provide Thanksgiving dinners to community members in need marks the 16th year in a row the church of nearly 3,000 people has embarked on such an endeavor.

Part of our mission at TLCC is to spread Gods love in ever-widening circles, said The Life Christian Church Lead Pastor Terry Smith. We could view our church as just a place of worship where people come to experience Gods love, but we encourage our congregants to go out into the community to share and serve others.

Smith identified the food basket drive as one major time-specific initiative of TLCC while stressing that we also have teams regularly serving in different capacities throughout the year. He described service projects like the Thanksgiving collection as a part of our churchs DNA.

Smith elaborated on the philosophy of his multi-campus megachurch in a previous interview with The Christian Post, which took place as the Paramus campus of The Life Christian Church was assembling more than 1,000 food kits ahead of Christmas 2019.

The pastor told CP that the charitable endeavor aligned nicely with one of the churchs core values, which is to be enthusiastic servants of all.

We see community service as a foundational part of being a follower of Jesus, he said. We want the Life Christian Church Paramus campus to be known for spreading His love across Bergen [County] and helping families in need is a part of that.

Smith recalled how his congregation loved being able to see our people put their faith into action by participating in the Christmas food-packing event. He expressed hope that all of the families in Paramus who participated experience how easy it is to serve our neighbors, especially during the peak season of need.

Four years later, the Thanksgiving basket compilation presents the latest opportunity for members of The Life Christian Church to serve their neighbors.

One beneficiary of the Thanksgiving basket drive told The Life Christian Church that the food package arrived after she recently realized that she did not have any money to feed her grandchildren a Thanksgiving dinner. She noted that before receiving the food basket, she only had a box of pancakes in her possession.

The Life Christian Church is not the only congregation in the United States that sought to provide Thanksgiving dinners to members of the community.

Last week, Lawndale Baptist Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, served meals to more than 1,000 people at a drive-through event. Like The Life Christian Church, Lawndale Baptist Church has engaged in its annual Thanksgiving ministry for nearly two decades.
Home Opinion If you want a pure church, your worship must also be pure

Though during this present age kingdom and cultus (Gods worshiping community) are separated, God intends one day to join them together under the rule of his Anointed One. The question for us is where we currently fit in this plan of God for a holy theocracy, a perfect union of kingdom and cultus under the kingly rule and priestly ministry of the Second Adam.

The book of Hebrews addresses both kingdom and cultus in this present age. First, the author quotes Gods declaration in Psalm 8 that he intends for man to exercise regal dominion over all the earth; however, At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him (Heb 2:8). The First Adam failed, and still all things are not yet in subjection to the son of man. But, because of the suffering of death, Jesus is crowned with glory and honor (Heb 2:9)  He has earned the right to rule; Christ is, as Psalm 110 states, presently seated at the Fathers right hand until the Father makes His enemies His footstool. The perfect eternal Kingdom has been promised and already ensured, but it is not yet a consummated reality. Christ sovereignly rules over all creation as the Son of God, and Christ presently rules over His redeemed people, but the consummation of His rule over all things on earth as the Son of Man will happen when He comes again, when the kingdom of this world  that is, the common grace kingdom  will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev 11:15).

In other words, if we want to look to the Old Testament for an analogy to our present situation as Christians in this age, we are more like the sojourning patriarchs and the exiled Hebrews than either the Edenic or Mosaic holy theocracies. And, of course, this is exactly how the New Testament portrays us. Peter specifically calls us sojourners and exiles (1 Pet 2:11). Our citizenship is in Heaven, Paul tells us (Phil 3:20); we are citizens with the saints and members of the household of God (Eph 2:19). Like Abraham on his pilgrimage or Daniel in Babylon, Christians participate in the common grace aspects of the earthly kingdoms in which we dwell, but we desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one (Heb 11:16); we long for the heavenly Jerusalem above our highest joy (Ps 137:6). And that heavenly Jerusalem will one day descend to the earth, uniting kingdom and cultus as was Gods intention from the beginning.

Yet Hebrews also reveals to us the nature of our worship in this age as well. The author proclaims at the end of chapter 12,

"But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in Heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:2224)

This is the heavenly palace/temple Isaiah and John envisioned, the place where God himself sits enthroned, surrounded by heavenly beings. To this higher kingdom where God reigns Christian worshipers come to the reality, to the true worship of heaven itself. Paul describes this reality for Christians in Ephesians 2:6 when he states that God has raised us up with [Christ] and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Christ is seated in heaven as the king/priest, and since we are in him by faith, we are with him there. And he tells us how just a few verses later in Ephesians 2:18: For through [Christ] we ... have access in one Spirit to the Father. We have access to the Father because in one Spirit through Christ, we are actually there, in the presence of God in Heaven.

Pure worship

This biblical understanding situates us in this present age as dual citizens. As members of the human race, we are citizens of common grace earthly kingdoms, and so we participate as such. But Ultimately we are a called-out cultic community with an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for [us], who by Gods power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1 Pet 1:45). Consequently, as Peter goes on to say, as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct ... Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers (1 Pet 1:15, 1718).

In other words, though we are citizens of common grace kingdoms, our conduct ought to be set apart from that of unbelieving people because we are a set-apart cultic community. In 1 Peter 1, Peter addresses our holy conduct in the midst of the unbelieving people of the common kingdoms in which we find ourselves, and in chapter 2, Peter grounds the basis for that holy conduct in our present situation as a called-out cultic community. He says in 2:4, As you come to him  the phrase come to him has the same root as when Hebrews 12:22 says you have come to Mount Zion. This indicates the reality of drawing near to the presence of God in the heavenly temple as a cultic community through Christ in the Spirit. This is what Isaiah and John experienced as they entered the heavenly temple of God and saw him high and lifted up. To come to God is the essential characteristic of our situation as a called-out worshiping community.

And Peter makes this very clear with the picture he continues to build:

"As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Pet 2:45)

Peter uses the metaphor of a temple to describe the nature of who we are as the NT church  we are a spiritual house with Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. Again, this refers to the heavenly temple to which Hebrews 12 says we have come. But Peter extends the picture further. Not only are we a spiritual temple, but we are also a holy priesthood, a cultic community set apart from the rest of humanity. We are priests who offer spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Peter continues to describe us this way in 2:910:

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are Gods people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

Peter is emphasizing our status as citizens of the higher kingdom  we are a called-out people for Gods own possession. Though we are still citizens of common grace kingdoms, we are nevertheless set apart from the other non-redeemed citizens of common kingdoms because we have received Gods mercy  we are Gods unique people, sojourners and exiles as Peter calls us once again in verse 11.

But what is critically important to recognize about the flow of Peters thought here is the connection he makes between our status as a called-out cultic community and our lives as citizens of common grace kingdoms. His focus in the first 10 verses of chapter 2 on our cultic reality fuels his discussion in the rest of the chapter regarding how we ought to live among the unbelieving people of the world. As he continues in verse 11,

"Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation."

As a called-out cultic community with heavenly citizenship, we ought to live honorably among unbelievers, showing them through our lives and witness how they may join us. Peter had commanded believers in the previous chapter to be holy, to not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance (1 Pet 1:14), and later in chapter 4 he will urge them to refrain from doing what the Gentiles want to do (1 Pet 4:3). Paul commands believers to no longer walk as the Gentiles do (Eph 4:16) and be not conformed to this world (Rom 12:2). The rest of Peters letter essentially fleshes out what it looks like for a member of the called out cultic community to live as a citizen in common grace kingdoms, including his role within government (2:1317), vocation (2:1825), and family (3:17), fully expecting that since we are a distinct people, we will have to suffer for righteousness sake (3:14).



How pure worship forms a pure church

This is the essential connection point between our identity as a called-out worshiping community and our active engagement in the common kingdoms of this world. Pure worship on earth in which we participate in the real worship of heaven forms a pure church, a called-out community that will live faithfully in the common kingdoms of the world. This is why our worship now ought to be regulated by Scripture and modeled after the theological pattern of true worship as foreshadowed in the rituals of OT worship and revealed in the biblical visions of heavenly worship. From creation to consummation, the corporate worship of Gods people is a memorial  a reenactment  of the theo-logic of true worship: Gods call for his people to commune with him through the sacrifice of atonement that he has provided, listening to his Word, responding with praise and obedience, and culminating with a beautiful picture of perfect communion with God in the form of a feast. This reenactment in a corporate worship service of Gods covenant work for us is what will progressively form into us the theologic of heavenly worship that will profoundly affect how we live in this present evil age.

Worship now that is shaped by the true spiritual realities of heavenly worship is what God has designed to sanctify us to live by faith in light of those realities, just like the saints of old. Worship in this life that is shaped by our covenant relationship with God through the gospel, the spiritual realities of heavenly worship, sanctifies us into a pure church that lives in light of that relationship as we wait for our blessed hope. By reenacting what we are in Christ, Christian worshipers become what we are.

We come now by faith and not by sight since we are not yet in the higher kingdom physically, but one day faith will be sight. Now, we gather around Christs table to remember the hope of glory, and we are with him spiritually, though we cannot see him with physical eyes. One day we will sit at his table in our glorified bodies, clothed in fine linen, bright and pure, and we will see Christ bodily with our physical eyes. And we will join our voices in that holy theocracy with the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (12:2729).

Originally published at G3 Ministries.
Christian group questions report suggesting decline of Christians in China

(CP) The leader of a Christian group is pushing back against a recent Pew Research report suggesting that the number of Christians in China could have declined in recent years amid a crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party.

"A recent Pew Research Report measuring religion in China suggests that Christianity in the country has stagnated and is perhaps even in decline," Global Christian Relief President and CEO David Curry wrote in a Nov. 19 op-ed for Fox News Digital about the Chinese Christian population.

"But to borrow from Mark Twain, such suggestions seem greatly exaggerated. In fact, many of us who are advocating for persecuted Christians globally believe the Christian community in China might even be growing," he continued.

Curry, who also serves as a commissioner on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), went on to explain that internal research by Global Christian Relief suggests Pew's estimates "could be off by as much as 100 million, but no one truly knows the size" of the Chinese Christian population.

The Pew study cited a survey by the Chinese General Social Survey (CGSS), which claimed about 23.2 million adults in China self-identified as Christian in 2010, whereas 19.9 million identified as Christians in the 2018. Both Curry and Pew Research noted such figures might be unreliable, however.

"Unfortunately, we cannot be certain how survey patterns are affected by political circumstances," the study noted. "There could be a real increase in the share of Chinese adults who identify with Christianity that is hidden from [the] survey measurement. For example, it is possible there has been growth in Christian affiliation that is offset in surveys by growing reluctance among respondents to identify as Christian due to the government's intensifying scrutiny of Christian religious activity. While that is a hypothetical possibility, there is no way to know from the available survey data whether it is actually the case."

Curry wrote that "according to the analysts within Global Christian Relief, and our many contacts on the ground in China, only about one in five people are self-reporting."

In a recent phone interview with The Christian Post, Curry said the Church in China is "definitely under attack," and they have faced increased pressure since "President Xi has solidified his control."

"Part of that scenario is to try to minimize faith in general, but Christianity specifically, in large part because there are so many Christians, and this is why the number of Christians is significant," Curry explained. He speculated that the number of Christians in China is somewhere between 100 million to 120 million people, which is more than the approximately 98 million members of the CCP.

Curry said the Chinese government is trying to split churches apart, noting that he recently spoke to the leaders of a 500-person church in China that was forced by authorities to divide into separate groups of 100.

"This is a very common practice, where they're trying to take large churches and break them into pieces," he said, adding that such efforts of the Chinese government are effectively forcing many of them underground again.

"They're attacking churches and Christianity by trying to divide it and strike at the leadership of the church," Curry said. "But I think the Church is strong, and I believe it's still growing."

Curry also noted that he was "disturbed" by the warm reception President Xi received during his recent visit to the U.S., and that "business leaders are in for a rude awakening if they think that they can have a long-term success reaching the Chinese market without an understanding of the moral structure on which that government is predicated."

He further discerned Chinese-style pressure could be fast approaching for Western Christians.

"I think you're going to see it first in censorship, and then deplatforming," he said of the potential persecution. "I think you're going to see it in restrictions to banking systems for Christian ministries. I think you'll see it in using the tax system to punish Christian ministries or restrict them."

"It's going to put a lot of pressure on the Church, but I think in the long run, the American Church will have a chance to grow healthier if they respond properly, as I think the Church thus far in China is getting healthier, even as it's under pressure," Curry added.

 The Christian Post
German missionary freed from captivity in Mali

A German missionary who was kidnapped in Mali last year has been freed, according to church officials.

Father Hans Joachim Lohre had reportedly been living in the capital, Bamako, for 30 years prior to his kidnapping.

According to Catholic news agency Fides, the missionary was known locally as "Ha-Jo" and had been working at the Islamic-Christian Training Institute (IFIC).

He had been due to celebrate mass when colleagues noticed that his car was still parked in front of his home.

No one every claimed responsibility for the kidnapping but there has been speculation that it was carried out by Jama'at Nasr al-Islam - the Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims - which is linked to al-Qaeda.

The 66-year-old was kidnapped from Bamako in November 2022 and is reported to have been released on Sunday.

Patient Nshombo, of the Missionaries for Africa, confirmed his release to Reuters: "Yes, he has been freed, but we have to wait for further details from the authorities."

Catholic news agency Fides reports that his release was negotiated by the German government and he has already been flown to Germany on a special flight.
The energy transition will be the central theme around COP28 which will take place between November 30 and December 12, 2023, in Dubai on the occasion of the twenty-eighth United Nations Conference on Climate Change (COP28).

Political leaders from around the world, as well as business leaders from major industries, scientists and activists, will meet in Dubai Expo City, in the United Arab Emirates to discuss the global objectives, commitments and challenges around climate change. During the event, technology will play a significant role in the presence of different tech vendors and tech startups for green innovation. UAE Telecom major e& who was announced as COP28s Principal Technology Partner. e& will support COP28s agenda, which focuses on accelerating a just and well-managed energy transition, addresses climate finance and focuses on peoples well-being and livelihoods while ensuring comprehensive stakeholder engagement. e& will provide network connectivity and digital infrastructure during COP28 and highlight its sustainable operations, programmes and projects at its showcase in the Green Zone area in Dubai Expo City.

We can learn a lot from COP28, tech companies will learn how to embrace sustainable practices, practising how to do sustainable operations, optimise data centers, and innovate in new solutions for climate changes. One of the key things is that if we cant see it we cant control it so, imagine if we develop technology that allows us to collect data more efficiently and analyze that data and then report sustainability metrics that will help everyone to understand the impact and improve the climate, says Shumon Zaman, Chief Information and Digital Officer at Ali&Sons.

The tech industry has made impressive strides in using technology to help protect the environment. Technology experts have developed several focused technological innovations that can play an important role in managing global environmental problems. New technologies are being developed that can help reduce pollution, restore ecosystems and protect endangered species.

Technical innovation and technological development towards a more sustainable society are essential to mitigate the effects of climate change, global warming and other environmental problems. The technological revolution has allowed us to develop better homes with more efficient use of energy, transportation solutions that reduce emissions and renewable energy sources. At the same time, it helps us research and better understand the environment so that we can properly care for it.

According to IDC eBook entitled Doing Well by Doing Good: Driving Business Value Through Sustainable Transformation. Over the past few years, digital transformation has been a recurring theme in IT as organizations increasingly rely on digital technologies to run their business. As organizations move beyond digital transformation initiatives and look for growth built on digital-first strategies, they will need to focus on purposeful long-term goals like sustainability.
Organizatia HelpAge International selecteaza un formator/ o formatoare sau o echipa de formatori ce va presta servicii de instruire in domeniul voluntariatului si mobilizarii comunitare
The chair of Comic Relief has resigned after the charity called for ceasefire in Gaza, without board consultation.

Last week, Eric Salama posted on X that he was stepping down early as chair of the charity, saying that there are times in life when principles really matter more than any job.

In a statement , Comic Relief revealed that Salama had brought forward the date of his departure from the previously announced retirement date of March 2024.

Erics decision relates to a stance being taken on a public issue without any prior consultation with the board or Eric as chair, the statement reads.

Civil Society understands that he disagreed with Comic Reliefs decision to sign a petition on change.org , without board consultation, which calls for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and Israel, though the charity did not comment on this.

There are times in life when principles really matter more than any job

Salama joined Comic Relief as chair on 1 July 2020 and is the former chief executive officer of Kantar, a market research company.

He posted on X that he has been proud to chair Comic Relief and feel that weve achieved a lot through a tough period.

Its been a particular joy working with some incredibly talented and wonderful creative people who give their time and talent for free and with partners such as BBC, TJMaxx, Amazon, British Airways and Sainsburys who have been the most amazing partners, he said.

I admired Richard Curtis and Lenny Henry [Comic Reliefs co-founders] from afar before I joined and have even more respect and admiration and love for two wonderful human beings now that Ive got to know them.

He added: All of which made [it] particularly sad for me, stepping down early from my role and letting some people down in the process.

But there are times in life when principles really matter more than any job. And [it] was one of those times when management took an approach to an issue which I thought was profoundly wrong and which I could not live with.

Were grateful for Erics time and commitment given to Comic Relief

On Salamas decision to leave early, a spokesperson for Comic Relief said: Although we dont comment on internal matters relating to our staff or members of the board, we have announced that Eric has brought forward the date he is leaving.

Were grateful for Erics time and commitment that he has given so generously to Comic Relief over the past three years, and for him continuing to support Comic Relief by helping to recruit his successor and on various other projects.

On the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel, they added: Comic Relief was formed in response to a humanitarian crisis in Ethiopia, and we have joined over 700 charities, including many of the most prominent in the UK, in signing a petition about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and Israel that is focused on the need to protect civilians and children on all sides of the conflict.

New interim chair

Last week, Comic Relief announced that Tom Shropshire, who has been a trustee of the charity since 2018, had become its new chair.

Shropshire is currently general counsel and company secretary of the beverage company Diageo and a non-executive director at the court of the Bank of England. Previously, he was a partner at an international law firm.

He will be the chair of Comic Relief until a permanent chair is appointed in due course, the charity said.

On his appointment, Shropshire said: I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to lead the board and work even more closely with the team at Comic Relief to deliver the charitys ambitions, and most importantly to have impact and make a real difference on the ground.

On behalf of the board and team at Comic Relief, I would like to thank Eric for all he has done for the charity, including steering Comic Relief through the Covid-19 pandemic and helping to shape our current strategy. We wish Eric well in the future and look forward to having his continued support in the important work being done by Comic Relief and its partners.

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Sue Ryder CEO to leave

Heidi Travis, chief executive of Sue Ryder , will be leaving the organisation in the spring of 2024.

After more than 14 years with Sue Ryder, 11 of those as the CEO, Ryder has decided that the time is right for her to semi-retire.

Rima Makarem, chair of Sue Ryder said: Heidi leaves Sue Ryder in a strong position with an exciting future and will be greatly missed by the staff and volunteers.

Heidi will continue to lead this fantastic organisation as we recruit for a new chief executive and I hope to be able to update on the new appointment in the first few months of 2024.

Wales Council for Voluntary Action lead steps down

The CEO of WCVA, Ruth Marks, has announced her plan to retire after nine years at the helm of the membership body.

She will leave at the end of April. Marks is also an independent member of a committee on the Welsh government and a trustee of Sustain Wales and ACEVO.



Ive had an amazing time as Chief Executive of WCVA. Working with the staff team and board of trustees, we have achieved so much. We are in a really good position to begin our 90th anniversary year in 2024 and continue our focus on our members, our strategy and our unique role in supporting the voluntary and community sector all over Wales.



The charity will begin recruiting for a new CEO shortly, it said.

Black Equity Organisation chief steps down

Wanda Wyporska has stepped down as CEO of BEO after joining this March. Timi Okuwa, the charitys director of partnerships and programmes, has now stepped into post as CEO.



Before her role at BEO, Wyporska was CEO of the Society of Genealogists for a year and a half.

Wyporska said in a LinkedIn post that it had been an immense privilege to work there and that she is taking some time to rest and refresh but will be available for consulting.



A spokesperson for BEO said: Dr Wanda Wyporska has been an integral part of our growth since joining. We are grateful for her contribution and wish her well with her future endeavours. Moving forward, BEO will be led by Timi Okuwa, who has been BEOs Director of Partnerships and Programmes since before the launch of the organisation.

The Duke of Edinburghs International Award Foundation hires new secretary general

The Duke of Edinburghs International Award Foundation and Association has appointed Martin Houghton-Brown as secretary general.

Houghton-Brown will join from St John Ambulance in April next year, after leading the charity since 2018. Prior to this appointment, he was CEO of homeless charity Depaul UK and Missing People.



The chair of the International Award Foundation, the Duke of Edinburgh, said: This is an excellent outcome of a lengthy search and I know that I can speak on behalf of the whole board when I say how delighted I am that Martin has accepted the position of secretary general.

His leadership style, evident passion and strong commitment to our charitys mission and values makes me believe that we have found the right person to take The Duke of Edinburghs International Award forward. We fully support and understand Martins commitment to see through the changes at St Johns, a delivery partner with the DofE UK, which is necessitating the long transition period, but we are working closely with them to make it as smooth as possible.

New directors for Plan International UK

The aid charity has appointed two new directors. Nick Radmore has been appointed as the charitys director of fundraising and supporter engagement. He has worked in the charity sector for over 20 years and has worked at charities like the British Heart Foundation and GOSH.



Kathleen Spencer Chapman has been promoted to director of influencing and youth engagement. It comes after being head of policy, advocacy and research for over 5 years. Previously, she has worked at organisations like Oxfam, Bond and NSPCC.



Rose Caldwell, CEO of Plan International UK, said: I am thrilled that Nick and Kathleen have stepped into these pivotal roles at such a critical time for Plan International UK and the wider development sector.



Their combined impressive skills and experience will help ensure that the charity continues to progress in its mission of championing childrens rights and equality for girls.

Action for Children hires director

Fiona Steel has been appointed as Action for Childrens new national director for Scotland to lead over 850 staff and 90 services. She takes over from Paul Carberry, who became CEO of the charity earlier this year.



Steel has worked at Action for Children since 1997 in various roles, beginning as a practice team manager. Before that, she was a social worker at Glasgow and Strathclyde Council.

Steel said: Its a real privilege to be appointed National Director, and its my focus to ensure we continue to build on the positive impact of our broad work, which is delivered by highly qualified and dedicated colleagues. My team and I will work with children and families, who after all are the experts, to deliver the innovative solutions, support, care and love they need and want.

New chair for Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis

Action for Pulmonary Fibrosis has announced Mike Stubbins as its new chair of trustees. He succeeds Steve Jones, who chaired the charity for six years.



Stubbins has been a member of the charitys board since May 2022. He is also programme lead of Genomics England and worked at GSK in various roles for 24 years.

CEO of the charity, Louise Wright, commented on his appointment: Mike joins us at a pivotal moment as we mark our 10th anniversary year. Were a fast-growing charity determined to widen our reach and influence to change the outcomes for people living with and affected by pulmonary fibrosis. I know Mikes research and development expertise and lived experience will be invaluable.

Community Integrated Care chair to step down

The national social care charity has announced that its chair, Libby Raper, will be stepping down after five years in post next March.



It has already begun an open recruitment process for its next chair.



Jim Kane, CEO of Community Integrated Care, said: Whilst everyone at our charity will be extremely sad to say goodbye, she leaves with our sincerest gratitude for her incredible contribution and bestows a wonderful legacy. Libby has ensured that her successor is on a strong footing, and we look forward to welcoming applications to follow her as our chair of the board of trustees in 2024.

Debt charity looks for new chair

StepChange Debt Charity has begun the recruitment process for its next chair of trustees after John Griffith-Jones announced he would be stepping down next May.



Griffith-Jones has chaired the charity since 2019 and previously held senior roles at KPMG.

Tinnitus UK recruits head of brand and communications

Tinnitus UK has appointed Jo March as its head of brand and communications. She will be leading the charitys activities as they continue to market their new brand.

March joins from Media & Crisis Management Ltd, where she worked freelance as a responder. She is a chartered PR practitioner who has had roles at Tower Hamlets Homes and Swan Housing Group.



On her appointment, she said: Ive spent the last decade working in social housing, and Im looking forward to focusing on a different sector at Tinnitus UK. Im keen to get stuck in, and I know there is a lot to learn on the subject, but good communication transcends sectors. With exciting projects, including Tinnitus Week 2024, coming up, there will be a lot to do!

New trustee for the Sleep Charity

The Sleep Charity has announced that Desaline Joseph has joined its board of trustees. Joseph is a sleep consultant at the childrens hospital Evelina London.

The Sleep Charitys CEO, Vicki Beevers, said: We are delighted to welcome Dr Joseph as a new trustee.

Her expert knowledge of childhood and adolescent sleep disorders will help to strengthen our approach to childrens sleep. Her experience in sleep education and her passion for helping young people thrive will be hugely valuable.

Dr Joseph will be a real asset to our team, and I look forward to working alongside her to further The Sleep Charitys reach and impact."

Speaking of her new role, Joseph said: I am excited to have been appointed as a trustee for The Sleep Charity.

I am a huge admirer of the charity's work, and I am passionate about helping people, especially those suffering from sleep disorders, and being able to support them to achieve quality sleep. I am looking forward to working with the team and alongside other trustees, and I hope to help make a difference to those who need help.

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In the weeks since October 7, when Hamas attacked Israeli civilians, and during the bombardment and invasion of Gaza that followed, people across social media have complained about posts in support of Palestinians being restricted or removed. There have been some high-profile examples: Facebook took down the English and Arabic pages of Quds News Network, known for sharing graphic crowdsourced videos. Press outlets have also reported on individual accounts sharing relatively innocuous materiala Palestinian-flag emoji, for instancegetting dinged as potentially offensive. Al Jazeera, the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and The Intercept all found that posts and accounts have been taken down or seen their reach limited. Whether that amounts to a coordinated attempt at silencing has been difficult to prove.

Nadim Nashifthe director of 7amleh (pronounced hamleh, as in Arabic for campaign), a nonprofit that promotes Palestinian digital rightshas been following excessive moderation for years. Nashif, who is fifty, monitors social networks from his office in Haifa, a mixed Palestinian and Jewish port city on Israels northern coast. In 2020, 7amleh published a report, Systematic Efforts to Silence Palestinian Content on Social Media. The team began documenting examples in 2021, when protests broke out over evictions in the Palestinian Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and Israel launched deadly air strikes on Gaza; 7amleh created a form through which people could submit evidence that their posts had been inappropriately restricted. When you do such a thing, Nashif said, it means that youre working in the favor of the powerful side and less for the weak side.

7amlehs findingsfive hundred submissions in the span of about two weeksprompted an international response. Dozens of organizations signed a letter to Meta (then Facebook) calling for greater transparency into its content moderation, including the influence of Israeli officials. Meta commissioned an independent audit. The results, published last September, praised the company for setting up a special team to monitor the situation and for focusing on content that might lead to imminent offline harm. But the report also concluded that the companys efforts bore an adverse impact on the civil rights of Palestinians and advocates reliant on Facebook and Instagram to document and share information. There were examples of both Arabic and Hebrew posts being removed without violating any rules, but it was clear: Arabic posts were being moderated disproportionately.

As Meta has faced continued scrutiny over its role in spurring conflictspreading election-related disinformation in the United States, platforming communication in the lead-up to the insurrection, fueling genocide against the Rohingyathe company has made changes to how it monitors content. Over time, Meta has refined algorithms to better detect the incitement of violence; recently, the company added Hebrew classifiersterms used by algorithms to determine whether a piece of content violates policyto improve its ability to flag anti-Arab hate speech. Theyre doing something, Nashif said. But its not very effective.

7amleh has found that, during periods of heightened unrest, claims of unjustified content moderation rise. Since October 7, the team has received more than fourteen hundred reports. (By comparison, 7amleh received eleven hundred claims in all of 2022.) Recent submissions include screenshots of blocked comments, hidden hashtags, and Palestine-related Instagram stories that received markedly fewer views than other posts by the same person. 7amleh will gather the data, then help people restore their content, often by making direct appeals to social media companies. Were trying to tell Meta that if theres a situation where some people are being oppressed, social media is supposed to be their voice, Nashif said. Especially when mainstream media is not giving enough of their side of the story.

Explanations for unfair moderation vary. According to last years audit, there was some degree of human error at fault: a third-party moderator added #AlAqsa to a block list, which prevented people from being able to search the hashtag, referring to a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem; the moderator had confused it with Al Aqsa Brigade, categorized by the US State Department as a terrorist group. Metas moderation system was also trained using a list of terms associated with legally designated terrorist organizationsa category that the audit noted has a disproportionate focus on individuals and organizations that have identified as Muslim, making it so that Metas rules are more likely to impact Palestinian and Arabic-speaking users.

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The report did not comment on the role of Israeli government officials in Metas content review process. Yet communication between the companys moderation team and Israels cyber unit has been well documented. According to a report from the Israeli state attorneys office, the unit submitted more than fourteen thousand takedown requests to Google and Facebook in 2018, about 90 percent of which were honored. Theres a lot of politics about what is being enforced, how its being enforced, and whether its being enforced, Nashif said. Meta claims that they have standards, that they have rules that are enforced equally for everybody. And then you check that claim and you find that its not real.

Yona TR Golding is a CJR fellow.
WEST NEW YORK, New Jersey (AP)  Eight firefighters were injured battling a Thanksgiving night fire that displaced more than a dozen residents in West New York, New Jersey, officials said.

WABC-TV reports that the fire was in an apartment above a pharmacy on Bergenline Avenue at 53rd Street. Video showed flames billowing from the building.

Neighbors had to evacuate their homes when the building two doors down on Bergenline Avenue collapsed.

An explosion caused the roof to cave with firefighters on top of it, sending eight of them to the hospital with injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to broken bones, North Hudson fire officials said.

I got a call that we had three members missing, we had a mayday and your heart just drops, West New York Fire Chief David Donnarumma said. It was not immediately clear if the three missing were accounted for.

Donnarumma said the explosion happened as firefighters were battling flames shooting out the windows of the three-story corner building. The blast turned the building next to it into rubble.

Its a sad day for the township of West New York. They with their residents, cause people are displaced, they lost their residences and lost their belongings,  he said. Its a difficult day for the firefighters, not because we had to work but because of the injuries. Now their families will be suffering as well. 

Firefighters were able to get everyone out, rescuing several residents. Others were able to escape on their own.

The fire was contained but 20 people were displaced. The Red Cross said they were assisting at least 10 families.

The cause of the fire and explosion is under investigation.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PERTH, Australia (AP)  Dozens of residents have been evacuated and at least 10 homes destroyed by a wildfire burning out of control on the northern fringe of the west coast city of Perth during heat wave spring conditions, authorities said Thursday.

There were no deaths reported, but several firefighters had sustained minor injuries including smoke inhalation, Western Australia state Department of Fires and Emergency Services Commissioner Darren Klemm said.

The fire began Wednesday afternoon in a pine tree plantation on Perths northeast edge and was fanned overnight by 60-kilometer (37-mile) -an-hour winds, incident controller Clinton Kuchel said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

The temperature in Perth was forecast to peak at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday  which is extraordinarily hot for the Southern Hemisphere spring  and winds remained strong.

Perth is experiencing  heat wave conditions. So overlay that on top of the fire and you can imagine the conditions that our firefighters and our support staff are working on. Its really challenging, Kuchel told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Whilst were building containment lines on this fire, the conditions and the environment are such that even if we contain it, it may not be contained all the time. There may be breakouts. So its a really challenging and dynamic environment, Kuchel added.

Power poles had been damaged and 544 homes were without power Thursday. Around 130 people spent Wednesday night in an evacuation center, Western Australia Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti said.

The forecast for today is unforgiving. The temperature is expected to hit a maximum of 40 degrees, and the winds continue to be strong. Today will be a difficult day for everybody, Saffioti told reporters.

Klemm said the 150 firefighters battling the blaze would take several days to bring it under control.

In the northern Perth suburb of Tapping, Sarah Kilian and her husband stayed to defend their home over Wednesday night. Kilian said most of her neighbors evacuated as embers rained down on their homes.

Lucky my hubby stomped them out, Kilian said. It was just scary all night  absolutely chaotic.

Scores of wildfires have recently raged across the states of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania as Australias driest September on record and unusually warm weather brought an early start to the annual wildfire season, which peaks during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

Top photo: A fire rages in bushland near the West Australian city of Wannaroo, north of Perth in the early hours of Thursday, Nov. 23, 2023. Dozens of residents have been evacuated and at least 10 homes have been destroyed by a wildfire that is burning out of control on the northern fringe of the west coast city of Perth during heatwave spring conditions, authorities say.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
WRANGELL, Alaska (AP)  Searchers looking for three people who remain missing after a massive landslide that killed three others and injured a fourth have changed their strategy from holding an active search to a reactive search that will involve methodically clearing the highway, officials said Thursday.

During active search periods we have searchers in the field meticulously looking for missing persons, Austin McDaniel, a spokesperson with the Alaska Department of Public Safety, told the Associated Press. During reactive searches, search teams are not actively in the field but will react to new information and then actively search that area supported by the new information. 

Since Monday night`s slide, officials have inspected the site by air with drones, helicopters and planes while teams using detection dogs and sonar covered the ground and water, but the three people  one adult and two juveniles  remain missing, McDaniel said.

The slide churned up the earth from near the top of the mountain down to the ocean, tearing down a wide swath of evergreen trees and burying a highway in the island community of Wrangell, about 155 miles (250 kilometers) south of Juneau. Rescue crews found the body of a girl in an initial search Monday night and the bodies of two adults late Tuesday.

Around 54 homes are cut off from town by the landslide, and roughly 35 to 45 people have chosen to stay in that area, interim borough manager Mason Villarma said. Boats are being used to provide supplies, including food, fuel and water, and prescription medications to those residents. Given the geography of the island __ with the town at the northern point and houses along a 13-mile (20.9- kilometer) stretch of paved road __ currently the ocean is our only access to those residences, he said.

Wrangell usually celebrates Thanksgiving with a tree lighting and downtown shopping events but could replace that with a vigil, he said.

In that way, the town can come together physically and recognize the tragedy and the loss of life  but also the triumph of a small community thats really come together and been able to pull off some remarkable successes, even in the face of all this adversity, Villarma said in a phone interview with The Associated Press.

The state transportation department said on social media Wednesday that the process of clearing the highway would only begin once search and rescue efforts were complete. There was no immediate timeline for when that portion of the highway would reopen.

A woman who had been on the upper floor of a home was rescued Tuesday. She was in good condition and undergoing medical care. One of the three homes that was struck was unoccupied, McDaniel said Tuesday.

Because of the hazards of searching an unstable area, a geologist from the state transportation department was brought in to conduct a preliminary assessment, clearing some areas of the slide for ground searches. But authorities warned of a threat of additional landslides.

The slide __ estimated to be 450 feet (137 meters) wide __ occurred during rain and a windstorm. Wrangell received about 2 inches (5 centimeters) of rain from early Monday until late evening, with wind gusts up to 60 mph (96 kph) at higher elevations, said Aaron Jacobs, a National Weather Service hydrologist and meteorologist in Juneau.

It was part of a strong storm system that moved through southeast Alaska, bringing heavy snow in places and blizzard-like conditions to the state capital Juneau as well as rainfall with minor flooding further south.

Jacobs said the rainfall Wrangell received on Monday wasnt unusual, but the strong winds could have helped trigger the slide.

Saturated soil can give way when gusts blow trees on a slope, said Barrett Salisbury, a geologist with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources.

Wrangell is one of the oldest non-Alaska Native settlements in the state  founded in 1811 when Russians began trading with Tlingits, according to a state database of Alaska communities. Indigenous people long lived in the area before outside contact. Tlingits, Russians, the British and Americans all accounted for historical influences on Wrangell.

Top photo: In this image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard is the aftermath of a landslide in Wrangell, Alaska, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023. Authorities on Friday, Nov. 24, identified those missing or killed in an Alaska landslide this week as five family members and their neighbor, a commercial fisherman who made a longshot bid for the states lone seat in the U.S. House last year. (U.S. Coast Guard photo via AP, File)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
JAKARTA, Indonesia  A critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born in a sanctuary Saturday on Sumatra, the second time this year that Indonesia has welcomed the birth of an animal that is a critically endangered species.

The healthy male, still unnamed, was born in the Sumatran Rhino Sanctuary at Way Kambas Nation Park on the island of Sumatra. It is estimated there are fewer than 50 Sumatran rhinos left in the world -- all in Indonesia.

The Indonesian government announced the birth Sunday. It is the fifth birth at the sanctuary in the last decade.

We are grateful for the fifth birth at [the] SRS This further confirms the commitment of the government in carrying out rhino conservation efforts in Indonesia, especially Sumatran rhino, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in a statement.

Sumatran rhinos once existed throughout southeast Asia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources estimates there are just 30 mature Sumatran rhinos remaining.

A female named Delilah gave birth to the calf, weighing 55 pounds. Conservation guards at the sanctuary found the newborn next to its mother on Saturday, about 10 days before its expected delivery, Satyawan Pudyatmoko, Indonesias director general of natural resources and ecosystem conservation, said in a statement.

The father is a male named Harapan, who was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 2007. He was the last Sumatran rhino living outside Indonesia and was repatriated in 2015.

Destruction of tropical forest habitat and poachers who kill the animals for their horns, prized for making ornaments and for use in traditional medicine in China and other parts of Asia, threatened extinction of the species, The Associated Press said.

Sumatran rhinos are legally protected in Indonesia. The sanctuary, though its breeding program, seeks to bolster the population and release them into their natural habitat.
In early November, one thousand attendees gathered in London for this years Revolution Festival  the school of communism. To commemorate this landmark event, Rob Sewell looks back at the communist history and traditions upon which we base ourselves today.

[Originally published at socialist.net] In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property You [the bourgeoisie] are horrified at our intending to do away with private property. But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population; its existence for the few is solely due to its non-existence in the hands of those nine-tenths. You reproach us, therefore, with intending to do away with a form of property, the necessary condition for whose existence is the non-existence of any property for the immense majority of society.  Marx and Engels, The Communist Manifesto. It is always said that communism is alien or foreign to our British way of life. Conservatism is traditionally regarded as the mainstay of the country. But the reality, when we look further, is somewhat different to this convention. The ideas of communism have, in fact, very deep roots in British history, especially among the oppressed. In fact, the idea of a society founded, not on private property, but on common ownership has been around for a very long time. William Morris wrote a wonderful account in 1890 about a future communist society, called News From Nowhere. Although dated, it gave a glimpse of the communist future, where want is abolished and people live in harmony. In Morris view, the Houses of Parliament would be turned into something actually useful, where farmyard manure was stored. Now, dear guest, let me tell you that our present parliament would be hard to house in one place, because the whole people is our parliament. The idea William Morris was conjuring up here was a vision of workers democracy. The idea of the woman being the property of the man, whether he was husband, father, brother, or whatnot. That idea has of course vanished with private property. Of course, communist ideas were not confined to Britain, but had an international character. Wherever exploitation exists, so does the idea of a society free from class oppression and violence, where everything is shared in common. Peasant communism In Britain, we can trace such ideas of communism back to the Middle Ages, despite the fact that the material conditions for a classless society did not as yet exist. It would take the advent of capitalism, with its industry and world market, to develop the productive forces to such a level as to make this realisable. In the Middle Ages, the serfs, viciously exploited by the landowners, longed for a real paradise on Earth, where all wants are satisfied. This dream gave rise to the idea of the Land of Cokaygne, a utopian land where peace and plenty reigned. Here everything is possible: Geese fly roasted on the spit, As Gods my witness, to that spot, Crying out, Geese, all hot, all hot! All is common to young and old, To stout and strong, to meek and bold. This simple thought, of peasant communism, which runs through the Middle Ages, eventually evolved and led us to the ideas of communism of today. The crisis of feudalism gave way to the struggles of John Ball and the Peasants Revolt of 1381. In the words of the rebel-priest: Ah, ye good people, the matters goeth not well to pass in England, nor shall not do till everything be common, and that there be no villeins [serfs] nor gentlemen, but that we may be all equal The emergence of private property and government was regarded as the natural outcome of the Fall and mans sinful state. There arose a desire for a return to a Golden Age, which embodied memories of an earlier primitive communism, where the state, private property, and classes did not exist. Utopia Thomas Mores Utopia is interwoven with communist ideas / Image: public domain

The rise of the bourgeoisie and the breakdown of feudalism gave rise to new class conflicts and ideas. We can witness the impact of Thomas Mores Utopia of the early 16th century, which is interwoven with communist ideas.

The riche men not only by private fraud, but also by common laws do every day pluck and snatche away from the poore some part of their daily living I can perceave nothing but a certain conspiracy of riche men procuring their owne commodities under the name and title of the commonwealth.

There was to be no poverty in Mores Utopia, a communist society which rejected all luxuries. Jewels were to become simply the playthings of children. Gold, having lost its value, was used to make chamber pots. Funnily enough, Lenin also suggested gold under communism be used to build public toilets.

Mores vision, however, had no social force to turn it into reality. It took the upheavals of the English Civil War between Crown and Parliament, representing the bourgeois revolution, to stir up those forces. Those who dared to dream now wanted to make such ideas a reality.

The Diggers

The breakdown of censorship in class battles of the 1640s, resulted in the emergence of a host of radical sects. The most prominent were the Levellers. But the most left-wing were the Diggers  the True Levellers  led by Gerrard Winstanly.

As an agricultural-based society, everything was dependent on the land. The Diggers therefore demanded the common ownership of the land and went on to establish an agrarian communist settlement upon St Georges Hill in Surrey, as an example to be followed elsewhere.

While Mores Utopia was written in Latin, Winstanleys writings were in English, appealing directly to the masses stirred into activity by the great revolution. While overlaced with religious phraseology, they have an overtly communist character.

In the beginning of time, wrote Winstanley, the great creator Reason made the earth to be a common treasury. But this was stolen and private property created by state power: The sword brought in property and holds it up. The earth ceased to be a common treasury and became a place wherein one torments another.

Although, in fact, it was the emergence of private property that gave rise to the development of the state, Winstanley was correct to see private ownership and appropriation as the cause of all wars, bloodshed, theft, and enslaving laws that hold people under misery. Only the abolition of private property can end this enmity in all lands.

With the defeat of the Digger and Leveller movement, the restoration of 1660 and then the Settlement of 1688 brought to power an alliance of sections of the aristocracy with the upper bourgeoisie. The rise of capitalism introduced a new dynamic  and the emergence of a new class, the industrial working class.

Robert Owen

Radical figures emerged with the impact of the French and American Revolutions, such as John Wilkes (1725-97), Thomas Paine (1737-1809), William Corbett (1763-1835), and Henry Orator Hunt (1773-1835). But the figure who made the greatest impact was Robert Owen (1771-1858), a Welsh factory owner who became a socialist and visionary.

These were years of turmoil, with the rise of illegal trade unions and workers battles for democratic rights. Owen offered a way out of the misery of capitalist exploration through the establishment of communist colonies.

He was struck by the materialist philosophers of the Enlightenment, believing that a changed environment would change peoples characters.

Owen offered a way out of the misery of capitalist exploration through the establishment of communist colonies / Image: public domain

In his cotton factory at New Lanark, he treated workers as human beings instead of slaves. He equipped it with a school and shop at low prices. This transformed workers and their families.

Owen wanted to apply this to the rest of society. But he soon realised that his appeals to the ruling class and the laws of capitalism were incompatible to the setting up of a socialist commonwealth.

He therefore tried himself to establish new model colonies in America and England, organised on the basis of full communism.

But they were to fail, as it was not possible to establish small islands of communism surrounded by an ocean of capitalism. The laws of capitalism would eventually prevail.

Owen believed three things stood in his way: private property, religion, and marriage in its present form.

Shunned by the ruling class, Owen turned directly to the newly-formed working class, establishing cooperatives and then trade unions. In 1834, he established the Grand National Consolidated Trades Union, which had a constitution calling for the overthrow of capitalism.

Owens ideas fed into the working class, including the fight for a new society. These ideas, together with the horrors of industrialisation, provided the fertile ground for the rise of the great Chartist movement.

Chartism

The Chartists created the first political party of the British working class / Image: public domain

The Chartists created the first political party of the British working class. While it was based on six demands, beginning with the male adult vote and ending with annual parliaments, these were seen as a means to an end  a new egalitarian society.

The Chartist movement split between the reformists (moral force) and the revolutionaries (physical force), with the latter becoming the overwhelming majority. They engaged in mass petitions to general strikes, to insurrection, as in the Newport Rising.

To establish communism, the working class needed to conquer political power.

What the people want is a government of the whole people to protect the whole people, stated Bronterre OBrien. And this once acquired, they will be in a position to establish Owenism, or St. Simonism, or any other ism that a majority may think best calculated to ensure the well-being of the whole.

The rich have never cared one straw for justice or humanity, since the beginning of the world, he continued. Force and force alone has ever subdued them into humanity.

The Chartists were very much influenced by the 1848 revolution. This produced a communist wing, headed by Ernest Jones and Julian Harney, who were acquaintances of Marx and Engels.

Emancipation of labour is the only worthy objective of political warfare, stated Harney. That those who till the soil shall be its first masters, that those who raise the food shall be its first partakers, that those who build mansions shall live in them.

Harneys paper, the Red Republican, published the first English translation of the Communist Manifesto, written by Marx and Engels. From then on, the struggle for communism, linked to the historic role of the working class, superseded utopian dreams.

They [the Chartists] have progressed from the idea of simple political reform to the idea of a Social Revolution, wrote Julian Harney.

Engels described it as the union of Socialism with Chartism, the reproduction of French Communism in an English manner.

Marxism

Marx and Engels had abandoned the term socialist, which was linked to middle-class utopian notions, for the word communist. They changed the woolly slogan All Men are Brethren to the class slogan Proletarians of all lands unite.

With the defeat of Chartism, which in many ways was an anticipation of future developments, Ernest Jones attempted to rally the scattered ranks of Chartism on the sound principles of social revolution.

But the changed objective situation, with the growth of capitalism, cut across these efforts. And Chartism gave way to the epoch of model unionism and class collaboration.

Nevertheless, the flame of communism was kept alive by Marx and Engels, who now lived in England. Together with the preparatory work of Jones and Harney, especially the formation of the Fraternal Democrats, they helped to found the First International in London in September 1864.

When the German revolutionary Weitling stated there was no English tradition of communism, Marx replied indignantly with a list:

Thomas More, the Levellers, Owen, Thompson, Watts, Holyoake, Harney, Morgan, Southwell, Goldwyn Barmby, Greaves, Edmonds, Hobson, Spence will be amazed, or turn in their graves, when they hear that they are no communists

But it is in the 1880s that we see the revival in working-class militancy in the emergence of New Unionism, which unionised the unskilled and semi-skilled workers. With it came a revival of socialist and Marxist ideas.

The flame of communism was kept alive by Marx and Engels / Image: public domain

In 1881, the Democratic Federation was formed, which changed its name three years later to become the Social Democratic Federation  an avowedly Marxist organisation, intent on spreading the ideas of communism.

They turned Marxism into a dogma, however, rather than a guide to action. It therefore remained a sect, incapable of linking the ideas of Marxism to the real movement of the working class.

The Independent Labour Party was created in 1893, but it professed a milk-and-water socialism. Engels nevertheless urged the small group of Marxists to join it and advocate communist ideas.

But Tom Mann, who was its secretary, gave up and turned to trade unionism, while Edward Aveling, Marxs son-in-law, returned to the SDF. The void was filled with the likes of Ramsay MacDonald, a recent convert from liberalism.

When the Labour Party was formed in 1900, it was composed of the ILP, the SDF, and the trade unions. It was the beginning of a real mass workers party.

Within twelve months, however, the SDF had resigned after failing to get a resolution passed committing the party to common ownership of the means of production and class war. The Labour Party soon fell under the influence of reformism.

Communist Party of Britain

The SDF evolved in the years that followed and  in 1911  became the British Socialist Party (BSP). In 1916, the party had ousted the pro-war faction around Hyndman, who then resigned. By this time, the BSP had affiliated to the Labour Party.

In 1917, radicalised by the imperialist war, the BSP were deeply supportive of the Bolshevik Revolution. Many of their members took part in the Hands Off Russia Committee.

In 1919, a new (third) Communist International was formed. Lenin abandoned the old name of social-democratic, associated with the betrayal of 1914, for communist.

The Third International made an appeal for communist groups and parties to be established. In Britain, preparatory negotiations took place between different groups, the biggest being the BSP, to establish a Communist Party of Britain, as part of the Communist International.

The party was launched at the Unity Convention in London in August 1920, based upon the principles:

(a) Communism as against capitalism (b) The Soviet idea as against parliamentary (bourgeois) democracy (c) Learning from history that dominant classes never yield to the revolutionary enslaved class without a struggle, the Communists must be prepared to meet and crush all the efforts of capitalist reactionaries to regain their lost privileges pending a system of thorough-going Communism. In other words, the Communist Party must stand for the dictatorship of the proletariat.

Although numbering around 2,000 members, it drew to its ranks the cream of the working class. They soon began to lay plans for building a mass communist party.

Unfortunately, with the death of Lenin and the rise of Stalinism, the young communist parties were blown off course, including in Britain. From originally supporting world revolution, they adopted the Stalinist theory of socialism in one country.

This led to their nationalist and reformist degeneration. They simply sanctioned every twist and turn demanded by Moscow, and lauded the socialist paradise in Russia and the socialist countries without criticism.

With the death of Lenin and the rise of Stalinism, the young communist parties were blown off course / Image: public domain

The Soviet Union would eventually collapse, suffocated by a bureaucratic stranglehold. Without workers democracy, the state-owned planned economy was doomed. Its fall was not a collapse of socialism or communism, but Stalinism, a bureaucratic one-party totalitarian state.

Today

Today, the small Communist Party of Britain, a shadow of its former self, has nothing in common with communism, except its name. But it is a misnomer. While paying lip-service to Marxism, it has long ago become a reformist party, no different from the Labour and trade union lefts.

Given the deepening crisis and turmoil of capitalism, the ideas of communism have once again become increasingly popular, especially amongst the youth.

The task before us remains the building of a genuine revolutionary communist party, based on the ideas of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Trotsky. Our aim is the overthrow of capitalism in Britain and internationally, and the establishment of a world federation of socialist states.

On that basis, the old dreams of a classless society can be made a reality. And we can truly establish a paradise on Earth.
135th Mekong River joint patrol concludes

Xinhua) 10:46, November 27, 2023

KUNMING, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Four Chinese law enforcement vessels that participated in the 135th Mekong River joint patrol docked at a port in southwest China's Yunnan Province on Friday afternoon, marking the successful conclusion of an operation also involving Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.

The joint patrol saw seven vessels and 176 law-enforcement officers from the four countries and covered over 600 km of waterway.

During the patrol, the joint taskforce from these countries inspected 137 vehicles, 285 individuals, and over 60 tonnes of goods. One person involved in illegal border crossing was apprehended, while one boat-capsizing incident was handled, with two Laotian crew members rescued in the process.

In a bid to ensure effective emergency response and management in the Mekong River region, a joint search and rescue drill was carried out, including the rescue of individuals that had fallen into the water, firefighting on boats and underwater detection and salvage.

Meanwhile, the law enforcement officers also conducted campaigns to combat illegal transboundary activities through promotional initiatives in coastal villages, ports and schools.

In addition, a Chinese medical team was dispatched to Muang Mo, Laos, to provide free clinic services for the locals. They carried out cardiovascular disease screenings and general medical consultations for over 300 people, distributed more than 200 epidemic prevention brochures and donated various medicines.

The Mekong River, also known as the Lancang River in China, is an important waterway for cross-border transportation.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
The resort hotel has 20 rooms which will be open for stays from Dec. 1, 2023. Source: The Bus Collective

It only costs a dollar to ride a Singapore bus  but 398 Singapore dollars to sleep in one. The Bus Collective is Southeast Asia's first resort hotel to repurpose decommissioned public buses into luxury hotel rooms. The project renovated 20 buses that were once owned by SBS Transit, Singapore's public transport operator, giving them a renewed purpose within the hospitality sector. The resort hotel officially opens on Dec. 1 and bookings are now available on its website.

A look into the resort

The Bus Collective is located in Changi Village, Singapore  occupying 8,600 square meters of land.

The Queen Victoria room. Source: The Bus Collective

The property sits near local attractions like the Changi Village Hawker Centre, Changi East Boardwalk, and Changi Chapel & Museum. The resort hotel has seven distinct room categories, each with different in-room amenities. Nightly room rates start at SG$398 ($296) and some rooms even come with a bathtub and king-sized bed.

Some rooms include amenities like a bathtub, a flat screen television and a minibar. Source: The Bus Collective

Among the different room types, the Pioneer North room has handrails in the toilet and shower area, built to meet the needs of senior guests, a representative from the resort hotel told CNBC. Alternatively, the Hamilton Place room is designed to be wheelchair accessible, equipped with an external accessible restroom and a ramp leading up to the room's entrance, she added.

Some of the hotel rooms come equipped with entrance ramps for wheelchair accessibility. Source: The Bus Collective

Each room covers 45 square meters and can accommodate three to four guests, the resort's website showed. Although these retired buses have been entirely refurbished, some features such as the steering wheel, driver seat and windows have been preserved.

The driver's seat, steering wheel and windows have been retained as part of the room's design. Source: The Bus Collective

Recreational activities are not available on the property, but The Bus Collective will be organizing guided tours which guests can book at the resort hotel's experience center, the representative said. One of the tours offered is a biking trip around Pulau Ubin  an island off the coast of Singapore. This tour is priced at SG$99 per person and includes a two-way ferry transfer to and from the island. Other experiences include a guided food tour and sailing at Changi Sailing Club.

The inspiration behind the project

The Bus Collective was founded by WTS Travel & Tours, a Singaporean travel agency, along with its partners LHN Group, a real estate management services group, and Sky Win Holding, an investment holding group headquartered in Singapore.

The renovation process of the decommissioned buses. Source: The Bus Collective
(This is CNBC Pro's live coverage of Monday's analyst calls and Wall Street chatter. Please refresh every 20-30 minutes to view the latest posts.) Two of the biggest analyst calls on Monday came within the pharmaceutical and clean energy sectors. UBS raised its rating on Teva Pharmaceutical, citing a strong brand pipeline . Meanwhile, KeyBanc named hydrogen fuel cell stock Bloom Energy a top pick . Shares of Bloom Energy were little changed in the premarket, while Teva rose more than 2%. Check out the latest calls and chatter below. 9:15 a.m. ET: Truist rates Vital Energy a new buy thanks to acquisitions, rising output Tulsa, Oklahoma-based smallcap ($1.26 billion market cap) Vital Energy was rated buy at Truist Securities, which cited the exploration and production company's "complete transformation," five acquisitions in 2023, likely 50% increase in Q4 oil production vs 2022 and 20% higher cash flow this year than the last two. Truist analyst Neal Dingmann put a $70 price target on Vital in a Monday report, implying 53% upside.  Scott Schnipper 9:14 a.m. ET: UBS bullish on Five Below heading into earnings UBS expects Five Below to deliver solid results for its third quarter when it reports earnings on Wednesday. "We believe FIVE's sales trends remained consistent through 3Q. This would indicate that the co. continues to gain market share," analyst Michael Lasser wrote in a note Monday. He is estimating a 1.5% increase in same store sales for the quarter and sales . On a four year compound annual growth rate, the forecast translates to an acceleration of 210 basis points to 6.3%, versus the 4.3% in the second quarter, said Lasser, who has a buy rating on the stock. However, the market will likely focus on Five Below's commentary about the fourth quarter, since it accounts for more than 60% of the company's earnings before interest and taxes, Lasser pointed out. "We think the company should be able to maintain its momentum into 4Q given its line up [of] in-demand products and the expansion of its Five Beyond assortment," he wrote. Shares of Five Below are up about 8% year to date.  Michelle Fox 8:48 a.m. ET: Lucid downgraded by Needham on demand constraints Lucid faces flagging demand as the company struggles to make a compelling case that it will successfully license its electric vehicle efficiency technology, according to Needham. Analyst Chris Pierce downgraded Lucid to hold but maintained the $5 price target, which suggests 17% upside from the stock's last closing price of $4.24. Pierce emphasized that Needham remains bullish on Lucid's technology and has a positive view of the Gravity SUV. Rivian is the only electric vehicle maker that Needham has a buy rating on right now. It is the only member of the pack that is supply rather than demand constrained. Needham has maintained its hold rating on Tesla and Fisker.  Spencer Kimball 8:28 a.m. ET: Buy McDonald's stock as the chain accelerates new store openings, BTIG says McDonald's is set to benefit from a centered company focus on accelerating new store openings, according to BTIG. The firm reiterated a buy rating on Monday for the fast food chain stock accompanied by a $300 per share price target, about 6% above Friday's close. "We believe McDonald's is ready to accelerate unit development across the globe, with increased openings in the U.S. focused on the South and Southeast regions given population trends," analyst Peter Saleh said. "The company has given a number of none-too-subtle hints in the past year that development was a greater focus." McDonald's shares have lagged the broader market, rising just 7.2%.  Brian Evans 8:19 a.m. ET: Melius upgrades Carnival amid 'compelling' outlook for cruises Melius upgraded shares of Carnival to buy from hold on Monday, citing growing momentum in booking trends for the cruise industry among the reasons for the call. In fact, cruise lines have the most compelling setup in the travel sector heading into next year, analyst Conor Cunningham wrote in a note to clients. The companies were the last to recover from the Covid pandemic and are now enjoying positive demand momentum. At the same time, the cruises will manage around the Israel-Hamas war if the current situation continues, he said. While once cautious on Carnival, Cunningham likes what he sees happening within the company now. "With Josh Weinstein now one year into his tenure as CEO there seems to be a heightened approach to maximizing returns and regaining their financial position within the industry," he wrote. "Management has actively managed the asset portfolio to better allocate to areas where there is not only an immediate return but further upside over the years to come." Excess free cash flow is also now readily available, Cunningham added. His $19 price target suggests about 32% upside from Friday's close. Shares of Carnival are up nearly 79% year to date.  Michelle Fox 8:17 a.m. ET: Citi lowers earnings estimates on Ulta Beauty, opens negative catalyst watch Citi expects Ulta Beauty's third-quarter results to miss Wall Street estimates. The firm began a 30-day negative catalyst watch on the cosmetic stock in a Monday note. Analyst Kelly Crago maintained a neutral rating on Ulta but lowered her price target to $440 from $475. Ulta will report third-quarter results on Nov. 30 after the closing bell. The analyst attributed the bearish outlook to expected lower full-year guidance from Ulta management driven by a less favorable pricing environment. "We anticipate mgmt will lower F23 EPS guidance from $25.10-25.60 to a range bracketing ~$25.00, implying lower than cons 4Q guidance," Crago said. "We believe a combination of slowing category trends, shrink headwinds and elevated promos this holiday season will leave mgmt more cautious on 4Q."  Brian Evans 8:08 a.m. ET: Jefferies says stay away from Splunk as acquisition plays out Jefferies moved to the sidelines on Splunk amid an acquisition announcement. The software company announced in September that it would be acquired by Cisco for $157 per share. The deal comes out to around $28 billion in equity value. Analyst Brent Thill raised his price target to $157 from $140, matching the deal's price. Still, he downgraded shares to hold from buy. Thrill said the acquisition should benefit Elastic, Datadog and Dynatrace in the near term. "Our expert believes public vendors will have a 12 to 24 month window to win new business before Cisco reintroduces SPLK in its new format," he said. "He believes that while Cisco has made some mistakes in the past, they will take their time and get this right."  Alex Harring 7:54 a.m. ET: JPMorgan is 'cautiously optimistic' on Snowflake ahead of third-quarter earnings JPMorgan is retaining a "cautiously optimistic" stance on Snowflake ahead of the cloud data company's third-quarter quarter earnings print due out Wednesday. "Our impression is that while the macro remains challenging overall, there is some sense of spending stability (albeit at a reduced level and with elevated spending scrutiny) among prioritized cloud infrastructure software providers even as new macro and geopolitical risks seem to emerge on a regular basis," wrote analyst Mark Murphy in a note. "This stability may be enabling software vendors and customers to better navigate the environment and invest accordingly, a dynamic which seemed to be supported by Snowflake's comments during the quarter," he added. Murphy called the data cloud firm a "highly innovative" and "well-positioned" company poised benefit from artificial intelligence tailwinds. This quarterly print, he expects Snowflake to meet or top product revenue guidance due in part to what he views as "achievable" guidance and "directionally stable to slightly positive" data related to cloud consumption patterns. The Wall Street firm retained its $170 price target, implying that shares should remain rangebound from Friday's close. The stock's gained more than 19% in 2023.  Samantha Subin 7:45 a.m. ET: There could be significant upside ahead for Gracell Biotechnologies, Evercore ISI says Evercore ISI initiated coverage of Chinese biotech stock Gracell Biotechnologies at outperform on Monday, with analyst Jonathan Miller citing the company's strong product pipeline as a catalyst. Gracell Technologies offers a unique approach to target multiple myeloma, a type of white blood cell cancer, the analyst said. The company grabbed attention at the 2023 American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting "with a potentially best-in-class media PFS [progression-free survival] of 38 months" in its phase 1 trial, currently ongoing in China. "Gracell is late to market, with a potential launch in 2027 and no established pharma partner yet, but even modeling only an extremely conservative share in MM [multiple myeloma], there is significant upside to the stock  compare GRCL's market cap of ~$350M with competitors: Arcellx is at $2.5B in comparison  and they only launch in '26/27!" Miller wrote. Miller also cited an opportunity in systemic lupus erythematosus as another key driver. "Utilizing CAR Ts in autoimmune diseases has become an increasingly hot space with a lot of pharma interest (expectations are for a multi-$Bn TAM)," the analyst added. "We're only giving Gracell minimal credit at the moment for this very early program, but with FIH data expected in 1H24 this could easily become a significant value driver."  Lisa Kailai Han 7:21 a.m. ET: Bank of America forecasts 26% upside for Arcos Dorados Bank of America thinks easing prices and increasing consumption should brighten the outlook for Arcos Dorados from here on out. Analyst Robert Ford Aguilar commended the company, which franchises McDonald's restaurants in Latin America and the Caribbean, for its ability to mitigate costs while balancing prices. Strong same-stores and market share gains supported robust sales volume for the company in the last quarter. "Those capabilities should be further refined as ARCO continues to improve app adoption, functionality and algorithms. While sales growth should moderate on tougher comps and an Argentine recession, consumption in most other LatAm economies is forecast to improve," he added. Aguilar also believes that these "favorable cost trends" will continue as costs of the company's main proteins come down. These factors should continue to improve margins going forward, he added. Aguilar reiterated his buy rating for the stock but raised his price target to $14.50 from $12.50, which implies a 26% potential upside.  Lisa Kailai Han 7:07 a.m. ET: JPMorgan downgrades NanoString on recent legal setbacks Legal complications have complicated NanoString's outlook, according to JPMorgan. In a Monday note, analyst Rachel Vatnsdal downgraded the biotech stock to neutral from its previous overweight rating and withdrew her 2024 price target. Earlier in November, the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware ruled that NanoString's GeoMx infringed on seven patents owned by Prognosys and exclusively licensed by 10X Genomics, a decision NanoString plans to appeal, Vatnsdal wrote. The company withdrew its guidance for both the fourth quarter and full year as it processes this outcome. "Stepping back, we remain bullish on the spatial market, overall, and while we acknowledge that NSTG's spatial portfolio is competitive and has been getting traction across the scientific community, we see limited visibility given the pending litigation," the analyst added. "All in, NSTG is facing litigation across majority of its Spatial portfolio both in the U.S and Europe which adds incremental layer of uncertainty."  Lisa Kailai Han 6:48 a.m. ET: Citi downgrades Foot Locker to sell Foot Locker will end the year in a difficult position, according to Citi. "At current levels, we believe the risk/reward skews to the downside," wrote analyst Paul Lejuez. "We believe FL will sacrifice margin near-term to get clean on inventory by year-end." The analyst downgraded the stock to a sell rating from neutral as shares have risen above his $18 target price, which now implies a nearly 23% downside. Lejuez pointed to weaker web traffic and credit card data as reasons behind the downgrade. Additionally, he anticipates that management will lower its current full-year 2023 earnings guidance to reflect weaker numbers in the fourth quarter. These repercussions are likely to continue resonating for the company through 2024. "Given the headwinds they are facing in F23, we anticipate mgmt will strike a conservative tone on the top-line next year," he wrote.  Lisa Kailai Han 6:45 a.m. ET: Mondelez can deliver higher performance ahead, RBC says RBC Capital Markets upgraded shares of Mondelez on Monday to outperform from sector perform, citing expected higher performance from the snack company. "We believe MDLZ can deliver towards the higher-end of its 3 5% top-line algo through a combination of category growth, share gains, expanding its retail footprint, and securing more shelf space in existing stores with incremental growth from an active M & A strategy," analyst Nik Modi said. The analyst's price target of $83, up from $75, implies a potential upside of nearly 16%. "Given the growth drivers available to the company, we are very comfortable assuming the high-end of the company's algo with a bias for over-delivery given the company's M & A strategy," he wrote.  Lisa Kailai Han 6:22 a.m. ET: Raymond James double downgrades Graphic Packaging Raymond James downgraded shares of Graphic Packaging , citing price-cost pressures in 2024 that can squeeze the stock's valuation and performance. "Graphic's previously provided preliminary 2024 outlook indicates margin pressure from a price headwind in 2024, and we believe commodity cost increases amid paperboard price declines pose risk to 2024 margins," wrote analyst Matt Roberts. "Should history rhyme, we expect shares to remain range bound in the near term, similar to the period from 2016-2017 when price-cost headwinds drove margin deterioration and constrained valuation levels." The analyst double downgraded the consumer packaging stock to market perform from strong buy. In the long term, however, Roberts remains constructive on the company's structural margin improvement. He listed widening cost advantages and a shift from plastic to fiber products as catalysts.  Lisa Kailai Han 6:17 a.m. ET: UBS downgrades Jazz Pharmaceuticals as competitor risks emerge UBS sees risks ahead from competitors for Jazz Pharmaceuticals' sleep portfolio. "The early launch metrics for AVDL's Lumryz show that JAZZ is likely to face direct headwinds in narcolepsy," wrote analyst Ashwani Verma in a note from Monday. The analyst downgraded the stock to neutral from buy and lowered his price target to $135 from $170, although this updated forecast still implies a potential 11% upside. Verma added that the next logical step for the company will be to focus on improving its business development efforts, although it's unlikely that any such transactions will result in stock upside.  Lisa Kailai Han 6:05 a.m. ET: Morgan Stanley remains overweight Western Digital, underweight Micron Morgan Stanley reiterated its overweight rating on Western Digital . Shares of the technology firm, which specializes in NAND data storage, are up nearly 48% in 2023. But analyst Joseph Moore's $52 price target implies 12% further upside for the stock. "Secular demand for NAND remains strong, despite near term pricing pressures. NAND business is also undervalued on a sum-of-the-parts basis," the analyst wrote. In the same research note, Moore kept his underweight rating on shares of Micron , with his $71.50 price target corresponding to a 7% downside for the semiconductor stock. "While memory pricing is outperforming our expectations, our bigger miscalculation has been an expectation that valuation would be negatively impacted by the period of heavy losses that essentially contradicted every element of the bull case," the analyst wrote.  Lisa Kailai Han 5:52 a.m. ET: Deutsche Bank names Saia a top pick Deutsche Bank named Saia one of its top picks on Sunday and reiterated its buy rating and $600 price target on the trucking company. The stock has already soared more than 100% this year, but analyst Amit Mehrotra thinks it could gain another 41% due to the company's "remarkably resilient" earnings power. "What is even more remarkable about SAIA is that we're projecting the company to grow EPS by 60% in 2024 and 2025," the analyst wrote, noting that this is the second-best growth rate within its group of peers. "This growth potential, combined with earnings resiliency, have been key considerations of our steadfast bullish stance on SAIA and why it continues to be our top pick in 2024." Specifically, market data shows that Saia's perceived costs are currently under the perceived value of its services  meaning that there's room for much higher prices, Mehrotra added.  Lisa Kailai Han 5:45 a.m. ET: KeyBanc names Bloom Energy a top pick KeyBanc Analyst Sangita Jain named Bloom Energy a top "clean tech" play, raising her price target on the stock to $20 from $19. The new target implies upside of 53%. "Rising demand for clean power from data centers, the trend toward industrial reshoring, and delayed interconnections of renewables all work in favor of BE as a provider of baseload, behind the meter, onsite clean power," Jain wrote. "We believe that in an environment of elevated power prices, and time to power considerations, BE is well positioned to deliver on the targeted 30-35% top-line CAGR through 2031," the analyst added. "BE's fuel cells have proven commercial viability, come with an IP moat, and the co. is expected to be op. margin positive in '23." Bloom Energy shares have struggled this year, losing 30.1%. BE YTD mountain BE in 2023  Fred Imbert 5:45 a.m. ET: UBS upgrades Teva Pharmaceutical on strong brand pipeline UBS sees potential in Teva Pharmaceutical's upcoming pipeline of products. The bank upgraded the stock to buy from neutral in a Monday note and lifted its price target to $13 from $11. This updated forecast implies a 36% upside from the stock's $9.55 close on Friday. "While the story in the past several years has been focused on Revenue/EBITDA stabilization, going forward we anticipate attention shifting to attractive brand assets, where investors get to participate in launch acceleration and pipeline de-risking catalysts," wrote analyst Ashwani Verma. "Although sell-side expectations have come up on some brands/pipeline products, we believe that the stock is not pricing in brand transition." Specifically, the analyst thinks that key brands such as Austedo, Uzedy and Ajovy will benefit as the company shifts its focus toward growth engine delivery. The outcomes of two key clinical trials, expected in the second half of 2024, are also due to boost the company's brand pipeline.  Lisa Kailai Han
TOKYO, Nov 27 ( News On Japan ) - Miloiko Spajic, who became the Prime Minister of Montenegro last month, studied for four years as an international student in the Faculty of Economics at Saitama University and graduated in March 2012, it has been revealed.

Saitama University President Takafumi Sakai: "I heartily congratulate Mr. Miloiko Spajic, a graduate of our university, on his appointment as the new Prime Minister of Montenegro."

Montenegro, a republic located on the Balkan Peninsula in Europe with a population of about 620,000, declared independence in 2006 and joined NATO in 2017, prioritizing its ongoing negotiations for EU membership. The future will test Spajic's abilities in these endeavors.
Asia-Pacific stocks fell on Monday as the Chinese market dropped due to a decline in property firms, while Japan's service inflation surged to a 45-month high.

Data showed Japan's service PPI rose 2.3% in October to its highest level since January 2020 and more than the prior month's reading of 2%.

On Monday, China's industrial profits continued to shrink in November, but at its slowest pace in almost a year, according to data released by the government.

The world's second largest economy will release its official factory activity figures for November on Thursday, while the Caixin survey for the same metric will be out on Friday.

Australia will release its October inflation figures on Wednesday, which will offer clues to its central bank's policy moves. India's gross domestic product numbers for the three months ended September will be released late Thursday.
Changpeng Zhao, founder and CEO of Binance, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris on June 16, 2022.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who pleaded guilty last week to criminal charges tied to his cryptocurrency exchange, has to remain in the U.S. at least temporarily, according to a ruling Monday by a federal judge.

Zhao was released on a $175 million bond last week and has a sentencing hearing scheduled for Feb. 23. Prosecutors requested that Zhao be barred from leaving the country before his sentencing, while his lawyers have asked that their client be able to travel, noting in a briefing that he "voluntarily flew" to the U.S. for his guilty plea.

Zhao lives in the United Arab Emirates, which doesn't have a formal extradition treaty with the U.S. Richard Jones, a U.S. District Court Judge in Seattle, said Zhao cannot return to the UAE "until such time as this Court resolves the Government's motion for review."

"In the vast majority of cases, a multi-billionaire defendant who has pleaded guilty, faces possible prison time, and lives in a country that does not extradite its citizens to the United States would be detained," the government wrote in a filing to the court.

Prosecutors said they'd already made an "exceptional recommendation" in suggesting that Zhao be allowed to remain free until his sentencing. They said Zhao presents a flight risk, but one that "could be managed by requiring him to remain in the U.S. and preventing him from returning to the safe haven of the UAE."
 This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on November 23, 2023.

OPEC+ has postponed the ministerial meeting from this Sunday to next Thursday. Although officials have not provided reasons for the rescheduling, the market widely speculates this is a signal of potential disagreements among OPEC+ members regarding production cuts.

Analysts suggest that African countries such as Nigeria, Angola, and Congo are hoping for higher production quotas as their production is constrained by factors like lack of investment. On the other hand, the UAE has been allowed to increase production starting from next January. This puts Saudi Arabia in the position of balancing the interests of various countries.

Patrick De Haan

GasBuddy's Head of Petroleum Analysis

"I think there's a lot of pressure right now the Saudis are wrangling all the OPEC members up and trying to get them on the page of cutting production. It's clear that not everyone at OPEC is thinking the same way."

Another factor negatively affecting oil prices is the recent unexpected increase in U.S. crude inventories. On Wednesday, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed that for the week ending November 17, commercial crude oil inventories, excluding Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR), rose by 8.7 million barrels, surpassing expectations. EIA data also revealed that U.S. crude oil production averaged 13.2 million barrels per day for the week ending November 17, unchanged from the previous week, representing an increase of 1.1 million barrels year-on-year.

As the market digested a series of bearish news, international oil prices fell overnight, initially plummeting by over 5%, but the decline later narrowed. At the close, U.S. WTI crude futures settled at $77.1 per barrel, a decrease of 0.86%. Brent crude closed at $81.96 per barrel, down by 0.59%. Some analysts suggest that WTI crude oil may face a downside challenge of around $70 per barrel. This is especially the case if the U.S. experiences a warm winter this year, which could further impact oil prices.

Looking ahead to future OPEC+ oil policies, the president of Lipow Oil Associates told CNBC that he believes the OPEC group might extend production cuts into early next year.

Andy Lipow

Lipow Oil Associates' President

"I think these low numbers are really forcing OPEC to take some action, I believe that they will extend their production quotas certainly into the early part of 2024, if not through March."

International oil prices are expected to decline for the fifth consecutive week, making it the longest continuous downturn since December 2021. Some analysts also caution that the present market pricing has almost not factored in the geopolitical risk premium related to the Middle East conflict, and such risks cannot be ruled out.
The president of the upcoming COP28 climate change Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber speaks during the Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition at ADNEC Exhibition Center October 2, 2023. Jaber told an Abu Dhabi oil conference on October 2, 2023, that the fossil fuel industry would play an essential role in addressing the climate crisis. (Photo by Ryan LIM / AFP) (Photo by RYAN LIM/AFP via Getty Images)

The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of the biggest and most important annual climate conference as a platform to lobby foreign government officials for oil and gas deals, according to a cache of internal documents obtained by a not-for-profit investigative journalism organization.

The leaked records show that Sultan al-Jaber, who controversially serves as both COP28 president-designate and chief executive of state oil giant ADNOC (the Abu Dhabi National Oil Co.), planned to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 countries during the forthcoming climate conference. Al-Jaber was the founding CEO of Abu Dhabi state-owned renewable energy firm Masdar.

The documents were published Monday by the Centre for Climate Reporting, which worked in collaboration with the BBC. CCR, which has received funding from the likes of Greenpeace and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, said it was able to verify the accuracy of the leaked documents via an unnamed whistleblower.

"The documents referred to in the BBC article are inaccurate and were not used by COP28 in meetings. It is extremely disappointing to see the BBC use unverified documents in their reporting," a COP28 spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for ADNOC was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC. Masdar declined to comment.

The documents purportedly show briefing notes prepared by the UAE's COP28 team for meetings with almost 30 foreign governments ahead of the summit, which starts Thursday and is scheduled to run through to Dec. 12.

Among some of the proposed talking points for al-Jaber were the UAE's hope to get off the Brazilian "tax haven" list to help facilitate new investments from Masdar, its desire to consider a possible deal with China over liquified natural gas projects and its position that ADNOC "stands ready to support the supply of petrochemicals to Egypt."

COP28 is the United Nations' upcoming round of global climate talks. The two-week-long summit will be held in Dubai, with scores of world leaders and government ministers from nearly 200 countries expected to attend  alongside an estimated 70,000 delegates.

It is regarded as a pivotal opportunity to accelerate action to address the climate crisis at a time when global temperatures are hitting record highs and extreme weather events are affecting people worldwide.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment on the leaked documents. The Conference of the Parties (COP) is the supreme decision-making body of the UNFCCC.
Brian Armstrong, chief executive officer of Coinbase Global Inc., speaks during the Messari Mainnet summit in New York, on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023.

The crypto industry can finally close the chapter on a litany of scandals and problems after Binance was hit with a historic settlement by the U.S. Department of Justice, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Monday.

"The enforcement action against Binance , that's allowing us to kind of turn the page on that and hopefully close that chapter of history," Armstrong said in an interview with CNBC's Joumanna Bercetche.

"There are many crypto companies that are helping build the crypto economy and change our financial system globally. But many of them are still small startups."

"I think that regulatory clarity is going to help bring in more investment, especially from institutions," he added.

Binance was hit by the U.S. Department of Justice with a $4 billion settlement last week, which saw its founder and CEO, Changpeng Zhao, step down and plead guilty to charges of money laundering violations.

The government accused Binance of violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act and of breaching sanctions on Iran.

Armstrong pushed back on the suggestion that crypto is mainly used for nefarious purposes such as fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing, a common refrain from financial firms that have avoided jumping into the space due to compliance concerns.

"It's true that there have been some small amount of illicit activity in crypto but it's actually less than 1% from what we've seen. If you look at illicit uses of cash it's oftentimes more than that," Armstrong told CNBC.
One investor's trash may be another's treasure, according to Evercore ISI. Analyst Julian Emanuel said investors should consider snapping up stocks that Evercore ISI calls "tax loss targets." That refers to securities that have set new lows since Oct. 27  when small-cap stocks fell below their 2022 bear market low  despite having attractive valuations and growth profiles. Such stocks are being sold by investors looking to realize their losses and cut their 2023 tax bill before year-end. But that could also mean now is the right time to buy, especially if the stocks can rebound after trading at cheap levels. While there may not be as large of a basket as last year's, Emanuel said there's still a solid group for 2023, pointing to candidates such as Pfizer , Aptiv and Match Group as standouts on this year's list. "While December 2023 is not likely to have the 'fireworks' of a year ago, there will be no shortage of 'tax loss leftovers' from which to choose," he told clients. The 2023 list has a "pent up supply" of stocks that were unable to recover from their 2022 peaks, Emanuel said. CNBC Pro compiled the standouts and a handful of other names from Evercore ISI's list of tax-loss leftovers below: Pfizer has struggled as the Covid-19 pandemic has receded, with the stock down more than 40% in 2023. Late last month, the pharmaceutical company reported a wider loss per share for the third quarter than analysts expected, while revenue was also lower than what Wall Street anticipated. Yet, Wall Street sees a turnaround ahead for Pfizer. The average analyst has a buy rating and price target implying upside of about 32%, according to LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. Meanwhile, auto parts maker Aptiv has shed more than 10% in share value this year. The average analyst has a buy rating on the stock with a price target reflecting upside of nearly 39%, per LSEG. Piper Sandler upgraded shares to neutral from underweight earlier this month after Aptiv's post-earnings sell-off. The company beat consensus earnings and sales estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, while offering full-year guidance that only matched expectations. "We think it's time to temper our bearishness," said analyst Alexander Potter. "We still doubt Aptiv's ability to achieve long-term operating margin guidance of ~17%, but we also think investors are fretting too much about a delay in electric vehicle launch activity. Our estimates are moving downward to reflect a slower EV ramp, but not by enough to justify staying Underweight." Dating app stock Match has tumbled more than 22% this year. Analysts polled by LSEG are similarly optimistic looking ahead, with an average rating of buy and consensus price targets showing shares could climb nearly 33%. Match surpassed analysts' sales and earnings estimates when reporting its latest results late last month. But the owner of dating apps Tinder and OkCupid offered weak current-quarter revenue guidance, citing risk to revenue generated in Israel and other international weakness. Emanuel also listed Corteva as another potential leftover to buy. The agriculture stock has floundered in 2023 as the crop protection business has faced challenges, according to one analyst. Shares are down more than 20% on the year. But Wall Street is bullish when evaluating what the next 12 months should look like. In addition to holding an average buy rating, analysts polled by LSEG forecast a price target implying Corteva could rally nearly 26% over the next year.  CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
Finnish mixed-reality startup Varjo on Monday launched its latest headset, the XR-4, a product it hopes to sell to large enterprise firms.

The headset, which starts at a price of $3,990, is similar to those from Meta , Microsoft and Apple . It comes as various major tech companies are betting big on virtual and augmented reality, a space they see serving as the next big shift for technology, with an impact of a similar scale to that of the invention of the internet or the mobile phone.

Unlike consumer offerings from companies such as Meta, Varjo's headset is intended for enterprise use cases. For example, a pilot working for a major defense contractor could use it to train in a virtual reality simulation. Or, a surveyor could use it to map out the landscape of a big construction site.

The XR-4 headset has two 4K displays and a 50% wider field of view compared with previous-generation devices. It also comes with brighter displays and a wider color palette than earlier devices.

"There's a few things that are simpler technically in the XR-4," Varjo's chief product officer, Patrick Wyatt, told CNBC on a call. "We now have one screen per eye which has pushed the resolution right to the limits of that screen, so taking out some costs that way. But most importantly, it's just a question about scale."

The XR-4 also has two 20-megapixel cameras on the front to enable so-called pass-through mixed reality. This is where the user can see the world around them through actual lenses embedded in the headsets, as opposed to being completely immersed in a virtual world. It's similar to what Meta offers on its headsets and what Apple plans to include on the Vision Pro.

The idea is that users can overlay digital objects in this environment on top of the physical world. CNBC tried out Varjo's previous headset, the XR-3, in Helsinki in 2022 and its headset enabled the reporter to go into a virtually rendered kitchen and interact with cupboard doors and touch the surface.

The XR-4 also comes with ambient light sensors and improved lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, a method for determining ranges and surface areas by using 3D laser scanning. This is important to ensure that users can experience both virtual and augmented reality environments when wearing the headset.

The XR-4 also supports built-in 3D spatial audio and has noise-canceling mics and integrated speakers. It has inside-out tracking and Varjo's own controllers which allow a user to navigate the digital and physical environments.

Earlier this year, U.S. tech giants Apple and Meta announced mixed-reality headsets. Meta launched the Quest 3 in June. Apple's $3,500 Vision Pro headset is expected to launch next year.

Varjo has raised a total of more than $160 million of funding from investors including Apple supplier Foxconn , private equity firm EQT, autos giant Volvo and venture capital firm Atomico. The company did not disclose its valuation at the time of its last round when it raised $40 million from investors.
People wave flags and cheer as a second helicopter with Israeli hostages released earlier by Hamas lands at Schneider medical center on the third day of the temporary truce where they disembarked behind screens as family and friends wait nearby on November 26, 2023 in Petah Tikva, Israel.

The humanitarian truce deal that has brought a pause to the fighting in the Gaza Strip has been extended by a further two days, Qatar's ministry of foreign affairs said Monday.

Spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari did not immediately confirm the details of the deal but said in a statement earlier Monday that it could include further hostage releases and aid deliveries.

Seventeen hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were released on Sunday, including four-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Mor Edan. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners in return.

The first limited pause in fighting formally began on Friday, and U.S. President Joe Biden has said he hopes the current truce will be extended to allow more captives to be freed.

On Monday, Elon Musk was accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on a visit to a kibbutz in southern Israel that had been attacked by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

The Tesla CEO and owner of social media platform X, formerly Twitter, then was taken to individual families' homes to hear more personal experiences of the attacks.

Earlier this month, Musk issued a spate of bigoted tweets that spurred a backlash online.
Ken Langone arrives at the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, on Wednesday, July 12, 2023.

Home Depot co-founder and billionaire Ken Langone plans to meet with former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley next week in New York, as he considers backing her in the Republican presidential primary.

"The only person I see who can give [Donald] Trump a run for his money is Nikki Haley," Langone told CNBC in an interview Monday, referring to the former president and current Republican frontrunner.

Langone declined to give the date of the meeting, but the former South Carolina governor is scheduled to be in New York on Dec. 4, for a fundraising event co-hosted by attorney Eric Levine.

Before Langone would commit to hosting his own fundraiser for Haley, however, he said he wanted to meet with her in person.

A spokesperson for the Haley campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Langone's interest in backing Haley over his previous first choice, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been growing for several months. He began to sour on DeSantis after the Florida governor signed a six-week abortion ban bill in April, he told CNBC.

"I think he's come across too hardass," Langone said of DeSantis' position on abortion.

Langone said he supported Haley's stance on abortion, which is that individual states should decide the issue. Earlier this month, Haley said that if the South Carolina state legislature had passed a six-week abortion ban while she was governor, she would have signed it.

Langone has contributed to both Haley and DeSantis, but Langone's most recent donation to one of them was to the Florida governor this summer, according to Federal Election Commission records.

If Langone were to switch teams, and help Haley raise money, he would join a growing list of Republican financiers who are aligning themselves with Haley.

In recent weeks, Haley has gained momentum and increasingly appears to be solidifying a position as the strongest alternative to Trump.

In the key early state of New Hampshire, Haley's standing has risen 4 points in the past month, placing her in second, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.

Trump still leads the GOP field in the Granite State, but his 27 point advantage there is about half of what his average lead is nationwide.

Langone has a net worth of just over $7 billion, according to Forbes. He told CNBC he is friends with Stanley Druckenmiller, another one of Haley's new Wall Street supporters. Druckenmiller formerly backed Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who dropped out of the Republican primary race earlier this month.

Haley's campaign appears to be relying on a strong showing in her home state of South Carolina, and banking on a potential endorsement from New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.

Haley will spend the first half of this week in South Carolina and New Hampshire, where Sununu has signaled he is close to making an endorsement in the primary.

Sununu has said publicly that he will not support Trump, but with the state's primary less than two months away, there is growing speculation about a potential Haley endorsement from Sununu.
Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., leaves the U.S. Capitol after the Financial Services bill was pulled from the floor on Thursday, November 9, 2023.

The George Santos saga could soon come to an end on Capitol Hill, though his legal troubles will continue well into 2024.

As soon as this week, the House could vote to expel the indicted New York Republican congressman after a blistering Ethics Committee report concluded he had used his campaign funds to pay for personal expenses including rent, trips, luxury items, cosmetic treatments like Botox and a subscription to the adult-content site OnlyFans.

The report also found that Santos deceived his donors and knowingly filed false campaign finance statements. (Santos blasted the report as "biased" and has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges against him).

Ethics Chairman Michael Guest, R-Miss., had filed a resolution before the Thanksgiving break to expel Santos from Congress. When the House returns on Tuesday, Guest could move to force a vote on his resolution later in the week.

Earlier this month, Santos easily survived an effort by his fellow New York Republicans to oust him from office. But now, following the Nov. 16 release of the scathing ethics report, many of those who voted no and argued that Santos deserved due process have flipped and say they will now vote to expel him.

Santos himself acknowledged that his days in Congress are numbered, even though it takes two-thirds of the full House to expel a member. In a lengthy, expletive-laden online rant on Friday, the first-term lawmaker predicted he would become just the sixth person in history to be expelled from the House of Representatives.

"I know I'm going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor," Santos said during a three-hour appearance on X Spaces. "I've done the math over and over, and it doesn't look really good."

If Santos is successfully expelled, it would trigger a special election for his competitive, Long Island-based seat  one of the 18 House districts that Joe Biden carried in 2020 that are now represented by Republicans. New York law states that Gov. Kathy Hochul must issue a proclamation within 10 days of the vacancy to declare a special election and that the election must take place between 70 and 80 days after Hochul's action.

It's a pick-up opportunity for Democrats. While Santos won the seat last year by nearly 8 percentage points, the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter rates the race as "Lean Democrat."

More immediately, Santos' expected expulsion would cut Republicans' razor-thin advantage over the Democrats to 220-213, handing new Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., even less wiggle room to pass legislation when it comes to things like GOP absences or defections. On top of that, there has been persistent chatter that former Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., could resign in the middle of the term, though he has batted down those rumors.

During Santos' short time in Washington, drama has seemingly followed him everywhere. It will be no different this week. On Tuesday morning, members of the progressive group MoveOn Political Action will greet returning lawmakers on Capitol Hill with a 15-foot inflatable depiction of Santos and demand that he resign.

A spokesman for Guest did not respond to questions about the timing of a possible vote. Speaking to reporters in Sarasota, Florida, Johnson said "it remains to be seen" if there will be an expulsion vote this week.

"I've spoken to Congressman Santos at some length over the holiday and talked with him about his options," Johnson said. "But we'll have to see. It's not yet determined."

Expulsion from Congress is extremely rare. Three of the five expelled members were removed for disloyalty for fighting for the Confederacy during the Civil War. The other two  Reps. Michael Myers, D-Pa., and James Traficant, D-Ohio  were expelled in 1980 and 2002, respectively, after they were convicted of federal crimes.

The Justice Department has charged Santos with multiple federal counts, including identity theft, money laundering, and theft of public funds. He is set to go on trial next September.

Santos and others have argued that expulsion at this time would break precedent  he would be ousted from office before he's found innocent or guilty.

"I will stand for expulsion," Santos said on X Spaces. "I want to see them set this precedent. Because this precedent sets a new era of due process  you are guilty until proven innocent."

"You wanna expel me? I'll wear it as a badge of honor," Santos said, adding: "I'm through with the insanity of this place."
In today's fast-paced digital age, the combination of E-commerce and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has emerged as a critical strategy for the growth and success of Japan's Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

This synergy is more than a trend; it is a transformational approach that is redefining how Japanese companies enter both domestic and foreign markets. Understanding the influence of SEO on the E-commerce performance of Japanese SMEs is critical, given Japan's unique blend of innovative spirit and technology breakthroughs.

Japan's E-commerce Boom

Japan's e-commerce market is one of the most advanced in the world, with high internet penetration rates and a technologically savvy populace. According to Statista, the E-commerce sector in Japan is predicted to increase rapidly, reaching more than 17 trillion yen by 2024. This upward trend gives a perfect chance for SMEs to reach a broader audience both within and beyond Japan's boundaries.

While creating your online business is an important first step, acquiring and retaining clients is the actual issue. SEO is crucial in this case. SMEs may improve their visibility in search engine results by optimizing their online presence, ensuring that potential clients find them while searching for related products or services.

Local SEO is critical for Japanese SMEs targeting the home market. This includes optimizing for location-based searches, making sure businesses appear in local search results, and utilizing systems such as Google My Business. A strong local SEO strategy assists SMEs in connecting with nearby customers, which is critical in Japan's highly populated cities.

International SEO

International SEO is critical for SMEs looking to expand into worldwide markets. This entails enhancing their internet presence in many languages and areas. It is critical to understand cultural differences and search behaviors in target markets. In regions with heavy smartphone usage, for example, optimizing for mobile users is critical, yet in others, conforming to local search engine preferences may be important.

The essence of efficient SEO is identifying and incorporating the proper keywords. This requires striking a balance between popular and niche keywords, catering to both broad and specific audience segments in Japan. Given Japan's unique bilingual search behavior, the subtle strategy of mixing English and Japanese keywords can be especially beneficial.

In SEO and e-commerce, content is king

Both SEO and E-commerce success require high-quality, compelling content. This includes comprehensive product descriptions, educational blog pieces, and captivating multimedia material. Content that resonates with the audience can result in more engagement, lower bounce rates, and higher conversions.

Technical SEO entails optimizing website structure, increasing page load times, and assuring mobile compatibility. A technically optimized website can dramatically improve user experience and search rankings in Japan, where consumers expect efficiency and quickness.

It is critical to select the best E-commerce platform. Platforms with strong SEO functionality can make optimization efforts easier. Platforms that provide customization possibilities for URLs, meta tags, and alt texts, for example, can dramatically increase an SME's SEO efforts.

SMEs may track the impact of their SEO tactics by using tools like Google Analytics. Understanding data like as traffic sources, user behavior, and conversion rates can reveal what works and what needs to be improved.

Incorporating social media into an SEO strategy can boost an SME's online visibility. Social media channels can increase traffic to an e-commerce site while also increasing brand visibility and engagement.

Adapting to upcoming technologies such as voice search optimization and AI-driven SEO is critical for a SME's E-commerce strategy to be future-proof. Optimizing for conversational searches and applying AI for individualized content can help Japanese SMEs gain a competitive advantage in the E-commerce landscape.

Using International SEO Firms for Global Expansion

In this path of merging E-commerce and SEO, the importance of cooperating with expert firms cannot be overstated, especially when growing into international markets. OnwardSEO, a worldwide SEO business famous for its experience in designing bespoke SEO tactics that resonate with varied global audiences, is one such example.

What distinguishes onwardSEO as an international SEO agency is its in-depth awareness of regional cultural differences and search patterns. This service goes beyond content translation and into cultural adaptation, ensuring that SEO methods are not just linguistically but also contextually appropriate for the target market. This degree of experience is crucial for Japanese SMEs looking to make a worldwide impact.

Customized Strategies for a Wide Range of Markets

onwardSEO excels at developing market-specific SEO strategies. For example, in a market like Europe, where numerous languages are spoken in close geographical proximity, the agency's methodology entails a thorough examination of regional search trends and preferences. In English-speaking regions, the emphasis may move to competitive keyword targeting and content marketing methods that are consistent with local culture and customer behavior.

Another area where Japanese SMEs can profit considerably is SEO's technological prowess in addressing the many components of foreign SEO. This includes optimizing website architecture for numerous areas, assuring proper implementation of hreflang tags, and localizing meta-data and structured data to adapt to specific geographies. This technical optimization ensures that SMEs' websites are not only visible to their international audience but also relevant and user-friendly.

Building a strong worldwide link profile for their clients is an important aspect of onwardSEO's approach. The agency recognizes the significance of high-quality, relevant backlinks from a variety of international domains. This not only increases the website's authority in the eyes of search engines, but it also promotes referral traffic, increasing the SME's total visibility and reputation online.

Navigating the International SEO Challenges

International SEO presents numerous obstacles, ranging from dealing with various search engines to comprehending varying consumer expectations. OnwardSEO navigates these issues with a team of seasoned experts with extensive worldwide SEO knowledge. They stay current on trends and algorithm improvements to ensure their methods are not just current but also future-proof.

Partnership with onwardSEO means tapping into a vast source of foreign SEO experience for Japanese SMEs. This agreement has the potential to give the company a major competitive advantage in the worldwide market. Whether it's increasing exposure in specific regions, addressing multilingual audiences, or developing culturally relevant content, onwardSEO offers a comprehensive range of international SEO services.

To summarize, working with an international SEO service like onwardSEO can be a game changer for Japanese SMEs seeking global E-commerce success. SMEs may traverse the difficult world of international SEO with greater confidence and efficacy by leveraging the agency's knowledge. This strategic partnership not only strengthens their digital footprint across borders but also lays the path for long-term growth and expansion in the worldwide market. As the digital landscape evolves, the combination of E-commerce and SEO, augmented by the experience of agencies like as onwardSEO, will surely remain a cornerstone of success for businesses seeking to grow on a global scale.
Taiwan's main opposition parties have filed individual bids to unseat the ruling Democratic Progressive Party as the billionaire founder of Apple supplier Foxconn dropped out of the presidential race hours before the nomination deadline last Friday.

A potential alliance aimed at increasing the prospect of a pro-China government failed to materialize. The plan was announced last Wednesday, but imploded live on local television Thursday. Candidates from the more established Kuomintang and the smaller Taiwan People's Party could not agree on the leader for a combined ticket.

Last week's drama would appear to strengthen the hand of the ruling DPP government, which has been leading in independent opinion polls for the election. Taiwan's president and vice president are directly elected, serve one term of four years and may be re-elected for one additional term.

China's Taiwan affairs office has characterized the self-ruled island's election as a choice between "peace and war, prosperity and decline." This election comes as China has escalated military activity in the Taiwan Strait and other nearby waters as Beijing presses its sovereignty claims over an island it sees as its own.

Taiwan's elections kick off a year that is littered with numerous elections globally at a time of heightened geopolitical tensions as two major wars rage on. U.S. President Joe Biden's reelection bid bookends 2024.

The outcome of Taiwan's elections will likely go some way in influencing testy U.S.-China ties and impact security in Asia-Pacific more broadly.

China President Xi Jinping told Biden that Taiwan has always been the "most important and sensitive" issue in China's relations with the U.S., according to an English-language readout from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the two leaders' first bilateral meeting in a year on the sidelines of the recent APEC leaders summit in San Francisco.

Biden has pledged to defend Taiwan in the event of a China invasion, irking Beijing. Last year, former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, becoming the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island in over two decades. Her trip was one reason that communication between the world's two leading powers ground to a halt before a tentative resumption only just months ago.

These are the three parties contesting Taiwan's Jan. 13 polls to elect a new president.
Tesla and SpaceX's CEO Elon Musk reacts during an in-conversation event with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in London on Nov. 2, 2023.

Tesla filed a lawsuit against the Swedish Transport Agency on Monday after postal workers began to block deliveries of license plates for the company's cars.

Swedish postal workers blocked Tesla license plate deliveries as a show of solidarity with striking workers. Swedish unions have pressured Tesla with strikes and blockades over the company's refusal so far to sign a collective bargaining agreement with employees in its service division, including technicians and mechanics who repair and maintain customers' cars.

Tesla claims the Swedish government has a "constitutional obligation to provide registration plates to vehicle owners," according to the documents. The suit was filed with the Norrkoping district court Monday. It also sued the postal service, according to Bloomberg.

The lawsuit filing said Tesla delivered 9,167 cars to Sweden in 2022 and that the Model Y is the best-selling car in the country so far in 2023. Tesla delivered 435,059 cars in Q3, according to its vehicle production and delivery report on Oct. 2.

A Tesla spokesperson wasn't immediately available for comment.

"This seizure of license plates constitutes a discriminatory attack without any support in law directed at Tesla. This measure cannot be described in any other way than as a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden," Tesla said in the filing, which CNBC translated to English.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Thursday, "This is insane," in a post on X, the site he owns formerly known as Twitter, in reference to a story about the blocked plates.

The lawsuit claims Tesla should be able to collect license plates directly "into Tesla's possession" instead of receiving them by mail, according to the filing.

Shares of Tesla were down less than 1% Monday.

Representatives for the Swedish government did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.

 CNBC's Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.



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TikTok parent company ByteDance is cutting hundreds of jobs in its gaming division, a person familiar with the matter told CNBC, marking a significant retreat from a segment it has invested billions of dollars in to challenge market leader Tencent.

The Chinese tech giant's main gaming division is called Nuverse. Hundreds of jobs are expected to be cut from this unit, a person familiar with the matter, who was not authorized to speak publicly, told CNBC. Nuverse will not shut down completely but will be significantly scaled back, the person said.

"We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas. Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business," a ByteDance spokesperson told CNBC.

ByteDance has also told employees to stop working on unreleased games, the person said. Reuters first reported the news.

Over the past few years, ByteDance has made an aggressive push into gaming in a bid to challenge other gaming giants like China's Tencent and NetEase .

ByteDance acquired a major mobile gaming studio called Moonton in 2021 for a reported $4 billion, underscoring its ambitions. The company is now looking to sell Moonton, according to the person who spoke to CNBC.

The retreat comes after a tough couple of years in China's gaming market which has failed to recapture the heights reached during the peak of the Covid pandemic when people were shut indoors and playing games. The industry has also faced a tough regulatory environment, although that has eased of late.

Success in the gaming sector is hard as it relies on a company creating a steady stream of hits, as well as titles that keep players hooked. Tencent, which is the operator of China's biggest all-in-one app WeChat, publishes Honor of Kings for example, which is among China's biggest games.

ByteDance has had some popular releases, for example with Crystal of Atlan, a role-playing action game, but appears to have struggled to turn that into commercial success.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah, Florida, U.S. November 8, 2023. REUTERS/Octavio Jones

The Jan. 6, 2021, riot by Trump supporters began after weeks of false claims by the then-president that ballot fraud was the reason for Joe Biden 's election victory.

Trump was seeking the subpoenas as part of his defense against criminal charges related to his attempt to reverse his loss in the 2020 presidential election.

A federal judge on Monday denied a request by Donald Trump to issue subpoenas for records related to a select House committee that investigated the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

Judge Tanya Chutkan, in her order denying the subpoenas, suggested that Trump's lawyers were engaged in a "fishing expedition" with their request.

"The broad scope of the records that Defendant seeks, and his vague description of their potential relevance, resemble less 'a good faith effort to obtain identified evidence' than they do 'a general "fishing expedition" that attempts to use the [Rule 17(c) subpoena] as a discovery device,'" the judge wrote.

Chutkan wrote that the attorneys failed to meet their burden to justify the subpoenas, which would have been issued to the head of the National Archives, the clerk of the House of Representatives, the chairman of the select House panel, and others.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in the case, which is pending in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

This is breaking news. Check back for updates.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is questioned by Judge Arthur F. Engoron before being fined $10,000 for violating a gag order for a second time, during the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., October 25, 2023 in this courtroom sketch. Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Former President Donald Trump will return to the witness stand in December in the $250 million civil fraud trial that threatens his business empire, his attorney said Monday in court. Trump will be the final witness for the defense on Dec. 11, in the trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing him and his co-defendants of falsely inflating Trump's assets for financial gain. Trump's adult son and co-defendant Eric Trump is scheduled to testify Dec. 6, defense attorney Christopher Kise said. Trump Sr., Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. denied wrongdoing when they were previously questioned on the witness stand by lawyers for the state. Trump, who is running for president again in 2024, has decried the case as a "witch hunt" and lobbed accusations of political bias at James, as well as the presiding judge and his principal law clerk. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has imposed gag orders barring Trump, his lawyers and the other defendants in the case from commenting publicly about his clerk, Allison Greenfield. Engoron has also expressed concern about the hundreds of threatening and harassing messages that have "inundated" his chambers during the trial.

Battle over threats, gag orders

Earlier Monday, Trump's attorneys argued that the former president is not responsible for the threats sent by third parties, while questioning Greenfield's "purported security concerns" because she allowed herself to be photographed and identified in the media at the start of the trial. Calling the threats "vile and reprehensible," the lawyers said Trump and his co-defendants did not make the threats themselves, nor do they "condone" them. It is "lamentable," they wrote, that the hateful messages "increased in frequency and changed in tenor as the trial began." But that shift "cannot be ascribed to President Trump's re-posting of a photograph the Principal Law Clerk herself first published," they argued. The arguments were part of an effort to convince a New York appeals court not to reimpose Engoron's gag orders, which were temporarily lifted by the higher court earlier this month. The scope and viciousness of the threats was laid bare in a sworn statement last week by Capt. Charles Hollon, an officer in the Judicial Threats Assessment Unit of the New York Court System's Department of Public Safety. He said Engoron, who is presiding over Trump's fraud case, had been targeted with threats even before the trial began on Oct. 2. But the intensity ratcheted up and expanded on Oct. 3, after Trump shared a Truth Social post that included a picture of Greenfield posing with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. After that, Hollon said, "the threats, harassment, and disparaging comments increased exponentially and also were now being directed at the judge's law clerk." The clerk's "personal information, including her personal cell phone number and personal email addresses also have been compromised resulting in daily doxing. She has been subjected to, on a daily basis, harassing, disparaging comments and antisemitic tropes," Hollon said in the affidavit. Trump's comments about Greenfield have "resulted in hundreds of threatening and harassing voicemail messages that have been transcribed into over 275 single spaced pages," said Hollon. The threats "are considered to be serious and credible and not hypothetical or speculative," Hollon added. He also transcribed several highly explicit and threatening voicemails left for the judge in his chambers.
Waves crash against a seafront in the Black Sea resort city of Sochi during a storm on November 27, 2023. (Photo by Mikhail Mordasov / AFP) (Photo by MIKHAIL MORDASOV/AFP via Getty Images)

Storms continue to batter Ukraine, Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea Monday, leaving three people dead and causing chaos on roads and widespread power cuts.

In other news, drone warfare between Russia and Ukraine intensified over the weekend, with both sides targeting each other's capital cities with dozens of drones.

Russian authorities claimed Sunday that Ukraine had targeted Moscow with dozens of drones on Saturday night, just hours after Russia launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the beginning of its full-scale war in 2022, Ukrainian officials said.

Russian air defenses brought down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region and four other provinces to the south and west, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Ukrainian officials have not commented on the strikes.

The alleged attacks came a day after Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with over 60 Iranian-made Shahed drones. The attack began hitting different districts of Kyiv in the early hours of the morning, with more waves coming as the sun came up, Reuters reported. The air raid warning lasted six hours.

In other news, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the model of globalization created by Western countries has outlived its usefulness.

Addressing an international forum Monday, Putin said "it is obvious that the model of globalization, which was formed largely by Western states  naturally, in their own interests  has outlived its usefulness and is in a deep crisis."
Ukrainian servicemen board a boat on the shore of the Dnipro river at the front line near Kherson, Ukraine, on Oct. 15, 2023.

Following the confirmation that Ukrainian forces had crossed the Dnieper River into Russian-occupied territory in recent weeks, hopes have risen that this could be a small but key breakthrough in the six-month counteroffensive against Russia.

The Dnieper has effectively operated as a front line in the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson, separating Ukrainian troops on the west bank from Russian forces on the east, or left, bank. Russian forces had retreated to the east bank last year following an earlier counteroffensive by Ukraine that left the Kherson region  strategically important given its location above Russian-annexed Crimea  partially occupied.

Then the official confirmation came earlier this month that Ukrainian forces, including marine infantry and special operations forces, had managed to cross the wide Dnieper River in more substantial numbers than in previous sorties, and had established several footholds on the east bank.

The development, described as a small but significant breakthrough by military analysts, has spurred hopes that Ukraine could build on those positions and advance south toward Crimea, potentially breaking a land bridge that Russia has established between its territory and the peninsula via a swathe of occupied southern Ukraine.

"The left-bank [of the Dnieper River] in Kherson is very important because it's near to Crimea," Oleksandr Musiyenko, a Ukrainian military expert and head of the Centre for Military and Legal Studies in Kyiv, told CNBC.

"Our forces right now on the ground, on the left bank are just 70 kilometers [43 miles] from occupied Crimea," he said, "so if we have success in this offensive operation, that means that we will move behind Russian forces, we can break up their logistics, and also we can move forward to the west and to the south to occupied Crimea, and they will have a huge problems because of that," Musiyenko noted.
U.S. News and World Report ranked the best places to retire in the U.S. in 2024.

When Americans think about where to retire, more likely than not they're thinking about Florida. According to a recent U.S. News and World Report ranking, the state of Pennsylvania dominates the list of best place to retire in the U.S. Seven out of the top 10 places were all in the Northeastern state. Florida only has one city in the top 10. The report evaluated 150 of the most populated metropolitan areas in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, across six categories: Affordability index Happiness index Healthcare quality index Retiree taxes index Desirability index Job market index U.S. News collected responses from 3,500 people 45 and older nationwide.

No. 1 place to retire in the U.S.: Harrisburg, Penn.

Harrisburg ranked as the best place to retire in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. News and World Report. Richard T. Nowitz | The Image Bank | Getty Images

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania's capital, ranked as the best place to retire in the U.S. The city is ideally situated at only a few hours' drive from New York City, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Harrisburg offers residents a more affordable housing market and a lower cost of living than many major cities on the East Coast, according to U.S. News and World Report. But the cost of living in Harrisburg is also 3% higher than the national average, PayScale states. The average Harrisburg home value is $230,687, up 7.8% over the past year, according to Zillow.

10 best places to retire in the U.S. in 2024

Harrisburg, Penn. Reading, Penn. Lancaster, Penn. Scranton, Penn. Allentown, Penn. New York City York, Penn. Daytona Beach, Fla. Youngstown, Ohio Pittsburgh, Penn. Reading, Pennsylvania is the second-best place to retire in the U.S. The city is home to the real-life Reading Railroad from the Monopoly board game. It is also just a short drive from Philadelphia, Lancaster and Amish country.

Reading, Pennsylvania ranked as the second-best place to retire in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. News and World Report. Alex Potemkin | E+ | Getty Images

According to RentCafe, the cost of living in Reading, PA, is 8% higher than the state average and 6% higher than the national average. The cost of living might be higher, but the housing in Reading costs 4% less than the national average, with houses for sale averaging at $175,000 and apartments renting for $1,688, according to Redfin. Rounding out the top three best places to retire in the U.S. is yet another Pennsylvania city, Lancaster.

Lancaster, Pennsylvania ranked as the No. 3 best place to retire in the U.S. in 2024, according to U.S. News and World Report. Denistangneyjr | Istock | Getty Images
Cebu City (CNN Philippines, November 27)  Four individuals considered persons of interest in the weekend robbery of a pawnshop in Cebu are now in custody after a getaway vehicle used in the crime was intercepted, the city's police said on Monday.

Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) director Ireneo Dalogdog said two more persons of interest were taken into custody after a red Honda City they were riding in was stopped on Monday morning during a dragnet operation in Barangay Lamacan in Sibonga.

The car is suspected to be one of the getaway vehicles of the robbers. A perpetrator was captured on CCTV footage as transferring from a motorcycle to the red car, which did not have a plate number and had "for registration" signage.

The intercepted car yielded firearms, the details of which are still being collated by the CCPO.

Two others persons of interest were collared by the Mandaue City police last Sunday, bringing the number of those in custody to four. Police did not disclose their identities or background.

Dalogdog said that based on the footage, the asailants looked like professionals and well-trained in handling firearms.

There are no reports yet on the value of the stolen jewelry, but police earlier estimated their worth to be between 4 to 5 million.

The police said they were also checking the background of the security guards of the pawnshop and other nearby areas to determine possible involvement in the robbery.

Four armed men who introduced themselves as National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents robbed the Oro Sugbo Pawnshop and Jewelry Store in Colon street on Saturday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  Sen. Ronald dela Rosa said some Filipinos are questioning the timing of the House resolutions urging the Marcos government to cooperate with the International Criminal Courts (ICC) probe into the drug war of the Duterte administration.

Bakit ngayon lang yan nagsipaglabasan itong mga resolution kung kailan nagkakaroon ng gusot between the Speaker of the House (Martin Romualdez) and Vice President (Sara) Duterte and former President (Rodrigo) Duterte? he told CNN Philippines The Source on Monday.

RELATED: Romualdez: Uniteam still intact despite House row with Dutertes

Parang bang the people are thinking that, Are they going to weaponize the ICC in order to silence the Dutertes? Yon ang nagiging tanong, he added.

[Translation: Why did they file the resolutions only now when theres a rift between the Speaker of the House and Vice President Duterte and former President Duterte? It seems the people are thinking that, Are they going to weaponize the ICC in order to silence the Dutertes? Thats the question.]

Dela Rosa served as chief of the Philippine National Police during the Duterte administration. He is the chief implementor of the drug war.

Currently, there are three House resolutions on the ICCs probe. These were filed by Representatives France Castro, Arlene Brosas, and Raoul Daniel Manuel of the Makabayan bloc; Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. and 1-Rider Rep. Ramon Rodrigo Gutierrez; and Albay 1st District Rep. Edcel Lagman.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros told CNN Philippines she is seriously considering filing a counterpart resolution in the Senate.

Maybe they thought tatahimik si former president Duterte kapag tinatakot nila about ICCyon ang komento na naririnig ko from people discussingthis issue, Dela Rosa said.

[Translation: Maybe they thought former president Duterte will keep quiet if they scare him about the ICC. Thats the comment Im hearing from people discussing this issue.]

But the senator admitted that he was surprised with the filing of the resolutions, except for the one filed by Makabayan lawmakers.

The ICC will continue to investigate the drug war after the Appeals Chamber of the court rejected the plea of the Philippine government against the resumption of the probe.

The Philippines officially stopped being an ICC member state in March 2019, or one year after former president Duterte formally submitted to the United Nations the countrys written notice of withdrawal from the Rome Statute, the ICC's founding document.

Dela Rosa said it would need the countrys representative at The Hague to enter into an agreement with the Rome Statute, which has to be ratified by the president and also concurred by the Senate via two-thirds of the votes of all its members.

Last week, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his administration is studying whether the country should rejoin the ICC, but insists that the body has "no jurisdiction" to probe the drug war.

Dela Rosa said he is preparing for the possibility that the Philippines might rejoin the ICC.

He also stressed that it will be another issue if Marcos heeds to the calls for Manila to cooperate with the ICC.

Again, it was made clear by the president, yong kanyang (his) stand not to allow the ICC to interfere with our affairs, he said, adding that issues on sovereignty and jurisdiction must be resolved first.
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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  China pushed for some changes in the resolution on settling maritime disputes before signing it at the recently concluded Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF), a Philippine senator bared Monday.

The Philippines hosted the 31st APPF this year. During the forum, member states proposed 37 resolutions, but the drafting committee consolidated the measures down to 10 and adopted these. Strengthening the Capacity of Parliaments to Promote Peace and Stability is one of the resolutions adopted by the APPF.

Sen. Ronald Dela Rosa chaired the plenary session and working group on political and security matters, which focused on strengthening the capacity of parliaments to promote peace and stability and to combat transnational crimes.

Speaking to CNN Philippines The Source, Dela Rosa said Chinese delegates expressed reservations paragraph by paragraph about the draft resolution on settling maritime disputes.

The most glaring objection coming from China is that apparently they dont want to resolve issues, particularly territorial issues, he said. They dont want to resolve them via international bodies or through the observance of international laws. They want to go back to the traditional mode of settlingmaritime disputes via one-on-one settlement.

They don't want to observe UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea), he added.

The Philippines drafted a resolution urging APPF member parliaments to support relevant states as they earnestly work toward early conclusion of an effective and substantive Code of Conduct in the South China Sea, consistent with international law, particularly the UNCLOS.

Proposals put forward by Indonesia and Japan also mentioned maritime issues and UNCLOS.

Later on, pagdating sa drafting committee, there were words that were removed, some phrases were replaced, so ultimately nag-agree din ang China na maipasa yong resolution na yon, Dela Rosa said.

[Translation: At the drafting committee, there were words that were removed, some phrase were replaced, so ultimately China agreed to pass the resolution.]

The Philippines, China, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam have overlapping claims in the South China Sea, a strategic waterway where trillions of dollars of international trade pass through annually.

Since 2021, Beijing has escalated its aggression in the West Philippine Sea  a portion of the South China Sea claimed by the Manila  by its use of military-grade lasers, water cannons, and dangerous maneuvers resulting in collisions with Philippine civilian and government vessels.

According to the joint communique signed on Nov. 25, APPF member parliaments committed to increase their efforts in promoting and maintaining peace, security, stability, safety, and freedom of the high seas, consistent with the 1982 UNCLOS.

The APPF member parliaments also resolved to protect the marine environment and biodiversity and promote a safe and sustainable blue economy that will benefit all nations, it added.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27) Four Filipinos who were forced to engage in online scam activities in Myanmar are now back in the Philippines, the Bureau of Immigration (BI) said on Monday.

The bureau said the victims arrived in Manila on Tuesday, Nov. 21, on a Thai Airways flight amid the crisis in Myanmar.

Upon arriving, they were coerced into engaging in online scamming activities for an undisclosed Chinese company, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco, adding These individuals were subjected to physical abuse and poor working conditions.

The victims left the country pretending to be tourists but then later revealed that they were convinced by their foreigner acquaintances to apply for work, BI Commissioner Norman Tansingco said.

Tansingco added that they were hired as customer service representatives which they saw in a Facebook post.

The BI also said that upon verification, the victims had no working visas and they were also not registered as OFWs in Laukkai, Myanmar.

It also said that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has declared Myanmars conflict at Crisis Alert Level 2 or the "Restricted Phase."

READ: DFA eyes lowering Myanmar's alert level to allow OFWs to return

"This means that only documented Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are allowed to travel to Myanmar, with stringent protocols and safeguards in place," Tansingco said.

The agency urged aspiring OFWs to double check and verify the job offers they get from different platforms. Tansingco also said they should ensure they get proper documents from licensed agencies.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  Gelienor "Jimmy" Pacheco, the Filipino caregiver who was taken hostage by Hamas, has been discharged from the hospital, the Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed on Monday.

In a video shared by the embassy on Facebook, Pacheco was seen walking down the hospital corridor where he was greeted by staff who cheered and chanted his name.

Embassy officials escorted Pacheco to his assigned accommodation where he will be staying as his documents are prepared for his eventual return to the Philippines. On Sunday, Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said Pacheco will return before Christmas.

Israeli Ambassador to the Philippines Ilan Fluss welcomed news of Pacheco's discharge.

"This is trauma for anybody, any human being. He will need some time to recover in the first 48 hours," he said, adding Pacheco would be receiving cash assistance from the Israeli government because of his ordeal.

"For the first six months, hes getting an equivalent of, I think, close to more than 100,000 a month," said Fluss.

Truce seen to end

The four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which allowed for the release of hostages by the Palestinian militant group, is expected to end on Tuesday.

Israel has set two main conditions on how the war could possibly end. First, the release of all the hostages, and making sure that Hamas won't attack them again.

"It is a pause as long as we are into this exchange, as long as Hamas releases hostages, Israel will be pausing," said Fluss. "If Hamas will release 10 more (hostages) they will get more days of pause."

CNN Philippines' Tristan Nodalo and Pia Garcia contributed to this story
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27) Several progressive worker groups assembled on Monday to renew their call for wage hikes, better social services, and an end to attacks on the 160th birth anniversary of Andres Bonifacio.

The labor groups Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP), Alliance of Genuine Labor Organizations (AGLO), National Confederation of Labor (NCL) and All Workers Unity (AWU) chanted as they marched

from Plaza Sta. Cruz to Liwasang Bonifacio carrying a streamer that read: Laban ni Andres Bonifacio ay karugtong ng laban ng uring manggagawa hanggang sa kasalukuyan."

[Translation: The battle of Andres Bonifacio in the past is also the fight of the labor groups today.]

They said that they will march from the gates of Malacanang in Mendiola, Manila to assemble on Kalaw Avenue, Manila on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day. The holiday was moved to Monday, with Nov. 30 to be a regular working day this year.

The workers also called for a reestablishment of the National Minimum Wage, end of "contractualization scheme," and job security.

"Ang mga manggagawa, pawang kontraktual na mas mababa pa ang sahod sa minimum wage ng kada-rehiyon. Napakataas ng presyo ng mga pagkain at serbisyo sa kasalukuyan...Napakarami nating mga kababayan, walang trabaho o kulang sa trabaho," said Jerome Adonis of KMU.

[Translation: The workers in a contractual set-up have lower incomes than the minimum wage rate per region. Prices of food and services have being going up. We have so many fellow Filipinos who are unemployed and underemployed.]

According to the KMU last week, only 12 out of 17 regions were included in the wage hike in the Regional Wage Board, of which three are set to be included in December.

It added that 5.11 million of Filipinos are underemployed, while 2.26 million are unemployed.

RELATED: Jobless Pinoys hit 2.26M in September

The labor groups also said that they need better social services including healthcare, education, and housing through "reallocation of funds from Maharlika Investment Fund and Confidential and Intelligence Funds."

They demanded an end to re-tagging, killings, and harassment, urging the government to respect their right to organize protests.

Adonis urged his co-workers especially from factories, communities, schools, transport sectors to join the mobilization on Thursday.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  Several workers' groups are asking for funds to increase the wages of government employees.

They said during the discussion on the 2024 budget that the House of Representatives slashed the 94 billion provision for pay hikes by about 70 billion. They expressed hope the slashed funds could be reinstated when the Senate and bicameral conference deliberate on the matter.

They argued that current wages -- where the lowest-ranked government workers receive 13,000 monthly -- are not enough to provide for a family.

"As of the moment, wala pa tayong naririnig sa Senado tungkol po sa pagbabalik ng 70 billion. Kaya ang panawagan namin sa Senado, na ibalik ito," said Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE) spokesperson Santi Dasmarinias.

[Translation: As of the moment, we have not heard from the Senate on whether the 70 billion will be returned, so we are asking them to bring it back.]

Benjamin Santos, secretary general of the Alliance of Health Workers condemned the paring down of funds, saying it shows the welfare of workers does not come high on the list of lawmakers' priorities.

"Hindi po tayo naniniwala na walang pondo ang gobyerno sa pagtataas ng sahod. Nakikita po natin na hindi lang napa-prayoridad ang ating mga manggagawa," he said.

[Translation: We don't believe there are no funds for wage increases. What we see is that workers are not the priority.]

Groups also said the low salaries of national government employees means even lower wages in local government units.

For example, in a 6th class municipality, government workers who belong to salary grade 1 receive just 65% (around 8,450) of the 13,000. Added to this is the problem of job order and contractual government employees who do not receive benefits and live in fear of being unemployed.

Labor groups are asking for 33,000 as the national minimum national wage for government employees -- equivalent to the minimum living wage for a family of six.

Public school teachers, meanwhile, should get 50,000 for their entry-level salary, they said.

The groups also said that passing a new law to raise wages would mean a lot as the enforcement of the Salary Standardization Law would end this year.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  A police officer is facing complaints for an unprovoked gun-firing incident in front of a restobar in Scout Rallos Street, Quezon City, Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos confirmed on Monday.

In a statement, Abalos said the actions of the police officer, identified as Mark Julio Abong, reflect abuse of power and authority by a man in uniform.

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) reported the arrest of Abong, a former chief of the districts Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit, after he fired his gun early Sunday morning.

The suspect, a lieutenant colonel assigned with the Philippine National Polices (PNP) legal service department, entered a bar in Brgy. Laging Handa and demanded to see its manager.

The QCPD report said Abong suddenly grabbed the waiters necktie and then went outside the bar. The manager said he saw the suspect fire his gun twice in short intervals and pointed to one of his companions.

Abong is facing complaints for illegal discharge of firearm, violation of the Omnibus Election Code, physical injury, slander by deed, and disobedience upon an agent of person in authority, QCPD said. The raps were filed before the Quezon City Prosecutors Office.

Abalos said he has ordered a probe on the gun-firing incident and an administrative complaint has been referred to the Internal Affairs Service of the PNP.

Abong was implicated in a hit-and-run incident in 2022 which resulted in the death of a tricycle driver and injuries to a passenger.

He has been relieved from his post and reassigned.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 27)  Vice President Sara Duterte said she respects President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s decision to consider proposals for the Philippines to rejoin the International Criminal Court (ICC).

We should respect the position of the president being the chief architect of foreign policy so yun dapat ang position nating lahat [that should be the position of all of us], Duterte, who also serves as Education chief, told reporters on Monday at the sidelines of a National Childrens Month event.

Meanwhile, the vice president maintained her stance against cooperating with the ICC in its probe into alleged abuses that occurred throughout her father's anti-illegal drugs campaign.

Pero [but] we will continue to reach out to the Department of Justice regarding our position on this matter, Duterte said.

Last week, the president announced that his administration is studying the possibility of the Philippines rejoining the ICC, which could open the door for the ICC's prosecutors to probe and prosecute former president Rodrigo Duterte.

His statement came after resolutions were filed at the House of Representatives urging the government to cooperate with the ICC.

READ: More solons urge Marcos admin to cooperate with ICC drug war probe

Reacting to the resolutions, the younger Duterte said allowing the ICC to probe her fathers anti-drug campaign would be an insult to the countrys judicial system.

The Philippines withdrawal from ICC took effect in March 2019, a year after a case was filed against then-President Rodrigo Duterte for his administration's drug war.

In January, ICC's pre-trial chamber authorized the resumption of the investigation into the controversial drug war in the Philippines under prosecutor Karim Khan.

The probe was put on hold following a deferral request from the Philippine government as it stands firm that the country has a legal system that can investigate the drug war.

CNN Philippines' digital producer Syrah Inocencio contributed to this story.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 28)  The Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF) on Monday released a website that contains speeches of Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino Jr. in celebration of his 91st birth anniversary.

The NCAF said 19 speeches of the late senator were made public to celebrate his "life and legacy."

The speeches were originally published in "A Garrison State in the Make and other Speeches," a collection of Aquino's privileged speeches on the Senate floor between 1968 and 1972.

Aquino was a known critic of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s father, the late dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos.

He was assassinated on the tarmac of the then Manila International Airport on Aug. 21, 1983 as he returned from self-exile in the United States.

In one of his speeches titled "Operation Sagittarius," Aquino revealed he received rumors that the late dictator was ordering to put Greater Manila, 12 towns of Rizal, and the whole province of Bulacan under the Philippine Constabulary (PC) command.

It was delivered eight days before the official declaration of martial law. It was also reportedly the last speech of Aquino before he was arrested and detained.

The PC was the law enforcement arm that was infamous for human rights abuses of those deemed subversive during the martial law years.

Other speeches of Aquino in the website include:

A Carrot and Stick for Mr. Marcos

A Garrison State in the Make

A Pantheon for Imelda

Alternatives on Our Economic Crises

Black Friday, January 30

Black Saturday, Plaza Miranda

Jabidah! Special Forces of Evil

Liberty Shall Not Rest!

Mr. M - and Pilate, too!

Mr. Marcos and Congress - A Black Cabal

Neither Huk Nor Red

Shenanigans, Syndicates, Stinks in the Sweepstakes

The (In)famous NBI Raid, or Marcos Power vs. Quintero

The Bridge of San Juanico: Mr. Marcos' Folly

The New Partnership, The New (Im)Morality

The Next Best Thing

The Tragedy of Tarlac

When Law and Order Went Amok
Gaza conflict: Israel-Hamas discuss possibility of extending temporary truce

With the truce between Hamas and Israel entering its fourth and final day on Monday (November 27, 2023), both sides are discussing a possibility of extending the temporary ceasefire.

People celebrate after being reunited with their family members. Photo Courtesy: IDF X page





In a statement released Sunday evening, Hamas was quoted as saying by CNN that it wants to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.



While Israel's war cabinet discussed the possibility of an extension on Sunday evening, a source told CNN, those conditions for one, as outlined in the initial truce, remain unchanged.



Earlier, Qatari officials said it is hoping to see the truce between Israel and Hamas extend further.

Qatar had played a central role in mediating the original agreement between the two groups earlier.

"What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases  and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days, and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages," Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, told CNN on Saturday.



Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip.



Reacting to the development, US President Joe Biden posted on X: "Today, 13 more hostages  including a fellow American  were released by Hamas under a deal brokered and sustained through intensive U.S. diplomacy."



"We continue to press that additional Americans be released. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned," he said.
Singapore exhibition traces the culture-rich Malayalee journey in the island nation

People from the southern Indian states form a significant slice of Singapore society, and a new exhibition puts the spotlight on Malayalees, their immigration, culture, and contribution to the island nation.

Models presenting the new Kerala kasavu sari collection, crafted by designer Kavita Thulasidas. Photo courtesy: Indian Heritage Centre

Ente Veedu, My Home: Malayalees in Singapore is the latest special exhibition at the Indian Heritage Centre (IHC), having opened on November 25, 2023, and scheduled to run till September 14, 2024.

Left to right: Edwin Tong, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth & Second Minister for Law, lighting up the nilavilakku to officially launch the exhibition, with Chang Hwee Nee, Chief Executive Officer, National Heritage Board, and R Rajaram, Chairman, IHC Advisory Board. Photo courtesy: Indian Heritage Centre

Exploring the diasporic concept of home through the eyes of the Malayalee community in Singapore, the exhibition is co-created with the community and is the first-ever to focus exclusively on Malayalee heritage, culture, and identity. It traces the journey of the Malayalees from their ancestral roots and migration to Singapore, to their settlement and contributions to the nation, and reflects on the communitys evolving notions of home and identity.

In a media release, Maria Bhavani Dass, General Manager, IHC, said, Ente Veedu means my home in Malayalam. By co-creating this exhibition with the community, we invite all to hear their stories, and explore notions of home and identity from the Malayalee communitys perspective. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will come away with a deeper appreciation of this rich and vibrant culture.

Liviniyah P, Assistant Curator, Indian Heritage Centre, explaining the significance of the elephant caparison to Minister Edwin Tong, with former IHC Advisory Board member Dr Ma Swan Hoo. Photo courtesy: Indian Heritage Centre

Originating from the South Indian state of Kerala, the Malayalees form the second largest sub-group within Singapores Indian population. The community itself is diverse and has been a melting pot of cultures and faiths for centuries, comprising Hindus, Muslims, Syrian Christians, Roman Catholics, and more.

In the 19th century, the Malayalees search of better job opportunities outside of their homeland eventually led to them playing a vital role in Singapores development. Their contributions span diverse sectors such as healthcare, community and social services, politics, defence, and law.

Liviniyah P, Assistant Curator, IHC, said, In this exhibition, we celebrate the invaluable contributions of the Malayalee community to the rich tapestry of Singapores history. It has been a joy working with the many individuals and groups of the Malayalee community who helped put this exhibition together.

Nagapadam Mala (necklace), adorned with snake motif, is among the exhibits. Photo courtesy: Indian Heritage Centre

Dr Anitha Devi Pillai, Guest Curator and Senior Lecturer, Applied Linguist, National Institute of Education/Nanyang Technological University, said, Malayalee culture is diverse, with a myriad of influences and constituent parts that contribute to its richness. This is much like Singapores own multiculturalism. As a researcher, being able to see two decades of my research on the community come alive in an exhibition is a dream come true.

A costume box for Kathakali, the famed classical dance form of Kerala. Photo courtesy: Indian Heritage Centre

Featuring more than 200 artefacts from the National Collection, institutions such as the National Library Board, National Museum of Singapore, and Singapore Press Holdings, as well as the Malayalee community, the exhibition has four distinct zones:

 From Kerala to Singapore: This zone explores the origins and roots of the Singapore Malayalees through star artefacts that would have been used in the Malayalees home state of Kerala, such as a decorative elephant caparison, or nettipattam, with intricate designs and vibrant multi-coloured thread work. The nettipattam is used to adorn the head of an elephant during community and temple festivals in Kerala. This artefact is on public display for the first time.

 Ente Singapore: My Singapore: This zone uncovers the contributions of the Malayalees as they settled in Singapore; the spaces they lived, worked and played in; and the art forms and languages that they brought with them from Kerala and continued to practise as they evolved from Keralites to Singapore Malayalees. A highlight artefact of this zone is the only pair of Malayalam palm leaf manuscripts in the IHC collection, which shows the importance of their mother tongue as a unifying factor in a linguistically diverse community in a new land.

 In a Malayalee Home: This zone celebrates the depth and breadth of Malayalee customs and traditions by exploring this intimate space and the personal items it houses. Artefacts such as a traditional doorway of a Syrian Christian house illustrate the importance of religious beliefs and customs in this religiously diverse community. This doorway is on public display for the first time.

 Malayalees in Singapore: The final zone features a display of black-and-white and sepia-toned photographs, chronicling the lives of Malayalee pioneers across the 19th and 20th centuries. A video installation, titled Being Malayalee: Voices of the Future, has been produced in collaboration with youth wings of the Singapore Malayalee Association, Singapore Kairalee Kala Nilayam, Sree Narayana Mission, and Naval Base Kerala Library.
It was one of those rare perfect winter days. The snow had stopped falling during the night, the sky had cleared and the streets were coated in a crisp white layer reflecting the bright sun.

A perfect day for small boys to throw snowballs at each other.

My father was desperate to be one of those boys. Instead he was shut in his bedroom, the curtains tightly drawn, forbidden on pain of indescribable punishment to leave his room.

But then his mother shouted up the stairs that she had to pop out to buy some food: 'I'll be back in ten minutes. Stay in bed... or else!'

But of course he didn't. Five minutes after she'd left he was out with the other boys having a whale of a time. He was to pay for it dearly.

That snowball fight in the back streets of Cardiff a few years after the Great War reached its bloody end would change the course of his life.

John Humphrys' father (pictured, right) went blind as a result of a bout of measles

'What's gone so horribly wrong in the past few years is that the anti-vaxxers, with their moronic obsessions that vaccination is the eighth deadly sin, are winning the propaganda war', writes John Humphrys

The UK Health Security Agency warns that the poor vaccine uptake in London means we may soon be looking at an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases (Stock Image)

If MMR is to continue being as successful in defeating measles as it has been for so many years, we must all get the jab (Stock Image)

How do the MMR vaccines work? The MMR vaccine is a safe and effective combined vaccine. It protects against three illnesses: measles, mumps and rubella. The highly infectious conditions can easily spread between unvaccinated people. The conditions can lead to serious problems including meningitis, hearing loss and problems during pregnancy. Two doses of the MMR vaccine provide the best protection against measles, mumps and rubella. The NHS advises anyone who has not had two doses of the MMR vaccine to ask their GP for a vaccination appointment. Two doses of the jab protects around 99 per cent of people against measles and rubella, while around 88 per cent of people are protected against mumps. Source: NHS Advertisement

The reason Dad had been confined to his room was that he had measles. Even in those far-off days more than a century ago everyone knew what measles could do to your eyes if you were exposed to bright light.

At its worst it could make you blind. Which is exactly what it did to my father.

His sight returned gradually over the years but much too little and too late, in those hard times, for him to get a proper education and never enough for him to drive a car.

As he grew older, it deteriorated again. He died blind. His life had been blighted by one of the most common childhood diseases.

But now, thank God, we have conquered that disease. No child in this country should ever again have to suffer as my father and countless others did in his day.

So why, in the name of all that's holy, are we putting that massive medical advance at risk? Because that is just what we are doing as I write, and it is nothing short of shameful.

Senior doctors have warned that a major measles outbreak is looming in Britain this winter which could lead to 'a lot of deaths' and would be 'disastrous' for the NHS.

This is not a case of scaremongering or health officials trying desperately to cover their backs in case, just in case, something bad happens.

It is already happening. Outbreaks of measles are being reported in all our major cities including London, Sheffield, Leicester and Cardiff.

But why now? After all, I have children and grandchildren ranging in age from their teens to their 50s and none of them has had measles.

Nor will they. For the very simple reason that they have been vaccinated against it. And the vaccine worked. Brilliantly.

The graph shows the percentage of five-year-olds in England who have had both doses of the MMR vaccine. While the national average is 85.7 per cent, the figure drops as low as 59 per cent in Hackney, north London

No, what's gone so horribly wrong in the past few years is that the anti-vaxxers, with their moronic obsessions that vaccination is the eighth deadly sin, are winning the propaganda war.

The experts in the field are so worried about what is happening that they have drawn up new guidelines for NHS staff dealing with children who have any sort of chest or lung infections. They tell them: 'Think measles'.

And the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health has taken the unprecedented step of telling all doctors and nurses to check the medical records of all children arriving at hospital to make sure they have been vaccinated.

Any child showing symptoms of measles such as a fever and cough, should be immediately isolated. The staff themselves must wear personal protective equipment.

Ah... the need for PPE. Remind you of anything?

Yes, it seems like only yesterday that the nation was reeling under the onslaught of a virus that at one stage threatened to kill us in our millions.

We were saved from the worst not by the politicians preening in front of the cameras or Rishi Sunak's staggeringly expensive follies such as 'eat out to help out' schemes, but by brilliant scientists who produced... you've guessed... a vaccine.

A vaccine that, like the MMR jab, worked superbly. I am one of the vast number who had all three jabs the moment they became available and escaped totally unscathed.

Measles may not have the devastating impact COVID did, but the World Health Organisation says it is arguably the most infectious disease in existence and has warned of a 'perfect storm' for a large-scale outbreak.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health shares that concern. It says the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) should be vigorously promoted to anyone who has not had both doses.

Professor Helen Bedford, of University College London, agrees.

NHS England data released earlier this year shows that MMR vaccine uptake is just 89.2 per cent for one dose in two year olds, and to 85.7 per cent for both jabs among five year olds

The map shows the number of measles cases per region of England in the first six months of 2023. London has been the worst hit (85), followed by the South East (12) and Yorkshire and the Humber (8)

Official data for October to December 2022 shows the areas most vulnerable to a potential measles outbreak with over a quarter of children in London missing out on the MMR jab

She says: 'If we get more cases, we're going to see a lot of very ill children and a lot of hospitalisations.

'People still die from measles in the UK but if numbers come to fruition, then we will see a lot of deaths. It's not just some mild childhood illness'.

An extra worry is that this is the time of year when the NHS and GPs come under the maximum pressure because of winter surges in respiratory infections such as flu and, yes, covid.

The president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Dr Camilla Kingdon, has this sombre warning: 'To add another highly contagious and dangerous disease into the mix would be disastrous and could bring our already fragile system to its knees'.

As with most vaccines there is a 'but'. If MMR is to continue being as successful in defeating measles as it has been for so many years, we must all get the jab and, vitally, make sure our children do too.

Anything less than a 95 per cent uptake gives the virus the chance to spread. You can't just get a high uptake of the vaccine and then let it drop  it has to stay there because it is so frighteningly infectious.

The latest data for the most vulnerable group, small children, says it is only 85 per cent. And the data also says cases are now being reported among teenagers and young adults.

The UK Health Security Agency warns that the poor vaccine uptake in London means we may soon be looking at an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,000 cases.

So why, in God's name, aren't we keeping vaccination levels where they should be?

The answer is a mixture of woeful ignorance, blind prejudice and simple stupidity. Mix into that toxic cohort the self-styled experts who are brilliant at manipulating public opinion to enhance their own profile and enlarge their own bank accounts.

Then stir into that mix all those idiots whose natural instinct is to search for some great conspiracy  and bingo! You have the perfect environment.

I first came into contact with the most notorious anti-vaxxer of them all when I was presenting the BBC's Today programme 20 years ago.

He was Andrew Wakefield. Utterly charming, very bright and seemingly passionate about his cause. He was also a fraud.

One of his most outrageous claims was that the MMR jab caused autism in children. It didn't and his 'evidence' was bogus.

He was effectively drummed out of this country and, bizarrely, found fame and fortune in the United States.

His greatest admirer was a chap called Donald Trump. You may remember President Trump's performance during the covid crisis.

In April 2020 one of the 'cures' he recommended was injecting or drinking bleach.

Doesn't that tell you all you need to know about the anti-vaxxers and the threat they pose to society when diseases as dangerous as measles are at large?
Struggling to pay your winter energy bills? You're either on a fixed income or, more likely, you're in the wrong job.

If you worked for your local council - or, more accurately, Worked From Home for your local council - you'd have no such worries.

The taxpayer will pick up the tab for your gas and electricity. And, no doubt, your Hobnobs, too. Figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act reveal that Town Halls across Britain have been paying the utility bills of staff who can't be bothered turning up at the office.

Eleven councils have shelled out 450,000 over the past two years meeting domestic fuel bills, including those of some councillors.

The news comes just a couple of months after it was reported that 40 local authorities have spent 700,000 paying the home internet charges of employees WFH.

Wealden Council, in East Sussex, which is run in coalition by the eco-maniacal Lib Dems and Greens, gave staff a staggering 245,644 in 'light and heat payments'.

If you worked for your local council - or, more accurately, Worked From Home for your local council - you'd have no worries about your energy bills (Stock Image)

So that's what they mean by Net Zero. If you work for them, your home energy bills cost you next to nothing.

A council spokesman said: 'We have chosen to devote a small portion of our pay and benefits package to supporting staff with hybrid working. Where employees spend some of their time working from home, they receive a contribution to their costs.'

North Yorkshire, where it can get a bit parky during the winter, subsidised employees' domestic 'gas and electricity' to the tune of 80,423. Their mouthpiece said that a fund had been put in place to help WFH staff 'experiencing financial hardship due to increased winter heating costs'.

Millions of people have been experiencing varying degrees of hardship because of the soaring cost of energy following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine. But most aren't fortunate enough to be able to put their gas bills on expenses, without the inconvenience of actually having to go into work.

So why should council staff be any different? Once again, it only goes to prove that when it's taxpayers' money, it's nobody's money.

As for the amount of hardship being suffered by the WFH brigade, that all depends. There was new evidence yesterday that some of these 'hybrid' workers are actually substantially better off than before Covid.

That's because they're 'moonlighting', doing second jobs while pretending to work from home.

How many of these 'hybrid' workers are driving hybrid Toyota Prius minicabs, for Uber and the like? Others are drawing two full-time salaries.

So that's what they mean by Net Zero. If you work for them, your home energy bills cost you next to nothing (Stock Image)

The National Fraud Office has launched an investigation after at least three councils - Wakefield, Enfield and Kensington & Chelsea - discovered staff members performing two or more jobs simultaneously.

Kensington & Chelsea said moonlighting was a 'new fraud type' which had emerged since the Covid lockdown. Hybrid working had 'increased flexibility' but 'creates new types of risks when during a cost-of-living crisis a second income becomes very alluring'.

So in many cases the much-vaunted 'work-life' balance wheeled out to justify WFH has become a 'work-work' balance.

The old 'double-bubble' used to be pretty common in Fleet Street before the advent of new technology, when printers would clock in, give a false name such as Mickey Mouse, and then disappear to run sweet shops, tobacconists or drive taxis.

But it's a fairly recent phenomenon in the public sector. When people were actually required to report for work every day, taking a second job on the side was virtually impossible.

Now, though, when WFH is the new normal and there's no boss looking over your shoulder, earning a bit of extra bunce on the side is a piece of pickle.

I wonder how many of those 'public servants' allegedly working from home while driving a minicab cash-in-hand or picking up a second salary from a different employer are having their gas and electricity bills paid courtesy of the mug British taxpayer?

Nice work if you can get it. Ever think you're in the wrong job?

If you thought boatloads of migrants crossing the Channel were bad enough, think again. Britain's coastline is facing a fresh invasion.

The number of foreign jellyfish washing up on our shores has increased by a third. They've been spotted in Cornwall and Wales, including the Portuguese Man O' War, Lion's Mane, Moon and Compass jellyfish.

There's also a variety called the Dustbin Lid, which can grow up to one metre in diameter.

And to make matters, worse, a sea slug known as Warty Doris has turned up in Southampton Water.

The number of foreign jellyfish washing up on our shores has increased by a third. They've been spotted in Cornwall and Wales, including the Portuguese Man O' War, (pictured on a Simouth beach) Lion's Mane, Moon and Compass jellyfish

This yellowy-brown creature is usually confined to France, Belgium and Spain. Perhaps the jellyfish and Warty Doris have been camped out at Calais and are now being waved across the Channel by the French before being escorted ashore by our Border Force.

A solution may be at hand. It is reported that there has been a rise in the number of fat snakes released into the wild in Britain, having been overfed by their owners.

Perhaps we could round them up and send them to the coast to repel boarders.

They wouldn't be much use against jellyfish, but snakes are especially partial to slugs.

It might just be enough to persuade Warty Doris to hop on the first plane to Rwanda.

A plague on these zealots

We've become wearily accustomed to assorted fanatics digging up the past to justify their insane modern obsessions.

Last week, for instance, it was claimed on the basis of a quick glance at half a dozen skulls discovered in City of London burial pits that black women were disproportionately affected by the Black Death.

This apparently proved that British society in the 14th century was systemically racist and has been ever since.

Nurse!

The latest lunacy concerns climate change. Those of us who believe the political class has taken leave of its senses over Net Zero often point to the fact that Britain is responsible for just 1 per cent of global emissions.

Not so, say the back-to-the- Stone-Age brigade. An outfit called Carbon Brief has decided that to get a true picture we must rewind to 1850, when we still had an empire.

Thus, if you included former colonies such as India and Nigeria, it 'proves' that the UK is historically one of the worst polluters ever.

It also helps absolve modern India - which is still building coal-fired power stations and pumps out seven times as much pollution as we do - by halving their total greenhouse gas emissions.

Coming soon: why Brexit is to blame for the Black Hole of Calcutta.

Finally, an apology from Gary Lineker. He told Birmingham Live: 'I f***ed up and got it wrong.'

At last, some humility. An admission that his crass endorsement of a video accusing Israel of 'genocide' had caused untold hurt among Britain's Jewish community?

Er, not as such. Lineker apologised for underestimating Wolverhampton Wanderers' Premier League prospects this season.

But when it comes to offending Britain's Jews, as far as the Boy Loyn-acre is concerned, 'sorry' seems to be the hardest word.
Doctor Who is celebrating its 60th anniversary without one of its biggest fans, the late Queen. She was an avid viewer in pre-streaming days with the BBC providing DVDs for her holiday viewing at Balmoral.

Her favourite Doctor was apparently Christopher Eccleston, in charge of the Tardis when the series relaunched in 2005.

Prince Edward declined an invitation to appear in the show but the 50th anniversary saw Charles and Camilla visit the Doctor Who studios in Cardiff, where he impersonated a Dalek. 'Exterminate One?'

Doctor Who is celebrating its 60th anniversary without one of its biggest fans, the late Queen Elizabeth II

Her late Majesty was provided with DVDs of the series for holiday viewing at Balmoral (Pictured: David Tennant in the new series of Doctor Who)

Despite HM's enthusiasm none of the Time Lords from William Hartnell, who created the Doctor in 1963, to Jodie Whittaker, who laid down her sonic screwdriver in 2022, has received a gong.

Matt Smith may have blotted his copybook by playing Prince Philip in The Crown but the late Jon Pertwee missed out and other distinguished actors such as Tom Baker, Peter Davison and David Tennant remain bare-breasted.

Only the late Sir John Hurt, who portrayed the one-off 'War Doctor' bucked the trend. Clearly no Whovians in the honours unit.

Joan, Baroness Bakewell raised a cheer when Angela Rippon, receiving the Oldie of the Year award, recalled how she saw off BBC DG John Birt when he threatened to sack her from reading the news in 1996.

'Birt sacked me as arts editor in 1987,' says Joan, 90.

'I sit opposite him as a Labour peer. He is a crossbencher. I often stare at him but we don't speak. I am having the time of my life in the Lords.'

Baroness Joan Bakewell, 90, raised a cheer when she recalled that she was sacked as arts editor in 1987 by BBC DG John Birt

Eighteen years after Chrissie Watts, alias Tracy-Ann Oberman killed errant husband Dirty Den in EastEnders she is taking on the role of Mae West in a BBC Radio 4 play about Mae's 1926 prison stint for 'corrupting the morals of youth' in her Broadway play Sex.

'She sold herself on hard living, drink and sex, but she didn't actually partake herself,' Oberman tells Radio Times. But didn't Mae inquire: 'Ten men waiting for me at the door? Send one home, I'm tired.'

When Terry Venables declined to pay Piers Pottinger 11,000 for services rendered, the PR guru threatened to send in the bailiffs.

Tel wailed: 'You can't sue me! I'm the England manager.'

Recalls Piers: 'As the deadline loomed, I received a cheque for 11,000 signed by Top Shop's Philip Green.'

PR guru Piers Pottinger threatened to send in bailiffs when Terry Venables declined to pay him 11,000 for his services

Venables protested that Piers couldn't sue him as he was the England manager

When Paul Gascoigne played for Terry at Tottenham, he 'borrowed' an ostrich, dressed it in a Spurs shirt for training and yelled at the manager: 'Gaffer  got a new player for you!'

Gazza adds: 'This f*****g ostrich was copying the players running side to side. We finished training at 1pm and I finally caught the ostrich at 5pm.'

Terry's entrepreneurial talent left a lot to be desired. He once launched the Thingamywig, a hat fringed by artificial hair for women when they had their curlers in.

It would be a collector's item had anyone bought it in the first place.
This year I won the Fake vs Fir battle of the Christmas trees - although my victory certainly required a degree of stealth.

I blame my late husband for this annual battle of wills. When the girls were younger, he transformed into a George Bailey-like character from It's A Wonderful Life. Nothing could daunt his Christmas cheer.

He'd bundle them into our Volvo estate to go to buy the biggest tree we could fit into the house.

They loved it because it was always a performance: searching for the perfect specimen, heaving it to the car and then up onto the roof rack for the drive home. They still talk about the time that it slid off before they'd even left the car park.

Dressing the tree was - and is - a big event, too, with an open fire, mulled wine and Christmas music blasting out of the speakers. It ends up so overladen that, amid squeals of panic, someone has to hold the tree upright until it's been attached to a light fitting to stop it falling over and impaling an unsuspecting, passing child.

This year I won the Fake vs Fir battle of the Christmas trees - although my victory certainly required a degree of stealth

So it's always been a real tree in our house; but once Christmas was over everyone was far too busy to put the process into reverse. It was left to yours truly to pack away the decorations and lug the tree outside, shedding pine needles everywhere and taking an age to clear.

That's why I've been the lone voice opposing tradition and arguing for a fuss-free fake. And this year, for the first time, I got my way. Back in the January sales, I secretly bought online a fake tree - flocked green, with frosted branches and 'pre-lit'.

When the 2023 Fake vs Fir debate kicked off, I won. And I had to - I had the tree already!

At the weekend, everyone returned home to bring down the decorations from the loft and untangle the lights in preparation for the start of the festive season.

Once they had left, I stood staring at my tree. There was no sharp scent of pine filling the room, no gentle rustle of the branches as I swept past and no hidden hollows to hide precious baubles that don't quite fit the colour theme but you just can't bear not to hang up.

It's always been a real tree in our house; but once Christmas was over everyone was far too busy to put the process into reverse

Meanwhile, the dog had no interest at all in scratching his back on the lower branches.

Yes, the lights were twinkling, but my heart was not.

My husband was right all along (which is not something he often heard me say). No, you cannot beat the magic of a real tree and I realise now that it doesn't feel like Christmas without one. Of course, I will never admit that I was wrong (that's another family tradition!), but I have to find a way to back down without losing face. Thankfully, I've another year to work out how.

As Culture Secretary, I knew that it wasn't enough to do the right thing, you had to be seen to do the right thing, too. The public has a right to be reassured that you are acting in their interests.

So I welcome the decision by Lucy Frazer, the current Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to examine closely the proposed sale of the Telegraph titles to a media group part funded by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates, an autocratic state not exactly known for cherishing a free Press.

I welcome the decision by Lucy Frazer, the current Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to examine closely the proposed sale of the Telegraph titles to a media group part funded by the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates

Such a deal runs the risk of turning a venerable, British media institution into the equivalent of a foreign nation's mouthpiece along the lines of Russia Today.

I'd suggest that Ms Frazer needs to act both decisively and fast.

Kate's style is all her own

A claim by royal journalist Omid Scobie (aka 'Meghan's Mouth piece') that she and Kate were encouraged to indulge in 'Diana cosplay' - to dress like the late Princess of Wales in the hope that some of her shine would 'rub off on them' - is laughable.

Kate has her own very definite and evolving style and is increasingly confident and adventurous in her choices - whether it's her favourite skin tight jeans or a Jenny Packham gown for glitzy events.

I'm not surprised Grace Dent has left I'm A Celebrity. She looked far from happy in the jungle and was becoming worryingly gaunt. She's the one I spotted walking away from campfire discussions, and her face when she was voted to do a Bushtucker Trial said it all.

I'm sure that Grace - whom I've met and thought a lovely person - is being supported and I wish her well. And I look forward to seeing her back on our screens doing what she does best: critiquing the work of top chefs and tasting dishes other than ostrich anus and the like.

Having been through such a trial myself, it's not something you'd wish on anyone.

I really think we're losing our Marbles

It has been apparent for some time that the British Museum is ready to wash its hands of the Elgin Marbles - a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures and architectural details we must now refer to, in the interests of political correctness, as the Parthenon Marbles - and return them to Greece.

It has been apparent for some time that the British Museum is ready to wash its hands of the Elgin Marbles

This is despite the fact that they were removed with the full permission of Greek officials in order to safeguard them for posterity - which is what we have done - and that in 1816 the Government paid 35,000 (around 3 million today) to Lord Elgin for rescuing them.

The chair of the museum, one George Osborne, has made clear where he thinks the Marbles should be. Keir Starmer has now chipped in, to say, as PM, he'd also back returning them to Greece 'on loan'.

But once they leave this shore, they will never return. So if you've never seen them - displayed in all their magnificence in London - my advice is to visit soon!

Have the marketing team at John Lewis seen the Christmas advert for Charlie's Bar in Enniskillen, County Fermanagh?

If not, then they should.

The two-minute video - shot on an iPhone and costing just 700 - has been viewed millions of times and counting.

It has an emotional pull the big-budget productions lack entirely, and a message - captured by a closing quote from W.B. Yeats, 'There are no strangers here, only friends you haven't yet met' - that encapsulates the true essence of Christmas.
Clean beauty might have started out with organic products exclusively found at hard-to-find specialty stores, but it's now become a buzzword worldwide.

Sephora has entire sections devoted to clean beauty, mini-chains like Credo offer up luxurious products that tout their organic ingredients, and even mainstream beauty brands are dipping their toe into the wildly popular category.

However, the FDA has not defined the term yet, leading some critics on social media to speak out against clean beauty products.

Despite the critics, there are plenty of beauty veterans who have created clean, safe lines that are open about the ingredients they use and the benefits, as well as dermatologists who recommend the products for sensitive skin.

FEMAIL talked to makeup artists, clean beauty brand founders, cosmetic chemists, and dermatologists to find out what the definition of the movement truly is.

Clean beauty is all the buzz, but lots of shoppers are buying up products without knowing what the term means

How do you define clean beauty?

What is clean beauty? Dr. Margarita Lolis explains The board-certified dermatologist says the definition of clean beauty is 'open to interpretation'

Since the FDA hasn't defined the term, it 'can mean many different things since brands set their own definition'

These are nontoxic products made without hormone disruptors, carcinogens and anything that knowingly causes skin irritation

Clean beauty brands do not use formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates or sulfate and are often biodegradable, sustainable and cruelty-free

Clean beauty is more likely to not irritate the skin, which makes it better for people with sensitive skin Advertisement

Dermatologist Dr. Margarita Lolis, MD says the definition of clean beauty is 'open to interpretation.'

'The FDA has not defined this term yet, so whenever you see products that are clean, it can mean many different things since brands set their own definition,' she said.

The New Jersey-based dermatologist says the term usually involves 'products... made of nontoxic [ingredients] or [without] harmful chemicals such as hormone disruptors, carcinogens and anything that knowingly causes skin irritation.' It is also made without using ingredients like formaldehyde, parabens, phthalates, and sulfates.

Often clean can also mean biodegradable and cruelty-free, and certain brands have certifications to guarantee they don't use specific ingredients.

Dr. Lolis explains that these products are more likely to not irritate the skin, which is better for people with sensitive skin, but warns 'this does not mean that they are just as effective,' depending on the brand.

Kirsten Kjaer Weis, based in New York, worked as a makeup artist for many years for publications like Vogue before founding her own luxury-focused natural beauty line, Kjaer Weis.

She works directly with honey farmers to harvest ingredients, creating sleek biodegradable packaging, and making sure everything is sustainable and organic instead of synthetic.

The makeup artist explains that clean beauty is 'categorized by removing harsh chemicals and synthetics from beauty products, which have shown to be harmful for the human body.'

Kirsten Kjaer Weis grew up on a farm in Denmark, which taught her the importance of using natural ingredients in skincare and makeup

Kirsten describes clean beauty products as not about removing ingredients but instead about 'adding more wellness, more vitality to a product, understanding that the skin is our biggest organ and it matters what gets applied, in a similar fashion to what we eat.'

'Typically, sensitive skin has a lower tolerance for harsher ingredients, I like to think of it as having superior boundaries to what is acceptable,' Kirsten explains.

'My experience is that natural, high vibrating ingredients have a resonance, a recognition with the human body that is natural and efficient.'

New York City-based medical and aesthetic dermatologist Kiran Mian, DO, FAAD, explains: 'The problem with the term clean beauty is that there is no set definition or criteria.'

'Many times, ingredients may have carcinogenic potential at a certain level, but are safe below a threshold,' Dr. Mian adds.

'Clean beauty products veer away from using potentially harmful ingredients.

'This can be a problem in the industry because, although intention is good, these terms are often used for marketing purposes, to drive sales whether a product is effective or not.'

Why are more brands venturing into the clean beauty space?

Rose-Marie Swift is a pioneer in the clean beauty space after founding her brand RMS in 2009

New York-based Rose-Marie Swift, who worked as a makeup artist for 30 years, is the founder of RMS Beauty, one of the pioneers in the clean beauty space known for its luxurious, sustainability-focused products.

The celebrity MUA founded RMS in 2009 in an effort to 'clean up the industry and set a higher standard for beauty.

''When I first started there were a lot of raised eyebrows and eye rolling to say the least,' Rose-Marie told DailyMail.com. Despite the initial pushback, Rose-Marie 'educated' people who 'started opening their eyes,' especially when they started to notice 'the correlation between food and makeup' and thought about what's healthier over time.

Rose-Marie says she now sees many brands venturing into clean beauty 'as the industry is being exposed for so many ingredients that are under scientific scrutiny, due to their endocrine disruptors and unhealthy synthetic ingredients.'

Why are more people turning to clean beauty products?

Rose-Marie thinks clean beauty is 'better for the consumer, as more people are experiencing problems with some products they use daily and the skin is rebelling.'

Krupa Koestline started working with clean beauty brands as a cosmetic chemist

Krupa Koestline, the Orlando, Florida-based cosmetic chemist who founded the clean beauty-focused KKT Consultants, shifted her focus to clean beauty before it was a term a decade ago when she noticed 'a lack of transparency in conventional beauty and wanted to focus on formulating products without any questionable concerns to the skin, overall health, or the environment.'

'With the increase in popularity of healthy foods and stores like Whole Foods and Erewhon, naturally, that focus shifts to what people are applying on their skin,' Krupa says.

'For a long time "clean" beauty products were also seen as not as effective or cosmetically elegant,' Krupa explained, hypothesizing that a shift to clean beauty has been because of 'social media exposure, people developing more allergies, or people with health conditions speaking up to question conventional beauty.'

According to Krupa, there's now a 'demand for more transparency in beauty,' and a 'focus on clean ingredient sourcing and extraction methods,' which 'allows cosmetic chemists to create more innovative formulas that are as effective and cosmetically elegant as any conventional product.'

Dr. Mian explains 'a product's effectiveness depends on its active ingredients and absorption into the skin'

What ingredients should people avoid?

Dr. Mian advises checking the ingredients list for potential allergens or irritants, as well as patch testing on the inner wrist and waiting 24 hours for a reaction.

'Not everything found in nature is good or healthy for your skin, like poison ivy, for example,' Krupa says, calling it 'natural but highly irritating.'

'For those with very sensitive skin, I would recommend using simple products with a short ingredient list that are clean,' Krupa says, urging people to 'avoid ingredients that are commonly irritating, like fragrances and dyes.'

Krupa also says it's best for people with sensitive skin to 'avoid botanic extracts that can be irritating, like cinnamic alcohol, linalool, and limonene,' but notes that 'not all essential oils are irritating,' with blue tansy an example of a calming ingredient.
An upcoming documentary is set to reveal how a TV producer fell in love with a disgraced surgeon who left behind a trail of deception and death.

Benita Alexander, from Brooklyn, first met Swiss-Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini in February 2013, while filming a TV special about his work for NBC called A Leap Of Faith.

He is said to have hoodwinked her with claims of celebrity friends and the promise that the Pope himself would officiate their wedding.

But she later found out that he was already married before even more extreme allegations were made against him.

Here, FEMAIL has laid bare the sordid details of their partnership as Netflix gets set to release its docuseries Bad Surgeon: Love Under The Knife.

Benita Alexander, from Brooklyn, first met Swiss-Italian surgeon Paolo Macchiarini in February 2013, while working on a TV special about his work for NBC called A Leap Of Faith

The trailer for the upcoming series begins with Benita, now 57, admitting she 'was engaged to a monster.'

Macchiarini, now 65, was elsewhere described as 'the biggest conman in medical history' as his former flame questioned: 'Was this guy a superhero, a super surgeon and the love of my life?

'Or was he a dangerous conman and a killer?'

Macchiarini earned something of a celebrity status after becoming renowned for his innovative operations that earned him the nickname 'Miracle Man.'

His biggest feat was undertaking the world's first synthetic organ transplant, which involved fashioning a windpipe out of plastic and then coating it with a patient's own stem cells.

The implication was that the patient would 'regrow' their trachea, heralding a breakthrough in regenerative medicine.

He took on a prestigious post at the world-renowned Karolinska Institute in Sweden as a result - and it was around this time that he met with Benita for an interview.

Benita, who had a nine-year-old daughter and was married to her second husband at the time, ended up going for a series of dinners with Macchiarini during filming for the TV special about his work.

The trailer for the upcoming series begins with Benita, now 57, admitting she 'was engaged to a monster'

Benita claimed that the pair began jetting off on holidays to the Bahamas, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Italy and beyond as well as shopping in expensive stores and dining at Michelin-starred restaurants

And it did not take long for their relationship to blossom.

Benita claimed that the pair began jetting off on holidays to the Bahamas, Turkey, Mexico, Greece, Italy and beyond - as well as shopping in expensive stores and dining at Michelin-starred restaurants.

She said that the surgeon, who boasted of powerful friends such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, asked her to marry him on Christmas Day with a '$100,000' diamond ring.

And Macchiarini even told her that he could get Pope Francis to officiate their wedding.

The couple set the date for July 2015 in Rome as Benita claimed that her then husband-to-be told her he had invited the likes of Elton John, John Legend and Vladimir Putin to celebrate with them at the ceremony.

However, she admitted that she started to have doubts when she learned the Pope would actually be touring South America when she was due to marry - and therefore was highly unlikely to be able to attend the wedding, let alone officiate it.

Benita began to grow increasingly suspicious and she decided to hire a private investigator to help her get to the bottom of her partner's claims.

She said that the surgeon, who boasted of powerful friends such as Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, asked her to marry him on Christmas Day with a '$100,000' diamond ring

Macchiarini had misrepresented data and exaggerated the effectiveness of his technique and was found guilty of research fraud

It was then that she discovered that Macchiarini was actually a man of more modest means than he had been letting on, was still married to his wife of 30 years and was living in Barcelona 'with a second woman and two young children.'

Benita previously told Vanity Fair: 'I just didn't want to put two and two together. I didn't want Paolo to not be the man I believed him to be.

'This was not some guy I picked up in a bar. This was a renowned accomplished surgeon whom we had followed all over the world.

'The very prospect of him making all of this stuff up, even as I described it to friends, is surreal.'

But it was not just Macchiarini's personal life that began to unravel - because it turned out that his medical 'breakthrough' was anything but.

In 2014, doctors at the Karolinska Institute accused him of scientific misconduct as it emerged that tragically, all but one of the patients who received these 'tissue engineered' airways had died.

Benita has reflected on the relationship more recently after throwing her engagement ring into the Hudson River when she had it appraised and found out that it actually cost just $1,000

She told the New York Post : 'It's embarrassing, but I was taken in by Paolo. Like his patients  many of whom ended up dead  I was seduced by a false promise'

Macchiarini had misrepresented data and exaggerated the effectiveness of his technique and was found guilty of research fraud.

Having been described in the series as 'an absolute fraudster' who 'treated people as human lab rats,' he was given a 16-month prison sentence in Italy - where he had operated on some patients.

The disgraced surgeon was later found guilty in a Swedish court of causing bodily harm for performing the experimental procedure on a patient, and given a two-year suspended sentence.

Benita has reflected on the relationship more recently after throwing her engagement ring into the Hudson River when she had it appraised and found out that it actually cost just $1,000.

She told the New York Post: 'It's embarrassing, but I was taken in by Paolo. Like his patients  many of whom ended up dead  I was seduced by a false promise.'
The headquarters of the modular homebuilding company Veev, at 2701 W. Winton in Hayward. The company, once valued at $1 billion, is on the verge of closure.

Hayward-based modular homebuilding company Veev, once valued at $1 billion, is reportedly on the verge of closure, marking a significant downturn for the first unicorn in the technology-enabled property industry.

Founded in 2008 by Amit Haller, Ami Avrahami and Dafna Akiva, Veev had successfully constructed more than 170 residential units in the Bay Area and had ambitious plans for an additional 300 single-family houses in Northern California by the close of 2025.

S.F. Bay Area property map: Heres who owns every building in region

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Despite having raised $646 million to date, as reported by PitchBook, Veevs fortunes took a turn on Sunday when the company failed to secure its latest round of financing for an undisclosed amount.

The decision to cease operations has left 255 employees, including about 100 based at its research and development center in Tel Aviv, facing an uncertain future. Veev is actively seeking to sell its assets in the United States in an attempt to mitigate its losses.

Veev was in the process of a funding round these last few weeks. Unfortunately over this past week, due to the macroeconomic environment, the round did not come to fruition at the anticipated closing date. The Company will undergo an assignment for the benefit of creditors process and is hopeful that what was created can live on in some form or fashion, Veev told the Chronicle in a statement.

The company is poised to shut down its current entity, with an assignee taking charge of asset management and their subsequent sale in the U.S.

In the meantime, until a buyer is found for the assets, the companys operations will continue, the statement said.

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Veev did not immediately respond to a request for further information from the Chronicle.

Haller and Avrahami, who previously helmed the now-shuttered Israeli real estate platform Reali, launched Veev to help address the housing shortage in the Bay Area. Their homes featured walls, roofing and other segments manufactured in a factory and delivered to construction sites, allowing for the assembly of homes in just a few weeks.

It becomes very similar to a production line of a car, but in this production, when we are doing it wall by wall, and with our unique plug-and-play method, those walls are clicked one to another in the field, very quickly, very efficiently, Haller told the Associated Press.

Veevs current situation was foreshadowed by a workforce reduction last November, which saw around 30% of its employees laid off.

The company, which acquired properties in California financed through debt from various sources, said in a message to lenders it is having difficulty making interest payments amid the economic downturn and declining real estate prices.

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Veev disclosed its inability to sustain interest payments until properties are divested, citing unfavorable market conditions. Investors in the company, including prominent names like Khosla Ventures, Brookfield Growth and Zeev Ventures, are unlikely to recoup any of the $600 million collectively invested.
READ MORE: The best and worst value advent calendars tested and revealed

With Christmas markets cropping up across the nation, twinkling lights adorning many high streets, and mince pies lining supermarket shelves, the festive season is officially in full swing.

And with only a month to go until Christmas Day, the countdown is officially on - which means it's time to start getting those gifts ticked off your list.

Whether you're treating your siblings, partner, parents or children, MailOnline has selected the best deals available across beauty, food, tech, fashion and toys to help you get Christmas all wrapped up in plenty of time for the big day.

With hundreds of retailers of choice across the UK, there are plenty of offers for those who either prefer to beat the queues and purchase online, or for those who enjoy a browse instore with a hot chocolate in hand.

From beauty gift sets to luxurious food hampers - plus a self watering herb keeper -there is still more than enough time to pick up a fun and personal present for everyone on your nice list - but hurry, offers won't be around for long!

BEAUTY

MAC Cosmetics at John Lewis

Save 20% off until November 27

One of the most iconic make-up brands in the world, John Lewis are offering 20% off many selected MAC products until November 27 - so shop now instore or online to secure the perfect gift anyone make-up mad!

Hidden Gems Beauty Box at Next

25 (Worth 128)

As the name would suggest, Next's Hidden Gems Beauty Box contains some of the biggest power players in the business from well known brands such as Lancome, YSL and Philip Kingsley.

This beauty-full box of full-size and sample-sized products contains: a Lancome Advanced Genifique Serum, Urban Decay All Nighter Setting Spray, Murad AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser, Kiehl's Ultra Facial Cream, YSL Touche Eclat Blur Primer, Delilah Eye Line Long Wear Retractable Pencil in Twig, Floral Street Neon Rose Eau de Parfum, Bloom & Blossom DISCO NAP Power Nap Spray and a Philip Kingsley Bond Builder Split Remedy.

Next's 25 Hidden Gems Beauty Box contains some of the biggest power players in the business from well known brands such as Lancome, YSL and Philip Kingsley

The Spoil Him Grooming Box at Next

20 (Worth 81)

Make a fuss of the man in your life with Next's indulgent Spoil Him Grooming Edit. Packed with pampering essentials, this box worth over 80 with four full-size products is the perfect way of saying thank you.

The box includes: an ELEMIS Dynamic Resurfacing Facial Wash, a Paco Rabanne 1 Million Royal Parfum, BARBER PRO Anti-Ageing Mask, Yves Saint Laurent Y Intense Eau de Parfum, This Works My Wrinkles CBD booster with Bakuchiol, Hawkins & Brimble Molding Hair Wax Light-Medium Hold and a Mo Bros Beard Oil Vanilla and Mango.

Make a fuss of the man in your life with Next's indulgent Spoil Him Grooming Edit for just 20

Snow Showers Gift Set at Lush Cosmetics

45

Lather up in six Snow Fairy-scented shower and body sensations for yourself or your loved one this Christmas, with Lush's iconic (and ethical) candyfloss festive fragrance.

All wrapped in a reusable, recyclable hat box that's been lovingly designed by Berlin-based illustrator, Frieda Ruh, the Snow Showers gift set includes: A Snow Fairy shower gel, Snow Fairy body lotion, Snow Fairy foaming body scrub, Snow Fairy soap, Fairy Dust dusting powder and Snow Fairy shower jelly

Lather up in six Snow Fairy-scented shower and body sensations for yourself or your loved one this Christmas, with Lush's iconic (and ethical) candyfloss festive fragrance

Paco Rabanne 1 Million For Men Eau de Toilette 100ml for Him at Boots

50 (Was 81)

Treat the hard-to-buy-for man in your life with this classic, captivating spicy leather fragrance for men by Paco Rabanne.

The beautiful aromas of genuine leather, spicy and fresh makes for a head turning fragrance suited to almost every taste.

Treat the hard-to-buy-for man in your life with this classic, captivating spicy leather fragrance for men by Paco Rabanne

Benefit Bestseller Showcase Make Up Gift Set - Exclusive Limited Edition at Boots

34.50 (Worth 88)

This incredible Benefit gift set consists of five pieces for face, lips, lashes & brows, containing a full-size iconic mascara & bronzer, mini brow setting gel & foaming cleanser, and fun-size lip stain.

The set contains: a Benetint rose-tinted lip & cheek stain, Hoola matte bronzer, BADgal BANG! volumizing mascara in intense pitch black (The UKs #1 Prestige Mascara*), 24-HR Brow Setter 24-hour invisible shaping & setting gel for brows and The New POREfessional Good Cleanup pore-purifying foaming cleanser.

This incredible make-up Benefit gift set consists of five pieces for face, lips, lashes & brows

FOOD AND DRINK

Mix & match on any 600g tub of confectionary at ASDA

Two for 8

Just in time for the party season, ASDA are currently offering a two for 8 offer (or 4.50 each) on any 600g tub of the following: Celebrations, Roses, Quality Street, Heroes and Swizzels Sweet Shop Favourites.

Just in time for the party season, ASDA are currently offering a two for 8 offer (or 4.50 each) on any 600g tub of confectionary

The Chocolate & Fizz Gift Box at M&S

35

Treat someone special to a luxurious chocolate and fizz gift box from M&S, filled with scrumptious treats and sparkling booze.

The gift box contains: Two bottles of Conti Priuli Prosecco Oro (20cl), Chocolate Dipped Honeycomb (200g), Collection Sparkling Caramels (125g) and Collection Single Origin Dark Milk Chocolate (100g).

Treat someone special to a luxurious chocolate and fizz gift box from M&S, filled with scrumptious treats and sparkling booze

The M&S Collection Christmas Hamper at M&S

55

Eat, drink and be merry with M&S' classic Christmas wicker hamper, filled with delicious nibbles and treats.

The basket includes: Collection Mince Pie Florentines, All Butter Cornish Cruncher Biscuits, Mini Classic Panettone, Collection Season's Tweetings, a bottle of Bordeaux Merlot and more, all presented in a wicker basket.

Eat, drink and be merry with M&S' classic Christmas wicker hamper, filled with delicious nibbles and treats

Baileys Original Irish Cream 1L at Morrisons

13 (Was 22)

An unbeatable deal just in time for Christmas, Morrisons are offering a litre bottle of Baileys Original Irish Cream for just 13.

A globally loved delight, Baileys Original Irish Cream is the sweetest symbiosis of fine Irish whiskey and cream, and can be consumed neat over ice, shaken into cocktails, drizzled over ice-cream or baked a Baileys-tastic cake this festive season.

An unbeatable deal just in time for Christmas, Morrison's are offering a litre bottle of Baileys Original Irish Cream for just 13

Mix and match offer for wine at ASDA

Buy six or more and save 25%

From a bottle of Baron Augustin Bordeaux for 5.75 to a La Vieille Rose for 7.50, ASDA are currently offering a fantastic deal when you buy six bottles of wine from their extensive, affordable range - 25% off the total bill.

There are hundreds of bottles included in this incredible deal, so check out your nearest store or online for a browse of ASDA's finest in range while stocks last.

ASDA are currently offering a fantastic deal when you buy six bottles of wine from their extensive, affordable range - 25% off the total bill

Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Pralines Gift Box 24 Pieces 300g at Sainsbury's

9.50 - 5.00 when you sign up with a Nectar card

A perfect gift to share with or give to your loved ones, this classic 24-piece box contains delicious hazelnut covered in milk chocolate and hazelnut pieces, available for just 5.00 when you sign up free to a Nectar card with Sainsbury's.

FASHION

HURR rented outfits at John Lewis and Selfridges

30% deal site-wide for rentals over 50

Looking for a stylish, statement outfit for the annual Christmas party but don't want to break the bank - or planning on wearing it just once? Save your pound coins to buy more gifts for others and wow your colleagues, friends or family with a rented designer outfit instead.

Fashion rental platform HURR (with edits from retailers John Lewis and Selfridges) is running a 30% off deal site-wide for rentals over 50, starting for Black Friday and heading into the festive season.

The deal is running under the slogan 'Dont Buy It, Rent It' as a conscious shopping message, and offers an extensive range of designer gowns and outfits perfect for any occasion this festive season.

Choose from the likes of the stunning Jayde Mini Dress by Sau Lee - RRP 497 but available to rent from 75 - or the luxurious Bradshaw Sequin Midi Dress by Rixo, which retails at 385 but available to rent from 60.

All starting prices are based on renting a garment for a minimum of four days - the more days you should choose to rent, the bigger the price increase.

Fashion rental platform HURR (with edits from retailers John Lewis and Selfridges) is running a 30% off deal site-wide for rentals over 50

Monica Vinader jewellery range at John Lewis

Save 30% off full price until November 27

Monica Vinader uses recycled gold vermeil, sterling silver and sustainably sourced gemstones, diamonds and pearls.

The ideal gift for anyone who loves to accessorise, shop the range now for 30% off before the deal ends on November 27.

TECH

DYSON Airwrap Special Edition Multi-Styler & Dryer with Gift Case - Blue Blush at Currys

399.99 (Was 479.99)

Rarely discounted, customers at Currys can currently get a whopping 80 off the Special Edition Blue Blush DYSON Airwrap.

From the newly crowned kings of haircare, the DYSON Airwrap comes with to curl, wave, smooth and dry your way to luscious locks - the only limit is your imagination.

Rarely discounted, customers at Currys can currently get a whopping 80 off the Liited Edition Blue Blush DYSON Airwrap, now available to purchase for 399

HP OfficeJet Pro 8024e All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer with Fax & Instant Ink with HP+ at Currys

89.99 (was 189.99)

There is currently a huge 100 off the HP OfficeJet Pro 8024e All-in-One Wireless Inkjet Printer with Fax & Instant Ink with HP+, perfect for anyone whose printing needs have become a priority this festive season.

Plus, with each purchase, HP includes 9 months of HP Instant Ink, so you can keep feeling the savings benefits well into the New Year.

REEBOK GT40 S Treadmill at House of Fraser

399.99 or 299.99 with Frasers Plus (Reduced from 999.99)

Shape up for the New Year with this fantastic offer from House of Fraser on a Reebok treadmill, reduced by 600 - or 700 when you sign up to Frasers Plus.

Ideal for all levels of fitness and ability, the GT40s helps reach your goals with tailored home cardio workouts, and with features including: ONE Series Cushioning, 5" LCD Display, 2 HP Motor, 16 KPH Max. Speed, 12 Power Incline Levels, 36 Pre-Set Workouts + Bodyfat Test and 3 User-Defined & 4 Manual Programs

Available to purchase online via Specialist Delivery only.

Shape up for the New Year with this fantastic offer from House of Fraser on a Reebok treadmill, reduced by 600 - or 700 when you sign up to Frasers Plus

HOME & LEISURE

Denby dinnerware at John Lewis

Save 40% on selected dinnerware until November 30

Crafting ceramics for over 200 years, each piece of Denby stoneware and porcelain goes through over 20 pairs of hands. Made in England, sustainable collections which work for both everyday dining and special occasions.

Shop now before November 30th to secure a beautifully crafted dinnerware set or individual pieces for yourself or loved ones this festive season.

Yankee Candle Christmas Gift Set at Boots

27 (Was 60)

Christmas is the time of year to make your home into a warm and welcoming oasis of calm and cosiness, so indulge in The Yankee Candle Christmas Gift Set this season.

This collection includes: two Original Medium Jar Candles in the scents Christmas Cookie and Red Apple Wreath and six Original Scented Votive Candles in the scents Shimmering Christmas Tree, Sparkling Winterberry, Holiday Cheer, Magical Bright Lights, Christmas Eve and Cinnamon Stick.

Christmas is the time of year to make your home into a warm and welcoming oasis of calm and cosiness, so indulge in The Yankee Candle Christmas Gift Set this season for 27

Five Pack Classic George Orwell Collection at TK Maxx

16.99 (RRP 34.99)

This five-pack George Orwell Collection by Arcturus Books contains classic novels by the world-renowned author, such as: 1984, Animal Farm, Down and Out in Paris and London, Homage to Catalonia and The Road to Wigan Pier.

This five-pack George Orwell Collection by Arcturus Books contains classic novels by the world-renowned author, such as 1984 and Animal Farm

Simply Tech Multicoloured Rotating Disco Ball Wireless Speaker at TK Maxx

12.99

This fabulous combination of light and sound in a disco ball is available online and at selected TK Maxx stores.

The Simply Tech Multicoloured Rotating Disco Ball Wireless Speaker has multiple light effects, and includes a speaker, charger and remote control.

The 12 Simply Tech Multicoloured Rotating Disco Ball Wireless Speaker has multiple light effects, and includes a speaker, charger and remote control

Cole & Mason White Self Watering Herb Keeper Triple at TK Maxx

24.99 (RRP 40.00)

This self watering Herb Keeper by Cole & Mason is perfect for those who enjoy growing herbs such as rosemary and chives at home, but don't have much time to keep track on routinely watering them.

Available online or at selected TK Maxx stores, this product contains self watering technology that is guaranteed to keeps herbs fresher for longer - with no need to repot!

This self watering Herb Keeper by Cole & Mason is perfect for those who enjoy growing herbs at home, but don't have much time to keep track on routinely watering them

TOYS

Barbie products at John Lewis

Save up to 50% until November 28

John Lewis are offering a up to a whopping 50% off on their range of Barbie items until November 28, including products such as: the Barbie Scooter & Puppy set, Chelsea Travel Doll, Dream Camper, Barbie duvet cover set and Fashionistas Ultimate Closet.

Percy Pig Suitcase Gift at M&S

28 (Originally 40)

M&S' playful Percy Pig suitcase is crammed with yummy treats and baking goods, perfect for creative youngsters - or the young at heart.

Inside, the lucky recipient will find a selection of our beloved Percy Pig sweets, chocolates and biscuits, including: a Percy Pig Blondie Baking Jar, Percy Pig Sweets, Giant Percy Pig Chocolate Coin, Percy Pig Phizzy Pig Tail Sweets, Percy Pig Jam Sandwich Cream Biscuits, Percy Pig Chocolate Pennies, 2 x Percy Pig Spatulas and a Percy Pig Suitcase.

M&S' playful Percy Pig suitcase is crammed with yummy treats and baking goods, perfect for creative youngsters - or the young at heart

PlayStation 5 Console at Smyths

379.99 (Reduced from 479.99)

For gaming fanatics, Smyth's are offering an incredible offer, part of their Black Friday deals, of a PlayStation 5 Console - reduced by 100 to 379.99.

Experience lightening-fast load times and deeper immersion with haptic feedback, adaptive triggers, 3D audio and a new generation of PlayStation games.

For gaming fanatics, Smyth's are offering an incredible offer, part of their Black Friday deals, of a PlayStation 5 Console - reduced by 100 to 379.99

Mega Barbie Dream Camper Adventure Building Playset at Smyths

19.99 (Reduced from 36.99)

With Barbie-mania still in full swing following the successful release of Greta Gerwig's movie in July, young fans can let their imaginations take the lead when they build the Dream Camper Adventure.

The buildable Barbie camper van includes a rooftop bed and TV, plus back and side doors that open for easy access to a detailed interior featuring a full kitchen.

This Mega Bloks set comes with everything fans need to build this Barbie caravan, including: four buildable Barbie micro-dolls, 1 pet puppy, a lounge area, pool and detachable slide, couch, firepit, and more - perfect for imagining holidays!

Young Barbie fans can let their imaginations take the lead when they build the Dream Camper Adventure, worth 19.99 at Smyths

Play-Doh Zoom Zoom Vacuum and Cleanup with 5 Colours at The Entertainer

10.00 (Was 24.00) - Santa's Savers range

As part of the Santa's Savers range at The Entertainer, young ones will love rolling their Play-Doh vacuum along the table and watching Zoom Zoom the vacuum collect bits of compound inside the empty can to use again.

The Play-Doh Cleanup set includes: a Zoom Zoom vacuum toy, sprinkle maker, brush tool, dustpan, sponge mould, paper towel roller, spray bottle tool, 1 empty can and 5 cans of modelling compound.

As part of the Santa's Savers range at The Entertainer, young ones will love rolling their Play-Doh vacuum along the table and watching Zoom Zoom the vacuum collect bits of compound

Monopoly Travel World Tour Board Game at The Entertainer

8.99 (Was 29.99)

The Monopoly Travel World Tour board game is a twist on classic Monopoly gameplay that has players discovering and visiting exciting travel destinations, and even contains destination cards with travel goals and fun facts about each location.

This bargain offer provided by The Entertainer includes: a dry-erase gameboard, 4 x tokens with self-inking stamps, 22 x destination cards, 10 x chance cards, 10 x travel journal cards, 2 x dice, cardboard money and game guide.

The Monopoly Travel World Tour board game is a twist on classic Monopoly gameplay, reduced to just 8.99 at The Entertainer

LEGO Disney 'Up' House at John Lewis

37.49 (Was 50)

For little ones - or grown ups - who are both Lego and Disney fans, this house-building set from the animated movie 'Up' is a perfect a gift this festive season.

Reduced by just under 13, this LEGO Disney 'Up' set contains 598 pieces to build the magical balloon-powered levitating house from the film and includes Carl Fredricksen and Russell - plus (most importantly) Dug - mini figures.

For little ones - or grown ups - who are both Lego and Disney fans, this house-building set from the animated movie 'Up' is a perfect a gift this festive season
A Brazilian woman  who developed a large facial tumor at just a few weeks old has revealed why she finally decided to remove the tumor.

Luciana Dorini, a 44-year-old from Mangueirinha, Brazil, was just a baby when a spot appeared in her right cheek.

However at eight months, she was diagnosed with with infantile hemangioma - a benign growth of blood vessels that can become tangled together. It then progressed into arteriovenous malformation (AVM).

Throughout her life, Luciana has refused to allow the tumor to bring her down and has even previously said that she developed 'higher self-esteem than anyone else in the world' because of it.

Luciana Dorini is a 44-year-old woman from Mangueirinha, Brazil who developed a large facial tumor at just a few weeks old and has now had surgery to remove it (shown before surgery)

She was just a baby when a spot appeared in her right cheek. However at eight months, she was diagnosed with with infantile hemangioma - a benign growth of blood vessels (shown after having it removed)

Throughout her life, Luciana has refused to allow the tumor to bring her down and has even previously said that she developed ' higher self-esteem than anyone else in the world' (shown before surgery)

And while she once had no interest in removing it, she has now shared why she had finally decided to get rid of the tumor, it was for health reasons only.

The large growth on the right hand side of her face is caused by an abnormal tangle of blood vessels connecting arteries and veins, which disrupts normal blood flow and oxygen circulation.

Because of heavy blood flow from the artery, the vein becomes engorged from too much blood causing a growth.

As a result, Luciana  who works as a public accountant, professor, speaker, and writer  has undergone 19 surgeries just to stay alive due to countless hemorrhages in her gum and skin.

The brave woman has also nearly lost her life a number of times due to the AVM.

She explained: 'I was determined not to let AVM define me. Hiding or victimizing myself was never an option. I've always been determined to live life to the fullest.

'When you truly love yourself, you don't feel the need to compare yourself to anyone else, and when you stop making comparisons, you shatter those unrealistic beauty standards society puts on us.

'I learned to love myself through the guidance of my amazing mum, a wonderful woman who showed me, with love and care, that I was beautiful just the way I was.'

And while she once had no interest in removing it, she has now shared the reason behind removing the tumor was for health reasons only (shown as a child)

Because of heavy blood flow from the artery, the vein becomes engorged from too much blood causing a growth (shown after surgery)

Luciana  who works as a public accountant, professor, speaker, and writer  has undergone 19 surgeries just to stay alive due to countless hemorrhages (shown before surgery)

As Luciana's condition became more prominent, even the tiniest bump could cause a life-threatening hemorrhage.

WHAT ARE ARTERIOVENOUS MALFORMATIONS? An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a specific term used to describe a tangle of blood vessels with abnormal connections between arteries and veins. High pressure arteries containing fast flowing blood are directly connected to low pressure veins, which normally only contain slow flowing blood. This means that blood from the arteries drains directly into the veins - without stopping to supply the normal tissues in that part of the body with essential substances like oxygen and nutrition. Over time this can lead to the normal tissues becoming painful or fragile. It also means that the AVM gets progressively larger over time as the amount of blood flowing through it increases, and it can cause problems due to its size. Finally, it may also mean that the heart has to work harder to keep up with the extra blood flow. Some doctors describe an AVM as 'a ring road that bypasses the high street of a town'. Traffic (or blood) will use the bypass rather than the high street which suffers as a result. AVMs are thought to affect approximately 1.4 in every 100,000 people. Source: Great Ormond Street Hospital Advertisement

However, she didn't want to remove it. She added: 'I refused to undergo surgery for cosmetic reasons alone, grounded in my belief that true beauty emanates from within.

'I decided to only have operations to control the bleeding.'

However, Luciana has now had the tumor removed due to how difficult it was to stop the bleeding with surgery alone.

She explained: 'The relentless bleeding from the tumor and constant fear of rupture left me with no alternative.

'It was a complicated operation but successful, thanks to Dr. Dov Goldenberg of Sao Paulo.

'Over the last few weeks, I've undergone additional surgeries to repair my skin and address other AVM-related issues, but I must say my recovery has been remarkable, allowing me to return to work and regain my independence without fear of bleeding episodes.'

Luciana wanted to make it clear her decision was not due to any beauty standards - especially because she has become a viral sensation for showing others how to be comfortable in their skin.

Recognizing the transformative potential of her journey, Luciana embarked on a path of sharing her story through Instagram, amassing a devoted following of more than 101,000.

Her daily reflections touch upon various aspects of life, focusing on her specialization in positive psychology.

She explained: 'My message around the importance of self-love has been received by many and is helping improve so many lives, including a 16-year-old teenager from Rio de Janeiro.

'She had a large hemangioma covering her entire leg. She had never been to the beach because she felt embarrassed and always wore pants to hide the birthmark.

'However, her life took a turn when she discovered my blog and my story. She sent me an email saying, "Today, I went to the beach. I put on a bikini and went because after getting to know you, my legs feel free."

'Along with the message, she sent me a picture of her legs, finally uncovered in shorts. Every time I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes.'

Luciana pictured as a teenager (left) and as an adult (right). She has worked on practicing self-love to ensure that she gets the love and acceptance she deserves

However, Luciana has now had the tumor removed due to how difficult it was to stop the bleeding with surgery alone

Luciana wanted to make it clear her decision was not due to any beauty standards - especially because she has become a viral sensation for showing others how to be comfortable in their skin (pictured after surgery)

The outpouring messages of support and positive stories are why Luciana has chosen to speak out and share why she chose to remove the tumor, so that everyone knows she loved the way she looked but wanted to live a healthy life.

Luciana has even used her experiences to pen her autobiographical book, titled Between Waves Of Emotion.

The book serves as a guide, demonstrating that one can find happiness despite aesthetic differences or serious health challenges.

And while the majority of the messages she has received have been positive, she has been sent many negative messages as well.

'I've endured my fair share of hurt from unkindness, but I'm past that now. Those comments don't dent my happiness. If anything, my self-esteem is on cloud nine; I might just have the most robust self-esteem in the world,' she said.

'I only engage with those who appreciate my beauty. If you don't find me beautiful, that's your concern, not mine. I will continue to believe in my own stunning beauty.'

Despite her health struggles, Luciana has thrived academically, excelling as the top student in her class.

She earned a degree in accounting sciences, a postgraduate degree in accounting and financial management, and even specialized in positive psychology and wellbeing health at PUCRS.

The outpouring messages of support and positive stories are why Luciana has chosen to speak out and share why she chose to remove the tumor (shown after surgery)

The Brazilian native regularly shares videos with her Instagram followers (shown left before surgery and right after)

In 2011, a vascular surgeon offered Luciana the possibility of liquid embolization, a procedure aimed at blocking the blood flow to the tumor and thereby preventing further hemorrhaging.

Although Luciana had nearly given up on treating her AVM at that point, she agreed to explore this potential solution, knowing that it might not offer a permanent remedy.

While these growths usually go away on their own or with treatment, her condition progressed into an AVM. The once tiny spot grew so large it completely swamped Luciana's lower facial features, affecting her cheek, mouth, and chin.

The Brazilian native regularly shares videos with her Instagram followers, providing them with daily reflections, about life in general, physiology questions, and focusing on positive psychology, which is her specialization.

'My videos focus on themes like self-esteem, self-knowledge, character strengths, emotions, and matters of the mind and heart,' Luciana said.

'I do all of this for one purpose; to fulfill my mission in the world of sharing my story, and making people smile because I believe that it is possible to change the world if each of us does our part.'
It may be 63km from the coast but a new 'Bondi-style beach' is opening in the heart of Sydney's western suburbs this summer.

Penrith Beach, an expanse of sand along the western Sydney lakes system, will open seven days a week from late December through to March 2024.

The beach will be open from 7am to 7pm each day except for Christmas Day and New Year's Day and visitors will be able to drive there, if they register in advance.

An artist's impression of the new Penrith beach on the western Sydney lakes. A lifeguard is seen on right

A family enjoy a sneak preview of the new swimming hole at the weekend

Otherwise, a shuttle service will be available from Penrith train station. The beach is free.

It will be patrolled by lifeguards, has first aid services and will have disabled access - and has very few waves.

The beach is located in the area of Castlereagh on the western Sydney lakes system and is the result of a $1.7million NSW government investment.

READ MORE: The Australian island that's just like Hawaii

The new swimming spot will come as a relief for residents in the city's west given Penrith was designated the hottest place on Earth in 2020.

Penrith regularly cops temperatures 10 degrees hotter than the city's eastern suburbs.

The Penrith beach site, above. It is located in Castlereagh. Parking (above) will require registration in advance

Education Minister Prue Car told parents: 'Once school finishes for Term Four, bring the kids down in the school holidays.'

Kids testing the beach during a sneak preview at the weekend gave it rave reviews. 'We love there's not huge waves actually,' said local Katrina Patridge.

But not every local said they were keen to go for a swim there, given the extraordinary temperatures the area suffers at the height of summer.

'Last place I'd want to go on a 40 degree day (would be) Penrith beach, and I live out west,' one cynic said.

READ MORE: The 'secret' waterfall in Sydney that makes you feel like you're in Bali
Tom Parker Bowles has blasted 'boring' turkey dinners and 'horrible' Christmas puddings - as it's been reported that he will spend his first festive season at Sandringham.

Queen Camilla's son, 48, who lives in West London, revealed that he favours a roast beef over a traditional Christmas dinner.

Speaking to Australian publication 9Kitchen, the food writer joked that his favourite Christmas memory was when his family started breaking away from the norm with their menu.

When asked about his Christmas highlights, Tom quipped: 'Not having to eat b****y boring turkey, and horrible Christmas pudding!'

'We now have rib of beef and ice cream. I'd much rather have a roast with beef, and that's just as traditional as having a turkey.'

Tom Parker Bowles said he prefers a roast beef to a traditional Christmas turkey dinner - as it's reported he will be joining Queen Camilla at Sandringham for the festive season

However, the food writer - who is Camilla's son from her first marriage to Captain Andrew Parker Bowles - said there are a couple aspects of the traditional Christmas dinner that he enjoys.

The father-of-two said he 'always' has pigs in blankets on Christmas Day along with roast potatoes.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Queen Camilla's two children and grandchildren have been invited to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham - where lunch is a turkey served with all the traditional side dishes.

It's thought to be the first time that Tom Parker Bowles, 48, and his younger sister Laura Lopes, 45, have been invited to spend Christmas at Sandringham House.

According to ITV Royal Editor Chris Ship, this year's guest list has been 'radically altered' for the first time since Queen Elizabeth's death in 2022 to accommodate Queen Camilla's side of the family.

It's likely the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children will join the King and Queen on the Norfolk estate for the festive period, along with other senior royals.

Food critic and MasterChef star Tom Parker Bowles has two children, Lola, 16, and Freddy, 13 with his ex wife Sara Buys.

According to the Queen's former personal chef Darren McGrady, Christmas Day at Sandringham begins at 8:30 am - when the men come downstairs for a fry-up of eggs, bacon, kippers and grilled kidneys.

Earlier this month, it was reported that Queen Camilla's two children and grandchildren have been invited to celebrate Christmas at Sandringham

Sandringham House, which was built in the 19th Century, in Norfolk is where the Royal Family spend the festive season every year

Following the church service at St Mary Magdalene, the family return to the house for pre-lunch drinks.

The late Queen is said to have had a gin and Dubonnet while Prince Philip preferred a beer. Everyone else will sip a glass of Veuve Clicquot and nibble on nuts.

The former chef wrote in 2017: 'There is no starter today and the roast turkey, traditionally from local butcher Scoles in Dersingham, takes centre stage.

'Its the one day of the year that the head chef is permitted to enter the dining room, to carve the bird at the table.

'Once hes finished, the Queen will offer him a tot of whisky and wish him a happy Christmas.

'The turkey is served with mashed and roast potatoes, chestnut or sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce. Vegetables include brussels sprouts, carrots and roast parsnips.'
A British mother has revealed how her life has changed (and stayed the same) since she converted to Islam five years ago.

Katie, who lives in London, made a video on TikTok explaining how she became a Muslim and addressing some questions people have - including why she doesn't wear a hijab.

In a video captioned 'My story into Islam' she explained to her 73,000 followers that she 'reverted' to the religion and is often asked questions about what it entails.

In the Islamic faith, some people use the word 'revert' rather than 'convert' because of the belief that all people are born with a natural faith in God, but may abandon this faith in life and then return to it.

Many of the 400,000 people who viewed mother-of-one Katie's video thanked her for her insight into her life as a Muslim.

In the clip, Katie explained to her 73,000 followers: 'Five years ago, I reverted to Islam and I wanna share a little bit about my story because I've never spoken about it on my page and I always get asked questions about it.

Katie revealed that she met her husband eight years ago, who is Lebanese and follows Islam, adding that there was 'never any pressure on me to revert' and she 'spent a couple of years doing a bit of research,' before making her decision.

She said: 'I'm just gonna be honest with you, I grew up in a family of alcohol abuse and as I got older, I understood that those things are just pure evil.

'Islam helped me find peace with those things and helped me stay on a good path. especially now since having my family, it's so much more important to me.

'When I was doing my research there was so much that aligned with me and my morals and I just knew that this was the start of my journey.

'Then fast forward, I reverted, me and my husband got Islamically married and a couple of years later after that, we started our own family.'

Katie's daughter Aria is now a year old and regularly features on her family-oriented TikTok videos.

She added that there is one thing she wants to address: 'I always get asked by people, is how can you be a Muslim if you don't wear the hijab?

'There's things that are compulsory in the religion, but those things are between me and God and that is what I love about the religion - because I have been in Islam for the past five years but I'm learning every day and I'm still on my own journey.

A British mother has taken to TikTok to share her journey after she reverted to Islam five years ago

'People have this perception that Islam controls us as women, when actually it puts women above all.'

She explained: 'Not that we or I can pick or choose, it's more that it's within my own time. I'm not perfect, nobody in our religion claims to be perfect.

'If I'm honest with you, I would rather be realistic and real, rather than set expectations of myself that I might not stick to all the time.

'I'd rather not okay one day I'm gonna wear hijab, the next day I'm not going to wear a hijab.'

Katie concluded: 'I just wanted to let everybody know that because I am on a constant journey, I'm learning every day more and more about the religion and my husband doesn't set those expectations on me.

'He doesn't demand me to do certain things, he doesn't demand me to wear a hijab, everything is my choice. If you have any questions on my journey, please let me know because I'm so happy to share things.'

Commenters were quick to praise her honesty and ask questions about her life.

One viewer wrote: 'Ive been thinking a lot about converting to Islam, thank you for sharing your story. Ive always felt dragged to Islam and it feels right for me,' to which Katie replied: 'Let me know if you ever need any support with anything'.

Katie continued to answer people's burning questions in another TikTok, where she explained that the reason she hasn't previously shared her religion story on the app is because 'being on a platform like this, you're already under a lot of scrutiny'

Another user added: 'Yes everyone is on their own journey!! Took me 4 years to put on hijab. I did it when I was ready and not for people! Inshallah one day you will'.

Someone else queried: 'What did your family and friends thing of you reverting?'

The mother-of-one responded: 'They accepted it but I dont really speak about it much with them'.

Others praised Katie, with one user chiming in with: 'Thank you for sharing this. There are so many ways to practice religion & the stigma around it really stops people from being open minded & exploring'.

Another penned: 'Amazing news! Ive been following you since I gave birth 6 months ago and love your daily vlogs because youre so relatable & now even more so'.

Katie continued to answer people's burning questions in another TikTok, where she explained that the reason she hasn't previously shared her religion story on the app is because 'being on a platform like this, you're already under a lot of scrutiny'.

She added: 'there are so many misconceptions about the religion that I just knew as soon as I opened up about it, everything I did or said would be judged'.

Despite her concerns, she continued to be inundated with praise, with one user writing: 'You are absolutely amazing! Think its incredible your doing such informative videos about the topic!'

Another agreed: 'So so true once you say you are a revert you have a lot more pressure'.
Kevin McCloud revealed a husband who appears in upcoming series of Grand Designs sadly died during the project.

Speaking to New Zealand publication Stuff, the Grand Designs star, 64, admitted: 'We are doing a very difficult project right now.

'We had no idea and neither did our contributors, but the husband fell gravely ill and has passed away during the filming process, and it makes the narrative very hard to graft. Because you think where do we go [from here]?'

The episode has yet to air and Kevin didn't share any further details about the family.

However, it has brough back heart-wrenching memories of another death that happened during filming.

Kevin McCloud revealed a show contestant has died during the filming of a 'very difficult project'

He spoke about Nat McBride, who sadly died during the making of an episode from stomach cancer.

Nat and his partner Lucie Fairweather bought Hoo House in Woodbridge in 2006, and were granted planning permission in 2007 to build their dream family home.

However the story came to a devastating end when Mr McBride was diagnosed with cancer and passed away a year later.

Lucy didn't give up on their shared vision of building a environmentally sustainable house and continued the project with the help of architect Gerry Tate who announced during filming that he had stomach cancer.

He dies six months later, with only one day's filming underway.

Lucie and Gerry went on to win an award for their impressive build in the wake of the tragedy.

Speaking to East Anglian Times the host said: 'Lucie's was just fantastic. It was a wonderful story about redemption, and about her taking her late husband's vision and building a house for her small children.

'It was tinged with tragedy and sadness, but also with the tremendous friendship of Gerry Tate, a great friend of her and her husband. He not only designed the home for her, but held her hand through the whole process .'

He spoke about Nat McBride, (pictured) who sadly died during the making of an episode from stomach cancer

Nat and his partner Lucie Fairweather (right) bought Hoo House in Woodbridge in 2006, and were granted planning permission in 2007 to build their dream family home

The Grand Designs star, 64, admitted he is currently in the middle of filming a brand new episode of the Channel 4 show, which is yet to be aired, however a participant had sadly passed away

Lucy's home is not the only home on Kevin's list of favourites which featured on the popular television show.

Having hosted the show since 1999, Kevin has a wealth of experience in witnessing property building, restoration and redevelopment over the past 25 years.

When choosing his 'favourite ever' house McCloud previously gave an interesting response to viewers.

Professional architect Patrick Bradley divided opinion when he announced plans to build on a plot of land on his parents' farm in Slaughtnell, County Derry.

'They all agreed I could build on a picturesque area with a stream bubbling through it,' Mr Bradley told Grand Designs.

'But my idea was for a bold contemporary home made of boxes balanced on top of each other. They thought it was a bit wild, and my mother was worried that I was going to ruin her favourite view forever,' he added.

Strapped for cash when it came to building materials, Mr Bradley came up with an ingenious solution to save money, by choosing to he upcycle four shipping containers to create the new home's frame.

Although containers are extremely strong when stacked on top of one another, Patrick's plan to stack them in a cruciform arrangement across the weakest point was a cause for concern.

Building the property in such a way required a new steel skeleton - which had to be by steelworkers elsewhere - so that the weight of the containers could be supported centrally.

Patrick said that he was extremely nervous when the containers were arranged into their final layout, which was a boom-or-bust moment for a project that took nine months to complete back in 2014.

'This was probably one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of any of the houses I've built,' he said.

Fortunately for Patrick, he said that they turned out to be 'as solid as a rock'.

Featuring three bedrooms and two bathrooms, with an area of 115 metres-squared, the property was built was just 130,000.

Even Patrick's family - who had their doubts at first - were wowed by the end result.
Prince William is the person who 'set the wheels in motion' to strip Prince Andrew of his royal duties because he thought his father and grandmother were being 'too soft', Omid Scobie has claimed.

The then-Duke of Cambridge is alleged to have been the driving force behind Andrew's banishment from public life, even going so far as to speak directly with the Queen about the best course of action, Scobie writes in his new book Endgame.

It was a move that eventually saw Andrew stripped of his military affiliations and patronages in January 2022 after his association with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein and accusations of sexual assault against him came to the public eye.

The author, who is known for his close association with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, writes that the disgraced royal's sex assault case still casts a shadow over the institution and 'can still inflict considerable damage to the monarchy'.

Scobie even quotes one anonymous source who is close to the Royal Family as saying it would be 'foolish to assume that Andrew won't bring further shame... it's his specialty'.

Before Prince Andrew was asked to step down from royal duties, the author says King Charles and Prince William (pictured in September 2022) grappled with the best course of action

A source close to King Charles told Omid Scobie: 'You'd find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about Andrew'

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be 'soft' on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her

However, he adds that while Charles continues to support his brother by funding his private security detail, William is not likely to be so charitable when he becomes King.

He writes: 'While King Charles has, so far, shown no inclination of conclusively stopping his support for his wayward brother, Andrew would be foolish to think that William will unquestionably support his uncle in the same way.

'It's fair to say, the next King is the one in the family who inherited Prince Philip's assertiveness when it comes to protecting the Crown. Until then, though, Andrew remains a wild card and one that can still inflict considerable damage to the monarchy'.

Scobie opines that Andrew's close association with Charles may 'end up coming back to bite the King and the monarchy' if more stories from the past continue to 'trickle out'.

In the book, which hits the shelves in the UK on Tuesday, Scobie reveals how Prince William and King Charles grappled over the best course of action to deal with Andrew.

In the book a source close to King Charles is quoted as saying: 'You'd find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about [Andrew].'

According to the author, Prince William was 'baffled' by why his father was agonising over the decision - and wanted him to take decisive action.

A source said: 'William [doesn't'] think his father is competent enough, quite frankly.

'Though they share similar passions and interests, their style of leadership is completely different'.

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be 'soft' on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her.

The author says a family friend told him that Andrew was the 'one who would make [the Queen] laugh, keep her company, and because he was always a little bit lost, she coddled him'.

The author claims that Prince William put the plan to oust Prince Andrew into action with his private secretary as the late Queen and the then Prince Charles were 'not ready' to start the process themselves.

As Prince Philip was no longer there to 'take charge', Prince William consulted his team about 'the Andrew problem' and then set up a meeting with his grandmother and her private secretary in her residential quarters at Windsor.

After allegedly speaking with Prince William for over an hour, the Queen then phoned Charles in Scotland to tell him that they needed to strip Andrew of his titles and duties.

The author claims it was a' genuinely sad' moment for the Queen and a 'gut punch' for the family following Prince Philip's death.

Prince Andrew resigned from public duties in May 2020 before he was then stripped of his military titles and patronages by the Queen in 2022.

Elsewhere in the book, Scobie claims William admired the Queen's political neutrality and wants to mirror her reign more than Charles'.

What's more, a source close to the Prince of Wales claims he sees Charles as a 'transitional' King - who will 'pave the way' for his reign.

In a scathing chapter dedicated to the future Queen, he branded Kate the monarchy's 'last shiny thing for many years to come' and claims her workload is lower than other senior members of the Firm, and saying that she's 'technically a part time working royal'.

Known for his sympathetic coverage of Harry and Meghan, Scobie added that Kate isn't known for 'leadership and outgoing nature' like 'Meghan', who was 'another shimmering ornament in the royal family tree' before she stepped down.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Harry and Meghan's 'cheerleader-in-chief' Omid Scobie took aim at The Princess of Wales in his new book Endgame, which has been published in Australia. Kate is pictured at a recent event

This, according to Scobie's recollection, meant coverage of Meghan's engagements during her short time as a working royal, were 'far less about fashion choices and more about her work or her role in the Firm'.

Scobie also claims that Kate 'does not plan to increase her workload for 10-15 years', or until her children reach adulthood, and added that she earned the nickname 'Katie Keen', because palace press release mitigate her doing less by saying she is 'keen to learn'.

In a clear swipe, Scobie writes Kate's lifestyle is something most parents could 'only dream of' and that Palace aides were afraid to push her do to anything that 'makes her uncomfortable' before the Queen died.

He adds that the future queen has been through five different private secretaries in six years, because they all found the role 'uninspiring and frustrating'.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

These include that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother' and that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the other claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.

Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.
The late Queen had a 'slight lack of faith' in her son Charles to take over The Firm and hired someone to act as 'eyes and ears' in the final months of her life, sources have claimed.

A passage in Endgame, by royal biographer Omid Scobie, claims Her late Majesty Queen Elizabeth, who passed away at the age of 96 in September 2022, began to accept her health was declining towards the end of the Covid pandemic.

It details how she hired Andrew Parker, Baron Parker of Minsmere as the new Lord Chamberlain (the post for the senior officer of the Royal Household) in the Spring of 2021; as the 'slow transition' to King Charles's rule was underway.

Mr Scobie quotes royal sources who claimed that the decision to hire Baron Parker; the former head of MI5, whom she reportedly referred to as 'my new CEO' of The Firm during a conversation with a senior member of the royal family, pointed to the Queen's 'slight lack of faith' in her son.

The claims come in the passage of the royal book which is published at midnight in the UK; and which also contains details inside the late monarch's final days at Balmoral before she died on September 8.

Sources have told Omid Scobie in his new royal book Endgame that the late Queen had a 'slight lack of faith' in King Charles and hired a new Lord Chamberlain in 2021

Such details include that members of the royal family were each allowed a private moment alone with Queen Elizabeth following her death in September 2022.

In Scobie's description of September 8 when the Queen passed away, her two eldest children, Charles and Anne, had been by her side overnight; while Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Prince William made the journey to Scotland on the day; shortly before 4pm and were each allowed a private moment with her following her death.

Elsewhere in the book, the author details how the Queen's last summer at Balmoral was largely peaceful; but despite ailing health she remained committed to her duty - particularly when it came to overseeing a change of UK prime minister two days before she died.

Scobie writes that, despite several palace aides encouraging the monarch to allow Prince Charles (who was staying less than 10 miles away) to accept Boris Johnson's official resignation and perform 'the kissing of hands' with incoming prime minister Liz Truss, the Queen insisted she carry out this important duty, telling aides: 'It's my job.'

Scobie reports that, when introducing former MI5 boss Andrew Parker to another senior royal, she called him 'my new CEO'

The late Queen insisted 'it's my job' as she saw out prime minister Boris Johnson and saw in Liz Truss at Balmoral two days before she died, a new book claims

Scobie writes that, in private, the late monarch was in 'crippling pain', but insisted in public that she must carry out her royal duty.

He quoted people close to the palace who said the late Queen's final summer at Balmoral was filled with 'walks, picnics and barbecues', and the monarch enjoyed sitting in the sunshine much of the time.

However despite a much slower pace of life due to her declining health, the monarch ensured her red box full of government papers was up to date every day, and carried out her duty to the best of her ability.

The description delving inside the royal family are some of many explosive claims made in Scobie's book, which is published at midnight in the UK.

Elsewhere, the royal author, who has worked for ABC, Harpers Bazaar and Yahoo, claimed there were two members of the royal family who made comments about Prince Archie's skin colour when Meghan was still pregnant with her son.

He claimed letters exchanged between King Charles III and the Duchess of Sussex reveal the names of the two people who allegedly made the comments.

The royal author, whose new book Endgame comes out at midnight tonight, said he could not reveal the identities of the two people for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.

But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegation in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame about the Royal Family is set to be released tomorrow

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

And Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.

Mr Scobie said: 'There is a steady open line of communication between the two, where they are able to talk with each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father probably isn't the most emotional or open person'.

The report on ABC said its interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was caught up in a family drama - and that Meghan contacted him to check he was OK.

ABC claimed Mr Scobie also says that he is not that close with Harry and Meghan and he 'never chose Team Sussex'.

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow night on Nightline.

Mr Scobie tweeted a link to the interview on X today, adding: 'More of this @GMA interview will be aired Tuesday on @ABC @Nightline and I'll be live in the studios for @ABCGMA3 and @ABCNewsLive tomorrow, the global release day of #ENDGAME.'

Mr Scobie's book is said to make a series of claims involving the Sussexes - including that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother', that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.
A new national study on the mortality risk among homeless people found that a 40-year-old person experiencing homelessness has a similar risk of death as a 60-year-old person with housing. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

Its long been known that homeless people are in danger of dying unnecessarily early, but now we have strong data on the increased risk. According to a groundbreaking new study, non-elderly homeless people are about 3.5 times more likely to die in any given year as people with housing. The researchers found that those living in California are no exception, though unhoused people in New York were slightly better off.

The study, which was recently published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, also showed a 40-year-old person experiencing homelessness has a similar risk of death as a 60-year-old person with housing. The research has not yet been peer-reviewed.

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Previous studies have shown that people experiencing homelessness tend to have early deaths. But the authors of this report, who are researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Oxford, said its the first detailed and accurate picture of mortality among homeless people across the United States.

The researchers analyzed data on 140,000 homeless people gathered through the 2010 Census, and used Social Security Administration records to track their incomes, disability statuses and other details through 2022. The study focuses on homeless people who were between the ages of 18 and 54 in 2010 because homelessness was rare among the elderly population at that time, the authors said, though other research has shown thats changed.

The study measured death risk by tracking the percentage of homeless people who lived to the end of a six-month period, compared to the share of housed people who lived to the end of that same period. The chart below shows how the share of homeless people alive during the 2010 Census declined over time, with smaller changes seen in the same percentage among housed people both above and below the poverty line.

Drug overdoses and injuries, such as those from traffic accidents and homicides, are leading causes of death for homeless people younger than 45, according to the study. Other research has shown heart disease and cancer are the leading causes of death for older homeless people. Factors like having a disability, being unemployed and not having a support network are also associated with earlier deaths among homeless people, according to Bruce Meyer, senior researcher for the paper and a professor at the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy.

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If you're in worse physical condition (or) you're disabled, that's going to mean that you're probably more susceptible to the things that could kill you, Meyer added.

Meyer emphasized that its unclear from the research whether health issues and lower income cause homelessness, or if people develop health issues and lose their jobs after becoming homeless.

Its probably both, said Dr. Margot Kushel, a UCSF professor who studies the impacts of homelessness on health. People who become homeless tend to have more health issues than the general population, she explained, but homelessness also exposes people to violence and sickness. It also makes it harder to collect and hold on to medication for a chronic condition.

The reason I started studying homelessness is (because) I realized all the tools in our toolbox to keep people healthy kind of fall apart when people are experiencing homelessness, Kushel said.

Kushel, who was not involved in the research, said shes not surprised the study showed non-elderly homeless people have a mortality risk more than three times higher than the housed population. A previous study she led following older homeless people in Oakland found a similar risk.

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The study specifically analyzed death rates among Californias homeless population  the state had the highest homelessness rate of any state in 2022. The researchers found that homeless people living in California had a similarly high risk of dying early as most other states in the country.

People always want to think that their situation is unique and different, Meyer said. But on average, that's not true.

New York, however, had a mortality risk about 13% lower than other states. The authors theorized this might be because the states right-to-shelter policy leads to more and higher-quality shelter beds available there. They also think its possible that the lower mortality rate is a result of homeless people in New York shelters having more money and resources than people in other states.

One of the studys more surprising findings, Meyer added, was that homeless people who were sheltered in 2010 didnt have a different mortality risk than their peers who were unsheltered. This, he added, suggests that while shelter is important, it doesnt address all the challenges homeless people face.

The study does caution that people can go in and out of shelters over time. And Kushel was skeptical of the finding, pointing out prior research indicates people who dont have shelter are much more likely to die early than those who do.

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The chances of death for a person experiencing homelessness can also differ depending on their race. In the housed population, according to the study, a Black person has a 40% higher mortality risk than a white person. But within the homeless population, its the opposite  a Black person has a 27% lower mortality risk than a white person.

While Black people are more likely to become homeless than white people, the authors noted prior studies show homeless white people have higher rates of substance abuse and behavioral health conditions that could put them at higher risk of an early death.

The fact that homeless people are at such a risk of an early death, Meyer said, underscores the severity of their need. Federally funded food assistance and Medicaid, he added, dont seem to be enough.

Affordable housing, Kushel argued, is the main issue. Treatments like medication for substance abuse are important, she said, but theyre harder to provide when the patient is experiencing homelessness.

Were letting people die because were not fixing the underlying crisis, Kushel added.

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The Sussexes are still hurt over the row about Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet's titles, a royal book has claimed.

Omid Scobie's Endgame, which is published at midnight in the UK, claims Harry and Meghan are 'genuinely happy' in their new life in California, but that they are still scarred by the fact it took several months for their children's titles to be updated to 'prince' and 'princess'.

According to royal convention, Scobie says, the titles of the Sussexes' children should have been automatically updated when King Charles ascended the throne.

However, it was six months before Prince Archie, four, and Princess Lilibet, two, had their titles updated on the Buckingham Palace website.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are 'still hurt' by the delay in giving Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet their new titles after King Charles ascended the throne, Omid Scobie's book claims

Scobie claims that King Charles had 'initially avoided the subject' of the children's titles, but told Prince Harry that he would 'make it official' in early 2023. He reports that the subject was then 'casually mentioned' to Prince Harry by the King's press secretary the following month.

Eventually, the official changes were made on the Buckingham Palace website, but the delay in doing so reportedly led the Sussexes to compare themselves to the Prince and Princess of Wales and their children.

A friend of Harry and Meghan's told Scobie the couple 'see the way their children are treated differently' to Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis, which is 'hard to feel comfortable with'.

It comes amid several claims about the royal family in the transition from Queen Elizabeth's to King Charles's reign, including details said to represent the last days of the late monarch's life.

A passage in the book details Her late Majesty's final days at Balmoral after spending the summer in the Aberdeenshire residence as she did every year.

In Scobie's description of September 8, 2022, when the Queen passed away, her two eldest children, Charles and Anne, had been by her side overnight; while Prince Andrew, Prince Edward, Duchess Sophie and Prince William made the journey to Scotland on the day; shortly before 4pm and were each allowed a private moment with her following her death.

Elsewhere in the book, the author details how the Queen's last summer at Balmoral was largely peaceful; but despite ailing health she remained committed to her duty - particularly when it came to overseeing a change of UK prime minister two days before she died.

Scobie writes that, despite several palace aides encouraging the monarch to allow Prince Charles (who was staying less than 10 miles away) to accept Boris Johnson's official resignation and perform 'the kissing of hands' with incoming prime minister Liz Truss, the Queen insisted she carry out this important duty, telling aides: 'It's my job.'

The late Queen insisted 'it's my job' as she saw out prime minister Boris Johnson and saw in Liz Truss at Balmoral two days before she died, a new book claims

Scobie writes that, in private, the late monarch was in 'crippling pain', but insisted in public that she must carry out her royal duty.

He quoted people close to the palace who said the late Queen's final summer at Balmoral was filled with 'walks, picnics and barbecues', and the monarch enjoyed sitting in the sunshine much of the time.

However despite a much slower pace of life due to her declining health, the monarch ensured her red box full of government papers was up to date every day, and carried out her duty to the best of her ability.

The description delving inside the royal family are some of many explosive claims made in Scobie's book, which is published at midnight in the UK.

Elsewhere, the royal author, who has worked for ABC, Harpers Bazaar and Yahoo, claimed there were two members of the royal family who made comments about Prince Archie's skin colour when Meghan was still pregnant with her son.

He claimed letters exchanged between King Charles III and the Duchess of Sussex reveal the names of the two people who allegedly made the comments.

The royal author, whose new book Endgame comes out at midnight tonight, said he could not reveal the identities of the two people for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.

But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegation in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame about the Royal Family is set to be released tomorrow

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

And Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.

Mr Scobie said: 'There is a steady open line of communication between the two, where they are able to talk with each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father probably isn't the most emotional or open person'.

The report on ABC said its interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was caught up in a family drama - and that Meghan contacted him to check he was OK.

ABC claimed Mr Scobie also says that he is not that close with Harry and Meghan and he 'never chose Team Sussex'.

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow night on Nightline.

Mr Scobie tweeted a link to the interview on X today, adding: 'More of this @GMA interview will be aired Tuesday on @ABC @Nightline and I'll be live in the studios for @ABCGMA3 and @ABCNewsLive tomorrow, the global release day of #ENDGAME.'

Mr Scobie's book is said to make a series of claims involving the Sussexes - including that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother', that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.
Prince William has 'only read passages' of Prince Harry's memoir Spare and 'ignored' his brother's attempts to set up a conversation via a mutual friend, Omid Scobie has claimed.

In his new book 'End Game', royal author Omid Scobie delves into Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship in the wake of the Duke of Sussex's memoir - which hit shelves in January.

In a chapter about the Prince of Wales, Scobie recounts meeting one of the royal's former aides and asking them whether William and Kate have made note of the 'difficulties of being the spare to the heir'.

The source said: '[Prince William] has read passages but not the full thing...

'Harry's experience is very different to [that of William's] own children.'

Omid Scobie delves into Prince William and Prince Harry's relationship in the wake of the Duke of Sussex 's memoir - which hit shelves in January

Elsewhere in the book, Scobie claims that Prince Harry tried to reach out to his brother on two separate occasions while he was in London.

At the time, the royal's memoir had only been out for a matter of weeks - and his attempts at contacting Prince William fell on deaf ears.

Scobie claims: 'In February and March, the Prince turned to a mutual friend in London to try to set up a conversation with his brother, but the attempts were ignored.

'Harry, said a source, chose to "keep focused on the future, not the past."'

Prince Harry made a series of damaging claims about his brother in his memoir - including going into detail about one alleged incident where Prince William 'knocked him into a dog bowl that cracked and cut his back' within the Kensington Palace estate.

What's more, the Duke of Sussex also claimed that the Prince and Princess of Wales 'told him to wear' the infamous Nazi fancy dress costume and 'howled with laughter' when they saw him in it.

While promoting his memoir in January, Prince Harry invited The Daily Telegraph's Bryony Gordon into the family's Montecito home - where he revealed he 'worries' about the Prince and Princess of Wales' children.

He said at the time: 'And though William and I have talked about it once or twice, and he has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility.

Pictured: the cover art for Prince Harry's memoir Spare, which hit shelves in January and set shockwaves through the Royal Family

'I still feel a responsibility knowing that out of those three children, at least one will end up like me, the spare. And that hurts, that worries me.'

In Spare, Prince Harry claimed King Charles told his late mother on the day he was born: 'Wonderful! Now you've given me an heir and a spare - my work is done.'

In a scathing chapter dedicated to the future Queen, Scobie branded Kate the monarchy's 'last shiny thing for many years to come' and claims her workload is lower than other senior members of the Firm, and saying that she's 'technically a part time working royal'.

Known for his sympathetic coverage of Harry and Meghan, Scobie added that Kate isn't known for 'leadership and outgoing nature' like 'Meghan', who was 'another shimmering ornament in the royal family tree' before she stepped down.

This, according to Scobie's recollection, meant coverage of Meghan's engagements during her short time as a working royal, were 'far less about fashion choices and more about her work or her role in the Firm'.

Scobie also claims that Kate 'does not plan to increase her workload for 10-15 years', or until her children reach adulthood, and added that she earned the nickname 'Katie Keen', because palace press release mitigate her doing less by saying she is 'keen to learn'.

In a clear swipe, Scobie writes Kate's lifestyle is something most parents could 'only dream of' and that Palace aides were afraid to push her do to anything that 'makes her uncomfortable' before the Queen died.

He adds that the future queen has been through five different private secretaries in six years, because they all found the role 'uninspiring and frustrating'.
A young woman has shown off her tiny apartment in New York City  revealing how she washed her dishes in a bucket because she didn't have a kitchen sink.

Egypt Mayo, 22, was forking out $500 a month for her studio apartment on Staten Island when she was paid a visit by TikTok sensation Caleb Simpson.

Caleb's content focuses on touring people's homes to see how they live - and his content is so popular that he's even been invited into the abodes of some famous faces, including Bobbi Brown, Barbara Cochran, and Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Phillippe's son Deacon.

He visited Egypt's place back in October 2022, but the video has since resurfaced online.

Egypt Mayo, 22, was forking out $500 a month for her studio apartment in New York City when she was paid a visit by TikTok sensation Caleb Simpson

He visited Egypt's place (pictured) back in October 2022, but the video has since resurfaced online

In the clip, Caleb appears to stop Egypt in the middle of the street and starts off with his signature introduction: 'How much do you pay for rent in New York?'

Egypt responds, '$500,' with the TikTok creator then asking if he can tour her apartment, to which she agrees.

It cuts to a bird's eye view of her small studio that is decked out in hues of pink, with the tenant saying: 'Welcome to my apartment.'

To divide up the room, she has a curtain rod that separates her sleeping area and her living space.

In the back, you can just make out her bathroom that has a shower and a sink.

'I was not expecting this at all,' an incredulous Caleb gushes, with Egypt adding: 'It's really pink.'

'It's so pink. This is incredible,' the TikTok creator responds.

Beginning the tour, Caleb gestures to some hooks, asking: 'This is where you hang your pots and pans?'

The apartment is pink themed, and she has a curtain rod that separates her sleeping area and her living space

Beginning the tour, Caleb gestures to some hooks (left), asking: 'This is where you hang your pots and pans?' Egypt uses a foldable table and a chair with a surface to prepare food (right)

Egypt then reveals she converted her closet into her cooking space  with the shelves stacked with pantry staples, a toaster oven and what appears to be a small fridge

'Yeah, this is the kitchen area right here,' Egypt shares of the living space, gesturing to a foldout table and a bright-pink chair with another surface for her to prepare her food on.

A plastic tub is where she keeps her pot lids and other cooking utensils.

Egypt then reveals she converted her closet into her cooking space  with the shelves stacked with pantry staples, a toaster oven and what appears to be a small fridge.

'And I wash the dishes in this bucket in the shower,' she adds as she reaches up to a grey plastic tub sitting on the top shelf.

As for her clothes, they are hung up across from the kitchen area on a rack.

Caleb also cuts to a stuffed pig sitting on her bed and goes: 'This is amazing.'

The pink theme continues into the bathroom, with Egypt decorating her shower with a strawberry-print curtain and a fuchsia non-slip mat

Even her toilet seat is pink as is her sink cupboard, and on the floor is a fluffy rose-colored bathmat

Egypt's black-and-white cat Alaska is then seen jumping around the bathroom from the medicine cabinet to the top of the air-conditioning unit

At the end of the tour, Caleb tests out her bed and rates it a 'solid' six out of 10

The pink theme continues into the bathroom, with Egypt decorating her shower with a strawberry-print curtain and a fuchsia non-slip mat.

Even her toilet seat is pink as is her sink cupboard, and on the floor is a fluffy rose-colored bathmat.

Egypt's black-and-white cat Alaska is then seen jumping around the bathroom from the medicine cabinet to the top of the air-conditioning unit.

At the end of the tour, Caleb tests out her bed and rates it a 'solid' six out of 10.

As for how she came across the apartment, Egypt revealed she saw the studio on Airbnb and asked the owner if he would rent it out to her, and he said yes.

Since Caleb's video came out, it appears she has moved to a new place and is about to welcome a new baby.
Queen Letizia of Spain stepped out in understated chic as she attended a journalism awards event with her husband King Felipe.

The Spanish royals arrived at the 40th 'Francisco Cerecedo' Journalism Awards, in Madrid, side by side on Monday evening.

Former journalist Letizia, 51, stunned as she opted for a low-key white pant suit, with a lace top underneath, at the awards show for her former industry.

She wore her chocolate brown tresses down and swept them behind her ears, exposing a pair of diamond drop earrings.

The queen donned a glamorous make up look for the event, with a coral shimmery smokey eye and matching lip colour.

Queen Letizia of Spain stepped out in understated chic as she attended a journalism awards event with her husband King Felipe

The Spanish royals arrived at the 40th 'Francisco Cerecedo' Journalism Awards, in Madrid, side by side on Monday evening

Letizia wore her chocolate brown tresses down and swept them behind her ears, exposing a pair of diamond drop earrings

Meanwhile, Felipe, 55, sported a black suit for the occasion, with a white and blue striped shirt and a patterned tie.

It comes after Letizia showed off her grey locks as she arrived at a seminar on language and journalism on Friday.

Ever-stylish Letizia wore her hair down, cascading over her shoulders - and she embraced the grey hairs spotted amongst the brown.

The looked the picture of elegance as she donned a casual ensemble for the closing event in Logrono, northern Spain.

Letizia wore a stunning leather collared knee-length coat, which she paired with a simple black sweater and brown plaid trousers.

Former journalist Letizia, 51, stunned as she opted for a low-key white pant suit, with a lace top underneath, at the awards show for her former industry

Meanwhile, Felipe, 55, sported a black suit for the occasion, with a white and blue striped shirt and a patterned tie

The queen donned a glamorous make up look for the journalism event, with a coral shimmery smokey eye and matching lip colour

She finished off the chic outfit with a thin belt and a pair of chunky black leather loafers featuring a gold buckle.

Letizia and Felipe's last public appearance together was on Tuesday, when they attended the 25th anniversary of the La Razon newspaper.

La Razon was founded in 1998 by Luis Maria Anson and is one of the most widely distributed daily newspapers in Spain.

Before she met Felipe of Spain, Letizia was married to high school literature teacher Alonso Guerrero Perez, who was nine years her senior.

Felipe and Letizia are pictured attending the journalism awards event, the king in a black suit and the queen in a white one

King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain ascend the stairs at the 40th edition of the Journalist Award 'Francisco Cerecedo' in Madrid

The couple wed in 1998 following a ten-year romance, with the pair meeting when the future Spanish queen was just 16.

They tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the town of Almendralejo, Badajoz, but divorced the following year.

By the time she met her husband-to-be, Felipe, in 2002, Letizia was working for popular TV channel 24 Horas, where along with anchoring the popular Telediario 2 evening news bulletin she reported on a wide range of breaking news event.
Emma Weymouth was effortlessly elegant in a jewel green gown as she attended the 2023 Tusk Conservation Awards tonight - where she and her husband grinned as they shook hands with the Prince of Wales.

The socialite, 37 - who is an ambassador for the organisation - and Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath, 49, both appeared in high spirits as they chatted with the royal during tonight's glitzy event at The Savoy in London.

The couple had also earlier put on a loved up display as they flirtatiously posed for photos with one another.

The Marchioness opted for a 1, 395 silky emerald halterneck number - the Galvan London Ushuaia Dress - with a stylish satin finish.

She kept to theme with matching green earrings and added a pop of colour with scarlet red lipstick.

Emma Weymouth was effortlessly elegant in a jewel green gown as she attended the 2023 Tusk Conservation Awards with her husband tonight

Emma swept her raven tresses back into a slick bun as she enjoyed the evening, which also saw VIP attendees like Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood.

At the event, William warned that there must be 'no letup' in collective efforts to stop the 'terrifying' loss of species and habitats across Africa.

Speaking at the 11th annual awards ceremony tonight, he issued a reminder about the 'disproportionate loss and damage from climate change' that the continent is facing.

The royal, who has been patron of Tusk since 2005, said: 'There must be no let up in our collective efforts to stem the terrifying loss of species and habitats we are all bearing witness to.'

On Monday evening, three individuals were awarded for their conservation work by the charity, which has supported habitat protection and anti-poaching intervention in Africa for over thirty years.

Prince William presented the awards on-stage to winners Jealous Mpofu, Dr Ekwoge Abwe and Fanny Minesi.

In his keynote address, the Prince hailed the ceremony as 'a rare moment to reflect on the significant achievements of our award winners and to recognise the challenges they face each and every day'.

Prince William told conservationists at The Savoy Hotel in London that the rangers celebrated through the awards are 'ecosystem guardians working on behalf of the global community.'

The socialite, 37 - who is an ambassador for the organisation - and Ceawlin Thynn, 8th Marquess of Bath, 49, both appeared in high spirits as they chatted with the royal during tonight's glitzy event at The Savoy in London

Emma and her husband she and her husband grinned as they shook hands with the Prince of Wales

Emma - the Marchioness of Bath, and her husband - both looked delighted to meet with the Prince today

The Marchioness opted for a silky emerald halterneck dress, with a stylish satin finish. She also carried a glitzy silver purse

She kept to theme with matching green earrings and added a pop of colour with scarlet red lipstick

He said that these individuals 'shoulder the immense responsibility of stewarding these vast areas of land and water - areas that are vital for the future of life on earth.'

The Prince added that protection of these natural habitats in Africa will 'set us on the path to reaching the global target of safeguarding 30 per cent of all land, oceans, and inland waters by 2030'.

The future king helped to launch Tusk's annual ceremony in 2013 to recognise the work of those trying to safeguard some of Africa's most iconic animals and habitats.

As Royal patron, he has been a long-standing supporter of the charity's efforts for almost two decades.

Emma and her husband posed for a photo with Ronnie Wood and his wife Sally as they enjoyed the awards

The couple had also earlier put on a loved up display as they posed for photos with one another

Emma swept her raven tresses back into a slick bun as she enjoyed the evening, which also saw VIP attendees like Rolling Stones member Ronnie Wood

Emma and her husband appeared to be in high spirits as they posed for the cameras at the event

Emma showed off the stunning details of her emerald gown, which she teamed with a sequined clutch

Emma styled her raven tresses in a sleek bun and opted for a glamorous make-up look with a winged eye

The socialite went for bold colours with both her stylish dress and statement make-up at the awards tonight

Emma accessorised her look with black sheer heels, adorned with matching dark decor, for the evening

The couple was all smiles as they posed for photos during the event at The Savoy in London tonight

The awards aim to spotlight the stories of conservation leaders and wildlife rangers across the continent so that their work can be amplified.

Since the inaugural event in 2013, the awards have now recognised 55 conservation leaders from 20 countries.

'It is evenings like this that provide the vital impetus to effect positive change,' William said, adding: 'Today's winners now join an impressive alumni, formed of Africa's most impactful, passionate and committed conservationists.'

Before taking his seat at the reception at The Savoy, the Prince took part in a reception upstairs, speaking with the charity's trustees and representatives, including Rolling Stones legend Ronnie Wood and Emma Weymouth, the Marchioness of Bath.

Wood, who attended with his wife Sally, said they discussed the life-size gorillas they painted for the cause - which have raised over 100,000 in their sales - and the upcoming Stones tour for the band's new album, Hackney Diamonds, with the Prince.

During his keynote speech, William said that the Tusk ceremony also serves as a reminder that 'those living in Africa emit just a quarter of the emissions than that of the average global citizen'.

'Yet the African continent is set to incur disproportionate loss and damage from climate change.'
Australians are lining up for a taste of a popular dessert spread

Australians are lining up in day-long snaking queues to get their hands on a 'unique' dessert spread - with many forking out over $300 to hire people to stand in line for them.

Popular Sydney cafe Son of a Baker hosted a weekend pop up featuring desserts and treats from Pistachio Papi, an online-only Aussie store for the nutty spread.

Thousands of fans showed up to the Botany Bay location to get their hands on the donuts, croissants, tarts, tiramisu, cronuts, and other sweet treats.

The famous spread previously hosted a similar pop up store in Melbourne where the donut sold out in 45 minutes and over 2,000 jars of the spread were purchased in 48 hours.

Australians braved the heat and rain for a taste of the 'delicious' spread - with many swearing to order jars of the brand new 'must-have' pantry essential.

Australians are lining up in day-long snaking queues to get their hands on a 'unique' dessert spread - with many forking out over $300 to hire people to stand in line for them

Popular Sydney cafe Son of a Baker hosted a weekend pop up featuring desserts and treats from Pistachio Papi, an online-only Aussie store for the nutty spread

The Sydney and Melbourne pop up locations inspired creativity and desperation in many, with some creating ads on Airtasker to ensure a taste of the pistachio spread.

Simone Minas, a barber from the city's Inner West, was willing to pay $200 to someone who was willing to acquire a pistachio croissant for her.

Similarly Gabriella, a new mum, recently gave birth but was 'craving' Pistachio Papi and pledged $300 for whoever could pick up and deliver her a package of the cult food.

'It's not the first time people have turned to the local marketplace to help them get their hands on food they love, with similar tasks posted to get Lune Croissants and Cinnabons earlier this year at pop ups,' said Airtasker Founder and CEO Tim Fung.

Gabriella, a new mum, recently gave birth but was 'craving' Pistachio Papi and pledged $300 for whoever could pick up and deliver her a package of the cult food

Pistachio Papi previously hosted a similar pop up store in Melbourne where the donut sold out in 45 minutes and over 2,000 jars of the spread were purchased in 48 hours

Pistachio Papi first launched in May 2023 and sold 3,500 jars of the spread in four minutes

Pistachio Papi first launched in May 2023 and sold 3,500 jars of the spread in four minutes.

The business now sells a 250g jar of the spread ($25) and various other merchandise like scented candles and drops.

The brand was originally conceived of when Mark Abdelmalik and his wife Christina Sikalias realised that Aussies don't have as much pistachio flavoured food as Europeans do, and they wanted to bring a taste of Italy Down Under.

'We were confident it would do well because it tastes so good but we didn't expect the business to take off as quickly as it did,' said Mark.

'It was time to shake up the spread industry as we felt people were wanting something more than just Nutella.'

Pistachio Papi was originally conceived of when Mark Abdelmalik and his wife Christina Sikalias realised that Aussies don't have as much pistachio flavoured food as Europeans do, and they wanted to bring a taste of Italy Down Under

Australians braved the heat and rain for a taste of the 'delicious' spread - with many swearing to order jars of the brand new 'must-have' pantry essential

Thousands of Australians revealed their 'obsession' with the pistachio spread online, with many giving the treat a five-star review.

'This is so amazing, I have it every morning with toast,' one said.

'Please, please open a full-time store in Sydney,' one pleaded. 'Your food is so incredible.'

'So delicious, I loved everything,' a third wrote.
A pub's 'honest' job ad has caught the attention of thousands ahead of the busy Christmas period.

The Weldborough Hotel in Tasmania is 'desperate' for staff - and willing to make concessions for prospective employees.

The tongue-in-cheek post sought began by asking for 'high achievers who have proven experience in a high pressure environment, ideally with references from Gordon Ramsay or Heston Blumenthal'.

But then the owner backtracked.

'Actually, who are we kidding? We are desperate for kitchen and front of house staff,' the ad read.

'If I can't find anyone before Christmas, I won't have a business after. 'Police record? Who cares. Drug habit? Join the club. Alcoholic? Don't get me started.'

The Weldborough Hotel in Tasmania is 'desperate' for staff - and willing to make concessions for prospective employees

Weldborough's population was only 28 according to the 2016 census - a possible reason why the position might be difficult to fill.

Thousands have come together after coming across the pub's social media job listing, with many joking about how 'realistic' and 'relatable' it was.

'This ad is fantastic and I would be curious to work for them,' one said.

'Yeah this pub is an absolute classic in Tassie. Very on brand,' a local wrote.

'Love your sense of humour, wishing you all the best in finding someone!' a third said.

'It's such a beautiful part of the world - you could mountain bike on your days off,' a man offered.

But many others couldn't find it in themselves to feel sorry for the local pub.

'Whenever someone complains about a lack of workers, I remember the thousands of times I got rejected and can't find it in me to care,' one said.

'Probably still doesn't won't anyone who doesn't have heaps of experience - this kind of sh*t is always misleading,' another wrote.
Granny May's, Sanity, Pizza Haven and Starburst are all gone

Australians have wistfully remembered the brands that have gone from being 'the highlight of any Westfield visit' to vanishing completely 'without anyone taking notice'.

From the Granny May's stationary shop - known for scented erasers and 'adult's only card corner' - to once popular Sanity music chain which vanished with a 'whimper, rather than a bang'.

Australians reminisced on a popular Reddit thread, with many also commenting on Decore Shampoo - best known for a risque advertisement and annoying tune.

'Any millennials here will instantly know the jingle from the television advertisement, but the actual product hasn't been on shelves for a long time now,' one Reddit user wrote after someone mentioned the hair care brand.

Australians have revealed the brands which were once 'the highlight of going to Westfield' which no longer exist - including stationary giant Granny May's

'Dec or eh eh eh Dec or eh eh,' chimed in another.

And even more agreed with comments about Sanity's disappearance.

'Sanity in Hobart (Northgate) only closed this year! I agree, the brand died a slow whimper of a death,' one said.

Copperart was next on the list - with dozens of people admitting they hadn't realised they weren't around until reading the list.

In 1999 the popular store began a major rebrand - from Copperart to HomeArt.

The brand had 165 stores across Australia in its prime - but was struggling by 2014 and in 2015 went into administration.

'I used to love Copperart! I was only a kid but they always had that kinda stuff which was so hideous it was awesome,' one person said.

'I was one of those kids who collected porcelain dolls. Copperart always had the fancy ones,' one woman said.

Sunnyboy iceblocks were next on the list - with many complaining they have un-fulfilled cravings for the schoolyard treat.

They were discontinued in 2016 due to a dwindling demand.

Decore - the shampoo brand known for its catchy jingle and risque shower scenes has also disappeared

Starburst lollies have also been 'completely discontinued' in Australia - the brand announced it would be pulling its lollies from the shelf in June 2022.

Mars-Wrigley - the parent company - noted at the time it was a 'long term decision' and not a 'short-term viral marketing strategy'.

It appears fans still haven't recovered.

'I am still mad the jelly beans disappeared. They were so good,' one said.

Fantales have also disappeared - while there was an announcement at the time it appears many people missed it.

'I only learnt about this the other day from Reddit. It was a bad day to have internet,' one person said.

Red Earth, a shop which sold all natural body washes and makeup 'similar to the Body Shop' also made the list.

'That was huge and it just dropped off the face of the earth around 2005 or so,' one woman added.

'I had the best red earth tinted lip balm. Never been able to find another like it. Mine fell out of my jacket pocket when I was walking home from the bus stop and I never found it. I still mourn it,' said another.

Pizza Haven also made the list.

Sanity made the list too - with many laughing at its slow slip into oblivion

'At their peak some servoes were even selling freshly baked Pizza Haven pizzas. They've all since converted to barista made coffee, which is useless when I'm turpsed and hungry,' one person said.

The popular restaurant was opened in 1984. It was sold to Eagle Boys in 2008 - and then sold to Pizza Hut in 2016 - with all stores rebranded in the last takeover.

The New Zealand arm of the brand was bought by Dominos in 2005 - and quickly rebranded.

Some people remembered electronics stores like Tandy.

'Used to be one of my favourite shops as a kid to just browse and look at tech s**t. Couldn't even tell you when they just disappeared,' one man said.

The popular store was purchased in 2010 by Woolworths Group - and within a year it had been phased out.

'They were ultimately owned by Woolworths alongside Dick Smith. The stores were all folded in under the Dick Smith brand in 2009, a few years before the sale of Dick Smith to Anchorage, and the collapse in 2016,' another person explained.

Ski yoghurt has also disappeared from the shelves.

'I never noticed this, I don't eat yoghurt, but I remember all the ads - they were huge,' one person said in shock.

Sams Warehouse also made the list.

'One day it was just boarded up and never spoken of again,' one person said.

'I worked in that company for about 7 years until a year before its total collapse, it was an absolute s**tshow for most of that time - think we went through receivership and buyouts/restructures 3 times while I was there, frankly can't believe it lasted as long as it did in the end,' said a former staff member.

Another Reddit user appeared to be keeping note of every 'has-been' retailer.

'Seduce clothing store, Lisa Ho, Go-Lo, Bi-Lo, Ice clothing, Bardot, Diva jewellery, Equip, Kleins, Gasp, Pumpkin Patch, Bardot, Gloss,' they wrote.

Equip was known as one of the largest fast fashion accessory brands in Australia - and once had 130 stores. Kleins was also in the fast-moving sector and closed all of its 170 stores in 2008.

People were thrilled by the list.

'Ice Clothing replaced a Wendy's in one of our local shopping centres and it didn't last long either now nothing is in the place where it stood in that centre. The only Ice Clothing store I ever saw too,' one person said.

Hundreds of people commented on the thread - marveling at the forgotten stores and products which were once staples for Australians.
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.
Read more: I went on my dream trip to Iceland and it was a disaster

Jetsetters can travel to Europe for less before 2024

Aussie travellers willing to ditch their Christmas plans can score cheap flights to Europe this year.

One-way flights departing from Sydney to London on Christmas day start at $1049 with Beijing Capital Airlines or $1152 with Cathay Pacific.

The prices are surprisingly low considering the departure date is less than four weeks away.

Skyscanner's 'Explore Everywhere' search function can help find the cheapest flights, and Google Flights Explore is another handy tool that provides you with options filtered by region, continent, or price.

Australians looking to book their next adventure can score cheap flights to Europe for $1,000 - but you'll need to leave on Christmas day (stock image)

One-way flights departing from Sydney to London on Christmas day start at $1049 with Beijing Capital Airlines or $1152 with Cathay Pacific. Skyscanner's 'Explore Everywhere' search function can help find the cheapest flights

How to use Skyscanner and Google Flights Explore Skyscanner: Go to the Skyscanner website

Input your 'From' destination with your city and airport

Input a potential travel date and click 'Everywhere' for destination

Explore various popular destinations with flight, hotel, and car hire options

You can also adjust your results based on your spending budget and ideal destination Google Flights Explore: Go to the Google Flights Explore website

Input your departure airport and travel date, but leave the destination blank

You can also click on 'Flexible dates' to view the best possible prices

Click on the 'Search' button

The first flights that come up with be close and cheap options

Toggle on 'Update search as map moves' button to view more flight options as you explore the map

You can also specifically write 'Europe' or 'Africa' in the 'To' section to only show flights to that region Advertisement

Skyscanner's travel expert, Jarrod Kris, told FEMAIL: 'If you dont have plans for the big day, Christmas can be a great time to travel if your budget is tight.

'While the holidays will always be a busy time, there are a few cost-saving secrets if you do your research and know where to look.'

Mr Kris suggested flying with the 'red-eye' - flights that are super early or late.

'The red-eye flights tend to be cheaper due to the lack of demand. This means a drop in prices for the traveller, so always be open to getting up early for your holidays and enjoy the bonus of getting to your destination in the morning to make the most of your day!' he continued.

Another cost-saving hack is looking at neighbouring airports if possible.

'If flights to your chosen destination are expensive, neighbouring cities might offer more affordable airfares that are much more budget friendly, so you can choose to do that, then do a drive-in for a different experience,' Mr Kris said.

Skyscanner's travel expert, Jarrod Kris, told Escape : 'Christmas and New Years can be one of the most exciting but stressful times of the year for any traveller wanting to get away during the holiday season' (Amalfi Coast pictured)

When using Skyscanner or Google Flights, many often choose their destination and season - usually within fixed windows - before even scouting out prices and holiday packages which could save them tons of money.

All great bargain hunters understand that being flexible is key when it comes to finding cheap travel destinations.

Having an open mind can also unearth various locations that has escaped your radar.

For international flights, it's recommended to book at least six months in advance to secure the best deal.
Travellers are flocking to a tiny island off the coast of Queensland

Australians in the know are ditching their summer plans to travel to a 'breathtaking' tiny island off the coast of Queensland instead.

Sitting 80 kilometres north-east of Gladstone, Heron Island is said to be one of the best places for snorkelling and diving in the Great Barrier Reef as it's surrounded by 24 hectares of coral reef.

Travellers can swim in crystal clear turquoise blue waters, lay on the beach underneath blue skies and take in the surroundings which are up there with some of the most picturesque in the world.

The island is home to an array of extraordinary animals including migrating whales, stingrays and nesting turtles which can often be spotted close to shore.

Heron Island is said to be one of the best places for snorkelling and diving in the Great Barrier Reef as it's surrounded by 24 hectares of coral reef

The island is home to an array of extraordinary animals including migrating whales, stingrays and nesting turtles who can sometimes be spotted close to shore

A shipwreck that dates back to the darkest days of World War Two can also be spotted in the shallow water and has become a tourist attraction.

After being requisitioned for service the US military in July 1943, the HMS Protector was on its way to a naval base in Papua New Guinea when it was damaged in a collision with a tug boat and abandoned.

The rusted wreck is one of the state's most breathtaking underwater attractions, inspiring visitors with its formidable size and incredible history.

Irish TikToker @maaeveo who now lives on the Gold Coast dubbed Heron Island as her 'favourite' in all of Queensland.

A video shows the stunning blue waves gently rippling onto the quiet shore and sea turtles were also spotted close to the surface.

Many on TikTok seemed jealous and added the island to their bucket list.

'Wow that's just insane!' one person wrote, another said: 'Gorgeous'.

Irish TikToker @maaeveo who now lives on the Gold Coast dubbed Heron Island as her 'favourite' in all of Queensland. A video shows the stunning blue waves gently rippling onto the quiet shore and sea turtles were also spotted close to the surface

Travellers can swim in crystal clear turquoise blue waters, lay on the beach underneath blue skies and take in the breathtaking surroundings

It takes approximately two hours to travel by boat from Gladstone and Heron Island and planning is key.

Tourists are spoilt for choice with 20 dive sites easily available by boat within minutes of the jetty.

Guided tours are also available but booking advance is necessary.
Two thirds of frontline NHS staff have shunned Covid and flu vaccines this winter, MailOnline can reveal.

Only 21.8 per cent have so far had a Covid booster, according to latest data on the health service's 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.

Experts told MailOnline the drop in vaccine uptake compared to previous years is 'extremely worrying'. As no Covid vaccines were available in October 2020 no data was recorded for this period. By 2021 40.4 per cent of staff had got a Covid booster (considered fully-vaccinated at the time), with more than 8 out of 10 having received at least one jab

Experts told MailOnline the figures were 'extremely worrying' and would 'inevitably' result in patients getting infected, straining NHS services even further.

Others, however, called the figures an example of 'vaccine fatigue' among staff who have faced repeated calls to get the voluntary jabs.

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.

The latest figures for NHS frontline staff vaccination are significantly lower than last year. They cover staff who have face-to-face contact with patients and are dated up to the end of October.

However, not every trust is represented in the figures so they only show a snapshot of current uptake across England.

In comparison to this year's data, by the end of October last year 30.9 per cent of staff had got the flu jab, and 28.8 per cent a Covid booster.

It also represents a further decline from the heights observed in previous years.

READ MORE: Footage shows mask-wearing crowds piling into an 'overwhelmed' Beijing hospital amid fears over mystery pneumonia sweeping country - but China insists flu and usual winter bugs are to blame, NOT a new virus A man with a child waiting outside a children's hospital in Beijing amid an ongoing outbreak of a mystery wave of pneumonia Advertisement

In 2021, four out of 10 staff were fully jabbed against Covid by the end of October that year, with eight in 10 having received at least one dose.

And in 2020 over half of all frontline staff had opted to get the flu jab.

NHS leaders, including the health service's most senior doctor and nurse, Professor Sir Stephen Powis and Dame Ruth May, wrote to trusts last week outlining the importance of staff vaccine uptake to 'keep the NHS strong over winter'.

'All eligible frontline health and social care professionals, including clinical and non-clinical staff who have direct contact with patients, should be offered both the flu and Covid vaccines ahead of winter,' the letter reads.

It continues: 'Employers must make every effort to ensure that eligible frontline staff are offered and easily able to access their vaccine, and are encouraged to do so.'

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist based at Warwick University, said the low vaccine uptake among NHS frontline staff was 'extremely worrying'.

'This will inevitably result in more Covid and flu infections in both NHS staff and patients,' he said.

He added sickness was only aspect of the problem, with resulting staff absence also piling pressure on the health service.

'As we are confronted with the emergence of new Covid variants and the increased spread of respiratory infections over the winter months, the low level of vaccination in healthcare workers will put even more pressure on the NHS as staff take time off work due to infection.

'There appears to be significant complacency amongst the general public about Covid and a lack of public health messaging.'

Professor Young said the merits of getting jabbed needed to be highlighted to both NHS staff and the public alike.

'Many in our society remain susceptible to the development of severe disease due to Covid and flu and there is increasing data about the harmful long-term effects of Covid infection,' he said.

Professor Paul Hunter, an expert in infectious diseases from the University of East Anglia, said the data uncovered by MailOnline reflected 'vaccine fatigue' among NHS staff.

'These figures arent really that much of a surprise,' he said.

Experts said the figures may indicate vaccine fatigue among staff post-pandemic whilst others said NHS frontline workers may simply be too busy to find time to get a jab at work

'Higher vaccine uptakes occur when people consider themselves at risk and, given almost all people in the UK have had at least one and many have had multiple Covid infections, anxiety about personal risk is low.

'I suspect the lower than pre-pandemic levels for flu reflect a degree of vaccine fatigue.'

He added that despite people now being much safer from Covid than previously, this doesn't mean it won't affect the health service.

'We saw this to a certain extent last winter when the pressure from Covid on the health services came not so much from patients being admitted with Covid but from staff having to be absent from work for a week or more even if not particularly unwell,' he said.

Professor Robert Dingwall, a sociologist at Nottingham Trent University who advised the Government on the virus during the pandemic, said that vaccine fatigue might not be the only factor at play.

READ MORE: Paramedics left frustrated 'sitting around with cups of tea' if 999 calls go 'unanswered' in London due to lack of ambulances Dozens of ambulance crews in London are reportedly being forced to sit around unable to work due to a lack of available vehicles (stock image) Advertisement

He said previous UK research has shown its more about NHS leaders make getting jabs easy for busy staff.

'If the vaccinations happened close to wards and ward sisters were supportive of staff taking time out to go for the vaccination, uptake was quite good,' he said.

'However, where hospitals expected staff to go for vaccinations in their own time, sometimes on a different site with parking issues, or ward sisters thought the service was too busy to release people, vaccination rates were low.'

Professor Dingwall said it was likely the latter, as well as staff getting jabbed outside the health service and NHS data not catching up, that was behind the low uptake.

'I strongly suspect that hospitals are working flat out and short-staffed, making it difficult to release people to attend vaccination clinics,' he said.

'Tired employees may also be reluctant to give up their own time to track down a vaccination site, or prefer to use one convenient for them rather than one that will be counted in these statistics.'

Vaccination uptake varies across the country according to the official data, with 76 and 58 per cent of NHS organisations providing data on flu and Covid jab uptake respectively.

Of those that did, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust recorded the lowest flu jab uptake, with only one in 20 of 4,700 frontline staff getting the vaccine.

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust had the lowest Covid vaccine uptake, with just four of 3,773 frontline staff getting the jab (0.1 per cent).

In contrast, Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust recorded both the highest flu jab (62.7 per cent) and Covid booster (52.6 per cent) among 9,000-plus staff.

Frontline health care staff are considered a priority for annual vaccination campaigns.

This is to help reduce the risk of them inadvertently transferring an infection like flu or Covid to a vulnerable patient as well as stop staff needing to time off from work.

Such an infection might occur before an NHS worker starts showing symptoms, meaning there is no advanced warning they could give the disease to a patient.

While most Brits will shrug off Covid and flu after a period of short illness such infections can cause serious illness in vulnerable people.

Such groups include the elderly and those with health conditions that weaken their immune system, such as cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

On the figures an NHS England spokesperson also told MailOnline: 'Both flu and Covid have a serious impact on the health of thousands of people every year, and the NHS needs as many of its staff as possible to be fighting fit over winter when the health service comes under pressure.

'Vaccination is our best defence against flu and Covid, and we urge anyone eligible who has not been vaccinated to come forward as soon as possible  it could save your life.'
Alarming footage shows mask-wearing crowds inside a Chinese hospital amid fears over a mystery pneumonia sweeping the country.

Beijing insists a new virus is not to blame for scenes of chaos, which have prompted officials to encourage residents to don coverings, socially distance and stay home if unwell.

Instead, health chiefs have pinned the rise on flu and other routine bugs, with China now battling its first full winter without a Covid-induced lockdown.

Local media has reported health facilities as being 'overwhelmed with sick children'.

However, China's health ministry claims it can cope with the spike in sickness, which sparked global panic last week when news of the situation emerged.

Concerns led the World Health Organization (WHO), in a rare public intervention, to formally request further information from Beijing on the infections.

Commentators highlighted the wave of sickness was eerily similar to the reports that emerged just prior to Covid, which China was accused of covering up.

A man with a child waiting outside a children's hospital in Beijing amid an ongoing outbreak of a mystery wave of pneumonia

In a fresh statement on Sunday, the country's health ministry claimed the surge in cases was caused by the flu and other known pathogens.

It ruled out a novel virus, like the one which sparked Covid after triggering its own mystery pneumonia wave in December 2019.

A National Health Commission spokesperson said the recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses like flu and RSV, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae.

They added the ministry has called upon local authorities to open more fever clinics and to promote vaccine uptake among children and the elderly.

'Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines,' said ministry spokesman Mi Feng.

He also advised people to wear masks and called on local authorities to focus on preventing the spread of illnesses in crowded places such as schools and nursing homes.

Chinese health authorities have blamed the surge in winter bugs hitting the nation harder due to lowered immunity in the population as the nation faces its first full winter without Covid pandemic restrictions.

Beijing only began loosening its strict nationwide 'zero-Covid' policies in December last year after mass protests that saw people calling on Xi Jinping to step down.

READ MORE: 'We need to keep an open mind about the cause': UK health chiefs are 'closely monitoring' China's mystery pneumonia outbreak - despite Beijing insisting a new virus is NOT the culprit These are scenes that have sparked concern across the globe, Chinese hospitals packed with patients in scenes eerily reminiscent of the Covid pandemic Advertisement

Independent experts have backed up China's claim the surge is linked to lowered immunity, as other nations, including the US and UK, experienced similar post-lockdown waves of illness.

However, others, including the UK Health Security Agency, have said we must keep an 'open mind' about the cause of the mystery pneumonia, with many citing Beijing's lack of transparency during the early stages of the Covid pandemic.

Both Covid and another pandemic virus called SARS were first reported as unusual types of pneumonia.

The WHO said Chinese health officials on Thursday provided the data it requested during a teleconference.

Those showed an increase in hospital admissions of children due to diseases including bacterial infection, RSV, influenza and common cold viruses since October.

Chinese officials maintained the spike in patients had not overloaded the country's hospitals, according to the WHO.

This is despite images of overwhelmed Chinese hospital waiting rooms crammed with parents and children spreading on the nation's social media channels.

Local media reported last week that hospitals in Beijing and 500 miles northeast in Liaoning were 'overwhelmed with sick children' with unusual symptoms that include inflammation in the lungs and a high fever but no cough.

Taiwanese outlet FTV News reported that hospitals were being 'overwhelmed' with sick children.

It added that 'parents questioned whether the authorities were covering up the epidemic'.

The newly published footage has been verified as being from one of the hospitals grappling with the outbreak, but it not known exactly when it was filmed.

The WHO's public intervention is rare, with the UN health agency typically making such requests behind closed doors.

WHO said it requested further data from China via an international legal mechanism.

According to internal accounts in China, the outbreaks have swamped some hospitals in northern China, including in Beijing, and health authorities have asked the public to take children with less severe symptoms to clinics and other facilities.

WHO said that there was too little information at the moment to properly assess the risk of these reported cases of respiratory illness in children.

However, a WHO official has said the wave of cases is not as high as the nation experienced before Covid swept the country, and the world.

Crowds waiting outside a children's hospital in Beijing, health officials have insisted the spike in patients had not overloaded the country's hospitals. Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University can be seen in the background

A man carriers a child in the waiting room of a children's hospital in Beijing in October when the wave of sickness among the nation's youngsters first started

Chinese health officials have stated no new pathogen is responsible instead pinning the surge on common winter bugs hitting the population harder than usual due to a lowering of immunity during the the harsh Covid restrictions imposed on the nation

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, also echoed comments from China that the increase appeared to be driven by children contracting pathogens that they hadn't encountered due to two years of Covid restrictions.

'The waves that theyre seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019' she said.

'This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago.'

Both China and the WHO have been accused of a lack of transparency in their initial reports on the Covid pandemic.

The world was first alerted to Covid in similar circumstances to the current outbreak, with reports of a mystery pneumonia in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019.
Plans by New Zealand's new government to ditch its world-first smoking ban were today attacked by health experts.

The move, to stop children from taking up the habit, was initially introduced by ex-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2022. Once implemented next year, anyone born after 2008 would have been banned from ever buying cigarettes.

New Zealand's new prime minister, Christopher Luxon, said the U-turn would fund tax cuts.

But public health experts said the reversal was 'extremely concerning', warning the move would cost thousands of lives.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), called it a 'purely political decision'.

It comes as a the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2023 health report showed 12.7 per cent of Brits over the age of 15 smoke cigarettes daily, far higher than the US and New Zealand, the latter of which recently introduced a similar phased smoking ban

The move was initially introduced by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2022, and once implemented in July 2024, would have seen anyone born after January 2009 banned from buying cigarettes. But V=vocal nay-sayers  including the nation's new Prime Minister Chris Luxon (pictured)  had already argued a ban would lead to a black market for tobacco

She said: 'Repealing the smoke-free generation policy is purely a political decision by New Zealand's National Party in order to secure the handful of votes it needs from a libertarian party to form a government.

'The idea that that by doing so it could fund tax cuts is ludicrous.

'In the UK, analysis shows smoking costs public finances nearly double tobacco tax revenues, so there's no way that repealing the legislation can fund tax cuts.'

Rishi Sunak will press ahead with a UK smoking ban, despite the original prohibition inspiring his radical idea now being scrapped in New Zealand.

If passed, it would annually raise the age at which people can purchase tobacco by one year, putting legal smoking out of reach of anyone aged under 14 today.

How dangerous is smoking for the heart? How does tobacco damage the heart? Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals, including tar and others that can narrow arteries and damage blood vessels. While nicotine - a highly addictive toxin found in tobacco - is heavily linked with dangerous increases in heart rate and blood pressure. Smoking also unleashes poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, which replaces oxygen in the blood - reducing the availability of oxygen for the heart. How many people does smoking kill? Smoking is known to kill more than seven million people across the world each year, including 890,000 from breathing in second-hand smoke. But many people are unaware that nearly half of those deaths, around three million, are due to heart disease, including heart attacks and strokes. Advertisement

A No10 spokesman said: 'The PM still thinks it is important to have the first smoke-free generation.'

They added that Mr Sunak is 'not doing this to take the easy route or because other countries are doing it', saying: 'He thinks it is the right thing to do for the health of our young people.'

When he formally announced the bold proposal last month, Mr Sunak faced criticism from some vocal nay-sayers, including former PM Liz Truss and ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

Former PM Boris Johnson also slammed the 'barmy' proposals last month, calling it a 'smoking apartheid'.

The Government, however, wielded stats showing how smoking costs the economy 17bn a year through lost productivity and knock-on effects to the NHS.

For comparison, tobacco duties generate around 10billion annually.

New Zealand's incoming finance minister Nicola Willis said the plan, part of a wider string of anti-smoking measures, would have lost about $1bn (480m) in revenue.

Mr Luxon, a 53-year-old former businessman, leads a conservative coalition after his National Party struck a deal with two smaller parties following a general election last month.

Luxon said the cigarette ban would create 'an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed'.

Discussing the U-turn, Professor Richard Edwards, a public health expert at the University of Otago, told the BBC: 'We are appalled and disgusted, this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures.'

He added: 'Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government's done and are calling on them to backtrack.'

Under the proposals, the legal amount of nicotine in tobacco products would have been dramatically reduced and their sale allowed only through special tobacco stores.

The number of stores legally allowed to sell cigarettes would also have been slashed from 6,000 to just 600 nationwide.

The legislation passed last year had been acclaimed internationally with research backing the key reforms. Modelling had also suggested it could save up to 5,000 lives each year.

Professor Caitlin Notley, a professor of addiction sciences at the University of East Anglia, today branded the U-turn 'dangerous', adding: 'It is extremely concerning that a complete about-turn to the progressive approach to eradicating tobacco smoking in New Zealand is now being proposed.

'This sends a dangerous message that preventing tobacco smoking  the leading cause of early death and disease  is not a priority.

'The world had looked to the previous New Zealand government as global leaders in bold proposals that would accelerate the country towards a future free of tobacco smoking.'

She added: 'The sudden shift away from the previously proposed 'tobacco endgame' policies therefore will undoubtedly further widen health inequalities between Maori and non-Maori populations.'

Meanwhile, Professor Jamie Brown, director of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at University College London, said: 'It's extremely disappointing that they are to be scrapped to fund tax cuts.

'Apart from the moral imperative to reduce avoidable deaths, the measures would likely also have saved more money in the long-term from reduced healthcare and improved productivity.

'New Zealand and the UK were set to lead the world in tobacco control  hopefully other countries will learn from the contrasting trajectories that smoking prevalence will likely now follow in the two countries.'

Dr Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow in the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, also said: 'The New Zealand government's decision to overturn its bold tobacco control legislation does not appear to have been made with public health in mind.

'Modelling from New Zealand suggests the legislation would have seen smoking rates fall below 5 per cent by 2025, which would be a major milestone. It also had the potential to substantially reduce health inequalities in New Zealand.

'Smoking rates are much higher in the indigenous Maori population and this is a key driver of poorer health outcomes.'

Despite praise as a public health policy, the initial measures, however, had drawn strict opposition from some business groups in New Zealand.

Owners of newsagents and corner shops criticised the loss of revenue, despite government subsidies.

HISTORY OF SMOKING POLICY IN THE UK 2004: Ireland bans smoking in enclosed public places, including pubs, clubs and restaurants 2006: Scotland implements smoking ban on indoor public spaces 2007: England, Wales and Northern Ireland bring in indoor ban. In England, smoking is banned in almost all enclosed public spaces and the NHS goes smoke-free. Legal age to buy cigarettes raised from 16 to 18 2008: Cigarette companies told to feature pictorial health warnings on packets 2010: Government announces it will enforce tobacco display ban and consider plain packaging for tobacco products 2015: Smoking in cars with children banned in England and ban on the display of tobacco in small shops comes into force throughout the UK 2017: Government issues target to reduce smoking prevalence among adults to 12 per cent or less by 2022 2019: Department of Health publishes plans to make England smoke-free by 2030 2020: Menthol cigarettes are banned in the UK and EU 2023: Rishi Sunak's unveils radical plan to effectively ban kids born after 2009 from smoking Advertisement

Christopher Snowdon, head of lifestyle economics at the Institute of Economic Affairs think-tank, which previously branded Mr Sunak's plan an attack on people's liberties, also claimed the policy was 'doomed to failure'.

He said: 'The eccentric idea of a generational smoking ban is doomed to failure.

'It is an unworkable pipe dream that will only enrich tobacco smugglers and erode respect for the law while doing little to reduce smoking.

'The Kiwi U-turn comes just weeks after the Malaysian government abandoned a similar policy because age discrimination is unconstitutional.

'Prime Minster Rishi Sunak now stands alone in the world, carrying the torch of a policy dreamt up by Jacinda Ardern at the fag end of a Labour government on the other side of the world.'

Under UK proposals outlined in the Kings Speech earlier this month, kids born after 2009 will never legally be able to buy tobacco.

Funding packages of up to 140million to support people quitting smoking will also be made available from April.

The Government believes that, if enacted, the phased ban will lead to 1.7million fewer people smoking by 2075  saving tens of thousands of lives, and avoiding avoid up to 115,000 cases of strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and other lung diseases.

Mr Sunak also insisted that smoking will not be criminalised, suggesting that Brits subject to the ban won't be fined for buying them abroad.

At the time, experts and charities all commended the move, described as the 'biggest public health intervention in a generation'.

The approach was initially recommended in a Government-commissioned report last year by ex-children's charity chief Javed Khan.

He was tasked with finding ways England could be smoke-free by 2030  defined as less than five per cent of people smoking.

He warned that that without urgent action, England would miss the 2030 'smoke-free' target by at least seven years, with the poorest areas not meeting it until 2044.

Smoking rates in the UK are now the lowest on record, at 12.9 per cent  or around 6.4million people.

But smoking kills around 78,000 people in the UK every year, with many more living with illnesses due to their habit  half of which are due to cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke.

It is estimated that around 500,000 hospital admissions every year in England are attributable to smoking and that smoking costs the economy 17billion per year.

Of this, 2.4billion falls on the NHS, 1.19billion falls on the social care system, and over 13billion is lost in productivity costs from tobacco-related lost earnings, unemployment and premature death.

The 7,000 chemicals in tobacco  including tar and others that can narrow arteries and damage blood vessels  are thought to be behind some of the damage smoking inflicts on the heart.

Meanwhile, nicotine  a highly addictive toxin found in tobacco  is heavily linked with dangerous increases in heart rate and blood pressure.

Smoking also unleashes poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide, which replaces oxygen in the blood  reducing the availability of oxygen for the heart.
Taking selfies should be considered a 'public health problem', according to new research.

Academics in Australia analyzed scientific papers and media reports on injuries or deaths from selfies worldwide since 2008.

They found nearly 400 had been reported over the 13-year study period  including 77 in the US.

Victims were most likely to be female tourists in their early 20s, while falling and drowning while taking a photo the leading two causes of death.

Researchers said the public must be made aware of the risks posed by selfies  with an estimated 92million snapped globally every day  and urged social media apps to install software to warn people of the dangers as they go to take a selfie.

Andrea Norton, 20, was an environmental science major at Briar University and was a member of the school's volleyball team and symphony choir. She fell to her death in 2019 while taking a selfie at a popular beauty spot in an Arkansas national park

Sofia Cheung, an Instagram star, is shown above in her last Instagram post. She died in 2021 after losing her footing and slipping at a waterfall

A 23-year-old American tourist fell into Mount Vesuvius, Italy, while taking a selfie and dropping his cell phone inside the volcano in 2022

Dr Samuel Cornell, a risk expert at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and others wrote in the paper: 'The selfie-related incident phenomenon should be viewed as a public health problem that requires a public health response.

'To date, little attention has been paid to averting selfie-related incidents through behavior change methodologies or direct messaging to users through apps.

'Although previous research has recommended "no selfie zones", barriers and signage as ways to prevent selfie incidents, our results suggest this may not be enough.

'It may be prudent to also engage in direct safety messaging to social media users.'

Twenty-year-old student Andrea Norton plunged 100 feet to her death off a cliff in Arkansas after slipping while taking a selfie in 2019.

She was at Hawksbill Crag in the Ozark National Forest  which is a popular spot for taking photos among hikers.

In her obituary, her family said: 'Andrea developed a genuine love for the planet and devoted herself to making a major impact in the preservation. She never lost her rambunctious approach to achieving her goals.'

In January 2022, a 21-year-old hiker also fell to his death after he slipped taking a selfie at the top of a mountain in Arizona.

Richard Jacobson's body was found on a trail about 700 foot from where he fell.

Another victim is Instagram star Sofia Cheung, who plunged to her death in 2021 after she lost her footing while taking a selfie at a waterfall in Hong Kong.

The 32-year-old, who had 35,000 followers on Instagram, fell into the waterfalls plunge pool. She was rushed to hospital, but later pronounced dead.

Richard Jacobson, 21, fell to his death from a mountain peak last year. His friend told Dailymail.com that Jacobson 'got along with everyone' and 'treated everyone with respect'

There have also been a number of near-misses.

Earlier this year, a 42-year-old cruise passenger in Florida was said to be lucky to still be alive after she fell 10 storeys from the railing of a ship while posing for a selfie.

And in July last year, a 23-year-old American tourist survived after falling into the crater of an active volcano in Italy while trying to capture pictures for social media.

Authorities in some countries have previously had to issue warnings over selfies including in the UK where earlier this year coastguards warned people not to get selfies with storm waves after a woman was photographed being swept off her feet while posing in front of a storm surge.

For the paper, researchers searched for studies including the terms 'selfie' and 'death, fall, injury, deadly, drowning or accident' published in the US or Australia.

They also searched online for news articles on deaths or injuries involving selfies in either country dated back to 2011.

Their search revealed five scientific studies and 12 news articles which were included in their analysis.

Reports from each were then compiled to establish the leading causes of death from selfies.

Data from the papers also showed injuries or deaths from selfies had risen over time, with three fatalities reported in 2013 compared to 68 in 2019.

There was then a brief lull in 2020  due to the Covid pandemic  with 37 deaths before numbers surged again with 31 deaths reported in just the first half of 2021.

The average age of victims was 22 years old, the researchers found.

Geographically, the study's suggested that India was the most common country for selfie deaths and injuries to be reported (100 deaths), followed by the US (39 cases) and Russia (33 cases).
Most bugs ended up in patients' colons after they accidentally ate the insects

It comes after a fly was found buzzing around inside a 63-year-old Missouri man

A woman who had a cockroach infestation in her home was found to have one of the bugs in her large intestine during a colonoscopy

A story of a man from Missouri who had a fly buzzing around in his colon during a routine colon cancer screening left doctors mystified at how it got there.

While it disgusted thousands online, there have been several cases of insects creeping into colons over the years.

Cockroaches, flies and moths are just some of the insects found nestled in patients' colons, usually after they have accidentally eaten them.

The bugs were discovered during colonoscopies - when a camera is inserted up a patient's rectum to look for changes in the large intestine.

During a 52-year-old woman's colorectal cancer screening in 2010, doctors found a cockroach in her large intestine.

The insect was removed and sent to the lab for identification, where it was found to be a German cockroach, a common household pest.

The woman had a cockroach infestation in her house, and doctors thought she might have accidentally eaten the bug after it got into her food.

The cockroach's hard outer shell is 'probably resistant to the action of the human digestive system,' doctors from the Albert Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, said.

Insects are most likely carried into the intestines by being accidentally eaten in contaminated food.

Another cockroach was found in a woman's colon with a green substance stuck to its legs. Doctors believe the bug was in green Jell-O that the woman ate before the procedure

The woman had a history of schizophrenia but could not remember accidentally eating the cockroach

Another cockroach was found in the colon of a 51-year-old woman in 2010.

The bug was less than a centimeter in size and had watery green substance stuck to its legs. Doctors tried to carefully remove the bug, but it disintegrated.

The woman had a history of schizophrenia but could not remember accidentally eating the cockroach and denied a history of pica - a mental condition when a person compulsively swallows non-food items.

Doctors said the most plausible explanation was the patient accidentally ingested the bug while eating green lime Jell-O, which she had shortly before the procedure.

Doctors found a fully intact ladybug in a Missouri man's colon during a regular screening colonoscopy

A ladybug was found in the large intestine during a screening colonoscopy of a 59-year-old man from Columbia, Missouri.

While eating a bug is rare, it can occur during sleep, doctors from the University of Missouri said, though they were unsure how the insect got inside the man.

The evening before the colonoscopy, the man had to drink a gallon of polyethylene glycol - a laxative used to empty the bowels before the procedure.

An ant was found in a 66-year-old man's colon

This might have helped the bug escape from digestive enzymes in the stomach and upper small intestine, doctors said.

In 2009, a 66-year-old man from Portland, Oregon, was found to have an intact, dead ant in his colon.

The man told doctors that two days before the colonoscopy, he had eaten several plates of potato salad and chicken wings at a family picnic at a riverside park.

'Presumably, these served as the inanimate vector for the unlucky ant,' doctors from the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center said.

An intact moth was discovered in a 55-year-old man's colon in Tampa, Florida, in 2013 - the first time a moth has been found within the gastrointestinal tract.

The moth appears white in the photo because the stomach acid had stripped its scales, which is where most of the pigmentation is found.

An intact moth was discovered in a 55-year-old man's colon in Tampa, Florida

It was 6mm long and had a wingspan of 12mm.

'Although these ingestions are of little consequence to the patient, they are quite rare and may even be startling to the endoscopist,' doctors said.

A man in Missouri has left doctors scratching their heads after they found a live fly buzzing around deep inside his intestines.

The 63-year-old patient had come in for a routine colon cancer screening this year where they put a camera inside the intestines, known as a colonoscopy.

The procedure was going as normal until doctors reached the transverse colon  the area at the top of the large intestine  where they found a fully intact fly.

The above image, which the patient gave permission to share, shows the fly as it was found inside his intestines. It did not move when it was prodded

Doctors in Missouri said the find was a 'mystery.' It is possible for insect larvae to infect the intestines, as previous cases have shown

Doctors said it was a 'mystery' as to how the insect got there, but it could have been due to contaminated lettuce the man ate the day before his appointment.

The patient was questioned after the discovery but confessed he had no idea how the insect had gotten into his body. He did not feel any symptoms.

He told doctors he had only consumed clear liquids the day before his colonoscopy, as is required to clear the intestinal tract.

The evening before his 24-hour fast, he had consumed a pizza and lettuce  but said he did not recall a fly being in his food.

In rare cases, flies have laid eggs in fruits and vegetables that have then survived the stomach acid and hatched in the intestines.

The doctors wrote of the case, published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology: 'This case represents a very rare colonoscopic finding.

'[It is a] mystery on how the intact fly found its way to the transverse colon.'

Flies and their larvae can infest the human intestine in a condition medically termed intestinal myiasis.

This happens when someone consumes food containing fly eggs and larvae.

In rare cases, these can survive the acid in the stomach and then infest the intestines, growing and possibly mutating into adult flies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says some infested patients do not suffer any symptoms, but others have abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.
READ MORE: Doctors sound alarm over toxic metals lurking in beauty creams

It's unclear if she's using lightening products, which are linked to health issues

Fans are speculating on social media that Beyonce's skin tone has lightened

Fans are speculating on social media that mega-star Beyonce is lightening her skin after recent photos show her skin looking unusually whiter than usual.

Last weekend, the 42-year-old diva lit up the red carpet for the US premiere of Renaissance: A Film by Beyonce.

She sported platinum-blond locks and a silver gown, but social media users were more drawn to her skin tone. Fans on Twitter questioned if the mega-star has lightened her skin.

User @LibraGoddess106 said: 'Did she bleach her skin. She is not this light.'

@OlympusPlatinum said: 'Who is this white woman?' Another user commented: 'So she's not black anymore.'

It's unclear if Beyonce's skin tone is the result of photo editing or lightening products.

Mega-star Beyonce stepped on to the red carpet last weekend with platinum locks and a silver dress. Fans speculated that she is whitening her skin

In older images, such as this one from 2001, Beyonce's skin tone appears darker

But the images have triggered stark warnings by health experts - who have voiced serious concerns about celebrities 'encouraging' the treatment.

A dermatologist based in New Mexico told DailyMail.com that 'messing with mother nature' and lightening skin can have lasting health consequences, such as skin inflammation, discoloration, and even organ failure.

Skin bleaching involves rubbing products on the skin, such as creams and lotions that reduce melanin, the pigment that gives color to hair, eyes, and skin.

People with darker skin have more melanin, though hormones and sunlight can also impact melanin production.

The treatment is also meant to minimize dark spots, reduce acne scars, and even out skin tone.

In 2021, fans criticized an ad campaign Beyonce and husband Jay-Z did with Tiffany and Co, which they said made her skin look lighter

In 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) deemed over-the-counter skin-bleaching products unsafe for use in humans due to the ingredient hydroquinone, which has been shown to cause skin discoloration, rashes, and facial swelling.

Excess amounts of hydroquinone could lead to exogenous ochronosis, a disorder that results in blue-black skin pigmentation.

Several products also contain mercury. Mercury-laced lightening products seep through the skin into the bloodstream, where the heavy metals block the production of melanin.

These products have been linked to organ damage, rashes, infections, coma, and death.

It's unclear if Beyonce is actually using skin-lightening treatments or if her lighter complexion is due to photo editing

'[Over-the-counter] treatments are highly unregulated,' the dermatologist said. This means that companies can sell products with harmful ingredients, often not labeling them or using unfamiliar names like 'calomel' and 'mercurio' for mercury.

Experts warn that this could be dangerous for consumers because they don't know what they're putting in their bodies.

Last year, health officials sounded the alarm over skin-lightening creams with mercury after a Minnesota mom went partially blind.

An official report found the unnamed patient had been using certain home-bought and imported products that had levels 18,000 times higher than the safe amount - even though this was not disclosed on the labels.

In a 2014 study of 549 skin-lightening products found online and in stores, 12 percent contained mercury. Roughly half of the products were from US stores.

Symptoms of mercury poisoning can include poor peripheral vision, pins and needles sensations, lack of coordination, poor speech or hearing, and muscle weakness.

Skin bleaching has also been linked to skin inflammation, also known as dermatitis. Symptoms include skin redness, blisters, skin ulcers, hives, dry skin, swelling, itching, and burning.

It isn't the first time claims of 'white-washing' have been made against Beyonce.

In 2021, the star and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, were seen in a luxury jewelry ad campaign (above). Fans accused the ad of lightening her skin tone and sending a 'worrying message' to fans.

In 2008, Beyonce faced controversy when her skin appeared shades lighter in an advertisement for L'Oreal.

And in 2012, a photo used to promote her album 4, released in 2011, surfaced showing the mega-star looking much paler than her usual tone - again sparking claims of skin-lightening filters being used.

Dr Gendai Echezona, anethesiologist and pain medicine specialist in Connecticut, told DailyMail.com: 'If you want to even out your skin tone, a trusty healthcare professional can help with safe treatments - but that's very different from lightening it.'

A representative from Beyonce has been approached for comment.
Experts have voiced concern over a possible cover up similar to that of Covid-19

The eyes of the world are once again locked on China as it suffers another mysterious respiratory outbreak that is 'overwhelming' some hospitals.

Chaotic scenes of mask-wearing crowds in hospitals in Beijing have eerie echoes of the early days of the Covid outbreak four years ago that also began with an 'undiagnosed pneumonia.'

Chinese authorities insist they are simply dealing with a rebound in severe flu and respiratory illnesses that were suppressed by lockdowns, rather than a novel virus like the one that caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

China had the world's longest and harshest lockdown measures and is only now experiencing its first winter in years without them. The curbs are believed to have suppressed the population's immunity and left them vulnerable to seasonal illnesses.

While Chinese officials said they have no evidence of 'unusual or novel' pathogens, Obama's ex-White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has said Beijing's history of cover ups is a cause for skepticism.

BEIJING, 2023: An image shows a crowded children's hospital in Beijing on October 30 amid a surge in respiratory illnesses in some areas of China

WUHAN, 2019: The above shows the scene in Wuhan in January 2020 amid growing concern about the mysterious pneumonia in the city

China has not revealed how many people have been hospitalized or died in the outbreak, but it appears to be mainly affecting children.

Doctors on the ground say they are seeing children with high fever and lung inflammation, but without a cough or pulmonary nodules  lumps on the lungs that are usually the result of a past infection.

There have been reports of overwhelmed pediatric hospitals in several Chinese cities including Beijing and 500 miles away in the north-east province of Liaoning.

The alarm was first raised over the outbreak internationally on November 21, when the disease surveillance system ProMED issued a notification about reports of an 'undiagnosed pneumonia' in China.

The system  which was also the first to raise the alarm in December 2019 over the emergence of Covid  works to detect unusual health events related to emerging infections.

It relies on a global network of healthcare experts who are on the look out for health notices and tips, social media discussions, health department announcements and reports from local media.

The alert it issued last week cited a local media report from FTV News, a Taiwanese media outlet, which described sick children crowding into hospitals in two Chinese cities suffering from symptoms associated with pneumonia.

When the alert was issued last week, there were immediate comparisons to the 2019 Covid outbreak.

Like in 2019, it was left to independent health authorities rather than China itself to report the outbreak.

The alert six days ago prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to send an official request two days later to Chinese authorities asking for official data and information on the outbreak.

The WHO, responding quickly and putting the pressure on China, is still reeling from criticism that it protected Beijing and parroted the country's official line that Covid could not spread between people despite no evidence supporting the claim.

Chinese officials have insisted no new pathogen is to blame and instead have blamed a surge in common winter bugs as the country faces its first full winter without anti-Covid measures

Rahm Emanuel, who was previously President Barack Obama's White House chief of staff, said recently there were still 'serious questions' about the recent pneumonia outbreak in China

People were first made aware of the current viral outbreak on November 21, when the public disease surveillance system ProMED issued a notification about reports of 'undiagnosed pneumonia.'

ProMED, a world health surveillance system run by health experts, first raised the alarm over the emergence of another 'undiagnosed pneumonia' in Wuhan, which later turned into the Covid-19 pandemic

Chinese authorities arranged a teleconference with WHO on Thursday to provide the data requested.

The agency said the information provided indicated the clusters of cases were from known pathogens.

The data showed China has been experiencing an increased number of children sick with mycoplasma pneumoniae  bacteria that causes mild infections of the respiratory system - since May.

Pediatric cases of RSV, adenovirus, influenza and COVID-19 have also been surging since the fall, according to the data seen by the WHO.

Chinese and world health officials say the surge is not completely unprecedented and China would not be the first country to suffer the ripple effects of pandemic-era lockdowns.

Increasingly, studies have shown that children's immunity was damaged during Covid due to the lack of exposure to common germs that strengthen the immune system against infections.

The UK experienced a rise in other illnesses following lockdowns and in spring of 2022, rates of some respiratory illnesses in the country were 20 times greater than after 2020's first shutdown.

Data from April 2022 showed flu cases were up four times compared to July 2020, when social distancing restrictions were still in place in much of the world.

The US also faced a surge in pediatric illnesses last winter as respiratory viruses spread in the absence of restrictions.

Doctors said at the time the spike in hospitalizations among children was 'worse than any other'  as seasonal bugs returned with a vengeance and cases of flu and RSV hit their highest level in more than a decade.

China had a much harsher and longer lockdown than other nations, under its 'zero Covid' policies, which were only officially lifted in January, with pandemic-era measures ended this summer. The harsh restrictions prompted mass protests that saw people calling on Xi Jinping to step down.

Many experts expected China to face a major 'exit wave' after its harsh restrictions were lifted and there were reports shortly after restrictions were eased of hospitals in some areas being swamped.

DailyMail.com has analyzed the percentage of people testing positive for flu, rhinovirus, parainfluenza, RSV, hMPV and adenovirus in England during the pandemic. Rates for all of the viruses except rhinovirus were higher in April 2022 than the same time the previous year, when people were only allowed to meet in groups of six, working from home was in place and hugging was still discouraged

The delay in reporting and lack of information concerning the number of cases and deaths once again worried officials of China's history of a lack of transparency when it comes to public health events.

Local outlets said last week the outbreak seems to be affecting mostly children and has caused some schools to cancel classes due to the large number of absences caused by the illness.

But because of the delay in reporting, what the world is coming to learn could be skewed. While China says the virus mostly affects children, the ambiguity is eerily similar to initial claims that Covid-19 did spread among people.

A WHO official said on November 23 the spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently going through is not as high as before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The official also reiterated that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases, instead being linked to the flu, Covid and RSV. They said no new pathogens had been identified.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said this weekend the increase appeared to be driven by a rise in the number of children contracting pathogens that two years of Covid restrictions have kept them away from.

'We asked about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that they are seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019,' Van Kerkhove told STAT.

She added: 'This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago.'

China's National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng echoed these sentiments on Sunday and said the surge in acute respiratory illnesses was linked to the simultaneous circulation of several kinds of pathogens, most prominently influenza.

He said with the coming of winter and rise in cases, Chinese health agencies are continuing to monitor cases, encourage vaccinations, disperse medical resources and ensure people are receiving necessary treatment.

He also advised people to wear masks and called on local authorities and treatment areas to extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines.

Images coming out of China show overwhelmed hospital waiting rooms crammed with parents and children.

But this may be reassuring compared to early in the Covid pandemic, when pictures coming out of Wuhan showed bodies piling up and overcrowded funeral homes.

Medical staff have also not been photographed wearing the full hazmat suits that were being seen in Wuhan in January 2020 as Covid took hold.
I have just finished another, typical, shift in A&E but, while I left feeling we provided great care, there were still 18 patients in the corridor  at a time when elderly patients can wait more than two days for a ward bed.

It's not simply that resources are stretched, it's because as a population we're becoming more and more unhealthy, needing more and more care.

And of all the lifestyle factors that affect our health, it's obesity that's having the greatest impact. In fact, I estimate that at least two-thirds of those patients on trolleys and in corridors waiting for a bed had obesity-related conditions.

There was the patient needing an amputation, a complication of type 2 diabetes, caused by obesity. In the next trolley in the corridor there was a patient who'd had a stroke, caused by high blood pressure, partly the result of obesity.

There was also the patient unable to walk because of knee pain, due to osteo-arthritis  caused by, yes, obesity.

Another patient had a post-operative infection, a complication much more likely to occur with obesity.

Of all the lifestyle factors that affect our health, it's obesity that's having the greatest impact (Stock Image)

The latest figures from the Health Survey for England (an official report that monitors the nation's health and care) found that 25.9 per cent of adults are obese and a further 37.9 per cent are overweight but not obese (Stock Image)

Others needed to be admitted because of worsening dementia or complications from treatment for their cancer  obesity is a significant risk factor for both conditions. Then there was the patient admitted with kidney failure  again, in part due to obesity.

Finally, there were two patients admitted with Covid: their obesity meant they did not have the respiratory reserve to cope with the infection, and were seriously ill.

Scanning the corridor, I could see that, on the one hand, thanks to advances in modern medicine, these patients had longer life expectancies than their parents. But on the other hand, so many of those years were being spent in poor health  and obesity was to blame.

The latest figures from the Health Survey for England (an official report that monitors the nation's health and care) found that 25.9 per cent of adults are obese and a further 37.9 per cent are overweight but not obese. (I'm in this category, despite lots of failed efforts to continue my weight loss journey: I've lost 10 kg over the last year or so but need to lose another 5-6 kg, to reach a 'healthy' body mass index, BMI.)

Obesity is usually defined as having a BMI of 30 or above and 'overweight' as a BMI between 25 and 30.

There has been a lot of talk recently about BMI not being that useful as a measure of healthy weight  and certainly there is some truth in this.

BMI was actually devised in the 19th century by a Belgian mathematician, Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, to provide a quick and easy way to measure the degree of obesity in the general population to assist in governmental health planning.

But the man who drove its widespread use in more modern times was Professor Philip James, a UK expert on nutrition based at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He looked at data from U.S. health insurance companies and saw that people with larger BMIs on average tended to die earlier.

It was Professor James who set the thresholds for the categories of 'overweight' and 'obese' and these are now international benchmarks. Sadly, he passed away recently, at the age of 85, but his thresholds have been instrumental in the medical community's ability to track obesity across generations and regions, looking at causes of obesity and ways to tackle the condition.

But, as Professor James himself acknowledged, BMI is a very crude tool, and doesn't differentiate between muscle and fat.

The example we so often hear is how healthy muscular rugby players are laughably 'obese', solely because of their BMI. Meanwhile, BMI hasn't been able to prevent obesity exploding in prevalence and severity.

In its simplest form, the cause is consuming more calories than we burn. Basically, that's what I was taught at medical school and it's what most people still think.

In fact, we now know so much more. Exercise is great for you but, contrary to what most people believe, it will not help you lose weight  that is because the body adapts to how many calories you burn from exercise and reduces energy usage in other areas, for example, reducing inflammatory responses.

It's not simply that resources are stretched, it's because as a population we're becoming more and more unhealthy, needing more and more care (Stock Image)

Obesity is usually defined as having a BMI of 30 or above and 'overweight' as a BMI between 25 and 30 (Stock Image)

We're also eating too much of the wrong stuff  highly processed foods that are packed with sugar and fat and 'empty calories'.

This is the more complex cause: it isn't just about blaming the individual, but requires societal and political changes around how food is manufactured and marketed.

But it's also true that, as individuals, we need to take responsibility, however difficult this is.

The problem is that many of us  and I include myself in this  don't make all the changes we need to. One reason for this is because we look around and see that we are normal for the population, or perhaps even thinner than the average.

That may well be true  but that's because over two-thirds of the population are now overweight. However, if the average person was teleported 50 years into the past, they would be one of the most overweight people around. The fact is, being overweight has been normalised.

And even if we do recognise we are a bit overweight, we may fall into the trap of that misunderstood phenomenon, 'healthy but overweight'.

Professor Matthias Bluher, from the University of Leipzig in Germany, is a world expert on obesity and type 2 diabetes, and a few weeks ago he gave a key talk at an international convention where he reviewed the latest research.

This showed that there is a large subsection of people who would be 'obese' by BMI definition but who are 'metabolically healthy' i.e. they have no blood markers pointing to ill health.

Their excess weight is round their legs and buttocks, rather than abdomen and internal organs. They do not have insulin resistance (a precursor of type 2 diabetes, where the cells cannot mop up all the sugar from the blood), or type 2 diabetes, high blood fats or cholesterol.

They also have normal blood pressure. In other words, they're fat but fit. Just like me!

I'm overweight by BMI definition (28) but I run every day, my blood pressure is fine, I have no evidence of type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes and my levels of fat and cholesterol in the blood are normal. I'm therefore overweight but metabolically healthy.

So I thought that meant I didn't need to worry about my weight because I am far healthier than other people who weigh the same but who aren't as metabolically and physically fit as I am.

That may be true, but what I didn't realise was that my 'metabolically healthy' overweightness was actually a risk factor for ill health.

Professor Bluher's presentation blew away my confidence and assumptions. Firstly, being metabolically healthy but obese is often just a transient state and you soon end up metabolically unhealthy.

In fact a little-read paper from 2013 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, showed that 30 per cent of obese but metabolically healthy people become metabolically unhealthy within six years.

But the piece of research that really blasted my complacency out of the water was a study published in 2019 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham looked at the health records of 3.5 million patients and found that over nearly five-and-a-half years, obese individuals with no metabolic abnormalities (including healthy but overweight like me) had a 49 per cent higher risk of heart disease, a seven per cent higher risk of stroke and a 96 per cent increased risk of heart failure compared with people of normal weight.

What causes this switch from fat but healthy to fat and unhealthy? The underlying reason is that excess fat cells create chronic, damaging inflammation.

So where does this leave me and you? Looking into this 'fat, but fit' concept has made me realise that, yes, it is better to be 'fat but fit' compared with 'fat and not fit'. But obesity in itself  regardless of the metabolic state of your body  is a risk you cannot afford to take.

Do I really need?

This week: Ultimate Performance Advanced Back Support, 38, 1000mile.co.uk

Ultimate Performance Advanced Back Support, 38

Made from neoprene  a rubber material used in wetsuits  'this is a brilliant product' to support your back 'during physical exertion or lifting', says physiotherapist Tim Allardyce, of Surrey Physio.

'That's because the lower back is a weak area, especially in people who lack strength in their spine, so a brace such as this provides more stability to the spine and abdominal core.

'This product pulls you in with the tension strap at the front and can be worn under or over clothes when lifting something heavy to stabilise and support your spine, so reducing the load on your back.

'I would recommend using this when doing physical work for short periods  no more than ten minutes at a time  rather than all day which could promote reliance or weaken your core and muscular stability.

'I keep a back support like this in my office for when I have to lift something heavy.'
China contributes to improving global AI governance

11:04, November 27, 2023 By Liu Yao ( People's Daily

In recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) technology has been rapidly advancing around the world and finding increasingly wider applications.

However, while driving economic and social development, the surge of AI also brings with it security risks and challenges.

Children learn to paint with artificial intelligent wearing virtual reality headsets at the Hefei University of Economics in east China's Anhui province. (People's Daily Online/Luo Xianyang)

In particular, the impacts of AI technology on legal, ethical, and humanitarian aspects, as well as its complex effects on international politics, economy, military, and society, have drawn attention and sparked discussions in the international community. The need for international cooperation and regulatory governance of AI has become particularly urgent.

Earlier this month, 28 countries and regions including China, the United States, the UK and the European Union signed the "Bletchley Declaration" at the first AI Safety Summit, agreeing to build an "internationally inclusive network of scientific research on frontier AI safety."

This October, China launched the Global AI Governance Initiative, which systematically outlines China's proposals on AI governance from three aspects, namely, the development, security and governance of AI, and presents a constructive approach to addressing universal concerns over AI development and governance.

The initiative stresses it is important to uphold a people-centered approach in developing AI, with the goal of increasing the wellbeing of humanity and on the premise of ensuring social security and respecting the rights and interests of humanity, so that AI always develops in a way that is beneficial to human civilization.

As an "enabler" for social development, AI primarily serves to enhance human wellbeing, thus it is important to ensure the robustness and safety of AI technology, said Zeng Yi, director of the International Research Center for AI Ethics and Governance of the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

China explicitly emphasizes a people-centered approach in the Global AI Governance Initiative, which proves that the initiative is globally oriented and aims to benefit all humanity, Zeng added.

Visitors learn about the application of foundation models at the Apsara Conference 2023 in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province, Oct. 31. (People's Daily Online/Long Wei)

"The risks associated with AI technology are characterized by their hidden nature, cross-domain impact, global reach, and long-term effects. Capital's pursuit of profit may lead to the alienation of technology, necessitating sustained, systematic, and collaborative governance efforts at the international level," said Zhang Xin, director of the Digital Economy and Legal Innovation Research Center, the University of International Business and Economics.

In the Global AI Governance Initiative, China proposed that countries should adhere to the principle of developing AI for good, respect the relevant international laws, and align AI development with humanitys common values of peace, development, equity, justice, democracy, and freedom. They should work together to prevent and fight against the misuse and malicious use of AI technologies by terrorists, extreme forces, and transnational organized criminal groups.

China is a major player in the AI sector. Statistics show that the scale of China's core AI industry has exceeded 500 billion yuan ($70.42 billion), with the number of AI enterprises surpassing 4,300 and innovative achievements continue to emerge.

According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, Chinese enterprises and institutions applied for nearly 30,000 AI-related patents in 2022, accounting for over 40 percent of the world's total.

While advancing in technology and related industries, China has been committed to enhancing the security, reliability, controllability, and fairness of AI technology.

In the Global AI Governance Initiative, China proposed that countries should gradually establish and improve relevant laws, regulations and rules, and ensure personal privacy and data security in the R&D and application of AI. It said countries should put ethics first, establish and improve ethical principles, norms, and accountability mechanisms for AI, formulate AI ethical guidelines, and build sci-tech ethical review and regulatory system.

Robots dance at the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, July 6. (People's Daily Online/Wang Chu)

Besides, it is also important to adhere to the principles of fairness and non-discrimination, and avoid biases and discrimination based on ethnicities, beliefs, nationalities, genders, etc.

A study by the International Monetary Fund found that AI and other new technologies may lead to increased investment in developed economies that have already achieved automation, thereby further widening the gap between wealthy and impoverished nations. Experts noted that in the field of AI, there exist a digital divide and a governance gap between developing and developed countries.

That's why China, in the Global AI Governance Initiative, proposed that all countries, regardless of their size, strength, or social system, should have equal rights to develop and use AI.

Countries should increase the representation and voice of developing countries in global AI governance, and ensure equal rights, equal opportunities, and equal rules for all countries in AI development and governance. Efforts should be made to conduct international cooperation with and provide assistance to developing countries, to bridge the gap in AI and its governance capacity.

According to Zhang Li, a researcher with the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, the Global AI Governance Initiative responds to the widespread concerns and attention of the international community, especially developing countries, regarding the development of AI.

China's advocacy for governance in the field of AI represents a voice for developing countries and demonstrates its role as a responsible major country in improving global governance, Zhang added.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Du Mingming)
An octopus rests on the muddy, carbon-rich seafloor in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Scientists have discovered huge carbon storage hot spots in the sediment on the ocean floor. Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA

A Pacific rock crab scuttling along the ocean floor will one day become a part of a vast, critical stash of carbon that lies off the coast of Northern California, which scientists have now measured for the first time.

This reserve holds untold millennia worth of the would-be greenhouse gas, according to a study released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of National Marine Sanctuaries. The Pacific Ocean seafloor has exceptional carbon-caching prowess, highlighting the importance of leaving this hidden reservoir undisturbed, scientists say.

Doug George, an ocean scientist with NOAAs Office for Coastal Management who co-authored the study, is impressed by the phenomenal amount of carbon trapped in just the top layers of the seafloor.

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Its so much that we need to get a better understanding of how it works, because its a really important part of our climate situation, George said.

George and his co-authors culled together samples of sea floor sediment collected over six decades of scientific excursions in protected waters. The study area comprises three NOAA sanctuaries covering 6,000 square miles from Point Arena in Mendocino County down to Point Ano Nuevo in San Mateo County.

The team estimates that just the top 10 centimeters of ocean floor across these sanctuaries hoards a staggering 9 million metric tons of carbon. It would take the entire city of San Francisco about a decade to produce an equivalent amount of greenhouse gas.

A red deep-sea shrimp crawls among anemones in Cordell Bank National Marine Sanctuary. Scientist have discovered enormous stores of carbon in the seafloor off the California coast. Ocean Exploration Trust/NOAA

The scientists then used this data to make a carbon-storage map of the region. They found that the muddy deltas where rivers meet ocean are carbon hot spots.

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The muddier the sediment, the more carbon youre going to have said Sara Hutto, the studys lead author.

Thats because mud carries the remains of carbon-based life, like fallen leaves and animal bones, out to sea. This slurry eventually settles into the seabed, pinned down by ocean waters.

The largest hot spot of carbon in California waters the scientists discovered spans 63 miles from Gualala to Point Reyes. The calmer ocean waves this far out at sea give the carbon-dense sediment a chance to settle without getting kicked up again.

While other U.S. seaboards have yet to be studied in this way, the researchers hypothesize that the Gulf Coast could be even more carbon-rich, thanks to the discharge of the Mississippi delta.

But Californias uniqueness is hard to quantify.

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No one has done this kind of study in the U.S. before, Hutto said, so we dont have the numbers to compare to other areas.

She hopes NOAA can catch up with its British peers, who have more extensively measured their oceans carbon. This U.K. research has led to calls for action.

When William Austin, an oceanographer at the University of Saint Andrews, undertook carbon-accounting research in Scotlands coastal waters, he found that many important fisheries were particularly rich in carbon. These areas became flash points in conservationists fights to ban bottom trawling.

Bottom trawling still occurs in NOAA sanctuaries and is a backbone of California halibut fisheries. Austin is encouraged by his U.S. counterparts efforts.

This new report from NOAA offers a potential stepping stone to support those policy changes, Austin said.
Theo Burrell had recently returned to work after having her baby, Jonah, when the headaches and exhaustion began early last year.

The pain was so intense at times that over-the-counter pills didn't touch it. So Theo, then 35, booked an appointment with her GP.

She was advised that the stress of juggling work and early motherhood was the likely cause of her symptoms and told to rest and relax as much as she could.

Over the next six months, the Antiques Roadshow expert returned to her GP, and an out-of-hours clinic, four more times because she had near permanent pain in her head that became progressively worse  accompanied by sickness, visual disturbances and pins and needles in her left arm.

She was also so exhausted it was impossible for her to get out of bed most days. But each time, the medics sent her on her way with stronger analgesic drugs, which had barely any effect.

Antiques Roadshow star Theo Burrell was diagnosed with a brain tumour in June last year

'I felt so numb to the devastating significance of what he was saying that my first words were, "I feel really bad for you, that you're having to give me this news."'

In April last year she was too unwell to go to work at Lyon & Turnbull auctioneers in Edinburgh, where she is a senior specialist in fine furniture and decorative arts.

When migraine medication failed to work, her GP  thinking it might be a sinus problem  prescribed steroids, which brought temporary relief. While Theo resisted the urge to Google her symptoms, she vividly remembers saying to her partner Alex: 'I really hope this isn't a brain tumour.'

Finally, in June last year, unable to bear the crushing pressure in her head any longer, she insisted that her mother, who was visiting, take her to A&E at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary (while Alex looked after Jonah).

A CT scan confirmed her worst fears: Theo had a brain tumour. 'As the doctor said those words, it felt like I was having an out-of-body experience,' says Theo, now 37.

'All I could focus on was the fact that he had gone from being quite cheery and chatty before I had the scan  I was so grateful to him for actually listening to me  to looking extremely worried.

'I felt so numb to the devastating significance of what he was saying that my first words were, "I feel really bad for you, that you're having to give me this news."'

He was, however, encouraging about what might happen next, assuring her that, although the tumour appeared large (5cm), surgery to remove it was possible.

Looking back, Theo now realises how naive she was to feel reassured by this. She went for a walk and phoned her friends while her mother called Alex, because she couldn't bear to break the awful news to him herself.

Given morphine, which, at last, provided relief from the crushing pain, Theo was admitted to a ward: she saw a consultant neurosurgeon the following day  who told her straight that she had a glioblastoma. 'He said there are 130 types of brain tumour, and this is the deadliest, and he could tell, I don't know how, just from looking at my scan.

'He said, "It's cancer and it's really aggressive. This is the reality of the situation. We'll take out as much as we can but it will come back. It's incurable and the average life expectancy is 12-18 months."'

As she recalls this moment, Theo closes her eyes momentarily, blinking back tears, and takes a deep breath. 'I didn't cry at the time  I was too shocked  as it began to sink in that this was going to kill me. My mind automatically scanned for the things I would miss: getting old with Alex, seeing our son, then just 20 months, grow up, spending time with my parents, my brother, my friends...'

Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common, malignant brain tumour diagnosed in adults. It develops from glial cells, which are found in the brain and spinal cord. There is no known cause.

Treatment usually involves surgery to remove as much of the tumour as possible without damaging healthy tissue; followed by radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Glioblastomas always grow back.

In the UK every year, 16,000 people are diagnosed with a brain tumour, with just 12 per cent surviving beyond five years, compared with an average of 54 per cent across all cancers. Last week, the family of TV presenter Annabel Giles revealed that the 64-year-old had died after being diagnosed with a stage 4 glioblastoma in July.

The death of the former model and ex-wife of Midge Ure came just four months after her diagnosis, despite both surgery and 'countless' radiotherapy sessions.

In the aftermath of her own diagnosis, Theo and Alex, 37, a software engineer, were acutely aware of the everyday things that she and Jonah are likely to miss out on. 'I remember coming home from the hospital a few days after surgery and reading bedtime stories to Jonah, and Alex and I crying throughout. It was the first time I'd actually cried. We didn't know how many more bedtime stories I'd be there for,' says Theo.

Theo and Alex have not told their son anything about the diagnosis, believing it would be too difficult, and overwhelming, for a toddler to take in, and plan to leave it until he is older or Theo becomes very ill again. There are, however, occasions  such as when Jonah wants his mummy to put on a toy fireman's hat or wear his tiny sunglasses  that she must explain he needs to be gentle, so as not to hurt the scar on her head.

Theo and Alex have not told their son anything about the diagnosis, believing it would be too difficult, and overwhelming, for a toddler to take in, and plan to leave it until he is older or Theo becomes very ill again

TV presenter Annabel Giles died last week

This is the very visible reminder of the four-hour-long surgery she had just six days after her diagnosis: not remembering a time when the scar wasn't there, he has never even questioned it.

Theo says she has the late Labour MP, Dame Tessa Jowell, who died from a GBM brain tumour in 2018, to thank for the fact that surgeons were able to remove more than 90 per cent of her tumour.

Before her death, Dame Tessa had successfully campaigned for the NHS to give patients 5-ALA, the 'pink drink', before their surgery. It causes tumour cells to glow bright pink under UV light, so that more of a tumour can be removed safely. After the operation, and pain-free (apart from the occasional headache), Theo was finally able to sleep normally lying down, having spent months propped up in bed to cope with the pain. A fortnight later, she began six weeks of radiotherapy, followed by six months of chemotherapy, in the form of temozolomide, taken as a daily pill.

'There is still some tumour left as it's extremely rare for all the cancer cells to be fully removed, because of the risk of harming healthy brain cells, but radiotherapy and chemotherapy helped to shrink it some more,' she says.

'Glioblastomas are very smart at getting around the treatment and are able to re-form but I have three-monthly scans  waiting for these results is torturous, but mine has thankfully remained stable.'

While Theo is all too aware that this is a terminal, incurable disease, she says: 'I don't want to know how long I've got  I know myself well enough and told the doctor, "If you give me a figure, I will focus on that for what's left of my life and it won't do me any good." He said, "OK, fair enough, I just want you to understand the seriousness of this situation" and I told him I absolutely get it.

'The average life expectancy for my type of tumour is 12 to 18 months, so, by those reckonings, I would only have a couple of weeks left. But, according to the scans, things are looking OK for me at the moment.'

Theo feels lucky to have been able to celebrate Jonah's third birthday last month. They did so a few days early because she was awaiting scan results and didn't want bad news to mar the event.

She has been far less inclined to fret since her diagnosis. 'I used to worry a lot about how I'd cope with a serious illness and when I got this diagnosis it almost freed me from that. I just had to get on with it,' she says.

'While I obviously wish I didn't have a terminal illness, it's liberating in lots of ways. I just don't worry about the same small things any more and now live day to day, appreciating what's happening, instead of always planning and looking to the future.'

She says some of her 'why me' rage has abated in recent months as scans have shown her condition has, for now at least, stabilised. 'I'm not a smoker and have always eaten well and exercised, so my diagnosis felt so random,' says Theo. 'None of the doctors have been able to explain why this happened to me.'

She has channelled what is left of that anger into raising awareness about glioblastomas  and the lack of funding for research. Last week this culminated in her being made patron of the charity Brain Tumour Research.

'I felt incredibly honoured and really wanted to use my, albeit small, public profile, thanks to the Antiques Roadshow, to raise awareness and continue the work of people like Dame Tessa Jowell, who were diagnosed before me, and make what difference I can to those diagnosed after me.'

There is much to be done. As Dr Karen Noble, the charity's director of research, says: 'The situation for current brain tumour patients is terribly dire, the prognosis is poor, and there have been no new treatments for nearly 20 years.'

But she says things are improving. 'One barrier in treatment terms has been getting certain chemo drugs across the blood-brain barrier, the physical fence that protects the brain, and that in turn affects the ability to attract funds for research as researchers may not have been able to show as much progress as those looking into other disease states.

'However, there is great momentum now because of the investment in funding from charities such as ours.'

In one promising project also being funded by the charity, a team at Cardiff University are developing tiny 'super sponges' that look like the confectionery hundreds & thousands but contain chemotherapy drugs proven in lab studies to be effective on brain tumours. The sponges can be left in the brain after surgery. 'This would get around the blood-brain barrier challenge,' says Dr Noble.

Meanwhile, a team at Imperial College London (also funded by Brain Tumour Research) are working on devices that create rays of light that might better enable surgeons to identify malignant cells. Even with the pink drink, some cells get missed (for fear of injury to the healthy brain).

But a major area of concern is misdiagnosis, with patients often told they have everything from vertigo to blocked sinuses or even hormone problems  which can lead to months of unnecessary suffering. Diagnosis delays can also mean that the tumour becomes too advanced for surgery. (The delay in Theo's case has made no difference, as surgeons are rarely able to remove more than 90 per cent of a tumour.)

Four in ten patients who have a brain tumour diagnosis will have visited their GP more than five times before being referred to a hospital, according to the charity: 60 per cent are diagnosed in A&E.

Dr Noble sympathises with the challenges faced by GPs, who may only see two patients with brain tumours throughout their whole careers, but who see many more with common conditions which may also cause headaches, such as sinusitis and chronic stress.

'The symptoms such as headaches and dizziness can have a wide range of causes, and not everyone who presents with them will be referred for what is, after all, expensive brain imaging. We can discuss the rights or wrongs of that, but that is how the NHS works, and if everyone who presents with those symptoms was referred, waiting lists would be even longer and those who need scans more likely to miss out.'

Other classic brain tumour symptoms include weakness, often on one side of the face or body (as the tumour affects one side of the brain), difficulty walking and with co-ordination in general, nausea, vomiting, memory loss and pins and needles in one arm.

To improve diagnosis, the charity is helping to fund another research project at Imperial College, in collaboration with a biomedical company in India, devising a blood test for brain tumours.

A major issue is that, although in 2018, 40 million was allocated by the Government for brain tumour research, to be distributed by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), a government body, only a quarter of that has been spent so far.

Dr Noble and her colleagues at Brain Tumour Research believe that the money has been held up because NIHR's remit is to fund less development of potential treatments and concentrate instead on clinical trials.

'Historically, just 1 per cent of the national cancer spend has been allocated to brain tumour research, so there aren't enough projects reaching clinical trials,' she says. 'We are therefore asking that more of that money goes toward funding earlier research.'

The NIHR said it was 'established to fund clinical, translational and applied research, rather than discovery or early science'. A spokesman added: 'Since the 2018 announcement, NIHR has committed 10.7 million across 13 studies.'

Theo, who has returned to work a few days a month, is hopeful of returning to our screens as a glass and ceramics expert on Antiques Roadshow next year.

Although she is still prone to headaches, these have nothing like the intensity of those before her surgery and the only medication she now takes is a drug to prevent seizures (a risk after any brain surgery). She also eats healthily and takes regular, gentle exercise to stay as robust as possible.

'People who know they have limited time left often have a bucket list, travelling around the world, having new experiences,' she says. 'But with a diagnosis like mine, you're quite limited. I have low energy levels, I'm not able to drive  my licence was taken because of the seizure risk  health insurance for travelling abroad can be extremely expensive and anyway I have to be around for regular scans and results.

'But I have a healthy son, a loving partner, a great family and friends, and what I actually want is to spend as much time as I can with them, doing everyday things. I'm not sitting around thinking about it all the time. On the days that we're out in the park, getting an ice cream or catching up with friends, I can forget about it for a while.'

Then she adds, with a heartfelt poignancy: 'Whether I'll live long enough to benefit from advances in research and treatment for brain tumours I can't say, but I'm also determined to use what time I have left to help improve diagnosis and care for those suffering with this terrible disease.'
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor:

'With other global markets giving the UK little to go on, the main indices again showed few signs of life in opening exchanges. The premier index drifted lower, with an oil price which has drifted given OPEC uncertainty over the rearranged and upcoming meeting putting some pressure on the majors, with BP and Shell weaker.

'Broker downgrades to index heavyweight AstraZeneca as well as Entain also weighed, although there was some unconvincing strength across a couple of the retailers, likely on the back of some early reports on Black Friday activity, while Rightmove spiked higher on improved guidance.

'The FTSE100 is still keeping its head above water so far this year  just  although the 0.2% rise could evaporate very quickly.

'The FTSE250 briefly ventured into positive territory at the open although buying interest was limited. The index remains down by 2% in the year to date after a relatively positive opening quarter.
The founder of Revolution Beauty Adam Minto is in advanced talks to repay nearly 3million to settle allegations that he breached his fiduciary duties to the company, according to reports.

Revolution Beauty hopes the settlement will draw a line under a tumultuous two years since its initial public offering, which has included shareholder showdowns and a stock exchange suspension.

Governance and operational crises have left the company valued at just a fraction of its near-500million listing price.

Sky News reports that Minto could hand over the money as soon as this week while co-founder Tom Allsworth is also in discussions with Revolution Beauty to amend the timetable for deferred payments owed to him for his stake in the group's Medichem business.

However the firm did stress that there was 'no guarantee that agreements will be reached'

In response to the report, Revolution Beauty said on Monday it 'remains in negotiation' with Minto and Allsworth.

However the firm did stress that there was 'no guarantee that agreements will be reached'.

In a statement, the group said: 'As previously announced on 20 June 2023, the group announced potential legal proceedings against Mr Minto regarding the events that led to a delay in the audit of the FY22 results and the suspension of the company's shares from trading on AIM.

'Separately, and as previously announced on 31 August 2023, the board is negotiating with Tom Allsworth, the previous owner of Medichem, to reach a revised agreement on the terms of its acquisition.'

In January, chief executive Bob Holt said a probe has identified 'a number of serious issues' with the running of the business under previous management.

This included loans from Minto and Allsworth, founder of Medichem - which was acquired by Revolution Beauty in 2021 - to an employee and some distributors.

None of these loans, worth around 1million in total, had been disclosed to the board.

Earlier this month, the London-listed group's revenue increased by 20 per cent to 90.4million in the six months to the end of August, with UK sales growth of 14 per cent driven by revenues from Boots and Superdrug stores.

The business ended the period with a pre-tax profit of 400,000, against a loss of 13.7million in its first half.

Revolution Beauty Group shares fell by 1.16 per cent to 29.90p in Monday midday trading.
Shares in MusicMagpie plunged as hopes over a potential takeover came to an end.

On Monday last week, the second-hand smartphone and DVD retailer said it was in talks with BT and Aurelius, the private equity group which owns Footasylum and The Body Shop, over a possible deal.

But yesterday BT confirmed it was not making an offer just days after Aurelius walked away. Despite the bruising setback, the AIM-listed firm insisted it remains on the hunt for potential buyers.

Shares in MusicMagpie fell 16.5 per cent, or 3.25p, to 16.5p, taking its losses for the year to more than a quarter, while BT rose 1 per cent, or 1.25p, to 123.5p.

The FTSE 100 dropped 0.4 per cent, or 27.5 points, to 7460.7 and the FTSE 250 slid 0.1 per cent, or 19.55 points, to 18438.55.

No deal: Shares in MusicMagpie fell 16.5% taking its losses for the year to more than a quarter after BT confirmed it was not making an offer

The price of Brent crude hovered around $80 a barrel amid ongoing uncertainty surrounding planned output cuts by a group of oil-producing nations.

Opec+, whose 23 members include Saudi Arabia, Russia and Congo, was due to meet on Monday but pushed back the latest round of talks to Thursday following disagreements over supply cuts.

Since the end of last year Opec+, which produces around 40 per cent of global crude oil, has slashed output to raise prices.

But demand for oil remains weak and prices dipped below $80 a barrel before recovering.

Crude hit nearly $97 in late September while the World Bank recently warned it could top $150 if the war between Israel and Hamas escalates into full-blown conflict in the Middle East.

Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said oil prices remained under pressure as the potential for more production cuts lingered on.

BP inched up 0.3 per cent, or 1.45p, to 475.05p, Shell lost 0.9 per cent, or 24.5p, to 2570.5p and Harbour Energy slid 0.8 per cent, or 1.8p, to 222.8p.

Stock Watch - Epwin Group Epwin Group has outlined its plans to return cash to shareholders. The AIM-listed window and door maker said trading in the second half has been resilient despite the turbulence in the UK construction sector. The firm expects to meet market expectations for a profit of 24million this year. Epwin said its strong balance sheet and cash generation means it will buy back 3m shares. Shares rose 6 per cent, or 4p, to 70p yesterday.

Miners bore the brunt of concerns about Chinas troubled property sector as major lender Zhongzhi Enterprise Group faced a criminal investigation after it declared insolvency.

Fears over weaker demand saw Rio Tinto retreat 0.4 per cent, or 24p, to 5462p, Anglo American slide 0.5 per cent, or 11.5p, to 2205p and Glencore sink 0.6 per cent, or 2.65p, to 445.5p.

Chemical group Johnson Matthey made gains as the Bank of America upgraded the stock to buy from underperform and increased its target price to 2000p from 1600p. Shares rose 2.9 per cent, or 44.5p, to 1590.5p.

Entain headed in the other direction after Goldman Sachs voiced its concern over its sluggish online growth and joint business BetMGM losing market share in the US.

The broker also said the gambling giants 585million settlement following a bribery probe into its former Turkish business was larger than expected.

As a result, it lowered the Ladbrokes and Coral owner to sell from buy and slashed the target price to 820p from 1450p. Shares fell 0.8 per cent, or 6.8p, to 845p.

Burberry traded lower as Deutsche Bank Research warned that its weakness in the US is an issue and cut the target price to 1950p from 2200p.

Shares in the luxury fashion firm dropped 1.6 per cent, or 24p, to 1504p.

AstraZeneca sank after the City broker Jefferies stressed it needed to provide more clarity on its forecasts and cut its target price to 12500p from 13000p.

The pharma giants shares slid 2 per cent, or 204p, to 9976p.

There was good news for PPHE as it won planning approval from Westminster City Council to build a new hotel in London.

Shares in the hotel group behind Park Plaza rose 2.9 per cent, or 35p, to 1225p.
Metro Bank shareholders have backed a 925million rescue deal that will see a Columbian billionaire take control of the lender.

More than 90 per cent of investors voted to approve the package at a meeting yesterday to secure the banks future.

It will receive 150million through an equity raise and 175million from bondholders while also refinancing 600million of debt.

Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacals Spaldy Investments will inject 102million into the lender, increasing his stake from 9 per cent to 53 per cent.

Metro Banks share price jumped 4.9 per cent.

Controlling stake: Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski Bacal (pictured) will inject 102m into Metro Bank through his Spaldy Investments vehicle, increasing his stake from 9% to 53%

Meanwhile, reports revealed Metro Bank is in talks with Barclays about selling its 3billion residential mortgage book.

Sky News said an agreement is likely to be struck before the end of the year. Metro Bank and Barclays declined to comment.

The bank has previously said it is exploring a sale of its mortgage book to bolster its balance sheet. A spokesman for Metro Bank welcomed the shareholders support.

He added: This is testament to their belief and confidence in the future of Metro Bank and proves there is a place in retail and business banking for our model of stores in major towns and cities.

Gilinksi is based in London and built his 4.2billion fortune through banking and property.

He said last month his investment was driven by a belief in the need for physical and digital banking underpinned by a focus on exceptional customer service.

Metro Bank signalled it was in trouble in October following a series of blunders in recent years including accounting errors, leadership departures and delayed regulatory approval for key capital relief plans.

It revealed last month that it needed hundreds of millions of pounds to shore up its balance sheet and had to refinance 350million of debt within a year.

The banks shareholders approved each resolution at yesterdays general meeting by at least 90 per cent despite losing money in the deal.

The new shares were issued at a significant discount to the stocks value when the package was announced last month.

Metro Bank bondholders had already approved the funding, which involved some of them losing 40 per cent of their investment.

Metro Bank, which has 2.8m customer accounts and 76 branches, launched in 2010 and positioned itself as a challenger to the High Street banks.

The bank yesterday reiterated its target to open new branches despite most rivals closing sites as customers switch to digital banking.
Octopus Energy has bought a 12.5% stake in the Walney Extension wind farm from AIP Management

Octopus Energy has bought a 12.5 per cent stake in a wind farm in the Irish Sea from a group of Danish pension funds.

The energy company bought the stake in Walney Extension from AIP Management, the investment manager for Danish pension funds PKA and PFA.

Walney Extension is operated by Denmarks Orsted, which holds a 50 per cent stake. The wind farm  which is nine miles west of Walney Island off the coast of Cumbria, has been operational since 2018  producing enough power for nearly 600,000 homes.

The investment was made through the 3billion Octopus Energy Offshore Wind fund the company launched this month.

Octopus already holds stakes in British offshore wind farms Hornsea One and Lincs.

It is also expanding its global investments in the technology globally with deals in Europe and Asia.
Experience: Andrew Hauser will join the Australian central bank early next year

Bank of England official Andrew Hauser has been appointed deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA).

Hauser, who has worked on Threadneedle Street for over 30 years and is executive director of markets, will join the Australian central bank early next year.

The position has been vacant since Michele Bullock was promoted to governor of the Australian central bank two months ago.

Hauser said he was humbled and deeply honoured to be asked to serve as the RBAs deputy governor.

Hauser has a masters degree in economics from the London School of Economics and a politics, philosophy and economics degree from Oxford University.

The appointment of an external candidate to the senior leadership of the RBA is the latest move by the government to revamp the decade-old institution after a review recommended sweeping changes. Bullock said Hauser had great experience and will bring a welcome external perspective to the RBA.
Investment: Britain is trying to entice Chinese car makers to set up a global base in the UK

Britain is trying to entice Chinese car makers to set up a global base in the UK in a sign that the government is ready to open up to Beijing despite security fears.

Investment minister Lord Johnson said the country could capitalise on Brexit freedoms to sell Chinese firms electric cars to the rest of the world.

China have a very powerful electric car industry, theyve got a lot of excellent technology and theyre making great cars, he said.

Id much rather they make great cars in the UK that we could then capitalise on and generate wealth from, using our new post-Brexit trading agreements, than they made them in China and imported them in.

The remarks came at a global conference that brought together some of the biggest names in international finance, and where the Government announced 29.5billion in foreign investments into Britain.

Speaking at the summit, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak defended an attitude of continued caution towards Beijing, saying the situation has changed since new foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was prime minister.

But the PM also spoke of wanting to reorientate towards the Middle East and Asia.

And Johnsons comments about Chinas car makers added to that warmer sentiment.

China is a leading maker of electric cars, with leading brands such as BYD, and Johnson said it was also helping Britain to achieve net zero goals through investments in offshore wind.
Liz Milintacupt-Taylor: Paid 9,000 for top-ups in 2020, and could not start drawing her pension until these were sorted

Complaints about lost state pension top-ups cash continue to stream in to This is Money, despite the Government telling us this month: 'There is no general delay in the processing of payments.'

While most problems date from the big rush to boost state pensions from around January onwards, we have also heard from readers whose payments have been stuck in the system for years.

Expat teacher Liz Milintacupt-Taylor, pictured right, paid 9,000 for top-ups in early 2020.

The 68-year-old wanted to top up her record to qualify for a state pension, which requires a minimum 10 years of National Insurance contributions.

But her retirement plans were left in up in the air after Government staff failed to respond to her pleas for help, despite her long wait to get this sorted.

After trying unsuccessfully to get her payments processed and start drawing her state pension earlier this year, she contacted This is Money from Thailand and said: 'I'm doing online tutoring to keep afloat and unfortunately my savings are going down dramatically.

'I have every intention of returning to the UK to live but cannot at the moment until this is near sorted out.'

In another longstanding case, retired chartered surveyor Anna Harrison paid 'self employed' contributions of 156 in January 2021 and 140 in October 2022 to fill gaps in her state pension record.

She told us: 'I am becoming anxious as I will be 66 next July but I got nowhere with HMRC. When finally I spoke to a lady about it she said they had got my money but it was "unallocated".'

In September of this year, Ms Harrison was told by HMRC over the phone it could take up to another 25 weeks to sort out and couldn't be done any quicker.

Buying state pension top-ups The state pension is currently worth 10,600 a year if you qualify for the full rate, and this will rise to 11,500 next April. Top-up prices are now frozen until April 2025. And you can continue to benefit from a special concession allowing you to fill up or buy extra state pension qualifying years going back to 2006/07, rather than just the typical six years. But it can be hard to work out which years if any will benefit you individually, and the Government itself and other money experts warn you should check with the DWP before handing over your cash. > Read This is Money's guide to buying state pension top-ups, and see below for more information and DWP contact details.

This is Money got no response from the Government when we asked what efforts are being made to ensure all 'unallocated' top-ups payments are eventually processed, or to tackle older cases like these when they are flagged to staff.

Buying top-ups can give a generous boost to retirement income if you buy the correct years on your record, but the system was overwhelmed earlier this year when a rush of buyers jammed phonelines ahead of a crunch deadline - ultimately forcing the Government to extend it twice.

We have covered a string of cases where people paid large sums and waited months for them to be processed, without knowing if they are just in a queue or lost because they receive no receipt or acknowledgement of purchase.

A 68-year-old whose 11,500 state pension top-up cash went missing last March pleaded with Government staff for help for months but got nowhere until we intervened.

Below we cover two further cases of people who paid 6,400 and 9,800 over the spring and summer, and were still waiting for their top-ups to be sorted out in November.

Many readers report long waits to get through on Department for Work and Pensions and HMRC phonelines, getting passed from one department to the next, and receiving no help from staff.

The system is run jointly by the DWP and HMRC and so means dealing with both of them - although a new online top-ups service has been promised by next spring.

The process currently involves contacting the DWP, which checks and tells you which years are worth topping up; obtaining a reference number from HMRC before making a purchase; HMRC taking the payment for extra contributions and then updating National Insurance records; then the DWP recalculating state pension forecasts or payments.

A Government spokesman says: 'There is no general delay in the processing of payments.

'The vast majority of voluntary contributions paid result in records being updated within days, though some particular complex cases requiring specialist caseworkers can take longer to resolve.

'A new online service to allow people to see if making voluntary contributions would increase their state pension, and then make any payments, is expected to be ready later this financial year.

'The Government has extended the deadline to 5 April 2025 to give taxpayers more time to fill gaps in their National Insurance record and help increase the amount they receive in state pension.'

'It is very surprising to see HMRC claim that there is no general issue'

Former Pensions Minister Steve Webb says: 'It is shocking that HMRC are sitting on people's money that has not been allocated to the relevant National Insurance account.

'They need to be much more proactive in tracking down where this money belongs so that people's pensions can be properly boosted.'

Webb, now a partner at LCP and This is Money's pensions columnist, adds: 'Given the volume of people reporting problems and delays, it is very surprising to see HMRC claim that there is no general issue.

'If there isn't a problem, HMRC should tell us exactly how many people are still waiting and how long they have had to wait.'

'This is an absolute shambles. I am horrified that the Government seems to feel able to take pensioners for granted in this way Wendy Chamberlain MP, Lib Dems

Liberal Democrat Work and Pensions spokesperson, Wendy Chamberlain, attempted to find out how many people who bought top-ups from HMRC are waiting to get them put on their National Insurance record, and was informed this could 'only be obtained at disproportionate cost'.

But she was told the average waiting time between making a payment and having it credited to your NI record was currently 12 working days, though it could take up to eight weeks to appear 'if there is any kind of discrepancy that causes a rejection that requires further investigation'.

Chamberlain separately asked the DWP about the backlog of cases and waiting times for the final stage, which is getting top-ups added to state pension forecasts and payments.

She was told the information was 'only available at disproportionate cost', and that the vast majority of voluntary contributions result in records being updated within days.

Chamberlain says: 'The Government told me that issues with top up payments could lead to a delay of eight weeks.

'This is either wilful ignorance or total incompetence, as evidently they are overseeing a system where it takes years of chasing to get omissions resolved, meanwhile pensioners are left out of pocket.

'This is an absolute shambles. I am horrified that the Government seems to feel able to take pensioners for granted in this way. We need an urgent investigation, more resource and someone to finally take responsibility for this mess.' See Chamberlain's exchange with the Government about HMRC waiting times below.

Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann, a long-time campaigner on pensions who now sits in the House of Lords, says: 'There are clearly significant problems with the processes for state pension top ups.

'Unfortunately, the complexity of the whole state pension system, coupled with the need to manually adjust people's state pension records when extra top-up payments are made, seems to mean that those people who do want to increase their state pension payment are sometimes left waiting without knowing what has happened for far too long.

Surely there should be a system to acknowledge receipt of the person's top up payment, and then ask them to be patient while the new amounts are worked out Lady Atmann, former Pensions Minister

'The DWP is now dealing with so many different problems that have arisen with state pensions and, on this issue as with some of the others, they need to interact and cross-reference with the Treasury too, so it seems people are falling between the stools.

'There are no easy answers, but surely there should be a system to acknowledge receipt of the person's top up payment, and then ask them to be patient while the new amounts are worked out.

'The worry for members of the public is that they don't know what has happened to the payments they made  and when they call it seems the Government cannot confirm anything either.'

'My Gateway account says I will receive a reply in April 2024 - I will be almost 69'

Liz Milintacupt-Taylor paid a total of 9,000 for 15 years worth of top-ups in March, May and June 2020.

She lived in China at the time and is now in Thailand, but wants to move back to the UK.

She needed to top up her NI contributions to meet the minimum of 10 qualifying years required to receive a state pension, but her payments were never processed nor her record updated.

Ms Milintacupt-Taylor says she claimed a state pension in spring this year, and after various fruitless phone calls was told that she should have filled in a CF83 form, which she was not informed about in 2020.

She returned the form in July, along with a letter to DWP and HMRC asking for help to get her state pension record sorted out.

'Although I am still basically expat I applied for a pension as a resident of the UK as I fully intended to come back,' she wrote to us.

'I have now written to both DWP and HMRC apprising them of the situation and according to my Gateway account I will receive a reply in April 2024!!! I will be almost 69 years. Not great.'

What to do if your top-ups cash has gone missing Having trouble with top-ups? Email pensionquestions@thisismoney.co.uk Please put STATE PENSION TOP UPS in the subject line. Unfortunately we can't reply to everyone, so it is a good idea to contact your MP too and ask them to help. Find your MP here. Doing this will also raise awareness among politicians about state pension top-up failures, which This is Money readers have kept reporting to us for months.

During the time This is Money was trying to help her, the expected date for a reply shown on her Government account was pushed back from April to mid-May 2024.

After we intervened in her case, Mrs Milintacupt-Taylor had 15 years added to her state pension record.

She told us: 'I am hugely grateful for that. It was getting worrisome. A big weight is now off my shoulders so onwards and upwards.'

She now has the choice between a 110 a week state pension plus a one-year backpayment of nearly 8,700, or a higher state pension going forward.

'The system of top-ups is clearly in some disarray'

Anna Harrison made two top-up payments of 156 in January 2021 and 140 in October 2022, but when she tried to chase them up was informed she faced a long wait.

In September this year, she was told by an HMRC staff member it would take up to another 25 weeks for her top-ups to be allocated to her state pension record.

The 65-year-old from Bristol told us: 'She said it wasn't possible for this to be done any quicker. I have made an online complaint to HMRC but, other than an automatic acknowledgment, haven't had a proper response, let alone adjusting my record.

'She said I could pay last tax year's contribution but it feels like 'good money after bad'.'

Ms Harrison adds: 'You need a little bit of certainty about your future income. It is as if no one is taking control.

'If they are swamped with work the Minister should say they need more funds. It is not right. If we owe them they come chasing us and will fine us and cause us real hassle.'

When This is Money flagged her case to HMRC, it said her payments had been allocated when she made them, but were temporarily unallocated in error in August this year. This has now been fixed and HMRC has apologised to Ms Harrison for its errors.

She says: 'It is absolutely fantastic to get it resolved and I so appreciate your help. The system of top-ups is clearly in some disarray and I do hope that other people affected will also get a satisfactory resolution.

'We need the media to hold a spotlight on areas of Government which are not performing - it shouldn't be necessary but unfortunately it sometimes is.'

'If I had been late with my tax return, I would have had a whacking great fine'

James Andrews and his wife Angela (names have been changed) grew so frustrated trying to get information from the DWP on what top-ups he should buy as he neared his 66th birthday last April that they did the sums on nine years' worth of payments themselves.

Mrs Andrews says: 'On several occasions James tried to call HMRC in order to find out how much he had to pay, only to be left hanging on for hours until the line cut off completely. In the event he was never able to speak to anyone.

'So we decided to work out ourselves the amount to pay in additional contributions. We then sent a cheque for 6,387.55, with supporting text and a table showing how we had arrived at the figure, to HMRC.

'The cheque was cashed immediately.

'But we have since heard nothing from HMRC. When James turned 66 his state pension was paid at the lower rate as if we hadn't made any additional contributions. And so it has continued.

'In July we wrote to HMRC again with copies of everything we'd sent previously and a copy of the bank statement showing the cashed cheque to HMRC. We have still had no response.

'HMRC have now sat on this for almost seven long months. Thank goodness that we have other sources of income to draw on and don't need this money urgently. But their incompetence is really a total disgrace. Had I not paid my income tax to them they would have fined me!

'Just imagine if I had been late with my tax return. I would have had a whacking great fine. The state pension isn't a fortune. It's appalling. It disgusts me.'

Mr Andrews, a management consultant who lives in London, had his top-ups payments processed after we raised his case and he received an apology for any inconvenience from HMRC.

He got a boost in his state pension from nearly 163 to 197 a week and arrears of just over 485. The DWP is sending him a detailed breakdown of his state pension by letter.

'It took me over a 100 phone calls just to get through to them'

HMRC bungled Stephen Beard's state pension top-ups several times over.

He was wrongly asked to pay a full year's worth instead of only for a four-week gap for one year. And he was asked to pay for another top-up that was already a full qualifying year.

When he later contacted HMRC again to sort out a separate top-up, his cash was wrongly allocated to some of tax years he had previously paid for.

Mr Beard, 63, a former actor and bank clerical worker who lives in Kent, realised there was a problem with his 9,838 payment made last June after his state pension forecast still came up short.

He told us: 'I saw your article regarding the fiasco that is the state pension top up, voluntary national insurance contributions.

'I rang the pension line and was told I needed to pay 12 years' voluntary contributions to receive my full state pension. They gave me details, and which years to pay, which would give me a full new state pension.

'I then had to ring another number and tell them the years I wanted to pay and get a reference number which I did.

'I followed the advice of the Future Pension line's instructions to the letter. It took me over a 100 phone calls just to get through to them.'

Mr Beard is still clarifying his payments with HMRC, because there is another discrepancy that needs to be cleared up.

HMRC investigated after we flagged his case, and has apologised for the confusion and promised to sort out his record.

How to buy state pension top-ups? What else does the Government say

The DWP and HMRC provided further information about processing top-up payments.

- Voluntary National Insurance contributions do not always increase your state pension. People should make sure they would benefit before making any payments.

- If you're below state pension age, contact the Future Pension Centre to find out more. If you've reached state pension age, contact the Pension Service.

- People can check their NI record to see what gap years they have, how much they need to pay and by when to make a gap year into a full qualifying year. To receive a reference number for payments, they can contact HMRC.

- People who need to apply for a refund of voluntary contributions can check here: Claim a National Insurance refund.

- The Government has extra staff answering phone calls and dealing with correspondence on voluntary contributions.

- System improvements made since May mean the vast majority of payments made via bank transfer, for all years dating back to 2006, are being processed within days.

Other payments requiring manual processing, for example made by cheque, are being completed within eight weeks.

More complex cases requiring further checks can take longer to resolve, depending on individual circumstances.

- The DWP aims to update state pension records as soon as possible once notified that HMRC have allocated a payment to someone's National Insurance record.

- If someone is already receiving a state pension, the DWP would review their claim, increase the entitlement based on the revised NI record, and pay arrears back to the date HMRC received payment.

- The vast majority of people should be able to use a new online digital service which HMRC and DWP are aiming to introduce later in financial year 2023-24, once development and testing have been successfully completed.

Guidance will be made available advising who will be able to use the new digital service, and how.

- The new service will contain information to help people decide which years they may wish to make up shortfalls on, based on which gap years are available for them to fill and the cheapest or most beneficial years to pay voluntary contributions for. People will then be able to follow the process to pay online, should they decide to do so.
Vehicles maneuver in and out around Cloud Kitchens Charter Oak Food Pick Up site in San Francisco. Many drivers going to the ghost kitchen park or stop illegally in the cul-de-sac, making it difficult for local businesses clients to get in and out. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

Lunchtime is chaotic on Charter Oak Avenue, a small cul-de-sac in San Franciscos Apparel City neighborhood. Every parking spot on the block is taken, and a handful of drivers are double-parked or stopped in front of businesses driveways. Others simply idle in the middle of the road.

Most are visiting the same building: a ghost kitchen run by Cloud Kitchens.

Its so crowded with cars that you cant get down our street during lunch or the evening rush, said Natasha Koral, co-founder and CEO of Dan Perata Training, a dog training business that has been operating on the block for a decade. There is not enough parking, so their kitchen people park in our spots. And then all the (delivery) drivers, they block us in.

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Ghost kitchens like those operated by Cloud Kitchens have become a staple part of the food scene in the past few years. But for some businesses located near these densely packed facilities  which can house dozens of takeout-only restaurants under one roof  these high-traffic locations have brought a variety of problems. A few years after many of the sites opened, some neighbors say the situation hasnt improved, despite attempts to work with the ghost kitchens and repeated complaints to city agencies.

Cloud Kitchens, which is backed by former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, began opening facilities around 2018. According to its website, the business now operates more than 90 locations across the country. California has by far the largest concentration, with 10 in the Bay Area: Two each in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose and single locations in Sunnyvale, Redwood City, San Mateo and Hayward. From the start, businesses and residents near their sites often talked about how the company didnt seem to care about the problems they caused for their neighbors. Cloud Kitchens didnt respond to requests for comment.

When Cloud Kitchens came to Charter Oak, around 2019, Koral said there were guards who helped direct traffic. But they were only in place for a short while. Today, she said, tensions regularly boil over.

Ive seen drivers cuss out the police. They cuss us out. They threaten to fight us, Koral said. We are verbally assaulted on the daily and threatened with physical violence on the daily. ... It gets scary. Koral and other neighboring business owners tried working with Cloud Kitchens to resolve the issues but say the company never followed through on promises to help.

A car drives by barricades put up by Dan Perata to try to prevent cars from blocking the driveway to his dog training business on Charter Oak Avenue in San Francisco. His partner, Natasha Koral, says We are verbally assaulted on the daily and threatened with physical violence on the daily. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

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Across the bay, in a largely residential part of North Oakland, Cloud Kitchens Adeline Food Hall also draws traffic, as well as mixed reviews from locals. (Full disclosure: I also live in this neighborhood.) Some residents say the business is an improvement, noting that the building had been vacant for a while. Others disagree, citing problems with traffic.

Jeremy Leeds, who lives near the ghost kitchen, said the business has made the area more dangerous for biking. Families with young kids frequently use Adelines bike lanes to ride to and from school. The double parking, both by delivery drivers and from food wholesaler trucks, forces cyclists out into the traffic lane and creates blind spots for cyclists and motorists alike, he said.

Local neighborhood associations initially tried working with the business but say that after a couple of early conversations, Cloud Kitchens stopped responding to their emails. And while company representatives told local residents that they would hire staff to direct traffic, there was no visible traffic or security personnel at the building after the first few weeks it was open.

A sign instructs drivers to park at 90 degrees outside Cloud Kitchens Charter Oak Food Pick-up, a hub for delivery-focused restaurants in San Francisco. Drivers trying to get to the ghost kitchen have verbally assaulted nearby business owners as they jockey for parking spots, the business owners say. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

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The locations that do seem to have resolved their traffic and parking issues are those that have dedicated off-street parking available for delivery drivers. In East Oaklands Jingletown neighborhood, for instance, the Oakland Food Hall originally had the same kinds of issues with illegal parking reported at other sites. However, unlike many Cloud Kitchen sites, this location has a dedicated parking lot, and over time the business was able to successfully direct drivers to those spots. Today, people who work nearby say that there dont seem to be any traffic-related issues.

At the sites where parking issues have not been resolved, businesses and residents have tried turning to the city for assistance. Koral and her husband and business partner, Dan Perata, contact the citys 311 line and the police regularly but say nothing is done. (San Francisco parking enforcement did not respond to a request for comment.)

Angela Gennino, the president of the Golden Gate Community Association, which represents many households near the Adeline Street site, said she has reached out to a variety of offices within Oakland city government over the past three years, ranging from the City Council to traffic enforcement. In 2022, after she sent city officials photos of garbage outside the facility, the Public Works department inspected the site for stormwater pollution prevention compliance and told Cloud Kitchens to store their trash indoors. But the problems with illegally parked cars and blocked bike lanes have persisted.

Cars line up along Charter Oak Avenue outside a Cloud Kitchens facility in San Francisco. Vehicles coming and going to the ghost kitchen have created a nightmare for nearby businesses, the business owners say. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle

In 2021, the neighborhood association and a partner organization, Oakland Neighborhoods for Equity, filed a complaint with the city, arguing that multiple kitchens offering takeout would have traffic, noise, waste and delivery impacts equivalent to a fast food restaurant complex, a type of business prohibited in the neighborhoods mixed-use zone. More than two years later, residents are still fighting the city over these issues. (The city of Oakland declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation.)

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Gennino said many of the issues related to Cloud Kitchens sites stem from the fact that the ghost kitchens business model, with its high traffic and lack of traditional restaurant seating, is not accurately covered by any zoning regulations. The city of Oakland seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach to some of the problems ghost kitchens bring, she believes.

We had a meeting about what can be done to maybe add protected bike lanes, she said. And they said, When its a problem related to a specific business, we dont tend to devote a lot of resources to fixing it, because those businesses oftentimes dont last.
Fascinating photographs taken on a guided tour of Wessex by author Thomas Hardy have been discovered more than 100 years later.

The novelist took photographer Hermann Lea around his beloved Dorset to show him the real-life locations he wrote into his works.

They included places and landmarks Hardy featured in novels like Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Far From the Madding Crowd and The Mayor of Casterbridge.

Many of the locations were in Dorchester and include the Georgian town house where the flawed mayor Michael Henchard lived. Today it is a branch of the bank Barclays.

Lea wrote on the prints the names of the locations, the fictional names Hardy gave them and the novel they appeared in.

 Slide me  The great novelist took photographer Hermann Lea around his beloved Dorset to show him the real-life locations he wrote into his works. Pictured: Grey's Bridge in Dorchester

Photographer Lea also took several portrait photographs of Hardy, who was aged 70 at the time. Pictured: Thomas Hardy

There is also a picture of Hangman's Cottage, which relates to Hardy's dark and macabre short story, 'The Withered Arm', from the 'Wessex Tales' collection

Hangman's Cottage located in Dorchester is pictured today

Lea wrote on the prints the names of the locations, the fictional names Hardy gave them and the novel they appeared in

The bulk of the photographs, showing the Wessex locations, are valued at 15,000. Pictured: A local that was pictured at the time

He also took photos of local people in their natural, rural surroundings. While these people were not connected to Hardy, they were representative of the characters in his fictional works.

The photographer also took several portrait photographs of the novelist who was aged 70 at the time.

Lea had written the book, 'A Handbook to the Wessex Country of Thomas Hardy's Novels and Poems', in 1905 and worked with Hardy on a follow-up book in 1910.

It was called simply 'Thomas Hardy's Wessex' and was published by Macmillan published in 1913.

The hundreds of black and white photos that are now coming up for sale are those images that were surplus or deemed unsuitable.

One of the photos is a self-portrait of Lea and shows the remarkable camera he used at the time; a device that had a home-made super-zoom lens.

The photos passed on to Lea's widow after his death in 1952. She was visited by Bristol book dealer James Stevens-Cox who bought the entire archive.

It has remained in his family ever since and is now being sold at London-based Forum Auctions.

The bulk of the photographs, showing the Wessex locations, are valued at 15,000.

The 64 original photos of 'Dorset characters' is expected to fetch 12,000 and the 39 portraits of Hardy are said to be worth 4,000.

Rupert Powell, of Forum Auctions, said: 'These photos are really great to look at. It is brilliant to be able to see contemporary people and places that inspired Thomas Hardy.

Many of the locations were in Dorchester and include the Georgian town house where the flawed mayor Michael Henchard lived (left). Today it is a branch of the bank Barclays (right)

A group of children are pictured in Dorchester more than a decade ago by Lea

Hermann Lea also took photos of numerous locals in their natural rural surroundings

The photos passed on to Lea's widow after his death in 1952. Pictured: Lea's portrait of Thomas Hardy

Lea had written the book, 'A Handbook to the Wessex Country of Thomas Hardy's Novels and Poems', in 1905 and worked with Hardy on a follow-up book in 1910.

The fields that surrounded Dorchester, photographed by Lea as he explored the town

There is also a picture of Hangman's Cottage, which relates to Hardy's dark and macabre short story, 'The Withered Arm', from the 'Wessex Tales' collection

'Lea published a guide book to Wessex and he knew Hardy well and they went around Wessex together, mostly Dorset.

'Hardy pointed out places and their relevance, like 'that is where Tess met Alec in Tess of the d'Urbervilles. Lea would snap away and take pictures.

'This is what inspired Thomas Hardy. Most of his books were written in the 1870s, 1880s and 1890s and this is him going around Wessex at the height of his fame in the 1900s.

'The scenery and the characters would hardly have changed. They chose a selection for the book and the remainder were left to sit until they were acquired by James Stevens Cox.

'He bought them from Lea's widow in the 1960s. A lot of them have inscriptions on to identify the location but I'm sure people who know the area well will be able to identify many of the scenes today.'

Some of the locations Lea photographed included Ten Hatches Weir, a riverside beauty spot.

There is also a picture of Hangman's Cottage, which relates to Hardy's dark and macabre short story, 'The Withered Arm', from the 'Wessex Tales' collection.

The sale takes place on November 30.

Lea had written the book, 'A Handbook to the Wessex Country of Thomas Hardy's Novels and Poems', in 1905 and worked with Hardy on a follow-up book in 1910. Pictured: The tree avenue on South Walks Road, Dorchester

The hundreds of black and white photos that are now coming up for sale are those images that were surplus or deemed unsuitable

One of Herman Lea's photographs of Grey's Bridge showed a sapling in a protective cage (right of bridge) which has now grown into a substantial tree in this image that was taken in 2023

Lea's collection has remained in his family ever since and is now being sold at London-based Forum Auctions

A young girl is pictured by Lea in a building wearing - her fashion is an insight into how people dressed at the time

This picture shows an insight into how people lived a century ago in Dorchester
Since it was ravaged by fire in 2019, France's Notre-Dame has been shielded from public view with scaffolding as it undergoes a painstaking reconstruction.

But visitors to Westminster Abbey will soon be able to see it up close - all the way back to when it was being built in the 12th century.

A new augmented reality exhibition will allow visitors to to see milestone's in the cathedral's history - including the day of Napoleon's coronation in 1804.

From February 1 next year, viewers will be able to see the moment the French emperor placed a crown on the head of his wife Josephine after being crowned himself.

It is the same scene that has been re-created by Joaquin Phoenix and Vanessa Kirby in Ridley Scott's new film Napoleon, which was released last week.

Since it was ravaged by fire in 2019, France 's Notre-Dame has been shielded from public view as it undergoes a painstaking reconstruction. But visitors to Westminster Abbey will soon be able to see it up close - all the way back to when it was being built in the 12th century. Above: A CGI rendering of the Paris cathedral in 1600

Also on view will be the bustling centre of Paris in 1600, with Notre-Dame standing majestically above every other building.

Other clips will show the foundations of the cathedral being built in 1165 and the scene 15 years later, where significant progress had been made but construction was still underway.

The exhibition has already been seen by 300,000 people in Paris, Washington, Dubai and Dresden.

In London, it will be hosted in Westminster Abbey's 13th century Chapter House.

Visitors will be issued with a touch-screen tablet - dubbed the HistoPad - that will display the key moments of Notre-Dame's history.

When the tablet is pointed at various points in the Chapter House, the tablet will display different scenes from Notre-Dame's past.

The tablet also takes viewers to the day in April 2019 when the cathedral was ravaged by fire.

From February 1 next year, viewers will be able to see the moment the French emperor placed a crown on the head of his wife Josephine after being crowned himself

Other clips will show the foundations of the cathedral being built in 1165 and the scene 15 years later, where significant progress had been made but construction was still underway

Bruno de Sa Moreira, chief executive of Histovery, the firm behind the project, told the Times: 'It is a magnificent encounter and I am so happy we can come to Westminster. It is wonderful to have both churches together.'

The idea for the project stemmed from the fire in 2019 which destroyed much of the church's exterior, including the magnificent spire of Viollet-le-Duc.

Mr de Sa Moreira added: 'Because the church was going to be closed for at least five years, how could we continue to keep the doors open and bring it to the audience?'

The exhibition, which is backed by cosmetics firm L'Oreal, has stunned viewers around the world since it began in 2021.

At his coronation, Napoleon had two crowns. One was modelled on the one worn by medieval Emperor Charlemagne, while the other was a gold laurel wreath befitting of a Roman emperor.

The interior of Notre-Dame is depicted in 1645. Visitors will be issued with a touch-screen tablet - dubbed the HistoPad - that will display the key moments of Notre-Dame's history

The foundations of Notre-Dame are seen being constructed in 1165. It took nearly 200 years to build

A Paris street leading to Notre-Dame is seen in 1241. The exhibition, which is backed by cosmetics firm L'Oreal, has stunned viewers around the world since it began in 2021

Since it was ravaged by fire in 2019, France 's Notre-Dame has been shielded from public view as it undergoes a painstaking reconstruction

He forced Pope Pius VII to officiate but placed the crown on his own head.

When it was completed in the 14th century, Notre-Dame was the tallest building of its time, with vaults reaching up more than 100 feet.

The cathedral is still undergoing renovation works and is set to re-open next year.

The 2019 fire began in the roof space of the building. By the time the fire was extinguished, much of the roof had been destroyed.

Thankfully, much of the interior was protected by the vaulted stone ceiling.

Although many works of art and relics were moved to safety after the fire began, some treasures were destroyed.

Notre Dame de Paris, The Augmented Exhibition runs from February 7 to June 1st, 2024.

Exhibition entry is included in the price of admission with timed booking slots opening on December 1 at www.westminster-abbey.org
A single father has been left devastated after the National Disability Insurance Scheme slashed thousands of dollars of funding for his high-needs daughter.

Canberra man Peter Voelker said he had no idea why the NDIS package for his eight-year-old daughter Ellie was drastically reduced.

The family used to receive more than $30,000 but the national disability insurance scheme cut funding by $26,000 leaving Ellie with a measly $8,200.

Ellie requires 24/7 care as she lives with epilepsy and White-Sutton syndrome - a neurodevelopmental disorder.

The condition causes intellectual disability, developmental delays and autism as well as other behavioral problems.

'Everything that Ellie does is a learning experience for her,' Mr Voelker told Daily Mail Australia.

Ellie (pictured), 8, lives with epilepsy and White-Sutton syndrome and need care 24 hours a day

Ellie's father Peter Voelker was left shocked when Ellie's NDIS funding was slashed by thousands of dollars (pictured is Mr Voelker left and Ellie right)

'My daughter cannot write her name or any letters of the alphabet clearly'.

'She will need intensive tuition one-on-one to progress'.

Costs for her support are significant in part because activities to assist her in moving her body correctly, such as swimming, gymnastics and bike riding, must be taken one-on-one as her disabilities can endanger both herself and others around her.

The sudden drop in funding has forced Ellie's father to cancel some of his daughter's important treatments.

'From that, you can't even get an assessment from a psychologist,' Mr Voelker said.

'I was at a loss, I was very upset about it.'

Mr Voelker estimates he has spent up to $5,000 out of his own pocket to maintain his daughter's health while his appeal against the cuts was investigated.

He said her wasn't sure what prompted the agency to review his daughter's case and subsequently cut the funding.

A National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) spokesman told the ABC it is standard practice to request more evidence of a child's disability once they turn eight.

'The NDIA continues to work closely with Elizabeth's family to ensure she has the disability-related supports she needs to live a fulfilling life,' he said.

Ellie's NDIS plan has since been bolstered by thousands of dollars but her doctors say it's still not enough, while her psychologist has lobbied the NDIS in a second appeal to increase Ellie's funding.

Ellie's complex disabilities mean she has to have one-on-one care to help her with daily tasks

Ellie's NDIS plan has since been bolstered by thousands of dollars but her doctors say it's still not enough

'Altogether, it's a recipe for disaster and what I have to cope with is enormous, ' Mr Voelker said.

Advocacy for Inclusion (AFI), a Canberra-based advocacy group, said the Voelker's situation was illustrative of the sort of barriers that NDIS recipients face.

AFI's policy head Craig Wallace told the ABC that receiving NDIS funds is 'almost like a second job'.

A recent investigation by AFI revealed systemic problems including labour-intensive reporting and documentation requirements, insufficient or inequitable funding, significant wait times, mishandled documents and insufficient communication with participants.

'People have told us their documents have gone missing  sometimes they've chased down quite complicated specialists and reports, and those documents have been mishandled,' Mr Wallace said.

The organisation is calling for better communication to NDIS recipients, including by local area coordinators, who it says constantly change and don't understand their recipients' needs well enough.

The group has made six recommendations, including better referral information, a central information repository and better training for local coordinators.
Nationalist MSPs have been accused of gambling with Scots lives after refusing to sign up to the Prime Ministers ban on XL Bully dogs.

Scottish ministers have officially turned down a request from the UK Government to comply with the fast-tracked crackdown being implemented south of the Border.

Yesterday, the Scottish Government was warned it was increasing the risk to Scots from the powerfully built dogs.

Following a series of fatal attacks, Rishi Sunak announced the ban last September  the same month 52-year-old Ian Price was mauled to death by two XL Bullies as he tried to protect his elderly mother in Stonnal, Staffordhsire.

Campaign group Bully Watch has said that as well as a host of mauling incidents, Britain has seen 11 confirmed deaths and three suspected deaths caused by the breed since 2021 alone.

In November last year, Jack Lis, ten, was killed by an XL while at a friends house in south Wales. In July 2022, mother-of-two Joanne Robinson, 43, was killed when her American Bully XL turned on her in in Rotherham, South Yorkshire.

Powerful XL Bully dogs have carried out horrific attacks

Professional dog walker Ian Symes, 34, was mauled to death by an XL Bully in Fareham, Hampshire, last year, just a day after his friend had bought the dog.

There have also been a series of horrific attacks in Scotland involving XL Bullies.

Last month, a court heard how one mauled three children in Forfar in a matter of weeks. Also, in October a teenager was set upon by his own dog in Motherwell and required emergency surgery. In September an owner in Dundee had her thumb bitten while her husband was also badly mauled. From December 31, in England and Wales, it will be illegal to sell, abandon, breed or give away a Bully XL, or have one in public without a lead or muzzle.

In addition, Bullies that are less than one year old must be neutered by December 31, 2024.

From February, owners must have an exemption certificate costing 92.40 per dog. They will also need third party insurance cover or face up to 14 years in jail.

However, the new rules will not apply in Scotland, despite fears it could become a dumping ground for unwanted dogs.

Jack Lis, aged ten was killed by an American Bulldog while playing with a friend

Mother-of-two Joanne Robinson, 43, was killed by her 4,000 American Bully XL dog, Rocco

Ian Price, 52, suffered life-threatening injuries after being attacked by XL Bullies

Ian Symes, 34, died while walking in a children's park in Fareham he was mauled by the XL American Bulldog he was walking

Victims and community safety minister Siobhian Brown has written to the UK Government, stating the Scottish Government will not apply the new measures.

Her letter said the Scottish Government backed the proportionate approach of dog control notices being served on owners who allow their animals to be out of control.

But she also argued that it was up to the UK Government to ensure that no XL Bullies were abandoned over the Border.

Scottish Tory Justice spokesman Russell Findlay claimed the SNP was gambling with lives and said: Given the spate of horrific incidents, the evidence for a ban in Scotland is surely staring SNP ministers in the face.

Her refusal to sign up to this sensible plan can only increase the risk to Scots.

It seems likely that the SNP are yet again picking a constitutional fight with the UK Government.

He added: For her to then demand that these dogs do not end up in Scotland is tacit admission of the danger they pose. The SNP must stop pathetic posturing and put public safety first.

Ms Brown also complained that the Scottish Government was given no notice of the ban.

Her letter to Lord Benyon, the UK rural affairs minister, said: It is important that any change in this area in Scotland is based on evidence. We have been carefully considering the evidence on XL Bully dogs and whether similar changes to ban this breed should be applied in Scotland.

She said existing dog control notices issued by councils are an essential part of helping keep communities safe and are a proportionate approach.
Police officers have been stabbed, strangled and beaten in 14,000 frontline assaults as the force reels from yet another night of violent disorder.

Details of the injuries sustained by officers can be revealed as Police Scotland hunts members of an extremely hostile crowd that attacked officers on Saturday night.

Riot police were called in to deal with mayhem in the Ayrshire village of Auchinleck, with one officer taken to hospital after being hit by a firework.

Similar disorder was seen across the country on Bonfire Night, when gangs of yobs hurled fireworks and petrol bombs at police.

Unions representing rank-and-file officers have hit out at the violence amid concerns that a lack of resources could see the situation escalate. There are also fears that a failure to bring the full force of the law against those responsible has emboldened criminals targeting frontline workers.

Details obtained from Police Scotland show officers have been concussed and choked and had bones broken and dislocated as a result of assaults in the past two years.

Riot police were called in to deal with mayhem in the Ayrshire village of Auchinleck

One officer was taken to hospital after being hit by a firework

The picture has emerged as police continue to hunt a criminal who stabbed an officer as she investigated a theft last month.

The 30-year-old was attacked at around 1am on Arthur Street, Stevenston, Ayrshire, on October 18. She was treated in hospital for her injuries and has since been discharged

David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), said: We have seen a serious surge in violence against the police. Unless we maintain police numbers and ease the financial pressures on Police Scotland, I fear that we will see a further rise in incidents and assaults.

David Threadgold, chairman of the SPF, said: Some of these injuries are life-changing for officers. If the deterrent is not there in criminal justice, and unless we have tough sentences, it makes it harder to prevent it in future. When it was formed in 2013, Police Scotland had 17,496 officers. The figure had dropped to 16,600 by June this year.

BATTERED WITH METAL BAR PC Sarah Quick received a police award for her bravery ONE officer was left covered in blood after being attacked when she tried to check on the welfare of a group of children. PC Sarah Quick was hit over the head with a metal bar when she went to see the youngsters after she was called in because social workers had been denied access to a high risk group. During the terrifying incident in December 2021, PC Quick, from Edinburgh, was threatened as the householders tried to slam the door on her. She managed to wedge herself in the doorway despite repeated punches and kicks from several men and women inside the property. But she was then struck with a metal bar, which knocked her down a flight of stairs. Her actions saw her recognised at the Scottish Police Federations Awards last year. Advertisement

The SPF believes 600 more officers could leave as a result of budget cuts, while a recent freeze on recruitment may see numbers fall further  putting officers at increased risk.

Mr Threadgold added: Any suggestion by government that we are doing OK in terms of officer numbers is not true.

The federation believes the use of body-worn cameras will help reduce assaults on police but it has hit out at the length of time taken for these to be rolled out.

Mr Threadgold, who served as a public order officer for 17 years, said: This technology has been in place since the turn of the millennium. However, its introduction has been slowed by budget cuts.

The Mail understands officers targeted during the Bonfire Night violence in Niddrie, Edinburgh, have been left with burns, hearing loss and other injuries.

Mr Threadgold said: Ive not seen such sustained disorder in my entire career.

Russell Findlay, Scottish Tory justice spokesman, said: Thugs who inflict violence on police officers must be made to pay for their actions, but the reality is that many officers say they have little faith in the prosecutors and courts, which are subject to the SNPs weak justice agenda.

Their understandable lack of confidence is compounded by the Nationalists severe and sustained cuts to policing budgets, which make officers even more vulnerable to attack.

The latest full-year figures from Police Scotland show there were 6,657 assaults on officers and staff between April 2022 and March 2023. While this is slightly lower than the 7,095 recorded in the same period a year earlier, it shows a continuing level of violence.

The proportion of assaults that police said led to injury was 26.2 per cent this year, compared with 27.6 per cent the year before.

Figures obtained by the Mail detail injuries sustained by officers, including 325 cuts and lacerations, 250 bites from animals and suspects, 55 concussions and five suffocations over the two-year period to March 2023.

Officers have also been spat on, burned, scalded and suffered damage to their teeth.

The onslaught has continued, with figures covering the period from April to June of this year showing a further 1,718 assaults. While Police Scotland said it has seen a reduction in overall assaults, there were 14 serious assaults on officers in the past three months, compared with eight in the same period last year.

A Police Scotland spokesman said: We have been taking action to reduce the impact violence and abuse has on our people. During 2022-23 we experienced a welcome 6 per cent reduction in the number of assaults on our officers and staff, and the lowest number since 2018-19 and we will continue to drive this important work.

The Scottish Government said it was investing 1.45billion in policing in 2023-24, increasing the resource budget by 6.3 per cent despite difficult financial circumstances. It added: The courts have extensive powers to deal robustly with assaults.
Millions of Aussies are bracing for another wet week as more heavy rain and storms smash the east coast a few days from summer.

Most of Australia's capital cities will cop a soaking in the coming days as rain and storms, which have lingered around much of Queensland for the last week, push south again, extending across the Bass Strait into Tasmania.

Sydney and Canberra will see the most rain, with up to 70mm forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Those in Brisbane, Melbourne and Adelaide will also need their umbrellas.

On the other side of the country, Western Australia's record-breaking heatwave is over, and we will see cooler temperatures for much of the week and some welcomed rainfall in the state's far south.

The rain and storms, which stretched almost the entire 4,000 km-long east coast last week, are due to a slow-moving weather pattern exacerbated by rising atmospheric moisture.

'The low pressure trough which eastern Australia has been stuck in for the last week still has a bit to go,' Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke told Daily Mail Australia.

All of northern, eastern and south-eastern Australia is in for a wet few days

Brisbane (pictured) is in more wet weather on Tuesday and then later in the week

'It will be at least a week until the next long dry spell comes along.

'I wouldn't be surprised if the rain hangs around for another week-and-half.'

'Most capital cities will see a mixed bag this week in terms of warmth, dryness and west

Here's the weather forecast in your capital city this week.

Brisbane

The Queensland capital is in for a wet Tuesday with up to 15mm forecast and a few more showers on Wednesday.

There's also a possible chance of a thunderstorm on both days before a brief reprieve from the wet.

Conditions will remain throughout the week and will reach a high of 35C on Thursday.

'It will be warm and dry later in the ahead ahead of more storms from Friday onwards,' Mr Dutschke said.

Brisbane will see a wet start to summer, with 20mm predicted for Saturday and another 9mm for Sunday.

Sydney

Sydneysiders should enjoy Monday's brief reprieve from the rain before a midweek deluge develops.

The harbour city will cop a 30mm drenching on Tuesday, followed by another 35mm on Wednesday, with the chance of a thunderstorm on both days.

'There will be heavy bursts of rain, but conditions will remain humid,' Mr Dutschke said.

The rain and humidity will ease from Thursday.

Maximum temperatures will remain in the mid-20s, and a medium chance of showers this weekend.

Sydneysiders will also experience a wet end to spring with up to 70mm of rain forecast over the next two days

Canberra

The nation's capital will reach a top of 27C on Monday before afternoon showers develop.

Up to 30mm will fall on Tuesday with another 40mm and a possible thunderstorm on Wednesday.

The rain will ease later in the week but there's still a possible chance of showers every day.

Melbourne

Melburnians will experience cool and drizzling conditions on Monday before rain develops and a top of 25C on Tuesday.

Wednesday will the wettest day of the week with up to 20mm expected.

The rest of the week will see cool and breezy conditions with the chance of showers every day.

Adelaide

After its wettest weekend in months, the rain will return late Monday afternoon.

Adelaide will see up to 20mm and a cool and cloudy top of 21C on Tuesday.

The rest of the week will be fine and sunny, reaching a top of 26C on Sunday.

Most of Australia's capital cities will be hit by heavy rain and storms this week (pictured Sydneysiders ducking for cover)

Hobart

'Hobart is in for dry and cool start to the week but there's fair chance of some rain later in the week,' Mr Dutschke said.

'Friday looks like the wettest day.'

The weekend will be cool, cloudy and overcast at this stage with a top of 19C forecast.

Perth

West Australians have welcomed a cool reprieve from a week-long heatwave of 40C-plus temperatures blasting the state for the seven days.

Most of WA will miss out on most of the deluge smashing the other side of the country.

'There some chance of showers in Perth on Tuesday and Wednesday but most of the rain will be in the far south-west,' Mr Dutschke said.

Temperatures in Perth will remain in the mid-20s before conditions warm up later in the week for the start of summer, reaching a high of 33C on Friday.

Darwin

The Top End's yearly wet season of high humidity, monsoonal rains and storms is in full swing.

Monday shapes to up to be the driest day of the week with only a slight chance of a shower later in the day.

'There's a chance of showers and storms in Darwin every day this week,' Mr Dutschke said.

'At this stage, it's not looking any wetter than it is at this time of the year.'

Conditions will remain sticky and humid with maximum daily highs of 33-34C.

Firefighters in WA have welcomed a cool reprieve after a raging bushfire (pictured) on Perth's northern outskirts destroyed at least 18 homes

Four day forecast in your city SYDNEY Monday: Possible shower developing. Max26 Tuesday: Rain increasing. Min19 Max24 Wednesday: Showers. Possible storm . Min19 Max27 Thursday: Partly cloudy. Min18 Max26 BRISBANE Monday: Partly cloudy. Max31 Tuesday: Shower or two.Min21 Max27 Wednesday: Shower or two. Possible storm. Min20 Max30 Thursday: Partly cloudy.Min21 Max35 MELBOURNE Monday: Drizzle at times. Max 19 Tuesday: Shower or two. Min15 Max25 Wednesday: Rain. Min17 Max20 Thursday: Shower or two. Min15 Max20 ADELAIDE Monday: Shower or two developing. Max25 Tuesday: Showers. Possible storm. Min12 Max21 Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Min14 Max23 Thursday: Mostly sunny. Min13 Max25 PERTHMonday: Possible early shower. Max25 Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Min17 Max25 Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Min17 Max 25 Thursday: Mostly sunny. Min16 Max28 HOBART Monday: Cloudy. Max 16 Tuesday: Cloudy. Min9 Max16 Wednesday: Shower or two. Min11 Max17 Thursday: Shower or two. Min11 Max18 CANBERRA Monday: Shower or two developing. Max27 Tuesday: Rain. Possible storm. Min13 Max21 Wednesday: Rain. Possible storm. Min13 Max22 Thursday: Shower or two. Min11 Max22 DARWIN Monday: Possible shower or storm. Max33 Tuesday: Possible shower or storm. Min27 Max34 Wednesday: Shower or two. Possible storm. Min27 Max33 Thursday: Possible shower or storm. Min27 Max33 Advertisement




A major explosion and fire has torn through a Russian factory which makes engines for Vladimir Putin's tanks and armoured vehicles.

Dramatic footage shows the moment the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, which is in the Ural mountains close to the border with Kazakhstan, goes up in flames.

Locals reported a powerful 'explosion', and footage taken by passersby shows a fireball rising high into the sky as the factory burns.

The precise cause of the inferno is not yet known, although key Russian installations have repeatedly been hit by sabotage or kamikaze drone attacks.

Chelyabinsk would appear out of range for drones from Ukraine but a criminal probe has been launched into the precise cause of the explosion.

The huge explosion at the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant lit up the night sky late on Sunday

The light from the blast was so bright it overwhelmed cameras which were pointed at the factory

Footage shows flames rising high into the air at the factory, which makes engines for tanks and armoured vehicles in the Russian army

Dramatic video shows the moment a huge fireball is created by an explosion at the plant

It is not known if anyone was injured or killed in the explosion at this time

Footage taken by passers-by shows emergency services including fire engines at the scene

The cause of the explosion has not yet been revealed, with Russia blaming a 'short circuit' as the preliminary reason

The plant is under US and Ukrainian sanctions as 'an enterprise specialising in the production of diesel engines for military equipment for the needs of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation'.

It is a key supplier for a range of key military firepower such as the T-72, T-90 Proryv tanks, the BMPT Terminator, Akatsiya self-propelled artillery units, and the Msta-S and Koalitsiya-SV complexes.

The initial Russian explanation was a transformer explosion caused by a 'short circuit'.

However, a short circuit is used to explain any fire at a key installation in Russia and the authorities routinely play down fires at key facilities during the war.

The plant is currently used to repair military equipment for use in Putin's war against Ukraine, it is understood.

Local sources said later that the fire was under control but it was unclear to what extent the blaze had impacted on the plant's work.

The destruction came a day after Ukraine launched a major kamikaze drone attack on Russia in their heaviest onslaught for months.

Three of Moscow's international airports - Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovsky - were closed with flights suspended or cancelled due to the attack.

The city's mayor Sergei Sobyanin complained of a 'mass attack' on the Russian capital.

The attacks come one day after the heaviest strikes on Kyiv by Putin kamikaze drones since the start of the war 22 months ago - when 71 out of 75 Iranian-made Shahed UAVs were downed by Ukrainian air defences.

Russia was forced to shoot down 11 drones overnight and another nine early this morning.

In Tula, one hit a residential building as it crashed to the ground - with dramatic footage showing the moment of the explosion.

Three people, a man and two women, required medical help and people were evacuated from the building.

Wires caught fire close to the centre of Moscow during the attack today

Ukraine has launched a major kamikaze drone attack on Russia in their heaviest onslaught for months

A drone was seen in the sky in Tula, Russia, 115 miles south of Moscow

A building was left partially destroyed after the drone attacks on Russia

Three people, a man and two women, required medical help and people were evacuated from a building

Russia was forced to shoot down 11 drones overnight and another nine early this morning

A window is left severely smashed after today's drone attack on Russia

Later in the morning a new drone swarm was reported in Tula, a region where Putin crony and former bodyguard Alexei Dyumin is governor, and once saved the dictator from being savaged by a brown bear.

'Loud explosions' were reported over the city. 'It flew right over us,' said one local amid unconfirmed reports of two kamikaze drones being shot down.

And a mysterious fire ignited an elite Mosfilmovskaya Street in Moscow, blocking all traffic according to state media reports.

'The circumstances of the incident and information about the victims are being clarified,' reported Astra media outlet which suggested an 'electrical' inferno.

In the Moscow region, surrounding the capital, five drones were reportedly shot down in Naro-Fominsk, Odintsovo, Ramensky and Podolsk urban districts.

In three cases there was damage to buildings on the ground. It was not immediately clear if any of the drones had hit strategic targets.

More drones were downed in Kaluga, Bryansk and Smolensk regions as Ukraine responded to the onslaught on Kyiv a day earlier.

Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said the main target was Moscow. 'A mass drone attack was attempted overnight,' he said.

Elsewhere power was cut in the Russian-occupied Donetsk People's Republic after an apparent Ukrainian strike on the region's power grid.

Putin-appointed occupation leader Denis Pushilin said: 'At night, the enemy tried to damage the region's energy system.

'Unfortunately, due to the massiveness of the attacks, not everything was shot down.'

Parts of Donetsk city and Makeevka plus almost all of Mariupol were without power.

The Russian attack in Kyiv on Saturday was the most intense of the war.

Serhiy Popko, head of the capital city's administration, called it 'the most massive air attack by drones on Kyiv'.

'Our soldiers shot down most of the drones. Unfortunately, not all,' said Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.

'But we continue to work to strengthen our air defence and shoot down more.'

Overnight another nine Iranian drones were launched by Russia on Ukraine.

Eight were reportedly shot down.
Arizona Border Patrol has sparked cover-up claims after revealing it will stop sharing updates on the migrant crisis - despite a 'demoralizing' number of illegal crossings.

Chief John R. Modlin, of Tucson, made the statement on Sunday after seeing a record 15,300 illegal crossings last week.

'In light of the ongoing migration surge, all Tucson Sector Border Patrol social media accounts will be paused until further notice.

'We appreciate your understanding and continued support during this challenging time. Honor First.'

The news made some wonder if the agency - which has faced even worse challenges protecting the border in the wake of Title 42 ending - had something to hide.

'This account posts valuable info & data. Wow,' said reporter Bill Melugin.

John R. Modlin of Tucson made the statement on Sunday after seeing a record 15,300 illegal crossings last week

Mexican immigrants captured by U.S. Border Patrol agents are searched while being taken into custody near the U.S.-Mexico border on November 3

'Regardless of the reasoning behind this - this is such a bad look. Essentially - the border crisis in the sector is so bad that they're going to cut off all communication and transparency with the public.'

'We routinely use the photos & data from this account. It's unacceptable.'

It comes just months after Modlin testified to a House subcommittee on the 'demoralizing' conditions in his sector.

'Tucson, because of the incredible amount of heat out there, the summer months tend to be very low,' he said July 26, after Title 42 was discontinued. 'What's happening now  that is unheard of.'

'I looked at 10 years of data to what the summer months should be,' he continued. '[W]e should have about 17,000 apprehensions in July, you know, given 10 years of data aggregated. Instead we're at 26,000. So this time of year, the most dangerous time of year, is seeing one of the most significant flows that we've seen.'

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seen Southwest border encounters increase exponentially every fiscal year. So far this year there have been nearly 2million crossing in the region - a figure that doesn't include August and September.

Cochise County, Arizona, is being slammed with waves of migrants bussed from other counties after crossing the border amid President Joe Biden's lax policies.

'The intellectual avoidance and abandonment with intended consequences' by those leaders in Washington, DC, reference our southern border continues to be a slippery slope for those doing everything we can to protect our quality of life here in Cochise County!' Sheriff Mark Dannels said.

It comes just months after Modlin testified to a House subcommittee on the 'demoralizing' conditions in his sector

Senegalese migrants are amongst the thousands of others that have been turned away from processing facilities and let out onto the streets to fend for themselves.

Lines of thousands of migrants from parts of Africa and Mexico are seen pouring onto the streets of Tucson after being turned away from CBP holding facilities

'The migrants being released are from outside Cochise County but were bussed to Cochise County, processed and then released,' Daniels noted in a Facebook post.

'I applaud the local [Customs and Border Protections] agents and their leadership for doing all they legally can during this on-going crisis.'

It's unclear exactly how many migrants the processing facilities in Tucson can accommodate or how many have been transported to other locations such as Cochise County.

Some of the migrants crossing in from Mexico come from the African nation of Senegal - nearly 10,000 miles from Arizona.

Many African immigrants have come to America to avoid political strive and lower income living.

The US border has seen a flood of migrants from across the world, not just Central and South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico. There have been migrants from China and other places entering via the porous southern border.

The 2022 fiscal year saw record-breaking numbers of encounters with migrants at the Southwest border with 2,378,944 reported crossings from October to September.

In 2023 through July there have been 1,973,092 - many of them coming as Title 42 expired.

The jump in crossing has grown in recent years with a mere 458,088 crossing reported in 2020 during the worldwide COVID pandemic.

Most migrant encounters are single adults (at 64.9 percent) but almost 600,000 (roughly 29 percent) are individuals in a family unit and there have been 109,298 (good for 5.54 percent) unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

According to CBP records, Tucson's field office have filed a record-breaking number of Title 8 inadmissables in July 2023 with 3,346 migrants being deported and banned from entering the U.S. for at least five years. An inadmissiable is a migrant who misrepresents documents to try and enter the US.

CBP records show all-time high numbers of migrant encounters along the Southwest border in recent months with no sign of slowing down despite the Biden administration's immigration efforts

U.S. Border Patrol officers are turning migrants away after processing them because their facilities are overcrowded and full to max-capacity

Migrants are faced with intense heat conditions in the dessert terrain of Tucson, Arizona

In August DailyMail.com reported the U.S. Border Patrol was holding migrants in an outdoor cage in Arizona's intense dessert heat as officers tried to cope with a new wave of migrants crossing the border from Mexico.

Issues of overcapacity are happening all across the southern border. Along with Tucson - street releases are happening in the San Diego sector and in Santa Cruz County, California.

In San Diego it's reported that CBP has been dealing with 20,000 migrants in custody over the last week - 5000 more than facilities can manage.

Border patrol can't accommodate for more than 15,000 migrants and are sending migrants onto the streets to fend for themselves after processing them at the border.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams has pleaded for months for help with the migrant influx, and has slammed President Biden for 'failing' to help New Yorkers

Thousands of asylum seekers have been bussed to major cities from border states including Texas as unprecedented numbers continue to enter the United States

To help address the border crisis, southern governors such as Texas' Greg Abbott and Florida's Ron DeSantis have been sending buses to liberal cities in the north, such as New York, Chicago and Washington, DC.

In New York, Mayor Eric Adams welcomed migrants two years ago when he declared the Big Apple a sanctuary city. Now, with more than 100,000 migrants arriving in recent months, Adams is saying it will 'destroy' the city.

'We're getting 10,000 migrants a month,' he said. 'Now we're getting people from all over the globe have made their minds up that they're going to come through the southern part of the border and come into New York City.'

The city has been overwhelmed by the migrants as it has desperately tried to find housing. The city has converted hundreds of hotels and schools into shelters for migrants.

Many of the migrants who have arrived in New York City have arrived on buses from the southern border.

Adams has estimated that the migrant crisis will cost New York $12billion over the next three years. He has begged state and federal officials for more financial help, but they have not offered much assistance.

That led Abbott to call Adams a 'hypocrite' for his changing stance on migrants.

'Mayor Adams was proud to tout his self-described sanctuary city status until Texas began busing migrants to New York City to provide relief to our overrun and overwhelmed border communities,' Texas Governor Greg Abbott's press secretary Andrew Mahaleris said in a statement to Fox News Digital.

'Instead of complaining about 13,000 migrants sent from Texas, Mayor Adams should be calling out his party leader, President Biden, who has been flying planeloads of migrants all around the country and oftentimes in the cover of night, straining state and local resources across the country.

'Until President Biden steps up and does his job, Texas will continue busing migrants to sanctuary cities to provide relief to our overwhelmed border towns.'
A Colorado mom is hoping to finally discover how her two-year-old son nearly died allegedly at the hands of a drunken unlicensed childminder who has just been arrested.

Stefanie Reichert left baby Giovanni with McKinley Slone Hernandez, 25, for an overnight stay at her home in Lakewood on September 1.

Hours later her son was fighting for his life with blunt force trauma injuries to his head and body, and she received a chilling instruction from her friend.

'I received a text message from the suspect saying I needed to rush to St. Anthony's Hospital because my son had gone lifeless after a bath,' she said.

'Once I saw him and all the 50 doctors standing around him, I had to leave the room because it was the worst thing I've ever seen in my life.'

Giovanni Reichert, two, required an emergency operation for a bleed on the brain after an evening with unlicensed childminder McKinley Slone Hernandez, 25, in Lakewood, Colorado

Nearly three months on, mother Stefanie Reichert (left) still does not know what happened to her son at the hands of childminder McKinley Hernandez (right)

The little boy had been airlifted to hospital and needed an emergency operation for a bleed on the brain that required part of his skull to be removed.

He was intubated and placed into an induced coma and has required more life-saving operations since, with his eventual prognosis still unclear.

'We had a rough Thanksgiving this year to say the least!' his mother wrote on the child's gofundme page.

He had more had surgery on Thursday and is still suffering from a fever, pain and discomfort, she explained.

'He's pretty swollen and his right eye is swollen shut,' she wrote. 'He slept most of the day and I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.'

But the distraught mother is still no nearer top finding out how Giovanni came to be battered to within an inch of his life in the care of a woman she considered a 'friend'.

Baby Giovanni before the night with a childminder that almost cost him his life

He was intubated and placed into an induced coma and has required more life-saving operations since, with his eventual prognosis still unclear

'She won't admit to anything,' Reichert told kdvr.com. 'All she's said is she was drinking, and he got hurt in her care.

'I make up scenarios in my head all the time for the injuries he sustained, so I wish I knew.'

And she fears the months in hospital may now be taking their own toll on her son. 'He doesn't like strangers,' she added.

'Now he doesn't like the nurses and the doctors. He doesn't let anybody touch him. We have to do everything for them in there.'

In the gofundme, set up by a friend, Giovanna is a previously 'happy, healthy, energetic two-year-old'.

'As you can imagine, his parents Anthony and Stefanie are completely distraught,' is adds.

'We don't want this sweet family to have to worry about anything other than getting their baby boy healthy again.

'Giovanna you are so resilient and so strong, keep fighting baby boy. We love you so much!'

But the family received some good news over Thanksgiving when a warrant was issued for Hernendez's arrest on felony child abuse charges and she handed herself into Lakewood Police on Thursday night.

'I feel so relieved, but I also feel like she should be charged with more,' she said.

'I feel like it's attempted murder, she almost killed my child.

'You never would think it would happen to you, especially by someone who you consider a friend.'
Sunrise host Nat Barr stared down Melbourne underworld veteran Mick Gatto to grill him about the city's gangland war...but he swiftly sidestepped the issue.

The father-of-four, who has been linked to the notorious Carlton Crew, appeared on Seven's breakfast show with his wife Cheryle to promote their autism charity event.

But Barr immediately switched the interview to discuss Melbourne's current gang shootings which have rocked the city.

'We're gonna get to charity in just a minute but first Mick, when you see the gangland situation today, what are your thoughts?' she fired at the self-confessed killer.

Gatto was cleared of murdering hitman Andrew Veniamin in 2004, despite admitting he fatally shot him twice in the head in self-defence during a struggle over a gun.

Wearing an apparently diamond-studded double-pendant necklace, grey-haired grandfather Gatto, 68, brushed off the line of questioning on Sunrise on Monday.

'Yeah, that's a stage in my life that I've moved on from and really don't want to talk about that,' he insisted.

'I've sort of moved on from that and I'm concentrating on other things now.'

The father-of-four, who has been linked to the notorious Carlton Crew, appeared on Seven's breakfast show with his wife Cheryle to promote their autism charity event

Gatto was also named as a criminal underworld standover man - which he denied - in a Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry in 2002.

The son of Italian immigrants insisted he was a building industry negotiator and debt collector, although he has previously admitted his criminal reputation helped him.

Co-host Matt Shirvington continued to push Gatto and quizzed the legendary Underbelly figure on whether 'he thought it would ever be resolved?'

But Gatto still refused to take the bait.

'The gangland?' he shot back. 'Ahh, look, that's something you'd probably have to ask the police, not me.

'I'm a retired grandfather down the [Mornington] Peninsula, doing my own little thing. I don't get too involved in that sort of nonsense any more.'

Mick Gatto was acquitted of shooting dead Carl Williams' chief lieutenant Andrew Veniamin (pictured) on grounds of self-defence in 2004

The questions on Sunrise followed a series of shootings around Melbourne in recent months.

In September former bikie boss Gavin 'Capable' Preston, 50, was killed and a man he was dining with critically injured when shots were fired outside Sweet Lulus cafe in Keilor Village.

The following month Robert Issa, 27, was executed by four masked gunmen as he sat in his Mercedes outside Craigieburn Central Shopping Centre on October 7.

A second man, 28, was also hit in the attack and rushed to hospital in a serious condition.

It followed drive-by shooting of a nearby home in Craigieburn a few weeks earlier in attacks believed to be linked to an underworld illegal tobacco supply war.

The TV conversation then switched to Gatto's Equal Access for Autism charity which was set up after his grandson Dominic, 16, was diagnosed on the autistic spectrum.

The website for the foundation says it aims to raise funds to support adolescents and young adults with autism who are dependent on others.

It also wants to provide safe access to recreational facilities and opportunities that are not currently available to them within their communities.

The charity aims to 'to eliminate the feeling of exclusion and isolation so these people with special needs can enjoy recreational activities to the max,' it adds.

'[And] provide services to these special people giving them the security of inclusion.'
ExxonMobil and the rest of the oil industry talk about addressing climate change but are more interested in profits, which were $219 billion in 2022. Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Recently, two major oil deals were announced: ExxonMobil committing $60 billion to buy Pioneer and Chevron buying Hess for $53 billion. What are Pioneer and Hess? More oil companies. So, while making claims about taking action against climate change and working together to find solutions, Big Oil is actually focused on consolidating in order to make more profit than ever.

The oil industry has worked hard to convince us of its commitment to addressing the dual challenge: supplying affordable, reliable energy and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. But this statement of objectives is a marketing illusion, masking the main goal of oil companies: making as much profit as possible by producing more oil and gas no matter the cost to the environment.

I should know. I worked in the industry for over 30 years.

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For decades, politicians have been sympathetic to oil companies and their powerful lobbies in the name of energy security and economic prosperity. In 2008, President George W. Bush lifted the presidential moratorium on offshore drilling, and as recently as March of this year President Joe Biden approved the enormous Willow oil drilling project in Alaska. Its clear what these kinds of policies have gotten us: record temperatures, unprecedented wildfires and more intense hurricanes  and its only getting worse.

In the face of rising public support for climate action, most oil companies have acknowledged the danger facing our planet. But their own scientists had accurately predicted temperature increases as early as the 1970s. Instead of heeding these warnings, the oil industry protected its own financial interests.

In the 1990s, the industry went as far as to successfully argue against the U.S. Senates ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the first international treaty aimed at steadily reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Then-Exxon CEO Lee Raymond in 1997 said, There are some people who argue that we should drastically curtail our use of fossil fuels for environmental reasons.  Such proposals are neither prudent nor practical. The oil companies, despite knowing the truth, claimed that the uncertainty of climate change predictions was too great. As we know all too well now, nothing could have been more prudent or more practical than to begin taking climate action 30 years ago.

As public pressure to go green mounted in the early 2000s, ExxonMobil continued its were unsure campaign while BP sought to get ahead of the greenwashing curve by rebranding itself as beyond petroleum.

We need to reinvent the energy business, declared BP CEO John Brown of the marketing initiative in a speech at Stanford in March 2002. We need to go beyond petroleum.

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Decades later, BP is still overwhelmingly an oil and gas company.

The list of disappointments, deceptions and distractions goes on. In an undercover report released in 2021, an ExxonMobil lobbyist was caught on video admitting that the companys public support for a carbon tax was nothing but a diversion to cause arguments and hinder any progress (while outwardly championing the policy as a way to lower emissions, the expectation was simple: Carbon tax is not going to happen).

Let me be clear. Its not that oil companies arent doing anything to reduce emissions. When I was in the industry, I saw a lot of research being done related to climate solutions. But the measures that are actually implemented are baby steps compared to what is needed. After devoting their careers to research within the industry, many scientists and engineers  some of whom I know personally  simply cant take it anymore and are moving on to organizations they feel are truly committed to making a difference.

Oil companies tell us that they would love to address climate change if only they were supported by the right government policies. By that, they mean things like generous tax credits that put the burden of paying for climate solutions on taxpayers (all this while raking in $219 billion in profits in 2022).

A new headline tells us every day: The climate crisis is fast approaching the point of no return. With next months United Nations climate change conference coming up, even Pope Francis has called for a binding energy transition that is efficient, obligatory and readily monitored. Governments need to step up and stop going easy on the industry. How? By imposing regulations that force the industry to clean up its own mess. Thats what it took to eliminate toxic lead from gasoline. Thats what it took to remove pollution-causing sulfur from a wide range of fuels. And thats what it will take to address greenhouse gas emissions.

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One woman and two men have been charged over the alleged murder of a 43-year-old man whose body was found at a home at Kendall on the NSW mid-north-coast.

The man was found allegedly shot dead around 6.40pm last Wednesday at the house on Batar Creek Road, and could not be revived at the scene.

NSW Police have charged 37-year-old Luke Willcockson with murder, and Ashley Shields, 27, with conceal serious indictable offence after the pair were arrested at 1.30pm on Sunday afternoon at North Haven.

A third person, Michael Nicholas Hatzigeorgiou, 39, who had been living at the Kendall house, was arrested after being stopped at 4.10pm on Saturday on the Pacific Highway at Nabiac.

He was charged with accessory after the fact to murder, conceal serious indictable offence and drive motor vehicle during disqualification period and appeared in Port Macquarie Local Court on Monday.

He was refused bail and will appear again in the same court today where Mr Willcockson and Ms Shields are also due to appear.

Luke Willcockson, 37, has been charged with the alleged shooting murder of a man whose body was found last Wednesday night at a house on Batar Creek Road, Kendall

The house on Batar Creek Road, Kendall where the body of a man, 43, was discovered on Wednesday night

Police interview neighbours at the crime scene on Thursday after a man's body was found on Batar Creek Road, Kendall the night before

Members of the public performed CPR on the man allegedly shot last week who, neighbours told Daily Mail Australia, had lived there with a woman for several years.

Neighbours reported hearing on Wednesday night before the man's death, laughter coming from the house and then a screeching of car tyres.

Kendall - a small village of 1,141 people, not far from Port Macquarie - was the town where William Tyrrell, Australia's most famous missing child, went missing in September 2014.

Last week's crime scene happened at a house just a two minute drive from the stretch of Batar Creek Road which was the subject of an intense police search for William's remains two years ago.

Police (above on Batar Creek Road during the last major search for William Tyrrell's remains) say ' we know where' the missing toddler's remains are

Police still believe the remains of the missing toddler are buried at the other end of Batar Creek Road, a short drive from where he was last seen at Benaroon Drive, Kendall.

In late 2021, detectives and SES workers made extensive searches over four weeks along Batar Creek Road to locate missing William.

Detectives from Strike Force Rosann, which is investigating William's disappearance, have told William Tyrrell's foster mother: 'We aren't guessing. We aren't bluffing. We know how, we know why, we know where he is.'

The woman, who cannot be identified, has strongly denied any knowledge of the toddler's whereabouts or any link to William's disappearance.

There is no suggestion of a link between his disappearance and the latest incident on Batar Creek Road.

The house where the man died is closer into town than the location on the same street where police theorise that William is buried.
A Palestinian woman who disfigured herself in a suspected bomb attack in Jerusalem has been reunited with her family after being released from an Israeli prison.

Israa Jaabis, 38, had been imprisoned since 2015 after being convicted of detonating a gas cylinder that wounded an Israeli police officer. The attack left her with severe burns on her face and hands.

She was released on Saturday as part of the agreement with Hamas that will see Israeli hostages freed in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

Jaabis was given a flower crown and seen embracing her family upon her release. She told the Al Jazeera tv network that she was 'shy' to hug her son whom she hadn't seen in eight years.

Israel freed 39 Palestinians - six women and 33 teenagers - from two prisons on Saturday during the second round of the exchange after an hours-long unexpected delay set nerves on edge.

Hamas had accused Israel of breaking the terms of the agreement. Israel denied the allegation.

Israa Jaabis (centre) arrives at her home in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem early on Sunday after detainees were released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas

Israa Jaabis embraced her son (pictured) early on Sunday. She told Al Jazeera: 'I am shy to hug him because he became a man, but when he calls me "my mum" I remember that he'll always be a small child in my eyes'

Palestinian prisoners (wearing grey jumpers) cheer among supporters and relatives in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after being released from Israeli jails

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother in the occupied West Bank on Sunday after being released from an Israeli jail

Mohammed Al-Awar (left), former prisoner released from an Israeli jail in exchange for hostages freed by Hamas in Gaza, kisses his father's forehead upon return to his home in east Jerusalem on Sunday

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (right) hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail on Sunday. He is pictured at his home in Halhul village north Hebron

Jaabis returned home to what appeared to be an emotional reunion with her loved ones.

'I... have pain on an emotional level and I am missing my relatives. But this is the tax a prisoner pays,' she said.

Video shows how she was met by tearful relatives as she embraced her son early on Sunday.

Jaabis told Al Jazeera: 'I am shy to hug him because he became a man, but when he calls me "my mum" I remember that he'll always be a small child in my eyes.'

She added: 'Thanks be to God. My pain is visible, no need to speak about it.'

She also alleged that those held in Israeli prisons were treated 'worse' after Hamas launched its attack on Israel on October 7.

Jaabis said women were taken into 'solitary confinement' following the attack and that guards 'fired tear gas at the prisoners'. She claims she developed pheumonia after the tear gassing and 'only started to feel better a week ago'.

The network alleged that ahead of her release, Israeli military and journalists had an altercation outside Jaabis' home.

MailOnline has not independently verified the allegations made by Jaabis or Al Jazeera's report.

Jaabis (pictured with her son) was met by tearful relatives as she embraced her son early on Sunday. Jaabis told Al Jazeera: 'I am shy to hug him because he became a man, but when he calls me "my mum" I remember that he'll always be a small child in my eyes'

Israa Jaabis is received by her family in her house in Jerusalem early on Sunday

Israa Al-Jaabis who has been released from Israeli jail, reunits with her family after prisoner swap early on Sunday

A Palestinian hugs a family member after being released as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday

A Palestinian is carried by the crowd after being released as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday

Omar Atshan, 17, is hugged by his crying mother after being resealed from an Israeli prison

Teenage boys were paraded through the main square where they waved Palestinian flags after their release early on Sunday

A Palestinian is carried by the crowd after being released on Sunday

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail

Some of the Palestinians returned home to a hero's welcome at Al-Bireh Municipality Square in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Saturday, where thousands of citizens awaited them.

Newly released teenage boys were paraded through the main square where they waved Palestinian flags as well as green banners of Hamas and yellow banners of the rival Fatah party of President Mahmoud Abbas.

Violence flared in the West Bank where Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians, including two minors and at least one gunman, late on Saturday and early Sunday, medics and local sources said.

Even before the October 7 massacre, the West Bank had been in a state of unrest, with a rise in Israeli army raids, Palestinian attacks, and violence by Israeli settlers in the past 18 months.

More than 200 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since Hamas launched its attack on Israel, some in Israeli air strikes.

Saturday's swap followed the previous day's initial release of 13 Israeli hostages, including children and the elderly, by Hamas in return for the release of 39 Palestinian women and teenagers from Israeli prisons.

Among those released was Nurhan Awad, who was 17 in 2016 when she was sentenced to 13 1/2 years in jail for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier with a pair of scissors.

The deal risked being derailed when Hamas' armed wing said on Saturday it was delaying releases until Israel met all truce conditions, including committing to let aid trucks into northern Gaza.

Saving the deal took a day of diplomacy mediated by Qatar and Egypt, which President Biden also joined.

Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades also said Israel had failed to respect terms for the release of Palestinian prisoners that factored in their time in detention.

COGAT, the Israeli agency for civilian coordination with the Palestinians, accused Hamas itself of delaying trucks trying to deliver humanitarian aid to northern Gaza at a checkpoint.

'To Hamas, residents of Gaza are their last priority,' it said on Sunday.

A young girl hugs a newly released Palestinian prisoner in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Sunday

A Palestinian hugs a family member after being released on Sunday

Palestinian prisoners are welcomed by a crowd after being released from Israeli jails

A Palestinian is met with support and praise after being released from an Israeli prison on Sunday

A Palestinian woman embraces a man after prisoners were released from Israeli jails on Sunday

A young Palestinian is greeted after being released from an Israeli prison

The crowd surrounds a Red Cross bus carrying Palestinians prisoners released from Israeli jails

Emin Muhammed el-Abbasi reunites with his family as he is released from Israeli jail as part of the hostage swap deal

Palestinian youths released from Israeli jail as part of the hostage swap deal between Israel and Hamas reunite with their family and friends in Ramallah, West Bank

Palestinians released from Israeli jails reunite with their family and friends in Ramallah, West Bank on Sunday

Meanwhile, hostages are returning to Israel after seven weeks of Hamas captivity nearly two months after the terrorists dragged them into Gaza during a bloody cross-border attack on Israel that also killed 1,200 people.

The 58 hostages freed under a cease-fire deal over the past three days have largely stayed out of the public eye, with most still in hospitals around the country.

Most freed hostages appear to be in stable physical condition. Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones' experiences.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around seven kilos (15 pounds) in just 50 days. Her nephew, 9-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri, also looked thin.

Raviv said she'd heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area. They said they sometimes had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.

Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight.

'She counted the days of her captivity,' Adar said. 'She came back and she said, "I know that I've been there for 50 days".'

Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: she also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants.

'For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes,' said Adar. 'She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her.'

In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory.

Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummelled enclave.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.

Emin Muhammed el-Abbasi reunites with his family as he is released from Israeli jail as part of the hostage swap deal

A Palestinian prisoner (wearing grey jumpers) cheers among supporters and relatives after being released from Israeli jails

A family hugs after one of them was released as part of the deal between Israel and Hamas

The crowd surrounds a Red Cross bus carrying Palestinians prisoners released from Israeli jails in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 26, 2023

Loved ones embrace each other after the release of Palestinians from Israeli prisons

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas

A young boy is seen hugging a loved one after the hostage swap saw Palestinians released from Israeli jails

Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

Hamas said it wanted to extend the truce if serious efforts were made to increase the number of Palestinian detainees released by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to destroy Hamas at the end of the truce.

He said on Sunday that after the ceasefire Israeli 'will return with full force to achieve our goals: The elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages.'
One of Canberra's most powerful public servants Michael Pezzullo has been sacked as Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs after an inquiry found he had breached the public service code of conduct.

In September, Mr Pezzullo was stood aside from his $900,000 role over a series of explosive texts alleging he sought to influence government affairs.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the top bureaucrat had been fired on Monday.

'The action was based on a recommendation to me by the Secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Australian Public Service Commissioner,' Mr Albanese said.

Michael Pezzullo has been sacked as Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs after an inquiry found he had breached the public service code of conduct

'Mr Pezzullo fully cooperated with the inquiry'

Stephanie Foster will continue to act as interim secretary until a 'permanent appointment is made', Mr Albanese's office confirmed.

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'Mr Pezzullo fully cooperated with the inquiry. I thank Ms Briggs for conducting the inquiry,' the statement said.

'Stephanie Foster will continue to act as Secretary of the Department until a permanent appointment is made.'

The independent inquiry by former public service commissioner Lynelle Briggs examined the texts leaked to Nine newspapers in September sent by Mr Pezzullo to Liberal power broker Scott Briggs.

Texts showed Mr Pezzullo suggested now Opposition Leader Peter Dutton should become the new Home Affairs Minister the night before Scott Morrison took the role from Malcolm Turnbull in 2018.

Mr Dutton duly assumed the ministry where he and Mr Pezzullo formed a close partnership.

According to the messages, Mr Pezullo also suggested the Liberals sack former defence minister Christopher Pyne.

Others show Mr Briggs directly asking if Mr Pezzullo had any messages he wanted him to convey before a dinner with Mr Morrison and Mr Turnbull.

Mr Pezullo was one of Canberra's most powerful bureaucratic figures as secretary of the giant Home Affairs department

In the other messages Mr Pezzullo spoke candidly about then Liberal foreign minister Julie Bishop and defence minister Marise Payne as he attempted to influence their appointments.

One message showed Mr Pezzullo saying he almost had a 'heart attack' thinking about Ms Bishop becoming Liberal leader.

Another message showed him mocking Ms Bishop after she appeared in a fashion shoot with TV star Kerri-Anne Kennerley.

'Sorry. She has agency and autonomy. I get it. But how does this advance the cause of strong, independent policy or business relevant women?,' he wrote.

Senator Payne is disparaged in other texts where she is described as 'completely ineffectual' and a 'problem'.

The messages were sent on apps such as WhatsApp and Signa with other messages mentioning several more politicians including Attorney-General George Brandis.

Mr Pezullo proposed the idea for the super department of Home Affairs in 2001, and finally saw it realised in 2017.

Under Mr Dutton the department became known for its hardline stance on border security issues and for cracking down on illegal migrants.

Defence Minister Marise Payne was mentioned in texts sent by Mr PePezullo where she is described as 'completely ineffectual' and a 'problem' (pictured, mock-up of the text)
Dick Smith says it will be impossible for Australia to run completely on renewable energy and has urged Anthony Albanese's government to invest in nuclear power.

The self-made millionaire businessman's comments come after Energy Minister Chris Bowen launched an extraordinary attack on Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's support for nuclear energy.

Mr Bowen told the ABC's Insiders program on Sunday that the idea of Australia going nuclear in order to fulfil Labor's goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 was a 'fantasy wrapped in a delusion, accompanied by a pipe dream'.

Instead the Albanese government will focus on renewable energy projects such as wind, solar, battery and hydro.

However, Smith argued 'there's no way we're going to be able to get our carbon emissions down without going nuclear'.

'The Liberals are supporting it, but the Labor party is against it,' he told Radio 2GB on Monday morning.

'The worst thing they believe is the country can be completely run on renewables.'

Self-made millionaire Dick Smith has urged Anthony Albanese's government to consider nuclear energy as it pushes towards achieving net-zero emissions by 2050

Mr Smith described himself as a renewables expert, revealing that he owns electric cars which he powers with the solar energy on his roof.

Poll Should Australia go nuclear? Yes No Should Australia go nuclear? Yes 1463 votes

No 130 votes Now share your opinion





But, he added: 'I can tell you, in a huge country like Australia, it would be impossible to completely run on renewables.'

The business dynamo noted that France derives 70 per cent of its energy from nuclear power - first switching its energy system to the power in the 1950s.

'We should replace our coal power plants with nuclear and get on with it,' Mr Smith said.

Mr Bowen on Sunday rubbished Mr Dutton's advocacy for nuclear power as 'an attempt at distraction'.

He also called the Liberal leader Australia's 'chief climate in-activist'.

The idea of Australia going nuclear has long faced community opposition following the disasters in Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima - despite the country's large deposits of uranium which is the critical fuel.

However, a Resolve poll released at the weekend found that fewer than one in five Australians are opposed to ending the country's moratorium on nuclear energy.

Some 49 per cent of Australians were in favour of revisiting the nuclear moratorium, while just 18 per cent were opposed and 33 per cent were unsure.

Energy minister Chris Bowen is pictured with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Mr Bowen used floral language to slam the idea of Australia going nuclear as a 'fantasy'

Earlier this year, Mr Dutton accused Labor of being 'mesmerised' by solar panels and wind turbines, while ignoring the opportunities of nuclear to lower household energy costs.

'If nuclear power is so prohibitively expensive, why are more than 50 countries investing in it, including those with smaller economies than Australia?' Mr Dutton said at a speech to the Institute of Public Affairs on in July.

'Conveniently, the energy minister is reluctant to mention the costs of storage and transmission when he talks about renewables being cheaper.'

He added that nuclear energy would provide zero emissions and is a 'cheap technology' that would steer the country clear of the energy crisis.

Federal Labor is aiming for the country to hit 82 per cent renewables by 2030 - up from about a third at present - to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Last week, the government announced an expansion of a taxpayer-funded capacity investment scheme for clean energy projects, including wind, solar, battery and hydro.

The capacity investment scheme guarantees companies a pre-agreed floor for revenue when committing to renewable energy projects but also allows taxpayers to share in benefits when prices soar.

States can continue to invest in new gas generation under their own capacity plans, but not under the federal scheme.

Mr Bowen said: 'Australia on climate policies is like the kid that forgot about the exam, and has to have to really come home strongly in the final period.

'That's what we're doing, and the Albanese government is making up for those 10 years of denial and delay.'

Asked if there was a cap on how much the government was willing to spend on the transition to renewables, Mr Bowen skirted the question.

'When a government is entering into commercial negotiations or an auction, it is quite standard budget treatment to say that we will not indicate our pricing expectations,' he said.

'What we're determined to do is maximise the benefit for the taxpayer and keep those bidders with their pencils very sharp.'

Asked if households would get lower energy prices this term, Mr Bowen could not guarantee it.

'We're dealing with very challenging international circumstances in the energy market, just as every country, every government in the world is doing,' he said.

'I'm encouraged by some of the wholesale price movements, very substantial reductions, which will ultimately flow through to retail bills in due course.'

Wholesale prices have been 71 per cent lower than 12 months ago, he said.
Joe Biden privately apologized and vowed to 'do better' to a group of Muslim Americans for casting 'excessive skepticism' over the number of Palestinian deaths released by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

The president, 81, faced five community figureheads who were furious one day after he publicly dismissed a Palestinian death toll on October 25. One person organizing the meeting said the process was a 's**tshow.'

At the press conference at the White House, Biden - who has been steadfast in his support of Israel since October 7 - said: 'I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed.'

The next day on October 26, Biden had fraught discussions with five community public figures who were incensed by his comments. Their group back-and-forth went over Biden's allotted scheduled time by 30 minutes.

All five attendees had been hand-picked by the White House.

President Joe Biden pictured at a press conference Wednesday, October 25, 2023. Biden said: 'I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,' which angered the focus group

The guest list included, according to the Washington Post: Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Chicago-based Rami Nashashibi, interfaith leader Imam Mohamed Magid, Muslim lobbyist Wa'el Alzayat, and health-care advocate Suzanne Barakat.

One person involved in the talks told the Post: 'Why are you sitting down with him without any agreement that he's going to retract that statement and apologize?

'What seat at the table are you negotiating, the toilet seat?'

One participant, speaking to the Post, said the goal was to press Biden on the issue of ceasefire. The invitees were 'livid' that Biden was debating the fatality data just one day before - rather than accepting that thousands were being killed in Gaza.

Because Hamas, the terrorist organization who slaughtered 1,300 Israelis, are the body who release Gaza's death toll, the numbers were approached with caution at the beginning of the conflict.

All five at Biden's meeting said that they knew people that were affected by the ordeal in Gaza.

One of the people present said they'd lost 100 members of their family.

It was at this point Biden allegedly apologized for his words and actions.

He reportedly told them: 'I'm sorry. I'm disappointed in myself. I will do better.'

Imam Mohamed Magid and Suzanne Barakat were among the five at the meeting with Biden

Rami Nashashibi, a Chicago-based Muslim community organizer and Wa'el Alzayat, of the Muslim lobbying group Emgage, who were both involved in the meeting

Keith Ellison, attorney general of Minnesota

One attendee told the Post: 'We said, 'Palestinians are dying. We're not okay with the numbers of their dead being disputed.'

The meeting was only meant to run for 30 minutes - but instead it went on for more than an hour.

The president ended up hugging one of the participants and vowed to 'do better.'

Keith Ellison, who was one of the five in attendance, told the Washington Post: 'Muslim community leaders told President Biden that the suffering of innocent Gazans trying to survive in extremely difficult circumstances has actually increased the likelihood of Islamophobic attacks in the United States.

'The President listened carefully, responded sincerely, and showed empathy and compassion for the suffering of everyone. I am hopeful he will act on that empathy.'

Biden and his officials have been meeting with various groups of Muslim, Palestinian, and Arab Americans in recent weeks as the conflict in the Middle East continues to divide public opinion.

And the war could also have effects on Biden's prospects for 2024. Swing states, like Michigan, have dense Arab American communities whose opinions on Biden's reaction to the conflict will be fresh in their minds when going to the polls next year.

As it stands, the terrorist-run Ministry of Health reports more than 14,000 people have been killed in Gaza.

Some 10,000 of those are believed to be women and children, NYTimes reports.

According to the Post, another meeting organized by White House saw a dozen Palestinian Americans tell aides that Biden would lose Arab and Muslim voters over the war.

An aerial view of heavily damaged buildings after Israeli attacks during third day of the humanitarian pause in Khan Yunis, Gaza

Palestinians sit on a couch amid wreckage of the residential areas

On Sunday night, a young American orphan who turned four while she was a hostage of Hamas was one of nine child and teenage hostages terror group Hamas handed over to the Red Cross.

A total of thirteen Israelis, two Thai nationals and a person from Russia have now been freed by the militant group, including four-year-old Israeli-American Abigail Idan, whose parents were killed during Hamas' deadly October 7 incursion.

The other children, held by Hamas for the last seven weeks in Gaza's underground tunnels, have been named as: Ella Elyakim, eight, Dafna Elyakim, 15, Ofri Brodutch, 10, Yuval Brodutch, eight, Oriya Brodutch, four, Agam Goldstein, 17, Tal Goldstein, nine, and Gal Goldstein, 11.

Other hostages released today, as part of the Hamas-Israel deal that will see around 50 women and children held by the terror group released in exchange for a brief ceasefire, include: Hagar Brodutch, 39, Chen Goldstein, 48, Alma Avraham, 84, and Adrian Aviva Siegel, 63.

All but one of the 13 Israeli hostages have been taken to Israel, while one elderly Israeli woman was taken to the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, along with Thai and Russian nationals who were seen being driven in a Red Cross van.

It comes as Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was committed to returning the roughly 200 hostages held by Hamas.
Teenagers in one of Albania's most deprived areas have not given up on their dreams of migrating to Britain, despite UK taxpayers funding an 8.4m programme to encourage them to stay at home.

The money was recently earmarked by the UK Government to be spent on job creation and community schemes in the region of Kukesi where the local mayor has launched a campaign to persuade citizens who have emigrated to return to their homeland.

The poverty-stricken area was picked for the handout after losing half of its population since 1990 due to so many of its younger citizens paying people smugglers to get them into the UK on small boats and hidden in lorries.

The mass migration has left the area's capital Kukes and its surrounding mountain villages being labelled 'ghost towns' as so many young people and families have left with only the older generation left behind.

The region in north east Albania near the Kosovo border has the highest percentage of its population living illegally in the UK or claiming asylum, compared to any other area of the former Communist country.

Fjoli Zhubi, 17, (pictured) said he was prepared to be people smuggled into the UK if he was unable to find work after he completes a three year course to become a vehicle mechanic at a professional school

Teenagers in one of Albania's most deprived areas have not given up on their dreams of migrating to Britain, despite UK taxpayers funding an 8.4m programme to encourage them to stay at home. Pictured: Derelict industrial buildings in Kukes, Albania

The money was recently earmarked by the UK Government to be spent on job creation and community schemes in the region of Kukesi where the local mayor has launched a campaign to persuade citizens who have emigrated to return to their homeland. Pictured: A pile of rubbish in a run down area of Kukes, Albania

Many teenagers seem unimpressed by the measures and still want to head for Britain as soon as they can because they believe they will be able to find work easily and earn far more there. Pictured: The Costa Coffee shop in Kukes, Albania, inspired by the famous UK coffee chain

But the situation is replicated to a lesser extent in towns and villages across Albania where populations have been stripped of citizens leaving to start new lives overseas with many heading for the UK.

The new mayor of Kukes has pledged to spend much of the UK money on persuading people to return by offering tax rebates and grants to set up businesses related to tourism which he sees as the key to boosting the region's economy.

But a MailOnline investigation has revealed that many teenagers seem unimpressed by the measures and still want to head for Britain as soon as they can because they believe they will be able to find work easily and earn far more there.

A 15-year-old boy called Dardan who was with friends in the Costa coffee shop in Kukes, named after the UK cafe chain, vowed to try and get to the UK as soon as he finishes middle school in July.

He said: 'In Albania, we don't have jobs or places to work. It's a poor country. I just want to go to England because I know the language. I have family members on my mother and father's side who are there already.

'Maybe I will get there in a truck or by boat. It will cost me thousands of euros, but I can borrow the money, and pay it back by working. I want to work in England as an electrician. I have been learning the trade from my uncle who is an electrician.

'All my friends think the same way. We see no future for us here. My parents understand, but they say I should finish school first. There are just better opportunities in the UK. Here, you cannot do anything.

'If I have to claim asylum, I will tell them that I have a very old house, my parents don't work and I have a sick brother. If I get sent back, I will try again. I don't want to listen to people trying to make me stay. I just want to go'.

The new mayor of Kukes has pledged to spend much of the UK money on persuading people to return by offering tax rebates and grants to set up businesses related to tourism which he sees as the key to boosting the region's economy. Pictured: Albert Halilaj, the newly elected mayor of Kukes, Albania

But a MailOnline investigation has revealed that many teenagers seem unimpressed by the measures and still want to head for Britain as soon as they can because they believe they will be able to find work easily and earn far more there. Pictured: Dilapidated buildings in Kukes, Albania

Official figures reveal that the number of Albanians seeking asylum in the UK surged to nearly 16,000 last year - more than the total number for the rest of Europe - with the majority arriving by small boat. Pictured: An apartment block in Kukes, Albania

Fjoli Zhubi, 17, who was also in the Costa said he was prepared to be people smuggled into the UK if he was unable to find work after he completes a three year course to become a vehicle mechanic at a professional school.

He said: 'My parents don't want me to go, but I will have no choice if I can't find a job. My chances of getting work here are just 50/50 because the economy is not good. About 80 per cent of people who leave college here stay unemployed.

'If it is possible, I will try and apply for a visa to go to the UK legally, but I may have to pay to go on a truck. I have relatives in England and I know I will get work there.'

Official figures reveal that the number of Albanians seeking asylum in the UK surged to nearly 16,000 last year - more than the total number for the rest of Europe - with the majority arriving by small boat.

Home Secretary and former Foreign Secretary James Cleverly boasted last month that the number of Albanians being detected on arrival in the UK had plummeted by 90 per cent since its height last year.

He blamed the decrease on greater co-operation with the Albanian authorities and an increased willingness to return those with no legal right to stay, making the UK a less attractive destination.

But young residents of Kukes insisted that plenty of people were still willing to risk their lives making the perilous journey across the Channel on open boats or smuggled in lorries.

A 19-year-old construction worker who gave his name as Erjon said: 'I think it just means that people are getting into England without anyone knowing and then living illegally. There is no point in claiming asylum if you are going to get rejected.'

Older residents told MailOnline of their despair at living in an area which so many young people have abandoned in their quest for new lives, particularly in the UK.

Musli Llehsi, 60, who owns the Amerika Hotel in Kukes, said: 'I am very concerned. I can't find people to work for me. All my former waiters are in the UK or Germany.

Musli Llehsi, 60, (pictured) who owns the Amerika Hotel in Kukes, said: 'I am very concerned. I can't find people to work for me. All my former waiters are in the UK or Germany'

While coffee shops in the main street in Kukes appeared to be doing a brisk trade on Saturday, there seemed little other economic activity in the town with former factory buildings in its old industrial area lying abandoned and derelict. Pictured: Derelict industrial buildings in Kukes

'Even the guy who used to guard my car park is now in the UK. I can't blame people for leaving. The cost of living is high here as the wages are lower. I have six cousins in the UK. They went in a lorry seven years ago and are there illegally.

'They are working in construction and they are very happy. They are never coming back. There is nothing for them here.'

While coffee shops in the main street in Kukes appeared to be doing a brisk trade on Saturday, there seemed little other economic activity in the town with former factory buildings in its old industrial area lying abandoned and derelict.

With most of the housing in grim looking blocks of flats, the only signs of affluence appeared to be occasional luxury right-hand drive cars with UK number plates, driven across Europe by successful Albanians returning home and apparently flaunting their wealth.

The only other sign of activity as snow blanketed the town on Saturday was an annual chess tournament in a community centre between Albanians and a visiting group from Kosovo with none of the participants appearing to be under 60-years-old.

One of the players, Jetes Shala, 64, who is a maths teacher at a secondary school, said the population of the area where he lived around 20 miles away in Prizren, Kosovo, had been equally stripped of its population.

He said: 'Right after the war in Kosovo, we had around 1,200 pupils. Now, just 23 years later, this number has decreased to 300. The main reason is migration.

'They have gone to countries all around Europe including Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Belgium, and of course the UK. It has a negative impact on the school. Sometimes there are only seven, eight or nine pupils in the classroom. It makes it more expensive to run.

With most of the housing in grim looking blocks of flats, the only signs of affluence appeared to be occasional luxury right-hand drive cars with UK number plates, driven across Europe by successful Albanians returning home and apparently flaunting their wealth. Pictured: The entrance to a run down apartment block in Kukes, Albania

The only other sign of activity as snow blanketed the town on Saturday was an annual chess (pictured) tournament in a community centre between Albanians and a visiting group from Kosovo with none of the participants appearing to be under 60-years-old

'It is a problem for old people remaining alone without their children. I live in a village with around 1,000 houses and 300 are empty. More than 400 are occupied by old people or couples whose children have left. Only a few houses have children in them.

'It is very bad because people live for their children. I have three sons with two in Switzerland and Italy, and only one at home. I have two grandsons in Switzerland I miss them a lot. I am hoping for a visa to visit them in January.'

A 52-year-old man sipping fiery homemade Raki in the near deserted Communist era cultural centre in Kukes told MailOnline how his 14-year-old son had secretly left home and gone to the UK in 2016 before being followed in 2018 by his older brother.

The grey-haired father who has not seen his sons since, said: 'My younger son was lured by criminal groups in Albania as soon as he left school. They got him into the UK, and I still don't know how he got there. I only found out by surprise.

'The other one paid to get over on a lorry on a ferry from Belgium. I believe he paid around 2,000 euros. They are now living together illegally with three other people in a rented house in Enfield in London.

'I speak to them on the phone, but I miss them both, It has been seven years since I saw the younger one and five years for the older one. They are working in construction and trying to help here with money.

'I have a younger son who is 13 now, and I am trying to persuade him to stay. He has very good grades at school.'

A 67-year-old retired military administrator who did not want to be named, added: 'Young people are leaving due to the economic conditions because they cannot find jobs here. They are trying to improve their lives.

'We are grateful to the UK for receiving these people. They are all working and sending money back to their families here. I know there are some Albanian criminals in the UK, but the majority just want to work and help their families.

'It is a problem for old people left behind because they have to look after themselves, although they get sent money. You cannot stop young people from going. They just want better lives.

'My brother has two sons in the UK. They are working in a car wash and in construction. They are not getting a big salary, but it is a lot compared to Albania and they are renting a house.'

One of the players, Jetes Shala, 64, (pictured) who is a maths teacher at a secondary school, said the population of the area where he lived around 20 miles away in Prizren, Kosovo, had been equally stripped of its population

A 67-year-old retired military administrator who did not want to be named, added: 'Young people are leaving due to the economic conditions because they cannot find jobs here. They are trying to improve their lives'. Pictured: An empty street in the town of Kukes, Albania

A 52-year-old man sipping fiery homemade Raki in the near deserted Communist era cultural centre in Kukes told MailOnline how his 14-year-old son had secretly left home and gone to the UK in 2016 before being followed in 2018 by his older brother. Pictured: Derelict industrial buildings in Kukes, Albania

Albert Halilaj, who was elected as socialist mayor of Kukes municipality last September, said he had no statistics about how many people had emigrated from the area, but insisted that the number had been decreasing. Pictured: An empty street in the town of Kukes, Albania

Albert Halilaj, who was elected as socialist mayor of Kukes municipality last September, said he had no statistics about how many people had emigrated from the area, but insisted that the number had been decreasing.

He told of his hopes of harnessing the region's potential as a tourism area, creating jobs for mountain guides and in hotels, guest houses, hospitality, and other services to rejuvenate its fortunes.

Mr Halilaj said he hoped to use the UK funding to give two year tax breaks to people returning from the UK and starting tourism related businesses, along with grants of between 5,000 and 40,000 euros.

He added: 'We have noticed a growth in tourism in the last three years. We have wild and unexplored areas in the mountains which people from abroad are curious to explore as well as the River Drin.

'We have also reached an agreement with the UK embassy to try and develop the network underground bomb shelter bunkers in the town which date back to Communist times, so they can become an attraction.

'We want to make it a priority for young people to stay here, and give them the opportunity to get involved in new projects. We are also trying to look at improving local agriculture and encouraging farmers to grow healthy plants.

'I have been trying to persuade people to come home. I cannot support young people going to live abroad illegally. We are trying to tell them that they don't know what they are doing and what they might get into.

'They can easily be exposed to crime, and they could find themselves back here after three months if they cannot find work and accommodation.'

Asllan Dogjani, an MP for the Democratic Party opposition in Tirana who was visiting his family home in Kukes, said: 'Albanian people are very poor, especially in Kukes and especially the young. They want to leave because they have no jobs or security for their futures.

'Also, the law in Albania is not the same for everyone. The law does not seem to apply to people who have plenty of money or are gangsters, or are from the criminal classes, but it applies to the poor and normal people.

Asllan Dogjani, (pictured) an MP for the Democratic Party opposition in Tirana who was visiting his family home in Kukes, said: 'Albanian people are very poor, especially in Kukes and especially the young. They want to leave because they have no jobs or security for their futures'

Romao, 20, who was visiting Kukes after working in recent years in France and Germany said: 'Of course, we have to work abroad because there is nothing here. You look around here, and it is just old men.' Pictured: Derelict industrial buildings in Kukes, Albania

'There is no justice here and I do not consider that we have free and fair elections. Voters are intimidated by people with more money and power. People don't believe there is ever going to be change, and they emigrate as they face so much injustice.

'It is very harmful for the city and also the villages. There are only old people left behind. They are living on money sent back by their families and they have nothing else. But it is not a solution. The city is being abandoned and if it continues, there will be nothing left.

'What else can young people do? The only opportunity for work is in state administration. Even those working in bars or cafes are just the owners of the businesses. They are not really hiring people.

'There are no factories, and while there is potential in mountain tourism, there are no people left behind to do the jobs, and the infrastructure like roads is not good. Everyone without exception wants to leave when they are 14-years-old.'

Romao, 20, who was visiting Kukes after working in recent years in France and Germany said: 'Of course, we have to work abroad because there is nothing here. You look around here, and it is just old men.'
A shopper who claimed she was falsely imprisoned by staff at a Coles supermarket has been slammed by a judge who found her evidence was dishonest and 'bizarre'.

The woman alleged she was stopped from leaving the supermarket at Wanneroo Shopping Centre in Perth's northern suburbs on two occasions after refusing to pay for a newspaper she bought at another shop.

On one occasion, the woman alleged a security guard struck her with a shopping trolley, causing causing her to lose her footing and making her so fearful she wet herself.

The woman sued Coles and MCS Security in the Western Australian District Court, claiming to have been the victim of assault and battery as well as false imprisonment.

A shopper who claimed she was falsely imprisoned by staff at a Coles supermarket has been slammed by a judge who found her evidence was dishonest and 'bizarre'. Stock image

The court heard the woman regularly shopped at Wanneroo Coles, despite having had problems at the supermarket for a decade and it being an hour's drive from her home at Baldivis, about 70km to the south.

The woman, who claimed to hold three law degrees and a doctorate, represented herself.

The first incident took place in March 2020 when the woman entered the Coles supermarket with a copy of The West Australian newspaper she had bought at a nearby newsagent and put in her trolley.

The woman gathered bread and four slices of polony - called devon in most states - which she took to an express checkout to pay the $2.80 bill.

There, a sales assistant asked the woman to also pay for the newspaper but she insisted it had been bought from another shop.

The woman claimed a Coles employee said she was calling police and three others blocked her exit from the store.

The woman alleged she was stopped from leaving Wanneroo Shopping Centre (above) in Perth's northern suburbs after refusing to pay for a newspaper she bought at another shop

A security guard had 'shaped up to her' then pushed the trolley towards the woman, causing her to fall back against a counter, she told the court.

The woman said this was when she wet herself.

The security guard gave evidence it was the woman who had hit him with the trolley.

'I believe she was a little upset and she tried to ram me with the trolley straight to my belly,' he told the court.

Staff told the woman she could leave but she said she would wait for police, who placed her under arrested when they arrived then let her go without charge.

Despite the trauma she claimed to have suffered during that incident, the woman returned to the supermarket, including on the day after a 12-month ban expired.

The second incident occurred in May 2021 when the woman again purchased a newspaper before entering the supermarket.

This time she purchased groceries worth $11.25 but was again blocked from leaving by Coles employees, she told the court.

Coles has recently installed electronic gates in self-service checkout areas (above)

When a male staff member said, 'I'm informed that you haven't paid for the paper before', the woman had responded, 'Well you have been misinformed'.

After several minutes the woman was given a receipt for her groceries and left the supermarket. On both occasions the newsagent confirmed the woman had bought the West Australian from his shop.

Judge Linda Black said the woman's case depended almost entirely on her credibility as a witness.

'I find that the plaintiff is not a credible witness,' Judge Black said earlier this month. 'She is neither honest nor reliable.'

Judge Black said the woman continued to dispute evidence in body-worn camera footage and held firm to her 'clearly mistaken (or dishonest) recollection'.

'This aspect of her evidence was truly bizarre,' Judge Black found.

'The fact that the plaintiff asserted she suffered significant physical and mental consequences from what happened, according to her, on the first occasion is utterly irreconcilable with her decision to continue to go to the Coles supermarket in question, including during a period she was banned from doing so.

Coles is rolling out anti-theft fog devices (above) in a bid to deter thieves (above)

'Her refusal to acknowledge the availability and feasibility of attending other Coles supermarkets or other supermarkets such as Woolworths, Aldi and IGA damaged her credibility.

'This is particularly so in circumstances where she lived a very long way from the Coles supermarket in question.'

Judge Black said security did not tell the woman she could not leave the supermarket or try to stop her. She also rejected the woman's claim of wetting herself.

This Coles customer was unimpressed with new security gates which left her 'locked' into a supermarket in the NSW Hunter Valley. She is not the woman who sued Coles

'She does not appear injured nor distressed in any way and she does not suggest she has wet herself,' she found.

'By contrast she appears confident, robust, keen to lecture others on the law and deriving pleasure from the circumstances in which she had an opportunity to assert her rights.'

Judge Black dismissed the woman's claim in its entirety and ordered she payed Coles' and the security company's costs.

Coles is rolling out anti-theft fog devices in a bid to deter thieves.

It has also installed electronic gates in self-service checkout areas as part of a new range of security measures.

New security cameras above the checkout machines track all items being scanned and placed into bags and if discrepancies are found smart gates will shut while an alarm rings out, keeping the customer within the store.

One customer from the NSW Hunter Valley said she was 'horrified' after seeing the gates for the first time.

'Now you're locked into Coles,' she said in a TikTok video. 'I couldn't get out of the self-serve checkout once I'd finish my shopping 'til they looked at my receipt and pressed a button for the new glass gates they have installed.'

If that fails to keep a suspected thief from leaving the store, the wheels on new high-tech trolleys will completely lock up the moment they leave the store.
Matt Wright has been pictured going for a swim with loved ones less than a week after an investigation into the crash that killed his friend was released.

The image showed the Outback Wrangler in the water at Tipperary Station, about 200km south of Darwin, and was posted by his friend to social media platform X on Saturday night.

The photo was shared just days after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) published their findings into the deadly 2022 crash on Wednesday.

Chris 'Willow' Wilson was killed and pilot Sebastian Robinson injured after their helicopter crashed while on an egg hunting missing in West Arnhem land.

The aviation watchdog ruled that the pilot did not refuel the aircraft owned and operated by Wright's company Helibrook, causing the engine to stop mid-air.

The investigation also found low levels of cocaine in Robinson's blood samples, but added there was insufficient evidence to determine if he was affected at the time.

The image showed the Outback Wrangler in the water at Tipperary Station, about 200km south of Darwin, and was posted by his friend to social media platform X on Saturday night

Wright delivered his first sit-down interview about the deadly crash on the weekend revealing he had received threats from the public, which were so severe he had been unable to mourn the loss of his friend.

The photo of Wright with his loved ones, which was shared to X, was accompanied with the caption: 'Always a great day hanging with Matty... #f**kthehaters'.

'I couldnt give a f**k about haters. And I got plenty. They dont even feature in my world'.

While one social media user was confused by the 'hashtag's sentiment' others rallied around Wright in a landslide of support for the former TV-star.

'Those guys are awesome,' one user wrote.

'F**k the haters. Keep strong,' a second wrote.

Wright revealed his family had been subjected to vile abuse since the crash including death threats and vandalism at his other business - with one person cutting the power to his home while his wife was in the house.

He said he has stepped away from his helicopter business Helibrook for good.

'Ive sold the choppers. Im getting away from all that, I dont wanna go there again,' he told The Sunday Telegraph.

'I got publicly blamed for the death of my best mate it's just not f***ing worth it.'

Another social media user said he was glad that Wright was 'cleared' of wrongdoing for the crash.

Wright is charged with seven offences over issues not directly relating to the crash, including attempting to pervert the course of justice, destroying evidence, fabricating evidence, unlawful entry and interfering with witnesses.

The interview was days after the Australian Transport Safety Bureau found the R44 helicopter (pictured) involved in the deadly February 2022 crash hadn't refuelled before taking off

Wright's 'best mate' Chris 'Willow' Wilson (pictured), who was dangling from the chopper on a 30m rope, was killed in the accident when the pilot released him during the crash landing

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau, last week ruled that the pilot Robinson did not refuel the aircraft owned and operated by Wright's company, causing the engine to suddenly stop.

The investigation found the chopper's engine stopped mid-flight and the pilot released the hooks and sling line during the emergency landing.

The height of the release, which was above nine metres, was 'likely not survivable' for Wilson, ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell found.

The investigation also found low levels of cocaine in Robinson's blood which increased the likelihood of fatigue, depression and inattention but added there was insufficient evidence to determine if he was affected at the time.

Wright said the ATSB findings had brought about mixed feelings and that rumours about the crash were 'ludicrous'.

He also said the 'noise' that surrounded the shocking incident meant he had not been able to fully accept his best mate was gone.

'There's certain aspects of that report that makes you upset that it's such a simple accident that killed Willow,' he said.

'We didn't want that to be true. As hard as it is for everyone involved, there are some answers now as to what happened.

'The pilot has suffered enough, he is in a wheelchair which is horrible, we've lost Willow, lives have been turned upside down, so I want it to just stop.'
A top judge has struck a blow 'against the patriarchy' by demoting the status of 'Mr' on her court forms.

Queensland Chief Justice Helen Bowskill used a Pride in Law Address last Thursday to point out the subtle way she has put men in their place by altering court forms to list preferred honourifics as 'Ms/Mr' rather than the normal 'Mr/Ms' order.

''Mr' always comes first in any choice of salutations. I quietly flipped this, so that 'Ms' comes first now,' she said.

'Perhaps no one would have noticed this until now.'

Queensland Chief Justice Helen Bowskill has elevated 'Ms" in front of 'Mr' on court forms

Justice Bowskill also backs the Queensland Supreme Court edict implemented earlier this year that directs people appearing before court to nominate their preferred pronouns.

'The idea behind the practice direction is to simply make it the 'norm',' she said.

'In that way, if you wish to communicate that information to the court, you can do so without having to single yourself out. Your difference is respected; but you don't have to fight for that respect.'

Chief Justice Bowskill said the move had been positively received.

'It may be a small thing; and it may be that there are only a relatively small number of people whom it directly affects,' she said.

'But from what I have been told by quite a few people, it has been a significant thing. It provides visibility, and an easy and understated way to express your preference.'

She also wanted see more diversity and inclusion in legal circles.

'I'm keen to learn, to understand and to help to address issues where I can,' she said.

'Organisations such as Pride in Law, and the professional working groups that are established, for example, by the Queensland Law Society or the Bar Association of Queensland, are important, as the avenue for communication of ideas.'

Justice Bowskill said that she wanted to see more diversity and inclusion in legal circles

Ultimately the important thing was to respect others, according to Justice Bowskill.

'Perhaps to be valued for who we are, our abilities, qualities and achievements, and what we contribute to society, not how we look or where we come from or who we love,' she said.

'Perhaps to have our feelings, wishes, preferences and rights acknowledged; and to be treated equally, regardless of our differences.

'To not have to fight for or demand equal treatment, but to be able to expect it.

'To be encouraged to feel proud of who we are, because we are respected for it.

'All any of us is asking for is a little respect, at home, at work, in the community.'

South Australia, Victoria and Queensland have released practice notes that require court attendees to refer to parties by their preferred pronouns.

NSW judges have the option to choose whether or not they use preferred pronouns when referring to defendants.

Three appeal judges chose to use male pronouns, when referring to a transgender defendant, last week.
Number of homes fell short of the number needed by 1.34m over the past decade

This is much higher than the 178,000 homes actually built in England in 2022

Centre for Policy Studies says 515,000 new homes needed in England last year

Housebuilding needs to almost treble to keep pace with the demand generated by soaring immigration, a study warns today.

Research by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) suggests at least 515,000 new homes would have been required in England last year to meet the needs of a growing population.

The figure is far in excess of the Government target of building 300,000 homes a year and almost treble the 178,000 homes actually completed in England in 2022.

Karl Williams, deputy research director at the CPS, said the surge in net migration, which jumped to a record 745,000 last year, had left the Government's targets hopelessly out of date.

The CPS report found that over the past decade, the number of homes built fell short of the number needed by 1.34million, fuelling a growing housing crisis.

Research by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) suggests at least 515,000 new homes would have been required in England last year to meet the needs of a growing population (File Photo)

The figure is far in excess of the Government target of building 300,000 homes a year and almost treble the 178,000 homes actually completed in England in 2022 (File Photo)

'These figures highlight the historic rise in net migration and the failure of successive governments in tackling the housing crisis,' said Mr Williams.

'Not only are we not building enough homes to meet demand from people already living in the UK, we are not even properly taking into account the needs of new arrivals.

'The Government needs to get a grip on the immigration system to deliver the control it promised at the last election and do more to encourage housebuilding  greenfield and brownfield, urban and rural, North and South  otherwise a growing portion of the population will find themselves locked out of home ownership by our cavernous housing deficit.'

The Tories promised to meet the 300,000 homes-a-year target by the middle of this decade. Labour said it will also push to deliver 300,000 homes annually if it wins power.

But the research suggests the target, devised in 2016 and based on net migration to England averaging 170,000 a year, has been overtaken by events.

The CPS said calculating the formula using the latest migration figures would raise the target to 515,000 a year.
Retired 9th Circuit Judge Paul J. Watford is a partner at Wilson Sonsini. Associated Press

The Supreme Courts 2022 rulings that overturned the right to abortion and rolled back the governments authority to restrict firearms or greenhouse gas emissions delighted conservatives but horrified supporters of reproductive rights, gun control and environmental regulation. For one judge on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the cases sent a message that it was time to leave.

It was clear that in most of the high-profile areas in which the court was going to issue major decisions, my own views as a judge would be out of sync with what the Supreme Court was deciding in area after area, former Judge Paul Watford told the Chronicle last week. It led me to start rethinking whether I would want to stay on the bench for the rest of my career.

So 11 years after a divided U.S. Senate confirmed his nomination by President Barack Obama to the nations largest federal appeals court  and seven years after Obama considered him for the Supreme Court  Watford resigned in May and joined a private law firm in Los Angeles, where he handles complex civil litigation. His unusual reasons for departing were first reported by the National Law Journal.

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Watford, now 56, was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, spent three years as a federal prosecutor and 12 years in private practice before his appointment to the 9th Circuit, where he became one of only two Black judges on the 29-judge court.

He won a narrow confirmation vote with support from nine Republican senators based on his reputation as an ideological moderate who was open to arguments on all sides. That was borne out in some of his later decisions, including a 2-1 ruling in 2019 that allowed President Donald Trumps administration to send asylum-seeking immigrants back to Mexico while their cases were under review.

I knew that was going to result in horrific suffering of tens of thousands of people who were  being subjected to deplorable conditions and a lot of violent crime while they were waiting on the Mexico side, Watford told the National Law Journal. But as I read the statute we had to interpret, the Trump administration had been granted that authority by Congress.

President Joe Biden repealed the remain in Mexico policy after taking office in 2021 but has maintained some of Trumps other restrictions, including a requirement that migrants seek asylum in countries they pass through before applying for refuge in the United States.

Watford sided with liberals in other cases, including a 2021 ruling that said a group of San Francisco janitors had been illegally fired for picketing an office building to protest their wages and working conditions. He also wrote a 2019 ruling requiring the Trump administration to enforce long-delayed energy-efficiency standards for air conditioners, heaters and other appliances that Obamas administration had drafted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

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Watford was on Obamas short list of candidates to succeed Justice Antonin Scalia, who died in February 2016. Obama later nominated Merrick Garland, then a federal appeals court judge, but Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to hold hearings on Garland and preserved the vacancy that Trump filled by appointing Justice Neil Gorsuch. Garland is now Bidens attorney general.

Watford declined to discuss McConnells actions with the Chronicle and said only that he had been thrilled to meet with Obama about his own potential nomination.

I told him what an extraordinary honor its been to serve on the court, Watford said. He was so gracious. When he learned my wife (Sherry) had made the trip with me, he suggested she come to the White House, and after our interview she got to chat with him as well. Shell treasure that memory.

But the legal atmosphere began to chill for Watford in June 2022 when the Supreme Court ruled that Americans have a constitutional right to carry concealed firearms outside the home, and that any restrictions on gun possession must be supported by the nations historical tradition of firearms regulation.

A day later, the same conservative majority overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that had established a constitutional right to abortion. And four days after that, the court said the Environmental Protection Agency had no power to limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal mining in a ruling that declared the major questions doctrine  that any federal regulation of great economic and political importance must be based on clear and explicit congressional authority  a virtually impossible burden for agencies to satisfy.

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I was disheartened when (those rulings) came down, Watford said. He confirmed the National Law Journals account that he had hesitated initially about leaving the court, but made his decision after getting a call from U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman of Chicago, an old friend, who said he was stepping down after 12 years on the bench.
Tommy Robinson was pepper sprayed by police as he was arrested during Sunday's March Against Anti-Semitism in central London after previously being told by organisers to stay away.

The English Defence League founder was detained by dozens of officers near the Royal Courts of Justice, where the rally attended by tens of thousands of people started.

Photos and video from the scene show the 40-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, with his eyes partially closed after synthetic pepper spray was used on him.

The Metropolitan Police has said the substance was used after he 'resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs' having being 'warned repeatedly' it would be sprayed.

Mr Robinson had claimed he was attending the rally, which was the biggest protest against anti-Semitism in London since 1936, 'as a journalist', but the march's organisers had raised concerns his attendance would 'cause fear for other participants'.

Tommy Robinson was seen being escorted away from the march by police after arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop

Mr Robinson claimed to be there 'as a journalist' and alleged police were trying to stop him 'from reporting'. The Met Police said this did not play a factor

The English Defence League founder is led away by police officers as people take part in a march against antisemitism

On the day he was seen arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop opposite the Royal Courts of Justice before being led away by police.

Scotland Yard said it arrested Mr Robinson after he refused to leave the area when asked to by police officers.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'The arrested man resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs. He was warned repeatedly before PAVA spray was used.

'Following its use, officers gained control of him and handcuffs were applied.'

In an earlier statement, the force said organisers had 'been clear about their concerns that the man's attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants.

'The same view has been voiced by others.

'As a result he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.

'He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so.'

Mr Robinson said he attended the march as a 'journalist' and denied causing alarm or distress to others.

The former EDL leader was previously seen among the crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police during ceasefire protests held on Armistice Day.

Earlier this month on X, formerly Twitter, he posted about his intention to attend the march.

Organisers Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'No thanks.

'The drunken far-right thugs who came to 'protect the cenotaph' on Armistice Day, some of whom shouted 'Sieg Heil' or hospitalised police officers, are most definitely not welcome.'

He was seen arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop opposite the Royal Courts of Justice and was then taken away from the scene

The Met Police has been in frequent contact this week with the march's organisers who had raised concerns that Mr Robinson attending would 'cause fear for other participants'

Scotland Yard arrested Mr Robinson after he refused to leave the area when asked to by police officers

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson pictured today in a cafe before his arrest

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the Met Police said it had 'spoken to [Mr Robinson] and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.

'He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so. We'er aware that the man had suggested he was in the area as a journalist. This was not a relevant factor in his arrest.'

Prior to his arrest, the Mr Robinson said: 'Met Police attempting to intimidate me and stop me from reporting on the antisemitism march happening today in London. Absolute disgrace @metpoliceuk.'

BBC journalists defied bosses to attend the march with 'a large proportion of Jewish staff' said to have been in attendance.

Earlier this week senior managers at the broadcaster caused fury when they allegedly banned staff who work in news, current affairs or factual journalism or are senior leaders from attending the march.

A BBC insider told MailOnline 'every Jewish member of staff I know thinks it's a deplorable decision'.

One member of staff, who felt nervous about going, told MailOnline: 'If I don't go I'm letting my family and friends down. And for what? To uphold guidelines that have left Jewish colleagues feeling insecure.'

One BBC employee, who did not want to give his name, said: 'I'm here as a proud Jew but scared of living in Britain right now.

The organisers have said it is the largest demonstration against anti-Semitism since 1936, with 104,000 estimated to be here

Demonstrators march against antisemitism, after an increase in the UK, during a temporary truce between the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas and Israel, in London

The group of a few thousand have been seen waving Israeli and Union flags and holding placards

A large group has gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice for the rally organised by charity Campaign Against Antisemitism

'I've seen nothing in writing but the general feeling is BBC staff are banned from attending this today. Which is shocking. I'm worried I'd get sacked if I gave my name.

'I'm worried about living in Britain right now. But I'm here to defy that and show my support. We are scared. We are worried.'

The man in his 40s, who lives in north London, added: 'It's pretty surreal the numbers here. It's also pretty surreal that in Britain we need a demonstration against anti-Semitism.

'That's sad in itself but also a sign of where we are.'

The group of a few thousand has been seen waving Israeli and Union flags and holding placards reading 'Never Again Is Now' and 'Zero Tolerance for Antisemites', while other posters read 'Rape is not resistance' and 'Hamas made me Jewish'.

Today's march comes after 18 demonstrators were arrested in the capital yesterday during a rally calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza - with anti-Semitic banners and placards on display throughout the march.

Today's event, organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism, will see protesters carry out a 90-minute march starting at the Royal Courts of Justice.

Boris Johnson, Rachel Riley, Vanessa Feltz, and Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman are also in attendance at the march.

Mr Johnson visited Israel earlier this month alongside Australia's former prime minister Scott Morrison and warned 'we face a huge terrorist threat'.

(Pictured left to right) Tracey-Ann Oberman, Eddie Marsan, Rachel Riley and Maureen Lipman take part in the march against antisemitism

Boris Johnson, his wife Carrie and baby Frank joined the thousands of demonstrators gathered in central London today to rally against anti-semitism

Mr Johnson, 59, appeared bundled up against the biting temperatures in a woolly hat, while 35-year-old Carrie held their child together in a baby carrier

The former Prime Minister was also joined by his sister Rachel in the march organised by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, which began by the Royal Courts of Justice

Vanessa Feltz interviewing a person taking part in a march against antisemitism organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism at the Royal Courts of Justice

Minister of State for Security Tom Tugendhat was also spotted in the crowds today

Chief Rabbi Mirvis taking part in a march against antisemitism which was attended by more than 100,000 people

Women hold images of hostages held in Gaza, during a march against antisemitism

A man, wearing a kippah, holds the British flag at a march against antisemitism

People hold Israeli and British flags during a march against antisemitism in London today

Poeple can be seen holding placards reading 'Never Again Is Now' and 'For Israel Against Antisemitism'

Police officers in attendance as people take part in a march against antisemitism in London

The former prime minister told GB News: 'Whatever the rights and wrongs of what Israel has done, or is doing, I think that the anti-Semitism we have seen in some of the marches around Europe has really confirmed for me the absolutely human necessity for Israel to exist.'

Ms Lipman thought the turnout was 'amazing' and said it was 'great to come and show support'.

She told MailOnline: 'We dont want to be here for why we are here, but we have to be here.

'As the Jewish community, we're in shock. There has been a terrible reckoning. It has frightened all of us.

'We're in total shock still. David Baddiel is right, Jews don't count. That's why we have to march.'

Posting ahead of the event Jewish office manager Ryan Coleman, 55, has attended to support Israel.

He said: 'The right against anti-semitism is real. I have friends who have been abused in the street purely for being Jewish.

'This is against hate. This is about being part of society in a peaceful way. I think it's going to send out a very strong message.

'Tommy Robinson is not welcome here. He is a disgrace.'

Paul Redman, 32, has travelled from his home in Wembley. The builder said: 'The support will be amazing. We are fearful as Jewish people in this country and that's horrific. It's scary right now.'

Yesterday thousands of pro-Palestine protesters flooded the streets of Central London shouting a 'from the river to the sea' chant, with some holding anti-Semitic banners

Today, London once again saw scenes of racism against Jews and calls for intifada on our streets.



Tomorrow, London will be a different city. One of tolerance and decency.



Join us as we #MarchAgainstAntisemitism.



We will march from 13:30 outside the Royal Courts of Justice. pic.twitter.com/FmbB7ZGXMv  Campaign Against Antisemitism (@antisemitism) November 25, 2023

Protesters held placards and Palestinian flags while taking part in a 'National March For Palestine' in central London yesterday

Pro-Palestine demonstrators unfurled a giant Palestinian flag as they passed The Cenotaph decorated with poppies, in Whitehall yesterday

Eighteen demonstrators were arrested in the capital yesterday during the rally calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza

Police closed off Whitehall near Trafalgar Square as Pro-Palestine protesters gathered after an earlier march ended

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'Week after week, central London has become a no-go zone for Jews.

'We have witnessed mass criminality, including glorification of terrorism, support for banned terrorist organisations such as Hamas, and incitement to racial or religious hatred against Jews.'

They added: 'The sad truth is that Jews do not feel safe in our capital city.

'Britain is known for its tolerance and decency, and we know that the people of this country stand with the Jewish community in this difficult time.'

Yesterday thousands of pro-Palestine protesters flooded the streets of Central London shouting a 'from the river to the sea' chant - with children as young as five joining in.

Anti-Semitic banners and placards were on display as Met Police officers made arrests - after issuing a hate speech warning which saw Arabic-speaking officers deployed to watch for offensive chants and images in the crowd.

'From the river to the sea' is considered to be highly inflammatory and some claim it's a call for Israel to not exist with signs at the protest displaying the same phrase.

Police distributed leaflets at the protest to warn attendees about what language and behaviour will not be tolerated - but one protester said 'the leaflet from the police is a waste of time.

'I don't know anybody who has read it or took the slightest bit of notice'.

A young woman was reportedly holding a hand-drawn placard which read 'stop doing what Hitler did to you' - making a comparison between Israel's strikes on Gaza and the Holocaust perpetuated by the Nazis.

The police also arrested a man on suspicion of inciting racial hatred by carrying a placard with Nazi symbols on it.

Another man was arrested on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation after he was filmed wearing a green headband with Arabic writing, imitating the ones that Hamas wear.

Police posted on X, formerely known as Twitter, to say that when he was stopped by officers, 'multiple headbands' were found on him and he was arrested.

Campaign Against Antisemitism wrote on X yesterday: 'Today, London once again saw scenes of racism against Jews and calls for intifada on our streets.

'Tomorrow, London will be a different city. One of tolerance and decency.'
Parents should be told by schools if their child is caught vaping, an MP says.

A recent survey shows nine in ten mums and dads want to be informed if their young ones partake in using the devices, which teachers say are growing in popularity.

Currently, there is no legal requirement for schools to ban vapes or to notify parents if their child is caught, as there is for tobacco and drugs.

The We Vape poll also found three quarters think shopkeepers who repeatedly sell vapes to children should go to jail.

Tory MP Craig Whittaker told the Sun: 'Schools should be telling parents if their child is caught vaping.

The We Vape poll also found three quarters think shopkeepers who repeatedly sell vapes to children should go to jail

Tory MP Craig Whittaker believes parents should be told by schools if their child is caught vaping

'Government are cracking down on youth vaping and parents should be told about children so they can take responsibility, too.'

Mark Oates, of We Vape, added: 'It reveals a public appetite for schools to engage with parents. Teachers and parents working together is an obvious way to stop young people from vaping.'

Meanwhile, NASUWT research has revealed more than half of educators have seen pupils leave class to vape.

The union's Darren Northcott said: 'Our experience is that schools generally inform parents of significant episodes of inappropriate behaviour. The biggest issue is that under-18s are able to get hold of vapes so readily.'

Younger generations in Scotland could be banned from ever buying cigarettes or vapes as part of a new crackdown.

MSPs will follow the UK Government and consider raising the age for selling tobacco  but also plan to do the same for vapes.
The father of a British university student killed by a French serial killer 33 years ago is hoping for justice as a woman accused of being complicit in her rape, kidnap and murder is put on trial tomorrow.

Monique Olivier, 75, is alleged to have been involved and complicit in her former husband Michel Fourniret's killing of Joanna Parrish, 20, in Moneteau, France, in May 1990.

Miss Parrish was working as an English teaching assistant at the Jacques-Aymot high school in Auxerre, Burgundy, when she was killed. Her naked body was found at Moneteau in the River Yonne nearby. The autopsy revealed that she had been raped and beaten before her death.

Serial killer Fourniret had confessed to the murder of Miss Parrish three years before he died in prison on 2021.

Now Olivier, who was married to Fourniret from 1989 to 2010, is facing a three week trial on three charges of murder, including one for the killing of Miss Parrish.

She is already serving a life sentence for involvement in five of the murders Fourniret had previously admitted.

Joanna Parrish, 20, was working as an English teaching assistant at the Jacques-Aymot high school in Auxerre, Burgundy, when she was killed. Her naked body was found at Moneteau in the River Yonne nearby. The autopsy revealed that she was raped and beaten before her death

Monique Olivier, 75, is alleged to have been involved and complicit in her former husband Michel Fourniret's killing of Miss Parrish. Olivier is pictured waiting at the Charleville-Meziere courthouse, northern France, on May 29, 2008

Serial killer Michel Fourniret had confessed to the murder of Miss Parrish three years before he died in prison on 2021. He is pictured leaving the Charleville-Mezieres courthouse in May 2008

Miss Parrish, of Gloucestershire, was on a year abroad as part of her French degree course at Leeds University when she was reported missing on May 16, 1990. Her body was found the next day.

Fourniret, dubbed the 'Ogre of Ardennes', was jailed in 2008 for the murders of seven girls but it was a decade before he confessed that Miss Parrish had been another of his victims.

He was charged with abduction, rape and murder but died in prison in 2021, aged 79, before he could be brought to trial.

But his widow will now go to trial over her alleged role in the rape and murder of Fourniret's three victims, including Miss Parrish.

Olivier has admitted luring young girl's into her husbands clutches before he raped and murdered them, The Times newspaper reported. She also helped dispose of their bodies.

Didier Seban, a lawyer representing Miss Parrish's father Roger Parrish, branded Olivier as an 'absolute darkness', telling the Times that the family 'cannot look ahead' until the 'judicial truth has been spoken'.

Mr Parrish had battled for justice for his daughter from the moment her body was found. He visited France many times to appeal for information from the public and also to monitor the police investigation.

Her murderer had remained unknown despite intensive police enquiries and the efforts of Mr Parrish, a retired Land Registry civil servant, and his ex-wife Pauline Sewell to keep their daughter's tragic death in the public eye.

Mr Parrish is 'angry' over the 'blunders' that were determinantal to his daughter's murder investigation, Mr Sedan added.

In 2018, when Fourniret confessed to the murder of his daughter, Mr Parrish spoke of his relief that the family finally knew the truth.

At that time, he said: 'It's something that we're pleased to hear about. We're relieved in many ways. Let's hope it's something which we can take forward.

'If we can get that kind of certainty it would be a huge relief. It's the final hurdle that we've faced for the last 27 years.

'We try to get on with our lives as best we can do. But there are times with it comes back when you least expect.'

'Our lawyers are confident that this has a degree of positivity which we've not had up to now. We're being guarded about it because of our past experience.'

Miss Parrish, of Gloucestershire, was on a year abroad as part of her French degree course at Leeds University when she was reported missing on May 16, 1990. Her body was found the next day. Joanna Parrish is pictured with her brother Barney in Paris

Didier Seban, a lawyer representing Miss Parrish's father Roger Parrish, branded Olivier as an 'absolute darkness'. He said Mr Parrish (left) 'cannot look ahead' until the 'judicial truth has been spoken'. Pictured are Mr Parrish and his ex-wife Pauline Sewell (right) in Auxerre on the 10th anniversary of their daughter's death

Olivier will face trial tomorrow over her role in three murders dating back several decades, including the killing of Miss Parrish. Monique Olivier is pictured at the Charleville-Meziere courthouse in May 2008

Olivier will face trial tomorrow over her role in three murders dating back several decades, including the killing of Miss Parrish.

The crimes date back to 1988 in the case of Marie-Angele Domece, who disappeared aged 18 from Auxerre, and 1990 for Miss Parrish.

Olivier is charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and murder of the girls.

Her third charge is for complicity in the 2003 disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, whose body has never been found two decades on, despite intensive searches.

The body of Domece has also never been found.

Many of the witnesses set to be called in Olivier's three-week trial are investigators from France and Belgium, where Fourniret was arrested in 2003.

They are also set to include Sabine Kheris, the investigating magistrate who took Fourniret's confession.

She is now in charge of a recently created 'cold cases' unit based in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. This case is the first of the unit's to come to trial.

France has for years been simultaneously repelled and fascinated by the crimes of Fourniret, who was dubbed the 'ogre of the Ardennes' by media after the hilly region on the French-Belgium border where he lived and preyed on his victims.

The crimes date back to 1988 in the case of Marie-Angele Domece, (left) who disappeared aged 18 from Auxerre, and 1990 for Miss Parrish. Olivier is charged with aiding and abetting the kidnapping and murder of the girls. Her third charge is for complicity in the 2003 disappearance of nine-year-old Estelle Mouzin, (right) whose body has never been found two decades on, despite intensive searches

Many of the witnesses set to be called in Olivier's three-week trial are investigators from France and Belgium, where Fourniret was arrested in 2003. She is pictured leaving the court after the defence pleading on May 26, 2008

Gloucestershire Police have this week asked the media not to contact Mr Parrish or Ms Sewell ahead of the trial or during the proceedings.

A police spokesperson said: 'Joanna Parrish, from Newnham-on-Severn, was raped and murdered in Moneteau, France in May 1990 whilst working in a school as an English assistant.

'This was subject of an extensive investigation by the French authorities for many years. A French serial killer, Michel Fourniret, was a suspect, along with his wife Monique Olivier.

'Michel Fourniret died in 2021 in prison, following his confession to her murder. Monique Olivier was formally charged earlier this year and will be standing trial in Nanterre, Paris for three murders.

'The trial is due to commence on 28 November and last for three weeks. The verdict day is set for Friday, December 15.

'While the family deeply appreciate the support given to them by the media as they have sought justice over the last 33 years they are asking for privacy at this time.

France has for years been simultaneously repelled and fascinated by the crimes of Fourniret, (pictured in 2004) who was dubbed the 'ogre of the Ardennes' by media after the hilly region on the French-Belgium border where he lived and preyed on his victims

'Gloucestershire Constabulary is providing direct support to the family, alongside the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.'

Acting Detective Inspector Faye Satchwell-Bennett, the Tactical Family Liaison Officer Lead for Gloucestershire Police, added: 'The Parrish family are preparing to attend France for the trial and to finally seek long awaited justice for the death of Joanna.

'This is an extremely distressing and highly emotional time for them and we would please ask that their privacy is respected at this time.

'They are being directly supported by Family Liaison Officers (FLOs) from Gloucestershire Constabulary, The National Homicide Service and the Foreign Office. They will be supported at the trial in person by FLOs and the British Consulate.'
Rachel Reeves has already scaled back the 28bn-a-year plans

Labour yesterday appeared to have pushed back plans to spend 28billion a year on green investment after warnings that it would damage the economy.

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Darren Jones, said the commitment would now be met 'towards the end of the next Parliament' should Labour win the election.

Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves has already scaled back the plans due to the economic situation, saying the policy would 'ramp up' by the middle of the first parliament.

And Keir Starmer has faced fresh 'Sir Flip-Flop' accusations over the latest apparent policy shift, The Mail On Sunday reported.

Yesterday, Mr Jones appeared to delay the plan further on BBC1's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

Keir Starmer has faced fresh 'Sir Flip-Flop' accusations over the latest apparent policy shift

Labour has denied claims Sir Keir wants to scale back the green fund altogether

A Labour source said Mr Jones had meant to say 'in the second half of the parliament'.

Mr Jones also said Labour was committed to the plan but that 'it would only be introduced if national debt was falling as a percentage of the size of the economy'.

He was responding to reports that the Labour leader's aides have urged Ms Reeves to cut back the fund, which would mean borrowing billions a year, The Telegraph reported.

Labour has denied claims Sir Keir wants to scale back the green fund altogether.

It comes as the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride wrote to Labour to demand clarity on its position on welfare reform.
Rishi Sunak agreed with Suella Braverman to raise the salary threshold for migrants to 40,000 as part of a deal for her support during his Tory leadership campaign, it is claimed.

The Prime Minister is alleged to have agreed a four-point plan to deal tackle migration with Mrs Braverman, according to documents seen by the Telegraph.

As part of this, Mr Sunak is said to have pledged to raise the minimum salary threshold required for a foreign skilled worker visa from 26,000 to 40,000.

It is a move that received support from Boris Johnson earlier this week, but earlier this month one Whitehall source suggested ministers were looking at raising it to 33,000 instead.

Among other parts of the pact were plans to remove graduate visas, bring down the number of dependants legal migrants can take with them and prioritise applicants to Russell Group universities when looking at student visa applications.

Mrs Braverman slammed the Prime Minister in an open letter amid her departure from Cabinet earlier this month for what she called his failure to honour the promises he made to her.

Rishi Sunak, pictured here at a Nissan factory in Sunderland on November 24, entered a pact with Suella Braverman which included raising the salary threshold for migrants to 40,000, it is being reported

Mrs Braverman, pictured earlier this month, slammed the Prime Minister in an open letter amid her departure from Cabinet for what she called his failure to honour the promises he made to her

It comes as both Mr Sunk and Nigel Farage gave their views on immigration, even if they were separated by 9,000 miles.

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While the former Ukip leader was in a jungle clearing, trying to debate UK border policy with clueless 'influencer' Nella Rose, the Prime Minister was wielding a lopsided hammer in a Sunderland car plant and digesting the latest eye-watering migration figures.

The announcement that 745,000 more people entered the UK last year than left the country has shaken a Tory party which had allowed itself to feel a glimmer of electoral optimism after Jeremy Hunt's tax-cutting Autumn Statement on Wednesday.

On ITV's I'm a Celebrity, Mr Farage put it starkly to Ms Rose  and the legions of watching voters  by pointing out that the population has increased by ten million since 2000, leading to an inevitable impact on public services.

Canny as ever, Farage then used the camp's Bush Telegraph to declare that he would 'never say never' to becoming Prime Minister.

This is more than minor-celebrity gossip-fodder: Mr Farage is still closely connected with Reform, the successor to his Brexit Party, which is polling as high as 11 per cent. If this percentage share is repeated at a general election it would split the anti-Labour vote and hand a landslide to Sir Keir Starmer.

And it all comes after the veteran anti-Islam populist leader Geert Wilders won a dramatic victory in last week's Dutch general election,

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Sunak  who makes clear that he is too busy to actually watch Mr Farage on the programme  said: 'A vote for everyone who is not a Conservate is a vote to put Keir Starmer into office.

Mr Sunak asked voters to be patient, pledging that he is committed to delivering more sustainable levels of migration

Canny as ever, Farage then used the camp's Bush Telegraph to declare that he would 'never say never' to becoming Prime Minister

'The question for people who care about tackling migration, who want to get our taxes down, who think we need to have more common sense in our discourse is: do you want Keir Starmer or me to be your Prime Minister?'

Mr Sunak asked voters to be patient, pledging that he is committed to delivering more sustainable levels of migration.

He said: 'There is obviously a lot more to do and that's why we need to take action. I announced previously significant tightening up on the number of dependants that students can bring, which has seen a very striking rise over the past year or two.

'This represents the single biggest measure of restriction on legal migration that anyone's announced in years. That should give people a sense of my determination to bring these numbers down.

'As we go over them, as we see other areas of abuse, we won't hesitate to take action and clamp down.' Despite reports of Cabinet splits over his efforts to use new legislation to save his deal to send illegal migrants to Rwanda, the Prime Minister said it should be remembered that there has been a fall in the number of small boats migrants arriving across the Channel.

He said: 'I've come into this job, I've had it for a year and I've already got the numbers down by a third, so I think people can trust me when I say I'm going to do something, I'm going to deliver on it.

Sunak makes clear he is too busy to actually watch Mr Farage on the programme

Mr Sunak asked voters to be patient, pledging that he is committed to delivering more sustainable levels of migration

PM Rishi Sunk says vote for anyone non-Conservative is vote for Keir Starmer

'I need to finish the job and that means getting the Rwanda deal up and running. I'm prepared to do whatever is necessary to get that scheme operational.'

Speaking at Nissan's plant in the North East  chosen to trumpet a new 2 billion investment in electric car technology  Mr Sunak spoke of his hope that his changes will finally place the country on the path to becoming 'Singapore-on-Thames', the vision of a post-Brexit Britain boasting a low-tax, low-regulation regime which is attractive to investors.

He said: 'We are signing trade deals, that's a big advantage of Brexit. We are one of the fastest growing nations in the world. We've cut red tape for small businesses by a billion pounds a year.

'If you look at all our growth industries  financial services, creative industries, life sciences, digital technology, aggrotech  we are putting in place regulations that make us more competitive, more innovative and faster growing.

READ MORE: I'm A Celebrity faces backlash from viewers after airing footage of Nigel Farage bathing naked for the SECOND time Advertisement

'We can do all that because we are outside the EU, so we are cutting all the red tape  not just for small businesses but for all our big growth industries. These are all very tangible benefits of Brexit.'

Mr Sunak also defended himself against claims by former Home Secretary Suella Braverman that he had reneged on a 'deal' to implement key policies, in return for her backing his leadership bid. 'Of course you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella,' Mr Sunak said. Is he worried about her producing proof of the deal? 'That's a question for her. I'm getting on with actually delivering things'.

Ms Braverman also used an interview with The Mail on Sunday last week to accuse Mr Sunak of a 'lack of moral leadership' over the failure to clamp down on the worst excesses of pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the war on Gaza.

However, the Prime Minister reveals that new laws could be on the way if the police are deemed to be unwilling or unable to tackle the issues using their existing powers.

He said: 'The police already have extensive powers to do that and they should be using them.

'I've been clear with the police. They are operationally independent of government and that has been the tradition in this country, so you do have to respect that  but I've been very clear with Mark Rowley [the Metropolitan Police Commissioner] that we do hold them accountable for making sure that people who break the law feel the full force of it.

'That's how our country works and that's how it should continue to work.

'If there are further powers that we all collectively decide are necessary, then we will bring them forward. That is the conversation we're having.'

Ms Braverman's departure coincided with the marmalade-dropping announcement that David Cameron would be returning to the Government as Foreign Secretary. It is clear from the Prime Minister's words that plans for the move had been gestating for some time. Mr Sunak said: 'I was talking to David quite a bit over the situation in Israel and I think having someone of his stature and experience would be of enormous value. It was a credit to him that he wanted to serve  and he also wants to help me win an election.'

Critics have suggested that the move risks making Mr Sunak look subordinate, but the Prime Minister says that his predecessor knows who is boss.

'He's been absolutely great. It speaks enormous volumes about his character and his commitment to service that he is excited and willing to come back and do this job at an incredibly important time.

'He is an enormous asset to our country and he is an enormous asset to me. I am very delighted to have him back and he is already making a difference'.

As the Nissan robots moved noiselessly around him, I asked Mr Sunak if he is enjoying running the country at a time when his increasingly factional party is 20 points behind in the polls.

His answer does not include the word 'yes'.

He said: 'Look, it's a great privilege. Is it a difficult time to do it? Of course it's a difficult time to do it, but I'm heartened that we're making progress  and crucially on the economy, which is always the most important thing.

'It's the foundation of everything else we want to achieve. Compared to when I took over we have made real progress: we've turned a corner and we can now change gears.'

Tonight, responding to Mr Sunaks remarks, a spokesman for Mr Farage said: The odds on Nigel Farage becoming the next Tory leader went from 40/1 to 20/1 after this Im a Celeb this week. Who knows, he might end up winning both.
Schoolchildren are 'abusing' AI to create and share fake naked images of fellow pupils, web safety campaigners have warned.

Free online tools allow users to create sexually explicit AI-generated pictures in seconds simply by uploading a single photo.

The UK Safer Internet Centre said it is receiving reports from schools that students were using them against other pupils, with fears they could be used for 'blackmail'.

It urged education authorities to take immediate steps over fears the trend could soon 'overwhelm' schools.

Teachers in the UK are already having to warn children that sharing deepfake nude images is now illegal, with offenders facing up to two years in prison.

The UK Safer Internet Centre said it is receiving reports from schools that students were using them against other pupils, with fears they could be used for 'blackmail' (Stock Image)

Education authorities have been urged to take steps to tackle the problem which threatens to 'overwhelm' schools (Stock Image)

David Wright, director at UKSIC, said he was not surprised at reports from schools that children were abusing the AI tools.

He added: 'Although the case numbers are currently small, we need to see steps being taken now before schools become overwhelmed and the problem grows.'

Spanish police recently arrested seven pupils as young as 11 over claims they were trying to blackmail girls with AI-generated nudes of them.

And a group of boys in the US were found to have shared AI-generated pornographic images of female classmates.

The Internet Watch Foundation, which is part of UKSIC, said the material is now so realistic even their trained analysts struggle to spot the fakes.
Australia could be 'technically cashless' within three years with cards or digital payments now accounting for three-quarters of small purchases.

Before the pandemic in 2019, a little more than half of all in-person, everyday transactions under $10 were done with a card.

But in three years, that surged to 73 per cent for purchases of things like a takeaway cup of coffee or a gelato, a new Reserve Bank report released on Monday revealed.

'The shift away from cash for lower-value payments reflects increased adoption of contactless electronic payments during and following the pandemic,' it said.

'With Australian consumers increasingly opting to make their payments electronically, the trend decline in transactional use of cash has continued.'

Finance expert Sarah Wells predicted that by 2026, less than five per cent of all in-person transactions would be done in cash - down from 16 per cent now.

Australia could be 'technically cashless' within three years with cards or digital payments now used for three-quarters of small purchases (pictured is a Bondi gelato customer)

Finance expert Sarah Wells predicted that by 2026, less than five per cent of all in-person transactions would be done in cash - down from 16 per cent now

'We will be at what we would call a 'technical cashless society' and what I mean by that is somewhere between 90 to 95 per cent of everyday, ordinary transactions done without cash,' she told Daily Mail Australia.

'We are well and truly headed towards a non-cash dependent society.'

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, the author of How To Get Mortgage Free Like Me, forecast that within two years, just two per cent of dedicated consumers would be using cash for every transaction done in a shop - down from five per cent now.

READ MORE: CBA problem exposes major issue with 'cashless' Australia Advertisement

'It's scary how quickly we seem to be adapting to paying for even tiny things with a card,' she told Daily Mail Australia on Monday.

'The speed of the shift is getting quicker to becoming cashless but there's parts of the population that will just never give up their cash and that's going to be a painful and potentially expensive process.'

Baby boomers and older generation X Australians are ditching cash with those over 50 using banknotes and coins for just 22 per cent of in-person transactions in 2022 - compared with 42 per cent in 2019.

The RBA report also noted that consumers who still used cash were more likely to use banknotes for round $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100 transactions 'where change or coins are less likely to be needed'.

Ms Well said it was harder saving money using tap and go.

'It's not the $900 purchase that causes us issues - it's the hundred $9 purchases; when we're doing lots and lots and lots of small transactions, we don't quantify them whereas if we had cash in our wallet and we're spending $10 here, $20 here, we go, "Oh, wow, where did all that money go?",' she said.

While 80 per cent of low cash users say they would be 'largely unaffected if cash became hard to use or access' those who still used cash for the purchases cited privacy and security, and family and budget reasons.

A sizeable minority, or almost 40 per cent, of high cash users cited privacy, security and trust, the Reserve Bank discussion paper report by Tanya Livermore, Jack Mulqueeney, Thuong Nguyen and Benjamin Watson said.

Ms Wells said women fleeing domestic violence and Australians suffering from elder abuse needed access to cash for their safety because coercive family members could keep track of their spending.

'Think about the small percentage of the population who get wrapped up in those unintended consequences where the outcomes could be catastrophic if they're forced into a digital landscape,' she said.

Credit check companies like Experian, Illion and Equifax provide data on the spending habits of individuals to banks and phone companies before they approve a loan or a plan.

Ms Pedersen-McKinnon said those who only paid in cash were better able to budget and also had more privacy.

Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon, the author of How To Get Mortgage Free Like Me, forecast that within two years, just two per cent of dedicated consumers would be using cash for every transaction done in a shop - down from five per cent now

Before the pandemic in 2019, a little more than half of in-person, everyday transactions under $10 were done with a card. But in three years, that surged to 73 per cent for purchases of things like a takeaway cup of coffee or a gelato, a new Reserve Bank report released on Monday revealed (pictured is a Harris Farm sign in Sydney)

'Fintech and the mapping and tracking technology that is out there is forming a picture of your spending habits and absolutely feeds in to how and how often you are targeted for more spending,' she said.

'And all the way through to whether or not you get approved for loans and even phones.

'There's very much a web that is a snapshot of your money self that you need to make sure you keep absolutely squeaky clean when it comes to transacting electronically and with cards.

'With cash, you're basically off the grid.'

The 10-hour Optus outage on November 8, that lasted from 4am to 2pm, also highlighted the need for physical cash if customers were unable to digitally pay small businesses.

'We've always got to have an analogue solution in a digital world because things will happen,' Ms Wells said.
The BBC has been slammed after it emerged it is spending more than 600,000 a year on staff responsible for 'diversity and inclusion'.

The corporation employs 15 members of staff in roles which relate to 'diversity, equity or inclusion' a Freedom of Information request found.

Some of these are part-time positions, meaning in total their jobs are equivalent to that of 13 people in full-time employment.

The BBC did not give a precise total for the cost but did provide salary ranges for the jobs. Based on these figures the lowest estimate for their total cost per year is 678,071 and the upper 1,116,796, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

The positions include that of a 'creative diversity partner' paid between 50,481 and 85,470 per year - which sounds as though it could have been a role in mockumentary TV series W1A, which satirises management of the BBC. Actress Nina Sosanya played Lucy Freeman who was 'Head of Inclusivity' in the comedy.

The BBC employs 15 members of staff in roles which relate to 'diversity, equity or inclusion' a Freedom of Information request found

Conservative MP Gareth Johnson said: 'It's so depressingly unsurprising from the BBC. They seem to be obsessed with wokeness rather than programme making'

Critics say the spending is an example of the corporation wasting licence fee payer money on 'woke nonsense'.

The BBC says it expects the production teams it works with 'to be at least 20 per cent diverse'.

It also wants 'at least two individuals in senior decision-making roles' on a production to 'be from one of the three under-represented groups: which include black or minority ethnic, disabled and working class.

Sir John Hayes, the Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings told The Mail: 'Given the BBC's patchy record it's about time it dropped all this stuff and concentrated on what the viewers and listeners really want which is high-quality programming.

'I think diversity and inclusivity sounds good in theory but in practice it's used as a vehicle for all kinds or horrors.'

Conservative MP Gareth Johnson added: 'It's so depressingly unsurprising from the BBC. They seem to be obsessed with wokeness rather than programme making.

'If the BBC spent a little more time concentrating on programme making and a little less time on being woke we would have better quality production from them.

'It's astonishing the BBC spends so much money on diversity yet still gets so much wrong over the Israel/Hamas conflict.'

Rupert Lowe, of Reform UK, said: 'It's time to defund the BBC, free the licence fee payer of their legal obligation to prop up this woke nonsense'

Rupert Lowe, a spokesman for Reform UK, said: 'The BBC was founded on the noble principles of informing, educating and entertaining - it now achieves none of them.

'This is just another in a long line of failures, which demonstrate the broadcaster is no longer fit for purpose. It's time to defund the BBC, free the licence fee payer of their legal obligation to prop up this woke nonsense and let the public decide if they wish to financially support such a rotten monopoly.

'I suspect the answer will be a resounding no.' Toby Young, of the Free Speech Union, said: 'What 'diversity' means at the BBC is people that look different but all think the same way. It means a privately educated daughter of an African diplomat who is pro-Palestinian and anti-Brexit is much more likely to get a job than a white working-class man who voted Leave and wants to call Hamas a terrorist organisation.'

It comes after the corporation faced criticism over its decision to feature a transgender woman on its annual 100 Women list for 2023.

Critics claimed the decision to include activist Rukshana Kapali on the roll call of 'inspiring', 'influential' women rendered the list 'meaningless'.

Among the women from various fields named on this year's list were Michelle Obama and Amal Clooney.

Describing the 24-year-old Nepalese-born Kapali as a 'housing campaigner' and a 'transgender human rights activist', the BBC said she had 'embarked on her own path of self-education around the diversity of gender and sexuality' and had been 'vocal on social media on issues around queer rights'. well with women's rights activists and others.

But women's rights campaigners said her inclusion took away a place for a biological woman.

A BBC spokesman said: 'The BBC, just like most organisations, has staff working to ensure we reflect the diverse communities of the UK, both on and off screen.

'Diversity and inclusion is part of the BBC's public purposes as set out in its Charter. We will continue to deliver on our plans, balancing the need to attract and retain highly skilled staff while offering value for licence fee payers.'
A desperate search has been launched for a fisherman after he went missing off the Sunshine Coast.

The man, aged in his 40s, set out from Mooloolaba when his family reported him missing on Sunday afternoon after he failed to return home.

His empty boat was found near the northern tip of Moreton Island on Monday morning - about 100km away from where he had set off.

A water police spokesperson said the engine was running and the man's phone and belongings were on board when search crews found the boat.

A desperate search has been launched for a fisherman after he went missing off the Sunshine Coast

Mooloolaba Coast Guard Commander Lee Campbell said teams were searching an area of up to 300 square nautical miles.

He pointed out the man was an experienced fisherman.

'That's why alarm bells rang when he didn't log off and his vehicle and trailer were located in the car park,' commander Campbell said.

'His partner rang quite concerned at around 6pm  and we got onto the water police.'

The man, aged in his 40s, set out from Mooloolaba when his family reported him missing on Sunday after he failed to return home (stock image)

The man had been on a solo fishing trip before he vanished.

Queensland Police have launched a search mission.

Aircraft, including the LifeFlight rescue helicopter, are assisting the coastguard volunteers and water police in the search.

'The man has not been located and a water and aerial search is continuing,' a spokesperson said.
A report from Redfin estimates that a household needs to make at least $400,000 a year to afford a median-priced home in the San Francisco metropolitan division. Ethan Swope/The Chronicle

Those who are looking to buy a home in the Bay Area should be ready to spend as much as $10,000 a month on their mortgage payments.

Thats according to a new report from real estate listing site Redfin, which estimates that a household needs to make at least $400,000 a year to afford a median-priced home in the San Francisco metropolitan division. The typical home in the area, the report says, sold for about $1.48 million in August.

Real estate map: Home prices in every Bay Area city and ZIP code

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Thats the highest price, and highest required income, of any of the 100 most populous United States metropolitan divisions for which Redfin has data. Both values were only a few thousand dollars lower in the San Jose metro division, which is composed of Santa Clara and San Benito counties. The San Francisco metro division includes the city and San Mateo County.

The data underscores how elevated mortgage rates and low housing supply in the Bay Area are putting homeownership even further out of reach for many households, even with the relatively high income of the region.

Redfins analysis assumes the buyer pays 30% of their income toward housing costs, a threshold generally used to determine whether a home is affordable. The analysis also assumes home buyers make a 20% down payment, meaning those who have less cash to pay up front would have a higher monthly payment  and would need a higher annual income.

The Census doesnt have income data at the metro division level, making it hard to compare housing costs relative to incomes across areas. The median household income in San Francisco was about $137,000 in 2022, about a third of the income required for the typical house. The median household income in Alameda County was $122,000, and in Santa Clara County was $151,000.

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Nationally, the typical household, according to Census data, made about $75,000 in 2022, about two-thirds of the $115,000 required to buy a median-priced home.

The typical home in the United States cost about $420,000 in August, putting the monthly mortgage payment at roughly $2,900. Thats the highest monthly payment needed since at least 2012, the earliest year for which Redfin has national data.

Even in parts of the country where home prices have come down over the last year, Redfin says, higher mortgage rates have increased the amount households must earn to afford a home. The biggest jumps were in Miami and Newark, N.J., where the needed annual income surged about 33% between August 2022 and August 2023.

The required income increased by about 23% for the San Francisco metro division over the same period, 25% for the San Jose division and 17% for the Oakland division.

Reach Christian Leonard: Christian.Leonard@hearst.com
EXCLUSIVE

A brothel madam has detailed the moment a furious wife dragged her cheating husband back into her parlour to demand an explanation for his $6,000, seven-hour sex binge.

Suzanne Pfeifer, owner of The Pentagon Grand at Molendinar, on the Gold Coast, has detailed the events that led to the unnamed wife sensationally planning to protest out the front of her premises.

Ms Pfeifer said the naughty husband arrived at her brothel on November 11 and told one of the girls and the manager on duty he was 'breaking up' with his wife 'and he was going to spend his money here'.

He then blew $6,000 on a 'fetish and fantasy' romp - paying for the first hour by cash, and the rest via bank transfer.

Days later, the man's angry wife showed up at the brothel with the cheater in tow.

'He didn't say a word when his wife brought him back here,' Ms Pfeifer recalled. 'He stared off into space - I thought the wife must have been his carer.'

Pictured: Suzanne Pfeifer, the owner of the Pentagon Grand brothel on the Gold Coast

The session came to an end after several hours when the sex workers became too tired

The woman claimed her husband had been 'drunk and on drugs' and had no recollection of ever visiting the premises.

But Ms Pfeifer said the man, who is understood to be in his twenties with children, appeared sober in CCTV footage from the evening, and had successfully negotiated a lower price for the services of the sex workers.

'He knew what he was doing; he was with two ladies whose prices are a bit higher due to the experiences he requested,' she said.

'He managed to negotiate them down.

'The only reason it ended when it did [was] because the girls were too tired and wanted to finish.'

The wife has now threatened to protest outside the brothel (pictured)

Ms Pfeifer made headlines when she claimed the cheater's wife threatened to picket the premises with friends.

However, she has gone radio silent since the story made headlines last week. 'The email threats and constant phone calls have stopped,' she said.

'Given the media attention, she is probably too scared she will be photographed if she goes ahead with a protest.

'The wife didn't seem at all concerned about the relationship side of things; she was just demanding the money back,' she added.

Ms Pfeifer said staff at the brothel regularly remove clients who are intoxicated or otherwise impaired.

'Saturday night clients can often come in and they're a bit intoxicated but we turn them away if they're too bad because the safety of our girls is our priority,' she said.

'We're not going to put somebody in a room if they're in danger of overdosing or too intoxicated.'

The 24-hour establishment prides itself on providing five-star service and being the best fully licensed brothel in the Gold Coast and Brisbane area.
EXCLUSIVE

An extraordinary photo shows how a Melbourne couple's wedding ceremony came to a bloody end when a mystery attacker stabbed a guest in the stomach with a screwdriver before fleeing.

Maketh Bul and his bride Aluet Diing Aruai exchanged vows on Saturday at Williamstown's Holy Trinity Anglican Church in front of around 700 relatives, friends and community members.

But what started as a beautiful day ended in tragedy when one of their guests, a 25-year-old man, was shanked as the reception at the Croatian Centre in Sunshine West drew to a close during the early hours of Sunday morning.

Wedding guest Ajak Deng Chiengkou told Daily Mail Australia there was a 'sudden disturbance' by the entrance of the venue about 12.30am when glass candle holders smashed to the ground as he fell.

Moments later, brave witnesses desperately huddled around the victim and tried to stop the bleeding - while others called paramedics - and the mystery assailant disappeared.

A man, 25, was treated by paramedics at the reception venue after being stabbed in the stomach with a screwdriver

Maketh Bul (left) and Aluet Diing Aruai (right) exchange vows on Saturday

Paramedics are pictured attending to the man after heroic bystanders stabilised him

Fearing he was dead, the victim's shocked female relatives began crying.

Despite initial reports that the man was stabbed in the neck, Mr Chiengkou said he was actually stabbed in the stomach area.

'Witnesses, particularly those close to the victim, were overwhelmed with emotion, fearing the worst,' Mr Chiengkou said.

'His aunties were deeply affected.'

The victim remained responsive as they waited for paramedics to arrive.

Laying on the ground, the man rested his head on his cousin's lap for support and remained still to prevent further bleeding.

No-one saw the attack or could identify the person responsible - although they are believed to be another wedding guest.

'Everyone, including me, was eager to know who had stabbed the young man lying on the floor at the entrance, yet, regrettably, no one was able to provide the crucial answers required,' Mr Chiengkou said.

As the victim was taken away by paramedics and loaded into the back of an ambulance, he bravely raised his upper body to signal to loved ones that he was ok.

Pictured: The inside of the Croatian Centre on Fitzgerald Road in Sunshine West

Police officers quickly locked the front door of the hall and guests outside were no longer allowed back inside. The screwdriver used in the attack was found at the scene.

'The cause of the altercation between the young individuals at the wedding remains unclear. Had the assailant been spotted, immediate action would have been taken and handed to the police,' Mr Chiengkou said.

'Despite his injuries, the victim displayed remarkable resilience. As he was lifted into the ambulance, despite the bleeding and the stab wound to his abdomen, he managed to lift his head, offering reassurance to onlookers.

'It seems his condition was only deemed critical after he arrived at the hospital.'

Mr Chiengkou said the victim has no familial connection to the bride or groom and is a resident of Adelaide, despite reports he hails from Werribee.

While Western weddings are traditionally invitation-based, Mr Chiengkou said, like many Dinka weddings, Saturday's event was open to the community and anyone who wished to come was welcome.

Many of the couple's relatives - as well as other members of the Sudanese community - travelled to Melbourne for the wedding.

Mr Chiengkou said because many of the attendees at the wedding did not know each other directly, it has made it difficult to identify the attacker.

Mr Chiengkou also shot down allegations the wedding was 'rowdy' and said such descriptions fail to take into account the social and cultural context of South Sudanese celebrations.

Having lived in Melbourne for more than 17 years, he said he has attended a South Sudanese event at the Croatian Hall every year without any issues.

'It is typical for South Sudanese families to jump, sing, or ululate as part of their cultural practices at weddings,' he said.

'These staff members know that attendees will sing and dance throughout the night.

A police car is pictured arriving at the scene after the young man was stabbed

'Therefore, one should not expect a South Sudanese wedding to conform to their cultural norms. In South Sudanese culture, marriage is deeply revered, and violence is unexpected at such events.'

When the crisis first unfolded, Mr Chiengkou said the panic was localised to the front entrance area, while the rest of those in the hall - including staff, other guests and the bride and groom, who were seated on the stage - were unaware of what happened and not involved.

Mr Chiengkou said once they became aware of the incident, the bride, groom, their families and all the other guests were distressed.

He said the attack came at a time when the Sudanese community was already struggling with a heightened fear about young people hurting themselves.

'This incident has only made the concern for the safety of young people even more pressing for everyone in the community,' he said.

A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia on Monday detectives from Brimbank Crime Investigation Unit detectives are working to track down the offender.

'The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are yet to be determined at this stage and the investigation remains ongoing,' the spokesperson said.

'Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.'
Study indicates over a third of women have been harassed on public transport

Women should lower their tolerance for sexual harassment during the commute and report minor offenders more often, a senior police officer has said.

A shocking study has revealed that more than a third of women have been sexually harassed or attacked on public transport while commuting to work.

The survey of 2,000 people who travel daily by rail found that members of the public tried to intervene in just over half of the occasions someone was the victim of a sexual offence.

But fewer than one in five who witnessed sexual harassment bothered to report it to police.

British Transport Police (BTP) head of public protection, detective chief superintendent Paul Furnell, said sexual harassment had become so commonplace in society that many victims and witnesses only bothered to contact police about the most serious and dangerous cases.

British Transport Police have developed a Railway Guardian app to make it easier to report offences (Stock Image)

'What I do ask women to do is to perhaps check and realign their thresholds,' said detective chief superintendent Paul Furnell, after stressing that women should not change their behaviour (Stock Image)

The force has developed a Railway Guardian app to make it easier to report offences, however minor, so BTP could put together a wider picture of the problem and snare repeat offenders before their crimes escalated.

'I absolutely say women should not be changing their behaviours, not in any way,' Mr Furnell said.

'It is about tackling the behaviour of men and boys and the source of behaviour that is causing harassment, alarm and stress.

'However, what I do ask women to do is to perhaps check and realign their thresholds.

'I speak to many victims who have reported an assault or sexually motivated offence, but when talking to them we will discover that there have been numerous other offences before that, but they just didn't report them.

'And that's because in their own mind they've created a threshold of 'that won't be taken seriously'.

'But for us, no incident is too small and if there is an element of harassment we want to know about it  it might be that the same guy has been targeting women again and again, we won't know unless we have help building that intelligence.'

The survey found that most sexual offending takes place when train carriages are at their busiest during the rush-hour period between 5pm and 7pm.

Almost 1,500 sexual offences have been committed on Britain's rail networks during these hours since 2021.

Mr Furnell said this would be a combination of sick sex pests who travel by rail specifically to target women, and opportunist commuters who behave inappropriately while travelling to and from work.

'Having worked with many victims of sexual assault, I would say that in terms of impact and trauma these crimes are second only to murder,' he added.

Mr Furnell said he wanted to create an environment that was hostile to sexual offending and harassment by encouraging women to report 'minor' incidents such as catcalling and staring.

'It doesn't always mean that it will end up in a prosecution, but it does mean that we are able to potentially identify and change the culture,' he said.

Britain's rail network has more than 150,000 CCTV cameras, and plain clothes police officers often patrol trains and the Tube.

But Mr Furnell warned travellers to be vigilant, share their routes home, stick to well-lit areas to avoid being targeted and to download the Railway Guardian app.

'We're not asking people to police the railway because that's our job, but we need people to report what's happening to us so we can take action,' he added.

'Reports provide us with the crucial information we need to identify crime hotspots and target our patrols to catch offenders and bring them to justice.'
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have fired missiles at a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen in a 'significant escalation' with American forces in the Middle East.

The USS Mason had responded to a distress call on Sunday from an Israeli-linked chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by armed rebels.

The Central Park tanker was carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid when its crew called for help, saying 'they were under attack from an unknown entity'.

Allied ships from a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, including the USS Mason, responded to the call for help and 'demanded the release of the vessel' upon reaching the tanker.

'Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,' the US Central Command said in a statement, adding: 'The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.'

Hours later, at 1.41am local time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near the US warship - a guided-missile destroyer, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Both missiles fell short by 10 nautical miles and landed in the water.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels fired missiles at a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen in a 'significant escalation' with American forces in the Middle East this morning, after the US warship responded to a distress call from the Central Park tanker (pictured)

Allied ships from a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, including the USS Mason (pictured, file photo), responded to the call for help and 'demanded the release of the vessel' upon reaching the tanker

Nevertheless, this has been viewed as a significant escalation, sources told Fox, as it shows Houthi rebels going as far as threatening US Navy vessels.

The rebels, from Yemen's Houthis, were officially recognized as a terrorist organization by the United States under the Trump administration - until Biden removed the militants from the list in 2021.

Aid groups had said at the time of Trump's move that it could further devastate the country, which was plunged into civil war in 2014.

Backed by Iran, the group expressed support for Hamas in the wake of the terror group's October 7 attack on Israel and has launched other attacks since, including launching missiles towards Israel and against other vessels in the region.

The tanker hijacked on Sunday was identified as the Liberian-flagged Central Park by the vessel's company Zodiac Maritime after its seizure.

Yemen's internationally recognized government blamed the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, though the rebels in control of the capital, Sanaa, did not acknowledge either the seizure or the missile attack.

The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning.

'The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships,' the statement said. 'The USS Mason - was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.'

Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander said: 'Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability. We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.'

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel had been carrying phosphoric acid and a crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam. They were unharmed, it said.

'We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law,' the company said.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner.

London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group.

British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Hours after responding to the distress call, at 1.41am local time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near the US warship - a guided-missile destroyer - raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war

Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement to their state-run news agency.

'The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park,' the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that government's forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the US and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiac's oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

The British military's UK Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had issued a warning to sailors that 'two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing' had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 35 miles south of Yemen's coast, some 50 miles east of Djibouti and around 70 miles northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack on Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.

Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days. The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP.

Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted.

In the Central Park's case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping has increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict - even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

The incident is the latest in a series of attacks in Middle Eastern waters since a brutal war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 - even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

It followed a seizure of an Israeli-linked cargo ship by the Houthis in the southern Red Sea last week. The group, which has also fired ballistic missiles and armed drones at Israel, vowed to target more Israeli vessels.

The Galaxy Leader, a commercial ship, was allegedly illegally boarded by military personnel via a helicopter on November 19.

An Israeli-linked cargo ship hijacked by the Iran-backed Houthi rebels was spotted off the coast of Yemen in satellite images (pictured) earlier this week. This came before the

The Houthis released dramatic footage on Monday (pictured) showing heavily armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing the cargo ship in the southern Red Sea. This incident came before the USS Mason warship responded to a distress call on Sunday from the commercial tanker, Central Park

The vessel was then spotted in the Hodeidah port area in Yemen, the images show.

The Houthis released dramatic footage showing heavily armed men dropping from a helicopter and seizing the cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.

In the clip, Gunmen approached the bridge with their weapons drawn as crew members held up their hands in surrender. One of the fighters was filmed walking through the ship while shouting 'Allahu Akbar'.

The cargo ship was intercepted as it travelled past the Arabian peninsula en-route to India after leaving Turkey. It now appears to have come to a stop off the coast of Yemen, which is around 1,000 miles south of Israel.

It is registered under a British company which is partially owned by Israeli tycoon Abraham Ungar and is currently leased out to a Japanese company.

There is concern for the Bahamas-flagged Galaxy Leader's crew, which Galaxy Maritime said is made up of nationals from Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Philippines, Mexico and Romania. The vessel is chartered by Japan's Nippon Yusen.

Galaxy Maritime said: '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.

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'.

Pictured: The Houthi rebels approached the bridge of a different vessel with their guns drawn as crew members on the bridge can be seen holding up their hands in surrender

The Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict.

In 2016, the US launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at US Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the US military said.

The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.
Four of the 138 asylum seekers released from indefinite detention are under investigation after refusing to wear monitoring ankle bracelets.

The asylum seekers were released on November 8 after a High Court ruling found that indefinite detention was unlawful, with three murderers and a number of sex offenders among those now among the public.

The Albanese government and the Opposition rushed through legislation that enforces strict monitoring requirements, including ankle bracelets, on those released from detention.

Of the 138 asylum seekers, 132 are currently wearing the monitoring ankle bracelets while two cases are being worked through due to health concerns and four outright refused to wear it.

ABF Commissioner Michael Outram on Monday said the four who refused the bracelets have been deemed 'lower risk' in terms of the scale of offences but will still be investigated.

The federal government are still patching up the rushed legislation after it was revealed the ABF did not have the resources to put on the ankle bracelets

ABF Commissioner, Michael Outram, on Monday said the four who refused the bracelets have been deemed 'lower risk' in terms of the scale of offences

The federal government are still patching up the rushed legislation after it was revealed the ABF did not have the resources to put on the ankle bracelets, The West Australian reported.

'When this law was passed in the Parliament, ABF did not own an electronic monitoring bracelet and had never fitted one before,' Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said.

The new laws introduced to parliament on Monday will make it a criminal offence for the released detainees to work with either children or vulnerable people, go within 200m of a school or childcare centre, or have contact with a victim or their family.

The ABF and other agencies working on the released detainees will also be granted new powers to use and disclose information gained from the bracelets.

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said Labor was working to make sure 'these strict rules are robust and enduring'.

'Talking tough doesn't keep Australians strong and I want to be very clear, we will continue to leave no stone unturned when it comes to ensuring the safety of Australia,' Mr Giles said.

A detainee staying at accommodation in Sydney following the High Court ruling against indefinite detention

Alongside the new laws, the Government have also granted $255million in funding to help agencies track and prosecute individuals who break their visa conditions.

The ABF will receive the lion's share of the funding, $150million, to hire additional staff to complete investigations, surveillance and removals.

The Australian Federal Police will get $88million for response teams to investigate and breaches of visa conditions.

Meanwhile the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions was given $17million to help increase its capacity to prosecute any of the released detainees who do breach conditions.

Ms O'Neil said the funding will help agencies commit to greater resources needed to maintain the released detainees int he future.

'We have only one priority and that is protecting the safety of the community within the limits of the law,' she said, according to the Daily Telegraph.
Shocking footage shows Texas State Troopers and Border Patrol agents performing CPR on a migrant who nearly drowned.

The video comes from an illegal crossing near Eagle Pass in Texas, where a state of emergency was declared after being overrun with migrants in September.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesman Lt. Chris Olivarez detailed the heroism by a Tactical Marine Unit as the group struggled to cross the Rio Grande.

'Operators acted swiftly in deploying personal floatation devices, pulling women & children out of the river, & performing resuscitating efforts,' he said.

'The images & audio capture the volatile conditions involving mass illegal migration between ports of entry by crossing the unpredictable & dangerous Rio Grande,' Olivarez added.

Stunning video shows a group of Texas State Troopers and Border Patrol agents going all out to perform CPR on a drowning victim as they saved a group of drenched migrants

The video comes from an illegal crossing near the town of Eagle Pass in Texas, where a state of emergency was declared after being overrun with thousands of migrants in September

Some of the women begged the operators to save their children before they worried about them.

'Tremendous job by our TMU Operators, who exemplify professionalism & courageous efforts by adapting to an ever-changing environment from a law enforcement role to performing rescue operations.'

It's unclear the full extent of the migrants' injuries, but at least two women were resuscitated before being taken to a hospital, according to El Tiempo Latino.

It comes just two months after Eagle Pass had to declare emergency when 4,000 migrants have crossed the border.

Mayor Rolando Salinas of Eagle Pass signed an Emergency Declaration after the new surge of migrants started arriving at the weekend.

Salinas also stated the city of Eagle Pass would not be opening a shelter: 'We don't have the funds or resources to do that.'

Videos posted to social media showed hordes of migrants in Eagle Pass, as lax policies by the Biden Administration continue to allow floods of aliens into the US and inundate southern cities.

Texas Department of Public Safety Spokesperson Lt. Chris Olivarez detailed their heroism by a Tactical Marine Unit as the migrants struggle to cross the Rio Grande amid an extreme immigration crisis

It's unclear the full extent of the migrants' injuries, but at least two women were resuscitated before being taken to a hospital

Some of the women begged the operators to save their children before they worried about them

Eagle Pass, Texas, has declared state of emergency as shocking photos and video show it being overwhelmed by migrants 'as 4,000 stream across the border today'

According to a source with Texas Department of Public Safety, a large migrant caravan crossed the Rio Grande, and the thousands are are now being held under the bridge in Eagle Pass, with more reportedly on the way

#BREAKING: Eagle Pass in Texas issues emergency declaration over massive illegal immigrant surge in the city, 'local state of disaster declared.' pic.twitter.com/DqtcK98gzR  Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) September 20, 2023

Strange that there is almost no legacy media coverage of this.



About 2 million people  from every country on Earth  are entering through the US southern border every year.



The number is rising rapidly, yet no preventive action is taken by the current administration. https://t.co/EF7HTS1ktT  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 20, 2023

'The City of Eagle Pass is committed to the safety and well being of our local citizens,' Salinas said in announcing the declaration.

'The emergency declaration grants us the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of the undocumented immigrants.'

The rush of migrants into the town also led the city to shut down Eagle Pass Bridge 1 at 6pm local time. Vehicles were forced to use the second bridge to cross into or return from Mexico.

The closure was because of the significant migrant influx, city leaders said.

Eagle Pass is one of the border towns that has been crushed in recent months by the influx of migrants.

Valeria Wheeler operates a shelter in the area and told WOAI in San Antonio, Texas, they plan to open a new shelter on Thursday. That will take their space from 8,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet.

'The big difference here is that we are offering space for up to 200 people to stay overnight. Mothers and children will be more comfortable,' Wheeler told the outlet.

A migrant from Venezuela at the shelter made the trip with her 18-month-old son. She said she crossed the Darien Gap in Panama before riding on trains to the border.

The woman added if she knew today what she did when she left, she would not have embarked on the dangerous trip.

'The emergency declaration grants us the ability to request financial resources to provide the additional services caused by the influx of the undocumented immigrants' Mayor Rolando Salinas said

A group of migrants from Colombia, Honduras and Guatemala successfully scales a border fence into the United States south of Eagle Pass

The US border has seen a flood of migrants from across the world, not just from Central and South American nations such as Venezuela and Mexico. There have been migrants from China and other places entering via the porous southern border.

The 2022 fiscal year saw record-breaking numbers of encounters with migrants at the Southwest border with 2,378,944 reported crossings from October to September.

In 2023, through July, there have been 1,973,092 - many of them coming as Title 42 expired.

The number of migrant crossings in August is set to exceed 230,000, according to Fox News.

The jump in crossing has grown in recent years with a mere 458,088 crossings reported in 2020 during the worldwide COVID pandemic.

Eagle Pass is one of the border towns that has been crushed in recent months by the influx of migrants. Pictured: Thousands of migrants in Eagle Pass on September 20

Videos posted to social media show hordes of migrants in Eagle Pass, as lax policies by the Biden Administration continue to allow floods of aliens into the US

Most migrant encounters are single adults, at 64.9 percent, but almost 600,000 are individuals in a family unit and there have been 109,298 unaccompanied minors crossing the border.

Texas has been using razor wire to block migrants illegally entering as it battles a challenge from the Biden administration seeking to stop it from building a buoy barrier in the Rio Grande.

The Lone Star State has also been busing migrants to 'sanctuary cities' such as New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and Los Angeles in order to give border towns some relief.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott argues that Texas cities have carried the weight of illegal immigration and 'sanctuary cities' need to share that burden.

'Texas has bused over 35,000 migrants to self-declared sanctuary cities,' he wrote earlier this month on Twitter.

'Over 11,300 to D.C., over 13,300 to NYC, over 6,700 to Chicago, over 2,600 to Philadelphia, over 1,000 to Denver, over 480 to LA.'

New York has seen more than 100,000 migrants arrive since the crisis began more than 18 months ago - leading Mayor Eric Adams to declare the situation will 'destroy' the city.

Asylum seekers, denied a hotel room, line the side walk of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City

Adams says that New York City is struggling to cope, and has ordered agencies to slash their budgets by 5 percent, and possibly 15 percent in the future, in order to pay for the response to the new arrivals.

Despite Adams' cries for help from the state and federal government, the city has not received aid to cover the extra costs, so the $4.7billion would come from the city's budget.

That amount is equal to the budgets for the city's sanitation, fire and parks departments combined.

As the school year kicked off, some schools were forced to turn away students as the classrooms overflowed.

City officials have said they expect the number asylum seeker population to reach nearly 33,980 households this fiscal year.

The city is currently paying about $385 a night per migrant family that needs housing and feeding.

According to Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine, asylum seekers are costing the city roughly $10 million every day.
The boyfriend of a special needs teacher whose body was found in the bathtub of their inner-city apartment has been charged with her murder.

Diogo De Oliveira, 40, is accused of killing Cati Machado during a domestic incident around 9.50pm on Saturday at their Chiswick unit in Sydney's inner west.

The boyfriend of special needs teacher Cati Machado (pictured) whose body was found in the bathtub of their inner-city apartment has been charged with her murder

Police allege De Oliveira, 40, punched Ms Machado, causing her to fall into the bathtub filled with water where she died.

The Brazilian teacher, believed to be in her 40s, had only recently arrived in Australia. Police are currently trying to contact her relatives in her homeland.

De Oliveira is alleged to have called a friend in the wake of the death, who then called police and raised the alarm.

Officers arrested De Oliveira at at the unit block on Berchert Road, Chiswick, and he was taken to Burwood Police Station where he was charged with murder.

He appeared before Burwood Local Court on Monday and did not apply for bail. A post mortem into the cause of death is underway.

Ms Machado was a specialist in psychopedagogy which is educating children with mental health issues.

'I work in cognitive development, with a focus on learning difficulties,' she described her work online.

In a recent post on Facebook, she wrote about her hopes for the future and vowed to make changes to her life.

Diogo De Oliveira, 40, is accused of killing Cati Machado (pictured in 2015) during a domestic incident around 9.50pm on Saturday at their Chiswick unit in Sydney 's inner west

Police allege De Oliveira, 40, punched Cati Machado (pictured), causing her to fall into the bathtub filled with water where she died

One her birthday in October 2022, she revealed her 'great will to live' and vowed to live life to the fullest.

'I've learned that you should live life intensely, take advantage of every moment and do everything you want, without leaving for later,' she posted.

'Today also starts a new cycle, full of good expectations and a great will to live! And off to another lap around the sun...'

Earlier that year, she spoke of her plans to make sweeping changes in her life.

'It says that each cycle of our life lasts seven years,' she posted in May 2022. 'And it really was for me.

'This month my last is complete, A cycle with beginning, middle and end... one of the most difficult ones to do.

Officers arrested De Oliveira at the unit block on Berchert Road, Chiswick, (pictured) and he was taken to Burwood Police Station where he was charged with murder

'I learned, I matured, I went through things I never imagined going through. Those who really know me know.'

She added: 'Now is the start of a new one.

'I carry more wisdom, more self love, knowledge of what I want, and most importantly, what I don't want in my life.

'Bring on the next seven years!'
Thanksgiving holidaymakers were treated to an unwelcome Disney spectacular when a guest at the California resort stripped off and went for a naked swim.

Video filmed by shocked holidaymakers caught the moment the unidentified man began disrobing as they floated through the iconic It's a Small World exhibition.

Leaving his clothes in a pile on the floor he climbed out of a boat and plonked himself in a representation of the Taj Mahal's pool, as Aladdin's flying carpets circled.

'Stop, Stop! I need you to stop,' pleaded one staff member as he then stumbled over the equipment and posed with the animatronic figures.

'Oh God he's going to break all the stuff,' one visitor said as the pleasure boats drifted by.

Bare Necessities: A Disney staff member remonstrates with visitor as he frolics naked in a boating stream beneath one of the Magic Kingdom's exhibits

Smalls World: The bespectacled streaker first stripped down to his underwear at the resort's It's a Small World exhibition

'They should stop the music,' said another as a cheery rendition of 'Jingle Bells' continued to accompany the grotesque display.

Things were about to take a turn for the worse at the magic kingdom however as the intruder made his way outside, now without a lilo and stitch of clothing.

Footage taken by other users showed the man walking stark naked along the edge of a boating stream under a fairytale castle before slipping into the chilly water as another staff member remonstrates from the opposite bank.

Eventually the man was seized by officers from the Anaheim Police Department on suspicion of indecent exposure and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

More video shows the 26-year-old being carried off by six police officers as a burly security elf tries to shield him from view.

'Idiot!' yells one onlooker, 'In front of all these kids..'

Disney fans on social media were quick to vent their feelings about the latest exhibit at the California theme park.

'Lol was on the it's a small world ride at Disneyland and there was a random guy half naked walking around the animatronics,' tweeted @alittlemid

'Then I saw a video of him running out naked and jumping into the water. What a day to be here Literally was stuck on that ride for an hour to get off.'

'I hope jail time and a lifetime ban to Disneyland was worth it' tweeted @Nikitawashere

Frozen: Other guests continued to float past as the man posed among the animatronic exhibits

The man left his clothes is a hurriedly discarded pile before clambering over the equipment

'I guess it really is a small world after all,' added Jim Eisenacher.

A spokesman for the resort told Deadline that the guest got off the It's a Small World ride while it was in motion and the exhibit was shut down for an hour after park operators were made aware of the situation.

No visitors were physically harmed and the ride was running again by about 3 pm

Sergeant Jon McClintock of the Anaheim Police Department said the arrested man was taken to hospital as a precaution.
Brian Slattery performs a 360 flip on a pyramid jump at the U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco on Sunday. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

The insertion of a skate park into the west end of United Nations Plaza wont win any design awards, with a seemingly random scattering of angled brick forms and scuffed concrete curbs.

But skaters keep coming, three weeks and counting. So do passersby, who stop to watch the laid-back show. Which poses a simple question:

Can skateboarders save San Franciscos Mid-Market Street?

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Before you dismiss the idea as preposterous, consider all that hasnt worked in this long-beleaguered stretch: the construction of roughly 4,000 housing units along Market between Fifth Street and Van Ness Avenue; tax breaks for tech firms such as Twitter, now called X; a painstakingly crafted 2019 city plan to recast U.N. Plaza and Civic Center Plaza as a ceremonial green space unifying the surrounding neighborhoods.

The $2 million makeover of 13,000 square feet is small potatoes by comparison  though adding the skate park meant moving the popular, twice-weekly Heart of the City Farmers Market one block to the west. But the remade space bears witness to a core truth of smart urban planning: Build on the underlying attractions of a place, rather than trying to impose solutions from above.

A skater rides through the U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco on Sunday. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

If you bring energy into a space and make it comfortable, it can become a destination, said Ashley Rehfeld, one of eight skateboarding advocates who worked with the city on the bootstrap redo of what before was a ceremonially scaled forecourt to Civic Center.

This is different from the placemaking theories that have been in vogue for the past 15 years, the ones that extol programmed events as the cure for troubled parks, plazas and commercial districts. The problem with such strategies is that once the event ceases, things revert to how they were.

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My visits to U.N. Plaza this month showed a more enduring type of scene.

There were skaters of all ages, each following their own whim  skittering over bricks and popping onto curves, ascending onto polished black granite slabs, making runs at a sort of flattened pyramid. Others hung out watching; one stretched out on a marble edge, eyes closed soaking in the sun with his skateboard as a headrest.

From left, Mike Stornaiuolo, JP Escobar and Jack Curtin wait to perform tricks at the U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco on Sunday. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Visually, its a letdown if you come expecting bowls and wave-like forms. But this is intended for street skaters, those drawn to tackling a landscape built for other uses.

Its really mimicking the street skating (environment), while making it legal and a little safer, Alan Fritzinger, a skateboarder and Haight-Ashbury resident, said approvingly. Theres something for every skill level.

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The landscape also is embedded with shout-outs to die-hard skaters  bits of structural iconography, as it were. The square slabs were on Market Street from the 1970s until 1996, when they were removed because they served as a welcome mat for people who hang around and loiter, one merchant told the Chronicle at the time. They also were popular for street skaters; now theyre back to challenge a new generation.

The squat pyramid is a nod to a Parisian skateboard mecca. An incongruous mid-block curb is modeled on one that lined the loading dock for the Safeway near the Castro.

Oliver Birdsong, 20, hops on a jump at the U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

We intentionally didnt want this to look like a skate park, Rehfeld said. We wanted a space of sculptural forms.

Theres also approval down the block at Supreme, the San Francisco outpost of a New York-based skateboard and apparel brand with a fervent following: It feels urban, a worker who identified himself as Ave told me after two security guards let me inside the gaunt, tall storefront near Sixth and Mission streets. Nothing beats real street skating, but its pretty good.

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I mention the guards because this is Mid-Market, where the bent forms of fentanyl addicts are a tragically common site, and clusters of people who fit the caricature of drug dealers returned to several vacant corners as soon as APEC left town. But Supreme is also a store that, after it arrived late in 2019, outlasted the pandemic while many retailers locked their doors for good.

In fact, Ave said, business at Supreme has nudged upward since the skate parks debut on Nov. 8.

Thats what resonates with the new skate park  in its own unassuming way, it taps into a segment of San Francisco that is surprisingly varied and very real. Theyre drawn to U.N. Plaza for no other reason than theres a communal scene in an architecturally memorable setting that also happens to be near BART.

Ronald Mitchell rides over a box jump at the U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

But is this supposed two-year experiment a valid reason to uproot the 42-year-old farmers market that has occupied the space on Wednesdays and Sundays?

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There were complaints this summer related to the decision by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department to move the market and insert the skate park. When I talked with several vendors, all said business has suffered because of how it disrupted shopping habits  but they also suggested they were settling in.

I was very worried, but Ive been impressed with how well its working, said Adam Knaak, who operates a stand with the self-explanatory name The Hummus Guy. Its going to be a while before people know their routine here.

The danger in all this is that parks and plazas arent just blank spaces waiting to be filled by whatever can be done on the fly.

Take U.N. Plaza, designed by legendary landscape architect Lawrence Halprin for the reinvention of Market Street in the 1960s. Though hardly one of Halprins masterworks, its powerfully grand, which the 2019 plan attempted to update with care.

JP Escobar skates through U.N. Plaza skate park in San Francisco on Sunday. Bronte Wittpenn/The Chronicle

Now the plan seems to have been forgotten. The skate park feels great, but its accompanied by a clutter of little-used activation activities such as chess tables and ping-pong tables. There arent any chairs or benches, though, supposedly, some are on order.

Meanwhile, the slab-stacked fountain Halprin conceived to the west is fenced off, with potted plants lined up as deterrents to vandals.

Theres not the past air of potential danger, a definite plus. But if the skate park remains for at least the next two years  the current plan  Rec and Park needs to keep a clear goal in mind, somehow making U.N. Plaza into a safe welcoming place that attracts nearby residents, workers and visitors to Civic Centers cultural gems. Not just people who have nowhere else to go, and the predators who take advantage of them.
A driver has filmed the embarrassing moment a motorist became stuck in one of Sydney's busiest tunnels.

The incident unfolded in the Cross City Tunnel over the weekend.

The driver realised he was travelling in the wrong direction and attempted to turn his vintage American pick-up truck around.

A passing driver captured the embarrassing moment the metallic brown vehicle then became wedged between the walls of the tunnel.

Two men could be seen directing the stuck driver who eventually had to reverse out of the tunnel

The driver is seen in the footage turning the steering wheel and moving slightly forward.

He then turns the wheel again before he attempts going backwards to avoid damage to his car.

The steering wheel was on the left side of the vehicle, which could explain his misdirection.

Two men, one at the back of the car and one at the front, tried in vain to aid with directions for the tricky maneuver.

Many social media users were left in disbelief.

One social media user made a tongue-in-cheek comment saying it was typical behaviour from owners of such cars.

'Cashed up tradies... buying American muscle and still can't drive,' they wrote.

A second added: 'What in the hillbilly is this?'

'Some people don't deserve classic cars,' another person said.

Others said said it reminded them of the 90s comedy movie Austin Powers, where the main character also became stuck in a tunnel.

One said: 'Austin Powers it.'

In what was the final humiliating blow, the person who filmed the incident said the driver eventually had to reverse out of the tunnel.
This is the shocking moment a mob of New York City schoolchildren repeatedly punched a school cop - just a week before a Jewish teacher was forced to hide from a group demanding she be fired.

Students from Hillcrest High School in Queens were arrested and charged following the horrific attacks, the New York Police Department confirmed.

They did not reveal how many kids were apprehended, nor what disciplinary action they are facing.

In the latest harrowing clip, at least three students start whacking the uniformed officer over the head, causing him to duck and try to defend himself.

They pin him against the hallway wall while some continue to punch the cop, who raises his arms to protect his head during the vicious attack.

While another officer tries to get the belligerent schoolkids off the cop, a gang of other students stand to the side recording the out-of-control situation.

The clip, posted by the politician, was recorded off of another phone. Hillcrest High School students responsible for the bust up were arrested and charged, the New York Police Department confirmed

In the harrowing clip, at least three students start whacking the uniformed police officers over the head, causing him to duck and attempt to defend himself

The cops arms can be seen above his head against a wall during the fight

It's unclear what triggered the attack in the crowded student area. Hillcrest High School was slammed for allegedly trying to 'cover up crimes committed by students,' as local politicians called for the institution to be shut down.

Scott Milczewski, the Principal of Hillcrest High School in Queens

Vickie Paladino, a NYC Council Member representing District 19 of Queens, published the video and wrote: 'An anonymous source within the DOE shared video with my office of students at Hillcrest High School brutally attacking a uniformed school safety officer.

'This event apparently happened a week before the riot. The school administration tried to cover this up in the same way they tried to cover up the riot.

'It's clear that the administration of Hillcrest is totally compromised and either unwilling or unable to do what's necessary to provide a safe environment to their students or their faculty.

'Furthermore, they seem more than willing to cover up crimes committed by their students in service of a political narrative, and to prevent these criminal students from facing consequences.

'Were it not brought to the attention of my office, this may have remained covered up. And who knows what else they're hiding at this point. This cannot continue.

Hillcrest High School has now been slammed for attempting to 'cover up crimes committed by their students,' as local politicians called for the institution to be shut down and investigated

One schoolkid, in a gray hoodie, raises his arm and fist to punch the officer in the head

Other images show how some students took it upon themselves to ruin a bathroom

One educator at the school told the Post that administrators and officers with the NYPD rushed to the aid of the teacher and locked her room door. This occurred a week after the cop was beat up

'Hillcrest High School must be shut down pending a full and thorough investigation, and the administration must be held accountable. Furthermore, the students who committed these acts must be arrested immediately and face appropriate criminal charges.

Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams

'This cannot continue in our schools. Order and discipline must be restored. We've tried 'progressive' educational theory for far too long, and it's gotten us absolutely nowhere. Our students and our city deserve far better than this.'

The NYPD said in response to the latest video released concerning the violence at the high school: 'The NYPD is aware of this incident. Violence in our schools will not be tolerated.

'The individuals responsible for assaulting the NYPD Schools agents were taken into custody & charged according to NYPD procedures.'

Officer Kevin L. Taylor, the Inspector at School Safety Division for the NYPD, wrote: 'In regard to Hillcrest HS, I have increased security measures to ensure the continued safety of all students and staff. We will be working closely with DOE to prevent future incidents.

'Violence will not be tolerated in schools.'

In one video that has been shared on social media sites like TikTok and X, pupils can be seen waving Palestine flags as they frequently jump up and down in the corridors. This riot happened before the cop was punched

The attack on the cop came a week before a Jewish teacher was forced to hide in her classroom while students demanded she be fired for attending a pro-Israel rally.

In the video students can be seen waving Palestine flags and jumping around hallways inside the school.

Another clip showed students running wild throughout the corridors of the school during the ordeal.

Students inside Hillcrest High School in the New York City borough rioted inside the school for two hours last Monday.

The incident came about after images surfaced of a Jewish teacher at the school attending a pro-Israel rally.

In a statement to the the New York Post, the teacher, who wished not to be identified revealed that she had been working as an educator for 23 years in the New York City public school system.

For the last seven years, her time has been spent working at Hillcrest High School.

'I have worked hard to be supportive of our entire student body and an advocate for our community,' she said.

'[I] was shaken to my core by the calls to violence against me that occurred online and outside my classroom last week.

'No one should ever feel unsafe at school  students and teachers alike. It's my hope in the days ahead we can find a way to have meaningful discussions about challenging topics with respect for each other's diverse perspectives and shared humanity.

'Unless we can learn to see each other as people we will never be able to create a safe learning community.'

A senior student speaking to the outlet said that it was the teacher's support for Israel that ignited the aggression seen at the Queens high school.

'The teacher was seen holding a sign of Israel, like supporting it,' they said.

One educator at the school, seen here, said that administrators and officers with the NYPD rushed to the aid of the teacher and locked her room door

'A bunch of kids decided to make a group chat, expose her, talk about it, and then talk about starting a riot.'

The riot at Hillcrest high school was well-documented online with the chaos captured in a series of photos and videos.

They showed large crowds of students congregating inside the hallways of the schools, chanting and running wild.

In one video that has been shared on TikTok and X (formerly Twitter) students can be seen waving Palestine flags while jumping up and down in the corridors.

Other images show the destruction of bathrooms as others attempted to barge into the terrified teacher's classroom as she hid from the rioting mob.

According to New York City Councilman James Gennaro, the NYPD sent officers to the school and brought in their counterterrorism bureau to investigate.

'The counterterrorism task force is not engaged unless they believe it is potentially a serious situation,' Gennaro said.

NYPD officers escorted the teacher safely out of the building, but senior students revealed to the post that they know her phone number and home address.

Critics have blasted the group of students with one person saying they're 'embarrassed to be part of this generation.'
New Zealand's new government has dismantled world-first plans to ban future generations from smoking.

The plans were initially introduced by then-Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in 2022, and once implemented in July 2024, would have banned anyone born after January 2009 from buying cigarettes.

The legislation would have also reduced the amount of nicotine in tobacco products while increasing their price as well as reduce the number of tobacco shops in the nation from 6,000 to 600.

The new National-led coalition governmen announced they would be repealing the legislation before the incoming Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, was sworn in.

Incoming Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the revenue raised through tobacco sales would fund the coalition's tax cuts.

New Zealand's incoming conservative government has dismantled world-first plans to ban future generations of New Zealanders from being able to buy cigarettes (stock image)

Ms Willis said that reducing the amount of tobacco stores and slowly reducing their customer-base would have led to about $1billion lost in government revenue.

'Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the Government books,' she told Newshub Nation.

Mr Luxon said the legislation would have incentivised tobacco shows into the black market in an attempt to recoup lost sales.

'Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime,' he told Radio New Zealand.

He continued by saying his government will strive to lower the amount of smokers in the nation without turning citizens into criminals.

The National government, led by Christopher Luxon (pictured), will instead use the about $1billion in revenue gained from smoking-related purchases to fund tax cuts

Smoking, drinking and unhealthy eating makes up about a third of all unpreventable deaths in the nation, with the greatest effect on the indigenous Maori people.

The co-chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa (HCA), Professor Lisa Te Morenga, said the smoking ban's repeal was an 'insult' to the tangata whenua (people of the land) by the newly formed coalition Government.

Professor Te Morenga noted the incoming government had also pledged to dismantle Te Aka Whai Ora (the Maori Health Authority) upon being sworn in.

'Turning the tide on harmful products that are entrenched in society cannot be done by individuals, or even communities. It takes good  and brave  population-level policies,' Professor Te Morenga.

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced similar plans to gradually increase the age people can smoke last month.

His plans would see the legal age for buying tobacco rise every year from 2009, meaning a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette under proposed legislation for England.
An Arkansas bishop has been branded a squatter after refusing to leave a historic church for four years because the owners jacked up the rent.

Bishop Earnest Smith has been preaching in a chapel that has served the community of Crossett for over 100 years since 2019.

In that year, the leaders of what was known as Allen Temple CME were forced to close the church while they waited for a new minister.

They claim Smith - who at the time was preaching out of his home - asked the leaders if he could rent the building.

The trustees from the old congregation say Smith refused to give it up, changed the locks and failed the new rent of $400 per year.

Bishop Earnest smith, given the unfriendly nickname as the 'squatter bishop' in an Arkansas Church is refusing to leave the building where he's held services for four years after the landlord doubled his rent

Temple member Rekandria Leach claims Smith rented out the temple for $200 a year for the first year and then it would double to $400, but when the time came, Smith said he didn't want to sign a new lease agreement.

The bishop addressed the controversy, which has made local and national headlines, in his Sunday service, saying he's 'not scared' of his opponents and as his congregants cheered, added that he 'did nothing wrong.'

'No matter what the enemy throw at me, I'm on my way back in life we have to understand that we are going to go through some trials and tribulations. The lord does not tell us how we're going to go through those trials and tribulations,' he said.

'We all have gone through things in life, we have been accused of some stuff we have been accused of some things in life, the difference of yours and mine is that I was put on national television.'

Smith argues that the secretary of the church, Faye Pam, told him that he would be given the building after completing the temporary lease.

'She said, 'We are probably going to give you the building because we're not going to use the building.' She said, 'Because I know you.' I said, 'OK.' I said, 'Thank you'  really got excited,' Smith told KATV.

'We paid. We've never been squatters. We've been paying all this money to her, and we've got proof that we paid the money to her,' he added.

Smith also claims the payments he was making were not a lease but merely to help cover insurance costs.

Smith argues that he's done nothing wrong and operated by the agreement he had with the church's secretary

Bishop Earnest Smith has been preaching in a chapel that has served the community of Crossett for over 100 years since 2019. In that year, the leaders of what was known as Allen Temple CME were forced to close the church while they waited for a new minister

The trustees from the old congregation say Smith is refusing to give it up and has changed the locks to the church, where he has changed the name to Temple of Faith Ministries

A representative for his church, however, told Fox News that all of the claims about him were a lie without addressing Smith's story.

Leach, who is Pam's daughter, says that her elderly mother has been taken advantage of.

'My mother and them, they was very nice to him. They bought him robes. They bought him suits, you know, thinking they was doing the right thing. But nowadays, my opinion, pastor is into the ministry just for the money,' said Leach.

'We're not causing trouble. We just want our church back.'

Smith also argues that the church technically has no owner, which trustee Claudelle Smith - no relation - says is flatly false.

'What I hold in my hand here is the deeds. Allen Temple CME Church, that's who it belongs to,' Smith said. 'Squatters come in and take over, and they'll get something for nothing where they're not paying for it.'

Bishop Smith has spent his time running the church recruiting a new congregation, including Scott Adair, who says Smith is a decent man.

'I was introduced to the Pastor and immediately I started to feel a love. A very unique love to want to see me have a chance at life and to be engaged in the presence of the Lord,' Adair said.

The bishop addressed the controversy, which has made local and national headlines, in his Sunday service, saying he's 'not scared' of his opponents and as his congregants cheered, added that he 'did nothing wrong'

Smith argues that the secretary of the church, Faye Pam, told him that he would be given the building after completing the temporary lease

While he did not know about the dispute, it hasn't changed his opinion of Smith.

'I can honestly say this Pastor and his wife and the people of this church love us and not to be redundant but the Lord's vision for Crossett is to salt and pepper a church where white people and black people can come together and have a true love for one another and I see this happening here at this church and I'm glad to be a part of it,' he added.

Leach believes that Smith's time is up and eventually, they will be returned to their original church.

'It's been going on too long. It's time for him to go. We have had our locks changed a lot of times, and he [comes] right back in and just [takes] over. He said he will not leave. But you will go, Earnest Smith,' Leach said.

Smith, on the other hand, says he's prepared for a fight and that his lawyer tells him he's well within his rights to keep preaching.

'The attorney told me since you're there and you [are] established, you can go in there,' he said. 'Do I want to move? The flesh does because I'm tired. But the spirit [keeps] telling me to fight this out.'
Brave Colorado mountain rescue workers managed to save a house that had slipped off an icy cliff edge when a semitractor-trailer moving it jackknifed.

The 13ft modular home slid over a steep cliffside in the Colorado Rocky Mountains on November 21 - and tow workers tasked with getting it back to safety feared the property would crumble like a 'pile of toothpicks.'

The entire mission to save the 32,000lbs home took nine hours of painstaking back-and-forth - and miraculously, there was minimal damage thanks to the skilled, quick thinking tow workers.

Charlie Stubblefield, Mountain Recovery's owner, told the Summit Daily: 'It was definitely top five in terms of level of difficulty, and it's because you're dealing with an oversized load. It's 13 feet, 6 inches tall, 16 feet wide and 60 feet long.

The 13ft modular home slid over a steep cliffside in the Colorado Rocky Mountains on November 21 - and tow workers tasked with getting it back to safety feared the property would crumble like a 'pile of toothpicks'

Colorado mountain rescue workers managed to save a house that had slipped off an icy cliff edge when a semitractor-trailer moving it jackknifed

Stubblefield added: 'It was never meant to be on anything other than super flat ground, and now we have it in the most extreme position, which is off an embankment a guy can't even stand on. It's a 45-degree angle or better.'

The ordeal started when semitractor-trailers hauling the disassembled home were struggling to complete the last stretch up a dirt road off Colorado Highway 9. As a result, they called the towing company.

Mountain Recovery helped two semis get halfway up the hill before one of the drivers decided to make the rest of the way on his own - with dodgy truck chains.

Despite being warned by Mountain Recovery's tow operator, the driver continued on - causing the home to go sliding down.

Stubblefield said: 'We're assuming he missed a gear, because when you miss a gear you have to stop when you have that much load.

'He came to a stop halfway up this incline, and just slid back, jackknifed, and then the modular home slid off the edge.'

They couldn't use a crane because the mountain road was too narrow for it.

The ordeal started when semitractor-trailers hauling the disassembled home were struggling to complete the last stretch up a dirt road off Colorado Highway 9. As a result, they called the towing company

The home is seen attached to a semitractor-trailers

The entire mission to save the 32,000lbs home took nine hours of painstaking back-and-forth - and miraculously, there was minimal damage thanks to the skilled, quick thinking tow workers

Instead the tow company used rotating booms to get the correct angles on the sliding house, so that it could securely be brought up from the mountainside.

Stubblefield added: 'All those operators and all those winches had to be in sync so that the load stays distributed and it doesn't just go to some of the straps or one of the straps.

'So it's really a coordinated dance. They had to be perfectly synchronized so that every point that touched the house had the same amount of pressure.

'The amazing thing was when it went off it didn't sustain a lot of damage. It sustained some.

'But the modular home had many large windows, sliding doors, things of that nature.

'None of them were broken when it went into the hole. And none were broken when it came out.'
He was detained at a house near the site where Palestinian students were shot

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested by officers in Vermont on Sunday afternoon

A suspect has been arrested over the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont - as the life of one hangs in the balance.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was seized on Sunday afternoon near the site of Saturday's attack and is expected to appear in court on Monday, Burlington Police revealed.

They said he lives in an apartment building near where Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed were shot while visiting Awartani's grandmother for a Thanksgiving meal.

Two of the men, all aged 20, were wearing keffiyeh scarves and each was speaking a mixture of English and Arabic when the suspect approached them.

'On Sunday afternoon ATF agents who were conducting a canvass at the location of the shooting encountered and detained Jason J Eaton,' Burlington Police said.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed wearing keffiyeh scarves and speaking Arabic when they were shot on Saturday night

First responders loading one of the victims into an ambulance after Saturday's shooting

'Detectives completed a search warrant for Mr Eaton's residence in the apartment building in front of which the shooting took place.

'Evidence collected during that search warrant and additional evidence developed during the course of this investigation gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr Eaton perpetrated the shooting.'

In an earlier statement police said the three students had been walking on Prospect Street 'when they were confronted by a white male with a handgun'.

'The suspect was on foot in the area. Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot,' Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad explained.

'In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime,' he added.

I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven.'

Abdel Hamid who is a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania suffered minor injuries in the attack.

But Awartani was shot near the spine and has lost feeling in his legs, according to his great-uncle Marwan Awartani, a former education minister of the Palestinian Authority.

Ahmed, meanwhile, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, was shot in the chest and his condition is 'touch and go' according to Abed A. Ayoub, the national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

'They were doing what millions of other students were doing this weekend: getting away for the holiday and reconnecting with friends and family,' Ayoub added.

'Given the information collected and provided, it is clear that the hate was a motivating factor in this shooting.

'We call on law enforcement to investigate it as such. The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent.'

Hisham Awartani shared a hospital bed photo on Instagram

Armed officers approached a nearby house as the injured men were taken to hospital

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it had seen a trebling of in reports of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias incidents in the month after the Hamas attack which killed more than 1,200 people on October 7.

Chicago landlord Joseph M. Czuba, 71, yelled 'you Muslims must die' before fatally stabbing six-year-old Palestinian-American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume and wounding his 32-year-old mother on October 8.

In a joint statement, the family of the three 20-year-olds said: 'As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot.

'We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. We need to ensure that our children are protected, and this heinous crime is not repeated.'

Murad said two of the shot men were found in one location and treated at the scene by the Burlington Fire Department before being taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center. The third victim was found a short distance away and taken to the hospital.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the shooter.

'Due to the unprecedented spike in anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate and violence we have witnessed in recent weeks, local, state and national law enforcement authorities must investigate a possible bias motive for the shooting of these three young men,' its executive director Nihad Awad said in a statement.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said law enforcement would 'work relentlessly to bring the shooter to justice'.

'We will do everything in our power to find the perpetrator and hold them fully accountable,' he added.

'That there is an indication this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling.'

When officers arrived on the scene, they found the three victims with gunshot wounds

Two of the victims are in stable condition while the third has sustained more serious injuries

The group's alma mater Ramallah Friends School in the occupied West Bank confirmed in a Facebook statement that all three had been students there.

'Haverford junior Kinnan Abdel Hamid, is recovering from a gunshot wound in a hospital in Burlington, VT, after he and two of his lifelong friends were shot near the University of Vermont by an unknown assailant,' said a Haverford University spokesman.

'Police are investigating the shootings, and we await word on whether it will be pursued as a hate crime.'

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders Tweeted that it was 'deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont.

'Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation.'
Did YOU see what happened?

This is the vile moment a Palestine activist branded pro-Israel supporters 'killers' and 'child molesters' before he was shouted down by brave have-a-go-heroes filming the shocking incident.

Footage posted on social media shows a row breaking out between two men on a train in London, in which the Palestine activist threatens to 'smack' the pro-Israel supporter 'across the head'.

He then turns and shouts to the other passengers, branding them 'clowns', 'donkeys' and 'r***rds' while the brave Israel activist films it on his phone.

Did YOU see what happened? Email katherine.lawton@mailonline.co.uk

The yob gets his phone out to record the crowd and says: 'Say hello guys, say hello that you support f****** killers. There are a lot of [...] absolute r***rds. Absolute jokes with your little stupid posters man.'

The have-a-go heroes start heckling the Palestine activist, shouting 'shame on you' and 'you should be ashamed'. Violence appears to break out as the activist launches himself at another passenger but the footage, filmed by a pro-Israel supporter, does not show the scene.

It came as more than 100,000 people marched through London in a peaceful protest against anti-Semitism yesterday.

Footage shows a Palestine activist (pictured) branding pro-Israel supporters 'killers' and 'child molesters'

The video shows a row breaking out between two men on a train, in which the Palestine activist threatens to 'smack' the pro- Israel supporter 'across the head'

A spokesperson for British Transport Police told MailOnline: 'Detectives are investigating a racially aggravated incident on a Thameslink train from West Hampstead to Mill Hill Broadway yesterday (26 November) at around 17.30pm.

'Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information is asked to please contact the British Transport Police by texting 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 528 of 26 November 2023.'

It came after a London bus passenger yelled 'only Jews eat at McDonald's' in a sickening anti-Semitic rant on Armistice Day after interrupting a couple who were discussing the fast food chain's chips.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed it was probing the shocking video taken in Kentish Town, Camden, as they warned: 'There is no place in London for hate.'

The woman, who was wearing a black bandanna launched into the 'distressing' tirade on Saturday, November 11, when 300,000 people marched through central London in a pro-Palestine protest.

The activist brands the crowd 'clowns', 'donkeys' and 'r***rds' as a brave pro-Israel supporter films the incident on his phone

Have-a-go heroes start heckling the Palestine activist, shouting 'shame on you' and 'you should be ashamed'

More than 100,000 people marched through central London in a peaceful protest against anti-Semitism yesterday

A child is seen holding a banner which reads 'No hate no fear' at the protest yesterday

The march gathering outside the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday

As brave have-a-go heroes filmed her and called out her abusive rant, she continued to be aggressive and took a violent swipe at a woman's phone despite shouting to others: 'Don't touch me.'

Pro-Palestinian activists have widely called for people to boycott McDonald's after they reportedly donated free meals to IDF soldiers at the start of the Israel-Hamas war.

Yesterday English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson was pepper sprayed by police as he was arrested during Sunday's March Against Anti-Semitism in London after being told by organisers to stay away.

He was detained by dozens of officers near the Royal Courts of Justice, where the rally attended by tens of thousands of people started.

Photos and video from the scene show the 40-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, with his eyes partially closed after synthetic pepper spray was used on him.

The Metropolitan Police said the substance was used after he 'resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs' having being 'warned repeatedly' it would be sprayed.

Mr Robinson had claimed he was attending the rally, which was the biggest protest against anti-Semitism in London since 1936, 'as a journalist', but the march's organisers had raised concerns his attendance would 'cause fear for other participants'.

On the day he was seen arguing with officers for around ten minutes outside Soho coffee shop opposite the Royal Courts of Justice before being led away by police.

Scotland Yard said it arrested Mr Robinson after he refused to leave the area when asked to by police officers.
Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has hit back at one of customers' biggest complaints - self-service check-outs.

In an email sent to customers over the weekend, Mr Banducci addressed the question of whether the company's use of technology means that jobs have been cut.

The chief executive said there are now more people employed by the supermarket chain, not fewer.

'Self-service check-outs and the perception that this results in a reduction in team members in-store is a passionate dinner table topic in our house,' he wrote.

'The fact is, we employ more people than ever before and, with the popularity of online ordering, this year we've hired 5,500 personal shoppers, so there's more jobs at Woolies not less.'

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has hit back at one of customers' biggest complaints in recent years - self-service check-outs. A woman is pictured using a Woolworths self-service till

In an email to customers, Mr Banducci (pictured) addressed the question of whether Woolworths' use of technology means that jobs have been cut

Coles, Woolworths and Kmart move outrages Aussies: 'Your problem' An Australian shopper has declared he's fed up with self-serve checkouts because he's 'not interested' in doing the job of a cashier. Advertisement

Woolworths and Australia's other dominant supermarket chain Coles have both ruled out a return to only using staffed checkouts after some retailers did so in other countries.

UK grocery chains Booths announced it would get rid of self-service checkouts in all but two of its 28 shops, while in the US, Walmart, Costco and many other retailers are reverting to staffed checkouts in some stores.

'Self-service checkouts are a great option for customers because they offer convenience and efficiency when shopping in our stores to help customers check out more quickly and pack their bags the way they like,' a Coles spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.

'Our team members will always be available throughout our service area to help customers who would like assistance.'

A Woolworths spokesperson had a very similar message, saying 'We know some customers prefer to be served by a team member and that's why there is always that option in all of our stores.'

Coles said that two-thirds of its customers already use self-service checkouts and that those numbers are on the rise.

Woolworths and Australia's other dominant supermarket outlet Coles have both ruled out a return to only using staffed checkouts such as the one pictured

In his message to customers, Mr Banducci also said that 'a minority of customers are treating our team badly'.

'During the pandemic, our team members were often considered frontline heroes. Sadly, that goodwill has fallen away,' he wrote.

'While the vast majority of customers do the right thing, we're seeing an unacceptable rise in team abuse.

'There's no excuse for this behaviour in our stores or any workplace. We thank all our customers who treat our team with respect and kindness.'
Parts of Britain were hit by the first snow of autumn today as a cold weather system from Scandinavia sweeps in and temperatures plunge to as low as -8C.

Arctic winds have brought widespread frosts in recent days and snow was seen in County Durham and Scotland as motorists battled through icy conditions.

Later this week the North of England will see further wintry showers from Wednesday - before an area of low pressure arrives from the South West on Thursday.

This system could meet colder air and create rain over southern England and Wales which the Met Office said could turn to 'significant snowfall' over higher ground.

There will also be a risk of further wintry showers in the northern half of the UK with the potential for hill snow, with temperatures falling to -8C (18F) in rural areas.

The Met Office has not yet released its forecast for the Christmas period, saying that conditions for the two weeks up to December 25 are 'most likely to be changeable'.

The first snow of autumn arrives on a rural road at Killhope in County Durham this morning

Preparations at the Lecht Ski Centre today, an alpine ski area in the Cairngorms in Scotland

The Met Office has warned of possible 'significant snowfall' in parts of Britain this week

Wetter and windier than average conditions are said to be 'slightly more likely than normal' and temperatures are 'most likely to be near or above average overall', but this 'doesn't rule out some spells of cold weather and associated wintry hazards'.

UK Christmas forecast The Met Office has not yet released its forecast for the Christmas period - but has issued some guidance for the period of December 11 to 25. This says: 'Conditions are most likely to be changeable through this period. Wetter and windier than average conditions are slightly more likely than normal, especially in the West and North West. Temperatures are most likely to be near or above average overall, although this doesn't rule out some spells of cold weather and associated wintry hazards.' Advertisement

Forecasters said a brief return to slightly milder conditions today will make way for a widespread chilly spell midway through this week, with a chance of sleet and snow falling in some areas.

Greg Dewhurst, meteorologist at the Met Office, said: 'Overall, (it is) generally a cold week to come - less cold tonight into tomorrow morning, for a time a short, less cold spell, before frost and fog are the main features initially.

'Then (there is) potential for some rain and some hill snow as we move through the latter part of Wednesday into Thursday.'

Mr Dewhurst said the vast majority of the UK was frost-free last night, due to the cloud and rain around, with temperatures generally between 3C and 6C.

Scotland could see temperatures dip as low as -3C, with showers possibly turning into sleet and snow over higher ground.

England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be quite cloudy with outbreaks of rain this morning, before an area of low pressure pulls south eastwards towards the continent to create brighter spells.

Figures will peak in double figures in southern England and Wales today but will begin to slide heading into tomorrow, which will be largely dry with some early fog and sunny spells.

Cars driving in the snow near the Lecht Ski Centre on the Lecht Road in the Highlands today

The first snow showers of autumn arrive in County Durham this morning at Killhope

Wintry conditions for morning commuters at Killhope in County Durham this morning

Tourists under umbrellas as they go punting in the rain on the River Cam in Cambridge today

People in Cambridge on a cold and wet Monday today as chilly weather hits the country

Tourists under umbrellas as they go punting in the rain on the River Cam in Cambridge today

It will be a widely frosty evening tomorrow night, with temperatures generally around -2C to -5C and possibly as low as -8C in the far north of England and rural Scotland.

Met Office deputy chief meteorologist Dan Harris said: 'Some rain, or showers, are likely to affect some parts of the east coast, and these could turn increasingly wintry over higher ground areas towards the middle of the week.

'Thereafter, confidence in the detailed forecast falls, which is typical when looking this far ahead. It does look as though there will be a trend towards something more unsettled, as areas of cloud and rain attempt to move across the UK.

'At present, the most likely outcome beyond midweek is that rain from the west slowly moves east, with snow possible over higher ground, and a continued risk of showers over eastern parts.

'However, there is a chance that a more active weather system arrives from the South West, which would bring more widespread rain, stronger winds, and the potential for more significant snowfall should the air over the UK become sufficiently cold ahead of it. Either way, a continuation of colder than average conditions seems most likely.'

It comes after northern and eastern parts of the UK experienced sub-zero temperatures on both Friday and Saturday evening.

The coldest recorded temperature so far this autumn was -7.7C (18.1F) in Shap, Cumbria, in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Public Works inspectors and San Francisco police officers gather at the 16th Street Mission BART Station on Monday. They were there to enforce San Franciscos temporary ban on street vending on Mission Street but had yet to come across any street vendors. Loren Elliott/Special to the Chronicle A Public Works inspector checks a legal vendor permit in the Mission District in March. Adam Pardee/Special to the Chronicle

San Franciscos temporary ban on street vending on Mission Street started Monday, five years after a state law decriminalizing the practice led to an explosion of sidewalk vendors in the neighborhood.

The 90-day ban comes after San Francisco Public Works inspectors faced repeated threats while trying to crack down on illegal vending in the area, Supervisor Hillary Ronen said while announcing the move last month. She cited reports that some Public Works employees were wearing bulletproof vests because they feared for their safety.

The neighborhood has become one of the citys hot spots for people selling stolen goods, frustrating residents and nearby business owners. Officials temporarily closed the 24th Street BART plaza last summer, saying the vending had created chaos in the neighborhood.

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To enact the temporary ban, San Francisco Public Works issued an order mandating that the vendors vacate for 90 days, according to Jeff Cretan, communications director for Mayor London Breed.

While I am incredibly empathetic to the vendors situation and constantly fight for economic opportunities for our newcomers, the chaos on the street must end, Ronen said in a statement to the Chronicle Sunday, adding that city officials had held several meetings with vendors and the city has been doing outreach about the ban for over a month.

Ronen said Public Works had delayed the ban until her office could secure two indoor locations for legitimate vendors to sell their goods. The locations were to open at 10 a.m. Monday and will be overseen by nonprofits Clecha SF and Calle 24 Latino Cultural District, she said.

Ronen called the ban necessary and said it is not intended to focus on lawful vendors. In an October letter to constituents, the supervisor said that the temporary measure was written to mitigate the harm to innocent street vendors and that her office would work to channel sellers in violation of current laws into workforce development programs so they can find alternative sources of income.

Officials have blamed the Missions illegal vending woes on 2018s state law SB946, which decriminalized street vending statewide and was primarily championed by Southern California lawmakers. Under the law, sidewalk sellers are allowed to hawk food or merchandise with a permit.

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But decriminalizing the practice meant enforcement could no longer be carried out by police departments. In San Francisco, enforcement has been by Public Works inspectors, who officials said often face threats from vendors.

Public Works spokesperson Rachel Gordon last month detailed the threats to department employees tasked with inspections and enforcing sidewalk vending laws, saying inspectors had been pushed, bumped, (had) items thrown at them. Gordon also noted that verbal attacks remain frequent.

One inspector, Jondelle Bretz, told the Chronicle earlier this year that death threats are common on his rounds in the Mission.

They say theyre going to kill me, Bretz said in an interview.



Another inspector, Theresa McNamara, told the supervisors that the job was so dangerous that it had taken a toll on her well-being.



My mental health is suffering, and frankly its affecting my family and friends, too, McNamara said a few weeks ago at a Board of Supervisors hearing. They watch me struggle with panic attacks that I didnt have before this assignment. This has become a living nightmare for us.

More than 100 street vendors held a rally Wednesday in the Mission against the temporary ban, KNTV reported. Mission Street Vendors Association spokesperson Jon Jacobo told the outlet that the ban unfairly targets the neighborhood, despite widespread illegal vending throughout the city. Jacobo could not be immediately reached for comment Sunday night.

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This is a problem throughout the country, in every major city, Jacobo said. And it is not fair to punch down on people who you think dont have the ability to defend themselves.

Ronen has pushed for stricter measures to control illegal street vending in the neighborhood since 2021, when she said the Mission District, particularly the plaza around the 24th Street BART Station, was overtaken by a group of vendors selling stolen goods. New vendors threatened longtime sellers with extortion, Ronen told the Chronicle in an interview last year. She said they frequently used intimidation tactics to make other vendors leave.
A tourist in Bali has been blasted for behaving dangerously on the back of a motorcycle.

In a video posted to social media, a woman can be seen riding as a passenger on a motorbike while carrying a large suitcase and drinking.

The bike travels along a busy street while the woman, dressed in a black bandeau top, casually sips on a bottle.

Bali locals and foreigners took to social media to criticise the tourist for acting recklessly and not paying to get other transport.

'Very silly catch proper transport it's not costly,' one comment read.

'Cheapskate bule. Risky situation to others,' another said, using the label Indonesians give to foreigners.

Others pointed out the dangers of failing to wear a helmet while riding a motorbike as well as having so much skin exposed.

'Despite the many warnings and examples of why you shouldn't do this, it's the first thing people do. Good luck in Bali hospital,' one warned.

Some however said they didn't believe the woman should be judged so harshly.

'Nothing to see here. They're riding as slow and safely as it gets,' one said.

'She's done this before, and this is nothing compared to dealing with how a lot of locals ride. Just another day in Bali.'

'She's having the time of her life. Being young and carefree. Enjoy every moment and building memories,' another commented.

A video posted to social media caught a woman in Bali acting recklessly while riding on the back of a motorbike

In March, Bali governor Wayan Koster announced a new ban on foreign travellers, declaring they would no longer being able to rent a motorbike and instead would need to hire a car from a travel agency or tourism service.

However, Indonesia's Deputy Tourism Minister, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, said on a trip to Melbourne in October that there was no strict ban, but rather tightened rules being enforced, making it more difficult for Aussies to rent a motorbike on the island.

'If you ride a motorbike, just as in Australia, you should have a helmet and a license for your safety as well as that of other motorists,' Ms Marthini told news.com.au.

'The laws have always existed, but we [are] just proceeding to push the enforcement of these laws.'

Ms Marthini said the move was for the safety of tourists as well as for the local community.

'The laws do not ban tourists from renting scooters, only from renting them from unauthorised rental operators,' she said.

The woman can be seen carrying a drink in one hand and a large suitcase in the other

Last week, AKP Bachtiar Arifin, head of traffic unit for Buleleng Police, told reporters that changes were necessary following three separate deaths in the region.

'What is clear is that we will carry out outreach to rental services and hotels, including limiting and selectively using motorbikes, especially foreign nationals,' he said, according to The Bali Sun.

The news outlet also reported that hotels providing motorbike rental services would now be required to take preventative action, including having locals accompany foreigners on bikes.

Mr Arifin said authorities would 'increase patrols in places where there are many foreigners' and 'carry out law enforcement' if visitors are found to be breaking traffic laws.
Hamas has declared it wants to see a four-day ceasefire between its fighters and Israel's Defence Forces extended beyond today's deadline to negotiate the release of more hostages from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners.

A statement released last night by Hamas called for 'an extension of the truce after the conclusion of the four-day period, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from captivity as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.'

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas endured last night as the Palestinian group freed 17 more hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip - including 14 Israelis and the first American - as Tel-Aviv in turn handed over 39 Palestinian prisoners.

This exchange of prisoners - the third under a largely successful four-day truce - gave way to wild scenes of utter jubilation on both sides.

Captured Israeli children were scooped up in the arms of their overjoyed family members, while Palestinian men freed from Israeli jails kissed their mothers and celebrated wildly in street parades.

A fourth exchange is expected today, during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed.

International mediators led by the US, Egypt and Qatar are now trying to extend the ceasefire that began Friday to allow for the exchange of more hostages as war weary Gazans seek more reprieve from Israeli bombs.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive 'with all of our might' once the truce expires.

Raz Asher (left), four, her two-year-old sister Aviv (right) and their mother Doron, 34, reunite with their father and husband Yoni at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

Keren Munder, 54, and her son Ohad Munder, age 9, with his father and a family member at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. Keren and Ohad were kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7

Six-year-old Emelia Aloni and her mother Danielle reunite with their family at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

A group of Israelis celebrate as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel

Israel's military operates in the Gaza Strip during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on November 27, 2023

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometre (around a half-mile) of the border fence as they continue military operations

In this handout picture taken and released by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on November 26, 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets soldiers at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu told soldiers in the Gaza Strip on November 26 that Israel's efforts would continue 'until victory'

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 26, 2023

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (C) gestures after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armour and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

'At the end of the day we will return every one,' he said of the hostages, adding that 'we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.' It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister had previously told US President Joe Biden he would be willing to extend the truce with Hamas an extra day for every 10 hostages that are released.

But after the Qatari-brokered deal was agreed last week, Netanyahu said the goals to 'eliminate Hamas and get the hostages back' would continue unhindered irrespective of when the truce finally comes to a close.

It comes as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire, told the Financial Times that an extension of the deal hinges on Hamas' ability to locate more hostages, whom he said were being held by 'civilians and gangs'.

'If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,' Sheikh Mohammed said. 'We don't yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.'

Most hostages freed yesterday were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt.

Israel's army said one was airlifted to a hospital, and the director of Soroka Medical Center said Elma Avraham, 84, was in life-threatening condition as 'a result of an extended period of time when an elderly woman was not taken care of as needed.'

The youngest hostage released was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7.

'What she endured was unthinkable,' Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages.

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Three more Thai nationals were released.

Separately, Hamas said it released a Russian hostage 'in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin.'

The three Thai nationals were undergoing health checks at a medical centre in Israel, bringing the total number of Thai hostages released to 17, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said.

Fifty-eight hostages have now been released by Hamas. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Hospitals said their physical condition has largely been good, but little is publicly known about the conditions of their captivity.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian prisoners released by Tel-Aviv were children and young men aged 15-19, most of whom had been arrested on charges of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (L) hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail

Palestinians prisoners cheer among supporters after being released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on November 26, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel

A Palestinian man gathers belongings amidst debris in Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas

The ongoing ceasefire is the first significant pause in seven weeks of war, marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The war has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.

The pause has given some respite to Gaza's 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has been focused, made their way through entire city blocks gutted by airstrikes to flee, but many have been turned back by Israeli troops while trying to return to check their homes.

'They open fire on anyone approaching from the south,' said Rami Hazarein, who fled Gaza City.

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometre (around a half-mile) of the border fence as they continue military operations.

The United Nations says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war, but it calls the 160 to 200 trucks a day 'hardly enough.'

It was able to deliver fuel for the first time since the war began and to reach areas in the north for the first time in a month. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 50 Egyptian aid trucks crossed through Israeli checkpoints to reach Gaza City and northern areas Sunday.

Friday's ceasefire came into effect shortly after the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, a Hamas official who was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of its top military council. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting.

Both Hamas and Israel's military confirmed the death.

Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.
Countdown's Rachel Riley posed for selfies with Eddie Marsan, Rob Rinder and Vanessa Feltz at the massive march against anti-Semitism in central London yesterday.

Photographs posted on the presenter's social media show the stars smiling and making peace signs surrounded by a huge crowd of demonstrators.

Ms Riley, 37, spoke at the protest which saw more than 100,000 people march through London to tackle hate towards Jewish people.

She called on campaigners to 'get serious' about fighting anti-Semitism - echoed by English actor Mr Marsan who said the UK must 'stand up and face down extremism and bigotry'.

Ms Riley posted photos of herself speaking in Parliament Square on X, formerly known as Twitter, alongside the caption: 'Proud to have marched alongside Kurds, Iranians, Ukrainians and each and every person who gave up their time today to say NO to antisemitism.'

Her post included a copy of her speech which urged people to stop being 'bystanders' and join in the fight to stop antisemitism.

She said: 'We've learned from history the sharp price to be paid when good people stay silent and I'm grateful to each and every one of you here today for refusing to be bystanders.

Rachel Riley (front left) posed for selfies with Eddie Marsan (back left), Rob Rinder (back right) and Vanessa Feltz (front right) at the massive march against anti-Semitism in central London yesterday

Photographs show Ms Riley smiling for selfies and making peace signs at the protest

Yesterday's march saw more than 100,000 people walk through London in a peaceful protest against hate towards Jewish people

'We're going to have to get serious about fighting this now if we want to turn things around.

'We're going to start having to have tough conversations. We're going to have to stand up to the mob and we're going to need strong stomachs.

'But together I believe we can and we will.'

Ms Oberman, 57, and Mr Marsan also spoke to the crowds in Parliament Square today, after thousands attended a march in central London.

Mr Marsan questioned why there 'were many who were hesitant to acknowledge or condemn the actions of Hamas'.

He told the rally: 'At a time when our country is tearing itself apart and racist attacks are on the increase because of a conflict that has two just causes, surely our job is to tell both stories - not just tell one and deny the other because it's fashionable.'

Ms Oberman called antisemitism an 'incitement to hatred, it is an incitement to divide' and argued that bigotry was on the rise.

Ms Riley's post included a copy of her speech which urged people to stop being 'bystanders' and join in the fight to tackle antisemitism

She said: 'We've learned from history the sharp price to be paid when good people stay silent and I'm grateful to each and every one of you here today for refusing to be bystanders'

Ms Riley called on campaigners to 'get serious' about tackling anti-Semitism

Countdown star Ms Riley (centre) called on campaigners to 'get serious' about tackling antisemitism as she joined more than 100,000 protesters at a rally in central London

'We're seeing a frightening and swift rise in antisemitism, Jewish attacks on our children not being able to go to school wearing their blazers with a Jewish insignia or skullcaps, our children and ourselves advised to take off any sign of being Jewish,' she told the rally.

'I have so many friends and neighbours and people who contact me on social media saying they will take their mezuzahs off their doors, that they feel frightened, they feel isolated and alone.

'But we are not alone. We are a successful and flourishing multi-ethnic and multi-faith capital city of a multi-ethnic and multi-faith country.

'A tolerant democracy where all racism, including racism against Jews, is not tolerated. We have to call out antisemitism for what it is, it is an incitement to hatred, it is an incitement to divide.'

Tens of thousands attended yesterday's demonstration, which came a day after crowds also gathered in the capital to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict.
The expansion of Australia's federal parliament to 200 MPs - up from the current 151 - is a step closer with the backing of a controversial new proposal put forward by politicians.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters - made up of Labor, Coalition, Greens and independent politicians - said more MPs and senators are needed to ensure the electoral system is made fairer for every Australian.

This concept, known as 'one vote, one value', is based on the idea of every MP representing the same amount of constituents, regardless of where they are.

In practise, though, Tasmanians are vastly over-represented, with one MP for every 80,000 voters in the island state.

In contrast, Victoria has one MP for every 111,000 voters, NSW has one for every 116,000 voters and South Australia has one MP for every 127,000 voters.

Anthony Albanese speaks during Question Time in the House of Representatives on November 27, 2023. He could eventually be joined by an extra 49 MPs in the chamber

Poll Should Australia's federal parliament be expanded to 200 MPs from the current 151? Yes No Should Australia's federal parliament be expanded to 200 MPs from the current 151? Yes 52 votes

No 1843 votes Now share your opinion





The 14-member committee, which is chaired by Labor's Kate Thwaites, looked at a range of submissions that argued for the number of lower house seats to be increased to either 175 or 200, while Senate seats for states could rise to as many as 16 each, up from 12.

There is also a proposal that would see the Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory double their number of senators from two to four.

Increasing the number of MPs to 200 would ensure every Australian is represented by an equal number of MPs in the House of Representatives.

While the committee did not make a specific recommendation about how many more MPs there should be, it said that 'increasing the size of the House of Representatives (would) reduce malapportionment and improve the ratio of electors to MPs'.

If the lower house increased to 200 MPs, NSW would gain the most, with its seat count rising from 47 seats to 63, while Victoria would grow from 39 to 51 and Queensland would go from 30 to 40.

South Australia and Western Australia would gain five each, going up to 15 and 20 respectively, but Tasmania would stay on five.

Increasing the number of Senate seats in the ACT to four would mean the Liberals would win back the seat they lost in 2022 to independent David Pocock.

Although the former Wallabies legend is not a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, he has been a keen contributor to its work.

In one of his submissions, he wrote: 'The fact that party loyalties trump state interest for many senators should not alter the original purpose of the Senate, namely, to protect the interests of smaller jurisdictions.'

Currently, the NT has two senators for just under 150,000 voters and the ACT has two for 315,000 voters.

The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters - made up of Labor, Coalition, Greens and independent politicians - said more MPs and senators are needed to ensure the electoral system is made fairer for every Australian. The House of Representatives is pictured

Tasmania, again, is vastly better represented, having 12 senators for 402,000 voters because it is a state, not a territory.

The government will now consider the committee's report and is expected to respond to it in the first half of 2024.

If the proposals are passed, it would be the biggest redrawing of the electoral map since 1984, when Bob Hawke expanded the lower house from 125 MPs to 148.

Any changes would not happen until at least the 2028 federal election and would be subject to a separate inquiry.
Omid Scobie claims that Queen Camilla sent a message of 'gratitude' to Piers Morgan after he nicknamed Meghan Markle 'Princess Pinocchio'.

The King's wife allegedly thanked the British journalist and broadcaster for 'defending The Firm' and standing up to the Duchess of Sussex after her and Harrys volley of attacks on the royals when they spoke to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

After the couple's interview was broadcast on CBS and ITV to tens of millions of people around the world, Mr Morgan, 58, tweeted that he 'wouldn't believe [Meghan] if she read me a weather report.' He then nicknamed Ms Markle 'Princess Pinocchio' in his column for MailOnline. He later left his job as host of ITV's Good Morning Britain when Meghan and her supporters complained about his coverage.

According to the New York Post, Omid Scobie's new book Endgame claims that Queen Camilla sent a message to Piers to thank him for his support of the Royal Family, who were accused by the Sussexes of being racist towards Archie and ignoring Meghan while she claims she was suicidal.

Mr Scobie claims that a royal aide told him that Camilla would never address Meghan and Harry's attacks publicly, but showed 'gratitude' to Piers because 'somebody was standing up' to Meghan. Some sources claimed she may have sent him a note.

Omid Scobie's new book claims that Camilla appreciated Piers Morgan calling Meghan Markle 'Princess Pinocchio' and thanked him for his support

After her interview with Oprah, left, Piers said: he 'wouldn't believe [Meghan] if she read me a weather report'

Buckingham Palace declined to comment. MailOnline has asked Piers Morgan to comment.

Friends of the Prince of Wales last night blasted 'outrageous' suggestions that he briefed against his own brother after the latest round of claims by the writer dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece'.

Supporters leapt to the defence of the future king, expressing their anger and frustration that Omid Scobie was 'peddling' what they described as conspiracy theories 'dressed up as fact' ahead of the publication of his new book tomorrow.

In extracts from Endgame, his second book attacking the Royal Family  as well as interviews to publicise it  Scobie has suggested that William 'prioritised his loyalty to the monarchy' over his brother and actively leaked information about Harry and Meghan to undermine them.

Kensington Palace has remained silent on the furore, but the frustration of those loyal to William was clear. One told the Mail that Scobie's depiction of the heir to the throne was the 'very opposite' of William's personal mantra.

'He has always been very tight-lipped when it comes to his family and made clear to anyone within his orbit that he would not do 'deals' with the media,' they said.

Friends of the Prince of Wales last night blasted 'outrageous' suggestions that he briefed against his own brother after the latest round of claims by the writer dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece'

In response to an accusation that King Charles is out of touch and demands his shoelaces are ironed, one source says flatly: 'That was total bull**** when it first surfaced 20 years ago, and still is now'

Supporters leapt to the defence of the future king, expressing their anger and frustration that Omid Scobie was 'peddling' what they described as conspiracy theories

'Like Harry, he is scarred by his childhood experiences, seeing his mother and father engaged in what was dubbed 'the war of the Waleses'. He never wanted history to repeat itself.

'That was something that he and Harry were meant to be united on.'

Another added: 'It's one thing writing a critique of the Royal Family. That's freedom of expression. But it's another thing to peddle conspiracy theories dressed up as fact. The suggestion that [royal aides] were briefing negative stories [about Harry and Meghan] is totally fabricated. It just didn't happen.

'The truth is that everyone was walking on eggshells practically from the engagement trying to keep them happy.'

In his latest interview, with The Sunday Times, Scobie breathlessly describes William as a hot-headed, power-hungry man who has become increasingly willing to allow the Palace to deploy dirty tricks. Aside from the prince occasionally being prone to the famous Windsor temper, those who know him well say it would be anathma to him.

The author also paints the Princess of Wales as an under-achiever, who is too scared of putting a foot wrong to stick her head above the parapet.

'That will really wind William up,' said another source.

'He's immensely proud of what his wife has achieved. The princess has been the driving force behind a great deal of their work, particularly when it comes to bettering mental health.'

In his latest interview, with The Sunday Times, Omid Scobie (pictured) breathlessly describes William as a hot-headed, power-hungry man who has become increasingly willing to allow the Palace to deploy dirty tricks

Meghan has previously been forced to apologise for misleading the High Court for failing to remember emails she had exchanged with an aide to help Scobie with his previous Sussex-friendly book, Finding Freedom, after earlier stating she had no dealings with it

In Endgame, Scobie openly details private conversations he had with multiple members of the Sussexes' staff

Insiders also maintain that a number of significant claims made by Scobie are 'just plain wrong' and 'rehashed'.

In response to an accusation that King Charles is out of touch and demands his shoelaces are ironed, one source says flatly: 'That was total bull**** when it first surfaced 20 years ago, and still is now.'

Scobie also raises issues about racism and diversity within Charles's household. He now accuses two people in royal circles of expressing concern about Prince Archie's skin colour, but claims libel laws prevent him from naming them.

Questions also remain about the sourcing of huge swathes of the book.

Harry and Meghan have moved to distance themselves from it and Scobie has claimed he is not part of the 'Sussex camp', despite a wealth of intimate detail about letters, phone calls, text messages and conversations between themselves and other members of the Royal Family.

Meghan has previously been forced to apologise for misleading the High Court for failing to remember emails she had exchanged with an aide to help Scobie with his previous Sussex-friendly book, Finding Freedom, after earlier stating she had no dealings with it.

In Endgame, Scobie openly details private conversations he had with multiple members of their staff. And he even boasts about a short phone call he had with Meghan herself after she married Harry.

Scobie, clearly angry about the coverage of his book in recent days, ranted on social media that the 'twisting of facts and misquoting going on right now has reached new levels of desperation'.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night.

The latest barrage of truth bombs from Harry and Meghan's 'mouthpiece'... until Tuesday: Every claim from sneak peek of Omid Scobie's new book ahead of its release

Omid Scobie's new book on the Royal Family promises to release another barrage of 'truth bombs' against the Royal Family when it is released on Tuesday.

Endgame will see the Sussexes' 'cheerleader in chief' renew his public vendetta with the Royal Family, with a series of revelations and claims about everyone from the Prince and Princess of Wales to King Charles.

Extracts have been published in People Magazine and Paris Match, touching on issues including the relationship between Harry and William, Meghan Markle's supposed dislike of the 'royal soap opera' and claims two royals aired 'concerns' about Archie's skin colour.

While Scobie has regularly been dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece', the 42-year-old insists he is not friends with the Sussexes, nor was he in direct contact with them over the book, and the Sussexes have denied they are 'affiliated' with it.

Buckingham Palace has so far denied to comment on any of the allegations in Endgame.

Below are the key claims that have emerged from the book so far -

King Charles 'told his family not to trust Harry'

French magazine Paris Match claims Endgame reveals a message that was circulated in the Royal Family telling them not to trust Harry after his memoir Spare was released.

The journal reports that a source close to the King even allegedly said 'Charles was cautious' after Prince Harry called his father to pass on his best wishes three weeks after the book was published.

'He wanted to limit their discussion to a harmless exchange. Concerning Harry, the message that circulated in the family was not to trust him...everyone took it very seriously,' the source alleges.

Despite the strained relationship between Charles and the Sussexes, she and Harry still keep him 'up to date' by 'sending him photos of their children'.

'Charles was cautious' after Prince Harry called his father to pass on his best wishes three weeks after the book was published, it is claimed

Harry used Spare to make a series of personal attacks on his family, including the claim they helped 'trash' his and Meghan's reputations, forcing them to move to California, and have 'shown no willingness to reconcile'.

He also accused his elder brother of physically attacking him at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 and 'lunging' at him after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in 2021.

The prince also detailed the conversation he reportedly had with his father the King on the day of the Queen's death, in which the Duchess of Sussex reportedly was banned from joining the immediate family in Balmoral.

Meghan 'told King Charles there are TWO ''royal racists'''

Meghan accused two people in the Royal Household of airing 'concerns' about her son Archie's skin colour, Endgame will claim.

The Duchess of Sussex is said to have written to King Charles to outline her concerns about the comments.

The Duchess of Sussex is said to have written to King Charles to outline her concerns about allegedly made by members of the Royal Family about Archie's skin colour

Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

The Sun reports, however, that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival.

Scobie reportedly claims to know who they are, but cannot name them for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.

Harry 'ready to forget' and 'doesn't care' if he doesn't get an apology

The book suggests Harry could be ready for reconciliation with his family, with the prince reported to have said: 'I'm ready to forget. Get an apology or explanation? At this point, who cares, right?'

The claim emerged yesterday in Paris Match.

Last week it was suggested there was a thawing of relations after sources close to the prince leaked to chosen media that he had a warm conversation with his father when he rang to wish him a happy 75th birthday.

Harry (pictured, centre with his wife Meghan at the Queen's funeral) is said to be prepared to 'forget' his feud with his family

However, the publication of Endgame is unlikely to do anything to bolster hopes that Harry may one day be reconciled with his family.

This is doubly the case given the Sussexes' cheerleader Scobie will make a series of new personal attacks on senior royals including King Charles, Prince William and the Princess of Wales.

Scobie insists he is not friends with the Sussexes, nor was he in direct contact with them over the book, and the Sussexes have denied they are 'affiliated' with it.

But there is a certain level of detail that, if true, could only have come from sources who are extremely close to the couple.

Meghan 'does not want to return to England' and the 'royal soap opera'

Scobie repeats previous claims that the Duchess of Sussex 'never wants to set foot in England again', 'never felt at home' in the UK and 'never wants to be involved in the British monarchy again'.

The author suggests that her son Archie's fourth birthday - which coincided with the coronation - was simply an excuse for her to avoid the ceremony.

Meghan Markle, with Prince Harry on Nov 20, is said to never want to set foot in England again

At the time, Harry announced he would be travelling to the UK without his wife, who was remaining in California to look after their children.

The Prince was reported to have voiced concerns over security and the reputation his family could receive from the public. Other reports suggested Meghan had been left upset after a letter from Charles did not address claims she had made about her poor mental health.

At the time, Mr Scobie said Archie's birthday 'played a factor in the decision' and he expected it would be a 'fairly quick trip to the UK' for Harry.

But he's now claimed Endgame that Meghan didn't attend because she refused to 'dive back into the soap opera of the court'.

Anne 'persuaded Charles to evict Sussexes from Frogmore'

Harry and Meghan were given Frogmore Cottage as a wedding present by the late Queen before being kicked out in January - 24 hours after the publication of Spare.

The Sussexes had paid 2.4million to renovate the property and were determined to hold onto it as a UK base, but were told to move out in what their cheerleader Scobie described at the time as a 'cruel punishment'.

Princess Anne is said to have persuaded her brother King Charles (right, at the Highland Games last year) to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage

French magazine Paris Match reports that the author will claim it was Harry's aunt, Anne, who encouraged Charles to initiate 'Frogxit' as part of a 'strict' approach towards the wayward couple.

This is said to have prompted the prince to plead, 'Don't you want to see your grandchildren any more?'

Scobie says that only Harry's uncle, Prince Edward, was concerned about the prince's mental health.

He even accuses the King of being more worried about the pressure on Prince Andrew in the wake of the Epstein scandal.

Meghan and Harry were given notice to leave Frogmore (pictured) days after Harry's memoir, Spare, was published in January

The magazine says: 'Meanwhile, the King could not bring himself to hurt his brother. [He] was in tears because he was afraid for Andrew's mental health.

'Charles leads with his head and his heart. William is colder.

'He wants the job done and he had no problem with casualties along the way.'

Kate and Meghan 'haven't spoken in four years'

The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex have not spoken since 2019, Scobie suggests.

In the Paris Match piece, the author also waspishly claims that Kate spent more time 'talking about' her sister-in-law Meghan than she ever actually spent with her.

He claims that Harry and Meghan sent the Waleses' three children gifts last Christmas, but that William and Kate did not respond with so much as a text.

Scobie claims there was 'palpable silence' as the royal couples travelled the short distance to Windsor's Long Walk for a royal walkabout in 2022 (pictured)

Paris Match adds that Kate 'immediately detected a rival to her' in Meghan, writing: 'She spent more time talking about Meghan than with Meghan,' according to 'a close friend of the couple'.

Harry, while promoting his tell-all memoir earlier this year, said it quickly became 'Meghan versus Kate' after he started dating the US TV actress in 2016.

Harry also repeated claims that Kate made Meghan cry during a row about bridesmaids' dresses ahead of the Sussexes' 2018 wedding.

William, Kate, Harry and Meghan were at one time dubbed the Royal Family's 'Fab Four' after they initially appeared to form a close bond.

The Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle's drive to the Windsor estate for a walkabout was 'silent', Scobie's Endgame claims

But when they were reunited for a car journey the day after the Queen's death in September 2022, there was a 'palpable' silence as they travelled the short distance to Windsor's Long Walk, the book claims.

The magazine goes on to say the book describes the complete breakdown of relations between the brothers, saying: 'Not even a text message at Christmas, although, according to Scobie, Meghan and Harry had sent gifts to Kate and William's children.'

Harry 'kept in dark' about Queen's death and William 'ignored texts about transport to Balmoral'

The Duke of Sussex was 'kept in the dark' about the Queen's health in the hours before she died, Scobie claims.

In Endgame, the author recounts how the Sussexes had visited the UK for a series of engagements in September 2022 when the palace announced that Queen Elizabeth had been advised by her doctors to rest.

He writes: 'By the next morning, the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was already planning for the Queen's final hours and the first days of the monarchy's new era  until the duke's phone started ringing. An unknown number. He usually ignored those.'

William allegedly ignored texts from Harry asking him about transport to Balmoral after the Queen's death, according to Scobie

Meghan told her husband to pick up the phone and he accepted the call 'just before it stopped', the author says.

He continues: 'Harry hadn't spoken to his father much that year, but this was not the time for any father-and-son tension. Charles told him he and Camilla were about to leave Dumfries House for Balmoral, where Princess Anne was already by the Queen's side. He told Harry to make his way to Scotland immediately.'

Harry sent a text message to his brother William asking how he and Kate planned to get to Scotland and whether they could travel together but got no response, Mr Scobie claims.

He was later told Harry had managed to secure a flight with his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

'It was upsetting to witness,' Mr Scobie claims he was told by a source close to the Sussexes. '[Harry] was completely by himself on this.'

An emotional Harry travels in an official car to Balmoral after the Queen's death was announced to the nation

Scobie alleges that Palace 'sources' briefed certain newspapers that Charles had personally shared the news of the Queen's illness with his son. He quotes a friend of the duke who said this left Harry 'crushed'.

The author adds that Charles asked Harry to come to Balmoral without Meghan.

'They just didn't want Meghan there,' according to a former palace aide quoted in the book.

'Absolutely no going back' for William and Harry

In Endgame, Scobie suggests William and Harry's relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a 'defector'.

In an extract shared with People, he claims 'there is no going back' for the brothers and 'absolutely nothing has changed' since the Duke of Sussex released Spare earlier this year.

Scobie suggests William and Harry's relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a 'defector'

Scobie even alleges that William 'doesn't want to know' his younger brother, who he feels has been 'brainwashed an army of therapists'.

He writes: 'I was talking to a source quite early on in the process, and they called Harry a 'defector' and said that was William's view.

'These were two men who once upon a time were firmly aligned in their outlook. One of them had to move on to also protect the crown.'

Harry wrote about him and William's relationship in Spare, going so far as to call his brother his 'arch-nemesis'.

William 'power hungry' and Charles 'unpopular'

Promotional material for Endgame suggests it will be just as damning in its criticism of the Royal Family as Finding Freedom, with William branded 'power hungry' and King Charles 'unpopular'.

Scobie revealed the cover of his latest book Endgame with a breathless description on Amazon calling it 'a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy  an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family'.

Promotional material for Endgame suggests it will be just as damning in its criticism of the Royal Family as Finding Freedom

The book, subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival', is billed as an 'explosive' look into events surrounding the Queen's death.

The Amazon sales pitch states: 'Queen Elizabeth II's death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor  and dismantled the protect.'

Scobie claims William is encouraged by his positive approval ratings and is 'sometimes more concerned about his own image than that of the institution'.

There are clear howlers in the extracts from the book that have been released, including the suggestion the Prince of Wales 'is eager to ascend the throne'.

Friends of William have made clear that he wants to ring-fence his three young children for as long as possible and has no desire to hasten his progress towards becoming king.

William 'kept Scobie away from royal engagements' because he believed he was Harry's 'emissary'

In his Paris Match interview, Scobie claims that after the publication of Finding Freedom he noticed 'everything was put to the test' - citing changes to his relationships and contacts within the royal family.

He says: 'William even kept me away from his engagements for several months, thinking I was Harry's emissary.

Scobie has denied his new book Endgame is 'Harry and Meghan's' and instead claimed it will tell the 'current state of the British Royal Family'

'He had to hire a new head of communications, who met with me and told me that he wanted to make a clean sweep of the past.

'But there were times when I was unable to fully practice my profession because of the repercussions of this book.'

It's unclear how much Scobie has made since he began writing about Harry and Meghan, with some estimates putting it at around $800,000 (just over 660,000).

The US has become a home from home for the author, where he has regularly appeared on Good Morning America, been a contributor to ABC News and where his latest royal potboiler is being serialised in People magazine.

Photographs on his social media accounts depict him embracing the life of an LA prince, visiting the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills and Nobu in Malibu, two of the area's most expensive restaurants.

Both are celebrity hangouts and less than two hours' drive from Harry and Meghan's Montecito mansion.

Spare vs Endgame: How Prince Harry's tell-all memoir and Omid Scobie's bombshell new biography about the Sussexes recount the historic day of the late Queen's death

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame claims Queen Elizabeth IIs death 'ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor'.

The Sussexes' favoured royal reporter insists that the Duke of Sussex was 'completely by himself' as he scrambled to get to Balmoral on September 8, 2022.

It also reopens Royal Family wounds in the aftermath of Megxit, branding Charles III 'unpopular', William 'power hungry' and says Harry was 'betrayed by his own family'.

Excerpts have been published in People in the US, with the book out on November 28. And as well as being sympathetic to the Sussexes, at points it is also remarkably similar to Spare, Prince Harrys bombshell memoirs, released in January 2023.

As Sussex insiders distanced them from Endgame today, MailOnline compares these two accounts of September 8, 2022 - the day the Queen died.

How Harry's Spare and Omid Scobie's Endgame compare on the day the Queen died, including claims Meghan was not welcome at Balmoral

Harry famously spent just over 12 hours at Balmoral before leaving again after the Queen died

The moment King Charles called Harry to warn him: 'Granny's health had taken a turn'

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'By the next morning, the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was already planning for the Queens final hours and the first days of the monarchys new era  until the dukes phone started ringing. An unknown number. He usually ignored those.

'You should answer it, Meghan told him. He tapped accept just before it stopped. Harry hadnt spoken to his father much that year, but this was not the time for any father-and-son tension.

'Charles told him he and Camilla were about to leave Dumfries House for Balmoral, where Princess Anne was already by the Queens side. He told Harry to make his way to Scotland immediately'.

Prince Harry in Spare

'That daySeptember 8, 2022a call came in around lunchtime. Unknown number.

'Hello? It was Pa [Charles]. Granny's health had taken a turn. She was up at Balmoral, of course. Those beautiful, melancholy late-summer days'.

Harry's anger at Meghan 'not being wanted' at Balmoral by his family

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'Another call came through from Charles, who instructed his younger son to come alone. Despite already publicly confirming that Meghan would come with him (always the plan if they were traveling from California for this very situation), he reluctantly agreed, after Charles assured him that Kate would not be there, either.

'Charles had cited protocol, but the reality was that Kate chose to stay back to pick up the children from their first day at a new school. They just didnt want Meghan there, said a former Palace aide. Meghan, a friend added, could sense she wasnt wanted.

Prince Harry in Spare

'Then came another call from Pa.

'He [Charles] said I was welcome at Balmoral, but he didnt wanther. He started to lay out his reason, which was nonsensical, and disrespectful, and I wasnt having it. Dont ever speak about my wife that way.

'He stammered, apologetic, saying he simply didnt want a lot of people around. No other wives were coming, Kate wasnt coming, he said, therefore Meg shouldnt. Then thats all you needed to say'.

Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince William, Prince of Wales, Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex at Windsor together two days after the Queen died. Harry and Omid Scobie claim that William ignored his brother's texts

Prince William accused of 'ignoring his brother's texts'

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'William, whom Charles had just spoken to, was supposedly working on arranging travel. Harry sent a text message to his brother asking how he and Kate planned to get to Scotland and whether they could travel together. No response.

'Harry sent another text to his brother. Nothing. Though there were available seats on Williams chartered Dassault Falcon private jet, which was leaving in less than an hour, Harry was left to fend for himself.

William ignored him, said a family source. He clearly didnt want to see his brother. Princess Eugenie reached out to Harry to see if he had any more information about their grandmother. She had heard from another family member that it was time but knew little more'.

Prince Harry in Spare

'I immediately texted Willy to ask whether he and Kate were flying up. If so, when? And how?. No response. Meg and I looked at flight options'.

Harry charters his own plane from Luton to Aberdeen after other royals went on their own private jet

Prince Harry's private jet, where he learned the Queen had died from Meghan and the BBC

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'Harry was informed that William had already secured a flight with his uncles Andrew and Edward (and Edwards wife, Sophie), but he couldnt get in touch with anyone about joining that flight. It was upsetting to witness, said a source close to the Sussexes. [Harry] was completely by himself on this.

'Harry eventually located an available optiona private charter costing [$37,000] from Luton Airport, a 40-minute drive from Frogmore without traffic.

Prince Harry in Spare

'By now it was mid-afternoon; no more commercial flights that day to Aberdeen. And I still had no response from Willy. My only option, therefore, was a charter out of Luton. I was on board two hours later.'

'I spent much of the flight staring at the clouds, replaying the last time I'd spoken with Granny.

'Four days earlier, long chat on the phone. Wed touched on many topics. Her health, of course. The turmoil at Number 10. The Braemar Gamesshe was sorry about not being well enough to attend.

'We talked also about the biblical drought. The lawn at Frogmore, where Meg and I were staying, was in terrible shape. Looks like the top of my head, Granny! Balding and brown in patches.

'She laughed. I told her to take care, I looked forward to seeing her soon.

Harry learned the Queen had died via the BBC

Harry arrives at Balmoral

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'When William and the others landed at 3.50 pm to discover the news that the Queen had passed away at 3.10 pm, Harry still had no idea what was going on when his own plane finally took off at 5:35 p.m. And, as his phone service cut out after takeoff, he remained in the dark for the duration of his 70-minute flight.

'When Harrys plane finally touched tarmac twenty minutes later, he received a text from Meghan urging him to call ASAP followed by a breaking news alert via the BBC News app with the announcement of the Queens death'.

Prince Harry in Spare

'When the plane started to descend I saw that my phone lit up. It was a message from Meg: "Call me when you get this". I looked at the BBC website. My grandmother had died. My father was King.

'I put on my black tie, got out of the plane under heavy rain and shot up to Balmoral in a borrowed car.

'As I pulled through the front gates it was wetter, and pitch-dark, which made the white flashes from the dozens of cameras that much more blinding'.

Harry's goodbye to the Queen after she died

Harry saw the Queen after she died. He said he regretted not doing the same with his mother when she died

Omid Scobie

'When he [Harry] arrived at Balmoral, Princess Anne warmly greeted him and led him to the Queens room, where he spent a quiet moment privately paying his respects. He had hoped to see his father  who had made it to Balmoral Castle in time to see his mother alive  to express his sympathies, but he was informed that Charles, William, and Camilla had already left for Birkhall together'.

Prince Harry in Spare

'Hunched against the cold, I hurried into the foyer. Aunt Anne was there to greet me. I hugged her. Wheres Pa and Willy? And Camilla? Gone to Birkhall, she said.

'I advanced with uncertainty and saw her. I stayed still, watching her carefully for a good while.

'She [Princess Anne] asked if I wanted to see Granny. She led me upstairs, to Granny's bedroom. I braced myself, went in.

'The room was dimly lit, unfamiliarI'd been inside it only once in my life. I stood, frozen, staring. I stared and stared. It was difficult, but I kept on, thinking how I'd regretted not seeing my mother at the end. Years of lamenting that lack of proof, postponing my grief for want of proof. Now I thought: Proof. Careful what you wish for.

'I whispered that I hoped she was happy and that she was with Grandfather now. I said that I admired her for having carried out her duties until the end. The [Platinum] Jubilee, the welcoming of the new Prime Minister'.

Harry's lonely night at Balmoral

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'That night after eating he retired to his room, exhausted by the days emotional roller coaster. He was glad to have had a private moment to say goodbye to his grandmother, but there was no point in sticking around.

Prince Harry in Spare

'I rang Meg, told her Id made it, that I was OK, then walked into the sitting room and ate dinner with most of my family, though still no Pa, Willy, or Camilla.

'Towards the end of the meal, I braced myself for the bagpipes. But out of respect for Granny there was nothing. An eerie silence.

'The hour getting late, everyone drifted off to their rooms, except me. I went on a wander, up and down the stairs, the halls, ending up at the nursery.

'The old-fashioned basins, the tub, everything the same as it had been twentyfive years ago. I passed most of the night time-traveling in my thoughts while trying to make actual travel arrangements on my phone'.

Harry jets back to London early, and alone on BA flight

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, boards a flight at Aberdeen Airport as he returned to London

Prince Harry returns to Windsor, where Meghan was waiting for him

Omid Scobie in Endgame

'With no offer to return with William and the others in the morning (all of his texts, including a thoughtful message about the loss of their grandmother, continued to be ignored), Harry booked his own British Airways ticket on the first available departing flight'.

Prince Harry in Spare

'The quickest way back wouldve been a lift with Pa or WillyBarring that, it was British Airways, departing Balmoral at daybreak. I bought a seat and was among the first to board.

'Soon after settling into a front row, I sensed a presence on my right.

'Deepest sympathies, said a fellow passenger before heading down the aisle. Thank you.

'Moments later, another presence. Condolences, Harry. Thanksvery much.

'Most passengers stopped to offer a kind word, and I felt a deep kinship with them all. Our country, I thought. Our Queen'.
Waterloo station was cleared after a fire alarm was activated at the station

Commuters are still facing travel chaos today as Waterloo was evacuated after a 'false alarm' while TfL's Elizabeth and Piccadilly routes are part-suspended.

Waterloo station was cleared after a fire alarm was activated at the intercharge but there was no blaze, British Transport Police (BTP) confirmed. Services at the station have since resumed.

Social media footage showed commuters swiftly leaving the station carrying bags and suitcases as an overhead announcement declared everyone must exit the building immediately.

A spokesperson for BTP said: 'The station was evacuated just after 8.30am following the activation of the fire alarm. It was a false alarm and the station was promptly reopened.'

TfL told MailOnline the Elizabeth line is still experiencing delays from Paddington to Heathrow after services were affected by Network Rail upgrading their signalling over the weekend.

Meanwhile it was announced that Heathrow Express will be closed during rush hour.

Social media footage showed commuters swiftly leaving Waterloo station carrying bags and suitcases as an overhead announcement declared everyone must leave the building

Commuters are still facing travel chaos today as Waterloo was evacuated after a 'false alarm' while TfL's Elizabeth and Piccadilly routes are part-suspended

People were seen quickly exiting Waterloo station this morning after a fire alarm went off

The Elizabeth line was suspended between Hayes and Harlington and Heathrow terminals due to the signal failure this morning, according TfL.

Tickets were being accepted on the Piccadilly line, but that was also suspended between Acton Town and Heathrow terminals due to a fire alert at Northfields.

The Heathrow Express was also suspended in both directions due to a broken down train, leaving passengers with no rail connections in or out of the airport.

In addition, the Elizabeth line had severe delays between Paddington and Hayes and Harlington today and the Piccadilly line had minor delays on the rest of its network.

It comes after a weekend of disruption due to no Elizabeth line or Heathrow Express trains to the airport on Saturday or Sunday due to planned engineering works.

One passenger called Charlie from Norfolk who landed at Heathrow from Cape Town this morning tweeted: 'Welcome back to London. Elizabeth line cancelled. Heathrow express cancelled. Major delays on the Piccadilly line. Well done, TfL.'

Conductor and pianist Dorian Dimitrov was also caught up in the chaos, saying: '@TfL @HeathrowExpress Why are both of your services so terrible that the Express and Elizabeth line have problems to Heathrow on the same day?! You have already made me miss one flight due to delays and now may/may not make the one I had to rebook. Ridiculous.'

He later added: '@TfL @HeathrowExpress If you are forcing customers pay extortionate amounts for a service that is meant to be reliable then make sure that it actually works!!!!'

And X user Trevor Larwood tweeted: 'Landed back at Heathrow guess what. No trains!!!! @TfL drive guys the best way!'

Chris Whitehead tweeted: 'Daughter just landed at Heathrow. No tubes, no Elizabeth line, Heathrow Express delays. Welcome to Khan's London. #SadiqKhan #TfL #Heathrow.'

Heathrow Express passenger Fatimah tweeted the operator to say: 'I think your driver is having trouble communicating... been 35 mins no comms, stuck on the train to Heathrow. 7.10am was cancelled, and we're all stuck on the 7.25am. No movement. No comms.'

Another passenger tweeted TfL to say: 'Now the Piccadilly is closed to Heathrow for a fire alert... what on earth should people do who need to get to the airport? Is the Heathrow Express open again? This is urgent.'

The Elizabeth line was part suspended today. Pictured: File image of an Elizabeth line train

A further social media user said: 'So much money invested in this Elizabeth line only for it to always have issues?!'

A TfL spokesman told MailOnline today: 'We sincerely apologise to customers who were disrupted this morning travelling to and from Heathrow Airport.

'An issue following Network Rail signalling work over the weekend caused problems to the Elizabeth line, and an earlier fire alert on the Piccadilly line impacted customers.

'Tickets were accepted on local buses and we worked to return Elizabeth line and Tube services as soon as possible.'

It comes after MailOnline revealed last month how major reliability issues were continuing to plague the 18.9billion Elizabeth line which opened 18 months ago.

Passengers have been complaining for months about the regularly poor service, with some stuck on trains in tunnels and others stranded on packed station platforms.

Following this website's investigation, Mayor Sadiq Khan apologised for the problems and admitted the service was 'not good enough'.

* Are you caught up in today's Heathrow rail chaos? Email: tips@dailymail.com *
A man charged with the murder of his wife and 11-week-old baby girl will have his case returned to Rockhampton after he allegedly flew himself to Brisbane to hand himself into police.

Matthew Cox, 31, was charged with two counts of murder (domestic violence offences) after police found the bodies of his 30-year-old wife Tayla Cox and their 11-week-old daughter, Murphy Margaret.

Queensland Police discovered the two bodies after being called to the Bean Street house in Park Avenue, Rockhampton, on August 10.

Matt and Tayla Cox with their baby daughter, Murphy Margaret.

Matthew and Tayla Cox before the birth of their daughter.

The welfare check came after Mr Cox allegedly attended a Brisbane police station and reported two dead people at the address.

Police also declared a second crime scene at an apartment complex on Constance Street in Fortitude Valley where Mr Cox is believed to had been staying while in Brisbane.

Police will allege the bodies had been in the home since at least August 8.

The television advertising executive did not appear before Brisbane Magistrates Court when his matter was briefly mentioned on Monday.

The court was told the case will return to Rockhampton Magistrates Court for further mention on December 6.

It's understood a grant of legal aid has also been made by Mr Cox, which will be assessed in Rockhampton.

Mr Cox remains in custody and has not applied for bail, as bail can't be granted for murder in the magistrates court.

Baby Murphy Margaret Cox was 11 weeks old when she died.

In a statement to the media in August, Mr Cox's parents Denis and Linda said they were devastated by the news about the alleged murders.

'We have lost a beautiful daughter-in-law Tayla, but also our much loved granddaughter Murphy,' the statement reads.

'At this stage we have very few other details and are in an absolute state of shock.

'We ask that the media respect our privacy while we grieve and try and process what has occurred.'
Two people were hurt with one rushed to hospital after a Christmas Wonderland ride 'went wrong' at Lakeside shopping centre.

Paramedics and police were called to the Essex shopping centre on Saturday evening and took a man to the Royal London Hospital.

Christmas Wonderland staff rushed to give the two guests first aid who were hurt on the Super Trooper Avalanche ride before paramedics arrived.

A witness said security staff stopped people from going onto the site after the incident saying the machine at the Essex shopping centre had made 'really weird noises'.

The Super Trooper funfair ride has seats attached to arms which are lifted into the air and spun round. It has been shut down while an investigation is carried out with the Health and Safety Executive called in.

A spokesman for Christmas Wonderland said: 'We would like to extend our sincere thanks to the emergency services for their swift and professional response.

'The affected ride has been taken out of action and will remain closed while we cooperate with the Health and Safety Executive to conduct a thorough investigation.'

A witness said security staff stopped people from going onto the site after the incident saying the machine at the Lakeside shopping centre, in Essex, had made 'really weird noises'

'Our priority is the safety and well-being of our guests, and we will provide an update as more information becomes available.

'We extend our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery to those affected by this incident and are committed to supporting them during this time.'

The East of England Ambulance Trust said in a statement: 'We attended the scene with two ambulances, two rapid response vehicles and a response car from the Essex and Herts Air Ambulance.

'A patient was transported by road to the Royal London Hospital.'

Essex Police confirmed officers attended but that the incident was lead by the ambulance service.

A HSE spokesperson said: 'We are aware of the incident and are making enquiries.'

The outdoor festive event opened its doors on November 16 and is scheduled to remain there until early January.

Christmas Wonderland is operated by Matthews Events which lists James, Thomas, and Thomas Matthews as directors on Companies House.

Love Island's Chris Hughes appears in a promotional video on Christmas Wonderland's website where he sings Elton John's Step into Christmas while on a carousel and tries out the rides.

Lakeside Shopping Centre has been contacted for further information.
A paedophile teacher who abducted a teenager is seen kneading dough in footage of him at work after it was revealed he had started a new life as a baker.

Jeremy Forrest, 40, spent three years in prison for abducting and having sex with a fifteen-year-old. He fled to France with the student in September 2012, but was apprehended after eight days and jailed the following year.

It has emerged that the former maths teacher is now working as a head baker at an artisan boulangerie and fronting a rock band. He has also remarried and goes by the name Jeremy Buonocore, according to a report in The Sun.

Forrest, who worked as a chef during his time behind bars at Ashfield prison, was photographed leaving his new job in Kent wearing a baker's outfit earlier this week.

And a video of the Aberdeenshire-born ex-convict available to be publicly viewed on Gilda Bakery's Facebook page shows him in his apron in the kitchen making ciabatta bread from scratch.

He demonstrates cutting up the dough, sprinkling flour on it, putting it in the oven and then presenting his freshly baked rolls.

Jeremy Forrest was photographed with Primark bag and in a baker's uniform in Kent earlier this week

A video of the Aberdeenshire-born ex-convict available to be publicly viewed on Gilda Bakery's Facebook page shows him in his apron in the kitchen making ciabatta bread from scratch

He demonstrates cutting up the dough, sprinkling flour on it, putting it in the oven and then presenting his freshly baked rolls

The video's caption reads: 'Ciabatta secrets. Jeremy working hard to finish our Ciabatta orders this morning for our customers'

The video's caption, posted in August, reads: 'Ciabatta secrets. Jeremy working hard to finish our Ciabatta orders this morning for our customers.

'Available on the shelf or at @macknade too incase you're passing!'

Forrest had a brief biography on the bakery's website, which does not mention his teaching career or time in prison, but said that he spent most of his working life at his family bakery.

It also says he moved to Kent, having previously lived in London.

The biography, which features a picture of him in the kitchen, said: 'He is proudly a 5th generation baker, learning everything he knows from the experienced bakers that have passed down their tried and tested methods.'

Forrest was promoted to head baker in May 2022 as a result of his 'extraordinary passion for sourdough, hard work and commitment.'

'He never stops learning about the process, care and attention that goes into making the perfect loaf.'

'Jeremy loves his dogs and a sing-song - he plays guitar and lead vocals in a band that regularly does gigs!'

The biography now appears to have been removed.

It has emerged that the former maths teacher is now working as a head baker at an artisan bakery and fronting a rock band

It has also emerged that the paedophile teacher who abducted a teenager sang love songs which included the chilling lyrics 'girl, I'd do it all again' and 'I was afraid someone would catch us'.

Resurfaced videos uploaded online in the year of the abduction, 2012, reveal sickening lyrics sung by Forrest.

In one song posted on YouTube on 5 October 2012 - just days after he was apprehended - he says: 'Sitting on the plane we were miles away from the things you hate but girl Id do it all again.

'Id hold your hand, cut off your friends, dont think that I wont.'

The song, which is called 'Better Company' and which he is said to have written by himself, also includes the lines: 'Disapproving stare when I'm grumpy but you're fine. Dont mean to make you angry, I try to make it right. I wanna make you smile sometimes.'

In another song, 'Arrows and Hearts,' posted on Youtube on October 1, 2012, Forrest sings: 'I was afraid someone would catch us.'

Jeremy Forrest in a video uploaded on YouTube in October 2012 singing 'Better Company'

Resurfaced videos uploaded online from the year of the abduction, 2012, reveal sickening lyrics sung by Forrest

It continues: 'I was afraid someone would catch me, my hands round your neck, your face turned blue.'

The video of Forrest accompanying the acoustic song is a compilation of still images of him - including him playing the guitar, performing on stage, drinking beer, eating in a restaurant and posing for portraits.

Forrest abandoned his then wife when he fled to France with a student, sparking an international manhunt until they were apprehended eight days later.

Forrest was arrested after being been recognised by a barman in Bordeaux to whom he had handed his CV with a photograph on.

He was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of child abduction and given five counts of sexual activity with a child. He signed the sex offenders register for life.

The Sun claimed that he now lived in a 500,000 three-bed home in Kent.
The coldest air mass of the season is expected to move toward California this week, raising the chance of rain showers in San Francisco and snowfall in the Sierra Nevada. Baron/Lynx

UPDATED FORECAST: Heres how much rain the Bay Area can expect

An active weather pattern is expected to return to California this week, with rain along the coast and snow in the Sierra Nevada, Klamath Range and South Cascades.

Live storm map: See where rain is hitting California and Bay Area

The week will start dry, with freezing temperatures around Wine Country and the Sacramento, Salinas and San Joaquin valleys on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Minor coastal flooding is also expected due to a combination of high tides and large swells. Clouds are expected to increase along the coast Tuesday, a sign of change coming midweek.

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A low-pressure system will bring rain to the Bay Area and Central Coast on Wednesday. About a quarter of an inch is forecast for San Francisco and Oakland, with lighter totals in Southern California. Baron/Lynx

An area of low pressure will approach the Bay Area on Tuesday night, spreading rainfall across coastal California and moving from northwest to southeast into Wednesday. The highest totals are expected to be centered around the Bay Area, with around a quarter of an inch of rain in San Francisco and Oakland by Wednesday afternoon. Light amounts are also possible in Los Angeles and San Diego overnight Wednesday into Thursday.

Sierra snow chances

The coast will receive the bulk of the precipitation on Wednesday, meaning the Sierra Nevada will be left out, but weather models indicate that the storm track will be more favorable for mountain snowfall toward the end of the week.

After a lull in precipitation Thursday morning, precipitation will pick back up in Northern California during the afternoon. That will take the form of snow around Lake Tahoe, beginning Thursday afternoon and continuing off and on through Sunday. Cold air will move in with the precipitation, dropping snow levels below 4,000 feet Friday night.

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Snow is expected to fall as low as 4,500 feet in the Sierra Nevada on Friday night and Saturday as cold air moves into California. A foot or more of snow is expected along the western slopes of the Sierra. Baron/Lynx

While the pattern is unlikely to produce blizzard conditions, multiple rounds of light to moderate snowfall should add up to about a foot of fresh powder on the west slopes of the Northern and Central Sierra Nevada. Lake Tahoe could see a half foot and the Yosemite Valley could even receive a dusting of snow Friday night into Saturday morning. Expected snowfall totals will likely change as a more detailed forecast becomes available later this week.

Monday breakdown

San Francisco: Quiet weather will continue in the city Monday, with light easterly wind keeping the fog and precipitation away. Passing high clouds are expected throughout the day. Minor coastal flooding is possible at high tide late Monday morning around the coastal and bay shoreline.

Morning temperatures will be in the mid- to upper 40s, climbing to the lower to mid-60s during the afternoon. Highs will be fairly uniform throughout the city. Mainly clear skies will allow temperatures to drop back down to the mid-40s overnight.

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North Bay: Monday morning will be cold around Wine Country, with locally icy conditions possible in eastern Solano County and the Petaluma, Sonoma and northern Napa valleys. The current freeze warning will expire at 9 a.m. Monday, but freezing temperatures will likely return again late Tuesday evening.

Minor coastal flooding is expected along the bay shoreline from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Highs in the mid-60s are expected in San Rafael, Santa Rosa and Napa, with lower 60s in Vallejo, Fairfield and Vacaville. Another clear, calm night will allow temperatures to drop to the upper 20s to mid-30s throughout the North Bay. Sausalito and Tiburon will remain in the lower 40s.

East Bay: BART riders in Antioch, Concord, Walnut Creek, Lafayette and Pleasanton should be prepared for a chilly wait on the platform. Morning temperatures will be in the mid-30s in eastern Contra Costa and Alameda counties. Highs will climb to the mid-60s during the afternoon before temperatures drop back down to the 30s overnight. A few spots in the Tri-Valley could even drop below freezing.

Minor coastal flooding is expected along the bay shoreline from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

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Near the bay shoreline, temperatures will be in the lower to mid-40s Monday morning. Highs will be in the mid-60s in Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda, Hayward and Fremont under passing high clouds. The Berkeley hills could experience occasional gusts up to 20 mph throughout the day. Lows will drop to the lower 40s under clear skies.

Pacific Coast and Peninsula: A mainly sunny day along the Peninsula will get off to a chilly start, with temperatures in the upper 30s to mid-40s. Highs will climb to the mid-60s in Daly City, Half Moon Bay, San Mateo, Redwood City and Palo Alto.

Minor coastal flooding is expected along the bay shoreline from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Lip balm and hand lotion may come in handy due to the cold morning temperatures and daytime relative humidity around 30%. Easterly winds could occasionally gust around 15 mph in Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. Low temperatures in San Mateo County will drop to the upper 30s to mid-40s under clear skies.

South Bay and Santa Cruz: Monday morning will be chilly in Santa Clara County, with some spots as low as the upper 30s. Partly cloudy skies are expected, with highs reaching the mid-60s in Sunnyvale, Cupertino and Milpitas and San Jose. Lows will drop to the upper 30s to lower 40s.

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This is the chilling moment a rapist was caught on CCTV stalking his victim before launching his vile attack.

Frankie Mann raped the woman on a pavement in St Austell, Cornwall then pretended to be a Good Samaritan and lied to police that he had seen her attacker fleeing the scene.

He offered to help by lying that he had seen the woman screaming and being dragged down a lane by a fictional man, whose details were starkly different from his own, in a bid to 'control the narrative'.

At Truro Crown Court last week, Mann, 27, pleaded guilty to rape and was jailed for nine years.

CCTV footage was recovered by detectives which showed the victim walking along Alexandra Road in the early hours of May 29. In the footage, Mann is also seen riding up and down the road, staying close to the victim. Then he is seen waiting for her at the end of the road.

While still on Alexandra Road, Mann pulled the victim to the ground and raped her. After committing the rape, Mann told the victim that he had somewhere to be and left the scene.

Frankie Mann raped the woman on a pavement in St Austell, Cornwall then pretended to be a Good Samaritan and lied to police that he had seen her attacker fleeing the scene

The victim had been on a night out with friends in St Austell on May 28. She set off to go home but realised she didn't have her house keys.

Heading back into town, she was approached by a man on a motorbike. He offered to help find her keys, putting his jacket around her while riding up and down the road in an apparent search for them.

Detective Constable Shaun Greenaway said: 'While the victim was reporting the incident to officers at the front desk, the local sergeant, having heard the report, was reminded of an incident reported to police in the early hours of May 29 which was a report of a motorbike weaving between pedestrians on a pavement while going back and forth along a one-way system.

'This was less than a mile from the scene of the rape. The number plate taken by the witnesses came back to Mann, which put him in the area at the time of the offence.'

Detective Constable Greenway said that the 'most chilling' aspect of the case is the fact that Mann had approached officers at the cordon of the rape scene to say that he had been driving on Alexander Road between 1.30am and 2.30am on May 29 and saw a woman screaming as she was dragged down a lane by a man.

At Truro Crown Court last week, Mann pleaded guilty to rape and was jailed for nine years

He added: 'He also gave a full description of the man he reported to have seen.

'Not only did he place himself at the scene at the time of the rape, but incredibly, he reported that he saw a woman being attacked and chose not to intervene or call the police.

'His description was vastly different from that of the victim's, and instead suggested an attempt to control a narrative.'

Prosecutor Heather Hope told the court he 'pounced on her' and raped her as she lay 'frozen with fear' with his hand over her mouth.

The victim told the court she felt 'numb, repulsed, dirty and humiliated'. 'That night killed me inside,' she said.

Ms Hope said Mann posed as a 'Good Samaritan' who gave the victim a false sense of security.

Judge Simon Carr said the effect on the victim had been 'catastrophic'. 'You targeted and stalked this individual,' he said. 'You pretended to assist her.'

Mann will be placed on the Sex Offender Register for life.

Detective Constable Greenaway said: 'I would like to take this opportunity to commend the victim for her bravery and courage in coming forward to police to report this crime. We worked quickly to piece together elements of this incident with other reports we had received which led us to the swift arrest of Frankie Mann.

'Those investigative leads, together with forensic work carried out, resulted in a strong case - one which gave Mann little choice but to plead guilty.

'This was a horrendous crime which had a lasting effect on the victim. I am pleased that this sentence means that the wider public are now not at risk from Mann. We would encourage anyone who has experienced sexual abuse to come forward to either police of partner agencies to report and seek support.'
A five-year-old boy and his parents were found brutally murdered in their apartment building in the Bronx on Sunday morning, as police investigate the triple homicide.

The bodies of Jonathan Rivera, 38, Hanoi Peralta, 33, and Kayden Rivera, 5, were found inside an apartment building on 674 East 136th Street in Mott Haven.

Police responded to a 911 call at 6:40am on Sunday to discover Mr Rivera in the hallway covered in blood with several stab wounds.

While Ms Peralta and Kayden were found shortly after also with multiple stab wounds inside their first-floor apartment in the same building.

All three were pronounced dead at the scene.

Hours after the grisly discovery was made, the former superintendent of the building fondly reminisced on his interactions with Kayden as he went to and from school.

'I play with him every day,' said Jose Torres. 'That's my little buddy there.'

The bodies of Jonathan Rivera, 38 (right) Hanoi Peralta, 33 (left) and their son Kayden Rivera, 5, were found on Sunday morning in the Bronx

Police removing one of the victims from the scene. Mr Rivera was discovered in the hallway covered in blood with several stab wounds

Neighbour Paulette Williams said: 'I heard people talking about they heard loud fighting and arguing, and then it stopped  and that's when they found out they were dead,' she added.

Torres, 60, believes the family moved to the building about five years ago.

'They always go out together,' he said. 'I never had no problem with none of them.'

Dahan Ali owns a deli in the building and knows all the victims, said: 'I would always see her every morning at 7, 7:30 when I came she would take her son to school, with her son every morning.'

They were found at an apartment building on 674 East 136th Street in Mott Haven at 8 a.m (pictured)

Police presence at the scene

Police cordon off the scene outside the building

People living in the building say the family kept to themselves and that they never saw any problems between the couple or their little boy.

Ms Ali continued: 'Lovely boy, very lovely -- saw home day before yesterday, he took a cookie, I said 'where is your father?' He said outside.'

The medical examiner has determined the cause of death as homicide.

The investigation is ongoing and so far there are no suspects or motive.
King Charles III has been sensationally accused of branding his son Prince Harry 'that fool' following the Duke of Sussex's bombshell Netflix documentary.

Harry made a series of allegations against the Royal Family in the series released in December last year as part of his 80million deal with the streaming network.

This prompted a furious reaction from his father according to a new book about the Royal Family by Omid Scobie, the royal author dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece'.

An extract from the book  due to be released tomorrow  in The Sun on Sunday said Mr Scobie wrote: 'At the Palace, heads were in hands and migraines were brewing.

'(The show) took the wind out of everyone's sails,' said one aide. '(He) went from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticising 'that fool'.'

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix documentary was released in December last year

The book also features suggestions that Prince William briefed against Harry, but these were blasted as 'outrageous' last night by friends of the Prince of Wales.

Supporters have defended William, expressing their anger and frustration that Mr Scobie was 'peddling' what they described as conspiracy theories 'dressed up as fact'.

In extracts from Endgame, his second book attacking the Royal Family  as well as interviews to publicise it  Scobie has suggested that William 'prioritised his loyalty to the monarchy' over his brother and actively leaked information about Harry and Meghan to undermine them.

Kensington Palace has remained silent on the furore, but the frustration of those loyal to William was clear. One told the Mail that Scobie's depiction of the heir to the throne was the 'very opposite' of William's personal mantra.

'He has always been very tight-lipped when it comes to his family and made clear to anyone within his orbit that he would not do 'deals' with the media,' they said.

'Like Harry, he is scarred by his childhood experiences, seeing his mother and father engaged in what was dubbed 'the war of the Waleses'. He never wanted history to repeat itself.

'That was something that he and Harry were meant to be united on.'

Another added: 'It's one thing writing a critique of the Royal Family. That's freedom of expression. But it's another thing to peddle conspiracy theories dressed up as fact. The suggestion that [royal aides] were briefing negative stories [about Harry and Meghan] is totally fabricated. It just didn't happen.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame about the Royal Family is set to be released tomorrow

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

'The truth is that everyone was walking on eggshells practically from the engagement trying to keep them happy.'

In his latest interview, with The Sunday Times, Scobie breathlessly describes William as a hot-headed, power-hungry man who has becoming increasingly willing to allow the Palace to deploy dirty tricks. Aside from the prince occasionally being prone to the famous Windsor temper, it is a complete anathema to those who know him well.

The author also paints the Princess of Wales as an under-achiever, who is too scared of putting a foot wrong to stick her head above the parapet.

'That will really wind William up,' said another source.

'He's immensely proud of what his wife has achieved. The princess has been the driving force behind a great deal of their work, particularly when it comes to bettering mental health.'

Insiders also maintain that a number of significant claims made by Scobie are 'just plain wrong' and 'rehashed'.

In response to an accusation that King Charles is out of touch and demands his shoelaces are ironed, one source says flatly: 'That was total bull**** when it first surfaced 20 years ago, and still is now.'

Scobie also raises issues about racism and diversity within Charles's household. He now accuses two people in royal circles of expressing concern about Prince Archie's skin colour, but claims libel laws prevent him from naming them.

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

Questions also remain about the sourcing of huge swathes of the book.

READ MORE Meghan Markle personally rang Omid Scobie after learning he had been sent threats on social media, new book reveals Advertisement

Harry and Meghan have moved to distance themselves from it and Scobie has incredulously claimed he is not part of the 'Sussex camp', despite a wealth of intimate detail about letters, phone calls, text messages and conversations between themselves and other members of the Royal Family.

Meghan has previously been forced to apologise for misleading the High Court for failing to remember emails she had exchanged with an aide to help Scobie with his previous Sussex-friendly book, Finding Freedom, after earlier stating she had no dealings with it.

In Endgame, Scobie openly details private conversations he had with multiple members of their staff. And he even boasts about a short phone call he had with Meghan herself after she married Harry.

It came at a time Mr Scobie was being harassed online over his allegiance to the duchess.

According to an excerpt seen by the Mail, he says he received a call that he thought was from a member of staff with whom he had been discussing one of her forthcoming royal engagements.

He writes: 'Hi Omid!' a female voice chirped. 'It's Meghan'.

'I put my iced coffee down, not quite sure if the call was a prank. 'We saw your name keep coming up on the phone and I just wanted to say hi, see how you're doing?', the duchess is alleged to have said.

William and Kate welcome South Korea's president at Horse Guards Parade on November 21

The recollection will further call into question the nature of their relationship.

READ MORE Charles breaks cover: King appears in high spirits as he heads to church in Sandringham Advertisement

Indeed while The Sunday Times reports him saying carefully: 'I didn't interview her for this book', it also quotes him boasting about sharing 'mutual friends' which 'helps with getting information and breaking details'.

In new extracts that appeared in the US last night, Mr Scobie makes the claims that Meghan and Kate were encouraged by the palace to dress like Diana.

'But while finding a trend untouched by Diana's iconic style is almost impossible, the huge amount of effort that goes into channelling her exact look sometimes goes beyond the pale,' he writes, the New York Post reported.

Meanwhile Mr Scobie himself, clearly angry at the coverage so far, ranted on social media that the 'twisting of facts and misquoting going on right now has reached new levels of desperation' and saying he looked forward to putting the record straight in a series of interviews to publicise his book.

But a pithy review in The New York Times, which has been largely sympathetic to the Sussexes, noted: 'Much of Scobie's new book is devoted to setting the record straight on petty slights against the Sussexes.[but] does them no favours'.

It adds: 'Readers hoping for a final death blow of gossip will be disappointed. We've heard much of it before. From Fergie, from Diana, from Charles, from Harry, from Harry, from Harry again.'

Buckingham Palace declined to comment last night.
A pair of Israeli siblings released by Hamas after 50 days in captivity emerged this weekend to face another nightmare as they learned their mother had been slaughtered by the terrorists, while their father remains missing.

Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13, are two of 58 hostages freed thus far under a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

They were greeted by joyful grandparents, as well as their older brother Yali, 18, before undergoing medical checks following their lengthy captivity.

But the teens' elation at regaining their freedom quickly evaporated when they were informed that their mum Yonat had been gunned down by Hamas attackers in kibbutz Be'eri on October 7.

Uncle Ahal Besorai, a British-Israeli lawyer, told The Guardian how the kids broke down upon hearing their mother's fate.

'Unfortunately, they were not aware that my sister, their mum, was murdered,' he said.

'Suddenly they come to see their loved ones for the first time in 50 days and the first piece of news that they are confronted with is that their mum is no longer alive. I think it was very traumatic, there were a lot of tears, a lot of pain.'

Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13, are two of 58 hostages freed thus far under a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas

Dror Or and Yonat Or are pictured in this undated photo. Yonat was killed by Hamas attackers in the October 7 slaughter - Dror remains missing, presumed kidnapped

The Or family are pictured in this undated photo

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and their teenage daughter Alma, 13

Embracing one another in the hospital, the family learned for the first time the horrifying details of the siblings' separation from their parents during the attack on the kibbutz Be'eri.

Speaking with their uncle via Zoom, the children told Besorai they were sheltering in a safe room as the attack unfolded, but were forced to escape when Hamas gunmen set their house ablaze.

Jumping from a window, they sought refuge elsewhere but were spotted by Hamas attackers and dragged into a stolen car before being abducted and driven to Gaza.

There they were held in a single room for 50 days, keeping only each other's company and that of one other woman, with whom Noam and Alma said they formed a close bond. The trio supported one another in difficult moments, Besorai said.

'They were held the two of them together with another lady. I know who she is and they left her behind, they did not release her, so she's now on her own in that godforsaken place,' he added.

'I think what they did is, they smuggled the children to the toilets so she wouldn't know that they're going to be released and then taped the children's eyes and took them in their car to wherever in order to hand them over to the Red Cross.'

The siblings were told the Hamas gunmen did not spare Yonat, shooting her in cold blood as she tried to hide.

The fate of their father, Dror, is still unknown - he is missing, presumed kidnapped.

Besorai told how seeing his niece and nephew released and safe in an Israeli hospital reduced him to tears.

'The first image of Alma on the screen was her bright, glittery eyes and big smile. Obviously she has lost weight and looks much, much slimmer, but her beautiful smile and glittering eyes warms your heart so I started to cry.'

He added: 'Noam was very talkative and wanting to share. He shared some personal stuff that he was going through  maybe talking about it for the first time with someone who loves him and cares for him will help him to heal.'

Yonat Or was gunned down by Hamas attackers in kibbutz Be'eri on October 7

Mourners attend the funeral of Yonat Or, at Palmachim cemetery on October 29, 2023 in Kibbutz Palmachin, Israel. Mrs Or was killed in the attacks on Kibbutz Be' eri on Oct 7

Thomas Hand, father of Hamas hostage Emily Hand , said his nine-year-old daughter has 'lost a lot of weight' after she was finally reunited with her family on Saturday

Emily is pictured reuniting with her father while Hila Rotem (second from left), whose mother is still held hostage, reunites with a family member

While some hostages like Noam and Alma are forced to confront a new reality in which their parents are dead or kidnapped, others were fortunate to be reunited with their families.

The father of Hamas hostage Emily Hand said his nine-year-old daughter has 'lost a lot of weight' but said she returned 'in once piece'.

Thomas Hand, 63, said he hoped that Emily - who spent her ninth birthday inside the terror tunnels of Gaza - will recover physically and mentally from the torment of being held captive for 50 days.

Emily's father told The Sun : 'We got Emily back from the hands of the Gazan terrorists.

'She's lost a lot of weight from her face and body, but generally doing better than we expected.'

Footage shared last week shows Emily running into her father's arms before they share an emotional embrace. Mr Hand later revealed he had been too scared to hug her tightly given her weight loss, but vowed to throw her the 'biggest birthday party ever'.

Speaking to The Mirror ahead of his daughter's release, Mr Hand said: 'We have been waiting for far too long for this moment. Every day has been a long and painful living nightmare. my Emily is coming home at last, broken but in one piece.'

Following her release, her family added in a statement: 'Emily has come back to us. We can't find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.

'We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember all the hostages who have yet to return.

'We want to express our gratitude to everyone who helped and supported us during the last 50 days until Emily's return.

'We appreciate the unwavering support as we continue our efforts for the safe return of all.'
Rishi Sunak boasted about the UK's 'competitive' visa regime in a speech to business leaders today as Tory tensions over immigration rage.

The PM highlighted the generous arrangements for entrepreneurs and 'high potential' individuals as he addressed an investment conference in London.

But Mr Sunak is struggling to contain Conservative infighting after Suella Braverman's allies claimed Rishi Sunak agreed to hike the minimum salary for work visas as part of a leadership deal.

Raising the salary threshold from 26,000 to 40,000 was said to have been among the terms of a pact that saw the former Home Secretary stand aside last year.

The Conservative right are heaping pressure on the premier to take tough action after figures showed net migration had reached a staggering new record of 745,000.

Asked about the row by journalists as he arrived at the conference, Mr Sunak stressed that the most recent figures showed levels easing slightly.

He said the government had already cracked down on students bringing dependants, merely saying he would look at whether more action is needed.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is believed to be urging a five-point plan including many of the measures that were backed by Ms Braverman.

Rishi Sunak, pictured at an investment conference in London today, is struggling to contain Cabinet tensions over migration poliicy

Ms Braverman slammed the Prime Minister in an open letter amid her departure from Cabinet

In a round of interviews this morning, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the salary threshold should rise and she will be 'pushing for the strongest measures possible'

Figures last week showed net long-term migration reached a new record of 745,000 in 2022

Migrants from outside the EU have been driving inflows for the past few years

In a round of interviews, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch said the salary threshold should rise and she will be 'pushing for the strongest measures possible'.

'I think we should do whatever it takes to make sure we can control and secure our borders,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today.

However, current Home Secretary James Cleverly has seemed to strike a significantly softer tone since the migration figures. He has also stoked a separate Tory spat by playing down the importance of the Rwanda deal in tackling Channel boats.

The PM is alleged to have agreed a four-point plan to deal tackle migration with Mrs Braverman, according to documents seen by the Telegraph.

As part of this, Mr Sunak is said to have pledged to raise the minimum salary threshold required for a foreign skilled worker visa from 26,000 to 40,000.

It is a move that received support from Boris Johnson earlier this week, but earlier this month one Whitehall source suggested ministers were looking at raising it to 33,000 instead.

Among other parts of the pact were plans to remove graduate visas, bring down the number of dependants legal migrants can take with them and prioritise applicants to Russell Group universities when looking at student visa applications.

Ms Braverman slammed the Prime Minister in an open letter amid her departure from Cabinet earlier this month for what she called his failure to honour the promises he made to her.

Speaking at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace this morning, Mr Sunak said: 'I'm very clear that the levels of net migration are too high. They need to come down to more sustainable levels.

'It is encouraging that the Office for National Statistics last week said the numbers are slowing but we need to do more.

'I have already taken action to tighten the number of dependants that students can bring when they come to study here.'

He added: 'As we need to do more, we'll look at that and where there are abuses of the system we will of course act.

'The levels do need to come down, they are too high.'

Mr Sunak said of the high-skilled visa route: 'We don't have the monopoly on talent in this country and we recognise that nearly half of our most innovative companies have an immigrant founder.

'So if you are an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the UK.'

Speaking to Times Radio earlier, Housing Secretary Michael Gove conceded the UK does not have the number of homes to match the demand from migrants.

'In fact, I think actually the situation is, if anything, worse than you depict,' he said.

'It is the case that the migratory flows put more pressure on housing, but we haven't built enough homes overall for generations.

'This Government is going to hit its target of a million new homes in this Parliament, but we do need to go further. And earlier this year, I outlined a long-term plan for housing, which will allow us to build more homes, particularly making effective use of brownfield land.'

Meanwhile, Mr Cleverly is facing fresh questions about his commitment to the Government's Rwanda scheme amid claims he 'repeatedly blocked' efforts to put a back-up plan in place.

Alternative schemes including deals with a number of other African countries and British Overseas Territories  such as Ascension Island  were thwarted by Mr Cleverly in his previous job as Foreign Secretary, Tory sources said.

One highly placed source in the party said Mr Cleverly 'has the wrong mindset for the job'  just two weeks after he was parachuted in to replace sacked Suella Braverman.

The claim, denied by Mr Cleverly, comes amid growing Cabinet tensions over how to keep the Rwanda scheme alive after the Supreme Court blocked it this month.

Government sources had suggested a new treaty with Rwanda would be published last week, backed up by 'emergency legislation' to prevent further court challenges.

However, it is now not likely to appear before next week at the earliest, amid Cabinet wrangling over how far to go in exempting the policy from human rights laws.

Mr Sunak defended himself in an interview with the Mail on Sunday at the weekend against Ms Braverman claims that he had reneged on a 'deal' to implement key policies.

'Of course you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella,' Mr Sunak said.

Mr Sunak asked voters to be patient, pledging that he is committed to delivering more sustainable levels of migration.

He said: 'There is obviously a lot more to do and that's why we need to take action. I announced previously significant tightening up on the number of dependants that students can bring, which has seen a very striking rise over the past year or two.

'This represents the single biggest measure of restriction on legal migration that anyone's announced in years. That should give people a sense of my determination to bring these numbers down.

'As we go over them, as we see other areas of abuse, we won't hesitate to take action and clamp down.' Despite reports of Cabinet splits over his efforts to use new legislation to save his deal to send illegal migrants to Rwanda, the Prime Minister said it should be remembered that there has been a fall in the number of small boats migrants arriving across the Channel.

Mr Cleverly voiced his opposition to quitting the ECHR at the weekend, telling The Times the Rwanda scheme was 'not the be all and end all' of the Government's efforts to tackle the Channel migrant crisis.

Treasury minister Laura Trott yesterday appeared to rebuke Mr Cleverly, saying that the Rwanda plan was 'central' to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's bid to deter illegal migrants from crossing the Channel  although she played down claims of a Cabinet split.

The Mail understands that proposals to secure Rwanda-style deals with a number of other African countries had to be abandoned after Mr Cleverly objected.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is believed to be urging a five-point plan including many of the measures that were backed by Ms Braverman

'There were other African countries Cleverly would not get into negotiations with, and then threw obstacles in the way,' a Conservative source said.

'He was refusing to look at it properly until the legal ruling on Rwanda had come back.

'The Foreign Office put forward a couple of South American countries as possible contenders  without actually speaking to those nations properly about it  but they were completely unsuitable.'

Mr Cleverly also thwarted proposals to set up asylum processing centres on Ascension Island, Saint Helena or the Falkland Islands, Tory sources said.

Mr Cleverly's official spokesman insisted the claim was 'at odds with reality'.

'Countries identified were contacted with the full intention to see if they would meet with UK officials,' the spokesman said.
Tesla founder Elon Musk is in Israel to meet with the country's senior leadership where they will highlight the plight of hostages held in war-torn Gaza and discuss rising antisemitism online.

Since the beginning of the current conflict in the Jewish state, which began with Hamas' barbaric assault on October 7, Musk has faced waves of criticism for turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism on X, formerly known as Twitter. That criticism has led to a reported loss in ad revenue.

Israeli media reported that Musk will meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well President Isaa Herzog and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz. The families of some of the hostages will also be present.

The meetings come after an eventful weekend which saw numerous hostages including four-year-old American-Israeli orphan Abigail Mor Edan freed from Hamas' clutches.

Avi Scharf, an aviation expert with Israel's Haaretz newspaper tweeted that the billionaire's Gulf Stream touched down in Tel Aviv around 8am local time on Monday.

Benjamin Netanyahu and Elon Musk last met in September in which the Israeli prime minister spoke about the prevalence of anti-Semitism on X

Four-year-old orphan Abigail Mor Edan was released Sunday after 49 days in captivity, she celebrated her birthday as a hostage

As part of his trip, Musk will be shown a 44-minute video montage showing the atrocities that were carried out on October 7.

Netanyahu met Musk in California on Sept. 18 and urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over anti-Semitic content on X.

Musk responded by saying he was against antisemitism and against anything that 'promotes hate and conflict,' repeating his previous statements that X would not promote hate speech.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen in the United States and worldwide, including during the now seven-week-old war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian faction Hamas.

Earlier this month, Musk was accused of promoting anti-Semitism again after he responded to a man who posted a screed on X criticizing a Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video.

In the video, a father is seen talking to his son about the online hatred the son has spewed, and calling him out for his rhetoric.

The X user dismissed the video, writing: 'Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

'I'm 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 don't exactly like them too much.

Earlier this month, Musk was roundly criticized for his response to this message on X

'You want truth said to your face, there it is.'

Musk, who has 163 million followers, replied: 'You have said the actual truth.'

The father of 11 has a long history of toying with dog-whistle rhetoric about Jewish people, in particular George Soros, who enraged him in May by selling his Tesla stock.

On Sunday, Abigail Mor Edan's grandfather, Carmel, said that even though he is filled with joy that his granddaughter is now on her way home, he knows that 'there are many people who havent yet come back.' Abigail was the first American released in the negotiated cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.

'I greatly want them to be returned and that the IDF finish what it has promised: All the hostages [back] and Hamas [destroyed],' he said.

The grandfather has not been allowed to speak or meet with Abigail yet, but plans to smother her with kisses when they reunite.

'There's nothing to say,' he added.

Edan was one of 17 hostages released Sunday, 49 days after the war broke out and militants stormed her kibbutz in southern Israel.

Fighters gunned down her parents, Roy Edan, 43 and Smadar Edan, 40, in the attack.

The first picture of Abigail since her release: seen in a Red Cross ambulance (right) after being released by Hamas as the first American to be set free

The girl's siblings, aged ten and six, survived after hiding out for hours in the family home. Carmel Edan said he hasn't told them about their younger sister's release yet.

Abigail, who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity, is now in the hands of Red Cross officials. President Joe Biden said, after her release, that what the youngster has endured is 'unthinkable' and that she has suffered a 'terrible trauma.'

'I wish I were there to hold her,' Biden said. 'Today she's free, and Jilly and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.'

The grandfather thanked Biden saying: 'We love him very much for all the help he is giving us, to Israel. Keep going. Keep going. We dont admire you. We love you.'

The terror group has been keeping captives since its October 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead. Over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive.

State Department officials have yet to release the names of the other American hostages. A total of 10 Americans are currently unaccounted for.

Of the 17 hostages released Sunday, 14 were Israeli, while three were foreign citizens.

Appearing on ABCs 'This Week,' National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said two women, one child and seven men were confirmed to have been taken by Hamas.

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' Biden said in an address from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he was celebrating Thanksgiving.

Earlier that day, the president was briefed multiple times by his national security team on the latest developments regarding the hostage release from Gaza.

'This morning I've been engaged with my team as we begin the first difficult days of implementing this deal,' Biden said. 'It's only a start but so far it's gone well.'

He noted how the first group of hostages included 'an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six years old.'

The sides are currently in a truce under which Israel has been recovering some of the 240 people Hamas took hostage during a cross-border killing spree on Oct 7. In exchange, Israel has been freeing some Palestinians jailed on security grounds.
Ditch deepfakes, AI and post-truth, as the 20th annual Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is has focused instead on being true to yourself; it is 'authentic.'

Editor-at-large, Peter Sokolowski said: 'We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity. What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.'

Sokolowski and his team don't delve into the reasons people head for dictionaries and websites in search of specific words. Rather, they chase the data on lookup spikes and world events that correlate. This time around, there was no particularly huge boost at any given time but a constancy to the increased interest in 'authentic.'

This was the year of artificial intelligence, for sure, but also a moment when ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suffered a leadership crisis. Taylor Swift and Prince Harry chased after authenticity in their words and deeds.

Musk himself, at February's World Government Summit in Dubai, urged the heads of companies, politicians, ministers and other leaders to 'speak authentically' on social media by running their own accounts.

'Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper? Can we trust whether a politician made this statement? We don't always trust what we see anymore,' Sokolowski said. 'We sometimes don't believe our own eyes or our own ears. We are now recognizing that authenticity is a performance itself.'

'Authentic' follows 2022s choice of 'gaslighting.' And 2023 marks Merriam-Webster's 20th anniversary choosing a top word

Editor-at-large, Peter Sokolowski (pictured) said: 'We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity. What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.'

Merriam-Webster's entry for 'authentic' is busy with meaning.

There is 'not false or imitation: real, actual,' as in an authentic cockney accent. There's 'true to one's own personality, spirit or character.' There's 'worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact.' There is 'made or done the same way as an original.' And, perhaps the most telling, there's 'conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.'

'Authentic' follows 2022s choice of 'gaslighting.' And 2023 marks Merriam-Webster's 20th anniversary choosing a top word.

The companys data crunchers filter out evergreen words like 'love' and 'affect' vs. 'effect' that are always high in lookups among the 500,000 words it defines online.

This image released by Merriam-Webster shows an online dictionary entry for authentic.

This year, the wordsmiths also filtered out numerous five-letter words because Wordle and Quordle players clearly use the companys site in search of them as they play the daily games, Sokolowski said.

Sokolowski, a lexicologist, and his colleagues have a bevy of runners-up for word of the year that also attracted unusual traffic. They include 'X' (lookups spiked in July after Musk's rebranding of Twitter), 'EGOT' (there was a boost in February when Viola Davis achieved that rare quadruple-award status with a Grammy) and 'Elemental,' the title of a new Pixar film that had lookups jumping in June.
Police have launched an investigation after a brawl broke out at a theatre during a performance of Hamilton.

Middle class theatre goers at an upmarket west end venue had their evening ruined after two audience members became embroiled in furious brawl at a performance of Hamilton where tickets can cost up to 187.50.

Officers were called to the Palace Theatre in Manchester on Friday night following reports that a brawl had broken out after two women began shouting at each other before one 'tried to attack' the other, according to someone at the show.

The two audience members were injured during the fight but their wounds are 'not believed to be life-threatening', Greater Manchester police said. The force added that an investigation is ongoing but no arrests have been made.

Earlier this year, at the same theatre, a production of The Bodyguard was cut short after two audience members refused to remain seated and refrain from loudly singing.

Playwright and actor Lin-Manuel Miranda in a production of Hamilton in Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway, New York, in 2015

Officers were called to the Palace Theatre in Manchester on Friday night following reports that a fight had broken out between two female audience members during the hit musical

The Bodyguard show starring former Pussycat Doll Melody Thornton had to be stopped twice due to two rowdy female audience members.

They refused to stop singing and jeered performers and staff 'does this mean we can start singing now?' when Thornton began her rendition of I Will Always Love You.

Some attending said that 'fights' and 'mini riots' erupted in the theatre during the chaotic performance, Manchester Evening News reported.

Footage from the night shows the moment the women were forcibly removed from the performance by security staff. Police officers were later called to the venue and spoke to the two women.

Members of the audience applauded security guards as they are dragged outside.

Around six police officers attended the venue, while several police vans were parked outside.

Two women were embroiled in a furious confrontation with security and audience members as they caused chaos in the theatre

A performance of The Bodyguard was stopped early after audience members sparked chaos

Speaking in a video posted to her Instagram story after the incident, Ms Thornton said: 'I wanted to send a really special message to people in Manchester who came to the show tonight to say thank you so much.

'I respect that you paid your money and I am so grateful to everyone who respects the people on stage who want to give you a beautiful show.

'For everything that happened tonight, I don't have all of the details, I just am very, very sorry that we couldn't finish the show. I fought really hard. It feels awful, and I just hope that we see you again.

'The Bodyguard is a great show. It's a wonderful story and love story. And I know people were out to see just a really beautiful show.

'I thank everyone who was respectful of the performers, and I'm very sorry for those who weren't. I hope that we see you soon. That's it. Thank you love you.'

Meanwhile last month, Just Stop Oil interrupted a performance of Les Miserables and shut down the show in London's West End.

The crowd booed and jeered as eco-activists, holding the group's orange banner, clambered onto the stage at the Sondheim Theatre in Shaftesbury during a performance of the show's famous song One More Day.

The Metropolitan Police arrested people following the disruption at the musical, which depicts a failed republican rebellion against the French state and costs up to 200 per ticket.

Video shows the theatre crowd booing as eco-activists clambered onto the stage holding the group's orange banner

The group said in a statement that activists were 'locked to the stage of the French-revolution-themed show'

The crowd booed and jeered as eco-activists clambered onto the stage holding the group's orange banner at the Sondheim Theatre in Shaftesbury

One furious theatre-goer shouted: 'Get off you stupid people. How dare you,' while another yelled: 'You naughty people, you naughty people.'

As others booed and jeered the eco protesters, a man near the front snatched away one of the eco-protesters' banners.

Just Stop Oil said that four protesters locked themselves to the 'stage of the French-revolution-themed show' using flexible bicycle locks at around 8.50pm.

In video of the incident, audience members can be heard booing the demonstrators.

The climate change group said that the performance was stopped and the theatre was evacuated by 9.10pm.

Police confirmed that five people were arrested at the theatre. In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the Met said: 'At about 9pm tonight, police were called to a protest inside a theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue, WC1.

'Local officers were quickly on scene and five people have been arrested.'

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said regarding the incident on Friday: 'Officers were called to Oxford Street in the city centre at about 10.30pm on Friday 24 November 2023 to a report of an assault.

'An investigation is ongoing at this time with no arrests made.

'Thankfully, injuries sustained are not believed to be life-threatening.'
Invading Ukraine has been costly for Russia. Not just in economic terms but also heavy losses of military personnel, weapons and equipment. As of mid-November, Russia has lost 312,000 dead and at least twice as many badly wounded. Major equipment losses include 15,000 armored vehicles, a third of them tanks. The artillery losses of more than 8,400 howitzers, multiple rocket launchers and mortars have been heavy because artillery systems deliver most of the firepower. Anti-Aircraft Missiles are the most effective defense against rockets and guided missiles. These systems have become targets themselves and so far, nearly 600 have been lost. So far about 650 manned fixed wing and helicopter aircraft have been lost. Most of the aircraft used are unmanned and over 5,600 UAVs have been lost. Most of these were unarmed but a growing number are equipped with explosives and used as improvised cruise missiles. The most effective tactic with armed UAVs is to send in swarms, each swarm with several dozen UAVs, against a target. For an important, and well defended target, sending several swarms to attacks from different directions often succeeded. Another important target is ground vehicles such as trucks, tractor trailers and SUVs. So far about 10,000 of these have been destroyed. These vehicle losses are critical when long range missiles were used to destroy Russian supply storage sites and railroads. At that point essential supplies have to be brought in from further away using trucks. This has become more common as the Ukrainians discover the Russians have failed or been unable to stockpile supplies.

Another uniquely Russian problem is their failure to establish sufficient medical facilities to deal with all the wounded troops. When Russian forces retreat, they often leave wounded troops behind. The Ukrainians take better care of their wounded and often treat the abandoned Russian wounded. That means the grateful Russian wounded are now prisoners of war and not upset about that because as Ukrainian prisoners they will receive better medical care than they would with the Russian forces. These wounded prisoners are grateful for the medical treatment and often comment on the lack of such care in their own army. The wounded Russians realize that the superior medical care Ukrainian troops receive is one of the reasons the Ukrainians are winning. In the Russian army the poor treatment of the wounded is just another reason for declining morale. Newly arrived Russian reinforcements got to see the poor treatment of Russian wounded, something they had heard about and now knew was true and what could happen to them. Russian civilians are accustomed to a higher level of medical care and not expecting worse care in the military. Military medical care in peacetime is not much different than what civilians experience. During wartime, military medical care goes old school and is generally much worse than in peacetime. There is also a problem with the Russian military not doing any serious planning for large scale wartime casualties. The government and senior military leaders saw such planning as unnecessary because Russia would never let itself get into such a situation.
A man left paralysed from the neck down in a murder plot allegedly orchestrated by his former wife has spoken out about his struggles since the 2017 axe attack.

Adelaide man Jonathon Hawtin, 36, was rendered tetraplegic after allegedly being struck repeatedly in the neck with a hatchet by his ex-wife Dr Lisa Lines' then-partner Zacharia Bruckner.

Lines, 43, who is charged with two counts of attempting to murder Mr Hawtin and two counts of conspiracy to murder, was extradited to Australia last week from the tiny Pacific island nation of Palau.

In a statement released after Lines appeared before Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday, Mr Hawtin said he is 'profoundly relieved' his two children are safe 'after six long years'.

'This has been a cruel and exhausting struggle, my mother and I have been through hell, but we never gave up and we never would have,' he said.

Jonathon Hawtin (pictured) was rendered tetraplegic after allegedly being struck repeatedly in the neck with a hatchet by his ex-wife Dr Lisa Lines' then-partner Zacharia Bruckner

READ MORE: How academic charged with the alleged attempted murder of her ex-partner has traded her life in paradise for the inside of a prison cell An Australian academic arrested in the Pacific Islands over an alleged love triangle murder plot is 'crying a lot', refusing to leave her cell to exercise, and consoling herself by reading the Bible. Advertisement

Mr Hawtin said the extradition of Lines to Australia came after 'years of hard work and a determined effort' by the South Australian police's major crime branch.

'The complexity of this operation is hard to overstate, and what they have achieved  working across international jurisdictions and coordinating with numerous other agencies  deserves special recognition.'

He praised 'the moral courage and strength of character' of the police and said his family 'still faces a lot of challenges ahead.

'These new challenges will require an equally committed effort, as we work to pick up the pieces and rebuild a childhood for my children.'

Lines' then lover Bruckner has been charged with one count of attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy to murder.

They allegedly planned to have Mr Hawtin and his mother killed by a hitman who turned out to be an undercover police officer.

Lines appeared in court along with Letiticia Fortune who is jointly charged with her for one of the alleged attempts to kill Mr Hawtin.

This was allegedly set to happen while he was already paralysed and recovering from the axe attack at a rehabilitation centre in January 2018.

In the convoluted series of events, Mr Hawtin, was charged with attempted murder for shooting Bruckner, 30, with police assuming the younger man was acting in self-defence.

But a jury of six men and six women unanimously acquitted him in 2019 after three hours of deliberation.

In 2020, major crime detectives in South Australia reopened the investigation, resulting in a warrant being issued for Lines' arrest.

Bruckner was arrested in Brisbane earlier in November on conspiracy to murder offences and extradited to SA.

Lisa Lines (pictured left) is charged with two counts of attempting to murder Mr Hawtin and two counts of conspiracy to murder

Lisa Lines was extradited from Palau (pictured) in the western Pacific Ocean to Australia

On Monday, Lines' legal team asked that she be released on home detention bail, the Advertiser reported.

The court heard she left Australia and travelled first to Thailand and then to Taiwan. She later got citizenship and a passport from Vanuatu.

Prosecuting barrister Martin Hinton KC, said Lines had fled with the two children she had with Mr Hawtin because none of those countries have extradition treaties with Australia.

'It was quite fortuitous that the authorities discovered that she intended to travel to Palau and were able to at that time to be there waiting for her with the assistance of the authorities in Palau,' he said.

The prosecution will allege that while Lines was abroad she conspired with Bruckner to hire a hitman to 'finish the job', in an alleged plot to kill Mr Hawtin and his mother.

'Little did they know that the person with whom they were speaking, whose services they were attempting to enlist, was an undercover police officer,' Mr Hinton said.

Australian academic Dr Lisa Lines (pictured) was arrested last week in the tiny Pacific archipelago of Palau

Mr Hawtin was found in a pool of blood. A bloodied hatchet (pictured) was found at the home

Craig Caldicott, appearing for Lines, said his client denied the allegations and would plead not guilty.

He asked the court to release Lines on bail so she could see her children regularly.

But magistrate John Wells refused bail due to the seriousness of the charges and because Lines 'remains an unacceptable flight risk'.

The case continues.
The usually Sussex-sympathising New York Times is withering about Omid Scobie's new book, comparing his writing to an AI bot and declaring that Harry and Meghans favoured journalist does them 'no favours'.

In a pithy review of Endgame, the liberal US newspaper claims a chapter on the couple even 'reads like a press release cooked up by ChatGPT'.

It also says the book, out tomorrow, 'is not all that different from what Harry presented in Spare",' and 'is devoted to setting the record straight on petty slights against the Sussexes'.

America's first review of the book adds: 'Readers hoping for a final death blow of gossip will be disappointed. Weve heard much of it before. From Fergie, from Diana, from Charles, from Harry, from Harry, from Harry again.'

It came as the similarly left-leaning Independent news website in the UK claims 'he paints Meghan and Harry in a relentless saintly light'.

The first reviews of Omid Scobie's Endgame are out and critics have said it is 'devoted to setting the record straight on petty slights against the Sussexes'

The New York Times' pithy review says we've heard most of it before

The Independent has given Endgame three stars in their review. They claim the book paints William as the 'villain'

The NYT's writer Eva Wolchover, who co-hosts its Windsors & Losers royal podcast, is critical of Endgame after receiving an advanced copy.

She says: 'Whether or not Scobie actively collaborated with Meghan and Harry for this book, he does them no favours. Their chapter reads like a press release cooked up by ChatGPT, and does little to shed light on them as humans.

'He says the couple  who used to focus on coverage of themselves  now remain blissfully unconcerned. Harrys next chapter will focus, among other things, on philanthropic efforts in the military space, while Meghan (and here Scobie quotes an unnamed source) is building something more accessible  something rooted in her love of details, curating, hosting, lifes simple pleasures, and family.

Ms Wolchover also says of the author's warnings that the Royal Family faces 'extinction': 'Its hard not to find Scobies dire predictions a tad hyperbolic.'

She writes: 'Scobie defines the term endgame as the final stages of a chess game after most of the pieces have been removed from the board", adding: 'Unless Charles and his heirs act quickly, Scobie underscores, they risk losing the crown, or at the very least, any remaining cultural relevance. But theres a paradox here: As long as people are buying books like Scobies, theyre buying the whole lousy operation.'

The Independent has the first British review of Endgame, giving it three-stars.

Writer Anna Pasternak says that Mr Scobie 'is unfailingly sympathetic to the Sussexes'.

The New York Times had the first review in the US, and The Independent in the UK. Both are left-leaning press

She writes: 'He does not hold them accountable for anything - he does not, as I had anticipated, demonise Charles or denounce Camilla. I was expecting something different - him possibly laying into evil monarch King Charles and wicked stepmother, Queen Camilla. The real royal villain here is William'.

Scobie also has choice words for the Princess of Wales. She says: Scobie points out that Kate has had "several rounds of elocution lessons" and now sounds "posher" than her husband. And he waspishly writes out that you'll be unlikely to read in any British newspaper that Kate has had "five different private secretaries in six years" adding that one found the role "uninspiring and frustrating".'

She adds: 'Scobie fully anticipates that he and his book will be discredited in the British media. He is probably right, and he will certainly not be helped by the fact that he paints Meghan and Harry in a relentless saintly light. Harry is very much presented as the happy prince in his happy place "biking and hiking and taking ice-baths"; mornings are "for family only - no staff" and the hands-on parents "take turns in school drop-offs and pick-ups every day".

'Scobie's only criticism is their unwise commercial deals which were made in haste.'
The mother of Brianna Ghey has arrived at court today as two teenagers are set to go on trial accused of murdering the transgender schoolgirl.

The 16-year-old was found with fatal stab wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, on February 11.

Brianna's mother Esther arrived at Manchester Crown Court today where a girl and boy, now aged 16, will appear for the start of their trial.

The teenagers, both aged 15 at the time of the incident and from the local area, were arrested and charged with the murder of Brianna, a Year 11 pupil at Birchwood High School, Warrington.

The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks. Both deny murder.

Transgender schoolgirl Brianna Ghey died aged 16 in February this year. She was a pupil at Birchwood High School in Warrington

Brianna Ghey's mother Esther arrives at Manchester Crown Court as two teenagers are set to stand trial accused of murdering her daughter

Neither accused can be named by court order because of their age and are identified only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh, Greater Manchester.

Both are held in secure youth accommodation.

A jury is expected to be selected later today before the trial begins before Mrs Justice Yip.

Brianna came out as trans when she was aged 14 and had dreamed of being 'TikTok famous'.

In an interview with the Guardian in June, her mother told she supported Brianna's transition and how she was just a 'normal teenager' who liked to be on her PlayStation.

'She was the complete opposite of me really. Im quite quiet,' Esther said. 'I think one of her main goals in life was to be famous, and she wanted to be TikTok famous.

'She just absolutely loved the attention. I remember her coming downstairs when one of her TikToks, in inverted commas, "blew up". And she was absolutely over the moon with all of the attention that she would receive.'

She was found with fatal stab wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire

Brianna's father Peter Spooner rubs his eye as he arrives at court with his partner by his side

Esther (centre) arriving at court. The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks

Esther wearing a grey coat and dark trousers is flanked by a companion (second right)

Scores of tearful friends and family attended Brianna's funeral in March. The service, including poems, music and heartfelt tributes, heard of Brianna's unique character, how much she was loved and is missed and sprinkled with memories of her enjoyment of clothing, make-up, jewellery and social media.

Prayers were also said, asking for 'the courage to love one another', and saying Brianna will 'endure no more suffering... you can be whatever you want'.

Brianna's pink coffin, topped with pink and white roses and carnations, was borne in a carriage drawn by two white horses festooned in pink plumes.

The Order of Service at the funeral read: 'Brianna's family would like to thank all relatives and friends for the kind messages of sympathy and support during this difficult time, and thank you for joining them at this service.'

A GoFundMe set up in her memory with the aim of raising 4,216 for Brianna's family reached 114,306.

Esther posted an updated on the fundraiser page on September 7 as she thanked those who gave money as she announced she was disabling donations.

She wrote: 'I hope that you all know how much you helped my family during our time of need. Not only did you help with funeral costs, memorabilia and turning Briannas room into a special place for us to remember her.

'You also helped by letting us know that you cared and were thinking of us. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being so kind.'
His mother said he is 'very religious" and spiritual, often reading the Bible

He is suspected of shooting three Palestinian students on Saturday

Jason J Eaton appeared before a judge on Monday to plead not guilty

The man accused of shooting three Palestinian students in Vermont on Saturday in a suspected hate crime has been identified as 'very religious', 'radical citizen' Jason James Eaton.

Eaton appeared before a judge at a virtual court hearing today where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder.

He is suspected of shooting Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed who were visiting Awartani's grandmother's house when they were shot on Saturday afternoon.

The students were speaking in Arabic and English and two of them were wearing keffiyehs, leading police to believe it was a hate-motivated attack.

Eaton is a 48-year-old former financial adviser and part-time farmer who describes himself as a 'radical' libertarian on the 'ADHD spectrum'.

His social media pages are largely private, but hint at a disillusionment towards America.

Eaton appeared before a judge at a virtual court hearing today where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder

Jason J. Eaton, 48, is in custody. He is accused of shooting the three Palestinian students on Saturday

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed wearing keffiyeh scarves and speaking Arabic when they were shot on Saturday night

Eaton's shocked mother Mary Reed told The Daily Beast he has had his 'struggles' in the past but that nothing indicated he was capable of such violence.

She said he is a 'very religious' person, but had seemed normal when she spent Thanksgiving with him on Thursday, two days before the shooting.

'He, like all of us, thinks the world is a mess. He is a spiritual person,' she said.

'Jason has had a lot of struggles in his life but he is such a kind and loving person.

'I am just shocked by the whole thing,' she said.

Eaton is a 48-year-old former financial adviser and part-time farmer who describes himself as a 'radical' libertarian on the 'ADHD spectrum'. His social media pages are largely private, but hint at a disillusionment towards America

Eaton's mother said he is a 'very religious' person but had seemed normal on Thanksgiving

His mother said he previously worked as an assistant in an office, but has bounced around different jobs.

They spent Thanksgiving together on Thursday and it was one of the best 'in years', she said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered 'much more serious injuries,' Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday.

The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted.

'Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,' Murad said.

'All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.'

Hisham Awartani shared a hospital bed photo on Instagram

The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

'In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven,' Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said.

'The fact is that we don't yet know as much as we want to right now,' Murad added.

'But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.'

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is 'reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.'

First responders loading one of the victims into an ambulance after Saturday's shooting

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims' families.

'We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children,' the statement said. 'We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.'

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school in the West Bank.

'While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light,' the school said. 'We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.'

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to 'unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.'

'No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country,' the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. 'We will not let hatred win.'

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

'It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation,' Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and 'not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.'

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was 'appalled by the shooting.'

'We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate,' the organization said Sunday. 'We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.'

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was 'horrified' by the attack and urged 'law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.'

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.
The on-duty traffic officer who took Scotlands police chief on a taxpayer-funded taxi ride to England switched on the cars blue lights, the Mail can reveal.

Jo Farrells driver turned on the 999 lights for part of his journey to a rendezvous with Ms Farrell in central Edinburgh  before taking her to her family home in the Northumberland area.

The misuse of blue lights  which can only be deployed in a genuine emergency  can lead to disciplinary action being taken against officers.

However, sources said that in this case it would be highly unlikely the officer concerned would be reprimanded  given he was chauffeuring the Chief Constable.

The car was also used to take a senior officer from Durham Constabulary, who had been providing advice to Ms Farrell as she tackles a cash crisis at Police Scotland, to Gateshead on Tyneside.

Chief Constable Jo Farrell apologised last week for an error of judgment in commandeering the unmarked car after her train was cancelled

After this drop-off, the traffic officer headed back north in stormy conditions.

The fresh revelations heap further pressure on Ms Farrell, who earns 248,724 a year, after she apologised last week for an error of judgment in commandeering the unmarked car after her train was cancelled.

The trip took the officer away from his regular duties for six hours  at a time when officer numbers are at a 15-year low.

Last night Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said: Alleged misuse of blue lights to provide the chief with a free taxi adds to the need for meaningful scrutiny. The SNP Government created the Scottish Police Authority (SPA)  which is supposed to hold Police Scotland to account on behalf of the public.

Yet ministers seem satisfied with the SPAs strange nothing to see here response to this incident.

The Mail has been told the driver put on his vehicles blue light at one stage on his way to pick up the chief to avoid a build-up of traffic. The standard operating procedure for driver training for Police Scotland states: If it is judged that police attendance is necessary, it is vital the response is proportionate to the urgency of the incident and the needs/vulnerability of those affected.

Insiders have suggested he was keen not to keep the Chief Constable waiting. Ms Farrells normal driver had taken her to Edinburgh Waverley to catch a 4pm train home to Northumberland.

The chief contacted her private office after discovering her train had been cancelled and it was arranged for a traffic officer to pick her up  as her regular driver was by then off duty. Ms Farrell paid out of her own pocket to refuel the car during the trip south.

Ms Farrell was driven to Northumberland by an on-duty traffic officer

A senior Police Scotland insider said the trip had been a taxpayer-funded taxi ride.

We can also reveal the identity of the senior officer from Durham Constabulary  where Ms Farrell was previously Chief Constable - who accompanied her.

Assistant Chief Officer Gary Ridley, who earns 109,575 a year, has responsibility for finance and other areas at Durham.

He was giving unpaid advice to Ms Farrell on issues at Police Scotland such as reducing bureaucracy, and his presence was notified to the SPA.

The trip left J division  covering Lothian and the Borders  with just one traffic officer on shift.

A policing insider said: There is a lot of factionalism  some of Jo Farrells colleagues clearly want her to fail. But she has brilliant ideas and deserves to succeed  people who back her are hoping this will not finish her.

Ms Farrell will make her first public statement as Chief Constable at an SPA public board meeting on Thursday, when the police budget will come under scrutiny.

Last night Police Scotland re-issued Ms Farrells statement on the row. She said: I have apologised for this error of judgment.

An SPA spokesman said: Our chair has discussed this with the Chief Constable. We consider the matter closed.

A Durham Constabulary spokesman said: An experienced member of staff attended Police Scotland to offer general advice to the Chief Constable.
Vanessa Feltz has branded a BBC ban on staff attending the march against antisemitism as 'immoral' and revealed the 'vile racist trolling' she has received since yesterday's rally.

The TV personality, 61, who was employed by the BBC Radio 2 for more than 20 years until she stepped down in August 2022, said she was 'so glad I'm no longer there', during an interview with Jeremy Kyle.

Ms Feltz joined Countdown's Rachel Riley, actor Eddie Marsan and TV judge Rob Rinder at the march against antisemitism in central London on Sunday, which saw more than 100,000 people attend.

Speaking today on TalkTV, Feltz was asked if she felt the broadcaster's decision to 'ban' staff from attending the rally showed a 'fundamental, basic anti-Jewish feeling', to which Ms Feltz replied: 'I think so'.

She added that had she still been working for the BBC, she would have 'had to go' on the march, despite knowing that attending rally would mean that she would face disciplinary action

Ms Feltz was joined by other famous faces at the march, including Countdown's Rachel Riley

In a passionate address, Ms Feltz said: 'Racism is illegal, it's immoral how can you say to staff who are sentient beings, who must be able to decide what they want to do and where they feel they should be, you cannot go on a march against racism.'

This comes as Jewish workers at the corporation claimed they would be at Sunday's rally in central London, in defiance of the BBC's 'ban', as they vented their frustration at the BBC's news coverage of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Ms Feltz added: 'I'd been very proud to work at the BBC for just shy of 30 years. How can you say you can't go on a march against racism?'

Alarmingly, Ms Feltz also revealed the barrage of the 'vile racist trolling' abuse that she has received online, as a result of attending the rally alongside tens of thousands of others calling for an end to hatred against the Jewish community.

She continued: 'I'm really horrified that this had to happen at all, that we had to go on a march. I'm absolutely shattered by some of the antisemitic, vile racist trolling that I've received since.

'Yesterday I got home I looked at my phone, I shouldn't have really, I should have just thrown it away really, thrown it in a pond or something, I really mean it because messages and pictures of me on the march with messages saying, 'We see you' and then 'unfollow' and then describing me as human excrement, as a curse.

'Every vile slur, disgusting swear word, horrible thing that you could wish on the worst person on earth.'

Former prime minister Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie also took to the streets of London to show solidarity forJewish people amid a shocking rise in reports of antisemitic hate crimes in the last month.

Describing the atmosphere at the march yesterday, Ms Feltz said: ' It was everything. It was all different emotions. There are 225,000 Jews only in the United Kingdom of 66 million people so fewer than a quarter of a million Jewish people and there were 105,000 people marching.

Alarmingly, Ms Feltz also revealed the barrage of the 'vile racist trolling' abuse that she has received online, as a result of attending Sunday's rally

Ms Feltz said she marched 'shoulder to shoulder with people who just realised that antisemitism is only racism'

The TalkTV presenter, who was formerly employed by the BBC, said that she was 'so glad I'm no longer there', during an interview on Talk Today with Jeremy Kyle

'So very many of us marching yesterday must have been non-Jews so it must have been that we were marching shoulder to shoulder with people who just realised that antisemitism is only racism.

'There's nothing special about it. It's not a unique kind of racism - it's racism. That's all it is. It's hating somebody because they're Jewish It's exactly the same as any kind of racism against any other community.'

She added: 'I felt so terribly sad to be marching in 2023 in the country I love; to say we're all people because I have celebrated multiculturalism and believed in it and loved it, felt privileged to be here.

'I love my country, I've always felt comfortable and happy and optimistic and in the last few weeks it's a very, very different feeling.'

The gargantuan turnout meant it was the largest protest against anti-Semitism since the rise of the famous Battle of Cable Street in 1936, when Nazism and Fascism was on the rise across Europe.

The presenter said that since October 7th, 'there's been a tidal wave rise in antisemitism against Jewish people in this country'

Mr Johnson, 59, appeared bundled up against the biting temperatures in a woolly hat, while 35-year-old Carrie held their child together in a baby carrier

A rally-goer holds a sign that says 'Not My BBC' at Sunday's march in central London

A protester at the March Against Anti-Semitism holds a placard that says 'BBC Muzzles Journalists' at Sunday's demonstration

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism said: 'Week after week, central London has become a no-go zone for Jews.

'We have witnessed mass criminality, including glorification of terrorism, support for banned terrorist organisations such as Hamas, and incitement to racial or religious hatred against Jews.'

They added: 'The sad truth is that Jews do not feel safe in our capital city'.

Speaking on the 1,300 per cent rise in antisemitic incidents in the UK since the horrific October 7th terrorist attack, Ms Feltz said: 'Since that day, there's been a tidal wave rise in antisemitism against Jewish people in this country.

'The connection - I don't understand, do you? - between an unprovoked massacre of innocent people in Israel and deciding to hate a kosher butcher in Manchester or Leeds or London? How would that possibly make any sense to anybody?

'But Jewish people who've been comfortable and happy here all these years suddenly feel scrutinised and worried.'

A BBC spokesperson told the MailOnline: 'The BBC is clear that antisemitism is abhorrent.

'We have established guidance around marches, which explains that different considerations apply depending on what you do for the BBC.

'Corporately, we have not issued any staff communication on any specific march this weekend, but this does not mean discussions which consider the guidance have not taken place between colleagues'.

The full coverage of Vanessa at the march against antisemitism will air on her Drivetime show from 5pm today on TalkTV.
The Royal Family are braced for further 'truth bombs' about everyone from King Charles to Princess Anne when Omid Scobie's new book comes out tomorrow.

The book, Endgame, will see the author dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece' take a look at the monarchy's 'fight for survival' and reveal a series of new bombshell claims.

Among these will be a fresh look at Prince Harry's relationship with his brother William and allegations that two royals aired 'concerns' about Archie's skin colour.

Mr Scobie also claims that Charles told his family not to trust Harry, and Queen Camilla thanked Piers Morgan after he defended the royals against Meghan.

Buckingham Palace has so far declined to comment on any of the allegations in the book. Here, MailOnline looks at the key claims that have emerged in extracts so far:

King Charles III

'Told his family not to trust Harry'

French magazine Paris Match claims Endgame reveals a message that was circulated in the Royal Family telling them not to trust Harry after his memoir Spare was released.

The journal reports that a source close to the King even allegedly said 'Charles was cautious' after Prince Harry called his father to pass on his best wishes three weeks after the book was published.

'He wanted to limit their discussion to a harmless exchange. Concerning Harry, the message that circulated in the family was not to trust him...everyone took it very seriously,' the source alleges.

Despite the strained relationship between Charles and the Sussexes, she and Harry still keep him 'up to date' by 'sending him photos of their children'.

'Charles was cautious' after Prince Harry called his father to pass on his best wishes three weeks after the book was published, it is claimed

Harry used Spare to make a series of personal attacks on his family, including the claim they helped 'trash' his and Meghan's reputations, forcing them to move to California, and have 'shown no willingness to reconcile'.

He also accused his elder brother of physically attacking him at Nottingham Cottage in 2019 and 'lunging' at him after the Duke of Edinburgh's funeral in 2021.

The prince also detailed the conversation he reportedly had with his father the King on the day of the Queen's death, in which the Duchess of Sussex reportedly was banned from joining the immediate family in Balmoral.

Charles is a 'pampered' royal who has his shoelaces ironed for him

Charles is a 'pampered' royal who has his shoelaces ironed for him, the book has claimed.

Mr Scobie also alleges His Majesty insists on travelling with luxurious perfectly steamed 1,000-thread-count bed linen.

In another attack, Mr Scobie says Charles likes to have someone squeeze one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush for him as part as his bedtime routine.

An extract from his new book Endgame published in The Sun reads: 'When laces get even the smallest bit threadbare, a staff member must quickly switch them out with a fresh, ironed pair.

'There is even a rumour (one that, surprisingly, sources have confirmed) that Charles likes to have someone squeeze exactly one inch of toothpaste onto his toothbrush for him ahead of his bedtime routine.'

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Charles was 'cautious' in conversation with Harry

Charles was 'cautious' when talking to Prince Harry after the publication of Spare and family members were told not to trust him, Mr Scobie claims.

The Sussexes' cheerleader describes an alleged conversation between Charles and his son Harry, who had apparently called to talk to him about his vitriolic memoir following its release in January.

He says the King was 'cautious', further claiming that a message was circulated among family members not to trust Harry with anything and to ignore both the book's claims and what he was saying to promote it.

French magazine Paris Match has released extracts from Endgame alongside an interview with Mr Scobie.

The journal reports that a source close saying of Charles' approach to the conversation: 'He wanted to limit their discussion to a harmless exchange.

'Concerning Harry, the message that circulated in the family was not to trust him... everyone took it very seriously.'

Charles branded Harry a 'fool' after Duke's Netflix series

Charles was sensationally accused of branding his son Harry 'that fool' following the Duke of Sussex's bombshell Netflix documentary.

Harry made a series of allegations against the Royal Family in the series released in December last year as part of his 80million deal with the streaming network.

This prompted a furious reaction from his father according to a new book about the Royal Family by Mr Scobie.

An extract from the book in The Sun on Sunday said Mr Scobie wrote: 'At the Palace, heads were in hands and migraines were brewing.

'(The show) took the wind out of everyone's sails,' said one aide. '(He) went from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticising 'that fool'.'

Queen Camilla

Camilla personally thanked Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm'

Mr Scobie claims that Queen Camilla sent a message of 'gratitude' to Piers Morgan after he nicknamed Meghan Markle 'Princess Pinocchio'.

The King's wife allegedly thanked the British journalist and broadcaster for 'defending The Firm' and 'standing up' to the Duchess of Sussex after her and Harry's volley of attacks on the royals when they spoke to Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

After the couple's interview was broadcast on CBS and ITV to tens of millions of people around the world, Mr Morgan, 58, tweeted that he 'wouldn't believe [Meghan] if she read me a weather report.'

He then nicknamed Meghan 'Princess Pinocchio' in his column for MailOnline. He later left his job as host of ITV's Good Morning Britain when Meghan and her supporters complained about his coverage.

Harry (pictured, centre with his wife Meghan at the Queen's funeral) is said to be prepared to 'forget' his feud with his family

According to the New York Post, Mr Scobie's new book Endgame claims that Queen Camilla sent a message to Piers to thank him for his support of the Royal Family, who were accused by the Sussexes of being racist towards Archie and ignoring Meghan while she claims she was suicidal.

Mr Scobie claims that a royal aide told him that Camilla would never address Meghan and Harry's attacks publicly, but showed 'gratitude' to Piers because 'somebody was standing up' to Meghan. Some sources claimed she may have sent him a note.

Buckingham Palace declined to comment. MailOnline has asked Piers Morgan to comment.

Prince Harry

'Ready to forget' and 'doesn't care' if he doesn't get an apology

The book suggests Harry could be ready for reconciliation with his family, with the prince reported to have said: 'I'm ready to forget. Get an apology or explanation? At this point, who cares, right?'

The claim emerged last week in Paris Match.

Earlier this month it was suggested there was a thawing of relations after sources close to the prince leaked to chosen media that he had a warm conversation with his father when he rang to wish him a happy 75th birthday.

However, the publication of Endgame is unlikely to do anything to bolster hopes that Harry may one day be reconciled with his family.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Netflix documentary was released in December last year

This is doubly the case given Mr Scobie will make a series of new personal attacks on senior royals including Charles, William and Kate.

Mr Scobie insists he is not friends with the Sussexes, nor was he in direct contact with them over the book, and the Sussexes have denied they are 'affiliated' with it.

But there is a certain level of detail that, if true, could only have come from sources who are extremely close to the couple.

'Kept in dark' about Queen's death and William 'ignored texts'

The Duke of Sussex was 'kept in the dark' about the Queen's health in the hours before she died, Mr Scobie claims.

In Endgame, the author recounts how the Sussexes had visited the UK for a series of engagements in September 2022 when the palace announced that Queen Elizabeth II had been advised by her doctors to rest.

He writes: 'By the next morning, the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was already planning for the Queen's final hours and the first days of the monarchy's new era  until the duke's phone started ringing. An unknown number. He usually ignored those.'

William allegedly ignored texts from Harry asking him about transport to Balmoral after the Queen's death, according to Scobie

Meghan told her husband to pick up the phone and he accepted the call 'just before it stopped', the author says.

He continues: 'Harry hadn't spoken to his father much that year, but this was not the time for any father-and-son tension. Charles told him he and Camilla were about to leave Dumfries House for Balmoral, where Princess Anne was already by the Queen's side. He told Harry to make his way to Scotland immediately.'

Harry sent a text message to his brother William asking how he and Kate planned to get to Scotland and whether they could travel together but got no response, Mr Scobie claims.

He was later told Harry had managed to secure a flight with his uncles Prince Andrew and Prince Edward.

'It was upsetting to witness,' Mr Scobie claims he was told by a source close to the Sussexes. '[Harry] was completely by himself on this.'

An emotional Harry travels in an official car to Balmoral after the Queen's death was announced to the nation

Mr Scobie alleges that Palace 'sources' briefed certain newspapers that Charles had personally shared the news of the Queen's illness with his son. He quotes a friend of the duke who said this left Harry 'crushed'.

The author adds that Charles asked Harry to come to Balmoral without Meghan.

'They just didn't want Meghan there,' according to a former palace aide quoted in the book.

Meghan Markle

'Told King Charles there are TWO ''royal racists'''

Meghan accused two people in the Royal Household of airing 'concerns' about her son Archie's skin colour, Endgame will claim.

The Duchess of Sussex is said to have written to Charles to outline her concerns about the comments.

The Duchess of Sussex is said to have written to King Charles to outline her concerns about allegedly made by members of the Royal Family about Archie's skin colour

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

The Sun reports, however, that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival.

Mr Scobie reportedly claims to know who they are, but cannot name them for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.

'Does not want to return to England' and the 'royal soap opera'

Mr Scobie repeats previous claims that the Duchess of Sussex 'never wants to set foot in England again', 'never felt at home' in the UK and 'never wants to be involved in the British monarchy again'.

The author suggests that her son Archie's fourth birthday - which coincided with the coronation - was simply an excuse for her to avoid the ceremony.

Meghan Markle, with Prince Harry on Nov 20, is said to never want to set foot in England again

At the time, Harry announced he would be travelling to the UK without his wife, who was remaining in California to look after their children.

The Prince was reported to have voiced concerns over security and the reputation his family could receive from the public. Other reports suggested Meghan had been left upset after a letter from Charles did not address claims she had made about her poor mental health.

At the time, Mr Scobie said Archie's birthday 'played a factor in the decision' and he expected it would be a 'fairly quick trip to the UK' for Harry.

But he's now claimed in Endgame that Meghan didn't attend because she refused to 'dive back into the soap opera of the court'.

Meghan personally phoned Omid Scobie after death threats

Meghan Markle phoned Mr Scobie after learning he had been sent threats on social media, the author's new book reveals.

But the Sussexes' 'cheerleader-in-chief' insists he is 'not their friend, and never have been' ahead of the release of his new book Endgame.

Meghan called Mr Scobie in 2018 on her mobile phone to check on his welfare when she was told by a member of her team he had been harassed on social media, reports The Telegraph.

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

The royal writer insisted in recent weeks ahead of the November 28 release of Endgame he is not 'Meg's pal'. He wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'And let's get this nonsense out the way - #ENDGAME is about the current state of the British Royal Family.

'It's not 'Harry and Meghan's book', I'm not 'Meg's pal', the Sussexes have nothing to do with it, their story is a small part of a much bigger one you can read in 12 days.'

While in an interview with Paris Match he added: 'I am not their friend and never have been.'

Meghan and Harry's favoured reporter has been friendly with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and co-wrote their 2020 biography Finding Freedom.

Sussex insiders have recently indicated to MailOnline Harry and Meghan had nothing to do with Scobie's latest release amid a series of extracts being released from the book which casts cruel jibes at almost every member of the Royals.

Prince William

'Absolutely no going back' for relationship with Harry

In Endgame, Mr Scobie suggests William and Harry's relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a 'defector'.

In an extract shared with People, he claims 'there is no going back' for the brothers and 'absolutely nothing has changed' since the Duke of Sussex released Spare earlier this year.

Mr Scobie suggests William and Harry's relationship is beyond repair because the Prince of Wales sees his brother as a 'defector'

Mr Scobie even alleges that William 'doesn't want to know' his younger brother, who he feels has been 'brainwashed by an army of therapists'.

He writes: 'I was talking to a source quite early on in the process, and they called Harry a 'defector' and said that was William's view.

'These were two men who once upon a time were firmly aligned in their outlook. One of them had to move on to also protect the crown.'

Harry wrote about his and William's relationship in Spare, going so far as to call his brother his 'arch-nemesis'.

William 'kept Omid Scobie away from royal engagements'

In his Paris Match interview, Mr Scobie claims that after the publication of Finding Freedom he noticed 'everything was put to the test' - citing changes to his relationships and contacts within the royal family.

He says: 'William even kept me away from his engagements for several months, thinking I was Harry's emissary.

Scobie has denied his new book Endgame is 'Harry and Meghan's' and instead claimed it will tell the 'current state of the British Royal Family'

'He had to hire a new head of communications, who met with me and told me that he wanted to make a clean sweep of the past.

'But there were times when I was unable to fully practice my profession because of the repercussions of this book.'

It's unclear how much Mr Scobie has made since he began writing about Harry and Meghan, with some estimates putting it at around $800,000 (just over 660,000).

The US has become a home from home for the author, where he has regularly appeared on Good Morning America, been a contributor to ABC News and where his latest royal potboiler is being serialised in People magazine.

Photographs on his social media accounts depict him embracing the life of an LA prince, visiting the Polo Lounge in Beverly Hills and Nobu in Malibu, two of the area's most expensive restaurants.

Both are celebrity hangouts and less than two hours' drive from Harry and Meghan's Montecito mansion.

William 'power hungry'

Promotional material for Endgame suggests it will be just as damning in its criticism of the Royal Family as Finding Freedom, with William branded 'power hungry' and King Charles 'unpopular'.

Mr Scobie revealed the cover of his latest book Endgame with a breathless description on Amazon calling it 'a penetrating investigation into the current state of the British monarchy  an unpopular king, a power-hungry heir to the throne, a queen willing to go to dangerous lengths to preserve her image and a prince forced to start a new life after being betrayed by his own family'.

Promotional material for Endgame suggests it will be just as damning in its criticism of the Royal Family as Finding Freedom

The book, subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival', is billed as an 'explosive' look into events surrounding the Queen's death.

The Amazon sales pitch states: 'Queen Elizabeth II's death ruptured the already-fractured foundations of the House of Windsor  and dismantled the protect.'

Mr Scobie claims William is encouraged by his positive approval ratings and is 'sometimes more concerned about his own image than that of the institution'.

Reaction from William's allies to 'outrageous' suggestions

In extracts from Endgame, Mr Scobie has suggested that William 'prioritised his loyalty to the monarchy' over his brother Harry and actively leaked information about Harry and Meghan to undermine them.

Kensington Palace has remained silent on the furore, but the frustration of those loyal to William was clear. One told the Mail that Scobie's depiction of the heir to the throne was the 'very opposite' of William's personal mantra.

'He has always been very tight-lipped when it comes to his family and made clear to anyone within his orbit that he would not do 'deals' with the media,' they said.'Like Harry, he is scarred by his childhood experiences, seeing his mother and father engaged in what was dubbed 'the war of the Waleses'. He never wanted history to repeat itself.

'That was something that he and Harry were meant to be united on.'

Another added: 'It's one thing writing a critique of the Royal Family. That's freedom of expression. But it's another thing to peddle conspiracy theories dressed up as fact. The suggestion that [royal aides] were briefing negative stories [about Harry and Meghan] is totally fabricated. It just didn't happen.

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

'The truth is that everyone was walking on eggshells practically from the engagement trying to keep them happy.'

In his latest interview, with The Sunday Times, Scobie describes William as a hot-headed, power-hungry man who has become increasingly willing to allow the Palace to deploy dirty tricks. Aside from the prince occasionally being prone to the famous Windsor temper, those who know him well say it would be anathma to him.

The author also paints the Princess of Wales as an under-achiever, who is too scared of putting a foot wrong to stick her head above the parapet.

'That will really wind William up,' said another source. 'He's immensely proud of what his wife has achieved. The princess has been the driving force behind a great deal of their work, particularly when it comes to bettering mental health.'

Kate Middleton

'Hasn't spoken with Meghan in four years'

The Princess of Wales and the Duchess of Sussex have not spoken since 2019, Mr Scobie suggests.

In the Paris Match piece, the author also waspishly claims that Kate spent more time 'talking about' her sister-in-law Meghan than she ever actually spent with her.

He claims that Harry and Meghan sent the Waleses' three children gifts last Christmas, but that William and Kate did not respond with so much as a text.

Scobie claims there was 'palpable silence' as the royal couples travelled the short distance to Windsor's Long Walk for a royal walkabout in 2022 (pictured)

Paris Match adds that Kate 'immediately detected a rival to her' in Meghan, writing: 'She spent more time talking about Meghan than with Meghan,' according to 'a close friend of the couple'.

Harry, while promoting his tell-all memoir earlier this year, said it quickly became 'Meghan versus Kate' after he started dating the US TV actress in 2016.

Harry also repeated claims that Kate made Meghan cry during a row about bridesmaids' dresses ahead of the Sussexes' 2018 wedding.

William, Kate, Harry and Meghan were at one time dubbed the Royal Family's 'Fab Four' after they initially appeared to form a close bond.

The Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle's drive to the Windsor estate for a walkabout was 'silent', Scobie's Endgame claims

But when they were reunited for a car journey the day after the Queen's death in September 2022, there was a 'palpable' silence as they travelled the short distance to Windsor's Long Walk, the book claims.

The magazine goes on to say the book describes the complete breakdown of relations between the brothers, saying: 'Not even a text message at Christmas, although, according to Scobie, Meghan and Harry had sent gifts to Kate and William's children.'

Meghan and Kate were encouraged to dress like Diana

The Princess of Wales and Meghan Markle have both been encouraged to dress like Diana so a bit of her 'shine could rub off on them', according to a new book.

Mr Scobie claims in his new book about the royal family that the pair were urged to essentially 'cosplay' as their husbands' mother.

The Sussexes' biographer writes that Kate, 41, and Meghan, 42, would sometimes be given outfits based on ideas which used photos of the late Princess of Wales for inspiration.

The 42-year-old quotes a royal source as saying that William, 41, and Harry, 39, were consulted anytime it was suggested that their wives be dressed in a style similar to their late mother.

It is one of a number of explosive claims made in the author's new book Endgame.

The book also takes aim at Kate by claiming she is 'too terrified to do anything more than grinning photo ops', in a cruel swipe branded 'horribly unjust' by a friend of the Princess.

Princess Anne

'Persuaded Charles to evict Sussexes from Frogmore'

Harry and Meghan were given Frogmore Cottage as a wedding present by the late Queen before being kicked out in January - 24 hours after the publication of Spare.

The Sussexes had paid 2.4million to renovate the property and were determined to hold onto it as a UK base, but were told to move out in what their cheerleader Scobie described at the time as a 'cruel punishment'.

Princess Anne is said to have persuaded her brother King Charles (right, at the Highland Games last year) to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage

French magazine Paris Match reports that the author will claim it was Harry's aunt, Anne, who encouraged Charles to initiate 'Frogxit' as part of a 'strict' approach towards the wayward couple.

This is said to have prompted the prince to plead, 'Don't you want to see your grandchildren any more?'

Mr Scobie says that only Harry's uncle, Prince Edward, was concerned about the prince's mental health.

He even accuses the King of being more worried about the pressure on Prince Andrew in the wake of the Epstein scandal.

Meghan and Harry were given notice to leave Frogmore (pictured) days after Harry's memoir, Spare, was published in January

The magazine says: 'Meanwhile, the King could not bring himself to hurt his brother. [He] was in tears because he was afraid for Andrew's mental health.

'Charles leads with his head and his heart. William is colder. He wants the job done and he had no problem with casualties along the way.'
Economic sanctions have been increasingly popular during the last century, even though they rarely work as intended. A current example of this is what happened to Russia after they invaded Ukraine. Russia continues to suffer high economic costs caused by the economic sanctions imposed by most Western nations. Russian leaders realize even now that, if the cost of continuing the war against Ukraine reaches the point where more and more Russians experience declining living standards, they might lose. A growing number of Russians see the Ukraine War as something they cant afford and can justify getting out of. This is not a case of defending Mother Russia, which is what happened during World War 2 when Russians were proud of their successful effort to halt the German invaders and then defeat Germany with some help from Western nations. Ukraine is different as Russia is the invader. Many Russians are not comfortable with that and dont understand why their government would invade a neighbor.

The invasion failed and the Russian people are paying for it in terms of Russian lives lost and growing hardship from sanctions and the wars cost. The government wishes it were otherwise, but the biggest priority right now is improving the economy and that means doing something about the harsh economic sanctions imposed by Western nations. That left Russia with only two trading partners: Iran and North Korea. These two are also outcast nations suffering from sanctions that have lasted for decades and are examples of the devastating long-term impact of sanctions.

To make matters worse for Russia, Ukraine continues to receive billions in economic and military aid from NATO nations. This leads more Russians to wonder what they are being impoverished for. A growing number of Russian leaders have noticed that, but Vladimir Putin is still in charge, and he wants peace and prosperity for Russia a lot less than he wants to punish Ukraine and the West. That is not working, and Putin is running out of excuses to justify the cost for Russia to so many Russians who are suffering from the sanctions.

Russia has managed to adjust to many of the sanctions and convinced, he hopes, enough of the Russian population that the war effort is for the defense of Russia against NATO aggression. Russia has developed ways to produce more long-range missiles despite the severe economic sanctions imposed after they invaded Ukraine. Russia has found new sources for components, some of them obtained by smuggling or purchases of components that can be adapted for use in missile production. Most of the smuggling is done via Armenia and Turkey, two countries that are hospitable to smuggling if it has some economic benefits for locals. Although Turkey is a NATO member, smuggling is tolerated if the smugglers will pay the right people for access. Such corrupt behavior has long prevented Turkey from joining the European Union.

Russia has expended most of its missile stockpiles and the sanctions had, for a while, prevented Russia from replacing those missiles. Restoring Russian missile production is going to hurt Ukraine because the missiles are difficult to intercept and cause a lot of damage to Ukrainian infrastructure and armed forces. NATO is seeking to disrupt the smuggling while it provides Ukraine with more air defense systems that can deal with incoming missiles. The problem is that NATO cannot supply Ukraine with enough defensive systems to protect all the economic targets Russia wants to attack. NATO considers sanctions the best way to prevent increased Russian missile production, but it appears that current efforts will not be sufficient. This is why Ukraine is developing some very long-range UAVs so they can hit the Russian missile factories.

The Wests solution is more effective sanctions, and that effort is underway. For sanctions to work they must constantly evolve as the sanctioned nations seek ways to evade the sanctions. This is an economic conflict. Russia can afford it, so far, because they have an annual GDP of over two trillion dollars and the ability to increase annual defense spending to over $100 billion. Thats up from $86 billion in 2022 and $66 billion in 2021. A decade ago, annual defense spending was $20 billion. This is tolerated by Russian taxpayers because, before 2022, the military threat was hypothetical. That changed in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine as part of an effort to protect Russia from purported inevitable NATO aggression. All that makes no sense to most Westerners, but Ukrainians understood as did NATOs East European members, especially Poland and the Baltic States.

Russia does not have a blank check for defense spending. The Western sanctions did not stop Russian aggression but did impose limits to what Russia could do even with a larger defense budget. A wartime defense budget has very different priorities than it does in peacetime. For Russia, this is a major problem in Ukraine, where their faltering invasion effort turned out to be a lot more expensive than expected. For example, while the salaries of the troops and operating costs of the military came to $85 billion, the additional wartime expenses include $34 billion for lost weapons and equipment as well as $21 billion for medical care of those wounded and $26 billion for compensating the families of those killed in combat. The survivor compensation data is a good way for foreign intelligence agencies to estimate Russian casualties. Those families, especially if they consist of a wife and children, need continued support. Without this compensation you cannot obtain volunteers willing to join and remain in the military long enough to become career officers and NCOs. For these men the military is a job that they will normally hold for about twenty years before they are eligible to retire with lifetime monthly pay.

Another of Russias problems is simple inability to produce many high-tech weapons, or even repair existing ones, because of sanctions. Smuggling is only a partial solution because complex weapons can still be produced, even if they take longer and is more expensive. Sometimes smuggling prevents obtaining all the desired components and substitutions have to be used. The result is variants of the original weapon design. If these variants are equally effective, or something close to that, the variant is acceptable. The variants also provide more work for Ukrainian and NATO weapons intelligence specialists who examine the debris from weapons that have detonated or, in some cases, failed to do so. Variants are more likely to fail and become duds that are still dangerous if handled incorrectly.

Even without the sanctions, Russian missiles and shells normally have higher dud rates because of persistent problems with manufacturing quality control as well as errors made when storing munitions. Quality control is not helped by production of many variants of the same high-tech weapon type due to substitutions of components caused by sanctions.
It would have banned the sale of cigarettes next year to anyone born after 2008

Legislation was brought in under the previous Jacinda Ardern-led government

New Zealand has axed its world-first smoking ban aimed at stopping children from taking up the habit.

The move, to fund tax cuts, comes weeks after Rishi Sunak officially unveiled his bold plan to extinguish smoking in Britain.

The New Zealand legislation, brought in under the previous Jacinda Ardern-led government, would have banned the sale of cigarettes next year to anyone born after 2008.

Under Sunak's flagship proposal, which he himself labelled the 'biggest public health intervention in a generation', anyone born after 2009 will be banned from ever buying cigarettes.

If passed, it would annually raise the age at which people can purchase tobacco by one year, putting legal smoking out of reach of anyone who turns 14 this year or younger.

New Zealand's incoming conservative government has dismantled world-first plans to ban future generations of New Zealanders from being able to buy cigarettes

Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealand's prime minister on Monday. Luxon said the cigarette ban would create 'an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed'

Charities and experts have urged politicians to swiftly vote the bill into law, and not to let the goal of turning Britain 'smoke-free' be snuffed out by pressure groups.

But Conservative think-tanks branded Sunak's plan an attack on people's liberties and warned the ban - a replica of New Zealand's - would only drive future smokers into the arms of the black market.

One expert warned that Sunak's drive for a smoke-free generation could still go up in smoke.

Richard Murray, chief executive of health and care think-tank The King's Fund, said: 'Passing the smoking ban legislation would be a major milestone, and Government should then have the courage to implement the ban quickly.

'Disappointingly, we have recently seen other measures to protect people from ill health, like banning junk food advertising to help tackle obesity, passed into law only for implementation to be delayed.'

Smoking is the biggest cause of preventable deaths in New Zealand and health experts have spoken out against the sudden U-turn.

Anti-smoking group Health Coalition Aotearoa - the Maori name for New Zealand - said the policy backdown was an insult to the country.

'This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry, whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives,' the group said in a statement.

Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealand's prime minister on Monday and said his top priority was to improve the economy.

The 53-year-old former businessman leads a conservative coalition after his National Party struck a deal on Friday with two smaller parties following a general election last month.

Luxon said the cigarette ban would create 'an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed'.

The legislation, passed in 2022, had been praised around the world, and included measures such as lowering nicotine levels in cigarettes and restricting the number of outlets selling tobacco.

Modelling suggested that up to 5,000 lives could have been saved each year through the no smoking laws.

Under Sunak's flagship proposal, which he himself labelled the 'biggest public health intervention in a generation', anyone born after 2009 will be banned from ever buying cigarettes

But owners of newsagents and corner shops criticised the loss of revenue from the Smokefree measures, even taking into account government subsidies.

The National Party had not spoken of the Smokefree laws during campaigning for the election.

The announcement that the government would repeal the laws was made by the new finance minister Nicola Willis on Saturday.

Willis said the other parties in the coalition - the libertarian ACT and the populist New Zealand First - had been 'insistent' on bringing about the reversal.

Despite election victory, the centre-right National Party has struggled for weeks in policy negotiations to form a government with the two minor parties.

The deal to form a government with these parties was only agreed six weeks after the election, on Friday, with the government sworn in on Monday.

New Zealand First had been the only party to campaign for repealing the smoking laws.
Israeli festivalgoer Maya Regev, who was shot and subsequently kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in their brutal October 7 attacks, has been released and reunited with her family ahead of surgery - but is still missing her teenage brother.

Maya, 21, was one of 58 hostages released by Hamas over the course of the past four days of ceasefire between Israel's Defence Forces and the Palestinian group.

She was abducted from the Nova music festival - where 364 people lost their lives as Hamas gunmen streamed over the border on motorbikes, in trucks and with paragliders - but not before she caught a stray bullet.

Despite her injuries, Maya managed to cling to life and spent some 50 days languishing in captivity ahead of her eventual release on Saturday night, with harrowing photos showing how she was hauled out of a Red Cross van and escorted by masked Hamas militants as she shuffled about on crutches.

Her reunion with family members in Soroka hospital in the Israeli city of Be'er-Sheva, captured in heart-rending video footage, was bittersweet.

Maya can be heard sobbing as she embraced her family while sitting in her hospital bed, elated to have been freed and in the company of loved ones, but mourning for her teen brother Itay, 18, who remains in Hamas captivity.

A Hamas fighter and Red Cross medics help newly released Israeli hostage Maya Regev into a Red Cross vehicle in the Gaza Strip

Maya, an attendee at the Nova music festival, was shot and subsequently kidnapped on October 7

Her reunion with family members in Soroka hospital in the Israeli city of Be'er-Sheva, captured in heart-rending video footage, was bittersweet

Medical staff watch on as Maya embraces her family members ahead of surgery

Itay is one of several Hamas hostages that the terror group say they cannot locate.

Though some hostages were held by Hamas officials, others were split up and taken away by Gazan civilian groups or armed gangs, according to Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire between the IDF and Hamas.

As the IDF continues its operations in Gaza to try and locate and free the remaining hostages, Maya is set to undergo surgery to repair damage dealt by the bullet wound.

She was described as being in 'moderate condition' by Soroka hospital staff, with Dr Shlomi Kodesh telling Israel's i24 News her life was not in danger but that surgery was necessary for Maya to make a full recovery.

Much like Maya, several of the hostages released by Hamas this weekend find themselves confronting a dark new reality.

They have been granted their freedom, but are now burdened by the knowledge that other members of their family are still in captivity, or worse, were slaughtered on October 7.

Two such newly freed hostages are siblings Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13.

They were greeted by joyful grandparents, as well as their older brother Yali, 18, on Saturday before undergoing medical checks following their lengthy captivity.

But the teens' elation at regaining their freedom quickly evaporated when they were informed that their mum Yonat had been gunned down by Hamas attackers in kibbutz Be'eri on October 7.

Uncle Ahal Besorai, a British-Israeli lawyer, told The Guardian how the kids broke down upon hearing their mother's fate.

'Unfortunately, they were not aware that my sister, their mum, was murdered,' he said.

'Suddenly they come to see their loved ones for the first time in 50 days and the first piece of news that they are confronted with is that their mum is no longer alive. I think it was very traumatic, there were a lot of tears, a lot of pain.'

The youngest hostage released this weekend - four-year-old dual Israeli-American citizen Abigail Edan - also lost both of her parents in the October 7 attacks.

'What she endured was unthinkable,' Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages.

Maya was one of the 13 Israeli and four hostages Hamas released late Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023, in the second round of swaps under a cease-fire deal, the Israeli military said

Noam and Alma Or, aged 16 and 13, are two of 58 hostages freed thus far under a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas

Dror Or and Yonat Or are pictured in this undated photo. Yonat was killed by Hamas attackers in the October 7 slaughter - Dror remains missing, presumed kidnapped

The Or family are pictured in this undated photo

Yonat Or, her husband Dror and their teenage daughter Alma, 13

With the four-day ceasefire set to expire today, Hamas has declared it wants to see an extension of the temporary peace agreement to negotiate the release of more hostages from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners.

A statement released last night by Hamas called for 'an extension of the truce after the conclusion of the four-day period, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from captivity as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.'

International mediators led by the US, Egypt and Qatar are now trying to extend the ceasefire that began Friday to allow for the exchange of more hostages as war weary Gazans seek more reprieve from Israeli bombs.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive 'with all of our might' once the truce expires.

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armour and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

'At the end of the day we will return every one,' he said of the hostages, adding that 'we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.' It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister had previously told US President Joe Biden he would be willing to extend the truce with Hamas an extra day for every 10 hostages that are released.

But after the Qatari-brokered deal was agreed last week, Netanyahu said the goals to 'eliminate Hamas and get the hostages back' would continue unhindered irrespective of when the truce finally comes to a close.
Lawmakers in America's healthiest state Colorado are plotting to pass legislation to ban 'fatphobia' in order to prevent employers and housing providers from discriminating against those who are overweight.

The move comes as New York enacted a similar law last week as obesity rates continue to soar across the US. Other states including Massachusetts, Vermont and New Jersey are also looking at passing similar bills. Michigan has had a fatphobia law since 1976.

According to data from Trust for America's Health, the Rocky Mountain State's obesity rate of 25 percent makes it the skinniest in the United States.

The state's government are seeking to pass the new laws in 2024, reports The Daily Telegraph.

The United States has by far and away the highest obesity rate of any developed country, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Colorado is set to join a group of US states banning workplace discrimination based on weight despite the Rocky Mountain state being the healthiest in the nation

The most obese state in the US is West Virginia, boasting a rate of 71 percent, closely followed by Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma

Dream Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, the healthiest state in the US

Colorado's rate of obesity is more in line with the United Kingdom's obesity rate, which is also 25 percent.

The most obese state in the US is West Virginia, boasting a rate of 71 percent, closely followed by Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma, according to a report from Trust for America's Health.

None of the most obese states in the US have laws preventing discrimination against overweight people.

However, five of the 10 least obese states are proposing laws against discrimination.

In New York, some business leaders expressed opposition to the legislation when it was before the council, arguing that compliance could become an onerous burden.

'The extent of the impact and cost of this legislation has not been fully considered,' Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, said in a statement.

Several other U.S. cities have banned discrimination based on weight and physical appearance, including San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Madison, Wisconsin.

A man on an electric scooter makes his way with other pedestrians in New York, earlier this year the city voted to outlaw workplace discrimination based on weight

The latest weapon in the war on obesity, the miracle weight loss drug Ozempic

Tigress Osborn, the chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, said New York City's weight discrimination ban should serve as a model for the nation and the world.

Osborn said the city's adoption of the new ordinance 'will ripple across the globe' and show that 'discrimination against people based on their body size is wrong and is something that we can change.'

A Texas court ruled earlier this year that obesity did not qualify as a 'protected characteristic' without a medical clearance.

The state was dealing with the case of a nearly-400 pound doctor who said she was fired from her emergency room job because she couldn't stand for long periods of time.

One activist told the Daily Telegraph that historically most instances of obesity are not the person's fault.

'[People think] they did this to themselves, they're lazy, they eat McDonald's 10 times a day. But as the science has improved, and the research has improved, we're understanding that that is absolutely not the be-all and end-all of obesity,' Kristal Hartman said.

'Certainly, watching food and and all of those things are important, but it's actually physiological,' she added.
London mayor Sadiq Khan threated to unilaterally lock down the capital at the start of the pandemic in a major bust-up with Boris Johnson.

In evidence handed to the Covid Inquiry, Mr Khan told the then prime minister he would 'speak directly to Londoners with a tougher message' if Mr Johnson decided not to tell people to stay at home.

The private letter was sent on Match 22, and later that day they spoke by telephone with Mr Johnson agreeing 'decisive action' was needed, but suggesting it had to be nationwide.

Mr Khan told him 'it either has to be London or the whole country - tomorrow' and within hours the PM was on television announcing the first Covid lockdown in the UK.

Giving evidence to the inquiry today Mr Khan also claimed 'lives could have been saved' if he had been involved in discussions with the Government earlier.

He attacked the Government from excluding him and other directly elected mayors from early meetings of the Cobra committee, saying there was a case for treating London 'differently' to other cities.

In evidence handed to the Covid Inquiry, Mr Khan told the then prime minister he would 'speak directly to Londoners with a tougher message' if Mr Johnson decided not to tell people to stay at home.

The private letter was sent on Match 22, and later that day they spoke by telephone with Mr Johnson agreeing 'decisive action' was needed, but suggesting it had to be nationwide.

Notes of a phone call between Mr Khan and Boris Johnson given as evidence to the Covid Inquiry.

In his March 22 letter, Mr Khan told the PM that Londoners were finding the official guidance 'unclear' or were choosing to ignore what were at that time voluntary measures.

He added: This weekend has demonstrated how government advice is not being heeded - local shopping areas were busy, many people were out and about, and too many were still using public transport.'

Noting that London was 'a few weeks ahead of the rest of the country' he added: I assure you that with any strengthening of the message to Londoners or its enforcement, I will support you completely.

'But alternatively, if you insist on continuing with the same course, I will be left with no choice but to speak directly to Londoners with a stronger message if it means thousands of people's lives could be saved.'

Mr Khan admitted to the inquiry he had few powers to institute a lockdown beyond advice and the ability to cancel events like St Patrick's Day celebrations.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

He also criticised a lack of communication from the Government, saying it was 'unusual' that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

He also criticised a lack of communication from the Government, saying it was 'unusual' that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Mr Khan told the inquiry: 'The Government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. I'm disappointed the Government weren't giving us information in February about what they knew then.'

He described requesting a meeting with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, on March 11 2020, at which he was told the virus would develop into a global pandemic and London could expect 'really serious' consequences within two or three weeks.

Mr Khan said: 'It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge.'

On the basis of that meeting, Mr Khan said, he took the decision to cancel London's St Patrick's Day parade, but it was not until he was finally invited to a meeting of the Government's emergency Cobra committee on March 16 that he understood the full extent of the crisis.

In a witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Mr Khan said: 'I remember that the PM referred to the need for draconian measures and said the country would not have faced anything like it since the Second World War.

'I simply could not understand why, particularly given the increasing severity of the outbreak in London and my repeated requests to attend previous (Cobra) meetings in order to be kept informed, this information was only being shared with me at this stage.

'I was both deeply worried and furious that London had not been involved in conversations until this point.'

Giving evidence on Monday, he added: 'In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why... the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.'

The inquiry is hearing from Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, later today, before hearing from a number of other senior figures throughout the week.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock is due to give evidence on Thursday and Friday, after the inquiry has heard from former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and Communities Secretary Michael Gove.
Elon Musk walked with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu through the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where 62 people were savagely murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

In a video released by the Israeli government, Musk is shown solemnly listening as a member of the IDF explains how the terror unfolded on that fateful day. The South African remains silent, stopping only to take pictures of the ravaged community.

Kfar Aza was among the 20 or so kibbutz that were ransacked and assaulted by Hamas. Among the homes visited by Musk was that of the community's security chief Ofir Libstein, who died while trying to repel Hamas terrorists.

An hour before Musk was seen being shown through the devastated area, he tweeted: 'Actions speak louder than words,' an apparent swipe at his critics.

Since the barbaric assault perpetrated by Hamas, Musk has faced waves of criticism for turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism on X, formerly known as Twitter. That criticism has led to a reported loss in ad revenue.

In a particularly poignant moment, the Tesla founder was shown a baby's crib that now contains expelled terrorist gunshot shells.

Musk was also told about 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan, the Israeli-American who was just released yesterday after spending six weeks in captivity after her parents were slaughtered by gunmen.

In a poignant moment, the Tesla founder was shown a baby's crib that now contains expelled gun shells from that fateful day

Netanyahu and Musk inside one of the homes that now lies empty in Kfar Aza

An hour before Musk was seen being shown through the devastated area, he tweeted: 'Actions speak louder than words,' an apparent swipe at his critics

Four-year-old orphan Abigail Mor Edan was released Sunday after 49 days in captivity, she celebrated her birthday as a hostage, on Monday Musk was shown her former home

'Netanyahu showed Musk the horrors of the massacre in the kibbutz from the events of the Saturday of October 7,' a statement from the prime minister's office read.

'Musk heard the story of the heroism of the late Ofir Liebstein, the head of the regional council who was murdered on the morning of October 7 in an exchange of fire with terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz,' the release also said.

Netanyahu last met with Musk in California on Sept. 18 and urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over anti-Semitic content on X.

Musk responded by saying he was against antisemitism and against anything that 'promotes hate and conflict,' repeating his previous statements that X would not promote hate speech.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen in the United States and worldwide, including during the now seven-week-old war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian faction Hamas.

Earlier this month, Musk was accused of promoting anti-Semitism again after he responded to a man who posted a screed on X criticizing a Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video.

In the video, a father is seen talking to his son about the online hatred the son has spewed, and calling him out for his rhetoric.

The X user dismissed the video, writing: 'Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

Kfar Aza was among the 20 or so kibbutz that were ransacked and assaulted by Hamas, here Musk hears how the attack unfolded

At one point during his tour of the kibbutz, Musk stopped to take what looked like a video of the surroundings

Musk and Netanyahu were told by an IDF servicemember how Hamas gunmen infiltrated the kibbutz

During a video released by the Israeli government, Musk did not speak as he was told about the atrocity

The visit comes as Musk faces condemnation worldwide for the proliferation of hate speech on his social media app, X

An IDF servicemember held an umbrella over Musk's head during the visit to the now-deserted kibbutz

Earlier this month, Musk was roundly criticized for his response to this message on X

'I'm 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 don't exactly like them too much.

'You want truth said to your face, there it is.'

Musk, who has 163 million followers, replied: 'You have said the actual truth.'

The father of 11 has a long history of toying with dog-whistle rhetoric about Jewish people, in particular George Soros, who enraged him in May by selling his Tesla stock.

On Sunday, Abigail Mor Edan's grandfather, Carmel, said that even though he is filled with joy that his granddaughter is now on her way home, he knows that 'there are many people who havent yet come back.' Abigail was the first American released in the negotiated cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.

'I greatly want them to be returned and that the IDF finish what it has promised: All the hostages [back] and Hamas [destroyed],' he said.

The grandfather has not been allowed to speak or meet with Abigail yet, but plans to smother her with kisses when they reunite.

'There's nothing to say,' he added.

The first picture of Abigail since her release: seen in a Red Cross ambulance (right) after being released by Hamas as the first American to be set free

Edan was one of 17 hostages released Sunday, 49 days after the war broke out and militants stormed her kibbutz in southern Israel.

Fighters gunned down her parents, Roy Edan, 43 and Smadar Edan, 40, in the attack.

The girl's siblings, aged ten and six, survived after hiding out for hours in the family home. Carmel Edan said he hasn't told them about their younger sister's release yet.

Abigail, who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity, is now in the hands of Red Cross officials. President Joe Biden said, after her release, that what the youngster has endured is 'unthinkable' and that she has suffered a 'terrible trauma.'

'I wish I were there to hold her,' Biden said. 'Today she's free, and Jilly and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.'

The grandfather thanked Biden saying: 'We love him very much for all the help he is giving us, to Israel. Keep going. Keep going. We dont admire you. We love you.'

The terror group has been keeping captives since its October 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead. Over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive.

State Department officials have yet to release the names of the other American hostages. A total of 10 Americans are currently unaccounted for.

Of the 17 hostages released Sunday, 14 were Israeli, while three were foreign citizens.

Appearing on ABCs 'This Week,' National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said two women, one child and seven men were confirmed to have been taken by Hamas.

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' Biden said in an address from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he was celebrating Thanksgiving.

Earlier that day, the president was briefed multiple times by his national security team on the latest developments regarding the hostage release from Gaza.

'This morning I've been engaged with my team as we begin the first difficult days of implementing this deal,' Biden said. 'It's only a start but so far it's gone well.'

He noted how the first group of hostages included 'an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six years old.'

The sides are currently in a truce under which Israel has been recovering some of the 240 people Hamas took hostage during a cross-border killing spree on Oct 7. In exchange, Israel has been freeing some Palestinians jailed on security grounds.
A five-year-old girl has died and the search for her 54-year-old grandfather who was swept out to sea alongside her has been called off after 22-hours.

San Mateo County firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard responded to reports that the pair had been hit by a sneaker wave at around 2pm on Saturday on Martin's Beach in California's Half Moon Bay.

Jordan Baldueza, deputy commander, Coast Guard Sector San Francisco said: 'The decision to suspend search efforts is one of the hardest decisions to make, but our crews searched for nearly 24 hours without any sightings of the missing person.

'Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this very tragic event.'

US Coast Guard pictured. Crews called off the search for missing 54 year old man after they had scoured a 100 square miles with no sign

The pair were reported in danger around 2 p.m. Saturday when San Mateo County firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard were called to Martin's Beach

Although the girl was rescued and taken to the local hospital for treatment, she was pronounced dead on Sunday.

Coast Guard crews scoured over 100 square miles with helicopters and boats in search of her grandfather for around 22 hours before finally calling it off.

The California coast, from Point Reyes to Big Sur, has been under a beach hazards advisory all weekend.

US Coast Guard helicopter. Helicopters and search boats were called in to help with the search but were called off after 22 hours with no sightings

The National Weather Service warned beachgoers to 'remain out of the water' as 'large, unexpected waves can sweep across the beach without warning, sweeping people into the sea from rocks, jetties, and beaches.'

The weather service forecast the worst sneaker waves would be along west to northwest-facing beaches.
A family doctor who served in the British Army has been banned from treating patients for six weeks after he groped a medical colleague's bottom during a drunken formal dinner at a military base.

Dr Graham Wheatley touched the woman on repeated occasions and was also accused of fondling her breast as he adjusted medals he had jokingly transferred from his own dinner jacket onto her evening gown.

The 60-year-old doctor, who runs the Munro Medical Centre GP surgery in Spalding, Lincolnshire, was said to have become 'extremely inebriated' after drinking red wine and was seen to be 'stumbling and unsteady on his feet and also slurring his words.'

Eventually he got 'very handsy' with the woman after the meal and put his arm around her waist and touched her bottom on 'one or more occasions.' She was said to be 'tearful, visibly distressed and shocked' by the encounter.

At the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service, Wheatley was suspended from practise for six weeks after he was found guilty of sexually motivated misconduct and sexual harassment.

Dr Graham Wheatley has been banned from treating patients for six weeks after he groped a colleague's bottom

He has since resigned from his role at a security organisation and is planning to appeal.

A disciplinary panel ruled Wheatley had touched the woman's bottom and waist but cleared him of intentionally touching her breast after accepting the GP may have 'accidentally' made contact with it whilst adjusting the medals on her dress.

The incident occurred in November 2021 when Wheatley, who served as medical officer in the British Army between 1986 and 2001, attended the three day Tri-service Trainers' Conference which culminated in the formal dinner in the unnamed Officers' Mess.

The Manchester hearing was told the event had not taken place for two years due to the Covid pandemic and the atmosphere was described as 'convivial' with the 40 guests 'happy to socialise face-to-face after lockdown.'

Wheatley was seated on the top table where 12 complimentary bottles of wine were handed to the 10 guests seated around it.

Later during jovial conversation his medals were pinned onto Ms A's dress, high up on her chest. Problems began when he went to personally retrieve the medals as guests moved into the bar area after the final course of coffee and mints.

In a statement Ms A said: 'Dr Wheatley was extremely inebriated and would continue to seek me out whilst I was in conversations with other guests. He was very handsy and did put his hands around my waist on more than one occasion.

'I was trying to divert his attentions to get him to leave and I remember trying to send him away on at least four separate occasions. But during one of these times when Graham came over to the bar, he reached out to his medals that were attached to my dress on my chest, and in doing so touched my boob.

'I don't recall whether he said anything before he reached out, but I understood from the situation that he was looking to adjust the medals that had come unhooked. I think Graham was touching my boob for about 10 seconds. He was drunk and so it wasn't just a quick readjustment.'

Dr Graham Wheatley, 60, served as a medical officer in the British army between 1986 and 2001

Another medical colleague known as Dr B said: 'I recall standing up from the table and saw Graham, who was approximately 3-5 metres away from me at this point, pinning his medals onto Ms A's chest. I remember hearing him apologise, though I don't recall exactly what he said

nor what Ms A said in response, if anything.

'During the evening he also reached out towards Ms A with his left hand and eventually made contact with her buttock. I recall Ms A immediately asking him to stop and I could tell by the way she said what she said that she was shocked and that she didn't like Graham touching her buttock.

'Ms A wasn't really able to move away, as she was between Graham, the wall and the bar. recall interjecting and saying to Graham something along the lines of 'you cannot do that sort of thing Graham'. But I don't recall whether he said anything coherent in response to either myself or Ms A or anyone else in the group - he then moved away from the group.

'The whole situation wouldn't have lasted any longer than a few moments, potentially a minute or so. Ms A then moved out into the corridor only a short distance away from the bar and I remember apologising to Ms A that this had happened to her and saying that it was wholly inappropriate what Graham did. She was tearful, visibly distressed and shocked.

'I got the impression that she that she was trying to process what had just happened in the context of the evening as a whole.'

When he sobered up, Wheatley initially said that he could not remember groping the woman and said any such contact 'must have been accidental and was caused by his drunken state.' He then apologised generally for any offence he might have caused due to his drunken state but in subsequent emails denied being drunk and sought to blame Ms A.

MPTS chairman Mr Andrew Clemes said: 'The Tribunal considered that Dr Wheatley was very intoxicated at the time the incident took place and he may have been disinhibited through alcohol. Ms A and Dr B were not intoxicated. They had each consumed some alcohol but such consumption was most unlikely to have affected their ability to observe and recall events.

'The Tribunal accepted Ms A as a credible witness as she had given a generally consistent account which was unlikely to have been affected by excessive alcohol consumption.

'Ms A and Dr Wheatley were not established friends or acquaintances and were occasional work colleagues at best. Dr Wheatley's actions had created a degrading or humiliating environment for Ms A. Even though the incident had occurred outside the workplace and was in a social setting, it was still unwelcome contact.'

Earlier defence counsel Kevin McCartney said: 'Dr Wheatley's behaviour arose at a social situation, not in the context of seeing patients, and followed excess alcohol consumption. This was at a social function, which was one of the first that Dr Wheatley had attended since the restrictions imposed by the pandemic had been lifted and that this influenced his alcohol consumption.

'Dr Wheatley recognises he had far too much to drink that night, and now uses strategies to ensure that he does not drink to excess at such events now or in the future and does not cause offence by unwanted touching.'

After the case Wheatley confirmed he was appealing against the suspension. In a statement to his local newspaper he said: 'There has unfortunately been an entirely malicious complaint made by somebody with no connection to the practice.

'The main witness has so far given at least two different accounts and because of this, we were surprised and very disappointed that the tribunal did not find against this allegation. Therefore we expect it to be overturned on appeal.'
The reason for Vladimir Putin's abiding hatred of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky relates to a TV sketch he made as a comedian in 2014 mocking the Russian president and his mistress, a new book has claimed.

The sketch in question shows Zelensky mercilessly playing the part of Russian Olympic gymnast - and rumoured lover of Putin - Alina Kabaeva.

The spoof sees Putin returning home late to be scolded and threatened with a sex ban by Kabaeva, who is 30 years his junior.

It appears innocuous by Western standards but according to author Mikhail Zygar, a chronicler of Putin's Russia, the sketch sealed the autocrat's loathing of Zelensky, against whom he would later go to war.

'Not a single comedian in Russia would ever dare to compose such a sketch, and especially not a single TV channel would show it,' Zygar wrote in his new book War and Punishment: How Russia destroyed Ukraine.

Ukrainian president and former comedian Volodymyr Zelensky plays Putin's lover Alina Kabaeva in 2014

The spoof sees Putin returning home late to be scolded and threatened with a sex-ban by Kabaeva - who is 30 years his junior - played by Zelensky

The sketch appears innocuous by Western standards but according to author Mikhail Zygar, a chronicler of Putin's Russia, the sketch sealed the autocrat's loathing of Zelensky

Alina Kabaeva and Vladimir Putin at an event in Kremlin in the 2000s

Kabaeva is on record saying she had met an unnamed man who 'I love very much', gushing: 'Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared.' This was after she had posed almost nude for Russian Maxim magazine and was described as 'full of sex' by a photographer

In the sketch Kabaeva, played by Zelensky, demands to know where Putin has been after he returns home late.

He splutters that he was discussing with his defence minister Sergei Shoigu the deployment of Russian troops in recently-annexed Crimea - but Kabaeva insists Putin's state TV denies there are any Russian troops in Crimea.

'Do I look like a fool? I am watching Russian news! There are no troops in Crimea!' Kabaeva screams.

Putin then admits state TV may not tell the truth before the sketch shows the real reason for her anger - deposed and disgraced Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, who Putin saved after he was ousted in a coup, living in their residence, in a cupboard.

'This is it. No more sex, no relations,' storms Kabaeva.

Putin says: 'Let me sort this out, I'll arrange everything.'

Kabaeva replies: 'And how do we do it?'

Putin tells her: 'Watch me.'

A former spy, he knocks a code on the door of Yanukovych's closet.

The toppled president says: 'Got you! I will not come out of the cupboard for one and a half minutes,' insinuating the pair were about to have sex.

Kabaeva asks why Yanukovych is singing, to which Putin responds: 'I guess so he doesn't hear us.'

Kabaeva continues: 'This is a nightmare. This is it - it's either me, or him. Take your pick... either him or me.'

The sketch ends with Putin making Kabaeva president of Ukraine, while Yanukovych says: 'Oh thank God - I'll take charge of the [Putin] household'

Putin has never admitted his relationship with Kabaeva, aged 30 when the comedy show was made - or the three children they are believed to share.

But he did say: 'I have a private life into which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.'

He deplored 'those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives'.

Kabaeva is on record saying she had met an unnamed man who 'I love very much', gushing: 'Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared.'

This was after she had posed almost nude for Russian Maxim magazine and was described as 'full of sex' by a photographer.

Alina Kabaeva and Vladimir Putin at an event in Kremlin

In another sketch broadcast in 2014, Zelensky is seen broadcasting from a square beside the Kremlin where he mocked the rigid control already in place in Putin's Russia

A fresh faced Zelensky is seen in Moscow shortly after the invasion of Crimea

Mikhail Zygar, Russian journalist and writer of the newly-released book 'War and Punishment. How Russia destroyed Ukraine'

Zygar explained how the sketch could've made Zelensky a target of Putin.

'Joking about Putin has long been unacceptable here, especially about his personal life. You can't talk about (Kabaeva) at all. This is a general rule for all media.

'Only once, back in 2008, the tabloid Moscow Korrespondent wrote that Putin was getting a divorce to marry Kabaeva, and the newspaper was immediately closed.

'Since then, not a single Russian media outlet has dared to touch on the topic of the president's family life.'

Zygar says that Zelensky's fleeting role playing Kabaeva would be the 'turning point in Zelensky's life, although he himself does not yet suspect it.

'This is the very moment when Putin first learns about the existence of the comedian,' wrote Zygar, citing a source who worked in the presidential administration.

Soon after a criminal case was opened against Zelensky in Russia.

Eight years later in 2022, Putin invaded Ukraine and has attempted to topple Zelensky from power.

In another sketch broadcast in 2014, Zelensky is seen broadcasting from a square beside the Kremlin where he mocked the rigid control already in place in Putin's Russia.

'Good evening dear Ukraine, good evening beloved, free Kyiv,' said a youthful Zelensky.

'I am in the centre of Moscow at the Manezhnaya Square It is very democratic here indeed. Anyone can freely yell ''Glory to Ukraine'' and suffer no consequences.

'Or at least, suffer no consequences that can't be corrected by modern medicine.'

Zygar is the author of the bestseller All the Kremlin's Men - a history of Putin's Russia - and a writer and filmmaker.

He was the founding editor-in-chief of Russian independent news TV-channel, Dozhd.
Former GB News presenter Laurence Fox's life was 'destroyed' by 'hurtful' racism allegations and was left unable to get a mortgage, the actor has told the High Court.

The actor and right-wing activist is being sued by Simon Blake, a former trustee of the LGBT+ charity Stonewall and drag queen Colin Seymour, known as Crystal, for calling them 'paedophiles' on Twitter.

Fox, 45, founder of the Reclaim Party, is counter-suing the pair and Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp, 35, after they branded him a 'racist' in response to a post by Sainsbury's celebrating Black History Month in October 2020.

The Lewis star claimed that by 2020 he was earning at least 500,000 to 600,000 per year from acting, but his 'life was destroyed by what they did' after the comments were made towards him.

He said his ex-wife Billie Piper was 'concerned' that their two children were no longer safe in the house, adding: 'I thought she had every right to feel that way, every mother would be worried.'

The actor also said his professional life was 'irreparably harmed', with the loss of his former acting agent Sue Latimer. His income also dropped dramatically which meant he couldn't get a mortgage and he faced similar issues to Nigel Farage being 'debanked', Fox added.

Laurence Fox arrives at the Royal Courts of Justice, Chancery Lane, on November 24

Simon Blake (left), Nicola Thorp and Colin Seymour (right) pictured on November 22

Mr Fox, who denies being a racist, said in his written evidence he was 'horrified' when he saw he had been called a racist, which he later described as 'a career-ending word, and a reputation-destroying allegation'.

He continued: 'It was very hurtful, firstly as it is not true, and secondly because it was baseless: it felt as if the claimants had posted it to try and destroy me. I felt that one of the most important things I had in this world was my good name, and they were trying to ruin it.'

The court heard that on two occasions after the claim against him was filed, faeces were posted through Mr Fox's door.

Mr Fox said: 'Without the prospect of work from her and the income from it, I couldn't get a mortgage.

'The only income I earned at that point was from the Reclaim Party. To this day I haven't bought a house, I only received one mortgage offer very recently, and it was far too high and wouldn't have been worth my while to take it.'

Mr Fox later said he has faced similar issues to Nigel Farage being 'debanked', with his bank 'regularly questioning' legitimate transactions and claimed his car insurance premium increased by nearly 9,000.

He added in his witness evidence he had a 'vibrant and busy' work life before the tweets and before Ms Latimer dropped him, he was asked to audition for roles including Batman and Succession, and 'multiple other Netflix, Disney+ and HBO productions'.

He continued: 'It's a source of incredible sadness to me that my skill set, which has been highly trained, used at great length over 23 or 24 years - it's just been completely put away.'

Laurence Fox was 'flabbergasted' when his acting agent dropped him, the court heard today (pictured with girlfriend Elizabeth Barker outside court on November 22)

Fox told the court that Latimer parted ways with him after the Twitter spat. He said his agent had called him after the tweets and said the allegations were an issue.

Ms Skinner asked if he had looked into his contract with her after the conversation.

'I may have looked at it to see if she was allowed to do it but I didn't pursue that - I was just fairly flabbergasted that she had done that,' he said.

Stephanie Kowalski, Fox's personal assistant between 2020 and 2022, told the court today she had heard the phone conversation.

She said Ms Latimer had told Fox the 'recent allegations' against him were an issue and that girls in her office were talking about it.

Ms Kowalski said Fox, who was formerly married to Doctor Who actress Billie Piper, was 'upset and in shock' after the call.

Fox told the court he studied at Harrow and applied for universities through clearing before going to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He said he would use Twitter to address issues he cared about.

'I would make statements about issues that concern me and certainly anything to do with free speech I would engage with and mainly cultural issues of the day I was interested in.'

He said he avoided looking at replies to his tweets.

'My timeline and replies is a dumpster fire of pretty horrible stuff most of the time so I try and keep away from it.'

Mr Fox, who denies being a racist, said in his written evidence he was 'horrified' when he saw he had been called a racist, which he later described as 'a career-ending word, and a reputation-destroying allegation'

Ms Skinner said Fox became more popular on Twitter in October 2020, gaining 12.3k followers.

She said his followers tripled after his controversial appearance on the BBC's Question Time in January 2020.

Ms Kowalski said she had begun working for Fox after after messaging his new Reclaim party in October 2020.

She said there were no acting roles coming forward for Fox after the Twitter row.

'There was no acting roles coming forward, there was an independent film that was mentioned but nothing came through,' she said.

Earlier in the trial, Lorna Skinner KC, representing Mr Blake, Mr Seymour and Ms Thorp, said the trio 'honestly believed, and continue honestly to believe, that Mr Fox is a racist'.

In written submissions, the barrister said Mr Fox 'has made a number of highly controversial statements about race', adding: 'If and to the extent that Mr Fox has been harmed in his reputation, it is his own conduct and not the claimants' comments on it that caused that harm.'

In his evidence discussing his call for a boycott of Sainsbury's, Mr Fox said the supermarket had been 'essentially emotionally blackmailing their customers' and that he has not shopped there since.

He continued: 'I felt that rather than genuinely trying to tackle racism, Sainsbury's were trying to improve their own image, branding themselves as the anti-racist supermarket.

'I see the phrase 'safe space' as just locally friendly language for discrimination by segregation, dividing people down the line of skin colour.'

Mr Fox added that he believes Black History Month is 'a grift, designed to make black people feel like they're in some way undervalued in our society' and called the Black Lives Matter movement 'extremely divisive'.

Ms Skinner previously highlighted several of Mr Fox's social media posts, including a June 2022 tweet of four pride flags arranged in the shape of a swastika.

'Such a disgusting post could only be made by a complete ignoramus or an intelligent racist with an agenda. Mr Fox is the latter,' she said.

Mr Fox said in his witness evidence he had a 'vibrant and busy' work life before the tweets and before Ms Latimer dropped him, he was asked to audition for roles including Batman and Succession

However, Mr Fox said he does not have a problem with people of different sexualities, adding: 'The streets of London are covered with the Pride flag, yet nobody is allowed to criticise it.

'I was making the point that the only other flag in history that society was not allowed to criticise was the Nazi flag.

'I am obviously a major advocate for free speech so do not believe it is right we should live in fear of being cancelled for disagreeing with a flag.'

Fox claims he called the pair paedophiles as a 'baseless and meaningless' insult in response to them 'baselessly' calling him racist while Seymour and Blake claim the insult was based on homophobic tropes.

Thorp, pregnant with her first child, today wore a black dress, pink jacket and pink and red coat sat next to Blake and Seymour.

She was accompanied by her husband actor Nikesh Patel.

Seymour, a contestant in season one of the BBC3 show RuPaul's Drag Race UK, wore a black turtle neck and black nail varnish.

The trial, before Mrs Justice Collins Rice, continues. It is due to conclude later this week with a decision expected at a later date.
Osher Gunsberg has been accused of 'insulting Australians' after he said Aussies were 'manipulated' into voting No in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.

The reality TV presenter told ABC's Q+A on Monday that Australians should be 'asking questions about who flooded the zone (with misinformation)'.

Also speaking on the show's final episode for the year, Todd Fernando, who is the Victorian Commissioner for LGBTIQ+ Communities, said those who voted no were not 'educated' on the issue.

A tense exchange kicked off when another guest, Liberal party activist Charlotte Mortlock, said the country needed to come together after the referendum defeat. Her views were quickly dismissed by others on the panel.

Gunsberg said during the course of the campaign, Australia went 'from mostly wanting to do it' to 'Oh my God the UN's coming to take my back yard'.

He said Australians should be 'terrified of how quickly we were manipulated as a country'.

Liberal party activist Charlotte Mortlock (pictured), said the country needed to come together after the referendum defeat

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'We're really lucky that it wasn't during a khaki election,' he said, referring to an election held at a time of war.

Gunsberg revealed he spoke to Indigenous academic Megan Davis before the show and that she said to him: 'For the first time we have evidence that six million Australians want to vote, want to walk forward to a future, to a better path for all of us.'

He said that the six million people who voted Yes can not be ignored in the next federal election.

Mr Fernando, who is Indigenous, added: 'Four out of 10 people are educated on this issue. 60 per cent voted No, so we've got four out of 10 who are there.'

The referendum was voted down in every state.

Ms Mortlock defended the Coalition and No voters, saying: 'It's been such a divisive year... I do absolutely think that there is work that we can do to in a constructive way that is going to really unite the country and that's what we all have to focus on.'

But Gunsberg cut across her, asking if she felt Opposition Leader Peter Dutton really wanted to unite the nation.

'I do. I think the question really is the how,' Ms Mortlock replied.

Gunsberg said: 'I don't believe he really wants to.'

The Liberal up-and-comer stuck to her guns, saying: 'I absolutely believe that both Peter Dutton and (Coalition senator) Jacinta Price do want to unite Australia.

'It's just the different machinations and the different methods of getting there.'

TV presenter Osher Gunsberg has been slammed after he told ABC's Q+A program that Australians were 'manipulated' into voting No in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum

Todd Fernando (pictured) said 'Four out of 10 people are educated on this issue. Sixty per cent voted No, so we've got four out of 10 who are there'

Mr Fernando then put it to Ms Mortlock that 'Aboriginal communities across Australia have for three decades been talking about this'.

'What more did we need to show Australia around what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanted?

'The division that I think was set forth by the No campaign was very clearly an architect of division,' he said.

Ms Mortlock said the Liberal party is 'a broad church, there were plenty of Liberals who voted Yes and plenty of Liberals who voted No'.

Gunsberg and the ABC were both later slammed online for how the program went with some calling the program 'insufferable'.

'One of the poorest quality #qanda episodes.. sad..Is this what the #ABC has become,' one Twitter user wrote.

Another wrote that 'After the way Osher insulted mainstream common-sense Aussies I will never watch Bachelor again.'

A third said that 'Osher criticises Dutton for allegedly being divisive, but Osher often divides men and women with his Bachelor series.

'AND he divided Australia between Casey Donovan & Anthony Callea back in the day!'
World Conference on China Studies spurs trans-cultural exchanges

Xinhua) 11:19, November 27, 2023

SHANGHAI, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- A heavily illustrated book with full-color photographs of documents of Dunhuang culture collected by the National Library of France grabbed the attention of participants attending the World Conference on China Studies -- Shanghai Forum, which closed on Friday.

The book published by the Shanghai Classics Publishing House this year is an important document on the overseas studies of Dunhuang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northwest China.

"Dunhuang exemplifies trans-cultural exchanges, which are as important today as millennia ago," said Imre Galambos, professor emeritus of the University of Cambridge, when delivering a keynote speech at the conference.

The cultural relics study based on the Dunhuang caves and related documents has inspired the formation of an internationally distinguished discipline of Dunhuang studies.

"The ancient Dunhuang culture, developed and formed by the Chinese civilization through exchanges and integration with other civilizations, is a cultural heritage of all humanity. Scholars globally are welcome to study it together," said Hao Chunwen, honorary president of the Chinese Association of Dunhuang and Turfan Studies, at the conference.

Featuring four parallel sub-forums, the two-day World Conference on China Studies -- Shanghai Forum was attended by more than 400 experts, scholars, and representatives of relevant parties from over 60 countries and regions.

The participants believe that in the future, Chinese studies should be multi-lingual studies facing the world. The studies can be promoted in different countries and different languages.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the invaders also expected to reinforce and expand their control of the Black Sea. This included blocking Ukrainian grain exports, which would drive up prices for Russian grain exports. That financial goal was never met because Ukraine fought back and not only contested efforts to expand Russian control of the Black Sea but also disrupted Russian naval operations in the Black Sea and use of the Crimean Peninsula base for naval, air force and army operations. When the war began Russia had several warships in the Black Sea and these came under heavy attack by Ukrainian forces. This led to the destruction of the flagship of the Black Sea fleet and systematic attacks on the remaining Russian warships. Ukraine didnt have any ships of their own for these attacks and had to improvise. Ukraine used armed UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) and USVs (Unmanned seagoing vessels) for these attacks, as well as land-based guided missiles. This eventually forced Russia to abandon Crimean naval and air force bases. This included the major Crimean port and naval base of Sevastopol. The growing number of Ukrainian attacks on Crimea forced most of the Russian Black Sea Fleet to move. The UAVs and USVs carry explosive warheads to destroy military targets, including bases, ports, headquarters and airfields. While civilian targets are spared, the military facilities are a major source of employment. When these facilities are damaged, destroyed and shut down, the civilians begin to leave. Now Ukrainian forces are getting close to the narrow isthmus that connects Crimean to the mainland and the other access point, the Kerch Strait bridge in southeastern Crimea was also under constant attack. As the situation in Crimea deteriorates, corruption by local officials makes matters worse for the remaining civilians and persuades a growing number of them to leave.

In late 2023, advancing Ukrainian forces were close enough to the narrow isthmus connecting Crimean to the mainland that the only Russian rail line carrying supplies to occupied Crimea was within range of GMLRS missile attacks. These NATO supplied missiles were carried and launched from HIMARS vehicles. They had a range of 80 kilometers and were a constant threat to Russian supply lines, including ports and ships in the Black Sea.

Ukraine had already disabled the other rail supply route to Crimea, which used the Kerch Strait bridge. Ukraine used various types of UAVs, USVs and novel UUVs (unmanned underwater vessels) to do this, as well as destroy Russian air defenses in Crimea and drive the remaining ships of the Black Sea fleet to port on the east coast of the Black Sea. The largest of these eastern Black Sea ports is Novorossiysk, which had a small naval base facility added in 2012. Now it is being used to host the surviving remnants of the Black Sea Fleet. While Novorossiysk is mainly a commercial port, exporting oil and other goods produced in the area and handling most of the imports, most of that has been halted because of the Ukrainian unmanned weapons that now make the Black Sea a dangerous place for Russian ships of any type. Ukraine did this without a fleet of its own. The Russians were still able to launch missile attacks on Ukrainian ports using submarine launched cruise missiles as well as land-based missiles. These Russian attacks became less frequent as the Ukrainians advanced closer to the roads and railroads that supplied Crimea.
Council employees with second jobs are being investigated for fraud after they were caught 'moonlighting' while working from home during the pandemic.

The government fraud squad the National Fraud Initiative (NFI) is looking at the practice of 'multiple contract working'.

This is where an employee misleadingly holds down two or more jobs at the same time.

Several councils, including Wakefield, Enfield, and Kensington and Chelsea, claim to have caught staff members in the deception.

Three Wakefield council employees faced allegations of multiple contract working in December 2021. Pictured, Wakefield Council offices

At Enfield Council, five people were found to have undertaken undeclared secondary employment in 2022-23. Pictured, Enfield Council offices

The NFI, which is overseen by the Cabinet Office, launched a pilot scheme to establish the extent of the issue at London councils.

Home working has remained high across both public and private sectors since the pandemic and ministers are becoming concerned about the effect on productivity, especially in the Civil Service.

Every council is responsible for setting its own working regulations and most require people to declare second jobs.

Working for two employers at the same time becomes theft of time and fraud when someone knowingly collects two full-time salaries but splits their hours so they only work half the time for each one.

The government pilot investigating is working in collaboration with the London Borough Fraud Investigators Group (LBFIG), The Telegraph reported.

According to an official report published in June 2023 from Kensington and Chelsea Council, 'moonlighting' is a 'new and emerging fraud type'.

The report said: 'The pandemic created this risk when it normalised working from home and hybrid working.

'While this increases flexibility, it also creates new types of risks when during a cost of living crisis, a second income becomes very alluring.'

The report claimed there were 'several instances' where council employees were fraudulently working full-time simultaneously for other organisations.

Also, three Wakefield council employees faced allegations of multiple contract working in December 2021.

At Enfield Council, five people were found to have undertaken undeclared secondary employment in 2022-23.

Meanwhile, at Birmingham City Council an NFI investigation found 'fraudulent claims' made by an employee in 2020-21.

The employee had joined the council but also held a casual role as bank staff in the NHS.

It was found that both roles were being undertaken while working from home.

But the pilot project is not a direct response to the rise in remote working. Also, it is not specifically focused on employees based at home.

According to an official report published in June 2023 from Kensington and Chelsea Council, 'moonlighting' is a 'new and emerging fraud type'. Pictured, Kensington and Chelsea Council office building

A Cabinet Office spokesman said: 'The National Fraud Initiative matches and compares pieces of data provided by private and public sector organisations to identify fraud cases.

'Last year, its work delivered savings of 171 million for taxpayers.

'One of the types of fraud cases the National Fraud Initiative has identified includes multiple contract working, where an individual misleadingly works in two roles at the same time, including at local councils.

'The Public Sector Fraud Authority, which oversees the NFI, is working with organisations to fight this kind of fraud wherever it occurs.'

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson said: 'Like many employers and organisations, following the pandemic, Birmingham City Council introduced a New Ways of Working policy, which implemented working practices, technology, and facilities to enable its staff to operate and carry out their roles in an agile way.

'Wherever our staff work from, our policies have not changed. Under the staff Code of Conduct, employees are responsible for informing their manager of any paid work they do for other employers, not least to ensure we comply with the Working Time Directive. Where managers have any information or concerns over any conflicts of interest, we will investigate these.'

A Wakefield Council spokesperson said: 'A report to the Audit and Governance Committee in December 2021 made reference to allegations that three employees had been working in second jobs whilst on sickness leave from the Council. The cases were investigated and appropriate action taken.'

Kensington and Chelsea Council and Enfield Council were contacted for comment.
If a deal is not agreed, fighting could resume within the next 24 hours

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is set to expire later today

The Israeli government said Monday it had put Hamas 'on notice' that an 'option for an extension' of the truce in the Gaza Strip was open.

'We want to receive another additional 50 hostages beyond tonight on our way to bringing everyone home,' government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters, announcing the move.

The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return.

As such, another 50 hostages would imply a five-day extension.

Hamas has signalled its willingness to extend the truce, with a source telling AFP on Sunday that the group had informed mediators they were open to prolonging it by 'two to four days'.

'The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners' in that time, the source close to the movement said.

But Israeli media this afternoon reported Hamas had amended the hostage list ahead of today's exchange, cutting down the number of people it would set free.

The government is 'not happy' with the list of hostages due to be released because it is made up of children and elderly women - suggesting yet more families are to be split up because children will not be released with their parents.

Israel and Hamas are close to agreeing an extension to their Gaza truce deal which has just hours left to run, but are still discussing the details. Pictured: An Israeli tank stands in a position, while Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City November 27

Oria Brodutch jumps onto the arms of his father, Avihai Brodutch, shortly after they were reunited in Israel on November 26

Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward as ambulances head towards north Gaza during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City, November 27

The negotiations are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with an Egyptian security source claiming there was disagreement between the two sides on the mechanism of the extension, with Hamas seeking a four-day addition and Israel seeking a day-by-day extension.

'The mediators are making intensive efforts to secure this extension of the truce and ceasefire for several days,' the source said.

Hamas last night freed 17 more hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip - including 14 Israelis and the first American - as Tel-Aviv in turn handed over 39 Palestinian prisoners.

This exchange of prisoners - the third under a largely successful four-day truce - gave way to wild scenes of utter jubilation on both sides.

Captured Israeli children were scooped up in the arms of their overjoyed family members, while Palestinian men freed from Israeli jails kissed their mothers and celebrated wildly in street parades.

A fourth exchange is expected today, during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are set to be freed.

International mediators led by the US, Egypt and Qatar are now trying to extend the ceasefire that began Friday to allow for the exchange of more hostages as war weary Gazans seek more reprieve from Israeli bombs.

Pressure was mounting on both parties to agree to the extension on Monday.

US President Joe Biden said the pause should continue to allow humanitarian relief into Gaza and more Israeli hostages to return home to their families.

Senior European Union and NATO officials added their voices to his call.

NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also weighed in, ahead of a meeting of allied foreign ministers in Brussels.

'I call for an extension of the pause. This would allow for much needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages,' he told journalists.

European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said the extension of the current truce in Gaza is within reach, and that it would allow international community to work on a political solution to the conflict.

He said that the Palestinian Authority needs to regain control of Gaza from Hamas, offering a 'better and viable' alternative to it.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive 'with all of our might' once the truce expires.

Raz Asher (left), four, her two-year-old sister Aviv (right) and their mother Doron, 34, reunite with their father and husband Yoni at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

Keren Munder, 54, and her son Ohad Munder, age 9, with his father and a family member at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. Keren and Ohad were kidnapped by Hamas militants on October 7

Six-year-old Emelia Aloni and her mother Danielle reunite with their family at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

A group of Israelis celebrate as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel

Israel's military operates in the Gaza Strip during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on November 27, 2023

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometre (around a half-mile) of the border fence as they continue military operations

In this handout picture taken and released by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on November 26, 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets soldiers at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu told soldiers in the Gaza Strip on November 26 that Israel's efforts would continue 'until victory'

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 26, 2023

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (C) gestures after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armour and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

'At the end of the day we will return every one,' he said of the hostages, adding that 'we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.' It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister had previously told Biden he would be willing to extend the truce with Hamas an extra day for every 10 hostages that are released.

But after the Qatari-brokered deal was agreed last week, Netanyahu said the goals to 'eliminate Hamas and get the hostages back' would continue unhindered irrespective of when the truce finally comes to a close.

It comes as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire, told the Financial Times that an extension of the deal hinges on Hamas' ability to locate more hostages, whom he said were being held by 'civilians and gangs'.

'If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,' Sheikh Mohammed said. 'We don't yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.'

Most hostages freed yesterday were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt.

Israel's army said one was airlifted to a hospital, and the director of Soroka Medical Center said Elma Avraham, 84, was in life-threatening condition as 'a result of an extended period of time when an elderly woman was not taken care of as needed.'

The youngest hostage released was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7.

'What she endured was unthinkable,' Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages.

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Three more Thai nationals were released.

Separately, Hamas said it released a Russian hostage 'in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin.'

The three Thai nationals were undergoing health checks at a medical centre in Israel, bringing the total number of Thai hostages released to 17, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said.

Fifty-eight hostages have now been released by Hamas. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Hospitals said their physical condition has largely been good, but little is publicly known about the conditions of their captivity.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian prisoners released by Tel-Aviv were children and young men aged 15-19, most of whom had been arrested on charges of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (L) hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail

Palestinians prisoners cheer among supporters after being released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on November 26, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel

The ongoing ceasefire is the first significant pause in seven weeks of war, marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The war has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.

The pause has given some respite to Gaza's 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has been focused, made their way through entire city blocks gutted by airstrikes to flee, but many have been turned back by Israeli troops while trying to return to check their homes.

'They open fire on anyone approaching from the south,' said Rami Hazarein, who fled Gaza City.

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometre (around a half-mile) of the border fence as they continue military operations.

The United Nations says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war, but it calls the 160 to 200 trucks a day 'hardly enough.'

It was able to deliver fuel for the first time since the war began and to reach areas in the north for the first time in a month. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 50 Egyptian aid trucks crossed through Israeli checkpoints to reach Gaza City and northern areas Sunday.

A Palestinian man gathers belongings amidst debris in Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas

Friday's ceasefire came into effect shortly after the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, a Hamas official who was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of its top military council. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting.

Both Hamas and Israel's military confirmed the death.

Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.
At least five children have fallen ill after eating chocolate bars bought from a Christmas market.

Police have issued an urgent warning not to consume the bars which are wrapped in gold foil.

They were being sold at a market in Mansfield, Notts, this weekend.

It is understood that at least five children and a number of adults started feeling unwell and were taken to hospital after eating the chocolate amid reports they had been laced with opioids.

Nottinghamshire police said anyone who had bought any of the chocolate (pictured) or who recognised the packaging should not eat it but call police straight away

Nottinghamshire police declined to confirm that they contained opioids. It said tests were being carried out.

The bars were being sold as 'five for a 1 mystery chocolate bars' at a market in the town centre on Saturday, ahead of the Christmas light switch on the following day.

One man said his nephew had been rushed to A&E after eating one of the bars while he was left feeling 'spaced out'.

Others said their children started to feel unwell within 20 minutes of eating the chocolate.

Nottinghamshire police said anyone who had bought any of the chocolate or who recognised the packaging should not eat it but call police straight away.

It said anyone who had already eaten it and was feeling unwell should seek medical help.

A spokesman said: 'We are working with other agencies and will publish further guidance in due course.'

In a second statement issued this afternoon, police said investigations were ongoing but that there was 'no evidence' to suggest they had been laced with drugs.

Detective Inspector Luke Todd, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'We are aware of reports circulating online of people unknowingly purchasing chocolate laced with drugs from the Mansfield area over the weekend.

'At this stage, there is no evidence to support these rumours.

'An investigation is currently ongoing to establish the circumstances behind people feeling unwell after consuming this chocolate.

The bars were being sold as 'five for a 1 mystery chocolate bars' at a market in the town centre on Saturday. Pictured, stock image of Mansfield Market Place

'This incident has been referred to the Food Standards Agency, who will provide a further update in due course.

'Please rest assured that we take all incidents of public safety extremely seriously and will always investigate any reports we receive of this nature.'

Opioids are a class of drugs that include the illegal drug heroin and synthetic opioids such as fentanyl.

Effects include nausea, vomiting, constipation, dizziness, dry mouth and sedation.

Opioids can also be used medically to help relieve pain such as codeine, tramadol and morphine.

But they have a serious risk of addiction, especially with long-term use.

High doses can also slow breathing and heart rate, which can lead to death.
More than 45,000 Portland students have returned to class for the first time since Halloween after a historic multi-million pay deal brought an end to mass strikes.

Portland Association of Teachers union called off industrial action after securing a 13.75 percent raise for educators over the next three years.

It described the deal, which equates to a rise of between $6,900 and $13,400 per teacher, as the 'largest three-year cost-of-living pay increase' ever seen by school staff in Oregon's biggest city.

Teachers in the region were paid anywhere between $50,020 and $97,333 before the raise was agreed, according to Portland Public Schools, meaning the mass increase will cost a conservative minimum of $28 million.

It comes after strike action by more than 4,000 teachers impacted 45,000 students across 81 institutions in one of the largest school districts in the Pacific Northwest.

Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) union called off their pickets after securing what it described as the 'largest three-year cost-of-living pay increase' ever seen by teachers in Oregon 's biggest city. (Pictured: teachers demonstrating on the first day of strikes Nov 1)

Strike action by more than 4,000 teachers has impacted 45,000 students across 81 schools over the past month, in one of the largest school districts in the Pacific Northwest

Striking teachers marched across the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon, on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023

Educators marched out of classrooms on November 1 requesting a 23 percent increase over the next three years - while the district countered with a 10.9 percent hike instead.

The 13.75 percent increase brokered on Sunday will be implemented over the next three years - with teachers getting a 6.25 percent rise in the first year, followed by 4.5 percent and 3 percent raises in subsequent years.

The union also secured added benefits like a $1,500 stipend for bilingual teachers and a handful of days given each year for planning lessons.

Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) described the deal as a 'watershed moment' and 'major victory' for teachers and students.

'Together with Portland families and our community, we were able to secure major victories on the key issues most important to students, educators, and our schools,' the group said.

'This contract is a watershed moment for Portland students, families, and educators. Educators have secured improvements on all our key issues.

'These changes will make a huge difference on priorities like mental health supports for students, educator workload relief, and safe and welcoming school environments.

'Educators walked picket lines alongside families, students, and allies - and because of that, our schools are getting the added investment they need.'

Educators marched out of classrooms on November 1 requesting a 23 percent increase over the next three years, while the district countered with a 10.9 percent hike instead. They secured 13.75 percent over three years in a deal brokered Sunday

Portland Association of Teachers (PAT) described the new deal as a 'watershed moment' and 'major victory' for teachers and students

The Portland Public Schools District said it had 'tentatively agreed to a contract' with the union.

Union members will need to ratify the terms, and the school board will also need to approve the full contract, which is expected in a Tuesday meeting, the school district said on Sunday.

The students are expected to return on Monday and the school will start two hours late, it added.
Some social media users deemed them 'psychopaths,' with one person commenting: 'Murdering animals, how romantic'

He got down on one knee during a photoshoot with a buck they killed

The 28-year-old was shocked when her boyfriend of three years, 32-year-old Cole Bures, popped the question

A Nebraska man proposed to his girlfriend of three years over the carcass of a buck she had shot, drawing polarized reactions from people online.

Samantha 'Sammie' Camenzind, a 28-year-old dental hygienist, was surprised when her boyfriend of three years got down on one knee in the middle of a photoshoot with their trophy kill.

'Everybody has been saying they would marry him, too, if he let them shoot this big of a deer,' Camenzind told the Omaha World-Herald.

Cole Bures, 32, popped the question on November 12, just one day after the start of the November firearm hunting season in the state.

While friends and family gushed over the proposal and newly-engaged couple, others on social media weren't as happy, with one saying: ''Murdering animals, how romantic.'

Samantha Camenzind, 28, was surprised when her boyfriend of three years asked for her hand in marriage during a photoshoot with the buck they had shot

She and Cole Bures, 32, bonded over their shared love for hunting. The couple say they process and eat the meat of the animals they kill

Camenzind uploaded the photos to social media, where she wrote: 'Once in a lifetime buck and a lifetime of hunting with my favorite person in the world!'

Camenzind learned hunting from her father and brother a few years before meeting her fiance, who participated in the sport since he was young.

The couple say they process and eat the meat of what they kill. They spotted the huge buck on a trail camera before Camenzind shot it.

'I was just as excited as she was when she got it,' Bures said.

He told Camenzind he wanted a professional photoshoot to commemorate the big moment.

The 28-year-old thought nothing of it until Bures suddenly dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. He says he was inspired by a friend's proposal during a hunting trip in Alaska.

'I dont know if they were more shocked we got engaged or the size of the deer,' Camenzind said of her friends' shock at seeing the photos.

She uploaded them to Facebook and was met with positive comments from family and friends.

'I didnt think today could have gone any better until my best friend asked me to spend forever with him,' she wrote. 'Once in a lifetime buck and a lifetime of hunting with my favorite person in the world! So blessed!'

One day later, Cole wrote that the proposal 'couldn't have gone better.'

'I was by Sammie's side when she dropped the hammer on the deer of a lifetime,' he said. 'Later I dropped to one knee and asked her to spend the rest of our lives together.'

Bures was inspired by a friend's proposal during a hunting trip to Alaska

The couple stalked the deer on a trail camera before Camenzind took the first shot at it

The 28-year-old dental hygienist learned to hunt from her father and brother

While the duo were met with positive comments from family and friends, other social-media users criticized the proposal

One user commented: 'Nothing says "love" more than killing something. People are sick'

His Facebook post was nestled amid other photos of animals he'd hunted, including a slew of deer and even a black bear, taken as he grinned over their carcasses.

'Do you ever do anything but hunt?' one friend asked beneath a photo of him posing with velvet-coated antlers.

Bures responded: 'Well I try not to haha.'

When the story reached the press, many branded the duo as 'rednecks' and 'psychopaths.'

'Nothing says "love" more than killing something. People are sick,' one person remarked.

'Murdering animals, how romantic,' another said.

Another user wrote: 'What every woman dreams of, an animal carcass in her engagement picture.'

Others voiced support. 'I would marry that guy if things don't work out with her,' said one man, while locals demanded to know what county the buck was shot in.

The story even reached German news, where readers commented: 'How disgusting and tasteless!' and 'Two crazy people found themselves with the same sick hobby.'

Camenzind said she and Bures were looking at a possible wedding date next fall.

'Not during hunting season, though,' she said.
The daughter of an alleged serial killer's victim has slammed Ohio's Attorney General for 'shaming' the men targeted by the sex worker accused of fatally drugging and robbing them.

Rebecca Auborn, 33, is charged with the murders of four customers, including Christyn Crockett's father Wayne Akin, a former postal worker who struggled with a drug addiction.

When AG Dave Yost announced the charges against the sex worker last month, he said: 'Dont buy sex in Ohio  it ruins lives and could cost you yours.'

In an interview with NBC News, Crockett said Yost's statement was 'devastating' and careless towards the families of Auborn's alleged victims.

Crockett explained: 'Hes not wrong. But for the victims sake, its just so insensitive.'

Sex worker Rebecca Auborn, 33, is accused of fatally drugging and robbing four customers

One of Auborn's alleged victims, Wayne Akin, a former postal worker who struggled with a drug addiction, is pictured above

In a video statement announcing Auborn's charges, Ohio Attorney General Yost said: 'Our message is simple: Don't buy sex in Ohio!'

Her husband Itai Crockett added: 'It was just, like, victim-shaming. [The victims] have family, that have grandkids; they have people that care about them.'

But Yost is standing by his warning, telling NBC that while he understands the family's trauma, they 'were not his audience.'

'My audience was the many, many men who buy sex every day, who are complicit in human trafficking and who are acting dangerously,' Yost said. 'Theres no sensitive way to talk about evil things. You do no one any service or favor by failing to plainly talk about evil.'

Auborn has pleaded not guilty of killing four men with lethal doses of fentanyl in order to rob them between December 2022 and June 2023. She's also charged with attempted murder of a fifth man who survived the attack.

She is accused of meeting up with men for sex at hotels in northeast Columbus, giving them lethal doses of fentanyl and stealing from them.

Police narrowed on on her name after someone reached out with a tip about a woman who was meeting up with Johns to drug and rob them.

The suspected serial killer could have more victims with authorities warning their investigation is ongoing.

Court records indicate that Auborn admitted to detectives on March 31 that she put fentanyl in a man's crackpipe and that she knew he was overdosing when she left the hotel room and took his car and debit card.

Auborn has at least one child and had a daughter who died in 2016 at just 18 days old.

Akin's daughter Christyn Crockett said of the AG's comments: 'Hes not wrong. But for the victims sake, its just so insensitive'

The suspected serial killer could have more victims with authorities warning their investigation is ongoing

Auborn is accused of meeting up with men for sex at hotels in northeast Columbus, giving them lethal doses of fentanyl and stealing from them

She had no prior criminal history.

AG Yost previously said Auborn meets the criteria for a serial killer because the four deaths she is accused of follow a similar pattern.

'For me, if youve got somebody that has a series of killings that are separated in time, theyre a serial killer,' Yost told the Columbus Dispatch.

'We have the same MO here.

'Ive never seen a case similar to this in my career, and having talked to colleagues, they haven't seen this kind of thing.

Anyone with information relating to any overdose deaths between December and August has been asked to contact the police's homicide tip line.

While anyone who has interacted with her has been asked to come forward without any fear of prosecution if they solicited sex.
The primary sprint has begun with Thanksgiving in the rear-view mirror and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley have just seven weeks to convince Iowans to caucus for them instead of former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis and Haley are polling neck-and-neck at second place in Iowa, which is key for candidates looking to earn early momentum.

It will hold its caucuses on January 15 followed by the New Hampshire primary eight days later.

While Iowa is always critical to narrowing down the presidential field, it could also determine whether there is any contest at all this year.

Trump, although embroiled in several legal battles, is still the far favorite in Iowa and is dozens of points ahead in national polling.

Donald Trump is still the far frontrunner in Iowa with just 49 days until caucuses  but that isn't stopping Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley from trying to close their second-place standing with the ex-president. Pictured: Trump speaks at a rally in Fort Dodge, Iowa on November 18

Haley and DeSantis are tied in several polls for second place in Iowa and are spending considerable time in the state key to gaining momentum in the primary race

DeSantis, however, has earned some key endorsements in the Hawkeye State, including from its influential Governor Kim Reynolds and Iowa Evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats.

The Florida governor has barnstormed Iowa, making the state a huge focus of his 2024 presidential primary bid.

He has committed to completing the so-called 'full Grassley'  a reference to longtime Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley - bny campaigning in all 99 counties in the state.

On Saturday, December 2, DeSantis will be in his final county when he stops in Newton.

'The reality is you need a strong mixture of paid media, candidate presence, and ground game to win an Iowa Caucus, and no one is executing in all three areas better than us as we hit the closing stretch,' DeSantis communications director Andrew Romeo said in a statement on the impressive feat.

Haley has also spent a considerable amount of time in Iowa, though not committing to the full Grassley.

A poll last month showed Haley and DeSantis tied for second place at 16 percent, while Trump was in first with 43 percent. Meanwhile, a separate poll earlier in November also had the two tied at 17 percent with Trump ahead at 44 percent.

Trump, while visiting the state several times during the primary contest, is able to spend less time on the ground while maintaining his considerable lead over the rest of the field.

DeSantis has earned key endorsements in Iowa  including from Iowa's beloved Gov. Kim Reynolds (left). Pictured: DeSantis and Reynolds speak at a press conference in Davenport, Iowa on November 7

DeSantis and Haley are pictured with biotech entrepreneur and fellow 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy during the Family Leader's Thanksgiving Family Forum in Des Moines, Iowa

'DeSantis seems to have the best groundwork going out here but it's nothing compared to what people in the past have had,' Andy Cable, a longtime Republican activist in Hardin County, Iowa, told The New York Times.

'Trump doesn't need the groundwork. His people will just show up. Nikki has come on late but I'm not sure she has the actual organization on the ground to actually do it.'

Beyond Trump, Haley and DeSantis, the other Republican candidates still in the running are author and biotech millionaire Vivek Ramaswamy, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and Texas-based businessman and pastor Ryan Binkley.

Never Back Down, the super PAC backing Desantis' candidacy, lost last week its chief executive Chris Jankowski, who said it was 'untenable' for him to help get the Florida governor elected.

DeSantis is debating California's Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday in a televised event hosted by Fox News and moderated by Sean Hannity. The Florida leader says the debate is important because Newsom could end up on the Democratic ticket in 2024 if President Joe Biden doesn't end up running.

DeSantis has committed to the 'full Grassley' which references longtime Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and campaigning in all 99 counties in the Hawkeye State. Pictured: Ron DeSantis, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis and their three children Madison, 6, Mason, 5, and Mamie, 3, attend a campaign even in Davenport, Iowa on November 7

Haley has garnered momentum following impressive Republican primary debate performances where she has not backed down from attacks from her competitors and has voiced some of her more moderate views  including urging her party not to push for a national abortion ban.

Even with DeSantis' full Grassley and high-profile endorsements in Iowa, it's still unlikely that either he or Haley will catch Trump with just 49 days left until Iowans caucus for their preferred candidate.

New Hampshire is holding on January 23 the first primary election  not to be confused with Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

But in the Granite State, DeSantis' support has mostly collapsed with one recent poll showering him in fifth place.

New Hampshire's Republican voters are typically more moderate than in Iowa.
One of the UK's worst domestic abusers who forced his victim to eat photos of her dead loved ones is back in jail after he threw a Lucozade bottle at his new girlfriend.

Craig Thomas, 42, launched the bottle at Hayley Farr after losing his temper because she told him not to throw litter.

He had just been been released from ten years in prison for a horrific campaign of abuse against his ex-girlfriend Charlotte Rooks - who was attacked with hammers, stabbed in the back and made to sleep naked standing up.

Ms Rooks was also forced to eat photos and jewellery of dead loved ones as a bizarre punishment.

Cardiff Magistrates' Court was shown pictures of his new girlfriend Ms Farr's face with a black eye and swelling to her cheek.

Prosecutor Mike Curry told an earlier hearing: 'She was driving when he tore the wrapper off a bottle of Lucozade and threw it out the car window.

Craig Thomas, 42, is back in jail after he threw a Lucozade bottle at his new girlfriend. Pictured: Thomas in 2023

Thomas - seen in a photo for the first time in over a decade - launched the bottle at Hayley Farr after losing his temper because she told him not to throw litter

'Ms Farr made a comment about it and he threw the plastic bottle into her face.

'It caused swelling and bruising to her cheek and she had to stop at a shop to get an ice pack for it.'

Thomas, who is 6ft 2in and weighs 18 stone, was due to stand trial for causing actual bodily harm to Ms Farr and a further charge of controlling and coercive behaviour.

But he changed his plea to guilty at Cardiff magistrates court and was sentenced to nine months in jail.

Thomas was jailed for ten years in 2013 for his horrific attacks on Ms Rooks.

He was released in 2018 after serving half his sentence but was taken into custody after he formed a relationship with Ms Farr and there were fears for her safety.

Thomas was released in June this year and went to stay with Ms Farr who had hoped to marry him despite his record of violence against women.

The first four weeks of their resumed relationship went smoothly but she was driving in Nantymoel, Bridgend, on September 6 when he threw the Lucozade bottle hitting her in the face.

A judge said his campaign of terror against Ms Rooks was the 'worst domestic abuse' they had ever seen. Pictured: Thomas in 2013

His ex Charlotte Rooks was beaten with hammers and stabbed in the back by Thomas. He also made her sleep naked standing up, and forced her to eat photographs of dead loved ones

Ms Rooks  seen here during happier times  was stabbed and made to sleep naked standing up

Thomas was eventually arrested and stood trial. He was sentenced to ten years in prison at Cardiff Crown Court (pictured) for the abuse against Ms Rooks

He was remanded in custody and Ms Farr wrote to him in Cardiff prison, saying: 'You have shown me the side of you that you had promised I would never see again.

'I know that you can be a kind, gentle and loving man. I prayed that the person you were for the first four weeks that you were here was the man I was going to marry.'

Thomas 'controlled' Ms Farr between July 10 and September 10, 2023. The court heard there was video footage of Thomas crouched over her in an intimidating way.

Vaughan Britton, defending, said: 'He lost his temper. It's an empty Lucozade bottle but it has caused injury and it's something he should never have done.

'He is recognising the link between mental health problems and the impact it can have on his behaviour in relationships.'

Mr Britton said Thomas had OCD and since he has been in prison he had been potentially diagnosed with adult ADHD.

Thomas is blaming his violence against women on being left in a coma when he was knocked off a bicycle as a teenager.

But District Judge Stephen Harmes said: 'I would have thought that if his brain injury had any impact on him, that would have been explored ten years ago when he was sentenced to grievous bodily harm.'

Thomas was jailed for six months for controlling behaviour and three months for causing actual bodily harm. The sentences are to run consecutively but he could be freed in January after serving more than half his sentence on remand.

Thomas was put under a restraining order banning him from contacting Ms Farr for ten years.
Television actors Scott and Marika Foley are suing Connecticut's Westport Public Schools after their son ate TCH-laced candy that was found on a school bus.

According to the suit, which was filed earlier this month in Stamford Superior Court, the chocolate candy their son and another child consumed in December 2022 was laced with Delta-9-Tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical in cannabis that causes consumers to become high.

The Foleys, and another parent - Elizabeth Carpenter - who is also listed as a plaintiff, say the students had to be treated at both an urgent care facility in Westport, and at Norwalk Hospital due to illness brought on by the cannabis chocolate.

The suit describes the several agonizing hours that the children spent at the hospital, during which the Foleys were unsure whether they would survive. Both youngsters recovered and returned to school several days later - though they did remain under the influence for 36 hours.

The Foleys, both of whom have had significant roles on Grey's Anatomy and other Shondaland shows, allege the school district was not entirely transparent with them about the serious nature of the incident.

The Foleys - Marika (left) and Scott (right) - successful television actors, have brought suit against the Westport, Connecticut, school district, as well as several others after their child mistakenly consumed weed-infused candy on a school bus

The Foley's child, as well as a friend of his, became seriously ill after eating what they believed was normal chocolate that another elementary school student had found on the bus

Another student at Long Lots Elementary in Westport found the bag on the bus that contained what looked like regular candy and gave it to the two students who became ill, the suit alleges.

The two children complained to their nanny about an hour after consuming the laced candy, which was left on a bus by a high school student, that they were feeling confused and dizzy.

The caretaker became worried that the kids had 'eaten something that they should not have eaten.'

When the Foleys arrived back at their home, they say they noticed their son's friend had 'lost all of the color from her face,' and had sunken eyes with 'dark circles under them.'

Their own child, they described as looking 'sickly' and 'lethargic.'

Following the incident, the couple claims that their child 'would come home and tell us that principal [Kimberly] Ambrosio would ask him not to speak about what happened; both children were being bullied and called drug addicts; and the rumors were flying because there was no message from the school district as to what happened.'

'Our family, the victims of this terrible incident, have been treated as if we are the criminals or perpetrators of some offense,' the filing reads. 'No one from the school or district called to check in on the well being of [the children].'

The lawsuit claims that lack of transparency has resulted in emotional distress for the children and parents.

In addition to the Westport Board of Education, the school district's superintendent, Thomas Scarice, and the DATTCO bus company are also named as defendants in the suit.

DATTCO, the bus company used by Westport schools in 2022, was to supposed to have its drivers check buses for sleeping children following each drop-off run, but that did not happen the day the incident happened.

The Foleys, both of whom have had significant roles on Grey's Anatomy and other Shondaland shows, allege that the school district was not entirely transparent with them about the serious nature of the incident

The DATTCO bus company is also listed as a defendant in the suit. Its driver did not perform the required safety check on the vehicle before picking up the elementary school students who found the bag of weed candy, the parents allege

Westport School District Superintendent Thomas Scarice, who the Foleys allege attempted to cover up the incident by not addressing the community

A 15-year-old Staples High School student admitted to the police to leaving the bag on the bus, which had been used for a run before going to pick up the younger students.

The company disciplined the driver of the bus, but has refused to release the complete surveillance video footage from the vehicle on the day the kids ingested the weed-infused candy.

Superintendent Scarice, who is paid more than $300,000 annually to oversee the Westport School District, was reluctant to make the school community aware of the details of what happened on the school bus, the suit says.

He claimed, in part, that another child who had also ingested some of the candy had parents who did not want the matter to be disclosed or publicized.

Eventually, Scarice sent out a statement to Westport parents calling the incident 'a terrifying sign of the times and a traumatic experience for the students and families involved.'

Though he did not go into great detail about the incident, he wrote: 'I want to emphasize to families that it is especially important for those caring for our youngest students to remind their children not to consume candy, chocolate, or other food from unknown sources.'

'Education must now include ensuring that our youngest children understand the importance of avoiding candy, chocolate, and other foods that they find at school, on a school bus, or somewhere else in the community, or that is offered to them by someone they do not know or do not know well.'

The families are seeking unspecified compensation that will include their legal feels, punitive, legal and equitable damages.

The school district has not responded publicly to the suit.
Eleven men have been jailed for their part in a lucrative people-smuggling operation that ended in the tragic deaths of 39 men, women and children who suffocated in an airtight container in Essex four years ago.

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese migrants were found in the back of a lorry in Purfleet in October 2019 - the youngest of whom were two 15-year-old boys. They died from suffocation and hyperthermia in the container as they were being transported to what they had hoped would be new lives in Britain.

Haulage boss and criminal ringleader Ronan Hughes, 44, of Armagh, in Northern Ireland played a 'pivotal' role with his fleet of lorries and received 3,000 per migrant successfully transported from the continent to Essex.

He admitted plotting to people smuggle and 39 counts of manslaughter and was jailed for 20 years, and, following a confiscation hearing, was ordered to pay victims' families 182,078.90.

Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 46, of Basildon, Essex, was Hughes's friend and partner in crime. He supplied a fleet of drivers to pick up the migrants from a drop-off point near Orsett in Essex for transit to a holding flat in Dulwich, south London to await payment.

CCTV captured Gheorghe Nica carrying a bag believed to contain cash when he met Ronan Hughes, left, at a hotel

The plotters, top row, left to right: Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, Christopher Kennedy, Eamonn Harrison and Gheorghe Nica, and bottom row, left to right: Maurice Robinson, Ronan Hughes and Valentin Calota

The 39 Vietnamese victims of a people smuggling plot, all found dead in the back of a lorry in 2019

The bodies of 39 Vietnamese migrants were found in the back of a lorry in Purfleet in October 2019

He was found guilty of the manslaughters and people-smuggling conspiracy and jailed for 27 years.

Nica had tried to minimise his involvement, blaming his associate, Marius Draghici.

He was ordered to pay more than 65,000 in compensation to the victims' families.

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley, 26, from County Tyrone, was involved in three earlier runs on October 11, 14 and 18 2019.

He roped in his teenage friend and employee, Christopher Kennedy, as a lorry driver.

Gormley, who had previously worked for Hughes, claimed he thought they were smuggling alcohol.

On Monday, was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration following an Old Bailey trial.

Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 27, of Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, was convicted over the same three runs as his boss Gormley.

On October 14, he was caught at Calais with migrants in the back of his lorry and given a 'slap on the wrist', jurors heard.

Gheorghe Nica was found guilty of the manslaughters and people-smuggling conspiracy and jailed for 27 years

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley, who plotted with Ronan Hughes and Christopher Kennedy

Some of them were believed to have died in a renewed attempt on October 22.

Kennedy transported a container of human cargo and biscuits on October 18.

He was described by the prosecution as an 'integral part' of Hughes' human trafficking team and was jailed for seven years for the plot.

Kennedy was found to have made 67,058 and ordered to pay victims' families 6,094.

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 29, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, found the migrants' bodies after picking up the container at Purfleet early on October 23, 2019 for a fee of 500.

Hughes had ordered him to 'give them air quickly, don't let them out'.

CCTV of 29-Maurice Robinson as he was leaving Purfleet port, Essex

He stalled for 23 minutes before ringing 999 while he exchanged a series of calls with Hughes and Nica.

He received 25,000 for a previous run from Belgium to the UK, as well as taking part in an aborted run of migrants due to be collected from the Netherlands.

He admitted plotting to people smuggle, 39 counts of manslaughter and money laundering. He was jailed for 13 years and four months.

Robinson was ordered to pay the victims' families 21,262 after being found to have made 50,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 27, of Mayobridge, Co Down, Northern Ireland, was pulled into the scheme as a means of paying off a large debt he owed to Hughes as a result of a lorry accident in Germany while he was drunk driving.

Described as the 'man on the continent', it was Harrison who picked up the victims on October 22 and dropped off the container at Zeebrugge in Belgium to be shipped to the UK.

Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, was Nica's 'second-in-command'

In the weeks before the tragedy, he had done little other haulage work, being paid a flat fee of 500 euros (445) per trip. He was found guilty of the manslaughters and people-smuggling plot and jailed for 18 years.

He was ordered to pay victims' families just over 5,000 after being found to have made 11,900.

Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, was Nica's 'second-in-command'.

He fled the country after the migrants' bodies were found. He pleaded guilty to the manslaughters and the people-smuggling plot and was jailed for 12 years and seven months.

Dragos Stefan Damian, 30, admitted waiting at the Orsett pick-up point to transport the migrants to London when the tragedy unfolded early on October 23.

He claimed he could not say no to Nica who had him 'over a barrel'. He was extradited from Italy and jailed for 46 months.

Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 31, from Essex, admitted collecting migrants from the drop-off point and driving them to south London a few weeks before the tragedy.

He felt 'beholden' to Nica and could not say no. He was jailed for three years. He was ordered to pay 3,000 in compensation.

Valentin Calota, 41, from Birmingham, was dragged into the operation by his acquaintance, Nica, and drove just one vanload of migrants from Orsett to London on October 18 for 700 plus expenses.

He was jailed for four and a half years and ordered to pay 1,137.29 in compensation.

Albanian Gazmir Nuzi, 46, of Tottenham, north London, picked up his nephew from Essex and gave a lift to a second man after they were smuggled to Britain on October 11.

He admitted the one-off journey but denied being part of the people-smuggling gang and was jailed for 10 months.
25               CAPITAL LINK
Omid Scobie today claimed letters between King Charles III and Meghan Markle reveal the names of two people who allegedly commented on Archie's skin colour.

The royal author, whose new book Endgame comes out at midnight tonight, said he could not reveal the identities of the two people for fear of legal reprisals in the UK.

But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegation in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame about the Royal Family is set to be released tomorrow

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

These include that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother' and that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the other claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.

Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

Mr Scobie said: 'There is a steady open line of communication between the two, where they are able to talk with each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father probably isn't the most emotional or open person'.

The report on ABC said its interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was caught up in a family drama - and that Meghan contacted him to check he was OK.

ABC claimed Mr Scobie also says that he is not that close with Harry and Meghan and he 'never chose Team Sussex'.

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow night on Nightline.

Mr Scobie tweeted a link to the interview on X today, adding: 'More of this @GMA interview will be aired Tuesday on @ABC @Nightline and I'll be live in the studios for @ABCGMA3 and @ABCNewsLive tomorrow, the global release day of #ENDGAME.'
This is the terrifying moment passengers screamed as a Russian Aeroflot jet shook uncontrollably after being hit with turbulence.

Panic-stricken passengers on the Boeing 777-300 aircraft could be seen gripping hold of the seats in front of them as the jet lurched around during a flight on the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to Moscow route.

As the plane flew over the northern Ural Mountains, the aircraft suddenly began to shake.

A woman who had gone to the toilet before the turbulence began was left with a head injury when she was thrown about trying to return to her seat.

A female passenger called Lyubov who later spoke to Russian newspaper Izvestia said the crew warned people about the turbulence, but no one expected it to be so powerful.

As the plane flew over the northern Ural Mountains, the aircraft suddenly began to shake. In a video circulated on social media, passengers can be seen gripping the seats in front of them, with screams and clamouring audible

She said passengers were initially asked to fasten their seat belts and remain seated, but were later asked to lie down on the floor.

'It felt like we were falling down. It was scary. It all started unexpectedly - there was strong turbulence. The woman who was injured was in the toilet at that moment and was trying to get to her place. When the plane fell down, she received a head injury,' Lyubov said.

She said the woman tried to sit in her seat as the plane began to shake, but lost her balance and fell in the aisle, resulting in bleeding.

The crew then began searching for doctors on board.

Among the passengers was the Minister of Health of the Kamchatka Territory, Alexander Gashkov, who provided first aid to the woman and bandaged her, Izvestia reports.

Passengers talked anxiously amongst one another as the plane started to shake. Some of the flyers could be seen holding onto the seats in front of them in scenes of panic

When the plane landed in Moscow, the victim was taken off first and handed over to doctors to be examined in more detail.

Last week, Bonza cabin crew members were injured after their plane suffered mid-air turbulence during a regional Queensland flight in Australia.

Flight AB 626 was travelling from Rockhampton to the Sunshine Coast when the plane hit unexpected and severe turbulence.

The aircraft safely landed at its destination without further incident.

The number of cabin crew members injured and the extent of their injuries has not been revealed by the airline.
Rishi Sunak will rule out a possible return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens if he meets the Greek Prime Minister this week, Downing Street suggested today.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis's visit to London, during which he is expected to meet with both Mr Sunak and Labour's Sir Keir Starmer, has seen a fresh row over the artefacts.

Also known as the Parthenon sculptures, the Elgin Marbles have been the subject of a 200-year-old dispute over ownership between Athens and London.

In his push to return them to Greece, Mr Mitsotakis has claimed keeping the sculptures at the British Museum is artistic vandalism akin to cutting the Mona Lisa painting in half.

But No10 today rejected the Greek PM's remarks and pushed back at any suggestion that legal ownership of the marbles could be transferred to Athens.

Rishi Sunak will rule out a possible return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens if he meets the Greek Prime Minister this week, Downing Street suggested

Also known as the Parthenon sculptures, the Elgin Marbles have been the subject of a 200-year-old dispute over ownership between Athens and London

Kyriakos Mitsotakis's visit to London, during which he is expected to meet with both Mr Sunak and Labour's Sir Keir Starmer, has seen a fresh row over the artefacts

The Greek PM claimed keeping the sculptures at the British Museum is artistic vandalism akin to cutting the Mona Lisa painting in half

Asked if the PM recognised Mr Mitsotakis's comparison between the sculptures and a divided Mona Lisa, Mr Sunak's spokesman said: 'Obviously it's not something we would agree with.

'These were legally acquired at the time, they're legally owned by the trustees of the museum.

'We support that position and there's no plan to change the law which governs it'.

He added: 'We have a long-standing position, I think the PM's on the record that the Parthenon Sculptures in the British Museum were legally acquired under the laws at the time. They're legally owned by the trustees of the British Museum.

'We fully support this position, indeed the British Museum Act prohibits the removal of objects from the museum's collection. We have no plans to change the law.'

The spokesman said Mr Sunak has been 'robust' in his view that the marbles are a 'significant asset' to the UK which has 'safeguarded' the treasures.

'We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue,' they added.

'The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law.'

George Osborne, the ex-Tory chancellor who is now chairman of the British Museum's board of trustees, is currently pursuing a deal to temporarily return the marbles to Greece.

In a recent speech, Mr Osborne expressed his hope that an agreement could be reached with Athens that would see the sculptures sent back on loan to Greece in exchange for 'other treasures' coming to Britain.

The Elgin Marbles were made between 447BC and 432BC and decorated the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens.

Lord Elgin removed about half of the remaining sculptures from the ruins of the Parthenon between 1801 and 1805, before they entered the British Museum.

Mr Mitsotakis has said he will raise the issue during meetings with Mr Sunak and Sir Keir in London this week.

Asked where the sculptures should be, Mr Mitsotakis told the BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: 'I think the answer is very clear.

'They do look better in the Acropolis Museum, a state-of-the-art museum that was built for that purpose.'

The Greek PM added: 'This is not in my mind an ownership question, this is a reunification argument, where can you best appreciate what is essentially one monument?

'I mean, it's as if I told you that you would cut the Mona Lisa in half, and you will have half of it at the Louvre and half of it at the British Museum, do you think your viewers would appreciate the beauty of the painting in such a way?

'Well, this is exactly what happened with the Parthenon sculptures and that is why we keep lobbying for a deal that would essentially be a partnership between Greece and the British Museum but would allow us to return the sculptures to Greece and have people appreciate them in their original setting.'

The Financial Times reported that Sir Keir will tell Mr Mitsotakis that Labour will not change the law regarding the marbles if they win power at the general election.

One person close to the Labour leader told the newspaper: 'We're sticking with the existing law, but if a loan deal that is mutually acceptable to the British Museum and the Greek government can be agreed, we won't stand in the way.'

The 1963 British Museum Act prevents the institution giving away objects from its collection except in very limited circumstances.

A British Museum spokesperson said: 'Discussions with Greece about a Parthenon Partnership are on-going and constructive.

'We believe that this kind of long term partnership would strike the right balance between sharing our greatest objects with audiences around the world, and maintaining the integrity of the incredible collection we hold at the museum.'
Also revealed the Senate will take up a measure to break Sen. Tommy Tuberville's hold on more than 350 military promotions 'in the coming weeks'

Chuck Schumer vowed to have senators working 'long days and nights and potentially weekends' to push through a massive foreign aid package and work through spending, all before the Senate skips town on December 14.

The Democratic majority leader said he would put President Biden's sprawling $106 billion spending package, which includes aid for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, on the Senate floor next week.

He blasted Republicans, who are demanding border security provisions in exchange for more foreign aid, for injecting 'a decades-old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities.'

Meanwhile Speaker Mike Johnson said Monday he was 'confident and optimistic' Congress will pass aid for Israel and Ukraine before the holidays.

'I think all of that will come together in the coming days,' he said at an event in Sarasota, Fla. 'I'm confident and optimistic that we'll be able to get that done  get that over the line.'

Chuck Schumer vowed to have senators working 'long days and nights and potentially weekends' to push through a massive foreign aid package and work through spending, all before the Senate skips down on December 14

Schumer also revealed the Senate will take up a measure to break Sen. Tommy Tuberville's hold on more than 350 military promotions 'in the coming weeks' and work with the House to pass a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) before the end of the year.

Tuberville, R-Ala., has blocked promotions for nine months over the Pentagon's policy that offers financial assistance for service members if they need to travel out of state to get an abortion.

'One of the most important tasks we must finish is taking up and passing a funding bill to ensure we as well as our friends and partners in Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region have the necessary military capabilities to confront and deter our adversaries and competitors,' Schumer wrote in a Dear Colleague letter.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Mike Johnson have insisted tightening border laws is essential to win over Republicans on Ukraine funding.

He noted that border negotiations continued over the Thanksgiving holiday, but warned: 'We will need bipartisan cooperation and compromise to achieve a reasonable, realistic agreement that both sides can support.'

Palestinians inspect the destruction caused by Israeli strikes on their homes in the village of Khuzaa, east of Khan Yunis near the border fence between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip on November 27

Rescuers clear debris in a hospital in Selydove, Donetsk region damaged by a Russian missile strike

Police and military officers investigate a crater from a drone, exploded in the yard of a residential building in Solomianskyi district

Congress has not been able to pass bipartisan immigration reform since 1996.

The White House made a $106 billion request to Congress that included $13.6 billlion for the border to hire new agents and asylum officers, $61 billion for Ukraine, $14 billion for Israel, and $7.4 billion for the Indo-Pacific region, including Taiwan.

'Senators should be prepared to stay in Washington until we finish our work,' warned Schumer, adding they should expect 'long days and nights, and potentially weekends in December.'

Senators are expected to leave town for the holidays on December 14 and not return until January 8.

The House recently passed a $14.3 billion aid package for Israel that was offset by clawing back funding from the IRS. Appetite for Ukraine aid has weakened among Republicans in the lower chamber, though Johnson has signaled he could get it through with the right border provisions.

On Monday he expressed strong support for Ukraine, echoing words that sounded more like defense hawk McConnell than the right wing faction of the House.

He said there's a 'sense of urgency' in getting aid to both Israel and Ukraine, adding there is 'a lot of thoughtful negotiation, ongoing' among members.

The speaker called Israel aid a 'top priority' for the U.S. and called helping Ukraine 'another priority.'

'We cant allow Vladimir Putin to march through Europe and we understand the necessity of assisting there... if there is to be additional assistance to Ukraine, we have to also work and change our own border policy,' he said.

Intel Chairman Mike Turner was not so optimistic about the timeline.

'I think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year and the impediment, currently, is the White House policy on the southern border,' Turner said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' about foreign aid on Sunday.

'The White House in this package making  including it as a national security package, recognizing that the southern border is a threat, put in funding, but it's going to need policy changes.'

'Congress is going to require that there'll be laws [changing] to  to make certain that the border returns to its prior state, you know, perhaps 'Remain in Mexico,' other types of provisions that would secure the southern border,' he continued.

Republicans want to raise the bar for asylum to ensure migrants are fleeing persecution and not just seeking economic opportunities and bring back other Trump-era border provisions.

The Senate must also conference with the House to pass the first tranche of appropriations bills to fund the government by January 19. Funding for Agriculture, Energy and Water, MilCon-VA, and Transportation-HUD will expire on that day.

Two weeks later on February 2, funding for the other eight agencies of government will expire - and Johnson has vowed not to bring up another continuing resolution (CR) to punt the funding deadline down the road again.
An 18-year-old girl was allegedly killed by her own family after being sentenced to death by village elders for dancing with a boy in a viral social media video in Pakistan.

The killing on Sunday, in the village of Barsharyal in Pakistan's mountainous Kohistan region, is being investigated by Pakistani police as a potential honour killing.

A friend, who also appeared in the apparently edited viral footage, was sentenced to death as well but was rescued by police before it could be carried out.

Masood Khan, deputy superintendent of police in the Kolai-Palas district, said: 'They shot dead one of them while police rescued the second one.

'We have launched an investigation to trace those who killed the girl and who either advised or convened a jirga (the village elders) and sentenced her to death.'

He added that nobody was above the law and all those involved in the brutal killing would be brought to justice at any cost.

The girl was killed on Sunday in the Barsharyal village in the Kohistan's Palas (pictured), 150km northwest of Mansehra on the order of the council of elders, known as a jirga.

The second girl, who was rescued by the police due to the expected threats to her life, was returned home with her father soon after, as a senior civil judge ruled that her life was not in any danger.

The boys who appeared in the videos have also gone into hiding, fearing reprisals.

As per local tradition, the jirga had declared those who appeared in the images circulating on social media as 'chor' (thieves) and issued a decree for their killing.

Every year, hundreds of women in Muslim Pakistan are victims of honour killings, carried out by relatives professing to be acting in defence of a family's honour often in deeply conservative rural areas, say human rights groups.

Dr Farzana Bari, a human rights activist told Geo.tv of her concern for the safety of the second girl.

She believed that she would likely be murdered sooner or later and remains under serious threat, continuing that 'she has probably been misguided by her family. Knowing the kind of mindset that exists in the area, I think this girl would be killed.'

The caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Syed Irshad Hussain Shah, said he had ordered police to arrest those responsible.

'We are investigating,' Khan said, adding that male relatives of the young woman were believed to be involved in the killing, as public images of women are considered taboo in the area.

Such killings are often carried out over perceived offences such as elopement, fraternisation with men outside marriage or other infractions of religious and cultural values on female modesty, despite campaigns by rights groups and tighter laws.

Last year, an appeals court acquitted the brother of a social media star, Qandeel Baloch, of her murder, a 2016 killing that sparked national outrage and changes in laws covering honour killings.

Yet another incident occured in the same area in 2011 when a video of local girls cheering for a dancing boy went viral.

All five women in the video were allegedly killed, along with the boy's four brothers, on the orders of a local jirga.

Those involved in the murders of the 2011 case have recently been released.

We have been unable to reach those involved for comment.

The investigation is ongoing and so far no arrests have been made.
Six Bolivian passengers were apprehended for smuggling almost two kilos of cocaine in their stomachs in the southeastern Brazilian state of Sao Paulo.

The drug mules left Bolivia with 27 other passengers Thursday night and crossed into the state of Mato Grosso do Sul before authorities started to monitor the bus.

Police pulled over the vehicle in the city of Aracariguama and escorted it to a State Department of Criminal Investigations station, where all the passengers were subjected to x-ray screening.

Images showed that the six individuals were carrying 454 plastic pellets filled with the white powdery substance.

At least one of the suspects told the police chief that he had swallowed at least one kilo of cocaine on his own.

Six Bolivian bus passengers were arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil,on Friday after x-rays showed they were carrying capsules containing cocaine

Brazilian authorities said the Bolivian nationals were carrying 454 capsules filled with cocaine

The six Bolivian drug mules reportedly were deceived into ingesting nearly two kilos of cocaine and were compensated with money and bus tickets

The Civil Police said the individuals were tricked into ingesting the drugs in exchange for money and bus tickets.

The six mules were taken to Santa Casa de Misericordia Hospital in Sao Paulo, where the were given laxatives to expel the drugs.

Authorities charged the mules with drug trafficking and association with drug trafficking.

The bust comes ten days after six Nigerian passengers were caught carrying almost 150 capsules of cocaine in their abdomens before they could board a flight to Ethiopia at Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo.

Three of the defendants had previously entered Brazil requesting asylum and one was apprehended at Guarulhos International Airport in 2017 on an arrest warrant.

One of the Bolivian drug mules told police that they had swallowed almost one kilo of cocaine

Police took the 33 Bolivian bus passengers to a station in the southeastern Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, where they were underwent x-ray imaging that showed that six of them had swallowed almost two kilos of cocaine

Since 2019, at least 43 people have been arrested at the airport for carrying cocaine in their stomachs, data obtained by Brazilian outlet Globo News.

The busts led to the seizure of 23.5 kilos that would have been smuggled abroad.

In each event, the suspects were immediately rushed to medical facilities to have the balloons expelled due to fears that any of them could have broken and exposed them to a potential deadly overdose.

In April, a 21-year-old Colombian man died at a hospital in Santo Domingo de la Cazada, Spain, after two of the 93 cocaine capsules he swallowed burst in his stomach. An autopsy showed the packages contained 1,200 grams of cocaine.
The Royal Family would be 'delighted' by Netflix's The Crown because it 'humanises' them, a former star of the series has said.

Jared Harris, 62, portrayed the ailing King George VI in the show's first season.

The Crown has come in for significant criticism over its portrayal of key figures in the Royal Family and its historical inaccuracies.

Acknowledging the controversy, Harris admitted on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme: 'There's always a slight thing of, should you be doing this, should they be telling this tale or not, is it in some way disrespectful.'

But he added: 'My opinion is, I've not heard this, but I think the Royal Family would be delighted, because it's humanising them, you know?'

The Royal Family would be 'delighted' by Netflix 's The Crown because it 'humanises' them, a former star of the series has said. Jared Harris, 62, portrayed the ailing King George VI in the show's first season. Above: Harris with Claire Foy in a scene depicting The Queen's wedding day in 1947

Queen Camilla, King Charles III pose together at a state banquet at Buckingham Palace earlier this month, held for the visit of the President of South Korea and his wife

Harris portrayed George VI as he was dying from lung cancer. The King passed away in February 1952, while the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip were in Kenya.

The late Queen Elizabeth was said to have enjoyed watching The Crown, according to Vanessa Kirby, who portrayed Princess Margaret in the first two seasons.

She claimed that a friend of hers had overheard Princess Eugenie saying at a party that 'my granny watches it and really likes it.'

Prince Harry also said that he has watched episodes of the show, including the most recent series which portray his late mother Princess Diana.

'Yes, I have actually watched The Crown', he told US chat show host Stephen Colbert.

Season five of the series drew bitter backlash over its 'malicious' storylines, which included agonizing portrayals of the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage, as well as a fictional scene in which the King was seen plotting to overthrow his mother.

The first four episodes of the final season of The Crown were released on Netflix earlier this month.

The final six parts will be available on December 14.

Harris (pictured above in 2020) was speaking to promote his role in a new adaptation of Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming, which is being shown at the Young Vic in south-east London

Harris as King George VI with Victoria Hamilton, who portrayed the Queen Mother in the first and second series

The Daily Mail's Robert Hardman recently accused the show's makers of 'retrofitting the story of Harry and Meghan' into the series.

One of the available episodes portrays a lunch between Diana and then Prime Minister Tony Blair, as the Princess of Wales begins her post-royal life in July 1997, with Mr Blair reporting back to Queen Elizabeth that Diana wants to have an official role for the palace.

'As a divorced woman - and no longer an HRH - Diana is now learning the difference between being officially in the family and out,' says the Queen, portrayed by Imelda Staunton.

In the first episode of new Mail podcast The Crown: Fact or Fiction, Mr Hardman said: 'Clearly, that is very much retrofitting the story of Harry and Meghan into the story of Diana and Charles.

'We do know this lunch happened, I believe it was at the invitation of Cherie Blair, not Tony Blair's.'

Harris was speaking to promote his role in a new adaptation of Harold Pinter's play The Homecoming, which is being shown at the Young Vic in south-east London.
Elon Musk promised continued to support to Israel in its retaliation against Hamas while promoting the idea of a 'prosperous future' for Gaza as he continues to battle allegations that he himself has endorsed anti-Semitic tropes.

The owner of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, Musk was on an unusual visit to Israel that began Monday morning, during a four-day pause to the fighting, and held a live online discussion with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hearing Netanyahu describe the destruction of Hamas, which Israel has set as a war goal, as necessary for any prospective peace with the Palestinians, Musk sounded his general agreement for such objectives during an X Spaces discussion.

'There's no choice,' said Musk, who also owns Tesla and SpaceX, adding: 'I'd like to help as well.' The visit also comes in the wake of the release of Jewish hostages by Hamas, including four-year-old American-Israeli Abigail Edan.

'Those that are intent on murder must be neutralized,' Musk said. 'The propaganda must stop that is training people to be murderers in the future. And then, making Gaza prosperous. And if that happens, I think it will be a good future.'

On the same day as Musk's visit, the Qatari government announced that the truce in the conflict had been extended by two more days.

As part of his visit to Israel, Musk was shown a 44 minute long film detailing the atrocities that took place on October 7

In a poignant moment, the Tesla founder was shown a baby's crib that now contains expelled gun shells from that fateful day

Earlier this month, Musk was roundly criticized for his response to this message on X

An hour before Musk was seen being shown through the devastated area, he tweeted: 'Actions speak louder than words,' an apparent swipe at his critics

An hour before Musk was seen being shown through a devastated kibbutz in the southern part of the country, he tweeted: 'Actions speak louder than words,' an apparent swipe at his critics.

Less than two weeks ago, Musk replied to a social media post featuring an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory calling it 'the actual truth.'

During his conversation with Netanyahu, Musk called his visit to the war-torn areas of Israel as 'jarring' and described the videos he was shown of the attack as 'troubling.'

The prime minister used much of the conversation to justify the bombardment of Gaza with Musk saying that it was vital to 'get rid of the ones who are hellbent on murdering Jewish people while also brining up the need to minimize civilian casualties.

The SpaceX founder is also working with Israeli officials to allow Starlink, his service that provides internet access to areas that typically do not have it, to operate in Gaza.

Government officials banned its use, alleging that it was not be used by aid workers but rather by Hamas terrorists.

Israel's communications minister Shlomo Karhi tweeted on Monday that an 'understanding is vital' between Musk and his department in order for Starlink to become operational.

In an X post addressed to Musk, Karhi said he hoped the visit to Israel 'will serve as a springboard for future endeavours, as well as enhance your relationship with the Jewish people and values we share with the entire world'.

Earlier on Monday, Musk walked with Netanyahu through the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where 62 people were savagely murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

In a video released by the Israeli government, Musk is shown in a small flak jacket solemnly listening as a member of the IDF explains how the terror unfolded on that fateful day. The South African remains silent, stopping only to take pictures of the ravaged community.

Kfar Aza was among the 20 or so kibbutz that were ransacked and assaulted by Hamas. Among the homes visited by Musk was that of the community's security chief Ofir Libstein, who died while trying to repel Hamas terrorists.

Since the barbaric assault perpetrated by Hamas, Musk has faced waves of criticism for turning a blind eye to anti-Semitism on X, formerly known as Twitter. That criticism has led to a reported loss in ad revenue.

In a particularly poignant moment, the Tesla founder was shown a baby's crib that now contains expelled terrorist gunshot shells.

Musk was also told about Mor Edan, the Israeli-American who was just released yesterday after spending six weeks in captivity after her parents were slaughtered by gunmen. On Monday, she was reunited with her aunt.

Netanyahu and Musk inside one of the homes that now lies empty in Kfar Aza

Four-year-old orphan Abigail Mor Edan was released Sunday after 49 days in captivity, she celebrated her birthday as a hostage, on Monday Musk was shown her former home

'Netanyahu showed Musk the horrors of the massacre in the kibbutz from the events of the Saturday of October 7,' a statement from the prime minister's office read.

'Musk heard the story of the heroism of the late Ofir Liebstein, the head of the regional council who was murdered on the morning of October 7 in an exchange of fire with terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz,' the release also said.

Netanyahu last met with Musk in California on Sept. 18 and urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over anti-Semitic content on X.

Musk responded by saying he was against antisemitism and against anything that 'promotes hate and conflict,' repeating his previous statements that X would not promote hate speech.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen in the United States and worldwide, including during the now seven-week-old war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian faction Hamas.

Earlier this month, Musk was accused of promoting anti-Semitism again after he responded to a man who posted a screed on X criticizing a Foundation to Combat Anti-Semitism campaign video.

In the video, a father is seen talking to his son about the online hatred the son has spewed, and calling him out for his rhetoric.

The X user dismissed the video, writing: 'Jewish communties (sic) have been pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them.

Kfar Aza was among the 20 or so kibbutz that were ransacked and assaulted by Hamas, here Musk hears how the attack unfolded

At one point during his tour of the kibbutz, Musk stopped to take what looked like a video of the surroundings

Musk and Netanyahu were told by an IDF servicemember how Hamas gunmen infiltrated the kibbutz

During a video released by the Israeli government, Musk did not speak as he was told about the atrocity

The visit comes as Musk faces condemnation worldwide for the proliferation of hate speech on his social media app, X

An IDF servicemember held an umbrella over Musk's head during the visit to the now-deserted kibbutz

'I'm 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 don't exactly like them too much.

'You want truth said to your face, there it is.'

Musk, who has 163 million followers, replied: 'You have said the actual truth.'

The father of 11 has a long history of toying with dog-whistle rhetoric about Jewish people, in particular George Soros, who enraged him in May by selling his Tesla stock.

On Sunday, Abigail Mor Edan's grandfather, Carmel, said that even though he is filled with joy that his granddaughter is now on her way home, he knows that 'there are many people who haven't yet come back.' Abigail was the first American released in the negotiated cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.

'I greatly want them to be returned and that the IDF finish what it has promised: All the hostages [back] and Hamas [destroyed],' he said.

The grandfather has not been allowed to speak or meet with Abigail yet, but plans to smother her with kisses when they reunite.

'There's nothing to say,' he added.

The first picture of Abigail since her release: seen in a Red Cross ambulance (right) after being released by Hamas as the first American to be set free

Edan was one of 17 hostages released Sunday, 49 days after the war broke out and militants stormed her kibbutz in southern Israel.

Fighters gunned down her parents, Roy Edan, 43 and Smadar Edan, 40, in the attack.

The girl's siblings, aged ten and six, survived after hiding out for hours in the family home. Carmel Edan said he hasn't told them about their younger sister's release yet.

Abigail, who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity, is now in the hands of Red Cross officials. President Joe Biden said, after her release, that what the youngster has endured is 'unthinkable' and that she has suffered a 'terrible trauma.'

'I wish I were there to hold her,' Biden said. 'Today she's free, and Jilly and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.'

The grandfather thanked Biden saying: 'We love him very much for all the help he is giving us, to Israel. Keep going. Keep going. We don't admire you. We love you.'

The terror group has been keeping captives since its October 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead. Over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive.

State Department officials have yet to release the names of the other American hostages. A total of 10 Americans are currently unaccounted for.

Of the 17 hostages released Sunday, 14 were Israeli, while three were foreign citizens.

Appearing on ABC's 'This Week,' National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said two women, one child and seven men were confirmed to have been taken by Hamas.

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' Biden said in an address from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he was celebrating Thanksgiving.

Earlier that day, the president was briefed multiple times by his national security team on the latest developments regarding the hostage release from Gaza.

'This morning I've been engaged with my team as we begin the first difficult days of implementing this deal,' Biden said. 'It's only a start but so far it's gone well.'

He noted how the first group of hostages included 'an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six years old.'

The sides are currently in a truce under which Israel has been recovering some of the 240 people Hamas took hostage during a cross-border killing spree on Oct 7. In exchange, Israel has been freeing some Palestinians jailed on security grounds.
UAE officials have used the UN climate change talks they will host this week to push for lucrative new oil and gas deals, say the latest damaging leaks about the summit in Dubai.

Sultan Al Jaber, the Emirati president of the UN's COP28 meeting, planned to raise commercial oil and gas interests with foreign officials ahead of talks in the UAE's business hub, leaked internal reports show.

They are the latest claims to cast doubt on whether the talks will boost efforts to cut emissions of planet-heating gases  or are more akin to a public relations exercise for the Gulf petro-monarchy.

Even so, the event has attracted such big names as King Charles III and Pope Francis. US President Joe Biden is however skipping the talks.

Critics have long complained about Al Jaber leading the summit because of a conflict of interest with his other job  chief executive of the UAE's national oil company, Adnoc.

Critics say Sultan Al Jaber shouldn't head both a UN climate summit and a massive oil firm

More than 70,000 officials, campaigners, and experts are expected to attend COP28 in Dubai

Adnoc reportedly has aggressive expansion plans that will raise carbon emissions, while state-run UAE oil and gas fields flare gas almost daily despite decades-old agreements, it is claimed.

Lawrence Carter, head of the Centre for Climate Reporting, which led the new probe, said Al Jaber has 'sought to lobby on fossil fuel deals during meetings with foreign governments about the UN climate summit.'

The leaked documents include more 150 pages of preparatory briefing notes for meetings held by Al Jaber between July and October.

Oil and gas commercial interests appear as talking points in these files, with the reporting showing on at least one occasion a country followed up on discussions brought up during a meeting with Al Jaber.

The report, produced with the BBC, describes Al Jaber planning to lobby Brazil's Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Marina Silva to help push through Adnoc's bid for Brazilian petrochemical firm Braskem.

Prof Michael Jacobs, a climate expert at Sheffield University, said these actions were 'breathtakingly hypocritical.'

Al Jaber has allegedly used the climate summit to bag more oil and gas deals for his national petro-firm Adnoc

Expo City in Dubai: the hub of climate change talks or more greenwashing?

'As a COP president you should not represent any national or commercial interest, it is your job to lead the world,' said Jacobs.

'The UAE at the moment is the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global emissions. And yet, in the very same meetings where it's apparently trying to pursue that goal, it's actually trying to do side deals which will increase global emissions.'

The UAE's COP28 team rejected any wrongdoing.

Al Jaber 'holds a number of positions alongside his role as COP28' president and he 'is singularly focused on the business of COP and delivering ambitious and transformational climate outcomes,' they said in a statement.

A spokesperson also queried the accuracy of the reports and declined to comment on what was discussed in 'private meetings.'

More than 70,000 people are expected to attend COP28 in Dubai, which starts on November 30 and is set to end on December 12.

The largest-ever climate meeting comes at the end of one of the hottest years on record, where extreme weather events linked to man-made pollution have ravaged every continent.

Britain's King Charles III, pictured here with Queen Camilla, will speak at the opening ceremony of COP28

Pope Francis has also said he will attend the COP28 climate conference

Diplomatic efforts to keep global temperature rises below an agreed 1.5C benchmark are likely to be hampered by differences over the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

The latest damning report offers just the latest allegations against the integrity of the talks in Dubai.

Research this month from the Global Oil and Gas Exit List (Gogel), a public database, showed how oil and gas expansion plans by Adnoc and other major energy firms would only add to emissions of planet-heating gases.

Researchers also found that UAE oil and gas fields have been flaring gas almost daily, despite committing to a policy against burning extracted gas that's not captured and sold 20 years ago, according to The Guardian.

Al Jaber's team was earlier this year accused of 'greenwashing' his image, by trying to edit Wikipedia pages that highlighted his role in Adnoc.
At least 400 women and children have been treated this year by Doctors Without Borders after they were raped in tents set up specifically to abuse migrants in the notorious Darien Gap, a bombshell new report has revealed.

In October alone, 107 rape survivors, including 59 people in a single week, were treated by the organization.

The youngest victims were 11, 12, and 16.

'A 100-kilometer stretch of wilderness known as one of the most dangerous migrant crossings in the world - people report being subjected to kidnappings and rape in tents set up for that purpose,' Doctors Without Border said last week.

An estimated 460,000 migrants have crossed the Darien Gap so far this year in hopes of making it to the US.

Earlier this month, a caravan made of 7,000 migrants made its way through the treacherous pathway.

Armed groups of men demand money from migrants - most of whom have already spent their lives' savings just to make the trip north - just for being allowed through the Darien Gap.

Those who can't pay are subjected to abuse ranging from unwanted touching to rape in front of other migrants or in tents set up to assault victims.

A migrant carrying a toddler boards a boat with other migrants heading north, in Bajo Chiquito in the Darien province of Panama, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia

Aerial view showing migrants walking through the jungle near Bajo Chiquito village, the first border control of the Darien Province in Panama, on September 22, 2023. The clandestine journey through the Darien Gap usually lasts five or six days, at the mercy of all kinds of bad weather

During the month of August, a record of more than 84,490 people entered Costa Rica through its southern border with Panama - a 55 percent increase from July

One rape happens every three hours, and doctors believe they don't know the full scope of the problem, as many victims don't come forward.

The organization is only counting the victims who seek medical attention once they exit the Darien Gap in Panama.

'How can you survive five rapes,' a tearful Venezuelan women, whose name was withheld, told the organization.

'We crossed the jungle looking for a better future -not for our lives to end,' she said. 'A snake does not end your life. Your life is ended by the men inside the jungle who rape and kill.'

Migrants who can afford it pay 'guides' who help them quickly cross the dangerous jungle and avoid danger.

But those who don't are on their own, and even paying a guide is no guarantee of protection from being kidnapped, raped or killed.

Traveling in packs offers from protection, but the armed thugs who stalk migrants in the jungle will kidnap entire groups, the Venezuelan victim explained.

'They beat me on my legs with a bat because those of us who had no money were beaten,' she added.

'Those who said they didn't have any money, but when searched were found to have some, were hurt even more. They said, 'Oh yes, she has some money,' and they raped them. I saw many people raped. I saw them left naked and beaten. One, two, or three of them grab you and rape you, and then the next one comes and rapes you again, and if you scream, they beat you.'

Migrants heading north line up to take a boat in Bajo Chiquito in the Darien province of Panama, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, after walking across the Darien Gap from Colombia

If the pace keeps up, as many as 400,000 re expected to cross the gap by the year's end

Costa Rica has declared a state of emergency as it struggles to deal with an influx of migrants passing through on their way to the US. Asylum seekers are seen asking for money in San Jose

Costa Rica declared a state of emergency after more than a quarter of a million migrants crossed through the Central American nation on their way to the US-Mexico border.

Doctors Without Borders says 95% of the rape victims are female, but men are sometimes raped, too.

Men who try to stop a rape from happening can also face violence or death.

'Some young men were also beaten and thrown onto the ground for trying to defend the women,' said the Venezuelan woman.

'They killed a boy in front of us with a shot to the forehead.'

The dangerous jungle crossing has been reduced from over a week to as little as two days for strong walkers, by a network of guides, established camps and rudimentary trail markers

A Panamanian Senafront soldier is seen patrolling the lawless jungle where violent and armed gangs target the desperate travelers on their journey to the US

Doctors Without Borders demanded that global governments ensure the safe passage of migrants and access to medical care following what they have seen on the ground.

'No one should have to suffer this type of violence,' the organization's medical coordinator Carmenza Galvez stated.

'Migration is not a crime. Human mobility is a universal right.'
Downing Street today slapped down a minister who publicly endorsed the sale of The Daily Telegraph to a fund based in the United Arab Emirates.

Investment minister Dominic Johnson dismissed 'sentimental' objections to the deal, which Tory MPs have warned could put at risk the newspaper's editorial independence and damage media plurality.

Lord Johnson of Lainston said the UK had to be an 'open economy' and praised the UAE as a 'first class and extremely well-run country'.

A Government source said Lord Johnson was voicing a 'personal view'.

And No 10 suggested ministers should not be stating their views in public after Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said last week she was 'minded' to order a public interest intervention notice before allowing the deal to go ahead.

The Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine were previously owned by the Barclay family, but are now controlled by Lloyds Bank, to which the family owes 1.2 billion

The Prime Minister's official spokesman refused to endorse Lord Johnson of Lainston's comments

RedBird IMI is backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, who is deputy prime minister of the UAE and owns Manchester City

The Prime Minister's official spokesman refused to endorse Lord Johnson's comments, adding: 'You will know there is now a formal process in place so I am limited in what I can say.

'The Culture Secretary believes that one or more of the public interest considerations may be triggered so she has set out that process and we are now awaiting evidence as part of that.'

But the spokesman stressed that Rishi Sunak had highlighted the importance of the free press when asked about the proposed Telegraph deal during an interview with The Mail on Sunday.

He added: 'The PM has said that a free press and competitive media sector is vital for our democracy.

'You have seen from the actions of the secretary of state, who has an obligation to intervene where there is a public interest to do so  that's what's taken place. There is now a process which has started.'

Tory MPs have urged ministers to block the sale to an Abu Dhabi-based investment company over concerns about media independence.

The company  RedBird IMI  is backed by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, of Abu Dhabi, who is deputy prime minister of the UAE and owns Manchester City.

Ministers, including Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch, who is Lord Johnson's boss, and security minister Tom Tugendhat, are also said to have concerns.

The UAE is ranked 145 out of 180 in the 2023 International Press Freedom Index compiled by the group Reporters Without Borders.

Its news outlets are closely monitored and criticism of its rulers and institutions is illegal.

A group of Tory MPs wrote to ministers to say the proposed takeover 'represents a potential threat to press freedom in this country'.

Lord Johnson, who is welcoming UAE leaders and others to a global investment summit in London today, doubled down on his comments.

Speaking to reporters at the summit, he declined to comment directly on the Telegraph deal, but said the UAE was a 'great partner for the UK', adding: 'Where it is possible I welcome their investment.'

Earlier, he told Politico that he backed the deal.

He said he had 'always been immensely impressed by the calibre of leadership' in the Gulf state, adding: 'My view is that we remain an open economy and it's very important we remain an open economy if we're to have the wealth and investment to power this country.

'My formula is always to revert to, "What is going to make this country richer and more prosperous and secure?"'

In response to concerns by MPs, he said: 'We can be quite sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets the reality is that media and information has moved on and clearly most of us today don't buy a physical newspaper or necessarily go to a traditional news source.'

Former minister Neil O'Brien tweeted in response: 'Non-democratic foreign government wants to get control of two flagship UK media institutions.

'UK Government says we mustn't get "sentimental about some of our so-called treasured assets".'

The Telegraph titles and the Spectator magazine were previously owned by the Barclay family, but are now controlled by Lloyds Bank, to which the family owes 1.2 billion.

The family has proposed to repay the loans with cash from RedBird IMI, a joint venture between RedBird Capital, an American company, and International Media Investments, a vehicle backed by Sheikh Mansour.

It has said that it would be 'fully committed to maintaining the existing editorial teams of the publications and believe that editorial independence for these titles is essential'.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport has written to Lloyds, the Barclay family and RedBird IMI signalling that Ms Frazer will issue a public interest intervention notice.

The minister has said that she is minded to instruct Ofcom to investigate whether the takeover could restrict the Telegraph's coverage and officials said she 'remains concerned about the potential for influence over the Telegraph's newspaper operations'.

Mr Sunak is due to travel to the UAE for the Cop-28 climate summit this week.

He is expected to meet Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, the Cop president, who is also chairman of IMI.
A four-year-old American-Israeli girl has been reunited with her family after both her parents were murdered by Hamas before she was taken as a hostage to Gaza and held hostage for 49 days.

Abigail Edan was the youngest hostage released on Sunday - and the first America0 as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas that is now expected to last two additional days.

She was pictured on Monday at the Hatzerim airforce base with her aunt Liron and grandmother Shlomit and then with more relatives at the Schneider Hospital near Tel Aviv where doctors said she was doing remarkably well.

On October 7, Hamas militants stormed her kibbutz, Kfar Azza, and killed her parents, 43-year-old Roy Edan and 40-year-old Smadar Edan. The girl crawled from under her father's lifeless body and ran to a neighbors home for shelter, and the Brodutch family took her in as the rampage raged. All five - Abigail, Hagar Brodutch and her three children - then disappeared and were later confirmed to be captives.

Abigail had a birthday on November 24 while she was held.

The first images of Abigail Edan's reunion with her grandmother and aunt after she was taking hostage by Hamas following her parents' murder by the terrorist group

Abigail is seen with her aunt Liron, third left, her uncle Zuli, second right and her grandparents Shlomit, right, and Eitan at Schneider Children's Medical Center on Monday

The little girl's parents, 43-year-old Roy Edan and 40-year-old Smadar Edan, were gunned down when Hamas militants stormed their kibbutz in southern Israel

The Brodutch family was also in the group, ranging in age from 4 to 84, released Sunday. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza.

Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt. Israels army said one was airlifted directly to a hospital.

As a dual US-Israeli citizen, President Joe Biden had taken a personal interest in her release and welcomed news that she was among the latest batch freed on Sunday.

'Thank God shes home,' Biden said told reporters. 'I wish I were there to hold her... Today she's free, and Jilly and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.'

Netanyahu issued a video statement after speaking with Biden. He talked about the happiness of bringing Abigail home, but also the sadness that her parents were killed. 'She has no parents, but she has an entire nation that hugs her, and we will take care of all her needs,' he said.

Abigail's story was particularly horrific, and she became a symbol of the bloody massacre after it emerged she had seen her parents Roee and Smadar murdered in front of her.

Her two older brothers hid in a wardrobe for 14 hours and managed to survive but she was found wandering around covered in her fathers blood by neighbour Avihai Brodutch who took her to his house.

Abigail is seen with an IDF soldier shorty after her release by Hamas

The Israel-American girl celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity on November 24

He later left the house to fight the terrorists and when he returned found his wife Hagar, 39, and their three children Ofri, 10, Yuval, eight and Uriah, four, had disappeared.

Israeli superstar singer Lior Narkis and his wife Vanunu even posted on his Instagram that they would like to adopt Abigail.

He added: 'For whole days and nights all the people of Israel saw her sweet smile in the face of our suffering, we wished for a moment t that she and all the other abductees would return home, we are praying for everyone.

The terror group has been keeping captives since its October 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead. Over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive.

State Department officials have yet to release the names of the other American hostages. A total of 10 Americans are currently unaccounted for.

Of the 17 hostages released Sunday, 14 were Israeli, while three were foreign citizens.

According to the White House, Biden and Netanyahu agreed the work was not yet done. Biden described the negotiations as a day-by-day, hour-by-hour process and said he would continue working until all hostages were free.

Hostages were set free over Friday and Saturday, but Sunday marked the first time an Americans was released

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' President Joe Biden said Friday

'Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted. But the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again. The proof is little Abigail,' the president said.

Biden said in remarks from Nantucket, the Massachusetts islands where he spent Thanksgiving with his family, that the cease-fire agreement was 'delivering lifesaving results.'

Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal Sunday. A fourth exchange was expected on Monday  the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners were to be freed. All are women and minors.

Before a deal was reached on Monday, Netanyahu reiterated his offer to extend the cease-fire by an additional day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. But he also said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas 'with all of its power' once the cease-fire expires.

International mediators led by representatives from the United States and Qatar announced on Monday morning the ceasefire would be extended for two more days.

There are believed to be eight other U.S. citizens and one lawful permanent resident still held hostage. Two were women, seven were men. Its not clear whether they are alive.
When world leaders gather in Dubai this week to consider climate change, President Joe Biden will not be among them even though he has placed green policies at the heart of his administration.

The United Nations 'Conference of the Parties' on climate, better known as COP28, begins on Thursday.

But a public schedule issued by the White House has the American president in Washington to light the national Christmas tree instead of flying to the Middle East.

Biden has attended the last two summits, but officials said he was unlikely to make this one, even though King Charles III and Pope Francis will join leaders from nearly 200 countries.

On Sunday, he will be rubbing shoulders with Bee Gee Barry Gibb and rapper Queen Latifah at a reception for Kennedy Center Honorees.

President Joe Biden has no plans to travel to Dubai for the COP28 climate summit which begins on Thursday. Instead, he will be lighting the national Christmas tree on that day

More than 200 world leaders are expected to gather in Dubai for the climate summit. Biden attended both previous years after becoming president in January 2021

His climate envoy John Kerry will be there.

'Theyve got the war in the Middle East and a war in Ukraine, a bunch of things going on,' Kerry previously told reporters when asked about the president's plans.

Biden's absence was first revealed by a White House official to the New York Times Sunday.

'Although we don't have any travel updates to share for the president at this time, the administration looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi, and Senior Adviser John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the administration's historic actions to tackle the climate crisis,' said a spokesperson.

It suggests there are no plans for any foreign visits before the end of the year  including an expected trip to Africa  although officials all used a form of words that does not completely rule out the possibility of an eleventh hour trip to Dubai.

And then there is the small matter of next year's election, after a string of polls suggested Biden is on course to lose to former President Donald Trump.

Last week, the latest national NBC News poll revealed that Biden's approval rating had slumped to the lowest level of his presidency as majorities of all voters disapproved of his handling of foreign policy and the Israel-Hamas war.

It also reporter that voters would rather have any other Republican in the Oval Office than Biden. A no-name contender would beat him 48 percent to 37 percent in a hypothetical match-up now.

Pope Francis and King Charles III are among the world leaders expected to attend COP28

Bee Gee Barry Gibb will be among the guests on Sunday, when the Bidens host a White House reception for Kennedy Center honorees

A Messenger/Harris poll showed that Trump, the clear frontrunner for the GOP nomination, would beat him by seven points: 47 percent to 40 percent.

His campaign insists the numbers tell only part of the story, and point out that only one poll matters: The election held on November 5 next year.

Yet last week, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre seemed to admit to a sense of crisis behind the scenes.

She was asked during her regular daily briefing about polls showing that voters thought Biden was too old and that his approval ratings had hit a low point.

'What I'm saying to you is that, you know, were not going to change the minds of Americans. I get that,' she said.

'Americans are going to feel how they feel, and we're going to respect that.'
Russian state TV has been mocked for using a rude-looking map to illustrate a growing crisis on its border with NATO member Finland.

The Finnish government has accused Russia of funnelling migrants to the crossings as payback for its decision to increase defence cooperation with NATO ally the United States, an assertion dismissed by Moscow.

But in attempting to show how Finland has closed all but one of its eastern border crossings, the Russia-1 channel used a map some suggested looked phallus-shaped.

During a discussion, Kremlin mouthpiece Evgeny Popov displayed a map showing what a journey from St. Petersburg to Helsinki via the Raja-Jooseppi crossing, the last border post it maintains with Russia that is still open, would now entail.

The two cities were encircled in red, with a red line crudely depicting the route between them using the remaining crossing for viewers to admire.

The phallus-shaped map was broadcast on the Russia-1 channel during a programme presented by Kremlin mouthpiece Evgeny Popov

Standing in front of the map while dressed in a suit and tie, Popov said: 'This is what the current routes from St. Petersburg to Helsinki look like through the only working checkpoint on the Finnish border.

'The Finns have closed all the others in an attempt to curry favour with Washington and NATO. After all, it is our country and its union with China that poses an unprecedented threat to the United States.'

Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry who monitors Russian state media, shared a short clip of the broadcast on X, formerly Twitter.

Social media users were quick to comment on the illustration, with one writing: 'Russian tv presenting penis route.'

Other X users thought it looked more like a middle finger, with another posting: 'How many people here think the picture is a middle finger to Putin's logic? How can they display the funny and hilarious image without even realizing it?'

Someone else wrote: 'They really used this picture? :-))) They are getting worse and worse.'

The Kremlin said last Friday that Finland was making a 'big mistake' by closing down border crossings and that Helsinki's move was destroying bilateral relations.

Finland's NATO accession, spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was met with threats of counter-measures by Moscow.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said today that Finland is ready to close its last border crossing with Russia if Moscow keeps pushing migrants across.

'We have closed all our border stations on the eastern border except for one and we are ready to close the last one if needed,' Orpo told reporters in Helsinki.

The Raja-Jooseppi border station in Lapland, northern Finland, on November 27 2023

'Finland is protecting the European Union's external border and NATO's border. We will not let this phenomenon continue,' he added.

Finland has seen a surge in asylum seekers entering without a visa across its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia.

Orpo said on Wednesday that the country will close all but its northernmost crossing point with Russia due to the issue.

'The government has today decided to close more border posts. Only Raja-Jooseppi station will remain open,' Orpo told a press conference, announcing that they will be shut from midnight on Friday.
Tommy Robinson has been charged with breaching an exclusion order after he was escorted from a march against antisemitism.

The Metropolitan Police said that the 40-year-old, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, is accused of failing to comply with a direction to leave an area and will appear in court on January 22.

Robinson was arrested near the Royal Courts of Justice in London, from where the demonstration began on Sunday, after organisers said he would not be welcome at the event.

The English Defence League founder was detained by dozens of officers near the Royal Courts of Justice yesterday, where the rally attended by tens of thousands of people started.

Photos and video from the scene show Robinson with his eyes partially closed after synthetic pepper spray was used on him.

Tommy Robinson was seen being escorted away from the march by police after arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop

Mr Robinson claimed to be there 'as a journalist' and alleged police were trying to stop him 'from reporting'. The Met Police said this did not play a factor

The English Defence League founder is led away by police officers as people take part in a march against antisemitism

The Metropolitan Police said the substance was used after he 'resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs' having being 'warned repeatedly' it would be sprayed.

Mr Robinson had claimed he was attending the rally, which was the biggest protest against anti-Semitism in London since 1936, 'as a journalist', but the march's organisers had raised concerns his attendance would 'cause fear for other participants'.

He uploaded a video of himself with partially closed eyes to social media after the confrontation.

Other footage of him arguing with police officers was also posted on his X account, with Robinson claiming to be present as a journalist at the march.

Following his release from custody, he claimed that bail conditions preventing him from entering London or taking part in protests were 'a blatant abuse of my human rights'.

On the day he was seen arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop opposite the Royal Courts of Justice before being led away by police.

Scotland Yard said it arrested Mr Robinson after he refused to leave the area when asked to by police officers.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'The arrested man resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs. He was warned repeatedly before PAVA spray was used.

'Following its use, officers gained control of him and handcuffs were applied.'

In an earlier statement, the force said organisers had 'been clear about their concerns that the man's attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants.

'The same view has been voiced by others.

'As a result he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.

'He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so.'

Police said on Monday: 'A man has now been charged in connection with this incident.

'Stephen Lennon, of Bedfordshire, has been charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area.

'He has been bailed to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on January 22.'
Police are searching for a California woman who disappeared from a Texas airport after she was released from a mental health clinic.

Danielle Friedland, 36, went missing after she did not board her plane at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Wednesday night.

The mother of two - a five-year-old and two-year-old - was receiving mental healthcare treatment in the area for over a month and was scheduled to return to the California Bay Area for Thanksgiving.

'Dani has been going through an unexpected but ongoing mental health issue for several months now, and we just love and support her,' her husband, Jordan Friedland, said to KTRK.

'Our kids miss her more than anything in the world. She's the most amazing mom in the world and the world is a better place with her and being a mom, friend, and community member.'

Danielle Friedland, 36, went missing after she did not board her plane at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston on Wednesday

The mother of two - a five-year-old and two-year-old - was receiving mental healthcare treatment in Texas for over a month

Her husband, Jordan Friedland, and authorities are desperately searching for the missing woman

She is said to be five feet and one inch tall, weighing approximately 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing a blue puffy jacket, blue jogger pants with a black suit case

Authorities said Friedland spent six weeks getting treatment at the Menninger Clinic. She has been diagnosed with depression, mood disorder psychosis, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, reported KHOU.

It is also said she had had suicidal ideations and had previously mentioned that she wanted to be homeless.

Piedmont, California police said Friedland may have left the airport in a taxi with $160 in cash and debit card.

'One of the scariest things for me is that Dani doesn't know Houston. She doesn't have friends or family here. She doesn't have her luggage, her credit cards, her phone and I just can't imagine how scary that must be,' said Jordan Friedland.

She is said to be five feet and one inch tall, weighing approximately 100 pounds. She was last seen wearing a blue puffy jacket, blue jogger pants with a black suit case.

Anyone with information on her whereabout is asked to contact the Houston Police Department Missing Persons Divisions, Piedmont Police Department or the Friedland family at 832-378-8798.
Omid Scobie has recruited 'Sussex Squad' influencers and bloggers to help promote his new explosive book.

The royal biographer asked them to sign a non-disclosure agreement ahead of the 400-page Endgame's release tomorrow, according to The Telegraph.

One of those recruited identifies herself as only Kaiser, the head writer for blog Celebitchy.

She confirmed on her X page on Saturday she had signed a NDA to read Endgame, writing: 'A few hours ago, I signed an NDA to read Omid Scobie's Endgame and I won't spoil anything, but all of you guys complaining about it before you've read it should hold your tongue - Scobie is MAULING the Windsors. Like, I'm laughing out loud, it's soooo good.'

She added: 'One of the big takeaways, for me, is how none of the left-behind Windsors can manage their way out of a paper bag. None of them are capable managers.'

Omid Scobie has reportedly recruited 'Sussex Squad' influencers and bloggers to promote his new explosive royal book Endgame

A series of revelations and claims are made in the the book about everyone from the Prince and Princess of Wales to King Charles

A day later after finishing the 'well-written and well researched' book she gave a 'mini no-spoiler' to her 13,000 followers.

'Chapter 2 is one of the funniest royal-takedowns I've ever read; there are many pieces of new gossip, but mostly it's a richly detailed narrative about how the institution is antiquated, cruel, ridiculous, etc,' she wrote.

Mr Scobie has been doing the media rounds ahead of the book's release at midnight and appeared in an interview with ABC's Good Morning America which was broadcast today.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame about the Royal Family is set to be released tomorrow

In it, he claimed letters between King Charles and Meghan Markle revealed the identity of the two people who allegedly commented on Archie's skin colour.

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

He also spoke with Paris Match where he said he was not the Sussexes friend and 'never will be'.

Mr Scobie admits in Endgame it 'will burn my bridges for good' as he vows to 'tell the full story' having 'in the past I, like others, have held back on revealing some of the darker truths at the heart of the institution of the British monarchy'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

These include that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother' and that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the other claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.

One of those recruited goes by the name Kaiser and is the head writer of a blog called Celebitchy

Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

Mr Scobie is expected to appear on ITV's This Morning on Thursday.
King Charles and Prince William are scheming and backstabbing against one another in a 'tussle for the spotlight' after the Queen's death, Omid Scobie's Endgame claims.

Mr Scobie says the monarch and his heir are 'pursuing selfish agendas' and 'one-upmanship' that threatens their relationship, Elizabeth II's legacy and the future of the Crown.

Scobie calls it a Shakespearean tragedy of scheming and backstabbing between 'the favoured prince and an unpopular king'.

The bombshell book, released tomorrow, claims there is 'increasing' tension between Charles and William, fuelled by the King's 'jealousy' of William and the public viewing his time on the throne as a brief 'bridge' to his son's more 'modernising' reign.

He said amid these tension father and son 'have already displayed signs that they are pursuing selfish agendas, a culture of coverups and PR trickery and family discord have taken over the House of Windsor'.

Omid Scobie's Endgame claims there is 'friction' between William and Charles. He claims the King is jealous of his eldest son (pictured together on November 12)

Scobie claims Charles and Camilla have turned a blind eye to briefing against William and Harry

William never liked Meghan and says that Harry has 'defected' to the US with his American wife

He cites the handling of Susan Hussey's comments to a black British charity boss, where Prince William was quick to distance himself from his godmother.

He writes: 'The father-son relationship was beginning to bristle with tension and one-upmanship, so William's solo maneuverings around the Hussey trouble added force to friction.

READ MORE: King Charles was 'cold and brief' in 'awkward' phone call with Prince Harry after the Duke reached out to him following release of memoir Spare King Charles III and Prince Harry at Charles's 70th birthday celebration in London in May 2018 Advertisement

'William's Kensington Palace and King Charles' Buckingham Palace are now hives of competing agendas and different ideas about how to modernise', adding: 'The tussle for spotlight has only heightened since Charles became King'.

King Charles and Queen Camilla have turned a blind eye to their aides briefing against William and Harry if it helped their image, Endgame claims.

The Sussexes' favoured royal reporter also alleged that William has openly said that Harry has defected to America. Scobie also says William disliked Meghan from the start and will not make up with Harry because he is no longer useful' to him' as a helpful distraction or collateral damage.

Scobie has said this situation Queen's life of public service 'hangs in the balance' - and he is damning of Charles.

Endgame claims that Charles has always put himself first. It says the monarch is 'a stubborn eccentric who has spent most of his life waiting and planning for his ascension, even at the cost of his relationships with his own sons'.

He goes on: 'The former Prince of Wales is not only far less popular than his predecessor and his successor, he is a thorn in the side of the institution.

'Charles knows his reign will be a transitional one. An intervening sovereignty that must happen before his elder son William, the Prince of Wales takes over at a far younger age to breathe new life into a desiccated monarchical system.

Scobie also damns William's treatment of Harry, claiming he no longer 'needs' his brother.

He writes: 'Though they were remarkably close as they grew up, Harrys life decisions and rooted in his ignited, newfound dedication to the Crown, William now considers his brother an outsider, especially since the release of his memoir.

'The heir doesnt really need the spare any longer anyway, one source admitted to me shortly after the Duke of Sussex left Britain in March 2020.

William 'doesn't think King Charles is a competent leader' and was baffled that the King 'lay awake any nights worrying about Prince Andrew', Omid Scobie has claimed in his bombshell book End Game.

The book, which hits shelves in the UK tomorrow, delves into the Royal Family's handling of Prince Andrew's involvement with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Before Prince Andrew was stripped of his military affiliations and patronages in January 2022, the author says King Charles and Prince William grappled with the best course of action.

A source close to King Charles said: 'You'd find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about [Andrew].'

According to the author, Prince William was 'baffled' by why his father was agonising over the decision - and wanted him to take decisive action.

Before Prince Andrew was asked to step down from royal duties, the author says King Charles and Prince William (pictured in September 2022) grappled with the best course of action

A source said: 'William [doesn't'] think his father is competent enough, quite frankly.

'Though they share similar passions and interests, their style of leadership is completely different'.

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be 'soft' on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her.

The author says a family friend told him that Andrew was the 'one who would make [the Queen] laugh, keep her company, and because he was always a little bit lost, she coddled him'.

The author claims that Prince William put the plan to oust Prince Andrew into action with his private secretary as the late Queen and the then Prince Charles were 'not ready' to start the process themselves.

As Prince Philip was no longer there to 'take charge', Prince William consulted his team about 'the Andrew problem' and then set up a meeting with his grandmother and her private secretary in her residential quarters at Windsor.

After allegedly speaking with Prince William for over an hour, the Queen then phoned Charles in Scotland to tell him that they needed to strip Andrew of his titles and duties.

The author claims it was a' genuinely sad' moment for the Queen and a 'gut punch' for the family following Prince Philip's death.

A source close to King Charles told Omid Scobie: 'You'd find it hard to believe but [Charles lay] awake many nights worrying about Andrew'

Scobie claims Prince William felt the Queen would be 'soft' on Prince Andrew unless he voiced his concerns directly to her

Prince Andrew resigned from public duties in May 2020 before he was then stripped of his military titles and patronages by the Queen in 2022.

Elsewhere in the book, Scobie claims William admired the Queen's political neutrality and wants to mirror her reign more than Charles'.

In a scathing chapter dedicated to the future Queen, he branded Kate the monarchy's 'last shiny thing for many years to come' and claims her workload is lower than other senior members of the Firm, and saying that she's 'technically a part time working royal'.

Known for his sympathetic coverage of Harry and Meghan, Scobie added that Kate isn't known for 'leadership and outgoing nature' like 'Meghan', who was 'another shimmering ornament in the royal family tree' before she stepped down.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Harry and Meghan's 'cheerleader-in-chief' Omid Scobie took aim at The Princess of Wales in his new book Endgame, which has been published in Australia. Kate is pictured at a recent event

This, according to Scobie's recollection, meant coverage of Meghan's engagements during her short time as a working royal, were 'far less about fashion choices and more about her work or her role in the Firm'.

Scobie also claims that Kate 'does not plan to increase her workload for 10-15 years', or until her children reach adulthood, and added that she earned the nickname 'Katie Keen', because palace press release mitigate her doing less by saying she is 'keen to learn'.

In a clear swipe, Scobie writes Kate's lifestyle is something most parents could 'only dream of' and that Palace aides were afraid to push her do to anything that 'makes her uncomfortable' before the Queen died.

He adds that the future queen has been through five different private secretaries in six years, because they all found the role 'uninspiring and frustrating'.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

These include that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother' and that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the other claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.

Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.
Six teenagers appeared in court in Paris today over their part in the beheading and killing of teacher Samuel Paty in 2020.

The 47-year-old history and geography teacher was stabbed and then beheaded by 18-year-old Chechen refugee and Islamist extremist Abdoullakh Anzorov near his secondary school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine on October 16, 2020.

He was murdered after messages spread on social media that the teacher had shown his class cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed from the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The defendants, who all arrived at the courthouse today covering their faces with hoods or surgical masks and sunglasses to disguise their identities, have been accused of slander and identifying Paty to the killer in exchange for money.

The hearing will be held behind closed doors given the young ages of the defendants at the time of the events, all between 13 and 15 years old, meaning only those directly affected by the case can attend the hearing.

A photograph of history and geography teacher Samuel Paty as seen at his tribute ceremony in Eragny-sur-Oise, northwestern Paris

Crowds gathered at Place de la Sorbonne to watch the National Tribute to the murdered school teacher Samuel Paty lead by French president Emmanuel Macron on October 21, 2020 in Paris

READ MORE: France will try 14 people including six CHILDREN over murder of teacher Samuel Paty three years after he was beheaded by Islamic extremist Advertisement

The press does not have access to the courtroom, guarded by police officers, and is banned from reporting what is said, even by quoting lawyers.

Members of Paty's family were admitted to the courtroom, as were around ten of his teacher colleagues who said they hoped to join the plaintiffs in the case.

Paty had used the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo as part of an ethics class to discuss free speech laws in France, where blasphemy is legal and cartoons mocking religious figures have a long history.

His killing took place just weeks after Charlie Hebdo republished the cartoons. When the magazine first used the images in 2015, Islamist gunmen stormed its office, killing 12 people.

Last month another teacher, Dominique Bernard, was killed in Arras in northern France by a young radicalised Islamist.

Like Anzorov, Bernard's suspected killer Mohammed Moguchkov also hailed from Russia's mainly Muslim North Caucasus region.

The terrorist who beheaded Paty near Paris, 18-year-old Abdullakh Anzorov

A teenager was jailed in October for two years for her role in the horrific beheading of French teacher Samuel Paty (pictured)

Flowers next to a placard reading 'I am a teacher' in tribute to Samuel Paty taken in October 2020

Five of the adolescents on trial, who were 14 or 15 at the time of Paty's murder, are being tried for criminal conspiracy with intent to cause violence.

They are accused of having been on the lookout for Paty and identifying him to the killer in exchange for money.

A sixth teenager, a girl 13 at the time, is accused of false allegations for wrongly saying that Paty had asked Muslim students to identify themselves and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons, when in fact she had not even been in the class.

She arrived in the courtroom with her head completely hidden in the hood of her black down jacket.

Louis Cailliez, a lawyer for the Paty family, said he expected the defence team to explain away the defendants' actions as 'errors of youth'.

But, he said, the trial needed to elucidate 'the true reasons why these pupils committed the unforgivable'.

'He is eaten up with remorse,' said one of the defendants' lawyers, Antoine Ory, about his client. 'He is terrified, very worried about coming face to face with Samuel Paty's family.'

French President Emmanuel Macron leaves after paying his respects by the coffin Paty in the courtyard of the Sorbonne university during a national memorial event

A photograph taken on October 16, 2023 shows a commemorative plaque for Paty near the Bois d'Aulne school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine

READ MORE: Muslim girl is jailed for two years for her role in the murder of French teacher Samuel Paty who was beheaded for showing class a cartoon of the Prophet Advertisement

A trial of eight adults also implicated in the case is scheduled for late 2024.

Paty's family see the trial of the teenagers as crucial, according to Virginie Le Roy, a lawyer representing his parents and one of his sisters.

'The role of the minors was fundamental in the sequence of events that led to his assassination,' she said.

During questioning, the teenagers swore that at most they thought Paty would be 'flagged up on social media', 'humiliated' or maybe 'roughed up' but they never imagined 'it would go as far as murder'.

They now are high school pupils and risk two-and-a-half years in prison if convicted.

'It is complicated,' said Dylan Slama, the lawyer for one of the accused.

'He will be associated with this for the rest of his life.'

One of the teachers present, who like his colleagues declined to be named, said he was at the trial 'because we need to understand'.

Another teacher said 'Samuel Paty is part of our daily lives, we don't teach in the same way that we used to'.

A third said 'we have waited three years to hear what our students have to say'.

This is the first of two trials and is scheduled to last until December 8.
Prince Harry called his father Charles following the release of his memoir Spare but their conversation was 'awkward' and the King was 'cold and brief', a new book claimed today.

Omid Scobie's book Endgame quoted an unnamed friend of the Duke of Sussex who said that Charles was not 'open to any proper dialogue'.

A friend of Harry's had encouraged him to call Charles after the book came out in January, which the author said followed months of the King 'keeping his distance'.

Mr Scobie wrote: 'Despite the many opportunities to discuss his grievances ahead of the publication of the book, Charles instead chose to keep his distance for months.

'Harry and his father swapped a few words over Christmas 2022, but it wasn't until after the January 10, 2023, release of the memoir that they had their first proper conversation.

King Charles III and Prince Harry at Charles's 70th birthday celebration in London in May 2018

Prince Harry on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to promote his book on January 10, 2023

'Encouraged by a close friend, the Duke of Sussex reached out to Charles by phone to try to discuss some of the unresolved issues between them.'

Spare by Prince Harry came out in January

Mr Scobie then quotes a friend of Harry's, saying: 'It was an awkward conversation, but he knew if he didn't make those first steps, there would never be any progress.

'There were no raised voices, no arguments... but the King was cold and brief rather than open to any proper dialogue.'

Mr Scobie said the lack of 'significant resolution or outcome' from the discussion showed that Charles had 'once again wasted an opportunity to take the upper hand and let bygones be bygones for the sake of family harmony.'

Mr Scobie - who has been dubbed 'Meghan's mouthpiece' - went on later in the book to refer to Harry's solo attendance at the King's Coronation in May being a 'striking reminder of the missed opportunity the monarch had to bring his entire family together before the public witnessed this royal milestone'.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

Prince Harry leaves Westminster Abbey following the Coronation of King Charles III on May 6

The author added that this 'wasn't for lack of effort on Harry's side'.

Omid Scobie's new book Endgame

He said the Duke 'made it clear to his father after the January release of his memoir that he hoped to have a proper conversation about events of the past, a chance for both sides to take accountability where necessary'.

But Mr Scobie described Charles as 'stubbornly hard to pin down', adding that Harry and his wife Meghan Markle were 'unclear' for the first few months of the year about whether they were even invited to the Coronation.

Charles told his son 'I... haven't decided' during a phone call in early February initiated by Harry, according to Mr Scobie who added that Charles only made a final decision in late March.

Harry was reported to have secured a four-book deal with Penguin Random House worth 29million in June 2021.

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

Spare was his first book and contained a series of claims such as Harry saying William physically attacked him in a row over Meghan.

READ MORE Omid Scobie hurls more truth bombs in new interview to promote Endgame Advertisement

It also contained an allegation that William and their father Charles confronted him after Prince Philip's funeral 'looking for a fight'.

Harry also alleged that William and Kate urged him to wear his infamous Nazi fancy dress outfit.

In addition, the Duke revealed his father's medical ailments and the fact the King still carries around his favourite teddy bear.

He cast William as his 'arch-nemesis', Queen Camilla as a 'wicked stepmother' and Charles as an emotionally-stunted and ineffectual 'old man'.
One person sustained injuries and was taken to the hospital

Authorities said that 'numerous' horses were killed in the large blaze

A barn fire in Colorado killed 'numerous' horses as smoke and flames could be seen for miles following the blaze.

Around 4.50am Monday, Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies and the Franktown Fire Protection District responded to the reported fire.

Six other neighboring fire departments accompanied them as the large flames burned near North Russellville Road and Borth State Highway 83, which is 35 miles outside of Denver.

The caretaker of the barn was injured and taken to a local hospital with smoke inhalation and the extent of their injuries is unknown at this time.

By 5.50am, Douglas County Sheriff's Office posted that 'unfortunately numerous horses have passed away.'

The barn fire broke out around 4.50am on Monday as thick plumes of smoke and vibrant flames covered the dark sky

The exact number of horses killed has not been released.

The blaze has since been contained and the cause is being investigated. The name of the commercial barn and who owns it is unclear.

South Metro Fire, Castle Rock Fire and Rescue Department, Elizabeth Fire Rescue, West Douglas Fire and Jackson Fire assisted with the enormous fire.

Thick plumes of smoke were seen miles away in the dark sky that was slightly lit up by the vibrant orange fire.

Franktown Fire Protection District said that four horses were 'let out by the caretaker before the smoke became too heavy.'

Authorities said that 'numerous' horses were killed. The Franktown Fire Protection District said that four horses were saved by the caretaker

Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies and the Franktown Fire Protection District responded to the scene, along with seven neighboring fire departments

Video of the blaze being put out showed firefighters blasting water on the flames as an unstable charred perimeter of the barn remained.

One neighbor told Fox31 Denver that they heard 'loud booms' before the 'sky lit up.'

Someone else captured a picture of orange smoke clouds in the dark blue sky from miles away.

'How awful! Thank you for your hard work and the update. We could see the flames from our house,' on Facebook user commented.

The large fire was eventually contained, and the cause of the blaze is under investigation

One neighbor captured the blaze from miles away at her house as the vibrant smoke clouds lit up the sky

According to the Animal Welfare Institute, barn fires are known to cause 'immense suffering' and have gone on to kill thousands of farm animals each year.

'Some farmed animals die almost immediately as fires burn through the barns, while other have to euthanized later due to severe burns and smoke inhalation,' the institute said.

From 2018 to 2021, there were 539 reported deadly barn fires, and over 2.99million animals were killed during that time period, according to a report done by the Animal Welfare Institute.
As hostage negotiations continue between the Israeli government and Hamas terror leaders, at least ten American-Israeli hostages remain in captivity.

On Monday, Israel and Hamas announced they will extend the ceasefire another two days, during which time the radical Palestinian terrorists will release ten hostages per day.

US State Department officials have repeatedly said they do not have an update on any of the Americans, their whereabouts, conditions or a timeline for release.

'We don't have a whole lot of information,' said National Security Council strategic communicator John Kirby on CBS. He added the government remains hopeful that Hamas will continue to produce lists of hostages they plan to release in the coming days.

Another 11 hostages were released Monday, but none of them were Americans.

'I know that they've been requested, and I know that they, of course, they are on -- very high on the list of priorities. At this stage, I cannot yet confirm. And with everything in this whole process happening, you know, we can only confirm once we have hands on and can see and verify for ourselves,' IDF Spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus said on CNN.

'The process is a very messy one, where there's many changes, and until things are hands on and we can see them, we are not going to venture out any statements. As soon as it happens, we will confirm. We will let the families know.'

One American-Israeli hostage has been released so far - four-year-old Abigail Idan, who was freed on Sunday.

White House officials said that three Americans, the girl and two women, were expected to be released by Monday, and they do not know why the adults have not been freed.

Officials have not provided an exact list of the Americans behind held hostage, nor have they said when or whether they expect any Americans to be released. DailyMail.com has compiled a list of some of the US citizens who had been kidnapped by Hamas since the October 7 surprise attack on Israel.

One American-Israeli hostage has been released so far - four-year-old Abigail Edan, who was freed on Sunday

On Monday, Israel and Hamas announced they will extend the ceasefire another two days, during which time the radical Palestinian terrorists will release ten additional hostages per day

Israelis cheer over the weekend as an army helicopter transporting recently freed hostages takes off

Omer Neutra, 22

US-born Israeli soldier Omer Neutra was abducted by Hamas terrorists on the morning of October 7 while he was stationed on the Israel-Gaza border. He was born and raised on Long Island, New York, but went to Israel for a gap year between high school and college and ultimately decided to stay.

After his kidnapping, his mother said that it is known that he was in a Israeli Defense Force tank at the time of the attack, 'so we know he was taken out of the tank,' she said.

Omer Neutra, who turned 22 several days after the barbaric October 7 attack, was a member of the IDF stationed on the Israel-Gaza border when he was kidnapped. He is a native of Long Island, New York where he lived until graduating high school

Edan Alexander, 19

A recent New Jersey high school graduate, Edan Alexander was serving in the IDF when he was kidnapped by Hamas during the barbaric October 7 attack.

Earlier this month Back home in Tenafly, New Jersey, hundreds of people gathered to support the Alexander family. Friends of the teen praised his loyalty and sense of humor in a video they made about him. He serving near Israel's southern border in Gaza when he was taken.

Edan Alexander recently graduated from Tenafly High School in New Jersey and was serving in the IDF's Golani Brigade 51st Division when he was taken

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23

Goldberg-Polin was kidnapped from the Supernova musical festival by radical Palestinian terrorists on October 7. Before moving to Israel with his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, he lived in Berkeley, California and Richmond, Virginia.

Horrifying footage showed the 23-year-old being loaded at gunpoint into the bed of a pickup truck commandeered by Hamas terrorists after an explosion had blown off half of his left arm. His parents have been relentless in their search for their son and their effort to bring him home.

They flew last month to the United Nations in New York to speak about the hostages. Until April, Hersh had been a tank driver in the 7th Armored Brigade of the IDF. He had also trained to become a medic.

A horrifying video of Goldberg-Polin being loaded into a flat-bed truck driven by Hamas terorrists showed half of his left arm had been blown off

Sagui Dekel-Chen, 35

Sagui Dekel-Chen was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near Israel's southern border with Gaza. His American father, Jonathan Dekel-Chen, who is a professor at Hebrew University, has been part of an American delegation of family members of the kidnapped who are telling their stories in order to raise awareness and attention.

Dekel-Chen was able to protect his wife and children before Hamas took him from the kibbutz.

Sagui Dekel-Chen was kidnapped from his home in Kibbutz Nir Oz near Israel's southern border with Gaza

Itay Chen, 19

Chen is an American-Israeli dual citizen, who was serving in the IDF near the Gaza border when he was taken. His father, Ruby Chen, is from the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.

He described his teenage son as 'giving,' while also noting he is an avid Los Angeles Lakers fan. Chen had made the decision to stay at his base near Gaza during the weekend of Simchat Torah, so that he would be able to return home for his younger brother's bar mitzvah the following weekend.

Itay Chen, a dual US-Israeli citizen was taken from his southern base, where he had stayed for the holiday weekend in order to go home the next weekend for his younger brother's bar mitzvah

Judy Weinstein, 70 and Gad Haggai, 72

A married couple with roots in America and Canada, the pair were taken after being injured by Hamas terrorists in the fields near Kibutz Nir Oz, where the couple lived.

Following the onset of the ambush, one of the couple's adult children was told that Judy had called a paramedic station to report their injuries. The couple had both been shot and Gad 'wasn't doing well.' The ambulance that was meant to assist them was blown up by a rocket as gunmen began attacking the kibbutz.

Judy Weinstein and Gad Haggai were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz

Keith Samuel Siegel, 64

Siegel is a native of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who moved to Israel some 40 years ago. Keith was taken from Kfar Aza with his wife, Aviva, who was part of a prisoner exchange that took place over the weekend.

According to Bring Them Home Now, Keith works as an occupational therapist. Elsewhere, he and his wife have been described as 'humanitarian workers living in Kfar Aza.'

North Carolina native Keith Siegel was taken from Kfar Aza with his wife Aviva, who was returned as part of a prisoner exchange over the weekend

Liat Beinin Atzili and Aviv Atzili, both 49

The married couple have been missing from Kibbutz Nir Or since the morning of the terror attack. Liat is American born, and a significant portion of her family, including her sister, still live in the US.

The couple's house was burned down during the terror attack but there was no sign of a struggle. The next day, Aviv's phone was geo-located to Gaza.

Liat Beinin Atzili and Aviv Atzili, both of whom have strong ties to the US, are thought to be in Hamas custody after being taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7

There has been no official word when the Americans being held hostage might be released.

'We do not believe that there are Americans in this group coming out today,' Kirby told CNN. They were supposed to be two adult American women released in the first 50 hostages, and its not clear why they haven't been freed.

Kirby said future releases are dependent upon Hamas' willingness to continue the pause in fighting.

'Israelis have said they are willing to continue the pause if more hostages are released,' he said.

Egypt, the United States, and Qatar helped mediate the agreement.

One complicating factor is how little information Hamas has shared with Israel and outside sources about the condition of the hostages.

A spokesperson for The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, who run the Bring Them Home Now campaign, told Dailymail.com that they are not aware of the condition of any hostage, or how many are still alive.

The spokesperson said: 'The Red Cross has not been allowed to visit the hostages and provide a proof of life report and a proof of health report.

'The only proof of life we have received are videos that Hamas has released that are now outdated.'

The last two videos that have been released, she pointed out, have featured people who have been killed.

Furthermore, she said, none of the videos that Hamas has released have had any Americans in them.

The last two videos that have been released are people who have been killed, released or still in captivity.
Michael Gove today said the current record levels of migration to the UK were putting pressure on housing as he admitted not enough homes are being built.

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary acknowledged the construction of new houses across Britain had been too slow 'for generations'.

Mr Gove stressed there was a need to both bring down migration and build more properties.

But he prompted new concerns about a loss of green spaces as he warned meeting housing demand couldn't be done by 'concentrating on brownfield land alone'.

Official figures published last week showed net migration to Britain reached a record 745,000 last year, which has prompted calls for new restrictions among Tory MPs.

Michael Gove said the current record levels of migration to the UK were putting pressure on housing as he admitted not enough homes are being built

The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary acknowledged the construction of new houses across Britain had been too slow 'for generations'

Official figures published last week showed net migration to Britain reached a record 745,000 last year, which has prompted calls for new restrictions among Tory MPs

Asked if Britain did not have the number of homes to match the demand from record migration levels, Mr Gove told Times Radio this morning: 'Yes, in fact I think actually the situation is  if anything  worse than you depict.

'It is the case that the migratory flows put more pressure on housing, but we haven't built enough homes overall for generations.

'This Government is going to hit its target of a million new homes in this Parliament, but we do need to go further.'

Ministers needed to massively increase housebuilding and significantly reduce immigration to meet the challenge, Mr Gove added.

He said: 'I think we need to do both. I think it's important when we're looking at the migration figures to recognise that some of these figures are students, some of these figures are Ukrainian refugees, some of them are British nationals from Hong Kong.

'But you are right, we do need to bring migration down. And you're also correct, we do need to build more homes.'

In July, Mr Gove set out plans to focus on brownfield sites and urban areas - rather than 'concreting over the countryside' - in a bid to boost housing supply.

He hailed efforts to 'intensively' concentrate new housebuilding in Britain's cities as part of a 'new inner city renaissance'.

But Mr Gove today admitted his plans to build on brownfield land won't solely be enough to meet demand.

He said: 'Earlier this year, I outlined a long term plan for housing which will allow us to build more homes, particularly making effective use of brownfield land.

'You can't meet the demand that we have by concentrating on brownfield land alone, but it is certainly the case that it is both economically and environmentally the right thing to do to intensify development in our cities.'

The Conservative manifesto ahead of the 2019 general election set a target of building 300,000 homes a year by the mid-2020s.
Tories warned James Cleverly that he must get a grip on the Channel boats crisis today amid fears a promised new treaty with Rwanda is being delayed.

A series of MPs challenged the Home Secretary as he faced questions in the Commons, with complaints that international human rights rules are not 'fit for purpose'.

But Mr Cleverly left his deputy Robert Jenrick to field most of the tricky interventions - praising his work on the stopping the boats as the pair tried to paper over rumours of tensions.

The pact with the African nation is expected to be upgraded in a bid to quell legal objections to the UK deporting arrivals there.

The agreement had originally been expected last week, but now seems unlikely to appear before next week - and potentially not until after Christmas.

James Cleverly is due in the Commons this afternoon as he faces fresh questions about his commitment to the Rwanda plan

The Rwanda scheme is meant to provide a deterrent for migrants crossing the Channel

Hartlepool MP Jill Mortimer said in Parliament: 'Is it time to realise that as well-intentioned international treaties and conventions agreed 70 years ago are, (they are) no longer fit for purpose? We simply cannot accommodate all those who would qualify for asylum under existing rules.

The world is facing troubled times and more mass migration.

'Will he assure me that he will do all he can to raise the bar for those seeking asylum or migration here, and look at other solutions to stop people leaving their homelands so those countries can make better futures for themselves without the loss of so many of their young?

'Much of Europe is in a dire state because of mass immigration, we cannot let the United Kingdom go the same way.'

Mr Jenrick replied: '(Ms Mortimer) makes a very strong point. Whilst some of those coming here to claim asylum do have genuine grounds for asylum, many are economic migrants making spurious claims to game the system.

'For some nationalities our grant rates are out of sync with European countries and that's why we've taken extensive work to lower them.'

Conservative MP James Morris quoted Mr Cleverly's comment at the weekend voicing frustration that a 'narrative' had developed where the Rwanda scheme was 'the be-all-and-end-all of Government policy'.

'Would the minister agree with the Home Secretary? And if he does agree with the Home Secretary, what is the Government's policy in relation to combatting of boats and resisting illegal migration and what is our policy?' Mr Morris said.

Mr Jenrick replied: 'When the Prime Minister and I set out our comprehensive plan this time last year it had many facets, one of which  an extremely important component of which  was our Rwanda plan.

'But it was not the only element of our plan, and we have worked intensively over the course of the last 12 months on each and every other facet of that plan. Those on the opposite benches jeer but is that plan working? Yes it is and you can see that from the fact that we are almost the only country in Europe where the number of illegal entrants is falling.'

Mr Jenrick added: 'None of that negates the importance of interjecting a further critical deterrent, and that is the crucial element of the Rwanda scheme. And that is the difference between those of us on this side and the Opposition because frankly they don't want to stop the boats and they don't have the stomach to do a policy like Rwanda.'

Mr Jenrick said the public 'demand that we reduce the levels of both legal and illegal migration', adding: 'The Home Secretary and I will do absolutely everything in our power to achieve that.

'We are working closely with the Prime Minister, and we will be setting out further plans in due course.'

When shadow home secretary Yvetter Cooper mocked him as 'Colonel calamity' following a turbulent first fortnight in the job, Mr Cleverly said: 'I've been in this job for 14 days and I'm conscious that many of my counterparts around the world and around Europe are grappling with many of the same issues.

'I would love nothing more than to be able to resolve them all in 14 days  I'm good but I'm not a magician.'

Government sources have played down the apparent delay in the treaty, insisting it is not down to an 'impasse' between ministers.

However, it comes with Cabinet tensions running high over how to keep the Rwanda scheme alive after the Supreme Court blocked it earlier this month.

Mr Jenrick is backing radical proposals to legislate to exclude the plan from existing human rights laws, including the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

But Mr Cleverly voiced his opposition to quitting the ECHR at the weekend, telling The Times the Rwanda scheme was 'not the be all and end all' of the Government's efforts to tackle the Channel migrant crisis.

Mr Cleverly is due in the Commons this afternoon as he faces fresh questions about his commitment to the Rwanda plan.

Tory sources suggested alternative schemes including deals with a number of other African countries and British Overseas Territories  such as Ascension Island  were thwarted by Mr Cleverly in his previous job as Foreign Secretary.

One highly placed source in the party said Mr Cleverly 'has the wrong mindset for the job'  just two weeks after he was parachuted in to replace sacked Suella Braverman.

The claim has been denied by Mr Cleverly, with a spokesman saying it was 'at odds with reality'.

'Countries identified were contacted with the full intention to see if they would meet with UK officials,' the spokesman said.

Treasury minister Laura Trott yesterday appeared to rebuke Mr Cleverly, saying that the Rwanda plan was 'central' to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's bid to deter illegal migrants from crossing the Channel  although she played down claims of a Cabinet split.

The Mail understands that proposals to secure Rwanda-style deals with a number of other African countries had to be abandoned after Mr Cleverly objected.

'There were other African countries Cleverly would not get into negotiations with, and then threw obstacles in the way,' a Conservative source said.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is backing radical proposals to legislate to exclude the plan from existing human rights laws

'He was refusing to look at it properly until the legal ruling on Rwanda had come back.

'The Foreign Office put forward a couple of South American countries as possible contenders  without actually speaking to those nations properly about it  but they were completely unsuitable.'

Mr Cleverly also thwarted proposals to set up asylum processing centres on Ascension Island, Saint Helena or the Falkland Islands, Tory sources said.

A plan to use the British Overseas Territories for Channel migrants would have removed many of the human rights objections highlighted by the Supreme Court this month. 'He blocked all of those, too,' a source said.
Abigail Mor Edan, 4, was released on Sunday, marking the first American to be set free since the Hamas-Israel temporary truce began

Said Israel has agreed to extend the ceasefire if Hamas releases more hostages

National Security Council chief spokesman John Kirby said Monday there are still eight remaining American hostages in Gaza

President Joe Biden wants to extend the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to get the remaining eight U.S. hostages out of the Palestinian enclave of Gaza.

It comes after 17 more hostages were released from Gaza in exchange for a temporary ceasefire and release of Palestinian prisoners. The release included the first American hostage let out of Gaza, orphaned four-year-old Abigail Mor Edan.

National Security Council chief spokesman John Kirby said the priority is on lengthening the ceasefire so more negotiations can continue for the release of hostages taken in the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7.

Kirby told CBS Mornings on Monday that Israel has agreed to a continued pause on counterstrikes as long as negotiations are ongoing for the release of hostages  but he wasn't clear on if Hamas terrorists operating out of Gaza are as on board.

'Today's focus is on getting another batch of hostages out,' Kirby said as it was revealed there are eight more Americans still being held by Palestinian's extremist, de facto government.

'We want to keep this going as much as possible,' Biden's NSC spokesperson added. 'But again, this is really going to depend on Hamas and their willingness.'

Besides the eight Amricans there are dozens of others still being held in the Gaza Strip.

Kirby says that the goal is to get 10 people released per day.

National Security Council chief spokesman John Kirby said Monday there are still eight remaining American hostages in Gaza  and said Israel has agreed to extend the ceasefire if Hamas continues releasing hostages

It comes after Abigail Mor Edan celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity on November 24. She was the first American released by Hamas terrorists from Gaza over the weekend

Eight more American citizens and a permanent U.S. resident are believed to be among the hostages still held by Hamas.



National Security Council chief spokesman John Kirby gives @tonydokoupil an update on their status and the White Houses role in talks. pic.twitter.com/X6Iux7IOad  CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) November 27, 2023

He also said it's unclear how the remaining Americans hostages are hanging in after Abigail's release.

'We don't have much to share about Abigail's condition,' he said.

'As for the other Americans that we believe are in captivity, being held hostage, we don't have a whole lot of information about them  where they are, what condition they might be in or what exactly their schedule would be for their release.'

Abigail Mor Edan was orphaned when her parents were slaughtered in front of her by Hamas terrorists who attacked Israel on October 7  leading to the largest single-day massacre of Jewish people since the Holocaust.

After her parents' deaths, Abagail, 4, was abducted by Hamas and was seen for the first time since then on Sunday when she was released.

Her grandfather, Carmel Edan, told Israeli media he couldn't believe it when he saw Abigail on her way back to Israel via Red Cross transport. Her release finally came after she wasn't included in Friday's and Saturday's exchanges.

'We were looking. She's not there! What disappointment,' he said, according to The Times of Israel. 'Russian roulette. We were waiting on the second day. Again, Abigail isn't there! We couldn't believe it.'

While the family was happy that she has been released, they also know she is without her parents, who were murdered by Hamas terrorists on October 7.

'Now I'm calm, but not completely calm because there is happiness, but there is also the absence of Roee and Smadar,' Carmel Edan said, calling their deaths 'an open wound that will never heal.'

The first picture of Abigail since her release: seen in a Red Cross ambulance (right) after being released by Hamas as the first American to be set free

Abigail Mor Edan's grandfather, Carmel said that he is happy she is free from Hamas terrorists but fearful of the four-year-old having to cope with her dead parents

Carmel Edan said that even though he is filled with joy that his granddaughter is now on her way home, he knows that 'there are many people who haven't yet come back.' Abigail was the first American released in the negotiated cease-fire between Palestine and Israel.

'I greatly want them to be returned and that the IDF finish what it has promised: All the hostages [back] and Hamas [destroyed],' he said.

The grandfather has not been allowed to speak or meet with Abigail yet, but plans to smother her with kisses when they reunite.

'There's nothing to say,' he added.

Edan was one of 17 hostages released Sunday, 49 days after the war broke out and militants stormed her kibbutz in southern Israel.

Fighters gunned down her parents, Roy Edan, 43 and Smadar Edan, 40, in the attack.

The girl's siblings, aged ten and six, survived after hiding out for hours in the family home. Carmel Edan said he hasn't told them about their younger sister's release yet.

Abigail, who celebrated her fourth birthday in captivity, is now in the hands of Red Cross officials. President Joe Biden said, after her release, that what the youngster has endured is 'unthinkable' and that she has suffered a 'terrible trauma.'

'I wish I were there to hold her,' Biden said. 'Today she's free, and Jilly and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright.'

The grandfather thanked Biden saying: 'We love him very much for all the help he is giving us, to Israel. Keep going. Keep going. We don't admire you. We love you.'

The girl's siblings survived after hiding out for hours in the family home while their parents died. The grandfather said he hasn't told Abigail's brother and sister about her release yet

The four-year-old was taken and her two young siblings survived after hiding out for hours in the family home

President Joe Biden made a statement about Abigail's release from Nantucket Sunday afternoon, saying the youngster had endured a terrible 'trauma' and 'unspeakable' heartbreak

The terror group has been keeping captives since its October 7 surprise attack on Israel that left more than 1,200 Israelis dead. Over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli counteroffensive.

State Department officials have yet to release the names of the other American hostages. A total of 10 Americans are currently unaccounted for.

Of the 17 hostages released Sunday, 14 were Israeli, while three were foreign citizens.

Appearing on ABC's 'This Week,' National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said two women, one child and seven men were confirmed to have been taken by Hamas.

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' Biden said in an address from Nantucket, Massachusetts, where he was celebrating Thanksgiving.

Earlier that day, the president was briefed multiple times by his national security team on the latest developments regarding the hostage release from Gaza.

'This morning I've been engaged with my team as we begin the first difficult days of implementing this deal,' Biden said. 'It's only a start but so far it's gone well.'

He noted how the first group of hostages included 'an elderly woman, a grandmother and mothers with their young children, some under the age of six years old.'

Hostages were set free over Friday and Saturday, but Sunday marked the first time an American was released during the cease-fire

A four-day truce began after 48 days of fighting that claimed thousands of lives. The most recent group to be released included 13 Israelis

Judith and Natalie Raanan, who have dual American-Israeli citizenship, were let go last month

'All of these hostages have been through a terrible ordeal, and this is the beginning of a long journey of healing for them,' President Joe Biden said Friday

On Saturday, a disagreement over the delivery of aid to Gaza delayed the release of captives by several hours.

The Al-Qassam Brigades militant wing accused Israel of violating the agreed terms and demanded Israel commit to allowing aid trucks to enter northern Gaza for the first time in over a month.

The UN estimates that 1.7 million of the 2.3 million people living in Gaza have been displaced by the war.

So far, 58 captives have been freed in the first three days of the truce, including several children.

Thirteen Israeli civilians were let go along with 11 foreign nationals on Friday, followed by another 13 Israelis and four Thai nationals on Saturday.

This number does not include those released before the truce began. Two Americans, an Illinois mother and daughter, were freed last month.

Judith and Natalie Raanan, who have dual American-Israeli citizenship, were kidnapped from Nahal Oz together.

They were handed over to the Red Cross on October 20 before the organization passed them off to Israel.

On Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his government to accept a deal for Hamas to free hostages in exchange for a multi-day truce.

A U.S. official said the deal would include 50 hostages taken from Israel, mostly women and children, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.

It took effect Friday, a day later than planned, and saw the adversaries agree to a four-day halt in the fighting. The deal was brokered by Qatar, the U.S. and Egypt.
A woman was starved, burned with a blowtorch and had boiling water thrown over her before being locked in a cupboard to die, a murder trial has heard.

Shakira Spencer was found dead in her flat in Hanwell, west London, after a neighbour raised the alarm when they saw maggots crawling from under her front door on September 25, 2022.

The Old Bailey previously heard that 35-year-old was burned with a makeshift blowtorch, had boiling water poured over her, was fed only sachets of ketchup and was forced to sleep on newspapers in the hallway of one of the defendant's homes in Harrow.

The court heard that the three alleged killers, Shaun Pendlebury, 26, Ashana Studholme, 38, and Lisa Richardson, 44, put Ms Spencer in the boot of a car and drove her back to her flat on Holbeck Road where they locked her in a cupboard.

Pendlebury, of Tewkesbury Road, Ealing, Richardson, of Broomcroft Avenue, Ealing, and Studholme, of Greenhill Road, Harrow, all deny murder and preventing a lawful burial.

Shakira Spencer was found dead in her flat in Hanwell, west London , after a neighbour raised the alarm

Prosecutor Allison Hunter, KC, told the jury: 'They cleaned up the scene as best they could, they arranged Shakira Spencer as if she had been reading.

'The windows around the flat were left open, the door barricaded, and then he (Pendlebury) went to the car from the other side of the building.

'They concealed the death of Shakira Spencer, they isolated her from everyone she knew, even her own family.

'Even her phone wasn't allowed to make outgoing calls, which proves another lie told by Lisa Richardson that she called the Samaritans.

'It is not just that it is a lie, that was a single thing that Lisa Richardson identified, when asked: 'What did you do to help? 'I called the Samaritans.'

'She did nothing, absolutely nothing, why? Because she enjoyed it.'

Jurors were also told how Ms Spencer was denied food and water.

'Upon their arrests, Ashana Studholme and Lisa Richardson demonstrably lied during their interviews, Lisa Richardson has admitted that she told lies', Ms Hunter said.

'You will be directed that people might tell lies, we submit that the reason Lisa Richardson lies in hers is to conceal her guilt.

'She used fear as an excuse for lying in her interview, she could have replied no comment, of course she could have done, there is no reason whatsoever to tell lies, unless of course, she is involved in it and wants to save her own skin.

'As for Ashana Studholme's silence at trial, she could not think of a single coherent defence, that is the reason she did not step into the witness box.

The Old Bailey previously heard that 35-year-old was burned with a makeshift blowtorch, had boiling water poured over her, was fed only sachets of ketchup and was forced to sleep on newspapers in the hallway of one of the defendant's homes in Harrow

Police officers were called to the home of Ms Spencer in Hanwell, west London after a neighbour spotted maggots crawling from under her front door on 25 September 2022

'The prosecution case has remained as it was when I opened it to you, but it is even stronger now that you have heard the fantastically improbable defence.

'They stole her home...took over her finances, controlled her whereabouts, destroyed her clothes, cut off most of her hair and they beat her, they scorched her, burnt her, beat her with a massager, left her to urinate herself and then they bundled her into the boot of a car, shoved her battered and bruised into a cupboard and left her to die.

'They are guilty of murder, and it really is murder of the most foul, they are guilty of denying a decent burial and I hope you do not lose one second of sleep if you do find them so.'

The trial continues.
Qatar and Hamas officials said it had been extended a further two days

The fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was set to expire later today

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their ceasefire deal by two days, Qatar, the US and Hamas have said - just hours before the initial agreement was due to end and suggesting that more hostages will be released from Gaza this week.

The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry said the truce had been extended by two more days, suggesting Hamas intends to released another 20 hostages on top of the 50 hostages that were set to be released over the first four days.

A White House official and Hamas also confirmed the deal had been struck. The Hamas official said the conditions were the same as the previous four-day ceasefire, which was scheduled to end at 7am (5am GMT) on Tuesday.

The deal is understood to have gone down to a wire and seemed on the verge of unravelling. Hamas had accused Israel of failing to keep its side of the bargain and Israel was threatening to resume its lethal onslaught on the Gaza Strip.

But mediators were able to pull it back from the brink, a feat that involved the first ever public visit by Qatari officials to Israel, according to AP.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their ceasefire deal by two days, Qatar has said, suggesting that more hostages will be released

Pictured: An Israeli tank stands in a position, while Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City November 27

'The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip,' Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X.

A Hamas official said in a phone call with Reuters: 'An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce.'

Earlier, the Israeli government had said it had put Hamas 'on notice' that an 'option for an extension' of the truce in the Gaza Strip was open.

'We want to receive another additional 50 hostages beyond tonight on our way to bringing everyone home,' government spokesman Eylon Levy told reporters.

Hamas had earlier signalled its willingness to extend the truce, with a source telling AFP news agency on Sunday that the group had informed mediators they were open to prolonging it by 'two to four days'.

'The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners' in that time, the source close to the movement said.

But Israeli media this afternoon reported Hamas had amended the hostage list ahead of today's exchange, cutting down the number of people it would set free.

The government was said to be 'not happy' with the list of hostages due to be released because it is made up of children and elderly women - suggesting yet more families are to be split up because children will not be released with their parents.

The negotiations are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, with an Egyptian security source claiming there had been disagreement on the mechanism of the extension, with Hamas seeking a four-day addition and Israel seeking a day-by-day extension.

'The mediators are making intensive efforts to secure this extension of the truce and ceasefire for several days,' the source said.

It appears the two sides have met in the middle, agreeing a two-day extension.

Over the course of the initial truce a total 50 civilian hostages, women and children, were expected to be freed by Hamas.

In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were to be released and humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza.

During its first three days, 39 Israeli hostages were freed by the terrorist group in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

As a result of parallel negotiations led by the Gulf state, 17 Thais, one Filipino and one dual Russian-Israeli national have also been released by the Palestinian group.

In total, Hamas terrorists dragged about 240 captives from southern Israel into Gaza an unprecedented October 7 attack that Israeli officials say killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians. In response, Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed an aerial bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza that the Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians.

Oria Brodutch jumps onto the arms of his father, Avihai Brodutch, shortly after they were reunited in Israel on November 26

Palestinians fleeing north Gaza move southward as ambulances head towards north Gaza during a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, near Gaza City, November 27

Sunday's exchange of prisoners - the third under the largely successful four-day truce - gave way to wild scenes of utter jubilation on both sides.

Captured Israeli children were scooped up in the arms of their overjoyed family members, while Palestinian men freed from Israeli jails kissed their mothers and celebrated wildly in street parades.

International mediators led by the US, Egypt and Qatar worked to extend the ceasefire that began Friday to allow for the exchange of more hostages as war weary Gazans seek more reprieve from Israeli bombs. As Monday wore on, global pressure was mounting on both parties to agree to the extension.

US President Joe Biden said the pause should continue to allow humanitarian relief into Gaza and more Israeli hostages to return home to their families.

Senior European Union and NATO officials added their voices to his call.

NATO's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg also weighed in, ahead of a meeting of allied foreign ministers in Brussels.

'I call for an extension of the pause. This would allow for much needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages,' he told journalists.

European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell said the extension of the current truce in Gaza is within reach, and that it would allow international community to work on a political solution to the conflict.

He said that the Palestinian Authority needs to regain control of Gaza from Hamas, offering a 'better and viable' alternative to it.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was resolute in his intentions to crush Hamas, declaring his forces would resume its offensive 'with all of our might' once the truce expires, which it is now set to do Thursday, unless another deal is struck.

Raz Asher (left), four, her two-year-old sister Aviv (right) and their mother Doron, 34, reunite with their father and husband Yoni at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

Keren Munder, 54, and her son Ohad Munder, age 9, with his father and a family member at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. Keren and Ohad were kidnapped by Hamas terrorists on October 7

Six-year-old Emelia Aloni and her mother Danielle reunite with their family at the Schneider Children's Medical Center

A group of Israelis celebrate as a helicopter carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip lands at the helipad of the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel

Israel's military operates in the Gaza Strip during a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in this handout picture released on November 27, 2023

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometre (around a half-mile) of the border fence as they continue military operations

In this handout picture taken and released by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office on November 26, 2023 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) meets soldiers at an undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu told soldiers in the Gaza Strip on November 26 that Israel's efforts would continue 'until victory'

A Palestinian prisoner hugs his mother after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on November 26, 2023

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (C) gestures after being released from an Israeli jail in exchange for Israeli hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armour and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

'At the end of the day we will return every one,' he said of the hostages, adding that 'we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.' It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister had previously told Biden he would be willing to extend the truce with Hamas an extra day for every 10 hostages that are released.

But after the Qatari-brokered deal was agreed last week, Netanyahu said the goals to 'eliminate Hamas and get the hostages back' would continue unhindered irrespective of when the truce finally comes to a close.

It comes as Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who led the effort to broker the ceasefire, told the Financial Times that an extension of the deal hinges on Hamas' ability to locate more hostages, whom he said were being held by 'civilians and gangs'.

'If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension,' Sheikh Mohammed said. 'We don't yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.'

Most hostages freed Sunday were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt.

Israel's army said one was airlifted to a hospital, and the director of Soroka Medical Center said Elma Avraham, 84, was in life-threatening condition as 'a result of an extended period of time when an elderly woman was not taken care of as needed.'

The youngest hostage released was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7.

'What she endured was unthinkable,' Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages.

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office. Three more Thai nationals were released.

Separately, Hamas said it released a Russian hostage 'in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin.'

The three Thai nationals were undergoing health checks at a medical centre in Israel, bringing the total number of Thai hostages released to 17, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said.

Fifty-eight hostages have now been released by Hamas. One was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Hospitals said their physical condition has largely been good, but little is publicly known about the conditions of their captivity.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian prisoners released by Tel-Aviv were children and young men aged 15-19, most of whom had been arrested on charges of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

Palestinian prisoner Khalil Zama' (L) hugs a relative after being released from an Israeli jail

Palestinians prisoners cheer among supporters after being released from Israeli jails in exchange for hostages released by Hamas from the Gaza Strip, in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank early on November 26, 2023

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) meets soldiers at undisclosed location in the Gaza Strip

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Gaza Strip, during a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel

The ongoing ceasefire is the first significant pause in seven weeks of war, marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

The war has claimed the lives of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.

The pause has given some respite to Gaza's 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled residential areas.

Rocket fire from Gaza's militants into Israel also went silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has been focused, made their way through entire city blocks gutted by airstrikes to flee, but many have been turned back by Israeli troops while trying to return to check their homes.

'They open fire on anyone approaching from the south,' said Rami Hazarein, who fled Gaza City.

A Gaza doctor has accused the IDF of using white phosphorus against Gazan civilians.

Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a British-Palestinian doctor, who said he worked at Al Shifa Hospital in the centre of Gaza, today told reporters at a press conference held at the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians in London:

'As time went, we saw the introduction of incendiary bombs where the patients would have over 40% of their total body surface are burned, with no other injuries.

'There were over 100 of these patients at [Al Shifa Hospital], and we started seeing phosphorus burns.

'I had treated white phosphorus burns in the Gaza Strip during the 2009 war, and was very familiar with the very characteristic injuries and burns that they make.'

Abu Sitta accused the IDF of deliberately targetting civilians, claiming that he and his medical team saw 'more and more... fragmentary missiles.'

'And for the first time since I was in Gaza, we started to see patients with high-velocity sniper injuries.'

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within roughly half a mile of the border fence as they continue military operations.

The United Nations says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war, but it calls the 160 to 200 trucks a day 'hardly enough.'

It was able to deliver fuel for the first time since the war began and to reach areas in the north for the first time in a month.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 50 Egyptian aid trucks crossed through Israeli checkpoints to reach Gaza City and northern areas Sunday.

A Palestinian man gathers belongings amidst debris in Gaza City on November 26, 2023, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas

Friday's ceasefire came into effect shortly after the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, a Hamas official who was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of its top military council.

He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting.

Both Hamas and Israel's military confirmed the death.

Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian terrorists captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas rocket-firing unit.

The Israeli military mentioned both men earlier this month, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.
King Charles was 'stubbornly hard to pin down' over whether Prince Harry and Meghan would be invited to the Coronation, Omid Scobie has claimed.

Harry attended the monarch's big day in May on his own, with Meghan staying at their home in Montecito, California.

He attended the ceremony in Westminster Abbey and then quickly returned to the US in time to see his son Archie on his birthday.

Writing in his new book Endgame, which has been released in Australia and is published in the UK tomorrow, Scobie claims that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were unsure for months if they were going to be invited.

In response to Harry's queries about an invite, the King allegedly said in a February phone call initiated by Harry, 'I... haven't decided'.

King Charles was 'stubbornly hard to pin down' over whether Prince Harry and Meghan would be invited to the Coronation, Omid Scobie has claimed

Scobie adds that whilst the Duke had an 'extensive list of reasons for skipping the proceedings altogether', Harry had allegedly told a source that supporting his father '"still outweighed other things"'.

Harry attended the ceremony in a suit, with his medals pinned to his chest, after being told he would not be allowed to wear his military uniform.

But Scobie says Charles gave the disgraced Prince Andrew a 'firm nod' to wear his 'lavish' Order of the Garter ceremonial robes.

Harry was seen laughing and smiling as he entered the church alongside Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice and their respective husbands Jack Brooksbank and Edo Mapelli Mozzi.

He sat next to the couple in the church, two rows behind Prince William and the Princess of Wales, who were with their two youngest children alongside Prince Edward and the Duchess of Edinburgh.

The Duke of Sussex was reportedly invited to lunch at Buckingham Palace following the service but did not attend.

Harry attended the monarch's big day in May on his own, with Meghan staying at their home in Montecito, California

Prince Harry smiles as he speaks to Princess Anne during the Coronation

Justin Welby is seen laughing as Harry walks past with a smile on his face inside the abbey

Prince Harry departs Westminster Abbey after the Coronation. He headed straight for the airport to catch a flight back to the US

Before the coronation, Harry announced he would be travelling to the UK without his wife, who was remaining in California to look after their children.

The Prince was reported to have voiced concerns over security and the reputation his family could receive from the public.

Other reports suggested Meghan had been left upset after a letter from Charles did not address claims she had made about her poor mental health.

Sources previously said the decision by Meghan to remain in California had come as a relief in some circles, following fears her presence could have heightened family tensions.

It is also understood there was real concern in the Sussex camp about the public reception the couple would have received if they attended the Coronation together.

Before the coronation, Harry announced he would be travelling to the UK without his wife, who was remaining in California to look after their children

Scobie's claims about Charles taking a long time to decide whether or not to invite Meghan and Harry come after it was claimed that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex delayed accepting the invitation for weeks after receiving it.

This allegedly caused difficulties for organisers tasked with complex seating plans, transport and security for senior members of the Royal Family, world leaders and other dignitaries.

Sources described the negotiations as a game of 'transatlantic ping pong', and Harry was said to have wanted numerous assurances about arrangements.

Coronation organisers admitted that they were stressed about Harry's plans and said that it was like 'trying to communicate with Mars'.
Degliantoni raced stock cars in the 1980s and was the owner of a natural gas and oil company

The 71-year-old was flying one of his two helicopters when he crashed in the Parana River and the shocking moment was caught on video

A dramatic video captured the deadly helicopter crash of a retired race car driver and oilman that also left four people injured in Argentina.

Gustavo Degliantoni, 71, was flying the helicopter dangerously low over several boats and swimmers before he crashed in the Parana River in Buenos Aires on Sunday. He was killed, but four passengers survived.

Police identified the survivors were identified as Ruben Calderone, 76; Ruben Ojeda, 63; and Osvaldo Iommi, 70; and Julio Pochet, 59.

Separate video footage showed the helicopter underwater while boaters rushed to remove the victims from the aircraft.

A helicopter crash in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killed retired race car driver and oilman, Gustavo Degliantoni, on Sunday. Four passengers survived the crashed and were hospitalized with injuries

Degliantoni owned two helicopters and spent the last ten years flying with other Argentine businessmen in expeditions across the country's skies

Degliantoni was confirmed dead on the scene and the survivors were taken to a local medical facility.

Another video recorded by one of the survivors captured the moment they took off from a heliport and flew over the area.

The red Robinson helicopter could be seen flying over a bridge and performing stunts.

Degliantoni owned another helicopter and was part of a group of businessmen, including former Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, who spent the last ten years flying around the country, according to the Argentine newspaper Clarin.

Degliantoni (left) was a known figure in the stock car racing scene in the 1980s and at times teamed with Juan Maria Traverso (right), one of the most accomplished Argentine race drivers

Degliantoni was filmed flying his helicopter low above the Parana River in the Buenos Aires town of Ramello minutes before he died in a crashed that left four passengers injured

Degliantoni was piloting one of his two helicopters, a Robinson 55, before the aircraft hit the water on its skids and flipped

Degliantoni was known for driving stock cars in races in the 1980s in the Turismo Carretera circuit

Degliantoni was also a known figure in the Argentine stock car racing scene in the 1980s and competed in the Turismo Carretera circuit and funded teams.

At times he raced alongside Juan Maria Traverso, one of the most accomplished Argentine race drivers, and won a race at the Buenos Aires Racetrack on April 8, 1984.

'Big head, how many things we still have pending,' his friend Miguel Lopresti wrote on Facebook. 'What a sad news. We will miss you.'

Degliantoni was the owner of Degab, an oil and natural gas company that provided services to 42 clients across 14 provinces.

He and 20 people were arrested in September 2020 as part of an investigation into the alleged theft of oil from government-owned pipelines.

Retired stock car race driver and oilman Gustavo Degliantoni was killed in a helicopter crash in Argentina on Sunday

Degliantoni flew his helicopter near boats before crashing in the Parana River

Police identified the survivors were identified as Ruben Calderone, 76; Ruben Ojeda, 63; and Osvaldo Iommi, 70; and Julio Pochet, 59

Authorities alleged the defendants were part of a network that distilled and refined crude oil, which netted them profits of up to $5 million a year, according to the Argentine news outlet TN.

The suspects allegedly extracted crude oil from a pipeline that transported oil from Puerto Rosales, Bahia Blanca to a refinery in the Ensenada, Buenos Aires.

There the oil was drilled and filtered through a bypass system that poured it into pools on the ground. The oil was then loaded into three trucks that transported it to a secret distillery the Buenos Aires town of Valentin Alsina.

Once there the oil was distilled and refined and then sold to gas stations who did not have agreements with oil companies or to farmers.

Degliantoni was also investigated for operating a hazardous waste distillery at a farm house located near a town's surface water intake.
One of a pair of teenagers accused of luring a transgender schoolgirl to a park and stabbing her to death in a horrifying attack said they wanted to see if she would 'scream like a man or a girl', a court heard yesterday.

Brianna Ghey, 16, was found face-down in mud in February after being stabbed 28 times with a hunting knife in a 'sustained and violent assault', with the teenager dying at the scene, jurors heard.

Her alleged killers  a boy and girl both aged 15 at the time  were 'preoccupied with violence, torture and death' and had swapped messages discussing how they wanted to kill people they knew, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The pair, who are being referred to simply as Girl X and Boy Y due to their age, drew up a list of five people they wanted to kill, the prosecution alleged. Both deny murder.

When their first intended target 'smelt a rat', they are said to have turned their attention to Brianna, with whom Girl X had become 'obsessed'.

Transgender schoolgirl Brianna Ghey died aged 16 in February this year. She was a pupil at Birchwood High School in Warrington

Brianna Ghey's mother Esther arrives at Manchester Crown Court as two teenagers are set to stand trial accused of murdering her daughter

Brianna was living as a young woman at the time of her death but was born a boy with the name Brett Spooner

Using messages in which the boy referred to Brianna as 'it', they initially discussed whether to poison her using prescription medication, prosecutor Deanna Heer KC said.

The pair then switched their attention to luring Brianna to a park near her home town of Warrington, Cheshire where they planned to stab her in the 'back and throat', she said.

'I want to stab her at least once even if she's dead jus coz it's fun lol,' Girl X allegedly wrote to Boy Y.

But Brianna was unable to make the planned liaison, so the pair continuing drawing up plans, Ms Heer said.

Two weeks later, on February 11 this year, a dog walker found Brianna lying bleeding on the ground in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, with two teenagers seen running away.

She had been stabbed 28 times to the head, neck, back and chest, with her jugular vein severed, causing 'catastrophic blood loss', Miss Heer said.

The injuries would have required 'considerable force' to inflict, jurors heard.

Brianna, 16, was found with fatal wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near her home in Warrington, Cheshire

Brianna's father Peter Spooner rubs his eye as he arrives at court with his partner by his side

Another knife blow penetrated Brianna's heart, she added, and she was pronounced dead at the scene at 4.02pm.

The trial was told that there was 'no dispute' that it was Girl X and Boy Y  also now 16  who were seen running away, or that they had discussed killing Brianna.

But both deny participating in the killing, jurors were told, instead blaming each other.

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However Miss Heer said the prosecution case was that 'whoever delivered the fatal blows, both defendants are equally guilty'.

'Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill her,' she added.

In the days before Brianna was stabbed, Miss Heer said the pair exchanged a string of messages referring to the schoolgirl as 'it'  with Girl X saying she was 'obsessed' with her.

After abandoning their plan to kill their first target, Boy Y sent a message to Girl X saying 'yeah, it'll be easier and I want to see if it will scream like a man or a girl'.

Boy Y asked if he should bring his knife, Miss Heer said, to which Girl X said he should, adding that it was 'definitely sharp enough'.

Girl X told Boy Y that after they met up, the plan was to 'grab onto Brianna slit her throat when she starts to fall stab her in the back then pass me knife'.

She added: 'I want to stab her at least once even if she's dead jus coz it's fun lol.'

Jurors were told that Girl X said she would look at Boy Y and cough to tell him it was time to get the knife 'ready', then she would say 'gay' to indicate that he should stab Brianna.

However in the event, Brianna messaged to say she couldn't come after all, with Girl X writing to Boy Y to say she was 'f****** p****d'.

In a later message, she suggested she could kill Brianna by giving her an overdose of cocaine, but then said told Boy X 'let's just stab her. It's more fun.'

The court heard Girl X and Boy Y had known one another since they were about 11.

Girl X had a boyfriend but it 'seems' that Boy Y had 'an attraction' to another girl, who can only be referred to as Girl A, and wanted to find out from Girl X whether she liked him.

In November 2022 she and Boy Y discussed killing Boy M, with Girl X saying she had 'a really sharp blade, the same one that Sweeney Todd uses'.

She sent messages about how she wanted to cut out his teeth and an eye, to which Boy Y allegedly added: 'And if you cut his heels and chop his tongue he can't run or talk.'

The following month, Girl X sent him a message about a video of killing and torture, saying: 'I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web.'

A handout photograph of 16-year-old Brianna Ghey who was brutally killed earlier this year

Esther (centre) arriving at court. The trial is expected to last between three and four weeks

Girl X, who is from Warrington, sat in the dock wearing a dress and grey cardigan.

Boy Y, who is from Leigh, Greater Manchester, appeared wearing black trousers and shirt with a grey tie.

Jurors were told that since being held in a secure unit, Girl X had been found to have 'traits of autism and ADHD' and showed 'high levels of anxiety'.

Boy X had been diagnosed with autism, they were told, along with a 'high level of social anxiety'.

In addition, his 'verbal communication' had been 'very limited' since being held.

As a result, the trial is being conducted with 'more informality' than normal, the trial judge, Mrs Justice Yip, told them, with both accused being helped to follow proceedings by 'intermediaries'.

She was found with fatal stab wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire

Earlier Brianna's mother Esther arrived at court along with her new partner.

Brianna's father, Peter Spooner, rubbed his eyes as he arrived this morning.

Earlier Mrs Justice Yip, told prospective jurors that Brianna was living as a young woman at the time of her death but was born a boy with the name Brett Spooner.

'There was quite a bit of press reporting and social media coverage at the time, one feature that was given some prominence was the fact that Brianna was transgender,' she told them.

The judge told jurors that they may have previously 'formed some initial uninformed views about the case'.

But she said most people are capable of dismissing things they had heard in the press or on social media and concentrate on the evidence when they sit on a jury.

The trial continues.
Enrollment at both public and private schools has remained the same

Community members are criticizing the quality of the public school education

San Francisco private schools are planning to build up their campuses as parents criticize the quality of education their children are receiving from the districts public institutions.

Several pricey private schools have filed plans with the city to renovate their campuses and intend to increase the number of students enrolled, the San Francisco Chronicle found.

The California Department of Education reported for the 2022-2023 school year, San Francisco has 103 private schools with 23,919 students enrolled. That number has remained relatively the same over the past three years.

San Francisco Unified School District reported there are 132 schools for the 2022-2023 school year with 50,013 students enrolled. Also relatively the same from the year prior.

However, parents and community members have criticized the district's curriculum plans including one adopted in 2013 that eliminated eighth grade algebra in order to boost the math scores, according to the San Francisco Examiner.

La Scuola International School in the Mission District is proposing construction to allow them to increase enrollment from 191 to 475

San Francisco Day School in the North of the Panhandle District is planning to increase enrollment from 400 to 480 students

Schools of the Sacred Heart in Pacific Heights is proposing a modernization project

EdSource reported that in 2023, 28.13 percent of San Francisco Unified School District students did not meet the state testing English standard and 33.89 percent did not meet the math standard.

In March of this year, San Francisco parents filed a lawsuit against the district for not offering Algebra 1 to middle school students.

Maya Keshavan, parent of two former San Francisco Unified School District students said to The Examiner, 'SFUSD has been misleading the public about key metrics of its math program for years.'

'[District officials] claimed to dramatically reduce algebra 1 failure after it was delayed to ninth grade but have offered no evidence to back this claim. In fact, the rate fell only because the district eliminated an exit exam students were required to pass.'

'Public data requests revealed the purported success could not be replicated, and the district refused to explain,' said Keshavan.

'Private schools are booming in SF because public schools are failing,' said San Francisco citizen Dan Johnson on Twitter.

Rex Ridgeway, a member of the group that filed the lawsuit said, 'My granddaughter had to double-up in the ninth grade by taking both algebra 1 and geometry.'

'SFUSD has been driven into the ground by the extreme left, many who simply use the school board as a stepping stone for larger political aspirations.'

Eric Hanushek, a senior fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution told The Examiner in December of 2022 that San Francisco parents may be drawn to private school options because of how they handled the pandemic.

'SFUSD never opened (in the 2020-2021 academic year), so parents were rightly upset by the fact the district was not providing the services they hoped for. Private schools were open, so some parents moved their kids from public schools to private.'

In October, the teachers union United Educators of San Francisco almost went on strike against the public school district over contract negotiations, reported CBS News.

The tentative agreement they reached before a strike occurred included a $9,000 salary increase for teachers this school year and an additional five percent raise for the 2024-2025 school year.

While there has not been a reported mass unenrollment of public school students, some private institutions are looking to build up their campuses to make room for more pupils.

An empty classroom in the San Francisco Unified School District

La Scuola International School in the Mission District is proposing construction to allow them to increase enrollment from 191 to 475 and increase the number of teachers and staff from 54 to 96.

At the school, tuition for an elementary school student for the 2023-2024 is $41,300 and $43,675 for a middle schooler.

San Francisco Day School in the North of the Panhandle District is planning to remove a parking lot and existing building to increase enrollment from 400 to 480 students.

Tuition for kindergarten through eighth grade at San Francisco Day is $40,825 for the 2023-2024 school year.

Other institutions like Schools of the Sacred Heart in Pacific Heights is proposing a modernization project to build a swimming pool, a full-size gymnasium, a weight-training room and a studio for yoga and dance.

Tuition for an elementary school student in the 2023-2024 school year at Sacred Heart is $39,920 and $55,015 for a high schooler.
Cattle with calves were being kept in a field on a public right of way

Patrick Atherton and dog Lad, 13 were knocked to the ground by seven cows

A farmer has been fined after a retiree and his dog were nearly trampled to death by cows on a public footpath.

Retired chartered surveyor Patrick Atherton, 70, and his 13-year-old Border Collie 'Lad' were knocked to the ground by seven cows while walking in June last year.

They were saved after the cows were waved away by someone, believed to be a farmer. Mr Atherton was left with cuts and bruises from what could have been a fatal attack.

His dog Lad suffered serious injuries after being repeatedly kicked and stamped on by the cows - which on average weigh nearly 700kg.

Mr Atherton, originally from The Wirral, Merseyside, says that he thought he was going to die during the attack at Birdcage Farm, in Ottery Saint Mary, Devon.

Patrick Atherton was out walking his Border Collie in June last year when they were both attacked and nearly trampled to death by seven cows from a nearby farm

He said: 'I've been a trainer of Border Collies for many years.

'It was ironic that for the first time I had kept Lad on his lead as I had noticed two young calves in the field and thought if he was walking by my side they wouldn't really notice.

'Unfortunately, one black cow did and it charged at us, knocking me down by the hedge that bordered the path.

'I tried to stand up and let Lad off his lead but they kept on knocking me over.

'There was about seven cows involved, but it was the very aggressive black cow that was trying to kill my dog.

'I thought we were going to die. I had been powerless to do anything,'

Throughout the traumatic ordeal, Mr Atherton also was forced to listen to Lad shrieking from pain as he was attacked.

Thankfully the collie survived his injuries - but had to be medicated for the rest of his life, and was never the same.

Mr Atherton added: 'We were both surrounded by cattle. I could hear Lad shrieking in pain as he was repeatedly kicked and stamped on.

'He was never the same dog after what happened and he sadly passed away in September this year.

'I just want to make other people aware of the risks when out enjoying popular footpaths such as this one.'

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident found that cattle with young calves were being kept in a field with a public right of way across it.

Cattle with calves are known to be protective and can be aggressive to walkers, especially to those with dogs.

Between 2018 and 2022, more than 30 people were killed by cows in similar incidents, while others have been left with life-changing injuries.

Due to these dangers, farmers are encouraged to cull any aggressive animals or avoid putting them in fields with public access.

Public entrances to fields containing potentially dangerous cattle should clearly state whether they contain cows with calves or bulls in the field.

Farmer John Hallett, who owns Birdcage Farm, later plead guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

He was fined 2,000 and ordered to pay costs of 4,500 at Exeter Magistrates' Court.

Mr Atherton said that his pet, Lad was never 'the same dog' after the attack and died in September this year

HSE inspector Simon Jones said: 'It is fortunate that the injuries sustained by Mr Atherton weren't life threatening, however given the nature of the attack the end result could have been far worse.

'Public knowledge - and concern - is increasing about how dangerous cattle can be. On this occasion Mr Atherton took the right precautions and HSE has taken action against the farmer in question.

'Cattle are extremely protective of their calves and even calm cattle can become aggressive if they think the calves may, in any way, be threatened, even by members of the public walking past.

'Farmers should not place cattle with calves in fields where members of the public have a legal right to walk.

'Had John Hallett followed this simple rule, then this incident could have been prevented.'
King Charles removing Frogmore Cottage from Prince Harry and Meghan Markle was a 'cheap shot' to 'punish' the couple, according to a new book by Omid Scobie.

Mr Scobie writes in Endgame that sources confirmed a 'significant' part of the reason for Charles evicting the Sussexes was 'undoubtedly' a punishment after the Netflix series came out last December with a series of attacks on the Royal Family.

The author said a source told him there was a 'feeling of shock and disappointment' from Harry and Meghan on the day they were told they would be losing the property.

Mr Scobie claimed Frogmore was the Sussexes' 'only truly safe option when visiting the United Kingdom' because its grounds are surrounded by armed guards  and the couple could no longer access royal protection, even if they paid for it themselves.

Several days after finding out they would lose the home, Harry was said to have spoken to his father over the phone, saying: 'Do you want to see your grandchildren?'

Frogmore Cottage is located on the Home Park Estate near Windsor Castle in Berkshire (file)

King Charles III attends a welcome for South Korea's president in London on November 21

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle at the Invictus Games in The Hague on April 17, 2022

Charles is said to have been silent before a 'half-hearted declaration that they would always have 'somewhere to stay'.'

READ MORE Omid Scobie hurls more truth bombs in new interview to promote Endgame Advertisement

But Mr Scobie said this 'didn't give Harry much hope', according to a royal source.

It was then reported that the disgraced Prince Andrew had been offered Frogmore Cottage instead, which Mr Scobie said was the 'final blow'.

He wrote: 'For Charles, the issue of Frogmore Cottage wasn't just about punishing his son, though sources say that 'undoubtedly' played a significant role.

'It was also part of the effort to streamline the portfolio of properties being used by members of the family.'

Harry and Meghan were asked to move remaining possessions out of their UK home in Windsor just weeks after Harry also criticised his family in his book Spare in January.

Mr Scobie added: 'Staying mum about Harry's accusations and remaining publicly unconcerned for his son's wellbeing while ending his family's lease on a safe UK residence was not a decisive action by a resolute King.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

'It was a cheap shot from a wounded father bound by an institutional system that is often intolerant of human emotion'.

Grade-II listed Frogmore which is located near Windsor Castle in Berkshire was a gift to the couple from Harry's grandmother, the late Queen Elizabeth II.

In 2019, royal accounts showed Meghan and Harry paid 2.4million to cover the refurbishment and rental of Frogmore Cottage, on the Home Park Estate.

They only used the property a handful of times since relocating to the US in 2020 after stepping down as working royals.

In June, Buckingham Palace confirmed at the annual Sovereign Grant account briefing on royal finances that Harry and Meghan had 'vacated Frogmore Cottage'

The Palace refused to be drawn on whether Andrew would be leaving his Royal Lodge home in Windsor Great Park and move to Frogmore.
President Joe Biden's 2024 Democratic challenger Rep. Dean Phillips is tearing into the administration's proposed ban on menthol cigarettes, calling it 'absurd.'

In a recent radio interview, Phillips was asked about the administration's push to ban menthol cigarettes, which is currently in the final review and approval process. He called it 'one of the great American debates.'

'Freedom and liberty mean the world to me. I get concerned about a government that tells its citizens what they can and cannot do, especially if it doesn't hurt another American citizen,' he told New Hampshire radio host Drew Kline.

He added: 'As it relates to banning certain flavors of tobacco, I think that's absurd.'

Phillips said it's similar to the debate of the federal government forcing Americans to wear motorcycle helmets or seatbelts, which is 'not an easy answer.'

The congressman went on to say that there should be tax policy and age restrictions to dissuade children from getting their hands on flavored cigarettes.

A string of recent polls reveal that President Biden's proposed ban on menthol cigarettes may have 'unintended consequences' for him at the ballot box in 2024. Experts say that the ban will alienate his traditional base and may even drive votes to Republicans come next November.

President Joe Biden's 2024 Democratic challenger Rep. Dean Phillips is tearing into the administration's proposed ban on menthol cigarettes

The Biden administration is also catching heat for pushing for the menthol ban while moving to decriminalize marijuana

Last week, Republican pollster and strategist Kellyanne Conway told DailyMail.com that Biden should be prepared to 'face the consequences' at the ballot box if his administration moves forward with pushing a menthol cigarette ban.

She pointed to new survey results obtained by DailyMail.com that show over six in 10 voters nationwide agree that the banning of menthol cigarettes will disproportionately harm minority communities - and that includes 63 percent of Democrats.

In the battleground states of Nevada and North Carolina in particular, over half of voters are discouraged from supporting any menthol ban.

'The data shows that Biden's executive and regulatory actions are opposed by Blacks, Hispanics, young people, independents and suburban women  the same demographics straying away from him and upon whom he relied on to win in 2020,' Conway discovered.

'At a time when poll after poll show Joe Biden is hemorrhaging voters in his own party, the Biden White House is seeking to ban menthol cigarettes which as our poll found, would push non-whites and young voters further away from Biden and closer to Republicans,' Conway told DailyMail.com.

In addition, according to findings from a survey by Nuestro PAC, black and Latino voters are worried that the proposed ban would 'push the product into the illegal black market' and increase crime.

Eighty percent of black and Latinos said they agreed that the government should 'fully explore concerns' before moving forward with the ban.

Those findings align with a recent push by Rev. Al Sharpton urging administration to walk back its proposed ban - which is currently in the final stages of approval.

Sharpton wrote to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert Califf earlier this month, saying the ban will impact minority communities and foster 'illicit markets and more police interaction.'

In addition, law enforcement officials previously told DailyMail.com that the ban would lead to an increase in black market trafficking, cartel and gang violence and unregulated cigarettes - which could be laced with dangerous drugs, including fentanyl.

And it will impact minority communities the most, because menthols are smoked predominantly by black and Latino communities - at over 80 percent - said retired New York State Police officer Elliot Boyce.

The Biden administration is also catching heat for pushing for the menthol ban while moving to decriminalize marijuana.

A national Republican strategist told DailyMail.com that the issue is likely to hit Biden hard with black voters in 2024

Over the summer, Biden asked the DEA to downgrade marijuana laws ahead of the 2024 election

Over the summer, Biden asked the DEA to downgrade marijuana laws ahead of the 2024 election - despite slamming cannabis as a 'gateway drug' as recently as 2019.

Top Republican campaign operatives say it will turn voters away from Biden.

'Criminalizing menthol cigarettes while advocating for drug decriminalization makes zero sense from a policy perspective,' said National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Jason Thielman.

'From a political perspective, this issue will almost certainly accelerate working-class Black voters' move away from the Democratic Party. In key swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Michigan, doing slightly better with working-class Black voters could make all the difference,' he continued in a statement to DailyMail.com.

The Biden administration has maintained that the criminalization of menthols would help Americans become less addicted over time.

'The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,' HHS Sec. Xavier Becerra previously said.

'Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities,' he continued.
Texas has spent more than $86 million dollars busing migrants out of its state and to self-declared sanctuary cities that claimed to welcome migrants with open arms, until they too became flooded with asylum-seekers.

At a cost of $1,650 per migrant, Texas has spent millions on the border transportation operation from April 2022 to October 2023, according to a report by Axios.

About 67,500 migrants have volunteered to board the state-run charters, according to the most recent number from the office of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

Migrants must sign a waiver saying they understand where they are being taken and they boarded the buses of their free will.

When Abbott started the program, he promised that Texas alone would not shoulder the burden of the border crisis.

Migrants board an Abbott bus in Del Rio, Texas headed for Chicago

Arriving from Brownsville, Texas, migrants arrive in New York where they will be processed at the Roosevelt Hotel

A legal waiver migrants must sign before boarding a Texas-funded bus

Texas Governor Greg Abbot attends the event for Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump during his visit at the southern border in Edinburg, Texas, U.S. November 19

'President Biden's continued refusal to secure our border invites thousands of illegal crossings into Texas and our nation each day,' said Governor Abbott.

'Texas communities like Eagle Pass and El Paso should not have to shoulder the unprecedented surge of illegal immigration caused by President Biden's reckless open border policies.'

New York has received the most migrants with 24,200 bused to the Big Apple since August 2022.

It's still a drop in bucket compared to the 1.3 million migrants Texas received from October 2022 through this September, according to US Customs and Border Protection.

Since President Joe Biden took office in 2001, 3.8 million migrants have crossed the southern border into the Lone Star State.

When Abbott first sent buses to Gotham in August 2022, New York City Mayor Eric Adams spokesman told the media, 'New York will continue to welcome asylum seekers with open arm.'

A year later, Adams had completely changed his tune.

'I don't see an ending to this. This issue will destroy New York City,' Adams declared in September.

Leaders in the Big Apple then took the their about-face further, first busing migrants to Canada in February and more recently, offering to buy one-way tickets out of town for migrants who wanted to leave the five boroughs.

Texas, which shares a border with Mexico, has taken the brunt of the border crisis. Since 2001, roughly 3.8 million migrants have crossed into the Lone Star State, according to US Customs and Border Protection

In August 2022, NYC mayor Eric Adams welcome migrants welcomed asylum seekers bused in from Texas at Port Authority, saying he was proud New York is a shelter state

Hundreds of refugees slept outside the Roosevelt Hotel in August when the historic establishment was transformed into a migrant camp

Thousands of asylum seekers have been bussed to major cities from border states including Texas as unprecedented numbers continue to enter the United States

Chicago has gotten the second most migrants from Abbot's buses-- 19,700 since last August.

Washington, D.C. was the first city to receive migrants from Abbott, with the first busload dropped off near the offices of Fox News where TV cameras were rolling near the nation's capitol in April 2022.

Texas migrants buses Over 12,500 migrants to Washington, D.C. since April 2022

Over 24,200 migrants to New York City since August 2022

Over 19,700 migrants to Chicago since August 2022

Over 3,200 migrants to Philadelphia since November 2022

Over 6,800 migrants to Denver since May 18

Over 1,100 migrants to Los Angeles since June 14 Source: Office of Gov. Greg Abbott Advertisement

So far, 12,500 asylum-seekers have been dropped off in the capital city, including several busloads dropped off near the home of Vice President Kamala Harris-- who was named the Border Czar by President Biden-- on Christmas Eve 2022 and again in May.

'Worthless @GovAbbott dropping off people with no money and no means on Christmas Eve in 15-degree weather near the VP's residence,' San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro slammed Abbott online.

'How Christian of you, Greg Abbott,' he added. 'Being a heartless POS isn't going to make you the next Republican President.'

Over 6,800 migrants to Denver has received since May.

The State of Colorado also bussed migrants to New York City and Chicago last winter before suspending its program, reported Politico.

Officials in all the receiving city have complained they did not get a heads up that migrants were headed their way.

The Mayor of Albuquerque says he expects to start receiving migrants from Texas after hearing from a charter company that works with Lone Star officials.

'The Texas Governor's gutless actions reflect his inability to lead during challenging times we need solutions, not dangerous, life-threatening stunts,' Mayor Tim Kelle said.
A prolific burglar found with a book called 'Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief' was caught after bungling a raid by leaving his DNA at the scene and allowing his face to be caught on CCTV.

Peter O'Halloran, 49, carried out a series of home invasions in five counties over three years, stealing hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash, gems and other valuables.

His most high-profile jobs, which was featured on the BBC's Crimewatch show, involved an estimated 700,000 haul of designer watches, jewellery and other family heirlooms from an elderly Northamptonshire couple in 2019.

O'Halloran bypassed their security systems while they were out of town and spent hours in their home before making his escape.

He remained at large until he slipped up by leaving his DNA on a ladder used to break into a house in Guilden Morden, Cambridgeshire, in March last year.

Peter O'Halloran has been jailed for more than 12 years for a series of home invasions in five counties

The criminal was spotted on CCTV carrying out one of his raids, and left behind DNA on a ladder

When he was arrested police found a copy of 'Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief' in his bedroom

CCTV also showed him sneaking around the boundary of the property, peering in through windows before entering and taking jewellery and watches.

When police raided his home near Stowmarket in Suffolk in November last year, they found a concealed compartment in a desk containing 60,000 in cash, coins worth up to 80,000, watches and bags of gems. The total value was more than 500,000.

The defendant had a copy of 'Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief' in his bedroom, a 2004 autobiography by American criminal Bill Mason who claims to have stolen 27 million of property from homes and hotel rooms during his career.

Victims he named included Johnny Weissmuller, the US Olympic swimming legend who went on to play Tarzan in a dozen movies between 1932 and 1948, as well as the Jungle Jim series of films.

O'Halloran also had books on antiques, fine metals, jewellery and gems, while his car contained false number plates, mobile phones, cash and changes of clothes.

He was jailed for 12-and-a-half years at Cambridge Crown Court on November 17 after admitting the Guilden Morden burglary, as well as the one in Northamptonshire and another in Norfolk.

A further nine break-ins, including four in Cambridgeshire, were taken into consideration.

Detective Constable Lisa Bacon, of Cambridgeshire's Southern Burglary Team, said afterwards: 'O'Halloran is a calculating, professional, high-value burglar with a string of convictions against his name.

'He considers himself a 'master thief', carefully surveying the homes he is going to target and then going to great lengths to ensure the stolen items are not traced back to him.

O'Halloran was found to have60,000 in cash, coins worth up to 80,000, watches and bags of gems

The total value of the items found in O'Halloran's Stowmarket home was more than 500,000

Officers found the goods stashed in a hidden compartment in a desk at his Suffolk home

'I hope this sentence provides some closure to all of the victims affected by his criminality.'

The female victim's wedding band and her husband's collection of designer watches were among the items O'Halloran stole during the Northamptonshire burglary in January 2019.

Detectives were unable to crack the case, despite extensive enquiries and public appeals. The woman offered a 10,000 reward, which was featured on the Crimewatch programme, after her husband died suddenly months after the break-in.

It was only earlier this year that police in Cambridgeshire contacted colleagues over the border in Northamptonshire about a burglary and a pattern of offending was identified, leading to the arrest of O'Halloran, who is also known as Peter Sonny Martin Noon.

Detective Sergeant Karl Curtis, of Northamptonshire's Burglary Team, said: 'The emotional impact of O'Halloran's actions on his victims cannot be overestimated.

'He didn't just invade their homes and steal expensive jewellery  he sullied the memories attached to each item.'

A further court hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act is due to take place in April next year.
A police officer missed an emergency 999 call on his radio because he was having sex with his former partner, a hearing was told.

PC Steven Austin had allegedly visited his ex's house in the middle of the day despite being on duty.

The pair had sex shortly after lunch and the officer left the house after around an hour and a half.

But he missed a Grade 1 emergency call on his radio in which there could have been a danger to life.

The emergency call concerned an incident involving a man being punched in the head four times.

PC Steven Austin missed an emergency call while visiting his former partner at her home and allegedly having sex, a hearing was told

The victim was then actively pursuing his attacker and the incident required an immediate police response.

PC Austin faced a disciplinary panel today to answer allegations relating to breaches of the Standards of Professional Behaviour.

It was alleged that he attended a private property while on duty for about one hour and thirty two minutes with no policing purpose and engaged in sexual relations with a woman there; and failed to respond to a Grade 1 call while at the property.

It was further alleged that the conduct of PC Austin, if proven, amounts to gross misconduct and is so serious as to justify dismissal.

The bearded officer, who serves with Sussex Police in Eastbourne, denies the allegations.

The incident is said to have happened on November 23 2021 when PC Austin was on duty.

The panel was told he contacted his former partner - Miss X - and invited himself round to her house , arriving at around 1.30pm.

The pair, who have a child together, then had sex before he eventually left the house at 14.43pm.

The hearing was told the pair had been in a 'long-standing relationship' together but had split up some time before. PC Austin had then embarked on another relationship with a female police officer.

Miss X allegedly confessed to her present partner - Mr Y - about having sex with PC Austin and also contacted his new girlfriend - known as PC B.

The hearing was told an argument erupted at a theatre during Jimmy Carr concert after Miss X saw PC Austin with PC B .

She believed PC Austin had ended his relationship with PC B and was furious when she spotted them together.

A complaint was eventually lodged with Sussex Police by a friend of Miss X to whom she had confided.

Her claims were backed by Miss X's own boyfriend - Mr Y - who had a 45-minute call with PC Austin in which the officer allegedly confessed to having sex with his former partner.

An investigation was launched by Sussex Police who visited Miss X at her home to interview her.

During two interviews on December 2 and December 8 she claimed she had sex with PC Austin at her house.

She also told the officers the police officer had failed to respond to a call on his radio because they were having sex at the time.

Doorbell footage and phone mapping showed PC Austin at Miss X's home, but he claimed he was only there for 13 minutes.

However the panel was told Miss X suffered from serious mental health issues, including severe depression, and had since retracted her claims about her former partner.

Doorbell footage showed PC Austin visiting his ex's home at the time of the call, although he maintains that he was only there for 13 minutes

She also refused to attend the disciplinary hearing citing her frail mental health as a reason.

Eloise Emanuel, lawyer for PC Austin said his former partner later retracted her claims because they were untrue.

She said Miss X made the claims because she was 'hurt and angry' after PC Austin had turned down her invitation to rekindle their relationship.

Ms Emanuel said the retraction was made because there had been no intimacy between the pair on November 23 and she had 'lied' and she had been motivated 'by anger' and a desire to 'hurt Steve as much as possible.'

However the hearing was also told that Miss X claimed she had thought better of pursuing the claims as she didn't want her former officer to lose his job as a result.

The disciplinary panel have been asked to dismiss her evidence on that basis and have retired until Wednesday to consider whether to allow the application.
King Charles cracked a smile at Buckingham Palace today during an audience with the Prime Minister of Samoa as the Royal Family faces more bombshells from Omid Scobie.

His Majesty appeared in a good mood as he greeted Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata'afa on Monday afternoon, smiling warmly and sharing a joke with the politician.

It was a reunion of sorts for the pair, who had a similarly good natured meeting in March this year during a gathering of Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers in London.

It comes as the Royal Family braces for more bombshells from Scobie's new book Endgame, which is to be published in the UK on Tuesday.

Although the book is yet to be released in Britain, the biographer of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex has already aimed a number of jibes towards the Firm, with some of the less flattering passages being leaked.

King Charles III was all smiles as he greeted the Prime Minister of Samoa Afioga Fiame Naomi Mata'afa at Buckingham Palace on Monday

His Majesty was seen sharing a warm smile and a joke with the politician during the audience

The audience came as the Royal Family braces for more bombshells from Omid Scobie's new book Endgame

Among these are claims that letters between Charles and Meghan Markle reveal the names of two people who allegedly commented on Archie's skin colour, although Scobie has declined to reveal their identities claiming it could put him at risk of legal reprisals in the UK.

But he said letters were exchanged between Charles and Meghan following the allegation in the Sussexes' bombshell interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021.

In an interview with ABC's Good Morning America broadcast today, Mr Scobie was asked whether he knew who made the comments about Archie's skin colour.

He said: 'I do know who made the comments about Archie's skin colour. The names were mentioned in letters between Meghan and Charles that were exchanged some time after the Oprah interview.

'We know from sources that Charles was horrified that that's how Meghan felt. Those conversations were, and that he wanted to, sort of as a representative for the family, have that conversation with her.

'And it is why I personally think they have been able to move forward with some kind of line of communication afterwards. Though they may not see eye to eye on it.'

Mr Scobie's claims threaten to reignite the 'royal racist' row that came about after Harry and Meghan's interview.

Meghan had alleged in the TV special that an unnamed member of the Royal Family spoke about 'how dark his (Archie's) skin might be when he's born'.

Royal author Omid Scobie gave an interview broadcast on ABC's Good Morning America today

William, Harry, Meghan and Charles speak together at Westminster Abbey in March 2019

Meghan, Harry, William and Kate on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in July 2018

King Charles III attends St Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham, Norfolk, yesterday

But it is now being claimed that a second member of the extended Royal Household - who may not be a member of the Royal Family itself - also made similar comments.

The two people are not named in Endgame, which is subtitled 'Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchy's Fight for Survival'.

The book makes a series of claims about the royals and looks at its future following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year.

These include that William was involved in 'things that have gone out about his own brother' and that the elder brother ignored texts from Harry when the family were making their way to Balmoral before the late Queen died last year.

Among the other claims made in the book are that there is a rift between the King and the William, that Queen Camilla has 'quietly thanked' Piers Morgan for 'defending the Firm' and that a timid Princess of Wales has to be encouraged to perform engagements.

Mr Scobie added to ABC: 'I think before people assume that I'm calling this the end of the Royal Family, I'm simply declaring that we've reached a sort of pinnacle moment where the royal family as we know it, is at stake.'

He also makes claims about Prince William leaking stories about Harry.

Mr Scobie said: 'He's sharing private information about his brother that ended up on the front page of a newspaper not long later. These are things that have cause irreparable damage in the relations between each other.'

Describing William as a 'company man', he said: 'We have seen the emergence of a man who is much harder, who seems to have embraced and embodied the royal institution'.

The ABC report also said Harry is willing to end the rift between William, had tried to reach out to his brother and that relations with his father Charles 'may be on the mend'.

Mr Scobie said: 'There is a steady open line of communication between the two, where they are able to talk with each other. Where Harry, I would say, clearly understands that his father probably isn't the most emotional or open person'.

The report on ABC said its interview with Mr Scobie also saw him claim he felt he was caught up in a family drama - and that Meghan contacted him to check he was OK.

ABC claimed Mr Scobie also says that he is not that close with Harry and Meghan and he 'never chose Team Sussex'.

The interview will be broadcast tomorrow night on Nightline.
Mysterious 'witch bottles' have washed up on the Gulf of Mexico - and researchers are too afraid to open them.

Researcher Jace Tunnell found the items on a beach near Corpus Christi, Texas, on November 15.

The bottles get their name as they come from an unknown sender and often have weird items inside - including what some fear are spells.

A recently discovered witch bottle contained gooseneck barnacles clustered on the glass, meaning the artifact had been in the water for a while.

Tunnell told Fox News eight witch bottles have been discovered since 2017 and he does not get creeped out by them, but he will not open them because they are supposed to have 'spells and stuff.'

Tunnell's wife is also not up for taking any chances and told him that he can bring shells inside, but 'no spell bottles.'

Researcher Jace Tunnell discovered a witch bottle on November 15 along the Gulf of Mexico on a beach near Corpus Christi, Texas

People who are superstitious are afraid to open witch bottles, believing the items contain various spells

Witch bottles are common discoveries in the UK, and can be filled with items like hair, herbs, plans, nails or bodily fluids.

Nearly 200 bottles have been found over the years in walls, dung piles or buried underground.

'Back in the 16th and 17th centuries there was a powerful belief in witches and their ability to cause illness by casting a spell,' reported the McGill University Office of Science and Society via Fox News.

'But the evil spells could be fended off by trapping them in a witch bottle, which if properly prepared, could actually reflect the spell itself while also tormenting the witch,' McGill University Office added.

Because of this, the witch would have no other option but to remove the spell and allow the victim to recover.

Witch bottles are common discoveries in the UK, and can be filled with items like hair, herbs, plans, nails or bodily fluids

People create witch bottles for protection and various health reasons

According to Tunnell in a YouTube video he posted last October, there are a variety of reasons why people would create these kinds of bottles.

'Some of the spell bottles are for protection,' the researcher stated.

'They do a ritual where they've got incense and smoke and stuff like that.'

Tunnell added: 'Sometimes they do it for health reasons, for luck - there's all kinds of reasons why people would have spell bottles.'

The William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research also discussed the history of nails in a witch bottle via The Charlotte Observer.

'An afflicted person would bury the nail-filled bottle under or near their hearth, with the idea that the heat from the hearth would energize the nails into breaking a witch's spell,' said the University.

Tunnell said in his YouTube video there are some people who create witch bottles just to throw them into the ocean.

However, he has no idea how the bottles he found were even in the ocean to start.

'When it comes to manmade debris, it's about telling people if you see a piece of trash on the ground, pick it up,' Tunnell told Fox News.

'A lot of the stuff we find, even if it's way inland, gets into the nearest waterway if it rains. Where does that go? The ocean,' Tunnell added.

People have also created witch bottles just to throw them into the ocean and possibly being discovered by researchers such as Tunnell

Other items Tunnell has found that he recorded on his YouTube channel's Beachcoming Episodes include an abandoned drone, a lifepod, lost ship supplies and 30 messages in bottles.

Tunnell and other researchers at Harte have been able to guess where the washed-up objects came from based on weather and tide patterns.

However, Tunnell doesn't suspect any of the items discovered came from the US.

Some of the bottles he discovered were what he told Fox News Digital were 'real thin yellow vinegar bottles' manufactured in Haiti that 'have sea turtle bites in them' when they're washed up onshore.

There is also a possibility that bottles fitting that description could be coming from the Caribbean or South America.
Eight more small boats filled with migrants landed in Dover yesterday after making the perilous crossing over the English Channel - taking the total number of migrants arriving via the route to more than 28,000 this year.

With 364 asylum seekers arriving on Sunday alone, 28,072 people have now made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait so far in 2023, according to official government figures.

November alone has seen 1,373 migrants arrive in 28 boats - an average of 49 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy.

Eight boats were brought into Dover after being intercepted at sea, with the first group escorted into the harbour on Border Force catamaran Hurricane around 1pm.

They were wrapped up in red blankets, hooded jackets, and hats and scarves, after battling cold and wet conditions in the Channel.

The first boat was escorted into the harbour on Border Force catamaran Hurricane around 1pm on Sunday (file image)

With 364 asylum seekers arriving on Sunday alone, 28,072 people have now made the perilous journey across the 21-mile Dover Strait so far in 2023

Around half an hour later, Border Force catamaran Defender brought dozens more migrants into the port.

The mostly male group could be seen removing their orange lifejackets and passing them to UK officials, as they were led along the former jetfoil terminal to be taken for processing.

More migrants were intercepted shortly before 3pm and brought into Dover on another Border Force vessel.

Around 5pm another group of asylum seekers could be seen disembarking at the port in the dark, while the final arrivals were brought into the harbour at 6pm.

The same day, a further 35 migrants were rescued by French authorities.

Early in the morning on Sunday, the French coastguard centre CROSS spotted a boat in difficulty off the coast of Boulogne-sur-Mer.

The Maritime Police boat Aber Ildut was tasked with rescuing the stranded people but they 'refused' the assistance, according to the Maritime Prefect. Aber Ildut continued to maintain surveillance of the boat.

Several hours later, at the beginning of the afternoon, the assistance and rescue tug (RIAS) Abeille Normandie, chartered by the French Navy, was asked to monitor the dinghy. By this point, several people on board accepted the assistance offered.

The French Navy picked up a total of 35 migrants, who were returned to the port of Boulogne-sur-Mer, where they were taken care of by the departmental fire and rescue service and the border police.

But the migrants still on board the dinghy managed to restart the boat's engine and refused to be rescued.

According to the Maritime Prefect, a decision was made to let them continue with their journey to the UK, as it was deemed too risky to intervene.

By November 26, 2022, a total of 42,242 migrants had arrived in the UK by small boat - over 14,000 more than at the same stage this year.

November alone has seen 1,373 migrants arrive in 28 boats - an average of 49 people crammed into each inflatable dinghy

Last year saw a record 45,755 migrants make the treacherous crossing overall - 60 per cent higher than in 2021 when 28,526 people reached Britain in dinghies.

This comes after figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that net migration into the UK was at a record 745,000 last year.

The ONS said the population of England and Wales grew by around one per cent in the year to June 2022 - the fastest rate since the baby boom of the 1960s - with the increase driven by international migration.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's spokesman said migration was putting 'unsustainable pressure on communities and councils'.

While Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said the 'shockingly high' net migration figures represent 'a failure not just of immigration, but also of asylum and of the economy'.
Four people have been arrested after Pro-Palestinian activists smashed windows and daubed paint over a business they accused of renting land to an arms factor that sends weapons to the IDF

The activists, three men in their late 20s and early 30s, as well as a 20-year-old woman, are being held on suspicion of causing criminal damage after the office building in Birmingham was vandalised at 7am today.

Several windows were smashed and the doors covered in 'blood red paint' at Number 55 Colmore Row by protesters from Palestine Action.

The group said they were targeting LondonMetric, a FTSE-listed property company, alleging it was in partnership with Israel's largest weapons company Elbit Systems.

Palestine Action posted on X, formerly Twitter: 'Palestine Action spray, smash and shut down the landlords of Leicester's Israeli weapons factory!

Several windows were smashed and the doors covered in 'blood red paint' at Number 55 Colmore Row

The activists, three men in their late 20s and early 30s, as well as a 20-year-old woman (pictured), are being held on suspicion of causing criminal damage

Palestine Action took a sledgehammer to LondonMetric, a FTSE-listed property company, alleging it was in partnership with Israel 's largest weapons company Elbit Systems

'London Metric have Palestinian blood on their hands.'

The group shared a video of two activists that seemingly pinned themselves to the floor of the company's property.

While one was seen lighting a cigarette, another said in an impassioned speech: 'LondonMetric has blood on their hands. They are the landlords of Elbit Systems who make drones that kill children in hospitals and schools.

'They are accomplices in war crimes, in the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.'

West Midlands Police have placed a cordon around the scene near to Birmingham Cathedral and the city's Frankfurt Christmas Market.

A force spokesperson said: 'We've arrested four people on suspicion of criminal damage in Birmingham city centre this morning (27 November).

'We were called to an office building on Colmore Row, Birmingham at around 7am to reports that a group of people were at the location and had thrown paint at the building.

'A number of windows have been broken and what we believe to be paint has been daubed on the building.

'[They] have been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and are currently in custody.'

A force spokesperson said: 'We've arrested four people on suspicion of criminal damage in Birmingham city centre this morning'

'We were called to an office building on Colmore Row, Birmingham at around 7am to reports that a group of people were at the location and had thrown paint at the building,' West Midlands Police said

Palestine Action posted on X, formerly Twitter : 'Palestine Action spray, smash and shut down the landlords of Leicester's Israeli weapons factory!

The four protesters have been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage and are currently in custody

'A number of windows have been broken and what we believe to be paint has been daubed on the building,' the force said

LondonMetric has been approached for comment.

Down in London, the Metropolitan Police last weekend braced for another heavy weekend of protests in the capital this weekend, with more than 150,000 people attending the seventh week of demonstrations in a row.

Some 1,500 police officers were in duty, including 500 from outside London as both pro-Palestinian and antisemitism protests were held. There was also demonstration from Islamic group Hizb ut-Tahrir outside the Egyptian Embassy.

The Metropolitan Police insisted that it will be safe for Jewish people to come into London over the weekend.

A 90-minute march organised by the volunteer-led charity Campaign Against Antisemitism took place on Sunday, with many famous faces including Rachel Riley, Eddie Marsan and former PM Boris Johnson, all making appearances.
Police have launched an appeal to track down more than 60 people suspected of committing hate crimes and other offences since the October 7 attack on Israel.

The Met Police have confirmed that there are currently more than 977 ongoing investigations across the force into a range of offences linked to protests and incidents in communities in response to the attack last month.

In total, 434 people have been arrested for a range of offences including hate crimes and public order offences over the past seven weeks. Of these arrests, 288 were made in connection with offences at protests, 133 were following offences in communities, and 13 were related to counter terrorism offences.

A total of 85 people have been charged.

It comes after a new appeal to identify two men was launched following incident in Stanhope Gate, close to Park Lane in Westminster, London on Saturday afternoon at around 1pm.

According to police, a journalist and her colleagues were harassed by two men, one in his 30s, and one in his 50s.

The man in his 30s had a long black beard and was wearing a blue Adidas jacket, black cargo trousers with a white scarf with red and green patterns and a black bandana

The second suspect was a balding man with greying brown hair who was wearing blue jeans, a black leather jacket, a black jumper and was carrying a megaphone.

The Met Police have confirmed that there are currently more than 977 ongoing investigations across the force into a range of offences

In total, 434 people have been arrested for a range of offences including hate crimes and public order offences over the past seven weeks

The man in his 30s had a long black beard and was wearing a blue Adidas jacket, black cargo trousers with a white scarf with red and green patterns and a black bandana.

The second suspect was a balding man with greying brown hair who was wearing blue jeans, a black leather jacket, a black jumper and was carrying a megaphone.

On Saturday, a large group gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London for the latest rally, this time organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism.

The organisers claimed it was the largest demonstration against anti-Semitism since 1936, with 104,000 estimated to have attended.

English Defence League founder Tommy Robinson also attended the march, despite being told by organisers to stay away. He was seen being escorted away from the march by police after arguing with officers for around 10 minutes outside Soho coffee shop opposite the Royal Courts of Justice.

Scotland Yard arrested Mr Robinson after he refused to leave the area when asked to by police officers. He claimed to be there 'as a journalist' but his arrest was not due to this, the Met Police said.

It comes as a large group gathered outside the Royal Courts of Justice in central London on the weekend for a rally organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism

The organisers said it was the largest demonstration against anti-Semitism since 1936, with 104,000 estimated to be there

Mr Robinson claimed to be there 'as a journalist' and alleged police were trying to stop him 'from reporting'. The Met Police said this did not play a factor

The group of a few thousand were seen waving Israeli and Union flags and holding placards reading 'Never Again Is Now' and 'Zero Tolerance for Antisemites', while other posters read 'Rape is not resistance' and 'Hamas made me Jewish'.

The march came after 18 demonstrators were arrested in the capital during a separate rally calling for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza - with anti-Semitic banners and placards on display throughout the march.

Speaking of the police's latest approach to track down suspects, Chief Superintendent Paul Trevers said: 'We know the effect of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East continues to have a significant impact on communities in London and we will do all we can to keep people safe.

'Our officers continue to meet regularly with members of the Jewish and Muslim communities across capital to provide reassurance and to respond to any concerns they may have.

'We have also been clear that offences, such as hate crime and support for proscribed organisations, will not be tolerated and we continue to have a dedicated policing operation to investigate these crimes and identify offenders.'

Anyone who recognises any of the people on the force's live appeals webpage is asked to call 0208 246 9386. Alternatively, they can call 101 quoting Operation Brocks and the relevant image identification number.

Information can also be shared anonymously with independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or via their website.
Former President Donald Trump is hoping to cash in on some MAGA cyber shopping by putting his infamous mugshot on Christmas-themed wrapping paper in a plea for campaign donations.

Trump, who has been known to hold campaign rallies with prominent Christmas decor and who claimed in 2016 to have brought back the phrase 'Merry Christmas,' blasted out an email appeal to his supporters Saturday.

'If youre anything like President Trump, then all YOU want for Christmas isTO MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!' began the appeal from 'Team Trump.'

'Which is why the President has instructed our team to begin shipping out FREE rolls of our limited-edition wrapping paper to ANY patriot who contributes $47 or more to help save our country from Crooked Joe Biden and the Radical Democrats.'

Former President Donald Trump, seen in 2016, is offering Christmas wrapping paper with the mugshot taken when he was processed in Fulton County, Georgia

A link takes supporters to a donation page featuring an image of a large wrapped box with a green bow on top.

The gift is wrapped in paper with a black and white image of Trump after he was processed in a Fulton County courthouse after being indicted on racketeering charges related to his effort to overturn the 2020 election results.

The photo has been altered to show Trump wearing a Santa hat.

The page says the 'NEVER SURRENDER MUGSHOT WRAPPING PAPER' is a 'FREE' gift to those who donate. It then asks visitors to click tabs ranging from $47 to $3,300, the maximum allowable individual federal campaign contribution.

It is a 'limited-edition' offer pegged to the holidays, which come just weeks before the Iowa caucuses, which offer Ron DeSantis the best shot to try to dent his poll-leading rival.

Supporters can also pay $35 for 'MAGA Fist Bump Wrapping paper' on Trump's merchandise page, where he has previously marketed his mug shot on a coffee mug.

For those who can't wait until Christmas morning for their Trump surprise, there is also a 'Never Surrender Christmas Stocking' on sale.

While Trump is milking his mugshot to boost his campaign coffers, his legal morass has also been costing him tens of millions of dollars in legal fees.

Making a list: The Trump campaign is marketing the president's infamous mugshot on wrapping paper being offered as a gift to contributors

President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump speak on the phone with children as they track Santa Claus with the North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, back in 2018. Trump famously asked a seven-year old, 'Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at 7, its marginal, right?'

Trump made use of his mugshot in Fulton County Georgia since he was processed in August

Trump understood the impact of his mugshot back in August, when he returned to Twitter to blast out the scowling image. In his separate New York fraud trial, Trump has been regularly attacking prosecutors he says are running a witch hunt against him, while also earning a gag order by going after the judge's clerk.

This holiday season will run up against key early state primaries and caucuses, as well as looming trial deadlines for Trump.

Back in 2021, he claimed credit for people saying 'Merry Christmas' rather than 'Happy Holidays.'

'When I started campaigning, I said youre going to say Merry Christmas again, and now people are saying it,' he told interviewer Mike Huckabee on Newsmax.

Donors who make a donation to the Trump Save America Joint Fundraising Committee can click a box to provide an additional donation. It says President Biden and Democrats have 'unjustly ARRESTED President Trump, attempted to JAIL him for life as an innocent man, taken a MUGSHOT of him, and even GAGGED and CENSORED him.'
This is the bizarre moment a Southwest Airlines passenger escaped a stationary plane by opening the emergency hatch and running across the tarmac.

After the passenger jumped out of the aircraft, he hoped on the wing of the plane and then sprinted across the tarmac and tried to hijack an airport service truck.

The incident happened on Sunday night at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner on Concourse B.

The 38-year-old man was taken to a hospital for an evaluation and authorities say that 'deputies believed he was suffering from a mental health emergency.'

The man has not been named by Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office, but they said he is believed to be a resident of Atlanta.

The unidentified man was arrested at a New Orleans-area airport after attempting a bizarre escape out of the emergency hatch of a plane Sunday night

The aircraft - a Boeing 737 MAX 8 - was set to take off to Atlanta before it reached its final destination of Baltimore. The incident took place while the plane was parked at a terminal and had yet to fully prepare for takeoff.

The video begins as all of the passengers frantically get off the plane as some still sit in their seats baffled by the series of events.

'He just escaped,' one passenger says.

Another says: 'He ran out!'

Everyone then proceeds to grab their belongings as quickly as possible before they all push toward the front of the plane to exit.

'Go ya'll, go ya'll,' one person says.

Everyone on board then walks back into the airport and remain at the gate area while the man is chased down on the tarmac.

He is then seen being apprehended by multiple employees before authorities step in.

Passengers are seen panicking in the video (left). All passengers had to swiftly exit the plane and return to the gat inside the airport (right)

The man was not arrested, and his name has not been revealed, but authorities said he is 38 years old and believed to be from Atlanta

The Southwest flight was expected to head to Atlanta before it reached its final destination of Baltimore

It is unclear what made the passenger open the emergency door and escape.

'When deputies made contact with the man, they found he was incoherent and not fully aware of his surrounding,' police said.

Authorities also said there was 'no indication' that the man left anything behind on the plane, and no weapons were found on him.

Officials said that he is not expected to face criminal charges locally, but the investigation has now been referred to federal authorities.

Nobody was injured but the flight was canceled due to the incident.

'We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our customers for their inconvenience,' Southwest Airlines said in a statement to NBC News.

The man remains hospitalized at this time.
Samantha Markle looks likely will get her day in court after a judge set a trial date in her defamation lawsuit against half-sister Meghan Markle.

The trial will begin in Tampa on November 4, 2024, a judge ruled this month. It is expected to last up to five days. She is seeking $75,000 in damages.

Samantha, 59, who has long been estranged from the Duchess of Sussex, alleges that she was defamed during the infamous Prince Harry and Meghan interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired in 2021.

In March, a judge in Florida threw out the suit saying that Meghan's claims would be impossible to disprove but following amendments, the same judge appears to have ruled that there is merit to the claims.

During the interview, Meghan, 42, made references to growing up as an only child, something which Samantha resented, alleging that she had a normal sibling relationship with her younger half-sister.

Meghan Markle pictured at the Variety 2023 Power of Women event in California on November 16

Meghan and Harry's Oprah Winfrey interview in March 2021. She claimed she grew up an 'only child'

In a decision dated November 14, the same judge set a trial date for November 2024, with 'in person' meetings scheduled beforehand. Meghan's team has lodged another motion to appeal against Samantha's current suit, that the judge is yet to rule on.

'Until we get a decision on Meghan Markles Motion to Dismiss, we do not know whether the case will go forward, or not,' Samantha's lawyer Peter Ticktin told DailyMail.com.

'I do believe, though, that this judge is fair and will do the right thing. My argument on the hearing on the Motion to Dismiss should carry the day, and I am optimistic as we are in the right,' he added.

Samantha, who battles multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair, said that those comments resulted in her being subjected to 'humiliation and hatred' while calling Meghan's words in the interview 'demonstrably false and malicious.'

Markle vs. Markle: A timeline March 2022: Samantha files a defamation suit in Florida. She accuses Meghan of fabricating 'rags to riches' story that depicted their family in an inaccurate negative light. May 2022: Meghan's lawyers respond, calling the claims 'demonstrably false' and argue that the Duchess of Sussex's comments were 'non-actionable opinion.' June 2022: An initial motion to dismiss by Meghan's team is dismissed by a Tampa judge. They swiftly follow-up with a new motion, alleging that despite amendments, there were still numerous falsehoods in the suit. Her lawyers continue to argue that Meghan's comments about her upbringing are opinion. February 2023: Samantha's legal team file a motion asking a judge to compel Harry and Meghan to testify under oath. They also want the pair's father, Thomas, Samantha's daughter, Ashleigh, Jason Knauf, the royal couple's former communications secretary as well as tech wiz, Christopher Bouzy, known for his appearance in Harry & Meghan. Meghan's legal team continue stall tactics, asking for discovery in the issue to also be delayed. March 2023: Judge Charlene Edwards Honeywell dismisses the lawsuit, once again ruling that it would be impossible to decipher if Meghan's comments were false. April 2023: Samantha's team once again files an amended lawsuit. November 2023: Judge Honeywell sets a date for a civil trial with Meghan's latest motion to dismiss still pending. Advertisement

Those comments hurt the sales of her book, The Diary of Princess Pushy's Sister Part 1, Samantha claims.

Meghan's lawyers have said that the former Suits' star's comments reflected her own personal experience.

In comments to The Messenger, Samantha Markle's attorney, Peter Ticktin, said that he believed the trial could last longer than five days. As per civil court rules, Meghan is not expected to be present for proceedings.

Following her public statements, Samantha said that she has received death threats and alleges that after the airing of the Netflix hit Harry & Meghan, her Twitter account was suspended.

Samantha is Meghan's father Thomas's oldest daughter. The pair have different mothers.

Since Meghan's engagement to Prince Harry, Samantha has appeared in countless TV and radio interviews.

She maintains that the pair were close in childhood and that she often 'helped Meghan with her homework' and took her on trips to the mall.

'Once Meghan started to have success as an actress, she no longer had time for her older sister, Samantha, and by 2016, the two had stopped visiting, though there were no bad feelings between them, as far as Samantha knew.

'Unfortunately, once Meghan met and began dating Prince Harry Meghan became hostile to Samantha, as well as her half-brother and her father, and Meghan's relationship with Samantha became estranged,' her lawsuit reads.

In her first version of the lawsuit, Samantha claimed Meghan intentionally defamed her by providing information to the authors of Finding Freedom that she says is false.

Among the tidbits was Meghan's apparent claim that Samantha 'dropped out of high school'.

Those details are scrubbed from the amended complaint, which focuses solely on Meghan's remarks in the Oprah interview.

'Once Meghan started to have success as an actress, she no longer had time for her older sister, Samantha, and by 2016, the two had stopped visiting, though there were no bad feelings between them, as far as Samantha knew.

Samantha Markle claims she and Meghan were close when Meghan was a child

Samantha Markle is seeking damages in excess of $75,000

'Unfortunately, once Meghan met and began dating Prince Harry Meghan became hostile to Samantha, as well as her half-brother and her father, and Meghan's relationship with Samantha became estranged,' her lawsuit reads.

In her first version of the lawsuit, Samantha claimed Meghan intentionally defamed her by providing information to the authors of Finding Freedom that she says is false.

Among the tidbits was Meghan's apparent claim that Samantha 'dropped out of high school'.

Those details are scrubbed from the amended complaint, which focuses solely on Meghan's remarks in the Oprah interview.
Four asylum-seeking criminals released from immigration detention have refused to wear ankle monitoring devices, while one has gone missing.

The Australian Federal Police is unable to contact one of the detainees not wearing a device and is refusing to specify what crimes they have committed.

The government has confirmed that 141 people have been released from indefinite detention since the High Court handed down its landmark NZYQ decision earlier this month, overturning 20 years of precedent.

The ruling found that indefinite detention was unlawful, with three murderers and several sex offenders among those now among the public.

Anthony Albanese's government faced strong criticism for its handling of the situation after detainees were released in the aftermath of the high court decision

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil revealed the ABF did not have the resources to fit the ankle bracelets on newly released detainees

After the decision, the Albanese government and the Opposition rushed through emergency legislation that enforces strict monitoring requirements, including ankle bracelets, on those released from detention.

Of the 138 detainees, 132 are wearing the bracelets, two cases are being worked through due to health concerns and four have outright refused to wear them.

Australian Border Force Commissioner Michael Outram on Monday said the four who refused to wear the monitoring devices have been deemed 'lower risk' in terms of the scale of offences but will still be investigated.

An AFP spokesperson said they had 'no comment'.

Government Services Minister Bill Shorten said he had 'no doubt' police would 'find the fellow'.

It comes as its revealed the ABF did not have the electronic monitoring devices to fit on detainees after the monitoring requirement laws were introduced.

A resident of a Sydney motel where asylum keepers who have been freed from immigration detention after a High Court ruling

Of the 138 detainees, 132 are wearing electronic monitoring bracelets. Daily Mail Australia can reveal some have refused to wear them

'When this law was passed in the Parliament, ABF did not own an electronic monitoring bracelet and had never fitted one before,' Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said.

The Coalition's home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the latest revelation confirmed it had been a 'total debacle from the Albanese government from start to finish'.

'What really needs to happen now is pass new laws which can re-detain at least the highest risk criminal offenders among the cohort, which includes rapists, murderers, pedophiles, and at least one contract killer,' he said on Tuesday.

He said those higher-risk detainees could be made subject to similar laws that exist for terrorists.

'You can't put them back into immigration detention indefinitely, but you can pass new laws to apply to a court to put them in jail because of the risks that they pose to the community,' he explained.

'We do that with terrorist offenders, there is no reason why we couldn't do it with these offenders based on the risk that they pose to our community.'

Meanwhile, the High Court on Tuesday will release its reasons for releasing over 100 refugees from infinite detention - specifically why it decided to free a detainee known as NZYQ who has been convicted of child rape.

The court is expected to release its findings just after 2pm.
A grandfather could be forced to sell his own home after spending thousands of pounds in legal planning disputes over removing his own wall.

Ron Knight has been embroiled in the six-year-long legal battle since December 2017 over a parcel of farmland in the village of Milborne Port, Somerset.

The 88-year-old removed a section of boundary wall so that he could access his land and ensure its upkeep, which alerted South Somerset District Council's planning enforcement team, and prompted an enforcement notice to be sent.

Mr Knight and his two brothers sold off Cannon Court Farm, located off Golding's Lane at the southern edge of the village in 1990 before relocating to Devon.

But the parcel of land on Brook Street adjoining the farm stayed within in their ownership, meaning they remained responsible for its upkeep.

The parcel of land later became landlocked after the property's new owner extended the farm and its buildings, with previous access to the land parcel via existing roads blocked off.

Ron Knight, 88, has been embroiled in the six-year-long legal battle since December 2017

Mr Knight removed a section of the boundary wall in October 2017 to gain access and use mowers and hedge trimmers to maintain the land. He had previously helped to rebuild the same wall back in 1974 and did not know he needed planning permission to remove the section.

He was then sent an enforcement notice, which he failed to respond to, before being invited to interview under caution by police and subsequently to appear in court, incurring thousands in fines in the process.

Now, Mr Knight may have to sell up his home in Devon to pay the fines.

Linda Knight, Mr Knight's daughter, said: 'My dad received an enforcement notice from South Somerset District Council in December 2017 to cease work immediately along with a letter to appeal, which he didn't understand and to which he failed to respond - hence missing the one chance to explain why he'd done what he'd done.

'Dad was then invited to an interview under caution from the police in March 2019, as he had refused to rebuild the wall, and was then summoned to appear in court for failure to comply in July 2020, incurring costs of 300'.

Mr Knight was subsequently fined 1,237.50 at another summons in December 2020 with further costs of 250 at a subsequent hearing held in July 2022.

The issue relates to a parcel of farmland in the village of Milborne Port, Somerset

He then submitted a planning application seeking retrospective planning permission for changes to be made to the boundary wall but the council declined to determine the application, arguing that the pensioner could not apply for planning permission while still under enforcement action.

According to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990, local councils have the legal right to decline making a decision on any application relating to any site which is partially or wholly under enforcement action.

Last month, Mr Knight appeared in court again and was told he would face 45 days in prison unless he rebuilt the wall and repaid all fines.

He now faces another court date in January if he is unable to pay the outstanding fines.

'My father, who was 88 this year, is living on a pension and caring for his disabled wife - he is her sole carer', Ms Knight added. 'He could likely be forced to sell his house as he can't afford to pay the ongoing fines.

Sam Cabell, Mr Knight's grandson, added: 'Granddad wasn't allowed legal aid so had to represent himself. All the solicitors we contacted wouldn't take the case on.

'The only person we found that would give advice was a barrister in London which would charge him more than 950 per hour.

'It's a pretty shocking system to be quite honest, especially as there is others on the same street that have taken down walls to their properties to gain access for car parking spaces.

'My grandfather built the wall himself back in the 1970s and had no hassle from the council then - so why is there now an issue with him taking a piece down, for access to feed animals and keep the place tidy?'

Somerset Council said it was in the public interest to continue to pursue the matter, arguing that Mr Knight had caused 'unjustified harm' to a protected local structure.

'The retrospective planning application was asking for the same requirements as the enforcement notice', a spokesman said.

'We have applied the expediency test and public interest test to each step of this case.

'We consider that the creation of the access, necessitating the demolition or removal of a wide section of the historic stonewall and associated engineering work to the land behind, fails to safeguard the established character of the conservation area and has caused unjustified harm to a designated heritage asset.'
Two women have been charged with hate crimes after they attacked a Jewish victim who confronted them for tearing down posters in New York City of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas.

Mehwish Omer, 26, and Stephanie Gonzalez, 25, allegedly assaulted the 41-year-old woman after she approached the duo as they took down posters of Israeli hostages from a light pole in the Upper West Side on the night of November 9.

The Jewish woman told police she began recording Omer and Gonzalez and arguing with them before she was attacked. The young women then assaulted the victim, ripping off her Star of David necklace and knocking her cellphone out of her hand before running off, per the NYPD

The victim was reportedly left with minor injuries to her face and neck, and her phone was damaged.

Omer turned herself in on Monday and Gonzalez was arraigned last week. They are both detained in Lower Manhattans 7th Precinct.

Mehwish Omer, 26, was charged with hate crimes in Manhattan on Monday

She is accused of assaulting a Jewish woman who confronted her as she was tearing down posters of Isreli hostages in Manhattan

Omer (right), and Stephanie Gonzalez, 25 (left), allegedly assaulted the 41-year-old woman after she approached the duo as they took down the posters

The NYPD had offered a $3,500 cash reward for information on the two attackers, who remined unidentified for days after the alleged assault.

Both young women are charged with assault and criminal mischief as hate crimes. Gonzales is also charged with attempted robbery.

Neither of the suspects have a criminal history.

Their arrests comes after two 18-year-old New Yorkers, Charlotte Wimer and Gray Segal, were also arrested for tearing down posters of hostages kidnapped in the Israel-Hamas war.

The posters were of 240 Israeli children and adults kidnapped by the terrorist group since the October 7 assault on Israel. NYPD officials have charged both suspects with criminal mischief.

The wall of the privately-owned building was covered in red and white signs with the word 'KIDNAPPED' written above photographs of the missing hostages, as well as posters of the Israeli flag.

A video shared by an X user shows posters torn in shreds while Wimer and Segal are in handcuffs.

The victim recorded the young women tearing down the posters before she was attacked

New York City police have arrested several people for taking down posters of Israeli hostages

Sisters Aya and Dana were seen tearing posters this week that were placed around Broadway and 79th Street on the Upper West Side in New York

Posters highlighting the Jewish plight have been plastered all across the Big Apple as a way to draw attention to those still in Gaza as hostages. However, there have also been plenty of viral videos of people removing posters.

Weeks earlier, Sisters Aya and Danan were caught on camera tearing down posters of Israeli child hostages while screaming 'f***k Israel' on the Upper West Side of New York City.

They were confronted by passerby Marilyn Adler, walking down the street with her two daughters. When Adler urged them to stop tearing the posters, the duo launched a torrent of abuse against them.

Footage shows one of the sisters yelling, 'f***k you, f***k Israel'. The other woman said, 'f***k you, b***h'

'They didn't let me get a word out. They said it was Israeli propaganda. They said Israel made up the hostages with AI,' Adler's daughter, Melissa, told the New York Post.

'I said, 'Please have a conversation with me.' They wouldn't stop screaming at me. They just cursed me out and screamed at me. I was just stunned.

'They looked at me with eyes full of hatred. They hate me simply because I'm a Jew. They don't even know me.'
New footage shows the mass brawl inside the school gymnasium on Monday

Police say another student is in custody in connection with the stabbing

One student is dead and another hospitalized with 'non-life-threatening' injuries

Shocking new footage shows the moment a mass brawl broke out at a North Carolina high school, leaving one student dead and another in hospital.

One child, in a gray hoodie with a black jacket, backs another student in a red hoodie into a corner and then punches him repeatedly.

The pair run into the school gymnasium, followed by dozens of whooping and cheering students filming on their phones.

A brawl ensues, with one student on the ground pulling out a knife and stabbing another in the leg and groin.

As the children fled, no one was on the ground. But one of the students was later pronounced dead, and the second hospitalized.

Two ambulances were seen leaving Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School, each trailed by a police vehicle, early Monday afternoon.

Police say they arrested a suspect, but have not said what led to the fight and deadly incident. None of the names of the students involved have been released.

Students at a North Carolina high school are seen on Monday in a mass brawl in the gymnasium

The initial call came in at around 11am, when a school resource officer called for EMS and backup, saying a student had been stabbed.

Shortly after, another student was found with injuries consistent with a stabbing.

'He's losing consciousness right now. We're in the main gym,' a woman's voice was heard saying over law enforcement radio traffic.

A male's voice said: 'Can you make sure the administrators put the school on lockdown?'

According to Raleigh police, a fight had broken out involving several students. The incident was described as a 'serious assault' in a social media post.

However, the department added: 'The scene is secure, and this appears to be an isolated incident. Please avoid the area around the school.'

A follow-up message informed parents that the school would remain under a Code Red lockdown due to the ongoing investigation, but a 'controlled' dismissal would occur at the usual time.

A large number of students ran into the gym, piling in on the fight

Police said another student was in custody in connection with the stabbing

One student is dead and another is in the hospital following a stabbing at Southeast Raleigh Magnet High School

The lockdown was in effect until 2.20pm local time. Carpool students were taken by bus to Walnut Creek Amphitheater to be reunited with their families.

Superintendent Robert Taylor offered his condolences during a news conference.

He said that Wake County does not have metal detectors at school entrances, but that school staff are able to search students if they have a 'reasonable suspicion that a student has a weapon'.

Taylor said that the student suspected of stabbing the other had not aroused any concerns, but said their policies will now be reviewed.

'As a parent, I can't imagine getting that call,' he said.

'However, most importantly, I pledge my resolve; schools should be a safe haven for students and staff.

'In the aftermath of today's tragedy, we will review all of our safety processes and protocols.'

Superintendent Robert Taylor offered his condolences during a news conference. 'As a parent, I can't imagine getting that call,' he said

According to Raleigh police, a fight had broken out involving several students. The incident was described as a 'serious assault'

Lessons have been canceled for Tuesday.

'Our hearts go out to the victim's loved ones,' the school said in a statement.

'Please keep them and all of those that have been impacted by this loss in your thoughts.

'Please know that the student who passed away was a valued member of our school community, and we grieve this loss alongside his loved ones.'
Kuwait-based Al Hamra, a leader in real estate development and management, said it has secured three major ISO certifications for multi-dimensional excellence from Bureau Veritas (BV), a global authority in testing, inspection and certification services accredited by United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS).

These certifications include ISO 9001:2015 for quality management system (QMS), ISO 14001:2015 for environment management system (EMS) and ISO 45001:2018 for occupational health and safety management system.

The Kuwaiti group said these certifications highlight Al Hamra Real Estates constant strive for excellence in line with its enhancement strategy, which has seen it effectively implement highly efficient and internationally recognized systems across multiple levels.

They also signify the culmination of the companys constant endeavour to streamline and refine its internal systems and processes to align with international standards.

By demonstrating its strength across the key operational aspects of Quality, Health and Safety, and Environment (QHSE), Al Hamra Real Estate has demonstrated its corporate excellence, further solidifying its position as a leader in the business sector.

On the key milestone, Abrar Al Habeeb, Chief Administrative Officer and Acting General Manager, said: "As the owner of one of the most prominent and tallest skyscrapers in the region, we are honoured by the recognition we have received through these certifications in relation to Quality, Health and Safety, and Environment."

"These three ISO certifications fall in line seamlessly with Al Hamra Real Estates Enhancement Strategy, which is supported by specific programmes, each developed with the aim of uplifting the brand and its standard of operations across various aspects," stated Al Habeeb.

"Aligned with this strategy, the ISO certifications are designed to drive the brand forward with its key pillars of reflecting best in class services, improving operational efficiency, differentiating Al Hamra through its competitive advantages, and building a unique long term operating model," he added.
A mom is expressing relief after her 14-year-old daughter who was the subject of an Amber Alert was found safe.

'Thank god that my baby has been found safe,' Rachel Carr told DailyMail.com on Monday afternoon, moments after her daughter was found.

Emma Liudahl was last seen on the 3800 block of Curtis Drive on Saturday around 3pm in the Pasco, Washington, area. An Amber Alert was issued early Monday morning by the West Richland Police Department, who were searching for the teen and the suspect, identified as Roger Perez-Osario.

By the afternoon, nearly 48 hours after her disappearance, Liudahl was found by a police officer in Seattle who recognized her photo from the Amber Alert. She was found alone at the Space Needle, WRP and PIO Commander Mitchell Coates told DailyMail.com.

Perez-Osario turned himself in to police and now officials say charges are pending.

Emma Liudahl was last seen on the 3800 block of Curtis Drive on Saturday around 3pm in the Pasco, Washington, area. An Amber Alert was issued early Monday morning by the West Richland Police Department, who were searching for the teen and the suspect, identified as Roger Perez-Osario

'Thank god that my baby has been found safe,' Rachel Carr told DailyMail.com on Monday afternoon, moments after her daughter was found.

Emma's mom said on Monday afternoon that she was on her way to Burien to pick up her daughter at the police department, which was about a four-hour drive from their home.

'I havent spoken with her. The police hadnt spoken with her when they notified me to go. Im on my way I assume theyre getting all the info now,' Carr said.

Police say that it's unclear if the girl suffered any trauma in the ordeal. She was taken by a suspect she did not know. Authorities plan a forensic interview with the teen to learn more about her case.

Before she was found safe, Carr said she last spoke to her daughter around 2.35pm Saturday and said she sounded 'completely normal.'

She said her daughter had gone on a walk leaving their home on Dallas Road in their West Richland community.

'She asked my permission if she could go. She had been ill the week before and cooped up and after doing chores with me and asked if she could go for a walk and I said "yes,"' Carr said.

Then she got the terrifying news that her daughter was spotted with a man at 6pm in Pasco.

She searched for her teen daughter along with many from the community, telling others 'to keep sharing and looking for' her daughter.

'See something, say something,' she said.

On Monday an Amber Alert was issued at 6.00am Central Standard Time.

The Washington State Patrol posted an Amber Alert that features a photo of the missing teen, Emma Liudhal and the suspect, Roger Perez-Osorio, and a photo of the blue 2006, 4-door Honda Civic with the plate number: CK05169

The teen was last seen on Saturday around 3pm in the Pasco area in Washington State

Police say that it's unclear if the girl suffered any trauma in the ordeal. She was taken by a suspect she did not know. Authorities plan a forensic interview with the teen to learn more about her case

The sergeant explained that Amber Alert was not activated until early Monday, nearly 48 hours because, he said, it 'did not meet the criteria until we learned that there was an unknown male involved.'

Emma's mother said the initial date on the Amber Alert was inaccurate, police had Friday as the day she went missing, when it was Saturday.

As she went to reunite with her daughter, Carr expressed gratitude to every one who helped in the search efforts.

'Thank you for caring and thank you to everyone out there helping,' Carr told DailyMail.com. 'The out pour from our community and beyond has been tremendous and thats what will bring her home safe to us.'
Francis Scott Key Middle School, named after the national anthem writer, could be next

Communities are now launching efforts to rename the schools

Montgomery County Public Schools is looking to rename schools named after slave owners, and Francis Scott Key Middle School could be the next one up for debate.

Francis Scott Key, a Maryland native, was a poet and lawyer best know for writing the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner.

In 2019, Montgomery County Public Schools - the state's largest school district - launched a review that found six schools in the county were named after slave owners.

According to MoCo360, the review found the schools named after slaver owners are: Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring; Francis Scott Key Middle School in Silver Spring; Col. Zadok Magruder High School in Derwood; Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville; John Poole Middle School in Poolesville and Thomas S. Wootton High School in Rockville.

A recent Fall 2023 report from Montgomery County's Periodical for Historical Research added a seventh school to the list - Julius West Middle School.

Montgomery County Public Schools is looking to rename schools with slave owners namesakes - including Francis Scott Key Middle School (pictured)

Francis Scott Key, a Maryland native, is best know for writing the national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner on September 14, 1814

In February, members of the Magruder High School community filed a petition to rename the school because the school's namesake 'does not meet the acceptable criteria for a school name,' reported The Washington Post.

Magruder, a founding father of Montgomery County and Revolutionary War officer, reported he had 26 enslaved people on his property on the 1790 Census.

Since it received the petition, the school system sent out a survey to the community about renaming the school and hired the consulting group Coaction Collective to run forums where people shared their perspectives of the schools name.

Mark Simonson, who is white and a parent of a junior at Magruder High said, 'It was just one of those things that really resonated with me. The name is now synonymous to me as someone who enslaves others. I thought, "I would like to pursue things to where Magruder High School is renamed as soon as possible."'

The last time the county renamed a school was in 2021 when Col. E Brooke Lee Middle School was renamed to Odessa Shannon Middle School after the first Black woman elected to public office in Montgomery County.

The process for that began in 2019 when then-County Council President Nancy Navarro brought up concerns over the namesake.

At the time of the initial 2019 report there were 207 public schools in the county, 51 were named after people. For the 2022-2023 school year, there are 211 schools.

In 2022, the board of education instated a new school naming policy that includes criteria for naming a building after a person.

Key is believed to have owned six enslaved people by 1820

Maryland Historical Society plaque at Francis Scott Key birthplace

The Francis Scott Key Bridge connects Washington D.C. and Virginia

The person must be deceased and made a demonstrated contribution to the community, county, state or nation.

Key served in the War of 1812 and wrote The Star Spangled Banner witnessing the twenty-five hour bombardment of Fort McHenry.

The National Park Service reported that Francis Scott Key had a conflicted relationship with slavery and as an attorney believed 'by the law of nature all men are free. The presumption that even Black men and Africans are slaves is not a universal presumption.'

However, his family owned slaves at the time of his birth and it is believed Key purchased his first enslaved person around 1800 and by 1820 he owned six enslaved people.

It is reported that Key freed several of his slaves, including two boys named Joe and John, who were two years and six months of age - but it is speculated the decision was motivated by profit.

Key has many other memorials in his honor including the Key Bridge connecting Washington, D.C. to Virginia, the Francis Scott Key Monument in Baltimore and several other schools across the country.
Police are on the hunt for a mystery gunman following a drive-by shooting in Sydney's west - sparking fears the incident is linked to gangland violence.

Emergency services were called to Bligh Street in Guildford, about 27km west of the CBD, at about 9.35pm on Monday after reports of shots fired.

Vision from the scene shows a bullet hole in the front gate of the home where police tape has been used to cordon off the crime scene.

A white Mercedes Benz AMG parked in the driveway was inside the taped off area with a burnt-out car discovered nearby.

Daily Mail Australia understands the incidents are not linked and the car fire is not being treated as suspicious. No one was injured.

Emergency services were called to a home in Guildford, about 27km west of the CBD, at about 9.35pm on Monday after reports of shots fired (stock image)

Daily Telegraph crime reporter Mark Morri said an underworld figure told him the drive-by shooting was linked to a 'minor skirmish'.

'There is still some major conflict still out there on the street involving the Comanchero's and some very powerful organised crime gangs which are a real worry,' he told Sunrise on Tuesday morning.

'People don't shoot at houses like this with a burnt-out car that appears to be linked. It has the hallmarks of being involved in some sort of organised crime network.'

A 29-year-old woman was arrested at the scene and taken to Granville Police Station, where she assisted police.

She was released and will be dealt with by way of Future Service Court Attendance Notice for the offence of hindering police.

Police remain on the hunt for the gunman and are investigating possible gang links.
His mother said he is 'very religious" and spiritual, often reading the Bible

He is suspected of shooting three Palestinian students on Saturday

Jason J Eaton appeared before a judge on Monday to plead not guilty

One of the Palestinian students shot in Vermont on Saturday will likely never walk again after having a bullet lodged in his spine.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed were visiting Awartani's grandmother's house when they were shot on Saturday afternoon, allegedly by Jason J. Eaton, a 48-year-old former financial adviser.

Police say he confronted the students after emerging from a porch, shooting them all without saying anything about his motive.

He was arrested on Sunday at his home, and is said to have told police: 'I've been waiting for you.'

Eaton today pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.

The students were speaking in Arabic and English and two of them were wearing keffiyehs, leading police to believe it was a hate-motivated attack.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed wearing keffiyeh scarves and speaking Arabic when they were shot on Saturday night

Jason J. Eaton, 48, is in custody. He is accused of shooting the three Palestinian students on Saturday

But prosecutors said today there is not yet enough evidence to charge Eaton with a hate crime, and that they do not yet know what his motive was.

President Biden spoke with Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger today and later released a statement to condemn the attack.

Awartani's relatives told NPR earlier today: 'The doctors are currently saying it's unlikely he'll be able to use his legs again.

'He's confronting a life of disability, a potentially irreversible change to his life and what it means for his future.'

The bullet pierced his spine and is now lodged there. Doctors say operating to remove it would be too dangerous.

His family, who live in the West Bank, sent him to the US because they thought he would be safer here.

Eaton is a 48-year-old former financial adviser and part-time farmer who describes himself as a 'radical' libertarian on the 'ADHD spectrum'.

His social media pages are largely private, but hint at a disillusionment towards America.

Hisham Awartani shared a hospital bed photo on Instagram. His family say he is unlikely to move his legs ever again

Eaton appeared before a judge at a virtual court hearing today where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second degree murder

Eaton's shocked mother Mary Reed told The Daily Beast he has had his 'struggles' in the past but that nothing indicated he was capable of such violence.

She said he is a 'very religious' person, but had seemed normal when she spent Thanksgiving with him on Thursday, two days before the shooting.

'He, like all of us, thinks the world is a mess. He is a spiritual person,' she said.

'Jason has had a lot of struggles in his life but he is such a kind and loving person.

'I am just shocked by the whole thing,' she said.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, surrounded by police and city officials, speaks at a news conference in Burlington

Eaton is a 48-year-old former financial adviser and part-time farmer who describes himself as a 'radical' libertarian on the 'ADHD spectrum'. His social media pages are largely private, but hint at a disillusionment towards America

Eaton's mother said he is a 'very religious' person but had seemed normal on Thanksgiving

His mother said he previously worked as an assistant in an office, but has bounced around different jobs.

They spent Thanksgiving together on Thursday and it was one of the best 'in years', she said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered 'much more serious injuries,' Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday.

The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted.

'Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled,' Murad said.

'All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.'

The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

'In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven,' Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said.

'The fact is that we don't yet know as much as we want to right now,' Murad added.

'But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.'

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is 'reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.'

First responders loading one of the victims into an ambulance after Saturday's shooting

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims' families.

'We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children,' the statement said. 'We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.'

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school in the West Bank.

'While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light,' the school said. 'We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.'

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to 'unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.'

'No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country,' the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. 'We will not let hatred win.'

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

'It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation,' Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and 'not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.'

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was 'appalled by the shooting.'

'We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate,' the organization said Sunday. 'We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.'

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was 'horrified' by the attack and urged 'law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.'

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.
Lisa Wilkinson's barrister Sue Chrysanthou SC questioned Bruce Lehrmann about the impact her Logies acceptance speech had on him, and suggested he believed it saved him from a criminal conviction.

Wilkinson won the award in 2022 for her interview with Brittany Higgins on The Project in February 2021, during which she first aired her rape allegations against Mr Lehrmann.

He has continually denied the allegations.

She was heavily criticised over the speech, during which she appeared to side with Ms Higgins, because Mr Lehrmann's criminal trial was, at the time, just days away.

About two days prior, the former ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold (pictured below, during the Inquiry) - who was running the rape case against Mr Lehrmann - had a Microsoft Teams meeting with Wilkinson and a Channel 10 lawyer because the TV host was, at the time, a witness in the criminal trial.

At the end of the meeting, she mentioned that she had been nominated for a Logie award for her interview with Ms Higgins on The Project, during which the former Liberal staffer first made her allegations in February 2021.

Wilkinson (pictured above, delivering her Logies speech) told Mr Drumgold she didn't think she'd win, but had prepared a speech in case - and started reading it to him, before he stopped her and said 'we are not speech writers'.

Wilkinson, her lawyer, and Mr Drumgold's junior counsel Skye Jerome all recalled her reading a large chunk of the speech. The prosecutor only recalled her reading a few lines.

Wilkinson won the award and made her speech, which was then slammed for being potentially contemptuous and biasing a jury against Mr Lehrmann. Mr Lehrmann's team made an application for a stay - to get the trial moved, for fear the speech would bias a jury against him.

Mr Drumgold then told the Supreme Court that a file note he wrote detailing discussions with Wilkinson and her lawyer was contemporaneous, meaning he made it immediately following the meeting.

However, under cross-examination, Mr Drumgold admitted that the note was not contemporaneous.

During the inquiry in May, it was discovered that the note was penned five days after the meeting, and three hours before a hearing with all legal teams involved in the rape trial.

As a result, Mr Sofronoff found Mr Drumgold 'knowingly lied' to the Chief Justice.

In court on Tuesday, Ms Chrysanthou suggested to Mr Lehrmann that because he had learned Mr Drumgold had lied to the Chief Justice about the note, he could not find Wilkinson had 'acted in a reckless manner' when she delivered her speech.

Ms Chrysanthou told the judge: 'He alleges that my client acted in a reckless and high-handed manner and I'm going to put to him that it's now his present belief that she acted in the opposite way.'

Ms Chrysanthou put it to Mr Lehrmann that Wilkinsons Logies speech saved him by delaying the criminal trial. 'So what I want to suggest to you, rather than feel upset at my client [Wilkinson], and Im talking about as at this day, that she engaged in conduct that had a prejudicial impact on your criminal trial, you actually think that the delay caused by the Logies speech saved you from conviction? Ms Chrysanthou said. Lehrmann replied: 'No, I disagree'.

She asked Mr Lehrmann whether he stood by claims that Wilkinson had prejudiced his right to a fair trial with her Logies speech.

'Yes,' Mr Lehrmann replied.

'Youve also alleged that she behaved in a high-handed and reckless manner in relation to the truth of the allegations against you, Ms Chrysanthou said.

'Do you still believe that to be true? And you also alleged that she is engaged in conduct that was prejudicial to you.'
A paedophile teacher who abducted a 15-year-old schoolgirl and fled to France has been fired from his new job at a Kent bakery after his employers learned about his 'sensitive history'.

Jeremy Forrest, 40, spent three years in prison for abducting and having sex with a fifteen-year-old student he took to France in September 2012. He was apprehended after eight days and jailed the following year.

It has since emerged that the Aberdeen-born former maths teacher took up a job as a head baker at a boulangerie after leaving Ashfield prison, where he had worked as a cook during his time behind bars.

He was photographed leaving his job at Gilda Bakery wearing a baker's outfit earlier this week, and video of the ex-convict making ciabatta bread from scratch had been shared on social media by the business.

Now the artisan bakery in Canterbury has announced that it has terminated his employment 'with immediate effect', adding that the revelations came 'as a shock' to the 'close-knit team'.

Jeremy Forrest was photographed with Primark bag and in a baker's uniform in Kent earlier this week

It has emerged that the former maths teacher is now working as a head baker at an artisan bakery and fronting a rock band

The artisan bakery in Canterbury has announced that it has terminated his employment 'with immediate effect'

Forrest, who goes by the name Jeremy Buonocore, fronted a rock band and has reportedly remarried

Forrest, who goes by the name Jeremy Buonocore, also fronted a rock band and has remarried, according to a report in The Sun.

Gilda Bakery's founder and director, Jon Warren, shared a statement on social media which said the company had become aware of 'news recently published in the press regarding one of our staff members'.

'Since learning of the sensitive nature of this employee's history, it was mutually agreed that it was in the best interest of Gilda that his employment was terminated with immediate effect,' it went on.

Forrest previously had a brief biography on the bakery's website, which does not mention his teaching career or time in prison, but said that he spent most of his working life at his family bakery.

It also says he moved to Kent, having previously lived in London.

The biography, which features a picture of him in the kitchen, said: 'He is proudly a 5th generation baker, learning everything he knows from the experienced bakers that have passed down their tried and tested methods.'

Forrest was promoted to head baker in May 2022 as a result of his 'extraordinary passion for sourdough, hard work and commitment.'

'He never stops learning about the process, care and attention that goes into making the perfect loaf.'

'Jeremy loves his dogs and a sing-song - he plays guitar and lead vocals in a band that regularly does gigs!'

The biography now appears to have been removed.

It has also emerged that the paedophile teacher who abducted a teenager sang love songs which included the chilling lyrics 'girl, I'd do it all again' and 'I was afraid someone would catch us'.

Resurfaced videos uploaded online in the year of the abduction, 2012, reveal sickening lyrics sung by Forrest.

In one song posted on YouTube on 5 October 2012 - just days after he was apprehended - he says: 'Sitting on the plane we were miles away from the things you hate but girl Id do it all again.

'Id hold your hand, cut off your friends, dont think that I wont.'

Jeremy Forrest in a video uploaded on YouTube in October 2012 singing 'Better Company'

Forrest was found guilty at Lewes Crown Court in Lewes, East Sussex, of abducting a 15-year-old girl who he took to France when their sexual affair was about to be exposed

The song, which is called 'Better Company' and which he is said to have written by himself, also includes the lines: 'Disapproving stare when I'm grumpy but you're fine. Dont mean to make you angry, I try to make it right. I wanna make you smile sometimes.'

In another song, 'Arrows and Hearts,' posted on Youtube on October 1, 2012, Forrest sings: 'I was afraid someone would catch us.'

It continues: 'I was afraid someone would catch me, my hands round your neck, your face turned blue.'

The video of Forrest accompanying the acoustic song is a compilation of still images of him - including him playing the guitar, performing on stage, drinking beer, eating in a restaurant and posing for portraits.

Forrest abandoned his then wife when he fled to France with a student, sparking an international manhunt until they were apprehended eight days later.

Forrest was arrested after being been recognised by a barman in Bordeaux to whom he had handed his CV with a photograph on.

He was convicted at Lewes Crown Court of child abduction and given five counts of sexual activity with a child. He signed the sex offenders register for life.

The Sun claimed that he now lived in a 500,000 three-bed home in Kent.
Death may be a certainty of life, but growing numbers of Britons are abandoning its long-held rites and practices  including funerals.

In fact, less than half want a funeral, according to a survey that found the traditions of death are seen as 'expensive, time-consuming and irrelevant' as we become more secular.

Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, warned that society was forgetting how to 'cope with loss'.

The poll of 2,569 people by Theos, a think-tank specialising in religious issues, found that financial pressures and dwindling faith had led more people to 'dispense with funeral rites altogether'.

Just 47 per cent wanted a service or ceremony, while 24 per cent did not, 28 per cent didn't know and 1 per cent wouldn't say. Madeleine Pennington and Nathan Mladin, the study's authors, said death often took place behind closed doors, creating a society that kept it 'at arm's length'.

Financial pressures and dwindling faith are leading more people to dispense with funeral traditions, a poll by think-tank Theos suggests (Stock Image)

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said the poll was 'shocking' and suggested a future in which death is 'increasingly taboo' and 'grief shameful'

The poll found financial pressures played a part, but noted that falling religious belief had changed how people grieve, with a rise in 'direct cremations'  no funeral service or ceremony beforehand and, in many cases, no mourners.

In a foreword to the report, the Archbishop said: 'People are not just becoming increasingly distanced from the traditional means of comfort and hope offered by the Christian funeral  many don't want any sort of funeral at all.

'It is shocking to discover that death may be seen as expensive, time-consuming and irrelevant.'

He said the poll suggested a 'future in which death is increasingly taboo and grief shameful'.
A gunman is on the loose in Melbourne's north after a young man was shot while reportedly trying to run down a group of people.

Emergency services were called to a house in Meadow Heights before 7pm on Monday to find a 20-year-old man with a gunshot wound to his torso.

He was rushed to the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Police are now investigating whether a shooting at nearby Broadmeadows is linked.

The 20-year-old shooting victim reportedly became caught in a dispute with a group of young men on Cob Close in Broadmeadows.

The 20-year-old shooting victim reportedly became caught in a dispute with a group of young men on Cob Close in Broadmeadows on Monday night

Witnesses claim he smashed his car through a fence at a house where the group was before he tried to run them down, the Herald Sun reported.

It's understood that is when the man was shot. He is then believed to have driven himself to the home in Meadow Heights.

'As he reversed out, he did a 180 and then went after the people on the outside of the car,' a witness told the publication.

'Then one of the guys on the outside of the car lifted up his arm and I heard three or four gun shots.'

Another witness said the group of men appeared to be aged between 18 and 23.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Lawyers for Donald Trump are accusing New York Judge Arthur Engoron of 'brazen and unmitigated violations' of the Constitution for imposing a gag order, and say he can't be held responsible for threats that others have directed to his staff.

Trump's team argues that the former president cannot be held responsible for what court officials says are a 'deluge' of attacks on Judge Engoron's chief law clerk.

Trump went after the judge and the clerk by name, calling her Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's 'girlfriend' and linking to her Instagram account in an online post that helped prompt Engoron to impose a gag on comments referencing court personnel.

'At base, the disturbing behavior engaged in by anonymous, third-party actors towards the judge and Principal Law Clerk publicly presiding over an extremely polarizing and high-profile trial merits appropriate security measures,' Trump's team wrote in a new filing Monday.

'However, it does not justify the wholesale abrogation of Petitioners First Amendment rights in a proceeding of immense stakes to Petitioners, which has been compromised by the introduction of partisan bias on the bench.'

Former President Trump's lawyers say a New York judge's gag order violates his constitutional rights, and says he is not responsible for threats leveled against the judge's clerk since his postings about her

The filing calls the clerk 'openly partisan' and says the gag serves to shield Judge Engoron from scrutiny 'essential to maintaining public confidence in the judiciary and ensuring a fair trial.'

It comes days after court officials in a filing revealed that the clerk had been subjected to hundreds of threatening messages and emails.

'She has been subjected to, on a daily basis, harassing, disparaging comments and antisemitic tropes,' according to the filing, which puts the number at 20 to 30 calls a day to her personal cellphone and up to 50 emails and social media posts.

Trump can't be held responsible for threats or harassment, according to his legal team, which includes Alina Habba, Clifford Robert, and Chris Kise.

'However, none of the contemptible dross reflected in those messages can be attributed to President Trump or his counsel. Nor have President Trump or his counsel ever made a statement referencing the Principal Law Clerks religion, appearance, or private activities,' they wrote.

Judge Arthur Engoron has imposed a gag on Trump which is under a court stay. Trump's team wants to keep it from being enforced

Judge Arthur F. Engoron consults with his law clerk Allison Greenfield during the Trump Organization civil fraud trial in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

Trump has appeared in the Manhattan courthouse where his fraud trial is being adjudicated, and has repeatedly called it a part of a 'witch hunt' against him.

He is set to take the stand on December 11, according to lawyer Chris Kise.

Prosecutors have been grilling Trump family members and executives about 'statements of financial condition' that New York AG Letitia James say vastly inflated the value of company holdings.

A Trump Organization executive testified Monday that the company is no longer producing the statements, which prosecutors say were used to obtain favorable loans.

The filing itself goes after the clerk, saying prosecutors don't dispute that she 'sits on the bench with Justice Engoron, has been repeatedly photographed at Justice Engorons side with his permission, rolls her eyes at remarks by Petitioners counsel, and constantly whispers and passes notes to Justice Engoron in response to Petitioners counsel while the parties are on the record.'

Trump is also fighting a gag order in his D.C. January 6 case, with a federal Appeals Court expected to rule soon.

The filing, to a New York appeals court, calls communications against the clerk, Allison Greenfield, 'vile and reprehensible.'

But it says they don't justify the gag, and blame the clerk for putting herself in the spotlight, saying she 'allowed herself to be voluntarily photographed, videotaped, and identified by name in the national and international media.'

Trump has already been fined $15,000 for violating the gag order imposed during the fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James

'Respondents sole cognizable justification for the Gag Orders is that an unknown third party may react in a hostile or offensive manner to Petitioners speech. This should be rejected. Since before the trial began and continuing thereafter, certain individuals, to whom there is no indication Petitioners have any connection or exercise any control, have engaged in behavior that Petitioners do not condone,' they write.

They say the threats 'do not constitute a clear and present danger of imminent harm as required under established precedent.'

Trump has been using his legal battle  including his mugshot at the gag orders against him  to raise money for his campaign, including through the sale of Christmas wrapping paper with his mugshot.

Trump earlier this month went after the 'Trump Hating Clerk' after the partial gag was lifted.
The former boyfriend of a Real Housewives of New York star has been accused of raping a woman on the beach in the Hamptons in 2001.

Garth Wakeford, a South African personal trainer, dated reality TV star Luann de Lesseps from August 2020 to April 2021.

Wakeford is now accused, in a suit filed last week, of raping an intoxicated Sarah Maslin Nir in 2001, when she was 18 and he was 31.

Wakeford at the time was working as a bouncer in a Hamptons nightclub.

Maslin Nir is now a breaking news journalist at The New York Times, and filed her suit under New York's year-long Adult Survivors Act, which allowed people to bring cases which would otherwise be barred by the statute of limitations.

Other high-profile men to be hit with lawsuits last week accusing them of sexual assault include Eric Adams, Diddy, Axl Rose and Jamie Foxx.

Maslin Nir claims, in documents obtained by The New York Post, that she was attacked by Wakeford after visiting the bar where he worked. She is suing for alleged battery and false imprisonment.

Garth Wakeford, a South African personal trainer (left), is accused of raping Sarah Maslin Nir (right) in 2001, when he was 31 and she was 18. He denies the allegations

Luann de Lesseps, a reality show star with Real Housewives of New York, dated Wakeford for eight months from August 2020

Maslin Nir had just graduated from high school when she and her friends went to Stephen Talkhouse, a popular music venue in Amagansett which remains open.

Maslin Nir said that Wakeford, who worked there, knew the group were underage but 'allowed them to enter the venue without showing identification'.

She claims he 'instructed the bartender to serve Nir numerous drinks 'on him.''

Nir said that Wakeford offered to drive her home to her parents' house, which was only a few miles away, after his shift and she accepted because she thought he was 'safe'.

She said she was 'extremely and visibly intoxicated', and that Wakeford, instead of driving her home, took her to the beach at the end of Springs Fireplace Road in East Hampton.

Nir said she was so drunk she was not able to 'physically get out of the car or walk on her own' - so the 6ft 5 personal trainer carried her 'as she lost consciousness.'

Maslin Nir claims in a new suit that Wakeford raped her when she was 18, and 'extremely intoxicated'

She awoke on the beach with her underpants around her ankles, and 'Wakeford was on top of her, penetrating her with his penis.'

She claims in the suit: 'She struggled to break free from Wakeford, repeating 'no' and 'stop'.

'But Wakeford pinned her to the ground and told her to 'wait, I'm almost finished.'

'Nir somehow managed to raise her knees and pushed Wakeford out of her body.

'As she did so, Wakeford ejaculated in her face, leaving her eyes red and burning.'

Nir did not report the incident at the time, but crossed paths with Wakeford a year later and confronted him, insisting she 'wasn't there' on the beach. She says he agreed with her assessment.

He said, according to her claim, it was the worst thing he had ever done to someone.

Nir said she told therapists, friends and family over the years about the purported incident and in 2017 went to East Hampton police, but backed off filing a report once she realized the officer knew Wakeford.

In 2019 she returned to the police, who investigated but failed to bring charges.

She said in her suit she has endured 'lasting trauma' and suffers from 'extreme emotional distress,' having difficulty 'forming relationships' and with 'physical intimacy.'

She said she sometimes has panic attacks and vomits both leading up to and during sexual intimacy and intercourse.

Maslin Nir is seen in March 2016 at the Young Fellows Ball at the Frick Museum in New York City

Wakeford is pictured in August 2017 at a party in East Hampton

Roberta Kaplan, her lawyer, told The New York Post: 'New York's Adult Survivors Act (or 'ASA') was passed a little more than a year ago so that people who have been the victim of a sexual assault that occurred long ago, at a time when societal attitudes were far different, could have a real chance to finally seek and obtain justice.

'That's exactly what the case that we filed for Ms Maslin Nir last week is all about. We are so honored to be representing her.'

A spokesman for Wakeford said her claims were 'baseless' and he looked forward to clearing his name.

'These claims are meritless and without basis,' the spokesman said.

'In point of fact, Ms Nir's own brother and sister-in-law employed Mr Wakeford as a trainer for eight years after the alleged assault.

'Mr Wakeford looks forward to establishing the facts around their consensual relationship in the course of this unfounded litigation, which is predicated on lies.'
Saudi Arabia's northern border region offers numerous investment opportunities in competitive sectors and the ongoing projects in the area exceed SAR80 billion ($21.33 billion), said Minister of Investment, Engineer Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih.

During his participation in the Northern Border Investment Forum in a session themed Future Investment Directions for the Northern Border Region, Al-Falih said activation of these opportunities is backed by the government's firm commitment, efficient management, and cohesive coordination among ministries and agencies, a Saudi Press Agency report said.

He highlighted a new project aimed at doubling the kingdoms phosphate production capacity, positioning it as the world's third-largest phosphate producer. This initiative at Waad Al-Shamal involves the conversion of phosphate into advanced chemical products.

He said the region's vast capacity for renewable energy production presents an opportunity for export of electricity to neighboring countries like Iraq and others, promising remarkably low costs.

Al-Falih said the National Investment Strategy is one of the main enablers for achieving the kingdoms Vision 2030 objectives, adding that since the launch of the vision, the kingdom has implemented fundamental reforms in the legislative and regulatory system to make the kingdoms economy more competitive and sustainable.

He explained that the general goal of the National Investment Strategy is to increase the quality and volume of investments in the kingdom, which contributes to advancing economic development and diversifying it to achieve the desired goals of the vision.

The minister highlighted 40 executive initiatives offering enticing investment prospects across various sectors and regions within the kingdom, catering to diverse investor profiles. These initiatives encompass plans to integrate the 'Invest in Saudi Arabia' platform with all local investment opportunities, establish special economic zones with favourable regulations, and deliver exceptional services tailored for major strategic investorsboth local and international, he said.
The Rwanda asylum scheme remains a 'key element' of plans to tackle the Channel crisis, James Cleverly insisted yesterday.

The Home Secretary told MPs the programme was 'incredibly important', despite saying at the weekend that the plan was 'not the be-all and end-all' of the Government's efforts to tackle the issue.

Mr Cleverly declined to 'pre-judge' whether emergency legislation  being drawn up in the wake of the scheme being declared unlawful by the Supreme Court  would allow ministers to not apply parts of international agreements on human rights and refugees.

He said: 'We will do everything we can to ensure that we break the business model of the evil people smugglers, that we drive down small-boat arrivals. The deterrent effect of Rwanda is a key element of that multi-strand approach. The Rwanda scheme is an incredibly important part of our basket of responses.'

Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis said last week's record net migration figures were 'completely unacceptable' for the people in his constituency. He urged them to 'copy and paste' proposals to reduce the figures put forward by the New Conservatives grouping of Tory MPs.

James Cleverly insisted The Rwanda asylum scheme remains a 'key element' of plans to tackle the Channel crisis

Conservative MP Jonathan Gullis said last week's record net migration figures were 'completely unacceptable' for the people in his constituency (File Photo)

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick replied: 'The level of legal migration into this country is far too high. We have already announced a specific policy with respect to dependants which comes into force at the beginning of next year.'

It came after claims that Rishi Sunak agreed to raise the salary threshold for migrant workers from 25,000 to 40,000 as part of a deal with Suella Braverman, who was sacked as home secretary two weeks ago.

Identical measures were proposed by former PM Boris Johnson in his Mail column on Saturday, after figures showed net migration hit a record 745,000 last year, mostly driven by foreign workers.

Raising the minimum salary which must be paid by employers to overseas recruits would see a huge reduction in the number of work visas granted.

Mr Sunak yesterday insisted he was determined to cut net migration, saying the figures 'need to come down to more sustainable levels'.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove admitted the immigration figures will force Britain to build thousands more homes on greenfield sites, and that the Government's target to build a million new homes in this parliamentary term would not be enough.
Emotional intelligence, or emotional quotient (EQ), has become a buzz phrase in recent years as part of a wider trend of 'therapy talk' being used in day-to-day conversations.

But relationship experts say a mismatch in EQ is often the source of breakdowns in marriages and partnerships.

One of the first problems in most relationships on the rocks is a lack of communication, according to psychologist Dr. Scott Lyons, and a key part of communication is emotional intelligence.

'Emotional intelligence is the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one's own emotions,' he told DailyMail.com.

He said that while you might be able to have fun with a romantic partner who has low EQ, the connection may not go much deeper.

If your partner lacks emotional intelligence, they may have unprocessed trauma that froze them in time. But there's hope, said holistic psychologist Dr. Scott Lyons

Unfortunately, some people never develop emotional intelligence, possibly because of family issues or other trauma from their childhood.

And being in a relationship with someone who has low EQ can mean that we keep playing out old unhealthy patterns, which can be very painful, said Lyons, a clinical psychologist who focuses on helping patients deal with trauma, limited beliefs, and other negative cycles.

Fortunately, emotional intelligence can be learned.

The first step, though, is recognition.

Here are 9 signs that you may be in a relationship with someone who lacks emotional intelligence:

Conflict is not necessarily unhealthy, but if you have a partner who is unwilling to see your or others' point of view, they may lack emotional intelligence

1. They are unable to see things from someone else's point of view:

In a relationship, we want someone who can share our worldview, Dr. Lyons said.

What makes this hard is that there are as many ways of seeing the world as there are people in the world.

Emotional intelligence enables us to see things from another person's point of view.

You don't necessarily need to agree, but romantic partners at least need to acknowledge these differences so they can navigate them together.

'The inability of people to recognize that their experience might be different from yours is not a good sign,' Lyons said.

2. They get defensive when you share your feelings:

Even if your partner disagrees with you, they should be able to listen to your feelings without fighting.

For example, Lyons said, if one person tells the other, 'I got scared because I didn't hear from you,' some defensive responses can include insisting they were where they said they were, or possibly even challenging you to check their phone for proof.

The emotionally intelligent response, on the other hand, could include being willing to listen, reassuring you they're safe, or even just offering a hug.

Emotional intelligence does not mean solving everything right then and there, but rather showing that you are willing to try to understand.

A defensive posture can reflect a defensive attitude. It may not always look the same, but it sends a strong message: 'My truth is the only truth'

3. Even their physical posture is defensive:

Their arms might be crossed. They might have a rigid posture.

'We usually call that a defensive stance,' Lyons said.

This physical defensiveness often reflects an emotional defensiveness, too, he said, which will be demonstrated in a person's insistence that their truth is the only truth.

And their defensiveness leads to an inability to be vulnerable and connect with other people on an emotional level, especially in romantic relationships.

4. They get mad at you for not being able to read their mind:

As much as we may sometimes wish we could be psychic, 'that's not actually what we're capable of as humans,' Lyons said.

'If they get mad at you for not meeting their needs, but they do not communicate their needs, that's a red flag.'

This could look like your partner getting upset with you for not calling when they were having a bad day.

If something like this happens, there are emotionally intelligent ways to reply: 'I might say, well you didn't share with me that you were having a bad day,' said Lyons.

A partner who lacks emotional intelligence may not pick up on your nonverbal cues like body language

5. They don't pick up on nonverbal cues:

When we do share our feelings with each other, sometimes we don't have all the answers. Sometimes we can't find the words for what we are feeling.

In that case, nonverbal cues are how an emotionally intelligent partner can look for how to understand and help us.

Avoiding eye contact or speaking more slowly than usual can be signs that emotions are weighing heavily on someone, but a partner who with low EQ may not be able to pick up on signs like these.

6. They don't ask follow-up questions:

'Part of emotional intelligence is asking really good follow-up questions,' said Lyons. 'I don't think we consider enough how essential that is.'

Investigating and exploring emotions together can be powerful in a relationship because the more you know the more empowered you are to support your partner, he said.

A lack of curiosity around someone's feelings can be a sign of low emotional intelligence.

Even when one partner is unable to find the words, questions may help them find those words.

Asking follow-up questions is not the same as trying to get all the facts. In the first case, a person may be trying to understand, but in the other, they may be looking for a way to place blame

7. ...but they try to get all the facts:

There's a big difference between asking follow-up questions and trying to get all the facts, Lyons said.

Another person doesn't need to have all the information in order for them to be there for you emotionally.

'If someone's bleeding, you don't need to know what caused the bleeding to go grab a bandage,' Lyons said. 'Someone's hurting. You can gather the facts after they're done bleeding - or hurting.'

Someone with low EQ may feel the need to get the whole story to find out whether they are in full agreement with you before being willing to sympathize, he said.

But a partner with high emotional intelligence can let go of the 'narrative' or the 'story' of what is wrong, and instead can simply be present for your emotions.

An emotionally intelligent partner should seek to build bridges by finding common ground, whereas someone with low EQ may find ways to blame others for relationship problems

8. They place blame instead of building bridges:

Similar to defensiveness, a partner with low emotional intelligence may turn the tables when you share your feelings.

You may hear things like, 'I don't think that's true,' 'Well let me tell you,' or 'You did this.'

Or maybe they say you're being too sensitive when you share how you feel.

These kinds of phrases place blame rather than seeking to connect with a partner.

'I'm here with you,' 'I hear you,' or 'Can you share more with me?' are all phrases that someone with high EQ might use when you try to connect with them, Lyons said.

'What do you need?' or 'How can I support you?' are also great examples of emotionally intelligent responses, he added.

It's okay for your partner to stay quiet sometimes. But when you are looking for a response, silence can be a red flag

9. They are silent in the wrong situations:

There are times when all we need is for someone to listen. Or perhaps our feelings are so overwhelming that we can't verbalize them.

It's okay to sit in that silence, Lyons said.

But sometimes you want feedback or reassurance. You may even ask for it.

Without emotional intelligence, your partner may remain in silence, unable to communicate. And you can probably feel the difference between these two types of silence.

It can also mean that a partner withholds their internal life - and not just when it comes to conflict, but also triumphs and accomplishments.

'They might be familiar with sharing the negative stuff, but they don't even share the good stuff.'

So, what can you do about it?

Taken all together, a lack of emotional intelligence can make you feel alone in a relationship, he said, 'whether its our lack of emotional intelligence or theirs.'

Your low-EQ partner may not know what they don't know about feelings, Lyons said, so it's important to be gentle and open up the conversation, rather than putting a label on it.

Lyons said that emotional unintelligence is not a fatal obstacle in a relationship, as long as there is an openness to work through it.

If you think your partner lacks emotional intelligence, its important to approach them with the understanding that they did not choose to be this way.

Rather, they may be stuck in their emotional development, and in need of help, Lyons said. This can take the form of loving conversations, where you express curiosity about their feelings and a willingness to support them.

'That's the more emotionally intelligent way to do it.'
Make the most of the shorter days today, as the 'Full Beaver Moon' lights up Britain's sky from the early afternoon.

The Beaver Moon is the penultimate full moon of 2023 and will be visible from after sunset at 16:00 GMT today.

While the peak of the Full Moon was technically this morning, our lunar satellite will still appear full when it rises tonight.

The best time to see this dazzling display will be just after the Moon rises, while it is still close to the horizon and appears larger than normal.

With cloud cover forecast over much of the UK, dress up warm and keep an eye out for a gap in the clouds to get the best view.

The full Beaver Moon will rise tonight just after sunset at 4:00 pm and will appear full and bright in the night sky

What is the 'Moon Illusion'? The Moon Illusion is an optical illusion that causes the Moon to appear larger when close to the horizon. The illusion is even experienced by astronauts on the ISS. Scientists do not agree on the cause but some suggest it is because the Moon is in the visual context of familiar objects like trees. Others suggest it is because we expect objects on the horizon to appear smaller and so mentally enlarge the Moon to compensate. Advertisement

How can I see the Beaver Moon?

Dr Darren Baskill of the University of Sussex says the best time to see the Beaver Moon was in the very early hours of this morning.

However, Dr Baskill says not to worry if you couldn't drag yourself out of bed on a very cold morning.

'You have a second opportunity to admire the full Moon hugging the horizon when it rises in the north-east as the Sun sets later that same day,' Dr Baskill told BBC Science Focus.

As the Moon rises above the horizon it may appear larger than normal, but this is actually just an optical illusion.

The 'Moon Illusion' causes the moon to appear to us as much larger when it is low on the horizon despite remaining the exactly the same size throughout the entire night.

However, even if it might not be larger in reality, Dr Baskill says the Beaver Moon is 'an impressive sight when it's low on the horizon.'

Tonight's weather might not be ideal for Moon-gazing but a few good glimpses of the Beaver Moon should still be possible.

The best time to see the Moon will be shortly after it rises and is low to the horizon when the 'Moon illusion' makes it appear larger than normal

The Met Office forecasts fairly heavy cloud cover for most of the South and East of the country around 17:00 GMT this evening.

However, there will be a few breaks in the cloud over Manchester, parts of Wales and the South West.

Stargazers around London or the South East should be prepared for wet weather as the Met Office forecasts heavy rain in the late afternoon.

If you are going out to see the Moon, be sure to dress up warm as temperatures are expected to fall to around 40F (5C) overnight.

Tonight might not be the ideal weather for a night of stargazing but there will still be patches of clear sky across the country

READ MORE: Complete guide to the MOON: 9 astonishing facts about our lunar satellite that will leave you staring at the sky in awe Advertisement

Why is it called the Beaver Moon?

The Beaver Moon gets its name from 16th to 19th century America when the trade in beaver pelts was roaring.

Some theorise that the moon is named because November was beaver trapping season due to the thick coats the animals develop during the winter.

Others suggest that the moon marks the time of year that Beavers retreat to their lodges in anticipation of the coming cold months.

'Different cultures have long given different names to the 12 Full Moons of the year', said Dr Baskill.

'While the origins of such names have often been lost over the years, beavers are most active at dawn and dusk. They can be seen beavering away overnight by the light of this aptly named Full Moon.

'Beavers are especially visible at this time of the year as the absence of leaves on trees and shrubs makes them easier to spot.'

The Beaver Moon is believed to get its name from the Beaver Trapping season in North America, or from the fact that beavers are easier to spot this time of year

Will the Moon be larger than normal?

While the Full Beaver Moon is an impressive sight, it will not actually be larger than any normal full moon.

This is because this year's Beaver Moon is not a 'supermoon'.

Dr Baskill explained: 'Full Moons always occur when the Moon is on the opposite side of the sky to the Sun, and it is fully illuminated by sunshine - which is where the name "full Moon" originates.'

A supermoon, on the other hand, occurs when the moon is at its closest point to the Earth, or its perigee.

As the Moon orbits the Earth in an ellipse it gets closer and further away throughout the cycle.

When the perigee aligns with the conditions for a full Moon we get a supermoon in which the Moon may appear up to 14 per cent larger.

The next chance to catch a supermoon will be on 18 September 2024.

This will be a particularly special event, as it will also be a partial lunar eclipse, meaning part of the moon will pass into the Earth's shadow and appear red.
Every year, thousands of brave visitors venture to a cave in Finland in the hopes of 'talking with the Devil'.

The Pirunkirkko cave  or Devil's Church in English  sits in the national park of Koli and has gained a reputation for its alleged contact with the spirit world.

Now, researchers from the University of Eastern Finland have revealed why visitors claim to 'feel the presence of a spirit' inside the cave.

According to the experts, it's all down to a unique resonance.

'Where a researcher of acoustics hears as resonance, people of the past may have sensed the presence of a spirit, and a shamanic practitioner may feel the presence of an exceptional energy, each according to their background,' said Riitta Rainio and Elina Hytonen-Ng.

Every year, thousands of brave visitors venture to a cave in Finland in the hopes of 'talking with the Devil'

The Pirunkirkko cave  or Devil's Church in English  sits in the national park of Koli and has gained a reputation for its alleged contact with the spirit world

Pirunkirkko is a Z-shaped crevice cave that measures just 111ft (34 metres) long.

In ancient folklore, the cave was known as a place where local sages would meet to the contact the spirit world.

In particular, a man known as Kinolainen regularly used the Devil's Church for magical rituals.

'According to folklore, Kinolainen would take his patients to the "church" to talk with the Devil about the causes and cures of their ailments,' Ms Rainio said.

'This kind of a healing ritual often included loud yelling, stomping, shooting and banging.'

In their new study, the researchers set out to explore whether the acoustic properties of the cave could help to explain the beliefs associated with it.

Pirunkirkko is a Z-shaped crevice cave that measures just 111ft (34 metres) long

In ancient folklore, the cave was known as a place where local sages would meet to the contact the spirit world

An analysis of the cave revealed that it houses a distinct resonance phenomenon that both amplifies, and lengthens sounds at specific frequencies.

According to the researchers, this phenomenon is caused by a standing wave between the smooth parallel walls of the cave.

This generates a tone at the natural frequency of the cave  231 Hz  which stays audible for around one second after sounds such as claps, drums, or bangs are made.

As part of the study, the team interviewed and recorded a modern-day practitioner of shamanism who uses the cave for rituals.

'The practitioner told in the interview that drumming sessions especially at the back of the cave have opened up "new horizons",' the team explained.

'We recorded the shamanic practitioner and found that they repeatedly vocalised tones at 231 Hz, which were then amplified by the cave at its natural frequency.'

While resonance is common in buildings, it's rare in natural environments  largely due to the lack of solid, parallel surfaces.

For this reason, the researchers suggest that the subtle resonance in the cave may lead visitors to feel like they're feeling a spirit.
Anyone who's been on the internet for a while will recognise the 'distracted boyfriend' meme.

And now AI is bringing this classic piece of internet history to life in a whole new way.

X (formerly Twitter) users have shared their creepy animations of the iconic meme created using a variety of AI animation tools.

The creators have even created different alternative endings for the meme, letting us imagine what might have happened after that moment.

However, not everyone is happy with the innovation as some concerned commenters joke that 'nobody asked for this'.

Memes have entered the AI era as X users use generative video tools to convert classic memes into short animations

X user @fofrAI shared the first of the AI-generated memes, which they created using Stability AI's Stable Video tool.

This model allows users to transform word prompts and still images into short videos of between two and five seconds.

The original meme showed a still image of a boyfriend looking back over his shoulder at a passing woman while his girlfriend watches in anger.

In this extended animation, the boyfriend turns fully away from his partner and appears to begin walking after the woman in red.

On X, commenters shared their amazement with the AI-generated clip.

'Memes are getting an AI upgrade', one social media user wrote.

'What a time to be alive!' added one excited commenter.

Meanwhile, another joked that 'after all these years, we can finally find out what happened to the couple.'

On X (formerly Twitter) social media users shared their amazement with the animation calling this an 'AI upgrade' for memes

However, it wasn't long before other X users took it a step further, animating alternative endings for the meme.

In a reply to the original post, X user @burconsult posted a second video with the comment: 'Never mind...'.

In the newly edited video, the woman in red appears to turn back and angrily looks at the staring boyfriend who quickly looks away.

The X user quickly followed this up with yet another AI-animated version of the meme saying: 'I don't know anymore'.

In this AI-generated video, the girlfriend appears to back away from her unfaithful boyfriend with a look of disgust on her face.

In a separate post, @burconsult explained that they used the Runway generative AI to convert the still images into short animated clips.

On X, many users were impressed with the innovation and the post sparked a flurry of animated versions of classic memes.

Some even inserted the original meme into the new animated format to show how people were now leaving the original still images behind.

However, not everyone was impressed with the AI's creations with some social media users joking that AI had gone too far.

'Okay AI needs to be stopped', joked one X user, while another added: 'Nobody asked for this'.

Meanwhile one commenter simply wrote: 'This is very creepy'.

Not everyone was impressed with AI-generated videos as many X users joked that this was an example of AI going too far

READ MORE: The creepy technologies bringing dead celebrities back to 'life' Advertisement

Several commenters also pointed out a few of the creepy and unusual elements created by the AI animation process.

While the videos initially look somewhat realistic from afar, closer inspection reveals that the facial features distort bizarrely throughout.

In the original post, X users noticed that the face of the woman in red becomes strangely warped as she gets closer to the virtual camera.

One commenter wrote: 'The red one turns into some kind of goblin'.

'I love how the woman in red started to face morph into some creature at the end', another commenter wrote.

Commenters also pointed out how clothing, facial hair, people, and cars seemed to appear and disappear at random throughout the video.

In the video featuring the woman in red turning to face the boyfriend, X users noticed how the woman appears to grow a cardigan as she turned.

'The clothes on the lady on the left just...grow', one commenter wrote.

Some commenters pointed out that the AI animation techniques left a number of strange and often creepy artefacts in the video

One X user uncovered the original set of stock images where the meme was taken from and found a tumultuous tale of love and betrayal

This is not, however, the first time that the distracted boyfriend meme has been at the centre of a Twitter storm.

Previously, Twitter user Andrew J Abernathy discovered that the original photo came from a series of stock images which depicted the couple in various relationship scenarios.

Abernathy strung these photos together into a hilarious story of love and betrayal which went viral over social media.

In one stock image, the couple are shown holding a baby together which Andrew shared with the comment: 'That man is a deadbeat and you knew it! Now look what happened.'

It was later reported that the original photo had been taken by a 45-year-old photographer from Barcelona called Antonio Guillem who had no idea his stock images had become a meme.

A Tumbler blog called Meme Documentation has traced the original use of the stock image as a meme to January 30 2017 when it was posted on a Turkish Prog Rock meme page.
A relaxing day in winter need not confine you to the armchair in front of the fireplace.

Even in the freezing temperatures, a UK beach has been named the best in the world from December to February, leaving no need to fly across the world and back for a beach day to savour in those months.

The British coastal gem fought off stiff competition for Lonely Planet writer Christina Webb's top spot, with spectacular offerings in Iceland, New Zealand and South Korea all in the mix.

None of them could match up to Charmouth Beach, on England's famous Jurassic Coast, where you are presented with stunning views in all directions paired with the chance to unleash your inner archeologist and go fossil hunting in a place as prolific as most when it comes to prehistoric finds.

And the Dorset seafront can cater to all tastes with the rocky stretch complimented by a sandy expanse immediately next-door - on the other side of the River Char as it meets the Channel.

Charmouth Beach, in Dorset, has been recognised as the world's best beach to visit over winter by Lonely Planet

Both stony and sandy expanses make it applicable to all, with the former making it a hotspot for fossil hunting

Charmouth finds itself on England's famous Jurassic Coast - hence the concentration of prehistoric finds

Wherever you find yourself, you will have majestic cliff faces looming over you giving the beach a sense of isolation and privacy if you catch it on a quiet day - all the more likely over winter.

The closest rival to Charmouth Beach for the number one spot was Reynisfjara Beach near Vik, Iceland.

This is another coastline which differs from the white sandy beaches that you might idolise over summer.

Black rocks under foot give the area a unique atmosphere as you stare out to giant rock formations which legend has it are the result of trolls being caught in the daylight.

If you are still after a sandy beach over winter but do not want to stray too far from the UK, Plage de la Conche des Baleines - found on Ile de Re just off France's west coast is a gorgeous option.

Pictured: Rock formations in the distance from Reynisfjara Beach in Iceland

Lonely Planet's recommended spots also featured Kvalvika Beach on Norway's Lofoten Islands (above)

This is a beautiful option all year round but the freedom from crowds of tourists in summer could make the drop in temperature worth conceding as you can still enjoy both the shore and the island's breathtaking towns with their terracotta architecture archetypal for the region.

Another relatively nearby option for Brits is on Ireland's south coast, in the form of Inchydoney Beach which looks out over the Atlantic from a vast sandy plain.

The list also featured more faraway options with New Zealand's Hot Water Beach, Cannon Beach in the U.S., Cox Bay Beach in Canada and Haeundae Beach in South Korea.

A top-nine was completed by Kvalvika Beach on Norway's Lofoten Islands.
Ever heard of Wasta, South Dakota?

Well, neither had globetrotter Eva zu Beck, 32, before she set out on an epic road trip to explore some of the least visited states in America.

In a new YouTube video, Eva starts her journey with a tour of Wasta, and she explains that the tiny town only has 65 full-time residents with the sparse spread of facilities including a gas station, motel and characterful bar.

One local she meets at the bar called Jerry, who owns a ranch and a barn, reveals that crime isn't a problem in the north central state as a whole and the most important values are 'family, religion and freedom.'

Asked if people should come and check out South Dakota and some of its smaller communities, Jerry replies: 'I would recommend they come out and check out South Dakota but I hope they would leave their values home and not move to South Dakota bringing the wrong values here.

Eva zu Beck, 32, explored some of the least visited states in America

In a new YouTube video, Eva starts her journey with a tour of Wasta, and she explains that the tiny town only has 65 full-time residents

One local she meets at the bar called Jerry, who owns a ranch and a barn, reveals that crime isn't a problem in the north central state

After checking out of Wasta, Eva paid a visit to one of South Dakota's biggest attractions; the Wall Drug store

In one clip a wall of taxidermy animals can be seen, while in another piece of footage an animatronic dinosaur installed in the store roars at Eva

'Respect the the environment and you'll have a good time in South Dakota.

'We have "The Land of the Infinite Variety," Is what the state motto is. It's beautiful out here and we enjoy every day.'

Another local Eva speaks to called Crystal, describes South Dakota in a similar way to Jerry. She muses: '[It's] peaceful, serene, and the wide open spaces are priceless. It's also a very diverse state.'

After checking out of Wasta, Eva is seen paying a visit to one of South Dakota's biggest attractions; the Wall Drug store.

According to the store's website, it started out as a place selling free ice water and today, more than 'two million visitors a year stop at the popular roadside attraction for a meal or activity, 5 cent coffee, and ice water  which is still free.'

As she films herself walking around the cavernous drug store, Eva is clearly bemused by the place.

She tells viewers: 'So what exactly is Wall Drug? I'm still trying to wrap my head around it but it is basically kind of like a truck stop but more like a theme park, slash souvenir store, slash novelty store, slash restaurant [stop]'

The other offerings, include 'art galleries and all kinds of crazy Americana vibes.'

In one clip, a wall of taxidermy animals can be seen, while in another piece of footage an animatronic dinosaur installed in the store roars at Eva.

Despite the randomness, Eva sums up Wall Drug as 'amazing' and she appears to enjoy her visit to 'the most famous middle of nowhere store in all of America.'

Iowa 80 in Walcott sits on a 225 acre plot with 100,000 square feet of retail space, 900 parking spaces and it serves around 5,000 customers per day

On walking around the truck stop, Eva discovers an impressive mix of services including a movie theatre

A chiropractor is another popular feature of the truck stop to help after long drives

Before leaving the truck stop, Eva discovers a dog wash and she decides to give her pooch Milk a clean

The travel expert has more than 843,000 followers on Instagram

The next state Eva visits in her video tour is Iowa.

She says this is a state that she has only heard being talked about for its corn and farming 'but not necessarily [for its] natural beauty.'

The avid traveler decides to visit one of the state's biggest attractions, which comes in the form of the world's biggest truck stop.

Iowa 80 in Walcott sits on a 225 acre plot with 100,000 square feet of retail space, 900 parking spaces and it serves roughly 5,000 customers per day.

On stepping inside the place, Eva says: 'So this truck stop, the moment you enter it, it's just, it's huge. It's absolutely vast.

'And at first sight it does feel like a bit of a souvenir shop. But then when you look a little bit deeper it has a lot of infrastructure and a lot of other things that you could probably, I think you could keep yourself entertained for at least 24 hours here.'

On walking around the truck stop, Eva discovers an impressive mix of services including a dentist, driver's lounge, movie theatre, chiropractor, 'pretty sizeable' laundry, arcade and barber.

After giving the visitor attraction a whirl the travel pro, who has more than 843,000 followers on Instagram, says: 'So to me, as a European, there's a lot of things about this truck stop that are simply... astounding.

Eva learned that this truck stop has not closed a single time in 59 years

On stepping inside the place, Eva says: 'So this truck stop, the moment you enter it, it's just, it's huge. It's absolutely vast'

'We simply do not have truck stops anywhere this big anywhere in Europe,' Eva says

After traveling around the US in a van for a year and a half, Eva reveals in a new YouTube that she has decided to return to Europe to find a more permanent base

'And the sheer size is definitely one of them because we simply do not have truck stops anywhere this big anywhere in Europe, you know?

'But I think the craziest thing that I've just learned is that this truck stop has not closed a single time in 59 years.

'Not a single time. I mean, that just goes to show how much of an essential industry transport and trucking are to the world that we live in today.

'I got sticker and it definitely deserves a spot on the wall of fame.'

Before leaving the truck stop, Eva discovers a dog wash and she decides to give her pooch Milk a clean.

As she continues her road trip east, Eva tells viewers that her visits to lesser-known states such as South Dakota and Iowa was 'pretty eyeopening.'

She concludes: 'This is after all the heartland of the USA, the areas that produce the most crops, the lands that feed the nation, the interstates that connect two sides of a massive and diverse continent.

'You can't avoid it. Better embrace it. As for traveling out here, I think as long as you've got people to talk to and learn from, every single place can become a pretty fascinating travel destination.

'After all, travel isn't just about places, really, it's about the people you meet along the way.'

After traveling around the US in a van for a year and a half, Eva reveals in a new YouTube that she has decided to return to Europe to find a more permanent base.
Community Matters: Constituency MP email addresses

HM Government of Gibraltar introduced a new initiative following the general election to have constituency MPs. This initiative assigns geographical areas in Gibraltar or a specific sector of society to individual Ministers.

Each Minister has the responsibility to reach out to the public within their assigned constituency to listen to their concerns and understand issues affecting them.

Ministers will visit their constituencies on an ad-hoc basis, after announcing their visits beforehand. This will provide residents within those areas to attend these visits if they wish to meet with their constituency MP.

Alternatively, you can also arrange a meeting with your constituency MP using the email as follows:

Glacis Estate, Laguna Estate, Ocean Village & Bayside

Constituency MP  Nigel Feetham

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Varyl Begg, Sir William Jackson Grove and Mid-Harbour Estates

Constituency MP  Christian Santos

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Eastside & Catalan Bay

Constituency MP  Leslie Bruzon

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Moorish Castle, Calpe & Upper Town

Constituency MP  Fabian Picardo

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Westside Area

Constituency MP  Gemma Arias-Vasquez

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Lower Town

Constituency MP  Joseph Garcia

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Alameda Estate & South District

Constituency MP  John Cortes

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Bayview, Cumberland, Nelsons View, Rosia Dale & Europa Point

Constituency MP  Pat Orfila

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Senior Citizens

Constituency MP  Joe Bossano

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A source close to the star told DailyMail.com she doesn't want this to 'define her'

Tiffany realizes that she made a 'mistake' and is seeking to move forward

Tiffany Haddish is full of 'regret' after her arrest on suspicion of DUI charges, and is keen to shut down any suggestion she has an alcohol problem, according to insiders.

The actress, 43, was pictured in handcuffs in the early hours of Friday morning after she allegedly fell asleep behind the wheel of a car in Beverly Hills with the engine still running.

Haddish, who is relieved that no one was hurt by her 'mistake', is reportedly conscious of being defined by the incident, which could mark her second DUI in two years.

'Tiffany regrets that she is in the news for being arrested, but is grateful that nobody got hurt,' a source told DailyMail.com exclusively. 'She is going to tackle it all head-on and get the right lawyers.

Tiffany Haddish is said to be full of 'regret' after her arrest on suspicion of DUI charges in Beverly Hills on Friday morning

Tiffany, 43, had been performing at the Laugh Factory just hours before her arrest

'She doesn't want this to define her or have people think she needs help. She made a mistake, and it is not because she has an alcohol problem. It was just a bad thing that she got herself into and she is working on moving on from it.'

The insider added: 'She's looking forward to getting back to work and heading into the new year with the outlook of finding new love and new film and TV opportunities.'

DailyMail.com has contacted reps for Haddish for comment.

Beverly Hills PD officers received a call at 5:45 AM about a person 'slumped over the wheel while the car was running,' according to TMZ.

The vehicle was located in the middle of the busy Beverly Drive, which is lined with stores including Pottery Barn and Sephora.

In a video obtained by the outlet, the actress and comedian can be seen with her hands cuffed behind her back as she is escorted to a patrol car. The arrest was said to be 'peaceful' with no resistance.

It came hours after she performed a stand-up set at The Laugh Factory on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood for the club's 43rd annual free Thanksgiving feast for the community.

Pictures from Thursday's event show Haddish on stage wearing a floral top similar to the one she was wearing at the time of her arrest.

The Laugh Factory is about a 15-minute drive from Beverly Hills.

The Haunted Mansion actress was allegedly found asleep behind the wheel of the vehicle while the engine was still running

She took to the stage for the club's 43rd annual free Thanksgiving feast for the community

The Laugh Factory is about a 15 minute drive from Beverly Hills - where Tiffany was found

Tiffany was seen smiling in her mugshot after her DUI arrest in January 2022

She acknowledged the incident 24 hours later during another set at the Laugh Factory.

Responding to an audience member who asked 'what happened,' she quipped: 'I prayed to God to send me a man with a job. A career. Preferably in a uniform. God answered my prayers.'

In January 2022, she was arrested under a similar circumstance for a DUI in Peachtree City, Georgia - and made a similar joke while discussing the incident with Jimmy Fallon.

At the time, the Night School actress was found 'dozing in the driver's seat' of her car, according to TMZ.

Officers told the site they believed that she had been smoking marijuana.

Soon after, her mug shot was released, showing the star smiling and makeup free.

She addressed the arrest days later during an appearance on The Tonight Show, telling host Fallon: 'I can say this, Jimmy  Ive been praying to God to send me a new man. A good man. And God went ahead and sent me four. In uniform.'

She continued: 'And now I got a really great lawyer, and were going to work it out. Ive got to get my asking of things to God a little better!'

Haddish had split from rapper and actor Common three months before.
Doctor Who

Rating:

The Year The Thames Flooded

Rating:

Ferocious giant insects with red eyes, a power-crazed cuddly toy set on the destruction of London, Catherine Tate's head bursting into flames, with David Tennant and his anti-gravity Tintin hairdo coming to the rescue.

Yes, Doctor Who (BBC1) is back  and it was magnificent.

The Star Beast was the first of three episodes written to celebrate 60 years since the Doctor first arrived on our screens.

There are fans who feel the series has lost its way in recent times. It stands accused of lecturing us on the social issues of the day, and  worse  just being a bit dull.

This episode, written by Russell T. Davies, was Doctor Who back to its uproarious, eccentric, action-packed best. There was hardly a moment's peace.

The Star Beast was the first of three episodes written to celebrate 60 years since Doctor Who first arrived on our screens

It's true that The Meep, a deceptively ferocious furry gonk voiced by Miriam Margolyes, took a moment to explain its pronouns (not he or she, but The) but I think that was a joke.

The Poplar Choice Nathanael Griffiths, 20, won the final of Handmade: Britain's Best Woodworker (Ch4) with a stunning kitchen island. Even more impressive, he admitted: 'I've never made drawers or cupboards before. The closest I've ever done is assembling a piece of Ikea furniture.' There's hope for us all. Advertisement

The gonk started off as the goodie, hunted across the universe for its fur. It turned up  all simpering and cuddly  at the home of Donna Noble, once the Doctor's companion but now married to a taxi driver.

She can't remember her time-travelling days because the Doctor wiped her memory. If she does remember, she will die. With me so far?

When the insect people came looking for the fluffy little beast, all hell broke loose at Donna Towers. Goodness knows what the neighbours will say. The Doctor led everybody to safety  of course he did  but realised something wasn't quite right.

Reverse ferret, as we say in journalism. It turned out that the heavily armed insect creatures were kindly cosmic policemen, while The Meep made the Daleks look like Labrador puppies.

The Doctor and Donna had to save the day. Donna got her memory back but survived  even when her head went up in flames  and they stepped into the Tardis for just one more trip. And if you'll believe that, you'll believe anything.

By the way, watching the Doctor frantically flicking switches on the alien ship's control panel, I realised why he's been mostly male. It's because the Doc presses buttons straight away and never reads the instruction manual.

This episode, written by Russell T. Davies, was Doctor Who back to its uproarious, eccentric, action-packed best. There was hardly a moment's peace, writes ROLAND WHITE

There's been grim viewing for Londoners over the past few days. On Thursday, Channel 5 revisited the Great Smog Of 1952, which killed around 4,000 people. The Year The Thames Flooded (Ch5) went back to 1928 when the river burst its banks, killing 14 people and sweeping away thousands of homes.

The flood followed a white Christmas. Snowdrifts in London were up to 17ft deep, and food was delivered on sledges.

It was even deeper in the Cotswolds, the source of the Thames. When that snow melted, water poured into the river and headed for London. Coming the other way was a tidal surge from the North Sea which bowled up the Thames estuary and headed for the centre of the city.

The two waves collided in the capital on the night of January 6th as people slept, unaware of the danger.

Four girls from the Harding family were in a basement room in Westminster, where the force of the water meant their father, Arthur, couldn't reach them. He heard cries of 'Dad! Save me!' before it all went quiet. Heartbreaking.
American actress Kaitlyn Dever is in Melbourne to film her role as cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in a new Netflix series.

The 26-year-old film star has scored the leading role in the six-part series set to provide a never-before-seen look into Belle Gibson's life.

Dever is no stranger to challenging roles, having previously worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar in 2011 and George Clooney in Ticket to Paradise.

The Arizona-born star is in for a very big change of scenery over the next few months as she trades sunny Los Angeles for the temperamental Victorian weather.

Before you watch her take on the challenging role of Belle Gibson, here is everything you need to know about the rising starlet.

American actress Kaitlyn Dever, 26, (pictured) is in Melbourne filming her role as cancer fraudster Belle Gibson in a new Netflix series

Who is Kaitlyn Dever?

Dever was born on December 21, 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona.

She made her film debut in Bad Teacher in 2011 alongside Cameron Diaz, and has since worked with a host of acclaimed actors.

She has also worked alongside DiCaprio in J. Edgar and Tim Allen in the sitcom Last Man Standing.

The 26-year-old film star has scored the leading role in the series set to provide a never-before-seen look into Belle Gibson's (pictured) life

Kaitlyn has gone from strength to strength in her career, and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2022 for her work on the drama Dopesick.

She is also renowned for her comedic performance in the 2019 movie Booksmart, alongside Lisa Kudrow and Jason Sudeikis.

When she was young, her family moved to Los Angeles and she began her acting career by appearing in a range of TV commercials before transitioning to movies.

Dever is no stranger to challenging roles, having previously worked alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in J. Edgar in 2011 and George Clooney in Ticket to Paradise

She is from a showbiz family, with her father Tim, 54, performing for years as the voice of beloved children's character Barney the Dinosaur.

Despite gaining widespread fame for her performances, Kaitlyn prefers to keep her personal life under wraps and it is not known whether she is currently dating anyone.

She has two younger sisters, Mady and Jane.

Dever was born on December 21, 1996 in Phoenix, Arizona. She made her film debut in Bad Teacher in 2011 alongside Cameron Diaz , and has since worked with a host of acclaimed actors

Kaitlyn will be playing Belle Gibson

It comes amid reports Dever notorious fraudster Belle Gibson is about to be thrust back into the spotlight thanks to an upcoming Netflix show based on her cancer con - and it seems the attention may have finally become too much for her long-suffering partner.

Gibson, now 32, once claimed she had terminal brain cancer which was cured by simply eating healthy food - but it was later discovered she never had the disease.

Her shameless lie became a cause celebre in Australia, and the story of 'Healing Belle' will soon be told around the world when the six-part drama starring Emmy-nominated actress Kaitlyn Dever hits screens.

She is from a showbiz family, with her father Tim, 54, performing for years as the voice of beloved children's character Barney the Dinosaur

In addition to having her sordid past dragged up, Belle has also been hit with another blow by seemingly parting ways with her boyfriend and 'housemate' Clive Rothwell.

Gibson previously shared a rental property with Rothwell, who a source said acted as a 'stepfather' to her young son Oliver.

Rothwell paid most of the rent on the home they once shared, and even forked out the cash to take Gibson and her son on a month-long trip to Africa in 2019.

Kaitlyn has gone from strength to strength since making her acting debut in 2009 and was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2022 for her work on the drama Dopesick

However, whatever relationship the pair once had appears to have soured, and Daily Mail Australia can confirm Rothwell has moved into a new two-bedroom apartment on a different side of town.

He has also been seen out and about with another woman, and an eyewitness says they haven't seen Belle or her son anywhere near Rothwell's new place.

Mr Rothwell declined to comment when approached by Daily Mail Australia.

It is possible news of the Netflix project's development caused anxiety and embarrassment for the notoriously private Mr Rothwell.
Australian actress Susie Porter has reflected on her sobriety.

The Wentworth star, 52, who gave up the booze 17 years ago, has battled depression and anxiety in the past.

Speaking to Sydney Morning Herald on Monday, she said: 'I don't think alcohol is some demon drink for everyone.'

'But for me, it wasn't working and my life has been nothing but better since I don't do it,' she continued.

Embracing a healthy lifestyle nowadays, Susie keeps fit by doing plenty of cardio and weight training, for around two hours a day.

Beloved actress Susie Porter, 52, has broken her silence on her 17-year sobriety while speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday. Pictured

The actress, who unearthed her family's painful struggles with mental health in SBS's Who Do You Think You Are?, added she was acutely aware of the importance of making healthy lifestyle choices.

While researching her family history, she found out her paternal grandmother, Gloria, was held in a psychiatric hospital for six years.

Her paternal great-grandmother, Winifred, was held for 31 years at the asylum in Ballarat, in regional Victoria.

'With that mental illness in the family I thought, ''I could have easily taken a different path with either drink or drugs and who knows where it might have led?'' I remember thinking that my lifestyle choices [to help me stay healthy] were the right ones.'

'I don't think alcohol is some demon drink for everyonem' she said. 'But for me, it wasn't working and my life has been nothing but better since I don't do it'. Pictured: 2021

The actress will next star in Disney's The Art Dodger, playing Lady Jane Fox, who is the wife of the governor of Port Victory, in 1850s Australia.

This isn't the first time Susie has reflected on her commitment to health and fitness, after being quizzed on her youthful appearance by Daily Mail Australia last year.

'I run, I walk a lot and still do functional training at F45 six times per week,' she said at the time.

Susie said that while she likes to indulge on special occasions, for the most part she is careful about the food she eats.

'With that mental illness in the family I thought, ''I could have easily taken a different path with either drink or drugs and who knows where it might have led?'' I remember thinking that my lifestyle choices [to help me stay healthy] were the right ones,' she said

'Look, I try and be healthy, but like everyone I love food, but I also really enjoy my exercise,' she added.

Susie married British psychotherapist Christopher Mordue in 2010. Speaking to the Australian Women's Weekly in 2019, she reflected on marrying later in life.

'There were times I did wonder if settling down with someone was going to happen for me,' she told the publication.

'But I felt that if it was meant to happen, it would. It was all about the time being right,' she finished.
Justin and Hailey Bieber enjoyed a Beverly Hills outing with friends on Sunday.

The longtime couple  Justin, 29, and Hailey, who just turned 27  displayed their individual styles as they wrapped up their weekend.

Supermodel Hailey was effortlessly chic in loose-fitting blue jeans with a black leather belt. She teamed it with a black crop top and classic tan-colored trench coat with cuffed sleeves.

Justin, meanwhile, opted for tie-dye sweatpants and a baggy gray zip-up hoodie worn over a white T-shirt.

Last month in an interview with GQ Hype, the Rhode Skincare founder explained why she and her husband often dress drastically differently.

'He may want to wear baggy sweats to dinner, and I might want to wear a tiny little dress just because that's how I'm feeling,' she told the publication.

Out and about: Justin and Hailey Bieber enjoyed a Beverly Hills outing with friends on Sunday

Fashion doll: Supermodel Hailey was effortlessly chic in loose-fitting blue jeans with a black leather belt

On Sunday Hailey rounded out her timeless look with a pair of black patent leather flats.

Her glossy light brown bob haircut was parted down the center with the front pieces tucked behind her ears.

She accessorized with a pair of medium-sized gold hoop earrings and a matching necklace.

The style maven shielded her eyes with a pair of narrow, rectangular, black sunglasses.

The star flaunted a dark manicure and wore a light face of makeup.

For his part, Justin covered his ear-length hair with a white and blue trucker hat, and he wore white sneakers.

As they left a restaurant, Justin pulled the hood of his sweatshirt over his head and placed his hat on top of it.

At one point he shared a friendly hug with a buddy as they said goodbye and his wife walked ahead of him.

Lovey-dovey: The couple's outing comes after the Canadian wished Hailey a heartfelt happy birthday with a social media tribute

Celebrity friends: Kim Kardashian also took to the internet to celebrate Hailey as she turned 27

It comes after the Canadian wished Hailey a heartfelt happy birthday with a social media tribute.

'Happy birthday baby. You make life wonderful,' gushed the Baby hitmaker. 'And I'm the lucky one that gets all of you.'

Along with the loving message, he shared a glimpse into one of their intimate moments as he posted a black and white clip showing him sweetly kissing Hailey's face.

She also received a celebratory post from Kim Kardashian, whose sister Kendall Jenner is her close friend.
Harrison Ford passionately kissed his third wife Calista Flockhart after safely landing on of their 10 reported private planes in Los Angeles on Sunday following their family's Thanksgiving getaway to Montana.

At 81, the Oscar nominee is 22 years older than the three-time Emmy nominee, but they've been happily married for 13 years after originally meeting during the 2002 Golden Globe Awards.

Harrison told CNN's Chris Wallace on July 2 of retirement: 'I don't do well when I don't have work. I love to work. I love to feel useful. It's my jones. I want to be helpful.'

Joining Ford and Flockhart were their 22-year-old son Liam Flockhart Ford as well as his 33-year-old daughter Georgia Ford from his 20-year marriage to late ex-wife #2 Melissa Mathison, which ended in 2004.

Sunday was the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny action star's second sighting since news broke of his eldest son Ben Ford's (with ex-wife #1 Mary Marquardt) second divorce.

PDA alert! Harrison Ford passionately kissed his third wife Calista Flockhart after safely landing on of their 10 reported private planes in Los Angeles on Sunday following their family's Thanksgiving getaway to Montana

Still going strong! At 81, the Oscar nominee is 22 years older than the three-time Emmy nominee, but they've been happily married for 13 years after originally meeting during the 2002 Golden Globe Awards

The 57-year-old chef's estranged second wife Emily Ford filed for divorce from him on November 8 after 13 years of marriage, and she's seeking joint custody of their 13-year-old son Waylon - according to People.

Ben has been separated from 44-year-old Emily since February 2022, and he also has a 23-year-old son Ethan from his marriage to ex-wife #1 Elizabeth Ford.

Harrison is also father to 54-year-old son Willard from his first marriage and 36-year-old son Malcolm from his second marriage.

Meanwhile, Calista is making an acting comeback as Jackie O's younger socialite sister Lee Radziwill in the eight-episode second season of Feud: Capote and the Women, which premieres this winter on FX.

Ryan Murphy's 1976-set anthology series is based on Laurence Leamer's 2021 book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.

Ford will next reprise his role as therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades in Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein's dramedy Shrinking, which was renewed for a second season on March 9.

On February 26, Paramount+ officially renewed Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone spin-off 1923 - in which the Chicago-born grandfather-of-three portrays patriarch Jacob Dutton - for a second season.

Harrison also replaced the late William Hurt as President of the United States Thaddeus 'Thunderbolt' Ross in Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts, which will both be released in 2025.

Harrison told CNN's Chris Wallace on July 2 of retirement: 'I don't do well when I don't have work. I love to work. I love to feel useful. It's my jones. I want to be helpful'

Blended brood: Joining Ford and Flockhart were their 22-year-old son Liam Flockhart Ford as well as his 33-year-old daughter Georgia Ford (R) from his 20-year marriage to late ex-wife #2 Melissa Mathison, which ended in 2004

Split: Sunday was the Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny action star's second sighting since news broke of his eldest son Ben Ford's (with ex-wife #1 Mary Marquardt) second divorce

Final family portrait: The 57-year-old chef's estranged second wife Emily Ford (L) filed for divorce from him on November 8 after 13 years of marriage, and she's seeking joint custody of their 13-year-old son Waylon (M)

Ally McBeal alum: Calista is making an acting comeback as Jackie O's younger socialite sister Lee Radziwill in the eight-episode second season of Feud: Capote and the Women, which premieres this winter on FX

Gus Van Sant at the helm! Ryan Murphy's 1976-set anthology series is based on Laurence Leamer's 2021 book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era

Ready for more? Meanwhile, Harrison will next reprise his role as therapist Dr. Paul Rhoades in Bill Lawrence, Jason Segel, and Brett Goldstein's dramedy Shrinking, which was renewed for a second season on March 9

BTS: On February 26, Paramount+ officially renewed Taylor Sheridan's Yellowstone spin-off 1923 - in which Ford portrays patriarch Jacob Dutton - for a second season
Kim Kardashian's upcoming comedy The 5th Wheel has been sold to Netflix following a competitive bidding war that involved five studios.

Netflix made the top offer for the movie, which was developed by the Los Angeles native, 43, in a collaboration with Paula Pell and Janine Brito, according to Deadline.

The reality star is slated to play the lead role in the motion picture, in which she would be a figurative 'fifth wheel' alongside a female ensemble, according to the outlet.

Pell and Brito were eager for Kardashian to perform in the project and pitched her on it once the SAG-AFTRA strike concluded November 9. The three of them then collectively pitched the project to multiple studios.

The project was accelerated at a rapid place, Deadline reported, taking days in the timeframe some projects take months to complete. The film is the first major sale ahead of the end of the year.

The latest: Kim Kardashian's upcoming comedy The 5th Wheel has been sold to Netflix following a competitive bidding war that involved five studios. The star, 43, was pictured earlier this month in LA

Details: Netflix made the top offer for the movie after an extensive pitch process

Pell has extensive writing credits, including more than 300 episodes of Saturday Night Live from 19952020, as well as 30 Rock. She won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program in 2002 for SNL.

She has also written for shows such as Mapleworth Murders, Camping and the 2014 Oscars.

Brito's experience includes writing for shows such as the One Day at a Time reboot, Bless the Harts and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell.

Insiders told Deadline they expected Kardashian to 'be very hands on' with marketing tie-ins with the movie, with an eye on branding.

According to Deadline, The 5th Wheel is being developed by the streaming service's mid-budget division ran by Niija Kuykendall, which typically garners budgets between $30 million and $80 million.

Kardashian recently appeared in season 12 of American Horror Story, portraying PR Siobhan Walsh, alongside Emma Roberts, Matt Czuchry and Cara Delevingne.

She's also voiced the poodle Delores in a pair of Paw Patrol films.

The news about a potential move into live-action movies comes after her mom Kris Jenner raised concerns about her daughter having too much on her plate in the latest season of The Kardashians.

Coming soon: Kim Kardashian is being eyed to star in and produce the comedy film The 5th Wheel

News: Five studios are said to be battling it to land the movie, with a script by Paula Pell and Janine Brito

The businesswoman completely forgot a whole part of her day where she met fans and told them all about her brand SKIMS' secret plans because she was suffering from the signs of burnout.

On last week's episode of The Kardashians, she had rehearsals for her role in American Horror Story, a Time magazine cover shoot, a Met Gala dress fitting, a SKIMS business meeting, a fashion gala, an appearance on the Today show, and watched her brother-in-law Travis Barker's Blink-182 show.

However, there is one part of her day she completely forgot, greeting fans at the Tiffany's store and sharing where she was on social media.

She said whilst showing the footage: 'I had no idea that I stopped at the Tiffany's store and was posting all about it.

'Did I really go? It felt like a dream. This whole morning has been a complete, foggy dream.'

Jenner, 68, was concerned about her daughter burning out and quizzed her over her schedule.

Stunner: The SKIMS founder will produce alongside Pell and has attended every pitch for the movie, according to Deadline; pictured November 7, 2023 in NYC

Star: Kim, 43, recently appeared in season 12 of American Horror Story, portraying PR Siobhan Walsh, alongside Emma Roberts , Matt Czuchry and Cara Delevingne

Kim admitted doing American Horror Story 'put me over the edge.'

The mother-of-four - who has North, 10, Chicago, five, Saint, seven, and four-year-old Psalm with ex-husband Kanye West, 46 - went on to explain that she finds it hard to say 'no' to business offers because the one time she did turn something down the person never spoke to her again.

Kris then shared her concerns that her daughter would 'burn out' if she carried on like this.
Natalie Portman is speaking out and advising young people not to get into acting, at least not as a child.

The 42-year-old actress was just 12 years old when she landed the role of Mathilda in her feature-film debut, the 1994 hitman drama Leon: The Professional.

She continued working at a young age with prominent roles in 1995's Heat, 1996's Beautiful Girls and Mars Attacks! and 1999's Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace.

Now the actress - who hit the red carpet for the May Decmber premiere last week - is speaking out on her days as a child actress in a wide-ranging interview with Variety, where she says it was an 'accident of luck' she wasn't harmed.

'I would not encourage young people to go into this. I dont mean ever; I mean as children,' Portman began.

Speaking out: Natalie Portman is speaking out and advising young people not to get into acting, at least not as a child

First role: The 42-year-old actress was just 12 years old when she landed the role of Mathilda in her feature-film debut, the 1994 hitman drama Leon: The Professional

Early roles: She continued working at a young age with prominent roles in 1995's Heat, 1996's Beautiful Girls and Mars Attacks!

Queen Natalie: She also played Queen Amidala in 1999's Star Wars : Episode I - The Phantom Menace

'I feel it was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed, also combined with very overprotective, wonderful parents,' she admitted.

'You dont like it when youre a kid, and youre grateful for it when youre an adult. Ive heard too many bad stories to think that any children should be part of it,' she said.

'Having said that, I know all the conversations that weve been having these past few years. Its made people more aware and careful,' she admitted.

'But ultimately, I dont believe that kids should work. I think kids should play and go to school,' she said.

The actress also opened up about the recently-ended writers and actors strikes that brought Hollywood to a stand-still for months.

'I have no idea and feel Im as lost as everyone else. It seems to be changing all the time,' Portman admitted.

'Theyre like, "Movies are dead," but "No, movies are thriving," and "No, streaming is just like TV,"' she added.

'We spent all this time changing our industry to have the same thing we had before. And meanwhile, I see my kids; theyre all just watching YouTube,' she continued.

Accident of luck: 'I feel it was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed, also combined with very overprotective, wonderful parents,' she admitted

Bad stories: 'You dont like it when youre a kid, and youre grateful for it when youre an adult. Ive heard too many bad stories to think that any children should be part of it,' she said

'Maybe none of this is relevant. I want to make what I love and care about and try to keep supporting that,' she added.

'When you complete those things, they find their audiences and find their people, the people who are passionate about it,' she said

Portman shares 12-year-old son Aleph and 6-year-old daughter Amalia with husband Benjamin Millepied, who she's been married to since 2012.

She'll next be seen May December alongside Julianne Moore, which debuts on Netflix December 1.
The Crown is facing fresh criticism, this time for 'reinforcing negative stereotypes' about public schools.

Julie Robinson, chief executive of the Independent Schools Council, said the Netflix series' depiction of them is 'frustrating' and affecting public perception.

It screened an unflattering portrayal of William and Harry's school days at 50,000-a-year Eton in Windsor.

King Charles has also been shown as unhappy at Gordonstoun in Scotland. In season two, he is seen shivering in bed as rain pours through a dormitory window, soaking his sheets.

'It is frustrating for us because there's a big stereotype about independent schools and it's very symbolically effective,' Ms Robinson told the Girls' Schools Association's annual conference in the Cotswolds last week.

Netflix screened an unflattering portrayal of William and Harry's school days at 50,000-a-year Eton in Windsor

The Crown has faced many controversies, including not initially running a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode despite many scenes being pure dramatisations rather than being based on facts

King Charles has also been shown as unhappy at Gordonstoun in Scotland

'I never cease to be amazed at how powerful the stereotype is.

FOR MORE ON THE CROWN: 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 Advertisement

'The reality is we are a small sector with a few wealthy and really strong world famous schools which are a great export for the UK and good for business.

'It is hard to get that message out when people will watch The Crown again and be thinking of certain schools and that is what we are up against, what people imagine independent schools to be.'

The Crown has faced many controversies, including not initially running a disclaimer at the beginning of each episode despite many scenes being pure dramatisations rather than being based on facts.

Others have accused it of presenting 'an inaccurate and hurtful account of history'.

An Ipsos poll has revealed that 57 per cent of adults support Labour's plan to charge VAT on school fees.

Ms Robinson said: 'When I was a prep school head, I wanted my parents to go to dinner parties and not for them to have to apologise because they assumed there is going to be a poshness or class label if they mentioned where their child went to school.
Fort Johnson, LA (71446)

Today

Areas of patchy fog early. Cloudy early with 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 56F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Willem Dafoe has provided new details about his role in the forthcoming Tim Burton film Beetlejuice 2.

The Oscar-nominated actor, 68, spoke with Variety Sunday at the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco about his part in the long-awaited sequel to the 1988 film.

'I play a police officer in the afterlife, so Im a dead person,' Dafoe told the outlet. 'And in life I was a B-movie action star, but I had an accident and thats what sent me to the other side.

'But because of my skills, I became a detective character in the afterlife. So thats my job. But its colored by the fact of who I was [when I was alive]: a B movie action star.'

The Spider-Man actor added, 'I havent seen any footage yet, but it was fun to do.'

The latest: Willem Dafoe, 68, has provided new details about his role in the forthcoming Tim Burton film Beetlejuice 2. Pictured Friday at the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco

Return: Among the actors returning for the sequel include Michael Keaton, who plays the titular role

The Appleton, Wisconsin-born actor did not appear in the original movie, though he was in a pair of notable films in 1988, the year it was released: alongside Gene Hackman in the crime drama Mississippi Burning, and as Jesus in Martin Scorsese's controversial The Last Temptation of Christ.

Keaton told Empire Magazine, this past June, 'Beetlejuice is the most f--kin fun you can have working. Its so fun, its so great. And you know what it is? Were doing it exactly like we did the first movie.

'Theres a woman in the great waiting room for the afterlife literally with a fishing line - I want people to know this because I love it - tugging on the tail of a cat to make it move.'

New additions to the franchise include Dafoe, Jenna Ortega, Monica Bellucci, and Justin Theroux. Amid the end of the SAG-AFTRA strike, Ortega was pictured filming on the Boston set of the film earlier this month.

The motion picture is slated to arrive in theaters September 6, 2024.

Dafoe was supported by wife Giada Colagrande, 48, during a rare red carpet appearance at the festival in Morocco on Thursday. Colagrande who wed the star in 2005, showcased her sensational curves in a figure hugging white gown.

The loved up couple strolled hand-in-hand along the red carpet with Dafoe later wrapping his arm around his wife's waist.

Good time: Dafoe said of working on the sequel, 'I havent seen any footage yet, but it was fun to do'

Sweet: Dafoe was supported by wife Giada Colagrande, 48, during a rare red carpet appearance at the opening of the Marrakech Film Festival in Morocco on Thursday

Suited and booted: The American actor was dressed to impress and cut a suave figure in a black tailored tuxedo which he layered over a matching shirt and dickie bow

Although they keep their relationship relatively low-key, Willem - who married Giada just one year after they met - previously shared details of his romance with the Italian beauty in an article written for The Guardian.

The lovestruck actor explained: 'I met my wife on the street in Rome in 2004. I knew of her because I'd seen her films and we had some mutual friends.

'Getting married was very impulsive and romantic. We were having lunch and I said: "Do you want to get married tomorrow?" I called up City Hall and they said: "If you get here in the next couple of hours, you can register and then you can get married tomorrow." So we ran down there.

'We married the next day with just two witnesses, our best friends: my manager and her editor.'

The actor previously revealed how he once shared a loft with an ex-girlfriend... and the man she left for him.

Opening pened up to Esquire about his early days as a struggling actor, when he became romantically involved with his Wooster Group theatre director Elizabeth LeCompte, who was dating fellow actor and group member Spalding Gray at the time.

'It was complicated, because we were all working together,' Dafoe recalled. 'In fact, the three of us lived in the same loft, but we divided it in half.'

The couple went on to spend 27 years together and produce one son  Jack  now 41.

Style: Meanwhile Giada, who wed the Spiderman star in 2005, showcased her sensational curves in a figure hugging white gown

Love: The loved up couple strolled hand-in-hand along the red carpet with Willem later wrapping his arm around his wife's svelte waist

One of eight children to a father doctor and nurse mother, Willem revealed he was the only one his parents didn't put through school because he didn't go into the medical field.

'My parents were like, "When you really know what you want to do, well help you,"' he said. 'They put all my brothers and sisters through undergraduate and graduate school. Me, nothing, because they thought I was goofing around, but I was okay with that.'

He revealed he worked part-time at a bindery and then a luncheonette counter: 'I knew that if I really needed money, it would be a phone call away, but I kind of enjoyed the romance of living paycheck to paycheck.'
Sydney influencer Sarah's Day has revealed she's going ahead with her controversial 'Spanish-style' holiday home, with the build beginning in 2025.

The cashed-up media star, 30, whose real name is Sarah Stevenson, copped backlash over the purchase back in March when she first announced it.

But now the mother-of-two has doubled down as she revealed in her Instagram Stories on Monday she and husband Kurt Tilse are in the council approval stage.

'Home office day. Finalising DA [Development Application/Approval] plans for our new Spanish-inspired build,' she wrote as she posed at her dining table.

In July, Stevenson described the home as 'Italian-inspired'.

Sydney influencer Sarah's Day, 30, (pictured) has revealed she's going ahead with her controversial 'Spanish-style' holiday home, with the build beginning in 2025

In her second Story, Sarah went on to write a recap of her upcoming build, saying she had found the 'perfect piece of land' for it.

She added: 'We are building a unique, Mediterranean villa that will function as our holiday getaway, photoshoot rent-out space and luxury holiday rental.

'At this point, we are locking down design to lodge to DA 2024, planning to knockdown/star building in 2025.'

In July, Sarah teased only a few details about her family's new home, revealing it will be built on a large block of coastal land she and Kurt purchased in March.

Despite receiving backlash over the purchase earlier this year, the cashed-up media star, whose real name is Sarah Stevenson, has doubled down as she revealed in her Instagram Stories on Monday she and husband Kurt Tilse are in the design stage

In her second Story, Sarah went on to write a recap of her upcoming build, saying she had found the 'perfect piece of land' for it

She added the 'big holiday home' would be designed to be used as an Airbnb or wedding venue when she and her family aren't staying there on holiday.

Back in July, Sarah had a slightly different inspiration for the new home, as outlined in an Instagram story at the time.

'We are going for a warm, earthy Italian-inspired villa,' she said in the caption.

Her inspirational pictures featured a sprawling palatial European home, finished in stone.

Sarah was slammed on social media after she announced buying the land four months ago.

The online personality, who already owns a home in Cronulla, was criticised as the reveal came at a time when so many were struggling with the housing crisis.

In July, Sarah teased only a few details about her family's new home , revealing it will be built on a large block of coastal land she and Kurt purchased in March

'I will be sharing some big life updates that will essentially take up a lot of my time for the next few years and change our life really, forever,' she said.

After revealing her purchase on her YouTube channel fans turned on Sarah, accusing the influencer of being tone deaf.

'Hardly call that life changing lmao. What a privilege in the actual crisis that most people are living in at the moment,' one wrote.

Another said: 'So many things wrong with this. Firstly, not life changing news really, is it? Just clickbait for us to watch her YouTube video so she gets more views - more money.'
The husband of late Saturday Disney host Jeniene Mapp-Testa has revealed the one thing she hoped to achieve before she died aged 49 from kidney failure in October.

Her husband Lincoln, 62, revealed to New Idea magazine this week that Jeniene always wanted to see her son, 19, walk down the aisle and start a family - but tragically never got to do so.

'Her biggest regret was that she won't see Ben get married or have children. Ben was the love of her life,' he said.

'Jeniene was so strong but she decided that this was it, she couldn't fight anymore.'

Lincoln, who runs a popular cafe on the Gold Coast, married Jeniene in 1997 and they welcomed their son Ben in February 2004.

The husband of late Saturday Disney host Jeniene Mapp-Testa (pictured) has revealed the one thing she hoped to achieve before she died, which unfortunately never happened

The presenter will be farewelled in a private service at St. Augustine's Anglican Church in Brisbane on Friday, the same place Jeniene and Lincoln married.

Jeniene passed away on November 20 after ongoing dialysis treatment, after she failed to quality for a necessary kidney transplant.

Mapp-Testa was an original host of Saturday Disney from 1990 alongside James Sherry and Sofie Formica.

Jeniene tragically died from kidney failure last month aged 49, and now her husband Lincoln, 62, has revealed it was her biggest wish to see her son Ben get married. (Jeniene, Lincoln and Ben are pictured in 2021)

She worked with Disney Australia for 14 years before launching Disney Channel in Australia, hosting Studio D and Playhouse Disney from 1997 to 2003.

Mapp-Testa often documented her dialysis treatment on social media, with her final Instagram post thanking hospital staff for making her birthday 'so special'.

Fellow television host Shelley Craft shared a tribute to the star via social media on Sunday.

Craft took over Mapp-Testa's hosting duties on Saturday Disney in 1996.

Mapp-Testa was an original host of Saturday Disney from 1990 and worked with Disney Australia for 14 years before launching Disney Channel in Australia, hosting Studio D and Playhouse Disney from 1997 to 2003
An Australian model has broken her silence about the backlash she received over her controversial list.

Ellie Gonsalves, 32, divided the internet after sharing 118 reasons she does not want children to Instagram on Sunday.

What followed was a wave of hatred levelled against the actress.

'I have already received hundreds of DMs criticising me, telling me how much of a horrible and broken person I am. But lots of these fears/thoughts ARE real,' she told Mamamia.

'They resonate with not only me but with so many other women. A lot of them are small things that contribute towards a much bigger picture.'

Australian model Ellie Gonsalves (pictured) has broken her silence about the backlash she received over dividing the internet after sharing a list of 118 reasons she does not want children

She added the messages she received questioning the list only furthered her resolve, as it showed some people felt threatened by others choosing to live an alternative lifestyle.

'They further illustrate my main point: people are sold a certain life, and when they witness others choosing a different path, the frustration lies within themselves.'

Ellie then said she had also received several positive messages from fans praising her for speaking out her desire to remain childfree.

Ellie Gonsalves, 32, who is outspoken about being childfree by choice, revealed she received a host of nasty DMs upon sharing the list to Instagram on Sunday. Pictured: Ellie and her husband Ross Scutts

'It's been nice to read hundreds of comments from people who feel seen, people who have also had uncomfortable moments where others have questioned their choice and all that has done is made them feel awful or uncomfortable,' she said.

The Australian model and actress posted whipped her followers into a frenzy after posting the list to social media.

Among her reasons listed were post partum hair loss, the baby may poo inside you, your vagina will be different, your house will never be tidy, childbirth can cause rectal prolapse and you miss out on things you love doing.

'I have already received hundreds of DMs criticising me telling me how much of a horrible and broken person I am. But lots of these fears/thoughts ARE real,' she told Mamamia

'While some of those things on my list are satirical, many are serious and factual. Societal pressure when it comes to this topic are truly questionable and I believe unfair towards those with differing opinions,' she said of the list.

'Very rarely do we see a voice in support of this, because let's face it, the public backlash can be too much,' the influencer added.

Ellie married her long-term partner, entrepreneur Ross Scutts, in two luxury ceremonies back in March.

Ellie said she had also received several positive messages from fans praising her for speaking out her desire to remain childfree

The official nuptials took place at the floating beach club La Luna on the Gold Coast in an intimate toi et moi wedding.

They followed it up with a second luxury gathering where they invited their bridal party and other guests.

The couple, who have been together for 15 years, have been vocal about not wanting to have children.

Ellie married her long-term partner, entrepreneur Ross Scutts, in two luxury ceremonies back in March. The couple, who have been together for 15 years, have been vocal about not wanting to have children
Tammy Hembrow has left fans wondering if she is engaged after she posed with a telling ring on her wedding finger.

The influencer is on a lavish, child-free holiday in the Maldives with her new Love Island Australia star boyfriend Matt Zukowski, who she has been dating two months.

On Monday, Tammy showed off her bikini as she posed by the water near her accommodation at the exclusive Ayada resort - but there was some mysterious bling on her left hand.

Zooming in, what appears to be a diamond ring on a gold band can be seen, and some of her followers noticed.

'I see an engagement ring!' wrote one, while another comment instructed, 'Zoom in on her left hand'.

Tammy Hembrow (pictured) left fans wondering if she is engaged after she posed with a ring on her wedding finger during her holiday in the Maldives with new Love Island Australia star boyfriend Matt Zukowski, who she has been dating two months

On Monday, Tammy showed off her bikini as she posed by the water near her accommodation at the exclusive Ayada resort - but there was some mysterious bling on her left hand

Zooming in, a diamond ring on a gold band can be seen

Tammy's friend and fellow influencer Em Davies meanwhile commented: 'I can't even see these pics without screaming x'.

Tammy coyly replied by posting three giggling face emojis.

The fitness queen appeared to indicate that the two-month romance is serious just days ago when she flaunted her 'Matt' tattoo.

Tammy's friend and fellow influencer Em Davies meanwhile commented: 'I can't even see these pics without screaming x'. Tammy coyly replied by posting three giggling face emojis

Tammy shared a glimpse of her suspicious ring while posing in another racy outfit on Monday

In a clip uploaded on Saturday, Tammy, can be seen strutting towards the camera in a tiny pink bikini during a day at the beach.

As she neared closer to the lens, an inking with the word 'Matt' next to a love heart was clearly visible on her upper thigh.

It is unknown if the inking is new or if she got it as a tribute to her ex-boyfriend, Matt Poole, with whom she shares her youngest daughter Posy.

Tammy and Matt have certainly spared no expense for their first vacation as a couple.

The influencer is on a lavish, child-free holiday in the Maldives with her new Love Island Australia star boyfriend Matt Zukowski (left)

The fitness queen appeared to indicate that the two-month romance is serious just days ago when she flaunted her 'Matt' tattoo

The couple last month took the next step in their relationship as they went Instagram official

The suite the pair are staying in can range from $30,000 to almost $50,000 depending on inclusions.

The couple last month took the next step in their relationship as they went Instagram official.

They then made their first public appearance as a couple at Derby Day in Melbourne earlier this month.

Tammy sparked rumours in September that she was dating again after she was busted cuddling up to Matt, 28, after moving on from her former fiance Matt Poole.
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Keke Palmer donned five different dresses while hosting the 2023 Soul Train Awards, which was broadcast Sunday night on BET, BET Her, VH1, and MTV2.

The Beverly Hills awards ceremony - recognizing the best in soul, R&B, and hip-hop - was technically taped back on November 19.

'I'm wearing a bunch of different looks tonight. Of course we've gotta give you the changes!' the 30-year-old Emmy winner explained to BET.

'So my favorite outfit? That's really, really hard because I'm just giving you a bunch of different vibes.'

Keke (born Lauren Keyana) first opted for a tiny Versace LBD, matching Louboutin pumps, Mara Paris rings, and Noudar earrings selected by stylist Seth Chernoff.

Quick change! Keke Palmer donned five different dresses while hosting the 2023 Soul Train Awards, which was broadcast Sunday night on BET, BET Her, VH1, and MTV2

The 30-year-old Emmy winner explained to BET: 'I'm wearing a bunch of different looks tonight. Of course we've gotta give you the changes! So my favorite outfit? That's really, really hard because I'm just giving you a bunch of different vibes'

'You got the little mini situation going on with the Versace,' Palmer described the ensemble.

Hairstylist Lace Assassin coiffed three different wigs and one faux-ny tail to fasten on the Illinois-born triple threat including a highlighted layered look.

Make-up artist Kenya Alexis fully contoured Keke's complexion, with an overlined neutral lip and a dramatic smokey eye.

Palmer wore the same wig with her cleavage-boosting gold corset mini-dress from The Blonds' SS/24 collection.

'You've got the glamour and the bedazzled with The Blonds. And you like that too, Leo, don't you?' the Christmas Kisses songstress said while holding her nine-month-old son Leodis Andrellton Jackson.

'You really love the sparkles and the glamour.'

Keke's third dress was completely sheer, exposing her bodysuit beneath, and featured black-ruffled trim down the skirt.

Palmer - who gets 1.2M monthly listeners on Spotify - wore a white lacy ensemble and peep-toe platform heels to perform her new single Ungorgeous alongside two buff back-up dancers.

'You got the little mini situation going on with the Versace': Keke (born Lauren Keyana) first opted for a tiny Versace LBD, matching Louboutin pumps, Mara Paris rings, and Noudar earrings selected by stylist Seth Chernoff

Hair flip! Hairstylist Lace Assassin coiffed three different wigs and one faux-ny tail to fasten on Palmer including a highlighted layered look

Babe: Make-up artist Kenya Alexis fully contoured the Illinois-born triple threat's complexion, with an overlined neutral lip and a dramatic smokey eye

Golden girl: Keke wore the same wig with her cleavage-boosting gold corset mini-dress from The Blonds' SS/24 collection

While holding her nine-month-old son Leodis Andrellton Jackson, Palmer said: 'You've got the glamour and the bedazzled with The Blonds. And you like that too, Leo, don't you? You really love the sparkles and the glamour'

See through! The Christmas Kisses songstress' third dress was completely sheer, exposing her bodysuit beneath, and featured black-ruffled trim down the skirt

In the spotlight! Keke - who gets 1.2M monthly listeners on Spotify - wore a white lacy ensemble and peep-toe platform heels to perform her new single Ungorgeous alongside two buff back-up dancers

Boudoir attire: Palmer, again, flaunted maximum cleavage in the corseted creation beneath what she described as a 'flowy little thing-a-magig'

Dress #5: The Under the Boardwalk actress concluded her hosting gig wearing a lavender, off-the-shoulder Ferragamo mini-dress as she congratulated the Legend Award winner, T-Pain (L)

Keke said of the dress: 'Their new designer [Maximilian Davis] is black, so we always love that'

'And that's a wrap on the @bet #SoulTrainAwards! @tpain you are an icon!' Palmer later shared an Instagram video with the 39-year-old rapper (born Faheem Rashad Najm)

The Under the Boardwalk actress, again, flaunted maximum cleavage in the corseted creation beneath what she described as a 'flowy little thing-a-magig.'

Keke concluded her hosting gig wearing a lavender, off-the-shoulder Ferragamo mini-dress as she congratulated the Legend Award winner, T-Pain.

'Their new designer [Maximilian Davis] is black, so we always love that,' Palmer said of the dress.

The Afterparty star later shared an Instagram video with the 39-year-old rapper (born Faheem Rashad Najm).

'And that's a wrap on the @bet #SoulTrainAwards!' Keke - who boasts 33.7M social media followers - gushed.

'@tpain you are an icon, thank you for ending the night with us and thank you to all who tuned in!'

On December 5, Palmer will face off against her estranged babydaddy Darius Daulton Jackson in court over custody of their son Leodis after a judge granted her a temporary restraining order against him due to alleged domestic abuse, which he's denied.

The Human Resources actress accused the 29-year-old Inspire Fitness Studios trainer of abusing her multiple times over the course of their two-year relationship in court documents filed on November 9.

Career-wise, Keke will reprise her voiceover role as 14-year-old activist Maya Leibowitz-Jenkins in The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder, which Disney+ renewed for a third season in June.

Palmer has also signed on to star opposite Sacha Baron Cohen in David O. Russell's Super Toys about married sales reps in the seventies, and she'll also produce and star in Universal Pictures comedy The Backup.

That smile! On December 5, Keke will face off against her estranged babydaddy Darius Daulton Jackson in court over custody of their son Leodis after a judge granted her a temporary restraining order against him due to alleged domestic abuse, which he's denied
First-time mother Noor Alfallah was able to take a brief break from her mommy duties and head out to spend a little one-on-one time with her own mother, Alana Setlin.

The pair stopped by a cafe in Beverly Hilld on Sunday to pick up a cup of coffee to go, which comes not quite six months after giving birth to her son Roman.

Upon reappearing outside the establishment the new mom didn't show any signs of newfound motherhood.

The Beverly Hills native looked amazingly fit in black sweatpants, a white t-shirt, and a black puffy coat with the hood partially pulled up.

In keeping with her casual and sporty theme, the TV and film producer also wore a pair of white sneakers, accessorized with cool dark sunglasses, and had her dark brown locks styled long past her shoulders with a center part.

Cup of joe: Noor Alfallah, 29, spent some one-on-one time with her mother Alana Setlin, which included a pitstop for coffee in Beverly Hills

As for Setlin, she wore a black ensemble consisting of pants, fitted top and calf-high boots, along with a jacket that came down to mid-thigh that was a slightly different tone of black.

She also wrapped a light tan scarf around her neck, carried a stylish black leather purse, and had her blonde tresses styled long down past her chest in the front and nearly down to her waist in the back with a center part.

After coming out of the exit doors, the two ladies looked to be chatting briefly about their plan of action for the next few hours.

The attentive mother proceeded to pull out her phone and make a call, all the while her daughter directed some of her attention on her cup of coffee.

Just two days earlier, Alfallah got in an early birthday celebration at the world famous Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, that came complete with a four-tier white cake.

'Almost 30,' she revealed in the caption of the photo, showing her decked out in a very fashionable all-black sheer ensemble that helped showcase her cleavage.

She appeared to be addressing people from behind the bar in the picture as someone was lighting all the candles along the top tiers.

While her early 30th birthday bash came on November 24, she is set to celebrate her actual birthday on Saturday, December 2.

Fashion statements: Alfallah kept it casual and sporty in black sweatpants, white t-shirt, a puffy jacket and white sneakers, while her mother bundled up in a black ensemble

On the go: The pair left the cafe and appeared to be heading to another destination

While Pacino and Alfallah have been photographed a number of times together since sparking romance rumors, they have not yet spoken publicly about the relationship.

They were first romantically linked together in April 2022, but it was later revealed that they had been dating since the COVID-19 pandemic, which began back in March 2020.

By May 2023, Alfallah revealed she was eight months pregnant with Pacino's child, which is their first together.

it was just weeks later when their newborn boy made his arrival to Planet Earth on June 5.

Milestone 30: Just two days earlier, Alfallah got in an early birthday celebration at the world famous Formosa Cafe in West Hollywood, that came complete with a four-tier white cake; the producer's 30th birthday actually falls on December 2

Despite still committed to each other, Alfallah filed for custody of their son in September.

Earlier in November a Los Angeles judge ruled that Pacino has to pay Alfallah around $30,000 a month in child support for their five-month-old son Roman, according to documents obtained by Page Six.

The Scarface star will first have pay her a $110,000 payment, on top of the monthly payments, as well as $13,000 for a night nurse, along with any medical bills that aren't covered by health insurance.

The father of four also has been ordered to make a yearly $15,000 deposit into an education fund for Roman, who was born on June 6.

As part of the ruling, the pair will have joint legal custody, while the Sony producer will have primary physical custody of their boy.

Court ruling: Earlier in November a Los Angeles judge ruled that Pacino, 83, has to make on onetime payment of $110,000 to Alfallah, 29, on top of $30,000 in monthly child support, $13,000 for a night nurse, plus any medical bills that aren't covered by health insurance. according to documents obtained by Page Six; they are seen in August 2023

History: The couple were first romantically linked in April 2022, but it would later be revealed that they got together earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic; They are seen with artist Bennett Miller in promotion of his exhibition in April 2023

Alfallah obtained her master's degree in film and TV producing from the University of California Los Angeles, and has since gone one to work as a producer.

To date, her credits also include producing the TV short Brosa Nostra, which is about a fraternity president trying to get his house to return to Greek Row at Southern California College, as well as the short film La Petite Mort.

According to her IMDb bio, Alfallah recently executive-produced Billy Knight, which stars Pacino, Charlie Heaton, Diana Silvers and Patrick Schwarzenegger.

Along with Roman, Pacino also a daughter Julie, 34, with Jan Tarrant, and twins Olivia and Anton, 22, with actress Beverly D'Angelo.
Colman Domingo dismissed accusations of a 'toxic workplace' on the set of the HBO series Euphoria starring Zendaya.

The 53-year-old actor in an interview with The Independent published on Saturday was asked about a report in March 2022 of a 'toxic' work environment while filming season two and if that was his experience.

'No,' Colman replied firmly.

'Not one bit. I'm not gonna invalidate [anyone's] experience. But working in television is long hours. Sometimes you work up to 14 hours a day. And then you have to go home and prep. You have to really live and work in a very methodical way. A lot of young actors may not be up for the task, or have that same work ethic,' said Colman, who portrays recovering drug addict Ali Muhammed who becomes a mentor to Zendaya's character Ruby 'Rue' Bennett, a queer teenage drug addict.

Euphoria was created by Sam Levinson, 38, and is set in a US high school with explicit scenes involving drug use and teenage sexuality.

Work ethic: Colman Domingo, shown last week in London, dismissed accusations of a 'toxic workplace' on the set of the HBO series Euphoria starring Zendaya

The HBO show primarily features a younger cast with Zendaya, 27, Sydney Sweeney, 26, Jacob Elordi, 26, Maude Apatow, 25, and Hunter Schafer, 24, playing high school students.

Colman has appeared in seven of 18 episodes and described himself as 'one of the OGs' on the set.

'I've been in this business for 32 years,' Colman continued about the toxic work environment claims. 'I know what hard work is. So when I heard those ''reports'' [squeezing fingers into air quotes] 'I thought, ''where is this coming from? That's just a normal work day''. Be a professional.'

Colman previously worked with Euphoria creator Sam on the 2018 film Assassination Nation and had nothing but praise for him.

'There's no one that's going to mistreat you on the set of Euphoria,' Colman said. 'Sam Levinson is joyful, and collaborative, and could not be a bigger advocate for his actors.'

An article by the Daily Beast in March 2022 reported tension between Sam and the cast and insiders also alleged background actors complained about not receiving meals on set and were denied bathroom breaks on 18-hour workdays.

The report also claimed the series got so many complaints that a SAG-AFTRA union rep was forced turned up to on set.

In a statement to Variety, HBO responded: 'The well-being of cast and crew on our productions is always a top priority.'

Series stars: Zendaya is shown in a scene from the HBO hit series Euphoria as her character Ruby 'Rue' Bennett, a queer teenage drug addict

Mentor figure: Colman portrays recovering drug addict Ali Muhammed who becomes a mentor to Zendaya's character

The creator: Euphoria was created by Sam Levinson, shown in February in Los Angeles

'The production was in full compliance with all safety guidelines and guild protocols. It's not uncommon for drama series to have complex shoots, and COVID protocols add an additional layer. We maintain an open line of communication with all the guilds, including SAG-AFTRA. There were never any formal inquiries raised,' HBO said.

Sources also alleged that Sam had a falling out with actress Barbie Ferreira, 26, who played Kat Hernandez, resulting in the young star walking off set.

In January 2022, the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, or D.A.R.E, slammed the series for choosing to 'misguidedly glorify and erroneously depict high school student drug use addiction... and other destructive behaviors as common in today's world.'

Euphoria was renewed in February 2022 for a third season with production expected to resume soon after filming was halted due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes and the unexpected deaths of cast member Angus Cloud and executive producer Kevin Turen.

Zendaya has won two Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance as Rue and Euphoria is the fourth most-watched series in HBO history, behind Game Of Thrones, The Last Of Use and House Of The Dragon.
Post Malone has recorded a sweet video for My Kitchen Rules stars JP Huillet and wife Lizzy after their newborn daughter Indie was born with major heart problems.

In a video, shared to the couple's Instagram page, the American rapper took time our of his busy touring schedule in Australia to give a shout out to the reality stars.

'Hi Lizzy, Hi JP, hi Indy welcome into the world,' he began.

'We love you so very much good luck, stay strong and keep kicking a**. I love you so much and I'll see you guys soon hopefully, love you.'

The US rappers touching post was quickly inundated with comments from other well wishers.

'That is so amazing!!! Keep strong Indie,' one follower wrote.

Post Malone has recorded a sweet video for My Kitchen Rules stars JP Huillet and wife Lizzy after their newborn daughter Indie was born with major heart problems

In a video, shared to the couple's Instagram page, the American rapper took time our of his busy touring schedule in Australia to give a shout out to the reality stars. Pictured: My Kitchen Rules stars JP Huillet, wife Lizzy and newborn daughter Indie

'Oh my! Thats cool! Get better soon Indie,' a second wrote underneath the post.

'That is so beautiful Lizzy  stay strong baby girl Indie you are so loved and soo adorable,' added one more.

Lizzy told Daily Mail Australia that she was over the moon when she was sent the video from the Circles hitmaker.

'OMG! It was the best surprise. It couldn't have come at a better time, and definitely lifted our spirits,' she said.

'What a sweet man. We're so grateful,' Lizzy added.

'Hi Lizzy, Hi JP, hi Indy welcome into the world,' he began. 'We love you so very much good luck, stay strong and keep kicking a**. I love you so much and I'll see you guys soon hopefully, love you.'

Last week a friend of the couple launched a GoFundMe, after revealing little Indie has been facing major heart problems.

'Little resilient Indie battled surgery last week and has to face open heart surgery in upcoming months,' they explained.

JP has understandably stopped working until further notice to support Lizzy and Indie.

The former My Kitchen Rules star and his wife, Lizzy, had their daughter last month at the Royal Women's Hospital in Brisbane, and the birth did not go to plan.

The former My Kitchen Rules star and his wife, Lizzy, had their daughter last month at the Royal Women's Hospital in Brisbane, and the birth did not go to plan

'She was due on the 18th... she came a bit early,' JP told Daily Mail Australia.

'On Saturday, around 4pm, Lizzy's waters broke at home, and we came into the hospital. Everything was all good and chill  we sort of had all the time in the world and the nurses were like, "Yeah, it'll probably happen Sunday or Monday morning,"' he said.

'And then probably within a minute, the baby's heart rate actually dropped. It turned into a quick emergency C-section.'

'So Lizzy got rushed out of the room extremely fast and quickly. We probably had 10 doctors run into the room straightaway to help her out and get everything sorted. It was like, go, go, go. Yeah, it was intense,' he continued.

'It was probably the scariest night of my life. I've never experienced anything like that.

'It was meant to be just a natural birth. And it was an absolute emergency because the baby's heart rate was dropping,' he said.

'When we sort of got into the birthing suite, the nurse was like, "Okay, Lizzy. What's your birthing plan? Like, what do you want to do?" And she was saying, "Epidural Hopefully we can push and do all that." And then, literally, within two minutes, everything changed.'

He continued: 'From when they took Lizzie out of the room to when the baby was born, it was literally three minutes.

'I didn't even get to get the scrubs on. I wasn't in the room with her or anything. She just got rushed out. I sort of got left in this empty room that was dark. And I was like, "What is happening?" I didn't know what was going on.

'I was probably in the room for maybe two or three minutes without anyone having told me anything. And it was just the longest time of my life. I was like, "What the f**k is happening?" Like, this is insane.

'That was at 9.07pm. And then at 9.10pm the nurse cam and said "Your baby's born, she's perfect. She's beautiful. Nice and healthy." She cried as soon as she came out, which is a good thing.'

In May 2021, JP tied the knot to dancer Lizzy Edwards in an intimate wedding ceremony in Byron Bay

In May 2021, JP tied the knot to dancer Lizzy in an intimate wedding ceremony in Byron Bay.

The former reality star welcomed his daughter just days after his ex, Nelly Riggio, had her own baby.

Nelly and her husband Adriano Zumbo welcomed a son last week.

The dessert king, 41, and the reality star, 32, announced the joyful news on Instagram on Tuesday evening by sharing a precious black and white photo.

JP and Nelly split back in 2016 and she married Zumbo in 2022.
Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker has died at the age of 64.

The band confirmed the news with a statement on Sunday as they shared their devastation at losing the talented rocker.

In a social media post, they shared: 'It is with extreme sadness we confirm that at 6:30am on 26th November 2023 in Prague, Killing Joke's legendary guitarist Kevin 'Geordie' Walker passed away after suffering a stroke, he was surrounded by family.

'We are devastated. Rest In Peace brother.'

Geordie joined the group in 1979 and along with Jaz Coleman was the only constant member. The current line-up includes Jaz, Paul Ferguson and Youth.

RIP: Killing Joke guitarist Geordie Walker has died at the age of 64 (pictured in 2019)

He was known for his unique style of playing and would tune his guitar a whole tone lower, once explaining: 'It suits the resonance and the volume of the thing, and you can use heavier strings. I've got 58s on the bottom. Basically if I play an E-position chord, it's D.'

The acclaimed guitarist was also in industrial groups The Damage Manual and Murder, Inc.

With Killing Joke - also comprising Paul Ferguson and Youth - he recorded 15 studio albums, the most recent being 2015's 'Pylon'.

Geordie joined the group in 1979 after responding to an advert he'd seen in Melody Maker, which read: 'Want to be part of the Killing Joke? We mean it man.

'Total exploitation, total publicity, total anonymity. Bass and lead wanted.'

Speaking about his work in the rock band, he previously said: 'I liked the sound of it, it looked rather serious, fanatical, I don't know what it was but it clicked with me.

'So I went down to see this guy [Jaz] and immediately started arguing with him about his taste in music and whatever, and I kept in touch and kept hassling them for some reason.

'I think it was the intensity of the argument I liked.'

Band: Geordie and Jaz Coleman (right) were the only constant members of Killing Joke (pictured with Paul Ferguson)

Roots: Geordie joined the group in 1979 after responding to an advert he'd seen in Melody Maker (pictured: Paul Raven, Jaz, Kevin Walker, Paul Ferguson and Geordie)

Killing Joke released its self-titled debut album in 1980 and has gone on to release 15 more albums.

In March last year the band released a new EP, Lord Of Chaos, their first new material for seven years.

Geordie was born in 1958, in Chester-le-street, England, and became interested in the guitar at a young age.

In an interview with Music UK in 1984, he said the worst part about learning how to play guitar was having to stop when his dad got home.

'I used to run home from school at about four, lock myself in the bedroom, turn the amp up full and thrash it till he came in. It was a daily ritual.'

Geordie's friend Luca Signorelli was the first to break the news, writing a heartfelt tribute on Facebook in which I shared: 'What I want to remember is that Geordie was, for 40 years, the closest friend and most important person I've ever had outside my family.

'I met Geordie in 1983 through completely serendipitous circumstances. At the time he was dating an Italian girl. He had come to see her, but his accommodation arrangements were, let's say, 'less than ideal'. He needed a place to crash. Someone knew I had one. So, a meeting was arranged, in the basement of a small suburban house north of Turin.

'Of course, I knew what Killing Joke was. In fact, I was a big fan. While I was driving back to Turin, in a weird February sunset light I will never forget, I did the normal thing and asked him 'What's the lyrics of 'Unspeakable' (a song of their second LP I was very fond of).'

Luca added: 'It was impossible not to get along with him. He was charming, polite, and very funny. The language barrier was not a problemthrough a lot of impromptu translation and some laborious sign language, Geordie could make himself understood anywhere and anytime.

'So began a friendship that went on for 40 years, no matter what, no matter how, no matter when. We never argued, not even once. Geordie was always there when needed. He would call me on my birthday no matter what part of the world he was in.

'When I turned 30, he flew to Italy just to be with me on my birthday, because he knew it was a difficult time for me. As with all the truly important people in one's life, it's not about the amount of time you spend together, it's the quality.

'I don't remember even one moment Geordie was around that was awkward or boring. Geordie had a reputation for being abrasive and sometimes curt with people who tried to approach him, but the reality is that he didn't want to waste his time with people he didn't like.

Sad news: The band confirmed the news with a statement on Sunday as they shared their devastation at losing the talented rocker

Heartfelt tribute: Geordie's friend Luca Signorelli was the first to break the news

Tribute: The band's drummer Martin Adkins later paid tribute by posting a clip of their supergroup they were also both part of

Tragic: Many other fans have also taken to social media to pay tribute to Geordie

'And 'like' or 'dislike' was for Geordie entirely a matter of instinct. It was like a switch that was either on or off.'

The band's drummer Martin Atkins later paid tribute by posting a clip of their supergroup they were also both part of.

Alongside the video for The Damage Manuel's Laugh Track, Martin shared: 'Gutted', later confirming in the comments: 'Geordie has passed.'

Martin later took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share the same video with the caption: '#GodBless Geordie Walker'.

Many other fans have also taken to social media to pay tribute, with one writing: 'RIP Kevin ''Geordie'' Walker One of the most unique and influential musicians of the modern era.

'His work with Killing Joke laid the foundation for so many bands and entire subgenres over the last 40 years.'

Another added: 'So sad to hear the news that the brilliant Geordie Walker of off Killing Joke has left us. I loved his playing and look.

'We shared a love of the Gibson ES295 guitar and got on like a drunk house on fire on the few occasions I was fortunate to meet him. Safe travels maestro.'

In a 2013 interview, Geordie revealed that he was forced to give up his typical tradition of smoking on-stage after laws around the habit began to tighten across Europe.

He told Metal Assault: 'Oh, I gave up smoking on stage but funnily enough I did have one on stage last night, I must admit. It was a little club.

'I really look forward to getting a hotel with a bath sometimes. Usually I wake up at six in the morning because the room isn't moving, but instead of having a ciggy and going back to sleep I have to get dressed and stand outside the b****y hotel, which puts me in a foul made for the rest of the day, to be quite frank.

'I've only had two smoking hotel rooms on the whole tour. I live in Prague. You can smoke where you like, go shopping, have a swift coffee and a cigarette. Liberty! Who would have thought that it would be a communist country you'd have to go to, to find liberty?'

In March, Killing Joke performed a sold-out show at London's Royal Albert Hall, and released new single Full Spectrum Dominance.
Feature: China's symphony orchestra wins applause with premiere-filled performance in New York

11:25, November 27, 2023 By Yang Shilong, Liu Yanan, Xing Yue ( Xinhua

Artists from the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing, China perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

NEW YORK, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Artists from a leading Chinese symphony orchestra returned here on Friday night after a COVID-induced hiatus and won the hearts of over a thousand audience members with their world premiere compositions.

Conducted by Lin Chen, the performance marks the return of the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra (CCOM Symphony Orchestra) of Beijing, China, to Carnegie Hall following its previous performance at the prestigious venue in 2019.

Full of Chinese cultural elements, these pieces combined traditional Chinese instruments with a symphony orchestra setting, and Chinese musical elements with Western techniques of composition.

The guzheng, bamboo flute and harp were featured in the performance with several pieces based on Chinese poems and the traditional Chinese philosophical work Tao Te Ching.

The two-hour-plus performance on the night of "Black Friday" attracted over one thousand people from various walks of life.

The performance took place at a very opportune time -- the American Thanksgiving holiday and the recent meeting between the Chinese and U.S. presidents in San Francisco, said Qin Wenchen, vice president of CCOM and a renowned composer.

"We have anticipated this performance for a long time as we didn't make it during the pandemic. We're fully prepared and only present premieres this time," Qin told Xinhua.

"It's amazing, very beautiful. I like the last one most, it brings out my Chinese soul," said Dionisio Cimarelli, adjunct sculpture professor at NYC's Fashion Institute of Technology, as he referred to "East West III: Tao for All" which was inspired by the Tao Te Ching.

"Music has no barriers and helps build bridges of understanding between the United States and China," he told Xinhua.

Cimarelli, who lived and worked in China for many years, called for more understanding and more collaboration. "We need to know each other and to work together to make a better world," he said.

Qin said the prospects of exchanges in art, culture and other fields between the United States and China are very broad.

"Every piece was amazing," said a social worker in New York who called herself Georgette. "You could feel the emotion, the sadness and the happiness. Everything portrayed in each piece came out amazing."

As a frequent concertgoer, Georgette also spoke highly of the blend of Chinese culture and Western instruments, noting that she visited Beijing a few years ago and wanted to learn more about China.

"We watch a lot of international concerts here. This is really one of the best. The instruments, the sounds and presentation," said Georgette's cousin Leone, who is a doctor in New York.

"That just takes my breath away. I've never heard anything like it and I never saw that instrument that they were using," said Julie Hill, a tourist in New York.

It was a global symphony because there were instruments from Europe, China and other places, said Xavier Sapp Cobham, a teenager from Brooklyn. "That's a really good combination of all of them."

"The symphony was just absolutely amazing. The vocalist was amazing, spectacular," Cobham said. "I will come back here again and make sure I bring all my studio's friends."

Artists from the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing, China perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

Artists from the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing, China perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

Fan Linfeng, a bamboo flute player from the Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing, China, performs at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

Artists from the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra of Beijing, China perform at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

Lin Chen, a conductor from the Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing, China, conducts the performance at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

Song Yuanming, a soprano from the Central Conservatory of Music of Beijing, China, performs at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Michael Violago/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
by Jonathan Kujawa

In April Donald Trump howled that the Republican delegate selection process was rigged. This was back when it looked like he wouldn't have a majority of the delegates going into the Republican convention. In the first round the delegates are required to vote for a particular candidate according to how they were allocated in their state's vote. If Trump didn't win a majority in the first round, then in subsequent rounds delegates would be free to vote for whomever they liked (Nixon 2016!). Now that he has a solid majority of the delegates, the fairness of the rules used in the arcane underworld of delegate selection no longer holds Trump's interest. Of course, if the Anybody but Trump cabal inserts a conscience clause in the convention rules to unbind Trump's delegates, he'll no doubt once again start screeching rigged. Trump's dire warnings of riots at the convention must be causing lots of sleepless nights among party bigwigs.

On the other side, the supporters of Bernie Sanders have vociferously argued that their guy is also the victim of a rigged system. For a party which claims the high ground of reason and adulthood, the Democrats have done their fair share of conspiracy theorizing: dark suggestions of voter suppression, frenzied freak-outs at the Nevada State convention, and ominous grumbles about super delegates subverting the process. Even now there are fantastical scenarios involving the super delegates spontaneously throwing their vote to Sanders and causing a contested Democratic convention.

It turns out democracy can be wickedly unfair.

The bizarreness of this election year aside, surely democracy will tick along and ensure the will of the people comes out on election day. After all, on November 8th the votes will be counted and the numbers won't lie [1]. Right?

A voting system is a procedure which takes in the voters' preferences and outputs a ranking of the candidates. Since there are lots of different voting systems, including ones where each voter has multiple votes they can allocate, or some voters count more than others (super delegates!), maybe we should first agree on the basic principles of what constitutes a fair election.

Let's imagine we have an election consisting of Clinton, Johnson, Trump, and maybe some other candidates who shall remain nameless. Here are some reasonable rules:

1. Each voter should have a complete list of preferences. That is, given any two candidates in the election the voter should be able to tell you which one they would vote for, no ties or complete indifference allowed. We also don't want obviously absurd scenarios such as a voter who prefers Clinton to Johnson, Johnson to Trump, and Trump to Clinton since that voter wouldn't be able to make a selection in the polling booth. To avoid such obvious absurdities let's require that if a voter prefers X to Y and Y to Z, then they must also prefer X to Z. That's what any reasonable voter would do [2].

2. If every voter prefer X to Y, then the voting system should end with X ahead of Y. For example, if everyone prefers Trump over Johnson, then the outcome of the voting system should put Trump ahead of Johnson.

3. If a voting system would put X ahead of Y, then, as long as every voter's preference of X versus Y is unchanged, the voting system should continue to put X ahead of Y regardless of how the voters' preferences otherwise change. For example, if the voting system would put Clinton ahead of Johnson today, then no matter how voters change their minds about Clinton/Trump, Johnson/Trump, and any other candidates who may be running, as long as their preferences about Clinton/Johnson are unchanged, the voting system will continue to put Clinton ahead of Johnson.

I think we can agree that the above rules are reasonable as a starting baseline. All we have required so far is that when push comes to shove a voter has an opinion about each candidate; voter preferences have a minimal level of consistency; unanimous voter opinions are respected; and for any particular pair of candidates the outcome should only depend on voter preferences for that pair of candidates  the voter preferences involving other candidates should be irrelevant.

Voting in North Korea [3].

Here comes the bad news. In his 1951 PhD thesis Ken Arrow proved what is now known as Arrow's Impossibility Theorem. It states that any voting system which has three or more candidates and satisfies the ground rules listed above is in fact a dictatorship! After all the paper shuffling and vote counting is over, the final outcome of the election is completely determined by the preferences of a single voter.

The good news is that democracy is messier in real life. It turns out that voters can be unreasonable. It wouldn't surprise me in the least to learn there are 3QD readers who have pairwise preferences among Clinton, Sanders, and Trump which put them in a circle. And if Trump were to implode versus Clinton and Johnson, who's to say that it wouldn't change the voters' preference between Clinton and Johnson? If there is one thing we've learned this year, it is that voters are anything but predictable. Just ask Nate Silver.

Arrow's theorem warns us that no system is perfect  even when it works exactly as designed. Voters need to be ever vigilant that the outcome of elections reflect their true preferences.

[1] Hanging chads, Diebold election machines, etc., aside, of course.

[2] Not to say voters are actually reasonable.

[3] From Wikipedia.
Emily Ratajkowski posed for a striking lingerie shoot as she opened up to Vogue Australia about how motherhood has changed her body.

The American model, 32, flaunted her svelte model figure in a series of racy ensembles after revealing it's been a 'humbling' experience since giving birth to her two-year-old son Sylvester Apollo Bear.

She posed stretched out on a wooden table dressed in a skimpy embellished bralette, with a matching semi-sheer skirt.

In another shot, Emily slipped into a miniscule beige bralette, showcasing her ample assets and washboard abs.

The beauty covered the rest of her body with a fluffy white jacket and made sure to flaunt her natural beauty and flawless facial features with minimal make-up.

Wow: Emily Ratajkowski, 32, posed for a striking lingerie shoot as she opened up to Vogue Australia about how motherhood has changed her body

Incredible: The American model flaunted her svelte model figure in a series of racy ensembles after revealing it's been a 'humbling' experience since giving birth to her two-year-old son Sylvester Apollo Bear

In another snap, Emily put on a very racy display in high-waisted metallic pink underwear, teamed with a striped shimmery top.

The mother-of-one has revealed how pregnancy and giving birth has helped her learn to 'trust' her instincts and 'let go of control', when it comes to her body.

Emily shares her son Sylvester with her estranged husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, whom she filled for divorce from in September 2022.

And since giving birth to their son, Emily said she was amazed to watch her body change.

She said: 'With pregnancy, you have to let go of control. Your body is just marching forward. And it was a very humbling experience to realise that my body had this ancient carnal knowledge that was able to create life and keep me and my son safe.

'I have actually now, in certain avenues, for my own happiness and for the sake of joy, learned to let go of control and trust my instincts and trust my physical self in a different way than I ever did. That came from pregnancy and birth.

'I wasnt somebody who always knew I was going to be a mother. It wasnt something that was super on the agenda.

'I actually always imagined myself being much older when I became a parent. I think the beautiful thing was that I kind of didnt have preconceptions.

Sensational: In another snap, Emily put on a very racy display in high-waisted metallic pink underwear, teamed with a striped shimmery top

Cute: Emily shares her son Sylvester with her estranged husband Sebastian Bear-McClard, whom she filled for divorce from in September 2022

Leaning every day: The mother-of-one has revealed how pregnancy and giving birth has helped her learn to 'trust' her instincts and 'let go of control', when it comes to her body

Post-partum: She said: 'With pregnancy, you have to let go of control. Your body is just marching forward. And it was a very humbling experience to realise that my body had this ancient carnal knowledge that was able to create life and keep me and my son safe

Ex's: Emily and Sebastian tied the knot in 2018 and split in July 2022 (pictured in 2018)

Split: She also revealed that she hopes to inspire other young, divorced women by writing about about her own experiences

Helping: And she told in the new issue of Vogue Australia that she would like to undo some of the 'stigma' around divorce

'I really was interested in meeting my child and getting to know who they were before I decided to have positions, and develop that relationship in a respectful way without any kind of assumptions about how the two of us were going to interact.

'And thats been, again, kind of handing over control and saying, "Okay, whats this going to be like?"'

She also revealed that she hopes to inspire other young, divorced women by writing about about her own experiences.

And she told in the new issue of Vogue Australia that she would like to undo some of the 'stigma' around divorce.

'I can't believe there aren't more books about first marriages failing. I've read a lot of literature about divorce, but it tends to be about families ending after children have grown up,' she told the publication.

'I do think so many women are divorcing at younger ages, and it's such a taboo and there's such stigma around it,' Emily continued.

Vogue Australia December issue goes on sale on Monday December 4.
Fifi Box was enjoying a family outing on Monday.

The radio star was accompanied by her father, brother and two children, Trixie, 10, and Daisy, four.

The 46-year-old took her crew for lunch at Guy Grossi's new Italian restaurant, Puttanesca Osteria in Kew, Victoria.

She opted for a chic black outfit for the luxury meal, including a ruffled long-sleeved top and dark jeans.

Fifi carried a designer crossbody bag with a red and black design, and wore a pair of trendy sunglasses.

Fifi Box was enjoying a family outing on Monday. The radio star was accompanied by her father, brother and two children, Trixie, 10, and Daisy, four. All pictured

Appearing to have on minimal makeup Fifi wheeled her youngest child along in a pram while the rest of her family strolled behind her.

Fifi's new boyfriend Rocky Mangano didn't appear to come along for the family meal this time.

The radio star and her man just went public with their new romance in August.

At the time, Fifi revealed that she's 'officially off the market' and in a new relationship with Rocky, who is one of the dads at her daughter's school.

The radio host and media personality excitedly shared the happy news on her Fox 101.9 radio show Fifi, Fev and Nick.

The 46-year-old took her crew for lunch at Guy Grossi's new Italian restaurant, Puttanesca Osteria in Kew, Victoria

Fifi, whose last public relationship was with former Ironman Grant Kenny, told listeners: 'I do have some news. I'm in a relationship! I'm not single anymore!'

Fifi admitted his name was Rocky, however, she used to call him 'hot dad' to her mates.

The mother-of-two revealed that they met on the school run in Melbourne after making eye contact on numerous occasions.

She said they never really got to talking until her daughter Daisy, now four, had a meltdown at the playground and it helped the pair break the ice.

'I don't get crushes very often but a guy piqued my interest. And he was one of the guys at school pick up. We called him hot dad,' Fifi explained.

She opted for a chic black outfit for the luxury meal, including a ruffled long-sleeved top and dark jeans. Fifi carried a designer crossbody bag with a red and black design

'I could ascertain he's a single dad. I couldn't figure out how to speak to him. I have my daughter Daisy to thank for that.

She threw the mother of all tantrums, she hadn't slept, she turned it on,' Fifi said with a laugh.

'I think I was dragging her across the playground thinking it's so embarrassing and I looked up at him and he was laughing his head off,' she said.

She sweetly added: 'I'm officially off the market!'

Rocky is a father-of-two, frequently posing photos of his outings with his son and daughter to Facebook.
He became a household name after picking up a coveted role as a TV star in the 90s.

And this male actor looks worlds away from his former role 30 years ago when he walked the red carpet at the 91st Hollywood Christmas Parade on Sunday.

He wore a black suit and a white shirt, adding some festive cheer with a pink tie.

He posed up a storm with actress Anna Azerli before heading into the venue.

So can you guess who this much-adored star is? That's right... it's Superman star Dean Cain.

Question... TV star looks a far cry from his 90s appearance as he walked the red carpet at Hollywood Christmas Parade on Sunday - but can you guess who it is?

Friends in high places: He posed up a storm with actress Anna Azerli before heading into the venue

Dean, now 57, rose to fame opposite Teri Hatcher on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures Of Superman, which ran from 1993 to 1997 on ABC.

The show, which lasted four seasons, gained a loyal following as millions of viewers tuned in.

He also starred as a real life detective James 'Woody' Woods in Gosnell: The Trial Of America's Biggest Serial Killer.

The 2018 film was based on the story of Kermit Gosnell, a Pennsylvania abortionist who was convicted of murdering three infants after their live births as well as involuntary manslaughter of a pregnant woman in his care, among other counts.

In 2020, Dean blasted a Time Magazine opinion piece which compared superheroes to police officers and says today's 'Cancel Culture' would have censored his character's famous 'truth, justice, and the American way' catchphrase.

He criticized the cancel culture that intensified in the days and weeks following the police-involved killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

He said that attempts to portray cops as inherently violent are totally untrue and that calls to re-examine pop cultures treatment of superheroes like Batman, Spider-Man, and Punisher  who are accused of being cops with capes - are insane.

Dean was sworn in as a reserve police officer with the Pocatello Police Department, according to the Idaho State Journal.

What a guy! Dean as Superman in the 1990s hit television series Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Doing his bit: Dean was sworn in as a reserve police officer with the Pocatello Police Department, according to the Idaho State Journal in 2020

This is insane to me, though, because these people will scream anti-police rhetoric all day long but when their life is threatened and they need a hero, they will dial 911 and a police officer will show up, Cane told Fox News on Thursday.

Because police officers are heroes.

In referencing instances of police brutality, Cain admitted there were bad situations and bad apples, but insisted that 99.9 per cent of all police officers were nonviolent and they do a fantastic job.

This whole cancel culture thing that we're living in right now is crazy, he said.

It's like an early version of George Orwells 1984.

Cain continued: And, what this article does in Time Magazine, what they talk about, I meanfrom the very beginningthe author of this article makes a bunch of claims that are totally untrue.

The actor was asked about an article by Time writer Eliana Dockterman, who wondered in a recent piece: What are superheroes except cops with capes who enact justice with their powers?

Standing tall: Dean was sporting a black suit, white shirt and a pink tie at the festive event
Ferne McCann enjoyed a Christmassy day out with her daughters at Winter Wonderland, on Sunday.

The Only Way Is Essex star, 33, visited the famous pop-up theme park in London with Sunday, 6, and four-month old Finty.

Ferne looked cosy in a form fitting white polo neck white knit cardigan, which she teamed with black combats and white trainers.

Completing her winter ensemble, the mother-of-to layered up with a long chic white coat and a light grey beanie hat, while carrying her belongings in a baby pink cross body bag.

Sunday was adorable in animal print leggings and a baby pink long sleeved top while little Finty wore a pink babygrow.

Family: Ferne McCann, 33, enjoyed a Christmassy day out with her daughters Sunday, six, and Finty, four months, at Winter Wonderland, on Sunday

Enthralled: The Only Way Is Essex star visited the famous pop-up theme park in London with her two kids

Fun: Ferne rode a variety of fair ground rides with her eldest daughter

Ferne and partner Lorri Haines, 33, share Finty together, but Sunday is from Ferne's relationship with acid attack criminal Arthur Collins.

She came under fire when voice messages surfaced of her criticising the women Arthur attacked. Ferne said at the time the messages were doctored, but apologised.

The model recently returned to reality television with Ferne McCann: My Family & Me following her and those close to her.

Ferne also runs the mental health service app Shoorah which she co-founded with Lorri in June 2022.

The couple got engaged a month later following a whirlwind seven-month romance.

She regularly posts Lorri and her two children on Instagram to her almost three million followers.

Last month, Ferne admitted she drinks her own breast milk, and has even considered 'making it into ice cream'.

Fashionista: Ferne looked cosy in a form fitting white polo neck white knit cardigan, which she teamed with black combats and white trainers

Quality time: Ferne and Sunday cosied up while having fun at the pop-up theme park

Glam: Completing her winter ensemble, the mother-of-to layered up with a long chic white coat and a light grey beanie hat

Exciting: She took her two girls to watch Zippos circus

Girly: Ferne carried her belongings in a baby pink cross body bag

Mini-mes: Sunday was adorable in animal print leggings and a baby pink long sleeved top while little Finty wore a pink babygrow

Chilly: The reality star got out a white fluffy blanket to keep as cosy as possible

Flying high: Ferne and Sunday rode on a giant plastic elephant

And after testing out her new supply of milk, Ferne also revealed she has tried to get her fiance to try her breast milk in his morning coffee.

Appearing on Steph's Packed Lunch, she said: 'I've come up with all sorts of ideas. And I was like, "could you make breast milk into ice cream?".

'And then it got me thinking, I actually want to see how well it froths up, because Lorri loves his macchiato and he's very particular, so imagine if it froths so I could slip a little bit into his morning coffee.'

Asked if she'd tried it herself, Ferne replied: 'Yes, of course I have, because I'm just curious and it's like liquid gold.

'But I wanted to try it just because I was curious. It's quite sweet. Lorri was like, "absolutely no way, I'll never try it whatsoever". And I was like why? It's feeding our baby, she absolutely loves it.'

Ferne also revealed how she uses her breastmilk as a cure all: 'If Finty when she was born had a little bit of a weeping eye, the community midwives were like, put a little bit of breast milk on.

'So I'm just walking around let's say like, if Lorri had a blister I would suggest squeezing a little bit onto the blister, it'd be healed in moments.'

Good times: Ferne and her friend chuckled while checking out content on her phone

Mama time: Ferne and Sunday had fun together on the kids' rides

Cody: Ferne put Finty in to a fluffy brown coat to keep her warm

Happy: Sunday carried a toy she'd been bought during the outing

Cute: Ferne wrapped up warm to enjoy the rides

Show time: Ferne and her daughters took to their seats in the circus tent
Jodie Marsh has come under fire after she labelled all meat-eaters 'serial killers'.

It's no secret the former glamour model is a big animal fan, with the staunch vegan having opened up her own shelter in 2020.

Animal Rescue Fripps Farm is charity run and funded by Jodie's OnlyFans, costing 4,000 a week.

The shelter cares for a flurry of creatures including emus, llamas, goats, and guinea pigs.

But the 44-year-old former glamour model angered her followers after she posed in a jumper comparing meat-eaters to the notorious serial killer, Jeffrey Dahmer, who raped, murdered and cannibalized 17 young men in Wisconsin and Ohio between 1978 and 1991.

'Pathetic': Jodie Marsh has come under fire after she posed in a jumper that labelled all meat-eaters 'serial killers' (pictured on Sunday with photographer Nicky Johnston)

Animal rescue: It is no secret that the former bodybuilder loves animals and the staunch vegan opened her Animal Rescue Fripps Farm in 2020

Posting a snap of herself on Instagram on Sunday, she posed in a grey jumper that read: 'I don't eat dead bodies, but you crack on Jeffrey Dahmer.'

While several followers took to the comments to ask where they could also buy the knitwear, not everyone was pleased.

One impassioned follower branded her 'pathetic', adding: 'Is that really making out that all meat eaters are serial killers?'

Jodie then doubled down on the sentiment as he responded 'All meat eaters are paying someone else to repeatedly murder for them,' she said.

'So indirectly yes I guess they are all serial killers. But I think the jumper is funny anyway.'

She added: 'It's not meant to offend anyone. If it does offend though then that's good as maybe it makes people think about what they're putting in their mouths.'

A week prior fans slammed the reality star for posting pro-vegan content once again, after she shared an image of a woman cooking a chicken.

The caption of the image read: 'A tortured dead bird with dried bread stuffed into its anal cavity is a symbol of gratitude and abundance. (And vegans are the crazy ones...)'

Evil: Jeffrey Dahmer raped, murdered and cannibalized 17 young men in Wisconsin and Ohio between 1978 and 1991 (pictured in court)

Won't back down: The reality TV star found herself in a heated debate with one of her followers who branded her 'pathetic' for the comparison

Happier than ever: Jodie previously revealed she has never been happier, living life without her former six pack, stating she's completely content running her 1 million animal sanctuary

Fans took to the comments to criticise the animal rescue founder to express their disappointment regarding her anti-meat eating content.

'After watching you with Rachel Carrie I thought f*****g fair play to you a lot of respect. posts like this ruin that,' wrote one.

Another pointed out that Fripps farm would see 'a MASSIVE drop in donations' if every non-vegan in her following stopped contributing to the charity.

'All this does is make me eat more meat to p*** vegans off,' a third quipped.

'I couldn't care less what people choose to eat or not eat! What grinds my gears is vegans constantly shoving their beliefs down peoples throats,' a third penned.

One fan chimed in: 'Stop trying to shame people into your way of thinking. The self righteous crap gets really boring with you vegetarians'

Some herbivores came to the reality star's defence, saying they were glad non vegans felt 'triggered' by the post, adding: 'Animals are suffering so you can eat meat and dairy.'

Jodie previously revealed she has never been happier, living life without her former six pack, stating she's completely content running her 1 million animal sanctuary.

Divisive: A week prior fans slammed the reality star for posting pro-vegan content once again, after she shared an image of a woman cooking a chicken

Not happy: Fans were disheartened with Jodie's criticism of meat-eaters, with one pointing out her charity would see 'a MASSIVE drop in donations' if fans who ate meat stopped contributing
Netflix fans have been heaping praise on another of the streaming giant's latest series, saying that it is 'absolutely brilliant'.

Swedish drama A Nearly Normal Family - translated form its original title En Helt Vanlig Familj - follows the Sandell family through a murder trial, as they make 'desperate moves to protect one another'.

The six-part show was released in its entirety on November 24, and plenty of subscribers to the platform have already been able to binge their way through all four-plus hours.

One said on X: 'Just finished watching a nearly normal family on Netflix, it was absolutely brilliant.'

Another gave the series an '11/10', while someone else gave the show a more reserved '10/10'.

Netflix's synopsis reads: 'When a 19-year-old is accused of murdering her lover, the facade of her seemingly perfect family begins to crack'

Viewers are loving the series, and many are offering specific praise for its attention on serious themes such as rape and sexual assault

It seems that this view of the 'excellent' new series - based on M.T. Edvardsson's 2018 book with the same name - is a common one, with it earning a Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 89 per cent in its debut week.

The adaptation was directed by Per Hanefjord and features The Last Kingdom star Bjorn Bengtsson.

Netflix's synopsis reads: 'When a 19-year-old is accused of murdering her lover, the facade of her seemingly perfect family begins to crack.

'The teen's parents, a priest and a lawyer, have secrets of their own, too. Just how much do they really know about one another?'

But this is not an everyday thriller. It covers serious topics which was a reason for some to warn would-be viewers, but in others' eyes made the programme all-the-more important.

One X user said: 'I advise yall to watch A Nearly Normal Family on Netflix; it speaks heavily on the topics of rape and consent and the effects that rape have not only to the victim but also immediate family. Tragic.'

Someone else said: 'Would recommend everyone to watch nearly a normal family on Netflix as a refresher on consent.'
Olivia Colman showed off her chic sense of style as she reunited with her co-stars Timothee Chalamet and Hugh Grant at a photocall for the much-anticipated Wonka on Monday.

The Oscar winner, 49, opted for a sophisticated emerald green jumpsuit from Emilia Wickstead as she posed for snaps next to London's iconic Tower Bridge.

Olivia, who stars as Mrs. Scrubbit in the upcoming fantasy film, donned the long-sleeved piece as she kicked off her promotional duties ahead of the prequel's release on December 8, and UK premiere on Tuesday, November 28.

She accessorised her look with simple gold drop earrings as she arrived for the event.

Also in attendance was Timothee, who stars in the film as a younger incarnation of the iconic Willy Wonka.

Glam: Olivia Colman cut a chic figure in a dark green jumpsuit as she joined her co-stars at a photocall for Wonka at London's iconic Tower Bridge on Monday

Looking sharp: The Oscar winner was joined by her co-stars Timothee Chalamet (left) and Hugh Grant (right) for the event

Perfect: The Oscar winner opted for a sophisticated dark green jumpsuit as she posed for snaps next to London's iconic Tower Bridge

The Call Me By Your Name star opted for a black Alexander McQueen suit with sparkling silver pinstripes, after previously catching the eye with a lavender leather ensemble at the film's Tokyo premiere.

His co-star Hugh, who plays an Oompa Loompa, opted for a sharp all-blue look as he attended the photocall.

Wonka is slated to officially release in the UK on December 8 just in time for Christmas.

Chalamet took on the leading role of a younger Willa Wonka, and the film boasts a star-studded cast that includes a slew of British talent including Sally Hawkins and Rowan Atkinson.

The film is based off of Roald Dahl's classic 1964 novel titled, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, and has been directed by Paul King, who previously helmed Paddington and its sequel.

The premise follows, 'the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today,' per an official IMDB synopsis.

During an interview with Vogue earlier this year in May, Timothee opened up about taking on the role of Wonka in the musical fantasy.

'To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy,' he explained to the outlet.

Jovial: Olivia, Hugh and Timothee were in high spirits despite the wet November weather as they attended the photocall

Pals: The group were also joined by co-star Rowan Atkinson for the photocall

Playful: Olivia beamed as she posed for snaps in her stylish look with Rowan and Timothee

Sharp: Timothee opted for a dapper black trouser suit with sparkling silver pinstripes as he attended the photocall

Good times! The stars were forced to combat the heavy rain during the photocall

Fun! His co-star Hugh, who plays an Oompa Loompa, opted for a sharp all-blue look as he attended the photocall

Coming soon: Wonka is slated to officially release in the UK on December 8 just in time for Christmas

Big names: Chalamet took on the leading role of a younger Willa Wonka, and the film boasts a star-studded cast that includes a slew of British talent

Anticipated: The film is based off of Roald Dahl's classic 1964 novel titled, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory

Big release: The premise follows, 'the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today'

Looking good: Keegan Michael-Key, who stars as Chief-of-Police in the film, was also in attendance for the photocall

So many stars! Also among the stars of the film are Jim Carter (left) and Tom Davis (right)

Legend: Rowan Atkinson opted for an eye-catching green suit as he posed for snaps at the Wonka photocall

Happy: Matthew Baynton looked sharp for the event, which took place with the backdrop of London's famous Tower Bridge

Beaming: Matt Lucas opted for a colourful striped jumper and a dark blue trouser suit

Coming soon: Wonka will be released in the UK on December 8, and the US on December 15

He added, 'That's why I was drawn to it. In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there's so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate.'

The Little Women star also explained that his portrayal of Wonka would not be 'cynical.'

'This is a Willy that's full of joy and hope and desire to become the greatest chocolatier,' the star stated.

Timothee went onto praise director Paul while attended Wonk's Tokyo premiere last week.

'Paul King wrote a beautiful script here, about a young Willy Wonka who follows his dreams,' Chalamet stated of the director, per Variety.

'If you would've told me when I was 12 years old - when I was 10 years old watching the Johnny Depp version of Willy Wonka, that I'd get to be here in Tokyo promoting this movie as Willy Wonka, standing next to Hugh Grant, I would've told you you were lying,' he admitted while reflecting on the role.

Timothee then motivationally added, 'So, I guess like the movie, follow your dreams.'

Wonka will be released in the UK on December 8, and the US on December 15.
It's a series known for its lavish sets and costumes.

But Wolf Hall star Mark Rylance was a far cry from the Tudor era his character Thomas Cromwell descends from, as he donned a more modern piece of attire while filming the much-anticipated new series in Bristol on Saturday.

The actor, 63, covered his regal tabbard with a green hoodod Pack a Mac as the cast attempted to dodge the wet weather while on set.

Mark, who is reprising his role as King Henry VIII's chief minister, was in high spirits as he headed to the set in costume, with a script in hand.

The Oscar winner was joined by a slew of supporting stars as they got to work on the new instalment of the series.

That's not very Tudor! Wolf Hall star Mark Rylance covered his regal attire with a green Pack A Mac as he resumed filming for the new series in Bristol on Saturday

Back to wrk! The actor covered his regal tabbard with a green hoodod Pack a Mac

Keep it dry! The cast attempted to dodge the wet weather while on set, covering up their period costumes with rain jackets

Last week, the BBC announced the return of the popular period drama eight years after the show first aired and work was underway on the series when Mark Rylance, Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Jonathan Pryce were seen on-set.

Wolf Hall is set to make a comeback based on the final book in Dame Hilary Mantel's trilogy, The Mirror And The Light, with Mark playing the lead role of Thomas Cromwell, Thomas as his secretary Rafe Sadler and Jonathan as Cardinal Wolsey .

The drama about the life of Cromwell has so far seen his rise to power - and the second and final season will showcase his struggle to hold on to his position as King Henry VIII's chief minister.

The return of the show comes in the wake of author Dame Hilary's tragic death in September 2022, after she suddenly suffered a massive stroke aged 70.

The first six-part season, which followed the first two novels, aired in 2015 and won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards.

Fans were elated at news of the show's return, with one saying on X, formerly Twitter: 'Wolf Hall is a great series so this is good news.'

A second added: 'Wolf Hall is probably my favourite period drama of all time and its coming back ahhhhhhhh.'

Another exclaimed: 'Brilliant can't wait!'

Transformed: Mark has taken on the role of King Henry VII's chief minister Thomas Cromwell in the series

Happy: Mark, who is reprising his role as King Henry VIII's chief minister, was in high spirits as he headed to the set in costume, with a script in hand

It's back! Last week, the BBC announced the return of the popular period drama eight years after the show first aired

Anticipated! Wolf Hall is set to make a comeback based on the final book in Dame Hilary Mantel's trilogy, The Mirror And The Light

Acclaimed: Mark is playing the lead role of Thomas Cromwell, Thomas Brodie-Sangster as his secretary Rafe Sadler and Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey

Woes: The drama about the life of Cromwell has so far seen his rise to power - and the second and final season will showcase his struggle to hold on to his position

Sad: The return of the show comes in the wake of author Dame Hilary's tragic death in September 2022 , after she suddenly suffered a massive stroke aged 70

Acclaimed: The first six-part season, which followed the first two novels, aired in 2015 and won BAFTA and Golden Globe awards

Excited! Fans were elated at news of the show's return, with one saying on X, formerly Twitter: 'Wolf Hall is a great series so this is good news'

Season one portrayed Cromwell's rise to power as Henry sought to divorce Anne Boleyn - played by The Crown's Claire Foy - which at the time was illegal under the Catholic church.

Cromwell was responsible for the bill that made Henry head of the Church of England, which enabled him to divorce Catherine of Aragon and marry Anne instead.

The end of the series saw Anne's execution, as well as the downfall of Sir Thomas More.

In the upcoming season, the King's chief minister is immediately placed in a vulnerable position as he came from humble roots with no army of his own.

The new series will showcase his struggle to hold on to power and the final four years of his life, while Jane Seymour - Henry's third wife - will be introduced to the court.

Kate Phillips will play Jane while Lilit Lesser plays Henry's eldest daughter Mary.

The official synopsis for the new series reads: 'May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henrys second wife, is dead. As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour.

'Cromwell, a man with only his wits to rely on, has no great family to back him, and no private army.

'Navigating the moral complexities that accompany the exercise of power in this brutal and bloody time, Cromwell is caught between his desire to do what is right and his instinct to survive. But in the wake of Henry VIII having executed his queen, no one is safe.

'Despite rebellion at home, traitors plotting abroad and the threat of invasion testing Henrys regime to breaking point, Cromwells robust imagination sees a new country in the mirror of the future.

'All of England lies at his feet, ripe for innovation and religious reform. But as fortunes wheel turns, Cromwells enemies are gathering in the shadows.

'The inevitable question remains: how long can anyone survive under Henrys cruel and capricious gaze?'

Director Peter Kosminsky said: 'The Mirror and the Light picks up exactly where Wolf Hall ended, with the execution of Henry VIII's second wife, Anne Boleyn.

Royal drama! Season one portrayed Cromwell's rise to power as Henry sought to divorce Anne Boleyn

Get to work! A slew of supporting actors were also seen making their way to the set

Transformed: They were dressed in an array of Tudor costumes for filming

Starring role: Season two of Wolf Hall has already begun filming, with Mark returning as Thomas Cromwell

Powerful: Damian Lewis plays King Henry VIII during his difficult relationship with Cromwell

'I'm overjoyed to be able to reunite the extraordinary cast we were lucky enough to assemble for Wolf Hall, led by the brilliant Mark Rylance and Damian Lewis, with the original creative team of Gavin Finney (DOP), Pat Campbell (Designer) and Joanna Eatwell (Costume Designer).

'We are all determined to complete what we started  and to honour the final novel written by one of the greatest literary figures of our age, Hilary Mantel.'

BBC Chief Content Officer Charlotte Moore added: 'A stunning and unforgettable adaptation of Hilary Mantel's sublime novels, Wolf Hall quickly established itself as one of the all-time great television dramas, with millions of adoring viewers across the UK and around the World.

'Almost a decade on we're delighted to have reunited this exceptional creative team and lead cast to conclude Mantel's thrilling saga on the BBC.'

Wolf Hall series one is available to watch on BBC iPlayer in the UK.
Fantastic Four star Ioan Gruffudd will reunite with his two daughters - at least once a week - after claiming his ex-wife actress Alice Evans had kept the girls away from him for almost a year amid their bitter divorce.

In new court filings obtained by DailyMail.com, a judge ordered Evans, 55, to take the youngsters, Elsie, 10, and Ella, 14, to weekly 'reunification therapy' sessions with their father.

And Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Josh Stinn also decreed that the warring former couple could not trash or insult each other in front of their children during therapy sessions.

According to court papers, the two girls now use the last name Griffith, the Anglicized version of their Welsh father's last name.

Ioan Gruffudd will see his two daughters on a weekly basis after a judge ordered the two girls, Elsie, 10, and Ella, 14, to attend 'reunification therapy' sessions with their father

Since their split in 2021, Gruffudd and Evans have been locked in a bitter custody battle over the two young girls

The feuding exes were declared legally divorced in July, two years after the actor filed for divorce after 14 years of marriage

Since their split in 2021, Gruffudd and Evans have been locked in a bitter battle over the girls, with the mother-of-two accusing her ex-husband of not seeing or calling the youngsters for three months, while he claimed she was 'abusing' the girls, causing them 'serious emotional harm.'

In August, the judge granted the actor's request for appointment of a child psychiatrist 'evaluator' to referee the increasingly hostile tug-of-war.

On the recommendation of that evaluator, Judge Stinn issued a written order  obtained by DailyMail.com  ruling that Evans must take Ella and Elsie once a week to one-on-one individual sessions with a therapist, to be chosen by the girls' court-appointed attorney.

In addition, the judge ordered Evans to take the girls, separately, to weekly meetings with their father and 'reunification therapist' Karin Manger  who will also counsel Evans in separate therapy sessions.

Judge Stinn cautioned both Evans and Gruffudd not to take pot shots at each other in front of the girls during therapy stints.

'Neither party shall make derogatory remarks about or disparage the other party, either directly or indirectly, to or within the hearing of the minor children..', the judge wrote in his order.

He also ordered Evans and Gruffudd to communicate about the children 'at least once every 24 hours' using the court's 'ourfamilywizard.com' email system.

During their vitriolic divorce, Gruffudd  who claimed that Evans had only allowed him to see his daughters for seven per cent of the last year  said 'Alice regularly berated, verbally abused and threatened me during our marriage and after separation, often in the presence of Ella and/or Elsie.

'Among other things, Alice told me she had been miserable for years and wanted a divorce, attacked my appearance and my career, threatened to call the police on me and told Ella she would be getting a new father soon.

'I believe it was unhealthy and distressing to the girls to witness this behavior and I believe Alice's conduct was abusive not only to me, but to the girls as well.'

Gruffudd  now dating Bianca Wallace, 31  recounted an incident on Ella's 11th birthday when 'Elsie sent me a video of Ella arguing with Alice.

Ella said she was upset because Alice had broken her promise not to drink alcohol and she begged Alice to stop bringing me up in every conversation.

'Alice screamed at Ella and called her a 'f***ing bitch' and Ella screamed at Alice, 'Just be a mother!'

He added, '(Alice)has made thousands of disparaging, abusive and threatening posts about me since we separated.'

Gruffudd had previously claimed that Evans had only allowed him to see his daughters  who, according to court papers, now use the last name Griffith  for seven per cent of the last year

Gruffudd has been dating 31 year-old girlfriend Bianca Wallace since announcing his split from Evans in 2021

Fed up with the barrage of harassing text messages, emails and social media posts from Evans, he successfully obtained a three-year restraining order against her last August to protect himself and Wallace.

Gruffudd, who met Evans when they co-starred in the 2000 Disney movie, 102 Dalmatians, filed for divorce in March 2021, shortly after the blonde actress claimed on social media that her husband of 14 years was walking out on her and their two daughters.

Their divorce was finalized in July this year.

But the issues of spousal and child support and child custody -still need to be resolved.

The girls currently live with their mother but Gruffudd is seeking joint custody.
by Ethan Seavey

Exile is on my mind and theres a large full moon above my head I cannot see through the clouds.

I am part of a family of three exiles who are doing it again, recovering after exile, and working hard to stay together. Our shared communities have dropped us for the third time and it feels like I finally recognize the pattern weve always fallen into :

1) Find a community that embraces us because it excludes others; and 2) get rejected when we grow to learn that we have become the others.

When I came out as gay in 2015 my family stopped going to Church, specifically the one where we had been attending weekly (with few exceptions) for somewhere around a decade.

It was a personal decision for each one of us. It was an effort to support me. It was also a social decision. While this Church was more progressive than others, it was still a Catholic Church. It seemed to me that priests were required to spend a Sunday sermon every year talking about how being gay is a sin; sometimes hiding it behind the idea that being gay was not a sin so long as you never acted on it.

Many people within that Church remained close friends. Theyd ask why wed stopped attending and I was the reason. It didnt distance most of our friends, but I remember my younger sibling was forbidden from spending time with one of their friends outside of the friends home, because the friends mom saw me as a bad influence.

Most of the Good Catholic Kids from my grade school moved onto a well-known Catholic College Preparatory high school. I followed suit there, and the same was true with all of my siblings. My older sister waited until a bit after her youngest sibling graduated from high school to publish her truth about the school, how it protected and covered for a teacher who had been harassing her.

And that was exile number two. My family still living in our hometown became very aware that we were the topic of conversation. At a restaurant they heard people talking poorly of us at the next table over. Some friends had nothing to say and others said terrible things behind our backs.

Exile number two was a low blow to our thin connections to the suburb. It was around that time that my parents decided to move from the suburb to two different locations, a house in the Rocky Mountains and a skyscraper in downtown Chicago. They held ties with true friends and spent time together when possible and when convenient.

The third exile came after the beginning of this summer, when my dad came out as gay, and their friends scrambled to take sides. My parents wanted none of that. My dad was the victim of hate speech from people he considered close friends; my mom was the victim of pity and people inserting themselves where she did not want them.

Its the third exile and the social rule says we are booted, never to return. If you return you run the risk of running into a past of people still walking in circles, unwilling to respect us.

Exile is enjoying life in the flock in an open field with many friends; then it is being put into a smaller fenced off area because the shepherd has noticed your wool quality is not up to his standards; then a second exile is being put into a cage in a small fenced off area in an open field; a third is total rejection. And if youre lucky you have the chance to leave. Exile is not enforced freedom but a prison you must escape from.

When youre free you have the ability to go wherever you want, but youve become so close to the other sheep living with you in that tiny cage that you always want the others to be secure, to find new flocks and new pastures with hot, gay, reasonable shepherds. Im grateful to say were doing it together.
Kylie Jenner put her phenomenal figure on display as she modelled an array of skimpy ensembles for Interview magazine.

The mother-of-two wowed as she slipped into a tiny Celine bikini top that showed off her ample cleavage and toned stomach.

She paired the garment with skintight leather trousers while a pair of heeled boots boosted her petite frame.

For another stunning shot, the 27-year-old makeup mogul slipped into a tiny bra that she paired with a sheer skirt and thigh high scarlet stockings.

To accompany the spread, Kylie gave the publication a candid interview in which she opened up about her rift and reconciliation with best friend Jordyn Woods.

Hell for leather: Kylie Jenner put her phenomenal figure on display as she modelled an array of skimpy ensembles for Interview magazine

Va va voom: The mother-of-two wowed as she slipped into a tiny Celine bikini top that showed off her ample cleavage and toned stomach

Wow: For another stunning shot, the 27-year-old makeup mogul slipped into a tiny bra that she paired with a sheer skirt and thigh high scarlet stockings

Kylie was interviewed by Kardashian/Jenner superfan Jennifer Lawrence and the pair touched on many subjects including family drama, starting businesses, and being mothers.

Jennifer queried: 'My last question is a little intense, but we all want to know. Obviously, there was a huge trauma many years ago, but weve recently seen that you are friends with Jordyn again. How is that? How did that happen? What up?'

Kylie and Jordyn's close relationship famously took a hiatus for four years after the infamous Tristan Thompson cheating scandal ruined their friendship and saw the model cast out of the Kardashians' inner circle.

Now the business woman has revealed that their friendship actually never took a pause despite older sister Khloe Kardashian, 39, feeling betrayed.

Kylie said: 'Jordyn and I, we always stayed in touch throughout the years and we would meet up at my house and catch up and just talk through everything.

'We never fully cut each other off, and one day, naturally, we were like, we want to get sushi and we dont want to hide anymore.'

Kylie publicly reunited with Jordyn for the first time in four years as they were seen out to dinner together back in July.

The Kardashians star continued: ''Theres a learning lesson in everything, and I think that in a weird way, everything happens how its supposed to happen. We were so attached at the hip that we needed space to grow into the people that we were supposed to be.

'I needed that independence and that confidence because she was like my security blanket for so long.'

Un-bee-lievable! Kylie posed with a giant bee for the striking cover shot while modelling a tiny bikini and skintight leather trousers

Busty: The star looked sensational as she posed up a storm alongside the bizarre prop

Futuristic: The star showed off her lithe frame posing in her lingerie and heels while trapped in a large glass tube

In 2019, Jordyn and Khloe's then boyfriend Tristan sent shockwaves after it emerged they had hooked up at a party.

Jordyn later admitted to sharing a kiss with Tristan during a sensational interview with Jada Pinkett Smith on the Red Table Talk, and she fell out of the good graces of the Kardashians as a result of the infidelity.

The kiss also led to Khloe splitting up from Tristan for another time. Infamously, after Jordyn's Red Table Talk interview aired, Khloe insisted over Twitter, 'You ARE the reason my family broke up!'

The mother of two and the model first crossed paths back in 2012 after meeting through a mutual friend, Jaden Smith, and soon developed a very close bond.

The pair were nearly inseparable, and not only lived together, but also worked together on various projects.

The former pals starred in the reality series, Life With Kylie, and also launched the Kylie x Jordyn collection for Kylie Cosmetics in September 2018.

Jordyn also notably attended Kim and Kanye West's wedding that was held in Italy back in 2014.

Meanwhile in the Interview Magazine Q&A, Jennifer and Kylie bonded over their roles as mothers as the make-up mogul has two children with rapper Travis Scott - five-year-old daughter Stormi and 21-month-old son Aire Webster - while The Hunger Games star is mom to 21-month-old son Cy.

The two A-listers chatted about having to have security details with them at all times while out in public as Jennifer asked the reality star how her kids react to having another person with them.

Kylie said: 'I was young when I got pregnant, but I never had security until I got pregnant. I have two security in rotation for them and they have been with me for five-plus years. Shes very familiar with them, which I feel comfortable with. She actually has a lot of love for them.

Not playing around: She donned a checkered mini dress that clung to her hourglass curves

Toned: Kylie flashed her bra in a sheer white dress as she posed up a storm

Wonder in white: She showcased her sultriest poses for the magazine spread

Details: She wore some rather avant-garde patent leather thigh-high boots

Strike a pose: She had a snake on her chest for one shot while she modelled a cowl neck mini

Working for the weekend: She donned a sexy look while pushing a wheelbarrow

The shoe is on the other foot: Kylie was interviewed by Jennifer Lawrence who she and sister Kendall had interviewed back in 2012 at the LA premiere of The Hunger Games

'I just tell my security to not make it so serious, so they have a good relationship. Im trying to figure it out too because I never had security growing up, so I dont know what thats like, but I try to make it as normal and friendly as possible.'

Jennifer said that she initially believed that she thought there would be no personal connection with a bodyguard before realizing that they actually play a crucial part in the lives of her family.

She explained: 'Yeah, friendly is nice because before I hired them, in my mind I was like, I want them to be invisible. I dont want my kid to see you or know you. And then once they start working for you, its like, "Well, wait. This is a person in our life. Hes helping us."

'Thats not really a good lesson to ignore the person thats helping us. Its probably better to say, "Say good morning to Sean. Hi. How are you?" Weve incorporated them more in our lives, which surprised me. That wasnt how I planned it.'

The two also talked about being accused of having plastic surgery throughout their careers.

Kylie got candid as she said: 'I did end up getting lip fillers, but its also the same with me. Ill see before and after photos when Im 12 years old versus 26 and my eyebrows are filled differently. I have contour on. Im like, "How can you compare my 12-year-old face and say Ive gotten my jaw shaved and eyelids removed?" Im like, "What are we talking about?"'

Jennifer - who previously credited make-up artist Hung Vanngo with overlining her lip as she jokingly refers to him as 'a plastic surgeon' in the interview - responded by saying that people do not understand how much aging and maturing changes one's appearance.

She explained: 'I have the same thing. I started at 19, so I get the before and after pictures from when Im 19 to 30 and Im like, "I grew up. I lost baby weight in my face, and my face changed because Im aging."

Back on track: To accompany the spread, Kylie gave the publication a candid interview in which she opened up about her rift and reconciliation with best friend Jordyn Woods

Thanks for family: Jennifer and Kylie bonded over their roles as mothers as the make-up mogul has two children with rapper Travis Scott - five-year-old daughter Stormi and 21-month-old son Aire Webster (pictured) - while The Hunger Games star is mom to 21-month-old son Cy

'Everybody thought I had a nose job, and Im like, "Ive had the exact same nose. My cheeks got smaller. Thank you for bringing it up."'

Earlier in the interview Kylie commended Jennifer on her interviewing skills.

The Silver Linings Playbook actress asked: 'How do you get your coffee? Do you go downstairs and get it? Does somebody bring it to you?'

Kylie responded: 'I love these questions. I get my coffee from Kings Road Cafe.'
Has Vanessa Kirby found her Napoleon?

The British actress, 35, who plays Josephine opposite Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor in Sir Ridley Scotts latest film, Napoleon, has gone Instagram official with her boyfriend, the American lacrosse player Paul Rabil, 37.

He shared a series of photographs of the couple including one of them embracing on a beach.

From the very minute we first met in Des Moines, around the world and back, life is far better, more purposeful and more beautiful with you, he wrote about the privately educated Londoner.

The couple have been spotted on several occasions together since last year, but have kept quiet about their blossoming romance.

Has Vanessa Kirby found her Napoleon? The British actress, 35, has gone Instagram official with her boyfriend, the American lacrosse player Paul Rabil, 37

Sweet: The couple have been spotted on several occasions together since last year, but have kept quiet about their blossoming romance

Rabil is the co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. Kirby played Princess Margaret in Netflix hit The Crown, for which she won a Best Supporting Actress Bafta.

The Exeter University graduate previously went out with Callum Turner, with whom she starred in 2014s Queen And Country. They parted in 2020, blaming hectic work schedules.

She won the attention of millions of viewers, and the heart of her dashing co-star Douglas Booth, when she played the role of Estella in the BBCs adaptation of Great Expectations in 2011.

It is unknown when Kirby and Rabil first started dating, however they have been spotted together in New York since last September.

Rabil previously dated Mexican actress Eiza Gonzalez and was married to fellow sportswoman Kelly Berger, from 2014 until 2017.

Kirby has been on the promotional trail for her film Napoleon, which explores Napoleon's climb to power through his relationship with his wife Josephine.

It was previously titled Kitbag which referred to the saying: 'There is a general's staff hidden in every soldier's kitbag.' The expression means it is possible for any soldier to become a general.

Scott's long-awaited Napoleon biopic has garnered glowing reviews in both Britain and the US.

Sweet: Alongside the images, Paul shared 'From the very minute we first met in Des Moines, around the world and back, life is far better, more purposeful and more beautiful with you

However, French critics slammed the film as 'deeply clumsy' and 'boring' ahead of its release on November 22.

Scott 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.'
Kim Kardashian's fans went wild over a new Instagram post she shared over the weekend.

The 43-year-old reality TV star was seen folding her tongue as she stuck it out in a very rare silly pose while she was heavily made up with nude-colored tones and modeling a SKIMS top.

Sanjaobrian said, 'Now it's not pouting anymore, now it's tongue sticking.'

Yet another fan said that the look was 'a bit X-rated.' Rafa added, 'Okay, now it's going to rain pictures of people doing this with their tongues.' A fan named Thumbelina said the tongue trick was easy: 'BTW We all can do that!!!'

Others commented on the generous size of her lips.

And Depasco said: 'You are so obsessed with your lips - its quite silly at your age.' KimDavis928 wrote, 'Plastic surgery queen is promoting lips from her doctor.'

Rare: Kim Kardashian 's fans went wild over a new Instagram post she shared over the weekend. The star was seen folding her tongue as she stuck it out in a very rare silly pose as she was heavily made up with nude-colored makeup. Sanjaobrian said, 'Now it's not pouting anymore, now it's tongue sticking.' Yet another fan said that the look was 'a bit X-rated'

Big: Others commented on the generous size of her lips. And Depasco said: 'You are so obsessed with your lips - its quite silly at your age.' KimDavis928 wrote, 'Plastic surgery queen is promoting lips from her doctor'

But most comments were positive with many saying she looked 'gorgeous' and was 'a queen.'

Then there were followers who touched on how much they liked the SKIMS offerings and the different shapes and sizes of the models Kim selected.

Kim was promoting her Black Friday sale.

The looker draped her jaw-dropping hourglass figure in some skintight SKIMS to show her assets off to full advantage.

She sharpened her unmistakable features with heavy makeup, framing her complexion with her silky curtains of black hair.

She launched SKIMS, which has been mega successful and has helped make her a billionaire, four years ago.

One day earlier, Kim and her daughter North West rang in Thanksgiving on TikTok by lip-syncing to an unforgettable Kanye West song about the holiday.

Kim and Kanye, who married in 2014 and split up in 2021, are now amicably co-parenting their four children - North, 10, Saint, seven, Chicago, five, and Psalm, four.

The Kim look: She has been mixing it up to push her SKIMS line this year

North, who it recently emerged prefers living with her father, made sure to keep him in mind while celebrating Thanksgiving with her mother.

The mother-daughter double-act appeared on their joint TikTok page and mimed to Kanye's 2013 song Bound 2 - whose music video famously starred a topless Kim.

'And hey, we made it - Thanksgivin',' Kanye raps in the decade-old musical number. 'So hey, maybe we can make it to Christmas.'

Kim and North were enthusiastically active on their TikTok page that day, posting another lip-sync video that featured not one but two songs.

The post began with a clip of them in casual attire, Kim showing off her taut midriff in flesh-flashing workout gear that served up a generous helping of cleavage.

While dressed down, Kim and North pranced around to Mariah Carey's classic recording of All I Want For Christmas Is You.

Smart thinking: The TV diva has also partnered with the crystal company Swarovski

In a flash, however, the image changed to Kim and North in far dressier attire, with Kim in particular encased in a formal white gown and chunkily ornate jewelry.

At once they started lip-syncing and dancing to yet another pop classic - Soulja Boy's enduring hit single Crank That (Soulja Boy).

The posts come weeks after Kim sensationally revealed Kanye lived not in an house, but in an apartment without a chef, a nanny or a security detail.

Meanwhile, Kim remains lavishly ensconced in the $60 million Calabasas mansion that she and Kanye once shared as their marital home.

However, on a recent episode of the Hulu series The Kardashians, Kim let slip that North in fact prefers staying with her scandal-struck father.

Remember when: One day earlier, Kim and her daughter North West rang in Thanksgiving on TikTok by lip-syncing to an unforgettable Kanye West song about the holiday

'North, she'll go to her dad's, she'll be like: "Dad is the best. He has it all figured out. He doesn't have a nanny. He doesn't have a chef. He doesn't have security. He lives in an apartment,"' Kim remarked on her reality show.

The mother of four continued: 'And she'll start crying, "'Why don't you have an apartment? I can't believe we don't have an apartment."'

Kanye was apparently so overcome by North's revelation when he saw it on the Hulu show that he 'broke down,' a source told DailyMail.com.

He realized how much he 'needed to spend time with North' and how much she 'needs him' - so he left his new wife Bianca Censori behind and whisked his eldest daughter off on a trip to Dubai and Riyadh.

During his sojourn in Saudi Arabia, Kanye also spent time working on his comeback album - one year after his career imploded amid his string of anti-Semitic outbursts.
When Foyles War star Honeysuckle Weeks split up with her husband, the aristocratic hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth Darling, she posted a picture online of a sign bearing their initials L&H with pink hearts burning on a bonfire and wrote: 'Bye bye marriage.'

Now, the actress, 44, is in mourning.

Lornes family has announced that he died 'unexpectedly' earlier this month at the age of 60. They describe him as 'legendary'.

At the time a dealer in Tibetan antiques, he married Weeks in an impromptu Buddhist wedding ceremony in 2005 while on holiday in the Himalayas.

They had a more traditional wedding in Barlavington, West Sussex, in 2007 and their son, Wade, was born four years later.

Grief: Foyles War star Honeysuckle Weeks, 44, is in mourning after her aristocratic hypnotherapist ex-husband Lorne Stormonth Darling died earlier this month (Honeysuckle and Lorne pictured in 2013)

On screen: Honeysuckle is best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series Foyle's War, which she starred in from 20022015

Statement: When the couple split in 2019, Honeysuckle posted a picture online of a sign bearing their initials L&H with pink hearts burning on a bonfire and wrote: 'Bye bye marriage'

By 2015, however, their London neighbours complained about their flaming rows  which saw them screaming in the street  were reminiscent of an Eastenders special. The pair finally split up in 2019.

His funeral will be held next week.

It comes after Honeysuckle claimed Billie Piper's ex-husband Laurence Fox was 'wooing other women' during their marriage.

Actress Billie, 41, was reportedly left 'humiliated and betrayed' when she discovered Laurence's disloyalty after Honeysuckle revealed Laurence had 'asked her out' multiple times while the former couple were still together.

Honeysuckle made the revelation to The Telegraph in an interview last month, leaving Billie 'enraged.'

A source told The Sun: 'Billie was obviously stunned to read the interview - and discover her husband, with whom she was very much together at the time, was wooing other women.

'She feels humiliated and betrayed. God knows who else he tried to date when they were together.'

They added: 'Safe to say, she is extremely happy she and Laurence arent together today.'

Happier times: At the time a dealer in Tibetan antiques, Lorne married Weeks in an impromptu Buddhist wedding ceremony in 2005 while on holiday in the Himalayas (pictured)

Claims: It comes after Honeysuckle claimed Billie Piper's ex-husband Laurence Fox was 'wooing other women' during their marriage (Billie and Laurence pictured in 2014)

Speaking to The Telegraph Honeysuckle revealed: 'Laurence asked me out three times. On each occasion he stood me up.

'Although the real question is why did I keep agreeing? Mind you he was still married to Billie at the time.' MailOnline contacted representatives for Billie Piper and Laurence Fox for comment.

Billie and Laurence split after eight years of marriage in 2016, at the time they insisted there were 'no third parties involved' in their separation. The former couple shared two sons Winston, 14, and Eugene, 11.

A post on his official Facebook account made at the time read: 'Laurence Fox and Billie Piper have separated. No third parties are involved. For the sake of our family we request and appeal for space and privacy at this time'.
Keke Palmer looked like a knockout in her new music video for the song Serious which debuted on Monday morning.

The clip seemed to touch on her recent ugly split from baby daddy Darius Jackson where she obtained a restraining order against him. Together they have a newborn son named Leo.

The Serious video shows her being left for dead on a remote mountain overlooking a big city, but she wakes up to belt out the tune.

Later, the 30-year-old is seen singing to a handsome man with no shirt on as she lets him know she is not happy that he wronged her.

The entire song is about how he ruined their relationship and now she is left wondering if he ever loved her in the first place.

'What do you do when youre left for dead? Serious video out now!' wrote the crooner in her Instagram caption.

New music video: Keke Palmer looked like a knockout in her new music video for the song Serious which debuted on Monday morning

Drama: The theme of the music video is about being in love with then let down by a man

Left for dead: A man in a suit and tie takes her out of the trunk of a vintage Mustang and dumps her on the ground at the start of the clip

In the clip a man in a dark suit parks his blue Mustang then opens the trunk to carry Keke out.

He lays her down on a blue moving drop cloth before saying into his cell phone, 'Mission accomplished' and driving off.

Keke, in all black, opens her eyes and looks around in shock and terror at the twinkling cityscape below her after being left for dead.

She then belts out, 'You never read the signs, maybe you should analyze because you can't see what's in front of you' before she croons about being a wronged woman.

A man is seen in the shower and then in bed with her as they appear to be intimate. She has on black lingerie and he has on nothing but black underwear.

Then she is seen drugging him and dragging him into a room. He is still shirtless as he is seen chained to a round table.

'Put your pride aside, what's really going on inside your mind to think you didn't cross the line,' she sings.

Keke then says that he 'made his bed' and now he lays alone.

At first all seems good between Keke and her shirt-free mystery man as they roll around in bed

Then she is seen alone on the black satin sheets as she models lingerie

Another look: She is also seen in a gold raincoat which she opens to expose black lingerie

She added that he said he loved her but she doesn't know now if he does.

Palmer is then seen in the video looking at the man who now has electronic pads attached to his temples. It appears as if she is trying to read his mind.

The siren is also seen with a gold coat over black strappy lingerie as she smolders with deep red lipstick on.

Keke recently accused Darius of being physically abusive towards her.

According to legal documents obtained by People, he must stay at least 100 yards away from both Keke and their child Leo for the time being.

When asked by Interview magazine earlier this month what she thought of 'baby daddies,' she did not mention the restraining order.

But she seemed to hint to her bad split.

Next she puts a cloth over the man's nose and mouth which makes him pass out

She wears white stiletto heels with anklets as she drags him on the floor

He looks passed put as she moves him from the bathroom to another room

Palmer now has on a black-and-white blazer as she sits in a white armchair

The shirt-free man in chained to a table as she interrogates him

She also seems to try to read his mind as there are electric circuits on his temples

She described becoming pregnant in a non-traditional method as a 'fabulous' alternative to the traditional method of getting pregnant.

She said: 'S***, we all got one. Unless you went the other route, which we all know is fabulous, thanks to technology.'

And she said that she feels 'stronger' since she became a mother.

The actress has eight-month-old Leo with Jackson and admitted that everything about herself has 'changed' since he arrived.

And she has learned to love herself 'a lot more' in the process.

She told Interview magazine: '[Motherhood is] amazing, exhausting. It changes everything about you. It's made me a lot stronger and really love myself a lot more, because you want to be the very best you can for this person that deserves the best of you.'

With her ex: Keke and Darius attend the Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic Los Angeles at Will Rogers State Historic Park in 2021 in Pacific Palisades, California

Meanwhile, the Nope actress shot to fame as a teenager when she was given the title role of True Jackson, VP on Nickelodeon.

But she went on to insist that childhood stardom is something that should 'never' be actively sought out because it can 'stunt' growth as she explained why she was recently 'relieved' to have reached her 30th birthday.

She said: '[It's] sooky-ooky, and quite a lot to deal with. Child stardom is something that you should never seek, but if it happens, it happens. It can honestly kind of stunt you if you're not too careful.

'[When I turned 30,] I felt relieved, first of all, because I'm still alive. I've learned from the 20s, which were truly overrated. Now I'm ready to enjoy the 30s and really dip into my bag and let all these b****** know!'
Stephen Colbert has cancelled all The Late Show episodes this week as he has revealed he has suffered a ruptured appendix.

The 59-year-old chat show host - who welcomed previous host David Letterman to the program last week - took to social media to make the announcement.

The Late Show Instagram account posted which began: 'A message from Stephen: Sorry to say that I have to cancel our shows this week.'

He then added his signature humor to the serious post as he continued: 'I'm sure you're thinking, "Turkey overdose, Steve? Gravy boat capsize?"

'Actually, I'm recovering from surgery for a ruptured appendix.'

Ouch: Stephen Colbert has cancelled all The Late Show episodes this week as he has revealed he has suffered a ruptured appendix; he is pictured last month

'A message from Stephen': The 59-year-old chat show host - who welcomed previous host David Letterman to the program last week - took to social media to make the announcement

He went on to acknowledge his physicians and his family including wife of 30 years Evelyn McGee-Colbert.

Colbert continued: 'I'm grateful to my doctors for their care and to Evie and the kids for putting up with me.

'Going forward, all emails to my appendix will be handled by my pancreas.'

Colbert has been hosting the signature late night CBS chat show since September 2015 where he took over for host of nearly 20 years David Letterman.

Just last week the 76-year-old television personality made his triumphant return to the program where he was treated like a king.

Letterman stepped onto the stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City to a flurry of applause from the audience.

During their chat, the veteran host marveled at just how much the studio had changed since he was sitting behind the desk.

Letterman also put to bed rumors that there was tension between himself and Colbert when he congratulated him and his team right off the bat.

Talented: Colbert has been hosting the signature late night CBS chat show since September 2015

Grand return: David Letterman, 76, dropped by his old talk show The Late Show for a chat with Colbert last week

Good relations: Letterman put to bed rumors that there was tension between himself and Colbert when he congratulated him and his team right off the bat

'Congratulations on the great success you and your staff have had,' he told a clearly moved Colbert graciously after taking a seat.

Letterman joked about how the studio had turned into a 'mall' while he was gone, and he compared it to Beverly Hills' swanky Rodeo Drive.

He also joked that the dressing room was now nicer than the fanciest hotel he had ever stayed in, and he was shocked that it even had a menu for him to order snacks ahead of the taping.

After Colbert mentioned that he had only hosted about one-fourth of Letterman's record, he asked the bushy bearded comic what he 'missed' most.

'I miss everything,' Letterman said. 'Mostly its fun.'

'Very few things in life provide one the opportunity,' he continued. 'And I can't speak for you or to you on this topic, but for me, if you muck one up, 24 hours later you get to try again, And that's a pretty good device.

'Then when you do something you're really proud of, you think, "My God, let's do that again!"' he added.

Colbert went on to ask Letterman if he ever had other late night hosts that he could talk to when he needed advice.

What a difference: Letterman joked about how the studio had turned into a 'mall' while he was gone, and he compared it to Beverly Hills' swanky Rodeo Drive; seen back in 2010

Old times: After Colbert mentioned that he had only hosted about one-fourth of Letterman's record, he asked the bushy bearded comic what he 'missed' most

Glory Days: 'I miss everything,' Letterman said. 'Mostly its fun'

He cited his for Daily Show colleague Jon Stewart as someone he could lean on.

Letterman made it clear that Johnny Carson didn't have the same advisory role for him.

'Johnny is/was the Mount Olympus. You didn't just call Johnny and say, "Hey Johnny. How's it going? What do you think, should I do this? What about the color socks? Are they gonna be all right, Johnny?"' he explained.

'So no, I was pretty much alone,' he added to sad sighs from the audience. 'I was orphaned in the talk show world.'

Then he jokingly responded to the audience: 'I don't appreciate the sarcasm.'

Letterman capped off his good relationship by Colbert by recreting a photo they took nearly a decade earlier.

The Colbert Report host brought out a framed selfie that he had snapped with the former Late Show host in 2014, when he was visiting as a guest while Letterman was still host, a year before he would take over the reins.

'This is great because I was going to ask you if I could have my picture taken at the desk,' Letterman responded. 'Do you mind?'

On his own: Letterman told Colbert that he couldn't turn to Johnny Carson for advice in the way he does with Jon Stewart. 'I was orphaned in the talk show world,' he said

Colbert replied: 'Let's do it.'

But once they were ready, they switched places so that Letterman was back behind the desk while Colbert took a seat on the left.

Earlier in the interview, Colbert shared with the audience that his predecessor confessed he had always wanted to try sitting where the desk currently was located, as he had placed it on the other side of the studio during his tenure.

When Colbert first offered him a chance to try out the seat, he joked that he wasn't interested anymore, but he still got a chance to be behind the desk again for the selfie retake.
Ronnie Wood was all smiles as he arrived with his wife Sally to the Tusk Conservation Awards held at the Savoy Hotel in London on Monday evening.

The Rolling Stones guitarist, 76, and his wife couldn't contain their smiles as they chatted to Prince William at the event.

The Prince of Wales, who seemed in high spirits while speaking to Ronnie, is the founder and CEO of the Tusk Trust.

Ronnie dressed smart for the evening in a black blazer which he teamed with matching trousers and a crisp white shirt.

Ronnie wrapped up warm in a large dark scarf and completed his evening attire with a pair of stylish boots.

Date night: Ronnie Wood was all smiles as he arrived with his wife Sally to the Tusk Conservation Awards held at the Savoy Hotel in London on Monday evening

Royalty: The Rolling Stones guitarist, 76, and his wife couldn't contain their smiles as they chatted to Prince William at the event

Meanwhile his wife Sally, 46, looked stunning in a red, pink and green maxi dress which boasted a ruffled skirt.

She elevated her frame in a pair of towering gold heels and toted her belonging around in a coordinated dazzling clutch.

Accessorising her evening look, Sally layered two long gold pendant necklaces.

She applied a radiant palette of makeup including a swipe of bold red lipstick and styled her dark tresses in loose waves.

The couple, who have been married since 2012, were all smiles as they posed for photos outside the hotel ahead of the awards.

Ronnie and Sally share two children, twins Gracie Jane and Alice Rose, six, and Ronnie has a further four children from his previous relationships.

Ronnie's outing comes after The Rolling Stones became the first band in Britain to gross a billion dollars.

The iconic rockers struck gold through electrifying live performances and shifted over $250 million in album sales.

And In 2021, fans splurged $130.9million on just 14 gigs during the band's No Filter tour in the U.S.

Amazing: The Prince of Wales, who seemed in high spirits while speaking to Ronnie, is the founder and CEO of the Tusk Trust

All smiles: Ronnie dressed smart for the evening in a black blazer which he teamed with matching trousers and a crisp white shirt

Ronnie wrapped up warm in a large dark scarf and completed his evening attire with a pair of stylish boots

Stunning: Meanwhile his wife Sally, 46, looked stunning in a red, pink and green maxi dress which boasted a ruffled skirt

Glam: She elevated her frame in a pair of towering gold heels and toted her belonging around in a coordinated dazzling clutch

Cliff Dane, the money whiz who ranked the rockers for The Sunday Times Rich List, applauded the Stones, alongside Led Zeppelin, for kickstarting mega stadium tours.

Even though the remaining members made up of Ronnie Wood, 76, Mick Jagger, 80, and Keith Richards, 79, now play fewer shows, their devoted fans happily part with top dollar for tickets as they're generally older with more disposable income.

The person behind the Stones' financial affairs today is Joyce Smyth, who rejigged the U.S. leg of the Stones tour after Mick's heart surgery four years ago.

She's been their secret financial weapon and was introduced to the rock stars by Prince Rupert.

Rupert is a private banker the band hired who later became known as 'Rupie the Groupie'.

And despite Mick dropping out of his finance and accounting degree at the London School of Economics, he has consistently displayed a sharp entrepreneurial instinct.

He recently opened up saying: 'I dont actually really like business, I just have to do it. Because if you dont do it, you get f***ed.'

Not ones to shy away from what needs to be done, the band have happily cashed in on partnerships with corporate giants like Budweiser, LVMH, Chase Manhattan, and more.

Microsoft even reportedly dished out millions to use 'Start Me Up' in a Windows 95 commercial.

And Mercedes shelled out $1.5 million to use 'Sympathy for the Devil' in a 2013 Super Bowl ad.

Kerching! Ronnie's outing comes after The Rolling Stones became the first band in Britain to gross a billion dollars

Iconic: The Rolling Stones original line-up (pictured top - Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Charlie Watts [deceased]. Bottom - Brian Jones [deceased] and Bill Wyman)

On Saturday, FC Barcelona debuted their limited edition match shirt which featured the infamous tongue and lips logo of the iconic band and retails at an eye watering $400.

It comes after the three remaining members released their first original album on October 20 after 18 years.

Hackney Diamonds, the bands twenty-fourth studio album, went straight in at number one - the 11th time the band have achieved this feat.

It is already the fifth fastest-selling album of the year and is currently the third most streamed album on Apple Music.

Six tracks from the new record  Angry, Sweet Sounds of Heaven, Get Close, Bite My Head Off, Depending on You and Mess it Up  made this weeks top 100 singles midweek chart.
Robert Irwin has shared some loved-up images from a date with his girlfriend Rorie Buckey.

Taking to Instagram on Monday, the Wildlife Warrior gave his fans a glimpse into the duo's love life, with one image showing the duo cuddling up beneath a cherry blossom tree.

Another image showed Robert, 19, enjoying cocktails with his lady love, 18.

He captioned the collection of photos, 'Recently' along with sun, plane and heart emojis.

The post comes after Robert broke his silence on engagement rumours swirling the couple.

Robert Irwin has shared some loved-up images from a date with his girlfriend Rorie Buckey

On Friday's Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie, Robert spoke candidly about his relationship after host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli brought up the topic.

'I feel like life is amazing right now and [I'm] very, very happy,' said Irwin.

Following the discussion about his sister Bindi, Wippa called the relationship 'great news' then asked how serious the young zookeeper was about Buckey on a scale of 1 to 10: 'is it a 10?'

Robert then gave a heartwarming answer: 'Love is not a numbers game. You just feel it.'

The post comes after Robert broke his silence on engagement rumours swirling the couple

On Friday's Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie , Robert spoke candidly about his relationship after host Michael 'Wippa' Wipfli brought up the topic



According to New Idea magazine, Irwin could propose when his girlfriend 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.'

'I feel like life is amazing right now and [I'm] very, very happy,' said Irwin

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

The source went on to say Robert and Rorie are taking their relationship 'very serious' and have been planning a future together.

'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.

'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

The pair are currently in a long-distance relationship, with Robert based at Australia Zoo in Queensland while Rorie is in Perth.

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.
Ekin-Su Culculoglu looked incredible in a strapless white minidress as she cosied up to dapper on-off boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti at the Beauty Awards on Monday.

The Love Island stars dressed to impress for the star studded evening held at City Central at the HAC in London.

Ekin-Su looked nothing short of sensational as she put on a busty display in the dazzling floral skater dress.

She elevated her frame in a pair of silver metallic heels and toted her belongings around in a coordinated clutch.

The actress simply accessorised with a gold pendant necklace and a dazzling silver bracelet.

Loved-up: Ekin-Su Culculoglu looked incredible in a strapless white minidress as she cosied up to dapper on/off boyfriend Davide Sanclimenti at the Beauty Awards on Monday

Stunning: Ekin-Su looked nothing short of sensational as she put on a busty display in the dazzling floral skater dress

Ekin-Su styled her long brunette tresses in a neat half up do and applied a flawless palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty.

Meanwhile Davide cut a very smart figure in a black dinner jacket which he teamed with a crisp white shirt and a satin bow tie.

It comes after Ekin-Su insisted that she and Davide just 'ignore the hate'.

The Love Islander claimed in an interview that she and her on/off boyfriend 'live normal lives' after rekindling their romance.

Ekin-Su told The Mirror: 'We just ignore and we just live our lives privately and we focus on each other, like a normal couple and we're really happy.

'We just ignore the hate, ignore the pressure and live a normal life. That's what makes us happy.'

The couple recently gave their relationship another go, after announcing very publicly in June that they had split after 11 months together.

Ekin-Su and Davide were crowned the winners of Love Island in 2022 after a turbulent romance.

Last month, Davide spoke out about the reason why he had split from Ekin-Su Culculoglu, revealing their romance broke down after they failed to see eye-to-eye on various issues and that a temporary separation was 'needed'.

Glamorous: She elevated her frame in a pair of silver metallic heels and toted her belongings around in a coordinated clutch

Stylish: The actress simply accessorised with a gold pendant necklace and a dazzling silver bracelet and styled her brunette locks in a neat half up do

Turning heads: Meanwhile Davide cut a very smart figure in a black dinner jacket which he teamed with a crisp white shirt and a satin bow tie

'It's a lovely feeling being with Ekin, we probably broke up more publicly but never privately because we have always been in touch and the love between me and Ekin has always been there', he told The Sun.

'Breaking up may happen to people but it never actually happened to us, we never properly privately broke up, it was more to do with the public pressure and we were having some tough months.'

The couple sent tongues wagging when, not long after their break-up, they were spotted leaving the ITV summer party together in July.

The pair were spotted getting into the same cab, however, they decided to keep their rekindled romance under wraps during the time.

Davide explained why the couple wanted to keep their relationship on the down-low and claimed there were some things they needed to work on before going public again.

He added: 'Of course there were some things that both of us wanted to work on. Nor me nor Ekin were perfect in the relationship and probably needed to have a bit more communication and now I don't regret nothing that happened because I feel stronger and I feel we understand each other.'

Davide said he feels since reuniting they have become stronger and that everything 'happens for a reason'.

At the time of their split Davide took to Instagram to announce their break-up, writing: 'Ekin-Su and I are no longer together. I am grateful for the memories and opportunities we shared together and I wish her nothing but the best.

'I would like for everybody to respect this decision during this difficult time. I will continue to support Ekin in anyway possible.'

Sources also claimed the pair had jetted off on a make-or-break trip to Amsterdam, but struggled to get their relationship back on track.

Not bothered! The appearance comes after Ekin-Su insisted that she and Davide just 'ignore the hate' and 'live normal lives' after rekindling their romance

Off/on: The couple recently gave their relationship another go, after announcing very publicly in June that they had split after 11 months together

A source told The Sun: 'They haven't been getting along for quite some time and they really tried to make it work, but despite their best efforts, they've decided to call it quits.'

Davide also hinted that his relationship with Ekin-Su was on the rocks, when he posted a shirtless snap hinting that he could be heading back to the Love Island villa as he captioned his post: 'Guess who's coming back.'

Earlier this year Davide admitted that he and Ekin-Su faced 'struggles' with their relationship.

In April, Ekin-Su was said to be left 'fuming and upset' after finding messages and pictures from two models on Davide's phone.

The Italian businessman spoke candidly about their relationship in an interview with The Sun, in which he reflected on the realities of their life in the spotlight.

He said: 'Me and Ekin-Su had our struggles due to our public positions and we still have them sometimes.

'If there's something that I would change or would have done differently [with Ekin-Su in the villa] maybe I would have taken things a bit more slowly.'

Davide went on to say that despite this the couple are still very much in the throes of romance, particularly because they have the 'same background.'

'The best thing about dating Ekin-Su is that we understand each other - not just because we are literally the same person,' He went on. 'She is my copy-paste.'
by Jerry Cayford

A friend of mine covers his Facebook tracks. He follows groups from across the political spectrum so that no one can pigeonhole him. He has friends and former colleagues who, he figures, will be among the armed groups going door to door purging enemies, if our society breaks into civil anarchy. He hides his tracks so no one will know he is the enemy.

That trick might work for the humans, but artificial intelligences (AI) will laugh at such puny human deceptions (if artificial intelligence can laugh). When AI knows every click you make, every page you visit, when you scroll fast or slow or pause, everything you buy, everything you read, everyone you call, and data and patterns on millions like you, well, it will certainly know whom you are likely to vote for, the probability that you will vote at all, and even the degree of certainty of its predictions.

All of that means that AI will soon be every gerrymanderers dream.

AI will know not just the party registrations in a precinct but how every individual in a proposed district will (probably) vote. This will allow a level of precision gerrymandering never seen before. There is only one glitch, one defect: with people living all jumbled up together, any map, no matter how complex and salamander-looking, will include some unwanted voters and miss some wanted ones. To get the most lopsided election result possible from a given group of votersthe maximally efficient, maximally unfair outcomethe gerrymanderer has to escape the inconvenience of peoples housing choices. And since relocating voters is not feasible, the solution is to free districts of the tyranny of voter location. The truly perfect gerrymander that AI is capable of producing would need to be a list, instead of a map: a list of exactly which voters the gerrymanderer wants in each district. But that isnt possible. Is it?

Our idea of a district is a place, a community, a geographical area where voters live in proximity to one another. The technical properties are compactness and contiguity: a district is a physically contiguous patch of land, meaning it is all one patch, and all of it compactly situated pretty close together. This idea of districts is only a constraint on gerrymandering, though, if it is codified in the lawwhich both compactness and contiguity are in most (but far from all) statesand if we enforce the law.

A gerrymandered district is one that has escaped the constraint of compactness. The term derives from an infamous 1812 redistricting: Elbridge Gerry, the governor who signed the bill creating the misshapen Massachusetts district, was a Founding Father: signer of the Declaration of Independence, reluctant framer of the Constitution, congressman, diplomat, and the fifth vice-president (Smithsonian Magazine). The outraged 1812 opposition coined the term: It looked like a salamander, another dinner guest noted. No, a Gerry-mander, offered poet Richard Alsop.

An AI-created, perfect gerrymander would have to go one better and escape both compactness and contiguity. It might not be visualizable at all. If it looked like anything, it would be an abstract, pointillist painting, with a dot for every voter, color-coded to the voters assigned district. This would be, clearly, a mockery of our concept of a district. But that doesnt mean it couldnt happen, so lets ask how it might.

You can infer from the prevalence of gerrymandering today that our expectation of compactness is routinely violated. As a primer on redistricting puts it, In practice, compactness tends to be in the eye of the beholder. Having gotten this far, then, the remaining barrier to a perfect gerrymanderthe gerrymander that AI will soon be able to give usis the requirement of contiguity. The same primer says, In practice, the vast majority of congressional districts  will be drawn to be contiguous. The reason contiguity is still respected (so far), while compactness is not, is surely partly that compactness is on a sliding scale, but contiguity is basically yes or no. Still, the primer tells us Few redistricting concepts are absolute, and contiguity is no exception (emphasis mine), so we should ask how a gerrymanderer could get around it.

Following their success ignoring compactness, gerrymanderers might just brazenly brush aside contiguity, too. Dick Cheneys lawyer, David Addington, described this tried-and-true political strategy in immortal words: Were going to push and push until some larger force makes us stop. So, what larger force might stop the ultimate gerrymander? Since contiguity is legally required in many places (and taken for granted everywhere), our first thought would be that the courts are that force.

The Congressional Research Service publishes useful summaries of redistricting issues and laws. (Congressional Redistricting Criteria and Considerations is a good start, with links to more specifically legal summaries.) The ominous bottom line, though, is that the Supreme Court, after waffling for some decades, decided in 2019 in Rucho v. Common Cause that courts should stay out of gerrymander fights. As the high court succinctly put it, Held: Partisan gerrymandering claims present political questions beyond the reach of the federal courts. So, the courts have chosen not to be that larger force, but rather fobbed off on legislatures the defense of our democracy from the evil of gerrymanders.

Legislators are, of course, the main beneficiaries of gerrymandering, so its a bit discouraging to hear they are also supposed to be our main force stopping it. Still, politicians dont like incurring the publics anger, and our whole concept of legislative districts is that they are places, maps, contiguous pieces of territory. Turning them into lists would so violate the publics expectations that surely any legislator would be loath to even try it. And yet legislators have become quite practiced lately at violating public norms. For example, redistricting is only supposed to happen every ten years, after the census, but recall the Democratic Texas legislators famous 2003 flight to Oklahoma to deny the Republicans a quorum for a vote to redistrict, just one of many examples of legislators defying the publics expectations of whats right and proper in order to redraw district lines mid-cycle. A polarized public did not unite against them. Public sensibilities, then, also do not seem to be that larger force that will stop the AI-driven super-gerrymander.

Since contiguity is more open and shut than compactness, we will no doubt try the courts again; they might throw their hands up at adjudicating degrees of compactness but still insist that contiguity is the law. So, it is worth considering what arguments the gerrymanderer might make. Even if we hadnt all seen some shockingly political judgements in real court cases recently (I dont dare give examples, but Ill give you this), we have all watched enough courtroom dramas to have a sense of the weaselly, hair-splitting, word-twisting arguments that sometimes convince judges. So, lets imagine we are shyster lawyers trying to give a sympathetic judge just enough wiggle room to get away with rejecting contiguity and ruling for our gerrymandering clients. What do we have to work with?

As the redistricting primer describes it, A district is contiguous if you can travel from any point in the district to any other point in the district without crossing the districts boundary. Obviously we cant do that, if we want to be able to put voters from any old place into a district. But if we could get rid of the idea that a district has a boundary at all, maybe we could get away with it. A list, after all, doesnt have a boundary; we can get from any point on a list to any other without leaving the list. So, does a district have to be a geographical space?

We go to Wikipedia (our preferred source for legal wisdom): An electoral district  is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity) created to provide its population with representation in the larger states legislative body. Hmmm a subdivision of a state or polity seems somewhat spatial, but not too rigidly. A state is a centralized political organization that imposes and enforces rules over a population within a territory. Definitions of a state are disputed. That sounds promising: a state is the political organization within a territory, but not the territory itself! Even less physical. And disputed! Lets check our backup, polity, for confirmation. A polity is a term for an identifiable political entity, defined as a group of people with a collective identity, who are organized by some form of institutionalized social relations. Bingo! A polity is people, not land at all. Were ready.

Your Honor, we humbly submit that our clients proposed electoral districts, composed of lists of voters assigned to each district by their AI program, fully comply with all legal requirements. The requirement of contiguity is inapposite to districts such as these, which perform their political functions as districts without being a physical location. Being inapposite, the requirement should be considered presumptively fulfilled. We ask that you find in favor of our client.

If this scenario seems far-fetched, remember that the question is not whether the perfect, big-data-AI-generated, maximally unfair gerrymander fits our conventional ideas of redistricting; the question is what larger force will stop it. The courts have clearly expressed their wish to leave it to the political branches; the politicians have clearly expressedthrough their bipartisan embrace of itthe belief that they must gerrymander or die; and the public is too divided and too uncertain to force a different outcome. Things look bleak.

But there is a fourth possible force I have not yet considered: that very AI so ominously poised to do us irreparable harm. Can we fight fire with fire and turn the talents of computers to good and not evil? If AI is allowed to design districts unconstrained by either compactness or contiguity, we can expect it to do the job very, very well, locking in lop-sided, one-party rule beyond the reach of democracy to counteract. But computers intent on preserving the legal constraints can do that equally well. What if we turn computers to constructing districts that truly are compact and contiguous?

Compactness may be in the eye of the human beholder, but the blind mathematical eye can see it clearly. Compactness is an easily definable mathematical property. Once defined, it is as open and shut as contiguity; this district is compact, yes or no. (There are several different ways to define it, but they are highly correlated with one another.) MGGG Redistricting Lab (formerly the Metric Geometry and Gerrymandering Group) has been studying for years how best to use mathematical modeling to create fair political districts. The time has comeand the technology is readyto take redistricting out of human hands. Not to undermine democracy, as AI is capable of doingand will do, if the current gerrymandering free-for-all continuesbut to increase competition, weaken incumbency, and restore democracy.

Some of the issues I raise are discussed in greater detail by Douglas Rudeen in The Balk Stops Here: Standards for the Justiciability of Gerrymandering in the Coming Age of Artificial Intelligence, which concludes that the only reliable way to forestall gerrymandering in the age of AI is to employ a form of fully-automatic redistricting. It may seem paradoxical that abandoning human discretion to machines can increase human freedom. But in the end, the computers are going to be doing our redistricting either way. Our choice will be between computer gerrymandering that pre-determines electoral outcomes, depriving us of democratic control of our lives, or computer redistricting that creates compact, contiguous, fair, and competitive districts. If we choose the latter, we can without fear join Jeopardy! champion and fellow human being Ken Jennings in his gracious and cheerful concession after being trounced by IBMs Watson: I for one welcome our new computer overlords.

In all seriousness, though, the choice is ours. The courts have chosen not to prevent gerrymandering. The politicians have chosen not to stop doing it. AI is not capable of choice (so far, anyway). That leaves the largest of those larger forces, us, the public. We loathe gerrymandering, but we dither. We can either have AI serve democracy, or let would-be overlords use AI to create super-gerrymanders. They will certainly do so, unless we choose to make them stop.
Cat Deeley wowed in a very plunging gown at The Beauty Awards in London on Monday evening.

The This Morning presenter, 47, looked incredible as she attended the star-studded evening held at City Central at the HAC in London.

She looked the picture of ultimate glam and elegance in the long gown which hugged her slim figure and was embellished with subtle glittering sequins.

The black velvet material boasted a very plunging neckline, which added to the sophisticated look.

Cat looked ever the blonde bombshell with gorgeously styled locks, adding statement black eyeliner for her evening out.

Gorgeous: Cat Deeley wowed in a very plunging gown at The Beauty Awards in London on Monday evening

Having a good time: The This Morning presenter, 47, looked incredible as she attended the star-studded evening held at City Central at the HAC in London

The Beauty Awards 2023 hosted a range of celebrity guests and were judged by Michelle Visage.

Now in its 22nd year, The Beauty Awards recognises products that bring something 'unique' to the market.

Cat has become a favourite to replace Holly Willoughby in her lead presenting role on ITV's This Morning.

The ITV staple has hit the headlines over the last few months with Phillip Schofield's affair scandal followed by Holly abruptly quitting after an alleged plot to kidnap and murder her was exposed.

Now according to The Sun, Cat is considered by bosses the 'captain who can steady the ship' after impressing viewers with her guest stint.

A source told the publication: 'She takes live TV in her stride and is really witty and personable with guests.

She's comfortable interviewing both pop stars and politicians.

Before adding: 'Cat would be a safe captain to steady the ship.'

Stunning: She looked the picture of ultimate glam and elegance in the long gown which hugged her slim figure and was embellished with subtle glittering sequins

Beautiful: The black velvet material boasted a very plunging neckline, which added to the sophisticated look

Glowing: Cat looked ever the blonde bombshell with gorgeously styled locks, adding statement black eyeliner for her evening out

MailOnline have contacted ITV for comment previously.

Last week viewers called for Cat and Rylan Clark to be the permanent hosts of the show.

The TV personality and actress, who is replacing Josie Gibson while she jets of to Australia to take part in I'm A Celeb, made her debut alongside Rylan, 35.

And after only appearing on two episodes viewers have called for new presenting duo Cat and Rylan to be the permanent hosts of This Morning, while Cat is the bookies favourite to stay with 6-4 odds.

Taking to Twitter, now X, one person said: 'Cat and Rylan are f****** LEGENDS! Peeing myself watching Spin to Win! PLEASE keep them.'

Fellow presenter Stephen Mulhern was in agreement, as he said: 'By the way Cat, beautiful to see you on the sofa'

It comes after Holly Willoughby left the show last month 'for the sake of her family' after discovering she was the target of a foiled kidnap and murder plot and has since not been replaced permanently.

It came five months after Philip Schofield's departure after his affair with a young male showrunner was made public, followed by claims of an increasingly strained relationship with his co-host.

Making it permanent? Cat is reportedly set to replace Holly Willoughby as This Morning's permanent co-host in a bid to save the show (Cat pictured with co-host Craig Doyle)

Safe hands: Cat is considered the 'captain who can steady the ship' after impressing viewers with her guest stint (Pictured with Rylan Clark)

Cat, who was born in West Bromwich in 1976, began her career as a model in her teenage years before hosting MTV chart show Hitlist UK with Edith Bowman and then joining SM:TV from 1998.

She spent four years hosting the show alongside Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly, and it featured a fan-favourite comedy segment called Chums that parodied Friends.

The programme also become known for showing the Pokemon cartoon series, the accompanying 'PokeRap', a phone competition called 'Wonkey Donkey' and the sketch segment 'Dec Says'.

But it was Chums that was perhaps the most famous part of the show, taking part on a set that mimicked Monica Geller's apartment in the US comedy.

Chums saw the trio joined by an array of celebrity guests, from Tom Jones to Carol Vorderman and Mariah Carey.

Fans were hooked on Dec and Cat's fictional will-they-won't-they romance during the sketch, and hoped each week the pair would finally kiss before being rudely interrupted.

Chums came to an end when Ant and Dec said goodbye to SM:TV, and concluded with Dec and Deeley finally kissing despite a disastrous wedding day.
Last week Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson signed a historic $200million 10-year radio deal which will see them expand into Melbourne.

And now an Adelaide radio boss has been forced to deny the pair will taking their top-rating breakfast to South Australia.

Sandilands and Henderson are already on Adelaide's Mix 102.3, with their Kyle and Jackie O Show 'Hour of Power' airing Monday-Friday from 6pm-7pm.

Meanwhile the current line-up on the Mix 102.3 Ali Clarke Breakfast Show, includes host Ali Clarke and Max Burford alongside Shane Lowe and Eddie Bannon.

A spokeswoman from Mix 102.3 says there are no plans to make changes at the station any time soon reports The Advertiser.

An Adelaide radio boss has denied that Kyle Sandilands and Jackie 'O' Henderson will be heading to South Australia after historic Melbourne move by the Sydney-based stars

In August, Mix 102.3 managed to top the radio ratings survey in Adelaide, with 376,000 weekly listeners tuning into the Ali Clarke breakfast show. Pictured: Ali Clarke (R) and Max Burford

The Kyle and Jackie O Show deal in Melbourne will mean that their work pals Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips - pictured - will be out of a job and their breakfast show will be finishing up in December

In August, Mix 102.3 managed to top the radio ratings survey in Adelaide, with 376,000 weekly listeners.

The Ali Clarke show scored 11.2 per cent audience, making the second most popular breakfast show in Adelaide.

Last week, Sandilands and Henderson made history when they signed a record-breaking $200million, 10-year deal live on-air - keeping them on the airwaves until 2034.

A spokesperson for ARN confirmed to Daily Mail Australia the deal for the Sydney duo will mean that their work pals Jase Hawkins and Lauren Phillips will be out of a job and their Melbourne breakfast show will be finishing up in December.

Lauren broke down in tears while announcing the news to her listeners on Wednesday, sobbing that she didn't want to 'say goodbye to Melbourne'.

Jase and Lauren's show was successful for KIIS FM, bringing in new listeners for the station and sitting third in the Melbourne market behind Fox FM's Fifi Fev & Nick and GOLD104.3's Christian O'Connell.

In a statement to celebrate the historic contract renewal, Sandilands said, 'Fans of the show will be stoked to hear that this 10-year deal is the longest radio deal in Australian history.

'Love us or loathe us, Jackie and I will be continuing with our politically incorrect nonsense for a long, long time.'

Pictured: Kyle Sandilands (L) and Jackie 'O' Henderson - their new deal means that the duo will dominate markets outside their Sydney-based audience and extend their reach into Melbourne for the first time

He added, 'We want to thank the listeners. Staff. All the clients. Even senior management, Ill give a nod to. They actually did something brilliant.'

This means the duo will dominate markets outside their Sydney-based audience and extend their reach into Melbourne for the first time.

It's been reported one unique clause in the contract gives Sandilands the ability to broadcast the show from 'anywhere on the earth'.

The shock jock has often worked on the KIIS FM show from Los Angeles and other places, so the new contract will give the flexibility to continue broadcasting from wherever he chooses.
Ryan Phillippe shared a very rare photo with his 12-year-old daughter Kailani Merizalde Phillippe Knapp whom he shares with his ex, actress Alexis Knapp, 34.

The 49-year-old actor was seen in the driver's seat of his car as Kailani - who goes by Kai - and her friends were side-by-side in the backseat.

In the caption the star said he had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with his tween child as they watched movies like Elf and enjoyed Boba drinks.

Kai's mother is Alexis Knapp, an actress best known for Pitch Perfect who broke up with Ryan before she welcomed their child.

Kai is Ryan's third child. Ryan also has two children - Ava, 24, and Deacon, 20 - with his ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, 47, whom he divorced in 2008. Reese also has son Tennessee, 11, with her talent agent ex-husband Jim Toth.

Dad: Ryan Phillippe shared a very rare photo with his 12-year-old daughter Kailani Merizalde Phillippe Knapp whom he shares with his ex, actress Alexis Knapp. She is seen back seat, center

In the caption the star said he had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend with his tween child as they watched movies like Elf and enjoyed Boba drinks

Here she is seen far right with her friends on a beach boardwalk

Ryan seemed thrilled taking the girls out.

'Had the BEST Thanksgiving wknd w these lil beauties,' wrote the star.

'Sawyer, Ever, Kai & Isla. Pizza was had, Elf was watched, Young Sheldon was binged along w teen romance anime).

'Boba was had, boardwalk shopping, cooking of pancakes was attempted, and we found some fake snow. + the eagles beat buffalo in OT and moved to 10-1, but I think that only mattered to me.'

Kai has joined Knapp at several red carpet events. The child could be seen at the premiere of Netflix's Green Eggs and Ham in 2019. And she was at the event for Minions: The Rise Of Gru in 2022.

In September Phillippe celebrated a new milestone in his sobriety journey.

The actor shared a selfie on Instagram, revealing this is the longest he's been sober since he was a teenager.

The I Know What You Did Last Summer star was donning aviator shades, a sleeveless white shirt with a Laval utility bag slung from his shoulder.

He also donned several bracelets with white earbuds with a toothpick in his mouth for the selfie.

'Officially the longest Ive gone since I was a teen without some kind of nicotine or marijuana in my system(among other things),' Phillippe began.

Mommy: Alexis shared images of the tween on social media often

Knapp and her child at the event for Minions: The Rise Of Gru at Milk Studios Los Angeles in 2022

The child see with her car during a cross country road trip

Sweet selfie: Knapp shared a photo of her with Kailani in 2016 when she was age five

'Feeling thankful for the freedom that comes with breaking addictions and dependency on substance,' he added.

'Sobriety, clarity, and spiritual connectedness feels real good,' he concluded, along with a prayer hands emoji.

He also shared the snap to his Instagram story, joking about his only two remaining 'addictions.'

'My only remaining addictions are toothpicks and self-improvement,' the actor joked on his Story post.

Ryan with the two kids he shares with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon: Ava and Deacon

Ava, left, and Deacon, right, seen this month

Phillippe and Witherspoon attend after party for Flags Of Our Fathers in 2006 in NYC

While it's unclear when exactly Phillippe went sober, he opened up about battling addiction and depression in a September 2017 issue of Women's Health.

'I think people fear being stigmatized or treated in a blanket fashion, which is sometimes the response to someone who says, "I struggle with depression,"' he said.

'But really, depression could manifest in a thousand different ways depending on who it is,' he added.

The actor admitted, 'I dont think theres any reason not to talk about it. We can help each other cope and give tools that we learn along the way.'

Thankful: 'Feeling thankful for the freedom that comes with breaking addictions and dependency on substance,' he added; seen in February

Remaining: 'My only remaining addictions are toothpicks and self-improvement,' the actor joked on his Story post

He added, 'I talk to myself quite often. Im constantly talking things through in my head. I took a trip to Thailand, and I had such an amazing experience.'

'Since then, Ive been reading a ton of Eastern philosophy about giving up some of the superficial things were attached to, which Im trying to do,' he said.

'I also have issues with patience and depression, and Im thinking about how to focus and steady myself and be kinder and better. Meditation and exercise work for me,' he admitted.

Phillippe will next be seen in the upcoming movie Miranda's Victim with Abigail Breslin, Mireille Enos and Donald Sutherland, in theaters November 30.
Playground-type abuse' allegedly dished out by an heir to the Dunhill luxury goods empire has escalated into a court battle with one of his oldest friends.

Piers Dunhill-Turner, great-great-grandson of Sir Alfred Dunhill, is accused of launching a bitter campaign against his former business partner Charles Karsten, a judge's son.

According to a High Court claim, Dunhill-Turner, 29, waged online war by creating websites which falsely accuse Karsten.

Karsten, 30, is suing his former friend for harassment, demanding the online publications are closed, and seeking 20,000 compensation.

Dunhill-Turner is, however, counter-suing with similar allegations. He has 'denied any involvement' with the defamatory websites.

Piers Dunhill-Turner (pictured, left), great-great-grandson of Sir Alfred Dunhill, is accused of launching a bitter campaign against his former business partner Charles Karsten

Karsten, 30, (pictured) is suing his former friend for harassment, demanding the online publications are closed, and seeking 20,000 compensation

Sir Alfred Dunhill (pictured) jump-started the family fortune by patenting a special pipe shielded against the wind to make smoking possible for early motorists

The unseemly debacle is certainly a long way from the dawn of the Dunhill dynasty in 1904.

Sir Alfred jump-started the family fortune by patenting a special pipe shielded against the wind to make smoking possible for early motorists as they raced along at 4mph.

Dunhill-Turner is described as an entrepreneur and investor. He has enjoyed a relationship with Made In Chelsea star Tabitha Willett.

But his decision in 2021 to form a consultancy for wealthy investors with Karsten ended a friendship they forged as teenagers.

High Court papers filed by lawyers for Charles, son of former judge Ian Karsten, claim that within a few months they had fallen out.

Karsten's lawyers say: 'The collective objective of the websites is the unlawful harassment of the claimant.'

They add that, in August, Karsten was sent, via WhatsApp, offers to take the websites down, in return for cash.

The messages were sent from a phone registered in Pakistan. With the websites still live, Karsten now feels 'helpless and humiliated'.

Dunhill-Turner's solicitor Thomas Clark tells me: 'Our client categorically denies all allegations and will be filing a defence and counterclaim with the court imminently.'

ED MILIBAND, who learned to ride a bike aged 50, pedalled into trouble during the State visit of the Korean president last week.

A passer-by claims the former Labour leader failed to dismount near Buckingham Palace.

'The police were marshalling crowds along The Mall,' the onlooker tells me. 'Miliband wobbled and a female police officer shouted at him.'

Love blossoms for Napoleon's Josephine

Has Vanessa Kirby found her Napoleon? The British actress, 35, who plays Josephine (inset below) opposite Joaquin Phoenix in Sir Ridley Scott's latest film, Napoleon, has 'gone public' with her boyfriend, the American lacrosse player Paul Rabil, 37.

He shared a series of snaps of the couple including one of them embracing on a beach.

'From the very minute we first met in Des Moines, around the world and back, life is far better, more purposeful and more beautiful with you,' he wrote about the privately educated Londoner.

Vanessa Kirby, 35, has 'gone public' with her boyfriend, the American lacrosse player Paul Rabil, 37 (pictured, together)

The pair have been spotted on several occasions together since last year, but have kept their blossoming romance under wraps.

Rabil is co-founder of the Premier Lacrosse League. Kirby won a Bafta for her role as Princess Margaret in Netflix hit The Crown.

Britain's premier baronet, Sir Edward Dashwood, may be living up to his name.

The 59-year-old is facing a driving ban after allegedly being caught speeding in his Toyota Land Cruiser at Penryn in Cornwall in January.

Cornwall magistrates court have adjourned the case at the request of the defence as the JPs are considering imposing a driving disqualification.

Sir Edward, whose kinsman founded the notorious Hellfire Club, will be expected to appear before the court in Bodmin in March to discover his fate.

His ancestral home of West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire, has been the backdrop to countless films, including The Music Lovers.

Pacino lover hit 30 with sheer chic

Al Pacino's young girlfriend Noor Alfallah clearly has much to celebrate.

At the Sony film producer's 30th birthday party at the weekend, she had a lavish three-tiered cake.

Alfallah wore a see-through black dress for the bash, at Formoso Cafe Chinese restaurant in Hollywood.

She has a five-month-old boy, Roman, with the Oscar-winner, 83, pictured inset with Noor.

Noor Alfallah (pictured) wore a see-through black dress for the bash, at Formoso Cafe Chinese restaurant in Hollywood

Pacino was recently ordered to pay her 24,000 a month in child support.

It's not clear why she chose to go to court, as the couple are still reportedly going out together.

The Scarface star will also give Alfallah 6 per cent of his gross annual income, which is in excess of 2 million.

When Foyle's War star Honeysuckle Weeks split up with her husband, the aristocratic hypnotherapist Lorne Stormonth Darling, she posted a picture online of a sign bearing their initials L&H with pink hearts burning on a bonfire and wrote: 'Bye bye marriage.'

Now, the actress, 44, is in mourning.

Lorne's family has announced that he died 'unexpectedly' earlier this month at the age of 60. They describe him as 'legendary'.

At the time a dealer in Tibetan antiques, he married Weeks in an impromptu Buddhist wedding ceremony in 2005 while on holiday in the Himalayas.

They had a more traditional wedding in Barlavington, West Sussex, in 2007 and their son, Wade, was born four years later. The pair finally split up in 2019.

Lorne's funeral will be held next week.

Uri fury at Lineker over Israel claims

Psychic spoon-bender Uri Geller has removed Gary Lineker's spoon from his cutlery-covered Cadillac in protest against his 'disgusting comments about Israel'.

The Match Of The Day host shared an interview with an Israeli academic who described the situation in Gaza as 'textbook genocide'.

'My car has more than 2,000 people's spoons on it and Lineker's in the only one to be pulled in disgrace,' the illusionist tells me. 'No one who accuses Israel of genocide has a place on my car.'

The custom-built vehicle is adorned with bent spoons owned, used or touched by personalities including Donald Trump and Saddam Hussein.

Psychic spoon-bender Uri Geller (pictured) has removed Gary Lineker's spoon from his cutlery-covered Cadillac

Foppish actor Hugh Grant, who has settled down with Swedish businesswoman Anna Eberstein, laments the decline in romantic dalliances between actors during film shoots.

'Of course, in those days you fancied each other on film sets,' Grant reflects in a new film documentary, Merchant Ivory, chronicling the celebrated period drama production team.

'Now, everyone's just looking on their phone. There's no interaction at all, but in those days film sets crackled with subliminal lust.'
Kerala CM goes all out to tom-tom his achievements but the ground reality is very different

Political commentator Jayashankar terms the comments by Jayarajan and Balan as reflections of the simmering groups in the CPI-M. Both the leaders are upset with Vijayan and his new son-in-law Mohammed Riyas for sidelining them by denying them tickets in the 2021 assembly election. Jayarajan and Balan were frontrunners for the post of member of the polit bureau which fell vacant following the demise of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, the former party secretary, Vijayan favoured M V Govindan, a sidekick for decades, while Jayarajan and Balan had to eat humble pie, said Jayashankar.

The public snubbing given by Vijayan to K K Shylaja, former health minister, and her husband Bhaskaran during the Sadass has upset the women activists in the State. The flooding of the capital city of Thiruvananthapuram because of last weeks heavy downpour has proved that the State administration is incapable of resolving minor issues like water logging and cleaning of drainages in the city, once described as a clean and neat town,

Because of the Nava Kerala Sadass, no ministers or government secretaries were available at Kalamassery where a stampede at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) claimed the lives of four students who were attending a musical night late Saturday evening. After the 2018 floods which devastated the State (caused by the sudden and simultaneous opening of the shutters of all dams), Pinarayi Vijayan undertook an official junket with family, friends and close officials to all European countries to study how floods and landslides are managed by them. It is more than five years since Vijayan and his entourage travelled across Europe but to date, no action has been taken to control floods or waterlogging. The experience at Thiruvananthapuram is an eye-opener that Kerala is lightyears away from ensuring the safety and welfare of its people.

Fortunately for the CPI-M and Vijayan, there is a Government at the Centre that could be blamed for any mishaps and disasters happening in the State. But that comfort came down on Saturday as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman gave a piece of her mind to the State Governments allegation that the Centre was not releasing funds to Kerala. Tell me the details of the funds which the Centre has not released to you. Whatever you have asked for was sanctioned immediately. The Kerala Government instead of making unsubstantiated allegations should come forward and tell us details of the funds which have not been released by the Centre, said the Union Finance Minister. Luckily for Vijayan, none of the ministers of his cabinet were present while Sitharaman thundered from the stage (They were all busy singing peans to Karana Bhoothan, as Vijayan prefers to be addressed by his servile).

The Chief Minister and his acolytes have failed to notice the statements by Balan and Jayarajan who have a lot of grievances to settle with the former. The Opposition Congress is not in a position to enjoy the guerilla war in CPI-M as the Grand Old Party is faced with charges of malpractice in the organizational elections held recently. The allegation by Congress leaders is that a group owing allegiance to K C Venugopal manipulated the polls with fake identity cards. Some of the identity cards used by party members had Tamil superstar Ajit as a voter. Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg. The Youth Congress President Rahul Mankkoottathil was being interrogated by the Crime Branch of the Kerala Police when reports last came.

(The writer is a special correspondent with the Pioneer; views are personal)

Concluded.
India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, offered prayers at a gurudwara in Long Island in New York on the occasion of Gurpurab where a group of Khalistani supporters heckled him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community.

"Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak's everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all, Sandhu said in a post on X on Sunday.

Sandhu received a warm welcome at the Hicksville Gurdwara against the perceived notion of opposition from Khalistanis. A few nuisance makers tried to heckle him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community, sources said.

In his remarks at the gurudwara, Sindhu assured members of the Sikh community that Indian diplomats in the US will provide all help and support to them.

Sandhu, accompanied by Consul General in New York Randhir Jaiswal and Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph, highlighted growth in the India-US partnership, whether in the healthcare, energy, IT, new emerging technologies, semiconductor or education sectors.

On the occasion, the gurudwara members and officials honoured and felicitated the Indian Ambassador.

Sandhu also spoke about the historical linkages between Sikh Gurus, Sikhs and Afghanistan. He noted that Afghan Sikhs have shown how to face adversities.

He mentioned that three Saroops of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib were brought from Kabul to Delhi in August 2021 after the Taliban took over the war-torn country.

During the visit to the gurudwara, some pro-Khalistan elements heckled Sandhu and shouted questions about Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed in Canada in June this year, according to videos being circulated of the incident.

Earlier, in a separate tweet, Sandhu said Guru Nanak Dev ji's timeless message of equality and universal oneness in the well-known Shabad of Guru Ravidass as he paid his respects at Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in New York on Saturday.
Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra told a rally at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas that the final draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is expected to be ready by March 30 next year.

Reacting to it, the TMC leadership on Monday called Mishras statement a dirty ploy of the saffron party to polarise votes before the general elections.

The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before December 31, 2014.

Asserting that no one will be able to snatch the citizenship of the Matuas once the CAA is implemented, the BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, while addressing a gathering of the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district on Sunday said, For the past couple of years the process to sort out technicalities was on as a result of which things should be before you in a few months time so that Matuas will permanently be eligible for Indian citizenship.

Matuas, numbering about 80-90 lakhs, are Hindu Scheduled Caste immigrants from Bangladesh who fled religious persecution post-Independence and migrated to India.

Although a significant portion of the community still resides in Bangladesh, those who migrated to India wield substantial influence over the voting patterns in 3-4 districts of Bengal.

The community has a sizable population in North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Nadia, Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, and North Dinajpur districts.

In fact the BJP MP and Union Minister Shantanu Thakur is himself a Matua and hails from Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas.

Rejecting the Union Ministers statement, TMC spokesperson and MP Shantanu Sen on Monday said, Matuas are a self-respecting people who will never fall into the trap of the BJP which is trying to divide

the voters along communal lines.

Saying that Matuas were already citizens of India, he stated, The very fact that they have been living in this country for decades, voting here, possessing all the identity cards, and enjoying equal rights raises the question of why there is a need to bring a separate law to legalise their citizenship. Tomorrow, they may bring laws to legalise the citizenship of the remaining population of the country.

This amounts to befooling the Matua community, and the BJP will receive a befitting reply in the elections. They will lose once again, as they did in the 2021 Assembly elections, because the Matua community has more faith in Mamata Banerjee than in the BJP.
Indias Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, offered prayers at a gurudwara in Long Island in New York on the occasion of Gurpurab where a group of Khalistani supporters heckled him but they were escorted out by members of the Sikh community.

Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab  listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanaks everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all, Sandhu said in a post on X on Sunday.

Sandhu received a warm welcome at the Hicksville Gurudwara against the perceived notion of opposition from Khalistanis. A few nuisance makers tried to heckle him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community, sources said.

In his remarks at the gurudwara, Sindhu assured members of the Sikh community that Indian diplomats in the US will provide all help and support to them.

Sandhu, accompanied by Consul General in New York Randhir Jaiswal and Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph, highlighted growth in the India-US partnership, whether in the healthcare, energy, IT, new emerging technologies, semiconductor or education sectors.

On the occasion, the gurudwara members and officials honoured and felicitated the Indian Ambassador.

Sandhu also spoke about the historical linkages between Sikh Gurus, Sikhs and Afghanistan. He noted that Afghan Sikhs have shown how to face adversities.

He mentioned that three Saroops of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib were brought from Kabul to Delhi in August 2021 after the Taliban took over the war-torn country.

During the visit to the gurudwara, some pro-Khalistan elements heckled Sandhu and shouted questions about Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed in Canada in June this year, according to videos being circulated of the incident.

Earlier, in a separate tweet, Sandhu said Guru Nanak Devs timeless message of equality and universal oneness in the well-known Shabad of Guru Ravidass as he paid his respects at Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in New York on Saturday.
The CPI-M led Government in Kerala is facing one of the severest criminal charges in its eight-year history since 2016.

The stampede at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) on Saturday night, resulting in the loss of four students lives, is attributed to the irresponsibility of the institutions authorities and the Marxist Governments disregard for the laws of the land, according to the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC).

This organisation in the State acts as whistleblowers against irregularities and corruption in higher learning centers.

The SUCC has demanded the immediate removal of P G Sankaran, CUSAT Vice Chancellor from the position and suspension of Youth Welfare Board director PK Baby.

The mishap occurred during the musical evening held in violation of the standing orders of Kerala High Court. The court had issued strong directives to the university authorities that events like musical fest should be held only under the direct supervision of the faculty members. No faculty members were present during the event and they reached the spot after hours of the disaster, RS Sasikumar, chairman, SUCC, told The Pioneer.

Sasikumar pointed out that the court directive came in the aftermath of an engineering college students incident in 2015 during the Onam Festival.

Sasikumar and M Shajar Khan, secretary, who are two respected academicians in academic world said the Marxist Government had subverted the selection and appointment of all faculty and non-teaching staff members in universities in the State.

PK Baby, a card-holding member of the CPI-M was appointed as director, Youth Welfare Board on a pay scale specified by the UGC. Baby was only a non-teaching staff member and was appointed to the post based on the directive of a powerful Minister in the Government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. He does not have the mandatory qualifications. The Government should put him under suspension with immediate effect. But what the Vijayan Government has done is to appoint Baby in the committee constituted to probe the details of the mishap. This is like making an accused to sit as judge in a case against him, said Sasikumar and Shajar.

Baby, a ministerial staff was designated as Assistant Professor and was being paid `2 lakh per month as salary. The Save University Campaign Committee is submitting memorandums to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the university to put Baby under suspension and order a judicial probe into the mishap, said Sasikumar.

Meanwhile students in CUSAT told The Pioneer that the institution has become a breeding ground to recruit and train future Marxist leaders.

Those who do not subscribe to the Marxist ideology are tormented and harassed by leaders of SFI, the student wing of the CPI-M, said a post graduate.

Sasikumar said Governor Arif Mohammed Khan stands vindicated in his stance not to toe the CPI-M Government line with regard to the affairs in the university. The Vice-Chancellor of CUSAT too is a Marxist camp follower like other Vice Chancellors in the State. No action has been taken against the Vice Chancellor of a university in the State for instigating delegates to physically assault the Governor during the inaugural session of a national conference, said Sasikumar.

It may be remembered that a woman Assistant Professor in Kerala University was abused and assaulted by a SFI leader for refusing to sign fabricated cash vouchers sometime back.

The lady teacher was locked in her cabin and threatened by the said leader who later on was nominated as a member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). Though he is seen regularly in the company of the Chief Minister, police has not taken him into custody despite the intervention of the Governor.
Delhi Water Minister Atishi on Monday demanded that complaints of contaminated water in New Friends Colony be addressed within 48 hours, and also asked the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) for a compliance report on the matter. Exemplary action would be taken against officers to ensure there is no laxity in the future, Atishi said.

It is the responsibility of the DJB to ensure that every resident in Delhi gets clean and adequate water. DJB CEO should ensure that the problem of contaminated water is resolved within 48 hours and also give a compliance report on the same, she said. 

Strong and exemplary action would be taken against concerned officers to ensure there was no laxity in the future in ensuring clean water to all residents of Delhi, the water minister said in her communique expressing her displeasure to DJB. The minister said Heads must be rolled if residents of Delhi are getting dirty water.

In a related development, a section of Delhi Jal Board contractors association went on a strike on Monday over non-payment of dues, its general secretary Vinay Mangla said and claimed that around 1,150 contractors will halt their work until payments are made to everyone. It is an open-ended strike and we are expecting it to go on for a week, he said.

The Delhi Jal Board Contractors Welfare Association had written to the additional chief engineer mentioning that the contractors would stop all ongoing works due to non-payment of funds. After detailed deliberations and finding no option, it was unanimously decided that all ongoing works related to water leakages, water contamination, maintenance of water supply, settled sewerage system, maintenance of sewerage system, operation of tube wells and pumping stations, providing sewer beldars, engagement of labours and de-silting work will be stopped from November 27, the letter read. DJB Vice-Chairman Somnath Bharti said the Delhi Government has been doing everything possible to ensure the release of funds for the board for the last three months.

Meanwhile, Water supply in several areas, including Rohini, will be affected from Wednesday to Thursday due to a shutdown for interconnection of the water main at the Keshopur drain and the Peeragarhi Chowk, the DJB said. Residents have been advised to store sufficient water according to requirement, and water tankers will be available on request, the board said in a post on X.

Due to shutdown for interconnection at Keshopur drain and Peeragarhi Chowk (Rohtak Road) from 10 am to 10 pm on November 29, the water supply in several colonies/areas will not be available/will be available at low pressure from the evening of November 29 to morning November 30, the DJB said. The affected areas are - Rohini Sector- 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, 22, 23 and 25, Madhuban chowk, Mangolpuri, Sultanpuri, Paschim Vihar, Major Bhupender Singh Nagar, Mahavir Nagar, Krishna Park, Janakpuri and their adjoining areas, it said.
Jagran Lakecity University hosted the first-ever edition of the Bhopal Design Festival on November 24 and 25, 2023 in Bhopal. With a vibrant and thought-provoking programme of events, exhibitions, and installations, the festival provided a vital platform for designers and creative businesses to showcase their work. This year's edition fostered growth and excellence in the sector, building on a a decade-long legacy and commitment of JLU to promoting and supporting design, media and communication education.

The festival was convened and curated by the Faculty of Journalism and Creative Studies, JLU, Bhopal in partnership by National Institute of Design, Madhya Pradesh, ImagineXp, Wizcraft, Filmmable, MESC, and Design Skills.

The crafts, creativity and creative pursuits in central India, particularly in Madhya Pradesh have always been a success story, and a powerhouse of the central India. Against this backdrop, Bhopal Design Festival aspires to play a pivotal role in promoting the design sector and positioning Bhopal as a India's design capital.

The two-day festival with the theme Metamorph-The design drift, showcased groundbreaking ideas and creative concepts that underscore the vital role of design. The programme featured renowned speakers like. Multiple masterclasses and student competitions were organized.

Major installations, exhibits, multiple masterclasses and keynote panel sessions that highlight creativity & design, brought together renowned 12 creative leaders like Sonal Dabral, Pramod Gaikwad, Prof. Dhiraj Kumar, Director NID MP, Ekta Jafri Alok Kumar, Sandeep Meher, Sunil Shukla, Vidhika Rohatagi, Pranshul Shukla, Amitabh Pandey and Nemesh Pilla.

Additionally, the annual JLU Ignited Mind Award was conferred on Shri. Sonal Dabral for a body of work which elevates our understanding of visual and communication craftmanship. His citation read that "his thinking and perspectives on how design and visual expression touches people embodies the essence of accomplishment and serve as a testament to his dedication and contributions."

While addressing the audience during his keynote address, Sonal Dabral, Creative Consultant, Former Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy South and South East Asia shared "When it comes to an idea, the biggest of inspiration will come from within and it is upon us, how we choose to connect and express that idea to the world".

The award ceremony was graced by Hari Mohan Gupta, Chancellor, Jagran Lakecity University, Abhishek Mohan Gupta, Pro-Chancellor, JLU, Dr PK Biswas, Vice-Chancellor, JLU, Prof. Dhiraj Kumar, Director NIDMP, Pankaj K. Das, Registrar, JLU, Professor Diwakar Shukla, Dean, Faculty of Journalism and Creative Studies, other dignitaries, and students and faculty members of the university.
Amid a cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases in China, Chhattisgarh has called for increased surveillance as well as stepped up hygiene as a precaution.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Monday called for closely monitoring the reported outbreak of H9N2 cases and clusters of respiratory illness among children.

Baghel in a tweet raised concern over a major pneumonia outbreak.

Though there is less possibility of the pandemic spreading in Chhattisgarh, the state officials have been asked to be prepared to combat the possible threat," he said.

The Chief Minister said that followed by an advisory from the Centre, the Chief Medical and Health Officers across the state have been asked to maintain proper precaution.

The officials have been asked to enhance human resources, availability of beds, testing facility and infection control practice," the Chief Minister said.

The Chief Minister also instructed the health officials for complete preparedness for any exigencies that may emerge from the current influenza situation.
Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan was on a tour of Budhni assembly constituency on Monday. During this time he reached Salkanpur via Shahganj, Budhni. His wife Sadhna Singh accompanied jhim.

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan reached Shahganj from Bhopal at around 12 noon. Here he interacted with the workers. From here the Chief Minister reached Budhni. A workers' meeting was organized here. During this, a large number of workers, leaders and officials were present.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan said that during the elections, he was busy in other assembly seats of Madhya Pradesh, but every worker of Budhni contested the elections as Shivraj Singh Chauhan. The result of the hard work and enthusiasm of the workers will be realized on December 3. Bharatiya Janata Party will register victory in the elections with a huge majority. BJP will be victorious in Budhni assembly as well as all the assembly seats of Sehore.

He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party will form the government by registering victory with a huge majority in the entire state. During this, the Chief Minister also got photographs clicked with the workers.

From Budhni, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan reached Salkanpur. Here he first had darshan of Mother Bijasan Devi and prayed for BJP's victory in the assembly elections and also wished for the happiness and prosperity of the people of the state. BJP leaders and workers welcomed and felicitated the Chief Minister who reached Salkanpur.

In Salkanpur, the Chief Minister also took information about the works of Devilok Dham. After having darshan of Maa Bijasan, the Chief Minister reached Dharamshala. A workers' meeting of the workers of Salkanpur division was organized here, in which the Chief Minister held discussions with the workers, officials and leaders of the division.

The Chief Minister said that the way the workers had assured that he would campaign in the elections as Shivraj Singh Chauhan, he did the same. Every worker of Budhni Assembly contested the elections here as Shivraj Singh Chauhan.

Everyone's hard work and efforts will also be fruitful. He said that the double engine government of BJP will make the state a glorious, prosperous and progressive state. He asked all the workers to take all BJP schemes to every home.
Responding to allegations levelled by Congress leader Bhuwan Kapdi, the Bharatiya Janata Party has claimed that the allegations are baseless and motivated by the interests of the mining mafia. BJP State media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan said that the government is going to systematically collect the royalty and dead rent from mining leases for sub minerals in rivers for which there is provision in the rules. With this, the Rs 100 crore being collected so far will increase to more than Rs 400 crore. This will also help in stopping illegal mining. Sub minerals will be supplied to the public and executing agencies at low rates. Such a system is in place in various States including Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, he said. This will trouble those involved in illegal mining and stop the theft of sub minerals, which seems to be bothering the Congress. The Congress leaders are speaking the language of the mining mafia. In this system the role of the GMVN, KMVN and Forest department will remain as it was in the past. Uttarakhand residents will be able to apply for mining leases upto five hectares in area and about 99 per cent of the mining leases available for mining are five hectare in area. The Congress allegation about the land in Rudrapur is also wrong and stems from lack of correct information, Chauhan said. He said that Congress leaders are trying to spread propaganda due to lack of information or in an intentional manner. The government has also come down hard on the mafia involved in the recruitment scam. The Congress needs to adopt a positive view as the people are repeatedly rejecting it due to its negative attitude, Chauhan added.
The Delhi University may provide up to 20 per cent of its courses through online medium on the Swayam portal.

A proposal in this regard will be placed before the Academic Council during its meeting scheduled for November 30.

According to the proposal, colleges may consider to provide up to 20 per cent of the total courses being offered in a particular programme in a semester in online mode.

This would supplement the teaching-learning process in the institute, the proposal said.

The proposal is expected to be opposed by a large majority of AC members who feel that employment generation at the university will be at risk amid the push for online learning, according to Maya John, assistant professor, Jesus Mary college.

Almost 90 per cent of the Academic Council members will oppose this proposal as it is an anti-student and anti-teacher move. Classroom teaching is very important for many students who come from different backgrounds and this will also impact the need for teaching staff who will be substituted by online learning on Swayam, she said.

The proposal is in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 that aims to achieve 50 per cent Gross Enrolment Ratio (GRE) in higher education by year 2035 with the help of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) offered by the Swayam platform.

The Academic Council in June 2019 had sought the Executive Councils approval for the adoption of the UGC (Credit Framework for Online Learning Courses through SWYAM) Regulations, 2016.

Earlier this year, the universitys Department of Commerce had expressed its desire to implement MOOCs developed by teachers of the department and develop its course content based on the curriculum of the university. A Departmental Council meeting in February had decided and approved details regarding the title of the MOOC to be offered, its course coordinator, and credits to be assigned for the same.

Currently, Delhi University does not provide MOOCs through Swayam -- a government portal for free online courses for students.
Uttarakhand Congress has alleged that the State government is planning to hand over the mining sector to the private companies. Addressing the media here on Monday, the deputy leader of Congress legislature party in Vidhan Sabha Bhuwan Kapdi said that the government is giving the mining activities in the major rivers in Haridwar, Dehradun, Udham Singh Nagar and Nainital districts to private enterprises which will create a major economic crisis for the local people engaged in these activities. He said that the basic objective of the statehood movement was that the local people have the first right on the forest, land and water resources. Large number of locals are engaged in the mining sector but instead of helping them the government is handing over the mining to private companies. Kapdi said that the locals engaged in mining, transport and the labourers are opposing the government's decision. Kapdi said that the private company will not only snatch away employment from the locals but will also sell the building material to the State's at inflated prices.

He said that the Congress will hold agitation in all districts if the government continues with the process of handing over the mining sector to private players.

The Congress leader said that the BJP government is trying to sell every kind of employment. He added that in the scam involving the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UkSSSC), the government is still hesitant to act against the chairperson and secretary of the commission under whom the crime of sale of jobs was committed. He also alleged that the government land in Rudrapur of Udham Singh Nagar was given to builders of other States at throwaway prices. Kapdi alleged that the State government is immersed neck deep in corruption. He said that in the name of the Smart City project, the government is actually changing the originality of the city once known for its natural beauty. The Congress leader said that the roads of the city are either dug up or laden with potholes which shows that the government is misleading the people in the name of smart city.
Dr Rahul Aggarwal, Senior ENT and Cochlear Implant Surgeon, Aggarwal Hospital and Research Institute, Madhav Nagar Gwalior, was honored with the Life-Time Achievement Award at ISOCON (Indian Society of Otology Conference) held at JW Marriott Hotel, Pune from November 24 to 27, 2023.

During the conference, Dr Aggarwal delivered an important lecture on 'Advanced Microscopic Ear and Facial Vein Operations" sharing his 20 years of experience. More than 1000 ENT surgeons from across the country and abroad participated in this international conference.

According to sources in the ISOCON the lecture by Dr Rahul Aggarwal added immense value to the organization of this prestigious international conference, reaffirming his commitment to advance the field of otology. Dr. Rahul Aggarwal thanked the organizers for providing a platform for exchange of knowledge and sharing of experiences.
Delhi Public School Rohini organized its Annual Day, Millet Moods: A Metaphor in Melody on Saturday, to celebrate the International Year of Millets, as recognized by the United Nations and Food & Agriculture Organization. The programme commenced with the traditional lighting of the lamp to invoke the blessings of the Almighty. The Chief Guest for the occasion was B. K. Chaturvedi, Chairman, DPS Society. Namita Pradhan, Chairperson, DPS Rohini was the Guest of Honour. Special Guests were Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy, and Dr Tarun Bajaj, Director, APEDA.
Chhattisgarh High Court Justice Narendra Kumar Vyas said on Sunday that the goal of the judiciary is to ensure justice for all.

It is our primary duty to connect people to the justice system by simplifying it and by being transparent, he said.

The preamble of the Indian Constitution is to secure justice, liberty and equality for all citizens and promote fraternity to maintain the unity and integrity of the nation," he said.

He said this at a programme held on the occasion of Constitution Day at the Chhattisgarh Judicial Academy.

All the district judges of the state were present. Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha is currently touring Delhi.

Justice Rakesh Kumar Pandey emphasised the importance of the Constitution and the rights it has given to the people.

On this occasion, a colloquium was held to assess the challenges faced by the judiciary and the way forward.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath emphasised on Monday that the sacrifice of the Sikh gurus extended beyond the Khalsa Panth, serving to protect both India and the faith.

In an era when powerful kings and maharajas submitted to Mughal dominance, the Sikh gurus independently defended the nation and its faith on their own, he added.

In his address during an event organised on the 554th Prakash Parv of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Ji Maharaj at the Gurdwara in Ashiyana, Yogi said, Nothing in the world can defeat a nation and tradition that is so full of fighting spirit. The formation of the Khalsa Panth played a pivotal role in the downfall of the Mughal sultanate. Today, Sikhs are present all over the world, but there is no trace of the power of the Mughals. This is the path of truth and religion.

Extending his wishes to the people of the state on the occasion of Guru Parv, Yogi Adityanath stressed the exemplary qualities of renunciation, sacrifice, devotion, strength and meditation demonstrated by the Sikh gurus, which according to him, serve as a model for both the nation and its faith.

The chief minister underlined the global impact of Guru Nanak Jis teachings, stating that the light of his wisdom has not only guided India, but has also reached every corner of the world.

The chief minister said that there were two sides to Guru Nanak Devs teachings, including one for spiritual practice through devotion and the other for public welfare and national welfare through devotion.

Through devotion, Guru Nanak Dev Ji raised his voice against the atrocities of Babar during that period. We get inspiration from Guru Nanak Dev Ji to free ourselves from casteism and regressive thinking, he remarked.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also mentioned the incident in Mecca, when Guru Nanak Dev taught Ek Omkar to a maulvi. Yogi emphasised that the Sikh religion encompasses the profound secrets of meditation.

He further acknowledged the sacrifices of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh, their four Sahibzadas, and the thousands of Sikhs who dedicated themselves to the cause of the country and religion. These sacrifices, he said, offered a renewed strength and inspiration to the nation.

The chief minister said that Khalsa was not just a panth (sect), it was a beam of light emanating from the grace of Guru for the protection of the country and religion. This forced the foreign power to bow down, he remarked.

Chief Minister Yogi recalled his privilege of organising the Sahibzada Day programme at the chief ministers residence in 2020, which later evolved into a national-level event in 2022.

When we move forward with true determination, they are definitely fulfilled. The voice emanating from Lucknow became a nationwide one. There was a demand for Sahibzada Day for decades, which was fulfilled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by deciding to celebrate December 26, 2022, as Veer Bal Diwas. Let us all, together, take inspiration from our history. Also remember those cruel and dark moments when cruelty was carried out, crossing all the heights of atrocities and barbarity, he said.

The chief minister further said, Today we are working with full strength in an independent India. This is a humble tribute to our Sikh gurus, who inspire us to face challenges.

The chief minister stressed that it is the duty of every Sikh and every Indian to strengthen the foundation laid by Guru Nanak Ji, envisioning it as a path to national prosperity.

On this occasion, a large number of people from the Sikh community, including Minister Baldev Singh Aulakh, Lucknow Mayor Sushma Kharkwal, Gurdwara Sahib Management Committee chairman Sardar Jasbir Singh Chadha, Jasjit Singh Bedi, Jaspal Singh Duggal, Jagjit Singh, and UP Minority Commission member Parvinder Singh were present.
Biswabhusan Harichandan is currently the Governor of Chhattisgarh. He was also the Governor of Andhra Pradesh from 2019 to 2023. He began his career as a High Court lawyer. He joined JPs Sampoorna Kranti movement opposing the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in 1975. A Jan Sangh leader, he was arrested under MISA. After the Emergency when Janata Dal was formed, he opened his innings to the State Assembly in 1977 being elected from the Chilika constituency. Thereafter, he never looked back. He was a Minister with six departments and all these departments were handled by him with a rare dexterity. He was held in high esteem even by his opponents. He has written many books to his credit.

In an interview to The Pioneer, Governor Harichandan spoke to Sugyan Choudhury on many relevant issues of the current times.

You were always with non-Congress political parties. Is it because of your ideological reason or your politics of difference?

I joined Jan Sangh only because of my ideology since I love my motherland. I went through the literature of the party and the spirit of nationalism attracted me. Besides, two senior advocates of Orissa High Court Dayasagar Nanda and Bhupen Basu inspired me to join Jan Sangh. Dayasagar Nanda was president of the State Jan Sangh unit while Bhupen Basu was Sangh Chalak.

You were elected in 1977 for the first time. You were jailed during Emergency. What are your memorable experiences of those days?

You know in those days Mrs Indira Gandhi had lost in election. Everyone expected that she would resign on moral grounds after the Allahabad High Court judgement. But instead, she tried to capture and consolidate all powers in her hand. She started supersession of judges wherein a junior judge, AN Ray, was made Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. At that time JP had started his Sampoorna Kranti or Total Revolution. The intelligentsia of the nation was apprehensive that Indira Gandhi would cause more harm to democracy in the country. Then, the Orissa High Court Bar Association made me chairman of the action committee. It was then decided that under my leadership many meetings and processions were to be held to rouse peoples awareness that a great threat was posed to democracy. About one thousand advocates went in a procession under my leadership with uniforms from high court to Ravenshaw College square, about 5 km. People on either side of the road cheered us throughout. I was secretary of the Odisha chapter of Bharatiya Jan Sangh and played a prominent role in the JP movement. On June 25, 1975, Emergency was clamped. Leaders like Morarji Desai, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani, Charan Singh, Biju Patnaik were arrested. On July 3, 1975, I was also arrested. Thereafter, Dr Harekrushna Mahtab was also arrested along with almost all other senior leaders of the country. After the Emergency, we emerged from jail. I and Biju Patnaik travelled entire Odisha and were assured of a massive poll mandate. Thereafter, Janata Dal was formed and I was elected from Chilika in 1977.

What is your opinion about debates and discussions going on in State Assemblies?

The quality of debates and discussions in the legislatures has considerably declined. Earlier, the debates were certainly of a high standard. Creating hallagullah in the House, running to the Well and Speakers podium has become a common feature these days.

As a Cabinet Minister in Odisha, what were your remarkable contributions?

I was given six portfolios including Revenue and Food & Civil Supplies. I met Chief Minister Nilamani Routray and complained that I should not be given a department like Food & Civil Supplies as many people considered this as the most corrupt department. To my utter surprise, the CM said I was given the department by the dictates of Biju Patnaik, who said only Biswabhusan will handle this department. Besides, PSP leader Biswanath Pandit came to me and said he had requested Bijubabu and CM Routray to give me the Labour Department, wherein I could do justice to the labourers. Pradyumna Bal also requested me to accept the Department of Law as I was a senior High Court lawyer. This way, I had six departments. When I met Bijubabu and narrated him that I had to struggle all the while with the problems of these departments, he opined, This is a challenge to you. I immediately replied, Then, I must accept the challenge. Thereafter, I accepted these departments. I was again entrusted with the Department of Culture at the behest of Bijubabu with a view to inculcating patriotism and nationalism through cultural affairs activities as an antidote to the Emergency era.

You have performed as the Governor of two States. Can you compare the developments of Odisha with the two other States?

You know I was the Governor of Andhra Pradesh. All of us know how AP is developed. Similar is the case of Chhattisgarh. They are our bordering States and I should not make any comments comparing and contrasting the developments of these States with Odisha for it may create misunderstanding. Please dont ask me such a question.

From a legislator to a Minister and then to a Governor, where from you derived your optimum satisfaction?

I have received optimum satisfaction by remaining with the people and by serving their causes throughout in all walks of my life. As a Minister of Revenue, my doors were open and I had ordered a 24-hour-open control room, wherein everyone had the right to telephone me even at midnight.

What is your considered opinion regarding the opening of doors of the Lord Jagannath?

I have written an article recently, wherein I have given my viewpoints. People from all over the world want to see Lord Jagannath and not the Parikrama Project. Therefore, I have advised the Government of Odisha to open the three other doors while carrying on their Parikrama activities on one side.
Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena has dissolved the standing committee constituted by the AAP Government with a putative view to ensure the quality of investigation in criminal cases and their prosecution, saying it was in gross violation of the 2014 Supreme Court directions, according to a Raj Niwas order.

While scrapping the existing Standing Committee headed by Standing Counsel (Criminal) Delhi High Court and Additional Standing Counsel as Member, Saxena approved the proposal for its reconstitution with Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary (Home) as Chairman and Principal Secretary (Law), Director (Prosecution) and Special Commissioner of Police, as members.

Delhi LG V K Saxena has dissolved the existing Standing Committee constituted by the AAP Government for ensuring the quality of investigation in criminal cases and their prosecution, noting that it was in gross violation of the 2014 Supreme Court directions and subsequent guidelines of the Centre, an official from the LG office said in a note shared with media on Monday.

Saxena noted that there was no reason or justification for the continuation of the existing committee and even his predecessor had time and again objected to it, the official said. He said that in his note on May 11, 2017, his predecessor, Anil Baijal, had directed a review of the constitution of the committee to bring it in conformity with the order of the apex court and reminders were also issued by the LG Secretariat on February 19, 2018, June 22, 2018, October 18, 2018, and May 31, 2019. However, no proposal for the reconstitution of the committee was submitted, the person said.

After the enactment of the GNCTD Amendment Act 2023, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) proposed the reconstitution of the standing committee with an Additional Chief Secretary (Home) as Chairman, Principal Secretary (Law), Director (Directorate of Prosecution) and Special CP as members.

The Supreme Court had in 2014 directed the Home departments of every state to constitute a standing committee with senior officers of police and prosecution departments, vesting them with the responsibility of examining all orders of acquittal and recording reasons for the failure of prosecution in each case.

It was noted by the LG that the existing committee is headed by Standing Counsel (Criminal) with Additional Standing Counsel as Member, who are part of prosecution and entrusted with the presentation of cases before the court. Therefore, their role in such cases also comes under the purview of the Committee and inclusion of these officers in the Standing Committee should be viewed as an attempt to dilute the directions/guidelines issued by the Supreme Court/Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, the official said in the statement.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had in 2014 issued an advisory on the monitoring of investigations to ensure that the investigating officers, as well as prosecuting officers, discharge their duties.

The standing committee was initially constituted by the Home Department with the Director of Prosecution as its chairman. However, the standing committee was reconstituted with the approval of Delhi Home Minister with Senior Standing Counsel (Criminal) as Chairman in violation of rules, the official claimed.

The proposal for reconstituting the committee was also not placed before the then LG for his opinion as Services and Police were outside the purview of the AAP government at that point, he added.
Uttar Pradesh Assembly Speaker Satish Mahana, on the eve of winter session of Vidhan Sabha commencing here from Tuesday, convened a meeting of leaders of all political parties represented in the assembly. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath also attended the meeting.

Addressing the meeting, Mahana said, There is a perception in the country that meaningful debates take place in UP assembly sessions, work done by the state government is projected very well, opposition puts forward their opinions very well. I hope this will continue in the upcoming session and there will be a debate in the House on important issues.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, welcoming the leaders of the political parties, said the winter session would be the third session of this year. I am confident that the winter session would be conducted as per the established parliamentary conventions and dignity. State assembly is a forum for meaningful debates on the issues concerning the people and all members have contributed in the conduct of the proceedings of the House in a meaningful and positive manner, which has received domestic and global acclaim, the chief minister said.

He added, UP on the count of population is the biggest state of the country and is developing at a fast pace.

The chief minister appreciated the role of the leaders of opposition parties, saying development of the state was now a big issue for the opposition parties.

It is nothing short of a miracle to see the mention of Uttar Pradesh in other state assemblies, the chief minister said.

Yogi Adityanath said the assembly, by conducting its proceedings as per parliamentary conventions, could send a strong message to the common people of the state.

Yogi Adityanath also directed the principal secretary (home) to ensure proper security arrangements at the residence of the legislators.

Leaders of all parties praised the government for extending financial medical assistance to common people of the state on their recommendation.

The chief minister said there should be discrimination and no party politics in giving medical assistance to the people as all were citizens of Uttar Pradesh.

Yogi Adityanath on the occasion also formally released the revised Rules of Business for the Conduct of the Proceedings of the Vidhan Sabha, 2023.

Speaker Satish Mahana sought the cooperation of the members of all political parties for the meaningful conduct of the proceedings of the assembly. He urged the members to ensure their presence in the House during the session, saying mere marking the attendance served no purpose.

Leaders of all political parties assured the speaker of extending their cooperation for the smooth conduct of the proceedings of the assembly.

The speaker also held separate meetings with the officials of UP Police and Home Department for the review of the security arrangements.

Addressing the meeting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna also sought the cooperation of the leaders of the opposition parties. He said that meaningful debates as per parliamentary convention was the sole solution to all problems and grievances of the people.

Samajwadi Party chief whip Manoj Pandey represented his party in the meeting as leader of opposition and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav was in Chennai on Monday.

Ram Nivas Verma from Apna Dal (Sonelel), Rajpal Baliyan from Rashtriya Lok Dal, Anil Kumar Tripathi from NISHAD Party, Aradhana Mishra from Congress, Raghuraj Pratap Singh, Umashankar Singh from Bahujan Samaj Party also attended the meeting.
State BJP president Babulal Marandi today took stock of the situation by meeting the relatives of those who died of brain malaria and the families suffering from the disease in Kutlo village of Littipara and Jolo Barago village of Sundarpahari. The BJP chief also expressed grief and anger over Chief Minister Hemant Soren did not take out time to meet the family members of those who are affected with disease despite camping in Santhal Pargana.

Marandi said that it seems surprising that CM came to Pakur and Barhet, stayed for two days but did not even go to the malaria affected villages and meet the victims and affected people, this is sad. Perhaps the Chief Minister did not come to the affected villages because he is scared of getting affected with disease if he visits the villages. Marandi said that the Chief Minister had a helicopter, if he wanted he could have easily visited one or two villages and inquired about the well-being of the victims. Only if we understand the problems of the people, will the right solution be found. The government talks about villages but if it does not go there where people are suffering, poor and in trouble, then what can it say.

Earlier, Marandi reached the village located in difficult terrain riding the bike covering a distance of 8 km.

Marandi said that the Government of Indias tap water scheme should be implemented here and the chief minister should direct the state officers in this regard.

There is no need for a week or a month for this. If the work is done on a war footing, it will take only two days,

There is no proper transportation system. There is complete mud in Nawadih. It is natural that if there is this kind of filth, mosquitoes will breed and people will fall ill. The road needs to be repaired immediately, he added.

Littipada, Sunderpahari is a malaria zone. The government should run a special drive here, so that there is not only prevention but also a permanent solution. There is also a need to pay attention to village facilities. If the road is good then there will be no water logging and hence mosquitoes will also not breed. The government should work in this direction immediately, Marandi pointed out.

Marandi said there is no good arrangement of beds in Littipara Hospital. Nowadays everything is portable. There is no problem anywhere. It is winter season, blankets should also be provided to the poor, he added.
As long as I am there, under no circumstances the Lugu Pahar Hydel Pumped Storage Project proposed by Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) Limited will be allowed to be established on Lugu Pahad, the religious heritage of tribal Santalis. In any case, the work will be done to preserve Lugu mountain, the religious heritage of faith and belief of the tribal community, said Chief Minister Hemant Soren while addressing people as the chief guest of the closing ceremony of the International Sarna Dharma Mahasammelan organized on the occasion of Kartik Purnima at Lugu mountain, the religious heritage of faith and belief of the tribal community.

The Chief Minister said that Luguburu has been run by the ancestors since ancient times. Just as society is becoming aware with time, in the same way tribal Sarna religion should also move forward.

The Chief Minister said that tribal communities are worshipers of nature. They have been keeping the mountains green. We tribal Santhals are certainly poor, but till date we do not look at anyone's religion or anything wrong with them. We want to live always in peace and harmony. The Chief Minister said that the history of Luguburu has to be preserved.

He said that if this does not happen then how will the coming generations know about this? Work should be done on this. We have to be conscious of our religion and perform our duty. Education is necessary for every society. Earlier the battle was fought with bow and arrow, now the battle is fought with intelligence. Therefore education is important.

On this occasion, Minister Champai Soren, Minister Baby Devi, former MLA cum Minister of State Yogendra Mahato, President of Luguburu Ghantabari Babuli Soren, Vice President Baharam Hansda, Secretary Lobin Murmu, Deputy Secretary Mithilesh Kisku, Deputy Commissioner Bokaro, Superintendent of Police Bokaro and thousands of devotees were present.
With the aim of equipping Uttar Pradesh with the best health services and facilities, the Yogi Adityanath government has prepared a comprehensive plan to upgrade government hospitals in the state and the implementation of this extensive plan has already begun.

In addition, continuous efforts are being made to ensure that the benefits of the National Health Mission and the PM Health Care Schemes reach the maximum number of people in UP.

The state government has stepped up efforts to complete projects related to the Prime Minister Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) and the 15th Finance Commission.

According to Chief Minister Yogis intentions, the Medical Health and Family Welfare Department has initiated preparations to complete projects related to PM-ABHIM and the 15th Finance Commission.

To ensure the fulfillment and inspection of these projects, agencies will be selected as dedicated project management units, and the department has invited applications through the Request for Proposal (RFP) medium to complete the selection process.

Under the National Health Mission, work is being done on various projects related to PM-ABHIM and the 15th Finance Commission in the state. Work is underway for the construction and operation of a total of 17,788 Ayushman Bharat Health Wellness Centres in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Assam, Manipur and Meghalaya. Similarly, in urban areas, the construction and operation process of 11,044 Ayushman Bharat Health and Wellness Centres is going on.

In high-focus states, including Uttar Pradesh, the process of providing assistance and grants to 3,382 block public health units is also underway. Similarly, work is going on projects like critical care hospitals, integrated district public health laboratories, monitoring the spread of infectious and communicable diseases and the integrated health information platform (IHIP).

It may be mentioned here that a total of Rs 9,715.74 crore is being allocated by the Central government to Uttar Pradesh in the five years between the financial years 2021-22 to 2025-26 for the completion of all these projects. In this regard, applications have been invited from various agencies through the RFP medium by the National Health Mission, UP in Lucknow. The agency selected will be responsible for establishing and operating the project management unit at the departments headquarters, facilitating the swift identification, inspection and operation of ongoing projects across the state.

The agency that will be included in the support of NHM-UPs project management unit will have huge responsibility. During the contract period, it will be responsible for monitoring the physical progress and quality control of services provided by partners under the Indian government/NHM-funded construction activities.

It will also need to develop monitoring mechanisms and reporting templates for oversight and reporting on the physical progress and quality of services. Besides, the project management unit will need to develop a systematic process for coordination, field visits, information technology-based monitoring portals and dashboards, as well as data collection and presentation.

In this regard, appropriate manpower must also be deployed, including a team leader, a quality specialist, a state-level civil engineer, a geographic information specialist, a hospital planner, a microbiology specialist, a pathologist, a design and architecture lead, two IT experts, an electrical engineer, six data analysts and monitoring-evaluation experts, a finance specialist, and 18 division-level civil engineers and system specialists.
Months after using a drone to deliver pensions to beneficiaries residing in remote hamlets, a woman Sarpanch in Nuapada district has adopted a novel way to fight the plastic menace.

Saroj Devi Agrawal, the Sarpanch of Bhaleshwar panchayat under Nuapada Sadar block, has opened a Bartan Bank to supply utensils to villagers to organise community feasts during social functions.

She has purchased several utensils including vessels, pots, buckets, plates and spoons by spending around Rs 75,000 from the village funds. She has opened the utensil bank after holding discussions with the villagers.

Villagers can collect utensils from the Bartan Bank free of cost and return the same soon after holding community feasts. However, the villagers will have to bear the cost if there is any damage to the utensils during the social functions.

The villagers were earlier using plastic plates and other items during social functions. The plastic wastes have emerged as a major threat to our environment. Our Sarpanch has opened a Bartan Bank to fight the plastic menace. The very motive of this initiative is to check the use of plastic in our locality, said Prem Agrawal, a local.

Sarpanch Saroj Devi Agrawal said she has opened the Bartan Bank in one among the nine villages under Bhaleshwar panchayat. Steps would be taken to open similar banks in the remaining eight villages within six months. We have set a target to make our panchayat a plastic-free place, she added.

Notably, Agrawal had grabbed the headlines for using a drone to deliver disability pensions among beneficiaries residing in remote hamlets of Bhaleshwar panchayat in February this year.
The Vigilance police on Monday caught Dr Sanjib Kumar Kar, Ophthalmologist, District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), Subarnapur, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,500 from a person.

Kar had demanded the bribe from the complainant for conducting cataract surgery of his uncle. The said surgery is done free of cost in Government hospitals across the State.

In spite of this, Dr Kar was demanding bribe from patients for doing the surgery. The complainant, being a poor man, requested Dr Kar several times to do the cataract surgery of his uncle, who is an ailing old man and an octogenarian, but he insisted on the bribe to be paid before the surgery.

Soon after the trap, simultaneous searches were carried out on the residential house of Dr Kar n Balangir town, residential Government quarter in the DHH campus, Subarnapur and his clinic at Kalapathar, Subarnapur.

Further, cash of Rs 2.06 lakh was recovered during searches at his residential locations in Sonepur and Balangir, which he could not account for satisfactorily.

Later, Kar was arrested and forwarded to court.
Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday expressed confidence that his party would win the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana with a full majority.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the people of Telangana will vote overwhelmingly for the Congress in the November 30 polls.

"In three states -- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan -- where elections are over, Congress is going to form governments with a clear and absolute majority," Pilot claimed.

He said he is fully confident that a "good" government of Congress will be formed in Telangana and the promises (along with the six guarantees) made in the manifesto will be implemented in a timeline.

"We will run a transparent and sensitive government here," he said and claimed the grand old party is way ahead and people will bless Congress with an overwhelming majority in Telangana.

"People trust in what Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka and Mallikarjun Kharge are telling (during their poll campaigning)," Pilot said.

He alleged that the Telangana Chief Minister (K Chandrasekhar Rao), the ministers and the ruling party leaders have nothing much to boast about in terms of development in the state despite being in power for the last 10 years.

Pilot further claimed that with corruption allegations (against the BRS government), the people are also fed up and they want a change.

He also recalled the role of the grand old party in the creation of Telangana state and also contribution of Congress chief ministers in the development of undivided Andhra Pradesh prior to formation of Telangana.
India is looking at sealing a landmark deal to procure 31 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the US under a government-to-government framework by March with the US Congress expected to clear the supplies in the next few weeks, people familiar with the matter said.

American and Indian government officials will hold the final series of negotiations on the procurement after Washington responds to India's Letter of Request (LoR) for the acquisition of drones from US defence major General Atomics (GA), they said.

India is procuring the long-endurance 'hunter-killer' drones to crank up the surveillance apparatus of the armed forces, especially along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China.

Though the price of the drones will be finalised during the negotiation process, it is estimated that the procurement would cost around USD 3 billion.

The people cited above said New Delhi and Washington will depute their respective teams to firm up the deal including finalising the cost and other nitty-gritty.

The aim is to seal the deal by March next year, they said.

As part of the laid down process, the agreement will be between the Indian government and American authorities and the Pentagon will convey to General Atomics about the requirement of the Indian armed forces, they added.

It is understood that the issue of India's proposed procurement of the drones figured during US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austin's talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi earlier this month.

Asked when the procurement will be finalised, Austin said at a media briefing that it will be announced at the right time.

"Well, again, you know, we've -- at the right time, we'll announce the (deal). I think the government, the officials in the government are doing everything necessary to make sure that that capability... You (India) get that capability as quickly as possible," he said.

In June, both sides also reached an agreement under which American aerospace major General Electric will partner with Hindustan Aeronautics Lts to produce jet engines for Indian military aircraft in India.

The Sea Guardian drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles, including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and over-the-horizon targeting.

While the Navy will get 15 Sea Guardian drones, the Indian Air Force and the Army will each get eight Sky Guardian drones.

The high-altitude long-endurance drones are capable of remaining airborne for over 35 hours and can carry four Hellfire missiles and around 450 kgs of bombs.

In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The lease period has been extended subsequently.
Shares of Lennox International Inc. (NYSE:LII  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $392.09.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Lennox International from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Lennox International from $378.00 to $407.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Lennox International from $400.00 to $415.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, October 16th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Lennox International from $370.00 to $410.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of Lennox International from a sell rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $332.00 to $455.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th.

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Insider Activity at Lennox International

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other Lennox International news, EVP John D. Torres sold 2,251 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.24, for a total transaction of $808,649.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,009 shares in the company, valued at $2,517,913.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink . In other Lennox International news, EVP John D. Torres sold 2,251 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $359.24, for a total transaction of $808,649.24. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,009 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,517,913.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink . Also, Director Todd J. Teske sold 1,000 shares of Lennox International stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $366.85, for a total transaction of $366,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 10,106 shares in the company, valued at $3,707,386.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Insiders have sold 12,007 shares of company stock valued at $4,620,119 over the last three months. 2.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in LII. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Lennox International by 55.0% in the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 110,763 shares of the construction companys stock worth $27,613,000 after buying an additional 39,312 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Lennox International by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 515,049 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $167,691,000 after buying an additional 24,870 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Lennox International by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 636,200 shares of the construction companys stock worth $159,067,000 after purchasing an additional 24,536 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Lennox International during the 3rd quarter valued at about $8,067,000. Finally, Comerica Bank bought a new position in Lennox International during the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,070,000. 67.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Lennox International Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Lennox International stock opened at $416.43 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $379.76 and a 200 day moving average price of $350.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 7.03. The stock has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 0.96. Lennox International has a twelve month low of $232.00 and a twelve month high of $418.09.

Lennox International (NYSE:LII  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The construction company reported $5.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.73 by $0.64. Lennox International had a net margin of 10.97% and a negative return on equity of 2,262.68%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.28 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $4.10 earnings per share. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Lennox International will post 17.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Lennox International

(Get Free Report

Lennox International Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and markets a range of products for the heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Residential Heating & Cooling, Commercial Heating & Cooling, and Refrigeration.

Further Reading

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Atrium Mortgage Investment Co. (TSE:AI  Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Friday, November 3rd, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be given a dividend of 0.075 per share on Tuesday, December 12th. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th.

Atrium Mortgage Investment Price Performance

Shares of TSE AI opened at C$10.35 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$10.52 and a 200-day simple moving average of C$10.98. The company has a quick ratio of 102.54, a current ratio of 104.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 74.31. The stock has a market capitalization of C$454.47 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.19. Atrium Mortgage Investment has a 52 week low of C$9.76 and a 52 week high of C$12.48.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on AI. Laurentian set a C$13.00 price objective on shares of Atrium Mortgage Investment in a report on Thursday, November 16th. TD Securities cut their price target on Atrium Mortgage Investment from C$13.00 to C$12.50 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 16th. Finally, Fundamental Research set a C$13.97 price objective on Atrium Mortgage Investment and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 15th.

Atrium Mortgage Investment Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Atrium Mortgage Investment Corporation, a non-bank lender, provides residential and commercial mortgages services in Canada. The company offers various types of mortgage loans, such as land and development financing, construction and mezzanine financing, and commercial term and bridge financing services for residential, multi-residential, and commercial real properties.

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Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its position in Toast, Inc. (NYSE:TOST  Free Report) by 2.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,855 shares of the companys stock after selling 1,212 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.s holdings in Toast were worth $1,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its position in shares of Toast by 99,668.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 36,462,253 shares of the companys stock worth $822,953,000 after acquiring an additional 36,425,706 shares in the last quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Toast by 3,508.4% during the first quarter. Altimeter Capital Management LP now owns 18,041,796 shares of the companys stock worth $3,933,007,000 after purchasing an additional 17,541,796 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Toast by 23.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 27,413,189 shares of the companys stock worth $458,348,000 after buying an additional 5,232,858 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Toast by 20.7% in the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 28,883,270 shares of the companys stock valued at $512,678,000 after buying an additional 4,956,535 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Toast by 844.9% in the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,801,500 shares of the companys stock valued at $68,541,000 after buying an additional 3,399,200 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 60.29% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Toast from $25.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Friday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Toast from $31.00 to $20.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Toast from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $18.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, November 10th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Toast from $22.00 to $25.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Toast from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an underweight rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Toast

In other news, COO Aman Narang sold 248,509 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total transaction of $5,072,068.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 1,143,549 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $23,339,835.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Christopher P. Comparato sold 58,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.22, for a total transaction of $1,172,760.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 209,382 shares in the company, valued at $4,233,704.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Aman Narang sold 248,509 shares of Toast stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.41, for a total value of $5,072,068.69. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 1,143,549 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $23,339,835.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 402,322 shares of company stock worth $7,938,852. 13.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Toast Trading Up 1.2 %

TOST stock opened at $14.19 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.84 and a 200-day moving average of $20.15. Toast, Inc. has a 12-month low of $13.77 and a 12-month high of $27.00.

Toast (NYSE:TOST  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.11) by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.03 billion. Toast had a negative return on equity of 27.94% and a negative net margin of 8.59%. Toasts revenue was up 37.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Toast, Inc. will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Toast Company Profile

(Free Report)

Toast, Inc operates a cloud-based digital technology platform for the restaurant industry in the United States and Ireland. The company offers Toast POS, a software module that integrates payment processing with point of sale functionality; Toast Invoicing that allows restaurants to send invoices and collect payment; Toast Mobile Order & Pay, which allows guests to scan a QR code to browse the menu, order, and pay from mobile; Kitchen Display System software that connects the house with the kitchen staff; and Multi-Location Management, a tool to manage operations and configure menus across multiple locations and channels.

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Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Free Report) by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,471 shares of the information technology services providers stock after acquiring an additional 3,792 shares during the quarter. Bessemer Group Inc.s holdings in Fidelity National Information Services were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. EA Series Trust purchased a new position in shares of Fidelity National Information Services in the second quarter worth about $230,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Fidelity National Information Services by 29.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,909 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB purchased a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Information Services in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,911,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fidelity National Information Services by 78.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 130,921 shares of the information technology services providers stock valued at $7,113,000 after purchasing an additional 57,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Fidelity National Information Services by 241.5% during the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,170,829 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $63,577,000 after buying an additional 827,952 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.67% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ellen R. Alemany purchased 855 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were bought at an average price of $53.00 per share, for a total transaction of $45,315.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,598 shares in the company, valued at $243,694. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.68% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on FIS shares. Wolfe Research raised Fidelity National Information Services from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $65.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Stephens lifted their target price on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Fidelity National Information Services in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Fidelity National Information Services in a research report on Friday, October 6th. They set a market perform rating and a $56.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Fidelity National Information Services from $79.00 to $73.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $66.00.

Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Fidelity National Information Services

Fidelity National Information Services Price Performance

Shares of Fidelity National Information Services stock opened at $55.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.76 and a current ratio of 0.76. The business has a 50-day moving average of $53.07 and a 200 day moving average of $55.29. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $46.91 and a 12 month high of $79.32.

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The information technology services provider reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $1.59 by ($0.65). Fidelity National Information Services had a negative net margin of 180.32% and a positive return on equity of 13.89%. Equities analysts anticipate that Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fidelity National Information Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be given a dividend of $0.52 per share. This represents a $2.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. Fidelity National Information Servicess dividend payout ratio is currently -5.08%.

Fidelity National Information Services Profile

(Free Report)

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc provides technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Merchant Solutions, and Capital Market Solutions segments. The Banking Solutions segment provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; electronic funds transfer and network; card and retail payment; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions.

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Canso Credit Income Fund (TSE:PBY.UN  Get Free Report) announced a monthly dividend on Wednesday, November 29th, TickerTech reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 11th will be paid a dividend of 0.0417 per share on Monday, December 11th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th.

Canso Credit Income Fund Price Performance

TSE PBY.UN opened at C$14.16 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of C$14.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of C$14.21. Canso Credit Income Fund has a 12-month low of C$13.36 and a 12-month high of C$14.61.

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About Canso Credit Income Fund

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Canso Credit Trust  Canso Credit Income Fund is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by Lysander Funds Limited. The fund is managed by Canso Investment Counsel Ltd. It invests in the fixed income markets of Canada. The fund primarily invests in corporate bonds. It employs fundamental analysis with bottom-up and deep value approach to create its portfolio.

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Harvey Norman (OTCMKTS:HNORY  Get Free Report) is one of 99 public companies in the Specialty Retail industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its competitors? We will compare Harvey Norman to related businesses based on the strength of its dividends, analyst recommendations, valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

35.6% of shares of all Specialty Retail companies are held by institutional investors. 33.5% of shares of all Specialty Retail companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

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Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Harvey Norman and its competitors top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Net Income Price/Earnings Ratio Harvey Norman N/A N/A 12.56 Harvey Norman Competitors $3.77 billion $173.75 million 327.28

Analyst Recommendations

Harvey Normans competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Harvey Norman. Harvey Norman is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Harvey Norman and its competitors, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Harvey Norman 1 1 0 0 1.50 Harvey Norman Competitors 408 1316 2273 19 2.47

As a group, Specialty Retail companies have a potential upside of 35.62%. Given Harvey Normans competitors stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Harvey Norman has less favorable growth aspects than its competitors.

Profitability

This table compares Harvey Norman and its competitors net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Harvey Norman N/A N/A N/A Harvey Norman Competitors -2.38% -3,464.99% 3.98%

Summary

Harvey Norman competitors beat Harvey Norman on 9 of the 11 factors compared.

About Harvey Norman

(Get Free Report)

Harvey Norman Holdings Limited engages in the integrated retail, franchise, property, and digital system businesses. It franchises and sells products in various categories, including electrical goods, furniture, computerized communications, bedding and Manchester, kitchen and small appliances, bathroom and tiles, and carpets and floorings. It operates complexes under the Harvey Norman, Domayne, and Joyce Mayne brands in Australia; and company-operated stores under the Harvey Norman brand in New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Slovenia, Croatia, Ireland, and Northern Ireland. It is also involved in the property investment and media placement activities; acts as a lessor of premises to Harvey Norman, Domayne, and Joyce Mayne franchisees and other third parties, as well as retail properties; development and sale of properties; and provision of consumer finance and other commercial loans and advances. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Homebush West, Australia.

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Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL  Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of Hold from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, nine have given a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $194.64.

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $213.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd.

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Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $187.24 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a 1 year low of $140.13 and a 1 year high of $191.41. The company has a market cap of $53.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.44, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.04. The companys fifty day simple moving average is $171.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $3.99 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.81%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab will post 5.18 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Comgest Global Investors S.A.S. now owns 11,952 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $2,231,000 after buying an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,490 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $278,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. First Foundation Advisors raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,709 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $319,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ecolab

(Get Free Report

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.

Further Reading

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InnovAge (OTCMKTS:INNV  Get Free Report) and Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA (NYSE:FMS  Get Free Report) are both medical companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

12.2% of InnovAge shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 5.8% of Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.4% of InnovAge shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

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Earnings & Valuation

This table compares InnovAge and Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaAs revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio InnovAge $699.35 million 1.16 -$6.52 million ($0.29) -20.52 Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA $20.44 billion 0.58 $709.50 million $0.82 24.48

Analyst Recommendations

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has higher revenue and earnings than InnovAge. InnovAge is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for InnovAge and Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score InnovAge 0 2 0 0 2.00 Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA 1 6 2 0 2.11

InnovAge currently has a consensus target price of $8.00, suggesting a potential upside of 34.45%. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a consensus target price of $17.85, suggesting a potential downside of 11.06%. Given InnovAges higher probable upside, equities analysts clearly believe InnovAge is more favorable than Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA.

Profitability

This table compares InnovAge and Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaAs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets InnovAge -6.17% -13.04% -7.48% Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA 2.30% 4.85% 2.09%

Volatility & Risk

InnovAge has a beta of 0.09, meaning that its stock price is 91% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA has a beta of 1.04, meaning that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA beats InnovAge on 10 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About InnovAge

(Get Free Report)

InnovAge Holding Corp. manages and provides a range of medical and ancillary services for seniors in need of care and support to live independently in their homes and communities. The company manages its business through Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) approach. It also offers in-home care services consisting of skilled, unskilled, and personal care; in-center services, such as primary care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, dental services, mental health and psychiatric services, meals, and activities; transportation to the PACE center and third-party medical appointments; and care management. The company serves participants in the United States; and operates PACE centers in Colorado, California, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The company was formerly known as TCO Group Holdings, Inc. and changed its name to InnovAge Holding Corp. in January 2021. InnovAge Holding Corp. was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

About Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA

(Get Free Report)

Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA provides dialysis and related services for individuals with renal diseases in Germany, North America, and internationally. The company offers dialysis treatment and related laboratory and diagnostic services through a network of outpatient dialysis clinics; materials, training, and patient support services comprising clinical monitoring, follow-up assistance, and arranging for delivery of the supplies to the patient's residence; and dialysis services under contract to hospitals in the United States for the hospitalized end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients and for patients suffering from acute kidney failure. It also develops, manufactures, and distributes various health care products, including polysulfone dialyzers, hemodialysis machines, peritoneal dialysis cyclers, peritoneal dialysis solutions, hemodialysis concentrates, solutions and granulates, bloodlines, renal pharmaceuticals, systems for water treatment, and acute cardiopulmonary and apheresis products. In addition, the company develops, acquires, and in-licenses renal pharmaceuticals; offers renal medications and supplies to patients at homes or to dialysis clinics; and provides vascular, cardiovascular, endovascular specialty, vascular care ambulatory surgery center, and physician nephrology and cardiology services. The company sells its products to dialysis clinics, hospitals, and specialized treatment clinics directly, as well as through local sales forces, independent distributors, dealers, and sales agents. Fresenius Medical Care AG & Co. KGaA was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Bad Homburg, Germany.

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JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:ESS  Free Report) by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 805,917 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after buying an additional 83,628 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.s holdings in Essex Property Trust were worth $188,827,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ESS. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 7.6% in the first quarter. Wetherby Asset Management Inc. now owns 635 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $219,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC raised its position in Essex Property Trust by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Essex Property Trust by 25.3% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 243 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $83,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Essex Property Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 1,957 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $409,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, RB Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Essex Property Trust by 1.7% during the first quarter. RB Capital Management LLC now owns 3,003 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. 92.93% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Essex Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of ESS opened at $214.72 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $213.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $225.43. The company has a quick ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Essex Property Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $195.03 and a twelve month high of $248.80. The company has a market cap of $13.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.82.

Essex Property Trust Dividend Announcement

Analysts Set New Price Targets

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 29th were given a $2.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. This represents a $9.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Essex Property Trusts payout ratio is 113.37%.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ESS. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Essex Property Trust from $226.00 to $225.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 17th. Truist Financial lowered shares of Essex Property Trust from a buy rating to a hold rating and boosted their target price for the company from $255.00 to $266.00 in a research note on Monday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Essex Property Trust from $247.00 to $244.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Essex Property Trust from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $225.00 in a report on Thursday, November 9th. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of Essex Property Trust in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued a neutral rating and a $225.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $238.44.

View Our Latest Research Report on Essex Property Trust

About Essex Property Trust

(Free Report)

Essex Property Trust, Inc, an S&P 500 company, is a fully integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, develops, redevelops, and manages multifamily residential properties in selected West Coast markets. Essex currently has ownership interests in 252 apartment communities comprising approximately 62,000 apartment homes with an additional property in active development.

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Shares of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NYSE:NCLH  Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of Hold from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $18.04.

Several analysts recently weighed in on NCLH shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $14.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Norwegian Cruise Line from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Wednesday, November 15th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $16.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Norwegian Cruise Line from $20.00 to $17.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. Finally, Redburn Partners raised Norwegian Cruise Line from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $25.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, September 14th.

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Check Out Our Latest Research Report on NCLH

Norwegian Cruise Line Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE NCLH opened at $14.37 on Wednesday. Norwegian Cruise Line has a 1 year low of $11.76 and a 1 year high of $22.75. The firm has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.56 and a beta of 2.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 28.80, a quick ratio of 0.27 and a current ratio of 0.30. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $14.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.10.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NYSE:NCLH  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported $0.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.15. Norwegian Cruise Line had a negative return on equity of 177.38% and a negative net margin of 2.60%. The business had revenue of $2.54 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.53 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.70) earnings per share. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 57.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Norwegian Cruise Line will post 0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Norwegian Cruise Line

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,148 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line by 5,020.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,229 shares of the companys stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,205 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 272.7% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,856 shares of the companys stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,358 shares in the last quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Norwegian Cruise Line by 46.2% in the second quarter. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,900 shares of the companys stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Householder Group Estate & Retirement Specialist LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Norwegian Cruise Line during the third quarter worth approximately $42,000. 60.49% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Norwegian Cruise Line

(Get Free Report

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a cruise company in North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, and internationally. The company operates the Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, and Regent Seven Seas Cruises brands. It offers itineraries ranging from three days to a 180-days calling on various locations, including destinations in Scandinavia, Russia, the Mediterranean, the Greek Isles, Alaska, Canada and New England, Hawaii, Asia, Tahiti and the South Pacific, Australia and New Zealand, Africa, India, South America, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean.

Read More

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Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Evergy, Inc. (NYSE:EVRG  Free Report) by 23.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 345,734 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 65,475 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co.s holdings in Evergy were worth $20,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in EVRG. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Evergy by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 14,198 shares of the companys stock worth $969,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its stake in Evergy by 25.8% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 5,924 shares of the companys stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 1,214 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Evergy by 5.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 12,622 shares of the companys stock valued at $863,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Evergy by 1,332.5% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 374,061 shares of the companys stock valued at $25,563,000 after acquiring an additional 347,949 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of Evergy in the 1st quarter worth about $411,000. 82.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on EVRG shares. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Evergy from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th. Bank of America raised shares of Evergy from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Evergy from $65.00 to $56.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Evergy in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an equal weight rating and a $56.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Evergy from $62.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $54.40.

Evergy Price Performance

NYSE EVRG opened at $50.55 on Monday. The firms fifty day simple moving average is $50.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.08, a P/E/G ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Evergy, Inc. has a 12-month low of $46.92 and a 12-month high of $65.39.

Evergy (NYSE:EVRG  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The company reported $1.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.84 by $0.04. Evergy had a return on equity of 8.59% and a net margin of 12.16%. The firm had revenue of $1.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. Analysts forecast that Evergy, Inc. will post 3.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Evergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 22nd will be issued a dividend of $0.6425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 21st. This represents a $2.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.08%. This is an increase from Evergys previous quarterly dividend of $0.61. Evergys dividend payout ratio is 86.82%.

Evergy Company Profile

(Free Report)

Evergy, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in Kansas and Missouri, the United States. The company generates electricity through coal, hydroelectric, landfill gas, uranium, and natural gas and oil sources, as well as solar, wind, other renewable sources.

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#GivingTuesday 2023 is November 28, and no matter where your heart lies, there is a worthy non-profit in Dayton that needs you.

Together we give - November 28, 2023

Following Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday is defined as a global generosity movement and simply encourages people to do good. A charitable gift in the name of a loved one is a thoughtful gift that recognizes whats important to the receiver. Memberships and gift cards also make wonderful holiday presents.

No matter where your heart lies, there is a worthy non-profit in Dayton that needs you.

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Addiction affects families and can make the holidays especially tough. FOA, Families of Addicts, needs your support to give hope and help families and individuals struggling with addiction. FOA accepts monetary donations and welcomes volunteers.

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If furry friends are your preference, SICSA Pet Adoption Center is hosting their annual Mediocre Pet Portrait Fundraiser through 11:59pm Giving Tuesday. Just make a gift of $10 or more. To receive a portrait, you must attach a photo of your pet to your donation within the fundraiser.

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Whether you give money, time, a voice, or goods supporting the causes you care about makes you feel good. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said: To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
Vertical drilling underway during the rescue operation to extract the 41 workers trapped inside the under-construction Silkyara Bend-Barkot Tunnel, in Uttarkashi district, Sunday. (Image: PTI)

New Delhi: As horizontal drilling work at the collapsed Silkyara tunnel site remained halted for more than 48 hours, rescuers began vertical drilling on war footing to evacuate 41 workers trapped inside for more than 14 days.

Officials said it will take four days to reach workers through the vertical escape passage, as the work to retrieve parts of the broken auger machine from under the debris will continue till Monday morning.

Briefing the media in the national capital, NDMA member Lt. Gen. Syed Ata Hasnain (Retd) said that as many as six plans, including vertical and manual digging, are being executed to rescue the trapped workers, but the best option so far is horizontal drilling, under which 47 metres of drilling have been completed.

On Sunday, officials overseeing the rescue operation at the incident site said that, as planned earlier, Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) has started vertical drilling to create a 1.2-metre-diamter escape passage.

According to officials, nearly 86 metres of escape passage will be required from the chainage distance of 305 metres to reach the workers from the top of the tunnel. Vertical drilling of 19.2 metres was done on Sunday.

"We hope SJVNL will be able to drill through 86 metres to open the tunnel in the next four days, as we have kept the 100-hour deadline for it," additional secretary ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) Mahmood Ahmed said.

Mr Ahmed said although drilling will take around 70 hours, the four-day deadline for escape passage from the top of the tunnel includes the time needed to switch from the present machine to another.

"Two machines will be required for drilling 86 metres of passage of 1.2 metres in diameter, as one machine can drill only 40 metres," said Mr Ahmed.

Meanwhile, work on the horizontal escape passage remained hampered for more than 48 hours after it was stopped on Friday evening. Rescue work officials said experts and technicians were still trying to take out the broken shaft and broken blades of the auger machine stuck inside the collapsed tunnel rubble.

"Around 13 metres of the stuck shaft still remain inside the debris. All efforts are being made to clear it by Monday morning. Plasma cutters, laser cutters and glass cutters are being used to cut and remove stuck parts of the machine from the debris," said Uttarakhand government nodal officer deployed for rescue operations Neeraj Khairwal.

Mr Khairwal said that a laser cutting machine was flown from DRDO Hyderabad, while a plasma cutter was brought from Chandigarh on Saturday night.

Besides, a team of ONGC experts from Rajahmundry was also flown down to the tunnel sites to expedite the disposal of trapped auger machine parts. A unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, arrived at the site on Sunday to assist in the rescue operations.

"We are getting the desired result as new equipment has 40 per cent more efficiency. It's tough and challenging as metal cutting work is being done inside the 800-mm-diameter steel pipeline with equipment like plasma, laser and gas cutters that generate a lot of heat and temperature," said Mr Khairwal.
Finance Minister T Harish Rao made statements on Rythu Bandhu during the election campaign which was widely covered by the media. (X.com)

Hyderabad: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday withdrew its permission to the Telangana state government to deposit financial assistance under the Rythu Bandhu scheme into farmers accounts, after it found that BRS star campaigner and finance minister T. Harish Rao had flouted the condition to not publicise the release of money "and thereby disturb the level playing field."

The ECI decision stirred the hornets nest with the BRS and the Congress holding each other responsible for stoppage of the aid while the BJP played it safe by reiterating its stand to not oppose the implementation of an ongoing scheme.

The BRS urged the ECI to revoke the order by treating Harish Raos statement as an "expression of gratitude" to the commission, while Pradesh Congress Committee chief A. Revanth Reddy reassured farmers that the Congress would form government and deposit Rs 15,000 per acre in January.

Revanth Reddy went a step ahead and gave a call to farmers to chase away Harish Rao who he said was responsible for the ECIs reversal of its earlier go-ahead for the disbursal of the amount.

The BRS launched a massive campaign with Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and ministers K.T. Rama Rao and Harish Rao and scores of leaders accusing the Congress of stalling the funds distribution. They all quoted a representation made by Telangana Congress vice-president G. Niranjan to the ECI as proof to nail their political rival.

However, the petition made by Niranjan to Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Sunday did not seek withdrawal of permission but only requested the ECI to "put restrictions on the BRS to not mention the Rythu Bandhu disbursement to farmers in their political campaigning."

The BRS leaders also took to social media, forwarding a letter purportedly written by the PCC chief to the ECI seeking stoppage of Rythu Bandhu. Revanth Reddy, however, tweeted on X (formerly Twitter) that the BRS had created a 'fake letter' and was indulging in false propaganda against the Congress, fearing defeat in the elections.

He requested the ECI and Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj to initiate action against the fake letter.

Disbursal of the Rythu Bandhu assistance was caught in controversy every since the BRS government decided to advance its release for rabi season to November, in contrast to previous years when the amount was released between December and February.

Sensing that the ruling party might do a repeat of 2018 when it deposited the amount on polling day, and made electoral gains, Congress leaders including Revanth Reddy and former TPCC chief N. Uttam Kumar Reddy had met ECI officials in Delhi and urged them to direct the government to disburse funds before the commencement of filing of nominations in the first week of November to prevent what they called misuse of the scheme to fetch votes.

The EC did not respond to the Congress request but gave the go-ahead for disbursement on November 24 knowing that it cannot take place for the subsequent three days due to bank holidays. The EC also put a condition that amount should be disbursed on November 28, just two days before polling.

"They could have waited till December 1 but the go-ahead was part of the BJP and BRS tacit understanding," Revenath Reddy had then alleged.

Soon after the ECI clearance, Harish Rao followed by Chandrashekar Rao and Rama Rao repeatedly made announcements on farmers receiving amount on Tuesday.

In a dramatic way the BRS leaders said by Tuesday morning even before farmers could have their breakfast their mobile phones will send notifications on deposit of funds in their bank accounts. "Your mobiles will sound ting.. ting.. ting" they said infusing enthusiasm among the crowds in several public meetings.
(Representational Image

Hyderabad: A potent Western Disturbance (WD) is set to make its presence felt in the northern regions of Telangana, with Adilabad, Nirmal, and Nizamabad experiencing powerful storms.

The impact is expected to extend further, covering Jagitial and Asifabad, and progressing into Mancherial and Peddapalli within the next few hours.

The Indian Meteorological Department - Hyderabad has issued warnings for light thunderstorms and light to moderate rain in several districts, with maximum surface wind speed less than 40 kmph, in gusts, at isolated places over Adilabad, Jagtial, Kamareddy, Kumaram bheem, Mancherial, Nirmal and Nizamabad. Kamareddy, Sangareddy, and Medak too could receive light rains.

As the WD continues its trajectory, Hyderabad braces for isolated rains for the next three days. The city is likely to experience varying intensities of rainfall.

While the storms have already begun in some of the mentioned districts, the capital city can expect sporadic showers, offering respite from a rather dry winter after a couple of rains last week.

The impact of the WD is anticipated to linger over the state until November 29, with the weather system gradually moving towards Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh after affecting Rajasthan and Gujarat, weather experts said.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi alleged that only Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was working from the farmhouse at present; if the BRS was re-elected, the Cabinet will function from their farmhouses. (Image: Twitter)

Hyderabad: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that if the BRS was voted to power again, farmers land would be grabbed by party leaders in the name of Dharani portal, youth would not get jobs, corruption would further rise and debt burden of the state would increase manifold.

She alleged that only Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao was working from the farmhouse at present; if the BRS was re-elected, the Cabinet will function from their farmhouses.

Priyanka Gandhi's campaigning in Kodangal on Monday electrified the atmosphere in the constituency from where TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy is contesting.

Her speech was received with much enthusiasm by the people who recalled her striking resemblance to her grandmother and late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Whenever she talked about Congress bringing "Indiramma Rajyam" into Telangana, it drew loud applause and cheers from the people.

Priyanka Gandhi started her speech with "Jai Bolo Telangana" and the people reciprocated with "Jai Bolo Telangana" electrifying the atmosphere. She heaped praises on Revanth Reddy saying that she came to know how much he cares about the people when she discussed issues facing Kodangal with him.

Asserting that the dreams of Telangana people had been shattered, the Congress leader said there was corruption in the BRS government from the top to bottom and no project including the Kaleshwaram irrigation project, was completed fully as BRS leaders executed these projects with the sole intention of looting public money.

"All big leaders in the BRS will sit in farmhouses and run the government if the BRS is voted to power again. The poor in Telangana will become poorer while the ruling party BRS will become richer," she said.

Priyanka Gandhi on Monday campaigned for Congress candidates in Bhongir, Gadwal and Kodangal. Addressing the election rallies, she alleged that the entire government will run from the farmhouse, if BRS is voted to power again.

"The land, liquor and sand mafia will rule the state. Your lands will be grabbed. There will be no job opportunities for youth," she said.

Appealing to people to vote for the Congress, she listed out the Six Guarantees announced by the party for the benefit of all sections.

"In the last 10 years, all the big BRS leaders have built huge mansions and farmhouses, while the poor and middle class are suffering a lot. The BRS government has nothing to offer for BCS, SCs, STs, middle class and poor. All their policies are for the benefit of big business people only," she said.

She alleged that whether the BJP or BRS, their policy is to just stay in power and become richer. "When elections come, they start poll management. They should be taught that Telangana people are not for sale," the Congress leader said.

Alleging that the BJP supports the BRS in Telangana, while the BRS supports the BJP in Delhi, she said their third friend Asaduddin Owaisi-led AIMIM supports both in the state. MIM fights in 40 to 50 seats in other states, but in Telangana it fields candidates in only nine seats, she said.

"All these three parties are on one side and the Congress is on the other side," she said.

In Kodangal public meeting, Priyanka Gandhi said the BRS government in Telangana and the BJP government in Delhi came to power at the same time 2014, and both the governments were adopting anti-poor and anti-farmer policies.

"Chandrashekhar Rao failed to fulfil his promise on Rs 1 lakh crop loan waiver while Narendra Modi did not come forward to waive off loans of farmers but waived off loans of thousands of crores of loans of his industrialist friends," she said.

Priyanka Gandhi reminded that Sonia Gandhi granted statehood to Telangana with a hope that it will be "Prajala Telangana" (people's Telangana) but the BRS government made it as "Dorala Telangana" (feudal lords) in the last nine years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a meeting at Karimnagar on Monday.(DC Image)

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday gave the BJP in Telangana one final major push ahead of the November 30 Assembly elections, even as he laid the groundwork for the 2024 elections to the Lok Sabha, making it clear that it will be a Modi government again at the Centre and the people of Telangana could make the most of it by ensuring a double-engine sarkar.

Modi, for the third straight day, continued attacking the BRS and its president and Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and members of his family. On Monday, at both his meetings, Modi talked about how "KCR promised Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyamakalu (water, funds, jobs), but only delivered Kanneellu, Mosalu, Nirudyogulu (tears, deceit, unemployed)," hitting the BRS on its major plank on which the struggle for Telangana statehood was based on.

Modi, who addressed two large public meetings, one in Mahbubabad and another in Karimnagar town earlier in the day, also took part in a roadshow in Hyderabad with people lining up the 1.8-km route in thousands, jostling for a glimpse of the Prime Minister amid rapturous chants of "Modi Modi Modi."

He also targeted Rao for what he called "KCRs superstitious beliefs", saying, "KCR is a slave of superstition and as a result, had the Secretariat demolished. His superstitions are such that someone whispered in his ear, If Modis shadow falls on you, then all your dreams will be destroyed. Since that day, he has stayed 50 feet away from me, and hasnt come to the airport to meet me."

He then asked: "Can KCR, who is so superstitious, do anything for Telangana that has technology, and youth with modern thoughts?"

The Prime Minister also declared that after coming to power, the BJP government in Telangana would speed up the probe into the Delhi liquor scams local angles. "Whether it was the delivery of mobiles or money, every aspect connected to the scam will be brought to light. We will also investigate the corruption in irrigation projects. All that loot by the KCR family and BRS leaders will have to be returned to the people," he said.

Among the first actions of a BJP government would be to bring down petrol and diesel prices in Telangana, which, he said, were not reduced by the BRS government. "The day the BJP government is formed and when you go to the petrol pump, you will see that the BJP has started working for the people," he said.

Modi, in his speech in Karimnagar, promised to turn it into a silver city by providing modern training, tools, and funds for its famed filigree workers.

Asking people to vote for the BJP, which will give Telangana its first Chief Minister from the BC community, Modi said: "In a bid to get rid of one disease (BRS), do not acquire another (Congress)."

He said Congress and BRS were alike, and if people voted for Congress, then it would mean a vote for BRS.

"There is no guarantee that they (Congress MLAs) will not go BRS. Saara bikao maal bazaar mein hain. If you do not want KCR, then do not vote for Congress, or they will come back to power through the backdoor. Both parties are synonymous with corruption, dynastic and appeasement politics, something the BJP is not," he said.

Modi also recalled an earlier statement made by him, saying: "KCR came to meet me in Delhi after realising the increasing strength of the BJP. He has been trying to make friends with the BJP for long. But his overtures were rejected as the BJP will never do anything against the wishes of the people of Telangana. After that, the BRS has become hollow and these days, its own leaders are criticising it. And now, the BRS never leaves an opportunity to abuse me."
AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. (Twitter)

Hyderabad: AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao of not meeting common people but only the rich and those from the land, mining, sand and liquor mafias.

He promised that if Congress is voted to power, their Chief Minister will interact with everyone during 'praja darbars' every day.

"Rao lives in a farmhouse and does not meet the poor but is available for the rich and mafia operators," Kharge alleged at a rally in Narsapur in Medak district.

He assured farmers that they will receive Rs 15,000 per acre per year under Rythu Bharosa from the New Year after Congress forms the government next month.

"The BRS government is giving Rs 10,000 per acre per year under Rythu Bandhu only to those people who have lands registered in their names. But the farmers-friendly Congress government will extend the Rythu Bharosa benefits not only to farmers owning lands but also to tenant farmers and agriculture labourers, who will get Rs 12,000 per acre per year," the Congress president added.

Accusing the Chief Minister of looting the people of Telangana, Kharge said, "Rao stole public money from the ORR project, Dharani portal and Kaleshwaram. In 2014, Telangana was a surplus state. Today, it has a loan of Rs 5.60 lakh crore".
TPCC president A. Revanth Reddy. (DC Image)

Hyderabad: Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president A. Revanth Reddy said on Monday that only Congress has the strength to end the rule of feudal lords, and demolish feudal forts that have been offered by the BRS government for the last 10 years.

"The land of Kodangal has taught me not to surrender to anyone even if I am beheaded. If you stand by me, it is my responsibility to bend down whether it is Narendra Modi or KCR. This Kodangal gadda (land) is my adda (hangout) which made your son grow to a position to lead the state," he remarked.

Revanth Reddy wsa addressing public meetings in Kodangal, where he is contesting, and Dornakal on Monday. He said that Kodangal gave him courage and taught him to fight for the cause of farmers, students, and the unemployed for 20 years.

"I am the tree that you planted in Kodangal 20 years ago. KCR, KTR and Harish Rao are now coming to Kodangal carrying an axe on their shoulders. They are trying to cut down this tree that you have grown," the PCC chief said.

"Will you let them do that? Or will you trample them to the ground? KTR, who came from Sircilla, said that he would adopt Kodangal. I am declaring that the Kodangal constituency itself will adopt Telangana. The Congress government will provide employment opportunities to the unemployed youth and give support price for the paddy grown by the farmers," Revanth Reddy said.

Chandrashekhar Rao said that he would build double-bedroom houses to all the poor but not give them to anyone, he alleged.

Revanth Reddy accused Chandrashekhar Rao of looting lakhs of crores and grabbing 10,000 acres of land in the last 10 years. "The Congress government will build a double-bedroom house in Cherlapally jail for sure for Chandrashekhar Rao," Revanth Reddy said.

He said the six guarantees will be implemented when the Congress comes to power and expressed confidence that the Congress flag would fly on Kodangal soil after the Assembly polls.

Revanth Reddy criticised that the Congress gave political opportunities to Redya Naik and his daughter in Dornakal, but they defected from the party to join the BRS and deceived Congress workers. He said that the BRS has done an injustice by not bringing Krishna waters to Dornakal.

Revanth Reddy alleged that there was a conspiracy to deprive the Lambada children of this region of education. All the mafias in the Dornakal constituency like sand mafia, and rice mafia belong to Redya Naiks family, he alleged adding that Redya Naik's family is looting this area like KCR's family.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah while addressing a public meeting in Huzurabad. (Image source:Twitter)

Hyderabad: Union Home Minister Amit Shah said that it was high time that Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Raos car, alluding to the BRS election symbol, was dumped into the garage, once and for all. Shah told voters that a step towards this would be to give a huge mandate to BJP candidate Etala Rajendar.

"Ensure Rajendars resounding win to send across a loud and clear message to Rao. Any vote for Congress will eventually go to the BRS kitty. If you wish to change the government, vote for BJP. Voting for Congress and the BRS will be a continuation of family rule," Shah while addressing a public meeting in Huzurabad.

Alleging that the Congress and the BRS had a tacit pre-poll understanding, Shah claimed that the Congress would support Rao to become Chief Minister, who, as thanksgiving, would help Rahul Gandhi become Prime Minister.

"The PM post is, however, not vacant. The Congress, BRS, and the MIM are all family parties and corruption is endemic in family-run parties. A vote for them will give fillip to corruption and appeasement politics," Shah said.

Reiterating the partys promise, Shah said a candidate from the Backward Classes community would be Chief Minister if the party won the polls. He said that the BJP, on forming a government, would withdraw the four per cent reservation for Muslims and extend the quota to the SC, ST, and BC communities.

He also said that the BRS government was not celebrating Telangana Liberation Day, to mark the anniversary of the erstwhile Nizam state merging with the Indian Union on September 17, 1948, as an official function celebrated fearing the wrath of MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, he said. The Centre started celebrating the day two years ago.

"While the UPA government at the Centre had given Rs 2 lakh crore to undivided Andhra Pradesh in 10 years, the NDA gave Rs 2 lakh crore to Telangana after its formation in 2014," he said to illustrate the Centres support to Telangana.

"VAT will be reduced on petrol and diesel in the first state Cabinet meeting, input subsidy of Rs 2,500 will be given to farmers, MSP of Rs 3,100 will be given for paddy, a National Turmeric Board will be established in Nizamabad and all farmers will have crop insurance," Shah said of what the BJP was offering.

He said households would get four free gas cylinders and health insurance cover if Rs 10 lakh.

Shah assured that the sub-categorisation of reservations for the Scheduled Caste communities would be completed, and the Madiga group would get its due share. He promised to exempt Singareni coal mine workers from paying income tax.

"We will ensure free travel to senior citizens to visit the Ram Mandir after the consecration of the idol on January 22, 2024", he said.

Speaking at the event, Rajendar said, "Rao tried to demoralise us. Unlike other MLAs, I was not allowed to sanction schemes, and protocol was not followed. We should only aim to unseat him, and his aim is to defeat me."

"I call on my opponents to look at the roads and other development works taken up by me. Rao grabbed lands of the poor in Gajwel, which has affected 30,000 farmers."

Later, addressing road shows in Mancherial and Peddapalli, Shah reminded the people that the MLAs who were elected on the Congress ticket had joined the BRS in 2014 and 2018.
There would be no election meetings and road shows. (PTI File Image)

HYDERABAD: Loudspeakers would go silent, jarring DJ sounds and campaign vehicles would disappear from the streets, after the hectic and often bitter election campaign for the November 30 comes to an end at 5 pm on Tuesday, and the silent period begins. Liquor shops would also shut shop till the end of the elections.

Candidates along with three persons would be allowed to visit any place in respective constituencies for campaigning. There would be no election meetings and road shows. Election officials, meanwhile, would collect and collate poll-related material and head out to their polling stations.

Hyderabad and other parts of Telangana witnessed a hectic day on Monday with senior leaders from major political leaders addressing people in an attempt to make their parties win the crucial elections in Telangana. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, and their Cabinet colleagues and Chief Ministers of BJP ruled states who participated in election-related events largely returned home.

From the Congress, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi and TPCC chief Revanth Reddy among others will conclude their campaigns on Tuesday. BRS party leaders, including Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao, participated in public meetings.

While the Congress tried to attract voters and people by announcing six guarantees, the BRS leaders highlighted the Congress promises to cancel Dharani, and three-hour power supply for farmers. The BJP leaders focused on their promise to make a BC person the Chief Minister if they came to power in Telangana.

The Election Commission of India (ECI) and Chief Electoral Office (CEO) kept a close vigil on regular issues like seizure of cash, liquor, gold, drugs and freebies and the total seizure crossed `700 crore in Telangana. ECI served notices to Chandrasekhar Rao for making abusive comments, and to Rama Rao for conducting a meeting in T Works.

All district police officers issued prohibitory orders at all polling stations within the radius of more than 200 metres from the polling stations.

The police officials also issued orders asking non-locals to leave the constituencies and districts to their respective places after November 28, 5 pm. If any non-locals are found staying in any constituency by participating in electoral activities, the police would take action.
BJP National President JP Nadda. (PTI Photo)

ADILABAD: BJP national chief J.P. Nadda on Monday appealed to the electorate to "sink the BRS" on November 30 "like the pillars of Kaleshwaram that sunk due to corruption", as he likened the ruling party with the Congress, calling them two sides of the same coin.

Reiterating during election meetings that the BJP, if voted to power, would make a BC leader the Chief Minister, Nadda ramped up his attack on the BRS.

Nadda described both BRS and Congress as Brastachar (corrupt) and Parivarwadi (family-run) parties, charging the Congress of being involved in various scams, including coal, Commonwealth Games, Agusta Helicopter and 2G, and the BRS of being involved in land, sand and liquor scams.

Nadda appealed to the people to vote for Aruna Tara, Dr Boga Shravani and Aravind, the partys candidates, in the elections. Nadda said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country achieved a lot and moved forward on various fronts in the world.

Addressing a road show in Jagtial and public meetings in Bodhan, Banswada and Jukkal on the day, he termed the BRS "Brastachar Rakshashula Samithi", and said that the BJP was the only party working to empower SCs, STs and OBCs.

"A Rs 35,000-crore project increased to Rs 1.20 lakh-crore project in the name of redesign and it has become an adda of corruption and BRS is using it as ATM," Nadda said, referencing the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme.

Adding the Dharani portal to his list of BRS scams, he claimed the ruling party snatched lakhs of acres from the poor by defrauding them.

Nadda questioned the BRS on the unfulfilled promise of 2BHK houses, seeking to know where the funds allotted under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by the Centre were spent.

He described the Congress as an appeasing party, for giving four per cent reservations to Muslims in the state.
Citigroup Inc. lifted its stake in Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:ALSN  Free Report) by 94.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,879 shares of the auto parts companys stock after acquiring an additional 32,924 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.08% of Allison Transmission worth $3,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ALSN. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Allison Transmission by 64.9% during the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 460 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Allison Transmission by 2.5% in the first quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,193 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $597,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in Allison Transmission by 8.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,919 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Allison Transmission by 115.6% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 817 shares of the auto parts companys stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 438 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Allison Transmission by 6.0% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,159 shares of the auto parts companys stock valued at $369,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.57% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other Allison Transmission news, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.19, for a total transaction of $120,380.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,788 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,010,469.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO G Frederick Bohley sold 4,950 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $298,584.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 67,368 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,063,637.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP John Coll sold 2,000 shares of Allison Transmission stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.19, for a total value of $120,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 16,788 shares in the company, valued at $1,010,469.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Allison Transmission Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of Allison Transmission stock opened at $54.18 on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $56.22 and its 200 day moving average is $55.95. The firm has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.69, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.86. Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. has a one year low of $41.08 and a one year high of $61.53.

Allison Transmission (NYSE:ALSN  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The auto parts company reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.72 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $736.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $764.08 million. Allison Transmission had a return on equity of 62.80% and a net margin of 21.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc. will post 7.01 EPS for the current year.

Allison Transmission Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be paid a $0.23 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. Allison Transmissions dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ALSN shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Allison Transmission from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, October 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $42.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a sell rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Allison Transmission from $49.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Monday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Allison Transmission from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and increased their price objective for the company from $63.00 to $70.00 in a research note on Monday, October 16th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Allison Transmission from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, October 13th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $55.25.

View Our Latest Report on ALSN

Allison Transmission Profile

(Free Report)

Allison Transmission Holdings, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, and sells commercial and defense fully automatic transmissions for medium-and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, and medium-and heavy-tactical U.S. defense vehicles worldwide. The company offers transmissions for various applications, including distribution, refuse, construction, fire, and emergency on-highway trucks; school and transit buses; motor homes; energy, mining, and construction off-highway vehicles and equipment; and wheeled and tracked defense vehicles.

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Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its stake in shares of iShares Morningstar Value ETF (NYSEARCA:ILCV  Free Report) by 9.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 98,116 shares of the companys stock after selling 9,842 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLCs holdings in iShares Morningstar Value ETF were worth $6,527,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its stake in iShares Morningstar Value ETF by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 5,800 shares of the companys stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC boosted its holdings in iShares Morningstar Value ETF by 3.1% in the second quarter. Dfpg Investments LLC now owns 12,708 shares of the companys stock valued at $862,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC boosted its holdings in shares of iShares Morningstar Value ETF by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 25,537 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of iShares Morningstar Value ETF by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 46,455 shares of the companys stock worth $3,090,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in iShares Morningstar Value ETF by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 84,418 shares of the companys stock valued at $5,615,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter.

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iShares Morningstar Value ETF Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ILCV stock opened at $67.07 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $808.19 million, a PE ratio of 16.67 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $64.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $65.78. iShares Morningstar Value ETF has a 52 week low of $60.65 and a 52 week high of $69.42.

iShares Morningstar Value ETF Company Profile

The iShares Morningstar Value ETF (ILCV) is an exchange-traded fund that mostly invests in total market equity. The fund tracks a market cap-weighted index of value stocks, selected from the top 90% of the US market-cap spectrum. ILCV was launched on Jun 28, 2004 and is managed by BlackRock.

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Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Invitation Homes Inc. (NYSE:INVH  Free Report) by 5.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,386 shares of the companys stock after purchasing an additional 8,933 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.s holdings in Invitation Homes were worth $5,792,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in INVH. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp increased its position in Invitation Homes by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 121,898 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,193,000 after acquiring an additional 803 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 22.2% during the 2nd quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 23,252 shares of the companys stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 4,227 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 17.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 47,935 shares of the companys stock worth $1,649,000 after buying an additional 7,235 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 5.5% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 205,685 shares of the companys stock worth $7,076,000 after buying an additional 10,755 shares during the period. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Invitation Homes by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 15,567 shares of the companys stock worth $536,000 after buying an additional 527 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.79% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on INVH shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Invitation Homes from $37.00 to $35.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Invitation Homes from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Invitation Homes from $36.50 to $38.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Oppenheimer raised shares of Invitation Homes from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Invitation Homes in a research note on Friday, September 29th. They set a buy rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $35.09.

Invitation Homes Price Performance

NYSE INVH opened at $33.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 0.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. Invitation Homes Inc. has a 12-month low of $28.49 and a 12-month high of $36.53. The company has a market capitalization of $20.41 billion, a PE ratio of 42.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.93. The firms 50 day moving average is $31.98 and its 200-day moving average is $33.51.

Invitation Homes (NYSE:INVH  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 25th. The company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.44 by ($0.23). Invitation Homes had a net margin of 20.52% and a return on equity of 4.77%. The business had revenue of $617.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.21 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Invitation Homes Inc. will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Invitation Homes Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 6th. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.12%. Invitation Homess payout ratio is 131.65%.

About Invitation Homes

(Free Report)

Invitation Homes, an S&P 500 company, is the nation's premier single-family home leasing company, meeting changing lifestyle demands by providing access to high-quality, updated homes with valued features such as close proximity to jobs and access to good schools. The company's mission, "Together with you, we make a house a home," reflects its commitment to providing homes where individuals and families can thrive and high-touch service that continuously enhances residents' living experiences.

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Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Free Report) is scheduled to post its quarterly earnings results after the market closes on Wednesday, November 29th. Analysts expect Salesforce to post earnings of $2.06 per share for the quarter. Salesforce has set its Q3 guidance at $2.05-2.06 EPS and its FY24 guidance at $8.04-8.06 EPS.Individual interested in listening to the companys earnings conference call can do so using this link.

Salesforce (NYSE:CRM  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 30th. The CRM provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.90 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $8.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.53 billion. Salesforce had a return on equity of 7.67% and a net margin of 4.77%. The firms revenue for the quarter was up 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect Salesforce to post $6 EPS for the current fiscal year and $7 EPS for the next fiscal year.

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Salesforce Price Performance

Shares of CRM opened at $224.38 on Monday. The stocks fifty day moving average is $208.97 and its 200-day moving average is $212.82. Salesforce has a one year low of $126.34 and a one year high of $238.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 141.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02.

Insider Transactions at Salesforce

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Salesforce

In related news, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.64, for a total transaction of $2,949,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 15,086,166 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,966,543,682.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link . In other Salesforce news, CFO Amy E. Weaver sold 16,277 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Monday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $225.73, for a total value of $3,674,207.21. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 35,611 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $8,038,471.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . Also, CEO Marc Benioff sold 15,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.64, for a total value of $2,949,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 15,086,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,966,543,682.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 668,165 shares of company stock worth $141,057,990. Company insiders own 3.70% of the companys stock.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of CRM. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 3rd quarter valued at $257,000. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,151 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $436,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $377,000. Vicus Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Salesforce during the 2nd quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Salesforce by 244.9% during the 2nd quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 2,080 shares of the CRM providers stock valued at $439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 77.52% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on CRM shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $250.00 target price on shares of Salesforce in a research note on Friday, September 15th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Salesforce from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, August 31st. Barclays raised their target price on Salesforce from $245.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on Salesforce from $215.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Thursday, August 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Salesforce from $262.00 to $252.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have assigned a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Salesforce presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $243.39.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on CRM

About Salesforce

(Get Free Report)

Salesforce, Inc provides Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology that brings companies and customers together worldwide. The company's service includes sales to store data, monitor leads and progress, forecast opportunities, gain insights through analytics and relationship intelligence, and deliver quotes, contracts, and invoices; and service that enables companies to deliver trusted and highly personalized customer service and support at scale.

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Citigroup Inc. reduced its position in Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE:SU  Free Report) (TSE:SU) by 22.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 131,830 shares of the oil and gas producers stock after selling 38,327 shares during the quarter. Citigroup Inc.s holdings in Suncor Energy were worth $3,871,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the first quarter worth $31,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its position in Suncor Energy by 260.7% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 1,367 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Suncor Energy by 672.4% in the first quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,429 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 1,244 shares in the last quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. raised its position in Suncor Energy by 49.5% in the first quarter. Thomas J. Herzfeld Advisors Inc. now owns 1,793 shares of the oil and gas producers stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independence Bank of Kentucky purchased a new position in Suncor Energy in the second quarter worth $59,000. 60.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Suncor Energy from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $44.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Suncor Energy in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. TD Securities cut Suncor Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. Desjardins cut Suncor Energy from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Suncor Energy from $51.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a 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 $52.60.

Suncor Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Suncor Energy stock opened at $32.72 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $42.47 billion, a PE ratio of 7.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $31.63. Suncor Energy Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.59 and a 52 week high of $36.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23.

Suncor Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.393 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.80%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 30th. Suncor Energys dividend payout ratio is presently 33.48%.

Suncor Energy Profile

(Free Report)

Suncor Energy Inc operates as an integrated energy company in Canada and internationally. It operates through Oil Sands; Exploration and Production; and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment explores, develops, and produces bitumen, synthetic crude oil, and related products. This segment also engages in syncrude oil sands mining and upgrading operations; and marketing, supply, transportation, and risk management of crude oil, natural gas, power, and byproducts.

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In a strategic move reflecting a significant shift in US policy, the military has announced plans to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region as a deterrent against potential Chinese aggression, particularly in the Taiwan Strait. This deployment, slated for 2024, will see the inclusion of Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles, each with the capacity to strike targets at distances of up to 1,500 and 200 kilometers, respectively.

Redefining U.S. defense strategy

The decision to deploy these intermediate-range missiles underscores mounting concerns within US policymaking circles regarding Chinas increasingly assertive regional stance. Chinas rapid military advancements, coupled with its bolstering nuclear capabilities, have raised apprehensions about its potential intentions, notably concerning Taiwan, which China considers a renegade province.

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Strategic considerations behind the deployment

General Flynn, discussing the rationale behind the planned deployment, outlined critical factors that might influence Chinese leader Xi Jinpings decision-making process regarding a potential Taiwan invasion. These factors encompass:

Economic sanctions: The specter of substantial economic sanctions imposed by the US and its allies could dissuade China from resorting to military actions.

Information campaigns: A concerted effort to counter Chinas propagandistic narrative might erode public support for any aggressive moves by the Chinese leadership.

Military readiness: The reinforcement of military presence in the region, including the deployment of these intermediate-range missiles, is aimed at deterring any aggressive steps by China.

Global implications of U.S. strategic shift

The envisaged deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region by the United States holds the potential to initiate a new phase in the geopolitical landscape. Concerns among experts about the prospects of a conventional missile arms race in the region have been raised, further exacerbating the already heightened tensions between the US and China.

Significance of U.S. strategy shift

This planned deployment marks a significant stride in the USs defensive approach to the Asia-Pacific region. It not only signifies a proactive stance against potential Chinese aggression towards Taiwan but also accentuates the escalating tensions between the two global powers. The dynamics at play in this strategic theater warrant keen observation as they hold the potential to substantially influence regional stability and global geopolitical alignments.

China has vehemently opposed the USs intended deployment of intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region, expressing concerns about regional destabilization and the possibility of an arms race. The US has maintained a policy of strategic ambiguity concerning its defense of Taiwan, refraining from explicitly committing to defending the island in the event of a Chinese attack. However, the US has consistently provided significant military support to Taiwan and reiterated its commitment to Taiwans security.

The deployment of intermediate-range missiles raises concerns about potential violations of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, originally signed by the US and the Soviet Union in 1987. The US withdrew from this treaty in 2019, citing Russias breaches of its terms as the reason behind the exit.

As the geopolitical chessboard in the Asia-Pacific region continues to evolve, the planned deployment of intermediate-range missiles by the United States reflects a strategic reorientation in response to perceived threats from China, setting the stage for a potentially transformative phase in regional dynamics.
Zhihu (NYSE:ZH  Get Free Report) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data before the market opens on Wednesday, November 29th. Parties interested in participating in the companys conference call can do so using this link.

Zhihu Price Performance

NYSE ZH opened at $1.01 on Monday. The companys 50 day moving average is $1.02 and its 200-day moving average is $1.06. Zhihu has a 12-month low of $0.90 and a 12-month high of $2.11. The firm has a market cap of $632.48 million, a P/E ratio of -4.81 and a beta of 0.39.

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Hedge Funds Weigh In On Zhihu

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Zhihu by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 13,736,118 shares of the companys stock worth $15,522,000 after buying an additional 95,891 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Zhihu by 13.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,165,438 shares of the companys stock worth $9,100,000 after buying an additional 834,199 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Zhihu by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,641,947 shares of the companys stock worth $5,980,000 after buying an additional 14,245 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its stake in Zhihu by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,406,929 shares of the companys stock worth $6,867,000 after buying an additional 105,691 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Zhihu by 14.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,557,408 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,020,000 after purchasing an additional 437,474 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 11.74% of the companys stock.

Zhihu Company Profile

Zhihu Inc operates an online content community in the People's Republic of China. Its community allows people to seek inspiration, find solutions, make decisions, and have fun. The company also offers technology, business support, and consulting services; information transmission, software, and information technology services; information and marketing services; vocational training; and internet services, as well as holds audio-visual permit.

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Zuora (NYSE:ZUO  Get Free Report) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Wednesday, November 29th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.06 per share for the quarter. Parties that are interested in participating in the companys conference call can do so using this link.

Zuora Price Performance

ZUO opened at $8.27 on Monday. Zuora has a one year low of $5.45 and a one year high of $12.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.09 and a beta of 1.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.90, a current ratio of 1.75 and a quick ratio of 1.75. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $7.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.43.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Robert J. Traube sold 39,733 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.39, for a total value of $373,092.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 20,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,086.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CRO Robert J. Traube sold 39,733 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.39, for a total transaction of $373,092.87. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 20,776 shares in the company, valued at approximately $195,086.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Robert J. Traube sold 16,147 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.98, for a total transaction of $145,000.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 4,629 shares of the companys stock, valued at $41,568.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 460,850 shares of company stock valued at $3,775,153. Company insiders own 9.25% of the companys stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Zuora by 5.9% in the first quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 26,146 shares of the companys stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 1,447 shares during the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Zuora by 1.0% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 177,905 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,846 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Zuora by 1.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 206,384 shares of the companys stock valued at $3,092,000 after acquiring an additional 1,977 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc purchased a new position in Zuora during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,986,000,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp grew its stake in Zuora by 6.7% during the first quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 33,866 shares of the companys stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118 shares in the last quarter. 72.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ZUO. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a buy rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Zuora in a research note on Thursday, August 24th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Zuora in a research note on Wednesday, August 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $12.86.

Read Our Latest Research Report on ZUO

Zuora Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Zuora, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides cloud-based subscription management platform that enables companies in various industries to launch, manage, and transform into a subscription business. The company offers Zuora platform that acts as an orchestration engine that allows customers quote-to-cash and revenue operations; and Zuora Billing that helps customers to set payment terms, manage hierarchical billing relationships, consolidate invoicing across multiple subscriptions, and tax transactions.

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Upwards of 1,000 people took part in a rally in the city organised by the Derry branch of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).

Speakers addressing the crowd in Guildhall Square on Saturday.

The rally, which took place on Saturday - the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls - assembled at Bishop's Gate and finished in Guildhall Square.

Speaking to Derry Now, Catherine Hutton, Chairperson of Derry IPSC said Saturday's rally was part of the ongoing protests and calling on people to come out in solidarity with the people in Palestine and Gaza, where there is "ongoing genocide".

WATCH: Catherine Hutton (@CaitDoire) Chairperson of Derry IPSC (@ipsc_derry) at Saturday's Derry rally for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.



She said: "Women are being killed [in Gaza] & are suffering violence ... so many women are miscarrying." pic.twitter.com/O1nv8KK8nB  Derry Now (@DerryNow) November 27, 2023

She added: "And also importantly today, is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and girls. This is what we are highlighting today. We have female speakers, we have women carrying our big banner: 'End the Genocide Now!'

"We want to highlight not just that women are being killed, but also the violence in terms of their reproductive rights, in terms of their personal dignity. There are so many reasons.

"So many women are miscarrying. They reckon there are 150 babies being born every single day. That is what we are trying to get across today," said Catherine Hutton.

Academic and community activist, Goretti Horgan, told Derry Now she was attending the rally to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women and Girls.

WATCH: Goretti Horgan from Derry IPSC (@ipsc_derry) at Saturday's Derry rally for International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.



She said: "The violence against women & and girls in Gaza at the minute is as extreme as you could get." pic.twitter.com/2dhc4d2SCq  Derry Now (@DerryNow) November 27, 2023

"Obviously, the violence against women and girls in Gaza at the minute is as extreme as you could get," she added.

"We are here really as part of the Palestinian solidarity campaign across Ireland but particularly to say that war has dreadful effects on women.

"There is the sexual violence. We have seen Palestinian women trying to get from Gaza City down to the south, as they have been told to do, being stripped, stripped naked and strip searched by male soldiers.

"We have seen women having to queue for hours to use the toilet because the need to look after their menstruation. We have seen mothers having caesarean sections without anesthetic. There is no more violence than that," said Goretti Horgan.
The death of Derek Wilford will "not be mourned by the families of the innocent men and boys whose lives were taken by armed British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday".

According to an obituary published in the Times newspaper, Wilford - who commanded the British Parachute Regiment during Bloody Sunday in Derry (January 30, 1972) - died on Friday, aged 90, having suffered from Parkinson's disease.

In a statement this morning, Tony Doherty, Chair of the Bloody Sunday Trust, whose father was murdered on Bloody Sunday, said that the passing of Derek Wilford, while felt by his family, will not be mourned by the families of the innocent men and boys whose lives were taken by armed British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.'

Thirteen people died on Bloody Sunday: John 'Jackie' Duddy (17), Michael Kelly (17), Hugh Gilmour (17), William Nash (19), John Young (17), Michael McDaid (20), Kevin McElhinney (17), James 'Jim' Wray (22), William McKinney (26), Gerry McKinney (35), Gerard 'Gerry' Donaghey (17), Patrick Doherty (31) and Bernard 'Barney' McGuigan (41). John Johnston (59) died on June 16, 1972, from the injuries he received. Scores more were injured.

Tony Doherty added: "Colonel Wilford lived in a constant state of denial, never once accepting any measure of responsibility for his actions on that fateful day.

"History, though, will ensure that his actions led directly to the deaths of many innocent people which, in turn, led to years of conflict and hardship for our communities. He left a terrible legacy and will rightly be remembered for that."
The Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) has spent in excess of half a million pounds taxiing clients to and from temporary or emergency accommodation across the North, in the last three years.

The exact figure of 522,279 was revealed in a Freedom of Information response from NIHE to Aontu Derry representative, Darryl Christy.

Speaking to Derry Now, Mr Christy said he was absolutely shocked at the figure.

He added: For some time now, it has been clear there has been an influx of individuals from outside the North West being placed here in emergency or temporary accommodation such as hostels. This practice has been replicated across the North.

In many cases, these placements are normal. However, it is well documented that many individuals are being placed outside of their own locality because of problems with their behaviour or complex needs.

Indeed, there are growing concerns, people being moved to Derry and elsewhere have been removed from other accommodation and are no longer welcome.

In moving these individuals, taxpayers might expect that a new address is given and people would make their own way to their new accommodation. However, we now understand taxis were being used to ferry those being moved, said Mr Christy.

Darryl Christy said he had contacted NIHE to ascertain if it was paying for these trips when it came to light recently one person was taken in a taxi from East Belfast to Derry and then to Newry in a short time-frame, having been asked to move out of temporary accommodation.

The Housing Executive confirmed to me it had paid for the taxis transporting people to temporary / emergency accommodation - an astonishing 522,279 since 2020, said Mr Christy.

He added: There are of course legitimate reasons why someone might need taxis to transport them between accommodation - for example their current home becomes damaged or they may be a victim of a crime. However this should be the rule and not the exception.

Taxpayers and those living in Housing Executive accommodation, especially those who cannot get repairs carried out due to budgetary constraints, will be horrified by these figures.

Aontu has been contacted by taxi drivers, not just locally but across the region, who have confirmed they have driven people from East to West and vice versa multiple times because they were asked to leave their accommodation due to their behaviour.

Now, not only are taxpayers paying for new accommodation for those breaking the terms of their short term lease, but for their transport afterwards.

It is outrageous, said Mr Christy, who added that the Housing Executive had serious questions to answer in relation to these journeys.

Darryl Christy said: A local taxi firm in Derry will charge approximately 90 for a trip from Derry city centre to Belfast city centre.

The total cost of 522,279 amounts to nearly 6,000 of those journeys.

Aontu will continue to highlight policies such as this that are having an impact on communities and the huge cost to citizens.

In a statement to Derry News, a Housing Executive spokesperson said: We provide assistance via taxi provision to facilitate our statutory duties under the Housing (NI) Order 1988.

The use of taxis assists the most vulnerable households to access temporary accommodation, which may not be in their immediate locality and where the household would not otherwise have the means (eg. access to their own transport, or the ability to pay for transport) to allow them to access such accommodation.
The statistics are stark - homelessness is one of the most pressing social issues in Derry.

There are currently 45,000 applicants on the social housing waiting list across the North.

The highest number of homeless presentations is in Derry and Strabane, where one private rented household is made homeless per day. 78 private rented households presented as homeless here between April and June 2023.

However, behind those statistics are people with nowhere to call home, people without the security and stability a secure tenancy brings.

Reflecting on the recent Derry Now coverage of the citys housing crisis, a retired senior housing official with grass roots experience of working in homelessness, takes the view its origins can be traced back to the Right to Buy scheme - introduced by British Prime Minister Thatcher in 1980.

For people to present as homeless, they must get over three hurdles, he said.

The Housing Executive has to deem people homeless, which doesnt necessarily mean they have no roof over their head. Their house could be unsuitable because they have a disability or the landlord is asking them to leave or it is not safe for them to stay there - they might be at risk of intimidation or domestic violence.

People also have to have priority need. This means they have to have dependent children; be elderly and have a medical condition or a mobility condition; or maybe have addiction issues. It is very difficult for single people to get priority need'.

Thirdly, people cannot be intentionally homeless. They cannot create a situation to make themselves homeless, for example not paying their rent or damaging the property.

Anyone meeting these criteria should present themselves to a Housing Executive office. In Derry that is at Ulster Bank Buildings in Waterloo Square, he said.

The former housing official advised anyone in these positions to then ask for an assessment under the homeless legislation.

He added, housing officers would investigate the case and the person would get a decision, usually within 30 days.

If you are found to be homeless, the Housing Executive has a duty to find you temporary accommodation, he said. The difficulty at the minute is, there is not enough temporary accommodation.

As a result, the Housing Executive has been putting people into B&Bs and maybe hotels. This is very expensive.

The problem is, although there is a lot of social housing being built, it is a drop in the ocean. There is not enough social housing being built. 50, 60 or 70 clients might present as homeless, which means there are 50, 60 or 70 units of accommodation needed.

My personal view is Margaret Thatchers Right to Buy scheme was disastrous in terms of housing over the last number of years. When it was introduced, the Housing Executive had 190,000 properties. It is now down to 70,000 properties, maybe even less.

It was mad economics to sell your best stock at a greatly reduced price - properties that were maybe built in the 40s, 50s or 60s, with their mortgages long expired.

That policy has been disastrous, so much so they stopped it in Scotland. No housing provider could ever rebuild to replace that stock because if you sell a house that you built for 20,000 and then you have to spend 150,000 to replace it, it is very, very difficult, he said.

According to the retired housing official, housing associations were given a budget to buy back some of the properties sold by the Housing Executive in the 1990s and early 2000s.

He added: A house might have been sold for 20,000 and a housing association buys it back at the market value of 100,000. Whats the economic sense in that?

Another phrase I hear again and again is affordability. Could someone please tell me what that is, what affordable housing means. There isnt any affordable housing really, given the wage level in Derry.

Also, I dont know why landlords are asking people to leave private rented accommodation but one of the issues must be local housing allowances (LHA).

Housing Benefit is a welfare benefit. The Housing Executive administers some of it and some of it is paid through universal credit. In the North West Broad Rental Market Area, they will allow a three bedroom rate per week of 107.39 per week. LHA in no way meets what a landlord is going to charge, he said.

The housing official also advocated a return to housing people in date order as opposed to the current points system.

Date order was a lot fairer because a person could be told they would be housed in six months because we are coming near your date.

When date order was used, no-one could go above anyone else on the waiting list.

Essentially, however, the private sector is the biggest provider of housing. As no-one is ever going to build enough social houses, the answer is to work with private landlords, look at what they are paid, and try to secure tenancies

Legislation needs to be passed to regulate private landlords who will provide social housing. Landlords and housing associations need to work together so people can secure five year tenancies. Landlords will have to be paid equitable local housing allowances.
Derek Wilford has been "rightly blamed for the key role he played in the Bloody Sunday murders" according to the Bloody Sunday March Committee (BSMC).

In a statement on the death of what they described as "the murderer and liar Derek Wilford", BSMC said: "Those that have tried, since the announcement of his death, to excuse or make light of the massacre should be ashamed of themselves, although they probably arent.

"Nobody who cares about justice will feel even a twinge of regret at his passing. He had more than half a century after the bloodletting to enjoy life. But the agony of the families of his victims endures to this day.

"It is relevant to point out that Wilford didnt act on his own. He and the rest of the murder gang had been sent into the Bogside by very senior British Army officers who will have understood exactly what the paras were about to do.

"The guilty men included, among others, General Frank Kitson, General Michael Jackson, Major Ted Loden, etc," it said.

The organisation added: "It was Kitson who organised the deployment of the paras - who had been based in Belfast  to Derry to 'police' the march organised by the NI Civil Rights Association.

"Jackson was the most senior officer present in the Bogside during the shooting.

"Loden was in command of Support Company, the unit which fired all of the shots which killed or wounded.

"It was Jackson who, just hours after the murders, wrote out in his own hand-writing the British Armys cover-story about Bogsiders opening fire on the soldiers. Jackson was the top perjurer at the Saville Inquiry. He then ascended the ranks all the way to the very top - Chief of the General Staff.

"It was Ford who has been shown on television at a barricade on William Street shouting Go on the Paras! as the killers poured through, running towards Rossville Street to launch the murder spree," it said.

"We could go listing senior British Army officers directly involved in the killings. Wilford wasnt a rogue officer acting on his own.

"A great deal of the truth emerged at the Saville Inquiry. But not all of it. Whats left out are the roles of the high-ranking military and political figures who organised the killing and then produced the stream of lies intended to cover it up.

"Half the truth isnt enough. We are entitled to the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

"Theres still some way to go before we have the full truth of how Bloody Sunday came about and who made it happen."
Buskers or preachers who use amplification devices in Belfast city centre could be required to obtain a permit from the council under proposed new byelaws.

The public are being asked to give their view on the proposed new regulations to tackle noise nuisance in the city centre.

This would include any situation where on-street amplification is used, such as busking, preaching and outdoor performances.

Belfast city councillors previously agreed to use the powers available to the council to look at ways to tackle issues arising in recent years from loud busking, religious preaching and other activities involving the use of amplification devices or graphic imagery.

Draft byelaws, which propose the potential introduction of a permit scheme, have now been drawn up and a consultation process will last until March 4.

A Belfast City Council statement said in its proposals for a permit scheme the council has sought to strike the balance between freedom of expression and the need to tackle the noise nuisance that can result when multiple individuals or organisations come together in busy pedestrian areas to share their views, ideas or performances, often using amplification devices.

The statement added: The scheme also recognises the councils role in creating a vibrant, diverse and welcoming city centre and reflects feedback received from traders, residents and visitors on how the cumulative impact of some activities has had a negative impact on some areas.

NEWS: Consultation opens on proposed new bye-laws for Belfast city centre  https://t.co/pKbIWuNLuQ pic.twitter.com/rhCHz57Ljt  Belfast City Council (@belfastcc) November 27, 2023

Under the initial proposals, anyone who wishes to use an amplification device in the city centre, including the primary retail core, would require a permit from the council.

The same rules would also apply to anyone wishing to place a stand, stall or vehicle carrying any form of promotional literature or other information on the street, regardless of its purpose.

The council said this would include displays of graphic imagery.

A small fee would apply for each permit and anyone operating without a permit would face a fine of no more than 500. The fee structure for the scheme is yet to be determined.

The council is also proposing that permits would be valid for one year, in most cases, and would entitle the holder to carry out their agreed activity for a maximum of one hour in the primary retail core, or two hours in the wider city centre.

Additional conditions could also be added for permit holders, depending on the nature, extent or location of their proposed activity, and the council would be able to vary or revoke permits that have been previously issued.

After the consultation period has ended, feedback from the survey will be presented to councillors.

The final byelaws will then be brought to the Department for Communities for approval before they can be formally adopted and rolled out.

SDLP Belfast councillor Seamas de Faoite said he would like to see the proposed regulations rolled out across Northern Ireland.

He said: It is deeply embarrassing that local families and visitors to our city are being met with these scenes which can feel incredibly intimidating for those targeted with this bile.

We have also heard accounts of women and others being deeply affected by the graphic material on display by some groups.

Nobody should be subjected to something like this while doing their shopping, meeting friends or enjoying any of the wide variety of activities Belfast city centre has to offer.

The regular hate speech being heard in Belfast is causing considerable damage to our reputation and we have a duty to ensure that our city is open and welcoming to all.

He added: Its welcome that the council has stepped up and taken action where the Assembly has faltered, but we need to see this legislation progressed to protect people right across the north.
India roundup: India-based OSATs to emerge amid chip-making relocation

India-based electronics manufacturers accelerate their move to venture into the emerging OSAT business amid lucrative incentive schemes and a favorable geopolitical environment.

CG Power and Industrial Solutions applied for OSAT incentives in India

According to filings to Indian exchanges on November 22, CG Power and Industrial Solutions applied with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, seeking approval to set up an OSAT facility, with an estimated investment on the project over five years of US$791 million funded by a combination of subsidy, joint venture partner equity contribution, and debt. The company said it is discussing with technology providers and anchor customers.

India collaborates with IPEF members in supply chain resilience

According to a joint statement released by the US Department of Commerce, 14 IPEF members, including Australia, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, and the US, will collaborate in building resilient and competitive supply chains.

Reliance Jio eyes Notebook-as-a-Service to disrupt PC industry in India

The Economic Times quoted an unnamed senior official at Reliance Jio, saying that the company was talking with HP, Acer, Lenovo, and others to provide cloud notebooks without powerful but expensive processors and memories, adding that the service will be based on a monthly subscription model and the software can be installed on desktop PCs and smart TVs.

India notebook imports soar in September as vendors eager to avoid supply disruptions

IDC data shows that 4.5 million PCs were shipped in the third quarter of 2023, up 14% year-on-year, partly due to vendors trying to avoid uncertainties brought by license requirements. Data from the Department of Commerce of India indicates that India saw its September imports of notebooks grow by about 30% because of the license requirements, which were rolled back later.



India data center market to grow 25%, green data centers essential: CapitaLand

In an interview with DIGITIMES Asia, Surajit Chatterjee, managing director for Datacenter (India) at CapitaLand, said they expect the data center market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20-25% over the next 5-7 years.

OneWeb receives approval to run commercial satellite broadband services in India

Following receiving the license from the Ministry of Telecom of India, One Web India has become the first to gain authorization from the Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre (IN-SPACe) to deploy satellite broadband services in India.
India may take 10 years to achieve 28nm mass production, according to DIGITIMES Research

Although India demonstrates ambition and has pivoted to invite Taiwanese semiconductor partners to accelerate its chip dreams, analysts are taking a cautious view but said the success of Micron in India is key to the South Asian country's semiconductor future.

During the recent Supply Chain Summit co-organized by DIGITIMES and the India-Taipei Association (ITA), Ajai Chowdry, Co-founder of HCL and Chairman of EPIC Foundation, outlined India's semiconductor mission in which he currently serves as an adviser for said mission. He aims for investment decision closure within two years and production initiation within five years, focusing on 28nm and mature nodes. These chips will prioritize the domestic automobile and white goods markets.

DIGITIMES Research analyst and project manager Eric Chen is optimistic about Ajai's vision but skeptical about the accelerated timeline for mature semiconductor processes. Chen suggests that Chowdry's vision signals the government's commitment to improving investment efficiency. However, he deems Chowdry's proposed timeline overly optimistic, recognizing the complexities inherent in semiconductor manufacturing within such a condensed timeframe.

Achieving mature processes in five years poses a significant challenge, a difficulty even faced by TSMC in completing construction and initiating production within two years. Chen estimates the first semiconductor wafer fabrication plant in India may require an additional 2.5 to 3 years after the initial project announcement.

Identifying hurdles such as insufficient infrastructure, particularly in the stability of power and water supply, as top priorities, Chen points to India's frequent power disruptions as a significant challenge for semiconductor production in controlled environments. Additionally, he underscores favorable conditions for foreign investments being crucial to attract and sustain semiconductor businesses in addition to government subsidies. Substantial talent development and supportive infrastructure are essential for establishing a semiconductor ecosystem.

A Deloitte report projects the Indian semiconductor market to reach $55 billion by 2026. Despite its vast market potential and prowess in software and electronics, India lags in semiconductor production due to the absence of native ecosystems and infrastructure to meet domestic demand. With aims to become a major player in the global semiconductor supply chain, the Indian government, offering substantial incentives and 50% financial support, aims to attract international chipmakers to establish an ecosystem locally to help propel the nation's semiconductor sector under the National Semiconductor Mission. US-based memory maker Micron is leading the charge with plans for its first ATMP facility locally by 2024.

Micron in India: key to India's semiconductor future

While acknowledging Micron's strategic decision to initiate operations in India with backend packaginga less intricate process than frontend wafer fabricationas a positive milestone, Chen emphasizes that Micron's success in India will be a key indicator reflecting the readiness of India's semiconductor policy and overall ecosystem preparedness, with implications for the broader Southbound expansion efforts as part of the China+1 trend.

Chen believes Micron's presence can attract more supply chain partners, potentially leading to the development of a more advanced semiconductor ecosystem in the region. Nevertheless, Chen maintains that achieving fully indigenous semiconductor production remains a formidable challenge.

Market potential and trade dynamics

Regarding market potential, with a population surpassing 1.4 billion, Chen underscores the significant demand for semiconductors. Research data from the International Trade Centre (ITC) has revealed a trade deficit of nearly US$21 billion in semiconductor trade for India in 2022, emphasizing the substantial market opportunity for local production.

Source: ITC, compiled by DIGITIMES Research, Nov 2023

Chen asserts that the growth of the Indian semiconductor market is not a fleeting trend. Anticipating sustained growth as more electronic industries establish themselves locally, he envisions long-term opportunities for India's semiconductor ecosystem.

Projecting the establishment of semiconductor manufacturing capabilities in India could localize the electronics supply chain, including the assembly and production of semiconductor-based components for various devices. Given India's vast population and sizable domestic market, companies establishing plants, including Micron, will likely prioritize fulfilling local needs.

Concerning Ajai's emphasis on producing 28nm and more mature processing, Chen finds this direction reasonable. He notes that 28nm covers most products, especially those in white goods. While recognizing the need for advanced processes in core chips, Chen emphasizes that mature processes should suffice for simpler devices, considering factors like maturity, cost-effectiveness, and ease of technology licensing.

To achieve 28nm capabilities in India, Chen advocates a step-by-step approach. Envisioning a realistic timeline of about ten years to establish a mature 28nm process, he acknowledges the challenges posed by equipment, workforce, and ecosystem requirements. Chen remarks that achieving semiconductor self-reliance at the 28nm level in India is a reasonable and promising goal despite its challenges.

About the Analyst

Eric Chen is an Analyst and Project Manager at DIGITIMES Research. Chen received his Master's degree in International Business from Taiwan's Soochow University. His research focuses on the foundry and IC assembly & packaging industry.
Conference held in Maritime Silk Road hub Wenzhou to promote peer city exchanges

Xinhua) 11:27, November 27, 2023

HANGZHOU, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- The 2023 Mayors Exchange Conference on Maritime Silk Road City Influence was held on Saturday in China's coastal city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province to facilitate mutual learning and win-win cooperation among cities along the Maritime Silk Road.

Nearly 400 participants, including representatives of international organizations, domestic and foreign government officials, experts and scholars, discussed opportunities for cooperation and development at the meeting.

Lyu Yansong, editor-in-chief of Xinhua News Agency, addressed the conference that in the context of globalization, enhancing the influence of cities along the Maritime Silk Road is an important part of jointly building the Belt and Road.

The conference is co-sponsored by Xinhua News Agency and the Zhejiang provincial government.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
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By SALLY FRENCH

NerdWallet

iStock image Some companies will offer to refund your money and book something else if the host ghosts you, but the whole experience can be annoying.





Lauren Gumport was en route to a vacation on the island of Chios, Greece, in July, where she was set to stay in an Airbnb for five nights with her best friend.





. . .
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EDMONDS  An apartment complex at 9507 Firdale Ave. sold early this month for $4.8 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Firdale Partners LLC, which acquired the property in 2019 for about $3.2 million.





. . .
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SEATTLE  A small apartment building at 5034 Fauntleroy Way S.W. sold last week for almost $2.1 million, according to King County records.

The seller was Sound Breeze Partners LLC, which acquired the property in 2016 for about $1.6 million.





. . .
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BURIEN  A gas station and automotive property at 18040 First Ave. S. sold last week for almost $3.5 million, according to King County records.

The seller was CK Design LP of Nevada, which acquired the property two years ago for over $3.8 million.





. . .
THE IRISH ambassador to Israel has been "surprised" on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs stated that Sonya McGuiness presented the Foreign Ministry with the full statements issued by the Taoiseach and Tanaiste following the release from captivity late on Saturday night, November 25, of Irish-Israeli citizen, Emily Hand.

The statement continued with "These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

The Ambassador further reiterated today Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released; the importance of fully respecting International Humanitarian Law and getting desperately-needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza; that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire; and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.
Hundreds of trade unionists and demonstrators have staged a rally on Dublins main thoroughfare, days after a violent riot rocked the Irish capital.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) rally was held at 1pm in OConnell Street in protest against the riotous behaviour, and solidarity with those affected by violence in the city on Thursday, including three children and a care worker who were stabbed in a preceding knife attack.

Garda cars, a bus and tram were set alight, shops were damaged and looted and officers attacked during violent scenes, which involved far-right elements.

It came shortly after three children and a women were hurt in the stabbing attack outside a school in the north of the city centre.

ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy told the crowd: By being here today you are also standing up and saying what took place last Thursday night  which was a combination of mindless violence and also that pernicious, racist, xenophobic violence against our migrant community  is unacceptable.

Thats an attack on our community and our community are the people who live and work in this city whether they were born here, whether they were born in this country, or whether they were born in the four corners of this globe, they are part of our community. We are one and we are for an Ireland for all.

In her speech, Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha said Ireland welcomes migrant workers.

The INMO said migrant workers provide a necessary service and need to be absolutely assured of their safety.

Further Education Minister Simon Harris said there will be a full review into the policing of Thursday nights Dublin riots.

Mr Harris said: What happened on Thursday was the most despicable, horrific attack on democracy, on our city and on the institutions of the State, and it will be met with a full response and there will have to be a review.

Mr Harris, who previously served as justice minister, said there had been a very significant conflation of issues and the riot was not just a far-right gathering.

He said: We had the horrific, despicable attack on children and care workers on Parnell Square, and we think of all of them. We then saw a far-right gathering, if I may call it that, we then saw absolute opportunistic criminality and thuggery.

He added: I dont think we can conflate each of those issues.

His comments come after opposition politicians called for the resignation of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Green TD Neasa Hourigan, who is currently outside the partys whip system, has said she does not see how she could support Ms McEntee if a confidence motion was called following the riot.

Asked on RTE radio if she would express confidence in Ms McEntee if such a vote was called, she said: I dont see how I can right now.

Speaking at a meeting of the Dublin City Joint Policing Committee on Monday, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said the force is required to graduate its response to situations.

Mr Harris said the public order unit was initially sent to the scene to assist with the Garda cordon, and the focus was on the attack in Parnell Square East.

He said at the height of the operation on Thursday, there were 250 public order personnel in the city.

The commissioner said that in 2006 there was a full 18-month investigation where 190 people were arrested into the Love Ulster riots in Dublin, and that in the new case there was far more digital evidence across a bigger event where there will be more perpetrators in terms of suspected offences committed.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys defended Ms McEntee and Commissioner Harris, adding that she does not see the point of no confidence motions.

Speaking to reporters in Baldoyle, she said: We absolutely support the Minister for Justice, theres no question about that.

Shes doing a good job. Crime is changing and it is difficult times that were in but we will address the challenges were faced with.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city.

She repeated her call for Ms McEntee and Mr Harris to quit.

The truth is the Minister and the Commissioner have failed to resource the gardai correctly. They have failed to bring forward plans for the safety of citizens, she told the BBC.

We now have a scenario where people do not feel safe in parts of Dublins inner city  that includes children going to school, their parents and grandparents dropping them off, it includes people going to work, people who visit the city, and we are now at a point where the positions of the Minister and the Commissioner are simply untenable.

She added: We have asked for resources, we have asked for planning, we have asked for leadership, and those in charge have failed, and now they have to be held to account and we move to resourcing the gardai, resourcing our communities and ensuring that children can go to school safely and that people can go about their lives in the capital city without fear of the violence that we saw.

Children and Integration Minister Roderic OGorman has said security measures at accommodation centres for refugees had been stepped up in recent days.

He told RTE: We do have strong protocols in terms of engagement with An Garda Siochana if there is any threat to our accommodation. This weekend has been a difficult time for any migrant in this country.
Senator Erin McGreehan says she believes that the governments Housing For All plan, designed to increase housing availability and affordability, is gaining momentum and making a real difference.

She said that the plan clearly outlines the progress being made to tackle the issue of housing.

The latest Housing For All update shows the real progress Fianna Fail in government is making tackling housing, which is the defining issue of this generation, said senator McGreehan.

The facts show that 22,443 new homes were completed in the first nine months of this year, and 30,000 homes were completed in 2022, representing the largest delivery of new homes in over a decade and exceeding that years Housing For All target of 24,600.

The senator said that more people are buying their first home than in any period in well over a decade, supported by affordable purchasing initiatives, including the First Home Scheme, the Local Authority Home Loan and Help-To-Buy, which has been extended to the end of 2023.

The Fianna Fail senator continued: Sinn Fein have said they would scrap these schemes if they got into power, blocking families from owning their family home.

My partys top priority remains doing everything we can do to help people to afford to buy or rent a home.

The recent update shows that our plan is working and my focus is on doing whatever I can do to keep this positive momentum going.

I know it can be difficult and worrying for people planning to buy their own home, and it may be confusing with so many schemes operating.

Get in touch with me if any further information is required.
Get ready for the festive buzz as the Carlingford Christmas Shopping Day makes its annual return on Tuesday 5th of December.

Its set to be a day packed with shopping delights, delicious food, and a sprinkle of Christmas magic in the charming medieval town of Carlingford.

Expect a shopping extravaganza with extended hours at your favourite Carlingford shops and boutiques, accompanied by tempting refreshments and a treasure trove of exclusive offers and discounts.

The local bars and restaurants will be adorned with festive cheer, eagerly awaiting the arrival of hungry shoppers.

Garrett Mallon, from the Garrett Mallon Design House, shared his excitement, saying: We are absolutely thrilled to welcome everyone back for the annual Carlingford Christmas Shopping Day.

This year, on 5th December, were gearing up for an even bigger celebration.

At the Garrett Mallon Design House, we have an extensive range of handmade jewellery and craft from over 100 Irish artists and craftspeople from across the island of Ireland.

For the Carlingford Shopping Day, we are delighted to offer a 10% discount, both in-store and online, extending the festive cheer to all!.
A CORK woman is part of a team that will make history this week when Irelands first satellite, EIRSAT-1, is launched by rocket into orbit.

The sateillite is scheduled to take flight from Vandenberg Space Force Base, in California, aboard a Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket on Wednesday evening.

Laura Cotter, from Minane Bridge, is a member of the student-led team at University College Dublin (UCD) that designed and built EIRSAT-1, which will carry three experiments into space and report data back to a command centre on the campus.

Laura and her colleagues have been working with The European Space Agency (ESA) on their Fly Your Satellite programme, receiving training, space-expert mentoring, and hands-on guidance.

The development of the spacecraft has introduced space-systems engineering and skills to Irish industry and academia.

Laura graduated with a BSc in physics with astronomy and space science from UCD in 2022. She is a PhD student in the UCD Space Science group, focusing on gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) and supernovae.

She is working on testing and operations for the EIRSAT-1 satellite, and she plans to use data from the satellites detector to further her own PhD research.

Luara said it has been a truly amazing project to work on. Our team in UCD is the first in the country to design and build a satellite that will be launched into orbit and then operated from Ireland, she said.

Having started on this project as a student, and worked on it for so long, it is extremely exciting to now be this close to launch date, she added.

The satellites three experiments will test new space technologies developed in Ireland, including an advanced instrument that will probe the early universe.

The project has received programmatic and educational support from the ESA Education Office. EIRSAT-1 has received funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Irish Research Council, Enterprise Ireland, UCD, Openet, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

The Irish European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) has also supported the engagement of school students with inspirational and educational activities around the EIRSAT-1 project.
WORLD leaders will need to show greater ambition in phasing out the use fossil fuels at COP28 if there is any hope in limiting global warming increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius, Mary Robinson will warn today.

The former President of Ireland will call for greater ambition on climate action during a major climate conference at University College Cork.

Mrs Robinson is the keynote guest at the Sustainable Futures Forum, which will take place today in UCCs Glucksman Gallery, and will be MCed by RTE presenter Miriam OCallaghan.

Speaking ahead of her appearance, Mrs Robinson said: "At COP28, we need to drive greater ambition on climate action among world leaders and governments.

This is extremely important in order to keep 1.5 alive - for this, we need to phase out fossil fuels and scale up clean energy.

It is extremely important to put people first and create outcomes that are fair for those who are on the front lines of climate impacts," said Mrs Robinson.

We need to prioritise climate justice and unlock finance in order to ensure a sustainable, just and equitable future that does not leave anyone behind.

Experts from the World Bank and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will convene in UCC for the event, which will also highlight the voices of activists across the world including farmer and journalist Hannah Quinn-Mulligan, who will moderate a discussion on rural and urban sustainability.

Other topics will include the role of technology and innovation within industry, ensuring climate justice, and media's role on the subject of climate.

Dr Marguerite Nyhan, chair of the Sustainable Futures Forum said: Ahead of COP28, we look forward to welcoming Mrs Robinson to UCC to discuss the important issues of climate justice, loss and damage, and how to achieve a fair and just future for all.

She added that limiting long-term global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius was agreed by almost 200 countries as part of the Paris Accord, saying: We know from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that this target is necessary to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

However, the United Nations Environment Programme in their latest emissions gap report, has warned that we are on track for a 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius world.

The forum comes as one of Irelands leading energy experts, Professor Brian O Gallachoir warned: Ireland is not on track to meet our statutory carbon budget target for the period 2021-2025.

Mr O Gallachoir, director of UCCs Environmental Research Institute added: We have collectively the necessary knowledge, financial resources and technologies - unfortunately however, we havent managed to muster the necessary levels of political will, or build sufficient societal capacity to achieve the goals we have agreed on."

The Sustainable Futures Forum can be watched online from 9am today with Mary Robinson due to speak at 12pm, more information is available at www.ucc.ie/en/sustainable-futures-forum.
The Mayor of the County of Cork Frank OFlynn and Cork County Council Chief Executive Valerie OSullivan are encouraging people to soak up the festive atmosphere in towns and villages across the county with several pop-up Christmas markets and special events planned over the coming weeks.

The events have been designed to support local businesses, jobs, and communities with markets taking place in areas including Mallow Castle, Fermoy, Macroom, Bandon, Dunmanway, Ballineen/Enniskeane, Bantry, and Castletownbere.

Mr OFlynn said: Cork County Council is proud to support a number of Christmas markets that are taking place throughout the county. They are a wonderful way to experience the very best of what Co Cork has to offer.

I would encourage everyone to explore our towns and villages and please support the incredible retailers and businesses that youll find on every main street. When you buy local, you are reinvesting in your local community and the families behind each business. The Christmas markets in Midleton and Cobh in recent weeks were a huge success and I hope to see similar crowds at future events in the coming weeks.

Cork County Council is also providing special car parking arrangements across its own operated car parks throughout December. Visitors are encouraged to check the offers in their local area.

Ms OSullivan added: Huge effort goes into decorating our towns and villages every Christmas. I would like to commend the dedicated groups and volunteers behind the incredible displays that make visiting Co Cork a magical experience.

Christmas is a special time, but for many businesses the weeks leading up to December 25 are the most important of the year. It is vital that we all make a conscious effort to buy local and ensure the businesses that make Co Cork such a vibrant place continue to thrive.
A MAN has been allowed to return to live with his mother after a judge was assured that an incipient feud within the family was over.

John ODriscoll, 19, will be allowed to return to live at 10 Mardyke Drive in Skibbereen under certain conditions after he received a 90-day suspended jail sentence.

At Bantry District Court, Mr ODriscoll pleaded guilty to a charge of trespass at a relatives home elsewhere in the town but pleaded not guilty to a separate charge of criminal damage to a door.

Sgt Trish OSullivan told Judge James McNulty that at 12.50am on November 15 last the occupant at the house at Newbridge Park contacted gardai and alleged Mr ODriscoll was on the property without permission.

Mr ODriscolls solicitor, Flor Murphy, said there was a family connection. Judge McNulty referred to an incipient feud and remarked that there may be a family feud going on in the background.

Mr ODriscoll had two previous public order convictions and Mr Murphy said his client was getting himself in difficulty and that he seems to be a troubled young man.

Drug use

The court heard that Mr ODriscoll had been a heavy user of cannabis for the past five years, but he told the court he had now been sober for 10 days and was on a waiting list for a treatment programme.

Judge McNulty said that he understood that cannabis addiction was the easiest of all the addictions to overcome if there was sufficient will and compliance.

Mr ODriscolls brother, Alan, said he had been aware of Johns drug use for the past two years but was unaware that it had extended to five years. He also told the judge he believed other substances had been abused by his brother and that he was willing to monitor him, suggesting that his sibling wanted to stop using drugs and could get back into education. The court also heard that Mr ODriscoll is an expectant father.

Sentencing

Judge McNulty said he wanted to nip the situation in the bud, particularly in the context of trespass in the early hours of the morning and when people were upset at a feud that may be developing.

He sentenced Mr ODriscoll to 90 days in prison but suspended it on conditions which include that he keep the peace and not use or consume any controlled drug.

The judge said Mr ODriscoll was also to provide an oral fluid sample on request from gardai and undergo random urine analysis at the request of the Probation Service, with a supervision order in place for one year.

Sgt OSullivan said gardai had concerns regarding a return to living in Skibbereen for Mr ODriscoll in light of recent events, but Alan ODriscoll told the judge that any family difficulties were now over, adding: There will be no more trouble.

The judge said Mr ODriscoll would be allowed to live with his mother and he granted a garda condition that Mr ODriscoll sign on daily at Skibbereen Garda Station and that he observe a curfew from 9pm to 8am. He is also to stay away from the area of the trespass, with a trial date in December for the criminal damage charge.
Two crew members of a trawler tied up at Kennedy Quay and a passerby dived into the water earlier today to save the occupant of a car after the vehicle entered the River Lee.

After spotting the car entering the water, two crew members from a Belgian trawler, De Maria Antonia, dived in to rescue the female occupant of the vehicle.

The Echo understands that a passerby also entered the water in a bid to help.

The three people who jumped into the water broke the back window of the car and got the woman out.

They then secured the car to the side of the trawler.

The woman, who was the sole occupant of the car, has been taken to the Mercy University Hospital.

The three people who saved the woman were medically assessed at the scene and were deemed not require hospitalisation.

Second officer at Cork City Fire Brigade, Victor Shine, said the fire service was alerted at approximately 12.10pm to a report of a car entering the water at Kennedy Quay in the city.

Coast Guard crews, National Ambulance Service crews and Gardai also attended the scene.

Mr Shine commended the bravery of the three who saved the woman from the water, describing their actions as a considerable feat which deserved recognition.
CORK County Councils annual budget received the unanimous approval of the elected members.

The councils chief executive Valerie OSullivan had proposed a budget with a revenue of 458m, up 55m from last years spend of 403m, and a proposed capital expenditure of 1.5bn over the next three years.

There will be no increase in commercial rates, no increase in the local property tax (though all of the revenue collected will be retained in Cork for the first time), and no increase in the rent for local authority houses.

There would also be an increase in funding for roads, social housing, and the creation of a new service enhancement fund and the maintenance at 2023 levels of the general municipal allocation, the town development and village enhancement funds.

A revolt over outdoor staffing levels failed to materialise.

The outdoor staffing levels had attracted the concern of councillors at the previous meeting of the county council and Fianna Fail councillor Joe Carroll had suggested that approval for the budget be withheld until this question was addressed.

Ms OSullivan addressed the issue in comments before introducing the budget and said that the current levels of outdoor staffing levels would be maintained and, acknowledging that due to illness and other issues, the actual level was 354, pledged that recruitment would take place to ensure a full complement of 374 was on the ground.

Councillor Joe Carroll said that while the budget was positive in an overall sense, he said that there shouldnt be universal happiness with the proposed budget and he, in particular, wasnt happy that the number of ground staff was sufficient.

The Mayor of County Cork Frank OFlynn welcomed the fact that the budget was the first in many years to be balanced and pointed out that the Councils 7m+ reserve wouldnt need to be dipped into.

'PRO-COMMUNITY, FAMILY, BUSINESS'

He said he was delighted to introduce the budget which he described as pro-family, pro-community, and pro-business.

The mayor also remarked on the decision, after many years of campaigning by him and Michael Hegarty, to ensure that Cork County Council could retain the monies generated by the local property tax.

This was a theme returned to by many councillors, including Alan OConnor of the Green Party and Fianna Fails Gearoid Murphy, who urged a reconsideration of the 100% refund on commercial rates for owners of vacant buildings.

The Midleton-based councillor Susan McCarthy said she would normally agree with a reduction in the rates refund on vacant properties but, in the context of this years floods, she was very, very happy that this refund was in place for this year.

The capital budget, which was presented by the councils finance director Jeremy Canty promised a massive investment of 927.69m in housing, with 462m for social housing, and an additional 216.37m for affordable homes. This represented the bulk (64%) of the capital spend of 1.5bn proposed for 2024-2026.

Responding to concerns raised by councillor Gobnait Moynihan that Cork City Council might be contesting the annual boundary extension payment  set this year at 15.6m as its index linked  Ms OSullivan said that the money would be paid. Because its the law, they signed up to it, its very simple, she said.

After a lengthy meeting the resolution to adapt the budget was approved with 46 councillors voting for and none against.
A MAN wearing a balaclava and carrying a large kitchen knife has been accused of robbing 250 in cash from the Unity shop at Lower Glanmire Rd in Cork on Sunday afternoon. The person yesterday sought bail.

Garda Killian OConnell objected to bail being granted to Bernard Horgan at Cork District Court. He said the seriousness of the alleged crime was one of the grounds for the objection to bail.

It is alleged that the Unity shop was robbed at 3.30pm on November 26.

The allegation was that a raider, wearing a balaclava went to the shop with a large kitchen knife, demanded the cash register be opened. He grabbed notes only and made good his escape, said Gda OConnell.

He said the accused had a balaclava when arrested and that nearby there was a bag under a car, and a knife was found in the bag.

Defence solicitor, Eddie Burke, said he is adamant no threats were made to any shopkeeper. Mr Horgan, aged 36, of Cork Simon Community, testified: When I went into the shop, all I said was: Open the till. I had the knife in my hand. I did not threaten him or anything. Cross-examining, Sergeant Gearoid Davis asked: Youve admitted going into the shop wearing a balaclava, carrying a knife. What effect do you think that would have? Mr Horgan said: They are going to feel afraid, intimidated.

The judge refused bail and remanded the accused in custody until December 4.
Ken Foxe

Sport Ireland received messages from around the globe in the wake of an international furore over a gymnastics medal ceremony in which a young black competitor was the only participant not to be given a medal.

An email from Pakistan said the medal incident had damaged the international reputation of Ireland while another said the presentation event had been a profoundly despicable and shameful act.

In internal emails, the development authority Sport Ireland grappled with how to respond to the video from the event organised by Gymnastics Ireland, which went viral more than a year after it happened.

The video showed a line of young athletes being presented with a medal except for one child and was viewed at least 50 million times after being shared on social media by the world-famous gymnast Simone Biles.

Complaints received by Sport Ireland about the Gymnastics Ireland event included one that said: People of Irish descent have been the victims of racism. You would think they would want to chastise and denounce people who are racists.

A message from Great Britain said: I don't know how that child felt leaving the medal presentation ceremony as the lone one without a medal hanging on her neck but I felt terrible, devastated and desolate as an African living in the UK.

Another criticised Sport Irelands handling of the incident and how they had reconciled this poorly managed moment.

Id like to know what you all did to make up for this oversight, said their email.

Some of the messages were furious in tone with one saying the girl at the centre of the incident had been treated like sh**.

One message wrote of their shame of being Irish: I have to live here with this on my soul.

Another said: How we treat young children of different races and backgrounds is core to who we are as a nation, inclusion is key.

In internal Sport Ireland records, there was also discussion about how the family of the girl involved were unhappy with the Sport Ireland chief executive, Una May claiming that during a conversation with Ms May, she had said the incident was something inadvertent.

However, internal emails show that Sport Ireland did not believe this was a fair account of what had happened.

In discussion over what to say publicly, a statement was formulated saying: From my [Ms Mays] recollection of the conversation, and certainly in the spirit it was meant, I believe the comments which have been attributed to me are lacking in context and are misconstrued.

This was later softened to say it had been an informal conversation and Ms May had only raised the possibility it was accidental.

A revised text said: From my recollection of the conversation, and certainly in the spirit it was meant, I believe the comments which have been attributed to me are lacking in context and are misconstrued.

The internal records also detail how Sport Ireland came under pressure about the handling of the incident from government who had been questioned about it.

One text message said: Minister [Jack Chambers] is likely to write to you and us about the issue. To be fair, he has to.

Asked about the records, a spokesperson for Sport Ireland pointed to a previously issued press release saying they condemned any form of racism whatsoever.

Sport must be welcoming and inclusive, offering appropriate opportunities for participation and improvement to all regardless of ethnicity, socio-economic background, gender, disability, or sexual orientation, it said.
Emily Pennink, PA Old Bailey Correspondent

The final member of a people-smuggling gang linked to the deaths of 39 men, women and children in Essex has been convicted in a UK court.

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley (26), from Co Tyrone, plotted to bring migrants into the UK from mainland Europe three times in October 2019.

One of the trips was scuppered by French border officials, with some migrants from that trip believed to have died days later in a fatal run overnight on October 22nd-23rd, 2019.

Gormley had denied being involved, claiming he thought he was helping bring alcohol into the UK illegally.

On Monday, a jury deliberated for just over an hour to find Gormley guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

His conviction brings the total number of people to be convicted over the plot to 11.

Judge Richard Marks adjourned sentencing until Friday.

CCTV from October 23rd, 2019, of lorry driver Maurice Robinson leaving Purfleet port, Essex (Essex Police/PA)

Previously, prosecutor Ben Holt told jurors the people smugglers exploited the victims desperation to get to the UK, charging more than 10,000 a head.

The migrants would be loaded into a container lorry on the continent and transported across the English Channel to be picked up for onward transfer in the UK.

Gormley was recruited by ringleader Ronan Hughes and deployed his driver, Christopher Kennedy, to help move the human cargo.

He was implicated in three trips, overnight on October 10th to 11th, a failed run on October 14th to 15th, and October 18th to 19th, just days before the tragedy.

Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy (Essex Police/PA)

On the first trip, residents near Orsett in Essex saw migrants jumping out of the back of a lorry before being whisked away by vehicles to their destinations.

Mr Holt told jurors: The other trip was thwarted by customs officials in France. Remarkably, the driver on that occasion  Kennedy  was effectively given a slap on the wrists and told to go on his way. The migrants were similarly allowed to go.

Tragically, some of those migrants would end up in the lorry part of the 39 men, women and children who died during the night (of) October 22nd and 23rd.

Ronan Hughes, from Co Armagh, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter (Essex Police/PA)

On that occasion, another driver, Maurice Robinson, picked up a container at Purfleet docks and found all 39 Vietnamese people aged between 15 and 44 dead.

He opened the doors after being instructed by Hughes to give them air quick but not let the migrants out.

Snapchat message from Ronan Hughes to Maurice Robinson on October 23 (Essex Police/PA)

Following the discovery, Robinson called his boss Hughes before dialling 999.

Giving evidence in his trial, Gormley said he was taking a break at a truck stop in Sandbach, Cheshire, on his way to deliver racehorse bedding to Cambridge when he spoke to Hughes.

He said: He called me the night before and I was returning the call. I remember when he answered he sounded different, panicked, making no sense at all. It was just mumbo jumbo. He was making zero sense.

At 3.46pm, Gormley got a text from his mother in Co Tyrone asking if the truck in the news belonged to one of Hughess brothers.

He replied: Dont know and neither do u (sic).

Gormley told jurors he was trying to stop his mother from gossiping because she works in a doctors surgery and thought there might be repercussions.

The victims (Essex Police/PA)

He described his total disbelief this had happened, adding: I was just shocked, to be honest.

Later the same day, Gormley dumped the burner phone he used to communicate with Hughes.

Gormley was asked why he denied to the bitter end being the owner of that phone when interviewed by police.

He said: I lied about it because I didnt want to confess (to) a crime I had committed in relation to alcohol smuggling.

I had contacted Ronan Hughes on the phone. At that time, the news had come out about what happened with the 39 dead and I didnt want any affiliation with that.

Gormley also told jurors he had no reason to question Kennedys explanation for being caught with migrants in his lorry on October 14th.

He said: Kennedy said he stopped at the supermarket to buy alcohol and cigarettes on his way to the crossing. At that time, he was actually covering his tracks for what had happened.

He just said they must have got in the trailer while he was in the shop. Its a very hot spot for migrants in the Calais area. Its very common. I had no reason not to believe his account.

A consignment of biscuits from Belgium was ruined during the October 18th people-smuggling run, the court was told.

After the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: The people who were part of this international network were ruthless in their financial greed  their behaviour and their actions are reprehensible.

They have shown no regard for the law and, most importantly, the value of human life.

We have consistently promised the families of the 39 victims that we would deliver justice in its entirety. We have been committed to hunting down every person we know to have been involved.

In Essex and with international partners, we have done that. The investigation has broken up a sophisticated international criminal operation and it has seen the conviction of 11 people here in the UK as well as 18 people earlier this month in France.

Today, as this final guilty verdict is reached, we think of our Vietnamese friends and the families of the victims. But most of all we think of the 39 people who will never leave our hearts here at Essex Police.
High Court reporters

An Bord Pleanala has conceded in a High Court challenge to its permission for more than 100 apartments in Howth, north Dublin.

The board said it would not oppose the case brought by Christian Morris, of Claremont Road, Howth, over the fast-track approval of the proposed residential scheme in Deer Park.

It accepted it incorrectly relied upon a requirement in 2018 guidelines for urban development and building height in determining whether permission could be granted.

The High Court was informed last week of the development in the judicial review challenge by Mr Morris, represented by John Kenny BL, instructed by FP Logue Solicitors.

Mr Justice Richard Humphreys adjourned the case to a later date.

The board granted permission to developer GLL PRS Holdco in September 2021 despite a recommendation from Fingal County Council to refuse planning permission.

The proposal for three apartment blocks at Deer Park led to 51 third-party submissions being lodged with the board, with some locals expressing concerns that Howth is being overdeveloped.

The board directed that the planned development of 162 apartments shall be amended to remove the upper storeys of all blocks so they would not surpass five floors. Another condition required one block to have 24 units fewer than proposed by the developer.

The development permission was the subject of two High Court judicial review challenges.

The board conceded in Mr Morriss case, which has an impact on the action brought by Alan Downey, of Howth Road, represented by Alan Doyle and Ken Kennedy solicitors.
High Court reporters

A homeless Afghan man has brought a High Court challenge aimed at compelling Waterford City and County Council to help provide him with suitable accommodation.

In his action, the man claims he has been unable to obtain proper accommodation from the council, except night-to-night emergency accommodation which he says is unsuitable for his needs.

He alleges that the local authority only has four emergency beds for homeless single men. He also claims that he has had to sleep in his car when no emergency beds are available.

The man, who fled his own country over fears of being targeted by the Taliban because he worked as a truck driver for the American military, arrived in Ireland in 2019.

He was granted asylum here in 2022, which resulted in him having to leave the accommodation he had been provided with by International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS).

While he has been working, he claims he has been unable to secure accommodation for himself and a younger sibling.

He accepts that an offer of accommodation was made to him by the authorities, and his sibling has been provided with somewhere to stay.

He says he did not take up the offer because he did not fully understand the offer as his level of English is poor, and it was never explained to him in his native language.

By the time he understood what was being put to him, the time for acceptance had elapsed and the offer was withdrawn.

He has tried, but has been unable to secure, social housing support. This, he claims, was refused because he was wrongly deemed to have turned down accommodation.

He presented to the council's homeless service several months ago, but that it has only a limited number of emergency beds for single men.

He claims he was first advised to go to Dublin, but has remained in Waterford.

The court heard on the occasions he has been provided with emergency accommodation by the council all he has been given was either a pull-out bed or a couch in an unheated room. The accommodation is only available after 9pm.

While he is on the council's homeless list, he does not know when an offer will be made to him for anything other than the night-to-night emergency accommodation.

He also claims that he has been told that, as a single man, no provision has been made for him, other than one of four beds allegedly assigned to single men. If all the beds are full, then there is no facility for people such as him, he claims.

Being homeless has adversely affected a man's health, it is also claimed.

As a result of what he claims is the council's failure to act lawfully under the 1988 Housing Act, he has brought High Court proceedings against the council.

In his judicial review action, the man seeks various orders and declarations, including an order that it provide him with accommodation other than an emergency night to night bed.

He also seeks orders requiring the local authority to reconsider lawfully his homeless accommodation needs.

He further seeks several declarations from the court, including that the council's alleged policy of only providing four emergency beds for single men is unlawful, and that his rights under the Constitutional and European Convention on Human Rights are not being vindicated.

The matter came before Ms Justice Niamh Hyland on Monday, who granted the man permission to bring his challenge on an ex-parte basis.

The matter will return before the court next month.
Paul Neilan

A man who was caught with over 1 million in cocaine in a "sophisticated" operation where the drugs were hidden in a modified compartment in his van has had his two-year jail sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal.

Andrew Lawlor (38) was originally jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possessing 1.2 million of the drug that was hidden in his van and was uncovered after a Garda surveillance operation in 2020.

At Trim Circuit Court in February, Judge Elva Duffy sentenced Lawlor to four-and-a-half years in prison, with the final two-and-a-half years suspended in mitigation, considering his guilty plea, personal circumstances and efforts at rehabilitation for a drug and alcohol addiction.

Lawlor, of The Paddocks Grove, Adamstown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on July 11th, 2020, at the Ashbourne Business Centre, Ballybin Road, Co Meath.

The court heard the drugs had been brought by truck from the UK through Northern Ireland and then to Ashbourne, where they were transferred to the defendant's van.

Gardai who had mounted a surveillance operation moved in after the handover and arrested both drivers. The truck driver was later jailed for 18 months.

The court heard Lawlor had developed a cocaine addiction after he began experimenting with drugs when he was a teenager and had been under financial strain at the time because of the Covid lockdown. The court heard he is now drug free and training to qualify as a drug counsellor.

Undue leniency

At the Court of Appeal on Monday, Carl Hanahoe BL, for the State, successfully appealed the sentence on grounds of undue leniency.

Mr Hanahoe submitted that the headline sentence of six and a half years set by the trial judge was too low, considering the value of the drugs, which weighed 17kg, and the "sophistication of their concealment".

The court was told that the drugs were found in a compartment in a hydraulic press bolted to the floor of the Volkswagen Caddy.

"The value of the drugs is one of the core elements of where on the spectrum the offence lies and in nominating the headline," Mr Hanahoe said.

Mr Hanahoe suggested a 10-year headline sentence as an appropriate one, in line with the "presumptive mandatory minimum sentence" for similar drug offences.

Mr Hanahoe said Lawlor had also benefited from an "excessive" reduction in mitigation and described the headline sentence nominated as a starting point as being "out of kilter and insufficient".

Roderick O'Hanlon SC, for Lawlor, said the value of the drugs was "obviously of considerable importance, but it is not determinative in of itself" when it came to applying the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence.

Mr O'Hanlon said his client had entered an early guilty plea and added that, after his arrest and search, Lawlor had, upon request, returned voluntarily to the Garda station, where he wrote out a statement admitting he had been in possession of the drugs later found in the van.

Appeal Court judge Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said there was a "sophisticated concealment" involved in the operation, and that a "level of trust" had to have been put in Lawlor by others.

'Sophisticated concealment'

Mr Justice John Edwards noted that when calculating a headline sentence, the sentencing judge had failed to take into account the potential harm to society, not just any actual harm.

Mr O'Hanlon said the trial judge recognised the value of the drugs and the level of offending committed "on more than one occasion" but that there was still a "discretionary" element to sentencing for the trial judge.

Mr O'Hanlon said his client had previous convictions for road traffic offences but that they were "not relevant" to the drugs offence.

Because of Covid restrictions in place at the time, gardai released Lawlor for a time but when they discovered the drugs in the van, he agreed to return to the station and made out a written statement, Mr O'Hanlon said.

Mr O'Hanlon said that, in his statement, Lawlor said that he was "shocked" when the value of the drugs was told to him.

I am in fear for my life and for my family.

"I accept responsibility for having the drugs in my van, but I did not know the type. I was shocked.

"I was doing this for 1,000 and some cocaine  I relapsed. I hope to get back to treatment. I am genuinely sorry. I will regret it for the rest of my life. I am in fear for my life and for my family," Mr O'Hanlon said his client told gardai.

Open prison

Mr O'Hanlon said the father of two was in Loughan House open prison, was released one day a week for treatment, and was allowed to visit his parents on the weekends.

"The reports reflect a prisoner who is doing extremely well," counsel said.

Mr O'Hanlon agreed with Ms Justice Kennedy he was submitting that while the sentence "may seem lenient, it is not too lenient".

In delivering the Court of Appeal's judgment, Ms Justice Kennedy noted Lawlor's personal difficulties, his efforts to overcome them and that he was a father of two with an offer of work upon his release.

Ms Justice Kennedy said the operation would have taken "time and planning" regarding the concealment of drugs that were "a potential harm to society".

"The quantity and value are critical; not determinative but critical," the judge said.

In quashing the original sentence, Ms Justice Kennedy said the headline sentence of six-and-a-half years had been unduly lenient and that the court would re-sentence Lawlor.

Ms Justice Kennedy identified 10 years as a headline sentence before reducing it to seven-and-a-half years in mitigation.

Ms Justice Kennedy then suspended the final three-and-a-half years of the sentence to encourage Lawlor's rehabilitation.

In re-sentencing Lawlor to four years in jail, Ms Kennedy said drugs were a "scourge in our society and there is such a vast quantity of drugs on our streets it cannot be ignored".
(Photo Credit: Christian Aid)A woman runs an errand in West Africa's Burkina Faso. People in the Sahel region of Africa are experiencing a severe food crises - a designation that involves multiple stresses on families, governments and aid agencies over several years, a designation which precedes a famine.

German missionary Father Hans Joachim Lohre who was kidnapped in Mali's capital Bamakoin 2022 has been freed by his captors after he disappeared more than one year ago, a church official has said.

Patient Nshombo of the Missionaries for Africa, often known as the White Fathers, told Reuters news agency on Nov. 26 by telephone that Lohre who worked in Mali for decades had been released.

"Yes, he has been freed, but we have to wait for further details from the authorities," Nshombo said.

A government official confirmed the information according to AFP.

Lohre had been due to celebrate Mass in the Malian capital when he went missing in a country recently .

His car was left parked outside his home and calls to his phone went to voicemai according to reportsl.

The Catholic priest was widely thought to have been kidnapped, although no one ever claimed responsibility.

Lohre had lived in Mali for some 30 years and taught inter-religious dialogue at the Islamo-Christian Institute, which receives students from around the world.

Mali is a landlocked country in the northern part of West Africa and it is the eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over 1,241,238 square kilometers with a population of just under 22 million.

SAHARAN REGION

It is ranked among the world's poorest countries and is in mostly in the Saharan and Sahelian regions of the northern part of Africa. More than 90 percent of Mali's population are Muslims.

It is in a region that has been wracked by violence for years and kidnappings of foreigners and Malians have regularly taken place for criminal or ideological reasons, though they are more common outside the capital.

His release was not expected and only days earlier, on Nov, 23, the Catholic news agency ACIA Africa reported Bamako, that 12 months had passed since the disappearance of Lohre.

In a note shared with ACI Africa on Nov. 22, an official of the Congregation has said that the whereabouts of the German Catholic Priest were still unknown.

"We still don't know how he is doing, and we pray for his liberation," Fr. Pawel Hulecki, the Assistant General of the White Fathers, had said.

After he was taken away his car was found abandoned and the cross he always carried with him was on the ground near the car.

Mali was once home to several pre-colonial empires, and for centuries, its northern city of Timbuktu was a key regional trading post and center of Islamic culture, according to a BBC profile on the country.

After independence from France in 1960, Mali suffered droughts, rebellions, and 23 years of military dictatorship until democratic elections in 1992.

Since 2012, however insurgencies on both the north and central regions have gathered pace.

"Following two coups in 2020 and 2021, which overthrew the civilian government, the former colonial power France withdrew its troops. Mali has strengthened its links with Moscow, with mercenaries from the Wagner group deployed in the country," according to the BBC.




Portugal's pig slaughter number dropped 4.5% in first nine months of this year

The total number of pigs slaughtered in Portugal fell by 4.5%, or 133,474 head, in the first nine months of 2023, according to data published by the GPP and provided by INE as preliminary data.

The total number of pigs slaughtered went from 2,988,417 head from January-September 2022 to 2,854,943 head in 2023. This decrease is in addition to the 1.5% drop in slaughter that occurred in the same time period in 2022 compared to 2021.

Slaughter weight also fell, but by 3.9%, which means that lighter pigs were slaughtered this year compared to 2022, with the total weight going from 248,021 tonnes in 2022 to 238,356.2 tonnes in 2023. This gives an average carcass weight of 83.5kg this year compared to 84.1kg in 2022.

Concerning piglet slaughter, there was a 7.4% drop (-76,429 head) in the first nine months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022, as the number of head slaughtered was 957,838 compared to 1,034,267 head the previous year.

Slaughter weight also fell by 6.2% from 7,228 tonnes in 2022 to 6,781 tonnes in 2023, which means that the average weight remained the same, at approximately 7kg per carcass.

As for cull breeding stock, 2,640 head were slaughtered (-14.8%) in 2023 compared to 30,563 head in 2022. Total weight fell by 18.8% from 4,668 tonnes in 2022 to 3,793 tonnes in 2023. Average slaughter weight was 145.7kg per carcass.

In total, 3,838,821 head were slaughtered and approved for consumption in these first nine months of 2023, down 5.3% from 2022 when 4,053,247 head were slaughtered.

Total slaughter weight was 248,930 tonnes, down 4.2% from 2022 when 259,917 tonnes were approved for consumption.

- GPP Swine News Bulletin No. 46




Vietnam's prime minister calls for ASF measures as outbreaks at over 530

Vietnam's Prime Minister, Pham Minh Chinh, has recently issued an official statement requesting a focus on the implementation of measures to prevent and control African swine fever.

According to a report by the country's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from the start of the year until the middle of November, over 530 outbreaks of ASF have been reported nationwide, forcing the destruction of over 20,000 pigs in 44 provinces and cities.

Outbreaks have been on the rise since August, negatively affecting the pig farming industry and food supply.

To prevent, combat and control ASF and ensure a sufficient pork supply, especially nearing the Lunar New Year, Chinh made the following requests:

- Organise the destruction of diseased and dead pigs;

- Proactively implement legal policies to support farmers suffering losses due to epidemics;

- Promptly detect, prevent and handle cases of buying, selling and transporting sick pigs, and dumping carcasses that spread diseases and pollute the environment;

- Instruct farmers to increase cleaning measures and promote biosecurity;

- Urgently review and organise vaccination to prevent dangerous infectious diseases in pigs;

- Establish inspection teams and urge animal disease prevention and control;

- Implement complete, timely and accurate reporting of data on the online animal disease reporting system (VAHIS);

- Enhance communication about ASF, the risk of disease recurrence and spread, epidemic prevention measures and the use of ASF vaccines according to the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

- Official Dispatch of the Prime Minister (Vietnam)
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Cyber Monday is officially in the rear view mirror, but if you're still looking to pick up a new TV at a discount, it's not too late. While some of the best Cyber Monday TV deals we could find are no longer available, a handful are still live, including discounts on both premium OLED TVs and more budget-friendly sets from Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense and TCL. To help make sure you get a TV that's worth your money, we've rounded up the best of the bunch below. And if you're already happy with your set, we've also included a few good Cyber Monday deals for Roku and Chromecast streamers that are still kicking.

Best Cyber Monday OLED TV deals

55-inch Samsung S90C OLED TV

A 55-inch model of Samsungs S90C OLED TV is still available for $1,298 at Amazon, Walmart and B&H. Samsung itself has it for $2 more. This has been the S90Cs price for the last few weeks but, outside of a brief drop to $1,098 at B&H earlier this month, it matches the lowest rate weve tracked. The S90C has received near-universal praise for its QD-OLED panel, which uses quantum dots to boost its peak brightness and color saturation while retaining the high contrast and deep black tones of a typical OLED display. Put another way: It looks great, and it should hold up better than most OLED TVs in a bright room. Its also an ideal gaming TV, as it has four HDMI 2.1 ports that support up to a 144Hz refresh rate in 4K. The main drawback is that, like all Samsung TVs, it doesnt support the popular Dolby Vision HDR format.

48-inch LG A2 OLED TV

The 48-inch LG A2 OLED TV is now available for $600 at Best Buy. That's $50 higher than the all-time low we saw during Cyber Monday, but if you want to step up to an OLED TV at a reasonably affordable price, it's still a solid value. The A2 is an entry-level model from 2022, so it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, lacks HDMI 2.1 ports and doesn't support other gaming-friendly features like VRR. It has noticeably lower peak brightness than higher-end OLEDs like the S90, too, so it wont pop as much with HDR content. That said, it's still an OLED TV, so it still delivers deep contrast, bold colors, wide viewing angles and low input lag for the money. At this price, it should be a nice step-up option for smaller or secondary rooms.

55-inch Sony A95L OLED TV

If money is truly no object, the 55-inch Sony A95L is $300 off and down to a new low of $2,498 at Amazon and B&H (and $2,500 at Best Buy). Thats far from cheap, but this ultra-premium QD-OLED TV has received wide praise for delivering perfect black levels, superb image processing, particularly punchy colors, and high brightness levels relative to other OLED sets. Its another Google TV and, unlike the Samsung S90C, it supports Dolby Vision HDR. It can even play games at 4K/120Hz with Dolby Vision, and several reviews praise the quality of its built-in speakers. The main negative, apart from its eye-watering price, is that it only has two HDMI 2.1 ports. The S90C should be a better value for most, particularly gamers, but this deal makes the A95L at least a little cheaper than usual.

Best Cyber Monday 4K LED TV deals

55-inch Samsung The Frame LED TV (LS03B)

The 55-inch version of Samsungs The Frame TV is still down to $978 at Amazon and B&H, which is nearly $400 off its average street price in recent months. Its available for a couple bucks more at Samsung and Best Buy. This LED TV lacks contrast-boosting features like local dimming and mini-LED backlights, so its picture quality, while good, cant match the best sets in its price range. Instead, youd buy a Frame TV for its style. The whole thing is designed to look like a mountable piece of wall art, and when you arent watching something, you can use it to display artwork and photos. The TV comes with a few pieces by default, while others are available with an optional subscription.

55-inch Hisense U8K LED TV

The 55-inch Hisense U8K remains available for $698 an Amazon and Walmart, which is an all-time low and $50 less than its typical street price in recent months. Best Buy has it for $700. The 65-inch model is still a decent value at $900  though that's $30 higher than the low we saw on Cyber Monday  while the 75-inch set is at a low of $1,290. Several reviews have praised the U8K as one of the years best values among midrange TVs, one that gets impressively bright and delivers strong contrast for an LED display. It comes with two HDMI 2.1 ports that play 4K video up to 144Hz, it supports all the major HDR formats and its Google TV platform is easier to use than most smart TV UIs. Its motion and color performance will still trail a good OLED TV, though, and reviews say itll wash out much more heavily when viewed from an angle. But if you want to stay under $1,000 for a 65-inch model or smaller, it should be a good value.

65-inch Hisense U6K LED TV

The Hisense U6K is down to $350 for a 55-inch model and $498 for a 65-inch model, both of which represent all-time lows. The U6K is a well-reviewed option for those on a tighter budget, as its one of the few affordable sets to use quantum dots, mini-LED backlights and full-array local dimming. All of that helps it deliver better contrast and color volume than most TVs in this price range. It cant get as bright as the U8K or TCL QM8, so it wont exactly sparkle with HDR content, and its picture will degrade when viewed at an angle. Its 60Hz refresh rate and lack of HDMI 2.1 ports mean its not ideal for gaming, either. But trade-offs are to be expected for less than $500; if you dont want to pay up for a higher-end model, this looks to be a solid compromise.

65-inch Hisense U7K LED TV

Well also note the Hisense U7K, which is down to a low of $900 for a 75-inch set at Amazon and Best Buy. The 65-inch and 55-inch models are also available for lows of $700 and $480, respectively. As its name suggests, this TV sits between the U8K and U6K in Hisenses lineup: It doesnt look as rich or bright as the former, but its a step up over the latter if you can afford to stretch your budget a little more.

65-inch TCL QM8 LED TV

The TCL QM8 is generally regarded as a close rival to the Hisense U8K in the same price bracket. Its 65-inch model is still down to $900 at Amazon, which is only $2 higher than lowest price weve tracked. Like Hisenses set, the QM8 uses quantum dots, mini-LED backlights and an expansive local dimming feature to deliver strong contrast for a non-OLED TV and enough brightness to overcome glare in any room. It, too, runs Google TV, and it has two HDMI 2.1 ports that can play in 4K/144Hz.

The QM8 isnt available in a size lower than 65 inches, so those who dont have the space for a larger TV should get the U8K. But TCLs TV does have one advantage for gamers: Its eARC port is separate from its HDMI 2.1 ports. That means those with a PS5, Xbox Series X and eARC-enabled soundbar can have all three hooked up at once and enjoy 4K/120Hz gaming on the two consoles without having to change inputs. One of the U8Ks HDMI 2.1 ports, on the other hand, doubles as the eARC port, so it might cause a little extra hassle. Otherwise, the two sets appear to offer similar performance.

65-inch TCL Q6 LED TV

The 65-inch TCL Q6 is available for $500 at Amazon and Best Buy, which is $20 more than its all-time low but still $50 below its usual street price. The 75-inch set is also on sale for $650, which is an all-time low. The Q6 is another budget-level TV released in 2023. Most reviews we trust say it lags well behind the Hisense U6K when it comes to contrast and HDR performance, but its worth highlighting because it supports a faster 120Hz refresh rate  so long as you play at a 1080p or 1440p resolution instead of 4K. If youre a competitive-minded gamer who doesnt want to spend a ton on a new TV, that extra smoothness might be worthwhile. Note that this set runs Amazons Fire TV platform, whichll work best if you often use Amazon services like Prime Video.

Best Cyber Monday streaming deals

Roku Streaming Stick 4K

The Roku Streaming Stick 4K is still down to $30 at Amazon, Target, Walmart, Best Buy and Rokus online store, among others. Thats $5 more than its all-time low but still $14 off the average street price weve seen in recent months. The Streaming Stick 4K is the top pick in our guide to the best streaming devices: It runs quickly, it supports the major HDR formats and streaming services (Twitch excluded) and it has useful features like AirPlay support and a private listening mode. The Roku OS platform isnt the sexiest piece of software design, but its a breeze to navigate and its search tool does well to find shows across disparate apps.

Roku Express 4K+

A couple other Roku streamers of note remain on sale as well. The Roku Express 4K+, for one, is within a dollar of its all-time low at $25. That dongle cant plug directly into an HDMI port, lacks Dolby Vision support and has slightly slower Wi-Fi than the Streaming Stick 4K, but it offers the same general experience otherwise. This deal is available at several stores, including Amazon, Home Depot, Best Buy and Roku.com.

Roku Ultra

The Roku Ultra, meanwhile, is down to $69 at various retailers. That's a $30 discount. The Ultra is the best set-top box pick in our media streamer guide; its pricier than the Streaming Stick 4K, but it adds an Ethernet jack and a microSD slot for expanding storage. It also comes with Rokus Voice Remote Pro, which has a rechargeable battery, two programmable shortcut buttons, a remote finder function and a built-in headphone jack for private listening. Just note that you can buy the Voice Remote Pro separately and use it with most other Roku streamers if you don't want to buy a whole new device.

Google Chromecast with Google TV

The Google Chromecast is on sale for $38 at Amazon, Walmart, Target and others. This deal doesnt represent an all-time low, but it's still $12 off Google's list price. The Chromecast is the runner up in our streaming device guide: It was released way back in 2020 and doesn't support Wi-Fi 6, but it still performs competently and supports the major apps. Its biggest selling point is the Google TV interface, which does well to proactively suggest shows you might like based on your viewing history and has a genuinely convenient voice search function. If the idea of a streamer that adjusts to your viewing habits sounds appealing, it might be worth grabbing over one of the Roku players above.

If you're shopping for an older TV, meanwhile, the 1080p version of the Chromecast offers most of the same benefits and is on sale for $20.

Hulu and Paramount+

If youre happy with your TV setup but need new things to watch, Hulu and Paramount+ are still running Cyber Monday sales for new and returning subscribers. The former is offering a year of its with ads tier for $12 total, down from $80. At the latter, you can get that three months of the ad-supported Essential tier for $6 instead of $18. Neither service is essential, but if theres a show youve been meaning to watch on one, offers like these at least make the barrier of entry a bit less imposing. Just remember that your subscription will be set to auto-renew in most cases, so youll have to cancel manually if you dont want to pay full price after the discounted period ends.

Your Cyber Monday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoos Cyber Monday coverage, here. Follow Engadget for Cyber Monday tech deals. Learn about Cyber Monday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblogs experts on the best Cyber Monday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Cyber Monday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.
Tesla sued Swedens transportation agency and postal service on Monday over a union strike blocking the companys license plate deliveries in the country. The workers are striking to demand the non-unionized automaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, a standard practice that mechanics union IF Metall describes as the backbone of the Swedish model. However, the Swedish Transport Agency says it already received an interim decision from a district court ordering it to consent within seven days to Teslas request to collect license plates or face hefty fines. The agency says its too early to say what exactly that means for the standoff.

The Associated Press reported Monday that Tesla, which delivered over 9,000 EVs to Swedish customers in 2022, described the actions of The Swedish Transport Agency (Transportstyrelsen) as a unique attack on the US company. Teslas lawsuit reportedly urges a district court to fine the Swedish Transport Agency 1 million kronor (US$95,803) while allowing Tesla to retrieve license plates. The registrations are held up because workers at state-owned postal service PostNord stopped supplying the plates to Tesla after its workers joined the strike.

The lawsuit allegedly claims the Swedish Transport Agency refused the automakers request to pick up the license plates itself or, failing that, send them through a different channel. Reuters reports Tesla filed two lawsuits: one against the Swedish Transport Agency and another against PostNord.

In a statement to Engadget, Swedish Transport Agency spokesperson Ann-Sofie Masth confirmed the lawsuit and revealed the courts interim decision. The Swedish Transport Agency has now received an interim decision from the Norrkoping district court to consent within 7 days to Tesla collecting license plates directly from our sign manufacturer. It appears from the decision that our sign manufacturer has announced that it is prepared to provide the signs directly to Tesla, provided that the Swedish Transport Agency agrees to this. We at the Swedish Transport Agency now need to analyze the announcement and assess what consequences this has for us and what measures might need to be taken to implement the decision. It is currently too early to say exactly what that would mean.

FILE- Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks before unveiling the Model Y at Tesla's design studio March 14, 2019, in Hawthorne, Calif. A Florida judge ruled Friday, Nov. 17, 2023, that a jury should decide whether Tesla and Elon Musk oversold the electric car company's Autopilot system that caused the fatal crash of a software engineer who engaged it and took his hands off the steering wheel. A trial is scheduled for 2024. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Tesla, not exactly a union-friendly company, has a policy against signing collective bargaining agreements, claiming its employees already have equal or better terms than what the union proposed. The argument that it takes good enough care of its employees to void the need for a union echoes one Tesla CEO Elon Musk made in 2017 when accused of allegations of poor working conditions and low pay at the companys Fremont, CA factory.

IF Metall, Swedens most prominent manufacturing union, began striking on October 27. Although Tesla doesnt have a manufacturing plant in the country, it has several service centers, which stopped working on Tesla vehicles after going on strike. Other unions in the Nordic nation, including dockworkers, cleaners and electricians, have joined the strike in an act of unity. A component maker joined the unions on Friday in a sympathy action.

In Teslas court filing, the company reportedly described the decision as a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden, claiming the refusal to deliver the license plates would affect a large number of consumers who ordered a new car from Tesla.

In a statement to The AP, an IF Metall representative said, We are doing this for the sake of our members, to ensure that they have safe working conditions. A Swedish Transportation Agency spokesperson reportedly told Reuters, We at the Swedish Transport Agency do not share this view and therefore Tesla has decided to have the issue tested in court, which is their right.
The seeds of a new climate investment revolution are being planted in Brazil, say Niamh McCarthy and Kyle Saukas of Climate Advisors

Brazil's historic accomplishment in reducing Amazon rainforest deforestation rates to their lowest levels since 2018 within the first year of President Luiz Inacio "Lula" da Silva's administration signals a paradigm shift in climate action. After years of rapidly increasing deforestation, the Lula administration has shown that course-correction shifts at the scale needed to meet Paris Agreement goals are possible.

Brazil's rapid ability to corral deforestation is a sign that the nation will be fertile ground for a climate-driven agricultural revolution as it

works to mitigate ecosystem collapse in the rainforest responsible for irrigating the vast majority of its production.

Brazil's growing role in climate leadership and mounting climate transitions provide a unique opportunity for the Brazilian agriculture sector to mobilise unprecedented investment in climate-smart technology and nature-based solutions (NBS).

The world stage is set for Brazil to lead on global climate action, especially for agricultural and nature conservation, with a level of influence that we may not have seen before. Investors should see this as a ripe opportunity to capitalise on the growing economic benefits of investing in a variety of natural and agricultural climate solutions. Climate transitions are creating a new operating environment with Brazil in a strong position to mobilise significant financing to both mitigate risks and accelerate solutions.

Brazilian climate aims

Historically, Brazil has been under scrutiny for its role in contributing to deforestation, primarily due to activities related to agriculture.This sector has played an enormous role in Brazil's economic development contributing to 21% of its GDP in 2021. It also serves as the bedrock for thousands of companies' supply chains for critical commodities like beef and soy.

Starting with a new national climate plan set by President Lula released in September, Brazil plans to cut emissions by 53% by 2030. With agriculture and land use contributing nearly 36% of Brazil's emissions in 2020, this will likely spur accelerating climate transitions. Climate transitions, the government, civil society, and private sector responses to climate change, present both risks and opportunities for Brazil's agricultural sector, and the numerous downstream stakeholders that rely upon it.

From an opportunity perspective, conserving Brazil's natural landscapes holds 15% of the world's natural climate solution potential. Brazil has been actively seeking new investments for supporting nature conservation and transitioning its agricultural production to be deforestation-free, in part, to increase access to economic opportunities. Besides being vital for meeting its climate change goals, ending deforestation and restoring natural carbon stores could be a $15 billion opportunity by 2030. For the next few years, the moment is just right

COP28: Financing Net Zero Niamh McCarthy for Brazil to capitalise on these opportunities and investors should take notice.

Brazil's global leadership role

On the eve of COP28, Brazil will likely play a leading role in negotiations as a developing nation that is showcasing meaningful climate action results and as a growing economy influential amongst other middle-income countries. The United Arab Emirates as President of COP28 has explicitly pushed for nature conservation and food systems to be priorities for this year's COP. As a linchpin in the global food system, Brazil will hold sway over these issues and can advocate to unlock further investments.

In 2024, Brazil will serve as the President of the G20, providing it the opportunity to set the agenda for the world's fastest-growing economies on climate action. Brazil will look to unite these countries to demand more finance for nature-based solutions and climate finance for agriculture. Additionally, Brazil can also advance talks around new trade policies that will reward deforestation-free agricultural production.

Brazil is poised to play a leadership role in global climate action in the run up to COP30

At the end of 2024, Brazil will begin preparations to host COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem. COP30 will be unique as the next milestone in the Paris Agreement where nations will have to submit new national plans to meet their commitments. This year's Global Stocktake at COP28 will show the world is far off course from meeting climate goals. With Brazil in charge of COP30, it will have the ability to set the focus of negotiations when new national emissions-cutting targets are being set to drive increased finance for nature and support producers' agricultural transitions.

Risks and opportunities for investors

Brazil sits on the edge of driving the world's major economic and climate efforts. Lula and his administration will be at the helm for the next few years and will seek to drive more action on nature and agricultural finance, trade policies and global climate action.

Accelerating climate transitions indicates that the future will be very different from the past. Utilising forward-looking climate scenario analysis and stress testing will be pivotal to understanding how risk exposure changes at different levels of climate ambition and resilience to a changing world.This analysis can also help investors identify where investments to finance the transition to net-zero emission agricultural production will have the greatest payoffs. Investors have the chance to reap the benefits of Brazil's climate ambitions if they act now to incorporate climate transitions in their investment strategies for the future. Orbitas has been developing new models of analysing these transitions to aid investors in mitigating risks and identifying new opportunities for investment in a climate-constrained world.

The Brazilian government's efforts will change the entire dynamic of Brazil's agricultural sector. The climate transitions Brazil has set in motion, and continues to drive, will change policies, market dynamics, technology adoption and impact the reputational value of involved stakeholders. Importantly, Brazil's efforts could catalyse an agricultural revolution across the world as major commodity-producing nations like Indonesia, Colombia, Malaysia, and others could also benefit by capitalising on increased finance for nature, deforestation-free production and sustainable technology improvements.

For investors who continue to bet on business-as-usual practices and systems dependent on continued deforestation, material financial risks already exist today, and a wave of new risks is on the horizon. We're already seeing these risks materialise in Brazil with the European Union's Deforestation Regulation that will bar imports of goods tied to deforestation. Investors may already be able to see these risks sprouting within company financial statements if they know where to look.

Orbitas is translating land sector climate transitions into financial statement impacts

On the other hand, Brazil's ascendance to climate leadership opens new attractive opportunities for investment in climate solutions for investors.

The Lula administration has voiced support for a new Amazon Bioeconomy valued at $284 billion per year by 2050. Efforts like the Innovative Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco Initiative have committed to mobilise $10 billion in commitments and disbursements of funds for sustainable agricultural transition across South America by 2030, a potential $30 billion opportunity for investors. Capital for Climate's platform of bankable nature-based solutions investment opportunities is also helping investors overcome historical challenges to invest in these emerging assets.

For investors, it is clear with Brazil's recent climate efforts that there is no more business as usual. Climate transitions have created a new operating environment today and will increase their impact in the years to come. Investors have a choice to make on whether they'll passively wait for these climate transitions to occur and react after the fact, or proactively mitigate risks and seize opportunities available to them today.

Niamh McCarthy is director of climate-related risk and Kyle Saukas is deputy director of communications at Climate Advisers.

Subscribe for Orbitas' Upcoming Brazil Climate Transition Reports
(Informacion remitida por la empresa firmante)

HRBrain is a fast-growing HR software provider in Japan , helping companies manage and engage with talent more effectively through a diversified suite of cloud products

, helping companies manage and engage with talent more effectively through a diversified suite of cloud products As Japan continues to face talent shortages and increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure of human capital metrics, the demand for solutions to support talent management and employee engagement is growing rapidly

continues to face talent shortages and increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure of human capital metrics, the demand for solutions to support talent management and employee engagement is growing rapidly BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth will support HRBrain's continued growth by expanding the customer base and support ongoing development of new modules to further enhance its integrated service offering

TOKYO, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EQT is pleased to announce that the BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth Fund ("BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth") has agreed to acquire a majority stake in HRBrain (the "Company"), from existing shareholders. The Company's founder, Hiroki Hori, will remain as a significant minority shareholder and continue as CEO.

HRBrain was established in 2016 to offer software solutions aimed at simplifying and streamlining companies' performance evaluation processes. Today, the Company's HR solutions have grown to include comprehensive talent management, employee experience and organization assessment, labor management, AI ChatBot, 360 Reviews, and more. HRBrain is headquartered in Tokyo and has more than 150 employees.

As Japan continues to face talent shortages and increasing regulatory requirements for disclosure of human capital metrics, the demand for solutions to support talent management and employee engagement has been growing rapidly. With an intuitive UI/UX design, flexible module selections, and strong customer support and consulting services, HRBrain has developed a highly diversified customer base, helping more than 2,500 companies in total engage with talent more effectively. Moreover, the Company has best-in-class customer satisfaction and strong retention, particularly from their core target segment of mid to large sized enterprises, with more than 60 percent in annual recurring revenue growth.

EQT has extensive experience developing strong software businesses on a global scale, with more than 15 software investments globally and over USD 10 billion of equity invested since 2018. BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth will leverage the firm's in-house software and digitalization capabilities and global network of industry experts to support HRBrain in its next phase of growth.

Tetsuro Onitsuka, Partner within EQT Japan's advisory team, commented, "HRBrain is one of the top players in Japan's Talent Management space, which is backed by strong tailwinds from socially significant issues like a shrinking labor force, a growing shift towards job-based hiring, and a regulatory push to visualize and disclose human capital. We see great potential for further expansion of the company's impressive product and service offerings, and we look forward to leveraging EQT's experience in technology and software to support President Hiroki Hori and his employees as we work together to accelerate HRBrain's organic and inorganic growth."

Hiroki Hori, CEO of HRBrain, commented, "HRBrain promotes solutions in the HR domain mainly for Japanese companies through SaaS-type software and consulting services. We are pleased to have formed a strong partnership with EQT and work to realize our mission. Together, we will continue to provide unique products that are indispensable to diverse workplaces and solving complex issues in the HR field."

The transaction is expected to close in Q4 2023.

BPEA EQT was advised by SMBC Nikko, mk (legal), and KPMG (financial, tax and ESG). The Company was advised by UBS and Shiomizaka (legal).ContactEQT Press Office, press@eqtpartners.com

The information contained herein does not constitute an offer to sell, nor a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security, and may not be used or relied upon in connection with any offer or solicitation. Any offer or solicitation in respect of the BPEA EQT Mid-Market Growth fund will be made only through a confidential private placement memorandum and related documents which will be furnished to qualified investors on a confidential basis in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. The information contained herein is not for publication or distribution to persons in the United States of America. Any securities referred to herein have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold without registration thereunder or pursuant to an available exemption therefrom. Any offering of securities to be made in the United States would have to be made by means of an offering document that would be obtainable from the issuer or its agents and would contain detailed information about the issuer of the securities and its management, as well as financial information. The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration.

The following files are available for download:

View original content: https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bpea-eqt-mid-market-growth-to-acquire-a-majority-stake-in-hrbrain-a-fast-growing-hr-software-provider-in-japan-301997813.html
November 27, 2023

Warren Buffett said that the donation of his fortune to charitable causes after his death will be open to public scrutiny, though the 93-year-old billionaire said hes still doing fine for now.

I feel good but fully realize I am playing in extra innings, the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. chief executive officer said in a Thanksgiving letter to shareholders. Hes long pledged that more than 99% of his wealth will go to philanthropy. After my death, the disposition of my assets will be an open book  no imaginative trusts or foreign entities to avoid public scrutiny but rather a simple will available for inspection at the Douglas County Courthouse in Omaha, Nebraska, where he lives.

Buffett is the worlds ninth-richest person, with a $120.8 billion net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and his fortune has gained $13.3 billion this year. In 2010, he started the Giving Pledge, with his friends Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates, saying he would donate his fortune either in his lifetime or at his death. Four years earlier, he started making massive donations to the Gatess foundation, as well as foundations tied to his children.

Buffetts three children, who range in age from 65 to 70, are the executors of his current will as well as the named trustees of the charitable trust that will receive his fortune, he said in the letter.

They were not fully prepared for this awesome responsibility in 2006, but they are now, Buffett said. In administering the testamentary trust, the three must act unanimously. Because of the random nature of mortality, successors must always be designated. The trusts charter will be broad.

Buffett also said in the letter that he donated Berkshire Hathaway stock valued at more than $868 million to charities, including one named after his late wife, this week. Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 300,000 shares each to the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation, according to a letter  the same number of shares donated to each group last year. He made the donation after converting 1,600 Class A shares into 2.4 million Class B shares.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.
Sheep farmers in Wales have hailed a 'double lamb whammy' as Japan and Germany open their doors to imports of Welsh Lamb.

Hybu Cig Cymru (Meat Promotion Wales) has announced new export deals at the Royal Welsh Winter Fair on Monday (27 November).

I can tell you today that Welsh Lamb is on its way to Japan, revealed HCC chair, Catherine Smith.

It will be arriving this week and we now have firm plans to build on that with a significant launch into Food Service businesses in Japan early in the new year.

She said supplying Japan had taken years of negotiation and persistence, adding it "would not be possible on the scale that it has been carried out without the brilliance of our farmers."

Japan, a traditionally low consumer of lamb, has been identified as a key target market for the Welsh red meat sector, with it being one of the worlds largest beef importers.

It opened its doors to imports of UK beef and lamb in January 2019 following its 1996 bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) ban.

In what she called a 'double Welsh Lamb whammy', Ms Smith highlighted a further major export deal in the sheep sector's European customer base.

Our work in the export market has also borne fruit in one of our key European territories," she told guests at today's HCC industry breakfast event.

"A new agreement was progressed that could see Welsh Lamb stocked in up to a further 1,000 stores in a major German retail chain.

Ms Smith explained that Welsh livestock was a billion-pound industry, with total farm income at more than 600m and employing just under 50,000 people.

"Exports are worth 258 million - and youve just heard were on our way to more in 2024 - and our 8.7m sheep and 1.1 million cattle produce around 90,000 tonnes of red meat each year," she said.

These figures show were at the head of the Welsh economy - but were also the heart of the Welsh economy.

"Our industry is an all-embracing term for our majestic patchwork quilt of production, our incredible network of traditional family farms."
Bluetongue virus has been found in four cows near Canterbury following the first case of the disease earlier this month, with farmers urged to remain vigilant.

A 10km temporary control zone (TCZ) has been put in place around the two impacted farms, restricting the movement of susceptible animals except under licence.

The infected animals will be culled to reduce the risk of onward disease transmission, the government confirmed.

The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) identified the first case of the disease on 11 November through Britain's annual bluetongue surveillance programme.

Before this, the last outbreak of bluetongue in the UK was in 2007, meaning it had been officially free of the virus since 2011.

The virus is transmitted by midge bites and affects cows, goats, sheep and other camelids such as llamas.

The midges are most active between April and November and not all susceptible animals show immediate, or any, signs of contracting the virus.

Impacts on susceptible animals can vary greatly  some show no symptoms or effects at all while for others it can cause productivity issues such as reduced milk yield, while in the most severe cases can be fatal for infected animals.

Christine Middlemiss, the UKs Chief Veterinary Officer, has urged farmers to remain vigilant for bluetongue virus following the four new cases.

Bluetongue does not pose a threat to human health or food safety, but the disease can impact livestock farms, and cause productivity issues," she said.

This detection is an example of our robust disease surveillance procedures in action and it is also a clear reminder for farmers that the disease remains a threat, despite coming towards the end of the midge activity season.

Farmers must remain vigilant and report any suspicions to APHA.

Farmers have been reminded by APHA that animals imported from impacted regions must be accompanied by the relevant paperwork to show they meet certain conditions designed to reduce disease risk, such as correct vaccination.

NI and GB ruminants cannot be exported from an GB Assembly Centre to the European Union or moved to Northern Ireland until further notice.

BTV is a notifiable disease. Suspicion of BTV in animals in England must be reported to the Animal and Plant Health Agency on 03000 200 301.

Farmers in and around the TCZ can also call Ruminant Health & Welfare's (RH&W) bluetongue hotline on 024 7771 0386 for advice.

Bluetongue does not affect people or food safety.
A Devon farmer has been ordered to pay out 6,500 after a cow attack left a 70-year-old man fearing for his life.

John Hallett, of Birdcage Farm, Ottery St Mary, has been sentenced after Patrick Atherton was attacked by seven cows in June 2022.

The dog walker and his 13-year-old Border Collie Lad had been dropped off at Birdcage Farm, in Ottery Saint Mary, by his wife.

He was a regular user of the footpath and said it was ironic that Lad had been on his lead that fateful day.

It was ironic that for the first time I had kept Lad on his lead as I had noticed two young calves in the field and thought if he was walking by my side they wouldnt really notice," he recalled.

Unfortunately, one black cow did and it charged at us, knocking me down by the hedge that bordered the path."

He added: I tried to stand up and let Lad off his lead but they kept on knocking me over.

There was about seven cows involved, but it was the very aggressive black cow that was trying to kill my dog. I thought we were going to die.

The traumatic ordeal only came to an end after he heard a call  who he presumed to be from the farmer  and the cattle moved away from the pair and ran back to the farm.

I had been powerless to do anything, he said. We were both surrounded by cattle. I could hear Lad shrieking in pain as he was repeatedly kicked and stamped on.

He was never the same dog after what happened and he sadly passed away in September this year.

I just want to make other people aware of the risks when out enjoying popular footpaths such as this one.

Mr Atherton escaped with cuts and bruises following the attack, while Lad was badly injured had to take veterinary medication for the remainder of his life.

John Hallett, the farmer responsible, was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) as a result.

Its investigation found that cattle with young calves, which are known to be protective and unpredictable, were being kept in a field with a public right of way across it.

They can pose a risk to walkers, especially to those with dogs, the safety watchdog said.

Mr Hallett pleaded guilty to breaching Section 3(2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 and was fined 2,000 and ordered to pay costs of 4,500 at Exeter Magistrates Court.

HSE inspector Simon Jones said: It is fortunate that the injuries sustained by Mr Atherton werent life threatening, however given the nature of the attack the end result could have been far worse.

Public knowledge  and concern  is increasing about how dangerous cattle can be. On this occasion Mr Atherton took the right precautions and HSE has taken action against the farmer in question."

Mr Jones added: Farmers should not place cattle with calves in fields where members of the public have a legal right to walk.

Had John Hallett followed this simple rule, then this incident could have been prevented.
Fears are growing in the United States about an invasion of "super pigs" from Canada.

The US is under threat from an invasion of 'super pigs'

The population of the feral hogs - which have been described as "the most invasive animal on the planet" by expert Professor Ryan Brook - has soared in the US since 2019 and they are proving extremely difficult to eradicate in northern states.

The swine are capable of spreading disease as well as devastating crops and wildlife.

Researcher Ruth Aschim said: "Wild pigs are ecological train wrecks. They are prolific breeders, making them an extremely successful invasive species.

"Wild pigs can cause soil erosion, degrade water quality, destroy crops, and prey on smaller mammals, amphibians and birds."

States such as Minnesota and Montana are attempting to stop the invasion but Professor Brook warned that hunting the hogs doesn't help the situation as it makes the animals nocturnal - which means they are harder to track down.
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are househunting in Los Angeles.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are househunting

Prince Harry and his wife Meghan currently live in the Montecito area of California but they are keen to be closer to Hollywood after recently attending a string of high-profile events.

In September, the couple - who have children Prince Archie, four, and two-year-old Princess Lilibet together - were seen househunting in Malibu but sources told TMZ they decided against the $8 million plot of land they viewed because they felt the site - which had a swimming pool already built and approval for a large home - didn't fit with their priorities of privacy and community.

Harry and Meghan have yet to look around any houses in Los Angeles and are open to different neighbourhoods in the city.

The couple bought their first home in California in 2020 after stepping down as senior members of the royal family, having initially stayed in Los Angeles at actor-and-producer Tyler Perry's home for several weeks before their location was made public.

Their current neighbours include TV titans Oprah Winfrey and Ellen DeGeneres.

News of the their potential move comes amid reports former 'Suits' star Meghan is considering a return to acting as well as possibly reactivating her lifestyle brand The Tig.

A source recnetly told Life and Style magazine: "Shed gotten a bunch of offers over the last five years, but turned them down because she really was trying to embrace royal life and, later, forge a new path behind the scenes in Hollywood with Harry.

"But now thats all changed. With other opportunities drying up, shes actively looking for roles and talking to some big-name directors and producers. Harry is 100 per cent supportive of all of it. Acting is what Meghan knows and what shes always loved."
Kim Kardashian's comedy has reportedly been sold to Netflix.

Kim Kardashian has landed a deal with Netflix for her movie

The 43-year-old reality superstar is normally seen on Hulu as part of her family's megahit show 'The Kardashians' but is to star in and produce the comedy film 'The 5th Wheel' and its rival streaming giant has won the bidding war for its distribution.

An insider told Deadline: "[Kim] has been very hands on in the process to sell the female-driven comedy, appearing at each meeting to deliver the pitch and the studios are lining up to get in business with her."

recently appeared in season 12 of 'American Horror Story', portraying PR Siobhan Walsh, alongside Emma Roberts, Matt Czuchry and Cara Delevingne.

She's also voiced the poodle Delores in a pair of 'Paw Patrol' films.

The news about a potential move into live-action movies comes after her mom Kris Jenner raised concerns about her daughter having too much on her plate in the latest season of 'The Kardashians'.

The businesswoman completely forgot a whole part of her day where she met fans and told them all about her brand SKIMS' secret plans because she was suffering from the signs of burnout.

On a recent episode of 'The Kardashians', she had rehearsals for her role in 'American Horror Story', a Time magazine cover shoot, a Met Gala dress fitting, a SKIMS business meeting, a fashion gala, an appearance on the 'Today' show, and watched her brother-in-law Travis Barker's Blink-182 show.

However, there is one part of her day she completely forgot, greeting fans at the Tiffany's store and sharing where she was on social media.

She said whilst showing the footage: "I had no idea that I stopped at the Tiffany's store and was posting all about it.

"Did I really go? It felt like a dream. This whole morning has been a complete, foggy dream."

Momager Kris, 68, was concerned about her daughter burning out and quizzed her over her schedule.

Kim admitted doing 'American Horror Story' "put me over the edge".
Paris Hilton is having a "pink Christmas" with her children.

Paris Hilton and her son Phoenix pose in front of a pink Christmas tree

The 42-year-old heiress already has 10-month-old Phoenix with husband Carter Reum but the pair announced earlier this week that they had welcomed daughter London and over the weekend, she posed with her eldest in front of a bright pink Christmas tree to celebrate the new arrival.

She wrote on Instagram: "Celebrating our baby girl London with a pink Christmas."

The former 'Simple Life' star initially sparked speculation that she had become a mother for the second time earlier this week when posted a picture of a pink outfit emblazoned with the word 'London' - which she has repeatedly said she would choose as a name if she had a little girl - alongside a pair of tiny red sunglasses and a teddy bear.

She captioned the post: "Thankful for my baby girl (sic)"

And amongst the photos from her Thanksgiving celebrations shared to her Instagram Story, Paris also posted a picture of Phoenix which was captioned: "The big brother.

The socialite previously revealed she had always wanted a daughter named after the English capital.

Speaking on a This is Paris podcast titled This is Im Pregnant?? before she had her son, she said: One day I want to have a little girl, and I want to name her London. Thats always been my dream ever since I was a little girl, because I just love London and Paris together.

For a boy, I want to name him after a city or a country or a state as well. I have a name, but Im not going to say it yet  I want to keep it a surprise, and I dont want anyone stealing my baby name for that one. Ive said London for a long time so I cant really hide that one now.

And when she confirmed Phoenix's name, she admitted she had chosen a moniker that would complement London.
From the legendary director who needs no introduction  Martin Scorsese  comes his tour de force Mean Streets, the film that placed him firmly on the path to becoming one of the most-lauded filmmakers of his generation. This early work gave a glimpse of a true master at work and also showcased the fledgling careers of two Hollywood powerhouses Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro, in their first ever movie appearance together.

Mean Streets

Now to celebrate its 50th Anniversary Mean Street gets a brand new 4K restoration supervised by Scorsese himself. Its time to experience this seminal movie, like never seen before with a brand-new Limited Edition version from masters in the field Second Sight Films. This genuine must-have collectors edition arrives on 15 January 2024, and comes stacked with a host of special features that really mean business.

Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro)

Set in Little Italy, we follow the lives of four 20-somethings, who are finding their way in the world, from small- time crooks to aspiring gangsters. Theres Johnny Boy (Robert De Niro), an irresponsible thug with a track record of blowing things up and ripping off loan sharks, his friend Charlie (Harvey Keitel), the dapper nephew of mafia boss Giovanni (Cesare Danova), whos trying his best to avoid a life of crime, with aspirations of running his own restaurant. We also meet with Tony (David Proval  The Shawshank Redemption) who runs the neighbourhood bar; and Michael (Richard Romanus  The Sopranos) a loan shark who targets gullible teens from Brooklyn.

Charlie (Harvey Keitel)

Born into the criminal fraternity, Charlie battles with his guilty conscience as he tries to save his wayward friend Johnny Boy from the world of crime that he so desperately wants to escape.

The Limited edition

The film is presented in a new 4K restoration that has been supervised and approved by the director himself along with collaborator Thelma Schoonmaker. The Limited Edition box set comes in a rigid slipcase with original artwork and presented as a dual format edition. The UHD and Blu-ray both include the main feature and bonus features and the UHD is presented in Dolby Vision HDR with restored original mono audio. Theres a new audio commentary by Demetrios Matheou and David Thompson, scene specific audio commentary with Martin Scorsese and actor Amy Robinson plus interviews. Theres also a feature-length documentary, a 178-page book featuring new essays and much more. Please see the full list of contents below.

Take to the Mean Streets to make sure you dont miss the definitive release of this undeniable masterpiece.
Strategic partnerships with India, Japan and other East Asian nations are needed to boost and diversify markets and face challenges posed by economic downturns in traditional export destinations, Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association (SLAEA) chairman Indika Liyanahewage recently said.

Japan, in particular, presents a significant opportunity, with an annual import of $26 billion worth of apparel of which only $35 million comes from Sri Lanka. There is great potential for growth in the Japanese market, he told the 41st annual general meeting of the SLAEA.

Strategic partnerships with India, Japan and other East Asian nations are needed to boost and diversify markets and face challenges posed by economic downturns in traditional export destinations, according to the Sri Lanka Apparel Exporters Association. It urged India to lift its cap on the number of garment pieces that Sri Lanka can export annually.

While 30 per cent of Sri Lankas garments are shipped to Europe and 40 per cent to the United States, these markets have witnessed a shrink due to economic challenges, he noted.

Indias middle-class market segment is a decent opportunity for Sri Lanka to tap into which accounts for over 300 million people, who are now getting into a high-spending mode, he was quoted as saying by a top Sri Lankan newspaper.

The free trade agreement between India and Sri Lanka has set the annual export quota to the former at 8 million garment pieces and the annual imported raw material quota from the former at a value of $1 billion. Sri Lankas apparel export revenue to India is about $40-50 million.

We hope the cap could be lifted or extended as much as possible, Liyanahewage said.

He also urged the government to address issues like high electricity costs and tariff duties that affect export competitiveness.

The countrys apparel exports in September this year were sharply down by 26 per cent to $332 million, while performance in the first nine months was down by 20.5 per cent to $3.4 billion.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Filmfare OTT Awards 2023: The 4th edition of the Filmfare OTT Awards 2023 was held on Sunday night in Mumbai. The ceremony honoured actors, directors, and technicians for their OTT series and web-original films.

The nominees were chosen from the web series and films that were released across various OTT platforms between August 1, 2022, and July 31, 2023. Web series like Jubilee, Scoop, Kohrra, and Dahaad have won multiple awards.

Alia Bhatt was crowned the best actor award in web original film (female) for 'Darlings', and Rajkummar Rao won the best actor (male) award in the critics category for 'Monica O My Darling'.

Sonakshi Sinha and Vijay Varma were awarded for their series 'Dahaad.' Several other actors also bagged top acting honours at the fourth edition of the Filmfare OTT Awards 2023.

Filmfare OTT Awards 2023: Jubilee Wins Best Costume Design, Darling, Scoop Bag Huge In Technical Category

Check out the list of winners from the Filmfare OTT Awards 2023:-

Best Series - Scoop

Best Series, Critics - Trial By Fire

Best Director Series - Vikramaditya Motwane (Jubilee)

Best Director, Critics - Randeep Jha (Kohrra)

Best Actor, Series (Male): Drama - Suvinder Vicky (Kohrra)

Best Actor, Series (Male), Critics: Drama - Vijay Varma (Dahaad)

Best Actor, Series (Female): Drama - Rajshri Deshpande (Trial By Fire)

Best Actor, Series (Female), Critics: Drama - Karishma Tanna (Scoop) and Sonakshi Sinha (Dahaad)

Best Supporting Actor, Series (Male): Drama - Barun Sobti (Kohrra)

Best Supporting Actor, Series (Female): Drama - Tillotama Shome (Delhi Crime Season 2)

Best Actor, Series (Male): Comedy - Abhishek Banerjee (The Great Weddings Of Munnes)

Best Actor, Series (Female): Comedy - Maanvi Gagroo (TVF Tripling)

Best Supporting Actor, Series (Male): Comedy - Arunabh Kumar (TVF Pitchers S2)

Best Supporting Actor, Series (Female): Comedy - Shernaz Patel (TVF Tripling S3)

Best Comedy (Series/Specials) - TVF Pitchers S2

Best Non-fiction Original, Series/Special - Cinema Marte Dum Tak

Best Film, Web Original - Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai

Best Director, Web Original Film - Apoorv Singh Karki (Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai)

Best Actor, Web Original Film (Male) - Manoj Bajpayee (Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai)

Best Actor, Critics' (Male): Film - Rajkummar Rao (Monica O My Darling)

Best Actor, Web Original Film (Female) - Alia Bhatt (Darlings)

Best Actor, Critics' (Female): Film - Sharmila Tagore (Gulmohar) and Sanya Malhotra (Kathal)

Best Supporting Actor, Web Original Film (Male) - Suraj Sharma (Gulmohar)

Best Supporting Actor, Web Original Film (Female) - Amruta Subhash (Lust Stories 2) and Shefali Shah (Darlings)

Filmfare Femina Bhojpuri Icons Award: Manoj Tiwari, Kajal Rajhwani To Sharda Sinha Among BIG Winners; See List

Short Films

Best Short Film (Fiction) - Jahaan

Best Director, Short Film - Sakshi Gurnani (Gray)

Best Actor Short Film (Male) - Manav Kaul (Phir Kabhi)

Best Actor Short Film (Female) - Mrunal Thakur (Jahaan)

Popular Choice Award For Best Short Film - Soul-Kadhi
It is indeed rare for people to experience what they had manifested years ago. Being amongst one of the credible actors,

Paresh Pahuja belongs to the set of actors whose work is the testimony of his craft and how far he has come in this journey purely on basis of his skills. The charming actor shares how life has come full circle for him at IFFI, Goa.

Paresh shared, "It's magical how the universe works. The first time I attended IFFI was 10 years ago. I was a media student and a film enthusiast then. I remember very vividly I was in the audience for one of the screenings. The cast and crew came up on stage and I was like "one day I'm going to be on that stage too" I don't know why I said that. I didn't even know I wanted to be an actor. It felt surreal to be on that stage for Kadak Singh'a premiere."

Sharing about his experience of working on 'Kadak Singh,' Paresh further shared, "This has been the most challenging film for me, as an actor. And it was because of food! I really had to control my taste buds while shooting for 'Kadak Singh.' India mein pyaar jatane ka zariya khaana hai. Pankaj ji and Tony Da brought home-cooked food for us everyday on the sets, Sanjana also brought food. A couple of times, I even ordered some food and took to the set for everyone, letting them assume that it was cooked by me (he laughs). I would like to declare that you will find the best momos in India at Pankaj Ji's residence."

He further stated, "Even though the film is titled 'Kadak Singh,' it has been made by the most gentle human beings. Attending the premiere at IFFI was beautiful. We could hear the audiences laugh, cry, clap. It took us almost 20 minutes to reach the exit from our seats in the theatre as on every step people came along to click pictures, to shower appreciation. I was being called by my character's name, Arjun. It was delightful!"

'Kadak Singh' features Paresh Pahuja alongside Pankaj Tripathi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Jaya Ahsan, Sanjana in pivotal roles. Besides 'Kadak Singh,' Paresh will also be seen in 'Lord Curzon Ki Haveli' and 'Operation Valentine.'
Mansoor Ali Khan Plans Defamation Cases Against Trisha: In recent days, senior Tamil actor Mansoor Ali Khan has been in the spotlight for controversial reasons. He's faced severe criticism and backlash due to his sexist and disrespectful remarks directed at his Leo co-star, Trisha Krishnan.

Mammootty Sir, You're My Hero! Samantha Raves About 'Kaathal - The Core' After Watching

A few days after that, the Tamil Nadu Police took action against Mansoor, prompted by the National Council for Women's (NCW) intervention. Following this, the senior actor publicly apologised to Trisha. Surprisingly, Trisha swiftly chose to "forgive" Mansoor, catching many by surprise.

In an unexpected turn, Mansoor declared his intent to file defamation suits against Trisha, Konidela Chiranjeevi, and senior actor-politician Khushbu Sundar over the matter. He stated his intention to press charges against these three actors for alleged defamation and creating a public disturbance for over a week.

Mansoor reaffirmed his stance, claiming that the circulated video was manipulated. He intends to present the authentic footage and additional evidence to support his innocence during the lawsuit. Previously, Chiranjeevi, Khushboo, and several other industry figures and fans nationwide had condemned Mansoor Ali Khan's actions and stood in solidarity with Trisha throughout the incident.

Mansoor Ali Khan's Disrespectful And Misogynistic Comment

A few days ago, a controversial video capturing actor Mansoor Ali Khan's repugnant remarks about actress Trisha at a press conference set social media ablaze, drawing vehement condemnation from the actress herself.

Trisha, known for her role in 'Leo,' slammed her co-star, stating, "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."

Bigg Boss Tamil 7: Vanitha Alleges Assault By Pradeep Antony Supporter: Shares Shocking Pic On Social Media

Mansoor Ali Khan reportedly said during a press conference, "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 bed 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."
A large-scale exhibition featuring 130 original works, including early paintings and large-scale objects

More than 130 works on display, including early works collected by the Delaive family since 2006

Highlighting the unique "finger painting" technique of applying paint with bare hands

Large-scale special exhibition combining large-scale objects with animation, interactive media content, and more

On view from December 2, 2023 to March 24, 2024 at Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- C.C.O.C. (CEO Kang Wook Kang, www.ccoc.co.kr), an exhibition specialist, announced today that they will present "Ayako Rokkaku, Dreams in my Hand" at the Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center, from December 2 (Saturday) to March 24 (Sunday), 2024. This is the largest solo exhibition of Ayako Rokkaku's work in Korea, featuring approximately 130 original works collected by the Delaive family of the Netherlands, including her early drawings and large-scale objects.

Ayako Rokkaku, a dreamy finger painting spring.

Ayako Rokkaku is an artist from Chiba Prefecture, Japan, known for her unique "finger painting" method of working, in which she improvises by applying acrylic paint with her bare hands without sketching. With no formal art training, she began painting at the age of 20 to find a way to express herself beyond words. Active in various parts of the world, including Tokyo, Berlin, Porto, and Amsterdam, she is a sought-after artist for collectors and set a new personal record on the 52nd Japanese SBI Auction in 2022 with 1.6 billion won. She first came to prominence when she participated in the GEISAI Art Fair organized by Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki in 2006, and has been hailed as representing the next generation of Japanese artists, following in the footsteps of Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama.

will feature more than 130 works, including early works and large-scale objects collected by the Delaive family since 2006. On display will be three large-scale works over 3 meters in height, including "Sculpture with two ghost rabbits (2011)," a 1.6-meter-high large-scale object that captures the artist's early works when she was drawing on cardboard in a park in Tokyo, as well as hers more abstract style after she moved her studio to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Untitled (2020), painted on a 2-meter circular canvas, depicts a girl lying in a field of flowers on a spring day and is filled with colors that evoke the warmth of spring. All of these works are rarely seen in the art market and are highly anticipated by Korean fans.

Organized into six sections with more than 130 works, including early paintings, large-scale objects, and more

Upon entering the exhibition, a sand art animation that tells the story of Ayako Rokkaku's journey from Japan to the Netherlands is shown first, followed by a photo wall that shows the meeting between the self-taught artist and gallerist Nico Delaive. After the introductory section, the first section, 'Little Girl with Bare Feet', will showcase some of the artist's earliest works. Twenty-three early original paintings are on display, including two works from 2006.

In the second section, 'Dreaming Fingers,' you'll see some of the most iconic works that come to mind when you think of Ayako Rokkaku. The works are made from a variety of everyday materials, including canvas, cardboard, T-shirts, vinyl, and plates, and range in size from 26 centimeters to 1.6 meters. The third section, 'To the Wider World,' introduces the original paintings that the artist worked on while igniting his passion for art after leaving Tokyo and starting a new life in Amsterdam, the city of Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Three large 3-meter-high original paintings by Ayako Rokkaku, who despite her small stature love to paint large-scale works, will be on display, and her Amsterdam studio will be recreated as a photo zone for added enjoyment.

The next section, 'My Friends,' features the 'About Us' works. 'About Us' is the title of an animation created by the artist in collaboration with Tokyo-based music label contrarede. The animated work tells the story of a girl who bridges the gap between past and future time, and features autobiographical characters from the artist's life. The 18-minute film will also be screened in the media room. Upon entering the gallery through a door that looks exactly like the one at Gallery Delaive in Amsterdam, you'll find the 'Delaive Family' section. There's a photo wall that shows the decades-long friendship between the Delaive family and Ayako Rokkaku, as well as portraits of the Delaive family painted by the artist with an intimate feel. The sixth and final section, 'The Beginning of Spring,' will feature recent works created between 2021 and 2022.

"Ayako Rokkaku can be described as an artist who calls for spring," says Kang Wook Kang, CEO of CCOC, who organized the exhibition. "She creates a dreamy, surreal world without sketches and instead improvises, making the viewer feel the lovely spring, and we expect this winter to be warmer with Ayako Rokkaku's exhibition."

The cutest and most adorable displays this winter

The special exhibition < Ayako Rokkaku. Dreams in My Hand> will be held at Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center from Saturday, December 2, 2023 to Sunday, March 24, 2024, and is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (closed every Monday, last entry at 6:10 p.m.). Tickets are priced at KRW 20,000 for adults (19+), KRW 16,000 for youth (13-18), and KRW 12,000 for children (36 months to 12 years), with special discounts of up to 50% on-site for those aged 65+, disabled, and national veterans with proof of age. From November 9 (Thursday) to December 1 (Friday), early bird tickets with a 50% discount will be available on Ticketlink, Naver Reservation, KakaoTalk Reservation, 29cm, Wemef, 11th Avenue, and other popular ticketing sites.

Meanwhile, from mid-January 2024, CCOC will host the Naples Archaeological Museum's at The Hyundai Seoul, the CxC Art Museum at the entrance to Kondae University, the 57th Bologna Illustration Exhibition, and a special exhibition of Javier Calleja at the Seoul Arts Center in June.

More visual information: https://issuu.com/gallerydelaive/docs/306007_cataloog_prive_collectie_ayako_digitaal?fr=sZWVlOTY4MzAzNzU

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285051/Gallery_Delaive.jpg

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285052/Gallery_Delaive_2.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/family-delaive-presents-ayako-rokkaku-dreams-in-my-hand-301997244.html
BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The Distributive Trades survey data from the UK is due on Monday, headlining a light day for the European economic news. At 2.00 am ET, Statistics Norway releases retail sales and household spending data. Economists forecast sales to fall 0.3 percent on month in October, the same pace of decrease as seen in September. In the meantime, Statistics Sweden publishes household lending data for October. At 6.00 am ET, the Confederation of British Industry is scheduled to issue the Distributive Trades survey results. The retail sales balance is forecast to rise to -30 percent in November from -36 in October. In the meantime, unemployment benefit claims data is due from France. At 9.00 am ET, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to speak at a conference in Brussels, Belgium. Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann.
The market for automotive motors is being driven by several factors, including the growing global vehicle production, a high demand for safety and convenience features, and the increasing popularity of electric vehicles. However, the increased weight and cost of these motor systems are hampering the market growth. In addition, the expanding use of electric motors in a wide range of applications and the emergence of autonomous vehicles present significant opportunities for market expansion

WILMINGTON, Del., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Automotive Motors Market by Type (DC Brushed Motors, Brushless DC Motors, Stepper Motors, and Traction Motors), Vehicle Type (Two-wheelers, ICE Passenger Cars, ICE Commercial Vehicles, and Electric Vehicles), and Application (HVAC, Engine, Safety & Security, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032". According to the report, the automotive motors market size was valued at $47,203.12 Million in 2022, and is projected to reach $ 77,499.4 Million by 2032, registering a CAGR of 5.03% from 2023 to 2032.

Prime determinants of growth

The significant impacting factors in the growth of the automotive motors market include high demand for safety and convenience features, rise in requirement of electric vehicles, and stringent safety regulations set by government for automotive industry. Further, decrease in global vehicle production, increase in trend of shared mobility, wide number of applications employing the use of electric motors, and concept of autonomous cars have strong impact on the market. Each of these factors is anticipated to have a definite impact on the automotive motors market during the forecast period (2023-2032).

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Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2022-2032 Base Year 2023 Market Size in 2022 $47,203.12 million Market Size in 2032 $77,499.4 million CAGR 5.03 % No. of Pages in Report 250 Segments covered Type, Vehicle Type, Application, and Region. Drivers High demand for safety and convenience features. Rise in demand of electric vehicles. Opportunities Wide number of applications employing the use of electric motors Concept of autonomous cars Restraints Rise in trend of shared mobility.

The HVAC segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on application, the HVAC segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting half of the global automotive motors revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 4.95% from 2023 to 2032, owing to manufacturers use of HVAC technology in vehicles to improve the vehicle's indoor air quality as well as to provide comfortable environment inside the vehicle.

The two-wheelers segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on vehicle type, the two wheelers segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for one-third of the global automotive motors market, however others segment is estimated to lead the market segment during the forecast period. Two wheelers are generally less costly when compared with other vehicle types and serve as an economical option. In addition, two-wheelers serve various riding purposes, which include daily commuting, off-road riding, long-distance travelling, cruising, and others, thereby driving the market growth.

The DC brushed motor segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on type, the DC brushed motor accounted for the largest share in 2025, contributing to nearly half of the global automotive motors market revenue, these motors are well-suited for challenging operational conditions characterized by fluctuating temperatures. Key drivers of market growth include the use of uncomplicated and cost-effective controllers, reduced overall construction expenses, and the capacity to undergo rebuilding to extend their lifespan. The surging demand for electric motor vehicles, driven by growing environmental concerns related to combustion-based vehicles, is fueling the need for brushed DC motors within the automotive sector. Moreover, the rising need for features such as sunroof systems, windshield wipers, automated doors, and adjustable mirrors in vehicles is impacting market growth positively. The companies are focusing on developing these motors with advanced functionality. For instance, in January 2022, BMW developed the BMW iX M60 using a brushed DC motor that operates without the use of magnets.

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Asia-Pacific to maintain its dominance by 2035

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for half of the global automotive motors market revenue. The market is significantly influenced by factors such as advanced technology, increased investments in research and development projects, and the rising living standards of people in the region. For instance, the government of China views its automotive industry, including the auto parts sector as one of the main industries in the country. China continues to be the world's largest vehicle market with highest number of ICE and electric vehicles produced across the globe. The Chinese Central Government estimates that China's automobile output is expected to reach 30 million units by 2020 and 35 million by 2025. Made in China 2025 is an effort to transition the nation's industry from low-cost mass production to more value-added advanced manufacturing.

Leading Market Players: -

BorgWarner Inc.

Continental AG

DENSO CORPORATION

Johnson Electric Holdings Limited

Magna International, Inc.

Inteva Products, LLC.

Marelli Holdings Co, Ltd.

Robert Bosch GmbH

Buhler Motor GmbH

VALEO

Key Highlights:

The report provides a comprehensive analysis of automotive motors used in the automotive industry.

The analysis of the automotive motors market spans from 2022 to 2032.

Recent developments are outlined in the research study.

Prominent companies in the industry are profiled in the research study.

The market analysis in the research study encompasses various segments and regions.

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The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players in the global automotive motors market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain 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.

Similar Reports We Have on Automotive Industry:

Hub Motor Market Research Report 2023-2032

Traction Motor Market Research Report 2023-2032

Electric Vehicle (EV) Traction Motor Market Research Report 2023-2032

In-Wheel Motor Market Research Report 2023-2032

About Us

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Portland, Oregon. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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The rise in adoption of advanced technologies across several industries and the rise of remote and distributed workforces are expected to drive the global workflow management systems market growth.

NEW CASTLE, Del., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Workflow Management Systems Market by Component (Software and Services), Enterprise Size (Large Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises), Deployment Mode (On-premise and Cloud), and Industry (BFSI, Retail, Education, IT and Telecom, Healthcare, Transportation, and Others): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2032". According to the report, the workflow management system industry generated $9.8 billion in 2022 and is anticipated to generate $99.9 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 26.2% from 2023 to 2032.

Prime Determinants of Growth

The notable factors positively affecting the workflow management systems market include rise in adoption of advanced technologies across several industries and the rise of remote and distributed workforces. However, high implementation costs associated with workflow management systems and complexities in integrating workflow management systems with existing systems can hinder market growth. However, rise in the implementation of cloud-based technologies offers lucrative market opportunities for the market players.

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Report Coverage & Details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 2023-2032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $9.8 Billion Market Size in 2032 $99.9 Billion CAGR 26.2 % No. of Pages in Report 494 Segments covered Component, Enterprise Size, Deployment Mode, Industry, and Region Drivers Rise in adoption of advanced technologies across several industries. Rise of remote and distributed workforces. Opportunities Rise in implementation of cloud-based technologies. Restraints High implementation costs associated with workflow management systems. Complexities in integrating workflow management systems with existing systems.

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The software store segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period

Based on component, the software segment held the highest market share in 2022, accounting for more than two-thirds of the workflow management systems market revenue, and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period. This is attributed to the growing need for a high level of personalization, as it is one of the primary reasons enterprises are increasing their investment in the workflow management systems market. However, the services segment is projected to witness the highest CAGR of 28.0% from 2023 to 2032, the services segment is expected to witness the highest growth, as these services help to reduce the time and costs associated with optimizing systems in the initial phase of deployment.

The large enterprises segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on enterprise size, the large enterprises segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, contributing to more than two-thirds of the Workflow Management Systems Market revenue, owing to the growing demand for workflow management system solutions in large enterprises. However, the small and medium-sized enterprises segment is expected to portray the largest CAGR of 28.7% from 2023 to 2032 and is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. It provides various benefits to the small and medium-sized enterprises organization.

The cloud segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on deployment mode, the cloud segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, contributing to more than three-fifths of the workflow management systems market revenue and it is projected to maintain its lead position during the forecast period. This is attributed to an increase in the need for secure and reliable data within the organization is fueling the market growth. It provides several advantages such as reducing costs, supporting business, and effectively controlling the business environment in the organization.

The BFSI segment to maintain its lead position during the forecast period

Based on industry, the BFSI segment accounted for the largest share in 2022, contributing to less than one-fourth of the workflow management systems market revenue, owing to the development of digital technologies in the BFSI sector. However, the healthcare segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 30.6% from 2023 to 2032. The surge in the implementation of automation trends and the increase in the utilization of digital technology in this sector are expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the market.

North America region to maintain its dominance by 2032

Based on region, North America held the highest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for less than one-third of the workflow management systems market revenue. The increase in the usage of workflow management system solutions in businesses to improve businesses and the customer experience is anticipated to propel the growth of the market in this region. However, Asia-Pacific is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 28.4% from 2023 to 2032. Countries such as China, India, and South Korea are at the forefront, embracing digital technologies to enhance their effectiveness and competitiveness, further expected to contribute to the growth of the market in this region.

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Leading Market Players: -

Appian Corporation

Bizagi Limited

IBM Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

Newgen Software Technologies Limited.

Nintex Global Limited

Oracle Corporation

Pegasystems Inc.

ServiceNow, Inc.

Software AG

TIBCO Software Inc.

The report provides a detailed analysis of the key players in the workflow management systems market. These players have adopted different strategies such as new product launches, collaborations, expansion, joint ventures, agreements, and others to increase their market share and maintain dominant shares in different countries. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

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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 Insights" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies, and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

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CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Graphene Coating Market by Product Type (Solvent-based and Water-based), Application (Corrosion-resistant Coating, Scratch-resistant Coating, Antifouling Coating, Flame-retardant Coating), End-use industry, and Region - Global Forecast to 2028", is estimated at USD 137 million in 2023 and is projected to reach USD 496 million by 2028, at a CAGR of 29.4% from 2023 to 2028. The expansion of this market can be ascribed to the rising demand stemming from various applications such as corrosion-resistant, scratch-resistant, antifouling, flame-retardant and others. Additionally, there is a growing appetite for graphene coating in the automotive end-use industry, which is serving as a driving force for the global growth of graphene coating.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Graphene Coating Market"

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Solvent-based product type of graphene coating is expected to account for the largest market share in forecasted period, in terms of both value and volume.

The Solvent-based graphene coating product type is expected to hold the largest share in the global graphene coating market and also water-based predicted to witness the highest CAGR during the forecasted period. Solvent-based graphene coatings provide enhanced durability, conductivity, and corrosion protection, making them suitable for a wide range of protective and functional applications.

Scratch-resistant coating applications of graphene coating are expected to witness the second-highest CAGR between 2023 to 2028.

Graphene coatings are increasingly being used in various industries due to their exceptional properties and diverse applications, particularly in scratch-resistant applications. The strong covalent bonds within the graphene lattice contribute to its exceptional mechanical strength. Graphene coatings, therefore, exhibit high scratch resistance, protecting surfaces from abrasions and scratches caused by daily wear and tear. This property is especially advantageous in applications where maintaining the aesthetic appeal and structural integrity of surfaces is essential. Graphene coatings are applied to the exterior body panels of vehicles to provide a protective layer against scratches caused by various reasons. Graphene coatings can protect the screens and casings of electronic devices from scratches, improving the longevity and visual appeal of these devices.

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Automotive and aerospace segments to dominate the graphene coating market.

In the large and ever-changing graphene coating market, the automotive and aerospace industry remains the undisputed leader. Among many other end-use industries, it leads due to its application popularity. Graphene coatings provide superior scratch resistance, protecting the exterior paintwork of the car from environmental elements, UV radiation, and chemical exposure, contributing to the longevity and appearance of the vehicle. Graphene coatings are used for thermal management applications, providing improved heat dissipation and reducing the risk of overheating in automotive and aerospace components. Graphene coatings are used to reduce the weight of aerospace components, contributing to improved fuel efficiency and reduced emissions. Graphene coatings are applied to the exterior surfaces of aerospace components, such as aircraft fuselages, wings, and tail sections, to provide protection against environmental elements, corrosion, and wear. The automotive and aerospace business is the backbone of the graphene coating industry, leading the way for other applications with its diverse appeal and enduring relevance.

Asia Pacific accounts for the largest market share and the highest CAGR in the global graphene coating market.

Asia Pacific region dominated the global graphene coating market in 2022 by holding the largest market share. Furthermore, this region is projected to experience the highest Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) from 2023 to 2028. The Asia Pacific has emerged as a thriving and promising market for graphene coating, driven by the region's substantial and rapidly expanding population. With approximately 60% of the world's population residing in this region, the extensive utilization of graphene coating across various applications is quite notable. In addition, the region's impressive economic expansion has supported the growing demand for graphene coating in a variety of industries, including automotive, electronics and aerospace, along with the development of industrial applications. Because of the region's constantly changing consumer base and government backing for the automotive and aerospace sectors, Asia-Pacific plays a significant role in meeting the world's demand for graphene coating.

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Market Players

Prominent companies in the graphene coating market include NanoXplore Inc. (Canada), Vorbeck Materials Corp (US), Universal Matter (Canada), Xiamen Knano Graphene Technology Co., Ltd (China), Graphenea Inc. (Spain), Grafoid Inc.(Canada), KISHO Corporation Co., Ltd. (Japan), Haydale Graphene Industries PLC (UK), Directa Plus S.p.A. (UK), Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) (Malaysia), Global Graphene Group (US), Deyang Encarbon Technology Co., Ltd. (China) and others.

Browse Adjacent Market: Advanced Materials Market Research Reports

Related Reports:

Automotive Coatings Market- Global Forecast to 2028

Graphene Market- Global Forecast to 2025

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PARIS, France, November 27, 2023, 08:30 am CET - Pharnext SA ( FR001400JXB0 - ALPHA) (the "Company"), an advanced late-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases with high unmet medical need, today unveils a new calendar for negotiations to sign an agreement valuing PXT3003[1], its drug candidate in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A), a rare debilitating peripheral neuropathy.

As announced[2], the Company received 3 offers to date, including 1 binding and 2 non-binding, from pharmaceutical companies. Based on the latest discussions with the candidates, these offers would generate a cash flow for Pharnext of up to 400m, excluding royalties indexed to sales of the future drug.

Given the closeness between the receipt of these offers and the publication of the publication of topline results from the pivotal Phase III clinical trial (PREMIER trial), planned for December 11, the Company has decided not to sign any exclusivity agreement at this stage. Confident indeed in the quality of the forthcoming clinical results, the Company decided to wait for their announcement before signing an exclusivity agreement with one of the pharmaceuticals. This additional time should enable candidates to adjust their offers on the basis of the new calendar, and potentially allow other candidates to come forward.

Hugo Brugiere, Manager of Pharnext, said: "We are now just a few days away from revealing the clinical results of our Phase III trial, and thus confirming the value of our drug candidate. It would have been easier for us to sign an agreement right away, with the assurance of immediately receiving a few million euros. But we're faced with a potential deal worth hundreds of millions euros, and we mustn't tremble when making choices. So we're waiting calmly and conscientiously for the clinical results before choosing a partner to bring this new product to market.."

As a reminder, this future agreement would complement the licensing agreement already signed in 2017 granting GeneNet (a research and development joint venture controlled by Tasly Pharmaceutical and owned 30% by Pharnext) with the commercialization rights for PXT3003 in CMT1A in Greater China (Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau), and already generated an investment of 30m by Tasly in Pharnext.

The signature of such agreements could cover Pharnext's financing needs, and thus terminate the OCEANE-BSA financing line subscribed by Global Tech Opportunities 13.

Disclaimer

Pharnext arranged convertible bonds financing (OCEAN-BSA) with Global Tech Opportunities 13 which, after receiving the shares resulting from the conversion or exercise of these instruments, will not remain shareholder of the Company.

The shares resulting from the conversion or exercise of the above-mentioned securities will generally be sold on the market at very short notice, which may create strong downward pressure on the share price.

Shareholders may suffer a loss of their invested capital due to a significant fall in the Company's share price, as well as significant dilution due to the large number of securities issued to Global Tech Opportunities 13.

Investors are advised to exercise extreme caution before deciding to invest in the securities of a listed company that carries out such dilutive financing transactions, particularly when they are carried out in succession. The Company wishes to point out that this is not the first dilutive financing transaction it has undertaken.

Investors are invited to familiarize themselves with the risks associated with these transactions, as mentioned in the press release above.

About Pharnext

Pharnext is an advanced clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases currently without satisfactory therapeutic solutions. Pharnext has a first-in-class drug candidate, PXT3003, in development for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A (CMT1A), a rare, debilitating, inherited peripheral neuropathy. PXT3003 benefits from orphan drug status in Europe and the United States. In 2018, PXT3003 completed a Phase III clinical trial, the PLEO-CMT trial, with encouraging topline results. This trial was followed by an open-label extension study, the PLEO-CMT-FU trial, with 120 patients continuing treatment with PXT3003. Long-term data suggest a sustained benefit, safety, and efficacy, after 6 years of total trial time. An international pivotal Phase III study of PXT3003, the PREMIER trial, enrolling 387 CMT1A patients was completed in August 2023. PREMIER topline results are expected in December 2023. PXT3003 originated from the Pleotherapy R&D approach. Pharnext draws the attention of investors to the financial and other risk factors detailed in its financial reports. More information can be found at www.pharnext.com.

Pharnext is listed on the Euronext Growth Stock Exchange in Paris (ISIN code: FR001400JXB0).

Contacts

Financial Press Relations

ACTUS finance & communication

Anne-Charlotte Dudicourt

acdudicourt@actus.fr

+33 (0)1 53 67 36 32 Investor Relations

ACTUS finance & communication

Jerome Fabreguettes Leib

pharnext@actus.fr

+33 (0)1 53 67 36 78

[1] Marketing of PXT3003 is conditional on a positive pivotal Phase III clinical trial (PREMIER) and the approval of regulatory agencies

[2] Pharnext receives a new offer valuing its drug candidate for Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease type 1A at more than 500m and the support of its financial partners

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CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Monday. The NZ dollar fell to 4-day lows of 90.28 against the yen and 1.8055 against the euro, from last week's closing quotes of 90.73 and 1.8004, respectively. Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the kiwi edged down to 0.6061 and 1.0844 from Friday's closing quotes of 0.6071 and 1.0833, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 87.00 against the yen, 1.82 against the euro, 0.58 against the greenback and 1.09 against the aussie. 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.
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre Scientific is pleased to announce the acquisition of Scientific Support Services Ltd ("SSS" or the "Company"), a UK based provider of scientific instruments, supplies and services to customers in the petrochemical, environmental, pharmaceutical, clinical, and food and flavors sectors. This strategic acquisition reinforces Calibre Scientific's commitment to expanding its product and service offering in the British Isles.



SSS is a leading scientific supply and service company in the UK and Ireland with a diversified product portfolio that includes chromatography systems, hydrogen and air generators, gas mixers and diluters, XRF analyzers, optical instruments, as well as consumables. In addition to supplying high-quality instruments and products, SSS also provides a variety of technical services including training, installation, repair, calibration, annual maintenance, and remote assistance.

With this acquisition, Calibre Scientific expands its product offering and enhances its market share in the British Isles by adding a variety of new customer relationships in key end markets such as petrochemical, environmental, and food and flavors, among others. "The combination of SSS's comprehensive range of analytical instrumentation together with its high-calibre support services capabilities makes it an excellent fit for us," said Ben Travis, Chief Executive Officer of Calibre Scientific. "This acquisition reinforces our dedication to advancing our laboratory capabilities and underscores our vision to being a comprehensive provider of instruments, consumables and services to our customers worldwide."

"We are excited for SSS to join Calibre Scientific as it embarks on this new chapter of growth," said Bernise Gosden and Keith Gosden, Directors of SSS. "We have full confidence that Calibre Scientific will further enhance the exceptional quality standards SSS has consistently maintained for our valued customers and trusted suppliers."

AboutCalibreScientific

CalibreScientific is a diversified global provider of life science reagents, tools, instruments, and other consumables to lab research, diagnostics, industrial, and biopharmaceutical communities. Calibre Scientific owns a portfolio of life science and diagnostic companies that have an unrivaled ability to address its customers' challenges in their respective markets. Our global reach extends to over 175 countries, empowering customers all over the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Calibre Scientific continues to expand its product offering and global footprint to laboratories across a wide array of verticals and geographies.

Formoreinformation,visitwww.investor.calibrescientific.com,orcontact press@calibrescientific.com.
GENEVA, Switzerland, Nov. 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Etrion Corporation ("Etrion" or the "Company", and, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group") released today its condensed consolidated interim financial statements and related management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023.



Q3-23 HIGHLIGHTS

Etrion closed the third quarter of 2023 with an unrestricted cash balance of US$11.2 million and a positive working capital of US$8.5 million.





The Company sold all the solar assets in 2021 and is not developing any new project in 2023. The Company will complete its windup activities and proceed with the dissolution of all the Company's legal entities. Any cash remaining at the completion of the windup activities and settlement of all liabilities of the Company will be distributed to shareholders.



Management Comments

Marco A. Northland, the Company's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The Company going forward will maintain very limited resources and proceed with a windup of the Company as previously disclosed."

FINANCIAL SUMMARY

Three months ended Nine months ended US$ thousands (unless otherwise stated) Q3-23 Q3-22 Q3-23 Q3-22 Financial performance from continuing operations EBITDA (806) (237) (1,570) (1,866) Net (loss) income (1,262) 77 (12,331) (8,952) Financial position Sep 2023 Dec 2022 Unrestricted cash 11,607 14,198 Working capital 11,248 13,540 Total assets 8,482 14,536

About Etrion

Etrion's largest shareholder is the Lundin family, which owns approximately 36% of the Company's shares directly and through various trusts.

For additional information, please visit the Company's website at www.etrion.com or contact:

Marco Northland - Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer

mnorthland@etrion.com

The information was submitted for publication at 11:05 p.m. CET on November 24, 2023.

Non-IFRS Measures:

This press release includes non-IFRS measures not defined under IFRS, specifically earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("EBITDA") and Adjusted operating cash flow. Non-IFRS measures have no standardized meaning prescribed under IFRS and therefore such measures may not be comparable with those used by other companies. EBITDA is a useful metric to quantify the Company's ability to generate cash before extraordinary and non-cash accounting transactions recognized in the financial statements. In addition, EBITDA is useful to analyze and compare profitability between companies and industries because it eliminates the effects of financing and accounting policy decisions. The most comparable IFRS measure to EBITDA is net income (loss). Refer to Etrion's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2022, for a reconciliation of EBITDA and adjusted operating cash flow reported during the period.

Forward-Looking Information:

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information". All statements, other than statements of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements relating to amount of funds that will be required to satisfy potential warranty claims under the sale agreements, other corporate level liabilities and anticipated expenses to cover continuing operations and windup costs, the possibility of acquiring or commencing an alternative business and the possibility that the Company may proceed to wind up its activities and dissolve following the completion of the sale of its solar assets) constitute forward-looking information. This forward-looking information reflects the current expectations or beliefs of the Company based on information currently available to the Company as well as certain assumptions including, without limitation, assumptions as to the amount of funds that will be required to satisfy future obligations and costs associated with the dissolution of the Company. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information, and even if such actual results are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on the Company. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, the risk that the Company may have insufficient funds to satisfy its future obligations, including without limitation warranty claims under the agreements pursuant to which its projects were sold; the risk that the Company may not be successful in identifying and pursuing an alternative business; and uncertainties with respect to the timing of the any alternative business venture or the windup and the dissolution of the Company.

Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the date on which it is made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking information are reasonable, forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and accordingly undue reliance should not be put on such information due to the inherent uncertainty therein.


EQS Newswire / 27/11/2023 / 11:30 CET/CEST

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM - Media OutReach - 27 November 2023 - On November 22, during the Annual Forum on Corporate Governance in Hanoi, the Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) presented the Board of the Year Award to the Ho Chi Minh City Development Joint Stock Commercial Bank ( HDBank - HDB ).



Kim Byoungho, chairman of HDBank, speaks at a panel discussion on "Unlocking Green Finance and Investment through Green Governance" as part of the Annual Forum on Corporate Governance in Ha Noi on November 22.

VIOD presents this award to acknowledge outstanding accomplishments and concerted efforts by the Board of Directors of listed companies in diverse aspects of governance.



The award acknowledges HDBank's pioneering efforts in adopting advanced corporate governance standards and promoting transparency in business operations, aligning with international best practices.



The Vietnam Institute of Directors (VIOD) is a professional organization which promotes corporate governance standards and best practices in the Vietnamese corporate sector. VIOD aims to advance board professionalism, promote business ethics and transparency, create a pool of independent directors, build a network to connect corporate leaders and stakeholders, and help companies gain investor confidence.



In March 2018, the Vietnam Corporate Governance Initiative (VCGI) formed VIOD with technical support from International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). VIOD closely collaborates and partners with State Securities Commission of Vietnam (SSC), Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HOSE) and Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX).



VIOD is currently an annual member of the Vietnam Listed Company Award (VLCA) Evaluation Board.



The award further affirms HDBank's results in integrating environment, society and governance (ESG) standards into its business activities, aiming for sustainable development and contributing to the green transformation and sustainable growth of the economy.



In 2021, as a pioneer in internationalizing banking management operations, HDBank has appointed foreign expert Mr. Kim Byoungho as the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Kim, with extensive experience of governance and management, achieving sustainable successes in major financial institutions in South Korea and the region.



The current Board of Directors of HDBank consists of 7 members who are finance experts from both domestic and international backgrounds, characterized by professional ethics and a strong dedication to the bank's sustainable development strategy. The Board is committed to delivering the highest benefits to investors, partners, customers, staff, and the broader community.



Hashtag: HDBank

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. About HDBank HDBank stands as one of Vietnam's prominent financial institutions, deeply committed to fostering education, innovation, and national development. The bank's mission is to offer financial solutions that empower both individuals and businesses to thrive and prosper.





News Source: Media OutReach

27/11/2023 Dissemination of a Financial Press Release, transmitted by EQS News.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.



Media archive at www.todayir.com


LONDON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Kabuni, a provider of immersive learning, today announced Kabuni WIZARD, an education technology Web3 platform that facilitates highly personalised learning aimed at children aged 8 - 18 years. By using spatial computing, artificial intelligence and Web3 technologies, Kabuni is driving safe and transformative evolution in the field of education. The company has also launched its utility token, Kabuni COIN, to encourage learn-to-earn concepts for both students and teachers.

Kabuni WIZARD provides a solution for the education system that needs help to keep pace with rapid advancements seen in other industries. Using AI (Artificial Intelligence) and blockchain technology, the platform nurtures an active learning environment regardless of geographic location.

"Educational technology expanded significantly over the course of the pandemic and shed further light on the multiple issues that are plaguing the current education system including higher costs, lack of funding and restrictions in accessibility. Kabuni Wizard aims to democratise education and reward children and educators at the same time." said Nimesh Patel, Founder and CEO at Kabuni.

He also added: "NFTs and digital assets are part of the new digital world that's here to stay. Kabuni provides a safe space for children, parents and educators to understand the infrastructure of digital currencies and learn the ins and outs."

Kabuni COIN adds another layer of incentive to the educational journey and opens innovative ways for learners to engage and interact with content, boosting engagement and motivation. Kabuni COIN is a utility token with the function of making purchases on the Kabuni platform. The token can be spent on a variety of goods, services and experiences, as well as earned on a learn-to-earn model. Kabuni's collaboration with Mastercard will also allow the rewards to spent 'in the real world' with the tap of a card.

On the partnership with Kabuni, Lindsay Robertson, CEO of Optimus Cards said:

"We are hugely excited to be partnering with Kabuni to provide a secure and purposeful education experience for both students and educators. Soon, we will be integrating Kabuni COIN to expand its utility beyond the Kabuni ecosystem. As part of the Uphold (the global multi-asset digital money platform) family, Optimus helps to bridge the gap between the metaverse and the high street."

Kabuni "Learn-to-Earn" tokens, the bedrock of their innovative educational model, will soon be available on Polygon, a vibrant and rapidly growing Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum. This strategic move opens exciting possibilities for future Kabuni users, ensuring faster and more cost-effective transactions while enjoying the security of Ethereum's mainnet.

Ravikant Agrawal Director of Growth from Polygon Labs said:" We are delighted to be supporting Kabuni's 'learn-to-earn model' on Polygon PoS and look forward to enabling its eco-system to grow and scale safely."

Kabuni is on a collaborative journey with the wider Polygon ecosystem to pioneer interoperable immersive learning experiences. This collaboration will leverage Polygon's cutting-edge technologies, including Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Identity solutions (IDs), to enhance the accessibility, scalability, and seamless interaction within their decentralized education platform.

With the launch of Kabuni COIN, the introduction of the "Stake a Future" program heralds a new era in educational support and community engagement within the crypto space. To learn more about this innovative initiative and how you can take part, visit Stake a Future information.

About Kabuni

Kabuni is committed to empowering individuals to unlock their full potential through lifelong skill development. At the heart of Kabuni is "WIZARD," an innovative process connecting educators and learners for a transformative exchange of knowledge. Kabuni CAMPUS offers an immersive at-home learning experience, while Kabuni SPACE revolutionizes educational infrastructures. Together, these elements, along with Kabuni COIN, ensure a seamless integration of rewards and recognition, enriching the educational journey.

https://www.kabuni.com

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285733/Kabuni.jpg

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JERUSALEM (dpa-AFX) - As a four-day truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final day on Monday, both sides have given indications that they are ready for an extension in fighting, reports say.



Israeli government has offered to add an extra day in truce if Hamas releases additional 10 hostages each day.



Hamas responded by saying it is willing to an extension and release more hostages.



In a statement issued Sunday, Hamas said it wants 'to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.'



Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he is open to extension, but added that its military operations in Gaza would resume after the truce ends, with the aim of 'eliminating Hamas.'



On Sunday, Hamas set free 17 hostages, including an American child, in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners.



U.S President Joe Biden welcomed the release of hostages by Hamas over the past three days, including 4-year-old American-Israeli Abigail Edan, who lost both her parents in militant attack.



Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the situation in Gaza. The two leaders discussed the pause in the fighting and surge in much needed additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Netanyahu thanked Biden for his tireless efforts to help broker and fully implement this deal.



The two leaders agreed that the work is not yet done and that they will continue working to secure the release of all hostages, the White House said. The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days.



Out of 259 hostages Hamas abducted in a surprise attack carried out in Israeli cities on October 7, around 180 people are still held in captivity. Around 1,200 people, mostly Israelis, were killed in the militant attack across the border, while around 14,500 people lost their lives in Gaza in retaliatory attacks by Israel Defense Forces.



The Egyptian government said 120 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Sunday.



The State Department said Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed mechanisms to increase the flow of aid into Gaza and to facilitate the safe exit of U.S. and other foreign nationals from the endangered Palestinian enclave.



The Secretary reaffirmed the importance of concrete steps to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians in all of Gaza and the United States' rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians, Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.



Meanwhile, Eight Palestinians were shot dead in Israel's attack in the occupied West Bank since Sunday, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.



Copyright(c) 2023 RTTNews.com. All Rights Reserved



Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX

Video-Workshop: Das kleine Einmaleins der Charttechnik In diesem kostenlosen Video-Workshop von Stefan Klotter lernen Sie alles uber Charttechnik. Lassen Sie sich diesen kostenfreien Workshop nicht entgehen! Hier klicken
STOCKHOLM, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Preem's Board of Directors has decided to invest approximately SEK 5.5 billion to repurpose the existing refinery in Lysekil. The investment represents an important milestone on Preem's transition journey, as the company is phasing out fossil production in favour of renewable fuels for road and air transport.

The investment enables Preem to become the largest producer of renewable aviation fuel in Northern Europe, and one of the largest producers of renewable fuels for road transportation. The reconstruction of the facilities will begin in 2024 and is planned to be completed in 2027 and is expected to provide Preem with an additional 1.2 million cubic meters of renewable production capacity. This can be compared to the current total capacity of about 530,000 cubic meters per year. At the same time, Preem is reducing its fossil fuel production capacity by the corresponding amount. In total, the investment enables a reduction in annual fossil emissions at the user level by 2-3 million tons of CO2e, and 200,000 tons of CO2e locally at the refinery in Lysekil.

"We are thrilled that Preem has committed to one of the most substantial climate investments in Sweden. The demand for sustainable aviation fuels is rapidly increasing, and we are already in discussions with several major airlines. Both increased awareness and EU regulations drive the market. Through this investment, we are also positioning Sweden as one of the most important producers of sustainable aviation fuels in Europe," says Magnus Heimburg, CEO.

The investment decision involves Preem's reconstruction of the so-called IsoCracker plant (ICR) at the refinery in Lysekil. Currently used for diesel production, following the reconstruction, the plant will shift its focus to producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (HVO).

"With this investment, Preem takes another crucial step in the transition from fossil to renewable production," Magnus Heimburg continues.

The investment is the second in a series of large-scale projects that expand Preem's total renewable production capacity to approximately 2.5 million cubic meters annually. The first, the Synsat project, is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2024, with a renewable production capacity of approximately 1 million cubic meters. In total, the two investments amount to approximately SEK 10 billion. The projects serve as the foundation for Preem's long-term production target of about 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels and the establishment of a climate-neutral value chain by 2035.

"By repurposing existing facilities, we are leveraging the operations and infrastructure already built at and around the refinery. This is by far the most sustainable strategy for our company to contribute both economically and environmentally to the transition," concludes Magnus Heimburg.

The investment enhances the competitiveness of Preem's refinery in Lysekil, aligning it with future market conditions and demand. Throughout the reconstruction, a significant number of contractors are expected to come to Lysekil, positively impacting the local business community during the construction period.

Preem aims to execute the investment amounting to approximately SEK 5.5 billion by leveraging a combination of own and external capital.

The environmental permit process is ongoing, and the Land and Environment Court is expected to decide on the matter in the late spring of 2024.

For more information about Preem, please contact:

Preem Press Office

press@preem.se

+46 (0)70-450 10 01

PREEM is Sweden's largest fuel company. Preem's refineries in Gothenburg and Lysekil account for about 80 percent of the Swedish refinery capacity and about 40 percent of the Nordic capacity. Together, they have a total refining capacity of over 18 million cubic meters per year. Our vision is to lead the transition toward a sustainable society. By 2035, Preem has set a goal to produce 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels, and to achieve climate neutrality across the entire value chain. We refine and sell fuel, heating oil and lubricating oil as well as other products to companies and individuals. Most of our products, almost 60 percent, are exported to nearby markets mainly north-western Europe. We have a nationwide service network with over 500 filling stations for private and commercial traffic. Preem AB has around 1,500 employees, of which 1,100 work at our refineries. In 2022, Preem's turnover was SEK 161 billion

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Public/2349/3882796/9ebc131ed07a305a_org.jpg Preemraff Lysekil https://mb.cision.com/Public/2349/3882796/902542660ab82e53_org.jpg Magnus Heimburg vd Preem smaller

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Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) ("Purepoint" or the "Company") announced a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 47,619,048 flow-through units (the "Flow-Through Units") at a price of $0.0525 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds up to $2,500,000. Each Flow-Through Unit consists of one common share of the Company to be issued on a "flow through" basis pursuant to the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each a "Flow-Through Share") and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles its holder to purchase one common share of the Company (each a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.07 per share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for the exploration and advancement of the Company's projects in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The gross proceeds of the Flow-Through Shares sold under the Offering will be used for Canadian Exploration Expenses (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)) which qualify as a "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditure" for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) related to the exploration program of the Company to be conducted on the Company's properties located in the Province of Saskatchewan. The Company will renounce such Canadian Exploration Expenses with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2023. The Canadian Exploration Expenses to be renounced by the Company will qualify for the critical mineral exploration tax credit under the Income Tax Act (Canada).

In connection with the Offering, the Company has agreed to pay to certain finders facilitating the Offering including Red Cloud Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Finders"), a cash commission equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering raised through the Finders and issue to the Finders non-transferrable compensation warrants (the "Compensation Warrants") to purchase in aggregate such number of common shares of the Company (the "Compensation Warrant Shares") as equal to 6% of the number of Flow-Through Units sold through the Finders under the Offering. Each Compensation Warrant entitles its holder to purchase one Compensation Warrant Share at an exercise price of $0.0525 per share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The completion of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and corporate approvals, including the approval of the listing of the Flow-Through Shares, the Warrant Shares and the Compensation Warrant Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. Resale of the securities of the Company distributed under the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada of four months and one day following the closing date of the Offering.

About Purepoint

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) actively operates a uranium exploration pipeline of nine advanced projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin. In addition to its flagship joint venture project at Hook Lake with partners Cameco and Orano and a second joint venture with Cameco at Smart Lake, Purepoint also holds seven 100% owned projects with proven uranium rich targets. With an aggressive exploration program underway on multiple projects, Purepoint is emerging as the preeminent uranium explorer in the world's richest uranium district.

For more information, please contact:

Chris Frostad, President & CEO

Phone: (416) 603-8368

Email: cfrostad@purepoint.ca

For additional information please visit our new website at https://purepoint.ca, our Twitter feed: @PurepointU3O8 or our LinkedIn page @Purepoint-Uranium.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.

Disclosure regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.

Not for Dissemination in the United States or through U.S. Newswire Services

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188661
LACHEN, Switzerland, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New clinical data from Octapharma's haematology portfolio will be presented during the scientific program at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting and Exposition, which is being held on December 9-12, 2023, in San Diego, California. New data from the prospective clinical trial using wilate for prophylaxis in patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) will be presented. Furthermore, the design of a new phase IV clinical trial of bone and joint health in people with haemophilia A will be presented, in addition to updates from research collaborations between Octapharma and academic institutions.

"We are excited to present new data at ASH 2023 highlighting our ongoing commitment to understand the mechanisms underlying bleeding disorders and to improve the standards of care for patients. We are delighted to support clinical and scientific research that advances the care of people with bleeding disorders." - Olaf Walter, Board Member and Head of International Business Units at Octapharma.

The WIL-31 study investigated the efficacy and safety of prophylaxis with wilate in adults and children of any gender with all types of VWD. WIL-31 is the largest prospective prophylaxis study in VWD and the only one with a prospective on-demand run-in study as an intra-individual comparator. The results of the study showed that wilate prophylaxis is highly effective at reducing the number of bleeds in children and adults and provides compelling evidence to support the use of regular prophylaxis in patients with severe VWD.

Data from sub-analyses of the study will be presented at ASH 2023, focusing on the effectiveness of prophylaxis in patients with different types of bleeding and in different subsets of patients. Women with bleeding disorders such as VWD are at an increased risk for heavy menstrual bleeding, but they are underdiagnosed and undertreated. A sub-analysis of WIL-31 will be presented, demonstrating that wilate prophylaxis was effective in reducing the incidence of heavy menstrual bleeding. An additional sub-analysis focused on the efficacy and safety of wilate prophylaxis in children and adolescents will also be presented.

People with haemophilia A often suffer from joint health issues and reduced bone strength. Prophylaxis with factor VIII replacement therapy has been associated with reductions in joint bleeding rates, joint deterioration, and degenerative joint disease. In contrast, there is a shortage of data on the long-term effects of prophylaxis with the non-factor therapy emicizumab. The new phase IV clinical trial PROVE aims to assess the long-term effects of prophylaxis with Nuwiq or emicizumab on joint and bone health. The study design will be presented for the first time at ASH 2023.

In addition to clinical studies, Octapharma is proud to support scientific investigations with academic research partners that further our understanding of different aspects of bleeding disorders. Results from various avenues of scientific investigation will be presented at ASH 2023.

In PUPs with haemophilia A, the development of inhibitors to FVIII is the most significant treatment complication, and there is a need to better understand the mechanisms underlying inhibitor development. The NuProtect study with Nuwiq was the largest prospective study of a single FVIII product in PUPs. Researchers from University College London, UK, will present new data from a sub-study of the NuProtect study, revealing differences in gene expression profiles between PUPs who developed inhibitors and those who did not.

In collaboration with the ETH Zurich and Balgrist Campus Zurich, Switzerland, the effect of FVIII on bone remodelling has been evaluated in vivo, with the results indicating that FVIII and/or von Willebrand can further inhibit the formation of osteoclasts, cells that play a key role in bone remodelling.

Platelets and endothelial cells play key roles in haemostasis. Research performed in collaborations with the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy, revealed significant differences in the binding of different recombinant FVIII products to platelets and endothelial cells.

"We are excited to present additional data from the WIL-31 study, the largest prospective study in VWD, that further supports the use of prophylaxis for children, adolescents and women with von Willebrand disease. We are also proud to introduce the upcoming PROVE study, which will help us understand how best to protect people with haemophilia A from debilitating joint damage." - Larisa Belyanskaya, Head of IBU Haematology.

The posters will be presented at the following times:

Saturday December 9, 17:30-19:30 (PST)

Poster 1255: Design of a Comparative Study (PROVE) To Assess the Long-Term Effects of Prophylaxis With Simoctocog Alfa or Emicizumab on Joint and Bone Health in Hemophilia A Patients. Presenting author: Robert Klamroth

Poster 1227: Transcriptomic profiling to understand inhibitor development in previously untreated patients with severe hemophilia A. Presenting author: Paul Batty

Poster 1244: Impact of recombinant factor VIII and platelet interaction on platelet functionality and hemophilia A treatment. Presenting author: Fabrizio A. Pennacchio

Monday December 11, 18:00-20:00 (PST)

Poster 3977: Factor VIII is an endothelial factor that promotes vessel stability. Presenting author: Antonia Follenzi

Poster 3979: Inter-donor variability in Osteoclastogenesis and responses to Osteoprotegerin (OPG), von Willebrand Factor (vWF), and Factor VIII (FVIII). Presenting author: Joyce Kimenai

Poster 3992: Efficacy and Safety of Prophylaxis with a Plasma-derived von Willebrand Factor/Factor VIII Concentrate in Children and Adolescents with von Willebrand Disease - A Sub-Analysis of Data from the WIL-31 Study. Presenting author: Robert F. Sidonio, Jr

Poster 3997: Efficacy of Regular Prophylaxis with a Plasma-derived von Willebrand Factor/Factor VIII Concentrate in Reducing Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Females with von Willebrand Disease. Presenting author: Robert F. Sidonio, Jr

About Octapharma

Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines.

Octapharma employs more than 11,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Immunotherapy, Haematology and Critical Care.

Octapharma has seven R&D sites and five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, and operates more than 190 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US. Octapharma has 40 years of experience in patient care.

Octapharma press releases are specifically for health specialist/medical media and are not for consumer press.

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CALGARY, Alberta, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (TSXV: CMC; OTCQB: CWSFF) ("Cielo" or the "Company"), a waste-to-fuel environmental technology company, announces today updates regarding its agreements with Renewable U Energy Inc. ("Renewable U"), including with respect to the purchase of land in Dunmore, Alberta (the "Dunmore Land") by Cielo for the purposes of building a full-scale, waste-to-fuel facility (the "Dunmore Facility"). The Company also provides an updated on the previously disclosed, proposed securities consolidation of the common shares of Cielo (the "Consolidation").



Renewable U Agreements

On May 1st, 2023, Cielo had announced its agreement with Renewable U to acquire the Dunmore Land, which provided for a condition deadline as well as a tentative closing date, both of which have been amended since the date of the initial agreement, as previously disclosed. In light of the Company's recent asset purchase transaction (the "Asset Purchase") with Expander Energy Inc. ("Expander"), Cielo and Renewable U have agreed to further amend the condition deadline to December 15th, 2023 and the closing date to January 5th, 2024, which is expected to allow Cielo the opportunity to strategically assess financing alternatives subsequent to the acquisition.

On May 17th, 2023, Cielo had announced a termination agreement with Renewable U (the "Termination Agreement") regarding the termination of memorandums of understanding that had been executed between the parties between 2018 and 2021. Under the terms of the Termination Agreement, Cielo is required to submit a proposal to Renewable U setting out the terms on which the $2 million owing from Cielo to Renewable U would be exchanged for a participation interest in the Dunmore Facility. The proposal deadline has been extended to March 29th, 2024.

For additional information on the proposed transactions between Cielo and Renewable U, which remain subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange"), see Cielo's news releases dated May 1st, 2023 and May 17th, 2023.

Ralph Bohlmann, CEO of Renewable U, stated: "Renewable U has been supportive of Cielo since 2018 and now with the completion of the transaction and the combined tech of Expander Energy and Cielo, we are even more excited about the future."

Securities Consolidation

Following receipt of the requisite special majority approval of the Company's shareholders at Cielo's annual general and special shareholder meeting held on October 26th, 2023, the Company's board of directors has authorized management to proceed in the coming days with the Consolidation on the basis of one post-consolidation common share for every fifteen pre-consolidation common shares of the Company. The Company has 1,680,713,625 pre-consolidation common shares issued and outstanding. Following completion of the Consolidation, the Company will have 112,047,575 post-consolidation common shares issued and outstanding. All securities of the Company, including warrants, stock options and other incentive awards, as well as the remaining shares to be issued to Expander pursuant to the terms of the Asset Purchase, will be subject to the Consolidation.

The Company will circulate a letter of transmittal to its registered shareholders with respect to the Consolidation. The Consolidation is subject to the approval of the Exchange. An update will be provided with the effective date of the Consolidation once determined.

Management Change

As part of the relationship with Expander and procedures resulting from the Asset Purchase, Cielo also announces today that Ryan Carruthers, Executive Vice President, Operations, of Cielo, has transitioned to Expander Energy Services, a subsidiary of Expander, where Mr. Carruthers has been invited, and has agreed, to join the operations team.

Ryan Jackson, CEO of Cielo, stated: "We thank Ryan for his dedication and commitment to Cielo over the past two years and more recently in his role as EVP Operations. His knowledge of Cielo's technology and expertise in operations will be instrumental in the delivery of the Carseland project and our future projects. We look forward to continuing our journey together."

Ryan Carruthers stated: "I would like to thank the Cielo Management Team and the Board of Directors for the opportunities as well as the experience I've gained over the past two years. I am pleased to be joining the Expander Team and I remain committed to Cielo's success. I look forward to supporting the growth of Cielo and the development of their projects."

ABOUT CIELO

Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. was incorporated under the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) on February 2, 2011. Cielo is a publicly traded company with its shares listed to trade on the TSXV under the symbol "CMC," on the Frankfurt Exchange under the symbol "C36", as well as on the OTC Venture Market ("OTCQB"), under the symbol "CWSFF." The Company's strategic intent is to become a leading waste-to-fuel company using economically sustainable technology while minimizing the environmental impact. Cielo has a patented process that can convert waste feedstocks, including organic material and wood derivative waste, to fuel. Having demonstrated its ability to produce diesel and naphtha from waste, Cielo's business model is to construct additional processing facilities. Cielo's objective is to generate value by converting waste to fuel, while fueling the sustainable energy transition.

For further information please contact:

Cielo Investor Relations

Ryan Jackson, CEO

Phone: (403) 348-2972

Email: investors@cielows.com

RB Milestone Group LLC

Email: cielo@rbmilestone.com

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. All statements other than statements of present or historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "anticipate", "achieve", "could", "believe", "plan", "intend", "objective", "continuous", "ongoing", "estimate", "outlook", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should" or similar words, including negatives thereof, suggesting future outcomes.

Forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance, or achievements of the Company to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. Forward-looking statements and information are based on plans, expectations and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and are subject to certain factors and assumptions.

Cielo is making forward looking statements, with respect to, but not limited to: the date by which Cielo is required to waive closing conditions for the Dunmore Land; the closing date for the purchase of the Dunmore Land; the Dunmore Land being used for the Dunmore Facility; and the date by which Cielo is to submit a proposal to Renewable U under the Termination Agreement; a result of the extended deadlines being the ability of Cielo to assess strategic financing opportunities; ratio, terms and timing of the Consolidation; and Mr. Carruthers position with Expander.

Investors should continue to review and consider information disseminated through news releases and filed by the Company on SEDAR. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended.

Forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of future performance and involve a number of risks and uncertainties, some of which are described herein. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company's actual performance and results to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and, except as required by law, the Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.
CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- deepc, a leading MedTech company, aligns strategically with MONAI, the Medical Open Network for Artificial Intelligence. A community-driven open-source framework co-founded by NVIDIA and King's College London, MONAI aims to advance healthcare through medical imaging. By ensuring MONAI compatibility on its platform, deepcOS, deepc emphasizes commitment to open-source AI, interoperability, and global AI development standards.

A recognized standard in medical imaging AI development with 1.75M downloads, MONAI is supported by institutions like King's College London, NIH, and the Mayo Clinic. Notably, it introduced MONAI Application Packages (MAPs) for streamlined AI model packaging, enhancing interoperability. deepcOS' MAPs compatibility unlocks new AI development capabilities and accelerates AI translation into clinical practice.

deepc also joins the MONAI Deploy working group to actively shape standards for medical imaging AI. Its dedicated contributions to MONAI positions deepc as a strategic partner for university hospitals in medical AI research, offering crucial support in AI development and deployment.

"We are thrilled to join the MONAI community and contribute to the advancement of open-source, cutting-edge healthcare solutions," says Dr. Franz Pfister, deepc's co-founder and CEO. "MONAI compatibility strengthens our ability to transform the healthcare industry, making AI development and deployment more accessible and efficient. We are committed to driving innovation in medical AI, fostering collaboration in the development community, and ultimately improving patient care and hospital operations worldwide."

David Bericat, product manager for healthcare at NVIDIA and co-founding cooperator of Project MONAI, shares, "The MONAI framework was created to establish best practices and foster open-source AI collaboration for healthcare researchers in medical imaging. deepc's embrace of MONAI standards will help make the future of medical imaging AI more accessible and robust."

The academic founder of MONAI, King's College London welcomes deepc to the initiative. "deepc's contribution to MONAI underscores their dedication to fostering research support and collaboration within the medical AI community, diversifying key industry engagement with MONAI. By adopting MONAI compatibility on deepcOS, deepc empowers researchers to accelerate innovation, share results, and unite common goals across academic and industry endeavors" adds Prof Sebastien Ourselin FREng FMedSci, Head of School of Biomedical Engineering & Imaging Sciences, King's College London.

In its strategic focus to fully enable safe AI in clinical workflows, deepc is pleased to additionally empower medical researchers in their AI model development. deepc plans to showcase its platform's end-to-end capabilities during its presentation of The United State of AI at RSNA 2023. www.deepc.ai

Contact details: Jennifer Horner, Head of Marketing, Jennifer.horner@deepc.ai

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2284963/Deepc_MONAI.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2284964/deepc_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/deepc-establishes-monai-compatibility-strengthening-its-commitment-to-open-source-collaboration-and-global-healthcare-transformation-301997273.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / SNOWLINE GOLD CORP (TSX-V:SGD)(OTCQB:SNWGF) (the "Company" or "Snowline") is honoured to announce its receipt of the 2023 Robert E. Leckie Award for Excellence in Environmental Stewardship from the Government of Yukon.

"I would like to thank the awards committee and to thank and congratulate Snowline's entire team-including our industry and First Nations partners-on this recognition of our ongoing efforts towards environmental stewardship and ultimately of the culture of integrity, accountability and respect that our team works so hard to instill," said Scott Berdahl, CEO & Director of Snowline. "There is an irony underlying many mineral explorers working in the Yukon. Although we work in a development-focused industry, we are driven by a passion for the natural world, a passion that gets us out on the land and away from more conventional office-based work. As a company, we recognize the intrinsic value of a strong natural environment and the Yukon's wild spaces. We also recognize the importance and necessity of metals to modern society. Thus, we seek to find a balance, striving to lay the foundation for a strong local economy that can support healthy communities and high quality of life while ensuring the Yukon's vast wilderness can be enjoyed and relied upon for generations to come."

John Streicker, the Yukon's Minister of Energy, Mines & Resources, stated: "Our government is committed to supporting sustainable, responsible mining and mineral exploration across the Yukon. Congratulations to Snowline Gold Corporation for winning this year's Leckie Award, an honour that recognizes their values and commitment. The company's work near Mayo is an example of how exploration can be done in a way that promotes environmental stewardship and meaningful collaboration with First Nations partners."

The awards committee recognised various efforts and initiatives undertaken by the Company, including progressive reclamation of its surface disturbances, drill pad site optimization to minimize clearing, clean-up of a long-abandoned third-party exploration camp on its claims, and several projects launched in collaboration with Yukon Seed and Restoration (YSR), a First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun majority-owned environmental business. The projects with YSR include pre-disturbance botanical inventories for multiple work sites, local collection of native seed banks for future reclamation of surface disturbances, and the establishment of trial reclamation plots to assess the on-site effectiveness of various applications of these local seeds for rapid and effective revegetation.

In addition, Snowline's main exploration camp is primarily powered by a 27.5 kW solar array, providing clean, on-site energy production that replaces and offsets carbon emissions that would otherwise come from hydrocarbons. The solar array and associated equipment are leased from the First Nations owned Nacho Nyak Dun Development Corporation and are installed and maintained by the Yukon renewable energy company Solvest. Snowline has also initiated key environmental baseline studies, including water quality, hydrology, and wildlife surveying at and near its Rogue Project's Valley discovery from a very early stage in the exploration process.

Figure 1 - Reclamation of an abandoned third-party exploration camp on Snowline's mineral tenure. Top: Site during cleanup - deconstructing a tent platform. Middle: Site following cleanup, before burning of combustible materials. Bottom: Metals and other non-combustible debris were slung by helicopter from site for disposal at proper facilities.

Figure 2 - Solar power facility at Snowline's "Forks" Camp. The 27.5 kW facility provides most of the electrical power used by the camp during the exploration season, including power to several core cutting saws. The equipment is under lease from the Nacho Nyak Dun Development Corporation under a 5-year partnership to provide renewable energy to the Company.

The Leckie Award is presented in up to three categories each year, with recognition for socially responsible practices, environmental stewardship, and innovation in mining in Canada's Yukon Territory. The awards committee comprises representatives from the Council of Yukon First Nations, the Yukon Chamber of Mines, the Klondike Placer Miner's Association, and the Government of Yukon. The award was presented on November 20 at the Yukon Geoscience convention in Whitehorse, Yukon.

Figure 3 - Representatives from Snowline at the 2023 Yukon Geoscience awards banquet on November 20, 2023, in Whitehorse, Yukon. From left to right: Sergio Gamonal (Chief Geologist), Dr. Craig Hart (Chair & Independent Director), Dr. Gregor Hahn (Geologist), Dr. Nicolas Piette-Lauziere (Geologist), Scott Berdahl (CEO & Director), Thomas Branson (VP Exploration), Zoe Goodyear (Database Manager) & Sarah Weber (Independent Director).

ROBERT E. LECKIE

Robert "Bob" E. Leckie (1957-1999) was a geographer and mining inspector who moved north from Alberta to serve in the Yukon's Mayo Mining District from 1987 through 1999. His legacy stems from a passion for innovation, collaboration between governments and industry, and the development of progressive land use practices for mining and reclamation.

ABOUT SNOWLINE GOLD CORP.

Snowline Gold Corp. is a Yukon Territory focused gold exploration company with an eight-project portfolio covering >333,000 ha. The Company is exploring its flagship >94,000 ha Rogue gold project in the highly prospective yet underexplored Selwyn Basin. Snowline's project portfolio sits within the prolific Tintina Gold Province, host to multiple million-ounce-plus gold mines and deposits including Kinross's Fort Knox Mine, Newmont's Coffee deposit, and Victoria Gold's Eagle Mine. The Company's first-mover land position and extensive database provide a unique opportunity for investors to be part of multiple discoveries and the creation of a new gold district.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Scott Berdahl

CEO & Director

For further information, please contact:

Snowline Gold Corp.

+1 778 650 5485

info@snowlinegold.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the potential to participate in multiple future discoveries, the creation of a new gold district and the Company's future plans and intentions. Wherever possible, words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "expect", "plan", "intend", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "predict" or "potential" or the negative or other variations of these words, or similar words or phrases, have been used to identify these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect management's current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management as at the date hereof.

Forward-looking statements involve significant risk, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results discussed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Such factors include, among other things: risks related to uncertainties inherent in drill results and the estimation of mineral resources; and risks associated with executing the Company's plans and intentions. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this news release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure readers that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Snowline Gold Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/810238/snowline-gold-receives-the-robert-e-leckie-award-for-excellence-in-environmental-stewardship
Chinese, Irish legislators pledge to promote cooperation

Xinhua) 13:06, November 27, 2023

DUBLIN, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Legislators from China and Ireland have expressed willingness to promote cooperation between the two countries in such areas as green development this week during a Chinese delegation's visit in Ireland.

The delegation was led by Zheng Jianbang, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China, at the invitation of the Irish parliament.

During the visit from Wednesday to Saturday, Zheng held talks with Cathaoirleach of Seanad Eireann Jerry Buttimer and Leas-Cheann Comhairle of Dail Eireann Catherine Connolly, and visited County Kildare.

China and Ireland have established diplomatic relations for more than 40 years, insisting on friendly relations and win-win cooperation, with fruitful results in various fields, Zheng said.

In the face of the changing, chaotic international situation and the downward pressure on the world economy, China and Ireland should consolidate political mutual trust, respect each other's core interests and major concerns, continue to deepen practical cooperation, tap the potential for cooperation in such fields as digital economy, biomedicine and green development, jointly safeguard multilateralism, and join hands to deal with global challenges, Zheng said.

The National People's Congress of China is willing to maintain interaction with the parliament of Ireland at all levels, strengthen mutual learning and appreciation, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, Zheng said.

The Irish side said it adheres to the one-China policy and admires China's development achievements, and it attaches great importance to cooperation with China.

Noting that next year will mark the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Ireland and China, the Irish side said it would like to maintain friendly exchanges between the legislative bodies of the two countries, deepen cooperation in such fields as trade and investment, and green development, so as to push forward greater development of Ireland-China relations.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
BEDFORD, NS / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / (TSXV:SSE) - Silver Spruce Resources, Inc. ("Silver Spruce" or the "Company") is pleased to announce completion of our Phase 2 prospecting, mapping, rock sampling, and structural overview as integral aspects of its ongoing exploration program at the 602-claim Mystery Au project ("Mystery") (see Figure 1).

"As per our planned summer programs, we initiated and completed in three stages, over the Marilyn claim block, prospecting, rock and soil sampling, structural mapping and further regional till sampling with a primary view to drill target generation in Q4 2023. Prospecting of the new Marilyn claims identified localized float and outcropping rock samples showing intense silicification with iron carbonate accompanied by multi-phase siliceous veins and breccias, and minor to trace arsenopyrite, pyrite, chalcopyrite and malachite (see Figures 2, 3 and 4). Gold to 1035 ppb, arsenic to >1000ppm and antimony to 346 ppm are typical to the coincident precious metals and pathfinder elements of the regional orogenic mineralizing systems", said Greg Davison, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director. "Structural geological mapping on the ground and desktop analysis of the property geophysics reported an E-W trending topographic and magnetic lineament associated with steeply south-dipping quartz veins, brecciation and carbonate alteration exposed along the banks of Tote Brook. Mineral textures of vuggy quartz and laminated chalcedony point to high-level epizonal veins though more evaluation of the spatial position within the system is clearly warranted."

"We are pleased to announce that an initial 4-hole drilling plan was developed to target the downdip projection of the surface vein exposures at Tote Brook (Figures 4 and 5). Further work to isolate and orient the bedrock source and define Au-bearing drill targets in the southern Marilyn claim also will be a focus of the follow-up field program," added Mr. Davison. "The drill permit application was submitted to the Mineral Lands Division of the Department of Industry, Energy and Technology (IET). Diamond drilling is scheduled to follow immediately upon receipt of all requisite IET and MOT permits."

Recent map staking (see Press Release February 8, 2023) of additional claims tied to both the Marilyn and Till properties effectively doubled property coverage to 148 square kilometres (14,790 ha). The new claims occur adjacent to several gold grain and geochemical anomalies reported from the Company's 2021 and 2022 Phase 1 programs.

A total of twenty-seven (27) rock samples, one hundred and eight (108) soil samples and sixty-five (65) till and soil samples were collected during the recent exploration programs. As per the previous campaigns, the tills, averaging 12kg in weight of screened -" or -" material, were shipped to Nepean, Ontario and submitted to Overburden Drilling Management ("ODM") for processing and gold grain size and morphological analysis. The soil samples were shipped to ALS Global in North Vancouver for gold and multi-element analysis. Rock samples were delivered to Eastern Analytical in Springdale, NL for precious metal and multi-element analysis.

Figure 1. Map of the Marilyn and Mystery properties showing gold grain frequency recovered during over major structural features (red) and geological contacts. Rock sampling noted in Marilyn claim.

Figure 2. Marilyn property showing central (Tote Brook) and southern clusters of sampling in siliceous veins, carbonate alteration and breccias. Anomalous gold, arsenic and antimony values were reported.

Figure 3. Marilyn property showing southern cluster of rock sampling in siliceous veins, carbonate alteration and breccias. Anomalous gold, arsenic and antimony values are tabulated.

Figure 4. Marilyn sampling from southern cluster (747011 - top, 747012 - bottom) showing brecciation, episodic massive to vuggy silica veining and surface oxidation of sulphides including arsenopyrite.

Figure 5. Marilyn property showing plan view of Phase 1 drill targeting on Tote Creek along coincident E-W topographic and magnetic lineament (yellow dash), in the Badger Group and western contact of the Mount Peyton Intrusion, with surface exposures of multi-stage quartz-carbonate veins and breccias with vuggy quartz and laminated chalcedonic textures. Four holes (two scissor sections) are proposed from the collars TB01 and TB02 to intersect the down-dip projection of the veins.

Exploration

The Properties comprise a large, virtually untested area with many outcrop showings and mineralized float, prospective geology, and regional and second order geophysical structures within and adjacent to our holdings. The Company has staged plans to continue regional till sampling for gold grain analysis and soil geochemistry, regional and property scale airborne geophysical compilation and interpretation, prospecting, ArcGIS geological and geophysical data compilation and grid soil sampling with a tighter grid spacing. Further wide-spaced sampling also is proposed for both the currently incomplete areas near anomalous sample results and infill sampling for several targets of the claim package. Contracting for detailed interpretation of the regional geophysics and Property airborne data was announced recently (see Press Release of November 9, 2023).

Project Background

The Company signed a Definitive Agreement in September 2021 with two parties (the "Vendors") to acquire 100% of three early-stage gold exploration properties, Mystery, Till and Marilyn, (the "Property" or the "Properties") located near Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, 20-25 kilometres west of New Found Gold Corp.'s Queensway project and 15-35 kilometres south of Sokoman Minerals Corp.'s Moosehead gold project. The recently staked claims are contiguous to this property and subject to first rights under the 5 km Area of Interest in the Agreement.

The 14,790-hectare project is located within the Exploits Subzone, an extensive area of mineral exploration activity and discoveries over the past four years. The Properties are well situated in terms of exploration logistics, located close to each other and 10-45 kilometres south by Bay d'Espoir Highway from Bishop's Falls, Newfoundland. The Properties are located <70 kilometres from the Gander International Airport and are easily accessible from major paved roads and local logging and bush roads and trails.

The region is structurally complex and located, in large part, between several major crustal lineaments. Numerous major to lesser sub-parallel features merge and bifurcate along strike and are transected by NW and EW-trending faults. These deep-seated structures, which juxtapose geological terranes over hundreds of kilometres, are key to the location and formation of orogenic gold deposits containing several million ounces of gold as reported by junior companies in the district.

Early work in 2003-2004 by Rubicon Minerals on the Mystery Lake area reported massive to semi-massive occurrences of arsenopyrite and gold assay values to 17,678 ppb (17.7 g/t Au). Historical assays were reported for 123 samples collected by the Vendor from Mystery and Marilyn (see Press Release of September 14, 2021). Eighteen samples reported Au >0.5 g/t (max. 12.5 g/t Au). Cu values were reported up to 9.85% with minor Ag, Pb and Zn. Arsenic was highly anomalous in thirty-six samples reporting over 2,200 ppm upper limit for Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP-OES) analysis, strongly associated with elevated Au values and displayed as minor to abundant arsenopyrite.

Multiple surface occurrences are reported of agate chalcedony to colloform and crystalline silica veining and multi-phase breccias, carbonate replacement by quartz, and open-space filling quartz and calcite, all textures indicative of the upper zones of epithermal systems and structural conduits in orogenic systems, and are accompanied by gold, arsenopyrite, stibnite, chalcopyrite, bornite and Cu carbonate mineralization in quartz veins, black shale and other sedimentary units, and ultramafic and gabbroic intrusions.

Silver Spruce collected new rock samples and received an independent report on the mineral and rock textures potentially related to shallow epithermal and/or orogenic vein-style mineralization. The Company completed an initial phase of till and soil sampling in late 2021, and an airborne magnetic, VLF-EM and radiometric survey in February 2022 (see Press Release of February 23, 2022).

The Company's reconnaissance sampling (95 sites) was completed before the winter 2021 shutdown and an additional thirty-four of the readily accessible sites were tested during the 2022 field season. The 2023 till sampling (66 sites) of the new claims identified our best gold grain frequency data so far with a maximum of thirty-nine grains in GR-37 (see Figure 6) in the southern part of the claims and other significant results spread from north to south throughout the Marilyn claims.

Figure 6. Marilyn property showing till sampling with gold grain frequency recovered during 2021-2023 programs. Sample GR-37 (max. 39 grains) noted.

Geochemical Analysis, Quality Assurance and Quality Control

ALS Global ("ALS") is a North Vancouver, BC facility certified as ISO 9001:2008 and accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from the Standards Council of Canada. Multi-element analysis - Pulps (50g) were analysed by Aqua Regia digestion followed by a combination of Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometry ICP Mass Spectrometry (ICP-AES and ICP-MS) (AuME-TL44).

Eastern Analytical ("EA") is a Springdale, NL facility accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 from the Standards Council of Canada. Fire assay (30g) - A sub-sample is subjected to lead-collection/fusion into a silver dore bead which is dissolved by Aqua Regia digestion with analysis by Atomic Absorption (AA). Multi-element analysis - The 200mg samples of the pulps were totally dissolved in four acids and analyzed by 34 element Inductively Coupled Plasma - Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) (Au + ICP-34).

All sample and pulp rejects will be stored pending full review of the analytical data, and future selection of pulps for independent third-party check analyses, as requisite.

ALS and EA conduct their own internal QA/QC program of blanks, standards and duplicates, and the results are provided with the Company sample certificates. The results of the internal and control samples were reviewed by the Company's QP and evaluated with acceptable tolerances for disclosure. The Company's Qualified Person believes that the sampling documentation, analytical protocols and quantitative data will withstand scrutiny for inclusion.

Qualified Person

Greg Davison, PGeo, Silver Spruce VP Exploration and Director, is the Company's internal Qualified Person for the Mystery Project and is responsible for approval of the technical content of this press release within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"), under TSX guidelines.

About Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Silver Spruce Resources Inc. is a Canadian junior exploration company which has signed Definitive Agreements to acquire 100% of the Melchett Lake Zn-Au-Ag project in northern Ontario, 100% interest in the Mystery Au project near recent discoveries by Sokoman Minerals Corp. and New Found Gold Corp. among others in the Exploits Subzone Gold Belt, Newfoundland and Labrador, 100% interest in the Pino de Plata Ag project located 15 kilometres west of Coeur Mining's Palmarejo Mine in western Chihuahua, Mexico and up to 50% interest in Colibri Resource's Diamante Au-Ag project located from 5 kilometres to 15 kilometres northwest from Minera Alamos's Nicho deposit in Sonora, Mexico. Silver Spruce signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement with Colibri on the nearby Jackie Au project. Silver Spruce Resources Inc. continues to investigate opportunities that Management has identified or that have been presented to the Company for consideration.

Contact:

Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

Greg Davison, PGeo, Vice-President Exploration and Director

(250) 521-0444

gdavison@silverspruceresources.com

Michael Kinley, CEO

(902) 402-0388

mkinley@silverspruceresources.com

info@silverspruceresources.com

www.silverspruceresources.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Notice Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains "forward-looking statements "Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future".

Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with mineral exploration and difficulties associated with obtaining financing on acceptable terms. We are not in control of metals prices and these could vary to make development uneconomic. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate.

SOURCE: Silver Spruce Resources Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/809943/silver-spruce-prospecting-and-geological-program-identifies-drill-targets-on-epizonal-arsenopyrite-quartz-carbonate-veins-and-breccias-in-marilyn-claims-at-mystery-au-project-exploits-gold-belt-newfoundland-and-labrador
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Fremont Gold Ltd. (TSXV: FRE) (OTCQB: FRERF) (FSE: FR20) ("Fremont" or the "Company is pleased to announce it has completed the sale of its wholly owned U.S. subsidiary, Lithaur Inc. ("Lithaur"), which own Fremont's Nevada lithium assets, to a private Australian-based group (see news release dated August 28, 2023). The terms of the transaction are as follows:

A one-time cash payment to Fremont of US$100,000 (received);

A 2% royalty granted in favour of Fremont on each of four projects, with a right for the purchaser to buy half of each royalty (1%) for US$2M per project;

Buyer's assumption of US$125,000 of debt owed by Lithaur and assumption of all ongoing Nevada-based lithium costs effective September 1, 2023;

A 'best efforts' commitment to take the Lithaur assets public via an initial public offering, reverse take-over or similar transaction on the Australian or a Canadian stock market by October 31, 2024, with a possible extension to April 30, 2025 in exchange for an additional payment of US$100,000 to Fremont;

Fremont to receive 30% of the publicly traded equity of the new company post listing and the right to appoint one director to Lithaur's (or the surviving listed entity's) board of directors upon completion of such listing; and

In the case of a sale of Lithaur or its assets to a third party in lieu of a go-public transaction, 30% of the net proceeds of such sale will be paid to Fremont.

Dennis Moore, Fremont's President and CEO, states, "We are looking forward to working with our new partners who will be fully focused on exploring for world-class lithium deposits in Nevada and elsewhere. This transaction will provide Fremont shareholders with exposure to an important battery metals commodity in a proven jurisdiction without having to devote company resources going forward.

Fremont staked the four projects using a model based on well-known lithium deposits in Nevada which occur in enclosed internally-drained calderas, hosting permissive tuffaceous source rocks, nearby intrusive bodies as a heat source, and often hosting alkaline playa lakes. These four localities were not previously recognized as being enclosed calderas prospective for lithium and initial sampling reveals elevated lithium values in attendant felsic source rocks. We regard these areas to be very prospective for both lithium-boron brines and lithium clay deposits."

About Fremont Gold

Fremont's mine-finding management team has assembled a portfolio of potential world-class copper-gold mineral opportunities within the central Tethyan belt of Armenia, while using existing company infrastructure in Nevada to stake lithium brine and lithium clay prospects which are now being vended.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Dennis Moore

President and CEO, interim Chairman

For further information, contact:

Telephone: +351 9250 62196

www.fremontgold.net

https://twitter.com/GoldFremont

https://www.linkedin.com/company/fremont-gold/

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this news release are forward-looking statements that involve 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 including, without limitation, statements regarding future exploration programs at each of Vardenis and Urasar, completion of the sale of the Cobb Creek and Hurricane gold properties in Nevada and capital requirements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations including the risks detailed from time to time in the filings made by the Company with securities regulations. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by Canadian securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188751
The November 30 event will feature speakers such as Walter Isaacson (Elon Musk Biographer), Jane Lauder (The Estee Lauder Companies), David Velez (Nubank), Marc Benioff (Salesforce), Matias Muchnik (NotCo); and will be hosted by Cleo Abram, Emmy-nominated Video Journalist

Register for free at converge.globant.com

NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Globant (NYSE: GLOB), a digitally native company focused on reinventing businesses through innovative technology solutions, today announced its annual flagship event, CONVERGE. AI: Limitless Disruption , a global gathering with high-profile thought leaders and industry-relevant speakers at the forefront of tech, including Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO at Salesforce; David Velez, Founder & CEO at Nubank; Walter Isaacson, Best-Selling Author & Acclaimed Historian; and Jane Lauder, Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer of The Estee Lauder Companies, among others. The event will be streamed on November 30th, 11 am EST.

"In a world where tech is a big part of our everyday lives, Globant's important mission is to connect with and inspire people around the globe. We want to show how technology, creativity, and innovation are changing businesses, creating new opportunities, and enabling greater connections around the world," said Martin Migoya, CEO of Globant. "Last year, Generative AI created a disruptive hit, thus opening a new chapter in artificial intelligence. At our flagship annual event, CONVERGE, experts will share their knowledge and experience to help business leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, techies, and decision-makers gain a better understanding of AI's possibilities."

CONVERGE Lineup

Globant's main event gathers top minds from different industries to share firsthand how AI is reinventing work, businesses, and industries. This year's lineup includes:

Marc Benioff, Chair & CEO at Salesforce

David Velez, Founder & CEO at Nubank

Walter Isaacson, Best-Selling Author & Acclaimed Historian

Jane Lauder, Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer of The Estee Lauder Companies

Joao Paulo Ferreira, CEO of Natura & Co. Latin America

Gillian Zucker, President of Business Operations for the Los Angeles Clippers

Martin Migoya, CEO & Co-founder of Globant

Cleo Abram, Emmy-nominated Video Journalist

Patricia Pomies, Chief Operating Officer of Globant

Guibert Englebienne, Co-founder, President of Latam & Globant X

Anselmo Ramos, Co-founder of the award-winning ad agency GUT

Diego Tartara, Chief Technology Officer at Globant

Wanda Weigert, Global Chief Brand Officer at Globant

Carolina Dolan, Chief Digital Officer at Globant

Elena Morettini, Sustainable Business Studio Director at Globant

Sabina Schneider, Chief Solutions Officer North America at Globant

Matias Muchnik, CEO & Co-founder at NotCo

Andrew McLaughlin, Co-Founder & Partner of Higher Ground Labs

Blake Scholl, Founder & CEO of Boom Supersonic

Dan Macklin, Co-Founder & President of Summer

Daniella Loftus, Founder & CEO of DRAUP

Emi Gal, Co-Founder & CEO of Ezra

James Vincent, Founder & CEO of FNDR

Jana Eggers, CEO of Nara Logics

Jose Valls, CEO of GenZ

Kevin Guo, Co-Founder and CEO of Hive

Sofia Englebienne, Founder and CEO of Eter Studios

With a constant addition of creativity, CONVERGE ignites inspiration and challenges conventional boundaries. In this edition, AI takes center stage, providing attendees with new and groundbreaking insights for business reinvention and possibilities, exploring how companies are using technology and its many implications, such as data, ethics, and its impact on society. Additionally, discussions will focus on how we can harness this technological evolution as a force for good, as the true value lies in achieving the right balance between human and artificial intelligence. Another important topic will be the trends for the next year: where we are headed and what the next great big thing in tech will be.

Last year's CONVERGE: Reinventing Connections event had more than 27,000 virtual registrations, and featured experts such as Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company;Karlie Kloss, American supermodel and Founder of Kode With Klossy;Tristan Harris, Co-Founder and President of the Center for Humane Technology; Dr. Bertalan Mesko, Director of The Medical Futurist Institute; Refik Anadol, Media Artist, Director and Pioneer in the Aesthetics of Machine Intelligence; Arianna Huffington, Founder and CEO of Thrive and Founder of the Huffington Post; Swan Sit, Marketing Maven, Investor and Speaker; Roberto Carlos, FIFA Legend; and Oscar Mayo, Executive Director of LaLiga.

To learn more about the event and to register for CONVERGE. AI: Limitless Disruption, visit https://converge.globant.com/.

About CONVERGE

CONVERGE is Globant's flagship annual event that gathers some of the brightest minds reshaping the future. From Buenos Aires to Madrid to New York, the event has landed in the main hubs of the world to share the insights of visionary leaders such as Bob Iger, Steve Wozniak, Prof. Yuval Harari, Cathay Hackl, Arianna Huffington, Guy Kawasaki, Refik Anadol, Karlie Kloss, will.i.am, James Corden, and many more. Over CONVERGE's past editions, the event has been attended by more than 45,000 people and featured more than 35 renowned speakers.

About Globant

We are a digitally native company that helps organizations reinvent themselves and unleash their potential. We are the place where innovation, design, and engineering meet at scale.

We have more than 27,500 employees, and are present in 30 countries across 5 continents working for companies like Google, Electronic Arts and Santander, among others.

We were named a Worldwide Leader in AI Services (2023) and Worldwide Leader in CX Improvement Services (2020) by IDC MarketScape report.

We stand among the top 100 fastest-growing companies in the world (2023) according to Fortune.

We were also featured as a business case study at Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.

We are active members of The Green Software Foundation (GSF) and the Cybersecurity Tech Accord.

Contact: pr@globant.com

Sign up to get first dibs on press news and updates.

For more information, visit www.globant.com .

Join Converge, the Tech Event on Business Reinvention powered by AI. Register here !

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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/globant-introduces-converge-ai-limitless-disruption-its-annual-tech-trends-event-providing-groundbreaking-insights-for-business-reinvention-301998173.html
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, November 27

For immediate release

27 November 2023

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announces that it has today purchased 150,000 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 823.16 pence per Ordinary Share. Such shares will be held in treasury by the Company.

The transaction was made pursuant to the authority granted at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 17 January 2023.

Following this transaction, the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury is 24,799,939; the total number of Ordinary Shares that the Company has in issue, less the total number of Ordinary Shares held by the Company in treasury following such purchase, and therefore, the total number of voting rights in the Company is 200,191,364.

The figure of 200,191,364 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for calculations of interests in the Company's voting rights in accordance with the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.

For and on behalf of

Frostrow Capital LLP

Company Secretary

For further information, please contact:

Victoria Hale

Frostrow Capital LLP

Tel: 020 3 170 8732
HALIFAX, England, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Hx5 Encrypted build software to help businesses remain ethical and to protect their reputation. Andy Parr, the company's, founder explains what checks HX5 do to stop money laundering.

"Money Launderers use a range of tactics to conceal the real source of their funds. It usually involves offshore companies and financial vehicles to feed the money through," Andy said.

The Tax Havens of the Caribbean are a popular place to hide wealth and the real beneficial owner of it. This is because while those places must adhere to international standards in place to stop money laundering, they rarely use them to do so. The Cayman Islands have never convicted a money launderer internationally and this is despite it being the sixth largest financial centre globally is an example of this at play.

The latest Crypto scandal, this time against Binance, is another classic example. Binance is registered in the Cayman Islands as a business. But it is not registered anywhere globally as an Asset Exchange. In the US the regulators have been chasing it out of the country to protect US citizens from losing their lifesavings. The US regulators have eventually caught up with Binance and fined them over $4 billion for facilitating money laundering on an industrial scale globally. They have also barred the CEO, Changpeng Zhao, from running the company and fined him personally $50 Million.

The lax way Binance have implemented (or not dependent on your viewpoint) money laundering controls has been an issue for some time. This lack of due diligence has resulted in terrorist organisations like Al Qaeda, ISIS and Hamas using the platform to move money globally as well as any number of criminals using it to 'clean' their money.

The question here is, why the US? Binance are registered in the Cayman Islands so why haven't the Cayman Islands regulated it and punished the company themselves? And why have they allowed the company to register just as a business and not enforced them to also register as an asset exchange thereby forcing additional levels of scrutiny and standards on Binance? And finally, what action will they now take to sanction Binance bearing in mind it is in their backyard?

Andy says he isn't holding his breath. "The Cayman Islands have a failed regulatory system. They don't have the staff, the skills or the will to manage global finance and the Binance saga shines a light on this globally. They shouldn't be allowed to operate within the highly regulated financial sector until they get their house in order to stop money laundering and tax evasion."

HX5 Encrypted is building a software platform that will facilitate intelligence sharing between financial institutes to trace money transfers on both sides of the transaction. Andy says this will be a game changer for money launderers. "Our system is called Acrintel. Currently for a wire transfer the receiving bank only does three checks. Acrintel will complete nine and behind those checks is a huge level of data that ensures business and people are real - identified biometrically - and businesses are trading and operating properly something that wasn't the case in another scandal involving Danske bank."

A single branch of Danske Bank moved $240 billion out of Russia and into the global financial sector by filtering it through 16 UK businesses that had other business beneficial owners in tax havens globally. The problem was the UK businesses were registered as dormant despite $20 million being moved daily through their accounts. Acrintel will spot that kind of activity and stop it. Acrintel will check the registration of the business and ask, why is it registered in the UK but trading with Russia, why is the bank branch in Estonia, why is the UK business shown as dormant and finally, why are they owned by offshore opaque entities?

"All of these things are a red flag for money laundering. A single red flag may mean little but a series like that is a huge signal that something isn't right. Our software will alert the receiving bank and the transactions would be stopped," Andy said.

"Acrintel will also spot Crypto exchanges facilitating bad actors to launder their assets because the real money moves in and out of traditional banks and when it does Acrintel will spot it."

HX5 are currently searching for investment to help them build Acrintel as the second software solution to come out of the firm. The first is already trading internationally and is a whistleblowing software.

About HX5 Encrypted Ltd

HX5 Encrypted is incorporated in the UK and builds software for businesses. They are currently working on a risk intelligence platform to enable banks and other large financial institutes to share intelligence to prevent money laundering and tax evasion. They are seeking financial investment to bring that solution to the market. For more information about the company or their software contact Andy via the details below.

Contact:

Office@hx5encrypted.co.uk for more information

www.HX5Encrypted.co.uk

Video - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285069/HX5_Encrypted_Ltd.mp4

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/hx5-encrypted-explain-how-a-simple-check-can-stop-a-240-billion-money-laundering-scandal-301998252.html
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Camino Minerals Corporation (TSXV:COR)(OTCQB:CAMZF) (WKN:A116E1) ("Camino" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it is arranging a non-brokered private placement to raise total gross proceeds of up to CAD$2,000,000 (the "Financing").

The Financing will consist of the issue of up to 33,333,334 units (each, a "Unit") at a price per Unit of CAD$0.06. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"), allowing holders to purchase an additional common share at an exercise price of CAD$0.10 per Warrant within thirty-six months following the closing date of the Financing. In the event the volume-weighted average closing price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") exceeds CAD$0.20 for twenty consecutive trading days, the Company retains the option to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to thirty days after a public announcement of its election to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants. The Company may pay finders fees in connection with the Financing.

The primary use of the gross proceeds will be the commencement of drilling activities at the Company's 100% owned Maria Cecilia porphyry complex ("Maria Cecilia") and for corporate working capital and business development activities. Two drilling campaigns are planned at Camino's two permitted copper properties in Peru. Drilling at the Los Chapitos Copper Project ("Los Chapitos") will commence in December, funded in co-operation with its Los Chapitos partner Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. (see news release dated November 23, 2023 ). The second drilling campaign is planned to commence consecutively at the fully permitted Maria Cecilia copper porphyry complex.

The Company has received commitments as part of the Financing from a combination of executive management, directors, and existing shareholders of Camino. The participation in the Financing by related parties constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") and Policy 5.9 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions of the Exchange. Pursuant to sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, the Company is exempt from obtaining a formal valuation and minority approval of the Company's shareholders in respect of the related party participation in the Financing due to the fair market value of the related party participation being below 25% of the Company's market capitalization for the purposes of MI 61-101.

All securities issued and sold under the Financing will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from their date of issuance. Completion of the Financing remain subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Exchange.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.

The Maria Cecilia Porphyry Complex

The Maria Cecilia porphyry complex is a mineralized system of several intrusives that extends for over 5 km and hosts the mineral resources of Toropunto and Emmanuel, that have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 standards. The central intrusive of Maria Cecilia has never been drilled and exhibits the largest magnetic anomaly in the porphyry complex. Drilling at adjacent deposits demonstrates cross-cutting mineralization indicating multiple intrusive pulses of copper, gold, zinc, and molybdenum mineralization adjacent to Maria Cecilia.

In addition, anomalous molybdenum has been encountered immediately next to Maria Cecilia indicating zoning proximity to a copper source and the potential for a robust porphyry. The Company proposes to drill from surface two porphyry outcrops with test pit grades up to 0.5 and 0.9% Cu, respectively, and drill to a potential quartz magnetite high-grade copper mineralized body within the magnetic anomaly.

In September 2022, Camino was granted the Declaration of Environmental Impact permit to drill up to 23,000 meters at Maria Cecilia (see news release dated September 12, 2022 ).

About Camino

Camino is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. Camino is focused on advancing its high-grade Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru through to resource delineation and to add new discoveries. Camino has also permitted the Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project for a planned exploration drilling program. In addition, Camino has increased its land position at its copper and silver Plata Dorada project. Camino seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminocorp.com.

Jose A. Bassan, FAusIMM (CP) 227922, MSc. Geologist, an independent geologist and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 -?Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this document.? Mr. Bassan has reviewed and verified relevant data supporting the technical disclosure, including sampling and analytical test data.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Jay Chmelauskas, President and CEO

For further information, please contact:

Camino Investor Relations

info@caminocorp.com

Tel: (604) 493-2058

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.???????????????????????

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements:?Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking disclosures in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company.?Forward-looking information in the release includes the terms and conditions of the Financing, the use of proceeds of the Financing, the timing and ability of the Company to obtain final approval of the Financing from the TSX Venture Exchange, the closing date of the Financing, an exemption being available under MI 61-101 and Policy 5.9 of the TSX Venture Exchange from the minority shareholder approval and valuation requirements, the prospectivity of future exploration work at Maria Cecilia and Los Chapitos and the receipt of necessary authorizations and approvals. Although the Company considers these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect, and the forward-looking information in this release is subject to numerous risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking information. Such risk factors include, among others, that actual results of the Company's exploration activities may be different than those expected by management, that the Financing may not be fully subscribed or completed on the terms described herein, that the Company may be unable to obtain or will experience delays in obtaining any required authorizations and approvals and the state of equity and commodity markets. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

SOURCE: Camino Minerals Corp.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/810490/camino-announces-up-to-cad20-million-private-placement-proceeds-to-be-used-to-advance-exploration-drilling-at-the-maria-cecilia-copper-project-in-peru
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / National Grid has completed renovations at the former Niagara Falls Power Transfer Station, an historic landmark that now includes a pedestrian walkway and interactive, educational information about the building, which links to the earliest days of pioneering electricity engineering technology.

In the 1890s, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse worked together to build the world's first hydro-electric power plant, in Niagara Falls. It was Tesla's theory, technology and inventions that made the idea of alternating current a reality in Western New York, in America and eventually, the world.

The building dates to 1895 and is also referred to as the North Tonawanda Transformer Building. Located at 521 Robinson St., it was one of many important components in Tesla's plan to capture the power of Niagara Falls to produce electricity and send it over long distances. On Nov. 15, 1896 the transmission of alternating current from Niagara Falls traveled 23 miles to Buffalo, passing through the transformer building along the way.

In recent years National Grid staff began discussing the then-vacant transformer building, and how it could be used to better serve customers. That's because it seemed an ideal location to store equipment and serve as a hub for work crews, who could be deployed across parts of Niagara and Erie counties.

But first, it needed some renovations.

"We replaced some roof tiles, and a lot of brick on the building that had broken off and cracked," said National Grid Regional Director Ken Kujawa. "And as we were considering the level of physical work that the building required we asked ourselves, 'How can we honor its history?"

So, as the company decided to pay homage to Tesla and Westinghouse. Images of both men are now included among graphic window panels that in 2022 adorned the outside walls. Additional discussions resulted in decisions to landscape and pave an area that allows pedestrians to get closer to see the building's new artwork and a plaque that commemorates the work done by Tesla and Westinghouse. The plaque includes a QR code that points visitors to this web page, where they can learn more.

More information about the building's history and the work performed in the region by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse is available here:

* WGRZ-TV story transformer building history

* Niagara Parks Power Station - Tesla patents

* Tesla Memorial Society of New York

* Visit Buffalo Niagara - honoring Tesla's work

About National Grid

National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future - transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For more information, please visit our website, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.

Media Contacts

Dave Bertola

Buffalo (Western NY)

(716) 831-7136

Email

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from National Grid on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: National Grid

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/national-grid

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: National Grid

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/810505/outdoor-renovations-complete-at-historic-transformer-building
THUNDER BAY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Clean Air Metals Inc. ("Clean Air Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:AIR)(FRA:CKU)(OTCQB:CLRMF) is pleased to announce it has received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Mines for its 3-year exploration permit as submitted in May 2023. The permit covers the down plunge extension to the south-east of the Escape deposit as has previously been communicated but also covers other areas of interest for future potential drilling and geophysical work within the Company's Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (the "Project").

The Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project hosts an indicated mineral resource of 13.8Mt containing 1.2M ounces of 2PGE (Pt+Pd), 56,800 tonnes of Cu and 33,800 tonnes of Ni between the twin magmatic intrusions (chonoliths) known as the Current and Escape deposits. Both deposits remain open and largely unexplored below 500 metres in depth.

In addition to the down plunge potential of the Escape Deposit, as outlined in the press release of August 29, 2023, this permit also includes proposed work to continue testing the Current chonolith down plunge, continued exploration of untested magnetotelluric (MT) anomalies associated with emplacement controlling structures of the Escape and Quetico faults and the capacity to undertake infill drilling for conversion of inferred to indicated mineral resources as required, in both the Escape and Current deposits.

Figure 1. Plan view of the Current and Escape intrusions as defined by diamond drilling and magnetic interpretation. Spatial extend of Early Exploration permit PR23-000153 shown by green cross-hatching.

Geoff Heggie, VP Exploration commented: "Approval of the 3-year early exploration permit which covers the two resource areas and the down plunge potential on both mineralized intrusions provides the Company the opportunity to continue expanding the mineral resource with future exploration programs."

Company Update

The Strategic Alternatives process announced by the Company on October 3, 2023, is fully in progress. The Company does not expect to have any material information to report on this process until early in the new year.

Jim Gallagher CEO stated: "The press has recently begun to cover the difficult situation in the Canadian junior mining market, with investor interest and available financing at an all-time low despite the global concern for supply of Critical Metals to supply the green energy revolution. BlackRock, the large American investment fund that has significant holdings in both the mining and green energy spaces, recently expressed concern that if investors don't return to mining, the green energy transition cannot happen. Further compounding the issue is the fact that many of the critical metals, including Platinum, Palladium, Copper and Nickel, all of which are in the Thunder Bay North mineral resource, are at multi-year low prices. Management at Clean Air Metals has recognized this growing issue and has proactively reacted to it. In June 2023, we reduced staff, deferred exploration drilling until early 2024 at a minimum and cutback on attendance at investor conferences and other investor outreach programs. These activities do not yield the intended benefits in the current environment."

Mr. Gallagher continues, "I have taken direct calls from many investors recently, concerned about the lack of activity and news flow from the Company and my response remains consistent:

the Company is committed to managing its cash which sits at approximately $7 million at the end of October 2023.

The Company has no debt.

The quality of the asset and the mineral resource has not changed. It is a rare Platinum, Palladium asset outside of South Africa and Russia. The Project is in a stable jurisdiction and is close to all necessary infrastructure.

The Project has 4 critical metals and the price for these metals is projected to rebound, perhaps dramatically given the imbalance between green energy demand and the current investment levels in mining.

The Company is taking further steps to reduce costs.

The Company's valuation is unrealistically low.

We remain reluctant to raise funds at these poor valuations and are positioning ourselves to wait out these markets until investor interest returns to the market."

Permitting

One additional permit is still pending for a bridge crossing required to access the Escape down plunge drill setup area. The process is well underway, and the Company does not expect any issues with the application.

Qualified Person

Dr. Geoff Heggie, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and Vice President - Exploration for the Company, has reviewed and approved all technical information in this press release.

Indigenous Community Social and Economic Engagement

Clean Air Metals Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. acknowledge that the Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project is located within the area encompassed by the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850, and includes the territories of the Fort William First Nation,?Red Rock Indian Band, Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek and Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek. Clean Air Metals also acknowledges the contributions of the Metis Nation of Ontario, Region 2 and the Red Sky Metis Independent Nation to the rich history of our area.?

The Company appreciates the opportunity to work in these territories and remains committed to the recognition and respect of those who have lived, traveled, and gathered on the lands since time immemorial. Clean Air Metals is committed to stewarding Indigenous heritage and remains committed to building, fostering and encouraging a respectful relationship with First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples based upon principles of mutual trust, respect, reciprocity and collaboration in the spirit of reconciliation.

About Clean Air Metals Inc.

Clean Air Metals' flagship asset is the 100% owned, high grade Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project, a platinum, palladium, copper, nickel project located near the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Lac des Iles Mine owned by Impala Platinum. The Thunder Bay North Project hosts the Current and Escape deposits, twin magma conduits which form the basis for the new mineral resource estimate reported on May 4, 2023.

CEO Jim Gallagher and COO Mike Garbutt lead an experienced technical team who are using an orthomagmatic mineral deposit model to guide ongoing exploration and development studies for a for potential mine development on the Thunder Bay North project. Mr. Gallagher was formerly CEO of North American Palladium which operated the Lac des Ilse Palladium mine just north of the Thunder Bay North project. After a significant operational and financial turnaround the company was sold to Impala Platinum of South Africa for approximately CND$ 1 billion .

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Jim Gallagher"

Jim Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc.

For further information, please contact:

Jim Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc.

Phone: 705.690.7997

Email: jgallagher@cleanairmetals.ca

Website: www.cleanairmetals.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, including statements regarding the potential of the Thunder Bay North Project and the Escape and Current deposits and timing of technical studies including prefeasibility studies and updated mineral resource estimates. 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." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projection.

SOURCE: Clean Air Metals, Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/810519/clean-air-metals-receives-3-year-exploration-permit-for-its-thunder-bay-north-project-and-provides-a-company-update
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / CCL Industries Inc. (TSX:CCL.A)(TSX:CCL.B), a world leader in specialty label, security and packaging solutions for global corporations, government institutions, small businesses and consumers, will be hosting an Investor Day on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET.

The live webcast can be accessed by all interested parties at https://CCLInvestorDay.can.chime.live. For those unable to view the event live, a replay will be available on CCL's website at https://cclind.com/investors/investor-presentations shortly after the event.

ABOUT CCL INDUSTRIES INC.

CCL Industries Inc. employs approximately 25,300 people operating 205 production facilities in 43 countries with corporate offices in Toronto, Canada, and Framingham, Massachusetts. CCL is the world's largest converter of pressure sensitive and specialty extruded film materials for a wide range of decorative, instructional, functional and security applications for government institutions and large global customers in the consumer packaging, healthcare & chemicals, consumer electronic device and automotive markets. Extruded & laminated plastic tubes, aluminum aerosols & specialty bottles, folded instructional leaflets, precision decorated & die cut components, electronic displays, polymer banknote substrate and other complementary products and services are sold in parallel to specific end-use markets. Avery is the world's largest supplier of labels, specialty converted media and software solutions for short-run digital printing applications for businesses and consumers available alongside complementary products sold through distributors, mass market stores and e-commerce retailers. Checkpoint is a leading developer of RF and RFID based technology systems for loss prevention and inventory management applications, including labeling and tagging solutions, for the retail and apparel industries worldwide. Innovia is a leading global producer of specialty, high performance, multi-layer, surface engineered films for label, packaging and security applications. The Company is partly backward integrated into materials science with capabilities in polymer extrusion, adhesive development, coating & lamination, surface engineering and metallurgy; deployed as needed across the four business segments.

For more information, contact:

Sean Washchuk

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

416-756-8526

SOURCE: CCL Industries Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:https://www.accesswire.com/810448/ccl-to-hold-investor-day-on-wednesday-december-13-2023
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - KO Gold Inc. (CSE: KOG) ("KO Gold" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to its news release dated October 30, 2023, the Company has acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares (the "Vendor Shares") in the capital of Hyde Resources Limited ("Hyde") pursuant to an arm's length share purchase agreement (the "Share Purchase Agreement") dated October 26, 2023 with Hyde and Smylers Gold Limited (the "Vendor") from the Vendor (the "Acquisition"). Hyde is a private company incorporated pursuant to the laws of New Zealand and owns a 100% undivided interest in two exploration permits (EP60129 Glenpark and EP60389 Smylers Gold) that comprise the "Smylers Gold Project" located in the Otago Gold District of the South Island of New Zealand (the "Property").

As consideration for the Acquisition, the Company issued the Vendor an aggregate of 3,500,000 common shares (each, a "Common Share") in the capital of the Company at a deemed price of $0.30 per Common Share and granted the Vendor a two percent (2%) net smelter return royalty (the "NSR") for the duration of the life of the project on the Property, of which one percent (1%) (such that the remaining NSR shall be reduced to a one percent (1%)) may be purchased by the Company at any time in consideration of a NZ$2,000,000 cash payment. In addition, upon the production of any gold from the Property, the Company shall pay the Vendor CAD$20.00 for each ounce of gold produced for the life of the project.

All Common Shares are subject to a statutory hold period of four months plus a day from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation. Hyde filed a change of control notification to New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals ("NZP&M") for the two exploration permits that comprise the Smylers Gold Project. NZP&M is a part of the New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment which administers the Crown Minerals Act (the "Act"), under which the permits are granted. This notification is a regulatory requirement under the Act to provide the Minister with an opportunity to consider the financial capability of the permit holder to meet the obligations under the permits. The notification is currently being reviewed by NZP&M with a response expected within the next few weeks.

Greg Isenor, President and CEO of KO Gold, commented, "We are pleased to now own 100% of Hyde and the two exploration permits that comprise the highly prospective Smylers Gold Project. We are also very pleased to continue our relationship with Hardie Pacific and their highly experienced technical team based in Dunedin. As a result of this acquisition, KO Gold will also have access to a geological database for the Otago Gold District compiled by Hyde over the past few years. We expect this database will help define additional gold targets on our other permits including Carrick, Rough Ridge South, and Hyde."

About KO Gold Inc.

KO Gold is a Canadian junior mining company listed on the CSE under the ticker symbol "KOG". The Company's strategy is to acquire and advance highly prospective gold properties within the Otago Gold District in New Zealand. KO Gold has six 100%-owned prospecting and exploration permits within the Otago Gold District for a combined land package of approximately 972 km2. The Smylers Gold Project is an advanced exploration project located adjacent to OceanaGold's active Macraes Gold Mine. The Smylers Gold Project has the potential to host a major gold deposit based on significant investments in exploration and drilling over the past few years including over C$1M spent by KO Gold on exploration, and reverse circulation (RC) and diamond drilling.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Isenor, President and CEO, Director

Tel: (902) 832-5555

Email: info@kogoldnz.com

Website: www.kogoldnz.com

KO Gold Inc.

Suite 802 - Sun Tower, 1550 Bedford Highway Bedford, Nova Scotia

B4A 1E6 Canada

The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward-Looking Information

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." Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188835
QuantumDiamonds, a Munich, Germany-based quantum sensing company, raised 7M in Seed funding.

The round was led by IQ Capital, Earlybird, Onsight Ventures, First Momentum, Creator Fund, UnternehmerTUM, and various angel investors from the semiconductor industry, who have together invested 3m, while 4m is provided by the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator and the Bavarian state in grant funding.

The company intends to use the funds to launch its first commercial product and expand quantum engineering team.

Founded in 2022 by Dr. Kristina Liu (COO), Dr. Fleming Bruckmaier (CTO), and Kevin Berghoff (CEO), QuantumDiamonds develops sensors that enable non-destructive, nano-scale imaging of magnetic fields, among others. The company produces its core technology with defects in synthetic diamonds known as nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centres.

QuantumDiamonds already has a working prototype and is currently testing with four of the worlds top 10 semiconductor manufacturers. The technology has applications across several industries including semiconductor manufacturing and medical diagnostics.

FinSMEs

27/11/2023
Princess Diana passed away on August 31, 1997. A show that chronicles her life and journey called The Crown is streaming on Netflix and has reached its season six, and opened to mixed reviews. However, the one thing that has been discussed for years before the show dropped was Princess last call to her sons Prince Harry and William.

What happened during that final phone call?

The princess was holidaying in Paris and was supposed to come back home to London on August 31, and the conversation happened about a mother coming back home to her children. The princess at that time had the company of the hotshot Egyptian filmmaker Dodi Al Fayed and the sons asked their mother if she would marry him and the reply was a no.

What did the children say about the final call?

Harry and I were in a desperate rush to say goodbye, you know see you later. If Id known now what was going to happen, I wouldnt have been so blase about it, Prince William said in her documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life And Legacy.

Prince Harry said, Looking back on it now, its incredibly hard. Ill have to sort of deal with that for the rest of my life. Not knowing that was the last time I was going to speak to my mum. How differently that conversation could have panned out if Id had even the slightest inkling her life was going to be taken that night.

Firstpost reviews The Crown 6

What I didnt like was the kind of soft justification they were giving to Charles as to why things didnt work out between him and Diana. Diana is definitely the queen of hearts and she will remain the peoples queen. But we cannot deny that injustice was done to her by the British Royal family and all of them were party to it. If Charles was so deeply in love with Camilla and continued with his relationship with her even after marriage, why did he marry Diana and ruined her life?
Kim Kardashians film The Fifth Wheel is one of the most anticipated films in recent times. Many OTT giants were keen to buy the streaming rights for the film that stars an ensemble and Kardashian is expected to be the fifth wheel. Netflix has won the war, and the film will stream on this giant soon. Not much about it has been revealed yet. The film is co-written by Paula Pell and Janine Brito.

Also, Princess Dianas famous diamond pendant, which she flaunted on multiple occasions, found a new owner in the form of Kim Kardashian. This purchase happened earlier this year. The piece was originally made by a British jeweller Garrad in the 1920s and was auctioned by Sothebys, the auction house.

How did Kim Kardashian own this iconic piece of jewelry?

As reported by Sothebys, the jewelry was bought by Kardashian for a staggering 163,000 pounds (estimated figure). There were four bidders for this iconic piece and Kardashian had the highest bid. As per the statement by the auction house, Jewellery owned or worn by the late Princess Diana very rarely comes on to the market, especially a piece such as the Attallah Cross, which is so colourful, bold and distinctive. To some extent, this unusual pendant is symbolic of the princesss growing self-assurance in her sartorial and jewellery choices, at that particular moment in her life.

As per the information on the internet, The Attallah Cross (the one owned by Princess Diana) is a bold and colourful pendant and set with square-cut amethysts and accented by circular-cut diamonds. The pendant reportedly has a diamond weight of 5.25 carats approximately.
At the ongoing International Film Festival of India happening in Goa, Rani Mukerji was interacting with the media and spoke about the one film she was offered and couldnt be a part of.

The actress revealed, The only film which I could say I was unfortunate that I couldnt be part of was Lagaan because there was a particular date clash and Aamir was turning producer with the film and he said that Rani I am shooting this film in a particular way, so I want all my actors in this particular place for 6 months and not move.

She added, I also asked the other producers if they would be okay if I left the film because I would really like to do Aamirs film, hes a close friend of mine. But the producer refused to let me go. It was very sad.

Rani Mukerji on ageism in Bollywood

Speaking at an in-conversation session, titled Delivering Compelling Performances, during the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here, the actor said an artistes age should not matter while essaying a role.

My audience has loved me and accepted me over the years. They have helped me to break the ageism barrier and I will promise that I will work till Im 80. I dont think an actor should be judged by their age.

Its only because our cinema is known as popular cinema and you want to see young people on screen all the time because thats what compels the youth to kind of go and watch, Mukerji said.

It is also important for artists to not be delusional and believe that they are always going to be young, she added.

You can be young at heart, but to accept your age and to accept roles that suit your age is also important for the audience to accept you. So, it has always been a conscious decision of mine to be able to give my audience something that will be palpable for them as well.
Rajkumar Kohli, veteran filmmaker and father of actor Armaan Kohli passed away on 24 November at the age of 93. According to media reports, Rajkumar Kohli, who was in his 90s was found in an unresponsive state inside the bathroom. Later, he was taken to the hospital; however, was declared dead on arrival.

He reportedly passed away due to a heart attack. Days after the filmmakers unfortunate demise, a prayer meet was held in Mumbai on Sunday, 27 November, where many notable celebrities including actors like Sunny Deol, Shatrughan Sinha, and Jackie Shroff were seen in attendance. While pictures from the prayer meet are already going viral on the internet, it was the Gadar 3 actors reaction that has left fans upset.

In a few pictures and videos going viral on social media, Sunny Deol can be seen sharing a laugh as he stands with a few other guests. Standing at the entrance of the venue, the Sun-n-Sand Hotel in Mumbai, Sunny Deol right before leaving the prayer meet was seen talking with a few others including Vindu Dara Singh. However, this didnt go well with fans as many criticised the actor, calling him shameless and disrespectful.

Many shared the pictures and videos of the particular moment across social media platforms and criticised Sunny Deols behavior.

A user commented, Shamelessness..laughing like this in front of deceased persons son, while another one wrote, Laughing at a funeral So sad to see these pathetic attitudes.

How can these people laugh and engage in such behaviour at a prayer meet, a third user commented.

How disrespectful of them to laugh at a prayer meet,,,, shameful, another one wrote.

Notably, the late filmmakers son-actor Armaan Kohli can be also seen in the video as he escorts Sunny Deol to his car. A few other clips also went viral, showing many others including Raj Babbar and Sonu Nigam, among others. As they were seen consoling Armaan Kohli, the actor was also seen getting teary-eyed.

Rajkumar Kohli passes away at 93

After collapsing inside the bathroom, the veteran filmmaker reportedly passed away last week due to a heart attack.

Known for films like Jaani Dushman: Ek Anokhi Kahaani, Naagin, Badle Ki Aag, and Raaj Tilak, Rajkumar Kohli was counted among one of the popular directors of the 70s and 80s.
There is a spike in respiratory illness in China and the world is worried. The mystery illness which is being likened to pneumonia is making children sick. Hospitals in north China  Beijing and Liaoning  are reportedly overwhelmed with the influx of patients as the first winter has set in since COVID-19 restrictions were lifted last December. It feels like deja vu and everyone is wondering: Is another pandemic coming?

While health experts have urged caution over fears of another pandemic, the world, especially the neighbouring nations, is watching closely. India is taking precautionary steps as there are reports of a surge in cases in China.

Health authorities in the Communist nation, however, have attributed the rising infections to the end of strict COVID-19 restrictions, the arrival of the cold season, and the circulation of known pathogens including influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and SARS-CoV-2.

We take a look at what India is doing amid Chinas pneumonia outbreak and the chances of it spreading overseas.

What is India doing amid Chinas pneumonia scare?

The Indian government issued a health advisory for all states and Union Territories on Sunday, asking them to review public health preparedness immediately amid reports of rising cases in China.

The Ministry of Health and Family said that it had decided to proactively review preparatory measures against respiratory illnesses as a matter of abundant caution. It has asked states to check the preparedness of hospitals like hospital beds, protective gear, drugs, vaccines for influenza, and medical oxygen among others.

This is noted to be important in view of the ongoing influenza and winter season that results in an increase in respiratory illness cases. The Government of India is closely monitoring the situation and indicated that there is no need for any alarm, the ministry said in a statement.

State authorities have been advised to implement Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in the context of Covid-19, which was shared earlier this year, according to a report in News18.com. It provides for integrated surveillance of respiratory pathogens presenting as cases of influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illness (SARI). They have also been asked to ensure that the trends of ILI and SARI, particularly among children and adolescents, are closely monitored by district and state surveillance units of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP).

The data is expected to be uploaded to the IDSP portal. States have reportedly been instructed to send nasal and throat swab samples of patients with SARI, particularly children and adolescents, to the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories for testing for respiratory pathogens.

On Friday, the health ministry said that there was a low risk to India from the recent outbreak of H9N2 and pneumonia cases being reported in parts of China. However, it was monitoring the situation closely.

The usual causes of respiratory illness in children have been implicated and there has been no identification of an unusual pathogen or any unexpected clinical manifestations, it said.

Also read: Whats the mystery pneumonia making children sick in China?

What Indian doctors are saying

As cases in China surge, Dr Ajay Shukla, director of Delhis Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, advised people to be careful and follow everyday practices of cleanliness. He advised those suffering from respiratory illnesses and other infections to distance themselves from others.

I would just advise people to be careful. Follow routine practices of cleanness and if you feel that theres someone whos got this respiratory illness or infection, since a lot of these cases are viral and they can be transmitted, try to maintain distance from other people, Dr Shukla was quoted as saying ANI.

He advised that people should wear masks if possible and wash their hands. we are also dealing with pollution if youre going out, and if you can afford it, its better you should use a mask, preferably an N95 and N99 mask. Wash your hands and maintain safe, healthy practices, he said.

Dr Shukla said that the increase in the small number of children going to hospitals with respiratory illnesses has disrupted the situation in China, according to ANI.

Its very early I would say the amount of information that we are able to access is very, very little. The WHO is definitely very much concerned about it.

so far the picture that is coming out, is that there is a great increase in the number of small children going into hospitals with respiratory illnesses, and in a few centres, they have reported an increase of almost 1200 children a day which is a huge number and a lot of schools have told children not to come to their classes inside the school. So the situation is definitely been disrupted, he said on Friday.

Also read: 7,000 cases a day: How deadly is the pneumonia outbreak in China?

Can the illness spread to India, other nations?

The current outbreak is linked to mycoplasma pneumoniae, a bacteria which usually causes a mild infection with symptoms similar to a cold. It does not require hospitalisation, save for rare cases. However, children with nascent immune systems face a greater risk of catching pneumonia, which explains the rising cases among children in China.

The outbreak remains fairly contained for now and China too has ramped up testing and surveillance.

According to Dr Shukla, experts have said that there was no need to worry about the disease in India as symptoms have not been seen in the country. Not a single patient infected with this disease has been found in India yet. There is no increase in cases in any part of India so far, or any part of the world apart from China. So all the cases that were hearing are from China, he said.

While there are concerns of spread because of what happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, mycoplasma is a well-known and common germ that tends to cause fresh outbreaks every few years, according to a report in Bloomberg. And other viruses are circulating too, particularly RSV. There is a likelihood that this winter countries across the world will see a rise in the number of pathogens.

Even if the outbreak spreads to other nations, from what we know so far, vaccines and medicines are available to fight it. Mycoplasma pneumonia can be treated with the antibiotic Azithromycin, reports The Indian Express.

How bad is the situation in China?

The Beijing childrens hospital saw an average of 7,000 patients every day, exceeding its capacity last week, according to the state-owned China National Radio.

According to a report in Al-Jazeera, a major Beijing hospital was seeing 1,200 patients enter their emergency room on an average every day on Thursday.

UNDIAGNOSED PNEUMONIA OUTBREAKAn emerging large outbreak of pneumonia in China, with pediatric hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning overwhelmed with sick children, & many schools suspended. Beijing Childrens Hospital overflowing. on what we know so far:pic.twitter.com/hmgsQO4NEZ  Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 22, 2023

Concerns about the disease started after an alert by monitoring service ProMed last Tuesday about undiagnosed pneumonia in Beijing and Liaoning. The first-ever notice of COVID-19 also spoke of undiagnosed pneumonia in Chinas Hubei). Hence, fears of a new pandemic started to emerge.

However, Chinas health ministry has said that the surge in respiratory illnesses is caused by the flu and other known pathogens and not by a novel virus, reports The Associated Press.

Recent clusters of respiratory infections are caused by an overlap of common viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and adenovirus, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, which is a common culprit for respiratory tract infections, a National Health Commission spokesperson said.

Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines, said the ministry spokesperson, Mi Feng.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) had last week requested China to provide information about the potentially worrying rise in respiratory illnesses. The UN health agency said that Chinese health officials had provided the requested data and it showed an increase in hospital admissions of children due to diseases including bacterial infection, RSV, influenza and common cold viruses since October.

With inputs from agencies
We are just days away from the beginning of December and expect a flurry of events in the lead-up to the last month of the year.

Theres Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah both addressing rallies ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections, scheduled for 30 November. For Mumbaikars, theres bad news as Western Railway has announced a suspension of a few train services for the next 20 days. Internationally, Israel is facing pressure to extend the four-day pause in its war against Hamas.

Heres a quick guide of the big events today  on 27 November.

Modi rallies in Telangana

PM Modi is in Telangana and campaigning hard for the BJP ahead of the polls. In the state since 25 November, he is expected on Monday morning to worship at the world renowned Lord Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.

According to some reports, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy and a host of state ministers and MPs will accompany the prime minister. The Tirupati trust has cancelled VIP break darshan at the Tirumala temple on 27 November in view of the PMs visit.

Post his temple visit, he is expected to address a rally in Mahububabad and Karimnagar in the state. According to his itinerary, the PM is then expected to have a roadshow in Hyderabad.

Home Minister Amit Shah in Telangana

Home Minister Amit Shah will be in the state as well on Monday and is expected to hold a public meeting in Karimnagar followed by a roadshow in Peddapalle and Mancherial. BJPs political activity in the state is peaking with Union minister Rajnath Singh, Chief Ministers Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma, as well as BJP national president JP Nadda also campaigning in the state.

Punjab to launch citizen-centric services at doorstep

Starting today, people in Punjab will start getting delivery of 42 citizen-centric services at their doorsteps. This will be a big facility for people as they will not have to run pillar to post for availing these services.

Mumbais Western Railway services hit

Western Railway has announced a temporary suspension of a few train services in Mumbai, from today. This 20-day block has been put in place for launching the girder of Gokhale Bridge, which connects the Western Express Highway and SV Road at Andheri.

The bridge was shut down on 3 November 2022, after an official inspection marked the structure as unsafe.

Israels four-day pause to come to an end

The fragile four-day ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas is set to end today. Two swaps have happened so far with Hamas releasing 41 hostages and Israel freeing 78 Palestinian prisoners, a third swap is expected to happen before the deadline.

Israel faces pressure to extend the four-day pause in its war against Hamas, but military officials fear that a longer truce risks blunting its efforts to rout the Islamist movement.
Kashmir is reeling under its worst power crisis in nearly two decades. The reported daily power cuts of 12 to 16 hours have affected the lives of more than 70 lakh people.

The onset of winter has further worsened the problem as temperatures have already plunged to sub-zero in the Valley. While the Jammu and Kashmir authorities say they are working to resolve the crisis, the Opposition has ramped up their attacks on the administration.

What has led to such an acute power shortage in Kashmir? Lets find out.

Kashmir power crisis

In Kashmir, the power generation has touched a record low of 50-100 MegaWatts (MWs) compared to the demand of 1800 MWs, as per The Hindu report. The Valley requires 2200 to 2300 MWs for an uninterrupted power supply.

Due to this, Kashmir has been grappling with unscheduled electricity cuts much above the scheduled four-and-a-half to eight-hour daily outages earlier decided by Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) in October, reported Hindustan Times (HT).

In areas where smart meters were installed, there are daily power cuts of over eight hours, while non-metered places are facing 10-12 hours of electricity shortages, noted The New Indian Express (TNIE).

According to the Times of India (TOI) report, this is the worst power crisis in Kashmir since 2004 when people witnessed blackouts for up to 18 hours a day.

H Rajesh Prasad, the principal secretary of the Power Development Department (PDD), said last week that the demand for electricity in Kashmir jumped 3,200 MWs, while the power generation was just 150 MWs, compared to 1,050 MWs in summers, the report added.

Why is this happening?

The electricity production in J&Ks power plants reportedly goes down during the winter months owing to freezing temperatures. A PDD official told TOI that the power generation was further affected this time due to a prolonged dry spell in Kashmir.

There was a prolonged dry spell in Kashmir this year. It was followed by freezing temperatures in November, which has further slowed down water discharge in rivers like the Jhelum. This has hit production badly, a PDD official was quoted as saying by The Hindu daily.

Earlier, the power generation was 200-250 MWs during winters in Kashmir. After buying power from the Northern Grid, the previous regimes had slashed outages to four-six hours, the newspaper noted.

How is it affecting people in Kashmir?

Kashmirs power crisis is badly affecting the elderly, especially those suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). My father, who is in his 70s, is a COPD patient. We had to buy a generator so that his oxygen concentrator machine runs without disruptions. I dont think all families can afford generators. Prolonged power cuts are a death knell for such patients, Imtiyaz Khan, a showroom owner from Srinagars Lal Bazaar, told The Hindu.

According to the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the electricity cuts have impacted several sectors, including industry, tourism, handicrafts, trade, and healthcare, reported TOI.

The Kashmir Trade Alliance (KTA) said the current crisis is adversely affecting economic activities as well as the daily lives of residents. Despite the assurance by the power department that an additional 500 MW of electricity supply would be purchased from the Northern Grid, Kashmir continues to grapple with unscheduled power cuts that are creating chaos in the daily lives of its residents, KTA president Aijaz Shahdhar told HT.

With temperatures dipping below zero in Srinagar, residents are relying on traditional bukharis and kangris (firepots) to keep themselves warm, reported TNIE.

What are authorities doing?

As per The Hindu report, the J&K administration has formed a panel to buy electricity from the Northern Grid. Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha held a meeting last Thursday (23 November) to review the overall situation of power supply in the Union Territory.

A spokesman said the LG has asked PDDs H Prasad to seek strict compliance with curtailment plans, uninterrupted and quality power in 100 per cent smart metered feeders and timely replacement of damaged transformers.

As per The Telegraph, Prasad has claimed that the LG has okayed the purchase of 2,400MW to meet the power shortage.

Meanwhile, the KPDCL has also launched a crackdown on consumers who have not cleared their dues, with penalties on users reaching Rs 7.95 lakh on 23 November.

1048 domestic, commercial and industrial connections have been disconnected for non-payment of energy dues, which were pending for more than three months. This includes 731 domestic, 266 commercial and 31 industrial consumers, a KPDCL spokesman told The Hindu.

The inspection and disconnection drives against power theft and defaulting consumers respectively will help the Corporation stick to the curtailment schedule, he added.

Vijay Kumar Bidhuri, Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, has assured the situation would improve within a week. The power schedule announced earlier is not being adhered to as demand has abruptly gone up due to the early onset of winter. We are expecting an improvement in the power scenario as Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and the chief secretary have constituted a committee for power purchase, The Hindu quoted him as saying.

Protests in Kashmir, Opposition hits out

Kashmiris have reportedly staged demonstrations and Opposition parties have also hit the streets against the daily blackouts.

Many leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held a protest at the party headquarters in Srinagar recently.

The Opposition has hit out at the J&K LG over the power cuts. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah accused LG Sinha of enjoying luxuries while common people struggle for essentials like power.

Governor sahab, at least make arrangements for power. You talk about double engine (government) everywhere you go but we do not find even a single engine here. If the Raj Bhavan has to purchase anything, no tenders are needed. There was an order last time, which said there should be no restrictions on governor sahabs luxuries and things for him should be purchased immediately without issuing tenders, National Conference Vice-President Abdullah alleged, as per The Telegraph.

The former CM also demanded the Centre to return J&Ks power projects. They (Central government) took advantage of our helplessness. We could not construct projects (because of the lack of resources). But what is stopping you from giving our projects back to us (as Jammu and Kashmir is now run directly by the Centre)? So many committees, working groups and round tables have said these projects should be returned to Jammu and Kashmir, he was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

J&K Apni Party president Altaf Bukhari dubbed the power crisis a collective punishment. We have to fix responsibility. Why didnt officers raise an alarm about dip in water discharge and prepare a proposal to purchase from the Northern Grid. This crisis did not happen overnight. There was a prolonged dry spell for all of us to observe. If there was an elected government such a crisis would not have happened and the responsibility would have been fixed, he said, as per The Hindu.

Its collective punishment. The L-G should go to Delhi and seek help from the Centre, Bukhari added.

With inputs from agencies
Want to travel for the upcoming Christmas-New Year holidays? Malaysia would serve well as your next holiday destination after the countrys Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Sunday that it would be scrapping entry visa requirements for citizens of India beginning 1 December.

On Sunday, Malaysias PM Ibrahim said, Starting 1 December, we will give additional facilities of 30 days of visa exemption to citizens of India and China to come to Malaysia.

The aim is to boost tourism and, in turn, push the economy upwards. And the move comes after Anwar had last month announced plans to improve visa facilities next year to encourage the entry of tourists and investors, especially from India and China.

But why is it that countries like Malaysia, and others are providing visa-free travel to Indians? What is the benefit of such a move?

We explore the situation and give you the answers.

Which countries are granting visa-free travel to Indians?

Recently, several countries have announced visa waivers for Indians, opening doors for hassle-free journeys. A few weeks ago, Thailand announced that Indian nationals could enter the Asian country without a visa, effective from 10 November. Valid until 10 May 2024, the country is allowing Indian tourists to stay in Thailand for 30 days for tourism purposes only.

Similarly, Sri Lanka announced a visa-free entry initiative for visitors from India. This was a part of a pilot project to rebuild the debt-trapped island nations tourism till 31 March 2024. Apart from Indian tourists, travellers from six other countries, including China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia and Thailand, will also be able to visit Sri Lanka, without a fee.

Reports state that Vietnam is also considering granting short-term visa waivers to Indians in order to boost tourism. According to the Vietnamese news agency VnExpress, Nguyen Van Hung, Vietnams minister of culture, sports, and tourism, has called for waivers for major markets such as China and India to help drive tourism recovery. This was announced on 22 November at a conference presided over by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Malaysia, too, on Sunday announced the waiver of visas to Indians in a bid to encourage tourism in the country.

In fact, according to a July report, Indians could travel to 57 destinations without needing a visa.

Besides countries granting visa waivers, some have made the visa process easier. For instance, Australia has made significant efforts to simplify, speed up and streamline the visa application process for Indian travellers. Russia, too, has started issuing electronic visas (e-visas) to Indian passport holders. As per reports, the move was aimed at helping visitors get travel approval faster for diverse purposes including tourism, business trips and guest visits.

Whats the reason behind such a move?

There are a number of factors why countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Sri Lanka and others are considering or granting visa-free travel to Indians.

Let us first consider Malaysia. A visa-free entry makes travel easier, luring an increasing number of tourists to the country, and boosting its economy.

By waiving visa requirements, Malaysia hopes to woo more Indian tourists to the nation. According to government data, China and India are Malaysias fourth and fifth-largest source markets respectively.

Government data reveals that Malaysia recorded 9.16 million tourist arrivals between January and June this year, with 4,98,540 from China and 2,83,885 from India. That compared to 1.5 million arrivals from China and 3,54,486 from India in the same period of 2019, prior to the pandemic.

The Malaysian administration hopes that with more Indians coming into the country, spending will increase and its economy will get a much-deserved boost.

And this trend isnt restricted to Malaysia alone. Countries the world over are seeing the value of Indian tourists. In 2022, over 20 million Indians travelled abroad with tourism being the third biggest reason for doing so. And in the first four months of 2023, nearly 8.5 million have travelled abroad, already touching two-fifths of the full-year figure of 2022.

Moreover, a report titled How India Travels released by Booking.com and McKinsey & Company, projected that Indian travellers total expenditure will surge to $410 billion, positioning India as the fourth largest global spender. This is a substantial 173 per cent increase from 2019, when Indian travellers collectively spent $150 billion, ranking India as the sixth largest global spender.

The report further added that the number of trips by Indian travellers is predicted to jump from 2.3 billion in 2019 to an astounding five billion in 2030. As Santosh Kumar, country manager for India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Indonesia at Booking.com told CNBCTV18 that Indian travellers willingness to explore, make a unique opportunity for Indias travel industry to provide attractive, personalised, and sustainable experiences.

Arshdeep Anand, director of Holiday Moods Adventures added to Free Press Journal that Indians are big spenders and destinations have come to realise this.

Rajeev Kale, president and country head for holidays, MICE and visa at Thomas Cook, also was quoted as telling The Economic Times, Indians are travelling like never before, adding that the company has seen a 200 per cent surge in demand for the January-June period this year versus the year earlier.

Theres also another reason why countries are granting visa-free travel to Indians. Currently, Indians have to endure a long wait for Schengen and US visas. Realising this, the countries are luring the potential travellers to their countries.

Also read: Why Indonesias Bali is banning tourists from renting motorbikes

Why are Indians travelling so much?

But whats driving Indians to be such travellers? Many experts state that this trend is primarily driven by wanderlust.

A strong economy  India is the fifth largest economy in the world, behind the US, China, Germany and Japan  is also fuelling Indians desire to travel.

Omri Morgenshtern, CEO of travel and bookings website Agoda, suggests that this rise in travel can be attributed, to some extent, to the geographical distance between countries and India. Moreover, low-cost carriers are enabling a larger number of Indians to book foreign holidays.

However, one news report offered a different perspective on Indians desire to travel. A leisure report by Booking.com showed that social status, and not any other interest like discovering a new locale, is the over-riding factor that drives a vast majority of Indians to travel.

With inputs from agencies
The conflict in Myanmar has worried its neighbours, with China calling for a ceasefire in fighting. This comes after a coalition of three ethnic armed groups seized control of several crossings along the Southeast Asian nations border with China.

Last week, Beijing said it is commencing combat training activities on its side of the border with Myanmar. The exercise is aimed at testing the mobility, border control abilities and firepower capabilities of the military units so that the Peoples Liberation Army is ready for any emergency, Associated Press (AP) reported citing the army newspaper PLA Daily.

The ruling junta in Myanmar has so far failed to rein in the attacks by the ethnic minority armed groups which have launched Operation 1027 in the countrys north Shan State, near Chinas border.

What is going on in Myanmar? Is the ruling junta losing? Why has it worried China and India? We will try to explain here.

Myanmar fighting intensifies

The alliance of ethnic minority armed groups  Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Arakan Army (AA)  launched coordinated attacks in October across Shan State against the Tatmadaw  the ruling juntas military.

These rebel groups have driven out army and police from several areas along the border with China. The coalition, known as the Brotherhood Alliance, incurred heavy losses on the junta in early November by capturing dozens of military posts and killing the commander of the infamous 99th Light Infantry Division, as per The Conversation report.

The groups have also seized at least three towns, including one crucial for overland trade with China. On Saturday (25 November), MNDAA took control of Kyin San Kyawt in Muse districts Mongko area in Shan State, AFP reported citing the Kokang news.

As per AP, Muse has 105-Mile Trade Zone and makes up for Myanmars largest volume of trade with China.

Last week, nearly 120 trucks carrying goods, parked near the Myanmar-China border, went up in flames, with the junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun blaming the incident on the armed groups, AFP reported.

Operation 1027 of the Brotherhood Alliance has triggered several other rebel forces in the country to target junta units across the country, including in the western Chin State. The Karen National Union, another large ethnic force in south-eastern Myanmar, has intensified operations against military posts along the key trade route to the Thai border, reported BBC.

The military has struggled to launch a counteroffensive due to the large-scale nature of armed resistance, which has led to its outnumbered soldiers abandoning their military outposts and surrendering.

The recent fighting has ramped up Myanmars economic woes, which the military has been facing since the 2021 coup. The escalation of the conflict has affected cross-border trade and halted juntas much-required taxes and foreign exchange, noted AFP.

Why is this happening?

There has been a rising discontent against Myanmars junta rulers.

The State Administration Council (SAC) led by the Myanmar armed forces organised a coup in the country in February 2021, ousting the civilian National League for Democracy government.

The junta justified its coup by claiming irregularities in the November 2020 elections. However, global observers have denied this, as per The Hindu.

Since September 2021, the National Unity Government (NUG)  which The Conversation described as a shadow government in exile  has backed a defensive war against the ruling military. After the juntas violent crackdown on largely peaceful protests, the NUG announced the formation of the Peoples Defense Forces (PDF), the militias. It also asked other rebel groups to attack the junta.

NUG militias have collaborated with many ethnic armed groups in Myanmar, some of which have been fighting the Tatmadaw for years.

Now, every time government troops leave their barracks they face potential attack, causing them to increasingly lean on air power, but further limiting their ability to maintain effective control on the ground, Ronan Lee, Vice-Chancellor Independent Research Fellow, Institute for Media and Creative Industries, Loughborough University London, wrote for The Conversation.

Is Myanmars junta losing?

It is hard to say at this point. The situation is unprecedented. The mighty Myanmar war machine is on the retreat, Pratap Heblikar, former special secretary of the Indian government, told The Telegraph.

According to Richard Horsey, senior adviser at the International Crisis Group, an independent analysis organisation, the coordinated attacks by rebels represent the biggest battlefield challenge to the military since its February 2021 coup.

The military has launched airstrikes against the rebels but has so far failed to crush Operation 1027.

As per BBC, the military regime could deploy Light Infantry Divisions, a unit known for its atrocities, but it is believed to be reduced since the 2021 coup. But if the opposition can keep up the pressure, and keep improving its co-ordination, elements within the junta may conclude that they need to start negotiating with their opponents. This is something the coup-leader Min Ang Hlaing has so far refused to consider, the British broadcaster noted.

Experts believe the junta could widen its crackdown and use oppressive tactics to tackle the rebels.

While anti-junta forces are understandably enthusiastic following the dramatic early successes of Operation 1027, military collapse or regime capitulation seem far off, Horsey told The Telegraph. More likely is that the regime will double down on brutal efforts to gain the upper hand on the battlefield, including scorched-earth tactics and indiscriminate bombing and shelling.

Impact on India and China

Whatever happens in Myanmar holds specific concerns for India and China. The people displaced by the recent fighting in the conflict-ridden nation are already seeking refuge in Indias Mizoram.

Around 1,500 nationals of Myanmar reached Mizorams Champhai district on 13 November after an intense gunfight between the Myanmar Army, and pro-democracy militias in the Chin State. Around 39 soldiers of the Myanmar military also fled to Mizoram but were later sent back by India, reported The Hindu.

The Mizoram Police said earlier that about 5,000 people fleeing violence in Myanmar have crossed into Mizoram. Over 332,000 people have been displaced in Myanmar since the recent conflict erupted in October, as per the United Nations.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on 17 November that India is concerned over the rising violence in Myanmar. We reiterate our call for the return of peace, stability and democracy in Myanmar. As a result of the fighting [at] Rihkhawdar area in Chin State, opposite Zokhawthar in Mizoram on the India-Myanmar border, there has been movement of Myanmar nationals to the Indian side. We are deeply concerned with such incidents close to our border, Bagchi was quoted as saying by News18.

China, which has its own interests in Myanmar, may have green-lit the recent fighting amid perceived strain in ties with the ruling junta. As per The Conversation report, the Brotherhood Alliance members depend on China for arms and it is unlikely that they launched an operation without Beijings nod.

The Asian giant has been a global ally of Myanmars junta, but also had close ties with the countrys ousted de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Beijing has also maintained close links to many of Myanmars ethnic armed groups, the report added.

China and Myanmar also have trade ties, with the latter relying heavily on the Asian giant for importing manufactured goods and exporting agricultural products. The recent conflict has halted Myanmars land trade with China. Billions of dollars worth of business is transacted legally and illegally. The closure of the borders is hurting Chinese business interests, the Indian governments former special secretary Heblikar told The Telegraph.

Any unrest in Myanmars border areas is a constant irritant to China, making it concerned about the conflict spilling over the border, noted AP.

China is highly concerned about the conflicts in Myanmar and has urged all sides to cease fire and start peaceful dialogues to prevent the situation from escalating further, the PLA Daily said recently.

The PLA also vowed to safeguard border security and protect the lives and property of people living in the border areas.

Last week, China asked its citizens to leave northern Myanmar as soon as possible and to avoid the fighting. Beijings envoy also met top officials in Myanmars capital recently to discuss border stability.

Despite expressing apprehension about the 2021 coup, Beijing backed the junta rule.

Now, strategic reversals, nationwide territorial losses and economic decline mean momentum has strongly shifted away from Myanmars junta. Chinas leadership may have read the situation better than most, recognising the junta may now be in a death spiral, Lee wrote for The Conversation.
On Sunday, the rescue of 41 construction workers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand received yet another setback after the augur machine broke.

Authorities have now turned to rat miners to help rescue the men who have been stuck in the 4.5-kilometre tunnel since 12 November.

But who are these rat miners? How will they help rescue the workers?

Lets take a closer look:

A crude, controversial practice

First, lets take a look of rat mining.

As per Outlook, the practice is a crude way of digging coal. It is done via excavating deep tunnels.

The controversial method is used mostly to remove coal deposits through narrow passages. Its name comes from its resemblance to rats burrowing through narrow holes.

As per Indian Express, the narrow passages are normally big enough to fit just one individual.

Miners get into these passages via ropes or bamboo ladders.

They then remove the coal using equipment such as pickaxes, shovels, and baskets.

Rat miners are specialists in digging and drilling manually in narrow passages including tube mines who mostly work in mines and have the experience of drilling for hours.

The rat hole mining technique is generally used in coal mining, especially in regions that have difficult terrain.

OP Singh, professor of environmental studies at North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) in Shillong, previously told the newspaper the practice can be divided into side-cutting and box-cutting.

In the side-cutting procedure, narrow tunnels are dug on the hill slopes and workers go inside until they find the coal seam. The coal seam in hills of Meghalaya is very thin, less than 2 m in most cases, he said.

The box-cutting sees a rectangular opening from 10 to 100 square metres made  after which a 100 to 400 foot pit is dug.

After the coal seam is identified, rat-hole-sized tunnels are dug horizontally through which the coal is removed.

As per ETV Bharat, children are often employed as rat-miners

The practice was barred by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014.

The Indian Express quoted the NGT as saying in its order, It is also informed that there are umpteen number of cases where by virtue of rat-hole mining, during the rainy season, water flooded into the mining areas resulting in death of many individuals including employees/workers.

The body added it was doing so to preserve the citizens Right to Life and due to its harmful environmental effect.

However, accidents showed that the practice continues despite the ban.

As per Editorji.com, at least 28 people have died from rat mining since 2018.

As per The Print, 15 miners were killed in Meghalaya 2018 after such a mine in Ksan was flooded by water from the nearby Lytein river.

Six workers lost their lives after a crane collapsed into a coal mine in January 2021 in Meghalaya.

The NGT had fined the Meghalaya government Rs 100 after the 2018 incident.

However, the villagers themselves remain unfazed by the practice.

We have been living on coal for ages. We dont have agricultural land. Whoever had land, coal mining polluted them and made them unfit for agriculture. We want the government to do something to convince the Centre to lift the ban. So, yes, we want our representatives to take this issue up with the Centre at the earliest, a villager of Meghalayas Tuber Kmaishnong village told the Outlook.

The ban in 2019 was set voided by the Supreme Court which ruled that coal mining in Meghalaya could continue through scientific mining methods.

The apex court ordered mining be conducted as per the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act (MMDR) and the Mineral Concession Rules, 1960.

Rat mining had become a big election issue ahead of the polls, as per the outlet.

Some had even pushed for the practice to be legalised.

WR Kharlukhi, a Rajya Sabha member from Meghalaya, was quoted as saying by The Times of India. Why should my people suffer for the sake of failure of a policy somewhere?

There are times when we should see what is more valuable  human lives or other concerns. If you say that human life is not valuable, then okay. Or if you feel that we tribals are not valuable, then okay. But dont keep our people hanging like this.

For 40 years, rat-hole mining was allowed and only now they realised that it is harmful. Did they not know that rat-hole mining was going on in Meghalaya? I see people are made to suffer for no fault of theirs, he added.

In Assam, the practice is not banned.

Scroll quoted a report by Assams chief conservator of forest as saying that rat-hole mining in and around the Saleki proposed reserved forest increased from zero hectares in 2015 to 979.7 hectares in 2020.

The commission called it an astronomical increase and slammed authorities for their tacit consent/approval to such illegal mining.

A mine sardar from Assam told The Print that the labourers do it for money.

They get paid anywhere from Rs 700-800 to Rs 1,500-1600 as daily wages, he added.

Only men go down the tunnels. It can be a group of 100 labourers engaged at one particular site at a time. They camp in temporary shelters for days together and cook their own food. At about 4 am-5 am, they get into the tunnels and come out before noon, he said.

He said each rat-hole mine can be a 30 inch x 30 inch square box or bigger.

Some of these can be 400-500 ft deep. From the bottom of the pit, horizontal chambers of 2-3 ft height and as long as 400-1,000 ft are drilled into the hills, he said.

These chambers are connected to the lateral mines. About 40-50 people work inside the mine at a time  aged between 18 and 50 years, he added.

Some mine sirdars also use children. There is 1-2 feet of water inside these mines that is constantly being drained out while work is on. And when there is shortage of oxygen, the drilling machine pipes pump out air to help them breathe, he added.

Speaking to Scroll, Digboi resident Lakhya Jyoti Gogoi, a leader of the Satra Mukti Sangram Samiti said, Many people have died in the illegal rat-hole activities, which are already banned in Meghalaya.

Workers crawl for hours into the rat-holes without any safety measures. Usually one miner earns Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per day.

Jarnel Minj, the president of the regional committee of the All Adivasi Students Association of Assam, told the commission at least 15 people had died and 7 had become disabled due to such work.

Minj told Scroll the dead were employed by the coal mafia.

It was a theft of coal carried out by coal mafias in Margherita, he said. Poor people, irrespective of the communities, get involved in the coal extraction for a living. They earn Rs 1,200-1,500 per day.

He added, Many people get trapped in the tunnels while extracting coal but they dont get any compensation.

What happens next?

Since attempts to drill a tunnel horizontally through the debris trapping the men have been plagued by damage to machinery, and rescuers now drill by hand after clearing away the broken equipment inside the narrow evacuation pipe.

A team of six rat miners from central India will now drill from inside the evacuation pipe which is around three feet wide.

They will now enter the pipe and remove the debris manually. The team includes engineers from the Indian Armys Madras Engineering Group as well as civilians.

The men will carry tools such as hammers, trowels and shovels and life support devices.

The auger machine stuck inside the pipe produced 48 metres of debris near the mouth of the tunnel.

The rat miners will now remove the debris by hand.

Three of us will go inside the tunnel, one will do the drilling the other will collect muck and the third one will push the muck through the trolley, Rakesh Rajput, one of the miners, told Reuters. We have been doing it for more than 10 years and theres enough space for us. The 41 men are also labourers and we all want to bring them out, he said.

Parsadi Lodhi, a resident of Jhansi, told Indian Express, I have been doing this work for the last 10 years in Delhi and Ahmedabad. But the work to rescue trapped people will be a first for me There is no reason for us to be scared. This is an 800 mm wide pipe, and we have worked in 600 mm holes. There is around 12 metres of debris. If its just soil, it will take around 24 hours, but if there are rocks (in the debris), it could take 32 hours or more, he said.

It is a challenging operation. We were called in from Delhi. We reached here yesterday. We are basically from Madhya Pradesh. We will try our best to complete the drilling process as soon as possible, one of the civilian specialists who reached the site to carry out manual drilling told news agency ANI.

Officials call these men skilled workers.

Skilled labourers will do the manual drilling, said Harpal Singh, a former head of state-run Border Roads Organisation. This is a sure-shot way of making progress.

They are trained in working in every situation so thats not a worry for us, said Mahmood Ahmad, managing director of the NHIDCL company, which is building the tunnel.

Government and private agencies involved in the rescue have also been pursuing other options.

On Sunday, they opened another route to the men, aiming to drill a shaft straight down from the top of the mountain above.

By Monday afternoon, they had drilled 31 metres (102 ft) of the 86 metres (282 ft), officials said, adding that the focus remains on the horizontal route.

Bad weather could complicate the rescue. Thunderstorms, hail and lower temperatures with a minimum of 9 degrees Celsius (48.2 degrees Fahrenheit) are forecast in the mountains.

Prime Minister Narendra Modis principal secretary, or chief of staff, PK Mishra visited the site and spoke to the trapped men through a communication link. He told them everyone is making efforts to bring all of you out as early as possible.

The tunnel is part of the Char Dham highway, one of Modis most ambitious projects, aimed at connecting four Hindu pilgrimage sites through 890km of roads.

Authorities have not said what caused the cave-in which trapped the men as they were nearing the end of their night shift but the region is prone to landslides, earthquakes and floods.

With inputs from agencies
Some carefully recorded each passing day, while others lost all hope inside the dark tunnels. The Hamas hostages, seized from their homes and a music event, threatened with violence, and placed onto motorbikes before being carried to unknown locations in Gaza, are now free after 50 tough days of captivity. It was not easy for them; most are still being treated in private areas of Israeli hospitals, and they are not eating like before, coming out much thinner.

Here are the ordeals of the hostages released and brought back to Israel.

Fed irregularly, hours of wait for bathroom

Plastic chairs as beds. Meals of bread and rice. Hours spent waiting for the bathroom. As former hostages return to Israel after seven weeks of Hamas captivity, information about the conditions of their confinement has emerged.

The 58 hostages freed under a cease-fire deal over the past three days have largely stayed out of the public eye, with most still in hospitals.

Nearly two months after Hamas militants dragged them into Gaza during a bloody cross-border attack on Israel that also killed 1,200 people, most freed hostages appear to be in stable physical condition.

Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones experiences.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around seven kilograms (15 pounds) in just 50 days.

Raviv said shed heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area. They said they sometimes had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.

Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight.

She counted the days of her captivity, Adar said. She came back and she said, I know that Ive been there for 50 days.'

Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: She also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants.

For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes, said Adar. She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her.

Disconnected from the outside world

In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummelled enclave.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.

Also Read: Who are the 13 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Day 1 of Gaza ceasefire?

Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

The fullest image yet of life under Hamas captivity was conjured by 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz, a hostage who was freed before the current cease-fire. Upon her release, Lipschitz said she had been held in tunnels which stretched under Gaza like a spider web. She said her captors told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldnt hurt us.

Lifshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.

The recently freed hostages also appeared to have been held underground. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed on Friday, said his aunt had to adjust to the sunlight because she had been in darkness for weeks.

She was in complete darkness, said Nouri. She was walking with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She was not used to the daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected  from all the outside world.

Nouri said that Moshe didnt know that she was going to be released until the last moment.

Until she saw the Red Cross, he said. This is the moment when she realised, okay, these horrifying seven weeks are over.

She emerged to the news that her husband had been killed by the militants and her sons family had miraculously survived.

Some thrive, others need urgent medical attention

Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counselling and other support available to those who have been released.

But most of the freed hostages have appeared to be in good physical condition, able to walk and speak normally.

Also Read: Who are the Palestinian prisoners on Israels list for release?

But at least two needed more serious medical care. One hostage released Sunday, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was rushed to Israels Soroka Medical Centre in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition.

The hospitals director said she had a pre-existing condition that had not been treated properly in captivity. Another young female hostage was on crutches in a video Hamas released Saturday. The girl grimaced at her captors as she entered a Red Cross vehicle bringing her out of the besieged enclave.

Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece, Hila Rotem-Shoshani, was released Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her she didnt need to whisper.

They always told them to whisper and stay quiet, so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice, said Rotem. He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13th birthday on Monday, slept well during her first night back in Israel and has an appetite.

Ohad Munder, Ravivs nephew, was surrounded by friends soon after his release, as they celebrated his 9th birthday a month late with ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward.

Ohads friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israels Channel 13 that his friend was emotionally strong and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity. But Ohads friends refused to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.

Vilchik said teachers have cancelled Munders homework requirements but his friends will help him make up the subjects he missed in school.

He said Ohad was still able to solve a Rubiks cube in less than a minute.

With inputs from AP
The long wait continues. The 41 workers trapped inside the collapsed Silkyara-Barkot tunnel are still to be retrieved. After the auger machine drilling through the debris broke on Saturday, pushing back rescue operations, authorities have now opted for vertical drilling. Moreover, the Indian Army has also been called in and has been tasked with the operations.

While hope of an immediate rescue has dimmed, officials are more optimistic with the vertical drilling plan. Authorities have said that they need to dig to 86 metres to reach the trapped workers and make an escape passage. And as of Monday morning, the rescue teams had already drilled 20 metres.

And how long before the workers will be rescued? National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) managing director Mahmood Ahmed said vertical boring would be over by Thursday if there are no hurdles.

What is vertical drilling?

After the auger machine brought in from the United States broke on Saturday, authorities at the tunnel site opted for vertical drilling, calling it the second best approach to retrieve the trapped labourers.

But what exactly is it? In this process, boreholes are drilled from above, creating earth shafts. If the borehole is wide enough then the trapped persons can be evacuate from there.

How far have rescuers come along?

At the collapsed tunnel site, officials began vertical drilling from the tunnels Silkyara-end on Sunday afternoon after a series of unfortunate events, including the breaking down of the auger machine, hampered the operations.

The plan will see rescuers drilling until 86 metres to create a 1.2 metres diameter vertical escape passage. For this purpose, two machines have been brought in and the authorities will swap out for the second machine after reaching the first 45 metres.

And as of Monday morning, the rescue teams had bored 19.5 metres of the tunnel, raising the hopes of families and the trapped labourers, who have been stuck there since 12 November. NHIDCLs Ahmed earlier told the media present at the spot that they were expecting a total of 45 metres of vertical drilling to be completed by Monday.

Additionally, a unit of the Madras Sappers, from the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, arrived at the site on Sunday to assist in the rescue operations.

And while vertical drilling continues, efforts are also on to remove from the rubble parts of the American auger machine engaged in horizontal drilling that broke down earlier. For this, a plasma machine has been called in from Hyderabad. Officials said that on Sunday evening, only 8.15 metres of the 47 metres of the auger shaft that had been pushed into the debris remained to be cut and removed. Uttarakhand governments nodal officer Neeraj Khairwal was quoted as telling news agency PTI that the exercise would be completed latest by Monday.

Once the auger is completely removed, rescuers will adopt another fresh approach  manual drilling to clear the remaining 10 or 12 metre stretch of rubble.

Earlier, international tunnelling expert Arnold Dix had promised that the workers would be extracted from the tunnel by Christmas  which is still a month away.

Are there any risks to vertical drilling?

However, even though vertical drilling is being touted as the second-best approach to getting the workers out, there are some experts who have flagged concerns about it.

Former director of the Geological Survey of India, PC Nawani told The Print, Vertical drilling will shake the mountain, which will cause vibration and debris can also fall on the (trapped) workers.

Harsh Vats, another geologist concurred. Speaking to The Print, he said, Vertical drilling could pose a huge threat to the mountains.

Assistant Professor Vivek Padmanabha, Civil Engineering IIT Guwahati told India Today, When soil and rocks are subjected to a tremendous amount of pressure, also called geo stress when we try to make a tunnel and this disturbs the equilibrium. Some rocks adapt well and some do not. Rocks at Uttarkashi tunnel have not been adapted well.

Do officials have a back-up plan in case things go awry?

Officials have said that they have also now come out with more alternative plans. One plan is to horizontally drill perpendicular to the tunnel from the left side of the hill. This would require drilling of 180 metres to reach the part of the tunnel where the workers are stuck. Work on this will start on Tuesday and could take around 14 days, officials said

The Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) has also started horizontal drilling from the Barkot end of the tunnel. However, this is expected to take 35-40 days to reach the place where the workers are trapped.

Theres also another plan  sideways drilling  which is being considered. However, the necessary machinery has yet to arrive at the site. Alternatively, theres also a plan which includes scrapping the tunnels sides and using drift technology. Engineers from the Army will be taking care of it.

As a last resort, the rescue workers will likely commence the manual drilling of the tunnel the remove the pieces of the broken drill from the rubble.

How are the workers faring inside the tunnel?

And while rescue teams race to get the labourers out, the trapped labourers continue to maintain morale. Officials have been sending home-cooked food, medicines and other essentials through a six-inch wide pipe.

A communication system has also been set up and families occasionally talk to them.

There are concerns that being trapped in a small space with no light will affect the condition of the labourers, with doctors fearing that they could suffer from insomnia, hypoxia and even post-traumatic stress disorder. Earlier, the officials had sent down anti-depressants to the workers, in order to maintain their mental well-being.

And on Saturday, officials also said that they were planning to offer board games and playing cards to the 41 workers confined within the Silkyara tunnel. Dr Rohit Gondwal, a psychiatrist present at the rescue site, said the intention of providing diversions like board games, along with playing cards, is to help alleviate stress among the trapped labourers. He emphasised the prolonged nature of the operation and the likelihood of further delays.

With inputs from agencies
Planning to get a student visa to the United States?

Washington has introduced a slew of new rules for visa applications that are set to take effect today.

But what are the new rules? Will it make the process smoother?

Lets take a closer look:

What are the new rules?

As per the US embassy, all those applying under the F, M, and J student categories must now use their own passport information when creating a profile and scheduling their visa appointment.

As per Financial Express, those that have joined a language training program or an accredited college, university, seminary, conservatory, academic high school, or other academic institution need to apply for the F-1 visa.

Those that are planning to take up vocational or other non-academic programs require M-1 visa.

As per Business Standard, those participating in exchange programs need the J-1 visa.

Research scholars, professors, students, trainees, interns, au pairs, and participants in various cultural exchange programs all require such visas, while their dependants need the J-2 visa.

The embassy said applicants who have created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number will not be accepted at the Visa Application Centers (VAC).

Such appointments will be cancelled and the visa fee forfeited.

Any person who created a profile or booked an appointment using an incorrect passport number should either:

Create a new profile containing the correct passport information

Access any existing profile which contains the correct passport information in order to book an appointment.

This will necessitate a new visa fee receipt  if the old one is attached to a profile with incorrect passport information

An applicant who has recently renewed their passport, or obtained a new passport after the old passport was lost or stolen, may bring a photocopy or other evidence of the old passport number and they will be allowed to proceed with their appointment, the embassy stated.

Will it make the process smoother?

The embassy said it is making these changes to stop fraud and abuse of the appointment system.

Business Standard quoted Open Doors Report as saying that the number of Indian students going to the US increased 35 per cent in the 2022-2023 academic year

A record 268,923 students went to the United States.

Indian students comprise over 25 per cent of the more than a million foreign students in the United States.

As per NDTV, the US embassy said it processed a record number of visa applications in 2023.

Business Standard quoted US Ambassador Eric Garcetti as saying his country is hiring more staff and establishing more consulates to reduce the visa backlog.

I had a look at the new premises for establishing a consulate in Ahmedabad yesterday. Some more people have already joined the Hyderabad consulate as we are increasing the staff strength in the city and premises are being taken up in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad for setting up new consulates, Garcetti was quoted as saying by the outlet.

Garcetti had said the US was aiming to process at least a million visas by 2023.

Well find innovative solutions to streamline the visa process, such as reducing the need for in-person interviews, which allows consular teams around the world to assist in processing visas for the growing number of Indian travellers, Garcetti vowed, as per The Times of India.

The newspaper reported that the US embassy in India has brought down the waiting period.

Bhavin Thaker, an Ahmedabad-based foreign education consultant, told the newspaper, The rejection ratio has gone down significantly. About 95% applications are now getting cleared lately. Many people have comfortably received their visas, and this is making things much easier for new aspirants. Even though dates are available for later months, the option of rescheduling is available.

Added Bharat Patel, a visa consultant from the city, Student visas are of course, a priority and therefore are most rapidly cleared. Even though visitor visa appointments are available for a later stage by 2025, they can be rescheduled easily to an earlier date.

With inputs from agencies
Is another coup in Africa on the cards?

Just months after Nigerias president Mohamed Bazoum was ousted by his presidential guard and a military coup occurred in Gabon, now Sierra Leone is under military curfew.

The development comes just months after president Julius Maada Bio was re-elected for a second term in a disputed vote in which the main Opposition party accused the electoral commission of rigging the results.

But what happened exactly? Why are tensions rising?

Lets take a closer look:

What happened?

On Sunday, armed gunmen attacked the Sierre Leone militarys main and largest barracks in the West African nations capital.

They also overran detention centres, including a major prison.

BBC reported that some soldiers in Freetown carrying heavy weapons captured a police car.

Others were chanting clean Sierra Leone.

It was not immediately clear how many prisoners had broken out of the facility, which a US state department report said was designed for 324 inmates but held more than 2,000 in 2019.

There has been no official confirmation about the identity of the attackers, as per BBC.

Bio declared a nationwide curfew in response to the attacks.

A witness named Susan Kargbo told The Guardian she was awoken by a loud sound of heavy machine gun and bombs coming from the Wilberforce barracks around 4.30 am.

I was shocked and  the gunshots continued until this morning. It was like a war, she said.

Witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the citys Wilberforce district, where the armoury and some embassies are located.

Other witnesses reported exchanges of fire near a barracks in Murray Town district, home to the navy, and outside another military site in Freetown.

The detention centres, including the Pademba Road Prisons were attacked just as security forces fought to restore calm during sustained shootouts at the Wilberforce military barracks, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.

The prisons were overrun (and) some prisoners were abducted by the assailants while many others were released, Bah said.

Video posted on social networks suggested numerous prisoners had escaped from the central jail.

One man who was in a group filmed on the street by an AFP correspondent said they had escaped from the prison.

The information ministry said security forces had pushed the attackers to the outskirts

of Freetown, with drone video taken by AFP showing empty streets in the capital.

Videos posted online showed soldiers patrolling Freetowns empty streets and captured the loud blasts of gunshots at dawn. The AP couldnt immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.

Bio wrote on X:

Fellow Sierra Leoneans, I bring you greetings from the Presidential Lodge in Freetown. In the early hours of this morning, there was a breach of security at the Military Barracks at Wilberforce in Freetown, as some unidentified individuals attacked the military armoury.  President Julius Maada Bio (@PresidentBio) November 26, 2023

A Reuters journalist, who earlier witnessed an armed group of men commandeer a police vehicle near the Wilberforce barracks, said streets were mostly empty on Sunday as residents hunkered down.

Well clean this society. We know what we are up to. We are not after any ordinary civilians who should go about their normal business, one of the masked men, who was dressed in military fatigues, said before driving away.

A video on social media showed three men, two in fatigues and one in civilian clothes, with their arms tied behind their backs sitting in a military truck surrounded by soldiers. Reuters has not authenticated the video.

Security forces managed to push back the assailants to the outskirts of the city, Bah said.

The countrys former president Ernest Bai Koroma, said in a statement that a military guard assigned to his residence in the capital was shot point blank, while another was whisked away to an unknown location.

Koroma did not say who shot the guard. He condemned the killing and the attack on the barracks.

I am deeply concerned that once again our beloved nation could be subject to such insecurity, he said.

We have overcome challenge

Bio on Sunday said most of the leaders of an attack on a military barracks in the capital Freetown earlier on Sunday had been arrested, adding that security operations and an investigation were ongoing.

We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable, Bio said on national television.

As your commander-in-chief, I want to assure everybody who is resident in Sierra Leone that we have overcome this challenge, he said, and calm had been restored.

In his address to the nation on Sunday night, Bio called on Sierra Leones political and traditional leaders, and civil society to work to preserve peace.

Let us not succumb to fear or division, he said.

As per BBC, Bio called the events a breach of security and an attack of democracy.

He did not call it an attempted coup.

The government said those attempting to break into the armoury had been repelled but asked the public to stay at home while security operations continued.

The situation, however, remain unclear with the authorities making no comments on the motives or identity of the attackers.

The local representations of the UK and the European Union echoed the authorities advice to stay at home.

The civil aviation authority said Sierra Leones airspace remained open but asked airlines to reschedule their flights after the lifting of the curfew.

West Africas regional economic bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of which Sierra Leone is a member  described the incident as a plot to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in the country.

The bloc has in recent months tried to reverse the surge in coups in West and Central Africa, which has recorded eight military takeovers since 2020, the latest in Niger and Gabon this year.

ECOWAS reiterates its zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government, the bloc said in a statement.

President Bio, who was first elected in 2018, was re-elected in June with 56.17 per cent of the vote  just over the 55 per cent needed to avoid a run-off.

He was re-elected in Sierra Leones fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war  more than two decades ago  which left tens of thousands of people dead and destroyed the countrys economy.

He continues to face criticism because of debilitating economic conditions. Nearly 60 per cent of Sierra Leones population is facing poverty, with the youth unemployment rate being one of the highest in West Africa.

Two months after Bio won the disputed vote, police said they arrested several people, including senior military officers planning to use protests to undermine peace in the country.

A protest against the government in August last year resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people, including six police officers.

International observers condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

The main opposition All Peoples Congress (APC) party disputed the results of the presidential, legislative and local elections on 24 June and boycotted all levels of government.

The APC and the government signed an agreement in October following talks mediated by the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS.

The APC agreed to end its boycott and begin participating in government in exchange for an end to detentions and court cases it said were politically motivated.

With inputs from agencies
Community campaigners in the UK are fighting hard for an elderly woman who faces deportation to India despite living in the country for 14 years. Gurmit Kaur has no family to return to in India and the 78-year-old widow estranged from her children in the UK.

She has been living in Smethwick, West Midlands, and is known locally as a kind auntie by the towns Sikh community who have adopted her.

Despite an internet petition with over 65,000 signatures urging her to stay, her application for indefinite leave to remain in the UK was denied.

Gurmit Kaurs immigration struggle

Gurmit Kaur, hailing from India, made the UK her home in 2009 when she attended a wedding. Since then, she has become an integral part of the Sandwell community, actively contributing to local initiatives, especially the foodbank.

Initially, Gurmit stayed with her son, citing financial constraints preventing her return to Punjab. However, she later got separated from her children and forced to rely on the charity of people in the community.

Despite her personal challenges, Gurmit has dedicated a significant portion of her time to volunteering at local food banks.

Being an undocumented migrant, UK Visas and Immigration mandates her return to India. This decision, despite her lack of familial ties there, has sparked widespread support from the Smethwick community, which has embraced the septuagenarian.

Gurmits plight garnered backing from over 60,000 individuals who supported her desire to remain in the UK. Unfortunately, a recent decision by the Home Office has cast a shadow over her future, placing it in uncertain territory.

Very Kind woman

More recently, We Are All Gurmit Kaur has been running across social media platforms as the local community continues to rally around the widow.

Gurmit Kaur has no family to turn to in the UK and no family to return to in Punjab. So, the local Sikh community of Smethwick has adopted her, reads the petition on change.org.

Gurmit Kaur applied to stay but has been refused even though she has no family to return to in Punjab, India. Gurmit is a very kind woman, even though she has nothing she is still generous and will always give what she can, when she can. Most of her days are spent volunteering at the local gurdwara, it read.

Gurmit told Birmingham Live that if she returned to India, she would have nowhere to stay and no place to call home because she has no family there.

Im afraid of the loneliness and the impact on my mental health if I go back there alone.

Smethwick is my genuine home; it is where I work to serve the community, where I give back, and where I know and love the people who have become my family.

The people in this temple have become like family to me, she said.

UK Home Office defends decision

The UK Home Office maintains that Kaur is in contact with people in her village in Punjab and that she would be able to re-adjust to life there.

Gurmit had previously been advised that her voluntary demonstrated that she was fit and healthy enough to be sent to India, and that she must leave voluntarily or face deportation.

While the Home Office acknowledged that Kaur had formed up a private life in the UK, it concluded that there were no significant obstacles to her reintegration in India, given that she had spent the most of her life in the country and still spoke Punjabi.

Salman Mirza, an immigration advisor for the Brushstroke Community Project, who started the petition and is among those helping Kaur through the visa appeals process, told BBC that her ordeal has been torture for her.

She has a derelict house in the village, with no roof, and will have to find heating, food, and resources in a village she hasnt been to in 11 years. Its like water torture, a slow death. Shes never had the right to work and provide for herself, he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said that while it cannot comment on individual cases, all applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence provided.

We urge the Home Office to regularise her status, and that of all undocumented migrants in the UK, so that she and thousands like her can live without fear of being detained and deported, and protect themselves and their families, especially during this pandemic.

With inputs from PTI
Rain battered the nations capital on Monday, causing sixteen planes scheduled to depart for Delhi between 6 and 8 p.m. to be rerouted. Ten of the sixteen aircraft had their routes changed; three went to Lucknow, one to Ahmedabad, and two to Amritsar.

Furthermore, according to the airlines social media handle, severe weather and air traffic congestion at Delhi airport caused a Vistara aircraft from Guwahati to Delhi to be rerouted to Jaipur.

On Monday Evening, there was some light rain in Delhi and the National Capital Region, which dropped the temperature a few degrees. Delhis air quality, meanwhile, continued to be classified as very poor.

Northern India temperatures are expected to decrease by a further two to three degrees, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Additionally, starting on November 28, the weather service has forecast an increase in fog in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Delhi-NCR.

According to RK Jenamani, Senior Scientist at IMD, Delhis current weather is gloomy and will stay that way for the next 12 to 18 hours. It is anticipated that the highest and lowest temperatures will be approximately 25 degrees Celsius and 12 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The weather in the national capital Delhi is currently cloudy and will persist for the next 12-18 hours. The temperature is anticipated to decrease by 2 to 3 degrees at night, and fog is expected to intensify in Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Punjab from November 28, Jenamani was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

(With agency inputs)
Troops from the Indian and Sri Lankan armies engaged in collaborative tactical exercises at Punes College of Military Engineering as part of Exercise Mitra Shakti 2023, according to an official statement released on Monday.

In a post on X, the Indian Army said, Exercise Mitra Shakti 2023, The troops of Indian Army and Sri Lankan Army jointly practised various tactical drills while sharing best practices. The troops also underwent orientation on the latest equipment in the College of Military Engineering, Pune.

The ongoing ninth edition of the Joint Military exercise MITRA SHAKTI-2023 is taking place from November 16 to 29.

The Indian contingent, consisting of 120 personnel, primarily comprises troops from the Maratha Light Infantry regiment.

Representing the Sri Lankan side are personnel from the 53 Infantry Division, with 15 individuals from the Indian Air Force and five from the Sri Lankan Air Force also participating.

The aim of the exercise is to jointly rehearse the conduct of Sub Conventional operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. The Scope of the exercise includes synergising joint responses during counter-terrorist operations. Both sides will practice tactical actions such as raid, search and destroy missions, heliborne operations, etc. In addition, Army Martial Arts Routine (AMAR), combat reflex shooting and Yoga will also form part of the exercise curriculum, Defence Ministry said.

With inputs from ANI
The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Monday said that manual drilling will start soon with the help of Indian Army engineers, rat miners, and other technicians in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi.

Giving an update on the rescue operations, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters, The broken blades of the auger machine have been fully retrieved. There were some obstacles while retrieving the broken part, but the damage has been fixed. Now, the manual technique will be employed by tonight with the help of Indian Army engineers, rat miners, and other technicians, says Lt Gen (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain, NDMA member on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation.

VIDEO | Uttarkashi tunnel rescue UPDATE: The broken blades of the auger machine have been fully retrieved. There were some obstacles while retrieving the broken part, but the damage has been fixed. Now, the manual technique will be employed by tonight with the help of Indian pic.twitter.com/UCtDORw0YG  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 27, 2023

He said that around 32 metres of vertical drilling has been done by SVNL.

Around 32 metres of vertical drilling has been done by SVNL. RVNL is working on another pipeline which will become a vertical lifeline and it has been inserted up to 75 metres. The estimated depth is around 86 metres, said Hasnain.

Manual drilling was resorted to as the auger drill  a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end  which drilled up to 46.8 metres busted as it hit several hurdles on the way and got entangled in a girder in the debris.

Vertical and manual horizontal drilling are the two methods on which rescue efforts are being focused at the moment. Work on the other options, such as horizontal drilling from the Barkot end of the tunnel is also underway.

A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to prepare an escape passage. Pipes of 1.2 metres in diameter have to be laid vertically through the top of the tunnel on which work began on Sunday as a second option to reach the stranded labourers.

Hasnain further said the government is fully committed to the safe rescue of all the 41 workers who have been trapped in the tunnel since 12 November.

#WATCH | Uttarkashi (Uttarakhand) tunnel rescue | Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, Member, NDMA, says, Safety is being focused a lot As per a meteorological report, a yellow alert is there from IMD which means light rains can occur But there is no pic.twitter.com/Kp5TKzKhgK  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

Safety is being focused a lot As per a meteorological report, a yellow alert is there from IMD which means light rains can occur But there is no possibility that work will be hindered because of this I want to once again give assurance that all the stranded workers will be rescued, said Hasnain.

He said that things are under control and food and medicines are being supplied inside the tunnel as per requirements.

Things are under control Food and medicine are going inside as per requirements Psychological aspects are also given importanceBackup communications have been established, he added.

Hasnain said both private and public agencies are involved in the rescue operations.

NHAI member Vishal Chauhan said that a team of six members will work in groups of three to facilitate the manual drilling.

Manual drilling is about to start There will be a team of six members who will work in groups of three There are sensors to monitor movement inside the earth, he added.

Prime Ministers Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Home Secretary Ajay K Bhalla and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S S Sandhu also took stock of the ongoing rescue operations.

With inputs from agencies
Ambassadors and diplomats of more than 70 nations have arrived in Uttar Pradeshs Varanasi Monday on the occasion of Guru Purnima. They will witness the annual Dev Deepavali on Kartik Purnima and take a cruise on river Ganga.

The envoy and diplomats will also witness the Ganga Arti.

Apart from these diplomats, 150 other foreign delegates will also witness the splendor of Dev Deepavali.

On Dev Deepavali, tourists congregate from Assi Ghat to Namo Ghat on the banks of river Ganga.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | Ambassadors and diplomats of over 70 countries witness cultural performances at Namo Ghat in Varanasi on the occasion of Kartik Purnima. They will witness the lighting of earthen lamps on the occasion of Kartik Purnima and also witness the Ganga Arti pic.twitter.com/c3QGOmWj9b  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

Upon their arrival the delegates and guests were be welcomed by folk artistes through cultural programs.

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh | Ambassadors and diplomats of over 70 countries witness cultural performances at Namo Ghat in Varanasi on the occasion of Kartik Purnima. They will witness the lighting of earthen lamps and Ganga Arti on 'Dev Deepavali' here. pic.twitter.com/0wuUcAPfzn  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

Security arrangement in Varanasi for Dev Deepavali

As many as 20 watch towers have been erected for monitoring Dev Deepavali on the banks of river Ganga in Varanasi. There will be two guards on each watch tower will be equipped with wireless sets, dragon lights and PA systems. One inspector will also be deployed on the watch towers set up on seven major ghats including Assi, Dashashwamedh, Namo Ghat.

Apart from the force of the Commissionerate, eight Deputy SPs, six Inspectors, 70 Sub Inspectors, 680 Head Constable-Constables, five Company PACs, one ATS Commando came from outside to maintain the security arrangements in the city from Sunday to Tuesday. Team and a bomb disposal squad will be deployed.

With inputs from agencies
The European Union (EU) and India recently formalised a crucial partnership through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on semiconductors. This strategic move, a part of the India-EU Trade and Technology Council, holds significance in the contemporary era where semiconductors play a central role in global technological advancements.

Semiconductor chips, fundamental to modern technology, serve as the backbone of the contemporary world. However, both the EU and India have found themselves dependent on external sources, some of which have proven problematic, to produce various chip types and components in the manufacturing chain. Indias substantial reliance on imported semiconductors, with approximately 95 percent of its supply coming from nations like China, Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore, has exposed vulnerabilities, particularly evident during the pandemic. The disruptions caused by the Covid-19 crisis, combined with heightened demand, have led to shortages across numerous economic sectors, raising concerns about potential societal and economic consequences.

The conflict in Ukraine has further underscored these vulnerabilities, resulting in scarcities of neon gas, a crucial component for powering lasers in advanced semiconductor lithography machines. The absence of neon could potentially bring chip production to an abrupt halt, emphasizing the need for strategic collaboration.

To address these challenges and drive long-term strategies, the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) has been established. The ISM aims to implement efficient schemes and develop a sustainable semiconductor and display ecosystem. India has emerged as a significant player in semiconductor design and is actively pursuing aspirations to develop manufacturing, packaging, and indigenous chip designs. The growth of semiconductor-related startups in India reflects the nations ambition to become a global hub in this sector.

The recently concluded MoU between the EU and India signifies a positive turning point. It outlines the exchange of experience and best practices, constituting a coordinated mechanism for the implementation of industrial policies. By sharing information about trade barriers and disruptions, the agreement recognizes the importance of collaborative efforts to avoid vulnerabilities. The MoU also emphasises joint ventures in technology partnerships and manufacturing facilities, contributing to the development of resilient supply chains.

This collaborative effort aligns with Indias government initiatives, such as the National Policy on Electronics (NPE), aimed at promoting domestic manufacturing and reducing dependence on imports. The MoU serves as a complement to these efforts, marking a positive beginning for cooperation in various strategic areas. The EU and India are positioned to establish an interdependent ecosystem through joint research and technology transfers.

The MoU addresses transparency in subsidies for the semiconductor sector, emphasizing the advantages of shared knowledge and resources. Most European and Indian chip subsidies have traditionally been provided by state and local governments, reflecting the economic importance of semiconductor fabrication facilities to local economies. The transparency, in this case, is about emphasizing the advantages of shared knowledge, resources, and expertise to create a more inclusive and cooperative approach, encouraging joint ventures or collaborative projects where both parties have a stake in the success of the endeavor, reducing suspicions and misunderstandings, and sharing research facilities, access to complementary technologies, or joint funding opportunities that make collaboration more appealing.

To ensure a successful collaboration in the semiconductor mission, the EU and India must strengthen ties with international semiconductor companies. This involves leveraging their expertise and technology through joint research projects, knowledge exchange, and skill development. Launching common projects in the semiconductor industry is essential to enhance the skills of engineers and researchers in semiconductor design and manufacturing. Common projects on semiconductor manufacturing facilities, requiring significant infrastructure and investment, are also imperative.

In conclusion, the MoU reflects political will, and it is a positive step towards building an interdependent ecosystem between India and the European semiconductor industries. It addresses challenges, promotes transparency, and establishes a foundation for future cooperation in strategic areas essential for technological advancement.

The author is a Professor at ULB, Brussels, Senior Expert @EU_Commission, diplomat, Stanford Center for Internet. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
In the quiet shadows of the Pir Panjal range, a disconcerting tale unfolds in Rajouri-Pooncha resurgence of terrorist activities, causing ripples of concern after 15 years of relative calm. Suspicions point to Pakistan fanning the flames, using ambushes to compound the Kashmir issue post Article 370s nullification.

The Pir Panjal, a web of lower mountains, weaves across western Jammu and Kashmir, posing a complex challenge from Poonch to Doda. The worry intensifies as terrorists, once in Rajouri, find easy routes into Kashmirreaching places like Kulgam and Kokernag. Poonch, similarly, becomes a precarious gateway to Shopian and Uri.

In this geographical chessboard, the stakes are high, urging heightened vigilance. As the mountains echo with the unsettling return of a threat long subdued, the region finds itself at a critical juncture, with security and stability teetering on the edge. In the rugged expanse of Rajouri, a two-day-long confrontation unfolded, a clash between the valiant and the malevolent. Two terrorists, including the ominous Quari, met their end. Yet, victory extracted a heavy toll.

As the sun set, five soldiers ascended to the celestial realm, their sacrifice etching a poignant narrative. Among them, Captain MV Pranjal of Karnataka and Captain Shubham Gupta of Uttar Pradesh, are exemplars of unyielding spirit. Havaldar Abdul Majid, Lance Naik Sanjay Bist, and Paratrooper Sachin Laur, warriors all, joined the ranks of those who gave their all.

The hills may fall silent, but the echoes of their courage linger. As the tricolor envelops their mortal remains, a nation mourns. Yet, in grief, there resides a silent promise  their sacrifice shall not be in vain, and their legacy shall stand guard against the forces that threaten our nations spirit. In Rajouris valleys, heroes may rest, but their indomitable spirit lives on.

In a heartbreaking turn of events, as Captain Shubham Guptas mortal remains awaited their journey home, an Uttar Pradesh minister, Yogendra Upadhyay displayed a distressing urgency for a photo opportunity with sarkari cheques. The insensitivity of the situation was laid bare as the grieving mother, with tears streaming down her face, fervently pleaded against turning her sons homecoming into a public spectacle.

In the sombre shadows of Captain Shubham Guptas sacrifice, a heart-wrenching scene unfolded, casting a stark light on the unsettling depths to which politics has descended. The grief-stricken mother, her soul shattered by the loss of her dear son, found herself thrust into a macabre theatre where the urgency for a photo-op with sarkari cheques took precedence over humanity.

In the midst of her inconsolable sorrow, as Captain Guptas mortal remains awaited their final journey home, a politician, seemingly impervious to the agony around, callously forced a cheque into the hands of a mother pleading for solace. The urgency mirrored a frantic rush, as if these politicians were on an express train to nowhere, heedless of the collective mourning echoing through the nation.

What train are you rushing to catch? we ask, as the grief-stricken mother, her voice cracking with anguish, begged to be allowed a moment to grieve. The sarkari cheque, a symbol of bureaucratic insensitivity, was shoved into the hands of a mother who deserved compassion, not a political sideshow.

In this theatre of callousness, we must assert loudly that the loss of our brave jawans is not just statistics; it is a collective wound that scars the soul of every citizen. The urgency displayed by the politician was not a rush to catch a train but a sprint away from the responsibility of acknowledging the magnitude of our nations loss.

Let it be known, in the echoes of our collective outrage, that the sacrifice of our jawans demands reverence, not exploitation. The grief of a mother should be treated with the utmost respect and political theatrics should never tarnish the sanctity of such poignant moments. We, as a nation, must demand empathy, accountability, and a dignified acknowledgment of our shared sorrow. Our brave hearts deserve nothing less.

In the wake of the recent loss of five young Indian soldiers, the weight of their sacrifice bears heavy on our hearts. The question echoes in the silence: Why must so many brave jawans lay down their lives for the apprehension of just two terrorists?

As I pen down these words, a surge of anger and sadness envelops me, compelling a questioning of the toll exacted on our nations finest. The truth lies in the harsh reality that the sacrifices of soldiers often go unnoticed, and the profound bravery exhibited in the face of enemy action deserves a spotlight.

These soldiers, who operate with the knowledge that each breath could be their last, exemplify a courage that surpasses ordinary comprehension. The anguished question lingers  why must we lose these valiant souls, five at a time, for the apprehension of a few?

While as a nation, we courageously face the necessity of sending our soldiers into peril, we must also grapple with the painful truth that we shouldnt want to. The aspiration shouldnt be martyrdom, and the loss of these young lives should prompt a collective reflection on the cost of conflict.

Keeping the Indian Armys Special Forces with regular infantry under the same command has raised concerns, notably exemplified by the alarming eight casualties suffered by 9 Para Special Forces this year. This highlights the pressing need of fast-tracking the establishment of Special Forces Command, emphasising the unique skills and training required for their specialized missions. The rising casualty rate also points to an escalation in militant training levels, underscoring the urgency for a strategic and swift response.

In the enduring battle that spans decades without a clear endpoint, the sacrifice of our brave soldiers remains a poignant reality. The recurring losses faced by the Indian Army in the valley stem from the intricacies of asymmetric warfare. Operating under strict orders to prioritize civilian safety, the Indian Army faces the challenge of terrorists exploiting this advantage, seamlessly blending into the local population. With terrorists possessing superior knowledge of the terrain, surprise attacks, hit-and-run tactics, and evasion become their arsenal. Stringent rules of engagement further impede swift and decisive responses, as troops must meticulously verify identities and threat levels. In contrast, adversaries like the Pakistani Army resort to ruthless tactics, circumventing such constraints. Engaging locals in intelligence operations is inevitable, yet the risk of betrayal adds another layer of complexity. While casualties are in no way justified, understanding these challenges is crucial. The path to minimizing such sacrifices lies in a nuanced approach that the army, with its expertise, is best equipped to navigate.

In the heart of these challenging terrains, where heroes rest and mothers weep, the sacrifice of our soldiers beckons us to a solemn reckoning. The urgency for change is not just a strategic necessity but a moral imperative. As we navigate the shadows of asymmetric warfare, let us remember the faces of Captain Shubham Gupta and his comrades, etched in the tricolour that drapes their mortal remains. Their sacrifice demands more than just strategic adaptations; it calls for a profound reflection on the cost of conflict. In their memory, let us stand united, demanding empathy, respect, and a nation that acknowledges the silent sacrifices of its sons.

The author is a practicing advocate. She writes article on womens rights, politics and law. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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There are so many images on social media that are designed to provoke that it is possible to misjudge what is rightly liable to cause outrage. Scrolling through WhatsApp messages last week, I chanced upon an article in The Economist magazine, specifically the image accompanying the article, which provided a rude awakening.

There in plain sight was a disfiguration of the sacred flag dear to 140 crore Bharatvasis: while the saffron, white and green were depicted in accurate colours, the Ashoka Chakra at the centre of the flag had been replaced by the Jewish Star of David that is found in the Israeli flag. The title of the article, Narendra Modi has shifted India from the Palestinians to Israel, seemed to suggest that the disfiguration was intended to convey Bharats sympathies with Israel in its war with the Gaza-based terrorist outfit Hamas. But that cannot hide what the image clearly is: a violation of the Flag Code of India and a criminal offence under the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.

What is least surprising about the image was that it was put up by a so-called magazine of international repute like The Economist. In fact, the disfiguration is only the latest and most outrageous example of the contempt and denigration that media houses controlled by Western institutions have reserved for Bharat in the past decade.

The casual indifference with which the great symbol of our countrys ancient heritage was replaced with an Abrahamic symbol leads one to wonder whether the editors of this organisation would ever have shown such disrespect or negligence in representing the Chinese or American flag. It is also worth mentioning that while free speech standards in the West may permit such flippant representations of national symbols, the national flag is considered sacred by us and is given strong protection under our law.

Last year, on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Independence, I was invited by News18 to an event held to discuss the history and significance of the national flag. When one of the girl students in the audience attempted to voice the sheer emotion she felt at seeing the three holy bands, every person in the theatre understood perfectly and immediately what she was trying to articulate. That feeling, which is ever present in our lives, can never abide such a monstrous distortion, no matter how reputed or prestigious the organisation behind it may be.

The author is an ex-DGP of Jharkhand. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.

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The Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars have inflicted a fatal wound on the new Western world order.

At first glance, this seems improbable, as the United States and its Western allies are dominant globally, both militarily and economically. And Russia is being systematically weakened by Western sanctions and a deadlocked war in Ukraine.

Also, Israel, the Wests blood ally in the Middle East, is pounding Hamas out of existence, and Washingtons principal rival, China, is in economic and demographic retreat.

The Wests hegemony, established after the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate a hundred years ago, seems unstoppable.

Three cracks

However, a closer look reveals three cracks in the evolving world order.

First, a weakened Russia has fallen into Chinas geopolitical embrace. The Russia-China alliance has the military and economic heft to challenge a new US-led world order.

Second, the neutral Global South led by India and comprising nations across Asia, Africa and South America are wary of the US becoming a neo-colonial successor to the defunct British and French empires.

Third, the Shia Muslim Gulf powers in the Middle East  Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon  remain unremittingly hostile to the West and will move closer to the China-Russia axis.

Russia already has a significant military presence in Syria. China was the first port of call for a delegation of Islamic leaders to the five permanent members of the UNSC: France, Britain, Russia, China and the US.

The Western world order being crafted in Washington needs to bring the Global South on its side or risk being seen as a neo-colonial construct.

The London-based author Pankaj Mishra warned in an article in Bloomberg: Only a few weeks ago, the Western press was full of speculation on whether India or China would lead the Global South. US President Joe Biden made his preference clear by wooing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Biden administration drew up various schemes involving India in alliances with Israel and rich Arab countries, aimed in part at stemming Chinese influence.

A European Council on Foreign Relations report echoed the new Western consensus: The West needed to woo friendly members of the Global South such as India and Turkey if it was to build a new world order. Now that the conflict in West Asia threatens to prematurely terminate this Western infatuation, it is worth asking what it was all about. Did the project of winning over emerging nations reflect wishful thinking and image-projection by Western elites?

The conflict in Gaza may now have mortally damaged Western power and credibility in the Global South. While Israel seems no closer to victory in its own counteroffensive against Hamas, it looks over-committed to a long war it cannot win, either on the battlefield or in the court of global public opinion. Indeed, Israels failure to define a viable future for itself and the Palestinians is now hitting its closest ally, inducing bitter division in the US State Department as well as on university campuses and endangering Bidens re-election in 2024.

Bombing Gaza

The four-day ceasefire and prison swap in Gaza ends on Monday, November 27, unless it is extended. Israel has vowed to resume bombing Gaza after the pause. Future ceasefires and prisoner swaps will depend on how successfully the first swap goes.

Hamas used the four-day pause to regroup, re-establish lost communications with divisional leaders across Gaza and strengthen its underground bunkers which the Israeli army, after nearly two months of fighting, has not yet been able to breach.

But bigger problems for the Washington-led world order lie closer at home. The US is ideologically fractured. President Joe Bidens Irish charm hides a cold warrior mind. He has encouraged Ukraine to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. His son Hunter Bidens financial deals with Ukrainian company Burisma are publicly documented.

Biden has said if he was a Jew (he is Catholic) he would be a Zionist. Zionism is what drove European Jews to persuade the complicit British Empire into giving white Jews a homeland in the middle of West Asia.

A transactional ally

The West has never been a true friend of India. It supported Pakistan from 1947 right through to the early 2000s when it realised belatedly the folly of backing a state sponsor of terrorism.

Former President Richard Nixon in the 1970s did not try to hide his contempt for India and Indians. As late as 1998, former President Bill Clinton slapped harsh and sweeping sanctions on India following the Pokhran nuclear test.

The West is wary of a rising India and its sway over the Global South. Instead of prosecuting a terrorist like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who openly incites violence against India, the Biden government allegedly protects him.

Hubris and hegemony

The century of global hegemony that the West seized since the 1920s has given it a sense of hubris and infallibility.

It bombs Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen with impunity, killing thousands of civilians, including women and children.

It assassinates terrorists on the soil of other sovereign nations. It forces regime change in the Middle East and South America. It engineered an eight-year war in 1980-88 between Shia neighbours Iraq and Iran.

For the West, a rising India is both welcome and worrisome.

Welcome because it adds to the Wests anti-China alliance. Worrisome because the West does not like any country outside its civilisational ethos posing a future challenge to its global supremacy.

When China did, America launched a trade and technology war on it. India, it believes, can be managed with periodic pinpricks from Five Eyes allies like Canada.

Endgame

The West was a supplicant to the East till 1700. British envoys like Sir Thomas Roe spent four years in India during the 1600s flattering Emperor Jehangir. They received withering contempt in return.

European traders and envoys to China were treated even more harshly.

Colonial conquest and the trans-Atlantic slave trade transformed Europe and America from supplicants to overlords.

The unwinnable wars in Ukraine and Gaza have wounded Western civilisation as fatally as colonialism and genocide of indigenous peoples by settler-colonists in America and Australia fatally wounded the British Empire.
Consumers in the European Union (EU) might experience higher prices to fund enhanced rights for gig workers, but this wont jeopardize the industrys business model, according to Nicolas Schmit, the EUs Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights.

In discussions around a potential directive, which, if passed, would compel ride-sharing and delivery companies like Uber and Deliveroo to provide greater social protections to workers on their platforms, EU officials estimate that service prices, such as those for Uber, could surge by up to 40 per cent.

Schmit expressed confidence that consumers would accept the price hikes if it meant improved conditions for gig workers. He emphasised the necessity for a balance between the interests of consumers and service providers in the economy, stating that there is a cost that has to be paid to ensure fair worker rights.

The directive, currently under debate by the European Parliament, member states, and the European Commission, is expected to reach its final phase by the end of November.

Addressing concerns raised by Anabel Diaz, head of Ubers mobility division in Europe, who warned of potential shutdowns in hundreds of EU cities if prices rose significantly, Schmit dismissed the notion that better worker protection would kill the industrys model.

He likened Ubers argument to historical instances of scaremongering, emphasizing the need for businesses to adapt rather than threatening legislative bodies.

Schmit referred to ongoing court cases in Europe as evidence of the need for a new directive to provide clarity for businesses.

He pointed out that the UKs recent Supreme Court ruling on Deliveroo riders and the 2021 UK court ruling designating Uber drivers as workers highlight the lack of clarity in the gig economy.

The proposed directive aims to clarify the status of platform workers, allowing them to remain self-employed without being considered bogus self-employed.

(With input from agencies)
NASA plans to decommission the International Space Station (ISS) in the early 2030s and has already started at looking at plans and exploring options as to how to get rid of it. However, the enormous cost of the project is something that NASA hadnt anticipated.

The estimated cost of safely disposing of the ageing space station will be at least $1 billion, according to reports. The ISS has been continuously hosting astronauts for 23 years, and signs of wear and tear, including cracks and leaks, have become apparent. In essence, it is nearing a point where it will not be safe for it to host astronauts.

NASAs objective is to safely deorbit the ISS towards Earth to ensure it harmlessly burns up in when it enters the atmosphere. What NASA is now looking for, are ways to do that, while ensuring that there is minimal environmental damage, as well as no damage to property and life.

There are two potential options for the deorbit: an uncontrollable descent or a more carefully orchestrated descent using a special spacecraft. The former poses a risk of large debris falling on populated areas, while the latter requires a custom-built vehicle powerful enough to deorbit the ISS and accompany it during descent.

NASAs estimated cost for the decommissioning plan will at least be $1 billion, which may be influenced by the agencys decision not to use Russian vehicles for the task. The ISS has historically relied on Russian spacecraft. However, the current geopolitical situation complicates the decommissioning process.

The end of the ISS marks the conclusion of decades of international cooperation in space, symbolizing unity in US-Russia relations. Decommissioning the ISS involves addressing the challenge of minimizing debris that could fall to Earth, a task which is made more complex by the stations orbit around the planet every 90 minutes.

Despite the challenges and costs, the decommissioning plan signifies the end of an era for the ISS, which has played a crucial role in scientific research and international collaboration in space exploration.
Google is placing some major bets on Indian startup CoRover, and believes it to be Indias answer to OpenAIs ChatGPT. That is why, the tech giant is set to invest about $4 million in CoRover.

CoRover is the Indian AI studio behind BharatGPT, an LLM-based AI solution that has proven to be much more capable than ChatGPT, and supports a number of Indic languages.

Earlier this year, CoRover unveiled BharatGPT, a significant addition to a body of large language models or LLMs.

This innovative language model supports more than 12 Indian languages and over 120 foreign languages, surpassing the language range of OpenAIs ChatGPT, which is limited to 95 languages and primarily operates in English.

What sets BharatGPT apart is its versatility, as it can process diverse data formats, including images, audio, video, and maps, unlike ChatGPT, which predominantly handles text.

CoRover emphasizes that BharatGPT boasts an impressive accuracy level of 90 per cent. Leveraging a vast repository of internet data as its foundation, BharatGPT offers the flexibility to fine-tune and enhance its content.

This adaptability allows the system to incorporate contextually relevant information based on factors such as region, sector, domain, client, business, and specific use cases, ensuring that users receive current and pertinent information in response to queries.

In a blog post, CoRover highlights BharatGPTs ability to integrate with custom knowledge bases, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, as well as Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for real-time transactions.

This latest offering from CoRover provides organizations with the capability to build and manage chatbots across communication channels.

CoRover currently extends its AI virtual assistant services to prominent organizations such as IRCTC, LIC, Max Life Insurance, NPCI, and the Government of India, catering to over one billion users.

Moreover, in a notable development, Google is reportedly on the verge of investing approximately $4 million in CoRover, marking another significant milestone in the growth of the Indian conversational artificial intelligence startup. Following a non-equity funding of $500,000 earlier this year, discussions are underway for a $4 million equity investment after the official launch of BharatGPT. As a strategic partner, Google offers cloud computing credits to CoRover, and the additional funds are intended to scale up BharatGPT in the coming weeks.
A new form of cybercrime known as digital arrest scams is emerging, where fraudsters impersonate law enforcement officials, such as customs officers or police personnel, to deceive individuals into believing they are facing imminent digital arrest for fabricated legal violations.

In a recent case, a 23-year-old woman from Faridabad fell victim to this scam, losing Rs 2.5 lakh to cybercriminals who posed as customs officers.

The perpetrators, through digital communication methods like video messages or calls, create a sense of urgency and fear, manipulating victims with false evidence, threatening language, and demands for significant payments to avoid supposed legal consequences.

In the mentioned case, the victim was coerced into believing she was involved in a passport trafficking case and may have to pay Rs 15 lakh to avoid a digital arrest. She finally settled the issue for Rs 2.5 Lakhs. The fraudsters warned her not to log off Skype during the ordeal.

Law enforcement authorities are treating this cyber fraud case seriously and emphasize the need for investigation.

To stay safe from such scams, heres what you need to keep in mind:

Stay sharp, stay aware: Be aware of common scams and tactics used by fraudsters, including digital arrest scams.

Always verify who is calling: If contacted by someone claiming to be a law enforcement officer, verify their identity by asking for official credentials and contact information.

Dont panic: Stay calm and question the legitimacy of the situation. Genuine legal matters are typically handled through formal procedures, not immediate threats.

Never share personal information, especially your banking details: Avoid sharing personal or financial information with unknown or unverified individuals.

Always double-check claims and ask for documents: Independently verify information about legal allegations. Contact local law enforcement agencies or legal authorities through official channels to confirm the authenticity of any claims.

Only use official channels for communication: Legitimate law enforcement agencies communicate through official channels. If in doubt, independently contact the relevant agency using publicly available contact information.

Keep yourself updated: Familiarize yourself with common signs of scams, such as unsolicited calls demanding money, threats of immediate legal action, and requests for payment via unconventional methods.
Russia has added Andy Stone, a spokesperson for Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook), to its wanted list on unspecified charges, as the social media giant is classified as extremist by Moscow. Russian authorities have also started criminal investigations into Stone, reports have revealed

This move is part of Russias broader crackdown on media and social media freedom since the launch of its Ukraine offensive and the subsequent ban on criticism of it.

Stone is now listed on Russias interior ministrys wanted list without providing specific details about the charges against him.

In October 2022, Russia categorized Meta as a terrorist and extremist organization, paving the way for potential criminal investigations and fines for users within the country. Facebook and Instagram have been blocked in Russia since the onset of the Ukraine offensive, with access limited to virtual private networks (VPNs).

In addition to Meta being labelled as extremist, Russias financial watchdog in April 2022 had added Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the blacklist, prohibiting him from entering Russia.

Russias clampdown on media and social media freedom has extended to other platforms, with X (formerly Twitter) also banned, along with other Russian independent media critical of the Kremlin. Before the bans, millions of Russians used Metas applications, particularly Instagram, which remained highly popular among the countrys youth.

The tensions between Russia and Meta escalated following Russias invasion of Ukraine, with users expressing unfiltered emotions on the platforms from both sides of the conflict.

In response, Stone announced temporary changes to Metas hate speech policy, allowing for certain forms of political expression that would typically violate the rules. However, Stone clarified that credible calls for violence against Russian civilians would continue to be prohibited.

(With input from agencies)
The United States, along with Britain and 18 other nations, has introduced what a senior US official termed as the first detailed international agreement on ensuring the safety of artificial intelligence (AI) from misuse by rogue actors.

The 20-page document emphasizes the need for AI systems to be secure by design, urging companies to develop and deploy AI in a manner that safeguards customers and the broader public.

While the agreement is non-binding, it offers general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering, and vetting software suppliers.

The director of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, underscored the significance of multiple countries endorsing the idea that AI systems should prioritize safety during design.

She emphasized that the guidelines signify an agreement that security is the foremost consideration in the design phase, moving beyond mere emphasis on features, market speed, or cost competitiveness.

The 18 countries signing the guidelines include Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria, and Singapore.

The framework primarily addresses concerns related to preventing the hijacking of AI technology by hackers and includes recommendations such as releasing models only after thorough security testing. However, it does not address contentious issues regarding the appropriate uses of AI or the gathering of data feeding these models.

While governments worldwide have initiated various initiatives to shape AI development, many of these lack enforceability. Europe has been proactive in AI regulations, with lawmakers working on drafting AI rules.

In October, the Biden administration issued an executive order to mitigate AI risks to consumers, workers, and minority groups while strengthening national security. Despite efforts, a divided US Congress has made limited progress in enacting effective AI regulation.

(With input from agencies)
Ten former and current Taiwanese military officers were formally charged with accusations of spying for Beijing on Monday, with two among them creating a video expressing their intention to surrender to the Chinese military, according to prosecutors.

The Taiwan High Prosecutors Office stated that three of the indicted individuals were allegedly involved in recruiting active-duty servicemen to gather military information, forming a network for China, reported AFP.

Additionally, four officers they enlisted were charged with exchanging multiple items of military secrets for financial gain, although the specifics of these secrets were not disclosed.

Two active-duty officers were accused of producing a psychological warfare video for Beijing, wherein they expressed their willingness to surrender to the Peoples Liberation Army. Prosecutors condemned this act, labeling it as an extremely vicious allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party.

The final defendant faced charges of stealing military secrets from a secure location at his workplace.

Prosecutors emphasised that all the accused had either served or were currently serving in the military, betraying their country and people for personal interests, resulting in a significant threat to national security.

Prosecutors urged the court to impose a stringent sentence as a deterrent.

This indictment is the latest in a series of recent spying cases in Taiwan.

Previously, a retired air force colonel received a 20-year prison sentence for spying for Beijing and divulging confidential national security information.

In August, a father-son duo was indicted for recruiting soldiers to gather information for China during the islands prominent Han Kuang military exercises.

With inputs from agencies
Over three million individuals attended Chinas annual civil service exam over the weekend, state media reported on Monday. This record-breaking number highlights the growing concerns among young people about securing a stable job in a challenging economy.

Given the persistently high youth unemployment in the worlds second-largest economy, the allure of a potentially less glamorous career in the civil service has increased, particularly as job opportunities in the private sector continue to decline.

After all, the general environment is not good, one user of the Weibo social media platform said of economic prospects as posts about the civil service exam surged.Companies are laying off employees and closing down in large numbers. It is not stable at all, so I have to choose to be a civil servant. Fewer earnings are fine. At least I wont be unemployed and starve to death.

The exam was held simultaneously in 237 cities across the country on Sunday, the state-run China Daily reported. A record high of 39,600 vacancies are up for grabs at central government agencies and affiliated institutions. On average, 77 candidates are competing for every position, the Global Times newspaper reported.

China is struggling to get its economy back on track after Covid-19 and the government has introduced a rash of policy measures, including strengthening financial support for private companies.

The number of people trying to get into graduate school has also declined, the China News Network reported, with a researcher at the China National Academy of Educational Sciences citing insecurity about work as a factor.

For many undergraduate graduates, if they can find a job now, they will definitely prefer to work as soon as possible, said researcher Chu Zhaohui.Many peoples expectations of finding a job after graduate school are relatively low.The Global Times reported that the number of civil service jobs had increased over the past five years. Last year, nearly 2.6 million candidates competed for 37,100 vacancies.

Considering the potential risk of discontent among young people and its impact on social stability, addressing youth unemployment is a sensitive matter for China.

The government has ramped up recruitment efforts in recent years and directed state-owned companies to increase the hiring of graduates in an attempt to cope up with the crisis. However, the issue has not been addressed. Over the past two decades, a substantial expansion in college admissions has resulted in an oversupply of white-collar workers. Consequently, this has left factories facing challenges in recruiting young technicians.

With inputs from Reuters.
As many as 109 people were arrested following a two-day blockade of the biggest coal port in the world.

In an effort to protest climate inaction, hundreds of activists occupied the shipping lane of the Newcastle port in Australia by swimming or using kayaks.

They assert that the disturbance stopped more than 500,000 tonnes of coal from being exported.

Australia is the second-largest exporter of coal in the world and depends on fossil fuels for its own electricity requirements.

As per reports, the Port of Newcastle, which is about 105 miles (or 170 km) from Sydney, is the nations most significant coal shipment terminal.

Approved by police, an estimated 3,000 participants from all over Australia participated in the 30-hour weekend blockade of its shipping lane.

However, after the protest cut-off point, dozens of protestors stayed in the water, leading to 109 arrestsfive of whom were later releasedand 109 convictions.

In response to their refusal to exit the harbor channel, 104 people were charged on Monday, according to a police statement from New South Wales.

Alan Stuart, 97, disobeyed the deadline, saying, I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations.

I sincerely apologize for the consequences our inaction will cause them to bear. He continued, I believe it is my responsibility to do what I can.

The action has been dubbed the biggest act of civil disobedience for climate in Australias history by Rising Tide, the organization that organized it.

The annual global climate change summit, COP28, which starts in Dubai on Thursday, was only a few days away when the protest happened.

According to Rising Tide, new fossil fuel projects should be canceled and thermal coal exports should be taxed by Anthony Albaneses government.

Although Australia has long been seen as a climate laggard, Albanese pledged that upon assuming office in 2022, he would join the global effort to reduce emissions.

Since then, the countrys previous commitment of 26-28% has been replaced with a law enshrining a target of 43% reduction in emissions by 2030. That difference is the same as if all emissions from Australias transportation and agricultural sectors were eliminated.

However, Albanese has also refrained from fully banning new fossil fuel projects. Since last May, he has approved the construction of four new coal mines, and the Australia Institute reports that 25 more projects are awaiting approval.
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the countrys opposition party, charged that India was supporting Sheikh Hasinas dictatorial administration.

Without providing any supporting proof, BNP senior joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi claimed on Sunday that India had chosen to adopt a position against the people of Bangladesh.

The Indian government and their politicians should understand why the people of Bangladesh have burst into anger against them. By supporting an authoritarian government, they [India] have taken a stance against the people of Bangladesh, Rizvi was quoted as saying by Bangladesh-based newspaper The Daily Star.

It is important to highlight that the BNP has declared that it will only participate in the elections in the event that Hasina steps down and allows an impartial authority to conduct the counting. BNP staged large-scale protests calling for Hasinas resignation and the installation of a caretaker government in preparation for elections, with the backing of the Islamist group Jamaat-e-Islami.

But in 2011, Bangladeshs 15th Amendment to the Constitution did away with the caretaker regime. These demands, in the opinion of the government, violate the constitution.

About half of the BNPs five million members, according to the organisation, face politically motivated prosecution. On Monday, Human Rights Watch (HRW), based in New York, stated that the government has begun a violent crackdown on opposition parties in an effort to eliminate competition before general elections.

According to HRW, it analysed police reports, recordings, and several witness interviews in order to compile its findings.

The Bangladesh Election Commission, however, has pushed the BNP to participate in the elections. Time is not lost If they participate, the election will be joyous. Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal declared, If the party joins, it will be a blessing for the Election Commission and for the entire nation.

In Sylhet, two CNG-run autorickshaws and a microbus transporting a doctor were set on fire by supporters of the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, the Swecchasebak Dal.

The vehicle was carrying a female doctor to the hospital when the miscreants attacked. The doctor remained unhurt, but the driver was injured while he was trying to douse the blaze, Dr Tareq Azad, director of Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College Hospital, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
In an attempt to eliminate competition ahead of general elections, Bangladesh has begun a broad and violent crackdown on opposition parties, which has resulted in the arrest of nearly 10,000 activists, Human Rights Watch said on Monday.

A startling number of the thousands of people detainedmany of them members of the influential Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)also have charges against them.

Human Rights Watch stated that the BNP claims that nearly half of its five million members face politically motivated prosecution.

One activist told the non-governmental rights advocacy group, The arrests, they are not leaving anyone behind, from senior level to ground level.

According to the organization, prison populations have more than doubled.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people holds a general election on January 7, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina eyeing her fourth consecutive term in power.

Bangladesh authorities are carrying out mass arrests of political opposition in a clear attempt to quash the opposition and eliminate competition ahead of the general elections, the rights group said.

New York-based Human Rights Watch, who called it a violent autocratic crackdown, said at least 16 people have been killed since protests escalated in October, including two police officers.

More than 5,500 people have been injured.

There was no immediate response by the government to the rights groups report, but authorities say that those arrested should face justice for a range of violent crimes.

Human Rights Watch based its report on multiple witness interviews, as well as analysis of videos and police reports.

It said it had found evidence that security forces are responsible for using excessive force, mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings.

Bangladesh is one of the worlds largest garment exporters  accounting for around 85 per cent of its US$55 billion in annual exports  with many global brands purchasing clothes from its factories.

Diplomatic partners should make clear that the crackdown will jeopardise economic cooperation, the rights group said.

Julia Bleckner, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said credible elections could not be held under such conditions.

A free election is impossible when the government stifles free expression and systematically incapacitates the opposition, critics, and activists through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance, harassment, and intimidation, Bleckner said.

The BNP on Sunday said at least 16,625 members had been arrested since October.

They include most of its leadership, most notably the BNPs de facto chief Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Prosecutors and lawyers said in the past two weeks at least 526 BNP officials and activists were convicted and sentenced, mostly in absentia, over what the party said were trumped up charges.

(with inputs from agencies)
On Monday, a Beijing court was scheduled to begin compensation hearings for the relatives of Chinese victims who perished on Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which went missing over ten years ago.

The plane went missing on March 8, 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers, the majority of whom were Chinese.

There was little evidence of the jet in a 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) search zone in the Indian Ocean, and the Australian-led effort, the biggest in aviation history, was stopped in January 2017.

Some debris has been collected from the Indian Ocean.

Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, wrote on social media this month the court hearings would begin Monday at Beijings Peoples Court in Chaoyang district and continue until mid-December.

Beijings state-run China Daily has also reported the hearings, citing Jiang. The hearing was not listed on the courts public website.

Families of the victims, as well as media, gathered outside the court on Monday morning, AFP reporters saw.

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt for MH370 in 2018, but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories  ranging from the credible to outlandish  including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.
During the Aman Youyi-2023 (Peace and Friendship 2023) multinational military exercise with Southeast Asian countries, the Chinese Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) used a new type of anti-drone rifle.

A portable drone reconnaissance and countermeasure system made its debut during joint manoeuvres in Zhanjiang, Guangdong Province, South China, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Sunday.

According to the article, the technology, which resembles a rifle with a scope, can detect, track, identify, and recognise drones flying at low altitudes.

The gun weighs 3.5 kilogrammes and has a lithium battery that can last for 2 hours, allowing it to perform directed interference against drones within 1.5 km by establishing a 17-degree interference area, according to CCTV.

According to the article, the gun can land or be shot down after disrupting a target.

With the rapid advancement of drone technology, not only regular militaries, but also terrorists and pirates, now have easy access to commercial-level drones that can play important roles in patrol, reconnaissance, and even attack tasks, particularly first-person view drones, a Beijing-based military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday.

The use of such drones has been combat-proven in previous wars throughout the world, according to the expert, who said that these low-flying, slow-flying, and compact drones might become as prevalent in infantry units as handguns and rifles.

According to the expert, the recently announced anti-drone pistol appears to be designed to defeat these types of drones.
A World Health Organisation official has said that although there has been an increase in respiratory infections in China, it is not as high as it was prior to COVID-19 pandemic and that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases.

According to Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHOs department of epidemic and pandemic preparation and prevention, the increase seems to be caused by an increase in the number of children catching diseases that they have avoided for the past two years due to COVID limitations.

We asked about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that theyre seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019, Reuters quoted Van Kerkhove as saying to health news outlet STAT in an interview on Friday.

This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago, she added.

According to Chinas National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng, the rise in acute respiratory infections has been related to the concurrent spread of multiple diseases, most notably influenza.

The spike become a global issue last week when the World Health Organization asked China for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.

China and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of reporting early in the pandemic, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The WHO said on Friday no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent illnesses.

With inputs from agencies
Compensation hearings for the Chinese relatives of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which vanished over the Indian Ocean inexplicably nearly ten years ago, were initiated by a Beijing court on Monday, according to the claimants.

On March 8, 2014, an aeroplane carrying more than 150 Chinese passengers disappeared while travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The potential that the aircraft was intentionally diverted was not ruled out by Malaysian investigators, and aircraft wreckage that has been verified or is thought to be from the aircraft has washed up on islands in the Indian Ocean and along the African coast.

The families of these passengers indicated that among other companies, they were suing Boeing, Malaysia Airlines, Rolls-Royce, and the Allianz insurance company for compensation.

The case was not made public by the court, but according to state media, over 40 relatives were requesting compensation of between 10 and 80 million yuan ($1.4 million and $11.2 million) each.

Requests for response from Malaysia Airlines, Rolls-Royce, Allianz, and Boeing were not immediately answered.

Jiang Hui, a representative for the grieving families, held posters stating that they had no alternative but to go to court in order to get answers from Malaysia Airlines. The signs demanded to resume the search and re-establish an international investigation team.

Before the hearing, reporters were barred from the Chaoyang District Peoples Court in Beijing due to the significant police presence, making it impossible for them to speak with the family members.

Speaking with reporters following the hearing, a few of the relatives expressed their desire for Malaysia Airlines to get in touch with them directly and offer them psychological support in addition to the resumed search and rescue operations.

Many claimed that these criteria had greater significance than the financial reward.

A different set of family members pleaded with the Malaysian government in March to permit the American seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity to launch a fresh search for the missing aircraft.

(With agency inputs)
Two Chinese fighter planes were observed orbiting a Philippine aircraft engaging in South China Sea patrols with Australia but did not create any incident, Manila said on Sunday.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry stated on Monday that it was unaware of the circumstances.

I want to emphasise that if Chinas territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests are threatened or challenged, China will definitely have a firm response, the spokespersons office said in a faxed message to Reuters.

The forces of the Philippines and Australia conducted a second day of sea and air drills in the Southeast Asian countrys exclusive economic zone, only days after Manila conducted patrols with the United States, as Pacific nations remain wary of an increasingly aggressive China.

China claims practically the entire South China Sea, which serves as a conduit for more than $3 trillion in annual ship-borne commerce, including areas claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled that Chinas claims lacked legal foundation.

The Philippines is stepping up attempts to resist what it calls Chinas aggressive activities in the South China Sea, which has also become a hotspot for tensions between China and the United States over naval operations.

China has accused the Philippines of enlisting foreign forces to patrol the South China Sea and stirring up trouble.

It was confirmed as per reports received that two Chinese fighter jets were monitored orbiting the Philippines A-29B Super Tucano at the vicinity of Hubo Reef in the West Philippine Sea, Xerxes Trinidad, chief of the Philippine militarys public affairs office said.

The West Philippine Sea is Manilas term for waters in the South China Sea that fall within its exclusive economic zone.

The Chinese aircraft continued on its flight route without further incident, Trinidad said.

Philippine military chief Romeo Brawner said the nation was well its rights to conduct joint patrols with allies to promote the rule-based international order.

Participating in the joint drills were two Philippine navy vessels and five Philippine surveillance aircraft, and Australias frigate Toowoomba and P8-A maritime surveillance aircraft.
Donald Trump has vowed to escalate immigration crackdown if he returns to the White House, ruling out the possibility of reinstating the controversial policy of family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border. However, key allies who could potentially join a new Trump administration as immigration enforcers are wary.

Five former Trump officials and conservative allies, as reported by Reuters, expressed concerns about implementing a new version of the 2018 zero tolerance policy that resulted in the separation of thousands of children from their parents at the southwest border. They fear a recurrence of the widespread public backlash provoked by the original policy.

As the leading candidate for the Republican Partys 2024 presidential nomination, Trump has emphasized border security as a major theme of his campaign. He is committed to reinstating the hardline policies from his 2017-2021 presidency and implementing new measures to further restrict both legal and illegal immigration.

The family separation that resulted from the zero-tolerance caused an uproar in the country, said Tom Homan, a former Trump immigration official who could join a second administration. The best way to do it, rather than deal with all that chaos that comes with it, is to keep them in a residential centre together and have their hearings together.

Trump touted the efficacy of family separations during a CNN town hall in May and declined to rule out reinstating them. He defended them again in an interview with Spanish-language television channel Univision that aired on Nov. 9.

It stopped people from coming by the hundreds of thousands because when they hear family separation, they say, Well, we better not go. And they didnt go, he said.

Trumps hardline position has been seized upon by Democratic President Joe Bidens re-election campaign, which says it is an example of the extreme policies the Republican would pursue if he returned to the White House.

Civil rights activists are alarmed by Trumps comments and are ready to return to court to fight any new version of the policy, they told Reuters.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

LOT OF WAYS TO DO THIS

How to handle the thousands of families crossing the southwest border illegally has bedevilled successive Republican and Democratic administrations. Biden has struggled with record numbers of migrants crossing the border illegally since he took office, including a recent rise in families.

The Trump administration launched its zero tolerance policy in April 2018 as a way to discourage illegal border crossings, including by families. Under the policy, parents were charged with immigration crimes and sent to jails while children were placed in shelters.

Trump ended it in June 2018 amid the backlash and instead said he would seek to detain families together. But family detention remains limited to 20 days under a 2015 court order, typically not enough time to process family asylum claims and potentially deport them.

With some opinion polling showing battleground state voters favouring Trump over Biden on immigration issues, Bidens campaign is reminding them about Trumps separation policy, which was unpopular among most Americans, including some Republicans.

Trump has been unapologetically open about the extreme, inhumane, and fundamentally un-American policies that he would enact, Biden campaign manager Julie Rodriguez said on a Nov. 18 press call before a Trump border visit.

Among the Trump actions that Rodriguez highlighted was family separation, calling it a cruel policy of ripping babies from their mothers and fathers arms.

Homan said he was not sure what he would do if Trump asked him to revive family separation. I would suggest there are a lot of ways to do this, he said. Id have to cross that bridge when we get to it. He also said that it would need more safeguards in place to make sure these families get reunited quickly.

Chad Wolf, Trumps former acting homeland chief and current executive director of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank, said all options need to be on the table when asked about revisiting family separations.

But Wolf said the U.S. public clearly did not support it and that other actions could achieve the same goal.

ACTIVISTS READY LEGAL FIGHT

If Trump did implement a family separation policy, he would likely face legal challenges. Days after he ended zero tolerance in 2018, a federal judge ordered the administration to reunite the families in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The effort is still ongoing due to a lack of record-keeping.

Another hurdle for Trump could be a settlement agreement signed by the Biden administration that would bar similar separations for eight years.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said the group would go to court to enforce the prohibition if separations resumed.

We take very seriously the recent talk about it still being on the table and will be prepared if it happens again, he said.

Mark Morgan, a top border official under Trump, said he does not believe a new Trump administration would implement a family separation policy in the way it did the first time.

Morgan  like Homan, Wolf and others  cited Trumps 2019 remain in Mexico policy as a better option. That program forced certain non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. cases and coincided with a drop in border apprehensions, including of families.

Biden moved to end remain in Mexico but Trump has pledged to bring it back if reelected.

With inputs from AP.
Relatives of scores of Chinese passengers who perished when a Malaysia Airlines jet went missing almost ten years ago demanded a new inquiry Monday, as a Beijing court began hearing their latest compensation claim.

The MH370 plane went missing on 8 March 2014, while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, carrying 239 passengers, the majority of whom were Chinese.

According to official broadcaster CCTV, more than 40 families have filed lawsuits against Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, Rolls Royce, and the Allianz insurance firm.

According to Zhang Qihuai, a lawyer reported by CCTV, the families legal concerns centre on compensation and uncovering the facts about the flights disappearance.

Only a few bits of wreckage were recovered from a 120,000-square-kilometer (46,000-square-mile) search zone in the Indian Ocean.

The greatest aviation operation in history, spearheaded by Australia, was called off in January 2017.

The families issued an open letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Monday, requesting a new search for the missing plane on a No find, No fee premise.

Our family members hope to search for flight MH370 on our own, the letter said, adding family members are willing to invest their own money or cooperate with capable individuals and companies.

They asked for effective communication with the Malaysian government to kick off a new hunt.

Outside the court, many relatives were on the verge of tears as they recounted stories of their loved ones, some holding pieces of paper saying restart the search and open, fair, impartial.

Bao Lanfang lost her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter in the disaster, and her husband died last year.

Personally, I do not care about the monetary compensation, the 71-year-old told the media.

What I want is that Malaysia Airlines gives me the truth. What happened to our loved ones?

What I want now is for them to resume the search and the investigation.

Malaysias transport ministry and Malaysia Airlines both declined to comment on the hearings.

Unbearable

It is unclear what jurisdiction the Chinese court has to enforce the claims for compensation against the defendants.

Each family filed for civil compensation of between 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) and 80 million yuan ($11.2 million), as well as moral damages of 30 million yuan ($4.2 million) to 40 million yuan ($5.6 million), CCTV reported.

The families of more than 110 other passengers have already reached a settlement with the defendants and received between 2.5 million and 3 million yuan, the broadcaster said.

Gathering outside the court on Monday despite freezing temperatures, relatives were keen to talk to journalists.

Jiang Hui, whose mother was on flight MH370, said the opening of the hearing was very comforting, and it is a turning point.

The survival of the relatives during these 10 years, the deterioration of their living conditions This really makes us very sad. So I hope that the legal relief can be realised as soon as possible. It is not difficult, he said.

Ten years have really been unbearable for us, added Jiang.

The hearing was not listed on the courts public website, but Jiang wrote on social media this month the court hearings would continue until mid-December.

Unsolved mystery

A US exploration firm launched a private hunt for MH370 in 2018, but it ended after several months of scouring the seabed without success.

The disappearance of the plane has long been the subject of a host of theories  ranging from the credible to outlandish  including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue.

In 2016, Malaysian officials revealed the pilot had plotted a path over the Indian Ocean on a home flight simulator but stressed this did not prove he deliberately crashed the plane.

A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually.

But they failed to come up with any firm conclusions, leaving relatives angry and disappointed.
In a disturbing turn of events at Hillcrest High School in New York City, four students have been arrested for their alleged involvement in assaulting school cops who were attempting to quell a fight.

This incident unfolded less than a week before the school witnessed a rampage by a group of students protesting a teachers attendance at a pro-Israel rally.

The shocking incident, captured on video and later verified by the NYPD, occurred on November 15 during a brawl involving three students against two others. School safety agents stepped in to break up the fight but found themselves becoming targets, leading to injuries for three NYPD school officers during the melee.

Remember the riot at Hillcrest High School in Queens after a teacher attended a pro-Israel rally? This is the same school, one week prior. Don't let the administration cover it up.pic.twitter.com/0cU9KBQW9Y  Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) November 27, 2023

The arrested students, two 15-year-old boys, and two 16-year-old boys, were issued juvenile reports rather than facing misdemeanor or felony charges, reflecting their young age. Footage shared by Queens Councilwoman Vickie Paladino depicted a student in a gray sweatshirt breaking away from a police officers grip and assaulting another student.

The NYPD, in a statement, emphasized a zero-tolerance policy for violence in schools, underscoring the severity of the incident. Meanwhile, an email inquiry to the NYC Department of Education remained unanswered as of late Sunday.

This troubling event comes on the heels of a previous report over the weekend, where a teacher at Hillcrest was forced to seek refuge in a locked office as hundreds of students flooded the hallways.

The students, chanting, jumping, shouting, and waving Palestinian flags and banners, were reacting to the teachers attendance at a pro-Israel rally the previous month. The NYPD dispatched dozens of officers to restore order, eventually corralling the students back into classrooms after a tumultuous couple of hours.

Mayor Eric Adams denounced the vile show of antisemitism at Hillcrest, while the citys Department of Education deemed the actions against the teacher completely unacceptable. The incidents at Hillcrest highlight the need for a comprehensive examination of the schools security and disciplinary measures to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment for all students.

(with inputs from agencies)
Indias High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma has said that India was absolutely and decidedly not involved in the killing of of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar  but has so far refused to cooperate with any investigation because India was convicted without an investigation being concluded.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Verma, however, told CTV News  Canadas largest privately owned television network  that relations between the two countries are better than they were two months ago.

The relationship between Canada and India was strained after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in September that Indian operatives may have had potential involvement in the 18 June murder of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Trudeaus allegations as absurd and motivated.

In the immediate aftermath, both countries expelled each others diplomats. India also suspended its visa services to Canada initially, but relaxed them for a select group a month later. Last week, India resumed issuing electronic visas for Canadian nationals.

Opening up on the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat and the strip of the diplomatic immunity of dozens of other officials, Verma said the move was retaliatory and based partially on an emotional element.

He said it was also largely for the sake of parity, to have the same number of Canadian diplomats in India as there were Indian diplomats stationed in Canada.

Following this, Canada last month recalled 41 of its diplomats from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity, in an escalation of their dispute over the killing of Nijjar.

Referring to the Sikh separatist movement, Verma said Indias main concern in its relations with Canada is that some Canadian citizens are using Canadian soil to launch attacks on (Indias) sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He added that security concerns for Indian diplomats and personnel stationed in Canada, including himself, stem from that core issue.

Verma said emotions became very high at the moment when questions were posed concerning the timing of the two countries deteriorating ties and the reciprocal expulsion of ambassadors that occurred soon after Trudeaus accusation in the House of Commons.

Since one of our principal diplomats was expelled from here as persona non grata, so yes, we did retaliate on that, Hindustan Time quoted Verma as saying, citing CTV News interview.

Any action will have reaction, and similarly, we declared persona non grata on one of the Canadian diplomats who was at the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, and others are in a process of evaluation, added Verma.

On why having parity in terms of the number of diplomats did not seem to be an issue prior to September, Verma said Trudeaus allegations impacted the Indian governments assessment.

The emotions became very high once the statements were made from Ottawa, he said, adding, And a bit of emotional elements will be there, and the decisions are taken.

The events which unfolded after the (prime ministers) statements were made, we did not feel it was very friendly, said Verma.

Verma, however, said that Canada and India are working on more dialogue to sort out how to facilitate a better diplomatic presence in both countries.

When asked if he sees a path to some form of solution and improved relations between the two countries, Verma replied, of course.

When asked why India was not cooperating with Canada in the investigation, Verma said, even without an investigation being concluded, India was convicted.

Is that the rule of law? asked Verma.

When asked how India was convicted, Verma said, Because India was asked to cooperate. And if you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks us to cooperate which means that you have already been convicted, and you better cooperate. So we took it in a very different interpretation.

But we always said that if there is anything specific and relevant, and communicated to us, we will look into it. And that had been said from day one. So we have never said, of course, we have not used the word cooperate, because we feel thats humiliating. But we have always said, that gives us something specific and relevant, and well look into it, he added.

We are a country of rule of law, and all the freedoms and everything has been given in the Indian Constitution, which was in 1950, when we adopted our Constitution. So they are our pillars. (We) will not go beyond that. So, therefore, what I feel is that the space which is available, on some pretext or other to these elements, needs to be evaluated, he said.

Later, when asked whether he is overblowing the risk Sikh separatists pose for domestic political advantage in India, the high commissioner said his government has presented documentation to the Canadian government through a mutually agreed channel to prove Sikh separatists living in Canada are engaging in criminal activity in both countries.

These are red corner notices, which went through the Interpol. And by the way, one of the recording notices was for Mr Nijjar, who was shot down. So we have shared all these things and Interpol certainly will not forward anything without the evidence being submitted. So we have given all the documentation that we had and I hope to hear back from Canada soon.

So in India, there is no traction. But we are treating these guys like terrorists, not as separatists, he said.

They are terrorists because they are raising their funds in Canada, sending it across to the gangsters and gangs in India, who are doing illegal activities in India, he said, adding, So our main concern is not the separatism, but they being terrorists.

When suggested that Sikh separatists holding a referendum in Canada is not hate speech, Verma said, See, the referendum, if you do it for Canada domestically, Im fine. How are you allowing your citizens to do a referendum to bifurcate India?

..So if they are using Canadian soil to challenge the territorial integrity of India, which international law in the world will support that? he asked.

Responding to a question about India resuming the electronic visa services for Canadians after suspending all visa services for nearly two months, the Indian envoy said, We did a continuous evaluation of the situation. And during the last evaluation, we came to the conclusion that the security situation is relatively better than what it used to be when we suspended the visa services. And therefore we decided to resume e-visa services.

With inputs from agencies
India is on the verge of finalising a historic agreement to purchase 31 MQ-9B Predator armed drones from the United States in a government-to-government deal, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The deal is expected to be sealed by March, pending clearance from the US Congress, which is anticipated in the coming weeks.

Negotiations between American and Indian government officials are entering their final stages following Indias submission of a Letter of Request (LoR) for the acquisition of drones from US defence giant General Atomics (GA), added officials.

The primary objective behind Indias procurement of these long-endurance hunter-killer drones is to enhance the surveillance capabilities of its armed forces, particularly along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) with China. Although the final cost of the drones is yet to be determined, estimates suggest that the procurement could amount to approximately $ 3 billion.

The people cited above said New Delhi and Washington will depute their respective teams to firm up the deal including finalising the cost and other nitty-gritty.

The aim is to seal the deal by March next year, they said.

As part of the laid down process, the agreement will be between the Indian government and American authorities and the Pentagon will convey to General Atomics about the requirement of the Indian armed forces, they added.

It is understood that the issue of Indias proposed procurement of the drones figured during US Defence Secretary Lloyd J Austins talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi earlier this month.

Asked when the procurement will be finalised, Austin said at a media briefing that it will be announced at the right time.

Well, again, you know, weve  at the right time, well announce the (deal). I think the government, the officials in the government are doing everything necessary to make sure that that capability you (India) get that capability as quickly as possible, he said.

In June, both sides also reached an agreement under which American aerospace major General Electric will partner with Hindustan Aeronautics Lts to produce jet engines for Indian military aircraft in India.

The Sea Guardian drones are being procured for the three services as they can carry out a variety of roles, including maritime surveillance, anti-submarine warfare and over-the-horizon targeting.

While the Navy will get 15 Sea Guardian drones, the Indian Air Force and the Army will each get eight Sky Guardian drones.

The high-altitude long-endurance drones are capable of remaining airborne for over 35 hours and can carry four Hellfire missiles and around 450 kgs of bombs.

In 2020, the Indian Navy had taken on lease two MQ-9B Sea Guardian drones from General Atomics for a period of one year for surveillance in the Indian Ocean. The lease period has been extended subsequently.

With inputs from agencies
In Israels struggle against the financing of terrorist organisations backed by Iran, ranging from Hezbollah to Hamas, a new battleground has emerged: the rapidly expanding Tron cryptocurrency network.

According to interviews with seven financial crime experts and blockchain investigations specialists, Tron has surpassed its larger rival Bitcoin as a platform for cryptocurrency transfers linked to groups that have been designated as terror organisations by Israel, the US, and other nations. Tron is also faster and less expensive than Bitcoin.

Over 143 Tron wallets that it thought were linked to a designated terrorist organisation or used for a severe terror crime, Israels National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF), which is in charge of making these seizures, froze them between July 2021 and October 2023, according to a Reuters analysis.

Approximately 1,200 people were murdered in Hamass strikes against Israel on October 7. Approximately 14,000 people have been murdered in Israels ensuing shelling and ground assault of Gaza. Israel has responded by intensifying its investigation into Hamas financial sources.

The 87 Tron that Israel has seized so far this year account for over two thirds of the total. Of these, 39 wallets were claimed by Israel in June to be possessed by Hezbollah in Lebanon, and another 26 were claimed by the Hamas affiliate Palestinian Islamic Jihad in July, after the group joined the attack on Israel from Gaza.

56 Tron wallets that NBCTF claimed were tied to Hamas were also seized; in March of last year, 46 of these wallets were linked to Dubai Co. For Exchange, a lone money exchange business with its headquarters in Gaza.

A few weeks after the attack by Hamas, Israel declared that it had frozen about 600 cryptocurrency accounts linked to Dubai Co., the largest known seizure of cryptocurrency accounts to date, without disclosing which cryptocurrency networks or coins were involved.

(With agency inputs)
The Israeli government on Monday said that it had put Hamas on notice, indicating the possibility of extending the truce in the Gaza Strip.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy stated that they aim to secure an additional 50 hostages, beyond those already released, as part of the effort to bring everyone home.

The terms of the truce agreement pausing the fighting in the Gaza Strip say it can be extended beyond its initial four-day term as long as 10 hostages are released for each extra day, with three times as many Palestinians freed in return, reported AFP.

Hamas has expressed a willingness to extend the truce, with indications that the group has informed mediators of their openness to prolonging it by two to four days.

The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners in that time, the source close to the movement said.

The mediation efforts are being carried out by Qatar and Egypt. However, there appears to be a disagreement between the two sides regarding the mechanism of the extension.

The mediators are making intensive efforts to secure this extension of the truce and ceasefire for several days.

Israeli spokesman Levy added that the campaign to end Hamas will resume immediately with the end of the hostages release pause.

He added: It is of course Israeli military pressure that has brought Hamas to bear to agree to release those hostages. We have had it begging for a breather because it has been clobbered over the last months and that pressure will continue until we get everyone home.

With inputs from agencies
Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, as stated by the Qatari government.

This development increases the likelihood of an extended pause in their intense and destructive war.

The announcement, disclosed by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary in a post on X, was declared on the concluding day of the initial four-day truce.

The announcement preceded the anticipated fourth swap of hostages for prisoners on the same day. Qatar, alongside the United States and Egypt, has played a crucial role as a mediator in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Israel has previously stated that it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Following the Qatari announcement, Hamas confirmed its agreement to a two-day extension under the same terms.

Despite this extension, Israel maintains its commitment to crushing Hamas military capabilities and terminating its 16-year rule over Gaza since the October 7 attack into southern Israel.

This commitment could lead to an expansion of the ground offensive from the devastated northern Gaza to the south, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians seek refuge in United Nations shelters amid challenging conditions, despite increased aid deliveries during the truce.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy stated that Israel would resume operations with full force once the current deal expires if Hamas does not agree to additional hostage releases. The ultimate goal is to eliminate the group and secure the release of the remaining captives.

So far, 58 hostages have been released during the current truce, including 39 Israelis. Before the truce, four hostages were freed, another rescued and two were found dead inside Gaza, reported AP.

After weeks of national trauma over the around 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and the militants are likely to make much greater demands for their release.

With inputs from agencies
After the truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours on Monday, the Palestinian militant group, US, Qatar, Egypt and France are pressing for the four-day truce to be extended.

In a statement, the Palestinian terror group said it was hoping to extend the temporary ceasefire, which is currently scheduled to end on Monday night, in order to secure the release of more Palestinian security prisoners jailed by Israel.

The statement published by Hamas appeared to be the first time that Gazas ruling terror group has formally expressed its desire to extend the truce, which has allowed for the first break in the intense fighting since the outbreak of war.

Earlier Sunday, a Hamas source told AFP that the terror group was interested in extending the truce for 2-4 days, indicating that 20-40 more hostages may be freed this week.

The US also expressed hope that the truce will be extended for several more days, but noted that it was up to Hamas to ensure that it does, as Israel has already set out the conditions for doing so.

Thats my goal, thats our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

He said he would like the fighting to be paused for as long as prisoners keep coming out.

I get a sense that all the players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza, he added.

One potential complicating factor is the fact that some hostages are believed to be held by groups other than Hamas.

Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said that efforts to extend a temporary truce depends on Hamas locating dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza by civilians and gangs.

Al-Thani told the Financial Times that more than 40 other women and children were being kept captive in Gaza who were not believed to be held by Hamas. He said the truce could be extended if Hamas was able to use the pause in the conflict to locate those hostages.

If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension, Sheikh Mohammed said. We dont yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes (of the pause) is they (Hamas) will have time to search for the rest of the missing people, he added.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna told BFMTV on Sunday, It would be good, helpful and necessary to extend the truce until all hostages, who include French nationals, are freed.

Egypt, which controls the Rafah border crossing through which vital aid has resumed passing into the Gaza Strip under the truce accord, also said it had received positive signals from all parties over a possible extension of that deal.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypts State Information Service (SIS), said in a statement Cairo was holding extensive talks with all parties to reach an agreement which would mean the release of more detainees in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Under the truce, 50 hostages held by the militants were to be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. A built-in mechanism extends it if at least 10 Israeli captives are released each extra day.

The deal also allows for both sides to agree to extend the truce by an additional day for every 10 hostages released after the initial 50, for a maximum of 100. In return, Israel will release up more security inmates by a ratio of three for every hostage.

Israel has faced mounting pressure to extend the pause mediated by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, though its leaders have been keen to dismiss any suggestions of a lasting halt to the offensive.

We continue until the end  until victory, Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday, on the first visit by an Israeli premier since 2005.

Three successive days of hostage releases have buoyed spirits in Israel, with tearful reunions weeks after Hamas militants poured across the border on 7 October, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Gazas Hamas government.

Thus far, 39 Israeli hostages and 117 Palestinian prisoners have been released as part of the deal, not including an Israeli-Russian man and 19 foreign nationals freed from Gaza separately from the Israel-Hamas agreement.

With inputs from agencies
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday acknowledged that Ukraine has caused significant losses to Russia, despite being unable to reclaim captured territory.

Stoltenberg emphasised that while the frontline has remained static, heavy fighting has led to substantial casualties on the Russian side. Despite the conflict being characterised as a stalemate by Ukraines top general, Stoltenberg highlighted that Ukrainian forces have already retaken 50 per cent of the territory seized by Russia during its full-scale invasion, reported AFP.

He asserted that this is a significant achievement for Ukraine, while noting that Russia is experiencing weakness politically, economically, and militarily.

Concerns have arisen over the future of military support from the United States, but Stoltenberg pointed to recent commitments of military assistance from Germany and the Netherlands amounting to 10 billion euros ($11 billion) as evidence of ongoing Western support.

Stoltenberg downplayed fears that a reduction in weapons deliveries would force Ukraine into premature negotiations with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He emphasised that Ukraine should decide acceptable ways to end the war, and NATOs responsibility is to support Ukraine in liberating land and positioning them favorably for potential negotiations.

NATO foreign ministers, meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, are expected to reassure Kyiv of their support despite distractions from Israels conflict with Hamas.

With inputs from agencies
The official opening of the school and laboratory buildings of Shree Gautam Buddha Secondary School, Buddhabhumi Municipality, Kapilvastu District, which were constructed with financial help from the Government of India amounting to 33.23 million Nepalese Rupees (NRs) under the Nepal-India Development Cooperation programme, took place on Monday.

Mayor Keshav Kumar Shrestha of Buddhabhumi Municipality, Chief of District Coordination Committee Kapilvastu Baburam Acharya, and Deputy Chief of Mission Prasanna Shrivastava of the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu celebrated the inaugural ceremony. According to a news release, social workers, teachers, parents, students, government representatives, and members of the school administration were also present on this particular occasion.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepali counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba had laid the foundation stone for the India International Centre for Buddhist Culture and Heritage at the Lumbini Monastic Zone in May last year.

The Nepal-India Development Cooperation grant from the Indian government was used to create a three-story lab building and a double-story school building, as well as to purchase lab equipment and furnishings.

Under an agreement between the governments of India and Nepal, the project was taken up as a High Impact Community Development Project (HICDP), formerly known as Small Development Projects. The press announcement added that the District Coordination Committee, Kapilvastu, was responsible for carrying out this initiative.

In a statement, Prasanna Shrivastava, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of India, Kathmandu highlighted that the project is an important part of the very robust development partnership between India and Nepal, which has made significant progress in recent years, spanning various priority sectors of the Government of Nepal and its people.

He expressed the continued commitment of the Government of India to continue to bolster the development partnership as per the priorities of the Government of Nepal, for the benefit of the peoples of both countries.

In 1978, Shree Gautam Buddha Secondary School was founded as a community-based school. It has been authorised by the Ministry of Education and is associated with the National Examination Board.

The educational programmes offered by this school range from Play Group to 10 2 Level. There are currently approximately 1200 kids enrolled in this school, with girls making up roughly 52% of the student body, the statement continued.

India has undertaken approximately 550 HICDPs in Nepal across a range of sectors since 2003, and 488 of those projects have been completed. Out of these, 60 projectsfive of which are in Kapilvastuare spread throughout several sectors in Lumbini province.

In addition, on the eve of Indias Republic Day and Independence Day, the Indian government sent 234 school buses and 974 ambulances to different hospitals, health posts, and educational institutions in Nepal. The statement further stated that 160 ambulances and 35 school buses, including 18 ambulances and 4 school buses supplied in Kapilvastu District, have been handed to Lumbini Province.

India and Nepal share extensive and multisectoral cooperation as close neighbours.

The execution of HICDPs is evidence of Indias ongoing support for Nepals governments attempts to improve the lives of its citizens by expanding field-priority infrastructure, particularly in the countrys educational system.

(With agency inputs)
North Korea issued a warning Monday saying that it will deploy new weapons and reinforce its armed forces along the border with South Korea as officials in Seoul claimed that Russia had helped Pyongyang carry out a satellite launch.

North Koreas foreign ministry said the launch of a reconnaissance satellite last week was prompted by the need to monitor the United States and its allies, state media KCNA reported.

It is a legal and just way to exercise its right to defend itself and thoroughly respond to and precisely monitor the serious military action by the U.S. and its followers, the KCNA report said.

Nuclear-armed North Korea launched the satellite on Tuesday, saying it successfully entered orbit and was transmitting photographs, but South Korean defence officials and analysts said its capabilities have not been independently verified.

The launch was North Koreas first known weapons firing in more than two months. It followed South Koreas announcement earlier Wednesday that it decided to partially suspend an inter-Korean agreement and resume flying surveillance aircraft along the border in reaction to the Norths satellite launch. North Korea Thursday lambasted the South Korean move, saying itll deploy more powerful and new weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure.

South Korea, the U.S. and Japan have strongly condemned the Norths satellite launch on Tuesday night because they believe it was meant to improve the countrys missile technology as well as establish a space-based surveillance system. U.N. Security Council resolutions prohibit any satellite liftoffs by North Korea, viewing them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology. The North says it has a sovereign right to launch satellites.

Citing South Korean military officials, Yonhap news reported that North Korean soldiers had been observed bringing back heavy weapons into the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) border and setting up guard posts that the two countries demolished in the wake of the de-escalation agreement. South Korea estimates the North had about 160 guard posts along the DMZ and the South had 60. Each side demolished 11 of them after the military deal was signed in 2018. A South Korean defence ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the report.

Yonhap reported that heavily armed North Korean soldiers had been spotted restoring damaged guard posts in several locations since Friday, citing photographs from cameras in the DMZ. The United States had called an unscheduled meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Monday to discuss the Norths satellite launch.

On Nov. 22, nine members of the Security Council joined the United States in a statement condemning the Norths satellite launch for using ballistic missile technology, calling it a violation of multiple Security Council resolutions. North Koreas foreign ministry said the statement only showed how dysfunctional the Security Council had become, with some member states blindly following the United States in issuing meaningless statements.

Two of the veto-wielding permanent members, China and Russia, have refused to join in any new Security Council sanctions against Pyongyang despite its continued testing of increasingly powerful ballistic missiles. They did not join in the most recent statement last week.

With inputs from agencies.
Pakistani police said on Monday that they are looking into the death of an 18-year-old woman who was the latest victim of a so-called honour killing. Village elders had demanded her death because the woman had been featured in a photo posted on social media.

According to the police, the woman was killed after a jirga, or council of elders, gave the order to kill her and her friend, who was also shown in the photo. According to the police, some of the suspects were the deceased womans relatives.

Masood Khan, deputy superintendent of police in the Kolai-Palas district in the northwest Pakistani mountains close to the Afghan border, stated that some people had uploaded pictures of the two girls.

They shot dead one of them while police rescued the second one, he said, referring to villagers.

Every year, hundreds of women in Muslim Pakistan are victims of honour killings, carried out by relatives professing to be acting in defence of a familys honour, rights group say, often in deeply conservative rural areas.

The caretaker chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Syed Irshad Hussain Shah, said he had ordered police to arrest those responsible.

We are investigating, Khan said, adding that male relatives of the young woman were believed to be involved in the killing. The second woman had been returned to her family after a judge investigated her safety, he said.

Public images of women are considered taboo in the area, Khan said.

Reuters was not able to immediately reach the womens families or elders involved in the gathering by telephone for comment.

Such killings are often carried out over perceived offences such as elopement, fraternization with men outside marriage or other infractions of religious and cultural values on female modesty, despite campaigns by rights groups and tighter laws.

Last year, an appeals court acquitted the brother of a social media star, Qandeel Baloch, of her murder, a 2016 killing that sparked national outrage and changes in laws covering honour killings.

(with inputs from agencies)
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy commended Ukraines military for repelling Russian strikes and its emergency services for dealing with the aftermath of terrible winter weather, which he claimed had rendered roughly 400 villages in ten districts powerless.

Zelenskyy stated in his nightly video message that unrelenting, fierce combat were still taking on in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Kharkiv, and that extremely challenging weather was hitting areas from Kyiv region in the north to Odesa in the south.

Oleg Kryuchkov, a top Moscow-installed official in Russian-controlled territory, claimed almost 500,000 people were without electricity in Crimea, the peninsula Russia took in 2014.

The Russian-installed heads of Crimea, of the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, and of the part of Kherson region under Moscows control, declared days off for Monday amid reports of high winds, flooded homes and snowbound roads, and damaged buildings.

Ukraines border service said Moldova had temporarily suspended vehicle access to its territory from two crossing points in Odesa region. Moldovan authorities also asked local schools to consider closing due to snowfall and high winds.

Odesa Mayor Henadii Trukhanov urged residents of his Black Sea port to stay at home. Local authorities warned that water supplies were being interrupted by power cuts that stopped pumps from working and urged people to preserve supplies.

Power grid operator Ukrenergo shared a photograph of a transmission tower in Odesa region whose leg had snapped in two due to high winds, adding, We are doing everything possible to overcome the consequences of the bad weather as soon as possible and restore light to every home.
The Rajasthan health department has issued an advisory to district hospitals and medical colleges in the state to increase surveillance in view of a surge in respiratory illnesses in children in northern China.

In a communication to chief medical health officers of districts and principals of medical colleges, the department directed them to conduct effective surveillance in all government and private hospitals.

Superintendent of Sawai Man Singh Hospital in Jaipur Dr Achal Sharma said that all arrangements were in place in the state to deal with any eventuality.

SMS Hospital is the largest state-run hospital in Rajasthan.

We have a team of experts and the hospital is fully prepared, Sharma said.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry had advised states to immediately review public health and hospital preparedness such as availability of beds, drugs and vaccines for influenza, medical oxygen, antibiotics, personal protective equipment, testing kits and reagents, functionality of oxygen plants and ventilators, and infection control practices.

In a statement on Sunday, the ministry said that recently, information shared by the WHO has indicated an increase in respiratory illnesses in northern parts of China. This is predominantly attributed to usual causes such as influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia and SARS-CoV-2.

The Government of India is closely monitoring the situation and indicated that there is no need for any alarm, it had stated.
Web safety campaigners in the UK have alerted the fact that schoolchildren are abusing the Artificial Intelligence (AI) by fabricating and disseminating fake nudes of their classmates.

An AI tool enables its users to create several deep fakes just by uploading a single image. Most of these AI tools are free.

Blackmail is a concern that has led the UK Safer Internet Centre to receive reports from schools about students using them against other students.

It called on education authorities to act quickly because of concerns that the trend might soon overwhelm schools.

In the UK, educators are already required to advise students that it is currently against the law to share deepfake naked photos, with penalties of up to two years in prison.

In a report, the director of UKSIC, David Wright, was quoted saying that he was not shocked to hear from schools that students were abusing the AI tools.

Even though the number of cases is currently low, action must be taken now to prevent schools from being overburdened and the issue from getting worse, he continued.

As per reports, seven students, as young as eleven, were recently taken into custody by Spanish police on suspicion of attempting to blackmail girls by sending them AI-generated nude photos.

Additionally, it was discovered that a group of boys in the US had shared pornographic photos of female classmates created by AI.

Part of UKSIC, the Internet Watch Foundation, claimed that the content has become so realistic that even their highly skilled analysts are having difficulty identifying the fakes.
An army spokesman stated on Monday that twenty persons, including thirteen soldiers, were murdered in the gunmans attack on a military barracks and other sites in Sierra Leone on Sunday.

When the attackers struck a prison, a police station, and barracks early on Sunday morning, shooting erupted around the nations capital, Freetown, putting the West African nation into a state of terror.

Later, the administration claimed that renegade soldiers had been resisted and thus was to blame for the attack.

In a speech on Sunday, President Julius Maada Bio stated that the majority of the attacks commanders had been taken into custody and that attempts were on to capture the other ones. He indicated that an investigation has been started.

Colonel Issa Bangura, an Army spokesperson, told news agency Reuters that three attackers, a police officer, a civilian, and a private security employee were among the other 20 fatalities. He stated there were three arrests and eight injuries.

Shops and businesses reopened in Freetown on Monday afternoon, after the government lowered the curfew from an all-day one to a midnight one that ran from 2100-0600 GMT.

After Bio was re-elected in June, a move that was questioned by the US and the EU as well as rejected by the leading opposition candidate, tensions have arisen in Sierra Leone, a country still rebuilding from a civil conflict that claimed over 50,000 lives between 1991 and 2002.

During anti-government demonstrations in August 2022, at least 21 people and six police personnel lost their lives.

On Sunday, the gunmen also freed prisoners from the primary prison located on Pademba Road. On Monday, residents of the community went about their daily lives while Bios Chief Minister David Moinina Sengeh paid them a visit.

(With agency inputs)
Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio said the majority of the leaders of an earlier Sunday attack on a military barracks in the capital Freetown had been apprehended, adding that security operations and an inquiry were underway.

We will ensure that those responsible are held accountable, Bio said on national television.

As your commander-in-chief, I want to assure everybody who is resident in Sierra Leone that we have overcome this challenge, he said, and calm had been restored.

Earlier, the government said security personnel had repulsed renegade soldiers who tried to break into a military armoury in Freetown early Sunday.

A national curfew has been implemented. Assailants fired shots throughout the city as they stormed a jail and a police station.

It was unclear if anyone was killed in the barracks attack or during the shooting in Freetown on Sunday.

Ernest Bai Koroma, the countrys former president, claimed in a statement that a military guard assigned to his apartment in the capital was shot at point blank range, while another was whisked away to an unknown location.

Koroma did not say who shot the guard. He condemned the killing and the attack on the barracks.

I am deeply concerned that once again our beloved nation could be subject to such insecurity, he said.

The West African countrys civil aviation authority urged airlines to reschedule flights after the curfew was declared, while a soldier on its frontier with neighbouring Guinea told Reuters they had been instructed to shut the border.

A Reuters journalist, who earlier witnessed an armed group of men commandeer a police vehicle near the Wilberforce barracks, said streets were mostly empty on Sunday as residents hunkered down.

Well clean this society. We know what we are up to. We are not after any ordinary civilians who should go about their normal business, one of the masked men, who was dressed in military fatigues, said before driving away.

Sierra Leone has been tense since Bio was re-elected in June, a result rejected by the main opposition candidate and questioned by international partners including the United States and the European Union.

In August 2022, at least 21 civilians and six police officers were killed in anti-government protests in Sierra Leone, which is still recovering from a 1991-2002 civil war in which more than 50,000 were killed. Bio said the protests were an attempt to overthrow the government.

In his address to the nation on Sunday night, Bio called on Sierra Leones political and traditional leaders, and civil society to work to preserve peace.

Let us not succumb to fear or division, he said.

Information minister Chernor Bah said earlier on Sunday that security forces were making progress in apprehending those involved in the attack, but gave no further details.

A video on social media showed three men, two in fatigues and one in civilian clothes, with their arms tied behind their backs sitting in a military truck surrounded by soldiers. Reuters has not authenticated the video.

Bah said that major detention centres including the Pademba Road prisons were attacked and inmates released by the unidentified assailants.

It was not immediately clear how many prisoners had broken out of the facility, which a US State Department report said was designed for 324 inmates but held more than 2,000 in 2019.

Videos posted on social media, which were not authenticated by Reuters, showed several people fleeing from the area of the prison, while gunshots could be heard in the background.

The security forces were forced to make a tactical retreat. The prisons were thus overran, said Bah, who had earlier declared a nationwide curfew and called for people to stay indoors.

The Economic Community of West African States condemned what it called an attempt by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb constitutional order in Sierra Leone. The US embassy in Freetown said such actions were not justified.

There have been eight military coups in West and Central Africa since 2020.
Authorities said they were looking for a shooter who shot and wounded three college students of Palestinian heritage in Burlington, Vermont, in what they believe was a hate-motivated assault.

According to Burlington police, a guy with a handgun shot the three victims on a street near the University of Vermont on Saturday evening and then fled.

According to authorities, two of the victims are US citizens, while the third is a lawful US resident. They are all 20 years old. According to police, two of the males were wearing keffiyehs, the characteristic black-and-white checkered scarf of Middle Eastern attire, at the time of the incident.

According to the Institute for Middle East Understanding, a nonprofit pro-Palestinian advocacy organisation, the victims were speaking Arabic when they were attacked, and the perpetrator opened fire on the three men after yelling and harassing them. According to police, he fired four bullets without saying anything.

Since the latest wave of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed erupted in the Middle East on 7 October, there has been an increase in anti-Islamic and anti-Semitic incidents reported across the United States.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement.

I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, Murad added, saying the criminal probe was focused for now on apprehending the suspect.

That there is an indication that this shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling, and this possibility is being prioritized by police, Mayor Miro Weinberger said.

The victims families issued a joint statement earlier in the day urging authorities to investigate the shooting as a hate crime, as did the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a US-based advocacy group.

The surge in anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian sentiment we are experiencing is unprecedented, and this is another example of that hate turning violent, ADC National Executive Director Abed Ayoub said.

The families identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdel Hamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmed, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut. All three are graduates of the Ramallah Friends School, a private Quaker secondary school in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, the families said.

Two of the students were visiting the home of the third students family in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Police said all three remained under medical care on Sunday, two with gunshot wounds in their torsos and one shot in the lower extremities. Two are stable, while one has sustained much more serious injuries, police said.
One of the Israeli hostages, an 84-year-old woman, is said to be unstable and fighting for her life after being released by Hamas on Sunday from Gaza.

The woman, Elma Avraham, released by Hamas on Sunday, was evacuated directly from Gaza to Soroka by helicopter. She apparently has no relatives among the hostages.

Prof. Moti Klein, the head of the trauma unit at Soroka Hospital, said Avraham arrived at the hospital Sunday in a state of partial consciousness. She has been admitted in the intensive care unit of the hospital.

The doctor further said he suspects that Avrahams condition is a result of not having proper medication in Gaza.

She is in critical condition, she is treated in the emergency department after significant medical neglect for the past several weeks while being held by Hamas. She is currently in unstable condition with risks to her life, Dr. Shlomi Codish, CEO of Soroka Medical Center said in a video statement.

On Sunday, Hamas released a group of 17 hostages including 13 Israelis and four foreign nationals.
While campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump claimed that throughout his administration, he was barred from employing the military to quell riots in predominantly Democratic towns and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago crime dens, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, The next time, Im not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and were going to show how bad a job they do, he said. Well, we did that. We dont have to wait any longer.

Trump has not specified how he would utilise the military during a second term, though he and his aides have indicated that they would have broad authority to call up forces. While frequently sending the military within the countrys borders would be a change from history, the former president has already signalled a harsh agenda if re-elected, ranging from mass deportations to travel restrictions placed on certain Muslim-majority nations.

In a series of interviews, military and legal experts suggested that a statute enacted in the countrys infancy would give Trump nearly unlimited power as commander in chief.

The Insurrection Act empowers presidents to call in reserve or active-duty military troops to react to state turmoil, with no judicial review. One of its few constraints is that the president must simply request that the participants disperse.

The principal constraint on the presidents use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents dont want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street, said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. Theres not much really in the law to stay the presidents hand.

A spokesman for Trumps campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about what authority Trump might use to pursue his plans.

Congress passed the act in 1792, just four years after the Constitution was ratified. Nunn said its an amalgamation of different statutes enacted between then and the 1870s, a time when there was little in the way of local law enforcement.

It is a law that in many ways was created for a country that doesnt exist anymore, he said.

It also is one of the most substantial exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military for law enforcement purposes.

Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor.

The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach.

Trump already has suggested he might bring back retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as Trumps national security adviser and twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its Russian influence probe before being pardoned by Trump. Flynn suggested in the aftermath of the 2020 election that Trump could seize voting machines and order the military in some states to help rerun the election.

Attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military for domestic policing would likely elicit pushback from the Pentagon, where the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Gen. Charles Q. Brown. He was one of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs who signed a memo to military personnel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. The memo emphasized the oaths they took and called the events of that day, which were intended to stop certification of Democrat Joe Bidens victory over Trump, sedition and insurrection.

Trump and his party nevertheless retain wide support among those who have served in the military. AP VoteCast, an in-depth survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide, showed that 59 per cent of US military veterans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. In the 2022 midterms, 57 per cent of military veterans supported Republican candidates.

Presidents have issued a total of 40 proclamations invoking the law, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis, Nunn said. Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times  in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington  in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

During the Civil Rights era, Presidents Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower used the law to protect activists and students desegregating schools. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect Black students integrating Central High School after that states governor activated the National Guard to keep the students out.

George H.W. Bush was the last president to use the Insurrection Act, a response to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King in an incident that was videotaped.

Repeated attempts to invoke the act in a new Trump presidency could put pressure on military leaders, who could face consequences for their actions even if done at the direction of the president.

Michael OHanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the question is whether the military is being imaginative enough with the scenarios it has been presenting to future officers. Ambiguity, especially when force is involved, is not something military personnel are comfortable with, he said.

There are a lot of institutional checks and balances in our country that are pretty well-developed legally, and itll make it hard for a president to just do something randomly out of the blue, said OHanlon, who specializes in US defense strategy and the use of military force. But Trump is good at developing a semi-logical train of thought that might lead to a place where theres enough mayhem, theres enough violence and legal murkiness to call in the military.

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, the first graduate of the US Military Academy to represent the congressional district that includes West Point, said he took the oath three times while he was at the school and additional times during his military career. He said there was extensive classroom focus on an officers responsibilities to the Constitution and the people under his or her command.

They really hammer into us the seriousness of the oath and who it was to, and who it wasnt to, he said.

Ryan said he thought it was universally understood, but Jan. 6 was deeply disturbing and a wakeup call for me. Several veterans and active-duty military personnel were charged with crimes in connection with the assault.

While those connections were troubling, he said he thinks those who harbor similar sentiments make up a very small percentage of the military.

William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow unlawful orders. That could create a difficult situation for leaders whose units are called on for domestic policing, since they can face charges for taking unlawful actions.

But there is a big thumb on the scale in favor of the presidents interpretation of whether the order is lawful, Banks said. Youd have a really big row to hoe and you would have a big fuss inside the military if you chose not to follow a presidential order.

Nunn, who has suggested steps to restrict the invocation of the law, said military personnel cannot be ordered to break the law.

Members of the military are legally obliged to disobey an unlawful order. At the same time, that is a lot to ask of the military because they are also obliged to obey orders, he said. And the punishment for disobeying an order that turns out to be lawful is your career is over, and you may well be going to jail for a very long time. The stakes for them are extraordinarily high.
Due to its role as host of the COP28, the United Arab Emirates intended to take advantage of discussions with international governments to close fossil fuel deals.

Leaked documents that the BBC was able to get suggest that ADNOC, the state oil corporation of the United Arab Emirates, was willing to jointly evaluate international LNG (liquefied natural gas) opportunities in Mozambique, Canada, and Australia. These leaked talking points were prepared for a meeting with China.

The briefing notes were created by the UAEs COP28 team for summit president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber ahead of talks with other governments between July and October of this year. Journalists from the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) who collaborated with the British broadcaster were able to secure the leaked documents.

Notes prepared for briefings with Egypt, Germany, and Colombia indicated that ADNOC stands ready to assist each nation in pursuing fossil fuel projects.

According to the documents, the UAE had prepared talking points for discussions on business prospects for state-owned renewable energy company Masdar with 20 nations, including the US, UK, and Germany.

According to the BBC, the obligation of impartiality is the cardinal principle for hosts of the COP28 meeting, which gets underway on Thursday, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Concerns over fossil fuel interests influence at the negotiations in Dubai have been voiced by climate campaigners, who have brought up Jabers position as head of an oil business.

Pope Francis and King Charles III are among the 167 world leaders expected to attend COP28, which runs until December 12.

(With agency inputs)
The iconic British music store HMV marked its return to its original flagship location on Londons Oxford Street last week.

The store, situated at 363 Oxford Street, held the inaugural HMV establishment in 1921, inaugurated by composer Edward Elgar, playing a pivotal role in shaping British popular music and culture.

The Oxford Street sites recent history includes its transformation into an American candy store after HMVs closure in 2019.

These candy stores, part of a trend during the pandemic when only essential food shops remained open, have faced criticism from local authorities for questionable business practices and substantial unpaid business taxes, reaching up to millions of pounds, according to AFP.

The reopening, officiated by the pop band Madness last Friday, follows HMVs departure in 2019 when Canadian music entrepreneur Doug Putman rescued the bankrupt firm, closing 27 key locations but preserving 100 stores.

The store, previously vacant or housing American candy offerings, now boasts an extensive collection of 8,000 vinyl albums, 12,000 CDs, music merchandise, and various music technologies. Additionally, it features over 4,000 products from popular franchises like Pokemon, Star Wars, Marvel, and DC, along with a selection of more than 750 T-shirt designs.

The store aims to create a vibrant shopping experience and will include a purpose-built performance floor for hosting live performances by both major and local artists.

With inpus from agencies
Grain thunders onto train waggons, and vehicles whizz around a storage facility in central Ukraine, where a rising number of enterprises have turned as they battle to ship food to people suffering from famine across the world.

More grain is now being unloaded from overcrowded silos and moving to Black Sea ports, where it will transit a budding shipping corridor established after Russia dropped out of a UN-brokered deal this summer that enabled food to move safely from Ukraine during the war.

It was tight, but we kept working  we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraines new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity.

Despite the prospect of assault and floating explosive mines, an increasing number of ships are flocking to Ukraines Black Sea ports and departing loaded with grain, metals, and other goods. It is boosting Ukraines agricultural economy and restoring a crucial source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil, and other inexpensive food goods for portions of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia where local prices have soared and food insecurity is increasing.

We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes, said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyds, whose members make up the worlds largest insurance marketplace.

Ihor Osmachko, general director of Agroprosperis Group, one of Ukraines biggest agricultural producers and exporters, says hes feeling more optimistic than two months ago.

At that time, it was completely unclear how to survive, he said.

Since its first vessel left in mid-September, the business claims to have carried over 300,000 metric tonnes of grain to Egypt, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Tunisia, and Turkey.

Following the termination of the UN-mediated deal, Russia has assaulted Ukraines Black Sea ports and grain infrastructure, destroying enough food to feed over 1 million people for a year, according to the UK government.

The biggest barrier to the new maritime channel is the risk to boats. Russia, whose authorities have not commented on the corridor, warned last summer that ships bound towards Ukraines Black Sea ports would be presumed to be armed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allies had agreed to provide ships to help his country protect commercial vessels in the Black Sea but that more air defense systems were needed.

Air defense is in short supply, he told reporters Saturday at an international food security summit in Kyiv. But whats important is that we have agreements, we have a positive signal and the corridor is operational.

While a deadly missile strike on the port of Odesa hit a Liberian-flagged commercial ship this month, not long afterward, insurers, brokers and banks teamed up with the Ukrainian government to announce affordable coverage for Black Sea grain shipments, offering shippers peace of mind.

Despite such attacks, Ukraine has exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through the new corridor, US Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted Friday. Before the war, it was nearly double that per month, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said.

The way that theyre transporting right now, its certainly much more expensive and time consuming, said Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

But they are getting product out the door, which is better than I think many were anticipating with the grain initiative coming to an end, she said.

Farmers also are facing low prices for their grain, which makes sending trucks to Odesas often-attacked port not worth the risk for one agricultural company near the front line.

Instead, Slavhorod, which farms near the border with Russia in the Sumy province that faces daily shelling, has chosen to store its peas, wheat, soybeans, sunflower and corn in warehouses.

Theres risk in keeping the 3,500-hectare (8,650-acre) farm running at all: Signs warned of explosive mines near where workers were collecting corn in a field 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) from Russia.

But who, if not us? Its the only industry that brings some income to the country, said Slavhorods chief agronomist, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who survived driving over a mine last year.

But its becoming increasingly challenging to maintain morale.

This year, there is less enthusiasm because grain prices are low, the product remains near the border and at any moment it could be destroyed, he said. Its a big risk.

Since the war started, Ukraine has struggled to get its food supplies to countries in need. Even during the yearlong UN deal, when Ukraine shipped nearly 33 million metric tons of food, Russia was accused of slowing down ship inspections required to be done by all sides.

That corridor worked in an unpredictable way for us, said Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association.

Now, the Ukrainian military decides when its safe to sail.

This may incur additional costs, but it is still more predictable than it was before, Horbachov said.

Osmachko of Agroprosperis Group agrees. Before the invasion, the exporter paid $50 per metric ton to ship grain through the Black Sea. Alternatives since the war  including river routes through Europe  cost the company nearly three times more, Osmachko said. Under Ukraines new corridor, the company pays $70 to 80 per metric ton.

Its more efficient, more profitable, he said.

Plus, Ukraines shipping corridor allows vessels to travel less in dangerous areas compared with the grain deal and avoid those often-delayed inspections, said Anderson of Vessel Protect.

Agroprosperis Group no longer needs to pay for ships to wait around. Inspection delays cost the company $30 million in losses during the yearlong grain deal, Osmachko said.

While the delays are gone, there still is military risk, safety risk, war risk. And not all of the insurance companies are ready to take this risk, Osmachko said.

To ease that hurdle, an insurance program launched this month to provide affordable coverage to shippers carrying food from Ukraines Black Sea ports. The partnership between insurance broker Marsh McLennan, Lloyds, two Ukrainian state banks and the government offers up to $50 million for each of two types of coverage protecting against damage and other losses.

In another boost, a humanitarian program was extended Saturday that donates Ukrainian grain to nations facing food shortages with support from countries worldwide. Next, it will bring enough grain to help nearly 400,000 people in Nigeria, Zelenskyy said.

The goal for the new shipping corridor is to export at least 6 million metric tons of grain a month, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said. It has a lot of work to do: Ukraine exported 4.3 million metric tons of grain in October through all routes, the ministry said.

We maintain cautious optimism, based on the fact that we have been fighting before and will continue to fight further, he said.
Armed assailants seized and later let go of a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being apprehended by the United States Navy, officials said.

Soon after, two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen touched down close to a US warship aiding the tanker in the Gulf of Aden, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

The Houthi rebels, who are supported by Iran, were held accountable for the strike by Yemens internationally recognised government, even though the rebels who hold the capital, Sanaa, denied any involvement in either the missile attack or the takeover.

The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the US and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.

The US militarys Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat, Central Command said. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.

The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships, the statement said. The USS Mason  was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were unharmed.

We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Yemens internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that governments forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the US and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiacs oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Parks location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemens coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.

Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days.

The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. In the Central Parks case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict  even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Earlier in November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel off the port city of Hodeida.

However, the Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at US Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the US military said. The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.

With inputs from agencies
Officials say armed terrorists captured and then released a tanker related to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being arrested by the US Navy. Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near a US destroyer assisting the tanker in the Gulf of Aden, upping the stakes amid a wave of ship strikes connected to Israels conflict with Hamas.

Yemens internationally recognised government blamed the strike on the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, however the rebels in possession of the capital, Sanaa, refused to acknowledge the capture or the missile attack.

The assailants captured the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, according to the business, the US and British troops, and private intelligence firm Ambrey.

The US militarys Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat, Central Command said. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.

The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships, the statement said. The USS Mason  was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were unharmed.

We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Yemens internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that governments forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the US and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiacs oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Parks location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemens coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.

Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days.

The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. In the Central Parks case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict  even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Earlier in November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel off the port city of Hodeida.

However, the Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the US launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at US Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the US military said. The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.
The top State Department official for Europe stated on Monday that U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will emphasise this week the NATO alliances continuous support for Ukraine in its struggle with Russia in Europe, even though the Biden administrations attention is still primarily focused on the Gaza conflict.

There are worries that Washington may not be able to continue providing Ukraine with the same degree of military and diplomatic support that it has since Russias full-scale invasion in February 2022, given the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Reporters were also informed by Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James OBrien that Blinken, who left for Brussels on Monday, will emphasise the continued dedication of the US and its partners as he embarks on the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council in Brussels.

The U.S. Congress is debating a request for additional cash for Ukraines defence alongside military aid to Israel and Taiwan, and OBrien stated that the Biden administration was sure that continuing military help for Ukraine had bipartisan support.

When asked about a story published in the German tabloid Bild alleging that Germany and the US were subtly pressuring Kyiv to enter talks with Moscow, OBrien said that Washington did not have such a policy.

According to OBrien, Blinken will also represent the United States at an Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe meeting this week in Skopje, North Macedonia.

(With agency inputs)
A tourist in Bali is facing criticism for engaging in dangerous behavior while riding as a passenger on a motorcycle. In a video shared on social media, the woman can be observed carrying a large suitcase and drinking while seated on the bike, which navigates a busy street. Clad in a black bandeau top, she nonchalantly sips from a bottle.

Local residents and foreigners alike took to social media to condemn the tourist for acting recklessly and neglecting alternative transportation options. Comments included warnings about the risks of riding without a helmet and with exposed skin. One commenter urged the tourist to opt for proper transport, emphasizing that safety is not a costly choice.

While some criticized the womans behavior, others defended her actions, asserting that she was riding safely. The debate on social media ranged from condemning her recklessness to applauding her carefree spirit.

In March, Balis governor, Wayan Koster, announced new regulations restricting foreign travelers from renting motorcycles, requiring them to hire cars from authorized agencies.

However, Indonesias Deputy Tourism Minister, Ni Made Ayu Marthini, clarified in October that there is no strict ban but rather tightened enforcement of existing rules, ensuring safety for both tourists and the local community.

Following three deaths in the region, AKP Bachtiar Arifin, the head of the traffic unit for Buleleng Police, highlighted the need for changes. Hotels providing motorbike rental services are now mandated to take preventive measures, including having locals accompany foreigners.

Increased patrols and law enforcement in areas with a high concentration of foreigners are part of the authorities efforts to enhance safety on Balis roads.
In Bulgaria, a nation historically close to Russia, a highly praised satirical play about President Vladimir Putin and his associates facing a war crimes tribunal is making headlines.

Ukrainian playwright Sasha Denisovas The Hague tells the tale of an orphaned adolescent from Mariupol who fantasises about how Russias top brass would be held accountable for its catastrophic war in Ukraine.

Celebrated guest director Galin Stoev modified the play for a Bulgarian audience, hoping to counter the Balkan nations pro-Kremlin mentality, after it had premiered earlier this year in Poland and the US.

Actress Radena Valkanova from Bulgaria plays Putin in the drama presently playing at Sofias National Theatre. She wears a stylish black suit and red shoes for the role.

Denisova wrote the scene just before the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin due to the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children. If we cant watch the Hague trial in real life, lets watch it in the theatre, Denisova remarked.

Bulgaria, a member of the EU and NATO, has a deep historical relationship with Russia, and many of its people still harbour nostalgia for the Soviet Union and the Russian Empires heyday.

The nostalgia also alludes to Russias role in defending Bulgarias Slavic population under Ottoman domination.

Research indicates that 30% of Bulgarians support Putin, even in the face of Moscows unrelenting aggression against Ukraine. This determination bolstered Stoevs plans to present a eye-opening staging of the play in Sofia.

(With agency inputs)
Architecture professor Sheba Akhtar will discuss the Baroque period of architecture and art during a presentation at the Sugar Land Branch Library on Dec. 2.
Tanzania hails China for collaboration on technical, vocational education

Xinhua) 13:09, November 27, 2023

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese and Tanzanian institutions dealing with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) met on Saturday to strengthen collaboration in providing knowledge and best practices.

Officials from TVET institutions from both countries gathered in Tanzania's commercial hub of Dar es Salaam during the China-Tanzania TVET Collaboration Academic Exchange Seminar on the Development of Occupational Standards.

Franklin Rwezimula, the deputy permanent secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, said China and Tanzania can develop a new generation of skilled professionals that drive innovation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable economic growth through collaboration in TVET provision.

Rwezimula said collaboration with China will not only improve the quality of TVET but will also produce competent human resources and attract foreign investors, including Chinese investments in Tanzania.

John Kondoro, National Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NACTVET) Governing Council chairperson, said through continued investment in TVET, the younger generation can be provided with the necessary skills to enable them to thrive in the changing job market and contribute to sustainable economic growth.

Adolf Rutayuga, the executive secretary of NACTVET, said there are 1,335 TVET institutions in Tanzania, out of which 471 are technical institutions, 809 are vocational institutions and 55 are Folk Development Colleges.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Battle of Hastings



1066



When Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 he was childless and the succession was unclear. His brother-in-law, Harold Gowinson also known as Harold II, was crowned, on 6 January, in Westminster Abbey by either the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Archbishop of York - accounts differ. However there were two rival claimants to the throne - Harald Hardrada or Harald II of Norway and William, Duke of Normandy.



Harald Hardrada set sail from Norway at the beginning of September. Having collected troops from Shetland, Orkney, and Dunfermline in Scotland en route, the force landed at the River Tees and started attacking the British. After Harald Hardrada burnt Scarborough in retaliation for resistance, many of the northern towns surrendered to him. Following the surrender of York, Harold Godwinson arrived and a battle took place at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Harald Hardrada was killed and a victorious Harold Godwinson started to march south with some of his troops, leaving the rest in the north of England.



William, Duke of Normandy, had spent much of the summer preparing to invade England and claim the throne. He set sail at the end of September and landed in Pevensey Bay. News of William's arrival reached Harold Godwinson on his march south. After a week's rest in London, the weary troops marched on to the south coast where a battle took place near Hastings on 14 October. Harold Godwinson was killed, and William was victorious, although some of the English still resisted his claim. However he marched on towards London and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 25 December by the Archbishop of Canterbury. 1066When Edward the Confessor died in January 1066 he was childless and the succession was unclear. His brother-in-law, Harold Gowinson also known as Harold II, was crowned, on 6 January, in Westminster Abbey by either the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Archbishop of York - accounts differ. However there were two rival claimants to the throne - Harald Hardrada or Harald II of Norway and William, Duke of Normandy.Harald Hardrada set sail from Norway at the beginning of September. Having collected troops from Shetland, Orkney, and Dunfermline in Scotland en route, the force landed at the River Tees and started attacking the British. After Harald Hardrada burnt Scarborough in retaliation for resistance, many of the northern towns surrendered to him. Following the surrender of York, Harold Godwinson arrived and a battle took place at Stamford Bridge on 25 September. Harald Hardrada was killed and a victorious Harold Godwinson started to march south with some of his troops, leaving the rest in the north of England.William, Duke of Normandy, had spent much of the summer preparing to invade England and claim the throne. He set sail at the end of September and landed in Pevensey Bay. News of William's arrival reached Harold Godwinson on his march south. After a week's rest in London, the weary troops marched on to the south coast where a battle took place near Hastings on 14 October. Harold Godwinson was killed, and William was victorious, although some of the English still resisted his claim. However he marched on towards London and was crowned in Westminster Abbey on 25 December by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

2. Thomas Becket becomes Archbishop of Canterbury



1162



Thomas Becket was born in London around 1120; he was the son of a merchant who later became a property owner. The young Thomas was educated at Merton Priory and a grammar school in London before spending a year in Paris. He was engaged as a clerk to Theobald, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1142. A year after the accession of Henry II to the throne in 1154, Becket was appointed as Chancellor. He embraced the extravagant lifestyle associated with the court, and became a favourite of the king.



Following the death of Theobald in 1162, Henry decided to appoint Becket as Archbishop of Canterbury. It is reported that Becket warned Henry that it would be the end of their friendship. Henry had been trying to reduce the influence of the Church and Rome on legal matters in England, and he thought that appointing his Chancellor to the highest ecclesiastical post in the land would expedite this. Becket, however, had other ideas. He resigned the post of Chancellor, and embraced the religious life.



In 1170 Henry is reported to have said 'Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?', although accounts of the actual words vary. In response, four of his knights traveled to Canterbury and murdered the Archbishop in the cathedral.

3. Kublai Khan was proclaimed as the fifth Khagan of the Mongol empire



1260



The Mongol Empire covered large parts of Asia in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. At its peak, it reached from the Indian sub-continent to the Arctic, and from the Sea of Japan to eastern Europe. The tile of Khagan was used in the Turkic and Mongolic languages; it is equivalent to an emperor. It can also be translated as Khan of Khans or King of Kings.



Ghenghis Khan was the first Khagan, who ruled from 1206 - 1227. Following Ghenghis' death, his third son, Ogedei Khan (1229 - 1241), became the second Khagan. The third Khagan was Guyuk Khan (1246 - 1248), Ogedei's son. The fourth Khagan was Guyuk's nephew, Mongke Khan (1251 - 1259). Kublai Khan, Mongke's younger brother, was the fifth Khagan, who ruled from 1260 to 1294.



The succession was never straightforward, and usually involved a certain amount of infighting each time, often with a regent ruling for a period between Khagans. After Kublai Khan's death, the empire began to break up, as different people ruled different parts of it.

4. Charles V of France founded a royal library at the Louvre



1368



A fortress at the Louvre in Paris was established in the twelfth century. After Charles V came to power in 1363, he set about converting the building into a royal residence. Part of those conversions involved changing the falconry tower into a library in 1368. The king was a cultured man and a bibliophile. He wanted to promote the French language, and establish Paris as a city of learning.



The first librarian was the king's valet, Claude Mallet, who made a catalogue of the books - 'Inventoire des Livres du Roy nostre Seigneur estans au Chastel du Louvre'. Charles V commissioned new translations of various works, and employed people to produce copies of other works. These were laboriously written and illustrated by hand, since the printing press was yet to be invented. By 1380 the library held over 900 manuscripts and 2500 texts in French. 1368A fortress at the Louvre in Paris was established in the twelfth century. After Charles V came to power in 1363, he set about converting the building into a royal residence. Part of those conversions involved changing the falconry tower into a library in 1368. The king was a cultured man and a bibliophile. He wanted to promote the French language, and establish Paris as a city of learning.The first librarian was the king's valet, Claude Mallet, who made a catalogue of the books - 'Inventoire des Livres du Roy nostre Seigneur estans au Chastel du Louvre'. Charles V commissioned new translations of various works, and employed people to produce copies of other works. These were laboriously written and illustrated by hand, since the printing press was yet to be invented. By 1380 the library held over 900 manuscripts and 2500 texts in French.

5. Edward IV is crowned during the Wars of the Roses



1461



Henry VI became king, at the age of nine months, following the death of his father, Henry V in 1422. Under the regency, a lot of his lands in France were lost, and there was dissatisfaction in England, too as he came to rule for himself. Henry suffered from mental instability, and there were disputes between his wife, Margaret of Anjou, and his cousin, Richard, Duke of York, which led to what became known as the Wars of the Roses.



In 1461 Henry was deposed in favour of Richard's son, who was crowned as Edward IV in June. In 1470, Edward IV was forced to go into exile in Flanders, and Henry VI was regarded as king again. However Henry was deposed once more in 1471, and he died in prison a few months later. Edward IV reigned again, from 1471 until he died in 1483.

6. Both Shakespeare and Galileo were born



1564



In February 1564 Galielo Galilei was born in Pisa in Italy. He was the eldest of six children. His father was a well-known composer and lutenist, and his mother was the daughter of a wood merchant. Although he considered the priesthood, Galileo enrolled at the university in Pisa to study medicine. However he changed his course of study to mathematics and natural philosophy which he found more interesting, and later taught mechanics, geometry, and astronomy at the university in Padua. He was an accomplished scientist, but it is his astronomical observations for which he is best remembered.



Two months after the birth of Galileo, in April 1564, William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in England. His father was a glover and his mother came from an affluent land-owning family. He was probably educated at the local grammar school, and married Anne Hathaway at the age of eighteen. Later he went to London, and became involved with the theatre. He worked as both an actor and a playwright, dividing his time between the family home in Stratford and his work in London. He wrote over thirty-six plays and also more than one hundred and fifty sonnets.

7. Great Fire of London



1666



The Great Fire of London began on Sunday 2 September1666 in a bakery in the aptly named Pudding Lane. At that time almost all the houses were made from wood, and were very tightly packed together. It was very easy for the fire to spread rapidly. Samuel Pepys, writing in his diary, reported that the whole city appeared to be on fire.



The Mayor ordered people to pull down houses in the path of the fire, to try and stop it spreading. Eventually the Navy used gunpowder to blow up buildings, and the fire was brought under control by Wednesday. But there were still smouldering fragments, and the ground was too hot to walk on.



There were only six deaths recorded from the fire, but St. Paul's Cathedral, the Royal Exchange, and the Guildhall were destroyed along with eighty-seven parish churches and over thirteen thousand houses. 1666The Great Fire of London began on Sunday 2 September1666 in a bakery in the aptly named Pudding Lane. At that time almost all the houses were made from wood, and were very tightly packed together. It was very easy for the fire to spread rapidly. Samuel Pepys, writing in his diary, reported that the whole city appeared to be on fire.The Mayor ordered people to pull down houses in the path of the fire, to try and stop it spreading. Eventually the Navy used gunpowder to blow up buildings, and the fire was brought under control by Wednesday. But there were still smouldering fragments, and the ground was too hot to walk on.There were only six deaths recorded from the fire, but St. Paul's Cathedral, the Royal Exchange, and the Guildhall were destroyed along with eighty-seven parish churches and over thirteen thousand houses.

8. Catherine the Great established the Smolny Institute for girls in Russia



1764



Inspired by St-Cyr, a girls' boarding school near Versailles in France, Catherine II of Russia founded the Society for the Upbringing of Noble Girls in 1764. It was commonly known as the Smolny Institute, because it was initially housed in the Smolny Convent on the banks of the River Neva in St. Petersburg.



It took girls from the ages of six to eighteen, divided into four classes, according to age, which were named for the colour of their dresses. The first class had coffee, the second blue, the third grey, and the fourth had white dresses. The main emphasis was on religious and moral education. However, other subjects taught included reading, writing, foreign languages, history, geography, mathematics, physics, chemistry, drawing, music and dancing. Physical exercise and outdoor games were also regarded as important, as was learning social manners. The girls were not allowed home, or even to have visits from their families during the twelve years they spent at the school; this was thought to be too corrupting.



By 1806 a new building was erected to house the institution. Changes were also made, so that the girls did not start until the age of nine, abolishing the coffee class. The Russian revolution of 1917 brought about and end to the school.

9. The Battle of Fort Sumter



1861



In November 1860 Abraham Lincoln won the United States presidential election. Because of his anti-slavery policies, South Carolina seceded from the Union on 20 December. By early February 1861 Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas had joined South Carolina in secession. Later that month a congress in Montgomery, Alabama was held, and Jefferson Davis became president of the Confederate States of America.



On 26 December, Major Anderson and a small garrison of troops had quietly left their base at Fort Moultrie for nearby Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, but supplies were limited. An attempt to send an unarmed merchant ship with supplies for the fort was unsuccessful. General Beauregard, leader of the Confederate army, demanded the surrender of Fort Sumter. Major Anderson refused to do so. Early in the morning of 12 April, the Confederate forces began firing at Fort Sumter. By the afternoon of the following day, the besieged garrison was forced to surrender; Major Anderson and his troops left, by sea, for New York.



Fort Sumter was the first battle in what was to become a four year conflict. The Civil War ended in victory for the Unionists after the confederate General Lee surrendered following the Battle of Appomattox Court House on 9 April 1865.

10. First successful human space flight



1961



On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1, launched from the Kazakh Republic in the Soviet Union. Less than two hours later, he had circled the earth at a height of around 300km, and landed safely after parachuting from around 7km above the earth; the space craft also reached earth by parachute. This was a major milestone in the 'space race' between the two super powers, the USSR and the USA. Just over three weeks later, on 5 May, Alan Shepard in Freedom 7 made a suborbital flight, which lasted fifteen minutes. He landed, inside his space capsule, which parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean.



The USSR achieved the first manned space flight, so President Kennedy, of the USA, decreed that the USA would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This feat was achieved by Apollo 11 in July 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the lunar module, Eagle, landed on the moon on 20 July, while their colleague, Mike Collins, continued to fly around the moon. All three astronauts returned to earth on 24 July. 1961On 12 April 1961 Yuri Gagarin, aboard Vostok 1, launched from the Kazakh Republic in the Soviet Union. Less than two hours later, he had circled the earth at a height of around 300km, and landed safely after parachuting from around 7km above the earth; the space craft also reached earth by parachute. This was a major milestone in the 'space race' between the two super powers, the USSR and the USA. Just over three weeks later, on 5 May, Alan Shepard in Freedom 7 made a suborbital flight, which lasted fifteen minutes. He landed, inside his space capsule, which parachuted into the Atlantic Ocean.The USSR achieved the first manned space flight, so President Kennedy, of the USA, decreed that the USA would put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. This feat was achieved by Apollo 11 in July 1969. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin in the lunar module, Eagle, landed on the moon on 20 July, while their colleague, Mike Collins, continued to fly around the moon. All three astronauts returned to earth on 24 July.

Source: Author Lottie1001 This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor ponycargirl before going online.Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.
Google is Deleting In-Active Gmail Accounts: Heres How to Prevent it! News -Shonit Khanna Google has updated its inactive accounts policy, signaling a move towards enhanced user security and optimization of server space. According to the new policy, Google will begin deleting older inactive Gmail accounts, which are more prone to security breaches. The deletion process will also remove all associated data with the account. In addition to this, Google seems to be moving away from offering free services, indicating a shift towards premium paid services. Users are advised to log in to their accounts once every two years to keep them active.

Google recently updated its inactive accounts policy, which could impact your old Gmail accounts. According to the tech giant, unused accounts are more susceptible to security breaches.

Hence, to ensure privacy and security, Google has decided to begin deleting older Gmail accounts starting next week. This action will also remove all data associated with the account, including emails, Drive files, Photos, Contacts, and other documents.

Is your Google Account at Risk of Being Deleted?

Google officially announced plans in May 2023 to delete older inactive accounts. Based on internal data, such accounts are ten times less likely to have two-factor authentication enabled compared to active accounts.

This vulnerability makes older accounts ripe targets for cyber-attacks. Furthermore, external services linked to these accounts also risk getting compromised if the Gmail account is misplaced.

Therefore, Google has decided to delete accounts that have not been used in the last two years. Inactive accounts will start getting removed as early as December 2023 in small batches.

How to Stop your Google Account from Being Deleted?

Google provides some simple measures to keep your account active and prevent it from getting deleted. Users must sign into their account at least once every two years to maintain their Gmail account's active status.

Certain activities also help keep the account active in Google's records. These activities include reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google Search, and signing in with Google to a third-party app or service.

Google's Shift from Free Services

Google seems to be aiming to convert some free users into paying subscribers. The company recently announced the discontinuation of free unlimited WhatsApp backups, which will now count against the 15GB free storage quota of your Gmail account.

A few years ago, Google stopped its unlimited Google Photos backups, which were once a significant selling point for the company. As more Google services end their free unlimited storage policy, many Gmail users may have to purchase extra Google Drive storage. This new policy of deleting older inactive accounts will not only reduce security concerns but also free up a lot of storage space on Google's servers.

If you have an In-active Google Account, Act Now!

To sum up, Google's new policy to delete inactive accounts is a significant move towards enhancing user security and optimizing server space. If you have an old inactive account, it may be time to log in again to keep it active.

Google's shift from free services also indicates a market trend towards more premium, paid services. So, if you have an old account tied to memories you'd like to keep, set up reminders to log in every now and then. Otherwise, Google may erase your digital nostalgia.

FAQ's What is Google's new update on inactive accounts? Google recently updated its inactive accounts policy, deciding to delete older Gmail accounts that have been inactive for the last two years. This move is to ensure privacy and security as unused accounts are more susceptible to security breaches. The deletion process will start as early as December 2023 and will also remove all data associated with the account.

What activities can keep a Google account active? Activities that can keep a Google account active include signing in at least once every two years, reading or sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, downloading an app on the Google Play Store, using Google Search, and signing in with Google to a third-party app or service.

Why is Google deleting inactive Gmail accounts? Google is deleting inactive Gmail accounts to enhance user security and optimize server space. Based on their data, inactive accounts are ten times less likely to have two-factor authentication enabled, making them vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Deleting these accounts will also free up a lot of storage space on Google's servers.

What changes has Google made to its free storage policy? Google recently announced that it will discontinue free unlimited WhatsApp backups, which will now count against the 15GB free storage quota of a Gmail account. This follows a previous change where Google stopped offering unlimited Google Photos backups. These changes seem to aim to convert some free users into paying subscribers for additional Google Drive storage.

What should users do to prevent their old Google accounts from being deleted? Users should log into their old Google accounts at least once every two years to keep them active and prevent them from being deleted. Activities like sending an email, using Google Drive, watching a YouTube video, and others can also help keep the account active in Google's records.

Best Mobiles in India
Indian Government to Implement Deepfake Countermeasures Within 10 Days: Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw News oi -Kabir Jain

In a significant development, the Indian government has officially acknowledged the growing danger of deepfake technology to democracy. Last week, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his worry after viewing a deepfake video of himself dancing to garba.

Government Acknowledges the Threat of Deepfakes

The Indian Government has swiftly acknowledged the potential danger posed by artificial intelligence, particularly in the form of deepfakes. These manipulated videos, often indistinguishable from real footage, have become a major concern for the country.

To address this issue, India's Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, convened a meeting with key stakeholders, including representatives from social media platforms, AI companies, and AI experts.

Key Objectives Outlined

Minister Vaishnaw presented a four-point plan to address the growing problem of deepfakes. The plan focuses on identifying and preventing the spread of deepfakes, as well as creating a reporting platform and raising public awareness about the issue. The government hopes to finalize a comprehensive plan within the next 10 days.

Crucial Meeting Sets the Tone

The recent gathering was convened to explore the necessity of regulations and guidelines to limit the spread of unreasonable deepfakes. Minister Vaishnaw stressed the seriousness of the issue, asserting that deepfakes pose a serious danger to democracy, spreading quickly through social media without proper oversight.

"The use of social media is ensuring that deep fake can spread significantly, more rapidly. Without any checks, they are getting viral within a few minutes of their uploading. So that's why we need to take very urgent steps to stand up trust in the society and to protect our democracy," Vaishnaw added.

Deepfakes: A Growing Concern in India

The issue of deepfakes was brought to the public's attention when a doctored video featuring the popular actress Rashmika Mandhana appeared online. This incident raised security concerns, underscoring the negative potential of AI technology. Even for trained professionals, it is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish between real videos and deepfake content, thanks to the availability of free tools on the internet.

Next Steps in the Battle Against Deepfakes

As a proactive measure, the government plans to convene another meeting in the first week of December to finalize the draft regulations.

Via

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Dennis received bachelor's degrees in communication and political science with a TAG degree in Spanish from The University of Akron in Ohio. He grew up in Ohio with 2 sisters and two brothers, one being his fraternal twin. He and his wife have 3 dogs: Duke, Bacio, and Cal. Dennis currently covers natural resource and environmental issues for The Daily Sentinel
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Foreign spy conducts cyberattacks against China's defense, high-tech firm by recruiting Chinese developer

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Nov 27, 2023 08:29 AM

China's Ministry of State Security (MSS) disclosed a new case on Monday of foreign espionage activities involving the recruitment of a Chinese software developer who provided "technical services." This spy agency used "poisoned" software to conduct cyberattacks and steal secrets from dozens of China's defense and high-tech enterprises.

Wang, a Chinese engineer in the network technology service industry, was approached earlier this year by a foreign software developer who invited him to configure "digital signature certificates" and "antivirus software tests" for its dozens of software products, the MSS said in a post published on its official WeChat account on Monday morning. This was supposed to ensure smooth passage through China's cybersecurity certification and testing, with the promise of high remuneration.

As their relationship deepened, the software developer asked Wang to use specified software and encrypted links for communication, exhibiting contradictory statements and abnormal behavior.

Wang realized that the developer was not just a regular commercial entity and that providing "technical services" could potentially allow software with security vulnerabilities to bypass China's cybersecurity regulations and enter the Chinese application market.

Despite knowing the risks, Wang was tempted by financial gain and established a cooperative relationship with the developer, providing "technical services" for dozens of its software products.

Upon investigation, it was revealed that the foreign developer Wang had partnered with was in reality an overseas spy agency. The software Wang serviced was bundled with specialized Trojan virus programs, which, once activated, could infiltrate and control computers, servers, and other network devices to steal documents, materials, and data.

This spy agency used the "poisoned" software to conduct cyberattacks and steal secrets from dozens of China's defense and high-tech enterprises, according to the MSS.

After the situation was uncovered, China's national security authorities promptly informed relevant units, legally handled the situation, and prevented significant harm and losses. Wang also paid a price for his wishful thinking and received administrative penalties according to the law.

Network assets and services, such as digital signatures, certificates, security tests, domain names, cloud servers, and emails, can all be exploited by foreign espionage agencies to carry out cyberattacks and theft, the ministry warned.

It also warned that cyberspace has become a significant conduit for foreign espionage agencies to infiltrate and steal secrets from China, with increasingly active cyber espionage activities, precise and fierce technical attacks, and continuously emerging methods of theft, posing a severe threat to national security.

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Two Palestinians shot dead by Israeli forces in Jenin

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- At least two Palestinians have been killed in yet another attack by the Israeli regime's forces in the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry confirmed the deaths, saying that two Palestinians were shot dead by Israeli forces and five more were injured after Israeli forces attacked Jenin on Saturday night, according to Beirut-based Al Mayadeen news network.

The report said that clashes broke out between soldiers and Palestinian resistance forces in Jenin, a focal point of the Israeli regime's daily raids in recent months.

The raids have intensified since October 7 when Israel unleashed its war on Gaza following Operation Al-Aqsa Storm by the Palestinian Resistance Movement, Hamas.

Palestinians in Jenin and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank have expressed solidarity with people in Gaza. Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 233 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7.

During the same period, the regime has also detained 3,160 people across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club NGO.

4194

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Hamas says release of second batch of captives delayed due to Israeli violation of truce deal

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The military wing of Palestine's Hamas Resistance Movement has postponed the release of a second group of captives under a temporary truce agreement with the Israeli regime.

The Ezzedeen al-Qassam Brigades announced on Saturday that it had delayed the release of the captives due to the Israeli regime's refusal to let aid trucks get into the northern Gaza Strip in violation of the truce deal.

The Brigades said it was delaying the handover of the captives until the regime "adheres to the terms of the agreement", according to the AFP news agency.

The four-day truce, mediated by Egypt and Qatar, was announced earlier this week following long negotiations and came into force at 7am Gaza time on Friday.

Under the deal, fighting is paused, air traffic is halted over northern Gaza for certain hours a day and over southern Gaza completely.

Over the course of four days, Hamas will release 50 women and children from among 240 captives it captured during its October 7 Operation Al-Aqsa Storm. In exchange, the Israeli regime will release 150 Palestinian women and children held in its jails.

Israeli media have reported that the regime has threatened to resume its ground operation in Gaza at 12am local time in case that the second batch of the captives are not released.

Channel 12 of Israel's TV, citing a political source on Saturday night, said that the regime had fulfilled its commitments under the truce deal, accusing Hamas of creating troubles for itself and the mediating parties.

In the meantime, American media said that the agreement of exchanging prisoners and captives is still in place and Qatar will make efforts to resolve the issue.

The first batch of prisoners and captives were exchanged on Friday. Hamas released 24 captives, including 13 Israelis, 10 Thai nationals and one Filipino. Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

4194

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Hamas hails Iran's role in Gaza ceasefire

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Ahmed Abdel-Hadi, Hamas representative in Lebanon, has praised Iran's role in the establishment of a four-day ceasefire between the Palestinian resistance and the Zionist regime.

He told a Lebanese TV program that the negotiations on the ceasefire were made through mediators such as Egypt, Qatar and the United States while adding that Iran was also pursing the issue and was informed about the talks.

The Hamas representative noted that Iran has stressed from the very beginning that it would not be impartial and would support Palestine and made a great diplomatic effort in this regard.

Abdel-Hadi added that if the enemy wants to extend the ceasefire, "we also want to reduce the suffering of our people, but if the enemy wants to resume the war, we are ready and will inflict heavy losses on them".

9341**2050

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Israel attacks UN peacekeepers' patrol in southern Lebanon

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has announced that the Israeli army has struck one of its patrols in southern Lebanon.

The incident occurred near the town of Aytaroun on Saturday.

UNIFIL condemned the attack on its peacekeepers and called it "deeply troubling".

"We strongly remind the parties of their obligations to protect peacekeepers and avoid putting the men and women who are working to restore stability at risk," it said in a statement.

The attack came days after Israeli fighter jets bombed a team of journalists with Al Mayadeen television network in southern Lebanon on Tuesday.

The network's correspondent Farah Omar and cameraman Rabih Maamari were killed in the attack.

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Yemen says decision to block Zionist access to Red Sea is still in place

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Jalal al-Rowaishan, the deputy prime minister in Yemen's National Salvation Government, says Yemen's decision to block Zionist access to Red Sea is still in place.

He said on Saturday that the ceasefire in Gaza war has been agreed between the Palestinian resistance and the Zionist regime and does not include the Yemeni front.

Al-Rowaishan added that Yemen's standing by Palestine is an ethnic, Arab, national, and ethical duty.

Noting that Yemen is ready to deal with any possible consequences of its decision, the Yemeni official said that any possible aggression against his country would not be worse than the US and Zionist aggression against Yemen which he said was carried out by the hands of the Arab states nine years ago.

9341**2050

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Iran confirms mediating release of Thai nationals held by Hamas

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has confirmed reports that the Islamic Republic has mediated efforts for the release of Thai nationals held by the Hamas resistance movement in the Gaza Strip.

"Since the first week of the Zionist regime's war against Gaza, and following requests from Thai officials, including telephone discussions and the meeting between the foreign minister of Thailand and our foreign minister in Doha... the Islamic Republic of Iran has jointly pursued the matter with Qatar," Kanaani told IRNA on Saturday.

"A list of the names of these captives was provided to Hamas officials for examination and assistance from a humanitarian perspective," he added.

On Friday, Iran facilitated the release of 10 Thai nationals, who were among approximately 240 people taken captives by Hamas during its surprise military blitz against the Israeli regime on October 7.

Thailand's Foreign Ministry had requested Iran's assistance in securing their release.

4353**2050

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Hezbollah: Zionist regime forced to accept truce

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Deputy Chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah Resistance Movement, Sheikh Naeem Qasim has stressed the fact that the Zionist regime has been forced to accept the ceasefire.

If we want to evaluate the events in Gaza, we must say that after 49 days, it was decided to establish a temporary cease-fire that could be extended, and Israeli regime did not want a cease-fire but was forced to accept it, Naeem Qasim said on Saturday.

The Zionist regime called for the release of prisoners through a ground attack and not a single prisoner was released through a ground attack, but almost 60 of them were also killed in this operation, he added.

One of the leaders of Hamas told us that the resistance infrastructure was not damaged during and after the end of the ceasefire, if the enemy returns, we will also return and they will see surprising actions that they have not seen in their lifetime, he added.

We are in the battle of right against wrong through resistance, he further noted.

The battle for the liberation of the land from the invaders and the return of Holy Quds, he added.

The battle is not limited to the Palestinians, but it is the battle of all of us, it is the battle of cultural, social, moral, and political security, this battle is the battle of independence, he said.

9376**7129

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Zionist regime could not achieve its goals: Hamas

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The head of the diaspora affairs office of the Palestinian Resistance Movement (Hamas) has said that the Zionist regime of Israel was unable to reach its goals.

The current condition of Resistance and its military leaders is good, an Arab news station Arabi 21 quoted Khaled Mashal as saying on Saturday.

In his remarks, the Hamas official expressed hope that the war in Gaza would not prolong; meanwhile, the Resistance movement as he said is ready for a long-term war.

Expressing regret over the killing of civilians by the Zionist regime, Mashal said human situation in Gaza is painful but cannot hinder the Resistance from continuing.

Speaking about the Zionist possible scenario to be made in the future, the Hamas official said the Resistance champions will foil the enemy's all plots.

"After the war, the governance of Gaza will not reflect the interests of the enemy anymore."

Nearly 15,000 Palestinians including children and women have been killed since the start of Al Aqsa Storm operation in Gaza on October 7.

1483**7129

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World amazed by Palestinians' power: IRGC commander

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 25, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- Deputy Commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Brigadier General Ali Fadavi said tat stones were the only weapon of the Palestinians in the past, but today they are equipped with tools and power that have astonished all the powers of the world.

Stating that the fans of the Islamic Revolution in the region are acting in their divine duty to defend the oppressed and confront the oppressors, Brigadier General Fadavi added that whoever fights against the oppressors of the world, the Islamic Republic supports them.

He stressed that Operation Al-Aqsa storm hit Israel so hard that all the bad guys in the world quickly reached the occupied territories to prevent the collapse of this criminal regime.

He pointed out that the US and European countries sided with the Zionist regime with all their might.

Brigadier General Fadavi said that the people of Gaza created greatness in this battle, adding that the truce was the desire of Israel and Western countries because they were under pressure both from inside their countries and on the battlefield.

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Haniyeh, Amir-Abdollahian Strategize for Victory: Defiance, Diplomacy, and the Ceasefire

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sat / 25 November 2023 / 10:13

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh hosted a high-level delegation led by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

Tehran (ISNA) - The meeting focused on the latest political and field developments, particularly the temporary truce that came into effect on Friday.

Haniyeh highlighted the resilience of the Palestinian people and the heroic efforts of the Palestinian resistance in the face of the terrorist occupation war in Gaza. Despite the occupation's attempts to displace the population through massacres, the steadfastness of the Palestinian people has thwarted such plans. Haniyeh emphasized that the resistance is creating a new history of heroism in the battle against aggression.

The Hamas leader provided an overview of ongoing political efforts and indirect negotiations facilitated by Qatar and Egypt. He discussed the outcomes of these negotiations, examining their implications for the present and future.

Acknowledging the support from resistance fronts, particularly Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, Haniyeh expressed gratitude for the international efforts that oppose the aggression and bolster the resilience of Gaza and the Palestinian people.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in his turn welcomed the temporary ceasefire in Gaza, affirming the Islamic Republic's unwavering commitment to standing by the Palestinian cause and supporting their resistance and steadfastness. Amir-Abdollahian refuted the initial claims of the defeated Zionist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, stating that despite over a month and a half of aggression and the loss of many Palestinian lives, the Zionist entity failed to achieve any military success. He highlighted that the enemy was compelled to negotiate indirectly with Hamas for a ceasefire and the release of prisoners.

The Iranian FM asserted that the Zionist and American regimes gained nothing on the battlefield, emphasizing that their political plans aim to compensate for their military failures. He expressed confidence that the diplomatic efforts of Hamas and other Palestinian resistance factions would neutralize these political measures and render them ineffective.

End Item

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39 more Palestinian prisoners released after Hamas frees 13 Israeli captives, 4 foreigners

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 11:49 PM

The Israeli regime has released a second batch of 39 Palestinian prisoners under a swap deal with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas as a temporary ceasefire continues across the besieged Gaza Strip following nearly seven weeks of Israeli attacks.

The regime's prison officials said Palestinian prisoners were released early Sunday, with subsequent footage showing them welcomed home by fellow Palestinians in the occupied West Bank city of East al-Quds.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari had said ahead of the exchange that in the second phase of the swap deal, 39 Palestinian prisoners would be released by Israel. They included 33 youths, who had been captured by Israeli forces when they were children, and six women.

Their release came after Hamas freed 13 Israeli captives, including six women and seven children and teenagers, in addition to four Thai citizens.

Under the prisoner swap deal, which was mediated by Qatar and Egypt, during the four-day truce in Gaza, at least 50 Israeli captives are expected to be freed. In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be released, all women and children.

The temporary ceasefire entered into force on Friday, after Israel's latest aggression against Gaza killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians. Israel's genocidal war began on October 7 after the territory's resistance groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories.

Hamas and Israel carried out the first phase of the prisoner swap deal on Friday. It saw 39 Palestinian female and child prisoners released from Israel's Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank. In return, 13 women and children, some holding dual citizenship, were released by Hamas in addition to 10 Thai captives and one Filipino.

The second phase of the prisoner swap came after an hours-long delay, which Hamas said was due to the Israeli regime's violation of the terms of the truce deal.

According to al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas' military wing, the delay was caused by Israel not holding up its end of the deal on issues such as easing the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza as well as halting gunfire that, the brigades said, led to more deaths and injuries among civilians.

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Iran calls for stronger measures by Muslim countries to support Palestinians

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 10:00 PM

Iran's Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian says Muslim countries must take more powerful steps to support the Palestinian people in the face of the Israeli regime's atrocities.

The Iranian top diplomat made the remark in a phone conversation with his Turkish counterpart, Hakan Fidan, on Saturday.

During their conversation, the two foreign ministers discussed the latest developments related to Palestine as well as other issues of mutual interest to both countries.

"Iran and Turkey, along with other Muslim countries, need to take more powerful measures in support of the Palestinian nation," Iran's foreign minister said.

Amir-Abdollahian emphasized that effective steps must be also taken to put a complete end to the Israeli regime's crimes against the Palestinian nation both in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.

His comments came after Israel's latest aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians before a four-day truce entered into force on Friday. Israel's genocidal war on Gaza began on October 7 after the territory's resistance groups launched Operation al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories.

The Israeli regime has also ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank ever since the onset of the war, killing hundreds of Palestinians throughout the occupied territory.

Turning to the issue of bilateral ties, the Iranian foreign minister expressed satisfaction with the developing trend of the two countries' relations in all areas.

Amir-Abdollahian expressed hope that continuation of high-level diplomatic exchanges between Tehran and Ankara would further strengthen and deepen bilateral cooperation.

For his part, the Turkish top diplomat stressed Ankara's resolve to work towards prolongation of the current truce in Gaza.

Fidan described his country's relations with Iran as diverse and multi-faceted, expressing confidence that continuation of consultations and meetings between the two sides' high-ranking officials would lead to further expansion of bilateral ties.

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Hamas delays release of captives over Israel's violation of ceasefire

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 6:04 PM

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says it has decided to delay the release of a second batch of Israeli captives under a ceasefire in Gaza over Israel's lack of commitment to the agreement which came into effect on Friday.

Hamas' military wing, known as the Al-Qassam Brigades, said on Saturday it had suspended the release under the ceasefire deal with Israel while it was communicating with mediators to address the regime's violations of the agreement.

It said Israel was not holding up its part of the deal on issues like easing the delivery of humanitarian aid and fuel to Gaza as well as halting gunfire that it said has led to more deaths and injuries among civilians.

Osama Hamdan, a senior political official of Hamas, also said that Israel had started violating the terms of the agreement on Friday and continued its violations on Saturday.

Israel denied the claims with a military spokesperson telling French television channel BFM that the regime had fully respected the truce.

Hamas and Israel agreed as part of a ceasefire deal that was mediated by Qatar earlier this week to exchange prisoners and to stop fighting for four days.

The two sides carried out a first round of prisoner swaps on the first day of the deal on Friday.

Under the deal, Hamas will release a total of 50 Israeli captives taken during a blitz into Israeli-occupied Palestine in early October in return for the release of 150 Palestinians from Israeli jails.

Hamas has said it is ready to extend the deal to put an end to an Israeli aggression that has killed nearly 15,000 people in Gaza over the past 50 days.

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WHO voices concern about al-Shifa chief arrested by Israel

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 5:59 PM

The World Health Organization (WHO) has voiced concern about the fate of the director of al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip who was detained by Israeli military along with several other senior doctors this week.

In a statement on Friday, the WHO said that Mohammad Abu Salmiya has been arrested along with five other medical staff from the Palestine Red Crescent Society and the Ministry of Health while they were evacuating patients from the hospital as part of a United Nations mission.

The UN agency went on to say that two of the six medical personnel have reportedly been released, but there is no information about the well-being of the four remaining health staff, including Abu Salmiya, calling for "their legal and human rights to be fully observed during their detention."

Israeli military spokesperson Doron Spielman said on Saturday that Abu Salmiya was being questioned following the regime's allegations that the hospital houses a "command center" belonging to the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

Meanwhile, WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeier voiced fears for the safety of those remaining in al-Shifa Hospital, saying the UN agency is "extremely concerned" about the safety of the estimated 100 patients and health workers remaining at the facility.

He also noted that the UN agency is working on further evacuations from northern Gaza hospitals as soon as possible as a truce gets under way in the blockaded enclave.

Al-Shifa Hospital, the largest medical complex in Gaza, has been a major focus of Israel's offensive since the regime began it was on Gaza on October 7.

The WHO has already described as "desperate" the situation in al-Shifa, saying the medical complex has become a "death zone."

The situation has forced "scores of sick and injured, some of them amputees" to flee the hospital towards the south without ambulances, along with displaced people, doctors and nurses.

Tel Aviv has long accused Hamas of using hospitals for housing Palestinian resistance fighters and their equipment and as an alleged launchpad for directing military operations against the occupying regime.

Under such pretexts, the regime has been targeting hospitals in the besieged enclave since the beginning of its war on Gaza last month.

Hamas has dismissed Israel's allegations, saying it runs a vast network of underground tunnels and doesn't need to use hospitals in any manner.

The Palestinian resistance group has called on the UN to form an investigative team in order to debunk Tel Aviv's allegations.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and injured around 36,000 others since October 7.

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.

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Hamas hails Iran's 'great diplomatic efforts' for Gaza ceasefire

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 4:17 PM

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has hailed Iran's major contribution to diplomatic efforts that led to a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip between the group and the Israeli regime.

Ahmed Abd al-Hadi, who serves as Hamas' representative in Lebanon, said on Saturday that Iran was a major player in efforts to bring an end to the Israeli military aggression on Gaza since it began in early October.

"Iran's role is (always) to support Palestine," Abd al-Hadi told Lebanon's LBC news.

Elaborating on a four-day ceasefire in Gaza which started early on Friday, the official said that Hamas is ready to extend the agreement with Israel in a bid to reduce the grievances of its people in Gaza.

He said, however, that Hamas is ready to inflict huge losses on the Israeli enemy if it resumes the aggression.

Hamas agreed as part of ceasefire with Israel that was mediated by Qatar earlier this week to release 50 Israeli captive it had taken in an operation on October 7 in return for the release of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The ceasefire allowed a partial lifting of the Israeli siege on Gaza for the humanitarian aid to reach the people in the enclave.

Nearly 15,000 people were killed in some 49 days of Israeli aggression in Gaza until the start of the ceasefire on Friday.

The all-out aggression came after Hamas launched an operation into the Israeli-occupied territories of Palestine near Gaza, killing some 1,200 Israeli settlers and military forces.

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Iran says 'mediated' release of Thai captives held in Gaza

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 3:41 PM

Iran says it mediated the release on Friday of 10 Thai captives held by the Palestinian resistance movements in the Gaza Strip upon a request by Thailand's officials.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said on Friday that a group of captives taken during its October 7 military operation against Israel were handed over to the Red Cross at the Rafah crossing and then transferred to the Israeli-occupied territories.

They included 13 women and child captives, some with dual citizenship. Hamas also released 10 Thai captives as well as one Filipino as the total number of Gaza captives released hit 24.

In a statement on Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani said, "Since the first week of the Zionist regime's war on Gaza and following requests from Thai officials...the issue was jointly pursued by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar."

A list of the names of these captives was provided to Hamas officials to examine the issue from a humanitarian perspective, he said.

The spokesperson explained that the Iranian and Thai foreign ministers held phone talks and a meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha, where the Thai officials have called for Iran's help to facilitate the release of the captives.

Kan'ani said the Thai officials have considered the request and a number of the Thai prisoners were released following the establishment of a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

A Thai foreign ministry spokesperson told Reuters, "We have provided lists since the beginning to everyone," including Qatar, Egypt, Israel and Iran."

The spokesperson said, "Different actors would have different influence on Hamas."

Thailand's government says 20 of its nationals are still being held by Hamas.

During a four-day truce, at least 50 captives are expected to be freed, leaving an estimated 190 other captives in Gaza. In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners were to be released, all women and teenage boys.

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Erdogan blasts Israeli war crimes as Turkish lawyers refer evidence to ICC

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 2:49 PM

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reiterated that Israel has been committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as a group of legal experts submitted war crimes evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Erdogan said on Friday that Tel Aviv has been "committing "war crimes by cutting off electricity, water, and food," in the besieged enclave.

"Civilians that Israel deliberately targets are not limited to children and women. Israel also kills journalists who are trying to reveal the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza to the world despite all the difficulties."

Erdogan added that more than 60 journalists have been killed since Israel waged its brutal war on Gaza on October 7.

The Turkish president made the remarks a day after a delegation of legal experts, including from the Turkish Parliament, submitted a file of evidence to the court in The Hague, calling on the international body "to hold the responsible ones accountable.".

"No conscience can remain silent about this...we are faced with an indescribable atrocity," said Cuneyt Yuksel, chairperson of the Justice Commission of the Turkish Parliament.

Yuksel said that "even though Israel is not a party to the ICC, Israeli officials can be prosecuted due to Palestine being a party country."

Erdogan had previously said that his government would do everything to bring Israel to the ICC. He also said that his government was making preparations to declare "Israel a war criminal."

Israel waged its genocidal war after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm inside the occupied territories in October. The regime has killed at least 14,854 people, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, in Gaza.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Karim Khan said last week that his office has received a referral from five countries to investigate Israel's war crimes in the Palestinian territories. South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros, and Djibouti submitted the referral, according to Khan.

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Israel failed to achieve goals in Gaza war: Hamas official

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 2:20 PM

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas says the resistance and its military leaders are in "good condition" after 48 days of Israeli onslaught against the Gaza Strip, stressing that the occupying regime was unable to achieve any of its goals.

Khaled Meshaal, head of Hamas' office in the diaspora, made the remarks on Saturday, a day after a four-day truce was implemented in the besieged enclave.

"A number of fighters and leaders of the resistance and their relatives were martyred in the Gaza war, but they are not from the front line. However, the resistance's condition is good and its weapons, tunnel, and leaders are safe," Meshaal said.

"The Zionist enemy (in the Gaza war) was unable to achieve any of its goals and despite moving some people from northern Gaza, the majority of Palestinian citizens remained in their areas," he added.

The senior Hamas official further expressed hope that the war in Gaza would not prolong, emphasizing that the resistance movement has prepared itself for "a long-term war."

He went on to say that although the humanitarian situation in Gaza is painful, it cannot hinder the resistance from continuing.

Meshaal also stressed that the resistance heroes would foil all the enemy's plots, if Israel had any possible scenario to be made in the future.

"After the war, the governance of Gaza will not reflect the interests of the enemy anymore," he said.

Israel waged the war on Gaza on October 7 after Hamas carried out a surprise attack, dubbed 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, nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes, most of them women and children, and injured around 36,000 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.

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Australia and Philippines Launch Joint Naval Patrols in South China Sea

Sputnik News

20231125

The patrols involving vessels from both navies are expected to be conducted from November 25 through 27.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines and Australia have launched their first joint maritime patrol as part of the inaugural Maritime Cooperative Activity in the Philippines' exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea.

According to a joint statement issued by Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles and Philippines' Secretary of National Defense Gilberto Theodoro Jr., the Maritime Cooperative Activity "represents the practical implementation" of the Strategic Partnership signed between the two countries in September and will be held from November 25 through 27.

"The Maritime Cooperative Activity highlights our shared commitment to exercising freedom of navigation and overflight consistent with international law, in support of a peaceful, secure and stable Indo-Pacific," the statement said. "Australia and the Philippines both support the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and reaffirm the 2016 South China Sea Arbitral Tribunal Award as final and legally binding on both parties."

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. also took to X to declare that the Maritime Cooperative Activity highlights Australia's and the Philippines' "shared commitment to supporting the rules-based international order and a more peaceful, secure, and stable Indo-Pacific region."

The joint patrol activity is expected to involve several vessels of the Philippine Navy and the Royal Australian Navy, as well as surveillance aircraft from their respective air forces.

Earlier this week, the Philippines resumed joint maritime patrols with the United States in the South China Sea, as Marcos Jr. moved to ramp up defense cooperation between his country and the US.

This development occurred as the United States seems intent on increasing its military presence in the Asia-Pacific region and to back countries that have territorial disputes with China, such as the Philippines.

 Sputnik

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UNRWA

25 Nov 2023

Day 47-48 of Hostilities

1. Key points

The Gaza Strip

A humanitarian pause entered into force on 24 November at 7.00 am.  On the frst day of the humanitarian pause, UNRWA received 137 trucks of humanitarian aid at its reception point in Gaza.

Between 23 and 24 November, UNRWA received 197,000 litres. Fuel is being distributed by UNRWA to support food distribution, and the operation of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters, and other critical services.

On the same day, a UN convoy delivered critical humanitarian aid (composed mainly of water, four and other food items) to two UNRWA shelters in the north. This is the frst aid delivery to a shelter in the north in over one month.

Over 1.7 million people (or nearly 80 per cent of the population) have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since 7 October.

As of 24 November, more than 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) are now sheltering in 156 UNRWA installations across all fve governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north.

Nearly 920,000 IDPs are sheltering in 99 facilities in the Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas.

Nearly 160,000 IDPs were sheltering in 57 UNRWA schools in the north and Gaza areas as of 12 October 2023, before evacuation orders were 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.

During the reporting period, UNRWA verifed at least seven additional incidents impacting displaced people hosted in UNRWA installations and/or UNRWA installations only.

In total, 77 UNRWA installations have been damaged since the beginning of the hostilities as a result of 99 separate incidents.
Chinese, South Korean, Japanese Foreign Ministers to Meet

By Ge Jingyi November 25, 2023

The foreign ministers of South Korea, China and Japan are set to meet in Busan, South Korea, on Sunday, the first trilateral foreign ministerial meeting since August 2019.

South Korea, the sponsor and chair of the meeting, hopes to use the opportunity to improve its relations with China, which have been strained in recent years. However, experts are not optimistic about the chances of a breakthrough at the meeting.

Mao Ning, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said in the daily press briefing on Wednesday, "The trilateral cooperation serves the common interests of our three countries. China values the mechanism and looks forward to working with the ROK and Japan to deepen that cooperation." ROK is the abbreviation for the official name of South Korea.

The foreign ministers of the three countries may hold bilateral talks between China and Japan and China and South Korea during the meeting.

Meeting proposed by South Korea

According to previous reports by Kyodo News, this foreign ministers' meeting was proposed by South Korea, indicating South Korea's willingness to improve South Korea-China relations.

Since South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol came to power, the country has focused its foreign policy on deepening cooperation with the United States and Japan. Yoon has met with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida this year. But he and Chinese leader Xi Jinping have not held formal talks since the G20 summit in November last year.

This situation has brought the trilateral cooperation among South Korea, the United States and Japan to a de facto "quasi-alliance" level, but it has also caused South Korea-China relations to be increasingly cold.

There has been frequent discord between the two countries.

During the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting earlier this month, a much-anticipated meeting between Yoon and Xi failed to take place. According to Yonhap News Agency, the two leaders talked for only about three minutes.

Although the two governments later avoided over-interpreting the situation, the Korean newspaper Dong-A Ilbo quoted an anonymous senior official in the South Korean presidential office saying, "The meeting itself has symbolic significance. China talked with Japan but not us, which is indeed not a good situation."

China critical of South Korea

China criticized remarks Yoon made about China-Russia-North Korea cooperation, the Taiwan Strait and South China Sea in an interview with the Telegraph ahead of his recent state visit to Britain.

Mao said in the regular press briefing on Monday, "We don't need to be told what to do or not to do. The Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affairs and brooks no foreign interference. On the South China Sea, China and ASEAN countries have the ability, confidence and wisdom to handle this issue well. The ROK is not a party to the South China Sea issue, and there's no point in getting involved."

Jae-hung Chung, director of the Center for China Studies at the Sejong Institute, said in a phone interview with VOA that there are many problems between South Korea and China, including deep strategic distrust, China's dissatisfaction with the security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan, and the differences the two countries have about Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Korean Peninsula.

Chung said if South Korea wants to improve its relations with China, it must make policy changes. However, these kinds of changes cannot be made by South Korea alone. Chung told VOA that South Korea must communicate with the United States, but it is hard to say if the United States can help South Korea in these aspects.

Heungho Moon, a professor at the Graduate School of International Studies at Hanyang University, said, "At present, China's most important issue is its relations with the United States, followed by the Taiwan issue and the South China Sea. On these issues, South Korea has nothing to help China, and China believes that South Korea has kept pace with the U.S.

"Fundamentally speaking," Moon said, "as long as the current cooperation between South Korea, the United States and Japan continues, there will be limits to the improvement of China's relations with South Korea and Japan."

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Trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and SK injects stability to region

Global Times

Meeting paves way for higher-level meetings between three countries; shore up three countries' cooperation

By Zhao Yusha Published: Nov 26, 2023 10:30 PM

China is willing to make efforts with both South Korea and Japan to promote the resumption of trilateral cooperation, Chinese top diplomat said at the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea which was held in the South Korean city of Bushan on Sunday.

The three sides agreed to create conditions for the trilateral meeting of the leaders of China, Japan and South Korea, and speed up preparations, according to a statement issued by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday night.

Chinese experts believe the meeting, held after a hiatus of four years, will not only pave way for higher-level meetings between the three Asian countries, but will also inject stability in the region and shore up the three countries' cooperation to offset the negative consequences of the current challenges from the global turmoil.

However, both Seoul and Tokyo are urged to take more actions and show sincerity if they want cooperation between the three countries to yield substantial results, Chinese experts said as there are still unsolved divergences that are plaguing trilateral ties. Meanwhile, extraterritorial forces are also seeking to use Japan and South Korea to contain China and seek to scuttle the trilateral cooperation. Experts said that inviting non-regional countries to interfere with regional issues is detrimental to cooperation, thus it is of vital importance for both Japan and South Korea to remain autonomous.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting. This year marks the resumption of the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan, and South Korea after a four-year hiatus, as close neighbors, China will continue to adhere to the principles of being friendly and cooperative with its neighbors and work together with South Korea and Japan to promote the resumption of trilateral cooperation, Wang was quoted by CGTN as saying.

Wang said that as important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the three countries should base themselves on the peace and development of the Asia-Pacific region and the interests of its people, deepen regional cooperation, jointly address risks and challenges, and maintain regional peace and prosperity. He stressed that the three countries should oppose drawing ideological lines and resist regional bloc formation.

Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul should act as "stabilizers" for maintaining regional peace and security, practice a common, comprehensive, cooperative, and sustainable security concept, and insist on resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and peaceful means. They should also act as "pressure relief valves" for resolving hotspot issues, said Wang, noting that the continued tension on the Korean Peninsula is not in the interest of any party. The urgent task is to cool down the situation, create necessary conditions for restarting dialogue, and take meaningful actions to achieve it.

Before the trilateral meeting, Wang held meetings with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa on Sunday and Saturday respectively.

In his meeting with Park, Wang said China and South Korea are neighboring countries and this fact will never change. Both countries can benefit from a positive relationship, while both sides will suffer if the relationship deteriorates.

Wang also stressed that both sides should jointly resist the tendency to politicize economic issues, instrumentalize technological issues, and over-securitize economic and trade issues, in order to maintain stable and smooth supply chains and promote greater development in bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

Wang and Park exchanged views on the Korean Peninsula situation. Wang emphasized that China has always been a stabilizing force in the Northeast Asian and will continue to play a constructive role in easing the situation on the Korean Peninsula.

During a meeting with Kamikawa, Wang said China and Japan should earnestly implement consensus reached by leaders of the two countries to push forward bilateral relations along the right track of sound development.

Wang told Kamikawa that both sides should respect each other's legitimate concerns. Japan should honor its commitments on the Taiwan question, strictly abide by the one-China principle and refrain from interfering in China's internal affairs.

Noting that Japan's discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean concerns marine safety and public health, Wang said China opposes Japan's irresponsible action.

Amid complicated international atmosphere, the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between the three major Asian countries can inject much needed stability in Northeast Asia; as well as deepen cooperation, exchange between the three countries to offset negative impact of current geopolitical tensions, Da Zhigang, director of the Institute of Northeast Asian Studies at Heilongjiang Provincial Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

Da noted the meeting between the three countries' foreign ministers may pave way for higher-level trilateral meetings in the near future. It will also help to control current divergences among Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul, whilst expanding cooperation in areas where the three share common interests, he added.

Sincerity needed

Ties between the three countries have been frayed since the last trilateral meeting among the leaders of the three Northeast Asian nations was held in Chengdu, China, in 2019.

Historical issues such as Japan's wartime atrocities during WWII, as well as current tussles like Japan's irresponsible releasing of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean; Tokyo and Seoul's role as US vassals in the region, continued to plague the ties.

South Korea and Japan are eager to mend ties with China not only because the prospect of cooperating with China is in line with their national interest, but the warming up China-US ties after a summit in San Francisco between leaders of the two countries earlier this month propelled Seoul and Tokyo to reach out, Lu Chao, an expert on the Korean Peninsula at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.

"As the international society is at a historic turning point as it faces major challenges and changes, we hope to discuss our strategic significance of Japan-China-South Korea cooperation," Kamikawa told reporters Friday, according to a report from AP.

While meeting with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and signing The Downing Street Accord last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol's made remarks related to China's Taiwan and the South China Sea. "China urges relevant parties to stop making irresponsible comments on issues bearing on China's core and major concerns and be very prudent about what they say or do," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.

Similar to the US, Japan and South Korea tend to talk up cooperation with China whilst disrespecting China's core interests, which create obstacles for the three to cooperate, said Lu. He noted that China is willing to meet Japan and South Korea half way to expand cooperation, but also won't hesitate to strike back any unilateral crackdown on China and disrespectable remarks or behaviors that are against China's core interest.

"For the three countries to pick up momentum in deepening cooperation, we need to see more actions, more sincerity from both Tokyo and Seoul," Lu noted.

Extraterritorial threats

Although the easing of China-US ties partly stimulated Japan and South Korea's willingness to reach out to China, Chinese experts believe a closer China-Japan-South Korea trilateral tie is will not make the US happy.

US President Joe Biden and the leaders of South Korea and Japan agreed at Camp David in August to deepen military and economic cooperation and made their strongest joint condemnation yet of "dangerous and aggressive behavior" by China in the South China Sea.

Da said that in recent years, the US has been plotting to work with its allies to create an Asian NATO, which extremely threatens regional stability.

In a forum held in Qingdao in July this year, Wang Yi urged that China, Japan and South Korea, as well as other Asian countries, should practice open regionalism, promote inclusive Asian values, cultivate strategic autonomy, safeguard regional unity and stability, resist the Cold War mentality, and avoid coercion by hegemony.

Asian countries should solve our differences by ourselves, while inviting extraterritorial powers to intervene is extremely detrimental to the stability and cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea, said Da, urging the two to remain autonomous.

He warned that those countries should learn from history that relying on non-regional countries to solve regional issues will eventually backfire, which will threaten the whole region.

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PLA vigilant against continuous provocations by US, Australian, Philippine forces

Global Times

Enlisting countries outside of South China Sea to raise tensions destabilizes region: experts

By Liu Xuanzun Published: Nov 26, 2023 07:41 PM

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) is at high vigilance amid continuous provocations by foreign forces from the sea, displaying its high level of readiness, capabilities and determination in safeguarding China's national sovereignty, security and maritime rights, experts said on Sunday.

Foreign provocations include the Philippines' enlisting of countries outside of the region to jointly patrol the South China Sea in the midst of its trouble-stirrings on Chinese islands and reefs, an Australian frigate's provocations in the East China Sea to the Taiwan Straits then to the South China Sea, and a US destroyer's trespass into Chinese territorial waters in the South China Sea.

On Saturday, the Philippines and Australia launched their first joint sea and air patrol in the South China Sea, with the Philippine side sending two warships and five surveillance aircraft, and the Australian side sending the frigate HMAS Toowoomba and a P-8A maritime surveillance aircraft, Reuters reported on the day.

The three-day joint patrols between the Philippines and Australia came only days after the Philippines and the US held a similar operation from Tuesday to Thursday featuring three Philippine warships plus three combat aircraft and a US littoral combat ship plus a P-8A aircraft.

During the US-Philippine joint patrols, the PLA Southern Theater Command maintained a state of high alert to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and maritime interests, and firmly safeguard peace and stability in the South China Sea, Senior Colonel Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the command, said in a press release on Thursday.

The PLA Southern Theater Command has yet to issue a similar press release on the Australia-Philippines joint patrols, but since the PLA holds routine patrols in the region, it is almost certain that the PLA is monitoring the situation and is ready to deal with any provocations that might occur, analysts said.

Australia's HMAS Toowoomba frigate's participation in the joint patrols with the Philippines in the South China Sea means it has become a habitual offender against China over the past two weeks, analysts said.

It operated in waters near the East China Sea on November 14 and later accused a PLA Navy destroyer of "unsafe and unprofessional" interactions by using sonar pulses on Australian divers, despite the Chinese warship only taking measures including tracking, monitoring, identifying and verifying in accordance with the law and regulations.

Then on Thursday, the Australian frigate made a transit in the sensitive Taiwan Straits, a move sources said was monitored and guarded against by the PLA Eastern Theater Command.

In another event on Saturday, the US Navy's destroyer USS Hooper illegally entered China's territorial waters off the Xisha Islands without authorization from the Chinese government, and the PLA Southern Theater Command organized maritime and aviation forces, tracked, monitored, warned and expelled the US warship in accordance with the law and regulations, Tian said in a separate press release on the day.

Tian said that the US seriously violated China's sovereignty and security, and its move marked another solid proof of the US' navigation hegemony and militarization in the South China Sea, showing fully that the US is the true maker of security risks and the biggest destroyer of peace and stability in the region.

Chen Xiangmiao, director of the World Navy Research Center at the National Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times that the provocations and tensions in the region are mainly instigated by the US, which sees the Philippines as a key geographic foothold in the first island chain to contain China.

From the Philippines, the US hopes to stop the PLA from entering the South Pacific from the South China Sea, Chen said, noting that the Philippines can also offer a flank for the US military when interfering in the Taiwan question.

The US' joint patrols with the Philippines provides a bad example, and now Australia and other Western countries are joining in, with the Philippines further encouraged to provoke China, Chen said.

The PLA's countermeasures against the recent continuous provocations by foreign military forces showed its high level of situational awareness on China's doorstep including the South China Sea, the Taiwan Straits and the East China Sea, allowing it to react rapidly and strongly, a Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Sunday.

Countries outside the region should stop coming all the way from their home to China's doorstep to stir up troubles in an attempt to contain China, and the Philippines should stop inviting maliciously intentioned forces that do not belong to the region and could eventually hurt the Philippines as well, only to contend for islands and reefs that rightfully belong to China, the expert said.

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Zionist regime gains no military achievement in Gaza: Cmdr

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 26, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The commander of the Iranian Army has commended the recent retaliatory operation by Hamas, noting that the bombardment of civilian centers has yielded no military achievements for the Zionist regime.

Speaking to students and nurses of the Iranian army's medical university in Tehran on Sunday, Major General Abdulrahim Mousavi said that the Zionist regime is grappling with the loss of equipment and personnel in the ground operation in Gaza and characterized Operation Al-Aqsa Storm as an unprecedented event in the 75-year struggle of the Palestinians against the occupiers, adding that the operation validated the Iranian Supreme Leader's prediction of the regime's collapse within 25 years.

Mousavi stated that the decline of the Israeli regime has become evident and added that the regime's supporters have attempted for years to normalize the suffering of Palestinians. However, the recent confrontation has elevated the Palestinian cause to a global priority, even among non-Muslim nations.

Furthermore, Mousavi asserted that the recent conflict in Gaza has unmasked the true nature of the United States and its allies who support the Israeli regime. He noted that the US has endeavored to portray a positive image of its support for human rights and democracy at a significant cost and through its mainstream media empire, but the war on Gaza has revealed its true nature.

4208**9417

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Zionist regime compelled to accept truce: Hezbollah

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 26, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The deputy chief of Lebanon's Hezbollah has announced that the Israeli regime was compelled to agree on the truce in Gaza.

If there was not the Resistance's stability, the prisoners would not be exchanged between the two sides, Sheikh Naeem Qasim said, according to Arab media on Sunday.

In his remarks, the Hezbollah official stressed that if the Zionists want to continue war against Gaza, it will not be of the regime's benefit because the Resistance is ready to gain victory.

Al Aqsa Storm is a fundamental act and has to be victorious, he further noted.

Palestinian Resistance movement (Hamas) launched an unprecedented operation against the Zionist regime on October 7. The operation is dubbed Al Aqsa Storm.

1483**7129

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39 Palestinian prisoners released in 2nd prisoner swap

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Nov 26, 2023

Tehran, IRNA -- The prison service of the Zionist regime announced early Sunday that 39 Palestinian prisoners have been released based on the terms of the second stage of the prisoner swap agreement with the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

According to samanews.ps, as a result of the liberation of the 39 Palestinian prisoners from an Israeli regime's jail, the second phase of the prisoner swap has been done.

Palestinian media outlets reported that the freed Palestinian inmates were transferred from Ofer Prison to the Beituniya Camp in the occupied West Bank.

Israeli troops earlier fired tear gas and live bullets in a bid to disperse Palestinian people who had gathered near Ofer Prison to embrace the released prisoners.

The Zionist regime's army declared a few hours ago that members of the International Committee of the Red Cross transferred 17 newly released Hamas prisoners to Egypt.

Previously, Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs declared that the second stage of the prisoner swap between the Israeli regime and the Hamas movement is expected to take place Saturday night.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas announced on Saturday evening that as a result of the violation of the terms of the temporary ceasefire deal by the Israeli regime, the second phase of the prisoner swap has been suspended.

4208**9417

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Austin: US does not want Israeli escalation with Lebanon

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 26 November 2023 / 11:16

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterates unwavering support for "Israel's right to defend itself" as Washington seeks to further protect its regional interests.

Tehran (ISNA) - US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin held a phone call with Israeli Security Minister Yoav Gallant addressing the ongoing situation of Israeli captives in Gaza.

The call highlighted the recent release of Israeli captives and recognized what he described as pivotal roles played by "Israel", Qatar, and Egypt in reaching an agreement.

The discussions reportedly underlined the necessity of increasing humanitarian aid and fuel deliveries to civilians in Gaza.

Additionally, Austin reiterated unwavering support for "Israel's right to defend itself" and received updates on the temporary ceasefire imposed by the Palestinian Resistance on the Israeli occupation as part of Operation al-Aqsa Flood.

Shifting attention to the north, Austin expressed the US interest in preventing the war on Gaza from spreading into Lebanon. He condemned "the ongoing cross-border attacks from Lebanon into Israel" and voiced support for the safe return of Israeli settlers to the northern region.

Lastly, Secretary Austin provided updates on Washington's proclaimed efforts to safeguard its forces and interests throughout the Middle East.

Two weeks ago, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin "expressed concern" to Gallant regarding "Israel's" involvement in heightening tensions along the border with Lebanon, Axios reported citing three US and Israeli sources who were briefed on the call.

The news website considered that "Austin's message to Gallant reflected 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."

It cited sources briefed on the issue as saying that "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 US and other countries further into the conflict."

According to one US source, "the White House asked Austin to express concern to Gallant about escalating Israeli military action in Lebanon."

Axios cited an Israeli source as saying that Austin sought clarification from Gallant regarding Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. The US Defense chief urged "Israel" to refrain from taking actions that might escalate the situation into a full-scale war with Hezbollah.

On his part, Gallant assured Austin that Israeli policy is not geared toward opening a second front in Lebanon, emphasizing his belief that such a scenario is unlikely to unfold, as per the Israeli source.

This comes as the border between occupied Palestine and Lebanon continues to witness daily skirmishes between Israeli occupation forces and the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon. "Israel" has so far killed scores of Lebanese civilians including four journalists and 3 children since the beginning of its brutal aggression on Gaza.

End Item

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39 new Palestinian prisoners freed from Israeli prisons

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 26 November 2023 / 11:13

On the second day of the temporary truce deal between the Palestinian Resistance and Israel, Palestinian citizens flock in large numbers to al-Bireh to welcome their freed prisoners.

Tehran (ISNA) - Al-Qassam Brigades and the Palestinian Resistance in Gaza have released 39 Palestinian female and underage male prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons -- the second batch of prisoners -- as part of the temporary truce agreement negotiated based on the conditions set by the Palestinian Resistance and the prisoner swap deal that also includes Israeli captives that were held by the Resistance in the Gaza Strip.

Following over six weeks of the Israeli brutal aggression on Gaza, which was accompanied by a near-complete blockade, a full siege on the residents, and over 1,300 massacres during the short period, the Resistance was able to enforce its initial conditions of not releasing any Israeli captive unless through an indirect prisoner exchange.

Palestinian citizens flocked in large numbers to al-Bireh to welcome the freed prisoners. Despite harassment by the Israeli occupation, celebrations roamed in occupied al-Quds and the cities of the occupied West Bank, where jubilant Palestinians raised Palestinian and Hamas flags, as well as flags of the Islamic Resistance in Lebanon - Hezbollah.

Freed prisoner Israa Jaabis arrived at her home in occupied al-Quds, where she embraced her son Moatasem for the first time in eight years. Jaabis told reporters that young female prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons are subjected to harassment that cannot be discussed in public.

Israeli forces earlier assaulted journalists at the freed prisoner's home to forcibly remove them from their location.

On her part, freed prisoner Nourhan Awwad arrived at her home in the Qalandia refugee camp, north of occupied al-Quds. Before that, Nourhan visited the grave of her cousin Hadeel Awwad, who was killed by Israeli occupation forces eight years ago over an alleged stabbing operation.

In a statement to Al Mayadeen, the freed prisoner mourned the martyrs in Gaza, adding that "the ray of victory emanates from the patience of the people in the Gaza Strip."

She recounted that Israeli occupation forces mistreated female prisoners before their release, underlining that the situation of female prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons is extremely difficult, as they are isolated from the world and from each other.

End Item

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Israelis raided Jenin, surrounded hospital, targeted ambulances

ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency

Sun / 26 November 2023 / 11:05

The Palestinian Resistance in the city of Jenin confronted the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) as they attempted to storm the city as the sirens in the city and camp of Jenin sounded.

Tehran (ISNA) - The director of the Jenin Governmental Hospital confirmed that after the occupation forces stormed the city of Jenin, they surrounded the hospital and closed off all of its entrances, demanding all Palestinian citizens exit the hospital.

In turn, the Al-Quds Brigades' Jenin Brigade, as well as Jenin's al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades stated that violent confrontations against the occupation forces and their penetrating vehicles were ongoing in the vicinity of the camp.

The al-Aqsa martyrs Bridage also noted that they had targeted Israeli raiding vehicles with a high-explosive device, confirming definite casualties.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire and had ascended as martyrs while 7 others were reported seriously injured.

In turn, Palestinian media reported multiple targetings of ambulances in a repeated Israeli practice to prevent ambulances from reaching those injured or from reaching the hospital to allow the medical team to attend to them.

Moreover, Palestinian media reported that the IOF had been purposefully burning down trees across the city. This despicable practice is not new, given that the occupation has often done so with the aim of harming Palestinians on one end, as well as eliminating possible "security risks" noting that trees would provide the Resistance with a certain level of safety to advance amid difficult confrontations.

End Item

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PM Netanyahu in the Gaza Strip: "We are continuing until the end - until victory. Nothing will stop us. Am Yisrael Chai."

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government

26.11.2023

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today, visited in the Gaza Strip, where he received security briefings with commanders and soldiers and visited one of the tunnels that has been revealed.

The Prime Minister was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi, his Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, and IDF Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj.-Gen. Amir Baram.

Prime Minister Netanyahu:

"We are here in the Gaza Strip with our heroic soldiers. We are making every effort to return our hostages, and in the end we will return them all. We have three goals in this war: Eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and ensure that Gaza will not go back to being a threat to the State of Israel.

I am here to tell the soldiers, who all tell me the same thing, and I repeat it to you, citizens of Israel: We are continuing until the end - until victory. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the force, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all of our goals for the war, and this is what we will do.

I sat with the IDF Deputy Chief of Staff and the commanders. On the wall it was written: 'Am Israel Chai' [The People of Israel Live]. Then Am Yisrael Chai and the people of Israel will also win thanks to you. Thank you."

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Announcement from the Prime Minister's Office

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government

26.11.2023

Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Director General Yossi Shelley, together with Health Minister Uriel Buso and Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov, this evening, held an assessment at Wolfson Hospital in Holon, which has received several returnees.

The PMO Director General is closely monitoring the deployment and activity of Government ministries in receiving the returnees.

After the assessment, PMO Director General Shelley met several of the returnees and told them [translated from Hebrew]: "You are amazing women. You showed resourcefulness and heroism in the face of abhorrent and brutal murderers. I salute you. The Government ministries will continue to be involved and will provide anything that you need."

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Third phase of prisoner swap: Hamas releases 17 captives as Israel frees 39 Palestinians

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 11:36 PM

Israel has released a third batch of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for over a dozen captives freed by the Hamas resistance movement as part of a swap deal, which followed a four-day truce in the regime's unrelenting war against the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli regime released 39 Palestinian prisoners on Sunday after Hamas freed 17 captives in the third phase of the deal, which was also the third day of the truce.

The resistance movement said in a statement that it had handed over 13 Israeli captives in addition to three Thai nationals and one Russian to the Red Cross.

According to the statement, the Palestinian prisoners released by Israel were young people who had been arrested by the regime when they were children.

Reporting on the exchange process, the Palestinian Information Center said Israeli forces prevented people from gathering in front of the Ofer prison near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, from which the Palestinian prisoners were released. They also dispersed Palestinians in the town of Beitunia, which is also close to the prison.

The regime's forces fired live bullets and tear gas canisters at Palestinian civilians who had gathered close to the facility, wounding a number of them and a journalist.

Thousands of Palestinians received the liberated prisoners in Ramallah. They gathered in the center of the city carrying flags of the Hamas movement and chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian resistance.

In the occupied city of al-Quds, Israeli forces stormed the homes of liberated prisoners several times, beating the prisoners' families and preventing media outlets from covering the moments of the prisoners' release. They also prevented reception ceremonies for the released Palestinian prisoners.

Following the exchange, Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, said the resistance is ready to conclude a "comprehensive" swap agreement with the occupying regime, adding that the ball was now in the regime's court.

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Israel seeks forced displacement of more Gaza residents during temporary truce

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 6:18 PM

The Israeli army has reiterated its demand that residents in the besieged Gaza Strip should only move to the south as Israel has temporarily paused weeks of its devastating bombing of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

The statement by Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee came amid a four-day humanitarian pause that took effect Friday, temporarily halting the Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave.

Residents of Gaza must "move to the south of the Gaza Valley," in the mid-Gaza Strip, he said, warning them "not to try to move to the north of the Strip, as it is a war zone."

The spokesman for the occupying regime forces also said that "it is forbidden to enter the sea" as well as "to approach the border between Gaza and Israel (the occupied territories) within a distance of one kilometer."

"Israel will not allow any movement from the south Gaza Strip towards the north," he said

Israel first called for residents in the northern Gaza Strip to move to the south soon after the aggression began on Oct. 7, despite warnings that such a mass migration would lead to a humanitarian disaster. Many did, hoping the south would be safer, but there have been many attacks in the southern Gaza Strip too.

Amid its military offensive on Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip, the Israeli military had repeatedly dropped leaflets telling residents they must leave their homes and "evacuate" to areas it claims are safer, which are south of the Wadi Gaza wetlands.

Families risked journeys through the blasted landscape of destroyed buildings and corpses, along the road that Israel had designated as a "humanitarian corridor" through the aggression.

But what awaits Palestinians who move south is still life-threatening. The "evacuation" areas are both heavily bombarded and in a dire humanitarian crisis.

Israeli bombardment has killed thousands of civilians in the areas of the Gaza Strip that Israel has ordered them to move to.

Last week, the main United Nations agency in Gaza announced that almost 1.7 million people, nearly 80 percent of the population, had been displaced since October 7 when Israel launched its aggression against the besieged territory.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said that nearly 945,000 internally displaced people were sheltering in its premises across Gaza as of November 19.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently vowed to resume the Israeli offensive against Gaza as soon as the truce ends.

The Israeli prime minister said that during the lull, intelligence efforts will be maintained, allowing the army to prepare for the next stages of battle. He said the battle would continue until "Gaza will not threaten Israel."

Israel launched a massive military campaign in the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. It has since killed at least 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and over 4,000 women.

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Israeli oil tanker seized off Yemen, third in a week

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 5:52 PM

An Israeli tanker has been seized off the coast of the Yemeni port city of Aden, the third such incident in a week after Yemen's Armed Forces and the popular Ansarullah resistance movement warned of targeting any of the occupying regime's ships crossing the Arab country's territorial waters.

Media reports said the "attackers" seized the Central Park vessel, owned and managed by the UK-based Israel-linked company Zodiac Maritime, off the coast of Aden on Sunday.

The Israeli daily Haaretz said the tanker vessel was owned by the Israeli businessman Eyal Ofer, adding that the ship had left Morocco and crossed the Suez Canal on November 21, sent its last location on the 22nd from a point south of the Egyptian city of Sharm El Sheikh.

Zodiac Maritime claimed that the attack was "a suspected piracy incident."

"Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard," Zodiac said in a statement. "The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid."

Maritime security company Embry said communications were intercepted from a US coalition warship warning Central Park, adding that another ship in the area reported "the approach of eight people on board two boats wearing military uniforms."

No group or individual has so far claimed responsibility for the seizure of the vessel while at least two other maritime attacks have in recent weeks been linked to the Israeli regime's war on the besieged Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation army said on Saturday that the Houthi Ansarullah's fighters had seized an Israeli-owned ship in the Red Sea, the Zim Luanda, sailing from Israel to China.

The report came after spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree published a one-word post on his X social media account, simply reading "Zim."

The Yemeni Armed Forces also seized an Israeli cargo vessel, named Galaxy Leader, in the Red Sea on November 19, in what they said was a response to the regime's massacre of Palestinians in Gaza. The entire 52 crew members onboard were also detained by Yemen's naval forces in the south of the Red Sea.

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.

Saree, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, had earlier announced 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.

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Palestinian resistance movements waged the surprise Operation al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

The Israeli aggression has so far killed more than 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

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Gaza ceasefire: Iraq's Kata'ib Hezbollah scales down attacks on US bases

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 4:20 PM

A major Iraqi resistance group has announced it will scale down its attacks on US military bases in the Arab country until a ceasefire holds in Gaza between Palestinian resistance forces and the Israeli regime.

The Kata'ib Hezbollah said in a statement late on Saturday that attacks on US forces in Iraq will decrease during a four-day ceasefire in Gaza that started early on Friday.

Kata'ib's spokesman Abu Hussein al- Hamidawi said, however, that US military forces will remain a target for resistance forces in Iraq as long as Washington maintains its military presence in the country.

"This confrontation will not stop as long as Iraq is not liberated and this is a decision we will not withdraw from no matter how much deaths it will cause," said Hamidawi.

Kata'ib Hezbollah is part of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), an umbrella group of paramilitary forces that has been recognized by the government t in Baghdad as a legitimate force to defend the country against security threats, especially those caused by terrorist groups.

Kata'ib has joined a regional drive in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon to target US and Israeli interests in the region since Israel launched a full-scale invasion on the Gaza Strip in early October with direct support from the US.

It has warned of an escalation in attacks on US forces in Iraq if Israel continues with its brutal aggression on Gaza.

Iraqi resistance forces have launched more than 60 attacks on US forces in Iraq and Syria since the start of the Gaza war.

The US has responded by carrying out two series of attacks on resistance forces in Iraq and three others on their peers in Syria over the past weeks.



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Iran: Resistance battle against Israel will alter 'balance of power in region'

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 4:13 PM

The large-scale operation launched by the Palestinian resistance movements against Israel has propelled the Palestinian issue to the forefront of global concerns and will change "the balance of power in the region," the spokesman for Iran's Foreign Ministry says.

Nasser Kan'ani made the remarks in an address to a meeting in Tehran on Sunday on the ongoing situation in the occupied territories after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against Israel on October 7.

"Al-Aqsa Storm showed Palestine is still the top issue in the world and has enough energy and capacity that can draw the world's [attention] to itself and change the balance of power in the region and beyond," Kan'ani said.

The Iranian official said the military operation and its developments proved Iran's "correct" understanding of the significance of the Palestinian issue.

Over the past 44 years, he noted, Iran has been the main supporter of the Palestinian issue and has never overlooked it in its regional and international relations.

The spokesman said even in complicated issues with the global hegemonic system, Iran has never used the absolute interests of the Palestinian people as a pretext to reach a reconciliation with other regional and extra-regional actors.

Kan'ani said the resistance groups' anti-Israel operation brought the Palestinian issue back to the top subjects in the world.

The Palestinian people proved that they would never wait for world powers' favor and attention in defending their rights, Kan'ani said.

"The hegemonic powers showed that they do not take the side of humanity or human rights when it comes to morality and human issues. They only take the side of their illegitimate interests and their oppressive and usurping partners, especially the Zionist regime," the Iranian spokesperson stated.

Pointing to Iran's high support for the oppressed Palestinian people during Israel's war on the Gaza Strip, he said an emergency summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in the Saudi capital Riyadh and a meeting of Muslim and Arab leaders proved the effectiveness of Tehran's efforts to unite the political power of Muslim and Arab states in the region.

In their virtual meeting, the BRICS group of emerging economies also attached great significance to the Palestinian issue, Kan'ani said.

Since the start of the aggression against Gaza, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, and injured at least 36,000 others.

It has also imposed a "complete siege" on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

A four-day truce took effect on Friday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and a captive-for-prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, hailed as a victory for Hamas, is based on the conditions of the Palestinian resistance.





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Health situation in Gaza 'extremely catastrophic': Palestinian official

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 4:12 PM

A senior Palestinian official has described as "extremely catastrophic" the health situation in the Gaza Strip in general, stressing the need for providing the necessary health components.

Munir al-Bursh, director-general of Gaza's Health Ministry made the remarks on Sunday, as a four-day humanitarian truce appears to be holding in the besieged enclave.

"The quantities of medical aid and fuel that arrived in the Gaza Strip, especially the northern areas of the strip, are very limited and insufficient, in light of the catastrophic health condition of the hospitals," Bursh said.

"Medicines and medical supplies must be brought into Gaza in large quantities, in line with the catastrophic health situation in the strip," he added.

The Palestinian official further noted that only three hospitals are now operating in Gaza, namely Al-Maamadani, Al-Awda, and Kamal Adwan, which are serving some 900,000 people, warning that they are on the brink of collapse.

He also emphasized "the need to strengthen the health system in Gaza and the northern regions and provide adequate health services."

Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime's decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.

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.

Last Thursday, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that 26 hospitals and 55 health centers were out of service in the blockaded territory. Israeli forces also targeted 55 ambulances, while dozens of others are out of service due to fuel shortages.

A four-day truce took effect on Friday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza after seven weeks of unrelenting bombardment.

According to the Gaza-based health ministry, so far nearly 15,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes, most of them women and children.

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Israeli forces arrested 3,200 Palestinians since October 7 in West Bank

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 3:25 PM

A Palestinian group says the Israeli forces have arrested more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of detainees to more than 3,000 since the outbreak of the weeks-long regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

"The occupation forces arrested at least 20 Palestinians, on Saturday-Sunday night, from cities and towns in the West Bank, including East al-Quds," the Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a statement on Sunday. "The total number of detainees rose to 3,200 Palestinians since Oct. 7," it added.

According to the group's president, Abdallah Zughary, many of these detainees have been placed in administrative detention without charge.

"Since 7 October, there have been no visits by families or lawyers to prisoners. And six prisoners have died." He accuses Israel of using the justice system as a "revenge policy".

The regime forces stormed villages and towns throughout the West Bank late on Saturday, accompanied by arrest and shooting and gas bombs on Palestinians.

Eleven Palestinians were detained during an army raid of old and new Askar refugee camps, East of the Northern West Bank city of Nablus, and three others turned themselves in at an army checkpoint near Nablus after Israel held family members as hostages to force them to turn themselves in.

Detentions were also reported in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin, and the southern city of al-Khalil. The Israeli forces also arrested Palestinians from Qalqilya and Ein al-Beida villages east of Tubas, after raiding their homes.

The raids come despite an ongoing four-day truce between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas in the war-torn Gaza Strip, during which at least 50 Israeli captives are expected to be freed in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, all women and children.

Seven weeks of relentless Israeli attacks on the coastal territory killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, more than a third of them children, and displaced at least 1.5 million, according to Gaza officials.

Over the same period, more than 230 Palestinians, including 52 children, in the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

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Iran: Al-Aqsa Storm Palestinians' natural reaction to 75 years of Israeli occupation

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 11:15 AM

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani has said that the large-scale anti-Israeli operation launched by the Gaza Strip-based Palestinian resistance movements was a natural reaction by Palestinians in the face of continued Israeli occupation.

During a press briefing at the Iranian embassy in the Thai capital city of Bangkok on Sunday, Bagheri Kani told reporters that Operation Al-Aqsa Strom, carried out by Hamas on October 7, was a "legitimate reaction" to Israel's violence against Palestinians.

"The crisis in the occupied [Palestinian] territories did not erupt as the result of the developments that took place on October 7. The operation launched by Hamas was the Palestinians' natural and legitimate reaction to the 75-years-long occupation of their land by the Zionist regime," he said.

He also voiced concern about the fate of foreign captives, especially Thai citizens, held in Gaza following the Hamas operation.

According to Bagheri Kani the issue of Thai prisoners was seriously pursued by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian during his recent trips to Lebanon and Qatar and meetings with senior representatives of Palestinian resistance groups there.

Since Friday, Hamas released 14 Thais and a Filipino, along with 26 Israeli captives, including women and children, on two occasions as part of a four-day truce that took effect in the Gaza Strip after seven weeks of bombardment.

Israel in turn freed 78 Palestinian women and children from its prisons.

During his short stay in Bangkok, Bagheri Kani also met with high-ranking Thai officials, including President of the National Assembly Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and acting Chairman of the National Security Council Chatchai Bangchuad.

The two sides underlined the need for the promotion of bilateral relations, particularly in the field of economy and tourism, and highlighted the longstanding amicable relations between the two nations.

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Gaza war inflicts 'humiliating defeat' on Israel, exposes nature of regime's supporters: Iran Army chief

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 9:53 AM

The chief commander of the Iranian Army says the weeks-long Israeli onslaught on the besieged Gaza Strip inflicted a "humiliating defeat" on Tel Aviv and exposed the "true face" of the US and other supporters of the occupying regime.

Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi made the remarks at a ceremony in Tehran on Sunday, saying that "The US president went to meet the most hated person in the world [Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and supported him, but he adjusted his stance as the Zionist regime's crimes intensified."

"This war led to the Zionist regime's humiliating defeat. The Zionist regime advocates apartheid ..., and thus the leaders of the countries that support this regime are also pro-apartheid."

Mousavi also noted that the bombardment of civilian targets does not constitute an achievement for Israel as it has lost many military equipment and personnel in the ground battle and failed to arrest Hamas leaders.

For years, he added, the Zionists tried to "consign the Palestine issue to the oblivion," but the Gaza war has turned the spotlight on Palestine across the globe.

"The US spent a fortune and employed its media empire to portray itself as an advocate of human rights and democracy. However, this war laid bare the true nature and face of the US and the countries supporting the Zionist regime," Mousavi said.

Israel waged the brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, in the occupied territories.

Earlier this month, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah called Israel "as fragile as a spider web," saying the deployment of US assets and troops, along with high-profile visits of US generals, proved the regime is weakened and "needs American support" to "stand on its own two feet."

"As Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said, the Zionist regime is weaker than a spider web," Mousavi highlighted.

'Tel Aviv brought to its knees'

"Aircraft belonging to the US and some regional states provided assistance worth billions of dollar to the regime, but it was defeated and brought to its knees by the people who have been living for years in an open-air prison," the Iranian Army chief asserted.

Mousavi added that Tel Aviv had to accept a ceasefire which is based on Hamas' terms for truce.

Iran's Army chief said that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm represented an "unprecedented development in the 75 years of the Palestinian struggle" to end the Israeli occupation.

Since the start of the aggression against Gaza, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, and injured at least 36,000 others.

It has also imposed a "complete siege" on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

A four-day truce took effect on Friday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and a captive-for-prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel. The ceasefire, hailed as a victory for Hamas, is based on the conditions of the Palestinian resistance.

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Hezbollah: Hamas' Al-Aqsa Storm 'marvelous'; Israel forced to accept ceasefire

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 8:06 AM

A high-ranking official with the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement has called the Hamas' Al-Aqsa Storm a "marvelous operation", saying its effects will be known soon.

During a memorial ceremony in Lebanon on Sunday, Hezbollah Deputy Secretary General Sheikh Naim Qassem said, "Al-Aqsa Storm was great and marvelous work that dug deep into the Israeli entity and it comes to fruition in the near future."

Sheikh Qassem praised the Palestinian resistance in the face of the Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip, noting that the enemy has failed to sow sedition among our ranks.

"The groundbreaking achievement of the al-Aqsa Strom will be an indication that the resistance cannot be defeated."

He underlined that the Israeli regime failed to achieve anything during 50 days of its brutal aggression on Gaza.

"This resistance, with its men, children, women, and everything it possesses, cannot be defeated, and victories will follow, most notably the victory of Gaza," Sheikh Qassem noted.

"The resistance was not harmed and its strength was not diminished in any way, and we are with it in Lebanon, Iraq, and Yemen," Qassem said.

He added that Operation Al-Aqsa Strom, which was launched by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7, was "a fundamental work" and must succeed.

"If it was not for the steadfastness of the resistance, the prisoner exchange deal would not have been reached. Israel was forced to accept a ceasefire," he said in reference to the truce, which went into effect on Friday.

As per the terms of the truce, 150 Palestinian women and children will be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for 50 Israeli captives.

So far, 78 Palestinian prisoners have been freed by Israel. In return, Hamas has also set free 26 Israeli, 14 Thai, and one Filipino captives.

According to Sheikh Qassem, the Israeli regime did not even dare to launch an operation to free the captives held by Hamas, and had to wait for the proposed swap deal by the resistance movement.

"The regime is facing a crisis and catastrophe," the Hezbollah official added. "Extending the current four-day truce would be the best option for Israel as the Palestinian resistance was in no way affected by the regime's operation against the Gaza Strip."

Israel unleashed a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip on October 7 in response to the besieged territory-based resistance groups' Operation al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories.

The latest aggression against Gaza killed nearly 15,000 Palestinians, two-thirds of whom are women and children

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Islamic Jihad warns Israel of any attempts to violate Gaza truce

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 7:43 AM

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad resistance movement has warned Israel against any attempts to violate the terms of the four-day truce that has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after seven weeks of unrelenting bombardment.

The Gaza-based group, in a statement released on Saturday night, said it will closely and strictly monitor the behavior of Israeli officials and military forces as the temporary pause in fighting holds, and will not hesitate to take appropriate actions to prevent any trickery.

"The resistance front will not allow the Zionist enemy to renege on what has already been agreed upon regarding the exchange of prisoners, or any attempt to escape its implementation.

"The status quo is under the control of resistance groups. They are directing this battle both in military and political arenas through confidence and sensibility," the statement read.

Israel began a bombardment campaign Gaza Strip after Palestinian resistance movement Hamas launched Operation Al-Aqsa Storm inside the occupied territories on October 7. The regime has killed at least 14,854 people, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, in Gaza.

Israel also laid total siege to the Gaza Strip and cut off food, water and electricity supplies to the impoverished enclave.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas announced a four-day truce with Israel in the Gaza Strip to cease hostilities in Gaza.

Hamas said the deal, mediated by Qatar and Egypt, will allow the entry of hundreds of trucks with humanitarian aid, medicine and fuel to Gaza.

After seven weeks of massacre, the truce took effect at 7:00 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Friday following a night of intense Israeli bombardment.

The deal also stipulated the release of 50 Israelis held in Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners.

So far, Hamas has released 26 Israeli captives and 14 Thai and Filipino nationals in exchange for Israel freeing 78 Palestinian prisoners as part of an ongoing swap during the four-day ceasefire.

Egyptian officials are currently holding intensive talks with the Palestinian and Israeli sides to "secure the release of a larger number" of captives in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners, the head of the State Information Service Diaa Rashwan said.

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Iran: US will pay heavy price for Israeli crimes; foreign forces must leave region

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 6:58 AM

The Iranian defense minister has warned that the United States and Israel will pay dearly for all the crimes that they are committing in the region.

"It has been proven to the whole that the Zionist regime is a criminal regime and that the US's biggest mistake is supporting the child-killing regime. They must know that they will definitely pay the price for all these crimes," Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Ashtiani said on Saturday.

The defense minister referred to mounting political and economic pressure on Israel to end its bloody war on the besieged Gaza Strip, which began on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group launched a surprise attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, in the occupied territories.

Ashtiani noted that Operation Al-Aqsa Storm "took the Zionist regime by surprise in all fields and put it in jeopardy," and inflicted a "heavy defeat" on the occupation.

According to Ashtiani the operation essentially led to the collapse of the regime politically and militarily.

"It also led the Americans to seriously feel the danger of the regime's complete ouster and thus to support it, a path also followed by some European countries," he said.

The Iranian defense minister further advised the US and certain European countries to leave the region and not to seek to spark tensions, warning them of a reaction from the entire region and the Axis of Resistance.

People in West Asia will witness that the usurping Israeli regime will be "completely overthrown" and that security will return to our region, he added.

Since the start of the aggression against Gaza, the Tel Aviv regime has killed 14,854 Palestinians, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women, and injured at least 36,000 others.

It has also imposed a "complete siege" on the coastal sliver, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.

A four-day truce took effect on Friday to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza and a captive-for-prisoner swap between Hamas and Israel.

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Israeli forces gun down 4 Palestinian youths during violent raid in Jenin

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 2:00 AM

Israeli forces have gunned down four Palestinian youths, including a teenager, during a violent raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

Six other Palestinians were also injured by the Israeli troops' live fire during the attack that targeted the city on Sunday, with the regime's forces besieging Martyr Khalil Suleiman and Ibn Sina hospitals, the official Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

The agency quoted the director of Al-Razi Hospital as identifying the latest victims of Israeli forces' brutality as Ammar Muhammad Abu al-Wafa (21 years old), Ahmed Abu al-Hija (20 years old), Muhammad Mahmoud Fraihat (27 years old) and Mahmoud Khaled Abu al-Hija (17 years old).

According to the report, a large group of the regime's forces, accompanied by military bulldozers, stormed the city of Jenin from several directions. In addition to hospitals, they also surrounded the headquarters of the Red Crescent Society.

Israeli forces deployed snipers on the roofs of some high-rise buildings, while their bulldozers were destroying several streets in a number of neighborhoods and the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp. They cut off electricity to several neighborhoods and the surroundings of the camp.

The regime's forces also attacked people's homes in Jenin, destroying a large number of Palestinians' cars and causing damage to the city's infrastructure.

During the raid, Israeli aircraft flew over the city conducting intense reconnaissance flights.

The regime has ramped up its aggression against Palestinians across the West Bank, killing hundreds of them throughout the occupied territory, ever since October 7, when it launched a war of genocide against the besieged Gaza Strip.

Nearly 15,000 people were killed in the regime's bloody onslaught against Gaza before a temporary four-day ceasefire entered into forces on Friday.

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S Korea, Japan, China fail to set summit date, condemn N Korea

The lack of consensus shows widening gaps between the three neighbors.

By Lee Jeong-Ho for RFA 2023.11.26 -- South Korea, Japan, and China have not only failed to agree on a date for a landmark trilateral summit of their leaders, but also in jointly condemning North Korea's latest satellite launch that violated United Nations Security Council resolutions, exposing the widening gaps in reinvigorating that three-party cooperation.

The foreign ministers of the three nations did not hold a joint press conference on Sunday, after their first ministerial talks in four years - a rare occurrence that could signify the differing diplomatic stances among these key Asian geopolitical entities.

"The countries have reaffirmed their agreement to hold the summit, the apex of their cooperative framework, at the earliest mutually convenient time," South Korea's Foreign Minister Park Jin said in a solo briefing after the trilateral meeting with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts, Yoko Kamikawa and Wang Yi in the South's port city of Busan.

A South Korean government source, who asked for anonymity due to sensitivity of the matter, told Radio Free Asia that the joint press conference did not take place as Wang had pre-arranged plans. The person did not elaborate.

According to a separate South Korean government official who spoke to RFA prior to the meeting, the primary goal of the ministerial meeting was to set a date for the trilateral summit. The last trilateral summit took place in 2019 in Chengdu, China.

"Efforts will be made to ensure that the summit takes place soon," Park said, without specifying an exact date. The South Korean minister mentioned his proposal for the three countries to reactivate their intergovernmental mechanism as a means to fortify the framework of trilateral cooperation. However, he did not clarify whether this proposal was agreed upon by all parties.

Whether China would want to continue the trilateral summit platform has become questionable as its emergence as a global power has relatively lessened its focus in the region. The increasing collaboration of South Korea and Japan under the trilateral framework with the United States also has been a source of discomfort for Beijing.

In fact, with South Korea's current conservative Yoon Suk Yeol administration, Seoul has been more vocal in criticizing China on the international stage - with concerns ranging from Beijing's decision to repatriate North Korean defectors back to the Kim Jong Un regime to China's coercive behavior towards the democratically self-governed island of Taiwan.

North Korea

The three ministers also failed to issue a joint statement in condemning North Korea's latest provocation, a departure from previous trilateral foreign ministers' meetings which usually included a consensus on security issues in the Korean peninsula.

"I emphasized that North Korea's recent so-called military reconnaissance satellite launch, along with its ballistic missile launches and nuclear development, are among the greatest threats to peace and security in the region," Park said during his solo briefing, without saying what has been agreed with his Japanese and Chinese counterparts.

North Korea launched a satellite last Tuesday, despite international warnings. Rocket technology can be used for both launching satellites and missiles. For that reason, the U.N. bans North Korea from launching a ballistic rocket, even if it claims to be a satellite launch.

The lack of a joint statement is a sharp contrast with the trilateral foreign minister meeting among the U.S., South Korea and Japan in San Francisco, in which the three called the military cooperation between Pyongyang and Moscow, including Russia's technological aid to help the North Korean launch, a "serious threat to international peace and stability."

Unlike previous occasions, when China's foreign ministry often expressed its regrets, Beijing refrained from issuing a public criticism of North Korea's latest launch, as the strategic value of Pyongyang has been raised due to intensifying U.S.-China relations.

North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday claimed that its satellite passed over Hawaii and observed "a naval base in the Pearl Harbor, the Hickam air-force base in Honolulu," as well as South Korea's Busan.

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.

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Three Hungarian Citizens, One Russian Among Hostages Released By Hamas

By RFE/RL November 26, 2023

Three of the hostages released on November 26 by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU, are Hungarian citizens, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said on Facebook.

"I can share good news with those who are worried about the Hungarian hostages: thanks to the mediation of the Qatar government, new hostages were released today from Hamas captivity, two of them children with Hungarian citizenship."

Hungarian President Katalin Novak said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that the other Hungarian released was a woman. She also thanked Qatar for its mediation efforts.

A hostage who holds Russian citizenship has also been released by Hamas. The extremist group announced the release of the hostage on November 26, adding that it had taken the action in appreciation of Moscow's position.

Israel and Hamas have agreed to swap 50 hostages held by Hamas for 150 prisoners in Israeli jails over a four-day truce period.

White House national-security adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier on November 26 that there was "reason to believe" a U.S. hostage would also be among those released.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/hamas-releases-russian-hostage- israel/32700465.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Russia Only 'Guarantor of Peace' in Karabakh Despite Efforts to Drive it Out- Kremlin

Sputnik News

20231126

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY, Russia (Sputnik) - Western politicians are trying to push Russia out of the Karabakh region, but no one can guarantee the same peace and stability that Moscow provides, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

"The fact that they [Western politicians] are trying to push us out of there  yes, we know it, but so far no one but Russia has been able to play such a role of a guarantor of peace and stability in the region. And Russia is continuing its efforts," Peskov told media.

He said Western countries no longer made secret of their intentions in South Caucasus, arguing that this might have undermined their eligibility as mediators.

"You see, maybe three, four, five years ago this kind of battle was fought with diplomatic masks on. These masks have long since fallen off, and the struggle is being fought directly, with an open fence. In fact, a number of countries are still trying to destabilize the situation around Karabakh, which, by the way, has led to Azerbaijan officially stating that these countries can hardly claim any role of mediators, because they have taken a one-sided position," Peskov said.

 Sputnik

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Joint CSTO Air Defense System De Facto Created - Shoigu

Sputnik News

20231126

PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKY (Sputnik) - A joint air defense system of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) has been de facto created, as Russia has bilateral agreements with each of member states, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Sunday.

"In fact, it [a CSTO air defense system] has been created, created at the bilateral level. We have an agreement and air defense systems with each of the states. This includes Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and, naturally, Belarus," Shoigu told Rossiya 1 reporter Pavel Zarubin.

The system is "equipped and working," and there are exercises held to maintain it in combat condition, he said, adding that the system will be created de jure if necessary.

 Sputnik

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UNRWA

26 Nov 2023

Day 49 of Hostilities

1. Key points

The Gaza Strip

A humanitarian pause entered into force in the morning of 24 November and has held on 25 November.

On 25 November, UNRWA received 187 trucks of humanitarian aid at its reception point in Gaza.

For the second consecutive day, 129,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza from Egypt. UNRWA distributed fuel to support food distribution, the operations of generators at hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, shelters and other critical services south of Wadi Gaza. As of 25 November, Israeli Authorities have not allowed fuel to reach the areas north of Wadi Gaza.

Over 1.7 million people (or nearly 80 per cent of the population) have been displaced across the Gaza Strip since 7 October.

As of 24 November, more than 1 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) were sheltering in 156 UNRWA installations across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north.

Nearly 927,000 IDPs were sheltering in 99 facilities in the Middle, Khan Younis and Rafah areas.
Hamas Releases 17 More Hostages, Including Israeli American Girl

By VOA News November 26, 2023

Israel said Sunday that Hamas militants have released 17 more hostages held in Gaza, including a 4-year-old Israeli American girl who U.S. President Joe Biden said witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas during its attack on southern Israel seven weeks ago.

The girl, Abigail Edan, was among 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals turned over to the International Committee of the Red Cross on the third day that Hamas has released hostages in exchange for Israel freeing Palestinians who had been jailed for various offenses.

Biden said, "What she endured is unthinkable."

The U.S. leader spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later about the release of the hostages during Israel's planned four-day pause in its offensive on Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea.

The White House said in a statement that Biden and Netanyahu s also discussed the pause in the fighting and surge in much needed additional humanitarian assistance into Gaza.

"The prime minister thanked the president for his tireless efforts to help broker and fully implement this deal," the statement said. "The two leaders agreed that the work is not yet done and that they will continue working to secure the release of all hostages."

The truce is set to end Tuesday, although Israel has said it will extend the cease-fire by a day for every additional 10 hostages Hamas releases beyond the deal now in place  a release of 50 hostages held by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel released 39 more Palestinian prisoners later Sunday.

The temporary truce is the first halt in the conflict since Hamas, in a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, killed 1,200 people and seized about 240 hostages. Israel in turn vowed to eliminate Hamas and bombarded Gaza with aerial attacks and a ground offensive that Palestinian officials say has killed more than 14,000 people, about 40% of them children.

Aside from the Israeli American girl released Sunday, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC's "This Week" show that Hamas has been holding eight other Americans and a foreign national with U.S. employment rights.

Biden said he hopes other American hostages would be released by Hamas as well and said he would like to see the truce extended as long as prisoners are being released.

"We will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones," Biden said.

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops. "We are making every effort to return our hostages, and at the end of the day we will return everyone."

"We are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us," Netanyahu said. It was not immediately clear where he went inside Gaza.

While the cease-fire with Hamas seemed to be holding, the Palestinian health ministry said that Israeli forces shot dead at least six Palestinians overnight on the West Bank.

Hamas released 17 hostages late Saturday, 13 Israelis and four Thais. A short time later, early Sunday, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.

The hostages were released hours later than expected after the militant group accused Israel of violating the exchange agreement, claims Israeli officials denied.

Qatari and Egyptian mediators were able to address Hamas' concerns, and the hostages were then released just before midnight.

Of the 13 released Israelis on Saturday, there were seven children and six women, most from Kibbutz Be'eri. The children ranged in age from 3 to 16, and the women ranged from 18 to 67.

The Israelis released Sunday ranged from 4 to 84. Included among those released Sunday three Thai nationals.

Hamas has been designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., United Kingdom, the European Union and others.

Although one of Israel's preconditions for the swap was not to split the families of the abductees, at least two families from Kibbutz Be'eri were split. A kibbutz spokesperson said all the released hostages either had a family member killed in the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel or had left a loved one in captivity in Gaza.

One was Hila Rotem, 12, whose mother remains with Hamas.

Of the 39 Palestinian prisoners freed, 33 were children and six were women, a Qatari spokesperson said.

Television images showed prisoners being welcomed home.

The most prominent Palestinian released was Israa Jaabis, 38, who was convicted of a checkpoint bombing attack in 2015 that wounded a police officer. She suffered burns and was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

VOA's Natasha Mosgovaya contributed to this report. Some information for this article was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Blinken Off to Brussels as NATO Shores Commitment to Ukraine

By Nike Ching November 27, 2023

The United States is joining member states from NATO this week in renewing the alliance's "steadfast commitment" to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's aggression, according to a senior State Department official.

Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Brussels, where foreign ministers from NATO will gather from November 27 to 29.

On Wednesday, Blinken will lead the U.S. delegation to NATO member North Macedonia who is hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe or OSCE in its capital Skopje later this week.

The United States is hosting the next NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to 11, 2024. Blinken will discuss priorities for the Washington meeting with his counterparts as the alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary next year.

NATO-Ukraine Council foreign ministers

The chief U.S. diplomat is set to attend the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council as Kyiv aspires to be a NATO member.

"The Council supports Ukraine's close partnership with NATO," said Jim O'Brien who is State Department's Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. "Allies will continue to support Ukraine's self-defense until Russia stops its war of aggression," he added.

The NATO-Ukraine Council was inaugurated at the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 12, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other heads of member governments also in attendance.

It convened for the second time in late July to discuss Black Sea security following Russia's withdrawal from a deal overseeing grain exports from Ukrainian ports.

The third meeting was held in October to discuss substantial assistance to Ukraine and to ensure Ukraine's forces are fully interoperable with NATO.

The NATO-Ukraine Council is the joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal participants to advance political dialogue.

Western Balkans

One of the sessions at this week's NATO foreign ministers' meeting is to address security and democracy in the Western Balkans.

"A stable, prosperous future for the Western Balkans must be based on good governance, rule of law, multi-ethnic democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms," O'Brien said.

NATO officials have affirmed the alliance's commitment to maintaining a safe and secure environment while contributing to broader stability in the Western Balkans.

The statement came in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's earlier warning this month, in which he conveyed information suggesting that Russia has a plan for the destabilization of the Balkans.

Speaking on November 21 in Skopje, North Macedonia, during the final stop of a tour of the Western Balkans, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg stated that the alliance closely monitors Russia's activities in the region. But he said there is currently no perceived military threat to any NATO member in the area.

North Macedonia, OSCE

After the government of North Macedonia announced that it would briefly lift a flight ban and permit the plane carrying Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to land in Skopje for the OSCE ministerial, Lavrov said on Monday he would attend the OSCE foreign ministers meeting in North Macedonia if Bulgaria opened its air space to the Russian delegation.

North Macedonia's sanctions will remain in place against Russia for all other flights.

Most European countries banned flights from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

O'Brien declined to comment on whether there will be any interaction between Lavrov should he attend the OSCE ministerial and the U.S. delegation but told VOA during a phone briefing that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will "have a good discussion with" OSCE counterparts about U.S. "support for Ukraine."

Some material is from Reuters.

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Operation Iron Swords - Day 51 - 26 November 2023

Israeli Channel 12 said that the war council will meet tonight to discuss the possibility of extending the truce in the Gaza Strip, amid anticipation of the release of the third batch of prisoners. Yesterday, Saturday, US President Joe Biden revealed that there is a possibility of extending the temporary humanitarian truce that was reached between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The Hamas movement confirmed that it seeks to extend the truce after the end of the four-day period, through serious research to increase the number of released detainees, as stated in the humanitarian truce agreement. A source close to Hamas confirmed to Agence France-Presse that the latter had agreed to extend the truce. The source said, "Hamas informed the mediators that the resistance factions agreed to extend the current truce for between two to four days." He added, "We expect that the resistance will be able to secure the release of between 20 and 40 Israeli prisoners," under the extension.

The US Deputy National Security Advisor John Finer told MSNBC: The deal will be extended if Hamas is prepared to continue releasing the hostages.

If Hamas is prepared to release additional hostages, Israel has indicated as part of this agreement that it is prepared for additional days in a pause to the fighting, United States National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on NBCs Meet the Press. The ball really is in Hamas court. Sullivan announces that US President Joe Biden has already set a meeting with the Israeli occupation's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss extending the truce.

The Wall Street Journal reported that negotiators are hopeful that the temporary four-day truce in Gaza could be extended by up to four more days to ensure the release of at least 20 additional women and children captives, in addition to the initial batch of 50, said people familiar with the talks. On its part, Reuters reported earlier, citing an informed Qatari official, that a Qatari delegation visited "Israel" on Saturday to discuss the possible extension of the four-day truce, which began on Friday. According to the official, "The Qatari operations team also coordinated with Israeli officials to ensure the continuation of the truce and the smooth release of prisoners," mainly after several Israeli violations.

Three students of Palestinian origin, who were wearing keffiyehs and speaking Arabic, were seriously injured in a shooting in Burlington, Vermont. Two students are in the intensive care unit, while one of them is being treated for serious injuries. The students are all 20 years old, and they are Hisham Awartani from Brown University, Kenan Abdel Hamid from Harvard University, and Tahseen Ahmed from Trinity University.

According to the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee's statement, "The students gathered together to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. The three victims were wearing Palestinian keffiyehs and speaking Arabic. A man shouted at and harassed the victims, then shot them." The Arab American Committee called on law enforcement authorities in Vermont to investigate the shooting incident as a hate crime, and the committee also contacted the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation to also call for an immediate investigation into hate crimes.

Operational Update

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apparently pledged not to liquidate Hamas leaders present in Doha. This was confirmed by an informed source to the noted French journalist and writer Georges Malbrunot. reporter for Le Figaro and Middle East specialist, who published the information in two tweets on his account on the X platform. "Qatar received assurances from Israel that Mossad would not come to kill leaders of Hamas' political wing in the emirate, says a generally well-informed source. This assurance was apparently given by the Jewish state when Doha began its mediation on the hostages. Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered Mossad to prepare such a liquidation. There are enough other places (than Qatar) to do it, adds our source, familiar with Qatar." The movement's leaders are often distributed between Doha, Lebanon, and Turkey, while Yahya Al-Sinwar, the leader of the movement, is stationed in Gaza, and Muhammad Al-Deif, who is responsible for the military wing inside the Strip.

Netanyahu said that he told US President Joe Biden that Israel will return with all its might to achieve the goal of eliminating Hamas, as soon as the current hostage exchange agreement ends. Netanyahu added, in an interview with the media, that Israel's goal is to ensure that Gaza does not return to what it was, and to release all the kidnapped people.

Netanyahu said earlier, during an inspection of Israeli forces in Gaza: Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the strength, ability, will and determination to achieve all the goals of the war, and this is what we will do. He explained that Israel has three goals in this war: eliminating Hamas, returning all hostages, and ensuring that Gaza does not become a threat to Israel again.

The Almaza military base in western Damascus was targeted in suspected Israeli airstrike, according to Syrian media. Multiple explosions have been reported in the Syrian capitol of Damascus, according to Arab media reports. Another report stated that Damascus International Airport was targeted in the air assault as well.

Hezbollah media reported that the southern front is not in a declared truce, adding: We are in a state of cautious calm, and approaching the border is risky, because the Israeli is hiding, and from time to time he fires machine-gun bursts from his positions along the border. The border, and some incidents occurred, including the firing of a shell into the forests of Aita al-Shaab (central sector), and a car was hit in al-Wazzani (eastern sector)... Caution and alertness are necessary.

A US defense official confirmed to the Associated Press that unidentified gunmen seized the M/V Central Park oil tanker, owned by Zodiac Maritime, linked to Israel, in the Gulf of Aden. Private security company Embry said the attackers seized the Central Park ship, operated by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden. Zodiac described the attack as a "suspected hacking incident."

The company said in a statement: Our priority is the safety of our crew, which consists of 22 people on board the ship, which is led by a Turkish captain and has a multinational crew consisting of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian, and Filipino citizens. The ship is carrying a full load of phosphoric acid.

According to the Associated Press, Yemeni authorities said that attackers seized an Israeli-linked ship off the coast of Aden on Sunday. The agency added: "No party immediately claimed responsibility, but it comes at a time when at least two other naval attacks carried out by the Ansar Allah group (Houthis) in recent days have been linked to the Israeli war on Gaza."

The American official told Agence France-Presse: There are indications that an unknown number of unidentified gunmen took control of the tanker - MV Central Park - in the Gulf of Aden on November 26, noting that American forces and coalition forces are present in the vicinity of the region and we... We are closely monitoring the situation, he said, after a series of similar accidents on the same shipping route.

The "Embry" maritime security company reported earlier that the tanker owned by a United Kingdom-based company linked to Israel had been intercepted, noting that "the US Navy is monitoring the situation." It indicated that the "Houthis" had previously threatened to attack the ship if it did not divert its course towards the port of Hodeidah. The company added that communications had been intercepted from a US coalition warship warning "Central Park" not to ignore the messages.

The White House proposed all limits on weapons and ammunition permissible to "Israel" from US stockpiles be lifted, a report by The Intercept revealed. The lifting of limits was part of the White House's supplemental budget proposal, which was given to the Senate on October 20. "This request would allow for the transfer of all categories of defense articles," according to the suggested budget. In October 2023, the House enacted legislation mirroring the White House's request, and it is currently before the Senate.

The lifting of limits was part of the White House's supplemental budget proposal, which was given to the Senate on October 20. The billions of dollars the US has been providing the Israeli occupation with are clearly not enough, since the request is for US weapons depots in Israel that the Pentagon developed for use in regional crises.

John Ramming Chappell, a legal fellow with the Center for Civilians in Conflict, expressed that the amendments "would create a two-step around restrictions on U.S. weapons transfers to Israel. Back in January 2022, US-based Breaking Defense military news outlet reported that Israeli military sources disclosed it has a list of weapons it plans to urge the US to add to its American emergency stockpile in Israel as a safeguard for possible future wars in the region.

The War Reserves Stock Allies stockpile, established in the 1980s, allows the US to stockpile arms and equipment at Israeli bases for American use in wartime and has included missiles, armored vehicles, and artillery ammunition. Later, the US changed the conditions for the stockpile, granting Israel immediate access "in emergency scenarios" and allowing weapons to be transferred through considerably expedited Foreign Military Sales procedures.

In a 2020 CRS report, an Israeli commander was cited as saying, "Officially, all this equipment belongs to the US military," unless there is a conflict, then the Israeli occupation forces "can ask permission to use some of the equipment," which occurred during the Israel's massive military operation in Lebanon in 2006 (2006 July War), and again during the war on the Gaza Strip in 2014.

With the WRSA-I, Biden seeks to remove all restrictions, including plans to eliminate restrictions on obsolete or surplus weapons, waive an annual spending cap on replenishing the stockpile, remove weapon-specific restrictions, and reduce congressional oversight. According to Josh Paul, a former official in the State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs who quit his post due to US arms deals with Israel, lifting constraints on transfers to "Israel" could harm US objectives by reducing American preparedness in the region.

Paul remarked that since eliminating the cap of $200 million, restocking the WRSA-I would mean a "free-flowing pipeline to provide any defense articles to 'Israel' by the simple act of placing them in the WRSA-I stockpile, or other stockpiles intended for Israel. The US currently required Israel to make specific concessions in exchange for some types of Pentagon weaponry support, but the White House plan would remove this requirement as well. The changes also restrict congressional supervision of US arms transfers by shortening the amount of advance notice provided to Congress before a weapons transfer.

Current law required 30 days' notice, but the changes according to Chappell, would make it "much harder for Congress or the public to monitor U.S. arms transfers to Israel," in a move that would "further undermine oversight and accountability even as U.S. support enables an Israeli campaign that has killed thousands of children."

William Hartung, an arms expert at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, explained that the package makes Congress' monitoring of US arms to Israel particularly difficult, "even as the Israeli government has engaged in massive attacks on civilians, some of which constitute war crimes.

Two months prior to the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, the Pentagon granted a multi-million dollar contract for the construction of facilities for US troops at a confidential base located in al-Naqab Desert, known by the codename Site 512, The Intercept reported in October 2023. Site 512, previously termed a "cooperative security location," a label meant for low-cost, minimal presence bases, has been applied to facilities capable of housing up to 1,000 troops, the report indicated on Friday. According to The Intercept, Site 512 was not created to address the threat posed by the Palestinian Resistance, but rather to counter the danger presented by Iranian mid-range missiles.

However, when thousands of the Palestinian Resistance rockets were launched on October 7 toward Israeli settlements and cities, Site 512 remained inactive because its primary focus was monitoring Iran, which is over 700 miles away, the report pointed out. Despite President Joe Biden's denial of plans to deploy US troops as part of the ongoing confrontation between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation, a covert US military presence is in place and expanding, as indicated by government documents, the report revealed.

According to David Ignatius in The Washington Post, after Israel paused its war on Gaza, the Israeli forces are faced with a "controversial dilemma" of considering how exactly they will resume their bombardment of the strip in their alleged effort to "eradicate" Hamas. One senior Israeli official expressed that the release of 13 captives by Hamas was "bittersweet", explaining that the near future has some "high-intensity conflict" in store. The official did not back down from the IOF's intention to destroy Hamas, in turn destroying Gaza and yet killing thousands more Palestinians, despite the mounting international pressure for a permanent ceasefire. The official explained that the IDF are "determined to go to the next stage of the war. Were not at the stabilization phase yet."

According to Ignatius, the main issue is that Israel will continue its offensive while global pressure increases for a permanent ceasefire, like how Qatars Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Majed al-Ansari told reporters that Qatar hoped the 4-day truce would last more permanently. He recalls how "Israel" saw similar diplomatic pressure in the past like in the 1973 war, the 1982 invasion of Beirut, and most recently when "Israel" invaded Gaza in 2014 in a failed mission to destroy Hamas tunnels before a lasting truce was agreed upon on August 26.

Israels army will return to fighting Hamas with determination once the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip ends, said Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. The [Israeli army] and its soldiers fight fiercely to protect the lives of our people while upholding the values of the [Israeli army]. We have created conditions for the framework for the release of the first group of children and mothers held hostage during this pause, Halevi said in a statement.

He added: When the framework is completed, we will return to our operations with determination, for the continued release of the hostages and the complete dismantlement of Hamas. Halevi addressed Israeli military soldiers and commanders saying: I met many of you at the end of long hours of fighting both above and underground, facing complex challenges. In every encounter, I saw reflected in your eyes the magnitude of the moment, the fighting spirit and determination to achieve all the objectives of the war. I heard you tell me: We want to fight until we return the hostages. And so we are doing just that!

Halevi had reiterated on Saturday that the Israeli military will immediately return to striking in the Gaza Strip once the humanitarian pause with Hamas ends. We do not intend, do not want, and are not ready to stop this effort before we return all the hostages it is our moral duty to bring them back, Halevi spoke of the hostages held by Hamas as cited by the Times of Israel. The Israeli commander said the army was using this pause in fighting to study, to better prepare our abilities and also to rest a little.

And we will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attacking Gaza, to maneuver in Gaza. We will do it to dismantle Hamas and also to create great pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many hostages as possible, down to the last one of them, he said.

Israel has lost control of the war in the Gaza Strip, and the longer the ceasefire lasts, the greater the pressure on the mini-war government in Tel Aviv to continue the prisoner exchange process with the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ). Michael Clarke, visiting professor of defense studies at King's College London, and distinguished researcher at the Royal United Services Institute, also said that the temporary ceasefire and the release of prisoners and detainees will provide relief to people on the parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip, and will be welcomed 50 days after the outbreak of war.

Despite this positive news, Clark added that Israel's handling of the prisoner crisis indicates that it is at risk of losing its war. He pointed out in his article in the Sunday Times newspaper that Israel had mobilized 550,000 soldiers, making it 20 times stronger than the force it attributes to Hamas, which is 25,000 fighters, considering this a great advantage to wage war with. However, Israel lost control of events.

Clark believes that the prisoner issue gives Hamas the ability to control the course of the conflict, and it is adept at exploiting the opportunity. The military expert pointed out in his article that the mini-Israeli war government puts the issue of recovering prisoners before its direct military goals, expecting that Hamas will manipulate everyones feelings, raise meaningless objections, scrutinize the most marginal details, and drag its feet and deliberately obfuscate in order to exert pressure in order to achieve the maximum political benefit.

He stated that Hamas leaders can clearly see, like the rest of the world, that the Israeli war government is bowing to the pressure exerted by the United States. He added that the US envoy to the region, Brett McGurk, ran a special cell in Washington that coordinated extensively with the Qatari Prime Ministers office in Doha to develop a framework for the complex prisoner exchange deal package before pushing it last Friday.

He said that the Israeli government was not the most important party in completing that deal, noting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tried - under increasing internal pressure from the families of Israeli prisoners - to regain some influence by offering to extend the ceasefire for another 5 days, on the condition that the prisoners be released. 50 other prisoners during that period.

Clark expected that the Israeli army would take advantage of the temporary pause to reposition its forces in preparation for the next phase, "in an attempt to improve its intelligence image and restock weapons in preparation for a new attack." There is no doubt - says the academic and researcher in the field of defense studies - that Israel will keep its most dangerous Hamas prisoners, in order to exchange members of the Israeli army who are detained among the prisoners, and who may be the last to be exchanged.

It may be very difficult for Israel to move to the next stage of its military operation, as the author of the article believes, claiming that the Israeli army achieved most of its goals in the northern half of the Gaza Strip at a lower cost than expected, amounting to about 70 soldiers, as he put it. Clark believes that any resumption of the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza will likely spark more international anger, especially after the brief ceasefire.

The harsh reality for Tel Aviv, as Clark asserts, is that its officially declared war is going wrong in many ways. There is no doubt that the Israeli army has weakened Hamas operational capacity, but it is still far from destroying it. He concluded that Israel's attempt to push the residents of Gaza towards the south of the Strip, while destroying its north, is "essentially a strategic mistake," adding that Netanyahu is quickly approaching the end of a dead end, where he will not be able to achieve any of his military goals.

An Israeli military analyst expected that the remaining days of the temporary ceasefire in the Gaza Strip , which will likely be extended for more than 4 days, will be unnerving and in the interest of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ). Ron Ben Yishai, a veteran war correspondent and military analyst, claimed that Hamas's goal is to harm Israelis and incite division among them, but he added that this is not its main goal.

He explained in an article published by the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth on its website that Hamas seeks - in the first place - to extend the ceasefire for as long as possible until it becomes a permanent ceasefire. Ben Yishai added that Hamas hopes to extend the ceasefire in order to achieve two important strategic advantages, the first of which is its continued rule of the Gaza Strip if Israel does not continue the war and fails to control all hotbeds of terrorism, as it calls them.

If that happens - the writer adds - Israel will not achieve its most important goal of the war, which is to undermine Hamas military and civilian control over the Gaza Strip. As for the second advantage that Hamas is working to achieve with its Iranian sponsors and Lebanese Hezbollah , it is declaring victory in the war against the Israeli army, which began on October 7 and ended without Hamas and the Islamic Jihad movement experiencing defeat. . If the ceasefire that began on Friday becomes permanent, this claim will be permissible, Yishai says.

The writer goes on to say that Israel's ability to deterrence will receive a severe blow that could be considered a threat to its existence, if Hamas wins the war. Ben Yishai stresses that the Hamas leadership has no interest in violating the ceasefire agreement, but it does not control all of its activities in the northern Gaza Strip.

However, he expects ceasefire violations to occur from time to time, and it is very possible that they will not be initiated by Hamas, but may be caused by local agents currently hiding in the tunnels who are not aware of the agreement, or who accidentally find themselves in a confrontation with the Israeli army.

The military analyst does not see in his article a reason to rush to resume fighting due to local violations, as the fate of the (Israeli) prisoners is the most important, except in the event of major violations, such as launching missiles at Israel. Then there will be a need to reconsider resuming fighting, he said. As for what will happen if Hamas announces its readiness to negotiate the fate of the 120 young men and women it is holding, and demands that the ceasefire be extended for a longer period, this will be a major dilemma for the State of Israel, according to a Yedioth Ahronoth article.

The official in charge of the prisoner file in the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), Zaher Jabarin, said that we are looking into how to fortify the process of releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons legally and with international obligations, and that no Israeli will be released except with the will of the resistance and with a ceasefire.

In exclusive statements to Al Jazeera Net, Jabareen said that Qatari diplomacy has proven its success and its ability to deal with all conflicts in the region, and that with the Egyptian and American efforts, it has the will and absolute seriousness in order to make the armistice agreement a success and to continue it. He also indicated that Hamas is ready to start negotiations from tomorrow to launch ... He released all the prisoners, but he stipulated that this be on clear grounds.

"In general, we have established a principle and announced it since the beginning of this battle. Our most important goals are to defend the mission of the Messenger of God (may God bless him and grant him peace), and the second goal is to liberate our brothers who are imprisoned in Israeli prisons. There are more than 8,500 Palestinian prisoners, some of whom have been serving more than 44 years, and there are more than a thousand prisoners of whom are sentenced to life imprisonment, and there are more than 3 thousand prisoners under administrative sentences, and there are 400 Palestinian children, and there are Palestinian women inside the occupation prisons....

"There is no doubt that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is a miracle, and the Palestinian people, with their steadfastness and steadfastness, is unparalleled. There is no model like it, thanks to God Almighty. Our resistance is steadfast, patient, and calculated, and because the number of prisoners is also large, the achievement will be great. Our resistance, as it has proven in all stages, is up to the responsibility and the challenge. It will not fail - God willing - in preserving these people. Just as it destroyed the promise of the Zionists that they would take these prisoners from us, the resistance imposed the equation in the first deal, despite the will of these Zionists. None of the prisoners will be released except in exchange for the will of the resistance and a ceasefire, and we will not accept to be subjected to negotiations under bombs and gunfire.

The Syrian army said that its defenses intercepted Israeli missiles coming from the occupied Golan after putting Damascus International Airport out of service. Damascus International Airport returned to work less than 30 hours ago, after being out of service as a result of a previous Israeli targeting. The occupation launches strikes on what it considers targets linked to Iran in Syria, including Aleppo and Damascus airports.

Bystanders

Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, told the American CBS channel that he hopes to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip if the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) is able to submit a list of more detainees that will be released. He added that Gaza and the West Bank must be one state under a leadership chosen by the Palestinian people, and that their focus now is on how to end the war and ensure that it does not happen again.

He stressed that the only way not to repeat the war is to reach a political solution and provide the Palestinians with a horizon for establishing a state, and that the decision of who rules the Palestinians is the choice of the Palestinians alone. He continued that Qatar's support for the Palestinian people has been ongoing for decades, and that the relationship between Qatar and the United States is built on trust and common interests, adding that the establishment of the Hamas movement's office in Doha was carried out in coordination with Washington for the purpose of establishing communications.

An Egyptian official said that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisis proposal regarding international recognition of the State of Palestine is being studied in important capitals around the world. Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service, confirmed in an interview with  Sada El Balad  that it is a new proposal that does not cancel the two-state solution.

The Egyptian official denied holding a conference to declare the establishment of a Palestinian state. Rather, the Palestinian state will be recognized and then an international conference will be held for consultation on the outstanding issues and issues of the final solution in Oslo. He continued: "The matter is being studied in depth in many decision-making circles around the world, and the coming days will witness important developments from Egypt in developing the idea, responding to it, and entering into implementation globally."

On Friday, the Egyptian President suggested the possibility of the future Palestinian state being  demilitarized with the presence of temporary international security forces to ensure security for it and for Israel, stressing that reviving the two-state solution path is an exhausted idea.

Sisi's statements came in a joint press conference in Cairo with the Spanish Prime Minister and the Belgian Prime Minister. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi said that the future Palestinian state could be demilitarized with the presence of temporary international security forces to ensure security for it and for Israel, noting at the same time that the two-state solution has been exhausted.

Al-Sisi said during a joint press conference in Cairo with the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, and the Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander De Croo: We said that we are ready for this country to be demilitarized, and there are also guarantees of forces, whether these forces are from NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organization) or forces from... The United Nations, or Arab or American forces, as they deem appropriate, until we achieve security for both states, the nascent Palestinian state and the Israeli state. Al-Sisi added that the political solution that requires the establishment of a Palestinian state on the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, is still far-fetched.

With the announcement of the details of the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip and its entry into force as a result of Qatari-Egyptian-American efforts, some wondered about the nature and details of the Turkish role in making the truce. While officials in the Turkish government and the ruling party stress the importance of the Turkish role, opponents say that there are many reasons that did not allow Ankara to work effectively in the current war, while analysts say that Western powers reject increasing Turkish influence in Palestine.

In this context, the representative of the Turkish Justice and Development Party, Hassan Turan, warned against ignoring the leading Turkish position on the Palestinian issue, which his country maintained regarding the first Qibla of Muslims and the inheritance of the ancestors, and for which it paid the price.

Turan - who is also the head of the Turkish-Palestinian parliamentary friendship group - said, Turkish diplomacy, through the President of the Republic, Recep Tayyip Erdogan , took an advanced position contrary to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), from the heart of Germany, and in other international platforms in defense of Palestine, and our Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. I declare that Israel is a terrorist organization and that there are thieves in Palestine, not Israeli settlers.

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Turan confirmed, "With this, Turkey has developed new terminology that has contributed to its support for the Palestinian cause on the international scene." Regarding the negotiation and truce efforts, he said, There is no table in the region without Turkey, and a table in which there is no Turkey with weight and a reliable position is an incomplete and worn-out table, adding, If Turkey does not exist directly, it is present indirectly with its positions and ideas.

Turan revealed that days before the armistice, many countries approached his country regarding the exchange of prisoners, and letters were sent to the Turkish president. He continued, After that, our distinguished president mobilized and directed the competent authorities in our country and discussed what could be done regarding the exchange of prisoners through Qatar and Egypt. Later, during the meetings of the American, Israeli and Egyptian delegations in Qatar, an agreement was reached on a prisoner exchange and a 4-day ceasefire.

Representative Turan warned, saying, It is useless to ignore Turkeys international efforts for the Palestinian issue, and move to a stage in which Turkey has no role in the Palestinian issue, considering that such allegations come to divert the attention of world public opinion from Turkeys active and leadership role in the Palestinian issue. And distorting the role that Turkey is currently playing.

In this context, Sima Selkin On - a member of the Turkish Parliament for the opposition Future Party - said that Turkey "has made a great effort to achieve a ceasefire since the seventh of last October, while formulating positions that remind everyone that the origin of the problem goes back to the deep past and its interactions." She stressed that "in our country, standing by Palestine in its just cause is considered a national reaction and a state policy, independent of parties and practical and temporal details."

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, the Turkish parliamentarian pointed out that recently, Israeli efforts to achieve gains and popular acceptance in the region through diplomacy have ended in failure and disappointment, adding that Turkish media institutions focus on following Israel and exposing its lies, and this contributes to the feeling of the Israeli side. Negativity towards Turkey and its expected roles.

She explained that one of the reasons for what she described as  the failure of Turkeys attempts to become an active party at the table in the ceasefire process is that Turkeys position on the American presence in the region was the strongest, but Turkeys intervention - as a member of NATO, while holding a position completely contrary to the direction and members of NATO - would overturn equations that are barely present and existing.

In addition to the previous reasons - according to the parliamentarian - the fragility of the Turkish economy is one of the most important reasons - and perhaps the most important reason - that led to this, anticipating that Turkeys active and main role will be in the reconstruction of Gaza after reaching a permanent ceasefire.

For his part, Turkish writer and political analyst Ramadan Bursa confirmed that the answer to the question of the Turkish role in the humanitarian truce in Gaza accurately describes the Battle of Al- Aqsa Flood , explaining that the battle is not a war between Gaza and the Israeli occupation regime, as the occupation regime believes that controlling Gaza is the first step to controlling On Greater Israel/The New Middle East.

Bursa explained, "America, Israel and other Western countries reject increasing Turkish influence in the Palestinian territories, and Israel and the United States do not want Turkey - which has Ottoman historical roots - to play an effective role in the Palestinian issue by acting as a mediator or guarantor."

Speaking to Al Jazeera Net, Bursa believes that the presentation of the guarantor project or plan as a new project and system for dealing with the Palestinian issue, by the Turkish Foreign Minister on the first days of the Al-Aqsa Flood, caused concern for many parties who concluded that Turkeys project was something he had worked on and was seeking to implement as an alternative. About other international projects.

He continued, "The Turkish guarantor proposal was discussed in the Western press and diplomatic rooms, and diplomatic sources reported that there are some reservations about Turkey's proposal, especially from Western countries."

The political analyst explained that the Turkish idea of a guarantor shows that Turkey has a plan and well-thought-out paths regarding the Palestinian issue, which disturbed the West, especially with Turkeys defense of Hamas and its refusal to describe it as terrorism, concluding by saying, The real problem is that Turkey is not asked or allowed to do so. To be active in the Palestinian issue.

More than a dozen former French ambassadors have called for a political solution to the war in Gaza and dismissed Israels stated goal of eliminating the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza as illusionary. In an op-ed published in Le Monde on Saturday, the 18 former ambassadors said Israel had embarked on a strategy of total war in Gaza that is as brutal as it is futile, and increasingly contested.

Eradicating Hamas is more of a slogan than a realistic objective, the former ambassadors wrote. In 2006, Israel had already proclaimed its desire to eradicate Hezbollah, with the known results. Such a strategy is illusory. Hamas, which has already been targeted by five deadly military campaigns, will inevitably be reborn. The (Israeli) army will not be able to defeat a movement supported by a large part of the Palestinian population, in Gaza as well as in the West Bank, in the face of a disqualified Palestinian Authority. The ex-diplomats added that everything must be done to extend the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas in order to forge a lasting ceasefire.

Axis of Resistance

Abdolrahim Mousavi, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army, stressed that the occupation was unable to achieve military success in the face of the Palestinian resistance during Operation al-Aqsa Flood. Mousavi, confirmed that the signs of the demise and collapse of the Israeli occupation entity are fully visible.

Despite the aggression against the Gaza Strip and its ground operations, Mousavi said the Israeli occupation and its backers were helpless in the face of the Resistance and failed to make any progress. In the context of the Israeli entity's collapse, he pointed out that the occupation was forced to negotiate with the Hamas movement and accept all its conditions in the truce mediated by Arab countries.

In his speech at a ceremony honoring the students of the School of Nursing, Mousavi stressed that Operation Al-Aqsa Flood brought attention back to the Palestinian issue, making it once again a prominent global issue. He went on to say that the "perfect picture" of human rights claimed by the West and the United States had been shattered despite all their investment in said image. He went on to accuse the leaders in the US and other Western countries of racism.

Former Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that the Islamic resistance in the Gaza Strip was victorious through its steadfastness and popular support over the Israeli war machine, which committed the most horrific massacres over a period of 48 days against defenseless civilians.

In an interview with Al Jazeera , Salehi said, The steadfastness and resistance of the Palestinian people forced the Israeli occupation to accept the conditions of the resistance to exchange a number of its prisoners in exchange for the release of 3 times its number of Palestinian prisoners. He continued that the Israeli leadership's retreat from its statements and the promises it made to itself that it will not negotiate a ceasefire or a humanitarian truce until the Islamic resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad are uprooted and eliminated are the best evidence of the defeat of the Zionist entity in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

Salehi believed that in the support of the Islamic and free peoples for the Palestinian cause, and in considering them the owners of the right and the land, and in the support of Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Yemeni Ansar Allah movement alongside the Palestinian resistance, important achievements had been achieved that contributed to the clear victory over the Israeli entity.

When referring to the developments in the battle during the hours preceding the humanitarian truce that entered into force on Friday morning, the former Iranian Foreign Minister explained that Hamas military capabilities had not declined, but rather showed that it was prepared to continue the war for a longer period, challenging the occupation government, which stipulated the elimination of the Palestinian resistance in order to stop its operation. Wild.

He said that the United States and some European countries harnessed all their technology, especially their satellites and military industries, to support Israel, but they failed to destroy the tunnel network, free the prisoners, and eliminate the resistance movements. Salehi continued that the Iranian Islamic Revolution has cheered for the Palestinian cause since the first day of its victory in 1979, and constituted a turning point in the course of the confrontation with Israel, adding that the victories of the Islamic resistance against Israel began years ago, and destroyed the myth of the invincible army, while Israel's defeats are increasing in all the battles it has fought in recent decades.

He added that the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood brought the Palestinian issue back to the top of the priorities of the world, which began to think about putting an end to this injustice practiced against the Palestinian people. It also exposed the double standards of Western countries that have long paid lip service to human rights and international laws and conventions.

The former Iranian Foreign Minister confirmed that the Israeli side violated the Geneva Convention dealing with human rights in situations of war, which was ratified in 1949, pointing out the necessity of pursuing the genocide file in international courts, adding that some Western powers do not see the need to implement international conventions unless It was in favor of her policies.

He criticized the silence of some international circles or their belief in the Israeli story about targeting hospitals, describing the targeting of patients, children and women as the greatest evidence of Israel's failure to achieve the goals it announced before the start of the ground operation. Salehi considered the massacres committed by Israel over a period of 48 days in the Gaza Strip, which world public opinion witnessed live on television, as unparalleled in history. He expected that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation would constitute the beginning of the end of the Western policy supporting the aggressor on the one hand and the awakening of the global conscience.

When he pointed out that some Arab countries signed agreements to normalize relations with Israel, he expected the Abraham Accords to be obstructed after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation. He believed that: The secret of victory against the Israeli entity lies in steadfastness and prolonging the duration of the battle, because the internal front in the occupying entity could not bear a long-term war, and then the American side will be harmed as a result of prolonging the extent of the war and its expansion in the region, because the Middle East is no longer its priority. The first is in light of China's challenge and the Ukrainian war.

Salehi pointed out the necessity of working, after the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation, to build houses and construct collective shelters in the Gaza Strip, produce energy through solar panels and air fans, and store strategic needs of food, drinking water, and fuel for long periods. The former Iranian Foreign Minister concluded that the Israeli arrogance in the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle once again proves the necessity of training all young people in the Gaza Strip after they reach the age of 15 to defend themselves and their families, calling for coordination, precise and confidential programming for any future operation, and prior training to ensure the desired results.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman described the Al-Aqsa Flood operation as a sign of strategic changes in the region and the international system, and said that this operation returned the Palestinian issue to the forefront of world issues and that the Palestinian people proved that they are a living people.

The Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani , commented on Sunday in a meeting to discuss the current situation in the occupied territories, which was held by the Committee for Supporting the Islamic Revolution for the Palestinian People with his participation. The Foreign Ministry spokesman said, on the Al-Aqsa flood , saying that the Al-Aqsa flood, which was a flood in its own way, constituted developments. A strategy not only at the level of the Palestinian issue , but also at the level of the region and the international system.

He added: The Al-Aqsa flood showed that the Palestine issue is still the world's foremost issue and that it has enough energy and capacity to turn the world towards itself and change the balance of power in the region and beyond. This process and subsequent developments showed that Iran's understanding of the importance of this issue was completely correct.

The official spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs added: The issue of Palestine is the issue of the Islamic world and humanity, and this issue cannot be discussed behind closed doors and in the meetings of some powers that consider themselves international powers without realizing the importance, nature and nature of Palestine and without acknowledging the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, and some countries in the region are closing this issue . The issue is at the expense of the Palestinian people and in the interest of the Zionist entity, and it is considered closed.

He pointed out that: The Al-Aqsa flood brought the issue of Palestine back to the forefront of the worlds issues, and he said that the Palestinian people have proven that they are a living people and that they do not wait in defending their rights for a look and perhaps the favor of the powers, and that the hegemonic powers have proven that they are not committed, and have shown that they are in dealing with humanitarian and moral issues. They do not stand by humanity or human rights, but rather adhere to their illegitimate interests and their unjust and usurping partners, especially the Zionist entity.

The head of the Executive Council of the Lebanese Hezbollah, Hashem Safi al-Din, confirmed that what the resistance did on the border is great, great, and very important for Lebanon and Gaza. Hashem Safi al-Din said in his speech during a memorial service for one of the Hezbollah members who was killed in the recent skirmishes on Lebanons southern border: Whoever understands the background of the resistance in Lebanon should have realized from the first moments that it is impossible for this resistance to leave the resistance in Palestine. And the resistance fighters in Gaza.

He pointed out that "if the American project had succeeded in Gaza, resettlement in the diaspora countries, namely Syria, Lebanon and others, would have become a natural and self-evident matter." He warned that "the resettlement project has not ended as long as there is an Israeli thinking about the project of a state of his own," noting that "what we saw in the Gaza Strip proves the importance of the resistance weapon in Lebanon."

Safi al-Din stressed the need to know the value, greatness, and importance of this resistance in our lives, our society, and the education of our youth, adding: Be confident that God has guided us with this resistance. It is a blessing from God to us as individuals, as it builds in us proud and pure souls, strength, and ability to form a strong nation.

The head of Hezbollah's Executive Council added: "When we fight this battle on the border, we are carrying out our legitimate, national and religious responsibility in defense of Lebanon, not just in support of Gaza, and everyone will realize in the future the importance of participating in this battle."

He continued: "Our presence on this front teaches the enemy harsh lessons, and the enemy's media is still talking about the accuracy of the Mujahideen's hits and Hezbollah's weapons in this battle. Whenever the resistance's weapons are able to accurately hit the Israeli, this means that this weapon protects Lebanon from attacks."

Hashem Safi al-Din saw that what the resistance did on the border is great, great, and very important for Lebanon and Gaza, pointing out that despite the heavy costs paid by the peoples of our region and Gaza, the choice of the people of Gaza and the peoples of our region is to resist until the end of the road.

He stressed that "when the resistance fighter in Gaza sees the support of the people of Gaza for him, this gives him strength and also holds him with a great responsibility," adding: "The responsibility of the resistance in Palestine today increases in the face of the sight of nearly 20,000 martyrs and the great destruction in the Gaza Strip, and that will make it stronger."

He stressed that "what is happening today in Palestine will make our resistance in all of our region grow, grow, intensify and become more capable and solid in confronting this enemy," continuing: "After the events in Palestine, it has become known that what deters the enemy is to be strong and present in the field with your missiles and weapons." And capable of terrorizing the enemy...what we saw in the Gaza Strip proves the importance of resistance weapons in Lebanon.

Allied for Democracy

Former Israeli Security Minister Moshe Ya'alon criticized the Israeli government for its stated intention to assert control over the Gaza Strip after the war. Ya'alon expressed dissatisfaction, describing the government as reliant on figures like Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, and he argued that it lacks the capacity to make decisive decisions.

Elsewhere in his remarks, he acknowledged that despite "the positive influence of Israeli figures like Israeli war cabinet Minister Benny Gantz and Former Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot in bringing some rationality to the cabinet", their presence is not sufficient to lead the Israeli entity out of the current crisis.

It is worth noting that Ya'alon stated in an interview for Israeli Channel 13 on October 25, that he perceived a "vacuum" in the government's actions from the very first day of the war. He added that the Israeli Chief of General Staff and the head of Military Intelligence failed in their roles during the recent events in Gaza. He also pointed out that Gal Hirsch, the person in charge of the Israeli captives' file in Gaza, lacks the necessary experience to handle this issue. Ya'alon affirmed that if he were to receive an invitation from the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to take part in the aggression on the Gaza Strip, he would say, "I will come, and you go home."

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that there are questions facing Netanyahu that he must confront immediately after the end of the war with Hamas, indicating that the latter was working to postpone those questions. Sullivan declined to comment on the claim that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is interested in continuing the conflict in the Gaza Strip in order to remain in office.

I will not speculate on the course of Israeli politics, he said in a statement to CNN when asked whether the White House believes it is in Netanyahus interest to end the conflict when he is in a difficult internal political situation. He added: "He (Netanyahu) knows that once the war with Hamas ends , he will face questions that he has been putting off." Sullivan added: What we will do is just work with whoever is the prime minister, which is Netanyahu, and deal with him directly on the problems that we face today.

It is noteworthy that Politico newspaper reported earlier, citing sources, that US President Joe Biden believes that Netanyahus political career is near its end. According to the newspaper, the White House believes that Netanyahu's days as prime minister are numbered, and he will continue for several months or until the initial phase of the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip is completed.

Politico indicated that Biden discussed in a personal conversation with Netanyahu his future prospects as prime minister and invited him to think about the scenario he would present to his successor. Also according to the newspaper, representatives of the American administration are talking with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, one of the opposition leaders, former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and the leader of the parliamentary opposition, Yair Lapid.

While Americans were busy shopping on the evening of what is called Black Friday (the Friday after Thanksgiving), President Joe Biden appeared from the city of Nantucket in the state of Massachusetts, where he is spending a family vacation, to speak to the American people about the start of the release of hostages and detainees in implementation of the armistice agreement in Gaza, which was reached a few days ago.

Biden spoke about his personal role in reaching a temporary truce, and spoke about the suffering of the Israeli hostages and the joy of reuniting them with their families. He ignored any mention of Palestinian prisoners, including women and children, and did not address the thousands of civilian victims in the Gaza Strip .

In justifying his continued support for the Israeli aggression, Biden echoes the claim of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that its attacks forced the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) to negotiate the release of prisoners and the start of a temporary truce.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, a former American diplomat (who preferred to remain anonymous) pointed out that Bidens calculations regarding the Gaza crisis were simple from the beginning. He realizes that Israel has the support of both parties. Hence, his choice to support Israel came as an alternative that would not cause him any trouble.

But the continuation of the Israeli aggression for 50 days and the unprecedented killing, destruction and brutality that Gaza witnessed caused great embarrassment for Biden, and many Democrats directed their anger at the American president for what they considered complete complicity in the aggression against the Gaza Strip. Hence, many observers considered that Biden's speech to the American people is nothing but an attempt to reformulate his damaged image among a large segment of Democratic voters, and show him from a supporter of war to a peacemaker.

In his speech to the American people, Biden said, We can express our gratitude today for the meeting of families with their loved ones who have been held hostage for nearly 50 days, as the fighting in Gaza will stop for 4 days, according to a deal that was reached thanks to intense American diplomacy, including through communications. "Several sessions I conducted from the Oval Office with leaders from across the region."

Biden added several phrases that highlight his personal role in reaching this truce, as he said, "Today is the result of a lot of hard work and weeks of work on the personal level. My team and I have worked around the clock to release the hostages from the moment Hamas kidnapped them." He said, "I have consistently pushed for a truce in the fighting for two reasons: the first is to accelerate and expand humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza, and the other is to facilitate the hostage release process." He added, "Over recent weeks, I have spoken repeatedly with the Emir of Qatar, Egyptian President Sisi, and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to help reach this deal."

Biden also sought to add a humane formula to his speech, and said, All of these hostages have suffered greatly, and this is the beginning of a long journey toward recovery for them (..). My wife, Jill, and I mention them in our prayers today. Biden then touched on the suffering of the people of Gaza, and said, This prolonged truce provides a crucial opportunity to deliver the food, medicine, water, and fuel aid that civilians in Gaza need, and we will not waste a minute, adding, I have focused on this since my visit to Israel. One of the journalists asked Biden, saying, Mr. President, how long do you expect this war to take? And did you encourage Prime Minister Netanyahu to set a time period at the end of this year, for example, to stop the fighting? But Biden ignored the timing point for stopping the fighting, as millions of Americans are demanding, only replying, I encouraged the Prime Minister to focus on trying to reduce the number of casualties as he tries to get rid of Hamas, and this is a legitimate goal for him. This is a difficult task, and I do not know how long it will take". An opinion poll conducted by Reuters/Ipsos in mid-November indicates that 77% of Democrats believe that Israel should call for a ceasefire and try to negotiate. The latest NBC national poll also found that President Biden lags behind former President Donald Trump among young voters between the ages of 18 and 34, with Trump receiving 46% support from this group and Biden receiving only 42%.

It is noteworthy that during the 2020 elections, according to the results of the voter analysis conducted by the Pew Research Center, Biden won the votes of voters under the age of 30 by 59%, compared to 35% in favor of Trump. Many commentators attribute this significant decline in support for young people to several reasons, most notably Bidens position on the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip.

Many commentators believe that Biden's principled position, which is entirely supportive of the Israeli side, did not take into account the strength of youth voices and their interest in the issue of the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The retired American diplomat told Al Jazeera Net, "Biden represents the last symbol of the generation of elders in American politics, and his age does not allow him to realize the importance of young people's votes, their preferences, and their political inclinations. This is a generation that Biden does not know. These are voters who do not derive their information and vision of the world from traditional media like their fathers and their grandparents, they dont watch news networks, and they dont read traditional newspapers. Their main source is Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

It does not seem that Biden's color will succeed in convincing young people to change his position, given his full support for Israel and his demand for the elimination of the Hamas movement immediately after the Israeli aggression resumes with the end of the days of the truce.

The Washington Post quoted American officials as saying that 20 White House employees requested a meeting with senior advisors to US President Joe Biden to discuss the Gaza Strip. According to the newspaper, the employees had three main issues they wanted to discuss with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, Senior Advisor Anita Dunn, and Deputy National Security Advisor John Finer.

The 20 employees wanted to know the US administration's strategy for reducing the number of civilian deaths in Gaza, the message that Washington plans to send regarding the conflict, and its post-war vision in the region. A White House official familiar with the meeting - who spoke on condition of anonymity - said that Zients, Dunn and Viner all listened respectfully and said that the White House administration should be careful not to criticize Israel publicly so that it can influence its leaders privately.

The advisors also explained that American officials are pressuring Israel to reduce civilian casualties, and stressed that President Biden and his senior aides will call for a two-state solution once the conflict ends. The sources added that the impact of Israel's war on Gaza on the White House is greater than any other issue during Biden's presidency, and that the US administration bears many burdens because of Israel. US administration believes that Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir have a worrying influence on Netanyahu's government. Biden had taken a tougher approach towards Israel, secretly and publicly, in recent weeks as a result of his strong criticism of Netanyahu regarding civilian casualties in Gaza and settler violence in the West Bank.

American sources expressed their fear that Israel would not show restraint when it moved its operation to the southern Gaza Strip, and their concern that the prolonged conflict in Gaza would increase political and diplomatic pressure on Biden.

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

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.

About 15,000 Palestinians, including about 6,150 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory reports that it had "counted up to this moment about 17,500 dead Palestinians". The Hamas-run government said more than 4,000 women were among the dead, with more than 33,000 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 6,800 [nearly double the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 31,000 [previously announced as about 32,000 wounded],

Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians, including a child, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, taking the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank to 239 since October 7. Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians in the city of Jenin late on Saturday and early Sunday, and killed three others elsewhere in the West Bank, the ministry said on Sunday. Six other Palestinians were injured in the Israeli raid in Jenin.

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 number of Israeli soldiers that the IDF admitted were killed in ground battles with the Palestinian resistance reached 72, while the death toll for the Israel forces had risen to 392 soldiers since the beginning of Operation al-Aqsa Flood. 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) reported the total number of casualties since October 7th to 392 and the number of troop deaths there to 72 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.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor expressed its concerns about the theft of organs of missing Palestinians and the bodies of martyrs, in the recent aggression on Gaza . This comes while government figures estimate that there are about 7,000 missing persons, dozens of whom are detained by Israel. The Observatory called for the formation of an independent international investigation committee into the Israeli armys detention of the bodies of those killed from the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza and the Indonesian Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip. He also pointed out other cases of detaining bodies from the vicinity of the displacement corridor to the center and south of the Strip, which he designated on the main Salah al-Din road.

Euro-Med reported that the Israeli army also exhumed a mass grave that had been established more than 10 days ago in one of the courtyards of the Shifa Medical Complex, and extracted the bodies of the dead from it and detained them. He pointed out that while dozens of bodies were released by handing them over to the International Committee of the Red Cross, which in turn transported them to the southern Gaza Strip to complete the burial process, the Israeli army is still detaining the bodies of dozens of martyrs.

The Euro-Mediterranean Observatory raised suspicions of the theft of organs from the bodies of dead people, including observations made by doctors in Gaza who conducted a quick examination of some of the bodies after their release and noticed the theft of organs such as the cornea of ??the eye and the cochlea, and other vital organs such as the liver, kidneys and heart. Doctors working in several hospitals told the Euro-Mediterranean team that the forensic medical examination is not sufficient to prove or deny the theft of organs, especially in light of the presence of previous surgical interventions on several bodies.

Hostages

On Friday 24 November 2023, a 4-day humanitarian truce began between the Israeli army and Hamas, during which prisoners and hostages will be exchanged, after 49 days of war on the Gaza Strip. Hamas handed over 13 women and children hostages, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino to the Israeli authorities. Israel, in turn, released 39 women and children in Israeli prisons, and is scheduled to release 150 Palestinian prisoners over the four days of the truce agreement.

According to some estimates, Hamas is holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad is holding the remaining 30. 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.

The Israeli army arrested 20 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of detainees since October 7 to 3,200, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

The main points known about the hostage deal so far:

there will be a ceasefire from both sides in the Gaza Strip,

There is no ceasefire on the northern front with Lebanon, and the truce will be limited to the southern front with Gaza. But the ceasefire deal would also apply as a truce on the northern border with Lebanon, according to a Lebanese report in Nidaa al-Watan. "Hezbollah will adhere to the ceasefire on the condition that Israel does too," the first report announced, following a meeting between the leaders of the Lebanese and Palestinian organizations. An official source from Hezbollah later told Al-Jazeera that the group will respect the ceasefire also in Lebanon, reiterating the condition that Israel does too, adding that the Lebanese group was not consulted on the deal.

there will be a halt to the movement of Israeli military vehicles penetrating into the Gaza Strip,

During the days of the truce, the Israeli forces remain as they are and in their positions, provided that Hamas and the rest of the resistance forces adhere to a complete ceasefire.

Israeli military overflights in the southern Gaza Strip will be halted for four consecutive days. Israeli military overflights in the northern Gaza Strip will be limited to six hours daily, in order to allow Hamas to locate the other hostages who are being held by Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad.

Israel agreed to refrain from targeting or arresting any individuals throughout the truce's timeframe.

freedom of movement will be ensured for all Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, which connects the districts of the Gaza Strip.

"The movement of residents from the south of the Gaza Strip to the north will not be allowed in any way, but only from the north to the south. Uncoordinated movement of trucks from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip will also not be allowed" the Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said via  X .

The prisoners in Israeli custody will be handed over to the Red Cross, which will transport them to the Rafah area, and there, under the auspices of Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators, they will be transferred to the Israeli side.

Upon their receipt by the Isreeli army, the occupation authorities begin releasing Palestinian female prisoners and children according to the agreed upon number

10 hostages will be released every day

Minimum of 53 hostages will be released, mostly minors (under 19) and their mothers, [the 50 prisoners, who appear to be 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 elderly women]. Hamas has 80 captive children, mothers, and elderly women, but at least in the first stage, if Hamas does not find more, at least seven children and five mothers will remain in captivity. The number of foreign workers is 41 prisoners, meaning that Hamas has 195 Israelis, more than 100 of whom will remain in Gaza even after this deal.

Israel will release approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and minors (under 19), held in its prisons, and who do not have Jewish blood on their hands.

potential of the total number released reaching 80 prisoners, out of about 300 minors (under 19), and 33 female prisoners, detained in its prisons. The mechanism of the process is for Hamas to send through mediators a list of Israeli prisoners who will be released the next day, and the Israeli government approves it, so that the implementation process begins the next day. The number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.

hostages to be released do not include foreigners who do not have Israeli citizenship or foreign workers who were around the Gaza Strip.

it is also possible that foreigners such as Thai citizens will be released, but this has nothing to do with the truce agreement.

The deal does not include Israeli soldiers.

on the fourth day of the truce, new names will be given to the Israeli detainees. Hamas will announce its desire to release them in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, according to the agreed-upon equation, which is one Israeli for 3 Palestinians.

Israel would extend the pause in fighting for one further day for each additional 10 captives released.

Hamas expressed its approval for the Red Cross to visit the remaining kidnapped persons in Gaza, and that it had committed to searching for the remaining kidnapped persons not in its custody, with the aim of seeking their release at later stages. But Hamas refused to allow the workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the hostages and evaluate their health condition. Hamas believes that "any information related to the hostages must come at a price paid by Israel."

The agreement would also include the entry into the Gaza Strip, including in the north, of 4 trucks of fuel daily and two trucks of gas, in addition to at least 200 to 300 trucks of food, medicine and humanitarian aid

HAMAS said the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip will continue beyond the days of the agreement, and that the aid that will enter the Strip includes basic materials and clothing.

The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) reported that it had released a detainee holding Russian citizenship, in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Since the beginning of the Israeli war on Gaza, Putin announced his rejection of the siege imposed on the Strip, the cutting of relief supplies, and the targeting of civilians.

Monday, is the fourth and final day of the truce in the Gaza Strip, amid continuing discussions on the possibility of extending the truce. Israel and the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades , the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), have handed over the implementation of the third phase of the exchange of prisoners and detainees, at a time when the occupation is expected to release the prisoners it has agreed to hand over.

The Al-Qassam Brigades confirmed the handover of 13 Israeli detainees, 3 Thai detainees, and a Russian detainee to the Red Cross as part of the third phase of the exchange. The Israeli army also confirmed that the Red Cross had received the third batch of prisoners. The temporary humanitarian truce entered its third day, and on the second day of it, yesterday, Saturday, the Red Cross received the second batch of detainees, namely 13 Israelis and 7 foreigners outside the framework of the agreement, while Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, after stumbling for hours in implementing the exchange agreement, which was overcome through Qatari and Egyptian efforts.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said that all Palestinian prisoners released from Israeli prisons as part of the third batch of the prisoner exchange agreement are minors. Al-Ansari added, in a tweet on the X website, that the Israelis released from Gaza are 9 children and 4 women, and they include two people who hold American citizenship and two people from Hungary.

US President Joe Biden at a press conference in Massachusetts: "Hamas released a 4-year-old American girl. I spoke with the Emir of Qatar yesterday (Saturday), and I owe him a special thank you. We expect Hamas to release more Americans. The exchange process is ongoing, successful, and must continue. I will continue to work with the Emir of Qatar and the Egyptian President to ensure the release of all hostages. Our goal is to continue the truce in order for aid to enter and the hostages to be released. Continues to engage personally to ensure implementation and expansion of the deal. The two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the security of Israelis and Palestinians."

Al-Alam News Channel correspondent in Jerusalem said: The options have become limited for Netanyahu and the ministers in light of the escalating Israeli street protests, and in light of the form in which the exchange deal was concluded , as there is a lot of criticism of Netanyahu and all the political and security levels, while the trend has become more towards calm.

He added: There will be a meeting in the coming hours of the political level, headed by Netanyahu, with the military leaders and the Mossad to discuss extending the truce and further releasing detainees, with Qatari mediation and American supervision. The correspondent explained that things seem to be heading towards that, especially in light of the statements issued by the Qatari Foreign Ministry that all parties have a desire and positive indicators to extend the truce for two to ten days.

He pointed out that the options before the occupation government have become limited in light of the long duration of the war and the targeting of everything in the Gaza Strip , as well as preserving the achievements of the ground incursion into the northern areas of the Gaza Strip and the control and positioning that took place there. The Al-Alam correspondent continued that the talk now is about releasing Israeli and foreign detainees, as the Israeli side is demanding the release of 50 detainees in exchange for 150 detainees, Palestinian boys and women in Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

He considered that it is too early now to talk about the exchange of soldiers, but the truce is linked to the humanitarian aspect, as a preliminary stage leading to the exchange of soldiers, the whitening of Israeli prisons, and the withdrawal of the occupation army from the Gaza Strip, according to what the resistance demands .

The correspondent explained that there are many things that indicate an extension of the truce, and the first thing is the issue of the prisoners, as they are entering into a crisis with the families of the remaining Israeli prisoners who were not included in the four deals, which will be the fourth deal tomorrow, and thus 50 prisoners will have been released by the end of tomorrow. Israel in exchange for about 300 Palestinians, and these releases caused a crisis for them, because everyone, because everyone who has a prisoner inside the Gaza Strip, began demanding the return of his prisoner, and this matter forces the Netanyahu government to think a lot before heading into battle.

The correspondent continued: The other matter is the absence of real goals after the ground operation, which lasted for nearly two weeks without achieving real results. It was completely clear that whenever the Netanyahu government tried to bring it out to the Israeli media, the issue of Al-Shifa Hospital and the ability to end resistance in the central and northern Gaza Strip became clear. That this talk was all propaganda, and at the last minute to announce a truce, the Palestinian resistance was on the ground, fighting and fighting back, and this matter was imposed on them, and therefore thinking began within the Netanyahu government, and specifically among those who believe that they will inherit Benjamin Netanyahu, they began to think about a mechanism to get out of this battle. At the lowest costs, but as long as there is an Israeli prisoner, things will not pass except through a big deal through which the Israeli prisons will be cleansed of Palestinian prisoners.

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Operation Iron Swords - Day 52 - 27 November 2023

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that an agreement had been reached between the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) and Israel to extend the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al-Ansari said in a tweet on the X website, The State of Qatar announces that, within the framework of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

On November 24, the temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian factions entered into force for 4 days, under Qatari, Egyptian and American sponsorship. In turn, Hamas said that it had agreed with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce for two days under the same conditions as the previous truce. Also, an American official confirmed to Al Jazeera that an agreement had been reached to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional two days.

Al-Ansari added that there are messages from both sides to extend the truce in the Gaza Strip, stressing that Qatar hopes that the humanitarian truce will lead to a permanent ceasefire. Reuters quoted an Israeli official as saying that Benjamin Netanyahu's government would agree to an additional day of truce for every 10 additional detainees released. The Israeli official added that his government is ready to release 3 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli detainee, on the condition that the additional days are limited to 5 days.

In a related context, a Qatari official said that both Israel and Hamas have an interest in prolonging the calm despite the differences between them The Qatari official added - in statements to Associated Press - that Doha is focusing on what is immediately possible, such as maintaining the ceasefire and preventing the outbreak of a regional war.

For his part, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, the Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemein that "Qatar has succeeded in creating a positive dynamic that we hope to build on regarding the war in the Gaza Strip." He added that there is no conflict that begins and ends on the battlefield, and in the end there are always agreements, reminding that there were a lot of feelings and anger in the beginning on both sides, and now the hostages are being released, and there are breaks in the fighting.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the Israelis agreed to continue the cessation of fighting to free more detainees and allow more aid to enter, and Hamas is also interested in moving forward with extending the deal. The humanitarian truce was supposed to end - according to the initial agreement - tomorrow, Tuesday, at 07:00 AM Palestine time, after 4 days during which dozens of prisoners were exchanged between Israel and Hamas, in addition to the entry of relief materials into the Gaza Strip, including fuel.

Once the operation is completed today, Monday, Israel will have released 150 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons, in exchange for Hamas releasing 50 Israeli civilians, as part of the truce agreement, which also includes the entry of humanitarian aid and fuel into the Gaza Strip.

US police arrested a suspect in the shooting of 3 students of Palestinian origin who were attending a gathering over the Thanksgiving holiday near the University of Vermont campus. The condition of two students was stabilized, while the third suffered from "more serious injuries." Burlington Police Chief John Murad said that two of the victims were wearing black and white Palestinian keffiyehs. Two of the students hold American citizenship, and the third is a legal resident.

Law enforcement agents arrested Jason Eaton, 48, during a search and investigation in the area of the shooting in Burlington. Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton's apartment in a building near the shooting site, and he is scheduled to appear in court Monday. Murad said in a statement on Sunday evening that the attack, which resulted in the injury of 3 Palestinian students around 6:25 pm on Saturday evening, may have been a hate crime.

His personal website is a plunge down a QAnon rabbit hole, new world order, and anti-everything. Mary Reid, Jason's mother, explained that her son "had problems before", but there were no signs that he would commit violent acts. She added that he is "a very religious and spiritual person," stressing that she was shocked by what her son had done.

Reid said that Eaton previously suffered from depression and other mental health issues. She said that her son, who moved through different jobs and previously worked as an assistant financial manager, was completely normal last Thanksgiving, and the family had a wonderful holiday together, adding, It was our best holiday in years. During the family Thanksgiving dinner, Reed said that Eaton did not mention anything about the war between Israel and Hamas, adding that her son is a very religious person, communicates with different religious figures and often reads the Bible.

She added: "He, like all of us, believes that the world is in chaos... He is a spiritual person," adding, "I cannot believe that he would do something like this."

Senator Bernie Sanders said in a statement, It is shocking and deeply disturbing that 3 young Palestinian men were shot here in Burlington. Hate has no place here or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. With them and their families."

Operational Update

David Ignatius in the Washington Post noted the crux of the problem is that Israel will resume the offensive at a time when international pressure is growing for a permanent truce. Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari said: Our goal is for the deal to end in a permanent truce. It is worth noting that the State of Qatar is the mediator in the hostage release process. The biggest problem is that previous truces cut Israel off from the opportunity to eliminate Hamas fighters and get rid of the tunnel problem. Despite the massive destruction caused by Israeli attacks, fighters are still holed up underground. It turns out that the tunnels are more advanced than Israel thought.

The US military captured five attackers who seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden amid missile attacks from Houthi-controlled Yemen. The destroyer USS Mason responded on Sunday to an SOS call from a commercial tanker that had been taken over by armed assailants in the Gulf.

Israeli media reported on Sunday that the Yemeni Armed Forces took over a commercial vessel, Central Park tanker, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, off the coast of the Gulf of Aden. However, following the claims, Arab sources confirmed to Al Mayadeen that these reports are "entirely questionable", stressing that they are either an Israeli fabrication or a ploy to force the deployment of foreign forces.

U.S. Central Command announced "On Nov. 26, the USS MASON (DDG 87), with allied ships from our coalition counter-piracy task force (TF 151), and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK, a commercial vessel, that they were under attack by an unknown entity. Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded release of the vessel. Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The MASON pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender. The crew of the M/V CENTRAL PARK is currently safe.

"At approximately 0141 on Nov. 27 Sanaa time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the USS MASON (DDG 87) and M/V CENTRAL PARK. The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships. The USS MASON (DDG87), which is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, was concluding its response to the M/V CENTRAL PARK distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident. Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability, said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander. We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.

The Pentagon stated that the recent attempt to seize a ship in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday was not carried out by Yemen and seems to have been executed by armed Somali pirates. Pentagon Spokesperson Brigadier General Patrick Ryder said it remains unclear who was the target of the two ballistic missiles allegedly fired from Sanaa-controlled areas toward the USS Mason and the ship.

Mohammed al-Bukhaiti, a member of Ansar Allah's Political Bureau, posted on X that the United States "invented a story of rescuing a commercial ship from militants in the Gulf of Aden." The official stressed that the location, where the act was allegedly carried out, is not a suitable spot for a capture operation. Al-Bukhaiti went on to debunk other details of the American narration of the events, in which the Pentagon claimed that two ballistic missiles were fired at the USS Mason, which responded to Central Park's distress call. Al-Bukhaiti explained that Yemeni ballistic missiles intended to target moving naval targets are equipped with active guidance systems and are capable of altering their trajectories accordingly. He also stressed that Yemen possesses precision-guided munition, saying it is impossible for such weapons to have a margin of error of 10 miles.

Al-Bukhaiti refuted the American story about liberating a commercial ship from the hands of militants in the Gulf of Aden and said: "The United States fabricated the play of rescuing the ship from the hands of militants in the Gulf of Aden." Al-Bukhaiti added: In order to cover up its military impotence and moral decline in supporting the entitys crimes in Gaza, and with the aim of raising the morale of its collapsed naval personnel, America fabricated the story of rescuing a commercial ship from the hands of militants in the Gulf of Aden.

Several Israeli media outlets reported on the appearance of fighters from the Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, in the areas of the northern Gaza Strip that witnessed the heaviest hostilities and Israeli ground incursions, stressing that the movement succeeded in demonstrating its ability to send its members to northern Gaza despite The presence of the Israeli army nearby.

For its part, the Israeli newspaper "Israel Hayom" addressed the events, stressing that the Hamas movement is "far from collapsing" and calling for the continuation of Israeli military operations against the Gaza Strip with the aim of "breaking the movement." It also claimed that achieving this goal is important "in order to achieve an Israeli victory in The northern front as well, referring to the confrontation with the Lebanese Hezbollah.

The newspaper's military affairs correspondent, Lilach Shoval, said that contrary to the claims of the Israeli "army" in recent days, "Hamas still has strong control over the land," noting that this control is in various regions of the Gaza Strip, and not just in its south. Shoval indicated that the consequences of the weak action of the occupation army against the Hamas movement will be regional, noting that after about 50 days of fighting, the Israeli army repeatedly repeats the message that Hamas leadership and control in the northern Gaza Strip has been damaged. severely, and that most of its brigades in this region disintegrated, while since the beginning of the ceasefire, exactly the opposite is what is happening.

The military correspondence highlighted the clarity of the commitment of the resistance elements, with their leadership directing them to cease fire, which indicates a high level of organization. In addition, according to Shoval, the process of liberating prisoners from the Gaza Strip is taking place exactly as Hamas wants, and it dictates the identity of the prisoners who are to be released, and sets the schedules time period for their release. Shoval said that the behavior of the head of the movements political office in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar , indicates that even in the northern Gaza Strip, which is the main focus of the Israeli ground attack, the Hamas movement is still far from the point of collapse.

The Hebrew website "Ynet" of Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that a company commander and his deputy were dismissed following a battle in the northern Gaza Strip: the IDF decided to depose two combat officers after a battle in the northern Gaza Strip at the height of the ground maneuver , during which the force withdrew after not receiving fire support against dozens of terrorists who ambushed the soldiers. The unusual event created a crisis Acrimonious between the company commanders and their fighters and the battalion commander, in a way that caused about half of them not to return to the unit due to the brigade's decision to side with the general and not with the company commander. Officers in the brigade admitted that the force was sent on a mission in a poor manner after being in another prolonged activity in the Gaza Strip without rest, and that the incident created a difficult atmosphere in the battalion.

The battalion had suffered other severe events in the last month, which included the injuries of other officers and the death of another officer in battle, in addition to the injury of the major general who is at the heart of the controversy, in recent days. Soldiers from other units are brought in to fill the gap," the army claimed, "a crisis of confidence was created."

The Israeli army renewed its demand on residents of the Gaza Strip "to move from the north to the south, where humanitarian aid is available, given that the north of the Strip is a dangerous war zone." The Israeli army spokesman published a video clip on the X platform in which he called on residents to move towards the south of Wadi Gaza, and said: Do not try to move to the north of the Gaza Strip. It is only possible to move to the south of Wadi Gaza, and it is forbidden to enter the sea or approach within a kilometer of the border with Israel". He stressed that the war has not ended and that the truce is temporary, and that they must obey instructions to preserve their safety, noting that the south of the Gaza Strip is a safe and suitable area for living, and humanitarian aid also enters it.

The testimony of an Israeli female soldier raised questions about whether the Israeli occupation army opened fire on residents of the Gaza Strip settlements , within the framework of the Hannibal Protocol, during the battle of the  Al- Aqsa Flood  on the seventh of last October. Hannibal is a controversial military protocol whose use has been attributed to the Israeli army since its official adoption in 2006. It allows the lives of Israeli prisoners to be risked, and it returned to the forefront again after the Al- Qassam Brigades and Palestinian factions in Gaza captured dozens, including high-ranking military personnel, in Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.

In a report published by the Hebrew Channel 12 on Sunday, Private Michel from the Israeli tank team spoke about her experience in pursuing Palestinian militants who stormed a number of settlements that day in an attack that surprised the Israeli political, security and intelligence levels. Michel said, "We arrived at the entrance to the Haulit complex and the gate was closed. A soldier came to me and was somewhat terrified. He was saying, 'Terrorists... enter now.' We entered the complex, smashed the gate with the tank, and followed the directions that the soldier had indicated."

She continued, "Then the soldier told me: Shoot this house, the terrorists are there. I asked him: Are there Israeli civilians there? And his response was: I don't know, just shoot." Michel added that she decided not to bomb the target (the house) with a tank shell because this was an Israeli gathering, but she opened fire using a machine gun at the entrance to the house.

The report tells the story of Israeli female soldiers in their early twenties who were assigned to drive tanks in order to pursue Palestinian militants in the settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip on October 7. This has raised criticism about how such young female soldiers with no military experience are forced to fight in sensitive locations where civilians are deployed, which increases the possibility of them committing war crimes.

This report comes after Israeli military pilot Nof Erez revealed last Tuesday the possibility that his country's forces implemented the Hannibal Protocol during their response to the Hamas attack. In a statement to Haaretz newspaper, the pilot, Lieutenant Colonel Erez, said that it is not known whether the warplanes and drones opened fire on the detainees when they dealt with the attack launched by Hamas. He added that it appears that the Hannibal Protocol was implemented at some point on October 7.

A Haaretz report on October 18 also showed that an Israeli military helicopter opened fire on Palestinian and Israeli militants participating in a party organized near Kibbutz Reim in the Gaza Strip on October 7. Haaretz reported that the security establishment's assessments showed that an Israeli army combat helicopter arrived at the concert venue and opened fire on the attackers there, and apparently also wounded some of the festival's participants (referring to the Israelis).

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani said - in an interview with the British newspaper the Financial Times - that Israel's declared goal of eradicating the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) from the Gaza Strip is "unrealistic." He added that destroying Hamas by continuing the war will never happen and will only fuel extremist rhetoric. He said that failure to extend the ceasefire would expand the scope of the war and destabilize the region.

The Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister spoke of great disappointment in the region with the West's reaction, and of unprecedented Arab anger at the sight of images of war and the lack of action. He added, "We expected that the West would consider the killing of Palestinians something worthy of condemnation." He said that the Palestinians in Gaza and the occupied West Bank need a political horizon to establish an independent state, choose their leadership, and have one government.

The Qatari official also confirmed that Israel handed Doha a list of 90 women and children who were detained during the Hamas attack on October 7, indicating that the only plan now is to stop the war on the Gaza Strip.

Human Rights Watch released its initial report on the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital mass casualty event whereby it claimed that the strike on Al-Ahli Hospital "resulted from an apparent rocket-propelled munition, such as those commonly used by Palestinian armed groups, that hit the hospital grounds." However, the organization stated that its investigation was limited to "publicly available photos and videos, analyzing satellite imagery, interviewing five witnesses to the incident and its aftermath, reviewing analyses published by other organization and consulting experts."

Human Rights Watch stated "The Ministry of Health in Gaza reported that 471 people were killed and 342 injured. Human Rights Watch was unable to corroborate the count, which is significantly higher than other estimates, displays an unusually high killed-to-injured ratio, and appears out of proportion with the damage visible on site.... "... the sound preceding the explosion, the fireball that accompanied it, the size of the resulting crater, the type of splatter adjoining it, and the type and pattern of fragmentation visible around the crater are all consistent with the impact of a rocket. Evidence available to Human Rights Watch makes the possibility of a large air-dropped bomb, such as those Israel has used extensively in Gaza, highly unlikely.... "A witness who was at the hospital on the evening of the explosion told Human Rights Watch that employees of the Ministry of Interior took all the shrapnel that was on the site. ... Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas leader and deputy minister in the Hamas-led Gaza governing authority, told the media on October 22 that the missile has dissolved like salt in the water. Its vaporized. Nothing is left. Human Rights Watched noted that substantial portions of munitions typically survive a detonation, even if parts of munitions are designed to break apart and may be made unrecognizable by thermal damage.... "This crater size is inconsistent with the point detonation of a large, air-dropped bomb with a high-explosive payload. The crater lacks features  such as lateral spray and a fuze furrow  that are characteristic of spin-stabilized artillery projectiles fired at a low angle (below 45). The limited blast damage around the crater is inconsistent with high-explosive detonations such as those that accompany the impact of large air-dropped bombs or the anticipated effects of munitions fired by weapons systems that the Israeli military has acknowledged using in Gaza in this round of conflict.... "The extensive fire damage to cars in the hospital parking lot is inconsistent with the detonation of a high-explosive warhead alone. The fires appear to have been caused by burning rocket propellent that would have spread to  and ignited  fuel or some other flammable material present on the site." Palestinian Resistance factions, including Hamas, have condemned a recent report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW), which concludes that a misfired Resistance rocket killed hundreds of civilians in Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, without reviewing any material evidence from the site of the attack. Hamas released a statement deploring HRW's initial report regarding "the Israeli aggression against hospitals in Gaza, especially [al-Ahli Baptist Hospital]," which took place on October 17.

The Resistance movement said the HRW's report adopted the Israeli narrative of the events, holding the Palestinian Resistance responsible for the atrocity "without providing clear material evidence." Moreover, Hamas stressed that the organization "ignored the Israeli policy of systematic targeting of hospitals, which affected all hospitals in the Gaza Strip." Hamas called on HRW to review the unfounded conclusions it made in the report, adding that it welcomes "the organization to visit Gaza and directly investigate the incident" once the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip ends.

Bystanders

International and Arab-Islamic calls were renewed to extend the temporary humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ).Israel was absent from this annual meeting of foreign ministers of the Union for the Mediterranean, a forum that includes European countries and countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea, and whose work focuses on the war in Gaza.

In statements at the "Union for the Mediterranean Summit" in Barcelona, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that extending the truce is within reach and will allow the international community to work on a political solution to the conflict. Borrell added that the Palestinian Authority needs to regain control of the Gaza Strip from Hamas and offer it a "better and more viable" alternative. He considered that peace between Israel and Palestine had become a "strategic necessity" for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond, and added, "If a power vacuum occurs in Gaza, there will be demographic changes, and Europe will be its first victim."

At the same forum, an Arab-Islamic ministerial committee discussed ways to stop the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and extend the truce there. This came according to two statements by the Saudi and Egyptian Foreign Ministries, members of the committee that was formed by a decision of the Arab Islamic Summit in Riyadh on November 11.

The committee included Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, his Saudi counterparts, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Egyptian Sameh Shukri, Jordanian Ayman Al-Safadi, and Palestinian Riyad Al-Maliki, as well as Arab League Secretary Ahmed Aboul Gheit, according to the sources. The members of the Ministerial Committee stressed "the importance of the international community taking all effective measures to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its continuing violations."

The ministers affirmed their "complete rejection of Israeli policies that target the forced displacement of the Palestinian people, whether inside or outside Gaza, to liquidate the Palestinian cause by imposing a new reality that makes it impossible to live in the Gaza Strip, in addition to their complete rejection of any attempts to separate the Gaza Strip from the West Bank."

In his speech at the forum, the Saudi Foreign Minister said, in a speech at the forum, that the temporary ceasefire in Gaza will not achieve value unless it is followed by a comprehensive and permanent cessation of military operations.

For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said in Spanish, There is no other solution but to stop the war, reach a ceasefire, and work to extend it to become permanent, stressing that we must stop counting the bodies. He added, "We have an opportunity today," and "We are all working to extend this truce for a day, two days, or three. We do not know, but the most important thing is to extend it in order to save the lives of innocent people."

In Brussels, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ) Jens Stoltenberg called for extending the humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip. Stoltenberg's statement came on the eve of the start of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at its headquarters in the Belgian capital, Brussels, on November 28 and 29. "I call for extending the truce, as this will ensure the arrival of the aid that people in Gaza desperately need and the release of more hostages," he said. He stressed that there is a need for a lasting political solution to the region's crisis.

Iraq sees a risk of regional conflict if the current truce in Gaza is not turned into a permanent ceasefire, the Iraqi prime ministers foreign affairs adviser said, as mediators sought an extension of the temporary four-day Israel-Hamas truce. Israels devastating bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel has drawn in Iran-aligned armed groups in the region including Lebanese Hezbollah and several Iraqi factions, who have mounted near-daily attacks on Israeli and US forces.

But there have been no reports of attacks on US forces in Iraq or Syria since Israel and Hamas began a four-day truce last week that was set to expire on Monday, compared to over 70 in the weeks prior.

ome of the main Iraqi armed factions behind the recent attacks, including Kataib Sayyid al-Shuhada and Kataeb Hezbollah, have announced they will abide by the Gaza ceasefire but indicated they would resume attacks if it ends. They have also said in statements that they still seek the eventual ouster of US forces in Iraq. There are around 2,500 US troops on a mission the US says is to advise and assist Iraqi forces battling remnants of ISIS.

The entire region is on the verge of a devastating conflict that may include everyone, and the extent of its expansion or how to control and stop it is not known, said Farhad Alaadin, foreign affairs adviser to Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. For this reason, we see any ceasefire in the conflict as beneficial and important at this stage for the people of Palestine and Gaza first and for all countries in the region, including Iraq, he told Reuters.

European Union Ambassador to Iraq Thomas Seiler said in a social media post that he hopes Iraqi factions continue with their cessation of attacks. Two sets of US strikes in Iraq last week killed 10 members of Kataeb Hezbollah, according to posts by the group on social media, a move condemned by the Iraqi government as escalatory and a violation of sovereignty.

Kataeb Hezbollah is part of Iraqs Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), a group of mostly Shia Muslim armed groups formed to fight ISIS in 2014 that became an official security agency under the command of the prime minister. While technically part of the state, some of the PMFs most powerful Iran-backed factions often act outside the chain of command. Sudani has said attacks by armed groups on foreign forces in Iraq were unlawful and went against the countrys national interest.

Axis of Resistance

Iranian President Ibrahim Raisi confirmed that the people of Gaza are the ones who decide the fate and future of Gaza, relying on the Hamas movement as a legitimate and legal government based on public voting in this sector, and not the United States. During a phone call with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Ibrahim Raisi stressed that the people of Gaza must decide the future of Gaza through Hamas as a legitimate and legal government that depends on the public vote in this region.

Raisi added: "America has no right to intervene or make any decisions for the people of Gaza, and any action it takes in this regard will be doomed to failure." He saw "Iran and Turkey as two important and influential countries in the Islamic world," expressing his hope that "cooperation between the two countries will be a model for interaction and cooperation among Islamic countries."

The Iranian President also described the relations between the two countries as friendly and historical, and based on good neighborliness, religious values, and common interests of the Iranian-Turkish people, considering that it is important to strengthen and improve the level of cooperation and relations between Tehran and Ankara in various political, economic, and cultural dimensions.

In another part of this phone call, Raisi asserted that America is the killer of the people of Gaza, describing any American interference in the future of Gaza as a continuation of Americas crime. ccording to what the Iranian Anbar Agency "IRNA" reported, in this call, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed "the efforts made to raise his country's relations with Iran to a distinguished and exceptional level," noting "the good and constructive relations between Tehran and Ankara." Erdogan also confirmed "his country's readiness to hold a meeting of the Supreme Cooperation Council between the two countries."

Iran warned that there would be consequences if Israel resumed military operations in Gaza as the truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final day. The return of the Zionist regime to a military approach will obviously not go unanswered, Irans foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told reporters.

Kanani said the resistance groups  a reference to a network of regional militant groups backed by Iran  showed that they will not remain idle, they will not hesitate to support the oppressed Palestinian nation, and that they see the US government as part of the crisis. He warned that the continuation of the war in Gaza and US support for Israel could lead to an expansion in the scope of conflict, instability, insecurity and possibly war in the region. ran wants the current truce to take a stable form to avoid a repetition of Israeli aggressions, he said.

The US, notorious for sponsoring, aiding and abetting the Zionist regime in the vicious crimes against Palestinians, is seeking to politically achieve what it has failed to fulfill in Gaza via the war, Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Nasser Kanaani said. In comments at a presser, Kanaani said there is evidence that the Zionist regime is after adventurism after launching its deadly onslaught against Gaza.

Based on what Iran has monitored in cooperation with other parties, the US intends to use political means to fulfill the objectives it has failed to achieve in Gaza amid the brutal Israeli war, he warned. The US has always been part of the problem in Palestine in the past decades, Kanaani added, saying the US was practically a main pillar of the recent deadly war against Gaza. The US is not expected to be part of the solution. The help the US can offer is to cease supporting the Zionist regime, the Iranian spokesman added. The US unfair measures without considering the realities wont help settle the crisis, he noted.

Former Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossein Jaberi Ansari said that the  Al-Aqsa Flood  battle brought the Palestinian issue back to the forefront of world developments again, while Israel considered it a forgotten issue until just before the seventh of last October and continues to normalize its relations with Islamic countries. He stressed that the recent battle exposed the occupation and "its official terrorism and the genocide it is committing against the Palestinians."

In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Ansari said that the Palestinian resistance thwarted the Israeli plans to eradicate the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ), which forced it to accept the temporary truce agreement. He added that the Israeli side failed to liberate any of its prisoners, despite the insane bombing of the Gaza Strip and its application of the scorched earth policy for more than 40 days, in addition to its retreat from the conditions it had previously set regarding preventing the entry of food, water, and energy into the Gaza Strip, and its enormous loss in equipment and equipment.

The former Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Arab and African Affairs believed that the liberation of a number of prisoners from Jerusalem and the West Bank within the framework of the ongoing truce agreement is an indication of the unity and cohesion of the Palestinian people and their common struggle to defeat the occupation and independence, stressing that this contradicts the persistent Israeli policies seeking to drive a wedge between the West Bank and Gaza.

. Israel's acceptance of a humanitarian truce, or its acceptance of a ceasefire during the next phase before achieving the goals announced by the occupation leaders, was considered a strategic failure of the Israeli war machine, a confirmation of the results of the "Al-Aqsa Flood" operation and a victory for the resistance. When referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu s confirmation that he had instructed the Israeli foreign intelligence service ( Mossad ) to act against Hamas leaders wherever they are, Ansari said, Israeli officials are threatening to assassinate the Palestinians in full view of the world and the media, and this confirms the clear fact that Israel is a state. "Terrorist."

He called for employing political, legal and diplomatic efforts at various governmental, regional and international levels to establish the truth about what he described as official terrorism in Israel and pave the way for holding it accountable. He stressed that the Israeli occupation has been practicing genocide against the Palestinians for decades.

Ansari described the recent Israeli bombing of civilians in the Gaza Strip as a real holocaust that the world witnessed live on television, criticizing the silence of the international community regarding the Israeli massacres in Gaza. The former Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman described the Israeli occupations response to the Al-Aqsa Flood operation on the 7th of last October as insane, and attributed the reason to the fact that what happened on this date constituted a strategic development in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestinian issue, which may not have occurred. Its aftershocks were less than an earthquake measuring 10 on the Richter scale, targeting the military, political and security establishments in the occupying entity.

He pointed out that the occupation has always applied the principle of surprise since its establishment and launched lightning operations to resolve battles within a few hours or days. He stressed that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was the first in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as the Palestinian side grabbed the threads of the initiative and carried out the operation that achieved valuable goals inside the territories . 1948 occupied.

Ansari added that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation proved to the Palestinian side and the Arab and Islamic nations that Israel is weaker than a spiders web, contrary to the image presented by the Israeli occupation over the decades of its imaginary ability and the myth of its invincible army.

The former official believed that the American and Israeli sides were surprised by the "flood of Al-Aqsa" and were not prepared to respond to such a battle, and that is why they have not yet been able to control its course, even though they threw all their weight into riding the wave of its developments, holding on to its strings, and containing its repercussions.

He added that the United States and its ally Israel do not have a road map for the stage after the Al-Aqsa Flood because they fell into a position of reaction, stressing that the side that engineered and managed the epic of last October 7 had no doubt thought and planned for the next stage and its developments. While pointing out that the period after the seventh of last October will not be the same as before, especially at the level of the Palestinian issue, he considered that the official Arab position during the current stage is much stronger than it was regarding Israeli behavior.

Ansari concluded that the Al-Aqsa Flood Battle imposed a new strategic balance in the region, and that the reaction of the Israeli side has not been able to shake it yet because the operation put it in front of a choice between bad and worse. He explained that the occupation fears, at the current stage, a prolongation of what it considers a humanitarian truce, because that will consolidate the victory of the resistance.

Deputy Prime Minister for Defense and Security Affairs in the Sanaa Government in Yemen, Jalal al-Rowaishan, told Al Mayadeen that the temporary humanitarian truce, between the Palestinian Resistance and "Israel", will not affect the government's decision to close the Red Sea off for Israeli vessels. "The truce concerns Gaza, and the military spokesman announced that our decision to close the Red Sea to the enemy still stands," al-Rowaishan affirmed. He emphasized that the Yemeni position on the war on Gaza has been popularly and officially declared, adding that Yemen will no longer seek diplomatic means in relation to the Israeli occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Iran has nothing to do with the seizure of Israeli-linked ships by Yemeni forces, who have done so in support of the Palestinian nation, the Iranian Foreign Ministrys spokesperson said. Speaking to reporters at a weekly press conference, Nasser Kanaani dismissed any connection between Iran and the Yemeni Ansarullah movements recent seizure of Israeli-linked vessels in the Red Sea. The Yemeni forces have announced that their measures have nothing to do with Iran, as the Ansarullah officials made it clear that they are not bound by limited options when it comes to countering the Zionist regimes crimes, the spokesman added.

Ansarullah had announced that it would take action against targets linked with the Zionist regime in order to support the Palestinian nation. The support for Palestine is not confined to Yemen as the other nations in the region and the world have also taken action, Kanaani said. What Yemen did is similar to what other nations have done in support of Palestine, he stated.

Russia rejects the ideas of establishing international control over the Gaza Strip and dividing the enclave, Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov said. Absolutely unacceptable and far-fetched ideas [are being floated] to establish international control over the Gaza Strip or divide Gaza, let alone the completely unacceptable initiatives to resettle Gazas population somewhere outside of the enclave in order to resolve the issue, Viktorov as cited by state news agency TASS. The most important thing is to ensure strong international support. Clearly, the negotiation process has not stalled by itself; it reflects the real complexity of this issue, which entails a plethora of intertwined elements, he said. We have always said that the Quartet should act in close coordination and interrelation primarily with the countries of the region, which are the ones most interested in restoring peace and stability.

Israel will hardly be able to ensure its security even by drowning the Gaza Strip in blood, Russian Presidential Aide Yury Ushakov said. Even by decapitating Hamas and even by drowning the Gaza Strip in blood it will hardly be possible to ensure Israel's security. After some time, the tide of hatred and terrorism may rise again with renewed force. This cannot be ruled out, Ushakov said as cited by state news agency TASS. The Palestinian problem is unrivalled in terms of its ability to spread to the global level, he added. Israel's military measures fail to narrow the activity of terrorist organizations. On the contrary, they expand it This is entirely appropriate for the current tragedy in the Gaza Strip as well, Ushakov stated.

Russian Presidential Assistant Yuri Ushakov said that the United States and its allies are losing their moral authority in the Palestinian crisis, and the desire of Middle Eastern countries to strengthen their sovereignty has become clear. This came during Ushakovs speech at the international forum Primakov Readings, which opened yesterday in the Russian capital, Moscow.

The International Forum "Primakov Readings" is a large meeting of experts in the field of international relations and global economics. The forum was named after the political scientist and statesman Yevgeny Primakov, and it was held for the first time in the year of Primakov's death, who died on June 26, 2015 at the age of 85 years.

He continued, The policy of supporting one party and monopolizing the Palestinian-Israeli settlement is what led to the current crisis, and the United States has played a role in obstructing the settlement of the Palestinian crisis".

Ushakov said that the growing influence of the global majority embodies a model of a global system that does not depend on blocs and poles, which is what Russia tends towards, as he stressed that the countries of the global majority do not oppose the West, and do not form new opposition blocs. Regarding relations with Iran, Ushakov stated that cooperation with Iran began with former Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, and today, taking into account what is happening, this cooperation has become very important, which everyone understands now.

Allied for Democracy

"Consider this a great privilege, because not every generation gets to fight a just war that must be won. And so we are all behind you". In a morale-boosting meeting with Givati and Armor soldiers who recently fought in Gaza, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant conveyed a message of unwavering support and determination. The meeting took place at a special complex established by the IDF Technology and Logistics Division, where soldiers could refresh themselves. Gallant conveyed a powerful message to the soldiers, stating, "When we return to fight, the power will be greater, and will exist all over the Strip."

The options presented to the Israeli political leadership after the end of the temporary truce seemed to be held hostage by the head of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the Gaza Strip, Yahya Sinwar , who expressed his willingness to extend the ceasefire. This comes at a time when the Israeli army leadership insists on resuming the war on the Gaza Strip and expanding the ground incursion into the south, to dismantle Hamas military capacity and free the detainees.

These options also come amid internal challenges facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in light of mounting pressure from the families of detainees to continue the prisoner exchange process achieved by a ceasefire, in addition to rising calls in Europe and America for this truce to be a starting point for stopping the war and heading towards a political initiative.

Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy are aware that the prevailing awareness among the Israeli public about the continuation of the war on Gaza is the result of the collective shock that occurred as a result of the Al- Aqsa Flood  battle launched by the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Hamas movement - on the  Gaza envelope  settlements and towns. Israeli forces in the south on October 7th.

A position estimate issued by the Israeli National Security Research Institute affiliated with Tel Aviv University suggested that the state of war with Gaza may continue for a long period, perhaps for many months, with varying degrees of intensity, depending on the circumstances, and serious disruptions and ups and downs in achievements and damages may occur.

The Al-Aqsa Flood battle created a feeling of existential threat, and thus formed a broad consensus that Israel was fighting a war that was imposed on it, and this is the basis of the very broad popular support for the goals of the war and for the Israeli army. However, if the long war expands to additional fronts or becomes complex, according to the Israeli Research Institute, it will pose a major challenge to the ability of Israeli society to withstand, which may undermine public support and lead to the potential erosion of popular support for the war effort.

This will also, according to researchers at the Institute for National Security Research Meir Alran and Ariel Hayman, have effects on the national mood of the Israelis, which will be affected by the amount of casualties among soldiers and the recovery of the largest number of Israeli detainees. The researchers stressed that the echoes of the collective shock that occurred on October 7th will be secondary the longer the war lasts, and military achievements on the ground will be the criterion for maintaining popular support for the continuation of the war on Gaza, and vice versa in the case of losses and failure to achieve its goals.

Yedioth Ahronoth's army and security affairs correspondent, Yossi Yehoshua, believes that Hamas' evasion with Israel during the truce and the stages of the exchange deal reflects the trap set by Sinwar for the army penetrating the Gaza Strip, amid pressure from the Israeli street to free all the detainees. He explained that the option of the political level and the army in Israel to accept a truce and a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the return of a limited number of kidnapped persons does not improve Israel's deterrent power, as it comes precisely after the Israeli army recovered from the blow it suffered during the "Al-Aqsa Flood."

It is believed that the military leaderships insistence on resuming and expanding the war on the Gaza Strip reflects the growing understanding in the General Staff leadership that the ground incursion had to go deep into Rafah and tighten the siege on Hamas there, to release all the detainees in one deal, and the threat to turn Gaza into a large refugee camp.

For his part, Eyal Zisser, a researcher in security affairs and the Middle East at Tel Aviv University, believes that the political levels options are to accept the military levels plan and continue the fighting and ground battles towards the south, and that is if Israel wants to achieve any achievement that leads to undermining Hamas rule in the Gaza Strip militarily and politically. Zisser explained - in an article in the newspaper "Israel Today" - that Halevy and government spokesmen declared and promised that the Israeli army will also continue fighting and ground battles in southern Gaza when the truce ends, and that when that happens, Hamas's ability to act as an organized military force will be eliminated. Its governance systems that control the Strip will also collapse.

But in light of international pressure to extend the truce and complete new stages of the exchange deal, Zisser says that fears are increasing about the possibility of suspending the decision to continue ground battles and the possibility of a resolution. He pointed out that some see the war on Gaza as a war of independence and existence to determine Israels fate and future in the Middle East for the next 75 years.

For this exact reason, the researcher in security and Middle East affairs says, It is forbidden for the Israeli army to cease fire and withdraw from Gaza before deciding and achieving the goals of the war. Only decisiveness in Gaza will guarantee security for Israel and return it to the path that it was on on the evening of October 7.

Regarding the options before the Israeli political leadership, the political affairs analyst in the newspaper "Israel Today", Sarit Eftian Cohen, says that the one-day delay in returning the detainees from the second batch showed that "strong, sovereign, independent Israel is a hostage in the hands of Yahya Sinwar." Cohen adds, Despite the harsh blows that Hamas received on the battlefield, it was able to reach a deal according to its standards, and Israel and its political leadership were forced to agree to every additional demand so as not to lose the opportunity for the safe return of children and women, and determining the course of the war became dependent on the remaining detainees by Hamas and by Sinwars decision.

In the face of the complexities of scenarios and options for extending the truce or resuming rounds of fighting, and the challenges of the detainees file, Cohen says, Israel is facing international pressure calling for an end to the war. The political analyst explained that the Israeli army formed the Legitimacy Cell - which is based in the Ministry of Security in Tel Aviv - and its mission is to monitor the level of international legitimacy for Israel in the war on Gaza.

She saw that with the start of the temporary truce and the completion of the exchange deal, this legitimacy gradually loses interest in the issue of Israeli detainees, and its interest in the comprehensive destruction of the Gaza Strip increases, amidst rising voices calling for an end to the war in light of the great sympathy for the Palestinians. She said that in the absence of any political horizon for the Netanyahu government regarding the future of Gaza after the war and who will fill the void there in the wake of Hamas, the international community - including Israels friends in Europe and America - wants to resume negotiations for a two-state solution. Thus, Cohen says, the victory of Hamas will be complete, which will not disintegrate and will not disappear after the war ends.

Governor of the Bank of Israel (Central Bank), Amir Yaron, expected that the costs of the war on the Gaza Strip would reach 10% of the gross domestic product . The statements came after a meeting of the banks monetary policy committee. In his speech, he warned of major economic impacts, whether on real activity or on financial markets.

He added that "there is a noticeable negative impact on Israel's economy during the first weeks of the war," and pointed out that the Central Bank built its expectations regarding the Israeli economy on the assumption that the impact of the war would continue until next year, and stressed that the expectations were made on the assumption that the war would be mostly on the Israeli front. One, which is Gaza, without opening the rest of the fronts.

War costs include direct expenses associated with military operations and reconstruction efforts. The estimates of the Governor of the Bank of Israel are consistent with estimates published earlier this month by the Israeli National Economic Council (governmental), which indicated that the cost of the war may reach 200 billion shekels ($54 billion). It represents 10% of Israel's gross domestic product, amounting to approximately $52 billion, according to the country's GDP figures for 2022, which amount to approximately $520 billion.

The Bank of Israel's Research Department lowered its GDP growth forecast to 2% in both 2023 and 2024, compared to 3.5% in previous estimates. The bank added that government expenditures due to the war are estimated at 160 billion shekels ($43 billion). The debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to reach 63% in 2023, and 66% in 2024, from 58% in 2022.

Last week, a study issued by an Israeli consulting company showed that Israel's losses due to the war on Gaza may reach $48 billion during the current and next years. The report issued by Leader Capital Markets, a financial consulting firm in Israel, stated on Thursday that Israel is likely to bear two-thirds of the total costs, while the United States will pay the rest in the form of military aid.

Last month, the Israeli Ministry of Finance estimated that the war costs the economy $270 million daily, noting that the end of the war does not mean the losses will stop.

Al Jazeera columnist Andrew Mitrovica wrote : "Bidens hypocrisy and obstinacy have not only offended but also infuriated crucial constituencies  young Democrats and Arab Americans, among others  that the ageing commander-in-chief must carry if he intends to win re-election in less than 12 months from today. Recent polling suggests that Biden and myopic company have underestimated the breadth and visceral depth of the potent reaction to his unqualified backing of Israel and warm embrace of a media-savvy, calculating politician that millions of Israelis cannot abide.

"Bidens approval rating has plummeted to a treacherous 40 percent among all registered voters in the wake of the hug  an all-time low since his inauguration. That animus is being driven mostly, pollsters say, by voters near-blanket rejection of Bidens embrace of Israel and Netanyahus goal of destroying Hamas  no matter the appalling nature, extent and tally of human casualties that Americans and the world have witnessed....

"A clear majority of Democrats believe that Israel has gone too far in its retributive designs, in effect, to erase occupied Gaza and, bit by inevitable bit, the West Bank. Indeed, an astounding 70 percent of Democrats between 18 to 40 have made it plain to pollsters that they disapprove  to put it charitably  of Bidens handling of the Israel-Gaza war.

This poll is a stunner, and its stunning because of the impact the Israel-Hamas war is having on Biden, one pollster sai The poll is, as well, a stunning rebuttal of the Biden administrations belief that its diplomatic and military girding of Israel in light of Hamass murderous October 7 assault would prove popular and be welcomed as a necessary expression of Israels right to defend itself without limits or any measure of restraint dictated by humanitarian conventions and international law."

Butcher's Bill / Oasis of Martyrs

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.

About 15,000 Palestinians, including about 6,150 children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza Press Office said. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Observatory reports that it had "counted up to this moment about 17,500 dead Palestinians". The Hamas-run government said more than 4,000 women were among the dead, with more than 33,000 more people wounded. The Palestinian Government Media Office in Gaza said the number of missing people had risen to more than 7,000 [nearly double the 3,750 previously reported], including 1,800 children still under the rubble, including 4,700 children and women. The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of wounded as 36,000 [previously announced as about 32,000 wounded], 75 percent of them children and women.

Israeli forces killed eight Palestinians, including a child, in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, taking the total number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank to 239 since October 7. Israeli forces shot dead five Palestinians in the city of Jenin late on Saturday and early Sunday, and killed three others elsewhere in the West Bank, the ministry said on Sunday. Six other Palestinians were injured in the Israeli raid in Jenin.

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 number of Israeli soldiers that the IDF admitted were killed in ground battles with the Palestinian resistance reached 72, while the death toll for the Israel forces had risen to 392 soldiers since the beginning of Operation al-Aqsa Flood. 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) reported the total number of casualties since October 7th to 392 and the number of troop deaths there to 72 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.

Alalam News Network. Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, claimed "The crimes of stealing the bodies of Palestinian martyrs are not new to the Israeli entity, which has been accustomed to these crimes for many decades. According to what was stated by the head of the Studies and Documentation Unit of the Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Authority, Abdel Nasser Farwaneh, the Israeli entity is still holding about 400 bodies of Palestinian and Arab martyrs who were martyred. In different circumstances and over the years, he added, the list of these detained martyrs includes people who were martyred from the 1970s until 2023.

"The theft of the bodies of the Palestinian martyrs, the presence of graves of the martyrs in cemeteries bearing numbers without names, known as number cemeteries, and the occupation authorities preventing the families of the martyrs from dissecting the bodies of their children upon receiving these bodies, raised many question marks and doubts about the reasons behind the actions and behaviors of the Israeli occupier, which Some thought it was impossible to humiliate the martyrs and their families, or keep them in order to barter them in prisoner and corpse exchange deals with the Palestinians, but the real reasons behind this barbaric behavior were horrific and terrible, after they were revealed later.

"Although Palestinian voices denouncing this brutal practice have been rising for a long time, they were ignored until 2001, when Swedish investigative journalist Donald Bostrom published an investigation in which he revealed the theft of organs from the bodies of Palestinian martyrs and their trafficking by parties in the Israeli entity . This was the first time this crime was revealed to international public opinion.

"What Bostrom revealed was mentioned by the expert in the Israeli entity in anthropology, Dr. Meira Weiss, in her book, which came under the title Over Their Dead Bodies, where she referred to the issue of the theft of organs of Palestinian martyrs, and said that in the period between 1996 and 2002, she was present in The Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv to conduct scientific research, and there she saw how organs were being stolen, especially from Palestinians, while none of the bodies of Israeli soldiers were touched."

Disinformation refers to fake or misleading information that is intentionally disseminated. Moscows claim of illegal human organ harvest and trafficking is a well-known trope in their disinformation campaigns. As our database has documented  see links below  this disinformation trope has surfaced in relation to Russias campaign in Syria against the White Helmets, against NATO, in Georgia where even former Georgian president Mikhail Sakhashvilis wife was the target, in Kosovo and with greater intensity also in Russias war against Ukraine.

Transplantation of organs is a complex and time-constrained medical procedure and is impossible to be carried out in field conditions. The topic is a Manipulators delight: it attracts attention because of its obvious high emotional charge. In this click bait-function it works similar to claims of mass graves, which always spread wide and very fast. With its smell of secret business and conspiracy it adds another layer where any debunk is exploited to further suggest that the debunker has something to hide.

Hostages

On Friday 24 November 2023, a 4-day humanitarian truce began between the Israeli army and Hamas, during which prisoners and hostages will be exchanged, after 49 days of war on the Gaza Strip. Hamas handed over 13 women and children hostages, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino to the Israeli authorities. Israel, in turn, released 39 women and children in Israeli prisons, and is scheduled to release 150 Palestinian prisoners over the four days of the truce agreement.

Israeli government spokesman Elon Levy said that 184 people are still kidnapped by Hamas. He pointed out that 14 foreigners and 18 dual nationals are still kidnapped by Hamas. According to some estimates, Hamas was initially holding nearly 210 of the 240 hostages, while Palestinian Islamic Jihad was holding the remaining 30. About 40 Israelis remained missing. More than 40 hostages taken from Israel into Gaza on October 7th are not currently in the custody of Hamas, the group responsible for the attack, according to a CNN report based on a diplomatic source briefed on the negotiations, CNN's prior reports had indicated that an estimated 40 to 50 hostages were held by Palestinian Islamic Jihad or other unidentified groups or individuals.

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.

The Israeli army arrested 20 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, bringing the total number of detainees since October 7 to 3,200, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

The main points known about the hostage deal so far:

there will be a ceasefire from both sides in the Gaza Strip,

There is no ceasefire on the northern front with Lebanon, and the truce will be limited to the southern front with Gaza. But the ceasefire deal would also apply as a truce on the northern border with Lebanon, according to a Lebanese report in Nidaa al-Watan. "Hezbollah will adhere to the ceasefire on the condition that Israel does too," the first report announced, following a meeting between the leaders of the Lebanese and Palestinian organizations. An official source from Hezbollah later told Al-Jazeera that the group will respect the ceasefire also in Lebanon, reiterating the condition that Israel does too, adding that the Lebanese group was not consulted on the deal.

there will be a halt to the movement of Israeli military vehicles penetrating into the Gaza Strip,

During the days of the truce, the Israeli forces remain as they are and in their positions, provided that Hamas and the rest of the resistance forces adhere to a complete ceasefire.

Israeli military overflights in the southern Gaza Strip will be halted for four consecutive days. Israeli military overflights in the northern Gaza Strip will be limited to six hours daily, in order to allow Hamas to locate the other hostages who are being held by Hamas terrorists and Islamic Jihad.

Israel agreed to refrain from targeting or arresting any individuals throughout the truce's timeframe.

freedom of movement will be ensured for all Palestinians along Salah al-Din Street, which connects the districts of the Gaza Strip.

"The movement of residents from the south of the Gaza Strip to the north will not be allowed in any way, but only from the north to the south. Uncoordinated movement of trucks from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip will also not be allowed" the Israeli army spokesman, Avichay Adraee, said via  X .

The prisoners in Israeli custody will be handed over to the Red Cross, which will transport them to the Rafah area, and there, under the auspices of Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators, they will be transferred to the Israeli side.

Upon their receipt by the Isreeli army, the occupation authorities begin releasing Palestinian female prisoners and children according to the agreed upon number

10 hostages will be released every day

Minimum of 53 hostages will be released, mostly minors (under 19) and their mothers, [the 50 prisoners, who appear to be 30 children, eight mothers, and 12 elderly women]. Hamas has 80 captive children, mothers, and elderly women, but at least in the first stage, if Hamas does not find more, at least seven children and five mothers will remain in captivity. The number of foreign workers is 41 prisoners, meaning that Hamas has 195 Israelis, more than 100 of whom will remain in Gaza even after this deal.

Israel will release approximately 150 Palestinian prisoners, women and minors (under 19), held in its prisons, and who do not have Jewish blood on their hands.

potential of the total number released reaching 80 prisoners, out of about 300 minors (under 19), and 33 female prisoners, detained in its prisons. The mechanism of the process is for Hamas to send through mediators a list of Israeli prisoners who will be released the next day, and the Israeli government approves it, so that the implementation process begins the next day. The number of those released will be increased in later stages of implementing the agreement.

hostages to be released do not include foreigners who do not have Israeli citizenship or foreign workers who were around the Gaza Strip.

it is also possible that foreigners such as Thai citizens will be released, but this has nothing to do with the truce agreement.

The deal does not include Israeli soldiers.

on the fourth day of the truce, new names will be given to the Israeli detainees. Hamas will announce its desire to release them in exchange for Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, according to the agreed-upon equation, which is one Israeli for 3 Palestinians.

Israel would extend the pause in fighting for one further day for each additional 10 captives released.

Hamas expressed its approval for the Red Cross to visit the remaining kidnapped persons in Gaza, and that it had committed to searching for the remaining kidnapped persons not in its custody, with the aim of seeking their release at later stages. But Hamas refused to allow the workers of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit the hostages and evaluate their health condition. Hamas believes that "any information related to the hostages must come at a price paid by Israel."

The agreement would also include the entry into the Gaza Strip, including in the north, of 4 trucks of fuel daily and two trucks of gas, in addition to at least 200 to 300 trucks of food, medicine and humanitarian aid

HAMAS said the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip will continue beyond the days of the agreement, and that the aid that will enter the Strip includes basic materials and clothing.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club said that the Israeli occupation army arrested 260 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during the 3 days of the temporary truce with the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) in the Gaza Strip. Amani Farahna, media officer at the Prisoners Club (a non-governmental organization), told Anadolu Agency that during the four days of the humanitarian truce, the Israeli occupation authorities carried out an arrest campaign in the West Bank, including the city of East Jerusalem, targeting 260 Palestinians. She pointed out that this comes as part of a campaign of raids on Palestinian cities and towns, accompanied by acts of sabotage and attacks on detainees and their families.

According to Sarhana, since October 7, Israel has arrested 3,260 Palestinians in the West Bank. She pointed out that detainees are interrogated by Israeli intelligence officers, and some of them are released after hours or days or are transferred to administrative detention (without charge) or trial. On a daily basis, the occupation army carries out storming campaigns into villages and towns throughout the West Bank, accompanied by confrontations, arrests, and shooting and tear gas bombs at Palestinians.

Francesca Albanese , the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied territories, said when presenting her report last July that Israel has arrested about one million Palestinians, including tens of thousands of children, since 1967.

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Flu peak may last another one or two weeks, physician predicts as acute respiratory infections continue to rise in China

Global Times

By Xu Keyue Published: Nov 27, 2023 12:05 AM

In the first winter of the post-pandemic era, the cases of acute respiratory diseases, including influenza, rhinovirus and mycoplasma pneumonia, continue to rise across China with the superposition of multiple respiratory diseases, according to the national health authority on Sunday.

Experts say one of the key reasons behind the prevalence of respiratory diseases this winter, which seems more noticeable than previous years, is due to the rise of an "immunity gap" resulting from a decrease in antibodies against these pathogens among the general public. They called on the public to get flu vaccines in a timely manner to reduce the risk of infection.

According to a press conference held by the National Health Commission on Sunday, the cases of recent respiratory diseases are mainly influenza, in addition to mycoplasma pneumonia, infections of rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, adenovirus and others.

Multi-source monitoring shows that the main pathogens prevalent in respiratory infectious diseases among different age groups vary, Wang Huaqing, chief expert of an immunization program run by the China Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a press conference.

Influenza is a major respiratory disease in people of all ages. Additionally, rhinovirus infection is also predominant in people age 0-4, mycoplasma pneumonia and adenovirus infections are also predominant in people age 5-14, rhinovirus infection and COVID-19 are predominant in people age 15-59, while human metapneumovirus and common coronavirus infections are predominant in people age 60 and above, according to Wang.

For example, Taizhou in East China's Zhejiang Province, a city equipped with several national and provincial multi-respiratory and multi-pathogen surveillance stations, revealed on Friday that the positive rate of influenza virus in outpatient cases in the city increased to 50 percent. Since the beginning of November, the number of cases of mycoplasma pneumonia infection has accounted for about one fourth of cases with respiratory symptoms. Meanwhile, the spread of the XBB variant strain of COVID-19 continues to lessen and is currently at an extremely low level.

The flu peak may last another one or two weeks, with children and young people the most affected groups as many of them have to gather together when going to school or work, Li Tongzeng, the chief physician of the infection department at Beijing You'an Hospital, told the Global Times on Sunday.

It is expected when New Year's Day comes, those groups will gain immunity after infections, Li said. But he worried that the elderly could be the main group for respiratory diseases during the upcoming New Year's Day holidays as family gatherings surge, thus possibly ushering in another peak for respiratory diseases.

The situation is different this year, as the after-effects of the COVID-19 pandemic are also affecting the spread of respiratory infections, medical experts pointed out.

They explained that over the past three years, people have done a better job of protecting against respiratory diseases, with fewer social contacts, frequent school and work suspensions, which, during that period, led to a decrease in the frequency of respiratory infections other than COVID-19.

This is prone to creating an "immunity gap" with the level of people's antibodies reducing, Li said.

He noted that many children born during the COVID-19 outbreak have had less exposure to those pathogens, making them more vulnerable. As a result, the infection rate of respiratory infectious diseases has increased significantly this year compared with the past three years, and even exceeded the level in 2019. Children, in particular, have seen a surge in visits to children's hospitals, while infection rates among adults are relatively low.

The national health authority on Sunday also stressed that it is important to do a good job in epidemic prevention and control in schools, kindergartens, nursing homes and other key places with dense populations, and reduce personnel flow and visits.

The authority also reminded people to keep the habit of wearing masks, ensuring more ventilation inside and frequently washing their hands.

Ying Xumin, a senior official of the Hangzhou Health Committee of East China's Zhejiang Province, said at the press briefing that relevant authorities and medical institutions should optimize outpatient services. The respiratory tract outpatient and fever outpatient services at medical institutions at all levels should open on a regular basis and try to maintain their night outpatient care, and should not be arbitrarily suspended.

Ying called for real-time monitoring of outpatient and emergency department visits, waiting time of clinic services and other data in medical institutions. If any medical institutions are overloaded, relevant authorities should launch emergency adjustment mechanisms.

The local official also suggested that service processes should be simplified and unnecessary processes should be reduced. At the same time, auxiliary medical staff should be increased to maintain medical order and improve diagnosis and treatment efficiency.

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Russian Aerospace Forces launch Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket from Plesetsk Cosmodrome

26.11.2023

On Saturday 25 November, at 11:58 p.m. from the State Test Cosmodrome of the Russian Defence Ministry (Plesetsk Cosmodrome) in the Arkhangelsk region, combat crews of the Russian Aerospace Forces launched a medium-class Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket with a spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Defense Ministry

Launch of the carrier rocket and placement the spacecraft into the calculated orbit were carried out under normal conditions. After the launch, the Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket was taken for escort by means of the ground-based automated control complex of the Titov Main Test and Space Systems Control Centre.

At the estimated time, the spacecraft was launched into the orbit and controlled by the ground facilities of the Russian Aerospace Forces.

Stable telemetry communication has been established and maintained with the spacecraft. The onboard systems of the spacecraft are functioning properly.

After the spacecraft was placed into orbit, officers of the Main Centre for Reconnaissance of Situation in Space of the Russian Aerospace Forces entered information about it into the Main Catalog of Space Objects of the Russian Space Control System and began analysing and processing information about the new space object.

Department for Media Affairs and Information

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In China, Spirit of White Paper Protests Still Inspires

By Ye Bing November 25, 2023

On Nov. 24, 2022, a fire in a high-rise residential building in Urumqi killed at least 10 people and injured nine, sparking local protests that quickly spread across China's cities, where people had been chafing for three years under Beijing's draconian zero-COVID policy.

The protests are now widely seen as a turning point for China, as the protestors a many of them students or young people adrift in China's contracting job market a demanded an end to zero-COVID measures and denounced the Chinese Communist Party's authoritarian rule.

Holding blank sheets of white paper, an internationally recognized metaphor for censorship, people took to the streets of Shanghai on Nov. 26, in a Saturday night vigil for the fire victims.

Witnesses had said the victims may have been unable to escape or be rescued because doors to their building had been locked to comply with COVID mandates.

The white paper protests quickly spread to Beijing, Chengdu and elsewhere a even Wuhan, where COVID was first identified in humans in December 2019. As police moved to quell the protests and censors scrubbed China's tightly controlled internet of references to the unrest, China abruptly rescinded all COVID restrictions.

The move restored order to the streets but opened the door to a surge of COVID deaths among the elderly and other at-risk groups.

A year later, some of those arrested in the protests remain in prison. Many of those who were released are under surveillance. Yet the spirit of the White Paper Movement remains, according to many protesters interviewed by VOA Mandarin.

VOA granted the participants anonymity or the use of a pseudonym so they could speak without fear of reprisal about their experiences during the November 26 to 28 protests and share their views on how those days changed them and China. VOA Mandarin asked the Chinese Embassy for comments on the movement's anniversary but has not yet received a response.

Those who spoke with VOA Mandarin pointed to a greater willingness among Chinese to protest in ways both bold and subtle, often at the same time. An example: Halloween celebrants in Shanghai last month whose costumes poked fun at Chinese figures and social problems.

One young man who was arrested in Shanghai on Nov. 27, 2022, last year after he showed up at an intersection on Urumqi Middle Road, where the white paper protests began spontaneously on Nov. 26, told VOA that police arrested so many people he heard officers say they had "to distribute the detainees to all the police stations in the entire Xuhui District."

"The fact that this event could take place shows that people were very angry because the lockdown caused some economic downturns and job losses," he said. "But I feel that although it has not achieved something substantive, it will leave a footnote in history. Nowadays, young people and college students are still willing to take to the streets. If it happens again next time, I will still participate and support it."

He said the white paper movement was China's most confrontational national movement since the student-led Tiananmen Square protests in 1989 that ended with a bloody massacre of participants.

Last year, Diana Fu, an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto who specializes in civil society, activism and state control, with a focus on China, told Canada's CBC: "This is a generation that is thought to be politically inert and brainwashed by patriotic education. The recent protests on university campuses ... show that patriotic education has not completely wiped away yearnings for freedom among Gen Z."

Han Yun, a twentysomething woman in Beijing, said that after a nightmarish three years of lockdown and testing, when she saw a social media posting about a protest in the Liangmaqiao area of Beijing on Nov. 27, 2022, she took a costly $8 taxi ride to the scene. There she found police and undercover security personnel monitoring the nighttime gathering.

"I have no regrets because I know that if we didn't go that night, Beijing would have to be closed for who knows how long," she said.

She said that although authorities suppressed the white paper movement, it continues to inspire people.

"After the white paper movement, everyone may have gone through a process of gradually overcoming fear. ... For Halloween in Shanghai, some people covered their bodies with white paper," she said.

Some online videos and images from the Halloween event show people in costumes designed to vent their dissatisfaction with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and the Chinese Communist Party. They dressed up as Winnie the Pooh, who symbolizes Xi, and COVID-testers in white hazmat suits. One person dressed as Batman to remind people that the coronavirus might have originated in bats.

Huang Yicheng, a graduate of Peking University who used his real name, commented in the U.S.-based Chinese-language online magazine Yibao about the recent display.

"The 2023 Halloween parade was the largest social movement in Shanghai after the 2022 Urumqi Middle Road blank paper movement, with thousands of people participating," he wrote. "Each activist used their creativity and brought their own 'repertoire' to the scene, turning the streets of Shanghai into a movable feast."

Han Yun said this year's Halloween revelry made her feel "that now everyone is actually looking for a way to express themselves in the streets."

In recent days, however, Chinese police began detaining people who appeared that evening in costumes that carried a political message, according to VOA's sister organization Radio Free Asia.

Han Yun also pointed to the public response to the sudden death of former Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Oct. 27.

Li was seen by many as the rare high-level official who represented the path of reform in Xi's increasingly authoritarian China. Han Yun said some people left flowers to commemorate him. Others posted comments online on Li in contrast to Xi, triggering swift and strict censorship on China's social media platforms.

Qu Zichuan, a netizen who claims to be a postmodernist, posted on X, formerly Twitter: "In my opinion, Shanghai's cosplayers showed various 'ghosts' in reality, including the continuation of the blank-paper youth spirit. ...

"People in Hefei set a record of 3 million people spontaneously paying tribute to Li. ... People in Shanghai and Hefei expressed what they could not before, and their behavioral language can be spread infinitely."

One college student in Beijing told VOA that when his campus locked down during the 2022 protests, he put up a piece of blank paper in school to express his solidarity.

He said that, as far as he knew, some young people who participated in the movement lost their freedom, and these people should not be forgotten.

"A year after the blank paper movement, China has lifted its lockdown," he said. "Everyone seems to have returned to a normal life.

"But as far as I know, many young people who were arrested for participating in the movement were released on bail ... and are currently facing political oppression, such as harassment by state security and restrictions on leaving the country.

"Some people are still in detention, and their information is unknown to the outside world. I hope people don't forget these arrested and persecuted young people who are fighting for everyone's rights."

The college student added that the large-scale collective protest had led the Chinese government to finally reopen the country.

"But everyone should also see that such an authoritarian system locked everyone up at home for three years, causing such a huge disaster. If the entire system does not change, if this continues, the next disaster will be in the not-too-distant future, and it will be even worse than this three-year lockdown. So, the fight for democracy and human rights must persist."

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PLA conducts drills on border as conflicts continue in north Myanmar

Global Times

Drills aimed at dealing with emergencies, send message of deterrence: observer

By Yang Sheng and Xu Yelu Published: Nov 26, 2023 08:55 PM

Live-fire drills and training exercises conducted by the Chinese military force along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border are defensive and aimed at safeguarding Chinese sovereignty, stability of border area and safety of personnel from impacts caused by the civil war in Myanmar, rather than an act to intervene in the internal affairs of the neighboring country, experts said on Sunday.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command announced on Saturday that it will conduct a series of real combat training and drills along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border, which is aimed to test the rapid maneuverability, border sealing and firepower capabilities of the military units of the theater command.

In accordance with the annual training plan, the PLA Southern Theater Command organized its army units to conduct "live-fire drills starting from Saturday along the Chinese side of the China-Myanmar border," according to Senior Colonel Tian Junli, a spokesperson of the PLA Southern Theater Command.

"The theater command forces are always prepared to respond to various emergencies and are resolute in safeguarding national sovereignty, border stability and the safety of the people's lives and property," Tian said in a statement released by the official account of the PLA Southern Theater Command.

The PLA Daily on Sunday published a commentary which said that "Recently, due to many reasons, military conflicts have broken out in multiple regions of north Myanmar, causing casualties and severe security situation."

Since the latest outbreak of armed conflict in Myanmar, apart from calling for peace and a cease-fire, China is making great efforts to work with Myanmar to place and help evacuees, and also to help nationals from the third party to evacuate from Myanmar through China, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The PLA Daily said the recent live-fire drills and training exercises will further strengthen the awareness of crisis and sense of duty among the officers and troops, and will comprehensively test and improve the military's capability of managing and controlling the border region.

Non-interference principle

After the fighting in Myanmar intensified in recent days, the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar on Friday urged Chinese nationals to evacuate the Laukkai area of the Kokang region in northern Myanmar immediately, and stay away from the zone, as conflicts continue in the area, according to media reports.

Song Zhongping, a Chinese military experts and TV commentator, told the Global Times on Saturday that "Myanmar is a country that has been suffering from a long-standing civil war... the periodic conflicts within the country are a persistent threat to China's border security, so taking into account the worsening situation within Myanmar, it's reasonable for the Chinese military to take necessary actions to deal with emergencies and the potential escalation of any conflict."

In March 2017, when military clashes in north Myanmar caused casualties, the PLA also staged an air-ground live-fire drill along the border region. According to the Xinhua News Agency, the joint drill at that time, carried out by the Southern Theater Command of the PLA was "according to an annual training schedule, [and] was aimed at testing the troops' capabilities in rapid maneuver, precise destruction, vertical blockade and joint strike."

Experts said that conducting military drills along the China-Myanmar border is an act to deal with the periodic instability in northern Myanmar. It is not the first time the PLA has taken similar action, which is aimed at self-defense and dealing with emergencies and potential escalation. It will strictly follow the principle of non-interference.

Zhu Zhenming, a professor at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the drills will reassure people on the Chinese side of the border, and it is also a message to the all conflicting parties in Myanmar that they should try their best to avoid damaging the border security, as well as the safety of Chinese communities near border regions.

"The fights between them are not our business, but China will not allow any shell or bullet to be fired across the border and harm Chinese people. We also oppose any force within Myanmar to use China to serve their interests to fight other parties," Zhu noted.

Some ethnic minority regional armed forces in Myanmar claimed that they are "countering telecom fraud" for China and are attempting to persuade others that China is supporting them in their fight against the Myanmar government. "This is absolutely not China's position, and we oppose anyone using China to serve their own interests," Zhu said.

Necessary measures

For the conflicting parties in Myanmar, neither the government forces nor the local warlords want to see an incident that might harm the security of China and Chinese people, but if there are outbreaks of clash close to the border, bombs or shells could be fired across the border and cause damage on the Chinese side. A potential inflow of refugees represents another big challenge, experts said.

Wei Dongxu, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times on Saturday that the training exercises like rapid maneuverability and border control or border sealing are flagging that PLA forces are able to be deployed at speed and are capable of effectively controlling the border in an emergency situation.

Song said that live-fire drills are mainly defensive, as it might test the capability of China's air defense to deter and defend against military aircraft, bombs and missiles that could potentially encroach on the border while armed conflict in Myanmar is ongoing. Some observers added that the live-fire drills might include artillery firing, which is an act to warn the warring parties in Myanmar to stay away from China's territory.

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Cameron's first interview on UK-China ties 'carefully strikes balance'

Global Times

By Chen Qingqing Published: Nov 26, 2023 08:15 PM

In his first public interview to address UK-China relations, the UK's newly appointed Foreign Secretary David Cameron emphasized the need to engage with China while expressing support for the UK government's "realistic and hard-headed" China policy.

Chinese experts believe that the former prime minister, often described as the "architect of the golden era of UK-China relations," is carefully striking a balance between his existing stance toward China, the position of the Sunak administration and different voices within the Conservative Party.

While his remarks, in an interview with the BBC on Saturday, emphasized the need to engage with China, some experts raised doubts on how much the cabinet reshuffle would affect the government's overall China policy, given its aggressive attitude of the past few years, when it has described China as a long-term threat. Still, some believe that with Cameron coming into office, it might inspire more supportive and friendly voices toward China that would help to reshape a healthy and rational discussion about the UK-China relations in the country.

In the interview with the BBC, Cameron defended his "pro-China policy" as prime minister, insisting that it is still right to "engage" with Beijing, and that China is key to solving big issues like climate change.

While those comments risk angering some Tory MPs, the foreign secretary said he supports the UK government's current "realistic, hard-headed policy," claiming that "China has become much more aggressive" around issues like Xinjiang and Hong Kong affairs.

He emphasized that the UK needs to align more carefully with its allies to make sure "we can counter any malign threats coming from China," explaining why security and protection is an important part of the UK's policy.

Meanwhile, Cameron defended his previous policy in Downing Street that sought a new "golden era" in China-UK relations, the BBC said. "Engaging China is one part of the approach we need to take."

"Cameron took into account the demands of all parties involved and came up with a comprehensive and smooth statement concerning UK-China relations," Gao Jian, an expert on European studies at Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

As for Cameron's own basic stance, his stance is positive and constructive toward the development of UK-China relations, but he has to take into account the right-wing Conservative Party forces that have been obstructing the policy toward China, Gao noted. "To avoid exacerbating political contradictions, he must discuss UK-China relations in a comprehensive way."

Some media reported that Sunak may seek to involve Cameron more widely in domestic and electoral politics as a symbol of the moderate, centrist tendency within the Conservative Party.

Cameron, who served as British prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and resigned after the Brexit vote, made the "surprise comeback" on November 13, replacing James Cleverly, who became home secretary after Sunak sacked divisive incumbent Suella Braverman.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry congratulated Cameron on his appointment, calling on the two sides to work together to promote the healthy and stable development of China-UK relations.

"Cameron's current position is fundamentally different from when he served as PM when he had complete autonomy over decision-making regarding the UK's foreign policy direction. Now he must certainly align with Sunak's overall foreign policy directives," Li Guanjie, a research fellow from the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies, under the Shanghai International Studies University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

In fact, the UK's policy toward China encompasses both confrontation and cooperation, Li said, noting that as Cameron came into office, he might emphasize the aspect of cooperation with China while de-emphasizing the confrontational aspects. "But he has to safeguard the authority of the Sunak administration by properly handling different positions."

Although it is still too early to tell if his appointment will reverse the aggressive position of the UK's China policy and make changes to the UK-China relations, Li said that he believes it may inspire some positive and friendly voices inside the UK, especially when confrontation and containment toward China has become common in the UK's China policy.

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Beijing police launches probe into wealth firm under debt-trapped Zhongzhi Enterprise Group

Global Times

By Global Times Published: Nov 27, 2023 07:16 AM

The Chaoyang Branch of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau announced on Saturday evening the launch of an investigation into suspected illegal activities of the wealth company affiliated with the debt-ridden Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (ZEG), in accordance with the law, and took legal actions against corresponding suspects of the company.

To thoroughly investigate the case, recover the stolen goods, and recoup losses, the Chaoyang District Police asked investors to report the case and provided detailed relevant reporting and registration channels.

Authorities are currently making every effort to investigate the case. They request investors to actively cooperate with the police in investigating and collecting evidence and to safeguard their rights and interests through legal channels, the statement said.

According to its official website, ZEG holds shares in or controls a number of licensed financial institutions, including Zhong Rong Trust, Hengqin Life, Hengbang Property Insurance Co, and Tang Wealth Investment Management Co.

The statement by the local police bureau came just a few days after ZEG issued a statement to investors.

The company wrote that the group's personnel tried to reverse the operating difficulties by adjusting the organizational structure and mechanisms and taking a series of self-rescue measures, but the results were not as good as expected. Consequently, related products have experienced substantial breaches of contract.

According to the simulated merger standards of intermediaries, the book value of the group's total assets is estimated to be approximately 200 billion yuan.

However, because the group's assets are concentrated in debt and equity investments, which are long-term and difficult to liquidate, the expected recoverable amount is low, liquidity is exhausted, and asset impairment is serious, the company said.

After excluding the margin, the principal and interest scale of related liabilities is approximately 420-460 billion yuan. Preliminary due diligence showed that the group was seriously insolvent, the statement said.

All employees of ZEG deeply apologize for the losses caused to investors. The group will, following the principles of marketization and the rule of law, strictly abide by legal regulations, actively cooperate with, and urge intermediaries to further deepen the work of asset clearance and capital verification, and accurately identify the details of assets and liabilities.

According to information on the official website of ZEG, its predecessor, Heilongjiang Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co, was founded in 1995.

The company's early main businesses were in papermaking material operations and real estate development. In 1999, it underwent joint-stock restructuring and established ZEG.

Since 2001, the group has entered the financial industry and has been developing its real estate business. In 2002, it began to develop trust business and is currently an asset management company with its headquarters in Beijing.

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North Korea's Kim inspects new photos of 'major target areas' taken by spy satellite

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 10:17 AM

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has inspected new photos of "major target areas" taken by Pyongyang's spy satellite, the state media says.

In a report on Saturday, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said that, a day earlier, Kim had visited the Pyongyang General Control Center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA) and had observed new photos taken by the country's recently-launched military spy satellite.

It added that the photos of "major target regions" included those of the South Korean capital of Seoul, cities in the South, like Mokpo, Gunsan, Pyeongtaek, and Osan that host American military bases as the satellite passed over the Korean Peninsula on Friday morning.

The satellite also took images of some areas within North Korea and parts of Hawaii, the report further said.

According to KCNA, Kim visited the center to "learn about the operational preparation of the reconnaissance satellite" and examined the newly-taken aerospace photos.

"The NATA reported to Kim Jong-un on the plan for photographing the region of South Korean puppets and the additional fine-tuning process of the reconnaissance satellite," the report said.

"The United States had better ponder on the catastrophic consequences that would be brought by its weapons supplies to puppets," KCNA said in a separate commentary.

Pyongyang launched a satellite on Tuesday, its third attempt this year after two failures, as South Korean officials claim that the latest launch purportedly involved Russian technical assistance.

The United States has accused North Korea of supplying Russia with weapons to be used in its war against Ukraine in return for receiving technical assistance required for its ballistic and space programs.

Moscow and Pyongyang have strongly denied arms deals but have promised deeper cooperation, including on satellites.

Last month, South Korea, the US, and Japan just concluded a two-day joint maritime drills in waters near South Korea's Jeju Island. Pyongyang views the military exercises as a rehearsal for invasion.

Pyongyang maintains that it will not tolerate persisting US-led war games in the area, underlining that it will continue responding to the joint military maneuvers by holding its own drills as well as developing and testing all sorts of weaponry, including missiles that could reach as far as the US mainland.

The North has been under harsh sanctions by the US and the United Nations Security Council for years over its deterrent nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

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Election Finishes in DPRK

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, November 27 (KCNA) -- Amid growing political enthusiasm of all the people across the country to firmly consolidate the people's power and give fuller play to the advantages of Korean-style socialism, the election of deputies to provincial (municipal), city (district) and county people's assemblies was successfully held in the DPRK on Sunday.

According to data available at the central election guidance committee, 99.63 percent of electors participated in voting, except those on foreign tour or working in oceans.

Those voters troubled with aging or illness cast their ballots into mobile ballot boxes.

The count of votes for the candidates for deputies to provincial (municipal), city (district) and county people's assemblies registered in relevant constituencies is being carried out by the election committees at constituencies across the country. -0-

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Respected Comrade Kim Jong Un Votes in Election of Deputies

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, November 27 (KCNA) -- Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, attended in the election of deputies to the provincial, city and county people's assemblies at the polling booth for the sub-constituency No. 26 of the constituency No. 55 in South Hamgyong Province on November 26.

When the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un arrived at the polling booth at the Ryongsong Machine Complex, the workers of the complex were excited to see him at their workplace on the significant day of election, raising stormy cheers of "Hurrah!".

Acknowledging their enthusiastic cheers, Kim Jong Un headed for the polling booth.

He was accompanied by Kim Tok Hun, Ri Il Hwan, O Su Yong, Kim Yo Jong and Hyon Song Wol.

He received voting cards from the chairperson of the sub-constituency committee and voted for Kim Chung Hyok, manager of the Songun Cast Iron Factory of the complex who is a candidate for deputy to the South Hamgyong Provincial People's Assembly, Ri Chol Hak, head of the Machine Workshop No. 3 of the complex who is a candidate for deputy to the Hamhung City People's Assembly, and Rim Chol, vice director of the Statistics Department of the Haean District who is a candidate for deputy to the Haean District People's Assembly of Hamhung City.

He met with the candidates for deputies and encouraged them to make positive contributions to building a thriving nation with high patriotic enthusiasm and creative efforts, always being aware of the trust of the workers of the complex and the people in Hamhung City and to become genuine representatives and true servants for the people who strive to defend and realize their rights, interests and requirements.

The workers of the complex and the people of Hamhung City were filled with ardent enthusiasm to fulfill their civic duty in the struggle to firmly consolidate our revolutionary power and make our socialist state centered on the popular masses more prosperous, cherishing the highest glory of participating in the election in the presence of Kim Jong Un . -0-

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IRGC Navy develops new homegrown air-launched cruise missiles

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 1:45 PM

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy has developed and manufactured two air-launched cruise missiles intended to target and destroy hostile drones and guided missiles, says Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri.

The two indigenous standoff weapons have a range of virtually four and 17 kilometers, the commander of Iran's IRGC Navy said at a ceremony in the southwestern city of Arvandkenar, 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Abadan, on Saturday.

He said the two new missiles have already been manufactured, and will be unveiled in future.

The Iranian general said the capabilities of the missiles developed by the IRGC Navy were "peerless in the world," stating that the AI-powered missiles can precisely strike the designated targets at a distance of up to 2,000 kilometers.

Tangsiri also hailed the IRGC Navy's progress in manufacturing vessels. He said the force has already developed the advanced Shahid (Martyr) Soleimani patrol combat warship, Shahid Sayyad Shirazi - named after the late former deputy chief of staff of Iran's Armed Forces - and Shahid Bagheri drone aircraft carrier.

The commander highlighted that the homegrown vessels enjoy distinctive endurance features and cruising speed, and can cruise three times faster than their US counterparts.

Iranian military experts and engineers have in recent years made remarkable breakthroughs in manufacturing a broad range of indigenous equipment, making the armed forces self-sufficient.

Iranian officials have repeatedly underscored that the country will not hesitate to strengthen its military capabilities, including its missile power, which are entirely meant for defense, and that Iran's defense capabilities will be never subject to negotiation.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has repeatedly called for efforts to maintain and boost Iran's defense capabilities.

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Navy chief: Iran to stage two joint naval drills in Sea of Oman soon

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 6:38 AM

A high-ranking Iranian military commander says the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy plans to hold two joint naval exercises with foreign military forces in the northern tip of the Indian Ocean within the next few months.

Navy chief Rear Admiral Shahram Irani told reporters at a press briefing in the capital Tehran on Friday that the Iranian naval forces will stage a naval rescue and relief exercise with the Sultanate of Oman, noting that other countries have been also invited to participate in the drill.

The commander added that another exercise, known as Marine Security Belt naval war game, will be held later on.

While the 2023 Marine Security Belt naval war game took in naval forces of Iran, China and Russia, this year's edition will involve more states including main participants and observers from various continents, Irani stated, adding that the exercise will cover the northern flanks of the Indian Ocean.

Last year's maritime drills kicked off on March 15, and ran through March 19. The war game was meant to deepen practical cooperation among the navies of participating countries.

The maritime exercise reportedly involved forces from the marine and airborne units of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy, and flotillas from China and Russia.

Iranian naval forces, together with their Chinese and Russian counterparts, have held several joint war games in recent years with the purpose of improving the security of international maritime trade, countering piracy and maritime terrorism, exchange of information in naval rescue and relief operations, and exchange of operational and tactical experiences.

Iran Navy to take delivery of new homegrown destroyer

Elsewhere in his remarks on Friday, Irani highlighted that the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy will soon take delivery of a new domestically-designed and manufactured destroyer, dubbed Deylaman.

The commander also described the Caspian Sea as a body of water for promotion of peace and friendship.

He stressed that Deylaman destroyer will chiefly guarantee maritime security in the Caspian Sea, adding that the unique conditions of the water body require vessels that can withstand a constant presence.

The homegrown destroyer will also help elevate the training skills of Iranian cadets, as all Iranian naval training centers are located in the northern part of the country, Irani pointed out.

The commander also stated that Deylaman is the most sophisticated destroyer in Jamaran class, and is furnished with much more advanced and elaborate systems compared to the previously unveiled homegrown military vessels.

Iran's Navy has in recent years achieved self-sufficiency in manufacturing surface and sub-surface vessels. It has also increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers.

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Prime Minister's Office announcement

Israel - Prime Minister's Office

The 37th Government

25.11.2023

Prime Minister Netanyahu strongly condemns the comments by the prime ministers of Belgium and Spain, who did not place total responsibility on Hamas for the crimes against humanity it perpetrated: massacring Israeli citizens and using Palestinians as human shields.

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Indonesia prevents Myanmar's Muslim refugee boats from reaching shore

Iran Press TV

Saturday, 25 November 2023 10:49 AM

Indonesian police and fisherman have started patrolling parts of the country's westernmost province to prevent boats of Myanmar's Muslim refugees from reaching the shore.

The decision comes as thousands of Myanmar's Rohingya province refugees keep fleeing to the neighboring countries including Indonesia and Malaysia in search of safety.

The aim of the patrolling is to intercept and stop Rohingya boats before they reach Indonesian waters.

As sailing conditions eased this month, more than half a dozen boats carrying hundreds of Rohingya people from Bangladesh arrived in Aceh province, including some that locals tried to turn back to sea.

Police in East Aceh, a regency of more than 350,000 people that saw 36 Rohingya arrive on Sunday, said they have now imposed round-the-clock patrols.

The force "has instructed its subordinate police precincts with coastal areas to intensify surveillance, both along the coastline and in the waters of the Malacca Strait, to prevent the entry of Rohingya immigrants", it said in a statement.

"The police are patrolling 24/7 to prevent Rohingya immigrants from landing in East Aceh," said police chief Andy Rahmansyah.

The move has raised concerns that Indonesia will be the next country to contain its borders against the Muslim refugees of Rohingya.

Thailand and Malaysia have already toughened their borders and deterred their arrival.

According to officials on Monday, almost 1,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have arrived by boat in Indonesia's northernmost province of Aceh in the last six days.

The refugees included women and children who were afloat for days.

"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 UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a statement.

More than a million Rohingya have fled Myanmar since the 1990s, most in the wake of a 2017 military crackdown that forced many to settle in camps in Bangladesh.

Indonesia is not a signatory to the United Nations refugee convention and says it is not compelled to take in refugees from Myanmar.

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One Killed, 21 Injured In Suicide Attack On Market In Pakistan

By RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal November 26, 2023

One person was killed and 21 others were injured, including Pakistani soldiers, in a suicide attack on November 26 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province in northwestern Pakistan, authorities said.

The suicide bomber drove a car into security forces in a market in Bannu, two officials with the police and intelligence agencies told RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

They said the dead person was a civilian and that 13 soldiers and other civilians were among the injured who were taken to the hospital. The officials did not provide any other information, and there has been no claim of responsibility for the attack.

The security situation in the province has worsened in recent months despite promises by the government and security authorities. There were multiple deadly incidents last week, including the killing of a Forestry Department employee in North Waziristan on November 23.

One day earlier two soldiers were killed in a landmine explosion and a policeman was killed in an attack on a checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, while in South Waziristan on November 22, three civilians, including a local leader, were killed and four were injured in a bomb blast in Azam Worsk. No one has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

The bombing in Azam Worsk occurred after two soldiers were killed in an armed attack on a post in Sar Rogha in South Waziristan. The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed responsibility for that attack.

The Pakistani government and the country's army say that they have continued their operations against the militants.

The army said on November 21 that it had killed three suspected militants in an encounter in North Waziristan. The army added that one of its soldiers was also killed in the clash.

Earlier, the army had claimed the killing of 11 suspected militants in clashes during operations in Peshawar and Tank in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on November 16.

Pakistan's caretaker prime minister, Anwar ul-Haq Kakar, said on November 20 that terrorist attacks inside his country have increased by 60 percent since the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021. Some 2,300 people have been killed in these attacks.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/pakistan-khyber-suicide-attack- market-soldiers-killed-injured/32700501.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Suicide Bombing Hits Military Convoy in NW Pakistan

By Ayaz Gul November 26, 2023

A suicide bomber struck a Pakistani military convoy in a volatile northwestern region Sunday, wounding at least 11 soldiers.

Multiple official sources confirmed to VOA the attack occurred in Bannu, a garrison city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. They described the condition of at least three injured personnel as "critical."

The army's media wing did not immediately comment on the bombing.

The anti-government Hafiz Gul Bahadur group, known to have close ties with neighboring Afghanistan's ruling Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Bannu and several adjoining Pakistani districts, including North Waziristan on the Afghan border, routinely experience militant attacks.

Pakistan alleges fugitive militants have intensified their violent campaign in the country from sanctuaries in Afghanistan since the Islamist Taliban reclaimed power there two years ago.

Officials say the violence has killed more than 2,300 Pakistanis, mostly security forces. The bloodshed has strained Islamabad's relations with the de facto Afghan government in Kabul.

Most of the violence has been claimed by the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, an alliance of more than a dozen militant insurgent groups.

Pakistani officials say around 6,000 TTP members, including senior commanders, have taken refuge and operate freely out of Afghan soil to direct cross-border terrorism, charges Taliban authorities reject.

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Gazprom's 'Power of Siberia' Gas Pipeline Hits Historic Record

Sputnik News

20231125

'Power of Siberia' is an ambitious bilateral project that is part of the eastern gas route from Siberia to China. In the three years since its launch, it has already surpassed early supply assessments, climbing up to a new record in November.

"On November 23, the Chinese side submitted an application for Russian gas via the 'Power of Siberia' pipeline, which exceeded our daily contractual obligations once again. Gazprom has exported the requested volumes in their entirety and has set a new all-time record of daily gas deliveries to China," the company announced in its social media.

The supplies are being carried out as part of a bilateral long-term gas purchase-sale agreement between Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). 2023 alone has already seen Gazprom overperforming its contractual liabilities several times.

'Power of Siberia' is the main gas pipeline from Russia to China, covering about 3,000 km. The initial pipeline gas supply was launched from the Chayanda field (Yakutiya, Russia) in late 2019. Three years later, the Kovykta field (Irkutsk Oblast, Russia) began to supply to the pipeline also.

Last year, Gazprom exported 15.4 billion cubic meters through 'Power of Siberia'. In 2023 the company expects to reach 22 billion. By 2025, the investment project aims to increase the supply volume up to 38 billion cubic meters on an annual basis.

Now, the construction of the 'Power of Siberia 2' (also known as Altai gas pipeline) is in development. The proposed pipeline will export Russian natural gas from the Altai region (Western Siberia) to North-Eastern China through Mongolia. Its designed capacity will stand at 50 billion cubic meters per year.

A Sputnik

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Putin Proposes Dialogue on Using Russia's AI Know-How Within BRICS

Sputnik News

20231125

President Vladimir Putin has proposed initiating discussions on the use of Russian expertise in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) within the BRICS framework next year.

During his speech at the plenary session of the international conference AI Journey in Moscow, the Russian leader emphasized the potential for humanity to establish a set of universally acceptable rules governing the use of artificial intelligence.

"I propose a detailed discussion of these issues during the Russian presidency of BRICS next year," Putin said at the plenary session of the conference.

"We need to consider how a person will feel around machines," he emphasized.

The Russian leader stated that some Western search engines function in a biased manner, "cancelling" Russian culture.

"In this era of technological revolution, the key factor in preserving national identity is cultural and spiritual heritage," Putin stressed.

Drawing a parallel between the fields of AI and nuclear technologies, which are already governed by international rules, Putin expressed his hope for the establishment of similar regulations regarding the development and usage of artificial intelligence.

"The technological world of the future must be multipolar," said Putin, referring to friendly countries' access to Russia's AI developments.

The head of state highlighted that achieving this goal will involve utilizing artificial intelligence tools. He emphasized that the Russian authorities are committed to making Russia a highly favorable jurisdiction for the advancement of artificial intelligence.

Putin noted that the Russian Federation, as the organizer of this initiative within BRICS, is capable of doing that and conveyed his assurance in support of his colleagues.

A Sputnik

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Joint Statement by UN Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator for Syria, Adam Abdelmoula, and Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, Muhannad Hadi, on the 16 Days of Activism Campaign

UNOCHA - United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

Damascus and Amman, 25 November 2023

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Every year, this day also kicks off the global 16 Days of Activism campaign against gender-based violence (GBV). This 32-year-old initiative shines a light on the violence that disproportionately affects women and girls everywhere, including in Syria. Over seven million people, the overwhelming majority of whom are women and girls, are currently in need of GBV services in the country. Worldwide, violence against women and girls is one of the most prevalent and pervasive human rights violations.

This year's theme is "UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls." The campaign calls on citizens to share the actions they are taking to create a world free from violence towards women. This year's campaign also calls on governments worldwide to share how they are investing in GBV prevention. The 16 Days campaign culminates on Human Rights Day, on 10 December.

As in many countries, gender-based violence is a persistent and tragic reality in Syria, manifesting itself in the form of physical, sexual, psychological and economic abuse, exacerbated by the compounding impacts of the long-running crisis, displacement and economic deterioration. Women and girls in Syria also face movement restrictions and are often excluded from employment opportunities and access to critical assistance.

The UN has spearheaded the efforts to address GBV across Syria. These efforts need to continue and increase, towards providing life-saving services to GBV survivors; addressing root causes of GBV, meaningfully investing in eliminating harmful gender norms and ensuring that the rights and well-being of women and girls are protected.

Syria has been in a continuous downward socio-economic slide, driving more people deeper into poverty and exhausting people's coping mechanisms. The recent wave of hostilities and violence in parts of the country, the worst Syria has seen in years, has claimed multiple lives of women and children, displaced thousands of people and put an additional strain on the plight of vulnerable communities.

Addressing the GBV crisis is a shared responsibility - including by public institutions, civil society, communities and their leaders, humanitarian actors in Syria and the international community. The UN is committed to continue working with all stakeholders to eradicate GBV in Syria, address its root causes and protect its survivors. We count on our local partners, donors and the international community to support us in achieving these imperatives.

For further information:

Olga Cherevko, Spokesperson, OCHA Syria, Damascus, cherevko@un.org

25 November 2023

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Israel strike puts Damascus airport out of service: Syria

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 6:02 PM

Israel has carried out airstrikes on Syria's Damascus International Airport, putting the facility out of service.

The Syrian army said in a statement on Sunday that the country's air defenses intercepted Israeli missiles flying from the Golan Heights, adding that the Israeli strikes, which also hit other targets near the capital, led only to material losses without elaborating on the extent of damage to the airport.

According to Syrian media, the raids damaged the runways, forcing incoming flights to be diverted to airports in the northwestern city of Aleppo as well as the port city of Latakia.

The latest strikes came just hours after flights had resumed in Damascus airport following a similar attack last month.

On October 22, Israel carried out fresh aerial assaults on Syria's two main airports in the cities of Damascus and Aleppo, putting both facilities out of service.

Both airports were hit on October 12 and Aleppo was targeted a second time on October 14, according to Syrian aviation authorities.

Israel frequently targets military positions inside Syria, especially those of the Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah which has played a key role in helping the Syrian army in its fight against foreign-backed terrorists.

The Tel Aviv regime rarely comments on its attacks on Syrian territories, which many see as a knee-jerk reaction to the Syrian government's success in confronting and decimating terrorism.

Israel has been one of the main supporters of terrorist groups that oppose the democratically-elected government of President Bashar al-Assad since the foreign-backed militancy erupted in Syria.

Damascus has repeatedly complained to the United Nations over the Israeli assaults, urging the world body's Security Council to take action against Tel Aviv's crimes. Its demands, however, have fallen on deaf ears.

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Parties weigh effect of KMT-TPP joint ticket failure on legislative elections

ROC Central News Agency

11/25/2023 05:41 PM

Taipei, Nov. 25 (CNA) Taiwan's political parties are weighing the possible effects on legislative elections of a failure by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) and Taiwan People's Party (TPP) to strike a deal for a joint presidential ticket.

Friday marked the last day of candidacy registration for both presidential and legislative elections next year.

According to the Central Election Commission (CEC), a total of 315 legislative candidates have registered to compete for 73 seats in the single-member districts, while 16 political parties registered their lists, with a total of 178 nominees, for 34 at-large seats.

There will also be three lawmakers elected by members of the Lowland Indigenous People Constituency and three by the Highland Indigenous People Constituency.

For the at-large seats, the KMT, the TPP and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) all registered to the fullest extent of 34 candidates.

Smaller parties registered modestly, with the People First Party submitting a list of 10, the New Power Party, the New Party all eight, and the Taiwan Statebuilding Party seven.

For the 73 districts around the country, the DPP nominated 69 candidates, the KMT 65, and the TPP 10, among others.

DPP party insiders told CNA the party faced an uphill battle to retain its current legislative majority.

In 10 to 15 districts, the DPP candidates are meeting fierce competition due to factors such as a division in the pro-DPP camp, notable in places like Taipei's Neihu/Nangang and Taitung County, the DPP/pro-DPP incumbents not running for re-election, as seen with Freddy Lim ()in Taipei's Wuanhua and Kaohsiung's Chao Tien-lin (), or grudges remaining from the party primaries.

The breakdown of the KMT-TPP joint presidential ticket might benefit the DPP in those districts where the combined support for the KMT and the TPP is greater than that for the DPP, such as the Greater Taipei Area, according to a DPP source.

A KMT source told CNA that the breakup was expected to have little impact on the outcome in KMT or DPP safe seats.

The most affected districts will be those that the KMT has even odds of winning, the source said.

Neither the DPP nor the KMT seems to expect to achieve a majority in the legislature, with each aiming for 50 seats in the 113-member chamber.

A KMT source said there is still the possibility of the KMT and the TPP cooperating in the parliament in the future, so as long as "a total war" is not waged, the two sides can still compete under the tacit understanding of maximizing the non-DPP faction.

The TPP has only entered two races, one in Kaohsiung and one in Taichung, outside its base in northern Taiwan.

While the KMT has not nominated candidates for these two constituencies, one of the party's city councilors registered at the last minute for the seat in Kaohsiung as an independent.

The TPP's other district candidates are in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Yilan County, Kinmen County, and Lienchiang County (Matsu), where they will meet competition from both major parties. TPP Chairman Ko Wen-je's () younger sister Ko Mei-lan () is running in Hsinchu City as an independent.

(By Lai Yu-chen, Wang Cheng-chung, Yeh Su-ping, Wang Yang-yu, Wen Kuei-hsiang, Tsai Meng-yu and Alison Hsiao)

Enditem/ASG

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Mainland hopes result of 2024 Taiwan leadership election to help restore cross-Strait relations

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 14:22, November 25, 2023

BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese mainland spokesperson on Friday expressed the hope that the result of the Taiwan leadership election in 2024 would be conducive to cross-Strait peace and stability, and that it would help bring relations back onto the right track of peaceful development.

"We respect the current social system of Taiwan region," said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, when commenting on media reports concerning candidate registration for the 2024 election.

Taiwan is standing at a crossroads, with peace and prosperity in one direction, and war and recession on the other, Chen said.

The mainland hopes that Taiwan compatriots will safeguard the overall interests of the Chinese nation, uphold the 1992 Consensus, oppose "Taiwan independence" and make the right choice at the critical moment, he said.

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War with China never an option: Taiwan's ruling party VP candidate

ROC Central News Agency

11/26/2023 12:43 PM

Taipei, Nov. 26 (CNA) Ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) vice presidential candidate Hsiao Bi-khim () said on Saturday that war with China will never be an option, as she sought to highlight the need to maintain stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Hsiao, Taiwan's representative in Washington, was on Nov. 20 named the running mate for the DPP's presidential candidate Lai Ching-te (), the front runner to be Taiwan's next leader.

China strongly opposes both Lai and Hsiao, labeling them as "separatists", and has put sanctions on Hsiao twice.

Beijing criticized her appointment as a vice-presidential candidate, denouncing it as "independence on top of independence."

In her first TV interview since returning to Taiwan for the campaign, Hsiao responded to the opposition parties' accusations that keeping the DPP in power might lead to war with China by saying that all Taiwanese people are advocates of peace, and war will never be considered as an option.

"Any candidate aspiring to win the election must approach this matter with utmost responsibility," Hsiao said.

"Our team is also exercising great caution in strategizing how to garner increased international support, ensuring that the current peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait can be maintained," she added.

When asked whether the United States would defend Taiwan if war breaks out, Hsiao mentioned an ongoing debate within the U.S. on whether to maintain a policy of strategic ambiguity or clarity regarding the China-Taiwan issue.

"Regardless of one's stance, the shared desire is for the U.S. strategy to uphold the stability of the status quo and oppose any unilateral changes," she said, adding the U.S.' goals set for cooperation with Taiwan are aimed at deterring and preventing conflicts.

Hsiao also discussed her role as Taiwan's top envoy to the nation's most important ally, the U.S.

She said the strategic landscape is constantly evolving, and Taiwan must take a proactive approach, while pragmatically recognizing all risks in order to maximize support.

"That's why I often describe myself as a cat warrior, constantly seeking balance --sometimes moving forward, sometimes to the left or right, and occasionally taking a step back. It's through these delicate balances that we find the space to survive," she added.

On Saturday, Lai said in a campaign rally in Taoyuan that the Jan. 13 election boils down to a choice between democracy and dictatorship, as he sought to raise concerns among voters that voting for the main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) could lead to a loss of Taiwan's democracy and sovereignty.

The KMT has responded to similar accusations in the past by criticizing the DPP for using fear-mongering tactics to win votes, without providing any evidence.

Lai also said that he and his running mate Hsiao have the unwavering commitment to safeguarding Taiwan's democracy, pledging to align Taiwan with democratic societies worldwide.

Sharing the stage with Lai, Taiwan's incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen () said with the ever-evolving international landscape, Taiwan must exercise utmost caution in every move, leaving no room for error.

It is imperative to select the right individuals who will guide Taiwan on the correct trajectory and ensure that the nation stays on the right path, she added.

Taiwan's 2024 presidential election has evolved into a three-way race, with Hou Yu-ih () of the KMT and Ko Wen-je () of the upstart Taiwan People's Party challenging DPP's Lai.

(By Chung Yu-chen and Yeh Chen)

Enditem/cs

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Rumor on mass Indian worker influx China's 'cognitive warfare': Source

ROC Central News Agency

11/26/2023 07:24 PM

Taipei, Nov 26 (CNA) A recent rumor claiming that the Taiwanese government is to introduce as many as 100,000 migrant workers from India is part of China's cognitive warfare, a national security source said Saturday.

The "fake news," which emerged shortly after Taipei confirmed on Nov. 13 that it is set to ink a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with New Delhi before the end of this year on the hiring of Indian migrant workers to Taiwan, is a tactic employed by Beijing to create social panic and spark tension between Taiwan and India, the source said.

In addition, China seems to have been spamming the Facebook page of Taiwan's Ministry of Labor (MOL) with "modularized messages," which either demand the ministry make public details of the MOU or reject Indian migrant workers, the source said, adding that at least 2,000 out of 3,600 accounts have met that pattern.

The majority of those accounts are "abnormal" as they show limited information about personal activities and social networking traces, the source said, making it possible they were created to manipulate public opinion regarding the issue.

While Minister of Labor Hsu Ming-chun (eeS) has openly denied the 100,000 Indian migrant worker influx, the matter has raised the attention of Taiwan's National Security Council, which is also seeking intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to the source.

It is because the disinformation involves discrimination and may hurt Taiwan-India relations, the source said, adding that it is in the process of developing more effective countermeasures.

However, the MOU issue has drawn heated debate online in Taiwan, and a rally is planned on Dec. 3 against the government's move.

According to a newly-established Instagram group, which is organizing the demonstration, Taiwan does not need to introduce yet another new source of migrant workers.

The move will lead to "stagnant wages forever," the group said, also raising concerns about women's safety due to "significant differences" in gender perspectives between India and Taiwan.

It was not good enough for the government to respond to its concerns by only saying "no discrimination," while providing neither explanations nor supporting measures, the group said.

Meanwhile, the Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA) said it is not against migrant workers, adding that the key is to practice "equal pay and equal rights for equal work."

Failure to do so may lower overall labor conditions in Taiwan, which is detrimental for every worker regardless of nationality, the TIWA said.

A local India research association also issued a statement saying it welcomes Taiwan opening its doors to Indian migrant workers, but called for more effort from the government to break stereotypes towards India.

Nevertheless, the government still needs to review and improve the structural issues causing low wages in Taiwan as it opens up to migrant workers, the association said.

Bilateral trade between Taiwan and India has risen more than seven-fold from US$1.19 billion in 2001 to US$8.4 billion in 2022, the highest ever, with New Delhi currently Taipei's 14th largest buyer of goods and its 18th largest supplier, government statistics showed.

According to MOL data, there were approximately 750,000 migrant workers in Taiwan as of the end of September, with the majority coming from Indonesia (267,194), ahead of Vietnam (261,301) and the Philippines (152,026).

(By Wen Kuei-hsiang, Wu Hsin-yun and Lee Hsin-Yin)

Enditem/AW

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President Berset attending food security summit in Kyiv and meeting President Zelenskyy

Swiss Government

Kyiv, 25.11.2023 -- President Alain Berset travelled to Kyiv to attend the International Summit on Food Security on Saturday, 25 November, where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In addition to the impact of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine on global food security, the talks focused on bilateral relations and Switzerland's long-term solidarity with Ukraine as well as the Ukrainian peace formula. Summit participants also commemorated the millions of victims in Ukraine who starved to death during the Holodomor caused by the Soviet leadership 90 years ago.

The main topic of the summit, which was attended by other heads of state and government, and an important topic of discussion at the meeting with President Zelenskyy, was concern about global food security. As a result of Russia's war of aggression, agricultural production in Ukraine has fallen by 45 per cent; around 11 million people in the country are dependent on food aid. President Berset announced in Kyiv that Switzerland would contribute towards helping those affected by transferring three million francs to the World Food Programme.

However, the effects are also global in nature. Russia's suspension of the Black Sea Initiative and attacks on transport and port facilities are hampering the export of Ukrainian staple foods. Switzerland welcomes the UN's ongoing efforts to facilitate the unhindered export of food and fertilisers to world markets via the Black Sea. Rapid and substantial results are essential to improve the situation of those threatened by hunger in Ukraine and worldwide, explained Mr Berset.

The summit coincided with Ukraine's commemoration of the Holodomor, during which an estimated four to seven million people died in 1932/33 as a result of the brutal policies of the Soviet leadership under Joseph Stalin. President Berset laid flowers at the memorial in Kyiv in memory of the victims. Before the summit, he also visited the town of Bucha, where atrocities were committed during the initial phase of Russia's war of aggression.

In talks with President Zelenskyy, President Berset stressed that Switzerland stands in solidarity with Ukraine for the long haul, even in times of multiple concurrent crises. At the end of September, the Federal Council approved funds totalling CHF 100 million for humanitarian demining. Among other things, these funds will be used to demine agricultural areas in Ukraine. Switzerland is also participating in the register of damage launched by the Council of Europe and is among the core group of states seeking to establish a special tribunal to address the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

These steps are an expression of solidarity and support the reconstruction process in Ukraine, which Switzerland initiated on a broad scale together with the Ukrainian government at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Lugano in 2022. The Ukrainian peace formula was also discussed. Mr Berset emphasised that Switzerland is committed to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in Ukraine.

Switzerland to send further shipment of ambulances and fire engines

The Ukrainian healthcare system is under enormous strain. There is an urgent need for ambulances and fire engines as many have been destroyed in the fighting and there are further casualties every day. Switzerland will therefore continue its support by supplying ten more ambulances financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) valued at CHF 650,000, six fire engines and firefighting equipment from the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) worth around CHF 2.3 million, and a used fire engine from the District of Affoltern in the canton of Zurich by December. Swiss experts will also be on site to run training courses on site for the Ukrainian fire service. Several shipments of vehicles have already taken place. With this new shipment, Switzerland will have sent a total of 25 ambulances and 13 fire engines to Ukraine since the start of Russia's military aggression on 24 February 2022, worth around CHF 3.9 million.

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November 25, 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 on the situation on the ground. Secretary Austin condemned Russia's continued barrage of missile and Unmanned Aerial System attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure. They also discussed security assistance priorities, as Ukraine continues to fight Russian aggression.

The two leaders pledged to remain in close contact.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3597757/

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Foreign Minister Karins, in a phone call with the Polish Minister for the EU, seeks a solution to the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border

Republic of Latvia - Ministry of Foreign Affairs

25.11.2023

On 25 November 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Krisjanis Karins, held a conversation over the phone with the Polish Minister for the European Union (EU), Szymon Szynkowski vel Sek, whom he invited to seek a solution to the situation on the Polish-Ukrainian border, where there are long queues due to protests by farmers. The Latvian Foreign Minister conveyed Latvia's readiness to be involved and provide assistance in seeking solutions to the situation.

Both Ministers also discussed the upcoming decision to be taken by the European Council regarding the start of the EU accession negotiations with Ukraine. The Latvian Foreign Minister reiterated Latvia's firm support for Ukraine, noting that Ukraine belongs to Europe, therefore Latvia supports starting the EU accession talks with Ukraine already this year.

The Ministers also discussed cooperation between Latvia and Poland within the EU, and the future development of the EU.

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Despite Challenges, Ukraine's Combat Medics Notch Lifesaving Breakthroughs

By Aleksander Palikot November 25, 2023

NEAR BAKHMUT, Ukraine -- It was still completely dark when Mykyta Zavilinskiy woke up at 4 a.m. and rushed out of his unit's base to evacuate a wounded soldier from the battlefield in the Donbas region.

The semiconscious man had multiple shrapnel wounds and was losing blood. With injuries from his feet to his torso, putting tourniquets on his legs was impossible, so the medics tamponed his wounds one by one with their fingers.

The driver of their Mitsubishi pickup truck was speeding 150 kilometers per hour under the Russian fire control to get to a safer spot. As the sun started to rise, the monitors inside the car showed that the patient's oxygen saturation was up, and his heart rate was down.

"My partner and I traded looks and understood that he was stabilized," Zavilinskiy, 33, said, recalling his first medical evacuation from the front line in late April 2022. He described it as "one of the most emotional moments" of his life.

Since then, he has taken part in over 200 evacuations along with other members of the Hospitallers Medical Battalion, a Ukrainian organization of volunteer medical professionals. With the Russian Army pushing forward in several segments of the 1,200-kilometer front line and another winter of intense fighting approaching, he is sure many more lie ahead.

Heroes Without Supplies

For over 20 months of all-out war against the Russian invasion, thousands of Ukrainian doctors, nurses, and paramedics have been saving lives amid the carnage of Europe's biggest post-1945 war.

To the popular imagination, they have become symbols of perseverance and hope. But in reality, combat medics in Ukraine face daunting problems that eventually led to the November 19 dismissal of Commander of the Medical Forces Tetyana Ostashchenko by President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

The move was preceded by growing frustration over poor-quality supplies, alleged corruption, and a lack of sufficient medical training. The loudest scandal revolved around cheap, poor-quality tourniquets, many of them made in China, that literally cost soldiers' lives.

On July 31, opposition lawmaker Solomia Bobrovska said the military's Medical Forces command did not purchase any first-aid kits in 2023, and those provided through international aid were not properly checked.

Ostashchenko dismissed this statement as untrue and said the problems Ukraine faced had no precedents in modern times. At the same time, the General Staff vowed to undertake "several steps and organizational changes designed to solve problems in the field of tactical medicine."

The effect of those was apparently insufficient, and Ostashchenko had to give way to Anatoliy Kazmirchuk, head of a military hospital in Kyiv, as the new commander.

In a video address justifying the change, Zelenskiy explained that society, and especially the combat-medics community, demanded a "fundamentally new level of medical supply for our soldiers."

Zelenskiy indicated that many changes were needed.

"From high-quality tourniquets to full digitalization and transparency in supplies, from high-quality training to honest communication with combat medics in those units that are functioning properly and efficiently," he said.

At The Stabilization Point

Providing proper first aid and quick evacuation from the battlefield -- ideally taking place within the so-called golden hour when the likelihood of medical and surgical intervention preventing death is highest -- is crucial to saving soldiers' lives.

Once the wounded are pulled out of battle, often after too many hours waiting for help, they're brought to a stabilization point where doctors and paramedics try to keep them alive long enough to make it to the hospital.

"Most patients arrive here in serious condition, often on the verge of death," Oleksiy Marchenko, 42, told RFE/RL during a mid-November visit to a stabilization point near Bakhmut, a now ruined city in the Donetsk region that fell to fighters of Russia's notorious Wagner mercenary group and other forces in May after many months of grueling warfare.

Since Ukraine liberated the villages of Klishchiyivka and Andriyivka on Bakhmut's southern outskirts in September, Russian forces have been trying to retake the initiative here, meaning regular infantry assaults and artillery shelling.

On average, 50 wounded soldiers are brought to the stabilization point daily, but as many as 200 can arrive at times, Marchenko says, adding that 80 percent of wounded suffer from blast injuries caused by mines or artillery fire. Before he spoke with RFE/RL, he had performed three operations, including a leg amputation.

"What strikes me most were the hundreds of soldiers who were here three times, but they still came back to fight alongside their comrades," he said.

Reasons For Optimism

Several doctors and combat medics told RFE/RL there are reasons for optimism despite the dire reality of grinding warfare.

Marchenko's colleague, Volodymyr Veselovskiy, 36, told RFE/RL the team of 20 doctors and paramedics working alongside them had substantially refined the way they work since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion. He said the results of transitioning from Soviet-style care to NATO standards were already visible.

Dozens of freshly washed tourniquets, devices designed for single use, had been hung on the wall at the stabilization point to dry. But overall, the facility had modern equipment and full stocks of disposable materials. Most of it comes from volunteers and donors, Veselovskiy said, adding that state support is also becoming more robust.

That was not always the case. Katarzyna Daniszewska, a Polish medic and head of the Awangarda volunteer group that has been helping medics and evacuation teams since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, said battlefield medicine in Ukraine was "evolving very rapidly."

Most of the positive changes, however, have been driven by the bottom-up impulses of soldiers and units trying to increase their chances of survival, she said.

Daniszewska spent multiple months working at various stabilization points, including one close to Bakhmut during the period of the most intense fighting there. "In the beginning, there was a shortage of equipment for bone and blood injections, and now advanced transfusion fluids are the norm," she said.

In September, after months of negotiations between Ukraine's Defense Ministry, Health Ministry, and the Medical Forces Command, the government granted combat medics, even those without medical degrees, permission to perform blood transfusions prior to the hospitalization of wounded soldiers -- a decision widely perceived as a symbolic recognition of their increasing professionalization.

"Every month, specific units and brigades are becoming more self-sufficient," Daniszewska said, adding that she remains impressed by the army's high morale despite months of exhausting warfare.

Incessant Stream Of Wounded

With no end to the fighting in sight, the stream of wounded soldiers evacuated from the battlefields, rescued at stabilization points, and treated in hospitals seems unending.

Neither Ukraine nor Russia discloses information about their casualties, but according to unofficial U.S. estimates, reported by The New York Times in mid-August, Ukraine's losses amount to about 70,000 soldiers killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded, while Russia's are about 120,000 and 170,000 to 180,000, respectively.

Zelenskiy recently said Ukrainian losses were "five times less" than Russia's, but he has also indicated that hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers are being killed or wounded every day during the most intense periods of fighting.

On a recent evening, a team of medics from the MOAS aid organization, which transports the most severe cases from stabilization points to hospitals, was evacuating a severely injured man. That morning, he stepped on a land mine; his feet were torn to pieces and half of his body burned.

Surrounded by beeping monitors and life-support equipment, Alla Molochko, the doctor treating him, said the soldier would survive but a long rehabilitation awaited him. The ambulance was racing at 130 kilometers per hour to get him to a hospital in Dnipro and return to the organization's base in the Donbas.

More severely wounded men were waiting for them.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-combat-medics-life- saving-breakthroughs/32695540.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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On Holodomor Remembrance Day, Russia Unleashes Largest Drone Attack On Ukraine

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service November 25, 2023

Russia on November 25 unleashed the largest wave of drone attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war, wounding several people and causing damage, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of the attack, in what President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called "an act of willful terror."

The attack occurred as Ukraine marked Holodomor Remembrance Day, which commemorates the 1932-33 man-made famine in Soviet Ukraine under dictator Josef Stalin that killed millions.

"Russia launched around 70 Shahed drones at Ukraine precisely on the eve of the Holodomor genocide commemoration day," Zelenskiy wrote on X.

Ukraine's air defense said in a statement that it had shot down 74 out of a total of 75 drones launched by Russia, with more than 60 drones being downed over Kyiv.

"Our warriors shot down the majority of the drones, but not all of them," Zelenskiy wrote. "We keep working to strengthen our air defense and unite the world in the fight against Russian terror. The terrorist state must be defeated and held accountable for its actions."

"Russian barbarians staged the most massive drone attack on Kyiv and the air alert lasted six hours," Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko wrote on Telegram, adding that at least five people, including an 11-year-old child, were injured by debris from the drones shot down by air defense. All of them received medical treatment, he said.

He said several districts of the capital were hit, with the most affected being the Solomyanskiy district, where a fire started by falling debris damaged a kindergarten.

"This drone strike was the largest since the full-scale invasion began," the head of the Kyiv city military administration, Mykhaylo Shamanov, told Ukrainian television.

The attack damaged a power line in the capital, leaving 120 institutions and 77 residential buildings in the center of the capital without electricity, Kyiv's military administration said.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff said in its November 25 evening report that Russia had launched 99 air strikes during the day and shelled Ukrainian positions and settlements 38 times with multiple-launch rocket systems.

It also said there were 42 combat clashes and that the operation situation in the east and south "remains difficult."

The General Staff added that Ukrainian forces had hit 11 sites of concentrations of Russian troops during the day.

Ukraine has been bracing for an expected increase in Russian attacks targeting its energy infrastructure during the cold season in a repeat of Moscow's air campaign last winter that left millions of Ukrainians in cold and darkness and destroyed critical power facilities.

Speaking at the Grain from Ukraine summit in Kyiv, Zelenskiy on November 25 said Ukraine needs more air defenses to protect its grain export routes.

"There's a deficit of air defense. That is no secret," he told the international gathering attended by senior officials from several European states.

In a separate address on the occasion of the Holodomor Remembrance Day, Zelenskiy called on the world to "unite and condemn the crimes of the past," and at the same time "unite and stop today's crimes."

"Ninety years ago, the world could not fully see what was really happening [in Soviet Ukraine]. Now, there are only those who choose not to notice what is happening [in Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine]. They are not many, and they will be fewer and fewer. The truth is making its way," Zelenskiy said.

The Holodomor, during which up to 4 million Ukrainians perished, has been recognized as genocide by almost 30 countries.

The U.S. State Department marked the day as well, saying that "during Josef Stalin's regime, harsh and repressive policies were imposed upon Ukraine, including a deliberate famine that killed millions of innocent Ukrainian women, men, and children."

"Since July, Russia has destroyed hundreds of thousands of tons of Ukrainian grain, along with grain infrastructure. As we remember the victims of the Holodomor, and we reaffirm our enduring commitment to Ukraine's people, their freedom, and their democracy."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-drone-strikes- holodomor-day/32699366.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Iskander-M's New Double Strike Tactic Catches 'Ukrainian Soldiers Off Guard'

Sputnik News

20231125

The Russian military has ushered in a new strategy aimed at bolstering the effectiveness of targeting objectives on the Ukrainian front. This strategy involves a dual strike using the Iskander-M operational-tactical missile complex.

Recent reports shed light on the unique utilization of the missile complex, involving the simultaneous launch of multiple missiles at a designated target. What sets this tactic apart is the subsequent follow-up strike, executed after a calculated interval.

A vivid instance took place recently when a Ukrainian Armed Forces base in the Zaporozhye region was completely destroyed. Initially, two missiles were fired, followed by a precisely timed "control" projectile. This secondary strike occurred when Ukrainian soldiers had congregated at the point of impact, leading to further casualties among them.

The strategic shift took the Ukrainian forces by surprise, disrupting their accustomed response to solitary missile attacks, as observed by Western media outlets analyzing the novel approach adopted by Russian missile operators.

It is worth noting that this tactical maneuver requires greater missile consumption. The synchronized deployment of missiles indirectly signals an upsurge in the supply of operational-tactical missiles from the Russian defense industry to the armed forces.

The beefed-up arsenal of missiles at the disposal of the Russian military enables it to execute "salvo" attacks, culminating in a decisive "control" launch to incapacitate the enemy effectively.

A Sputnik

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In Remembrance of the Holodomor Famine

US Department of State

Press Statement

Matthew Miller, Department Spokesperson

November 25, 2023

Today marks the annual day of remembrance of the 1932-1933 Holodomor famine in Ukraine. During Joseph Stalin's regime, harsh and repressive policies were imposed upon Ukraine, including a deliberate famine that killed millions of innocent Ukrainian women, men, and children. We honor all the lives lost in this horrible tragedy and the determination of Ukraine's people who overcame these hardships to ultimately create a free and democratic society.

Since July, Russia has destroyed hundreds of thousands of tons of Ukrainian grain, along with grain infrastructure. As we remember the victims of the Holodomor, we reaffirm our enduring commitment to Ukraine's people, their freedom, and their democracy.

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The humanitarian initiative 'Grain from Ukraine' has been extended - Volodymyr Zelenskyy following Grain from Ukraine second summit

President of Ukraine

25 November 2023 - 18:59

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has announced that the humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine" has been extended, with over $100 million already accumulated for its goals. The Head of State made this statement during a meeting with media representatives following the second international summit "Grain from Ukraine" held in Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the symbolism of hosting an international event dedicated to stopping Russia in its attempts to repeat the crimes of the 20th century today on the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor-genocide of 1932-1933 in Ukraine. According to the President, only together can all nations that value international law resist this evil.

The Head of State expressed gratitude to all guests, foreign partners, and friends for the consolidated and powerful support of Ukraine and for jointly commemorating the victims of the Holodomor in Kyiv.

The President said that the main focus during meetings within the framework of the second summit "Grain from Ukraine" was given to the Ukrainian humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine" and the preservation of our country's global role as a donor of food security.

"Due to Russia's aggression in the Black Sea, one of the largest threats to global stability in the past decades has arisen, particularly regarding food supply. This has had consequences in both price fluctuations and the physical shortage of food in the markets of regions critically dependent on the import of grains and other types of food products that Ukraine exports. And this export holds special significance in the global market," he said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy reminded that since the onset of full-scale aggression by Russia, our country, along with partners, has created Solidarity Lanes in Europe for export, including Ukrainian food. The Danube region is working increasingly robustly and ensuring the necessary export. Ukraine has gradually managed to restore exports from Black Sea ports as well.

As the Head of State emphasized, Ukraine has now united countries around the world to attract the necessary funds to help those who suffer the most from food shortages. In the first year of the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative, it was able to accumulate $180 million for these needs, with over 30 participants joining. Within the initiative, 170,000 tonnes of Ukrainian grain were delivered to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen.

"Our position is principled: no one in the world has the right to block free navigation and weaponize food scarcity. The use of hunger as a weapon is an element of genocide policy, and any state that engages in it must be held accountable," the President said.

As emphasized by Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the global moral duty of all states is to prevent anyone from starving in the modern world. According to him, this year, the "Grain from Ukraine" program has been extended, with over $100 million already accumulated.

"This is our shared historical responsibility - to limit Russia's aggressive potential, protect our people, our states, and help others in the world, including countries of the Global South, gain enough strength to resist destabilization," the Head of State said.

President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics stated that by hindering the delivery of food, Russia is attempting to intimidate not only Ukraine but also many countries in the Global South and the entire international community. He expressed full support for the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative.

"We financially contributed to this initiative last year and have joined again this year," Edgars Rinkevics said.

The President of Latvia also said that his country collaborates with Ukrainian and European partners to ensure Baltic corridors and the use of its ports for transiting Ukrainian food and grain.

"I think it's very important that we continue to cooperate to alleviate the humanitarian situation worldwide. We collaborate to ensure that Russia cannot weaponize food. It is also very important that we work together in various formats along the Solidarity Lanes through the EU and through bilateral contacts," he said.

In addition, Edgars Rinkevics shared his impressions of the previous night in Kyiv, when he was forced to spend six hours in a bomb shelter due to a heavy Russian drone attack. He assured Latvia would urge partners to provide Ukraine with air defense capabilities.

"The Ukrainian air defense is doing its job. But one message is absolutely clear: we must do everything possible to provide Ukraine with more air defense capabilities, more ammunition, more military equipment, not only to assist on the battlefield but also to protect civilians," he concluded.

President of the Swiss Confederation Alain Berset also said that his country is joining the support for Ukraine.

"Switzerland is very concerned about the negative consequences of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, especially its impact on the food security of Ukraine and the entire world," the President of the Swiss Confederation said.

Alain Berset welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskyy's grain initiative and announced that Switzerland is joining this program. In addition, humanitarian mine clearing in Ukraine will be a priority, positively influencing the strengthening of food security.

"We have also adopted a decision on an additional package of CHF 100 million for the next few years. This will help increase our involvement in demining efforts and promote the export of grains from Ukraine. It is crucial that grain and fertilizers reach European markets," he said.

According to the President of the Swiss Confederation, his country will also contribute to documenting the consequences of destruction and the reconstruction process, as well as working towards the creation of an international tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte pointed out that despite full-scale aggression and all attempts by Russia to block exports, Ukraine continues to feed the world.

Ingrida Simonyte announced that Lithuania, like last year, is joining the humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine."

"Today, we provide an additional EUR 2 million, which will reach Ukraine by the end of this year," she said.

"We are exploring alternative grain export routes, including the Solidarity Lanes and new corridors. We will be ready to increase the transit capacities of our ports for Ukrainian exports, creating another opportunity, a corridor through the Baltic Sea for exporting Ukrainian products," Ingrida Simonyte reassured.

According to her, ensuring security, especially food security, on the continent and globally is possible only by defeating Russia, and Ukraine is getting closer to this goal every day. Therefore, Ukrainian partners and allies should not get tired; they must do everything possible to accelerate this victory, the Prime Minister of Lithuania said.

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For the First Time Ever, Sight & Sound Will Stream MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS in Homes Worldwide

After 30 Years on Stage, Experience the Beloved Christmas Production in a Special Holiday Streaming Event only on Sight & Sound TV

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Nov. 27, 2023

LANCASTER, Pa., Nov. 27, 2023 /Christian Newswire/ -- For nearly three decades, audiences have flocked to Sight & Sound Theatres to experience MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS live on stage. With their 2023 season completely sold out in Lancaster, the theater company is thrilled to host a special holiday streaming event for audiences worldwide on Sight & Sound TV December 1-3.





Known for state-of-the-art, fully immersive productions, Sight & Sound's MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS presents the birth of Jesus in magnificent detail with three story tall sets, live animals and a cast of 50 professional actors.

Audiences are invited to travel back in time from Nazareth to Bethlehem as the original Christmas story unfolds all around them. Journey alongside Mary and Joseph, a flock of surprised shepherds and three wisemen -- along with their camels too! There may be no room at the inn, but God has a lowly stable prepared as the angels announce the coming of the Messiah!

"For 30 years, families from all over the world have joined us to make MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS a part of their holiday traditions," said Katie Miller, Director of Marketing & Communications for Sight & Sound. "However, we know not every family can make the trip visit us in person. This three-day streaming event on Sight & Sound TV provides us the opportunity to meet families wherever they are in the world and celebrate the ultimate gift of Christmas together."



Sight & Sound's streaming platform, Sight & Sound TV, launched in 2020. This virtual third location for the Pennsylvania based theater company, welcomed a new global audience from over 175 countries across the globe. "Passionate about sharing these stories with as many people as possible, we wanted a way to bring the live theater experience home," said Miller. The platform features special broadcast events, behind-the-scenes content and encore performances of your favorite Sight & Sound productions.

MIRACLE OF CHRISTMAS will be available for online streaming from December 1-3, 2023. Exclusive access to the holiday production can be purchased for just $19.99, while an annual subscription is available for those who wish to unlock additional content.

For more information, visit: https://www.sight-sound.com/shows/lancaster/miracle-of-christmas/2023

About Sight & Sound

Sight & Sound is a storytelling company passionate about bringing true stories of redemption to life on stage and on screen that reveal the power of the Gospel. Since its beginning as a traveling multi-media show in 1976, Sight & Sound has inspired over 30 million people with stories from the pages of scripture and history. Today, Sight & Sound operates two live-theater venues, immersing over a million people each year in state-of-the-art original productions. In 2020, Sight & Sound launched an online streaming platform, welcoming a new global audience from over 175 countries around the world. Most recently, Sight & Sound expanded into feature films, debuting at #2 in movie theaters across the nation. Sight & Sound is headquartered in Lancaster, PA with over 700 employees companywide. For more information, visit www.sight-sound.com.

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Pakistani businessman: 'Xinjiang is like my home'

People's Daily Online) 14:19, November 27, 2023

Pakistani businessman Asim Mohammad, who owns a jewelry store in the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, has lived in China for nearly 30 years. During this time, he has witnessed Chinas rapid development, met his wife, and started a happy family. Mohammad, having traveled to many countries, finds China to be the best. He remarked, I lived in Pakistan for 23 years and have been in China for 28 years. Xinjiang is like my home.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
Joint Statement of the International Summit AGrain from UkraineA

President of Ukraine

25 November 2023 - 17:39

Food security is an increasingly pressing concern for people everywhere, but most of all in developing countries of the Global South. It is crucial to ensure safe, nutritious food is available, accessible, and affordable for everyone.

A year ago, the first International Summit on Food Security was held in Kyiv, marking the start of the AGrain from UkraineA humanitarian program. In its first year, 34 countries and international organizations joined this program.

Ukraine is one of the top global food suppliers. It is also a reliable partner of the UN World Food Programme. Through the AGrain from UkraineA initiative, more than 170,000 tons of Ukrainian grain was delivered to Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Yemen. More than 25 countries have pledged about 220 million USD to support this humanitarian program.

However, Russia's unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine has worsened existing food security challenges worldwide, and exacerbated the global food crisis. Russia is not only waging war on the battlefield but is also aiming to inflict a global food crisis by destroying Ukrainian civil port infrastructure and grain storage facilities, blocking the Black Sea coast of Ukraine, and disrupting lawful transit in Ukraine's territorial seas.

We strongly believe that threatening global food supplies should not be used as a weapon of war and recall that the starvation of civilians as a tactic of warfare is prohibited. Countries compromising food security should face immediate international repercussions.

The Ukrainian initiative AGrain from UkraineA can serve as an effective tool to help respond to acute hunger. We highlight the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, emphasizing the right of innocent passage for ships of all states, [including commercial vessels,] which is crucial for global food stability.

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for their or his/her health and wellbeing, including food, as reflected in Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The disruption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which helped mitigate global food security pressures, is a cause for deep concern.

Russia's attempt to use the renewal of the Black Sea Grain Initiative as a bargaining chip for relieving the sanctions regime established in response to Russia's aggression and violations of international law is unacceptable.

Ukraine is proactively establishing alternative routes with its partners, such as the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes, including the Danube corridor and the Baltic Sea, to maintain grain exports to the global market, which helps all countries.

We welcome Ukraine's efforts to achieve a just and sustainable peace. We support the purposes and principles of the Peace Formula by President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and believe that achieving a just and lasting peace will contribute to global food security.

We also highly appreciate the efforts of the international community to provide a lifeline for the Ukrainian economy, which is essential for global food security. We are confident that, by working together, we will overcome the negative humanitarian and economic impacts of the worldwide food crisis exacerbated by Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

We commend and encourage continuous joint efforts of the international community to increase pressure on Russia to unburden Ukraine's Black Sea ports and to prioritize global food security.



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Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the second international summit Grain from Ukraine: Never again should hunger become a weapon against the freedom of people

President of Ukraine

25 November 2023 - 16:23

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in the second international summit of the initiative "Grain from Ukraine," held on November 25th in Kyiv.

The aim of the event is to strengthen Ukraine's role as a guarantor of food security, consolidate efforts to ensure global food security, and develop alternative logistics options for the export of agricultural products from our country.

Opening the summit, the Head of State said that on the eve of the Holodomor Remembrance Day, Russia launched over 70 Shahed combat drones on Ukrainian territory overnight.

"Today, on this day of remembrance, such a terrorist attack means that Putin is proud to follow the greatest killers of the 20th century. If he could arrange another Holodomor for Ukraine, he would do it," said the President.

According to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Russia will keep trying to use food shortages and weaponize hunger. He reminded that on the first day of the full-scale war, the Russian fleet blocked Ukrainian seaports and the food export from Ukraine, which is crucial for the world.

"The stability of the food market is crucial for dozens of countries and hundreds of millions of people across the vast expanse from West Africa to East Asia," the Head of State said.

At the same time, he emphasized that today's summit is another proof that Ukraine will not lose its strength and freedom and will be able to defend the global understanding that terror must be defeated.

"I am proud of all Ukrainians who managed to restore security in the Black Sea so that Ukrainian ports could operate again for the sake of global food security and our exports. I am grateful to all leaders and countries present here who are helping us resist Russian terror and protect lives worldwide," said the President.

According to him, the Ukrainian humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine," which has already united nearly 40 countries and international organizations, is assisting those nations that suffer the most from food shortages.

"We are providing assistance despite constant Russian terror and ongoing Russian attempts to disrupt our food exports. Ethiopia, Somalia, Yemen, Kenya... They have already received over 170,000 tonnes of food thanks to our joint humanitarian initiative. This is a lifeline for millions of lives," the Head of State said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy also announced that another vessel is being prepared to transport grain cargo to a port of Nigeria, which will help nearly 400,000 people.

"I am confident that this summit, our second "Grain from Ukraine" summit, will make our humanitarian work even more sustainable and substantive," he said.

The President highlighted that the Ukrainian people, once experienced a terrible artificially induced famine orchestrated by the enemy, particularly perceive the threat of hunger for any other nation.

"Never again should hunger become a weapon against the freedom of people. And anyone who tries to use hunger in such a way, anyone whose terror creates chaos in the food market, must be held accountable before the entire world. Russia must be held accountable. I am confident that it will be," Volodymyr Zelenskyy concluded.

President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics, President of Switzerland Alain Berset, and Prime Minister of Lithuania Ingrida Simonyte personally took part in the second "Grain from Ukraine" summit.

President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Guatemala Alejandro Giammattei, President of Estonia Alar Karis addressed the participants of the event via video links. Video addresses were also delivered by President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Belgium Alexander De Croo, and others.

The summit participants discussed collaboration on grain storage and the transportation of agricultural products to recipient countries. Intensifying the involvement of international partners in the initiative "Grain from Ukraine" and expanding the list of recipient countries was also discussed.

Furthermore, the issue of coordination to enhance pressure on Russia to end its food blockade was raised.

As a result of the second international summit "Grain from Ukraine," a Joint Statement supported by 23 countries was adopted.





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The President of Ukraine held a meeting with chairs and representatives of the parliaments of foreign states

President of Ukraine

25 November 2023 - 15:55

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the chairs and representatives of the parliaments of foreign countries visiting Ukraine. President of the Senate of Belgium Stephanie D'Hose; Chairman of the Senate of Ireland Jerry Buttimer; Speaker of the Parliament of Finland Jussi Halla-aho; President of the Senate of the Czech Republic Milos Vystrcil; President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic Marketa Pekarova Adamova; President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and a Member of the Polish Sejm Michal Szczerba; Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Estonian Parliament Marko Mihkelson; and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Polish Sejm Pawe Kowal attended the meeting.

Welcoming the foreign parliamentarians, the Head of State thanked them for visiting Kyiv on this special day when Ukrainians commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor-genocide of 1932-1933.

"For us, it's a great honor that today you found the opportunity to come to us and share this special historical day with Ukraine," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The President of Ukraine expressed gratitude to each country for their unwavering political, defense, economic, and humanitarian support to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

"Grateful to the peoples of your countries for the support and solidarity with Ukraine. We wish you peace and prosperity. And may you never go through the trials Ukraine is currently facing," the Head of State said.

Separately, Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the parliaments of Belgium, Estonia, Ireland, Poland, Finland, and the Czech Republic for recognizing the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people at the national level.

"It is crucial for restoring historical justice. It is a clear signal to the aggressor: fair punishment for all past and present crimes is inevitable," the President said.

He informed the chairs and parliament members about the effectiveness of Ukraine's humanitarian initiative "Grain from Ukraine" and thanked the governments of partner countries for supporting this program and participating in its second summit.

"The Ukrainian people, like no one else, know what difficult challenges are and how hard it is to overcome them. Therefore, Ukraine is ready to help others, including through its 'Grain from Ukraine' program. Thank you for supporting this and other important Ukrainian initiatives," said Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

At the meeting, possible ways to strengthen international support for Ukraine were also discussed, particularly in the context of European integration and the approach to EU accession.

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Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with the President of the Swiss Confederation in Kyiv

President of Ukraine

25 November 2023 - 15:23

Confederation Alain Berset, who is on a visit to our country.

The Head of State expressed gratitude for the substantial humanitarian assistance provided to Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

"Thank you for your visit. It is a very powerful message for Ukrainians worldwide that you have decided to visit Ukraine on a special day in our history for all our families - the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor. Also, thank you for your participation in today's mournful ceremony. We are proud to have such partners who took part in the ceremony on this special day for our country," he said.

The President of Ukraine expressed hope for a positive decision by the new Swiss parliament regarding the recognition of the Holodomor as genocide of the Ukrainian people.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted the importance of the assistance provided by Switzerland in restoring Ukraine's infrastructure.

The Head of State also highly praised Switzerland's role in humanitarian demining, particularly its readiness to host the second International Donors' Conference on Humanitarian Demining in Ukraine in 2024.

Both parties paid special attention to the issue of utilizing frozen profits from the assets of the aggressor state.

The interlocutors separately discussed progress in implementing the Ukrainian Peace Formula and Switzerland's participation in this process.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy acknowledged Switzerland's proactive stance on holding the Russian aggressor accountable, including its joining the coalition of states for creation of a Special Tribunal for the crime of aggression against Ukraine.

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Kyiv Suffers Largest Drone Attack Since Russian Invasion

By VOA News November 25, 2023

Kyiv was rocked early Saturday by Russia's largest drone attack since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine said it shot down 74 of the 75 Iranian-designed Shahed drones launched by Russia in a six-hour air raid.

Five people, including a child, were wounded in the attack, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko's Telegram post. Sixty-six of the drones were downed over Kyiv, Ukraine's air force said. The damage caused power outages for 17,000 people, a city official said.

"It looks like tonight we heard the overture. The prelude to the winter season," Serhiy Fursa, a prominent Ukrainian economist, wrote on Facebook.

The attack came on Holodomor Remembrance Day as Ukrainians mark the famine that starved several million people to death in the 1930s. The Holodomor a which means "death by starvation" in Ukrainian a was a deliberate policy of Josef Stalin that Ukrainians, along with more than 30 countries, consider genocide but something Moscow denies.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has carried out 911 attacks, killing 19 Ukrainians and wounding 84 across the country in the last week.

"The enemy is intensifying its attacks, trying to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. It was doing so deliberately, "just like 90 years ago, when Russia killed millions of our ancestors."

Black Sea fleet

The British Defense Ministry said Saturday in its daily report on the invasion that Russia's Black Sea Fleet's ability to reload vessels with cruise missiles at its Novorossiysk base will likely be "a significant factor" in the effectiveness of the fleet.

The fleet has traditionally reloaded its cruise missiles at Sevastopol, but the Crimean facility is facing increasing risk of being hit by Ukrainian long-range strikes.

The British intelligence update said Novorossiysk would be a better alternative site, but that move would require relocating and reloading the missiles and would also require a new delivery, storage, handling and loading processes.

Last month, Ukraine said Russia was having logistical problems with firing cruise missiles from Novorossiysk.

Three victories

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday his country is looking for "three victories" from its Western allies, including the passage of two military aid packages a by the United States and the European Union a and the formal start of talks to join the European bloc.

"We need three victories," Zelenskyy told a news conference in Kyiv. "The first one is the victory with U.S. Congress. It's a challenge, it's not easy, but Ukraine is doing everything."

U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed billions of dollars in new assistance for Ukraine, but the funding was not included in a stopgap measure passed by Congress earlier this month.

Some Republican lawmakers have expressed opposition to approving more aid for Ukraine, however, a majority of Republicans and Democrats in Congress still support the additional aid.

Zelenskyy said the second "victory" needed abroad is that "we need the help from the EU on the 50-billion-euro package," and "the third is to open a dialog about our future membership."

The European Union recently announced a 50-billion-euro package for Ukraine, but it has not yet been approved and is facing opposition by Hungary. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has also said he is opposed to launching EU membership talks with Kyiv.

Zelenskyy made the comments at a joint news conference in Kyiv with Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who expressed optimism that the EU aid package for Ukraine would eventually pass.

Rinkevics was in Kyiv during the Saturday morning attack and posted a photo of himself on social media inside a dark bomb shelter.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Statement by President Biden in Remembrance of Holodomor

November 25, 2023

We mark the solemn anniversary of the Holodomor as the brave people of Ukraine continue to defend their freedom and Ukraine's sovereignty against Russia's brutal war of aggression. Ninety years ago, the inhumane polices of Joseph Stalin and the Soviet regime created the "death by hunger." Millions of Ukrainiansamen, women, and childrenasuffered and starved to death between 1932-1933 because of a manmade famine. Stalin and his regime systematically seized Ukraine's grain and farms and transferred Ukrainian grain to other parts of the USSR as a tactic to repress Ukraine's national identity.

Today, Ukraine's agricultural infrastructure is once more being deliberately targetedathis time by Vladimir Putin as part of his drive for conquest and power. Russian forces seek to destroy Ukraine's economy and independence, deliberately damaging fields and destroying Ukraine's grain storage facilities and ports. It is not just an attack on Ukraine's economic security, it is a cynical assault on food security everywhere. Putin is hurting the world's most vulnerable communities, for Russia's profit.

On this anniversary, we remember and honor all those, both past and present, who have endured such hardship and who continue still to fight against tyranny. We also recommit ourselves to preventing suffering, protecting fundamental freedoms, and responding to human rights abuses whenever and wherever they occur. We stand united with Ukraine.

###

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Russia thwarts major Ukrainian drone attack over several regions

Iran Press TV

Sunday, 26 November 2023 11:26 AM

Russian forces have thwarted a major Ukrainian drone attack on the Russian border regions, involving at least 24 drones and two missiles, the Russian defense ministry has said.

"Air deface destroyed four Ukrainian drones over the territory of the Bryansk, Smolensk, and Tula regions," the defense ministry said in a statement on Sunday, noting that Ukrainian drone attacks were launched in over four regions in addition to Moscow.

It also added that two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea, which were heading Russia, were also downed by the Russian military forces.

"Russian air defense located and destroyed two Ukrainian missiles in the air over the water area of the Azov Sea," Russia's defense ministry said.

Meanwhile, Moscow's Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, said that Ukrainian drones were shot down in several areas of the Moscow region. "A mass drone attack was attempted overnight."

One person was injured in Tula when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, the region's governor, Alexei Dyumin, said.

Plane flights were delayed or canceled at Moscow's main airports due to the drone attack, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Ukrainian strikes had struck the power system in the Russian-controlled region of Donetsk, leaving some people there without electricity and heat in the cold weather.

Kiev has been targeting Russian regions with drones for months. The latest attacks came as Ukraine also marks a decade since the Maidan pro-EU revolution.

The pro-Moscow government in Kiev was replaced in 2014 by a Western-backed Nazi group poised against the Russian-speaking people in southern and eastern Ukraine.

Moscow views the Maidan revolution as illegitimate and when it launched its special military operation in Donbas in February 2022, it aimed to stop Kiev's persecution of its population.

"In Kiev ten years ago there was a coup with the use of force, the legitimate authorities were overthrown," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

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Russia Says Ukraine Attacked Moscow, Other Cities With Fleet Of Drones; No Major Damage Reported

By RFE/RL November 26, 2023

Russian officials said Ukraine targeted Moscow and other Russian cities with a fleet of at least 24 drones, claiming most were downed by antiaircraft systems.

Ukraine, meanwhile, reported being targeted by at least nine Russian drones overnight on November 26, one day after Russia launched a massive wave of drones against Kyiv and other sites. It was the biggest such attack since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

The Russian Defense Ministry reported at least 24 Ukrainian drones that it claimed were downed over Tula, Kaluga, and Bryansk, as well as the Russian capital. No major damage was reported in any of the locations.

"A mass drone attack was attempted overnight," Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in a post to Telegram.

Andrei Vorobyov, governor of the Moscow region, wrote on Telegram that three unspecified buildings were damaged, but there were no injuries.

In Tula, south of Moscow, one person was wounded when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, regional Governor Aleksei Dyumin said, also in a Telegram post.

As of the afternoon of November 26, Ukrainian officials had made no immediate comment on the reported attacks.

The Russian Army also said it had downed two Ukrainian missiles over the Azov Sea that it said were headed for Russia. Russia controls the Ukrainian Azov Sea coast, which fell to Moscow early in its offensive last year.

Local authorities in the affected regions did not report casualties.

Ukraine has upped attacks on Russia since launching its counteroffensive, aiming to hit regions close to fighting zones as well as further inland into Russia, including Moscow.

Flights were delayed or canceled at several of Moscow's major airports due to the attack, the Kommersant newspaper reported.

Ukrainian officials made no comment on the reported attacks, which came one day after Russia launched its own major drone attack on the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian officials said more than 70 were brought down or intercepted by air defenses.

Ukraine's military said on November 26 that it had shot down eight of nine Russian attack drones, which targeted various locations.

On the battlefield, fighting has focused around the industrial hub of Avdiyivka, which appears almost encircled by Russian forces. Its fall would be a significant loss for Kyiv.

Ukraine, meanwhile, reported Russian attacks in the south and east of the country, saying the situation remains difficult.

Roman Mrochko, head of the military administration in the southern city of Kherson, said two urban districts were shelled, while regional authorities said around a dozen villages were left without electricity due to bad weather and Russian attacks.

Ukraine has been bracing for an expected increase in Russian attacks targeting its energy infrastructure now that winter weather has set in. That would echo Moscow's campaign last winter that, at times, left millions of Ukrainians in cold and darkness and destroyed critical power facilities.

"Due to bad weather and Russian shelling, a number of settlements in our region were left without electricity," Kherson Governor Oleksandr Prokudin said on Telegram. "Power supply teams are already working to eliminate the malfunctions," he added.

Nearly 400 localities are without electricity in Ukraine due to "extremely difficult" weather conditions, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said.

Oleksiy Kuleba, deputy head of Ukraine's presidential office, warned that the weather is worsening with heavy snowfalls expected in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Cherkasy, and Odesa regions.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-attacks-russia- drones-winter-infrastructure/32700223.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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General James L. Jones: West 'Too Cautious About Giving Ukraine Weapons That Could Strike Into Russia'

By Vazha Tavberidze November 26, 2023

James L. Jones is a retired four-star Marine Corps general and a former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe (2003-06) and onetime national-security adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama (2009-10). He is now a consultant and frequent commentator on security issues who has strongly advocated for military and other aid to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.

Jones talked to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about the global reverberations of the Ukrainian war, whether providing longer-range weapons risks a wider war, and what this coming February should tell us about "donor fatigue."

RFE/RL: How would you describe the battlefield situation in Ukraine in chessboard terms? It has been likened to "positional warfare" by [Ukrainian commanding] General Valeriy Zaluzhniy.

James L. Jones: I don't think it's a matter of chess so much as it is probably one of the biggest historical blunders that any leader has made, when [Russian President] Vladimir Putin decided to invade. And we might never know what prompted the decision, but I think he -- like all dictators -- he listens to people who echo his own views. But I think that he saw the unfortunate [U.S.-led international] withdrawal from Afghanistan as an indication that the United States probably would not be happy about an invasion, but they would believe that the war would be over very quickly and eventually, like the annexation of Crimea, that this would become a fait accompli very quickly. Unfortunately, for him, he was sadly mistaken.

To the extent that there's any analogy with chess right now, it probably wasn't present then but is probably present on the ground now.... How the denouement of this fight between Ukraine and Russia turns out is probably very important for the world.

RFE/RL: How would you describe the situation on the battlefield?

Jones: I don't think there's any clear picture right now. The Ukraine spring offensive [launched in June] was unfortunately lacking in one key element, and that's air power, and the Russians had plenty of time to mine the areas where they thought the Ukrainian [ground forces] would advance. And it just caused everything to slow down. But I think one thing is clear: Mr. Putin's ambition to take over Ukraine in its entirety is not going to happen.

RFE/RL: Is a decisive battleground victory still feasible for either side?

Jones: I don't know the answer to that. It doesn't look like it, although I think the stated ambitions on both sides have not changed all that much. But if you look at what's going on right now on the ground, I don't see a definitive advantage on either side, except for the fact that there's pretty much no doubt that Russia will not be successful in taking over Ukraine as a country.

RFE/RL: Can we conclude that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is over and that another Russian offensive is beginning?

Jones: I think it's extremely important -- on almost a global basis -- that how this ends has to be seen as a victory for Ukraine and a defeat for Russia. And I don't know what that looks like, but I'm pretty convinced that it has to end that way. Because if it doesn't, the autocrats of the world will be emboldened. I would think that the president of China would rethink his position with regard to Taiwan, perhaps.

If Putin is readmitted to the family of national leaders, in the international meetings and as though nothing happened, I think that would be the worst outcome. He's an indicted war criminal by the ICC [International Criminal Court in The Hague], and that should stand for something. But how this ends, I think, is really, really important in terms of the perceptions that are going to reverberate all over the world and will cause many countries to behave differently one way or the other.

RFE/RL: As you mentioned, at this moment, there is no end in sight -- we don't know what the end of this war would look like. But what we know is that Russians are launching another offensive at Avdiyivka. I have a very simple and perhaps naive question: How come? Wasn't the Russian Army supposed to be depleted to a degree as to being unable to mount another massive offensive?

Jones: Well, I think one thing that was always clear is that the Russian leader was willing to commit whatever manpower he needed, because they outnumber the Ukrainians in terms of population. And their ability to launch a major offensive -- it might surprise someone -- but I think that his ability to draft young men and throw them into the Russian Army, even though they're fairly poorly trained, is something that you have to take into account. But it's clear that the lessons learned from the first year have taken root in Russia as well as Ukraine. They know each other better now; they know where their strengths and weaknesses are. It's not surprising that both sides are trying to exploit that advantage. But I don't see that the Russians are capable of achieving Putin's goal of taking over the whole of Ukraine.

RFE/RL: For a long while, it was assumed that Ukraine had this long line of volunteers willing to fight to defend the country. And then this Time magazine profile on Zelenskiy comes out and it cast doubts on many things, and the manpower was one of these things. It highlighted that this is also a problem for Ukraine. Who has the bigger problem when it comes to manpower, Ukraine or Russia?

Jones: Well, it's good to have enough manpower; [but] it's a problem to have qualified manpower that is organized, trained, and equipped to do the job. In the first year of the [full-scale] war [during 2022], Ukraine was more on the defensive, which is much easier in terms of manpower losses. And then the second year, Ukraine wanted to go on the offensive, but they also found out that if you don't go on the offensive with at least a three- to four- to five-to-one ratio, you're going to take more casualties. And the fact that they were fighting a combined arms war without one of the key elements -- which is air power -- that slowed things down. And I think the needed air power is on the way, but it's not going to be ready to go for quite a while. Once they get that, they can really complete that combined arms capability for which they do have great comprehension --- but they need to get it all together before they can really start making a difference.

RFE/RL: On this combined arms maneuver -- and let's call it NATO's military vision of how combat warfare needs to be carried out -- there was this great interview with General Zaluzhniy in The Economist, where he said that "If you look at NATO's textbooks and at the math which we did [in planning the counteroffensive], four months should have been enough time for us to have reached Crimea, to have fought in Crimea, to return from Crimea, and to have gone back in and out again." Were NATO, or rather Western military calculations and forecasts wrong, or was it Ukraine that underperformed?

Jones: Generally speaking, all along, it would have been better for the allies to provide the needed equipment that Ukraine wanted and should have had in order to prosecute a more effective campaign, especially when they tried to go on the [offensive]. And I think the United States was complicit in not providing the weapons rapidly enough -- particularly the air side. We were too cautious about not giving the Ukrainians weapons that could strike into Russia. And so, you're really causing them to have to fight the war with one hand tied behind their backs. But I think people realize that now, and the supply chains are better, and the equipment is arriving at a faster rate. So, we'll have to wait and see. But the big missing piece, I think, for me, is aviation.... If there isn't a resolution this year, which there doesn't appear to be, when they get the air power that they need, it'll make a difference.

RFE/RL: Zaluzhniy himself admits that they're at a stalemate, but he doesn't see the combined arms maneuver as a solution; he is betting on technological advancement. He says that "in order for us to break this deadlock, we need something new, like the gunpowder which the Chinese invented and which we are still using to kill each other." Where does this leave us when it comes to the Ukraine war, if one side doesn't suddenly conjure up a modern equivalent of gunpowder in terms of technology?

Jones: That's a great question, and I think you'll get the first indication of where that leaves us in February [2024] at the Munich Security Conference, which I'm sure will be dominated by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. I was there last year, and there was great enthusiasm and many words spoken by political leaders that were very encouraging, like, "We're with you until the end." So, it'll be interesting to see what the dialogue is this year. And then I think we'll have an idea about whether there's donor fatigue out there. And I think Mr. Putin is certainly counting on the fact that he can outlast the West, because the West is always wanting to end wars quickly: "Do whatever you have to do but stop this."

RFE/RL: I will be asking you about this donor fatigue in a moment. But before that, let's go through the Western military assistance issue in a bit more detail. We saw the impact of HIMARS [U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] on the battlefield. Will there be an ATACMS [U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System] era or an F-16 [fighter jet] era, too?

Jones: I think so, yes. I think the military advice here in Washington would be to provide that.

RFE/RL: Many noticed that the ATACMS given to Ukraine are of older production with a shorter range than their modern equivalents? Will there be more, better, longer-range ones?

Jones: It goes back to a fear in [NATO] capitals that if you give the Ukrainians the weapons that can strike into Russia, they will do that and it might cause a wider war. I don't think that's correct, to be honest with you. My first war was in Vietnam, and I was always frustrated by the fact that we couldn't pursue the enemy into Laos or Cambodia or go north of the DMZ [demilitarized zone], and there were so many restrictions on us that we did have the impression that we're fighting with one hand tied behind our back. And I think that's a risky strategy that normally contributes to defeat of the side that has so many impositions on it. The fear, obviously, is that Vladimir Putin would escalate to a nuclear conflict, and everybody's concerned about that. But I do think that the important thing is to give the Ukrainians the panoply of weapons that they need and to certainly prevent Russia from advancing any further into Ukraine.

RFE/RL: So, should we expect more, better, longer range ATACMS? And what's that dependent upon?

Jones: I think the military advice here is that they want to give them longer ranges. I'm not sure where the political leadership is on that. But if you're going to fight a war, you need to fight a war to win it. And you need to have the equipment that you need to prevail. Otherwise, you're working toward a stalemate, and that's not very good for anybody.

RFE/RL: With all this taken into account, what can be done now? What's the hand that the West has and how can they play it?

Jones: Well, I think that the list of things that they don't have needs to be shortened. I've mentioned aviation two or three times in our discussion, and I think that's the big missing piece, to be honest with you. The land offensive was stymied by the amount of time the Russians had to prepare the field with mines and fortifications that make it much harder for the Ukrainians to achieve a mass of success, especially if they're trying to do it without air power -- because then the manpower bill becomes much more expensive. So that's where I think we are.

RFE/RL: Let's look at this from General Zaluzhniy's perspective. You are a general, you have to conduct a counteroffensive, and you are asked by your partners on whom you are heavily dependent in your war efforts to go into it without air support. How does it feel?

Jones: Not good. You know, in my days in Vietnam, we always had adequate air power, whether [it was] gunships or Phantom jets. The North Vietnamese that we fought against did not have that, and they paid a heavy price militarily, regardless of how it worked out politically. And I think that Ukraine understands that without air power, the manpower bill goes up exponentially. So, you have to be very careful, because for Ukraine manpower is really important. And they can't afford the Putin doctrine, which is just throw men at the problem; he doesn't care.

RFE/RL: On this manpower topic. Which approach is proving more effective: One relying on people's willingness to defend their country, versus one where people are corralled like cattle, or one where people are so poor that going to the front is an economic solution?

Jones: I think the advantage there is with Ukraine. They're defending their homeland; they're obviously very passionate about that. And there seems to be consistent support for President Zelenskiy -- some criticism but generally speaking, he's regarded as a heroic figure -- and I have not seen a crack yet in Ukrainian society that says, "Enough." I think they're very determined, and I think the allies, and especially the United States, should accelerate to the extent possible the delivery of equipment and ammunition that they need to be successful.

RFE/RL: You said you don't see cracks in Ukrainian resolve. But do you see cracks in Western resolve, perhaps?

Jones: Well, Vladimir Putin is counting on that. And I think the first time that you may see it -- if it in fact exists -- will be at Munich in February. That's where they launched this thing from. (Editor's Note: Putin delivered a key speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007 that was highly critical of the United States and NATO and is widely regarded as having signaled the Russian leader's foreign policy intentions.)

On the positive side, though, one of the good things is the resurgence of NATO. I think NATO deserves a lot of credit, with the secretary-general and the member countries who are going to increase their financial contribution. The defense of Europe is now a valid concept, and we know what that is, and we know where the line of defense is for the defense of Europe and protection of other countries like Georgia, Moldova, and others. And if we're able to limit Russia's advance to what it is now -- if that becomes a negotiating position -- then I think the West will be able to say that they prevailed, and the battle between the autocracies and the democracies in other parts of the world will probably have a different outcome.

RFE/RL: So that would be a partial victory but still a Ukrainian victory?

Jones: Right.

RFE/RL: You mentioned countries like Georgia and Moldova. Ever since the full-scale war started, we've seen some profound changes in Russia's neighborhood: Finland has become a NATO ally; Sweden is poised to; Moldova has aligned with the West more strongly than ever; in the South Caucasus, we saw Azerbaijan reclaiming Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, subsequently, drifting from the Russian orbit and recently getting arms deliveries from France and India. What would be your advice to a country like Georgia in these troubled times?

Jones: I think the closer the countries are to the threat posed by Mr. Putin and Russia, the more the relationship with NATO becomes important. And I think that NATO needs to reach out to those countries that are at risk and lend a hand toward explaining to them what it takes to become a NATO member. And frankly, I think, right now in Ukraine, the Ukrainians should be doing things to prepare for NATO accession that they can do right now...[so] that when the day comes and the conflict is over and they become a NATO member, that they don't have to wait another couple of years. So, I think there's a lot of work that can be done right now to reassure the people of those at-risk countries that the NATO embrace is out there and they should be doing things that they can do now to shorten the time between where we are now and eventual accession to NATO.

RFE/RL: Those countries have been standing in front of NATO's "open door" for decades, and it's not reassuring that they might have to wait another decade or decades. How would you reassure them?

Jones: Well, I think it's up to NATO to reach out, and there are all kinds of different programs as countries get closer and closer to NATO. Certainly, NATO interoperability with the military forces is something that can be worked on. There are all kinds of standards for NATO admission.

But I think that, at the end of the day, Russia has to be convinced that this was a mistake, what they did, and secondly that NATO is going to be many times stronger and more capable than it was before the invasion. And that there is a line of defense for the defense of Europe. And countries like Georgia and others will probably be on it at some point.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-james- jones-interview-long-range-weapons/32700251.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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Pope Francis Reflects On 'Tormented' Ukraine Marking Holodomor Remembrance Day

November 26, 2023

Pope Francis on November 26 called the Holodomor a "lacerating wound" that has been made even more painful for Ukraine by the ongoing war.

Speaking at the Vatican one day after Ukraine's Holodomor Remembrance Day, Francis noted that "tormented" Ukraine commemorated "the genocide perpetrated by the Soviet regime which, 90 years ago, caused millions of people to starve to death."

Russia on November 25 launched the largest wave of drone attacks on Ukraine since the start of the war as Ukraine commemorated the 1932-33 famine in Soviet Ukraine under dictator Josef Stalin that killed millions.

Ukraine said its air defenses it shot down 74 out of a total of 75 drones launched by Russia, with Kyiv bearing the brunt of the attack.

Pope Francis, 86, made the televised remarks from a chapel in the Vatican after skipping his weekly Sunday appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter's Square because of what he said was a lung inflammation.

The Vatican said on November 25 that Francis had to cancel all appointments due to a "mild flu."

Francis urged the faithful to continue to pray tirelessly for all peoples torn apart by conflicts, saying that "prayer is the force of peace that stops the spiral of hatred" and opens unexpected paths of reconciliation.

He also noted the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the EU.

"Let us thank God that there is finally a truce between Israel and Palestine, and some hostages have been freed. Let us pray that they will all be freed as soon as possible," he said.

The pontiff also said he would go later this week to Dubai to address the COP28 climate change conference, saying that besides war climate change is "another great danger...which puts life on Earth, especially for the future generations, at risk."

With reporting by AP

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/tormented-ukraine-holodomor-pope- francis/32700468.html

Copyright (c) 2023. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

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German Troops Would 'Only Last Two Days in Battle' Due to Ukraine Military Supplies

Sputnik News

20231126

Berlin has provided Ukraine with large amounts of munitions and military hardware, including main battle tanks and air defense systems, following the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict in February 2022.

The battle readiness of the German Armed Forces has been severely weakened by shortages caused by continued supplies of hardware and ammo to Kiev, German MP from the opposition Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Johann Wadephul has told DPA.

"Crucial [German] troop units can only last a maximum of two days in a battle [due to these shortages]. And that is a catastrophic finding overall," Wadephul said. "Anyone who even talks about being ready for war, but expects the Bundeswehr to be at least ready to defend itself, should have ensured that such a bad situation does not occur. Unfortunately, the opposite is the case."

The politician argued that the process of improving the Bundeswehr's combat capability is slow and blamed the country's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius for this state of affairs.

"Even when it comes to replacement procurement, the Bundeswehr is actually making a loss. As correct as the donations to Ukraine are in terms of material and ammunition, in the current security situation, it is unacceptable that there is no compensation," Wadephul said.

He also insisted that introducing compulsory military service in Germany is necessary, saying: "We will not be able to ensure effective national defense without the necessary personnel."

Ukraine received large quantities of weapons and munitions from Germany and other NATO states since the escalation of the Ukrainian conflict last year.

A Sputnik

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Russian Air Defense Neutralize Two Ukrainian Missiles Over Sea of Azov

Sputnik News

20231126

The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) has put out a statement saying that Ukraine made a failed missile attempt at striking nearby Russian territories.

The MoD has reported on two Ukrainian S-200 missiles destroyed mid-flight over the waters of the Sea of Azov.

"On November 26, 2023, around 11:00 (Moscow time) the Kiev regime tried to carry out a terrorist attack using S-200 anti-aircraft missiles fitted out to hit ground targets on the territory of the Russian Federation," the publication says.

It is not the first instance where Ukrainian forces deployed S-200 missiles against Russia. In October, the MoD said that Russia's air defense systems had shot down two similar Ukrainian rockets fired at the Crimea region. The fragments fell down in a deserted area and exploded on the ground. There were no casualties or damage.

Ukrainian troops routinely shell bordering Russian areas, attacking them with drones and employing sabotage military units. Local authorities have placed both the city of Sevastopol and the Crimea region under a yellow terrorist threat alert (administratively, the two represent separate federal subjects of the Russian Federation).

A Sputnik

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Russia Regrets Von Der Leyen's Praise of Ukraine's Euromaidan Coup - Kremlin

Sputnik News

20231126

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Moscow regrets the remarks by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who lauded Ukraine's Euromaidan coup as "10 years of dignity," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Sunday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented on European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen remarks regarding the 10th anniversary of the Euromaidan.

"It's regrettable, since, I think, a violent coup has never been perceived as a celebration in the modern European history," Peskov told reporters.

Dmitry Peskov recalled that a decade ago, the Euromaidan, named after a square in the Ukrainian capital where coup chieftains headquartered, resulted in the overthrow of a legitimate Ukrainian government by those promoting ultra right ideas which gradually escalated into "explicitly Nazi" policies.

"Then, it caused the emergence of such a regime in Kiev that turned out to be dangerous for us, which turned out to be dangerous for part of its people, I mean Russians, and unfortunately continues to in the tragedies that we see every day in Ukraine," Peskov added.

November, 2013, saw a series of protests break out in Ukraine due to the authorities' decision to halt a policy aimed at integrating with the European Union. The unrest quickly turned anti-presidential and anti-governmental, with the country's opposition calling for a national revolution.

More than a hundred people died in clashes between the Ukrainian security forces and the demonstrators. The protests eventually turned into a coup, leading to the ouster of then-President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

A Sputnik

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Russian Air Defenses Stop Massive Ukrainian Drone Attack

Sputnik News

20231126

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian air defenses stopped attempts by drones to fly toward Moscow and several other regions with the unmanned aerial vehicles been shot down, the Russian Defense Ministry said.

Preliminarily, no destruction or casualties were reported after the unmanned aerial vehicles were shot down, Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said.

Earlier Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry said air defenses had shot down 11 Ukrainian drones above the Moscow, Tula, Kaluga and Bryansk regions, adding that some of the downed drones had been flying towards the Russian capital, but there had been no casualties or serious damage.

"Another attempt by a drone to fly toward Moscow (in the Ramensky urban district) was detected and stopped by air defense forces. There were no casualties or damage after the fall of the debris, according to preliminary information," Sobyanin wrote on Telegram.

Tula Region Governor said Russian Defense Ministry air defenses had shot down two drones flying above the Tula Region, adding that one of the UAVs lost control and crashed into a residential building in Tula, leaving one person injured.

Bryansk Region Governor Alexander Bogomaz said another Ukrainian drone attack had been stopped by Russian air defenses in his region. He specified that two drones had been downed.

At least 29 flights were delayed and three canceled at three Moscow airports, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo, in the morning following the incidents, according to their online schedule.

Vnukovo and Zhukovsky airports told Sputnik later in the day that their operations had returned to normal after temporary restrictions.

Ukraine has been sending drones into Russian territory almost daily since it launched a counteroffensive in early June. The United Nations said in August, following a botched drone strike on Moscow, that it did not want to see any targeting of civilian infrastructure.

A Sputnik

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Ukraine Thwarts New Russian Drone Attack

By VOA News November 26, 2023

The Ukrainian military destroyed eight of nine attack drones launched overnight by Russia, the air force said Sunday, a day after what Ukrainian officials said had been Russia's largest drone attack of the war.

There were no immediate reports of damage or about where the remaining drone had struck.

Kyiv was rocked Saturday by Russia's largest drone attack since its invasion of Ukraine in February of last year. Ukraine said it shot down 74 of the 75 Iranian-designed Shahed drones launched by Russia in a six-hour air raid.

Five people, including a child, were wounded in the attack, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko's Telegram post. Sixty-six of the drones were downed over Kyiv, Ukraine's air force said. The damage caused power outages for 17,000 people, a city official said.

Ukraine has warned in recent weeks that Russia will target critical infrastructure in a winter aerial campaign, as it did last year.

"It looks like tonight we heard the overture. The prelude to the winter season," Serhiy Fursa, a prominent Ukrainian economist, wrote on Facebook.

The Russian defense ministry said Sunday it intercepted at least 24 drones and shot down two Ukrainian S-200 surface-to-air missiles over Moscow, Tula, Kaluga, Smolensk and Bryansk.

"A mass drone attack was attempted overnight," said Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, adding that Ukrainian drones were shot down in several areas of the Moscow region.

The missiles were shot down over the Sea of Azov, the ministry said.

One person was injured in Tula when an intercepted drone hit an apartment building, the region's governor, Alexei Dyumin, said.

The Kommersant newspaper said that flights were delayed or canceled at Moscow's main airports because of the drone attack.

In the Russian-controlled Ukrainian region of Donetsk a Russian-installed official said that Ukrainian forces had struck the energy system, leaving some people without heat or power.

Russian soldiers' morale

As the war grinds into its second winter, a growing number of Russian soldiers want to get out of Ukraine, as revealed in secret recordings of Russian soldiers calling home from the battlefields of the Kharkiv, Luhansk and Donetsk regions in Ukraine.

Secret recordings of these conversations, obtained by The Associated Press, offer a rare glimpse of the war through Russian eyes a a point of view that seldom appears in Western media, mainly because Russia has criminalized any critical conversation about the conflict in Ukraine. The recordings also show the grueling conditions Russian soldiers endure in the battlefield.

There's no "dying the death of the brave here," one soldier told his brother. "You just die, like an earthworm," he said.

The voices in these calls are of men who didn't or couldn't flee mobilization. Some had no money, no education and no options. Others believed in patriotic duty.

The AP verified the identities of people in the calls by speaking with relatives and soldiers a some of whom are still at war in Ukraine a and researching open-source material linked to the phone numbers used by the soldiers.

There were also voices of soldiers committed to the fight.

"As long as we are needed here, we will carry out our task," a soldier named Artyom told AP from eastern Ukraine at the end of May, where he'd been stationed for eight months without break. "Just stop asking me these stupid questions."

Germany debt

Berlin may not be able to finance responses to growing challenges such as climate change and the Ukraine war as Europe's largest economy has already dealt with years of chronic under-investment, contributing to its current stagnation, economists say.

German under-investment is already around 300 billion euros over the past decade vis-a-vis other AAA-rating economies, according to Scope Ratings.

Business and political leaders have even started to campaign publicly for fiscal rectitude.

"As I have long been saying, we must fear that the debt brake becomes ever more a brake on the future," said Berlin Mayor Kai Wegner on social media platform X.

Saturday was Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine, a time when Ukrainians remember the famine that starved several million people to death in the 1930s because of Soviet policies.

The Holodomor a which means "death by starvation" in Ukrainian a was a deliberate policy of Josef Stalin that Ukrainians, along with more than 30 countries, consider genocide but something Moscow denies.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has carried out 911 attacks, killing 19 Ukrainians and wounding 84 across the country in the last week.

"The enemy is intensifying its attacks, trying to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. It was doing so deliberately, "just like 90 years ago, when Russia killed millions of our ancestors."

Some information for this article was provided by The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

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Russia Moves Its Air Defense System from Kaliningrad

By VOA News November 26, 2023

The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Ukraine that Russia's recent transport movements indicate that Russia has "likely moved" its strategic air defense systems from its Baltic coast enclave of Kaliningrad.

This move from Kaliningrad which is surrounded on three sides by NATO member states highlights "the overstretch the war has caused for some of Russia's key, modern capabilities."

Saturday was Holodomor Remembrance Day in Ukraine, a time when Ukrainians remember the famine that starved several million people to death in the 1930s because of Soviet policies.

The Holodomor a which means "death by starvation" in Ukrainian a was a deliberate policy of Josef Stalin that Ukrainians, along with more than 30 countries, consider genocide but something Moscow denies.

On Holodomor Saturday, Kyiv was rocked by Russia's largest drone attack since its invasion of Ukraine in February of last year. Ukraine said it shot down 74 of the 75 Iranian-designed Shahed drones launched by Russia in a six-hour air raid.

Five people, including a child, were wounded in the attack, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko's Telegram post. Sixty-six of the drones were downed over Kyiv, Ukraine's air force said. The damage caused power outages for 17,000 people, a city official said.

"It looks like tonight we heard the overture. The prelude to the winter season," Serhiy Fursa, a prominent Ukrainian economist, wrote on Facebook.

Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said Russia has carried out 911 attacks, killing 19 Ukrainians and wounding 84 across the country in the last week.

"The enemy is intensifying its attacks, trying to destroy Ukraine and Ukrainians," he said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. It was doing so deliberately, "just like 90 years ago, when Russia killed millions of our ancestors."

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HONG KONG, Nov. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novotech, the leading Asia Pacific centred biotech CRO with global execution capabilities, will be presenting at the Clinical Research Governance (CRGo) World Conference & International Clinical Trial Center Network (ICN) Symposium 2023 in Hong Kong this month.



Michael Stibilj, Novotech's Chief Operating Officer, will discuss the potential, challenges, and practical applications of Decentralized Clinical Trials (DCTs) from a global biotech CRO perspective.

According to Michael Stibilj, DCTs offer an advantage in terms of potential for substantial patient recruitment and retention. Currently only 5% of eligible patients are participating in clinical research.

The use of remote tools and methods show great potential for increasing trial efficiency and reducing barriers by facilitating participation outside of traditional clinical settings, stated Mr. Stibilj.

He further mentioned that regulatory bodies are increasingly endorsing DCTs due to their capacity to enable patient participation irrespective of their location, eliminating logistical hurdles. This approach provides improved access to the study and the investigational product, allowing for the inclusion of more diverse and representative populations.

He detailed that the successful execution of DCTs hinges on advanced digital tools and technologies, including e-consent, applications, wearable devices, Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes (ePRO), telemedicine, and the relocation of trial activities to the patient's home or nearby healthcare facilities. This shift involves passive monitoring devices rather than active data collection methods.

However, he noted that key challenges recognized by regulators include concerns regarding investigator oversight and participants safety when physical examinations and face-to-face contact are limited.

His conclusion emphasized that "as we venture into the next phase of clinical trial evolution, there lies significant potential for patients, investigators, regulators, and sponsors to cultivate trust and assurance in these novel approaches and technologies. This will foster greater synergies among these pivotal stakeholders within drug development".

According to the organizers, this years conference titled Clinical Research Success through Good Governance aims to facilitate communication and knowledge sharing within the global biotech research communities. It assembles professionals from academic and healthcare institutions, clinical and medical research organizations, the biomedical and pharmaceutical industry, as well as governmental agencies to discuss the latest trends in clinical trials governance.

The conference will be conducted in hybrid mode (online and in-person).

Date: 29 November 2023

Novotech presentation: 14:40  15:00 (GMT+8)

Title: Decentralized Clinical Trials: Potential, Challenges and Practical Applications

Novotech has more than 3,000 employees operating across 25 geographies, with 34 office locations, including the US, Greater China, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.

The CRO offers biotechs a unique and unparalleled suite of early to late-phase services across the US and Europe, with a foundation in Asia Pacific where the company has built a reputation for delivering high-quality expedited clinical trials.

Recognized for its industry-leading contributions, Novotech has received numerous prestigious awards, including the CRO Leadership Award 2023 and the Asia Pacific Cell & Gene Therapy Clinical Trials Excellence 2022 and 2023 awards. Additionally, the company has been honored with the Asia-Pacific Contract Research Organization Company of the Year Award each year since 2006. Its commitment to collaboration is evident in the 50 Leading Site Partnership agreements it has signed over the past three years.

Media Contact

David James

mediacontact@novotech-cro.com

AU: +61 2 8218 2144

USA: +1 415 951 3228

Asia: +65 3159 3427

About Novotech Novotech-CRO.com

Founded in 1997, Novotech is internationally recognized as the leading Asia Pacific centred Contract Research Organization (CRO) with global execution capabilities.

The Company has established itself as a clinical CRO with labs, phase I facilities, drug development consulting services and regulatory expertise. It has experience in over 5,000 clinical projects, including Phase I to Phase IV clinical trials and bioequivalence studies. Novotech employs over 3,000 staff globally across 34 office locations.

Novotech is positioned to serve as a partner and ally to small and medium-sized biotech, biopharma and pharma sponsors seeking to conduct clinical trials in Asia Pacific, the US and Europe.

For more information visit Novotech CRO
NEWARK, Del, Nov. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEWARK, Del: The global magazine and literature bag market size is estimated to be valued at US$ 110.3 million in 2024. The magazine and literature bag sales are expected to witness a CAGR of 3.1% from 2024 to 2034. By 2034, the magazine and literature bag market is anticipated to reach a valuation of US$ 149.7 million.



Factors Igniting Demand for Magazine and Literature Packaging Solutions

There is an upward trend in the adoption of magazine and literature bags as shipping packaging options are increasing due to the popularity of eCommerce. Demand for magazines and literature bags is higher, which strengthens and defends against damage during transit.

Print media, including literature and magazines, remains relevant despite the growth of digital media. Safeguarding tangible printed materials during storage and transportation may compel the demand for magazines and literature bags.

The global shift toward sustainability has impacted the packaging industry. Businesses and consumers are becoming interested in eco-friendly packaging options. There is a rise in demand for magazine and literature bags because they are composed of recyclable or biodegradable materials.

Textbooks, workbooks, and other printed materials must be transported and kept safe in educational settings. The education sector propels the magazine and literature bag market.

Request Sample Copy of the Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/REP-GB-18300

Key Takeaways

The paper segment in the material type category is estimated to grab a share of 52.50% in 2024.

category is estimated to grab a share of in 2024. In the basis weight category, the 25 to 30 GSM segment acquires a market share of 40.2% in 2024.

in 2024. The United States magazine and literature bag sales is anticipated to surge at a CAGR of 3.5% through 2024.

is anticipated to surge at a through 2024. The North America magazine and literature bag market grabs a share of 23.50% of the global market.

of the global market. The Germany magazine and literature bag industry is set to develop at a CAGR of 2.5% through 2024.

through 2024. The magazine and literature bag demand in the United Kingdom is expected to witness growth at a CAGR of 2.0% from 2024 to 2034.

from 2024 to 2034. Europe magazine and literature bag market holds a market share of 29.50% in 2024.

in 2024. Chinas magazine and literature bag sales are expected to surge at a CAGR of 5.2% until 2034.

until 2034. Indias magazine and literature bag market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 5.6% through 2034.

through 2034. The Australia magazine and literature bag industry is set to register a CAGR of 2.8% through 2034.

through 2034. Japan magazine and literature bag industry is expected to exhibit a CAGR of 3% through 2034.

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Regional Magazine and Literature Bag Market

Asia Pacific is experiencing a boom in demand for magazine and literature bags due to rising rates of literacy and an expanding urban population.

The North American market for magazines and literature bags reflects the region's environmental consciousness by emphasizing eco-friendly materials and sustainability.

The competitive North American magazine and literature bag industry heavily relies on innovation and fashionable designs.

In line with Europes cultural appreciation of aesthetically pleasing and artistic products, there is a strong focus on fashion and design. This escalates the demand for magazines and literature bags.

Europe's consumers choose compact, multipurpose magazine and literature bags that reflect their active lifestyles.



The growing consumer demand for fashionable and valuable accessories is soaring the market growth. The magazine and literature bag demand is expanding due to rising urbanization and a desire for structured lifestyles from 2024 to 2034. Sustainable materials and creative designs are starting to play a significant role in consumer decisions, indicating a trend toward sustainability, Says Ismail Sutaria, Principal consultant at Future Market Insights.

Key Market Players

Samsonite

Tumi

American Tourister

Victorinox

RIMOWA

Travelpro

Briggs & Riley

Herschel Supply Co.

Eastpak

JanSport

Competitive Landscape

The magazine and literature bag manufacturers compete for market share within the highly competitive market by highlighting design innovation, sustainability, and durability. Major magazine and literature bag vendors concentrate on growing their product lines, forming business alliances, and improving their distribution systems to obtain a competitive advantage.

For competitors in the magazine and literature bag industry to succeed over the long term, they must be able to adjust to shifting consumer preferences and maintain a commitment to quality.

Novel Innovations

The North Face, Inc.: Although the North Face is best known for its outdoor clothing, it also makes backpacks that can be used for carrying magazines.

Although the North Face is best known for its outdoor clothing, it also makes backpacks that can be used for carrying magazines. Tumi : Renowned for its high-end accessories for business, travel, and lifestyle, Tumi deals in products in the magazine and literature bags category.

: Renowned for its high-end accessories for business, travel, and lifestyle, Tumi deals in products in the magazine and literature bags category. Victorinox: Known for its Swiss Army knives, Victorinox also makes luggage and travel accessories and magazine and literature bags.



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Key Segments

By Material:

Polyethylene

Polypropylene

Polyvinyl Chloride

Bioplastics

Other Plastics

Paper

By Basis Weight:

Up to 25 GSM

25 to 30 GSM

31 to 40 GSM

Above 40 GSM

By Sales Channel:

Online

Offline

By Region:

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East Asia

Latin America



Author

Ismail Sutaria (Principal Consultant, Packaging and Materials) has over 8 years of experience in market research and consulting in the packaging & materials industry. Ismails strength lies in identifying key challenges faced by the client and offering logical and actionable insights to equip the clients with strategic decision-making power.

Ismail has been an instrumental part of several transformational consulting assignments. His key skills include competitive benchmarking, opportunity assessment, macroeconomic analysis, and business transformation advisory. Ismail is an MBA holder in Marketing and has a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics.

Ismail is a regular at industry conferences and expos and has been widely covered in electronic and print media. Ismail has been quoted in leading publications, including the European Pharmaceutical Review and the European Adhesive Tape Association.

Explore Related Reports of Packaging:

Food Bags Market Size: The global market is on a growth trajectory, projected to rise from US$ 824.0 million in 2023 to US$ 1,594.3 million by 2033. In 2022, the industry reached a valuation of US$ 770.4 million, and with a year-on-year growth of 7.0% expected in 2023.

Silo Bags Market Share: The global market is set to experience a robust surge, with an anticipated CAGR of 6.6% from 2023 to 2033. The market value is expected to climb from US$ 938.3 million in 2023 to US$ 1,783.5 million by 2033. Valued at US$ 872.0 million at the close of 2022, the market is poised for a year-on-year growth of 7.6% in 2023.

Fast Food Bag Market Growth: The market is estimated to reach a value of US$ 486.0 million in 2024, marking an increase from US$ 460.7 million in 2023. Projected to advance at a CAGR of 5.5% during the forecast period from 2024 to 2034, the market is expected to achieve a valuation of US$ 830.2 million by 2034.

Kraft Paper Shopping Bag Market Trends: The market is poised to register a robust CAGR of 3.9% throughout the forecast period. With a current valuation of US$ 5.2 billion, the market is projected to ascend to US$ 7.47 billion by 2032, reflecting a positive trajectory of growth.

Bag-in-Box Filler Market Analysis: Projected Growth in Bag-in-Box Filler Market: The bag-in-box filler market is expected to be valued at US$ 163.1 million in 2023, with a forecasted increase to US$ 278.6 million by 2033. Anticipating a substantial CAGR of 5.5% throughout the forecast period, the sales of bag-in-box fillers demonstrate a promising trajectory.



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Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer, Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 5000 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries.

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NEWARK, Del, Nov. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The valuation of the global axial piston motor market was around US$ 361.9 million in 2023. The demand is projected to rise at a moderate CAGR of 3.70% over the forecast period. The market is expected to reach US$ 529 million by 2034.



The increasing industrialization worldwide is projected to drive the future of the axial piston motor market. Some of the important trends expected to create immense opportunities in the market in the next years include the development of new materials and the integration of smart technologies.

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Rising demand for axial piston motors in machinery such as trucks, bulldozers, and harvesters is expected to drive the growth of the market. Moreover, increasing implementation of new technologies in axial piston motors is expected to create opportunities in the market.

Producers are entering new markets throughout different regions. Manufacturing businesses are focusing on developing strategic collaborations with retailers to increase their brand awareness. Other factors are also anticipated to drive the market over the forecast period. Consumers are seeking work-efficient motors for various applications in different machines, which is expected to drive the market.

The demand for axial piston motors is rapidly increasing due to technological advancements and enhanced efficiency, versatility, and better performance of these motors.

Key Takeaways from the Market Study

The global axial piston motor market is estimated to register a CAGR of 3.70% through 2034.

is estimated to register a through 2034. The market is expected to reach a valuation of US$ 529 million by 2034.

by 2034. The United States is anticipated to dominate the global market by registering a 3.30% CAGR during the forecast period.

during the forecast period. With a 4.20% CAGR, the market in China is significantly rising over the forecast period.

the market in China is significantly rising over the forecast period. The market in Japan is anticipated to secure a CAGR of 2.80% during the forecast period.



The Axial Piston Motor exhibits substantial potential for growth in various industries. With its efficient design and versatility, the motor is positioned to meet the increasing demand for high-performance hydraulic systems , - says Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.)

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Competitive Landscape in the Axial Piston Motor Market:

In recent years, there has been a surge in investments and collaborations with venture capital firms and businesses within the industry. These strategic partnerships aim to accelerate research and development activities, scale production, and expand market reach.

Key players have initiated promotional activities to introduce the design and engineering of novel motors with enhanced efficacy.

Key Players in the Axial Piston Motor Market:

Eaton Corp.

Parker Hannifin Corp.

Danfoss

Bosch Rexroth AG

Kawasaki Precision Machinery Co., Ltd.

Poclain Hydraulics

Bonfiglioli S.p.A.

HYDAC International GmbH

Linde Hydraulics GmbH & Co. KG

Sauer-Danfoss GmbH

Rexroth Hydraulics

ZF Friedrichshafen AG

Sun Hydraulics Corporation

HAWE Hydraulik

Nachi-Fujikoshi Corp.

Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd.

IHI Corporation

Komatsu Ltd.

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., Ltd.

Caterpillar Inc.

Volvo Construction Equipment AB

John Deere

Case New Holland

Kubota Corporation

Recent Developments in the Axial Piston Motor Market

Bonfiglioli introduced new track drives with integrated axial piston motors for hybrid platforms.

In 2023, Parker Hannifin introduced the F10 medium-duty, fixed-displacement, bent-axis pump, and motor series, an evolution of the company's Pump & Motor Division Europe's F11 and F12 products.

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Key Segments

By Product Type:

High Speed

Medium Speed

Low Speed



By End-use Industry:

Mining

Automotive

Marine

Oil and Gas

By Region:

North America

Latin America

Europe

South Asia

East Asia

Oceania

Middle East and Africa (MEA)



Author

Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has over a decade of experience in market research and business consulting. He has successfully delivered 1500+ client assignments, predominantly in Automotive, Chemicals, Industrial Equipment, Oil & Gas, and Service industries.

His core competency circles around developing research methodology, creating a unique analysis framework, statistical data models for pricing analysis, competition mapping, and market feasibility analysis. His expertise also extends wide and beyond analysis, advising clients on identifying growth potential in established and niche market segments, investment/divestment decisions, and market entry decision-making.

Nikhil holds an MBA degree in Marketing and IT and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering. Nikhil has authored several publications and quoted in journals like EMS Now, EPR Magazine, and EE Times.

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About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights, Inc. (ESOMAR certified, recipient of the Stevie Award, and a member of the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce) offers profound insights into the driving factors that are boosting demand in the market. FMI stands as the leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, consulting, and events for the Packaging, Food and Beverage, Consumer, Technology, Healthcare, Industrial, and Chemicals markets. With a vast team of over 5000 analysts worldwide, FMI provides global, regional, and local expertise on diverse domains and industry trends across more than 110 countries.

Contact Us:

Nandini Singh Sawlani

Future Market Insights Inc.

Christiana Corporate, 200 Continental Drive,

Suite 401, Newark, Delaware - 19713, USA

T: +1-845-579-5705

For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com

Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

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SYDNEY and NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EnGeneIC, a pioneer in personalised cancer therapeutics, announces the publication of its clinical trial results in peer reviewed prestigious journal Clinical Cancer Research, published by the American Association for Cancer Research. The study, the Carolyn Trial, named in honour of the first pancreatic cancer patient to try the EDV (EnGeneIC Dream Vector) nanocell treatment under a compassionate use program, now shows remarkable outcomes for end-stage Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) patients receiving targeted EDV nanocells loaded with a super-cytotoxic drug (together an ANDC) as well as an immune-stimulating adjuvant.



The trial results highlight a significant advance in the treatment landscape for PDAC:

Unprecedented Survival Rates. The trial demonstrated a substantial increase in median overall survival for patients, with 88% of participants surpassing at least double the historical survival rates. Notably, the longest-surviving patient had an extended life to an unprecedented 19.7 months and 8 of the 17 evaluable patients achieved more than 6 months survival compared to historical survival of less than 2 months.

Minimal to Negligible Toxicity. In order to overcome drug resistance which is inevitable in PDAC patients who have endured multiple lines of therapy, the EDV  ANDC was packaged with a super-cytotoxic drug as the warhead. Even so, there was minimal to no toxicity, ensuring the patients experienced much better wellbeing throughout the trial than afforded by previous chemotherapy regimes.

Positive Impact on Body Weight. Remarkably, more than 80% of patients receiving the EDV treatment either maintained or experienced weight gain. This stands in stark contrast to the severe body weight loss commonly associated with advanced PDAC, offering hope for improved quality of life alongside treatment efficacy.

Professor Vinod Ganju the Lead investigator for the trial expressed optimism about these findings, stating, The outcomes observed in the Carolyn Trial signify an early 'proof of principle' of a use of a novel adaptable technology. The treatment was proven to be safe, very well tolerated with relatively long periods of disease control and maintenance of quality of life, in this group of treatment refractory patients with PDAC. I am keen to move this therapeutic approach to earlier lines of therapy where it has potential to deliver greater benefits.

The publication of the Carolyn Trial comes directly on the heels of EnGeneICs announcement last week that a single patient with metastatic PDAC treated in Los Angeles for 12 months has experienced a complete response with no sign of tumour.

Joint-CEO and Director of EnGeneIC, Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid said, We are very excited about the results of our Carolyn Trial. We also believe that we can significantly enhance patients outcomes if we keep them on treatment. Our EDV therapeutic is a first-in-class ANDC and immunotherapy in the one therapeutic. The patient in Los Angeles illustrates how long it takes to rebuild an immune system that has been damaged by frequent toxic chemotherapy, and that for late-stage patients, we may have to consider the cancer as a chronic disease and keep treating until we see a response  in this patients case, a complete one.

The publication can be read online at https://aacrjournals.org/clincancerres/article-abstract/doi/10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-23-1821/730179/Phase-I-IIa-trial-in-advanced-pancreatic-ductal?redirectedFrom=fulltext

About EnGeneIC

EnGeneIC is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing its proprietary EDV (EnGeneIC Dream Vector) nanocell technology for oncology and infectious disease applications. The EDVTM nanocell is the foundation of a first-in-class antibody nanocell drug conjugate platform for delivering a range of therapeutic payloads drugs, siRNAs, miRNAs, adjuvants via antibody-targeting a cancer cells surface, with minimal toxicity. For cancer applications, the EDV technology enables delivery of the most potent chemotherapeutic agents, effectively overcoming drug-resistance and killing tumor cells, while simultaneously stimulating the patients immune system, allowing a potent ant-tumour response. EnGeneIC is now entering Phase IIa clinical trials in Australia and USA in patients with intractable, low survival cancers, including patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer.

EnGeneIC contact:

Dr. Jennifer MacDiarmid

Joint-CEO & Director & EDV technology co-inventor

Email: jmacdiarmid@engeneic.com

Cell phone: +61-407-953-170
Wilmington, Delaware, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market size is valued at US$ 13.6 billion in 2023 and is predicted to rise at a substantial CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period of 2023 and 2030 according to RationalStat analysis.





Market Definition, Market Scope, and Report Overview

Rapid industrialization coupled with population growth has doubled the pollution level of water. Unavailability of safe drinking water, and inefficient water and wastewater treatment systems are some of the challenges the world is facing. To overcome these issues key players are increasing their R&D capabilities to come up with advanced technologies, which would provide more results along with cost savings and fulfill the stringent government norms.

They are focusing on the adoption of new technologies such as biological treatment, membrane bioreactors, and activated sludge. They are also focusing on focusing on the implementation of ZLD technology to broaden their revenue streams. Most industries treat their effluent on-site before discharging it into a river or sewer. Governments are implementing stringent rules to prevent water pollution, which is fuelling the growth of the Industrial wastewater treatment market.

According to a deep-dive market assessment by RationalStat, the industrial wastewater treatment market has been analyzed on the basis of market segments, including chemicals, end user, and geography/regions (including North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Middle East & Africa, and Asia Pacific) . The report also offers global and regional market sizing for the historical period of 2019-2022 and the forecast period of 2023-2030.

. The report also offers global and regional market sizing for the historical period of 2019-2022 and the forecast period of 2023-2030. Market intelligence for the industrial wastewater treatment market covers market sizes based on market value (US$/EUR Million) and volume (Units) by various products/services/equipment, demand assessment across the key regions, customer sentiments, price points, cost structures, margin analysis across the value chain, financial assessments, historical and forecast data, key developments across the industry, import-export data, trade overview, components market by leading companies, etc.

In addition, the long-term sector and products/services 10-year outlook and its implications on the industrial wastewater treatment market. It also includes the industry's current state  Production Levels, Capacity Utilization, Tech quotient, etc. Key information will be manufacturing capacity by country, installed base, import volumes, market size, key players, market size, dynamics, market data, insights, etc.

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Global Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market: Segmental and Market Share Analysis

Based on end users, the Food & Beverage sector is anticipated to pose significant demand growth as it requires a large quantity of water and is directly related to public health.

Report Synopsis

Report Metrics Details Base Year 2023 Forecast Period 2023-2030 Base Year Market Size US$ 13.6 billion Market Size Forecast US$ 19.6 billion Growth Rate 5.3% Dominant Segment Food & Beverages Segment Leading Region Asia Pacific Key Market Drivers Stringent government regulations

Rising awareness pertaining to wastewater treatment

Increasing demand for clean water

Technological Advancements Companies Profiled BWA Water Additives

The Dow Chemical Company

Cortec Corporation

Buck man Laboratories International Inc.

AkzoNobel N.V.

Solvay S.A.

Solenis LLC

Kemira Oyj

Ecolab Incorporated

BASF SE

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Competition Analysis and Market Structure

Some of the prominent players adopt various strategies to reinforce their market share and gain a competitive edge over other competitors in the market. Mergers & acquisitions, and partnerships and collaborations are some of the strategies followed by industry players, some of the key developments in the industrial wastewater treatment market include,

In September 2021, Kemira opened its new Asia Pacific R&D center in Puijang Town, China.

In October 2021, Ecolab acquired Purolite, a separation and purification life science solution provider.

Some of the prominent players and suppliers operating and contributing significantly to the industrial wastewater treatment market growth include BWA Water Additives, The Dow Chemical Company, Cortec Corporation, Buckman Laboratories International Inc., AkzoNobel N.V., Solvay S.A., Solenis LLC, Kemira Oyj, Ecolab Incorporated, and BASF SE, among others.

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RationalStat has segmented the industrial wastewater treatment market based on chemicals, end user, and region

Global Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Chemicals Coagulants & Flocculants Corrosion Inhibitors Scale Inhibitors Biocides & Disinfectants Others

Global Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by End User Power & Generation Oil & Gas Food & Beverages Chemical Others

Global Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Region North America Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country US Canada Latin America Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country Brazil Mexico Rest of Latin America Western Europe Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country Germany UK France Spain Italy Benelux Nordic Rest of Western Europe Eastern Europe Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country Russia Poland Hungary Other CIS Countries Rest of Eastern Europe Asia Pacific Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country China Japan India South Korea Australia ASEAN Indonesia Thailand Philippines Vietnam Malaysia Rest of ASEAN Rest of Asia Pacific Middle East & Africa Industrial Wastewater Treatment Market Value (US$ Million), Volume (Units), and Market Share (2019-2030) Analysis by Country GCC Saudi Arabia (KSA) United Arab Emirates (UAE) Rest of the GCC South Africa Nigeria Turkey Rest of the Middle East & Africa



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Key Questions Answered in the Industrial Wastewater Treatment Report:

What will be the market value of the industrial wastewater treatment market by 2030?

What is the market size of the industrial wastewater treatment market?

What are the market drivers of the industrial wastewater treatment market?

What are the key trends in the industrial wastewater treatment market?

Which is the leading region in the industrial wastewater treatment market?

What are the major companies operating in the industrial wastewater treatment market?

What are the market shares by key segments in the industrial wastewater treatment market?

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Research Methodology

RationalStat has developed a state-of-the-art research methodology to crunch numbers and provide the best possible real-time insights to clients. We combine a varied range of industry experience, data analytics, and experts viewpoints to create a research methodology for market sizing and forecasting.

RationalStat combines a mix of secondary sources as well as primary research to assess the market size and develop a forecast. Key steps involved in accurately deriving the market numbers are:

Defining the problem by understanding the type of market and data required by the client.

Data gathering and collection through relevant paid databases, publicly available sources, company reports, annual reports, surveys, and interviews.

Formulating a hypothesis to create market numbers, forecasts, influencing factors, and their relevance.

Evaluating and analyzing the data by referring to data sources utilized and leveraged.

Validating, interpreting, and finalizing the data by combining the details gathered from primary and secondary sources with the help of experienced analysts.

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RationalStat has strategic partnerships with leading data analytics and consumer research companies to cater to the clients needs. Additional services offered by the company include consumer research, country reports, risk reports, valuations and advisory, financial research, due diligence, procurement and supply chain research, data analytics, and analytical dashboards.

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Dublin, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Women's Health Diagnostics Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By End-use, By Application(Cancer, Infectious Disease, Osteoporosis, Pregnancy & Fertility, Prenatal), By Region And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global women's health diagnostics market size is expected to reach USD 31.4 billion by 2030 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.3% from 2023 to 2030

Rising adoption of point-of-care diagnostics and growing incidence of various chronic and lifestyle diseases are among the key factors stimulating the growth of the market. Besides this, introducing various awareness programs is also anticipated to work in favor the market during the forecast period.





On the basis of end use, the market has been bifurcated into hospital & diagnostics centers and home. Hospitals and diagnostic centers accounted for a larger share in the market due to high number of visits to hospitals and more reliable detection.



The market in Asia Pacific is likely to witness significant growth over the coming years. The growth of the market can be attributed to increasing investments in healthcare, growing focus of international device manufacturers on strengthening their distribution networks within the region, and epidemiological shift from infectious diseases to chronic diseases within regional boundaries.



Women's Health Diagnostics Market Report Highlights

Increasing investments by governments and private bodies and rising disposable income are providing a push to the market

Cancer accounted for the highest share in the market in 2017. The segment will register noteworthy growth during the forecast period owing to availability of early detection tests and government initiatives to tackle cancer

Prenatal testing is estimated to be the fastest growing segment during the same period owing to rising prevalence of prenatal diseases, increasing maternal age, surging healthcare expenditure, and development of advanced diagnostic tests

Geographically, North America dominated the market and accounted for the largest revenue share of 44.87% in 2022. It is anticipated to maintain its dominance through 2025, thanks to widening base of diagnostic and imaging centers, mounting cases of cancer, growing awareness about fertility testing, and spiraling adoption of point-of-care testing devices

Company Profiles

F. Hoffmann-la Roche Ltd.

Siemens Aktiengeselischaft

Quest Diagnostics incorporated

Ge Healthcare

Koninklijke Philips N.V.

Abbott Laboratories

Becton, Dickinson and Company

Hologic, Inc.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 100 Forecast Period 2022 - 2030 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $17.8 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2030 $31.4 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.3% Regions Covered Global

Key Topics Covered:



Chapter 1. Methodology and Scope



Chapter 2. Executive Summary

2.1. Market Outlook

2.2. Segment Outlook

2.2.1. Application outlook

2.2.2. End-use

2.2.3. Regional outlook

2.3. Competitive Insights



Chapter 3. Women's Health Diagnostic Market Variables, Trends & Scope

3.1. Market Lineage Outlook

3.1.1. Parent market outlook

3.1.2. Related/ancillary market outlook

3.2. Penetration & Growth Prospect Mapping

3.3. Market Dynamics

3.3.1. Market driver analysis

3.3.2. Market restraint analysis

3.4. Women's Health Diagnostic Market Analysis Tools

3.4.1. Industry Analysis - Porter's

3.4.2. PESTEL Analysis

3.4.3. Major Deals & Strategic Alliances Analysis

3.4.4. Market Entry Strategies



Chapter 4. Women's Health Diagnostic: Application Estimates & Trend Analysis

4.1. Women's Health Diagnostic Market: Key Takeaways

4.2. Women's Health Diagnostic Market: Movement & Market Share Analysis, 2022 & 2030

4.3. Cancer

4.3.1. Cancer market estimates and forecasts, 2018 to 2030 (USD Million)

4.4. Infectious diseases

4.5. Osteoporosis

4.6. Pregnancy & fertility

4.7. Prenatal



Chapter 5. Women's Health Diagnostic: End-use Estimates & Trend Analysis

5.1. Women's Health Diagnostic Market: Key Takeaways

5.2. Women's Health Diagnostic Market: Movement & Market Share Analysis, 2022 & 2030

5.3. Hospitals

5.4. Laboratory

5.5. Homecare



Chapter 6. Women's Health Diagnostic Market: Regional Estimates & Trend Analysis

6.1. Regional Outlook

6.2. Women's Health Diagnostic Market by Region: Key Marketplace Takeaway



Chapter 7. Competitive Landscape

7.1. Recent Developments & Impact Analysis, By Key Market Participants

7.2. Market Participant Categorization



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ResearchAndMarkets.com is the world's leading source for international market research reports and market data. We provide you with the latest data on international and regional markets, key industries, the top companies, new products and the latest trends.

Attachment
Hole 23FP006 includes 65 metres at 1.9 g/t gold and including 10 metres at 3.0 g/t gold



Hole 23FP006, a scissor hole that cuts across discovery hole 23FP002, confirms the lateral continuity of gold mineralization for about 180 metres in a northeast direction and starting at a drill hole depth of 31 metres.

The vertical extent of gold mineralization at the Fazenda do Posto discovery has been traced for 330 metres.

Vertical Hole 23FP003 drilled 58 metres grading 1.0 g/t gold starting at a drillhole depth of 80 metres within a larger gold mineralized interval of 214 metres.





TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lavras Gold Corp. (TSX-V: LGC, OTCQX: LGCFF) reports that follow up drilling at the Fazenda do Posto discovery on the Companys LDS Project in southern Brazil has validated the discovery reported in August 2023 (Lavras Gold press release August 29, 2023). The discovery has been confirmed in terms of gold grades, widths and continuity and remains open in several directions to resource expansion.

The highlight in this press release is scissor hole 23FP006 which returned assay results with continuous mineralization of 230 metres grading 0.9 g/t gold starting at 31 metres and including:

204 metres grading 1.0 g/t gold from 31 metres including: 65 metres grading 1.9 g/t gold from 149 metres; and including 10 metres grading 3.0 g/t gold from 154 metres.





including:

The Fazenda do Posto discovery is located roughly 150 metres west of the Lavras Gold Butia Gold Deposit, which has an NI 43-101 gold resource (* footnote below) of approximately 500,000 ounces and is open to expansion.

Drill hole 23FP006, reported in this press release, tested the northeastern extension of Fazenda do Posto and was drilled southwest on a 200-degree azimuth and a dip of 060 degrees. The hole was collared approximately 210 metres northeast of 23FP002  the discovery hole announced on August 29, 2023. Continuous gold mineralization was encountered in 23FP006 starting at a drill hole depth of 31 metres (vertical depth of about 27 metres) for 230 metres. Table 1 tabulates the metre-by-metre assay results.

We are very pleased to validate the Fazenda do Posto gold discovery with this scissor hole, which cross cuts the earlier hole that returned 340 m at 1.1 g/t gold, commented Lavras Gold President & CEO Michael Durose. While it is still early in the drilling program, we are delighted to have intercepted another very long and continuous zone of gold mineralization starting at a shallow depth and running for over 200 metres. This is a unique bulk tonnage near-surface gold system characterized by remarkably continuous gold mineralization within an episyenite host rock. A higher-grade core of gold mineralization is beginning to develop based on the limited drilling we have completed so far. Drilling is ongoing and we look forward to additional drill results as we begin to unravel this new gold discovery.

This discovery at Fazenda do Posto is ideally located adjacent to the 500,000 ounce Butia gold deposit that outcrops at surface, pointing to the development of a critical mass of gold mineralization in this area. These new results continue to move Lavras Gold closer to its objective of developing an economically feasible bulk tonnage open pit gold mine.

Despite record rainfalls in the region that have hampered access to drilling sites and caused delays in the drilling program, the Lavras team is fast-tracking the process of defining the geometry and grade distribution of this important new discovery. Two drill rigs are working in this target area and have completed over 3,000 metres of drilling in 14 holes since making the discovery at Fazenda do Posto. Assay results will be released in meaningful batches following interpretation.





[* Footnote: Butia hosts an NI 43-101 compliant near-surface gold resource of about 500,000 ounces, as detailed in the NI 43-101 Technical Report Mineral Resource for Butia Gold Prospect dated and effective January 25, 2022. The report was prepared by VMG Consultoria e Solucoes Ltda. for Lavras Gold Corp. and is available on the Companys website and www.sedar.com under Lavras Golds issuer profile.]

Discussion of drilling results

The Fazenda do Posto discovery is located along the western edge of the Lavras do Sul intrusive complex approximately 4.7 kilometres southwest of the town of Lavras do Sul (Figure 1). The discovery is in an area of recessive topography about 150 metres west of the Butia Gold Deposit.

Follow-up Drilling Confirms Discovery at Fazenda do Posto

Assay results have been received for four drill holes that drilled a total of 1,520 metres at the Fazenda do Posto discovery. A summary of these results is shown in Table 2. This also includes results from hole 23FP002  the discovery hole that was released on August 29, 2023.

A plan (aerial) view showing the location of all drill holes is shown in Figure 2. A cross-section facing west is shown in Figure 3.

Key highlights are as follows:

Three drill holes  FP002, FP003 and FP006 have returned significant gold assay results displaying continuous gold mineralization over very long intervals. The gold mineralization typically occurs within a brick-red coloured episyenite. The gold is usually associated with fine grained disseminated pyrite and/or arsenian pyrite and usually occurs with iron-rich dark green to black chlorite. Grey-white carbonate vesicles are typically associated with the gold mineralized zone. Photos showing examples of mineralized episyenite are shown in Figure 4, Figure 5 and Figure 6.

Gold mineralization has been traced over a northeast-southwest extent of about 180 metres, and a vertical distance of 330 metres. Gold mineralization starts at a vertical depth of about 26 metres in the northeast area, as defined by drill hole 23FP006, and approximately 100 metres depth as defined by drill hole 23FP002.

A higher-grade core of mineralization appears to be developing in the centre of the deposit, flanked by lower to moderate gold grades along the margins.





Highlights of drilling are detailed below and summarized in Table 2.

Drillhole 23FP001 was collared along the southeast edge of Fazenda do Posto with a drill hole azimuth of north 020 degrees and dip of 60 degrees. The hole returned narrow modest gold values and is interpreted to be on the eastern edge of the mineralized block of Fazenda do Posto close to a northeast trending fault. This hole was drilled primarily in perthitic granite, with a minor interval of mineralized episyenite. The hole appears to have stopped short of the main episyenite target interpreted to occur to the northeast of the end of the hole.

Drill hole 23FP002 (previously released discovery hole) was collared in the southwestern portion of the target area with an azimuth of north 020 and an inclined angle of 60 degrees. The highlights of drill hole 23FP002 are 340 metres grading 1.1 g/t gold from 117 metres including:

160 metres grading 1.8 g/t gold from 199 metres including 27 metres grading 2.1 g/t gold from 208 metres 68 metres grading 2.1 g/t gold from 293 metres





including

This hole confirms gold mineralization to a vertical depth of about 390 metres.

Further details of this hole can be found in the Lavras Gold press release dated August 29, 2023.

Drillhole 23FP003 was collared 95 metres northeast of 23FP002 and drilled vertically. The hole encountered albitized Fazenda do Posto granodiorite and then intersected a lamprophyre dike at 3 metres. This was followed by altered granodiorite and then a small interval of mineralized episyenite at 24 metres. This was followed by another interval of altered granodiorite until about 87.0 metres. Strongly mineralized episyenite was encountered at a drillhole depth of 87.0 metres (75 metres vertical depth) continuously with intervals of mineralized perthitic granite to a depth of 294 metres (see Figure 4). Highlights of gold mineralization include:

214 metres grading 0.50 g/t gold from 87 metres including 140 metres grading 0.7 g/t gold from 87 metres including 58 metres grading 1.0 g/t gold from 87 metres including 39 metres grading 1.2 g/t gold from 106 metres

including

Significantly, when intervals of less than 0.25 g/t gold within the mineralized envelope are removed, the remaining mineralized interval of hole 23FP003 returns 0.9 g/t gold over 105 meters.





23FP004 was collared 130 metres northwest of 23FP002. The hole missed the target as the azimuth of the hole was oriented 200 degrees and pointed away from the target. However, hydrothermal alteration in the form of albite and chlorite was observed throughout the hole suggesting the rocks have good potential for finding mineralization at depth.

23FP006 was collared 210 metres northeast of 23FP002. This hole is a scissor hole that was drilled southwest on a 200-degree azimuth and a dip of 60 degrees. The purpose of the hole was to determine the depth and continuity of gold mineralization along the northeastern portion of the target above the trace of hole 23FP002. As highlighted in the cross section in Figure 3, the zone of gold mineralization starts at 31 metres down the drillhole (about 27 metres vertically below surface). Significant hydrothermal alteration in the form of albite alteration occurs within cover rock above the zone of gold mineralization.

The hole returned assay results with continuous mineralization of 230 metres grading 0.9 g/t gold starting at 31 metres and including:

204 metres grading 1.0 g/t gold from 31 metres including: 65 metres grading 1.9 g/t gold from 149 metres; and including 10 metres grading 3.0 g/t gold from 154 metres.





including:

Significantly, when intervals of less than 0.25 g/t gold within the mineralized envelope are removed, the remaining mineralized interval of hole 23FP006 returns 1.2 g/t gold over 162.9 meters.

Table 1 tabulates the assay results for the mineralized interval of drill hole 23FP006. Sampling was completed on 1 metre intervals for the entire length of the drill hole. Three 50 gram aliquots were assayed for each 1 metre sample, and the average grade of the three aliquots was used to derive the final gold grade.

Next steps at Fazenda do Posto and Butia

Indications are that a significant gold mineral system is developing at the Fazenda do Posto gold discovery and the adjacent Butia Gold Deposit.

Two drill rigs are on site testing these areas.

One near-term objective is to define the geometry and gold grade distribution of the Fazenda do Posto discovery and look for more blind discoveries. A second near-term objective is to test for extensions to the mineralized footprint of the Butia Gold Deposit.

The medium-term goal is to de-risk the Fazenda do Posto discovery and Butia Gold Deposit such that a preliminary economic study defining the general scope of a gold mining project can be prepared.

Regional exploration is on-going, with the goal of defining new exploration targets on the very prospective 22,000-hectare LDS Project.

OVERALL LDS EXPLORATION PROGRAM MARKED BY EXCEPTIONAL SUCCESS

In addition to these positive developments, Lavras Gold has had exceptional exploration success since going public in April 2022. A regional drone magnetic survey has been completed, and regional soil geochemistry programs are on-going. The Caneleira Gold Discovery has been reinterpreted, and new gold mineral systems have been found at Zeca Souza, Galvao, Matilde, Matilde Extension, and Vila Marieta. Although Butia and Fazendo do Posto are developing into the centre of gravity at LDS, the exploration upside on the property is very significant and on-going strategies are in place to continue exploring for and testing new targets.

Qualified person

Michael Durose, Lavras Golds President and CEO, is a qualified person as defined by NI 43-101. He has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information contained in this release.

Quality assurance and quality control

For the Fazenda do Posto discovery, sample handling, preparation, and analysis are monitored through the implementation of formal chain-of-custody procedures and quality assurance/quality control programs designed to follow industry best practices.

All drill hole samples in this drilling program consist of split NQ diamond drill core.

Drill core is logged and sampled in a secure facility located in Lavras do Sul, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. Drill core samples for gold assay are cut in half using a diamond saw and submitted to ALS Laboratories Inc. in Goiania, Goias State, Brazil for preparation by crushing to 85% passing 1.0 mm, riffle splitting to obtain 500 g aliquots, and pulverizing to 85% passing 75 microns.

Pulps are shipped to ALS Laboratories Inc. in Lima, Peru and analyzed by a 50g fire assay and AAS finish. Three 50g aliquots are taken for samples in the mineralized zone and one aliquot is taken in fresh rocks. The average grade of the three aliquots is used to determine the final grade of the mineralized sample.

Certified standards, non-certified blanks and field duplicates are inserted into the sample stream at regular intervals, so that QA/QC accounted for about 10% of the total samples. Results are routinely evaluated for accuracy, precision, and contamination.

Lavras Gold has been targeting larger intersections of greater than 0.25 g/t gold. Intersections that are lower than this threshold may provide exploration insight and may therefore be disclosed.

About Lavras Gold

Lavras Gold Corp. (TSXV: LGC, OTCQX: LGCFF) is a Canadian exploration company focused on realizing the potential of a multi-million-ounce gold district in southern Brazil. Its Lavras do Sul Project is located in Rio Grande do Sul State and is primarily an intrusive hosted gold system of possible alkaline affinity. More than 24 gold prospects centred on historic gold workings have been identified on the property, which spans more than 22,000 hectares. Follow Lavras Gold on www.lavrasgold.com, as well as on LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube.

Contact information

Michael Durose, President & CEO, or Naomi Nemeth, Vice President, Investor Relations

+1-289-624-1377 | investor@lavrasgold.com

DISCLAIMER AND FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this news release.

This news release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as plan, expect, project, intend, believe, anticipate, estimate, may, will, would, potential, proposed and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions may or will occur. These statements, including those on planned exploration activities and goals, are only objectives and predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information, including the risks and factors that generally affect exploration and the uncertainty of exploration results. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business, refer to the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis recently filed under the Companys profile on www.sedar.com. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or managements estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

FIGURE 1

Location of the Fazenda do Posto discovery relative to Butia Gold Deposit, as well as the advanced gold discoveries at the LDS Project.





FIGURE 2

Fazenda do Posto Drill holes -Plan View Showing location of Drill Holes 23FP001, 23FP002, 23FP003, 23FP004 and 23FP006.





FIGURE 3

Cross section of Fazenda do Posto Drilling looking west. Hole 23FP002 returned 340 metres grading 1.1 grams per tonne gold from 117 metres. Hole 23FP006 was collared 210 metres northeast of hole 23FP002 and returned 230 metres grading 0.9 grams per tonne gold from 31 metres and including 65 metres grading 1.9 grams per tonne gold. 23FP003 returned 108 metres grading 0.8 grams per tonne gold from 87 metres. Salmon colour represents the Fazenda do Posto granodiorite, yellow is episyenite, pink is perthitic granite. Note scale at bottom of hole. 1 ppm gold = 1 gram per tonne





FIGURE 4

Typical example of albitized and potassic altered mineralized episyenite from drill hole 23FP003. The rock consists of 95-96% brick red to whitish red potassium feldspar and albite, 1% black to dark green Fe-rich chlorite, 1-2% pyrite+- arsenian pyrite and 1% white to gray carbonate. This sample is from drill hole 23FP003 from 123 to 124 metres and grades 2.873 g/t gold.





FIGURE 5

Typical example of gold mineralization in episyenite from drill hole 23FP006. The rock consists of 95% brick red potassium feldspar and albite, 2-3% black to dark green iron-rich chlorite, 1-2% grey and white carbonate vesicles, and 1-3% disseminated pyrite and arsenian pyrite. This example is from drill hole 23FP006 from 120 to 121 metres. This interval grades 1.405 g/t gold. The brick red colouration in the feldspar is from iron and barium. Note that the feldspar grain boundaries are sub-rounded to sub-angular reflecting pervasive metasomatic alteration likely from alkaline fluids.





FIGURE 6

High-grade example of gold mineralization in episyenite from drill hole 23FP006. The rock consists of 95% brick red potassium feldspar and whitish pink albite, 1-2% black to dark green iron-rich chlorite, 1-2% grey and white carbonate vesicles, and 3-4% disseminated to network textured pyrite and arsenian pyrite. This example is from drill hole 23FP006 from 160 to 161 metres. This interval grades 8.053 g/t gold.





TABLE 1

Summary table of metre-by-metre drilling assay results from drill hole 23FP006 on Fazenda do Posto target.

Hole Azimuth

(degrees) Dip

(degrees) End of hole

(metres) From

(metres) To

(metres) Gold interval

(metres) Gold grade

(g/t) Lithology 23FP006 200 -60 299.83 31.1 32.0 0.9 0.31 Episyenite 33.0 35.0 2.0 0.14 Episyenite 35.0 37.0 2.0 0.11 Episyenite 37.0 39.0 2.0 0.35 Episyenite 39.0 41.0 2.0 0.02 Episyenite 41.0 43.0 2.0 0.01 Episyenite 43.0 45.0 2.0 0.01 Episyenite 45.0 47.0 2.0 0.02 Episyenite 47.0 48.0 1.0 0.32 Episyenite 48.0 49.0 1.0 0.55 Episyenite 49.0 50.4 1.4 0.01 Episyenite 50.4 51.7 1.3 0.01 Episyenite 51.7 53.0 1.3 0.01 Episyenite 53.0 54.0 1.0 0.01 Episyenite 54.0 55.0 1.0 0.34 Episyenite 55.0 56.0 1.0 0.74 Episyenite 56.0 57.0 1.0 0.41 Episyenite 57.0 58.0 1.0 0.50 Episyenite 58.0 59.0 1.0 0.62 Episyenite 59.0 60.0 1.0 0.65 Episyenite 60.0 61.0 1.0 0.50 Episyenite 61.0 62.0 1.0 0.35 Episyenite 62.0 63.0 1.0 0.30 Episyenite 63.0 64.0 1.0 0.43 Episyenite 64.0 65.0 1.0 0.24 Episyenite 65.0 66.0 1.0 0.57 Episyenite 66.0 67.0 1.0 0.42 Episyenite 67.0 68.0 1.0 0.16 Episyenite 68.0 69.0 1.0 0.47 Episyenite 69.0 70.0 1.0 0.41 Episyenite 70.0 71.0 1.0 0.26 Episyenite 71.0 72.0 1.0 0.40 Episyenite 72.0 73.0 1.0 0.45 Episyenite 73.0 74.0 1.0 0.27 Episyenite 74.0 75.0 1.0 0.52 Episyenite 75.0 76.0 1.0 0.44 Episyenite 76.0 77.0 1.0 0.92 Episyenite 77.0 78.0 1.0 0.70 Perthitic granite 78.0 79.0 1.0 0.42 Episyenite 79.0 80.0 1.0 0.34 Episyenite 80.0 81.0 1.0 0.50 Episyenite 81.0 82.0 1.0 0.68 Episyenite 82.0 83.0 1.0 1.04 Episyenite 83.0 84.0 1.0 0.59 Episyenite 84.0 85.0 1.0 0.87 Episyenite 85.0 86.0 1.0 0.92 Episyenite 86.0 87.0 1.0 1.62 Episyenite 87.0 88.0 1.0 1.21 Episyenite 88.0 89.0 1.0 0.71 Episyenite 89.0 90.0 1.0 0.45 Episyenite 90.0 91.0 1.0 0.89 Episyenite 91.0 92.0 1.0 0.59 Episyenite 92.0 93.0 1.0 1.37 Episyenite 93.0 94.0 1.0 1.81 Episyenite 94.0 95.0 1.0 1.33 Episyenite 95.0 96.0 1.0 0.50 Episyenite 96.0 97.0 1.0 1.72 Episyenite 97.0 98.0 1.0 0.95 Episyenie 98.0 99.0 1.0 1.12 Episyenite 99.0 100.0 1.0 1.09 Episyenite 100.0 101.0 1.0 0.94 Episyenite 101.0 102.0 1.0 0.67 Episyenite 102.0 103.0 1.0 0.92 Episyenite 103.0 104.0 1.0 0.73 Episyenite 104.0 105.0 1.0 0.83 Episyenite 105.0 106.0 1.0 1.13 Episyenite 106.0 107.0 1.0 0.82 Episyenite 107.0 108.0 1.0 0.54 Episyenite 108.0 109.0 1.0 0.49 Episyenite 109.0 110.0 1.0 1.06 Episyenite 110.0 111.0 1.0 0.73 Episyenite 111.0 112.0 1.0 1.01 Episyenite 112.0 113.0 1.0 0.91 Episyenite 113.0 114.0 1.0 0.36 Episyenite 114.0 115.0 1.0 0.29 Episyenite 115.0 116.0 1.0 0.11 Episyenite 116.0 117.0 1.0 0.17 Episyenite 117.0 118.0 1.0 0.42 Episyenite 118.0 119.0 1.0 0.70 Episyenite 119.0 120.0 1.0 0.53 Episyenite 120.0 121.0 1.0 1.41 Episyenite 121.0 122.0 1.0 0.66 Episyenite 122.0 123.0 1.0 0.50 Episyenite 123.0 124.0 1.0 0.59 Episyenite 124.0 125.0 1.0 1.38 Episyenite 125.0 126.0 1.0 0.02 Episyenite 126.0 127.0 1.0 0.89 Episyenite 127.0 128.0 1.0 0.64 Episyenite 128.0 129.0 1.0 0.71 Episyenite 129.0 130.0 1.0 0.44 Episyenite 130.0 131.0 1.0 0.53 Episyenite 131.0 132.0 1.0 0.41 Episyenite 132.0 133.0 1.0 0.16 Perthitic Granite 133.0 134.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 134.0 135.0 1.0 0.14 Perthitic Granite 135.0 136.0 1.0 0.90 Episyenite 136.0 137.0 1.0 1.09 Episyenite 137.0 138.0 1.0 1.03 Episyenite 138.0 139.0 1.0 0.29 Episyenite 139.0 140.0 1.0 0.51 Episyenite 140.0 141.0 1.0 0.57 Episyenite 141.0 142.0 1.0 0.52 Episyenite 142.0 143.0 1.0 0.81 Episyenite 143.0 144.0 1.0 0.47 Episyenite 144.0 145.0 1.0 2.43 Episyenite 145.0 146.0 1.0 0.16 Episyenite 146.0 147.0 1.0 0.12 Episyenite 147.0 148.0 1.0 0.10 Episyenite 148.0 149.0 1.0 0.12 Episyenite 149.0 150.0 1.0 2.04 Episyenite 150.0 151.0 1.0 2.91 Episyenite 151.0 152.0 1.0 2.22 Episyenite 152.0 153.0 1.0 2.11 Episyenite 153.0 154.0 1.0 0.83 Episyenite 154.0 155.0 1.0 2.92 Episyenite 155.0 156.0 1.0 2.04 Episyenite 156.0 157.0 1.0 3.19 Episyenite 157.0 158.0 1.0 3.94 Episyenite 158.0 159.0 1.0 2.02 Episyenite 159.0 160.0 1.0 0.67 Episyenite 160.0 161.0 1.0 8.05 Episyenite 161.0 162.0 1.0 1.90 Episyenite 162.0 163.0 1.0 1.75 Episyenite 163.0 164.0 1.0 3.13 Episyenite 164.0 165.0 1.0 0.98 Episyenite 165.0 166.0 1.0 1.28 Episyenite 166.0 167.0 1.0 2.47 Episyenite 167.0 168.0 1.0 2.66 Episyenite 168.0 169.0 1.0 1.47 Episyenite 169.0 170.0 1.0 2.13 Episyenite 170.0 171.0 1.0 1.85 Episyenite 171.0 172.0 1.0 1.33 Episyenite 172.0 173.0 1.0 0.82 Episyenite 173.0 174.0 1.0 1.13 Episyenite 174.0 175.0 1.0 1.99 Episyenite 175.0 176.0 1.0 0.79 Episyenite 176.0 177.0 1.0 1.69 Episyenite 177.0 178.0 1.0 1.97 Episyenite 178.0 179.0 1.0 1.47 Episyenite 179.0 180.0 1.0 1.29 Episyenite 180.0 181.0 1.0 2.30 Episyenite 181.0 182.0 1.0 1.04 Episyenite 182.0 183.0 1.0 0.68 Episyenite 183.0 184.0 1.0 2.08 Episyenite 184.0 185.0 1.0 2.94 Episyenite 185.0 186.0 1.0 0.73 Episyenite 186.0 187.0 1.0 2.47 Episyenite 187.0 188.0 1.0 0.96 Episyenite 188.0 189.0 1.0 0.64 Episyenite 189.0 190.0 1.0 1.44 Episyenite 190.0 191.0 1.0 3.01 Episyenite 191.0 192.0 1.0 2.26 Episyenite 192.0 193.0 1.0 1.56 Episyenite 193.0 194.0 1.0 1.33 Episyenite 194.0 195.0 1.0 2.10 Episyenite 195.0 196.0 1.0 1.39 Episyenite 196.0 197.0 1.0 2.17 Episyenite 197.0 198.0 1.0 1.74 Episyenite 198.0 199.0 1.0 1.72 Episyenite 199.0 200.0 1.0 1.65 Episyenite 200.0 201.0 1.0 1.77 Episyenite 201.0 202.0 1.0 2.51 Episyenite 202.0 203.0 1.0 1.86 Episyenite 203.0 204.0 1.0 1.54 Episyenite 204.0 205.0 1.0 4.07 Episyenite 205.0 206.0 1.0 1.22 Episyenite 206.0 207.0 1.0 1.25 Episyenite 207.0 208.0 1.0 1.20 Episyenite 208.0 209.0 1.0 1.44 Episyenite 209.0 210.0 1.0 1.34 Episyenite 210.0 211.0 1.0 0.23 Perthitic Granite 211.0 212.0 1.0 0.72 Perthitic Granite 212.0 213.0 1.0 2.18 Perthitic Granite 213.0 214.0 1.0 2.59 Perthitic Granite 214.0 215.0 1.0 0.32 Perthitic Granite 215.0 216.0 1.0 0.14 Perthitic Granite 216.0 217.0 1.0 0.14 Perthitic Granite 217.0 218.0 1.0 0.69 Perthitic Granite 218.0 219.0 1.0 0.04 Perthitic Granite 219.0 220.0 1.0 0.08 Perthitic Granite 220.0 221.0 1.0 0.36 Perthitic Granite 221.0 222.0 1.0 0.18 Perthitic Granite 222.0 223.0 1.0 0.10 Perthitic Granite 223.0 224.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 224.0 225.0 1.0 0.09 Perthitic Granite 225.0 226.0 1.0 0.16 Perthitic Granite 226.0 227.0 1.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 227.0 228.0 1.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 228.0 229.0 1.0 0.13 Perthitic Granite 229.0 230.0 1.0 0.12 Perthitic Granite 230.0 231.0 1.0 0.11 Perthitic Granite 231.0 232.0 1.0 1.31 Perthitic Granite 232.0 233.0 1.0 0.05 Perthitic Granite 233.0 234.0 1.0 0.20 Perthitic Granite 234.0 235.0 1.0 0.33 Perthitic Granite 235.0 236.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 236.0 237.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 237.0 239.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 239.0 241.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 241.0 243.0 2.0 0.04 Perthitic Granite 243.0 245.0 2.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 245.0 247.0 2.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 247.0 249.0 2.0 0.06 Perthitic Granite 249.0 250.0 1.0 0.03 Perthitic Granite 250.0 251.0 1.0 0.08 Perthitic Granite 251.0 252.0 1.0 0.20 Perthitic Granite 252.0 253.0 1.0 0.03 Perthitic Granite 253.0 254.0 1.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 254.0 255.0 1.0 0.07 Perthitic Granite 255.0 256.0 1.0 0.10 Perthitic Granite 256.0 257.0 1.0 1.84 Perthitic Granite 257.0 258.0 1.0 0.26 Perthitic Granite 258.0 259.0 1.0 0.25 Perthitic Granite 259.0 260.0 1.0 0.61 Perthitic Granite 260.0 261.0 1.0 0.16 Perthitic Granite 261.0 262.0 1.0 0.08 Perthitic Granite 262.0 263.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 263.0 264.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 264.0 265.0 1.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 265.0 267.0 2.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 267.0 269.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 269.0 271.0 2.0 0.02 Perthitic Granite 271.0 273.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 273.0 275.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 275.0 277.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 277.0 279.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 279.0 281.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 281.0 283.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 283.0 285.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 285.0 287.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 287.0 289.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 289.0 291.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 291.0 293.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 293.0 295.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 295.0 297.0 2.0 0.01 Perthitic Granite 297.0 299.8 2.8 0.01 Perthitic Granite

Notes

Assumes 0.25 g/t gold cut-off grade, no top cut.

The Company has been targeting larger intersections of greater than 0.25 g/t gold. Intersections that are lower than this threshold may provide exploration insight and may therefore be disclosed.

Intervals represent drill core interval; true widths have not been determined at this time.





TABLE 2

Summary of Drill hole Assay Results for Fazenda do Posto target.

Hole Azimuth



(degrees) Dip



(dip) End of hole



(metres) From



(metres) To



(metres) Interval



(metres) Gold grade



(grams/tonne) Comment 23FP001 20 -60 214.05 77.00 153.00 76.00 0.17 Drilled peripheral to main target 85.00 86.00 1.00 0.32 Along southeast edge of FP 90.00 93.00 3.00 0.33 96.00 97.00 1.00 0.57 102.00 104.00 2.00 0.34 109.00 110.00 1.00 0.42 113.00 118.00 5.00 0.23 135.00 137.00 2.00 0.47 143.00 144.00 1.00 0.26 23FP002 20 -60 464.59 58.00 59.00 1.00 0.18 Discovery hole 117.00 457.00 340.00 1.09 Mineralized episyenite Including 199.00 359.00 160.00 1.79 Including 208.00 235.00 27.00 2.07 Including 293.00 361.00 68.00 2.09 23FP003 0 -90 332.17 24.00 27.00 3.00 0.71 87.00 294.00 207.00 0.49 including 87.00 227.00 140.00 0.67 Including 87.00 195.00 108.00 0.80 Including 87.00 151.00 64.00 0.91 Mineralized episyenite Including 87.00 145.00 58.00 0.97 Including 106.00 145.00 39.00 1.17 Hole Azimuth



(degrees) Dip



(degrees) End of hole



(metres) From



(metres) To



(metres) Interval



(metres) Gold grade



(grams/tonne) Comment 23FP004 200 -60 No Significant Value Drilled southwest away from target 23FP006 200 -60 31.06 261.00 229.94 0.86 Drilled southwest into target including 31.06 235.00 203.94 0.95 Mineralized episyenite including 31.06 222.00 190.94 1.00 including 149.00 214.00 65.00 1.94 including 149.00 187.00 38.00 2.03 including 154.00 164.00 10.00 2.96 including 190.00 205.00 15.00 2.05





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https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/05e1bfa3-efb8-432c-be20-505ddb2fc047
NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) (Genco or the Company), the largest U.S. headquartered drybulk shipowner focused on the global transportation of commodities, has acquired an additional 2016-built 181,000 dwt scrubber-fitted Capesize vessel, the Genco Reliance, for a purchase price of $43.0 million. The Company took delivery of the Genco Reliance, as well as the previously announced Capesize acquisition, the Genco Ranger, during the last week of November 2023.



Genco also announced today that it has agreed to sell the Genco Commodus, a 2009-built 169,098 dwt Capesize vessel, for $19.5 million. This anticipated sale will result in drydocking savings in 2024 due to the vessels upcoming third special survey. The vessel is expected to deliver to buyers in January 2024.

Genco intends to fund the above acquisitions through a combination of cash on hand, a drawdown on its revolving credit facility and proceeds from the sale of the Genco Commodus. Assuming this drawdown on our revolver and the closing of our previously announced $500 million credit facility, we expect to have debt outstanding of approximately $210 million and undrawn revolver availability of approximately $290 million.

John C. Wobensmith, Chief Executive Officer, commented, We are pleased to have taken important steps to advance our fleet renewal strategy. Leveraging our significant financial strength, we opportunistically acquired two modern, fuel-efficient Capesize vessels, while divesting older, non-core tonnage. We expect these two new Capes will seamlessly integrate into our global commercial platform, as sister ships to existing Genco vessels. Importantly, weve enhanced the average age of our asset base and improved our earnings capacity to take advantage of favorable long-term industry fundamentals.

Mr. Wobensmith concluded, Given that the acquired Capesizes are high-specification vessels, we viewed these fleet additions as highly attractive, positioning Genco well for the longer term while also improving the efficiency of our fleet to further reduce our carbon footprint. Going forward, we intend to continue to assess additional sale and purchase transactions in the market and at the same time remain focused on delivering sizable dividends to shareholders, deleveraging, and further growth.

About Genco Shipping & Trading Limited

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited is a U.S. based drybulk ship owning company focused on the seaborne transportation of commodities globally. We provide a full-service logistics solution to our customers utilizing our in-house commercial operating platform, as we transport key cargoes such as iron ore, grain, steel products, bauxite, cement, nickel ore among other commodities along worldwide shipping routes. Our wholly owned high quality, modern fleet of dry cargo vessels consists of the larger Capesize (major bulk) and the medium-sized Ultramax and Supramax vessels (minor bulk) enabling us to carry a wide range of cargoes. We make capital expenditures from time to time in connection with vessel acquisitions. As of November 27, 2023, Genco Shipping & Trading Limiteds fleet consists of 19 Capesize, 15 Ultramax and 12 Supramax vessels with an aggregate capacity of approximately 4,997,000 dwt and an average age of 11.5 years.

Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995

This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements use words such as anticipate, budget, estimate, expect, project, intend, plan, believe, and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with a discussion of potential future events, circumstances or future operating or financial performance. These forward-looking statements are based on our managements current expectations and observations. Included among the factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward looking statements contained in this release are the following: (i) declines or sustained weakness in demand in the drybulk shipping industry; (ii) weakness or declines in drybulk shipping rates; (iii) changes in the supply of or demand for drybulk products, generally or in particular regions; (iv) changes in the supply of drybulk carriers including newbuilding of vessels or lower than anticipated scrapping of older vessels; (v) changes in rules and regulations applicable to the cargo industry, including, without limitation, legislation adopted by international organizations or by individual countries and actions taken by regulatory authorities; (vi) increases in costs and expenses including but not limited to: crew wages, insurance, provisions, lube oil, bunkers, repairs, maintenance, general and administrative expenses, and management fee expenses; (vii) whether our insurance arrangements are adequate; (viii) changes in general domestic and international political conditions; (ix) acts of war, terrorism, or piracy, including without limitation the ongoing war in Ukraine; (x) changes in the condition of the Companys vessels or applicable maintenance or regulatory standards (which may affect, among other things, our anticipated drydocking or maintenance and repair costs) and unanticipated drydock expenditures; (xi) the Companys acquisition or disposition of vessels; (xii) the amount of offhire time needed to complete maintenance, repairs, and installation of equipment to comply with applicable regulations on vessels and the timing and amount of any reimbursement by our insurance carriers for insurance claims, including offhire days; (xiii) the completion of definitive documentation with respect to charters; (xiv) charterers compliance with the terms of their charters in the current market environment; (xv) the extent to which our operating results are affected by weakness in market conditions and freight and charter rates; (xvi) our ability to maintain contracts that are critical to our operation, to obtain and maintain acceptable terms with our vendors, customers and service providers and to retain key executives, managers and employees; (xvii) completion of documentation for vessel transactions and the performance of the terms thereof by buyers or sellers of vessels and us; (xviii) the relative cost and availability of low sulfur and high sulfur fuel, worldwide compliance with sulfur emissions regulations that took effect on January 1, 2020 and our ability to realize the economic benefits or recover the cost of the scrubbers we have installed; (xix) our financial results for the year ending December 31, 2023 and other factors relating to determination of the tax treatment of dividends we have declared; (xx) the financial results we achieve for each quarter that apply to the formula under our new dividend policy, including without limitation the actual amounts earned by our vessels and the amounts of various expenses we incur, as a significant decrease in such earnings or a significant increase in such expenses may affect our ability to carry out our new value strategy; (xxi) the exercise of the discretion of our Board regarding the declaration of dividends, including without limitation the amount that our Board determines to set aside for reserves under our dividend policy; (xxii) the duration and impact of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus epidemic, which may negatively affect general global and regional economic conditions, our ability to charter our vessels at all and the rates at which are able to do so; our ability to call on or depart from ports on a timely basis or at all; our ability to crew, maintain, and repair our vessels, including without limitation the impact diversion of our vessels to perform crew rotations may have on our revenues, expenses, and ability to consummate vessel sales, expense and disruption to our operations that may arise from the inability to rotate crews on schedule, and delay and added expense we may incur in rotating crews in the current environment; our ability to staff and maintain our headquarters and administrative operations; sources of cash and liquidity; our ability to sell vessels in the secondary market, including without limitation the compliance of purchasers and us with the terms of vessel sale contracts, and the prices at which vessels are sold; and other factors relevant to our business described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission; (xxiii) the completion of definitive documentation for, potential changes in terms to, our entry into, and fulfillment of conditions precedent under our proposed $500 million credit facility, and (xxiv) other factors listed from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and subsequent reports on Form 8-K and Form 10-Q). Our ability to pay dividends in any period will depend upon various factors, including the limitations under any credit agreements to which we may be a party, applicable provisions of Marshall Islands law and the final determination by the Board of Directors each quarter after its review of our financial performance, market developments, and the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. The timing and amount of dividends, if any, could also be affected by factors affecting cash flows, results of operations, required capital expenditures, or reserves. As a result, the amount of dividends actually paid may vary. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT:

Peter Allen

Chief Financial Officer

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited

(646) 443-8550
Dublin, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "United States Hydroponics Market Competition Forecast and Opportunities, 2028" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



United States Hydroponics Market is projected to reach a value of $1.458 billion by 2028 from $926 million in 2022, growing at a CAGR of 7.7% due to the growing demand for exotic vegetables & fruits.



In order to grow plants without utilizing soil, hydroponics uses mineral fertilizer solutions dissolved in aqueous solvents or liquid. This method is beneficial and friendly to the environment. It has received support from the US government and non-governmental groups due to its benefits for food security. Due to the higher output compared to conventional farming methods, the US hydroponics market is predicted to grow the forecast years.





Increasing Demand for Exotic Vegetables & Fruits



Due to customers' greater spending capacity, there has been continual growth in the demand for exotic fruits and vegetables. Due to the high cost of these exotic products and the fact that the majority of them are imported, several research institutions and universities in United States are concentrating on setting up more straightforward hydroponics systems in order to increase the production of exotic fruits and vegetables and satisfy the rising demand.



Furthermore, rising consumer interest in eating fresh veggies may support the industry in the future. Sales are expected to increase throughout the forecast period due to increased demand for unusual vegetables like red and yellow capsicum and red lettuce at fast food and retail chains like Burger King and KFC.



Along with this, the demand for vegetables and crops grown hydroponically has been rising from a variety of industries, including hotels, fast food chains, restaurants, railway catering, non-governmental organizations, and the military, which encourages farmers to use hydroponics systems to grow their crops.



Growing Demand for HVAC Equipment



This segment requires proper ventilation systems and rising practices of controlled environment agriculture which help in indoor farming practices. Proper space and ventilation help to improve yield and profitability by maintaining adequate temperature and conditions. Therefore, increasing demand for HVAC for hydroponics systems results in growing the demand for the United States Hydroponics market during the projected period.



Aggregate Systems will be the Key Type



Due to their simplicity of setup, aggregate systems are becoming more and more popular among indoor growers. Additionally, the growing usage of inert soil media, such as peat, coco coir, and sawdust, among others, to provide plants with the support they need is anticipated to boost market expansion in the forecast period.

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 74 Forecast Period 2022 - 2028 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2022 $926.99 Million Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2028 $1458.08 Million Compound Annual Growth Rate 7.7% Regions Covered United States

Competitive Landscape



Company Profiles: Detailed analysis of the major companies in United States Hydroponics market.

AmHydro

Fork Farms

Cropking Incorporated

Hydrofarm LLC

GrowGeneration Corp.

VH Hydroponics

Moonflower Farms

ZipGrow LLC

Green Life Farms LLC

HomesteadHydroFarm

Market Dynamics

Drivers

Rising Interest in Exotic Vegetables & Fruits

Help in Resource Conservation

Higher Yield than Conventional Farming

Market Trends & Developments

Product Launches

Mergers & Acquisitions

Technological Advancements

Challenges

High capital investment for big-scale farms

Argument on confirming hydroponic produce as organic

Report Scope:



United States Hydroponics Market, By Type:

Aggregate Systems

Liquid Systems

United States Hydroponics Market, By Equipment:

HVAC

LED grow light

Control systems

Irrigation systems

Material handling

Others

United States Hydroponics Market, By Input:

Nutrient

Growth Media

United States Hydroponics Market, By Farming Method:

Indoor

Outdoor

United States Hydroponics Market, By Crop Area:

Up 1000 Square feet

1000-5000 Square feet

5001-10000 Square feet

10000-50000 Square feet

Above 50000 Square feet

United States Hydroponics Market, By Crop Type:

Vegetables

Fruits

Flowers

Others

United States Hydroponics Market, By Region:

Northeast

Midwest

West

South

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/htt3s7

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
TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Platinex Inc. (CSE: PTX) (OTCQB: PANXF, Frankfurt: 9PX) (Platinex or the Company) is pleased to announce that the Company has arranged a $1 million flow through financing of which $525,000 has closed (the FT Offering). The Company issued 13,125,000 flow through common shares at a price of C$0.04 per share (FT common share). The Company anticipates closing a final tranche of the Offering shortly.



Each FT common share consists of one common share of the Company.

The Company will use the gross proceeds of the FT Offering to incur eligible Canadian exploration expenses that are flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures and will qualify as flow-through mining expenditure as such terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) related to the W2 Copper Nickel PGE Project, on or before Dec. 31, 2024. All qualifying expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers effective Dec. 31, 2023.

All securities issued in connection with this Offering are subject to a four month plus one day hold period from the Closing date in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The closing of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals. The Company may pay finder's fees to eligible finders in connection with the Offering.

About W2

W2 is a district scale land package comprised of 1,122 cell units covering 22,094 ha (220 km2) in an area of world-class geological targets located in the Oxford Stull Dome Complex near Ontarios Ring of Fire. W2 controls the mineral-rich and under-explored, layered mafic-ultramafic Lansdowne House Igneous Complex (LHIC), which is highly prospective for copper-nickel (Cu-Ni), platinum group element (PGE), gold and chromite deposits. The common thread of strong Cu-Ni-PGE, Cr and Ti-V mineralization in the mafic- ultramafic intrusions ringing the Oxford Stull Dome is suggestive of a common source, a very large magmatic system, and therefore a potential significant abundance of metals in each intrusion.

Historical work, including approximately 20,000 metres of drilling in the W2 area by operators such as INCO and Aurora Platinum, has been delineated at least seven significant mineralized zones within a 7.5 km long folded corridor near the centre of the land package. Additionally, VTEM and AeroTEM II airborne geophysical surveys have identified multiple high-priority conductors in the eastern section of the property which have yet to be drill tested.

About Platinex Inc.

Platinex Inc. creates shareholder value through the opportunistic acquisition and advancement of high-quality projects in prolific Canadian mining camps. Current assets include a 100% ownership interest in the W2 Copper-Nickel-PGE Project near the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario and a 75% interest in the South Timmins Mining joint venture with Fancamp Exploration, which is focused on gold exploration along the Ridout-Tyrell Deformation Zone near IAMGOLDs Cote Gold operation in the southwest Abitibi. Platinex also holds majority ownership in Green Canada Corporation, which holds uranium assets in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, as well as an option to earn as a 100% ownership interest in the Muskrat Dam Critical Minerals Project in northwestern Ontario. In addition to its mineral exploration assets, Platinex holds a portfolio of net smelter return (NSR) royalties on gold, PGE, and base metal properties in Ontario. Having put together a strong and diversified project portfolio and an expert technical team, the Company is focused on comprehensively exploring and evaluating each project to maximize shareholder value. Platinex is based in Toronto, Canada, with a primary listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol PTX. The company is also listed in Frankfurt under the symbol 9PF and on the OTCQB in the United States as PANXF.

For additional information on Platinex and other corporate information, please visit the Company's website at https://platinex.com/.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Ferron, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Platinex Inc.

Phone: 416-270-5042

Email: gferron@platinex.com

Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and includes those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Toronto, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As a community grocer, Metro recognizes the vital role food plays in fostering connection. Thats why this holiday season, Metro is proud to be hosting a series of complementary Feed the Joy cooking classes in partnership with Ontario seniors organizations, bringing generations together through the shared joy and power of food.



Across cultures, regardless of your background, elders carry the wisdom to pass down knowledge, stories, and even beloved recipes, like the perfect holiday ham, says Joe Fusco, Senior Vice President of Metro. But as the 2023 holiday season approaches, many millennials are stepping up to own family hosting duties for the first time. And so, were giving them the help of some true, seasoned kitchen pros.



With research showing that basic cooking know-how is the worst amongst younger generations , Metros cooking demos provide a platform for local seniors to shine as they share their cherished family recipes, passing the baton to the next generation by teaching them to cook a brand-new dish in time for the holidays. Classes will pair additional senior participants with members of their broader community to cook together, culminating in a shared meal that fosters intergenerational connections.



Helga Bellmore, a 70-year-old volunteer with Seniors Kingston, has been leading cooking sessions for the association since 2022. Having learned how to cook from her own mother and grandmother, Helga is excited to be sharing the flavours of her heritage and teaching some of her favourite, German-inspired holiday dishes during Metro's Feed the Joy class in Kingston: "What better way to get to know one another than to cook together?" she shares. "Seniors Kingston's cooking demos have helped me connect with other seniors for years, and I'm thrilled that Metro's Feed the Joy session will now allow us to engage with our broader community, too!"



Betty Williams, an 85-year-old senior leading Metro's Ottawa-based Feed the Joy class, shares the same sentiment. "It makes me happy to cook for others!" she explains. "I'm grateful that Metro's Feed the Joy class at the WOCRC will allow me to share what I love most with my Ottawa community."

To further demonstrate its commitment to Feeding the Joy this holiday season, Metro will also be making donations of $1,500 CAD to each community partner, supporting the well-being and enriching the lives of senior citizens within these local communities.



"We're thrilled that Metro shares our collective vision of combating social isolation in our communities," shares Mina Mawani, CEO of Dixon Hall. "With 75% of our senior clients living alone, this partnership with Metro will give our seniors the gift of food and friendship this holiday season, at a time they could use it most."



Metros complementary Feed the Joy cooking classes will each teach a 3-course, meat-inclusive meal and welcome participants of all ages. Register now and save your spot:

Ottawa (December 11): Betty Williams of Western Ottawa Community Resource Centre will share her family-favourite potato casserole recipe, with her grandkids joining the session to cheer her on! Register HERE .





will share her family-favourite potato casserole recipe, with her grandkids joining the session to cheer her on! Kingston (December 13): Helga Bellmore of Seniors Association Kingston Region will teach a German-inspired main course: a sausage-stuffed turkey/chicken breast that can impress at any holiday dinner. Register HERE .





will teach a German-inspired main course: a sausage-stuffed turkey/chicken breast that can impress at any holiday dinner. Toronto (December 17): Georgia Nayyar of Dixon Hall will share the behind-the-scenes of her potluck-ready quinoa salad, featuring what she believes to be a key ingredient: LOVE. Register HERE .

will share the behind-the-scenes of her potluck-ready quinoa salad, featuring what she believes to be a key ingredient: LOVE.

-30-
November 27, 2023

Amsterdam, the Netherlands and Chicago, USA  Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), a global leader in health technology, today announced the expansion of its enterprise imaging portfolio and AI-enabled solutions at #RSNA23 . Philips HealthSuite Imaging is a next generation cloud-based PACS enabling radiologists and clinicians to adopt new capabilities faster, help improve operational efficiency and enhance patient care. HealthSuite Imaging on Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers new capabilities such as high-speed remote access for diagnostic reading, integrated reporting and AI-enabled workflow orchestration, all delivered securely via the cloud to ease IT management burden.

The pace of customer migration to Philips HealthSuite Imaging highlights the value of cloud-enabled PACS in meeting the demands of modern day radiology departments, said Shez Partovi, Chief Business Leader Enterprise Informatics at Philips. HealthSuite Imaging brings AI-enabled workflow orchestration with fast remote access and integrated reporting to radiologists, anytime, anywhere.

Philips has already migrated over 80 sites in the U.S. and in Latin America to its HealthSuite Imaging PACS running on AWS. These customers can now scale their AI-based workflow orchestration capabilities and read studies anytime from anywhere. Other healthcare systems are now planning their migration to Philips HealthSuite Imaging to take advantage of the new AI-enabled clinical and operational workflows.

One such example of a customer that has started its transition to HealthSuite Imaging is Tufts Medicine. Tufts Medicine continues to lead the charge in delivering industry transformation through its digital health initiatives, said Dr. Shafiq Rab, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Tufts Medicine. In keeping with that work, we will build an enterprise-wide integrated diagnostics platform  starting with cloud-enabled radiology PACS, while ensuring the highest standards of clinical quality and data security, as part of a strategic partnership with Philips."

Through HealthSuite Imaging, Philips continues to extend its clinical innovation focused on enhancing the radiologist experience. HealthSuite Imaging diagnostic workspace streamlines study interpretation and reporting into a single seamless application, enhanced through AI, while also enabling sophisticated image processing and simplified clinical workflows. Moreover, the cloud-based nature of HealthSuite Imaging delivers faster access to medical studies from both the hospital or remote locations. Health systems can also reduce on-premises hardware and IT management costs by moving to a secure, cloud-hosted storage platform.

Additionally, Philips will continue to work with AWS to innovate on behalf of radiologists and advance AI in healthcare by applying foundation models. Using Amazon Bedrock, Philips is exploring clinical workflow applications across its portfolio in order to automate administrative tasks and enable more accurate diagnoses.

For further information, please contact:

Anna Hogrebe

Philips Global Press Office

Tel.: +1 416 270 6757

E-Mail: anna.hogrebe@philips.com anna.hogrebe@philips.com

About Royal Philips

Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a leading health technology company focused on improving people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. Philips patient- and people-centric innovation leverages advanced technology and deep clinical and consumer insights to deliver personal health solutions for consumers and professional health solutions for healthcare providers and their patients in the hospital and the home. Headquartered in the Netherlands, the company is a leader in diagnostic imaging, ultrasound, image-guided therapy, monitoring and enterprise informatics, as well as in personal health. Philips generated 2022 sales of EUR 17.8 billion and employs approximately 70,700 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. News about Philips can be found at www.philips.com/newscenter .

Attachments
Same Property NOI in Q3 is up around 6%

FFO (excluding senior housing) in Q3 is up around 14% totaling some NIS 367 million; total FFO is up around 21% totaling some NIS 398 million

After the report date, the Company closed the transaction for the sale of its holdings in Compass for gross consideration of approx. NIS 3.2 billion. Net cash flow (after a provision for tax and transaction expenses) is approx. NIS 2.7 billion and the accounting profit is expected to be around NIS 0.9 billion

Financial Highlights for Q3/2023

NOI in Q3 totaled some NIS 535 million, compared with some NIS 513 million year-over-year, up some 4%. The increase mainly derives from rent increases in malls and offices. The increase was partially offset by non-inclusion of Compasss results already in the current quarter.

totaled some NIS 535 million, compared with some NIS 513 million year-over-year, up some 4%. The increase mainly derives from rent increases in malls and offices. The increase was partially offset by non-inclusion of Compasss results already in the current quarter. Same Property NOI was up around 6% in Q3.

was up around 6% in Q3. FFO excluding senior housing totaled some NIS 367 million in Q3 compared with around NIS 321 million year-over-year, up some 14%. In Q3, the FFO totaled approx. NIS 398 million, compared with around NIS 330 million year-over-year, up some 21%.

totaled some NIS 367 million in Q3 compared with around NIS 321 million year-over-year, up some 14%. In Q3, totaled approx. NIS 398 million, compared with around NIS 330 million year-over-year, up some 21%. Net profit attributable to the shareholders totaled approx. NIS 352 million in Q3 compared with approx. NIS 330 million year-over-year. Comprehensive income totaled some NIS 575 million in Q3 compared with approx. NIS 208 million year-over-year. In Q3, revaluation profits were recorded of some NIS 177 million, mainly in the subsidiary (100%) Green Mountain, which operates in the data centers segment. In the same quarter last year, similar revaluation profits were recorded in the sum of approx. NIS 174 million, which mainly derived from a rise in the CPI and rent increases.

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Danna Azrieli, Chairwoman of Azrieli Group, said: The State of Israel is in the midst of a war, and Azrieli Group is entirely committed to the effort and to civil aid on all fronts. This includes formulating an aid program for the mall tenants and launching an extensive support plan which combines strengthening the economic front throughout Israel, which is intended to strengthen the economy and set the wheels of commerce in motion, with direct aid for evacuated families and for businesses from the south and the north of Israel.

"In these times, the Groups commitment to continue to develop and build Israel, as we have done throughout the years, is even greater, and remains a core principle of the Groups business. We will continue acting on this commitment while maintaining financial strength and responsible conduct in these challenging times, which create both a complex business environment and opportunities.

Eyal Henkin, CEO of Azrieli Group, said: As we mobilize and provide resources, Azrieli Group is closing another good quarter with continued growth in all parameters. The Groups operations in the malls and offices segments presented good results and high occupancy rates. The malls segment is operating fully, with more than 99% of the stores open, opening hours are almost back to normal, as is the visitor traffic. Obviously the results of the malls segment in Q4 will be affected by the war, although to a relatively moderate degree, and our financial strength enables us to successfully address this impact.

"The data centers segment continues to gather momentum in the subsidiary Green Mountain, as a growth engine.

"All of us at Azrieli Group send our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and the fallen soldiers, wish all the injured a swift recovery, support our armed forces and hope for the speedy return of all of the hostages and missing persons.

Occupancy Rates and Store Revenues

The average occupancy rate (excluding properties under lease-up) was 99% in malls, 98% in offices in Israel, and 97% in senior housing.

(excluding properties under lease-up) was 99% in malls, 98% in offices in Israel, and 97% in senior housing. Store revenues  In January-September 2023, a 5.8% increase was recorded in store revenues year-over-year (the increase does not include store revenues of Mall Hayam in Eilat and the retail space in Azrieli Town Tel Aviv). In July-September 2023, a 1.5% increase was recorded in store revenues year-over-year.

Recent Business Developments

After the balance sheet date, at the beginning of October, the Group closed the transaction for the sale of its minority holdings in the U.S. company Compass. In June 2023, Azrielis partners announced that they had entered into an agreement for the sale of their holdings in Compass in an amount reflecting an enterprise value of $5.7 billion, and an equity value of $2.7 billion. In accordance with the mechanisms set forth in the agreement with the partners, the Company joined the sale transaction. The transaction reflects a value of approx. NIS 3.2 billion for Azrieli Groups share. Upon the closing of the transaction, the net cash flow (after a provision for tax and transaction expenses) will be approx. NIS 2.7 billion, and the estimated accounting profit will be approx. NIS 0.9 billion. The sale of the Groups minority holdings in Compass reflects a gross yield of x2.5 on the investment (in total, Azrieli Group invested in Compass approx. NIS 1.3 billion) with a duration of 2.3 years. The accounting effect of the transaction will be reflected in the Q4/2023 reports. The operating results of Compass are not included in the current quarter.

Balance Sheet as of 30 September 2023

The Group has cash, deposits, and short-term investments totaling approx. NIS 1.3 billion, and together with Bank Leumi stock, cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities  around NIS 2.4 billion.

totaling approx. NIS 1.3 billion, and together with Bank Leumi stock, cash and cash equivalents and marketable securities  around NIS 2.4 billion. Net debt (including Leumi) totals approx. NIS 18.4 billion.

(including Leumi) totals approx. NIS 18.4 billion. The value of investment property and investment property under construction totals approx. NIS 43.5 billion.

totals approx. NIS 43.5 billion. The equity to assets ratio is approx. 44% and the net debt to assets ratio is approx. 38%.

is approx. 44% and the is approx. 38%. Unencumbered assets total approx. NIS 35 billion.



Conference call

The Company will hold its quarterly conference call, hosted by the Group's senior management,

today (Monday, 27 November 2023) at 11:00 am Israel local time (10:00 am CET; 9:00 am United Kingdom time, and 5:00 am Eastern Time).

To participate, please sign up here: Join Webinar

Contact details: Avi Haver

Email: Avih@azrieli.com

+972546264405
The Management Board of AB Kauno Energija (hereinafter  the Company) (code  235014830) assessed the results of Companys business activity of 9 months of the year 2023 and financial state as at September 30, 2023 and approved AB Kauno Energija consolidated and Companys non-audited results of 9 months of the year 2023.

The result of Companys business activities of 9 months of the year 2023 according to the International Financial Reporting Standards as adopted by the European Union is profit in amount of EUR 533 thousand (the result of 9 months of the year 2022 was loss amounted to EUR 443 thousand), turnover from sales is EUR 56,210 thousand (in 9 months of the year 2022 it was amounted to EUR 48,880 thousand). The result of activities of the Group which consists of AB Kauno Energija and its subsidiaries UAB GO Energy LT (code  303042623) of 9 months of the year 2023 is profit in amount of EUR 1,063 thousand (the result of 9 months of the year 2022 was profit EUR 548 thousand), turnover from sales is amounted to EUR 56,385 thousand (turnover from sales of 9 months of the year 2021 is amounted to EUR 48,774 thousand).

The rate of critical liquidity of the Company as at the end of the reporting period (September 30, 2023) that makes comparison between short term assets without stocks and short term liabilities, increased from 1.33 to 1.54 during the period from the end of the year 2022 (the rate of the Group increased from 1.36 to 1.67). The EBITDA of the Company of the 9 month of the year 2023 is EUR 6,076 thousand (EBITDA of the 9 month of the year 2022 was EUR 4,648 thousand), and EBITDA of the Group is EUR 6,689 thousand (EBITDA of 9 month of the year 2022 was EUR 5,030 thousand).

We hereby present an Interim Non-Audited Financial Statements of 9 month of the year 2023 together with the confirmation of responsible persons.

Loreta Miliauskiene, Head of the Economics Department, tel. +370 69815118

Attachment
COLUMBIA FALLS, Maine, and MANASQUAN, NJ, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, national nonprofit Wreaths Across America (WAA) is proud to announce that Jersey Mikes Subs, a fast-casual sub sandwich franchise with more than 2,600 locations nationwide, has issued a #GivingTuesday challenge to help raise funds to sponsor veterans wreaths for placement at Arlington National Cemetery on National Wreaths Across America Day  Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023.

Jersey Mikes has once again stepped up to help WAA reach its goal of placing a fresh, handmade balsam veterans wreath on every eligible marker at Arlington National Cemetery. Every $17 wreath sponsorship made at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/JerseyMikes through Friday, Dec. 8, 2023, will be matched by the company, up to $250,000!

Since 2010, Jersey Mikes has supported WAAs mission with contributions totaling more than $3.5 million dollars. Last year, across the country more than 2.7 million sponsored veterans wreaths were placed in honor of veterans, including on all the eligible markers of those buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Jersey Mikes franchisees across the country support the year-long mission to Remember the fallen, Honor those who serve, and Teach the next generation the value of freedom, said Peter Cancro, Jersey Mikes founder and CEO.

The incredible team at Jersey Mikes Subs has been such a tremendous part of the growth of the program for more than a decade, said Karen Worcester, executive director, Wreaths Across America. Their continued support ensures that we will be able to fulfill our mission in remembrance of the brave men and women who committed themselves unselfishly at the most critical moments in our nations history to ensure our freedom.

For more information about volunteering at Arlington on National Wreaths Across America Day  this year, Saturday, Dec. 16, 2023  please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/ARLING. To find a participating location near you to support or to learn how you can volunteer locally in your community please click here.

# # #

About Wreaths Across America

Wreaths Across America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded to continue and expand the annual wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery begun by Maine businessman Morrill Worcester in 1992. The organizations yearlong mission  Remember, Honor, Teach  is carried out in part each year by coordinating wreath-laying ceremonies in December at Arlington, as well as at thousands of veterans cemeteries and other locations in all 50 states and beyond. For more information or to sponsor a wreath please visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

ABOUT JERSEY MIKES SUBS

Jersey Mikes Subs, with more than 2,500 locations open and under development nationwide, serves authentic fresh sliced/fresh grilled subs on in-store freshly baked bread  the same recipe it started with in 1956. Passion for giving in Jersey Mikes local communities is reflective in its mission statement Givingmaking a difference in someones life. For more information, please visit jerseymikes.com or follow us on Facebook (facebook.com/jerseymikes), Instagram (instagram.com/jerseymikes), and Twitter (twitter.com/jerseymikes.com).

Attachment
Richmond, Virginia, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Phlow Corp., a Public Benefit pharmaceutical manufacturer, announced today the appointment of Kerry Ingalls and Guy Villax to its Board of Directors amid a period of rapid growth and operational scale-up of facilities for Phlow. Ingalls and Villax will join Phlow's board, made up of internationally recognized pharmaceutical, biotech, and healthcare leaders, on a mission to re-shore the supply of the Nation's most essential medicines.

"We're honored to welcome Kerry Ingalls and Guy Villax to our Board of Directors," said Eric Edwards, M.D., Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Phlow. "Phlow and its Board are on a mission to revolutionize the way medicines are developed and manufactured in the United States. The addition of two new board members at a pivotal point in Phlow's trajectory will further our ability to improve access and availability of domestically produced, high-quality active pharmaceutical ingredients at our state-of-the-art facilities."

Kerry Ingalls is both a servant leader and a seasoned executive with deep expertise in leadership, strategic planning, high-reliability operations, and risk management. He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Poseida Therapeutics, a gene engineering innovator in San Diego, California. During his tenure, the company executed an initial public offering and initiated clinical trials for three exploratory drug candidates in chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy (CAR-T). In addition, Ingalls has held numerous leadership roles at biotechnology giant Amgen and has served as a board member for three non-profit biopharma industry organizations. He is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and has enjoyed a distinguished career in the United States Navy.

"Phlow has built an extensive purpose-built facility with an elegant design I had never seen, which is likely to be unmatched elsewhere. I am excited to join Phlows Board as the company enters a stage of growth and manufacturing scale-up that will contribute to stability and resiliency to the U.S. drug supply, said Guy Villax

Guy Villax is a member of the Hovione Holding AG board, the supervisory Board of EIT Health, and the sustainability advisory board of AGEAS Portugal. He is the President of the Health Cluster Portugal and a member of the Portuguese National Council on Science, Technology, and Innovation. Villax was previously Hovione's Chief Executive Officer and worked at Price Waterhouse in London and Hovione in Asia. He was also on the board of the European Fine Chemicals Group, where he was involved in advocacy activities to express the voice of the API industry in a wide range of legislative matters. Villax represented the EU API industry in negotiations with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), resulting in the Generic Drugs User Fee Act.

About Phlow

Phlow is a U.S.-based, Public Benefit Corporation leveraging advanced manufacturing processes to re-imagine the domestic production of key starting materials (KSM), active pharmaceutical ingredients (API), and finished drug products critical to U.S. healthcare. Focused on impact, Phlow partners with children's hospitals, private industry, and the U.S. government to increase access to affordable, high-quality, life-changing medicines through advanced manufacturing processes that are fully integrated, comprehensive, and better for the environment. Utilizing its advanced R&D labs and best-in-class, automated API cGMP facilities ranging from kilo to metric ton scales, Phlow provides customized contract development and manufacturing services for small molecule APIs to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. Phlow measures its success by its ability to drive down costs and waste, improve quality and yield, and offer a more environmentally friendly approach to manufacturing medicines that lead to healthy and resilient communities. For more, visit www.phlow-usa.com.
CALGARY, AB, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NOVA Chemicals Corporation (NOVA Chemicals) announced today the early tender results of its previously announced offer to purchase for cash (the Tender Offer) up to $400.0 million in aggregate principal amount, the (Aggregate Maximum Principal Amount) of its 4.875% Senior Notes due 2024 (the Notes). The Tender Offer is being made in connection with a concurrent offering of notes by NOVA Chemicals sold in an offering (the New Offering) exempt from the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The Tender Offer will be financed by the amounts raised in the New Offering (net of transaction fees and expenses), and the Tender Offer is conditioned upon the satisfaction or, when applicable, waiver of certain conditions, which are more fully described in the Offer to Purchase, including the completion of the New Offering, on terms satisfactory to Nova Chemicals, raising proceeds sufficient to finance the Tender Offer (as further described in the Offer to Purchase, the Financing Condition).

The Tender Offer is being made pursuant to an Offer to Purchase, dated November 8, 2023 (as may be amended or supplemented from time to time, the Offer to Purchase).

Certain information regarding the Notes and the terms of the Tender Offer is summarized in the table below.

Notes CUSIP/ISIN Numbers

(144A; Reg S) Principal Amount Outstanding Tender Offer Consideration(l)(2) Early Tender Payment(1) Total Consideration(l)(2)(3) 4.875% Senior Notes due 2024 66977WAQ2 / US66977WAQ24;

C67111AH4/ USC67111AH49 $1,048,000,000 $966.25 $30.00 $996.25

_________

(1) Per $1,000 principal amount of Notes accepted for purchase.

(2) Excludes Accrued Interest, which will be paid in addition to the Tender offer Consideration or the Total Consideration, as applicable.

(3) Includes the applicable Early Tender Payment.

As of 5:00 PM, New York City time, on November 22, 2023, (such time and date, the Early Tender Date), according to information provided by Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the information and tender agent for the Tender Offer, an aggregate principal amount of $754,523,000 of the Notes had been validly tendered and not withdrawn in the Tender Offer for such Notes. Withdrawal rights for the Notes expired at 5:00 PM, New York City time, on November 22, 2023.

The Aggregate Maximum Principal Amount has been fully subscribed by the Notes tendered as of the Early Tender Date. In accordance with the Aggregate Maximum Principal Amount set forth above, the Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the Early Tender Date will be subject to proration as further described in the Offer to Purchase. NOVA Chemicals expects to accept for purchase an aggregate principal amount of $400 million of the Notes using a proration rate of 53.05%. NOVA Chemicals does not anticipate accepting for purchase any Notes validly tendered after the Early Tender Date.

The applicable Total Consideration (as set out in the table above) for each $1,000 of principal amount of the Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn and accepted for purchase is set forth in the table above. Only holders of the Notes who validly tendered and did not validly withdraw their Notes at or prior to the Early Tender Date are eligible to receive the applicable Total Consideration, which includes the Early Tender Payment for the Notes of $30.00 per $1,000 principal amount of Notes tendered. In addition, such Holders will also be entitled to receive accrued and unpaid interest, if any, from the last interest payment date for the Notes up to, but not including, the Early Settlement Date (as defined below).

It is anticipated that the settlement date for the Notes validly tendered and accepted for purchase will be November 28, 2023 (the Early Settlement Date).

NOVA Chemicals obligation to accept for purchase, and to pay for, Notes validly tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to the Tender Offer is conditioned upon the satisfaction or, when applicable, waiver of certain conditions, which are more fully described in the Offer to Purchase, including, among others, the Financing Condition. In addition, subject to applicable law, NOVA Chemicals reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to (i) extend, terminate or withdraw the Tender Offer at any time or (ii) otherwise amend the Tender Offer in any respect at any time and from time to time. NOVA Chemicals further reserves the right, in its sole discretion, not to accept any tenders of Notes. NOVA Chemicals is making the Tender Offer only in those jurisdictions where it is legal to do so.

RBC Capital Markets, LLC is acting as the sole dealer manager (the Dealer Manager) for the Tender Offer and can be contacted at ((Phone: +1 212 618 7843) (Toll Free: +1 877 381 2099)) with questions regarding the Tender Offer.

Simpson Thacher Bartlett LLP acted as lead counsel to NOVA Chemicals, with Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP and Stewart McKelvey also acting for NOVA Chemicals. Latham & Watkins LLP acted as lead counsel to the Dealer Manager, with Torys LLP also acting for the Dealer Manager.

Copies of the Offer to Purchase are available to holders of Notes from Global Bondholder Services Corporation, the information and tender agent for the Tender Offer. Requests for copies of the Offer to Purchase should be directed to GBSC at (855) 654-2014 (toll free), (212) 430-3774 (banks and brokers) or contact@gbsc-usa.com.

Neither the Offer to Purchase nor any related documents have been filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, nor have any such documents been filed with or reviewed by any federal, state, or foreign securities commission or regulatory authority. No such commission or authority has passed upon the fairness or merits of the Tender Offer or upon the accuracy or adequacy of the Offer to Purchase, and it is unlawful and may be a criminal offense to make any representation to the contrary.

The Tender Offer is being made solely on the terms and conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase. Under no circumstances shall this press release constitute an offer to buy or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Notes or any other securities of NOVA Chemicals or any of its affiliates. The Tender Offer is not being made to, nor will NOVA Chemicals accept tenders of Notes from, holders in any jurisdiction in which the Tender Offer or the acceptance thereof would not be in compliance with the securities of blue sky laws of such jurisdiction. No recommendation is made as to whether holders should tender their Notes. Holders should carefully read the Offer to Purchase because it contains important information.
Sayre, Pa., Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Guthrie Clinic is thrilled to announce a significant development in its commitment to serving the greater Tunkhannock community. Thanks to the generous support of the Ruark Family and the Wyoming County Commissioners led by Chairman Richard (Rick) Wilbur, The Guthrie Clinic will be expanding primary care services and relocating to the former Tyler Memorial Hospital location, ensuring that essential outpatient health care services continue to be accessible for residents.

The multi-phase move to the former hospital location, beginning in early 2024, will allow Guthrie to offer a wide range of essential outpatient medical services, including primary care, preventive care, walk-in care, and technology-enabled specialty consults.

We are excited about the opportunities this phased expansion offers to the greater Tunkhannock community, said Dr. Ed Sabanegh, President and CEO of the Guthrie Clinic. Guthrie is committed to meeting the changing health care needs of the area, and we look forward to providing expanded care options to this community where we have served for many years.

Guthrie also acknowledged the support of the Wyoming County Commissioners for their partnership in facilitating this move. Im excited that Guthrie, a leader in providing exceptional quality care in our region, has signed on as the new provider of medical services at the former Commonwealth facility, said Richard Wilbur, Chairman, Wyoming County Commissioners. I realize that reopening after more than a year of closure is a process requiring high levels of community support. We welcome Guthrie's commitment to the residents of Wyoming County and will do everything we can to make this a successful partnership.

The transition to the former Tyler Memorial Hospital location is a significant milestone for Guthrie. Each phase of clinical expansion will be thoughtfully implemented, gradually introducing an expanded range of essential outpatient medical services. The phased approach will allow Guthrie to explore continued expansion of comprehensive care based on community need and support.

The Guthrie Clinic is a non-profit multispecialty health system that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education. Based in Sayre, Pennsylvania, The Guthrie Clinic is one of the nations longest established group practices, founded in 1910 by Dr. Donald Guthrie with a vision of providing patient-centered care through a clinically-integrated network of employed providers. It is an industry leader in the use of technology and electronic medical records to provide high-quality care. Among The Guthrie Clinics 6,500 caregivers are more than 700 physicians and advanced practice providers, representing the spectrum of medical specialties and sub-specialties. The Guthrie Clinic is a five-hospital system with a large network of outpatient facilities that spans nearly 9,000 square miles in Pennsylvania and upstate New York. It is dedicated to training the next generation of health care leaders, offering seven residencies and three fellowships.

Visit us at www.Guthrie.org. Follow us at Twitter.com/GuthrieClinic, Facebook.com/TheGuthrieClinic, Linkedin.com/company/TheGuthrieClinic, and Instagram.com/TheGuthrieClinic.
Toronto ON, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- March of Dimes Canada is proud to announce the renewal and expansion of the highly successful MentorAbility Canada program. March of Dimes Canada, in partnership with the Ontario Disability Employment Network, is the Ontario hub for the program, coordinated by the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE) and funded in part by the Government of Canada's Opportunities Funds for Persons with Disabilities Program.

MentorAbility Canada pairs job seekers with mentors to explore various career paths and gain valuable mentorship, effectively preparing them for the workforce. In collaboration with the Ontario Disability Employment Network, March of Dimes Canada has been successfully delivering the program since 2019. Mentorship supports job seekers with disabilities by providing opportunities to explore diverse career opportunities and gain essential insights so they can progress in their desired fields.

We exceeded our targets in the original MentorAbility Canada program with our partners at ODEN and were looking forward to building on that success under a renewed and expanded program, says Lisa Livingston, Regional Employment Services Manager at March of Dimes Canada. Were excited to continue our work as MentorAbility Canadas Ontario Hub for the next three years.



The new funding renews and grow the program as MentorAbility Canada 2.0, with a focus on expanding the network of employers offering experiential learning, and on reaching more job seekers with disabilities who commonly face barriers to employment.

MentorAbility Canada is crucial to advancing the employment landscape for individuals with disabilities across Canada, Livingston continued. Weve witnessed the transformative power of this program, and were committed to continuing it and creating a more diverse and equitable workforce.

MentorAbility Canada doesnt just benefit people with disabilities, Livingston added. It also supports employers and other service agencies seeking to foster mentorship connections benefit from accessible employment. Everyone wins.

More details about MentorAbility Canada can be found here.

-30-

Media Inquiries:

Tina Siegel

Communications Specialist

tsiegel@marchofdimes.ca

416.606.0541

MentorAbility Canada Program Inquiries

Lisa Livingston

Regional Employment Services Manager

llivingston@marchofdimes.ca

About March of Dimes Canada

March of Dimes Canada is a non-profit organization dedicated to creating a society inclusive to people of all abilities. Their mission is to provide a wide range of services to individuals with physical disabilities throughout the country. They are committed to enabling people to achieve their goals and improve their quality of life.
Belmont CA, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) Provost and Senior Vice President Dr. Greg White announced the appointment of Dr. Gregory Zubacz as Associate Provost and Dean of Interdisciplinary Studies.

Gregory Zubacz PhD, JCD, MCL, JCL, LLB, BA (Psychology and Criminology) was recently with California Health Sciences University (CHSU), where he served as the Assistant Vice President for Institutional Assessment, Effectiveness, and Research. A lifelong learner, with both a PhD in Law and a Doctorate in Canon Law, his many interests span legal and ethical issues for health care providers, mediation, data science (Python, AI, and development), and applied data science (machine learning, neural networks).

Im very pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gregory Zubacz, said White. His vast experience in higher education, and his diverse background in many areas of academia and law are truly impressive. White added, Im looking forward to working with Greg in our accreditation process, and expanding NDNU degree programs to include a more innovative online learning environment.

While at CHSU and Fresno Pacific University (FPU), where he served as the Associate Provost and a Professor of Business Law, Dr. Zubacz successfully led accreditation and assessment processes, program review, regulatory compliance activities, and reporting. At FPU, his direction of their Center for Online Learning and oversight of their WSCUC accreditation process in August 2022 yielded an eight-year accreditation, reflecting WSCUCs strong vote of confidence in the processes and policies instituted under his direction. Dr. Zubacz participated in WSCUCs 2020-21 Assessment Leadership Academy, serves on WSCUCs Substantive Change Committee, will be a Substantive Change reviewer for Western University, and will serve on the Accreditation Visiting team for Santa Clara University in 2024.

Dr. Zubacz will oversee NDNUs interdisciplinary programs, and lead the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning. The Very Rev. Dr. Gregory Zubacz (Fr. Greg) is also a priest of the Ukrainian Catholic Rite and a bi-ritual Roman Catholic priest serving in the Diocese of Fresno at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Parish in Clovis.

About Notre Dame de Namur University

Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) is a Catholic, not-for-profit, coeducational institution serving adult learners from diverse backgrounds. Established in 1851 by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, NDNU is the third-oldest college in California and the first authorized to grant women a baccalaureate degree. The university is WASC accredited and offers masters and degree completion programs in business, education, and psychology, as well as teacher credential programs. NDNU maintains a strong commitment to academic excellence, social justice, and community engagement. For more information, visit www.ndnu.edu
Vancouver, November 26th, 2023 - Arbor Metals Corp. ("Arbor" or the "Company") (TSXV:ABR) (FWB:432) announces the Company's independent geologist has completed the assessment of samples obtained from the recent exploration program. These samples have been subsequently shipped to ALS Laboratories for comprehensive assay analysis, and the Company anticipates receiving the assay results in the forthcoming weeks.

Mark Ferguson, President of Arbor, expressed his appreciation for the dedicated efforts of the exploration team, stating, "Our exploration team has exhibited exceptional commitment and diligence in executing the program at the Jarnet Lithium Project. We are encouraged by the initial review of the samples and eagerly await the assay results, which will provide crucial insights into the project's potential."

Ferguson further commented, "While the spot price for lithium has experienced a recent decline, Arbor's management maintains confidence in the long-term potential of lithium. We view the current decline as a short-term issue and anticipate a rebound in lithium prices in 2024."

Arbor remains committed to advancing its exploration endeavors and leveraging the forthcoming assay results to plan its 2024 exploration program. The Company will incorporate these results into its strategic development initiatives for the Jarnet Lithium Project, reinforcing its commitment to the project's ongoing success.

About Arbor Metals Corp.

Arbor Metals Corp. is a mining exploration company focused on developing high-value, geographically significant mineral projects worldwide. Arbor is paving the way for advanced mineral exploration as it oversees world-class mining projects. The Company is confident that combining quality projects with proven strategies and a dedicated team will yield exceptional outcomes.

The Jarnet lithium project, located in the James Bay region of Quebec, comprises 47 map-designated claims, covering an area of approximately 3,759 hectares. The Jarnet project is contiguous to the Corvette-FCI property, where diamond drilling has confirmed significant lithium mineralization representing one of the highest-profile lithium exploration projects in the sector.



Click Image To View Full Size

For further information, contact Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer, at info@arbormetals.com, or 403.852.4869, or visit the Company's website at www.arbormetalscorp.com.

On behalf of the Board,

Arbor Metals Corp.

Mark Ferguson, Chief Executive Officer

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.

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 or if used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target, "plan", "forecast", "may", "schedule" and similar words or expressions identify forward-looking statements or information. These forward-looking statements or information may relate to the development of the Jarnet Lithium Project, and other factors or information. Such statements represent the Company's current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company, 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. The Company 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 affecting such statements and information other than as required by applicable laws, rules and regulations.

Copyright (c) 2023 TheNewswire - All rights reserved.
Thunder Bay, November 27, 2023 - Benton Resources Inc. (TSXV: BEX) ("Benton" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, subject to all regulatory approvals, the Company has entered into an arrangement with Wealth Creation Preservation & Donation Inc. ("WCPD") and investor Eric Sprott whereby WCPD will arrange for the subscription of 6,250,000 Charity Flow-through Units ("FT Unit") for $0.25 per FT Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,562,500 (the "Private Placement"). Each FT Unit consists of one common share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"), each Warrant being exercisable for an additional common share of the Company, each of which will not qualify as a flow-through share, at an exercise price of $0.25 for 36 months from the date of issue. The FT Units will entitle the holder to receive the tax benefits applicable to flow-through shares, in accordance with provisions of the Income Tax Act (Canada).

Mr. Sprott, a long-time investor and largest shareholder of the Company, will acquire the 6,250,000 units pursuant to the Private Placement for total consideration of $1,000,000 through 2176423 Ontario Ltd., a corporation beneficially owned by him.

The Private Placement is expected to close on or before December 15, 2023.

Stephen Stares, President and CEO of the Company stated "Benton is very pleased to have Eric Sprott's continued support as our largest shareholder. Benton has been able to aggressively advance the Great Burnt Copper-Gold project and we believe that this project presents an incredible opportunity for advancement towards development. This Private Placement will fund Benton's remaining exploration commitment to vest its 70% ownership interest in Great Burnt. We look forward to continuing this exciting work".

All securities issued pursuant to the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month and a day hold period.

In connection with the Private Placement, the Company may pay finders' fees in cash or securities or a combination of both, as permitted by the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Private Placement is subject to approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.

The Company will use an amount equal to the gross proceeds received by the Company from the sale of the FT Units, pursuant to the provisions in the Income Tax Act (Canada), to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that qualify as "flow-through mining expenditures" as both terms are defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Qualifying Expenditures") on or before December 31, 2024, and to renounce all the Qualifying Expenditures in favour of the subscribers of the FT Units effective December 31, 2023. The proceeds from the sale of the FT Units will be used to advance Benton's various exploration projects.

About Benton Resources Inc.

Benton Resources is a well-financed mineral exploration company listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol BEX. Following a project generation business model, Benton has a diversified, highly prospective property portfolio of gold, silver, nickel, copper, platinum group elements and, most recently, lithium and cesium assets. In addition, it currently holds large equity positions in other mining companies that are advancing high-quality assets. Whenever possible, BEX retains net smelter return (NSR) royalties with potential long-term cash flow.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Benton Resources Inc.,

"Stephen Stares"

Stephen Stares, President

Parties interested in seeking more information about properties available for option can contact Mr. Stares at the number below.

For further information, please contact:

Stephen Stares, President & CEO

Phone: 807-474-9020

Email: sstares@bentonresources.ca

Website: www.bentonresources.ca

Twitter: @BentonResources

Facebook: @BentonResourcesBEX

THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE HAS NOT REVIEWED AND DOES NOT ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY 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."

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation: risks related to failure to obtain adequate financing on a timely basis and on acceptable terms; risks related to the outcome of legal proceedings; political and regulatory risks associated with mining and exploration; risks related to the maintenance of stock exchange listings; risks related to environmental regulation and liability; the potential for delays in exploration or development activities or the completion of feasibility studies; the uncertainty of profitability; risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of drill results, the geology, grade and continuity of mineral deposits; risks related to the inherent uncertainty of production and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses; results of prefeasibility and feasibility studies, and the possibility that future exploration, development or mining results will not be consistent with the Company's expectations; risks related to gold price and other commodity price fluctuations; and other risks and uncertainties related to the Company's prospects, properties and business detailed elsewhere in the Company's disclosure record. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188761
Psychology is having a moment. Over the course of the past three decades, academic psychologists have used ingenious experiments to produce striking insights into how people think, form commitments, and make decisions. During the 1990s, their work had a profound influence on academic disciplines such as economics, challenging the assumption that people should be understood as rational calculators of self-interest. Today, its transforming another field  the field of public policy.Public officials routinely make difficult decisions of great importance. Sometimes, these decisions are fundamentally political: they involve deciding between competing  if not conflicting  values. However, government officials also make many decisions that are analytic. They attempt to predict future events and plan for them. They make decisions about whom to hire. They assemble committees or working groups that hold meetings and develop solutions to complicated problems. Most public officials try hard to do these things well. Read the literature on psychology and decision-making, though, and an inescapable conclusion emerges: most executives go about handling these manners in ways that are all wrong.Every day, people make thousands of decisions automatically and well. A psychologist would say we make them intuitively. But public sector leaders  and indeed, people in general  also routinely confront decisions that would benefit from more sophisticated thinking. Unfortunately, we often to fail to recognize those circumstances, defaulting instead to the decision recommended by our intuition. Where intuition is informed by practice and experience that can work well. An excellent example is an emergency room doctors intuition, which has been informed by years of practice.However, psychology has established that when it comes to truly complicated decisions, intuition is not our friend. This insight is rooted in the work of two psychologists in particular, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. In 1979, Kahneman and Tversky began to conduct a series of experiments that documents the ways people making decisions fall pretty to predictable biases. In 2002, their work won them the Nobel Prize in economics. In his book,, Kahneman brings those insights to a broader audience. The result is a comprehensive taxonomy of how our intuitions mislead us, and how we might go about making better decisions.Jonathan Haidtsextends these insights to the world of politics. In it, Haidt argues that politics is largely about moral tastes rather than whose policies are analytically stronger. Understanding intuition, not marshaling facts, is how Haidt believes public officials should proceed.Duncan Wattssshifts the focus from individuals to organizations. It describes the perils of what psychologists call hindsight bias and discusses how organizations can combat it. Read together, these books offer public officials a guidebook to how we think  and how we can think better. At a time when partisanship, ideological rigidity, and personal attacks are ever more common, these are strategies no public official can afford to ignore.Daniel Kahnemansstarts by introducing us to our minds. Note the plural tense: Kahneman argues that we should actually think of ourselves as having two minds, System 1 and System 2. System 1 is basically our intuition. It operates quickly and automatically. It handles the thousands of decisions we make every day with amazing ease. Almost everything we do is governed by System 1. But there is one thing System 1 is not good at  making difficult, analytic decisions. Those tasks are handled by System 2, the conscious, reasoning part of our mind that appears when we are doing calculations or considering a thorny problem.We have been trained to believe that System 2  the conscious, reasoning part of our minds  is basically in charge. But two generations of research have shown that reason seldom plays a role in our decision-making. In fact, we go to great lengths to avoid reasoning. People find cognitive effort at least mildly unpleasant and avoid it as much as possible, notes Kahneman. Using System 2 is tiring. Force people to think, and they might even get nasty. People who are writes Kahneman, are also more likely to make selfish choices, use sexist language, and make superficial judgments in social situations.Perhaps its just as well then that few of us are cognitively busy. Instead, most of us rely on intuition  System 1  to make even those decisions that should be made by System 2. Expert intuition informed by years of practice that results in superior pattern recognition can make certain types of expert judgments fast and reliable. But when confronted with more complex scenarios, such as predicting world events, expert intuition fails. Numerous experiments have shown that experts have greater confidence about their predictive abilities but achieve no higher rate of success. The average reader of the New York Times is as likely to predict the future of the Middle East as Thomas Friedman.Much of Kahnemans book is devoted to describing the different kinds of systematic intuitive errors system people make. A series of succinct chapters march readers through such tendencies as the halo effect, the tendency to ascribe impressions about observed attributes to unobserved attributes. (He arrived promptly at our meeting and was well prepared. We should hire him as our new IT person.); the anchoring effect, whereby the first figure mentioned strongly influences subsequent estimates or offers; availability bias, the tendency to worry about the fears that come to mind quickest, without regard for actual probabilities, exposure effect, whereby sheer repetition increases favorable feelings), and many more.The most powerful bias, however, is confirmation bias. We are tenacious in searching out evidence that validates our prior beliefs and ferocious at critiquing arguments that challenge them. We also tend to be overconfident. These tendencies can be dangerous for organizations considering new initiatives. Fortunately, Kahneman has clear recommendations on how to correct them. Say we are putting in place a new IT system. Instead of developing a plan and estimating the likelihood of success based on our assessment of our teams competency and the challenges we must surmount, Kahneman would have us seek out another fact: how often do similar projects come in on budget? We may be 80 percent confident that we can bring a project in on schedule and under budget, but if only 20 percent of people in similar positions succeed, Kahneman believes that we should fire up System 2 and accept that our chance of success is closer than to half and half than we might want to believe.The way most organizations run meetings is something Kahneman (along with virtually every other organizational psychologist) would change. Who isnt familiar with this scenario? An important decision must be made, and so a working group is formed. Then, a meeting is called where the decision is made. This is where things go wrong. The first person speaks. Immediately, the anchoring effect, confirmation bias, the halo effect and other biases begin to work. Instead of bringing challenging outside perspectives to the meeting, participants begin to cluster around the first opinions expressed. Instead of considering diverse opinions and a broad of possible outcomes, the group instead considers only a narrow range of options.Kahneman would have such meetings run in a very different fashion: he would have the meeting organizer ask participants to deliberate in advance and then bring short, written recommendations to the meeting. The result of this is a broader range of recommendations less influenced by bias and social pressure. The result, psychologists agree, is better decision-making.Kahnemans book is replete with insights and advice. However, the overall picture that emerges of people as decision-makers isnt very hopeful. We jump to conclusions quickly. We ignore evidence that doesnt fit our story. We are slow to seek out confounding evidence. Kahneman coins an acronym to describe it: WYSIATI  What you see is all there is. We are suggestible. What most of us describe as reasoning is really just rationalizing. By identifying the circumstances under which we make such errors, Kahneman hopes to give readers the tools to recognize when System 1 may be leading them to bad decisions or judgments. However, hes not particularly sanguine about the likelihood that he will succeed.Correcting your intuitive predictions is a task for System 2, says Kahneman. Unfortunately, [s]ignificant effort is required to find the relevant reference category, estimate the baseline prediction, and evaluation the quality of the evidence. The effort is justified only when the stakes are high and when you are particularly keen not to make mistakes.Indeed, most of us have a hard time recognizing that we are relying on an untrustworthy shortcut in the first place. There is no simple way for System 2 to distinguish between a skilled and a heuristic response, he acknowledges. Its only recourse is to slow down and attempt to construct an answer on its own, which it is reluctant to do because it is indolent.Psychologist Jonathan Haidt, the author of, shares Kahnemans belief that we should think of the mind as two systems. But where Kahneman speaks of System 1 and System 2, Haidt likens our mind to an elephant with a rider atop it. The rider (which corresponds to Kahnemans System 2) is not in control of the elephant (System 1). Like Kahneman, Haidt believes the role reason most commonly plays is one of justification, not judgment, which happens automatically and subconsciously. But while Kahneman sees this as a serious problem, Haidt appears to be unconcerned about the fact that the job of the rider is to serve the elephant. To some extent, that reflects his different area of focus. Kahneman is concerned primarily with decision-making and how people err in making complicated choices. Haidt is interested in a different type of judgment  moral judgments.Haidt makes a provocative claim about morality. He argues that moral judgments  and, by extension, political judgments  are like tastes. Just as some people prefer sweet food and others sour, so too do some people prefer to concern themselves with notions of harm and fairness while others are more concerned with liberty, loyalty, authority, and sanctity. Democrats have a taste for the first two values; Republicans have a more pronounced taste for the other values. Political partisans differ in their conception of fairness. For Democrats, the term summons up images of equality. For Republicans, fairness is about proportionality; meaning people should get what they deserve based on what theyve done.The implications of Haidts argument are disquieting. Forget trying to convince someone to accept your political opinion via argumentation. Would someone who likes sour food really expect to convince someone who prefers sweet food by making an argument that sour food is tastier? Much of what passes for political discourse is, in Haidts view, a waste of time. Or rather, it is dialogue that serves a different purpose  not convincing the other side that you are right but rather binding partisans more tightly to their political teams by sharing common narratives.Group cohesion has many virtues  particularly in small, competitive hunter-gathering societies. Unfortunately, however, this tendency serves society circa 2,000 BC better than it serves society circa 2,000 AD. Binding oneself to one narrative tends to blind people to other narratives. Fortunately, there are more effective ways for politicians to approach the task of persuasion.If you want to change peoples minds, youve got to talk to their elephants, Haidt writes. The main way that we change our minds on moral issues is by interacting with other people. If there is affection, admiration, or a desire to please the other person, then the elephant leans toward that person and the rider tries to find the truth in the other persons arguments.Of course, this is something the most partisan people among us are loath to do. Grappling with a different political perspective means firing up the dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex  the part of the brain that handles reasoning  and using System 2. That is tiring and unpleasant. In contrast, turning on to the Rush Limbaugh Show or tuning into Rachel Maddow provides a delightful dopamine release from the ventral striatum, the brains pleasure center.The partisan brain has been reinforced so many times for performing mental contortions that free it from unwanted beliefs, writes Haidt. Extreme partisanship may be literally addictive.The title of sociologist Duncan Wattss bookcomes with an asterisk. That asterisk directs the reader to an upside-down footnote on the bottom of the cover that reads, Once You Know the Answer. This, in short, is a book about hindsight bias.Consider one of the business worlds most famous case studies, the story of Sonys Betamax v. VHS. Sony was the first company to introduce a device that could record and play video. The alternative technology embraced by its rivals, VHS, was inferior in many ways. However, it was cheaper and supported by more manufacturers. As readers of a certain generation know, VHS won. A similar story about how Apple lost out to Microsoft seemed to unfold in the early days of the personal computing. As a result, when Apple launched the iPod twelve years later, many analysts predicted that it would soon by routed in the marketplace by an MP3 player that was cheaper and more open. It didnt happen. But that hasnt stopped many technology experts from arguing that its only a matter of time till the iPod and the iPhone succumb to the Android or some other more open device.Theres one problem with this argument. As the strategy consultant Michael Raynor has pointed out, the most common interpretation of why Sonys Betamax lost is actually wrong. Sony expected people to use their Betamax not to watch movies but rather to tape shows. Sony turned out to be wrong, but it was not as a result of bad planning. Indeed, most readers of this article probably have a digital video recorders attached to their television today. Sonys strategy wasnt unsound. Rather, Sony was simply unlucky.The idea that luck and contingency rather than skill and effort play large roles in determining the success or failure of most undertakings is not a congenial one. People make sense of the past not by acknowledging complexity but by telling stories. The simpler the story, the more persuasive it tends to be. This can create a dangerous dynamic. When something goes horribly awry in the public sector, there is inevitably a desire for so-called accountability. Hindsight bias lends false clarity to what was unclear at the time; the desire to tell a simple story takes over. Government agencies that have confronted these tendencies often respond by becoming even more bureaucratic.Because adherence to standard operating procedures is difficult to second-guess, decision makers who expect to have their decisions scrutinized with hindsight are driven to bureaucratic solutions  and to an extreme reluctance to take risks, writes Kahneman in Thinking Fast and Slow.Hindsight bias and our tendency to embrace simple stories that establish causation can also lead organizations to embrace the wrong types of leaders. Leaders who have been lucky are never punished for having taken too much risk, notes Kahneman. Instead, they are believed to have flair and foresight to anticipate success, and the sensible people who doubted them are seen in hindsight as mediocre, timid, and weak. A few lucky gambles can crown a reckless leader with a halo of prescience and boldness.Kahneman and Haidt have written fascinating, expansive books that will change the way readers approach decision making and, in the case of Haidts book, the arts of politics and persuasion. (Wattss more focused book, while also thought provoking, is better-suited for the management aficionado.) All three authors offer the hope that self-awareness will lead readers to correct their behavior. All three authors also know enough to know this is unlikely to occur very often. Organizations rather than individuals may be the better place to look for hope.We should not expect individuals to produce good, open-minded, truth-seeking reasoning, particularly when self-interest or reputational concerns are in play, writes Kahneman. Organizations are better than individuals when it comes to avoiding errors, because they naturally think more slowly and have the power to impose orderly procedures, he continues. Organizations can institute and enforce the application of useful checklists, as well as more elaborate exercises, such as reference-class forecasting and the premortem, whereby decision makers are asked to write a description of a policy or initiatives failure before it is implemented in order to identify potential problem areas.Watts, a sociologist, offers numerous suggestions for how organizations can avoid the kinds of decision-making errors that Kahneman catalogues. One of the approaches he champions is known as strategic flexibility. Instead of developing a single plan for the future, Watts, following business management expert Michael Raynor, argues that organizations should actually formulate a portfolio of strategies, with the actual strategy chosen to reflect the individual circumstances the organization faces.This, of course, is complicated and expensive, and, of course, it doesnt always work. Watts suggests that some organizations might fare better with a different approach, measure and react. Its an approach closely associated with the Spanish clothing retailer Zara, which is known for identifying emerging fashion trends and producing clothes that reflect them quickly, often in a matter of weeks rather than years.Kahneman shares Wattss hopes for organizations. If you put the individuals together in the right way, such that some individuals can use their reasoning powers to disconfirm the claims of others, and all individuals feel some common bond or shared fate that allows them to interact civilly, you can create a group that ends up producing good reasons as an emergent property of the social system, Kahenman writes. This is why its so important to have intellectual and ideological diversity within any group or institution whose goal is to find the truth (such as an intelligence agency or a community of scientist) or to produce good public policy (such as a legislature or advisory board.At a time when the public sector is under unprecedented pressure to perform better with few resources, these are insights that no public sector leader should ignore.
Prost enjoyed Verstappen dominance in 2023

F1 legend Alain Prost admits he has enjoyed watching Max Verstappen utterly dominate the 2023 season.

Max Verstappen, Abu Dhabi GP 2023

 Red Bull

Until now, the most dominant performance in Formula 1 history was when Prost and Ayrton Senna famously won all but one of the races in 1988 for McLaren - representing a 94 percent winning hit-rate.

But Red Bull's 21 wins out of 22 raised that winning percentage to a new all-time record - a 95.5 percent winning hit-rate.

Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali admits he'd like a more competitive contest in 2024.

Next year I'm hoping for more cars that can fight with each other, he told Sky Deutschland at the Abu Dhabi finale.

In qualifying here we had all 20 cars within a second. That means we can hope for a season where driver skill makes the difference. That's the important thing for us.

Quadruple world champion Prost, however, says that despite Verstappen's dominance, he enjoyed following the 2023 season.

I watched as a fan as I'm no longer involved with any team, said the 68-year-old.

"Many people have said it's been negative because one team and one driver dominate. But I always recognise when there are performances like Red Bull and Max.

When someone dominates like that, it's the sum of the work that is necessary that you are seeing. And all you can say is congratulations, the Frenchman added.

If you want to get to that level, you have to work better. I understand if it is frustrating at times, but on a personal level I thought it was great.

As for new triple consecutive world champion Verstappen, Prost thinks the Dutchman's racing rivals will be hard-pressed to catch up with him any time soon.

As drivers, we all have our driving styles and approaches, he said. "Max is still very young, but the focus he had on his career from the start and the passion for motorsport are very important.
Drive economic growth through sustainable practices  Businesses advised

Elizabeth Nyaadu Adu Business News Nov - 27 - 2023 , 11:50

THE wife of the Vice-President, Samira Bawumia, has called on businesses to integrate sustainability into their business practices amidst environmental challenges such as deforestation, pollution and climate change to help contribute to long-term economic growth.

She explained that factors such as rapid urbanisation, industrialisation and population growth have strained natural resources, resulting in deforestation, pollution and climate change.

These environmental issues, she said, did not only jeopardise the health of the planet but also the foundation of economic growth.

"Amidst these challenges, there lies a glimmer of hope  the realisation that sustainability does not impede economic growth but rather acts as a catalyst for it. A sustainable economy can flourish without compromising the well-being of future generations.

It is an economy that embraces innovation, efficiency and a circular approach to resource management, she said.

SSI awards

Mrs Bawumia made the call in a speech read on her behalf last Friday at the 7th Sustainability and Social Investment (SSI) Awards in Accra.

The seventh iteration, aptly named the Legacy edition, was on the theme: Sustainability and the Economy: Building a Sustainable Future for All.

Mrs Bawumia, who served as the special guest of honour, highlighted the global shift towards evaluating companies not solely based on revenue and profit figures but also on their sustainable and social impact.

Deeper collaboration

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mines and Technology (UMaT), Professor Richard K. Amankwah, challenged the traditional notion that sustainability and economic development are conflicting forces.

Instead, he showcased their symbiotic nature as essential components of a prosperous and equitable future.

He stressed the necessity for deeper collaboration between stakeholders, particularly industry and academia, to harmonise efforts toward increased economic growth with environmental preservation.

Award winners

Corporate entities and individuals leading the charge in championing sustainable and socially responsible practices within their communities were honoured at the 2023 Sustainability and Social Investment Awards (SSI).

The winners include FBN Bank Ghana, Charitable Giving and Philanthropy; Electrochem Ghana, Community Development and Infrastructure Project; ECOM Ghana, Climate Change Mitigation Projects; Anglogold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine, Economic Empowerment; UBA, Educational Sustainability Project; Volta River Authority, Employee Volunteering Initiatives; ECOM Ghana, Environmental Sustainability Project; Advans Ghana Savings and Loans Financial Literacy and Inclusion Project; Anglogold Ashanti Iduapriem Mine Girl Child Education and Empowerment Programme; Electrochem Ghana Providing Sanitation Facilities; and Ecobank Ghana ESG Integration, Reporting and Disclosure among others.
PETROSOL adjudged Brand of the Year 2023

Business Desk Report Business News Nov - 27 - 2023 , 11:35

PETROSOL Ghana Ltd, a leading Ghanaian Oil Marketing Company (OMC), was adjudged the Brand of the Year 2023, at the Ghana Energy Awards held recently in Accra. The event had the President of the Republic, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, as the Special Guest of Honour.

The Ghana Energy Awards recognises companies and individuals in the entire energy sector who exhibit excellence in industry practice and make significant contribution to national development.

The Chief Executive Officer of PETROSOL, Michael Bozumbil, was very delighted with the recognition, especially given that it was coming from such highly respected energy sector awards organisers. He said though the economic climate had been very challenging for businesses, the leadership of PETROSOL had stuck firmly to ethical business practices, with a focus on building a credible brand that served its customers with quality fuel and lubricants; that complied with its regulatory and tax obligations and was also socially responsible.

He dedicated the award to their cherished customers across the country who had demonstrated incredible confidence in and loyalty to the PETROSOL brand over the years, as well as their dedicated dealers and staff, whose hard work and commitment to duty had earned the company the award.

Mr Bozumbil was also grateful to their regulators as well as other key stakeholders for their support over the years.

Mr Bozumbil further indicated that he and his team believed in continuous improvement and thus, would not rest on their oars but remain focused in ensuring that they enhanced their performance so as to continue to deliver value for money to their customers and contribute to national development.

PETROSOL, which operates several fuel stations across the country, has triple International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) certification for Quality Management System; Environmental Management System; and Organisational Health & Safety Management System.
Dont drive into the new year with expired tyres, your life matters!

Attah-Effah Badu, Vulco Ghana Opinion Nov - 26 - 2023 , 11:36

As the festive season approaches and travel plans take centre stage, there is one crucial element that should not be overlooked  the condition of your vehicle's tyres. Tyres are the sole connection between your vehicle and Ghanas roads; the safety of you or your loved ones may depend on their condition.

The National Road Safety Authority (NRSA) estimates that about 10 per cent of road crashes in Ghana can be attributed to tyre failures. It is therefore recommended that you check for signs of ageing such as sidewall cracking, bulges, or uneven wear patterns. Importantly, if your tyres have been used for a long time, you may have to consider changing them, irrespective of their appearance.

Do tyres expire?

Yes, tyres expire, and when they do, the internal components used to manufacture them become weak, rendering them less reliable and safe, regardless of their apparent tread depth or visible condition. The consensus among tyre manufacturers and safety groups, including the European Tyre and Rim Technical Organization is that vehicle owners should replace their tyres roughly every 5-6 years from the date of manufacture.

How do you spot an expired tyre?

While tyres may not come with a clear "use by" label, they are equipped with a series of numbers known as the DOT Code or Tyre Identification Number (TIN), often located on the sidewall. The last four digits of this number reveal the week and year of manufacture. For instance, 2519" translates to the 25th week of 2019. Now check the tyres under your vehicle and do the calculation yourself. If your tyres are over six years expired, it's advisable to treat them as expired, even if they appear visually good. If in doubt, contact a certified vulcanizer for assistance.

Dangers of using expired tyres:

 Limited Traction:

As tyres age, their ability to effectively grip the road diminishes. This translates to longer stopping distances, a critical factor leading to collisions. This becomes especially pronounced during adverse weather conditions, such as heavy rain or harmattan. Keep in mind that tyres with inadequate tread are more prone to skidding, increasing the risk of accidents.

 Tyre Bursts:

Expired tyres are prone to punctures, bulges and blowouts. A tyre burst, especially at high speeds, can lead to loss of control and serious accidents. New quality tyres like Goodyear tyres provide the strength and resilience needed to withstand the rigours of the road, reducing the likelihood of tyre-related incidents.

 Decreased Fuel Efficiency:

When tyres expire, the rolling resistance increases, requiring more fuel to propel the vehicle. By investing in new and properly maintained tyres, not only do you enhance your safety but also improve fuel economy.

 Unstable Vehicle:

Expired tyres can affect the overall stability of your vehicle. Uneven tyre wear, common in aged tyres, can lead to imbalances, affecting the alignment and suspension systems. This, in turn, compromises the vehicle's stability and handling.

New tyres offer improved handling and stability. They respond better to steering inputs, providing a smoother and more controlled driving experience.

Dont be part of the tyre failure statistics this festive season, make changing expired tyres a priority on your checklist. Choose safety, drive responsibly. Ghana needs you alive!
ECG, explain this

Mark Logo Opinion Nov - 27 - 2023 , 12:09

Of late, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has resorted to a strange billing system for post-paid customers in parts of the Volta Region (l don't know of other parts of the country).

ECG has resorted to what l term presumptive billing system, where consumers are given arbitrary bills to pay based on previous consumption patterns.

It is a case where consumption is not based on actual units of power consumed by meter readings.

ECG has not engaged stakeholders to explain this new billing system to consumers to get them informed on this new development.

Customers are only presented with bills not based on meter readings only for staff of ECG to engage in aggressive commando style disconnection exercises to cut power to "defaulting" consumers.

What bothers consumers in the affected communities is why meters installed by ECG are being rendered redundant only for capricious bills to be presented for consumers to pay.

Consumers are also wondering why prepaid meters are not being installed for all consumers.

While on the strange new billing system, let us also consider the high cost of electricity in the country.

The ECG may have several reasons for their action, but have they taken into consideration the effect on other sectors of the economy?

Several years ago, a big manufacturing company based in the Cote dIvoire relocated to Ghana at the height of the civil war in that country.

The company set up on the Spintex Road and commenced business by employing a large number of Ghanaians.

After just two years of operations however, the company wrote to inform the GRA of its intention to fold up business in Ghana.

The reason for this action was given as high operation costs due to the high electricity cost.

Can ECG consider this to lower their tariffs to boost investor confidence in Ghana to encourage production and to help solve our unemployment woes?

Mark Logo,

Tema.
Evaluating leadership beyond school ties

Adam Abdul-Fatawu Opinion Nov - 27 - 2023 , 11:13

I have observed, with grave concern, the spirited debate among the alumni of Ghana Senior High School (GHANASCO) and Tamale Senior High School (TAMASCO) regarding the potential leadership qualities of former President John Dramani Mahama and Vice-President Alhaji Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.

However, amid the debate, there is the need to assess leadership based on competence rather than school affiliations.

It is noteworthy that former President Mahama, a distinguished figure in Ghana's political landscape and leader of the largest opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) party, is an alumnus of GHANASCO, while Vice-President Bawumia of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) attended TAMASCO.

The allegiance to one's alma mater often plays a role in supporting candidates, but the focus should transcend such biases towards a more inclusive evaluation of leadership capabilities.

As a nation, Ghana stands at a crossroads, grappling with multifaceted challenges spanning economic stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and governance.

Hence, the need for a leader who possesses the acumen, vision and determination to navigate these complexities and steer the country toward progress.

The discussions among alumni associations have sparked a broader national dialogue about the fundamental principles guiding the selection of leaders.

It is imperative to move beyond personal affiliations and prioritise qualities such as experience, vision and dedication to national development.

The emphasis now resonates with Ghanaians across the country and the influential alumni of both GHANASCO and TAMASCO.

The search for leadership should prioritise meritocracy over school ties.

The collective effort to identify a leader who embodies a commitment to inclusive development and national prosperity is paramount.

The upcoming elections beckon a critical moment for Ghanaians to rally behind a leader whose competence aligns with the country's aspirations.

This transcends the alma mater of the candidates and focuses squarely on their ability to navigate the complexities of governance and foster progress for all.

My call is for Ghanaians, regardless of their educational backgrounds and alma maters, to unite in seeking a leader whose vision, competence and dedication resonates with the needs and aspirations of the nation.

Adam Abdul-Fatawu Wunizoya,

Freelance Journalist, Tamale-Ghana.
Impact, shortcomings of school uniforms

Samuel Edward Bruce Opinion Nov - 27 - 2023 , 10:20

In our globalised world, the definition of a school uniform goes beyond regional customs; it is a global phenomenon, with over 20 per cent of students world-wide wearing these standardised outfits.

School uniforms have transcended borders and cultures, serving as a common thread in the education experience globally.

Critics argue that uniforms may stifle individuality and creativity, while others believe they foster a sense of belonging, create equality and improve discipline and focus.

Moreover, uniforms help reduce socio-economic inequalities resulting from alternative clothing.

Every student, regardless of background, stands on equal footing in their uniform.

Evidence shows these garments play a pivotal role in shaping a positive educational experience world-wide.

This narrative takes a turn when considering countries like Germany, where school uniforms aren't common.

German students express their personality through clothing choices, encouraging a different approach to education and self-expression.

As we explore the impact of school uniforms, let us journey back in time to when uniforms held a significant subtle prowess.

Donning a school uniform was more than attire; it granted privileges and convenience, sparing wearers from laborious queues at post offices and bus stops.

Story

The story goes back to the colonial era when missionaries introduced school uniforms to the Gold Coast.

Missionary schools such as the Basel and Wesleyan missions, dating back to 1895, proudly introduced the uniform culture.

Ghana's schools have since embraced it.

Fast forward to 2019, the Ghana Education Service (GES) unveiled a fresh set of uniforms for Junior High School (JHS) students to bridge the transition to secondary school.

Primary students, however, continued with their existing uniforms (kokonte ne nkatinkwan) until completing primary education.

Journey

Reflecting on this journey, it is clear that school uniforms are more than attires; they unlock the potential of education.

During an exclusive interview, Michael Annang, the administrative director of Sterling International School in Accra, highlighted the psychological impact of school uniforms on students.

He emphasised that students who did not wear prescribed uniforms could face exclusion from school activities by their peers.

Psychologically, students' concerns are a cause of anxiety for both parents and school administrators, because they wish to wear uniforms to avoid being excluded by their friends.

Their desire is rooted in a yearning for a sense of belonging.

A student in Accra, Nana Kwame Owusu Frimpong, said, "I am consistently motivated to attend school."

Imperative

As Ghana's Educational Transformative Agenda gains momentum, cost and quality challenges must be addressed.

It is imperative for the government to ensure affordable uniforms for all public schools, aligning with the goal of revolutionising education by 2030.

Supporting this proposition, Jane Kesewah Ayeh, former Headmistress of Twimia Koase Methodist JHS, stressed the government should provide uniforms free or reduce costs for students.

Challenges also lie in the quality of the fabric.

Both mission and private schools face this issue, with mission schools considering government intervention and private schools seeking support from branding experts.

The CEO of Rissemma Company Limited, an outfit responsible for the production of over 500,000 yards of school uniforms for different institutions, Mr Joe Dzitse, proposes a solution to the cost and quality challenge, suggesting that school administrators turn to cotton-polyester fabrics for their uniforms.

These fabrics, a perfect marriage of durability and comfort, promise to be a sound investment in the future of education, the branding entrepreneur said.

The story of school uniforms is a captivating journey.

They're more than attires; they're the key to unlocking the potential of education in Ghana.

The writer is with Sovereign Way Media-a media agency.
The spiritual foundations of our democracy

Prof. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng Opinion Nov - 27 - 2023 , 11:26

I would have wished our system of governance would have been based on traditional system that is part of us and is understood by the people.

In the Akan communities, which I know well we have the king or a chief and his cabinet made up of various high-ranking Nananom.

Examples are Krontihene, who is responsible for the day-to-day administration; Adontenhene is Defence Minister; Sanaahene, the Finance Minister; Sumankwaahene could be classified as Minister for Health and Okyeame, the Information Minister.

This is largely the same in many other ethnic groups in the country. But in all these traditional structures, there are spiritual foundations that formed them.

Unfortunately, our tradition has not yet developed to a level that can manage the complex world challenges, such as encountered in education, foreign affairs, environment, agriculture, infrastructure, transportation, law enforcement and many others.

We have adopted the American Democratic system and it is not for me to judge whether it is working well or not. However, I subscribe to it.

It is important to note that the foundations of this democracy are purely biblical. Modern democracy as we know it started with the work of pilgrims who settled in America in the 17th Century.

The first group of pilgrims led by William Bradford sailed from Plymouth in England and arrived in Cape Cod in America in late December 1620.

They believed the Church of England was so worldly and corrupt that they had to separate from it and establish their own church, one which was true to biblical principles in a new land where they could worship and live according to the teachings of Scripture.

Before setting foot on the rocky coast of Cape Cod, the leaders of the pilgrims met in the captain's cabin and drew up the first contract of government, the Mayflower Compact, which is regarded as America's "birth certificate,". Its purpose was to establish a "Holy Commonwealth" in which only believers in Jesus Christ were fully part of the community.

The Mayflower compact is recognized by scholars as the founding document that led to a whole series of covenants, compacts and constitutions culminating in the United States constitution framed in 1787.

Consequently there is widespread influence of biblical thought and principles in the American legal system and the constitution of the United States.

Indeed, the Bible is regarded by many as the standard of American Society and its legal and political systems, at least, as envisaged by their Founding Fathers.

Most if not all the presidential democracies in the world are a form of copy of the American system.

In this system the basis of good governance is the separation of powers, which the framers of the American constitution borrowed from Chapter 33 and verse 22 of the book of the Prophet Isaiah in the Bible. This passage reads: For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our King; it is he who will save us.

Here the Bible clearly describes the separation of powers. The Lord is our judge points to the Judiciary; the Lord is our lawgiver refers to Parliament and the Lord is our King refers to the Executive.

Governments are, therefore, established on these biblical principles. These cardinal principles are to secure the lives of citizens; to preserve the liberties of individual citizens and to create conditions that will allow the citizens to pursue their happiness. Any government or for that matter any political tradition that becomes destructive of these ends should be abolished by the people. Any political tradition that flouts the rights of citizens, therefore, forfeits the right to govern the people, who in the first place decide who governs them.

The Bible tells us about the kind of individuals God recommends to lead nations. In Exodus 18: 21 Moses receives the following instructions from God: But select capable men from all the people-men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain-and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. Again, in Deuteronomy 1:13 Moses is told to: Choose some wise, understanding men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you.

King David echoes the same message in Psalm 33: 12: "Blessed is the nation whose God is Jehovah."

We must therefore always seek to choose people who fear God, are trustworthy, honest, and wise to lead us. Such people understand the concepts of rights of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness. Again, such leaders have respect for separation of powers of the Judiciary, Legislature, and the Executive, knowing the vulnerabilities of power concentrated in one individual.

A Leader who professes Christianity but is not committed to God is just a pretender who does not appreciate the eternal biblical principles that must be respected and followed to ensure good service to God and humanity.

It is only when a Leader understands the spiritual foundation of our democracy that such a leader will seek to follow the many passages in the Bible that address bribery and corruption, such as these: God condemns the acceptance of kickbacks and bribes: Deuteronomy 16:19: You shall not distort justice; you shall not be partial, and you shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and perverts the words of the righteous. Exodus 23:8: You shall not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and subverts the cause of the just. Proverbs 17:23: A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.

Again, God condemns cheating and unfair acts in negotiations. Leviticus 19:35-36: Do not use dishonest standards when measuring length, weight, or quantity. Use honest scales and honest weights, an honest ephah and an honest hin. I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. Public officials must be content with their salary. Luke 3:14: Some soldiers also asked him (Jesus), saying: And we, what shall we do? And he said to them: Do not extort anyone, nor slander; and be content with your wages.

Anyone who is oblivious of these scriptural injunctions on bribery and corruption is not fit to lead a people whose democracy is firmly hinged on biblical principles.

What is more important is choosing a leader who believes and understand that, his character and spirituality direct the country he leads.

But a leader who does not fear God cannot be a good leader to offer prosperity to his people.

A leader who supervises treachery, corruption and wanton destruction of his countrys environment for the interest of the few cannot be a leader who possesses the needed quality to ensure the spiritual foundation of the country is advanced.

The current situation in Ghana clearly shows that, our leaders do not only lack what it takes to believe in the cardinal biblical principles our democracy hinges on but have equally departed from the face of God.

Our current democracy has not only bred sorrow and hardships among the large populace of Ghanaians but has gradually messed up the mindset of the average person.

Today our leaders have not only sewed hopelessness among our youth but have equally eroded any confidence in them that they can make in Ghana.

This clearly shows that, the spiritual foundation of our democracy has been lost on our leaders because they do not believe and practice any of the biblical principles supposed to be the basis of their rule.

Many other countries have chosen a form of government that is based on Islamic laws, and it appears to be working well for them. Still others rely on Hindu Culture for their governance system. Japanese are guided by Shintoism, and it has served them well.

Since we have chosen the democracy that is based on biblical laws and precepts, we shall do well to build enduring legacies on this solid spiritual foundation.
"It's time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to... make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime," he went on to say.
Don't criminalise LGBT - Cardinal Turkson on Bill in Ghanaian Parliament

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Nov - 27 - 2023 , 15:53

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson has said homosexuality and LGBT in general should not be a criminal offence and that people should be helped to understand the issue better.

My position has simply been this, that LGBT, gay people may not be criminalised, because theyve committed no crime, but neither should this position also become something to be imposed on cultures, which are not yet ready to accept stuffs like that, he added.

Cardinal Turkson stated this in an interview on the BBC's HARDtalk programme with Stephen Sackur, monitored by Graphic Online on Monday morning [Nov 27, 2023].

It is time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime," he added.

His answer followed a question asked during the interview in relation to the bill currently in the Ghanaian Parliament seeking to impose stiffer punishment on LGBT practices in Ghana.

Cardinal Turkson had been asked, You are Ghanaian, this summer, the Ghanaian Parliament passed, it is called the Appropriate sexual rights and family values at which a tougher regime for gay people clearly criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, up to 10 years in prison for LGBT The Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference said that western countries must stop incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us. Are you backing that statement and therefore defending the criminalisation of homosexuality?

In his explanation, Cardinal Turkson reiterated that his position is contrary to what was in the Ghanaian Parliament.

"LGBT cases are not to be criminalised but neither, and this I think is basically what caused all of this in Ghana. The Ghanaian culture has known of people, with some such tendencies, and I say this because there is an expression in the local Akan language, that of mine, of men who act like women, and women who act like men, there is an expression for them, which means that this phenomenon has been known, was known in the culture and in the community and all of that."

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson who is seen by some as a candidate to become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years referred to the fact that in one of Ghana's languages, Akan, there is an expression "men who act like women and women who act like men" and stressed that, that this was an indication that homosexuality was not an imposition from outside.

Below are some excerpts of the interview transcribed by Graphic Online

Stephen Sackur: Lets start with something which is very current, that is the discussion in the church on key issues of sexuality and gender.

Now I refer the beginning of this interview to Pope Francis and the hopes that have been vested in him to show leadership. I will put it to you that on some of these key issues for example, the churches attitude to homosexuality, for example the possibility of giving blessing to gay marriages in church, the attitude to LGBTQ community generally. Pope Francis has sent a confusion, not a clear message.

Cardinal Turkson: No, but lately about a week or so ago he came out with a small document just saying clearly what his position on all of these are, that LGBT people can be blessed, they can be admitted to church, and all of that, they can even become God parents of children and people who are being baptised and all of that. So he [Pope] himself has signalled, partly stuffs that used to be left neck below, undecided and all that and come clearly with these

Stephen Sackur: So you see him [Pope] as now following a policy which many people regard as, within the Catholic perspective, liberal, doesnt that put you [Turkson], personally in a very difficult position. Because your own position for example on homosexuality seems quite clear, I have looked at your record over many years, you have been a consistent conservative on these issues.

Cardinal Turkson: Those are the expressions again, conservative, progressive, you know, my thing has been this, and Ill refer you to an interesting episode, a situation I got into responding to an invitation to go speak in Slovenia at one point and then the Bishops were wondering whether to allow it because there was a lot of media agitation.

My position has simply been this, that LGBT, gay people may not be criminalised because theyve committed no crime, but neither should this position also become something to be imposed on cultures, which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.

Stephen Sackur: You are Ghanaian, this summer, the Ghanaian Parliament passed, it is called the Appropriate sexual rights and family values at which a tougher regime for gay people clearly criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, up to 10 years in prison for LGBT

The Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference said that western countries must stop in incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us. Are you backing that statement and therefore defending the criminalisation of homosexuality?

Cardinal Turkson: What I just said to you is, my position is contrary to what has just been passed, to criminalise anybody, if you are able to identify the crime, LGBT cases are not to be criminalised but neither, and this I think is basically what caused all of this in Ghana, the Ghanaian culture has known of people, with some such tendencies, and I say this because there is an expression in the local Akan language that of mine, of men who act like women, and women who act like men, there is an expression for them, which means that this phenomenon is been known, was known in the culture and in the community and all of that.

But nobody went on to make any policy out of that, now I think what caused all of these was our attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions, which needed to be imposed in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights and stuffs like that. I think that is what led to this thing going to Parliament otherwise for me...

Stephen Sackur: The point I get is that there seems to be a real difficulty among senior Catholics in Africa to speak out against this criminalisation of homosexuality and we can look at Ghana, and we can also look at Uganda where they even gone further, and whether the new law in Ghana actually carry the death penalty, what they call aggravated homosexuality. And what we also see is that in Uganda the official leadership of the Catholic Church has stayed silent, has not condemned what the Ugandan Parliament has approved of.

Cardinal Turkson: It is because what I think the move should be is to be a lot of education about certainly cultural attitudes in some of these regards are very deeply rooted and all of that, and we need a lot of education to get people to separate, make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime, what is the personal habit and not a personal habit. So something that traditionally maybe referred to as a taboo and all of that it takes time

Stephen Sackur: According to the Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference it is despicable lifestyles, practices and behaviours. Is it time, and you are one of the single voices from western Africa, is it time to move away from that kind of language.

Cardinal Turkson: it is time to begin education to help people understand what this really, this phenomenon is. If culturally we have expressions for this time of things, it just means that it is not completely alien to the Ghanaian society. Not just alien to the Ghanaian society, now that it is coming out what has to and what has to be the response. I think this drastic form that it has taken in Ghana and probably in Uganda is bringing the perception that the west was imposing this, connecting or linking it with donations and grants and all of time, is kind of politicise the thing in such a way that the reaction has also been political in character.

But I think, all of this from my point of view, and this is what I think I speak about with a couple of other Bishops is to be able to understand more deeply this phenomenon."

Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Ill guard countrys peace - President assures nation

Donald Ato Dapatem & Joshua Bediako Koomson Nov - 27 - 2023 , 12:31

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said he will ensure that no person or group, no matter the political colouration, destabilises the country or destroys the peace.

The President, however, appealed for the support of the Church and every Ghanaian, who, he said, must pray for the peace and unity of the country.

I want to state for the record that under my watch no person or group of persons, no matter their political colouration, will destabilise our country nor destroy the peace that all of us are enjoying. It will not happen, President Akufo-Addo stressed.

I need the support of every Ghanaian, together with the prayers of the church, to help me and the government to carry out our mandate successfully, he added.

Valedictory speech

President Akufo-Addo said this when he gave the Valedictory speech for the outgoing 18th Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev. Professor Joseph Ofori Yeboah Mante, at the Victory Congregation of the Presbyterian Church, Frafraha, Adenta in the Greater Accra Region.

The President described the outgoing Moderator as someone who had acquitted himself creditably in the office, being an effective leader of the church and the Christian community in Ghana.

He is a good definition of a Presbyterian, lover of God and mankind, strict disciplinarian, modest, hardworking, straight-talking and orderly during his time in office, President Akufo-Addo said.

He said throughout Rev. Prof. Mantes tenure, the Presbyterian Church could still boast of staying true to the attributes that it stood for, adding that I am sure his services to our country are by no means over. In whatever capacity you will find yourself, our nation will continue to benefit from your rich experience and leadership, the President stated.

The church

President Akufo-Addo expressed the nations gratitude to the Presbyterian Church for all the assistance it had offered the country in the areas of education, health and agriculture, among others, for over a century.

He said that had contributed to the development of the people and the advancement of the nation.

Economy

The President also gave an assurance that the government was working hard to bring the economy back to the high rates of growth that characterised the management of the economy in the years preceding the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020 which made it one of the fastest growing in the world at the time.

We can only do so if we forge ahead in unity and faith and I have the belief that by the grace of the almighty God, the fortunes of Ghana, under the presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo, will be restored, he stated.

President Akufo-Addo further said he was aware of the hard times, but it was clear that the economy had turned the corner and was rebounding to growth and development.

He said to get there, it required some difficult and hard decisions, and that those policies and programmes being implemented were meant to address the challenges, with evidence emerging that such results were being achieved.

Nevertheless, I'll continue to need your understanding and active cooperation. We can make it, if all of us work at it, the President said.

Uplifting the soul

Preaching a sermon from Psalm 103:4 of the Holy Bible, Rt Rev. Prof. Mante urged Christians to have joy in worshipping God to help lift their souls into the divine presence.

He explained that the soul was the inner self of every human and was designed in such a way that it found its real meaning when it was in good relationship with God.

The Rt Rev. Prof. Mante said one of the ways by which the soul could find rest was to worship the Lord, adding that worshipping the Lord would lift the soul up into divine presence and reminded Christians never to forget all the benefits and blessings they received from the Lord.

No matter where God has placed you, do not forget where you were before God came through for you and always look back to give thanks to God and appreciate Him, the former Moderator said.

He insisted: God has done a lot for all of us and if you dont know what He has done for you, the fact that you are alive is enough and always remember that it is the Lord who has kept you this far.

Background

Rt Rev. Prof. Mante was ordained as a minister of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana in 1981 and has since served the church in different capacities.

He served as resident minister at different places within PCG both in Ghana and outside Ghana.

From 2006 to 2011, he also served as the Presbytery Chairperson, which is equivalent to a Bishop, in the Akuapem Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

Within that period, he served as a member of the churchs General Assembly Council.

In 2018, he was elected and declared the new Moderator of the PCG to succeed Rt Rev. Prof. Cephas Narh Omenyo.

He will be succeeded by Rev. Dr Abraham Nana Opare-Kwakye, who, until his election, was the Chairperson of the Ga Presbytery.

Rev. Dr Opare-Kwakye was elected at the 23rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church on Thursday, August 17, this year.
39th National Farmers Day: Corporate sponsorship challenges, matters arising

Severious Kale-Dery Nov - 27 - 2023 , 06:50

The National Farmers Day, which acknowledges the role of farmers in the country, is celebrated annually to show the countrys gratitude to them for putting food on dining tables daily.

Every year, items worth thousands of Ghana cedis go to the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) for onward presentation to deserving farmers for distinguishing themselves in ensuring that food is served on the table daily.

Corporate Bodies

But this could not have been possible without the commitment and generosity of corporate Ghana through donations of items and cash.

Over the years, some companies and institutions have always supported the ministry to make the celebration not only successful but also eventful.

Consistently over the years, some companies have made it a point to always give towards the celebration, even when there is economic crisis.

The celebration has evolved over the years, with the introduction of innovative ideas and new prize categories; thus, calling for more sponsorship.

This years celebration, the 39th edition is no exception.

Categories

For instance, this year, a total of 15 award categories of farmers will receive recognition at the awards night in Tarkwa.

These are the Overall National Best Farmer, the 1st and 2nd runners-up National Best Farmers and 12 others, including the National Best Livestock Farmer, the National Best Female Farmer, the National Best Physically Challenged Farmer, the Overall National Best Fisher, the National Best Marine Fisher and the National Best Inland Fisher.

The rest are the National Best Fisher Farmer, the National Best Fish Processor, the National Best Cocoa Farmer, the National Best Most Promising Young Cocoa Farmer, the National Best Most Enterprising Cocoa and the Female Farmer and National Best Shea Nut Picker.

Regional/district levels

At the regional level, there would be five regional award categories per region, namely the Regional Best Farmer, the Regional Best Livestock Farmer, the Regional Best Female Farmer, the Regional Best Fisher, and the Regional Physically Challenged Farmer.

The district-level celebrations are expected to be held in the 261 districts and will cover three categories per district, namely the District Best Farmer, the District Best Livestock Farmer and the District Best Crop Farmer.

Key sponsors

It is at this point that companies such as the ADB Bank, Ghana EXIM Bank and Stanbic Bank have stood tall for over a decade now.

The three, over the years, donated the overall, first and second-runners-up prizes respectively.

Last week, Ghana EXIM Bank donated an LS plus 80 Tractor (80HP 4WD) and accessories worth GH711,000 with a life-span of 30 years to be presented to the First Runner-Up, while Stanbic Bank also presented a 375 Massey Ferguson valued at about GH560,000 to be presented to the Second Runner-Up.

ADB, which has been the headline sponsor for over two decades, which began with a three-bedroom house to the release of money for the winner for a specific project of expansion of the activities is yet to crown the presentation.

Declining sponsorship

No doubt, these institutions and the over 50 others that have done this over the years deserve commendation for their commitment to the agriculture sector to ensure food sufficiency and security.

The worrying trend in recent times, however, has been the declining numbers of donor institutions even though the demand for the prizes remains the same if not even more.

Even though some companies sometimes make their donations at the forecourt of the programme, as of yesterday Sunday, November 26, less than 20 companies have donated towards the event with less than five days to go.

Indeed, the weeklong agricultural festival dubbed Agrifest Ghana 2023 has already started today, Monday, November 27 to be climaxed on Friday, December 1, 2023.

I believe the time has come for the ministry to take a retrospective account of its dealing with corporate Ghana, especially the regular donors, to ascertain what might have caused their disinterest in the support of this worthy cause.

Showing appreciation

Some felt the ministry had not shown enough appreciation, while others felt that their support, especially the items did not get to the final beneficiaries who are the farmers.

These are issues that need to be looked at seriously.

That is particularly so because most of the donor companies are always at the climax where the farmers are awarded and their products are often nowhere among the items presented to the farmers.

The question is: Has the ministry taken the pain to engage the companies one-on-one or as a group to seek their opinions on their contribution and the way forward for this worthy cause or it is just business as usual?

Needed publicity

The National Farmers Day has come a long way and after almost 40 years of its existence, it should be companies fighting to be among the lead sponsors and not just one of them, or not just wait for appeals from the ministry for donations for the day.

Unless there is a radical response by corporate Ghana to the appeals by the ministry, the possibility of the ministry voting money for the celebration of the 39th edition from its scanty resources is high.

Except for the publication of the donations in the media, very little is heard of the contribution until during the climax, when the master of the ceremony occasionally mentions the list of sponsors.

The ministry must relook at the publicity aspect to give the sponsors confidence to give more and also be open to the distribution of prize logistics for confidence in the day and the award to our gallant farmers.
Chamber of Mines pushes for more local content

Suleiman Mustapha Nov - 27 - 2023 , 09:56

It may have taken close to a century, but finally, Ghanas vibrant mining industry, now one of the biggest gold producers on the entire African continent  is being brought into the mainstream of economic activity across the nation.

This is crucial; for most of the past 100 years, the mining industry had correctly been criticised for being an enclave one, spending $2.81 billion on goods and services sourced from producers and suppliers within the country, $43.30 million on corporate social investments, $1.4 billion on taxes, levies and duties, and $678 million on salaries and emoluments of employees.

The mining sector contributed $1.41 billion in mineral export revenue routed through the Bank of Ghana and GH2.73b that passed through the commercial banks.

This foreign exchange helps to boost the countrys reserves.

The sheer size of mine development financing costs require that mining firms are listed on foreign, more developed and liquid stock markets than the Ghana Stock Exchange, although a couple have listed locally in addition to their foreign listing to give Ghanaians a chance to buy into (insignificantly) small portions of their equity.

Again, the end products of mining activities are necessarily sold on international commodity markets rather than local markets which deprive the domestic commerce community of deriving business opportunities.

However, over the past half a decade, Ghanas mining industry has taken deliberate, concerted steps toward mainstreaming it into the wider economy and this has produced impressive results.

Key here has been the drawing up of a mining list which identifies an ever-increasing array of production inputs which mining companies are required to procure locally.

This has dramatically increased the local sourcing of such inputs, giving local enterprise huge production and sales opportunities.

There are still problems though.

Most notably, a significant proportion of locally procured products are actually imported and only qualify as locally procured because they were secured through enterprises registered and domiciled in Ghana.

Although this too, adds to business opportunities and wealth generation by local firms along the supply chain, it is not an optimal situation.

Affirmative action

Crucially though, Ghanas mining companies, operating through their industry association, the Ghana Chamber of Mines, are determined to change the situation for the better.

Locally produced goods should mean locally manufactured goods, as much as is possible asserts Dr Sulemanu Koney, the chambers Chief Executive Officer.

This however requires deliberate affirmative action to dramatically upgrade the capacity of local producers of mining industry inputs, with regards to production volumes, product quality and price competitiveness.

Instructively, it is the mining industry itself through its chamber, rather than government that is leading this drive.

For instance, the chamber has been engaging the Ghana Association of Bankers to facilitate the provision of competitively priced funding to support the local content agenda.

Consequently, the two associations are now developing special purpose vehicles for the provision of supply chain financing for local mine support services companies.

Even more instructively, the chambers producing members are deliberately turning a blind eye to the availability of cheaper imported alternatives to the locally produced versions they tend to, opt for.

Regulations

The regulations require them to opt for the local version rather than the foreign alternative as long as the former is not more than five per cent more expensive than the latter but mining companies in Ghana willingly accept local versions that are up to 10 per cent more expensive, without prodding from anywhere.

However product quality cannot be compromised on like pricing can and this is where the chamber is making potentially its most promising interventions, having devised a product quality improvement strategy for local manufacturers that not only stands to make them quality  competitive for Ghanas mining industry, but for all industries they are involved in and for markets all across Africa.

This strategy is based on quality standardisation through collaborative action between the chamber, manufacturers, product standards institutions and government itself.

It has already been instituted in the electrical cables industry  the quality of which is crucial to the mining industry but which hitherto was not subject to universally accepted international quality standards.

It involved a procedure developed and implemented over half a decade of intensive research, conceptualisation and actual implementation and has produced excellent results  Ghana now produces electrical cabling that is accepted worldwide for its quality.

Quality standards

But even more importantly, the procedure used to arrive at the standards for locally manufactured electrical cables can be used for all sorts of other locally made products too.

Indeed, this goes far beyond their usefulness to Ghanas mining industry; it shows that the mining industry can play a vital role in ensuring that locally manufactured products meet quality standards that would enable them to be internationally competitive.

Coming at a time that the African Continental Free Trade Agreement is opening up markets all around the continent to made in Ghana products on preferential, duty-free terms, this can prove pivotal.

Here, the mining industry, thus goes far beyond providing a market for Ghanaian manufacturers.

Through the product quality standards it is setting, such as with electrical cables, it is challenging them to meet the standards than to make them competitive all-around Africa and indeed globally.

Given that transnational firms demand that their inputs meet globally acceptable standards, ultimately with the appropriate development programmes in place, local companies will not only be in a position to be competitive in producing for the local transnational firms, but also be able to compete in the regional and African markets.

The presence of transnational firms such as large-scale mining companies in a developing country as ours provides a fillip for building the local capacity of local producers of their inputs asserts Sulemanu Koney

Accordingly, while deepening local content is a desirable goal, the building blocks to a competitive, sustainable and thriving local production base is predicated on a sound strategy that includes appropriate supply development programmes.

Lasting legacy

This is precisely what Ghanas mining industry has facilitated with regards to electrical cables; and having identified a most effective process, is now positioned to replicate with regards to a host of other products which it uses and which can be made in Ghana and sold worldwide.

This may turn out to be the biggest and longest lasting legacy of Ghanas mining industry, and its members, through their chamber, are leading by example.

The chamber is already heavily invested in a comprehensive, thoroughly workable initiative aimed at making the industry, a hub for mining support services across the whole of West Africa.

Indeed, even as Ghanas mining industry has proven hugely successful in mainstreaming it into the wider national economy, it has already embarked on the next step  facilitating the capacity of local industry to compete in foreign markets using the local mining industry as the staging post.

Thus, it is establishing a legacy that will prove crucial to Ghanas economic performance well into the future.
Channel more funds to climate adaptation - Danish minister tells Ghana, developing countries

Timothy Ngnenbe Nov - 27 - 2023 , 08:55

The Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy, Dan Jorgensen, has urged Ghana and other developing countries, particularly in Africa, to commit more climate financing into adaptation interventions.

Mr Jorgensen said investment projects that promoted the planting of trees, preservation of greeneries, protection of water bodies and the natural environment would help to mitigate the negative impacts of the global climate crisis on developing countries.

"Adaptation needs to be prioritised because it also means that climate change is already here now and is already hitting a country like Ghana hard with changing weather patterns, unpredictable rainfall and all that.

The preservation of water is key; and also resilient food systems, "he said.

While underscoring the need for developed countries to contribute to the establishment of the loss and damage fund, as a matter of urgency, he said the more sustainable approach was for developing countries to explore investment opportunities for projects that would help them to live with the crisis.

"Loss and damage occur after a climate-related disaster or catastrophe has hit a country; but adaptation means making sure that you are prepared for when things happen.

It is very important that we allocate more funding for adaptation," he stressed.

Denmark-Ghana cooperation

Mr Jorgensen, who was on a two-day visit to Ghana, made the call at an event on November 18 at the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA) to unveil a mural depicting the strategic sector cooperation (SSC) between the city of Aarhus in Denmark and Tema.

He was joined by the Metropolitan Chief Executives (MCE) of Tema, Yohane Armah Ashitey, and the Danish Ambassador, Tom Nrring, to unveil the mural to symbolise the enduring partnership between the two countries.

The first phase of the SSC between Aarhus and TMA, which started in 2019, was focused on four thematic areas  urban water management, climate adaptation, capacity building, institutional collaboration and partnership.

Under the water component, the cooperation was targeted at tackling waste water management and reducing non-revenue water.

One of the key outcomes of the phase one of the SSC was capacity building where officials of the TMA were trained under the DFC programme in Denmark.

There was also the hands-on bit where Aarhus technical experts came to work on the field with technocrats at the TMA to impart expertise to the local team.

Following the success of the first phase of the cooperation, the two cities signed the second phase of the SCC in October, this year, aimed at deploying innovative technologies to reduce water losses and improve sanitation.



Sustained cooperation

After visiting some of the waste water treatment projects, Mr Jorgensen said he was impressed with the work that had been done so far, especially so when those interventions would help to tackle the negative impact of climate change.

He said Denmark remained committed to explore more funding opportunities to strengthen the cooperation with TMA.

The Danish minister said while he was excited that a lot of progress had been made at TMA, with people getting clean water every day because of the project, it was also clear that there were still a lot of challenges.

"We from the Danish side will do what we can.

We are looking at the possibility of helping them in finding more resources in the future because there is really a lot to do.

Water needs to be cleaned, the efficiency of treating the water needs to be better," he said.



Impactful cooperation

Mr Ashitey said the TMA would work closely with its Danish counterpart to ensure that the SSC achieved the desired outcomes of transforming the lives of people.

He said the city of Tema had witnessed "massive improvements and reforms" since the partnership with the Danish Ministry through SSC Project.

"As we unveil this mural today, we are not merely celebrating a work of art; we are commemorating the strength of our partnership, a partnership that has been instrumental in urban water improvement and waste water treatment, capacity building of staff through the Danida Fellowship Centre courses and a cordial diplomatic relationship between the city of Tema and the City of Aarhus," he said.
COP28 must concretely address climate crisis - Jinapor to global community

Timothy Ngnenbe Nov - 27 - 2023 , 06:00

The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has called on the global community to use the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) as a stage to take concrete steps towards addressing the climate crisis.

He said COP28 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) must not be business as usual but a wake-up call on countries to deliver previous commitments towards climate action.

At a pre-COP28 event in Accra last Thursday to provide highlights on the countrys participation in COP28, Mr Jinapor, who is a Co-chair of the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership (FCLP), stressed that COP28 must lead to new targets and revised nationally determined contributions (NDCs) with true dedication and fidelity to their implementation.

It must deliver concrete and pragmatic efforts to achieve the target in the Paris Agreement of reducing global average temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, he added.

COP28 is scheduled for the Expo City in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Thursday, November 30 to Tuesday, December 12, this year.

Pre-COP28 gathering

The event brought together partners from both state and non-state institutions to share plans for the conference.

It was also meant to seek the support and cooperation of all stakeholders to accelerate action on forest and nature-based solutions to climate change.

The wife of the Vice-President, Samira Bawumia, who is also the Chairperson of the Africa Women and Children Conference (AFRIWOCC), was the special guest at the event.

Also in attendance were top officials of agencies under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources such as the Minerals Commission, Lands Commission and Forestry Commission.



Stocktaking

Mr Jinapor described COP28 as a unique one because it was the first-ever opportunity for global stocktaking on the progress countries had made in the fight against the global climate crisis, as enshrined in Article 14 of the landmark Paris Agreement adopted in 2015.

Article 14 of the Paris Agreement provides for a periodic global stocktaking on the implementation of the Agreement to assess progress towards achieving its objectives.

The minister stated that COP28 was a unique opportunity for countries to review the effectiveness of their adaptation and mitigation measures, climate financing and NDCs, with the aim of updating such contributions.

Clearly, the world is not doing enough to combat this crisis but we are encouraged by the fact that forest and other nature-based solutions can deliver up to a third of climate solutions.

And given that 50 per cent of our national Greenhouse Gas (GhG) emissions are attributed to agriculture, forest and land use activities, we are confident that we can contribute to global efforts to halt climate change, Mr Jinapor said.

He explained that it was important to prioritise forest and nature-based solutions to climate change such as the Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF), the Cocoa and Forest Initiative (CFI), the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI), the Ghana REDD+ Programme and the Forest, Agriculture and Commodity Trade (FACT) dialogue.



COP28 Ghana pavilion

The minister said Ghana had secured a pavilion at the Expo City in Dubai to showcase the countrys climate actions and hold strategic investment and partnership engagements.

He explained that President Akufo-Addo would host a presidential event at the pavilion with other heads of state and government, and the United States Special Presidential Envoy on Climate, John Kerry.

Mr Jinapor said the event would be held on the theme: Leveraging nature-based solutions towards 1.5C: monitoring progress.

Again, he said the President would announce the countrys package dubbed: "Resilient Ghana: advancing climate action for prosperity.

The countrys package is one of the initiatives of the Forest Climate Leadership Programme (FCLP) to design, develop and implement an integrated system-wide holistic suit of interventions to address forest landscape restoration, according to each countrys NDCs, he said.

Mr Jinapor added that the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources would hold a high-level ministerial event on the theme: Accelerating forest and nature finance towards 1.5C.

The ministry would partner the AFRIWOCC Secretariat under the distinguished leadership of Mrs Bawumia to host a high-level event at the Ghana pavilion on the implementation of the communique on actions and roadmap of the conference.
Cyber experts, stakeholders converge on Accra - For global confab

Emmanuel Bonney Nov - 27 - 2023 , 10:09

Ghana will, on Wednesday and Thursday, play host to the maiden Global Conference on Cyber Capacity Building (GC3B) scheduled to take place at the Kempinski Hotel Gold Coast City in Accra.

The event will be attended by over 800 delegates and other stakeholders in the cyber space from 100 countries across the world.

The global conference, on the theme: Cyber Resilience for Development, is being held collaboratively with the Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation, Cyber Security Authority, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE), the Cyber Peace Institute, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

It, among other things, aims at gathering leaders, decision-makers and experts across borders and sectors working towards effective, sustainable and inclusive stewardship of international cooperation for cyber capacity building in the era of rampant cyber threats.

Accra Call

Briefing the press on the conference at the Ministry of Information yesterday, the Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, Dr Albert Antwi-Boasiako, said an important legacy of the conference would be the launch of the Accra Call.

The Accra Call for Cyber Resilient Development is the outcome document of the GC3B and aims to stimulate global action to elevate cyber resilience across international and national development agendas; promote cyber capacity building that supports broader development goals; effectively serving the needs and priorities of developing countries; and draw from the existing shared commitments and ongoing relevant efforts in international for a and processes, he said.

The actions set out in the document, he said, would strengthen the role of cyber resilience as an enabler for sustainable development; advance demand-driven, effective and sustainable cyber capacity building; foster stronger partnerships and better coordination; and unlock financial and implantation modalities.

Document

Dr Antwi-Boasiako said the document which countries and global institutions were being called to endorse would serve as an important reference point for global cyber security development.

After the conference, Ghana is expected to play an active role to facilitate and support global action on implementation, he said.

He said the conference would present an opportunity for countries to meet global leaders in cybersecurity, build their capacity in cybersecurity and showcase the continents cyber security exhibitions and expertise globally.

Moreover, the Cyber Security Authority Director General noted that it would also pave the way to assist in the creation of a platform that sought to offer networking opportunities, giving the cyber leaders wealth of resources to collaborate with, learn from and interact with.

For Ghana, the conference will further bolster our commitment and availability to pushing the agenda for a safer and secure digital nation, foster key partnerships, and catalyse clear commitments on cyber capacity building, he emphasised.

Critical realm

The President of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise (GFCE) Foundation, Christopher Painter, said Ghana was poised to lead discussions and collaborations in the critical realm of cyber security, contributing to global efforts for a more secure digital future.

He described the conference as unique, saying that it was an event that was not only dedicated to capacity building but also bringing different communities together.
Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire to build monument at Jomoro boundary line

Della Russel Ocloo Nov - 27 - 2023 , 12:37

Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire have agreed to construct a monument at the international boundary line that terminates in the sea at Newtown in the Jomoro District in the Western Region.

The move forms part of the implementation of the maritime boundary dispute ruling by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) between the two countries.

The 2017 ruling by the Special Chamber of ITLOS unanimously determined that the maritime boundary between the two countries should be drawn using the equidistance method, which is a standard method for delimiting maritime boundaries in the absence of special circumstances.

The ruling was a significant victory for Ghana, as it granted the country control over a large area of the Atlantic Ocean that is believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves.

Newtown is the main Ghanaian town that shares both land and maritime boundary with Kanrachie Suazo, which lies on the eastern side of Cote d'Ivoire.

Joint sensitisation

As part of the reaffirmation of the land and maritime boundaries between the two countries, a joint sensitisation programme has been organised by the Ghana Boundary Commission and the National Boundary Commission of Cote dIvoire at Newtown in the Western Region.

At the event, the National Coordinator of the Ghana Boundary Commission, Major General Emmanuel Kotia, said there were considerations for a lighthouse to be constructed at the pillar 55 which terminates in the sea.

The lighthouse will aid the navigation of ships within the maritime domain of the two countries.

He indicated that the reaffirmation of the land boundary would cover 50 kilometres of the 713 kilometres between the two countries being reaffirmed between now and December while an extra 100 kilometres will be reaffirmed in January 2024.

Similarly, he said the two commissions intended to jointly construct new pillars to replace a number of old and faded pillars constructed during the colonial period.

Some of the pillars had been destroyed by sand storms or tampered with.

The Commission in collaboration with the Ghana Navy is also conducting a maritime boundary inspection along the maritime boundary line to ensure that there are no encroachments within our territory," General Kotia said.

Engagement

The engagement with the communities is crucial since they possess a wealth of traditional knowledge which is invaluable in identifying historical documents and displaced pillars to assist with the processes of re-affirmation.

He appealed to the community leaders, youth groups and relevant stakeholders to cooperate with the technical team of the two countries in undertaking the exercise.

General Kotia also commended the German government for its continuous support through the processes under the African Union Border Programme (AUBP).

Regional Minister

The Western Regional Minister, Kwabena Okyere Darko, in his address, said that the exercise did not only uphold the principles of good neighbourliness but also contributed to the maintenance of regional peace and stability.

As we embark on this journey, let us keep in mind the broader implications of our work considering that accurate boundaries pave the way for cooperative development, shared resources and strengthened ties between nations, Mr Okyere-Darko said.

Cote dIvoire

The Executive Secretary of the National Boundary Commission of Cote dIvoire, Diakalidia Konate, described the community engagement as critical in attaining the cooperation of the communities for the reaffirmation processes.

That, he said, would significantly reduce incidence of trafficking and other transnational organised crimes between the countries.

A representative of the German Ambassador to Ghana, Pauline Okkens, said that border disputes across the world could lead to unfortunate consequences.

Germany, she said, recognised the importance of well defined borders and the role of good governance in preventing cross-border issues.

It is within this context that Germany continues to show strong commitment to the activities of the boundary commission, including enhancing the technical capacities and knowledge of officials, Ms Okkens said.

The Chairman of the Newtown Community, Martin Anahomah, in his remarks, appealed to the commission to endeavour to construct the road from the community leading to Kanrachie Suazo to help in developing economic activities between the two communities.

The Municipal Chief Executive for Jomoro in Ghana, Louisa Iris Arde, and the Municipal Chief Executive of South Comoe and Aboisso in Cote dIvoire, Legre Koukougnon, both expressed the hope that the reaffirmation would reinforce the bonds of brotherhood between their two districts.
Ghanaian investor takes over Aveyime Rice project - Seeks support of locals for success

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Nov - 27 - 2023 , 06:13

A Ghanaian investor has taken over the Aveyime Rice Project in the Central Tongu District in the Volta Region, with a promise to turn things around.

The investor, Christian Kpodo, and his company, Chrispod Farms Limited (CFL), will be the third entity to manage the project which has the potential to produce over 800,000 tonnes of rice a year, saving the nation almost $600 million in rice imports.

The new attempt to revive the project comes after previous management by US entity- Prairie Texas Incorporated (PTI) with the company Prairie Volta Limited (PVL) which ended in failure in 2016, and the Quality Grain Company which ended in a scandal, causing financial loss of almost $20 million the state and the jailing of four former top public officials in 2004.

Motivation

At a sensitisation programme to introduce CFL to the communities within the catchment of the project, Mr Kpodo said as an indigene of the Volta Region, he decided to invest in the region to improve the livelihoods of people, as well as harness the resources of the region for sustainable development.

He said he always felt terrible whenever he visited the Volta Region and saw the level of destitution and poverty.

When I look back and see how my people are suffering, with no jobs but we have such vast lands with nothing going on, I feel very sad.

After investing in other places, we have to come together and build this region, he said.

Outgrower system

Mr Kpodo said CFL intended to augment its production with an outgrower scheme to make the people have a sense of ownership of the project.

He said the previous policy of the company managing the project, planting and harvesting all the rice was one of the reasons the project did not succeed.

We have to engage the people for them to also become shareholders in the project.

When they are involved as shareholders they will have a positive attitude towards the project and do everything to help it succeed, he said.

According to him, as part of plans to materialise the outgrower system, CFL will open a training centre to train the people on the right farming techniques to help them become effective rice farmers.

We also intend to employ more of the locals. If we involve them, they will not allow any saboteur to destroy this project, he said.

The sensitisation programme, organised by Central Tongu District Assembly, was held at the site of the project near Bakpa Kebenu last Thursday.

Support

On when the project would commence, Mr Kpodo said currently CFL was working on the technical aspect of the project to ensure that the irrigation canals, machinery, the fields and others were ready for a smooth take-off.

He, however, called on the government to support the project by streamlining the access to fertilisers and other machinery and inputs.

The government must also limit the importation of rice so that rice growers across the country will have access to market and grow this economy, he added.

Expectations

The District Chief Executive of Central Tongu, Thomas Moore Zonyrah, said the coming of the new investor was a sign of relief for the district and its people due to the huge potential of the project.

He said the strategy by the new investor to employ the outgrower scheme would be a game-changer which hopefully would ensure that the district, the people and the entire country derived maximum benefit from the project.

Our expectation is that the investor would encourage local participation in the project.

We also want the project to provide jobs and build people to become entrepreneurs and to help develop the district, he added.

The Volta Regional Director of Agriculture, William Dzamefe, said despite the history of the project, many lessons had been learnt which could guide the current project to become a success.

One main challenge that bedevilled the previous investors was their failure to take into consideration the cultural background of the people.

The current arrangement is that the investor should work hand in hand with the people, he said.

For his part, the Mankrado of Bakpa, Togbui Kofi Tosu, said it was his prayer that the project would be sustained to provide opportunities for the people.

He called on the people of the district to support the investor to realise his vision of making the project a success.
Girls Guide Centre gets ATC Ghana ICT hub

Jemima Okang Addae Nov - 27 - 2023 , 10:20

A community Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centre has been established at the Ghana Girls Guide Centre at Achimota in Accra.

The centre, the ATC Ghana Digital Communities ICT Learning Centre, is one of nine such centres that will be commissioned across the country in the coming days by a leading independent owner and operator of shared wireless infrastructure, ATC Ghana.

They are located in Kpembi Salaga in the Savannah Region, Dromankese in the Bono East Region, Techimantia in the Ahafo Region, Panfokrom in the Central Region, Kojoaba in the Western Region, Bodada in the Oti Region, Peki Tsiame in the Volta Region and Mangu in the Upper West Region.

They add to 10 other digital community centres that the local subsidiary of the American Tower Corporation (ATC) has completed over the years.

The 10 are at Bator in the North Tongu District, Savelugu in the Northern Region, Jamasi in the Ashanti Region, Asuom and Bawdua in the Eastern Region, Makola in Greater Accra, Gaduri in the Upper East Region, Berekum in the Bono Region, Akontombra in the Western North Region and Tarkwa in the Western Region.

The digital communities are computer-equipped learning centres that utilise uninterrupted power supply and broadband connection from tower sites to provide access to ICT services and training to basic school pupils and residents in underserved communities.

Initiative

The Chief Executive Officer of the company, Ashutosh Singh, said the digital communities programme was one of the flagship initiatives in their commitment to drive the development of highly skilled professionals for the countrys telecommunications industry, as well as support a digitally driven socio-economic life in line with the companys sustainability commitment.

This is important to us because as the leading provider of telecommunications infrastructure to support network connectivity in Ghana, the availability of highly skilled ICT professionals is key to the sustainability of our operations, he stated.

Position

Mr Singh explained that the digital communities were positioned strategically to pick up the interest of young pupils in ICT at a young age.

They are located strategically close to basic schools to ensure easy access to aid teaching and learning, he added.

The CEO of ATC Ghana said internet access was essential to thriving in todays connected society and is helping alleviate the disparity in the space.

Appreciation

Speaking on behalf of the Minister of Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutum, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Maamle Andrews, expressed appreciation and said the centres were a significant step towards bridging the digital divide and empowering girls across the country through access to ICT education and information.

Their location, which is close to basic schools, will ensure easy access to teaching and learning and provide much-needed basic computing skills and coding programming to thousands of school children in the community, she explained.

With the rapid advancement of the digital age, Ms Andrews said it was imperative to equip students with the necessary tools and skills to thrive in the space.

Commitment

The United States Ambassador to Ghana, Virginia Palmer, said the US was committed to supporting girls and women as equal partners in the workforce to help strengthen the countrys economy.

She noted that the Girls Guide will teach girls and boys practical skills, competence and leadership, and being able to use and adopt technology would remain a key driver of individual business and social transformation for years to come.

Ms Palmer said there were still many other people across the world who had still not made a phone call and that divide was a source of potential conflict and exacerbating inequality.
Loss, damage fund: Can COP28 save vulnerable countries?

Timothy Ngnenbe Nov - 27 - 2023 , 11:35

Grimace of dejection, despair and hopelessness are still written on the faces of over 40,000 residents along the lower Volta, Eastern and Greater Accra regions, two months after devastating floods submerged their homes and robbed them of their livelihoods.

The floods, which were caused by the spillage of the Akosombo Dam, collapsed many buildings, destroyed farms and damaged other sources of livelihood.

Cemeteries, graveyards, toilet facilities and refuse dumps were also affected, with development experts pointing dire health consequences.

Some of the residents are still battling with psychological trauma after losing their fortunes to the floods.

Child Rights International (CRI), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), established that 71 basic schools were submerged in flood-hit areas, forcing 19,743 children out of school.

Additionally, over 9,000 children could not retrieve their uniforms and other educational materials, such as, bags, books, shoes and textbooks from the floodwaters.

Some flooded farms in the North-East Region

Meanwhile, over 10,000 residents of coastal communities in the Krachi East District in the Oti Region are also counting their losses after the Oti River overflowed its banks and wreaked havoc on homes and livelihoods.

That is equally the story of thousands of people in the Bono, North-East and Savannah regions, where floods overwhelmed lives and properties.

The flooding disasters in these parts of the country brought to the fore the devastating impacts of the global climate crisis on vulnerable communities in developing countries.

Loss, damage fund

It is in the light of this that countries agreed at the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) in Egypt in November 2022 to set up a fund to compensate vulnerable nations for loss and damage from climate-induced disasters.

As defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), loss and damage refers to the negative consequences that arise from the unavoidable risks of climate change, like rising sea levels, prolonged heatwaves, desertification, the acidification of the sea and extreme events such as bushfires, species extinction and crop failures.

The flood disaster affected the old and the young at Mepe in the Volta Region

When negotiators at COP27 took the landmark decision to set up the loss and damage fund, developing countries and climate activists heaved a sigh of relief, describing it as a major breakthrough for climate justice.

However, it appears they will have to hold their breath.

With just a few days to COP28, climate change experts say there is faint hope that the anticipated outcomes on loss and damage would see the light of day at the climate summit slated for the Expo City of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from November 30 to December 12.

This is especially so, when the 24-member transitional committee, which was set up at COP27 and tasked to work out the details of the fund are grappling with the thorny issues of eligibility, source of capitalisation of the fund and institutional arrangement for hosting the fund.

Reports indicate that developed countries, spearheaded by the US, have pushed for the fund to be hosted by the World Bank, whereas developing countries prefer an independent loss and damage fund that can set its own rules, or one housed at a UN agency.

Nagging issues

An independent consultant on climate change, Xolisa Ngwadla, is of the view that with the current state of affairs, countries will leave COP28 without a clear headway for the loss and damage fund.

A dejected fish farmer counting his losses after the flood disaster

The climate change negotiator stressed that there will definitely be a step forward in COP28, but it will not be to a point where funds will be flowing for developing countries.

Let us not forget that it took more than two years to negotiate the government instrument of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), so we can expect the same, unless some political will comes in to fasten the process, he noted.

Touching on why developing countries are objecting to the fund being hosted by the World Bank, Mr Ngwadla said, the types of instruments that the World Bank traditionally uses are not completely palatable for developing countries; they are mainly debt instruments, there will be bias to insurance type of instruments.

These displaced residents of Mepe in the Volta Region have no place to lay their heads

In the history of negotiations at theCOP, it has been demonstrated over and over that if you are united around a certain position, you tend to achieve what you want.

This is no different, he said.

A senior climate and security advisor for the UN Mission in South Sudan, Dr Johnson Nkem Ndi, also observed that while it was important to push for the operationalisation of the loss and damage fund, attention needed to be paid to the critical details of what constituted a loss or a damage.

Again, he stressed that due diligence needed to be done to determine the level of vulnerability of communities to climate impacts to form the basis of what should be paid in loss and damage.

This has to be worked out before we even get into the political arrangements as to who hosts the fund, what kind of disbursement should be done, the nature of capitalisation of the fund, he said.

However, the Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy of Denmark, Dan Jorgensen, is of the view that a fair play for climate justice would be for developed countries to commit to capitalising the loss and damage fund.

A farmer trying to salvage his farm produce from his flooded farm in the Savannah Region

For me, paying for loss and damage is also a question about justice, it is a question about doing what is fair, he said, explaining that it was on that principle that Denmark was on record as the first country to pledge funding for the loss and damage fund even before it was decided.

His fear is that loss and damage fund could become a slow process where countries negotiate on the technical stuff on how it should look like.

We do not have time for that.

We need to find a structure so that we can get it fast and running as soon as practicable so that countries that need money can get it fast, he stressed.

Nutshell

The complexities in the discussion of loss and damage stem from the fact that while some of the events can be quantified in economics terms, others are non-economic because their negative impacts are difficult or infeasible to assign monetary value to.

For instance, it is possible to quantify the cost of rebuilding physical infrastructure that was damaged by floods in some parts of Ghana.

The loss of revenue from agriculture crops that were destroyed can also be costed.

But, how can things such as trauma from experiencing flood, loss of community due to displacement of people or loss of biodiversity, be quantified?

As the mill on the loss and damage fund continues to grind, the intensity of climate shocks and hazards is increasing.

People are incurring more loss and damage that need to be taken care of. Unpredictable rainfall patterns are causing severe droughts and flooding across the developing world, with attendant loss of lives and properties.

Small-holder farmers whose farming activities are rain-fed are counting the losses as crop yields continue to dwindle. Rising sea levels are sweeping away coastal communities.

That is why the world must act fast.

Writers email: ngnenbetimothygmail.com
Make agric catalyst for economic growth - 2022 National Best Farmer to govt

Emmanuel Ebo Hawkson Nov - 27 - 2023 , 06:18

The 2022 National Best Farmer, Nana Yaw Sarpong Siriboe, has called on the government to implement policies that would ensure that agriculture becomes a catalyst for economic growth and sustainable development.

While praising the government for introducing policies such as the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), he said there was the need for comprehensive policies that would have a positive impact on the whole agriculture value chain.

If we do not get the right policies to ensure that we are able to secure what we are getting from the PFJ or policies to limit the influx of certain imported food items, which we are producing, then we are not going anywhere with agriculture, he said.

Again, he said without policies to ensure that farmers got the best value from their hard work; agriculture would remain unattractive to many people, especially the youth.

Our market is very sensitive to pricing and a little price increase or decrease can send a farmer out of business.

We need a strong government backing to make agriculture the fulcrum of economic growth in the country, he said.

Lecture

Nana Siriboe, who is also the Akyempemhene of the Juaben Traditional Area, made the call when he delivered a lecture at the 2023 University of Ghana National Best Farmers Lecture at the Great Hall of the university in Accra last Thursday.

The lecture was on the theme: Resilience, Technology and Humanism: The past, the present and the future of the Ghanaian farmer.

It was attended by notable alumni of the Akuafo Hall such a former Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Mike Aaron Oquaye, who was the Chairman for the occasion, and lawyer and award-winning journalist, Samson Anyenini, who was the moderator.

Nana Siriboe, 44, said the future of agriculture or what he described as the resilience of agriculture was the youth.

He, therefore, advised the youth not to lose hope when facing difficulties in life but to turn to agriculture as a source of livelihood.

I am not in agriculture for the passion of it or because it is a hobby.

I am in agriculture because I have found that agriculture is a business which can change livelihoods.

I have been in agriculture for the past 22 years.

It is a money-making venture if only one takes it as a business venture and abides by business principles, he said.

He said the youth must not be scared to go into agriculture because of monumental risks because anything worth making money or even every activity involved a level of risks.

Technology

The National Best Farmer said there was so much technology and information on such technology, which the youth could access freely to help them become successful in agriculture.

Agriculture, he said, was not only about the operations on the field, but the whole value chain of farm input, processing, packaging and marketing.

A marketer might be doing agriculture from his house by promoting and making sure that items from the farm get to the consumer.

All these are aspects of agriculture driven by technology, he added.

He urged the youth to use their phones and take advantage of numerous technologies available and become part of the agriculture value chain, instead of always wasting their time on social media doing things which would add little value to their lives.

As part of helping the youth to get into agriculture, Nana Siriboe said he had established a training centre at Juabeng, which would be opened by officially to offer training on agriculture and agribusiness.

Prof. Oquaye said the importance of agriculture to national development over the years could not be underestimated.

According to him, the country could have reduced the economic hardship brought about by COVID-19 and other global issues if the agriculture industry had been improved over the years.

For his part, the Hall Master of Akuafo Hall, Prof. Kweku Oppong Asante, said the lecture was meant to celebrate farmers due to their contribution to the hall, which was constructed with cocoa funds.
NHIS vibrant - Entity says GH150m paid to service providers monthly

Donald Ato Dapatem Nov - 27 - 2023 , 08:01

The National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) remains vibrant and resourced, offering affordable services to the people of Ghana.

In an unprecedented manner, it has consistently paid healthcare facilities an average of GH150 million every 30 days over the past two years, a phenomenon that has never occurred this frequently since the inception of the Scheme some 20 years ago.

It said evidence of monthly claims payment could be found on the website (www.nhis.gov.gh/payments).

We wish to state unequivocally that the impression created by the said story was inaccurate and rather unfortunate.

This was contained in a statement in response to media reports attributed to the Dormaahene, Oseadeyo Agyeman Badu II, that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) was almost collapsing.

It said the media reports alleged that the Dormahene threatened legal action against the government for continuing to hold NHIS deductions and cautioned it to stay off the NHI levy.

The statement said the highly revered chief demonstrated concern and a dedication to the long-term viability of the scheme, for which the management of the NHIA was very grateful and appreciative.

The statement welcomed the strong plea by the chief for the government to leave the National Health Insurance Levy (NHIL) alone and provide to the NHIA to bolster its function, particularly the processing of claims for healthcare providers.

It said while management appreciated Osagyefo's call for the government to give the scheme the full amount of the NHIL collected, we would like to address the erroneous impression that the reportage created, suggesting that the scheme is on the verge of collapse because the NHIA is not receiving the full amount of the NHI levy, therefore depriving healthcare providers of their rightful claims.

It said it was imperative to put on record that no government during the Fourth Republic had ever provided the NHIA with all the NHIL collected albeit enshrined in law  a situation that could be improved upon.

The statement added that the NHIA had consistently paid healthcare facilities an average of GH50 million, 30 days especially over the past two years.

We hereby encourage journalists to find out the real situation that exists in our healthcare facilities and not paint a picture that is at a considerable distance from the truth.

Millions of Ghanaians continue to depend on the NHIS to provide access to healthcare.
NIA to capture 7million under 15 years and 3 million Ghanaians abroad for Ghana Card

Maclean Kwofi Nov - 27 - 2023 , 12:00

Over 2.5 million Ghanaians aged 15 and above still without the Ghana Card will be given the opportunity to secure the national identity card from December this year and be captured on the national identification register.

The opportunity is being provided by the National Identification Authority (NIA) through its upcoming continuous registration exercise, which is the final attempt to capture the rest of the first cohort of about 20 million who are above 14 years old.

It will enable them to efficiently engage in essential transactions, including banking, tax payment, buying and selling of land, secure national health insurance, drivers licence, SIM card, passport, among other services, which they are currently not able to access personally without the Ghana Card.

Data sourced from the NIA showed that 17.56 million Ghanaians, aged 15 and above, out of the 30.8 million population have been registered as of October 31, 2023.

Officials say more than 17.51 million cards have been printed, out of which 16.62 million have been issued, with 895,000 of the printed cards ready to be issued, but that the owners have not made themselves available to receive them.

So far, cards of about 49,000 applicants are yet to be printed for a variety of technical reasons, while registration of some 101,000 people have been arrested or blocked pending investigation for attempting to register more than once.

Additionally, 192,277 foreigners have been provided with non-citizen identity cards.

2024 registration

Plans are, however, underway to capture Ghanaians abroad in 2024 by providing registration services to about three million Ghanaian citizens outside the country for a fee between $20 and $50.

It would offer services to seven million young Ghanaians under 15 years of age, and 10,000 refugees, asylum seekers and other persons of concern.

Why legal identity

Although not the entire population has been captured at this moment, the feat is a major boost in the quest of the government to create a foundational identification system with the primary purpose of establishing legal identity for its citizens.

It also offers a renewed hope to the governments commitment to reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), which seek to encourage the provision of legal identity, including birth registration, for all by 2030.

Interactions

A prospective Ghana card applicant, Emmanuel Obeng Asamoah, who interacted with the Daily Graphic at the NIA head office in Accra, stated that he was a Ghanaian citizen permanently resident in Canada, but needed the national ID card for business transactions when on a visit in Ghana.

He explained that the Ghana Card had become an important element in the life of every Ghanaian, including those living abroad, hence the frequent visit to secure the card.

Key on my visit to Ghana this November is to secure a Ghana Card, and that is why I am at the NIA office today to enquire about the process because I was here last year, (but) I could not get it, he said.

Another Ghanaian based in the United Kingdom (UK), Getrude Odeibea, who spoke to the Daily Graphic via telephone, said she went through the pain of travelling to Ghana physically last year to secure the card, but could not register her children because they were below the 15 years cut-off point.

And so, if the government has decided to bring the registration to us wherever we are for a fee of $50, I think it will be positive news for all of us.

This is because many of my friends are also planning to travel to Ghana despite the risk, pain and cost just to secure the ID cards.

I think the government should expedite action on the exercise, especially for Ghanaian citizens abroad, she said.

A Ghanaian tourist, Eugenia Ampofo, maintained that the Ghana Card was now serving as passport for most of her trips outside Ghana.

She, however, said acquiring the card or replacing it was a difficult task, and for that reason called for measures that could ease the process.

The Executive Secretary of the NIA, Prof. Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah, noted that the cards were issued to Ghanaians free of charge, while foreigners were required to pay $120 for it.

Our plan is to start within the next two months registering the 2.5 million yet to be covered, Ghanaians abroad and those aged between six and 14.

The obligation is to register all Ghanaians and so, we will add Ghanaians under six years old.

The NIA, in collaboration with the Births and Deaths Registry and the Ghana Health Service, has started a pilot project to include babies aged zero to six years, he said.

He explained that in the case of Ghanaians abroad, the law had stipulated that those in West Africa should pay a fee approximately $20, while those in the rest of Africa and outside Africa should pay $30 and $50 respectively for the card.

The Ghana Card, which is a valid verification document, uses three types of biometric technology for identification purposes, including unique fingerprints, facial templates (digitised colour photo of the card holder) and iris.

The technology deployed incorporates several layers of security features  physical, logical and technical  that made the card difficult to forge and protected the personal information stored on the card.

These features allow only authorised persons to read the information and the bona fide owners to use the card for purposes of identification.

The card contains basic identification information including a photograph of the card holder, along with a name, date of birth, height, and a personal identification number that has been randomly generated and assigned to the holder and has an expiry date.

Depending on the age of the individual, the card will have either a two-dimensional barcode or a machine-readable zone at the back, which holds biometric information, namely the holders fingerprints in digitised templates, as well as the holders signature.

Expert opinion

A digital infrastructure analyst, Edward David, said provision of legal identity for all citizens would promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development.

He said a digital identity such as the Ghana Card enabled people to access a wide range of goods and services, including bank accounts, markets for their businesses, and government benefits.

He added that the government must learn from past mistakes by honouring all obligations and commitments to the NIA in order not to truncate the process of creating an inclusive society with the Ghana card.

This report is produced under the DPI Africa Journalism Fellowship Programme of the Media Foundation for West Africa and Co-Develop.
School of Ordnance inducts new executive

Jemima Okang Addae Nov - 27 - 2023 , 07:56

The School of Ordnance Chapter of the Accra Technical University (ATU) Alumni association has inducted eight newly elected executive, with a call to collectively champion a project that will leave an impact on the school.

The Acting Vice-Chancellor of ATU, Professor Amevi Acakpovi, who made the call at an induction ceremony in Accra, said it was part of the schools agenda to better respond to their customers.

We believe that the presence of the alumni helps in attending to some of the customer care problems.

Some of the needs of the students can be responded to spontaneously and, therefore, a close-up presence could only mean a better service, he explained.

The elected executive included the Chairman, Lt Col Anthony Amoako; Vice-Chairman, Lt Comfort Etonam Benti; General Secretary, Lt Victoria Yayra Galley, and Financial Secretary, Lt Reindolf Owusu.

Others are CE Treasurer,WOI Beatrice Oppong Addo; Organiser, Sgt Mohammed Rauf; Public Relations Officer, POII Anthony Sangmor, and the Womens Organiser, Dora Tetteh.

Commendable

Prof. Acakpovi said the executives willingness to serve their alma mater was commendable, and epressed the belief that they would carry forward the legacy of excellence that defined both ATU and the School of Ordinance.

Your focal role as alumni and leaders is fundamental in shaping our collaborative future, he stated.

He noted that the collaboration between the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and the university had strengthened their ties and contributed significantly to the academic and professional development of the students and alumni.

That, he said, could be seen through their seminars and workshops which had provided a platform for the exchange of knowledge, ideas and experiences between academia and the military.

The joint seminars organised by ATU and GAF have not only enriched the academic landscape of our institution but have also fostered a culture of continuous learning and innovation.

The insights shared during these events have undoubtedly contributed to the professional growth and success of many of our alumni, Prof Acakpovi added.

Commitment

The Commanding Officer at GAF School of Ordinance, Lt Col Edna Kyerewaa Antwi, said the inauguration was an indication of the schools commitment to sustaining the collaboration between ATU and the School of Ordinance.

The composition of the first ever executives of the schools chapter of ATU Alumni is very strong, and I know that they will live up to expectation and keep the flame of the school burning, she stated.
Sunyani Regional Hospital upgraded to teaching facility

Biiya Mukusah Ali Nov - 27 - 2023 , 07:04

The government has upgraded the Sunyani Regional Hospital to the Sunyani Teaching Hospital (STH) to provide tertiary healthcare delivery and train medical doctors and other health professionals.

This step was taken after Cabinet, at its 45th meeting, approved the memorandum for the conversion of the hospital into a teaching hospital in February 2023.

The 315-bed capacity facility was established in the 1990s and has operated as a regional hospital since 2003.

Medical school

In a speech read for him at the launch of the STH in Sunyani, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said the government was also set to establish a medical school at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR).

He said UENR, the Catholic University, the Sunyani Technical University (STU), and a network of nearby quality hospitals, would all support the new STH to achieve its mandate and potentially become a hub for medical tourism.

He said groundwork had been laid for an influx of medical specialists and other healthcare professionals into the region to improve health outcomes of the establishment of STH.

"We have also laid the groundwork for the further upgrading of infrastructure and the provision of more state-of-the-art medical equipment to serve the region and beyond," he said.

President Akufo-Addo expressed the hope that the inauguration of the STH would mark the commencement of a journey by the hospital to become a centre of excellence in Ghana and the West Africa sub-region, with high prospects for medical tourism.

A centre where we can aspire to have services such as kidney transplantation, as has been commenced in the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital to help ameliorate the complications of kidney patients," he said.

He said the conversion would also offer expanded undergraduate and postgraduate training opportunities for doctors and other health professionals in the region and the country at large.

Tertiary healthcare

President Akufo-Addo said recognising the need for more tertiary healthcare facilities, the government converted the Ho Regional Hospital and now the Sunyani Regional Hospital into teaching hospitals, to augment the services of other teaching hospitals.

Front view of the Sunyani Teaching Hospital

He charged the Minister of Health to initiate steps toward providing the needed support to the hospital, to empower it to carve out a special niche among teaching hospitals in the country and the West African sub-region.

President Akufo-Addo reiterated his administrations determination to take audacious steps that would culminate in the improvement of the living conditions of the Ghanaians.

SDG

He said his administration had since 2017 steadfastly held the conviction that a nation's prosperity was intimately tied to the health of its citizenry.

He said that had inspired him to work towards dismantling obstacles to secure quality healthcare, making it universally accessible and affordable in harmony with the objectives of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Three, which is dedicated to ensuring the health and well-being of people of all ages.

In pursuit of our health agenda, my Administration has worked assiduously to enhance healthcare delivery at the primary and secondary levels, where significant infrastructure and human resources have been deployed, as evidenced by our ambitious Agenda 111 Hospital projects," he said.

President Akufo-Addo said all the hospital projects across the country were at the various stages of completion, especially the ones at Berekum, Jinijini and Dormaa Amasu, all in the region.

He said the progress of work by some contractors was commendable and boosted the chance of having a number of the hospitals completed by the end of this year.

He said the government was also working assiduously to develop a 60-bed capacity infectious disease centre at the STH to bolster the public health capacity to deal with infectious disease outbreaks efficiently and ensure the country was better prepared to respond to future epidemics.

Hospital projects

In addition, President Akufo-Addo said the government had completed 19 health facilities in the region and mentioned the 60-bed Tain District Hospital, Benkasa Health Centre and 17 Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPs) compound with staff accommodation.

He said the government had ensured that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) remained viable, explaining that at the end of December 2022, the National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) had an active membership of 17.2 million, and 17.5 million by the end of the third quarter of 2023.

For his part, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, said the ministry had lobbied to secure two renal dialysis for the hospital.

He said the Ghana Health Service (GHS) was set to roll out Networks of Practice, a transformative model to unify healthcare facilities, optimise their operations and strengthen the primary healthcare system.

Mr Agyeman-Manu said the ministry, through the Health Facilities Regulatory Authority (HeFRA), had introduced a new system for categorising health facilities, thereby streamlining operations and enhancing service clarity.

Equipment

The Director-General of the GHS, Dr Patrick Kuma-Aboagye, said the GHS would ensure that the facility was equipped with the needed tools and equipment to provide quality healthcare delivery.

We will not only upgrade it but ensure new services such as newborn care and oxygen plant, among others, are brought here to provide the best of care, he said.

The Medical Director of the facility, Dr Cardinal Newton, called for the construction of a teaching and learning centre, modern polyclinic and diagnostic centre, expansion of the medical and surgical emergency unit, dialysis and endoscopy centres, staff and students accommodation and administration block.

He said the STH would require significant financial and human resources to address its challenges, develop innovative teaching programmes and strengthen research infrastructure.
Technical university postgraduate programmes panacea for unemployment  Prof. Bamfo-Agyei

Daily Graphic Nov - 27 - 2023 , 07:25

The School of Graduate Studies of the Cape Coast Technical University has integrated internships in all postgraduate programmes with a target of making the employability of graduates as the main focus.

It said the university had a practice-oriented approach and a focus on applied research, hence the objective.

The Dean of Graduate Studies, Prof. Emmanuel Kwamina Bamfo-Agyei, said this at a days Postgraduate Supervision Workshop for academic staff.

Background

Prof. Bamfo-Agyei said lecturers teaching the postgraduate programme had a strong academic background as well as practical experience in industry.

He noted that rather than students being expected to conduct substantial theoretical work, they would more likely engage in practical projects in cooperation with industries.

Prof. Bamfo-Agyei argued that the vision of the school was to become the centre of excellence and the first choice for graduate education.

He said postgraduate programmes at Cape Coast Technical University would be the panacea of unemployment issues among the youth in Ghana.

Supervision

Prof. Clinton Aigbavboa from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa, disclosed that there was the need for academic staff to provide quality supervision to the students and there was a need to re-evaluate the approach to postgraduate education and expected skills post-completion.

If the continent is to advance, her academic institutions must overcome the existent obstacles in providing the education, research and service needed, particularly through advancement on the postgraduate education front.

These should be mandated to produce research for solving or providing insight into the development challenges plaguing the African continent (job creation for the youth, population explosion, disease, climate change, food insecurity and political instability).

These contexts negatively affect their performance as the quality of graduates produced by any institution impacts heavily on knowledge creation, international comparability, competitiveness; on the preparation of future researchers and their research output; as well as on national capacity to respond appropriately and innovatively, through research, to the various demands of globalisation, localisation and transformation, in the context of a rapidly changing knowledge economy.

Mentorship

Prof. Aigbavboa added that there was a need of mentorship between younger and senior academics to ensure quality of supervision stressing that supervisors were to set up early warning systems.

He said research supervision was vital to the successful conduct of research and Postgraduate studies.

He noted that there was a need to examine the recruitment and funding modalities to enhance quality postgraduate students.

Prof. Aigbavboa was speaking on Postgraduate Students Supervisor Practices at the just-ended workshop on postgraduate supervision.

The Registrar of Cape Coast Technical University, Dr Anthony Turkson, appealed to the academic staff to take the workshop seriously since it would go a long way to benefit the students they were supervising.

He also expressed gratitude to the resource person from travelling all the way from South Africa to help the staff of Cape Coast Technical University.
'I pray a lot against' becoming Pope... - Cardinal Peter Turkson jokes

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Nov - 27 - 2023 , 09:03

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson is seen by some as a candidate to become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years, but reacting to the suggestion jokingly, and interjecting while the question was still being posed, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, said "I pray a lot also against it."

In a BBC Hard Talk interview on Monday morning [Nov 27, 2023], monitored by Graphic Online, the interviewer, Stephen Sackur asked, "I just want to end with a more personal form. I began by saying you have been widely tipped as a possible first African Pope."

It was at this point that Cardinal Turkson injected and stated, "I greatly, I pray a lot also against it" amidst a laugh, he, however said, it will be in God's own time.

The interviewer, Stephen Sackur continued and said, "you have addressed the possibility in the past. In 2013 you said it will certainly mean a lot to me [Turkson] if I had to be Pope, if I was elected, it will signal a very big personal change, but it wouldn't just be a personal change, would it, it would also be a recognition of the change, extremely important role that Africa is now playing in the Catholic Church. My final question, is it time, for an African Pope, for a black Pope?"

Cardinal Turkson's answer

This was Cardinal Appiah Turkson's answer: "It will be time if it is time in God's time table, because the church belongs to its Lord. And the Lord has never abandoned the church and left the church, so I believe, and I have been in St Peter's Square at the election of three Popes in the past, and my thing has always been that of prayer."

"May the Lord who founded the church provide for the church always the type of leadership that he considers suitable for the church at this point in history and if this time round...[Stephen Sackur interjects: Has it reached that time now]

Cardinal Turkson answers: "Ok, so it is up to him [Lord] to decide, not me [Turkson], I pray for it but he [Lord] decides."

Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Vatican's Cardinal Turkson reiterates why LGBTQI+ shouldn't be an imposition

Enoch Darfah Frimpong Nov - 27 - 2023 , 08:16

Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, seen by some as a candidate to become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years has reiterated his position on why LGBTQIA+ should not be an imposition.

In a Hard Talk interview with the BBC, monitored by Graphic Online on Monday morning, [Nov 27, 2023], Cardinal Turkson said although he thinks that gay people or LGBTQIA+ may not be criminalised, it shouldn't be an imposition.

"Neither should these positions be imposed on cultures which are not ready for that," he said in the BBC interview with Stephen Sackur monitored by Graphic Online.

Below are some excerpts of the interview transcribed by Graphic Online

Stephen Sackur: Lets start with something which is very current, that is the discussion in the church on key issues of sexuality and gender.

Now I refer the beginning of this interview to Pope Francis and the hopes that have been vested in him to show leadership. I will put it to you that on some of these key issues for example, the churches attitude to homosexuality, for example the possibility of giving blessing to gay marriages in church, the attitude to LGBTQ community generally. Pope Francis has sent a confusion, not a clear message.

Cardinal Turkson: No, but lately about a week or so ago he came out with a small document just saying clearly what his position on all of these are, that LGBT people can be blessed, they can be admitted to church, and all of that, they can even become God parents of children and people who are being baptised and all of that. So he [Pope] himself has signalled, partly stuffs that used to be left neck below, undecided and all that and come clearly with these

Stephen Sackur: So you see him [Pope] as now following a policy which many people regard as, within the Catholic perspective, liberal, doesnt that put you [Turkson], personally in a very difficult position. Because your own position for example on homosexuality seems quite clear, I have looked at your record over many years, you have been a consistent conservative on these issues.

Cardinal Turkson: Those are the expressions again, conservative, progressive, you know, my thing has been this, and Ill refer you to an interesting episode, a situation I got into responding to an invitation to go speak in Slovenia at one point and then the Bishops were wondering whether to allow it because there was a lot of media agitation.

My position has simply been this, that LGBT, gay people may not be criminalised because theyve committed no crime, but neither should this position also become something to be imposed on cultures, which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.

Stephen Sackur: You are Ghanaian, this summer, the Ghanaian Parliament passed, it is called the Appropriate sexual rights and family values at which a tougher regime for gay people clearly criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, up to 10 years in prison for LGBT

The Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference said that western countries must stop in incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us. Are you backing that statement and therefore defending the criminalisation of homosexuality?

Cardinal Turkson: What I just said to you is, my position is contrary to what has just been passed, to criminalise anybody, if you are able to identify the crime, LGBT cases are not to be criminalised but neither, and this I think is basically what caused all of this in Ghana, the Ghanaian culture has known of people, with some such tendencies, and I say this because there is an expression in the local Akan language that of mine, of men who act like women, and women who act like men, there is an expression for them, which means that this phenomenon is been known, was known in the culture and in the community and all of that.

But nobody went on to make any policy out of that, now I think what caused all of these was our attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions, which needed to be imposed in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights and stuffs like that. I think that is what led to this thing going to Parliament otherwise for me...

Stephen Sackur: The point I get is that there seems to be a real difficulty among senior Catholics in Africa to speak out against this criminalisation of homosexuality and we can look at Ghana, and we can also look at Uganda where they even gone further, and whether the new law in Ghana actually carry the death penalty, what they call aggravated homosexuality. And what we also see is that in Uganda the official leadership of the Catholic Church has stayed silent, has not condemned what the Ugandan Parliament has approved of.

Cardinal Turkson: It is because what I think the move should be is to be a lot of education about certainly cultural attitudes in some of these regards are very deeply rooted and all of that, and we need a lot of education to get people to separate, make a distinction between what is crime and what is not crime, what is the personal habit and not a personal habit. So something that traditionally maybe referred to as a taboo and all of that it takes time

Stephen Sackur: According to the Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference it is despicable lifestyles, practices and behaviours. Is it time, and you are one of the single voices from western Africa, is it time to move away from that kind of language.

Cardinal Turkson: it is time to begin education to help people understand what this really, this phenomenon is. If culturally we have expressions for this time of things, it just means that it is not completely alien to the Ghanaian society. Not just alien to the Ghanaian society, now that it is coming out what has to and what has to be the response. I think this drastic form that it has taken in Ghana and probably in Uganda is bringing the perception that the west was imposing this, connecting or linking it with donations and grants and all of time, is kind of politicise the thing in such a way that the reaction has also been political in character.

But I think, all of this from my point of view, and this is what I think I speak about with a couple of other Bishops is to be able to understand more deeply this phenomenon."

Read also: 'I pray a lot against' becoming Pope... - Cardinal Peter Turkson jokes

Reacting to the suggestion that Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson could become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years, he jokingly, and interjecting while the question was still being posed said, "I pray a lot also against it."

Later in the BBC Hard Talk interview on Monday morning, monitored by Graphic Online, the interviewer, Stephen Sackur asked, "I just want to end with a more personal form. I began by saying you have been widely tipped as a possible first African Pope."

It was at this point that Cardinal Turkson injected and stated, "I greatly, I pray a lot also against it" amidst a laugh, he, however said, it will be in God's own time.

The interviewer, Stephen Sackur continued and said, "you have addressed the possibility in the past. In 2013 you said it will certainly mean a lot to me [Turkson] if I had to be Pope, if I was elected, it will signal a very big personal change, but it wouldn't just be a personal change, would it, it would also be a recognition of the change, extremely important role that Africa is now playing in the Catholic Church. My final question, is it time, for an African Pope, for a black Pope?"

Cardinal Turkson's answer

This was Cardinal Appiah Turkson's answer: "It will be time if it is time in God's time table, because the church belongs to its Lord. And the Lord has never abandoned the church and left the church, so I believe, and I have been in St Peter's Square at the election of three Popes in the past, and my thing has always been that of prayer."

"May the Lord who founded the church provide for the church always the type of leadership that he considers suitable for the church at this point in history and if this time round...[Stephen Sackur interjects: Has it reached that time now]

Cardinal Turkson answers: "Ok, so it is up to him [Lord] to decide, not me [Turkson], I pray for it but he [Lord] decides."

Writer's email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Court dismisses contempt application against EC Chair, 2 deputies - But applicant files appeal

Benjamin Xornam Glover Politics Nov - 27 - 2023 , 06:48

The High Court in Tema has dismissed an application brought against the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, and her two deputies for contempt of court over the limited voter registration exercise.

The applicant, Precious Ayitah, had prayed the High Court to commit Mrs Mensa, Dr Eric Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey for contempt of court for going ahead with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC despite an injunction application she filed that sought to put the exercise on hold.

Ruling

The court, presided over by Justice Patricia Quansah, last Friday dismissed the contempt application against the respondents on grounds that it was without basis and awarded a nominal cost of GH2,000 against the applicant.

The judge in announcing the decision said the applicant was unable to establish a case against the respondents and also unable to prove that the respondents were personally served with the order of the court.

The allegation that the application was served on one Daniel Addae Nyamekye, designated as a Legal Secretary at the Head office of the EC could not also be proved.

The court said the EC argued that there was no such position as Legal Secretary and no such person known as Daniel Addai Nyamekye is in the employment of the EC.

The court agreed with the EC and held that if there was any doubt it ought to go in favour of the respondents, and that the applicant had failed to prove that the three commissioners were duly served, thus the application was without basis.

The court indicated that the evidence adduced by the applicant was not strong enough to enable the court to commit the respondents to contempt.

Appeal

Meanwhile the applicant, who was dissatisfied with the ruling of the High Court, filed an appeal at the Court of Appeal to overturn the ruling.

The Lawyer for the applicant, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, told the Daily Graphic that the appeal was filed last Friday.

Background

In her contempt suit against the EC Chairperson and her deputies, Ms Ayitah, a resident of Otsebleku, near Afienya in the Greater Accra Region, which is about 44.3 kilometres from the district office of the EC in Prampram, said the originating motion on notice and interlocutory injunction was served on the respondents on September 8, 2023, to restrain them from going ahead with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC.

She argued that the respondents disregarded the said injunction application and proceeded with the limited registration exercise in the district offices of the EC.

Ms Ayitah, in her affidavit in support of the application, said the respondents intention to proceed with the limited registration exercise at the district offices jeopardised the outcome of the initial interlocutory injunction application and the substantive suit that was brought to the court, hence contemptuous of the court.
Minority raises questions with 45 companies govt wants to grant tax exemptions

Getrude Ankah Nyavi Politics Nov - 27 - 2023 , 09:38

The Minority in Parliament has raised questions with some 45 companies the government want to grant tax exemptions under the one district one factory initiative.

The said 45 companies have been presented to Parliament as strategic investors of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) and therefore the government is seeking Parliamentary approval for tax exemptions.

But in a press statement issued Monday morning [Nov 27, 2023], the Minority Leader in Parliament, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson indicated that his side of the House will use all means to prevent the government from giving tax exemptions to said 45 companies.

The reason is that, the escalation in the sheer number of companies being presented to Parliament as candidates for tax exemption under the current government is "frightening," he indicated.

There are about 45 companies that have been presented to Parliament as one-district-one-factory companies, GIPC strategic investors, etc., to be exempted from the payment of taxes. In total, Government is asking Parliament to grant tax exemptions to the tune of US$449, 446,247.95 for these 45 companies. That is the equivalent of over five and a half (5.5) billion Ghana cedis, he stated.

We in the Minority are serving notice that we shall resist these tax waiver applications fiercely! In their current forms, we shall resist each and every one of the tax waiver applications with all the tools and strategies at our disposal, he added.

Dr Cassiel Ato Forson named the companies as Agrohao Ghana Company Limited, Amponsah-Efah Pharmaceuticals Limited, B5 Plus Limited, Beekaf Foods Ghana Limited, By Oa & J Pharmaceuticals Limited, Canadian Commercial Corporation, CIMAF, Ciments de l'Afrique Ghana Limited, CK Engineering and Construction Limited and Continental Blue Investment Ghana Limited.

Others are Echo Poly Industries Limited, and Emperor Foods, Beverages Limited, EPAC Flexible Packaging Ghana Ltd, Everpack Limited, Everpure Holdings Limited, Ferro Fabrik Limited, Fu Cal Company Limited, Golden Africa Consumer Products, Golden Africa Soap Industries Ghana Limited, Golden Latex Products Limited, Happy Sunshine Company Limited Keda (Ghana) Ceramics Company Limited, Korban Company Limited, and Lesdy Company Limited.

The companies also include Lesfam Industries Limited, Mass Industries Limited, Matrix Industries Limited, Miro Forestry Ghana Limited, Multipac Company Limited, Nungua Warehouse Ghana Limited, Prestige Integrated Agro Company Limited, and Rikpat Company Limited.

The rest are Rision Industry Company Limited, RMS GPT Ghana Limited, Sankofa Brewery Limited, Sentuo Oil Refinery, Sneda Transformers Technologies Limited, Specialty Beers (Ghana) Limited, Sunda Ghana Investment Limited, Sunda Ghana Limited, Triton Och Industries Ghana Limited, Yaabiko Enterprise Limited, Yellowtail Limited, YMHY Doors Ghana Manufacturing Company and Grand Chem Limited.

Dr Ato Forson added: We are further told that there are a total of 118 companies being processed at the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Finance and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to be brought to Parliament for tax exemptions. The total value of exemptions for these 118 companies is about seven billion Ghana cedis! It is the considered view of the Minority that these requests for tax exemptions running into several billions of Cedis, are unconscionable, inordinate and bear all the trappings of organised crime, he added.

Attached below is a copy of the full statement:

PRESS RELEASE
As the spirit of giving nears, Andersen Air Force Base and partner nations prepare for Operation Christmas Drop 2023, a humanitarian mission with real-world emergency training for airmen.

The annual humanitarian mission will once again bring essential supplies to remote communities in the Pacific, according to a news release from the Pacific Air Forces Public Affairs.

It is the Department of Defenses longest-running humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operation and provides relief to more than 55 islands throughout the Pacific, in the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.

Dating back to 1952, it symbolizes the U.S. commitment to partners in the Indo-Pacific and dedication to the Air Forces dedication to humanitarian assistance.

Col. Andrew Roddan, 374th Airlift Wing commander at Yokota Air Base, Japan, reaffirmed the importance of the operation and the commitment of Airmen participating in OCD23.

Our Pacific Air Forces Airmen continue to build critical interoperability with our Allies and partners, said Roddan. We are honored to once again dedicate our combined efforts to touch countless lives and foster goodwill between participating nations. The work we do at Operation Christmas Drop embodies the enduring mutual cooperation and trust between our friends across Micronesia, Palau, and the entire Indo-Pacific region.

The bundles will contain donated non-perishable food, fishing supplies, schoolbooks, and Santas holiday staple toys for the islands children.

Operation Christmas Drop has not only become a cherished tradition for those who organize and participate in its execution but also a beacon of goodwill for the communities it serves.

Operation Christmas Drop showcases our continued partnership and shared values, said Maj. Zach Overbey, 36th Airlift Squadron C-130J Super Hercules pilot and OCD23 mission commander. It is an absolute honor to come together with our Allies and partners to spread a little holiday joy and make a positive impact in the region.

The missions success will be made possible through the collaborative efforts of multiple organizations, including the flying forces from the U.S. Air Force, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the Republic of Korea Air Force, and the Royal Canadian Air Force, and ground operations forces from the Philippine Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force.

This multinational endeavor underscores the commitment to regional security and humanitarian cooperation in the Indo-Pacific.

The 374th Airlift Wing from Yokota Air Base, Japan, will lead Operation Christmas Drop 2023 and gather personnel from each of the partner nations as well as Airmen from the 36th Wing at Andersen AFB and the 515th Air Mobility Operations Wing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, to plan and execute low-cost, low-altitude airdrops.

The multinational operation also improves interoperability and communication for future real-world humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions.

Operation Christmas Drop 2023 is not just a mission; its a symbol of hope, resilience, and the power of international collaboration, the news release said.

The three key dates for the mission are on:
A second person died from the two-vehicle collision that happened on Thanksgiving night in Asan, according to Guam Police Department acting public information officer Sgt. Paul Tapao.

The male adult was the second occupant of the Scion TC, and marks the 29th road fatality for 2023, GPD said.

The other occupant of that same vehicle, a female adult, was pronounced dead by attending physicians from Naval Hospital Guam on the night of the traffic accident.

Traffic investigators, during a follow-up on Monday, learned from Naval Hospital Guam that the male occupant of the Scion also succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead by attending physicians from Naval Hospital Guam.

This crash investigation is ongoing, Tapao said.

The Nov. 23 crash occurred on Marine Corps Drive by the Office of Veterans Affairs and the old Harley-Davidson building in Asan at around 6:45 p.m.

The two-vehicle collision sent a total of five people to the hospital  the two occupants of the Scion TC and the three occupants of a Hyundai Tucson.

The three occupants of the Tucson were transported to Guam Memorial Hospital for treatment and care. They included a man, a woman, and a toddler, who was in stable condition.

At the time, GPD said a Hyundai Tucson was traveling north on the inner lane on Marine Corps Drive in Asan when a Scion TC, traveling on the opposite southbound lane, encroached onto the northbound lane and collided with the Tucson.

Yigo crash victim identified

Police on Monday also released the identity of the woman who died in the Nov. 24 two-vehicle collision along Marine Corps Drive in Yigo by Chalan Lachance.

Irene Jean Santos, 62, succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced deceased by attending physicians from GMH, Tapao said.

Tapao said during the course of the investigation, traffic investigators met with the victims next of kin, and were able to identify the victim. Shes Guams 28th traffic fatality of 2023.

This crash investigation is ongoing, Tapao added.

According to preliminary reports from GPD, a Nissan 350Z was traveling north on Marine Corps Drive in Yigo toward Andersen Airforce Base Guam, when a Toyota Sienna van exiting from Chalan Lachance and onto Route 1, collided with the Nissan.

The male occupant of the Nissan was transported to Guam Regional Medical City, while all six occupants of the van, including Santos, were sent to GMH.
The Office of the Attorney General will be launching a civil and criminal investigation into the Guam Waterworks Authority for allegedly failing to fix the islands roadways after tearing them up for repairs.

Attorney General Douglas Moylan announced the investigation on Monday afternoon.

In a press release, the attorney general accuses GWA of making sloppy repairs while servicing water and sewer lines, which allegedly amount to illegal damages to public property.

GWA General Manager Miguel Bordallo did not immediately respond when asked for comment via WhatsApp, or answer calls made to his phone.

Its unclear whether Bordallo was in receipt as of press time of a letter from the AG notifying him of the investigation.

The letter to Bordallo refers to a map and images of resurfaced asphalt along Alageta Street as one instance of the staggering number of illegal damages caused by GWAs actions over the years. Moylan points to seven damaged areas of the road.

There was no confirmation from Bordallo as to whether the work done on Alageta Street was performed by GWA.

CCU Chairman Joey Duenas on Monday afternoon said he was not aware of the investigation when contacted by the PDN, or any specific damages to roadways, and could not comment on the matter.

Thats somebodys opinion. I dont know what hes talking about, Duenas said of the attorney general.

Moylan asserts that GWA has consistently failed to properly restore the People of Guams property following roadwork.

The practice creates potholes that threaten the lives of motorists and pedestrians, he said.

It has also caused motorists to veer into other lanes, including oncoming traffic, to avoid GWAs illegal damages, endangering the public safety, Moylan wrote.

Consumers are further injured by damage to the steering, suspension, and tires of their vehicles caused by potholes made by GWAs sloppy and substandard repairs, he said.

Our office is in the process of investigating specific locations and contacting our village mayors. I strongly recommend that your engineering and management staff immediately touch base, Moylan said.

The AG requested that GWA management send a mitigation plan detailing how GWA intends to immediately restore illegal damages to roadways that ensure a level and lasting repair that will match if not exceed the original roadway surface integrity.

All repair proposals will be scrutinized by DPW or private engineers, Moylan wrote.

Also distributed by the AGs office was a standardized form by which residents can report illegal damages to public roadways. Copies will be provided to mayors offices and will be made available online.

They will be compiled by our team of civil and criminal investigators in our investigating and possibly prosecution of GWA management and other government officials responsible for these illegal damages, the release stated.

Poor repairs from GWA, constitute a clear and present threat to the People of Guam, and poses an injury to our Community, the release concluded.
Senators on Monday moved to the voting file three bills, including Sen. Telo Taitague's Bill 2-37, which seeks to tie in cost of living allowance payments to the actual costs of consumer goods, health care, utilities and more.

Taitague's floor-substituted Bill 99-37, which seeks to exempt private pool owners from the required employment of lifeguards, also moved forward. She said her bill would keep rental costs for apartments and condos affordable.

Sen. Sabina Perezs Bill 36-37, seeking to expedite the procurement of critical projects over $5 million, was also sent to the voting file.

The COLA bill advanced without objection and lawmakers are on track to vote on the measure by the close of the November session.

Taitague said it's becoming harder for residents to keep up with rising costs.

"Making ends meet paying rent, utilities and phone bills. In one paycheck is a luxury few families know it's a constant concern for government of Guam and retirees living on a fixed income, she said.

In recent years, the Legislature has voted to pass measures that raise COLA payouts by a fixed amount: from $2,000 to $2,2000 in fiscal 2023, and up to $2,300 in fiscal 2024.

Sen. Amanda Shelton, main proponent of recent raises, argued unsuccessfully last legislative term to set payouts at $2,5000 by fiscal 2026.

Taitague's Bill 2-37 takes a different approach. It would set the floor for payouts at $2,000, but establishes a committee, dubbed the Special Cost of Living Economic Service, which is responsible for looking at the cost of goods and services each year and recommending an adjustment to COLA payouts.

Estimates made in Bill 2-37 put the adjusted COLA payment back in March 2022 at $2,384, based on the U.S. Department of Labor's Consumer Price Index.

Prices for utilities and food, among a number of other things, have skyrocketed between 2022 and 2023, the PDN reported in September, meaning upcoming COLA adjustments could bring payouts even higher.

Taitague on Monday said the measure should take the politics out of COLA payments, while also helping to entice future government employees with a better benefits package.

No more random dollar amounts for COLA pay at election time," she said. "We need to stop thinking that this is a Christmas bonus, and provide a true cost of living adjustment to our retirees. This must be the goal. It's a legal commitment we have."

Lifeguards

Taitague's Bill 99-37, if enacted, will remove the requirement for private pool owners to employ lifeguards, which could cost residents and condominium owners and renters $80,000 or more annually, based on estimates from real estate professionals.

At a public hearing on the bill, it received unanimous support from both Guam real estate professionals and the Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association.

Taitague said Sen. Roy Quinata's opposition to the bill during Monday's session "supports rise in rent, homeowners' association fees for condo, apartment residents."

"My bill is sensible and is meant to reduce government interference in private property matters, Taitague said in a statement Monday afternoon. "Public swimming pools no doubt need lifeguards. Private swimming pools are private property and its costs are privately funded. Government has got to stop overreaching and imposing these astronomical costs on our struggling homeowners and renters. These economic times are tough enough without government forcing these unaffordable regulations on our people."
Del. James Moylan introduced a bill seeking to authorize the Federal Emergency Management Agency to allocate existing funds and resources to address infrastructure damages resulting from Typhoon Mawar, including repairs to the Guam Memorial Hospital and utilities.

If enacted, this measure would be unprecedented in Guams history with disaster recovery, Moylan said in a statement.

Moylan introduced H.R. 6478 or the Typhoon Mawar Reconstruction Act after discussions with FEMA and the Department of Defense.

If enacted, the measure would provide FEMA the authority to allocate existing federal funds and resources to address infrastructure damages that resulted from Typhoon Mawar.

This would include making repairs to the hospital, electric grid and transmission, communications, water and wastewater, and cybersecurity and other infrastructure, according to a news release from Moylans office.

H.R. 6478 has been referred to three House Committees, including, Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, and Judiciary.

The enactment of this measure would provide the FEMA Administrator with the authority to seek out and allocate funds from various accounts and resources. This would be unprecedented in Guams history with disaster recovery and assist in funding resiliency efforts in Guams infrastructure, which were adversely impacted by Mawar, Moylan said.

Moylan said one funding option available for FEMA is to use the Disaster Relief Fund, which he originally co-led a measure with Rep. Moskowitz to replenish, of which $14 billion was included in former Speaker McCarthys Continuing Resolution.

We have been discussing with both FEMA and DOD to seek reasonable ways to fund major damages at the hospital, electrical grid, and communications, thus the genesis of this legislation, Moylan said. These are equally critical needs for both the island community as well as for the various military installations to be mission ready.

The delegate said this measure is his offices priority.

He said this is something we will work towards making various approaches with, as load shedding is unacceptable, he added.




Haiti - Insecurity : More than 300 rapes in Haiti in 6 months





The Organization of Citizens for a New Haiti reported that between June and November 2023, more than 300 cases of sexual violence were recorded on the national territory.



The organization calls for collective action against this scourge and rapid action by the State to contain it.



In total, 317 people suffered sexual violence (75 women between 26 and 35 years old, 30 between 19 and 25 years old, 156 between 30 and 50 years old, 55 over 51 years old and a three-year-old girl.



With increasing violence and the expansion of areas controlled by armed groups, women and girls in Haiti are increasingly exposed and less protected.



In the middle of this year, the Women's Defense Collective "Neges Mawon" reported that between May 2022 and March 2023, 652 women and girls had been victims of sexual violence in four neighborhoods of Port-au-Prince, specifying that 90 % of the victims contracted Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) and 9 were murdered, deplored the Collective.



Furthermore, it must be remembered that the majority of hospitals and public institutions that can provide assistance and psychological support to victims of abuse are dysfunctional, abandoning the victims (women and girls) who undergo these traumatic experiences to their fate...



Note that many NGOs and Civil Society organizations working on the ground in Haiti believe that the recorded cases represent only part of the real number of cases.



PI/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - COP28 : Summary of Haitis priorities





The 28th Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) will take place in the United Arab Emirates in Dubai, from November 30 to December 12, 2023. It will be the global stocktaking COP, the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, the increase in the level of ambition and the development of the work program on the just transition.



This will be a new opportunity for the community of nations to put things right, to make progress at the speed and scale necessary to combat the climate crisis, including limiting the increase in global warming to 1.5 Celsius degrees compared to pre-industrial levels. It will also be an opportunity to restore confidence in developing countries like Haiti which, in the name of climate justice, desperately await compliance with the commitments made by developed countries.



Summary of Haitis priorities:



The operationalization and capitalization of the Loss and Damage Fund. Haiti, like other Small Island Developing States (SIDS), needs this fund to guarantee rapid and simple access. In addition, it hopes that the decision of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement (CMA-5) on the Fund specifies its scope as well as an obligation for developed countries to contribute. ;



A new framework for the global adaptation goal. The implementation of this framework by developing countries like Haiti will require, among other things, financial support by developed country Parties;



by developed country Parties; Clear, high-level political messages on the results of the first global stocktaking as well as the follow-up to be given which clearly indicates the follow-up to be given to the first global stocktaking, with particular emphasis on the financing of those -ci ;



; Accelerating the work program on raising the level of mitigation ambition, including reducing emissions from plastic pollution, to put the world back on a trajectory of 1.5 warming degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels;



Confirmation of compliance with the US$100 billion commitment as well as the identification of clear timetables to achieve this;



as well as the identification of clear timetables to achieve this; The presentation of a realistic plan for the significant increase in financial support for the adaptation of developing countries accompanied by support for capacity building and technology transfer and development;



for the adaptation of developing countries accompanied by support for capacity building and technology transfer and development; The gradual elimination of the use of fossil fuels without a reduction system



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Korean Movie | 2014

 Detective

Directed by Kim Seok-yoon ()

Written by  Kim Su-jin ()  Lee Nam-gyoo ()

125min | Release date in South Korea: 2015/02/11

Link

Formerly known as "Detective K: The Laborer's Daughter" (:  , jo-seon-myeong-tam-jeong: nob-eui ddal)

Synopsis

Its our time to step up once more!

In the 19th year of Jeonjos reign, Kim Min, Joseons top detective, who used to be a Kings secret messenger, has been banished to a remote island for some unclear reasons. The only visitors are his old partner, Seo-pil and a young girl, who comes every day to ask him to find her younger sibling.

In the meantime, Kim Min happens to hear a rumor that bogus silver bars have been being distributed, which awakens his dormant traits as a detective.

He finally makes a bold decision to escape the island and moves on to investigate the case of bogus silver bars fully and to find the young girls younger sibling. Joseons top detective, Kim Min and Seo-pil may be the first detectives in the history, who stepped up to solve two different cases at the same time!

But Hisako, a beautiful, mysterious woman with her identity unknown, continuously interferes the investigation conducted by this excellent pair of detectives.

Kim Min and Seo-pil, the excellent pair of Joseons top detectives return.

Joseon in jeopardy. Leave it in our hands!.

Source
Exhibition of works of young Chinese, Beninese artists celebrates booming cultural exchanges

Xinhua) 15:07, November 27, 2023

A visitor watches art works exhibited during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

COTONOU, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists.

The exhibition, held at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, attracted visitors including cultural players, students from the Confucius Institute, representatives from media and diplomats.

The exhibition brings together 35 works created by six Chinese artists, and around 20 works of art and sculptures by five Beninese artists.

The artists use painting, sculpture and other forms of art to express their vision of the world.

Carole Borna, representative of Benin's Minister of Tourism, Culture and Arts, lauded the cultural exchange between young artists from the two countries, and expected a continuation of the cross-cultural fusion.

"It's a great pleasure to see this cohesion, this ongoing passion between young Beninese and Chinese artists. I congratulate them on this exhibition, which takes us on a journey and makes us dream," she said.

Wang Guanzhou, one of the Chinese artists, said China and Benin have been friends for decades, and the exhibition is an excellent opportunity for promoting in-depth cultural exchanges between the two countries.

"We prepared this exhibition with our young Beninese friends, and we were very impressed by their attitude and approach to art," he said, hoping that the exchange would continue to contribute to cultural development of the two countries.

Visitors watch art works exhibited during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

Visitors watch art works exhibited during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

A visitor learns under the guidance of Chinese artist Wang Guanzhou during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

Chinese artist Wang Guanzhou makes works during the exhibition of works of young Chinese and Beninese artists at the Chinese Cultural Center in Cotonou, Benin, Nov. 25, 2023. An exhibition featuring works by 11 Beninese and Chinese artists opened here Saturday evening, aiming to celebrate booming cultural exchanges between the two countries' young artists. (Photo by Seraphin Zounyekpe/Xinhua)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Deputy Chancellor of Justice Mikko Puumalainen last week blocked a government proposal to step up measures at the border on grounds that it could undermine the right to apply for asylum.

MINISTER of Finance Riikka Purra (PS) on Sunday underscored in a blog post that the government has to make the decision to close the eastern border irrespective of the assessment of the chancellor of justice.

Purra on Sunday argued that Finland has drafted legislation specifically for the kind of situation that has been witnessed on its border with Russia.

We have no alternatives. No tricks at the border are helping. I do believe the judicial reviewer understands the situation from the national security viewpoint and enables us to close the entire border. But if he does not, the political decision must be made regardless, she wrote.

She also expressed her exasperation with moronically liberal interpretations of law and legislation, estimating that the deputy chancellor of justice assessed the situation solely as it pertains to international protection.

The interpretation is founded on the kind of legal abuse of the asylum system [] that is made possible by outdated international treaties and moronically liberal national legislation that has been drafted for a different kind of world, she said.

YLE on Sunday reported that this autumn roughly 950 asylum applicants have crossed the border from Russia to Finland. The Finnish government has estimated that the phenomenon has been orchestrated, with Russian officials allowing people without the necessary travel documents to enter the border zone.

Purra declared that the people crossing the eastern border into the country are not real asylum seekers, in no emergency whatsoever and not fleeing anything.

Rather, as made possible by an asylum system that became outdated in terms of its basic principles decades ago, they are moving to countries with a higher standard of living, namely to the EU, she wrote.

The Finns Party chairperson also called for a broader reform that ensures the right to apply for asylum never takes precedence over national security, estimating that the political climate for such a reform is opportune.

It feels like everyone has become a persu [a colloquial term referring to Finns Party lawmakers]. This should not be downplayed.

Helsingin Sanomat on Saturday published a survey revealing that almost three-quarters (73%) of the public are of the opinion that the government can ignore obligations set forth in international treaties if it believes such a decision is warranted by the security situation.

The Finnish government closed four south-eastern border crossing points on 18 November. Another three points were closed six days later and the receipt of asylum applications was concentrated to the northernmost border-crossing point on the eastern border, Raja-Jooseppi.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo (NCP) on Sunday stated to YLE that Finland can, if necessary, close all border-crossing points on the eastern border. Asylum claims, he added, could in that scenario be filed only at ports or Helsinki Airport.

The possibility to concentrate the receipt of asylum applications was introduced to the border guard act in summer 2022, as a means to prepare for hybrid warfare tactics that make use of migrant flows.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT

CORRECTION: The Raja-Jooseppi border-crossing point has been the only point on the eastern border where it has been possible to file an asylum claim since 24 November, not 22 November, as an unedited version of this story incorrectly suggested.
The county announced the outcome of the negotiations earlier this month, revealing that it will make no temporary lay-offs and hardly any permanent lay-offs and will instead seek cost-savings by reducing service purchases and streamlining its service network.

PIRKANMAA , the largest well-being services county in Finland, failed to reach a unanimous decision in the consultative negotiations it initiated in September, reports YLE.

An attempt to achieve permanent cost savings of 42 million euros as soon as next year, a sum that accounts for roughly half of the projected operating loss for this year, the negotiations concerned all roughly 20,000 employees of the well-being services county. Savings of roughly 12 million euros are to be achieved by trimming the headcount by 240 person-years.

Well have to carry out redundancies, Juhani Sand, the executive director at Pirkanmaa Well-being services county, conceded at a news conference on 15 November. We principally arent proposing that people who work directly with patients or customers be laid off, but that the duties and location of work can change.

Employees who refuse to accept the re-assignment, be it in terms of the location or job description, can be laid off.

Around 60 person-years will be reduced from expert and managerial services. Spending on customer, expert and information and communication technology services, meanwhile, will be reduced by a total of 24 million euros.

CEO Marina Erhola pointed out that the savings to be derived from managerial work are high relative to the total savings target, meaning many managerial employees will be re-assigned to manual duties.

Its possible that not everyone wants to do that, and those people will probably be faced with a change of employer, she remarked.

Another key component of the belt-tightening campaign is the re-organisation of services  namely, the closure of health care centres or inpatient wards in some municipalities. A proposal has already been made to close the inpatient wards in Ikaalinen, Kuhmoinen and Ruovesi, and to close Rauhaniemi Hospital in Tampere, according to YLE.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
RESIDENTS of Wargrave who sailed to the Canary Islands exactly 20 years ago to raise money for a childrens charity held a dinner to celebrate the anniversary.

Chris Cordrey, David Mosley and David Cunningham met at the Little Angel in Henley.

Along with three other crewmates, they made the 14-day sailing trip from Plymouth to Las Palmas in October 2003.

The trip raised 50,000 for a dedicated ambulance for Children of St Marys Intensive Care in Paddington.

While on board the 67ft boat, the crew had to cope with force seven winds and 5m swells, although they also saw dolphins, pilot whales, flying fish and shooting stars.

At the dinner, the three men were joined by their wives, Lorie Cordrey, Janet Mosley and Shirley Cunningham, and Cosmics chairman of trustees, Simon Nadel, who is a consultant surgeon, and his wife Anne.

Mr Cordrey, who led the team, said: It was great. We were all trying to remember what happened on each others watch.
HEALTH chiefs have been accused of prioritising cost savings over patient care in axing seven hospital beds in Henley.

Campaigners claim the decision to withdraw funding for the short stay beds at the Chilterns Court care centre, next to Townlands Memorial Hospital, was not based on clinical need.

One bed has already closed and the other six will go at the end of the year.

The beds are mainly used by patients recovering from problems such as hip or shoulder operations who had been living independently previously.

But the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board and Oxfordshire County Council have decided to stop funding them to focus on care at home instead.

They say Oxfordshire needs to meet a national requirement of 95 per cent of people being discharged from acute hospital beds going home to live independently or with

support.

The number of short stay beds across the county will fall from 94 to 63 this winter and to between 40 and 45 from April, with none in Henley.

The 63 beds will be based at the following care homes: Chacombe Park in Banbury; Henry Cornish Care Centre in Chipping Norton; Albany in Headington, Oxford; Isis in Oxford; The Close near Abingdon.

A meeting of the reformed Townlands Steering Group on Wednesday last week heard that this was based on market factors.

Town and county councillor Stefan Gawrysiak claimed that care homes were invited to quote for providing the remaining beds and the council chose the least expensive option.

He said: They are saying that with these 63 beds they cannot look at the geography. They are done on, I quote, market factors, in other words the cheapest price.

I dont know what Chilterns Court bid but if a bed can be provided for 1,000 a week in Banbury whereas in Henley it might be 2,000, they are going to go for the cheaper option.

That is not based on need and services that are near the people  that is the nub of it. It should not be based purely on market factors.

Money does matter but it should also be based on patient need and the closest to home.

I dont mind where the beds are as long as southern Oxfordshire gets provision but there is none.

Cllr Gawrysiak said that GPs at Henleys Bell and Hart surgeries, which provide medical supervision for the beds at Chilterns Court on a rota basis, say the beds have 100 per cent occupancy and want them to remain.

We know of two patients who couldnt go into the beds because they are full. One of them has been put in Didcot and the other in Farringdon.

He said it was unfair on a frail elderly person to be so far from home and for their relatives to have to travel to Farringdon, especially by bus.

You are really pushing back the recovery of that patient, he added.

Cllr Gawrysiak said that there were about 140,000 residents in South Oxfordshire who would not be able to access the remaining beds easily.

He said: I know someone who broke her hip and was in the Royal Berkshire Hospital and needed care at home because she hasnt got any family around  she is 95.

Instead of popping her into Chilterns Court, she was put in a home in Farringdon and her son, who is also her carer, cant go and see her. That is wrong.

Town councillor Ian Reissman, who chaired the meeting, accused the county council and care board of failing to justify closing the beds because they were focused on meeting their target.

He said: They gave us some figures on the number of patients that had been discharged from the Royal Berks.

They said that out of 54, four were assessed as not being able to go straight home. Well, thats seven per cent for a start, so their own figures dont stack up.

The phrase market factors let the cat out of the bag rather.

They are following policy but what they havent done is have a clear paper which says, This is the plan for short stay hub beds and gives reasons, allowing themselves to be scrutinised.

Town councillor Gill Dodds said that when her late husband, Malcolm, was discharged from hospital it took an enormous effort to make their home suitable for him.

She said: We had visits from occupational health who had to see that the care was okay, that the equipment was okay. That took a whole week.

Then the ambulancemen had to work out how to carry him up the stairs and that took some more days.

Im really nervous because I dont think care at home is going to be anywhere near adequate. If anyone falls in the night or tumbles out of bed then they will have to lie there until their carer comes in the morning, calls an ambulance and then they are back in hospital.

I just think it is unsatisfactory. It would be nice to know what sort of care package they have in mind.

Cllr Reissmann: You are exactly right. One of the key pieces of information we need is: do adult social care services have the capacity to deliver home care packages quickly and to a level and quality that is acceptable?

When we have asked them to explain the provision for short stay hub care, they have refused to provide it.

Mayor Kellie Hinton said: The current care packages from Oxfordshire County Council are inconsistent.

Someone can live in one house and have the same carers every day at regular times but the person next door might have irregular times, 8am one day and 10am the next, and different carers each time.

They should be demonstrating that they can provide care and can be consistent so that everybody gets fair care.

Retired GP Peter Ashby, from Nettlebed, said: The idea of these care packages is you have them set up before you go home. This assumption that 95 per cent of people can be turfed out willy nilly is outrageous. I am not a great believer in targets because they are not human.

Veronica Treacher, from Peppard, said: A proportion of homes in the town and villages around here are small, have small doorways and difficult staircases  you cannot get a clinical bed in some of these places and that is nothing to do with how rich or poor you are.

A letter by Deputy Mayor Rory Hunt was read out at the meeting criticising the closure of the Henley beds.

He wrote: There has been no consultation on either the funding or with the GP surgeries about these beds and there is clear concern about the provision of these beds being removed.

We have had no good reason for the decision, nor have we had any explanation about how it would improve the standard of care for residents of Henley and the surrounding area.

Now it appears the nearest beds will be in Abingdon, more 20 miles away.

Cllr Reissmann said that when campaigners asked for figures about current patient care, he was told that releasing it would breach data protection law.

He added: Its an insult to intelligence really.

Cllr Reissmann said that prior to April last year, when the integrated care board was introduced, campaigners had been able to raise any concerns.

This much larger entity is much more remote, much less connected, much less inclined to engage and much less inclined to produce good quality strategic documents, he said.

I am not surprised. I have been deeply unimpressed by the documents from the integrated care board in the 18 months of its existence. It is clear that the quality of management is disappointingly low.

Ms Treacher said that previously NHS England had said it was crucial to engage with the public and there used to be regular meetings to discuss issues.

Cllr Reissmann replied: There is a disappointing reluctance to carry out any form of engagement, never mind consultation.

He said that when he and Cllr Gawrysiak had met Dan Leveson, executive director of the board, and Karen Fuller, the county councils interim corporate director for adult social care, they admitted they had not engaged well and wanted to correct that.

But as soon as it came down to actually engaging and answering questions to get information, which I think the community deserves, we had a less positive feeling, said Cllr Reissmann.

They should have been here tonight. It would have been the perfect opportunity for them to talk, reassure and listen to what our concerns are.

I dont want to say necessarily that these plans are disastrous because we dont really know but they could tell us and thats all we are really asking for.

At the moment we are asking, Give us the information, reassure us that patients will have their needs met. Thats the important thing they need to do but they havent tried.

Dr Ashby said: If they carry out these plans to make savings at county council level it is the poor old NHS of Reading and Oxfordshire that picks up the tab for readmissions.

Cllr Reissmann said: I just feel that they are not interested and dont care about talking to the

community.

That may be harsh but they have used excuses which are feeble and bogus to refuse to give information.

While I accept they have a lot of work to do and they are busy people, it is our health service; we pay for it through our taxes and these people are answerable to us.

On their own admission. there has been no geographical criteria use, only market factors. That says it all and Im surprised we got to see that.

Were here to say this isnt good enough, we expect better, come and work with us.

The group agreed to write to the county council and care board, inviting officials to attend a meeting in December on a date of their choice.
A BOOK lover from Henley has taken one of the rarest volumes in his collection and reproduced it for a wider audience.

Ken Cooper founded Fountain Lake Press in order to create a facsimile version of Edward Twycrosss Mansions of England & Wales for Cornwall, which was first published in 1846.

Mr Cooper, who lives in Queen Street with his wife, Barbara, followed this up with The Country House Book Collector Volumes I & II, which contains a description of the books in his own extensive and carefully curated library, split into two volumes.

These books illustrate country houses in Great Britain and Ireland, all printed before 1900.

The next book, The Country Houses of Cornwall, was written by Patrick Newberry, chairman of the Cornish Buildings Group and trustee of the Georgian Group.

The two men collaborated to produce this volume, which takes the content of Twycrosss 1846 book and expands on it to bring the stories of the houses and their owners up to date, with contemporary

photographs.

Mr Cooper, whose copy of the Twycross book originally came from Tredethy, once the seat of the Hext family, says: Im an antiquarian book collector and I also love country houses, so marrying the two interests is what led to me forming my collection.

There are certain books which are rare and I wanted this book on Cornish houses but I couldnt find it for years and years. Edward Twycross only published 50 or 60 copies of the book but in the end I managed to acquire one.

The book was done by subscription and if the subscriber had a property in Cornwall which appeared in the book, they were given the chance to include a plate, a full-sized lithograph picture of their house.

They would subscribe 6 for that plate to be in and I think they got a copy of the book as well.

The books became even rarer as there was a quirk in the way they were put together.

Mr Cooper says: They were bound in something called gutta-percha, which was a glue that they put down the back and it was a fairly new thing. It was from a tree in India and its rubber, basically.

So instead of binding the book with tape, they used this gutta-percha but it became disbound very easily.

Because of this, people took out the pictures, which were attractive lithographs, and hung them on their wall, which meant the books became even more scarce.

In a labour of love, he has gone to great lengths to replicate the books original paper and cover.

Mr Cooper explains: We tried to reproduce what the original colour of the book was and we copied the plates pretty well.

When it came to The Country Houses of Cornwall, looking at the houses as they are today, he got in touch with Mr Newberry.

Mr Cooper says: I collaborated with Patrick, who lives in Cornwall and is an eminent architect and

historian.

He said it would be nice to update all the information that Twycross had done right to the modern day, to find out what had happened to the houses.

The men took photographs where they were able to obtain

permission.

Mr Cooper. a retired chartered surveyor, says: We wrote to all the owners and some of them said, Wed love to see you, while others said, Not on your nelly, youre not coming anywhere near us.

We would take a house and if it was illustrated in Twycrosss book, wed try to take the same picture. At Antony, a country house in Torpoint, there was scaffolding on it, but at Pencarrow House in Bodmin, they got the fountain at the front working especially for us, which was lovely.

The new book is on sale while the facsimile is available from Fountain Lake Press.

Mr Cooper is delighted to be involved in the world of publishing.

Its a whole new experience and its quite fun, he says.

The Henley Standard is terrific  its a proper paper. First thing in the morning on a Friday, when we wake up, Ill walk to the shop and buy some bread and the newspaper and come back, have my breakfast and read the paper.

After many years of hunting for rare books via auctions and book dealers, he still has a few gaps in his collection.

Mr Cooper says: The dealers know what you want and theyll ring you up and say, Ive just found something you might be interested in, which is a moment of excitement.

But now theyre beginning to say, We havent got anything because youve got everything!

 The Country Houses of Cornwall is available from the Bell Bookshop in Henley, priced 75. The two volumes of The Country House Book Collector cost 25 per volume. The facsimile edition of Mansions of England & Wales for Cornwall is available for 395 from Mr Cooper at Fountain Lake Press. Email

kencooper2000@outlook.com or visit www.fountainlakepress.com
Yesterday I was speaking to a friend on the phone in the USA. She asked me about my children, about the situation here, about any updates.

Then she tried to change the subject. She actually started talking about something else. I dont remember what she said. I could not focus. None of us can really think about anything else.

For us, there is nothing else. Just this situation. This war. Our kidnapped citizens. Our dead friends. Our soldiers fighting.

Each day another announcement of fallen soldiers, listed by age and name, rank, division, unit.

I see the age. All young. 22. 20.

My stomach clenches up.

Dreams

This morning, my teenage daughter told me about her dream. She dreamed terrorists broke into our yishuv and a little neighbor girl was fighting them. She told me she has these dreams every night. Then she asked me:

Do you have these dreams, Mom?

Time slows down

We are living in daylight, but it feels like gray and slow-motion. True, it has been 30 days since the Oct. 7th attack. But the time has gone slowly. It is painful time we work through. Just putting one foot in front of the other.

There is no good news.

Dont ask me whats new, because the only things that are new are more death.

Ceasefire?

People calling for a ceasefire dont seem to understand whats going on. Hamas attacked us, killed 1400 civilians, and took 240 hostages. Who would allow a ceasefire under those circumstances? Hamas started this war. They dont get to dictate anything. War is war. As to the people in Gaza, why arent any of the 22 other Arab countries giving them refuge? It seems so many in the West spew concern about the people in Gaza but nobody is stepping up to take them in, right?

The news isnt completely black and our situation isnt completely hopeless

This week we were able to transform a truck into a shower & laundry station. What? What are you talking about?

A special donor from France has allocated funds for this special project to help our IDF soldiers. This week we took our debut tour to the Erez Crossing, where 100 soldiers were able to do their laundry, take a shower, and get a haircut. We have a barber-on-board and he sets up a station on the ground.

We ended the day with a special barbeque.

These boys are all our sons. They are not able to go home and change. They are working 24/7 guarding our boarders, patrolling the communities in the Gaza strip area and at night, they cant even take off their boots!

Unfortunately, this war will not be a quick one. These soldiers arent going home for a while. They are sleeping on dirt, in the same uniform, without a break, staying alert and ready for the next round of missiles.

We get it. This is War. This isnt practice and it isnt a game. We know the difficulties of being in the field day in and day out.

Thank you to all who donated for this special project!

Since 2001, Rescuers Without Borders (aka Hatzalah Yosh) has been the primary supporter of volunteer medics, paramedics and ambulance drivers throughout Judea and Samaria, working in full coordination with Magen David Adom in supplying defibrillators, medical equipment, ambulances and training. Today the organization has over 1,600 volunteers also in the areas around Jerusalem and the Old City. Rescuers Without Borders and is funded completely by private donations and is a registered 501 c 3 charitable organization.

To learn more, visit us at http://www.hatzalah.org.il.
(JTA)  They went to Washington, D.C., to support Israel and left the rally with a deepened sense of the Jewish community in the United States.

So said teenagers who were among the estimated 290,000 Israel supporters who gathered on the National Mall on Tuesday  one of the largest gatherings of Jews in U.S. history. JTAs Teen Journalism Fellows were at the March for Israel to report on their peers experiences throughout the day; many heard from teens that they would be returning home inspired by the number of people, the range of Judaism represented, the support of non-Jewish allies and the overall feeling of hope.

Heres what nine young people who were proud to be a part of the historic gathering said during their day in D.C.

Isaac Shalit, 14, Austin, Texas

World War I Memorial, 10:34 a.m.

Im feeling great. Everywhere you see there are people to represent Israel. Its great to see that there are a bunch of other people coming together for the same reason you are.

[At the minyan outside the White House Tuesday morning] there was a lot of singing, a lot of dancing. You saw completely different sects, completely different parts of Judaism. A guy in a full suit with a hat on, dancing with a guy without even a kippah on. It was great seeing everyone coming together for Israel.

Lior Markus, 16, Toronto, Ontario

National Mall, 11:59 a.m.

I havent felt this many presence of Jews since I was last in Israel. Theres a nice sense of patriotism of sorts  everyone is here to support our country, our people, our nation. Its beautiful, beautiful to see.

Juju Jennet, 17, Washington, D.C.

The National Mall, 12:10 p.m.

Im here to support my fellow Jewish people and stand up against antisemitism. Its amazing to see all the Jewish people here and even supporters that arent Jewish. Its just crazy to see these numbers, and it feels great that so many people are in support of Israel and are standing up against Hamas and rising antisemitism.

Yoshi Polotsky, 13, Denver, Colorado

The National Mall, 12:25 p.m.

Im here to represent Israel in the fight against Hamas. My heritage shows how much I love Israel. It feels like a really big community here. Its a warm, fuzzy family.

Adin Linden, 17, New York City

The National Mall, 2:19 p.m.

Im here to show my support for Israel, and to show the people who are fighting back against Israel in America that were stronger than them. Were more united.

Ive seen people from all different parts of my life, but also people who are more religious, people who are less religious, all different races, genders. Its just very powerful to see all these different groups coming together.

Emma Shalmiyev, 17, Lower Merion, Philadelphia

Recorded on the bus returning home from the rally, 5:29 p.m.

I feel moved and inspired. Each speaker expressed so much emotion. It was crazy and uplifting to see so many people come. The rally also showed me that people do care  not just Jews  and that there are so many of us. I didnt realize that before.

I remember thinking at the rally, there is hope. There may have been hope before but now there is so much more!

Hadas Winberg, 15, Newton, Massachusetts

At the airport coming home from the rally, 7:41 p.m.

I went [to the rally] to have an impact on powerful people. But I also went to boost morale. For example, my aunt, who lives in Israel, shared that she was looking forward to hearing about the news in D.C. because all the news lately has been so bad. So I was also there to be part of something that positively impacts civilians and makes them feel supported. That is the most important thing that we can do now.

Aliya R., 15, Bronx, New York

On the bus heading home from the rally, 8:46 p.m.

I wanted to come to this rally because I feel really connected to my Jewish identity and culture. I also knew that this was something that Id remember forever  and a memory that I can pass on to future generations. So many people coming to stand up for Israel is very powerful.

I was horrified and devastated for the families whove lost loved ones and those whose family members are wounded or being held hostage. I wanted to show solidarity and let them know that were all here to support them.

I also have a tremendous sense of pride in our people and their resilience. But the need for the rally in the first place worries me.

Chinka Fried, 19, Israeli living in Lower Merion, Philadelphia

Recorded at home after the rally, 10:26 p.m.

I came to the rally to show support for Medinat Israel [the State of Israel] and Eretz Israel [the land of Israel], and to bring the [hostage] kids home. I saw the strength of the Jewish community in the U.S. There were so many people  so many different people and communities. I was very inspired. But I was also sad because we congregated as a result of tragedy in Israel and antisemitism in the U.S. Nonetheless, I am proud of the U.S. community and how it stands up for Israel. That was really nice to see.
The Jewish Pavilion is a special organization dedicated to ensuring that the elderly members of the Jewish community are not forgotten. It has been a lifeline for seniors residing in long-term care facilities for the past 23 years.

As the year 2024 unfolds, the Jewish Pavilion embarks on its annual membership appeal. In December, appeal letters will be sent to 4000 households. The message is clear: membership in the Jewish Pavilion is not just a financial contribution; it is a gift of love and attention to the elders who had become part of the organizations extended family.

The appeal highlights the modest budget of the charity, proudly stating that almost every penny of the $350,000 raised over the past 15 years had been dedicated to serving the elderly. No frills, just genuine care and commitment. The Jewish Pavilion has touched the lives of several thousand seniors, offering companionship, Sabbath and holiday programs, thoughtful gift bags, musicales, and, most importantly, a connection to their Jewish heritage.

The organizations reach extends across Orange, Seminole, and Volusia counties, with 50 elder-care communities. Serving 425 Jewish seniors and their friends, the charity has become a symbol of resilience and love, fostering a sense of community among those who often felt isolated in their later years.

A remarkable aspect of the Jewish Pavilions appeal is its transparency. A staggering 94 percent of all donations directly funds programs for seniors. There are no hidden fees, no bureaucratic red tapejust a straightforward commitment to making a difference in the lives of those who had paved the way for future generations.

Membership rates range from a humble $36 to a more generous $2500, ensuring that anyone, regardless of their financial capacity, can contribute to this noble cause. The generosity of the community is truly appreciated, and every donation, big or small, is a step toward providing love and attention to the elders who long for connection.

In the end, the Jewish Pavilions membership appeal isnt just about financial support; it is a call to join hands in a shared mission of love and connection. It is an invitation to become part of a community that understands the value of honoring those who had paved the way.
(JNS)  Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are in the process of setting up field hospitals on Egyptian soil near Gaza to treat Palestinians.

A Turkish ship arrived at the port of El Arish in North Sinai, carrying about 500 tons of medical equipment and medicines. The equipment is enough for eight field hospitals. Twenty ambulances will be at their disposal to transport the wounded from Gaza.

The UAE is establishing a 150-bed field hospital in the Gaza Strip. Authorities in Dubai are recruiting licensed medical professionals to volunteer. Planes carrying equipment to set up the field hospital have been dispatched to El Arish.

Egypt has already established a hospital nine miles from the Gaza Strip and a Jordanian facility inside the Strip is already treating patients.

On Monday morning, four Qatari Air Force planes arrived at El Arish airport carrying 180 tons of emergency aid to be transported through the Rafah Crossing into Gaza.

France, Italy and Indonesia have deployed hospital ships to the region.

There was fierce fighting in Gaza City on Sunday morning as the IDF closed in on Shifa Hospital, the largest medical center in the Strip and where Hamas has built its main terror headquarters.

On Saturday, the Israel Defense Forces said it would assist with the evacuation of infants from Shifa Hospital.

There is no siege, I repeat no siege, on Shifa Hospital. The east side of the hospital is open for the safe passage of Gazans who wish to leave the hospital, said IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari.

Were speaking directly and regularly with the hospital staff. The staff of Shifa Hospital has requested that tomorrow we will help the babies in the pediatric department to get to a safer hospital. We will provide the assistance needed, said Hagari.

The IDF announced on Sunday that in addition to Shifa, the military was enabling safe passage by foot and ambulance from Rantisi and Nasser hospitals.

Israels military also published an audio recording of a phone call between a senior officer in Israels Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) with the Shifa Hospital manager on Saturday evening, instructing him on how to safely exit the hospital.

The IDF in recent weeks has provided evidence that Hamas uses Shifa and other Gaza hospitals for its operational activities, which are conducted in a massive tunnel system underneath the complexes. The patients at these hospitals are used as human shields and to hide Hamass activities.

Israel also has provided evidence that Hamas has stockpiles of fuel and other supplies that it keeps for itself, refusing to share them with Shifa Hospital or the Gaza population.
(JTA)  Four hours after Tuesdays historic pro-Israel march in Washington, D.C., ended, Jennie Levy had expected to be touching down back in Detroit, after a long but fulfilling day standing shoulder to shoulder with Jews from around the country in support of Israel.

Instead, her delegation of 900, organized by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, was hungry, disappointed and nowhere close to home. Many members had missed most if not all of the rally because of what the federation said was a malicious walk-off of drivers hired to ferry them between the airport and National Mall. Now, their return flight was delayed as a result, too.

The buses that were hired to take over 900 participants from Dulles International Airport to the site of the march failed to appear, delaying the arrival of many in our group, read a statement from the Detroit federation that was circulated by the Jewish Federations of North America. We have learned that this was caused by a deliberate and malicious walk-off of drivers.

The snafu stood out so notably that it was mentioned during the rally itself, called in part to counter the anti-Israel demonstrations that have taken place in many places since Oct. 7. William Daroff, the executive director of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and one of the organizers of the event, said on stage that antisemitic bus drivers refused to drive participants to the rally. Daroff added that the federation told him the bus company had promised to take action against the drivers.

Levy, who works at a hospital and whose husband is Israeli, woke up at 6 a.m. Tuesday for a flight chartered by the Detroit federation. She traveled with a friend for the rally because she thought it was important for the Detroit Jewish community to be there in full force, she told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The three planes chartered by the federation landed at Dulles International Airport at around 11 a.m., leaving plenty of time for the delegation to board buses and make the 26-mile drive to the National Mall by the rallys start time of 1 p.m.

But around a third of the buses never showed.

Mark Miller, the senior rabbi at Temple Beth El in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, told JTA that all that we knew at the time was something about the buses, possibly a security issue.

Two hours went by, with the three planes stranded on the Dulles tarmac. Because the flights were privately chartered and the passengers did not pass through a TSA checkpoint before boarding, they were not permitted inside the airport.

Then the news started to trickle out from federation staff, who told the people on board that drivers from the bus company the federation had hired were staging a sickout, where workers call out sick as a form of protest  or as Levy put it, they refused to drive Jews to the rally. Miller said he thought it was just a rumor at first, but then the federation confirmed it with its statement.

The statement said the federation was deeply dismayed by this disgraceful action but noted that not all Detroit attendees were affected. Fortunately, many were able to travel to the march and we are grateful to the drivers of those buses that arrived, it said.

Dennis Bernard, a former head of the Detroit federation and the chair of JFNAs security and antisemitism committee, was aboard one of the planes and read the statement aloud to the other passengers. In a video shared with JTA, Bernard, speaking into the planes public address system, said unfortunately this falls right in my lap, before presenting the statement as official talking points. The video cuts off before Bernard shares additional information that he had said was confidential.

David Kurzmann, the senior director of community affairs at the Detroit federation, told reporters at a late-night press conference that the private bus company, whose name he said he did not know, informed them that some of the drivers called in sick once they became aware of the assignment.

Kurzmann said he considered the incident to be an act targeting the Jewish community that prevented people from exercising their right to protest but, when pressed by a reporter, stopped short of calling it antisemitic.

Levy said the mood on the planes on the way to Washington had been one of excitement and pride, with passengers singing the Israeli national anthem and Am Yisrael Chai and chanting the Jewish travelers prayer. But once things were delayed, the vibe shifted as organizers were noticeably stressed and scrambling to devise a backup plan, Levy said.

After around two hours, the delegations organizers had arranged for makeshift shuttles, which allowed many of the 900 people to make it to the rally, though one full planes worth of people didnt get to the event at all.

Miller said he arrived at the rally around 2:30 p.m., and Levy said she got there at 3 p.m. That was when the event was scheduled to end, though it ran until closer to 4 p.m.

Then because of the unexpected delay in the morning, Levy said the planes crew had timed out, or exceeded federally mandated work limits, and was not allowed to begin the route back to Detroit until 2:30 a.m.  leaving the delegation waiting for several hours outside the airport. Some in the group hadnt eaten all day, Levy said on Tuesday evening.

Miller said the incident was not only an inconvenience for rally-goers from his area but possibly an indication of a much larger problem, which could lead to worse consequences, including violence.

We cant pretend its not real, this antisemitism, Miller said. He added, On a day like today, where we had a large and enthusiastic group who was proud to be there  for this to be the reason we couldnt get there just speaks to the reality of what is happening all around us, that antisemitism is real.

Miller said that while the main focus of the day should still be the rally and its enormous turnout, we would be remiss not to have this [incident with the buses] as part of the story of today, too.

For Levy, the incident offered a stark reminder of why she had decided to travel to Washington in the first place.

The Jewish community in the United States already feels very helpless and sad about everything going on, Levy told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Im scared too, to know that antisemitism is so close to me.
(JNS)  When organized crime wants to hide profits from their criminal enterprises, they launder it through seemingly legitimate business, and after a step or two, the money is clean.

Unfortunately, CNN is trying the same trick with casualty figures from Gaza. Heres their problem: Many people are justifiably skeptical about any claims by Hamasafter all, if it is willing to engage in barbaric mass murder, lying doesnt seem like that big a leap.

So what to do about Hamas-reported deaths in the Gaza fighting triggered by Hamass mass slaughter of Israelis? CNNs answerlaunder the questionable Hamas claims through the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, which at least has a better reputation than the Gaza terrorist group (yes, its a low bar).

Of course, this is ridiculoussince the P.A. was kicked out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007 it has had no sources for Gaza casualty figures save for the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. That is, Gaza casualty figures from the P.A. Health Ministry in Ramallah are just re-labeled casualty figures from Hamas.

Despite this, since Oct. 31 CNN has, at least 35 times, tried to shore up the Hamas claims by using the phrase according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah, drawing from sources in the Hamas-controlled territory, or close variations thereof.

Those sources, though CNN is laboring mightily not to say it, are all Hamas.

Characteristically, Christiane Amanpour went even further in her broadcast on Nov. 8, omitting even a mention of Hamas, telling viewers over 4,300 children have been killed, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

CNN should come clean and stop laundering the Gaza casualty data, including by noting that Hamas hides behind civilians because it wants to claim as many civilian deaths as possibleits a major part of their strategy.

Originally published by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis.
(New York Jewish Week)  A Cornell University junior has been arrested in connection with threats to kill Jewish students at the school, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced Tuesday.

Patrick Dai, 21, from Pittsford, New York, is being charged with posting threats to kill or injure another using interstate communications, a federal charge that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He is due in court on Wednesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochuls office announced that a person had been taken into custody on Tuesday as her office unveiled a series of measures to combat antisemitism on campuses and elsewhere in New York.

Hochul had visited Jewish students at Cornell in a show of support on Monday, the day after police were called to the universitys kosher dining hall in response to antisemitic threats posted to a Greek life website over the weekend that threatened to shoot up the hall.

The posts included comments such as jewish people need to be killed and eliminate jewish living from cornell campus. One comment posted under the name hamas read, If i see a pig male jew i will stab you and slit your throat.

The campus Hillel warned students to avoid the building after the threats, which came amid a spike in campus antisemitism across the country that has alarmed students, families and even the Biden administration.

When I met with Cornell students yesterday, I promised them we would do everything possible to find the perpetrator, Hochul said on Tuesday she announced that a suspect was in custody. Public safety is my top priority and Im committed to combating hate and bias wherever it rears its ugly head.

Hochul also announced a series of measures to combat hate crimes and antisemitism in New York.

The governor ordered a third-party review of antisemitism and discrimination policies at New York Citys massive public university system, the City University of New York. The school system has been an antisemitism battleground in recent years, with some Jewish students and faculty alleging discrimination and harassment and demanding action from the administration. Much of strife across the systems 25 colleges centers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Jewish students saying anti-Israel criticism often veers into antisemitism, and pro-Palestinian activists decrying alleged attacks on free speech.

Judge Jonathan Lippman, a former chief judge on the New York Court of Appeals, will lead the review of CUNY antisemitism. The probe will look into the campus environment; policies, procedures and handling of antisemitism complaints; and balancing free speech rights with antisemitism.

Last May, a student speaker at the CUNY School of Law graduation praised the school as a place where students could speak out against Israeli settler colonialism, said Israel was indiscriminately raining bullets and bombs on worshipers, and blamed donors and investors for stifling anti-Israel criticism. Two weeks later, CUNY Chancellor Felix Matos Rodriguez and the board of trustees denounced Fatima Mousa Mohammeds remarks as hate speech. The previous year, radical pro-Palestinian activist Nerdeen Kiswani delivered a similar speech at the law school graduation.

We will take on the antisemitism we have seen on college campuses, Hochul said during a press conference Tuesday. The problem didnt begin with the weeks following the Oct. 7 attacks. Its been growing on a number of campuses and seen most acutely in the City University of New York.

CUNY said in response to the announcement, We will cooperate with Judge Lippmans review as we work to build on the progress weve made combating antisemitism across our campuses.

As an institution of higher learning and one of the countrys most diverse universities, CUNY has taken many steps to combat hate, discrimination and intolerance in all forms, important work which we continue every day, a CUNY spokesperson told the New York Jewish Week.

The U.S. Department of Education is investigating CUNYs Brooklyn College over alleged antisemitism in a probe announced last year.

In addition to the CUNY review, the states division of criminal justice services will distribute $50 million for law enforcement agencies statewide to acquire new technology and equipment to better solve and prevent hate crimes, and $25 million in grants for securing communities against hate crimes, a program to boost protection as nonprofit organizations and other sites.

The state will also expand its social media analysis unit to better monitor violent threats against schools and campuses.

Antisemitic incidents have spiked in New York City and the United States since the start of the war in Israel, according to data collated by the New York Police Department and Jewish security groups. Jews are targeted in hate crimes in the city more than any other group.
(JNS)  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday called Israel a terrorist state and described Hamas terrorists as resistance fighters.

Erdogan claimed that Israel was attempting to eradicate all of the Gaza Strip and threatened to take steps to ensure that Jerusalems political and military leaders are brought to trial in international courts.

Israel is implementing a strategy of total destruction of a city and its people, said Erdogan, in an apparent reference to Gaza City. I say openly that Israel is a terrorist state.

The Turkish president also described Hamas terrorists as resistance fighters defending Palestinian lands.

In response, Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the Turkish leader, saying, We wont take lessons in morality from a man with an appalling human rights record.

Israel is defending itself against brutal terrorists from Hamas-ISIS, some of whom have been allowed to operate under Erdogans roof, Lapid said.

Erdogan spoke ahead of a visit to Berlin later this week. On Tuesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz described Erdogans accusations of fascism against Israel as absurd.

Earlier this month, Israel accused Erdogan of supporting Hamas, after Ankara recalled its envoy from the Jewish state amid the ongoing conflict.

The Turkish governments decision to recall its ambassador while the State of Israel is in the midst of a war of self-defense imposed on it by a terrorist organization worse than ISIS is another step by the Turkish president that sides with the Hamas terrorist organization, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat.

Hamas terrorists brutally massacred more than 1,400 people and kidnapped 240 to Gaza, among them babies, children, women and the elderly.

Furthermore, Hamas terrorists use the population of Gaza as human shields and are preventing them from moving to safe areas, while stealing fuel, food and drinking water, he continued.

Hamas commits war crimes and crimes against humanity and is the real enemy of the Palestinian people, added Haiat.

Days earlier, Erdogan said at a mass rally in Istanbul that Hamas is not a terrorist organization but rather a liberation group fighting to protect its lands.

He previously argued that Gazas terrorist rulers constituted a group of mujahideen [jihadists] defending their lands and people.

After a long diplomatic cold spell, ties between Ankara and Jerusalem had been warming.

On Sept. 20, during a meeting on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly annual general debate in New York, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Erdogan that our ties are improving, and the two leaders agreed to continue advancing bilateral relations.

Netanyahu was expected to visit Turkey before December, becoming the first Israeli premier to do so since 2008. Erdogan planned to visit the Jewish state in return, his office announced in late September.

However, Erdogan recently told lawmakers that he had dropped his planned trip to Jerusalem. We had a project to go to Israel, but it was canceled; we will not go, he said.

Erdogan has long been a champion of the Palestinians, and his government harbors members of Hamas. Last year saw the 10th anniversary of the official establishment of Hamass offices in Istanbul.
(JNS)  Israeli forces on the ground in Gaza continue to find Hamas terrorist infrastructure located within civilian sites, including at Al-Quds University and the Abu Bakr Mosque, the Israel Defense Forces said on Monday.

Israeli forces uncovered a section of the mosque housing a large number of explosive devices and flammable materials, according to the IDF. Soldiers also confiscated dozens of weapons, military equipment and Hamas operational plans.

IDF troops also found a large number of weapons inside the childrens room of the home of a senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist.

During operational activity in Beit Hanoun in the northeastern Gaza Strip, IDF troops located a tunnel shaft, Hamas intelligence materials and weapons.

IDF Spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said during his regular evening press briefing on Sunday that troops continue to strike the Hamas strongholds in the heart of the Shati Camp and to deepen the raids in the heart of Gaza City.

Hagari also said that a total of 20 Hamas terrorists have been arrested and brought to Israel for questioning, including men involved in the Oct. 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis in the northwestern Negev. The arrests were made in cooperation with IDF troops, coordinators from the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Military Intelligence Directorates Unit 504.

The names of two more IDF soldiers killed in action in the northern Gaza Strip were published on Monday: Maj. Issachar Natan, 28, from Kiryat Malachi; and

Maj. Issachar Natan, 28, from Kiryat Malachi.

At least 48 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza and at the Lebanon border since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27; 363 Israeli soldiers have died since the war started.

The IDF said on Monday that Israeli air and ground forces have so far conducted 4,300 strikes in Gaza, including on hundreds of anti-tank missile launch posts, 300 tunnel shafts, 3,000 terrorist infrastructure sites, more than 100 structures rigged with explosives, and hundreds of Hamas command and control centers.

An Israel Navy unit that specializes in complex underwater missions has located dozens of weapons, explosives, and other equipment off the coast of Gaza, the IDF disclosed on Monday.

The IDF said the finds made by the navys Yaltam unit were the remains of attempts by Hamas to infiltrate Israel by sea.

Yaltam specializes in locating and disabling bombs underwater.

Were finding a lot of weapons in the water in dangerous conditions. Each examination of each specific location takes time, a Yaltam officer was quoted saying in footage released by the IDF.

Items found below the water or floating on the surface include explosive devices, bomb belts, ammunition, grenades, the remains of inflatable boats and even a shoulder-fired missile.

Explosive devices were carefully brought ashore and destroyed in controlled detonations or neutralized at sea.

As Israeli forces close in on the main Hamas headquarters located underneath Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the United States has conveyed to the IDF its concern about civilians getting caught in the crossfire.

U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told the CBS News program Face the Nation on Sunday that the United States does not want to see firefights in hospitals where innocent people, patients receiving medical care, are caught in the crossfire. And weve had active consultations with the Israel Defense Forces on this.

Israel has publicized safe evacuation routes from Gazas largest medical complex and is assisting in the evacuations, including of infants. The IDF has provided documentation of its attempt to provide fuel for the hospital, which was blocked by Hamas.

In the last 24 hours, the IDF delivered 300 liters of fuel to the Shifa Hospitals doorstep, yet the fuel remains untouched after Hamas threatened hospital staff, IDF International Spokesman Lt. Col. (res.) Peter Lerner tweeted on Monday morning.

In the last 24 hours, the IDF delivered 300 liters of fuel to the Shifa Hospitals doorstep, yet the fuel remains untouched after Hamas threatened hospital staff.

Kan News on Sunday also showed video documentation of Hamas terrorists brutally beating Gaza civilians attempting to take food from a humanitarian aid truck in southern Gaza last weekend. The Hamas terrorists took the food for themselves.

Sullivan acknowledged Israeli efforts to protect hospital patients while they also try to figure out a way to try to deal with the fact that Hamas is operating in a way that is outside the bounds of any civilized concept of how you would think about using a hospital, using human shields.

Israel has provided evidence that Hamass main headquarters is located at Shifa. Sullivan appeared to back this assertion during the interview, saying that without getting into intelligence information, we can just look at the open source reporting that Hamas is using hospitals as it uses many facilities for command-and-control, for weapons storage, to house its fighters, and this is a violation of the laws of war.
By Luke Tress

(JTA)  International news outlets denied that they had advance knowledge of Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel, after a report suggested without hard evidence that their photographers may have coordinated with the terror group ahead of the invasion.

But the Associated Press and CNN have said they will no longer work with one of the photographers named in the report, Hassan Eslaiah. The other publications named in the report are Reuters and The New York Times.

The report, by pro-Israel media watchdog Honest Reporting, said freelance photographers working with the four publications were at the scene in the early hours of the Hamas attack, saying their presence raised ethical questions.

It comes as dozens of journalists have been killed in the war, mostly in Gaza, and as reporters and photographers in the territory face scrutiny for their approach to the conflict. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 39 journalists have been killed since the start of the war, including 34 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese journalist. (Some have died in their homes and not while engaging in journalism.)

On Thursday, Sherif Mansour, the Committee to Protect Journalists Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties.

But citing the Honest Reporting document, the Israeli Government Press Office said it demands explanations of the international outlets, adding that the involvement of their photographers in the attack crosses every red line, professional and moral. Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi wrote a letter to the news outlets, demanding they investigate possible collusion between the photographers and Hamas.

The report released on Wednesday, did not include concrete evidence of collusion. But it suggested the photographers knew ahead of time about the assault or coordinated with the attackers, since Hamas breached Israels border early on a Saturday morning when the journalists would likely not be working.

Is it conceivable to assume that journalists just happened to appear early in the morning at the border without prior coordination with the terrorists? Or were they part of the plan? the report said, placing quotation marks around the word journalists.

Even if they didnt know the exact details of what was going to happen, once it unfolded did they not realize they were breaching a border? the report added. And if so, did they notify the news agencies?

The four publications all denied that they coordinated with Hamas. Reuters said in a statement that it categorically denies that it had prior knowledge of the attack or that we embedded journalists with Hamas. AP said it had no knowledge of the Oct. 7 attacks before they happened. The New York Times called the allegations untrue and outrageous.

CNN told the Israeli publication Ynet it has not found reason to doubt the journalistic accuracy of the work [Eslaiah] has done for us, even as it cut ties with him.

The four photographers named in the report took pictures of a burning Israeli tank from which soldiers were killed or kidnapped, as well as attacks on Israeli homes and terrorists taking hostages and bodies back into Gaza.

HonestReporting, citing screenshots of deleted tweets, said Eslaiah posted footage of himself in front of a burning tank and photographed attacks on Kfar Aza, the scene of one of the worst massacres of the day. Eslaiah was not wearing a press vest or helmet to identify him as a member or the media, the report said.

Eslaiah, who works with CNN and AP, was also seen in an undated photograph with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar that Honest Reporting shared after the report was released. Sinwar is kissing Eslaiahs cheek in the image, suggesting that he was friendly with the terror group official in a way that crosses clear ethical lines in journalism.

Amit Segal, a prominent Israeli reporter, said Eslaiah appeared to hold a grenade while riding a motorcycle on the day of the attack in a video posted to Eslaiahs Facebook page. His face is not clearly visible in the video.

The publications say they havent breached any journalistic ethics. Reuters said it had no prior relationship with the photographers before Oct. 7, though it did not elaborate on that, and said that their images were taken two hours after Hamas launched a rocket barrage against Israel. The terrorists breached the border shortly after the salvo.

AP said the first pictures it used had been taken more than an hour after the attack started.

The New York Times, which has worked with a different photographer named in the report, said, It is reckless to make such allegations, putting our journalists on the ground in Israel and Gaza at risk.

The Times drew fire from Israel supporters last month for rehiring a Gaza freelancer after finding out he made statements in support of Adolf Hitler. It also received criticism for initially reporting claims by Hamas that Israel bombed a hospital. Later assessments by Israel, the United States and a range of other governments and press outlets have found that a misfired Palestinian rocket was very likely the cause of the explosion.

The Times later said its early coverage of the incident relied too heavily on claims by Hamas and did not make clear that those claims could not immediately be verified, said an Oct. 23 editors note. The report left readers with an incorrect impression about what was known and how credible the account was.

Pro-Palestinian activists have also criticized the Times, filling its lobby in a protest on Thursday that called for a ceasefire. According to a video posted to X, formerly known as Twitter, protesters held mock copies of the paper with the headline, Ceasefire Now! Honoring Gazas dead  and fighting for the living.

Israel has drawn criticism for not adequately protecting the lives of reporters covering the regions violence. But on Thursday, Benny Gantz, a member of Israels emergency war cabinet, wrote on social media that Israel would not make allowances for journalists who coordinated with Hamas.

Journalists found to have known about the massacre, and still chose to stand as idle bystanders while children were slaughtered  are no different than terrorists and should be treated as such, he wrote.
(JNS)  Israel Air Force fighter jets struck the home of Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh in the Gaza Strip overnight Nov. 15 as Israeli forces continued their operations in the enclave.

The residence was used as terrorist infrastructure and often served as a meeting point for Hamass senior leaders to direct terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, the army said.

Haniyeh resides in Qatar, where he has an office under the protection of the Gulf countrys government. Haniyeh is worth an estimated $4 billion and has homes in several places.

Minister-without-Portfolio Benny Gantz warned on Wednesday that Israel will kill Hamas leaders responsible for the Oct. 7 massacre in Gaza and around the world.

IDF seizes Gaza harbor

Israeli forces took control of the Port of Gaza, a key Hamas base in Gaza City, the IDF announced on Thursday.

In a combined operation by naval, armored and engineering forces along with air force support, about 10 tunnel shafts were destroyed and four buildings of associated terrorist infrastructure were destroyed, the IDF said.

Hamas used the anchorage as a training facility for its naval forces to direct and carry out attacks, the IDF said. Under the cover of a civilian naval anchorage, Hamas took advantage of the facility to train and carry out attacks, using civilian vessels and Gazas naval police boats.

Israeli forces killed 10 terrorists and cleared all the buildings in the area of the anchorage.

In addition, a monument glorifying the Mavi Marmara protest flotilla of 2010 was toppled. Some of the naval commandos in the Israel Navys Flotilla 13 who were involved in seizing the anchorage also fought aboard the Mavi Marmara.

In 2010, the Israel Navy intercepted a six-ship flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade. Violent clashes broke out aboard the Mavi Marmara, the flotillas largest ship when protesters attacked Israel Navy commandos. Ten Turkish Islamists, many of whom were armed, were killed. Ankara downgraded its ties with Israel over the affair.

On a number of occasions since Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, the Israel Navy disrupted attempts to smuggle Iranian weapons to the Strip.

Shifa Hospital gets Israeli supplies

Israeli forces on Wednesday successfully transferred medical supplies to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City while soldiers searched for additional Hamas terrorist infrastructure inside the complex.

The army announced on Wednesday morning that incubators, baby food and medical supplies brought into Gaza by IDF tanks had reached Shifa, and that medical teams and Arabic speakers were ensuring that the supplies reached those in need.

Yesterday, IDF soldiers successfully transferred medical supplies while conducting searches for terrorist infrastructure within the Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Troops entered Shifa overnight Tuesday to conduct what the military said was a precision operation against Hamas, which is headquartered in a vast tunnel system underneath the Gaza Strips largest hospital.

So far, IDF troops have found weapons, military technology and intelligence information in the compound.

Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces destroyed a Hamas naval forces weapons cache containing diving gear, explosive devices and weapons during the takeover of the Shati camp, the IDF said.

IDF troops also struck terrorists and located weapons including explosive belts, explosive barrels, RPGs, anti-tank missiles, communication equipment and intelligence documents.

Sirens continued to sound in the area surrounding the Gaza Strip on Thursday morning. Terrorists in Gaza have fired nearly 10,000 rockets at Israeli civilians since the start of the war on Oct. 7, when thousands of Hamas terrorists stormed across the border, murdering 1,200 people, wounding more than 5,000 others and taking over 200 hostages.

IDF strikes Hezbollah in Lebanon

On the northern front, an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon towards the area of Shlomi in the Western Galilee on Wednesday. The IDF responded by striking the Hezbollah launch site.

The IDF also attacked several observation posts and additional launch posts, a weapons compound and terror infrastructure sites belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization, according to the military.

Three more slain soldiers named

The IDF on Thursday morning released the names of two more soldiers killed in Gaza: Capt. Assaf Master, 22, from Kibbutz Bahan, a platoon commander in the 601st Battalion of the 401st Armored Brigade; and Capt. Kafir Yitzhak Franco, 22, from Jerusalem, a platoon commander in the brigades 52nd Battalion.

They both fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

The IDF on Thursday afternoon named another soldier who died during operational activity in the northern Gaza Strip: Capt. Shlomo Ben Nun, 22, from Modiin, a deputy company commander from the 202nd Battalion of the Paratroopers Brigade.

At least 55 soldiers have been killed in action in Gaza and at the Lebanon border since the start of the Gaza ground operation on Oct. 27; 371 Israeli soldiers have died since the war started on Oct. 7.
(JTA)  Israels Supreme Court upheld an earlier ruling that the non-Jewish widows of the children and grandchildren of Jews may emigrate to Israel under its Law of Return.

The 4-3 ruling this week was an example of the courts role in determining Israeli policy, a capacity that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government had sought for months to diminish prior to the outbreak of Israels war with Hamas on Oct. 7. Critics of the judicial overhaul contended that sapping the judiciary of its power endangered Israeli democracy.

The ruling is also a victory for those who want Israel to extend the rights and privileges of citizenship to a broader range of Jews and their relatives.

Israels Population Authority, an agency of the Interior Ministry which is led by the haredi Orthodox Shas Party, had recognized the Law of Return as extending only to the non-Jewish widow of a Jew, and not the widows of their progeny.

Spouses of living children and grandchildren of Jews are eligible to immigrate, and the Israeli branch of the Reform movement argued to the court that immigration rights should also extend to the widows of children and grandchildren of Jews. The widows and widowers lose the right to citizenship if they get remarried to non-Jews

In 2021, a smaller High Court panel had ruled in favor of the Reform movement, and the Population Authority pushed for the matter to be considered by a larger panel.

The Law of Return has governed Jewish immigration to Israel for almost all of the states history. It extends the right of automatic citizenship to anyone who has one Jewish grandparent of either gender.

Orthodox Jewish parties have for decades sought for the law to hew closer to the definition of Jewish identity under halacha, or Jewish law, which recognizes only the children of Jewish mothers as Jewish, in addition to those who convert.

I am pleased that the court reiterated to the Population Authority that the Law of Return is intended for anyone who has tied their fate to the Jewish people, and that it must be understood in a national sense, not just religiously according to Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law, said Nicole Maor, the director of the Israeli Reform movements legal aid center for immigrants..

Orthodox parties in Netanyahus coalition had hoped to restrict the courts authority over a range of issues including immigration as part of Netanyahus sweeping judicial overhaul, which brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets for months on end.

Hamass deadly invasion of Israel from the Gaza Strip last month led Netanyahu to broaden his coalition, bringing in an opposition party that had opposed the reforms, and to the suspension of the overhaul effort.
On Tuesday, Dec. 5, the local chapter of the Zionist Organization of America will host guest speaker Susan B. Tuchman who will discuss "The campus war against Israel & Jews."

Tuchman is the director of the ZOA's Center for Law and Justice. Under her leadership, the ZOA pioneered the use of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to protect Jewish students from antisemitic harassment and intimidation. After a ZOA-led battle which included rallying other national Jewish organizations and bipartisan support from members of Congress, Jewish students now have the same legal protections under Title VI as other ethnic and racial groups.

The Forward newspaper named Susan one of the "50 most influential members of the Jewish community" based on her legal work on behalf of Jewish students.

This important meeting will be held at Congregation Ohev Shalom at 7:30 p.m. There is no cost to attend, however registration is required. To register visit https://www.ohevshalom.org/form/zoa-event
Members of U.S. Capitol Police push protesters away from the headquarters of the Democratic National Committee during a demonstration against the war between Israel and Hamas, on Capitol Hill, Nov. 15, 2023.

WASHINGTON (JTA) - Capitol Police arrested activists from two left-wing Jewish groups protesting outside the Democratic Party headquarters and calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

At least two Democrats in Congress said police evacuated them from the building during the protest, the latest in a string of high-profile actions by the groups, IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace.

The police said that the protesters with the two Jewish groups and a third organization, Democratic Socialists of America, were violent. The protest groups said their activists were peaceful and that it was the police who were violent.

The groups, who work together as the Ceasefire Now Coalition, said that they counted 90 injuries among their members.

"Protesters were choked and violently handled by multiple offices at once, thrown against a wall, then grabbed and picked up and thrown down the front stairs," the groups said in a statement. "At least two protesters' glasses were smashed by the police. Dozens of people were kicked, kneed and punched in the face by police officers. People were shoved down the stairs and tackled to the pavement by cops running at full speed."

The incident took place Nov. 15 as about 150 protesters gathered outside the Democratic Party headquarters.

"Right now our officers are working to keep back approximately 150 people who are illegally and violently protesting in the area of Canal Street and Ivy Street, SE," the Capitol Police tweeted at the time. "Officers are making arrests. All [Congress] Members have been evacuated from the area. Please stay away from the area."

The protests come a day after approximately 300,000 Jews from around the country rallied on the National Mall in support of Israel in its war against Hamas and the return of the hostages taken by Hamas, as well to counter rising antisemitism in the country. Hamas launched the war on Oct. 7 with deadly raids of Israel that killed at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians.

Israel launched counterstrikes and since then, more than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed, including thousands of children, according to the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry. It is not known what portion of that number are combatants, and how many have been killed by rockets misfired by terrorist groups.

The Associated Press reported that congressional staffers were told not to enter or exit the nearby congressional office buildings during the scuffle. Police for a time closed off streets near the buildings. "The large group of illegal protesters near Canal Street and Ivy Street, SE, have cleared out, but USCP officers will stay on scene out of an abundance of caution," a tweet said at 10:15 p.m.

The groups said their actions were peaceful. "Police are being extremely violent outside @TheDemocrats headquarters," IfNotNow said on X. "We are linking arms, threatening no one, and begging our politicians to support an end to the killing and the suffering in Gaza. Begging, peacefully, for a ceasefire."

In a statement later, IfNotNow said police injured over 90 protesters, "including being pepper sprayed, minor cuts, and dragged by the hair."

Jewish Voice for Peace said reports that the protesters were violent were "misinformation." "We showed up with @IfNotNowOrg & @DemSocialists to lay out 11,000 candles representing Palestinians killed by Israeli airstrikes & siege and to call for a #CeasefireNOW," it said on X. "The police assaulted peaceful anti-war protestors."

Video posted by the two groups showed police shoving and arresting protesters. Protesters wore black sweatshirts emblazoned with "Ceasefire Now" in large white letters and chanted "Ceasefire now!" and "Let Gaza live!".

A reporter on the scene, Semafor's Dave Weigel, said the protesters were not trying to enter the building but were blocking its entrances. Weigel posted video that showed police pulling the protesters, who were linking arms, away from an entrance.

Rep. Sean Casten, a Massachusetts Democrat, said he was evacuated and described the threat posed by the protesters as of blocking safe passage in and out of the building.

"I was just evacuated from the @dccc office after the building was surrounded by protestors who had blocked all modes of ingress and egress," Casten said on X. "Grateful to Capitol Police for getting all members and staff out safely. To the protestors: PLEASE don't do something irresponsible."

He added in a second tweet, continuing to address the protesters, "You have the Constitutional right to peaceably assemble and protest. But blocking all entries to a building with multiple members of Congress in it, protected by Capitol Police officers who have lived through Jan. 6 is putting you and other innocent people at risk."

Rep. Brad Sherman, a Jewish Democrat from California, who also was evacuated, said the protesters were violent and used pepper spray and accused them of trying to breach the entrances.

"Was just evacuated from the #DNC after pro-terrorist, anti-#Israel protestors grew violent, pepper spraying police officers and attempting to break into the building," he said on X.

IfNotNow said it was police who deployed pepper spray. "They met us with pepper spray, with full riot gear, with tear gas, with violence," it said in a tweet.

A growing minority among Democrats favors a ceasefire in the war. Biden and the leadership in Congress of both parties oppose a ceasefire, backing Israel's goal of continuing to fight until 240 hostages the terrorist group Hamas abducted during its Oct. 7 massacres are returned, and the group itself is dismantled.

IfNotNow and JVP protesters have held demonstrations at the White House and in the Capitol, as well as in statehouses and public spaces across the country. Those protests led to arrests in many cases but did not result in violence.
(JNS)  A new NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll of 1,429 adults, released on Wednesday, offers insight into American views on Israels war to uproot Hamas from the Gaza Strip.

Public opinion has split in approving Israels military response to the Oct. 7 terror attacks, with notable partisan differences.

For Americans as a whole, 38 percent said Israels response has been too muchup 12 percent from a month agowith another 38 percent believing that it has been about right. Among Democrats, a majority (56 percent) now falls into the latter category, while 52 percent of Republicans approved Israels efforts to oust Hamas.

GOP numbers have risen 8 percent in the last month with some shifting from too little to about right.

Racial and generational differences manifested in the polling. Those self-described as non-white were 15 percent more likely to fall into the too much category. Likewise, those under 45 were 17 percent more likely to oppose the intensity of Israels self-defense.

While Americans may disagree with some of Israels actions in the conflict, a strong majority sympathize more with the Jewish state (61 percent) than the Palestinians (30 percent). Independents and Republicans drive this view, with Democrats split on the question 45 percent to 45 percent. Generational and racial divides on this question mirror those on Israels response.

On the subject of U.S. funding for Israels war against Hamas, 36 percent of Americans oppose support for the Jewish state and Ukraine, while 35 percent approve of sending money and arms to both. Some Americans remain divided about funding one war over another14 percent want to fund only Israel, while 12 percent want to aid just Ukraine.

The poll, conducted from Nov. 6-9, has a margin of error of 3.4 percent.
MADRID (JTA)  In a landmark acknowledgment, the parliament of Spains Balearic Islands issued an official recognition of the marginalization and discrimination endured by the islands chuetas, or local Crypto-Jews from Majorca.

In a statement, the Federation of Jewish Communities in Spain group welcomed the news in mid-September and asked for chueta history to be taught in local schools.

Today, most chuetas on Majorca talk openly and proudly about their Jewish heritage, marking a significant change after a history of humiliation, fear and secrecy that lasted hundreds of years.

Chuetas trace their Jewish heritage back to ancestors persecuted and killed during the 16th and 17th centuries. The name likely comes from the word xueu for Jew in Mallorquin, a dialect of Catalan spoken in Majorca. Some linguists think the term also comes from xulla (pig fat), as conversos in medieval Spain were frequently obliged to prove that they had renounced their faith by publicly eating pork, which was prohibited under Jewish law.

Despite the fact that most Spanish Jews had converted to Catholicism decades before the formal expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, chuetas continued to face distrustful neighbors and were often victims of violence for centuries after. They were barred from intermarrying with other Majorcan families, leading to a close-knit community that secretly maintained their religious Crypto-Jewish traditions  such as praying or celebrating syncretic religious holidays outside Monti Sion, a Catholic church built on top of the former main synagogue in Palma de Majorcas Jewish Quarter.

Their history received increased attention and has been discussed more openly in Spain since the death of Francisco Franco in 1975. Francos pro-Catholic regime had actively perpetuated anti-chueta sentiment, but the community has since seen a period of revival and acceptance.

The Majorcan government issued an apology in May 2011 for a 1691 event known as the burning of the Jews, carried out by the Spanish Inquisition, during which nearly 40 Jews were killed in front of an audience of about 30,000 people.

Further reparations came in September of that year when an Israeli rabbinic from the Bnei Brak Rabbinical Court ruled that chuetas could return to Judaism or immigrate to Israel without undergoing formal conversion, contingent upon proof of their Jewish ancestry. Since chuetas only married between themselves, only 15 families surnames survived. Miro, the family name of the celebrated abstract artist Joan Miro, was one of them. Others included Pico, Aguilo, Fuster, Marti, Pico, Pomar and Segura.

More recently, the chueta community has revived their tradition of publicly celebrating major Jewish holidays  events not seen in over five centuries on the island. In 2019, they began celebrating Purim again, then in 2021, they constructed a public sukkah. In 2022, they organized a menorah lighting ceremony for Chanukah.

The communitys size is estimated at 800 to 1,000 members.
(JNS) - Nine months old.

The smiling red-haired baby had recently started to crawl after rocking on all fours.

Kfir Bibas lived with his parents and 4-year-old brother in a kibbutz in southern Israel.

On Oct. 7, their lives were changed forever as the family-mom Shiri, dad Yarden, and the two kids-was abducted by Hamas to Gaza when the Islamist terrorists overran the area and went on a murderous rampage.

At nine months old, Kfir is the youngest of the roughly 240 hostages-including 32 children-held by Hamas.

After a month with no news on the family's whereabouts or condition, Kfir is now 10 months old.

His grandfather clings to the hope that the family will be released soon amid reports of a possible hostage release.

"This is my whole life now," Eli Bibas, 66, said Sunday in an interview with JNS about his son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons being held by Hamas. "We have got to get them home."

The Saturday of horror

That fateful Saturday, Eli was supposed to visit the family at 10 a.m., at their home in Kibbutz Nir Oz, but the air raid sirens went off at 6:30, warning of incoming rockets from Gaza, sending everybody to their protected rooms.

Eli, who lives about 20 minutes away, texted Yarden, 34, to be sure the family was OK.

"Like the rest of the Gaza border communities, he was in the sealed room," Eli said.

That morning, Yarden kept texting with his sister Ofri, letting her know what was happening in Nir Oz, where he lived with Shiri, 32, Ariel and Kfir.

But by 9 a.m. the air raid warnings kept coming and coming, and Eli knew something was astray. At 9:20 his son texted him "I love you," the same message he sent his mom and sister.

Just two months earlier, Yarden's sister had moved from a nearby Gaza border community to the Golan Heights, to get away from the rocket attacks. Her brother had been thinking about making a similar move, his father recounted, and had also bought a handgun.

"Imagine what it would have been like for me now if my daughter had not moved," he said in the interview.

Yarden told his sister that there was noise outside and that they were having difficulty keeping the kids quiet but he was afraid to use the gun since the terrorists had automatic weapons.

At 9:45 a.m., he texted, "They're inside."

Family abducted

A video would soon come out of the Hamas terrorists drilling open the front door.

Rina Castelnuovo A crib representing the youngest hostage held in Gaza is among more than 200 empty beds on display in Tel Aviv's Habimah Square, Oct. 9, 2023.

Hours later, a video circulated of Shiri holding both boys in her arms, a look of terror on her face as she was surrounded by terrorists, her boys facing her chest, a blanket covering them.

Three days later, another picture would emerge, of a bloodied Yarden Bibas, a terrorist holding his throat with one hand and a hammer in the other.

Shiri's parents were burned alive in their homes in the kibbutz, their daughter held in Gaza still unaware of their fate.

One in four members of their kibbutz was kidnapped or killed.

Ofri, who has been to London and Cyprus to speak out for her brother's family and the other hostages after a fruitless meeting with the International Red Cross in Tel Aviv, will travel to Geneva on Monday to speak at the U.N. Human Rights Council, Eli said.

"No one could have imagined such a nightmare," he said.
(JNS)  U.S. officials have quietly suggested ways Israel could reduce civilian casualties in its campaign to eradicate Hamas in the Gaza Strip, including using smaller munitions.

During his second Middle East visit in less than a month, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday about concrete steps that can and should be taken to minimize civilian deaths.

Blinken didnt go into detail about what those steps would be. State Department Spokesman Matthew Miller also wouldnt elaborate.

U.S. officials, however, speaki...
Hamas planned second phase for Oct. 7 massacre

(JNS)  A planned second phase of Hamass brutal Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel involved joining forces with terrorists in Judea and Samaria, The Washington Post reported on Sunday, citing Western and Middle Eastern security officials briefed on evidence obtained by Israel.

Some of the Hamas terrorists that participated in the attack carried enough food, ammunition and equipment for several days, the officials said, and had instructions to continue deeper into the Jewish state once the initial massacre succeeded, potentially wit...
On the very same day when over three hundred thousand Americans, Jews and non-Jews alike, travelled to Washington, D.C., to support Israels efforts to prevent Hamas from ever slaughtering innocent Jews again, President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken approved 10 billion dollars of additional sanctions relief to the Iranian terror regime.

It is beyond recklessly irresponsible, sickening and frightening that the Biden administration authorized releasing money to the Islamic Republic of Iran, while Iran is funding Hamas and Hezbollahs and Irans other proxies m...
By

Remember Haman? The book of Esther tells the story of this horrible man in the kings court who planned to kill all the Jews in the Persian/Medes kingdom  a kingdom that stretched from India to Ethiopia. Haman gave 10,000 talents of silver to the king and asked to be able to destroy all the Jews in the land. The king took the money and then gave it for the use of the genocide of the Jews.

Of course, we know the rest of the story, Esther called for a fast and then went to the king and revealed Hamans plan. Haman was hung and the Jewish people were allowed to defend themselves, thwarting a genocide.

Ironically, according to the Free Beacon (Biden Unlocks Fresh Funds to Iran Totaling Billions, by Adam Kredo, Free Beacon, Nov. 13, 2023), Biden/Blinken just approved $10 billion dollars in sanction relief for Iran (incidently, its the same country where the Persian/Medes kingdom was.)

The head of the Iranian regimes Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp, Gen. Hossein Salami, has warned Israel to expect more atrocities like those unleashed by Hamas during the Oct. 7 pogrom. And from where is Iran getting the money to fund this?

Remember Hitler? This horrible man, like Haman, wanted to kill all the Jews in Europe. He managed to murder 6 million before he was put out of commission by military forces from the United States, Great Britain, France, the Soviet Union and China. The U.S. didnt enter the war against Germany until December 1941  three years after Jews were already being systematically killed. I dont think we entered the war to save the Jews though. I think we entered the war to stop Germany from establishing the Third Reich over Europe.

Remember Herzl? Theodor Herzl desired a Jewish state. In 1897, he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, with the help of Rev. William Hechler  an English Restorationist Anglican clergyman; crusader against antisemitism; promoter of Zionism; and Herzls friend. Fifty years later, after the 1947-1948 civil war, Herzls dream came true. Jews could immigrate to their own homeland once again.

Still, the Jewish people are not free from wars. At first, the wars were for land Israel purchased or won fair and square (the 6-day war for example). But now the people of Israel are fighting for their lives once again, this time in their homeland.

Hamas has made it very clear. From the [Jordan]river to the [Mediterranean] sea is Hamas mantra. Dont let anyone fool you, it means genocide of the Jews. And their plan is to continue throughout the world  annihilate all the Jews and this time include the Christians.

What is different today with this war? During Hamans and Hitlers quests, I dont know of any Jews who stood with Haman and his men. I dont know of any Jews who stood with Hitler and the Nazis. Do you?

And yet today, there are Jewish organizations that want a ceasefire or a pause (have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?) in order to fortify Israels enemy. Do these Jewish organizations not understand just how dangerous Israels enemies are?

Mordecai told Esther that just because she hid her Jewish identity and she was the kings wife, she would be exempt from the genocide. There were a lot of Jewish people in Europe during WWII that thought they were exempt from death because they were secular Jews or married a Gentile or helped the Nazis. It doesnt matter to those who want to annihilate all the Jews of the world if you are a Jew by race or by religion.

You cant be pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel. To stand with Israel is to stand with the Jewish people worldwide against those who want to be rid of all Jews.

Am Yisrael Chai.
(JNS)  Theres a theme that emerges when defending the atrocities of Hamas and its supporters: You made us do it. And the next step beyond that is the suggestion that the crimes committed by Hamas and its supporters were really a form of entrapment by Israel.

You see this argument in the suggestion that Israel deliberately lowered its guard to allow Hamas to kill, rape and kidnap Israelis.

And you see it in Linda Sarsour, a politically influential Islamist and the godmother of Islamist antisemitism in America, arguing that the kidnap posters are a Jewish conspiracy to make her side look like the heartless evil monsters that they are.

I will remind all of you good people that are here, Linda Sarsour, one of Obamas champions for change, a top Democrat activist and the co-founder of MPower Change, told a pro-Hamas rally outside Grand Central Station. That there are provocateurs all across the city. And what theyre waiting for you to do is to waste your energy ripping down their little posters so they can record you and try to get you fired.

Then Linda Sarsour launched into a deranged Jew-hating Goebbelsian rant.

So when you go home, they have their little people all over the place, trust me I know them, I got a radar for them you think theyre ordinary people, trust me when I tell you they are everywhere. Theyre on your college campus, theyre outside the supermarket, theyre outside Grand Central Station, she said.

The idea that posters of kidnapped Israelis are a trick to get Hamas supporters to show who they are by ripping them off is a species of pathological antisemitism. To what extent does Linda Sarsour actually believe it and to what extent is she recognizing that there is no point in asking her side to exercise even basic tactical decency?

Theyre too far gone to be expected to restrain themselves from tearing down posters of kidnapped kids for any reason other than the belief that the Jews want them to do it.
(JNS)  Paul Kessler went to a pro-Hamas demonstration in the Los Angeles area waving an Israeli flag to stand down the crowd gathered to support the genocide of Jews. A pro-Hamas demonstrator, who tracked the 69-year-old before he approached him, clubbed Kessler in the head with a megaphone. Kessler fell to the ground and died of cerebral bleeding.

Forty-eight hours after Kessler was killed, his murderer was still free, even though the police know who he is. Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryoff hadnt arrested him because he couldnt decide whether the murderers blow was the reason that Kessler died. Maybe he would have fallen on the ground head-first anyway. These things happen.

Fryoff isnt the only one who cant see the connection between A and B these days.

From coast to coast, university presidents cant figure out whether Israel is to be supported and Hamas condemned, or Hamas is to be supported and Israel is to be condemned. Its true Hamas murderers savagely executed, raped, sodomized, decapitated, dismembered and kidnapped thousands of innocent Israelis. But then again, Israel retaliated and stuff.

The confusion isnt limited to police chiefs and professors.

Consider Sen. Bernie Sanders. The Socialist from Vermont told CNN that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is impossible. As he put it, I dont know how you can have a ceasefire, a permanent ceasefire with an organization like Hamas, which is dedicated to turmoil and chaos and destroying the State of Israel.

But then again, Sanders said: The immediate task right now is to end the bombing, to end the horrific humanitarian disaster, to buildgo forward with the entire world for a two-tier, two-state solution to the crisis to give the Palestinian people hope.

So, on the one hand, you cant have a ceasefire because Hamas wont cease firing since it seeks Israels annihilation. And on the other hand, Israel needs to stop firing on Hamas and give the people who elected Hamas a state. Sanderss confusion makes sense, given his Jewish roots on the one hand, and his ties to the Hamas caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives on the other.

The obvious contradiction in his position resonates with President Joe Bidens viewpoints as well. True, Biden says, Israel has a right and a duty to defeat Hamas. But it must do so without harming any of Hamass human shields, and it needs to accept a ceasefire that will allow Hamas to regroup, resupply and rearm.

True, Biden admits, Hamas wants to annihilate the Jews. And true (although he wont acknowledge it), the unpopular PLO-controlled Palestinian Authority also wants to annihilate the Jews. All the same, Biden insists that they must always be empowered and never punished for anything.

Deeper than the competence of spokespeople

On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ABC News that after the war, Israel will need to maintain overall security control over the Gaza Strip to prevent Hamas from rebuilding its military capabilities. The next day, the U.S. State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters, Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions, and Gaza is Palestinian land and will remain Palestinian land.

People keep comparing Hamass slaughter of civilians to Sept. 11 and Israels counterattack as its invasion of Iraq. But as Capt. Thomas Wheatley, a professor of international law at West Point, explained in a paper he published in a George Mason University international legal journal, the analogy is wrong. Hamas didnt hijack a plane. It invaded Israel. It occupied Israeli territory for several hours and used its time in power to conduct crimes against humanity and genocidal acts. It seized 244 hostages. The proper analogy of Israels counterattacks isnt Mosul but Normandy. Israel needs to treat Gaza how the United States and the Allies treated Nazi Germany, Wheatley explained.

Why cant the Wests best and brightest understand this basic truth?

The problem is much deeper than the competence of official spokespeople.

Partly, its that a lot of people around the world simply hate Jews. Weve been getting a good look at the dimensions of the phenomenon since the Oct. 7 mass slaughter. Jew-haters from Pakistan to Philadelphia like Hamas because Hamas is killing Jews.

But not all of the people who insist that Israel is in the wrongor simply cant see the difference between Israel and Hamasare motivated primarily by bigotry.

Their problem isnt that they despise Jews or even that Israel isnt providing the facts. Their problem is that they have been trained to care more about the narrative than the facts. And the narrative tells them to stand with the Palestinians, who seek to annihilate the Jews.

Whether the problem began with Edward Saids destruction of Middle East Studies with the publication of his anti-intellectual and glamorous Orientalism in 1978or with the imposition of groupthink under the title political correctness as a litmus test for social, academic and professional advancement in the 1990sover the last generation and a half, the details of the narrative were filled in. Across all fields of human endeavor and experience, humankind was divided into the oppressed, who can do no wrong, and the oppressors, who can do no right.

It took 30 years, billions in petrodollars and billions more from cultural Marxists to develop a language of lies and manipulation that placed Jews in Israel and the Diaspora in the oppressor column. But with enough money and indoctrination, David was transformed into Goliath, and Goliath was transformed into the Jews who were so scared of the Philistine giant that they sent a 13-year-old shepherd with a slingshot in to defend them.

None of this made any sense. None of it had anything to do with history, facts or scholarship. Indeed, to believe these lies, it was necessary to reject objective truth as a measuring rod for academic or professional advancement.

Faced with a state of affairs where public discourse was dominated by a narrative that vilified Jews, Jewish liberals in Israel and the United States invented their own narrative they hoped would satisfy their indoctrinated and incentivized colleagues in the West. They based their narrative on the same oppressor-oppressed narrative their Western counterparts embraced. But their narrative distinguished between good Jews and bad Jews.

They were the good Jews. And as good Jews, they accepted that Israel was Goliath. But they insisted that they didnt want to be Goliath. They wanted to give the oppressed Palestinian David a state. They embraced the two-state solution that requires Israel to give up Israels biblical heartlandJudea, Samaria and Jerusalem along with the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians. The bad Jews, the oppressor Jews, refused to do so based on their atavistic, messianic belief that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

The key to peace, the good Jews proclaimed, is for the liberal Jews to be supported by all right-thinking people. Right-thinking, narrative-driven people need to oppose the leaders of the bad Jewsfirst and foremost, Netanyahuand to deny tenure, promotions and even legitimacy to Jews in Israel and abroad who think like Netanyahu about certain things, particularly the two-state solution.

Like their Western counterparts, these Jewish liberals were immune to rational debate. True, the Palestinians rejected the two-state solution, and all factions of Palestinian society call for the elimination of Israel. And true, the two-state solution foresees Israel shrinking to indefensible boundaries that invite invasion. But since the two-state solution would end Israels status as an oppressor, the Palestinians and their allies would bury the hatchet, and Israel could live securely in indefensible boundaries because no one would think of attacking it. Many liberal Jews accepted the slaughter of wrong-thinking Jews with something bordering on equanimity. They were asking for it, of course, by refusing to end the so-called occupation.

The problem with liberal Israelis and Diaspora Jewrys acceptance of narrative over facts is that facts have proven their narrativeand the broader oppressed/oppressor narrativefalse. As they wake up to the realization that Israels enemies see no difference between good Jews who support the two-state solution and the bad Jews who oppose it, they are coming to realize that their colleagues on the left really dont care. They prefer their narrative to realityand wont reject it even if keeping the faith with the oppressed means embracing the eliminationist slogan, From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free.

Which brings us back to public diplomacy.

It is the liberal Jewish embrace of the oppressor-oppressed narrative about themselves that has rendered Israels hasbara efforts dead in the water. If Israel is in the wrong and the Palestinians are in the right, then Hamas is right to slaughter and rape and abduct Israeli Jews. After all, we had it coming. And Israel has no right to annihilate Hamas because Hamas is oppressed. Rape isnt a form of oppression if it is carried out by the oppressed against the oppressor. What does it matter how many women were brutalized? The same is the case with burning babies.

Whats missing from Israels hasbara isnt facts and figuresof dead, of atrocities, of dates and of genocidal covenants, or even decent English.

What is missing is our story. Our history is the most compelling tale of human will and hope that the world has ever known. Our Jewish state is an apotheosis of justice. Jewish freedom is the triumph of the oppressed Jews against an oppressive humanity. Jewish settlement of the land of Israel from north to south, east to west is the victory of a native people against centuries of colonialist, imperialist invaders and occupiers. The Palestinians have organized themselves as a cult that sanctifies death, sadism, mass murder and destruction. They have no identity independent of their hatred of Israel. Were Israel to vanish, the Palestinians would be forgotten immediately.

Its time to tell the truth about them, too.

Perhaps more than we need to tell our story to the world, we need to tell it to ourselves. We need to let the truth remind us of who we are after a generation of unwarranted and deeply destructive self-flagellation. The more we tell our story, the less we will care whether people are persuaded because we will understand that our greatest triumphs across time happened when we were true to ourselves, our people, our traditions and our God. And when we stop caring whether we are alone or not, we will see that people of goodwill around the world will be standing with us.
Pisces  (19th February to 20th March) Daily Horoscope Prediction says, Keep your cards close to the chest Pisces Daily Horoscope Today, November 28, 2023. You may expect troubles today. There will an interference from a third party that may cause friction.

Read the accurate daily horoscope to see that love life will have minor issues. Professional success will be there and financially you are good today.

Troubleshoot every issue within your personal life while you will see many opportunities to prove in your career. Financially, you will be good and your health will be intact.

Pisces Love Horoscope Today

You may expect troubles today. There will an interference from a third party that may cause friction. Do not let the lover be carried away by an influencer and instead resolve this crisis today. You may take the final call on the relationship today. Marriage is also on the cards. However, some long-distance relationships may not work out due to the lack of proper communication. Married Pisces natives must avoid office which may impact both their personal and professional life today.

Pisces Career Horoscope Today

Have a highly productive day in terms of your job. You may travel today for job reasons. The communication skills will help while negotiating with clients. Some projects may need rework and this may impact the morale. Government employees will see a change in the location while IT, healthcare, and hospitality professionals will see opportunities to relocate abroad for jobs. You need to be careful while dealing with finance with your partner.

Pisces Money Horoscope Today

Today, you may receive a fortune from a previous investment or unexpected sources. You may even receive wealth from old dues. And there will be a temptation to invest in the stock market or speculative business. Though this is a good idea, ensure you have proper financial guidance to avoid any mishap. You also need to be highly cautious while lending a big amount as you may face challenges in getting it back.

Pisces Health Horoscope Today

Be careful about your health today. Senior natives may complain about breathing issues and pain in the chest and consult a doctor whenever necessary. While traveling long distance, ensure you have a medical kit ready. Some females will develop gynecological issues and children may also suffer from viral fever, throat infection, and dental health issues.

Pisces Sign Attributes

Strength: Conscious, Aesthetic, Kind-hearted

Weakness: Sentimental, Indecisive, Unrealistic

Symbol: Fish

Element: Water

Body Part: Blood Circulation

Sign Ruler: Neptune

Lucky Day: Thursday

Lucky Color: Purple

Lucky Number: 11

Lucky Stone: Yellow Sapphire

Pisces Sign Compatibility Chart

Natural affinity: Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Capricorn

Good compatibility: Virgo, Pisces

Fair compatibility: Aries, Leo, Libra, Aquarius

Less compatibility: Gemini, Sagittarius

By: Dr. J. N. Pandey

Vedic Astrology & Vastu Expert

Website: https://www.cyberastro.com

E-mail: caresponse@cyberastro.com

Phone: 9717199568, 9958780857
LIBERTY CITY, CA - November 22nd, 2023 - DirectUnlocks, the industry-leading remote phone unlocking provider, achieved a major milestone this week by unlocking its 10 millionth device. This achievement demonstrates the company's continued commitment to providing users with flexibility and affordability when selecting cellular networks. DirectUnlocks has been steadily growing its user base and expanding its unlocking capabilities for over a decade now. The company expects to continue ramping up its unlocking volume in the years ahead as more customers recognize the benefits of device unlocking. This growth trajectory reflects DirectUnlocks's strong reputation for delivering exceptional service and unlocking value to consumers.

Since 2011, DirectUnlocks has established itself as the premier phone unlocking solution through its quick, secure unlocking technology and strong partnerships with major device manufacturers. By eliminating restrictive carrier locks, DirectUnlocks empowers users to switch freely between domestic networks and use local SIM cards when traveling internationally. The company has consistently innovated to make its unlocking process as seamless as possible for customers. DirectUnlocks's remote unlocking removes the hassle of mailing devices or visiting retail stores. Their process is engineered to be extremely user-friendly, only requiring the IMEI number to get started. Customers can also track the status of their unlock request through their online portal.

"At DirectUnlocks, we are dedicated to giving customers complete freedom and control in choosing their wireless carrier," said Jane Smith, CMO at DirectUnlocks. "Our streamlined unlocking process effortlessly removes carrier restrictions, unlocking a world of possibilities for users to fully leverage their devices." DirectUnlocks stands behind this mission of promoting consumer choice and flexibility. The company believes consumers should be able to switch freely between carriers and travel internationally without excessive roaming fees. Unlocking is about affordability and enhancing the utility of devices.

The remote unlocking process at DirectUnlocks is engineered to be fast, seamless, and extremely user-friendly. Customers only need to provide their phone's 15-digit IMEI number for identification. DirectUnlocks handles the technical unlocking remotely, transmitting the unlock credentials directly to the user's device within minutes. This eliminates the need to mail in devices or visit retail stores. The unlocking is done through secure channels to protect user data and privacy. DirectUnlocks has honed this process through millions of successful unlocks, ironing out any issues and optimizing for speed and convenience. Users can go from locked to unlocked within just a few minutes in most cases.

For iPhones, DirectUnlocks transmits an over-the-air unlock using WiFi or cellular data. The unlock happens in the background and users will get a confirmation when completed. For Androids, users are provided a universal unlock code to enter on their device. In both cases, the phone is permanently unlocked within minutes without any hardware or firmware modifications. This ensures a safe, non-invasive unlocking process. Users then enjoy the flexibility to switch networks and use local SIMs when traveling. Their device works just as before, but without any carrier restrictions.

Leveraging state-of-the-art automation, DirectUnlocks is able to process most unlocks in just 4-6 hours while maintaining rigorous quality and security protocols. As an authorized partner, every DirectUnlocks unlock is 100% legal and warranty-compliant. DirectUnlocks uses the latest technologies like AI and machine learning to optimize its systems and deliver unlocks at scale without compromising reliability. The company adheres to all regulations and partners with manufacturers to ensure compliant and secure unlocks. Users can unlock with full confidence in the process.

With capabilities covering over 100 carriers and 900+ device models globally, DirectUnlocks offers tailored unlocking solutions for top networks worldwide. This allows the company to legally and securely unlock devices from virtually any carrier constraint. DirectUnlocks has cultivated expertise across regions and carriers over the years. They continuously expand their capabilities to address new devices and networks as they emerge. This breadth of experience gives DirectUnlocks unmatched versatility in handling unlocking requests.

Surpassing one million unlocks to date, DirectUnlocks maintains a superb 4.7/5 star TrustPilot rating from satisfied customers. Users consistently praise their unmatched service, smooth unlocking, and 24/7 U.S-based support. DirectUnlocks prides itself on putting the customer first and delivering an excellent end-to-end experience. Their sterling reputation reflects a steadfast commitment to quality from their unlocking technology to their customer service.

Compared to pricey international roaming, unlocking through DirectUnlocks provides remarkable savings. For travelers, unlocking enables using local SIMs to avoid roaming fees. Domestically, it allows effortlessly switching networks to access cheaper plans and promotions. Unlocking is an easy way for consumers to gain more control over their cellular costs. DirectUnlocks makes the process affordable and accessible to users worldwide.

"We're proud to have helped so many customers unlock their devices quickly, permanently and affordably," said Smith. "Our relentless innovation and phenomenal service cement our position as the premier phone unlocking provider worldwide." As DirectUnlocks enters its next chapter, the company remains focused on constant improvement and exceeding customer expectations.

Experience true mobile freedom  unlock your smartphone with DirectUnlocks today.

About DirectUnlocks

Founded in 2011, DirectUnlocks has unlocked over 10 million devices globally. The company is known for its speedy service, exceptional support and unbeatable value as the leading phone unlocking provider. DirectUnlocks continues to help consumers maximize the utility of their devices through carrier unlocking.

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.
In the heart of Italy, where ancient traditions meet modern innovations, a silent revolution is reshaping the woodworking industry: sustainability. In a world increasingly aware of its environmental impact, Italian craftsmen and manufacturers are leading the way in embracing eco-conscious practices in wood finishing. This evolution isnt just a trend; it's a fundamental shift towards nurturing nature while enhancing interiors. The impact and movement isnt just restricted to Europe but is a worldwide phenomenon and India is no exception to this.

At the core of this movement is responsible sourcing. The wood finishing industry not only preserves nature by responsible sourcing but also ensures a renewable supply of raw materials for future generations. But sustainability in wood finishing goes beyond responsible sourcing. It delves into the very essence of production processes. Italian manufacturers have adopted eco-friendly technologies that minimize waste and reduce harmful emissions. By investing in cutting-edge machinery, these manufacturers are able to create exquisite finishes while minimizing their carbon footprint. The result? Wood finishes that are as gentle on the environment as they are on the eyes.

One notable innovation making waves in the industry is the advent of water-based eco-friendly wood finishes. Traditional wood finishes often contain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are released into the air, contributing to air pollution and posing health risks. Water-based finishes, however, eliminate this concern. By using water as a base, these finishes drastically reduce VOC emissions, creating healthier indoor environments for both craftsmen and consumers.

Experts and environmentalists widely praise the shift towards water-based finishes. Dr. Elena Rossi, an environmental scientist, emphasizes, Reducing VOC emissions is crucial for improving air quality, especially in indoor spaces where people spend most of their time. Water-based wood finishes not only contribute to cleaner air but also set a standard for sustainability in the industry.

Italian water based wood finishes are not just embracing sustainability for the sake of the environment; we doing so because we recognize the power of conscious consumer choices. By opting for sustainable wood finishes, consumers are making a statement. They are endorsing an industry that values the planet as much as it values aesthetics. Every eco-friendly finish purchased becomes a vote for a greener future.

In a world where elegance and environmental responsibility coexist harmoniously, Italian wood finishing stands as a testament to the industry's commitment to both artistry and the Earth. As consumers increasingly demand sustainable products, the Italian woodworking tradition is not just enduring; it is thriving, weaving a greener future, one beautifully finished piece of wood at a time.

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.
All government offices, schools and banks in some states will remain closed on Monday, November 27, on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti - also known as Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab or Guru Nanak's Prakash Utsav. The bank holiday on this auspicious day is provided under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act, of 1881 under which the holidays are allocated under two categories - Real-time gross settlement holidays, and banks' closing of accounts. Guru Nanak Jayanti Bank holiday today

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a state-wise list of where banks will remain closed today. The regions include:

Agartala, Aizwal, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Telangana, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kohima, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad-Andhra Pradesh, Imphal, Kochi, Panaji, Patna, Shillong, and Thiruvananthapuram.

Guru Nanak Jayanti

Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated on the 15th lunar day of the Hindu month of Kartik, or Kartik Poornima as it is known in the Gregorian calendar. It is one of the most important days of Sikhism and marks the birth anniversary of the first of the ten Sikh gurus and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The day honours the teachings and wisdom of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and also promotes unity, equality, and selfless service, embodying the core principles of Sikh philosophy.

This year, the festival is being celebrated around the world on November 27 as the 554th birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. People mark the occasion with fervent devotion, spiritual gatherings and the recitation of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib - the holy scripture of Sikhism. The community kitchen Langar Seva also serves free meals to promote equality.
For the first time in 20 years, the Tata Group launched its maiden initial public offering for Tata Technologies and made a significant splash in the stock market. After its amazing run on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), all eyes remain on the allotment date for Tate Technologies IPO. Tata Technologies IPO allotment status and listing day details are out now.

It is expected that Tata Technologies, which is a subsidiary of Tata Motors, will finalise the basis of the allotment of shares from the IPO by November 28. Once done, all investors will be able to check the status of their allotment on the official website of BSE or IPO registrar.

Tata Technologies IPO was subscribed nearly 70 times during its run on the stock market from November 22 to November 24. The price band for the same was fixed at 475- 500, and the minimum shares were per person were set at 30.

Out of the total set of buyers, the qualified institutional buyers and high net-worth individuals racked up major shares of the company, buying 203.41 times and 62.11 times their allotted quota respectively.

Tata Technologies IPO: Listing date and grey market premium

While Tata Technologies ended up raising over 3045 crore through their IPO, the issue includes only an offer-for-sale by promoter Tata Motors, and investors Alpha TC Holdings, and Tata Capital Growth Fund I. This means that none of the money will go to the company.

The grey market premium of the firm (GMP) of Tata Technologies is currently 414, gradually increasing after the closure of the issue and showing promise for the investors. It is expected that the listing date for the IPO will be November 28, Tuesday.

Tata Technologies IPO: How to check share allotment status
Bengaluru auto drivers urged the Karnataka transport department prices to revise the fixed government prices for auto rides in the capital city. The union said that issuing a new fare list will solve the problem of cancellations and denials of rides in the city. Bengaluru auto drivers ask Karnataka govt for revision of fixed ride fares

Also Read - Bengaluru auto drivers earn 189 crore through Namma Yatri app

In a letter to Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, the Autorickshaw Drivers Union wrote, Auto fares have only been increased twice in the past one decade and because of this, many drivers are demanding extra amount from the passengers. The prices that are set by the government need to be revised as the cost of living is rapidly increasing and there is a need to consider the request of auto drivers.

The auto unions in Bengaluru had protested in the past with a list of demands to the government. They also demanded the government to ban two-wheeler taxi services as they claim it is unsafe to the passengers. They also submitted the list of demands to the transport department of the state.

Earlier, the aggregator apps like Ola, Uber and Rapido came under the government scanner for charging upwards of 100 per trip. They were even directed to follow the prices that are set by the government and do not overcharge the customers.

Meanwhile, in November 2021, the Karnataka government raised the meter fares of auto drivers in the state. The price is increased to Rs. 30 from Rs. 25 for the first two kilometers and base price per every kilometer is increased to Rs. 15 from Rs. 13.
A 38-year-old woman allegedly in an inebriated state drove her SUV onto the under-construction part of the elevated road connecting the link road with Bharat Nagar Chowk on Friday night. A drunk driver entered a sealed road before crashes into divider in Ludhiana. (HT File)

The woman ended up crashing the car into a divider on the stretch that has been closed for vehicular traffic due to ongoing construction work.

The Division number 5 police reached the spot and arrested the woman for reckless driving and being under the influence of alcohol. Probe officials have also impounded her Hyundai Creta vehicle.

According to the police the woman, a resident of Lal Bagh near MBD Mall, was returning from a party at the time of the incident.

Sharing further details, head constable Sukhwinder Singh said they received information about a mishap on the elevated road near Bharat Nagar Chowk, which is not open for traffic. They reached the spot and found that the woman had managed to drive her car onto the closed section of the elevated road from the bus stand end and was headed towards Bharat Nagar Chowk, which is still under construction. Later, she rammed her vehicle in the road divider.

The woman with some injuries was found in the car, who was drunk. Police lodged a first information report (FIR) under section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 68, 1 and 14 of Excise Act for drunken driving.
The first batch of pilgrims left Amritsar railway station for Takht Hazoor Sahib in Nanded, Maharashtra, under the Mukhyamantri Tirath Yatra (CMs pilgrimage) Scheme on the occasion of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev Jis 554th Prakash Purb (birth anniversary) on Monday. Pilgrims boarding the train to Nanded at Amritsar railway station under the Mukhyamantri Tirath Yatra Scheme on Guru Nanak Dev Jis 554th Prakash Purb (birth anniversary) on Monday. (Sameer Sehgal/HT)

Also read: Indian envoy Taranjit Singh Sandhu heckled by Khalistan group at US gurdwara, BJP reacts

The first batch was flagged off by state ministers Harbhajan Singh ETO and Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal from the campus of Guru Nanak Dev University from where they were taken to the Amritsar station in buses. The pilgrims boarded the train bound for Nanded around noon.

Interacting with the media, the ministers said that the Punjab government will ensure all arrangements, including food and accommodation, to the pilgrims. As many as 234 pilgrims from Amritsar district and 80 from neighbouring Tarn Taran district left for the gurdwara built between 1832 and 1837 by Maharaja Ranjit Singh on the banks of the Godavari river in Nanded, where the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh, had died and had been cremated in 1708.

Chief minister Bhagwant Mann saw off pilgrims headed for Nanded at Dhuri railway station.

Under the 40-crore scheme, people will be able to visit religious places, including Takht Hazoor Sahib, Takht Patna Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo, Naina Devi temple, via trains and buses for free.
The war against militancy in Jammu and Kashmir is not fully over and security forces may be suffering losses but will not back down from the fight, the union territorys director general of police RR Swain said in Srinagar on Monday. Jammu and Kashmir DGP RR Swain (centre) being felicitated after offering prayers at Gurdwara Chati Patshahi in Srinagar on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev Jayanti on Monday. (ANI Photo)

The forces, he said, were trying to minimise losses.

If the challenge is to move forward even though we have to bear losses... we will not back down from that challenge, Jammu and Kashmirs top police officer said.

He was talking to reporters after paying obeisance at Srinagars Chatipadshai Gurdwara on Gurpurb.

This war is not over fully yet. The war will only end when one side acknowledges that there is no benefit in it and it will not take them anywhere other than bloodshed. Till that time, as far as our fight is concerned, it is a reality that losses happen but we have to move forward by bearing those losses. We cannot back down from this war, Swain said.

Responding to a query, he said infiltration increases at some places and decreases at some others with every snowfall. It is a matter of strategy and cannot be discussed publicly, he said.

Last week, five army personnel, including two captains, were killed in an operation in Rajouri. In the same operation, two terrorists, including a top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander trained in Afghanistan, were gunned down.
New Delhi: A 37-year-old man was arrested on Sunday for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman on the pretext of marriage, police officers aware of the case said on Monday. The officers said that the woman lodged a complaint at the Weclome police station in north-east Delhi on Saturday. (HT Photo)

We have arrested the suspect. Further investigation is on, said deputy commissioner of police (north-east) Joy Tirkey.

The officers said that the woman lodged a complaint at the Weclome police station in north-east Delhi on Saturday. In her complaint, the woman alleged that she knew the suspect, Suresh Kumar, from the bus that she used to travel in to her workplace. Kumar is the conductor on the same Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus, the woman said in her complaint.

Kumar used to help her get a seat in the bus. They became friends and later got into a relationship. Kumar told her that he was unmarried. However, recently, the woman learnt that Kumar was already married and has been lying to her only to establish sexual relations, DCP Tirkey said quoting the womans complaint.

The DCP said that after the woman registered a complaint with the police on Saturday, Kumar was arrested from Gokalpuri area in north-east Delhi.

Aresponse from DTC was not immediately available.
New Delhi [India], November 27 (ANI): The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has written to all states, Union Territories (UTs) and Central departments to expedite the recommendations for the award of the President's Medal for Distinguished Service (PSM) and Medal for Meritorious Service (MSM) on the occasion of Republic Day, 2024. HT Image

In a letter issued on November 24, a second letter within the span of eight days, the MHA reminded all the stakeholders that it has already extended the date till November 30 to submit the recommendations for the award of PSM and MSM.

"It is been observed that nominations from various states, UTs, Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs), Central Police Organisations (CPOs) and organizations have not been received to date," the MHA letter mentioned.

"It is, therefore, requested to submit nominations for the awards of PSM and MSM on or before the due date of November 30, 2023," the letter added.

The MHA sent the letter to the chief secretaries, home secretaries and Directors General of Police of all the states and the UTs.

A similar letter was also sent to the Directors of the Intelligence Bureau and Central Bureau of Investigation, other Central agencies and departments as well as the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha.

The letter has also been sent to all the heads of fire services and Directors of Civil Defence, in charge of prisons, the Commandant General of Home Guards of states and the UTs, and all divisions in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Earlier, the MHA, in a letter dated November 17, extended the date to submit the recommendations till November 30 for the award of PSM and MSM on the occasion of Republic Day, 2024.

The move comes after the states, UTs, CAPFs, CPOs and concerned organizations requested to extent the last date for the submission of nominations due to various reasons. Earlier, the submission date of the recommendations of nominations was fixed as November 17. (ANI)
A 32-year-old man who was at the scene of a road rage incident in north-west Delhis Adarsh Nagar on early Monday died hours later, prompting his family to accuse a group of policemen present at the site of beating him to death. The deceased, Suraj Prakash Pawar. (HT PHOTO)

The family of the victim, Suraj Prakash Pawar, said policemen present during a road rage incident in Adarsh Nagar between 2am and 3am on Monday hit him with lathis, and kicked and punched him when he tried to intervene in the scuffle, and tried to make a video of police action against him.

Also read: 76-year-old woman dead, 4 injured in road rage incident in Delhis Mundka

The police refused to respond to the allegations but confirmed that Pawar was present at the site, that he was taken to a local hospital at 4am, and that he died hours later. Police also did not clarify if Pawar was part of the scuffle, an onlooker, or if he intervened in the fight.

judicial enquiry into the matter is being carried out as per procedure, said Jitendra Meena, deputy commissioner of police (north-west), in a statement.

Pawar lived with his parents and two siblings in Majlis Park, a neighbourhood close to the Azadpur Mandi in northwest Delhi. His older brother, Dev Prakash, said that Pawar, who was not married, was unemployed in recent months.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday, Pawar  who Prakash said was slightly drunk -- drove to help his friend Saket, who was only identified by his first name, to unload paneer from a truck at the Azadpur mandi, roughly 2km away.

On their way back, the two men noticed that occupants of two cars -- a Maruti Baleno and a Maruti WagonR  were involved in a road rage incident near the Adarsh Nagar metro station. Police said the cars likely grazed each other, resulting in an argument, followed by a fight.

A crowd had gathered and Pawar and Saket parked their car on the side and went to intervene, said Prakash.

The DCP confirmed the road rage incident. The policemen noticed some people being involved in a scuffle during a road rage and intervened, but both the parties continued quarrelling with each other. So, the police team called an ERV team from the local Adarsh Nagar police station, said the DCP.

Prakash said when Pawar reached the scene, police were trying to disperse a crowd that had gathered. One policeman hit my brother with a danda. When he turned back to check, another policeman again hit him. Like people usually do in this age, my brother objected to being hit by the policemen and pulled out his mobile phone to record the violence as evidence, Prakash said.

This enraged the police, Prakash alleged, and the two policemen were joined by their colleagues. My brother was repeated hit with a stick, and kicked and punched by them. Most of the people involved in the actual road rage fled the scene, Prakash said. My brothers hand was fractured due to the assault.

Prakash said the policemen were allegedly drunk. The police did not respond to the charge. It is not fair for us to speak on the case when an independent enquiry is on, said a spokesperson of the Delhi Police.

Saket could not be reached for a comment.

The DCP said that while most people escaped form the scene, the policemen took away three people -- including Pawar -- to Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital around 4am for medical examination. One person among them, namely Suraj Prakash (Pawar), was given treatment at BJRM Hospital, the DCP said, not clarifying the circumstances under which Pawar received the injuries that required medical intervention.

They were brought back to the police station (after the hospital visit) to hand them over to the emergency officer for further necessary action. The condition of the patient in the meantime deteriorated and he suddenly fell ill. The patient was again admitted to BJRM Hospital wherein he was declared brought dead, said the DCP.

Prakash said that no one in his family was informed of Pawars detention by the police, or of his medical emergency. Instead, it was Saket who visited my home to inform me about my brothers condition, Prakash said.

Prakash and his other relatives rushed to the police station a little after 5.30am, only to be informed that Pawar was taken to the hospital. At the hospital, we were informed that my brother died, he added.
The rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will be framed by the Centre by March 30, 2024, Union minister of state for home affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra announced on Sunday at Thakurnagar in West Bengals North 24 Parganas district while attending a festival of the Dalit Matua community that has been demanding it. Union minister of state for home affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra. (File)

I am assuring that members of the Matua community will not lose their citizenship. They are all safe. According to the latest information I have, the laws for CAA will be framed by March 30, 2024, Mishra told a large crowd that gathered for the annual Ras Utsav.

The Centre earlier said that it is in the process of framing laws for the CAA.

During his 2021 election campaigns at Thakurnagar, Union home minister Amit Shah had announced that the Centre would enforce CAA once Covid-19 vaccination across the country was over. However, the BJP has not spoken on this issue since then and it suffered a setback in the Bengal panchayat polls earlier this year.

Passed by Parliament in 2020, CAA offers citizenship to religious minorities who entered India from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh before 2015. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) insists that CAA is unconstitutional saying that it excludes Muslims and links citizenship to faith in a secular country.

The Matuas are a part of the large Dalit Namasudra community that migrated from East Pakistan (Now Bangladesh) during Indias partition in 1947 and the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War to escape religious persecution.

Located close to the Bangladesh border, Thakurnagar town has the headquarter of the All India Matua Mahasangha of which BJP leader and Union minister of state for shipping, Shantanu Thakur, is the president.

Thakur was present on the dais when Mishra made the announcement on Sunday afternoon. Since 2019, Thakur represents the Bongaon Lok Sabha seat which was earlier won by his aunt and TMC leader Mamata Bala Thakur.

Implementation of the CAA has been the principal demand of the Matuas. Shantanu Thakur raised it too on several occasions.

Support of the Matua and other Dalit communities helped BJP win several seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha and 2021 state polls.

Shantanu Thakur was made a minister of state during the Union cabinet reshuffle in 2021. This was seen as a move by the BJP central leadership to keep the Matuas happy. Thakur even accompanied Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Bangladesh on the eve of the 2021 assembly polls. Modi offered prayers at the Matua temple at Orakandi near Dhaka and praised Thakur in his speech, triggering a sharp reaction from chief minister Mamata Banerjee.

Reacting to Mishras announcement, TMC leaders said BJP is once again raising the citizenship issue in Bengal with eyes on the coming Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP won 18 of Bengals 42 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 but two of its MPs, Babul Supriyo and Arjun Singh, joined the TMC over the last two years. While Singh has not yet resigned from the BJP and the Lok Sabha, the Asansol seat vacated by Supriyo was won in a bypoll by actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha.

TMC Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen said: CAA is a thorn for the BJP. During the 2021 assembly polls, BJP did not even mention CAA in Assam but raised it in Bengal hoping to capture votes. In Gujarat, on the other hand, attempts are being made to enforce CAA in some districts. Bengals Matuas have understood the trick.

Mamata Banerjee has said several times that Bengal does not need CAA because those people have been casting their votes, owning property and having jobs for decades, and are already citizens. They do not need fresh citizenship certificates from the Centre, Sen added.
The formation of the Khalsa Panth played a pivotal role in the downfall of the Mughal Sultanate, chief minister Yogi Adityanath said on Monday at an event to commemorate Guru Nanaks birth anniversary here. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath offering prayers at Aashiyana Gurudwara on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, in Lucknow on Monday. (AGENCY)

At that time when kings were accepting subordination to the Mughal power and were forcibly converted, the Sikh gurus were protecting religion on their own, Adityanath said. He was attending special prayers organised by the Gurudwara Ashiana in Lucknow to mark the celebrations of the 554th Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak Dev, the first Sikh guru.

Wishing everyone a happy Prakash Parv, he said sacrifices by the Sikh gurus extended beyond the Khalsa Panth (Sikh community), serving to protect both India and the faith.

Noting that Guru Nanak Dev had raised his voice against the atrocities of the Mughal Emperor Babur, he said, No power in the world can bend a country that has this kind of fighting spirit and Gurus as Guru Nanak Dev. The establishment of the Khalsa Panth led to the decline of the Mughal Sultanate. Today, Sikhs are present all over the world, but there is no trace of the power of the Mughals. This is the path of truth and religion.

He also said it is the responsibility of every Indian to further strengthen the foundation laid by Guru Nanak Dev.

Prakash Parv spreads the light of knowledge given by gurus to all, he said, adding that the renunciation, sacrifice and devotion of the Sikh gurus are exemplary.

Yogi Adityanath also said that there were two sides to Guru Nanak Devs teachings, one for spiritual practice and the other for public and national welfare.

Describing Guru Nanak Dev as a great social reformer, he said, We get inspiration from Guru Nanak Dev to make society free from casteism and other narrow thoughts.

The chief minister also mentioned the incident in Mecca, when Guru Nanak Dev taught Ek Omkar to a Maulvi. He further referred to the sacrifices made by Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh, his four Sahibzadas (sons) and thousands of Sikhs for the country and religion.

He said these sacrifices gave new strength and inspiration to the country.

Asserting that the Khalsa is not just a Panth, he described it as a beam of light emanating from the grace of Guru for the protection of the country and religion.

This forced the foreign power to bow down under adverse circumstances, he said.

VOICE FROM LUCKNOW BECAME A NATIONWIDE ONE

Adityanath said it was his privilege to organise the Sahibzada Day programme at the chief ministers residence in 2020, which later evolved into a national-level event in 2022.

When we move forward with true determination they are definitely fulfilled. The voice emanating from Lucknow became a nationwide one. There was a demand for Sahibzada Day for decades, which was fulfilled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by deciding to observe December 26 as Veer Bal Diwas.

Let us all together take inspiration from our history. Also remember those cruel and dark moments when cruelty was carried out crossing all heights of atrocities and barbarity, he said.

This is a humble tribute to our Sikh gurus, who inspire us to face challenges, the chief minister said, and stressed that it is the duty of every Sikh and every Indian to strengthen the foundation laid by Guru Nanak for a prosperous nation.
The wait for nearly two crore (20 million) children enrolled in government schools across Uttar Pradesh to get millets-based food in mid-day meal (MDM) once a week as a part of the International Year of Millets is getting longer. At present, students are served either a rice-based or wheat-based menu six days a week. (HT file)

The promise that students will get an opportunity to taste millets-based dish in the form of either Bajre ki Roti or Bajre ki Khichdi once a week has not materialised so far.

We have sent a proposal to the government of India in this regard. We are awaiting the response of the Food Corporation of India and the Union government, said an official at MDM Authority, Uttar Pradesh. At present, students are served either a rice-based or wheat-based menu six days a week as part of the mid-day meal in the state.

The MDM Authority, UP, proposed to the Centre that students of classes 1 to 8 enrolled in 1.42 lakh government and government-aided schools across the state be served a millets-based meal once a week. But procurement remained an issue. Hence, we allowed districts that are able to procure millets to introduce it. Unless the food grain is readily available, we cannot implement it on a regular basis, said director general, school education, U.P., Vijay Kiran Anand.

In February 2022, to enhance nutrition among children, the Centre requested the state governments/Union Territories administrations to explore the possibility of introducing millets under PM Poshan Scheme preferably in the districts where eating millets is a culturally accepted food habit.

It was suggested to introduce millets (coarse grains) based menu once a week and also conduct cooking competitions among cook-cum-helpers to popularise millets-based recipes. It was suggested to prepare small videos for creating awareness about the goodness of millets and showcase them in schools and consumption of millets.
To justify his splitting of the Shiv Sena and pulling down the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, chief minister Eknath Shinde took recourse to the explanation that he did this for the sake of Hindutva: the party formed by Bal Thackeray had forgotten Hindutva, he said, and was being dragged willy-nilly behind its alliance partners, the Congress and NCP. This contention is now likely to be reiterated in Dharmaveer 2, the sequel to the Marathi biopic on Shindes mentor, the late Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe. The film was launched by the CM in Thane on Tuesday. Thane, India - November,27, 2023:he film Dharamveer-2 ( part 2 ) on the life of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's mentor late Anand Dighe was inaugurated ( Muhurth/ launching ) by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Thane , in Mumbai, India, on, Monday, November ,27, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo )

Made under the CMs patronage, the first part became a talking point and led to speculation even before Shindes rebellion against Thackeray. The sequel is expected to show how Shinde chose Dighes Hindutva over Uddhavs secularism and thus rebelled against him. The shooting will begin on December 9 and the movie will be released in April before the Lok Sabha elections.

Also read: Shinde seizes the day, projects himself as Maharashtra govt's Maratha face

Dharmaveer 2 will showcase Dighes life, his promotion of Hindutva, his role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid and his agitation for the Malang Gad shrine in Kalyan, on which both Hindus and Muslims staked a claim. Many exploits of Dighe saheb, including these two, could not be accommodated in the first movie, said producer Mangesh Desai. The sequel will highlight these.

As far as Shinde is concerned, the first movie showed his life till he became a minister in the MVA government; the sequel will broadcast his role as the states chief minister. The message, coming on the eve of the elections, is far from subtle: that Shinde has been taking Dighes legacy of serving the people and Hindutva forward.

We will show how some people sacrificed Balasaheb Thackerays Hindutva to gain power by forging an alliance with the Congress-NCP, said Shinde at the launch of the movie. He also cited how Dighe gave the first silver brick to senior BJP leader L K Advani for the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

The story, screenplay and dialogue of Dharmaveer 2 are by Praveen Tarde, who directed the first version and will direct the sequel too. This movie is based completely on Hindutva, the real definition and how Balasaheb and Dighe Saheb practised Hindutva, said Tarde. We are planning to release the movie in April 2024.

Speaking to journalists after the muhurat, Shinde said that Dharmaveer had received a tremendous response at the box-office. The CM had helped along this tremendous response by organising free shows at a theatre in Thane for many weeks not just for Shiv Sena workers but the general public. He is planning to have free shows of the sequel as well, said a close aide of Shinde.

The CM told the media, We could not show much on Dighe saheb in the first movie. Lets see how much we can show in the second part. But the movie will of course portray the chief minister who is serving the common man. In the first part, I was the urban development minister and now I am CM. In the last one year and three months, we have taken decisions that will benefit the common people, insisted Shinde.

The tagline, in a delicious twist of irony, was: Traitors will not be spared. Aimed at Uddhav Thackeray, the traitor tag got pinned onto Shinde and his MLAs after the split.

Known Marathi actor Prasad Oak will play the role of Dighe in the second part as well. Kshitish Date will play the role of the chief minister in the sequel.
Two homeless men were arrested on Sunday for stabbing and killing a 28-year-old fellow homeless man after an argument broke out between them over sleeping space outside a building in the Khetwadi area in South Mumbai. The accused have been identified as Prabhu alias Panya Bhoir and Sagar Pawar and all worked as labourers. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The accused have been identified as Prabhu alias Panya Bhoir and Sagar Pawar and all worked as labourers.

According to the police the dispute took place on Sunday night, when the victim, Sunil Lambore was sleeping on a verandah near Omkar Tower, Khetwadi in Girgaon.Bhoir and Pawar had a dispute with the victim over the sleeping space after which Prabhu stabbed him with a metal cutter and Sagar assaulted him with a bamboo stick said the police officer.

Lambore suffered injuries to his chest and neck and was rushed to JJ hospital, where he was declared dead upon arrival, added the police officer.

The accused have been booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
In a major recognition for its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, Meja Urja Nigam (P) Ltd (MUNPL) has been honoured with the third prize in the Best PSU Implementing CSR category as a testament to its dedication to making a positive impact on peoples lives. Prize being received by MUNPL PRO Pratigya Yadav at the event in New Delhi. (SOURCED)

The prestigious award was presented to Pratigya Yadav, public relations officer at MUNPL amidst the distinguished gathering at Dr Ambedkar International Centre, New Delhi, informed MUNPL officials here on Monday.

Dignitaries from India and other countries attended the three-day international festival, they added.

Under the category, Indian Oil Corporation Limited (South Division) bagged the first prize. Meanwhile, the second prize was awarded to NLC India (Chennai) and the third prize was given jointly to Meja Urja Nigam and Railtel Corporation of India Limited.

MUNPL CEO Sunil Kumar, head of HR Akhila KP Pattnaik congratulated the CSR and PR teams for their unwavering dedication.

Kumar said, This award is a testament to our commitment, dedication, and hard work.

During the inaugural ceremony, Sudhanshu Trivedi and Naresh Bansal- Members of Parliament Rajya Sabha, Chidanand Maharaj and other eminent dignitaries were present.
Mumbai: In the 3rd National Security Conference, Colonel Avihay Zafrany, Defense Attache to the Israeli Embassy in India, conceded that while technology plays a crucial role, it falls short in the global fight against terrorism, citing Israels failure to prevent the October 7 Hamas attack. Tech is important but not enough while fighting terrorism: Defense Attache, Israel Embassy

Colonel Zafrany was among several security experts, veterans, and retired armed services officials who spoke at the 3rd National Security Conference organised by Brahma Research Foundation (BRF), a Mumbai-based think tank, to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in Bandra on Sunday.The think tank, patronized by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar, held the well-attended event as a mark of respect for the martyrs of the 26/11 attacks and also to assess the countrys preparations to prevent future attacks.

Apart from Colonel Zafrany, Lt. General V G Khandare (retired), the Principal Advisor to the Defense Minister, General Manoj Naravane (retired) who had served as the 28th Chief of Army Staff, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, Flag Officer-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, Nitin Gokhale, a national security and defense journalist, and the editor of Bharat Shakti participated in the conference.

Colonel Zafrany, in a PowerPoint presentation, detailed Israels efforts to minimise civilian damage during the retaliation against Hamas. He said, Hamas has turned Palestine into a terror state and is using human shields to create more fear. He explained how Hamas is using guerrilla warfare. He also stated, There does not seem to be an end to the surfacing of new terror outfits as we have seen the emergence of al-Qaida, ISIS, and now Hamas.

Agreeing with the BRF Director Dr Vijay Pages reiteration that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, Lt General Khandare (retired) said that countries that faced attacks like 9/11 in the US, 26/11 in India, and October 7, 2023, in Israel cannot afford to be overconfident or complacent. There was an intelligence failure, but every nation must trust its security agencies. We look at only intelligence failures, but do we know how many attacks are prevented by these agencies, he stated.

Kobbi Shoshani, Consul General of Israel to Mid-West India, reflected on Mumbais pain post-26/11, noting the dual challenge of fighting terrorism and countering fake news.

Chief guest Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, Commander-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, said India has substantially strengthened its maritime defence and coastal security since the 9/11 attacks.

In a discussion led by defence journalist Nitin Gokhale and retired Chief of Army Staff General Naravane, the October 7 Hamas attack emphasised the imperative of maintaining high alert levels, with General Naravane stressing the significance of human intelligence alongside technology, cautioning against over-dependence on the latter.
High Court of Delhi has extended the registration date for Delhi Judicial Service Exam 2023. The registration date has been extended till November 29, 2023. Candidates who still have not applied can now apply through the official website of Delhi High Court at delhihighcourt.nic.in. Delhi Judicial Service Exam 2023: Registration date extended till November 29

The official notice reads, In continuation of this Court's Notices dated 06.11.2023 & 17.11.2023, it is hereby notified that the last date and time for Registration and filling Online Application Form of Delhi Judicial Service Examination - 2023 and/or making payment through Debit Card/Internet Banking is extended till 29.11.2023 (1730 hours).

The prelims examination will be conducted on December 17, 2023. The examination will comprise objective type questions and there will be 25 percent negative marking for each incorrect answer. Candidates who qualify in the Preliminary examination will be called for the Main examination.

Direct link to apply for Delhi Judicial Service Exam 2023

Delhi Judicial Service Exam 2023: How to apply

Those candidates who want to apply for the examination can follow the steps given below.

Visit the official website of Delhi High Court at delhihighcourt.nic.in.

Click on public notices link available on the right hand side of the page.

Click on the corrigendum notice available.

A new PDF file will open where the link to apply for Delhi Judicial Service Exam 2023 will be given.

Click on the link and enter the required details.

Fill the application form and make the payment of application fees.

Click on submit and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

The application fee for the examination is 1,500 for general category candidates and 400 for reserved category [Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe / Person with Disabilities (identified disabilities) of 40% or more] candidates. For more related details candidates can check the official website of Delhi High Court.

Official Notice here
Film producer Ektaa Kapoor is back in India after attending the 51st International Emmy Awards in New York City. On Monday morning, she was snapped arriving at the Mumbai airport with her Emmy award. Ektaa was honoured with the International Emmy Directorate Award at the Emmys for her trailblazing career and impact on the Indian television landscape. Also read: Ektaa Kapoor to be honoured with the International Emmy Directorate Award Ektaa Kapoor with her Emmy award at Mumbai airport. (Viral Bhayani)(viral Bhayani)

Ektaa Kapoor returns to India

Ektaa looked as happy as ever after paparazzi surrounded her upon reaching the airport terminal. She was in her casual look as she proudly held the golden award and showed it off. She posed with the Emmy award and smiled from ear to ear.

Reacting to Ektaa's achievement, many people on social media hailed her for making India proud. One user wrote in the post's comment section, So proud of you Ektaa mam watching you since my childhood. Congratulations, added another.

Ektaa on winning Emmy

Previously, Ektaa had posted a video of the award on her Instagram account and wrote in the caption, "India I'm bringing home YOUR Emmy @iemmys." She is the first Indian woman filmmaker to achieve the International Emmy Directorate Award, for her contributions towards art and the industry.

After receiving the award at the event, Ektaa said in her acceptance speech, "Above all I'd like to thank my country, India. It's time I humanise you, India, because in you, I find a reflection of me. You've been pulled, pushed, conquered, ruled and as you found your freedom, you found your voice. A few decades later, today, you stand tall, not needing anyone's validation, as the fifth largest economy. This award is for you, India and all the Indians here! We are few, but we're enough. This is for you, India. In your history, I find my stories in your strength and your tenacity, I find my grit to my motherland. I am bringing home your Emmy.

New film

A day after making news with her Emmy win, Ektaa announced her next film, starring Kartik Aaryan. The untitled film will be directed by Sandeep Modi, under Karan Johar's banner Dharma Productions alongside Ekta's Balaji Motion Pictures.It marks the first collaboration between Karan and Kartik after their fallout during Dostana 2.

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Christopher Nolan has weighed in on the debate over how superhero franchises are affecting Hollywood, months after Martin Scorsese slammed them. In a recent interview with the Associated Press (AP), the filmmaker, whose Oppenheimer released earlier this year, spoke about the importance of originality in filmmaking, but also the need for Hollywood franchises. Also read: Martin Scorsese urges filmmakers to fight back against comic book movie culture Director Christopher Nolan during the Big Screen Achievement Awards at CinemaCon 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada, in April 2023. (File Photo/ AFP)

Christopher Nolan on a healthy Hollywood

Theres always a balance in Hollywood between established titles that can assure a return in audience and give people more of what they want. Thats always been a big part of the economics of Hollywood, and it pays for a lot of other types of films to be made and distributed, But there also always has to be respect for the audiences desire for something new. Thats one of the big thrills of going to the movies is, frankly, seeing a trailer for a movie youve never heard of or type of movie you havent seen. A healthy ecosystem in Hollywood is about a balance between the two things and always has been," Christopher Nolan told AP.

'The more interesting films being made, the better'

He also said there was not need for overanalysing the audiences' reactions to any particular type of film. Christopher Nolan said, Theyre not realistic in terms of how we will watch movies. We all watch movies with different expectations for what kind of movie it is. We all go to the movies, wanting to see something different than we saw the week before. You have horror movies and comedies and documentaries  the movie screen can be anything. And so the more variety we have, the more interesting films being made, the better it is, for all of us as moviegoers and as industry professionals.

What Martin Scorsese had said about franchises

Christopher Nolans comments were made after he was asked his reaction to Martin Scorseses remarks about 'fighting back' the comic book movie culture. In a September interview, Martin Scorsese had told GQ that there is a 'danger' to what these blockbusters are 'doing to our culture'.

Martin had said, Because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those  thats what movies are... Its got to come from the grassroots level. Its gotta come from the filmmakers themselves... And youll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and youll have Christopher Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit them from all sides. Hit them from all sides, and dont give up. Lets see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent.

Entertainment! Entertainment! Entertainment!  Click to follow our Whatsapp Channel  Your daily dose of gossip, films, shows, celebrities updates all in one place
Kanye West and Bianca Censori's alleged rift seems to be increasing each day. The newly married couple are said to have no future together as they continue making headlines for their troubled relationship. After their recent outing in Dubai, it seemed as if the duo put an end to the speculations. But, according to Censori's behaviour, it may be the other way around as pointed out by a celebrity expert recently. As the Australian native is reportedly distancing herself from her rapper husband, West was spotted on a solo outing. Bianca Censori is Kanye West's new wife after Kim Kardashian.(Twitter/ Daily Loud)

Kanye West spotted at Dubai nightclub

Following his supposed reconciliation with Censori, the Praise God rapper was seen out and about at a Dubai nightclub. According to Mirror, West was captured in the middle of Blu Dubai. The snaps were first shared by a Reddit user who revealed that the 46-year-old Georgia native was spotted in his signature all-black outfit, looking mysterious.

This outing comes after West attended the Abu Dhabi F1 event all by himself on Saturday night. During the Formula One event, West looked stony-faced as he walked through the crowd, according to The US Sun. The Gold Digger rapper donned a black sweatshirt with matching baggy black pants. He paired the ensemble with his Yeezy footwear. Prior to West's public appearances both, with and without his wife, he was reportedly taking time apart from Censori only 11 months after their marriage.

Bianca's family begging her to leave Kanye

Meanwhile, Censori's family has been begging her to leave the rapper due to his controlling nature, according to an insider as per the outlet. At the time, the insider alleged that Censori's family has never been a fan of Ye, and those close to her have questioned whether marrying him was the right decision. The insider continued, He is a very difficult person to be around and work for, and Bianca has been one of the most patient people ever to deal with him. She's been all about Ye.

He has been a lot happier and more focused with her around, but I think the relationship has taken its toll on her a bit, with everyone having their opinion, the insider added. She may go back to him for the album launch. She loves the lifestyle, but I think it's clear her family and friends would rather she didn't. Honestly, it seems he's not that worried about it and is just all about the music at the minute.
American model Gigi Hadid has often been vocal about her opinions on the Israel-Hamas war. The 28-year-old TV personality, who is known for her pro-Palestine stance has recently come under fire for accusing Israel of organ harvesting. Hadid shared a reel on her Instagram story which claims health officials admitted that Israeli authorities had harvested the organs of dead Palestinians for years without their consent, as per Newsweek. US model Gigi Hadid walks the runway with models to present creations by Miu Miu during the Paris Fashion Week Womenswear Spring/Summer 2024 in Paris on October 3, 2023. (Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP)(AFP)

Hadid's actions stirred outrage on social media, with netizens demanding her modelling agency, IMG to oust her. A screenshot of her story was shared on X, formerly Twitter. The post shared by Visegrad 24 was captioned, Gigi Hadid has started spreading spreading antisemitic blood libel conspiracy theories about Israel harvesting organs of Palestinians.

Social media lashes out at Gigi Hadid

Pro-Israeli users in particular were enraged by the video Hadid chose to share. Many have demanded that Gigi along with her sister Bella should be cancelled. An X user wrote, calling out her agency, @IMG, @IMGmodels do you support these antisemitic statements of Gigi Hadad? If not please stop working with her.

One more user said, This is the curse of being physically attractive. You are never told no and you eventually begin to believe your own insanity. Yet another wrote, Gigi Hadid has always been trash but this is straight up vile antisemitic blood libel. She should be dropped by every contract and agency, according to the outlet.

On Saturday, November 25, the former Victoria's Secret model made an explosive statement on her Instagram story. She wrote, "Israel sees any Palestinian as a terrorist, Any person supporting Palestinian rights as an antisemite, and any Jew that is opposed to the government's actions as self-hating, - even telling them to denounce their Judaism. So... everyone's lying and wrong, except Israel?!! If it wasn't so evil & disturbing, it would be comedic.
People on Twitter are getting triggered by a new clip from Bigg Boss season 17. Many women have commented that they are been reminded of their own toxic mothers-in-law after watching Vicky Jain's mom bash his wife Ankita Lokhande on national television. (Also read: Vicky Jain's mother lashes out at Ankita Lokhande for throwing chappal at him on Bigg Boss 17. Watch) Vicky Jain's mother talked to Ankita Lokhande and him during a new episode of Bigg Boss.

On Sunday's episode of the show, Ankita and Vicky got to chat with their mothers. However, it was only Vicky's mother that spoke. Whenever Ankita's mother tried to say something, she would rudely shush her. People on Twitter thought it was a classic case of the groom's side thinking they were superior to the bride's family. Special spoon feeding session!! Ankita Lokhande's saas (mothers-in-law) is big red flag. Typical Indian families, where groom side's has upper hand over bride's side, read a comment.

Vicky's mother was furious at how the two were fighting inside the house and mentioned Ankita kicking him and throwing slippers at him. During both the instances, Vicky was actually laughing. Ankita also got a bit agitated, when Vicky's mother talked about how much 'chhoot (freedom)' her son had given his wife. The actor asked her mother-in-law what she meant by that. When the mom-in-law tried to do some damage control, Ankita asked her mother if their game was looking good on the outside.

Fans of the show are massively turned off by Vicky Jain's mother. The way his mother was always asking her mother to shut up its disrespectful and I would never let it be both side there should be mutual respect, read a tweet. Ankita ki mom ko bat tk karne nahi de rahi thi (She wouldn't let Ankita's mother speak) it was so rude, read another tweet. The way this woman kept shutting up Ankita's mom... kudos to Ankita for staying calm! This saans kinda reminds me of Ankita's onscreen saans in Pavitra Rishta," tweeted another. Many even said that Ankita should have researched better before tying getting married to Vicky.

What kind of saas she is... dominating...she was rude with Ankita and her Mom, was not letting them speak...hated her. Typical lady..like mother like son. Does not respect anyone, read a tweet. This is why I hate marriages. What is mother in law is like this. Freaking big red flag, wrote another person.

Ankita and Vicky got married in 2021. She was earlier in a relationship with her Pavitra Rishta co-star Sushant Singh Rajput. They broke up in 2016 and he died in 2020 of apparent suicide.
In the Hawaiian language, Lahaina means cruel sun. The north-east trade winds provide the eastern shore of Maui with ample rain and the West Maui mountains with a superfluity of it. But Lahaina, the capital of the Hawaiian kingdom in the 19th century, sits in the mountains rain shadow and so gets comparatively little. What is more, the rain that does fall does so almost entirely in winter: summers are hot and dry. As a result it is no stranger to fires. But those that ripped through the beautiful city on August 8th and 9th were unprecedented in their fury. As of August 11th at least 55 deaths had been confirmed (and the number was expected to rise), and the damage to the town of around 13,000 people looks well nigh irreparable. Why were these fires so powerful?

Fires need dry fuel. Various factors provided these fires with a lot of it. Hawaii as a whole has been in a drought for over a year, and in Maui conditions recently worsened considerably. American drought-watchers recognise five levels of water stress, from Abnormally dry to Exceptional drought. In April nowhere in Maui County (composed of Maui and some smaller nearby islands) was abnormally dry, let alone suffering from full-on drought. As of the week of the fires more than a third of the island was in drought conditions and most of the rest was abnormally dry, in part the result of unseasonably hot weather. In Kihei, another town on Maui, the intense sunshine melted traffic lights on their poles.

Over the past decade meteorologists have increasingly talked of flash droughts, periods in which dryness increases very quickly because low or no rainfall coincides with sunlight, winds and air temperature, driving evaporation from the soil and water loss through plants into top gear. The rate at which conditions on Maui worsened meets the conditions for a flash drought, Jason Otkins of the University of Wisconsin-Madison told the Associated Press.

On top of the drought, there is land-use change. Over the years a lot of agricultural land near Lahaina has been abandoned. Such land will typically see a rich growth of grasses and shrubs, including, in Hawaii, some invasive species which can outcompete the indigenous plants. According to Tom Smith of the London School of Economics the abandonment of land previously used for farming or raising livestock typically sees the fuel load on that land increase in a way that permits much more intense fires. This has been a key factor in recent deadly fires in both America and the Mediterranean, he says.

Drought and land-use change set the scene for worse fires. But they are not essential for them. There were times last year when drought conditions on Maui were far worse than they have been this year. What seems to have set these fires apart was the addition of high winds. Some of these are associated with Hurricane Dora, a category-4 storm, which passed about 1,000km (640 miles) due south of Maui on the evening of August 8th, following a path from east to west.

Hurricanes are associated with rain much more than fire, but they can bring both. In 2018 Hurricane Lane passed much closer to the Hawaiian islands, bringing record rainfall to the island of Hawaii itself. But on Maui, roughly 120km to the north-west, its winds fanned three fires, including one, the Kauaula Fire, on the outskirts of Lahaina. Those winds were dry because they were fuelled by air that had been lifted and stripped of moisture at the heart of the hurricane, returning to the surface near its edge.

Dora passed Maui at a much greater distance, but it still brought with it strong winds. And they seem to have been strengthened by the fact that while the hurricane, an area of very low atmospheric pressure, was passing to the south of the island, there was an anomalous area of high pressure and oddly dry air to the north. Winds tend to move from high-pressure areas to low-pressure ones (curving as they do so) and the high pressure to the north seems to have strengthened the winds crossing Maui. (Something similar happened in October 2017, when winds associated with Hurricane Ophelia drew hot air from the Sahara across Portugal, fanning fires which killed 50 people.)

Local topography added to the problem. Winds that come down from a mountain in the way the winds coming into Lahaina do are strengthened and warmed by their descent. The Foehn winds of the alps and the Chinooks of North America are well-known examples. Powerful downslope winds were also a decisive factor in the Camp Fire, the most destructive American wildfire over the past 100 years, which in November 2018 killed 85 people in the California foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Gusts of wind across Maui over the days of the fire were recorded to hit speeds of 108kph.

Taken together, the flash drought, high fuel loads and powerful winds seem to account for the disaster. What, then, of change in the future? The past half century of climate change has seen Hawaii get warmer, though not as fast as many other places; warming temperature trends tend to be faster on larger land masses. It has also been seeing more drought over the past century, a trend which may well continue.

On top of that trend, there also seems to be a change in the patterns of drought. It used to be that when ENSO, a globally important climate oscillation centred on the tropical Pacific, was in its La Nina phase, Hawaii could expect more rain, replenishing its groundwater. There has for some time been evidence that this is no longer the case, and the dryness over the past three years, which have been subject to long-running La Nina conditions, seems to bear this out. Whether this means that the severe Hawaiian drought associated with the first winter of El Nino conditions, which began a couple of months ago, can be expected to turn up as in years past, or whether the whole system has gone topsy turvy, remains to be seen.

Further abroad, two lessons stand out. One is that as the world continues to get hotter, flash droughts are likely to become more common. That has implications both for farmers and for fire management. The second is that even cities that have survived for centuries should not feel safe.

For more coverage of climate change, sign up for The Climate Issue, our fortnightly subscriber-only newsletter, or visit our climate-change hub.
The Jaane Tu... Ya Jaane Na (2008) actor Manjari Fadnnis feels she in the best phase of her career what she is getting right opportunities to express herself and select good projects. Manjari Fadnnis recently shot for film Zindagi Namkeen Hai in Lucknow.(Instagram)

We actors are very greedy souls and never satisfied. Id surely like to have more but Im in a very good phase of my career where a lot of projects and performance-oriented roles are coming my way. Its a beautiful new beginning for me. Im very satisfied in terms of the kind of work coming my way, says the actor who recently wrapped shoot for KC Bokadias next film Zindagai Namkeen Hai, directed by Gajendra Ahire, opposite actor Shreyas Talpade.

She adds, Ive been getting better work now compared with what I was getting in the past. Honestly, I was content with the projects that were coming my way till 2017-18. Still, I was choosing the best from what I was being offered as that was the only option I had. I dont think, my talent has been utilised in the industry yet.

The actor says that 2023 has been a great year for her. My film Chalti Rahe Zindagi is doing festival rounds across the world. I have completed film Pune Highway, directed by Bugs Bhargava and Rahul da Cunha with actors Amit Sadh and Jim Sarbh. Then I am about to wrap ZNA, a slice-of-life film and another film where I play a cop. Besides, I did a came in Abbas Mastan sir film Penthouse. So, people are going to see a lot more of me.

Fadnnis says she wishes that people know her more than Jaane Tu... girl. I have done 30 projects till now, but I wish my characters could have get appreciation like Meghna got in JTYJN. It has been 15 years, but I keep getting so much love for it and people still write letters to Meghna (her characters). OTT film Barot House (2019) saw me in a different light and things changed for me. Series Masoom and Miyan Biwi aur Murder (both 2022) got me lot of love and this year Freelancers did wonders.

On coming to Lucknow, she adds, I had come here for promotions but never took up work here. So, this will be my first project and then again, Ill be back this month-end for another project for which we had already shot in Udaipur.
At least 14 people died and 17 were injured in lightning incidents due to the unseasonal rains that wreaked havoc in Gujarat on Sunday, officials said. As many as 40 animals also perished due to the rainfall, according to the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC). At least 17 people were injured in lightning incidents due to the unseasonal rains (ANI)

Three deaths were recorded in Dahod district, two in Bharuch, and one each in Amreli, Surendranagar, Mehsana, Botad, Panchamahals, Kheda, Sabarkantha, Surat and Ahmedabad. All human deaths can be attributed to lightning, an SEOC official said, declining to be named. The death toll can go up as data was still being collected, he added.

Gujarat woke up to a cool morning on Sunday after unseasonal rainfall and hailstones lashed several parts of the state. Gujarat is likely to experience rainfall and hailstorms on Monday as well, the India Meteorological Department said. Unseasonal rains have started in entire Gujarat, including Ahmedabad on Sunday. Winds started from the northeast at a speed of 5 km per hour amid heavy clouds, the weather office said.

Darkness enveloped much of the state as heavy unseasonal rains impacted over 155 talukas (sub- districts), casting a gloomy atmosphere across the affected areas.

Saurashtra witnessed significant impact from the changing weather conditions, and other districts across the state also experienced rainfall and strong winds. Cities including Surat, Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar were subjected to heavy rainfall. Additionally, poor visibility due to fog created commuting challenges.

Talala in Gir Somnath district received the highest of 46 mm rainfall till Sunday noon. Other places in Saurashtra to receive rainfall included Vanthali in Junagadh (43 mm), Dasada (36 mm) in Surendranagar, Patan-Veraval in Gir Somnath (35 mm) and Keshod in Junagadh (29 mm).

The abrupt weather shift was reported widely on social media. People flocked to various social media platforms, particularly X (formerly Twitter), to share videos and images of the hailstorms.

The weather department has predicted rain three days prior to the occurrence. It also issued warning for fishermen in south Gujarat coast, cautioning against widespread rain and thunderstorms, with wind speed of 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph.

Surat and Navsari are likely to experience very heavy rainfall, while coastal districts including Junagadh, Gir-Somnath, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Rajkot and Botad are likely to receive heavy rain until Monday, the weather bureau said. Ahmedabad, Tapi, Dang, Chhota Udepur and Dahod could also face heavy rainfall until Monday.
The Adani Group on Monday clarified it is not involved in the construction of the collapsed Uttarakhand tunnel, where 41 workers have been trapped for 16 days. Rescue personnel work at the collapsed under construction Silkyara tunnel in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state, on November 27, 2023. (AFP)

It has come to our notice that some elements are making nefarious attempts to link us to the unfortunate collapse of a tunnel in Uttarakhand. We strongly condemn these attempts and those behind them, Adani spokesperson said in a statement.

The Adani Group said any of its subsidiaries has no direct or indirect involvement of any kind in the tunnel's construction.

A portion of tunnel from Silkyara to Barkot under 880-km Char Dham project caved in on November 12, trapping 41 workers.

The Navayuga Engineering Company Limited is overseeing tunnels construction work. Adani Group said it does not own or hold any shares in the company involved in the tunnel's construction.

To expedite the rescue of the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) announced the initiation of manual horizontal digging alongside the ongoing top-down drilling.

Also read: Uttarakhand tunnel rescue latest updates

The decision to resort to manual drilling was taken when the auger drill encountered obstacles, getting entangled in debris.

Currently, the focus is on vertical and manual horizontal drilling methods, with other plans, such as horizontal drilling from the Barkot end of the tunnel, in progress.
Its 2pm on a bright Sunday. Thirty-six-year-old B Sai Krishna steps out of the front seat of the Maruti Swift Desire he has rented for the day, and holds the rear door open for his parents, wife, and young daughter to emerge. They step on to the small sidewalk, the wind buffeting them, and look out onto the expanse of the Godavari. The young girl is struck by the river, but Sai Krishna turns her attention to the huge cement blocks that obstruct the rivers path, and the rotors underneath, explaining to her the rudimentary mechanics of the worlds largest lift irrigation project. To the rest of his family, he nods his head and says in admiration: Kaam to kiya hai KCR ne (KCR has done work). Telangana chief minister and BRS president K Chandrashekar Rao in Kamareddy on November 9. (PTI)

Also read: KCR was making effort to strike friendship with BJP: PM Modi in Telangana

About 15km away, at the bustling Mukteshwara Swami Devasthanam temple in the heart of Kaleshwaram village, 52-year-old Koppa Rao dismissively waves away the praise of the irrigation project. Dont ask the tourists. Ask the people who live here. How many years will we vote for KCR because of Kaleshwaram? That dam is now a symbol of his inefficiency. It is his familys ATM, Rao said.

Between these two assessments -- development on hand and allegations of corruption on the other -- lies the fate of the 119 seats in Telangana that go to vote on November 30.

Inaugurated in 2019, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is one of Indias most ambitious irrigation projects, aimed at utlilising 200,000 million cubic feet of water from the Godavari to irrigate 4.5 million acres in northern Telangana across 13 districts. Built at an estimated cost of around 80,000 crore, all borne by the state government, it was KCRs jewel in the crown, the embodiment of his governments development identity.

Unsurprisingly, it came under attack. Some alleged bad design, others said that the results did not justify the project cost. But on October 21, the Opposition found even reason to attack the project with renewed gusto when six pillars of the Medigadda barrage sank, prompting an investigation. On November 3, a technical expert committee by the National Dam Safety Authority said that the barrage needed to be fully rehabilitated, and questioned its design and quality control. Within days, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and state chief Revanth Reddy visited the spot, and called KLIP a symbol of KCRs corruption. Minister KT Rama Rao, KCRs son, dismissed the allegations, said that Kaleshwaram was a blessing to the people of Telangana, and that the Congress was the A to Z of corruption in India.

At Kaleshwaram village, just outside the temple, Koppa Rao is tired of the political slugfest. I only know one thing. It is only five years old. If it was built well, and there was no irregularity, would there be a problem? Let a new government come and investigate, he said.

In front of him, his 28-year-old son Hanumant helps a car squeeze into a parking spot, wheeling his arms around. The younger Rao cares little for KLIP, but his anger is based on the four years he spent in Hyderabad, struggling to make it, and then giving up. For four years, I sat for two entrance exams and there were irregularities. I tried to find work, but the only jobs are in the glitzy IT sector. This government has done nothing for poor young men like me. I worked as a delivery agent for two years, but what after that? I had to come home, Hanumant said.

The Rao family are beneficiaries of the host of schemes that the KCR government has launched over the past five years -- they get money under the farmers Rhythu Bandhu scheme and the government medical insurance -- but their anger is symptomatic of a larger sense of anti-incumbency rumbling through rural Telangana, threatening the BRS in a state that it has ruled for a decade.

Professor K Nageshwar, a seasoned political analyst, said that while headwinds against the ruling BRS have only crystallised over the last few weeks of the campaign, the signs of disaffection have been there. The anti-incumbency is not sudden, and its rise has been gradual and clear. When the BJP did well in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Council elections and won the Dubbak seat, it was an expression of anger against KCR. The BJP took advantage of that. Now that the Congress has galvanised itself into the primary anti BRS party, it is gaining because of the anti-incumbency, Nageshwar said.

Also read: 23% of candidates in Telangana elections have criminal cases against them: ADR

With the Kakatiya Thermal Power Plant looming out behind his village of Chelpur, 46-year-old farmer K Laxman says that his ire against the government isnt because of a lack of performance. We have been blessed by good Chief Ministers in this state? Tell me, who was bad? Chandrababu (Naidu) did work, YSR (YS Rajashekhara Reddy) did work, and now KCR has done work. But the people from the BRS have grown arrogant, and rich. Look at their party offices. Almost every single one of them is massive, like a bungalow. They need to be brought down to earth, Laxman said.

Professor Nageshwar says that this odd constituency-level anti-incumbency against the perceived ostentatious display of wealth by local leaders is driving much of the anger against the BRS. Remember, Telangana came out of a peoples movement. Such a perception of inaccessibility of the local leadership, and localised corruption has not gone down well with the people, Nageshwar said.

But a decade in power, a slew of welfare schemes, and legislators that have established themselves over that time, also means that there are those that believe that the BRS is the only political party that carries credibility. Everyone, across the country is making promises. We have been given benefits by the BRS that have reached us. Why pick someone else who may not live upto them? I dont want to make that mistake, said Laxman Rao, the owner of a restaurant in Bhupalpally town.

One Telangana-based senior leader of the BRS, who did not want to be named because he was deviating from the public party line, admitted that he was worried by the momentum shift but thought the party would eventually come through.

I think it is true it has become a fight between us and the Congress. What is worrying is that it is not as if they are doing something special; the anger on the ground is against us. Over the last few days, we have tried to bring the focus back just to the welfare schemes. That, combined with our lead, should take us through, even if it is close. Remember, the Congress has to cover a 18% vote share gap, he said.

In 2018, the BRS won 88 seats of the 119, with a vote share of 46.9%, as opposed to the Congress that finished second with 19 and 28.4% of the vote. These elections are likely to be closer by all accounts.

Back at Kaleshwaram, it is now early evening. Hanumant Rao is now shepherding people into vans as they set off home. The temple, revered because it has two deities, Lord Shiva and Lord Yama, draws people in from far and wide. Some of the vans that leave will travel as far as Hyderabad, 262km away, or like the one carrying B Sai Krishna to Warangal, 120km away. As they do, they will trundle past the Godavari, KLIP, and the web of canals that emanate from the project. There is barely any water in them, Rao said. KCR has done work in building KLIP. Maybe soon, more water will course through the canals.
At least 25 people have died due to unseasonal rainfall in Gujarat, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh in the past 24 hours with the weather office predicting more rainfall in the next 72 hours. All three states will receive more rainfall in the coming days. (PTI photo)

20 persons have died in Gujarat, four in Madhya Pradesh while one person in Rajasthan.

Gujarat

According to an official of the Gujarat Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), a total of 20 rain-related deaths have been reported so far from different parts of Gujarat. All the fatalities were attributed to lightning strikes during unseasonal rainfall in the state on Sunday.

Union home minister Amit Shah on Sunday condoled the deaths and said the local administration was engaged in relief work.

Four persons died in Dahod district, three in Bharuch, two in Tapi, and one each in Ahmedabad, Amreli, Banaskantha, Botad, Kheda, Mehsana, Panchmahal, Sabarkantha, Surat, Surendranagar and Devbhumi Dwarka, the SEOC official said.

As many as 234 out of 252 talukas of Gujarat received rainfall on Sunday, with Surat, Surendranagar, Kheda, Tapi, Bharuch and Amreli districts recording between 50-117 mm rainfall in 16 hours.

India Meteorological Departments (IMD) Ahmedabad centre director Manorama Mohanty said rains will abate on Monday and remain concentrated in some parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra districts.

Also Read: 14 lives lost as Gujarat receives heavy unseasonal rainfall, hailstorm

The rainfall happened due to a cyclonic circulation lying over the northeast Arabian sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the IMD said in its bulletin.

Madhya Pradesh

According to weather officials, four persons died after lightning strikes in Madhya Pradesh on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

The minimum temperature fell to 5.4C in MP owing to untimely rains after the 39 districts state saw the first unseasonal winter rainfall.

An official aware of the developments said a couple riding a bike lost their lives due to lightning in Umarban of Dhar district while their child was injured.

In a separate incident, a man died in Raipuriya in Petlawad area of Jhabua district and a woman died due to lightning in Junajhira village of Silavad in Barwani district.

The meteorological department official said the state will remain drenched for the next three to four days due to western disturbance.

The heavy to light rain is expected in MP till November 30. The western disturbance is active around Iran. At the same time, the cyclonic circle and trough line are also passing. There is a circle of cyclonic winds in the center of the state. There is also stagnation of east-west winds. Due to this, the state will witness rain, hailstorm and storm, said Vedprakash Singh, IMD scientist in Bhopal.

Rajasthan

In Rajasthan, western parts of the state, including Jaisalmer and Barmer, received light rainfall triggered by a western disturbance in the last 24 hours till Monday morning, the weather office said.

Sanchore (Jalore) witnessed hailstorm during the period, but eastern Rajasthan mostly remained dry, it said.

Due to a western disturbance, light rain has been recorded in Jaisalmer and Barmer districts in the last 24 hours. Maximum rainfall of 8mm has been recorded in Sedwa, Barmer, a Met department official said.

A trough in easterly winds is forming over the state today and due to a western disturbance being active in the upper levels of the atmosphere which will result in rain with thunder in Jodhpur, Udaipur, Ajmer and Kota divisions today (Sunday), the official said.

There is a possibility of moderate to heavy rain at some places in Udaipur and Jodhpur division, and some places could see hailstorm and strong winds of 30-40 kmph, the official said. He added that there was a possibility of cloudy sky and light rain at isolated places in Bikaner and Jaipur divisions. Some areas of Kota, Bharatpur, Ajmer and Jaipur divisions are likely to see rain till Monday evening.

(With PTI inputs)
The Congress will come back to power with a three-fourths majority in Chhattisgarh, Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said on Sunday. Addressing a rally in Karimnagar, about 160 KM from here, he said the Congress government has fulfilled all the guarantees given by it. Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel

"Today in Chhattisgarh we fulfilled all the guarantees. So, the Congress is once again coming to power in Chhattisgarh with (securing) three-fourths majority. Believe Congress...you have seen KCR a lot. Believe those who created the Telangana state. You make Congress victorious and you will yourself feel strong." he said.

Also read: Accused in Mahadev app case retracts statement against Baghel

Attacking the BRS party, he said Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and his family hold 17 departments with them.

Alleging that Telangana has a debt burden of 5 lakh crore, he said if the people don't change the present government, the debt will become 10 lakh crore.

In a post on "X," Baghel, without taking names, said in Telangana, the BJP is worried about the future of its two "children" and there is a wonderful wave of the Congress going on in the state.

"The public says that whatever the looters have looted will be avenged. The Congress is forming the government here also with full majority," he said in the post.
The former Karnataka assembly speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri has refuted allegations made by the Congress government, asserting that there was no error in not consulting the Speaker while granting consent for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe against deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar in the alleged disproportionate assets case. Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri

The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday had decided to withdraw the sanction given for the CBI probe, citing irregularities in the decision. The party had alleged that the orders allowing CBI probe against Shivakumar was given orally by the then chief minister BS Yediyurappa, without consulting the Advocate General (AG) or the assembly speaker.

During the time when the decision was made, Kageri, who was the speaker in the previous Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, condemned the cabinets move saying that allowing a CBI probe is outside the speakers constitutional jurisdiction.

It is unfortunate that chief minister Siddaramaiah and his government are dragging in the speakers post for an issue where the speaker does not have any jurisdiction. Actually, it is an unpardonable crime that the state cabinet has taken a stand [giving consent to CBI probe is not in accordance with the law] by wrongly citing that the speakers approval was not taken then, though, the speaker does not have anything to do with it. Kageri said.

CM Siddaramaiahs decision has cast a shadow on the states reputation. The CBI and the court were in the process of filing charges against Shivakumar when the controversial decision was made by the Karnataka cabinet. The decision made by CM Siddaramaiah and the Karnataka cabinet at this juncture not only brings disrespect to democracy but also undermines the Parliamentary system, he added.

Kageri pointed out that the chief minister is an experienced politician and it is now evident whose influence he is working under. Let him work according to his conscience. Siddaramaiah should not make decisions by succumbing to pressure helplessly or with hatred against the BJP, he said, reiterating that the speaker has no role in the matter of handing over the probe to CBI, and it does not fall within the purview of the post.

The CBI investigation against Shivakumar must continue, he further insisted.

Former chief minister BS Yediyurappa also attacked the Congress government saying that Siddaramaiah is fully aware of the truth but is choosing to spread misinformation. State government took the decision after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) instructed the Chief Secretary to transfer the case [against DK Shivakumar] to the CBI. The decision to order a CBI probe followed the opinion of the state advocate general. The government should refrain from spreading misinformation he said.

Karnataka government on Friday defended its decision to revoke the authorisation granted to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) against deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar in a disproportionate assets (DA) case. Rural development minister and the head of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) communications Priyank Kharge said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government did not follow the rules and hurriedly handed over the case to CBI.

The Karnataka cabinet on Thursday declared that the CBI sanction granted by the previous BJP government to investigate Shivakumar was in violation of the law. The CBI derives its powers to investigate from the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) Act, 1946, which allows it to investigate a case in Delhi. In other states, the respective state governments have to give consent to CBI under section 6 of the DSPE Act.

Congress leader Priyank Kharge said that the approval was solely based on an informational letter from the Enforcement Directorate (ED), dated September 9, 2019. He added that this letter was a statutory communication intended for informational purposes only.

The Enforcement Directorate had written a letter to the government on September 9, 2019 stating that they had initiated a probe under the PMLA [Prevention of Money Laundering Act] against Shivakumar. This was a statutory letter only for information. Providing a timeline, on September 11, 2019, the Chief Secretary sent the letter to DPAR [Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms]. The case is beyond the DPARs jurisdiction. The letter asked two questions. First, does the government have to seek the Speakers permission and the Advocate Generals [AG] opinion. Then the file was transferred to the Home department, the Congress leader said.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has instructed Telanganas Bharat Rashtra Samithi government to stop all disbursements under the Rythu Bandhu scheme for farmers until the model code of conduct (MCC) is lifted in the poll-bound state in all its form. The state government has been asked to submit a compliance report by 3pm on Monday. Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao. (PTI)

The EC referred to statements of minister T Harish Rao, who is contesting from Siddipet and is a star campaigner for the party, about the disbursement of the scheme by a particular time before the poll date (Thursday), which was widely reported in newspapers and local media on November 26. It added Rao not only violated the provision in Para VII of the MCC but also the conditions laid down by publicising the release under the scheme and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process.

In October 2018, the ECI approved disbursement under the Rythu Bandhu scheme during the assembly election provided that the scheme was not publicised and no public function was organised for the disbursement. No political functionary was involved in the disbursement and no new beneficiaries were added.

The ECI noted that there is no fixed date for the disbursement of Rabi installments of the Rythu Bandhu assistance and it happened any time between October and January in the last five years.

The Telangana government informed the EC it planned to disburse the assistance from November 24 this year, during the MCC period. The EC gave its no-objection provided the government followed the October 2018 direction and that no direct benefit transfer assistance was affected during the silence period and the poll day.
Continuing its investigation into a sex determination racket busted in October, the Baiyyappanahalli police on Sunday arrested five people for conducting female infanticide, officers familiar with the matter said. The police have also seized a private hospital in Udayagiri area of Mysuru, and an Ayurvedic Day Care Center on Rajkumar Road in the Bengaluru in connection with the case

The case came to light on October 25, when during a routine vehicle check on Old Madras Road police intercepted an SUV that was being driven in a suspicious manner. The police confronted the five people sitting inside the car, including a pregnant woman. The police questioned the woman, who reportedly told the police that they had gone to a makeshift lab in Mandya, where a scan was done to determine the sex of her foetus.

Those taken into custody are: Dr Chandan Ballal, a doctor at a private hospital in Mysuru, his wife Meena, Rizma (a receptionist at another private hospital in Mysuru), Dr Thulasiram from Chennai, and a lab technician named Nissar, the officer said, adding that so far, nine people have been arrested as part of the investigation.

In October, the police had detained five people namely, Shivanje Gowda, Viresh, Naveen Kumar, and Nayan Kumar, in relation to the case. These people had been operating out of a sugarcane crushing unit in Mandya, where they used to identify pregnant women and conducted scans. Upon detecting a female foetus, they used to perform abortions. The ongoing investigation revealed that this racket used to perform around 20-25 sex determination tests and abortions per month, for the last three years.

The accused have been engaging in this illegal activity for the last three years at a sugar cane crushing unit in Mandya. According to the investigation, they have been involved in over 900 cases of infanticide, charging 25,000 per abortion and distributing the proceeds among themselves, a senior police officer familiar with the matter said.

The police have also seized a private hospital in Udayagiri area of Mysuru, and an Ayurvedic Day Care Center on Rajkumar Road in the Bengaluru in connection with the case.

Apart from sex determination, the accused people used to engaged in female foeticide at a location in Hullenahalli Hadya of Mandya taluk. This area, surrounded by sugarcane fields, served as a clandestine site for their operations. The field was owned by Naveen and the sugarcane cultivation used to serve as a cover for their illicit activities.

The accused used to reached out to pregnant women through intermediaries, conducting scans using a machine in one of the rooms at their covert location. Pregnant women were brought to the site in a private vehicle for scans, and upon detecting a female foetus, immediate abortion procedures used to be done, the police added.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar highlighted that the legacy of colonial laws has been highly burdensome to the vulnerable sections in the countries of the Global South and said that nations sharing a common imperial past should consider reviewing all colonial laws. Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankar (Twitter Photo)

Describing the colonial laws as very harsh, oppressive and exploitative for the local citizens Dhankar said that the Global South nations should follow the example of India.

Time has come to follow Indias example and emulate the same. As sovereign nations, Global South nations should consider reviewing all colonial laws that perpetrate prejudice against the local population, Dhankar said.

He indicated that the Indian Parliament is in the process to contain, curb and decimate exploitative provisions of the criminal procedure code and penal code of Victorian heritage .

The VP was addressing the inaugural event of the first regional conference of nearly 70 countries of Asia, Africa and the Pacific, in New Delhi.

The event is hosted by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) in New Delhi on the theme of Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South. The International Legal Foundation, United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF are collaborating in hosting the event.

Our country is in the process of having a legislation, which is under consideration of the Parliament, that will bring about a sea change in our outlook and totally contain, curb and decimate those exploitative provisions in procedure and penology, said Dhankar, who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha said.

He further stated that these countries also face common challenges of poverty, geographic remoteness, cultural barriers, and a complex legal system that create insurmountable obstacles for those seeking justice.

Global South countries must shed shackles of its imperial past and strive together to reverse the historical wrongs that have perpetrated injustice and inequality, he added, stressing the common thread of colonial exploitation that runs through the Global South nations.

The event was attended by the Chief Justices of 17 countries, judges, law ministers, and policymakers.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud in his keynote address as patron-in-chief of NALSA, said that Global South nations have prospered due to collaboration and have been grouped not just based on their economic status but their legal response to the colonial past.

Underlying our legal system, over whose destinies we preside, is the quest for social justice for our populations, the CJI said that as judges, they have a duty not just to do justice in individual cases that come before them but to institutionalise the judicial process that looks beyond the immediate as well.

Chandrachud also highlighted the technological interventions introduced on the administrative side by introducing live-streaming of constitution bench cases which has taken the Supreme Court to the hearts and homes of the common citizens in the country. He said, Access to justice is as much about the quantity of judicial infrastructure as it is about making courtrooms a space where everyone feels welcome, a space that is accessible to persons belonging to diverse communities cutting across age, gender identities, caste and economic status.

The Supreme Court has taken several initiatives in this regard by conducting an accessibility audit for the handicapped, introducing of sign language interpreters, gender-neutral toilets and accommodating gender orientations of lawyers while filing cases before the court.

Union Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was present at the conference and will be heading a round table ministerial conference of law ministers. At the end of the two-day event, an outcome document will be submitted on the policy, governmental and judicial solutions for improving access to justice.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian ambassador to the United States, was allegedly heckled by a group of pro-Khalistani elements while on a visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in New York's Long Island. Sandhu had gone to the gurdwara to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab. Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Indian ambassador to the United States, at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York's Long Island.

Sandhu can be purportedly seen in a video being confronted by the mob who were making statements about India-designated terrorists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Sharing a purported video on social media X, Bharatiya Janata Party national spokesperson RP Singh wrote, Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign.

Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused ambassador Sandhu for Indias role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum, Singh added.

The Indian envoy could be seen leaving the premises in his vehicle, while a protestor raised the Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara.

Later, without mentioning the heckling he faced, Sandhu posted on X, Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak's everlasting message of togetherness, unity, and equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all."

There has been a spike in pro-Khalistani incidents in countries like the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

Indo-Canadian community confronts pro-Khalistan elements

Devotees and members of the Indo-Canadian community in the town of Surrey in British Columbia confronted pro-Khalistan elements who had come to protest a consular camp at the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir on Sunday.

According to temple officials nearly 200 counter-protestors faced off for over three hours against the pro-Khalistan protest, which had been called by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ.

The two groups faced off across the road in front of the temple as Surrey Police deployed nearly 20 personnel to keep them apart.

The banned Sikhs for Justice has warned the Hindu community to stop sponsoring the killers of its principal in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was killed on June 18 in Surrey.

Nijjars killing led to a rupture in relations with India after Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between his murder and Indian agents. Part of the information that led to that statement came from the US. India had described those allegations as absurd and motivated.

Vandalism at Indian consulate in San Francisco

In July, a group of Khalistan extremists had indulged in an arson attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco. After a probe was launched into the incident, India requested evidence from the US authorities regarding suspects of the attack under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in connection with the case.

In a separate incident in March, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco came under attack from suspected Khalistani elements. After the incident, India had registered its "strong protest" with the United States calling for "appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents"

This was the second such incident involving the heckling of an Indian envoy by pro-Khalistan elements in a span of around two months.

Indian high commissioner to UK was stopped

Earlier in September, Indian high commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from entering a Gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of 'Sikh Youth UK,' a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

Following this, India had taken up its concerns regarding the security of diplomats and premises with the UK authorities.

Last week, the US had also shared some inputs pertaining to the nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others during the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the ministry of external affairs had said in a statement.

(With inputs from Anirudh Bhattacharyya in Toronto)
Indias ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, faced protests and heckling by some members of the Sikh community at a gurdwara in Long Island, New York, on Sunday as he stepped up his outreach to the community, speaking about Sikhisms larger message of equality, unity and brotherhood, and highlighting the progress in the India-US relationship, which will have tangible benefits for India in general and Punjab in particular. Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu at the gurdwara on Sunday. (PTI)

The incident, which was recorded on video, occurred at the end of his visit to the Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island, with some individuals directly accusing India of having killed Candian pro-Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, and being part of a plot to kill another separatist backer Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. Other Sikh community leaders at the gurdwara, however, asked the protesters to quieten down as they escorted Sandhu.

Also read: Pro-Khalistanis in Canada threaten to disrupt routine activities of Indias missions

He had, a day earlier, visited the Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in New York on a similar visit.

Sandhus efforts and the protests come against the backdrop of two developments that have caused a rupture in India-Canada relations, posed a challenge in the India-US relationship, and caused divisions within the Indian diaspora.

In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed there were credible allegations linking agents of the government of India to the killing in Surrey, British Columbia, of Nijjar, a Canadian national whom India had designated as a terrorist. India termed the allegations absurd, said this was not government policy, and offered to look into it if Canada offered specific and relevant information. Ottawa, however, hasnt yet provided evidence to back its claim.

Last week, responding to a report in the Financial Times, the US confirmed that it had spoken to India about government involvement in a possible plot to kill Pannun, another Khalistani extremist designated as terrorist by India who happens to a dual Canadian-American national. India acknowledged that it had received inputs from the US and relevant departments were examining the issue.

At a time when the allegations have caused concerns among the Sikh diaspora, India has stepped up its engagement to reassure the community of its pivotal place and role in the wider Indian national identity. India strongly believes that radical and violent elements constitute only a minor fraction of the wider Sikh diaspora. It is also understood to be alert about attempts, particularly by external adversaries and those keen to undermine India-US ties, to sow divisions within the diaspora, deepen alienation and stir unrest.

On Saturday, Sandhu visited the Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in New York where he spoke about Guru Nanak Devs timeless message of equality and universal oneness in the well known Shabad of Guru Ravidass. He later joined the prayers at the Guru Nanak Darbar where he spoke, in Punjabi, about the progressive values embedded in Sikhism, the ability of Sikhs to face adversity, Indias assistance to Sikhs of Afghanistan whenever they faced trouble, including during the fall of Kabul to the Taliban in 2021 (a number of attendees were Sikhs from the country), and the dramatic developments in the India-US relationship, including in the domain of education and knowledge partnership which would also benefit Punjab.

Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanaks everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all, Sandhu said on X (formerly Twitter).

It was towards the end of this visit that a few hecklers accosted Sandhu. You killed Nijjar, a protester could be heard saying on video, while another referred to the allegations about Indias role in the plot against Pannun.

Sandhu is a veteran US hand and among the most senior diplomats in the Indian foreign service. He has a family legacy embedded in the Indian freedom struggle and the Sikh political-religious tradition. His grandfather, Teja Singh Samundri, was a leader of the gurdwara reform movement in the early 20th century. Samundri died in mysterious circumstances in a Lahore prison in 1926, when jailed by the British, and is the only non-guru in whose name there is a building in the Golden Temple complex in Amritsar.

Lauding the visit, Balbeer Singh Pahwa, the president of the Guru Nanak Darbar, said, The Ambassadors visit was very positive. There were only four protesters and the gurdwara leaders asked them to leave as soon as they created disturbances. But I can tell you that everyone else in the community praised Sandhus message of togetherness. There were several other gurdwara heads present and they too were against the protests. We hope that this engagement of the Indian government with the Sikh community continues as they listen to our problems and help resolve it.

Also read: Nijjar killing: Indian envoy opens up on tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions, strained ties with Canada

Pahwa added that members of the community were also positive towards PM Narendra Modi and his efforts vis a vis the Sikh community, especially his role in assisting Afghan Sikhs during a time of crisis.

Placing the Indian outreach and protests in context, Milan Vaishnav, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has extensively studied the Indian diaspora and its faultlines in the US, said, Sandhus outreach to the Sikh community reflects sound public diplomacy and comes at a time when many in the Sikh diaspora around the world are feeling unsettled. However, there is no silver bullet when it comes to healing divides within the diaspora. This outreach will only bear fruit if sustained over time and if the extremism of a few is not conflated with the moderation of the masses.
She was like an angel. A lovable kid, with a smile so infectious. I dont have words, says Bindu Ramanan, her voice laden with grief. The Jehovahs Witnesses community in Kerala has around 15,000 adherents, accounting for less than 0.3% of the Christian population in the state. (HT Photo)

The class teacher of 7A division at the SNDP High School in Neeleswaram in Keralas Ernakulam district, Bindu gets overwhelmed with emotion when she talks about Libina KP, a 12-year-old student in her class.

On the morning of October 29, a Sunday, Bindu said she heard on the FM radio at home about the bomb blasts that pierced a gathering of the Christian sect Jehovahs Witnesses at a convention centre in Kalamassery, near Kochi. A few hours later, a teacher rang her up to convey that a student named Libina was seriously injured in the blasts.

Libina is not a very common name... I prayed and hoped that it wouldnt be her. Soon, we received the news that she had passed away, succumbing to burn injuries, said the schoolteacher.

The next day at school, Bindu and other teachers had a hard time consoling the students. Everyone was crying. Libina was a class leader, and everyone liked her. She studied well and at the same time helped others in her class as well. A boy that she used to help with studies has not been able to come to terms with her death. We are giving him counselling, she said.

A happy memory of Libina that lingers with her, said Bindu, is a handwritten letter complete with butterfly designs that she got via post at home when she had gone on a two-week leave. Usually, when teachers go on leave, students are happy. But here, I got a beautiful letter which was written by Libina and signed by other students saying how much they missed me and wanted me back. In my 14 years of service, its an unforgettable moment.

While Libinas mortal remains were laid to rest on November 4, her mother and elder brother, who had also attended the religious convention with her, are still battling for life in a critical condition. Apart from the 12-year-old, three others  Leyona Poulose (55), Kumari Pushpan (53) and Molly Joy Mathew (62) all of whom are members of Jehovahs Witnesses  have succumbed to severe burn injuries as a result of the blast.

The blasts triggered by an improvised explosive device (IED), allegedly by 57-year-old Dominic Martin who claimed to be an estranged member of the Jehovahs Witnesses sect and has since been arrested and charged under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other grave offences, have turned the spotlight on the small Christian denomination and its members who are known for their door-to-door evangelism and staunch views on subjects like blood transfusions and political neutrality.

The Jehovahs Witnesses community in Kerala has around 15,000 adherents, accounting for less than 0.3% of the Christian population in the state. Around 60 per cent of the Christians in the state are Catholics. Across India, Jehovahs Witnesses number around 57,000 and globally, over 8.6 million.

Unlike traditional Christian groups, the sect has no priests, official leaders, churches or liturgical worship methods. Its members worship Jehovah as the one true God and Jesus Christ as son of God. They stand out from most Christian denominations in the fact that they do not believe in the trinity doctrine of the Father, the Son and the holy spirit. But they follow the literal teachings of the Bible whose study became the foundation of the sects origin in the 1870s in Pennsylvania, US.

We are a multi-ethnic religious organisation with members from all walks of life speaking different languages and belonging to different tribes and groups. Our teachings are based on the Bible and we follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. Our meetings and worship is modelled after the 1st century Christians ie Jesus disciples. Our literature is available in over 1080 languages across the world, said Joshua David, national spokesperson of Jehovahs Witnesses in India.

Our principal way of worship is going from house-to-house as part of which we spread the message of comfort and hope and that very soon all that we are facing today is going to be a thing of the past. We have weekly meetings with members at places that we call kingdom halls and once a year, we have larger gatherings or conventions where we discuss Bible principles, he added.

It was at one such convention in Kochi on October 29, the final day of a three-day gathering, that multiple IED explosions were set off allegedly by Martin around 9:30 am in the middle of the opening prayer. The over 2000 attendees, who had all stood and closed their eyes in prayer, were shaken by a booming sound and a ball of fire that erupted in the middle of the hall near where the audio-video console was kept. While one woman died on the spot, her body burned beyond recognition, at least 52 persons were rushed to hospitals. Three of the injured died while undergoing treatment while three others are still battling for life in a critical condition.

Responding to the blasts, David said, We are in shock. It makes no sense. Jehovahs Witnesses are the most peaceful and we have been holding conventions in this country for the last 100 years. This is an unfortunate event. We are cooperating with law-enforcement agencies at every step of the way.

TA Sreekumar, regional spokesperson of the community in Kerala and part of the organising team behind the blast-affected convention, said those who attended the gathering have been left shaken by the incident.

We are a disciplined section of people who have held such conventions for many years peacefully. There is a family-like bond between us and almost everyone knows everyone. Suddenly when an incident like this happens, it has shocked everyone. There are people who are having nightmares and unable to have proper sleep. So right now, we are giving psychological and spiritual support to such people and we may have to continue doing it for some time, he said.

According to the police, Martin, a native of Kochi and a former spoken English tutor, drove from the private convention centre in Kalamassery after conducting the blasts to a private hotel in Koratty town, over 30 kilometres away, where he checked into a room briefly. It was there at the hotel that he is believed to have posted a video on his personal social media accounts taking ownership for the blasts and explaining the reasons for doing so. In the video, later telecast on local TV channels, Martin was heard ranting against the Jehovahs Witnesses, calling its teachings anti-national and seditious. He claimed that while initially he was not serious about being a member of the sect, around six years ago, he realised that the group was travelling on a wrong path.

Around six years ago, I realised that their teachings were anti-national. I told them several times, but they refused to heed my requests, he said.

They are teaching a four-year-old child not to accept a sweet offered by another kid. In a class of 50 kids, 49 are eating the sweet while one kid is not. The childs parents are injecting poison into its brain. They are asking the kid not to sing the national anthem. When they grow up, they are asked not to vote. They are asking them not to join military or government service, he claimed.

After posting the video, Martin checked out of the hotel and drove straight to the Kodakara police station where he surrendered before the police, claiming responsibility for the blasts, and submitting several pieces of evidence linking his involvement with the crime. Police retrieved receipts of items he bought for the blast and confiscated his cell phone which allegedly contain visuals he took while building and setting off the IEDs that day.

Representatives of Jehovahs Witnesses said while Martin is not a member of the group, he may have attended a Bible study class in the past as his wifes family were part of the community.

David said, He has had no association with Jehovahs Witnesses for many years. His comments and feelings are personally offensive to us and loaded with falsehoods. They are misleading.

We love this country and its people. We are peaceful people who go out in the ministry to share a message of hope and comfort. We are the most law-abiding citizens, pay our taxes and obey all the laws.

Sreekumar rebutted some of the allegations by Martin about the community. On the charge about singing of the national anthem, he said, We abstain from singing the anthem since it denotes devotion to the country. We believe that our devotion is towards God alone. Its a right that the Constitution gives us and hence the charge that we are anti-national has no basis. We always respect the country and the national flag.

Similarly, we dont try to bring any party into power or push them out of power. We support the party that has been elected. Globally, we are a community that is politically neutral and therefore there is unity among us. We strive for peace, he added.

He clarified that contrary to Martins claims that he brought up his objections and that they werent heeded to, there was never any engagement with him about any issues he may have had over the last six-seven years. The police will investigate what provoked him to do this and we will cooperate with them, said Sreekumar.

On a recent afternoon, VK Michael, a Jehovahs Witness who was present in the hall rocked by the blasts but escaped unscathed, stood by the roadside under an umbrella in Kochi selling bottles of gooseberry mixed with pepper chilly for a living. Born into a Latin Catholic family, Michael said he did not understand the purpose of his religion for years. Around 30 years ago, he attended a Bible convention of Jehovahs Witnesses on a friends suggestion and gradually took interest in its teachings. In other Christian groups, they read the Bible. But here, we learn and understand the teachings of the Bible, he said.

In the aftermath of the blasts, he said there are conversations within the community on how to heal and move forward.

Sure, we are shocked and hurt. But we will go ahead with our usual prayer meetings and Bible study sessions. This incident will not weaken the sect, we will only become stronger, he said.
Bandipora (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], November 27 (ANI): Bandipora Police on Monday arrested five people, including a Rohingya national, in connection with a human trafficking network in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. HT Image

"Five persons were arrested in connection with human trafficking. One Rohingya namely Manzoor Alam was among those arrested," Bandipora Police said.

A senior Police officer said that the accused were involved in trafficking Rohingya women through Bangladesh, arranging marriages with locals within the Union Territory (UT) in exchange for monetary gains.

"The accused trafficked Rohingya women via Bangladesh and got them married to locals in the UT in exchange for money," they added.

Meanwhile, the police have taken cognizance of the matter and have started an investigation. (ANI)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), claiming that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi was making an effort to strike a friendship with the Bharatiya Janata Party.



KCR realised the increasing power of BJP much earlier. For a long time, he was making an effort to strike a friendship with the BJP. Once, when he came to Delhi, KCR met me and made the same request. But BJP can never work against the wishes of the people of Telangana, the prime minister said at a rally in Mahabubabad. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Ever since BJP turned down KCR, BRS has been baffled. The party doesn't lose any opportunity to abuse me. BRS knows that Modi will never let it anywhere near BJP. This is Modi's guarantee, Modi added.



ALSO READ: Telangana elections: BJPs prospects take hit as it cedes ground



It is not the first time when the prime minister has made a similar claim about KCR trying to forge an alliance with the saffron party. Last month, Modi at a rally in Nizamabad had said that KCR visited him in Delhi and expressed his wish to join the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). The meeting, according to the prime minister, took place in wake of the BJP winning 48 seats in the Hyderabad municipal polls.

After the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, KCR came to meet me in Delhi and said that he wanted to join NDA. He also asked me to extend support to him. I told him (KCR) that due to his deeds Modi cannot be associated with him, Modi had said.

At the rally today, PM Modi attacked both Congress and KCR, calling them equal sinners. ""Both Congress and KCR are equal sinners in destroying Telangana. So, the people of Telangana can't let in another disease after ousting one - I have seen this everywhere in the state. The trust of Telangana is in the BJP. You have determined that the next CM of Telangana will be from BJP. The BJP has promised you that the first BJP CM in Telangana will be from the BC community (Backward Class)," he added.



Telangana goes to polls in a single phase election on November 30. The counting of votes will take place on December 3.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday said that a low-pressure area has been formed near the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and it may intensify into a cyclonic storm over the Bay of Bengal on around November 29. A file photo of fishermen in Port Blair in Andaman and Nicobar Islands archipelago. (AP)

It is like to move west-northwestwards and intensify into a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal around November 29. Thereafter, it is likely to move northwestwards and intensify further into a cyclonic storm over the southeast Bay of Bengal in the subsequent 48 hours, the weather agency said in a release.

The IMD, however, is yet to make any prediction on its likely movement towards the coast and landfall. It has, however, sounded, an orange alert in the area on November 28 and 29.

Andaman & Nicobar Islands is likely to experience Isolated Heavy to Very Heavy Rainfall (115.6 to 204.4 mm) and Gusty Winds (40-50 kmph) on 28th & 29th November, the agency posted on X.

Earlier today, the agency said that scattered to broken low and medium clouds with embedded intense to very intense convection lay over the South Andaman Sea.

The weather agency added that sea conditions are likely to be moderate to rough over the south Andaman Sea and Andaman Nicobar Islands due to the developments.

Associated maximum sustained wind speed is 10 knots gusting to 20 knots. Estimated central pressure 1010 HPA. Sea condition is likely to be moderate to rough over the south Andaman Sea and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, it added.

On November 17, a deep depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a cyclonic storm Midhili on Friday morning. The cyclonic storm, after crossing the Bangladesh coast, weakened into a deep depression, and later into a depression

Due to the cyclonic storm, heavy rainfall was reported in the northeastern states of Tripura and Mizoram. In view of the storm, the Tripura government had declared a holiday on for all government and private schools and Anganwadi centres in the state, according to PTI. Air services were also badly affected.

The storm was the second deep depression during this season. The previous cyclone Hamoon also headed towards the Bangladesh coast.
Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin on Monday unveiled the life-size statue of former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh at the Chennai Presidency College campus. Besides Stalin, the late ex-prime minister's wife Sita Kumari, son Ajeya Singh and his family, and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav were also present. Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during the unveiling of the statue of former prime minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh in Chennai. (Akhilesh Yadav Twitter)

The Tamil Nadu government in a statement said that statues, arenas, memorials and monuments are built in the memory of people who worked hard for the development of Tamil language, poets and geniuses who nurtured the feelings of social justice and liberation, along with martyrs and scholars who are noble testimonies to the history of sacrifice of Tamil Nadu.

On April 20 this year, Stalin had announced in the Tamil Nadu assembly that magnificent life-size statue will be erected in Chennai to honour the memory of Singh, whom he addressed as the guardian of social justice.



A life-size statue worth 52 lakh was installed at the Chennai Presidency Colleges campus. Several top ministers and government officials were present at the inauguration event.

Who was Vishwanath Pratap Singh?

Vishwanath Pratap Singh was born in a royal zamindar family in Allahabad (now Prayagraj) on June 25, 1931. He got involved in the Gandhian movement while studying in college and joined the Sarvodaya Samaj, participated in the Bhumithana movement and donated his lands.

In 1969, Singh contested and won the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections for the first time from Soraon constituency. Later, he served as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a Union commerce minister, external affairs Minister, finance minister and defence minister.

He became the prime minister after the National Front formed the government after the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.

To provide reservation for the socially and educationally backward community known as Backward Classes, the Second Backward Commission headed by B.P. Mandal was formed. Singh was the one who implemented the order to provide 27 percent reservation in Union government jobs according to the recommendation by B.P. Mandal.

During his eleven months tenure, Singh's reforms included 27 percent reservation for backward classes, a starting point for the Right to Information Act and the National Rural Employment Programme. The Right to Work was made a constitutional right, the government statement added.

VP Singh set up the Cauvery water Disputes Tribunal, the vital issue of the people of Tamil Nadu, and named the domestic airport in Chennai after Perunthalaivar Kamarasar and the international airport after Perarignar Anna.



Although Mr. V.P. Singh was born in the upper class, he thought for the welfare of downtrodden people. No matter how high a position he held, he never gave up on his principles, the Tamil Nadu government added.
The 26/11 Mumbai attacks were the most dastardly terror assault India has faced but it was the countrys indomitable resilience and capability that helped it recover and fight against terrorism with all its courage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday. We can never forget November 26 and the deep wounds that the attacks inflicted on us, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi (ANI)

We can never forget November 26 and the deep wounds that the attacks inflicted on us. It was on this very day that the country had come under the most dastardly terror attack. The terrorists shook up not just Mumbai but the entire country and the ripples of it were also felt across the world, Modi said, while addressing the 107th edition of his monthly radio programme Mann ki Baat.

However, it was our inherent capability that helped us recover from the 26/11 attacks and crush terrorism with all our might, he added.

Considered among the deadliest terror strikes in India, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks  which left 166 people dead and 238 injured  were carried out by 10 Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorists, who were sent to India by the top leadership of the terror outfit that worked with Pakistan spy agency ISI and other outfits.

India and several other countries, including the US, the UK and France, have repeatedly asked Pakistan to bring the perpetrators of the attacks to justice, but no such firm initiative has been taken yet by Islamabad.

I pay homage to all those who lost their lives in the Mumbai attacks. The nation is and will remain eternally grateful to the bravehearts who lost their lives defending us during these attacks, Modi said.

The Prime Minister noted that November 26 is also important for another reason as in 1949, the Constituent Assembly had adopted the Constitution of India on this day.

I remember when we were celebrating the 125th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar in 2015, the idea came that November 26 be celebrated as Constitution Day I extend wishes to all on Constitution day, he said.

All of us together, by giving priorities to the duties of the citizens, will definitely fulfil the resolve of making the country developed, he added.

In his monthly broadcast, Modi also lauded the growing acceptance of his Vocal For Local campaign and said business of around 4 lakh crore took place during recent festivals.

In this context, he also questioned the practice of some families organising weddings abroad and urged all to hold such celebrations within the country. If we celebrate the festivities of marriages on Indian soil, amid the people of India, the countrys money will remain in the country. The people of the country will get an opportunity to render some service or the other at your wedding... Can you extrapolate on this mission of Vocal for Local? Why dont we hold such wedding ceremonies in our own country? he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday accused Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of delivering scams instead of promised schemes, and said that the nine-and-a-half years that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has ruled the poll-bound state have been replete with unfulfilled promises and broken commitments. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a public meeting in Medak on Sunday. (ANI)

Modi said the state was poised to elect a BJP government as he addressed two rallies in Telangana on Sunday, upping the political ante in the southern state that goes to the polls on November 30  in the fifth and final stage of assembly elections that decide the electoral fortunes of five states.

Addressing a rally at Toopran in the states Medak district, Modi said K Chandrasekhar Rao (known popularly as KCR) has a habit of making promises with the intention of misleading people.

He has failed to fulfil many of his promises. He promised to make a Dalit chief minister, but did not stick to it. The Dalit Bandhu scheme was not implemented completely, as he promised. He could not fulfil his other promises like providing employment for the youth and irrigation facilities to farmers, Modi said. KCR has delivered scams to you instead of promises.

The Dalit Bandhu scheme is a welfare programme to empower Dalit families and encourage entrepreneurship among them. Through this, the government provides a one-time financial assistance of 10 lakh for eligible family to take up self-employment programmes.

Modi said that instead of providing employment opportunities to the youth of the state, KCR instead wanted to only make money for himself and his family. He promised to enhance the income of the people, but only his familys income has increased multiple times. He neglected the state. Do we need a chief minister who doesnt come to the state secretariat at all? he asked.

He also targetted the Telangana CMs decision to contest from a second constituency (Kamareddy), apart from his home constituency of Gajwel.

The reason is simple. He is afraid of an impending defeat in Gajwel in the hands of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Etala Rajender, who is fighting like a lion. He is sure to face defeat in both the constituencies, Modi said as he called upon the people of the state to vote for the BJP.

The state is poised for a contest between the ruling BRS, which is bidding to return to power for a third straight term, the Congress, while the BJP hoping to make its presence felt as well. In the 2018 elections, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (as the BRS was then known) won with 88 assembly constituencies, while the Congress came a distant second with 19 seats, and the BJP won one.

On Sunday, Modi accused KCR of leaving the evacuees of Mallannasagar project in lurch, by neglecting the plight of those who lost their homes and lands due to this project, leading to discontent among the farmers and the poor.

Mallannasagar is a reservoir built as part of Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme in Siddipet district. More than 20,000 people from 14 villages were displaced due to the project.

Reiterating that both the Congress and the BRS were practising dynastic politics, Modi said the power was concentrated only in a few families. They are not bothered about the country, but their own descendants. The people should be wary of such parties, he said.

He charged that both the Congress and the BRS were corrupt to the core. When the Congress was in power at the Centre, there were several scams like Bofors. In Telangana, BRS MLAs have been collecting 30% kickbacks for every work they undertake. While the people of Telangana had fought for irrigation, funds and jobs, KCR and his family had amassed wealth in the name of irrigation projects. There were no jobs, as the question papers of public service commission examinations were leaked. Now, after looting Telangana, KCR has focussed on looting the entire country, he said.

Modi charged the Congress and the BRS of neglecting other backward classes (OBC). Expressing concern over the lack of opportunities for talented OBC individuals, the PM reiterated that their problems would be resolved once the BJP comes to power in Telangana and an OBC leader becomes the chief minister.

There were no immediate responses to the PMs comments from the Congress or BRS as of late Sunday night.

Vows to form turmeric board

Addressing another election rally at the states Nirmal district, Modi asserted that his government had fulfilled the long-standing demand of the local turmeric farmers by announcing the formation of the National Turmeric Board.

We have decided to form the National Turmeric Board as promised in our election manifesto. We shall transform Nizamabad into a Turmeric City and confer a Geographical Indication (GI) tag to Armor turmeric, ensuring substantial benefits for Nirmals turmeric farmers, Modi said.

Modi highlighted efforts of the Centre in constructing nearly 250,000 houses in Telangana, of which, he said thousands were not handed over to beneficiaries due to unjust seizures by the state government.

Under a BJP government in Telangana, these houses would promptly reach the deserving beneficiaries, and this is Modis guarantee, he asserted.

He also drew attention to the disparity between the BJPs focus on development, food parks, and textile parks, and what he said was the appeasement politics that the BRS and the Congress indulged in Telangana. He said, BRS has even extended appeasement to technology. Will an IT park be established in India based on religious grounds now?
A student of Class 4 was allegedly attacked by three of his classmates at a private school in Indore city of Madhya Pradesh, PTI reported on Monday, citing an official. The incident took place on November 24.(AP)

The student was attacked 108 times with a geometry compass during the fight, that took place on November 24.

He was taken to a hospital and administered first aid, following which he was allowed to leave, according to PTI.

Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairperson Pallavi Porwal said that the case is shocking. She added that the committee has asked for the investigation report from the police.

The case is shocking. We have sought an investigation report from the police to find out the reason for the violent behaviour of children of such a young age, Porwal told PTI.

Porwal added that the CWC would counsel children and their families in connection with the incident and find out whether the children play video games that contain violent scenes.

Meanwhile, the father of the student alleged that his son sustained puncture wounds in the attack that occurred at the school around 2 pm on that day.

My son narrated the ordeal when he returned home. I still do not know why he was treated so violently by his classmates. The school management is not providing me the CCTV footage of the classroom, he said, according to the news agency.

The father has also lodged a complaint at the Aerodrome police station in connection with the incident.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Vivek Singh Chauhan said the victim underwent a medical examination after the complaint was lodged.

All children involved in the incident are below 10 years of age, and appropriate steps are being taken as per the legal provisions, he said.
There is a need to contain foreign airlines from expanding into India by restricting any increase in flying rights so that Indian airlines can grow, Air India chief executive officer and managing director Campbell Wilson has said. Air India chief executive officer Campbell Wilson. (REUTERS)

I think the strategy is to contain traffic rights expansion so that local airlines have the opportunity to spin up and attain scale and become competitive... and then actual liberalisation will happen. Its very difficult for us to fly an aircraft to North America, if theres a surplus of capacity that allows people to travel out by someone (airline) else, and so too much just leaks out. India will not get the non-stop capacity from an Indian operator to these markets, Wilson said in an interview with HT.

So its a balance that has to be struck, allowing the market to grow. But also incubate your local market, because thats fundamentally the most beneficial thing that you can do for the economy, he said while replying to a question on India restricting an increase in bilateral arrangements with several countries.

The idea is to support Indian aviation. I think its the right thing to do for the development of Indian aviation, and also Indian business and international connectivity, Wilson added.

The Indian government has received several requests seeking more bilateral air service agreements or foreign flying rights from major countries such as the UAE, Qatar, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Turkey, though none have been entertained so far.

India has such agreements with 109 countries but the country has not revised bilateral arrangements with countries that are aviation hubs since 2014. The government is of the view that countries like the UAE have built their airports with passengers from India and at the cost of Indian airlines. While Air India under government control could not grow, the airline under the Tata Group has placed aircraft orders to increase its presence in international skies.

Mentioning Dubai, one of the beneficiaries of Indias liberal bilateral regime, Wilson said it is carrying 60-70% of the traffic from India to countries beyond Dubai, which Indian carriers would have carried.

At the centre of the bilateral issue are passengers, who fly from India to a third country via a second country also known as sixth freedom traffic in aviation parlance. Wilson argued that these countries should not seek more rights for sixth freedom traffic.

By population, it would not even be the 20th biggest city in India the second thing is, if you look at the number of people, the proportion of people that are travelling, uplifted from India, and get off and out of the airport at that intermediate point is 30%, maybe 40%. The other 60 or 70% is going somewhere else that Indian carriers can carry people to. And so its a little bit disingenuous for people to say they are constrained. Theyre only constrained because theyre not carrying people to their base. Theyre carrying people everywhere else. They can stop carrying so many people beyond and they have more seats than theyll ever need going to their hub.

On the new capacity expansion in international skies, Wilson said that the airline is hoping its Airbus 350 aircraft will go into commercial service by January 2024. Asked about the routes that the aircraft will be deployed on, Wilson said, Over the course of the year, well probably initially go to Europe, Australia and then eventually to North America because there is a particular regulatory approval that is required to do US flights.

The airline chief also said that the airline is hiring 550 cabin crew every month to prepare them for operating the new aircraft.

Asked about the Air India-Vistara merger, Wilson said that Vistara is likely to operate for another two to three years.

...legally, (the merger is expected) sometime early next year, operationally, (it is expected) sometime in 18 months after that, from a brand, when Air India comes up to standards, he said.

Its important to understand what the different phases of the merger are. The first part is competition clearance and we need to get competition clearance from a number of different countries, India, Singapore, a number of others. Once we get competition clearance, then we can actually talk about commercially sensitive things and about networks.

The second path, Wilson said, is the legal merger which the airline is targeting to get completed by April next year.

Were still on track for that. After we get a legal merger, then weve still got two airline operating certificates regulating businesses and we need to then merge those two together If you look at overseas examples this can usually take between 18 and 36 months... and then the final part is when you merge the brand, he said.
Indias high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma has opened up on the expulsion of a Canadian diplomat and the strip of the diplomatic immunity of dozens of other officials, saying it was retaliatory and based partially on an emotional element". Verma made the remarks during an interview with CTV News, Canada's largest privately owned television network. Indias high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma during an interview with CTV News.

Canada and India witnessed strains in their relationship following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia. India had designated Nijjar as a terrorist in 2020. India has rejected Trudeau's allegations as "absurd" and "motivated".

In the immediate aftermath, both countries expelled each other's diplomats. India also suspended its visa services to Canada initially, but relaxed them for a select group a month later. Last week, India resumed issuing electronic visas for Canadian nationals.

In the CTV News interview, which was aired on Sunday, Verma, however, said relations between the two countries are better than they were two months ago. This after he said the emotional element was a factor in Indias decision to expel a Canadian diplomat.

The Indian high commissioner, however, that the move to strip the diplomatic immunities from dozens of other diplomats in October was largely for the sake of parity, to have the same number of Canadian diplomats in India as there were Indian diplomats stationed in Canada.

India was 'absolutely' and 'decidedly' not involved in Nijjar killing: Verma

Last month, Canada recalled 41 of its diplomats from India after the Indian government said it would revoke their diplomatic immunity, in an escalation of their dispute over the killing of Nijjar.

Verma insisted that India was absolutely and decidedly not involved in the killing of Nijjar but has thus far refused to cooperate with any investigation.

Verma said Indias main concern in its relations with Canada remains that some Canadian citizens are using Canadian soil to launch attacks on (Indias) sovereignty and territorial integrity, referring to the Sikh separatist movement. He added that from that core issue come security concerns for Indian diplomats and officials working in Canada, himself included.

When asked about the timing of relations between the two countries going sour, and the quid-pro-quo expulsion of diplomats taking place shortly after Trudeaus allegation in the House of Commons, Verma said emotions became very high at that time.

Since one of our principal diplomats was expelled from here as persona non grata, so yes, we did retaliate on that, Verma said.

Any action will have reaction, and similarly, we declared persona non grata on one of the Canadian diplomats who was at the Canadian High Commission in New Delhi, and others are in a process of evaluation.

Justin Trudeaus allegations impacted Indias assessment'

When asked why having parity in terms of the number of diplomats in both countries did not seem to be an issue prior to September, Verma said Trudeaus allegations impacted the Indian governments assessment.

The emotions became very high once the statements were made from Ottawa, he said. And a bit of emotional elements will be there, and the decisions are taken.

The events which unfolded after the (prime ministers) statements were made, we did not feel it was very friendly, he also said.

Verma also said, however, that Canada and India are working on more dialogue to sort out how to facilitate a better diplomatic presence in both countries.

When asked whether he sees a path to some form of solution and improved relations between the two countries, Verma said of course.

India was convicted even without probe being concluded

During the interview, Verma was asked why India was not cooperating with Canada in the investigation. To this, he said, "...even without an investigation being concluded, India was convicted."

"Is that the rule of law?" Verma asked.

When asked how India was convicted, Verma replied: "Because India was asked to cooperate. And if you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks us to cooperate which means that you have already been convicted, and you better cooperate. So we took it in a very different interpretation.

"But we always said that if there is anything specific and relevant, and communicated to us, we will look into it. And that had been said from day one. So we have never said, of course, we have not used the word cooperate, because we feel that's humiliating. But we have always said, that gives us something specific and relevant, and well look into it," he added.

"We are a country of rule of law, and all the freedoms and everything has been given in the Indian Constitution, which was in 1950, when we adopted our Constitution. So they are our pillars. (We) will not go beyond that. So, therefore, what I feel is that the space which is available, on some pretext or other to these elements, needs to be evaluated," he said.

Later, when asked whether he is overblowing the risk Sikh separatists pose for domestic political advantage in India, the high commissioner said his government has presented documentation to the Canadian government through a mutually agreed channel to prove Sikh separatists living in Canada are engaging in criminal activity in both countries.

"These are red corner notices, which went through the Interpol. And by the way, one of the recording notices was for Mr Nijjar, who was shot down. So we have shared all these things and Interpol certainly will not forward anything without the evidence being submitted. So we have given all the documentation that we had and I hope to hear back from Canada soon.

"So in India, there is no traction. But we are treating these guys like terrorists, not as separatists," he said.

They are terrorists because they are raising their funds in Canada, sending it across to the gangsters and gangs in India, who are doing illegal activities in India, he said, adding: "So our main concern is not the separatism, but they being terrorists."

When suggested that Sikh separatists holding a referendum in Canada is not hate speech, Verma replied: "See, the referendum, if you do it for Canada domestically, I'm fine. How are you allowing your citizens to do a referendum to bifurcate India?

"..So if they are using Canadian soil to challenge the territorial integrity of India, which international law in the world will support that?" he asked.

Responding to a question about India resuming the electronic visa services for Canadians after suspending all visa services for nearly two months, the Indian envoy said, We did a continuous evaluation of the situation. And during the last evaluation, we came to the conclusion that the security situation is relatively better than what it used to be when we suspended the visa services. And therefore we decided to resume e-visa services.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday morning visited the famous hill shrine of Lord Venkateswara at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh and offered prayers for the good health, well-being, and prosperity of all Indians. This comes as Modi is visiting Telangana ahead of the upcoming assembly election. PM Modi offers prayer at Tirumala temple in Andhra Pradesh

The prime minister shared several pictures from his visit on X (formerly Twitter), in which he can be seen donning a traditional South Indian attire. Before entering the sanctum sanctorum, Modi paid a tribute at the 'Dwajasthambam' which is believed to be a great source of energy. He also took the blessings of the temple priests after offering prayers.

At the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, prayed for the good health, well-being, and prosperity of 140 crore Indians, he wrote in a post on X. In another post, he shared some more glimpses from the temple visit saying, Om Namo Venkatesaya!

Modi arrived in Tirumala on Sunday night where he was showered with a grand welcome. Andhra Pradesh governor S Abdul Nazeer and chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy received the PM at the Reniginta airport. According to an official release by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Modi will proceed to Telangana where he will hold two public meetings - one at Mahbubabad at 12:45pm, and another one at Karimnagar at 2:45pm. He will also hold a roadshow in Hyderabad at 5pm.

On Sunday, Modi held a rally in Telangana's Nirmal district and attacked the ruling Bharat Rasthra Samithi (BRS) government in the state saying that it is an enemy of the poor.

We have a government in Telangana that stays in a farmhouse and does not give houses to the poor. KCR is an enemy of the poor and has held their houses. But I promise that as soon as the BJP government is formed in Telangana, these houses will be given to the poor immediately. This is Modi's guarantee, he said while addressing the rally.

He added, BJP cares for the poor of Telangana. But the BRS government puts a break on the development work for the poor in the state.

Telangana is set to go to polls in a single phase on November 30. The counting of votes has been scheduled for December 3. The state is poised for a three-way contest between the ruling BRS, the Congress, and a resurgent BJP.

(With inputs from agencies)
Amid an intense battle among the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the Telangana assembly elections scheduled on Thursday, an independent candidate fighting the battle on behalf of the unemployed youngsters is creating ripples in the remote constituency of Kollapur in Nagarkurnool district, people familiar with the matter said. Karne Shireesha (26), alias Barrelakka is the youngest of all the candidates who filed the nominations in the state for the current assembly elections. (HT Photo)

Karne Shireesha (26), alias Barrelakka, the youngest of all the candidates who filed the nominations in the state for the current assembly elections, is taking on two seasoned politicians  sitting BRS MLA Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy and former minister Jupally Krishna Rao, who represented Kollapur five times in the past.

Also read: Anti-incumbency a challenge in rural Telangana as BRS eyes return

While there is nothing unusual in independent candidates filing nominations  there are as many as 11 independents in the fray from Kollapur this time  most of them are generally non-serious contenders unless they are powerful local leaders with solid political and financial background.

But Shireesha has no such background. Yet, she has come into limelight in the constituency with her innovative campaign and emotional appeals. She has been a raging hit on social media and local television channels virtually made a beeline to Kollapur to get her interviews, people familiar with the matter said.

Thousands of young men and women  students of various universities, unemployed youngsters, NGO activists and social media campaigners from different parts of Telangana, neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are thronging Kollapur to extend their support  moral, financial and cadre support to Shireesha.

The young men and women, sporting specially-designed T-shirts and scarfs with pictures of Shireesha and her election symbol Whistle, have been campaigning extensively in the vehicles covered by her posters and stickers, and have been attracting the voters.

They are with me round the clock. Even the vehicles  campaign jeep and a car, including the driver, have been provided to me by these people. Many of them made monetary contributions to sustain my campaign. It was unexpected and overwhelming. It has given me a lot of strength and courage to fight the electoral battle, Shireesha said.

People privy to the matter said some digital media channels made audio-visual programmes on Shireesha for display in different parts of the constituency, while some others wrote and composed songs on her, that go blare on auto rickshaws that go round the town campaigning for her.

Among those who extended support to her include former CBI joint director V V Lakshminarayana and former minister of Pondicherry Malladi Krishna Rao.

Who is Shireesha?

Hailing from a poor Dalit family in Marikal village of Pedda Kothapalli mandal (block) in Nagarkurnool district, Shireesha lives with her two younger brothers and mother K Anuradha, who runs a small fast-food outlet in front of her small hut covered by tin sheets. Her father deserted the family long ago.

After completing her graduation in B Com from B R Ambedkar Open University five years ago, she had been preparing for competitive examinations to get government jobs, while doing a petty job in a private factory in Hyderabad for a year.

I was feeling frustrated, as the promised job notifications from Telangana state public service commission were nowhere in sight. As a pastime activity, I used to post funny videos on social media platforms like Instagram reels, Facebook and YouTube and started getting good responses, she said.

After waiting for job notifications, Shireesha returned to her village in 2021 to buy four buffaloes by selling a few cents of land her family had and started grazing them. I posted a funny video on social media while grazing the buffaloes, stating that the governments apathy towards the unemployed made me a Barrelakka (buffalo grazer), Shireesha said, in a series of interviews to TV channels.

The video went viral and brought her instant popularity as Barrelakka. At the same time, it also landed her in trouble, as the police registered a case against her Section 505 (2) of Indian Penal Code, on the charge of promoting feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will in the society.

I never knew that posting such a video highlighting unemployment is a crime. I had to go to the police regularly to sign the register. That made me mentally stronger and I decided that I should fight for the cause of the unemployed youth, she said.

Last year, when the TSPSC finally conducted examinations for Group-I and II examinations, Shireesha appeared for the same. But the examinations were cancelled due to alleged leakage of question papers. It was all the more frustrating, Shireesha said.

When the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the assembly elections, she got the idea that she could highlight the cause of the unemployed, if she contested the elections. When she told her plan to her mother, she discouraged her.

But I was not disheartened. I quietly went to the returning officer on November 8 and filed the nomination with the support of a few friends. I posted the same on my social media accounts along with a video explaining why I had to take the decision, Shireesha said.

In the next one week, she started an overwhelming response. Not many people in Kollapur were aware of who I was. But now, the entire constituency is talking about me, Shireesha said.

Though she has been a sensation on social media and even on mainstream media channels because of the instant publicity she is getting, locals say it is not so easy to win the election. She is just a media hype. All those who are seen around her and attending her meetings are non-locals. Though the local youth are also curious about her, we cannot say all of them vote for her, said D Rajesh Goud, a private employee working at Somasila, a tourist spot near Kollapur.

Echoing the similar opinion, Vinod Kumar, reporter of a popular vernacular TV channel, said it was not so easy for her to fight the political stalwarts of Kollapur like Harshavardhan Reddy and Krishna Rao. I doubt whether she gets even a few thousand votes. She is at the best a nuisance factor in the elections, he said.

Nevertheless, Barrelakka is confident that at least the cause for which she is fighting will be acknowledged.
The ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab said on Sunday that a pilgrimage scheme for elderly people will be rolled out on the occasion of Guru Nanak Dev's birth anniversary on Monday. AAP's Punjab spokesperson Jagtar Singh Sanghera said the scheme, which will be launched on Monday, will facilitate more than 50,000 elderly people.(Hindustan Times)

The Punjab cabinet gave its nod to the "Mukhyamantri Tirath Yatra" scheme on November 6.

AAP's Punjab spokesperson Jagtar Singh Sanghera said the scheme, which will be launched on Monday, will facilitate more than 50,000 elderly people.

He said under the scheme, people will be able to visit various religious places, such as Hazur Sahib Nanded, Patna Sahib, Anandpur Sahib, Talwandi Sabo and the Naina Devi temple, on trains and buses for free.

The state government has earmarked 40 crore for the scheme, Sanghera said.
Rajasthan recorded a voter turnout of 75.45%, in the assembly elections held across 199 of 200 assembly constituencies on Saturday, reporting a marginal increase of 0.73% compared to the previous polls in 2018, according to the election data. In 2018, the corresponding figure was 74.72% in Rajasthan. Women wait in a queue to cast their votes at a polling station during Rajasthan state assembly election in Ajmer (REUTERS)

As per the data, there was a higher turnout of voters in rural areas compared to urban areas and the number of female voters was also more than the males.The outcomes will be announced on December 3.

Chief election officer Praveen Gupta said that the turnout in terms of the women voters was more compared to the men like in 2018. The female voting turnout was more than male turnout like in 2018. Around 74.72% women voted this time, up from 74.67%. Male turnout registered a decline at 74.53%, down from 74.75% in 2018, he said.

Across the 51,756 polling stations, highest voting percentage was recorded in Jaisalmers Pokaran with 87.79% turnout followed by Alwars Tijara with 86.11%, Chittorgarhs Nimbahera with 85.58%, Banswaras Ghatol with 85.35%, and Hanumangrahs Nohar with 84.27%, according to the election data.

Jalores Ahore recorded the lowest voting percentage with 61.24% followed by Uaipurs Marwar Junction at 61.29%, Palis Sumerpur with 61.44%, Jalore with 62.72%, and Karaulis Todabhim with 63.50%, according to the data.
Rescue operations at the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, where 41 workers remain trapped, are going very well and under control, Lieutenant General (retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said at a press briefing in New Delhi on Monday. Uttarkashi tunnel site (File Photo)

He said that they are evaluating the progress being made and might have a timeline for the rescue operation soon. We will evaluate the speed of progress by this evening to estimate the timeline, he said.

Giving an update on the condition of the trapped workers, Hasnain said that they getting and are also able to speak with their families and the rescue team.

Assuring the workers well-being and emphasized, No harm to physical or mental health is being caused.

Workers are being provided with power, oxygen, food, medicine and communication lines to family members and psychosocial therapists, he said.

Also Read: Geological report on tunnel shows weak rock, slip circle failure near Silkyara

To ensure the mental and physical well-being of the workers, robotics expert Milind Raj is implementing indigenous technology to monitor the mental well-being of the trapped workers. Their mental health will be assessed by robots equipped to detect hazardous gases like methane. The system will provide internet access and monitor health from a distance of 100 meters.

Addressing the media, he said that the obstruction, including stuck-up augurs, has been removed from the rescue pipe and now a manual drift procedure will be applied to cover the remaining 15-metre distance. He said that two teams of three persons in each team have been formed. Rain will not affect to rescue operation.

Hasnain added, Vertical drilling is underway. Commencing with 110 meters to dig, the machine has already covered 30-32 meters. The auger machine failed in horizontal drilling, necessitating the vertical drilling machines deployment. Once drilling concludes, an airlift using a chopper and harness rope is planned for their rescue.

The vertical drilling in the collapsed section of the Uttarkashi tunnel began Sunday, with the agencies exploring multiple plans on the 16th day of the operations. The manual drilling of the tunnel has been started to prepare an escape passage for the trapped workers.

Breaking down the rescue plans, Hasnain said that some progress has been made and the strategies are in place. Commenting on the Silkyara horizontal tunnel drilling method, he remarked, Stuck auger blades have been removed, enabling army engineers, rat miners, and technicians to start manual drilling.

Regarding the vertical drilling by Sutlej Jal Vidyut, he said, Progress of 30-32 meters has been achieved, with an established 6-8 inch bore pipeline by RVNL aiding in soil condition estimation.

Commenting on the perpendicular tunnel drilling, Hasnain said, The machinery is en route. It is heavy machinery, so it will take time, but arrangements for the required water have been made.

Regarding Barkot vertical drilling by ONGC, Hasnain stated, Track preparation for 24-inch vertical drilling is complete, but the rig work is pending.

On the horizontal drilling towards Barkot, he said, The 5th blast was conducted last evening, and the 6th blast occurred today, clearing 12 meters. However, caution is essential to prevent collapse in a sensitive area.

Lastly, on the drifting method, he stated, It is a contingency plan awaiting implementation if other plans fail.

Hasnain further informed that an inspection was also carried out within the tunnel by Union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla, Uttarakhand chief secretary SS Sandhu, and principal secretary to the Prime Minister, Pramod Kumar Mishra.

They visited horizontal and vertical drilling sites, engaging with various officials, international experts, and agencies like NHAI, Rail Vikaas Ltd, Sutlej Jal Vidyut Nigam, TERI, BRO, GSI, ONGC, and private entities, he added.

The officials also interacted with the 41 trapped workers, ensuring the allocation of all necessary resources, he said.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday hit out at Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR), accusing him of not meeting people but the rich and mafias.



"KCR doesn't meet people, he lives in a farmhouse. He doesn't meet the poor. He only meets the rich, land mafia, sand mafia and mining mafia," Kharge said at a rally in Narsapur town of Medak district of Telangana.



Recalling Election Commission's decision asking the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi government to stop the Rythu Bandhu disbursements till elections are over, Kharge said, KCR's minister Harish Rao violated the poll code, resulting in the election commission to stop Rythu Bandhu scheme. But KCR lied by accusing Congress of stalling money to be paid to the farmers under the scheme.



Congress always stands with the farmers, the Congress president added. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge addresses a public meeting ahead of the Telangana Assembly elections, at Narsapur, in Medak on Monday. (ANI)

Accusing KCR of looting the people of Telangana, Kharge said,"KCR stole public money from ORR Project, Dharani Portal and Kaleshwaram. In 2014, Telangana was a surplus state. Today, the state has a loan of 5.60 lakh crore".

If voted to power, BRS will run govt from farmhouse

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was also campaigning in the southern state, too attacked KCR, saying he will run the government from his farmhouse if voted to power again.

"Big leaders of Telangana are sitting in their mansions and farmhouses and running the government... All its (BRS) leaders are sitting in big mansions. All their policies are for big business people only. They do not have anything for the small business people, middle class, poor, Dalits and Adivasis," PTI quoted Vadra as saying at a rally in Bhongir.



The Congress leader alleged that whether the BJP or BRS, their policy is to just stay in power and become richer. The respective party leaders also become rich, she said.

"When elections come, they start poll management. They should be taught that Telangana people are not for sale," she said.
Hyderabad HT Image

A dense forest area with a narrow road connecting Telanganas Warangal with Bhoopalapatnam of Chhattisgarh (then part of Madhya Pradesh), Mulug was a place even people from plain areas dreaded to step in, not to talk of political leaders campaigning during the elections, about two to three decades ago.

Heavily infested with Maoists of the Peoples War Group [that transformed into the Communist Party of India (Maoist) in 2004], Mulug made headlines with frequent encounters between the extremists and security forces.

There was hardly any electricity supply in the interior tribal villages, deep in the Pasra-Etur Nagaram forest range. Even in Mulug town located on the main road, there were no street lights. Even lights in the houses were switched off by 7pm, due to fear of Maoists. Frequent combing by police forces and harassment of youngsters were common in the 90s and early 2000s, K Sanjeev, a resident of Mulug town and a local television channel reporter, recalled.

Decades of continued neglect, lack of proper agriculture for want of irrigation facilities and rampant unemployment forced youngsters to take up weapons and join the Maoists. Several people from this area, like Bade Nageshwara Rao, alias Prabhakar, and his wife Rajeshwari, rose to higher positions in the Maoist party. Prabhakars brother, Bade Chokka Rao, alias Damodar, remains a top Maoist leader in Dandakaranya region, having risen to the position of a central committee member.

There was only one private industry in the area  Andhra Pradesh Rayons  at Kamalapuram in Etur Nagaram forest area, which provided employment to the local youngsters. It later shut down for various reasons, including increasing Maoist activity, Sanjeev said.

During every election, the Maoists would give a call to boycott the polls and the contestants were afraid of taking up any extensive campaign. Yet, with heavy deployment of police forces, elections were held as usual, but the turnout was not more than 50-60%, he said.

Now, Mulug has undergone a complete transformation. The Warangal-Bhoopalapatnam road is being widened into a four-lane national highway (NH-163), with a wide bridge across the Godavari river at Eturunagaram, connecting Telangana with Chhattisgarh. A majority of the interior tribal hamlets have road connectivity.

A number of government and private institutions including tribal welfare residential institutions, have come up over the last one decade. Irrigation facilities have improved to some extent due to the construction of the Devadula lift irrigation project. One can see lush green paddy fields even in the interior areas of the Mulug constituency.

Maoist activity has more or less disappeared and several youngsters, who took to Maoism in the past, have surrendered, K Sandeep, a youngster who works with a mobile phone sales and service shop, said. Occasionally, there is movement of Maoists in the villages of Wajedu and Venkatapuram bordering Chhattisgarh and we hear about encounter killings in those areas, he added.

Interestingly, the elections to the Telangana state assembly  scheduled for November 30  is witnessing a bitter battle between two Maoist families in Mulug assembly constituency, which is reserved for Scheduled Tribes.

Sitting Congress MLA Dhanasari Anasuya, alias Seethakka, who once played a major role in the Jana Sakthi group of Maoists, before surrendering to the police and joining the political mainstream in 2004, is fighting against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) candidate Bade Nagajyothi, daughter of Maoist couple Bade Nageshwara Rao and Rajeshwari, who were killed in an encounter with security forces at Tadwai about a decade ago. While Nagajyothi is not associated with Maoist activity, her uncle, Chokka Rao, is a Maoist party central committee member.

While Seethakka represented the constituency twice, in 2009 and 2018, Nagajyothi is contesting the assembly polls for the first time, though she is not a political novice  she won as Mulug Zilla Parishad member on a BRS ticket from Tadwai in 2019 and is now its chairperson.

Both Seethakka and Nagajyothi belong to the Gothi Koya tribe, a major Adivasi community in the constituency, comprising over 45,000 out of 2,26,000 voters. Both are highly qualified  Seethakka completed her Ph D in political science, besides graduation in law, while Nagajyothi is a post-graduate in arts and commands a lot of respect among the educated youngsters.

As both leaders have the Maoist background, they have a fair understanding of tribal issues, particularly podu lands (where tribals undertake shifting cultivation by felling trees in interior forests), lack of infrastructure facilities in the remote hamlets and job opportunities for youngsters, Sandeep said.

In the last five years, Seethakka carried out tremendous groundwork to woo the tribals. Whenever there were floods in the remote tribal areas, Seethakka was the first to reach out to the people, crossing streams and rivulets and carrying essential commodities on her shoulders. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she did a commendable job in the distribution of medicines and masks and taking up social distancing campaigns, K Anand, another local resident of Mulug, said.

Nagajyothi is relatively a new entrant into politics and is banking on the welfare schemes and developmental programmes of the BRS government, led by chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), in the last 10 years, including declaration of Mulug as the district headquarters in February 2019.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Ajmeera Prahlad, son of former minister Ajmeera Chandulal, who represented this constituency thrice in the past. He defected from the BRS to the BJP recently. Belonging to the Lambada tribe, Prahlad is banking purely on his fathers legacy, as the BJP has little presence in the constituency.

MAJOR ISSUES

The distribution of title deeds for podu lands cultivated by the tribals all these years is a major poll issue in the constituency. It was only a few months ago that the KCR government started distribution of podu lands among the tribals. But hardly 10% of them received the title deeds, Anand said.

Though Mulug constituency is reserved for STs, non-tribals constitute the majority of voters (1,30,000). Since the government has been implementing 1/70 Act (Land Transfer Regulation Act 1 of 1970, which prohibits transfer of tribal land to non-tribals, as per the special provision for STs in the Constitution), the non-tribals have no legal rights over the lands they have been cultivating over several decades, Anand, who is also a non-tribal, said.

Another non-tribal K Balakomuraiah, of Raghavapatnam village, said he has been cultivating four acres of land for decades, but has no title deed. As such, my name has not figured in the Dharani portal and I have not been getting any financial assistance under the Rythu Bandhu scheme. I have also not been getting any bank loans on my agricultural land, as I have no patta (title deed), he said.

These non-tribals hold the key in the upcoming assembly elections. Both the Congress and the ruling BRS have promised to provide us with title deeds for our lands. We do not know whom to believe, Balakomuraiah said.

The constituency also has a good number of settlers from Andhra region, particularly in Govindaraopet, Mangapet and Etur Nagaram blocks. Their votes are also crucial in the event of a close contest.
There is a tacit understanding between the Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the elections to the Telangana state assembly scheduled on November 30, Union home minister Amit Shah alleged on Sunday. Union home minister Amit Shah with others during a public rally at Makthal ahead of Telangana assembly elections, in Narayanapet district (PTI)

Both the Congress and the BRS have reached an agreement to cooperate with each other in the event of a tight fight. The Congress will support the BRS so that K Chandrasekhar Rao will become chief minister once again. In return, the BRS will support the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections so that Rahul becomes Prime Minister, Shah claimed at an election rally at Makthal in Narayanpet district.

Any vote polled to the Congress will go to the BRS, he said. It is time to say pack up for KCR. If you want to send KCR home, then vote for the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), Shah said. The vote is not only to get your MLA elected, but also to decide the future of Telangana.

Stating that corruption reached its peak during the two terms of Rao, Shah said there were land grabbing allegations against the local MLA representing Makthal. The chief minister made several promises to this constituency, a 100-bed hospital, degree college, payment of unemployment allowance to the jobless youth and completion of irrigation schemes, he said. Has he fulfilled any of his promises?

Shah promised that if the BJP was voted to power in Telangana, it would establish a textile park, introduce a scheme for fishermen with an allocation of 1,000 crore, and complete the Sangambanda and Bhima irrigation projects.

He reiterated that a BJP government would do away with 4% reservations being given to Muslims and adjust them among the weaker sections of society.

Addressing another rally at Kollapur earlier, Shah took a dig at the Congress for its desperation to elevate Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi took up the Chandrayaan project that took the tirangaa (tricolour) to the moon. The Congress has been launching Rahulyaan for the last 20 years, but every attempt has failed. It has crashed 20 times in the last 20 years, he said.

Stating that the BJP had announced that its chief minister would be from the other backward classes, Shah said a BJP government would also do justice to the Valmiki Boya and Madasi Kuruwa communities. We have also decided to give the Madiga community vertical reservation and end injustice that has been meted out to them for a pretty long time, he said.

A BJP government in the state will conduct an investigation into all the cases of question paper leaks and put the culprits behind bars, he said. We will fill 2.5 lakh posts in the government in a transparent way, Shah said.HT tried to reach out to BRS and Congress for comments but didnt get them immediately .
Uttarakhand tunnel collapse highlights: The vertical drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the collapsed section of the Uttarkashi tunnel is currently underway, with the agencies exploring multiple plans on the 16th day of the operations. Rescue personnel work at the collapsed under construction Silkyara tunnel in the Uttarkashi district of India's Uttarakhand state, on November 27, 2023.(AFP)

The vertical drilling of the hill in Silkyara commenced on Sunday afternoon, with around 110 meters of the hill to be dug out for the rescue of the trapped workers. In a fast-paced operation, the machine has already drilled 20 meters of the hill, with around 86 meters still left.

The vertical drilling machine was brought in after the American auger was unsuccessful in the horizontal drilling of the tunnel, and eventually got stuck in the metal grinder in the middle of the operation. Here are the top points from the rescue mission.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary P K Mishra on Monday visited Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel, where 41 labourers have been stranded for the last 15 days, ANI reported. Principal Secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra visits the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi on Monday.(ANI)

He took stock of the rescue mission and also communicated with the workers trapped there. Follow LIVE updates here.

Mishra also spoke with the families of the trapped workers and also took a report of the food items being sent to the workers.



The mission to rescue the trapped workers entered its 16th day on Monday. Officials are currently carrying the vertical drilling to rescue the 41 workers in the collapsed section of the Uttarkashi tunnel.

The vertical drilling of the hill in Silkyara commenced on Sunday afternoon, with around 110 meters of the hill to be dug out for the rescue of the trapped workers. In a fast-paced operation, the machine has already drilled 30 meters of the hill, with over 80 meters still left.

On Monday, former director general of Border Roads Organisation Harpal Singh said that preparations are also underway to start horizontal drilling inside the main tunnel manually, according to PTI. Rescuers need to manually dig 10 to 12 metres through the rubble after the auger machine broke down.

Frames of 800 mm diameter pipes have been prepared. We will move ahead by half a metre to one metre gradually, he told the news agency. "If all goes well and no obstacles are encountered a 10-metre stretch can be covered in 24-36 hours."

The Centre and state government have designed a total of six rescue plans for the Uttarkashi mission. If vertical drilling fails, agencies will resort to sideways drilling and drift technology to rescue the trapped men.

While no timeframe has been given on when the final phase of the rescue mission will be complete, the pace of the vertical drill remains fast. It is speculated that the mission will be over in the next 24-36 hours.

Further, a team of doctors and a hospital facility with 41 beds have been prepared near the tunnel collapse site to reduce any margin of error when it comes to saving the lives of the trapped workers.
The Uttarakhand and central agencies are exploring every possible outcome of the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse rescue operations, with vertical drilling currently underway and manual drilling likely to commence on Monday morning. Vertical drilling machine in action at the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse site (AFP)(HT_PRINT)

After the American auger failed to conduct the horizontal drilling of the tunnel successfully, a vertical drilling machine was flown in to Silkyara. The drilling operation is currently advancing at full speed, with 20 meters of drilling done by Sunday night.

Further, a team of doctors and a hospital facility with 41 beds has been prepared near the tunnel collapse site to reduce any margin of error when it comes to saving the lives of the trapped workers. Here is all you need to know about the recent developments in the Uttarkashi rescue operation.

Uttarakhand tunnel collapse: Top updates
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling him a yugpurush (man of the generation).



If Mahatma Gandhi was the mahapurush (greatest man) in the previous generation, Narendra Modi is this century's yugpurush (man of the generation), Dhankhar said during his address at the birth anniversary celebrations of Jain mystic and philosopher Shrimad Rajchandraji.



Mahatma Gandhi got us freedom from British rule using truth and non-violence. India's prime minister Narendra Modi has put India on the path of development which was cherished for long, the vice-president added. A file photo of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.(PTI file)

One thing is common between these two great personalities, the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, and PM Narendra Modi. They have reflected with respect to Shrimad Rajchandraji, Dhankhar was quoted by PTI as saying.



Forces opposed to the growth of this nation, forces that do not digest the rise of this country are coming together. Whenever there is something good happening in the country, they get into a different mode. This should not happen, the Vice President added.





The Vice President was presented the Janakalyan Hitaishi award by Pujya Gurudevshri Rakeshji of the Mission for his contribution to social upliftment. Such was the greatness of Shrimad Rajchandraji, that he inspired both Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he said.



Responding to Dhankhar's remarks, Congress MP Manickam Tagore posted on social media platform X,"If you compare with Mahatma it's shameful Sir, we all know there is a limit to sycophancy now you have crossed that limit, and to be in your chair & position and to be a sycophant does not add value Sir. With respect @VPIndia."



(With PTI inputs)
Xi chairs leadership meeting on Yangtze River Economic Belt development, CPC leadership over foreign affairs

Xinhua) 15:26, November 27, 2023

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday held a meeting to review guidelines on policies and measures for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting, which also deliberated a set of regulations on CPC leadership over foreign affairs.

The meeting noted that the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee.

Advancing the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt relies fundamentally on the sound ecology of the Yangtze River basin, according to the meeting.

The meeting stressed efforts in high-level protection of the Yangtze River basin, and the ecological red line that had been drawn must be upheld and placed under oversight.

Efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, increase vegetation and pursue growth should be advanced in a coordinated manner, according to the meeting.

The meeting underlined the role of scientific and technological innovation in promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and called for efforts in coordinating the layout and transfer of industries along the Yangtze River.

The level of regional transport integration needs to be raised, the security and stability of key national industrial and supply chains should be maintained, and disaster prevention and mitigation capacity in the river basin needs to be improved.

The meeting also pledged policy support for the area with a number of major reforms in key areas.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Countries that were once under colonial rule should consider reviewing all colonial laws following the example of India, said Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar adding that Indian Parliament is working to contain, curb and decimate exploitative provisions of the criminal procedure code and penal code of Victorian heritage which were extremely harsh and oppressive . His reference was to the replacement of the three laws that form the basis of Indias criminal justice system -- the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act. Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar addresses the inaugural session of 1st Regional Conference on 'Access to Legal Aid: Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South' at Supreme Court of India, in New Delhi (ANI / PIB)

Also read: Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar calls PM Modi a yugpurush. Congress MP reacts

Dhankhar added: The legacy of colonial legal regime has been highly burdensome to the vulnerable sections of the society in the global South. He was presiding over the inaugural event of the first regional conference of around 70 countries of Asia, Africa and Pacific hosted by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on the theme of Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South. The International Legal Foundation, United Nations Development Programme and UNICEF are co-hosting the event.

The Vice President, who is also Chairman of the Rajya Sabha said: Our country is in the process of having a legislation, which is under consideration of the Parliament, that will bring about a sea change in our outlook and totally contain, curb and decimate those exploitative provisions in procedure and penology.

Stressing on the common thread of colonial exploitation that runs through much of the global South nations, he urged the gathering comprising Chief justices of 17 countries, and judges, law minsters, and policy makers to follow the example of India. Time has come to follow Indias example and emulate the same. As sovereign nations, global South nations should consider reviewing all colonial laws that perpetrate prejudice against local population.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud in his keynote address as Patron-in-Chief of NALSA, said that Global south nations have prospered due to collaboration and are grouped together not just based on their economic status but their legal response to the colonial past.

Underlying our legal system, over whose destinies we preside, is the quest for social justice for our populations, he added, stating that judges have a duty not just to do justice in individual cases that come before them but also to institutionalise the judicial process that looks beyond the immediate.

He highlighted the technological interventions introduced on the administrative side of the Supreme Court of India such as live-streaming cases before the constitution bench , a move that he said has taken the court to the hearts and homes of the common citizens in the country. He added: Access to justice is as much about the quantity of judicial infrastructure as it is about making courtrooms a space where everyone feels welcome, a space that is accessible to persons belonging to diverse communities cutting across age, gender identities, caste and economic status. The Supreme Court has taken several initiatives in this regard by conducting an accessibility audit for handicapped, introduction of sign language interpreters, gender neutral toilets and accommodating gender orientations of lawyers while filing cases before the court.

Union Law minister Arjun Ram Meghwal was also present at the conference .
The sacred shrine Golden Temple in Punjab's Amritsar was illuminated on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti on Monday. A devotee lights a candle at Golden Temple on Guru Nanak Jayanti, in Amritsar, on Nov. 27.(PTI)

Guru Nanak Jayanti, also known as Gurpurab, is a sacred festival that marks the birth anniversary of the first guru of Sikhism  Guru Nanak Dev.

It is observed annually on the full moon date of the Kartik month or Kartik Purnima. Parkash Utsav is also observed on this day.

The festival is honoured by Sikhs all across the globe with utmost love and reverence.

As per religious sources, Guru Nanak Dev was born in 1469 at Talwandi Nankana Sahib, near Lahore, Pakistan.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji laid the foundation of the Sikh religion and brought enlightenment to this world. The festival honours his life, achievements and legacy.

All his teachings are composed together to form the sacred book called Guru Granth Sahib - the central holy religious scripture of Sikhism. Guru Granth Sahib is regarded as the final, sovereign and eternal Guru. The verses preach selfless service to humanity, prosperity and social justice for all, irrespective of differences.

On this day, a 48-hour non-stop recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib, called Akhand Path, is held in the Gurudwaras.

On Saturday, around 3,000 Indian Sikhs arrived in Pakistan's Punjab province through the Wagah Border to participate in the festivities in connection with the 554th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev.

The visiting pilgrims were transported to Gurdwara Janamasthan Nankana Sahib by special buses where the three-day festivities will kick off on Sunday, according to PTI.

During their 10-day stay here, the pilgrims will also visit Gurdwara Punja Sahib Hassanabdal, Gurudwara Sacha Sauda, Gurdwara Dera Sahib Lahore, Gurudwara Rohri Sahib Aimenabad and Gurudwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur Narowal.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday visited the Ameerpet Gurudwara in Hyderabad on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti. Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad's Ameerpet Gurudwara.(ANI)

The prime minister also attended the Koti Deepotsavam at the NTR Stadium in Hyderabad. Earlier, he had also held a roadshow in the city.

Guru Nanak Jayanti, also known as Gurpurab, is a sacred festival that marks the birth anniversary of the first guru of Sikhism  Guru Nanak Dev.

It is observed annually on the full moon date of the Kartik month or Kartik Purnima. Parkash Utsav is also observed on this day.

Also Read | Golden Temple illuminated on Guru Nanak Jayanti, firecrackers light up sky

Earlier today, the prime minister had extended Gurpurab greetings to the country.

Greetings on the auspicious occasion of the Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. His emphasis on serving others and furthering brotherhood give strength to millions around the world, Modi said.

He had also paid tributes to him during the episode of Mann Ki Baat on Sunday.

Guru Nanak Jis precious messages are inspiring and relevant even today, not only for India but for the whole world. They inspire us to be simple, harmonious and dedicated towards others, the prime minister had said.



He further added: Our Sikh brothers and sisters all over the world are seen following the teachings of Guru Nanak DevJi about the spirit of service and acts of service. I convey my very best wishes to all the listeners of Mann Ki Baat, on the Prakash Parv of Guru Nanak DevJi.
Ancient Crimean gold treasures returned to Kyiv Monday after being stuck in a Dutch museum for nine years, where they were on show when Russia seized the Black Sea peninsula in 2014. The Scythian artefacts -- some around 2,000 years old -- were on loan to Amsterdam's Allard Pierson museum when they were suddenly at the centre of a geopolitical crisis following Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea. (Also Read | Artist Zeng Fanzhi paints great historical event in new zero-Covid artwork) A family looks at photographs of fallen soldiers during World War II displayed inside the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. (AP (Representative Image))

Years of legal battles ensued, with both Kyiv and Moscow-controlled Crimean museums filing suits that the jewels should be in their hands, before the Dutch Supreme Court ruled this summer they should go to Ukraine.

"After almost 10 years of trials, artefacts from four museums of Crimea... returned to Ukraine," the National Museum of the History of Ukraine (NMHU) said on its website.

"They will be kept in the NMHU until the de-occupation of Crimea," it added.

Their return comes 21 months into Moscow's invasion, and is a symbolic victory for Kyiv, which has repeatedly vowed to retake Crimea.

Moscow has insisted that the hundreds of artefacts -- which include a golden helmet -- should be kept in Crimea, territory which it claims as its own.

"It belongs to Crimea, it should be there," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday in response to the jewels arriving in Ukraine.

The treasures were kept at the Allard Pierson museum throughout the legal battles, awaiting a ruling.

In June, the Netherlands' top court ruled they should be handed to Ukraine, and not to the four Crimean museums.

"This was a special case, in which cultural heritage became a victim of geopolitical developments," Allard Pierson director Els van der Plas said on the museum's website.

She said that, during the legal battles, the museum "focused on safely storing the artefacts until the time came to return them to their rightful owner."

"We are pleased that clarity has emerged and that they have now been returned," she added.
Fashion designer Rohit Bal is fighting for his life in Medanta Hospital in Delhi NCR (Gurugram). The designer is in the ICU and has been put on the ventilator on November 23, sources told HT City. He has pre-existing cardiac condition. In November last year, Bal was admitted to Medanta Hospital in a critical condition and was visited by old friend Arjun Rampal, as per reports.

"Bal was rushed to the hospital by model Suraj Dhalia three days ago. His heart was sinking and he was unconscious. His pacemaker gave seven shocks. He was initially taken to Moolchand and when his condition deteriorated, he was rushed to Medanta," a close friend told HT City.

(Also read | War over Rohit Bal: Close friend Lalit Tehlan and designer Rohit Gandhi trade serious allegations)

The designer recovered from a massive heart attack in 2010. He has also been suffering from pancreatitis which has worsened over the years. The 62-year-old has been in and out of the hospital for serious health complications in the last few months.

"Gudda is a fighter but his illness has taken a serious toll on him. He became extremely weak over the last few months. We are praying for him," says another close friend to HT City.

Rohit Bal, 62, has reportedly been in and out of rehab and hospitals for alcohol abuse and consequent health problems. In November last year, Bal was admitted to Medanta Hospital in a critical condition and was visited by old friend Arjun Rampal, as per reports.

"Gudda is in very bad shape. He was almost dead in November. The doctors had to flush out alcohol and sleeping pills from his system when his friends took him to the hospital, a close friend of Rohit Bal told HT City in an interview around 6-7 months back while opening up on his equation with close friend Lalit Tehlan.

Rohit Bal had undergone an emergency angioplasty when he suffered a heart attack in February 2010.

Bal who has ruled the fashion world for almost three decades has quite a few awards under his belt. He was adjudged the Designer of the year; at the International Fashion Awards in 2001 and 2004, and also Indian Fashion Awards in 2006. In February 2012, he was named grand finale designer at Lakme Fashion Week. He was called India's Master of fabric and fantasy by Time Magazine.

The designer in an interview said he considered himself as 'traditionalist' and said he doesn't design clothes thinking about trends. Rohit Bal held fashion shows in top cities of the world including London, Paris, New York, Singapore and Moscow. Bal also ventured into culinary business and opened his first restaurant Veda in the year 2005.

Born in Srinagar on May 8, 1961, Rohit Bal began his career in 1986, founding Orchid Oversea Pvt. Ltd with his brother, and launched his independent collection in 1990. A St. Stephens College alumnus, he studied fashion at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi.
French toast, the delightful dessert, born in medieval Europe, continues to find approval by foodies across the world in its different avatars from sweet to savoury. It is traditionally made by soaking bread slices in a mixture of beaten eggs, milk, sugar and other spices, and frying till it turns crispy brown. The comforting breakfast dish has many origin stories associated with it. While some believed it originated in Rome, the other say it was born in Europe. French toast is eaten differently in different parts of the world. In Scotland, apparently sausage is sandwiched between two French toast slices. In America, it is made using Jewish challah bread as its thick enough to soak up all the custard and then it's served with butter, maple syrup and powdered sugar. The name French Toast first featured in Encyclopaedia of American Food and Drink in 1871. It is also known as German toast, eggy bread, French-fried bread, gypsy toast, Poor Knights of Windsor, Spanish toast, nun's toast, and pain perdu or 'lost bread' in French. (Also read | Recipe: Bring smiles to breakfast table with this scrumptious vegan French Toast) French toast is a dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and often milk or cream, cinnamon powder and sugar its has alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, freedom toast, gypsy toast. (Freepik)

"French toast is a dish of sliced bread soaked in beaten eggs and often milk or cream, cinnamon powder and sugar its has alternative names and variants include eggy bread, Bombay toast, freedom toast, gypsy toast. It's served as a sweet dish and sugar, vanilla, cinnamon are commonly added to it. It can be topped with fruits, Nutella or whipped cream and most commonly with maple syrup, icing sugar, and butter on top. French toast was invented by Joseph French in 1724. It got its current name through a grammatical error. He wanted to name it French's toast, but he forgot to include an apostrophe. He inadvertently left out the apostrophe and S. the phrase French Toast, first appeared in print in 1871," says Feroz Khan, Head Chef, Cray Craft.

"French toast is a classic toast made up of bread soaked in beaten eggs, milk, cream, butter and then pan fried. It has two versions - sweet and savoury. Sweet version includes sugar, fruits and syrup and the savoury version has salt and sauces. The savoury version is called the Bombay toast. French toast has many variations and is prepared differently in various countries. In India, it is also called as a Bombay toast since it was sold on the streets of Mumbai by the hawkers," says Chef Ganesh, Koa.

"Typically, you are supposed to use a day-old bread (while making French toast) because that is dry and will soak up more batter and won't crumble. Our version of French toast at Neuma, we use homemade Brioche bread which we dry for about one day and we served with vanilla ice-cream, pistachio cream and blueberry compote. We have a lot of variations worldwide. It's actually called the Bombay toast and there are two versions - savoury one where all the masala added in the egg batter and the bread is dipped and fan-fried and the other version is sweeter very similar to the crepe batter except the flour. The bread is dipped into it and is sweetened with honey. People tend to add jaggery also. It's a street food. Back in the day it was one of the easiest thing to make and that's why it is called the Bombay toast. A lot of people also say it's called so because it was available on the streets of Bombay 24/7 and 365 days a year," says Chef Hitesh Shanbhag, Neuma.

Recipe of French toast

Chef Feroz Khan shares an interesting recipe of French toast:

Ingredients

Egg - 2

Whole milk - 100ml

Double cream - 50ml

Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Slices Brioche bread - 4

Oil - 3 tbsp

Icing sugar as required

Berries 2-3

Maple syrup 4 tbsp

Method

1. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Lay the brioche slices in a single layer on shallow dish and the pour the mixture over them. Allow to soak for 1 minute, then carefully turn over and soak for 1 minute.

2. Heat 2 tbsp of the oil and butter in a non-stick frying pan over a medium heat until foaming. Carefully lift 2 slices of the soaked brioche out of the dish and add to the frying pan.

3. Fry for 3 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp, and keep them on a wire rack over baking tray in a preheated oven to make nicely cook.

4. Serve it with maple syrup, butter on top and icing sugar garnish with berries. Dont forget to share with your loved ones.
Travel lovers assemble! Globetrotting and exploring new destinations and checking off the boxes for the dream destinations is easier now. Its a great day for Indian passport holders as another country joins the list of giving Indians Visa-free access to their country for a specific period of time. Visa is an official document provided by a particular country's government to allow an individual to visit that country for a specific period of time. Malaysia is the new entry to the growing list of countries that are making it Visa-free for Indians to visit them. Recently Thailand also announced the facilities of welcoming Indians to their country without having to go through the hassle of Visa applications. Malaysia joins the list of Visa free countries for Indians. Here's the list of countries you can visit without Visa(File Photo)

According to the official website of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, these are the countries that allow Indians to visit them without Visa:

Barbados

2. Bhutan

3.Dominican Republic

4. Fiji

5. Haiti

6. Hong Kong SAR

7. Kazakhstan

8. Maldives

9. Nepal

10. Niue Island

11. Qatar

12. Sant Vincent and the Grenadines

13. Senegal

14. Sri Lanka

15. St. Lucia

16. The Cook Islands

Adding to the list is Thailand and Malaysia  the countries that recently announced Visa-free facilities for Indian passport holders. The Malaysian government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, announced this policy change as he made the country Visa free for Chinese and Indian passport holders. During a speech at his People's Justice Party's annual congress in Putrajaya, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim made his announcement. Starting from December 1, Indians can visit the country without Visa. However, with the visa requirements lifted, Indian nationals will still have to go through security screening for visiting Malaysia.

Thailand, on November 10, removed Visa requirements for Indian citizens and offered a 30-day stay for the tourists. The policy will be in effect till May 10, 2024.
Malaysia, in a surprising announcement, decided to offer visa free travel to Indians, along with Chinese nationals. While Indian tourists are back significantly, the same is not the case with Chinese and both have not yet reached pre-COVID levels. India is the fifth largest source market for Malaysia. The flights that will take you to visa-free Malaysia(REUTERS)

Malaysia has always been tourist friendly and the process to obtain a tourist visa has been a simple one. The costs have not been prohibitive either. A visa free announcement triggers interest from tourists and an itch to club the destination along with a trip to neighbouring countries.

ALSO READ: Malaysia joins the list of Visa free countries for Indians. Here's the list of countries you can visit without Visa

Which flights connect you to Malaysia?

Malaysia is one of the handful countries where the Malaysian side has exhausted its rights to India and Indian carriers have very poor utilisation. At present, there is just one daily flight operated by an Indian carrier. IndiGo operates a daily flight to Kuala Lumpur from Chennai.

The four Malaysian carriers - Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air Malaysia (formerly Malindo), AirAsia Bhd. and AirAsia X offer over 170 weekly departures from 11 points in India.

These include flights to all six metro cities - Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad along with five destinations under the India ASEAN open skies agreement. These points are Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Trichy, Kochi and Trivandrum.

Carriers from Malaysia have been expanding rapidly to India. Malaysia Airlines recently launched flights to Amritsar and will see resumption of flights to Ahmedabad and Trivandrum soon. AirAsia has announced flights to Trivandrum.

As Indian carriers expand their horizons and carriers from other countries like Vietnam make inroads in Indian markets, the hubs at Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore will come under pressure. A visa free regime will help Malaysian carriers to overcome these pressures.

Airline Kuala Lumpur from Malaysia Airlines Amritsar, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mumbai Kochi( from dec 01), Trivandrum Batik Air Malaysia Amritsar, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Trichy AirAsia Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kochi, Kolkata, Trichy AirAsia X Delhi, Amritsar

There are 42 weekly frequencies to Kuala Lumpur from Chennai, 23 weekly each from Delhi and Kochi, 22 weekly from Trichy, 18 weekly from Bengaluru, 15 weekly each from Mumbai and Hyderabad, 11 weekly from Amritsar, 10 weekly from Kolkata, twice a week each from Ahmedabad and Trivandrum.

These include seven weekly from Chennai by IndiGo, and the rest 176 weekly by Malaysian carriers. In the past, there have been direct flights to Bhubaneshwar, Vizag and Goa.

With flights allowed to 18 destinations under the ASEAN open skies arrangement, it won't be surprising to see more flights being added by airlines from Malaysia.

Indian side has been weak

Currently IndiGo is the only carrier operating flights to Malaysia, a miniscule seven weekly. The airline operated to Kuala Lumpur from Delhi and Bengaluru as well in the past but has since not returned. As IndiGo grapples with shortage of aircraft, this is probably an indication of the airline choosing profitable routes first to return to.

Air India express has also flown to Kuala Lumpur in the past and so has Jet Airways. The market is a mix of transfer passengers to ASEAN and Australia and Indian diaspora which has been largely centred around Tamil Nadu. At some point pre covid, the maximum frequencies between India and Malaysia was between Trichy and Kuala Lumpur.

Tail note

Malaysia has by far remained the second choice for travellers who typically club it with a trip to Singapore. While Singapore is a city state, Thailand has developed tourism beyond Bangkok with Phuket and Krabi becoming popular destinations for Indians.

Malaysia, on the other hand, has not been able to catapult itself into that league with tourism largely restricted to Kuala Lumpur. The islands of Penang and Langkawi have not had a similar pull.

As Indians loosen their purse strings, countries are trying to attract more and more travellers. A visa free regime ensures a last minute trip over a long weekend. Will Indian carriers add flights? This could be a good time for Air India Express to enter the market again!

Ameya Joshi is an aviation analyst
A Bench of the Supreme Court (SC) consisting of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Sudhanshu Dhulia has criticised the Centres selective approach in appointing and transferring judges of the higher judiciary. After a stern admonition, the Court asked the Centre to avoid embarrassing situations in the future that might arise because of the latters attitude. The Court has in the past too come down on the government for turning down the recommendations by the Collegium stating different reasons including earlier political affiliations.

An independent judiciary is regarded as a basic feature of our Constitution and the Republic. Yet, the interference of the executive in the affairs of the Court is an unfortunate empirical reality in India. In Kesavananda Bharati (1973), the majority held that Parliaments power to amend the Constitution is not unlimited. There cannot be an amendment against the basic structure of the Constitution and such constitutional amendments, if made, could be struck down by the Court in the process of judicial review. It was the most formidable and one of the earliest instances of judicial activism in India. It was also a blow to then Prime Minister Indira Gandhis legislative majoritarianism. Yet, after the landmark judgment, three judges on the Bench who disagreed with the Centre  justices J M Shelat, A N Grover and K S Hegde  were superseded and justice A N Ray was appointed the Chief Justice of India (CJI). During the Emergency, justice H R Khanna, the lone dissenter in ADM Jabalpur (1976), where the majority ruled in favour of the suspension of fundamental rights, faced a similar fate. He too was superseded, and justice MH Beg was made the CJI. Justice Khanna, thereafter, resigned.

Some of the recent episodes of appointments and non-appointments in the judiciary and a series of punitive transfers recall the executive aggrandisation of the past. The judiciary too has been criticised for not being sufficiently assertive when the executive dictated terms and conditions that lacked legitimacy. There is a general grievance in the legal fraternity that the system did not treat judges of integrity such as justices S Muralidhar and Akil Kureshi fairly.

In the Constitution, Articles 124 and 217 talk about the appointment of judges to the SC and high courts respectively. Article 222 talks about the transfer of a judge from one high court to another. Pertinently, the constitutional provisions only say judicial appointments and not selection. It was to fill the space left by the Constitution on selection to the higher judiciary that the device of Collegium was invented by the SC in the Second Judges Case (1993). It was reiterated later in the Third Judges Case (1998) and the Fourth Judges Case (2015). These verdicts, however, could not envisage better models. The Court also failed to evolve a comprehensive transfer guideline.

The problem is systemic and structural. Unlike some other modern democracies, India has been slow in bringing about institutional reforms within the judiciary. Chief Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachuds efforts to modernise and democratise the system, especially through digitalisation and increased participation of diverse stakeholders, have altered the scenario.

There is also a need to evolve an institutional mechanism that deals with conventional issues such as the executive-judiciary tussle in judicial postings. The Indian judiciary needs to have a praxis for its democratisation, which will ensure its independence and enforce accountability. Punitive transfers of judges of the higher judiciary should be prevented by an appropriate mechanism. There is a need for institutional safeguards that preserve the judiciary's autonomy and accountability. It should start with the appointment of judges to the constitutional courts.

In the United Kingdom, it is a Judicial Appointment Commission that chooses judges for higher courts; neither the judiciary nor the executive has predominance. In India, there has been a perpetual fight between the Court and the executive over powers to make postings. Though the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) wanted to curtail the predominance of the Collegium, it suffered from the vices of executive dominance in the Commission. India does not have a clearly defined criteria and a publicly declared process for appointment and transfer of judges, as suggested by the Commonwealth Latimer House Principles. A majority of the Commonwealth nations have independent commissions for judicial appointments.

The United States (US) system, where judicial appointments are essentially political, may not be a good model for India. Though the pre-selection debate in the US has a deliberative content, it is doubtful if such a discourse would be meaningful or effective in India. Open interviews for judicial appointments, as it happens in South Africa and Kenya, might be effective provided such a method is adopted at the instance of an independent select body. In Kenya, the Judiciary Transformation Framework evolved by former Chief Justice Willy Mutunga yielded good results which enhanced the peoples faith in the system. The Judiciary Ombudspersons and Court Users Committees were radical measures in the Kenyan context. These demystified the judicial institution and ensured transparency in the affairs of the Court. In 2016, the Canadian government initiated landmark reforms by enabling every qualified person to apply for appointment as a judge of the countrys SC. The advisory board of the SC must carry out the selection. Yet, in the advisory board, there are no judges or any ministers.

Judicial renovation does not happen on its own. Judicial reform is a political issue, not a legal one. We have a lot to learn both in politics and law from around the world. As Amartya Sen put it, Debates about justice  if they are going to relate to practicalities  cannot but be about comparisons.

Kaleeswaram Raj is a lawyer at the Supreme Court of India. The views expressed are personal
Sunday marked the 15th anniversary of the 26/11 attacks wherein 10 terrorists from Pakistan had wreaked havoc in Mumbai. The 60-odd hours that followed were a saga of struggle and helplessness.

First came the struggle. The initial moments of the assault misled the police; they mistook it to be a gang war. However, reality soon dawned on them as eight different locations came under attack. Chaos ensued, and members of the anti-terrorism squad of the Maharashtra Police and civilian officers were seen frantically running about where the attacks occurred. Indian Police Service officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, and Ashok Kamte lost their lives in the attacks  an unprecedented loss in any encounter in any Indian metropolis.

Despite the loss, the morale of the Mumbai Police remained high. They valiantly fought on multiple fronts despite a paucity of resources. ASI Tukaram Ombles confrontation with Ajmal Kasab, armed with only a baton, became a historic moment. Kasabs capture was a milestone in the history of counter-terror operations. It was the first instance of a terrorist being apprehended alive after such an attack and provided undeniable evidence of Pakistans sinister intentions.

Now, let us come to the helplessness experienced during the attacks.

Initially, the navys marine commandos (Marcos) were summoned to end the Taj Hotel siege. Eventually, the National Security Guard (NSG) took charge and ended the siege three days later with the elimination of all the terrorists there. The significant loss of life and property in the attack dealt a severe blow to Indian pride and dignity. It raised concerns about the vulnerabilities of our security apparatus, neglect of maritime borders, and the deployment of anti-terrorism squads.

It was a learning experience for the government. For instance, the NSG was previously stationed solely in Gurugram, which caused delays in its deployment in Mumbai. After the attack, four centres were established in different parts of the country. Anti-terrorism squads and intelligence units across various states were fortified. Also, essential equipment was allocated to the Navy and Coast Guard to bolster security along maritime borders.

The capture of Kasab gave the foreign affairs ministry a strategic advantage. The evidence it handed over to major countries unmasked Pakistans deceitful nature and resulted in the diplomatic isolation of that country.

Today, I am not recalling 26/11 as a ritual. On October 7, as I was watching the Hamas attack on Israel on TV, the Mumbai attack kept coming to my mind. For decades, Israels army, and its spy agency Mossad have been the epitomes of efficiency. Despite this, they were unable to halt the attack. The police and security forces in Israel were too slow to respond. Doubts have also been raised about Israels retaliatory measures. Im not saying Tel Aviv didnt have the right to retaliate, but Prime Minister (PM) Benjamin Netanyahu and his associates displayed the same arrogance that George W. Bush had shown in declaring war on Afghanistan after 9/11. Israel is now locked in Gaza indefinitely. It will have to invest an enormous amount of resources for a long time to sustain its offensive. Would it have been better if Israel had used intelligence and diplomatic tactics to eliminate Hamas?

Indias approach in this regard serves as a notable example. Following 26/11, then PM Manmohan Singh had conveyed to Pakistans then president, Asif Ali Zardari: I am happy to meet you, but my mandate is to tell you that the territory of Pakistan must not be used for terrorism. Also, various direct and indirect messages directed at Islamabad proved to be impactful.

PM Narendra Modi has continued to bolster this stance more resolutely. Following the loss of 18 soldiers in Uri, the Indian government executed a surgical strike, and after the sacrifice of 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers in Pulwama, an air strike on Balakot sent a clear message that talks would be replaced by decisive action. Both strikes were closely overseen by Modi himself, marking a distinct and effective shift in Indias policy. Its noteworthy that since Pulwama, there hasnt been a major terrorist incident of that magnitude in the country.

Consider the ramifications if India had responded with an all-out attack. It underscores that effective governance demands not just fervour but also strategic acumen.

Shashi Shekhar is editor-in-chief, Hindustan. The views expressed are personal
For 30 years in Thottipalayam, a remote village in Tiruppur district, Dalit children walked a kilometre to reach their school which was only 100 metres away because their route was blocked by what is locally called an untouchability wall. When a local Tamil publication, Vikatan carried an article about this in October, officials of the Social Justice and Human Rights (SJ&HR) wing of the Tamil Nadu police demolished the wall. It came to light that the wall was built by the dominant community belonging to the most backward classes along Dalit settlements, forcing the residents to take longer routes and restricting entry into common public spaces.

The wing was formed in 1972 to act on atrocities against the Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe population in the state. Today, it has units in each of Tamil Nadus 38 districts and also raises awareness of caste-based discrimination.

In Tamil Nadu, caste shapes everyday life and even dictates electoral outcomes. Even today, there are streets and wells Dalits are barred from using; neighbourhoods are demarcated by caste flags that adorn road infrastructure such as electric poles. In rural areas, a Dalit neighbourhood is referred to as a colony and has separate temples, shops and saloons. Whats more, crimes against oppressed people have continued during the current DMK governments rule as the party espouses a social justice model of governance.

In the past 30 days alone, the state has witnessed a slew of caste-based atrocities. On November 11, six young men belonging to the most backward classes were detained under the Tamil Nadu Goondas Act (1982) for stripping two young Dalit men and urinating on them in Thoothukudi on October 30. On November 3, a 16-year-old boy died by suicide in Pudukkottai. His parents allege that he was assaulted by other backward class students for speaking to a girl from their community. On October 29, 10 Dalits were injured in Krishnagiri in an attack allegedly perpetrated by persons from an OBC caste, who were led by a functionary of the All India Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).

A senior officer of the SJ&HR wing who did not wish to be named said that they had come up with a plan aimed at students. The wing has identified seven districts in southern Tamil Nadu which require such interventions, and the programmes are expected to begin this week: Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi, Thanjavur, Virudhunagar, Theni, Pudukkottai and Trichy.

The programme will educate them against caste differences, make them understand the consequences of indulging in such violence, the official said. We also plan to start a club which will include children from all communities where they will do activities like hiking together. So they wont be competing against each other but they will have to reach a common goal. We will plan more such programmes to establish harmony between them.

Last April, in Tirunelveli district, a fight inside a government school turned violent, around coloured threads that students wear which are conspicuous caste markers. A boy named Suriya, who belonged to the Thevar caste (an OBC but dominant community) died after a verbal altercation with a 17-year-old Dalit boy escalated. The Dalit boy and two of his Muslim friends became accused in the case, and Dalits in the Ambasamudram village  where the teenager lived  were given police security cover after the Thevar community vowed revenge.

Tirunelveli-based activist and founder of Human Rights Council M Bharathan says that while there are several wings such as the SJ&HR, a human rights commission, and an SC/ST commission, there is no coherent action between them.

"I remember in 1996, there was a caste-based killing in Gangaikondan at that time. The ADGP of the SJ&HR wing and the district collector went to the homes of each of them involved, just spoke and then got everyone together for a dialogue until the matter was resolved. After that, Gangaikondan has not seen a crime like that," Bharathan said.

The police are often accused of protecting communities they hail from, Bharathan said and advocated for a similar dialogue between the communities as well as for the police to engage more with civil society and NGOs. "I feel these commissions have been more of a monitoring forum of caste-violence-prone villages rather than implementing plans in these places to prevent caste atrocities. They need to be on the field more."

Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts have been a tinder box of caste fights that have resulted in murders and revenge killings. It is only in recent years that these conflagrations have penetrated into classrooms.

Concerned over a series of such recent atrocities against Dalits in Tamil Nadu, the Dalit Intellectual Collective based in Chennai has demanded that chief minister M K Stalin call for an all-party meeting to consult ways to end this. The lukewarm response of the DMK government is alarming, C Lakshmanan, convener of the collective said in a statement.

The recent caste-based crimes have led the Tamil Nadu police to re-assess some of the functions and strengthen their existing systems. The official quoted above said that they have brought in a three-tier system in August to improve the quality and speed of investigation until the case is completed.

First, the head of the wing reviews the progress of cases in all the districts of Tamil Nadu every month. Secondly, awareness meetings have been increased in atrocity-prone areas to enlighten people about their rights and the facilities available, and lastly, the unit assists victims to ensure that they get the Monetary Relief Fund under relevant laws.

In several cases, the victims of caste atrocities do not get compensation because they do not have a community certificate or bank accounts or some identity documents, the official quoted above said. By deputing officials for victim assistance we have reduced the community certificate pendency from 340 last year to 172 this year. Last year, 25 crore was released under the Monetary Relief Fund. So far this year, we have already released 46 crore.

The unit has conducted close to 2,000 awareness meetings this year up to September of which the highest has been in the caste-sensitive regions of Tamil Nadu. Last year, the Union government released data that Tamil Nadus SJ&HR wing identified 345 villages in 37 districts as Atrocity prone in 2020.

Identifying atrocity-prone villages in every state is part of the national system under the Union ministry of social justice and empowerment. Section 21 (2) of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 specifies identifying Atrocity Prone Areas where crimes have happened against members of SC/ST and they are vulnerable to being subjected to atrocities. "If there has been no crime for two years, the identified village is then removed from the atrocity-prone list," the official quoted above said.

We are having a re-look at this assessment. We are also revamping units that have been working for some time preventing caste-atrocities," Tamil Nadus Director General of Police Shankar Jiwal said. The unit holds regular meetings with non-governmental organisations to provide socio-economic rehabilitation measures, the DGP said.
With the announcement of February 8 as the election date, the electoral scene is heating up in Pakistan. Veteran politician Nawaz Sharif is said to be the choice of the army for the prime ministership. Judicial cases against him are falling like ninepins and pro-army smaller parties are gravitating towards him.

The job of prime minister (PM), however, comes with two caveats: First, no change in the civil-military equation; and second, stabilisation of the precariously poised economy without hurting the interests of the Pakistani elite, including the army and its business empire.

Originally a creation of the army, Nawaz Sharif has been seen as a strong votary of civilian supremacy since he signed the Charter of Democracy with Benazir Bhutto in 2006. His instinct on the issue was betrayed by his demand, made a few days before his return from exile in London, for the accountability of the former army chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa and former director-general, Inter-Services Intelligence, Faiz Hameed. Persuaded by his brother, Shehbaz Sharif (more acceptable of the two to the army) and other party leaders, he has not persisted with the demand, but Nawaz Sharif is not someone who can take dictation from the army for too long.

As for Pakistans growing economic woes, they result from its adversarial posture towards a much bigger and better-endowed India that imposes unbearable economic burdens and its tendency all through its existence to live far beyond its means, necessitating dependence on external aid and borrowing. Nawaz Sharif has displayed the right instinct on relations with India, not only because it is an economic imperative, but also because he sees it as necessary to undermine the salience of the army in the Pakistani polity. He is perhaps the only Pakistani politician to muster the courage to speak repeatedly of improving relations with India during an election campaign in the run-up to the 2013 election. However, his ability to deliver on the ground will remain dependent on the attitude of the army. Army chief Asim Munir has so far followed the policy of his predecessor, Qamar Bajwa, in the closing years of his tenure, of exercising tactical restraint vis-a-vis India, but beyond that, his thinking on the issue remains unclear. As for the latter factor, Nawaz Sharifs tenures as PM have been known for emphasis on mega projects and infrastructure, leading to a temporary spurt in economic growth, but also burgeoning debt. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is the latest example. He has not shown the tendency to carry out structural reforms, including the imposition of a heavier tax burden on the elite, which is essential to salvage the economy.

Nawaz Sharifs prime ministership is not a done deal. To begin with, he has yet to cross some judicial hurdles before becoming eligible to contest the election. The army needs him to counter Imran Khans popularity, but because of his past record, he will not be their first choice for the prime ministership.

There are other questions that may be answered in the coming weeks and months. Can he sway the younger voters, who reject Pakistans old-style politics and have been enamoured of Imran Khan? How will he live down the image of the armys ladla that he has come to acquire recently?

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has not been ruled out of the election but remains decapitated. Imran Khan is likely to remain in jail at least until after the election. Other senior leaders have either deserted the party or are incarcerated. The beneficiary of the armys support in the 2018 election, the PTI is at the receiving end of its wrath this time. Therefore, it may neither be able to garner sufficient resources nor good candidates to put up a credible fight. This may force many PTI supporters to stay home on election day.

Having worked together to counter Imran Khan, the principal actors  the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) and the army  are now pursuing their own interests. Besides retaining its stronghold of Sindh, the PPP would like to recover its support in Punjab, especially southern Punjab, where it had remained marginalised in the last two elections. The PML(N) would like to retain its political dominance in Punjab and get a decent number of seats in other provinces, a tall order in view of the public wrath incurred by it because of the harsh economic policies adopted by the Shehbaz Sharif government to sustain the International Monetary Fund programme. The army would like to see a hung house, in which it could craft a majority of its choice with the help of the smaller parties beholden to it. Besides, three such parties already in its tool kit, two more  the Istehkam-e-Pakistan and PTI Parliamentarians  floated by pro-army PTI deserters will also be in the fray.

All indications point to a managed election, as in 2018. It may paper over the political crisis unleashed by Imran Khans ouster from power in 2022, but will not resolve it. It is likely to result in a government lacking political legitimacy, dependent on the army and incapable of effectively confronting Pakistans multiple crises.

Sharat Sabharwal is a former high commissioner to Pakistan. The views expressed are personal
The anti-regime demonstrations in Kathmandu last week led by Durga Prasai should be viewed in this context. Around 9,000-odd protesters (as per police estimates) descended in Balkhu and Tinkune on November 23-24. The protestors were a diverse mix and included people who had travelled to the Capital from various corners  the Terai, mid-hill valleys, and many were from Kathmandu valley, Nepals biggest urban settlement by a country mile. To them, it didnt seem to matter that Prasai, a controversial figure who has a history of switching political allegiances, was leading the open call (mostly through social media) for protests. Once with the Maoist party, Prasai later joined the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninist (CPN-UML), and now advocates for the restoration of Nepal as a monarchy and Hinduism as the state religion.

Prasais Rastra, Rastriyata, Dharma, Sanskriti ra Nagarik Bhachau (Save the Nation, Nationalism, Religion, Culture and Citizen) campaign is so broad in its banner that it can fit in just about anyone who is unhappy about anything. Some are demanding that the banks waive off their loans (many have borrowed through microfinancing schemes). Prasai himself must be a worried man. He owes hefty unpaid interests on his bank loans, which run into billions of rupees, most of it went toward establishing and running B&C Medical College and Teaching Hospital and Research Center in Nepal's easternmost Terai district of Jhapa, which also happens to be home of Khadga Prasad Oli, a former prime minister and a communist leader, the chairman of CPN-UML.

After his fallout (its still a mystery why it happened) with Oli and current prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, also the Maoist party chairman in recent times. Oli and Dahal have become prime targets of Prasais no-holds-barred tirades. To the political class, the problem is that Prasai is widely followed in social media, including the recently banned TikTok.

The government, with traditional political parties in tow, banned TikTok earlier this month for instigating social disharmony. Many view the ban as an attempt to curb the popularity of Prasais ever-trending posts that took swipes at Oli and Prachanda, among other traditional party leaders. The sloganeering at public demonstrations in Kathmandu last week by Prasai supporters was stridently pro-monarchist, pro-Hindu, but also anti-federalist and anti-party.

Like much else, this move has deeply polarised the public opinion. Granted, social media platforms are flooded with hate speech and lurid posts, but questions are also being asked about why arent Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and a host of other social media platforms subject to a similar level of scrutiny.

Several writ petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court against the ban, arguing that the government move doesnt hold enough legal ground, stifles freedom of expression, and could as arbitrarily extend to other social media platforms.

Still, it's odd that all the poor and the voiceless subaltern (those who demand that their loans be waived off) that Prasai claims to be fighting for would also want to see the monarchy and Hindu Rastra restored. But such is the level of disillusionment with the parties that he continues to draw disparate constituencies: The royalists, Hindu revivalists, the old elites who feel marginalised after the downfall of the monarchy on the one hand; and the angry mass who believe that the political parties are clueless, corrupt and the new crony capitalist class, on the other.

You may well ask, is the country witnessing a counter-revolution? Is it the beginning of a restorative revolution? Clearly, the grand revolution  the promised socio-economic transformation of the Nepali State  has come undone. An increasing number of people feel that the fall of the monarchy and the subsequent reinstatement of a democratic republic secular State didnt change much but the rulers at the top. Ossified corrupt party leaders and their cronies replaced a deeply feudal medieval monarchy and its sycophantic courtiers. Nepalis are disillusioned.

It wasnt supposed to be that way.

After the 1990 Jana Andolan 1, the absolutist king was reined in with the advent of the constitutional monarchy. The Jana Andolan 2 in 2006 led to the demise of the monarchy altogether, which turned Nepal into a federal democratic republic and a secular State. Many of us believed it was a rightful expression of a hugely diverse population and geography that felt excluded in the unitary State, where certain ethnic and caste groups held sway. Nepal, after all, is a country of minorities.

The high caste groups in the Hindu totem pole  Chettri and Hill-Brahmin  together make up less than 30% of the population. Other groups, Magar, Tharu, Tamang, Newar, Kami, Rai, Gurung, and Muslims and many more, constitute a vast silent majority. The deposed Shah kings, the Thakuris, are a tiny sliver  a little over 1% of the population. Clearly, it was an unrepresentative State.

If the 1990 mass movement was largely a political groundswell against an autocratic hereditary ruler, the 2006 mass movement led by the parliamentary parties, then-underground Maoists and a vibrant civil society held out a far stronger promise of socio-economic transformation. The new Constitution in 2015 and two subsequent election cycles  in 2017 and 2022  were supposed to take the country forward, both in terms of social transformation and economic growth.

The story, instead, has been one of gloom.

The lives of the people have remained largely the same. Nepal ranks among the top ten countries that are heavily reliant on remittances. Even by South Asian standards, the country remains desperately poor. In the first quarter of 2023, Indias economy, next door, grew by 7.8% year on year; Bangladesh, Bhutan and the Maldives have all galloped in the last decade or so. According to the Henley Passport Index, which ranks passports according to how many countries allow the passport-holder to visit without a visa, Nepal is above only Afghanistan and Pakistan among its South Asian peers.

This slide is not lost on the Nepalis. Heres the irony: Other than the remittance-earning mostly blue-collar population, Nepal now consistently ranks high in the list of countries which send a very high percentage of students abroad for studies. Nepal is the 12th leading place of origin for international students heading to the United States, according to US government data. In Australia, Nepali students rank only behind India and China in numbers. When you travel across Nepal, you can see that nearly every second household has at least one person studying or working abroad.

Its difficult to find a historical parallel to what is happening in Nepal now. Its a society in a frenetic transition. The political class is viewed not only as corrupt but also seriously out of sync with the aspirations of the young and educated (Nepals median age is 24.4). Never in Nepals modern history has there been such a mass exodus as now, with its people seeking employment and economic opportunities overseas. Once famous among noted anthropologists for their close-knit communities, villagers now lament that they dont have helping hands to carry the dead to cremation sites.

Akhilesh Upadhyay is a senior fellow at IIDS, a Kathmandu-based think tank, and former Editor-in-Chief of The Kathmandu Post. The views expressed are personal
MV Lee Badgett, author of the seminal 2009 work, When Gay People Get Married , is a professor of economics and the co-director of the Centre for Employment Equity at the University of Massachusetts Amherst in the United States. She was in Bengaluru recently for the release of the fourth edition of the Indian Workplace Equality Index, a tool created by Pride Circle, the Keshav Suri Foundation and Stonewall UK to help companies measure their efforts and progress on LGBT+ inclusion.

Badgetts focus on the economic impact of extending the social institution of marriage also led her to write The Economic Case for LGBT Equality in 2020. Her scholarly work from the mid-90s has studied the consequences of social and economic exclusion, not just on the populations being discriminated against, but on the national economy as a whole.

Her 1995 work, The wage effects of sexual orientation discrimination as well as her 2001 book Money, Myths, and Change: The Economic Lives of Lesbians and Gay Men offered significant data-oriented research on the subject at a time when not many economists were studying the impact of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) populations. Badgett is currently in Nepal for a project on economic empowerment and skill development of low-income LGBT people. She is slated to work on a project on LGBT inclusion with the Asian Development Bank which will look at the benefits of economic inclusion of LGBT people in Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan.

She spoke exclusively to HT Premium prior to an event hosted by the Godrej DEI Lab in Mumbai for corporates and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Read edited excerpts.

You estimate that India loses as much as 1% of its GDP because of homophobia and transphobia. How did you arrive at this number?

Thats a very good question. I took research that I could find about India, looking at experiences of discrimination at the workplace, in education and healthcare, and picked the things that I could put a monetary value on. That wasnt possible with everything but I found a lot of pretty good data on health in terms of experiences of anxiety and depression, HIV, and suicidal thinking in the LGBT community in India.

I used global data on the impact of those conditions on LGBT people and on the economy. It was hard to put a monetary value on discrimination in the labour market, and the losses that occur as a result, so I had to use estimates based on studies from other countries. It may not be exactly the same in India but the situation is not likely to be better. It might, in fact, be worse. I added up the losses and used different estimates of how many LGBT people there might be in India. I got a range of figures  1% is somewhere in the middle. What India loses could be more than 1%.

Did you also conduct interviews or have field researchers working for you in India?

The World Bank had done some surveys and focus groups in India, so I drew on that data.

Is this your first visit to India?

Yes, this is my first visit. I thought I would come a long time ago. I almost came four years ago to one of the Pride Circle events but I got sick. This year, I am the President of the International Association of Feminist Economists. Many Indian economists are part of it, so I kept hoping that somebody would organise a conference in India and I would travel for it. Prof Jayati Ghosh from India, who taught for decades at Jawaharlal Nehru University, is my colleague at UMass Amherst. We have many Indian students on campus. I am working with Hiya Rajput, a PhD student from India on analysing labour force survey data related to the Other gender category in India that goes beyond the male-female binary. And I did a study called The Economic Cost of Stigma and the Exclusion of LGBT People: A Case Study of India' with the World Bank in 2014. I feel like I have been engaging with India and Indians for a while.

To what extent can data help with advocacy?

For starters, it helps LGBT people estimate what they lose by not being able to participate in the economy on the same terms as everyone else. That results in losses, nationally and internationally. Data is also appealing for certain kinds of people  national policymakers, for instance  to understand whats at stake. For an organisation like the World Bank, getting data that would support economic inclusion in countries is very much a part of their job.

Why do you think governments tend to be more receptive to the economic case for equality as opposed to arguments that are couched in human rights discourse?

I think that some of them do get the human rights arguments but there is a perception that human rights arguments come from the West. That can be contested because the Universal Declaration of Human Rights had contributions from various countries and cultures. I guess economics seems a lot more universal to policymakers around the world than human rights.

Many activists do not like making an economic case because it comes across as an endorsement of capitalism. Among people on the Left, capitalism is not very popular as an ethical framework. But the economic case is useful because, to some extent, it takes the emotion out of the issue. When the conversation doesnt get heated up, people are more receptive to whats at stake not only for LGBT people but for everyone else. Showing the economic effects of discrimination is one way to show how connected we all really are.

Recently, the Supreme Court of India refused to legalise same-sex marriage. How can corporations lead the way for inclusion in a society when courts let people down?

Corporations have a lot of control over their own policies. They can recognise the relationships of LGBT people to folks they are not allowed to marry. Visibility is very powerful. It recognises that LGBT people have relationships and families, love and heartbreak in their lives. Not everyone may have someone from the LGBT community as a close friend or family member but they could have co-workers. There is data from different cultural contexts to show that when people who are not LGBT get to know people from the community, they become more open-minded and inclusive. Apart from this, making a public statement is a way for corporations to show that they recognize the worth of LGBT people and are committed to principles of equal treatment and respect towards all employees. When judges see greater acceptance in society, they are likely to approach court cases differently.

Apart from recognising same-sex relationships, housing assistance and paid vacations for same-sex couples, what can companies do in the absence of marriage equality?

They can look at financial inclusion in terms of home loans and joint bank accounts. In addition to their employees, they need to think carefully about the customers they are serving and make their marketing inclusive. If they want to entice same-sex couples to buy products, the message they are sending out has to be open and relevant for different types of families. Some companies might like to make clear public statements supporting marriage equality. This has happened in Taiwan, Ireland, and Australia. There are companies that engage with governments on these matters because they are interested in regulation but not very openly.

Opposing views about marriage equality have created rifts within the LGBTQIA+ community in India. Many people argue that this issue is taking up resources that could be used towards addressing challenges related to housing, employment, healthcare, and education. Outside India, what strategies have worked to bridge such divides?

Its harder than it looks. Its possible to talk about multiple issues at the same time. It might seem like advocates of marriage equality are thinking only about one thing but thats not true. Divides can be bridged through understanding peoples perspectives in a more nuanced way. That requires patience, time and continued engagement. For instance, among lesbian and bisexual women, who also identify as feminists, there are conversations about how marriage can be a very patriarchal institution and also what can be done to make it more gender-equal.
For the first time, researchers from the University of Melbourne, Solomon Islands National University, and Zaira Village, Vangunu, caught camera trap photographs of the critically endangered Uromys vika, a gigantic rat that can grow up to 1.5 feet long. Yes, you read that right. 1.5 foot long rat caught on camera. (University of Melbourne. )

According to the University of Melbourne, the species was first identified in 2017 and is only known from a single physical specimen. The uncommon big rat is at least twice as large as a typical rat, and is said to be able to chew on coconuts with its teeth.

Dr Tyrone Lavery from the School of Biosciences at the University of Melbourne said the Vangunu giant rat was the first new species of rodent described from the Solomon Islands in over 80 years.

He says, "Capturing images of the Vangunu giant rat for the first time is extremely positive news for this poorly known species. This comes at a critical juncture for the future of Vangunus last forests  which the community of Zaira have been fighting to protect from logging for 16 years."

He further added, The images show the Vangunu giant rat lives in Zairas primary forests, and these lands (particularly the Dokoso tribal area) represent the last remaining habitat for the species. Logging consent has been granted at Zaira, and if it proceeds it will undoubtably lead to extinction of the Vangunu giant rat. For decades anthropologists and mammalogists alike were aware of this knowledge, but periodic efforts to scientifically identify and document this species were fruitless.

The Vangunu people's knowledge of Uromys vika served as a guide for fieldwork, according to senior author Kevin Sese of the Solomon Islands National University. Using camera traps, they were able to obtain 95 photos of what turned out to be four distinct individuals in their forest habitat, reports the University of Melbourne.

"We thank the community of Zaira for unwavering commitment to conserve their forests and reefs in the face of continuous attempts to undermine this commitment, and for their support of this research. We hope that these images of U. vika will support efforts to prevent the extinction of this threatened species, and help improve its conservation status, said Sese.
Gujarat Police undertook an innovative approach to surveillance and managing crowds during Lili Parikrama in Junagadh. The police department deployed paramotoring to reinforce security measures for this sacred event. They even shared a video on social media, prompting people to suggest using drones instead of paragliding. Gujarat policeman all set to take off to monitor Lili Parikrama. (X/@GujaratPolice)

While sharing the video on X, the official handle of the police department wrote, The Gujarat Police employ paragliding for effectively monitoring the Lili Parikrama in Junagadh.

The video shows a police officer, accompanied by a pilot, sitting in a motorised paraglider. The paramotor enables monitoring of areas that are difficult to access through conventional means.

Watch the video right here:

The video was shared on November 24. It has since accumulated over 69,000 views, and the numbers are still increasing. A few X users even dropped comments on the video.

Check out how people reacted to the video:

Drones will be better as you can monitor and control them and be ready for action on the ground, posted an individual.

Another joked, PUBG live.

Wow! Futuristic implementation. Looks like in the future, drone policing will happen, expressed a third.

A fourth joined, What couldnt drones do more effectively?

What do you think about this?
When Elma Avraham, 84, was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Nahal Oz on October 7th she was an independent member of the community, her relatives said. When Hamas released her on Sunday, she was in a "fight for her life", according to hospital staff. Elma Avraham, 84, who was released after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas, appears in this undated handout image, obtained by Reuters on November 26, 2023. (VIA REUTERS)

The great-grandmother was freed with 16 other hostages, including a four-year-old American girl, on the third day of a truce between Israel and Hamas.

While the other hostages are reported to have returned in good health, Avraham's daughter told reporters her mother arrived with a pulse of 40 and a body temperature of 28 degrees. The deputy administrator of Soroka hospital in Beersheba said her condition remains critical and she is ventilated and sedated in the intensive care unit.

"They held her in terrible conditions," daughter Tali Amano told reporters outside the hospital. "My mother arrived hours before we would have lost her."

ALSO READ| Can Hamas benefit from Gaza ceasefire? White House thinks it's a real risk

Amano described her mother as "happy, connected, and embraced by the entire community" before she was taken and said that while her mother had chronic health conditions, they were entirely in check.

"For fifty-two days they kept her in conditions that no human being should be kept in," the head of medical affairs from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Hagai Levine said, "Simply without human dignity, unreasonable abuse."

Amano said she met with the Red Cross and pleaded with them to give medications to her mother but was told they could not deliver them.

"We stood at the entrance, with a package of medications for her," Amano said. "My mother didn't need to return this way and I have no idea how she will make it through these days."

"We have been meeting directly with families and they have urged us to take possession of personal medications, but we're not able to take them," an ICRC spokesperson told Reuters.

"We continue calling for access to the hostages, as we've done from Day 1, and we are ready to carry out those visits," the spokesperson added. "On the specific case mentioned, we had a medical doctor accompany and support Ms. Elma Avraham as we transported her and the other hostages out of Gaza."
Elon Musk was facing a global backlash just a few days ago after he agreed with a social media user who had posted antisemitic content on his social media platform, X. Multinational corporations from Apple Inc. to Walt Disney Co. pulled millions of dollars in advertising from the site in protest over hateful and racist commentary next to ads for their products. Elon Musk, owner of social media platform X.(AP)

But on Monday, Musk was rubbing shoulders with Israels political elite, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as he visited some of the locations where the Islamic militant group Hamas murdered 1,200 people on Oct. 7.

For all of Musks stumbles, world leaders cant afford to criticize or alienate him for long: The worlds richest person holds the keys to powerful technological tools. In this case, Starlink, his satellite internet provider, is at the heart of his political clout. Starlink, which is owned and operated by Musks rocket company SpaceX, formally named Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has provided him with the ability to woo world leaders from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to officials at the Pentagon, by offering essential communications services.

Musk is not just a player that should be regulated by the American government. Hes a global order player, who should probably have a seat at the UN Security Council, said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Elon Musk can simply shirk his responsibilities and thats because of his power and the fact he is a global order player.

While Musk toured the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where some of the worst violence occurred last month, wearing a protective vest and snapping photos or videos on his phone, Israels Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi tweeted about a deal the ministry is discussing with Starlink. A representative for SpaceX didnt reply to a request for comment.

Musk had proposed providing internet services to Gaza last month and said Starlink could help support connectivity with internationally recognized aid organizations. But Karhi rejected the offer at the time, saying Hamas will use it for terrorist activities.

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist, often weighs in on political matters on X, which he bought last year for $44 billion. But he may have gone a step too far earlier this month after agreeing with an antisemitic post, which said that Jewish people hold a dialectical hatred of white people. The global response was swift and fierce. The New York Times reported that the exodus of advertisers could cost X as much as $75 million in lost revenue this year.

It wasnt clear how Musks trip to Israel came about, whether he was invited by Netanyahu or requested the trip himself. But his generally warm welcome in the country mixed pleas for regulating antisemitic commentary on X with discussions of satellites.

Starlink now counts more than 4,500 satellites in space, more than half of all active satellites, that communicate with terminals on Earth to provide high-speed internet. Based in Hawthorne, California, the closely held company was valued last year at about $140 billion and could eventually seek a public listing.

Starlinks service in Ukraine raises questions about how it may be used in the war between Israel and Hamas. Since the early days of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Musk has provided Starlink dishes to the country, but the service has been subject to his capricious whims.

Last year, Musk suggested Kyiv should cede the Crimea region to Russia as part of a peace deal. After sharp criticism erupted over his comments, Musk threatened to cut support for Starlink in Ukraine, saying SpaceX couldnt carry the cost indefinitely, only to later reverse that position. This summer, the Pentagon confirmed that it is buying Starlink communications terminals for use by the Ukraine military against Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Musk earlier this year for refusing a Ukrainian request to use the Starlink satellite communication network in the Russian-annexed Crimean port city of Sevastopol to strike Russias Black Sea fleet. Musk said he refused it to avoid complicity in a major act of war and conflict escalation.

As chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. Musks business ties in China have also put him at odds with Taiwan, which is seeking a system of satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. Musk and his Starlink network are one clear solution, but Taiwan distrusts the billionaire, given his pro-Beijing comments.

While Musks political views have often put him in hot water with world leaders, he has made efforts in recent months with Israel. Musk and Netanyahu met in September in California, where the two med did in fact discuss the issue of rampant antisemitism on X. At the time, Musk said, obviously Im against antisemitism. Im against anti-anything that promotes hate and conflict.

On Monday, Netanyahu showed Musk a video of the atrocities carried out by Hamas. The two men talked on a public broadcast on X and agreed on helping to rebuild Gaza and support for the Palestinians.

If Netanyahus aim was to convince Musk of Hamas brutality and hatred of Israel, he may have achieved that. But, according to Altshuler, Musks power as owner of Starlink and X far outweighs his personal beliefs.

We see X is not removing any neo-Nazi antisemitic content and accounts, from the President of Iran to Jackson Hinkle, she said, referring to the American political commentator and social media influencer. Its against the community standards of X, which is compensating financially those accounts based on their new ad-sharing plan.
Brazil will propose adding a civil society wing to the G20 group of the world's largest economies when it takes over as president next week, to add the voices of society to summit meetings, a Brazilian minister said on Monday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi handed over the gavel of the G20 Presidency to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva during Session 3 of the G20 Summit,(ANI)

Messages from society to the G20 leaders have mainly come through street protests, sometimes violent ones, but they rarely make it to the negotiation table.

"What the president wants is a sort of social trail that will run parallel to the work of sherpas and finance groups. People from these 20 major economies will thus be able to influence G20 decisions," Marcio Macedo, who is President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's minister responsible for government relations with civil society told Reuters.

Since it was first created in 1999 as a platform of finance ministers and central bank governors to counter the effects of the Asian financial crisis, the G20 has added discussion groups on subjects from business, labor, women and youth issues, but their input has been limited to round tables.

Brazil wants to organize the demands of such social groups so their proposals can serve to put pressure on the leaders to take practical measures, Macedo said in an interview.

"We are trying to build a new agenda, so that G20 decisions are not so distant from what people really want," he said.

At next year's summit, the leaders will meet on Nov. 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro. Two days earlier, Brazil will host the G20 Social Summit to draw up conclusions to be presented to the leaders, he said.

Macedo said Brazil's idea has been well received, mainly by the G20 countries that have strong civil society organizations.
A Brooklyn teacher is under fire for his disturbing comments on social media, such asLet Gaza Burn and There are no innocents. Pro-Palestinian activists have now urged the city Department of Education to investigate The Fort Hamilton School instructor Robert Rossicone over his remarks. Houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict lie in ruin, amid a temporary truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Beach refugee camp, in Gaza City November 26, 2023 (REUTERS/Abed Sabah)(REUTERS)

The PS 104 elementary-middle school is known for serving students from the largest Palestinian-American and Arabic communities in the state, according to New York Post. Look at these ANIMALS. And the people who support this, or call for a ceasefire, are dogs as well, Rossicone commented in response to a Hamas video provided to CNN by the Israel Defense Force. The video was of the surprise attack Hamas launched on Israel on October 7.

Let Gaza Burn. There are no innocents if this is what is allowed to continue. Never again. By ANY means necessary, he also wrote.

The group Stop Arab Hate posted screenshots of Rossicones comments on X, captioning it, Robert Rossicone is a @NYCSchools educator at PS/IS 104 in Brooklyn, where he teaches social studies to children. He believes people calling for ceasefire are dogs, and describes women in the IDF as a 72 virgins dating service.

This comes days after aprofessor of Cornell University who came under fire for his comments on the Hamas attack in Israel took a leave of absence from the school. A viral video showed Russell Rickford saying the Hamas attack was exhilarating and energising. Russell, an associate professor of history at the school in Ithaca, New York, made the comments at a pro-Palestinian protest.

Russell said that the attack shifted the balance of politics and punctured the illusion of invincibility of Israel. The country has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip since Hamas seized power in 2007. Thats what theyve done. You dont have to be a Hamas supporter to recognize it, he said.

Russell went on to say that Palestinians who witnessed oppression were able to breathe for the first time in years in the hours after the attack. It was exhilarating. It was exhilarating, it was energising. And if they werent exhilarated by this challenge to the monopoly of violence, the shifting of the violence of power, then they would not be human. I was exhilarated, he is heard saying as the crowd chanted from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.
New Zealand's new government said that it planned to scrap the nation's world-leading smoking ban to fund tax cuts. The legislation was introduced under the previous Jacinda Ardern-led government. The law would have banned cigarette sales next year to anyone born after 2008 in order to stop young generations from picking up the habit of smoking. New Zealand Smoking Ban: The law aimed to stop young generations from picking up the habit of smoking.(Representational)

Health experts strongly criticised the sudden reversal. Professor Richard Edwards, a tobacco control researcher and public health expert at the University of Otago, said, We are appalled and disgusted... this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures. Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government's done and are calling on them to backtrack.

"The government is flying in the face of public opinion and obviously in the face of the vast majority of people who work in this field, health professionals, doctors, nurses," he explained.

The legislation had been acclaimed internationally with research models backing the key reforms as it included restricting the number of tobacco retailers and reducing the level of nicotine in cigarettes.

New Zealand's laws also have inspired the Rishi Sunak-led UK government in September to announce a similar smoking ban for young people.

The reversal comes after some lawmakers in New Zealand- including the new prime minister Chris Luxon - argued that the ban would lead to a black market for tobacco. The announcement by the new finance minister Nicola Willis said that the government would repeal the laws completely.

Nicola Willis said, We have to remember that the changes to the Smokefree legislation had a significant impact on the government books, with about a billion dollars there.

Emeritus Prof Robert Beaglehole, chair of New Zealand's Action for Smokefree 2025 committee said, The suggestion that tax cuts would be paid by people who continue to smoke is absolutely shocking.

New Zealand still aims to reduce its national smoking rate to 5% by 2025.
The mother of Noa Argamani, whose abduction by Hamas terrorists on October 7 was caught on camera, is now begging the group to release her daughter during the truce. Liora is battling stage 4 brain cancer, and has expressed her wish to see her daughter before the illness killed her. In this image from video obtained by the AP, Noa Argamani reacts as she and her partner Avinatan Or, not pictured, are seized by members of the Hamas militant group during an incursion into Israel on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023 (AP Photo)(AP)

My one wish would be to hug and see Noa before something happens to me due to my medical condition, which would mean I won't be able to, she told the Mail. I know she is a strong girl. We're waiting for her. Only the thought of her coming home keeps me strong.

Hamas gunmen launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7. The worst of the attacks, perhaps, was launched at the Nova Music Festival. The party descended into chaos when the terrorists attacked the site, killing at least 260 people and abducting many more. Thousands of people attended the party, near Kibbutz Re'im close to Gaza. Palestinian gunmen attacked the site and shot people down as they tried to escape.

A video shows the terrorists kidnapping Noa, taking her away on the back of a motorcycle as she screamed for help. The men were seen restraining her boyfriend, Avinatan Or. He was seen being made to walk with his hands held behind his back. They are being considered two of several Israelis who are believed to be held captive in Gaza at present.

The cease-fire between Israel and Hamas prompted the terror organisation to release 17 more hostages on Sunday, November 26. This included 14 Israelis and the first American. Some other hostages were released in the past two days.

While some hostages were directly handed over to Israel, others left through Egypt. The youngest hostage to be released was a four-year-old girl named Abigail Edan. The child, a dual Israeli-American citizen, was orphaned after her parents were murdered by Hamas.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will visit Shanghai for the first time since the financial hubs bruising two-month Covid lockdown, local media reported, as he tries to boost waning private sector sentiment. China's president Xi Jinping is seen. (Reuters)

Xi is scheduled to visit the Shanghai Futures Exchange and several technology giants operating in the mega-city on Tuesday, the South China Morning Post reported, citing people familiar with the matter. He will also urge officials to boost market liberalization to spur cross-border trade and capital flows during his three-day trip, according to the Monday report.

The Chinese leaders first public visit to Shanghai since November 2020 sends a powerful signal about his determination to reinvigorate investor confidence roiled by abrupt crackdowns and geopolitical turmoil, as Chinas pandemic exit weighs on growth.

Xi vowed to make life easier for foreign investors at an economic summit in California this month, where he sat down with US President Joe Biden in a bid to steady ties between the worlds largest economies.

Shanghai is also home to several of the nations leading tech firms, which are key to Beijings ability to counter US efforts to throttle its access to future technologies, such as cutting-edge chips.

While the Posts report didnt specify which firms Xi would visit, Shanghai-based semiconductor stocks including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp., Hua Hong Semiconductor Ltd. and Will Semiconductor Co. rose Monday on the news of the trip.

I believe the visit aligns with the governments strategy to bolster chip autonomy in the future, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Shum. As Chinas most advanced chipmaker, SMIC is well-positioned to gain a larger market share, particularly in mature node chips, bolstered by increased state support.

The ruling Communist Partys recent overtures to foreign investors have been met with skepticism, after years of policy swings. One measure of foreign investment into China turned negative for the first time since records began in 1998 in the third quarter.

The tech sector has been particularly bruised, with a Communist Party crackdown wiping out billions in market value from firms. China signaled an end to that campaign earlier this year, and Xis visit to companies will be closely watched for further signs of reassurance.

Shanghai is a major outpost for some of Chinas biggest tech operations, including SMIC, which made the 7nm processor hailed as a major triumph after years of US sanctions. Other major firms include AI firm SenseTime Group Inc., which has approval to roll out large-language models to the public, and e-commerce upstart PDD Holdings Inc.

The Chinese leaders stop at the Shanghai Futures Exchange is likely to show the importance he attaches to energy security, said Bruce Pang, chief economist at Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The exchange runs commodity warehouses in the citys free-trade zone, which is celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2023.

China locked down Shanghai for more than 60 days last year to contain the coronavirus, severely hurting firms operations. The city of 25 million was among the dozens around the nation that experienced protests in late 2022 partly due to discontent with Covid measures.

Xis visit to the commercial hub comes as Chinese officials are expected to hold the annual Central Economic Work Conference next month to flesh out policy objectives for the coming year.

That will likely include setting strategies to stabilize the nations faltering property sector, after previous measures failed to arrest the slump in the market.
Amazon reached an agreement with most of its workers in Spain on Monday, avoiding the full impact of a planned one-hour strike per shift on one of the busiest online shopping days of the year, according to local union group CCOO and the company. FILE PHOTO: Boxes ready to be delivered are seen during Cyber Monday at the Amazon fulfilment centre in Robbinsville Township in New Jersey, U.S., November 28, 2022. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Photo(REUTERS)

Around 20,000 warehouse and delivery workers at Amazon's Spanish unit had been urged to walk out to demand better pay and working conditions on the so-called Cyber Monday discount day, when retailers aim to boost Christmas gift buying.

Only 5,000 Amazon delivery workers will continue with the protest, stopping work for the last hour of their shifts, after they considered the company's proposal for better pay conditions was not enough, said Douglas Harper, the leader of CCOO, the largest union at the U.S. retailer in Spain.

"The vast majority of our teams will continue to work as normal and there will be no impact on our operations for our customers," the company said in an emailed statement. "We are proud of the wages, benefits and safer working conditions that will be provided to our employees in Spain," Amazon added.

CCOO said it would continue negotiations with the company to improve pay and conditions at the local unit.

Amazon logistics workers on both sides of the Atlantic have complained about working conditions, with groups of workers and activists across Europe protesting against the U.S. e-commerce giant as recently as Friday.

On Black Friday, the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday when many retailers slash prices to boost sales, groups in Britain, Germany, France and Italy tried to disrupt the company's operations.

Amazon had said deliveries of Black Friday orders would be reliable and timely.
Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament in 2019, will return to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race. Dave Sharma(X(formerly Twitter))

Sharma, 47, will replace ex-foreign minister Marise Payne, who has retired from the Senate, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

In a vote by the New South Wales Liberal Party members, Sharma defeated Constance 251-206 in the final ballot on Sunday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Sharma, who served as Australia's ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017, was backed by the moderates within the party.

ALSO READ| Russia, China may make unprecedented secret undersea tunnel to Crimea: Report

Asserting that taking over from former Senator Payne was a privilege, Sharma said, "I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across New South Wales (NSW) struggling to deal with Labor's cost-of-living crisis."

"The opportunity to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation's national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Congratulating him on securing the NSW Senate position, Opposition leader Dutton said Sharma's entry to the Senate would come at a crucial time.

"His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise will lend considerable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precarious circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific," Dutton said in a statement.

Asserting that Sharma was a "fitting replacement" for Payne, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said, "Dave Sharma will bring a unique perspective to the Australian Senate."

In 2019, Sharma scripted history by becoming the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament after winning a seat in a Sydney suburb in the federal election.
Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who killed George Floyd by kneeling on his neck, was stabbed by another inmate in a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, on Friday. He is expected to survive the attack, according to officials. FILE PHOTO: 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, U.S. June 25, 2021. Pool via REUTERS/File Photo(Pool via REUTERS)

Chauvin, 47, was convicted of second-degree murder and federal civil rights violation for the death of Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, on 25 May 2020. Floyd's death sparked global protests against racism and police brutality. Chauvin was sentenced to 22  years in prison for the state charge and 21 years for the federal charge, to be served concurrently.

Chauvin was assaulted by another prisoner at around 12.30pm local time on Friday, the Associated Press reported. He was critically wounded and taken to a hospital, where he received "life-saving measures" from prison staff. The US prisons bureau, which has custody of Chauvin, did not identify the attacker or provide details about the incident, citing security and privacy reasons.

ALSO READ| Derek Chauvin's mother left in dark about son's prison stabbing, 'worried and scared' for his safety

The prison where Chauvin was stabbed has been plagued by staffing shortages and security breaches. It was the second high-profile stabbing of a federal inmate in less than six months, following the attack on Larry Nassar, the former USA Gymnastics doctor who sexually abused hundreds of girls and women, in a Florida prison in July.

In November last year, an inmate at the Tucson prison managed to get a gun and tried to shoot a visitor in the head, but the weapon malfunctioned. No one was injured in the incident.

Chauvin's lawyers had argued that he should be kept away from the general population of the prison, fearing that he would be a target for violence. They also complained that federal prison officials had not communicated with them or Chauvin's family about his condition, forcing them to rely on media reports for updates.

"I view this lack of communication ... as completely outrageous," Chauvin attorney Gregory Erickson said in a statement to the AP.

It appears to be indicative of a poorly run facility and indicates how Derek's assault was allowed to happen.

ALSO READ| Former cop Derek Chauvin, who killed George Floyd, stabbed in US prison

Minnesota state attorney general Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted Chauvin, condemned the stabbing, saying, "He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence."
Donald Trump has vowed to intensify his crackdown on immigration if he returns to the White House and has left the door open to resuming his most controversial policy - family separations at the U.S.-Mexico border - but key allies who could join a new Trump administration as immigration enforcers are wary. Former President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.(AP)

Five former Trump officials and conservative allies told Reuters that even as Trump weighs harsher anti-migrant measures, they are concerned about implementing a new version of the 2018 "zero tolerance" policy that separated thousands of children from their parents at the southwest border.

They said they worry about a repeat of the widespread public backlash provoked by the original policy.

"The family separation that resulted from the zero tolerance caused an uproar in the country," said Tom Homan, a former Trump immigration official who could join a second administration. "The best way to do it, rather than deal with all that chaos that comes with it, is to keep them in a residential center together and have their hearings together."

Trump is the leading candidate for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination and has made border security a major theme of his campaign. He is vowing to restore the hardline policies from his 2017-2021 presidency, and implement new ones that clamp down further on both legal and illegal immigration.

Trump touted the efficacy of family separations during a CNN town hall in May, and declined to rule out reinstating them. He defended them again in an interview with Spanish-language television channel Univision that aired on Nov. 9.

"It stopped people from coming by the hundreds of thousands because when they hear 'family separation,' they say, 'Well, we better not go.' And they didn't go," he said.

Trump's hardline position has been seized upon by Democratic President Joe Biden's re-election campaign, which says it is an example of the "extreme" policies the Republican would pursue if he returned to the White House.

Civil rights activists are alarmed by Trump's comments and are ready to return to court to fight any new version of the policy, they told Reuters.

The Trump campaign did not respond to requests for comment.

'LOT OF WAYS TO DO THIS'

How to handle the thousands of families crossing the southwest border illegally has bedeviled successive Republican and Democratic administrations. Biden has struggled with record numbers of migrants crossing the border illegally since he took office, including a recent rise in families.

The Trump administration launched its "zero tolerance" policy in April 2018 as a way to discourage illegal border crossings, including by families. Under the policy, parents were charged with immigration crimes and sent to jails while children were placed in shelters.

Trump ended it in June 2018 amid the backlash and instead said he would seek to detain families together. But family detention remains limited to 20 days under a 2015 court order, typically not enough time to process family asylum claims and potentially deport them.

With some opinion polling showing battleground state voters favoring Trump over Biden on immigration issues, Biden's campaign is reminding them about Trump's separation policy, which was unpopular among most Americans, including some Republicans.

"Trump has been unapologetically open about the extreme, inhumane, and fundamentally un-American policies that he would enact," Biden campaign manager Julie Rodriguez said on a Nov. 18 press call before a Trump border visit.

Among the Trump actions that Rodriguez highlighted was family separation, calling it a "cruel policy of ripping babies from their mothers' and fathers' arms."

Homan said he was not sure what he would do if Trump asked him to revive family separation.

"I would suggest there are a lot of ways to do this," he said. "I'd have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

Homan added that it would need "more safeguards in place to make sure these families get reunited quickly."

Chad Wolf, Trump's former acting homeland chief and current executive director of the America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned think tank, said "all options need to be on the table" when asked about revisiting family separations.

But Wolf said the U.S. public clearly did not support it and that other actions could achieve the same goal.

ACTIVISTS READY LEGAL FIGHT

If Trump did implement a family separation policy, he would likely face legal challenges. Days after he ended "zero tolerance" in 2018, a federal judge ordered the administration to reunite the families in response to a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). The effort is still ongoing due to lack of record-keeping.

Another hurdle for Trump could be a settlement agreement signed by the Biden administration that would bar similar separations for eight years.

ACLU attorney Lee Gelernt said the group would go to court to enforce the prohibition if separations resumed.

"We take very seriously the recent talk about it still being on the table and will be prepared if it happens again," he said.

Mark Morgan, a top border official under Trump, said he does not believe a new Trump administration would implement a family separation policy in the way it did the first time.

Morgan - like Homan, Wolf and others - cited Trump's 2019 "remain in Mexico" policy as a better option. That program forced certain non-Mexican migrants to wait in Mexico for the resolution of their U.S. cases and coincided with a drop in border apprehensions, including of families.

Biden moved to end "remain in Mexico" but Trump has pledged to bring it back if reelected.
After a year full of devastating extreme and record-shattering weather conditions across the globe, world leaders are set to gather for the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties (COP28) this week on a mission to curb climate change. The COP28 will take place from November 28 to December 12 under the presidency of the UAE. The COP28 summit is being hosted by the UAE. (CREDIT: Reuters)

What is COP28 and why is it important?

COP28 is the 28th annual United Nations climate meeting where leaders across the world meet and discuss ways and measures to limit and prepare for climate change. The COP stands for Conference of Parties - referring to those parties who signed up to the original UN climate agreement in 1992. The conferences are of significant importance as they are intended for the governments to agree on policies to limit global temperature rises and adapt to impacts associated with climate change.

Notably, the 21st session of the COP (COP21) led to the Paris Agreement, which mobilised global collective action to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2100 and to act to adapt to the already existing effects of climate change.

COP28 in UAE is a controversial subject

The UAE is one of the top 10 oil-producing nations in the world. Oil, being a fossil fuel, becomes one of the main causes of climate change because it releases planet-warming greenhouse gases during its production. The UAE is also one of the most climate-vulnerable countries in the world, due to its very hot and humid climate. Without a reduction in emissions, wet-bulb temperatures in the region are expected to cross 35C (95F) for a prolonged period of time by the 2070s.

However, the UAE has been making efforts to reduce emissions in different ways across several sectors of its economy including - promoting organic and hydroponic agriculture, building the Etihad Rail, and reducing waste. The Middle Eastern country has also pledged to reduce carbon emissions to net zero by 2050. It was also the first country in the region to sign the Paris Agreement.

What will be discussed during the conference?

According to reports, this year's COP28 is expected to stress on the importance of collective action to stop climate change and the critical role of finance in the low-carbon transition. It is also likely to focus on delivering money for climate action from richer to poorer countries.

Who is invited to COP28?

Delegates from nearly 200 countries - over 70,000 people - are expected to attend the conference this week, in what could be the largest United Nations climate summit ever. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be traveling to Dubai from November 30 to December 1 to attend the World Climate Action Summit - the high-level segment of COP28. Other leaders including UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, and Pope Francis have also confirmed their attendance. However, US President Joe Biden will not be attending.
A severe snowstorm injured eight people in Ukraine's southern Odesa region, causing power outages in more than 1,600 settlements across the country and forcing authorities to close over a dozen motorways to vehicles, officials said on Monday. Emergency workers release a car stuck in snow during a heavy snowstorm in the Odesa region, Ukraine on November 27.(Reuters)

The extreme weather comes as tens of thousands of troops man front-line positions in the 21-month-old war with Russia amid fears Moscow could attack the power grid with air strikes this winter.

"In the Odesa region, eight people got hypothermia and five people were injured as a result of falling trees," the state emergency service said on the Telegram messenger.

1,638 settlements in 17 regions of Ukraine remained without power, most of them in the central Kyiv and southern Odesa and Mykolaiv regions, Oleksandr Khorunzhyi, a press officer of the state emergency service, told a press conference.

Emergency workers release cars which are stuck in snow during a heavy snow storm in Mykolaiv region in Ukraine on November 27.(Reuters)

Nearly 1,700 cargo trucks were stuck and 1,130 cars had to be towed away amid snow drifts that in some places were two metres (6.56 ft) high, the service said on Telegram messenger.

12 motorways remained closed as over 1,200 rescue workers were involved in a massive clean-up effort, the service added.

Ukraine's largest private energy provider, DTEK, said early on Monday that it had been able to restore power to nearly 250 settlements.

On Sunday, the mayor of the Black Sea port of Odesa urged residents to stay at home, and authorities warned that water supplies were being interrupted by power cuts that stopped pumps from working.

"Weather conditions have stabilized, which makes it possible to speed up rescue operations... By the end of the day, we hope to free all people and clear key routes," the Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper said on Monday in comments on Telegram.

Ukraine's border service also said on Sunday that Moldova had temporarily suspended vehicle access to its territory from two crossing points in the Odesa region.

In the capital Kyiv, city officials had to replace the country's largest flag as the weather had caused a tear.
Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk voiced support for Israel saying that one challenge was "ultimately stopping the propaganda that is convincing people to engage in, you know, murder". As Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Hamas must be destroyed in a live online chat, Elon Musk said, "There's no choice." Israel-Hamas War: Elon Musk is seen with Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel.

Visiting Israel during its war on Hamas in Gaza, Elon Musk said, I'd like to help as well." He said that hed like to help rebuild Gaza after the Israel-Hamas war but its important to first deradicalize the Palestinian territories.

The billionaire toured the Kfar Aza kibbutz where some of the worst violence occurred on October 7 when Hamas broke through the countrys border wall and attacked civilians.

After watching footage of the attack by Hamas, Elon Musk called the apparent joy expressed by the killers as evil and jarring. Elon Musk was seen wearing a protective vest and escorted by security personnel. He also took photos and videos of the devastation, according to video released by Benjamin Netanyahus office. The Tesla CEO and Israeli premier visited the homes of some victims, including the family of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli-US citizenship who was held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed. She was released in the latest round of exchanges during a cease-fire in Gaza.

The two spoke about the war, the protests it has generated, Hamas and the Middle East while Benjamin Netanyahu said that he hoped Elon Musk would be involved in building a better future. Elon Musk also met Israeli president Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, country's former defense minister.

This comes as Elon Musk is under fire for amplifying anti-semitic content on X.

Earlier, Israel's communications minister Shlomo Karhi tweeted about a deal that his ministry had reached with Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet company.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Shlomo Karhi wrote on X.
European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell (AFP)

European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell on Monday said the extension of the current truce in Gaza is within reach and it would allow international community to work on a political solution to the conflict.

He said that the Palestinian Authority needs to regain control of Gaza from Hamas, offering a "better and viable" alternative to it.

ALSO READ| Elon Musk tells Benjamin Netanyahu: Deradicalize Palestine, will rebuild it

Borrell made the comments during a news conference held in Barcelona during the Union for the Mediterranean summit.

Almost all the participants to the summit agree on a two-state solution, he said.
The world's largest iceberg is drifting, for the first time in over 30 years, as per the British Antarctic Survey. The recent satellite pictures showed that the Antarctic iceberg called A23a was moving beyond the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, propelled by strong winds and currents. The world's largest iceberg named A23a in Antarctica. (Reuters)

British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh said it was rare to see an iceberg this big moving and the scientists will be watching its course closely.

A remote sensing expert from the British Antarctic Survey Andrew Fleming told BBC that the iceberg was drifting apart for a year and it seemed to have picked up the pace now. I asked a couple of colleagues about this, wondering if there was any possible change in shelf water temperatures that might have provoked it, but the consensus is the time had just come.

Here is all you need to know about A23a and why and how it is moving.

What is the A23a iceberg and what happened?

A23a iceberg is 400 meters thick and has about 4,000 square km area, which makes it thrice the size of New York City and two times the size of Great London. It weighs about a trillion metric tonnes.

Since it split from West Antarctica's Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in 1986, A23a has been stranded since its base got stuck at the bottom of the Weddell Sea.

The iceberg is likely to move towards the Southern Ocean. It has been on the move since 2020. Fleming said, It was grounded since 1986 but eventually it was going to decrease (in size) sufficiently to lose grip and start moving. I spotted first movement back in 2020.

British Antarctic Survey glaciologist Oliver Marsh told Reuters, Over time it's probably just thinned slightly and got that little bit of extra buoyancy that's allowed it to lift off the ocean floor and get pushed by ocean currents

A23a once had a Soviet research station on it. Moscow sent out an expedition to retrieve equipment from the Druzhnaya 1 base, concerned about potential loss. However, the tabular iceberg remained relatively close to the coast, and its deep keel securely anchored it to the Weddell Sea's bottom muds, hindering movement.

Since the 1980s, A23a has held the largest current iceberg title, several times mostly being surpassed by larger but short-lived icebergs.

What next?

Like most icebergs, as it gains pace, A23a is likely to be launched into the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. It will then move towards the Southern Ocean, on a path known as iceberg alley, where several other icebergs can be seen floating in dark waters.

As it moves, A23a may once again risk grounding at South Georgia island, creating challenges for the region's wildlife. The island serves as a breeding ground and foraging area for millions of seals, penguins, and seabirds. The massive iceberg could potentially impede their access.

In 2020, a similar concern arose with iceberg A68, raising fears of a collision with South Georgia that could harm marine life and disrupt the food chain. Fortunately, A68 eventually fragmented into smaller pieces, offering a potential resolution for A23a as well.

Marsh told Reuters, An iceberg of this scale has the potential to survive for quite a long time in the Southern Ocean, even though it's much warmer, and it could make its way farther north up toward South Africa where it can disrupt shipping

As reported by CNN, as it would be carried by ocean currents, A23a is likely to move eastward and is currently travelling five kilometres a day.

British Antarctic Survey scientists Ella Gilbert and Marsh have said that while A23a broke off due to the natural growth cycle of an ice shelf, climate change has been driving stark changes in Antarcticas ice and the continent was losing huge quantities of ice each year.
China values the follow-up to the incident of MH370, a Malaysia Airlines flight that went missing nearly 10 years ago, and hopes all sides maintain close communication and properly handle this issue, the foreign ministry said on Monday. Hu Xiufang, 72, who lost her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, holds a sign as she speaks to the media.(Reuters)

Spokesperson Wang Wenbin made the comments after a media report of a Chinese court holding the first hearing of a liability lawsuit filed by relatives of passengers on MH370.
British far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson was charged on Monday with failing to comply with a dispersal order excluding him from attending a march against anti-Semitism in London at the weekend, police said. Metropolitan Police officers arrest British far-right activist Tommy Robinson during a demonstration in central London on November 26, 2023 to protest against antisemitism. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)(AFP)

Robinson, 40, also known as Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, was arrested near the Royal Courts of Justice in London, where the protest began on Sunday, after organisers said he was not welcome at the event.

"A man has now been charged in connection with this incident," the Metropolitan Police said.

"Stephen Lennon, of Bedfordshire, has been charged with failing to comply with a section 35 direction excluding a person from an area."

The section 35 direction is a dispersal order aimed to prevent anti-social behaviour.

The former leader of right-wing English Defence League is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court in central London on January 22.

ALSO READ| Can Hamas benefit from Gaza ceasefire? White House thinks it's a real risk

Robinson, who was arrested after being pepper-sprayed by the police, claimed he had been attending the march as a journalist.

He denied causing alarm or distress to others.

"The arrested man resisted as officers attempted to put him in handcuffs," a Met Police spokesman said.

"He was warned repeatedly before PAVA spray (an incapacitant spray used by the British police) was used."

The force said organisers had "been clear about their concerns that the man's attendance, and that of those who were likely to accompany him, would cause fear for other participants".

"As a result he was spoken to and warned on more than one occasion that his continued presence in the area was likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others," the police said.

"He was directed to leave the area but refused to do so."

Robinson was also seen among crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police in London on November 11, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators called for a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas.
Finland is ready to close its last border crossing with Russia if Moscow keeps pushing migrants across, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo said Monday as migrants continued to make the treacherous journey through the Arctic. A Finnish Border Guard speaks to migrants at the international border crossing at Salla, northern Finland, on November 23, 2023. (AFP)

"We have closed all our border stations on the eastern border except for one and we are ready to close the last one if needed," Orpo told reporters in Helsinki.

"Finland is protecting the European Union's external border and NATO's border. We will not let this phenomenon continue," he added.

Finland has seen a surge in asylum seekers entering without a visa across its 1,300-kilometre (800-mile) border with Russia, with around 800 crossing since August.

The migrants are predominantly from the Middle East and Africa.

This has prompted Finland to close all but its northernmost border crossing, in the remote Murmansk region in the Arctic, over the past two weeks.

Finnish officials claim Russia is attempting to destabilise its Nordic neighbour, with Orpo last week calling it "a systematic and organised action by the Russian authorities".

In April, Moscow warned it would take "countermeasures... in tactical and strategic terms" after branding Finland's decision to join NATO as an "assault on our security".

Since November 23, the only border crossing that remains open is the Raja-Jooseppi station.

Migrants continued to cross there this weekend, with a total of 60 arriving on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, according to the Finnish Border Guard.

Finland is obligated by international law to ensure that migrants can seek asylum, and the availability of locations can only be limited in exceptional circumstances, according to Finnish legal experts.
The body of Rosalynn Carter, the former U.S. first lady who died on Nov. 19 at age 96, will lie in repose on Monday in Georgia, giving Americans the chance to pay their respects to the woman her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, called "an extension of myself." Former and current US Secret Service agents assigned to the Carter detail, walk next to the hearse carrying casket of former first lady Rosalynn Carter.(AFP)

Carter died shortly after she entered hospice care at home in Plains, Georgia, alongside her husband, a Democrat who gave his wife a prominent voice during his presidency from 1977-1981 and supported her advocacy in the cause of mental health.

Her family and current and former members of her U.S. Secret Service security detail joined a hearse motorcade on Monday morning to the Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex at Georgia Southwestern State University in Americus, Georgia, where wreaths were laid. Spectators in Plains waved U.S. flags as the motorcade passed by them.

A repose service will be held in the afternoon in the lobby of the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, followed by an opportunity for members of the public to view the casket and pay their respects.

A tribute church service for invited guests is scheduled for Tuesday.

On Wednesday, Carter's funeral will be held at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains before an internment at the family residence.

Carter and her husband were the longest-married U.S. presidential couple, having wed in 1946 when he was 21 and she was 18.

Since his single term as president ended, Jimmy Carter has lived more post-White House years than any president before him, and she played an instrumental role during those years, including as work for the Carter Center nonprofit and the Habitat for Humanity charity.

Her family disclosed in May that she had dementia. Jimmy Carter, 99, entered hospice care at home in February after deciding to decline additional medical intervention.
A royal tell-all book has revealed that the royal family members are getting fed up with King Charles IIIs reluctance to reconcile with Prince Harry. A book by Omid Scobie  Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchys Fight for Survival  whose advance copy was obtained by Page Six, made these claims. A royal tell-all book has revealed that the royal family members are getting fed up with King Charles IIIs reluctance to reconcile with Prince Harry (AP/PTI, Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press via AP)

Harry and Meghan Markle quit the royal family and moved to California in 2020, but reports claim that they later made efforts to reconnect with the family. Charles, however, refused to budge.

Its complex, but theres increasing frustration from some of the wider circle of family members that Charles wont just fix things for the sake of everyone, a royal source told Omid.

A friend of the Duke of Sussex also claimed that Charles refused to reciprocate when Harry wished him a merry Christmas in 2022. It was an awkward conversation, but he knew if he didnt make those first steps, there would never be any progress, the friend said of Harrys decision to reach out. There were no raised voices, no arguments  but the King was cold and brief rather than open to any proper dialogue.

The book has also claimed that Harry asked Charles a heartbreaking question after he was asked to leave Frogmore cottage. He allegedly asked Charles, Dont you want to see your grandchildren any more? He then allegedly begged the king to let him keep the keys to Frogmore cottage.

Back in 2023, Charles ordered Harry and his wife Meghan Markle to leave their Windsor home. Omid wrote about the moment a shocked Harry and Meghan were ordered to return their keys to their Winsor home. Omid called the move a cheap shot from a wounded father bounded by an institutional system that is often intolerant of human emotion. He also said that the house was the familys "only true safe option when visiting the United Kingdom" since armed guards monitor the grounds.
India is investigating the attempt on the life of the general counsel of the secessionist Sikhs for Justice Gurpatwant Pannun because the United States has presented inputs that are legally presentable though thats not the case with the allegations related to the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada on June 18, Indias High Commissioner to Ottawa Sanjay Kumar Verma has said. (ANISanjay Kumar Verma)

In an interview to the network CTV News, which aired on Sunday, Verma said, If you look at the most recent incident to where there are some allegations put out in one of the newspapers against India, the US did provide us inputs. And we have already started following up on that.

When asked by host Vassy Kapelos whether Canadas National Security and Intelligence Advisor Jody Thomas had not provided actionable information to India when the she visited New Delhi for a total of nine days in August and September, Verma said, Conversations could have allegations, conversations could have some facts of the case, but allegations and facts do not make it specific and relevant.

Verma said the Indian Government required specific and relevant information to go back to our legal authorities to seek permission to do investigation that we would have wanted to do. So until the time that those kinds of inputs are not there, in a country of rule of law, it will not be possible for us to move forward on the investigations.

Referring to 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, he said, Whether we call it credible allegation, thats the choice of word, but its an allegation. So from the Indian governments side, I can assure you and your viewers that there was no government hand in the shooting of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.

However, he argued that Canada asking India to cooperate in the investigation implied that even without an investigation being concluded, India was convicted.

Is that rule of law? he asked, adding, If you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks us to cooperate, which means that you have already been convicted, and you better cooperate. So, we took it in a very different interpretation.

He also said the core issue was that some Canadian citizens are using Canadian soil to launch attacks on sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is against any international law. He indicated such activity violated Article 2.4 of the United Nations that no country should allow its oil to be used to target other countries sovereignty and integrity, or territorial integrity.

He also said that pro-Khalistan elements in Canada were considered terrorists, rather than as separatists, by India because they are raising their funds in Canada, sending it across to the gangsters and gangs in India, who are doing illegal activities in India.
Devotees and members of the Indo-Canadian community in the town of Surrey in British Columbia confronted pro-Khalistan elements who had come to protest a consular camp at the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir on Sunday. Devotees and community members at the Lakshmi Narayan Mandir in Surrey, British Columbia, facing off against pro-Khalistan elements gathered there to protest against a consular camp organised by Indias Consulate in Vancouver at the temple on Sunday.

According to temple officials nearly 200 counter-protestors faced off for over three hours against the pro-Khalistan protest, which had been called by the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice or SFJ.

Temple president Satish Kumar said, referring to the consular camp organised at the temple, Everything ran very smoothly.

They had about 25 protestors and we had nearly 200, he added.

The two groups faced off across the road in front of the temple as Surrey Police deployed nearly 20 personnel to keep them apart.

The way they had given us an ultimatum, we were ready to face them. They never expected we were prepared to give them a taste of their own medicine, temple council chair Parshotam Goel said.

If the consulate needs to deliver services to the community, we will welcome them, regardless of the threat. We are not going to get intimidated and were not going to take it lying down, he stressed.

After almost three hours of the confrontation, police officers at the venue intervened to disperse the two groups. Police also prevented masked Khalistani elements in a vehicle from disrupting the camp, which had been organized by Indias Consulate in Vancouver.

Earlier in the day, the temple posted on social media, Mandir Attack. Come and Save.

SFJ has warned the Hindu community to stop sponsoring the killers of the its principal in the province Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He was killed on June 18 in Surrey.

Nijjars killing led to a rupture in relations with India after Trudeaus statement in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between his murder and Indian agents. Part of the information that led to that statement came from the US. India had described those allegations as absurd and motivated.

Canada has sought Indias cooperation in the investigation being conducted by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team or IHIT in BC but India has said it has been provided with no evidence to support Ottawas allegations.

There were similar protests at a consular camp organised by Indias Consulate in Toronto at the Toronto Kali Bari in the town of Mississauga in the Greater Toronto Area or GTA. However, the Consulate posted on X that camps held over the weekend at five locations in Ontario were successful with nearly 900 life certificates issued to pensioners and queries of the community answered.

Similar camps were also held at six locations in Canada the previous weekend, under heavy police presence due to the threat to disruption by pro-Khalistan elements.

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.
Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas have raised concerns over the lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners set to be released on Monday, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters. Both Israel and Hamas have expressed their concern over the current hostage-prisoner exchange list in the ceasefire (AFP)(AFP)

The official added that Qatari mediators are working with Israel and Hamas to resolve issues and avoid delays.

"There is a slight issue with todays lists. The Qataris are working with both sides to resolve it and avoid delays," the official said.

In the previous three days of the truce Israel submitted the names of Palestinian women and teenagers it would release from jail and Hamas would submit the names of Israeli civilian hostages it would release at least 12 hours ahead of the release.
Iran called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza to stop Israel's "crimes" in the territory after the truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final day. Hamas said that it is willing to extend the four-day pause and free more hostages. The ceasefire began on Friday under which dozens of hostages were freed by Hamas while over 100 Palestinian prisoners were released by Israel in return. Israel-Hamas War: Palestinians walk among the rubble, as they inspect houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, amid the temporary truce between Hamas and Israe.(Reuters)

Nasser Kanani, Iran's foreign ministry spokesman, said, As the Islamic Republic of Iran, we want and expect... that the crimes of the Zionist regime against the Palestinian people will be stopped completely.

Iran is "following" the extension of the truce with the regional party active in this field, the state of Qatar, he said while Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian was on a visit to Doha.

"One of the main goals of the ongoing negotiations and efforts is to ensure that the existing temporary ceasefire takes a stable form and that the cruel aggression of the Zionist regime (Israel) against Gaza is not repeated," he said, adding, Tt seems that the Zionist regime after not being able to achieve its objectives after the offensive on Gaza wants to obtain a tangible victory.

Iran has labelled Israel's campaign in Gaza as a genocide as it denies any direct involvement in Hamas' attack on Israel. Hamas poured across the Israeli border on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians. In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children.

EU's top foreign policy official Josep Borrell also called for an extension of the truce in the Gaza Strip as it entered its final 24 hours.

"The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution," he said, calling for a "political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all".

"Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians on seven of October. But one horror cannot justify another horror," he said.
Israel-Hamas War highlights: Hamas released 17 hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl, in Gaza on Sunday. Simultaneously, Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners on the third day of their truce. The International Committee of the Red Cross helped in the successful transfer of the hostages from Gaza. According to Hamas, the released individuals include 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one person with Russian citizenship. A fourth exchange is anticipated on Monday, marking the final day of the ceasefire, during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women and minors, are set to be released. The exit of a helicopter is covered as hostages get-off, after being released from Gaza, at the helipad of the Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petah Tikva, Israel. (AP)

International mediators, led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar, are working to extend the ceasefire initiated on Friday. In a significant shift, Hamas expressed its intention to extend the deal by releasing a larger number of hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in communication with US President Joe Biden, offered to extend the ceasefire by an additional day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas. However, he emphasised that Israel would resume its offensive vigorously once the truce concludes. Prior to the last release, Netanyahu, wearing body armour, visited the Gaza Strip, engaging in discussions with troops. At the end of the day, we will return everyone. We are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us.
The White House said that Hamas could benefit from Gaza ceasefire as it welcomed the the extension of the humanitarian pause in the territory. It's a real risk, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said adding that US hopes Americans will be among the 20 hostages to be released next as eight to nine US citizens are believed to still be among those being held. Israel-Hamas War: A Palestinian walks in Gaza City amid temporary ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.(AP)

Conditioning aid to Israel is a worthwhile thought but that US president Joe Biden believes his approach is working, the spokesman asserted. Israel and Hamas agreed to prolong a truce in Gaza as it was about to expire, mediator Qatar said. Hostage and prisoner exchanges were set to continue as both Hamas and Israel had been under international pressure to avoid a return to battle.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said "an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip."

Hamas confirmed that an agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt for an extension of the temporary humanitarian pause for an additional two days, with the same conditions as the previous truce.

The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had informed families of the identities of hostages to be released on Monday. Israel has been clear that the pause is designed to allow Hamas to free more of the hostages it is holding since the October 7 attack in which 1,200 Israelis, including many women and children, were killed. In Gaza, Israel's campaign against Hamas has left almost 15,000 dead, mostly Palestinian civilians.

Earlier, US president Joe Biden, top EU envoy Josep Borrell and NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg urging the parties to extend their temporary break in fighting.

"That's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief in to those in need," Joe Biden said while Josep Borrell called for the pause to be prolonged "to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution."

"Nothing can justify the indiscriminate brutality Hamas unleashed against civilians," he said.
White House has been decked up ahead of Christmas Day celebrations in the United States. At least 98 Christmas trees, more than 142,000 twinkling lights and nearly 34,000 ornaments have been used to decorate the halls of the White House. Besides this, 15,000 feet of ribbon, more than 350 candles and over 22,000 bells have also been installed as decorations. National Guard families will be among the first members of the public to see the beautifications. First lady Jill Biden receives the official 2023 White House Christmas Tree at the White House in Washington(AP)

US First Lady Jill Biden is hoping that the decorations will inspire visitors and evoke "the inner child" in them. On Monday, she thanked hundreds of designers and decorators who helped decorate the White House. She expressed how well the volunteers designed each room, catering to the theme.

Each room on display is designed to capture the pure, unfiltered delight and imagination of our childhoods, to see this time of year through the wondrous, sparkling eyes of children, Jill said as quoted by AP.

But its in these times, when we are searching for hope and healing, that we need those points of light the most, that we need each other the most. Its in these times that I hope you remember, if even just for a moment or a season, how you saw the world as a child, the US First Lady added.

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2023 marks the 200th anniversary of the poem and book, 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," published in 1823. The decorations have catered to this fact, in a major way. The book's samples of editions from the past 200 years, are on display along the ground floor corridor in the White House.

The decorations have also paid tributes to the military personnel who sacrificed their lives for the security and prosperity of the United States. One of the first Christmas trees that visitors will see, has been decorated with wooden gold star ornaments engraved with the names of fallen service members.

How different parts of White House has been decorated

The State Dining Room has been decorated with the gingerbread White House. The Blue Room houses an 18.5-foot Christmas tree. The tree celebrates cheerful scenes, landscapes and neighbourhoods from across USA.

Meanwhile, the Cross Hall has been decorated with the official White House Menorah.



(With agencies inputs)
Concerns regarding US president Joe Biden's health are valid, Texas Republican representative Ronny Jackson, a former White House physician, said. [The decline is] happening quickly. I've taken care of three presidents so I know firsthand what it takes to be the commander-in-chief and the head of state. It's a grueling job, both mentally and physically. This man can't do the job. He's proven to us every single day that he can't do the job, but this is going to get worse, Ronny Jackson, who served as a physician under the Bush, Obama and Trump administrations, said. Joe Biden's Health: US president Joe Biden.(AFP)

The former physician has previously sounded the alarm over Joe Biden's cognitive acuity, even demanding a cognitive test before 2024 elections.

"It's just unbelievable how much he's degenerated just during his time in office. We cannot afford to have this man in office for the remainder of this term and then [for] another four years after that. He's already putting us at great risk right now," he said.

"[Look at] the wars that we're getting drawn into. Things that wouldn't happen if Donald Trump were there because our enemies don't fear us anymore. They have no respect for us anymore and our adversaries don't trust us anymore, and it's because we don't have the leadership in the White House that we need," he explained, continuing, It's because this man, even if he wanted to, he cannot provide that leadership. He is not physically and cognitively fit for office anymore, and somebody in his inner circle needs to step up to the plate and make him aware of this, and he needs to move on for the safety and security of this country.

This comes as polls have shown that Donald Trump leads Joe Biden by four percentage points among registered voters between the ages of 18 to 34.
Israel-Hamas war updates: US President Joe Biden said he hoped the pause in fighting can go on as long as prisoners are getting released. Biden hoped more Americans would be released by Hamas although he did not have firm news. The US president also advocated for a two-state solution, stating that this is the only way to guarantee the long-term security of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. US President Joe Biden is welcomed by Israeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu as he visits Israel.(Reuters file)

Biden was briefing the media after Hamas released 17 hostages held in Gaza, including a four-year-old American girl, on Sunday while Israel was also seen releasing prisoners on the third day of their truce. Biden said the four-year-old hostage, Abigail Edan, had witnessed her parents being killed by Hamas fighters during their October 7 raid into Israel and had been held since then.

"What she endured is unthinkable," Biden said. Two days ago, Abigail  one of our fellow Americans  turned four years old. She spent that birthday and the last 50 days held hostage by Hamas. Today, she is free once more. We will keep working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones, he added.

Biden said the US continues to press that additional Americans be released. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned, he said.

Over the future of Gaza, Biden said, A two-state solution is the only way to guarantee the long-term security of both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. To make sure Israelis and Palestinians alike can live in equal measures of freedom and dignity. We will not give up on working toward this goal.

To keep this pause in fighting going beyond tomorrow is our goal  so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief to those in need, Biden said.

Biden has already made it clear that there was no going back to the status quo before October 7, when Palestine's militant group Hamas launched a surprise assault in Israel killing over 1,200 people, meaning in part that when the crisis is over, there must be a view of what comes next.

What is a two-state solution?

The two-state solution calls for establishing an independent state for Palestinians alongside that of Israel. The US has been supporting it  for decades, it has been the primary proposed framework for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, failed peace dialogues, logistical questions, expanded Israeli settlements, Palestinian attacks and recurring clashes have kept it from becoming a reality. The two-state solution has seen dwindling support from both Palestinians and Israelis over the years.

Four-day Israel-Hamas truce

The four-day truce is the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages back into Gaza.

In response to that attack, Israel has vowed to destroy the Hamas militants who run Gaza, bombarding the enclave and mounting a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday met security forces inside the Gaza Strip. He also said he spoke to Biden about the hostage release, adding that he would welcome extending a temporary truce if it meant that on every additional day 10 captives would be freed.

However Netanyahu said he also told Biden that, at the end of the truce, "we will return with full force to achieve our goals: The elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages."

However, Netanyahu also said he would welcome extending the truce if it facilitated the release of 10 additional hostages every day, as agreed under the original Qatari-brokered deal.

(With inputs from agencies)
The Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan caused a lot of controversy when it was released in December 2022, especially for King Charles III, who had just become the monarch after the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in September 2022. Report reveals rift between Prince Harry and King Charles.(AP)

According to a new book by royal author Omid Scobie, titled Endgame: Inside the Royal Family and the Monarchys Fight for Survival, the King was "fuming" when the show stole the spotlight from his efforts to promote his vision and agenda as the new head of state.

Scobie quoted a source who said that the docuseries "took the wind out of everyones sails" and that Charles was "doing his damnedest best" to get positive media attention, but "no one [was] watching" because of the Sussexes' sensational revelations.

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The book also claimed that Charles' initial sadness and anger over his son's decision to leave the royal family and move to the US with his wife Meghan Markle and their two children, Archie and Lilibet, turned into resentment and bitterness when he felt overshadowed by them.

"He went from not wanting anyone to talk about his son to openly criticizing that fool,'" another insider told Scobie.

"The King was genuinely sad about the entire situation. He was angry but didnt want people to speak ill of his son in front of him, either. It was a brief moment where he paused and realized how bad things had become."

However, Scobie wrote that Charles' sympathy for Harry and Markle "soon disappeared" when their media attention eclipsed his own. Scobie also noted that the docuseries "eclipsed" Charles "at every turn."

The relationship between Charles and Harry has been strained since Harry and Markle announced their departure from the royal duties in 2020 and signed a lucrative deal with Netflix, followed by Harry's explosive memoir, "Spare," which exposed many secrets and grievances from his life as a royal.

ALSO READ| Increasing frustration bulding up within royal family over King Charles' refusal to reconcile with Harry, book claims

Despite the rift, the couple reportedly tried to reach out to Charles earlier this month to wish him a happy 75th birthday. They also sent him a video of their children singing "Happy Birthday," according to the Telegraph.

Scobie's book, which reveals more details and insights from the lives of the royals, will be available on Nov. 28.
Malaysia will grant visa-free entry to citizens of China and India for stays of up to 30 days starting on Dec. 1, according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Malaysias prime minister Anwar Ibrahim (AP)

Anwar made the announcement late on Sunday during a speech at his People's Justice Party congress and did not say for how long the visa exemption would be applicable.

China and India are Malaysia's fourth and fifth-largest source markets respectively.

According to government data, Malaysia recorded 9.16 million tourist arrivals between January and June this year, with 498,540 from China and 283,885 from India. That compared to 1.5 million arrivals from China and 354,486 from India in the same period of 2019, prior to the pandemic.

The move follows similar measures implemented by neighbouring Thailand to boost its vital tourism sector and stimulate its sluggish economy, with Chinese and Indian nationals among those exempted this year.

Currently, Chinese and Indian nationals must apply for visas to enter Malaysia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said Turkey should approve Sweden's stalled bid for membership "as soon as possible". NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg holds a press conference.(Reuters)

"Sweden has delivered on what they promised and now the time has come for Turkiye to finalise the accession process," Stoltenberg said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Ukraine was still inflicting major losses on Russia, despite Kyiv not managing to regain captured territory.

"Of course we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible as quickly as possible as possible, but even though the frontline has not moved, Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders," Stoltenberg said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Ukraine was still inflicting major losses on Russia, despite Kyiv not managing to regain captured territory. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (AP)

"Of course we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible, as quickly as possible, but even though the frontline has not moved, Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders," Stoltenberg said.

The assertion from the head of the Western military alliance comes after Ukraine's top general said the conflict with Russia has ground to a "stalemate".

"We see high casualty numbers, and some of the most intense fighting that we have seen in the whole war, have actually taken place over the last weeks and couple of months," Stoltenberg said.

"We need to distinguish between the fact that the frontline is not moving so much, and the fact that actually there's very heavy fighting going on."

The NATO chief insisted that, while Ukrainian forces were not currently progressing, Kyiv had already recaptured 50 percent of territory seized by Russia since its full-scale invasion.

"This is a big win for Ukraine," he said.

"Meanwhile, Russia is weaker politically, economically and militarily."

Ukraine's failure to score a decisive breakthrough comes as doubts have emerged over the future of military support from key backer the United States.

ALSO READ| Nearly 2 million people in Russia, Ukraine have no electricity after huge storm

Stoltenberg pointed to recent pledges of military assistance from Germany and the Netherlands worth 10 billion euros ($11 billion) as evidence the West's support was not drying up.

Stoltenberg played down fears that any dwindling of weapons deliveries to Ukraine would force Kyiv to the negotiating table with Russian President Vladimir Putin before it was ready.

"It is for Ukraine to decide what are acceptable ways to end this war," Stoltenberg said.

"Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place when or if negotiations may start."

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday will look to reassure Kyiv of their backing despite Israel's war with Hamas diverting much attention.

Washington insists it is supporting Ukraine "for the long haul" despite opposition but hardline Republicans are so far blocking major new commitments.

Stoltenberg said NATO allies had sent increasingly advanced weapons systems to Ukraine to help it advance and work was going on to try to better link up how Kyiv's forces use technology like drones and cyber to attack.

"I'm absolutely certain that the message from NATO allies at this meeting... is that we need to stand by Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

"It is our security interest that President Putin does not win this war."
Almost two million people in Russia and occupied Ukraine were left without power on Monday, after hurricane force winds and heavy rains cut electricity lines and caused widespread flooding. Emergency workers release a car which stuck in snow during a heavy snow storm in Odesa region, Ukraine in this handout picture released November 27, 2023. (via REUTERS)

Huge waves crashed over beachside areas of Russia's Black Sea coast, video from social media showed, as wind speeds reached over 140 kilometres (about 90 miles) per hour in some places.

At least four people were killed during the storm, local media said.

Two bodies were found in Russia's southern Krasnodar region, while a sailor was killed in the Kerch Strait between Crimea and Russia, state media reported.

One man on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula's southern coast was also killed, according to Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the region's Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov.

"The man went out to look at the waves and, unfortunately, tragically died," he said.

Russia's energy ministry said "about 1.9 million people" were affected by power cuts in the southern Russian regions of Dagestan, Krasnodar and Rostov, as well as the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Lugansk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Crimea.

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In Crimea, one of the worst affected regions, Aksyonov said rescue workers hoped to restore electricity over the next two days.

Crimean lawmaker Vladimir Konstantinov said on state television that the peninsula had experienced an "armageddon"-like scenario.

"Old-timers can't remember this kind of wind and waves," he said.

- Highways hit -

Parts of Crimea's coastal highway linking the cities of Yevpatoria and Simferopol were closed due to flooding, and ferry services from Crimea's largest city of Sevastopol were suspended.

About 500 marine animals in Sevastopol's aquarium were killed during the storm, which flooded one of its floors, the city's Moscow-installed governor said.

Transport on the Ukrainian mainland and southern Russia were also affected.

Train traffic on Russia's Black Sea coast was disrupted after rail tracks fell into the sea, while oil loading at the port of Novorossiysk was suspended.

Kyiv said more than 2,000 towns and villages were left without power due to bad weather on the Ukrainian mainland, which was hit by up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) of snow.

"In total, 2,019 settlements in 16 regions are cut off from the grid," Ukraine's interior ministry said.

In the southern city of Odesa, which has been subjected to repeated Russian strikes, authorities said they had helped 1,624 people who had been trapped due to snow.

Regional authorities said the temperature had fallen to below freezing with reports of gusts of up to 72 kilometres (44 miles) per hour.

Ukraine's energy grid has been targeted systematically by Russian forces since Moscow's assault began last year, and officials have warned strikes could intensify over winter.
North Korea has suffered an uptick in the number of people suffering from thinning hair or going bald, South Korean experts reported. Speaking to Radio Free Asia (RFA), the experts discussed that the phenomenon appears to derive from a number of sources, including infections that caused hair loss as an after-effect. This could also be the result of using soap and laundry detergent that contain "harsh" chemical ingredients, they said. North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is seen. (AP)

Choi Jeong Hoon, a doctor from North Korea who fled to South Korea and now serves as a senior researcher at the Public Policy Research Institute in Seoul, explained that it is "not easy" for North Koreans to find "mild" chemical products as "ordinary residents cannot afford to worry about hair loss." The cost of treatment for the average citizen is too much to afford, he said.

Ahn Kyung Soo, head of DPRKHealth.org  a blog following health issues in North Korea- said that treatments for hair loss in North Korea are more like oriental medicines. These are topical tonics based on medicinal herbs likely to have minimal effects. Another expert also argued that the militarys caps may damage hair due to lack of proper ventilation. This could lead to bacterial buildup and clogged pores that can result in thinning hair. All North Korean men are typically required to serve 10 years in the armed forces.

This comes as North Korea sent troops to its southern border to restore guard posts taken down under a 2018 agreement with South Korea, Seoul's military said. Earlier Pyongyang launched a spy satellite which stoked tensions on the peninsula.

A South Korean military official told AFP that Pyongyang had recently sent armed personnel and equipment to restore the guard posts and North Korean soldiers were "seen rebuilding the guard posts from Friday".
A Pakistani court on Monday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against senior PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb and directed the police to produce her before it on December 9 in connection with a hate speech case. PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb (X(formerly Twitter))

A terrorism case was registered against the former information minister, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mian Javed Latif, state-run Pakistan Television's Managing Director Sohail Khan and others for allegedly trying to incite hatred by using the religion card against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan.

Latif and Aurangzeb were accused of making controversial remarks in order to spread religious hatred against the former prime minister.

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During the hearing of the case on Monday, Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) Lahore inquired about the whereabouts of the PML-N leaders and was informed that Latif had appeared while Aurangzeb had not, the Geo News reported.

Consequently, the judge issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against Marriyum, 43, for not appearing before the court and directed all suspects named in the case to appear before it on December 9.

ATC judge Abher Gul Khan directed the station house officer (SHO) concerned to execute the arrest warrant of Marriyum.
A special court in Islamabad on Monday sent jailed ex-Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan to 14-days judicial remand in a corruption case after it rejected a plea of the anti-corruption watchdog to grant his physical custody to further probe him. Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan.(AP)

Judge Muhammad Bashir of the Islamabad Accountability Court presided over the hearing of the Al-Qadir Trust corruption case held at the Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, where Khan is currently jailed, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

The 71-year-old Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party chief has been incarcerated in the high-security jail in Rawalpindi since September 26 in various cases.

Khans wife Bushra Bibi, a co-accused in the case of 50 billion alleged sleaze, Khans sisters Aleema Khanum and Noreen Khanum and the legal team of the couple appeared before the Islamabad-based Accountability Court of Judge Muhammad Bashir, who conducted the hearing in the Adiala Jail, Rawalpindi.

A strong five-member prosecution team of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was also present on the occasion, pressing for his physical remand in the Al Qadir Trust case.

However, the judge rejected the plea and sent him to jail on judicial remand for 14 days.

Khan was already in the Adiala jail in the cipher case when on November 14 he was again arrested by NAB in the Al-Qadir Trust case. He was then handed over to the watchdog on physical remand.

Earlier, the Dawn newspaper reported that a Pakistan anti-corruption watchdog team quizzed Khan in jail in a multibillion rupee corruption case.

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A senior official of NAB told Dawn that their team visited Khan in the Adiala Jail on Sunday and interrogated him for over two hours in connection with charges he faces in the 190 million pounds ( 50 billion) in the Al Qadir Trust case.

Officials from the anti-graft watchdog have been visiting Adiala Jail since November 15 to investigate Khans role in the case.

After todays hearing, Khans counsel Sardar Latif Khosa told the media that he had opposed the physical remand in the case because it was unnecessary.

He said that NAB was involved in political engineering and political vendetta.

Khosa also quoted Khan as saying about NABs interrogation in jail that the official questioning him spent most of the time in just chit-chatting with him.

"The chairman says they [investigators] question him for 10 minutes and then indulge in chit-chatting for three to four hours, said Khosa.

Khan and his wife are accused of obtaining billions of rupees and land from Bahria Town Ltd for legalising 50 billion that was identified and returned to Pakistan by the United Kingdom during the previous PTI government.

The case relates to the alleged illegal acquisition of land for and construction of Al Qadir University involving unlawful benefit given in the recovery of prime proceeds through the UKs

National Crime Agency (NCA) in a money laundering case against real estate tycoon Malik Riaz and his family.

Khan is also accused of misleading the cabinet by concealing the facts related to the settlement agreement. Money was received under the settlement agreement and was supposed to be deposited in the national exchequer. But it was adjusted in the recovery of 450 bn liabilities of Bahria Town Karachi (BTK).

The notice served on the accused says that the anti-graft watchdog took cognisance of the commission of offences of corruption and corrupt practices as defined under the NAB laws.

In return for this favour illegally and dishonestly, Bahria Town Ltd gave material and monetary benefits in the shape of land measuring 458 kanals (57.25 acres), , 285 million, buildings and other kinds disguised under the garb of donations to Al Qadir University Trust in which you are one of the trustees and signed acknowledgement of donations with Bahria Town, said a previous NAB notice to Mr Khans wife Bushra Bibi.

Khan has been in jail since August 5 when he was arrested due to a conviction in the Toshakhana Case.

Separately, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said that Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi would appear before a special court on Tuesday (Nov 28) in the cipher case. The two are accused of violating the secret laws of the country.

The proceedings of the case would be held outside the jail as regular court premises in Islamabad, according to PTI after the IHC last week ruled against the jail trial of the two.
Pope Francis has revealed that he has a lung inflammation but will go later this week to Dubai to address the climate change conference. Francis said that he was going to the United Arab Emirates for the COP28 gathering on climate change and that he would deliver his speech. (Reuters)

Francis skipped his weekly Sunday appearance at a window overlooking St. Peter's Square, a day after the Vatican said he was suffering from a mild flu. Instead, Francis gave the traditional noon blessing in an appearance televised live from the chapel in the Vatican hotel where he lives.

"Brothers and sisters, happy Sunday. Today I cannot appear at the window because I have this problem of inflammation of the lungs," Francis said. The pontiff, who turns 87 on December 17, added that a priest, sitting beside him, would read out his day's reflections for him.

In those comments, Francis said that he was going to the United Arab Emirates for the COP28 gathering on climate change and that he would deliver his speech, as scheduled, on Saturday to the participants.

"Besides war, our world is threatened by another great peril, that of climate change, which puts at risk life on Earth, especially for future generations," the pontiff said in the words read by the priest.

"I thank all who will accompany this voyage with prayer and with the commitment to take to heart the safeguarding of the common house," the pontiff said, using his term for Earth.

In the footage, it could be seen that the Pope had a bandage on his right hand and what appeared to be a cannula. The Vatican didn't immediately respond to a query from The Associated Press about whether he was receiving intravenous or some other treatment.

Not immediately explained was the discrepancy between the Pope saying he has lung inflammation and the Vatican saying a day earlier that Francis had a CT scan at a Rome hospital "to exclude the risk of pulmonary complications" and that the exam was negative.

Earlier this year, Francis was hospitalised for three days for what he later said was pneumonia and what the Vatican described as a case of bronchitis necessitating treatment with intravenous antibiotics.

This weekend has been very windy and unusually chilly for late autumn in Rome.

The pontiff's voice dipped low, and at times he seemed almost breathless in his brief introductory remarks explaining why he didn't make the window appearance, and at the end when he added his usual request to "don't forget to pray for me".
Qatar's foreign ministry said that the truce in Gaza has been extended for two more days. Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X, (formerly Twitter), The State of Qatar announces that, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip. Israel-Hamas War: Palestinians walk among the rubble, as they inspect houses destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, amid the temporary truce between Hamas and Israe.(Reuters)

Qatar, along with Egypt, has been the key mediator in the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. The announcement comes on the final day of a four day truce between the two sides.

More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors while some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas.

What Hamas said on the two-day truce?

Hamas said that it had agreed with Qatar and Egypt to a two-day extension of the truce with Israel under the same conditions as the previous four-day ceasefire.

"An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce," a Hamas official told news agency Reuters.

Will there be more exchange of hostages?

Israel and Hamas are preparing for a fourth exchange of hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages  14 Israelis and three Thais  in a third exchange. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. Of the roughly 240 hostages captured by Hamas, 62 have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza. As a result of parallel negotiations, a total of 17 Thais, one Filipino and one dual Russian-Israeli national have also been released by Hamas.
Russian and Chinese business leaders are considering the construction of an underwater tunnel connecting Russia and Crimea, it was reported. The tunnel would mark an unprecedented collaboration between the two countries even though China has not recognized Russian sovereignty over Crimea. Russia-Ukraine War: An aerial view of the city of Sevastopol after a missile attack struck the headquarters of Moscow's Black Sea fleet in annexed Crimea.(AFP)

The Washington Post reported that Russia is exploring the option as an alternative to its 11-mile bridge across the Kerch Strait. The bridge has been bombed multiple times since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. As per the report, the Chinese Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC)- a state enterprise owned and operated by the Chinese Communist Party- wrote that workers were "ready to ensure the construction of railway and road construction projects of any complexity in the Crimean region.

Citing an email from Russian business leader Vladimir Kalyuzhny, the report claimed that he expressed interest in acting as a general contractor for a tunnel project calling the reports "a lot of hot air" while flatly denying cooperation between Russia and the CRCC. The Chinese Communist Party wishes to remain behind the scenes on the tunnel project under strict provision of complete confidentiality, it claimed as CRCC said that their work on a hypothetical Kerch Strait project would be attributed to "another, unaffiliated legal entity" and that the corporation would convert its dollar funds into rubles for their transfer to Crimea to fund [consortium] projects.

China has never officially recognized Russia's claims of sovereignty over Crimea. Moscow invaded Crimea in 2014.

This comes as Oleg Kryuchkov, a senior Moscow-installed official, said that nearly half a million people were without power in Crimea amid reports of high winds, flooded homes, snowbound roads, and damaged buildings, news agency Reuters reported.
Russia was intensely attacking the eastern town of Avdiivka and southern village of Robotyne, where fighting has centred in recent weeks, Ukraine said on Monday. A car drives through an area destroyed after a strike in the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk Oblast, on March 18.(AFP)

Neither side has made significant breakthroughs on the battlefield for weeks, as Moscow's invasion drags on for a 22nd month.

In recent weeks, Russia has focused its efforts on the industrial hub of Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, which now appears almost encircled by Moscow's forces.

"The enemy continues offensive actions near Avdiivka," the Ukrainian army said.

It said Moscow's forces had launched "more than 150" attacks on Ukrainian positions in villages around the town.

A day earlier, Ukraine said it had "repelled" two dozen attacks around Avdiivka.

Kyiv did not report gains or losses in the area.

But the US-based Institute for the Study of War said "Russian forces made confirmed advances northwest and southeast of Avdiivka" over the weekend.

Moscow controls territory to the north, east and south of Avdiivka, which lies just 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Moscow-held city of Donetsk.

In the south, Kyiv said Russian forces had "conducted around 20 attempts to restore lost position near Robotyne of the Zaporizhzhia region, but gained no success."

Ukraine recaptured the tiny village of Robotyne in August, announcing a strategic victory in its counter-offensive.

But Russia has attacked Robotyne since, with Ukraine appearing to struggle to hold on.

Russian military bloggers, meanwhile, reported that Ukraine's positions established on the Moscow-held side of the Dnipro river were steady, despite Russian attempts to oust them.

Ukrainian forces reportedly crossed to the occupied bank of the river in the Kherson region earlier this month, establishing positions in the hamlet of Krynky, in a tactical success.

"The Russian army with the help of the artillery counter-attacked in Krynky and got back part of their positions," the WarGonzo Telegram account, close to the Russian army, said.

"But the foothold of the Ukrainian army in this village remains quite stable," the account added.
A South Korean court sentenced a 68-year-old man to 14 months in jail for praising North Korea in a poem. The poem by Lee Yoon-seop advocated for unification and was published in North Korea's state media in 2016, BBC reported citing South Korean media reports. Lee Yoon-seop was convicted under a law that prohibits public praise of North Korea.(AP)

In its ruling, a Seoul court said as per the Korea Herald that Lee Yoon-seop continued to generate and disseminate a considerable amount of propaganda that glorified and praised the North.

Lee Yoon-seop wrote in his poem that if the two Koreas were united under Pyongyang's socialist system, people would get free housing, healthcare and education.

He titled the piece Means of Unification and argued that in a united Korea, less people will commit suicides or live in debt. The poem was one of the winners of a poetry contest in North Korea in November 2016.

Lee Yoon-seop was convicted under a law that prohibits public praise of North Korea as South Korea's national security act outlaws the praise and promotion of "anti-government" organisations.

The 68-year-old has earlier been jailed for 10 months for a similar offence, The Korea Herald reported as he posted comments online praising North Korea's military in 2013. He has also posted anti-state content on South Korean blogs and websites in subsequent years.

South Korea's top court earlier this year ruled the security law constitutional despite calls in recent years for the law to be reviewed in favour of free speech.

This comes as North Korea is restoring front-line guard posts that it had dismantled, South Korea's military said. The two Koreas previously dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside the Demilitarized Zone under a 2018 deal which is now in danger of being scrapped as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it.
A Vermont man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder Monday in connection with the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent who were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington. Jason J. Eaton, 48, a suspect who was arrested in the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in Burlington.(Reuters)

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday, a day after the shooting outside his apartment building near the University of Vermont campus. He appeared in court Monday by video from jail, speaking only to confirm his identity. His attorney entered pleas of not guilty on his behalf, and a judge ordered him held without bail pending a hearing that likely will be held in the next few days.

According to a police affidavit, federal agents found a shotgun in Eaton's apartment. He refused to identify himself but told the officers he had been waiting for them.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Vermont authorities in the investigation.

There has been a sharp increase in threats directed against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, he said. There is understandable fear in communities across the country, Garland said.

The three men, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victims' relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday.

Two of the victims are U.S. citizens and the third is in the country with legal permission. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from victims families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

The three men had been staying at Awartanis grandmothers house for Thanksgiving, Awartani told police. They had gone bowling earlier Saturday and were returning when a man walked up to them, pulled out a gun and started shooting, he said.

A second victim told police he saw a man staring at them from the porch of a white house. Abdalhamid told police that the man stumbled down the stairs and pulled out a pistol.

Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said the gunman shot them without saying any words and all three are now in the ICU.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference Monday to discuss the investigation. Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said.

The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. "But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school, in the West Bank.

While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country," the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. "We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation," Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in suburban Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. It was the third exchange under a four-day truce deal.
A Thai para-athlete and former soldier shot his bride and three others before killing himself on his wedding day, police said. Chaturong Suksuk, 29 and Kanchana Pachunthuek, 44, were set to be married in north-east Thailand when Chaturong left the party abruptly and returned with a gun. He then shot his 62-year-old mother and 38-year-old sister after which he killed his wife. Thailand Wedding Shooting: Police told BBC that this was still speculation and that they had collected evidence and expected to close the case "soon".(Representational)

Stray bullets hit two guests, who were taken to hospital where one of them died.

Police told BBC that Chaturong Suksuk "was quite intoxicated at the time", but his motive remains unclear. He had bought the gun and ammunition legally last year. The guests told local media that the couple had an argument during the party as Chaturong Suksuk felt insecure about the age gap between him and Kanchana Pachunthuek.

Police told BBC that this was still speculation and that they had collected evidence and expected to close the case "soon".

Chaturong Suksuk and Kanchana Pachunthuek had lived together for three years before they married, Thai media reported. Chaturong Suksuk clinched a silver medal in swimming at the Asean Para Games in Indonesia last year and was also believed to be on the list of athletes competing in the World Abilitysport Games in Thailand in December.

Chaturong Suksuk had lost his right leg while on duty with the paramilitary light infantry force.
Rishi Sunak said he condemns antisemitism "in all its forms," in a careful criticism of Elon Musk that stopped short of the full-throated condemnation by US President Joe Biden and others who have accused the tech entrepreneur of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his X social media platform Britain's Prime Minister Rishi Sunak condemned antisemitism in the midst of the Israel-Hamas war. (AFP)(AFP)

"I don't tend to get in the business of scrutinizing what every single person says who I've interacted with. Of course I abhor antisemitism," UK PM Sunak said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Sunday, when asked about his views on Musk. "It doesn't matter whether you're Elon Musk or you're someone on the street who's shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past you, that's wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong."

Mr Musk triggered a backlash this month when he agreed with a post on X, formerly Twitter, that falsely claimed Jewish people are stoking hatred against White people, saying the user was speaking "the actual truth." Firms including Disney, Apple and Warner Bros withdrew advertising spending. Biden's office condemned the "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms."

UK PM Sunak has been dragged into the furor because he chose to share a stage with Musk at the UK's AI Safety Summit in early November. The premier interviewed the tech entrepreneur for nearly an hour, discussing how technology could make paid work redundant - though without generating any particular controversy.

Still, the event raised eyebrows at the time, and Musk's subsequent remarks on X have led to questions about UK PM Sunak's judgment.

In his weekly Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons last week, the UK PM was asked by an opposition Labour Party lawmaker to condemn Mr Musk. He declined to do so, instead turning the question into an opportunity to attack the MP's record and accusing him of not understanding "the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy."

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended a march against antisemitism in central London. The Israel-Hamas conflict has exacerbated community tensions and led to a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. Pro-Palestinian marches have also taken place regularly since Hamas's Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Antisemitism is "kind of like an old spore of a virus that lurks beneath the floorboards of Western civilization, our collective memory, and it comes out from time to time," Johnson told GB News on Sunday. "We're seeing a flare up, and we need to call it out."

Speaking to Bloomberg, Rishi Sunak said incidents of antisemitism in recent weeks were "unacceptable" and that the police are under orders to bring people to justice. "We've been unequivocal from the start of this situation, that it is not acceptable in our society," he said.

Mr Musk is set to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Isaac Herzog in Israel on Monday, the nation's Channel 12 TV said Sunday. He has denied being anti-Semitic in a post on X.
British prime minister Rishi Sunak praised skilled migrant workers in a key speech at the Global Investment Summit. The British Indian leader praised the countrys most competitive visa regime that makes it the best in the world to invest and do business in, he said against the backdrop of discontent within his own party after last weeks Office for National Statistics (ONS) data revealed record-high annual migration to the country. Britain's prime minister Rishi Sunak holds a press conference.(Reuters)

We dont have a monopoly on talent in this country, and we recognise that nearly half of our most innovative companies have an immigrant founder, Rishi Sunak told a gathering of CEOs of some of the worlds biggest businesses.

So, if youre an innovator, an entrepreneur, a researcher, you should know that the most competitive visa regime for highly skilled international talent is right here in the United Kingdom, he said. Talking about High Potential Individual (HPI) visa as an example, he said that a person can come to the UK with family for two years to just explore, work, study, invent.

"Nothing like that exists anywhere else in the world. And that tells you everything about our pro-innovation, pro-growth, pro-business philosophy. So thats the opportunity here in the UK. Thats why you should believe me when I say this is the best country in the world to invest and do business, he explained.

According to last weeks ONS figures, Indian nationals represent the largest group of students granted leave to remain on this route- 43 per cent of grants. The net migration figures to the UK hit an all-time high of 745,000 for 2021-2022.
Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie has accused his former friend and president Donald Trump of contributing to the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia in the country. Christie said that Trump's intolerant rhetoric has given the green light to others to express their hatred. Chris Christie slams Trump's 'intolerant rhetoric in potent election pitch(AFP/Getty Images via AFP)

Christie, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, remarked on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. He said that Trump's intolerance was not an isolated phenomenon, but part of a broader trend of bigotry in some of the nation's elite institutions.

"He shows intolerance towards everyone, which is what he does, and when you do that as a leader, you give permission for others to have their intolerance come out," Christie said.

"And that's been going on for quite some time, not just with Donald Trump, but with university professors on some of our most elite campuses in this country."

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Trump, 77, has often touted his support for Israel and his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka are Jewish. However, his presidency coincided with a surge of antisemitic incidents across the US, especially on college campuses.

In the wake of the recent war in Israel, triggered by a surprise attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, there have been several reports of antisemitic attacks and harassment of Jewish students. During pro-Palestinian protests at Cooper Union, Jewish students reported seeking refuge in the library. At George Washington University, a slogan calling for the elimination of Israel was projected on a campus building.

At the same time, there have also been cases of Islamophobic violence and discrimination. In Chicago, a 6-year-old Palestinian boy was allegedly killed by a landlord in a hate crime last month.

Christie, 61, has positioned himself as the only candidate who can challenge Trump and his loyalists in the 2024 GOP race. He claimed, You really now in my view have four major contenders for the nomination: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, me and Nikki Haley.

The former New Jersey Gov. did not mention entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been polling higher than him nationally. Christie has focused his campaign on New Hampshire, where he is currently in third place behind Trump and Haley.

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Christie said he was confident about his chances, citing the example of the late Sen. John McCain, who was in third place in New Hampshire in 2008 and went on to win the state and the nomination.

Christie, who has qualified for the fourth GOP debate on Dec. 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., vowed to stay in the race until the end.

"I will be in this race through to the convention," he said.
Katherine Forster, a reporter for GB News, a London-based news channel was intimidated and harassed by a pro-Palestinian protestor in a live broadcast on Saturday. The Metropolitan Police has announced that they are investigating the incident. Katherine, who began reporting the events of the 7th week of consecutive protests by pro-Palestinian groups in Central London, detailed that the protests she had seen a similar pattern.(Bloomberg)

Katherine, who began reporting the events of the 7th week of consecutive protests by pro-Palestinian groups in Central London, detailed that the protests she had seen a similar pattern.

"They start out very peaceful, theres babies and buggies, theres people with dogs, theres people in wheelchairs; all ages, all ethnicities, she explained. However, things often turn unpleasant a little bit later, [and] of course, theres always people out for trouble.

The police have been handing out leaflets, trying to clarify to protesters what might get them arrested. Theyd rather not arrest people, but it inevitably looks like theres always a few" who will be.

I was shaking by the end of it

She detailed the interaction as such: In the last hour or so our backwatcher, who is here to keep us safe, had really quite an unpleasant experience. A guy on a tannoy, shout[ed] at us [and] wanted to know who we were broadcasting from. He wouldnt go away, [and] was very persistent. Eventually, I said GB News and at that point he just I cant tell you what he said but it was vile: Facist, scumet cetera. A group of people came around us, all shouting at us," she said. I have to say, it was very intimidating. I was shaking by the end of it.

We then moved to a completely different place and at the end of that, lo and behold, he appeared again. Police spoke to him and hes been moved on. Weve been told to stay here and were filing a police report.

"The right of the press"

The police took to X (Formerly Twitter) to confirm that they were investigating the incident.

The right of the press to freely report on protests is no less important than the right to protest itself. They should be able to do so without facing intimidation or aggression."

Officers spoke with the journalist and her team following this incident. An investigation is underway, they wrote.

Chairman of the National Jewish Assembly, Gary Mond condemned the incident to the Jerusalem Post with the statement: "This incident might appear to some to be minor, but in reality it is an excellent demonstration of the concept of intolerance shown by so-called pro-Palestinian demonstrators. They are a national disgrace."

About two weeks ago, the Metropolitan police were forced to detain 150 protesters as a demonstration on Armistice Day turned violent.
Authorities have reportedly arrested a man accused of being involved in the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont. 48-year-old Jason J. Eaton was apprehended on Sunday afternoon, November 26, Burlington Police Department said. This undated handout photo provided by the Institute for Middle East Understanding shows Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali, and Kenan Abdulhamid, who were shot on their way to a family dinner (Photo by HANDOUT / Institute for Middle East Understanding / AFP)

According to police, Jason lives in an apartment building near the place where the shooting took place. He was reportedly arrested at the site of the attack, the Daily Mail reported.

The victims have been identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed. They were all 20 years old. Civil rights organisations and the victims families are urging authorities to investigate a possible bias by the attacker.

Previous reports claimed the men were under medical care. The Burlington Police Department said that the students were attacked while they were walking on Prospect Street while visiting a relative for Thanksgiving holiday. The release said that they were confronted by a white man with a handgun. Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot, police said. While two of the students are US citizens, one is a legal resident.

Two of the students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, the police department said. While two were shot in the torso, one was shot in the lower extremities. The victims were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center.

According to authorities, there is no additional information to suggest the suspects motive. The police also said that ballistic evidence from the shooting collected by detectives is set to be submitted to a federal database. On Sunday, November 26, the FBI said it was prepared to investigate the incident.

Before the suspects arrest, the victims family told law enforcement in a joint statement, We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.
As many as three Palestinian college students were reportedly shot in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday evening, November 25. Civil rights organisations and the victims families are now urging authorities to investigate a possible bias by the attacker. This undated handout photo provided by the Institute for Middle East Understanding shows Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali, and Kenan Abdulhamid, who were shot on their way to a family dinner (Photo by HANDOUT / Institute for Middle East Understanding / AFP)

A statement by the family, released by the Institute for Middle East Understanding, identified the students as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut.

The men, all of them 20, are under medical care, a release from the Burlington Police Department said. The students were attacked while they were walking on Prospect Street while visiting a relative for Thanksgiving holiday. The release said that they were confronted by a white man with a handgun. Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot, police said. While two of the students are US citizens, one is a legal resident.

Two of the students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, the police department said. While two were shot in the torso, one was shot in the lower extremities. The victims were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center.

According to authorities, there is no additional information to suggest the suspects motive. The police also said that ballistic evidence from the shooting collected by detectives is set to be submitted to a federal database. On Sunday, November 26, the FBI said it was prepared to investigate the incident.

The suspect(s) is yet to be identified, and the police department is at the earliest stages of investigating this crime, according to Police Chief Jon Murad, CNN reported.

The victims family told law enforcement in a joint statement, We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.
US President Joe Biden has decided against attending the Cop28 gathering of world leaders in Dubai this week, confirmed by a US official on Sunday. President Joe Biden will not attend COP28 summit.. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)(AP)

This announcement follows an earlier report by The New York Times projecting Biden's absence from the climate-focused meeting.

Reuters had previously indicated that Biden's participation in the United Nations' "Conference of the Parties" (COP28), set to commence on Thursday, was uncertain due to the pressing demands of ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and the anticipated intensification of his presidential campaign in January.

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The White House released President Biden's schedule for Thursday, revealing his engagements including a bilateral meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola and attendance at the National Tree Lighting event, highlighting conflicting commitments influencing his decision not to attend the COP28 in Dubai.

Despite Biden's absence, numerous countries are poised to advocate for an unprecedented global agreement aimed at phasing out carbon dioxide-emitting coal, oil, and gas during the Dubai meeting.

The US President had previously participated in both COP summits since assuming office in 2021. However, his non-appearance at this year's fortnight-long talks, hosted by the United Arab Emiratesa significant oil and gas producerunderscores the challenges in balancing international commitments amidst domestic and global concerns.

The upcoming event in Dubai expects participation from scores of world leaders, senior ministers, and officials representing 198 nations, along with an estimated 70,000 delegates. This gathering marks the largest annual COP held within the framework of the 1992 UN convention on climate change.

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While UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is anticipated to attend, the opening speeches are slated to be delivered by King Charles, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, and His Holiness, the Pope. Additionally, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is confirmed to attend, with an invitation extended to Bashar al-Assad, President of Syria.

China's President Xi Jinping is not expected to be present at the talks.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has sparked global outrage with his seemingly callous reference to the nine-year-old Hamas hostage as an innocent child who was lost and has now been found. Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar arrives for a meeting hosted by Denmark on the future of the EU at Christiansborg Castle in Copenhagen, Denmark(AFP)

In a post on social media, Varadkar welcomed the release of nine-year-old Israeli Irish hostage Emily Hand, This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.

The post which failed to mention that Emily was captured by terrorists and released in a prisoner exchange after being held hostage for 50 days in Gaza attracted a lot of wrath by the netizens. It was viewed by a whopping 42million users and attracted 22k comments, following which Varadkar had to switch off the replies.

Is Leo Varadkar the most tone-deaf politician in the Western world?He calls a 9-year-old girl kidnapped by Hamas lost - the day after he reserved his hatred not for the psychopath who stabbed children in Dublin, but the protesters who rose up. What planet is he on?, stated an X user.

Leo Varadkar's recent tweet shocked the Jewish community and damaged Ireland's reputation. But it also once again put a spotlight on how some European leaders who have no role or influence in the Mideast are positioning themselves, commented another X user.

Even Israel Foreign Minister Eli Cohen wrote directly to Varadkar on X, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check! He later summoned the Irish ambassador to Jerusalem following the outrageous words.

Indian origin Varadkar was then forced to put up a long statement, clarifying his view point about Emily Hand who was abducted from Kibbutz Beeri  after a sleepover with her friend  during the October 7 massacre.

In the 6 paragraph statement after the online fury Vadarkar stated, A little girl was snatched from her home and held captive for almost seven weeks. She spend her ninth birthday as a hostage. We hope she will soon heal and recover from the traumatic experiences in the loving embrace of her family.

Varadkar has failed to end online criticism even after the rebuttal and is now staring at a diplomatic face-off with Israel. While leaders from the European Union, have voiced support for Israels right to defend itself, Varadkar had earlier stated that although it has a right to defend itself, Israel doesnt have the right to do wrong, adding: To me, [Israels military campaign] amounts to collective punishment.
The White House welcomed an agreement Monday to extend a truce between Israel and Hamas by two days, saying it was hopeful the humanitarian pause would continue for longer still. Israel-Hamas War: Palestinian children walk amid debris of buildings hit in Israeli strikes, near Al-Zawiya market in Gaza City.(AFP)

Read more: UK PM Rishi Sunak refers to his Punjabi heritage in Gurpurab message

"Of course we welcome the announcement," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.
The Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is authentic", editor Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press. Merriam-Webster's word for 2023: Authentic follows 2022s choice of gaslighting. (Shutterstock)

We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity, he said ahead of Monday's announcement of this year's word. What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more," he said. This year there was no particular huge boost at any given time for the search of the word but a constancy to the increased interest in authentic", he said.

Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper? Can we trust whether a politician made this statement? We don't always trust what we see anymore. We sometimes don't believe our own eyes or our own ears. We are now recognizing that authenticity is a performance itself," he said.

Merriam-Webster's entry for authentic shows meaning as: not false or imitation: real, actual, true to one's own personality, spirit or character, worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact, made or done the same way as an original, conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.

Authentic follows 2022s choice of gaslighting.

What are the other top words of 2023:

Rizz: Slang for romantic appeal or charm". Merriam-Webster added the word to its online dictionary in September.

Kibbutz: There was a massive spike in lookups for a communal farm or settlement in Israel after Hamas attacked Israel

Impode: The June 18 implosion of the Titan submersible on a commercial expedition led to more searches for the word.

Deadname: The word is defined as the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses upon transitioning.

Coronation: King Charles III's May 6 ceremony rose lookups for the word soaring to 15,681% over the year before.

Deepfake: The definition is an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said.

Indict: Former US president Donald Trump's indictment on felony charges in four criminal cases increased interest in the word.
The Hamas on Sunday released the first US hostage - four-year-old Abigail Edan - under the four-day Gaza truce deal with Israel. US President Joe Biden announced her release shortly after the Israeli army said that 17 hostages were being freed by Hamas. She's free and in Israel nowshe's been through a terrible trauma, Biden told the media. Abigail Edan, 4, who was released after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas(REUTERS)

Here's all we know about Abigail Edan:

The Hamas terrorists stormed Abigail's kibbutz Kfar Azza in Israel on October 7 during its surprise assault in Israel and killed her parents in front of her. Abigail managed to run to a neighbour's home for shelter and took refuge with Avihai Brodetz and his family. Brodetz said he was trying to defend Kfar Aza kibbutz when his wife Hagar, 40, and their three children were kidnapped. Several days later he found out they had survived the attack but had been abducted along with Abigail, a neighbour's child who had taken refuge in their home. Ofri, the eldest child, marked her 10th birthday in captivity in Gaza. Her younger brothers Yuval and Oria are aged eight and four. Abigail holds a dual Israeli-US citizenship. The four-year-old victim of Hamas celebrated her fourth birthday in Gaza on Friday in captivity. Two of Abigail's family members on Sunday thanked Biden, the Qatari government, and others involved in securing her release, saying that they remain committed to the "safe and swift return" of all hostages.

Hamas has released a total of 39 hostages so far in the first three days of the temporary ceasefire deal. The agreement stipulates the release of 50 hostages within four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian security prisoners. Israel on Sunday said that it has also received the list of the final 11 hostages scheduled for release later today.

Meanwhile, Hamas has signalled its willingness to extend the deal, reported AFP citing sources, adding that the group told mediators they were open to prolonging it by two to four days. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also issued a statement saying he had spoken to Biden reiterating his offer to extend the ceasefire by an additional day. However, he said that Israel would resume its offensive will all our might once the truce ends.

The war between Israel and Hamas is in its eighth week following Hamas' October 7 attack which killed 1,200 people. Meanwhile, according to the health ministry in Gaza, over 15,000 people, including thousands of children, have been killed in Israel's strikes so far.
Chinese billionaire Jack Ma is backing a newly formed startup, whose name in English translates to Hangzhou Mas Kitchen Food. According to a report by CNN, the new company is based in the eastern China city of Hangzhou, Mas hometown. The startup will involve sale of pre-packaged food, imports and exports, and edible agricultural products. As per the report, the company has registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.4 million). Jack Ma(REUTERS)

Citing Qichacha, a corporate data provider in China, the report claims that Mas Kitchen is wholly owned by an entity named Hangzhou Dajingtou No. 22 Arts and Culture, of which Ma has 99.9% ownership.

Huge demand of ready-made meals in China.

The demand for ready-made meals has risen exponentially in China. According to Euromonitor International, the market for ready-made meals in China was worth nearly $9.9 billion last year, an increase by about 28% as compared to the numbers in 2018.

ALSO READ| Paris mayor quits X calling it 'gigantic global sewer': Refuse to endorse this

Experts believe that Ma is focusing on grabbing a chunk of this huge business opportunity involving the sale of pre-packaged food.

Packaged meals are becoming increasingly popular. Consumers in some cases are choosing these meals as they are trading down and not dining out as much, but are also choosing them for access to variety and due to time constraints, explained Ben Cavender, managing director of China Market Research Group, a strategy consultancy.

Cavender highlighted how Ma can make use of his association to e-commerce to innovate and add value to the business.

If, instead, this ends up being more about sales of fresh foods like fruit, there is also demand for a wider variety of high-quality options and reasonable prices, and this is a space where his ties to e-commerce  would add value, Cavender added.
Whitbread Plc, the UK's leading hospitality group and owner of Premier Inn, has been granted planning permission for a 116-bedroom hotel on Bognor Regis seafront by Arun District Council.

The new hotel will be developed on the Bognor Regis Esplanade, on the site of the old fire station, and encompasses part of the Regis Centre car park.

With planning permission secured, Whitbread will deliver its planned 13m investment into Bognor Regis to deliver its second Premier Inn in the popular seaside resort. The company expects to create around 30 new year-round jobs at the new hotel on opening.

An economic impact assessment submitted as part of Whitbread's planning application calculated that guests of the 116-bedroom hotel will spend in the order of 2.8 million/year in the Bognor Regis economy.

The approved hotel was designed to reference the historic Regency style of buildings in the town, reflecting the rich history of Bognor Regis in a contemporary and sustainable way. The building will orient towards the seafront with a cafe terrace along the Esplanade with customers accessing the hotel via Clarence Road.

Reflecting Whitbread's commitment to becoming a net zero business by 2050, the hotel will be powered by energy generated from renewable sources with air source heat pumps, heat recovery units and solar panels on site.

Whitbread currently operates a network of 849 Premier Inn hotels in the UK, offering its customers a choice of more than 83,500 bedrooms. The business believes there is potential for 125,000 UK Premier Inn rooms in time and is keen to grow its presence in coastal locations like Bognor Regis as it expands.

Hotel website
Dinso Resort & Villas, Koh Chang will be the second collaboration between IHG and Dinso Resort Co., Ltd.

IHG Hotels & Resorts, one of the world's leading hotel companies with more than 6,000 open hotels across 100 countries, extends its partnership with Dinso Resort Co., Ltd, one year on from Dinso Resort & Villas Phuket, Vignette Collection successfully converting into IHG's system.

Opening in 2024, the 166-room Dinso Resort & Villas Koh Chang, Vignette Collection joins Dinso Resort & Villas Phuket, Vignette Collection and Sindhorn Midtown Bangkok, Vignette Collection to represent a trio of Thai properties featured within IHG's first collection brand.

Dinso Resort & Villas Koh Chang, Vignette Collection rebrands from the former Emerald Resort Koh Chang to enter IHG's system in 2024 following extensive renovation and closure since February 2023. Set to reach 100 properties in 10 years, Vignette Collection provides the next generation of luxury and lifestyle travellers with one-of-a-kind-stays in destinations to remember, enhanced with authentically storied experiences.

A popular destination for domestic travellers, Koh Chang is Thailand's third largest island and a five-hour drive from Bangkok followed by a 15-minute ferry ride. Popularly known as Elephant Island because of its shape, it is famed for the Koh Chang Marine National Park consisting of dozens of unspoiled islands with snorkelling and diving opportunities as well as pristine beaches and wide range of wildlife living amidst lush rainforests.

Dinso Resort & Villas Koh Chang, Vignette Collection is a beachfront property located on the white sandy Klong Prao Beach on the Eastern side of Koh Chang. Facilities include five restaurants & bars, 750 square metres of meeting spaces, swimming pool, spa and fitness centre.

Hotel website
Tom Roelens, previously the Senior Vice President and General Manager, has been promoted to Managing Director of Atlantis The Royal resort in Dubai. Roelens, who joined the resort in January 2020, has been instrumental in managing its operations, including 795 guestrooms, 231 private residences, and 17 restaurants. He was a key figure in the resort's grand opening, highlighted by a private concert by Beyonce.

Before his tenure at Atlantis The Royal, Roelens gained over 20 years of experience with Four Seasons. His promotion coincides with Atlantis Dubai's strategic shift towards global expansion and leadership restructuring. In a related move, Timothy Kelly was appointed President of Atlantis Global in October, signaling the group's intent to develop more hotels worldwide. Kelly now oversees operations at Atlantis Dubai, Sanya, and leads the global expansion of the Atlantis brand, including both Atlantis The Palm and Royal, as well as the hotel in China.

In May, Kelly expressed plans to Bloomberg for expanding the Atlantis brand, with aspirations to open up to four more hotels globally, focusing on regions like Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and North America. He mentioned the group's intention to finalize some deals within the year.
The UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism has been held for the first time in La Rioja, one of the worlds leading wine tourism destinations, with the focus placed firmly on inclusion and sustainability for local communities and territories.

Paving the way towards inclusive growth, especially in rural areas, requires clear policies and a commitment to embracing digital transformation and innovation. Recognizing this, the Conference brought together key stakeholders and leaders from across the growing wine tourism sector to address priorities including education, skills development and the effective use of data.

Unlocking Excellence in Wine Tourism

The 7th edition of the UNWTO conference welcomed thought-leaders from both emerging and established wine destinations, including Argentina, Armenia, Chile, France, Germany, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, and the United States of America. As well as celebrating the growing interest in wine tourism, the event made clear the challenges for building more competitive destinations and transforming demand into economic growth and social inclusion. Over two days, workshops and masterclasses focused on:

Skills development and a better understanding of the impacts and trends of wine tourism were identified as crucial elements to create value and promote wine regions, ultimately enhancing their competitiveness.

With the impact of climate change affecting the sector, experts debated how to progress sustainability in wine tourism as well and progress digitalization for better processes. Participants discussed the need to harmonise data collection, the use of new data sources and innovative strategies for expanding new products, outreach on social media, utilizing cutting-edge digital tools, and leveraging new technologies, including Artificial Intelligence, to create knowledge and a seamless experience.

Inclusion and sustainability: Creating partnerships for growth

Navigating the complex network of stakeholders in wine tourism, the event also put the spotlight on the importance of having national and local wine tourism strategies while fostering the debate on new, innovative forms of collaboration. A series of masterclasses allowed participants from over 40 countries to exchange and expand their knowledge on the links of wine tourism with gastronomy, arts and culture, communication and branding, new technologies, product development and sustainability.

During the closing ceremony, La Rioja handed over the symbolic amphora to Armenia, marking the countrys status as the next host for the 8th UNWTO Global Conference on Wine Tourism in 2024.

RELATED LINKS:

About The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)

The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) is the United Nations specialized agency fostering tourism as a vehicle for equal, inclusive and sustainable development. Working with its Member States, international organizations and the private sector, UNWTO promotes safe and seamless travel for all. UNWTO also works to make tourism the foundation of trust and international cooperation and a central pillar of recovery. As part of the wider UN system, UNWTO is at the forefront of global efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including through its ability to create decent jobs, promote equality and preserve natural and cultural heritage.

Follow UNWTO on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin.
Staff shortages in the hospitality industry are a lurking issue that can drastically affect the quality of a business and the experiences guests receive. In an era of unparalleled challenges, luxury hotels are particularly hard hit. This article delves into how these premium institutions are prioritizing their staffs well-being and professional growth to combat the current labor shortages. Welcome to the compelling universe of luxury hotel staff management!

Staff management challenges in luxury hospitality

The hospitality sector has never been more competitive, particularly in the upper echelons where luxury hotels compete for discerning clients who demand a luxury lifestyle and nothing less than perfection. With the advent of the pandemic and its aftermath, a new crisis has reared its head - staff shortages.

In middle-level hotels, where services are often standardized, the impact might be less devastating. But luxury hotels are an entirely different ball game. In luxury hotels, staff members aren't just employees; they're artisans of experience. Trained meticulously in attention to detail, emotional intelligence, multicultural sensitivity, and luxury brand management, they go beyond routine tasks to offer highly personalized service. Specialized skill sets, ranging from sommelier expertise to local art knowledge, elevate the guest experience from excellent to extraordinary.

Adaptability and lifelong learning form the backbone of career development in luxury hospitality. Staff must be quick to adapt to emerging trends and technologies, which is why receiving support for continuous education and professional development is essential. The high standard of service is not just about meeting expectations but exceeding them. This is particularly crucial when dealing with high-end clients, often demanding a commitment to discretion and confidentiality, especially with high-profile guests. A comprehensive approach to staff development underscores this commitment to excellence that sets luxury hotels apart from their competitors.

Great luxury hotel staff & service from the guest perspective

In a luxury hotel, every staff member plays an intricate role in the guests experience. The front desk receptionist who welcomes you is often the first point of contact, setting the tone for your entire stay. What distinguishes luxury hotels is the depth and breadth of service, personalized to the unique needs of each guest.

When you call room service for breakfast, they remember youre lactose intolerant and suggest a dairy-free smoothie. When you return to your room in the evening, you find your favorite magazine on the coffee table. This is no accident but the result of a dedicated and well-trained staff.

To consistently provide a high level of customer service for the demanding luxury market, luxury hotel staff members need more than just training, they need support for their wellbeing. This recent series of articles on workplace wellbeing provide plenty of evidence that having a happy and healthy staff is the best way to get good results in any business sector. In the luxury sector, this means they will be better prepared to resist the stress of daily challenges, fulfill the guest's explicit requests, and anticipate needs guests might not even be aware of.

Changes in luxury staff attitude: time to face the truth

The labor shortage has had a broad impact across multiple industries. However, unlike sectors that can offshore tasks or rely heavily on automation, luxury hotels are faced with the challenge of maintaining a high level of personal service.

The ongoing labor shortage is reshaping the hospitality industry in profound ways, including the quest for an ideal work environment. Since the hospitality industry suffers from a difficult reputation, many workers are changing sectors and opting for part-time work, leaving luxury hotels scrambling to fill roles traditionally occupied by seasoned full-time professionals.

In response, luxury hotels are rethinking their employee retention strategies by focusing on flexible operational structures, employee satisfaction schemes, and well-being initiatives.

Seven strategies for success in luxury hotel staff management

Retaining skilled staff is an enormous challenge, particularly in the luxury hospitality sector where the expectations are stratospherically high. To combat this, luxury hotels are implementing "strategies for success" that go beyond competitive salaries, which serve as the baseline but are frequently insufficient to retain the best talents.

Here are a few examples of the ways that luxury hotels are getting creative and offering a diverse range of benefits aimed at nurturing and keeping their most valued assettheir employees.

Improve mental health: The emotional toll of maintaining a facade of perfection is heavy. To address this, luxury hotels offer mental health programs that include therapy sessions, wellness retreats, and in-house counselors. Well-being in luxury hospitality is a 360-degree endeavor; you can't expect staff to offer top-notch service if they are emotionally drained.

The emotional toll of maintaining a facade of perfection is heavy. To address this, luxury hotels offer mental health programs that include therapy sessions, wellness retreats, and in-house counselors. Well-being in luxury hospitality is a 360-degree endeavor; you can't expect staff to offer top-notch service if they are emotionally drained. Offer career paths: Promotion is not the only thing that counts in a career. Many luxury hotels offer sponsored courses, further education plans, and opportunities for departmental rotation to help employees develop a more well-rounded skill set. Career paths in luxury hotels are increasingly diverse, offering multiple avenues for employee development.

Promotion is not the only thing that counts in a career. Many luxury hotels offer sponsored courses, further education plans, and opportunities for departmental rotation to help employees develop a more well-rounded skill set. Career paths in luxury hotels are increasingly diverse, offering multiple avenues for employee development. Promote ownership: Offering a stake in the company is a powerful way to say, 'youre important to us.' Some luxury hotel chains now offer ESOPs as part of their retention strategy. When employees are shareholders, they take ownership in the most literal sense, thus contributing to the overall growth and legacy of the hotel.

Offering a stake in the company is a powerful way to say, 'youre important to us.' Some luxury hotel chains now offer ESOPs as part of their retention strategy. When employees are shareholders, they take ownership in the most literal sense, thus contributing to the overall growth and legacy of the hotel. Create a sense of purpose: To keep employees engaged and purpose-driven, several luxury brands have even started community involvement programs to help staff feel a sense of purpose beyond their daily roles.

To keep employees engaged and purpose-driven, several luxury brands have even started community involvement programs to help staff feel a sense of purpose beyond their daily roles. Focus on financial well-being: Recognizing that financial stress can significantly impact employee performance, luxury hotels are introducing financial well-being programs as part of their commitment to a luxury lifestyle for both guests and staff. These may include seminars on wealth management, tax planning, and even investment advice. When an employee doesnt have to worry about their finances, they can focus more clearly on their job, thereby providing a higher level of service.

Recognizing that financial stress can significantly impact employee performance, luxury hotels are introducing financial well-being programs as part of their commitment to a luxury lifestyle for both guests and staff. These may include seminars on wealth management, tax planning, and even investment advice. When an employee doesnt have to worry about their finances, they can focus more clearly on their job, thereby providing a higher level of service. Self-design the benefits: Who knows what employees want better than the employees themselves? Some luxury hotels now allow staff to design their own benefit packages within a specified budget. This approach gives employees a voice in their own well-being, letting them choose everything from the type of healthcare benefits they receive to the wellness programs that best suit their needs.

Who knows what employees want better than the employees themselves? Some luxury hotels now allow staff to design their own benefit packages within a specified budget. This approach gives employees a voice in their own well-being, letting them choose everything from the type of healthcare benefits they receive to the wellness programs that best suit their needs. Do community outreach: many luxury hotels now encourage community involvement, whether it be beach clean-ups or volunteering at local shelters. This not only fosters a sense of greater purpose among employees but also cultivates a team-building environment outside the confines of the hotel.

Navigating the luxury hospitality landscape has always been akin to steering a ship through a sea full of icebergs. The challenges are monumental, but the rewards for those who navigate them successfully are even greater. Backed by decades of research and educational excellence, the industry is uniquely positioned to guide the next generation through these challenges, equipping them with the practical skills and academic rigor needed to succeed in this dynamic field.

With innovations in staff management and employee well-being, luxury hotels are poised not only to survive the current labor shortages but thrive in the years to come.

The industry is committed to preparing the next generation of leaders to navigate these choppy waters successfully.

Are you ready to be part of this exciting and rewarding industry? Join EHL Graduate Schools new Luxury Management Specialization Program and elevate your career to the next level.

About EHL Group

EHL Group is the global reference in education, innovation and consulting for the hospitality and service sector.

With expertise dating back to 1893, EHL Group now offers a wide range of leading educational programs from apprenticeships to master's degrees, as well as professional and executive education, on three campuses in Switzerland and Singapore. EHL Group also offers consulting and certification services to companies and learning centers around the world. True to its values and committed to building a sustainable world, EHL Group's purpose is to provide education, services and working environments that are people-centered and open to the world. www.ehlgroup.com

EHL Hospitality Business School

Communications Department

+41 21 785 1354

EHL

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The GuestRevu GREAT Awards concluded with the announcement of the winners last night on the 23rd of November at an event that glittered with the presence of top hoteliers and leading hotel tech providers. This prestigious event, held at the iconic Good Hotel in London, showcased the best in the hospitality industry, celebrating excellence, innovation, and dedication to guest satisfaction.

The awards evening, graciously sponsored by industry-leading hospitality technology providers Cendyn and Hop, was an extraordinary celebration of these exceptional achievers. It served as a testament to the dedication and hard work of hoteliers who continuously strive to offer the very best to their guests.

The GREAT Awards, known for their unique approach to recognising outstanding hospitality, stand apart by relying solely on genuine guest feedback rather than conventional judging panels. With a mission to spotlight exceptional guest experiences, these awards consider the opinions shared on top review platforms like Google Reviews, Booking.com, and Tripadvisor. To ensure the data analysis was objective, fair, and transparent, the process was overseen by Dr Wouter Hensens, the Executive Dean of Stenden South Africa.

After meticulous analysis of over 60,000 reviews spanning hundreds of hotels across 37 countries, the GREAT Awards unveiled the champions in twelve categories:

2023 GREAT AWARDS WINNERS

GREATest Cleanliness: Hotel Verde Cape Town Airport [link]

GREATest Room Quality: Uga Jungle Beach [link]

GREATest Service: Highcliffe House [link]

GREATest Sleep Quality: Kruger Gate Hotel [link]

GREATest Value for Money: Highcliffe House [link]

GREATest <20 ROOMS: Highcliffe House [link]

GREATest 20-49 ROOMS: The Plettenberg Hotel [link]

GREATest 50-99 ROOMS: Kapama River Lodge [link]

GREATest 100+ ROOMS: LUX* South Ari Atoll [link]

GREATest GROUP: The Liz McGrath Collection [link]

GREATest in Africa: The Whale on Main B&B [link]

GREATest in Europe: Highcliffe House [link]

See the shortlist for each category here

These esteemed winners have gone above and beyond to elevate guest experiences, setting a benchmark for excellence in the industry. The overall calibre of contestants in the awards was impressive, with an average overall satisfaction score of 88% for hotels that qualified to compete, and scores in the high 90s for most shortlisted hotels.

The data showed that smaller hotels tend to have better overall guest satisfaction scores, based on online reviews, and that hotels need to work hard to get a sufficient proportion of their guests to write online reviews.

These points were discussed at the event by a panel that included Chris Alexandre, CEO and Founder of GuestRevu, Niels Mekenkamp, Director of Business Solutions, EMEA at Cendyn, and Sharon Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Hop.

Its a wonderful event, and its an inaugural event, so we wish everyone involved every success for the future, said Robert Walshe, co-owner of Highcliffe House, who walked away with awards in four categories. I thought the panel discussion was fascinating  about the basic principles of what I call exceptional hospitality. We are truly honoured to receive this award this evening, and thank you, most of all, to our guests. We have many mystery shoppers, judging panels and adjudicators involved in other awards, but this is a real, pure example of what guests think.

The GuestRevu GREAT Awards not only celebrate accomplishments but also inspire the industry to reach for new heights of excellence. It's a platform that acknowledges the efforts of those who go the extra mile, setting a shining example for others in the hospitality industry.

As we celebrate the conclusion of this wonderful event, we extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the winners and express our gratitude to everyone who made the GREAT Awards a resounding success! said Chris Alexandre.

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Yssingeaux, France - The Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie (ENSP), a world-renowned benchmark in the pastry-making and ice-cream-making arts located in Yssingeaux (Haute-Loire, France), officially inaugurated the new extension to its 2,300sqm campus on Friday the 24th of November.

On this occasion, the following spoke: Alain Ducasse, founder of Ecole Ducasse, Laurent Wauquiez, President of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes Region, Marie-Agnes Petit, President of the Haute-Loire Department, Yvan Cordier, Prefect of the Haute-Loire Department, Pierre Liogier, Mayor of Yssingeaux, Luc Debove, Director and Chief Director and Executive Chef of the ENSP, World Ice Champion and Meilleur Ouvrier de France and Yves Thuries, Chef and double Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

The Culmination Of A Far-Reaching Project

Initiated in June 2022, the project meets ENSP's need to expand in response to growing demand for pastry training. In all, the extension includes three new classrooms, four laboratories and 32 student apartments. As a result, the ENSP has grown from 5000sqm to 7300sqm, making it the world's largest campus dedicated to the Sweet Arts.

During the inauguration ceremony, Yves Thuries was surprised to discover that the extension had been named in his honor  a fitting way to underline his involvement and commitment to the school he took over in 2007 alongside Alain Ducasse.

A Global Benchmark

Over the past 40 years, ENSP has established itself as the benchmark school of excellence in the world of the Sweet Arts, offering training in pastry-making, chocolate-making, confectionery, ice-cream-making and baking.

With its 19 pastry chef trainers and 25 academic teachers, the school trains 1,500 students from more than 70 different nationalities throughout the year. Offering an extensive portfolio of training courses, the ENSP is the benchmark for all leading professionals in the Sweet Arts, who come to perfect their expertise or develop new ones with the world's greatest experts.

Tailored Training Courses

The broad portfolio of programs caters for all training needs in the field: from undergraduate courses such as the three-year Diplome Superieur des Arts Patissiers, to intensive retraining programs such as the eight-month CAP Patissier, the eight-month Diplome des Arts de la Patisserie Francaise and the two-month Essentiels de la Patisserie Francaise course.

In addition to these programs, an array of 70 professional training courses is available on site, taught by Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, World Champions and acknowledge experts. The great names in French and international patisserie have trained here and return to perfect their techniques.

Elise Masurel, Managing Director Ecole Ducasse: We are extremely proud that this project has come to fruition, further consolidating the excellence of our schools in France, in parallel with their international expansion.

Luc Debove, Director and Executive Chef ENSP, World Ice Cream Champion and Meilleur Ouvrier de France Glacier, holder of the Ordre National du Merite Agricole distinction and project leader: "This is far more than a simple achievement for ENSP, as this extension will enable our school to become the largest campus in the world dedicated to the Sweet Arts. It also represents a major opportunity for Yssingeaux and the entire region, which is now emerging as a strategic hub for the pastry industry worldwide, with all the benefits that this brings from a local standpoint.

About Ecole Ducasse

Ecole Ducasse is a network of schools founded in 1999 by multi-starred chef Alain Ducasse, dedicated to the transmission of outstanding French expertise and excellence in culinary and pastry arts. Ecole Ducasse runs three schools in France  Paris Studio, Paris Campus and Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie as well as international schools with  Manila Campus in the Philippines, Gurugram Campus in India and Nai Lert Bangkok Studio in Thailand. All are united by a desire to share a passion for gastronomy with seasoned professionals as well as food enthusiasts, career changers and students. This broad portfolio of programs aims to meet all training needs: from short programs for experts or food enthusiasts to intensive two, four-or six-month programs, to three-year undergraduate programs and bachelor's degree in culinary and pastry arts. Ecole Ducasse is part of Sommet Education, worldwide leader in hospitality education. In October 2023, Ecole Ducasse was awarded the title of World's Best Culinary Education Institution.

For more information: https://www.ecoleducasse.com/en

Anouck Weiss

Chief Communication Officer Sommet Education

Sommet Education

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High school students recreate masterpiece on classroom walls

Xinhua) 15:48, November 27, 2023

CHANGCHUN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- When there were yellow paint stains on the hem of Zhou Baile's school uniform, his family and teachers suggested that he change into a new uniform, but he refused.

"For me, the stains are a symbol of creation," said Zhou, who is in his second year of senior high school in Changchun, the capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

Zhou is one of the 21 students at No. 150 High School of Changchun who replicated the masterpiece "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," which was painted by Wang Ximeng during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), on the walls of their fine art classroom.

The 3.5-meter-tall replica has a total length of 11 meters and it took the students 129 days to complete, said Duan Yingzi, the fine art teacher at the school who guided the painting.

To allow more students to receive aesthetic education, Duan established a painting club at the end of 2022, guiding students to appreciate and imitate famous Chinese paintings.

She purchased a high-definition copy of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," and brought it into class so that her students could appreciate the lines and essence of the classic.

"Wang created the masterpiece at the age of 18. It occurred to me to question why my students, at a similar age, couldn't give it a try," said Duan, having encouraged her club members to participate in the painting project.

The project began in early March. The students sketched, applied color and filled in the details, turning the original, flat painting into a relief work. They also added figures, flowers and other elements into their version of the painting, including their own inspirations.

"Seeing the work we created, I could sense what Wang was feeling when he was completing this masterpiece more than 900 years ago," said Zhang Chuying, another student who took part in the project. "It was as if I were standing next to him and enjoying the rivers and mountains with him."

Though some parents were concerned that the time-consuming project would affect their children's academic performances, Zhou does not believe they had any cause for concern.

"The process of painting not only improves confidence and concentration, but it is also a way to relax after learning," the student said.

Duan hopes that through their recreation of the Chinese masterpiece, the students will enhance their understanding of Chinese painting.

"I hope they will be able to pass on the excellent traditional culture in an innovative way," she said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Brazil International Tourist Arrivals Near Pre-pandemic Levels Ahead of the High Season This December

According to a study by ForwardKeys there is an increase in interest among international travellers in visiting Brazil this December. This is excellent news for Brazils travel industry as the country approaches the high season, nearing pre-pandemic levels of demand and international connectivity.

Overall, tickets for international tourist arrivals in December are only 4% behind 2019. However, on a regional level, the recovery is uneven due to different circumstances such as flight connectivity and the dependency on different traveller nationality source markets. The states of Minas Gerais, Rio Grande do Sul, and Santa Catarina stand out as the top regional performers, surpassing pre-pandemic levels of demand for travel in December.

This all shows that there is a strong demand despite the limited international flight connectivity to some states. Indeed, seat capacity for international flights has finally reached pre-pandemic levels in Q4, but the re-establishment of international air connections is uneven across the states. This situation creates a dependency on gateway airports such as Sao Paulo.

Also, it shows the growth potential is higher, provided that the flight connectivity reaches adequate levels. Insufficient connectivity could drive airfares up and put off travellers during the popular high season.

Q1 Outlook for Brazil  Strong long-haul market interest

The travel demand is still strong into the first quarter of 2024, particularly from long-haul markets. Travellers from Germany, Switzerland and Italy will play a crucial role in keeping the tourism sector busy next year. The outlook is also very promising for regional markets like Uruguay, Chile, and Argentina.

Flight Search data from ForwardKeys reveals strong international appeal for Rio de Janeiros February Carnival. The markets that are most interested in visiting this event include the US, France, Portugal, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain. This insight is crucial for other destinations that want to promote their Brazilian carnival experience to international audiences.

The recovery of Brazils inbound tourism has been uneven, which emphasizes the significance of travel intelligence that extends beyond the big picture. Detailed data can assist tourism operators and organizations in delving deeper into their local and regional difficulties, as well as in targeting the appropriate traveller demographics at the appropriate times.

With the most comprehensive air travel database in the industry which sets us apart from other data providers  including capacity, bookings, flight searches, ticketing data and Data Smarts  we keep our clients informed about travel patterns, capacity, bookings, flight searches, ticketing demand, travel intent, sustainable travel, the behaviour and preferences of various travel audiences, and much more.

Our air market forecasts offer a comprehensive projection of passenger traffic, spanning from daily predictions over the coming months to annual estimates up to a decade ahead.

You can access this business-critical data via our online applications and Data-as-a-Service platforms  Destination Gateway, Traveller Statistics, Connect and Nexus  as well as benefit from Data Smarts (Licensed Datasets) with a choice of delivery methods.

Stay up to date on the latest travel and tourism trends by subscribing to our monthly newsletter now!
IHCL Expands Presence in North Kerala, Signs Ginger Hotel Bekal

Indian Hotels Company (IHCL) today announced the signing of its sixth hotel under the Ginger brand in Kerala. The Greenfield project is expected to open in 2027.

Speaking on the occasion, Ms. Suma Venkatesh, Executive Vice President - Real Estate & Development, IHCL said, With the addition of Ginger Bekal, IHCL will have three of its brands present in the destination. Bekal with its beautiful natural landscape is a key tourist attraction in Kerala and the new hotel will cater to this growing leisure market. We are delighted to further our partnership with Hotel Pearl Dunes Pvt Ltd.

The 150 -key hotel is strategically located on the Kerala State Highway at a drivable distance from Mangalore International Airport as well as important tourist destinations. The hotel will feature Qmin, the all-day diner offering a variety of global and local favourites, a banquet hall with additional meeting rooms, swimming pool, a fitness centre and a kids play area.

Mr. KM Abdul Latheef, Managing Director, Hotel Pearl Dunes Pvt Ltd. said, Taking ahead our partnership, we are excited to announce our third hotel with IHCL. Ginger Bekal will offer the travellers a new experience with its vibrant design and leisure offerings.

Bekal, a quaint town in the Kasaragod district of Kerala offers many tourist attractions like the Bekal fort, temples and serene beaches.

With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have 19 hotels across Taj, SeleQtions, Vivanta and Ginger brands in Kerala including six under development.
ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya Hotel

Located in the Klang Valley region of Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, often referred to as PJ, stands as a significant city renowned for its diverse commercial, residential and recreational areas. The hotel is located in the new urban landscape of Petaling Jaya Commercial Centre, featuring seamless connectivity through major expressways. During their stay, guests can easily access renowned shopping destinations such as Sunway Pyramid and Kuala Lumpur City Centre, along with easy access to Old Klang Road.

ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya's lobby welcomes guests with a soaring high ceiling, immersed with natural daylight, creating an airy and inviting atmosphere. The stylish area is complemented by a Lobby Bar Cafe, ideal to unwind after a long day. The interior is a seamless blend of modern and functional comfort, with trendy furnishings that elevate the overall ambience. Renowned for its enthusiasm for live music with the ibis MUSIC program, ibis provides guests with specially curated playlists tailored to suit any mood, along with access to exclusive performances featuring emerging musicians.

Garth Simmons, Chief Executive Officer of Accor's Premium, Midscale and Economy Division Asia commented, "ibis has become a pioneering brand, known for its inclusive and inviting nature. We look forward to ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya becoming a significant addition to our economy brand portfolio in Malaysia, resonating with tourists and locals alike with its modern design, lively communal spaces, attractive accommodation and diverse dining options."

Azrul Shah Mohamad, the Chief Executive Officer of Tourism Selangor, in a statement, said, "ibis PJCC, with its 161 rooms in the Petaling Jaya Commercial Centre, is poised to become a hub for business travelers and staycations. Positioned in the city center, it aligns perfectly with the digital trends and the preferences of the younger generation."

"We are thrilled to open our doors to a vibrant location that holds immense potential. With its strategic positioning and surroundings, we look forward to becoming a pivotal part of this dynamic community. Our aim is to extend a warm welcome to all visitors, ensuring they have a meaningful and rewarding experience during their visit", said Suresh Nair, General Manager of ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya.

Advertisement



The hotel's collection of 161 contemporary rooms has been designed to meet comfort, convenience and modern aesthetic preferences to ensure a good night's sleep. Each room features signature Sweet Beds by ibis, Smart TV, complimentary Wi-Fi access and complimentary minibar.

The hotel facilities include a gym, a swimming pool overlooking Petaling Jaya's skyline and a children's playroom. Dining at ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya is an indulgence in itself, with ibis Kitchen, the hotel's all-day dining restaurant, offering a selection of local and international menus. Additionally, ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya offers four versatile meeting rooms, tailored for corporate events or private functions for up to 70 delegates.

Guests staying at ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya can take advantage of Accor's lifestyle loyalty program, ALL - Accor Live Limitless by earning 4x reward for a limited time only. Rewards can be earned for bookings made from now until 17 December 2023, valid for stays until 28 January 2024.

ALL-Accor Live Limitless is complimentary to join and offers invaluable experiences and incentives to its dedicated members, empowering them to work, live and enjoy a world of exclusive privileges from more than 40 hotel brands.

Taking its cue from Accor's commitment to minimize carbon footprint, ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya upholds providing a no-single-use plastic policy throughout its premises.

ibis PJCC Petaling Jaya is conveniently situated at 1, Jalan PJS 5/29, Taman Desaria, 46150, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.
Chicago, IL (60637)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. High around 45F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional light rain...mainly this evening. Low 39F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
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If you have an existing print subscription, please make sure your email address on file matches your HudsonValley360 account email.
Radio doesnt pay performers, but iHeart will get $100M from BMI sale

[UPDATED] In an ironic twist, iHeart Media, the largest owner of broadcast radio stations in the US, will receive $100 million from the sale of BMI to New Mountain Capital. The windfall is a result of iHeartMedias equity interest in BMI.

The sting of a radio giant profiting from the sale of BMI to the tune of $100 million will be felt most acutely by the artists whose performances made the tens of thousands of songs that iHeartRadio stations play daily famous. Other radio and television broadcasters also owned stakes in BMI before selling to New Mountain.

As a Performing Rights Organization (PRO), BMI is charged with collecting royalties on behalf of its members. But four countries  the US, North Korea, Iran, and China  do not require broadcast radio to pay performance royalties.

BMI and other PROs do collect US radio royalties on behalf of songwriters and music publishers.

New Mountain Capital has announced that after the sale, $100 million in bonuses will be distributed to BMIs 1.4 million members, which include songwriters and music publishers, but not performers.

MORE:

Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.

Share on:
PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Strong Little Souls founder Madison Quinn headed to the State House two weeks ago to advocate for a bill that would provide funding for pediatric cancer research.

"Pediatric cancers are desperately underfunded," said Quinn, now a pediatric nurse.

Quinn was showing support for Bill S.2496 An Act Improving Pediatric Cancer Research at a public hearing of the Joint Committee on Public Health. If voted into law the act would establish a Pediatric Cancer Research and Resource Project Trust Fund.

The committee was hearing testimony on more than a dozen bills.

Also testifying on the need for cancer funding were Kathy and Joseph Arabia of North Adams, founders of the AYJ Fund, which raises money for childhood cancer research and family support.

Although there is federal funding currently, Massachusetts does not fund any pediatric cancer research, Quinn said.

According to the American Childhood Cancer Organization, cancer is the No. 1 cause of death by disease for children in America. Each year an estimated 15,780 children between the ages of birth and 19 are diagnosed with cancer.

The fund would provide grant funding for pediatric cancer research and resource projects in Massachusetts. This would include causes, prevention, education, screening, treatments and cures as well as research on the symptoms and effects patients experience after completing a course of treatment.

Quinn noted in her testimony that many of the treatments were developed decades before and primarily for adults.

"The incident rate of childhood cancers is rising and still the development of new treatments for childhood cancer remain stagnant," she told the lawmakers, and that these "harsh and aggressive treatments" can be as deadly as the disease.

"These treatments leave survivors with lifelong devastating side effects," Quinn continued. "I've seen time and time again children become cancer free just to succumb to the treatments that were supposed to cure them."

Both Quinn and the Arabias noted the state's world-class medical facilities and the importance of Massachusetts taking the lead in pediatric cancer research.

The Pediatric Cancer Resource Project is defined by the bill as a community-based project that aims to improve the lives of pediatric cancer patients by providing educational, informational, and financial resources to help reduce the burden of childhood cancer and its long-term impacts.

Historically only 4 percent of the federal cancer budget is allocated for childhood cancer; the remaining 96 percent has gone to adult cancers.

Although the budget increased to 8 percent last year, the funding allocated for cancer is currently at risk of being reduced, Quinn said.

The reason the federal cancer budget underfunds the pediatric cancer budget is because "they choose to invest in cancers that are more prevalent. They tend to look at that more than the life lost," Quinn said.

When an adult is diagnosed with cancer the average life lost is about seven years but when a child is diagnosed with cancer the average life lost is 70 years, she said, "because these children are just getting diagnosed and passing away so young. So the research is just not there at a federal level."
The Park of Honor raised $2,500 toward scholarships for the children and grandchildren of veterans. The annual event runs for about a month at Park Square. The flags are loaded up on Saturday after weeks of flying at Park Square. PreviousNext

Kiwanis Park of Honor Concludes for 2023



Kiwanis President Curtis Janey says the scholarship recipients will get $500 certificates to use as they need.

PITTSFIELD, Mass.  Volunteers loaded American flags into a U-Haul at Park Square over the weekend as the Kiwanis Club of Pittsfield's annual fundraiser concluded.



"We truly appreciate all those that have participated this year with the Park of Honor," President Curtis Janey said during a closing ceremony on Saturday.

The Park of Honor has funded scholarships for children and grandchildren of veterans over the past decade by selling flags that are placed in the city's most central park. The flags sway in the wind in uniform rows, each representing an honoree who served the county.



This year, about 300 were sold totaling $2,500 in scholarships. Janey said the students receive a Good Citizenship Award of $500 that can be used at their discretion.



"Once they complete the first semester and they send us a copy of the grades and they show us that they signed up for the second semester, we send the kid the check and they do whatever they want with it," he said.



"We don't tell him what to use it on, which is good because you never know what they need it for. It could be for the books, it could be for something else."


With three Pauls on a shortlist of six names, there was a decent chance one would triumph with the 2023 Booker Prize. As it turns out, it is Paul Lynch who can claim the bragging rights and the 50,000 prize pot for his hauntingly claustrophobic tale Prophet Song, published by Oneworld. The novel, about an imagined near-future dystopian Ireland that is heading towards tyranny, is undoubtedly a powerful book, but its a winning choice that jars. Picking favourite books is highly subjective, of course, but for me the outstanding novel on the shortlist was by another Irishman called Paul  Paul Murrays tragicomic multi-voice family drama: The Bee Sting (Hamish Hamilton).

Although chair of 2023 judges Esi Edugyan, who has twice been shortlisted for the Booker Prize, was at pains to point out that any of the six could easily have won, in truth it was unlikely to have ever been either of the two debuts: Chetna Maroos Western Lane (Picador) or Jonathan Escofferys If I Survive You (4th Estate), neither of which were special enough to win. Canadian Sarah Bernsteins Study for Obedience (Granta Books) was also an outsider, and it was hard to see Paul Hardings excellent This Other Eden (Hutchinson Heinemann), about a community of outcasts facing ethnic cleansing, winning over enough of the judges to take the prize.

Edugyan conceded that the final choice, after Saturdays six-hour meeting with fellow judges actor Adjoa Andoh, poet Mary Jean Chan, literature professor James Shapiro and writer and Peep Show star Robert Webb, wasnt unanimous. I can understand why Lynchs book would have its supporters. Lynch spent four years writing the story of teacher and trade unionist Larry Stack, a husband and father who is arrested and imprisoned by repressive government forces as Ireland slides into totalitarianism. Larrys sudden detention by the newly formed secret police acts as the catalyst for wife Eilishs realisation that the state they live in has become a monster.
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Chinas hospitals have been flooded with cases of respiratory illnesses and sick children complaining of pneumonia-like symptoms, leading to increased scrutiny from the World Health Organisation (WHO).

The Chinese Health Ministry said over the weekend the rise in cases was linked to an overlap of known pathogens and not any novel viruses amid fears of another outbreak as the country braced for its first winter after lifting the Covid-19 restrictions.

There has been a rise in cases linked to viruses such as influenza, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae, the ministry said in a statement.

The spike in cases appeared to be driven by children contracting pathogens that two years of Covid-19 restrictions kept them away from, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the acting director of WHOs department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago, Ms Van Kerkhove told health news outlet STAT.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections were mostly seen in children aged five to 14, said Wang Huaqing, the chief immunisation planning expert for China Centre for Disease and Protection (CDC).

Since China experienced a far longer and harsher lockdown than essentially any other country on Earth, it was anticipated that those lockdown exit waves could be substantial in China, Francois Balloux of University College London, told AFP.

The Chinese Health Ministry has asked local authorities to increase the number of fever clinics and urged people to wear masks in order to stop the illnesses from spreading.

A Beijing childrens hospital earlier told state media CCTV that at least 7,000 patients were being admitted daily to the institution, far exceeding its capacity.

Last week, the largest paediatric hospital in nearby Tianjin reportedly received more than 13,000 children at its outpatient and emergency departments. Liaoning province, about 690km northeast of the capital, is also grappling with high case numbers.

The increasing number of cases prompted the WHO on Wednesday to issue a formal request for disease data on respiratory illnesses and reported clusters of pneumonia in children.

Chinese health authorities responded by saying they found no unusual or novel diseases. The officials claimed the high number of patients had not overwhelmed the countrys hospitals contrary to the local media reports.

China's National Health Commission has also warned that the spread of several pathogens could converge into a major outbreak between this winter and next spring.

The global health body also said on Wednesday that any link between clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia and a rise in respiratory infections is unclear as of now.

What has happened so far?

Northern China has reported an increase in influenza-like illnesses since mid-October, compared to the same period in the previous three years, according to the WHO.

On 21 November, public disease surveillance system ProMED had issued a notification about reports of undiagnosed pneumonia. ProMED, whih is run by health experts, had earlier in 2019 raised the alarm over the virus that causes Covid-19.

With the outbreak of pneumonia in China, childrens hospitals in Beijing, Liaoning and other places were overwhelmed with sick children, and schools and classes were on the verge of suspension, ProMED said while citing a report by FTV News.

It is not at all clear when this outbreak started as it would be unusual for so many children to be affected so quickly.

This report suggests a widespread outbreak of an undiagnosed respiratory illness in several areas in China as Beijing and Liaoning are almost 800 km apart.

The report does not say that any adults were affected suggesting some exposure at the schools.

Some parents in Shanghai on Friday said they were not overly concerned about the wave of sickness.

Colds happen all over the world, said Emily Wu outside a childrens hospital. I hope that people will not be biased because of the pandemic... but look at this from a scientific perspective.

What are the symptoms?

According to Chinese health authorities, the outbreak could be linked to mycoplasma pneumoniae, also known as walking pneumonia, a common bacterial infection typically affecting children that has been circulating since May.

Symptoms of walking pneumonia include a sore throat, fatigue and a lingering cough that can last for weeks or months. In severe cases, this can eventually deteriorate into pneumonia.

A Beijing citizen, identified only as Wei, told FTV News that infected children dont cough and have no symptoms. They just have a high temperature (fever) and many develop pulmonary nodules.

Health data analytics firm Airfinity noted that atypical symptoms have also been reported at a Sichuan province hospital.

"The fact that only children are affected suggests this is most likely to be an existing pathogen," Jin Dong-yan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong told Bloomberg.

"If it's a new pathogen it should mostly hit adults. It looks like it's something adults have got accustomed to."

However, Mycoplasma has previously triggered epidemics in China every two to four years, with the latest positivity rate in Beijing being 40 per cent  about 1.3 times higher than its 2019 peak.

How infectious is the disease?

Bruce Thompson, head of the Melbourne School of Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, told Reuters very preliminary data suggested there was nothing out of the ordinary.

At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that it may be a new variant of Covid, he said.

One thing to note is that we can be reassured that the surveillance processes are working, which is a very good thing.

The WHO suggested people in China get vaccinated, isolate if they are feeling ill, wear masks if necessary and get medical care as needed.

While WHO seeks this additional information, we recommend that people in China follow measures to reduce the risk of respiratory illness, the agency said.

What are scientists saying?

Marion Koopmans, a Dutch virologist who advised the WHO on Covid, said there needs to be more information, particularly diagnostic information.

We have to be careful.

The challenge is to discern the outbreaks and determine the cause, said David Heymann of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.

He pointed out that there was a likely background of seasonal respiratory infections.

I am not going to push the pandemic panic button on the basis of what we know so far, but I will be very keen to see the response to WHO from China and see the WHOs assessment following that, said Brian McCloskey, a public health expert who also advised the WHO on the pandemic.

What we are seeing is WHOs International Health Regulations system in action, he said, referring to the rules governing how countries work with the WHO on potential outbreaks.

Virologist Tom Peacock from Imperial College London said it was unlikely the increasing infections happened under the radar as there are tools now to pretty rapidly pick up emerging influenza or coronaviruses.

(I) suspect it may end up being something more mundane or a combination of things  say Covid, flu, RSV [respiratory syncytial virus]  but hopefully well know more soon, he said.
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At least 24 people died in lightning strikes during unseasonal rainfall in India's western state of Gujarat.

The state experienced a large number of lightning strikes on Sunday, which killed about 71 animals and damaged 29 houses, the state emergency operation centre said. At least 23 people also sustained injuries, the officials added on Monday afternoon.

The most deaths were reported from Dahod district where four people died on Sunday, followed by three in Banaskantha and Bharuch and two in Tapi district.

Heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstorms continued into Monday, with some places receiving up to 144mm of rain in the 24 hours, according to state government data.

A cyclonic circulation lying over north east Arabian Sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions brought heavy showers to the state, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The unseasonal rainfall damaged crops and forced the ceramic factories in the Morbi district to be shut.

"We will begin a survey soon to assess the loss suffered," Gujarat agriculture minister Raghavij Patel said on Monday, adding that compensation will be paid to victims on the basis of the survey's results.

The IMD has forecast rainfall to continue in parts of the state on Monday.

Amit Shah, the federal home minister, expressed his condolences to those who "lost their loved ones in this tragedy for their irreparable loss".

"The local administration is engaged in relief work, praying for the speedy recovery of the injured," Mr Shah wrote in Gujarati on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Gujarat is not unfamiliar with rain-related calamities. In August 2020, 14 people died in the state over just two days in various incidents related to heavy rains and flooding.

Studies have predicted a whopping 50 per cent rise in deadly lightning strikes by the end of this century because of the rise in sea surface area.

A warming climate leads to more extreme weather, like thunderstorms, and according to a study published by the University of California in 2015, for every 1C increase in temperature, the frequency of lightning strikes increases by 12 per cent.
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An Indian official has admitted that emotions played a role in Indias tit-for-tat decision to expel 41 Canadian embassy workers amid a diplomatic row over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader.

Canada was forced to recall dozens of diplomats from India after the Narendra Modi administration threatened to strip them of their diplomatic immunity, saying at the time that it was a move to bring parity between India and Canadas respective missions.

Relations between India and Canada torpedoed to their worst point in recent history after prime minister Justin Trudeau said there were credible allegations of the Indian states involvement in the murder of Canadian-Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar.

Nijjars supporters say he was a peaceful campaigner for the cause of a separate Sikh nation  known as the Khalistan movement  while India had named him as a wanted terrorist.

In an interview with Canadian broadcaster CTV, Indias high commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma said that since one of our principal diplomats was expelled from here as persona non grata, so yes, we did retaliate on that.

Canada expelled the head of Indian intelligence in the country as it investigated Mr Trudeaus allegations. India expelled a Canadian diplomat in return and suspended all electronic visa services for Canadian nationals for over two months before resuming them earlier this month.

Since the emotions became very high once the statements were made from Ottawa, and a bit of emotional elements will be there, and the decisions are taken, Mr Verma said. Any action will have reaction, he said.

When asked if that was a rational approach, Mr Verma defended the Indian governments decision to downsize Canadas diplomatic presence.

What I said was that the emotional element was also a factor. But if I can go beyond what I have said, we have about 13 Indian diplomats in Canada, altogether, Mr Verma said.

If I take it at the maximum level, India has 15 diplomats while Canada has 60-plus. So therefore, there has to be some kind of resemblance, he said.

An Indian flag is burned during a protest outside Indias consulate in Canada (REUTERS)

Mr Verma said there had been constructive conversations and dialogue has been going on between the two governments, and that the relationship has improved, since Mr Trudeau went public with the allegations against India.

He also complained that India was convicted before the conclusion of an investigation. Is that rule of law? he asked.

When asked to explain how India was convicted given only allegations were raised, Mr Verma said: Because India was asked to cooperate. And if you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks us to cooperate which means that you have already been convicted, and you better cooperate. So we took it in a very different interpretation.

Relations between the two countries have remained strained over the Khalistan movement as well as Nijjars killing. India has vehemently denied any involvement in the latter, arguing that it wasnt the governments policy to assassinate its opponents on foreign soil.

Last week, White House officials said the US thwarted a conspiracy to kill a Sikh separatist on American soil and warned India over concerns of New Delhis involvement at the senior-most levels, according to a Financial Times report.

The Indian foreign ministry said the inputs by the US pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others were a cause of concern, without denying the allegations.
You do not know me, but a friend of mine who works at your hotel has just told me that since 4am this morning intelligence and police have taken over the hotels security cameras ... You need to leave as soon as you can.

That was the message received in early February 2021 by Australian economist Sean Turnell, who was working at the time as one of Aung San Suu Kyis most senior advisers in Myanmar.

Five days earlier Suu Kyi and other senior figures in her democratically elected government had been detained by the military in a coup that has now installed a junta regime. Soon after that email from a secret friend, Turnell was himself arrested, and the mild-mannered academic went on to spend more than 600 days in some of Myanmars most notorious prisons.
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A 97-year-old man was among the 109 people arrested as climate protesters refused to leave after a 30-hour blockade of one of the worlds largest coal ports in Australia.

I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations, Alan Stuart, 97, said in a statement before his arrest.

Over 3,000 protesters assembled at the Port of Newcastle on Sunday to demonstrate against the governments alleged inaction on climate change ahead of the COP28 summit.

The protesters had permission to hold the climate rally for 30 hours, but thousands of climate demonstrators refused to leave the port after the permitted time was up.

Mr Stuart, who is also a reverend at the Uniting Church in Australia, said: I am so sorry that they will have to suffer the consequences of our inaction. So, I think it is my duty to do what I can and to stand up for what I know is right.

At about 4pm local time on Sunday, police swooped in and arrested 109 people, including 49 men and 60 women. Five of them were under 18 years of age, according to Australias Nine News. The minors were later released.

Of those arrested, 18 were taken to Newcastle, Waratah, and Toronto police stations and 86 people were taken to a nearby port facility.

Hundreds of activists took to the waters, either swimming or using kayaks, to stage a demonstration in the shipping lane of the Newcastle port in Australia in one of the countrys biggest climate protests.

Organisers Rising Tide Australia claimed that the protest halted the export of more than half a million tonnes of coal from the country.

The organisers also stated that after initially continuing to kayak in formation in the channel, the demonstrators eventually complied with law enforcement and boarded police boats.

Rising Tide called on prime minister Anthony Albanese to block new coal projects and tax coal exports at 75 per cent in an attempt to move away from fossil fuels.

Mr Stuarts 20-year-old granddaughter and Rising Tide organiser Alexa Stuart said: I just think of the young people growing up that I knew.

What sort of world are they going to be in? Its going to be a much less, what should I say, attractive, than I, than we know.

People are going to be, theyre going to find it difficult to cope in many, many, many situations and I think the final result in all of this is death.

The protest was labelled the biggest act of civil disobedience in Australias history by organisers who aim to send a serious message to the government over its inaction.

Adam Bandt, the leader of the Greens, participated in kayaking along with Cate Faehrmann, a Greens MP from New South Wales.

Ive lived in Newcastle my whole life and at first I never thought much about the coal ships I was used to seeing every day on the horizon, Alex Goodsir, a 17-year-old local from Newcastle told the Guardian. As a member of this community, I need to be lending my voice to the movement to stop this.

Mr Albanese last year said Labor would not support a moratorium on fossil fuel projects because it would have a devastating impact on the Australian economy.

If Australia today said we are not going to export any more coal, what youd see is a lot of jobs lost, you would see a significant loss to our economy, significantly less taxation, revenue for education, health and other services, and that coal wouldnt lead to a reduction in global emissions, what you would see is a replacement with coal from other countries thats likely to produce higher emissions  because of the quality of the product, he had said.

In April, several people associated with Rising Tide were arrested after they climbed aboard a train for the Port of Newcastle, where they proceeded to remove coal from its freight cars.

This is not the end, this is just a stepping stone. Next year we plan on blockading the coal port for at least twice as long, Zack Schofield, who helped organise the event said.
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The stage is set for the UN climate negotiations, Cop28, to start in Dubai this week where the fight over cutting coal, oil and gas will once again heat up.

At the heart of the debate is one phrase: whether the final text - the Dubai climate pact that countries will be signing - will include a call for the phase down or phase out of fossil fuels.

To the outside world, this may seem a linguistic nuance but at negotiating tables, it has been one of the most hotly-debated issues in recent years and a reflection of the ideological tug-of-war among the nearly 200 countries who take part.

Language and symbolism is the most important part of geopolitics, says Aarti Khosla, director of Delhi-based climate think-tank Climate Trends.

Cop28 is already facing a tense geopolitical backdrop with the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict further exacerbating energy security concerns.

But the summit also comes after months of yet more climate extremes. 2023 is on track to be the hottest year in human history with devastating storms and wildfires around the world, indicating that the climate crisis is already worse than what scientists predicted.

The message is clear: countries must stop burning fossil fuels which are responsible for most of the carbon pollution heating the planet.

But the question is, how soon?

Phase down suggests a gradual, measured transition - a cautious step towards reducing fossil fuels that have been fulfilling the worlds energy needs since the Industrial era, without an immediate severance.

On the other hand, phase out signals an abrupt departure, a decisive break from the status quo.

In general, small islands and developing countries facing the worst of the climate crisis have called for a phase out - while large economies, dependent on oil and gas, remain wary.

At the last two Cops, this dilemma has led to intense standoffs, laying bare the deep divides among nations.

The world temporarily breached 2 degrees Celsius on Friday November 17. 2023 is on track to be the hottest year on record (European Union, Copernicus Climate Change Service Data)

At Cop26 in Glasgow two years ago, the final agreement includedphasing down coal-powered power plants for the first time. The fraught negotiations over these words were part of the reason that Cop26 ran almost 24 hours overtimeand created last-moment drama including having the Cop26 president Alok Sharma break down in tears.

Last year at Cop27, more than 80 countries, including India, backed a deal to phase down all fossil fuels, attempting to put a ticking clock over not just coal but oil and gas too.

However, the proposal was blocked by many countries and did not make it to the final deal.

The Cop27 presidency said the agreement was in line with what came out of the Glasgow meeting, to accelerate efforts towards the phasedown of unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies.

However, critics say it fell short of strengthening the climate pact by excluding phasing down fossil fuels.

Britain's President for Cop26 Alok Sharma reacts as he makes his concluding remarks after a tense discussions over fossil fuel language in Glasgow in 2021 (AFP via Getty Images)

Before the negotiations begin at Cop28 this year, there is already a renewed push for getting rid of coal - a vital fuel for developing nations like India and China, but something the Western world, having reaped benefits for centuries, has shifted away from.

Fifteen countries, including the UK, Canada and Germany, have written a letter urging that Cop28 must deliver an agreement that will end public and private finance for new coal power projects.

Ms Khosla says given the discussions in previous years, a push by developed countries to have a strong outcome on coal phase-out wont ever be taken by India in good faith given their own gas expansion plans.

As the impending drama unfolds once more, some climate experts believe the emphasis on these two phrases is overblown.

We will always get caught up in phase out, phase down... but what is important is systemic and time-bound decrease [of fossil fuels] in our economy, said Dr Ani Dasgupta, president and CEO of the nonprofit World Resources Institute (WRI).

However, humanity continues to produce and burn through vastly more fossil fuels than a liveable future allows.

Countries are on track to produce double the amount of fossil fuels this decade than safe under the 1.5C target of the Paris Agreement, a recent report found.

But the debate over cutting out fossil fuels has also taken some positive steps in the past two years.

In April, G7 nations agreed to accelerate the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels. However, adding unabated means it only applies to those power plants that are using these fuels without the technology to capture their carbon emissions.

Carbon removal and storage technologies (CCS) remain controversial as have not been proven effective at scale, the UNs top scientific body found. Climate campaigners claim CCS is a distraction and an excuse for countries to continue burning fossil fuels.

Jonathan Noronha Gant, senior campaigner with Global Witness, described CCS as a dangerous red herring.

When it comes to the Dubai conference, Cop28 president Dr Sultan al Jaber has said that phasing down demand for, and supply of, all fossil fuels is inevitable and essential but as part of a thought-out energy transition plan that takes the circumstances of each country into account.

One size fits all will not work, so we need to be flexible and agile, he told Reuters in October.

But many have questioned the commitment of Dr al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of UAEs national oil company Adnoc, calling out the conflict of interest.

In May, more than 100 members of the US Congress and the European Parliament called for Mr Jaber to step down.

But the push for the strongest of all possible terms to end the fossil fuel era is being led again by the small islands and underdeveloped countries - those most at risk from climate impacts but responsible for very little contribution in creating the problem.

Ministers from six Pacific island nations facing sea level rise issued a joint call in May for the world to back a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty - a proposal to stop new fossil fuel explorations and phase out existing production.

We need both domestic action and international cooperation to explicitly stop the expansion of fossil fuel emissions and production in order to fulfil the aims of the Paris Agreement, Vanuatus prime minister, Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau, said in May.

This call has been backed by some rich and developing countries as well. In October, 15 countries including France, Spain, Ireland and Kenya  called for a phase-out fossil fuel production and use.

Last week, the European Parliament also called for the final Cop28 agreement to include a call for the phase out of fossil fuels to keep 1.5C within reach. The body also called for halting all new investments in fossil fuel extraction.

But the issue is still bound to cause friction as oil and gas-producing countries and those dependent on it without sufficient renewable energy infrastructure continue to resist.

Despite the growing momentum, the issue is bound to create friction.

Oil-producing countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, who opposed Indias proposal to phase down fossil fuels at the G20, are expected to resist strong language. While developing countries will demand more time to use fossil fuels for development needs.

However, experts say what matters more at the end of the day despite the verbal clashes is what actions countries take.

Regardless of the exact wording that negotiators land on, the most important work will begin when countries go home and have to back up their words with real action, Melanie Robinson, director of the global climate programme at WRI, said.
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Brad Pitts son called him a world class a**hole and f***ing awful human being in a scathing Fathers Day post.

Pitt, 59, shares six children with former wife Angelina Jolie: sons Maddox, 22, and Pax, 19, daugters Zahara, 18, and Shiloh, 17, as well as twins Vivienna and Knox, 15.

Pax lashed out at the Fight Club actor in a Fathers Day post shared on his private Instagram account three years ago, according to a MailOnline report.

Happy Fathers Day to this world class a***hole, Pax reportedly addressed a message to his adoptive dad. You time and time and again prove yourself to be a terrible and despicable person.

You have no consideration or empathy toward your four youngest children who tremble in fear when in your presence, the teenager captioned a photograph of Pitt accepting the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2020,

Pax, then 16, wrote: You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell. You may tell yourself and the world whatever you want, but the truth will come to light someday.

So, Happy Fathers Day, you f***ing awful human being!!!

(Getty Images)

A source told MailOnline that the message was posted from a private Instagram account belonging to Pax and described the rant against Pitt as unusual since Pax never says much about his parents on the profile.

The Independent has contacted Pitts representatives for comment.

The report comes days after Pitt and Jolies daughter Zahara, who was adopted in 2005 from Ethiopia, dropped her fathers last name during a sorority induction ceremony at Spelman College, an American liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia.

In a video obtained by Essence, the 18-year-old undergraduate reportedly identified herself as Zahara Marley Jolie  notably choosing to omit her famous fathers surname.

Jolie, who was married to Pitt for two years, filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences, days after an alleged physical altercation between him and their oldest son Maddox, then 15, while they were onboard a private jet in 2016.

Following an FBI investigation into the child abuse allegations, Pitt was cleared of all charges. However, a detailed account of what transpired on the private plane was made public last year, after FBI records were leaked to the press.

According to the documents, the Maleficent actor told investigating officers that Pitts actions during the flight from France to Los Angeles frightened their children, aged between 8 and 15 at the time.

Jolie also said that Pitt allegedly lunged at one their kids after they called him a prick, adding she had to hold him back in a choke hold.

According to the report, Pitt told Jolie that one of the children looked like a f***ing Columbine kid, referring to the Columbine High School massacre in 1999, during which two 12th graders  Eric Harris and Dylan Kelbold  gunned down 12 children and a teacher in Colorado.

Jolie and Pitt are still locked in a bitter custody battle for their six children, three of whom were adopted by the Maleficent star.

Pitt later formally adopted Maddox, Pax, and Zahara as well.
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Thanksgiving feasts are about to begin, but theres one important thing to consider when the holiday is done: What do you do with all the leftovers?

Thursday is just one day away and many Americans are already in planning mode, from buying the turkey to decorating their home for guests. While much of the work begins on Thanksgiving morning, with the fast-paced schedule of cooking dinner, perhaps an even bigger task is trying to finish all the servings of stuffing, turkey, green bean casserole, steamed vegetables, and pies that were leftover from Thanksgiving.

Some people may opt to eat their leftovers separately, but why not combine all the Thanksgiving food to create an even bigger dish? Here are five fun meals you can create with your Thanksgiving leftovers this year.

Turkey Soup

The cold months are fast approaching, so a warm bowl of soup is perfect comfort food for the winter. Begin this dish by bringing your broth to a boil and adding in different seasonings, such as salt and pepper. Then, spice up your soup by adding some of your Thanksgiving leftovers.

According to Martha Stewart, one simple recipe for turkey soup calls for eight cups of turkey stock  which can be made with turkey bones and water. Then add one and a half cups of shredded cooked turkey leftover from Thanksgiving, as well as leftover vegetables and seasonings used to cook for the holida - lemon wedges, chopped dill, three small carrots, salt, and pepper. The recipe also calls for one non-Thanksgiving-related ingredient: three dried wide egg noodles.

After the stock has been seasoned, add the noodles and carrots and return the pot to a boil. Then reduce the heat and simmer until the carrots are tender and the noodles are al dente, which will take about four minutes. Stir in the cooked turkey and let it simmer for about a minute, before sprinkling dill and serving the soup with a lemon wedge on the side.

Pot pies

A beloved pot pie dish usually consists of meat cooked inside a flaky pastry. However, this pot pie doesnt necessarily have to be filled with chicken or veggies, as you can instead make the savoury meal with the help of some leftovers.

One recipe from Bon Appetit - called the Leftover-Turkey Pot Pie - includes a range of Thanksgiving foods, such as half a cup of leftover vegetables, one and one-half cups of cooked turkey, one and one-fourth cups of turkey gravy, and the optional cranberry sauce for serving.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Other ingredients include one tablespoon of unsalted butter; one tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil; one cup of chopped onion; six ounces of button mushrooms; kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper; one cup of thinly sliced, peeled carrots; one teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme; one-fourth cup of thawed, frozen green peas; one tablespoon of chopped, fresh Italian parsley; one large egg white; one nine-inch pie crust and all-purpose flour.

For cooking, begin by putting one tablespoon of butter and one tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, before adding a cup of chopped onion. Cook for for seven minutes, before adding mushrooms with the stems trimmed and caps cup in half. Sprinkle some salt and pepper and stir for about four minutes.

The recipe then calls for adding carrots to the skillet and covering it for two minutes. After that, add the leftover cooked vegetables, cooked turkey, turkey gravy, and thyme. As you bring the mixture to a boil, season it with salt and pepper and mix in the parsley and thawed green peas. Then pour the mixture into a glass pie dish and wait for it to cool, which will take about 30 minutes.

For the next step, gently brush the rim of the pie dish with one large beaten egg and a teaspoon of water. Now that the filling has cooled down, add the pie crust to the top of the filling and fold the edges of the dough. As you preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, brush the top of the pie with the egg mixture. Then make three to four small slits in the centre before pressing parsley leaves onto the crust. The pie will bake for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Casseroles

A casserole, whether its filled with green beans or sweet potatoes, is a fan-favourite dish for Thanksgiving. But when the holiday is done, why not create your own casserole out of the stuffing and turkey thats left in the fridge? The Pioneer Woman, also known as foodie Ree Drummond, has one receipe for a casserole called the Thanksgiving Leftover Casserole. Luckily, it allows for all the Thanksgiving leftovers to be used in one dish.

The ingredients include four cups of stuffing, four cups of chopped turkey, one and one-half cups of green beans, one and one-half cups of gravy, three cups of mashed potatoes, one large egg yolk, one cup of shredded Monterey jack cheese, and cranberry sauce for serving.

Before cooking the dish, begin by preheating the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit and buttering the bottom and sides of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Add the stuffing into the dish to create a crust for the casserole. From there, layer the turkey and green beans over the stuffing and pour the gravy on top. Combine the egg yolk and mashed potatoes into another bowl, and pour the mixture over the turkey. Once youve sprinkled cheese onto the dish, cover it with foil, place it on the third rack of the oven, and bake for about 20 minutes.

Once 20 minutes have passed, uncover the dish and cook for another 20 to 25 minutes. After taking the dish out of the oven and letting it cool for 10 minutes, the casserole can be served with cranberry sauce.

Sandwiches

Whether its during a lunch break or at dinner with friends, any type of sandwich makes for a great meal. Instead of buying the lettuce and tomatoes for your usual sandwich, now you have the opportunity to turn your Thanksgiving leftovers into a delectable sandwich.

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

In the recipe for Delishs Best Thanksgiving Sandwich - which makes two sandwiches - the ingredients include two tablespoons of mayonnaise, one tablespoon of Dijon mustard, four slices of toasted sourdough bread, two cups of roasted turkey, half a cup of mashed potatoes, half a cup of cranberry sauce, half a cup of stuffing, one fourth cup of warmed gravy, and one fourth cup of baby spinach.

To prepare the sandwich, begin by mixing mayo and mustard into a small bowl and spreading it on one side of the two pieces of bread. Add one cup of turkey, one-fourth cup of mashed potatoes, two tablespoons of cranberry sauce, and one-fourth cup of stuffing onto the bread slices. Finish off each sandwich with two tablespoons of gravy and spinach, before placing the second piece of bread on top - making the ultimate Thanksgiving sandwich.

Quiches

Although the savoury pastry is typically filled with cheese and meat, make the quiche your own with the help of Thanksgiving leftovers.

According to the Food Network, one recipe calls for a nine-inch frozen pie shell. To make the quiches filling, assemble one cup of crumbled stuffing, one cup of chopped turkey, one cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese, one-fourth cup of parsley leaves, kosher salt and pepper. For the custard in the dish, youll need one and one-fourth cups of half and half, three large eggs, one-fourth teaspoon of grated nutmeg, kosher salt, and ground black pepper.

To make the quiche, begin by partially baking the empty pie shell without the filling - which you can do by following the directions on the package. Then, create your filling by sprinkling the turkey and stuffing into the pie shell, topping it off with parsley and cheddar. Next, season the dish with salt and pepper. For the custard, mix the half and half, nutmeg, salt, and pepper in one bowl. Finally, pour the mixture over the filling.

Set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and let it bake for about 35 to 45 minutes. Give the quiche at least 30 minutes to cool, and serve!
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Kylie Jenner has reflected on a paparazzi horror story she experienced when she was just 16 years old.

The owner of her eponymous juggernaut, Kylie Cosmetics, said she endured constant aggression, tasteless regard, and nasty speech being directed toward her at a young age, especially from paparazzi. At the time, her family was building what would become their multi-billion-dollar dynasty, using their reality show, Keeping Up with The Kardashians, to streamline the process. Jenner was only nine years old when the first season aired.

Speaking to Jennifer Lawrence for Interview Magazines Winter 2023 issue, the beauty mogul spoke about regular run-ins she had with photographers when she was 16 years old.

But with the paparazzi, its been really hard. Ive had some horror stories, she told the Hunger Games star. Just, like, when I was 16 and these 50-year-old men were saying: Hi, little sl**.

Trying to shoot up my skirt and jumping out of the bushes, scaring me, blocking my car, Jenner added. It was actually worse when I was younger.

Now, Jenner, a mother of two, thinks back to her childhood and cant imagine experiencing an upbringing without fame.

I dont really know what it would be like to grow up not in the spotlight, and thats helped me because I have nothing to refer back to, the brand creator noted.

In tandem with the effect of her familys increasing stardom, Jenner explained how their circumstances have led to an unbreakable bond between her sisters. Lawrence pointed out how no matter the nature of their fueds, the Kardashian-Jenner siblings always seem to work it out and continue seeing each other almost every day.

What strikes me is that you guys are arguably the closest family in the world for emotional reasons, and then also a lot of very good multimillion-dollar reasons. I think its wonderful, but I can also imagine that its really hard, the Silver Linings Playbook lead said to Jenner. Like in the latest episode with Kim and Kourtney, in a normal family, youd be like: Okay, we dont really see eye to eye on anything and its causing us both stress. I love you. Ill see you at Christmas. But you guys cant ever do that. You cant really ever take space.

We cant really take space because we work together. But at the end of the day, we are all obsessed with each other and would probably choose each other as friends if we werent family, Jenner proclaimed.

Its hard to find people who understand your life. Its such a rare thing that were all going through in this business and with fame, she added. So to have each other to lean on has been really important and the reason why Ive been able to stay humble.

The billionaire entrepreneur went on to address the security level she keeps for herself and her two children  Stormi, five, Aire, one. Jenner said she didnt take the security precautions until her first pregnancy.

I was young when I got pregnant, but I never had security until I got pregnant. I have two security in rotation for them and they have been with me for five-plus years, she remarked.

On Stormis relationship with the security guards, Jenner said: Shes very familiar with them, which I feel comfortable with. She actually has a lot of love for them. I just tell my security to not make it so serious, so they have a good relationship.

The Independent has contacted a representative for Jenner for comment.
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The royal family is riven with ambition, suspicion and competition with the Prince and Princess of Wales at the heart of it all, according to an explosive new book about The Firm.

In Endgame, royal reporter and author Omid Scobie moves beyond Prince Harry to detail an alleged power struggle between King Charles and Prince William.

He explores the new kings relationship with his disgraced brother Prince Andrew and examines why Kate is perfect in the mould of Britains future queen.

Scobie examines the UK medias coverage of past controversies surrounding William and Kate, and makes sensational claims about the heirs attitude towards his brother Harry.

Ahead of the books release on 28 November, here are some of the biggest royal revelations from Endgame:

William snapping at Charles heels as ambitious prince eyes throne

One of the key themes of Scobies book is the alleged rift between King Charles and Prince William (Getty)

Scobie highlights an alleged rift between King Charles and his son, the Prince of Wales. In Endgame, William is painted as an ambitious, hot-headed prince, determined to lead the royal family into the future, with Scobie claiming that he wants to rip up the rulebook and do things the Cambridge way.

He adds that, while William respects his father, the difference in their views might become an issue over the years ahead. Scobie writes that William and Charles are united in their frustration towards Prince Harry but do not see eye to eye about how the institution should be run.

He describes Buckingham Palace and Kensington Palace, the offices of Charles and William respectively, as hives of competing agendas and different ideas about how to modernise the monarchy. Scobie also claims William is not giving his father the same space Charles did with the late Queen, as the 41-year-old eyes the throne. Theres no time for that, the author writes.

Inside the Wales relationship with UK press

The book looks at favourable coverage in the media of William and Kate (PA Wire)

Through the lens of a number of incidents in 2019, Scobie provides an analysis of the UK medias relationship with the Prince and Princess of Wales.

Prince Harry has previously claimed stories about his wife were leaked to the British press. Calling it a dirty game in the couples 2022 Netflix docuseries, Harry said negative news coverage about Meghan helped steer unwanted media attention away from other members of the royal family.

Scobie brands William and Kates 2019 holiday to Balmoral Castle a showy publicity stunt. That year, the prince and princess were praised for booking a 73 a head Flybe flight from Norwich to Aberdeen amid reports that Harry and Meghan had chartered four private flights in 11 days. What wasnt included in the PR gamesmanship, Scobie writes, was that the Cambridges scheduled flight did not have the Flybe logo on its side.

Since airline bosses were keen for them to use a properly branded plane, an empty one was sent from the headquarters in Humberside, around 123 miles north of Norwich. The same plane also returned empty to Humberside after the family landed in Aberdeen.

In total, the two flights released over four and a half tons of carbon emissions. Their perfect family trip was exposed for what it really was; a showy publicity stunt, Scobie says. A source close to William and Kate reportedly said they were unaware Flybe had switched the flights and did not seek any special treatment, in a statement to MailOnline.

William thinks Harry has been brainwashed by army of therapists

Prince Harry has been very open about his mental health struggles (Apple TV+)

Scobie believes the relationship between William and Harry is unlikely to be mended, as the rift between the brothers continues to push them apart.

The heir and the spare have grown apart in the aftermath of Harrys bombshell allegations against the royal family since resigning as a senior member and relocating to the US with Meghan.

In Endgame, the British journalist claims William believes Harry blindsided the family with their public complaints and oh so California self-importance. A source reportedly told Scobie William is convinced his younger brother is being brainwashed by an army of therapists and that he no longer recognises who Harry has become.

He feels he has lost Harry and doesnt want to know this version of him, a source close to William told Scobie. Harry is reportedly ready to move on from the whole saga, whether he and Meghan receive an apology or not over their alleged treatment by the royal family since their wedding.

Kate jokingly shivered when Meghans name came up

Meghan was regarded more difficult than Kate because she had opinions (PA)

Scobie gives Endgame readers his take on the reportedly frosty relationship between Kate and Meghan, writing that they were never close.

Citing multiple sources, he claims Kate was never a fan of the former actress. One person reportedly told Scobie the Princess of Wales has spent more time talking about Meghan than talking to her. He also reveals that Kate has jokingly shivered when Meghans name has come up on recent occasions.

Describing Kate as an institutional dream come true, Scobie suggests the future queen has successfully sublimated her authentic self, becoming an enigma to the public and perhaps even herself. He claims Kate, who was born in Reading and attended St Andrews, where she met Prince William, has had several rounds of elocution lessons and now sounds posher than her husband.

In contrast, one former palace aide told Scobie Meghan was regarded as being difficult because she had opinions.

They wanted Meghan to just go with everything that was suggested and not create any additional work, he writes. It was a combination of her not conforming with how women marrying into the family are expected to behave and certain individuals just being lazy.

William ignored his brother and Harry was left completely by himself after Queens death

Prince Harry has become increasingly distanced from his family in the UK (Getty Images for 2022 Robert F. Kennedy Gala)

Queen Elizabeths reign ended last year, as the long-serving monarch died on 8 September 2022. Scobie writes that the Sussexes had no idea that Buckingham Palace was preparing for her final few hours, when Charles rang Harry and asked him to make his way to Balmoral Castle immediately.

When Harry reached out to William to check whether they could travel to Scotland together, he was said to have been met with radio silence.

Harry was reportedly informed William had secured a flight for himself and his uncles, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward. Meanwhile, the duke received no details about joining that flight.

A source told Scobie: It was upsetting to witness. [Harry] was completely by himself on this.

Harry sent his brother a follow-up text message but he still didnt hear back from William  despite the fact that seats were available on the Dassault Falcon private jet the prince had chartered.

William ignored him, said a family source. He clearly didnt want to see his brother.

In the end, Harry flew out by himself in a private plane, costing $37,000, from Luton airport.

Harry learnt about Queens death after news alert

A source claimed William completely ignored Harry in the time surrounding the Queens death (Getty)

Harry had no idea his grandmother had died at 3.10pm on 8 September, over two hours before his own flight took off. While the duke was still racing against time to make it to Her Majestys bedside, Buckingham Palace was preparing to break the news of her death to the world, Scobie writes.

[Harrys] team literally had to beg for them to wait for his plane to land and they reluctantly agreed to hold the statement back for a little bit, Scobie shares a statement from a close family friend. But, when Harrys plane was delayed by bad weather over Aberdeen International airport, they could wait no longer and the announcement went live at 6.30pm, he writes.

When the plane landed at around 6.50pm, Harry received a text message from Meghan, urging him to call her after she received a BBC breaking news alert that the queen had died.

Harry was crushed, a friend of the duke told Scobie. His relationship with the queen was everything to him. She would have wanted him to know before it went out to the world. They could have waited just a little longer, it would have been nothing in the grand scheme of things, but no one respected that at all.

Charles tearful over disgraced Andrews mental health

Prince Andrew with his brother Charles (Getty Images)

Scobie says that Charles, like his late mother, has a soft spot for Prince Andrew, who stepped back from royal life over intense scrutiny of his ties to convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

Stonewalling and expelling his son came easy enough, he writes, referring to Charles approach in dealing with Harry, although its a different story with his own brother.

Amid Andrews fall from grace, Scobie writes, Charles was tearful over fears for the shamed dukes mental health.

The Duke of York was stripped of his military titles by his mother after one of Epsteins victims Virginia Giuffre accused him of sexually abusing her at his apartment in Belgravia when she was 17. Andrew strongly and repeatedly denied the allegations, and later paid a multimillion-pound amount to settle the lawsuit.

According to r Scobie, it was William who set the wheels in motion in distancing the royal family from Andrew, although the Queen was the official face of Andrews reckoning. Charles, he claims, didnt want any part of it.

Royal familys silence over Prince Archie race row

Harry is apparently now in a great place and focusing on his physical and mental fitness (Getty)

In the two years since the royal family became embroiled in a race row over Harry and Meghans son, no one except Charles is said to have addressed the alleged conversation about Prince Archies skin colour.

After they relocated to Montecito, California, Harry and Meghan sat down for an interview with Oprah Winfrey in March 2021. During their hour-long conversation about their treatment by the royals, Meghan claimed that a senior member had speculated about the colour of Archies skin while she was pregnant.

While the issue has reportedly been privately addressed in letters between Meghan and Charles, neither Kate nor William have reached out to the Sussexes about the matter.

The silence has caused a lot of confusion and upset, says a source close to the family.

Harry is in a great place

With the long rift between him and his family showing no sign of healing, Prince Harry is focussing on his role as a father to Archie and Princess Lilibet.

According to Scobies account, Harrys also prioritising his physical and mental fitness, adding that the duke works out regularly with his personal trainer. His routine also includes regular hikes, bike rides, and ice baths.

Endgame will be released in the UK on 28 November. You can read The Independents review of the book here.

Kensington Palace, Buckingham Palace, and the Sussexes were all contacted for comment.
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The Australian government on Monday committed an additional 255 million Australian dollars ($168 million) in funding for police and other law enforcement officials to monitor 141 migrants freed when a court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional.

The new funding over two years reflects an increase in the workload of law enforcement officials due to government concerns of a heightened community risk posed by those released following a landmark High Court decision on Nov. 8. That ruling said the government could no longer detain indefinitely foreigners who had been refused Australian visas, but could not be deported to their homelands and no third country would accept them.

The migrants released due to the High Court ruling were mostly people with criminal records. The group also include people who failed visa character tests on other grounds and some who were challenging visas refusals through the courts. They include refugees and stateless people.

Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil said the governments priority was protecting the safety of the Australian community within the limits of the law.

This funding will ensure that our agencies are able to dedicate the time and resources that will be required to manage this cohort into the future, ONeil said in a statement.

The Parliament passed a raft of emergency laws on Nov. 16 that imposed restrictions on the newly released migrants including curfews, police reporting conditions and a requirement to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to track their movements at all times.

Lawyers for a Chinese refugee last week lodged a High Court challenge to the new measures, arguing their client was being punished through his curfew and being forced to wear an electronic bracelet.

Hannah Dickinson, the principal lawyer at the Melbourne-based Asylum Seeker Resource Center, told Australian Broadcasting Corp. the additional spending on law enforcement would result in increased policing that was entirely unnecessary, unjustified and ... damaging to the community.

ONeil also announced she would soon introduce draft legislation in response to a recent High Court decision that found a government minister could not strip citizenship from a man convicted of terrorism.

Under the proposed new laws, a judge rather than a minister would decide whether the Australian citizenship of a dual national would be stripped during a sentencing hearing.

The crimes for which citizenship could be removed would be extended beyond terrorism to include espionage and covert foreign interference in Australian politics on behalf of a foreign government.
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Watch again a live view of Israels Ofer prison where Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released as part of the Hamas-Israel ceasefire deal on Monday (27 November).

It comes as NATOs Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called for an extension of the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas, now in its final day, to allow for the release of more hostages.

An Israeli government spokesperson has said Hamas has been given notice that the option for an extension is available.

Eylon Levy said: "Hamas is on notice - that option for an extension is open.

We want to receive another additional 50 hostages beyond tonight, on our way to bringing everyone home.

He added: As soon as that framework expires, Israel will continue with full force.

It is unclear whether this notice refers to a conversation today or previous offers of an extension made during the original agreement.
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A two-day extension to the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip is insufficient to meet the needs of people there, charities have said as they called for an immediate ceasefire.

The Qatari government announced on Monday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the humanitarian pause for two more days.

Further releases of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israels jails are expected as the deal is structured to allow more exchanges for every day the pause holds.

On Monday night, ActionAid welcomed a longer pause but warned it will not be enough to help women and girls sheltering in camps in southern Gaza.

It claimed the delivery of 187 trucks of aid in recent days utterly fails to meet the needs of Palestinians in the territory and amounts to less than half the amount of aid allowed in before the war.

One mother displaced in southern Gaza told the charity: We came to the school to find a mattress, blanket, or anything to cover ourselves with.

We did not find any of this. We slept on the floor. We sleep without pillows and without blankets. The one blanket we have we put on the children.

My sister recently gave birth, about two weeks ago. She could not find a blanket to cover her newborn with.

Cold and rain are upon us, and there is no fresh water. We cant find food to feed the children.

We go to the market and are surprised by the prices. They are unimaginable.

Riham Jafari, advocacy and communication co-ordinator for ActionAid Palestine, said: We welcome the announcement of a two-day extension to the truce in Gaza to give extra time to deliver much-needed aid  but again, only a ceasefire can meet the huge needs of millions of people.

Until then, pauses can only provide a short relief from the relentless bombing and a tiny window to get in a fraction of the aid needed.

Plan International, which advocates for childrens rights and equality for girls, described the extension to the pause as another positive step but called for an end to hostilities.

The charitys UK director of influencing and youth engagement, Kathleen Spencer Chapman, said: The announcement of an extended two-day pause to the conflict in Gaza and the release of more hostages is another positive step.

However, only a full and immediate ceasefire will stop children being killed and enable the scale of life-saving aid and supplies  such as desperately needed clean water, food, fuel and medicines  needed to be distributed across Gaza.

A pause only offers children and families a temporary reprieve from the violence.

We cannot allow children to return to the daily death and destruction they have been subjected to since October 7.

Thats why we continue to call on the UK Government and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to back a full ceasefire now and not just a pause.

Save the Children International wrote: We welcome the release of some Israeli children held hostage in Gaza and Palestinian children held in Israeli military detention.

But we still need all hostages to be released unconditionally, for children in Israeli-run prisons to be better protected and a lasting ceasefire now.

Its international chief executive Inger Ashing said: A few days pause in fighting wont keep children safe.

We cannot let a whole generation of children bear the brunt of this conflict. We need a lasting ceasefire now.
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Trans teenager Brianna Ghey was stabbed 28 times in a sustained and violent assault, the trial of the two teenagers accused of her murder has heard.

The 16-year-old was found with fatal knife wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, shortly after 3pm on February 11 this year. Her killing led to an outpouring of grief across the country, especially from the LGBT+ community.

A girl and boy, both aged 15 at the time and from the local area, were arrested and charged with the murder of Brianna, a pupil at Birchwood High School, Warrington.

Both defendants, now aged 16, appeared at Manchester Crown Court before Mrs Justice Yip on Monday for the start of their trial, expected to last between three and four weeks.

The 16-year-old was found with fatal wounds on a path in Culcheth Linear Park, near Warrington, Cheshire, shortly after 3pm on Saturday February 11 earlier this year (PA Media)

Opening the trial, Deanna Heer KC, prosecuting, said Brianna had been stabbed 28 times, to the head and neck and to the back and chest, in a sustained and violent assault.

The jury of seven men and five women were told Briannas body was discovered by dog walkers Kathryn and Andrew Vize, who saw a man and woman breaking into a run as they approached the body of a girl lying face down in the mud. Ms Heer said there was no dispute that the pair seen running away from Briannas body were the two defendants.

Neither accused can be named by court order because of their age and are identified only as girl X, from Warrington, and boy Y, from Leigh, Greater Manchester.

Brianna Ghey's mother Esther Ghey (left) and sister Alisha Ghey arriving at Manchester Crown Court on Monday (PA)

Ms Heer added: Nor is there any dispute that in the days and weeks leading up to that day, they had discussed killing her. Indeed, it is accepted that Brianna Ghey was killed with a knife that belonged to boy Y, a knife which he told girl X he would be bringing with him that day and which he said was sharp enough to kill her.

Girl X, wearing a dress and grey cardigan and boy Y, wearing black trousers and shirt with a grey tie, sat in the dock listening as the jury was told each defendant denied murder and denied participating in killing Brianna.

Ms Heer said: Each blames the other. The prosecution case is that, whoever it was who delivered the fatal blow or blows, both defendants are equally guilty. Acting together, they planned and executed their plan to kill Brianna Ghey.

She told the court messages recovered from the phones of girl X and boy Y showed a preoccupation with violence, torture and death and recorded them discussing how they wanted to kill people they knew.

Peter Spooner, father of Brianna Ghey, arriving with his partner (name not given) at Manchester Crown Court on Monday (PA)

She said: If that was not an unusual way for two teenagers to speak to one another, the messages demonstrate also how, over time, they encouraged one another to think about how they would actually carry out a killing, and the messages show how they planned together to kill Brianna in just the way that she was in fact killed.

In early December, girl X sent boy Y a video which was apparently an advert for an underground site for people who like rape, snuff, torture and murder, Ms Heer told the court.

Girl X told boy Y: I love watching torture vids. Real ones on the dark web, the jury heard.

The court heard on 1 January, boy Y sent girl X a photo of a hunting knife and told her: Spent my money. I bought a knife.

Tearful family and friends paid their last respects at Briannas funeral, which was pink-themed, in keeping with the teenagers colourful personality (PA)

Ms Heer said: It was this knife, members of the jury, that was to be used to kill Brianna Ghey just six weeks after this image had been sent.

In November 2022, they discussed killing a child referred to as boy M, the court heard. In one message, girl X said: If I do end up killing boy M, I have a really sharp blade, the same one that Sweeney Todd uses. If we kill boy M can I keep some things, a couple of teeth and an eye.

Ms Heer told the court girl X claimed to have killed two people in messages to boy Y, but there was no evidence she had.

She said they spoke in messages about other people they wanted to kill and by 26 January had compiled a list of at least four people, as well as Brianna.

Members of the public hold their phones with the torch function set during a moment of silence as they attend a candle-lit vigil at Old Market Place in Warrington in memory of transgender teenager Brianna Ghey (PA)

The court was told in December last year girl X messaged boy Y telling him she was obsessed over someone called Brianna.

Ms Heer said on 23 January girl X messaged boy Y telling him she had given Brianna ibuprofen gel tablets that should have been enough to kill her. Briannas mother Esther Ghey recalled her daughter had been sick around that time, the court heard.

The court heard girl X created a fake Instagram account to contact one of their targets, referred to as boy E, but it was blocked.

In a message read to the court, girl X told boy Y: If we cant get boy E tomorrow we can kill Brianna. The pair discussed meeting Brianna and killing her at Culcheth Linear Park the following day, the court heard. In one message, girl X said: I want to stab her at least once even if shes dead jus coz its fun lol.

People leave floral tributes near the scene where 16-year-old Brianna Ghey was found with multiple stab wounds on a path at Linear Park (Getty)

Ms Heer said girl X and boy Y did meet each other in Culcheth on 28 January, but girl X told him Brianna said she couldnt come.

Hundreds of mourners joined vigils across the UK to remember Brianna in the days following her death. Some of those gathered in Warrington wore rainbow flags draped across their shoulders, laid flowers and wrote tributes on a placard that was placed in the town square.

The Labour MP for Warrington North, Charlotte Nichols, said the local community had been left reeling.

Speaking at the vigil, she added: Trans lives matter and trans young people should have the fundamental rights to dignity and safety that should be universal human rights.

The 16-year-olds dream had been to become famous on TikTok, and she had loved to do make-up tutorials for her over 31,000 followers on the social media platform (PA)

Nine months on from the tragedy, Briannas mother Esther Ghey (right), 36, reflected on the devastation of the past few months (Esther Ghey)

The 16-year-olds dream had been to become famous on TikTok, and she had loved to do make-up tutorials for her over 31,000 followers on the social media platform.

Nine months on from the tragedy, Briannas mother Esther Ghey, 36, reflected on the devastation of the past few months as she tried to come to terms with the loss of her outgoing and quick-witted daughter.

She told The Independent: Its the news that you would never, ever want to hear  it was completely shocking. It was so tragic that I felt like I was going to die myself.
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A coroner has warned there is a postcode lottery for stalking victims following the death of a young woman who was stabbed to death by her former colleague, in a report which her heartbroken parents called a damning indictment.

Gracie Spinks, 23, was unlawfully killed by Michael Sellers, 35, on 18 June 2021 while tending her horse in Duckmanton, four months after she reported him for stalking. She was stabbed repeatedly and Sellers took his own life shortly afterwards.

On Monday, coroner Matthew Kewley outlined six key areas of concern and said there was a lack of consistency in police forces abilities to investigate stalking reports nationwide, after Derbyshire Constabulary failed to make proper risk assessments and later admitted multiple serious failings.

An inquest into her death earlier heard that the former supervisor had behaved inappropriately towards eight other women before he stalked Ms Spinks, yet his previous employment history had not been requested by the police.

Gracie Spinks reported her killer to police months before her death (Family handout/PA) (PA Media)

In a Prevention of Future Death report addressed to Derbyshire Constabulary and home secretary James Cleverly, the coroner called on police to ensure that officers were adequately trained on how to deal with stalking cases and that effective notes were taken in all investigations.

He said: During the inquest, I heard evidence from the police officers who were involved in investigating Gracies stalking complaint in February 2021.

Derbyshire Constabulary accepted that there were serious failings in how Gracies complaint was investigated by these officers.

I do recognise that Derbyshire Constabulary has taken some steps following Gracies death to improve knowledge around stalking.

Michael Sellers seen on CCTV shortly before he stabbed her (Derbyshire Police)

However, as the Detective Chief Superintendent who gave evidence for the Constabulary accepted, more needs to be done to improve knowledge and understanding around how officers should investigate complaints of stalking.

After Ms Spinks reported Sellers for stalking in February 2021, stating her concerns he might kidnap someone, he was deemed low risk and was only offered words of advice by an officer.

Police also dismissed a bag of weapons  later found to belong to Sellers  that was found near where Ms Spinks was eventually killed a month later.

A member of the public had reported finding the bag, which contained knives, an axe, a hammer and Viagra as well as a note with the words Dont Lie. Despite this, officers treated the bag as lost property and failed to visit the scene where they were discovered, which was just a short distance from where Ms Spinks horse.

The coroner also said he was concerned over an ongoing issue within the force about how it dealt with potentially dangerous weapons being found within the community.

She was stabbed in a field while Sellers was discovered dead a short while later (Family handout/PA) (PA Media)

Mr Kewley referenced a recent incident from August 2023, where a child discovered a knife hidden in a sock. While the childs parents were concerned it had been concealed to be used at a later date, the call handler advised them to destroy the blade and advised that police would not be attending.

The force later admitted and apologised for multiple failings, although an inquest jury was not asked to decide whether these contributed to Ms Spinks death.

Addressing Mr Cleverly, Mr Kewley said: During the inquest, I heard evidence about the benefits that stalking advocates can provide to those who are victims of stalking.

Whilst I was reassured to hear that Derbyshire now benefits from stalking advocates, I heard evidence that many other areas around the UK do not have stalking advocates.

This essentially creates a postcode lottery for victims who report stalking to the police.

I am concerned about the lack of consistency and availability of stalking advocates to victims of stalking across the UK.

In a statement, Ms Spinks parents, Richard Spinks and Alison Ward, thanked the coroner for his comprehensive and insightful report and said their daughter was tragically let down.

Her parents said that faith in the police had been entirely lost (PA)

They said: The report is a damning indictment, it details the colossal failures and the many areas of concern that were sadly evident throughout the inquest.

Even before Gracies tragedy the public trust in the police was hanging by a thread, after numerous scandals and systemic failings, unfortunately after Gracies death, faith in the police has been entirely lost.

Vulnerable victims of stalking need to feel safe in the knowledge that the police will listen, investigate and protect them. Victims need to be instilled with confidence to make the initial complaint.

The home secretary must unequivocally communicate to the chief constable that standards of policing need to improve and receive assurance that not only will recommendations in the report be followed but there will be oversight on implementation across each area identified.

Officers should moving forward be held accountable to the standards of excellence expected by the public.

We hope in the future that no parents have to sit through an inquest with broken hearts, overwhelming grief, knowing that the grief will be ever-present for life and continue long after the officers who failed Gracie have given evidence and left the court building.

Both Derbyshire Constabulary and the Home Office have 56 days to respond, outlining what action has been or will be taken or stating why no action is proposed.

Deputy Chief Constable at Derbyshire Constabulary, Simon Blatchly, said the force will review the recommendations made by the coroner.

He said: We have today received the Prevention of Future Deaths Report from the coroner following the inquest into the death of Gracie Spinks.

As was said following the conclusion of the inquest, we fully accept there were significant failings throughout the two incidents relating to Gracie.

We will now review the recommendations that have been made and reply within the relevant timeframe.

We are absolutely committed to providing the best possible response for victims of stalking and harassment and, since Gracies death in June 2021, significant work has already been completed to tackle the failures that were identified prior to the inquest.

There has also, over the last two and a half-years, been significant changes to the ways in which we as a force receive and investigate stalking reports, as well as how we support and safeguard victims of these crimes.

I also want to reiterate the forces sincere apologies to the family, friends and wider community.
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The Metropolitan Police is investigating reports of war crimes committed in Gaza.

Scotland Yards war crimes unit is collaborating with the International Criminal Court to investigate any war crimes committed by Israel or Hamas in the region since 7 October.

The unit has received over 20 referrals, including those made by individuals recently returned from Gaza, since the conflict began.

In one case, the force has contacted a leading surgeon who worked in Al-Shifa and Al-Alhi hospitals for nearly two months to give testimony of potential war crimes.

Professor Ghassan abu Sitta, who travelled to Gaza on 9 October to work as a surgeon, said he had seen evidence of war crimes, including the use of white phosphorus on civilians.

Professor Sitta claimed he increasingly saw white phosphorous burn wounds while he worked in the region.

When the land invasion happened, we started getting patients increasingly from the north with white phosphorous burns.

Once youve seen them you know what they are. The flesh of these patients turn to Swiss cheese, with black burns from phosphorous pellets, he said.

Previously, the Israeli military said: The current accusation made against the IDF regarding the use of white phosphorus in Gaza is unequivocally false.

Professor Sitta said a 15-year-old boy was showered with pellets of white phosphorous while running away which left his back covered with chemical burns.

Israel LShells that appears to be white phosphorus from Israeli artillery explode over Dahaira, a Lebanese border village with Israel, south Lebanon, on 16 October (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All right reserved)

White phosphorous, the use of which is considered illegal in dense, civilian populations, is used for illumination and to stop heat seeking missiles shooting down aircraft.

The use of such incendiary weapons are allowed when "not specifically designed to cause burn injury to persons, according to an international protocol ratified by Israel in 1995.

But the use of these weapons are not allowed where civlians are concentrated, according to international law and the protocol ratified by Israel.

Professor Sitta also claimed the Israeli Defence Forces deliberately targeted civilians in schools, hospitals and places of worship.

Patients reported the wiping out of entire families and have described them as massacres, he said. He added that 40 to 45 per cent of patients he treated while he worked in the region were children.

The Israeli Defence Forces says it does not attack civilians. In October, a spokesperson said: According to the laws of armed conflict, we are not targeting civilians. Casualties in Gaza or civilian causalities are regrettable. They are not the aim of our operations.

A Met Police spokesperson told The Independent: As the UKs investigative authority for war crimes, Counter Terrorism Policing - through the Mets War Crimes Team - has a responsibility to support International Criminal Court (ICC) investigations. The ICC opened an investigation in 2019 into alleged war crimes in Israel and Palestine and this remains ongoing.

The War Crimes Team has received a more than 20 referrals in recent weeks relating to the conflict in Israel and Palestine. These include referrals made by individuals who have recently returned to the UK from the region.

These are being looked at in line with our usual guidelines for assessing such referrals relating to allegations of war crimes. Any information that is assessed as being relevant to the ongoing ICC investigation into the Palestine situation will then be passed to the ICC as appropriate.

There is currently no UK-based investigation in relation to this matter.

Anyone wishing to report a War Crime-related matter can do so via our website: https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/war-crimes.
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Eleven men have been jailed for their part in a lucrative people-smuggling operation that ended in the tragic deaths of 39 men, women and children in an airtight container in Essex early on October 23 2019.

Haulage boss and criminal ringleader Ronan Hughes, 44, of Armagh, in Northern Ireland played a pivotal role with his fleet of lorries.

He received 3,000 per migrant successfully transported from the continent to Essex. He admitted plotting to people smuggle and 39 counts of manslaughter and was jailed for 20 years.

Following a confiscation hearing, he was ordered to pay victims families 182,078.90.

Romanian mechanic Gheorghe Nica, 46, of Basildon, Essex, was Hughess friend and partner in crime.

He supplied a fleet of drivers to pick up the migrants from a drop-off point near Orsett in Essex for transit to a holding flat in Dulwich, south London to await payment.

He was found guilty of the manslaughters and people-smuggling conspiracy and jailed for 27 years.

Nica had tried to minimise his involvement, blaming his associate, Marius Draghici.

He was ordered to pay more than 65,000 in compensation to the victims families.

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley, 26, from County Tyrone, was involved in three earlier runs on October 11, 14 and 18 2019.

He roped in his teenage friend and employee, Christopher Kennedy, as a lorry driver.

Gormley, who had previously worked for Hughes, claimed he thought they were smuggling alcohol.

On Monday, was convicted of facilitating illegal immigration following an Old Bailey trial.

Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 27, of Darkley, Co Armagh, Northern Ireland, was convicted over the same three runs as his boss Gormley.

On October 14, he was caught at Calais with migrants in the back of his lorry and given a slap on the wrist, jurors heard.

Some of them were believed to have died in a renewed attempt on October 22.

Kennedy transported a container of human cargo and biscuits on October 18. The biscuits were all ruined.

He was described by the prosecution as an integral part of Hughes human trafficking team and was jailed for seven years for the plot.

Kennedy was found to have made 67,058 and ordered to pay victims families 6,094.

Lorry driver Maurice Robinson, 29, of Craigavon, Northern Ireland, found the migrants bodies after picking up the container at Purfleet early on October 23 2019 for a fee of 500.

Hughes had ordered him to give them air quickly, dont let them out.

He stalled for 23 minutes before ringing 999 while he exchanged a series of calls with Hughes and Nica.

He received 25,000 for a previous run from Belgium to the UK, as well as taking part in an aborted run of migrants due to be collected from the Netherlands.

He admitted plotting to people smuggle, 39 counts of manslaughter and money laundering. He was jailed for 13 years and four months.

Robinson was ordered to pay the victims families 21,262 after being found to have made 50,000 in ill-gotten gains.

Lorry driver Eamonn Harrison, 27, of Mayobridge, Co Down, Northern Ireland, was pulled into the scheme as a means of paying off a large debt he owed to Hughes as a result of a lorry accident in Germany while he was drunk driving.

Described as the man on the continent, it was Harrison who picked up the victims on October 22 and dropped off the container at Zeebrugge in Belgium to be shipped to the UK.

In the weeks before the tragedy, he had done little other haulage work, being paid a flat fee of 500 euros (445) per trip. He was found guilty of the manslaughters and people-smuggling plot and jailed for 18 years.

He was ordered to pay victims families just over 5,000 after being found to have made 11,900.

Romanian Marius Mihai Draghici, 50, was Nicas second-in-command.

He fled the country after the migrants bodies were found. He pleaded guilty to the manslaughters and the people-smuggling plot and was jailed for 12 years and seven months.

Dragos Stefan Damian, 30, admitted waiting at the Orsett pick-up point to transport the migrants to London when the tragedy unfolded early on October 23.

He claimed he could not say no to Nica who had him over a barrel. He was extradited from Italy and jailed for 46 months.

Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 31, from Essex, admitted collecting migrants from the drop-off point and driving them to south London a few weeks before the tragedy.

He felt beholden to Nica and could not say no. He was jailed for three years. He was ordered to pay 3,000 in compensation.

Valentin Calota, 41, from Birmingham, was dragged into the operation by his acquaintance, Nica, and drove just one vanload of migrants from Orsett to London on October 18 for 700 plus expenses.

He was jailed for four and a half years and ordered to pay 1,137.29 in compensation.

Albanian Gazmir Nuzi, 46, of Tottenham, north London, picked up his nephew from Essex and gave a lift to a second man after they were smuggled to Britain on October 11.

He admitted the one-off journey but denied being part of the people-smuggling gang and was jailed for 10 months.
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The final member of a people-smuggling gang linked to the deaths of 39 men, women and children in Essex has been convicted.

Haulage boss Caolan Gormley, 26, from Co Tyrone, plotted to bring migrants into the UK from mainland Europe three times in October 2019.

One of the trips was scuppered by French border officials, with some migrants from that trip believed to have died days later in a fatal run overnight on October 22-23 2019.

Gormley had denied being involved, claiming he thought he was helping bring alcohol into the UK illegally.

On Monday, a jury deliberated for just over an hour to find Gormley guilty of conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration.

His conviction brings the total number of people to be convicted over the plot to 11.

Judge Richard Marks adjourned sentencing until Friday.

Previously, prosecutor Ben Holt told jurors the people smugglers exploited the victims desperation to get to the UK, charging more than 10,000 a head.

The migrants would be loaded into a container lorry on the continent and transported across the English Channel to be picked up for onward transfer in the UK.

Gormley was recruited by ringleader Ronan Hughes and deployed his driver Christopher Kennedy to help move the human cargo.

He was implicated in three trips, overnight on October 10 to 11, a failed run on October 14 to 15, and October 18 to 19, just days before the tragedy.

On the first trip, residents near Orsett in Essex saw migrants jumping out of the back of a lorry before being whisked away by vehicles to their destinations.

Mr Holt told jurors: The other trip was thwarted by customs officials in France. Remarkably, the driver on that occasion  Kennedy  was effectively given a slap on the wrists and told to go on his way. The migrants were similarly allowed to go.

Tragically, some of those migrants would end up in the lorry part of the 39 men, women and children who died during the night (of) October 22 and 23.

On that occasion, another driver, Maurice Robinson, picked up a container at Purfleet docks and found all 39 Vietnamese people aged between 15 and 44 dead.

He opened the doors after being instructed by Hughes to give them air quick but not let the migrants out.

Following the discovery, Robinson called his boss Hughes before dialling 999.

Giving evidence in his trial, Gormley said he was taking a break at a truck stop in Sandbach, Cheshire, on his way to deliver racehorse bedding to Cambridge when he spoke to Hughes.

He said: He called me the night before and I was returning the call. I remember when he answered he sounded different, panicked, making no sense at all. It was just mumbo jumbo. He was making zero sense.

At 3.46pm, Gormley got a text from his mother in Co Tyrone asking if the truck in the news belonged to one of Hughess brothers.

He replied: Dont know and neither do u (sic).

Gormley told jurors he was trying to stop his mother from gossiping because she works in a doctors surgery and thought there might be repercussions.

He described his total disbelief this had happened, adding: I was just shocked, to be honest.

Later the same day, Gormley dumped the burner phone he used to communicate with Hughes.

Gormley was asked why he denied to the bitter end being the owner of that phone when interviewed by police.

He said: I lied about it because I didnt want to confess (to) a crime I had committed in relation to alcohol smuggling.

I had contacted Ronan Hughes on the phone. At that time the news had come out about what happened with the 39 dead and I didnt want any affiliation with that.

Gormley also told jurors he had no reason to question Kennedys explanation for being caught with migrants in his lorry on October 14.

He said: Kennedy said he stopped at the supermarket to buy alcohol and cigarettes on his way to the crossing. At that time he was actually covering his tracks for what had happened.

He just said they must have got in the trailer while he was in the shop. Its a very hot spot for migrants in the Calais area. Its very common. I had no reason not to believe his account.

A consignment of biscuits from Belgium was ruined during the October 18 people-smuggling run, the court was told.

After the verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Louise Metcalfe, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: The people who were part of this international network were ruthless in their financial greed  their behaviour and their actions are reprehensible.

They have shown no regard for the law and, most importantly, the value of human life.

We have consistently promised the families of the 39 victims that we would deliver justice in its entirety. We have been committed to hunting down every person we know to have been involved.

In Essex and with international partners, we have done that. The investigation has broken up a sophisticated international criminal operation and it has seen the conviction of 11 people here in the UK as well as 18 people earlier this month in France.

Today, as this final guilty verdict is reached, we think of our Vietnamese friends and the families of the victims. But most of all we think of the 39 people who will never leave our hearts here at Essex Police.
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The estranged British wife of a prominent Indonesian businessman who wants a judge in England to decide how much she walks away with has won an initial round of a London divorce fight.

Deputy High Court Judge James Ewins has ruled that Monisha Mahtani, 49, is still married to husband Vivek Mahtani, 51, under English law.

Mrs Mahtani told the judge that Mr Mahtani was a prominent businessman worth more than 35 million and said the then President of Indonesia had been a guest at their wedding celebration 20 years ago.

But she argued that a divorce, obtained by Mr Mahtani in Indonesia in 2017, left her with no rights to his assets and should not be recognised in England.

She states that during the marriage they lived a life of luxury where money was never an issue Judge Ewins on Mrs Mahtani

She said she wanted to pursue financial claims against Mr Mahtani before the English court.

Judge Ewins has ruled in her favour after concluding that Mr Mahtani had misled an Indonesian court.

He has refused recognition of the Indonesian divorce and says the Mahtanis marriage is still subsisting under English law.

The judge, who has outlined details of the case in a ruling after considering evidence at a recent hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, was told that the couple had married in London in 2003  then staged a Hindu wedding celebration in Indonesia.

He said Mr Mahtani had, without any notice to Mrs Mahtani, obtained a court order in Indonesia.

That order appeared to give Mrs Mahtani no rights to any of Mr Mahtanis assets or property and meant that she may not claim anything back from a joint property, except bed linen and personal clothing, said the judge.

Mrs Mahtani said her husband came from a very wealthy and prominent family in Indonesia.

She states that during the marriage they lived a life of luxury where money was never an issue, said Judge Ewins.

With full respect to the Indonesian court, which was misled by (Mr Mahtani) in 2017, I refuse recognition of the Indonesian divorce Judge Ewins

She describes the respondent as a prominent businessman in his own right, being the director of and holding shares in several companies including those concerned with iron and steel and industrial chemicals, forestry products and spices and coconut plantations and related products.

(Mrs Mahtani) states that (Mr Mahtani) mixes with high society in Indonesia, including the President.

Indeed, she states that the then President of Indonesia was a special guest at their wedding celebration in 2003.

(She) conservatively estimates the respondents wealth to be in the region of 45 million US dollars.

He added: With full respect to the Indonesian court, which was misled by (Mr Mahtani) in 2017, I refuse recognition of the Indonesian divorce.

Judge Ewins said Mr Mahtani had not participated at all in any of the English proceedings.

He had not acknowledged receipt or service of, or responded to, any of the documents arising out of Mrs Mahtanis divorce petition, said the judge.
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A teenager found dead 27 years ago was infatuated with the boyfriend accused of murdering her, despite telling her mother he had lifted his hands to her, a Scottish court has heard.

Robbie OBrien, 45, is one of three people on trial at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering Caroline Glachan on August 25 1996.

The first witness in the trial was the girls mother, Margaret McKeich, who told the court she didnt approve of her 14-year-old daughters relationship with OBrien, who was at least three years older than her.

OBrien is accused alongside Donna Marie Brand, 44; and Andrew Kelly, 44; of the murder after the teenagers body was discovered in the River Leven, near Place of Bonhill in Renton, West Dunbartonshire on the above date.

Prosecutors allege the trio arranged to meet the schoolgirl at a bridge near the towpath beside the river Leven between Renton and Bonhill.

It is then alleged they assaulted her, shouted and swore at the teenager and repeatedly punched and kicked her on the head and body.

The accused are then alleged to have thrown bricks or similar instruments at her, causing blunt force trauma to her head and body, causing her to fall, or pushing her, into the river.

All three have pleaded not guilty to her murder and have lodged special defences of alibi.

OBrien, originally from Dunbarton, is separately accused on various dates between June 1 1996 and August 25 1996 of assaulting the girl at locations including Balloch Country Park, Renton, Vale of Leven and elsewhere in Dunbartonshire.

It is alleged OBrien assaulted the teenager by punching her face, placing his hands around her neck and compressing her throat.

She told me that he had lifted his hands to her Margaret McKeich, victim's mother

In evidence to the court, the schoolgirls mother told the court her daughter was dating OBrien and the pair had gone to an Oasis concert, held in Balloch on August 3 1996.

She said: Caroline was quite infatuated with him.

I didnt approve of the relationship. I felt he was too old. I did have words with them about that.

Mrs McKeich also told the court that her daughter had informed her of his physical behaviour towards her, adding: She told me that he had lifted his hands to her. He gave her a slap.

She said she made her views known absolutely on more than one occasion.

Advocate Depute Alex Prentice asked Mrs McKeich if she had approached OBrien  known to Caroline as Robbie  over the claims.

She said: I did. It was roughly about two to three weeks before her murder.

I asked him what he thought he was playing at with a 14-year-old girl. I wasnt happy with him and he should stay away from her.

The day the girls body was discovered by police  August 25 1996  was her mothers 40th birthday.

Mrs McKeich told the court she went out in the evening to celebrate, returning around 2am or 3am on August 25, but her daughter was not home.

She said: I sat and waited and thought, she will come in anytime now. I was angry at her and I was upset that she would stay out so late. And then I thought she will come in the morning because she will be frightened to face me.

The advocate depute asked her: Did you receive bad news that day?

She replied: I did. It was in the later afternoon.

He then asked: Did you ID your daughter?

Fighting back tears, Mrs McKeich said: I did.

However, Ian Duguid KC, acting on behalf of OBrien, asked Mrs McKeich: Before August 25 you had a conversation with Caroline about heroin?

She said: I did yes. She told me she had tried it but she didnt like it.

He put to Mrs McKeich that around the time of her death there were a number of things going on in her life that perhaps she wasnt being entirely honest about in her explanation to you, is that fair?

She said: That is fair.

Later, Anne Marie Tomlin, a former family friend who was like an aunty to Caroline, said she had seen Caroline on August 24 and asked if she would be coming to stay at hers as they had previously discussed.

She said she was going to meet friends that night, she told the court.

Jurors were then shown a video of former Strathclyde police officer James McMeekin and his team recovering the schoolgirls body, face down in the river embankment.

Facial injuries were visible when she was turned over.

The trial, before judge Lord Braid, continues.
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Three people have gone on trial accused of murdering a schoolgirl more than 25 years ago.

Robert OBrien, 45; Donna Marie Brand, 44; and Andrew Kelly, 44; appeared at the High Court in Glasgow accused of murdering 14-year-old Caroline Glachan on August 25 1996.

The teenagers body was discovered in the river Leven, near Place of Bonhill in Renton, West Dunbartonshire.

All three accused have pleaded not guilty and lodged special defences of alibi.

The court heard that on various dates between June 1 1996 and August 25 1996, OBrien, originally from Dumbarton, is alleged to have assaulted Ms Glachan at locations including Balloch Country Park, Renton, Vale of Leven and elsewhere in Dunbartonshire.

It is alleged he assaulted the teenager by punching her face, placing his hands around her neck and compressing her throat.

Prosecutors claim the three accused arranged to meet Caroline on August 25 1996 at a bridge near the towpath beside the river Leven between Renton and Bonhill.

They are then alleged to have assaulted Ms Glachan, shouted and swore at her and repeatedly kicked and punched her on the head and body.

It is claimed the trio threw bricks or similar instruments causing blunt force injuries to her head and body.

Prosecutors claim they pushed, or caused her to fall into the undergrowth, and into the river Leven. The three are then accused of murdering Ms Glachan.

The trial, before judge Lord Braid, continues.
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Immigration minister Robert Jenrick has been challenged in the Commons over the plight of a female Afghan special forces soldier who is trapped in Turkey after the UK denied her sanctuary.

The story of the mother-of-four, who was forced to flee Afghanistan after the Wests withdrawal, was revealed by The Independent in collaboration with investigative newsroom Lighthouse Reports on Sunday.

Zahab, whose name has been changed for her safety, was one of a select group of women who worked for Commando Force 333, an elite Afghan special forces unit that was set up and paid for by the British government. The unit fought alongside British special forces soldiers and help the UK track and capture Taliban and Isis leaders.

Speaking at Home Office questions in the House of Commons on Monday, Alison Thewliss, an SNP MSP, raised the plight of the many Afghans who are unable to come to the UK through the designated resettlement schemes.

Home office minister Robert Jenrick said the UK was a big hearted country when quizzed about the plight of Afghans left behind (PA)

She told immigration minister Robert Jenrick: The Independent has today laid out a story of a mother-of-four, an Afghan special forces soldier who served in a unit, set up by Britain.

She explained that the soldiers application for the Ministry of Defences resettlement scheme, designed for those who worked for or with the British armed forces, had been denied along with many other members of her unit CF333 - and its sister unit ATF444.

Can I ask him, why is he failing so many Afghans?she asked.

Immigration minister quizzed on Independent story about Afghan special forces soldier

Mr Jenrick replied saying that the government did not encourage anyone whatever their circumstances are to come across the Channel in a small boat.

He added: We have supported almost 25,000 people to come from Afghanistan since the war. Mr Jenrick added that the government has issued more than half a million humanitarian visas, which he added was a record we should be proud of.

Zahab, centre right, was trained to gather intelligence on UK and Afghan missions in Afghanistan (Supplied)

The United Kingdom is a big hearted country, he concluded.

It comes after a joint investigation with Lighthouse Reports and Sky News earlier this month, which found that dozens of former members of CF333 and ATF444 have been beaten, tortured or killed by the Taliban since August 2021.

It revealed for the first time that the unit was paid by the British, but that, despite this, many have been rejected for resettlement in the UK. Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has said the government is aware of the rejections and has committed to re-engaging with the application process to make sure there is integrity in that process.
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Charities must not become forums for hate speech, a watchdog has said, as it warned of serious concerns about alleged antisemitic and hateful activities linked to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The Charity Commission vowed to deal strongly with those who intentionally or recklessly abuse charities in England and Wales, and warned that it would not allow premises, events or online content to become forums for hate speech.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the watchdogs chair Orlando Fraser KC praised the many UK-based charities who have intensified their efforts to promote cohesion and combat extremism in the face of increasing reports of antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes.

But he warned that this good work could be undermined by a few individuals abusing their privileged positions to fuel division and tension.

The watchdog is aware of a significant number of serious concerns about activities linked to the conflict in Israel and Gaza, Mr Fraser said.

These include charities representing communities across the religious divide, although these, to date, largely concern allegations of antisemitic or hate speech, he added. Charities must not allow their premises, events or online content to become forums for hate speech against any community or unlawful extremism.

The Charity Commission will not stand by and permit charities to be abused in this way. Where there proves to have been wrongdoing, make no mistake, we will deal with it robustly.

It comes weeks after the governments culture secretary Lucy Frazer wrote to the Charity Commission warning that charities promoting extremist narratives ... risk undermining our wider system of charity regulation.

Hundreds of thousands have taken to the streets in the UK to demand a ceasefire in Gaza in the weeks since the conflict erupted (Anadolu via Getty Images)

That warning was part of a wider move by the government to urge zero tolerance for any alleged hate speech in universities and the health service, as tensions run high over the conflict ignited in Gaza by Hamass cross-border massacre on 7 October, which sparked Israels subsequent bombardment and invasion of the strip.

Mr Fraser appeared to allude to a previous case in which an Islamic centre allegedly hosted a vigil for assassinated Iranian military chief Qassem Soleimani in 2020, and another charity apparently linked to far-right extremism, as he insisted that the watchdog has acted when similar concerns have been raised in the past.

We act just as strongly on any form of hate speech or extremism, whichever community it stems from or is directed at, he said.

At a time of heightened tensions, people expect charities to lead the way in bringing us together. That does not mean that they must avoid sensitive or controversial issues  charities are free to campaign so long as it relates to their charitable purposes.

But I am clear that they have a responsibility to do so with respect, tolerance and consideration for others. They must avoid inflammatory rhetoric that stokes division and may undermine trust in the sector.
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Police are investigating an alleged acid attack on an ex-advisor to the former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan at his home in Hertfordshire, amid claims by a senior Tory MP it was carried out by an agent of the countrys feared intelligence agency, the ISI.

Shahzad Akbar, who sought refuge in Britain after leading Pakistans efforts to combat corruption and becoming an outspoken opponent of the regime, told TheIndependent he was lucky not to lose his sight in the attack on Sunday afternoon.

He was saved by his spectacles, which were badly damaged. Mr Akbar described how the attack was launched in front of his four-year-old daughter, and left him with acid burns on an arm and the top of his head.

The Tory MP and former cabinet minister David Davis said foreign secretary Lord Cameron should summon Pakistans high commissioner over the incident.

Shahzad Akbar, who sought refuge in Britain after leading Pakistans efforts to combat corruption as an adviser to the former prime minister Imran Khan, told the Independent he was lucky not to lose his sight (Shahzad Akbar)

The circumstantial evidence that this attack was conducted at the behest of the ISI [Inter-Service Intelligence is persuasive, Mr Davis said. The Pakistanis have to understand that whatever the standards of law at home, they cannot be allowed to attack British residents on British soil.

The foreign secretary should summon the high commissioner and demand an explanation. Likening the incident to the poisonings of Yulia and Sergei Skripal in Salisbury in 2018, he said such behaviour would be no more acceptable from the Pakistanis than from the Russians.

Describing the alleged attack, Mr Akbar said that at 4.35pm on Sunday he was washing pots in his kitchen with his daughter when there was a knock at his front door: I saw a thin person, around 5ft6ins, wearing a red padded jacket like a delivery person. He had a motorbike helmet with the glass drawn down. I think he had gloves.

In his right hand he had a plastic bottle. He squeezed and aimed for my face. It happened in a split second, and I slammed the door. Acid came on my face and clothes but the door got most of it. I shouted to my wife to call 999.

Her first question was: Have you been shot? The father-of-two replied: Not yet. He had the presence of mind to rush to his downstairs washroom and spent many minutes dousing his face, but said the top of my head and an ear started burning.

Paramedics arrived in an ambulance and took him Addenbrookes hospital in Cambridge, where nurses in bodysuits had me strip and washed me from head to toe. After eight hours he was discharged, with his acid-burnt arm and other injuries bandaged.

His glasses after the alleged attack (Shahzad Akbar)

Mr Akbar, 46, who read law at Newcastle University and is a member of the English bar, was appointed head of the asset recovery unit Khan set up when he became prime minister in 2018, spearheading high-profile attempts to investigate officials and politicians suspected of stealing millions and to return their ill-gotten wealth to the Pakistani treasury.

He had previously led Pakistans pre-eminent human rights law firm, which had sued the American government over the deaths of civilians in US drone strikes and defended clients, some of British origin, in cases where they faced the death penalty.

Mr Akbar also became a minister in Khans cabinet, but stepped down in January last year, shortly before Khan was ousted after falling foul of Pakistans Establishment - the term often used locally to describe the shadowy alliance between the military, the ISI and compliant political leaders, which both generates wealth and wields immense power. Some of those responsible had been targets of investigations by Mr Akbar and his colleagues.

He fled first to the Gulf and then Britain after Khan was deposed in March last year, finding work with two human rights organisations and settling in Royston, a market town in Hertfordshire. He continued to attack the establishment and the government that succeeded Khan on Pakistani TV and social media.

In May 2023, the ISI kidnapped Mr Akbars brother Murad from his home in Islamabad and held him without charge at an undisclosed location. The following month, a senior government official told a press conference that Murad would be held indefinitely unless Shahzad returned to Pakistan.

Murad was finally freed on 27 August after prominent figures including Mr Davis and the Labour MP Chris Bryant wrote an open letter to then-foreign secretary James Cleverly, saying he was at risk of torture, disappearance and death, and asking him to do all he could to secure his release.

Shahzad Akbar kept his Royston address secret, but last month he received a package of documents there sent from the High Commission in London. Obviously they had discovered where we live, he said.

Policemen escort Pakistans former prime minister Imran Khan as he arrives at the high court in Islamabad on 12 May 2023 (AFP via Getty Images)

Two weeks ago, he sent an email, seen by TheIndependent, expressing concern at this development to the National Crime Agency (NCA) and Hertfordshire Police. He told said their advice was that his personal threat level remained low, but added: I suppose I agreed with them. It was one thing to try to intimidate me remotely through my brother, but I never really thought they would attack me in Britain.

An authoritative Pakistani source known to have links with establishment figures told TheIndependent he warned Akbar weeks ago that he was being targeted, adding: Hes very lucky he left Pakistan when he did and isnt dead. But here in Britain, hes on his own.

It is understood that the bottle that had contained the acid has been recovered by police, who are currently guarding Akbars house.

The incident comes two months after Canadas prime minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian agents of murdering the Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.

Hertfordshire Police said: Police were contacted by the ambulance service just before 4.45pm on Sunday to reports of an assault in Royston.

It is believed an acidic solution was used. A 44-year-old man received hospital treatment and has now been discharged. Safety of any victim is paramount and we believe this is an isolated incident. Active enquiries are underway.

The Pakistan High Commission did not respond to a request for comment.
 Close Thousands gather to march against antisemitism through central London

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Tens of thousands of people attended a march against antisemitism in London on Sunday amid fears about rising antisemitic incidents sparked by the crisis in the Middle East.

The event was held the day after the latest in a series of pro-Palestinian protests in the capital called again for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Former prime minister Boris Johnson was among those attending and compared antisemitism with an old spore of a virus.

Tommy Robinson was arrested at the march after organisers had raised concerns and police warned the far-right was not welcome.

There was only one other arrest at the event, which was organised by the charity Campaign Against Antisemitism.

It came as the Israeli military said that 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals had been released from captivity in Gaza, on the third day of a four-day truce.

The father of a young Irish-Israeli girl released by Hamas on Saturday has said she is doing better than expected, and has thanked the public for their support. Thomas Hand had feared his daughter Emily had been killed in the Hamas attacks but they were reunited at the weekend
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The family of a headteacher who took her own life after a critical Ofsted report has been forced to crowdfund for her inquest after legal aid was denied.

Ruth Perry took her own life in January after the report downgraded Caversham Primary School in Reading from its highest rating, outstanding, to its lowest, inadequate, over safeguarding concerns.

Her sister, Professor Julia Waters, set up a GoFundMe page to raise 50,000 ahead of the inquest into Ms Perrys death, which will begin on Tuesday at Berkshire Coroners Court. By Sunday the appeal - set up to pay for legal advice and representation at the hearing - had surpassed its target and reached 52,898.

There was an outpouring of grief after Ruth Perrys death - and a barrage of criticsm for Ofsted (Brighter Futures for Children)

On the Gofundme page it was announced that the familys application for legal aid was rejected just days before the start of the inquest, while other parties  Ofsted, Reading Borough Council and Berkshire Healthcare NHS Trust  will de facto have their legal costs paid from the public purse as public bodies.

We believe this legal and financial inequity to be unjust, the pages description said. The family hopes that the inquest will reveal the truth about the circumstances leading to Ruths death and the opportunities that were missed to prevent it.

They hope that lessons can be learnt to prevent future such deaths from occurring. Please donate to our crowdfunder if you feel the lack of legal aid for Ruth Perrys family is unjust and inequitable, and if you wish to support their campaign for meaningful change in Ruths name.

An inquest into the death of Ms Perry will start on Tuesday (PA Archive)

It was also made clear that any money raised beyond the target would be donated to the charity Inquest, which supports people bereaved by state-related deaths.

Prof Waters previously said Ms Perry had experienced the worst day of her life after inspectors reviewed the school on November 15 and 16 last year.

At a pre-inquest review in July, Ofsted denied that the manner in which a school inspection was carried out contributed to Ms Perrys death.

Members of UNISON protest against Ofsted following the death (PA)

The circumstances surrounding Ms Perrys death sparked outrage among her colleagues and other education professionals, with three teaching unions at the time calling on Ofsted to pause inspections and launch an investigation.

Teachers launched a petition calling for an inquiry into the inspection of Caversham Primary School which got more than 120,000 signatures.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders union NAHT, said it was important that people listened to what Ms Perrys family had to say regarding their determination that something like this should never happen again.

Steve Chalke, the founder of the Oasis school, added that Ofsted is Inadequate.

A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: We know this will be an incredibly difficult time for the family and friends of Ruth Perry and our thoughts remain with them.

Legal aid representation is not necessary in the vast majority of inquests but we have made changes to ensure there is more support for those who have lost loved ones.
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The Home Office is ending its contract with a hotel where unaccompanied asylum-seeking children went missing, a council leader has said.

Brighton and Hove City Council leader Bella Sankey said the Home Office will end its contract with a hotel in Hove to house unaccompanied youths on Thursday, November 30.

Ms Sankey posted on X: The Home Office contract with a Hove hotel to accommodate unaccompanied children seeking asylum will end on Thursday.

This is a major milestone for our council and for our city.

Because Brighton and Hove Labour and Brighton and Hove City Council took action, this inhumane policy is ending.

The move comes after the council launched legal action against the Government in June after the Home Office planned to reopen the hotel despite 50 children still unaccounted for.

Sussex Police confirmed 139 young people had gone missing from Hove since July 2021 and 90 children have been found.

On July 27, the High Court ruled the practice of housing lone child asylum seekers in hotels had been unlawful for more than 18 months.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said the practice is unlawful because the power to place the children in hotels may be used on very short periods in true emergency situations.

The Home Office maintains that the best place for unaccompanied children to be homed is within a local authority.

A Home Office spokesperson said: Due to the rise in dangerous small boats crossings, the Government has had no alternative but to urgently use hotels to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children while they await placements with local authorities.

We are making every effort to end the use of expensive hotels which are costing the taxpayer 8.2 million a day, including opening ex-military sites and the Bibby Stockholm.
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Cabinet minister James Cleverly has apologised in the Commons for using inappropriate language against a Labour MP  but denied he called his Stockton constituency a s***hole.

But Labour MP Alex Cunningham refused to accept the apology during an feisty Commons row  insisting that he did not believe Mr Cleverlys claim to have called him a s*** MP.

The Tory home secretary was accused of making the remark after Mr Cunningham challenged Rishi Sunak over the level of child poverty in his Stockton North constituency.

A close ally of Mr Cleverly insisted that he had personally called the MP s***, but his swearing had was not directed towards the north east town.

Making an apology in person for the first time on Monday, Mr Cleverly told MPs: I know what I said. I rejected the accusation that I criticised his constituency.

He added: My criticism, which I made from a sedentary position, about the honourable gentleman used inappropriate language for which I apologise. But I will not accept that my criticism was of his constituency because it was not.

But the attempted apology sparked a further row in the Commons, as Mr Cunningham and some opposition MPs questioned the home secretarys version of events.

Mr Cunningham said: Its extremely sad that the home secretary hasnt the guts to admit to his appalling remark about my Stockton North constituency  and apologise to the people I have the privilege of representing.

He accused Mr Cleverly of trying to minimise the damage to his reputation by claiming his remark was aimed at me, adding: Its untrue and has been shown to be untrue.

James Cleverly speaks during Home Office questions on Monday (PA Wire)

Deputy Speaker Dame Eleanor Laing intervened to advise Mr Cunningham to use another word instead of untrue, since MPs are not supposed to call each other liars or even suggest as much.

The Labour frontbencher, the shadow courts minister, replied: You offer me a considerable challenge, but perhaps the home secretary has inadvertently misled people across the country in relation to this particular matter.

Mr Cunningham accused Mr Cleverly of talking down Stockton and urged the Tory frontbencher to apologise for insulting the areas rather than hide behind the half-truths uttered on his behalf.

Mr Cleverly said he would never make such comments about his constituency  I will make it absolutely clear, for the avoidance of doubt, with no ambiguity, I did not, would not...

As an opposition MP shouted you did, Mr Cleverly said: Then what are you calling me, sir?

Labour MP Alex Cunningham refused to accept the apology (UK Parliament/CC BY 3.0)

At this point Mr Cleverly then said, I know what I said, before reiterating he rejected the accusation that he criticised Stockton North.

Mr Cleverly was challenged again from the Labour benches, with Dame Eleanor saying: This is not a debate and the matter is now closed.

Mr Cunningham, raising a further point of order, said: I dont actually require any apology for an insult against me because it didnt happen.

He added: He has not apologised to me, hes not apologised to the people of my constituency, he has apologised for using unparliamentary language.

Dame Eleanor concluded: [Mr Cleverly] has issued an apology. I require an apology for the use of unparliamentary language and the home secretary has given that apology.
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Irelands ambassador in Tel Aviv has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after the Irish premier was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of a Hamas hostage, a move described by Dublin as an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Irish cabinet ministers have described Israels decision to summon and reprimand Irelands ambassador Sonya McGuinness an overreaction.

On Sunday Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministrys director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and deputy premier Micheal Martin following the release of Emily Hand.

A spokesperson said: These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

The ambassador also reiterated Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.

She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution, which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.

Earlier, Irelands further education minister Simon Harris said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand was a bit of an overreaction.

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at the childs release.

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel has decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also described Israels response as an overreaction.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
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Eurostar services from the Netherlands to London will be suspended for six months.

The decision was announced by Dutch rail company Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS), which said Amsterdam Centraal will be unable to process cross-Channel passengers during a major renovation of the station.

For six months from June next year, Eurostar trains will run empty on the route before picking up London-bound travellers in Brussels.

We have worked hard in recent years to make the Eurostar to London an attractive alternative to air travel Nederlandse Spoorwegen

Cross-Channel services from Rotterdam will be affected in the same way.

It was initially feared direct services from the Netherlands would be suspended for almost a year.

Passengers wanting to travel from Amsterdam or Rotterdam to London by rail will be required to take a train to the Brussels and change on to a Eurostar service.

Direct Eurostar trains from London to the Netherlands will continue to operate.

There are currently four daily return services between London and Amsterdam via Brussels and Rotterdam.

It is a key route for the operator as it challenges one of the busiest European markets for airlines.

But passenger numbers for services from Amsterdam are currently restricted due to limits on how many can pass through passport and security checks at the station.

NS said in a statement that organisations involved in the renovation project investigated how services from Amsterdam could continue but found it would not be possible despite all efforts.

It went on: That is very disappointing because we have worked hard in recent years to make the Eurostar to London an attractive alternative to air travel.

Our focus must now turn to how we can offer the best experience and journey connections for Eurostar customers in this period... we will still run services directly between London and Amsterdam one-way as a minimum Gwendoline Cazenave, Eurostar

In order to keep the period in which there can be no secured departure from Amsterdam as short as possible, we are doing everything in our power we can to deliver the new Eurostar terminal as quickly as possible.

It is now expected that this terminal will be put into use in January 2025.

The good news is that many more passengers can depart from Amsterdam Centraal station by train via this new terminal.

From 250 passengers per train now to 400 passengers per train as of January 2025, and later that year even 650 passengers per train.

Eurostar Group chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said: Eurostar has always aimed to find a solution that would have the least possible impact on customers, the environment and its business. We acknowledge that a final decision has been made.

We are pleased that the discussions have shortened the gap in services between Amsterdam and London from 12 to six months and we continue to work on reducing the inconvenience for passengers, local residents and the economy of Amsterdam and surrounding areas.

It is very important that all the parties involved are responsible and supportive of each other to meet the deadlines.

Our focus must now turn to how we can offer the best experience and journey connections for Eurostar customers in this period.

As part of this work, we will still run services directly between London and Amsterdam one-way as a minimum.

We will be working collaboratively in the coming weeks to further mitigate the impacts for Eurostar and its customers over the six-month gap and more information will be made available in due course.
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The officer in command of the Parachute Regiment in Londonderry on Bloody Sunday has left a terrible legacy, a victims son has said, following his death.

Lieutenant Colonel Derek Wilford died at the age of 90 in Belgium, having suffered from Parkinsons disease, according to an obituary in The Times.

Bloody Sunday, on January 30 1972, was one of the darkest days in the history of the Northern Ireland Troubles.

Thirteen people were killed on the day and another man shot by paratroopers died four months later.

Many consider him the 14th victim of Bloody Sunday, but his death was formally attributed to an inoperable brain tumour.

Another 14 people were injured in the shootings.

In a statement, Tony Doherty, chairman of the Bloody Sunday Trust, whose father was killed on Bloody Sunday, said: The passing of Derek Wilford, while felt by his family, will not be mourned by the families of the innocent men and boys whose lives were taken by armed British paratroopers on Bloody Sunday.

Colonel Wilford lived in a constant state of denial, never once accepting any measure of responsibility for his actions on that fateful day.

History, though, will ensure that his actions led directly to the deaths of many innocent people which, in turn, led to years of conflict and hardship for our communities.

He left a terrible legacy and will rightly be remembered for that.

Liam Wray, who lost his brother James, 22, on Bloody Sunday, told the BBC: For his family, I understand therell be sorrow.

I take no delight in his death, but Ill not be shedding any tears either.

An immediate inquiry after Bloody Sunday, led by then-lord chief justice Lord Widgery, was described as a whitewash after it largely cleared the soldiers of blame.

After years of campaigning by victims families, then-prime minister Tony Blair ordered a new inquiry in 1998.

The Saville Inquiry concluded in 2010 that none of the casualties were posing a threat or doing anything that would justify their shooting, and then-prime minister David Cameron apologised in the House of Commons, saying the killings were unjustified and unjustifiable.

The inquiry found that Lieutenant Colonel Wilford disobeyed an order from a superior officer not to enter troops into the nationalist Bogside estate.

However, despite the inquiry findings, he continued to say that his soldiers had been fired on first.
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A golden eagle reported missing last month is believed to have come to harm, police have said.

The bird was last seen in the Fountainhall area of the Scottish Borders, between Heriot and Stow on Thursday, October 12.

Since the report was made on Wednesday, October 18, Police Scotland say they believe the bird has come to harm and are treating its disappearance as suspicious.

The South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project, a conservation group, expressed their shock, sadness and disappointment at the birds disappearance.

Named Merrick, the golden eagle was translocated from Rottal estate near Kirriemuir in the Angus Glens, a traditional sporting estate, to the Scottish Borders in 2022.

She is part of a project to increase the presence of golden eagles in southern Scotland.

Before her disappearance, Merrick was thriving and exploring all over south of Scotland and Northern England.

She was photographed on her trip in Weardale and filmed in Nidderdale area of outstanding natural beauty.

Chairman Michael Clarke said: The disappearance of any golden eagle is extremely upsetting, but particularly when there is evidence to suggest that they have come to harm under suspicious circumstances.

The projects translocated eagles have captured the hearts and minds of many people, including children, who will all share in our utter shock, disappointment and sadness at the nature of Merricks disappearance.

Were grateful to Police Scotland for their support and using all the resources at their disposal to establish the full circumstances.

A full search of this area was carried out and officers believe the bird has come to harm and are treating its disappearance as suspicious Detective Sergeant David Lynn

Detective Sergeant David Lynn, the wildlife crime co-ordinator for Police Scotland, said: Since the report was made, officers have been working with a range of partner agencies to establish more details and gather further information to establish the circumstances.

The bird was last seen in the area to the west of Fountainhall, between Heriot and Stow on Thursday, 12 October. A full search of this area was carried out and officers believe the bird has come to harm and are treating its disappearance as suspicious.

We are determined to protect these magnificent birds.

We work closely with a number of partners to tackle wildlife crime, which can be challenging and complex to investigate.

Alex Hogg MBE, chairman of the Scottish Gamekeepers Association said: The Scottish Gamekeepers Association strongly condemns wildlife crime in all its forms.

Everyone who has supported the South Scotland Golden Eagle project will be extremely disappointed at this news.

As an organisation our support is reflected in the fact that 23 of the projects 28 donor eaglets have come from gamekeeper-managed estates.

We remain proud of that involvement and will continue our support.

Anyone with information can contact the police through 101, quoting reference number 1193 of October 18, or Crimestoppers though 0800 555 111, where anonymity can be maintained.
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Nigel Farage has again defended Brexit from attacks by fellow ITV reality show contestants  arguing that leaving the EU gives Britain the freedom to make a mess of it ourselves.

The former Brexit Party leader clashed again with Fred Sirieix on the impact of Brexit during the latest episode of Im A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!

Campmates have previously argued with Farage over the ads used during the 2016 vote to leave the EU and whether his views were anti-immigrant.

On Sunday, the First Dates host told Farage: The thing is Nigel, you destroyed the economy.

The former Ukip politician turned GB News presenter called his claim absolute b******s and said there were issues affecting all European economies.

Sirieix said: One thing they said during the Brexit vote is, Were going to get 350 million a week that we can redirect to the NHS and build new hospitals and free care and all that. Never happened.

The French maitre d and TV personality also said that Farage had created a big mess and challenged him to name three benefits of Brexit.

The ex-Brexit Party leader named control of borders, self-governance and the nuclear submarine deal with Australia  the latter of which he said was good that it had upset the French.

The point about it is we can make a mess of it ourselves if we choose to, Farage said  calling it a liberation.

Nigel Farage clashed again with Frenchman Fred Sirieix (Im A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!, ITV)

Farage later said he loves the European Union, which is fine.

He added: Fred cant help himself occasionally. Occasionally, that bubbling resentment and anger brims up to the surface.

Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Richard Tice has said that no cash or money has been offered to Tory MPs to defect to his party, denying claims made by Lee Anderson.

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Anderson claimed last month to have been offered a lot of money to join the Farage-linked party.

Mr Tice on Sunday rejected the claim reportedly made by Mr Anderson, the deputy Tory chairman, at a South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association event last month.

Lee Anderson claims he has been offered a job by Reform UK (PA Media)

Let me make it absolutely clear, no cash or money has in any way been offered, what has been offered is the chance to change the shape of the debate, Mr Tice told BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg.

He also accused Mr Anderson of using the threat of defecting to Reform to negotiate his job as deputy chair of the Tory party.

Mr Anderson has confirmed he was offered a guaranteed job to defect and denied Mr Tices simply ridiculous claim that he used it as leverage to get the deputy chairmanship.

I was offered the chance to join another party for the following deal: I join within a few months and stand for this party at the next election, he told GB News.

If I lost my seat I would be guaranteed a job with the party for five years on the same salary as an MP. To falsely claim that I used this as leverage to get the position of deputy chairman is an insult to me and my party.
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Sadiq Khan has slammed Boris Johnsons government for dither and delay which he said led to the second Covid lockdown.

The mayor of London told the Covid inquiry he lobbied the former prime minister for a so-called circuit-breaker in the October 2020 half-term, to curtail rapidly rising Covid rates.

But Mr Khan said Mr Johnson ignored his calls for the circuit-breaker, as well as advice in favour of one from Sage, necessitating a second lockdown.

In a damning piece of testimony, Mr Khan said: In advance of the second lockdown in November, I lobbied the prime minister for a circuit-breaker.

I had seen the Sage advice. But also half-term, at the end of October, was an opportunity for that circuit-breaker.

He said the government ignored his lobbying and Englands second national lockdown came into force on 5 November.

Mr Khan said: Before lockdown one, we knew what was happening around the world. We delayed and we dithered. Lockdown two may not have even been needed had the government taken the advice from Sage for example, for a circuit-breaker and lobbying from people like me.

So another example of delay, necessitating a second lockdown.

Mr Khan also accused Mr Johnsons government of withholding information about Covid in the early days of the pandemic and claimed he was kept in the dark about the extent of the virus.

The London mayor told the inquiry of his disappointment that Downing Street was not sharing information with his team in February and that he felt almost winded when he realised the seriousness of the situation.

I am disappointed the government was not giving us information in February about what they knew then, Mr Khan told inquiry chair Baroness Heather Hallett.

Mr Khan also hit out at the government over its refusal to invite him to emergency Cobra meetings in the early days of the pandemic, saying lives could have been saved if they had.

He confirmed evidence seen previously by the inquiry that he was repeatedly refused permission to attend the meetings as late as 12 March 2020, adding: To say I was frustrated is an understatement.

Telling the inquiry about when he was finally allowed to go to a meeting, he said: The prime minister is using words like this is the biggest challenge were going to face since the Second World War. Draconian measures are going to be needed.

I had been kept in the dark as the elected mayor of London and I felt almost winded in relation to what was happening in London and also realising there were things we could have done in relation to some of these issues.

The government refused his requests to attend Cobra meetings on the grounds it would have been seen as giving London special treatment compared with other regional authorities.

Sadiq Khan giving evidence at the Covid inquiry (PA)

But Mr Khan argued that London should have been given special treatment because the pandemic was spreading faster in the capital than the rest of the country.

He also said Londons unique demographics and workforce should have been represented at the Cobra table.

Mr Khan said: Did those at Cobra know most people in London travel by bus or Tube more than 5 million journeys by bus, more than 4 million by Tube. So transmission was going to happen very, very quickly with this virus.

How many of those around Cobra knew issues around diversity, comorbidity, intergenerational households, overcrowded accommodation?

How many people around Cobra knew for example in London, there are more people who work on zero-hours contracts, work in the gig economy, work in frontline jobs where they can catch this virus?

I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.

Mr Khan went on to claim Mr Johnson was not aware that other countries had imposed lockdowns in March 2020.

The London mayor met the then-prime minister in Downing Street on 19 March, and said it was clear to him that some proposals for lockdown measures had been surfaced, but the prime minister wasnt persuaded.

He told the Covid inquiry: The prime minister wasnt aware that in other parts of the world they had lockdowns in place and fines could be issued if you breached the lockdown.

I was surprised he wasnt aware of that in relation to what was happening elsewhere.

Mr Khan said he felt that the UKs advantage in being able to see what was happening in the rest of the world wasnt being used.

Andy Burnham later told the inquiry that London-centric decision-making left Greater Manchester stuck with a higher Covid case rate for the whole of 2020.

The Greater Manchester mayor said the first national lockdown was lifted too early for Manchester, which was closer to its peak than London was at the time, and said he would have argued against the decision if he had been consulted.

He said: I think they were looking more at the picture in London and they were more concerned with that than where we were.

There was pressure to lift it from voices here and I think the decision was more influenced by that than what we were seeing.

Blaming London-centricity, he added: I think because of that, Greater Manchester was left stuck with a high case rate for the rest of 2020.
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Britains top civil servant Simon Case will not appear before the UK Covid-19 Inquiry this year due to an ongoing health problem.

In a ruling published on Monday, inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett formally excused the cabinet secretary from giving evidence in 2023.

Mr Case, who was permanent secretary in Downing Street during the pandemic, is on medical leave from his current role at the head of the civil service.

He was expected to give evidence to the Covid inquirys current sessions, looking at core decision-making and political governance during the pandemic. But his appearance was twice delayed because of the illness  details of which have been kept private.

Lady Hallett said she would receive an update on Mr Cases ability to give evidence at the end of January 2024 or on his return to work from sick leave, and is expected to convene a special hearing to receive his evidence.

She said in her ruling: "It very much remains my intention that Mr Case should give oral evidence to the inquiry."

Mr Case has been at the heart of much of the testimony heard by the inquiry so far.

The cabinet secretary, who was appointed to the top civil service job by Boris Johnson in September 2020, was part of a core group around the former PM.

The inquiry has focused on WhatsApp messages between Mr Case and other key advisers including Dominic Cummings and Mr Johnsons former communications chief Lee Cain.

Messages sent between the three revealed the chaos at the heart of Downing Street during the pandemic, with Mr Case at one point declaring: I am at the end of my tether.

The head of the civil service said the government was looking like a terrible, tragic joke, while Mr Johnsons wife Carrie was the real person in charge.

Mr Case wrote that he was not sure I can cope amid apparent frustration at how the pandemic was being handled in government.

And in a stunning exchange seen by inquiry, Mr Case wrote: I was always told that Dom [Dominic Cummings] was the secret PM. How wrong they are. I look forward to telling select cttee tomorrow  oh, f*** no, dont worry about Dom, the real person in charge is Carrie.

Mr Case also played a key role in the Partygate saga and had to recuse himself from an investigation into lockdown-busting Downing Street gatherings due to his own involvement, handing the task to Sue Gray.

He was pictured at the Cabinet Room birthday party for which Mr Johnson and Mr Sunak were fined.

Mr Cases central role during the Johnson administration also saw him drawn into the rows surrounding Richard Sharps appointment as BBC chairman.

He also admitted he had an informal conversation about potential roles at a royal charity for Mrs Johnson after a prompt from No 10.

The prime minister has wished Mr Case a speedy recovery.
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Matt Hancock implemented the tier 3 Covid restrictions despite knowing they would not work, the Covid inquiry has heard.

In the former health secretarys evidence to the probe on the measures which saw pubs, restaurants and bars closed, Mr Hancock said: I was in despair that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work.

The submission was read out by Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, who used his appearance to slam the Westminster governments London-centric approach to the pandemic.

Mr Burnham was responding to minutes of a government meeting in which he was described as behaving appallingly and being obstructive.

The meeting was called before the region was plunged into tier 3, which also banned meetings between friends and family.

Mr Burnham told the inquiry: It was not me that was behaving appallingly, it was the people in that room  because they were about to impose a policy on Greater Manchester which they knew did not work.

The regional mayor told the inquiry it made him angry on behalf of the people of Greater Manchester and stressed that ministers had been told by the emergency Sage committee that the policy would not necessarily reduce the transmission of Covid.

He proceeded to read out a section of Mr Hancocks written evidence, not yet seen by the inquiry, in which the ex-health secretary said: I was in despair, that we had announced a policy that we knew would not work.

Matt Hancock said he knew the tier 3 restrictions would not work when the government introduced them (Reuters)

A spokesman for Mr Hancock declined to comment on the revelation, but said he will respond to all questions when he gives his evidence on Thursday and Friday.

Mr Burnham had already attacked Boris Johnsons London-centric decision-making, saying it left Greater Manchester stuck with a higher case rate.

He said the first national lockdown was lifted "too early" for Manchester, which was closer to its peak than London was at the time, and said he would have argued against the decision if he had been consulted.

He said: "I think they were looking more at the picture in London and they were more concerned with that than where we were.

And Mr Burnham told the inquiry about the lack of communication between Westminster and local leaders, saying all hell broke loose when Greater Manchester was first placed under local restrictions in July 2020.

Mr Burnham described the announcement as as chaotic as it gets. They were putting these restrictions on us  [Mr Hancock] gave me an hour to talk to our local leaders, he said.

He added: What I remember is that about eight oclock that night, the health secretary made a very cursory announcement to a TV camera in 4 Millbank that we would be going under these restrictions, and then all hell broke loose.

Andy Burnham also lashed out at former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon in his evidence to the Covid inquiry (PA)

Mr Burnham also claimed Mr Johnson was not aware of the restrictions imposed in Greater Manchester during a telephone conversation in October 2020.

The conversation took place on the eve of tier 3 restrictions being introduced in the region, Mr Burnham said.

The Greater Manchester mayor added: "[Boris Johnson] was saying we just need you to agree to these tier 3 restrictions and (financial) packages. I said we cant, it is not enough.

"He said what do you mean? I said we have been under restrictions since July. You do know about that, dont you?

"To me, it didnt seem that he did know about that. He wasnt aware that we have been struggling all that time."

Mr Burnham also lashed out at former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon, who he said banned travellers from Manchester from travelling north of the border without any notice.

He described an extraordinary call during a BBC phone-in in which he was told a Bolton residents walking holiday in the Scottish Cairngorms mountain range had been cancelled.

We discovered that the Scottish Government had to put a ban on Bolton, people travelling to Scotland without any notification or information, he told the inquiry.

It was bizarre if Im honest, he said.

He added: In the days that followed, we pointed out that the case rates in Scotland had gone higher than in Manchester, Salford and Bolton.

And it wasnt long before the travel ban was removed. And it was another example of the lack of UK coordination.
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Cabinet minister Kemi Badenoch has said she is pushing for for much, much tougher immigration measures after the number of people coming to the UK soared to a record high.

The business secretary said she wanted Rishi Sunak to do whatever it takes to bring down net migration amid growing frustration among right-wing Conservative MPs.

The intervention come as Mr Sunak faces a growing backbench Tory revolt over immigration and splits in cabinet, after shock figures showed net migration hit a new record of 745,000 last year.

The Independent understands a response to the record-high migration figures has been delayed by different departments continuing to argue about how far Mr Sunak should go with a crackdown on visas.

Former home secretary Suella Bravermans camp revealed an alleged pact between her and Mr Sunak in which he apparently agreed to a series of tough restrictions on migrants.

Speaking to LBC on Monday, Ms Badenoch said: I am certainly in favour of us doing whatever it takes to bring the numbers down to a sustainable level. This is not something that Im being mealy-mouthed about.

She added: I certainly will be pushing for the strongest measures possible. The migration figures that weve seen were from last year I think that you will be seeing much, much tougher measures going forward.

Despite concerns the new push to restrict the number of visas could impact on business and the NHS, Ms Badenoch said we need to make sure that theyre not undercutting our workforce, and that they are people who are coming to the UK to contribute.

Right-wing Tory MP Simon Clarke backed Ms Badenochs call, tweeting rightly so in response to the idea of pushing for tougher measures, saying it was impossible to overstate the importance of the issue to voters.

The Home Office is pushing for tough measures to cut the number of foreign health and social care staff, while the health department is believed to be resisting moves that could worsen the NHS staffing crisis.

Business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch (Henry Nicholls/PA) (PA Wire)

It comes as Ms Bravermans camp revealed details of a secret four-point migration plan Mr Sunak is said to have agreed with her as he sought her support to become PM last year.

He promised to raise the salary threshold for migrants to 40,000 as part of a series of measures to bring down migration, Ms Bravermans allies said.

Other parts of the plan included closing down the graduate visa route, restricting the number of dependents migrants can bring to the UK and prioritising overseas students applying for Russell Group universities.

Mr Sunak did not sign the deal, but agreed to it verbally on multiple occasions, allies of Ms Braverman told The Telegraph. She has branded her ex-boss a failure and accused him of betraying the deal.

Grilled on Ms Bravermans claims of broken promises, the PMs official spokesman said No 10 does not recognise that characterisation of deals made during the leadership bid.

Asked about the deal, Mr Sunak told the Mail on Sunday: Of course, you have conversations with people when you are in a leadership election and not just Suella. Asked if he was worried about her producing proof of the deal, he said: Thats a question for her.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak is under pressure over net migration figures (PA) (PA Wire)

Downing Street also said on Monday the government was not going to put an overall number on net migration now wanted  insisting that work was ongoing on further measures to cut the record highs.

No 10 said on Monday that the Rwanda asylum plan is not a silver bullet in stopping Channel crossings, amid right-wing Tory unease about home secretary James Cleverlys comment that the deportation plan is not the be all and end all.

Downing Street declined to set out a timeline of new Rwanda legislation or a revised treaty with the central African country  saying it would be weeks away despite Mr Cleverlys previous claim it would be days.

It follows reports Rwanda was refusing to sign a treaty that would include British officials involvement in its legal system.

Asked what was taking so long, Mr Sunaks official spokesman said: Its right to ensure we have the strongest possible position because we want both the treaty and the bill to have the best possible chance of success.

Home secretary James Cleverly has said Rwanda plan not be all and end all (PA Wire)

No 10 has promised to leave no stone unturned in exploring measures to bring down legal migration. The PM is said to be considering some of the ideas pushed by Ms Braverman and her ally immigration Robert Jenrick  including raising salary thresholds.

Mr Sunak is said to be ready to cut the number of relatives foreign health and social care workers are allowed to bring to only one.

But Mr Jenrick is thought to be pushing for a cap on visas for people working in the NHS and social care, and a ban on foreign social care workers from bringing any dependents.

Ms Bravermans proposal to raise the minimum salary threshold for skilled foreign worker visas from 26,000 to 40,000 has also been backed by Boris Johnson, who claimed it was time for Mr Sunak to use Britains Brexit freedoms.

Despite the Tory rights push for a student visa crackdown, Mr Sunak made a point of boasting about a student visa scheme which allows high achievers to come to UK during his speech to business leaders at Hampton Court Palace on Monday.

Meanwhile, levelling up secretary Michael Gove has said the UK does not have enough housing to cope with current net migration levels.

Asked if housing levels were not enough to cope, he told Times Radio: Yes. In fact, I think actually the situation is, if anything, worse than you depict. It is the case that the migratory flows put more pressure on housing, but we havent built enough homes overall for generations.
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Rishi Sunak has brushed off suggestions that right-wing rivals in Reform UK are trying to lure Conservative MPs to defect with cash.

Deputy Tory chairman Lee Anderson has claimed he was offered offered a guaranteed job for five years on the same 80,000 salary as an MP if he defected.

Mr Anderson lashed out at amateurs in Richard Tices party  and denied accusations that he used the offer as leverage to get the senior role in the Tory party.

Mr Tice denied that any cash or money has been offered to Tory MPs to join  but said he has held numerous discussions with Tories worried about Mr Sunak.

The PM was asked about the mess as he attended a major investment summit at Hampton Court Palace.

Asked if he is concerned about the prospect of his MPs defecting, he said: Im focused on delivering for the British people.

Mr Sunak said the party had offered a very positive autumn statement where were now cutting taxes for 28 million workers across the UK.

Were cutting taxes for businesses so that they can invest in our future growth and create jobs, the Tory leader added. And this summit represents the enormous positive momentum behind the UK economy, and thats what Im focused on.

The Sunday Times reported that Mr Anderson, a Tory deputy chairman who has represented Ashfield in Nottinghamshire since 2019, claimed last month to have been offered "a lot of money" to join the Nigel Farage-linked party.

Reform UKs Richard Tice rejected the claim money was offered (PA Archive)

Mr Tice on Sunday rejected the claim, reportedly made by Mr Anderson at a South Cambridgeshire Conservative Association event last month.

Let me make it absolutely clear  no cash or money has in any way been offered. What has been offered is the chance to change the shape of the debate, Mr Tice told BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

According to the paper, which has obtained a recording, Mr Anderson told activists: Now, there is a political party that begins with an R that offered me a lot of money to join them. I say a lot of money, I mean a lot of money.

He suggested Mr Anderson has used the threat of defecting to Reform to negotiate himself the deputy chairmanship of the Tory Party.

But on Sunday night Mr Anderson hit back at Mr Tice. From time to time politicians do meet other politicians from different political parties, he said in a statement issued to GB News.

Confirming the offer, he said: At one such meeting I was offered the chance to join another party for the following deal  I join within a few months and stand for this party at the next election.

If I lost my seat I would be guaranteed a job with the party for five years on the same salary as an MP.

Mr Anderson added: To falsely claim that I used this as leverage to get the position of deputy chairman is an insult to me and my party.

A spokesman for Reform UK declined to comment on Mr Andersons statement. A high-profile MP, Mr Anderson has attracted criticism for a range of remarks on everything from food banks to illegal migration.

Earlier this month, suggested ministers should simply ignore the law and start sending asylum seekers to the east African nation.

But he is a favourite of activists and MPs on the right of the party, keeping his post in Mr Sunaks reshuffle this month.
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Rishi Sunaks immigration plan was hit by fresh turmoil after No 10 admitted its new Rwanda treaty had been delayed and ministers broke rank to push the PM for much tougher moves to get record-high migration numbers down.

Downing Street refused to commit to having the revised Rwanda pact in place before Christmas, saying only that it would be ready in the coming weeks  having previously promised it would published in days.

It came as cabinet rifts over immigration deepened, with business secretary Kemi Badenoch revealing that she was pushing for Mr Sunak to take much, much tougher measures to tackle record-high net migration.

Meanwhile, immigration minister Robert Jenrick moved to quell Tory anger  insisting that the Rwanda plan remained extremely important after backbench MPs challenged home secretary James Cleverly over his claim it was not the be all and end all of the stop the boats push.

The Independent understands a new crackdown on legal migration to address record-high numbers has also been delayed, as different departments continue to argue about how far Mr Sunak should go.

The developments came as:

Suella Braverman revealed details of a secret four-point immigration plan she claims Mr Sunak agreed to.

Ms Badenoch said she would not be mealy-mouthed about pushing for the strongest measures possible to cut net migration.

Levelling-up secretary Michael Gove claimed the UK does not have enough housing to cope with record-high migration.

Right-wing Tories piled pressure on Mr Cleverly to pull out of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Senior Tory Steve Brine said slashing migration to keep Ms Braverman happy was not good for society or the economy.

No 10 had said in the hours after the 15 November Supreme Court ruling against the Rwanda plan that an updated deal with the central African country would be produced in the coming days. On 16 November, Mr Cleverly said the deal was pretty much ready to be done within days, not weeks or months.

But on Monday, the PMs official spokesman refused to commit to having the pact with Kigali in place before Christmas  saying only it would be set out in the coming weeks.

Grilled by reporters on why there had been such a long delay, the PMs spokesman said No 10 was working to give the government the strongest possible position because we want both the treaty and the bill to have the best possible chance of success.

James Cleverly had promised new Rwanda treaty in days (Getty Images)

Mr Cleverlys comment at the weekend that the scheme was not the be all and end all of small boats policy had angered some on the right of the party  given the new home secretary is known to be opposed to pulling out of, or ignoring, the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Right-wing Tory MP James Morris shared concerns about Mr Cleverlys remarks  challenging immigration minister Mr Jenrick, an ally of sacked hardliner Ms Braverman, to say if he shared those sentiments.

Visibly angry at the jeering from the Labour benches over Tory splits, Mr Jenrick insisted that the Rwanda deportation flights remained an extremely important component of the stop the boats plan.

Seeking to calm Tory frustration at the failure to act, Mr Cleverly also told MPs in the Commons that the Rwanda plan was an incredibly important part of the basket of responses that we have.

Mr Cleverly shrugged off a question from right-winger Simon Clarke, who said it was his profound conviction that the government must disapply the ECHR and UN Refugee Convention to get the Rwanda flights off the ground.

Kemi Badenoch said she was pushing for much tougher measures (PA Wire)

Ms Badenoch said she was pushing for Mr Sunak to take much tougher measures to get net migration down, after it hit a record annual high of 745,000.

The business secretary added to pressure on the PM, after details of Mr Jenricks five-point plan to crack down on visa numbers and relatives brought into the country by NHS staff revealed a major split in government.

Speaking to LBC on Monday, Ms Badenoch said: I am certainly in favour of us doing whatever it takes to bring the numbers down to a sustainable level. This is not something that Im being mealy-mouthed about.

The cabinet minister added: I certainly will be pushing for the strongest measures possible.

Earlier, Ms Bravermans camp had revealed details of a secret four-point migration plan Mr Sunak is said to have agreed with her as he sought her support to become PM last year.

Her allies claimed he promised to raise the salary threshold for migrants to 40,000, close down the graduate visa route, restrict the number of dependents migrants can bring to the UK and prioritise overseas students applying for Russell Group universities.

Mr Sunak did not sign the deal, but agreed to it verbally on multiple occasions, allies of Ms Braverman told The Telegraph. The PMs official spokesman said on Monday that No 10 does not recognise that characterisation of deals made during the leadership bid.

Mr Gove also suggested he favoured tougher action on legal immigration, as he said the UK does not have enough homes to cope with record-high net migration.

Asked if housing levels were not enough to cope with rising immigration levels, the levelling-up secretary told Times Radio: Yes. In fact, I think actually the situation is, if anything, worse than you depict.

Mr Gove added: It is the case that the migratory flows put more pressure on housing, but we havent built enough homes overall for generations.

Robert Jenrick told MPs Rwanda plan remains extremely important (PA Wire)

Mr Sunak is said to be ready to cut the number of relatives foreign health and social care workers are allowed to bring to only one.

But Mr Jenrick is thought to be pushing him to go further by bringing in a cap on visas for people working in the NHS and social care, and a ban on foreign social care workers from bringing any dependents.

Senior Conservative MP Steve Brine hit out at the possibility of new restrictions on NHS and social care visas. We need these workers  particularly in social care, said the chair of the health select committee.

They are the people who look after your ailing parents and grandparents when families cant because theyre working, he told Times Radio  urging Mr Sunak to ignore Ms Braverman.

If were just going to slash migration so that we can, you know, meet a political priority, and please the former home secretary, then I dont think were serving the society and the economy as we should be.

NHS Employers, the National Care Association and the Unison health union have written a joint letter to Mr Sunak warning against the ruinous assumption foreign staff will come to the UK if they are not allowed to bring family members.

Tory MPs challenged the government to set out changes in response to the net migration figures. Right-winger Jonathan Gullis said Mr Cleverly should copy and paste the plan by the right-wing New Conservatives group to crack down on visas for student and their dependents.

Fellow right-winger Miriam Cates, co-founder of the New Conservatives, said the governments new Rwanda legislation should be clear and unambiguous in making sure parliament takes legal precedence over the interpretation of international treaties and precedent.

With the Commons recess due to begin on 19 December, there are not enough sitting days to ratify the new Rwanda treaty before the New Year.

Mr Sunaks spokesman also refused to comment on speculation about what the agreement will entail following reports Rwanda was refusing to sign a treaty that would include British officials involvement in its legal system.

The Independent understands that the Rwandan government believes its own laws are robust enough to make the treaty work  and would be highly unlikely to accept any infringement upon their sovereignty as part of an updated pact.
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Watch as Rishi Sunak delivers a speech at the 2023 Global Investment Summit.

The prime minister said there was positive momentum behind the UK economy as the government rolled out the red carpet for investors on Monday 27 November.

The Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace comes after Jeremy Hunt offered tax breaks to firms to encourage investment in his autumn statement.

Scores of chief executives including Stephen Schwarzman from Blackstone, Amanda Blanc at Aviva, David Soloman from Goldman Sachs and Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan Chase are attending the gathering, aimed at attracting financial support for UK projects.

But Mr Sunak faced questions about whether the governments financial plans will also usher in a new era of austerity, with public spending facing a prolonged squeeze.

Before the summit, the government said a total of 29.5 billion had been committed by investors, triple the sum raised at the last global investment gathering in 2021.
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Rishi Sunak insisted he was determined to bring net migration down amid reports he reneged on a leadership contest deal with Suella Braverman to raise the salary threshold for migrant workers to 40,000.

The Prime Minister said we need to do more and indicated he would look at the number of dependants students can bring when they come to study in the UK, which has already been limited.

It comes after the Telegraph newspaper reported he had agreed on a four-point plan to lower levels of immigration in exchange for his sacked home secretarys support, which included new restrictions for foreign workers.

Speaking at the Global Investment Summit at Hampton Court Palace, Mr Sunak said: Im very clear that the levels of net migration are too high. They need to come down to more sustainable levels.

It is encouraging that the Office for National Statistics last week said the numbers are slowing but we need to do more.

I have already taken action to tighten the number of dependants that students can bring when they come to study here.

He added: As we need to do more, well look at that and where there are abuses of the system we will of course act.

The levels do need to come down, they are too high.

Official figures published last week showed net migration reached a record 745,000 in 2022, prompting Tory calls for curbs.

It follows claims made in a scathing attack by Mrs Braverman that the PM agreed to a number of policy priorities as part of a secret pact in exchange for her backing during his leadership bid.

The Telegraph reported that they included a commitment to raise the salary threshold for foreign workers, which is currently set at 26,200 for a skilled worker visa although roles on the shortage occupation list can be offered at 20,960.

Downing Street earlier this month rejected the former home secretarys characterisation of a secret pact allegedly being reached, but did confirm the pair had been discussing policy prior to her appointment.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is understood to have worked up a plan designed to appease calls from right-wing Tories for the Government to take action.

During Home Office questions on Monday, his opposite number Stephen Kinnock accused him of becoming a law unto himself who had set himself on a collision course with his new boss, Home Secretary James Cleverly.

He said: To add insult to injury he went behind his new bosss back to present his laundry list to the Prime Minister, including a cap on social care visas and abolishing the shortage occupation list.

Does the immigration minister have any respect whatsoever for the authority of the new Home Secretary and, given hes said to be on resignation watch, can he confirm that he will resign if his proposals are rejected?

Mr Jenrick dodged the question and hit back, accusing the Opposition of offering no solutions of their own and having complete disdain for the British public.

He suggested the Government will set out further plans to reduce legal and illegal migration in due course.

Labour has sought to win over voters dissatisfied with the Tory record, with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper telling the Sunday Times her party would increase salary requirements for workers coming from overseas.

Appearing on the BBCs Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones also signalled that Labour sees a normal level of migration at a couple of hundred thousand a year.

Meanwhile, the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel topped 28,000 for the year so far after 364 people in eight boats made the journey on Sunday. This is only the second time in almost a fortnight that arrivals have been recorded.
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James Cleverly said he would not prejudge the content of the Governments emergency legislation on its Rwanda scheme as Tory MPs sought assurances the Bill would allow for international treaties to be disapplied.

In his first Home Office questions as Home Secretary, the Cabinet minister faced calls from backbenchers for Parliaments sovereign will to take precedence over agreements like the European Convention on Human Rights if necessary.

It comes after Mr Cleverly suggested the plan to deport asylum seekers to Kigali was not the be all and end all of the Governments immigration approach following a Supreme Court judgment that ruled the scheme unlawful.

The Rwanda scheme is an incredibly important part of the basket of responses that we have James Cleverly

Rishi Sunaks plan to save the policy involves the signing of a new treaty with Rwanda and the introduction of emergency legislation allowing Parliament to deem the scheme safe, but this has been delayed.On Monday, Mr Cleverly was asked by Tory MP Jack Brereton in the Commons whether the necessary legal exemptions would be in place.

The Rwanda scheme is an incredibly important part of the basket of responses that we have. I will do everything to ensure that we drive down small boat arrivals. That is the promise we have made to the British people and that is the commitment we will deliver, the Home Secretary replied.

Co-chair of the New Conservatives grouping of MPs, Miriam Cates, welcomed the yet-to-be-published legislation and treaty but asked for assurances it would take precedence over the interpretation of international treaties.

I can assure my Right Honourable Friend, the excellent working relationship we have with Rwanda will give us the opportunity to have a treaty that addresses the issues in the Supreme Court judgment, Mr Cleverly replied.

Its right to ensure we have the strongest possible position because we want both the treaty and the Bill to have the best possible chance of success Prime Minister's spokesman

Meanwhile, backbencher Simon Clarke declared his profound conviction that disapplication of elements of the (ECHR) and the Refugee Convention will be necessary to tackle the crossings of small boats in the English Channel.

I dont want to prejudge the content of the Bill. Ive listened very carefully to the points that he made and he and the rest of the House should understand that we will do everything we can to ensure that we break the business model of the evil people-smugglers that he highlights, that we drive down small boat arrivals, and he is absolutely right the deterrent effect of Rwanda is a key element to that multi-strand approach.

The deal on the asylum plan with Rwanda and emergency legislation intended to set aside the Supreme Courts ruling the policy was unlawful were initially expected immediately after the verdict.

No 10 had said in the hours after the November 15 defeat that the deal would be laid before Parliament in the coming days so deportation flights could take off as soon as possible.

But on Monday, Downing Street declined to say whether the new legally binding pact with Kigali would be signed before the Commons rises for its Christmas recess.

The Prime Ministers spokesman said: Its due to be published in the coming weeks.

I think people understand that following the judgment, which was relatively recently, its right to ensure we have the strongest possible position because we want both the treaty and the Bill to have the best possible chance of success and thats why we are focused on finalising these details.

Immigration minister Robert Jenrick told MPs the law to help ensure the Rwanda deportation plan takes effect would be brought forward shortly.

He said: So far this year weve reduced the number of these dangerous, illegal and completely unnecessary crossings by more than a third compared to last year, despite increases of nearly a third in Europe.

Nevertheless, the numbers of illegal arrivals remain unacceptably high. We remain focused on delivering our comprehensive plan to stop the boats by breaking the business model of the people smugglers and will shortly be piloting emergency legislation through this House to ensure flights to Rwanda take off as a matter of urgency.

With the Commons recess due to begin on December 19, there are not enough sitting days to ratify the treaty before the New Year under the current schedule, with No 10 saying at least 21 are required.

Mr Sunaks spokesman also refused to comment on speculation about what the agreement will entail following reports Rwanda was refusing to sign a treaty that would include British officials involvement in its legal system.

The Governments hope of sending asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on a one-way trip to Rwanda is a key plank of Mr Sunaks pledge to stop the boats.

No 10 said on Monday the deal was a crucial part of our approach to stopping the boats, but as weve always been clear, there is no one silver bullet.
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Sadiq Khan has accused the Government of failing to keep him informed about the severity of Covid-19 in early 2020, saying lives could have been saved if he had been invited to emergency Cobra meetings.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

He also criticised a lack of communication from the Government, saying it was unusual that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Mr Khan told the inquiry: The Government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. Im disappointed the Government werent giving us information in February about what they knew then.

I can see no explanation at all why... the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London

He described requesting a meeting with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, on March 11 2020, at which he was told the virus would develop into a global pandemic and London could expect really serious consequences within two or three weeks.

Mr Khan said: It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge.

On the basis of that meeting, Mr Khan said, he took the decision to cancel Londons St Patricks Day parade, but it was not until he was finally invited to a meeting of the Governments emergency Cobra committee on March 16 that he understood the full extent of the crisis.

In a witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Mr Khan said: I remember that the PM referred to the need for draconian measures and said the country would not have faced anything like it since the Second World War.

I simply could not understand why, particularly given the increasing severity of the outbreak in London and my repeated requests to attend previous (Cobra) meetings in order to be kept informed, this information was only being shared with me at this stage.

I was both deeply worried and furious that London had not been involved in conversations until this point.

Giving evidence on Monday, he added: In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.

Asked by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett what more he could have done if the Government had told him what was happening earlier, he said: Some of the things that happened subsequently.

So it was me that lobbied the prime minister to go to lockdown, it was me that lobbied the prime minister in relation to the inability to keep social distance on public transport, so people shouldnt be using public transport unless they had to.

A further meeting with Boris Johnson in Downing Street followed on March 19, at which Mr Khan claimed the then-prime minister had shown a lack of awareness about what was happening in other countries.

He said: The prime minister wasnt aware that in other parts of the world they had lockdowns in place and fines could be issued if you breached the lockdown.

I was surprised he wasnt aware of that in relation to what was happening elsewhere.

Mr Khan said he felt that the UKs advantage in being able to see what was happening in the rest of the world wasnt being used.

He went on to say that Mr Johnson agreed to stage a press conference with him later that day, announcing the need for restrictions in London, but later cancelled this so it could be discussed at Cobra the next day and because of the impact such an announcement might have on the financial markets.

Mr Khan said: I couldnt disagree with him saying the impact on the markets and so forth, my frustration (was) a further 24 hours of this virus spreading. What impact would that have on the financial markets, on our productivity and so forth?

The inquiry is expected to hear from Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, later on Monday, before hearing from a number of other senior figures throughout the week.

Former health secretary Matt Hancock is due to give evidence on Thursday and Friday, after the inquiry has heard from former deputy prime minister Dominic Raab and Communities Secretary Michael Gove.
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Sadiq Khan has accused the Government of failing to keep him informed about the severity of Covid-19 in early 2020, saying lives could have been saved if he had been invited to emergency Cobra meetings.

Giving evidence at the start of a major week for the Covid inquiry, the Mayor of London confirmed multiple requests to attend the meetings in early 2020 were rejected by Downing Street on the grounds that other mayors would also have to be present.

He also criticised a lack of communication from the Government, saying it was unusual that he had not been given more information on the developing pandemic.

Mr Khan told the inquiry: The Government generally does give us information about a variety of things happening. Im disappointed the Government werent giving us information in February about what they knew then.

He described requesting a meeting with Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, on March 11 2020, at which he was told the virus would develop into a global pandemic and London could expect really serious consequences within two or three weeks.

Mr Khan said: It was clear from what Chris Whitty was saying that the impact on London was going to be huge.

On the basis of that meeting, Mr Khan said, he took the decision to cancel Londons St Patricks Day parade, but it was not until he was finally invited to a meeting of the Governments emergency Cobra committee on March 16 that he understood the full extent of the crisis.

In a witness statement submitted to the inquiry, Mr Khan said: I remember that the PM referred to the need for draconian measures and said the country would not have faced anything like it since the Second World War.

I simply could not understand why, particularly given the increasing severity of the outbreak in London and my repeated requests to attend previous (Cobra) meetings in order to be kept informed, this information was only being shared with me at this stage.

I was both deeply worried and furious that London had not been involved in conversations until this point.

Giving evidence on Monday, he added: In this particular case, I can see no explanation at all why the Greater London Authority, the Mayor of London were not around the table. I think lives could have been saved if we were there earlier.

Asked by inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett what more he could have done if the Government had told him what was happening earlier, he said: Some of the things that happened subsequently.

So it was me that lobbied the prime minister to go to lockdown, it was me that lobbied the prime minister in relation to the inability to keep social distance on public transport, so people shouldnt be using public transport unless they had to.

A further meeting with Boris Johnson in Downing Street followed on March 19, at which Mr Khan claimed the then-prime minister had shown a lack of awareness about what was happening in other countries.

He said: The prime minister wasnt aware that in other parts of the world they had lockdowns in place and fines could be issued if you breached the lockdown.

I was surprised he wasnt aware of that in relation to what was happening elsewhere.

Mr Khan said he felt that the UKs advantage in being able to see what was happening in the rest of the world wasnt being used.

He went on to say that Mr Johnson agreed to stage a press conference with him later that day, announcing the need for restrictions in London, but later cancelled this so it could be discussed at Cobra the next day and because of the impact such an announcement might have on the financial markets.

Mr Khan said: I couldnt disagree with him saying the impact on the markets and so forth, my frustration (was) a further 24 hours of this virus spreading. What impact would that have on the financial markets, on our productivity and so forth?

Later on Monday, Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram, the mayors of Greater Manchester and the Liverpool City Region, also criticised the lack of communication from central government  both at the start of the pandemic and as restrictions changed throughout 2020.

Mr Burnham said he had not been invited to a single Cobra meeting despite repeatedly asking to attend, and had been left with no formal way to raise concerns about policy.

He said a London-centricity meant the experience of places such as Manchester did not receive the attention it should have, citing the decision to lift lockdown in May 2020 when cases had fallen in London but were still high in the North.

Mr Rotheram said his team had been left to wait for the evening news bulletin to find out nearly every major announcement.
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A two-day extension of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas offers the chance to free further hostages, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell received reports of the deal while answering questions in the House of Commons and having previously insisted that the pause in hostilities should not be a one-off.

Addressing the chamber, he said: There is some suggestion that while Ive been on my feet in the House, Qatar has announced a truce would be extended by two days.

Obviously, we all hope that is true and that more hostages, as a result, will be able to leave.

The Qatari government has said Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the humanitarian pause for two more days past Monday.

The announcement came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides, and raises the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari, in a post on X, formerly Twitter, said: The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had said the cessation of hostilities delivered some relief after weeks of pain and suffering, before insisting more time is needed if we are to build on this progress.

He said: Todays agreement to extend this cessation of hostilities shows further such extensions are possible.

Therefore, I call on all parties to build on this progress and work urgently towards a further extension. This would allow the release of further hostages and deliver more humanitarian relief for those in desperate need. And an extension would undoubtedly ease tensions across the region.

Labour announced that Sir Keir has filled positions left vacant after a host of frontbenchers quit their roles or were sacked after voting in favour of a Gaza ceasefire motion in the Commons earlier this month.

The official party position had been to back humanitarian pauses to allow aid in and for people to leave, without going as far as to demand a total cessation of hostilities.

Alex Davies-Jones has replaced Jess Phillips as shadow minister for domestic violence as part of the changes, with Jim McMahon returning to frontbench duties as a shadow local government minister two months after resigning as shadow environment secretary on health grounds.

Speaking in the Commons about the situation in Israel, Labour MP Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) accused the UK Government of not contacting family members of hostages for more than a month.

Ms Creasy said: This weekend, the immigration minister for this Government, on a public platform, said this Government would not rest until each and every one of the hostages is returned back to the loving embrace of their families.

It is now more than a month since anybody at all from the UK Government has had any contact at all with the UK citizens who have family members as hostages. Not a single phone call.

Over 200 British nationals and their dependants have so far left Gaza and we're working around the clock to get the rest of those who want to leave out Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell

Ms Creasy said she had pleaded with ministers to ensure the families could have just five minutes of Foreign Secretary Lord Camerons time to discuss their cases.

She added: Its been other governments who have helped identify that their family members are alive.

Mr Mitchell, in his reply, said: My understanding is not the same as hers in respect of the British hostages.

She will know over 200 British nationals and their dependants have so far left Gaza and were working around the clock to get the rest of those who want to leave out.

But in terms of the hostages, my understanding is not the same as she has said.
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A memorial tree honouring Jewish refugees is believed to have been deliberately hit by a vehicle in a Brighton park, police have said.

Sussex Police have appealed for witnesses and information after the tribute to Jewish refugees who fled Austria at the beginning of the Second World War was damaged.

It is believed the vehicle drove across Preston Park towards the tree and deliberately damaged it and the memorial plaque from the Association of Jewish Refugees.

The force has increased visibility across parts of Sussex to provide an increased presence and reassurance to our local communities Sussex Police

The vandalism took place overnight between November 4 and November 5, Sussex Police said.

A spokesman said: Sussex Police is aware that the ongoing conflict in Israel and in Gaza is generating public concern and is impacting communities globally and locally, and we extend our support to those affected in Sussex.

The force has increased visibility across parts of Sussex to provide an increased presence and reassurance to our local communities.

We recognise there is the potential for increased tensions and are engaging and working with communities and partners to ensure people feel safe and protected.
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Late-night show hosts seized the moment to give George Santos a huge roasting after a damming ethics report that revealed he spent campaign money on Botox and OnlyFans.

Mr Santos, who believes the report was a dirty biased act and one that tramples all over my rights, now faces a fresh motion to expel him from the House after his indictment of 23 federal charges in October as well as the new report.

Following the release of the document, the GOP New York representative announced in a series of tirades on X that he would not run for re-election in 2024. In the report, the House Ethics Committee accused the politician of lying about loaning personal money to his 2022 congressional campaign, then paying himself back for those fake loans with actual money.

He is also alleged to have spent donor money on personal indulgences such as Botox, Hermes merchandise, trips and an OnlyFans subscription.

Something that caught guest The Daily Show host Leslie Jones eye was the report noting Mr Santos lavish trips to Atlantic City. Have you been to Atlantic City? she inquired. A lavish trip there just means you dont go home with bed bugs.

However, it was the Botox that bewildered Ms Jones co-host, Jordan Klepper, who pointed out Mr Santos relatively young age, 35.

Hes the youngest member of Congress by 1,000 years, according to Mr Klepper. You dont get Botox  just stand next to Mitch McConnell.

Exactly, Ms Jones agreed. He doesnt need Botox. But the rest of them old-a** congressmen do.

Santos, or rather comedian Nelson Franklin impersonating him, appeared on Jimmy Kimmels show in a bizarre skit pretending the politician was getting Botox before performing wild antics like stealing a cash register, hiring a hit man to break Mr Kimmels legs and flying a DeLorean to break himself out of prison in the year 2045.

US Representative George Santos faces a new motion to expel him from the House (Getty)

Stephen Colbert also chimed in on the recent report, called the politician a slug under a rock you just turned over and announced that if there are any fans of stupidity and corruption out there, you have joined us on the right night.

Mr Colbert then cut to a clip of an interviewee asking Mr Santos what he felt about the House Ethics report that was to be revealed, to which he said he had no premeditated feelings about it.

No premeditated feelings, exactly what a sociopath wouldnt say, Mr Colbert chuckled.

Today we bid farewell to grandma, the late-night show said, impersonating Mr Santos.

Let me just say to all of you I have not had a chance to Google the correct emotional reaction, but rest assured, like all of you, I am  angry? Its hard to tell because of all the Botox.

Comedian Nelson Franklin mocks George Santos in an impersonation of him stealing a cash register (Jimmy Kimmel/YouTube)

Seth Myers also got in on the roasting action, saying that Mr Colberts list of possible purchases was that of a lesser Kardashian.

Hes got the shopping list of a 98-year-old oil tycoons 20-year-old wife, Mr Myers quipped.

Despite the reports release on Thursday and Mr Santos announcement that he will not seek reelection, he has so far refused to stand down from Congress.

The expulsion motion can be taken up by the Chamber on 28 November, when lawmakers will return from Thanksgiving recess.
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A dog that had been missing for two months in the Colorado wilderness was found and reunited with its owners just in time for Thanksgiving.

The animal, a Bernese mountain dog named Nova, was discovered alone by two hikers, who tried to befriend her and carry the injured pet back down the mountain.

Nova is 14 months old and is a service dog in training. She slipped out of her harness and ran away from her owner in a supermarket car park in September.

Her owner, Robynne Simons-Sealy, told The Greeley Tribune that Nova had survived two snowstorms and low temperatures. "I was in tears every time it snowed," she said.

The remarkable story was shared on social media by the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department.

Nova was rescued after being missing for two months (Jefferson County Sheriffs Office)

Animal Control responded to Meyers Ranch Park for a dog bite. Two hikers found a dog on the trail with no owner in sight. They tried to befriend the dog, but it was injured and scared, the post read.

One of the hikers was bitten while attempting to carry the wounded pet down the mountain. Despite that, they knew the pup needed help, and they called us.

One hiker remained with the dog while the other came down for medical help and to show rescuers where to go.

A missing poster for Nova (Jefferson County Sheriffs Office)

The department added that one of the attending rangers remembered Nova from a missing dog poster in the park that had been put up a month prior.

Ms Simons-Sealy and Nova were later reunited on the trailhead.

Nova had a broken leg, but is now resting at home and awaiting possible surgery, the sheriffs department said.
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The Niagara Regions chief of police has warned about the dangers of misinformation, following the crash at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing on Wednesday.

Bryan MacCulloch said that although the incident was quickly confirmed to be non-terrorist related, speculation in the mainstream media and online had caused significant and unnecessary anxiety within the local community.

Following the blast, which occurred the day before Thanksgiving, several right-wing media outlets and politicians were forced to backtrack on claims that the crash was linked to terrorism, with some having blamed president Joe Bidens border policies for the incident.

A Fox News report had cited high-level police sources who linked terrorism to the crash and believed the two people travelling in the car packed it full of explosives, a claim the network later retracted.

Senator Ted Cruz also claimed the incident was a terror attack, tweeting: This confirms our worst fear: the explosion at Rainbow Bridge was a terrorist attack.

Niagara Region chief of police Bryan MacCulloch has warned agains the dangers of misinformation following the Rainbow Bridge border crossing crash (Niagara Region Police Services Board)

Florida congressman Byron Donalds wrote in a since-deleted X post: Open borders, soft-on-crime policies, and bending a knee to the woke PC mob.

Todays apparent terrorist attack must be a wake-up call to all Americans. Nowmore than everwe need a change in leadership in our nation, he said.

Nearby Buffalo airport was briefly shut to international flights following the crash, but was later reopened, as were the border crossings. New York Governor Kathy Hochul confirmed in a news conference that there was no sign of terrorism in the incident.

Addressing the Niagara Region Police Services Board on Thursday, Mr MacCulloch said: We saw an immense amount of misinformation and speculation on both mainstream and social media platforms, which created significant and unnecessary anxiety in the community.

He later told CBC Hamilton: I think what we saw on Wednesday was really the speed at which misinformation [spreads] in todays environment of social media and how quickly it can spiral.

Mr MacCulloch did not refer to any specific piece of msinformation or outlet, but referenced claims of an attack, that the car had come from Canada, and that the vehicle was filled with explosives.

Two people died in the crash (AP)

None of that information was accurate. None of it was corroborated. Yet that didnt stop individuals, and in some cases media outlets, from putting that information out, he said.

We have four international bridge crossings here in the Niagara Region that lead into the United States and [I think] their closing [out of] an abundance of caution added to that fear and anxiety that there was the potential for another attack when in fact, there wasnt an original attack.

Police have said previously that it will take a while for the true cause of the crash to be established. 3D scanners are currently being used to help recreate a digital crash site and information from the vehicles Event Data Recorder  similar to an aircrafts black box  is also being investigated.

"I know that theres an intense drive to get information, and ask people to be patient and wait for accurate information coming from a trusted official source," Mr MacCulloch said.
 Close Smoke billows from Niagara Falls explosion as two people dead in vehicle blast

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Police in Niagara Falls have warned the public about the dangers of misinformation about the deadly crash at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing.

Kurt and Monica Villani, both 53 and from Grand Island, New York, were killed last Wednesday when their speeding Bentley rammed into the border crossing, which connects the US and Canada.

The blast instantly sparked fears of a terrorist attack, but officials later ruled this out.

Now, investigators are still working to piece together what caused the deadly crash with authorities probing the possibility of a mechanical failure on the car or a medical emergency involving the driver.

Police are also using 3D scanning technology to help create a digital crash scene.

While information remains scant, Niagara police chief of police hit out at the rampant speculation which is causing significant and unnecessary anxiety within the local community.

We saw an immense amount of misinformation and speculation on both mainstream and social media platforms, which created significant and unnecessary anxiety in the community, he said.
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Rosalynn Carter will make her final journey to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center on Monday as her family begins three days of memorials for the former first lady and global humanitarian who died Nov. 19 at the age of 96.

After brief ceremonies in the Carters' native Sumter County in south Georgia, Rosalynn Carter's remains will travel by motorcade to Atlanta, where she will lie in repose at The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

The library will be open from 6 to 10 p.m., offering the most direct opportunity for the public to pay their respects during the three-day tribute. Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in the Carters' tiny hometown of Plains, are for invited guests.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, lead the dignitaries expected to attend the Atlanta service. Motorcade routes will be open throughout the schedule. Rosalynn Carter's burial Wednesday in Plains is private.

It is not known whether the former president, who is 99 and in his 10th month of hospice care, will take part in the events. Those close to his immediate family have said he will make every effort as he grieves his partner of more than 77 years.

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carter's interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carter's closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

All over the world, people are celebrating her life, said Kim Fuller, the Carters' niece, while teaching a Bible lesson Sunday at Maranatha. And of course were coming into a week now where were gonna celebrate even more.

A detailed schedule is available online. Events will be streamed and broadcast by independent media.

Some well-wishers began honoring Rosalynn Carter soon after her death, including an uptick in visitors to the Presidential Center campus.

Mental health is more openly talked about because of Rosalynn Carter's work to reduce the stigma attached to the conditions, said Brendan Green, a high school guidance counselor who came from Chicago.

She was a pioneer in that field, Green said. What a great legacy.

Formal ceremonies begin Monday at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, near Plains. Rosalynn Carter's remains will be transferred to a hearse there, accompanied by members of her Secret Service detail, past and present. A motorcade will travel to Georgia Southwestern State University, where the former first lady graduated in 1946 when it was Georgia Southwestern College.

At the campus's Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony attended by the current leadership of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. She founded the institute to advocate for the millions of unpaid caregivers in American households.

The motorcade then departs for Atlanta. A brief service of repose is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.  before public access  once her remains arrive at Carter Presidential Center.

The campus, near downtown, includes the library and museum, and The Carter Center. The former first couple founded the center in 1982 to champion democracy, mediate international conflicts and fight disease in the developing world. Their work around the world redefined what former White House occupants can do after ceding political power.

Streets around the campus will be closed Monday. Parking and a shuttle will be available at St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 435 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.

The largest single service will be held Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus. Emory helped the former first couple establish The Carter Center. Besides the Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have announced plans to attend. Other former first ladies and possibly former presidents are expected, as well.

Glenn is a Methodist congregation. The Carters married in 1946 at Plains Methodist Church, where Rosalynn Carter attended growing up. She joined her husband as a Baptist throughout their marriage.

Her final services at Maranatha will reflect their small-town Protestant roots: Church members are invited and also will eat a funeral meal with the Carter family the day of the service.

During her Sunday School hour, Fuller reminded her fellow Maranatha members that they are expected to provide dessert. Whatever you want to bring is fine, Fuller told them as she explained drop-off instructions. Spread the word if you don't mind.

___

Associated Press reporter Sudhin Thanawala contributed from Atlanta.
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Watch again as Rosalynn Carters coffin arrives at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, 27 November.

Her body is to lie in repose there, with her funeral service later this week on Wednesday 29 November.

Carters coffin is traveling across the state, beginning three days of memorial services for the former first lady, who passed away last week aged 96.

A motorcade carrying her coffin left Plains, Georgia, her hometown. Traveling first to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, then to her alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University. Its next stop is the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta.

A tribute service is also planned to be held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are all expected to attend.

It is not yet clear if Jimmy Carter will attend, as hes currently in hospice care.
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Watch Rosalynn Carters casket arrive at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta, Georgia on Monday, 27 November.

Her body is to lie in repose there, with her funeral service later this week on Wednesday 29 November.

A tribute service is also planned to be held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as all living first ladies.

Jimmy Carter is expected tor attend the funeral, although hes currently in hospice care.
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Watch live as Rosalynn Carter's coffin arrives at the Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, Georgia on Monday, 27 November.

It marks the beginning of three days of memorial services for the former first lady, who passed away last week aged 96.

A motorcade carrying her coffin left Plains, Georgia, her hometown. Traveling first to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, then to her alma mater, Georgia Southwestern State University. It then continues to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library in Atlanta.

A tribute service is also planned to be held at Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church at Emory University. President Joe Biden, First Lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are all expected to attend.

It is not yet clear if Jimmy Carter will attend, as hes currently in hospice care.
 Close 3 Palestinian students shot in Vermont

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Police have revealed eerie new details about the arrest of a suspect accused of shooting three Palestinian students near the University of Vermont campus.

Jason J Eaton, 48, was arrested on Sunday afternoon in Burlington close to the scene of the attack  which is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

He is suspected of ambushing three 20-year-old college students  Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmad  as they walked to a family Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday night. The friends were speaking to each other in English and Arabic, police said, and two of them were wearing keffiyehs at the time.

Mr Eaton appeared in court on Monday for arraignment, where he pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder.

Burlington Police offered an update on the case at a press conference shortly after the arraignment.

They revealed that Mr Eaton apparently did not leave his home following the shooting nearby. When police knocked on his door on Sunday, he allegedly said: Ive been waiting for you.
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Watch again as the Burlington Police chief and mayor discuss the investigation into the shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont (Monday 27 November).

The news conference comes shortly after a man suspected of the shooting was arraigned at Chittenden Criminal Court, Vermont.

Jason Eaton was arrested on Sunday (26 November) close to the scene of the attack and entered a not-guilty plea for three counts of attempted second-degree murder during his arraignment on Monday.

Eaton was ordered to be held without bail. The judge has scheduled another hearing for next week.

The case is garnering national attention as concerns rise over hate crimes as a result of the Israel-Hamas war erupting, and is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

A statement released by the Burlington Police Department said that a search of his apartment gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting.
 Close Related video

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The hotly-anticipated trial of the rapper Young Thug is underway in a courtroom in Atlanta, Georgia, following almost a year of delays.

In May 2022, Young Thug, real name Jeffery Williams, was arrested and charged in a sprawling RICO indictment along with 27 other defendants.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis  who is using the same law to prosecute Donald Trump in his Georgia election interference case  accused the suspects of being part of a criminal street gang named YSL or Young Slime Life.

According to prosecutors, the gang is responsible for a series of violent crimes, including murders, shootings, carjackings and racketeering.

Young Thug has denied the accusations and insisted that YSL is simply Young Thugs record label  Young Stoner Life.

After several defendants took plea deals or had their cases severed, the Grammy Award-winning rapper and five others are finally on trial.

Awkwardness erupted after the second witness to testify on Tuesday, Captain Pettis, said that he saw a group of men flashing gang hand signs, and later admitted during cross-examination that he had no idea what the signs meant.
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New Zealand is planning to scrap its flagship generational smoking ban in order to fund tax cuts  a move that experts warn will have adverse effects on public health.

Last year, New Zealand became the first country in the world to ban smoking for the next generation. As per the policy, anyone born after 1 January 2009 would not be able to buy any tobacco ever. The ban would have come into effect next year.

The legislation passed last year by the liberal government aimed to prevent thousands of smoking-related deaths and save thousands of dollars in the healthcare system.

New Zealands new finance minister, Nicola Willis, said on Saturday that the measures will be eliminated from March next year and the revenue from cigarette sales will be directed towards the coalitions tax cuts.

Coming back to those extra sources of revenue and other savings areas that will help us to fund the tax reduction, we have to remember that the changes to the smoke-free legislation had a significant impact on the government books  with about $1bn there, she said.

New prime minister Christopher Luxon emphasised that the reversal of the smoking legislation would prevent the emergence of an underground tobacco market and deter criminals from targeting shops.

Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime, Mr Luxon told Radio New Zealand.

However, public health officials in New Zealand say that the reversal would put thousands of lives at risk and be especially damaging to the Maori communities who have higher smoking rates.

This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry  whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives, Professor Lisa Te Morenga, chair of the non-government group Health Coalition Aotearoa, told the Guardian.

Other health groups in the country also criticised the governments move. Prof Richard Edwards, a public health expert at the University of Otago, told the BBC: We are appalled and disgusted. This is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures.

Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the governments done and are calling on them to backtrack.
 Close Emergency services at scene of stabbing near school in Dublin city centre

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The suspect in the Dublin nursery stabbing which sparked violent riots in Irelands capital has suffered extensive brain injuries which may be permanent, it has been claimed.

An Garda Siochana did not comment on claims by a source who told the Irish Mirror that the suspect is in a bad way, adding: His head injuries are extensive and may be permanent.

It comes as the five-year-old girl who was stabbed remains in critical condition at CHI Temple Street, while the childrens care assistant, a woman aged in her 30s, is in a serious but stable condition in The Mater Hospital.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald insisted on Monday that justice minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harriss positions were untenable, warning that we now have a scenario where people do not feel safe in parts of Dublin's inner city.

Irelands further education minister Simon Harris pledged that there would be a full review of the policing of the riots which engulfed parts of central Dublin on Thursday, which he condemned as absolute opportunistic criminality and thuggery.
 Close Huge cracks appear on roads in Icelandic town at risk of volcanic eruption

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Around 120 earthquakes have rocked the areas surrounding the town of Grindavik as they await a likely eruption, report the Icelandic Met Office.

It comes as the exact location for an eruption has been revealed by the Icelandic Met Office, which says it is still considered likely.

Experts at the Icelandic Met Office have issued a key update after a study of data from GPS stations and satellite images showed an uplift continues in the area of Svartsengi, north of Grindavik.

The Met Office stated that the eruption is still considered likely as the magma inflow continues, adding that the highest likelihood for an eruption is in the middle part of the dike between Hagafell and Sylingarfell.

Earthquake activity has also led to the deepening of the port at Grindavik, according to RUV.

The change in depth is because of the earthquakes impact, said the port manager Sigurur Arnar Kristmundsson.

He told RUV: The docks seem to have sunk by 20-30 centimeters when we measured about 10 days ago and then there is a chance that, yes, the bottom has sunk accordingly.

A fortnight ago, Grindavik was evacuated after magma-induced seismic activity tore vast chasms through the streets.
 Close Kyiv suffers largest ever drone attack by Russia leaving five wounded

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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.
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Tech billionaire Elon Musk is expected to meet with Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, president Isaac Herzog and families of hostages taken by the terror group Hamas on Monday as he continues his damage control efforts and tries to convince Twitters fleeing advertisers that his platform does not harbour antisemitism.

Mr Herzog announced the plans for the meeting on Sunday, Reuters reported; although Israeli media had previously suggested the two men would meet. He is also expected to meet Mr Netanyahu. Mr Musks X, formerly known as Twitter, has largely ceased offering responses to the news media, and had not immediately confirmed it publicly.

The 52-year-old Twitter, Tesla and SpaceX mogul has faced a new round of public outrage in the past few weeks as his comments about Jews have sparked more accusations of antisemitic beliefs. On 15 November, he tweeted you have said the actual truth in response to a follower who had tweeted to him, 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 same tweet to which Mr Musk was responding also denied any concern for rising antisemitic hatred around the world.

It was a stunning embrace of antisemitic rhetoric from one of the richest businessmen in the world, and came at a time when his social media platform has been faulted for allowing hate speech to flourish on the platform; groups including Media Matters have published reporting over the course of the Israel-Gaza conflict which erupted in October showing how blatantly antisemitic and pro-Nazi posts had been showing up on the platform next to advertisements for major brands. Mr Musk insists the claims are unfair and has filed a lawsuit against Media Matters.

A number of brands have begun pulling ads en masse from Twitter in the latest round of a recurring advertiser boycott that seems to ebb and flow with Mr Musks own questionable behaviour. Mr Musk has responded by accusing Media Matters (without providing evidence for his claims) of manipulating images to show brands like Apple and IBMs content appearing next to neo-Nazi postings on the platform.

Elon Musk and Benjamin Netanyahu speaking during a discussion broadcast on X in September (X)

That controversy may well be brought up on Monday as Mr Musk meets with Israels president, whose office told reporters on Sunday: "In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online.

Mr Musk was separately sued himself last week and accused by a 22-year-old from Texas of amplifying a conspiracy spread by neo-Nazis falsely accusing the man, Ben Brody, of being involved in an effort to sabotage a protest held by right-wing groups.

He has addressed accusations of holding antisemitic beliefs in a recent Twitter posting, writing: 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.
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Elon Musk toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas on Monday during his visit to Israel. It follows an outcry over his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform, Twitter/X.

The worlds richest man met Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which Hamas attacked on 7 October, killing an estimated 52 residents. Another 20 people are reported as missing.

It was the home of four-year-old American-Israeli citizen Abigail Edan, who was taken hostage after her parents were killed by the militant group during the attack. Abigail was reunited with members of her family on Sunday as part of the hostage exchange.

Mr Musk said witnessing the scenes of the massacre was jarring, during a live event on Twitter/X with Mr Neetanyahu after the tour.

He said he was troubled by footage that Mr Netanyahu showed him of civilian killings that included children.

The billionaire is also expected to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog who emphasised the need to combat rising antisemitism online in a closed-door meeting.

Benjamin Netanyahu takes Elon Musk on a tour of the Kfar Aza kibbutz (Getty)

Mr Musks visit comes as his social media platform faces a mass exodus of advertisers, in part due to his own endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory.

Earlier this month, Mr Musk responded to a Twitter/X user who accused Jewish people of hating white people by saying it was the actual truth.

Several world leaders, including the White House, condemned Mr Musk for endorsing the conspiracy theory.

Meanwhile, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a leading anti-hate organisation which works to stop the defamation of Jewish people, accused Mr Musk of promoting and tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform.

The accusations arrived after the left-leaning group Media Matters for America, found that advertisements for major companies were appearing near pro-Nazi posts.

Mr Musk denied the allegations and filed a defamation suit against Media Matters.

During his visit to Israel on Monday, Mr Musk wrote on Twitter/X that actions speak louder than words.

Israels minister of communications, Shlomo Karhi announced that a deal had been struck between Mr Musks communication company, Starlink, to use satellite units in Israel and the Gaza Strip.

As the State of Israel fights against Hamas-ISIS, this understanding is vital, as is it for everyone who desires a better world, free of evil and free of antisemitism, for our childrens sake, Mr Karhi wrote.
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An Israeli hostage released during the truce in Gaza managed to esacape his Hamas kidnappers for a few days before being recaptured, his family have said.

Roni Krivoi, 25, who is also a Russian citizen, spent four days alone in Gaza according to his aunt, after escaping the building where he was held after it was bombed in an airstrike. Unable to find his way to the border he Hamas eventually retook him.

Mr Krivoi was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on 7 October. Speaking a day after his release to an Israeli broadcaster, Yelena Magid said: He was kidnapped by terrorists and they held inside him some kind of building... Its my understanding that from the bombings, the building collapsed and he managed to get out and escape. Its a movie, this whole thing.

Ms Magid, who said she had spoken to her nephew for 30 minutes after his release, added: For a few days, he was hiding [in Gaza] alone.

He tried getting to the border. He did not have the capacity to understand where he was and where he needed to go, so he could not navigate the open field. He was alone.

Mr Krivoi suffered head wounds during the collapse of the building in which he was being kept, his aunt said.

He has some other injuries; he is OK. He is being checked," she added.

I asked him today: How are you feeling? Do you have nightmares? He answered: Yes, I have nightmares from the party and captivity, but that is good, it means I am handling it well.

The dual-national sound engineer was then returned to his family on Sunday. The military wing of Hamas, known as the al-Qassam Brigades, said yesterday that they had handed over a detainee of Russian citizenship  based on the intervention of the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Russian state news agency Tass reported that Hamas answered the request because of Moscows support of the Palestinian cause.

Mr Krivoi was identified as a foreign national during his release, which caused anger among his family.

It doesnt matter Putin or no Putin, Ms Magid said. Each one that has been [taken] hostage, if theres an opportunity to save him, it doesnt matter who does it, we have to get them all out,

The separation of the idea that there were 13 hostages freed and one more Russian is not right, she added.

I genuinely couldnt fathom the separation of his rescue yesterday. The kid was born here and grew up here all his life, he barely speaks Russian.
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Touching footage shows the moment an Irish-Israeli girl who turned nine while being held hostage by Hamas finally celebrating her birthday with her family.

Following seven torturous weeks, Emily Hand was freed from captivity in Gaza on Saturday after she was kidnapped by the militants in the deadly attack on Kibbutz Beeri on 7 October.

On her actual birthday on November 17, her family held a party without her at St Stephens Green in Dublin as part of their desperate campaign for her release.

Emilys beloved pet dogs nuzzle the pair, as another family member softly strokes her hair (supplied)

Her tearful father, Thomas Hand, 63, who had initially feared his daughter was dead, said at the time: She wont even know its her birthday. She wont know what day it is. Can you imagine the fear?

In the wake of the familys emotional reunion with Emily, Mr Hand said he planned to give his daughter the best birthday party she never had.

And on Sunday, a gentle celebration was laid on for Emily while she recuperated at the Safra childrens hospital in Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv, surrounded by family.

Emily was finally reunited with her father Thomas over the weekend (Israel Army/AFP via Getty Images)

In video shared with The Independent, a multi-coloured Happy Birthday sign is seen strung along the wall of the nine-year-olds hospital room. It is surrounded by decorations of white and pink balloons and wicker hearts, while cuddly toys are laid out on her bed.

Emily, wearing a red knitted jumper, is embraced by a family member who strokes her face as the little girl puts her arms around her. Emilys beloved pet dogs nuzzle the pair, as another family member softly strokes her hair.

Video footage issued by the Israel Defence Forces has shown Emily running into her fathers arms at a location in Israel on Saturday after he had previously spoken about how he was looking forward to giving her a huge hug.

Emily, wearing a red knitted jumper, is embraced by a family member who strokes her face as the nine-year-old puts her arms around her (supplied)

Mr Hand, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, last week made an emotional appeal for Emilys release, saying the family was living through a nightmare, and getting her back was his reason for living.

After her release, Emilys family released a statement saying they were overjoyed to be able to embrace her again and thanked the world for unwavering support in trying to secure her return.

We cant find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.

They said that Emily has lost a lot of weight but is generally doing better than we expected.

Following seven torturous weeks, Emily Hand, nine, was freed from captivity in Gaza on Saturday after she was kidnapped by the militants in the deadly attack on Kibbutz Beeri on 7 October (AP)

On the day she was abducted, Emily had been having a sleepover with her friend Hila Rotem who was also freed  although Raya, Hilas mother, remains in Gaza.

At the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return. the family added. We will persist in doing everything in our power to bring them back home.

Emilys father met Irish president Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin during her captivity. Mr Varadkar described a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family.

The current four-day ceasefire was agreed to enable the release of at least 50 of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians  women and children  in Israeli prisons. On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 hostages, including 14 Israelis, and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners  the third such exchange under the truce.
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Pressure is growing on Israel to extend a ceasfire and hostage release deal to allow more captives to be freed from Gaza with less than 24 hours left of the four-day truce.

Qatar, Egypt and the US  who have all been heavily involved in mediating the deal have also said they are working to extend the truce, while Hamas signalled over the weekend that it is willing to prolong the deal beyond the final scheduled release of hostages on Monday.

Ruby Chen, father of Itay, 19, an Israeli-American soldier who is a hostage, said: I think the public opinion of the Israeli people has been very focused about releasing the hostages  for the Israeli government this is the main topic that they will be judged upon. That is why they are talking about an extension to the ceasefire and the ability to get more hostages out.Seventeen more hostages were freed on Sunday, including a four-year-old US-Israeli girl whose parents were among the 1,200 people killed in the Hamas attack inside southern Israel on 7 October. US president Joe Biden said that what Abigail Edan, who turned four while being held captive, had endured was unthinkable.

Israel has responded to the Hamas attack with a ferocious aerial and ground assault on Hamas-controlled Gaza in which Palestinian health officials say around 14,000 people have been killed, with the current four-day ceasefire the first respite from the bombardment for residents.

Abigail Edan, 4 , was one of the third group of hostages released by Hamas on Sunday (AP)

Ella Mor, Abigails aunt, said that the four-year old had landed safely in the hospital by helicopter and the family was very emotional. She said that she wanted to thank the whole country for supporting, loving and embracing us and her.

The ceasefire was agreed to enable the release of at least 50 of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians - women and children - in Israeli prisons. This third group of hostages included 14 Israelis, Abigail among them, and three Thai nationals.

The Israelis were the Brodetz family: Hagar Brodetz (40), Ofri Brodetz (10), Yuval Brodetz (8) and Uriah Brodetz (4); the Goldstein-Almog family  Chen Goldstein Almog (48), Agam Goldstein Almog (17), Gal Goldstein Almog (11), Tal Goldstein Almog (8); and the Elykaim family: Dafna Elykaim (15) Ella Elykaim (8); Elma Avraham (84) and Aviva Adrian Siegel (62).

Elma Avraham, 84, is the oldest of the latest group to be freed (VIA REUTERS)

Ron Karibu, a 25-year-old Russian-Israeli citizen, was not released under the main truce deal, which involves women and children, but in response to the efforts of Russian president Vladimir Putin, Hamas said.

In a change of tack, several of the hostages were met in Gaza City and brought straight to Israel, rather than going through Egypt. Mr Biden said this was because hostage Elma Avraham, 85 was very sick and was in need of immediate medical help so had been transferred straight to Israel, rather than via crossing into Egypt, to allow her to go straight to hospital.

Of Abigail, he said: Thank God shes home... I wish I were there to hold her. We will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones.

Nothing is guaranteed and nothing is being taken for granted. But the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again. The proof is little Abigail, the president added.

Sisters Dafna Elyakim, 15, was released alongside her younger sister Ela, eight (Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum headquarters)

In all, nine children aged 17 and younger were on the list on Sunday, according to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahus office.

In return, 39 Palestinians in Israeli prisons were released and would go home to Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. That is three prisoners for every Israeli hostage, excluding Mr Karibu.

Sundays list - shared with The Independent - included mostly teenage boys aged between 15- 19 , accused of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Among them was the family of Obada Khalil, who was 17 when he was arrested from his bed in a 3am raid last June. He was among several of the minors being held in administrative detention which means they can be held indefinitely without charge or trial - a practice rights say amounts to a war crime.

Moment 21-year-old hostage kidnapped from music festival reunites with family after release

Israel defends the use of administrative detention saying it is essential for security - on Israels list of the releases Obada is listed as having been arrested for damage to security issues.

His father Abu Ahmed told The Independent since Hamass attack on southern Israel on 7 October Obada had not been permitted prison visits or phone calls and they didnt know what state he was in.

His mother Badriya, said: I didnt sleep at night until the list was published, we only found out an hour ago.

There is the potential for the truce to be extended by a day for every 10 Israeli hostages Hamas release beyond the agreed 50. The militant group has signalled it is open to an extension in a statement on Sunday.

The Israeli armys chief spokesman, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said it was open to extending the ceasefire if more hostages are released. Ahead of the latest hostages being freed, Mr Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip since the start of Israelis military campaign, where he spoke with troops. At the end of the day we will return every one, he said of the hostages.

President Joe Biden welcomed the release of the hostages (AP)

He added that the war  in which Israel has said it wished to crush Hamas  is not over. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the strength, the power, the will and the determination to achieve all the goals of the war, and that is what we will do, he said.

Mr Netanyahu said on Sunday he told Mr Biden that Israel will resume its campaign in Gaza with full force once a temporary truce comes to an end.

However, Mr Netanyahu also said he would welcome extending the truce if it facilitated the release of ten additional hostages every day, as agreed under the original Qatari-brokered deal.

Families from the southern Israeli town of Kfar Aza embraced, cried, and applauded at the news that hostages from their town had arrived in Israel. More than 70 members of the kibbutz of around 700 people were killed and 18 were kidnapped.

In Gaza, people took advantage of the pause in Israeli airstrikes to queue for fuel. An Israeli blockade on top of the military action has left water, fuel food and medical supplies running severely short. Part of the current truce deal allows more aid to enter Gaza, but aid agencies say it is not as much as is desperately needed. The UN has confirmed that 129,000 litres of fuel crossed into Gaza on Sunday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today visited in the Gaza Strip, where he received security briefings with commanders and soldiers and visited one of the tunnels that has been found ( Avi Ohayon )

Elsewhere, Hamas announced the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, who was in charge of northern Gaza  where Israel has been focusing its military campaign  and a member of its top military council. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting. Israels military confirmed the death.

Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a statement earlier this month, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.
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Owners of Googles latest premium smartphone are experiencing strange bumps and ripples that appear on the devices screen.

Google claims the issue with the Google Pixel 8 Pro has no functional impact to Pixel 8 performance or durability, though some users have already returned their new phone in an effort to resolve it.

Pixel owners shared their experiences with the issue across social media and on Google forums, expressing their frustration that there appears to be no fix.

I had this on mine as well, a user called Constanza Juarez wrote. Not visible on natural light but extremely visible under artificial light, both with screen on and/or off.

Another user wrote: Even with a glass screen protector, I can see the same bumps when I examine the edges of my Pixel 8 Pro.

Users uploaded images to Google support forums of the bumps appearing on the Pixel 8 Pro display (Google/ Support.Google)

Bumps and ripples have been reported on the top and bottom left of the screen, above the SIM card tray, near the fingerprint scanner, as well as the top and bottom right of the display.

Some even reported sending their bumpy phones back to Google, only to have the same issue occur with the replacement device.

Recommended Gmail users receive urgent warning before account purge

A video showing the Google Pixel 8 Pro being taken apart suggests that the internal mechanics of the smartphone are responsible for the screen bumps, which could complicate any attempts by the phone maker to rectify the issue on this particular model.

Notice how the spring clips in the right side of the Pixel 8 Pro line up exactly with the indents in the foil on the display side of the phone, one owner noted.

It seems to be pretty clear that these clips are the cause of the bumps we are seeing in our displays.

Google has not revealed the exact internal phone part causing the uneven surface, however did acknowledge that some users may see them on their new smartphones.

Pixel 8 phones have a new display, a company spokesperson said. When the screen is turned off, not in use and in specific lighting conditions, some users may see impressions from components in the device that look like small bumps. There is no functional impact to Pixel 8 performance or durability.
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Facebooks parent company Meta disabled only a small fraction of the over one million reports it received of underage users on Instagram since early 2019, a lawsuit filed by 33 US states reportedly said.

The newly unsealed legal complaint accused the tech giant of carrying an open secret that it had millions of users under the age of 13, and that Instagram routinely continued to collect their personal information such as location without parental permission.

The complaint stated that within the company, Metas actual knowledge that millions of Instagram users were under the age of 13 was an open secret that was routinely documented, rigorously analyzed and confirmed, and zealously protected from disclosure to the public, according to a New York Times report.

Last month, attorneys general from 33 states, including New Yorks AG Letitia James, filed a lawsuit against Meta alleging that the tech giant designed harmful features contributing to the countrys youth mental health crisis.

The lawsuit alleged Meta created addictive and psychologically manipulative features targeting young people while assuring the public falsely that the platform was safe to use.

Meta has profited from childrens pain by intentionally designing its platforms with manipulative features that make children addicted to their platforms while lowering their self-esteem, Ms James said.

Metas spokesperson responded to the lawsuit, saying that the company was committed to providing teens with safe, positive experiences online, and that it had already introduced over 30 tools to support teens and their families such as age verification and preventing content promoting harmful behaviours.

Were disappointed that instead of working productively with companies across the industry to create clear, age-appropriate standards for the many apps teens use, the attorneys general have chosen this path, the spokesperson added.

However, a significant portion of the evidence provided by the states was obscured from public view via redactions in the initial filing.

The new unsealed complaint filed last week provided fresh insights from the lawsuit, including the accusation that Instagram coveted and pursued underage users for years and that Meta continually failed to make effective age-checking systems a priority.

The lawsuit reportedly argued that Meta chose not to build effective systems to detect and exclude underage teen users, viewing them as a crucial next generation demographic it needed to capture.

It also accused the tech giant of automatically ignoring some reports of under 13 users and allowing them to continue using the platform while knowing about such cases via the companys internal reporting channels.

The company responded that the now publicly revealed complaint mischaracterizes our work using selective quotes and cherry-picked documents.

It said verifying the ages of its users was a complex challenge especially with younger people who likely do not have IDs or licenses.

Meta recently said it supports federal legislation requiring app stores to get parents approval whenever their teens under 16 download apps.

With this solution, when a teen wants to download an app, app stores would be required to notify their parents, much like when parents are notified if their teen attempts to make a purchase, the company said.

Parents can decide if they want to approve the download. They can also verify the age of their teen when setting up their phone, negating the need for everyone to verify their age multiple times across multiple apps, it said.

The tech giant holds that the best solution to support young people is a simple, industry-wide solution where all apps are held to the same standard.

By verifying a teens age on the app store, individual apps would not be required to collect potentially sensitive identifying information, Meta recently said.
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Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia will develop its own advanced AI models to counter Western influence over the technology  amid warnings that such tools could be misused by nations to influence elections or galvanise support for wars.

The Russian president has so far blamed the West for his forces failure to overwhelm Kyiv, setting Moscow on course for a new digital arms race against the US and UK for AI supremacy.

Putin has claimed that AI models like OpenAIs ChatGPT and Googles Bard chatbots cancel Russian culture and that the West holds a dangerous dominance of the technology

Our innovations should rest on our traditional values [and] the wealth and beauty of the Russian language, Mr Putin added, in language similar to a number of other recent speeches railing against the West.

Geoffrey Hinton, a British-Canadian computer scientist often dubbed the godfather of AI, referred to the Russian president in an interview earlier this year saying that Mr Putin or others may want to use them for winning wars or manipulating electorates.

The Russian president was addressing an AI conference in Moscow on Friday where he said Russian investment in AI development was being increased across all sectors.

Citing the example of Gazprom Neft, Mr Putin said one of Russias largest oil producers was using AI to slash the cost of oil well development and to address complicated logistics safety issues.

I hope we will be more active in this area. When I say we, I am referring not only to the government but also to the regions and industries, and individual plants, Mr Putin said.

The Russian leader said the country would intensify its research into the domains of generative AI and large language models which currently lag behind the leading Western-developed tools like OpenAIs ChatGPT and Googles Bard chatbots.

To achieve such development, he called for the scaling up of Russias supercomputing power and for improvements to its top-level AI education programmes.

Our domestic models of artificial intelligence must reflect the entire wealth and diversity of world culture, the heritage, knowledge, and wisdom of all civilisations, he said.

English-speaking countries currently dominate AI development, with Stanfords Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) claiming the US and UK were further ahead in the technology than the rest of the world.

A growing number of studies are revealing the bias in AI models developed in primarily English-speaking countries.

For instance, a study published in July in the journal Cell, showed that GPT detectors frequently classify actual writing by non-native English speakers as AI-generated.

Observers have also noted that OpenAIs latest GPT-4 AI model excels in English, Spanish, Italian, Indonesian, and other Latin alphabet-based languages, while it struggles with Thai, Punjabi, and other languages with different alphabets.

Even Facebook parent company Meta warned in July that since most of the training data used for its updated AI large language model is in English, it may not be suitable for use in other languages.
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A new study has revealed the most dangerous and most peaceful countries in the world for 2023.

The 17th edition of the annual Global Peace Index (GPI), produced by the Institute for Economics and Peace, ranks 163 independent states and territories comprising 99.7 per cent of the worlds population.

The 2023 research reveals that the average level of global peacefulness has deteriorated by 0.42 per cent. This is the 13th deterioration in the last 15 years, with 84 countries improving and 79 deteriorating in peacefulness in 2022.

Afghanistan has been named as the least peaceful country in the world for the eighth consecutive year, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The war in Ukraine had a significant impact on global peacefulness, with Ukraine and Russia having the largest and fifth largest deteriorations in peacefulness respectively. Despite this, Europe is the most peaceful region in the world and is home to seven of the 10 most peaceful countries.

Haiti, Mali, and Israel were the other countries with the largest deteriorations.

Iceland remains the most peaceful country in the world, a position it has held since 2008. It is joined at the indexs summit by Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Austria.

The UK is ranked 37th most-peaceful nation, down one place from last year, and given a state of peace ranking of high. The scale ranges from very high to very low.

The United States is considered low on the peacefulness scale, and finds itself in 131st place in the list, the same as last year. The report states that the US experienced a slight deterioration in peacefulness over the past year, the continuation of a trend that began in 2015, and that while civil unrest was no longer the main driver, the fall was caused by a deterioration on the safety and security domain, particularly in the perceptions of criminality and homicide rate indicators.

The GPI uses 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators, and measures the state of peace across three domains: the level of societal safety and security; the extent of ongoing domestic and international conflict; and the degree of militarisation.

The report was compiled before the escalation of the Israel-Hamas conflict in October and the ongoing volcanic activity in Iceland.

The Institute for Economics and Peace, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, describes itself as an independent, non-partisan, non-profit think tank.

The most dangerous countries in the world 2023

Afghanistan Yemen Syria South Sudan Democratic Republic of the Congo Russia Ukraine Somalia Sudan Iraq

The most peaceful countries in the world 2023
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The bumper Black Friday weekend may have drawn to a close but theres still time to grab a bargain  especially if youre looking for your next travel fix.

Happy shoppers and bargain hunters have made the most of the sales to find their sought-after deals, with string of travel offers across Thanksgiving weekend, offering great value as package providers, airlines and hotel chains have lowered prices.

Many deals ended on Cyber Monday, 27 November, as companies from BA to Eurostar halted their busiest sale period for another year.

But for some companies, Black Friday was only the beginning. Across the board, several save amazing deals for a day dubbed Travel Tuesday, this year falling on 28 November. There will be even more discounts on flights, hotel stays and related travel deals from airlines and operators around the world, from Ryanair to Hawaiian Airlines.

And Simon Calder, travel correspondent for The Independent, says: In the short term, the dying days of November and the first two weeks of December comprise the lowest of seasons when the airlines cut fares to whatever level they need to fill their planes.

If youve been so far holding off on booking that holiday, wait no longer  weve got all the information you need to take advantage of the sales.

What is Travel Tuesday?

The day is big in the US, with booking site Hopper claiming that over 100 of its travel partners have confirmed they will take part (Getty Images)

Falling the day after Cyber Monday every year, Travel Tuesday is to the travel industry what Cyber Monday is for tech and online deals. Its a day of travel-only deals and savings, offered by hotel companies, airlines, travel agents and more.

Sometimes called Travel Deals Tuesday, it is a fairly recent phenomenon  less long-running than its Friday and Monday counterparts  and will fall on 28 November in 2023.

Its a US phenomenon so we expect the best deals to be in the States or from US-based companies, but keep an eye out as there might be some surprises from other parts of the world.

What deals can we expect?

Ryanair have confirmed extra deals for Travel Tuesday. They are offering 10 per cent off on flights between Ireland and the UK, as well as discounted flights to several European destinations.

Virgin Holidays have extended their Cyber Monday sale, with customers able to save up to 200 per couple with the code HOLIDAY150. Virgin Hotels are offering 30 per cent off hotel bookings made between now and the end of the year.

The Hyatt hotel group is offering members 20 per cent off stays booked before December 5 for travel on or before 30 April, while Marriot Bonvoy will give members 20 per cent of hotel bookings made until the end of 28 November.

IHG Hotels are offering a saving of 20 per cent to members who book through the app, with Iberostar Beachfront Resorts offering up to 40 per cent.

Several airlines are joining in, with Spirit Airlines offering flights for just $20 to a variety of US cities, and Southwest running up to 30 per cent off base fares until 30 November.

Delta are currently offering SkyMiles scheme members up to $300 off hotel and flight bookings, while Frontier going a step further in selling an all-you-can-fly pass for $500 to both domestic and international destinations.

Hawaiian Airlines have one-way fares available for just $91, while Alaska Airlines are offering fares from as little as $39.

More destination-specific airlines with deals include Aer Lingus, who offer savings of $100 on flights to Ireland, and French Bee, who have one-way tickets from LA to Paris from just $317. Play, a low-cost Icelandic carrier, has 35 per cent off lights to a variety of European cities including London and Copenhagen.

Further afield, Air New Zealand is offering discounts on round trips to several Oceanic destinations, with a return trip from LA to Auckland available for just $1,033. Singapore Airlines have reduced fares between the USA and Asia  one example being a $599 return trip from LA to Toyko  while Qatar Airways have fares from $810 across a range of cities in Asia.

Major cruise operators are getting in on the sales action too, with Royal Caribbean offering up to $750 off packages. Virgin Voyages will offer up to 30 per cent off all trips booked before the end of the month, while Oceania Cruises are offering $5,400 off bookings made until 5 December.

Destinations such as The Bahamas are included in the sales (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Hopper, a popular flight booking website, recounts that last years savings included money off flights and stays in Paris, Tokyo, Bali, Miami, Las Vegas and the Bahamas.

Elsewhere, other companies have sales running until 29 November, although we dont currently know if there will be any special Tuesday-only discounts. For example, on Booking.com, you can still save up to 30 per cent on hotel bookings before the end of 2024.

Tips for shopping on Travel Tuesday

Firstly, it can be a good idea to browse deals on Monday 27 November, both to compare prices on the two days but also because the deal you see on Tuesday may well have been on offer over the Black Friday weekend.

As ever, set a budget and try your best to stick to it, but also try and be flexible with dates and destinations if you want to save the most money.

Sign up to be notified by your favourites providers, airlines or hotels, and try and book directly with them if possible, as they usually offer the best savings.
A long-time Walmart employee has gone viral after giving an emotional sign-off to her fellow employees.

Gail Lewis called time on her career at the store in Illinois, where shes worked for the past 10 years.

Attention Walmart, this is Gail Lewis, she said into a walkie-talkie.

10-year associate Morris, Illinois 8-4-4, signing out, good night.

While her message to customers was brief Lewis became emotional when she got to her car after leaving her beloved store for the last time.

Today was the end of an era for me, she said.

Its a happy sad because Im going to be going to a better job. Those people became like family, Ive been through a lot with them.

Her TikTok video has been viewed nearly 25 million times in just 10 days.
A 97-year-old man was among the 109 people arrested as climate protesters refused to leave after a 30-hour blockade of one of the worlds largest coal ports.

Over 3,000 activists assembled at the Port of Newcastle, New South Wales, on Sunday 26 November to demonstrate against the Australian governments alleged inaction on climate change.

The protesters had permission to hold the rally for 30 hours, but many refused to leave the port after the permitted time was up.

I am doing this for my grandchildren and future generations, Alan Stuart, 97, said in a statement before his arrest.
An Israel Defence Forces (IDF) spokesman has said they are open to extending the Gaza ceasefire with Hamas to release more hostages.

Speaking on Monday (27 November), the IDF said: The campaign to end Hamas and bring our hostages home will resume immediately with the end of the hostage release pause.

Im not going to speculate about the exact operation movements of our troops and the continuation of that strategy, but Hamas is on notice that the option for an extension is open.

We want to receive another 50 additional hostages beyond tonight on our way to bringing everyone home.
Elon Musk paid a visit to Israel on Monday 27 November, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas.

The billionaire was joined by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Kfar Azza, which was stormed by the militant group on 7 October.

During the visit, he was seen using his phone to film videos of the damage.

Musk, who owns the social media platform X, will also meet Israeli president Isaac Herzog on Monday.

In their meeting, the president will emphasise the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online, a statement from Mr Herzogs office said.
Palestinian families in Jerusalem rejoiced as relatives returned home after being released from Israeli prisons under the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Sunday 26 November was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages being held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

The prisoners released were aged 15-19 and accused of property damage, public disorder, and in some cases, causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

Many of them were picked up from protests and demonstrations by troops.
Powerful winter storms brought heavy snowfall in Bulgaria, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency in large parts of the country on Sunday 26 November.

More than 1,000 settlements, mostly in the northeast, were left without electricity, according to prime minister Nikolay Denkov.

Two people died in traffic accidents and 36 were left injured during the stormy weather in the last 24 hours.

Strong winds also closed roads, caused traffic accidents and travel delays, and downed trees and power lines.

Heavy snowfall and strong blizzards also hit Romania and Moldova.
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On Monday, the fourth exchange of hostages between Israel and Hamas took place as a pause in fighting extended for two additional days.

President Joe Biden has called the release of hostages the start of a process and told reporters on Sunday that this deal is structured so that it can be extended as a means of releasing more hostages and sending more humanitarian relief into Gaza. Specifically, he hailed the release of Abigail Idan, a four-year-old girl with American citizenship, saying, Thank God she is home.

My colleague Andrew Feinberg reported last week how Mr Biden and his secret cell of aides laid the groundwork for the pause and hostage exchange beginning with his visit to Tel Aviv after the October 7 massacre, with the president sometimes directly and personally engaged to in this process throughout almost hour by hour.

The parameters of Mr Bidens balancing act seem to show that the president, one of Washingtons most experienced diplomatic hands, is trying to continue the longstanding practice of privately pressuring Israel while publicly supporting the nation. But its unclear whether this type of politicking can fit within the confines of the new Israeli political realities or the shifts in public opinion toward Israel both within the Democratic Party and domestic politics writ large.

Throughout his 50 years in politics  first as a senator who became chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, then as a vice president who became Barack Obamas most trusted diplomatic envoy and now as president  Mr Biden has witnessed and partaken in this diplomatic theatre. Indeed, his first year as a senator coincided with the last time that Israel faced a surprise onslaught when Israels Arab neighbors engaged in an attack on the Yom Kippur War.

Similarly, former president Jimmy Carter brokered peace between Egypt and Israel, while former president Ronald Reagan pressured Israel during the war in Lebanon, going as far as to say about Israels actions: It's a holocaust. Conversely, George HW Bush, a former US ambassador to the United Nations, clashed with Israel on the topic of settlements. Meanwhile, Bill Clinton famously brokered the Oslo Accords with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat before he ultimately failed to broker a deal on peace before the end of his presidency.

But that dynamic no longer exists. For one, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has shown that he is not as pliable as his predecessors. Mr Netanyahu spent much of his youth in America, growing up in Pennsylvania and he still speaks English with a distinctly Philly accent.

He has held American citizenship in the past and in 2001, Mr Netanyahu, after his first tenure as prime minister ended, said on video, America is a thing you can move very easily, move it in the right direction. They won't get in their way (Mr Clinton for his part said Mr Netanyahu killed the peace process).

Unsurprisingly, given his massive unpopularity in Israel even before the attack, Mr Netanyahu elected for his first one-on-one interview since the 7 October massacre to be with an American outlet, ABC News. Mr Netanyahus defiance, especially as he feels that he might be reaching the end of his political career, means the United States has much less leverage in negotiations.

At home, Mr Biden is now grappling with the fact that many voters, including many that he needs to win re-election, have seen only the public support and not the private pressure. Last week, we broke down how many younger voters overwhelmingly disapprove of his stance on Israel. Similarly, a Reuters/Ipsos poll from this month showed that 68 per cent of respondents supported a ceasefire.

Furthermore, stories have abounded of Muslim Americans in the key swing state of Michigan becoming dissatisfied with the president to the point they may sit out the 2024 election. Indeed, Mr Biden seems to recognise that he has angered Arab-American voters, as friends of Inside Washington John Hudson and Yasmeen Abutaleb reported in The Washington Post that Mr Biden apologised to Arab-American leaders after he cast doubt on the death toll in Gaza.

Throughout much of his time as an elected official, as my colleague Josh Marcus has noted, Mr Biden has shown himself to be a political chameleon. He went from opposing same-sex marriage to supporting transgender rights; from voting to support the Iraq War to becoming sceptical of American military efforts in Afghanistan; and from expressing serious misgivings about abortion as an octogenarian white Catholic man to campaigning heavily on abortion rights.

But his rhetoric and actions show that, in some ways, Mr Biden is still a product of the Washington foreign policy establishment and has to figure out how to accept the new political realities before him.
Patrick Campbell sitting in front of one of the famous Harry Clarke stained glass windows in Bewley's, Grafton Street

The company behind the iconic Bewleys cafe on Dublins Grafton Street used landmark artwork by Harry Clarke, Jim Fitzpatrick and Pauline Bewick to secure financial support in 2020 from its immediate parent company, newly-filed accounts for the cafe confirm.

There has been an ongoing dispute over the ownership of the historic artworks, including stained-glass windows made by Harry Clarke.

In January this year, the High Court ruled that four of the Harry Clarke windows at the Bewleys outlet belong to the landlord, a company controlled by developer Johnny Ronan.

But it deemed that two of the windows were the property of the tenant and operator of the cafe. Paddy Campbell, who was retiring as operator of the cafe, and wanted to gift the Harry Clarke windows to the State. They have been estimated to be worth as much as 1m. Mr Campbell is also an accomplished artist in his own right.

Bewleys belongs to the people of Ireland, said Mr Campbell in 2020. The Harry Clarke panels, in particular, are a national treasure that we would love to see move into public ownership through a donation to a suitable institution.

In 2020, the operator of the cafe transferred its interest in the windows to its parent company, which in turn licensed the subsidiary to continue using the windows.

But the same year, Mr Ronans firm, RGRE, sought possession of the Bewleys cafe over non-payment of rent. This was resolved following mediation and arrears of 749,000 were paid.

There followed a dispute in which Bewleys sought to offset further rent payments by offering to sell the Harry Clarke windows to RGRE.

The companys landlord at the Grafton Street premises, RGRE Grafton Limited, has claimed ownership of certain of these artworks and has initiated legal proceedings against the company, note the newly-filed accounts for Bewleys Cafe Grafton Street Limited.

These proceedings were most recently heard in the Court of Appeal in November 2023 and judgment is awaited, they add. The director is satisfied that, where appropriate, he has made reasonable accruals for the likely outcome of these actions.

The accounts show that turnover at the cafe jumped to almost 3.4m last year from 1.2m in 2021 as the business started to recover from the pandemic.
Sales are traditionally boosted by the annual 'Late Late Toy Show'. Above, Patrick Kielty makes his debut as ringmaster. Photo: Andres Poveda/RTE

Pre-tax profits at the Irish business of Galway-headquartered toy giant, Smyths, last year increased by 22.5pc to 5.33m.

The Smyth family opened their first toy store in Galway more than three decades ago and now new accounts for Smyths Toys Ltd show revenues for its Irish operation increased 22.5pc from 217.56m to 266.66m.

The firm operates 21 stores and the revenues last year work out at an average of 12.70m per store as sales of Lego, Hotwheels, Biggies, Nerf Guns and Paw Patrol drove revenues.

The revenues of 266.66m represent 19pc of the groups 1.38bn revenues across the UK, Northern Ireland and the Republic last year.

The Irish unit of Smyths paid out dividends of 12m last December and the directors say the increase in revenues was primarily driven by an increase in footfall to stores as customers returned post Covid-19 restrictions.

The directors say they are pleased with the results particularly given the current economic climate and the competitive marketplace.

The business is currently heading into its busiest time of the year in the run-up to Christmas as children choose toys from the retailers 340-page catalogue, with the years favourites traditionally boosted by the annual Late Late Toy Show.

Numbers employed by Smyths Toys here last year increased to 703. The Republic of Ireland business represents a small proportion of the groups business. It has 283 stores today across Ireland, the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Holland and Switzerland.

In a record sales year for Smyths Toys UK Ltd, revenues surged 16pc to 910.78m (1.05bn).

The size of the overall business across the UK, Ireland and Europe has increased sharply since last year with the expansion into France following the acquisition of PicWic Toys in France in July 2022.

Smyths toy store in Dublin

Today, Smyths Toys operates 41 stores in France and has also expanded to Holland with the opening of three stores there.

The firms German business has also expanded, with the opening of three new stores there since last year, bringing the total to 70.

The business is operated by the Smyth family from Co Mayo. Family member and one of the directors of the business, Liam Smyth died in July aged 60.

Along with his brothers, the Claremorris native helped grow Smyths Toys to the thriving multi-national retail chain it is today.
4 Chinese students, 1 woman killed in Canada vehicle crash

Xinhua) 16:01, November 27, 2023

OTTAWA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four teens and a woman are dead following a two-vehicle collision in Toronto, Canada, late Saturday, local police said on Sunday.

The Chinese Consulate General in Toronto has confirmed that the four teenagers aged 15-17 are international students from China.

Police said the crash occurred on Highway 60, near Hidden Valley Road, at approximately 11:10 p.m. local time (1610 GMT), between a westbound Mercedes SUV and an eastbound Ford SUV.

Police said the teenagers were inside the Mercedes and pronounced dead at the scene.

A 42-year-old woman was driving the Ford SUV and succumbed to her injuries after being transported to hospital, the police said.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
Energy-intensive data infrastructure has become a lightning rod for criticism amid pressure on electricity supply

There has been intense debate over the setting up of an Amazon data centre in north Dublin

Ireland is risking a Brexit moment and the loss of investments over its data centre policies, according to the Irish boss of data centre firm Equinix.

Speaking at the Data Centres Ireland conference last week, Peter Lantry, who leads Equinixs Irish business, said Ireland will likely lose investments into the country if data centre development is curtailed.

Data centres have become a lightning rod for criticism, much of it ironically made online, amid concern over the robustness of Irelands electricity supply and the pace of the countrys green transition with calls to restriction new data centre connections to the national grid.

Mr Lantry said that the lack of clarity on the future for data centre projects in Ireland is affecting companies confidence.

There has been a lot of investment opportunities already missed. The own goal has been kicked already and its just making its way to the back of the net. A lot of opportunities have dissipated already and the eyeballs are elsewhere, said Mr Lantry.

I think the risk is this is a Brexit moment for Ireland and we could do ourselves a lot of harm if we dont introduce the flexibility thats required.

He said the planning system needs massive focus for the Irish economy, referring to refusals for new developments.

Earlier this year, Equinix appealed the rejection of a planning application for a new gas-powered data centre in Clondalkin that would add to the companys two existing data centres in Ireland.

Another speaker on the panel, Seamus Dunne, managing director of Ireland at Digital Realty, echoed the remarks. Companies are looking elsewhere in Europe for their data centre needs, he said.

Right now theyre looking at Copenhagen, theyll definitely build something there which basically would have been built here, said Mr Dunne.

You can say its a pity but they still have jobs here  but now theyre going to put more in Copenhagen and not just the IT infrastructure, theyll put some of their software developers there.

Dublin along with Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam and Paris  the so-called FLAPD markets  have traditionally been the go-to locations for data centres in Europe.

Mr Dunne said around half of Digital Realtys investments in Europe are now outside of these locations.

He said the global economy will need more data centres in the coming years to facilitate the rapid development of artificial intelligence, which requires massive computing power to operate.

Whatever your opinion of AI, its coming and its coming fast. Its probably going to be more significant than the introduction of cloud computing, said Mr Dunne.

Several major tech companies have established data centres in Ireland including Meta, Amazon, Google and TikTok.

Amazons latest data centre efforts in north Dublin have faced opposition. Several environmental groups are contesting the granting of planning permission by Fingal County Council to Amazon to construct three new data centres in the locality, totalling 73MW in power.

One of the organisations against the move, Friends of the Earth, has called for a clear moratorium on data centre connections until new regulations around the sector are created.
Ulster Bank is getting out of this market.

Ulster Bank is to move on a tranche of mortgages that it has not been able to sell off.

The bank, which is closing down in this market, is to offer compensation to around 4,500 holders of offset mortgages.

Average payments will be around 12,650.

Offset mortgages are home loans where money held in linked savings or current accounts can be set off against the balance owed on the mortgage.

This means that if someone still owes 100,000 on an offset mortgage, and they deposit 10,000 into the account, they only pay interest on 90,000.

Interest on the mortgage tracks the European Central Bank rate, with the typical margin at 1.15pc over the ECB rate.

As the bank is closing down, it no longer offers current or deposit accounts. This means it will remove the offset feature of the mortgages in six months time.

No other lender offers offset mortgages in this market, and the bank has been unable to sell the loans due to their complicated features.

Offset mortgages were originally offered by First Active, which was taken over by Ulster Bank. But this type of product has not been sold in this market since 2008.

Ulster Bank said it had calculated what the loss of the offset feature will mean for each of the 4,500 customers and will make what it calls ex-gratia payments to them in January for the loss of this feature.

The departing bank said customers will retain their tracker rate, and the ability to reduce mortgage interest payments through the Pay and Redraw facility feature.

And the mortgages will stay with Ulster Bank for now, pending a sale.

The pay and redraw facility is essentially like the offset feature.

This is where someone with spare funds on deposit can move those funds into their mortgage account, rather the funds into a deposit of current account linked to the mortgage account.

This reduces the mortgage balance amount owed and reduces the amount of mortgage interest to be paid.

Customers also have the option to withdraw those funds should they require them, subject to the terms and conditions.

Both offsetting and pay and redraw have the same overall effect of allowing customers to reduce their mortgage interest payments. This is despite the fact they operate differently.

For the loss of offsetting, Ulster Bank said it has calculated what offsetting would have been worth to each mortgage account had the customer retained and continued to use the feature out to the end of their term, based on past usage.

This calculated amount will then be doubled.

All customers will receive at least a minimum ex-gratia goodwill payment of 5,000.

The maximum ex-gratia goodwill payment to be made to customers will equate to the total future mortgage interest payments a customer would have to pay out to the end of their term.

Customers will also receive 250 for independent financial advice.

Customers are being given six months notice to close the savings and current accounts that have been linked to their offset mortgage, with the deadline on May 23 next.

In cases where the customer is in arrears on their mortgage, the ex-gratia goodwill payment will be used to reduce these arrears.

The average term left on the offset mortgages is 11 years, with an average balance of 106,000.

The bank is still hoping to sell the offset mortgages.

This year it sold its tracker mortgage book to AIB, and its fixed-rate portfolio to Permanent TSB last year.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jane Howard said: The arrangement we have now put in place brings certainty for these customers, it retains as much of the product as possible, in particular the Pay and Redraw feature which reduces interest paid on the mortgage, while recognising the removal of the offsetting feature.

The solution also takes into account the future value of the product because this product is no longer available in the market.

Asked if it was forced to offer compensation by the Central Bank, Ulster Bank would only say that it was its proposal to make ex-gratia payments.
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?
New findings from the National Farmers Union (NFU) show that upland farm businesses will lose an average of 37pc of support payments. (Photo by Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

Supermarkets are at risk of British beef and lamb shortages as hard-up farmers face a drop-off in subsidy payments.

A fall in subsidies post-Brexit combined with increasing cost pressures has led to some farmers reducing the numbers of cows and lambs they own, which they say could fuel a shortfall in high-quality homegrown meat.

New findings from the National Farmers Union (NFU) show that upland farm businesses will lose an average of 37pc of support payments as basic subsidies are phased out in favour of green schemes.

The UK has been rolling out its own green farming schemes to replace the European Unions 2.4bn subsidy regime after Brexit, promising farmers would receive cash in return for actions that provide public benefit to the environment.

However, industry chiefs have warned that sustainable-linked subsidies are not tailored to suit hill farmers, meaning many will lose out on payments that help keep them afloat.

The UK Government has said previously it will unveil a new package of funding measures this year, although timelines have since been pushed back.

Uncertainty has already forced some farmers to scale back their operations, raising the prospect of possible British beef and lamb shortages.

Helen Drinkall, who runs a farm in Chorley, Lancashire, said she had recently reduced the number of cattle at her farm after years of treading water.

Ms Drinkell said that without changes the industry will shrink: It depends on whether the British public values having homegrown beef and lamb on supermarket shelves because supermarkets will always find it somewhere.

Theyll just import more, so the beef and lamb will be less climate-friendly, lower welfare, and just not up to the standards were used to.

Hill farmers argue that the UK schemes currently fail to recognise the work they do to maintain the countryside in upland areas, some of which are located in the UKs best-known National Parks, such as the Peak District and Exmoor.

For example, farmers with fields that grow crops can receive payments for sowing strips of land with birdseed or creating hedgerows, whereas those in hilly areas are unable to carry out such measures.

Upland farming is typically used to rear cattle and lambs because the land is not suitable for growing crops or fresh produce.

However, hill farmers say are involved in maintaining local footpaths and boosting biodiversity in areas where they operate.

NFU vice president David Exwood said the anticipated fall in government subsidies is not a surprise to the farmers working in our hills.

He said the NFU has been urging ministers to accelerate proposals that deliver meaningful income in return for the vital management hill farms deliver and the environmental goods they supply.

Telegraph.co.uk
The leader of the Dutch Farmers Party (BBB) said the party cannot be ignored after securing seven seats in the countrys elections last week.

Caroline van der Plas said the result felt like a victory for her despite the party not polling as high as previously predicted in the elections, which saw the anti-EU far-right Freedom Party, led by Geert Wilders, set for a major victory.

Beating all predictions, the exit poll put Wilders Freedom Party (PVV) at 35 out of 150 seats, 10 seats ahead of the closest rival, former EU Commissioner Frans Timmermans Labour/Green Left combination.

The Farmers Party had seen its popularity in the polls decline in recent months, but Van der Plas said the goal was never to be the biggest.

We were at four in the polls, then six. Seven is great. No, seriously. We are very happy with this, she said.

According to Van der Plas, no one can ignore the BBB. We have 16 seats in the Senate, PVV four, NSC zero.

We are also participating with seven seats in the House of Representatives. So we enter the coalition talks.

According to Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, the Farmers Party has had major headwinds in recent months and Van der Plas sometimes seemed unable to keep up with the razor-sharp political game.

For example, during the general political discussions, where everyone was already in campaign mode, she was accused of submitting free beer motions because she had no cover for her plan to slightly increase the minimum wage.

Van der Plas also did not make a strong impression in the much-discussed party-leader interview in De Telegraaf, it stated.

Last year, the BBB leader urged Irish farmers to form a political party and contest next years local elections.

After her party came from nowhere to win the majority of seats in the Dutch local elections in March, she told a meeting of the Farmers Alliance in Athlone back in April that, if they put aside their differences, the citizens will back you.

Van der Plas warned that Irish farming will not survive unless farmers take matters into their own hands.

The only way to have a direct influence on the debate and to have an influence on policy is to enter politics, she said.
Volunteer Ms Lucas died while on a search mission off the coast of Clare in 2016, becoming the first Coast Guard member to die on active dutyCrew had not been made aware of the fact that the area could witness "peculiar" waves - and that vessels reversed into the inlet for safety reasonsFellow crew member describes being thrown about in the sea like a washing machine

Caitriona Lucas who died in a sea rescue mission off Kilkee, Co Clare

A Coast Guard volunteer who survived the tragedy that claimed the life of Caitriona Lucas said their boat was struck by a freak wall of water that capsized their boat and tossed the three crew into a sea that was like a washing machine.

A second Coast Guard volunteer who survived the same tragedy fought back tears as she said that, had fellow volunteer Ms Lucass helmet not been ripped off by a freak wave, she might likely have survived their capsizing and being driven into a semi-flooded sea cave.

There were emotional scenes as Limerick Coroner John McNamara opened the inquest into the death of Ms Lucas at Kilmallock Courthouse.

Ms Lucas (41), who worked as a librarian, died during a Coast Guard search mission near Kilkee in west Clare on September 12, 2016.

A native of Ballyvaughan in north Clare, the mother of two suffered fatal injuries during the mission and became the first Coast Guard volunteer to die while on active duty.

Ms Lucas was an advanced coxswain with the Doolin unit of the Coast Guard and had been with the service for a decade.

That day the Doolin team was assisting the Kilkee unit in the search for a young man who had gone missing in the area.

Mr McNamara and a jury of four men and three women were told that the Kilkee unit were short of volunteers for sea operations that day and had asked assistance from the Doolin unit.

Ms Lucas - who had completed the Advanced Search and Rescue course - volunteered to help and went to sea with two other volunteers in a rigid inflatable boat (Rib) at 10.30am that day.

Around 1pm, the Rib carrying Coast Guard personnel Ms Lucas, James Lucey and Jenny Carway approached Lookout Bay and Intrinsic Bay near Kilkee.

The crew had not been made aware of the fact that Intrinsic Bay could witness "peculiar" waves - and that vessels reversed into the inlet for safety reasons.

They were also unaware of any specific dangers posed by the waters involved, with sea conditions much better than the previous day.

"We were moving along slowly," Mr Lucey explained.

"Then I saw a wall of water crashing towards us. It hit us on the right hand side. It dragged us with it towards the cliff."

The Rib capsized and cast all three volunteers - Mr Lucey, Ms Lucas and Jenny Carway - into the sea.

"I was underwater. I couldn't see anything. It was just like being in a washing machine," he said.

Mr Lucey said he managed to clamber onto a rock but was immediately swept off it by the waves.

When he managed to get a perch on a ledge in a sea cave, he saw his two colleagues in the sea.

"I could see Jenny and Caitriona. Jenny was further away."

He said Ms Lucas was floating on her back with her face upwards and he shouted at her to try to stand.

Later, when he looked again, he saw Ms Lucas floating face down in the water.

Ms Carway, who was experienced in water sports, said the group had little or no warning when the freak wave struck.

"Caitriona shouted - 'breaking wave'. I barely got to move my head around when I saw the water," she said.

Ms Carway said the freak wave struck them, capsized their vessel and tossed all three into the sea.

Fighting back tears, she said her helmet stayed on but she noted that the safety helmets of both Mr Lucey and Ms Lucas had been ripped off by the wave.

"It [the helmet] could have been the difference between her being here today and not," she said.

Ms Carway said her helmet was loose fitting - so she used an inflatable bladder to make it tight on her head and also firmly adjusted the chin strap.

Marine expert, Michael Kingston, who is working with the Lucas family, put it to Ms Carway that drone rescue footage shows what happened to Ms Lucas without her helmet.

"Ms Lucas can be seen [on the drone footage] being struck by the boat and rocks, rendering her unconscious," he said.

Ms Carway said she was driven into a sea cave at the foot of the cliff by the freak wave - and feared she would not survive.

Her helmet was repeatedly struck off rocks inside the cave as she was tossed around by the powerful surf.

"If I didn't have it [the helmet] I wouldn't be here. I was being tumbled [by the waves] and the helmet was taking it [the blows from rocks]."

A private Rib was immediately launched at the direction of Gardai when they became aware of the incident, with a Coast Guard officer on board.

This managed to rescue Ms Carway, who was able to swim out to the vessel.

She said that, having been battered by waves and swells with her helmet also eventually being physically ripped off by the waves, she feared for her life.

Seconds after the boat capsized, she was able to make a brief mayday call on her marine VHF radio.

"I got a call back when I had nearly given up. It said: 'Keep swimming - don't give up.' I was being smacked up against the rocks...one wave had pinned me against the cliff, she said.

Both Mr Lucey and Ms Lucas were rescued by the Shannon-based Coast Guard helicopter thanks to the heroic actions of a winchman.

Ms Lucas was in a critical condition and she was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick (UHL) where she was later pronounced dead.

Mr Kingston raised several issues with the inquest, including that Kilkee boat logs were never provided to them; that the crew were not made aware of the unique wave threat posed by Intrinsic Bay; that Ms Lucas' dry suit was filled with water; and that the safety helmets of both Mr Lucey and Ms Lucas had ripped off during the incident.

Similarly, the inquest heard that one marine VHF radio was not working properly and that a seat on the Rib was not in commission.

Mr Kingston told the inquest he was "being gagged" when he was not allowed to raise a 2014 incident in Dingle involving a vessel capsizing, with coroner McNamara saying he had ruled that it was not relevant to the inquiry in hand.

Mr Lucey also confirmed, when questioned by Mr Kingston, that the location specified for the tragedy in the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report was incorrect - with the actual site of the capsizing located over one kilometre further up the coast.

There were emotional scenes when a Garda at the scene, now retired Sergeant John Moloney, recalled seeing Ms Lucas prone in the water.

Sgt Moloney said he was concerned for the safety of people on land earlier that day as large numbers walked along cliff tops as part of a search for a missing local man.

The garda was with a Coast Guard officer when he heard a radio alert that a vessel had just capsized and people were in the water needing help.

Sgt Moloney's voice broke as he recalled what he saw from the cliffs near Diamond Rocks.

"I could see a Coast Guard member in the water swimming towards a Rib," he said.

"I could see a second Coast Guard member lying face down in the water and that person, Caitriona Lucas, was being tossed around at the mercy of the incoming, breaking waves.

"This Coast Guard member appeared to be unconscious."

The Rib that the three Coast Guard officials had been operating had been shoved by the waves up against the base of the cliff.

The inquest is expected to last for four days.

Ms Lucas is survived by her husband Bernard and their two children, Ben and Emma.

The children were aged 20 and 18 years at the time of her death in 2016.

In the wake of the tragedy, the State launched two separate investigations - one by the Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) and the other by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

The Marine Casualty Investigation Board (MCIB) report found that the Coast Guard did not have an effective safety management system.

The Coast Guard contested the MCIBs draft findings in a detailed submission which was included in the boards final report.

In 2020, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided that no criminal charges should be brought in relation to the tragedy after a report was forwarded to it by the Health and Safety Authority (HSA).

Mr Lucas hailed Caitriona as caring, gentle, kind, wanted to help others, always had a warm smile and was 100pc dedicated to everything she did.

"She was an animal lover. She filled the farm with cats, dogs and goats. She was extremely hardworking and very modest. She was very brave and courageous and she loved the Coast Guard, he added.

She always had the best outlook and advice on life. The love she had for life, her family, travel and helping others was immense. No problem or challenge was too big for her to overcome and she always knew what to say to other people to comfort them.

At her funeral, Ms Lucas was remembered as an inspirational hero.

Thousands of relatives, friends and staff from the emergency services paid respects to Ms Lucas at her funeral at St Brigid's Church, Liscannor, Co Clare.

As scores of Irish Coast Guard staff, in their distinctive black uniforms and white peaked caps, flanked the entrance to the church, Ms Lucas's husband Bernard and son Ben fought back tears to describe their loss.

Mr Lucas told mourners they should learn from his wife's motto on life: "Don't put things off, do them now. Time is short. Life is very precious."

A moving tribute was also paid by Ben.

"My mother was an exceptional person in every way," he said.
The Emirati Minister of State and leader of UAE's Cop28 talk, Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber.

Mary Robinson has said the Cop28 climate summit is compromised following reports its hosts have used pre-summit talks to negotiate oil deals with attending countries.

The former president of Ireland and climate campaigner was responding to an investigation by the BBC and the Centre for Climate Reporting into the behaviour of the United Arab Emirates which holds the presidency of the summit that begins in Dubai later this week.

The report found the presidency team involved UAEs national oil company Adnoc in its pre-Cop discussions with 15 countries, proposing deals or talks around deals to supply oil and gas.

Mrs Robinson said the revelations were worrying.

Its very worrying because perceptions matter and there was already a perception that the presidency was a bit compromised and this may make the situation even more difficult, she said.

Its not right that a president of the Cop would use the office to negotiate private deals. If thats happened, its not correct and its not appropriate.

However, she said the scandal could not be allowed to derail the talks which will attempt to get agreement between 197 countries on goals for cutting carbon emissions and phasing out fossil fuels.

We have no time for a bad Cop. We have to have as much progress at this Cop as possible because were running out of time, she said.

We need to focus on what has to happen. We know that we are not at all where we need to be.

This years summit will be a high-profile event where countries will complete a global stocktake designed to pinpoint just how far away the world is from getting emissions, temperature rise and climate change under control.

Current tallies point to emissions growing by a further 9pc by 2030 instead of falling by 45pc as was the intention set out in earlier Cops.

Mrs Robinson said it was crucial that the focus remain on these challenges.

We have seen not just extremes [of weather] but scientists are bowled over by how bad it is, she said.

She said previous Cops had begun with little optimism that progress would be achieved but had gone on to exceed expectations.

Perhaps out of this revelation [the BBC report] there will be a call for a much more progressive Cop, she said.

We need to get pressure for phasing out fossil fuel.

We can do that with a compromised presidency.

Mrs Robinson was speaking ahead of an address to the Sustainable Futures Forum event at University College Cork.

She acknowledged that the ongoing events in Gaza could also be a distraction from the work of the summit.

She said however while she understood that people were passionate about the issue, it was essential to remain focused on the critical work in hand.

It is not morally indefensible to stay strategic, she said.

Mrs Robinson will attend Cop as chair of The Elders, a grouping of former world leaders involved in human rights and environmental campaigning.
Ship passengers and staff to testify in trial of Daniel Belling, accused of killing his wife on Mediterranean cruise

The German national has denied he had anything to do with her disappearanceThe hearing is to resume today, with more prosecution witnesses calledThe trial is taking place in Italy in Mr Bellings absence

Daniel Belling and Xing Li pictured in 2011

Amy Molloy Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 07:21







The murder trial of a Dublin-based IT worker who is accused of killing his wife while they were on a Mediterranean cruise will hear evidence from ship passengers and staff.
New legislation that gives victims of domestic violence paid leave comes into effect on Monday, November 27.

It means any employee who experiences domestic violence will be entitled to a maximum of five days paid leave in any 12-month period. There is no mandatory service requirement to avail of the leave.

Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Roderic OGorman introduced the legislation in August, which was developed by Womens Aid. Its felt the legislation is important as it lessens the worry of losing income while experiencing domestic violence.

One in four women in Ireland suffer domestic violence, and while domestic abuse happens to men and within same-sex relationships, women are disproportionately more affected. As a consequence, the mandatory leave is seen as a necessary form of assistance for women.

Employers are obliged to assist and work with the person by facilitating the leave in a compassionate and confidential way. This is integral to its success as the employer is able to offer additional support in a safe and understating space.

There is also no obligation to share excessive amounts of personal information regarding the abuse with an employer in order to avail of the leave.

Kerry woman Caroline Reidy is one of the leading Human Resource (HR) experts in Ireland. She said the legislation is long over due and that key policies are in place to ensure it is more streamlined. Caroline explained that its a sensitive time for any employee who is considering taking the leave.

Its important that the employee requesting this leave feels reassured in their place of work, and that the employer is aware of it, Ms Reidy said.

Most important is the support sensitivity, and confidentiality. In these scenarios  when someone who experiences domestic violence is thinking about leaving or getting help  thats when the risk to the person is greatest because, ultimately, this is a power and control scenario, she explained.

Section 7 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 inserts the new Section 13AA into the Parental Leave Act 1998 (as amended) to provide for five days paid domestic violence leave.

In line with the new section 13AA(7), the Minister consulted with employers representatives, trade unions and domestic violence support organisations.
Pink and white balloons, wicker hearts and cuddly toys decorated Emilys hospital room for delayed party

Emily Hand runs into the arms of her father, after she is released from captivity

Irish-Israeli girl Emily Hand, who turned nine while being held hostage by Hamas, finally got to celebrate her birthday with her family.

Following seven torturous weeks, little Emily was freed from captivity in Gaza on Saturday after being kidnapped by militants in the deadly attack on Kibbutz Beeri on October 7.

On the day of her birthday, November 17, her family held a party without her at St Stephens Green in Dublin as part of their desperate campaign calling for her release.

Her tearful father, Thomas Hand (63), who had initially feared his daughter was dead, said at the time: She wont even know its her birthday. She wont know what day it is. Can you imagine the fear?

In the wake of the familys emotional reunion with Emily, Mr Hand promised his daughter the best birthday party she never had.

And on Sunday, a gentle celebration was laid on for Emily while she recuperated at the Safra childrens hospital in Tel Hashomer, Tel Aviv, surrounded by family.

Emily Hand is free after spending seven weeks as a hostage of Hamas. Photo: AP

A multi-coloured Happy Birthday sign was strung along the wall of the nine-year-olds hospital room, surrounded by decorations of white and pink balloons and wicker hearts, while cuddly toys were laid out on her bed.

Emily, wearing a red knitted jumper, was embraced by a family member who stroked her face as the little girl put her arms around her.

Emilys beloved pet dogs nuzzled the pair, as another family member softly stroked her hair.

Video footage issued by the Israel Defence Forces has shown Emily running into her fathers arms at a location in Israel on Saturday after he had previously spoken about how he was looking forward to giving her a huge hug.

Mr Hand, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, last week made an emotional appeal for Emilys release, saying the family was living through a nightmare, and getting her back was his reason for living.

Thomas Hand, originally from Dun Laoghaire in Dublin, last week made an emotional appeal for his daughter's release. Photo: AP

After her release, Emilys family released a statement saying they were overjoyed to be able to embrace her again and thanked the world for unwavering support in trying to secure her return.

We cant find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days.

They said that Emily has lost a lot of weight but is generally doing better than we expected.

On the day she was abducted, Emily had been having a sleepover with her friend Hila Rotem, who was also freed  although Raya, Hilas mother, remains in Gaza.

At the same time, we remember Raya Rotem and all the hostages who have yet to return. the family added. We will persist in doing everything in our power to bring them back home.

Her father met Irish president Michael D Higgins, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and Tanaiste Micheal Martin during Emilys captivity. Mr Varadkar described a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family.

The current four-day ceasefire was agreed to enable the release of at least 50 of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas into Gaza in exchange for 150 Palestinians  women and children  in Israeli prisons.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 hostages, including 14 Israelis, and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners  the third such exchange under the truce, which last night was extended by two days in an agreement brokered by Qatar.
Fundraisers for the stabbing victims and those who heroically stopped the attack in Dublin on Thursday have raised more than 600,000 between them.

The money, which was donated following the horrific incident on Parnell Square last week, will be given to carer Leanne Flynn Keogh, delivery driver Caio Benicio, trainee chef Alan Loren-Guille, unsung hero Warren Donohoe, and the three children injured in the gruesome attack.

Ms Keogh received multiple stab wounds in the attack after placing her body in front of the knife wielded by an Algerian-born Irish citizen.

She is currently recovering from her injuries at a Dublin hospital following multiple surgeries.

In response, a GoFundMe was set up to support the carer who bravely put herself in front of so many children so they could run to safety while putting her own life at risk.

The Support Hero Carer & Children Attacked In Dublin fundraiser has received more than 13,000 donations amounting to 247,761 to date.

The organiser stated that the funds will also be donated to the children and families impacted by the attack, including a five-year-old girl who remains in critical condition in Temple Street Hospital.

They noted that the money will be divided among the victims once they have made a recovery and assured that every cent raised will be donated to the injured children and carer, following verification from GoFundMe and Gaelscoil Colaiste Mhuire.

Dublin stabbing

Meanwhile, a GoFundMe titled Buy Caio Benicio a pint has raised 360,969 with more than 33,000 patrons donating to the cause after Mr Benicio stopped the attacker by hitting him with his helmet on Parnell Square.

The Brazilian Deliveroo driver was on his motorbike in the area when the incident unfolded and was one of the first on the scene to disarm the knife-wielding attacker.

The appeal saw an outpouring of gratitude from the public as organiser Paul Darcy wrote: The man's a hero and the least we can do is buy him a pint so I'm asking you to donate the price of a pint of Guinness in your local to Caio so that he knows the people of Dublin appreciate him.

It was stated GoFundMe had been in contact with Mr Benicio to ensure the money will be transferred directly to him.

GoFundMe appeals have also been set up in honour of French teenager Alan Loren-Guille, a trainee chef at the Michelin-starred Spitalfields Restaurant in south central Dublin, and Wicklow man Warren Donohoe, who was in the city to celebrate his 11-year-old daughters birthday with his family.

The Buy Alan Loren-Guille a pint (hero) fundraiser has taken in 12,382 to date, while the Buy Warren Donohoe a pint! Unsung hero of Dublin appeal has raised 11,820, with the heroic dad being added as a beneficiary on the official GoFundMe page.

News of Alans actions on Thursday afternoon made its way back to France and the 17-year-old received a personal phone call from President Emmanuel Macron to thank him for his bravery.

Spitalfields Restaurant paid tribute to him online, lauding him as a superhero as they detailed how he wrestled the knife off the attacker and prevented him from harming more victims.

"This is our own 17 year old super hero Alan Loren-Guille who was one of the brave heroes that managed to disarm the school children attacker yesterday in Dublin on his way to work.

"He is one of our brilliant French stagiaires in the kitchen @spitalfields_dublin. He noticed something happening as he passed by and selflessly jumped in to stop the attacker and managed to wrestle the knife off him. He was fairly unscathed but for a couple a cuts to his hand and face.

"Without this act of bravery who knows what else might have happened. Our prayers are with the poor children, families and teachers who were affected by this tragedy. Please lookout for one and other. Not all superheroes wear capes."

And Warrens wife Stacey Power Donohoe told the Sunday World how her husband was the first to go to Leanne Flynn Keogh and the childrens aid.

Warren ran over and dived on the fella. This was at the time the Brazilian fella (Caio Benicio) had go off his bike and was throwing his helmet at him.

The girl, Leanne, had kicked the knife away from him and the Brazilian lad picked it up and took it across the road and threw it in the bushes.

As he did that, Warren stayed on top of the attacker  he had him pinned to the floor, but all the while I could see the poor child in the puddle of blood.

If she hadnt wrestled him for as long as she did a lot more children would have died, because he was targeting the children. You could see all he wanted to do was to get through her to get to them.
The Green Party are ready to co-operate with gardais use of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT), having blocked an effort to bring it in earlier this year.

The party demanded, and will now get, a standalone piece of legislation on the issue, thought to be weeks from draughting, that will have safeguards to prevent real-time use of rolling CCTV monitoring of past offenders.

Green Party Minister Roderic OGorman publicly signalled the move yesterday, with sources saying negotiations during the summer had reached an understanding with Fine Gael.

Early versions of FRT in the United States have provided mismatches, leading to the wrong people being detained, with particular fears over racial profiling and any tendency to round up the usual suspects when searching footage in a bid to recognise a perpetrator.

But with thousands of hours of CCTV now to be trawled through in the words of Justice Minister Helen McEntee, the Greens are anxious not to be wrongfooted in the court of public opinion.

A spokesperson said: The Green Party has always supported giving Gardai access to cutting edge technology in order to fight crime as long as the proper safeguards are in place.

They pointed out the party had given its backing to the original bill to give gardai the use of bodycams.

That legislation comes back from the Seanad into the Dail on Wednesday and is likely to pass all stages.

Political sources expect an early signature motion to be attached when it is sent to the Aras for enactment by the President, who has discretion on whether to refer any Oireachtas legislation to the Council of State and then to the Supreme Court to test its Constitutionality.

The Greens said they had agreed to a separate, stand-alone Bill that would allow for the retrospective use of Facial Recognition Technology in serious cases, provided this was subject to pre-legislative scrutiny.

The phrase about retrospection refers to just such CCTV look-back after a crime or crimes have been committed, with Irish jurisprudence heavily weighted against the presumed commission of a future crime.

We await full details of the extra categories of offences that Minister McEntee proposes to allow FRT be used to help investigate, the spokesperson said.

Minister OGorman said on RTE radio: This recognition technology is now a stand-alone Bill because it is a very powerful tool, and it's an approved tool whose use needs safeguards. That will now happen, and that was always our position.

We're pleased to see the legislation on the use of bodycams for An Garda Siochana is now nearly through the Houses and will be enacted very shortly.

We look forward to seeing the proposals from Minister McEntee in terms of the use of facial recognition technology, he said on the News at One.

I'm not sure where that is in drafting terms at the moment, but Minister McEntee has indicated that she intends to prioritise it and I've no doubt it will be before Cabinet fairly shortly and we look forward to examining it.
Leobardo Sierra Frias is is pleading with Irish people to stop burning coal from the mine that threatens to destroy his homeland. Photo: Katie Cox/Christian Aid.

A father of five who says he has lived all his life in fear is pleading with the Irish people to stop burning coal from the mine that threatens to destroy his homeland.
An Irish-based cocktail expert and mixologist has said that very expensive cocktails are all about status and not taste after an Irish woman in London accidentally paid 1,890 for a single cocktail.

Thomas Ostrowski, an instructor at Dublin Bar Academy, said he would much rather order an expensive spirit with water and travel through the flavours than pay thousands for a single cocktail.

These super expensive cocktails appear on menus in the most expensive and famous bars around the world that already have an established reputation, Mr Ostrowski told the Irish Independent.

He stressed that these super extensive cocktails like the one the Irish woman paid for in London, which she mistakenly believed would cost 18.90, are simply a marketing tool and couldnt be replicated in a normal bar.

You could put the spirits in the cocktail with much cheaper ingredients in the same order and the person just wont feel the difference, as there are too many flavours, Mr Ostrowski added.

The Polish native, who has decades of experience behind Irish bars, said the most expensive cocktails he has found in Ireland are around the 200 range in five star hotels close to St Stephens Green.

While the industry of super expensive cocktails exists in cities like London and New York, the bartending instructor believes it is only time before it joins the increasingly popular wine and whiskey tasting experiences here in Ireland.

While it is coming, I dont think Irish people would be very happy with the prices. We are a big consumer of alcohol here and one drink wouldnt be very much.

I would be more than happy to pay a little bit more for a cocktail made in a unique way, but it should stay in the 20 range, he said.

Mr Ostrowski explained that the cocktail culture in Ireland is changing and that the days of three for 20 in Irish bars and nightclubs has been left behind as prices continue to rise with the cost-of-living.

The three for 20 deal appeared at the end of the last recession, when people wanted low prices. These cocktails came with only 20mls of spirits and had loads of sugar juice, he said.

Despite their cheap price, he believes that these cheap cocktails had a bad impact on the cocktail culture in Ireland, which took a while to recover. Cocktails are much better now, he added.

The gold standard for the amount of spirits contained in cocktails in Ireland now is 60ml, generally comprised of 40ml of spirits and 20mls of liquor, having moved on from the old 20ml marker.

Mr Ostrowski said that it is a common misconception that cocktails in Ireland contain less alcohol than in countries like Spain or Poland.

Cocktails have the same amount however, drinks like gin and tonics often include more alcohol abroad, due to bigger measures, he said.

On finding the best Christmas cocktails in terms of money and quality, the master mixologist recommends that people head out to casual or fine-dining restaurants.

These places have some of the very best bar staff, with their cocktails made on location using special extraction techniques. There is no need for these super expensive prices, he said.

What Mr Ostrowski would like to see, is Irish people explore more high quality Irish spirits on their own, by drinking them neat, something which he said isnt done very much here.

He said he would love to see people drinking more Irish whiskey, which he said is some of the best in the world, and is going through this beautiful moment in history.

I have a very good pallet but if you mixed one of these special whiskeys in with a cocktail there is a strong chance I wouldnt recognise it.

Master distillers are crying out when these unique old Irish whiskeys, which are so special, are mixed in with these expensive cocktails and lose their taste, he added.
Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald voices it has no confidence after State lost control of the city

Justice minister Helen McEntee has sought to head off pressure on her own position by risking a row with her partners in Government.

Fine Gael is ready to force through facial recognition technology (FRT) after resistance all this year from the Green Party.

But Labour spokesman Aodhan O Riordain said the Justice Minister must stop producing legislation in an attempt to deflect, as Sinn Fein said it would decide this week whether to table a motion of no confidence.

Mr O Riordain said: Ramming legislation through the Dail without proper debate is not the solution to what we witnessed on Thursday evening. There has been a building series of missteps in justice.

Ms McEntee is expected to take questions on the chaos tomorrow as a TD criticised the disorganised response in which gardai were vying with each other to get helmets and shields.

Meanwhile, she was criticised further by Fianna Fail figures as the chair of the justice committee said he wanted her and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris to further answer questions on the rioting.

James Lawless TD said he wanted them to explain how Thursday night unfolded. He was very glad to see a much greater presence in the city since, but that needs to become the norm. That cant be a reaction for one or two days, or a weekend, and then it drifts back to whats been before.

Fianna Fail senator Erin McGreehan faulted Ms McEntee on handling her brief and said the Garda Commissioner should go.

Meanwhile, Meath West TD Peadar Toibin, leader of Aontu, said gardai had been left exposed by the slow reaction.

With heavy evening traffic, it was 8pm before many got into the city centre, he said.

Gardai were left exposed and vulnerable. At one stage eight were being faced down by 50 thugs. The lives and safety of many gardai were put at risk by what appears to be little or no structured plans, not to mention the level of destruction that happened in our city, he said.

But Ms McEntee insisted gardai had responded very quickly. They had not just contained the criminals, but ensured that order was restored well before midnight, she told TV cameras yesterday evening.

She insisted there was now a policing plan in place and promised to move on to legislation. The use of body cameras would be passed in the Dail this week, she said.

Meanwhile, FRT would reduce the amount of time spent trawling through CCTV footage to make sure that the thugs and criminals who created so much destruction in our city on Thursday night are brought to justice as soon as possible, she said.

This should not take months. It should be done in a matter of days and in a matter of weeks. With the use of facial recognition technology that can be possible.

But a political row is brewing with the Green Party on that issue, with Fine Gael apparently now intent on facing it down.

Mr O Riordain said: There are serious questions now for the Justice Minister, Fine Gael and the whole of Government.

He claimed there was a desire to govern by press release.

The public rightly wants answers as to what went wrong, he added.

Senior Fine Gael minister Simon Coveney admitted control of the streets had been lost for some time. But he also said the Government was very confident it could win any motion of no confidence in Ms McEntee.

Sinn Fein party leader Mary Lou McDonald has expressed no confidence in both her and the Commissioner, but has not yet announced any Dail move against the former.

Sinn Fein frontbencher Louise OReilly said the party would decide within days on whether to table such a vote.

We saw a minister who was late coming out with a response in the first instance. And her response was wholly inadequate, she said on RTE radio.

I really cannot say it enough times. She does not even acknowledge that control was lost at the city on Thursday. If she cant even acknowledge that simple fact, then she will not and cannot be the person to fix it.

She added that Ms McEntee doesnt seem to understand or appreciate the scale of the issue. This didnt just happen. This has been building for months.

However, Ms McEntee said last night: There are many people, business owners, members of the community, minority groups, who have very valid concerns.

And I want to reassure people again, that there is a very strong garda presence on the ground here in the city. There are four public order units that will remain there and there is a policing plan in place.
Police have confirmed a man, aged in his 20s, has died following a crash in south Belfast on Sunday morning.

Sergeant Green from the Police Services Collision Investigation Unit said: Police received a report shortly before 4am on Sunday, November 26 of a collision involving a blue VW Lupo in the Annadale Embankment area.

Officers attended, alongside colleagues from the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service and the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service.

Medical treatment was provided at the scene and the man was subsequently taken to hospital. He sadly died from his injuries.

The road which was closed for a time to allow for police enquiries, has since reopened to all traffic.

Our investigation is continuing and we are appealing to anyone who was travelling in the Annadale Embankment area before 4am and who has dash-cam footage, to contact the Collision Investigation Unit on 101, and quote reference number 349 26/11/23.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw said her thoughts were with the mans family.

"Im so sorry to read this. Such sad news for this young mans family and friends, she said.
The drugs seized by Gardai in Galway on Sunday. Photo: Gardai.

A man has been arrested following a seizure of cocaine with a value of 56,000 in Galway on Sunday evening.

Gardai seized the drugs during a search at a residence in the Castlepark area of the city yesterday.

The search was part of Operation Tara and undertaken by the Galway Divisional Drug Unit, aimed at clamping down on the activities of organised criminals in the region.

Cannabis worth 1,800 was also seized during the search, which happened at approximately 8.20 pm yesterday.

The drugs will now be sent of for analysis to Forensic Science Ireland.

The man aged in his 30s was arrested at the scene and is currently being held at a garda station in Galway.

Gardai said investigations are ongoing.
Hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospitalGardai trawl thousands of hours of CCTV after riots on Thursday

Statement from An Garda Siochana after several injured in Dublin incident

The five-year-old girl who was critically injured in last Thursdays stabbing attack in Dublin remains gravely ill in hospital this morning.

The hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospital.

The only suspect in the case, a man aged in his fifties, also remains in hospital where he is being treated for serious head injuries.

Gardai continue to maintain a discreet presence at the medical facility he is being treated in.

Sources say that because of his condition, it is highly unlikely that he will be medically fit to be arrested for questioning by investigating gardai today.

He suffered the least serious injuries of the three people who remain being treated in hospital.

The man is originally from Algeria and became a naturalised Irish citizen in 2014. He has been living in homeless accommodation in Dublins north inner city.

On Saturday, a six-year-old girl injured in the horrific attack was released from hospital.

Earlier, a five-year-old boy who had also been wounded in the same incident was discharged after treatment.

At this stage, detectives have still not established any link between the suspect and the school he attacked but it is not considered to be a terrorism incident.

Information has come to gardai that the suspect was highly agitated in recent days about an issue that had nothing to do with the school.

The grievance is the suspected motivation for the stabbing attack.

For a reason only known to himself, this individual seems to have targeted children and their carer in a dispute that has nothing to do with them, a source said.

The man was not born in Ireland but became a naturalised Irish citizen a number of years ago.

The scene in Dublin city centre on Thursday after five people were injured, including three young children, on Parnell Square East (Brian Lawless/PA)

Riots

Gardai continue to trawl through thousands of hours of CCTV and social media footage in an attempt to identify rioters who took part in the violent events in Dublin city centre on Thursday night.

The riots erupted after the knife attack on three children and their care assistant outside Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East at lunchtime on Thursday.

Hundreds of rioters looted and damaged shops and set fire to garda cars, buses, fire engines, and Luas trams in what has been described as mayhem in the city centre.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed that gardai arrested 48 people between Thursday and Saturday, although only 34 of these were directly related to the rioting. The remainder were arrested on public order offences between Friday and Saturday.

She previously stated that officers are trawling 6,000 hours of CCTV footage and vowed that further arrests would follow the 34 already made.

Gardai Monday afternoon said an incident room has been set up to examine the footage with a senior investigating officer appointed to lead the investigation.

A spokesperson said: An Garda Siochana continue a criminal investigation into all of the circumstances of the Violent Disorder and Public Order events that occurred on Thursday, 23rd November 2023.

An incident room has been established at Store Street Garda Station and a Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed.

An Garda Siochana are in the process of collating and harvesting CCTV and social media images from the events on Thursday 23rd November 2023.

An Garda Siochana wishes to acknowledge the significant volume of support received from the public to date including calls to Store Street Garda Station, the Garda Confidential Phone Number and receipt of images and videos from members of the Public.

Shortly after the incident at the school on Thursday, a group of protesters gathered at the scene.

It was not long before they attempted to break through a garda cordon. Within a few hours, hundreds of people were on the street as the situation gradually grew more violent.

As darkness fell on the capital, chaos ensued, with gardai suffering assaults, public transport being torched and shops being looted.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Friday said it was disgraceful that garda inquiries into the knife attack had been disrupted by the riots in Dublin.

He told a press conference: These [riots] are scenes that we have not seen in decades but what is clear is that people have been radicalised through social media and the internet.

But I dont want to lose focus on the terrible event in terms of the dreadful assault on schoolchildren and their teacher. Theres a full investigation ongoing. Theres also a full investigation in respect of the disorder.

Meanwhile, a hero Deliveroo rider who helped stop the attacker has told how he sprang into action when he saw a child being stabbed.

Father-of-two Caio Benicio described how he used his helmet to hit the man who had attacked three young children and the female creche worker.

Mr Benicio is originally from Rio de Janeiro and arrived in Ireland a year ago.

Mr Benicio told the Irish Independent that he had not been frightened when he intervened on Thursday.

I didnt have time to be afraid. I have two kids myself and I didnt have time to be afraid, I just acted, he said.

Mr Benicio said he originally thought it was a fight between a man and a woman.

I was working like a normal day. And I was passing by in Parnell Square. For me, at first, it looked like a fight, a normal fight. I slowed down my motorcycle and it was a man and a woman, he said.

Mr Benicio then described how he saw a woman fighting for a young girl.

She was very, very brave. She was fighting for a girl, a little girl.

I was like, Whats happening here and then I saw him with a knife and he grabbed a little girl.

It was then that Mr Benicio saw the man stab the little girl.

I stopped my bike and I dont know, I acted by instinct I took off my helmet and hit him with the helmet on the head.
Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys is unable to say if the Government will sign off on lower social welfare for Ukrainian refugees before Christmas.

Senior ministers became embroiled in a heated Cabinet row over limiting State provided accommodation to just 90 days after the proposal was floated several weeks ago by Equality Minister Roderic OGorman.

Minister Humphreys was then tasked with drawing up proposals to cut social welfare for Ukrainian refugees.

The minister was unable to say if Cabinet would sign off on plans before Christmas when speaking to reporters on Monday.

In terms of the payments that people get when they come into this country, international protection applicants get 38 a week and thats the payment that they receive. I know there has been discussions around Ukrainians that are coming here and we are discussing it across the three departments and well come forward with proposals, theyre not finalised yet, she said.

Its about accommodation, its about social welfare recipients as well and we have to cast our memory back - they came here just with the clothes on their back and it was decided theyd be the beneficiaries of the temporary protection directive. Were still implementing that but we are reviewing it.

We are reviewing it and I would hope we would have something coming forward in the next number of weeks.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - November 27th

Minister Humphreys said the Government targets people who are on social welfare while they are seeking work after having been unemployed for many years.

She said it is not the issue if the perpetrator of the awful act in Dublin last Thursday which saw three children stabbed receives social welfare or not.

Anybody that is on social welfare and we have the lowest figures ever in terms of unemployment, they are subject to all the job activation measures to try and get them into employment.

If they dont engage with those, we do take action.
The Media Commission has raised concerns with social media companies over the publication of extremist far-right material on their platforms which led to the violent Dublin riots.

Media Minister Catherine Martin met with the Commission on Monday and received an update on their interactions with major social media firms since last weeks riots.

Specifically, they noted that they had met with the four large platforms last Friday to outline their concerns over some of the extremist content that had been posted online, a Government source said.

The Media Commission told the minister that the platforms, Meta, X (formerly Twitter), TikTok and Google, had activated their incident response plans when the riots kicked off.

The European Commission attended the meetings with the Media Commission. The Media Commission is continuing to engage with the online platforms and a follow-up meeting is due to take place later this week.

The Media Commission is also liaising with An Garda Siochana on the spread of far-right material online.

The Commission is set to publish draft online safety codes in the coming weeks, for consultation. The draft codes will set out binding rules on how online services deal with harmful content, including extremist content such as hate speech, threats and incitement to violence.

Minister Martin recently asked the Commission for an update on the progress on drafting the new codes and was told once the stakeholder consultation period is completed the new codes will be ready for publication in the first three months of 2024.

Social media firms that fail to comply with the new online safety code will face fines of up to 20m or 10pc of the companys turnover.

Illegal content is also currently subject to the rules imposed under the new EU Digital Services Act, for which the European Commission has lead responsibility. The Media Commission will gain the power to enforce these rules in the new year.

Over the weekend, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said most social media groups were cooperating with Government attempts to take down extremist material.

However, Mr Martin said Elon Musks X was not cooperating, which he said was absolutely unacceptable.

Legislation will be brought in that respect, and also we have to robustly engage with some media platforms in terms of their facilitation of such online hate and bile, which can lead to violence, he said.

Mr Musk has been critical of the Irish Governments attempts to introduce Hate Crime legislation.
LATEST | Irish Ambassador surprised at Israeli reaction to Leo Varadkars Emily Hand lost tweet after showdown in Jerusalem

Israeli foreign minister Eli Cohen took issue with the Taoiseach using the word lost after Emily Hand (9) was releasedVaradkar defended the post saying majority of people understand what I was sayingIrish Ambassador Sonya McGuinness to meet Cohen today for rebukeThis is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl is free  Harris

Emily Hand runs into the arms of her father, after she is released from captivity

Ryan Nugent, Gabija Gataveckaite, Sarah Collins and Tabitha Monahan Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 14:30







Irelands Ambassador to Israel has expressed surprise at the reaction to a tweet made by Leo Varadkar after the release of Emily Hand (9) by Hamas at the weekend.
Revisionism rather than reality  Jeffrey Donaldson says DUP had to withdraw from Stormont and they wont be calendar led to return

The party leader also said, in an internal message to members, that it is because of our preparedness to swim against the tide that people vote for us

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson

Suzanne Breen Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 10:18

Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party isnt fixated with timelines and wont be calendar led in its talks with the Government to reach a deal to restore Stormont.
Three fishermen were rescued off Dunmore East as their fishing vessel began to take water.

Dunmore East RNLI responded to a call on Saturday morning, as the 12m vessel with three persons on board got into difficulty less that 0.5 nautical miles west of Dunmore East Harbour in Co Waterford.

It was reported to be taking on a significant amount of water when the RNLI crew was tasked by the Irish Coast Guard at 7.33am.

RNLI volunteers responded to a pager alert and the all-weather lifeboat William & Agnes Wray was launched and quickly located the vessel.

Dunmore East RMLI volunteer lifeboat crew successfully co-ordinated a multi-agency rescue operation for the fishing vessel which was reported in distress.

Having assessed the situation, a salvage plan was deployed, and an RNLI volunteer was transferred to the vessel to manage the water ingress effectively.

A decision was made to tow the vessel to Dunmore East Harbour with escort support from other vessels from the local fishing community.

A comprehensive response effort was waiting at the harbour involving the Irish Coast Guard, the Rescue 117 helicopter and Dunmore East fire service.

This joint operation played a pivotal role in the successful outcome of the operation.

Liz Power, volunteer Lifeboat Operations Manager at Dunmore East RNLI, commended the collective effort.

This rescue operation showcased exceptional collaboration between the RNLI, Irish Coast Guard, Fire Service and the local fishing community.

This response to the mayday call by nearby fishing vessels was a key factor in the success of the operation. Their immediate assistance played a crucial role in the safety and support of the incident.

This event highlights the critical importance of co-ordinated responses in maritime emergencies and service as a reminder of the necessity for regular safety checks and preparedness on all seagoing vessels.
Loggerhead Toby, who was nursed back to health in Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium, will fly in cockpit of Tap Air flight to Lisbon

Toby came under the medical supervision of Dingle Aquarium staff members Dr Kevin Flannery and Maria Foley. Photo: Domnick Walsh/Focus Eye

A baby loggerhead turtle who washed across the Atlantic to Ireland will make his way home to the Azores tonight in the cockpit of a flight from Dublin to Lisbon.

A pilot from TAP Air Portugal will board the plane carrying a tiny box containing two-year-old Toby, who measures just eight inches long, and keep the youngster alongside him as he flies across Europe.

The dying turtle had been nursed back to health in Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium after he was found barely breathing when he washed up on a beach along the Maharees peninsula in Kerry back in August.

Hes going home for Christmas, said marine biologist, Kevin Flannery.

We would usually send a turtle like this down with the navy but the navy has no vessels going, so TAP, the Portuguese airline, is flying Toby down.

The pilot will take him into the cockpit and keep him with him. Toby is quite small, he would fit in your hand.

The director of Dingle Oceanworld, which rescues loggerheads blown off course, said the hold of the plane wouldnt be the right temperature for the sensitive young turtle.

A charity called the Flying Sharks in Portugal will collect the turtle and transport him to the waters around the Azores.

Everything going well, he will then be taken and released straight away into the sea in the Azores, which is off Portugal. Its an area where there are other loggerhead turtles, where they spend their teenage years. Fair dues to the airline, its brilliant.

The tiny turtle weighed just 300 grams or 10 ounces when he was swept onto the sand in Castlegregory back in August, suffering from hypothermia and dehydration and just hours from death.

Now he is 700 grams, which is over a pound.

The infant had defied near-impossible odds by managing to survive being tossed across the Atlantic, navigating the perils of predators, storms and plastic on the journey.

After five months of care, its ready to go back into the wild. We got him in and it has doubled its weight. He is probably only around two years old.

Toby more than likely hatched out on the famous loggerhead turtle nesting grounds on the Florida coast in the middle of the night before making his way into the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The turtles spend their kindergarten years there in the large expanses of floating sargassum seaweed before drifting over to the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa on the current.

But Mr Flannery said the toddler turtles being swept up along Irelands coast are most likely caught in big storms.

They come up for air and they get pushed farther north in storms. They are not strong enough to swim down, down deep to get further south.

The minute the temperature drops they go catatonic and they get into cold shock and get washed ashore in Ireland and Scotland.

The marine biologist, who specialises in rescuing loggerheads, said it is extremely unusual to find such young turtles arriving on Irish shores.

But it is an increasing trend as another baby weighing less than a pound was found on the west coast last Thursday, the third one this year.

Baby loggerheads typically grow up to weigh around the same a male lion.

Molly, a loggerhead turtle, in the aquarium who has flipper damage is about 200 kilos (31 stone). It is estimated they live to around 100 years, or possibly more.

The Kerry scientist urged the public to keep a look out for the baby loggerheads when walking along the coast.
I have a wonderful job in my favourite city in the world. I am a proud independent retailer in three locations across our welcoming capital.

It is with sadness, a tinge of bitterness and just an ember of hope that I pen this open letter to anyone out there who might just listen.
Mary Robinson is calling on world leaders to take decisive action to end the use of fossil fuels during the UN climate summit beginning this week.

The former President and now climate change and human rights campaigner said much greater ambition must be demonstrated if there was to be any hope of keeping global temperature rise to a manageable level.

She was speaking ahead of a conference at University College Cork being held today to mark the start of the COP28 climate summit on Thursday.

At COP28, we need to drive greater ambition on climate action among world leaders and governments, she said.

This is extremely important in order to keep 1.5 alive.

For this, we need to phase out fossil fuels and scale up clean energy.

Efforts are to be made at the summit to agree a goal of tripling global renewable energy output by 2030.

There is less clarity on what goals may be discussed in relation to fossil fuels.

Attempts to agree even a gradual phase-out at the last two summits, COP27 and COP26, failed due to the objections of large fossil fuel-producing countries.

They argue they can continue to extract and burn coal, oil and gas because future technologies will allow them capture the resulting carbon emissions before they hit the atmosphere. That goes against the findings and advice of the overwhelming majority of scientists.

Ms Robinsons call came as one of Irelands leading energy experts warned Ireland was not on track to meet its carbon emission targets.

Professor Brian O Gallachoir, director of UCCs Environmental Research Institute, who will also address the conference, warned that the countrys first carbon budget  a limit on the emissions allowable between 2021 and 2025  was set to be breached.

This is a real test of our climate ambition, he said.

We have collectively the necessary knowledge, financial resources and technologies. However, we havent managed to muster the necessary levels of political will.

The Sustainable Futures Forum conference will also hear from experts in the fields of energy, technology, education, economics, industry and the media.

Ms Robinson said the people most vulnerable to climate change must be kept at the forefront of all discussions

We need to prioritise climate justice and unlock finance in order to ensure a sustainable, just and equitable future that does not leave anyone behind, she said.
The morning after the Dublin riot: clean up on OConnell street

Workers in Dublins city centre will gather this afternoon to show solidarity after the riots that unfolded in Dublin on Thursday.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions is calling on workers to assemble at the GPO to show support for people in the capital and denounce the violence and riotous behaviour.

"We are calling on workers working in the city centre on Monday, November 27, at 1 pm to assemble at the GPO to show their solidarity with all the people of the capital and to clearly denounce this violence and riotous behaviour in a solemn and respectful way, ICTU General Secretary Owen Reidy said.

"The scenes of violence in our capital were displayed right throughout the world and has done significant damage.

We condemn the far right and racist-infused mindless and wanton violence and must say that this does not represent us as workers or as a country, Mr Reidy added.

During the unrest, shops including Footlocker and Arnotts were broken into and had stock looted and windows smashed, something Mr Reidy said impacts retail workers.

"We condemn the looting and vandalism and are conscious that this behaviour from violent thugs has the potential to damage business and leave some workers in the retail and hospitality sectors in the city centre laid off or possibly losing their livelihoods. This is unacceptable, Mr Reidy said.

The ICTU also paid tribute to the workers who responded to the rioting last week.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the unacceptable and outrageous thuggery witnessed on the streets of our capital city.

"We pay tribute to our wonderful Garda, firefighters, ambulance personnel, local authority workers and our transport workers in how they have responded. They are an example of public service.

No worker should be in harm's way when called to work... Mr Reidy said.
Foreign dispatch

As women took to the streets across Europe on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women over the weekend, a new chant is rising up from the Italian demonstrations: Burn everything down.
The release from captivity of kidnap victim Emily Hand is a rare positive in a bleak conflict in Gaza, where the war has claimed the lives of far too many children. The nine-year-old was one of dozens of children kidnapped by Hamas terrorists during the October 7 attacks and held hostage ever since.

Her Dublin-born father, Tom Hand, was initially told she was dead as the death toll from the Hamas incursion mounted.

In the emotion of the trauma, he initially expressed the view that this was the lesser of all evils compared to being imprisoned in appalling conditions for an indeterminate amount of time and afraid all of the time of what her captors would do to her.

It was a harrowing experience, which any parent would sympathise with. Mr Hand subsequently highlighted Emilys cause, and that of other captives, to put pressure on Hamas to release the hostages. The prayers were answered at the weekend when he was reunited with Emily.

President Michael D Higgins spoke of how the release of Emily brings to an end what has been a horrific time for all of her family.

While we particularly recognise this important moment as an Irish-Israeli child is released, we must also retain a focus on what is now needed  a durable ceasefire, the release of all remaining hostages, and a commitment from all sides to engaging in the task of building what can be an enduring peace, the President said.

Emilys release is a welcome development in an awful period. The hostage release is a result of the diplomatic efforts of many countries, including Ireland.

While condemning the Hamas attacks and defending Israels right to defend itself, the Government has made clear that such a response must be proportionate and Israels bombardment of innocent people in Gaza has gone beyond what is acceptable.

The Government will continue to make Irelands view known, as a member of the United Nations, the EU and a respected voice with long experience of peacekeeping in the Middle East. Ireland is also a long-time ally of Israels, so speaks as a friend in appealing for the bloodshed to stop.

The Israeli government has not appreciated these sentiments being expressed and has now taken offence at comments by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.

The Taoiseach appears to have been echoing the words of John Newtons hymn Amazing Grace when he said Emily was an innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned. The Israeli government says Emily was kidnapped by terrorists, not lost. The Irish Ambassador has been summoned for a reprimand.

The Taoiseach has been clear in stating his views on the Hamas attacks and the military response. He rounded off his statement on Emilys release by saying: We think of all the families suffering in this troubled region, and we redouble our efforts to work for a permanent ceasefire, and for a just and lasting peace.

The Taoiseach is not speaking in isolation and there is no need for an apology here.
Four months ago, Justice Minister Helen McEntee was accused of a publicity stunt when she walked along Store Street in Dublins north inner city in an attempt to reassure the public that the capitals streets were safe following a brutal assault on an American tourist in the area.

At the time, the US embassy had issued a stark warning to citizens about personal safety in light of a number of recent incidents of violence in Dublin. For her part, Ms McEntee sought to reassure visitors to Ireland that for the most part the city and country are safe.

On Thursday night, in the midst of a frightening riot on the streets of Dublin, three hooded rioters, surrounded by a baying crowd, smashed the front and back windows and danced atop a garda car directly in front of Store Street garda station, watched from a safe distance by several officers.

If ever an image was required of the utterly false transparency of Ms McEntees summer statement, and the abject failure of policing on the streets of Dublin on Thursday night, this was it.

The horrific attack on school children and their carer on Dublins nearby Parnell Square, seized on by an element of the organised far-right, which ultimately led to a large-scale riot involving hundreds of mindless thugs similar to those responsible for attacks on tourists last summer, has left no hiding place for Garda Commissioner Drew Harris or Ms McEntee.

The commissioner has been in the crosshairs of controversy for several months, in part related to the softly-softly approach he has taken to the policing of far-right protests, most recently outside Dail Eireann. Belatedly, he has announced a more robust form of policing to such protests.

However, Thursday nights riot was of a different order, inadequately described by Mr Harris as a sinister agenda on the far right. The hooligan faction to which he also referred was drawn from far more widely than that.

Furthermore, as this newspaper reports today, an almost nationwide alert for additional garda personnel to come to secure the citys streets was not sent out until shortly before 7.30pm on the night, even though mayhem had been ensuing for several hours at that stage. What sort of management was this?

The commissioner has done much good work in restoring the reputation and discipline of the force after several years of questionable behaviour that claimed the careers of two of his predecessors and two justice ministers until his appointment.

However, at this stage Mr Harris commands the backing of barely 1pc of rank-and-file gardai. In a recent vote, 98.7pc voted no-confidence in the commissioner.

In light of these events, and following Thursday nights riot, Mr Harris must surely now ask himself whether he is the man to continue to lead An Garda Siochana.

The minister also must ask herself whether her focus and direction in office have been properly guided. Her refusal to row back from the summertime assertion that Dublin is safe has done nothing for her standing among the public or fellow politicians  some of them in her own party.

It is starting to look like whole sections of the capital have been abandoned to feral thugs of the kind who did a jig on a squad car outside a garda station last Thursday night.

That is not, and will never be, good enough.
Some immigrants have said they feel unsafe since last Thursday, so it's up to us to make sure they feel welcome. Photo: Getty

While the vast majority of people will strongly condemn what happened in Dublin city on Thursday night, which was down to some right-wing ideologists and a large group of gougers, what can we now do as individuals to reassure the large numbers of immigrant families that they are welcome in this country?

This morning I stopped a family to ask how they felt living here after the riots and to reassure them that it was a very, very small minority who blackened the name of Ireland. Can everyone just do that to one family/work colleague? Let the fear that the riots caused to them be washed away by Irish hospitality, kindness, and friendship.

Its the one positive thing we as individuals can do and let the Government and An Garda Siochana look after the bigger picture.

Donough OReilly, Stillorgan, Co Dublin

Sinn Feins decision to score political points over Dublin riots is so wrong

Following the dreadful attack on children and staff at Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire in Parnell Square and the subsequent rioting, Sinn Fein and other opposition parties have called for the resignations of Garda Commissioner Drew Harris and Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

Instead of showing even the slightest political unity in the face of violent thuggery, Sinn Fein and many media commentators effectively shifted the blame and the responsibility for this mayhem from those who caused it  many of whom have already been before the courts  to the Commissioner and the Minister. This is an astonishing stance.

I acknowledge that Dublin city centre has its social problems. And I have been critical of the level and nature of policing there. But random attacks such as that on the Gaelscoil cannot be policed. We simply cannot apply measured 20:20 hindsight and say where were the guards?

The public intervened and managed the assault scene until the arrival of the emergency services, which was swift. The subsequent rioting took everyone by surprise. Again, to apply hindsight vision is utterly pointless.

I am no cheerleader for the present administration, but it is the Government of the day. The rioters were subdued, dispersed and arrested. What purpose Sinn Fein has in calling for heads to roll and possibly tabling motions of confidence entirely escapes me.

Sinn Fein promised us new politics in the 2020 general election campaign. It secured a very healthy electoral mandate based on that promise. And its exclusion from possible participation in Government was an insult to that mandate.

Nothing justifies its current stance, however. The buses and Garda vehicles were still aflame when the baying for accountability commenced. The only parties accountable for the rioting and looting last week were those who engaged in it.

Larry Dunne, Rosslare Harbour, Co Wexford

Successive leaders failure to recognise discontent led to Thursdays events

The tragic and frightening events of Thursday in Dublin city centre did not surprise me: the only surprise is that it has taken so long to happen.

Unlike the burning of the British Embassy in the aftermath of Bloody Sunday, this was not a one-off release of a pressure valve.

Since the election of the Enda Kenny-led government in 2011, the inequality of the country has increasingly reverted to colonial times.

Not an iota has been learned from recent history, in particular the dire circumstances of housing and health. Notably, the nationwide public housing creations of the 1930-40s and the vast improvements in health services since 1970 are now ignored and discounted at the will of either the public service or the political establishment. The blind leading the blind.

The fact is, irrespective of who has held, or holds, the office of Justice Minister, Garda Commissioner, Health Minister, or local government, there has been no realistic, let alone compassionate, policy for the citizens of the Ireland most in need of housing and health services.

What I cannot comprehend is the utter failure of politicians, senior civil servants and political advisers to recognise the discontent sown in the minds of sections of the public.

The abounding propaganda on social media cannot be dismissed willy-nilly. It requires urgent research which will create responsible and immediate actions.

Declan Foley, Melbourne, Australia

Referendum next year must ensure carers are placed front and centre

In the coming weeks, the Dail is expected to discuss the wording of the amendments to the Irish Constitution on women and the family, which are to go to referendum in next March. The wording should enable legal enforcement, otherwise it makes a mockery of the recognition that carers  overwhelmingly mothers and other women  have been campaigning for and are entitled to.

Our society depends on this life-giving, life-enhancing work, yet carers are impoverished and discriminated against for doing it. Following a strong recommendation from the Citizens Assembly, the relevant Oireachtas Committee came up with a remedy for the wording of article 41.2 which, taken together with a change to broaden the constitutional definition of the family, would allow for this legal enforcement:

1. The State recognises that care within and outside the home and family gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. 2. The State shall, therefore, take reasonable measures to support care within and outside the home and Family.

This is the wording which should be put to a referendum. Anything else is scandalous, expecting women  and it is mainly women  to struggle on with little or no state support. We need to tell our TDs and senators that we deserve deeds, not words. Invest in caring, invest in carers.

Maggie Ronayne, Global Womens Strike, Galway

Even when Gazans get a respite from war, lack of vaccinations a big threat

Hats off to the Irish Independent for emphasising that the four-day pause in hostilities is respite for the helpless refugee population of Gaza. As a public health specialist, what is worrying is the cessation of all vaccination programmes such as measles, rubella, diphtheria, influenza, malaria, etc.

Such diseases  which might be eradicated in the West  can re-emerge in Gaza with life-threatening repercussions. In the case of polio disease, lack of access to polio vaccination will result in thousands of paralysed children. Lack of vaccinations pose major global health threats. No-one is safe until everyone is safe.

Dr Munjed Farid Al Qutob, London
Una Leonard was asked by her nephew to bake a John Deere tractor cake for his birthday. Little did she know that it would catapult her to owning her own bakery, writing a best-selling cookbook and having a staff of 20 people.

The baker, owner of 2210 Patisserie and best-selling author of Sweet Therapy, joined me on the show to discuss life lessons, her mental health struggles and her rapidly expanding business.

To start, Una told me about her struggles with mental health and how she came to baking. She spoke about that time in her life: I suffered really bad with social anxiety as such. Then depression. It started actually with a food disorder in school and then my anxiety built and then depression kind of got in there with me and I had a suicide attempt and I had two in all she said.

Leonard explained that it was a request from her nephew that saved her. Her nephew asked the accomplished baker to make a John Deere tractor cake. The Westmeath woman said that it got her baking while she was going through a particularly rough period.

The businesswoman spoke honestly about the downsides of being an entrepreneur: Business is soaring for me, its such a high. Then I come home and I'm not going to lie. It's sad. I come home to a house by myself, she said.

Finally, Una spoke about her attitude and how she approaches her work: When I first opened the shop, I had this attitude, and I must have said it to myself probably 20 or 30 times a day, f**k it. What is the worst that can happen? I've already been at rock bottom. I already tried to take my own life, this is an extra day that I shouldn't have got. Like everything was an added bonus, so why not? she said.

You can listen to the full episode on The Irish Independent or wherever you get your podcasts.
Last Thursday's Dublin riots were a shock to all, but what part did social media play in the trouble? What should the government and gardai do to counteract similar situations? And should facial recognition technology be used to pull back the mask on rioters who are protected by anonymity?

Adrian sat down with producer, JJ Clarke, to discuss the likely tech outcomes of the unrest.

Adrian was in the heart of the riots last week and said it was a scary place. He commented that the proliferation of hateful content first appeared on WhatsApp and Telegram, and then on to mainstream platforms like X (formerly Twitter). The messaging ranged from how to descend on senior politicians' homes to where to go next, and what to burn.

The Incitement to Violence or Hatred and Hate Offences Bill 2022 will, (if enacted): create new laws to deal with hate crimes. Expand the protected characteristics to include gender including gender identity and expression.

Adrian pointed out that free speech absolutists think that Hate Speech laws: "reverse the evidential burden of proof, creating a presumption that a person in possession of [offending material] has committed the offence where it is reasonable to assume that the material was not intended for personal use, he said.

You can listen to the full episode on Independent.ie or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Indo Daily: The phone tapping scandal and the downfall of Charles Haughey

In 1981, The Fianna Fail government ordered the tapping of journalists phones to find out who was leaking damaging government secrets to the press. The scandal was huge. But it would take a decade for the fallout to hit. Host: Tabitha Monahan. Guest: Liam Collins.

Charlie Haughey. Photo: Photocall

Mon 27 Nov 2023 at 02:54







In December 1982, news broke that the telephone of Bruce Arnold and Geraldine Kennedy had been tapped officially with warrants signed by the Minister for Justice.
Students Union complains of issues such as lack of running water, mice problems and invasive room checks

Students living in campus accommodation lack any tenant rights and must dealt with the occasional lack of running water, mice problems and invasive room checks, according to Trinity Students Union.

Aiesha Wong, Communications and Marketing officer from TCDSU highlighted that although the buildings are beautiful, students on campus pay extortionate prices while putting up with many inconviences such as having to register an overnight guest in advance.

One would think that with the incredibly extortionate prices students are paying for on-campus accommodation, they would at least have decent standards of living and a place to call home. However, this is unfortunately not the case in Trinity, Ms Wong said.

While the buildings might be beautiful, with the brand-new Printing House Square being opened a few years ago, occasional lack of running water, mice problems, and invasive room checks are just some of the inconveniences experienced by Trinity students.

Alongside that, students are recognised as licensees, meaning they lack any and all tenant rights. Students cannot invite overnight guests unless theyve signed them in before midnight, an overly-paternalistic policy from the college which, hypocritically, does not apply to staff or fellows on campus.

Students have organised a TCDSU renters solidarity network in order to challenge these policies, and we would encourage students in on-campus accommodation to join, Ms Wong added.

American tourist questions Book of Kells protesters

Trinity College Dublin confirmed living on campus is 166 to 276 a week and that university student accommodation is not a normal residential environment.

They also highlighted they have over 1,800 bedrooms, many in historic buildings. When asked about mice and a lack of running water, TCD admitted minor issues do occur from time to time.

This is an educational residential environment where most students are in their final year of study and are concerned with being able to study and revise without undue disruption, a spokesperson said.

It is common for universities to have some restrictions on overnight guests. Students who live on campus live in shared spaces, which increases the risk of disturbance to housemates.

Provided advance notice is given, overnight guests in term time must be signed in on campus before midnight. The Student Union has raised this matter. We take on board their views in respect of this and all college policies.

Security is required for the safety of the whole community. Our campus is located in the heart of the capital city. Our Security Services team provides a 24-hour service on the main university campus. They are responsible for:

General security on campus

Conducting mobile and foot patrols on campus, by day and night

Manning certain perimeter gates

Monitoring the CCTV system and alarm systems

Responding to emergencies

Supporting special events on campus

As outlined in the Conditions of Occupancy, Quality Assurance Inspections are carried out a few times during the year. At least 1 weeks notice is given via email. This is industry best practice.

The main aim is to identify any maintenance issues that residents may not have reported. The University have a dedicate maintenance team and out of hours 24 hours service for emergencies.
A coffee spot in south Dublin is celebrating Katie Taylors latest win by offering free brews to anyone named Katie, Kate, or Taylor all day today.

In the aftermath of Taylors thrilling victory at the 3Arena on Saturday night, Deja Brew, located in St Judes GAA Club Templeogue, is spreading joy with the generous offer

Owner Bren McManamon was inspired to do something special for customers after attending the fight the other night.

I went to the fight and I was so impressed with Katie; it was absolutely unbelievable, he said.

Everyone was singing her praises, and weve had a great bit of craic handing the coffees out  people were pretending to be called Katie and using any name close to Katie.

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The Bray natives win against Chantelle Cameron secured her status as the World Super Lightweight Champion, bringing a wave of positivity to Dublin in the wake of serious rioting just 48 hours beforehand.

A statement posted by Deja Brew on Instagram on Sunday announced this limited-time offer: The greatest ever. Anyone called Kate, Katie, or even Taylor, grab yourself a free coffee tomorrow all day.

Actually, even if you turn up and say you're from Bray or you can tell me who john 3.18 is.

This is a one-day-only offer, so if your name is Katie, Kate, or Taylor, head down to Deja Brew today for a complimentary cup of coffee.
Sarah Patterson has said her business is all about Irishness and 'our love of nostalgia'

A Dublin entrepreneur and mum-of-three is set to showcase her vibrant designs at Irelands largest Christmas fair.

More than 35,000 people are expected at Gifted, running at the RDS from December 6 to 10. Now in its 36th year, the will host over 400 designers and artisans, with 10pc off everything on the opening day.

Sarah Patterson, a National College of Art and Design (NCAD) graduate, left her corporate career to care for her three young boys, which ultimately led to the birth of Dotterson, her own print company, in March last year.

Formerly a manager for global brands like Goodfella's and Jacobs, Sarah found peace in her artistic instincts which caught the eye of social media users, prompting her to set up Dotterson.

Ive always been creative and have this need to design and illustrate. Things took off, and I later set up Dotterson, which is a combination of my married name and maiden name, Doherty, she said.

I later spotted Gifted on Instagram, and I thought thats a huge event, I would love to be part of that. So, when they released the applications, I signed up straight away.

Twenty months into her new business venture, the 43-year-old designer is bustling with activity, dispatching her colourful prints to stockists across the country.

Ms Pattersons designs, which include prints, tea towels, t-shirts, mugs and greeting cards, will take centre stage at Gifted.

Today, Dotterson's products sit on the shelves of shops in Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Kildare, and Antrim

Ms Patterson said when her first child was born, she decided to step away from work to take care of her children.

Her initial orders came from Instagram followers, but the breakthrough happened when she pitched her products to stores. Today, Dotterson products sit on the shelves of shops in Dublin, Kilkenny, Waterford, Kildare and Antrim.

Living in Ballinteer, with her husband Graham and sons Daragh, Senan and Domhnall, she manages her design business within the constraints of the school run.

I have a three-and-a-half-hour window in the morning to focus on Dotterson before the school run starts again, she said.

If I need to do a wholesale delivery, go to the post office, or respond to emails, it must be done in the morning when the boys are in classes.

I pick things up again at night when they are bed. When I am doing my designs, I do them in bulk, over three months, before releasing them online.

Embracing her Irish roots, Ms Patterson said she draws inspiration from memories of growing up in Ireland during the 1980s.

Her designs, such as the Late Late Show Christmas cards featuring the iconic phrase, one for everyone in the audience, are steeped in Irish nostalgia.

Dotterson is all about Irishness, our love of nostalgia, and the way we sometimes throw in an Irish word when chatting with friends," she added.

I like the playfulness, and I like using Irish words because the language is getting a bit lost.
Tuam has unveiled a new mural, made by an internationally acclaimed artist and reflecting the positivity, creativity and community of the Galway town.

The artwork, developed by artist Shane OMalley and inspired by young people involved in the local Youthreach programme, is being installed on the wall of the newly developed Department of Social Protection (DSP) Centre at the Old Library on Shop Street.

The new Centre, which was co-funded by the Office of Public Works (OPW) and the Department of Social Protection, represents an investment of circa 3 million in the north Galway town.

Senior Architect with the OPW, Lora Aughey said: The proposed mural aptly reflects the ethos and function of the new tenants, the DSP, while the overall refurbishment of this historic building re-establishes it as one of the more significant buildings in the town. Public art is an important bridge between contemporary culture and society, and this piece is informed by the symbols and icons of Tuam - from the Saw Doctors to the GAA grounds, the High Cross and the beautiful stained glass windows of the Cathedral.

Funding for the mural was provided as part of the Per Cent for Art scheme, a government initiative whereby 1% of the cost of any publicly funded capital, infrastructural and building development can be allocated to the commissioning of a work of art.

OPW and Galway County Council sought ideas and pitches from artists interested in responding to the tender document earlier this year.

Following a competitive tendering process, Galway City resident Shane OMalley was successful and started his development of the mural, inspired and informed in conjunction with young people involved in Youthreach. Shane's vibrant use of colour stems from his background in graffiti. He began painting graffiti in 2001, drawn to the act of writing and leaving his mark, which encompasses both a creative and destructive nature.

Galway County Arts Officer, Sharon OGrady said: For us it was very important that the mural should reflect the positivity, creativity and community of Tuam, particularly as it is seen through the eyes of the young people of the area.

The future of Tuam will be shaped by those young people, who are living in its present, want to break with the past and want to make their mark in a positive way upon the town.

Artist liaison with the Youthreach team in Tuam, Joanna McGlynn, was instrumental in getting young people locally to engage with the muralist and the project. Youthreach provides education, training and work experience programmes for young people aged 16 - 20 years.

Joanna McGlynn said: "Creating opportunities for young people to use their voice and actively contribute to decision making in their town has been an empowering learning experience for all.

Being involved from the start to the end of a project like this supports young people to understand their agency, positively developing their community through creative place making."
Cllr Michael Cahill pictured in Glenbeigh on the busy N22 Ring of Kerry road as work on The South Kerry Greenway continues he is seeking traffic-calming measures and improved pedestrian and cycle infrastructure to make Glenbeigh greenway readyIt is feared that the increased traffic flow when The Greenway opens that Glenbeigh will become a deathtrap.It took several minutes to take this picture as the traffic flow was heavy even though it is a typically quite time of the year.L-R: J Pat O'Sullivan,John Sheahan,Cllr Michael Cahill MCC, Brian Sugrue.Photo by Michael G Kenny

There have been calls for traffic-calming measures and improved pedestrian and cycle infrastructure to make Glenbeigh greenway ready  but it seems residents could be left waiting for some time for action.

There were mixed results for a deputation brought to Fridays Kenmare Municipal District meeting by Fianna Fail Councillor Michael Cahill. Fr Kieran OSullivan and Brian Sugrue made the case for several projects at the vibrant village, but while they heard Glenbeigh is very much on Transport Infrastructure Irelands (TII) radar, action wont take place next year, and might not be underway even by 2025.

Fr OSullivan spoke of the speed of traffic passing the Presbytery at Curraheen Little. He wants the speed limit reduced to 60km/h at Curraheen Little and 50km/h entering the village, and he said drivers dont see speed signage on time.

While smart signs alerting drivers to their speed have been installed in the area, one is at a national school and only operates at drop-off and collection times. He feels the other sign should be at the entrance to the village, not in the middle of the village.

He called for the extension of lighting and footpath from Curraheen, through the village, and he warned that too many tourists do not yield, on either side of Caragh Bridge.

Speaking on Brian Sugrues behalf, Cllr Cahill described heart-stopping attempts by people attempting to cross the road in Glenbeigh, where traffic can be heavy and fast. Mr Sugrue wants pedestrian crossings installed, at the very least at the post office and supermarket. Though the South Kerry Greenway will open imminently, he said the village does not have cycle lanes, and upgrades are needed at the Behy Bridge. He called for full public lighting from a cross to the former Falcon Inn, a pedestrian route often used by Ukrainian refugees. Cllr Cahill said TII need to pull up their socks and called for Glenbeigh to be greenway ready, or it risks becoming a death trap.

As funding for the N70 through Glenbeigh and greenways both come under TIIs remit, Council engineer Padraig Teahan said TII is very focussed on Glenbeigh and wants to carry out an active-travel audit there. He said a total redesign of the thoroughfare is necessary to make Glenbeigh pedestrian- and cycle-friendly, and road-pavement, footpath, lighting, and pedestrian-crossing works are needed.

He said the Kenmare MD is keen on carrying out improvements between Rossbeigh and Glenbeigh, and funding options for such a project will be examined. Speed-limit changes, meanwhile, would come under TIIs remit, he added.

Mr Teahan explained, however, that Glenbeigh could be looking at a three-to-five-year timeline for development, planning, and commencement of works required in the area.

Cllr Cahill welcomed the TIIs interest in Glenbeigh but added that, it seems, they dont understand the urgency of the situation.

Therell be chaos next summer when the first section of the South Kerry Greenway opens, he warned, calling on the MD to write to and lobby TII and Transport Minister Eamon Ryan on the matter. This proposal was seconded by Fianna Fail colleague and Kenmare MD Cathaoirleach Cllr Norma Moriarty.
There were calls for Kerry County Council to explain what impact a buffer zone  required in and around UNESCO-recognised sites  would have on Valentia Island, particularly when it comes to acquiring planning permission and developing future housing on the island.

Independent Councillor Johnny Healy-Rae raised the matter at last Fridays Kenmare Municipal District meeting, and he said he has received about 200 e-mails from people concerned about the potential impact of a buffer zone on areas marked in the draft Kenmare Local Area Plan.

The Valentia Transatlantic Cable project has long sought UNESCO World Heritage site status for Valentia Cable Station. The first transatlantic message was sent from Valentia slate yard to Newfoundland, Canada, in 1858, and a successful connection established between the two locations, eight years later, was a milestone breakthrough for international communications. The cable station in Valentia and associated features were last year included on UNESCOs tentative list, an important step towards acquiring full World Heritage Site status.

But UNESCO requires buffer zones, including and surrounding these sites, to protect them from any inappropriate development or uses. This is reflected in the draft Local Area Plan but has caused confusion among Valentia residents, many of whom are fearful of what this zoning would entail for the islands sustainable development.

People locally have an awful fear of this, said Cllr Healy-Rae. I hadnt taken any notice of it, I have to say, until I started going through it in detail, and people are very, very worried about it.

People in locations such as Bru na Boinne feel there are awful restrictions in place because of this.

He said people are fearful that the designation will prevent future one-off housing or housing estates being built on the island.

Kerry County Councils response, however, seemed to move to calm these fears. It explained that the structures covered by the proposed buffer zone are already protected structures.

Development is not prohibited in these areas, but proposals must integrate with and respect the built heritage of the protected structures.

There is already a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in Killarney, which the Council said had not impacted proper planning and development in the area.

Kenmare MD manager Martin ODonoghue said the zoning in Valentia would differ from the kind mentioned by Cllr Healy-Rae at Bru na Boinne.

This [Valentias UNESCO site] is an industrial UNESCO designation, he said. The archaeological heritage at Bru na Boinne is entirely different because of the risk of whats underground, and theyre still finding archaeological sites in the broader Bru na Boinne complex. Fianna Fail Cllr Norma Moriarty pointed out that, in Devon and Cornwall in the United Kingdom, mining recommenced after a site received the same UNESCO status as Valentia is pursuing. She said it was important to allay fears about the buffer zone: What we dont want is to miss a great opportunity.

Mr ODonghue said Kerry County Council management could not attend public meetings relating to the draft plan as that would involve stepping outside the statutory process that must be followed. He said, however, that staff are available to deal with legitimate queries and concerns.
A magical Christmas parade through the streets of Tralee is back on the agenda and is set to captivate spectators from 2pm this Saturday (December 2), and again on Sunday, December 17.

Billed as an extraordinary event, the parade promises to bring lots of joy and wonder to families throughout Tralee as the countdown to Christmas gathers pace.

Tralee Chamber and Kerry County Council is delighted to announce the return of the popular street spectacle in partnership with Sean Murphy Electrical and the local business community as part of its Tralee Festive Programme.

Santa's Magical Fairytale Parade is poised to be a visual feast that will wind its way through Pembroke Street, down Rock Street, Russell Street, along The Mall before culminating in a festive celebration in The Square.

Sean Murphy of Sean Murphy Electrical said he is truly grateful for the overwhelming support from the Tralee business community and its partners.

It's an honour to be part of bringing the Christmas Parade back to life, and I'm delighted to see this festive tradition take flight. The collaboration with Tralee Chamber, Kerry County Council, and our local business community showcases the spirit of togetherness that makes Tralee special. Let's light up the town with joy and magic this festive season," Sean said.

Tralee Chamber CEO Colette OConnor described the parade as a pivotal addition to Tralee's festive calendar that contributes to Tralees reputation as a Christmas destination while exemplifying the community spirit that makes Tralee so special.

We believe it will not only create magical moments for families but also showcase our town's charm, bolstered by the generous support of local businesses. This event adds another layer of festive magic to Tralee, ensuring it remains a must visit destination during the Christmas season, Colette said.

The parade will feature fairytale characters, festive floats and lively dancers with attendees encountering the Snow King and Queen, Disney Fairytale Princesses, Dancing Toy Soldiers, Fairy Twinkle, Elf companions, the whimsical Gingerbread Man, Giant Polar Bears, and, of course, Santa Claus himself.

Free treats will be distributed along the parade route, inviting the entire community to join in the celebration and create cherished memories with family and friends.

Santa's Magical Fairytale Parade is being brought to Tralee by Sean Murphy Electrical along with the generous support of local businesses including McElligotts Tralee, EF Signs, Sean Ogs Bar, Kirbys Brogue Inn, Cliffords Cash & Carry, The Ashe Hotel, The Grand Hotel, Kerry Petroleum, Dunnes Stores, Bolger Fabrication, MJs Diner, Ron Construction, Kellihers Electrical, Kellihers Hardware, Shaws and McCafferys Bar.

To see the full Christmas in Tralee programme of events taking place visit tralee.ie or check out Tralee Chambers social media platforms.
Fine Gael Deputy first elected in 2002

Senator Fergus O'Dowd with his wife Agnes, sons, Donal, Vincent and Garrett as he arrived at Leinster House for the opening session of the new Seanad.

In a statement today the Fine Gael TD for Louth and East Meath, Fergus O'Dowd, has announced his intention to stand down at the next General Election.

First elected to the Dail in 2002 and at each General Election thereafter, he was first elected to Drogheda Borough Council in 1974 and Louth County Council in 1979.

ODowd stated "It has been an honour and privilege to represent the people of the Louth constituency for a total of fifty years as an elected representative. I have served as a Councillor, as Mayor of Drogheda for three terms, as Senator, as Dail Deputy, as Chair of both Oireachtas Transport Committee and Good Friday Implementation Committee and Minister of State at the Department of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources and Environment, Community & Local Govt.

He contested the 1977 General Election as a Labour Party candidate and left the party in 1982 to join Fine Gael. He served as Drogheda Mayor in 1977-78, 1981-82 and 1994-95. A teacher in Drogheda before being elected to Seanad Eireann in 1997.

Fergus O'Dowd TD

Throughout my working life I have enjoyed the heartfelt support of the people of my constituency. I have deeply appreciated their loyalty and goodwill which made my job representing them all that more satisfying.

I would also like to thank my wonderful wife Agnes, my best friend at all times, and my sons Vincent, Donal and Garrett and my extended family including my six grandchildren some of whom may someday choose the political life too. There is no more noble profession than trying to do good for people I will tell them.

I want to also pay tribute to my dedicated staff who made my success possible over the years alongside the party members of the Louth constituency whose support was key to my re-election over the years. To my colleagues in Leinster House of whatever political persuasion, I say thank you for the many friendships and commitments forged to building a better Ireland for everyone.

I am very proud of my efforts in helping to create a more caring and compassionate Ireland. Among my most important campaigns was to ensure improved quality of care for residents in Nursing Homes and I was honoured to be named Magill TD of the Year in 2006 for putting the national spotlight on this critical issue, an issue that I will continue to prioritise.

Reform of the Freedom of Information Act was also a high priority for me, to ensure that all nursing home reports were finally placed in the public domain along with ensuring the establishment of HIQA to ensure the HSE did not continue as a provider of care and also remain in charge of the inspection regime.

I intend to continue to be a strong and forceful advocate nationally for improved care and supports for older people into the future.

Senator Fergus O'Dowd with his wife Agnes, sons, Donal, Vincent and Garrett as he arrived at Leinster House for the opening session of the new Seanad.

I also ensured that our national heritage was protected by fighting a successful High Court Action against developers who illegally demolished the historic 250 year old Drogheda Grammar School with a wrecking ball in the darkness of night, a protected structure of national importance which was destroyed at 4am on a bank holiday weekend on July 23, 1989.

ODowd added When no one else would act the late Eddie O'Doherty and I took this legal action, forced the developers to sift and sort the rubble by hand to ensure the eventual reconstruction of the building and that the fines faced by such acts were increased from 10,000 at the time to 1 million. We also obtained an order for the imprisonment of the developers if they refused to continue the sorting of material on site. The rebuilt and restored Drogheda Grammar School building stands proudly today in Laurence Street in the centre of Drogheda.

I now look forward to working closely with the selected Fine Gael candidates in Louth and East Meath for the upcoming local, European and General Elections.

Finally, we should always remember the wise Irish seanfhocail "Ar scath a cheile a mhaireann na daoine," that we all live in each others shadows and must never forget that helping one deserving cause is helping all of the community.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar paid tribute to Deputy ODowd saying: Fergus joined Fine Gael during the leadership of Garret FitzGerald. Since then, he has remained true to that mission for social progress and social justice.

We have served in the Parliamentary Party since 2007 and on many occasions he reminded us, as a party, of our duty of care and empathy to wider society. His voice will be missed in the next Dail. Deputy ODowd has been a powerful advocate for the rights of older people. He is driven by a deep sense of justice and I know that while he will not be in the next Parliamentary Party, he will continue to work and campaign on these issues and I hope I will still be able to work with him on them in some way.

Fergus has an admirable electoral record having won eight elections in a row to the Seanad, Council and Dail in which he is serving his fifth consecutive term. This tells us that the people of Drogheda and Louth value him as their public representative.

I served alongside him as a Minister in the first Enda Kenny Government and when I became Leader of Fine Gael and Taoiseach, I was honoured to nominate him as Chairman of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Good Friday Agreement, a position he has held since. Its been really useful to have Fergus as a sounding board and advisor on cross-border issues and on Northern Ireland.
It was Friday,12th November 1948 when the last families left Inishmurray Island to start a new life on the mainland in County Sligo.

Seventy-five years on from the evacuation, the island families gathered at City Hall, Sligo for An Inishmurray Miscellany. The special event took place on Friday 10 November 2023 with a large attendance and was a gathering of community, heritage and music to respectfully mark the 75th anniversary of the evacuation of the Island.

Welcoming all to the event, Mayor of Sligo, Cllr. Declan Bree said: It must have been a very difficult decision for the families to leave the island at that time.

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But whats clear from this gathering is that the family connections to the island remain strong. This evening we look forward to remembering those who have gone before us and celebrating the rich heritage and culture of the island.

I am also conscious that there are many people who have a strong connection and love of the island but who unfortunately could not be with us. You are in our thoughts this evening.

Chair of Sligo Heritage Forum Cllr. Donal Gilroy relaunched the Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide titled Inishmurray  An Island off County Sligo.

The guide was printed in 2002 but has been out of print for some time and has been reprinted for the 75th Anniversary of the island evacuation.

Cllr. Gilroy added: I very much welcome this event. It creates a space for us to join with the island families to remember, to commemorate, and to celebrate the rich heritage of the Island.

As we approached the 75th anniversary of the evacuation of the island, Sligo Heritage Forum reached out to see if there was interest in having an event to mark it in some way. Given the attendance this evening, I am delighted that we did.

The event included presentations from Marie Heraughty, daughter of Dr, Patrick Heraughty, who provided a personal reflection on Inishmurray Island and highlighted the resilience and strength of community of the island families.

Local historian, Joe McGowan who has a deep interest and love of Inishmurray Island over many years gave a talk on the rich local history and folklore of the Island. The final speaker on the night was Jerry OSullivan, an archaeologist who led a series of excavations on the island from 1997-2001.

Jerry spoke about the archaeology and conservation of the island and highlighted its international importance.

The presentations were bookended by contributions from musicians Rick Epping (concertina and mouth organ), John Burrows (guitar) and Shane Reynolds (fiddle) and Catherine Rhatigan (harp). The music was played by musicians with a family connection to the island, which added to the special atmosphere of the evening and was greatly appreciated by all.

The evening closed with a reception at City Hall, where the island families and fellow Inishmurray enthusiasts mingled, remembered and made lasting memories. The commemorative event was an initiative of Sligo Heritage Forum and was hosted by the Heritage Office, Sligo County Council.

Copies of the Archaeology Ireland Heritage Guide titled Inishmurray  An Island off County Sligo are now available (free) from the Heritage Office, Sligo County Council by emailing heritage@sligococo.ie .
He had stoically endured a challenging illness whilst maintaining his cheerful disposition, resilience and concern for others over the course of his final challenging journey.

Born in West Clare in 1938, younger brother to Joan, Maeve, DD, older brother to Bill, Fintan grew up in the West of Ireland of the 1930s and 1940s that gave him a degree of humility and resilience that stayed with him all his life.

With an enquiring mind and of a practical nature, he initially studied Engineering in Cork, but then changed to Medicine having gained a scholarship to study in RCSI to follow his own fathers footsteps, who had died when Fintan was just a two year old boy.

Today's News in 90 Seconds - November 27th

As a medical student he met the love of his life Lilian who was a junior doctor in Jervis Street Hospital in Dublin.

He graduated in 1967 and they married in 1968. They were a beautiful couple together, full of love for one another that spilled over to make for an enriched family life as they moved between Ireland, Scotland, England and the US.

In 1978 he moved to Ireland to help establish the Orthopaedic Service in the North West of Ireland, initially based in Manorhamilton and then on to Sligo.

Working with Brendan Healy and Andrew Macey they established a centre of excellence that has saved lives and transformed the lives of many people since its inception.

He specialised within Orthopaedics in the care of children with foot, hip and spinal problems and he took great pride in seeing those children stand up straight and walk tall.

Fintan was a hard-working, professional, dedicated to his patients. Demanding at times of his staff, he strove to educate and work towards excellence in all he did to ensure the best outcome for the people that he served.

Fintan was humble and modest to a fault, with a goodness and grace for his fellow man that came straight from his heart.

You could see his heart in action whenever he met others  it didnt matter who they were, everyone got the same genuine treatment.

His natural grace, charm and wit ensured encounters made the other person feel always respected and often special.

Fintan was calm and patient, hard-working and scholarly. He loved to both read and recite. A native Irish speaker from his school time in BallyVourney, he loved this country, its nature and its natural beauty, particularly of his native county of Clare, his adopted county of Sligo and his home in Clogherevagh.

He enjoyed this countrys poetry and its prose. With a story and good humour, he could entertain as well as educate. He was polite in all his dealings. He was a gentle gentleman.

Fintan had a warmth and depth of humanity that carried many an ill or injured patient through their difficult times and his Christian faith and commitment were a fundamental part of this. A further practical expression was his overseas voluntary work, first in 1996 in Bosnia during the war and later in Ethiopia in 2003 - the year of his retirement.

After this first visit to the Black Lion hospital in Addis Ababa, he went annually for ten years having seen first hand the huge need. He wanted to be helpful and of service to others.

He made great efforts to learn Amharic in order to better understand the people and their culture, for whom he developed a deep respect and affection, not least as they had almost nothing to help them when illness or accidents struck.

On his retirement and on the cusp of retiring together, he lost the love of his life, his wife Lilian. Her untimely death 18 years earlier was a loss that he never truly got over, though he took great comfort in his grandchildren, watching them grow up around him.

After his time on earth making this world a better place, Fintan is now at peace, with Lilian, as they both rest under the gaze of Knocknarea, together. forever.

Fintan is survived by his four children Tony, Fintan, Anne Marie and Edel and thirteen grandchildren. Fintan also had a very close and lifelong relationship with his siblings: Joan, Maeve, Deirdre and Bill, all of whom he has left behind and miss him dearly.

His wife Lilian, also a medical doctor, predeceased him in 2004.
Lifestyle

Visit Santa in Wexford  nine magical experiences to get you in the Christmas spirit

The Sunny South East is getting prepped and ready for a magical winter experience this festive season. With Santa taking up residency across the county there will be lots to do on your winter staycation in County Wexford.
The Arklow Credit Union 'Cultivate' team is part of a collaborative credit union finance-lending platform for farmers that provides short to medium-term loans to support the development of additional slurry storage on farms. Photo: Donal O' Leary

The 'Cultivate' team at Arklow Credit Union are encouraging Wicklow farmers to invest in slurry storage to deal with changes to nitrates derogation.

With nitrates derogation limits being cut from 250kg of organic nitrogen per hectare (N/ha) to 220kg N/ha, now is the time for derogation farmers to start planning for January when the new rules come into effect.

In light of the changes in nitrates derogation, the Department of Agriculture has indicated that measures to increase on-farm slurry storage capacity will be introduced under Budget 2024.

Cultivate is a collaborative credit union finance-lending platform for farmers that provides short to medium-term loans to support the development of additional slurry storage on farms, with participating credit unions working closely with farmer members to meet their changing needs.

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A higher rate of TAMS (Targeted Agricultural Modernisation Scheme) grant of 70 per cent will be available for new tanks for those importing slurry, although final terms and conditions are yet to be confirmed by the Department.

TAMS plays a fundamental role in the development of farms in Counties Wicklow & Wexford and throughout the country. Investment in slurry tanks is already covered under the scheme at a 40 per cent grant rate.

Speaking on behalf of Cultivate from Arklow Credit Union, Hugh OKeeffe reminded farmers that Cultivate is here to help farmers navigate the reduction in nitrates.

The Cultivate team here in Arklow Credit Union understand the need for farmers to complete on-farm investments to ensure their farm can successfully comply with changes in regulations into the future," he said.

We work with farmers in Counties Wicklow and Wexford to provide them with the finance needed to carry out these investments. Cultivate can support farmers as they look to implement these investments through TAMS.

There is an opportunity for farmers to make better use of nutrients by setting up the right infrastructure. This means giving farmers the ability to get and store more nutrients when they need them.

By building on-farm storage, and using slurry when it makes sense, farmers who usually bring in slurry can cut down on chemical fertilisers. It also helps farmers with extra slurry stay in line with the new derogation changes.

Farmers planning to apply for funding to build slurry storage under TAMS are encouraged to contact their agricultural advisor to discuss the first steps.

For any farmer who wants to access a Cultivate loan to supplement their next TAMS application, they can go to Cultivate-CU.ie or call 040239972
The handmade Santa dolls, which are among the goods up for grabs at the Annual Bray Lions Charity Appeal.

Bray Lions have made an appeal for people to help support this years Bray Lions Annual Charity Auction.

While the event is for charity, there are still over 100 reasons to attend with prizes including a luxury break at the Cahernane multi-award winning hotel in Killarney, afternoon tea at the five-star Dublin Intercontinental Hotel, gourmet Spanish delicacies from Vera Foods and exclusive hand-knit Santas by Fidelma Nolan.

These and more will go under the hammer at The Wild Goose, Main Street, Bray on Thursday, November 30, from 8.30pm.

This annual event presents an ideal opportunity to pick up Christmas gifts and a wide range of items at bargain prices. Original artwork, crafts, hampers, vouchers and novelty items will all be on the list with some items likely to be sold for around 5.

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President Peter Doyle wanted to extend a special thanks to the donors and the volunteers who prepared and catalogued the auction items.

Lion Tony Foran, who will be auctioneer for the event, guarantees an evening of mirth, good cheer and even some excitement.

All funds raised will be devoted by Bray Lions Club to support a programme of local projects and the Bray community.

Meanwhile, Bray Lions marked World Diabetes Day, which took place on November 14, by distributing apples as a symbol of healthy eating to 400 primary school children in the Bray area, together with a diabetes information letter for parents.

In response to the growing incidence of diabetes worldwide, the 1.4 million members of Lions Clubs International have adopted Diabetes as a signature project.

While several types of diabetes exist, the Lions Signature Project aims to specifically address the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Eating healthily, increasing the level of physical activity and maintaining a healthy weight, all play a role in preventing or delaying the onset of Type 2 Diabetes.

Peter Doyle also highlighted the importance of this initiative, by pointing to the fact that diabetes is the eighth leading cause of death in the world and it is estimated that worldwide more than 460 million people have diabetes.
Repairs to the ramp at the north beach in Greystones are expected to be carried out from Monday, December 4 with a planned reopening on Friday, December 8.

Councillor Stephen Stokes has welcomed the plans, while calling for further work to be carried out in the area.

"This is good news, Cllr Stokes said. I have been pressing for this work, and raised north beach coastal erosion at the full meeting of Wicklow County Council. Protecting the North Beach is vital.

"The coastal erosion seems to have accelerated in recent years. A recent study of coastal erosion in Ireland talked about managed retreats. This is simply not an option for our area.

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Protecting the north beach is vital for the train line, cliff walk, residential areas and more. Beach nourishment is one part of a strategy that should be implemented," he said, adding he is pressing for more North Beach and Cliff Walk improvements as a priority.".

The immediate ramp repair work is to be carried out by Sensori FM on behalf of Sispar Limited. During this time pedestrian diversions will be in place.

The issue of erosion at Greystones north beach was raised as far back as Aprils meeting of Greystones Municipal Council, and In March, the Greystones/Wicklow Coast Guard Unit warned the public that the north beach had become impassable at high tide and should be avoided at all times due to cliff collapse and erosion.

District Engineer Ruairi O Hanlon said, at the meeting in April, that erosion was a constant threat on the north beach, and while it can erode by as much as one metre per year, it doesnt happen every year and was not overly concerned for the time being. But he added that at some stage the situation will indeed worsen. The cliff erosion is not so much caused by the sea, but in fact comes from water run-off from above, he said.

He pointed to the environmental assessment commissioned last year by Irish Rail, which concluded some 230m is needed to fund a programme to protect major sections of the line from Dublin to Rosslare from erosion, with the most vulnerable stretch being the 60km section from Merrion Gates in Dublin to Wicklow town, which includes the cliffs along Bray Head and the north beach at Greystones.
Roisin O'Farrell, with her award for Visual Artist of the Year at the IBAM Chicago 2023 event.

Bray artist Roisin OFarrell has joined a prestigious list of Irish creatives after she picked up her award for the Visual Artist of the Year at the IBAM Chicago 2023 Awards Gala, which took place on Saturday, November 18.

She joined other notable award recipients this year, including Colm Tobin for literature, Eileen Dunne for broadcasting, and author and filmmaker Dr Mary Pat Kelly, who was named Person of the Year.

The event, at Chicagos Irish American Heritage Centre, the largest of its kind in the world, was attended by 500 of the city's noted personalities, including Irish Consul General Kevin Byrne, for a programme showcasing Irish art and film, a painting demonstration by Roisin OFarrell, live music, panel discussions, and author talks.

The award recognises Roisins contribution to the arts and her international success, painting vibrant, emotionally resonant works that capture the essence of home, family, and the human spirit.

Her lifelong work in teaching, encouraging and empowering women to live bigger, more meaningful, creative lives, was also acknowledged.

Congratulating the Irish artist, Cliff Carlson, Co-Founder of IBAM, the organisation that celebrates Irish books, arts and music, said Roisin is a unique find in the arts.

She is such a charismatic individual, who is not just a skilled artist and businesswoman, but who also has a special gift for encouraging and connecting others, he said.

Accepting the international award, Roisin credited her family's creative legacy for inspiring her artistic journey and instilling in her the belief that it is never too late to start a new life and that creativity is at the heart of change.

"This award is more than just a recognition of my art; it's a testament to the power of resilience, the beauty of embracing change, and the unwavering belief that its never too late to start anew," she said.

In the last few tumultuous years, I have gone from teaching art online across the world, to now leading transformative creative retreats, in-person, in Ireland, Malta, and in the US, which is incredibly satisfying.

Kathy Kelly, Gallery Manager at Chicagos Irish American Heritage Centre, and an IBAM committee member, praised the level of engagement and encouragement the Irish artist brought to the weekends art workshops.

Her passion for her profession came through in her exceptional speech. Calling for one to Go Big with your dreams, listen to your heart, and bring your creative energy to all that you do.

Roisin also graced us with a demonstration of her oil painting techniques on day two that lasted over three hours, delivered in her entertaining and charming manner. While her palette knife danced across the canvas, there was a buzz of energy in the air, that comes from bringing a work of art to life. Our guests were mesmerised.

Roisin is hoping the US award platform will extend awareness of her art and teaching work.

I am among a rare breed of Irish artists, managing to make a living doing what I love, creating and teaching art. So, I do count myself fortunate, she said. Being awarded this prize in Chicago is like the icing on the cake, and a super honour when you think of Irelands immense artistic talent.

Roisin OFarrells family, from Dalkey and Kinsale, is steeped in art. Her mother, Patricia Aherne OFarrell, is also a talented artist. Living in Bray, Roisin says the light and landscape on the east coast fuels her artistic energy.

Ironically, being made redundant in 2009 propelled the talented Irish artist from the world of business into creative pursuits. Posting her works on social media quickly led to gallery representation and a first sell-out solo show in 2010.

Since her discovery, her work has been widely exhibited in established galleries across Ireland and the UK, with sell-out exhibitions in London, Edinburgh, Amsterdam, Barcelona and in the United States.

A mum to two daughters, Roisin is both a passionate artist and teacher, deeply committed to nurturing creativity in others. She teaches and, more recently, hosts inspirational artists retreats in Ireland, the USA and in Malta.

Award organiser, IBAM Chicago, is a non-profit organisation dedicated to celebrating Irish literature, arts and music, since 2009.

Previous award winners include Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, Jim Sheridan and Stephen Rae for Performing Arts; musicians Sharon Shannon, Maura O'Connell, and Daniel O'Donnell; writers Colum McCann, Marian Keyes and Tim Pat Coogan, and artists Phillip Gray, Jim Fitzpatrick and Robert Ballagh.
A company based in Bray has become the first company in Ireland to partner with a leading global electrical and optical connectivity manufacturer headquartered in Switzerland.

Network optimisation company Data Edge has announced the new collaboration is expected to generate 500,000 for the firm in additional revenue over the next two years.

Headquartered in Switzerland, Huber+Suhner manufactures electrical and optical connectivity solutions, serving a variety of industries. A global leader in its field, its solutions and products include optical switches, global navigation satellite system (GNSS) distribution and antennas, as well as cabling and connectors. This new partnership with Bray-based Data Edge is the companys first in Ireland.

The collaboration enables Data Edge to enhance its data centre offering by bringing several new innovative solutions to the market in Ireland and making use of the unique GNNS distribution equipment and power over fibre antenna solutions from Huber+Suhner.

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It will also benefit Data Edges existing customers, enabling access to the latest generation optical distribution frames and lab switching which improves the speed of connections between communication facilities.

Data Edge and Huber+Suhner expect to generate new business through this partnership. In fact, they are already working together on a significant project with a leading multinational technology company.

Commenting on the partnership, Paul Phelan, CEO, Data Edge said: Partnering with Huber+Suhner has been a goal for us for quite some time, as its suite of products are a perfect fit for our customers evolving needs. Due to our experience and position in the Irish market, we are a natural fit for this partnership and are looking forward to leveraging it fully to grow our business, particularly our data centre offering.

Mark Alexander, Sales Manager, Data Centre at Huber+Suhner said: When considering a partnership in the Irish market, Data Edge stood out to us as an experienced potential collaborator, having done excellent work here for a number of years on high-level projects such as the National Timing Protocol Timesaver and the recently launched National Timing Grid.

"Data Edges extensive work with optical switching installations and lab automation, as well as its standing in the telecommunications synchronisation sector, made them a natural choice to become our first partner in Ireland.
Staff at Shuttle Knit modelling some of the high quality knit-wear they created.

Started more than 20 years ago as a partnership between the Traveller and settled communities, with the mission to improve quality of life for Traveller women and their families through social enterprise, the group has now grown into so much more.

Staff at Shuttle Knit are from the Travelling community and are highly-skilled knitters, seamstresses and designers, who create high-quality, handcrafted knitwear.

The Kickstarter initiative provides an opportunity for the community to support their work in an environment that fosters inclusivity and economic empowerment.

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By supporting this campaign from Shuttle Knit, individuals not only acquire beautiful and high-quality knitwear as a reward  they also support the economic independence and well-being of Irish Traveller women. The profits from all sales at Shuttle Knit directly benefits the knitters, providing them with sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for personal and community development.

There are three contribution levels available with each level containing at least one reward inclusive of a Shuttle Knit product. This Kickstarter campaign focuses on the development of additional product offerings that will help grow the business and secure the capacity to support Shuttle Knits future.

We Traveller women have many skills like knitting and sewing. We learned how to knit from our mothers and grandmothers, and continue to do so today, although now with hand machines, shared the team at Shuttle Knit. All of the patterns and designs are created by the members of the Shuttle Knit team.

This international campaign through the Kickstarter platform also presents an opportunity for people to embrace sustainable, locally produced fashion and contribute to the empowerment of Irish Traveller women.

You can visit the kickstarter.com and search Shuttle Knit to explore the opportunities to support the group.
Stephen Kearon from Ballinaclash pictured after his Technological University Dublin graduation with first class honours degree in Digital Forensics and Cyber Security.

A Wicklow man who used to be a Government special adviser has earned a first class honours degree in Digital Forensics and Cyber Security.

Stephen Kearon PC, who lives in Ballinaclash, was among recent graduates to celebrate their achievements at Technological University Dublin (TU Dublin), a qualification which adds to his BSc in Computer Sciences from University College Dublin.

The degree is said to have has equipped Stephen with the expertise needed to navigate the complex and emerging landscape of digital security, a natural progression from his background in IT.

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Stephen worked for ten years as Technical Director of Systemhouse Technology Group, before starting his own business TrainIT in Dundrum, which dissolved in 2020.

He is best known as being special adviser to former Minister Dick Roche. He also used to hold the position of PRO for Wicklow Fianna Fail and has been a director of the Wicklow Port Company.

His wife Laurie Kearnon was recently selected as a candidate to represent Fine Gael in Arklow for next years local elections

They have five children and Laurie has served as a civil servant at Wicklow County Council for nearly two years.
Broadcaster Louis Theroux has given an update on his experience with facial hair loss and revealed that his eyebrows have been affected.

In January, the documentarian shared a photo on social media that showed gaps in his facial hair and said it probably resulted from alopecia.

On Monday, the 53-year-old posted an update in the form of a clip to his Instagram, alongside the hashtag alopecia, which showed a large portion of hair from his eyebrows had gone.

The post said: Id like to know how Im supposed to continue a career based largely on raising and lowering different eyebrows WITHOUT ANY EYEBROWS!!

#alopecia Im seriously thinking of getting them tattooed back on but it feels like a big step! Thoughts?

Alopecia is the medical term for hair loss and can come in different forms, including thinning of the hair or total loss of hair.

Theroux shared an update in July, writing on Instagram: Oh jeez it looks like the alopecia has migrated up to my eyebrow.

I realise you arent all awaiting every update on its progress but I want people to acclimatise to the new partially depilated me and not freak everyone out by suddenly appearing in public like a half-plucked elephant bird with no forewarning.

So this is where were at. Id really like to keep my eyebrows, but its out of my hands at this point  tho I have started taking vitamin d and something called biotin.

Theroux is best known for inserting himself into fringe political groups, cults and gangs in documentaries for the BBC.

A second series of Louis Theroux Interviews is currently airing on the BBC in which the broadcaster speaks to a host of famous faces, including Hollywood actress Dame Joan Collins and The Libertines frontman Pete Doherty.
The superstar played three shows in Brazil, ending the leg with the rescheduled show on Monday evening (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Taylor Swift met with the family of Ana Clara Benevides Machado, who tragically died before the singers Eras Tour show in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on November 17.

The 23-year-old collapsed and later died of a cardiac arrest after temperatures of over 38 degrees celsius paired with dangerously high levels of humidity hit the venue.

The University student's grieving family travelled to Sao Paulo on Sunday for the 12-time Grammy winner's concert at the Allianz Parque stadium.

Prior to the gig, Swift met with the family, who wore matching T-shirts with Benevides Machados face on them, and posed for photos, which were later shared on social media.

Following the fan's death, Swift cancelled her second Rio show hours before she was set to take the stage due to unusually extreme heat in the city.

Expressing her sadness over the tragic event in an Instagram post, she wrote: "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.

The superstar played three shows in Brazil, ending the leg with the rescheduled show on Monday evening (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

"I can't even tell you how devastated I am by this. 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.

"This is the last thing I ever thought would happen when we decided to bring this tour to Brazil," she continued.

Returning to the Rio stage on November 20, the Anti-Hero hitmaker seemed to pay tribute to Ana as she performed Bigger Than The Whole Sky, a heart-wrenching ballad detailing loss and mourning, during the acoustic segment of her show.

When it was first released on her 2022 album Midnights, the track became an anthem for fans dealing with grief.

She emotionally belted out the lyrics: No words appear before me in the aftermath / salt streams out my eyes and into my ears / every single thing I touch becomes sick with sadness / 'cause it's all over now, all out to sea.

When Swift reached the chorus, tears could be seen streaming down her face as she sang: Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye / You were bigger than the whole sky / You were more than just a short time / And I've got a lot to pine about / I've got a lot to live without / I'm never gonna meet / What could've been, would've been / What should've been you.

After finishing the song, the hitmaker paused for a moment before turning toward her fans and blowing them a kiss, mouthing the words I love you all.
Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism, was born on Kartik Puranmashi, in 1469 in the village of Talwandi (now Nankana Sahib). This year marks the 554th anniversary of his birth, celebrated as Prakash Purb by Sikhs around the world.

Guru Nanak Dev Jis life and teachings were a beacon of enlightenment and unity, emphasizing the Oneness of God, the equality of all humanity, and the importance of living a truthful and compassionate life. He traveled extensively throughout India, Central Asia, and the Middle East, spreading his message of love, peace, and tolerance.

Guru Nanak Dev Jis Teachings

Guru Nanak Dev Jis teachings are enshrined in the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of the Sikhs. His message is universal and resonates with people of all faiths and backgrounds. Some of his key teachings include:

Ik Onkar: The Oneness of God.

Naam Simran: The constant remembrance of Gods name.

Seva: Selfless service to others.

Vand Chakko: Sharing ones earnings with others.

Prakash Purb Celebrations

Prakash Purb is a joyous occasion for Sikhs around the world. Gurdwaras, Sikh temples, are decorated with lights and flowers, and special prayers are offered. Sikhs also engage in seva, volunteering their time and resources to serve the community.

In addition to religious ceremonies, Prakash Purb is also marked by a number of cultural events, such as nagar kirtans (religious processions), kirtan programs (musical performances of devotional hymns), and langar (free communal meals).

Guru Nanak Dev Jis legacy lives on in the lives of millions of Sikhs around the world. His teachings continue to inspire and guide people to live a life of righteousness, compassion, and service.

On this Prakash Purb, let us remember Guru Nanak Dev Jis message of love, unity, and service. May his teachings continue to guide us towards a more just and peaceful world.

(Photo and text courtesy: Khalsavox.com)
Photo courtesy: X/@@BRSparty

New Delhi/IBNS: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has asked the Telangana government to pause the disbursement of the monetary aid to the farmers citing violation of the model code of conduct, media reports said.

The poll panel had earlier allowed the government to disburse the aid to farmers for Rabi crops under the ongoing scheme Rythu Bandhu Scheme but on one condition.

The panel had asked the government not to publicise it when the model code of conduct in the poll-bound state was in place.

The action comes after state finance minister T Harish Rao openly declared the money will be credited to the farmers' accounts.

Now, the ECI has informed the state electoral officer about its decision to withdraw the permission, which was given to the state government.

The panel has asked the CEO to convey its decision to the government.

Telangana, which is run by the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), will go to polls on November 30.
Photo Courtesy: mkjr/Unsplash

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Sunday announced 30-day visa-free entry for tourists from India and China from December 1.

He made the announcement while speaking at the People's Justice Party Congress.

Starting from December 1, we will give additional facilities of 30 days of visa exemption to the Arab countries, Turkiye, Jordan, and citizens of China and India to come to Malaysia, Anwar was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.

The Minister, however, said the exemption is subject to security screening.

He said people with criminal records or pose a risk of violence will not be allowed to enter the nation.

Earlier this month, Thailand announced visa-free entry for tourists from India for 30 days.

The Sri Lankan government recently announced a visa-free entry for visitors from India.
Israel-Hamas discuss the possibility of extending the truce. Photo Courtesy: IDF X page

With the truce between Hamas and Israel entering its fourth and final day on Monday (November 27, 2023), both sides are discussing a possibility of extending the temporary ceasefire.

In a statement released Sunday evening, Hamas was quoted as saying by CNN that it wants to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement.

While Israel's war cabinet discussed the possibility of an extension on Sunday evening, a source told CNN, those conditions for one, as outlined in the initial truce, remain unchanged.

Earlier, Qatari officials said it is hoping to see the truce between Israel and Hamas extend further.

Qatar had played a central role in mediating the original agreement between the two groups earlier.

"What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases  and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days, and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages," Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, told CNN on Saturday.

Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip.

Reacting to the development, US President Joe Biden posted on X: "Today, 13 more hostages  including a fellow American  were released by Hamas under a deal brokered and sustained through intensive U.S. diplomacy."

"We continue to press that additional Americans be released. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned," he said.
The New Zealand government is planning to scrap anti-smoking law.Photo Courtesy: Reza Mehrad/Unsplash

The new government of New Zealand is planning to scrap the nation's smoking ban to fund tax cuts, media reports said.

The legislation was introduced by the previous Jacinda Ardern-led government.

The move would have banned cigarette sales next year to anyone born after 2008.

The government's new decision to reverse the ban has been criticised by health experts.

"We are appalled and disgusted... this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures," said Prof Richard Edwards, a tobacco control researcher and public health expert at the University of Otago.

"Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government's done and are calling on them to backtrack," he told the BBC.

New Zealand's announcement of banning the selling of cigarettes was appreciated internationally.

Measures included restricting the number of tobacco retailers, and reducing the level of nicotine in cigarettes, reported BBC.

The law had even inspired the UK government in September to announce a similar smoking ban for young people.

A spokeswoman was quoted as saying by BBC that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's position remained unchanged after New Zealand's reversal.
In image Israeli soldiers during the truce/ courtesy: IDF X page

A humanitarian pause in the war between Israel and Hamas will extend by two days, mediator Qatar said Monday as an initial four-day truce in Gaza is set to expire.

As part of the ongoing mediation, the state of Qatar announced that an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

With just hours to go before the so-called "humanitarian pause" ended, both Hamas and Israel had been under international pressure to avoid a return to battle.

Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari told the media: "An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip."

Hamas confirmed in a statement: "that an agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt for an extension of the temporary humanitarian pause for an additional two days, with the same conditions as the previous truce."

Qatar, with the support of the United States and Egypt, has played a major role in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza.

Hamas, which runs Gaza and triggered the latest round of fighting by launching a bloody cross-border raid last month, said it was drawing up a new list of hostages for release.

Meanwhile, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had informed families of the identities of hostages to be released on Monday, the last day of the initial four-day truce.

These are tears of joy.



After 50 days in Hamas captivity, 41 hostageswomen, children, the elderly and foreign nationalswere released in the past 48 hours and returned home to the warm embrace of their loved ones.



This is what we are fighting for and we wont rest until pic.twitter.com/kAMoCpkjZy  Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) November 26, 2023

Israel has been clear that the pause is designed to allow Hamas to free more of the hostages it is holding since the October 7 attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis including many women and children, according to Israeli officials.

Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday and said that the operation will continue until the Palestinian movement Hamas is completely defeated.

"We are here in Gaza with our heroic fighters. We are working hard to bring back our kidnapped citizens, and eventually we will bring them all back," Netanyahu had said during the outing.

"We will continue until the end  until victory. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the will and the determination to achieve all the goals of the war, and we will do it," he had said.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

Protesters participated in a rally in Pakistan's Gilgit Baltistan region on Friday against the recent hike in wheat prices and other issues, media reports said.

The rate of wheat, which was heavily subsidised for the region, has significantly increased over the past six months  first from Rs7.5 to Rs20 per kilogram in June and then recently to Rs52 per kg, reported Dawn News.

On Friday, demonstrations were held on the call of the Awami Action Committee (AAC), an alliance of political, regional and religious parties, in various areas of the GBs 10 districts, the newspaper reported.

The main demonstration was held at Yadgar Chowk in Gilgit after the Friday prayer.

Members from various political groups, civil society organisations, trade unions, and transport and tourism sectors joined the demonstration.

They chanted slogans against both the Gilgit-Baltistan and federal governments.

Key AAC leaders, including Ehsan Ali Advocate, Fida Hussain, Baba Jan, Faizan Mir, Malik Aurangzeb, and Raja Mir Nawaz, denounced the governments decision to raise the subsidised wheat rate to Rs52 per kg, reported Dawn News.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

At least three people were killed and two others injured in a shooting occurred in Canada's Winnipeg city on Sunday.

Police were called to the 100 block of Langside just after 4 a.m. for a report of multiple injuries, public information officer Const. Jason Michalyshen told reporters as quoted by CBC News at a news conference outside police headquarters.

A man and a woman were pronounced dead at the scene, and another three victims  two men and a woman  were rushed to hospital in critical condition, Michalyshen said.

The identities of the victims are still not known.

The Homicide Unit continues to investigate.

The Winnipeg Police Service Forensic Services Unit will be on the scene for an extended period due to the gravity of this incident.
Three Palestinian college students shot in US. Photo Courtesy: Husam Zomlot X page

At least one person has been arrested over the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington city of the US, media reports said on Monday.

The family members of the victims have urged police to investigate the matter as a hate crime.

Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed and Kinnan Abdalhamid were confronted and shot by a man near the University of Vermont Campus, Burlington police told BBC.

Officers are investigating a possible motive, but say the victims were wearing keffiyeh - a traditional scarf - and speaking Arabic when attacked, the British media reported.

Police have named the suspect as Jason J Eaton.

Local police chief Jon Mura earlier told BBC that two victims were in a stable condition; the third has suffered much more serious injuries.

An attorney for the victims families, Abed Ayoub, said he believes the students were targeted, in part, because two of them were wearing keffiyehs  traditional Palestinian scarves.

The suspect walked up to them and shot them. They werent robbed, they werent mugged, Ayoub said on CNN Newsroom Sunday before the arrest was announced. It was a targeted shooting and a targeted crime.

The incident happened amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Vermont senator and former Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has condemned the incident.

" It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation. My thoughts are with them and their families," he posted on X.

Three young Palestinian men, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, students at Brown and other US universities, were shot last night on their way to a family dinner in Burlington, USA. Their crime? Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh. They are critically injured. And pic.twitter.com/OwafFkHwg4  Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) November 26, 2023

Ambassador Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, shared an image of the victims on his X page and wrote: "Three young Palestinian men, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, students at Brown and other US universities, were shot last night on their way to a family dinner in Burlington, USA. Their crime? Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh. They are critically injured. And Six weeks ago, 6-year old Palestinian child was stabbed 26 times in a hate crime in Illinois. The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop. Palestinians everywhere need protection."
IIT BHU Varanasi has invited applications for Assistant Professor in its various Science & Engineering Departments and Interdisciplinary Schools. Interested and eligible candidates can submit their applications through the official website of IIT BHU.

IIT BHU Varanasi

IIT BHU Varanasi Assistant Professor: Hiring departments

The departments are:

Architecture Planning & Design Ceramic Engineering

Chemical Engineering & Technology

Civil Engineering

Computer Science & Engineering

Electrical Engineering

Electronics Engineering

Mechanical Engineering

Metallurgical Engineering

Mining Engineering

Mathematical Sciences

IIT BHU Varanasi Assistant Professor: Qualifications & Experience

IIT BHU Varanasi

Assistant Professor Grade-I



Educational qualification

PhD with first class or equivalent (in terms of grades etc.) at the preceding degree in the appropriate branch, with a very good academic record throughout.

Work experience

Three years teaching/research/industrial experience from the date of award of PhD (excluding the experience gained while pursuing PhD or any other lower degrees) as on the date of application. The experience should be in a reputed organization. The candidates should have demonstrated strong research capabilities in terms of publications in reputed peer reviewed journals of good impact factor and/or patents.

Assistant Professor Grade-II

Educational qualification

PhD with first class or equivalent (in terms of grades etc.) at the preceding degree in the appropriate branch, with a very good academic record throughout.

The candidates should have demonstrated strong research capabilities in terms of publications in reputed peer reviewed journals of good impact factor and/or patents.

Work experience

The Assistant Professors Grade-II will be eligible for placement as Assistant Professor Grade-I on completion of three years teaching/research/industrial experience in reputed organizations from the date of award of PhD (excluding the experience gained while pursuing PhD) as per the Institute norms.

IIT BHU Varanasi Assistant Professor: Pay scale

The remuneration is as given below:

Assistant Professor Grade-I: Rs 1,01,500 to Rs 1,67,400

Assistant Professor Grade-II: Rs 57,700 to Rs 98,200



Further details can be found in the official notification.

For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.


Indian students can choose from a wide range of educational opportunities in the vibrant UK city of Bristol.

This extensive guide is intended to help them make well-informed decisions regarding their pursuit of higher education.

For those looking for academic excellence, Bristol provides a wide range of options, from historic establishments to state-of-the-art universities.

Excel Academically: Top-ranked Colleges And Universities In Bristol, UK  A Resource For Indian Students

Credit: Canva

Known for their academic prowess, the following Bristol, UK universities might appeal to Indian students:



1. University Of Bristol

Credit: Shiksha

The University of Bristol, a distinguished establishment with roots in 1876, is at the forefront of Bristol's academic scene.



The university, which is well-known for its dedication to innovation and research, routinely places highly in evaluations conducted both nationally and internationally.

Indian students interested in studying at the University of Bristol have access to a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in the social sciences, sciences, engineering, and arts.

The campus of the university is a hive of lively intellectual activity that promotes creativity and critical thinking.

Indian students find a friendly environment for cultural exchange and group learning in a diverse and inclusive community.



2. University Of The West Of England (UWE Bristol)

Credit: Shiksha

A great option for students looking for a hands-on, career-focused education is the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol).



UWE Bristol is renowned for its solid connections with business partners and its dedication to providing students with practical skills.

A vast range of undergraduate and graduate programs, from business and engineering to health and creative industries, are available to Indian students.

The university's contemporary campuses offer cutting-edge amenities that foster an atmosphere that is supportive of both academic and personal growth.

The focus UWE Bristol places on entrepreneurship and employability equips Indian students for success in their chosen fields.

A global perspective is fostered by the diverse student body, which enhances the educational process as a whole.



3. Bristol Business School (BBS), University Of The West Of England

Credit: UWE Bristol Blog

The Bristol Business School (BBS) at UWE Bristol provides specialized programs designed to meet the demands of the ever-changing corporate landscape for Indian students who aspire to excel in the business world.



Management, finance, and marketing are just a few of the business-related undergraduate, graduate, and doctorate programs offered by BBS.



4. Bath Spa University (Corsham Court Campus)

Credit: FE News

Indian students can find a creative and supportive environment at Bath Spa University, which is close to Bristol and specializes in the arts and humanities.



Particularly renowned for its emphasis on the arts and historic surroundings is the Corsham Court Campus.

Among other things, students can look into programs in literary studies, fine arts, and cultural studies.



What do you think about it? Do let us know in the comments.



For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Canada is a safe and friendly option for many Indian students who want to study abroad. Known for being safe and inclusive, Canada has many top-ranking universities that welcome students from India.

With its reputation for quality education, diverse cultural experiences, and a focus on student well-being, Canada is an attractive destination for those looking for excellent academics and a supportive environment.



Unsplash

If you're applying, here are some universities to consider.



Renowned for its solid academic reputation globally.

It offers a diverse range of programs and is known for research excellence.

Located in Vancouver, it is consistently ranked among the top universities worldwide.

Emphasizes innovation and sustainability in its academic and research pursuits.

Based in Montreal, it is known for its multicultural environment.

Offers a mix of undergraduate and graduate programs across various disciplines.

Located in Edmonton, it is recognized for its research contributions.

Particularly strong in energy, health, and environmental sciences.

Known for its cooperative education programs.

Emphasizes entrepreneurship and innovation in its academic approach.

Located in Hamilton, it is known for its medical school and health sciences.

It is recognized for its commitment to research and community engagement.

Located in Alberta, it offers a diverse range of programs.

Known for its strong ties to the energy industry and research initiatives.

Based in Kingston, Ontario, it is known for its vital undergraduate programs.

It is recognized for its focus on student engagement and leadership development.

a French-language university located in Quebec.

Emphasizes research and offers programs in various disciplines.

Located in Burnaby, British Columbia, it is known for its vibrant campus.

It offers a range of programs and is recognized for its commitment to sustainability.

Exploring each university's official website and consulting recent university rankings is recommended for more detailed and up-to-date information.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.


More than a year after the collapse of FTX and its 'crypto Robinhood' CEO Sam Bankman Fried shocked the crypto world, another crypto king's fall seems to have begun.

World's largest crypto exchange Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao has become the latest powerful cryptocurrency figure to fall in a two-year period. Zhao had stepped down as CEO of Binance after he and the company pleaded guilty last Tuesday to sweeping US money laundering violations and agreed to fines of more than $4 billion.

Three Crypto Kings Who Resigned

cityam/twitter

From Binance's Zhao to FTX's Sam Bankman Fried, here are three of the highest-profile crypto CEOs who have resigned after being humbled by the law since last year:



1.Changpeng 'CZ' Zhao

getty

Born in China in 1977, Zhao moved with his family to Canada in the 1980s and later got a degree in computer science from McGill University, according to his profile in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.



He founded Binance in 2017 in Shanghai and led the company's explosive growth into the world's biggest cryptocurrency exchange. An outspoken celebrity in the crypto world with 8.7 million followers on X, Zhao became the richest known figure in the crypto industry. His net worth peaked at around $65 billion in 2022, according to a Forbes index.

With the prestige and wealth came increased scrutiny of Binance's operations, as prominent crypto firms around the world began to buckle under a wave of criminal investigations.

The United States accused Zhao and Binance of multiple violations, including knowingly allowing transactions to terrorist groups such as the Islamic State and in barred jurisdictions such as North Korea and Iran. As per AFP, last Tuesday, they pleaded guilty. The firm has agreed to total penalties of nearly $4.4 billion, while he will pay $50 million, according to court documents.

Zhao resigned as CEO of Binance and while he will reportedly retain his shares in the company, he has been banned from any involvement in its business. He is expected to face sentencing later. Forbes listed his net worth as $15 billion as of today.

Also Read; 5 Crypto Firms That Filed For Bankruptcy Besides FTX

2. Sam Bankman-Fried

newsbtc

If Zhao was the richest and most powerful person in crypto, it's fair to say that FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried was the most famous. Born to Stanford University professors, Bankman-Fried graduated from MIT with a degree in physics. In 2019, he founded FTX, which skyrocketed to become the world's second-largest crypto exchange.



Along the way, Sam Bankman-Fried built up his image as the unofficial ambassador for the cryptocurrency industry, with high-profile appearances in the media and even the US Congress. At one point in 2022, he had a net worth of $24 billion, according to Forbes.

But he had been walking a dangerous path- his team used customers' money for everything from buying posh real estate to covering risky moves by affiliate Alameda Research.

It all came crashing down when these moves were revealed in the media in November 2022. Within hours, rival CZ Zhao said Binance would sell all the FTX tokens it held. It sparked a stunning collapse of FTX and Bankman-Fried's empire, his fame turning to notoriety.

Arrested in the Bahamas in January, SBF was found guilty this month of what US prosecutors described as "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history". He faces up to 110 years in prison.

During his trial, the 31-year-old admitted to making "mistakes" but denied trying to defraud anyone.

Also Read: Indian-origin Engineer At FTX Pleads Guilty To Fraud Charges In US

3. Do Kwon

getty

South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon co-founded Terraform Labs in 2018, developing the cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna. The Stanford grad successfully marketed them as the next big thing in crypto, attracting billions in investments and global hype.



Media reports in South Korea described him as a "genius". But in May last year, the value of these currencies -marketed as "stablecoins"- plummeted, wiping out around $40 billion in investments and sending a shock wave through the rest of the industry. It led to more than $500 billion in further losses on global crypto markets, industry data suggested.

Experts said Do Kwon - whose full name is Kwon Do-kyung - had marketed a glorified Ponzi scheme, as per the AFP report. Brash and outspoken on social media, Do Kwon left South Korea before the collapse and spent months on the run. He was arrested in Montenegro this year after being caught trying to catch a flight using fake Costa Rican travel documents.

He faces multiple criminal charges in the United States and South Korea.

Also Read; Not Just FTX! How Many Other Crypto Firms Acted Like Banks, Then Collapsed Like Dominoes

For the latest and interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here.
Important issues of international shipping, including the path to decarbonization by 2050, will dominate the 33rd general assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) in London , starting today .The IMO

IMOs 33rd general assembly to endorse decarbonization strategy -  
Digital Governance Minister first referred to the Greek government's gov .gr online platform and the 1,600 different public services it offers, mentioning the 8.3 million adult Greeks who are using the platform and the 20 million monthly searches on it.
On Tuesday , at 12:45, the PM will meet with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at Downing Street.
A young Nigerian lady based in Ibadan is ready to set a new Guinness World Record for the longest cooking of herbs (agbo), tagged Agbo-A-Thon.

On Facebook, the entrepreneur known as Eniola Fagbemi Sisialagbo revealed her intention to set a world record for her herbal business.

Eniola claimed in a post on the platform that, while wishing herself luck, the Guinness World Record had approved her 300-hour Agbo-A-Thon.

READ MORE: 4 dead, 10 Injured As Sylvester Madu Escapes Death As Gunmen Attack Crew At Movie Set

She, however, has yet to announce the date of the commencement of her record-breaking attempt or its location. Her fans and loved ones are looking forward to the attempt as many are ready to support the businesswoman.

AGBO-A-THON Guinness book of records have approved for me to do AGBO-A-THON Am cooking Agbo for 300 hours in Ibadan Kindly wish me well, she wrote.
Some aggrieved supporters of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have stormed the Kano Police Headquarters to protest in solidarity for Governor Abba Yusuf.

INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that the development is coming barely few days after the Appeal Court judgment sacked the states governor.

It was gathered that the women of the party took their agitation to the police headquarters to protest what they described as injustice by the appellate court.

Despite polices warning in the state against protests, these angry supporters in their hundreds, carried placards with diverse inscriptions and marched from the residence of the partys presidential candidate in the 2023 election Rabiu Kwankwaso to the police headquarter on Sunday.

READ MORE: CTC Error: Verdict Sacking Kano Gov. Stands  Appeal Court

They are calling for justice, insisting that Governor Yusuf won the March governorship election in the North-West state.

According to the court, the partys fielding of Yusuf breached the Electoral Law as he was not qualified to contest that poll.

It thus declared the All Progressives Congress (APC)s Nasiru Gawuna as the winner of the exercise.

But the NNPP and Governor Yusuf have already rejected the judgment and headed to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict.
The Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has disclosed that in the pursuit of his political career, he was hurt and humiliated by some people opposing his ambition.

It was gathered that Shaibu led this out on Monday while declaring his intention to run for the gubernatorial post, at a press conference held in Benin, the state capital.

The deputy governor said that he had put his life on the line for the development and growth of the state, and he was determined to make the South-South state great again.
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided Berrymist Lounge in Osogbo, Osun State.

According to a Sunday statement by Femi Babafemi, NDLEAs spokesperson, a night party for illicit substance abuse tagged Unholy Alliance for Stoners and Drunkards, was going to hold at the location.

Babafemi who said the raid followed credible intelligence, added that the operatives swooped on the suspects, arrested them and recovered illicit substances and drug paraphernalia from them.

READ ALSO: 13 Persons Injured In Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Multiple Crash

Those arrested include Ikotu Omolayo, 25; Fola Olabode, 30; and Akorede Adunni Ajibola, 22, the agency disclosed.

He said the agency also arrested some of the organisers, while the management of the lounge has also been invited for further investigation.

The agency said it has also arrested 30-year-old Gbemileke Adelola, the alleged main organiser of the party.
Actor Yul Edochie, has caused controversy on the internet by wearing his wedding ring publicly for the first time following his breakup with May Edochie.

It was earlier reported that May filed for divorce from Yul Edochie after their son passed away and demanded N100 million as payment.

In addition, May also obtained full custody of the children and had filed for a restraining order that prevented him from entering their previous marital residence, among other reasons, due to safety concerns.

Yul Edochie, at the court hearing, allegedly denied being married to Judy, claiming that May is his only wife. Cutie Juls, a blogger, claimed that Judy Austin had also agreed to the claims of Yul.

The couple went so far as to say that, considering the lies in reports, they were shocked to learn on blogs that their marriage was real.

Yul has resumed wearing his wedding ring as a sort of damage control. Wearing his wedding ring, Pete Edochies son had stormed Lokoja, Kogi State.

READ MORE: Portable Advises Isreal Dmw To Marry Three Or Four Wives To Get Over Marriage Saga

He introduced himself as Alhaji Y Edochie, or Alhaji Isi Mmili, to his admirers, telling them he was the sexiest man in Nigeria.

Alhaji Yul Edochie

Garkuwan Martasan Arewa.

Enjoying the beautiful city of Lokoja, Kogi State

New name alert: Alhaji Isi Mmili. Sexiest man in Nigeria.

Asiwaju Boy; 100%.
Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Archbishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese and a member of the Justice Uwais Electoral Reform panel, said the Nigerian judiciary is entangled in politics.

He stated this at the 8th House of Justice Summit held in Kaduna at the weekend with the theme: Electoral Accountability and Democratic Stability.

I am saddened by the fact that the judiciary has now found itself being sucked into politics, Kukah stated.

While calling on the judiciary to redeem its image by dispensing justice without fear or favour, he said, Elections will always give us what I call unintended consequences but it is also important to understand that a contest is always a contest and you use the experience of this to prepare for the next contest.

The cleric said that Nigerians should not lose hope, stating that the best is still to come.

Rather than worrying about the next generation, he argued that Nigerians should be focused on the present, adding that every generation will confront its own problems.

Senator Shehu Sani who represented Kaduna in the 8th National Assembly called on President Ahmed Bola Tinubu to immediately initiate an electoral reform programme that will correct the mistakes that have been made and also chart ways forward for the country.

READ ALSO: Jonathan Destroyed Me, My Family, Career, To Achieve His Political Ambition  Sule Lamido

Tinubu has been a man at the forefront of the struggle for democracy. He was one of those forced into exile during the struggle for democracy, so even if the election that brought him into power has been seriously challenged and flawed, he owes it as a duty to the nation and posterity to initiate necessary electoral reform that will make 2027 election better in conduct than the recent one.

Also, there is a need for judicial reform to ensure that those who will preside over electoral cases are insulated from compromise. People have lost hope in the executive and legislative arms of government, and now the judiciary too is fast going in that direction.

What happened in Plateau and Kano states are serious matters that challenge the honour and integrity of the judiciary. Events unfolding in this country should be of serious concern to all of us because if we dont have electoral accountability we cannot have national stability, Sani said.

Also speaking, a former Military Governor of Rivers State, General Zamani Lekwot said there can never be democratic stability without equity, justice, and respect for the votes of the people.

Politics is like all other games, guided by rules. We have the democratic instability problem because of the gross abuse of the rules by some of the key actors, especially the elites, he said.
Eterno Hotels in Benin City has reportedly cancelled the venue booking which Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, planned for use, to declare his governorship ambition today.

Recall that Shaibus camp had said the Deputy Governor would this week formally declare his intention to run for the 2024 Edo State governorship election.

A Special Invitation dated November 23, 2023, which the Philip Shaibu Campaign Organisation made available to newsmen, read: On behalf of Rt. Hon. Comrade Philip Shaibu Campaign Organisation, I invite you to honour me with your esteemed presence as I offer myself to serve as the Chief Servant (Governor) of Edo State.

As stated in the letter, the event was scheduled for Monday, November 27, at the Eterno Hotels by 8 am.

The hotel, owned by a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is located in the Government Reserved Area, Benin City, the state capital.

READ ALSO: Edo: Obasekis Deputy, Shaibu To Declare Governorship Bid On Monday

However, according to reports, the hotel management contacted Shaibu and told him that the space was no longer available for his use while his money was refunded.

The hotel management was said to have told the Deputy Governor that another group, Obaseki finishing well group, had paid for the same venue.

We found this very preposterous that we were contacted by the hotel management that a group had paid for the same venue for a programme slated for 7 a.m. same date.

We know where this is coming from. Whatever their plans to frustrate, our declaration will definitely fail. They are jittery over Shaibus declaration and popularity, one of Shaibus loyalists told Punch.

Shaibus governorship ambition has pitted him against his principal, Governor Godwin Obaseki, who is believed to be working to pick someone else to succeed him.
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Command and the Department of State Service, on Sunday, neutralised three armed robbery suspects that allegedly specialised in robbing Point of Sale operators in Enugu State.

It was gathered that the robbers, all male, lost their lives at Second Avenue, Independence Layout, in the state, after an alleged gunfight with the security men.

In a statement released yesterday by the state police Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, said that the clash led to the recovery of two locally-made revolver pistols with six live rounds of .9mm calibre ammunition and the gangs operational tricycle with number plate MGL 100 WL and fleet number ENS/20560, and objects suspected to be charms.

Ndukwe said: Other exhibits recovered are cash sum of N500,000, rolls of PoS transaction printing papers, mobile phones, wallets, bags, and other exhibits, the hoodlums stole from PoS operators and their customers at different locations.

READ MORE: Troops Kill Suspected IPOB Member, Arrest Fleeing Jos Prison Escapee In Enugu

At about 1 p.m., the hoodlums attacked POS operators at different locations in Enugu metropolis, dispossessing them of the recovered exhibits.

The hoodlums opened fire on security operatives who mounted surveillance on them upon sighting the latter.

The security operatives responded with superior firepower, neutralising the three of them and recovering the exhibits in the process.

Investigation is ongoing to possibly fish out other members of the criminal gang.
President Bola Tinubu, has once more hinted Nigerians that some local refineries would soon begin production of petroleum products.

Recall that shortly after assuming office, the President announced that the Port Harcourt refinery would recommence operations by December 2023.

However, during the 11th Convocation ceremony of the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike in Abia state, (MOUAU) over the weekend, Tinubu disclosed that the exorbitant fuel price would decrease when the local refineries become operational.

Very soon, some of our local refineries will start production, and the current exorbitant prices of fuel energy will be greatly reduced, he said.

The President, who was represented by the Executive Secretary of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria, Professor Garba Sharubutu, acknowledged the prevailing economic hardship in the country but assured that it would soon subside.

READ MORE: Nigerians Facing Hard Times, Extend Love, Kindness  Tinubus Election Petition Lead Counsel, Olanipekun

He appealed for patience and continued support of Nigerians for his administration as efforts were made to address the challenges in the country.

Bear with us and remain resolutely in support of this administration as we would leave no stone unturned in reversing the severe hardships that our people are currently passing through.

Part of the supplementary budget that the Parliament has approved will be applied to bring interventions at critical segments of the agricultural sector.

The burden of insecurity is clearly a major challenge in Nigeria, but I assure you that in no distant time, it will become history.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has disclosed that his administration is working towards the introduction of the policy that will grant full autonomy to universities.

Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Abubakar Momoh, made the disclosure in Benin at the weekend during the 48th convocation of the University of Benin, Edo State.

He said he was convinced that university autonomy would enhance the quality of university education.

University autonomy transfers the responsibility performance directly to the individual institution. This administration believes that this is the right step in the right direction, he said.

READ ALSO: Jonathan Destroyed Me, My Family, Career, To Achieve His Political Ambition  Sule Lamido

According to him, he is committed to repositioning tertiary institutions and the education sector for excellent service delivery.

Our administration is poised to change the narrative of higher education for the better and to place the institution of higher learning on a pedestal that would enable them to compete with their counterparts across the world, he said.

The Edo State governor, Godwin Obaseki, assured that the institutions first-class graduates of Edo origin would be offered automatic employment in the states civil and public service.
Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State has posited that former President Muhammadu Buhari handed over an almost comatose administration to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, hence, the need to take audacious decisions.

Speaking on Channels Television on Sunday, Governor Abiodun urged Nigerians to be patient with Tinubus government, saying theres light at the end of the tunnel.

His words: The President Bola Ahmed Tinubus administration has been very bold and audacious. They have taken the bull by the horns. They have done what no other government has done in the history of Nigeria.

They have had to deregulate to save Nigerians, and they deregulated at a time when the pricing of petroleum was at the largest margin. But knowing fully well, they either did that then or the country would be brought to its knees.

READ ALSO: Nigerians Facing Hard Times, Extend Love, Kindness  Tinubus Election Petition Lead Counsel, Olanipekun

Like they said, there cant be any gain without pain. He has inherited an administration that was almost comatose.

You know our President, besides being a former governor and a senator, he is also an accountant.

So, he is someone who is very spot on, and all hands are on deck to turn this economy around. We are very hopeful, and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Recall that Tinubu, who took over power on the 29th of May, quickly introduced economic reforms aimed at restoring public finances and attracting more foreign investment.

The administration has ended fuel subsidy and floated the naira currency, which has caused Nigerians struggling with inflated fuel prices, food costs and cost of living generally.
A thermostat shown in a Philadelphia apartment on Wednesday, April 26, 2023. As winter begins, some Peco customers are set to see lower electric bills. Read more

As the holiday season kicks into gear, some electric customers could see their bills decrease for the second time in three months.

The supply rate for Pecos residential customers is set to decrease nearly 8%, from about 9.67 cents per kWh to 8.91 cents per kWh, beginning Friday, Dec. 1, according to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission. As a result, customers monthly bills will decrease by $5.47, or about 4%, on average, according to Peco.

The adjustment will affect about 1.2 million households that receive the companys default service. It comes three months after Pecos last supply charge decrease of about 6%.

The charge represents how much a utility pays for the amount of energy a customer uses, without a profit margin. Peco estimates that makes up about half of a customers bill, depending on household usage.

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The exact rate, also called the price to compare, fluctuates with the market and is adjusted each quarter.

Unaffected: The 500,000 Peco customers who opt for another supplier through online marketplace PAPowerSwitch.com, and pay the rates of their specific provider.

Meanwhile, 500,000 city residents who are customers of Philadelphia Gas Works are set to see their rates increase effective Friday, Dec. 1. Pecos 548,000 gas customers in the suburbs will also see their prices adjusted, according to the PUC, but the details of that adjustment were forthcoming.
Daryl Hall (left) and John Oates during their performance at the 2021 HoagieNation fest at the Mann Center. Hall is attempting to stop Oates from selling a portion of the duo's song catalog, according to court filings. Read more

The news broke last week that Daryl Hall is suing John Oates in a Nashville court, exposing a rift in the most commercially successful pop music duo of all time whose six number one hits are the most ever recorded by a Philadelphia-born act.

The group was founded in 1970 after the duo met in an elevator at the Adelphi Ballroom in West Philly in 1967, while fronting rival bands. The duo have cut back on their touring in recent years, playing only seven shows last year and none this year. The groups Philly HoagieNation festival was not staged on 2022 or 2023.

The details of the lawsuit are largely sealed, but last Wednesday a Nashville chancery court allowed some of the filing to be made public. Heres an update on whats going on in the dispute between the hitmakers whose chart toppers include Rich Girl, Kiss on My List, and I Cant Go for That (No Can Do).

What are Hall and Oates fighting about?

As the Associated Press reported last week, Hall filed a lawsuit that argues that Oates plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate a business agreement that Hall and Oates had made as a duo.

Specifically, it moved to prevent Oates and others, including his wife, Aimee Oates, from selling their share of Whole Oats Enterprises LLP  the company named after their 1972 debut album  to Primary Wave Music. Thats the music publishing company that owns stakes in the catalogs of Prince, Stevie Nicks, and Alice Cooper, as well as rights to pioneering rock and blues label Sun Records.

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Primary Wave already owns a significant interest in the Hall & Oates catalog, and in a 2021 interview, Hall spoke about the importance of artists controlling their own publishing rights, and said he regretted that some of his was sold off early in his career.

In a 2022 interview on Bill Mahers Club Random podcast, he said he and Oates are business partners. We made records as Hall and Oates together, but we were always very separate, and thats a very important thing to me, he said.

Whats up with Hall getting a restraining order against Oates?

Its not the kind of restraining order that prevents one person from physically approaching another. Daryl Hall isnt worried about John Oates stalking him. (We dont think.)

The restraining order issued Nov. 16 by Chancellor Russell Perkins prevents Oates and his trust from closing the sale to Primary Wave until an arbitrator rules, or the judges order expires, which usually happens within 15 days, though the judge can extend it.

Has Hall or Oates commented on the case?

No. Neither has spoken directly on the case or replied to requests for comment. Hall spent the holiday weekend touring in Japan and the Philippines.

Oates posted on Instagram over Thanksgiving weekend, sharing a message that called for communal reflection and understanding that made no mention of Hall but instead urged fans to join in collective efforts that contribute to a more compassionate and supportive world.

The next hearing on the case is scheduled for Nov. 30 in Nashville.
Chapman Auto Group takes an unusual approach to providing health insurance for its 550 employees, including Mark Walton, a master technician at Chapman Nissan in Philadelphia. Chapman uses Imagine360, a Wayne company that helps self-insured employers get better prices under an exclusive contract with the University of Pennsylvania Health System. Read more

The rising cost of health coverage is a relentless fact of life for most companies that offer insurance to their employees. This year the average increase for midsize companies was 7.8%, according to Mercer, a national benefits firm.

There is no sign of relief, either, as the full impact of higher health-care wages and supply costs has yet to work its way into that insurance rates that employers pay on behalf of their staffs, Mercer said.

When Anthony Tigano, chief financial officer of Chapman Auto Group, sees those numbers, and what might be coming, hes glad the Philadelphia-area auto dealer has a relatively new and unusual way to offer health benefits to hundreds of employees at its seven locations from Lancaster County to the Jersey Shore.

Instead of using Independence Blue Cross, Aetna, or another traditional insurer, Chapman relies on a company based in Wayne called Imagine360 and saves about 20% a year on health coverage.

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What used to be a $3 million health-care tab  split equally between the company and employees  now costs $2.4 million, Tigano said. He said Chapman passes the savings on to employees.

Before this we were continuously increasing deductibles, on prescriptions, doctors visits, hospitals, Tigano said. Since switching to Imagine360 in 2018, weve been lowering them.

The Imagine360 model

Imagine360 CEO Jeff Bak said the privately-owned company differs from traditional insurance plans, which historically have competed to have the largest networks of hospitals and doctors.

Thats great for the HR team because you can stand in front of your employees and say, Look, you can go see anybody anywhere, but its not terribly cost efficient because what youre reimbursing those hospitals is pretty high, Bak said.

Instead, Imagine360 has a contract with one health-care system in each of the 20 markets where it has business. In the Philadelphia region, its with the University of Pennsylvania Health System, which has six acute-care hospitals stretching from Lancaster to New Jersey north of Princeton.

Bak said the exclusive contract means it gets better rates for its clients, who are self-insured, which means they pay bills directly rather than doing it through insurance premiums.

Having a contract with one system also means that the 25,000 employees and their dependents at around 200 Imagine360 employers are steered toward Penn doctors and facilities. Chapman employees, including Mark Walton, a master technician at Chapman Nissan in Southwest Philadelphia, have lower co-pays if they use Penn doctors.

Chapman employs 550 people and has about 300 of them on the health plan, Tigano said.

If an employee goes elsewhere, Imagine360s plan doesnt simply accept whatever the provider decides to charge.

We pick what we think is a fair and reasonable amount of reimbursement. We use Medicare as a starting point. We look at what Medicare pays a hospital for services. We give a 20% bump on top of that, Bak said.

Tigano said that health systems rarely balk at Medicare plus 20%. Thats when Imagine360 steps in to work something out. Employees dont get stuck with the bill, he said.

Whats in it for Penn

Penn likes the arrangement, which started in 2018 with Imagine360s predecessor company, ELAP Services Inc., said Roy Schwartz, the health systems vice president for payer strategy.

ELAP was a pioneer in what is called referenced-based pricing. That means commercial health plans use a base price, usually Medicare, and tack on a set percentage.

By contrast, Imagine360s rates with Penn are negotiated.

There is no ambiguity about what we get paid, and we get to work together with the plan to determine what a fair and reasonable market rate ought to be, instead of having the plan set that rate unilaterally, Schwartz said in an email.

Because beneficiaries of Imagine360 plans are more likely to stay within the Penn system, Penn providers are able to maintain a comprehensive view of the patients. This often results in superior clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, he said.

Penn has a similar arrangement with a smaller organization, called Homestead Smart Health Plans, which is based in Philadelphia, Schwartz said.
On that fateful Feb. 6 morning, Felicia LoAlbo-Melendez chatted over breakfast with her mother about an upcoming Disney play and then headed off to F.W. Holbein Middle School in Mount Holly.

A few hours later, Felicia, 11, was found unresponsive at the school and was rushed to the hospital. She died two days later in her mothers arms. Her death was ruled a suicide, and authorities said foul play was not suspected.

 READ MORE: An 11-year-old who died by suicide was relentlessly bullied at her South Jersey school, a lawsuit says

Her mother, Elaina LoAlbo, believes her only daughter died after years of being harassed and bullied by classmates, and filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the South Jersey school system earlier this month for failing to protect her daughter. The sixth grader repeatedly asked school officials for help, she said.

Its really hard, LoAlbo, 41, said in an interview. It shouldnt have happened to her.

LoAlbo, who also has two sons, said she is coping with her grief by remembering her daughter as her happy hope and hearing from other parents who have lost a child. Shes also mourning her husband, Alex Melendez, a highly decorated NJ Transit police detective, who died from pancreatic cancer two weeks before their daughters death.

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She was just a bright light

Despite the bullying incidents at school, Felicia seemed like she was looking forward to school on the last day her mother saw her alive. She had been tapped to play the role of Te Fiti, a goddess in Disneys Moana, an epic adventure about a spirited teen who sets sail on a daring mission to prove herself.

She was so excited, her mother said.

Named after her paternal grandmother, Felicia was a stickler for having her name pronounced correctly. Fey-lee-see-uh was her own person, her mother said. She loved rainbows and sparkles, and was a quirky dresser. A voracious reader, she skipped a grade, which could have made the girl vulnerable to bullying because she was smaller and younger than her classmates, she said.

She was just a bright light, her mother said.

A precocious child who enjoyed reading the New York Times, Felicia loved theater, especially singing and acting, her mother said. It was not unusual for the girl to belt out a song in a grocery store aisle. She was involved with the school band, and chorus, and played the saxophone.

As a member of the Random Acts of Kindness Club, Felicia was an advocate for anti-bullying. She spoke up not only for herself but for others, too, her mother said. She wanted to start a trauma club for students who were being harassed  something her mother now plans to do in her memory.

The school on Levis Drive, which enrolls fifth to eighth graders, was designated for the 2022-2023 school year as No place for hate, according to its website. It also received a certificate in recognition of its commitment to creating a culture of kindness.

Mount Holly school superintendent Robert Mungo has not responded to telephone and email messages seeking comment. The lawsuit names Mungo, the principal, counselors, and teachers, accusing them of failing to protect the girl.

According to the lawsuit, Felicia suffered an extended, persistent period of bullying during the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school year. She wrote letters and emails to school officials, and so did her parents. In a chilling voicemail found by her mother after her death, Felicia wanted others to be nice. The message was recorded in 2021.

Never, never, never be bad. Never give up on your friends. Never, ever ... be a bully.

LoAlbo said some critics say she should have done more to protect her daughter or transferred her to a private school. LoAlbo said she sought counseling for Felicia to help her cope with the stress. She also got her involved in Krav Maga, a self-defense training similar to karate.

We did our part, she said. But we sent her to school. They could have done something.

 READ MORE: A psychiatrists perspective and resources for a time when the kids are not all right

The schools need to change the culture

In the weeks before her death, Felicia was taunted by students to unlive yourself, the lawsuit said. In class, she was called ugly, was pranked, and was the target of ethnic slurs and other offensive names, the lawsuit said.

LoAlbo said she hears almost daily from other parents whose children have been bullied at Holbein and other schools. She believes bullying incidents are underreported at Holbein and not appropriately investigated. She testified at a state Board of Education hearing this month and called for an independent audit of Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying reports schools self-report to the state.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicide is the second-leading cause of death for youths and young adults between 10 and 24. The rates are higher for children of color, and girls and young women are especially at risk.

The schools need to change the culture, said Diane Sammons, a lawyer with Nagel Rice in Roseland who filed the lawsuit. How many other children are suffering?

Sammons said New Jersey could make its anti-bullying laws, already among the toughest in the country, even better by implementing an anonymous bullying reporting system that allows students to use their cell phones, easing immunity statutes that make it difficult for parents to sue districts, and imposing criminal penalties for the parents of children who bully their peers.

While the case makes its way through the legal system, LoAlbo has focused on setting up a foundation to honor her daughter called Felicias Footprints to assist bullied and marginalized youth. The independent hospitality and security contractor already has had speaking engagements.

I want them to wake up and do better for the next kid, she said.

When the stress gets to her, LoAlbo finds solace in camping and riding her bicycle.

It gets to be so emotionally heavy. I have to live this 24 hours a day, seven days a week, she said.
Haverford College Campus in Haverford, Pa. Student Kinnan Abdalhamid was shot while celebrating Thanksgiving in Burlington, Vermont on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. Read more

Vermont authorities have arrested and charged a suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian men in Burlington on Saturday  including Haverford College student Kinnan Abdalhamid  but said it is still too early to determine whether the unprovoked attack was a hate crime.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder on Monday and is being held without bail.

Law enforcement agents on Sunday apprehended Eaton and recovered the Ruger .380 pistol with red-tipped ammunition that authorities allege he used to gun down the three college students as they were walking home from a family gathering near the University of Vermonts campus in Burlington.

Abdalhamid, Hisham Awartani, and Tahseen Ahmed were speaking in a mixture of English and Arabic, and two of them were wearing keffiyehs, when Eaton allegedly stepped off a nearby porch and fired four shots at them without warning, according to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad.

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They were walking down the street, essentially minding their own business, he said at a news conference in Burlington on Monday.

Police said two of the victims are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. All three remained hospitalized as of Monday, with Awartani facing a long recovery due to a spinal injury from the shooting.

Given the unprovoked nature of the attack and soaring tension around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Murad said it was understandable to suspect hate-based motivations at play in the case, but urged the public to withhold speculation as the investigation continues among local, state, and federal authorities. We still do not know as much as we want to know.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger called the attack one of the most shocking and disturbing events in this citys history. The victims have ties stretching from the Palestinian territories to the college campus in Delaware County, according to friends and family members.

Radi Tamimi, Abdalhamids uncle, said that his nephew grew up in the West Bank and came to the United States for school, a decision his family thought was best for his safety at the time.

We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and, you know, were just trying to come to terms with everything, Tamimi said in Burlington on Monday.

Abdalhamid, 20, is studying biology and a member of the track team at Haverford. He attended the Ramallah Friends School  a private school in the West Bank  with Awartani and Ahmed, according to a post on Facebook from the school.

The three men were visiting Burlington for the holidays and staying with Awartanis uncle, Rich Price, who said they had just returned from a birthday party for his 8-year-old twins when they were shot in the street.

It speaks to the level of civic vitriol, Price said of the shooting. It speaks to the level of hatred that exists in some corners of this country. It speaks to a sickness of gun violence that exists in this country.

When federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives knocked on Eatons apartment door on Sunday, the suspected shooter told them something to the effect of Ive been waiting for you, and then requested an attorney, Murad said. Authorities obtained a search warrant and later found the firearm and ammunition that they said was linked to the shooting scene through ballistic evidence. Police said the suspect had purchased the .380 pistol in April.

Eaton is from the Syracuse area and had just recently relocated to Burlington, authorities said. Social media accounts linked to the suspect showed that he had variously identified as a financial broker, a farm hand, and a libertarian who supported both Republican and Democratic politicians, VICE News reported. Eatons mother told the Daily Beast he had struggled with depression and other mental health issues but had been in a good mood when she saw him on Thanksgiving and did not mention the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict.

Prosecutors said the three counts of attempted murder that Eaton faces in Vermont could carry a life sentence.

 READ MORE: Anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim harassment complaints spike in Philly region

Meanwhile, support for the victims and calls for justice continues pouring in from across the globe.

A friend and Haverford classmate of Abdalhamids previously told The Inquirer that Abdalhamid was a bright kid who was kind of at the forefront of Palestine activism on campus, often organizing rallies and in talks with administration. Abdalhamid recently spoke at a schoolwide meeting about the demands of Students for Justice in Palestine.

We await word on whether [the shooting] will be pursued as a hate crime, said a statement from Haverford president Wendy Raymond and dean John McKnight. In the meantime know that Haverford College condemns all acts of hatred.

The families of Awartani, Abdalhamid, and Ahmed released a statement through the Institute for Middle East Understanding that called on law enforcement to treat this shooting as a hate crime.

No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony, the statement continued.

Reports of harassment and violence against Jews and Muslims have spiked nationally since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and Israeli forces began a military siege in the Gaza Strip. In October, a 6-year-old Palestinian-American boy in Illinois was killed when his landlord stabbed him 26 times for being Muslim, police said.

In Philadelphia, the Council for American-Islamic Relations has received 50 claims of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim bias since the start of the war.

This article contains information from the Associated Press..
Delaware Countys recently reelected district attorney on Monday announced his candidacy for state attorney general as the lone Democratic candidate so far who has served as a countys top law enforcement officer.

Jack Stollsteimer, the first-ever Democrat elected as Delcos district attorney, announced less than a month after winning reelection that hed join the crowded race to become Pennsylvanias next top prosecutor.

Stollsteimer, 60, of Havertown, said he wants to expand on his record of success in one of Pennsylvanias most populous counties to the whole state, noting his offices community-led partnership that curbed gun violence in Chester and aggressive prosecution of construction companies that misclassify workers to avoid paying them unemployment benefits.

He joins a crowded field seeking the Democratic Partys nomination in the April primary election. Four other Democrats have announced their candidacy thus far, including State Rep. Jared Solomon of Philadelphia, Philadelphias former top public defender Keir Bradford-Grey, former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, and former Bucks County Solicitor Joe Khan.

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Two Republicans have announced their candidacy for the Republican primary election, including Katayoun Kat Copeland, the former Delaware County district attorney whom Stollsteimer beat in 2019, and York County District Attorney Dave Sunday. A third Republican, state Rep. Craig Williams (R., Chester), plans to announce his campaign soon.

Pennsylvanias attorney general row office has catapulted several of its former officeholders into the governors mansion, including Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

Stollsteimer was rumored to be eyeing an attorney general run before the November election. That intensified in October after a Westmoreland County Democratic Party flier began circulating online that was labeled as sponsored by Jack Stollsteimer for Attorney General.

Stollsteimer acknowledged ahead of the November election that he was mulling a statewide campaign for attorney general, but insisted he had not made a decision on whether hed run and was committed to the district attorney role.

My intention when Im reelected is to continue all of these projects, to continue the great work were doing every day, he told The Inquirer last month before the November election. You cant let your foot off the gas. So when youre district attorney, not only do you get to set the priorities of what your staff are going to work on, but you have to make sure that people every single day continue to do it.

In an interview Monday, Stollsteimer said he decided to run for attorney general because he believes he can do even more for the people of Delaware County and the rest of the state.

Solomon, one of the other Democratic candidates, said he intends to run for both his state House seat and attorney general in next years primary.

Big stakes in 2024

Stollsteimer said Pennsylvania will need a strong advocate to represent the state after the 2024 election  and that his experience makes him uniquely qualified for the job.

As district attorney, Stollsteimer successfully prosecuted a Delaware County man for casting an illegal ballot for former President Donald Trump in 2020 in the name of his dead mother. The county itself was the subject of conspiracy theories that alleged fraud in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Next year is going to be a horrendous election in Pennsylvania, Stollsteimer said. Were once again going to be under the microscope of election deniers. Ive been involved in that fight for the last four years.

Stollsteimer also noted he is one of few district attorneys in the state who publicly pledged after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to an abortion that he would not prosecute a woman for getting an abortion in the county.

If elected, Stollsteimer said his two top priorities are continuing his fight against wage theft of workers and curbing gun violence, he said.

The fact that gunfire is the leading cause of death for young people should be morally outrageous, Stollsteimer said. Thats my passion. Im going to spend all of my time as attorney general to try to reduce gun violence and save peoples lives.

Before his election as district attorney in 2019, Stollsteimer was an assistant U.S. attorney who worked on a gun violence task force and a former appointee of Gov. Ed Rendell as a watchdog of school safety in Philadelphia.

Stollsteimer will kick off his campaign in an event in Chester with labor leaders on Tuesday.
A Wilson's warbler in a photo provided by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The American Ornithological Society announced Nov. 1 that it would review and rename birds to dissociate the animals from namesakes with problematic pasts. Read more

This story first appeared in PA Local, a weekly newsletter by Spotlight PA taking a fresh, positive look at news in Pennsylvania. Sign up for free here.

HARRISBURG  Several birds that live in and flutter around Pennsylvania could have new names in the near future.

The American Ornithological Society announced Nov. 1 that it will rename North American birds to dissociate the animals from namesakes with problematic pasts. Several birds, such as the Townsends warbler and Townsends solitaire, are named after a racist.

Peter Saenger, an ornithologist with Muhlenberg College in Allentown, told PA Local the project could affect over a dozen birds that breed in, migrate to, or visit Pennsylvania.

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The American Ornithological Society expects to assess about 80 names next year. Instead of judging on a case-by-case basis, the AOS said it will review all birds with human names. It plans to convene a committee that will solicit input from both the public and experts from various scientific fields.

The AOS has maintained a list of common, English bird names in some form since 1886 and is the scientific organization responsible for registering and standardizing English bird names across the Americas.

The organizations president, Colleen Handel, said the group hopes the renaming effort will invite more people to bird-watching and spotlight the animals rather than the humans who peep at them.

We need a much more inclusive and engaging scientific process that focuses attention on the unique features and beauty of the birds themselves. Everyone who loves and cares about birds should be able to enjoy and study them freely  and birds need our help now more than ever, Handel said in a statement.

Judith Scarl, CEO and executive director of the society, said the project could help reverse long-standing biases among birders. Exclusionary naming conventions developed in the 1800s, clouded by racism and misogyny, dont work for us today, and the time has come for us to transform this process and redirect the focus to the birds, where it belongs, Scarl said.

Jim Bonner, executive director of the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania, told PA Local that finalizing the names could take years. He said birds appearances or sounds could influence the new monikers.

They might take it in batches. Do it 20 at a time, Bonner said. The process can take a fair amount of time to work through it.

Bonner traced the effort to make birding more inclusive to the racial justice movement of 2020, when bird-watchers were among the Americans nationwide who protested police violence and reckoned with institutional racism. In particular, a racist incident in Central Park that year in which a white woman called the police on a Black birder was a watershed.

Audubons shearwater, a bird named after naturalist and enslaver John James Audubon, is among the birds on the ornithological societys list. The Audubon Society is named for the same man but decided to keep its title, a choice that led to resignations and local chapters going rogue.

Susan Bell, chair of the National Audubon Societys Board of Directors, explained the organizations name has come to represent so much more than the work of one person.

Reactions to the American Ornithological Societys plan to rename American birds en masse have varied.

Saenger, president of the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society, initially disagreed with the move.

I was thinking, Who even digs into the history? I was unaware of the backgrounds of many of these people, he said. I was naive to the fact that these people did anything bad.

Saenger said after reflection, he came to support renaming all birds instead of judging them individually. Not only would it be easier logistically, but in his own experience, birders are adaptable.

When I started thinking about the names that have changed over the decades since I started bird-watching, we get used to it, he added.

Daniel Klem Jr., president of the international Wilson Ornithological Society, said he is disappointed that mass renaming will affect historical figures with clean slates.

But Klem, who also teaches at Muhlenberg College, said he supports AOSs decision.

Its good to eliminate offensive personalities affiliated with birds and replace them with more descriptive names to help us communicate better, he said.

The name changes do not affect too much of the process for people like Brian Wargo, the president of Allegheny Plateau Audubon Society.

We dont expect too much of a difference. They have done this in the past, renaming birds, Wargo said.

He recalled when the goshawk was reclassified as two birds, American goshawk and Eurasian goshawk.

This one was due to vocalization patterns and genetic differences. They needed to split the species. Occasionally they will bring them back together, he said.

Wargo added: It is interesting how we grapple with our history.  It is a complicated question. It is good we determine those things.

Saenger, who has written a field guide on birds, said he expects the renaming process to be interesting. Birds have become an incredible attraction for people, especially during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see how people new to the hobby react to this, he said.

The list below, provided by Saenger, notes some of the birds that breed in, migrate to, or visit Pennsylvania that could be affected by the renaming effort:

BEFORE YOU GO  If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org/donate. Spotlight PA is funded by foundations and readers like you who are committed to accountability journalism that gets results.
A man escaped police custody at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Center City Philadelphia Monday morning and remained at large, according to police.

Police said they arrested Richard Renzo early Monday morning on a warrant for grand larceny from New York. He was also wanted on an open probation warrant in Philadelphia.

Renzo was taken to Jefferson Hospital to treat an injury that they say occurred prior to his arrest. He fled wearing a hospital gown or shirt around 6 a.m.

Officials at Jefferson Hospital directed all inquiries to the police.

Police described Renzo as having brown hair and a thin build. Anyone with information is asked to contact contact Central Detectives at 215-686-3093 or dial 911.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
FILE - A group of people, including many from China, walk along the wall after crossing the border with Mexico to seek asylum near Jacumba, Calif. As Congress returns this week, Senate Republicans have made it clear they wont support additional war aid for Ukraine unless they can pair it with border security measures. Read more

WASHINGTON  As Congress returns to session this week, lawmakers will be trying to forge an agreement on sending a new round of wartime assistance to Ukraine. But to succeed, they will have to find agreement on an issue that has confounded them for decades.

Republicans in both chambers of Congress have made clear that they will not support additional aid for Ukraine unless it is paired with border security measures to help manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Their demand has injected one of the most contentious issues in American politics into a foreign policy debate that was already difficult.

Time is short for a deal.

A small, bipartisan group in the Senate is taking the lead and working to find a narrow compromise that can overcome a likely filibuster by winning 60 votes. But even if they can reach a modest agreement, there is no guarantee it would pass the House, where Republicans are insisting on wholesale changes to U.S. border and immigration policies.

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Republicans hope that Democrats will feel political pressure to accept some of their border proposals after illegal crossings topped a daily average of more than 8,000 earlier this fall. President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection next year, has faced pressure even from fellow Democrats over the migrant flow.

No matter what, finding compromise will be exceedingly difficult. As they left for Thanksgiving break, Senate negotiators said they were still far apart.

A look at some of the issues under discussion and why they have proved so difficult to resolve:

Asylum and humanitarian parole

Changing the asylum system for migrants is a top priority for Republicans. They want to make it more difficult for asylum-seekers to prove in initial interviews that they have a credible fear of political, religious or racial persecution in their home country before advancing toward asylum in the United States.

Republicans in the House have passed legislation that would detain families at the border, require migrants to make the asylum claim at an official port of entry and either detain them or require them to remain outside the U.S. while their case is processed.

U.S. and international law give migrants the right to seek safety from persecution, but the number of people applying for asylum in the U.S. has reached historic highs. Critics say many people take advantage of the system to live and work in the U.S. while they wait for their asylum claims to be processed in court.

Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, an independent who is part of the Senate negotiations, said in an Arizona radio interview that one of lawmakers' goals is to ensure that those who are here seeking asylum have an actual claim to asylum.

Compromise is far from certain. Many Democrats are wary of making it harder to flee persecution, and the details of each policy shift are contentious.

Hardline conservatives in the House, already unlikely to support further Ukraine aid, have also signaled they won't accept policy changes that deviate much from a bill passed in May that would have remade the U.S. immigration system. Their stance means at least some support from House Democrats will be needed to pass any agreement  no easy task.

Some progressives have already said they will oppose any Republican-led changes to immigration policy.

The cruel, inhumane, and unworkable solutions offered by Republicans will only create more disorder and confusion at the border, said Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Infrastructure and enforcement

Lawmakers may find it easier to reach consensus on other areas of border policy, particularly when it comes to border staffing and enforcement.

Negotiators have looked at steps that could be taken to reinforce existing infrastructure at the border, including hiring and boosting pay for border patrol officers and improving technology. One proposal advanced by a bipartisan group of senators would call for hiring of more border patrol agents, raising their pay and ensuring they receive overtime.

Biden has shown a willingness to accept tougher enforcement measures, recently resuming deportation of migrants to Venezuela and waiving federal laws to allow for the construction of border wall that began under then-President Donald Trump. The White House also wants to install new imaging technology at ports of entry that would allow authorities to quickly scan vehicles for illegal imports, including fentanyl.

Republicans say that is not enough. They want more robust improvements, including more expansive construction of a border wall.

What Biden is asking for

Biden's emergency request to Congress included aid for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. allies, along with $14 billion to bolster the immigration system and border security. Money would go toward hiring more border patrol agents, immigration judges and asylum officers. It's part of Biden's strategy of trying to simultaneously turn away from Trump's hard-line policies but adapt to the realities of crossings at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Still, polls indicate widespread frustration with Biden's handling of immigration and the border, creating a political vulnerability as he seeks reelection. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told the Senate Appropriations Committee this month that the administration has been faced with a "global phenomenon" of displaced people migrating in numbers that have not been seen since World War II.

It is unanimous that our broken immigration system is in dire need of reform, Mayorkas said.

Democrats have other immigration priorities, such as expanding legal immigration pathways or work authorizations for migrants already in the U.S. Democrats have also warned about the danger of delaying aid to Ukraine as it enters another winter of war against Russia.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the second-ranking Democrat in the Senate, said it's a mistake to create a situation where "we have to do significant immigration reform in the next few weeks or we wont send money to assist the people in Ukraine or other causes important to our national security.

Republicans have so far been adamant about the need to address Ukraine and the border at the same time.

Whats likely not on the table

Lawmakers seem unlikely to address one of the nation's long-standing immigration issues: granting some form of permanent legal status to thousands of immigrants who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. Republicans have made clear that will not be addressed in this package, which they want to be more narrowly focused on border security measures.

As Congress struggled to pass a comprehensive immigration overhaul, President Barack Obama launched the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2012 to shield those immigrants from deportation and allow them to work legally in the country. But it has been caught up in the courts ever since, and Trump, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, tried to end it when he was in the White House.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut, one of the Senate negotiators, would not say early last week whether his side had proposed DACA provisions as part of the talks. But he said any deal "has to respect both Republican and Democratic priorities.

The more Republicans want, the more Democrats are going to want, Murphy said.

Republicans argue that Ukraine aid could be a tough sell to some of their voters, and the border policy is the compromise.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican who has been involved in the talks, said before the Thanksgiving holiday that the negotiations were not "very close yet, because Democrats have not yet accepted that the negotiations are not border security for Democratic immigration priorities. Its border security for Ukraine aid.

So far, leaders in both parties have encouraged the talks. But as senators restart their work and face pressure to approve funding by the end of the year, some are warning that a narrow deal is likely the best that they can do.

I dont think its realistic to solve anywhere close to the whole problem in the next two weeks, Murphy said.
In this photo taken from video provided by WKBW-TV, smoke billows from a checkpoint at the Rainbow Bridge, Wednesday in Niagara Falls, N.Y. A vehicle exploded at a checkpoint on the American side of a U.S.-Canada bridge in Niagara Falls Wednesday, leaving two people dead and prompting the closing of four border crossings in the area, authorities said. Read more

There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.  George Orwell, 1984

In the ever-shrinking world of a free and fair media, the recent weeks have brought an explosion of untruth and a stepped-up war on reality. With democracy increasingly staring into the abyss both at home and abroad, propaganda and censorship are the double-edged sword of rising dictatorship. And now with violent hacking coming from both sides of the blade, it is indeed an increasing struggle to cling to the dream of truth-flavored sanity.

Americans got a scary peek into what the rising confluence of right-wing authoritarianism and its quasi-state media could accomplish on the day before Thanksgiving. Thats when what turned out to be a tragic, fatal car crash at the wrong time in the wrong way at the wrong place  a bridge border crossing between the U.S. and Canada in Niagara Falls  became a launching pad for a Big Lie about immigration and terror that circled the globe several times before the mundane truth put its pants on.

Heres what really happened on Wednesday: A 53-year-old couple from Erie County, N.Y.  Monica and Kurt Villani  were driving to a casino in Canada in a Bentley luxury car because of a canceled rock concert when something went terribly wrong. Approaching the Rainbow Bridge border post, the car was traveling 80 to 100 mph  perhaps due to a medical emergency, or a stuck accelerator  and struck a curb, sending the Bentley into the air before a fiery crash and explosion that killed both occupants.

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No one can fault the FBI or other agencies for investigating whether this was some type of terror attack, given the location of the accident at a key border crossing, the timing  perhaps the busiest travel day of the year  and the spectacular nature of the explosion. Whats inexcusable, however, was the rapid reporting of the most extreme speculation as fact, and the large number of supposedly responsible politicians willing to run with those untruths.

What Ive been told is that this was an attempted terrorist attack, said Alexis McAdams, a correspondent for Fox News, the right-slanted network that despite a series of scandals and mishaps is still the most-watched cable news channel. Reporting just two and a half hours after the crash, McAdams added that her law enforcement sources believed that the motorists  in reality, remember, two middle-aged KISS fans  have packed that car full of explosives.

Thus, the reputable Fox News was adding the meat of confirmation to what a frothing right-wing echo chamber on social media was already proclaiming: The blast meant a network of terrorists is poised to enter America not only from the south but from the north, thus proving  in their minds  the inherent weakness of President Joe Bidens border policies. And there was an army of political demagogues eager to run with a false meme.

We need to lock down the borders immediately, GOP Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida posed on X/Twitter Wednesday. Full deportation efforts need to begin. The U.S. does not need to be the worlds hospitality suite any longer. Added another Florida Republican, Rep. Byron Donalds, in a now deleted tweet: Open borders, soft-on-crime policies and bending a knee to the woke P.C. mob is an inevitable threat to our nation and its people. Todays apparent terrorist attack must be a wake-up call to all Americans.

The website Meidas Touch published a list of more than 30 Republican officials or right-wing luminaries who tweeted similar sentiments and occasionally embellished their posts with new made-up details, like the discovery of an Iranian passport at the crash site. Some of these posts are still up, days after it became clear that the Niagara Falls crash was just a horrific tragedy and not the far-rights fever dream of Islamic jihad to justify a repressive response. Others, including Fox News, have ripped yet another page from George Orwells 1984  tossing their initial reporting down a memory hole.

Unfortunately, their mission had already been accomplished. For millions of U.S. web surfers and couch potatoes, the mental connection of Biden, the border and fiery chaos had already been implanted, and it will remain even as some of the erroneous tweets are deleted. And that sense that things are out of control in America is already being used to sell them on a rule-breaking strongman in the White House. That will be used in a Trump 47 presidency to actually carry out Lunas howling at the moon, to deport so many migrants that America will need a gulag archipelago of camps to hold them.

The Niagara Falls panic didnt happen in a vacuum, after all. It happened in the same week that Argentina elected a right-wing extremist president in Javier Milei, that the anti-immigration party of radical Geert Wilders won the most seats in the Netherlands parliament, that a fake rumor about the immigration status of a stabbing attacker sparked a destructive riot in Dublin  and that polls show Trump edging into the lead over Biden ahead of 2024s election.

For these rising, right-wing authoritarians, a free press and its threat of factual public information rate high on their enemies list  as its been for strongmen and dictators for the last century. The alliance between Fox News, Elons Musks X (formerly Twitter) and right-wing blowhards shows how a strong propaganda regime has already been established  but what about the censorship side of the sword?

Its coming.

Also this past week, we saw a stunning partnership between an increasingly unhinged Musk, the worlds richest man, and a far-right attorney general, the disgraced-but-somehow-still-in-office Ken Paxton of Texas, in taking legal action aimed at undermining and perhaps destroying the left-wing media watchdog group, Media Matters for America. (Full disclosure: Over a decade ago, I had a brief fellowship with MMFA to support a book I was writing.)

 READ MORE: With the world on fire, a cowardly, timid news media is a threat to U.S. democracy

Media Matters had run an explosive report about pro-Nazi hate speech published on X and ads for major corporations getting placed next to such content. Other X users confirmed the problem even as Xs CEO Linda Yaccarino claimed any instances were rare and unintentional. That didnt stop Musk from threatening a thermonuclear lawsuit against MMFA or Paxton from announcing a state investigation of the group  chilling moves against a free press that could cost Media Matters hundreds of thousands of dollars just to defend its very existence.

The legally challenged Paxton wont be a Trump 47 attorney general, but someone like him  like frothing right-wing lawyer Mike Davis, who recently told a podcast that were gonna detain a lot of people in the D.C. gulag and Gitmo  will get the job, which will surely include the task of siccing the Justice Department on journalists Trump has declared enemies of the people.

Its teeing up a dystopian world in which journalists who do not obey the partys propaganda line could face increasingly severe consequences  perhaps far worse than the ordeal currently facing Media Matters. Verbal abuse, lawsuits, and harassment is only where it starts. If you want to see where treating a free press as the enemy ends, look to Gaza. And not only because the communications minister in the right-wing government of Israels Benjamin Netanyahu is threatening sanctions against that nations most critical newspaper, Haaretz  although there is that.

They say that truth is often the first casualty of war but in southern Israel and Gaza the heartbreaking casualties have been the truth-tellers themselves, the journalists. After four Israeli journalists were brutally and unconscionably killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack, Israels violent war of retaliations has not only caused the deaths of Palestinian men, women and children by the thousands, but has also killed journalists at a pace not seen in any conflict in decades.

A stunning 53 Palestinian or Lebanese journalists have been killed since the war broke out, and the circumstances of at least several journalists and their family members obliterated by precision Israeli drone strikes on their homes or offices has done little to quiet suspicions that some media members are deliberately targeted. Indeed, last week the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders claimed the Reuters visuals journalist Issam Abdallah was deliberately attacked when he was killed in southern Lebanon on Oct. 13 by shells fired from Israeli territory. Wrote the group also known by its French initials RSF: Two strikes in the same place in such a short space of time (just over 30 seconds), from the same direction, clearly indicate precise targeting. Israel denies targeting journalists.

Major U.S. newsrooms have been mostly tepid in condemning these outrageous, violent, and attacks of little precedent on press freedom, to the extent that its mentioned at all. Ditto the Biden administration, which has made protecting democracy its core argument for a second term and yet seems to view the real-world implications of the First Amendment as an afterthought, if not a hindrance.

Indeed, one report suggested that Team Biden agrees with its odd-couple ally the Netanyahu government in wanting the public to know as little as possible about the extent of the destruction and killing in Gaza, Politico reported last week that a Biden administration fear, in negotiating a temporary cease-fire, was that it would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.

This kind of malarkey is what I find so alarming about our increasingly Orwellian present, and even dimmer future. Its not just that the newest generation of chest-thumping strongmen are harnessing the electrons of the 21st century to hypercharge their modern Ministries of Untruth, but that the guardians of the actual truth  the newsroom grand poobahs, an American president who claims he ran to save democracy  are passively watching it slip from our hands.

After Niagara Falls, and Texas, and Gaza, its way past time for anyone to think that it cant happen here, because its happening now. And the next 12 months may be our last chance to show that we are not going mad, that the people want the truth, and that we will stop fact-based journalism from sliding down Orwells memory hole for good.

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On Nov. 19, more than 100 family members, concerned citizens, and elected officials gathered in Hunting Park to remember the victims of traffic violence. As of Wednesday, at least 116 people have died this year from traffic violence in Philadelphia. This includes 52 pedestrians, 45 motorists, 11 motorcyclists, two e-scooter riders, and 10 bicyclists. Distressingly, according to PennDot, in the last 20 years, Philadelphia has never had as many as 10 bicyclists killed in one year.

This issue is not just numerical. Between two of us  Byrd and Fredricks  we have lost a 24-year-old daughter, Emily Fredricks, a 28-year-old niece, Samara Banks, and three grandnephews, 7-month-old Saamir Williams, 23-month-old Saasean Williams, and 4-year-old Saadeem Griffin, in preventable motor vehicle crashes.

This crisis feels intractable, but its not. We welcome Mayor-elect Cherelle Parkers help to encourage the state legislature to bring lifesaving tools to Philadelphia. Here are three viable pieces of legislation that our lawmakers should enact as soon as possible to reduce traffic violence in Philadelphia.

Expand automated speed enforcement

First, pass State Rep. Ed Neilsons bill, House Bill 1284, before the current program expires on Dec. 18. The bill will make the automated speed enforcement on Roosevelt Boulevard permanent and expand the program to other dangerous roads in Philadelphia.

Neilson is a Democrat whose district includes portions of the Boulevard where traffic can be especially perilous. The pilot program on the Boulevard has slowed down motor vehicles by 93% and saved 36 lives since it went online in 2020. The state, the Philadelphia Parking Authority, and the city all agree that the program has been successful.

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The citys Office of Transportation, Infrastructure, and Sustainability has analyzed PennDot crash data from 2018 to 2022 and found numerous other roads that have had between 12 and 40 speeding-related fatal and serious injury crashes.

Excessive speeding accounts for 20% of Philadelphias traffic fatalities and serious injuries. The expansion of automated enforcement on roads beyond Roosevelt Boulevard is the only viable tool available to reduce speeding and avoid loss of life.

Enact the Jayanna Powell hit-and-run direct notification system

Second, State Sen. Anthony Williams (D., Philadelphia) has legislation pending, Senate Bill 730, that would require the state police to notify auto body shops when hit-and-run drivers flee the scene in order to help increase the odds of identifying the motor vehicle.

This bill is named for 8-year-old Jayanna Powell, who was struck and killed by a driver in 2016 when she was walking home from school. The driver, Paul Woodlyn III, fled the scene. Woodlyns girlfriend later dropped off the car at an auto body shop in Chester County, where she said the car had hit a deer. The owner of the auto body shop saw news reports of the crash and reported the vehicle and the suspect.

Most drivers who flee the scene of a crash are never apprehended or held accountable. A statewide alert system would help law enforcement find such drivers and incentivize drivers to remain at the scene of a crash, as the law requires.

Separate bike lanes from motor vehicle traffic

State Rep. Mary Jo Daley (D., Montgomery) has a bill, House Bill 1283  named for Emily Fredricks and Susan Hicks, who lost their lives while riding a bicycle  that is awaiting Senate action. The bill would allow bike lanes on roads that are separated from motor vehicle traffic by parking spaces.

When the city of Philadelphia, in a pilot authorized by PennDot, tested parking-protected bike lanes on Philadelphia roads such as West Market Street and JFK Boulevard, they proved to be very effective at reducing speeding, reducing crashes, and attracting more bicyclists, without negatively affecting driver travel times.

Philadelphia needs these bills to be enacted to curb reckless behavior and calm chronically dangerous roads. Most urgently, the automated speed enforcement program on Roosevelt Boulevard will expire on Dec. 18 if new legislation isnt passed when the Pennsylvania General Assembly returns to work for three days on Dec. 11.

These tools, combined with the long-term effort of redesigning roads, will enable Philadelphia to reach its goal of zero traffic-related deaths, also known as Vision Zero.

We know this work will not bring loved ones back to their families, but it will help prevent similar preventable tragedies in the future. We urge Philadelphia and Pennsylvania elected officials to take prompt action and save lives.

Sarah Clark Stuart is the executive director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. Latanya Byrd and Laura Fredricks are cofounders of Families for Safe Streets Greater Philadelphia.
The Phillies signed hard-throwing right-handed reliever Jose Ruiz to a minor league contract on Monday, according to a report by MLB Trade Rumors. Ruizs deal reportedly includes an invitation to big league spring training.

Ruiz, 29, spent his 2023 season on the White Sox and the Diamondbacks. Chicago designated him for assignment in April and traded him to the Diamondbacks a few days later for cash. He was designated for assignment by Arizona in July and outrighted to triple-A Reno, where he posted a 4.10 ERA over 26 innings with 33 strikeouts.

 READ MORE: Phillies 2023 offseason tracker: Trade talk, signings, analysis, key dates, and more

Ruiz had a 5.89 ERA in his 44 innings between the Diamondbacks and the White Sox last season. His strikeout rate dropped significantly, from 25.7% in 2022 to 18.8% in 2023.

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Ruizs fastball velocity ranked in the 87th percentile in MLB in 2023, averaging 96.3 mph. He did a good job of managing hard contact last year, posting a hard-hit percentage (36.2%) that ranked in the 70th percentile of all pitchers. Ruiz throws four pitches: a curveball, a four-seam fastball, a sinker, and a changeup.

 READ MORE: Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto is officially on the MLB market, and the Phillies are likely to bid for him

If Ruiz wants to find success in 2024 hell need to find his command. He averaged 2.03 home runs per nine big league innings last season  the MLB average was 1.23  and posted a 10.1% walk rate. That figure is lower than his walk rate in 2022 (12.5%) but higher than league average of 8.6%.

Ruiz is out of options. If he is added to the Phillies big league roster, they wouldnt be able to option him to the minor leagues without passing him through waivers. He has posted a 4.51 ERA over parts of seven big league seasons with the Padres, White Sox and Diamondbacks.
Harnessing wind and solar power for toasty homes in north China

Xinhua) 16:25, November 27, 2023

HOHHOT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Amidst a cold wave sweeping through north China, Li Chengqin, a resident of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, found herself comfortably sipping tea and watching TV in her cozy living room.

A notable change this year is she no longer needs to frequently feed her stove with coal. Her new stove is powered by electricity generated from wind energy, which is not only efficient but also environmentally friendly.

"A simple press of this button can warm up the entire room in just 10 minutes," said Li, whose house is located in Jarud Banner of Tongliao City.

In her kitchen, a cubic iron box replaced the traditional coal stove and served as a heater. Once switched on, it can elevate the room temperature by three to five degrees Celsius within 10 minutes. "Despite the wind and snow outside, our room maintains a temperature of 24.5 degrees Celsius. And there are no longer ashes and the stifling smell of burning coal," Li said.

In Inner Mongolia, approximately 31.8 percent of the total population consists of farmers and herders like Li. Since their homes were not connected to the central heating system, they had to primarily rely on coal-fired heaters. To reduce air pollution, the region earmarked 160 million yuan (about 22.4 million U.S. dollars) last year to boost the use of clean energy, and aimed to continue doing so each year.

In recent years, the autonomous region has accelerated its transformation from a fossil energy base to a clean energy base. Its wind power generation has recorded an average annual growth rate of 15.6 percent over the past five years, 8.1 percentage points higher than that of all power generation.

While wind power has been harnessed in Jarud Banner, solar power is transforming lives in the Uxin Banner of Ordos City. The heating supply in herdsman Aotgan Bayar's home in Ordos is now powered by electricity generated from a photovoltaic power station set up last year.

"In the past, we needed as much as five tonnes of coal each winter, and the room was full of smoke," he said. "Now we are spending less on heating and it is more environmentally friendly."

At present, about 58,420 households in Ordos are using clean energy for winter heating, while in the city more than 78 percent of the heating systems are powered by clean energy.

In Aotgan Bayar's village alone, with 239 households shifting to clean energy, a total of 2,716 tonnes of pollutants like soot and dust, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide could be reduced in a winter heating season.

More and more people in Inner Mongolia are now bidding farewell to coal-fired stoves, thanks to the flourishing clean energy industry that leverages the region's natural advantages, including abundant wind and solar power resources.

In 2022, Inner Mongolia increased its installed capacity of new energy by 20 million kilowatts. Its gross new energy power generation topped 130 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh), more than the yearly output of the Three Gorges Hydroelectric Power Station, according to official data.

On Nov. 16, a project was put into operation in Inner Mongolia's capital Hohhot, utilizing hot water discharged from power plants for heating systems. The project is expected to save as much as 1.13 million tonnes of coal or over 675 million cubic meters of natural gas annually.

"In the long run, clean energy has the potential to not only lower heating costs but also provide residents with both warmth and a clean environment," said Yu Li, vice general manager of a local heating supply company, adding that they will strive to bring "green heat" to more families.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
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Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson on Election Day earlier this month. He locked up the votes needed to secure a win in the Council president race this fall. Read more

Last week, 11 current and four future City Council members met at the Prime Rib restaurant in South Philadelphia to unofficially elect Kenyatta Johnson as their next leader.

The private event, which was organized by Johnson, was not an official Council meeting, but a straw poll, a Johnson spokesperson said.

In rotating groups of four, Council members met with and voiced support for Johnson and the other three members who will be officially elected to leadership positions in January. That kept the total number of Council members in one room to at most eight at a time, one shy of a majority in the 17-member body  ensuring the lawmakers didnt break state open meeting laws that prohibit them from gathering a quorum behind closed doors to discuss official business.

Afterward, they all sat down for lunch, with instructions not to talk about work, Johnson spokesperson Vincent Thompson said.

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 READ MORE: From a family tragedy to City Hall, how Kenyatta Johnson rose to power before his corruption trial

While the event served no official purpose, it ended all doubts that Johnson would succeed retiring Council President Darrell L. Clarke. And it capped a remarkable turnaround in political fortunes for Johnson, a third-term Democrat who was acquitted last year on federal corruption charges.

I am humbled and honored that members of City Council are entrusting in me the opportunity to lead City Council during a very, very exciting time, Johnson said in an interview. Im just happy that I received the support of the nine members who stepped up to support me initially, and that was just based on, not only me supporting my current colleagues in this election, but me having a background in building relationships and coalitions.

But Johnsons win was delivered weeks before the Prime Rib luncheon, when one member who many assumed to be voting for his chief rival switched sides.

Interviews with more than a dozen people  including members of Council, City Hall staffers, and other political players, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations  shed light on the backroom maneuvering. Johnson was able to win over colleagues, they said, thanks to a collaborative leadership style, support from labor, and political circumstances that thwarted his competition.

The second-most powerful office in city government, the Council president controls the flow of legislation and has the power to derail a mayors agenda. And thanks to Clarke, who expanded Councils influence during his 12-year tenure, the office has often felt like the dominant force in City Hall in recent years.

Curtis Jones Jr. did not attend the Prime Rib lunch consecrating Johnsons victory. But in an interview, he said he hoped Council will thrive under Johnson.

I wish him success because if Council is successful, the administration will be successful, and if the administration is successful, the city will benefit and prosper, Jones said.

Two top contenders to succeed Clarke

After Clarke announced in the spring that he would not be running for reelection, five Council members expressed interest in the top job. But the top contenders were Johnson, who represents the South Philadelphia-based 2nd District, and Jones, who represents the 4th District, which includes parts of West and Northwest Philadelphia.

The race never became nasty, and members who voted against Jones had nice things to say about him. But there was a personal element: Years ago, when Jones was president and CEO of the Philadelphia Commercial Development Corp., he gave Johnson, 50, a job at the agency and helped him make political connections.

Now they faced each other for a job that Jones, 66, felt he had put in years of work to earn.

Jones had a few things going for him. Most significantly, he had endorsed Mayor-elect Cherelle Parker in this years Democratic primary, while Johnson had stayed neutral.

By all accounts, Parker never became directly involved in the presidents race. But over the summer she made comments during at least two political events that raised eyebrows in political circles as she conspicuously thanked Jones and Councilmember Mark Squilla, another candidate for president, without mentioning Johnson.

Having a Council president on the good side of the next mayor can be a boon for members, who want to see the administration invest in their districts and endorse their priorities.

Additionally, Jones, who was first elected in 2007, is poised to become the most senior Democrat in a Council that will be remarkably inexperienced next year.

Jones appeared to be off to a decent start with the support of Councilmember Jimmy Harrity, a confidant of Democratic City Committee Chairman Bob Brady, and the presumed backing of Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, a progressive whose West Philly district shared a border with his and whose sister, Samantha Williams, worked in Jones office before being appointed to the Common Pleas Court this year.

But even early on, there were signs that Jones was not going to be able to lock down enough support. Johnson, for instance, was able to quickly win over Councilmember Cindy Bass, who got her start in the same political organization as Jones.

And then there was Councilmember Anthony Phillips, who was Parkers chosen successor on Council and who some expected to back someone who endorsed her mayoral run. But Phillips, it turned out, had a yearslong relationship with Johnson and provided a key vote for him.

Johnson gained momentum this fall

Throughout their summer break, many members resisted committing to one candidate or the other. But as lawmakers returned in September, Johnsons bid picked up momentum.

One key factor was that Johnson was seen as the preferred candidate of organized labor. He has long been a champion for the priorities of Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union. And he was also widely assumed to be the favorite of the politically powerful building trades unions.

Ryan Boyer, the chair of the Building and Construction Trades Council and a key backer of Parkers mayoral campaign, said throughout the race that he was staying neutral.

We werent lobbied by those individuals, but it was very clear to all of us just through our interactions with them that the building trades were for Kenyatta, one member said.

 READ MORE: Many of Councilmember Kenyatta Johnsons fellow lawmakers stood by him from indictment to acquittal

Few members had qualms about Johnsons legal woes, and many of his colleagues stood by him during his corruption case, in which he was acquitted after federal prosecutors accused him of accepting a bribe in the form of a consulting contract for his wife. Some, however, said they had concerns about whether voting for Johnson would attract negative press.

But it appears that Johnson won on more practical concerns. He is known as an attentive collaborator and as a colleague who takes a position and sticks to it. Jones, on the other hand, was seen by many as experienced and well-meaning, but also aloof and difficult to pin down.

This came down to what I call hand-to-hand combat, strictly working with individual Council members on my own merit, Johnson said.

Some more junior members said they were keen to support Johnson due to his outreach to them while they were settling into their new positions. One member, for instance, said Johnsons office sent them binders with tips on where to get office supplies and how to draft legislation.

The deciding vote

Its difficult to say when Johnson got his ninth vote and secured a majority. But most believe it was when Gauthier, who had gone from being seen as a likely Jones backer to avoiding a commitment, signed on to support Johnson in early October.

She was followed by Councilmember-elect Rue Landau, whom Jones had helped win this years Democratic primary.

The winners of all but three of Councils 17 seats were effectively decided in the primary.

That meant Jones and Johnson needed to win nine votes out of only 14 members in order to end the race before the Nov. 7 general election, and many expected the outcome would be undetermined until the three remaining Council members-elect weighed in.

But Johnson got more than nine without needing those members, and The Inquirer reported he had secured a majority in October.

By then, Councilmember Katherine Gilmore Richardson had already secured the votes to become Councils next majority leader, the No. 2 position. The whip, who is next in line, will be Councilmember Isaiah Thomas, and Bass will retain her position as deputy whip.

On Election Day, Johnson attended Parkers victory party. She cajoled him to the front of the stage during her speech and recognized his victory, which he had not yet publicly acknowledged.

Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, are you here? Are you here, Councilmember? I think you should come stand next to me while Im talking about this part, Parker said. I know it makes for good theater, I will call it, to see a City Council and a mayor not get together, not be able to move this city forward by working in a collaborative way. But if its Gods will, we are not going to use that as our strategy.

Staff writer Anna Orso contributed to this article.
Construction on a new apartment building at Broad Street and Washington Avenue in Philadelphia from the Post Bros., a rare developer that's been building more market-rate family-size apartment units. Read more

Philadelphia-based developer Bobby Fijan, who has worked on buildings such as the Icon at 1616 Walnut St., wants the real estate industry to start thinking seriously about building new apartments for families.

The 37-year-old founder of Form Developers is known in a real estate-centric corner of the internet for posting images of apartment floor plans more accommodating of families with children.

In the United States, where its long been the norm that most people with money leave cities for suburbs when they start having children, urban apartment buildings are dominated by small units for single people. Fijan says there are ways to build larger that will attract the kind of demand and rents needed to support new construction.

Fijan believes that the availability of family-oriented apartments will keep more people in the city, instead of taking their economic resources and political clout to the suburbs. And that, he says, is good for everyone in Philadelphia and other cities like it.

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This Q&A with Fijan has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Why do so many developers limit their buildings to studios and one-bedroom apartments?

The most straightforward one: It just has to do with the difficulty in financing apartments. Smaller units have been shown to get higher rent per square foot than larger units. It is cheaper to build a 1,300-square-foot, two-bedroom than it is to build three 430-square-foot studios. But it is not more expensive relative to the amount of extra rent that you get for small units. So thats the main reason why it doesnt happen.

It also comes from the fact that lenders and equity investors and developers are extremely focused on two-year windows. The way that underwriting works in an apartment is someones going to say, What are the rents today? Let me do a survey about which units seem to be getting the most rent per square foot right now. Im going to build those. And then in two years, I expect those to lease up.

Theres a problem of short-term thinking. No one thinks, well, what happens if everybody else looks at the exact same data and builds the exact same thing?

Why do you think its important to offer more family-size units? Why not just live in a rowhouse or move to the suburbs?

Philadelphia has a lot of people come to the city for grad school or for first jobs. The main thing thats lost in not having units that allow someone to step up is it causes everyone who is here in the city for a certain period of time to have that countdown clock.

Having people know that they can stay more easily allows a lot more people to opt into the city. I dont know anyone whos lived in the city and hasnt loved Philadelphia, loved its walkability, but theres always the question: Can we stay here long-term? Is there somewhere for us to live?

We do have lots of rowhouses, and I think that is frankly one of the things that makes Philadelphia as well-positioned as it is. There are certainly a lot of other problems that Philadelphia is going to have to solve in order to keep people  schools and safety and all that other stuff. Theres no floor plan so perfect that it fixes all those different problems that cause someone to leave. But [having family-size units available] helps to get someone to that mindset of staying a little bit longer and pulls them into a community a little more.

Household sizes are shrinking pretty dramatically, with huge increases in solo households. Dont we need more studios and one-bedrooms for them? And maybe apartments for them would open up rowhouses for families?

That is a very fair pushback. But it is probably always going to be the case that the majority of developers are going to build one-bedrooms, and theyre going to design two-bedrooms for roommates. I would agree that the city is going to be most dynamic when it is a young place, and theres a lot of space for people to come and do that first job and have a single household.

But I also dont think theres anybody who loves the city who doesnt wish they could stay. Ill admit that Im biased, but it enables higher-income people  because all new construction is top of the market  to choose to not move [to the suburbs]. I firmly believe that then induces a positive cycle.

Other countries, like Norway, mandate that some apartment buildings have a certain percentage of family-size apartments. That seems unlikely here, but what changes or incentives could get developers to build larger units?

It is certainly the case that single-stair reform makes it more possible. [In North America, most multifamily buildings are required to have two staircases, which require much larger apartment buildings and a lot of wasted interior space along shared hallways.] Everywhere with a very large townhouse could easily be a single-stair building with 1,300-square-foot apartments or even condos on every floor.

Im hesitant to say mandating bedroom count because bedroom count often ends up becoming de facto co-living. Id say equating bedroom count with family-friendly is not the right way. If you look at the actual floor plans of the product that is great in Europe, in those units all the bedrooms are really small, and none of them have closets. Thats what enables someone to do three-bedroom units. Those are the things which [dont require a] mandate as much as its an inaccurate assessment of peoples minimum needs or desires.

Thats why I try to focus more on floor plan data, to try and show other developers that there are lots of places where people want these different things. And if you were to design differently, in frankly a more European style, you will still get rents by driving unit size down.

It is also certainly the case that there are more family-oriented units that will naturally occur in conversions. So to the extent that you allow more conversions, there will be more units that are going to have lower rent per square foot because theyre bigger. Single-stair reform and more conversions, youll see more families in those kinds of buildings, even ones that are explicitly designed for roommates.
Leon Brantley, a Vietnam War veteran, is seen at Veterans Village in the Frankford section of Philadelphia on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023, where he is a resident. Read more

Last July, Leon Brantley, a proud member of a military family, moved into a new home in Veterans Village Philadelphia, a newly built apartment complex in the citys Frankford section.

It didnt take long for him to feel at home.

To me, its like living in the barracks, Brantley, 74, said, chuckling. Ive met some comrades and made friends. Were building a bond as we go along.

Supporting people who have served their country while they support one another is the idea behind Veterans Village Inc., a Philadelphia-based affordable housing nonprofit now filling up its first rental community. So far, 31 of its 47 units  from studios to three-bedrooms  have tenants.

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The $6.5 million Frankford project is modular construction funded by individual, corporate, and foundation donations plus traditional financing. Program leaders hope it will be the first of other Veterans Villages around the country.

Whoever has the real estate, funding, passion, and volition to create a village, we will help that person or organization, said Dana Spain, president of Veterans Villages Inc.s board of directors. We alone cannot build enough villages to house all of our veterans in need, but we can be part of the solution.

Spains no newcomer to housing or philanthropy. The daughter of Bernard Spain, the late Dollar Express and greeting card entrepreneur, Dana Spain is owner of the Spain Development Group. Her credits as a charity leader include Philly PAWS, now the citys largest animal rescue partner, and HAVEN Women, a housing facility for homeless female veterans, as well as those coming out of shelters, incarceration, or addiction.

The idea for Veterans Village arose out of her frustration with the poor quality and often lack of safety in housing choices available to the women graduating from HAVEN. One day in 2020, she was venting about the situation to her father, who was also a philanthropist and a Korean War veteran.

He said, Dont you build apartment buildings for a living? Lets not complain about it. Lets do something about it,  Spain said. And so Veterans Village was born.

The Joan and Bernard Spain Foundation contributed $1 million toward the building of the Frankford Veterans Village.

The need is great, sadly, and some of the options that are offered to some veterans that they can afford or use vouchers for from the federal government are not how you would want to live, said Deputy Adjutant General Maureen Weigl of the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.

Veterans Village is one-, two-, three-bedroom beautiful apartments. Granite countertops, state-of-the-art construction, and its just for folks who are facing housing insecurity and might feel embarrassed or vulnerable, Weigl said. This housing gives them something to be proud of.

Apartments for singles and families

Veterans Village also has two- and three-bedroom apartments that can affordably accommodate veterans with families.

The rents range from $800 for the smallest units to $1,775 for a three-bedroom. Of the 36 units currently occupied, 25 have their rents subsidized through federal Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing vouchers. The other 11 village residents are private payers.

Veterans housing insecurity or homelessness stems from a number of causes. Hurdles include the rising costs of housing and difficulty securing work with wages to cover living expenses. About 1.5 million veterans nationally were living below the federal poverty line last year, according to nonprofit National Veterans Homeless Support.

Some veterans also battle mental health challenges, including post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from combat and other service-related strife, domestic and sexual violence, and other trauma. As many as 30% of veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have PTSD, according to federal health data. Other vets struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.

The federal Veterans Administration set a national goal of housing 38,000 homeless veterans in 2023. More than 90% of Veteran Villages tenants have remained housed and employed since units became available, according to Weigl.

Were focused on supporting and serving them, just as they served our nation, said Lisa Pflaumer, who is from a military family and is a member of Veterans Villages board of directors.

Quite a few of the residents were referred by veterans groups. Many are already getting services from veterans agencies, and some residents get additional service referrals from the villages staff.

Experiences that only we can understand

The intent behind creating all-veterans housing is that those who have served will also find support in each other. There are already signs of that happening.

Theres a sense of camaraderie, Pflaumer said. Theres a sense of belonging and sense of community as a result.

Vanessa Morbeck, 32, who served seven years in the Army, likes living among her fellow veterans.

We all have a commonality and a common bond, she said. As a veteran, there are places and situations and experiences that only we can understand because weve lived through it.

Some of them arent easy to bear. Diagnosed with PTSD, Morbeck is a survivor of military sexual trauma, a problem that has grown in recent years, as well as domestic violence and childhood abuse. Shes gone through bouts of homelessness. She is a suicide survivor, too. And although she did human resources work in the military, she has struggled to find secure employment in the civilian world.

Her apartment in Veteran Village is a place for her to renew and strengthen her relationship with her 8-year-old daughter, Ariana Johnston, whom she is now co-parenting with the childs father, who is stationed in New Jersey. Ariana spends part of her time with him and his family and part of the time with Morbeck.

Im just making it happen, she said. Im making sure my daughters safe, protected. I get her to school. I spend time with her. We have the basic necessities, food in the house. Well go to the park. Thats free.

Morbeck is working on herself, too, trying to become healthier, stronger. One of her goals is sharing her experiences with others, both veterans and civilians. She has already done some of that  one of the interviews she did was made into a podcast in the Save Our Children series and she also made a video  but she wants to do more.

If I can go through all the struggles and still be here, then maybe they can find hope and courage in that, too.

Brantley, one of five military brothers, comes from a family with a long history of service. His mother, Lena Clara Brantley Heard, was a five-blue-star mother, and his paternal grandmother, Frances Berry, had four sons who served, Brantley said.

We have been a part of Americanism and patriotism since before the Revolutionary War, he said.

Brantley, who grew up in Frankford, enlisted in the Army in January 1967 and was sent first to Hawaii. That, he said, was paradise. The second year I was in hell because I was sent to Vietnam during the Tet Offensive, 67 to 68. I spent my 18th birthday in the jungle.

Life in the service and after took its toll. When he was not quite 25, a fire in his home claimed the lives of three of his children.

He worked for the city and the postal service until he was granted disability due to PTSD. But hes always tried to lend a hand to his fellow veterans, he said. He started his own organization, NUAMVAW, which stands for Neighbors United American Member Veterans and Warriors. He said hes already offered welcome and support to residents at his new home.

He sees the potential for that kind of fellowship at Veterans Village.

Residents already congregate in the community room to cheer on the Eagles and their other favorite teams. Brantley can see the residents also gathering to share information and support as well.

I hope more Veterans Villages do occur and become the norm, Brantley said. Not only are they needed, I would support them wholeheartedly.

He, for one, is looking forward to the 2024 Veterans Day Parade.

Next year, he said, Veterans Village will be participating.
Although the average consumer will be aware that Marsh is a word meaning a wet, muddy area of land, considered in context, they are more likely to construe it as a surname, it was stated in the Marsh and Marshmallow judgment.
The owners' vision is to grow the market in Australia and Emergence is achieving excellent market penetration, plus the market itself continues to grow. Opening in New Zealand is a wonderful opportunity to build the brand so it can become the best-known brand in New Zealand and potentially other overseas markets, Dransfield said.
I am very fortunate to have support from the people around me to help challenge me, push me outside my comfort zone, and continue to drive me to be more confident in myself, she told IB. I give a lot of credit to my mentors within Stellar who have shown me everything I know and taught me to always push for the best result for my client. I am also very diligent and resilient, which has helped me grow, tackle obstacles, and continue to give my best every day.
Panama Canal Authority adapts to unprecedented challenges.

More information: https://t.co/kb60EuWuDL  The Panama Canal (@thepanamacanal) August 10, 2023

Panama Canal Authority has moved to limit traffic as it wrestles with drought conditions

In response, the Panama Canal Authority has moved to limit average transits through the canal, with 24 daily booking slots available throughout November, with this continuing to shrink into at least February, when there will be just 18 per day.
Once a jury decided the case was worth $97 million, MMIC/Constellation used the jurys verdict to convince Iowa politicians to put a cap on non-economic damages in place in the state of Iowa, the lawsuit stated. MMIC/Constellation unreasonably chose not to settle and make the lawsuit and verdict go away, and then used OB-GYN Associates financial and reputational demise as propaganda to pass tort reform in Iowa.
Typically, workers who are injured during their commute to work arent eligible for workers compensation benefits.

The New Jersey Supreme Court highlighted an exception to that rule in a unanimous decision Tuesday. The high court held that a pest control technician who was injured in a car crash while driving from home to his companys office to pick up supplies suffered a compensable injury.

The opinion says when an employee, with permission from an employer, is engaged in a work-related activity or an activity that requires time and effort to benefit the employer, the employee is conducting business authorized by the employer.

Henry Keim was employed as a salaried pest control technician for Above All Termite & Pest Control in Lanoka Harbor. His employer provided a vehicle for him, which he used to drive to various worksites that were assigned to him each morning via a laptop computer.

Keim was allowed to keep his vehicle at his home at night. When he needed supplies, such as pesticides or rodent traps, he drove to the companys shop to pick them up. Keim testified that he usually made resupply trips every two or three days.

On one morning, Keim suffered substantial injuries in a crash while driving from his home to the Above All shop to collect the supplies he needed. Keim struck his head on the interior of his work vehicle and lost consciousness. About two months after the accident he leanred he had subdural hematomas that required surgery.

Above Alls insurance carrier denied Keims workers compensation claim. A judge of compensation claims concluded that Keim was injured while commuting to work. The judge dismissed the claim, finding the fact that Keim was going to the shop to pick up supplies was irrelevant.

The Appellate division disagreed and reinstated Keims claim. Above All appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the Workers Compensation Act creates a bright-line coming and going rule whereby injuries sustained while commuting to and from work are not compensable.

The high courts opinion says legislation adopted in 1979 created four rules governing when an employee is considered to be in the course of employment: the premises rule, meaning the employee is at his or her workplace; the special mission rule, meaning the worker was running an errand for the benefit of the employer; the paid travel time rule, meaning the worker was being paid for the time spent traveling to the jobsite; and the authorized vehicle rule, meaning the employee was using a vehicle authorized by his employer for business purposes.

Keims trip to the Above All shop to pick up supplies falls within the gambit of the authorized vehicle rule, the Supreme Court said. The employer had instructed its employees to stop by the shop to pick up supplies when needed in an effort to minimize travel time and keep a robust appointment schedule.

Attorney Richard B. Rubenstein, managing partner with Rubenstein Berliner & Shinrod in Livingston, filed an amicus brief supporting Keims petition on behalf of the New Jersey Advisory Council on Safety and Health. Rubenstein is co-chairman of the advocacy group and author of the Lexis-Nexis Practice Guide to New Jersey Workers Compensation.

The case has broad implications for any worker who operates a work vehicle and whose work is centered outside of the home base of the business, Rubenstein said in an email to the Claims Journal. In an economy which is transforming before our eyes, with remote workers making up a much greater proportion of the workforce, the Keim case was momentous.

Rubenstein said while defense counsel and the judge of compensation claim found the 1979 statute opaque, he found the law to be crystal clear.

An accident arises in the course of employment when it occurs while the employee is doing what a man so employed may reasonably do within a time during which he is employed, and at a place where he may reasonably be during that time,' he said, quoting Bryant v. Fissell, a 1913 decision that was also cited in Tuesdays decision.

This case is important because any other result would leave workers who take home their employers vehicles for their employers profit or convenience without medical or disability coverage if an accident should befall them, Rubenstein said. This donut hole can be catastrophic for a worker, and departs from the intention of the Legislature to mandate coverage for drivers of motor vehicles in New Jersey.

Top photo is courtesy of Above All Termite & Pest Control.

Topics Auto Workers' Compensation Talent Personal Auto New Jersey
Eight firefighters were injured battling a Thanksgiving night fire that displaced more than a dozen residents in West New York, New Jersey, officials said.

WABC-TV reports that the fire was in an apartment above a pharmacy on Bergenline Avenue at 53rd Street. Video showed flames billowing from the building.

Neighbors had to evacuate their homes when the building two doors down on Bergenline Avenue collapsed.

An explosion caused the roof to cave with firefighters on top of it, sending eight of them to the hospital with injuries ranging from smoke inhalation to broken bones, North Hudson fire officials said.

I got a call that we had three members missing, we had a mayday and your heart just drops, West New York Fire Chief David Donnarumma said. It was not immediately clear if the three missing were accounted for.

Donnarumma said the explosion happened as firefighters were battling flames shooting out the windows of the three-story corner building. The blast turned the building next to it into rubble.

Its a sad day for the township of West New York. They with their residents, cause people are displaced, they lost their residences and lost their belongings,  he said. Its a difficult day for the firefighters, not because we had to work but because of the injuries. Now their families will be suffering as well. 

Firefighters were able to get everyone out, rescuing several residents. Others were able to escape on their own.

The fire was contained but 20 people were displaced. The Red Cross said they were assisting at least 10 families.

The cause of the fire and explosion is under investigation.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics New York New Jersey
Citizens Bank will change its company policy and pay $100,000 to a former employee of its Cranston, Rhode Island call center to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced.

According to the EEOCs lawsuit, Citizens Bank declined to accommodate a call center employee after he developed an anxiety disorder and requested to be reassigned to a position that did not require him to field calls with aggravated customers over the phone.

The EEOC said that despite having hundreds of nearby job openings, Citizens Bank would not reassign the employee or discuss alternative accommodations until he returned to his job at the call center, the same position his disability prevented him from performing. As a result, the employee was forced to resign, the EEOC said.

The EEOC found that the banks refusal violates the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against employees with disabilities and requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations, including reassignment.

The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Citizens Bank, N.A., Civil Action No. 1:19-cv-00362) in U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.

An employer cannot refuse to engage in the interactive process until an employee returns to the same job that the employees disability precludes him or her from performing, said EEOC New York District Office Regional Attorney Jeffrey Burstein. Transferring a qualified employee to a vacant position is a reasonable accommodation under the ADA.

Judge Upholds $24M Award in Suit by Employee With Social Anxiety Disorder

The agreement comes a few weeks after a federal district court judge in Massachusetts upheld a $24 million jury award for a woman who sued her employer for retaliation and discrimination because of her social anxiety disorder.

In addition to the monetary relief, the 30-month consent decree also requires Citizens Bank to revise its reasonable accommodation policy.
The European Union is considering broadening the scope of proposed cybersecurity labeling rules that would affect not just Amazon, Alphabets Google and Microsoft but also banks and airlines, according to the latest draft of the rules.

The EU move to set up such a system comes as Big Tech looks to the government cloud market to drive growth in the coming years while a potential boom in artificial intelligence after the viral success of OpenAIs ChatGPT could also boost demand for cloud services.

The latest proposal from EU cybersecurity agency ENISA concerns an EU certification scheme (EUCS) which vouches for the cybersecurity of cloud services and determines how governments and companies in the bloc select a vendor for their business.

Siemens, Ericsson Warn Proposed EU Cybersecurity Rules May Disrupt Supply Chains

The document retains key provisions contained in earlier drafts such as a requirement that U.S. tech giants set up a joint venture with an EU-based company to qualify for the EU cybersecurity label.

Another provision states that cloud service must be operated and maintained from the EU, while all cloud service customer data must be stored and processed in the EU, with EU laws taking precedence over non-EU laws regarding the cloud service provider.

These obligations apply to the highest security level, of which there are four. The latest draft sets out the possibility for these tough requirements to be extended to the third highest security level.

EU countries are now reviewing the latest draft after which the European Commission will adopt a final scheme.

Tech lobbying group CCIA said broadening the scope would affect a bigger swath of industries.

Perhaps the most striking part of this new draft is that ENISA now suggests the requirements that discriminate against foreign cloud providers could also be extended to lower levels of assurance, said Alexandre Roure, CCIA Europes public policy director.

That would include banks, but also airlines, utility companies, and heavily regulated sectors, he said.

The European Banking Federation (EBF), together with the European Savings Banks Group (ESBG), the Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME), the European Payment Institutions Federation (EPIF), and Insurance Europe on Tuesday criticized the sovereignty requirements.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Topics Cyber Europe
A UK court ruled that a group of Nigerian fishermen can bring claims against Shell Plc over oil pollution that devastated their communities, as a long-running legal case edges closer to a trial.

The 13,000 fishermen from the Ogale and Bille communities in the Niger Delta region claim that Shell breached their right to a clean environment under Nigerian constitutional law, according to an emailed statement Thursday from their law firm Leigh Day. The court ruling published Wednesday deals with procedural issues before a trial in a case thats been going on for eight years.

I am not going to strike out the claims, the judge said, adding that such a move would be draconian, given the catastrophically environmentally damaging oil pollution in the Niger Delta.

Update: Oil Majors Should Pay $12B to Repair Damage in Nigeria: Report

Shell said the court also ruled that the claimants have failed to identify the particular spill or spills that caused them damage. The Ogale and Bille litigation does little to address the real causes of pollution in the Niger Delta, the company added in a statement.

Oil is being stolen on an industrial scale in the Niger Delta, Shell said. This criminality is a major source of pollution and is the cause of the majority of spills in the Bille and Ogale claims.

Shell won a similar case earlier this year after judges in the UKs Supreme Court dismissed arguments that an offshore oil spill had impacted communities and that the oil major could still be held responsible over a decade later for an oil spill in Nigeria. The leak at the offshore Bonga field in 2011  one of Nigerias largest  was an environmental catastrophe that caused billions of dollars of damage, a group of almost 28,000 Nigerians had argued.

Shell has a fraught history in the West African nation, where frequent spills and challenging relationships with local communities have led it to reassess the future of its onshore and shallow water operations. These leaks, many of which Shell blames on sabotage and theft rather than mechanical failure, have destroyed the livelihoods of fishing and farming populations in the south of the country and have led to ongoing legal battles in Nigeria, the UK and the Netherlands.

Photograph: Abandoned fishing boats sit on the ground as crude oil pollution covers the shoreline of an estuary in B-Dere, Ogoni, Nigeria, on Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. Photo credit: Bloomberg

Related:

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics Energy Oil Gas
Increasing numbers of Australians are abandoning their insurance policies as premiums surge in response to climate-linked natural disasters, the head of the Insurance Council of Australia said.

Over a million households now face home insurance affordability stress, Andrew Hall said Thursday in a speech in Canberra. As a growing number of people dump or scale back their insurance, a protection gap is emerging, he said.

As that gap widens, theres a risk that governments will be called on to fund more of the community recovery costs because there is insufficient private insurance in place, Hall said. More and more people are crossing their fingers and hoping that luck will hold their way.

Australia, the worlds driest inhabited continent, was scorched by wildfires over the summer of 2019-20 and the countrys heavily populated east coast was repeatedly inundated with heavy rains and flooding in 2022.

Emergency services are bracing for a severe bushfire season in 2023 after months of heavy rain caused by the La Nina weather system gave way to the dry conditions generated by El Nino as Australia heads toward summer.

Amid the natural disasters, many of which have been linked to the worsening effects of climate change, insurance premiums have soared.

Median home insurance premiums surged 28% to A$1,894 ($1,240) in the year to March 31, according to a report by the Actuaries Institute, while those in the highest-risk properties  in flood or bushfire-prone areas  jumped 50%.

Hall said governments across Australia need to spend more on disaster prevention, rather than just mitigation, while warning officials against trying to fix a worsening housing shortage by allowing construction in areas vulnerable to natural disasters, such as flood plains.

Top photograph: Trees scorched by wildfires stand in this aerial photograph taken near Buchan, East Gippsland, Australia, on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. Photo credit: Carla Gottgens/Bloomberg

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.
ST. LOUIS (AP)  A former St. Louis alderman indicted in a fraud case was charged with lying to police about getting carjacked last year, authorities said.

Brandon Bosley was charged Wednesday with one misdemeanor count of making a false report to police when he said a woman tried to carjack him last year, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Months ago, he was indicted by federal officials in a fraud and bribery investigation that put three other former St. Louis aldermen in prison last December.

Charging documents say there was no evidence of an attempted carjacking and that several parts of Bosley`s story did not line up with what investigators found, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Officers spoke with Bosley and the woman on Dec. 22, according to court documents, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Bosley accused the woman of trying to rob him, while the woman told police that Bosley hit her with his car.

According to the court documents, Bosley told police he was robbed at a specific address and that he followed a car that he said fired shots at him. But investigators found that he wasn`t at that address at the corresponding time, and surveillance video showed that he did not follow any cars.

He is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 27 for this charge, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Meanwhile, Bosley`s case in federal court is still pending, the St. Louis Post- Dispatch reported. He was indicted by federal officials in June on three counts of wire fraud related to a car insurance scheme.

Three other former St. Louis aldermen, including the longtime board president, were sentenced to prison  for about three to four years each  for accepting bribes from a businessman.

The businessman provided bribes in exchange for tax breaks and a reduced rate in obtaining a city-owned property. The former aldermen are Lewis Reed, Jeffrey Boyd and John Collins-Muhammad.

They are all men and Democrats, along with Bosley.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Fraud Law Enforcement
WHITE LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP)  Explosions at a petroleum refinery outside Detroit caused a fire and led to the evacuation of some nearby residents, authorities said.

The first explosion occurred shortly after 10 p.m. Friday in White Lake Township, local news outlets reported. A second explosion minutes later sent flames higher than trees and created a large plume of black smoke that could be seen for miles, the Detroit Free Press reported.

Fewer than 100 residents near the site of the explosion and fire were evacuated, White Lake Police said. Four fire departments responded to the scene.

Laun Dearman, who lives less than half a mile (0.8 kilometers) from the refinery, said he and his wife saw the billowing smoke and flames.

It wasn`t clear who owned the refinery or what caused the explosions.

Its a small, portable rig. Theyve been drilling for oil for close to a year now, Dearman said.

Police told WXYZ-TV that vents and canisters that regulate air flow to an underground gas line exploded.

No injuries were reported.

White Lake Township Police posted on Facebook before midnight that the incident has been resolved and the roadway is once again open. The area has also been cleared safe for everyone to return to their homes.

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Energy Oil Gas Michigan
The agreement by the maker of OxyContin to settle thousands of lawsuits over the harm done by opioids could help combat the overdose epidemic that the painkiller helped spark. But that does not mean all the victims are satisfied.

In exchange for giving up ownership of drug manufacturer Purdue Pharma and for contributing up to $6 billion to fight the crisis, members of the wealthy Sackler family would be exempt from any civil lawsuits. At the same time, they could potentially keep billions of dollars from their profits on OxyContin sales.

The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Dec. 4 over whether the agreement, part of the resolution of Purdue Pharmas bankruptcy, violates federal law.

The issue for the justices is whether the legal shield that bankruptcy provides can be extended to people such as the Sacklers, who have not declared bankruptcy themselves. The legal question has resulted in conflicting lower court decisions. It also has implications for other major product liability lawsuits settled through the bankruptcy system.

But the agreement, even with billions of dollars set aside for opioid abatement and treatment programs, also poses a moral conundrum that has divided people who lost loved ones or lost years of their own lives to opioids.

Ellen Isaacs 33-year-old son, Ryan Wroblewski, died in Florida in 2018, about 17 years after he was first prescribed OxyContin for a back injury. When she first heard about a potential settlement that would include some money for people like her, she signed up. But she has changed her mind.

Money might not bring closure, she said. And by allowing the deal, it could lead to more problems.

Anybody in the future would be able to do the exact same thing that the Sacklers are now able to do, she said in an interview.

Her lawyer, Mike Quinn, put it this way in a court filing: The Sackler releases are special protection for billionaires.

Lynn Wencus, of Wrentham, Massachusetts, also lost a 33-year-old son, Jeff, to overdose in 2017.

She initially opposed the deal with Purdue Pharma but has come around. Even though she does not expect a payout, she wants the settlement to be finalized in hopes it would help her stop thinking about Purdue Pharma and Sackler family members, whom she blames for the opioid crisis.

I feel like I cant really move on while this is all hanging out in the court, Wencus said.

Purdue Pharmas aggressive marketing of OxyContin, a powerful prescription painkiller that hit the market in 1996, is often cited as a catalyst of a nationwide opioid epidemic, persuading doctors to prescribe painkillers with less regard for addiction dangers.

The company pleaded guilty to misbranding the drug in 2007 and paid more than $600 million in fines and penalties.

The drug and the Stamford, Connecticut-based company became synonymous with the crisis, even though the majority of pills being prescribed and used were generic drugs. Opioid-related overdose deaths have continued to climb, hitting 80,000 in recent years. Thats partly because people with substance abuse disorder found pills harder to get and turned to heroin and, more recently, fentanyl, an even more potent synthetic opioid.

Drug companies, wholesalers and pharmacies have agreed to pay a total of more than $50 billion to settle lawsuits filed by state, local and Native American tribal governments and others that claimed the companies marketing, sales and monitoring practices spurred the epidemic. The Purdue Pharma settlement would be among the largest. It`s also one of only two so far with provisions for victims of the crisis to be compensated directly, with payouts from a $750 million pool expected to range from about $3,500 to $48,000.

Lawyers for more than 60,000 victims who support the settlement called it a watershed moment in the opioid crisis, while recognizing that no amount of money could fully compensate victims for the damage caused by the misleading marketing of OxyContin.

In the fallout, parts of the Sackler family story has been told in multiple books and documentaries and in fictionalized versions in the streaming series Dopesick and Painkiller.

Museums and universities around the world have removed the familys name from galleries and buildings.

Family members have remained mostly out of the public eye, and they have stepped off the board of their company and have not received payouts from it since before the company entered bankruptcy. But in the decade before that, they were paid more than $10 billion, about half of which family members said went to pay taxes.

Some testified in a 2021 bankruptcy hearing, telling a judge that the family would not contribute to the proposed legal settlement without being shielded from lawsuits.

Two family members appeared by video and one listened by audio to a 2022 court hearing in which more than two dozen people impacted by opioids told their stories publicly. One told them: You poisoned our lives and had the audacity to blame us for dying.

Purdue Pharma reached the deal with the governments suing it  including with some states that initially rejected the plan.

But the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee, an arm of the Justice Department responsible for promoting the integrity of the bankruptcy system, has objected to the legal protections for Sackler family members. Attorney General Merrick Garland also has criticized the plan.

The opposition marked an about-face for the Justice Department, which supported the settlement during the presidency of Donald Trump, a Republican. The department and Purdue Pharma forged a plea bargain in a criminal and civil case. The deal included $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures, but the company would pay the federal government only $225 million so long as it executed the settlement plan.

A federal trial court judge in 2021 ruled the settlement should not be allowed. This year, a federal appeals panel ruled the other way in a unanimous decision in which one judge still expressed major concerns about the deal. The Supreme Court quickly agreed to take the case, at the urging of the administration of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Purdue Pharmas is not the first bankruptcy to include this sort of third-party release, even when not everyone in the case agrees to it. It was specifically allowed by Congress in 1994 for asbestos cases.

They have been used elsewhere, too, including in settlements of sexual abuse claims against the Boy Scouts of America, where groups like regional Boy Scout councils and churches that sponsor troops helped pay, and against Catholic dioceses, where parishes and schools contributed cash.

Proponents of Purdue Pharmas settlement plan often assert that federal law does not prohibit third-party releases and that they can be necessary to create a settlement that parties will agree to.

Third-party releases are a recurring feature of bankruptcy practice, lawyers for one branch of the Sackler family said in a court filing, and not because anyone is trying to do the released third parties a favor.

Photo: Lynn Wencus, of Wrentham, Mass., stands for a photograph while holding a photo of her son Jeff at her home on Nov. 7, 2023. Wencus lost Jeff to a heroin overdose in 2017. Families who lost loved ones to overdose are divided over OxyContin maker Purdue Pharmas plan to settle lawsuits over the toll of opioids with governments. It could provide billions to address an overdose epidemic and pay some victims. But it would also protect members of the Sackler family who own the company from future lawsuits. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
When Cher Scarlett began speaking up about labor issues at Apple Inc., she knew she was at risk of losing her software engineering job, but was confident she could find another.

Yet two years after her departure from the iPhone maker, Scarlett says she has struggled to secure employment, lending credence to fears among many tech workers about the consequences of speaking up. Scarlett was feeling optimistic after she had an interview at Mozilla Corp. in 2021, which left her with the impression that she was the companys first choice for a job. Ultimately, though, the process went nowhere.

The National Labor Relations Board issued a complaint Tuesday alleging Mozilla refused to hire Scarlett because of her past labor activism. The agencys prosecutors called on Mozilla to offer Scarlett the position she applied for in 2021 or a similar role, and to otherwise make her whole for damages as a result of not being hired.

Scarlett and her lawyer, Laurie Burgess, believe the case has the potential to defuse one of the most powerful factors chilling workplace activism in Silicon Valley: the fear of being blacklisted.

Watching people not be able to get a job in their field, that is far worse than the threat of losing the job you have, Scarlett said.

Mozilla and Apple didnt respond to a request for comment.

Starting in 2021, Scarlett was a prominent leader in efforts to mobilize Apple employees about workplace issues under the banner #AppleToo, and also helped encourage unionization efforts among the companys retail staff. A separate charge Scarlett filed with the NLRB against Apple remains pending.

Federal labor law prohibits companies from retaliating against prospective and current employees because they took collective action about working conditions, with or without union backing.

Its rare to see the NLRB accuse a major tech company of discrimination for failing to hire a worker. Thats likely because the cases are so tough to prosecute. They usually hinge on circumstantial evidence, such as comparing the credentials of workers who were hired with the ones turned away. Some companies even reject other worthy candidates in order to avoid getting caught discriminating against a particular activist, said former NLRB member Mark Gaston Pearce, who chaired the agency under former President Barack Obama.

An employer may do a drive-by rejection where they reject a bunch of people for frivolous reasons for the purpose of covering those tracks, he said.

In recent years, the tech industry has seen an uptick in worker activism, and employees are increasingly vocal about working conditions and concerns about the societal impact of the technology that theyre building. But some of these workers have paid a steep price, said Burgess, who frequently represents tech whistleblowers. A number of her clients have had such a hard time finding new jobs in Silicon Valley that theyve made career changes, she said.

Last year, Paige Holland-Thielen was part of a group of workers at Elon Musks SpaceX who were fired after circulating an open letter that was critical of Musks behavior. Holland-Thielen  also represented by Burgess said she is one of just two workers in the group who have spoken publicly about their experiences. Others have kept quiet, worried about the impact that the workplace activism could have on their future employment prospects, she said in an interview.

As she began looking for a new job, Holland-Thielen said she wrestled with how open to be about her experiences. She wanted to be transparent in hopes of finding an employer who shared her values, yet she feared hurting her chances of getting hired.

If you have two identically qualified candidates, and one of them seems like a little bit of a troublemaker, in your very corporate mindset, I can see why that would factor into a decision, she said. She added that in her view, such activity should be a positive consideration. Why wouldnt you want to hire someone whos fighting to make the workplace better?

Complaints issued by NLRB prosecutors are considered by agency judges, whose rulings can then be appealed to the labor board members in Washington, and from there to federal court. The agency lacks authority to hold executives personally liable, or make companies pay punitive damages for violations.

If the NLRB succeeds in prosecuting a high-profile case about a tech company refusing to hire someone because of their activism at a prior job, that could help embolden more workers elsewhere, Pearce said. But if the prosecutors fail, he said, It would have a chilling effect.

Yet Scarlett says simply bringing the case will send a powerful message to employers.

If theres no threat of anyone ever getting caught, Scarlett said, why would they ever stop?

Photo: Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Copyright 2023 Bloomberg.

Topics USA
LIVINGSTON, Ky. (AP)  Kentucky officials and crews with rail operator CSX were working Friday to remove train cars and spilled material at the site of a derailment that sparked a chemical fire earlier in the week, as residents began returning home after evacuations in a nearby Livingston.

State officials said they were monitoring the air for traces of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, but there had been no detection of those substances at the derailment site or in Livingston since Thursday morning. The fire was extinguished at the site Thursday morning.

Were now able to get in and begin safely removing cars, Joe McCann, director of emergency management and hazardous materials for CSX, said at a briefing Friday. McCann said an access road has been built to reach the derailment area and a handful of crashed train cars have been removed.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate just a day before the Thanksgiving holiday.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached. That sulfur is now solidified, according to the state Energy and Environment Cabinet. The Cabinet also has a drone flying over the area Friday to collect information.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is also at the site.

McCann said Thursday that the company had provided hotel rooms to around 100 people and 40 pets. He said that if residents had concerns about returning home after the fire was extinguished they could reach out to the company about extending those arrangements.

CSX said the cause of the derailment and what caused the sulfur to ignite are still under investigation. Officials said they are also monitoring water quality in the area but a nearby creek is dried up and doesn`t have moving water.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday near Livingston, a remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached, CSX said in a statement.

Its believed that the fire released the potentially harmful gas sulfur dioxide, but officials have not released results of measurements taken from air monitoring equipment that was being deployed Wednesday night.

The derailment meant some Livingston residents woke up on Thanksgiving in a middle school shelter.

Cindy Bradley had just finished cooking for the big meal Wednesday when an official knocking loudly urged her to leave her small Kentucky home as soon as possible because a train had derailed.

She ended up at Rockcastle County Middle School in Livingston __ unsure what was to come next.

Its just really scary. We dont know how long this is, Bradley told WTVQ-TV on Wednesday night, surrounded by dozens of cots.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. The gas is commonly produced by burning fossil fuels at power plants and other industrial processes, the EPA says.

Evelyn Gray noticed a problem when her back door was opened by someone telling her to evacuate.

As soon as he opened the back door to come in the chemical hit me, and I had a real bad asthma attack, Gray told the TV station.

The danger from sulfur dioxide tends to be direct and quick, irritating the lungs and skin, said Neil Donahue, a chemistry professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

It is just nasty, caustic, and acidic stuff that hurts. Its unpleasant to be in, Donahue said.

Once the fire was put out, the threat from the chemicals was expected to diminish quickly, Donahue said.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency in the county, assuring crews all the help from the state they need. He asked the public to keep in mind the emergency workers and people forced to spend Thanksgiving away from home.

Please think about them and pray for a resolution that gets them back in their homes. Thank you to all the first responders spending this day protecting our people, the governor said in a statement Thursday.

CSX promised to pay the costs of anyone asked to evacuate, including a Thanksgiving dinner.

Photo: Evacuees shelter at a middle school on Wednesday, Nov. 22. (WTVQ via AP)

Copyright 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Kentucky
The Labor Commissioners Office settled a lawsuit against Glendale, California-based Calcrete Construction Inc. for $1 million for multiple wage theft violations, including overtime and paid sick leave law violations, affecting 249 construction workers.

The office began investigating in October 2016 after receiving a complaint from the Carpenters/Contractors Cooperation Committee, a union-affiliated, nonprofit that advocates for workplace compliance within the construction industry.

LCOs investigation reportedly found that Calcrete failed to pay workers for overtime hours, allocate pay for sick leave and provide proper wage statements. As one example, Calcrete employees regularly worked 45-68 hours a week but were not paid overtime during a two-year period audited from 2014 to 2016. The settlement will pay workers overtime wages owed with interest, with payments ranging from $344 to $20,893.

Topics California Fraud
VANCOUVER, BC - November 27, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) (FWB: GGA1) ("Getchell" or the "Company") plans to undertake a debenture (the "Debentures") financing to raise a minimum of $2,500,000 and a maximum of $5,000,000 (the "Debenture Financing").

The Debentures will mature three (3) years from the date of grant (the "Maturity Date") and will bear interest at 11% per annum, non-compounding. In addition to the interest on the Debentures, lenders will receive that number of non-transferable common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants") which is equal to the aggregate purchase price paid by the lender (the principal amount of the Debenture purchased) divided by $0.10. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of three years from the closing of the Debenture Financing. Fifty percent of each lender's Warrants will vest on closing of the Debenture Financing and the remaining fifty percent will vest 14 months following closing. Unvested Warrants will be cancelled in the event that the Company prepays the Debentures in full prior to vesting.

Getchell will use the proceeds of the Debenture Financing to pay the final US$1.6 million payment to Canagold Resources Ltd. to complete the acquisition of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, under the terms of the option agreement with Canagold Resources Ltd. The balance of the Debenture Financing will be used to conduct further exploration work on the Fondaway Canyon gold project and for general working capital.

The Company may, at any time after the date which is 6 months following the issuance date of the Debentures, at the Company's option, prepay in cash the then outstanding principal amount of the Debentures and any accrued interest, in whole or in part.

The Debentures contains covenants that if the Company intends to dispose of or enter into an option to sell all or a portion of its interest in the Fondaway Canyon gold project, the cash proceeds received by Getchell will be used to prepay the Debentures. If the cash proceeds received by Getchell in connection with such transaction are insufficient to fully retire the Debentures, the debenture holders will be entitled to vote on such transaction.

In the event of default (i) the Debentures will be immediately due and payable, including accrued interest, and (ii) the Debentures will bear interest at a rate of 60% per annum, applicable retroactively to the principle and any unpaid interest due.

The Company may pay finder's fees in connection with the Debenture Financing.

Fondaway Canyon Gold Project

Getchell Gold Corp. is delineating a potential Tier-1 gold resource at its flagship Fondaway Canyon gold project in Nevada, USA.

Following three consecutive successful drilling programs, the Company has effectively doubled the size of the historic resource, firmly placing Fondaway Canyon amongst the foremost developing projects in a world class mining jurisdiction. The Company recently published its first Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") at Fondaway Canyon (Company news release dated February 1, 2023):

Gold mineralization is at and near surface supporting an Open Pit mine model;

Inferred Mineral Resource of 38.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 g/t Au for

1,509,100 ounces of gold ;

Indicated Mineral Resource of 11.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.56 g/t Au for an additional 550,800 ounces of gold ;

Strong gold mineralization in the most peripheral drill holes leaves the mineral resources open in most directions for further expansion and indicates a substantially larger body of mineralization than delineated to date (Company news release dated August 9, 2023); and

Fully permitted drill program designed to expand the mineral resources and upgrade Inferred Resources to Indicated.

Getchell Gold Corp. is well positioned to continue expanding the Mineral Resource Estimate and advancing towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Scott Frostad, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person (as defined in National Instrument 43-101) who reviewed and approved the content and scientific and technical information in the news release.

Notes on the Mineral Resource Estimate:

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. There has been insufficient exploration to define the Inferred Resource as Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources, however, it is reasonable to expect that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. There is no guarantee that any part of the mineral resources discussed herein will be converted into a mineral reserve in the future. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, or other relevant issues. The Mineral Resources in this report were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards on mineral resources and reserves, definitions, and guidelines prepared by the CIM standing committee on reserve definitions and adopted by the CIM council (CIM 2014 and 2019). The effective date of the Mineral Resource Estimate is December 12, 2022, and a technical report on the Fondaway Canyon project titled "Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimate Fondaway Canyon Project, Nevada, USA" was filed by the Company on SEDAR+ on February 1, 2023. The independent and qualified person for the MRE, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is Michael Dufresne, P.Geo., from APEX Geoscience Ltd.

Supplemental Financing

The Company further announces a supplemental offering of a non-brokered private placement (the "Financing") to individuals wanting to invest but unable to participate in the Debenture Financing. The Financing will consist of up to 1,500,000 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.10 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $150,000.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of two years from the date of closing.

The proceeds from the Financing will be used to conduct exploration work on the Fondaway Canyon gold project and general working capital. In connection with the Financing, the Company may pay finder's fees.

Closing of the Financing and the Debenture Financing are subject to receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the Canadian Securities Exchange. The securities issued pursuant to the Debenture Financing and Financing will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The securities offered in the Financing and the Debenture Financing have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirements.

Corporate Update

Further to the Notice of Annual General Meeting regarding the Company's annual general meeting to be held on December 8, 2023, the Company will now hold an Annual General and Special Meeting on December 22, 2023 at 1PM (PST). Amended proxy materials will be available to shareholders of the Company in due course. The amended proxy materials will be accessible online at the Company's website at https://www.getchellgold.com and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

About Getchell Gold Corp.

The Company is a Nevada focused gold and copper exploration company trading on the CSE: GTCH, OTCQB: GGLDF, and FWB: GGA1. Getchell Gold is primarily directing its efforts on its most advanced stage asset, Fondaway Canyon, a past gold producer with a large mineral resource estimate. Complementing Getchell's asset portfolio is Dixie Comstock, a past gold producer with a historic resource and two earlier stage exploration projects, Star (Cu-Au-Ag) and Hot Springs Peak (Au). Getchell has the option to acquire 100% of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, Churchill County, Nevada.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.getchellgold.com or contact the Company at info@getchellgold.com.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the launching and completion of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the terms of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the issuance and vesting of Warrants, payment of finder's fees in connection with the Debenture Financing and Financing, receipt of all applicable regulatory approval of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the use of proceeds, and timing for the amended proxy materials for the Annual General and Special Meeting. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of Getchell have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Getchell Gold Corp.

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.

Disclosure: Getchell Gold Corp. is a paid featured mining stock on Investor ideas. Read full disclosure https://www.investorideas.com/About/News/Clientspecifics.asp
November 27, 2023 (Investorideas.com Newswire) A new study by crypto tax software CoinLedger reveals that the Retail and e-commerce sector has the highest number of companies that offer the option to purchase through cryptocurrency.

The study compiled a list of more than 300 companies that accept cryptocurrency methods. It categorized them into sectors to discover which one contains the most companies offering crypto as a payment method.

Retail and e-commerce take first place, with 60 companies accepting crypto payments. The sector includes clothing and accessories stores like Adidas, Yankee Candle and H&M, and online shopping platforms like Etsy.

Second on the list is the Food and dining sector, with 54 companies. Examples are Chipotle, Chuck E Cheese's, Domino's and Hard Rock Cafe, and delivery services such as DoorDash and Uber Eats. Different services became available gradually in other countries: Burger King Venezuela has accepted Bitcoin payments since 2020.

Luxury Retail comes in third with 35 companies offering the service, among which there are high fashion brands Gucci and Ralph Lauren, luxury watches retailer Hublot and jewellers such as Jewelry Affairs and CRM Jewelers.

Further down the list, Travel & Hospitality is fourth, with 31 companies accepting crypto payments. These range from commercial airlines such as Norwegian Air and Vueling to private jet hire like Fast Private Jet, LunaJets and PrivateFly. Cruise companies Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises are also on the list, as well as trip-organizing help sites like GetYourGuide.

The top five closes with Internet & Online Services companies, as 28 accept crypto as payment. These companies offer a service online from our phones and laptops, such as Google Play and Spotify, and different VPN services like CyberGhostVPN, ExpressVPN and FrootVPN.

David Kemmerer, Co-Founder and CEO of CoinLedger commented on the findings: "The increasing number of companies accepting cryptocurrency payments reflects the growing acceptance and adoption of digital currencies in the mainstream economy. This trend not only aligns with the evolving preferences of tech-savvy consumers but also offers benefits such as reduced transaction fees and increased security. From major retailers to small businesses, the diversification of sectors embracing cryptocurrencies demonstrates the versatility and potential of blockchain technology. As this trend continues, it's likely to contribute to the broader acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a legitimate form of payment, paving the way for a more decentralized and accessible financial landscape."

Credit to https://coinledger.io/

Data sourced from BitPay

More Info:

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Irish author Paul Lynch who previously described his novel Prophet Song as being informed by the sense of liberal democratic slide has won the 2023 Booker Prize.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Dublin, was presented with his trophy by last years winner Shehan Karunatilaka, at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate, London.

He is the fifth Irish author to win the award, worth 50,000 (57,563), according to the Booker Prize, following Iris Murdoch, John Banville, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright.

The event on Sunday had a keynote speech delivered by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released from a prison in Iran last year.

Lynchs fifth novel Prophet Song  which is a tale of a tyrannical government  is about a mother-of-four working as a scientist whose husband is taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police.

Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan, chairwoman of the 2023 judges and a previous Booker-shortlisted author, called the tale a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave.

Paul Lynch pictured shortly after the announcement that his novel, 'Prophet Song' had won the 2023 Booker Prize. Picture: Lucy North/PA

With great vividness, Prophet Song captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment, she said.

Readers will find it soul-shattering and true, and will not soon forget its warnings.

She was asked during a press call if the judges had considered the recent events in Dublin, where after a knife attack on children, there followed a series of violent disturbances.

Edugyan said that it was mentioned at some point when the book was chosen on Saturday.

I really have to stress that, that was not the reason that Prophet Song won the prize [and] that we werent sort of  taking our cue  from world events in such a direct fashion. I think it would have done a great disservice to the [prize], she added.

Edugyan also said the judges felt that it would have massive impact, that it would outlast this age.

In her review in the 'Irish Examiner', Alannah Hopkin, wrote: "I dont know when I last read a book that left me as shaken and disturbed as Paul Lynchs fifth novel.

It is a tremendous achievement, telling a dark story of a societys descent into war that resonates far beyond Ireland.

The judges also included Peep Show actor Robert Webb, Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh, poet and critic Mary Jean Chan, and James Shapiro, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University.

During the ceremony, Andoh also read an extract from the 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel Possession, in honour of AS Byatt, who died earlier this month at the age of 87.

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: The judges established at the start of the final meeting that any of the six books on the shortlist would be a worthy winner.

Prophet Song is composed of masterful sentences, and packs a profound emotional punch.

Paul Lynch told the PA news agency in September that the book did not have to be a warning about authoritarianism as its actually already occurring.

He said: What informs this book is the sense of liberal democratic slide thats been ongoing around the world for the past six, eight years, perhaps 10 years?

It was the sense of unravelling that so many of us have just been tuning into and feeling anxious about the thought that could this happen here? No, it couldnt but yet, there are so many countries around the world where they thought the very same thing.

Lynch also beat fellow Irish writer Paul Murray, who was shortlisted for The Bee Sting, which follows an Irish family facing financial and emotional troubles.

All of the shortlisted authors  which also include British author Chetna Maroo, American novelist Jonathan Escoffery, Canadian author Sarah Bernstein and US author Paul Harding  received 2,500 (2,878) and a bespoke bound edition of their book.

Margaret Atwood, Hilary Mantel, and Salman Rushdie are among previous Booker winners.
By the time I speak to Bonnie Ryan, she's already walked her dog, done a personal training session, meditated and made a smoothie.

And all before 8.30am.

The 31-year-old Dubliner says she's always been an early riser. "I love to get up early and take time for myself before the day gets too busy," she says.

To add to her busy schedule, the make-up artist and influencer has just announced a new beauty collaboration with SOSU Cosmetics, the brand founded by Suzanne Jackson.

"I wanted to develop a line of products that make you feel like you are the main character," the daughter of the late Gerry Ryan explains. "Someone who lives life on the move and looks flawless while doing it. This is a collection you can reach for day and night, time and time again."

Bonnie, who got married last year, is now splitting her time between Ireland and the US, which she describes as "great fun."

How do you keep fit?

I love to workout, whether its weights, yoga or dance. Whatever it is, I just love to get moving. I also try to eat well about 80% of the time, but, of course, I also try to leave room for a little treat or two.

Do you have a morning routine?

Absolutely. Its one of the most important things to me. Starting the morning well is key to setting myself up for the day.

What is one thing you do every day?

I enjoy cooking dinner with my husband every evening. We put on the music and really enjoy this time together.

What are your healthiest eating habits?

I really try to squeeze as much fruit and veggies into every meal as I possibly can.

What are your guiltiest pleasures?

I don't believe in guilty pleasures. Just pleasures!

What keeps you awake at night?

Sometimes I find it a little difficult to switch my mind off about work when I'm falling asleep at night.

How do you relax?

I find watching certain TV series or listening to a good podcast is a great way to unwind

Bonnie Ryan pictured at the SOSU Cosmetics X Bonnie Ryan Collection at No 25 Fitzwilliam Place, Dublin. Picture Brian McEvoy No Repro fee for one use

What is your favourite smell?

Im going to give you the most random answer ever, and it is one that only a true Disney freak will understand  Splash Mountain water. If you know, you know.

When was the last time you cried?

I used to never ever cry, but now Im a lot more open to expressing my emotions as I get older. In fact, I cried last week

What is the best health advice you've ever been given?

I think it's really important to always get a second opinion. I always trust my gut if something doesnt feel right.

What traits do you least like in others?

I can't stand selfishness in others.

What traits do you least like about yourself?

I'd have to say it's probably wanting everything to always be perfect. I also find it hard to give control away sometimes.

Do you pray?

Yes.

What cheers you up if youre having a bad day?

My husband cheers me up. He always knows what to do, if I'm having a bad day. Or a cuddle with my nephew

Who would you invite to your dream dinner party?

My absolutely dream dinner party guests would be my Dad, of course. I'd invite Walt Disney, Kris Jenner, and Britney Spears.

Has climate change impacted how you live your life?

I think it has impacted everyones life. But I also believe that small changes can make a big difference

What quote inspires you most and why?

'If you can dream it, you can do it.' It's a quote from Walt Disney and it is so inspiring.

Where is your favourite place in the world?

There are so many gorgeous places, but if I had to choose the most special, I'd say Disney World and Dromoland Castle. I have made so many happy memories with my family in both of these places when we were growing up.
Workers who experience domestic violence will be able to legally take up to five days leave, with full pay, from today, Monday.

Section 7 of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023 introduces five days paid domestic violence leave in a 12-month period.

No prior notice needs to be given and can be taken where the employee is the victim of domestic violence  including coercive control  or where they are supporting their spouse, partner, or child who is the victim, according to the Department of Children, Equality, Disability Integration and Youth.

Minister Roderic OGorman said: No one experiencing domestic violence should have to risk poverty or unemployment in order to seek support. From today, all employees will be entitled to five days leave on full pay so that they can access the supports they may need.

This will make Ireland one of the first countries in the EU to introduce this right.

Domestic violence leave is not just about the leave. It can start conversations in workplaces and society around domestic violence and raise awareness.

Employers have a crucial role to play. I would encourage them to use the supports which have been developed to create a safe space for employees experiencing domestic violence.

Women's Aid was commissioned to develop supports for employers to implement the leave, the department said.

A dedicated website  www.DVatWork.ie  has been set up, while the organisation will host a series of webinars to provide advice and information on domestic violence policies.

Deirdre Malone, partner and head of employment law at EY Law Ireland, described the statutory leave as a great step forward in supporting employees impacted.

She said: From Monday, employees impacted by domestic violence  or if specific people connected to them are impacted by domestic violence  will be able to take up to five days paid domestic violence leave annually, to access certain supports.

EY head of employment law Deirdre Malone: '[I]t will be really important for employers to sensitively manage requests for domestic violence leave.'

All employers will be required by law to offer this leave and employees must be paid in full for any domestic violence leave taken.

There is no minimum service requirement to qualify.

Employers must familiarise themselves with the legislation, Ms Malone warned.

"Employees will not always be able to ask for this leave in advance, and it may be challenging for employees to discuss domestic violence with their employer, so it will be really important for employers to sensitively manage requests for domestic violence leave," she said.

The Government has worked in partnership with Womens Aid to develop policies, free training, and support materials for employers to properly introduce domestic violence policies. We would encourage all employers to make use of the resources that can be accessed at www.DVatWork.ie.

More women than ever before are reaching out for help from its frontline services, Womens Aid said earlier this year.

Its annual impact report for 2022 showed more than 31,000 contacts with its National Freephone Helpline and Regional Face-to-Face services, a 16% increase on last year and the highest ever recorded.

During these contacts, 33,990 disclosures of domestic abuse were made, including 5,412 reports of abuse of children, Womens Aid said.

 Visit www.DVatWork.ie to learn more.
The Irish Ambassador for Israel has been "summoned" by the Israeli government in the wake of a social media storm.

The issue comes days after the release of Emily Hand, a child who had been kidnapped by Hamas.

Ms Hand was reunited with her family on Sunday, with her father Thomas saying that she has "lost a lot of weight from her face and body but generally is doing better than we expected".

Who is the Irish ambassador to Israel?

The Irish Ambassador to Israel is Sonya McGuinness.

Ms McGuinness had previously been Ireland's ambassador to Turkey.

She was appointed as ambassador to Israel in November of 2022, with the move becoming official in September this year.

The Irish embassy in Israel is located in Ramat Gan, about 20 minutes away from Tel Aviv

Upon her appointment, Israel's president Isaac Herzog said: "Ireland and Irish culture are deeply respected in Israel, and you can do much to promote relations between our peoples."

Why is she in the news?

Ms McGuinness has been "summoned" to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs "for a reprimand" following Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's statement on the release of Emily Hand.

Mr Varadkar had said in a tweet that there was an "enormous joy and relief" at the return of Emily after 50 days.

Emily Hand. Picture: AP

He added that "an innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief".

However, this caused issues with the Israeli government, with their foreign minister Eli Cohen saying he "needed a reality check.

In response to Mr Varadkar, Mr Cohen wrote: "Following the outrageous words of the Prime Minister of Ireland about the release of Amelie Hand, who was kidnapped to Gaza by the terrorist organization Hamas, I summoned the Irish Ambassador to Israel for a reprimand.

"Emily Hand was not 'lost', she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than ISIS that murdered her stepmother," he added.

"Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you Leo Varadkar are trying to legitimize and normalize terror. Shame on you!"
I am insulted and abused all the time in my job

A colleague of a Dublin Bus driver who was dragged out of his vehicle by rioters last Thursday has said he is deeply concerned for his safety and that of his colleagues.

Driver Sailesh Tupsy was surrounded by five people while driving on OConnell St last week, before his door was opened by a gang who shouted, get out or well kill you.

They then threw punches while the shocked driver had to call control for help.

His friend and fellow bus driver Cristian Tei from Romania spoke at a vigil in solidarity with migrant workers, held on OConnell St yesterday.

It was very scary, people were afraid for their own life, Mr Tei told the Irish Examiner. I was finished early so I was home, I was one of the lucky ones, but loads of my colleagues were there and knew what happened.

Mr Tei said while it is not easy to hijack a bus, the idea of being dragged from your driving seat has left him deeply concerned.

I am insulted and abused all the time in my job.

This is part of our job, they should put it in our job description. I am one of the lucky ones, I dont take it personally. I hear them, and I let them go.

Dublin Bus driver Cristian Tei, who spoke at a vigil in solidarity with migrant workers, held on OConnell St, Dublin, on Monday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Around 200 people joined the protest which took place opposite the GPO on OConnell St at 1pm yesterday.

It was organised by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in response to last weeks riots.

Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation general secretary Phil Ni Sheaghdha told the Irish Examiner that migrant workers are a vital part of the medical service.

In Ireland, out of all the nurses and midwives that are registered, there is about a third from overseas, said Ms Ni Sheaghdha.

Many are from African countries, the Philippines and India, particularly.

We know that we are very dependent on migrant workers. We work alongside them, we are very happy that they have made a massive contribution to the medical services, and the idea that anybody would think they are any different just because of the colour of their skin just goes against the grain, and we want that out there loud and clear.

Dozens of people held placards during the demonstration, along with signs saying, Dublin is peaceful and We support migrant workers.

Siptu deputy general secretary Ethel Buckley said it is important that workers have the backing of their unions.

Workers have unified in reaction to what happened last week, and people are really adamant to convey solidarity with each other, said Ms Buckley.

We understand why people are angry when there is an accommodation emergency, cost-of-living crisis, and people have very low-paid jobs, but the way to channel that anger is for people to get organised with their union.

Firefighters, trade unionists, and demonstrators on O'Connell St on Monday. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said the riots were predictable.

The response and the violence on the street, that has been coming, that has been signposted, there is a real frustration that it was able to get this far, said Ms McDonald.

I was on the scene at 3.30pm, it was absolutely horrific, the children and the childcare worker  I still struggle to believe that that happened.

She said that it was obvious a small group was gathering even at that early time of day. It was very menacing, she said, with people using their phones to stir up others.

This street was on fire, I dont think people would ever dream they would see the likes of this.

This can never, ever happen again. This was a tipping point; lines were crossed on Thursday and now there needs to be accountability.
A member of the Keane gang in Limerick and his wife spent 59,000 carrying out "extensive works" to a house in Garryowen, despite neither of them having a job, the Special Criminal Court has heard.

The three-judge court also heard during Mondays sentence hearing that the couple had their wedding reception at Bunratty Castle in Clare in 2019, which was a "significant family occasion" for the Keane organised crime group.

The Keane gang are suspected of carrying out the importation of firearms and drugs on a national and international level and have been involved in a murderous feud with the McCarthy-Dundon gang since 2000, the court heard.

Defence lawyers for Warren Hehir  who is at the "mid level" of the Keane organised crime group and is a nephew of murdered Limerick crime boss Kieran Keane  told the non-jury court their client's wife "would not be here were it not for him".

"These are my firm instructions and that goes to Warren's credit and how he has approached the case," said senior counsel Dean Kelly.

Vicky Hehir, 30, also known as Victoria O'Halloran, of Bruach na Sionna, Castleconnell, Co Limerick, and her husband Warren Hehir, 33, of the same address appeared before the three-judge court for their sentence hearing on Monday.

Warren Hehir has pleaded guilty that on dates between August 8, 2019, and June, 117, 2020, he possessed, used, converted, transferred or handled cash to the value of 59,000, knowing or believing or being reckless as to whether the property was the proceeds of criminal conduct, in discharging sums due and owing in respect of works carried out on Kilmurry Court, Garryowen, Limerick between August 8, 2019, and June 17, 2020.

Rolex watch

He also pleaded guilty that on June 17, 2020 at The Path, Garryowen, he handled, acquired or possessed a Rolex watch knowing, believing or being reckless as to whether the watch was the proceeds of criminal conduct.

Vicky Hehir has pleaded guilty to one charge of money laundering in relation to the 59,000 for the works carried out at Kilmurry Court.

At Monday's sentence hearing Sergeant Cathal O'Sullivan, from Roxboro Road Garda Station, told prosecuting counsel Fiona Murphy SC that the money laundering charges arose from an investigation launched to target the Keane organised crime group in Limerick, which had its stronghold in Garryowen.

The sergeant said the Keane gang and its associates are suspected of the importation of firearms and drugs on a national and international level. He said various searches of properties took place and one of the search warrants granted was for a property at The Path in Garryowen.

He said two items of relevance were discovered at this address on June 17, 2020, namely a men's Rolex watch valued at 13,600 and a woman's Rolex worth 6,000.

Other items found, said the witness, were plans for a house at Kilmurry Court in the names of Warren and Vicky Hehir. An order to freeze the couple's financial accounts in various institutions was sought on foot of the search and other items were found.

Bank accounts

The sergeant said several bank accounts from various institutions in the name of Vicky Hehir were sought in July 2020. An order was later granted seeking documentation from her bank accounts and the relevant material was received by gardai.

Gardai discovered numerous cash lodgements of various amounts had been made to a certain bank account but there had been no withdrawals since 2014.

Sergeant O'Sullivan said the source of these monies were unknown and unexplained. Another AIB account was opened in 2017 and seven lodgements were in it and no withdrawals made.

Information received from the Revenue Commissioners showed the couple had not worked as PAYE employees. No social welfare had been claimed by either of them but Vicky Hehir had been in receipt of Children's Allowance.

An investigation was launched by gardai into Kilmurry Court and it was established that Warren Hehir's mother Sandra Hehir had purchased the property in August 2017 and that 39,000 had been paid as a deposit for the house.

Sandra Hehir, 54, with an address at Assumpta Park, Island Road, Limerick City, pleaded guilty last month before the Special Criminal Court to laundering over 100,000 in crime cash at her home.

Sgt O'Sullivan said it became apparent the property at Kilmurry Court was being purchased on behalf of Warren and Vicky Hehir. He said a planning application had been made by Sandra Hehir for an extensive renovation and extension to the property.

Extensive works were carried out to the value of 59,000 and the monies were paid by the couple, he continued.

Background

Giving the background to the Keane organised crime group, Sgt O'Sullivan said it was traditionally based in the St Mary's Park area of Limerick but it is now located in the Garryowen area.

He said in the early 2000s there was an amalgamation between the Keane-Collopy families but they are now separate groups.

"They are now involved in an ongoing feud with the McCarthy-Dundon's since 2000. There has been a significant number of murders, attempted murders and forearms seizures linked to that organised crime group," he said.

The court heard Warren Hehir has 54 previous convictions, which include money laundering in the context of drug dealing, robbery, criminal damage and the possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Sgt O'Sullivan told Ms Murphy the couple married in 2019 and had their wedding reception at Bunratty Castle in Clare, which was a significant family occasion for the Keane organised crime group.

Vicky Hehir, he said, was arrested in August 2020 and engaged in four interviews with gardai. Vicky Hehir told gardai she was no longer working as a hairdresser and had received 280 per month in child allowance. The defendant said her relationship with her mother-in-law Sandra had broken down and they were no longer on speaking terms.

The court heard Vicky Hehir indicated to gardai she had no other legitimate sources of income but did not accept that the monies came from an organised crime group.

When asked about the renovations to Kilmurry Court, Vicky Hehir accepted 59,000 was paid for it and that she had paid 12,000 of this in cash.

The court heard that Warren Hehir did not engage with gardai during his detention other than to answer one question in relation to renovations at Kilmurry Court, in which he said: "I got the work done".

Sgt O'Sullivan said Warren Hehir is in the "mid level" of the Keane organised crime group and that Vicky, who has one previous conviction for drugs, "is simply his wife".

Previous convictions

Under cross-examination, Sgt O'Sullivan agreed with Dean Kelly SC, for Warren Hehir, that his previous convictions for drugs arose from allegations of street dealing and that the largest sum was in the region of 4,100.

His previous conviction for possession of a firearm related to possession of pellets and BB guns. The witness agreed no trappings of wealth and luxurious goods were evident in the couple's home.

He also agreed that Warren Hehir is a family man who discharges his responsibilities and whose general approach to criminal allegations is to put his hands up and plead guilty when caught.

Sgt O'Sullivan agreed with Vincent Heneghan SC, representing Vicky Hehir, that his client had somewhat cooperated with the investigation by answering some questions of assistance.

The barrister said Vicky Hehir had moved away from Limerick City and is now based in Castleconnell. The witness agreed she is a full-time mother to her three children and dedicates herself to that role.

Counsel said his client "doesn't have any involvement nowadays with anyone connected to the gang" and her involvement was the handing over of 12,000 to a builder. The sergeant agreed Vicky was undoubtedly aware of her husband's obvious activities and that she had learnt from this event.

In mitigation, Dean Kelly SC submitted to the court that there was a sense of distinction between the couple in terms of where they were placed in the scheme of things.

"Warren agrees that Vicky would not be here were it not for him. These are my firm instructions and that goes to Warren's credit and how he has approached this case," said counsel.

Mr Kelly said his client's criminality is acknowledged by gardai as being at the level of a street drug dealer and "a master criminal he is not". "People who sell things on the street tend to be reasonably low level operators and are processing the benefits for others," he added.

Devoted family man

Counsel said the couple's youngest child was 15 months old and that Warren was a devoted family man. "He is not an absent father or not off in some foreign country living in the lap of luxury," he continued.

The lawyer said his client understands he has an unavoidable period of time to serve in prison, which will be a significant loss to his family. "Whilst he asks for some mercy for himself, he asks that the greater aggregate be given to his wife," he concluded.

Mr Heneghan submitted Vicky Hehir is a stay at home mother who looks after her three children and that she was operating on her husband's instructions, when she handed 12,000 in cash to the builder. "She knew about her husband's involvement in criminal activity and was aware of it, but her involvement was at the lowest end of the scale," he said.

The barrister said his client's previous conviction for drugs was in relation to purchasing cannabis but that she had not consumed any as she was apprehended by gardai.

"She has a fear of going to prison and a fear of losing her children," stressed counsel, adding Vicky had now removed herself from Limerick City and from the influence of criminals.

Mr Justice Michael MacGrath, sitting with Judge Sarah Berkeley and Judge James Faughnan, remanded Warren Hehir in custody and Vicky Hehir on continuing bail until January 22, 2024, when they will be sentenced. "The court takes a serious view of the offending of both defendants," added Mr Justice MacGrath.
The two prisons in which Donal OSullivan and Padraig Naughton will spend the next six months for their role in running a fraudulent payroll scheme at one of New York Citys largest construction companies have been variously described by lawyers and former inmates as cushy, pretty laid back, and more along the lines of a camp.

Both men have been ordered by the court to surrender at their respective prisons before 2pm (US time) today, Monday.

Father of six Mr OSullivan, aged 62, a native of Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry, will present at FPC (Federal Prison Camp) Pensacola, Florida, while father of two Mr Naughton, aged 52, originally from Nenagh, Co Tipperary, will do time at FCI (Federal Correctional Institution) Fort Dix, New Jersey.

Read More Irish bosses convicted of NY construction firm payroll fraud start jail terms today

FCI Fort Dix holds 4,000 prisoners and there are no bars, towers, or locks on rooms within community units.

It is divided into two compounds, with prisoners assigned to individual housing units, that hold 350 prisoners each. Originally designed as a military barracks, part of the army base was converted into a federal prison in the early 1990s.

Founder and former president and CEO of Navillus Donal OSullivan outside Brooklyn Federal Court, New York, in June. Mr O'Sullivlan begins his sentence at Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in Florida today. Picture: Yuki Iwamura

FPC Pensacola is a much smaller facility with capacity for 500 prisoners. It is located about 96km east of Mobile, Alabama, and 32km north-west of Pensacola Beach, Florida, in Escambia County. It was established in 1988 as part of a mutual agreement between the US navy and the Bureau of Prisons, and inmates provide the navy with a free workforce, predominantly grounds maintenance and common labour.

The environments in which Mr OSullivan and Mr Naughton will find themselves today are a far cry from the lives they led as president and CEO of Navillus (Mr OSullivan, until he stepped down following his arrest in 2020) and financial comptroller (Mr Naughton, who also stood down in 2020).

Mr OSullivan will be apart from his six children, Jack, Donal Jr, Katie, Caroline, Mikey, and Kelly, aged from late teens to late 20s.

Mr Naughton will be apart from his Venezuelan-born wife of 20 years and his two teenage children. Both Mr Naughton and his wife are American citizens. Mr Naughton came to the US over 25 years ago on a Morrison visa, and worked his way up through Navillus, from unskilled manual labour to head of its accounting functions. He had a degree in accounting, obtained at Athlone Institute of Technology.

Read More From high rise to hard fall at Navillus: Why two Kerry siblings are facing jail in New York

Both men were described in court documents as very close to their families. One court document describes how Mr Naughtons wife and children remain traumatized by the events of June 30, 2020, when armed federal agents in bulletproof vests arrived at dawn and arrested him at home in front of his wife and children.

Mr OSullivans relationship with his children is outlined in letters sent to the court in support of the Kerryman prior to his sentencing  his children idolize him and his world revolves around them.

Both men also remain close to their families in Ireland, making regular trips home. Mr OSullivan was in Ireland last September, when the court permitted him to travel to visit his elderly mother and aunt in Ballinskelligs.

Both men received huge support from Irish friends and relatives in the form of hundreds of letters to the court ahead of sentencing last June. The judge, Pamela K Chen, remarked that it was perhaps the most [letters] I have ever received.
The Irish ambassador to Israel has met with members of the Israeli government and expressed her "surprise" at the Israeli reaction to Irish statements on the release of Emily Hand.

Emily, 9, had been captured by Hamas during the October 7 attack and was released by militants on Saturday night in a deal which also saw Palestinians held in Israel released.

A statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs said Sonya McGuinness had met with Daniel Meron of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem on Monday.

Ms McGuinness had been summoned after Israeli ministers took exception to Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's tweet about the release of the nine-year-old held captive by the terror group in Gaza.

Mr Varadkar had tweeted that an innocent child who was lost has now been found to which Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped, and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check! Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother."

The department statement said Ms McGuinness had given the full statements of both Mr Varadkar and Tanaiste Micheal Martin, and expressed surprise that the statements had been criticised.

"In the course of the meeting, the ambassador presented the Foreign Ministry with the full statements issued by the Taoiseach and Tanaiste following the release from captivity late on Saturday night of Irish-Israeli citizen Emily Hand.

"These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

"In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli government.

"The ambassador further reiterated today Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released; the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately-needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza; that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire; and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours."

'Overreaction'

Meanwhile, Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys said that she believed the Israeli government reprimanding Ms McGuinness had been an overreaction.

She added that the Irish Government would not move to summon the Israeli ambassador, saying thats it would be tit-for-tat by doing so.

In terms of the Israeli ambassador, were not getting into a tit-for-tat here. Thats not what were about.

The Taoiseach made his comments in a wider spectrum and I think most Irish people know perfectly well that the Taoiseach condemns what happened.
? La presidenta Dina Boluarte participo en la ceremonia de lanzamiento del programa de actividades Bicentenario 2024, donde anuncio que, durante el proximo ano, se realizaran actividades conmemorativas a lo largo y ancho del Peru por el Bicentenario de la consolidacion de pic.twitter.com/zC3ppnPwwb
On the face of it, game, set and match to the rioters, although the guards have already lined up nearly 40 suspects for appearances in court.

Good luck to anyone found guilty trying to persuade a judge that breaking into Footlocker or Arnotts carried some benefit to the unfortunate children and their minder stabbed in the catalyst attack. Theres always the chance that one of them might use Conor McGregor as an inspirational scriptwriter, because there can be no doubt of his influence on the thinking of his many followers.

We are not backing down, we are only warming up, he posted on Twitter (now rebranded as X). There will be no backing down until real change is implemented for the safety of our nation. We are not losing any more of our woman [sic] and children to sick and twisted people who should not even be in Ireland in the first place.

McGregor was just one facet of the social media coverage which accelerated Thursdays unprecedented chaos. Just one of the angry voices proposing something be done. Something non-specific but probably a shut-down of our welcome for refugees and migrants.

A garda car set on fire during the riots in Dublin's north inner city on Friday. Picture: Colin Keegan/Collins

Now, angry is an interesting recurring word in all the mayhem. Curious thing. People whove never smoked but nonetheless get lung cancer might with justification be very angry at what has happened to them, but they dont burn buses or attack the forces of the law. The word anger is promiscuously misused right now. It wasnt anger that drove people to Footlocker to steal sneakers. It was criminal opportunism. (Interesting that Footlocker and Arnotts were targets of choice, whereas bookseller Eason didnt seem quite so attractive.)

The footage coming from multiple mobile phones is fascinating, showing, as it does, the rush to judgment based on misinformation about the alleged attacker, who seems to be an Irish citizen for a long time due to the nationalisation process.

So the fury about an unvetted non-national, which fuelled much of the riot, was unsupported by facts, and online commentary criticising our immigration system nationalising people capable of such acts frankly idiotic, given that it seems the individual involved has been here for a long time. Preventing them from becoming an Irish citizen because of an astonishingly exceptional piece of violence in the future is beyond the competence of any immigration system, anywhere.

Also, as a nation, we have this bias for convicting and punishing people for what they actually do, not for what we imagine they might do in the future. We share this bias with most democratic countries.

But to revert to the use of anger to justify this and other outrages: The claim is that the disaffected represented on the streets last Thursday believe they are not listened to. This is to misunderstand politics and the listening process. They are being listened to.

In the year coming up to an election, everybodys being listened to. But being listened to is not the same as being agreed to. If someone advances suggestions  in the middle of full employment  that foreigners are coming here and taking our jobs, while the suggestion may be courteously listened to, the fact is that theyre not. The twinned suggestion that the newcomers are taking our houses is undercut by the number of them living in tents.

Gardai outside the GPO on O'Connell St on Friday following the Dublin riots on Thursday evening. Picture: David Young/PA

The issue is not that the rioters in some way represent an un-listened-to underclass protecting their nation (insert icon of tricolour) from a wave of threatening immigrants. The issue is the racism that caused the rush to judgment setting this whole disaster off.

The fact that a delivery driver who made the crucial intervention through creative use of his motorcycle helmet is not a citizen will not dissuade the lads who hit the streets on Thursday from their belief that their womenfolk and children must be protected from foreigners by stoving in the window of Footlocker.

Logic plays no part in this deal. Evidence, ditto. Consequences, another ditto.

The lads  and well come back to their gender in a minute  who went home clutching pre-Christmas self-donated gifts dont register that Dublin burned on the pages of The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Guardian and a rake of other international papers.

They do not care that this will immediately impact foreign direct investment coming into this country, with consequent reduction in the number of good jobs available here. The consequences of their action are, to them, short term and profoundly satisfactory.

They profited from the deal in physical goods and psychological reinforcement. Just look at the guy running across the street carrying a box filled with fire and stuffing it into the back seat of a garda car. Look at the satisfaction of him as he bangs the back door of the car closed on the flames. Job done.

Just why Ireland  in a newly-proven commonality with the US  has such a supply of young- to middle-aged men high on unjustified anger and ready to take action on what they perceive to be injustice, is worth examination. It might be suggested that, because of social media, this is the first generation with the capacity to express their anger to the world. Previous generations had no such outlet for their anger, and we know that expressing anger makes the human involved even more angry. Add to that the preference on the part of social media for emotions such as hate, hostility, and contempt, and the links created with other like-minded folk, and you have the making of our perfect storm.

Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio, one of the people who came to the aid of the stab victims. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA

A military history buff of my acquaintance says its more than that, pointing out that, in almost every generation, a war comes along and culls precisely the cohort most likely to be among rioters and looters. This is not advanced as promoting war, just as a measurable consequence of international conflict. The Second World War generated Rosie the Riveter, the iconic poster girl representing the women who took over the jobs of their husbands, brothers, and sons in the armaments factories of America. Many of those men died. Many of those who came home wanted nothing to do with violence thereafter.

They were focussed, instead, on getting an education, courtesy of the GI Bill, they would not otherwise have gained and becoming part of what Tom Brokaw dubbed The Greatest Generation. In addition, Emile Durkheim, the first great theorist on suicide, observed that suicide decreases during wars.

Absent a war, the risk-taking underclass, lamentably described by Hilary Clinton as the deplorables achieve social solidarity, excitement, and personal profit by engaging in the behaviour that handed Dublin a literally Black Friday and the burned-out wreckage of buses and Luas carriages used more by that stratum of capital city dwellers than by any other.

The clear-up was admirably fast and efficient. The temperature dropped, which is useful. Cold weather is a rioters enemy. People donated hundreds of thousands of euro to buy a pint for the man who intervened to save the little girls. The memory, on the other hand, will stay for a long, long time.
The warnings about the disastrous impact we are having on our planet are becoming more dire. The UN Environment Programmes most recent emissions gap report revealed the world is on course for a hellish 3C of global heating before the end of this century.

How can you plan for a family when the outlook is so bleak? A recent study, conducted by Hope Dillarstone, Laura Brown, and Elaine Flores from University College London, has reviewed existing evidence to shed light on how the climate crisis is shaping decisions about whether to have children or not.

Analysing research published between 2012 and 2022, the researchers found that people who were concerned about the climate crisis typically wanted to have few children or no children at all.

Concerns about overpopulation and overconsumption, uncertainty about the future, and worries about meeting their familys needs were among the factors driving peoples desire for smaller families.

Overpopulation and overconsumption

Do you feel guilty about your potential childs carbon footprint? Maybe youre frustrated by the materialistic values of modern society and the inevitability of overconsumption?

These issues came up in several of the reviewed studies.

There is a long, problematic, and very political history behind the idea of overpopulation.

In various forms, the idea has been around since the late 18th century. It has led to unethical population control measures in some countries.

Some (such as Paul Ehrlich, author of The Population Bomb) argue that there are already too many people on our planet, and the sheer number of people is causing our environmental crisis.

But what overpopulation arguments often miss is its not just about how many people are on the planet, but also how sustainably we live that matters.

The urgency with which we need to tackle the climate crisis also implies that opting not to have children for the sake of the climate would now prove insufficient and ineffective.

Even with reduced fertility, the population will continue to grow because of population momentum. Even if the fertility rate is declining, there is still a large number of people of reproductive age in the global population, resulting in more births than deaths.

The participants of several studies pointed out that more structural solutions, such as drastic reductions in carbon emissions, are urgently needed and promise to be more effective than reducing family size.

Uncertainty about the future

Are you worried your future children may not be able to enjoy nature due to damaged ecosystems?

Perhaps youre concerned about a more catastrophic outcome, such as full societal collapse?

The review shows that these are major themes influencing peoples decision to have fewer children, particularly in the US, Canada, Europe, and New Zealand.

These concerns are understandable. The UNs recent emissions gap report concluded that there is only a 14% chance that the world will limit global warming to the maximum 1.5C rise that is being called for by climate scientists.

Meanwhile hundreds of millions around the globe are already experiencing the fatal consequences of climate change in their everyday lives.

In Zambia and Ethiopia, for example, climate change concerns are having much more immediate impacts on childbearing.

In a study from 2021, which explored the impact of droughts on Zambian womens social and financial wellbeing and their reproductive lives, one participant said: The six children I desire to have may not have enough food to eat.

But in order to have fewer children, people need access to contraception, the supply of which can be disrupted, particularly in times of crisis.

In parallel, other respondents in Zambia reported that they are considering having more children to provide financial and labour support.

This highlights how the climate crisis is already and very directly impeding reproductive justice  the right to have children, to not have children, and to parent in safe and healthy environments  especially in the global south.

Childbearing as a political choice

Ultimately, the climate crisis is a collective, and therefore political, crisis. We are much more likely to avoid the worst climate outcomes if we mandate our governments to drastically reduce the emissions generated by industry and consumers than if we focus on changing our own individual behaviours.

One study included in the review made this point by analysing how environmental activists approached childbearing decisions.

Some decided not to have children as a means of exerting political pressure and advocacy, for example, through the former Birth Strike movement.

For others, not having children was a choice made to free up time and energy for political and advocacy activities centring on the climate crisis.

Some people instead saw having children as a way of raising future activists.

In the end, the choice is deeply personal. The only right answer is the one that is best for you. But we can all do more to make sure policies help everyone enact their own choices.

Jasmine Fledderjohann is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Lancaster University.

Laura Sochas is Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the School of Social and Political Science, The University of Edinburgh.

The Conversation
NOT only are you getting a handsome home and history with Ardagh, a period house on grounds in west Waterfords Lismore heritage town, you are also getting architectural distinction and a host of original, retained detailing, plus space galore.

Ardagh is on the Mayfield Road on the edge of Lismore

Fresh to market for a long-time owner is Ardagh on the Mayfield Road, within a few minutes walk of the town and the famed Blackwater river Lismore Castle, all reached via Parks Road, Chapel Place, or South Mall.

Yet, for all that town proximity, once inside the gate on its 1.47 acre site with old barns and yard Ardagh feels more country, more farmyard-like, which is a bit disconcerting as the house is quite a remove in quality and design terms from almost any other style of town-edge farm dwellings.

The National Inventory of Architectural Heritage dates it to 1875, but it may be older, says joint selling agent David Reynolds of Sherry FitzGerald Reynolds, acting with Lismore agent Michael OLeary and they guide the substantial, robust and quite gracious home at 675,000.

It weighs in at just shy of 4,000 sq ft, with six bedrooms (one at ground level) and has rooms over three levels, two up in the attic above a large, feature landing, while at ground level there are very fine reception rooms with original fireplaces, both double aspect and high ceilinged, and two link via original sliding pocket doors.

One, the living room, has a superb twinning of sash windows either side of the rooms corner with paneling in between  an early, 19th century example of a successful corner window arrangement.

Elsewhere there are several stained glass windows to admire, and the National Inventory of Architectural heritage judges that Ardagh remains an important component of the townscape of Lismore, contributing significantly to the character of the locality.

Coming up for a change of caring hands, Ardagh is going to need upgrades and spending (tho the heating has just been upgraded and there are several recently added showers) and landscaping to lift it back up to grace and some splendour, but given the setting, its all going to be worth it. Little is reported of its history other that it was part of the original Lismore Estate, a fact which explains the relative grandeur of this farm home and while its offered on c 1.5 acres, more land is available in a field in the same vendors ownership between the Mayfield and Deerpark roads.

VERDICT: A house of this calibre would not look out of place in Foxrocks Dublin, when you could put a 1m, or even a 2+m figure ahead of this lovely Lismores 675,00 rare offer.

Interest already is coming from the UK, and from more locally-based home hunters. Might it even have hospitality uses in its future given the Lismore location?
Spanish authorities have signed an agreement to invest 1.4 billion euro (1.2 billion) in areas around the treasured national park of Donana in a bid to stop the park from drying up.

Ecological transition minister Teresa Ribera said the plan was aimed at encouraging farmers to stop cultivating crops that rely heavily on water from underground aquifers that have been overexploited in recent years, damaging one of Europes largest wetlands.

Ms Ribera said: This is an agreement with which we put an end to pressure on a natural treasure the likes of which there are few in the world.

Andalusia regional president Juan Moreno said farmers will receive financial incentives to stop cultivating and to reforest land in and around some 14 towns close to Donana.

He said farmers who wish to continue cultivating will receive less money but must switch to farming dry crops ecologically.

The bones of a dead horse lie in a dry wetland in Donana natural park (AP)

As part of the agreement, Andalusia will cancel previously announced plans to expand irrigation near Donana, a decision that Unesco, the central Spanish government and ecologists criticised for putting more pressure on the aquifer.

A Unesco World Heritage Site and Biosphere Reserve, Donana is a wintering site for half a million waterfowl and a stopover spot for millions more birds that migrate from Africa to northern Europe.

Ecologists working in and near the park have long warned that its ecosystem of marshes and lagoons is under severe strain because of agriculture and tourism. The situation has been made worse by climate change and a long drought, along with record high temperatures.

Andalusia recently announced a plan to allow the Donana park to annex some 7,500 hectares (18,500 acres) by purchasing land from a private owner for 70 million euro (60.7 million).

Donana currently covers 74,000 hectares (182,000 acres) on an estuary where the Guadalquivir River meets the Atlantic Ocean on Spains southern coast.
A senior Egyptian official said on Monday that Egypt and Qatar were close to reaching a deal to extend a truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare that has killed thousands and laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

Diaa Rashwan, the head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS), said the extension would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages from among those seized by Hamas during its October 7 assault on southern Israel. In exchange 60 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be freed, he said.

The truce is due to end on Monday night.

With the release of 11 Israeli hostages expected on Monday, negotiations remain ongoing for the release of 33 Palestinians, Rashwan added.

Earlier, Hamas was reported to be seeking a four-day extension while Israel wanted day-by-day extensions.

An Israeli official reiterated Israel's position that it would agree to an extra day of truce for the release of each group of 10 hostages. In exchange, three times the number of Palestinian prisoners would be released each time. The limit would be five days, the official added.

A Palestinian walks through Shifa Hospital grounds in Gaza City on Sunday. Picture: AP Photo/Mohammed Hajjar

The European Union's foreign police chief Josef Borrell said an extension was within reach and this could allow the international community to work on a political solution to the conflict.

The truce agreed last week was the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza.

In response to that attack, Israel has bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Wide areas of the Hamas-ruled enclave have been flattened by Israeli air strikes and artillery bombardments, and a humanitarian crisis has unfolded as supplies of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run out.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 people, including a 4-year-old Israeli-American girl, bringing the total number the militant group has released since Friday to 58, including foreigners. Israel freed 39 teenage Palestinian prisoners on Sunday, taking the total number of Palestinians freed under the truce to 117.

On Saturday night, Irish-Israel girl Emily Hand, 9, was released after she had been abducted while at a sleepover in Kibbutz Beeri during the Hamas attack on October 7.

Under the terms of the current deal, Hamas is due to release in total 50 Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza. There is no limit in the deal on the number of foreigners it can release.

An Israeli government spokesperson said the total number of hostages still held in Gaza on Monday was 184, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual nationality.

Both Israel and Hamas raised concerns over Monday's lists and Qatari mediators were working with them to resolve the issues and avoid delays, an official briefed on the matter told Reuters.

'Elimination of Hamas'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it was reviewing the list of Palestinian prisoners it had received from Hamas for release on Monday and would provide further information when possible.

Netanyahu said at the weekend that once the truce ends, "we will return with full force to achieve our goals: the elimination of Hamas; ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages."

Palestinians in Gaza said on Monday they were praying for an extension of the truce. Some were visiting homes reduced to rubble by weeks of intensive Israeli bombardment, while others queued for flour and other essential aid being delivered by the United Nations' relief agency UNRWA.

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip cook in Nusseirat refugee camp, central Gaza Strip, Monday. Picture: AP Photo/Hatem Moussa

UNRWA was awaiting Israeli clearance on Monday to send aid trucks and ambulances into northern Gaza.

"Too many people have lost their lives, too many people have lost their houses, so we welcome this ceasefire. We hope that this ceasefire is extended," Thomas White, the director of UNRWA affairs, told Reuters.

Palestinians gave the freed prisoners a jubilant reception in Ramallah, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

Omar Abdullah Al Hajj, 17, released on Sunday, told Reuters he had been kept in the dark about what was happening in the outside world.

"We were 11 people crammed into a single room where usually there are six. There was never enough food and I was never told how long I was going to stay," he said.

"I can't believe I'm free now but my joy is incomplete because we still have our brothers who remain in prison," said Al Hajj.

Israel's Justice Ministry accused him of belonging to the Islamic Jihad militant group and posing a security threat which it did not specify.

Speaking at a conference in Barcelona on the Gaza crisis, the EU's Borrell said the Palestinian Authority (PA) - which runs the occupied West Bank - should regain control of Gaza from Hamas as it offered a "better" alternative.

The EU, the United States, Britain and others classify Hamas as a terrorist organisation.

Borrell also urged Israel not to "recolonise Gaza", saying that the creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza was the best guarantee of Israel's peace and security.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told the same conference that the events in Gaza were within the realm of the legal definition of genocide, and called for an end to all killings and displacements of people in Gaza.

Israel says it is acting in self-defence against a foe bent on its destruction.
More than 100 cargo trucks were destroyed in an attack on junta troops guarding the Jin San Jiao (Kyin San Kyawt) border gate to China in northern Shan State last week, according to local merchants.

Financial losses amounted to about 30 billion kyats, or over US$ 14.33 million at the official exchange rate, according to sources in the border trade zone.

Jin San Jiao gate is located about 10 kilometers from Muse, Myanmars key border trade town with China.

Drones were used to drop bombs on more than 100 junta soldiers guarding the gate on Thursday. Cargo trucks hit in the attack caught fire, merchants told The Irrawaddy.

It was a drone attack. We dont know how many Myanmar military casualties it caused. We saw around 20 soldiers extinguishing the blazing trucks, a merchant told The Irrawaddy.

The trucks were reportedly loaded with machines, food and household goods imported from China. They were trapped at the gate due to ongoing fighting in the area.

Junta troops reportedly occupied Jin San Jiao gate last Monday (November 20), taking cover in the terminal where trucks were parked.

More than 1,000 cargo trucks were parked in the Jin San Jao border compound, with another 250 cargo trucks in the adjacent truck terminal, a source in the border trade hub told The Irrawaddy.

Truck drivers and fire fighters from the 105th mile border trade camp in Muse battled for several hours to put out the fires. They were finally extinguished at 5 pm on Thursday.

The Brotherhood Alliance  a tripartite military alliance made up of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, Taang National Liberation Army and Arakan Army  launched an anti-regime offensive in northern Shan State in late October. The ethnic alliance has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack on Jin San Jiao gate, however.

The alliance seized Kyugok (Pansai) town and Wanding border gate in Muse Township, close to Jin San Jiao, in mid-November. Border residents say it is now attempting to seize control of the 105th mile and Jin San Jiao border gates too.
The current war in Myanmar differs from past conflicts in the country because ethnic armies are no longer on the defensive, the spokesman for the most powerful ethnic army in Rakhine State told the Irrawaddy in an exclusive interview on Friday.

Junta troops are the ones how are on the defensive now as ethnic armies and resistance groups have unleashed fierce attacks on multiple fronts, Arakan Army (AA) spokesman Khaing Thu Kha explained.

The AA launched attacks in the north of Rakhine State in western Myanmar on November 13, intensifying pressure on a regime that was already struggling to contain resistance offensives in other parts of the country.

The surprise attacks ended a yearlong ceasefire with the junta.

Within 10 days, the ethnic army  which is a member of the Brotherhood Alliance that is attacking junta targets in northern Myanmar  seized four junta outposts and took control of more than 40 others it said were abandoned by regime troops.

Khaing Thu Kha said Operation 1027 (launched by the Brotherhood Alliance in northern Myanmar on October 27) has gone nation-wide. He also accused junta troops of committing war crimes in Rakhine State and discussed the AAs vision for a post-junta Myanmar.

Why did the AA open a new front against the junta in Rakhine State?

I just want to say that the battle erupting in Rakhine now is rooted in the clashes that are breaking out across the country. Although we had a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons, the Myanmar military made many restrictions on people in Rakhine State and oppressed them, which is another reason why fighting has been renewed in Rakhine. The military strategy of the junta is to oppress and put restrictions on people in Rakhine and they thought we  would not be able to fight them.

You had an informal ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar military. Did the junta contact you for negotiations or for other reasons when you launched the offensive?

So far, the junta hasnt officially reached out to us. However, Myanmar military officers are visiting well-known monasteries in Rakhine cities. They are asking abbots to help request that we not enter towns and cities.

But on the ground, Myanmar military troops are targeting civilians. Instead of fighting one armed force to another, the Myanmar military is using its army, navy and air force to attack civilians. The junta is committing both war crimes and crimes against humanity.

How much further will you escalate your fighting against the Myanmar military in Rakhine, and what are the AAs objectives?

Its hard for me to expose our military objectives exactly. However, what I can say precisely is this [round of fighting] is very different in Rakhine and other parts of the country. It is quite different from any other previous fighting.

In the past, most parts of the country experienced Myanmar military offensives, but now the war  including in Rakhine and throughout the country  is [characterized by] offensives launched by ethnic armed groups and other revolutionary and resistance forces.

Will fighting also break out in southern Rakhine State?

I cant reveal the details of our military strategy, but as you can see, Operation 1027 has spread all over the country, and all the different armed groups are on the offensive  If you look at these offensives, you can see that Operation 1027 has now reached the nation-wide level  These offensives, including the one in Rakhine State, have gone nation-wide  which is the next level of Operation 1027.

What do you want to say to the international community about the junta militarys attacks on civilians?

The Myanmar military has always attacked civilians. They are flagrantly committing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In Rakhine State, the Myanmar military detained over 200 civilians in Pauktaw as hostages when they entered the town on November 16  [Junta troops] used them as human shields. As a result, on November 21 the AA annihilated some Myanmar military troops in Pauktaw and rescued around 100 civilians.

And on November 22, by chasing and eliminating the juntas military troops in the town, we were able to rescue another 104 residents. If you look at these situations, you can see that the Myanmar military has always been lying [when it says] they are not targeting civilians. It is not true.

In fact, the Myanmar military has always  used innocent civilians as human shields. In most incidents, [junta spokesman] Zaw Min Tun has always denied atrocities and crimes committed [by junta troops]. In that way, they are spreading their propaganda to the international community.

So, I would like to ask the international community not to trust their propaganda and instead listen to people on the ground and investigate if needed. We would also like to request that the international community takes more effective action against the Myanmar junta.

What is the political goal of the Arakan Army? Has the current situation changed your previous objectives?

We have always vowed that our political ambition for Rakhine State to achieve a status that shouldnt be less than a confederate. [The same level of autonomy as the Wa Self-Administered Division] At the end of the ongoing nation-wide operations  after we are done uprooting and annihilating the juntas military  we hope that all ethnic groups in the country can unite more than ever. We believe that we can build mutual trust and cohesion. After we defeat the military dictatorship, we strongly believe that we can all eventually construct a better political system for the country.
The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) says Myanmars junta will continue to use chemical weapons, including against civilians, across the country.

The MNDAA said last week that junta forces dropped four chemical bombs on a hilltop outpost in Namsalat village, Hseni Township, northern Shan State, on November 23.

The junta camp had been seized by the MNDAA before the attack, the group said.

Its troops reportedly suffered from dizziness and vomiting. The armed group said it was not the first use of chemical weapons since Operation 1027 began in northern Shan State on October 27.

MNDAA spokesman Li Kyarwen told The Irrawaddy that the junta always denies breaching international law. It could launch more chemical attacks on both civilians and revolutionary forces, he said.

He said the MNDAA is equipping its troops to protect them from chemical attacks.

The Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA), an ally of the MNDAA in the Brotherhood Alliance, reported the use of a chemical bomb on its troops at the Sakhan Thit hill base in Namkham Township on November 18.

The use of chemical weapons is banned globally and is a war crime, the TNLA statement said.

A TNLA representative told The Irrawaddy that the group is gathering more evidence through technical investigations and laboratory assessments.

The TNLA reported the use of a chemical bomb on November 4 at Mong Kyat camp in Lashio Township, which had been seized from the military.

It said TNLA soldiers suffered from dizziness, breathlessness, nausea, extreme agitation, fatigue and low blood oxygen levels.

The juntas spokesman, Major General Zaw Min Tun, has rejected the accusations.
The Spring Development Bank (SDB) set up by Myanmars civilian National Unity Government (NUG) has reached its target to sell US$ 10 million in shares in 10 days.

The SDB kicked off its first share offering on November 17, aiming to raise $10 million  equivalent to 10 percent of the banks net worth  to fund the ongoing revolution.

Launching the sale, NUG Minister for Planning, Finance and Investment U Tin Tun Naing said all proceeds would go to meet the urgent needs of the revolution as resistance forces conduct a massive and coordinated offensive to seize junta targets nationwide.

We are proud to announce that we reached USD 10 million [in share sales] as of 6 pm Myanmar time on November 26, the SDB stated on Sunday.

It said the historic success was proof of the determination and overwhelming support of the public who believe in the Spring Revolution.

It added that although the target had been reached, to meet continuing demand for shares, applications would continue to be accepted until 4 pm on Monday as per the original plan.

The bank has set the share price at US$ 0.001. A buyer must purchase at least $10 worth of shares, or 10,000 shares, at a time.

Today, I bought $1,000 worth of SDB shares. I opened a bank account and bought the shares not for profit but for the future of the country, one user wrote on Facebook.

An SDB relationship manager from Singapore told The Irrawaddy that he was serving around 40 to 45 customers per day, with share purchases ranging from $10 to $10,000.

He added that buyers came from all walks of life, ranging from domestic help and factory workers to engineers and doctors.

I have been going to bed at around 3 or 4 am since starting to serve [SDB] customer needs. I am very happy about the tremendous participation in this event. Myanmar people from all over the world have joined this project. It is absolutely awesome, he said after reaching the target one day early.

The NUG launched the SDB in July to fund the revolution and block financial flows to the junta. The bank currently accepts 10 currencies, including Myanmar kyats, US dollars, Thai baht, Singapore dollars, Japanese yen and Korean won.

The SDB has taken on more than 80,000 members from different countries since its launch.
DHAKA  Rohingya resettlement from Bangladesh, mainly to the United States and Canada, has increased this year but more than 1 million refugees remain while Myanmar remains too unstable for large-scale returns.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has arranged for 355 Rohingya to be resettled in the US while 307 others are having applications verified, according to Bangladeshs home ministry.

Canada received 131 Rohingya and 148 others are being verified.

Australia received 48 while 62 others traveled to the Netherlands, Italy, Argentina, Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Germany and Japan.

In August 2022, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the resettlement process and US migration chief Julieta Noyes visited Rohingya camps in Coxs Bazar in December last year.

Bangladesh home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told the media that he met US ambassador Peter Haas last month to speed up the verification process.

Bangladesh has hosted over 1.1 million Rohingya from Myanmar since the 2017 military crackdown in Rakhine State.

The resettlement process has been stepped up since the assassination of Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah in the Kutupalang camp in September 2021. His family and associates were resettled in Canada.

Jon Danilowicz, a former US diplomat who served in Bangladesh, said: Ironically, over the years the US constantly advocated for larger numbers of third-country Rohingya settlements. Bangladesh regularly opposed these efforts, fearing they would be a magnet for more refugee arrivals and be politically unpopular locally.

Bangladeshs government pushes for repatriation to Myanmar rather than third-country resettlement but the outbreak of fresh violence between the Arakan Army and Myanmars junta on November 13 has scuppered the process.

Bangladeshs refugee commissioner Mohammed Mizanur Rahman told The Irrawaddy: The clashes will definitely hamper the repatriation process. Other ethnic groups are already being affected by these clashes.

Numerous Rohingya continue to risk perilous boat journeys to Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia and over the last 10 days, the Bangladeshi authorities have apprehended over 200 Rohingyas in Coxs Bazar allegedly being trafficked to Malaysia by boat.

Gwyn Lewis, the UN coordinator in Bangladesh, told The Irrawaddy: A more fast-moving process would be very helpful to take full advantage of the possibility of repatriation.
? Durante la inauguracion de la X Conferencia Anual Internacional por la Integridad #CAII2023, la presidenta Dina Boluarte senalo que la lucha anticorrupcion esta presente desde el inicio del Gobierno, con una politica de rendicion de cuentas claras, transparente e idonea.



? pic.twitter.com/c5Ets12fe1
Myanmars civilian National Unity Government (NUG) has rejected Indonesias recent controversial statement that key stakeholders in Myanmars conflict were about to hold an inclusive dialogue to solve problems sparked by military rule, saying it has no plans for dialogue with the countrys military junta until its conditions are met.

Indonesia is currently the chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), of which Myanmarwhich has been in social and political chaos since the military staged a coup in 2021is a member. The Myanmar junta has been struggling with an increasingly successful anti-regime armed resistance across the country.

Indonesias Office of the Special Envoy on Myanmar organized what it said was a meeting of some of the key Myanmar stakeholders from Nov. 20-22 to bring conflicting parties to an inclusive dialogue, to reduce violence, and to ensure safe deliveries of humanitarian assistance for the people of Myanmar affected by the conflict.

Indonesias Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the envoys office held a number of separate meetings with members of various groupings: anti-regime groups, including the NUG; interlocutors for the Myanmar regime; and representatives of 10 ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) who have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and who are known collectively as the Peace Process Steering Team (PPST). Also present was a representative of the government of Laos, which will hold the ASEAN chair in 2024.

Formed after the coup by lawmakers from the elected National League for Democracy party and their ethnic allies to challenge the regime at home and abroad, the NUG is considered by the vast majority of people in Myanmar to be their legitimate government.

The Indonesian envoys office said it facilitated exchanges of messages between the groups.

Upon receiving the respective messages, stakeholders indicated positive indication on the possibility of convening dialogues in an inclusive and genuine manner soon, it said.

The statement has caused an uproar among Myanmars pro-democracy groups as it implies the anti-regime camp agreed to open a dialogue with the regime.

On Saturday, the NUGs Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the civilian government had separately briefed ASEAN on its stand on what occurred at the meeting, and on the development of the anti-resistance movement in which it has been playing a major role, but stressed that it has never met with any individual, including so-called representatives of the illegitimate military junta, neither at any place nor at any point in time.

The comment stated in the Press Release of Indonesias Foreign Ministry regarding the possibility of a dialogue solely reflects the view of the Office of Special Envoy. We wish to clarify that this comment is unrelated to the National Unity Government, it added.

NUG Deputy Foreign Minister U Moe Zaw Oo told The Irrawaddy that the statement by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry was misleading, prompting the NUG to issue the statement to avoid any misunderstanding, as the NUG was named in the statement.

We have never indicated that we want a dialogue [with the junta]. It would only happen when conditions we have set are met, he said.

In 2022, the NUG set conditions for dialogue, saying there would be no engagement without assurances from the junta that it would end the military dictatorship and establish a federal democratic union; without the genuine will of the people, Spring Revolution forces and allies; and without a guarantee of a transitional period in which justice is fully upheld.

U Moe Zaw Oo said there is no dialogue in sight at this moment as the junta has shown no interest in honoring the conditions.

So far, the regime has killed 4,200 people, including pro-democracy activists and civilians, as of Nov. 24 this year while waging war against ethnic armed groups and resistance forces across the country who have been fighting to root out the military dictatorship and establish a federal democratic union in the country.
Monday marks one month since the Myanmar military regime was confronted with what has rapidly become the biggest challenge to its rule since the 2021 coupa massive, coordinated resistance offensive dubbed Operation 1027 that has inflicted significant troop and territorial losses on the junta.

The tripartite Brotherhood Alliance comprising the ethnic Rakhine armed group the Arakan Army (AA), the Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), jointly launched the anti-regime operation by attacking and seizing regime bases and towns across northern Shan, Kachin and Rakhine states and the upper reaches of Sagaing and Mandalay regions.

Several resistance organizations including the Peoples Defense Force groups (PDFs) under the civilian National Unity Government (NUG), the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF), and one of the countrys most powerful ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), are coordinating with the Brotherhood Alliances operation.



Drawing on an estimated 20,000 resistance fighters, the operation is the biggest, best-organized offensive mounted against the military regime since the coup.

The alliance has achieved significant successes, attacking and seizing a large number of junta bases in a short period of time and, in the process, winning popular support across Myanmar, whose people have endured great hardship under military rule.



Within a month, over 224 junta bases and seven towns across northern Shan, including some strategic centers on key Myanmar-China trade routes, have been seized from the junta.

Since the operations launch, the resistance groups have managed to block many sections of two of the countrys main trade arteriesthe Mandalay-Lashio-Muse road and the Mandalay-Lashio-Chin Shwe Haw road, both of which pass through northern Shan State.

In the earliest days of the operation, the rebel groups managed to take complete control of Chin Shwe Haw, a trade hub on the Chinese border. Later, they seized another strategic town, Hseni, where the Lashio-Muse and Lashio-Chin Shwe Haw trade routes converge, as well as another trade gateKyin San Kyawt on the China border in Muse Township.

After attacking several junta bases including major military headquarters for 12 days, the resistance groups on Nov. 12 took complete control of Kunlong, a town of vital strategic importance to the junta located on the Lashio-Chin Shwe Haw road that serves as a gateway to the Kokang Self-Administered Zone, also known as Shan Special Region 1.

Resistance groups continue to attack and seize junta bases across northern Shan State. The junta has conducted frequent air strikes and artillery attacks but has so far been unable to retake any of its bases or to send reinforcements into the area.

At the same time, many other resistance groups and EAOs have stepped up attacks on regime targets and bases in harmony with Operation 1027.



In Chin State, ethnic Chin resistance groups including the Chin National Army (CNA), the armed wing of the Chin National Front (CNF), have stepped up attacks on regime targets and bases in Falam and Tedim, and took complete control of the town of Reh Khaw Da in Falam Township on the Indian border on Nov. 13. They also seized Lailenpi town in Matupi Township last Friday.

In the first week of November, a joint force comprising troops from the KIA, AA, PDFs and Chin resistance groups took control of Khampat and Kawlin town in Sagaing Region after several days of clashes with regime forces.



On Nov. 11, in harmony with Operation 1027, the Karenni Army, Karenni National Peoples Liberation Front, KNDF and PDF groups jointly launched another massive anti-regime offensive, Operation 11.11, attacking and seizing more than 20 junta bases and outposts in Kayah States Loikaw and Demoso townships and neighboring Pekon Township in southern Shan State.

In the first 10 days of the operation, over 200 soldiers and at least 45 resistance fighters were killed and dozens of regime troops surrendered to the resistance groups.

Intense clashes continue in Kayah as the joint resistance groups attempt to seize the state capital Loikaw.



Widening Operation 1027, the AA launched attacks on military targets across northern Rakhine State on Nov. 13, ending an informal ceasefire it agreed with the regime a year ago. The AA said it attacked and seized four junta bases and occupied 40 more junta bases abandoned by regime troops who fled fearing resistance attacks.

Fierce fighting continues as the AA attempts to seize Pauktaw town near the Rakhine State capital Sittwe.



As of Nov. 23, nearly 335,000 people in multiple states and regions had been displaced as a result of the escalation of fighting since Oct. 26, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The UNs relief agency also said the fighting and related insecurity had reportedly left almost 200 civilians dead and 263 injured.



The number of civilian casualties is believed to be even higher than the official figure, as more junta artillery and air strikes resulting in injuries and deaths have been reported in northern Shan, Chin and Rakhine states.

In the escalated resistance attacks since Oct. 27, hundreds of junta soldiers have reportedly been killed and it is estimated that over 500, including an entire military battalion of over 200 soldiers and their family members, have surrendered to resistance forces or abandoned their bases.



As the escalation of resistance attacks has spread out across the country, Myanmars military regime has been forced to call in 14,000 more combat troops including 4,000 commandos to defend its nerve center Naypyitaw, home to the juntas ruling generals and their families.

Civil servants in the regimes administrative capital have been instructed to mobilize as military guards while police stations and bases have been transformed into defense outposts with strong bunkers for use in emergencies.

Besides the intensified resistance operations, the Myanmar junta has continued to face frequent attacks by PDFs and other EAOs in all states and regions of the country, with the exception of Ayeyarwady, since the 2021 coup.



Assessing the impact of the massive, coordinated anti-regime operation, Padoh Saw Taw Nee, the spokesperson of the countrys oldest ethnic rebel group, the Karen National Union (KNU), which has been engaged in fierce fighting against the regime since the 2021 coup, said, The popular revolt has gained momentum since Operation 1027 was launched. This indicates the end of the military regime.

He added, The military regime is doomed.
At least 64 Myanmar junta forces were killed and 38 arrested over the past three days as Peoples Defense Forces (PDFs) and ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) continued to attack regime targets and bases in some parts of the country.

Incidents were reported in Shan State and Sagaing and Mandalay regions.

The Irrawaddy has rounded up the following reports of significant attacks from PDFs and EAOs.

Some military casualties could not be independently verified.

Fierce clashes continue in northern Shan

More clashes were reported across northern Shan State on Sunday as the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA) continued to attack junta bases in Nawnghkio, Kyaukme, Lashio and Muse townships and the junta responded with indiscriminate artillery shelling and air strikes, the resistance groups said.

The groups said they attacked the regime targets and bases as part of Operation 1027. In the junta air strikes and shelling, a 17-year-old girl was killed and six other civilians injured while five civilian houses were destroyed.

Last Friday, the MNDAA and other resistance groups managed to seize a group of four military bases in Hseni Township, northern Shan State after six days of attacks. In the operation, 16 junta soldiers were killed and 31 arrested, said the MNDAA. The joint resistance groups also seized an armored vehicle, two howitzers and other weapons and ammunition from the junta bases.

The MNDAA also claimed it managed to occupy the Kyin San Kyawt border trade gate after attacking regime bases in Muse Township, northern Shan.

Regime forces bombed in Mandalay

Nyaung Yoe Special Guerrilla Force (NYSGF) said it and three other PDF groups used explosives to attack a military checkpoint in Talokemyo Village-Tract in Myingyan Township, Mandalay Region on Sunday, killing two regime forces.

One more soldier was killed in the village when the PDF groups bombed regime forces who were assessing the damage from the initial blasts, said the NYSGF.

That afternoon, the combined resistance groups triggered mines in a minefield to ambush a military unit from Udaya Village in Myingyan Township, killing eight regime forces, the NYSGF claimed. Hearses were used to retrieve the bodies of killed soldiers.

Four military bases raided simultaneously in Sagaing

At least 20 junta soldiers and pro-regime Pyu Saw Htee militia members were killed and 10 others injured in Shwebo Township, Sagaing Region on Saturday when several resistance groups raided junta bases in four villagesNyaung Kaing, Zee Phyu Kone, Tal Thee Taw and Thee Konesaid the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA), which joined the attacks.

The junta used Mi-35 helicopter gunships to defend its bases. After four hours of fighting, the combined resistance groups managed to seize the villages of Zee Phyu Kone and Tal Thee Taw, said the BNRA.

After being hit with 12 drone bombs, soldiers and militia members fled, abandoning their base in Zee Phyu Kone, said Shwebo-based Wild Tiger PDF, which coordinated the raids.

During the raids, five resistance members were injured, one of them critically. The BNRA said the operation was intended to allow local residents, who were forced to flee the village over two years ago following the arrival of junta soldiers and pro-regime militias, to return to their homes.

Police station attacked in Sagaing

The Democratic Local Coalition said it and other PDF battalions from Monywa and Yinmabin districts raided the police station in Nyaung Phyu Pin Village in Monywa Township, Sagaing Region last Friday, killing seven junta soldiers and policemen.

A resistance fighter suffered injuries.

Military bases raided in Sagaing

At least 10 regime forces were killed, 15 injured and seven captured in Ye-U Township, Sagaing Region last Friday when nine resistance groups jointly raided bases housing junta soldiers, police officers and pro-junta Pyu Saw Htee militias in Aung Thayar Village, said the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), which joined the attack.

After two hours of fighting, the resistance groups retreated from the village. Seven resistance members suffered minor injuries. The junta conducted air strikes in the area after the resistance forces retreated.
Monday, Nov 27th, 2023 (9:53 am) - Score 920

Rural broadband ISP GoFibre (BorderLink), which is building a 10Gbps capable full fibre (FTTP) network across the North of England and Scottish Borders area, has announced that theyve completed the first phase of their 6.6m state-aid supported Project Gigabit contract in rural Teesdale  putting services live across 885 covered homes.

Just to recap. The original contract (Lot 4.01) was first awarded in September 2022 (here) and set a target to upgrade more than 4,000 hard-to-reach Teesdale premises in Northern England with their Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) technology. The first build phase then began in April 2023, due to the usual engineering surveys and other prep work (here). Completion is targetted for 2025.

NOTE: GoFibre  supported by an investment of 164m from Gresham House ( GoFibre  supported by an investment offrom Gresham House ( here )  more broadly aims to cover 500,000 premises in the North of England and Scottish Borders by around the end of 2025.

As part of this first phase of the network build, some 885 homes and businesses in the Barnard Castle, Middleton-in-Teesdale and Winston areas can now access and benefit from the new network. The first customers are said to have started to go live over the last few weeks.

We should point out that GoFibre also holds the 7.3m North Northumberland (Lot 34.01) build contract under the same programme (here), which will aim to upgrade over 3,750 hard-to-reach premises, and work on that appears to be progressing at a similar pace.

Neil Conaghan, CEO of GoFibre, said: It is with great pleasure that we announce the first customers have been connected to our full fibre broadband network in Teesdale. Through our partnership with the UK government and Durham County Council, the completion of this first phase marks a significant step forward in our aim to close the digital divide across rural areas, many of whom, like John, have faced years of persistent digital connectivity problems. To any locals or businesses interested in learning more about how our network can benefit them, please do get in touch or register. We appreciate your patience during the ongoing construction and are excited to continue to bring the benefits of full fibre connectivity to even more homes and businesses in Teesdale.

Sir John Whittingdale, Minister for Digital Infrastructure, said: Im delighted to see the first local residents in Teesdale being able to plug into the fastest broadband speeds on the market thanks to our Project Gigabit investment. Working with GoFibre, we are set to deliver next generation broadband to thousands more homes and businesses from Barnard Castle to West Auckland, ensuring people have access to the fastest connections fit for the future.

Customers of the new service can expect to pay from 36 per month for a 100Mbps package on a 24-month term with an included wireless router, which rises to 69 per month for their top 1000Mbps plan. The latter also comes with a bonus Wi-Fi extender (this can optionally be taken on other plans too for just 5 per month extra).
Monday, Nov 27th, 2023 (3:34 pm) - Score 2,600

The first 100 homes and businesses on the remote rural Hebridean isle of Jura in Scotland can now access Openreachs new gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) network. The development was partly funded by gigabit broadband vouchers from the UK and Scottish governments, which offer subsidies worth up to 5,000 per property.

The island, which sits directly adjacent to and northeast of Islay, was in fact previously connected via a high-speed subsea fibre optic cable as part of the original Digital Scotland (DSSB) Superfast Broadband project. But until recently residents on Jura could only access a mix of slow ADSL or hybrid fibre FTTC (VDSL2) based broadband connections.

The arrival of full fibre connectivity to individual homes and business in such a remote location is thus a significant upgrade and one that brings gigabit speeds (1000Mbps) to several communities. So far 100 premises have been covered, but more will be able to upgrade before Christmas, as engineers continue work on the ground. Ultimately, around 200 premises will benefit, once the build is completed.

Robert Thorburn, Openreach Partnership Director for Scotland, said: Islanders have worked hand in hand with us to make this upgrade a success, so its great that around half the population can now upgrade to full fibre broadband. They need to place their order with their chosen service provider and well take care of the rest. Once their ultrafast broadband installation has gone live, voucher holders will be contacted by the UK Government and asked to confirm their service is active. Ultrafast, ultra-reliable broadband will provide numerous benefits. Transformative connectivity helps make communities sustainable  people can stay local and take full advantage of online opportunities.

Richard Lochhead, Scottish Government Innovation Minister, said: The Scottish Government is investing in connectivity which is transforming how people on Jura work, socialise and visit, while also creating new business opportunities. The R100 Scottish broadband voucher scheme is in place to support the installation of superfast connections, including in this case full fibre broadband, with vouchers available worth up to 5,000 per household. This helps ensure nobody is left behind as we build a stronger economy.

The UK Governments Minister for Digital Infrastructure, Sir John Whittingdale, added that he was similarly delighted to see that the community on the remote Hebridean isle of Jura is also benefitting [from the voucher scheme] and will now be able to access first-class broadband, fit for the future. Whittingdale noted that the UK is still on track to bring lightning-fast broadband to every corner of the UK by 2030.

Separately, the Scottish Government recently revealed that their 600m Reaching 100% (R100) project with Openreach (BT) has so far extended FTTP to an additional 42,000 premises (up from 24,194 in late May 2023)  the goal is to grow this to around 114,000 extra premises by March 2028. Over 3,500 premises have also used the R100 Broadband Voucher Scheme to get the same connectivity installed.

Ofcom recently predicted (here) that Scotlands full fibre coverage would reach around 78-83% by May 2026, while gigabit-capable broadband (FTTP and Hybrid Fibre Coax / cable) would deliver 83-85% by that same date.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. State budget revenue comprised 1 trillion 708 billion drams in the nine months of 2023, amounting to a 13,8% growth compared to the same period of 2022, Deputy Finance Minister Vahan Sirunyan told lawmakers Monday.

The state budget revenues were outperformed compared to the plan, Sirunyan told MPs at a parliamentary committee hearing on the budget performance. Revenues amounted to 1 trillion 708 billion drams in the nine months of 2023, growing 13,8% compared to the same period of 2022. The expenditures amounted to 1 trillion 633 billion drams, growing 12,7% compared to the same period of 2022, while the execution was 84,6%, he said.

The surplus was 74,6 billion drams against the originally projected 248,4 billion deficit.
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A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 27, ARMENPRESS. The certification process of subgroup 1 of servicemen of highest and senior officer ranks was launched on November 27.

Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan and his deputy Arman Sargsyan attended the ceremony marking the launch of the tests.

This is an indicator that everyone in the military is equal in fulfilling their mission. The commander and the soldier standing in the last line are equal in battle, they are brothers. This is important to me. Good luck to you all, Papikyan told the troops.
YEREVAN, 27 NOVEMBER, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 27 November, USD exchange rate up by 0.13 drams to 402.31 drams. EUR exchange rate up by 1.99 drams to 440.73 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate up by 0.01 drams to 4.53 drams. GBP exchange rate up by 2.50 drams to 507.84 drams.

The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals.

Gold price up by 111.81 drams to 25880.13 drams. Silver price up by 0.74 drams to 306.61 drams.
An N.C. House Select Committee is recommending that the General Assembly change a state law forcing districts to start school the Monday closest to Aug. 26 and end no later than the Friday clo
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( Middle East Monitor )  After much useless public debate over Israels alleged right to defend itself, the international community regained its footing as the humanitarian paradigm, once more, comes within reach. A four day pause after an agreement reached by Israel and Hamas which would also see the release of 50 Israeli female hostages in exchange for the release of 150 female Palestinian prisoners. The pause has now been delayed until Friday.

The resumption of the humanitarian paradigm will be the first step the international community will exploit to normalise not only Israels colonial violence but the extent of the damage it has caused, not to mention the death toll of Palestinian civilians.

Not that there were no misgivings. According to an article on Politico, the Biden administration was concerned that the humanitarian pause would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.



Gaza Guernica 2 by Juan Cole, Digital (Wombo Dream + Lunapic), 2023.

The EUs Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, expressed the hope of substantial surge in humanitarian aid delivery into and within Gaza and called for further humanitarian pauses to allow further assistance. What is left unsaid by the hypocritical humanitarian advocates is what will be done in between. Is the international community, in this case the EU, really concerned with humanitarian aid reaching Palestinian civilians in Gaza, or is it a case of enabling Israels war crimes and providing the settler-colonial entity with a lull while it decides its next aggressive steps?

A pause is not a ceasefire and, while humanitarian aid will offer Palestinians slight temporary respite, it will never match or surpass what Israel has the capability to inflict in terms of destruction. The international community, however, would prefer no debate on this reality. As long as Gaza, once again, falls within the parameters of the humanitarian paradigm, and the new wave of displacement, larger than that of the 1948 Nakba and from a sliver of what remains of Palestine, is boxed into statistical data, humanitarian aid will not be seen as a matter of necessity, but a series of financial pledges that might or might not be effected.

Israeli Intelligence Minister, Gila Gamliel, is the latest to suggest voluntary resettlement of displaced Palestinians in Gaza. Instead of funnelling money to rebuild Gaza or to the failed UNRWA, the international community can assist in the costs of resettlement, helping the people of Gaza build new lives in their new host countries, she wrote in the Jerusalem Post, leaving out the part that Israeli colonisation would benefit from a complete expulsion of the Palestinian people from Gaza. There is no voluntary resettlement in colonialism, only the replacement of the indigenous Palestinian population.

Gamliels purported solution is one that would be effected after Hamas has been defeated and annihilated. Given that Israel has failed in that endeavour, which means a prolonged aggression with temporary pauses may not be too far-fetched, how will the international community sustain the paradigm now, and how much will Palestinians have to settle for, less thaN what is already meagre and dehumanising in terms of humanitarian aid?

The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor or Informed Comment.

Middle East Monitor /a>
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Grand Blanc, Mi. (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)  It has been clear since the horrid terror attack of October 7 by Hamas that President Joe Biden has been getting dreadful advice from his top officials, whether at the State Department, the CIA or the National Security Council. The presidents refusal to draw any red lines for an Israeli response endangers the entire rules-based international order, of the United Nations Charter, the Nuremberg Trials, the Geneva Conventions, the UN Declaration of Human Rights, and the Rome Statute, which Biden and his aides have spent nearly two years throwing in the face of Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine. Biden has presided over a genocide in Gaza, the fiercest assault on a civilian population in this century, in which nearly half the habitable buildings have been damaged or destroyed, thousands have been killed (mostly women and children) and thousands more wounded. Biden kept denigrating the whole idea of a ceasefire and kept resupplying Israeli munitions for this Cambodia-on-the-Mediterranean. He clearly is surrounded by hawks who have more hatred than good sense, and if he is to survive politically, and if the US is not to be blemished by yet another mass atrocity, he must start firing people.

As our entire nation ate and drank to our fill and then some on Thanksgiving weekend, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), 2.3 million Palestinians are trying to get by with only 3% of water that the WHO says is minimum water requirement. As a physician and as a former Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the CDC, I know that a person typically dies after 3 days without any water. Gaza, under an Israeli economic blockade that crashed its economy and produced 54% unemployment, used to receive 500 trucks of aid daily before the war. The food trucks allowed in the Gaza Strip from the Rafah crossing in the past month have only provided 7% of the caloric needs of the population, according to the World Food Program of the United Nations. Even during the humanitarian pause of this weekend, only 63 aid trucks came in on Saturday.

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GAZA CITY, GAZA  NOVEMBER 26: A view of the heavily damaged, collapsed factory buildings caused by Israeli attacks during the third day of the humanitarian pause in Gaza City, Gaza on November 26, 2023. Multiple factories in Gaza turned into ruins as a result of Israeli attack. (Photo by Montaser Alsawaf/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The WFP website reported, Supplies of food and water are practically non-existent in Gaza and only a fraction of what is needed is arriving through the borders. With winter fast approaching, unsafe and overcrowded shelters, and the lack of clean water, civilians are facing the immediate possibility of starvation, said WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain. There is no way to meet current hunger needs with one operational border crossing. The only hope is opening another, safe passage for humanitarian access to bring life-saving food into Gaza.

Who is advising President Biden on Gaza including on this weaponization of withholding food, water, medicine, fuel from the civilian population? It is figures such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Brett McGurk, the Middle East coordinator on the National Security Council. When Blinken was pressed on the unacceptably high rate of killings of children in the Israeli assault on Gaza, Blinken rejected any ceasefire, we have to remember. Israel has to do everything it can to make sure this doesnt happen again . . . Freezing things in place where they are now would allow Hamas to remain where it is and to repeat what its done sometime in the future. No country could accept that. Blinkens absolute refusal to abide by the principle of proportionality in the international law of war (more than ten Palestinian civilians have been killed for every one Israeli since October 7, and nearly half of Gazas infrastructure is rubble) should be disqualifying for his office.

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Antony Blinken, US secretary of state, during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders retreat in San Francisco, California, US, on Friday, Nov. 17, 2023. President Biden met Thursday with counterparts from South Korea and Japan, two top US allies, a day after his landmark summit with Chinas President Xi Jinping. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images.

As for McGurk, he had served as special Presidential Envoy for the international coalition countering ISIL (ISIS, Daesh), the terrorist group that brutalized Iraq and Syria until 2018. Someone so obsessed with counterterrorism is perhaps not the right person to deal with a humanitarian crisis such as Gaza, of which the Hamas party-militia is only a small part. Many experts have for some time held that he is the wrong person for his position on the NSC.

What McGurk said in a meeting at the International Institute of Strategic Studies think tank in Bahrain on Friday requires him to be immediately replaced. According to Politico, The White House insists a top aides comment tying the release of hostages to increased humanitarian aid for Gaza was taken out of context, even though he explicitly and repeatedly made references to a direct trade.

McGurk said a release of [a] large number of hostages would result in a significant pause in fighting, a significant pause in fighting and a massive surge of humanitarian relief, he said during the Manama Dialogue hosted by the IISS think tank in Bahrain. Critics, including former Biden administration officials, pointed out that McGurks statement meant that the U.S. admitted to withholding humanitarian assistance until Hamas let the 200-plus hostages go. This is a prescription for genocide, since Hamass interests diverge substantially from the 2.3 million noncombatants in Gaza who have no control over the disposition of the guerrilla-held hostages.

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MANAMA, BAHRAIN  NOVEMBER 18: American National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk attends the Manama Dialogue, held by International Institute for Strategic Studies, in Manama, Bahrain on November 18, 2023. (Photo by Ayman Yaqoob/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Politico continued But the White House insisted thats not the point McGurk was making. He was noting how a halt in bombings made it easier to deliver greater amounts of aid and for Palestinians in Gaza to reach packages, echoing concerns other officials have made for weeks. Throughout his address, McGurk detailed the millions in support delivered to Gaza and President Joe Bidens own efforts to ensure 100 trucks enter the enclave daily.

This supposed clarification makes no sense in the light of Washingtons actual actions. The Biden Administration has been helping Israel with its attacks throughout all of Gaza with munitions and diplomatic support and denying that it gave any red lines to Israel. The whole reason for the urgency of aid now is that Israel cut off water, food, electricity and fuel for weeks and destroyed sources of food such as bakeries. NSC spokesperson, Adrienne Watson, tried to go into damage control after McGurk was called out, even saying, The United States does not support conditions on the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza. We never have, and never will. Insinuating that McGurk implied this during this panel in Manama falsely characterizes what he said. She added, We have made a sustained effort to generate humanitarian assistance into Gaza, she proceeded, and will continue to work hard to ensure more and more aid gets in.

Democracy Now! Gaza in Ruins: Satellite Imagery Researchers Say Israel Has Destroyed or Damaged 56,000 Buildings

Again, the Biden Administration should not want to take credit for creating imminent starvation of the civilians of Gaza, one million of whom are children. But the damage control that Watson attempted falls short, as explained by Politico. McGurk used different moments in his remarks to directly connect the hostage-aid issue. The surge in humanitarian relief, the surge in fuel, the pause in fighting will come when hostages are released, he said. Later, he added we aim to double that amount as soon as possible and see it grow exponentially from there. But I want to just stress: the hostages are released, you will see a significant, significant change.

Still, at no point during McGurks remarks or the question-and-answer portion afterward did the NSC official clearly state a temporary pause in fighting would make delivering aid a less dangerous endeavor. Human Rights Watchs Washington Director Sarah Yager told us the administration should clear up what people heard [as] a deeply alarming statement. Yes, a pause in fighting would clearly allow more aid, but the aid itself cannot be dependent on the release of hostages, which was the link made in his speech, she said.

On November 20, Senators Tammy Baldwin, Tim Kaine, Chris Van Hollen, and 10 others wrote to Biden with an excerpt below with the first sentence expressing how out of touch Biden and officials such as McGurk are.

It is hard to overstate the scale of the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza. The United Nations estimates 1.6 million (now 1.7 million) Palestinians are internally displaced within the Gaza Strip, a land area comparable to twice the size of the District of Columbia. It is estimated that half of the displaced civilians are in make-shift United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) shelters. It is largely unknown where the remaining displaced civilians are seeking shelter. The United States must urge Israel to work with international relief agencies to facilitate safe and adequate accommodations for displaced individuals, and the United States must make clear that no non-combatant individuals should be compelled to leave Gaza.This humanitarian crisis will precipitate a significant, and preventable loss of human life if not addressed immediately. More than half of Gazas hospitals have shut down, desalination plants are struggling to remain operational, and the last operative flour mill has been shut down due to a lack of fuel.

The senators also wrote, We hope youll join us in encouraging our ally Israel to take immediate steps to help provide critical humanitarian aid to the innocent civilians in Gaza, including re-opening the Kerem Shalom border crossing to allow life-saving water, food, and fuel to reach vulnerable civilians. The fact that US Senators need to tell Biden that Kerem Shalom has to be opened underscores that the President has not been receiving the information he needs advisers such as McGurk, who need to go.

There is another reason for Biden to give the boot these genocidal maniacs. The callousness of the Biden administrations stance toward Palestinian noncombatants may turn out to be costly at the polls. Most of the victims of the bombings have been civilians and most are women and children; the number of dead children appears to exceed 5,000. While Mr. Biden and his top officials appear to be tone deaf to the scale of this atrocity, voters are not. A Data for Progress poll of 1329 voters on their view of the conflict revealed that 66% of voters agreed with the statement that The U.S. should call for a ceasefire and a de-escalation of violence in Gaza. The U.S. should leverage its close diplomatic relationship with Israel to prevent further violence and civilian deaths.

Those insisting on an end to the Israeli offensive included 80% of Democrats, 57% of Independents, and 56% of Republicans. The poll was taken on October 18-19. Since the death toll now exceeds 13,500 Palestinians, along with over 6,000 missing civilians assumed trapped or dead under rubble, the urgency voters feel about a ceasefire are likely even stronger now.

In Michigan, Muslim and Arab Americans have already started a campaign called Abandon Biden. John Zogby did a nationwide poll and stated the summary as follows: Support for President Biden in the upcoming election has plummeted among Arab Americans voters, dropping from 59% to 17%, a 42% decrease from 2020. Bidens approval rating has also dropped precipitously from 74% in 2020 to 29% in 2023, reflecting trends across the American public as a whole. Arab Americans account for hundreds of thousands of voters in several key election states, like Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, where the 2024 election battleground will play out.

The Guardian Save the children of Gaza: Pro-Palestine protests interrupt Blinkens senate hearing

Muslim and Arab Americans voted overwhelmingly for Biden and they form a swing vote in battleground states such as Michigan, Ohio, Florida and Pennsylvania. The support for Biden has plummeted in Muslim Americans but also among minorities, progressives, and other groups because Biden refused to call for a ceasefire. Even the four-day humanitarian pause in which he acquiesced may be followed by a further long-term bombing campaign aimed at making even more of Gaza uninhabitable and preparing the way for the further ethnic cleansing of Gazas Palestinians, the majority of whose families were expelled by Zionist gangs from southern Israel in 1948.

Biden needs to replace hawks such as McGurk for many reasons, most of all for the welfare of 2.3 million noncombatants. A stark change in course is also needed to begin repairing the reputation of the United States, which is now seen as heartless and hypocritical in most of the world, for having strenuously condemned Russia for occupying part of Ukraine and brutalizing the latter country but for having defended Israels even harsher treatment of the Palestinian civilians it occupies.

Israel cannot change its geography from being located at the center of the 2 billion strong Muslim world and at the center of the Arab world. Israel and the US had been duped by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner into thinking that the Abraham Accords with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain would provide Israel security. This is wishful thinking, and depends on the Arab world remaining in the grip of a handful of pro-Western autocrats. It is likely that the voice of the Arab peoples will eventually be heard, and there is no question that they are deeply hostile to Israel as a result of its treatment of the Palestinians. They will vividly remember what they know in their bones was genocide of the Palestinians of Gaza.

The rate of the killing of Palestinian civilians is similar to the rate of killing during the Cambodian genocide. Within a week of the Israeli assault, 880 scholars and practitioners of international law, conflict studies, and genocide studies signed a statement warning the public and in particular political leaders of the possibility of genocide. They started their statement writing, As scholars and practitioners of international law, conflict studies and genocide studies, we are compelled to sound the alarm about the possibility of the crime of genocide being perpetrated by Israeli forces against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. We do not do so lightly, recognising the weight of this crime, but the gravity of the current situation demands it.

Many of these signatories such as the Israeli scholar Raz Segal, is Director of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University, said back then that what Israel is doing is a textbook case of genocide. Israels nonstop bombardment of and denial of staples to noncombatants during the past month has strengthened their assessment. The Center for Constitutional Rights has facilitated the lawsuit of Palestinians and Palestinian Americans who have lost multiple family members against Biden, Blinken, and Austin for not only failing their obligations on preventing genocide as per the Genocide Convention that the US signed and ratified but that these three even aided and abetted this genocide.

What are the statistics we are seeing on the watch of hawks like Blinken and McGurk, admitted to even by Israeli officials? Nearly 20,000 Palestinians killed (including the 6,000 who are missing and presumably trapped or dead under the rubble) and over 30,000 wounded. Many of those with severe wounds will soon die but a lot of those with milder wounds which could have been treated with antibiotics will end up with amputations and some with deaths because the medicine has not been made accessible to the population. And the WHO is reporting that there is sharply increasing number of waterborne diseases including bloody diarrhea which indicates dysentery. These numbers of almost all civilian casualties are in just 6 weeks.

Israeli Defense Minister Gallant insists that the agreed-upon pause for hostage/prisoner exchanges will be a short respite, at the end of which the fighting will continue intensely. He said: At least another two months of fighting is expected. What will the numbers be if we allow Israel to continue using the bombs and fighter jets we gave them to inflict on Palestinians in Gaza? And as shocking it may be, I know as an epidemiologist that deaths from disease and starvation and dehydration are likely to be higher than from the bombs and shelling. And if aid does not immediately increase (and this would require the other border crossings on the Israel side of Kerem Shalom and Erez to be immediately opened), then there may be hundreds of thousands of deaths attributable to Israel and by extension to us.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began his public statement about this recent deal to release women and children Israeli hostages and mostly women and children Palestinian prisoners not with relief that some hostages were being released but rather that he said that Israel will continue their attack on Gaza. Who will help coordinate the US role in all this? It cant be the ones who thus far has not treated Palestinian civilians with the full respect and compassion they deserve. Hawks such as Blinken and McGurk have been complicit in the catastrophic flattened landscape and the willful starvation of noncombatants. Under these careless eyes, the Palestinians today are experiencing the horror of an existential threat, the Israelis will be gravely endangered if a full genocide occurs, and we and our fragile democracy face the peril of four more years with Donald Trump in the White House. Biden needs an immediate course correction.
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Maritime Resources Corp. (TSXV: MAE) (OTC Pink: MRTMF) ("Maritime" or the "Company") is pleased to report it has staked the Black Ridge volcanic massive sulphide (VMS) target in Newfoundland and Labrador. Black Ridge is located at the southwest corner of the Company's land holdings, approximately 15 km from the Hammerdown Gold Project near the communities of King's Point and Springdale. The property is at an early stage of exploration but hosts several high-grade gold, silver and copper showings in outcrop, float and soil samples.

Highlights

Newly staked claims cover 150 hectares of highly prospective VMS ground bringing Maritime's total exploration tenements to 43,925 hectares

High grade gold, silver and copper from historical sampling in outcrop; 10.0 grams per tonne "(gpt)" gold ("Au"), 219.2 gpt silver ("Ag") and 8.2% copper ("Cu") 8.8 gpt Au, 198.6 gpt Ag, 10.3% Cu 13.8 gpt Au, 161.0 gpt Ag, 3.2% Cu 4.3 gpt Au, 130.1 gpt Ag, 6.8% Cu 5.0 gpt Au, 69.5 gpt Ag, 2.8% Cu

Untested geophysical anomalies - electromagnetic conductor and property scale magnetic anomaly

Soil anomalies on the property containing up to 0.40 gpt Au, and 266 ppm Cu

"The Black Ridge Property is an important addition to Maritime's land holdings in the Baie Verte mining district. In recent years our adjacent mineral claims and have been covered by high resolution geophysical surveys and found to have numerous attractive geophysical targets and several high-grade surface showings," comments Garett Macdonald, President and CEO.

Black Ridge Property Description



The Black Ridge property is centrally located within the western boundary of Maritime's Gull Ridge Project (see Figure 1). The claims span the regionally significant Baie Verte Line, a major tectonic suture zone marking the collisional boundary between the Iapetan ocean and the Laurentian continental margin. The structure is host to numerous gold and base metal deposits and prospects and is central to Maritime's regional exploration focus.

Two styles of mineralization were observed on the project in 2023 with the main showing consisting of thin lenses massive to semi-massive sulphides containing chalcopyrite, pyrite and bornite. Historical sampling of the main Black Ridge showing contained up to 10.1 gpt Au, 219.2 gpt Ag and 10.3% Cu. A second occurrence on the property exhibited a series of thin quartz veins and breccias containing pyrite and galena. Historical sampling of the vein hosted mineralization returned up to 4.64 gpt Au and 13.7 gpt Ag. To date the mineralization observed on the property is hosted at or near geological contacts in a bimodal volcanic sequence consisting of rhyolites, tuffs and locally pillowed basalts. The stratigraphy and styles of mineralization observed are consistent with VMS deposits typical to the region such as AuTECO Minerals' Green Bay Copper-Gold Project near the town of Baie Verte.

The newly acquired claims (036865M, see Figure 2) also host several conductive and magnetic geophysical anomalies that were identified in Maritime's 2021 versatile time domain electromagnetic ("VTEM") and magnetic surveys. The conductive anomaly identified in the airborne VTEM survey was followed up with ground based electromagnetic surveys and generated a conductive plate anomaly measuring over 1 km in strike length. The untested conductive anomaly remains open and trends onto the newly acquired Black Ridge claims. The previous owners of the claims completed soil sampling throughout the property and in the vicinity of the conductive anomaly soils returned up to 224 ppb Au and 5.92% Pb. All assays are historical in nature and have not been verified by Maritime. Assays are pending from newly selected mineralized outcrops and an exploration program consisting of prospecting, trenching, soil sampling, mapping, and ground-based geophysics will be planned for Spring 2024.

Figure 1. Total Magnetic Intensity Map.

Figure 2. Map of Black Ridge Claim Map

Qualified Person



Exploration activities at the Hammerdown Gold Project are administered on site by the Company's Exploration Manager, Larry Pilgrim, P.Geo. In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Larry Pilgrim, P.Geo. Exploration Manager, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting its exploration activities on its exploration projects.

Analytical Procedures



All samples assayed and pertaining to this press release were collected and reported by previous owners of the Black Ridge Claims and are historical in nature and have not been verified by Maritime. Maritime personnel have visually inspected a selection of mineralized occurrences for which assays are pending.

All historical assays reported were completed by Eastern Analytical Limited (EAL) located at Springdale, Newfoundland and Labrador. EAL is an ISO 17025:2005 accredited laboratory for a defined scope of procedures. EAL has no relationship to Maritime Resources. Samples are delivered in sealed plastic bags to EAL where they are dried, crushed, and pulped. Samples are crushed to approximately 80% passing a minus 10 mesh and split using a riffle splitter to approximately 250 grams. A ring mill is used to pulverize the sample split to 95% passing a minus 150 mesh. Sample rejects are securely stored at the EAL site for future reference. A 30-gram representative sample is selected for analysis from the 250 grams after which EAL applies a fire assay fusion followed by acid digestion and analysis by atomic absorption for gold analysis. Other metals were analyzed by applying an acid digestion and 34 element ICP analysis finish. EAL runs a comprehensive QA/QC program of standards, duplicates and blanks within each sample stream.

About Maritime Resources Corp.



Maritime (TSXV: MAE) (OTC Pink: MRTMF) is a gold exploration and development company focused on advancing the Hammerdown Gold Project in the Baie Verte District of Newfoundland and Labrador, a top tier global mining jurisdiction. Maritime holds a 100% interest directly and subject to option agreements entitling it to earn 100% ownership in the Green Bay Property which includes the former Hammerdown gold mine and the Orion gold project. Maritime controls over 439 km2 of exploration land including the Green Bay, Whisker Valley, Gull Ridge and Point Rousse projects. Mineral processing assets owned by Maritime in the Baie Verte mining district include the Pine Cove mill and the Nugget Pond gold circuit. The Company also owns the Lac Pelletier gold project in Rouyn Noranda, Quebec.

On Behalf of the Board:

Garett Macdonald, MBA, P.Eng.

President and CEO

1900-110 Yonge Street, Toronto, ON M5C 1T4

Phone: (416) 365-5321

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

www.maritimeresourcescorp.com

Twitter

Facebook

LinkedIn

YouTube

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Statements



Certain of the statements made and information contained herein is "forward-looking information" within the meaning of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects", "intends", "indicates" "plans" and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning the low capital intensity and rapid payback of the Project, the exploration upside relating to the Project, the pursuit of mine life extensions, the potential to increase mineral resource and mineral reserve estimates, returns and FCF relating to the Project, capital financing processes relating to the Project, development of the next drill program on the Project, exploration and development of the Orion deposit, "Run of Mine" ore scheduled to be mined from the Project, timing of submission of the Project Development Plan and the Progressive Rehabilitation and Closure Plan for Hammerdown, timing of future site construction, timing to first gold production, length of construction period for the Project, timing of completion of required permitting, timing for approvals to be obtained for the closure and development plans relating to the Project, availability of capital financing, the non-equity portion of any construction capital financing, timing of completion of construction capital financing process, amongst other things, which involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. All forward-looking statements and forward-looking information are based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by the Company in good faith as at the date of such information. Such assumptions include, without limitation, the price of and anticipated costs of recovery of, base metal concentrates, gold and silver, the presence of and continuity of such minerals at modeled grades and values, the capacities of various machinery and equipment, the use of ore sorting technology will produce positive results, the availability of personnel, machinery and equipment at estimated prices, mineral recovery rates, and others. Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties which could cause actual events or results to differ from those reflected in the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the ability of the Company to continue to be able to access the capital markets for the funding necessary to acquire, maintain and advance exploration properties or business opportunities; global financial conditions, including market reaction to the coronavirus outbreak; competition within the industry to acquire properties of merit or new business opportunities, and competition from other companies possessing greater technical and financial resources; difficulties in advancing towards a development decision at Hammerdown and executing exploration programs at its Newfoundland and Labrador properties on the Company's proposed schedules and within its cost estimates, whether due to weather conditions, availability or interruption of power supply, mechanical equipment performance problems, natural disasters or pandemics in the areas where it operates; increasingly stringent environmental regulations and other permitting restrictions or maintaining title or other factors related to exploring of its properties, such as the availability of essential supplies and services; factors beyond the capacity of the Company to anticipate and control, such as the marketability of mineral products produced from the Company's properties; uncertainty as to whether the acquisition of assets and new mineral property interests including the Nugget Pond gold circuit will be completed in the manner currently contemplated by the parties; uncertainty as to whether mineral resources will ever be converted into mineral reserves once economic considerations are applied; uncertainty as to whether inferred mineral resources will be converted to the measured and indicated categories through further drilling, or into mineral reserves, once economic considerations are applied; government regulations relating to health, safety and the environment, and the scale and scope of royalties and taxes on production; and the availability of experienced contractors and professional staff to perform work in a competitive environment and the resulting adverse impact on costs and performance and other risks and uncertainties, including those described in each MD&A of financial condition and results of operations. In addition, forward-looking information is based on various assumptions including, without limitation, assumptions associated with exploration results and costs and the availability of materials and skilled labour. Should one or more of these risks and uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers are advised not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as required under applicable securities legislation, Maritime undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange ("TSX-V") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX-V) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Focus on drilling regional Segilola gold targets, continuation of lithium prospects

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor Explorations", "Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operational and financial review for its Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria ("Segilola"), and for the Company's mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria and Senegal for three ("Q3 2023" or the "Period") and nine months to September 30, 2023.

Financial Highlights of Q3 2023 and nine months to Sept 2023

US$ Q3 2023 Q3 2022 Nine months

to Sept 2023 Nine months

to Sept 2022 Revenue $36.6m $55.7m $118.2m $121.9m AISC* $1392/oz $1378/oz $1321/oz $1273/oz Cash operating cost $1193/oz $1137/oz $1005/oz $991/oz EBITDA $11.8m $17.8m $47.0m $49.0m Net Profit $2.3m $7.6m $14.5m $17.8m Cash at end of period $8.3m $2.5m - - Net Debt $19.4m $40.7m - -

* all-in sustaining cost

Operational Highlights for Q3 2023

Gold production targets on track for FY23 guidance

Gold production for the Period totalled 19,021 ounces ("oz")

Nine months to Sept '23 production of 63,328 oz - in line with expectations

All main operating units of the process plant continue to perform well, with the main west wall push back completed

Ongoing improvements at process plant being undertaken and to be commissioned in Q4 2023

Focused exploration at Segilola

Focus of gold exploration activities within a 25km radius from the Segilola operations

Continuation of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling, stream sediment sampling and grid auger sampling at the Kola Prospect, 23km south of Segilola

Continuation of diamond drilling on identified high-grade quartz-vein style mineralisation at Aye-Ile prospect which is located 15km west of Segilola with several narrow high-grade intersections drilled

Ongoing Preliminary Feasibility Study Workstreams of Douta Project

Further progress made with Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") workstreams with an expected completion for Q1 2024

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is ongoing

Metallurgical test work is continuing at IMO Laboratory in Perth, Western Australia

Compilation and reporting of geotechnical data

Resource drilling, which targeted the higher-grade parts of the existing inferred resource has been completed

Thor Lithium Exploration at Oyo Project

At Oyo Project Location 6 a total of 77 RC drillholes totalling 4,585 metres ("m") were drilled

Significant intersections previously reported include 11m grading 1.53% lithium oxide ("Li2O"), 9m grading 2.42% Li2O and 11m grading 2.61% Li2O

Regional soil geochemical surveys commenced

Additional tenure obtained at both the Oyo and Ekiti Project Areas

Reconnaissance mapping and sampling at the Ekiti Project returned positive results including a rock chip sample grading 2.92% Li2O with drilling now commence at this Project

ESG

Two weather stations installed at Segilola to assist with accurate climate database and mine planning

Continuous progression of livelihood restoration programmes to individuals affected locally within the Segilola mine footprint

Community projects undertaken by Africa Star Resources team in Senegal, including improvements of local school toilet facilities, clearing wasteland at local cemetery and providing a generator for the local police station

Outlook

FY 2023 production guidance of 85,000 oz of gold maintained

AISC guidance for the year maintained at US$1,150 - US$1,350 per ounce

H2 2023 drilling programs: Continuation of drilling at Segilola gold regional targets and underground project Continuation of drilling at Oyo lithium prospect and commencement of drilling at the Ekiti lithium prospects in Nigeria

Completion of the Douta resource update in Q4 2023

Continued assessment of prospective exploration properties in Nigeria

Continued exploration programs across our exploration portfolio in Nigeria

Segun Lawson, CEO, commented:

"Our Q3 2023 gold production of 19,104oz is in-line with our August guidance update of 85,000oz for the full year 2023.We are pleased to have achieved this and to have completed the pushback of the west wall which means that the pit conditions have significantly improved. We are now well positioned to mine more flexibly and efficiently going forwards.

Our process plant continues to perform above design capacity. Upgrades to the process plant leaching and electrowinning circuits are being phased-in over Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, which are expected to result in a release of gold-in-circuit and increased plant recoveries from December 2023, continuing throughout 2024.

In terms of financial performance, whilst the lower grades have led to lower revenue and profits in the quarter, we have maintained good levels of positive cash flow. We anticipate a stronger financial performance in the final quarter as the mine grade increases.

The resource drilling at our Douta gold project in Senegal, which was targeting the higher-grade zones of the inferred resource, has been completed and final assays are pending. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is ongoing and metallurgical test work is continuing at IMO Laboratory in Perth, Western Australia. To maximise the full potential of the 1.78 Moz of gold resource at Douta, we are extending the metallurgical testwork program with IMO and will also be conducting further testwork with our engineering design partner JinPeng engineering in China to confirm equipment selection. It is important that we confirm a robust process design that maximises the overall economics of the project and that provides us with the confidence to progress directly to project implementation. We are therefore postponing the preparation of an updated resource for Douta until confirmation of the process design and thereafter release of the PFS, targeting Q1 2024.

We have made good early progress at our West Oyo Lithium Project in Nigeria, with an encouraging initial set of drilling results. We have been able to confirm and delineate lithium-bearing mineralisation, with spodumene confirmed as the primary lithium-bearing mineral. Our plan is to expand our drilling program to the other pegmatites across our permits and expect to receive further results in Q4 2023."

The Group's Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements together with the notes related thereto, as well as the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, are available on Thor Explorations' website at https://thorexpl.com/investors/financials/.

About Thor Explorations



Thor Explorations Ltd. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor Explorations trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

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Qualified Person

The technical information included in this report has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (Fellow, AusIMM, CP Geology), who is designated as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 and AIM and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.

Production Metrics

Units Q3 - 2023 Q2 -2023 Q1 - 2023 Q4 - 2022 Q3 - 2022 Q2 - 2022 Q1 - 2022 Mining Total Mined Tonnes 5,673,193 5,633,688 4,194,689 4,296,494 4,018,431 4,031,584 3,759,524 Waste Mined Tonnes 5,370,279 5,355,105 3,996,264 3,974,073 3,793,249 3,747,504 3,533,610 Ore Mined Tonnes 302,915 278,583 198,425 322,421 225,182 284,079 226,314 Grade g/t Au 2.44 2.43 2.85 3.51 4.43 3.63 2.68 Daily Total Mining Rate Tonnes/Day 61,665 61,909 46,608 46,701 43,679 44,303 41,772 Daily Ore Mining Rate Tonnes/Day 3,292 3,061 2,205 3,505 2,448 3,122 2,515 Stockpile Ore Stockpiled Tonnes 338,558 297,060 270,215 300,531 229,909 249,281 179,758 Ore Stockpiled g/t Au 0.99 1.06 1.14 1.48 1.19 1.46 1.23 Ore Stockpiled Oz 10,756 10,124 9,904 14,300 8,796 11,701 7,109 Processing Ore Processed Tonnes 261,671 255,231 231,001 254,824 241,434 211,582 221,900 Grade g/t Au 2.46 2.99 2.95 3.38 3.58 3.66 3.18 Recovery % 92.3 94 94.1 95 95.5 95.5 94.1 Gold Recovered Oz 19,104 23,078 20,629 26,331 26,523 23,785 21,343 Milling Throughput Tonnes/Day 2,844 2,805 2,567 2,770 2,624 2,325 2,466

Key Exploration updates

Exploration Activity Summary Q3 2023

Segilola near mine exploration continued as a priority for the Group in 2023. The Group also completed its field exploration activities at the Douta Project in Senegal and is now completing various workstreams for the Douta Preliminary Feasibility Study.

The Group continued to expand its portfolio in Nigeria through the acquisition of additional pegmatite bearing lithium licences in various locations via entering into joint venture agreements with existing licence holders.

The majority of the exploration activities carried out on all the Group's licences, consisted of Reverse Circulation drilling, Diamond Drilling, geochemical stream sediment sampling, auger drilling and soil sampling. Work continued on the Kola target which is located about 20km from the Segilola Mine following the significant geochemical signature and follow up drill results that included several anomalous zones.

In Senegal, the Group's Douta Project encompasses a mineral resource of 1.78 million ounces ("Moz") of gold ("Au"). Workstreams focussed on the proposed process flow sheet in support of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) commenced during the quarter following the completion of the resource drilling program.

As part of its strategy of identifying high-value mineral resource opportunities, Thor, through its fully owned subsidiary Newstar Minerals Ltd, continued to carry out drilling activities on its West Oyo Lithium project however the drilling program was interrupted due to heavy rains in Oyo, delaying the drill results to Q4 2023.

Exploration drilling statistics summary for the Period

Prospect Target

Commodity Diamond RC Total No.

Holes Metres No.

Holes Metres No.

Holes Metres Western Prospect - Aye-ile gold 14 1,866 14 1,866 Southern Prospect -Kola gold 39 2,621 39 2,621 Newstar Lithium - Oyo lithium 77 4,585 77 4,585 Total 14 1,866 116 7,206 130 9,072

Nigeria Gold

Introduction

The high grade Segilola gold deposit is located on the major regional shear zone that extends for several hundred kilometres through the gold-bearing Ilesha schist belt (structural corridor) of Nigeria.

The key objective of the exploration strategy is to extend the life of mine ("LOM") at Segilola. Approximately 80% of the Group's Nigerian exploration effort is concentrated within a 25km radius from the Segilola operation such that potential gold-bearing material can be easily trucked to the existing plant. In parallel to this, the Group also continued to carry out generative exploration activities in areas that are further from the mine.

Segilola Southern Prospects

The southern prospects cover an area that is located to the south from the Segilola Gold Mine. Regional stream sediment sampling located an area of interest at what is now referred to as the Kola target. Kola is located about 20km from the Segilola Mine. Further follow up drill testing of this greenfield target intersected several high grade anomalous zones of interest including 13m grading 11.57g/tAu.

Further drilling at the Kola Target has delineated high grade mineralisation extensions to the north-west and the south-east as illustrated in Figure 2.2 below. Drilling is ongoing throughout Q4 2023 to test these extensional targets.

Figure 2.2 Segilola Southern Prospects

Kola Prospect Significant Results Q3 2024

Hole ID x Y Z Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) SGRC202 699920 807870 259 31 -90 0 0 7 7 0.86 SGRC203 699913 807870 259 26 -90 0 0 13 13 11.57 SGRC203 21 24 3 0.97 SGRC204 699938 807889 259 70 -60 270 5 11 6 0.73 SGRC215 699921 807890 259 31 -60 90 17 22 5 2.54 SGRC236 699901 807898 259 60 -60 90 20 26 6 2.24

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 1m internal dilution)

Segilola Western Prospects

The Western Prospects are located about 15km directly west from the Segilola Gold Mine and cover mostly amphibolitic rocks that contrast with the more gneissic terrain that is developed at Segilola itself. The prospect comprises several exploration permits that are held under exercised option agreements. The area is easily accessed through a series of sealed roads and gravel tracks. The Western Prospects are held under a joint venture agreement ("Thor-Esteedan JV") between Thor's wholly owned subsidiary Segilola Gold Limited ("SGL") and a local mineral exploration company, Esteedan Limited ("Esteedan").

Igila

Drilling continued at Igila following up on the series of narrow high grade mineralised lodes. Exploration activities at the Western Prospects was aimed at identifying additional strike length and identifying additional lodes such as the Aye-Ile prospect.

Aye-Ile

The Aye-Ile prospect is located approximately 1.2km along strike to the south-east from Igala. Drill testing of anomalous auger geochemistry located a north-east dipping vein-system that is developed on the same structural orientation as Igala. Additional drilling is planned to expand the zone of mineralisation and to infill the prospective strike between Igala and Aye-Ile. Further drilling intersections were drilled in the period with results highlighted in the table below.

Prospect Hole ID x Y Z Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) Aye-Ile SGD250 684182 836855 386 110 -60 320 40.7 41.8 1.1 0.64 Aye-Ile SGD266 684219 836824 376 84 -60 320 36.2 38.1 1.9 8.34 Aye-Ile SGD272 684246 836842 347 101 -60 320 70 73 3 6.84

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 1m internal dilution)

Aye- Ile exploration map

Newstar Lithium

Thor has secured over 600km2 of granted tenure in Nigeria that form Oyo State, Kwara State and Ekiti State Lithium Project Areas. The Oyo State Project Area encompasses what Thor considers to be one of Nigeria's most significant lithium pegmatite occurrence which is currently being exploited by small-scale lithium mining. In the period, Thor has added further licences in Ekiti to its portfolio.

The Oyo State Lithium Project comprises approximately 38km2 of exploration tenure that is located towards the westernmost border of Nigeria and within 200km of the commercial capital of Lagos. The project area is unique in the Nigerian context as it is mostly located in a relatively sparsely populated region of the country but within close proximity to large population centres and advanced infrastructure such as road, rail and ports.

Target Area 1

Reconnaissance rock chip sampling carried out in 2022 in the western parts of Oyo State returned Li 2 O analyses of between 1.34% and 9.31%. Thor has secured tenure over this area in a number of joint venture agreements together with wholly owned exploration permits.

A program of reverse circulation targeted an identified pegmatite trend that is developed within northerly trending mafic sequence that is surrounded by granitoid-gneiss terrain.

The significant results from this program are listed below.

Hole ID X Y Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(%Li2O) True

Width

(m) NRC006 494432 899276 110 -60 110 14 25 11 1.53 10.5 includes 15 24 9 1.70 8.6 NRC009 494530 899242 50 -60 110 14 15 1 0.42 1.0 NRC010 494515 899248 60 -60 290 15 26 11 2.61 10.5 NRC018 494450 899300 46 -90 0 26 29 3 1.66 2.9 includes 27 29 2 2.11 1.9 35 44 9 2.42 8.6 NRC019 494445 899365 52 -90 0 33 35 2 1.27 1.9 includes 33 34 1 2.08 1.0 NRC020 494396 899351 50 -90 0 6 10 4 0.43 3.8 NRC024 494500 899300 50 -90 0 35 39 4 1.03 3.8 includes 35 36 1 2.50 1.0

(0.4%Li 2 O cut-off grade, minimum 1m thickness, up to 2m internal dilution)

Sample analyses were carried by SGS Randfontein (GE_ICP90A50 and GE_FUZ90A50). Cross check analyses were carried out by MSA Laboratories, Vancouver (PER-700).

The drilled pegmatite averages 20m in thickness and dips at 5 degrees towards the north west. A continuous sheet of coarse spodumene mineralisation of up to 11m thick is developed towards the upper contact of the pegmatite and mafic country rocks.

On going exploration is underway to locate additional pegmatites in the immediate vicinity of this target and further to the south where extensive exposures of pegmatites have been mapped in Target Area 2.

Exploration Target Map

Thor/Newstar has also secured additional tenure over this area in a number of joint venture agreements together with wholly owned exploration permits. Further to the west additional exploration tenure has been obtained through the granting of a large exploration permit (EL42245) to the north east together securing additional ground under an agreement with SCT Mining & Exploration Ltd.

The ongoing drilling program has been extended to test all the mapped pegmatites with results expected to be announced by the Group in Q4 2023.

Senegal

Introduction

The Douta Gold Project is a gold exploration permit E02038, located within the Kenieba inlier, eastern Senegal. The northeast-trending license has an area of 58 km2. Thor, through its wholly owned subsidiary African Star Resources Incorporated ("African Star"), has a 70% economic interest in partnership with the permit holder International Mining Company SARL ("IMC"). IMC has a 30% free carried interest in its development until the announcement by Thor of a Probable Reserve.

The Douta licence Is strategically positioned 4km east of Massawa North and Massawa Central deposits, which form part of the world-class Sabadola-Massawa Project owned by Endeavour Mining. The Makabingui deposit, belonging to Bassari Resources Ltd, is immediately located east of the northern portion of E02038 (Figure 2.5).

Drilling Results

Drilling has been focussed in the following areas:

Resource Upgrade: Makosa and Makosa Tail, Makosa East

Metallurgical Sampling Makosa and Makosa Tail

Exploration: Sambara area

Potential Resource Upgrade

In April 2023 Thor commenced a program of infill RC drilling with the objective of upgrading the inferred portions of the resource that fall within the optimised pit shell, to indicated classification. At Makosa, zones of gold mineralisation are developed either within a sheared gabbro intrusive or within a steep north-westerly dipping sequence of meta-sedimentary rocks that are in close proximity to the gabbro. Higher grade zones or shoots are suspected to occur along east-west oriented structures that cut across the main north-east trend of the mineralisation.

The significant intersections from this program are listed in table below. Drill samples were analysed by ALS Laboratories in Mali using the AA26 fire assay method (50 gram charge).

Douta Project Significant Results (>20 gram-metres: grade*true width)

Prospect Hole ID Easting Northing Depth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) True Width

(m) Makosa Tail DTDD0017 174590 1434805 45.2 -50 32 41 9 2.38 2.4 Makosa DTDD0021 175377 1436071 90.2 -50 36 44 8 8.08 7.2 Makosa DTDD0021 175377 1436071 90.2 -50 55 61 6 4.03 11.7 Makosa DTDD0023 175219 1435902 70.4 -50 58 66 8 3.14 7.2 Makosa DTDD0024 175477 1436151 95.4 -50 64 71 7 3.77 14.4 Makosa DTDD0029 175949 1436665 20 -50 0 16 16 2.03 14.4 Makosa East DTRC779 175885 1436181 54 -60 39 48 9 2.46 8.0 Makosa Tail DTRC805 173959 1433743 50 -60 36 46 10 2.25 4.8 Makosa Tail DTRC806 173939 1433758 74 -60 52 54 2 13.90 1.6 Makosa Tail DTRC807 173920 1433773 100 -60 78 81 3 25.35 5.6 Makosa Tail DTRC812 174161 1433787 90 -60 50 56 6 4.94 13.5 Makosa Tail DTRC842 174556 1434762 69 -60 25 43 18 1.82 6.3 Makosa Tail DTRC844 174476 1434806 69 -60 45 55 10 3.00 7.2 Makosa Tail DTRC848 174583 1434868 114 -60 96 109 13 4.59 5.4 Makosa Tail DTRC854 174545 1435016 107 -60 61 76 15 1.79 9.0 Makosa DTRC864 176149 1437011 90 -60 49 56 7 3.90 8.1 Makosa DTRC865 176203 1437037 72 -60 93 102 9 4.33 8.1

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; minimum width 2m with 2m max internal waste)

The drill results demonstrate the continuity of gold mineralisation both along strike and down dip. Several higher-grade intersections were obtained including 2m grading 13.90g/tAu g/tAu in drillhole DTRC806, 3m grading 25.35g/tAu in DTRC807 and 6m grading 4.94g/tAu in DTRC812.

In addition to upgrading the resource classification, intersections such as these will likely have a positive effect in locally elevating the average resource grade.

With the exploration fieldwork complete, the Group aims to announce an updated resource in Q4 2023. The preliminary feasibility study workstreams are ongoing with a preliminary feasibility study expected to be completed in Q1 2024.





Douta Project Location Map

Metallurgical Sampling

A total of 22 diamond holes were completed to obtain representative samples, from both Makosa and Makosa Tail to undergo detailed metallurgical test work. Several of these holes twinned existing historic RC holes and returned results that are consistent with the earlier grades and thicknesses. Independent Metallurgical Operations (IMO) are undertaking the test work program in Perth, Western Australia.

Exploration

At the Sambara prospect several RC holes were drilled to test both the extremities of the Sambara deposit and a soil geochemical anomaly that was located in the northwestern part of the exploration licence. Best results include 5m grading 1.35g/tAu in drillhole DTRC726 and 4m grading 1.43g/tAu in DTRC729. Further testing along the prospective strike length is planned for the remainder of 2023.

Drillhole location map showing Significant Results (>20gram-metres)



Makosa Tail Cross-section Showing Grade Continuity on In-fill Drill-section
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has received Masatsugu Asakawa, the President of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

November 27, 2023, 14:10 Armenian Prime Minister, ADB President discuss infrastructure development projects

STEPANAKERT, NOVEMBER 27 , ARTSAKHPRESS: The premier lauded the close cooperation formed between the Armenian government and the ADB, and emphasized that this collaboration contributes to the development of infrastructure in Armenia. Pashinyan added that the Armenian government is interested in the implementation of new projects, and stressed that the development of infrastructure is of primary importance for the government.

In turn Asakawa, assessed the ADBs cooperation with Armenia effectively, and noted that the ADB is ready to expand joint programs with the country. In this context, they discussed the current projects and the possibilities of implementing new projects in the framework of the seismic safety improvement program in school construction, road construction, healthcare infrastructure development, and some other domains.
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Vizsla Silver Corp. (TSXV: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) (Frankfurt: 0G3) ("Vizsla" or the "Company") is pleased to report new drill results from 22 expansion and infill holes targeting the Copala resource area at its 100%-owned, flagship Panuco silver-gold project ("Panuco" or the "Project") located in Mexico. The reported results have successfully expanded Copala mineralization by ~100m to the southeast and identified new vein splays situated in-between Copala and the high-grade Cristiano structure.

Highlights

CS-23-304 returned 1,722 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq) over 2.80 metres true width (mTW) (1,366 g/t silver and 6.80 g/t gold) Including 6,618 g/t AgEq over 0.55 mTW (5,320 g/t silver and 25.20 g/t gold)

(1,366 g/t silver and 6.80 g/t gold) CS-23-300 returned 724 g/t AgEq over 3.10 mTW (519 g/t silver and 3.57 g/t gold) Including 1,749 g/t AgEq over 1.00 mTW (1,255 g/t silver and 8.61 g/t gold)

(519 g/t silver and 3.57 g/t gold)

"Resource expansion drilling at Copala, both to the north and southeast, continue to highlight a robust precious metals structure well beyond the January 2023 resource boundary," commented Michael Konnert, President & CEO. "New step out drilling has extended the total mineralized strike length of Copala by approximately 100 metres to the south and it remains open in both directions. Additionally, drilling has confirmed the continuity of the high-grade Copala 2 vein located between Tajitos and Copala main which now measures a total of 600 metres in mineralized strike. Moving forward, we intend to continue infilling and expanding these high-grade zones with two drill rigs, in preparation for the updated resource estimate planned for January 2024."

The precious metals dominant Copala Structure, located in the western portion of the Panuco district, is situated ~800 m to the east of the Napoleon vein. Copala currently hosts Indicated Resources of 51.1 Moz AgEq at 516 g/t AgEq and Inferred Resources of 55.4 Moz AgEq at 617 g/t AgEq within a broad envelope of vein-breccia interlayered with host rock, up to 82 metres thick. Interpretations by Vizsla geologists indicate Copala has an average dip of ~46 to the east (~35 in its northern sector and steepening to ~52 in the southern sector).

Ongoing drilling at Copala has now traced mineralization along ~1,770 metres of strike length and ~400 metres down dip. The recently completed batch of resource expansion drilling consisted of 21 holes drilled at ~50 m and ~100 m centres in the southern extent of Copala and one hole in the north, targeting both the main Copala structure and the Copala 2 vein to the footwall. At Copala, hole CS-23-300 in the north, intercepted a broad mineralized structure (~30 mTW) consisting of two high grade zones enveloping a low grade stockwork zone carrying anomalous silver and gold grades throughout (see cross section on figure 5). Results from seven step-out holes in the south show that the Copala structure gets steeper at depth (~70) and develops vein splays carrying significant silver and gold grades. The recently interpreted Copala 4 and FW Splay vein sit between Cristiano and Copala, approximately 100 m and 50 m west of Copala, respectively. To date, drilling has traced Copala 4 approximately 300 m along strike and 400 m down dip whereas the FW Splay has been traced for ~350 m along strike and 250 m down dip. The vein splays strike at 15 to 35 due northwest and dip at 60 to 70 to the east. These new splays, like Cristiano, are relatively narrow compared to the main Copala structure, and host precious metals rich epithermal mineralization. The drilling completed in the southern extent of Copala was designed to explore and/or infill the Copala structure. Due to geometry those holes could not efficiently test the projection of the Cristiano vein, which remains an open target. Vizsla is preparing an exploration program for next year that will consider additional exploration on the southern extent of Cristiano and the newly identified splays.

The Copala 2 vein sits at the footwall of the main Copala structure and is bounded to the west by the Tajitos vein and to the east by the Copala Fault. The Vein strikes northeast, dips to the southeast at approximately 48 and has been traced for ~330 metres along strike and ~290 metres down dip. Refer to the Company's news releases dated July 13, 2023, and May 19, 2022, for previous drillhole results from Copala 2.

To date, Vizsla has completed ~89,800 m of its fully funded 90,000 m 2023 drill program.

Drillhole From To Downhole

Length Estimated

True width Ag Au AgEq Vein (m) (m) (m) (m) (g/t) (g/t) (g/t) CS-23-300 148.10 150.00 1.90 1.73 247 2.28 385 Copala CS-23-300 180.00 183.40 3.40 3.10 519 3.57 724 Copala Includes 182.30 183.40 1.10 1.00 1,255 8.61 1,749 CS-23-300 276.70 278.10 1.40 1.25 190 0.69 221 Copala 2 CS-23-301 No significant values Copala CS-23-302A 667.90 669.95 2.05 1.80 355 1.41 423 Copala CS-23-303 No significant values Copala CS-23-304 468.00 471.30 3.30 2.80 1,366 6.80 1,722 Copala Includes 468.85 469.50 0.65 0.55 5,320 25.20 6,618 FW Splay CS-23-304 No significant values FW Splay CS-23-304 560.80 561.95 1.15 1.00 249 1.23 313 Copala 4 CS-23-305 No significant values Copala CS-23-305 660.00 661.00 1.00 0.63 341 1.09 387 FW Splay CS-23-306 No significant values Copala CS-23-307 608.10 609.25 1.15 0.98 287 1.72 382 Copala CS-23-307 No significant values FW Splay CS-23-308 531.40 532.40 1.00 0.95 387 20.00 1,762 Copala CS-23-308 537.00 538.50 1.50 1.41 846 0.76 824 Copala CS-23-309 No significant values Copala CS-23-310 485.45 485.95 0.50 0.50 1,455 7.71 1,868 Copala CS-23-310 517.75 520.50 2.75 1.74 89 0.81 138 FW Splay CS-23-310 No significant values Copala 4 CS-23-311A No significant values Copala CS-23-312 No significant values Copala CS-23-312 591.95 593.35 1.40 1.05 138 0.53 163 Cristiano CS-23-313 485.50 486.00 0.50 0.45 442 2.14 553 Copala CS-23-314 665.65 666.25 0.60 0.50 94 1.00 156 Copala CS-23-315 No significant values Copala CS-23-316 552.85 553.65 0.80 0.75 23 2.81 219 Copala CS-23-317 No significant values Copala CS-23-317 No significant values FW Splay CS-23-318 748.55 750.95 2.40 1.95 205 0.86 247 Copala CS-23-319 587.90 589.30 1.40 1.30 427 1.70 508 Copala CS-23-319 606.40 606.75 0.35 0.27 626 3.61 824 FW Splay CS-23-320 No significant values Copala CS-23-320 661.15 663.50 2.35 1.30 479 2.28 596 FW Splay CS-23-321 No significant values Copala CS-23-321 654.00 655.50 1.50 0.99 631 6.29 1,018 FW Splay

Note: AgEq = Ag g/t x Ag rec. + (Au g/t x Au Rec x Au price/gram)/Ag price/gram. Metal price assumptions are $24.00/oz silver and $1,800/oz gold and metallurgical recoveries assumed are 91% for silver and 94% for gold. Gold and silver metallurgical recoveries used in this release are from metallurgical test results of the Copala vein (see press release dated August 16, 2023).

Table 1: Downhole drill intersections from the holes reported for Copala structure Copala 2, FW Splay and Copala 4 veins.

Drillhole Easting Northing Elevation Azimuth Dip Depth CS-23-300 404,674 2,587,217 533 290.0 -35.0 411.0 CS-23-301 405,260 2,586,248 666 253.1 -60.2 648.0 CS-23-302A 405,440 2,586,177 637 253.3 -58.0 717.0 CS-23-303 405,399 2,586,492 633 251.7 -59.7 810.0 CS-23-304 405,081 2,586,569 714 260.6 -57.3 618.0 CS-23-305 405,275 2,586,500 678 267.1 -56.7 738.0 CS-23-306 405,440 2,586,177 637 251.2 -65.4 857.8 CS-23-307 405,273 2,586,490 680 277.8 -56.9 677.4 CS-23-308 405,086 2,586,574 696 284.3 -61.9 652.0 CS-23-309 405,441 2,586,177 637 250.0 -72.0 885.0 CS-23-310 405,086 2,586,574 696 259.8 -63.3 633.0 CS-23-311A 405,276 2,586,489 677 271.5 -63.0 798.0 CS-23-312 405,119 2,586,386 646 268.7 -51.8 622.5 CS-23-313 405,086 2,586,573 709 245.8 -62.6 624.0 CS-23-314 405,411 2,586,260 639 254.9 -55.7 750.0 CS-23-315 405,276 2,586,490 677 271.0 -60.0 777.0 CS-23-316 405,086 2,586,573 710 242.2 -54.0 676.5 CS-23-317 405,086 2,586,572 710 293.8 -64.0 666.0 CS-23-318 405,412 2,586,261 641 255.0 -62.5 809.0 CS-23-319 405,276 2,586,490 637 268.9 -51.1 730.5 CS-23-320 405,086 2,586,573 709 303.4 -64.9 723.0 CS-23-321 405,276 2,586,490 677 274.0 -53.7 718.5

Table 2: Drillhole details for the reported drillholes. Coordinates in WGS84, Zone 13.

About the Panuco project

The newly consolidated Panuco silver-gold project is an emerging high-grade discovery located in southern Sinaloa, Mexico, near the city of Mazatlan. The 7,189.5-hectare, past producing district benefits from over 86 kilometres of total vein extent, 35 kilometres of underground mines, roads, power, and permits.

The district contains intermediate to low sulfidation epithermal silver and gold deposits related to siliceous volcanism and crustal extension in the Oligocene and Miocene. Host rocks are mainly continental volcanic rocks correlated to the Tarahumara Formation.

The Panuco Project hosts an estimated in-situ indicated mineral resource of 104.8 Moz AgEq and an in-situ inferred resource of 114.1 Moz AgEq. An updated NI 43-101 technical report titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Resource Estimate Update for the Panuco Ag-Au-Pb-Zn Project, Sinaloa State, Mexico" was filed on SEDAR on March 10, 2023, with an effective date of January 19, 2023 was prepared by Allan Armitage, Ph.D., P.Geo., Ben Eggers, MAIG, P.Geo. and Yann Camus, P.Eng. of SGS Geological Services.

About Vizsla Silver

Vizsla Silver is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, BC, focused on advancing its flagship, 100%-owned Panuco silver-gold project located in Sinaloa, Mexico. To date, Vizsla has completed over 310,000 metres of drilling at Panuco leading to the discovery of several new high-grade veins. For 2023, Vizsla has budgeted +90,000 metres of resource/discovery-based drilling designed to upgrade and expand the mineral resource, as well as test other high priority targets across the district.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Drill core and rock samples were shipped to ALS Limited in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico and in North Vancouver, Canada for sample preparation and for analysis at the ALS laboratory in North Vancouver. The ALS Zacatecas and North Vancouver facilities are ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 certified. Silver and base metals were analyzed using a four-acid digestion with an ICP finish and gold was assayed by 30-gram fire assay with atomic absorption ("AA") spectroscopy finish. Over limit analyses for silver, lead and zinc were re-assayed using an ore-grade four-acid digestion with AA finish.

Control samples comprising certified reference samples, duplicates and blank samples were systematically inserted into the sample stream and analyzed as part of the Company's quality assurance / quality control protocol.

Qualified Person

In accordance with NI 43-101, Martin Dupuis, P.Geo., COO, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release.

Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources

The scientific and technical information in this news release was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). The terms "measured mineral resource", "indicated mineral resource" and "inferred mineral resource" used herein are in reference to the mining terms defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards (the "CIM Definition Standards"), which definitions have been adopted by NI 43-101. Accordingly, information contained herein providing descriptions of our mineral deposits in accordance with NI 43-101 may not be comparable to similar information made public by other U.S. companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

You are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral resources will ever be converted into reserves. Pursuant to CIM Definition Standards, "inferred mineral resources" are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Such geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade or quality continuity. An inferred mineral resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an indicated mineral resource and must not be converted to a mineral reserve. However, it is reasonably expected that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of "contained ounces" in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute "reserves" by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.

Canadian standards, including the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101, differ significantly from standards in the SEC Industry Guide 7. Effective February 25, 2019, the SEC adopted new mining disclosure rules under subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "SEC Modernization Rules"), with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. The SEC Modernization Rules replace the historical property disclosure requirements included in SEC Industry Guide 7. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources". Information regarding mineral resources contained or referenced herein may not be comparable to similar information made public by companies that report according to U.S. standards. While the SEC Modernization Rules are purported to be "substantially similar" to the CIM Definition Standards, readers are cautioned that there are differences between the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definitions Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral resources that the Company may report as "measured mineral resources", "indicated mineral resources" and "inferred mineral resources" under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules.

Website: www.vizslasilvercorp.ca

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes certain "ForwardLooking Statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and "forwardlooking information" under applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "target", "plan", "forecast", "may", "would", "could", "schedule" and similar words or expressions, identify forwardlooking statements or information. These forwardlooking statements or information relate to, among other things: the exploration, development, and production at Panuco, including plans for resource/discovery-based drilling, designed to upgrade, and expand the maiden resource as well as test other high priority targets across the district.

Forwardlooking statements and forwardlooking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of Vizsla Silver, future growth potential for Vizsla Silver and its business, and future exploration plans are based on management's reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of silver, gold, and other metals; no escalation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; Vizsla Silver's ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms.

These statements reflect Vizsla Silver's respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forwardlooking statements or forward-looking information and Vizsla Silver has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the Company's dependence on one mineral project; precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company's mining activities in Mexico; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company's management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Company's inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of COVID-19; the economic and financial implications of COVID-19 to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company's interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Company's ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; and the factors identified under the caption "Risk Factors" in Vizsla Silver's management discussion and analysis. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forwardlooking statements or forward-looking information. Although Vizsla Silver has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. Vizsla Silver does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forwardlooking statements or forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Canter Resources Corp. (CSE: CRC) (OTC Pink: CNRCF) (FSE: 6O1) ("Canter Resources" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the appointment of Joness Lang as CEO and Director of Canter Resources, effective immediately.

Eric Saderholm, Director and Technical Advisor, commented on behalf of the Board, stating, "Today marks an exciting new chapter for Canter Resources as we welcome Joness Lang to lead our team as Chief Executive Officer and Director. Joness is an experienced leader with an excellent reputation having made significant contributions in senior executive positions throughout his career. Having worked together with Joness in a board capacity at American Pacific Mining Corp., I am confident that under his leadership, we are in a great position to create shareholder value."

President and CEO, Joness Lang, commented, "I am honoured to lead Canter Resources into the next phases of corporate growth as we strive to become a prominent North American critical metals exploration company. I look forward to working closely with our experienced technical team, advisors and all stakeholders to unlock the full potential of our growing portfolio, beginning with our first phase of drilling at the newly acquired Columbus Project."

Mr. Lang is an executive leader with 15 years of experience in the mineral resources sector and brings a diversified skill set encompassing finance, capital markets, M&A and corporate growth strategy. His track record includes leading or co-leading more than $100 million in equity financings and securing significant partner funding through joint-ventures and strategic partnerships with major mining companies. Mr. Lang has held roles as President, Executive Vice President and Vice President, Corporate Development for multiple junior resource companies. He has also served as a director, strategic advisor and provided capital markets advisory services since 2010 through his private consulting firm.

Mr. Lang's notable achievements include securing Canada's largest gold producer as a strategic investor and joint venture partner while serving as Executive Vice President at Maple Gold Mines Ltd. He also led multiple consolidation acquisitions on behalf of the joint-venture. Earlier in his career, Mr. Lang was a key member of the leadership group for a multi-commodity prospect generator. He was instrumental in securing strategic alliance partnerships with major gold, silver and copper companies and was team lead for more than 25 joint-venture and asset purchase/sale agreements. Mr. Lang holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree (honours) from Royal Roads University and a Marketing Management Entrepreneurship diploma (honours) from the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Mr. Lang has also completed executive leadership training at George Mason University.

The Company would like to thank previous CEO, Hani Zabaneh, who will step down from his positions as an officer and director, for his contributions during the Company's initial stages of development.

About Canter Resources Corp.

Canter Resources Corp. is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company advancing the Columbus Lithium-Boron Project in Nevada, USA, the Beaver Creek Lithium Property in Montana, USA, and the Puzzle Lake Property in Saskatchewan, Canada. The Company is preparing for a Phase I drill campaign at Columbus to test a highly prospective lithium-brine target and plans to leverage the Company's critical metals targeting database to generate a portfolio of high-quality projects with the aim of defining mineral resources that support the domestic clean energy supply chain in North America. For more information visit the Company's website at www.canterresources.com.

For further information contact:

Joness Lang

Chief Executive Officer

Canter Resources Corp.

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For investor inquiries:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: 604.908.169

The Canadian Securities Exchange has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. The Canadian Securities Exchange does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the completion of the Transaction and related matters. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of Canter Resources Corp., including, but not limited to, the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, volatility of commodity prices, risks associated with the uncertainty of exploration results and estimates, currency fluctuations, dependency upon regulatory approvals, the uncertainty of obtaining additional financing and exploration risk. 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.
TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Platinex Inc. (CSE: PTX) (OTCQB: PANXF, Frankfurt: 9PX) (Platinex or the Company) is pleased to announce the commencement of a diamond drilling program on the Heenan Property, part of the Heenan Mallard Gold Project, which is a property held through the South Timmins Mining Joint Venture (South Timmins JV) with Fancamp Exploration Limited. The program will consist of five drill holes for a maximum total of 950 meters following up on the greenfield gold discovery announced on November 9, 2023, that was generated through B-horizon soil geochemical surveys, prospecting, and a mechanized stripping/channel sampling program.

The Heenan Property lies within the Swayze area of the Abitibi Greenstone Belt in Northwestern Ontario. The Property is located on the fold nose of the Woman River magnetic high indicating a structural target favourable for gold which formed the basis for the exploration program (see Figure 1). The Heenan Mallard Gold Project is located immediately adjacent to Northern Superiors October Gold Property, which was recently optioned by Evolution Mining Ltd. and is also northwest of IAMGOLD Corp.s Cote Gold Project.



The drill holes will target mineralization identified in Trench 1 and Trench 2 as well as test several high-priority Spectral IP anomalies that coincide with a northwest-orientated structure known as the Mallard Shear Zone.

The Mallard Shear Zone is a regional structure with associated gold mineralization along it and it has been interpreted as a splay structure off of the main Ridout Deformation Zone. This structure could provide conduits for hydrothermal fluids to deposit gold mineralization along favourable horizons within the Archean stratigraphy.

Recent work by Platinex discovered gold mineralization associated with narrow concordant felsic to intermediate dykes and iron formation within the metavolcanic sequence. In Trench 2, strong silicification and sulphide mineralization within a felsic to intermediate dyke at the contact with iron formation returned a composite weighted average of 4.05 g/t Au over 2.00 m, with 2.39 g/t Au over 8.00 m being returned from the adjacent iron formation (see news release dated Nov 9, 2023).

Figure 1: Heenan Property Geology

Shining Tree Gold Project  Ronda Mine:

Platinex is also pleased to announce completion of a substantial program at Shining Tree with assays expected in January 2024. The program involved mechanized stripping and channel sampling program on the Ribble Vein at the past-producing Ronda Mine site. Two stripped areas totaling 1,360 m exposed the Ribble vein for an aggregate strike length of 144 metres. A total of 265 samples were submitted for analysis, including 37 quality-control samples consisting of standards, blanks, and duplicates.

Qualified Person:

The technical information presented in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Joerg Kleinboeck, P. Geo, a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects.

About the South Timmins JV:

South Timmins Mining Inc. is a joint venture in which Platinex holds a 75% interest and Fancamp Exploration Ltd. holds a 25% interest. The South Timmins properties include the Shining Tree and Heenan Mallard gold projects, which lie along the Ridout-Tyrrell Deformation Zone (RTDZ) which also hosts IAMGOLDs Cote Gold project and Aris Minings Juby deposit. The combined South Timmins land package totals over 285 km2 which is one of the largest land holdings in the region. Following a property review and exploration planning process, South Timmins JV commenced operations in May 2023. Exploration work carried out to date has included geochemical soil sampling (B-horizon), prospecting, and mechanized stripping at Shining Tree and Heenan Mallard with drilling to commence upon the completion of initial exploration activities (see press release August 1, 2023).

About Platinex Inc.

Platinex Inc. creates shareholder value through the opportunistic acquisition and advancement of high quality projects in prolific Ontario mining camps. Current assets include a 100% ownership interest in the W2 Copper-Nickel-PGE Project near the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario and a 75% interest in the South Timmins Mining joint venture with Fancamp Exploration, which is focused on gold exploration along the Ridout-Tyrrell Deformation Zone near IAMGOLDs Cote Gold operation in the southwest Abitibi. Platinex also holds majority ownership in Green Canada Corporation, which holds uranium assets in Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec, as well as an option to earn as a 100% ownership interest in the Muskrat Dam Critical Minerals Project in northwestern Ontario. In addition to its mineral exploration assets, Platinex holds a portfolio of net smelter return (NSR) royalties on gold, PGE, and base metal properties in Ontario. Having put together a strong and diversified project portfolio and an expert technical team, the Company is focused on comprehensively exploring and evaluating each project to maximize shareholder value. Platinex is based in Toronto, Canada, with a primary listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the symbol PTX. The company is also listed in Frankfurt under the symbol 9PX and on the OTCQB in the United States as PANXF.

For additional information on Platinex, please visit the Companys website at https://platinex.com/.

For further information, please contact:

Greg Ferron, President and Chief Executive Officer

Phone: 416-270-5042

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains forward-looking information which is not comprised of historical facts. Forward-looking information is characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Forward-looking information involves risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events, results, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, changes in the state of equity and debt markets, fluctuations in commodity prices, delays in obtaining required regulatory or governmental approvals, and includes those risks set out in the Company's management's discussion and analysis as filed under the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking information in this news release is based on the opinions and assumptions of management considered reasonable as of the date hereof, including that all necessary governmental and regulatory approvals will be received as and when expected. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking information, other than as required by applicable securities laws. Neither the CSE nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE: M) (OTCQB: MYRUF) (FSE: C3Q) ("Myriad" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Tom Lee has been appointed as a director of the Company, effective immediately. Tom is the Co-Founder and President of Canid Capital, a prominent capital markets consulting firm based in Toronto. Prior, he worked on an institutional equity sales desk where he developed significant business relationships with institutions and issuers across Canada and the USA. Tom is a proven results driver having been involved in over $1B in transactions. He is the recipient of several awards including Presidents Clubs and Rookie of the Year in his first job after graduating Western University's business program. Tom holds the CSC and CPH designations with the Canadian Securities Institute in addition to the Series 7 and Series 63 Licenses with FINRA.

Mr. Lee's appointment is in conjunction with the resignation by Mr. Guy Pinsent as a director of the Company to focus on other interests. Myriad's management and board of directors thank Mr. Pinsent for his contributions to the Company and wish him well in his future endeavours.

About Myriad Uranium Corp.

Myriad Uranium Corp. is a uranium exploration company with an earnable 75% interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. Copper Mountain hosts several known uranium deposits and historic uranium mines, including the Arrowhead Mine which produced 500,000 lbs of eU 3 O 8 . Copper Mountain saw extensive drilling and development by Rocky Mountain Energy, a subsidiary of Union Pacific, which developed a mine plan and built a leach pad for one of the deposits at Copper Mountain. Operations ceased in 1980 before mining could commence due to falling uranium prices. Approximately 2,000 boreholes have been drilled at Copper Mountain and the project area has significant exploration upside. Rocky Mountain Energy is estimated to have spent US$74 million (2023 dollars) exploring and developing Copper Mountain.

Myriad also holds 80% ownership of over 1,800 km2 of uranium exploration licenses in the Tim Mersoi Basin, Niger, and the option to earn up to 100%. These licenses are surrounded by many of the most significant uranium deposits in Africa, including Orano's 384 Mlbs eU 3 O 8 Imouraren, Global Atomic's 236 Mlbs Dasa, and Goviex's 100 Mlbs Madaouela, and on the same fault structures. Myriad also has a 50% interest in the Millen Mountain Property in Nova Scotia, Canada, with the other 50% held by Probe Metals Inc. For further information, please refer to Myriad's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), contact Myriad by telephone at +1.604.418.2877, or refer to Myriad's website at www.myriaduranium.com.

A recent interview with Crux Investors is here. A video overview of the Copper Mountain Project is here. The Company's factsheet is here.

Myriad Contacts:

Thomas Lamb

President and CEO

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Forward-Looking Statements

Mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's properties. This news release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Company's business, plans, outlook and business strategy. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "likely", "expect," "anticipate," "intend", "estimate", "plan", "forecast", "project" and "believe" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect, including with respect to the Company's business plans respecting the exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, the proposed work program on the Company's mineral properties and the potential and economic viability of the Company's mineral properties. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in costs; litigation; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; and technological or operational difficulties. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.
Up to 38.2% Cu and 30.8% Zn in assays for select grab sampling of surface gossan rocks at the underexplored Tempest Prospect

Prospective gossans have been mapped for more than 4km at Tempest, which is located 40km south of the Storm Copper targets drilled in 2023

A ground electromagnetic (EM) survey at Tempest has defined a series of EM anomalies that coincide with the high-grade copper and zinc gossans, providing high-priority drill targets for the 2024 field program

Magnetic data indicates that Tempest may be located on a major structural unconformity - a geological setting that is highly prospective for base metals

The impressive results at Tempest further highlight the large-scale regional potential within the Project area

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. (TSXV:BAY) (OTCQB:ATBHF) ("Aston Bay" or the "Company") reports the assay results from reconnaissance sampling and new geophysical surveys from the Tempest Prospect ("Tempest"), located within the Storm Copper Project ("Storm" or the "Project") on Somerset Island, Nunavut. The program was conducted by American West Metals Limited ("American West"), who is the operator of the Project.

"It is encouraging to confirm copper and zinc mineralization from surface samples at Tempest, as this opens a new area for further exploration at Storm," stated Thomas Ullrich, CEO of Aston Bay.

"Gossans are zones of surface-weathered metal mineralization, and the chalcocite and sphalerite in these zones are associated with EM geophysical anomalies over a 4 km-long trend. The magnetic signature here suggests that the older underlying basement rocks are close to the surface - that contact between the metamorphic basement and sedimentary rocks is a favourable zone of permeability to potentially host mineralization, while the basement rocks themselves can be a source of metal as well."

Figure 1: Zinc and lead-rich gossan in outcrop from the Tempest Prospect, Storm Project, Nunavut. Sample ID Y010803.

COPPER AND ZINC MINERALIZATION CONFIRM OUTSTANDING EXPLORATION OPPORTUNITY

The Tempest Prospect is located approximately 40 kilometres south of the known copper discoveries at Storm (Figure 6). The area was discovered through historical rock and soil sampling which defined copper gossans over 250m, with assays returning copper grades up to 32% Cu from historic select grab samples.

The geology of the area is interpreted to contain the southern extension of the highly prospective Storm sediment-hosted copper horizon, overlapping much older Proterozoic rocks that outcrop to the west. This geological setting and the unconformity between two main geological terranes are interpreted to be highly prospective for base metal mineralization.

A small reconnaissance sampling and field mapping program during the 2023 field season was aimed at expanding the understanding of the area. The mapping revealed a series of gossans that are significantly more extensive than originally defined. The gossans have now been traced over 4km of strike to the north and south of the original Tempest Prospect, significantly upgrading the exploration potential of the area.

Seven select grab samples were taken of gossanous rock outcrop and float, and one was taken from exposed gneiss basement. Several gossanous samples contain highly anomalous base metals with copper grades up to 38.2% Cu (chalcocite-mineralized dolostone with heavy malachite weathering rind Y010804) and zinc grades 30.8% Zn (sphalerite-mineralized dolostone with rusty-coloured weathering Y010801).

The gossan samples at Tempest differ in composition from those typically found at Storm with higher abundances of zinc, lead and gold. The Storm gossans generally contain only copper +/- silver, with only trace abundances of zinc and lead. This may indicate that the gossans at Tempest are derived from a different style or combination of styles of mineralization.

Tempest remains underexplored and further, more detailed, and extensive geochemical sampling is required to fully define the highest priority target areas.

Sample ID Sample Type Cu % Zn % Pb % Fe % Ag g/t Au ppb Y010801 Gossan 0.18 30.8 0.05 22.8 9 4 Y010802 Gossan 0.56 0.36 0.12 - 2 - Y010803 Gossan - 1.6 0.3 - 1 - Y010804 Malachite/chalcocite float 38.2 0.17 0.1 5.8 3 277 Y010811 Gossan/Ironstone - - - 11.8 2 53 Y010812 Gossan/Ironstone - 0.01 - 28.3 0.5 2 Y010813 Gossan 0.16 - - 45.7 3 8 Y010814 Basement/gneiss - - - 3.7 0.5 -

Table 1: Tempest rock sample descriptions and geochemistry from the 2023 program.

Figure 2: Aerial view of the northern gossan at the Tempest Prospect. This section of the prospective trend has outcropping gossans that can be traced for 600m (brown-rust coloured).

Figure 3: Photo of the southern area of the Tempest copper and zinc gossans looking north. The brown-red rust-coloured gossans are indicative of potential base metal mineralization below surface and can be traced for over 4km along strike. Aston Bay CEO, Tom Ullrich, is seen at the right of the photo for scale.

GROUND GEOPHYSICS - NUMEROUS EM ANOMALIES IDENTIFIED

A ground Loupe Time-Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) and magnetic survey were completed over the Tempest area during August 2023 to aid with mapping the stratigraphy and to define potential targets for further exploration work. Approximately 9km2 was covered during the survey (Figure 4 & 5).

Loupe TDEM is a man-portable, rapid, and inexpensive system developed by Loupe Geophysics (www.loupegeophysics.com.au) used to assess the conductivity of an area, particularly where there is significant outcrop and little to no weathering. The system is designed to measure electrical conductivity in the near-surface (generally between 20-30m depth) at high resolutions.

The TDEM survey has defined a series of conductive anomalies that lie along the strike of the stratigraphy and are coincident with the copper/zinc gossans in a number of areas (Figure 5). The conductors are localized and modeling of the data estimates that they are potentially steeply dipping. The relatively short strike length of the conductive features is positive and suggests that the anomalies may not be related to conductive stratigraphic horizons such as black shales, graphite, or iron sulfides.

A ground magnetic sensor was also used during the survey over the northern and southern areas of Tempest to supplement the existing airborne magnetic data.

The results of the TDEM are still being assessed but are highly encouraging with multiple anomalies and gossans untested. Follow-up surveys will include high-powered Moving Loop EM (MLEM).

Figure 4: Plan view map of the Tempest Prospect showing the mapped gossans and geochemical sampling points, overlaying aerial photography.

Figure 5: Plan view map of the Tempest Prospect showing the mapped gossans and geochemical sampling points, overlaying TDEM image (late time conductivity - Gate 6) and aerial photography.

GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND BASE METAL POTENTIAL

While the geological understanding of the Tempest area is continuing to evolve with ongoing exploration, the current interpretation of the geological and geophysical data of the southern Storm Project area indicates the presence of both the extensive Storm sediment-hosted copper horizon as well as Proterozoic aged basement rocks. Both of these units are highly prospective for base metals, while the contact is a favourable zone of permeability for transport of metal-bearing fluids and metal mineralization.

The magnetics of the Tempest area are characterized by strong linear, north-south orientated magnetic features that are interpreted to represent uplifted ("horst") blocks of the Proterozoic basement rocks (Figure 6). The basement rocks in this area are close to surface (outcropping locally), covered by a thin veneer (<200m) of the same sedimentary basin stratigraphy as at Storm. In contrast, the depth-to-basement modelling of the magnetic data indicates an over 2,000m thick sequence of sedimentary rock in the Storm area. The Proterozoic rocks at Tempest are interpreted to be bounded by steeply dipping horst and graben faults with significant vertical displacement.

The proximity of the two terranes in the Tempest area marks a major structural and tectonic boundary. The unconformable contact between the two geological terranes is highly prospective, with the basement rocks being an important potential source of metals, with the contact being a zone of high permeability for mineralizing fluids.

The metal association of the Tempest gossans and geological setting indicates that the area has the potential for a unique mix of Storm and Seal-style mineralization (i.e., a spatially close association of the prospective zinc and copper stratigraphic horizons), as well as Volcanogenic Massive Sulphide (VMS) and SEDEX style base metal deposits in the older, underlying Proterozoic basement rocks. The potential discovery of VMS-style base metal mineralization in the Proterozoic rocks at Tempest would be the first of its type within the Project area, and confirm the prospectivity of the Proterozoic basement.

Figure 6: Map of the Project area showing the known copper and base metal deposits/prospects overlaying magnetics (Airborne GeoTEM - hotter colours indicate higher magnetic intensity). The Tempest Prospect is located approximately 40km south of Storm Copper.

PLANNED PROGRAM

Ore sorting, beneficiation and flow sheet development are in progress on a range of mineralization styles from the 2750N and 4100N Zones.

Resource modelling and estimation work on the Storm Copper mineralization is continuing. Given the success of the resource drilling during 2023, and outstanding exploration discoveries yet to be drilled out and expanded, extra time has been required to assess a number of potential mining and development scenarios.

A report on the Storm Project summer environmental program is being compiled.

Logistics and exploration planning for the 2024 exploration program is continuing.

About the Storm Copper and Seal Zinc-Silver Projects, Nunavut

The Nunavut property consists of 173 contiguous mining claims covering an area of approximately 219,257 hectares on Somerset Island, Nunavut, Canada. The Storm Project comprises both the Storm Copper Project, a high-grade sediment-hosted copper discovery (intersections including 110m* @ 2.45% Cu from surface and 56.3m* @ 3.07% Cu from 12.2m) as well as the Seal Zinc Deposit (intersections including 14.4m* @ 10.58% Zn, 28.7g/t Ag from 51.8m and 22.3m* @ 23% Zn, 5.1g/t Ag from 101.5m). Additionally, there are numerous underexplored and undrilled targets within the 120-kilometre strike length of the mineralized trend, including the Tornado copper prospect where 10 grab samples yielded >1% Cu up to 32% Cu in gossans. The Nunavut property is now the subject of an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture with American West (see "Agreement with American West" below for more details).

Storm Discovery and Historical Work

High-grade copper mineralization was discovered at Storm in the mid-1990s by Cominco geologists conducting regional zinc exploration around their then-producing Polaris lead-zinc mine. A massive chalcocite boulder found in a tributary of the Aston River in 1996 was traced to impressive surface exposures of broken chalcocite mineralization for hundreds of metres of surface strike length at what became named the 2750N, 2200N, and 3500N zones. Subsequent seasons of prospecting, geophysics and over 9,000 m of drilling into the early 2000s confirmed a significant amount of copper mineralization below the surface exposures as well as making the blind discovery of the 4100N Zone, a large area of copper mineralization with no surface exposure.

Following the merger of Cominco with Teck in 2001 and the closure of the Polaris Mine, the Storm claims were allowed to lapse in 2007. Commander Resources staked the property in 2008 and flew a helicopter-borne VTEM survey in 2011 but conducted no additional drilling. Aston Bay subsequently entered into an earn-in agreement with Commander and consolidated 100% ownership in 2015. Commander retains a 0.875% Gross Overriding Royalty in the area of the original Storm claims.

In 2016 Aston Bay entered into an earn-in agreement with BHP, who conducted a 2,000-station soil sampling program and drilled 1,951m of core in 12 diamond drill holes, yielding up to 16m* @ 3.1% Cu. BHP exited the agreement in 2017 and retains no residual interest in the project. Aston Bay conducted a property-wide airborne gravity gradiometry survey in 2017 and drilled 2,913m in nine core holes in the Storm area in 2018 yielding a best intercept of 1.5m* @ 4.39% Cu and 20.5m* @ 0.56% Cu.

Agreement with American West

As previously disclosed, Aston Bay entered into an Option Agreement dated March 9, 2021 (the "Option Agreement") with American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, "American West") pursuant to which American West was granted an option (the "Option") to earn an 80% undivided interest in the Project by spending a minimum of CAD$10 million on qualifying exploration expenditures ("Expenditures"). The parties amended and restated the Option Agreement as of February 27, 2023 to facilitate American West potentially financing the Expenditures through flow-through shares but did not change the commercial agreement between the parties.

The Expenditures were completed during the 2023 drilling program and American West exercised the Option in accordance with the terms of the Option Agreement, as amended. American West and Aston Bay will form an 80/20 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Project will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

Recent Work

American West completed a fixed loop electromagnetic (FLEM) ground geophysical survey in 2021 that yielded several new subsurface conductive anomalies. A total of 1,534m were drilled in 10 diamond drill holes in the 2022 season, yielding several impressive near-surface intercepts including 41m* @ 4.1% Cu as well as 68m of sulfide mineralization associated with a deeper conductive anomaly.

In April 2022, results of beneficiation studies demonstrated that a mineralized intercept grading 4% Cu from the 4100N area could be upgraded to a 54% Cu direct ship product using standard sorting technology. Further beneficiation studies are ongoing.

In April 2023, American West embarked on a spring delineation drilling program using a helicopter-portable RC drill rig as well as conducting gravity and moving loop electromagnetic (MLEM) ground geophysical programs.

The summer 2023 program conducted further delineation drilling of the near-surface high-grade copper zones to advance them toward maiden resource estimates by late 2023 or early 2024. Diamond drilling tested new high-priority gravity targets and environmental baseline studies will be initiated.

*Stated drill hole intersections are all core length, and true width is expected to be 60% to 100% of core length.

QA/QC Protocols

The analytical work reported on herein was performed by ALS Global ("ALS"), Vancouver Canada. ALS is an ISO-IEC 17025:2017 and ISO 9001:2015 accredited geoanalytical laboratory and is independent of Aston Bay Holdings Ltd., American West Metals Limited, and the QP. Drill core and hand samples were subject to crushing at a minimum of 70% passing 2 mm, followed by pulverizing of a 250-gram split to 85% passing 75 microns. Samples were subject to 33 element geochemistry by four-acid digestion and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES) to determine concentrations of copper, silver, lead, zinc, and other elements (ALS Method ME-ICP61a). Overlimit values for copper (>10%) and were analyzed via four-acid digestion and ICP-AES (ALS Method Cu-OG62).

Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited followed industry standard procedures for the work carried out on the Storm Project, incorporating a quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) program. Blank, duplicate, and standard samples were inserted into the sample sequence and sent to the laboratory for analysis. No significant QA/QC issues were detected during review of the data. Aston Bay Holdings Ltd. and American West Metals Limited are not aware of any drilling, sampling, recovery, or other factors that could materially affect the accuracy or reliability of the data referred to herein.

Qualified Person

Michael Dufresne, M.Sc., P.Geol., P.Geo., is a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical information in this press release.

About Aston Bay Holdings

Aston Bay is a publicly traded mineral exploration company exploring for high-grade copper and gold deposits in Virginia, USA, and Nunavut, Canada. The Company is led by CEO Thomas Ullrich with exploration in Virginia directed by the Company's advisor, Don Taylor, the 2018 Thayer Lindsley Award winner for his discovery of the Taylor Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit in Arizona. The Company is currently exploring the high-grade Buckingham Gold Vein in central Virginia and is in advanced stages of negotiation on other lands with high-grade copper potential in the area.

The Company and its joint venture partners, American West Metals Limited and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tornado Metals Ltd. (collectively, "American West") have agreed to form a 20/80 unincorporated joint venture and enter into a joint venture agreement in respect of the Storm Project property, which hosts the Storm Copper Project and the Seal Zinc Deposit. Under such agreement, Aston Bay shall have a free carried interest until American West has made a decision to mine upon completion of a bankable feasibility study, meaning American West will be solely responsible for funding the joint venture until such decision is made. After such decision is made, Aston Bay will be diluted in the event it does not elect to contribute its proportionate share and its interest in the Storm Project property will be converted into a 2% net smelter returns royalty if its interest is diluted to below 10%.

About American West Metals Limited

AMERICAN WEST METALS LIMITED (ASX: AW1) is an Australian clean energy mining company focused on growth through the discovery and development of major base metal mineral deposits in Tier 1 jurisdictions of North America. Our strategy is focused on developing mines that have a low-footprint and support the global energy transformation. Our portfolio of copper and zinc projects in Utah and Canada include significant existing resource inventories and high-grade mineralization that can generate robust mining proposals. Core to our approach is our commitment to the ethical extraction and processing of minerals and making a meaningful contribution to the communities where our projects are located.

Led by a highly experienced leadership team, our strategic initiatives lay the foundation for a sustainable business which aims to deliver high-multiplier returns on shareholder investment and economic benefits to all stakeholders.

For further information on American West, visit: www.americanwestmetals.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Statements made in this news release, including those regarding entering into the joint venture and each party's interest in the Project pursuant to the agreement in respect of the joint venture, management objectives, forecasts, estimates, expectations, or predictions of the future may constitute "forward-looking statement", which can be identified by the use of conditional or future tenses or by the use of such verbs as "believe", "expect", "may", "will", "should", "estimate", "anticipate", "project", "plan", and words of similar import, including variations thereof and negative forms. This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect, as of the date of this press release, Aston Bay's expectations, estimates and projections about its operations, the mining industry and the economic environment in which it operates. Statements in this press release that are not supported by historical fact are forward-looking statements, meaning they involve risk, uncertainty and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Although Aston Bay believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which apply only at the time of writing of this press release. Aston Bay disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except to the extent required by securities legislation.

For more information contact:

Thomas Ullrich, Chief Executive Officer

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

(416) 456-3516
In Liberia, there is a conflict about what the conflict was about. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) 2009 final report, however, determined that the history of political violence and Liberias destructive civil wars (in 1989-1997 and 1999-2003) are attributable to the origin of the nation-state. Liberia is Africas first Black Republic. It was never formally colonised but conceived under problematic circumstances. Despite this pertinent finding, discussions over what led to the civil wars abound. Some maintain that it was caused by inter-ethnic conflict. Conspiracy theorists blamed it on the machination of the Americo-Liberian elites and how they upended indigenous peoples rule in the late 1980s through the plot of a civil war. Yet, others contend that the war was caused by the elites greed for power and wealth.

The lack of consensus on what the war is about is inhibiting the fight for justice and accountability. These conflicting viewpoints are potent ammunition in the arsenal of spoilers. Ethno-nationalists, some of whom are named as notorious perpetrators in the TRC report, are using war memories as weapons. War crimes are being justified, that it was a means to an end while blaming others for the human casualties and destruction of properties. In some instance, war memories are used to de-legitimatise the candidacy of others, especially those whose wealth are traceable to the war years. Some are using it to forge new ethno-consensus, for it is packaged and transmitted in counties where ethnic memories are rife. Accordingly, how the past is viewed and interpreted has shaped local knowledge and understanding of the war.

In some counties, it has forged certain ethnic solidarity in how to vote and who to vote for. This has emerged as one of the most consequential voting patterns in post-war Liberia. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (2006-2018) and George Weahs (2018-2023) election victories were direct outcomes of this voting pattern. The same goes with Joseph Boakai, Sirleafs former vice-president who was officially elected on November 20 as Liberias third post-war president. In post-war Liberia, the presidency has never been won without a decisive victory in Nimba county, the second most populous county. Prince Johnson, an infamous former warlord, now a politician, is the one to make that decision. Like his predecessors, Boakai accepted the endorsement of Prince Johnson, the kingmaker in Liberias post-war politics.

War Survivor

In the twelve years of his vice-presidency, Boakais views on the TRC and transitional justice were unknown. When he first declared his candidacy in 2017, he came out and openly called for justice. His stance threatened to break away with the elite politics of amnesia. In 2021, reflecting on the failure to implement the TRC recommendations, Boakai offered a thoughtful remark: You cannot live in a society, create harmony and reconciliation when most of the people dont believe that theyre responsible for anything, theyre evasive about what they did, and they seem as though they dont even care. When you have that kind of society, reconciliation becomes difficult. Boakais view about justice and civil war-era accountability seemed emphatic and unambiguous.

Now that he is the president, views are divided.

Some are hopeful that Boakai would deliver on his promise of wartime accountability and the fight against corruption. Optimism for Boakai is informed by his Unity Partys perceived legacy and by his personal history.

Boakai is Liberias first post-war president who did not come from the diaspora. Johnson Sirleaf and Weah never lived through the civil war and they both had permanent addresses in the West prior to their elections. Boakai has lived in Liberia all his life (except for a brief period in Southern Sierra Leone as a refugee), experienced the civil war, and endured the hardship imposed by it. Compared to other candidates, he is viewed as someone without a diasporic confusion, a mentality of divided loyalty between the West and Liberia. This makes Boakai stand out. In some quarters, his victory is dubbed as homeland solution for a homeland problem rather than a diasporic solution to a homeland problem. In the consciousness of optimistic Liberians, he is therefore more likely to explore practical solutions to some of the pushback against the TRC final report.

Learning from past mistakes?

More significantly, he comes from Lofa, the county that records the highest number of sites of massacres (36) in Liberia. In particular, he hails from Foya, a district that experienced some of the most horrific acts of violence. There, every year, 23 June 1993 is remembered as Black Monday. In the collective memory of ethnic Kissi, Boakais clansmen, that day commemorates the sadistic execution of fifteen locals in what has been described as revenge killings. In 2021, the horrors of this dreadful event were retold in a Swiss Court that tried and convicted Alieu Kosiah for war crimes, identified as the mastermind of Black Monday.

Boakais election also comes on the heels of two national reflections.

In February 2022, Liberians commemorated 200 years when Liberia was established as an outpost for freed slaves and for Black people everywhere. This moment shed a grim light on how far Liberia has strayed from its national purpose  from an index case of Africas first republic to a failed state and now a post-conflict society still reeling from the horrors of two civil wars.

In August 2023, Liberians commemorated twenty years of negative peace since the signing of the Accra Peace Agreement. This reflection revealed how the lack of implementation of the TRC report is normalising violence, post-war corruption, and uneven development progress across the society. In Liberia, the search for transitional justice has spanned 20 years, covering two presidencies. Johnson Sirleaf and Weah have been somewhat hands off. Boakai  who is not mentioned in the TRC report and lived through the conflict  is assessed to demonstrate stronger political will as he learned from the mistakes of two post-war presidencies. Some Unity Party loyalists are hopeful that Boakai will govern by returning to some of the unfinished business of the party.

Unity Partys legacy

In December 2012, the Unity Party-led government launched the National Vision 2030. Under the theme One people, one nation, united for peace and sustainable development, it was conceived with the view of addressing some important national questions: where are we coming from? Where are we now, and where do we want to go? The transitional justice component, described as the National Road Map for National Healing, Peace Building and Reconciliation, was put together by a mix of government bureaucrats and experts in the field. I represented the Governance Commission in the technical working group. The Road Map is essentially a repackaging of the non-punitive components of the TRC report. It has almost everything in it except the establishment of a war crimes court. This document was presented to the Liberian legislature  the House and the Senate. As vice president, Boakai served as the president of the Senate and presided over its deliberations. The National Vision as articulated in its strategy was never fully implemented. Two attempts to adopt new constitution failed to gather the required two-third votes at a national referendum. Likewise, the National Symbols projects and a failed attempt to write of a general and comprehensive history for Liberia.

Boakai brings a great deal of institutional memory to the challenges and successes of rebuilding Liberia and the elites struggle with the TRC final report. However, given the complexity of Liberias transitional justice context, Boakais ability to deliver on his promise for justice and accountability might largely depend on his physical energy, age, and health.

A one-term president?

In Liberias electoral history, Boakai, at 78, is the oldest person ever to be elected to the presidency. His failing health and dependency on a pacemaker suggest that his presidency is one grim chance away from being incapacitated.

Taken together, the circumstances reveal at least two interesting possibilities. Liberias constitution allows for two terms, six years a piece. Twelve years is seen as an adequate time to execute a transformative agenda. The second and final term is viewed as a period for legacy building.

If Boakai doesnt intend to seek re-election because of old age, his first term would be his final one. Having served in the public sector for more than forty years and then vice-president for 12 years, he has demonstrated being committed to public service and less towards material acquisition. Boakai has remained in his house built in the late 1970s, and never rebuilt a home when he was vice president. For the optimists, it's Boakais modest lifestyle that makes his declaration of no reconciliation without justice believable. This is why a majority of Boakais supporters believe that his election as President is geared towards one thing, to complete the unfinished business of the Unity Party government in which the implementation of the TRC final report is a big-ticket item.

Prince Johnson lurking in the shadows

However, analysis about why Prince Johnson endorsed Boakai was primarily based on the fear that Weahs re-election would mean he was free to do as he wished in his final term, and would have returned to his earlier declaration of establishing a war crimes court for Liberia. Boakai, as a potential one-term president is not too far off the mark. But there is another conversation taking place: Boakais vice president Jeremiah Kpan Koung is a protege  some say the godson  of Prince Johnson, the elephant in the room.

In every election year, Liberian cartoon artists used their craft as medium of effective propaganda. Each cartoon has a dialogue explaining the scene and this year all the messages were consistent. On one of them, Boakais wife, Katumu is heard lamenting about the bad decision he made to allow Prince Johnson to use him; while in the other messages, the former warlord and his protege Koung are heard laughing at Boakais fate, that hes stupid and fell for their ruse. The cartoon images are accurate representation of how Liberians view Koung as the second-in-command, a trojan horse and a president in-waiting. According to the Liberian constitution, Koung is next in the line of succession when the President is declared incapacitated. With Koung as President, its assumed Prince Johnson would be the man lurking in the shadows, calling the shots. And his first judgement call would be to tear down the TRC report and bury it for good.

Recommended reading George Weahs politics of silence
The Israeli foreign ministry on Friday summoned the ambassadors of Spain and Belgium for a "harsh rebuke" over comments by the two countries' leaders about the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Spain's foreign ministry swiftly riposted by calling in the Israeli ambassador to explain her government's "false and unacceptable" allegations against the Spanish prime minister.

Visiting the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on Friday, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the Israeli "operation needs to respect international humanitarian law" and denounced the destruction in the Gaza Strip as "unacceptable".

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez echoed his views, saying the "indiscriminate killings of innocent civilians" in the Palestinian territory was "completely unacceptable".

Both leaders called for a permanent ceasefire in the war-battered territory.

Foreign Minister Eli Cohen "gave the order to summon the ambassadors of these countries for a harsh rebuke", his office said in a statement, accusing the two leaders of supporting "terrorism".

In a separate statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he "strongly" condemned the comments by the European leaders.

The statement released by his office blamed them for not placing "total responsibility on Hamas for the crimes against humanity it perpetrated: massacring Israeli citizens and using Palestinians as human shields".

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told public television he had called in the Israeli ambassador to lodge a formal protest against the Israeli government's allegations.

The tit-for-tat moves came on the first day of a four-day truce between Israel and the Palestinian militants in Gaza following nearly seven weeks of relentless war.

Hamas broke through Gaza's militarised border with Israel on October 7 to kill about 1,200 people and seize around 240 Israeli and foreign hostages, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has vowed to "crush" Hamas in response and unleashed a withering military campaign that Gaza's Hamas government says has killed nearly 15,000 people in the coastal territory.

On Friday, Hamas handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza a total of 24 hostages -- 13 Israelis, 10 Thais and one Filipino -- according to Qatar, which mediated the truce agreement.

In exchange, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners from its jails.

burs-sbh-tpe/kir/jsa
Iran said Saturday it helped broker the surprise release of Thai nationals who had been held by Palestinian militants in war-ravaged Gaza since their shock attack on Israel last month.

On Friday, Hamas unexpectedly released 10 Thais and a Filipino, along with the 13 Israeli women and children that were part of a temporary truce deal with Israel.

Israel in turn freed 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons.

"The issue of Thai prisoners was jointly pursued by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told the official IRNA news agency.

The releases took place as a temporary truce paused fighting in Gaza for the first time since October 7 when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 240 more hostage, according to Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a withering bombing campaign on Gaza, that has killed more than 15,000 people, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run government.

"A list of names of these prisoners was given to Hamas officials to review and assist with the issue from a humanitarian perspective," Kanani added.

The Thai foreign ministry confirmed the releases on Saturday, saying the 10 individuals -- nine men and one woman -- had been taken to Israel via Egypt.

It added that roughly 20 Thais are among the estimated 215 people still held hostage in Gaza.

During the four-day truce, Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 Israeli hostages, some of them dual nationals, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

On Thursday, Kanani welcomed the temporary truce as "the first step in the path of completely stopping war crimes committed... by the Zionist regime against Palestinian people."

Iran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the October 7 attacks as 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.
Security forces on Saturday freed two Canadian tourists who were abducted two days earlier in the Colombian city of Cali, the army said in a statement.

The kidnappers eluded capture during the army operation to rescue the hostages, who were found unharmed, the army said.

The tourists, who were not immediately identified, were snatched from their hotel in Cali, the country's third-largest city and located in Valle del Cauca, in the southwest.

Between January and September of this year, 245 kidnappings took place in the South American nation, police say, representing an increase of more than 70 percent over the same period in 2022, when there were 142 cases.

Last month, the father of Liverpool's Luis Diaz was kidnapped by National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas in his hometown on the Colombian-Venezuelan border.

Luis Manuel Diaz, father of the Colombian national team player, was held captive for 12 days, in a case that cast a spotlight on peace talks between the Marxist armed group and the government.

Colombia's Truth Commission estimates that more than 50,000 people have been victims of kidnapping in the country in recent decades.
Hamas's military wing said Sunday that the commander of its northern brigade, Ahmed Al-Ghandour, and three other senior leaders had been killed during Israel's offensive against the Islamist movement.

In a statement, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ghandour was a member of its military council and named three other leaders who had died, including Ayman Siyyam, who Israeli media said was head of the Hamas rocket-firing units.

It said Ghandour was a top Hamas commander who headed its northern Gaza brigade and was part of its military council.

"We pledge to Allah we will continue their path and that their blood will be a light for the mujahedeen and a fire for the occupiers," the statement said, without saying when they were killed.

Last week, a senior Israeli military official said troops had killed "more than 50" Hamas commanders causing "significant" harm to the capacity of the military wing, which the official estimated to have around 24,000 fighters.

Ghandour spent two stints behind bars in Israel and reportedly lost two of his sons in Israeli airstrikes during the current war.

During the 2014 war, troops reportedly destroyed his house over his role in firing rockets at Israel and a year later, an Israeli NGO named him in a lawsuit for alleged war crimes during that conflict.

Ghandour -- whose nom de guerre was Abu Anas -- was put on a US economic sanctions blacklist in 2017 as a "global terrorist".

The State Department said at the time he was a member of Hamas's political bureau, as well as having previously been on the militant group's Shura council, which groups its leaders from Gaza, the West Bank and overseas.

It said he had been involved in "many terrorist operations" including a 2006 attack on an Israeli military post at the Kerem Shalom border crossing which killed two soldiers and wounded four others.

That attack resulted in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was held by Hamas for five years before he was freed in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners.

- 'Significant harm' -

The Gaza war began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and snatching some 240 others, according to an Israeli count.

Israel has struck back with a huge military campaign that Gaza's Hamas rulers say has killed nearly 15,000 people, also mostly civilians.

The senior Israeli military official said troops had caused significant damage to Hamas's fighting force -- made up of 24 battalions of 1,000 militants each -- notably in the north.

"In some (battalions), we eliminated hundreds of Hamas terrorists and most of the battalion commanders," he said.

"This harm is significant, it dismantles the ability of Hamas to fight right now, but also the ability to rehabilitate its military power after the war."

He did not give a number of militants killed but said it was in the several thousands: "not 10,000, not 1,000, something in the middle".

The Hamas announcement Sunday came on the third day of a four-day pause in the fighting during which Hamas has handed back 26 Israeli hostages, all women and children, in two batches as well as 15 foreign nationals, mostly Thais.

In return for the Israeli hostages, Israel has freed 78 Palestinian prisoners, all of them women and teenagers.
Support for first China International Supply Chain Expo in full swing

People's Daily Online) 10:46, November 27, 2023

The upcoming first China International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) has received strong support from various sides, with many convenient measures and policies specifically introduced for the event.

The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) has implemented policies to improve the expos efficiency. These include exempting exhibition products from compulsory certification, and enabling bulk inquiries for enterprise credit status.

The Beijing municipal government has established a service guarantee mechanism to ensure transportation security, emergency services, and environmental optimization. The Beijing Customs has also introduced 10 convenient measures to facilitate exhibition access and customs clearance.

The trade and investment promotion and exchange center of the Beijing-based China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) has created a customs facilitation service manual, and a team of hundreds of trained volunteers will provide on-site guidance and reception services. Dedicated channels and reception stations have been established by the aviation and railway departments for the expo.

The first CISCE is hosted by the CCPIT, and organized by China International Exhibition Center Group Limited (CIEC Group), which is under the direct administration of the CCPIT. It is scheduled to run from November 28 to December 2 at the China International Exhibition Center (Shunyi Venue) in Beijing.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Du Mingming)
A studio for rent with a key feature missing underpins the "desperate" state of the Australian rental housing system. That's the assessment from NSW's tenants' union after the $290-per-week property shocked renters with its eye-catching attempt at a kitchen.

In a corner of the room, steps from the bed, a shelving unit can be seen with a microwave on top and kettle, plates and other kitchenware on the shelves below. As if that wasn't strange enough, the fridge is located in the bathroom, directly opposite the toilet.

The studio apartment has been slammed for its makeshift 'kitchen' on a shelving unit. Source: Facebook (Facebook)

"It really shows how hard things are at the moment for renters when this is something that can be advertised as a home for someone," Jemima Mowbray, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Tenants Union of NSW, told Yahoo News Australia of the studio in western Sydney. "I don't think anybody chooses to rent a property like this, where they don't have the option of creating a meal for themselves in a healthy and safe way, but I think some renters may feel forced and may actually look at this as an option for them."

Mowbray says the listing reveals a stark truth about the market. "What this says to us is that the rental system at the moment is such that landlords are feeling comfortable putting this up as a listing with the expectation that they'll have people applying for a property like this," she explained. "And I think some renters are feeling desperate."

Renters outraged by listing

While the landlord describes the North Richmond property on Facebook Marketplace as a "large studio with new bathroom", a renter who shared the post on Reddit was horrified. "Does this qualify as a kitchen?" he wrote alongside a photo of the shelving unit. "Everyone talking about adverts listing microwaves with a cabinet and sink as a 'kitchen'. This takes the cake."

Story continues

The studio includes appliances but no kitchen sink. Source: Facebook (Facebook)

"It does not have a kitchen," another user responded, while someone else argued it was false advertising to list the room as a studio apartment: "This shouldn't be advertised as a studio. It's more like someone renting out a room or a portion of the property, but denying you access to the common areas and the actual kitchen of the property."

Is it even legal?

While rental properties must meet "basic minimum standards" under the Residential Tenancies Act, Mowbray said things get a little "tricky" because they cover kitchens. "I think there's an assumption that there's going to be, in a principal place of residence in a home, a way for somebody to be able to prepare food and to do that in a healthy way, but it's not spelled out in the act," she said, adding that local government regulations may also come into play.

A bar fridge is included in the listing, but it's located in the bathroom. Source: Facebook (Facebook)

However, there might be a way to fight back if a property only has hot running water in the bathroom, meaning there's no safe and hygienic way to prepare food. "If you were able to establish, 'actually I can't live here because I'm not able to, in a healthy way, make a meal for myself, which is essential for living', then you might be able to establish with the tribunal that it isn't fit for habitation," Mowbray explained. "I think in a lot of ways you would be able to make a case where a home without an adequate kitchen is really not liveable."

But that would require a tenant standing up for themselves and their rights, and Mowbray isn't sure anyone would do that in this climate. "I think at the moment our rental housing system is in such crisis that renters really don't feel like they can press for that sort of standard in too many situations, and they feel like they would be putting their housing at risk if they were to try to assert that right," she said.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
JTBC's "Welcome To Samdalri" released another drama trailer featuring Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang Wook's complicated romance, raising exciting among the viewers. Check out the new teaser below to learn more on what to expect from the new healing series.

Shin Hye Sun & Ji Chang Wook Grow Apart In 'Welcome To Samdalri'

On November 27, Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang Wook's "Welcome To Samdalri" released its newest drama trailer to fans' delight.

The two veteran stars transform into childhood best friends Jo Sam Dal and Jo Yong Pil, respectively, who gradually grew apart as they enter adulthood.

While the other chose to stay in his hometown despite losing everything, the other one moved far away to achieve everything, which poses the stark difference between the two.

A week before its premiere, a new teaser was released to hype up the fans. It features the story of Jo Sam Dal who has been extraordinary and talented since she was young.

After moving to Seoul, she experienced nothing but difficulty. She thankfully reaped what she had sowed when she reached her goals and became a renowned photographer who top stars work with.

Unfortunately, she gets caught up in a serious incident, leaving her no choice but to go back to Jeju.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: 'Love Song For Illusion' Shares Glimpse of Park Ji Hoon & Hong Ye Ji's Fateful Encounter

What happens when she reunites with the one she wants to see the least, her ex-boyfriend childhood best friend Jo Yong Pil who has never left their hometown?

Attention is given to the two characters and what went down between them. Their chemistry is also a factor to look forward to in the work.

Catch Jo Sam Dal and Jo Yong Pil's long history together this Decemebr 2 at 10:30 p.m. KST on JTBC!

Ji Chang Wook & Shin Hye Sun On New Drama & Acting Roles

Before the long awaited premiere, Shin Hye Sun and Ji Chang Wook shared their honest feelings for their new work.

Ji Chang Wook chose to star in the JTBC series because of Shin Hye Sun, an actress he wants to work with for a long time. He said, "I'm honored to work with a great star. I'm excited to greet the fans after a while."

Meanwhile, Shin Hye Sun plans to deliver a lighthearted romance after she decorated prime time with her graceful beauty with "See You In My 19th Life."

She said, "I hope "Welcome To Samdalri" brings comfort to the viewers who are struggling in their lives at the moment."

ALSO READ: Park Bo Young Named As Most Popular Actress of 2023- Where To See More of Hallyu Star

Are you excited for "Welcome To Samdalri"? Tell us your thoughts about the drama in the comments below!

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Elijah Mully.
Some of the most brilliantly funny men have the saddest personal lives. John Belushi, Chris Farley, and Sam Kinison were all preceded by Jerome Lester Horwitz, otherwise known as Curly of the Three Stooges: nyuk-nyuk-nyuk. Why, soitenly the tragic life of a comedic legend deserves a great biography, and while Curlys niece (Moes daughter) did her best to amass a wealth of Curly memorabilia  a mixture of written material and rare photographs of Curlys family, films, and personal life  the book was poorly written and edited, and it contained multiple spelling and grammar errors. According to the author, I wrote this in less than 90 days, and it definitely shows.

If it makes your blood boil when you read prose punctuated incorrectly and containing bad grammar, you are not alone. A study from researchers at the University of Birmingham found that, when certain people come across grammar errors, their bodies respond physically. Departures from linguistic normality (i.e., errors in grammar, syntax, and punctuation) trigger a clear cardiovascular reaction  decreased heart rate variability, which may signal several potential health issues  and the cardiovascular response becomes stronger as the writing violations become more frequent.

The researchers also discovered that the physiological responses were less severe when the study subjects had to deal with grammatical mistakes spoken by someone with a foreign accent (in this case, Polish). Listening to a foreign speaker didnt itself affect the subjects heart rate. That suggests participants, who were British, expected a non-native speaker to make more grammatical mistakes and were more forgiving of those mistakes.

The study was conducted so that 41 healthy, British English-speaking adults listened to 40 English speech samples, half of which contained grammatical errors. The texts were read in a native British and a Polish accent by both a male and a female voice. Participants were instructed to listen to the four different speakers in both error-free and error-ridden conditions. Listening to speech containing errors reduced heart rate variability, and the reduction tended to be proportional to the number of violations.

The authors concluded: The observation brings into focus a new dimension of the intricate relationship between physiology and cognition, suggesting that cognitive effort reverberates through the physiological system in more ways than previously thought. In other words, becoming upset at someone who uses bad grammar is reflexive. Its in our DNA. It can feel like an assault on our system.

No wonder misplaced apostrophes make me angry. I live in Charlotte, home to Bojangles, a restaurant chain founded in 1977 and known for its chicken n biscuits, now served at over 800 locations in 15 states. Fans from all over know Bojangles for their catchy tagline  Its Bo Time! However, the company has been too chicken to even say where the apostrophe in its name is supposed to go. Is it Bojangles, Bojangles or Bojangles? Over time, the final apostrophe has migrated several times.

Actually, at one time, the official Bojangles logo included an apostrophe flat above the S  not before or after. The only plausible explanation, according to The Grammarian, otherwise known as Jeffrey Barg, is that the restaurant chain couldnt decide whether the apostrophe was supposed to go before or after the S, so it split the difference like splitting a perfectly flaky biscuit.

The restaurant was initially spelled Bojangles, like McDonalds. In its most recent incarnation, there is no apostrophe. The punctuation-free logo is clearly at odds with rules for the use of possessive apostrophes (dont get me started on the n). To make matters worse, the j in Bojangles is dotted by a five-point star rather than a tittle, which is the name of the small distinguishing mark (the dot) that should appear over a lowercase i (and a lowercase j).

At least there is no confusing the restaurant with the song, Mr. Bojangles, written by Jerry Jeff Walker, a 1970 hit for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and a favorite of Sammy Davis Jr.s. But hold the gravy n biscuits. The restaurants founders did name the establishment after the song. It came to them as they were driving along the highway and heard it, according to Jackie Woodward, formerly the chief marketing officer at Bojangles. Furthermore, in an interview with The Washington Post, Woodward confessed, What makes my job so much fun is that people do care about whether Bojangles has an apostrophe or not. It shows the passion that our customers have for our food.

I dont pretend to be a culinary expert or an expert in linguistics, but obvious grammar mistakes rile me. They are visible to everyone, and egregious errors indicate a lack of fundamental knowledge and/or proofreading. Thats why I am so grateful for professional editors  theyve saved my hide countless times. One that I have worked closely with jokingly told me that she spends her time placing missing commas  and she wasnt referring to Bojangles. Another editor told me she could reduce my word count by taking out slivers [of words], like a fine surgeons scalpel, and I wouldnt notice anything was missing!

Despite his mispronunciations, Curly had an uncanny ability to instantly spell big words, such as chrysanthemum, if asked. The gag was that he never did it when something important was at stake. But your writing is important. Dont become a victim of soikemstance by not asking for editorial help. Indubitably!

Arthur Lazarus is a former Doximity Fellow, a member of the editorial board of the American Association for Physician Leadership, and an adjunct professor of psychiatry at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. He is the author of Every Story Counts: Exploring Contemporary Practice Through Narrative Medicine.
When I was 36 weeks pregnant with my second child, Anna, my obstetrician noted that my fetus had a disproportionately small head, or microcephalya condition now commonly known because of its association with the Zika virus. Well just have to wait and see, he said, meaning well look for answers if the baby is affected at birth. But when my daughter was born, there were no answers then either.

Anna was silent when the midwife held her up. She was only five pounds. And then she failed her newborn hearing tests. The rotating pediatricians came in and out of the room, puzzled but silent, and they discharged us without any further testing. I had an intuitive feeling we were missing something, but I didnt know which test to request.

When Anna was ten days old, we went to our familys pediatrician. Noting that she was small for gestational age and had a potential hearing loss, he said, I think we should test her for a little-known but common virus that can cause issues during pregnancy. That disease is called cytomegalovirus, or CMV. And thats when my research began.

The first thing I saw was the striking spectrum of CMV: babies infected in utero (who have congenital CMV, or CMV from birth) can be totally fine or they can be stillborn. In fact, I read that CMV is the leading pathogen linked to stillborn babies. In between these jarring opposites, a child with congenital CMV could also have hearing loss, vision loss, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, behavioral challenges, and/or autismmost of which would not even be linked back to CMV, since less than 10 percent of babies with CMV are ever diagnosed.

Next, a link on the American Academy of Pediatrics website made my jaw drop: unlike Zika, an infection spread through mosquitos, CMV is transmitted primarily through the saliva of toddlersand, the AAP study revealed, a young child can be shedding CMV for up to 40 months. Because Id had a toddler at home when I was pregnant, I wondered how likely it was that shed been carrying CMV. The CDCs webpage on CMV held the shocking answer: one out of three toddlers is contagious with CMV.

While Id been warned about toxoplasmosisthe kitty litter disease, which affects about 1 in 10,000 babiesI know that CMV had never been mentioned to me during pregnancy, even though it affects a much more substantial amount of children annually. One in 200 babies, or 30,000 to 40,000 a year in the United States, are born with CMV6,000 to 8,000 of whom will experience lifelong impairments. These affected babies outnumber the babies disabled by any other congenital disease.

I was certain I hadnt learned about CMV during pregnancy because if Id learned the simple prevention measures to reduce my risk (not finishing my toddlers meals while pregnant; not kissing her on the lips; washing my hands thoroughly after changing her diaper or wiping her nose), I would have implemented these easy, healthy changes to save my next child from potentially life-threatening medical complications. When I looked back to the prenatal packets Id received during both of my pregnancies, as I suspected, there was no mention of congenital CMV.

In this dizzying whirlwind of what seemed like a systemic and disabling silence, I wondered how this could be. How could 90 percent of the population not know about the leading cause of birth defects, nongenetic deafness, and developmental delays in the United States?

It didnt take me long to find part of the answer. ACOG, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, recommends that OBs in the U.S. not counsel women about CMV, essentially stating that washing our hands more around our toddlers would be impractical or burdensome during pregnancy. When I looked to the bottom of this document, which was published in 2015, there was no actual study conducted on anyone pregnant to verify this claim.

Historically, CMV is not the first disease doctors have withheld from their patients under the guise of caring for the patients emotional well-being. As recently as 1961, 90 percent of physicians preferred not to disclose cancer diagnoses to their patients, believing that it would too greatly upset the sick person. This was the case even though a study conducted a decade earlier, in 1950, had shown that the vast majority of patients desired to know the truth.

In the field of medicine, theres a term for this well-intentioned omission of information. Benevolent deception describes the silence I was facing with CMV: ACOGand many OBs I have since interviewed personallybelieve that worrying people of childbearing age about CMV will affect them too negatively for them to know the truth. This is despite the fact that studies have shown that 90 percent of women in the U.S. and in other countries want to know about CMV. And other studies, both here and abroad, have shown a drastic reduction in the risk of contracting CMV if people know how dangerous it is during pregnancy and that toddlers are the primary vector of the disease.

The American Medical Association actually bans the usage of benevolent deceptionotherwise known as the therapeutic privilegein medical practice today. And yet, my child would end up testing positive for congenital CMV, we found out a month later she was profoundly deaf, and she would go on to have gross motor delays from a disease I may have prevented through knowledge alone.

While its true that we dont have all the answers for CMV, including a reliable treatment for it during pregnancy, we do have the ability to test newborns and treat them immediately after theyre born. But without having the conversation about CMV during pregnancy and without our doctors being more educated about the disease, these newborns will continue to go undiagnosed and untreated, with their disease unfairly dismissed.

In order to dispel the myths about CMV, Ive spent the last eight years researching and writing a book about my daughters disease. Today, Anna can articulate that CMV is the reason shes deaf. But until all people planning to have a baby know the name of her disease, we do not have benevolence in obstetrical care; we have ongoing deception.

Megan Nix is a writer and author of Remedies for Sorrow: An Extraordinary Child, a Secret Kept from Pregnant Women, and a Mothers Pursuit of the Truth.
A night out in Bali almost turned deadly for an Australian man who was left bloodied and bruised after being brutally bashed outside a Kuta nightclub.

Matthew Stevenson, 27, had been dancing with a woman inside Sky Garden nightclub on Friday before he was reportedly set upon by her brother and his mates who allegedly beat and robbed him.

The Perth man said about six men "came out of nowhere" before bashing him, leaving him lying on the ground in a pile of his own blood. The back of Matthew's head was split open and he required 10 stitches. He's also nursing a shattered cheek and a bruised and swollen face.

The attack left Matthew Stevenson with ten stitches in his head and a shattered cheek. Source: 9News

Shocking video shows brutal attack

The shocking attack was caught on video and shows an unknown man with his arms hooked tightly around Matthew's neck as he cops multiple blows to the face. Matthew said it happened as he was leaving the club and started with the man pushing him. "After seeing the footage, I realised how close I could have come [to dying]," he told 9News.

Detailing what happened, he said, "the guy put me in a headlock and he choked me out and dropped me to fall and I hit my head and there was a pool of blood next to me". The 27-year-old said he was trying to defend himself but "even in the video you can see I look kind of lifeless".

Matthew was rushed to hospital with multiple lacerations and was given painkillers for the pain. However, the Perth man fears there could be more going on. "I'm still bleeding a bit out of my head and I think I might have a broken cheek or eye socket, because there's some blood in the corner of both of my eyes," he said from Bali.

Matthew was put in a headlock and beaten by a group of six men. Source: 9news.

To make matters worse, the 27-year-old was due to fly home on Monday for his brother's wedding but can't after allegedly having his passport, phone and wallet stolen during the attack. One alleged attacker is now behind bars, according to PerthNow, while the accomplices, believed to be from New Zealand, remain on the run.

Story continues

Matthew said "it could have been much worse" but says he's still in a lot of pain. "People die from that sort of attack. That's cowardly," he added.

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new weekly newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
Rights Activists under ActionAid International Uganda have today launched the16 Days of Black campaign as they join the world in the 16 Days Activism Against Gender-Based Violence (GBV).

Speaking at the launch of the campaign at their offices in Kasanga, the ActionAid International country director Xavier Ejoyi said the campaign is aimed at showing solidarity with survivors and raising voices to fight against harmful myths that normalize gender-based violence.

We want to call on everyone, in your individual capacities, in the collective capacities that we have to stand up and call for an end to violence against women. Today we extend that opportunity here to each one of us to join the voices from across Uganda and globally to call to end to gender-based violence. We also call on all stakeholders to step up efforts to prevent violence against women in all forms, he noted.

The global theme for the activism is UNITE! Invest to prevent violence against women and girls

According to ActionAid International, a national survey on Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) revealed that almost 95% of women and girls had experienced physical or sexual violence, or both, by partners or non-partners since the age of 15.
With the UN Conference of Parties (COP28) just two days away, environmentalists under the National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) are urging the Ugandan delegation to highlight issues that relate to governance.

COP28 is the 28th annual UN climate meeting where governments will discuss how to limit and prepare for future climate change.

The summit will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), between November 30 and December 12.

According to Frank Muramuzi, the associations Executive Director, the discussion on governance is important because issues related to climate change go hand in hand with decision-making that should be done at all levels.

Climate change does not mean we talk about the environment alone. We are talking about many things such as financing, governance, among others. You cannot talk about the trees and swamps without talking about good governance of the region and country, he said.

The Conference will comprise of the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28), the fifth meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement, the 18th meeting of the COP serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, the 59th meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation and the 59th meeting of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice.
The former Uganda Railways Corporation (URC) Managing Director, Mr Stanely Ssendegeya, 54, has been released on bail after spending five days on remand at Luzira prison over charges of forging academic documents that enabled him secure the aforementioned job.

Sendegeya was released Monday morning by Buganda Road Court Grade one Magistrate Siena Owomugisha.

However, he has been ordered to pay a cash bail of Shs1 million and to deposit his passport before court.

His four sureties including his son, wife, and mother-in-law were ordered to execute a non-cash bond of Shs10 million each as security to ensure his return in court when required.

Ssendegeya was first arraigned in court on November 22, 2023, after his arrest by the State House Anti Corruption Unit on his way to Nakasero Hospital where he allegedly receives daily medication for his stroke.

Prosecution states that Ssendegeya forged a CV purporting that he held a Masters Degree in Business Administration in the month of July 2020 with intent to deceive.

That during the same month, he gave false information to a recruitment firm; Delloit Uganda Ltd offices at Lumumba Avenue.

He has been ordered to report back to court on December 14, 2023, for mention of the case.
By Precious Delilah

The Judiciary has interdicted the Mitooma Chief Magistrate, Ms Sylvia Nvanungi, who was last week arraigned before court and charged over a Shs2.5m bribe.

Speaking to this publication yesterday, the Judiciarys spokesperson, Mr James Ereemye Mawanda, said under the Public Service Standing Orders, once a judicial officer is charged before court in a case involving moral turpitude, they are automatically interdicted.

By reason of being charged in court over an offense involving moral turpitude under the Public Standing Service Orders, the officer is put on interdiction until the matter is sorted out in court, Mr Ereemye said.

He also revealed that the magistrate in question will,going forward while on interdiction, be earning half pay.

Chief Magistrates earn about Shs7m per month, meaning Ms Nvanungi will now be earning about Shs3.5m until her matter is resolved in court with either a convictionor an acquittal.

For now, we will allow the court to do its work and the due course will be accorded to the person charged. While on interdiction, the officer will be getting half pay.Mr Ereemye added. According to the Public Service Standing Orders, an interdiction is the temporary removal of a public officer from exercising his or her duties while an investigation over a particular matter is being carried out.

On Wednesday last week, Magistrate Nvanungi, alongside Ms Jackline Bako, the Resident State Attorney of Sembabule court, were arrested by the State House Anti-Corruption Unit in connection with alleged soliciting and receiving of bribes from different persons undergoing trial before court in Sembabule District.

They were subsequently arraigned before the Anti-Corruption Court in Kampala. They denied the charges. They were remanded to Luzira prison where they spent a night before being released on bail last Thursday. They are expected back in court on January 19.
By Tausi Nakato

The Church of Uganda and Busoga and Buganda Kingdoms have spoken out on a lawsuit filed at Jinja High Court by lawyer Male Mabirizi, challenging the Royal Wedding between Kyabazinga William Gabula Nadiope IV and Ms Jovia Mutesi.

The couple tied the knot on November 18 at Christs Cathedral Bugembe in Jinja North City Division, in a wedding ceremony presided over by the Archbishop The Most Rev Dr Stephen Samuel Kaziimba Mugalu.

Mid-way through the wedding, Archbishop Mugalu asked whoever had genuine reasons as to why the wedding couldnt proceed to come forward and none did, Mr Mabirizi on November 20 filed a suit seeking to nullify the wedding.

Mr Males suit is against the Kyabazinga, his newly-wedded wife, Archbishop Mugalu, and the Queen of Buganda Kingdom Ms Sylvia Nagginda.

Specifically, Mr Male accuses the Kyabazinga of entering a marriage knowing that the marriage is void because of him being allegedly married to one Alison Anne.

Ms Mutesi is being accused of knowingly entering into a union with a married man, an accusation she was purportedly warned about but ignored.

Archbishop Mugalu is being accused of presiding over the marriage vows, while Ms Nagginda is accused of signing the marriage certificate of the couple as a witness.

However, the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has since taken over the matter, citing Constitutional provisions.

Church, kingdoms speak out

The Provincial Secretary of the Church of Uganda, Mr Balaam Muheebwa, says as a Church, they did the right thing (to conduct the wedding).

I have seen it on social media, but I have not received the physical court document (but) as a Church, we did the right thing and played our part, Mr Muheebwa said.

He added: The Church lawyers made their report and we were able to check a few things and by the time the Archbishop conducted the wedding, there was nothing much to deter the wedding.

The Spokesperson of Buganda Kingdom, Mr Israel Kazibwe Kitooke, says they have no worries with Mabirizis case because they have defeated him several times.

You know he (Mabirizi) is always fighting a losing battle. He wants to be recognised whether he has a case or not, He is born to lose. We have defeated him several times, so we have no worry about his case, he said.

Prior to the Royal Wedding, the Prime Minister of Busoga Kingdom, Mr Joseph Muvawala, said the Kyabazinga has never been married to anyone under the known forms of marriage, he has never sired any children and no one has received a marriage certificate that Ms Alison alleges exists.
"Far too many".

That's the blunt warning to Aussie parents as concerns return once more around children being left alone in hot cars ahead of what is expected to be a gruelling summer.

Concerns over the deadly mistake are more than justified, with the NRMA revealing on Monday the number of call outs to children and pets unattended in vehicles in the past 12 months alone is nearing 2,000.

Unfortunately, we are still seeing far too many children left unattended in the car, so we are again urging parents not to leave their children alone in the car. It is not worth the risk, even if you are quickly ducking into the shops, NRMA Road Safety Expert Dimitra Vlahomitros said.

In just a few short minutes, temperatures can increase significantly, posing a serious danger to children and pets locked in a car.

Despite repeated warnings, children and pets continue to be left in hot cars. Source: 7News/ Facebook

NRMA's spokesman Peter Khoury told Yahoo News Australia earlier this year statistics for how many children are being left in cars are "alarming".

"January this year we rescued 213 children  it was the highest month in five years," he said. "And 2022 was the highest in 10 years considering both children and pets (4267)."

Warning comes as higher than average temperatures expected

Khoury said one theory around last summer's high numbers was cooler temperatures led parents into a false sense of security.

"We didnt have a particularly hot 2022 and because of that people thought 'well its not hot, it's not an issue'. Whereas we tell people that regardless of the weather, it's not safe to leave children in vehicles."

The NRMA are pleading with parents not to make this mistake with the confirmation of El Nino which will bring "extremely hot days" to Australia, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Story continues

Leaving an unattended child locked in a car is illegal and can. result in a fine up to $22,000 under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998.

Anyone who sees a child locked inside a car can call Triple-0 for assistance.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Outreach workers in Kilkenny feature in a ground-breaking documentary shining a light on the the alarmingly high suicide rates among the Irish Traveller community which will be aired on RTE this evening.

Patrick A Young Traveller Lost tells the harrowing, deeply personal story of 12 year old Patrick McDonagh from Finglas.

Suicide rates within the Irish Traveller community have long been a cause for concern, yet the issue often remains unaddressed. 12 year old Patrick lost his life to suicide a year ago. Sensitively following his parents, Michelle and Pat, as they come to terms with their loss, the film explores the wider multifaceted challenges facing the community and highlights the devastating impact on those left behind.

Leading Traveller voices from around the country including Senator Eileen Flynn and Director of the Traveller Counselling Service Thomas McCann, contribute to delve into the complexities facing this marginalised and often discriminated against community.

Through the compelling first-hand account of Bernie Power, a Traveller Outreach worker from Kilkenny, we come to understand the inner turmoil of those from the Traveller community struggling with poor mental health and the real life positive impact of reaching out for help.

This deeply moving, unprecedented film, created in close collaboration with the Irish Traveller community, provides an opportunity to ignite conversations, dismantle stigmas, and encourage proactive measures to address the underlying factors contributing to this most devastating crisis.

The loss of Patricks young life sent shockwaves through the Traveller community, sounding an alarm that we must, collectively, face this issue head on. Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost allows the Traveller community the platform through which to do so in their own words.

Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost was directed and produced by Alan Bradley for Alleycats Films.
The whos who of Kilkenny business turned out in all their finery on Saturday night for the annual Chamber Business Awards.

Almost 500 representatives of business in Kilkenny gathered for a glittering evening, celebrating success.

Twenty-three awards were presented during the evening, including the Presidents Award which went to Joe and Bill Connolly of Connollys Redmills and the Lifetime Achievement Award which went to Jim Brennan, Club House Hotel. the black tie event saw Merlyn Showers crowned Overall Business of the Year.





Mark Geraghty, Anne Barber, Ani Mollereau and Gary

A Special Recognition Award was presented for the first time this year, and it went to Siobhan Talbot, CEO of Glanbia who is retiring after 10 years at the helm.

The Chambers chosen charity for 2023 was the The Samaritans Carlow/ Kilkenny, and a donation of 6,000 was collected on Saturday night.

Cathal Smyth, Managing Director of State Street Kilkenny (main sponsor), said State Street was delighted to be the title sponsor of the awards.

State Street is proud to be the largest financial services employer in Kilkenny and have recently moved into our new office the IDA Business and Technology Park in October  designed with both environment and employee wellbeing at its core, he said.

We commend the Kilkenny Chamber for its continued leadership with Kilkenny businesses and congratulate all of the finalists on their significant achievements and wish all continued success.

President of the Chamber, Brian Keyes, said was a privilege to be recognising the best of Kilkenny businesses.

Winning aside, all shortlisted businesses should be proud of their tremendous achievements in getting through the rigorous judging process, he said.

CEO John Hurley paid tribute to the sponsors and thanked Purcell Masterson, Fastlane Audio Visual, Mycrofilms, A Digital Medial Hub and Lyrath Estate Hotel. The full listing of award winners can be found at kilkennychamber.ie.

Chamber President Brian Keyes congratulated the 20 category winners. The awards programme has celebrated the breadth of commerce throughout Kilkenny for more than two decades, providing an opportunity to platform business successes. These include areas such as sustainability and volunteer engagement.

Kilkenny Arts Festival was this years winner of the Culture, Heritage and Tourism award at Kilkenny Business Awards. Sponsored by the Kilkenny People, editor Sam Matthews was delighted to present the award to the Arts Festival Director Olga Barry. Currently in its 50th year, Kilkenny Arts Festival has gathered many of the world's finest musicians, performers, writers and artisits in the medieval city.

The recipient of the debut Special Recognition award was Siobhan Talbot: Its a big honour, Ms Talbot said.

Its really nice to be locally reconised  this is for the Glanbia team now, not Siobhan Talbot.

Ms Talbot said the creation of Tirlan and Glanbia  as two really strong organisations headquartered in Kilkenny with global ambitions  was probably what she was most proud of.

We just have a team of people who are so ambitious, from those local roots, loving the culture we have here in Kilkenny, she said.

People love to join the organisation. Whether its Asia, South America, America, Europe  they like Glanbia, to join it.

Chamber president Brian Keyes said what Ms Talbot had done, as CEO of two global brands headquarted in Kilkenny was a huge achievement. He reflected on the past two years, including the post-pandemic business world in what is his final year as president.

This year was a special year I think because so many new entries, new businesses when you look at it as well. Its been a great year, he said.
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(Kitco News) - Chinas net gold imports via Hong Kong fell for a second consecutive month in October as a patchy economic recovery impacted demand, according to a report from Reuters published Monday.

Net imports through Hong Kong into China, the worlds biggest gold consumer, fell 23% to 26.793 metric tons in October, compared with 34.757 tons in September.

Local Chinese demand has apparently been relatively sluggish and it looks also as if quotas are still low as the government continues to defend the currency, said StoneX analyst Rhona OConnell. The Peoples Bank of China controls the amount of gold entering the country via the quotas it sets for the countrys commercial banks.

Looking ahead, the continued unsettled nature of the economy is likely to keep consumers from much discretionary spending and that could keep a lid on gold demand, OConnell added. She acknowledged that the Hong Kong data may not be representative of the complete picture of Chinese purchases, as gold is also imported via Shanghai and Beijing.

Chinas consumer prices also declined in October, with key indicators of domestic demand pointing to weakness not seen since the pandemic, while the countrys factory-gate price index fell further into deflationary territory, causing the outlook for a broad-based recovery to worsen.

Profits at Chinas industrial firms did extend their gains for a third straight month in October, albeit at a slower pace, suggesting more policy support from Beijing may be needed to support growth.

China also saw lower gold shipments from Switzerland in October, data showed last week, even as Swiss gold exports to India surged 60% from a year earlier to a 31-month high.

Last month, Chinese dealers sold gold at premiums of anywhere between $25 and $60 an ounce over global benchmark spot prices, down from record high premiums of around $135 seen in September.

We expect (gold) demand to remain lacklustre due to higher prices till restocking begins ahead of the Chinese New Year, ANZ commodity strategist Soni Kumari said.
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(Kitco News) - First Quantum Minerals today reported the death of a team member from its contracting partner, Reliant Drilling, at the companys Kansanshi operation following a fall of ground at the underground dewatering decline on the evening of Thursday, November 23.

The company said that in a separate incident on Friday, November 24, a contractor team-member from Omega Risk Solutions was tragically killed in a light vehicle accident when the car he was driving rolled at Sentinel. A passenger in the vehicle was also injured and is in a stable condition.

The company noted that the site emergency response teams attended immediately, adding that the appropriate local authorities have been informed of the two accidents and are at the scenes, both in non-production areas.

In addition, the company has initiated internal investigations into the incidents and into its management of contractors in Zambia.

On behalf of First Quantum, we extend our sincere condolences to the families of our colleagues, said CEO Tristan Pascall. We are devastated that two separate incidents have had such tragic outcomes. We are working to ensure that all those affected in these incidents will receive the necessary support and assistance during this difficult time.

First Quantum (TSX: FM) is a global copper company. The company produces copper in the form of concentrate, cathode and anode, and has inventories of nickel, gold and cobalt. The company operates mines in several countries and employs approximately 20,000 people world-wide.
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(Kitco News) - Copper producer Ivanhoe Mines (TSX: IVN) announced on Monday that the company has been granted 22,195 square kilometres of greenfield prospecting rights for exploration in the Moxico and Cuando Cubango Provinces of Angola.

The company said the extensive package of prospecting rights covers highly prospective greenfield copper exploration ground.

Ivanhoe said its exploration activities are expected to commence following team mobilization in the new year. The company added it has committed to an initial exploration budget for the region of $10 million.

According to Ivanhoe, the prospecting rights are granted for an initial period of five years and may be extended for a maximum of seven years. At the end of the initial period of five years, 50% of the prospecting rights are required to be relinquished.

"Ivanhoe Mines has an exceptional track record of discovering tier-one deposits in new frontiers and we are now commencing exploration activities in the underexplored regions of Angola that we believe could host an extension of the Central African Copperbelt, said founder and executive co-chairman Robert Friedland.

Ivanhoe Mines is a Canadian mining company focused on advancing its three principal projects in Southern Africa; the expansion of the Kamoa-Kakula copper complex in the DRC, the construction of the Platreef palladium-nickel-platinum-rhodium-copper-gold project in South Africa; and the restart of the historic Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-silver mine, also in the DRC.
Travellers in Bali have been urged to take care following one man's deadly backyard pool discovery. "Just a warning to many that aren't used to the 'rainy season'. Found this bad boy in my pool this morning," expat Mark Stahly posted online after catching a krait, one of Asia's most venomous snakes.

Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, Stahly referred to the incident as a surprisingly regular event. "The [cleaning] staff see snakes of one flavour or another every couple of months," he said, confirming he'd released the animal back into the wild.

"All our snakes tend to look for dryer land outside of their normal habitat in the rice fields and jungles," the Brit explained.

The expat came across the deadly snake in his pool in Bali. Source: Supplied/Facebook (Supplied/Facebook)

"I'm convinced it's a Malayan krait," Dane Trembath from the Australian Museum told Yahoo of the white and black banded reptile. "Unfortunately you can't actually see everything we need to totally confirm it but my best guess would be a Malayan krait," he said. While "just a juvenile", this classification puts the creature in the same family as our red-bellied black snake, making it "dangerously venomous to humans".

"Kraits are an elapidae, like all the Australian venomous snakes, so they have fixed front fangs," Trembath explained. "The species is nocturnal and they mostly come out at night and they mostly slither around in the leaf litter. They also eat a lot of interesting stuff, including other snakes."

Trembath confirmed these reptiles are known for seeking shelter during the wet season. "Snakes have this thing where they tend to move on rainy nights," he explained. "So kraits eat lots of snakes and I suspect on this warm rainy night, this krait has just gone for a slither and it's fallen into the pool. Luckily they've got it out and they've let it go."

Story continues

Growing up to 1.6 metres in length, the Malayan krait can be found all through southeast Asia including Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali. Anyone who comes across one is urged to give it a wide berth.

The Malayan krait is a highly venomous species of snake. Source: Getty

"We give this advice to all people with any snakes," Trembath said. "If you see a snake and you don't know what it is, just walk the other way and it will usually get on its way. If it's in your house, there's lots of people available that you can call who can safely relocate the snake for you."

Dozens of travellers have since responded to Stahly's post, with many sharing their own experiences with kraits and other snakes at the tourist hotspot. "We found the large ones in Bali, 1.92 metres long, hiding in a stack of roofing shingles," one man wrote.

"I found a cobra in my house recently. Defo change in weather is moving them around," while someone else said, "I lived near a rice field. Never again. Two cobras in the pool. Two in the open living area, plus various frogs, lizards, spiders and other creatures."

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Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Generally cloudy. A few flurries or snow showers possible. High 38F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 19F. Winds light and variable.
A child was spotted clinging to the windscreen of a moving car as it travelled down a suburban street on Sunday.

The incident occurred in Pakenham  a suburb in Melbourne's southeast  and a concerned witness decided to intervene, with one reportedly using his own car to block the hatchback from travelling down the street any further.

"He's hanging out the windscreen, for God's sake," the witness said in a 9 News report after approaching the female driver. "What if you run him over?"

Drivers spotted a child clinging to the windscreen of a moving car. Source: 9 News

It appears the youngster was initially lying on his stomach facing the opposite direction of the grey hatchback, before turning his head to take a look at where he was going. He later turned and sat upright before the vehicle stopped and the child clambered back into the car via the sunroof.

Witnesses call triple-0 after seeing child on top of moving car

Police were contacted by several concerned witnesses and an investigation has commenced.

"Police have received a report of an unrestrained child seen on the bonnet of a vehicle on Pakenham on 26 November," a Victoria Police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia. "Investigations are ongoing and police will make further enquiries."

Witnesses also said they spotted two children hanging out of the sunroof at one point while the car was moving.

"I felt sorry for the children and I knew they were at risk cause if she hit the brakes he could easily have slid off that bonnet and gone under the wheels and, yeah, he wouldn't be here today," another witness said to 9 News.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Meta has been collecting the personal information of children without their parents consent.
From left, Tahseen Ali Ahmad, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Hisham Awartani. The three students are receiving medical treatment for gunshot wounds in Vermont.
Two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi rebel-controlled Yemen toward the USS Mason after responding to an attack on a commercial tanker.
Angola, IN (46703)

Today

Rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers in the afternoon. High 43F. 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 37F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
After accusations of mismanaging and abandoning MBLAQ and CIIPHER, Rain who showed another interest in signing rookie boy group members triggered the anger of K-pop fans.

Here's what her said.

Rain Expresses Desire to Sign C-Pop Group Boyhood Members in Survival Show

On November 25, K-pop icon Rain appeared on the Hong Kong-based idol survival program, "Asia Super Young," as one of the judges, alongside former WJSN Cheng Xiao, and Yuehua's NEXT's Zhu Zhengting.

ALSO READ: 2 REASONS K-pop Icon Rain Received 'Black Ocean' During KCON LA Stage

The show aimed to launch a nine-member boy group among 65 participants, and Rain joined them as its judge, mentor, and executive producer.

In the episode, the members of the Chinese boy group, BOYHOOD, participated in the competition and following their stage, Rain was impressed and gave a favorable review, saying:

"If Yuehua is not planning to sign them, I'll take them. Is that okay?"

"if yuehua doesn't want them can i sign them?" NO NOT YEW GET AWAY FROM THEMMM I KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO CIIPHER pic.twitter.com/VJXQyZmsYm   (@wenhanbff) November 25, 2023

Hearing this, NEXT Zhu Zhengting replied with laughter and told him:

"Nope, it's not possible."

IYKYK: Rain Criticized for Wanting to Sign New Boy Group Amid Accusations He Abandoned CIIPHER & MBLAQ

While the remark was supposed to be light-hearted and harmless, K-pop fans aren't particularly happy with it.

Rain is a well-respected entity in the Korean music scene as a soloist and actor, but fans are not fond of him as a producer and CEO.

In the past, Rain created J.Tune Camp and launched MBLAQ. Due to his name and the members' skills, they immediately rose to fame and were even dubbed "Next TVXQ."

But this didn't happen after Rain allegedly "abandoned" the group and the company, which led to the group's hiatus.

In 2021 then, he created RAIN Company and personally handpicked and trained the boy group CIIPHER, which also drew decent success. Were they promoted properly and given more opportunities such as albums and content, fans believed that they could've gone higher.

However, CIIPHER barely had two albums and didn't release anything in 2023. Due to a lengthy hiatus, some members including Keita and Hyunbin joined survival shows.

While CIIPHER garnered more attention due to the members' participation in these audition shows, they brought unfortunate news by announcing that four members (Tan, Tag, Dohwan, and Won) left the group, leaving Hwi, Hyunbin, and Keita as the remaining members.

Because Keita re-debuted in EVVNE, a "Boys Planet" spin-off group, it is hard for the two current members to continue with group activities.

Thus, Rain's remark sparked outrage as fans can't afford to see more idols and trainees abandoned.

K-pop fans left comments such as:

"I swear to god, this man deserves all the hate. What? Are you looking for more trainee's dreams to destroy? Is destroying 3 groups not enough already? Stay away from those kids."

"The level of ignorance this man has is truly unbeatable."

"He did not just say that, the fxck."

"He's disgusting."

"This man is sick."

"Oh, he's so shameless."

READ MORE: 'Wasted Talent': 5 Proofs Ciipher Could've Been Bigger If They Were Under Better Management

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Eunice Dawson.
Most Aussies will agree that theres no better way to see out the weekend than watching the sun go down by the ocean. But hundreds of revellers at one of Australias most famous beaches took things a bit too far when an unauthorised rave broke out, with the local council slamming the "complete disrespect" for those who live nearby.

A sea of partygoers can be seen standing on rocks and dancing at Ben Buckler, at the north end of Bondi Beach in Sydney. Videos show a DJ playing music out of a speaker and hundreds dancing on the cliffs.

Cops were called at around 4.20 pm Sunday, November 26 to assist council rangers with the event, breaking up the popular event organised by outdoor party organisers Insomnia Sydney.

About 4:20pm yesterday (Sunday 26 November) officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command were called Ben Buckler Reserve, North Bondi to assist council rangers with an unauthorised event," a police spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia.

Hundreds of revellers flocked to the cliffs at North Bondi for a rave party. Source: Instagram

A large number of people were in attendance and with the assistance of additional police from nearby commands, officers enforced the alcohol prohibited area.

The crowd complied and had dispersed by 9pm with no arrests made.

Safety risk of illegal gatherings

Waverley Council, who was tipped off about the rave at Ben Buckler Point, warned that gatherings near rocks and cliffs can pose serious safety risks.

Waverley Council has a permit system in place for large gatherings on land owned or managed by Council. Last night's party was an illegal gathering," a spokesperson told Yahoo.

We appreciate that it's party season, but a gathering of this nature near the rocks and cliffs can pose serious safety risks both for attendees and for police, rangers and lifeguards. It also shows complete disrespect for the environment and residents who live nearby."

Locals divided over the event

The act has divided local residents, with some glad the event was cut short, while others argued that a DJ should surely be able to play music on a Sunday afternoon.

Story continues

Surely we should be able to put some DJs on in a public space on a Sunday arvo. Shocker, said Bondi Lines on Tiktok.

The fun police on it again, fumed another reveller.

While another called it a pure cringe fest, adding glad it was shutdown my eyes couldnt handle it anymore, said one person.

Cops were called to the scene to assist council rangers while event organisers vowed to continue throwing parties. Source: Tiktok/Instagram

Insomnia vows to continue putting on beachside raves

Posting to their Instagram account, Insomnia Sydney vowed to continue putting on the raves.

This was tremendous and it makes me understand that I have to find a way to do this party without the police throwing us out, they said.

The next party will be in another spot so be aware that this does not end, this will be massive, see you next time, they said.

Its not the first time that revellers have descended on North Bondi. Insomnia has organised two other beach raves, one in October and another on November 12. As word spread, the parties have gotten bigger and bigger.

In 2021, hundreds of revellers were filmed flouting Covid restrictions to join a drum party on a Sunday afternoon organised by Bondi Sunset Music.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
In a recent development on the survival show Universe Ticket, DIA's Eunchae, also known as Kwon Chae Won, finds herself at the center of controversy following what some netizens are labeling a "malicious edit" of her vocal performance. The incident has led to a wave of criticism directed at the show, particularly concerning the manipulation of Eunchae's audio.

Eunchae's initial performance drew disapproval from viewers and judges who expressed disappointment in her vocal delivery. Questions arose regarding the song choice and whether it suited her vocal style, especially considering her role as the main vocalist in DIA.



Over a week after the original broadcast, a fan shed light on the controversy by uploading a comparison between the aired performance and a fancam version of Eunchae's rendition. The fancam version, capturing ambient sounds and echoes, revealed a stark contrast in Eunchae's pitch compared to the cleaner, processed broadcast version.

READ ALSO: RED CARPET CRISIS: Girl's Generation Yoona's Fans Revolt Against Her Look For Unbelievable Reason

Netizens, expressing their frustration, accused SBS of engaging in a "malicious edit," alleging that the network intentionally lowered the pitch of Eunchae's voice in the broadcasted version. Comments on the controversy ranged from disbelief to calls for action, with some contemplating the possibility of legal repercussions.

"Isn't it too crazy to lower one's skills through corrections?" "Hahaha. It's ridiculous." "This feels like a complaint" "It's not really true that the sound is lowered on purpose." "PD has to go to hell again haha" "Aren't you crazy? The level that needs to be reported to the Korea Communications Commission" "Someone put post-editing in the fancam hahaha. Even if you just listen to it, the broadcast screen is the sound of the microphone and the fancam is the sound of the scene. Even though the microphone sound is corrected, this is the first time I've heard of the sound of the scene being corrected." "Eh, isn't this a lawsuit?" "No, if this is real, what is SBS?? Why did you deliberately lower the tone like that?" "After this, the guy who did trot and musicals was put on a post-production show, so I thought there must be a trash show like this lol." "Wow, instead of correcting the sound, they lower the key haha." "The ending note is an attractive vocal, but after editing it, it ended up like that. Baby and the main character "Gong" were made to be out of tune." Critics argued that the editing undermined Eunchae's vocal nuances, erasing the charming way she concluded her notes and creating a misleading impression of off-pitch moments. The severity of the accusations prompted netizens to question the ethics of such editing practices and even raised the prospect of reporting the incident to broadcasting regulatory authorities.

This incident is not the first time a survival show has faced scrutiny for editing a contestant's voice. Similar controversies have arisen in the past, such as during My Teenage Girl, where editing practices were employed to enhance a contestant's vocals and introduce auto-tuning, leading to debates on the authenticity of such portrayals on reality television.

YOU MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN: BTS Jimin's Latest Instagram Post Sets the Internet Ablaze- Here's Why

Follow and subscribe to KpopStarz for more news.

KpopStarz own this article.

Cassidy Jones wrote this.
SHREVEPORT, La.  A decision on a lawsuit contesting the results of the Nov. 18 sheriff's race won't be known until next week.
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State-of-the-art trade agreement with New Zealand

The EU has today completed political procedures ratifying the ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand. The decision by the Council of the European Union comes less than a week after the European Parliament gave its consent.

The deal is expected to cut some 140 million a year in duties for EU companies. As a result, bilateral trade is expected to grow by up to 30% within a decade, with EU exports growing by up to 4.5 billion annually. EU investment into New Zealand is expected to grow by up to 80%. This landmark agreement also includes unprecedented sustainability commitments, including respect of the Paris Climate Agreement and core labour rights.

Trade agreements form part of the EU's open trade  or partnering' - approach, which is one of the three goals of the European Economic Security Strategy presented in June. This agreement also strengthens the EU's engagement in the strategically and economically important Indo-Pacific region.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, said: New Zealand is a key partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region, and this ambitious free trade agreement will bring us even closer together. The deal will bring major opportunities for EU companies, with exports expected to grow by up to 4.5 billion annually. But this is not all: thanks to unprecedented social and climate commitments, our consumers and environment will also reap the benefits. This is how the EU achieves positive results at global level - by working in cooperation with our partners.

New export opportunities for businesses big and small

The EU-New Zealand FTA will provide new opportunities for businesses by:

Eliminating all tariffs on EU exports to New Zealand;

Opening the New Zealand services market in key sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, maritime transport and delivery services;

Ensuring non-discriminatory treatment to EU investors in New Zealand and vice versa;

Improving access for EU companies to New Zealand government procurement contracts for goods, services, works and works concessions;

Facilitating data flows, predictable and transparent rules for digital trade and a secure online environment for consumers;

Preventing unjustified data localisation requirements and maintaining high standards of personal data protection;

Helping small businesses export more through a dedicated chapter on small and medium enterprises;

Significantly reducing compliance requirements and procedures to allow for quicker flow of goods;

Significant commitments by New Zealand to protect and enforce intellectual property rights, aligned with EU standards.

Agri-food: stimulating exports while shielding EU sensitivities

Upon application of the agreement, EU farmers will immediately have much better opportunities to sell their produce in New Zealand. Tariffs will be eliminated as of day one on key EU exports such as pig meat, wine and sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar confectionary and biscuits.

EU farmers will see benefits beyond the tariff cuts. The FTA will protect the full list of EU wines and spirits (close to 2,000 names) such as Prosecco, Polish Vodka, Rioja, Champagne and Tokaji. In addition, 163 of the most renowned traditional EU products (Geographical Indications), such as Asiago, Feta, Comte or Queso Manchego cheeses, Istarski prsut ham, Lubecker Marzipan, and Elia Kalamatas olives will be protected in New Zealand.

The agreement takes into account the interests of sensitive EU agricultural sectors, including a number of dairy products, beef and sheep meat, ethanol and sweetcorn. For these sectors, there will be no liberalisation of trade. Instead, the agreement will allow zero or lower tariff imports from New Zealand only in limited amounts (through so-called Tariff Rate Quotas).

The most ambitious sustainability commitments of any free trade agreement

The EU-New Zealand FTA is first to integrate the EU's new approach to trade and sustainable development (TSD) announced in the Communication The power of trade partnerships: together for green and just economic growth.

Both sides agreed to ambitious TSD commitments covering a wide range of issues, based on cooperation and stronger enforcement. For the first time ever in an EU free trade agreement, the deal has a dedicated sustainable food systems chapter, a dedicated trade and gender equality article, and a specific provision on trade and fossil fuel subsidies reform. The deal also liberalises environmental goods and services at entry into force.

Next steps

Before the agreement can enter into force, New Zealand will need to complete its ratification procedure. This is expected to happen in the first or second quarter of 2024.

Background

Negotiations for a free trade agreement with New Zealand started in June 2018. 12 negotiating rounds took place up to March 2022, followed by intersessional discussions leading up to the conclusion of the negotiations on 30 June 2022, when the deal was announced by President von der Leyen and then New Zealand Prime Minister Ardern, in the presence of Executive Vice-President Dombrovskis, and New Zealand Trade Minister O'Connor, who led the negotiations on either side. The two parties signed the deal in July 2023, and the European Parliament adopted it on 22 November 2023.

For More Information

EU-New Zealand FTA page

Factsheet EU-NZ FTA

Factsheet EU-NZ FTA  Trade and Sustainable Development

Factsheet EU-NZ FTA  Agriculture

Q&A

Memo

EU-New Zealand trade relations

EU Trade and Jobs Report

Quote

New Zealand is a key partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region, and this ambitious free trade agreement will bring us even closer together. The deal will bring major opportunities for EU companies, with exports expected to grow by up to 4.5 billion annually. But this is not all: thanks to unprecedented social and climate commitments, our consumers and environment will also reap the benefits. This is how the EU achieves positive results at global level - by working in cooperation with our partners.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission 2023-11-26

This landmark free trade agreement with New Zealand will unlock a raft of new export opportunities for EU businesses and SMEs, for both goods and services. It also contains strong sustainability commitments, including on climate and labour rights. At a time of challenging geopolitical shifts, ambitious win-win trade deals with reliable global partners are worth more than ever. I look forward to swift ratification by the New Zealand side so this Agreement can quickly enter into force and benefit our economies and green transition.

Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President for an Economy that Works for People 2023-11-26
EXCLUSIVE: Rare giant sunfish have been washing up on Australias coast at a rate thats left a leading expert lost for words.

The decaying creatures are hard to miss as their flat disc-like bodies often span close to four metres long. Yahoo first became aware of the spate of deaths after curious beachgoers began posting images to social media a week ago.

A total of four bodies, believed to be the Mola alexandrini species, have been documented between October 28 and November 22. And while that may not seem like many, seeing one in a single year can be unusual.

A fourth sunfish was spotted at Jervis Bay. Source: iNaturalist/brinarra

Expert 'surprised' after four rare sunfish strandings

Danish marine biologist Dr Marianne Nyegaard told Yahoo News Australia the rapid succession of strandings was an excellent mystery. Theres nothing like it in my records, she added.

Nyegaard, who has expertise in southern hemisphere sunfish, said although live individuals are often seen in NSW, stranding observations are rare. There were five spaced out in the years 2021 and 2022, and three in the years 2002 and 2003, but then she doesnt have a single record until 1954.

Of course I dont know of all standings but this pattern was nevertheless a bit of a surprise when I added up the numbers, she added.

A Yahoo reader sent in a report of a third sunfish, this time at Broulee. Source: Geoff Berry

A woman poses next to the Warilla Beach sunfish (left) which was found days after one was photographed dead at Sussex Inlet (right). Source: Judith Merchant/Brooklyn Jade

Details of four rare sunfish revealed

Broulee on October 28 or 29.

Sussex Inlet on November 12.

Warilla Beach on November 15.

Jervis Bay on November 22.

Yahoo News Australia first reported on two standings a week ago at Warilla Beach and Sussex Inlet on the south coast of NSW, prompting a reader to alert us to a third body.

Geoff Berry photographed that animal at Broulee, 20km south of Batemans Bay, on November 4, but locals began reporting it on the weekend of October 28.

The fourth fatal stranding occurred at Jervis Bay November 22. Records of this fish were spotted by Nyegaard on iNaturalist, a social network used for sharing observations about wildlife and plants.

Story continues

She encourages anyone with information about beached sunfish to report them on iNaturalist, or to the Australian Museum or Auckland Museum.

The Australian Fisheries Management Authority told Yahoo it was not able to provide any insights as to what may have led to the recent strandings.

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ATK

New Delhi [India], November 27: Adraas, a real-time dispute resolution solution, organized a stakeholder summit on 'Arbitration in the New Age.' During the opening remarks, founder, Nitya Bansal introduced Adraas, short for "ADR as a service," as a revolutionary end-to-end, institution-agnostic, arbitration case management platform. Unlike online dispute resolution, Adraas- Realtime Environment for Dispute Resolution distinguishes itself as an exclusive technology platform that enhances efficiencies of both ad hoc and institutional arbitrations and does not adhere to any fixed set of arbitration rules.

Also Read | North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un Casts His Vote in Local Elections, Voter Turnout Recorded at Almost 100% (See Pic).

Justice (Retd.) Hemant Gupta, (former Supreme Court Judge), Suresh Chandra (former Information Commissioner and Union Law Secretary), Rajiv Mani (Additional Secretary, Department of Legal Affairs), Justice Rekha Palli and Justice Neena Bansal Krishna (Delhi High Court), Justice (Retd.) Mukta Gupta and Justice (Retd.) Jayant Nath (former Delhi High Court judges) graced the occasion and shared their views by participating in thought provoking panel discussions surrounding contemporary discourses in arbitration. Each panel was carefully curated to ensure all- judicial, arbitrator, public sector, private sector, and legal practitioner perspectives were adequately represented.

Discussing the impending arbitration reforms, Justice Hemant Gupta, chairperson of the recently reconstituted India International Arbitration Centre, a central statute creation, acknowledged that when it comes to judiciary, commercial matters often take a backseat to broader societal concerns. He therefore emphasized the need for specialized commercial dispute tribunals to expedite resolution and reduce court intervention in arbitration. Chandra concurred with Justice Gupta citing that court intervention resulted in the replication of formalistic court procedures in arbitration. Rajiv Mani, underscored the role of technology for quick resolution and reiterated the government's commitment to improve the arbitration framework. Ratan K. Singh, a reputed international arbitrator proposed improvements in training programs for arbitrators and need for sectoral expert arbitrators in the arbitration process. Madhvendra Singh, CEO of Gujarat Maritime Cluster opened by stating that reforms require intent, power and knowledge. He analyzed how the responsibility for necessary reforms rests majorly with arbitral institutions. But he also highlighted the need for institutions to allow flexibility in their rules. The discussion concluded with Justice Gupta sharing that IIAC will soon develop practice guidelines for arbitrators.

Also Read | Israel-Palestine Conflict: Elon Musk To Meet Israel President Isaac Herzog and Representatives of Families of Hostages Held By Hamas in Gaza To Defuse Growing Outrage.

On the role of technology in arbitration, Justice Palli, observed that by enabling easy access to case records, technology helps reduce case pendency. In particular, she highlighted its role in the efficient dismissal of Section 34 of the Arbitration Act applications. Tariq Khan, the Registrar at IAMC Hyderabad, shared his views on the environmental impact of large-scale arbitrations. Referring to a UK survey, he highlighted that to compensate for the carbon footprint of an average physical arbitration would require planting over 20,000 trees. He underscored the role of online arbitration platforms like Adraas in making the arbitration process more environmentally friendly by going paperless.

Dhruv Suri, partner of PSA Legal, raised pertinent questions about systemic issues plaguing the arbitration environment calling for the need for greater transparency. Suri brainstormed whether there should be a need for public disclosure of the structure and funding sources of arbitral institutions. Tahira Karanjawala, partner Karanjawala & Co. remarked that, to rule out the possibility of bias on the part of arbitrators, the dispute parties have a right to know the source of funding of the arbitral institutions appointing arbitrators to decide their disputes. Speaking from his experience in the public sector, Mohit Dubey, Deputy Director, Military Engineering Services, Ministry of Defense, also echoed concerns expressed by others about corruption within the system. His emphasis on the need for transparency in the public sector arbitration process and the potential that case management platforms like Adraas offer in this direction resonated strongly.

Other eminent panelists to the summit included Hemant Rajora, Chief General Manager (Legal) of Indraprastha Gas, Siboney S. Sagar, Senior Counsel (Regulatory Affairs) Star India partners of several top Law firms- Gauhar Mirza, Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas, Kaushik Moitra, Bharucha & Partners and Arpan Behl, Economic Laws Practice. Representatives from Assocham, Society for Construction Law and Military Engineering Services also graced the occasion. Overall there was a consensus that platforms like Adraas- Realtime Environment for Dispute Resolution can give a much-needed impetus to the arbitration industry in India.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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PNN

New Delhi [India], November 27: The Kamala Ankibai Ghamandiram Gowani Trust, under the leadership of Nidarshana Gowani and Ramesh Gowani, recently made an indelible mark at the prestigious Elite 50's Most Influential Indians Awards held at the iconic Statue of Liberty in New York City. The event, which attracted notable personalities from various fields, provided a platform for the recognition and celebration of exceptional individuals, and the Trust's participation significantly added to the event's grandeur.

Also Read | Facebook Parent Meta Collected Data of Kids Under 13 From Instagram, Reveals Unsealed Complaint.

The collaboration between the Trustees and Puraskar Thadani, the esteemed owner of Elite magazine India, resulted in a memorable evening where noteworthy personalities were honored for their outstanding contributions. Ramesh Gowani, representing the Trust, had the esteemed privilege of presenting awards to distinguished individuals, including the revered Gaur Gopal Das ji and the acclaimed Chef Vikas Khanna.

The trust's involvement at this high-profile event symbolized a defining moment that encapsulated two decades of unwavering progress and boundless inspiration. Through their sponsorship and active participation, the Kamala Ankibai Ghamandiram Gowani Trust demonstrated its steadfast commitment to acknowledging and celebrating remarkable individuals who have left an indelible mark on their respective fields.

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The Trustees' collaborative efforts with Elite magazine India and their involvement in this renowned event highlighted their relentless dedication to honoring outstanding individuals, leaving a lasting and influential impression on all those in attendance. The evening was not merely a gathering of influential figures but a deeply meaningful celebration of their remarkable contributions and accomplishments.

The Elite 50's Most Influential Indians Awards at the Statue of Liberty NYC marked a significant milestone for the Trust, serving as a powerful testament to its unwavering commitment to recognizing and honoring excellence. The event exemplified the Trust's ethos, as it continues to serve as a beacon of inspiration and support for exceptional individuals who have made remarkable strides in their respective domains.

Moreover, the collaboration with Elite magazine India and the presentation of awards by Ramesh Gowani underscored the Trust's dedication to fostering an environment that champions achievement and acknowledges the impact of individuals who have shaped their industries through their tireless efforts and innovative contributions.

In summary, the Kamala Ankibai Ghamandiram Gowani Trust's participation in the Elite 50's Most Influential Indians Awards at the Statue of Liberty NYC was not only a momentous occasion but also a reaffirmation of its unwavering commitment to celebrating excellence and providing a platform for remarkable individuals to receive the acclaim they truly deserve. This exemplary display of commitment and support will undoubtedly continue to serve as a source of inspiration for future generations, encouraging them to strive for excellence and leave an indelible mark on the world.

(ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by PNN. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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Kolkata, Nov 27 (PTI) BJP supporters blocked a state highway and held rallies on Monday in support of a 12-hour bandh at Khejuri in West Bengal's Purba Medinipur district called by the saffron party to protest the arrest of a worker.

Efforts are on for lifting of the blockade to ensure vehicular movement through the road at Khejuri, an official said.

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Tree logs were placed on roads by bandh supporters to block the state highway.

The BJP called a 12-hour bandh at Khejuri alleging that party workers were being arrested on fabricated cases by the police.

Also Read | Karnataka Shocker: Five Members of Family Die by Suicide in Tumakuru Due to Exorbitant Interest Rates on Rs 1.5 Lakh Loan and Alleged Harassment.

Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly and BJP MLA from neighbouring Nandigram constituency Suvendu Adhikari went to Marishda police station in Khejuri on Saturday night to protest the arrest of a saffron party worker and demanded his immediate release.

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New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Amid issues in his personal life, Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania has assured employees and board members that it is "business as usual" in the company and that he is fully committed to its smooth functioning.

In an internal mail to the employees and the board members of Raymond, Singhania, who announced separation from his wife Nawaz earlier this month, said he has chosen not to comment on the reports in media "about matters pertaining to my personal life", saying "maintaining the dignity of my family is paramount to me".

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"However, I remain resolute as Chairman & Managing Director and am fully committed towards the smooth functioning of the company and its business. Even in these difficult times for me, I assure you that at Raymond, it is business as usual," he asserted in his mail.

"As you all are aware that over the last couple of months, we have made significant strides towards growing our businesses exponentially and have had our best quarter in history on top of a consistent upswing in performance over the last nine quarters."

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Recently, "we have almost doubled our engineering business by entering sunrise sectors of aerospace, defence, electric vehicle components through MPPL's (Maini Precision Products Ltd) acquisition, and have also been awarded two marquee real estate projects in our focus market of Mumbai Metropolitan Region", Singhania added.

Despite the issues in his personal life, he said, "I am steadfast to create and deliver value to all our shareholders and ensure the interests of our employees, customers, and other stakeholders".

When reached out, a Raymond spokesperson confirmed that it was an internal mail sent by Singhania to the employees and board members of the company.

Earlier this month, Singhania said he has separated from his wife Nawaz, in an announcement that came amid speculation over the future of the 32-year relationship.

The billionaire industrialist, whose net worth is reported to be over Rs 11,000 crore, made the announcement over the microblogging platform X, saying it was not the same Diwali as in the past.

The industrialist -- who is helming the multi-decade group having roots in textiles and branched out into newer ones like real estate -- said Nawaz, a fitness trainer, and he were together for 32 years as a couple.

The couple has two children, and Singhania said they grew together in their years of companionship and were a source of strength for each other.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
An abnormal number of deadly sea snakes have been washing up along Australia's east coast with seven sightings reported in just one week.

Yellow-bellied sea snakes are "highly venomous" says wildlife veterinary nurse Belinda Donovan who was called to several beaches along NSW's south coast last week. "Their venom is neurotoxic and myotoxic," meaning a bite from one can cause paralysis and death, she told Yahoo News Australia.

The aquatic reptiles, which have distinctive yellow and black markings, were spotted by locals at various beaches along the stretch of coast starting from Jervis Bay down to Eden, some 300 km away. Alarmingly, six out of the seven of the locations are beaches that people frequent daily. Donovan, who works for Australian Seabird and Turtle Rescue (ASTR), warned for beachgoers to avoid them at all costs.

An influx of yellow-bellied sea snakes have been washing up on NSW beaches. Source: Mudgeroo Emu Farm & Animal Refuge/ ABC

Last week, a resident spotted another deadly sea snake at The Entrance on the NSW Central Coast. A video shared on Facebook by the ABC shows the venomous animal slithering along the sand. And in September, the same kind was spotted on a beach at Cronulla in Sydney's south.

'Uncommon' to see so many sea snakes washed ashore

Yellow-bellied sea snakes are the most pelagic of all sea snakes meaning they're usually far away from reefs and shorelines. And while it's not uncommon to "see one to two, maybe three a year" Donovan said it is unusual to have so many in a short period.

The reason for the influx of sea snakes washed ashore remains unknown, but she suggests "strong offshore winds or storms" could be to blame. "Usually they're exhausted [when they wash ashore] and have been struggling out in the open ocean," she explained saying they're usually always injured or unhealthy. But "we don't actually know the larger picture" and what's causing so many to wash ashore, she said.

Story continues

Yellow-bellied sea snakes found on NSW beaches. Source: Australian Seabird & Turtle Rescue South Coast Branch/Mudgeroo Emu Farm & Animal Refuge

Aussies warned not to touch deadly snake: 'Can be fatal'

The wildlife rescuer said it's incredibly important that people know what to do if they stumble upon an abandoned snake as the wrong move could be fatal for a pet or human, as well as the snake.

There are a few simple things people can do if they notice a sea snake on the beach. "Number one is keep dogs and children away from the snake. That obviously ensures the safety of everybody else, but also the safety of the snake," Donovan explained. "What some well-intentioned people do is attempt to pick them up and return them to sea, and that can actually be fatal and most likely result in death for the snake. We want to avoid that".

"If you pick them up, besides being at risk of being bitten, the animal can suffer injuries like a broken spine. They also can't be held upright for very long because they're not being supported by water," she added. "Their blood pressure can actually be unstable if held in a tilted position."

All the sea snakes have gone into care with licensed and trained sea snake carers, ATSR confirmed. Residents are being urged to contact the animal rescue hotline on 0431282238 if another snake is spotted.

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Uttarkashi, Nov 27 (PTI) The remaining parts of the auger machine stuck in the rubble at Silkyara tunnel, where 41 labourers have been stranded for the last 15 days, were removed early on Monday.

Manual drilling will now start at the tunnel to prepare an escape passage for the trapped workers.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary P K Mishra and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S S Sandhu will visit Silkyara on Monday to review the rescue operation.

The auger drill -- a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end -- that was drilling into the debris got stuck Friday evening, forcing officials to give up on the 25-tonne machine.

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Parts of the auger were left to be removed from an 8.15-metre area on Sunday night. Extracting the shaft and fins of the machine from the rubble completely was necessary to pave the way for manual drilling and pushing of pipes which is in the final stretch with around 12 metres more to go.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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A convenience store has fuelled concerns over a dangerous trend among Aussie teenagers after it was seen promoting nitrous oxide canisters, commonly known as "nangs", in its store window.

The store in Sydney's inner-west, which is part of a chain of convenience stores, was called out by a concerned local when she saw a sign on its front window informing the public it sells cream chargers. While the canisters are traditionally used for whipping cream, they are also widely used as a recreational drug, particularly among young Australians.

"I asked them to take the ads down from the window. But they refused to remove the cream charger from their counter," the woman shared in a post on Facebook.

The Sydney convenience store was advertising nitrous oxide canisters in their shop window. Source: Facebook

The local said it was clear the store was targeting those who "misuse" the canisters, with the gas, known as laughing gas, easily released with a small device into balloons. With the local high school so close, she believes such obvious advertising of the easily accessible substance is inappropriate. A staff member from the shop said they were unaware of the sign when contacted by Yahoo News Australia.

In recent years health professionals have raised concerns over the availability of canisters and their alleged increased use among young people. Drug, alcohol and mental health counsellor, Jess Lawrence told the ABC nitrous oxide canisters "need to be cracked down upon because it's a public health issue that's gone unaddressed".

"They're so accessible, they're not being sold for the reason they're made, they're only being sold for substance use," she said.

Is there increasing use of nangs among young Aussies?

Nicole Lee, adjunct professor at the National Drug Research Institute, told Yahoo News Australia there was "no evidence" the use of nangs was increasing.

"They have been around for a long time and tend to be used by younger people typically experimenting and only for a short time in their lives," she said.

Story continues

Dr Lee said while canisters have a legitimate household use, meaning advertisements for them is not out of the question, "they shouldnt be marketed so they are attractive to children or young people".

In NSW, selling or supplying nitrous oxide is an offence if the supplier knows the gas will be used for human consumption, it also cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 16 after the Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) classified the substance as a poison  but many, like Lawrence, believe this is not enough.

Perth was last year found to be the city with the highest use of nangs in Australia. Canisters sold there must now be labelled "poison" and have specific warnings against inhalation.

More education needed on dangers of nangs

"The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF) supports stronger education around the potential risks associated with the use of nangs and how people can reduce harm," Robert Taylor, ADF's Knowledge Manager, told Yahoo News Australia.

Nitrous oxide, known as 'nangs', is taken recreationally and long-term use can cause serious health issues. Source: Getty

"Comprehensive data around the use of nangs in Australia is needed to help inform regulation and to support targeted health campaigns".

Data on the use of nitrous oxide in Australia is currently limited, according to Taylor, but reported use of inhalants, which includes nangs, has been increasing in Australians aged 14 and over from 0.4% in 2001 to 1.7% in 2019.

The 2021 Global Drug Survey lists nitrous oxide as the thirteenth most popular recreational drug in the world, one spot ahead of ketamine.

Teenager hospitalised after 'nang' addiction

Earlier this year, teenager Molly Day warned others against using nangs after becoming addicted to them, inhaling one to two 1.3-litre canisters of nitrous oxide every day.

Following Day's admission to the hospital due to complications from her addiction, her mother Nicky Day, an emergency nurse, urged the government to "open their eyes" to how deadly and easily accessible the drug is. "The hospital put us through training as registered health professionals to be able to give that drug, and yet these kids can just go and buy it," she said.

In February, a 30-year-old man in Queensland drowned in a spa after inhaling the drug.

What is nitrous oxide?

Nitrous oxide is a gas meant to be used for sedation and pain relief, as a food additive for whipped cream, and in the automotive industry to enhance engine performance.

When used recreationally, it is inhaled most often by emptying canisters or cartridges, also known as bulbs and whippets, into another object, like a balloon, or directly into the mouth. It has been found to produce dissociation of the mind from the body, similar to a sense of floating, distorted perceptions and in rare cases, visual hallucinations, according to the ADF.

Long-term abuse can cause serious health problems

Immediate effects are individual but can include euphoria, dizziness or even death in some cases. Below are just some of the impacts of the long-term abuse of nitrous oxide:

memory loss

vitamin B12 depletion (long-term depletion causes brain and nerve damage)

destroyed spinal cord lining

limb spasms

depression

psychological dependence

psychosis.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 27 (ANI): In order to strengthen the infrastructure and improve connectivity in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi government has done extensive work over the past six and a half years on the widening, strengthening, and reconstruction of roads over various kilometres across the state.

During this period, the government has laid a network of roads spanning over 5,000 kilometres across the state. The Yogi government has allocated a substantial amount of around Rs 9,000 crores to complete the roadworks.

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Upon assuming power in the state in 2017, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to strengthen connectivity within the state. The government instructed the PWD to connect 26 tehsil headquarters and 153 block headquarters with two-lane roads. Subsequently, Rs 2,653 crore was allocated for works on 1,617 kilometres of roads.

The department has so far connected 26 tehsil headquarters and 131 block headquarters with two lanes, while the work to connect the remaining 22 block headquarters with two lanes is progressing rapidly.

Also Read | Child Trafficking Racket Busted by Bengaluru Police, Four Including Three Women Arrested, 20-Day-Old Baby Rescued.

Among these, 16 block headquarters have completed 99 per cent of the work, three block headquarters have completed 74 percent, two block headquarters have completed 24 per cent, and one block headquarters has completed 49 per cent of the work.

Additionally, PWD has proposed Rs 174 crore for a 48-kilometre road to connect the remaining one tehsil and 10 block headquarters with two lanes.

Similarly, for the development of routes passing through 25 cities along the international/interstate border, 94 routes have been approved. An amount of Rs 2,171 crore has been allocated for the development of 1,126 kilometres of roads on these routes. Of these, work on 81 routes has been completed, while work is underway on 13 routes. Among these, six routes have completed 99 per cent of the work, and seven routes have completed 24 per cent of the work.

Notably, 1,928 works were approved to connect villages with a population of more than 250 to the main road (a distance of less than 0.5 kilometres). Accordingly, a fund of Rs 1,679 crore was allocated for works on 2,107 kilometres of road. Among these, 563 works have been completed. Additionally, proposals have been submitted to connect 1,087 unconnected villages to the main road.

Similarly, 1,074 works have been identified for the reconstruction and strengthening of roads in the sugar mill areas of the state. A proposal of Rs 384 crore has been sent for 1,127 kilometres of roads. Work on these projects will commence as soon as they receive approval from the government.

In the second phase, Rs 200 crore will be spent on 626 routes. Works for widening, strengthening, and construction of roads for industrial and logistic parks have been approved. Work is underway on a 9.6-kilometer road with a budget of Rs 139 crore.

The PWD has received a proposal of 1,922 crores from the Department of Industrial Development for carrying out 21 works related to industrial development. Similarly, under the 'Dharmarth' project, 36 works for the widening, strengthening, and construction of roads have been approved, and work on a 174-kilometer road with a budget of 2,316 crores is in progress. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
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London [UK], November 27 (ANI): Thousands of protestors marched through central London at a demonstration against antisemitism on Sunday, in a first-of-its-kind march since the Israel-Hamas war.

According to the organisers, around 1,00,000 people took part in this march including former UK Prime Minister and Conservative leader Boris Johnson.

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The rally comes amid a steep rise in hate crimes, especially against the capital's Jewish community.

Members of the British Indian diaspora also joined the #MarchAgainstAntisemitism in London in solidarity and to voice their protest against antisemitism.

Also Read | New York Shooting: Three Palestinian Students Shot Near Vermont University Campus.

Many people also joined with Indian flags alongside the Israeli flag strongly condemning the October 7 terror attacks on Israel by Hamas, drawing parallels with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, whose 15th anniversary also fell on Sunday.

Jignesh Patel, an artist and one of the marchers, said: "We extend our deepest empathy to the victims, spanning diverse nationalities. As members of minority communities, we stand in solidarity with the Jewish people, denouncing the hatred they face. Supporting Israel's right to self-defence, we urge the British Government to take decisive action against antisemitism prevalent in our streets, politics, academia, and the media".

The British Indian diaspora vouchs to offer unwavering support to Israeli and British Jewish communities in these challenging times, standing united with Israel in its fight against terrorism.

On October 7, Hamas carried out a brutal terror attack in Israel. Over 2000 terrorists breached the Israeli borders and carried out a mayhem killing over 1200 people, injuring around 3000 others and also holding 240 people as hostages.

In response, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive targeting Hamas terror units in Gaza. (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 York [US], November 27 (ANI): Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was mobbed and heckled by a group of pro-Khalistani elements while on a visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York. The Ambassador had gone to the Gurdwara to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab.

According to a purported video shared on various social media accounts, Sandhu can be seen being confronted by extremist elements who were making statements about India designated terrorists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Also Read | Canada Shooting: Three Killed, Two Critically Injured in Firing in Winnipeg, No Arrests Yet.

The Indian envoy could be seen leaving the premises in his vehicle, while a lone protestor raised the Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara.

Indian envoy to the US Taranjit Sandhu had visited the Guru Nanak Darbar in Long Island, New York and joined the local Sangat to celebrate Gurpurab.

Also Read | She Has No Family in Punjab: Sikh Community Fights for Elderly Indian Woman Facing Deportation From UK.

"Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak's everlasting message of togetherness, unity, and equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all," Sandhu posted on X (formerly Twitter).

There has been a rise in pro-Khalistani incidents by extremist elements in countries like Canada, the UK, Australia and even the US.

In a shocking incident in July, a group of Khalistan extremists had indulged in an arson attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco.

After a probe was launched into the incident, India requested evidence from the US authorities regarding suspects of the attack under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT) in connection with the case.

In a separate incident in March, the Indian Consulate in San Francisco came under attack from suspected Khalistani elements. After the incident India had registered its "strong protest" with the United States calling for "appropriate measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents"

Notably, this is the second such incident involving the heckling of an Indian envoy by Pro Khalistan elements in a span of around two months.

Earlier in September, Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom Vikram Doraiswami was stopped from entering a Gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland.

According to a purported video posted on the Instagram channel of 'Sikh Youth UK,' a pro-Khalistani activist was seen blocking Doraiswami from entering the Glasgow Gurdwara on Albert Drive.

Following this, India taken up its concerns regarding the security of diplomats and premises with the UK authorities.

Last week, the US had also shared some inputs pertaining to the nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others during the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the Ministry of External Affairs had said in a statement.

The MEA said India takes such inputs seriously since it impinges on its own security interests as well. The MEA said the the inputs were a cause of concern for both countries and necessary follow-up action is being taken. (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 York [US], November 27 (ANI): US President Joe Biden will not attend the world leaders' summit at the COP28 climate talks, which is slated to take place this week in Dubai, a White House official told The New York Times on Sunday.

When discussing the president's itinerary, the White House official, who asked to remain anonymous, did not provide a reason for Biden's absence from the two-week summit.

Also Read | Bird Flu Outbreak in Japan: Japan's Ministry Confirms Season's Second Avian Flu Outbreak; To Cull 72,000 Birds.

The event is expected to be attended by King Charles III, Pope Francis, and leaders from nearly 200 countries, according to The New York Times.

"They've got the war in the Middle East and a war in Ukraine; a bunch of things are going on," John Kerry, Mr Biden's special envoy for climate change, said last week.

Also Read | North Korea Restores Border Guard Posts As Tensions Rise Over Its Satellite Launch, Says Seoul.

Whereas, Kirsten Allen, a spokeswoman for Vice President Kamala Harris, said last week that the US Vice President had no plans to attend COP28.

Biden has been to the annual UN climate conference for the last two years; the gathering is held in a different place each year.

During the talks in Glasgow in 2021, Biden expressed regret for the United States' temporary withdrawal from a global climate agreement under President Donald Trump, who mocked climate science, according to The New York Times.

He made a three-hour layover in Egypt for the summit last year, during which he urged the enactment of the nation's most important climate bill and reaffirmed American leadership in the worldwide fight against climate change.

The World Climate Action Summit is the high-level segment of the 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Notably, COP28 is being held from November 30-December 12 under the Presidency of the UAE.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also attend the COP28 climate talks in the UAE and will be travelling to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 1 to attend the World Climate Action Summit.

During his visit, PM Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with some of the leaders participating in the summit, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a press release. PM Modi is visiting the UAE at the invitation of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

In the press release, MEA stated, "The Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC provides a unique opportunity to impart momentum for collective action towards combating the shared challenge of climate change."

During the COP26 in Glasgow, PM Modi announced five specific targets, titled "Panchamrit", as India's unprecedented contribution to climate action. During the summit, he also announced Mission Lifestyle for Environment (LiFE).

In the press release, MEA stated, "Climate change has been an important priority area of India's G20 Presidency, and significant new steps have been captured in the New Delhi Leaders' Declaration and other outcomes during our Presidency. COP-28 will provide an opportunity to take forward these successes."

Earlier in July, PM Modi travelled to UAE for an official visit. Abu Dhabi's Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled Bin Mohamed Bin Zayed received him at the airport.

Briefing about PM Modi's UAE visit, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said the trip was "short but very significant, a landmark in the partnership between India and the UAE."

India and the UAE signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) in 2022 and since the signing of that important strategic landmark agreement between the two countries, the trade and economic partnership and engagement has grown significantly between the two countries, Kwatra had said. (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)
Two persons including a security executive of an airline were arrested on the charge of trying to smuggle 40 kg of ganja valued at Rs 2 lakh in a flight from Agartala to Kolkata on Monday, a police officer said.
Thai groom kills four people including bride in shooting rampage at own wedding

A bridegroom in Thailand went on a rampage at his own wedding and shot dead four people, including his bride, before killing himself on Saturday.

Local police identified the shooter as Chaturong Suksuk, a former soldier and paralympic athlete.

One person was also injured in the shooting that took place at about 11.25pm local time.

Suksuk, and his bride, 44-year-old Kanchana Pachunthuek, lived together for three years before they decided to get married. The couple had their wedding ceremony on Saturday morning, according to Bangkok Post.

Guests noticed the groom did not look happy, reports said. Suksuk, 29, left the wedding party suddenly amid the celebrations at a house in Wang Nam Khieo district in north-east Thailand, went to his car and returned with a pistol.

The groom then started firing shots that killed the bride, her 62-year-old mother and 38-year-old sister, and one other guest. One guest was reported to have sustained serious injuries.

Suksuk then shot himself and died on the spot, according to the police.

A police spokesperson was quoted as saying by the BBC that the groom was quite intoxicated at the time.

The motive, however, remained unclear. Police said 11 bullets were recovered from the scene of the shooting. He reportedly bought the gun and the ammunition legally last year.

The groom was a former marine soldier in Thailand and one of his legs was amputated after an accident.

He was also a member of the Thai paralympic athlete team that participated in the 11th Asean Para Games held in Indonesia last year and won a silver medal in swimming.

This incident comes just days after Thai interior minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed an order to suspend the issuance of gun licences for a year.

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.
A massive fire broke out at a residential building in Mumbai today, November 27. As per news agency ANI, the blaze erupted in the Chistiya Palace building in the Agripada area of Mumbai. Soon after the incident, local authorities were alerted, and six fire tenders were rushed to the spot. While the cause of the fire is still unknown, there have been no reports of any injuries or casualties. Mumbai Fire: Massive Blaze Erupts at Scrap Compound in Mankhurd Area, Fire Tenders Present at Spot (Watch Video).

Residential Building Catches Fire

Mumbai, Maharashtra: Fire broke out in the Chistiya Palace building in the Agripada area of Mumbai. 6 fire tenders are on the spot. Further details awaited.  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

(SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)
Brasilia, November 27: In a horrifying accident that unfolded in Brazil, a woman tragically lost her life after she reportedly fell out of the bus window that she was travelling in and landed on train tracks. The 37-year-old Julia de Albuquerque Violato was riding a bus that ended up on the train tracks just as a massive freight train rapidly approached. Julia reportedly fell out of the bus window, onto the train tracks and was cut in half. The accident that happened in November, 2023 resulted in one fatality and five injuries. The distressing video was captured on camera from a car that was waiting at the railroad crossing.

As per The Mirror, Julia was delivering clothes to a charity shop in Brasilia, Brazil, at the time when the accident happened, right before her death. The video of the incident showed a freight train approaching the bus as it tried to cross the railway tracks. The train blared its horn loudly before it crashed with the bus. The victim was reportedly thrown out of the bus and ran over by the train. The area was cordoned off after the accident and the police have launched an investigation. Sinkhole Swallows Women Dancing At Birthday Party in Brazil; Video of Freak Accident Goes Viral.

The five other people that were injured are Nildete Antunes Vitor, Julio Botelho Fernandes, Janderson Rodrigues da Costa, and Pedro Domiense Campos and a 19-year-old girl whose identity was not revealed. The teen was swiftly taken to the hospital as she suffered from concussions and a nervous breakdown due to the traumatic crash and the subsequent scenes of chaos. BMW 3-Series Car Pierced Into by Guard Rail After Crash in Gujarat, Video of Heavily-Damaged Luxury Four-Wheeler Goes Viral.

The victim's mother, Ana Rosa blamed the driver of the bus for the death of her daughter, reported the publication. The 72-year-old claimed "it was not an accident, it was a crime". The bereaved mother fondly remembered how Julia would take care of her because despite being an active person she was elderly. "She always said she didn't want to die before me. She cared about me a lot and loved me so much", said the mother remembering the last moments spent with her child. The exact date and time of the incident remains unknown.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 27, 2023 11:13 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).
Curacao may be known for its gorgeous beaches, much like any other place in the Caribbean, but it also boasts one of the most vibrant cuisines in the region, and that is saying a lot since it is located in an area with a ton of great cuisines such as Jamaican and Cuban.

According to USA Today, Curacao food takes influences from a myriad of cultures, including African, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Jewish, and many others. Often, the country surprises many with the variety and flavor of its dishes, which many still do not know about.

5 Curacao Foods You Might Want To Try Out

When it comes to Curacao cuisine, there are plenty to choose from as it is very diverse given that it has taken influences from all over the world. We have chosen five dishes that are certainly our favorites from this rich and diverse cuisine, and they are:

Bitterballen

This dish best exemplifies the Dutch influence in Curacao and these cheese-filled vegetable balls are served everywhere in the country, This dish has been part of the country for hundreds of years and is often described as a deep-fried ball of gooey beef or vegetables and is typically served with mustard for dipping.

The dish itself is often served as a mid-afternoon snack with some beer. It is also typically eaten with some sausage.

Papaya Stoba (Papaya Stew)

This stew is made up of stewed papayas, meat, and pigtails and is absolutely one of the most popular dishes in all of Curacao. Papayas are one of the most abundant fruits in the country, and according to Curacao.com, this dish uses that abundance well as the fruit's sweetness balances the flavors brought by the salted meat and pigtail quite well as it has been described as a "delicious sweet and savory dish you never thought was possible."

READ MORE: Explore Curacao: 5 Most Stunning Places to Visit in the Caribbean Country

Arepa Di Pampuna (Pumpkin Pancakes)

If you are looking for a traditional Curacao breakfast though, Arepa Di Pampuna, or pumpkin pancakes, may be for you. It uses the local "pampuna dol di webu," the so-called "egg yolk pumpkin" as its base and is known to be a great way to start the day in the Caribbean country. It is also served as street food so if you missed breakfast, you can still get these scrumptious pumpkin treats.

Keshi Yena (Stuffed Cheese)

When it comes to Curacao's signature dish, though, many consider it to be keshi yena or stuffed cheese. This also brings out the country's Dutch influence as it is literally stuffed cheese imported from the Netherlands, one of the world's biggest cheese producers, and fills it with meat, chicken, vegetables, or dried fruits. These are then wrapped in plantain leaves before being cooked.

Oliebollen

Of course, we shall end things with a dessert and yet another Dutch-influenced dish known as Oliebollen, which is a deep-fried sweet dumpling that is covered in powdered sugar. In other words, this is a sort of a Dutch donut and in Curacao, it is usually eaten around Christmas and New Year's Day.

READ MORE: Selena Gomez Hits Back at Body Shamers

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: We Tried The Best Local Food In Curacao - BuzzFeed Bring Me
Embattled New York Republican House Representative George Santos recently went on a tirade in front of news media after the House Ethics Committee found wrongdoing in his campaign funds scandal. He is now facing expulsion because of that Ethics Committee report after surviving repeated attempts to kick him out of Congress.

"I know I'm going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor," he told conservative media personality Monica Matthews in an interview, adding that he will "wear it like a badge of honor."

"I have done the math over and over, and it doesn't look really good." the controversial Congressman added.

He was accused of using campaign money for his personal expenses. The House Ethics Committee found that he did, spending money given to him by donors for things such as Botox treatments, lavish trips, and an Only Fans subscription.

While Santos was on air, Democratic Rep. Robert Garcia of California called into the X Spaces interview and confronted Santos directly.

"Why not just do the right thing and resign?" asked Garcia before pointing out, "We're going to vote to expel you, George." However, Santos tried to remain defiant and insisted he was not found guilty of anything, but Garcia repeated, "George, we're going to expel you."

Still, Santos wanted to sound defiant and told the California representative, "You're saying it like I'm scared of it, Robert. I'm not scared of it. ... I resign, I admit everything that's in that report, which most of it is some of the craziest s-t I've ever read in my life."

READ MORE: Marjorie Taylor Greene Calling Lauren Boebert a Wh*re to Other Republicans

George Santos Called Himself 'Mary Magdalene of Congress' Amid Campaign Funds Scandal

Santos frequently went on long rants during his 3-hour X Spaces interview and lashed out against other House representatives, ranting, "Within the ranks of the United States Congress, there are felons galore. There's people with all sorts of sheisty backgrounds, and all of a sudden, George Santos is the Mary Magdalene of the United States Congress."

According to Mother Jones, this was a swan song of sorts for Santos, who would likely be expelled from Congress after the Ethics Committee report came out. While he can still run for Congress again, the controversial New York Republican has admitted he will not seek reelection again.

"I'm not running for reelection, not because this was a damning report. I'm not running for reelection because I don't want to work with a bunch of hypocrites," he said defiantly.

George Santos Goes Scorched Earth on Other House Representatives

He did not just slam his House colleagues, but he also took a page from Donald Trump's playbook and slammed the man judging him as he went after House Ethics Committee Chairman Michael Guest, a Mississippi Republican, during his long tirade.

The Daily Beast reported that Santos was goading Guest to introduce the resolution to expel him, telling the Mississippi Republican, "Be a man and stop being a p*ssy and call the damn motion."

Despite his insistence on being innocent and doing nothing wrong, the House Ethics Committee, which is made up of Democrats and Santos's fellow Republicans, found that he failed to properly disclose the $800,000 in personal loans he reportedly gave to his campaign. It also found that he used campaign funds to pay for his lavish lifestyle and improperly reimbursed himself with donor money for loans he did not make.

READ MORE: George Santos Denies Being a Drag Queen in Brazil

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: 'George Santos is the Mary Magdalene of United States Congress' - Rep. George Santos - MSNBC
Three Mexico journalists, previously abducted in the southern province of Guerrero, have been released unharmed following intensified search operations by authorities, as reported by the state attorney general's office.

The journalists, namely Silvia Nayssa Arce, Alberto Sanchez, and Marco Antonio Toledo, along with his wife, Guadalupe Denova, fell victim to armed abductions over the past week, according to Al Jazeera.

Toledo, the editor of the weekly newspaper El Espectador, was kidnapped on November 19 in the tourist town of Taxco, while Arce and Sanchez, reporters for the digital media site RedSiete, were abducted from their offices on Wednesday in the same city.

The state prosecutor confirmed the Mexico journalists' release but noted that Toledo's son, who was kidnapped along with his parents, remains missing.

The Mexican Army, police, and national guard will persist in search operations.

READ NEXT: Mexico Journalist Found Dead in His Car

Search for the 3 Abducted Mexico Journalists

Authorities escalated efforts on Friday to locate the three abducted Mexico journalists in the south of Mexico, a region recognized as one of the world's most perilous for reporters, according to press freedom groups, Reuters reports.

The state attorney general's office in Guerrero announced on Thursday its investigation into the disappearance of five individuals in Taxco, the tourist town where the abductions occurred.

Carlos Monge, communications chief for the attorney general's office, disclosed that searches would be reinforced through collaboration with various law enforcement agencies, including the state prosecutor's office, state police, National Guard, and the Army.

Fifteen vans with personnel were dispatched from the state capital to Taxco to aid in the efforts.

Article 19, an international free-speech group, reported that witness testimony indicated five armed men forcibly entered the home of Marco Antonio Toledo, director of El Espectador de Taxco, taking him, his wife, and son.

The organization highlighted Toledo's history of threats and harassment due to his reporting on politics and security.

Arce and Sanchez, leaders of the digital platform RedSiete, were kidnapped by armed men at the platform's central Taxco offices on Wednesday, according to witness testimonies.

Arce's sister made a public plea for assistance through a video on social media, emphasizing the need to bring her family members back.

Mexico: One of the Deadliest Countries for Journalists

Tragically, the recent abductions add to the grim statistics of journalist casualties in Mexico, per WION.

Earlier this month, Ismael Villagomez, a photographer for Heraldo de Juarez, was found fatally shot in the driver's seat of a car in Ciudad Juarez, marking the fifth journalist killing in 2023.

The United Nations condemned Villagomez's killing, urging a thorough investigation.

UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay emphasized the chilling effect such attacks have on independent journalism and called for the perpetrators to be held accountable.

In 2022, Mexico witnessed the killing of 13 journalists, the highest number since records began in 2000, according to reports.

Guerrero, the province where the recent abductions occurred, is notorious for gang activity and crime, with armed groups frequently resorting to kidnappings for ransom.

READ MORE: Argentina: Javier Milei Remains Firm in Closing the Central Bank

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Why is Mexico still the most dangerous country for journalists? | The Stream - From Al Jazeera
Convicted killer and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who was incarcerated for the death of George Floyd, has been stabbed inside an Arizona prison last Friday. However, he is expected to survive as his condition is now stable.

The Bureau of Prisons confirmed that one incarcerated inmate has been stabbed at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, Arizona. The agency stated that the incident was immediately contained and that employees at the scene were able to perform "life-saving measures" on the inmate who was not named. That inmate was taken to a hospital for further treatment and evaluation soon after.

A source familiar with the matter spoke with the Associated Press and revealed that the inmate was in fact, Derek Chauvin, who would have likely had a target on his back just for being a former police officer.

As for the facility that Chauvin was incarcerated in, the FCI Tucson has been known to be "plagued by security lapses and staffing shortages." The incident itself was dealt with quickly and none of the prison employees were injured. The FBI has also been notified of the attack.

Derek Chauvin is serving 22 and a half years in prison for the second-degree murder of George Floyd and is serving it simultaneously e for violating Floyd's civil rights. His lawyer, Eric Nelson, had tried to get him out of the general population and away from other inmates as he was expected to be a target.

The former Minnesota police officer has become infamous for being responsible for the death of George Floyd after video evidence showed that he, pressed a knee on Floyd's neck for 9 minutes on the street outside a convenience store all because Floyd was suspected of trying to use a fake $20 bill.

Floyd had complained "I can't breathe" and this has since become a battle cry for civil rights and Black Lives Matter activists from around the world.

READ NEXT: Rosalynn Carter Extended Olive Branch to Melania Trump Before Her Death

Derek Chauvin Expected To Survive Prison Attack

Chauvin's injuries during the stabbing incident in Arizona were characterized as "serious" and this was confirmed by Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison. However, that same AG also stated that the former officer is going to live as he is now in a stable condition.

"I am sad to hear that Derek Chauvin was the target of violence," said the Minnesota AG. "He was duly convicted of his crimes and, like any incarcerated individual, he should be able to serve his sentence without fear of retaliation or violence."

Supreme Court Dismissed George Floyd Killer's Appeal Shortly Before Stabbing Incident

Last week, just a few days before his stabbing, George Floyd tried to have the US Supreme Court step in with his case. However, that plea was a longshot bid to overturn his federal guilty plea and it was rejected by the highest court in the land.

According to CBS News, Chauvin's argument was that the decision to keep the proceedings in Minneapolis was depriving him of his right to a fair trial because of all the publicity. However, experts believed there was little to no chance of the Supreme Court agreeing to this, and as it turned out, they were right.

READ MORE: January 6 Footage Revive Conspiracy Theories Which Quickly Become Debunked

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Derek Chauvin stabbed in federal prison - ABC News
US President Joe Biden has opted out of attending the United Nations "Conference of the Parties" on climate, known as COP28, which is set to kick off in Dubai this week.

Reuters had previously hinted at this likelihood, citing the President's challenges in navigating the Middle East conflict and the upcoming intensification of his presidential campaign in January.

Contrary to the global gathering's focus on climate change, the White House's Thursday schedule reveals President Biden engaging in a bilateral meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola and participating in the National Tree Lighting event.

The absence marks a departure from his attendance at both COP summits since assuming office in 2021.

READ NEXT: 350.org, Leading Climate Change Organization, Targeted by Fossil Fuel Industry Spies

John Kerry to Represent Joe Biden in the UN's Climate Meeting

The anonymous official who disclosed Biden's nonattendance did not furnish a specific reason, but senior aides indicated the President's preoccupation with ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine.

John Kerry, Biden's special envoy for climate change, confirmed last week that pressing global matters, including conflicts, have commanded the administration's attention.

"They've got the war in the Middle East and a war in Ukraine, a bunch of things going on," Kerry said.

As a substitute, John Kerry and his team will represent the United States at the Dubai summit. Noteworthy figures such as King Charles III and Pope Francis are also expected to be in attendance, per the New York Post.

This marks the first time Biden will miss a UN climate meeting since assuming the presidency, having actively participated in the Glasgow summit in 2021 and a brief stopover in Egypt for last year's event.

Joe Biden Might Face Backlash From Climate Activists

Joe Biden's decision to skip this year's UN climate meeting might spark disapproval from climate activists, according to The Japan Times.

However, analysts argue that it is not customary for a US president to attend every climate summit.

In Dubai, leaders will address their progress, or lack thereof, in limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius over preindustrial levels, a critical threshold to mitigate the impacts of intensifying wildfires, heat waves, droughts, and storms.

Since the 2015 agreement to cut emissions and curb global warming below 2 degrees Celsius, the planet has already warmed by an average of 1.2 degrees Celsius.

While some countries, including the United States, have made strides in reducing greenhouse gases, global emissions persistently rise.

To avert catastrophic climate change impacts, scientists emphasize the need for a 43% reduction in emissions below 2019 levels by 2030, a far cry from the meager 7% reduction outlined in current national climate plans.

The COP28 summit is anticipated to draw around 70,000 participants, with the United States potentially facing criticism for not fulfilling commitments to aid developing nations in transitioning to clean energy and adapting to climate change.

READ MORE: Joe Biden Net Worth

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Cop28 in UAE: Three things to watch out for - From The National News
With Gasgoo Daily, we will offer daily important automotive news in China. For those we have reported, the title of the piece will include a hyperlink, which will provide detailed information.

BYD's Yangwang inaugurates Hunan province's first Yangwang Center store

On November 25, Hunan province's first Yangwang Center store opened for business in Yuhua district, Changsha city, according to a post on BYD Yangwang's WeChat account.

Photo credit: Yangwang

Porsche starts pre-sale of all-new Panamera in China

On November 24, the all-new Porsche Panamera made its world debut in Shanghai, with pre-sale kicking off in China already. In the Chinese market, the new model comes with three trim levels, priced between 1.038 million yuan and 1.228 million yuan.

Photo credit: Porsche

Great Wall Motor's WEY Latte PHEV hits European market

On November 22, Great Wall Motor's WEY brand saw its Latte PHEV model (dubbed "WEY 03" overseas) hit the European market. It is offered in three variants in Europe, featuring a price range of 47,990, 51,990, and 56,990.





Automotive intelligence solution developer Nullmax nabs new mass production order

On November 27, automotive intelligence solution provider Nullmax announced it has received new mass production orders from a major automaker to deliver cutting-edge intelligent driving solutions.

Alibaba-backed Banma to build Central-China headquarters in Wuhan's Optics Valley

On November 24, Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone sealed a partnership with Alibaba-backed Banma Network Technology Co., Ltd. (Banma) to settle the latter's Central-China headquarters in Wuhan's Optics Valley area.

GAC Group's UPOWER Energy, CSG's subsidiary cooperate in battery bank, power swap station, virtual power plant

On November 23, 2023, UPOWER Energy Technology (Guangzhou) Co., Ltd. ("UPOWER Energy"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of GAC Group, and Southern Power Grid Peak and Frequency Regulation (Guangdong) Energy Storage Technology Co., Ltd. ("CSG Energy Storage Technology"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid Energy Storage Co., Ltd., held a ceremony to form a strategic cooperation, according to a post on GAC Group's WeChat account.

Dongfeng, Inceptio Technology delivers co-developed smart heavy-duty trucks

On November 24, Dongfeng Trucks alongside Inceptio Technology completed the inaugural delivery of their customized intelligent driving heavy-duty trucks in Yangzhou city, Jiangsu Province.

Li Auto to roll out all-scenario nationwide NOA function soon

On November 25, Chinese new energy vehicle maker Li Auto announced the most significant upgrade in the history of its L-Series vehicles, with OTA 5.0 scheduled for a full-scale rollout to all users by the year's end.

HiPhi, WOOKONG Mobility to jointly offer services integrating car rental, test drives, road trips

HiPhi, the premium electric vehicle brand under Human Horizons, and the Chinese car rental service platform WOOKONG Mobility held a signing ceremony in Shanghai, marking a significant partnership in advancing multi-dimensional mobility service experiences, according to a post on HiPhi's WeChat account.

China's locally-made passenger vehicle retail sales likely to jump 26% YoY in Nov. 2023: CPCA

China's domestic passenger vehicle ("PV") retail sales are anticipated to reach 2.08 million units in November 2023, which should climb 2.3% from the previous month and jump 26% from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association ("CPCA").

Huawei: Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance ventures including AITO are not divested to new company

On November 26, Changan Automobile announced its intention to invest in a new company being formed by Huawei, consolidating core technologies and resources for intelligent automotive solutions. The collaborative venture aims for mutual support in driving the company's future endeavors, with Changan Automobile and its affiliates eyeing a collective stake not exceeding 40% in the target company.

SERES: invited to collaborate in Huawei's new auto intelligence company

On November 25, Changan Automobile and Huawei solidified their collaboration by signing a "Memorandum of Investment Cooperation." The agreement outlines Huawei's intent to establish a new entity concentrating on R&D, production, sales, and services of intelligent driving systems and incremental components for intelligent connected vehicles.

First Changan "Golden Shield' standard cell rolls off line

On November 24, Changan Automobile saw the first standard cell under the "Golden Shield" ("Jin Zhong Zhao" in Chinese Pinyin) brand roll off the production line at the factory of CATL-Changan EV Battery Co., Ltd. ("CCEC"), marking a swift progression following the automaker's unveiling of its new battery plan and the Golden Shield battery brand at the Auto Guangzhou 2023.

NETA Auto announces foray into Latin American market

On November 24, NETA Auto, the new energy vehicle manufacturer under HOZON Auto, officially announced its foray into the Latin American market, marked by a grand unveiling event in Costa Rica where the NETA U and NETA V models were officially launched. Following their market debut, NETA Auto's products are set to be available for comprehensive sales across Costa Rica.
Pennsylvania State Police from Bethlehem-based Troop M on Monday announced the results of its Thanksgiving holiday weekend campaign to combat aggressive driving.

The Pennsylvania Aggressive Driving Enforcement Education Program ran from 12:01 a.m. Wednesday to 11:59 p.m. Sunday. The enforcement annually targets aggressive driving on state highways. The troop covers Lehigh, Northampton and Bucks counties.

Troopers investigated 68 crashes and made 27 Driving Under the Influence (DUI) arrests. During last years enforcement, there were 80 crashes and 27 DUI arrests. There were two alcohol-related accidents during this years campaign compared with five alcohol-related crashes in 2022.

There were no fatal crashes this year or last year. Nine people were hurt in accidents this year compared with 26 injuries in 2022.

Troopers handed out 302 speeding violations during this years enforcement, compared with 342 speeding violations in 2022.

A DUI checkpoint and roving patrol on Saturday was conducted by Troop M at Route 512 and Short Lane in East Allen Township. A sobriety checkpoint is a traffic safety checkpoint, where police systematically stop vehicles at selected locations to briefly observe drivers for alcohol or drug impairment.

Saturdays checkpoint yielded a single DUI arrest; nine traffic citations; and 27 warnings, said Trooper Nathan Branosky, the public information officer for Troop M.

Pennsylvania State Police in Harrisburg said troopers throughout the five-day enforcement period investigated 979 statewide vehicle crashes, resulting in four fatalities. Alcohol was a factor in 73 of those crashes, according to state police.

Troopers arrested 542 motorists for suspected DUI; issued more than 10,000 speeding citations; issued 1,187 citations for failure to wear a seat-belt; and 133 citations for not securing children in proper safety seats, according to state police.

Motorists can expect continued patrols as part of Troop Ms effort toward traffic safety throughout the holiday season, particularly during the Christmas and New Years holidays, state police said.

Anyone who flees a police officer during a traffic stop can face a third-degree felony charge which carries a sentence of up to seven years in jail and a fine of up to $15,000, Branosky said.

Please subscribe now and support the local journalism YOU rely on and trust.

Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com.
A Laois councillor wants the Government to pay for removing dead ash trees in the countryside, before they fall on roads and footpaths, as a matter of urgency.

Fine Gael Cllr Thomasina Connell warns that 90% of the trees, native to Ireland but hit with the spread of the Asian fungus, will die and says this is "extremely dangerous" for pedestrians and motorists.

She tabled a motion to the November meeting of Laois County Council, urging it to prepare a report on the implications and plans for dealing with trees affected by ash dieback disease in public areas."

"Ash Dieback is a highly destructive fungal disease which was initially discovered in Ireland just over ten years ago. The disease causes the tree to rot from the inside out and die and is predicted to kill off up to 90% of the ash trees on the island of Ireland. The situation is extremely serious and needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency at both Local Authority and Government level.

"Ash is a hardwood but it grows significantly faster than oak or beech and is used widely in sawmills as well as being the traditional source of hurleys. Ash trees would have been found regularly in hedgerows along many of our roads. The fact that ash trees are now dying in such huge numbers has resulted in another problem  that of fallen trees.

"Once the ash tree dies, it simply falls down, and this has resulted in dead trees falling on to roads and footpaths causing an extremely dangerous situation for road users and pedestrians alike.

"Naturally removing fallen trees which fall in this way on to public roads will be a significant cost but one that needs to be dealt with in a formulated way and I am calling on Laois County Council to put in place measures and protocols to deal with these fallen trees. The Council cannot simply refer the matter of fallen trees back to the landowner as such a system would be simply unworkable and landowners cannot be expected to foot the bill for trees which have fallen onto a public road as a result of ash dieback.

"There are many trees dying from ash dieback in our public parks and open spaces which Laois County Council has a responsibility to clear away and I am asking that the same mechanism be invoked with regard to fallen trees on our roadways and paths. I am asking the Council today to set out in writing the manner in which it intends to deal with this urgent

problem which is going to get progressively worse in the months and years ahead.

The Government thankfully has taken a realistic approach to the issue of ash die back in terms of supports for owners of ash plantations who have lost their trees to this disease, the Reconstitution and Underplanting Scheme introduced in 2013.

"In a recent report from an expert group commissioned by Minister of State for Forestry Pippa Hackett TD last month it stated that Ash dieback should be treated as a national emergency. The initial scheme was both inadequate and insufficient when the costs of site clearance and re-planting were taken into account.

"The Government needs to put in place a meaningful compensation scheme to support efforts at reestablishing forests which is critical to rebuild trust and confidence in forestry and in particular with farmers and it is expected that details of an implementation plan will be published soon and hopefully this will address the huge issues ash dieback has caused," she said.

In response, Laois County Council stated that urban areas are not really affected.

"The ash is considered a more rural type tree. If however an issue is identified in public parks or housing estates, it will be dealt with appropriately," they said.
Lotto HQ has confirmed the Portlaoise shop which has sold the latest big prize to be won in Laois in recent months which as seen prize winnings exceeded 3 m on foot lotto draw and scratch card wins.

The National Lottery has confirmed that Bracken's Gala / Maxol shop on Stradbally Rd in Portlaoise near the town's hospital sold the latest big prize on November 25 when a match 5 player won more than 260,000.

Kevin and Maeve Bracken who run the shop previously sold a winning ticket worth just over 1 million in 2019. This lucky Laois player purchased their winning Quick Pick ticket in their busy shop on the day of the draw. A scratch card player won 100,000 on a scratch card bought in Bracken's Gala in Portarlington in October.

Mr Bracken did not know the identity of the winner of the latest big prize but he hoped the winner or winners enjoy the win.

We congratulated the winner and hope they have a good Christmas and spend the money wisely, he said.

The winning numbers in were: 13, 17, 21, 22, 37, 42 and the bonus was 02. Just one more correct number would have seen the Laois player walk away with nearly 6.5 million.

The latest big prize brings to nearly 3 million the money won after winning numbers were picked in Laois. The biggest of these wins was in October when nearly 2.3 million was won by an online player in Laois.

The following are details of recent big wins in Laois over the second half of 2023:

25th November 2023: Lotto Match 5 + Bonus: 263,058

6th November 2023: 50,000 5 Bingo Multiplier scratch card: SuperValu in the Arlington Centre in Portarlington

5 Bingo Multiplier scratch card: SuperValu in the Arlington Centre in Portarlington 11th October 2023: 2,294,855 Lotto jackpot  online Laois winner

Lotto jackpot  online Laois winner 5th August: Lotto Plus 2 - 250,000 : Centra on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise.

: Centra on the Dublin Road in Portlaoise. 4th July: Telly Bingo - 45,074 - Dunnes Stores in the Kyle Shopping Centre on James Fintan Lalor Avenue in Portlaoise (unclaimed)

The Lotto previously published a table of the luckiest counties to play the Lotto in over the first 30 years of its existence since it started in 1988. The National Lottery said that when publishing the figures in 2018, players in Laois had been the unluckiest county in Ireland with 1.53 Lotto winners per 10,000 inhabitants despite having 13 Lotto jackpots who had claimed over 24 million since 1988.

As there was no outright winner of last Saturday night's 6,431,246 jackpot, Wednesdays jackpot is set to roll towards an estimated 6.8 million.
Irelands further education minister, Simon Harris, has said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand over comments made by the countrys premier was a bit of an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at the childs release.

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel have decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

On Sunday Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
Irelands ambassador in Tel Aviv has met with a senior official in the Israeli foreign ministry after the Irish premier was accused of legitimising terror in a statement about the release of a Hamas hostage, a move described by Dublin as an overreaction.

It comes after Israel took issue with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying an innocent child who was lost has now been found after Hamas released nine-year-old Irish-Israeli hostage Emily Hand.

Israels foreign minister, Eli Cohen, said the child had been kidnapped and the comments were an attempt to legitimise and normalise terror.

Mr Cohen posted on X at Mr Varadkar: Mr Prime Minister, It seems you have lost your moral compass and need a reality check!

Emily Hand was not lost, she was kidnapped by a terror organisation worse than Isis that murdered her stepmother.

Emily and more than 30 other Israeli children were taken hostage by Hamas, and you @LeoVaradkar are trying to legitimise and normalise terror. Shame on you!

Irish cabinet ministers have described Israels decision to summon and reprimand Irelands ambassador Sonya McGuinness an overreaction.

On Sunday Mr Varadkar said: I call for all hostages to be released without any conditions and always have done so. And the Irish Government has worked very hard over the last few weeks, with Egypt, with Qatar, with the Red Cross and also with Israel.

He told RTE that the most important thing was that Emily was at home with her family, adding thats all that really matters.

This is the full statement I issued yesterday regarding the release of Emily Hand pic.twitter.com/v6N6bmbbmo  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 26, 2023

Ms McGuinness met with the Israeli foreign ministrys director-general for Europe, Daniel Meron, in Jerusalem on Monday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, Ms McGuinness presented the Israeli foreign ministry with the full statements issued by Mr Varadkar and deputy premier Micheal Martin following the release of Emily Hand.

A spokesperson said: These statements referenced the traumatic experience endured by Emily and her family, reiterated thanks to international partners who had facilitated her freeing from captivity and called for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

In this context, Ambassador McGuinness expressed surprise on the part of the Irish Government that these expressions of evident relief at Emilys release had been publicly criticised by the Israeli Government.

The ambassador also reiterated Irelands unequivocal position that all hostages held by Hamas should be immediately and unconditionally released.

She also discussed the importance of fully respecting international humanitarian law and getting desperately needed humanitarian supplies to civilians in Gaza.

Ms McGuinness said that the current truce should become a sustainable humanitarian ceasefire and that the international community must focus on a pathway to deliver a two-state solution, which can allow the people of Israel and Palestine to live in peace and security as neighbours.

Earlier, Irelands further education minister Simon Harris said Israels decision to summon the Irish ambassador for a reprimand was a bit of an overreaction.

Speaking to RTE radio on Monday, Mr Harris said Ireland is utterly elated at the childs release.

This is a complete distraction. Emily Hand, the little girl, is free. Shes been 50 days in captivity.

Asked if the relationship with Israel had been further strained, he said: Israel has decided to summon a number of ambassadors from a number of European countries in recent days, its their prerogative to do that.

I think it is a bit of an overreaction, being honest, and I think the Taoiseachs statement was extraordinarily clear. The main thing is Emily Hand is back with her family.

Social Protection Minister Heather Humphreys also described Israels response as an overreaction.

Meanwhile, Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald said Mr Varadkars position on violence in the Middle East is crystal clear.

Mrs McDonald told the BBC she understands the Taoiseachs position.

She said: The child, young Emily, was kidnapped, she was held hostage and she has now been released to her family, and other hostages, and of course Palestinian women and children that were also held under administrative detention.

I think, in fairness, the Taoiseachs position has been very consistent and very clear on these matters.

Remember that Gaza has had 50 days of bombardment, the place has been levelled, we are faced with thousands and thousands of deaths, thousands and thousands of innocent children dead.

I think we should not play to any move to distract from that reality and the absolute necessity that we have a permanent ceasefire and a process of peace and dialogue.

The language, thats a matter for himself. I understand the Taoiseachs position, I think it is crystal clear and, in fairness to him, I think he has been consistent on those matters.
Irish author Paul Lynch said he thought he was dooming his career by writing Prophet Song before winning the 2023 Booker Prize.

The 46-year-old, who lives in Dublin, was presented with his trophy by last years winner Shehan Karunatilaka, at a ceremony held at Old Billingsgate, London.

Lynch told Sundays event: Well, there goes my hard won anonymity. This was not an easy book to write.

The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel. Though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters.

Lynch also thanked all the children of this world who need our protection, yet have lived, and continue to live through the terrors depicted in this book.

He added: Thank you for opening our eyes to innocence. So that we may know the world again as though for the first time.

It is with immense pleasure that I bring the Booker home to Ireland.

He is the fifth Irish author to win the award, worth 50,000, according to the Booker Prize, following Dame Iris Murdoch, John Banville, Roddy Doyle and Anne Enright.

The event on Sunday had a keynote speech delivered by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who was released from a prison in Iran last year.

Lynchs fifth novel Prophet Song  which is a tale of a tyrannical government  is about a mother-of-four working as a scientist whose husband is taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police.

Canadian novelist Esi Edugyan, chairwoman of the 2023 judges and a previous Booker-shortlisted author, called the tale a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave.

With great vividness, Prophet Song captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment, she said.

Readers will find it soul-shattering and true, and will not soon forget its warnings.

She was asked during a press call if the judges had considered recent events in Dublin, where after a knife attack on children, there followed a series of violent disturbances.

Edugyan said that it was mentioned at some point when the book was chosen on Saturday.

I really have to stress that, that was not the reason that Prophet Song won the prize, (and) that we werent sort of  taking our cue  from world events in such a direct fashion. I think it would have done a great disservice to the (prize), she added.

Edugyan also said the judges felt that it would have massive impact, that it would outlast this age.

The violence in the Irish capital, which involved far-right elements, on Thursday saw Garda cars, buses and trams set alight, and shops looted and damaged.

The judges also included Peep Show actor Robert Webb, Bridgerton actress Adjoa Andoh, poet and critic Mary Jean Chan and James Shapiro, a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University.

During the ceremony, Andoh also read an extract from the 1990 Booker Prize-winning novel Possession, in honour of British author AS Byatt, who died earlier this month at the age of 87.

Gaby Wood, chief executive of the Booker Prize Foundation, said: The judges established at the start of the final meeting that any of the six books on the shortlist would be a worthy winner.

Prophet Song is composed of masterful sentences, and packs a profound emotional punch.

Lynch told the PA news agency in September that the book did not have to be a warning about authoritarianism as its actually already occurring.

He said: What informs this book is the sense of liberal democratic slide thats been ongoing around the world for the past six, eight years, perhaps 10 years?

It was the sense of unravelling that so many of us have just been tuning into and feeling anxious about the thought that could this happen here? No, it couldnt but yet, there are so many countries around the world where they thought the very same thing.

Lynch also beat fellow Irish writer Paul Murray, who was shortlisted for The Bee Sting, which follows an Irish family facing financial and emotional troubles.

All of the shortlisted authors  which also include British author Chetna Maroo, American novelist Jonathan Escoffery, Canadian author Sarah Bernstein and US author Paul Harding  received 2,500 and a bespoke bound edition of their book.

Margaret Atwood, Dame Hilary Mantel and Sir Salman Rushdie are among previous Booker winners.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On November 24, Dongfeng Trucks alongside Inceptio Technology completed the inaugural delivery of their customized intelligent driving heavy-duty trucks in Yangzhou city, Jiangsu Province.

Photo credit: Dongfeng Trucks

This delivery marks a milestone with the first 63 out of 300 units of the Dongfeng Tianlong intelligent heavy-duty trucks, constituting the largest single batch delivery of intelligent heavy-duty trucks in the industry. Deployment on national trunk freight routes will initiate regular intelligent driving transportation services for customers, further amplifying the commercialization and scaling of intelligent driving technology.

Through collaboration with Inceptio Technology and Yunyi Logistics, Dongfeng Trucks showcases effective operational scenarios for intelligent heavy-duty truck operations in express logistics, maximizing operational value, enhancing fuel economy, ensuring safety, and optimizing the entire lifecycle.

Presently, Inceptio's Xuan Yuan intelligent driving system-equipped heavy trucks have achieved over 60 million accident-free kilometers in safe operation distance, with Inceptio's NOA (Navigation on Autopilot) function successfully covering national trunk highways.

Dongfeng Trucks emerges as one of the earliest enterprises in China to demonstrate the commercial application of intelligent unmanned driving technology. The companys products have been deployed in trunkline logistics, ports, and mining areas, leading in both open and enclosed scenarios. In the trunkline logistics domain alone, Dongfeng Trucks has sold nearly 700 L2+ intelligent driving trucks, accumulating over 70 million kilometers of operation distance across 100 logistics routes.
Paul Lynch has gone from being a film critic at Irish newspapers to a full-time novelist and now a Booker Prize-winning author.

The writer, who lives in Dublin, was honoured for his fifth novel, Prophet Song.

Born in Limerick in 1977, Lynch said he sees himself similar to other authors from Ireland as global writers, rather than just Irish domestic audience writers.

He has written for the Sunday Times about cinema as well as being the chief film critic of the Sunday Tribune from 2007 to 2011 before the Irish newspaper closed.

His first novel Red Sky In Morning was listed as a book of the year in the Irish Times, the Irish Independent and the Sunday Business Post as well as getting nods for French literary prizes such as Prix du Premier Roman and Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger.

This is a wondrous moment for me and I'm so pleased to be sharing it with these superb writers including my friend Paul Murray. Seamus Heaney wrote in North: "Expect aurora borealis in the long foray" Last night, there was light in the sky. #BookerPrize2023 pic.twitter.com/C0Nn4En5eB  Paul Lynch (@paullynchwriter) September 22, 2023

The 2013 book is set in the bog lands of Donegal, an county that Lynch grew up in, and deals with a dark tale of oppression, a theme recurrent in his novels.

Lynch returned again to Donegal with the setting of The Black Snow, which deals with the death of an agriculture worker in 1945 and as his website states the subsequent deepest certainties this throws up about humankind.

He would go on to publish Grace in 2017, which saw him win the Kerry Group Irish novel of the year award, previously given to Booker Prize alumni Anne Enright, Roddy Doyle and John Banville.

Set during the Irish famine, the novel  which was also shortlisted for the Walter Scott prize  is about a young girl dressed in boys clothes who makes a journey accompanied by her brother across the country.

Lynch would follow this up with 2019s Beyond The Sea, which focuses on South American fishermen that have to deal with a terrible storm that sees them adrift and grappling with a fallen world.

His last novel Prophet Song, published in August, is a tale of a tyrannical government and has been widely praised by critics.

Scientist Eilish Stack, a mother-of-four, has her husband taken away by the newly formed Irish secret police and the novel description says she is forced to do whatever it takes to keep her family together.

Paul Lynch answers readers' questions about his #BookerPrize2023-shortlisted novel, Prophet Song. Watch to hear all about Lynch's inspirations behind the book, the power of fiction to change lives and why Ireland produces the best novelists. pic.twitter.com/KgThIBIoaZ  The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) November 16, 2023

The Observer said it is a brilliant, haunting novel that should be placed into the hands of policymakers everywhere.

The Times said the books purpose is for the furious reader to become determined to find a better ending for this story.

He previously told an interview with the Booker Prize that he began writing the novel shortly after his son Elliot had been born and finished it four years later.

Lynch opened up to the PA news agency in September about a kidney cancer diagnosis.

A year before he was put on the shortlist for the Booker Prize, Lynch said he was on an operating table which has made him think less about the future  that could bring TV and film productions of his work from Booker success.

Ive just reached a place where Im just happy with what comes along and thankful for everything and I have my health now and I hope that it lasts, he said.

He said he has been declared cancer free, and is having a preventive immunotherapy treatment.

Lynch also said he was writing a new novel but had to put on pause due to the buzz surrounding him being on the Booker shortlist.
H2SITE and Gold Hydrogen have Signed a MoU for the Development of a Natural Hydrogen Pilot Plant on the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia





White, natural or geologic hydrogen is naturally produced or present in the Earth's crust and represents a primary source of energy without carbon footprint. Although it holds great decarbonization potential by significantly reducing current hydrogen costs, the technology still requires development.

Natural hydrogen deposits are being explored in France, US and in Australia, where H2SITE has signed an MoU with Gold Hydrogen for a Pilot Plant in the Yorke Peninsula.

Utilizing H2SITE's advanced membrane separation technology, the plant aims to recover over 95% of the available hydrogen while separating valuable co-products such as Helium.

"The collaboration with Gold Hydrogen underscores our shared commitment to the natural hydrogen market growth. H2SITE is thrilled to contribute with its membrane separation technology, enabling sustainable and cost-efficient hydrogen production." according to Andres Galnares, CEO of H2SITE

The project in the Yorke Peninsula represents a significant step forward in the natural hydrogen space, with one of the first wells showcasing unprecedented levels of H2 concentration.

This collaboration is another step towards accelerating decarbonization and the future use of natural hydrogen as sustainable energy source.

About H2SITE:

H2SITE was established in 2020 and possesses exclusive technology for reactors and separators, facilitating the conversion of various feedstocks into hydrogen. These include ammonia, methanol, or synthetic gas, as well as the separation of hydrogen from gaseous mixtures in low concentrations for applications in salt caverns or natural hydrogen.

26 november 2023 at 17:05

News published onand distributed by:
Bybit Launches #High5Bybit Personality Test and 1-million USDT Trading Competition with Exclusive NFT Collection for Fifth Anniversary





DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ -- Bybit , the world's third-largest crypto exchange by volume, is celebrating its fifth anniversary with a unique personality-based trading competition. This initiative invites crypto enthusiasts to discover their trading personalities, gain NFTs, and join their fellows in a team competition that rewards trading prowess.

Bybit's fifth anniversary is an opportunity for traders of all personality types, whether they're the pioneering ISTP "Trailblazer" with a penchant for disruptive technologies or the ESTP "Entrepreneur" who thrives on the adrenaline of day trading. This event celebrates the diverse tactics and strategies within the crypto community, offering a stage for every participant to shine.

Bybit' First NFT Collections

Starting from 10 AM UTC on Nov. 27 until 10AM UTC on Dec. 25, 2023, participants can take the Archetype personality test to receive a trading personality analysis. Everyone who takes the quiz will receive a distinctive NFT avatar and the first 10,000 entrants will earn a 10 USDT voucher. In the spirit of inclusivity, those who decline the test can directly enter the trading competition by selecting a personality archetype of their choice.

With 16 unique designs and a supply of 10,000 for each, these NFTs are distributed on a first-come, first-served basis. These digital assets are not just for show; traders can exchange Archetype NFTs on the Bybit Marketplace and even merge Origin Archetype NFTs (colorful) to create Hero Archetype NFTs (shiny silver) and Legend Archetype NFTs (shiny gold).

Bybit will take a snapshot of all holders of Legend Archetype NFTs on Dec. 25, 2023, at 10 AM UTC, and anyone holding one will be eligible for a share of a 10,000 USDT prize pool. The distribution will be proportional to the number of Legend Archetype NFTs held, rewarding users who've elevated their trading game.

1 million USDT Archetypes Team Trading Competition

The trading competition runs from Dec. 4 to Dec. 25th, 2023. In an innovative twist, users will be sorted into 16 distinct teams based on their trading personality archetype, with a colossal prize pool of up to 800,000 USDT on the line.

The competition will rank teams according to the aggregate trading volume of their top 1,000 participants, transforming individual trades into a collective effort for victory. The top 10 teams will reap the rewards of a shared bonus pool, proportionate to the total trading volume they generate throughout the event.

"In celebrating Bybit's fifth anniversary, we're proud to introduce the Archetype Quiz and Trading Competition, reflecting our dedication to empowering traders worldwide," said Ben Zhou, co-founder and CEO of Bybit. "This event recognizes that each participant brings a unique psychological footprint to the market. Our NFT collection is a nod to the personal journeys that intersect as people join Bybit's Crypto Ark."

#Bybit / #TheCryptoArk

About Bybit

Bybit is a top-three cryptocurrency exchange by volume established in 2018 that offers a professional platform where crypto investors and traders can find an ultra-fast matching engine, 24/7 customer service, and multilingual community support. Bybit is a proud partner of Formula One's reigning Constructors' and Drivers' champions: the Oracle Red Bull Racing team.

For media inquiries, please contact: [email protected]

For more information please visit: https://www.bybit.com

For updates, please follow: Bybit's Communities and Social Media

Discord | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Reddit | Telegram | TikTok | X (Twitter) | Youtube

SOURCE Bybit

27 november 2023 at 05:00

News published onand distributed by:
Former Leader of the UK House of Lords, Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, Joins Sustainability Fintech Changeblock ahead of Pivotal UN COP28 Conference





Changeblock, a global sustainability fintech company utilizing advanced data-systems and technologies to accelerate planet repair and protection activities through the generation and exchange trading of high-integrity environmental assets, such as carbon credits, today announced the appointment of Baroness Evans of Bowes Park, former leader of the UK House of Lords, as Senior Advisor, Policy & Ethics.

Trust and integrity are crucial for companies to monetize their planet repair and protect initiatives, and therefore crucial for credits to be adopted at the scale necessary towards achieving net-zero, Consequently, policy and ethics are major focus areas for Changeblock that require integration into the credit value chain. The appointment of Baroness Evans will significantly strengthen the Company's efforts in this regard, and augments the work already being done with multiple standard and verification agencies.

Baroness Evans commented, "Reducing society's environmental footprint is one of the most pressing challenges we as humanity are facing today, and tradeable offsets, such as credits, hold great promise towards delivering this. Their effectiveness will be impacted by how the companies in this eco-system engage with policy and policy makers.

"Ethics play an increasingly important role in credit integrity assessments and in investment decision making. Changeblock's forward, strategic thinking, combined with their unique offering that meets such a critical need, make this an exciting opportunity. I look forward to working with Billy and the team and help Changeblock cement its leadership position as a critical net-zero infrastructure partner."

Billy Richards, Changeblock CEO, stated, "We believe Baroness Evans is exceptionally well positioned to provide Changeblock with actionable insights, and help us strengthen our position as a critical infrastructure partner for credit generators, off-setters, investors and policy makers. I believe this appointment reflects the importance, integrity and quality of our offering, as well as the depth and strength of our network, and I am excited to be working on these important initiatives with Natalie as we expand our operations and help smooth the path to net-zero."

Baroness Evans

Baroness Evans of Bowes Park is a Conservative member of the House of Lords. She was appointed a life peer in October 2014, and acted as Leader of the House of Lords and a member of the UK Government's Cabinet from 2016 to 2022 - the longest serving Leader for 70 years. Between 2015 and 2016 she was a junior Government minister in the Department of Education, Department for Work and Pensions, and the Ministry of Justice. Before entering the Lords, Natalie held a variety of senior positions including CEO of the New Schools Network, Deputy Director of Policy Exchange, and Head of Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.

Changeblock at COP28

Billy Richards and Baroness Natalie Evans from Changeblock will attend COP28 in Dubai. Changeblock is hosting a roundtable with leaders like David Greenall (KPMG), Jim Andrew (Pepsico), and Michael Terrell (Google), discussing AI analytics in carbon offsetting. The roundtable, titled "The Critical Role of Integrity in Carbon Credits and Offsets for Effective Planet Repair," will explore sustainable carbon mitigation strategies.

About Changeblock

Changeblock creates global markets that make the creation and trade of environmental assets for individuals, businesses, and governments easy, affordable, transparent, secure, and environmentally responsible. The company is led by professionals with deep expertise in technology and environmental credits with a proven track record in building and delivering solutions that work in the real world, including members of the team that created the first carbon credit, and come from top global organisations.

27 november 2023 at 05:35

News published onand distributed by:
Preem invests an additional SEK 5.5 billion into the refinery transition - becoming a leading player in renewable aviation fuel in Europe





STOCKHOLM, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Preem's Board of Directors has decided to invest approximately SEK 5.5 billion to repurpose the existing refinery in Lysekil. The investment represents an important milestone on Preem's transition journey, as the company is phasing out fossil production in favour of renewable fuels for road and air transport.

The investment enables Preem to become the largest producer of renewable aviation fuel in Northern Europe, and one of the largest producers of renewable fuels for road transportation. The reconstruction of the facilities will begin in 2024 and is planned to be completed in 2027 and is expected to provide Preem with an additional 1.2 million cubic meters of renewable production capacity. This can be compared to the current total capacity of about 530,000 cubic meters per year. At the same time, Preem is reducing its fossil fuel production capacity by the corresponding amount. In total, the investment enables a reduction in annual fossil emissions at the user level by 2-3 million tons of CO2 e , and 200,000 tons of CO2 e locally at the refinery in Lysekil.

"We are thrilled that Preem has committed to one of the most substantial climate investments in Sweden. The demand for sustainable aviation fuels is rapidly increasing, and we are already in discussions with several major airlines. Both increased awareness and EU regulations drive the market. Through this investment, we are also positioning Sweden as one of the most important producers of sustainable aviation fuels in Europe," says Magnus Heimburg, CEO.

The investment decision involves Preem's reconstruction of the so-called IsoCracker plant (ICR) at the refinery in Lysekil. Currently used for diesel production, following the reconstruction, the plant will shift its focus to producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel (HVO).

"With this investment, Preem takes another crucial step in the transition from fossil to renewable production," Magnus Heimburg continues.

The investment is the second in a series of large-scale projects that expand Preem's total renewable production capacity to approximately 2.5 million cubic meters annually. The first, the Synsat project, is ongoing and is expected to be completed in 2024, with a renewable production capacity of approximately 1 million cubic meters. In total, the two investments amount to approximately SEK 10 billion. The projects serve as the foundation for Preem's long-term production target of about 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels and the establishment of a climate-neutral value chain by 2035.

"By repurposing existing facilities, we are leveraging the operations and infrastructure already built at and around the refinery. This is by far the most sustainable strategy for our company to contribute both economically and environmentally to the transition," concludes Magnus Heimburg.

The investment enhances the competitiveness of Preem's refinery in Lysekil, aligning it with future market conditions and demand. Throughout the reconstruction, a significant number of contractors are expected to come to Lysekil, positively impacting the local business community during the construction period.

Preem aims to execute the investment amounting to approximately SEK 5.5 billion by leveraging a combination of own and external capital.

The environmental permit process is ongoing, and the Land and Environment Court is expected to decide on the matter in the late spring of 2024.

For more information about Preem, please contact:

Preem Press Office

[email protected]

+46 (0)70-450 10 01

PREEM is Sweden's largest fuel company. Preem's refineries in Gothenburg and Lysekil account for about 80 percent of the Swedish refinery capacity and about 40 percent of the Nordic capacity. Together, they have a total refining capacity of over 18 million cubic meters per year. Our vision is to lead the transition toward a sustainable society. By 2035, Preem has set a goal to produce 5 million cubic meters of renewable fuels, and to achieve climate neutrality across the entire value chain. We refine and sell fuel, heating oil and lubricating oil as well as other products to companies and individuals. Most of our products, almost 60 percent, are exported to nearby markets mainly north-western Europe. We have a nationwide service network with over 500 filling stations for private and commercial traffic. Preem AB has around 1,500 employees, of which 1,100 work at our refineries. In 2022, Preem's turnover was SEK 161 billion

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Public/2349/3882796/9ebc131ed07a305a_org.jpg Preemraff Lysekil https://mb.cision.com/Public/2349/3882796/902542660ab82e53_org.jpg Magnus Heimburg vd Preem smaller

27 november 2023 at 06:30

News published onand distributed by:
United Natural Foods to Release Fiscal 2024 First Quarter Results on December 6, 2023





United Natural Foods, Inc. (NYSE: UNFI) will release financial results for its fiscal 2024 first quarter, ended October 28, 2023, the morning of Wednesday, December 6, 2023. Management will host a conference call that morning at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss results.

To access the conference call, please dial (888) 660 - 6768 (U.S. toll-free) and reference conference ID number 1099581. An audio webcast of the conference call, and materials that will be referenced during the call, will be available via the Investors section of the Company's website www.unfi.com. An online archive of the webcast will be available for 120 days.

About United Natural Foods, Inc.

UNFI is North America's premier grocery wholesaler delivering the widest variety of fresh, branded, and owned brand products to more than 30,000 locations throughout North America, including natural product superstores, independent retailers, conventional supermarket chains, ecommerce providers, and food service customers. UNFI also provides a broad range of value-added services and segmented marketing expertise, including proprietary technology, data, market insights, and shelf management to help customers and suppliers build their businesses and brands. As the largest full-service grocery partner in North America, UNFI is committed to building a food system that is better for all and is uniquely positioned to deliver great food, more choices, and fresh thinking to customers. To learn more about how UNFI is delivering value for its stakeholders, visit www.unfi.com.

27 november 2023 at 07:05

News published onand distributed by:
Avenacy to Attend 2023 ASHP Midyear Clinical Meeting and Exhibition





Avenacy, a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on supplying critical injectable medications, today announced it will be attending the 2023 American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) Midyear Clinical Meeting & Exhibition in Anaheim, California on December 3-7, 2023. At the conference, the Company will be showcasing its expanding portfolio of injectable medications, differentiated business model, and experienced leadership team, as well as hosting meetings with potential customers and partners. Interested parties can visit Avenacy at exhibit booth #929.

Avenacy launched in October 2023, supported by a vast global network of development and manufacturing partners. The Company is building out a portfolio of high-quality FDA approved injectable products covering a range of critical medications used to treat patients in various medically- supervised settings, from acute care hospitals to outpatient clinics and physician offices. Avenacy expects to initiate commercial operations throughout the U.S. by the end of 2023.

All products will feature the Company's unique packaging and labeling designed to assist healthcare providers with accurate medication selection, thereby supporting a reduction in administration errors and improper dosing. Avenacy will also provide ready-to-use formulations of essential medications to help address dosing inaccuracies, enhance patient safety, and streamline efficiency ? all with the ultimate goal of improving patient care.

About Avenacy

Avenacy is a U.S.-based specialty pharmaceutical company focused on supplying critical injectable medications used to treat patients in various medically supervised settings, from acute care hospitals to outpatient clinics and physician offices. Through a rigorous and optimized selection process, the Company is building out a pipeline of high-quality FDA approved injectable products in order to ensure a resilient portfolio that can meet the needs of today's dynamic drug supply chain. With an experienced team, commitment to quality and reliability, and product offerings intended to facilitate safe and efficient patient care, Avenacy strives to be a trusted partner for essential medications.

Avenacy was launched in 2023 and is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL. For more information, please visit http://www.avenacy.com/.

27 november 2023 at 08:05

News published onand distributed by:
RICOH 3D for Healthcare partners with Materialise to broaden access to 3D-printed patient-specific solutions





First-of-its-kind end-to-end solution also enabled through Ricoh's expanded partnership with Merative for streamlined 3D print workflow

EXTON, Pa., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Ricoh USA, Inc. today announced at the RSNA Assembly and Annual Meeting, a partnership with Materialise that will provide software solutions to support RICOH 3D for Healthcare (Booth #8300) ? a HIPAA-compliant, ISO 13485 certified 3D medical manufacturing center for the development, design and production of 3D-printed anatomic models ? in both their centralized medical device manufacturing facility, as well as in Ricoh's Point of Care facilities. Through the partnership, Ricoh will now be able to drive more personalized healthcare solutions and make it simple to create or expand on-site Point of Care centers.

With an uptick in 3D printing, hospitals are either now seeking to enter the market by establishing Point of Care centers onsite or scaling existing offerings. A main driver of either option is co-located management of facilities and production through partners such as Ricoh with technologies like those from Materialise. However, it is important for care providers to recognize that when these 3D-printed models and other instruments are used for patient care, they may be considered medical devices, subject to FDA regulation. With RICOH 3D for Healthcare, hospitals can adopt or advance Point of Care manufacturing quickly and affordably without the need to become an FDA registered medical device manufacturer, implement a complex and costly quality management system, navigate regulatory requirements, or tackle the administrative aspects to support it all with a multidisciplinary team. The partnership reimagines Point of Care 3D printing to democratize enterprise-wide, patient-specific surgical innovation to the rest of the population.

Ricoh is partnering with Materialise to leverage their leading software solutions to bring affordable Point of Care 3D printing services to hospitals across the country. The partnership will allow both parties to expand the use of Materialise software within Ricoh's workflows and continually improve the available toolset to better serve patient care.

"Materialise's software tools will not only help Ricoh provide a better experience for its customers, but also support Ricoh in its goal democratizing equitable access to impactful tools such as patient-specific anatomic models," said Gary Turner, Managing Director, Additive Manufacturing, North America, Ricoh USA, Inc. "The ecosystem of Ricoh partners, inclusive of Materialise, Merative and Stratasys, has enabled Ricoh to bring world-class software in a first-of-its-kind, end-to-end solution to different healthcare institutions around country to drive more Point of Care locations and capabilities nationally."

"Outside of large academic medical centers, physician and patient access to 3D printing applications has been limited," said Bryan Crutchfield, Vice President and General Manager of Materialise North America. "This is often due to a lack of resources and technical knowledge to implement and operationalize the technology in the hospital environment. This partnership with Ricoh brings a large managed services infrastructure, which will enable hospital systems to more quickly and affordably implement and scale 3D technology for their physicians and patients. We are excited to partner with Ricoh to bring our end-to-end software platforms to support 3D planning and 3D printing applications at the Point of Care."

Materialise is the latest strategic partnership helping Ricoh continue to lead the way in offering democratized access to patient-specific 3D-printed models in healthcare.

Merge by Merative: Through an expanded partnership with Merge by Merative, a leader in flexible enterprise imaging solutions, Ricoh will make it easier for hospitals and clinicians to access the RICOH 3D for Healthcare Platform via the new PACS Print Gateway. The workflow will be easily initiated via a simple "Send to RICOH 3D" button that can be added to a variety of DICOM viewers. This will initiate the transfer of the appropriate DICOM study to a secure, cloud-based vendor neutral archive. It will also activate the RICOH 3D for Healthcare Case Management Portal to easily manage the case in conjunction with the clinical team. This expansion of Ricoh's partnership with Merge by Merative will accelerate Ricoh's goal of streamlining workflow to more easily democratize access to the program so that more clinicians and therefore more patients can gain access to these patient specific solutions.

Through an expanded partnership with Merge by Merative, a leader in flexible enterprise imaging solutions, Ricoh will make it easier for hospitals and clinicians to access the RICOH 3D for Healthcare Platform via the new PACS Print Gateway. The workflow will be easily initiated via a simple "Send to RICOH 3D" button that can be added to a variety of DICOM viewers. This will initiate the transfer of the appropriate DICOM study to a secure, cloud-based vendor neutral archive. It will also activate the RICOH 3D for Healthcare Case Management Portal to easily manage the case in conjunction with the clinical team. This expansion of Ricoh's partnership with Merge by Merative will accelerate Ricoh's goal of streamlining workflow to more easily democratize access to the program so that more clinicians and therefore more patients can gain access to these patient specific solutions. Stratasys: RICOH 3D for Healthcare engages in a strategic collaboration with Stratasys to leverage their 3D printing technology to expand access to 3D-printed medical models.

Ricoh's award-winning Managed Services platform and long history of providing highly complex services on-site to customers across the country, will play a crucial role in how Ricoh will provide medical manufacturing services on-site at the Point of Care. RICOH 3D for Healthcare has received 510(k) clearances from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for patient-specific anatomic modeling for diagnostic use, including cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and breast applications, as well as craniomaxillofacial (CMF) and orthopedic patient-specific anatomic modeling. The clearances empower Ricoh to support more surgical specialties and patient diagnoses to print diagnostic quality 3D anatomic models of bony and soft tissue using Stratasys 3D printing technology and materials. With the ability to manage 3D print operations at the Point of Care, RICOH 3D for Healthcare provides a streamlined and efficient solution for producing these models.

RICOH 3D for Healthcare is taking a phased approach to integrate Point of Care manufacturing into healthcare systems nationally, thereby creating a nationwide ecosystem for networking and cross-system collaboration. Ricoh currently supports thousands of healthcare organizations with various aspects of their business, including 9 out of 11 of the largest for-profit hospital systems, and 22 out of 32 of the largest nonprofit hospital systems, with about 3,200 facilities under its support ? and is also responsible for managing over 1 million pieces of equipment in the United States through more than 2,100 U.S. field technicians across various industries.

To learn more about RICOH 3D for Healthcare, visit Ricoh in booth #8300 at the RSNA Assembly and Annual Meeting. For more information about RICOH 3D for Healthcare, view the RICOH 3D for Healthcare webpage or follow the company's social media channels on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter) or YouTube.

| About Ricoh |

Ricoh is a leading provider of integrated digital services and print and imaging solutions designed to support digital transformation of workplaces, workspaces and optimize business performance.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Ricoh's global operation reaches customers in approximately 200 countries and regions, supported by cultivated knowledge, technologies, and organizational capabilities nurtured over its 85-year history. In the financial year ended March 2023, Ricoh Group had worldwide sales of 2,134 billion yen (approx. 16.0 billion USD).

It is Ricoh's mission and vision to empower individuals to find Fulfillment through Work by understanding and transforming how people work so we can unleash their potential and creativity to realize a sustainable future.

For further information, please visit www.ricoh.com.

 2023 Ricoh USA, Inc. All rights reserved. All referenced product names are the trademarks of their respective companies.

SOURCE Ricoh USA, Inc.

27 november 2023 at 08:30

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Purina Awards Research Grants to Better Understand the Human-Pet Bond





Four Grants Awarded to Help Scientists from the U.S., Canada, and Austria Investigate the Unique Connection Between People and Pets

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As part of its ongoing effort to understand pets and the incredible bond that we share with them, Purina has awarded $120,000 in research grants to four distinguished scientists from around the globe, all geared towards uncovering the profound ways dogs and cats can enhance our lives. Through the company's bi-annual Purina Sponsorship for Human-Animal Bond studies program, Purina provides up to $30,000 in research funding per project to scientists seeking to study facets of the human-pet bond and improve our collective understanding of the healing power of pets.

"Science is most impactful when it is shared, and we are committed not only to studying the human-pet bond at Purina through our in-house research, but through partnerships with renowned institutions and by supporting individuals who share our passion for pets and commitment to pet welfare," said Francois Martin, M.A., Ph.D., Manager, Global Pet Behavior and Welfare at Purina. "Working with researchers worldwide helps us better understand the impact and importance of our relationships with pets and how we can continue to improve the unique bond that we share with them."

The 2024 Human-Animal Bond Studies Research Grant Winners:

Genetics of Canine Hyper-Sociability & Impact on Adoptability of Shelter Dogs

Researcher: Bridgett M. vonHoldt, Princeton University, USA

This study by vonHoldt's team builds on previous research that identified DNA fragments associated with "hyper-sociability" in dogs. By collecting genetic material from saliva samples of 1,000 dogs, and marrying it with behavioral data, the team hopes to revolutionize the adoption process at shelters and rescue organizations by using genetics to help match dogs with their ideal human companions.

The Effect of Touch in Human-Canine Interactions

Researcher: Katrina Merkies, University of Guelph, Canada

Merkies and her team will delve into the physiological and behavioral responses of both humans and canines by exploring solicited versus forced touch interactions with dogs. The outcomes of the study will be used to improve Animal Assisted Interaction programs by ensuring that participating dogs consent to being petted and that the interactions between people and therapy dogs are mutually beneficial.

Attachment to Pets Among Women with a History of Childhood Abuse

Researcher: Magdalena ?ebrowska, Medical University of Vienna, Austria

?ebrowska's study will examine the attachment to pets among middle and older aged women with a history of childhood abuse to better understand if this attachment acts as a buffer to protect survivors from psychological and social disorders. It is hopeful that the findings will shed light on the pivotal role of pet attachment on the well-being of childhood abuse survivors.

Can Dogs Improve Students' Wellbeing Without Harming Their Own

Researcher: Tracy A. Doucette, University of Prince Edward Island, Canada

Doucette's study will evaluate the impact of the WOOFS therapy dog program, a program envisioned to provide stress-relief as part of a student mental health outreach initiative at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). This multidimensional assessment covers both the effects on students and on the dogs with a goal of creating animal assisted therapy interventions on campus.

Purina, and its dedicated team of 500 pet experts, including pet nutritionists, behavior scientists and veterinarians, invests more than $100 million annually in research. These efforts continue to drive breakthroughs and innovations to help pets live longer, healthier lives.

About Nestle Purina PetCare

Nestle Purina?PetCare?creates richer lives for pets and the people who love them. Founded in 1894, Purina has helped dogs and cats live longer, healthier lives by offering scientifically based nutritional innovations. Purina manufactures some of the world's most trusted and popular pet care products, including Dog Chow, Purina ONE, Pro Plan, Fancy Feast and Tidy Cats. Our more than 10,000 U.S. associates take pride in our trusted pet food, treat and litter brands that feed 46 million dogs and 68 million cats every year. More than 500 Purina scientists, veterinarians, and pet care experts ensure our commitment to unsurpassed quality and nutrition.?Purina promotes responsible pet care through our scientific research, our products and our support for pet-related organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than?$150 million?towards organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.?Purina is part of Nestle, a global leader in Nutrition, Health and Wellness. For more information, visit? purina.com ?or? subscribe here to get the latest Purina news.

SOURCE Nestle Purina PetCare

27 november 2023 at 08:50

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Canon Middle East and Turkey poised for 11% growth in 2023, eyes double-digit growth in 2024





Annual Partner Conference bolsters Canon's 'New Customers, New World' vision, anchored in a resilient 'Rethink, Revive, Reach' approach

Company continues to invest in people and talent to enhance its customer-centric workforce

DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Middle East and Turkey has set its sights on robust growth, projecting 11% revenue growth in 2023. Driven by its commitment to serve the 'Customer of Tomorrow', the company anticipates double-digit growth in both consumer and business product segments in 2024.

Canon continues to invest more than 8% of its global sales in R&D annually, underscoring its commitment to innovation. The company's growth mirrors global economic trends, with thriving markets such as the Middle East showcasing a robust 4.8% growth rate, surpassing the global average.

These figures and projections were revealed during Canon's 17th regional Annual Partner Conference. Centred around the theme 'ONE', the recent event emphasized the importance of collaboration and innovation in the ever-evolving world of customer-centricity.

It also served as a platform to address the shifting industry landscape and respond to evolving customer needs across Middle East and Turkey.

Reaffirming the 'New Customers, New World' vision, the conference stressed on the approach of 'Rethink, Revive, Reach' that is propelling Canon forward. This approach is rooted in the understanding that in a rapidly changing landscape, Canon and its partners must constantly adapt, evolve, and refresh their strategies to meet the needs of emerging customer segments.

Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan, Managing Director of Canon Middle East & Turkey, spoke passionately about the significance of this annual gathering in the region. He emphasized the importance of unity, innovation, and customer-centricity, stating: "Our commitment to our partners and our shared vision to be lifetime imaging partners, enhancing the lives of the 'Customers of Tomorrow', has never been stronger. Canon's achievements in 2023 are testament to our resolute mindset focused on understanding customers and elevating our value propositions in the market."

Subbu continued by highlighting the importance of investing in people and talent, developing the skills, capabilities, and mindsets of employees?both within Canon, its partner organizations and local communities?in line with Canon's philosophy of KYOSEI; living and working together for the common good.

"As we journey ahead, my message to our partners remains simple yet profound: let's steadfastly live our purpose. Embracing this purpose fosters a continuous focus on our people, customers, corporate values, and brand ethos. This collective commitment brings forth the finest in both our people and our organizations," Subbu added.

With a strategic focus on nurturing new skills essential to meet the needs of tomorrow's customer, Canon supports the development of youth and future-ready employees through nurturing interns and empowering women in the workforce. Canon's dedication to sustainability initiatives goes hand in hand with its ethos of giving back to society, ensuring a positive impact on both its customers and the broader community.

The conference highlighted the shared successes and milestones achieved by Canon and its partners over the past year. The deepening partnership between Canon and its network of dedicated partners is testament to the company's customer-centric approach, which remains at the core of its business philosophy.

During the conference, Canon representatives underscored the dawn of a post-pandemic landscape, spotlighting an emerging wave of consumers. These encompass casual content creators, gamers, young storytellers, hybrid home enthusiasts, proponents of digital detox, socially hyperactive individuals, avid followers of video-on-demand, independent filmmakers, and ardent supporters of live streaming.

In the business realm, a shift in demand was emphasized, reflecting a surge in requests for Managed Print Services fused with security solutions and sustainability factors. Other trends highlighted include the burgeoning sectors of creative and industrial printing, mirroring a growing interest in centralized work processes. Additionally, an uptick in regional investments directed toward tourism and business travel was highlighted during the discussions.

Canon showcased its forward-looking approach by addressing future customer needs in image capture, from crafting human avatars for the metaverse to enhancing live streaming and vlogging with improved kits. The company also outlined its commitment to businesses of tomorrow by embracing the digital shift, offering pioneering business applications for packaging and label printing. Canon's innovative products and software offer unparalleled workplace and remote connectivity solutions.

"As we emerge from the shadows of the pandemic, our growth journey evolves and phase two beckons. From 2024 to 2026, we embark on an accelerated growth trajectory in this new world, Subbu concluded.

The discussions and collaborations that took place at the conference are expected to pave the way for future success. This shared commitment to excellence sets Canon and its partners on the right path to explore new horizons, address challenges with innovation, and unlock opportunities for sustainable growth.

About Canon Middle East

Canon Middle East, a subsidiary of Canon Europe, is the operational headquarters for Canon in the Middle East is based in Dubai, UAE.

Founded in 1937, the desire to continuously innovate has kept Canon at the forefront of imaging excellence throughout its 80-year history and has commitments to invest in the right areas and capture growth opportunities. From cameras to commercial printers, and business consultancy to healthcare technologies, Canon enriches lives and businesses through imaging innovation.

Canon's corporate philosophy is Kyosei? 'living and working together for the common good'. In EMEA, Canon Europe pursues sustainable business growth, focusing on reducing its own environmental impact and supporting customers to reduce theirs using Canon's products, solutions and services.

Canon invests heavily in R&D to deliver the richest and most innovative products and services to satisfy customers' creative needs. From amateur photographers to professional print companies, Canon enables each customer to realize their own passion for image. Further information about Canon Middle East is available at www.canon-me.com

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2267778/4385066/Canon_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Canon Middle East and Turkey

27 november 2023 at 08:55

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Beijing (Gasgoo)- On November 24, Wuhan East Lake High-tech Development Zone sealed a partnership with Alibaba-backed Banma Network Technology Co., Ltd. (Banma) to settle the latters Central-China headquarters in Wuhans Optics Valley area.

Signing ceremony; photo credit: Banma

Under the plan, Banma will allocate a 1.72-billion-yuan investment to establish the headquarters facility in the area. The initiative focuses on developing Banma's intelligent automotive operating system, nurturing talents in the intelligent connected vehicle field, and constructing industry-shared forward-looking research centers.

Banma has dedicated 9 years to advancing independent automotive operating systems globally. It stands out as one of the key entities worldwide, possessing fundamental technologies for both in-car operating systems and autonomous driving systems. AliOS, Banmas operating system, boasts a codebase exceeding 200 million lines and holds over 2,500 related patents.

Up to now, Banma has collaborated with over 30 automobile manufacturers such as SAIC Motor, FAW Group, Volkswagen, Changan Automobile, and BMW, with its intelligent automotive solutions deployed in over 3 million vehicles.

Huang Youyong, Vice President of Banma, emphasized, "A domestically produced operating system holds immense significance for building an autonomous and controllable automotive supply chain. In the context of software-defined vehicles, it becomes the decisive factor for the competition in automotive intelligence and connectivity. Leveraging Wuhan's rich talent pool and favorable policy environment, we aim for exponential growth."
OneMain to Host an Investor Day on December 6, 2023





NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OneMain Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: OMF), the leader in offering nonprime customers responsible access to credit, will host an Investor Day on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023, in New York City. The event will feature presentations from Doug Shulman, the company's Chairman and CEO, and other members of the company's executive management team.

Presentations will begin at approximately 1:00 p.m. Eastern time and the event will conclude around 3:30 p.m. Eastern time.

The company plans to provide an overview of its strategy, core competitive advantages and key initiatives. In-person attendance will be managed by invitation only.

A live video webcast of the event will be available through the Investor Relations section of the OneMain website. For those unable to view the live webcast, the presentation and a replay of the webcast will be posted to the website following the conclusion of the event.

About OneMain Holdings, Inc.

OneMain Financial (NYSE: OMF) is the leader in offering nonprime customers responsible access to credit and is dedicated to improving the financial well-being of hardworking Americans. We empower our customers to solve today's problems and reach a better financial future through personalized solutions available online and in 1,400 locations across 44 states. OneMain is committed to making a positive impact on the people and the communities we serve. For additional information, please visit www.OneMainFinancial.com.

Contacts

Investor Contact:

Peter R Poillon, 212-359-2432

[email protected]

Media Contact:

Kelly Ogburn, 410-537-9028

[email protected]

SOURCE OneMain Holdings, Inc.

27 november 2023 at 09:00

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Godspeed Capital Establishes Crimson Phoenix as a New Platform Offering Differentiated Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, Data Analytics, and Intelligence Analysis Solutions





Godspeed Capital Management LP ("Godspeed"), a lower middle market Defense & Government services, solutions, and technology focused private equity firm, today announced the formation of Crimson Phoenix, a powerful data and intelligence solutions platform designed to support critical mission requirements of the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command. The platform will be led by CEO Ross O'Rourke, an experienced entrepreneur and business leader in the U.S. Intelligence Community.

Headquartered in the DC/Virginia area with more than 400 employees, Crimson Phoenix is uniquely positioned to provide its discerning customers with differentiated digital and data enabled solutions designed to support critical overseas missions. Crimson Phoenix's highly educated and technically advanced workforce is over 90% cleared at the TS/SCI level. The platform holds a diverse portfolio of work including several Prime Unrestricted contracts with long term revenue visibility and strong past performance.

"We are excited to establish Crimson Phoenix as a premier provider of digital, data, and high-end intelligence analysis solutions to the U.S. Intelligence Community and Special Operations Command," said Doug Lake, Founder & Managing Partner at Godspeed. "Godspeed has significant expertise building and scaling Intelligence and Defense services, solutions, and technology focused platforms. Through our experience, we have learned the importance of establishing a world-class senior leadership team at inception. With our platform CEO Ross O'Rourke at the helm, we are confident in Crimson Phoenix's ability to continue to grow and scale to become the data and intelligence analysis solutions provider of choice for our national security mission focused customers."

"I am thrilled to join the Crimson Phoenix team and to partner with the dynamic team at Godspeed Capital to deliver state-of-the-art data analytics and intelligence services to our valued clients," said Ross O'Rourke, CEO of Crimson Phoenix. "As our esteemed customers within the U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command experience a surge in their demand for data-driven intelligence, our role becomes increasingly significant. We are witnessing a growing reliance on our Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and digitally enabled solutions to meet their mission-critical needs, placing Crimson Phoenix in an exciting position poised for remarkable growth. Our strategy involves expanding our already highly educated and technologically advanced workforce, and enriching our technological offerings by making substantial investments in research and development to ensure we are ready to meet the ever-evolving needs of our clients with cutting-edge, innovative solutions."

"Crimson Phoenix's longstanding established relationships with its primary U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command customers, experienced executive leadership team and highly qualified employee base, and attractive pipeline of growth opportunities position the platform to be among the nation's leading digital, data and intelligence analysis solutions providers," added Nat Fogg, Partner at Godspeed. "In this current threat environment where the need for enhanced intelligence solutions and capabilities is critically important, we intend to grow and invest in the Crimson Phoenix platform to enable the delivery of trusted solutions for our U.S. Intelligence Community and U.S. Special Operations Command customers focused on critical national security missions."

About Crimson Phoenix

Crimson Phoenix is a leading digital, data and intelligence analysis and solutions platform designed to support the critical mission requirements of the U.S. Intelligence Community and Special Operations Command. Headquartered in the DC/Virginia area, Crimson Phoenix offers a differentiated suite of mission-critical capabilities and solutions in Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning, cybersecurity, digital and data enablement, software development, and intelligence targeting and analysis. For more information, please visit www.CrimsonPhoenix.com.

About Godspeed Capital Partners

Godspeed Capital is a lower middle-market Defense & Government services, solutions, and technology focused private equity firm investing alongside forward-thinking management teams that seek an experienced and innovative investment partner with unique sector expertise, operational insight, and flexible capital for growth. While a typical investment will involve companies generating approximately $3 million to $30 million of EBITDA, Godspeed Capital has significant support to complete larger transactions through strategic co-invest relationships. The firm focuses on control buyouts, buy-and-builds, corporate carve-outs, and special situations. For more information, please visit the Godspeed Capital website at www.godspeedcm.com.

27 november 2023 at 09:05

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Instem Now Part of ARCHIMED to Further Accelerate Growth and Impact





Instem, a leading provider of IT solutions and services to the global life sciences market, announced today that it has been acquired by ARCHIMED as an integral part of the company's mission to enable clients to bring their life enhancing products to market faster.

ARCHIMED is a global investment firm exclusively supporting the critical health and life science industries, focused on helping its portfolio-companies accelerate innovation and growth. ARCHIMED believes human, animal and environmental health is a common value among all people and a key condition for long-term development.

"I'm truly excited about this next chapter in our transformational growth story and one that keeps our clients at the center," comments Phil Reason, CEO at Instem. "Instem has never been healthier, and the future has never been brighter for our client community and staff. By strategically partnering with ARCHIMED, it will empower us to accelerate our growth initiatives, expand our market presence, and pursue new opportunities that will drive our company to new heights.

Reason continues, "Our Vision is a future transformed for the benefit of everyone, with intelligent solutions empowering collaboration and life-enhancing science. This Vision requires us to be bold and creative. Supported by great people and a set of core values that completely align with our own, ARCHIMED shares in our Vision and they have the capital, expertise, enthusiasm and a proven track record to help us reach our next level of success."

"Instem is the de-facto market leader in the preclinical software and technology services space," says ARCHIMED managing partner, Vincent Guillaumot. "We intend to expand and improve on that position through long-term investment and through acquisitions to consolidate what remains a fragmented industry."

Instem - Doing More. Going Furthertm.

Through its acquisitive and organic growth initiatives, Instem has been consolidating key application areas that have helped clients streamline and accelerate their research and development processes, while enabling clients to access data from across the R&D continuum. Now, as part of ARCHIMED, Instem sees exceptional opportunity to increase the power of current and future in silico modelling and prediction projects, leveraging its new technology and data sharing platform Centrus, which uniquely provides a range of translational science solutions. Instem will also be accelerating its plans to further enhance and expand the capabilities of its market leading study workflow and analytics solutions.

To learn more about how Instem can help create a more connected ecosystem that materially reduces the time it takes to bring life enhancing products to market, please email us at [email protected].

About Instem

A global provider of leading software solutions, technology enabled outsourced services and powerful scientific insights, Instem is helping clients to bring their life enhancing products to market faster.

We enable organizations in the life sciences to more efficiently collect, report and submit high quality regulatory data, while offering them the unique ability to generate new knowledge through the extraction and harmonization of actionable scientific information.

Every day, across the entire drug development value chain, Instem solutions are meeting the rapidly expanding needs of life science organizations for data-driven decision making, leading to safer, more effective products.

Instem supports its global roster of clients through offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Japan, China, and India.

About ARCHIMED

With offices in Europe, North America and Asia, ARCHIMED is a leading investment firm focused exclusively on healthcare industries. Its mix of operational, medical, scientific, and financial expertise enables ARCHIMED to serve as both a strategic and financial partner to healthcare businesses. Prioritized areas of focus include Biopharma Products, Consumer Health, Healthcare IT, In Vitro Diagnostics, Life Science Tools & Biologic Services, MedTech, and Pharma Services. ARCHIMED helps partners internationalize, acquire, innovate and expand their products and services. ARCHIMED manages ?7 billion across its various funds. Since inception, ARCHIMED has been a committed Impact investor, both directly and through its EUREKA Foundation.

LinkedIn

X

27 november 2023 at 09:10

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TJC Agrees to Acquire L3Harris' Commercial Aviation Solutions Business





TJC, L.P. ("TJC"), announced today that an affiliate of the Resolute Fund VI, L.P. ("Resolute VI") has entered into a definitive agreement with L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) to acquire its Commercial Aviation Solutions business ("CAS," or the "Company") for $700 million ("Cash Purchase Price,") plus a contingent earnout payment of up to $100 million based on the Company's Avionics business unit hitting performance targets in 2023 and 2024. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

CAS has two operating business units; the Avionics unit designs and manufactures mission critical, IP-driven avionics products, and the Commercial Training Solutions ("CTS") unit provides an integrated suite of aircraft training solutions.

The Avionics unit is a global leader in aviation that enhances safety and increases efficiency and situational awareness for next-generation requirements and helps its customers create safer skies. Their products include ADS-B NextGen surveillance, configurable voice and data recorders, collision avoidance systems, navigation products, display systems, processors and additional products such as satellite communications equipment and data analytics services. The business serves over 160 distinct aircraft platforms across commercial air transport, business and regional jet, and military end markets.

The CTS unit manufactures training systems and provides airline training, including recurring courses for pilots and airline academy participants. The training systems suite includes full flight simulators, flight training devices, flat panel trainers, and relevant training courseware and equipment upgrades. Airline training includes airline-specific qualification courses, refresher training and simulator time. Its airline academy provides an integrated environment that supports cadets over a 12-18 month training period, including flight training, instruction, type rating, and placement with regional and major airlines.

"L3Harris' CAS business is a global leader with a long history of providing highly engineered products at the intersection of data, communications and safety," said Erik Fagan, a Partner at TJC. "We look forward to partnering with their strong management team to build upon their history of success to provide high-reliability solutions to their customers."

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is acting as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel for TJC. Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Moelis & Company LLC are acting as financial advisors and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is serving as legal counsel for L3Harris.

About TJC

TJC (formerly known as The Jordan Company), founded in 1982, is a middle-market private equity firm that has raised funds with original capital commitments in excess of $22 billion and has a 41-year track record of investing in and contributing to the growth of many businesses across a wide range of industries including Diversified Industrials; Technology, Telecom & Power; Logistics & Supply Chain and Consumer & Healthcare. The senior investment team has been investing together for over 20 years and is supported by the Operations Management Group, which was established in 1988 to initiate and support operational improvements in portfolio companies. TJC has offices in New York, Miami, Chicago and Stamford. For more information, visit www.tjclp.com.

About L3Harris Technologies

L3Harris Technologies is the Trusted Disruptor in the defense industry. With customer's mission critical needs always in mind, its nearly 50,000 employees deliver end-to-end technology solutions connecting the space, air, land, sea and cyber domains in the interest of national security. For more information, visit: www.l3harris.com.

27 november 2023 at 09:45

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Emmanuel Macron greets Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the Elysee Palace in Paris on November 9, 2023. LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP

Armenia is drawing lessons from the fall of Nagorno-Karabakh. The inaction of the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the former separatist enclave when Azerbaijan attacked on September 19 confirmed what Yerevan has been condemning more and more openly for months: Russia is no longer a reliable partner. Distrust of Moscow has never been greater.

Read more Article reserve a nos abonnes 'I miss Nagorno-Karabakh so much': The new life of refugees in Armenia

No longer able to rely on its historical ally, now considered a "traitor," or even a new enemy, Armenia is looking for new ways to cooperate in an attempt to ensure its security. This is all the more necessary as this small, landlocked Caucasus country is under threat of a new attack from Baku, which is determined to obtain the Zangezur Corridor, which is supposed to link Azerbaijan to its exclave of Nakhchivan.

This diversification of alliances is at the heart of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's new strategy. "We made the mistake of putting all our eggs in one basket," observed an official speaking on condition of anonymity. "If we have five or six friends from whom we can buy weapons and several economic partners, that will enable us not to depend on just one, in case they wish to punish us." Yerevan has no intention of breaking completely with Russia but wants to reduce its extreme dependence. "Russia remains our partner, despite its unfriendly attitude," noted the same source.

Armenia, which has signed a bilateral defense agreement with Moscow, is criticizing in particular a "problem linked to the delivery of arms and equipment that have already been paid for," in this case a contract worth over $250 million that has never been honored.

'The most dangerous period since 2020'

Armenia is also a member of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), a Russian-dominated regional military organization, which has proved particularly ineffective over the last three years. As a result, Pashinyan now refuses to attend alliance summits, such as the one held on November 22 and 23 in Minsk, Belarus. According to our information, Armenia has not yet formally withdrawn from the CSTO at the request of the United States, which believes that Yerevan is not yet ready and must first find other sources of support.

However, the country's membership in this Moscow-led alliance is no longer seen as an obstacle to deepening relations with other partners, including the European Union (EU). As a sign of this strategic reorientation, the majority of foreign trips by senior Armenian representatives now take place in Western countries, rather than within the post-Soviet space.

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LIMERICK'S newly crowned Hurler of the Year Aaron Gillane has revealed he crosses enemy lines in the search for his hurleys of choice.

Gillane, who was announced as the 2023 Hurler of the Year at PwC GAA/GPA All-Stars banquet in Dublin last Friday, made the admission in a recent interview that he makes the short trip over the border to rivals Tipperary for his favoured hurleys following a chance test run in training one evening.

"I actually broke two of my hurleys in training one night and I had no spare hurley then," Gillane told OurGame hosts Shane Stapleton and Michael Verney in a recent interview.

"I think the sliotar was too hard and cracked it or something.

"Adam English wasn't training the same night so I used his hurley, and it was one from Ronan Maher," Gillane said.

A two-time All-Ireland and All-Star winner, Maher is the current Tipperary vice-captain and also an established hurley maker who learned his trade alongside the famous Tipperary hurley maker John Ryan Moore.

"I was like, 'Jesus, they're lovely', so I got on to Ronan then. I would have known him from college," Gillane continued.

"I got a couple of hurleys off of him and I've been using them since."

Quick to pounce on the Patrickswell hurler's revelation that he opts for Tipperary hurleys - made by a rival inter-county hurler - co-host Michael Verney remarked: "A Limerick man getting his hurls in Tipperary to hurt a Tipperary man that he could be marking in a game. I love to hear that."

Tipp native Stapleton then joked, "Liam Cahill you're going to have to drop him (Ronan Maher) for this".

You can watch the snippet of the interview posted to TikTok below:
TWO LIMERICK schools continue their 2023/24 Dr Harty Cup campaign on Wednesday afternoon with the competition at the Preliminary quarter-final stage.

John the Baptist Community School, Hospital's reward for topping their group is a fixture against Our Lady's Templemore in Fethard.

Hospital beat Castletroy College and pulled off a dramatic comeback to draw their second game against Carrick on Suir to and book their spot at this stage.

Castletroy join their fellow Limerick school in the Preliminary quarter-final and face Harty Cup kingpins St Flannan's in their fixture in Meelick.

Castletroy earned victory against Carrick on Suir in the group stage, while Flannan's finished in second place behind Ardscoil Ris in their group. Limerick's Tadgh Boddy has starred for the Ennis school during the group stage.

Ardscoil have automatically qualified for the quarter-finals following their 100% record of three wins from three in the group stage, while Doon's Scoil Na Trionaide Naofa did not make the knockout stages.

Both games on Wednesday in Fethard and Meelick have 1pm starts.
PLANS for a new drive-thru restaurant/cafe at one of Limerick citys busiest retail parks have been rejected.

Irish Life Assurance, the owner of the Limerick One Shopping Park on Childers Road, had sought permission to build the 280 square-metre unit in the northern part of the car park.

If approved, this would have resulted in the removal of over 100 parking spaces.

Permission for the proposed development was refused by Limerick City and County Council earlier this year with planners citing serious concerns over the proliferation of car-based takeaway, restaurants at a very congested and highly-trafficked location.

They also expressed a view that the proposed stand-alone restaurant and drive-thru would constitute a traffic hazard and would be contrary to the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.

An appeal against the refusal was subsequently lodged with An Bord Pleanala which has now upheld the original decision by the council to refuse planning permission.

In a report submitted to the board, a planning inspector stated that the existing internal road and parking layout is car-dominated and would not be conducive to pedestrian safety.

The report, which has just been published, adds: The proposed new restaurant is to be located within the car park area of the wider existing retail park. In the provision of the new development, the car park will see a net loss of 122 car parking spaces.

The Board will note however, that restaurants / cafes and takeaway are identified as not generally being permitted on lands zoned for Retail Warehousing.

Recommending that the application be refused, the inspector adds: Given the context of the subject site and the proposed location of the unit isolated from the existing built elements, and removed from the established restaurant/cafe area to the south west corner of the wider Park, I am satisfied that the principle of an additional restaurant within the retail park, would not accord with the zoning afforded to this wider Shopping Park site.

Members of the Board formally refused permission at a meeting on November 16.
A COUNTY Limerick couple has brought a High Court challenge over what they claim is an unconstitutional attempt by the local authority to take charge of a part of their home property.

The move is alleged to be unconstitutional because a section of the Act, under which Limerick City and County Council has cited as its legal basis for acquiring part of their property, has never been 'commenced' or legally brought into force by the State.

The failure to commence the section, the court heard, means that the land owners cannot appeal the council's decision to take charge of part of their property.

The action, the outcome of which may have wider implications, has been brought by Judith Dixon and Liam McLoughlin who reside with their children at The Station House, Curraghbeg, Adare, which is a protected structure.

In a brief hearing this Monday, the court heard an open cut drain forms part of their property.

Last September the council issued a notice, under provisions of the 2007 Water Services Act, stating that it intends to take charge of part of the applicants' home property, located at Blackabbey, Adare.

The applicants were informed that the council wanted to acquire the lands, for which the owners are entitled to claim compensation for, to facilitate the construction of residential units in Adare Village.

The couple are seeking to lodge an appeal against the decision and have the council's notice set aside.

They claim that the taking of charge of the land would allow the local authority to come and go over their property which they say would adversely affect their privacy.

However, they claim that they are unable to advance their appeal because the Minister for Housing and Local Government failed, by way of statutory instrument, to bring into being a section of the 2007 Act that allows an appeal to be brought against decisions allowing the authorities to acquire land.

They claim that the failure to commence that particular section of the legislation denies them of their constitutional right to an appeal.

Represented by Oisin Collins SC and David O'Brien Bl, instructed by PB Cunningham Solicitors, the applicants have launched judicial review proceedings where they seek various orders and declarations including an order quashing the notice that it intends to take charge of the lands at Blackabbey, Adare.

They also seek various declarations including that the council's notice that it intends to take charge of the applicants' lands amounts to a breach of their constitutional rights, including their rights to fair procedures, and is unreasonable.

The couple further seeks a declaration (from the court) that when the Oireachtas intended to enact the 2007 Act, which would have afforded a right to appeal against notices to take charge of land, the Minister failed to give effect to that intent.

The action is against Limerick City and County Council; the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage; Ireland and the Attorney General.

The matter came before Ms Justice Niamh Hyland this Monday, who on an ex-parte basis granted the applicants permission to bring the challenge.

In reply to the judge regarding the commencement by the Minister of section, counsel said that his solicitor had written to the Minister about the issue.

Counsel said that in a reply on behalf of the Minister it had been confirmed that the section had not been commenced.

The matter will return before the High Court in January.
I've Never Been to Me may have been a hit sensation for songwriter Charlene in 1982, but by contrast Frances Browner has been there and bought the T-shirt.

In fact, the scion of old Limerick could not be more at home with herself especially when writing about the realities of life abroad for Irish emigrants, (her family, and of course, herself!).

She explained the backstory to her latest novel, A Bronx Summer (2023). Its a coming-of-age story about a young girl, Kaye, who goes to New York to get away from a life at home that is falling apart.

The man she loves is unresponsive, her best friend is pulling away, and Ireland is sinking into the economic doldrums. Everybody is leaving, including her cousin Chrissie who is constantly urging Kaye to join her. Eventually, she does, but only for the summer, or so she says!

Browner added: The story draws from a broad-spectrum of characters I met over there and the stories they told me. No one character is based on anyone specific. The novel revolves around why people emigrate, which is not always for economic reasons. Living in another land is a great experience and everyone should try it, but it does have a dark side.

Five of her father Connie Browners six siblings emigrated in the 1950s so it was no great surprise when his daughter decided to follow in their wake.

Frances headed first to Paris to work as au pair for two years. Here her bohemian spirit came alive, studying French, frequenting folk clubs, hitch-hiking, and touring Europe in a Camper Van. A few years later, she headed for New York.

I loved the place from the minute I landed, she said. The hustle and bustle of Manhattan, the freedom to be who you wanted to be, the camaraderie in the Irish enclaves (Yonkers and the Bronx).

But it was when she moved to Montauk, on the tip of Long Island, that she first started to write fiction. Indeed, the genesis of A Bronx Summer (2023) was a creative writing class that Frances took in East Hampton in the 1990s.

It was first left in a notebook, before being resurrected a decade later, downloaded to a word processor and eventually saved to disc. However, I returned to it every now and again, editing, tweaking and eventually, rewriting it.

Her short story, The American Parcels was published by the East Hampton Star (1996). It recounts her fathers aunt, Nan Lynch, who had emigrated from Athlunkard Street to California in the 1960s.

When she retired, she returned to Limerick, and was thrilled to read the newspaper account.

Indeed, parts of the story were quoted by Francess uncle Paddy in his eulogy at Nans funeral, where the Shannon flag was draped over her coffin. The deceaseds father, Paddy Lynch, Frances great-grandfather was co-founder of the Club, and its first Captain. Antiquarian, Denis OShaughnessy, included extracts from the story in his best-selling compilation, Stories of Limerick.

While working in the Aisling Irish Community Centre in Yonkers, Frances also compiled a book of immigrant memoirs, entitled While Memory Brings Us Back Again (2006).

Returning then to Ireland, she wrote several short stories, subsequently published and shortlisted in competitions, with memoirs broadcast on RTEs Sunday Miscellany and Living Word. The Veil (2012) recounted the family veneration for Auntie Bettys Limerick Lace Communion Veil.

The latter was worn by two of her cousins in New York, her younger sister, Maura; by Betty, and by her daughters, on their wedding days in California.

In 2015, a debut poem, A Minefield in Korea 1953 based on her Uncle Mikes experiences there, was published in the University of Limericks Ogham Stone Literary and Arts Journal (2016).

Frances concluded: In the 1980s, it was possible to come home every year, which I did, and my parents and family members visited me. The telephone also made home more accessible.

However, when my aunts and uncles emigrated in the 1950s, it was years before they could return, and their only means of communication was by letter. Yet, their love and adoration of Limerick never wavered, including that of my own father, who only went as far as Dublin!
Shanghai (Gasgoo)- HiPhi, the premium electric vehicle brand under Human Horizons, and the Chinese car rental service platform WOOKONG Mobility held a signing ceremony in Shanghai, marking a significant partnership in advancing multi-dimensional mobility service experiences, according to a post on HiPhi's WeChat account.

Photo credit: HiPhi

Leveraging their combined strengths in products, services, and distribution channels, the two entities are set to introduce an innovative service paradigm "rental + test drive + road trip." This approach aims to provide a broader audience with an upscale, eco-friendly travel experience, propelling the widespread adoption of intelligent new energy vehicles.

According to HiPhi, this collaboration aims to streamline the fulfillment of user demands for green transportation. Simultaneously, WOOKONG Mobility will utilize its service prowess to craft an exclusive in-depth test drive experience for HiPhi vehicles. Notably, the HiPhi Y in-depth test drive service is now available on the WOOKONG Mobility app, allowing users to enjoy HiPhi's cutting-edge technology and luxurious smart travel through convenient pre-bookings.

During the signing ceremony, Zheng Yimin, General Manager of HiPhi Automotive Sales Company, said through the professional services of WOOKONG Mobility, HiPhi aims to offer users greener, more intelligent, and technologically luxurious travel options. In the near future, users nationwide can conveniently book in-depth test drives for the HiPhi Y, with plans to progressively embrace other models.

Starting immediately, WOOKONG Mobility will strategically deploy the HiPhi Y in the fleets of platform merchants in popular tourist destinations and cities frequented for business travel. The joint service teams will promptly respond to customer orders, establishing dedicated concierge car service groups for each customer. From vehicle delivery and usage to vehicle replacement, the partnership will provide a seamless all-encompassing service. Additionally, both parties will offer door-to-door pick-up and drop-off services, ensuring users experience a convenient and efficient the HiPhi Y in-depth test drive, enjoying a green, considerate, and delightful travel experience.
United States, Britain and 16 other countries signed a 20 page agreement centred around safe development of artificial intelligence systems and stop them from falling into the hands of rogue actors. The agreement contains mostly general recommendations like monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data tampering, vetting software suppliers and is non-binding in nature.

Apart from US and Britain, the other signatories to the latest AI agreement include Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore.

The new agreement focuses on measures to keep artificial intelligence technology form being hijacked by hackers and recommends releasing AI models only after necessary security testing while missing out on questions concerning appropriate use of AI and how the data for training major AI models like ChatGPT and Bard is collected.

US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly while speaking about the agreement told Reuters "This is the first time that we have seen an affirmation that these capabilities should not just be about cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs an agreement that the most important thing that needs to be done at the design phase is security."

Safety concerns have been a major chunk of the discussions centered around generative AI since the launch of OpenAI's ChatGPT in November last year and followed other prominent generative AI based chatbots like Google's Bard and Anthropic's Claude. Unlike traditional chatbots, these generative AI based chatbots are capable of processing a multitue of tasks with a single prompt which can range from asking the model to write a novel to even getting answers to complex physics problem.

Governments around the world are now focusing on regultions around AI including a recent agreement between France, Germany and Italy that focuses on how AI should be regulated and the recently concluded AI summit called by UK.

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Generative AI offers companies the chance to make their businesses more efficient and productive. It also carries a whole bunch of risks.

As a result, some companies have established rules for the use of generative AI in the workplacehoping to make the most of the new tools while mitigating some of the risks. Heres a look at some of those rules.

Do be wary of bias

Companies should be aware that generative-AI models trained on publicly available data sets and information could reflect demographic biases in that material.

Such biases arent always obvious. But exercising human judgment on AI-generated material could help alleviate some of the risk of biases, says Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor at Georgetown Universitys McDonough School of Business teaching corporate governance. Companies can implement a process where both individual employees and dedicated teams of people examine anything produced with the help of generative AI to ensure that the company can stand by the material, he says.

Dont share sensitive business information with public programs

Most generative-AI programs store conversations and prompts inputted into the program and use the data to train their models, resulting in an increased risk that that information can re-emerge in response to someone elses search.

Examples of information that could be exposed this way include computer code, customer information, transcripts of company meetings or email exchanges, and company financial or sales data.

Making sure youre being very clear about what youre putting into the system" is a good rule of thumb, says Alicia Arnold, a managing director of consulting firm Fifty Five specializing in technology initiatives for companies. Some companies have restricted the use of public generative-AI programs or banned them for most employees because of concerns about the possibility of sensitive proprietary information being leaked.

Do be picky about which AI program you use

There are safer alternatives to public AI programs. Companies should use so-called enterprise-grade modelstypically paid subscriptions for businesses that offer more security for business datawhen possible as opposed to public versions, says Arun Chandrasekaran, an analyst with an emphasis in AI at consulting firm Gartner. Programs like ChatGPT Enterprise and Microsofts Bing Chat Enterprise promise to keep companies data private.

When choosing a generative-AI program, companies should be sure they fully understand how data input into the programs will be stored and who will have access to that data, Chandrasekaran says.

Dont fully trust AI results to be accurate

Be wary of generative-AI hallucinations," experts say. Hallucinations are responses generated by AI that include false or inaccurate information, which could mislead anyone who sees it, within the company or outside it. Misinformation can erode trust," Chandrasekaran warns, and hallucinations can sometimes look legitimate enough to go undetected. Checking where the information is coming from before using AI-generated content can help reduce inaccuracies.

Or, to go a step further, Chandrasekaran says companies can negotiate their own contracts with generative-AI vendors to train the AI only on a database provided by the company, so that no potentially inaccurate outside information is introduced.

Some companies have also turned to developing their own proprietary programs to allow employees to more safely use generative AI. Schloetzer says most of the companies hes consulted with that are encouraging the use of generative AI in the workplace have or are developing some proprietary programs to safeguard data.

Sathish Muthukrishnan, chief information, data and digital officer at financial-services company Ally Financial, says that Ally.ai, the firms internal AI platform, serves as a bridge between company information and external AI programs. He describes it as more of an assistive technology that always has a human in the middle."

Dont use AI-generated content without disclosure

Disclosing when AI has been used to generate any content is crucial in maintaining transparency and is especially important for client-facing employees, Schloetzer says. Because of the liabilities that could come with inaccurate or inappropriate AI-generated content, clients should know upfront that material they are receiving or usingin an ad campaign, for examplewas partly generated by AI.

Do be wary of copyright infringement

Some AI-generated content could be based on copyrighted work by an artist or writer, which could raise legal issues.

Early court cases have dismissed alleged copyright infringements, and the U.S. Copyright Office has repeatedly rejected copyright claims when it comes to AI-generated art, but multiple lawsuits by authors have yet to be decided, including a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI by a group of authors alleging copyright infringement that is still moving through a San Francisco district court. (OpenAI cant comment on pending litigation, an OpenAI spokesperson said.)

The Copyright Office has been conducting an AI study since August, and the Federal Trade Commission has expressed interest in looking into this issue, posting a comment on the study that cited copyright concerns around programs scraping work from public websites without consent." But there arent yet any clear rules concerning AIs use of copyright material.

Until such rules are in place, some experts suggest that companies legal teams should be proactive in screening any AI-generated material for possible copyright issues. Companies should also consider seeking legal indemnity from providers of the generative-AI programs, experts say. Google recently joined Microsoft and Adobe in offering legal-indemnification plans for generative-AI products

Lindsey Choo is a writer in Southern California. She can be reached at reports@wsj.com.

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MUMBAI : The insurance regulator has asked top executives of Care Health Insurance Ltd to explain the issue of stock options to non-executive chairperson Rashmi Saluja despite being told not to do so, two people aware of the matter said.

On 22 November, officials of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) summoned Anuj Gulati and Anoop Singh of Care Health and questioned them about excessive" stock options issued to Saluja and Gulati, the people said on the condition of anonymity. While Gulati is managing director and chief executive of Care Health, Singh is chief compliance officer.

View Full Image Sarvesh Kumar/Mint

Irdai is very concerned about 22.7 million employee stock options (Esops) approved by the Dr. Saluja-led board of Care Health to Dr. Saluja herself. This is worth hundreds of crores of money for one person who is not a promoter, just an employee," one of the two people said.

The issue of stock options came into focus after the Burman family (of Dabur) made an open offer for Religare Enterprises Ltd, the parent of Care Health. After the Religare board opposed the proposal, the Burmans alleged that Saluja, who is also non-executive chairperson of Religare, had received hefty stock options from Care.

The open offer by the Burman family for Religare, where it already owns a 21.54% stake, was announced on 25 September. The offer for the additional 26% at 235 per share will cost 2,116 crore. The total 51% stake that the Burmans aim to own is worth about 3,400 crore. After a brief initial welcome, the Religare board claimed the offer price was low and accused the Burmans of having links with Radha Soami Satsang Beas (RSSB) and Religare founders Shivinder and Malvinder Singh, who are facing fraud charges.

The Burmans rejected these allegations and said the Religare board failed to comply with corporate governance norms; Saluja traded in shares of Religare while being in possession of privileged insider information; and her average annual compensation is as high as 150 crore, including Esops from Religare and Care Health Insurance.

However, in a statement defending Saluja, Religare rejected charges of insider trading. The statement stated that the Care Health Esops vest over a period of time subject to conditions, and said even after adding the value of performance-linked Esops, Salujas FY23 remuneration stood at 42.06 crore, against 150 crore as alleged by the Burmans.

Meanwhile, proxy advisory firm InGovern said the Care stock options were not explicitly declared to Religare shareholders and no approval was sought for granting them.

The Care Health board, Gulati and Singh have been asked to reply or clarify within a week on certain questions by Irdai related to the excessive Esops issuance in Care Health to both Dr. Saluja and Gulati," said the second of the two persons mentioned earlier.

The premium income of Care Health has jumped fivefold since Saluja took the helm of parent Religare in 2018, making it the second-largest standalone health insurer in the country.

The biggest subsidiary of Religare, Care Health is estimated to be worth at least 10,000 crore based on its embedded value. Religares market value is lower than Cares estimated value, but its stock reflects the business performance of Care.

The Religare stock stood at 175.62 at the beginning of the year. On 21 and 22 September, the two days when Saluja sold some of her shares, it touched the highest levels at 279 and 280.3, respectively. It fell to 258.14 on the day of the Burman open offer on 25 September, and it has fallen further to close at 218.15 on Friday. The board led by Saluja has stated that any offer price below 275 is not fair; however, market research reports have predicted that Religares shares may gain after the Burmans takeover.

Incentivizing someone by ignoring a regulatory directive raises a serious issue" on governance, a corporate lawyer at a leading law firm said. As a material subsidiary of a listed company (Religare), at least one of the independent directors of Care Health is also on the board of Religare, and it is the duty of such independent directors to flag off the issue to the board or the regulator immediately, asking how were the shares granted to a particular individual despite Irdais rejection. In this case, after Irdai rejected the Esop proposal for Saluja, instead of granting her the shares directly, the board did it indirectly by terming her a Religare employee. He suggested Irdai should initiate a thorough probe and take appropriate action, and rope in Securities and Exchange Board of India as well since it involves Religare, a listed holding company.

The three independent directors serving on the boards of both Religare and Care are Malay Kumar Sinha, Hamid Ahmed and Praveen Kumar Tripathi.

According to a 15 November note by InGovern, in the past 3-4 years, the total valuation of Religare and Care Health options issued to Saluja is more than 480 crore.

Emails sent to Irdai, Religare, Saluja, Gulati and Singh remained unanswered.

Neither Religare nor Care Health revealed in their FY23 annual reports that Saluja got 22.7 million Esops of Care Health.

Religares annual report only stated that 27.7 million Esops of Care Health were issued to Religare employees on 17 January, 2022 under the insurers Series VIII New Esop scheme; of this, 22.7 million options were re-granted on 13 June, 2022, which is a month after Irdai rejected the Care proposal.

On 28 December 2021, the Care Health board approved issuing Esops to Saluja. On 10 May 2022, Irdai rejected the proposal, stating non-executive directors of insurers are allowed payment of only profit-related commission to the tune of 10 lakh per annum" and secondly, her roles and responsibilities as a non-executive chairperson are largely similar to those of a non-executive director"; therefore, the remuneration payable to her should be commensurate with that of other non-executive directors.

However, Care Health did not wait for the Irdai approval; instead, it issued the Esops in January 2022 itself. Despite the Irdai rejection that came later, these options were not clawed back, on the grounds that the Esops were given to Saluja in her capacity as Religares chairperson and not as non-executive chairperson of Care Health.

The regulator is not pleased about the way the Care Health board, also headed by Saluja, incentivized her by granting stock options worth over 250 crore despite it rejecting the plan. To be sure, it is not clear if Saluja attended the board meetings that approved the grant of stock options.

Irdai officials discussed this matter at length with the two Care Health executives at the meeting, the two persons said.

Irdai has demanded a detailed explanation from Care Health board for going against its intention in the directive over Esops. Also, every rule has to be followed both in letter and spirit. After Irdais rejection, Care Health decided to incentivize Saluja in the same manner but through a different route. This is concerning," said the second person.

The regulator also wants to know why the Religare annual report did not mention the Care Health Esops as part of Salujas compensation. This is in disregard to a basic corporate governance practice," said the second person.

The Care Health options granted to Saluja is about 2.5% of the entire share capital of the insurer, which is significant and material", especially because the entire holding concerns a single person and not a group of employees or individuals, a corporate lawyer said on the condition of anonymity.
Elon Musk reportedly visited Israel on Monday amid the on going war with Hamas fighters from Palestine's Gaza. On Monday, Israel said that it had reached an agreement in principle for using his SpaceX company's Starlink communications in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also due to meet Musk on Monday to discuss the security aspects of artificial intelligence and hold a live online discussion, Netanyahu's office said.

The Communications Minister of Israel, Shlomo Karhi, posted on its twitter handle on Monday that Starlink satellite units will only be able to operate in Israel and the Gaza Strip following the Communications Ministry's approval.

The Communications Minister of Israel called the understanding between him and Musk vital" as it is for everyone who desires a better world, free of evil and free of anti-Semitism, for our children's sake".

A project by SpaceX, the satellite internet provides high-speed internet access to anywhere on the Earth using a constellation of thousands of satellites. The internet services this case rely on the constellation of LEO (Low-Earth Orbit) Starlink satellites operated by SpaceX.

Unlike the traditional internet that relies on cables or copper wires, the satellite internet uses signals from satellites orbiting the Earth.

Earlier, Elon Musk had said in October that SpaceX's Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with "internationally recognized aid organizations". Musks move prompted Israel's communication minister to say Israel would fight the move.

Responding to Elon Musk's post on X, Israel's communication minister Shlomo Karhi had then said Israel "will use all means at its disposal to fight this."

"HAMAS will use it for terrorist activities," Karhi wrote. "Perhaps Elon Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people. All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with Starlink."

A telephone and internet blackout isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from each other on October 28, with calls to loved ones, ambulances or colleagues elsewhere all but impossible as Israel widened its air and ground assault.

Elon Musk had defended himself from what he labeled bogus media stories" after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier this month on X, which drew condemnation from the White House and led many major brands to pause advertising on the platform. Critics have accused the service, formerly known as Twitter, of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred.

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Hyderabad: Power looms are noisy and the sound, more than 100 decibels that their rotating and sliding mechanical parts make, overwhelms when one enters almost any street in Sircilla. This small town, with a population of just 92,910, about 120 km from Hyderabad, has as many as 30,352 weaving units. Most of them are small; operating inside weavers homes, they produce sarees and polyester cloth.

A visitor to the town 20 years ago would not have received a similar welcome as weavers then were in deep distress. With falling orders, high yarn prices, rising power costs and cheap imports, they incurred losses and piled up debts. As machines remained idle for most days, they were unable to repay the debts and many committed suicide. Others chose to migrate elsewhere in search of menial jobs.

Things have changed since 2016. Weavers are back in business, thanks to large orders from the government of Telangana. Between 2016 and 2023, the state procured 58.56 crore metres of cloth valued at 2,758 crore. They also get power and yarn subsidies.

I finally repaid last year the 5 lakh debt that I had taken nine years ago," says Gajula Mallesham, who operates 10 looms in his house. We went through hell. Things are better now," he adds.

This transformation has triggered a reverse migration. Workers from Jharkhand and Odisha have found jobs in these weaving units and in the textile and weaving parks the state government has set up in the town.

Sircilla is the constituency of K.T. Rama Rao, working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), Telanganas ruling party, and son of chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.

Sircilla is clearly a beneficiary of the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act got the presidential assent and Telangana formally came into existence on 2 June that year. The two other regions, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema, also called Seemandhra, remained with Andhra Pradesh. Ten years on, the bifurcation appears to have worked, if one looks at the broad numbers. Both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have grown at a faster pace than united Andhra Pradesh.

Between 2013-14 and 2022-23, Telanganas economy grew at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.2% and Andhra Pradesh by 7.1% as against all India rate of 5.6%. Their growth was higher than undivided Andhra Pradeshs 3.9% between 2011-12 and 2013-14," says Paras Jasrai, senior analyst, India Ratings and Research, a credit rating agency.

Per capita income of both states has risen. Telanganas from 85,000 in 2012-13 to over 309,000 in 2022-23. In the same period, Andhra Pradeshs per capita income grew to over 220,000 from 72,000.

But a closer look reveals two different tales. One of Telanganas, a transformation that was based on a clear vision, and the other of Andhra Pradeshs, where virulent politics and inconsistent policies have caused under-performance and fiscal challenges.

As Telangana heads into its third assembly elections on 30 November, it is on a much stronger footing than Andhra Pradesh which will face the electorate next year.

The trigger

View Full Image K. Chandrashekar Rao, the chief minister of Telangana. Before the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014, he pressed the need for a separate state highlighting three issueswater, finance, employment.

Of the three regions of erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh, Telangana remained underdeveloped. It was a case of denied development," says E. Revathi, director, Centre for Economic and Social Studies, a Hyderabad-based think tank. Though bulk of the revenue was raised from the Telangana region, which included Hyderabad, a smaller part was spent there. Hyderabad, by virtue of being the capital, saw major development but rural Telangana region remained ignored. Agriculture was in distress as it was predominantly rain-fed in the absence of irrigation.

Between 1960-61 and 2014-15, the quantum of irrigated land remained constant at 4.1 million acres (of the 12 million cultivable land). This, despite the fact that 86% of river Godavari and Krishnas catchment areas were in Telangana. The lower riparian regions of Andhra and Rayalaseema benefitted the most from the two rivers. Massive power cutsthe region had a power deficit of over 1,000MW at the time of bifurcationmeant that borewells were of little use to irrigate. Farmer suicides were common. People also had no access to drinking water. Debilitating power cutssix hours a day and a two-day power holidaymeant that there was hardly any industrial development and unemployment was rife, especially among the youth.

There were reasons for this skewed development. Seemandhra, with 175 assembly seats in the state assembly, was politically more empowered. Telangana had just 120 seats. Also, strong political leaders emerged from Seemandhra and this meant policies favoured that region. At the time of bifurcation in 2014, nine out of 10 districts in Telangana were classified as backward. Two of them, Khammam and Mahbubnagar, were termed as most hungry by the Planning Commission. It was these factors that fuelled the demand for a separate state. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), as BRS was earlier named, under Chandrashekar Rao, capitalized on this disenchantment and protested under the theme water, finance, employment. They succeeded in 2014.

The Telangana story

View Full Image The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme on river Krishna. Gross irrigated area of all crops in Telangana increased 117% between 2014-15 and 2021-22.

When TRS won the mandate to form the first government in 2014, the first challenge it took up was to fix the power crisis. A three-stage plan was conceived. As a short-term measure, electricity was purchased from power exchanges to reduce the blackouts. Simultaneously, transmission lines were built to evacuate power from neighbouring Chhattisgarh, which was a power surplus state. Thirdly, it began building large power stations. According to B. Vinod Kumar, vice chairman, Telangana State Planning Board, the state with a capacity of 18,567 MW as against 7,778 MW at the time of bifurcation, is power surplus today.

Two lift irrigation systems (where water is pumped using motor) were implementedthe Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project on river Godavari, considered to be the world largest, at a cost of 1 trillion, and the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme on river Krishna that cost 35,000 crore.

That apart, over 46,300 tanks were renovated at a cost of 20,000 crore over a period of five years under Mission Kakatiya. These efforts irrigated vast swathes of parched land.

In addition, the government introduced Rythu Bandhu, a direct cash transfer scheme for farmers to meet the cost of inputs. As much as 65,559 crore has been spent in the last five years for the scheme. The impact? Gross irrigated area of all crops increased 117% between 2014-15 and 2021-22. Total crop production in this period rose by 152%. Telangana has become the largest producer of paddy in the country. The Food Corporation of India (FCI), a public sector enterprise tasked with ensuring Indias food security, procured 13 million tonnes of paddy in 2022-23. At the time of bifurcation, FCI procured just 2.5 million tonnes.

Farm distress has eased. As per state crime bureau data, suicide by farmers have dropped from 1,358 in 2015 to 352 in 2021. Mission Bhagiratha (water at doorstep) scheme was launched with a budget of 46,000 crore. Today, 95% of all households have tap water.

At the time of bifurcation, many feared a flight of capital as most businessmen were from the Andhra region. One of the first steps that Chandrashekara Rao took was to meet up with the industrialists and assured them of support. The economic hub of Hyderabad needed to thrive and generate the resources to develop the rest of Telangana.

He continued with the investor-friendly policies of earlier governments. Software exports rose from 57,258 crore in 2013-14 to 2.4 trillion in 2022-23. The number of workers in the IT sector grew from 323,000 to 906,000 in the same period. Investments worth  4 trillion have been committed or realized.

Telangana is a rare example of integrated, holistic, inclusive and balanced development," BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao tells Mint. We have focussed on both development and welfare, rural and urban areas, industry and environment, apart from IT services and agriculture," he adds. None of our 33 districts is classified as backward now."

The state has achieved this without any financial stress. It has managed a revenue surplus in seven out of the last nine years. The state has been borrowing only to fund capital expenditure. Its quality of expenditure is thus very good," says India Ratings Jasrai.

Stable policies, focus on development, creation of productive assets and keeping welfarism at a level that did not hurt the state finances have been key to Telanganas transformation," adds Jayaprakash Narayan, former IAS officer and general secretary, Foundation for Democratic Reforms, a think tank.

The Andhra story

View Full Image (Graphic: Mint)

The opposite is true when it comes to Andhra Pradesh. While it may be true that the state got the raw end of the stick in the bifurcation, better governance would have helped it to do well," says Narayan.

The raw deal he refers to is Hyderabad, a region that generated bulk of the revenue for undivided Andhra Pradesh, remaining with Telangana. It was also the region that was the base of the states industrial and service sectors. The union government then went back on its promise for a special package for Andhra Pradesh. This meant the state inherited a relatively weak fiscal position. Such a situation needed calibrated policies.

The Telugu Desam government that came to power in 2014, hurt by the loss of Hyderabad, chose to spend a lot of money on building a new capital at Amaravati. The states fiscal deficit exceeded 4% between 2015-16 and 2017-18. Former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidus reform credentials and investor friendly image did attract some investments, the most prominent being South Korean car maker Kia. When Naidu lost elections in 2019 and YSR Congress came to power under Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, the new government chose to reverse many of the earlier policies.

Amaravati as a capital was junked. The focus shifted to welfarism. Populism began to take root and it was at the cost of investing in productive assets," says Revathi. The revenue deficit ballooned. In 2022-23, it was 29,808 crore and 22,317 crore has been budgeted for 2023-24. The state resorted to borrowing to meet its current expenditure.

Committed expenditure (spending on salaries, pensions and interest) as a share of states own revenue touched 136% in 2020-21. When the borrowing reached the limit as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget management (FRBM) Act, it resorted to off-budget borrowings. In 2021-22, it raised funds through Andhra Pradesh State Development Corporation by securitizing future revenue from liquor sales in 10 zones. Both the central government and the Reserve Bank of India, Indias central bank, came down heavily on the state and mandated that such off-budget borrowings will be added to the fiscal deficit. This created a cash flow crisis, forcing the state government to hold back all payments including salaries. Outstanding debt as a percentage of GSDP, including off-budget borrowings, will touch an alarming 42% of GSDP in 2023-24.

The bane of populism has just gotten worse. Chandrababu Naidu, who had eschewed freebies and focussed on development till now, recently announced first of his many manifestos (Andhra Pradesh goes to election in April 2024) that promises handouts such as free LPG cylinders, monthly cash assistance for women, mothers and unemployed youth. Naidu has no choice. He has to follow the trend to remain relevant," says Narayan. Such handouts will worsen the already precarious state finances.

The recent arrest of Chandrababu Naidu on corruption charges has also made polity in the state worse. Virulent politics and inconsistent policies unnerve investors," says Narayan.

This can already be noticed. Not many large investors appear interested in Andhra Pradesh. Young Liu, chairman of Foxconn, worlds largest electronics manufacturer, recently visited Karnataka, Telangana and Tamil Nadu looking to make investments but gave Andhra Pradesh a miss. Local players such as Amara Raja Batteries have chosen to invest heavily in Telangana. The state government, however, claims that its Global Investors Summit, held in March this year, raked in investment commitment worth 13.42 trillion.

The Andhra Pradesh government, despite several attempts by Mint, did not respond to requests for meetings.

Meanwhile, in Telangana, a resurgent Congress, fresh after tasting victory in Karnataka, is giving a tough fight to BRS which is facing anti-incumbency in the state assembly elections due on 30 November. The youth are unhappy as they are unable to find jobs, especially in the government.

The Kaleshwaram project is mired in a controversy involving engineering lapses. The opposition has accused the BRS government of corruption too.

People of Telangana believed that the bifurcation would be a miracle for them, and people of Andhra Pradesh believed it would end up in a disaster for them," says Narayan. So far, it has been neither, but the jury is still out and the outcome of the upcoming assembly elections in both the states will play a big part in how things will pan out going forward," he adds.
When the private insurance sector found its feet in India, the players were following LIC because that was the only example in the country. And LIC did all the processes manually. Hence, in India the insurance sector started to invest in technologies quickly. Companies started investing in core systems, core applications, then came Web applications, portals, mobile applications, etc.

But now we have private insurance players dabbing into the latest technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc.

Rajesh Krishnan, Chief Operations Officer, Bajaj Allianz Life in an interview to Mints Rakshita Madan spoke about how the industry can evolve with technologies like AI and how they can adopt it for better consumer experience.

Here are edited excerpts from that interview:

Q. When did the tech revolution start in the insurance industry?

As late as in the last decade or so, you can say that AI (artificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) started picking up because people started talking about them. I would say anybody and everybody talked about AI and ML, but we'll have to see in the context of what it does. A life insurance company such as us, I'm not talking about general insurance, primarily in the initial stages of use cases for artificial intelligence, we started investing in this because of risk management. You manage the risk well, then you make profits.

Q2. How can you use artificial intelligence and machine learning in your processes as an industry?

We were able to utilize the artificial intelligence in a more effective manner in understanding the risks of the customer, which means we were able to weed out the wrong customer and were able to ease out onboarding of the right customer. So with these models being built, we were able to predict a customer.

So underwriting became pretty easy for the industry, to calculate the pricing of a product also became easy.

So risk management was the first use case, that AI was used for.

Along with that, it also helped us to collect our renewals. So renewal collection is where the money comes from, the insurance company because you don't make money in the first year, all the profits start coming in at a later year.

Q3. Where do you think we are heading towards with these technologies?

I'll tell you the future as we go forward is about building these models to help us develop self service in a large way. So one of the very interesting aspects of India's demography is that. We have a pretty young population, as you know. So we have about 34% of our customers at an age of less than 19 years, another 18% belong to under 29 years. So more than half of India belonging to less than 29 years means whatever has worked for our generations in the past is not gonna work in the next generation because the expectations are very different.

So for every insurance company to continue to be in the long term business, we need to start resetting ourselves and think differently. Now your generation probably will not be OK to buy a policy from an agent who's coming to your doorstep. You know, better to have all the information available to myself. I know what exactly needs to be done since the awareness levels are far higher now, so it's more about.

Q4. How has COVID changed things for the insurance industry?

COVID was a great tailwind for us. Suddenly, everybody felt that, you know, there is something called unpredictable eventuality". It can happen to anybody and I need to be prepared. But just like every other newspaper headline in our industry, this also has been forgotten because new headlines have already taken over.

Q5. Can AI take away jobs? And to what extent?

Yes, for sure. It'll take away jobs and what kind of jobs will it take? It will take away jobs which are non-value add. A good analogy I can give you is that if you walk into a departmental store, there is a security guard who will ask you to produce a bill and he will put a stamp or he will tear it. Now the question to ask is, is it necessary? Will AI take away that guys job? Yes, for sure.

If you focus more on value adding activities, there are jobs for everybody, and that can only be done by a human mind to comprehend.

Now I'm going a few years forward and I'm just visualizing what could happen.

You also need the human mind to stop AI. AI beyond a particular point can be a threat overall, because what is happening with the generative AI, you know it can become a threat.

So of course, and the good part of machine learning is that machine learning coupled with AI can have self learning and the learning has to be the right learning.

AI to me, there are two big use cases - one is it weeds out inefficiency from the system, and weeding out inefficiency means better risk management for an insurance company - better bottom line, better value for my customer. AI can help my customer navigate my website better, for example, when someone comes to the website, AI can pre-empt what they are looking for; it more or less can predict based on your behavior or it can nudge and tell you hey rakshita looks like you have shifted your office. Would you like to update an address here?

The industry is now focused on developing self-service models to cater to the expectations of the young population.

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TikTok is trying to tap in to shoppers in the U.S. So-called social shopping is already a huge phenomenon in Asia.

Success isnt guaranteedand politics could intervene. But given how effectively TikTok has already disrupted the social-media landscape, U.S. e-commerce giants like Amazon should be watching their back.

The viral short-video app, owned by Chinas Bytedance, rolled out its e-commerce platform to its 150 million monthly active users in the U.S. in September. TikTok isnt a stranger to selling goods through livestreaming and short videos. The phenomenon has been around in China for many years and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, has been particularly successful there. TikToks foray into e-commerce has also been off to a good start in Southeast Asia over the past couple of years.

The logic of the expansion into e-commerce is clear. TikTok is already a channel where hundreds of millions of young users discover new products, particularly in categories such as apparel and cosmetics, worn or highlighted by influencers on the platform. Allowing actual sales is the next step. TikTok aims to increase the total amount of such goods sold on its platform, or gross merchandise value, to $20 billion this year globally from less than $5 billion in 2022, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier.

View Full Image Graphic: WSJ

The growth of the segment in China is instructive: Livestreaming e-commerce is flourishing there, despite a general slowdown in consumption. Goldman Sachs expects gross merchandise value for livestreaming e-commerce in China to grow 18% a year in the next couple of yearscompared with 11% for overall e-commerce. The bank expects the segment to make up around 24% of the whole e-commerce market in 2025.

And last weeks results from Kuaishou, a smaller domestic rival to Douyin, lend further credence to such predictions. The companys gross merchandise value grew 30% from a year earlier, for the quarter ending in September. That drove a 21% increase in overall revenue and a 35% rise in gross profit. In comparison, traditional e-commerce giant JD.com increased revenue by 2% year on year in the quarter. Kuaishous GMV for the year ended September was around $153 billion.

Apart from taking a cut on transactions, Kuaishous advertising revenuewhich accounted for 53% of its total revenuealso got a boost from its merchants. Revenue from e-commerce advertising grew 50% year on year in the quarter, according to Goldman Sachs.

Politics is one potential roadblock to replicating this model outside of Chinaand has already begun causing problems for TikTok in Southeast Asia. Indonesia, one of TikToks more successful e-commerce markets, in September banned e-commerce transactions on social media. That has forced TikTok to suspend its online shopping operations there.

And with TikTok already under heightened scrutiny in the U.S., the push into e-commerce could put another target on its back.

Even so, Bytedance has a proven record of tapping in to the zeitgeist of the younger generationsand rapid growth. By the time politicians get around to complaining, it might already be well entrenched in the U.S. e-commerce ecosystem, and with a bevy of youthful supporters to help fend off regulation. Dinosaurs such as Amazon and Walmart ignore it at their peril.

Write to Jacky Wong at jacky.wong@wsj.com
Europe banned most oil shipments from Russia almost a year ago, but its binging on diesel that may well have been made from Russian crude .

The regions imports of diesel from India, one of the biggest buyers of Russian crude, are on course to soar to 305,000 barrels a day, the most since at least January 2017, data from market-intelligence firm Kpler show.

While its not possible to say with certainty that the molecules originated in Russia  India also processes oil from elsewhere  Moscows deliveries have given Indian refineries the ability to produce abundant diesel and boost exports.

Arrivals into Europe in November include a rare shipment from Mumbai-based Nayara Energy Ltd., which imported almost 60% of its crude from Russia this year, according to Kpler. Reliance Industries Ltd., Europes top supplier of Indian diesel, draws more than third of its crude from Russia, the figures show.

The surge in diesel imports from India also illustrates a fundamental shift in oil trading in the wake of the Kremlins war in Ukraine. A year ago, Russia was Europes top supplier of diesel, a fuel vital to the industrial and transport sectors. The European Union banned most seaborne imports of Russian crude in December and oil products in February.

Also Read | ONGC to charge premium over Brent in oil deals with BPCL and HPCL

In response, Europe and the UK have sought diesel supplies from other markets. India is helping to fill a supply gap as European imports from the US, Turkey and Saudi Arabia slip in November. Arrivals of Saudi diesel are set to drop to about 94,000 barrels a day, the lowest since February 2020.

The availability of Saudi barrels has fallen sharply in October and November due to planned local refinery maintenance, boosting interest for Indian diesel," said Eugene Lindell, head of refined products at industry consultant Facts Global Energy.

Competitive Edge

As the West shuns Russian oil, Moscow has found increased appetite for its crude in Asia. Indian refiners have been able to purchase Russian crude at a discount and sell the processed oil in markets, like Europe, where diesel is in high demand.

The 1.6-1.8 million barrels a day of Russian crude that Indian refiners buy creates a competitive edge that others do not have," according to Viktor Katona, lead crude analyst at Kpler.

The share of Indian diesel flows to Asia now accounts for about 19% of the countrys total exports of the fuel, compared with 33% last year, he said. Much of that volume has been diverted to Europe. In total, Europes imports of diesel and gasoil this month are set to rise to 935,000 barrels a day, a 5% increase from October, Kpler data show.

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Google Doodle honours artist Clorindo Testa today by releasing a doodle dedicated to him on the occasion of his birth anniversary. Test was born in Italy's Naples in the year 1923. During his early years his family resettled in Argentina where he discovered his love for art.

Education

Testa acquired a degree in architecture from the Universidad de Buenos Aires and graduated in 1948.

Career

Government centre in La Pampa was his first large-scale project that was built in the year 1955. Through this project he was formally introduced to Brutalist architecture that involves minimalist constructions and focusses on bare building materials instead of decorative designs.

The project to build Banco de Londres y America del Sud (Bank of London and South America) four years later was the one that made Testa internationally renowned for his work that is considered a masterpiece of Brutalist building. Through both of these projects he gained local and international acclamation as a leading architect.

Accolades

Testa is believed to have broken the boundaries and norms of 20th century construction and helped develop a new architectural language and style in Argentina. Testa was a prominent figure of modern architecture who worked on more than 60 projects in his life. He received the Konex Award three times throughout his career with the first in 1982, second in 1992 and third in 2012.

In 2019, Testa gained further acclaim when the Mariano Moreno National Library of Argentina that is one of Testas most emblematic works was declared a national historic monument.

This doodle dedicated to revered artist, Clorindo Testa, mainly spans regions of Mexico, Peru, Chile, Uruguay and Argentina.

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Shanghai (Gasgoo)- China's domestic passenger vehicle ("PV") retail sales are anticipated to reach 2.08 million units in November 2023, which should climb 2.3% from the previous month and jump 26% from the previous year, according to the China Passenger Car Association ("CPCA").

The anticipated year-on-year leap in November PV retail sales was mainly due to the low base for the year-ago period.

Of the PVs retailed in China in November, around 820,000 units were expected to be new energy vehicles (NEVs, referring to battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles), representing a 6.2% month-on-month (MoM) growth and a 36.4% year-on-year (YoY) jump, and also indicating a 39.4% penetration rate.

Entering the final sprint towards the year-end, the conventional oil-fueled vehicle market maintains a moderate level of enthusiasm. The new energy vehicle (NEV) market, driven by both the introduction of new products and competitive pricing, is poised to reach its historic high in sales, providing substantial support to the overall automotive market in November, said the CPCA. Many automotive manufacturers leverage promotional activities during "11.11" shopping festival and expect to enhance attraction during the mid-month Auto Guangzhou 2023, anticipating that the automotive market in November will maintain a relatively high level of vitality.

However, as the market response during "11.11" period was somewhat subdued, with demand showing a relatively cool trend, the full potential for a surge in sales is yet to be demonstrated at the consumer end.

In the early stages of November, the market demonstrated steady performance, with major auto manufacturers averaging 37,900 units in retail sales per day during the first weekan MoM decline of 27.4% but a YoY growth of 5.5%. The second week, ignited by the "11.11" event, saw daily retail sales rise to 49,800 units, presenting a YoY growth of 26.1%, though a MoM decrease of 6.7%. With the commencement of order deliveries during the "11.11" period, the market rebounded in the third week, achieving an average daily retail figure of 62,200 unitsan MoM increase of 9.0% and a substantial YoY growth of 21.0%. As the fourth week unfolded, average daily retail sales reached 67,100 units, representing a YoY surge of 26.3%.

Entering the final push towards month-end (the fifth week), daily PV sales are anticipated to witness a YoY growth of 37.3%, with an estimated daily retail volume of 151,400 units.
Asaduddin Owaisi has spoken out against the BJP's view on Muslim reservations. This concerns Telangana. The BJP, led by Amit Shah. has promised to end Muslim reservations. This is if the BJP wins the next election. Owaisi disputes the BJP's assertions. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president states that these reservations don't rely on religion.

"BJP is lying. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the reservation being given to Muslims is not on the basis of religion," Owaisi told ANI.

Owaisi emphasises that the reservations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are grounded in empirical data showcasing the social and educational challenges faced by certain Muslim communities. This allocation, according to a report by the late PS Krishnan, is meant for specific backward classes within the Muslim population, excluding the upper caste.

The debate intensifies as Owaisi questions the BJP's reluctance towards the advancement of the Muslim community. He points out that enabling Muslims to become professionals like doctors and engineers is in the national interest.

Why does BJP hate it for Muslims to become doctors, engineers, nurses, teachers, pursue MBA or PhD..." he asked.

Meanwhile, the BJP's election manifesto for Telangana, unveiled by Shah in Hyderabad, includes implementing the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and abolishing religion-based reservations. During his campaign in Chevella, Shah labelled the Muslim reservations in Telangana as unconstitutional and proposed reallocating these benefits to SCs, STs and OBCs.

In response to allegations of AIMIM's support for the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the elections, Owaisi clarifies that his party is contesting independently, with candidates fielded against the BRS in several constituencies. He advocates for K. Chandrashekar Rao, also known as 'Mamu', as the chief minister, except in constituencies where AIMIM has fielded candidates.

Owaisi criticises Congress

Owaisi also criticises the Congress for its objection to the ongoing Rythu Bandu scheme, a welfare initiative for farmers in Telangana. The Election Commission of India's order to halt the scheme's disbursements, following the Congress's protest, is seen as anti-farmer by Owaisi.

Sudden objection from the Congress party clearly implies that they do not want the farmers to benefit...You made it halt, this is sending out a wrong message across Telangana..." he told ANI.

(With ANI inputs)

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Drugmakers are seeking to limit their reliance on Chinese contractors who produce drugs used in clinical trials and early-stage manufacturing, a move that is benefiting rivals in India, according to interviews with 10 industry executives and experts.

China has for nearly 20 years been the preferred location for a range of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing services due to the low cost and speed offered by contract drugmakers there.

That relationship largely held firm despite a U.S.-China trade war under the Trump administration and supply chain havoc experienced by other industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. But increasing tensions with China have prompted more Western governments to recommend that companies "de-risk" supply chains from exposure to the Asian superpower.

That is leading some biotech companies to consider using manufacturers in India to produce active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for clinical trials or other outsourced work.

"Today you're probably not sending an RFP (request for proposal) to a Chinese company," said Tommy Erdei, global co-head of healthcare investment banking at Jefferies. "It's like, 'I don't want to know, it doesn't matter if they can do it for cheaper, I'm not going to start putting my product into China'."

Dr Ashish Nimgaonkar, the founder of Glyscend Therapeutics, a U.S.-based biotech firm testing treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity in early trials, agreed. "All of the factors over the past several years have made China a less attractive option for us," he said.

Nimgaonkar told Reuters that when Glyscend issues an RFP later in the development stage of the medicines it has in trials, Indian contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) would be preferred over Chinese ones.

Four of India's largest CDMOs - Syngene, Aragen Life Sciences, Piramal Pharma Solutions, and Sai Life Sciences - told Reuters they have this year seen increased interest and requests from Western pharma companies, including major multinationals.

Sai declined to comment on profit growth but said sales have grown 25%-30% in recent years. The other companies said they reported strong profit growth in the most recent quarter.

Top executives at the firms said some customers want to add India as a second source, in addition to China, for manufacturing. Others are seeking to leave China and even making requests to originate supply chains in India.

The full benefit for these Indian manufacturers will not be immediate, said Peter DeYoung, CEO of Piramal Pharma Solutions.

It will take time for treatments in early development to make it to the market, when contracts would become more lucrative for outsourcing firms like his, he said.

Chinese CDMOs are established makers of biologic drugs, which require a higher threshold of regulatory approval than conventional medicines, said Helen Chen, Greater China Managing Partner at L.E.K. Consulting in Shanghai.

Hiring a new firm for complex work such as biologic manufacturing can take three to five years, she added. "It's really not something that (companies) just pick up and move like shoes."

STRONG GROWTH

India is seeking a bigger foothold in the pharma services sector to boost sales and reputation for its $42 billion pharmaceuticals industry.

But concerns over lax oversight persist. Nimgaonkar said Indian CDMOs need to do more to ensure their reputation on quality standards matches Western and Chinese ones.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against using an eye drop made in India linked to the outbreak of a drug-resistant bacteria in the United States that caused one death.

India-based research firm Mordor Intelligence estimates revenue from India's CDMO industry at $15.6 billion this year compared to $27.1 billion in China. But it estimates revenues from India's industry will grow, on average, at more than 11% annually over the next five years, compared to about 9.6% for China.

The Indian CDMOs told Reuters that their facilities are routinely inspected by the FDA. An FDA spokesperson declined to comment.

Piramal Pharma has this year received requests from clients for "backward integration to India", which means that even the most basic raw materials are sourced from the country instead of China, said DeYoung. Piramal buys about 15% of its raw materials from China but is trying to reduce that.

Sai Life Sciences said it almost doubled manufacturing capacity since 2019 and is adding another 25% in the next year or so to meet demand.

Ramesh Subramanian, chief commercial officer of Aragen, a privately-owned Indian firm that has grown from 2,500 to 4,500 employees in the past five years, said revenue growth of 21% last year was partly driven by new contracts with Western biotech firms. Aragen counts seven of the 10 biggest pharma companies as clients, he said, declining to name them.

The shift is particularly evident in drug discovery work for conventional pharmaceuticals.

"New biotechs are deciding to put eggs in both the Indian and China baskets from the start," Subramanian said.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick in London, Andrew Silver in Shanghai and Rishika Sadam in Hyderabad; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Catherine Evans)

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This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.
Taranjit Singh Sandhu, the Indian Ambassador to the United States, faced a hostile encounter at the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York. Sandhu was at the Gurdwara for Gurpurab prayers, ANI reported.

A video circulating on social media shows Sandhu being confronted by extremists. These individuals were voicing support for Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, both labelled terrorists by India. The situation escalated, forcing the Ambassador to leave quickly. Outside the Gurdwara, a protestor was seen waving the Khalistani flag.

This incident isn't isolated. Two months back, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, was barred from entering a Glasgow Gurdwara. A pro-Khalistani activist blocked his entry, as seen in an Instagram video by 'Sikh Youth UK'.

In July, a suspected Khalistani group committed arson there. Then, in March, the consulate faced another attack. Post these events, India voiced its concerns to the US and demanded measures to prevent repeats.

Last week, the US shared intelligence about a criminal nexus involving terrorists, gun runners and organised criminals. This intel is crucial for India, given its implications for national security. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has acknowledged the gravity of these inputs and is taking necessary actions.

Sandhu, on his part, shared a positive note about his visit. He tweeted about joining the local Sangat, including Afghan members, for Gurpurab. His post highlighted listening to Kirtan, discussing Guru Nanak's teachings, sharing langar and praying for universal blessings.

Also Read: Indian High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma urges Canada for evidence of allegations against India in Nijjar case

India's diplomatic circles are alert to these challenges. Delhi is engaging with foreign counterparts to ensure the safety of their diplomats and address broader security concerns. These incidents underscore the complex dynamics Indian representatives face globally, particularly with the rise of extremist elements in various countries.

(With ANI inputs)

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Rescue efforts have been ongoing since with the multiple agency-led rescue operation encountering multiple obstacles that halted the operation a number of times.

The initial plan was to rescue workers through horizontal drilling with the expertise of international tunnelling experts. However, the operation had to be stopped on November 24 when Auger drill blades broke. Plasma and magna rod cutter machines were transported to the site to take out stuck auger blades.

The process of removing parts of the auger was completed on Monday morning as informed by Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami today. The CM further stated, "The auger machine has been taken out completely...Drilling and pushing work will start and we hope that the work is completed at the earliest," reported ANI.

Micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper on Monday said, We have 9 meters of hand tunnelling to do. It really depends on how the ground behaves. Could be quickly, could be a bit longer. If we hit some lattice girder. Then we've got to cut out the lattice girder, but we're confident we can get through. The Army is just supervising (the operation). 30 metres of (vertical drilling) has been done."

Former DG of Border Roads Organisation, Harpal Singh today said, Frames of 800 mm diameter pipes have been prepared. We will move ahead by half a metre to one metre gradually. If all goes well and no obstacles are encountered a 10-metre stretch can be covered in 24-36 hours."

Other alternative options were considered with Vertical drilling being the second best. Former DG of Border Roads Organisation Harpal Singh on Monday informed that vertical drilling from above the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel has been done up to 31 metres.

This operation involves drilling a total of 86 metres to prepare an escape passage for the 41 trapped workers. This method involves laying 1.2 metres broad pipes from the top of the tunnel.

Tehri Hydro Development Corporation (THDC) is working on a project to construct a rescue tunnel from the Barkot end with the most recent fifth blast that took place at 2:25 am on November 26.

Principal Secretary to the PM, Pramod Kumar Mishra; Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary, SS Sandhu visited Uttarkashi's Silkyara tunnel today to inspect the ongoing rescue operation. Mishra inspected the tunnel site, had a talk with the family of trapped workers and inquired about the food being sent every day.

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The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear the first of two landmark cases this term challenging the runaway administrative state. At stake in SEC v. Jarkesy is a bedrock constitutional principle that colonists fought to defend in the American revolution: the right to a trial by jury.

Congress in recent decades has expanded the enforcement powers of administrative agencies. The 2010 Dodd-Frank Act granted the Securities and Exchange Commission unbridled power to seek penalties administratively against any individual for violating securities laws. Democrats wanted to make it easier for the agency to punish misconduct.

Administrative tribunals let SEC prosecutors present hearsay evidence and unauthenticated documents that would be inadmissible in a traditional federal court. Defendants also enjoy fewer procedural protections including the tools of legal discovery. No surprise, then, that the SEC wins almost all cases it charges in-house. At the time of hedge-fund founder George Jarkesys administrative trial in 2014, the SEC had a 100% in-house victory rate versus 61% in federal court in 200 contested cases.

The SEC charged Mr. Jarkesy with securities fraud for allegedly inflating the value of fund assets, which the agency said allowed him to earn higher management fees. An administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled against Mr. Jarkesy. SEC commissioners upheld the ruling six years later, ordered him to pay a $300,000 penalty, and barred him from the industry.

Mr. Jarkesy appealed to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, arguing that SEC tribunals violate his Seventh Amendment right to trial by jury. He also contended that multiple layers of for-cause tenure protections for ALJs from presidential removal offend the constitutional separation of powers. The Fifth Circuit ruled for Mr. Jarkesy on all counts.

In its High Court brief, the SEC argues the Seventh Amendment applies only when privatenot publicrights are at stake. Earlier Court decisions have exempted claims from the right to a jury trial if they involve public rights such as government-granted benefits and privileges.

The SEC tries to muddy the public-private distinction by arguing that public rights are at stake whenever the government sues on behalf of the public" to enforce laws. But as Mr. Jarkesy points out, the SEC is seeking to deprive him of a core right for a common-law offense that he allegedly committed against other private citizens.

The historical record supports his argument. Todays administrative tribunals resemble those that the British government used to punish colonists and religious dissidents before the revolution. The British government used jury-less admiralty courts to impose civil penalties on colonists for violating the Sugar and Stamp Acts.

The Declaration of Independence cited the denial of the benefits of trial by jury" as one of the colonists chief grievances. The Founders pushed to enshrine the right in the Constitution to prevent the new Congress from creating special forums to adjudicate civil penalties as Parliament and the King had done.

A jury trial in federal court ensures due process for defendants and protects against abuses of enforcement power. Underscoring this point, SEC enforcement staff were found in Mr. Jarkesys case and dozens of others to have improperly accessed privileged legal memos of agency lawyers involved in adjudicating their cases.

As for double removal protections for ALJs, the SEC says they are constitutionally permissible if deemed best for the public interest." But it proposes no limiting principle. ALJs can be fired only for good cause" by a Merit Selection Review Board whose members can be removed only for inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." In Free Enterprise Fund (2010), the Court struck down a similar scheme that insulated members of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board with two layers of tenure protection.

Progressives say a ruling for Mr. Jarkesy would gut the administrative state, which is what they always say. But the SEC and other federal agencies could continue to litigate cases in-house that involve truly public rights such as veterans benefits and asylum claims. But they would have to go to federal court to impose civil penalties for common-law offenses.

Restoring the originalist interpretation of the Seventh Amendment would strengthen safeguards against tyrannical government.

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Six teenagers face trial in Paris on Monday for their suspected involvement in the beheading of a teacher who had shown caricatures of the Prophet of Islam to his class.

As reported by PTI, the victim, Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on October 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb. The assailant, an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had been radicalized, was subsequently shot dead by the police.

This incident prompted French authorities to reaffirm the country's commitment to freedom of expression and secular values.

Also Read: Teacher killed, others injured in knife attack at French school; cops detain perpetrator

PTI reported, Paty's name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

All hearings at a Paris juvenile court are to be held without media in accordance with French law regarding minors.

Also Read: A history teacher beheaded in France after showing Mohammed cartoons

Among those going on trial, a teenage girl, who was 13 at the time, is accused of making false allegations for wrongly saying that Paty had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons. She later told investigators she had lied. She was not in the classroom that day and Paty did not make such a request, the investigation has shown.

Five other students of Paty's school, then 14 and 15, are facing charges of criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence to be committed.

Also Read: French police make arrests after teacher beheaded in Paris suburb

They are accused of having waited for Paty for several hours until he left the school and of having identified him to the killer in exchange for promises of payments of 300-350 euros ($348-$406).

The investigation established that the attacker knew the name of the teacher and the address of his school, but he did not have the means to identify him.

All six teenagers are facing 2 1/2-year in prison. The trial is scheduled to end on Dec 8.

Also Read: France to ban wearing of abayas by Muslim women in schools: Education minister Gabriel Attal

Eight other adults are to be sent to trial later. They include the father of the teenage girl charged with false allegations. At the time, he had posted videos on social media that called for mobilisation against the teacher.

Also Read: Indian foreign ministry strongly deplores attacks on French President

A radical Islamic activist, involved in spreading the extremist messages that targeted Samuel Paty, has also been charged. The trial occurs six weeks after a teacher was fatally stabbed, and three others were injured in a school attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization.

Also Read: Knife attack at French church: Woman beheaded, 2 killed; cops detain attacker

This incident, set against global tensions surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict, prompted French authorities to deploy an additional 7,000 soldiers nationwide to enhance security and vigilance, PTI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)

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The worlds largest crypto exchange saw a change of leadership last week as Changpeng Zhao admitted to money laundering. Civil servant-turned-crypto executive Richard Teng will now help the company navigate a web of regulatory probes and take on the challenge of retaining customer confidence in Binance.

I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility. This is best for our community, for Binance, and for myself. Binance is no longer a baby. It is time for me to let it walk and run. I know Binance will continue to grow and excel with the deep bench it has. Im pleased to announce that Richard Teng, our now former Global Head of Regional Markets, has been named the new CEO of Binance today," Zhao  known online as CZ  tweeted on November 22.

Teng had served as the company's Global Head of Regional Markets for a few months prior to assuming the top role. He had previously been the Singapore CEO before serving as Binance's Regional Head of Asia, Europe and Mena.

Over the span of a 30-year career Teng has also served as the CEO of the Financial Services Regulatory Authority at Abu Dhabi Global Market. He hwas also the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Singapore Exchange and Director of Corporate Finance in the Monetary Authority of Singapore.

The Singapore native also holds a Masters (Distinction) in Applied Finance from the University of Western Sydney and graduated with First Class Honours in Accountancy from the Nanyang Technological University.

With Richard and the entire team, Im confident that the best days for Binance and the crypto industry lay ahead. As a shareholder and former CEO with historical knowledge of our company, I will remain available to the team to consult as needed, consistent with the framework set out in our US agency resolutions," Zhao added in his tweet.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Billionaire Elon Musk , who is also accused by civil rights groups of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his X (formerly Twitter), will meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Israelis whose relatives have been held by Hamas in Gaza today, Monday, November 27.

During the meeting, the Israeli President will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online, Herzog's office announced on Sunday night, Reuters reported.

The tech entrepreneur did not respond to requests for comment through spokespeople for Tesla and X, formerly known as Twitter. His visit coincides with a four-day truce in an Israeli war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza during which 40 of the 240 hostages Israel says have been held by Hamas have returned to Israel.

Israel's Channel 12 said Musk would also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. There was no immediate comment from his office.

Netanyahu met Musk in California on September 18 and urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitic content on X.

Musk responded by saying he was against antisemitism and against anything that "promotes hate and conflict," repeating his previous statements that X would not promote hate speech.

During that visit, before the war, about 200 people protested efforts by Netanyahu's right-wing government to curb the powers of Israeli courts. They gathered outside Tesla's California factory, where the meeting took place.

Then on November 15 Musk agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking the actual truth", as per Reuters reports.

The White House condemned what it called an "abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate" that "runs against our core values as Americans."

Major U.S. companies including Walt Disney, Warner Bros Discovery and NBCUniversal parent Comcast paused their advertisements on his social media site.

The "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory holds that Jewish people and leftists are engineering the ethnic and cultural replacement of white populations with non-white immigrants that will lead to a "white genocide."

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen in the United States and worldwide, including during the now seven-week-old war between Israel and Hamas.

Following the outbreak of war, antisemitic incidents in the United States rose by nearly 400% from the year-earlier period, according to the Anti-Defamation League, a nonprofit organization that fights antisemitism.

Musk has said X should be a platform for people to post diverse viewpoints, but the company will limit the distribution of certain posts that may violate its policies, calling the approach "freedom of speech, not reach."

Currently, he is developing an artificial intelligence startup AI, and Israel is considered a world leader in the field, thanks to burgeoning computing and robotics industries.

(With Reuters inputs)

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Billionaire Elon Musk landed in Tel Aviv on Monday, beginning a visit during which Israeli leaders plan to bring his attention to the plight of hostages held in war-torn Gaza and discuss rising antisemitism online, Reuters reported.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog's office on Sunday announced that Musk would be coming to meet the head of state. Musk will also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Avi Scharf, an aviation expert on X (formerly Twitter) posted that a plane carrying the billionaire, who also runs Tesla and SpaceX, had touched down in the morning.

His visit coincides with a four-day truce in an Israeli war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza during which 40 of the 240 hostages Israel says have been held by Hamas have returned to Israel.

On September 18, PM Netanyahu met Elon Musk in California urged him to strike a balance between protecting free expression and fighting hate speech after weeks of controversy over antisemitic content on X.

During that visit, before the war, about 200 people protested efforts by Netanyahu's right-wing government to curb the powers of Israeli courts. They gathered outside Tesla's California factory, where the meeting took place.

Musk has said X should be a platform for people to post diverse viewpoints, but the company will limit the distribution of certain posts that may violate its policies, calling the approach "freedom of speech, not reach."

Then on November 15 Musk agreed with a post on X that falsely claimed Jewish people were stoking hatred against white people, saying the user who referenced the "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory was speaking the actual truth", as per Reuters reports.

Antisemitism and Islamophobia have risen in the United States and worldwide, including during the now seven-week-old war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian faction Hamas.

The sides are currently in a truce under which Israel has been recovering some of the 240 people Hamas took hostage during a cross-border killing spree on October 7. In exchange, Israel has been freeing some Palestinians jailed on security grounds.

(With Reuters inputs)

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Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra held discussions with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Tehran on Sunday.

The talks focused on enhancing connectivity through the strategic Chabahar port and addressing the current situation in West Asia stemming from the conflict between Hamas and Israel. During his visit to Tehran, the foreign secretary also co-chaired a meeting of India-Iran Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) alongside Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister for Political Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani. Regarding Kwatra's discussions with Amir-Abdollahian, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi mentioned that both parties reached a consensus to enhance the existing cooperation across various domains. "Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra called on FM @Amirabdolahian of Iran in Tehran today," Bagchi said on X.

"Discussed bilateral matters, connectivity projects including Chabahar port, and shared perspective on current challenges in the region. Both sides agreed to further strengthen the ongoing cooperation in various spheres," he said.

Kwatra's visit to Tehran assumes significance as it came amid growing global concerns over the hostilities between Hamas and Israel. The two sides agreed on a four-day ceasefire from Friday.

Also Read: India, Iran set to ink long-term deal on Chabahar port

On the FOC, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the two sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relationship, including connectivity projects such as Chabahar port, political engagements, trade and economic relations, capacity building initiatives and people-to-people ties.

"They also exchanged views on current regional and global issues, including developments in Afghanistan and Gaza," the MEA said in a statement.

"The Indian side appreciated Iran's participation in the Voice of Global South Summits held this year," it said.

Kwatra also met Iran's deputy foreign minister for economic diplomacy Mehdi Safari.

Also Read: India, Iran drop arbitration clause for Chabahar port

Bagchi said the discussions focused on concretising India's engagement in the development of the Chabahar port as a connectivity project.

"Avenues of increasing broader trade and investment ties were also reviewed," he said.

Also Read: Israel-Hamas war: Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi seeks India to 'use all its capacities' to end Israeli actions in Gaza

Situated in the Sistan-Balochistan province along Iran's energy-rich southern coast, the Chabahar port is a collaborative development between India and Iran aimed at enhancing connectivity and trade relations.

India has actively advocated for the Chabahar port project, emphasizing its potential to foster regional trade, with a particular focus on facilitating connectivity to Afghanistan.

Also Read: Afghanistan permanently closes Indian embassy in Delhi, cites policy shift

During a connectivity conference in Tashkent in 2021, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the significance of the Chabahar port as a pivotal regional transit hub, particularly for connectivity to Afghanistan.

Additionally, the Chabahar port is recognized as a crucial center for the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project. The INSTC is a comprehensive multi-mode transport initiative spanning 7,200 kilometers, designed to facilitate the movement of freight among India, Iran, Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia, Central Asia, and Europe.

(With inputs from PTI)

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G Motors

Surveillance video captured a pair of dogs ripping fenders and bumpers off nearly a half dozen cars parked at a used car dealership in Houston, Texas. The dog attacks have caused between $100,000 and $350,000 in damage, ABC 13 News reports.

The dogs ripped into the cars in three separate incidents between November 6 and November 18. They got past the fence surrounding the lot at G Motors on Cypress Creek Parkway in Houston. Sales manager Gaby Fakhoury said at least five cars were damaged in the attacks. The damage goes far beyond a dent or a scratch. Many of the cars had their bumpers torn completely off.

Beyond just the car damage, G Motors says it's concerned about the safety of its employees and customers. The Houston Police Department has been contacted about the incidents. However, the agency said this is a civil matter and it cannot help in this situation. Police reportedly suggested the business hire a private investigator to find the owner of the dogs.

G Motors said there is a narrow gap at one point along their perimeter fence which seems to be the potential entry point for the stray dogs. The dealership was already planning on moving to a new location next month. Hopefully, that new location is more secure. A dog may be mans best friend, but when it starts to rip cars apart and causes a quarter of a million dollars in damages, that is enough to strain any relationship.

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Ahead of the Christmas vacation, several Asian countries have recently announced that they are implementing visa-free entry for visitors from India and other countries. So, if you are still in the process of making travel plans for the holiday season, here are three destinations you can visit.

Malaysia

Come December 1, tourists from India and China can enter Malaysia without a visa and stay there is up to 30 days.

While announcing the development, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said that the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries. But, the exemption was subject to top security screening

"Initial screenings will be conducted for all tourists and visitors to Malaysia. Security is a different matter. If there are criminal records or the risk of terrorism, they will not be allowed to enter," the prime minister said.

"That comes under the authority of the security forces and immigration," the premier said.

The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business.

Malaysia's decision follows a similar visa waiver implemented by Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam.

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka has introduced a visa-free entry initiative for visitors from India and six other countries, including China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.

This initiative will remain effective until March 31, 2024.

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 last month.

Thailand

Thailand has also started granting 30-day visa-free entry for visitors from India and Taiwan from November 1. The initiative will remain applicable till 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.

Vietnam

Last week, Vietnam also announced that it is contemplating visa-free entry for Indians and Chinese to enhance tourism. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh proposed waivers for visitors from affluent nations like Australia, Canada, the U.S., and the 20 remaining EU members.

Presently, citizens of certain European countries enjoy visa-free access, while others can obtain e-visas with a 90-day validity and multiple entry options.

However, Vietnam is yet to make a formal announcement.

PREMIER More Information

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Russia placed Meta Platforms spokesperson Andy Stone on its wanted list "with criminal charges", Russian news agency TASS reported on Sunday. Stone was listed on Russia's interior ministry's list of wanted people, without further detail.

TASS said the Russian Interior Ministry had opened a criminal investigation against Stone but that the ministry had not disclosed the details of the investigation or charges.

The report cited a statement in the database of the Russian Ministry of Interior, saying, "Andy Mark Stone is wanted under an article of the Russian Criminal Code."

"The database does not indicate the specific article for the search. It follows from the file in the Ministry of Interiors database, Stone was repeatedly placed on the wanted list," the report added.

In March 2022 the Russian investigative committee said it had opened a criminal investigation against the "illegal actions of Meta's employees". It mentioned Stone, saying he had "lifted a ban on calls for violence against the Russian military on its platforms" and was thus inciting extremist activity.

Necessary investigative actions were taking part as part of criminal proceedings, aimed at giving the legal treatment for actions of Andy Stone and other employees of the US corporation," TASS reported.

Russia's financial watchdog had last year put US corporation Meta  which owns Facebook  on its list of "extremists and terrorists". In April 2022, Russia put Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on a blacklist of people banned from entering the country.

Russia has hugely cracked down on media and social media freedom since launching its Ukraine offensive last year and banning criticism of it.

Facebook and Instagram have been blocked in Russia since the start of the Ukraine offensive and are only accessible via VPN, news agency AFP reported.

Twitter has also been banned, as well as Russian independent media critical of the Kremlin.

Before the bans, millions of Russians used applications belonging to Meta, especially Instagram, which remains hugely popular with young Russians.

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A Qatar-US-Egypt mediated deal has ensured a four-day pause in the seven week war Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has waged on Palestine's Gaza, killing more than 20,031 Palestinians. As the pause goes through its final 24 hours on Monday, before Israeli Defense Forces unleash their monstrosity over Gaza's civilians, a report by the Washington Post has suggested that US President Joe Biden had ignored a White House staffer's warning to avid mentioning that he had seen images of Hamas fighters beheading Israeli children.

In the initial days of the war, US President Joe Biden had attested to Israeli claims that Hamas fighters from Palestine's Gaza had beheaded Israeli children while launching the 7 October attack. This claim of a heinous crime was condemned by world leaders, before the claim ran into controversy as Israel could not provide evidence of their claim.

Israel's sworn ally US had also run into the controversy when they attested the unverified claim, considered blasphemous in a war like situation that has been going on between Benjamin Netanyahu's Israel and Hamas fighters from Palestine's Gaza.

According to two White House officials, Vice President Kamala Harris suggested to Biden that he should add a line to his speech denouncing Islamophobia and how Muslims and Arab communities faced discrimination and hate attacks for years after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

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While Biden accepted Harris's suggestion, he ignored a warning from his staff members who advised him against adding his claim of 'Hamas beheading babies' in his speech.

Biden later met with five prominent Muslim Americans who were upset when the US President in October publicly questioned the death toll of civilians in Gaza. When he heard their accounts, including a woman who lost 100 members of her family, Biden said he was "sorry" and was "disappointed in himself", two people familiar with the meeting told The Washington Post.

The meeting between Biden and Muslim Americans, which was supposed to end in 30 minutes, ended after more than an hour, a White House official said. Biden told the group "he would do better" and even hugged one of the participants, the official added.

In another meeting, Palestinian Americans told White House aides that Biden would lose Arab and Muslim votes over his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, an official said. A White House aide responded to the group that Biden was merely trying to prevent World War III and not thinking about the matter politically.

Apart from this, several American diplomats, aid workers and defence officials have called for a complete ceasefire in the fighting in Gaza. The State Department has received dissent cables from diplomats, urging the administration to use their influence to stop the violence.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hamas are preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as mediators seek to extend a cease-fire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.

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The case for shedding a colonial-era penal code rests not just on how outdated some of its provisions are, but on a need to actualize our 1947 liberation from foreign rule. Individual liberty, it was hoped, could be maximized within the constraint of neither depriving others of it, nor causing anyone harma live-and-let-live model. A recent let-down for such a liberal order was the news of a parliamentary panel asking for adultery to be listed as an offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which Indias government plans to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC) of 1860 with. As a weapon designed for males to wield against their wives lovers, the old IPC version denied women sexual agency and was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2018. Should marital infidelity now be outlawed by a gender-neutral provision? While this may satisfy the equality test, the judicial ruling that scrapped the Victorian ban also held it to be in violation of Article 21our right, i.e., to life and liberty. As adultery can split families and cause pain, it requires some restraint, no doubt, but every misdeed is not a crime. Prison for consensual sex is not just too harsh, it would also legitimize a nosey state with likely disregard for privacy.

Ideally, for gender justice to be served, the committee that has the BNS under scrutiny should focus on the drafts misses and mis-steps, as outlined by Mint (bit.ly/488xLWz) in August. The bill fails to outlaw marital rape, for example, a missed chance to protect female free will from undue male privilege. But it would make it illegal to use deceitful means" for marriage, with deceit defined to cover not just false avowals, but suppressing identity." This part looks aimed at so-called love jihad, the alleged masking of a minority faith to entrap women, and its validity could well be challenged in court. That loosely worded laws can be interpreted widely to suit the days regime was a lesson we learnt long ago from a British whip in the shape of Section 124A on sedition in the IPC. Its misuse has been rampant, its role in keeping us secure remains unclear, and its a colonial relic thats best dropped. Unfortunately, it may live on in the guise of Clause 150 in the BNS. The dangers it criminalizes in defence of Indias sovereignty, unity and integrity are no less badly defined, making them a tad too easy for law-enforcers to apply. Other aspects of the proposed BNS may also need a review. Its tough-on-terror aim is unlikely to be served accurately by an enlarged definition of it. Even a non-violent act that is deemed a disturbance of public order" or a threat to political, economic or social structures" could count as a terrorist act under the BNS, it seems, with stiff penalties to follow. Again, the bill casts this dragnet too wide.

Clarity in law is key to justice. No legal system can afford a burden of false-guilt errors, but Indias politics, social schisms and lack of police autonomy make it particularly vital to draft laws clearly. Law enforcement will also turn harsher if the Centres proposals on criminal procedures are enacted. These seek to over-empower the police. The limit on how long an accused can be held in police custody, for instance, will be extended in ways that could make interrogations in lock-ups even more fearsome. It fits in with the rightist lurch of the BNS, which not only retains the death penalty, but enlarges its scope. This, however, is neither the legal rehaul we need, nor a legislative bent thats likely to survive the test of time.
AS THE HEAD office of Northern Heavy Industries (NHI) comes into view, so does a huge slogan fixed permanently to its roof in metre-high red Chinese characters, where you might usually see a company name. The 22-character mouthful reads: Wave High the Great Banner of Xi Jinping Thought in the New Era of Socialism with Chinese Characteristics." A billboard-sized image of Mr Xi, Chinas leader, waves to visitors as they enter the lobby. In a nearby factory NHIs tunnel-boring machines, used for digging metro lines, rise four storeys into the air. The company was founded by the state many decades ago. Today more than ever it embodies an archetypal image of a state-owned enterprise (SoE).

Except that on paper NHI is private. A company called Fangda Group, which is listed in Shenzhen and fully privately owned, took a 47% stake in NHI in 2019, in a rare instance of a private company bailing out a state one. This made Fangda by far the largest single shareholder. The deal should have privatised NHI.

But in Chinas corporate sector nothing is so straightforward. Fangda is not the controlling shareholder. Executives say it does not have one. Some staff in its factories call it a state firm; some say it is private. When asked about Fangdas involvement in NHI, a manager says the investment was a policy decision". An investment adviser says that, for reasons he cannot divulge, investors should approach Fangda itself as if it had the backing of the stateeven though the state does not feature in its shareholder register. Fangdas website is covered in Communist Party imagery such as sickles and hammers. It describes its corporate mission as listening to the party and following the party".

Chinese business has become much more professional in the past three decades. Its stock market is one of the worlds largest and has been rapidly opening up to Western investors. In futuristic industries like electric vehicles and green energy Chinese firms lead the world. Chinas digital economy has produced rare rivals to Americas internet giants. Many have global ambitions and are backed by some of the worlds savviest asset managers.

Yet over the same period the lines between the state sector and private business have grown blurrier. Many global investors increasingly view Chinas private sector as a captive of the Communist Party. So do Western politicians, who rail against companies such as Huawei and TikTok for their alleged links to the party (which the firms deny). A recent paper from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a think-tank in Washington, asks: Can Chinese firms be truly private?" Monitoring state influence has thus become more important than ever. It has also become more difficult than at any time in the past.

One factor that has complicated matters is the central governments policy that explicitly seeks to blend state and private interests. Launched in 2013, mixed-ownership reform", as it is known, has encouraged private investments in some state firms and vice versa. The philosophy behind the policy was to introduce private capital into clunky state firms.

Most of the investment since then, however, has flowed in the other direction. According to Fitch, a ratings agency, on average 50 state companies a year took the controlling rights of listed private business between 2019 and 2021, up from fewer than 20 in 2018. Privately owned firms share of market value among Chinas 100 largest listed firms shrank from a peak of about 55% in mid-2021 to just 39% at the end of June this year, according to the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE), another Washington think-tank. State companies may have spent around $390bn investing in private companies since 2018, according to data from Dealogic, a research firm.

Mixed-ownership reform may have helped some SoEs perform better. Several academic studies found that it improves innovation and the return on assets. However, the reform has also created a vast grey sector that has characteristics of both state and private companies. The rise of government-backed funds armed with $1trn in capital has injected state funding into many private technology companies, including plenty of promising startups. State investors have also been taking golden shares", tiny stakes that grant outsized voting powers, in Chinas internet giants. In October it was revealed that a government agency had taken a 1% stake in a subsidiary belonging to Tencent, Chinas mightiest internet titan.

With the exception of top executives and government officials no one really understands what golden shares do. Company spokespeople say they are harmless. Investors disagree. When earlier this year such an arrangement came to light at Tencent and Alibaba, another internet giant, their share prices sank. An investment manager in Hong Kong explains that the discount was the result of state links being associated with corporate and financial stability, not risky innovation and animal spirits. From the states perspective, he adds, rapid profit growth and high valuations could be perceived as dangerous if they take place in the wrong sectors.

Distinguishing between state and private companies is becoming more difficult because state influence over companies is no longer just tied to ownership, says Margaret Pearson of the University of Maryland, College Park. In The State and Capitalism in China", published in May, Ms Pearson and her co-authors say that China is moving from state capitalism, where business is guided by national interests, to party-state capitalism", in which it is organised around the interests of the Communist Party.

Until the late 2000s how the party exercised its power over corporate management was mainly evident in its appointments of SoE bosses. That has changed significantly since Mr Xi became party chief in 2012. A sweeping anti-corruption campaign, followed by a crackdown on tech companies, has helped deflate and reshape Chinas digital economy. Outspoken tech entrepreneurs have vanished. A handful of tech founders and other business leaders have stepped down. Alibaba is splitting itself into several firms. Tencent has shed tens of billions of dollars in assets. New Oriental, Chinas most promising private-education group before the state snuffed out its entire industry almost overnight, has become an online marketplace for agricultural and other products. Insiders argue about precisely how much direct influence the party had on such corporate decisions. Most agree that it is pleased with the outcome.

State support, implicit or explicit, can help businesses aligned to Mr Xis vision. A lot of innovation in green energy, electric vehicles, robotics and digitisation is done by private firms but bankrolled by the state. Many entrepreneurs report that life is good in those areas. In sensitive domains like generative artificial intelligence (AI), new services are developed hand in hand with the state. Private companies working on AI frequently consult regulators, who provide guidance for what development is and is not permissible. Rather than regarding such consultations as an obstacle to innovation, Chinese AI firms often see it as a fast track to success.

The party exercises control in subtler ways, too. One tool is its corporate social credit" system. Launched not long after Mr Xi came to power, it rates companies based on factors including legal and debt-payment record. A recent review of all publicly available scores in Zhejiang, a wealthy coastal province, by Lauren Yu-Hsin Lin at the City University of Hong Kong and Curtis Milhaupt of Stanford Law School, found that companies with more political connections had higher scores. Other than a companys size, the variable most closely associated with a high score is having directors or a chief executive who served in important government or party positions.

Firms with high scores can be red-listed", or given preferential access to credit. Ending up on the systems blacklist makes it exceedingly hard to get loans. This gives private firms a strong incentive to follow state policies even in the absence of direct state ownership.

Another way for the party to control firms is through party committees, where employees who are party members meet to discuss ideology and its place in corporate life. These cells typically do not have formal administrative clout. But they channel information about the company or its industry to regulators. This information may in turn shape local regulations, notes a banker. As with golden shares, the clearest impact that party committees have had so far is to breed distrust among foreign investors, and between foreign firms local subsidiaries and their headquarters.

Many of the changes in the private sector can be explained as an attempt on the part of entrepreneurs to balance commercial activity while also showing loyalty to the party and fulfilling political duties, says Huang Tianlei of PIIE. Showing loyalty does not necessarily make them less profit-seeking. They are simply trying to adapt to a political economy founded on the supremacy of the party.

Yet the blurrier the line between the state and the private sector, the harder it becomes for entrepreneurs to strike a balance between party and profit. Ms Pearson and her co-authors find that private companies may not be secure enough in their autonomy from the state to pursue their own interests with ease". It is not just investors who find the system tiresomely muddled. The view from within is getting hazier, too.

 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 2024 election will probably be preceded by another flood of lawsuits over voting rules, especially absentee ballots, and keep an eye on Pennsylvania. Last week a federal judge there ruled that timely mail ballots must be counted even if the voter neglected to write the date, as state law requires. This may go to the Supreme Court, which punted a similar case last year.

The saga of Pennsylvanias undated ballots since the Covid pandemic is worth unspooling, because it shows how litigation puts indeterminacy into the election system. State law is unambiguous in saying that absentee voters must fill out, date and sign the declaration printed on such envelope." This requirement has gone to court repeatedly for three years, with frustratingly inconclusive results.

In 2020 a Republican state Senate candidate, Nicole Ziccarelli, was poised to topple a Democratic incumbent, whom she led by four votes. Eventually she lost by 69, after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered the tallying of some 300 undated mail ballots. Four of the seven Justices agreed such ballots were invalid under state law. But the swing Justice said that given the circumstances, I would apply my interpretation only prospectively."

A year later, the question was whether federal law overrides Pennsylvanias date mandate. A Republican judicial candidate, David Ritter, was up by 71 votes, with about 250 undated mail ballots uncounted. Guess what happened next? Mr. Ritter lost by five, after the federal Third Circuit Appeals Court ordered the extra ballots to be included, citing the Civil Rights Act. Specifically, that law says the right of any individual to vote" cannot be denied based on a paperwork error that is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified."

The Supreme Court refused to grant a stay, over three conservative dissents. The Third Circuits interpretation is very likely wrong," Justice Samuel Alito wrote. When a mail-in ballot is not counted because it was not filled out correctly, the voter is not denied the right to vote. Rather, that individuals vote is not counted because he or she did not follow the rules for casting a ballot." The same is true, Justice Alito added, if a voter goes to the wrong polling site or returns a ballot to a bad address.

After Mr. Ritters defeat was certified, he made a final appeal to the Supreme Court, complaining that the state has ordered all counties to count undated ballots in future elections." The Justices ordered his case to be dismissed as moot, while also vacating the Third Circuits ruling, to prevent it from setting an unreviewable precedent. Then a week before Election Day in 2022, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court split 3-3 on what federal law requires of undated ballots.

Now its back to square one, with five Pennsylvanians claiming they were disenfranchised last year. Federal Judge Susan Paradise Baxter, ruling in their favor last week, says hundreds of mail votes in 2022 were rejected for obvious goofs like incorrect years, even though the written date is irrelevant," because what matters is whether the ballot was returned on time. But asking voters to date their ballots is a neutral, de minimis rule that could be useful in fraud cases. No law can end mistakes.

The nightmare is that control of the White House or the U.S. Senate could be decided after Election Day by a Supreme Court opinion on missing dates, incomplete witness addresses, or other ballot defects. Thats why the Justices should quit dodging these cases. The time to settle voting rules is when the stakes are low, which is to say, well in advance of Election Day.

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PICTURE IT: two of Americas most powerful governors take the debate stage. One is sporting copious amounts of hair gel. The other may, or may not, be wearing lifted boots to appear taller. Gavin Newsom, the Democratic governor of California, and Ron DeSantis, his Republican counterpart in Florida, spend 90 minutes trying to convince viewers that their own state represents the very best of America, and that their relative youth and respective flavour of crusading politics are just what the country needs. Donald Trump is heckling both men in ALL CAPS on Truth Social, from his armchair at Mar-a-Lago, having decided not to seek a second term. Joe Biden is looking forward to retirement, secure in the belief that his presidency was a bridge to the next generation. Sean Hannity, of Fox News, does a passable impression of a neutral moderator.

In another universe this could have been a prime-time debate during the 2024 presidential campaign. Instead, Messrs DeSantis and Newsom will face off on Fox News on November 30th for reasons unclear even to the governors themselves. During an interview last month in Los Angeles, your correspondent asked Mr Newsom why Americans should watch a debate between one (floundering) presidential candidate, and a governor who is not (currently) running for anything. I dont know they should," he replied merrily.

Yet governors are not the provincial personalities they used to be. The governor has long been an underappreciated centre of power in US politics," says Kristoffer Shields of the Eagleton Centre on the American Governor at Rutgers University. But that changed a little bit during covid." In the early days of the pandemic Americans watched their governors deliver regular, often daily, press conferences about the advance of the virus. They became household names. The most outspoken inspired admiration and ire from Americans outside their own states.

There are two ways to look at this event, says Mr Shields: the cynical and the uncynical. Journalists are bound by oath to start with the former. Mr DeSantis is running for president, and in contrast to the earlier imagined scenario, Mr Trump is leading him in the polls by nearly 50 points. Floridas governor is trying to sell the debate with his Californian counterpart as the next big event in the race for the Republican nomination. Except this time, unlike during the primary debates, hes the only member of the Republican Party on stage. He wont have to interrupt whatever spat Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley are having to get a word in.

Mr Newsom is also knee-deep in national politics. He is leading a hopeless campaign to enshrine stricter gun control in the constitution, and has launched his own political action committee to campaign for Democrats in Republican states. He is one of Mr Bidens loudest defenders. But should the need for a different Democratic nominee arise, it is not hard to imagine the Californian calling his own number.

The two governors have traded barbs from their respective coasts over gender identity, abortion and immigration. (Mr Newsom once went so far as to threaten Mr DeSantis with kidnapping charges for allegedly sending migrants to the Golden State.) The Fox News debate offers them a chance to burnish their national reputations on live TV. All debates are political theatre, but this one threatens to be more like a cage match, the clash of the culture warriors.

Yet it would be wrong to dismiss the debate as frivolous. California is the most populous state in the country, and Florida ranks third. Taken together, the two are home to some 61m people. The policies of Mr Newsom and Mr DeSantis affect nearly a fifth of all Americans.

The influence of these two mega-states can be felt beyond their borders. California and Florida have become avatars for very different visions of America. They are the standard-bearers for progressivism and anti-woke populism, respectively. And other states are following their leads. Seventeen adhere to Californias vehicle-emissions standards because they are stricter than the federal governments. Meanwhile PEN America, a free-speech organisation, reckons that a Florida law to limit instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity for young pupils has inspired more than two dozen copycat bills in other states.

There are risks for both governors. Should Mr DeSantis prove unable to keep up with Mr Newsom, who seems to relish his new role as Mr Bidens attack dog, his presidential hopes may sink further. Mr Newsom is walking into the debate knowing that California-bashing is a favourite pastime of both Fox News and Mr DeSantis. When the governor of Florida spoke at the California Republican Partys convention in September, he told the crowd: The California model represents more American decline." He wants to own the lib", predicts Mr Newsom, and talk about homelessness in California and everyone getting U-Hauls to drive to Florida".

Still, Americans accustomed to hearing about dysfunction in Congress may be surprised to hear just how much states are getting done. If either governor manages to impress, it may not be for nothing. Perhaps the debate is not so much a glimpse of what could have been as a preview of what is to come.

 2023, The Economist Newspaper Limited.

All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
TEL AVIVThe release of dozens of hostages by Hamas in recent days under a fragile cease-fire deal has brought a measure of relief to Israelis who have spent the last seven weeks agonizing over the fate of the more than 200 people taken from Israel.

It has brought joyful reunions for families torn apart by the Oct. 7 attacks, but the homecomings have also been mixed with anguish, as scores of Israelis remain in captivity. The releases have left many families separated, with fathers and husbands still in Gaza. With each wave of hostages released, calls to bring the rest home grow louder.

But Israel faces a dilemma over how long it allows the pause in fighting to continue. The longer it goes on the more international pressure could build on Israel for a permanent truce to prevent further civilian casualties in Gaza. Each day of the pause also gives Hamas time to strengthen its military position, Israeli officials and security analysts said, potentially undermining Israels goal of eliminating the group.

Everyone released is a good feeling, but on the other hand it is painful that yours isnt one of them," said Ofir Baraslavsky, who was standing among tens of thousands on Saturday night in whats been dubbed hostages plaza." He held a placard with an image of his 19-year-old son, Rom, who was taken hostage at the Nova music festival in southern Israel on Oct. 7.

If we are already making a deal, then we should make one final deal for all of them. We want all of them released," said Baraslavsky.

Qatari and Egyptian leaders are now leading talks to extend the four-day pause in fighting beyond Monday in an effort to secure the release of more hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners and bring further relief to Palestinians in shattered Gaza. The central issue to resolve, Egyptian officials said, was providing a list of hostages Hamas would release in subsequent days.

On Sunday, President Biden said the U.S. was pressing to extend the current cease-fire beyond four days. Hamas has released at least one American so far under the cease-fire deal4-year-old Abigail Mor Idan, whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 attacks. Of the eventual return of the remaining Americans, Biden said he was hopeful, but I dont have anything firmly to tell you at this moment."

Negotiating each release has already proven to be a high-wire act. On Saturday, Hamas delayed its handover of hostages for hours, demanding that more aid be delivered to Gaza. For Hamas, every concessionand every extensioncould be essential to ensuring its survival. The exchanges have also led to the release of dozens of Palestinian prisoners, potentially boosting support for the group.

Israel has vowed to resume its military campaign to destroy Hamas. We are going until the enduntil victory. Nothing will stop us," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a visit to soldiers inside Gaza on Sunday.

As a part of the initial deal, Hamas committed to releasing 50 hostages, in exchange for a cease-fire and the release of three Palestinian prisoners for every hostage freed. Before the releases, Hamas and other groups in Gaza were holding up to 100 civilians who are women and children, Israeli officials said.

Israel agreed, as a part of that deal, to pause fighting for further days in exchange for the release of additional batches of 10 women and children. That means Hamas can draw out the cease-fire for up to nine days, under the current agreement.

The agreement was hotly debated in Israel over fears that it could harm the countrys goal of completely destroying Hamas by giving the group an opportunity to strengthen its military position and push for a permanent cease-fire.

Yaakov Amidror, a former Israeli national security adviser, said that while Israel expects Hamas to try to maximize the current pause in fighting, neither the government nor the Israeli public will be deterred from restarting the battle. I dont see in Israel one serious voice saying after 10 days, we should stop and not continue the war," said Amidror.

Within Israel, the families and their supporters have become a powerful political force, as the mass gathering on Saturday night demonstrated. Calls for the return of all the hostages, including men, are growing stronger.

Who decided that men are at the bottom of the list for release?" said Shoval Gal, whose boyfriend, Ofir Tzarfati, was taken hostage at the Nova music festival, as she addressed the rally on Saturday.

Nimrod Novik, a former senior adviser to late Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, said Israel may face another fork in the road over whether to free men too if it is able to extend the current deal to the full nine days. But, ultimately, he said Israel will have no choice but to return to fighting.

The entire population of southern Israel is displaced and cant go back until this mission is accomplished," said Novik. No government will be able to face the public and say sorry we were forced to stop."

Each day since the deal was agreed, relatives anxiously wait to learn whether their loved ones are on a list of hostages drawn up by Hamas for release the next day. The logic behind the order isnt clear, but so far, hostages have largely been released with other members of their community, suggesting they were held together.

At the plaza on Saturday, Amon Raviv, 65, had seen the names of a former classmates two grandchildren on an unofficial list circulating ahead of the release. Raviv said the cease-fire should be extended, even if it played to Hamass advantage.

It will give them more time but its a price were willing to pay to get them back," said Raviv, holding posters of Yahel and Naveh Shoham. The government should pay the price to save them all."

Hours later, the Shoham siblingsages 3 and 8crossed into Israel along with their mother in the second group of hostages released. Their father was left behind.

Hila Rotem Shoshani, 13, was also released on Saturday but her mother Raaya Rotem, remained in Gaza.

Most of the Israelis released on Sunday were from the Kfar Aza kibbutz. Members of the community gathered at a hotel outside of Tel Aviv where they were evacuated after the attack, and watched the release of the hostages on a large screen. They cheered and clapped as they recognized their friends and neighbors in the Red Cross ambulances driving in a convoy out of Gaza.

The healing process for our community will only start when all the kidnapped people return," said Maor Moravia, a member of the kibbutz.

Keren Scharf Schem, who is waiting for the release of her 21-year-old daughter, Mia, said on Sunday that she is worried that her daughters pre-existing health issues may put her life at serious risk. The last sign Schem received that her daughter was alive was a video released by Hamas on Oct. 16, after she had undergone surgery in Gaza for injuries sustained in the attack.

She is now waiting to see if her daughter makes Mondays list. It is like playing Russian roulette," she said.

Chao Deng, Summer Said and Ari Flanzraich contributed to this article.

Write to Isabel Coles at isabel.coles@wsj.com and Dov Lieber at dov.lieber@wsj.com
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis Monday said the seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections would be decided only after discussions with alliance partners . This comes in the wake of Fadnavis earlier statement in which he stated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) intended to contest 26 out of 48 seats in the state, news agency PTI reported

While underlining the "basis" of the seat-sharing formula, the Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister had emphasized that respective parties should get to retain the constituencies they had contested earlier.

Fadnavis clarified that the discussions among alliance partners are yet to commence, and any formula would be decided only after these deliberations.

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"Discussions between allies are yet to begin and a formula would be decided only after the deliberations. The basis of the formula will be: the seats should go to those (parties) who have already contested that particular constituency," PTI quoted Fadnavis as replying to reporters when asked about his earlier remarks regarding seat-sharing in the state.

Highlighting the dynamic nature of the seat-sharing formula, the Deputy Chief Minister further said the party will make necessary changes and discuss it with Mahayuti alliance partners which comprises Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and the Ajit Pawar faction of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) beside the BJP.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP and Shiv Sena (Undivided) contested 41 seats in Maharashtra and won 23 and 18, respectively.

Apart from the seat-sharing formula, the Deputy Chief Minister said the Maharashtra government would help farmers whose crops were affected by unseasonal rains.

"Officials of the affected districts should conduct the primary assessment of the crop loss and send the reports. The government will certainly help the farmers," he added.

Citing the quasi-judicial nature of the issue, Fadnavis declined to comment on upcoming hearings by the state assembly speaker on disqualification pleas of NCP MLAs loyal to the Ajit Pawar faction.

"The hearing issue is quasi-judicial and the speaker has the tribunal status. It won't be appropriate to comment," he added.

ALLIANCE More Information

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At healthcare conferences, someone always asks, What if there was a magic pill?" One that could cure major diseases. What would the healthcare industry look like? Some emergency rooms and hospitals but less doctors and spending? Inevitably, the discussion ends with, But, of course, there is no magic pill." So we spend, spend, spend on healthcare, from $1.4 trillion in 2000 in the U.S. to more than $4.3 trillion18% of the economyin 2021.

Could there be magic cures? History shows plenty of wonder drugs and treatments. Aspirin reduces inflammation. Penicillin and other antibiotics fight infections. Insulin treats diabetes. Stents unblock arteries. These treat but dont cure diseases. Plus, two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese, which puts them at greater risk for many chronic diseases such as heart disease and stroke. According to the National Institutes of Health, 86% of health care costs are attributable to chronic disease."

By now youve heard about glucagon-like peptides (GLP-1). Drugs that mimic these hormones, like Novo Nordisks Ozempic and Wegovy and Eli Lillys Mounjaro, seem to treat diabetes by lowering blood-sugar levels. They also promote weight loss and lower the risk of heart disease. What cant GLP-1s do?

A friend of mine with diabetes started taking Mounjaro and now, because of shortages, takes Ozempic. He lost 70 pounds, got his A1C levels back to normal and told me, Im simply not hungry anymore. Its not even like Im full. I used to throw back a whole pizza and a gallon of milk. Now a slice and a bottle of water is more than enough. The food I used to crave has no interest for me." Amazing. Goldman Sachs Research expects this to be a $100 billion market by 2030. It could save multiples of that in healthcare costs. Patients take these drugs via injectable pens. Pills are comingdare I say magic pills?

Heres another magic cure: Israeli company Insightec, backed by Koch Industries, has made a helmet with 1,020 acoustic sources that when placed on a shaved head can focus ultrasound signals to specific spots in the brain. For patients with tremors, including some with Parkinsons disease, the system uses magnetic resonance, similar to an MRI, to guide focused ultrasound" to a specific spot in the brain, which it heats to 113 degrees Fahrenheit. This creates a lesion, which miraculously eliminates tremors with a less than 1% chance of side effects.

Insightec CEO Dr. Maurice R. Ferre tells me the companys incisionless brain surgery" is in 200 medical centers. Its devices have been used to perform 20,000 procedures that cost $18,000 to $20,000, replacing $60,000 electrode-implanting brain surgery. He adds that the company has 35 ongoing trials investigating focused ultrasound for things like depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Alzheimers, and even neurodegenerative diseases like ALS.

One trial caught my eye. The Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute at West Virginia University has been running trials on curing opioid and substance abuse. After putting the ultrasound helmet on a patient, researchers apply triggers for drug use, via images on virtual-reality glasses and scents, to look for areas where the brain lights up." Instead of heat, the focused ultrasound uses neuromodulation to excite the appropriate tissue.

Yes, it sounds right out of A Clockwork Orange"but it works! I heard of one patient, a longtime opioid user, who said he hasnt had a craving for drugs in years. A study published in September in Frontiers in Psychology says the procedure acutely reduced substance craving," even 90 days later. Sounds similar to GLP-1s and food cravings. So far, 12 people have had the procedure and Dr. Ferre says there has been no relapse or recurrence of cravings." A brave new world indeed.

There are other promising technologies. Crispr gene therapy can fix gene mutations for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and coming soon are one-off treatments for sickle-cell anemia. Even cancer treatment is changing rapidly. I paid $950 for the Galleri blood test from Grail, a subsidiary of Illumina. Using AI, it looks for patterns in your blood that can identify over 50 different cancers, even at a very early stage. My tests came back negative. Whew.

And if it found cancer? The same mRNA that quickly turned out Covid vaccines from BioNTech and Moderna is being used to fight cancer, including hard-to-detect pancreatic cancer. Wouldnt that be a magic pill? Find cancer with a blood sample and take the appropriate mRNA pill before cancer requires expensive hospital care.

For other ailments? Medical chatbots are already here. Type symptoms into an AI large language model and out pops a diagnosis. Google claims its Med-PaLM 2 scores 86.5% accuracy on United States Medical License Exam-style questions. I doubt chatbots will ever be 100% accurate, but they will help augment doctors. And, according to JAMA Internal Medicine, patients think chatbots are more empathetic than doctors 80% of the time anyway.

Technology is changing medicine. Maybe there is a magic pill after all.

Write to kessler@wsj.com.
Kati Street / Facebook

A cafe owner in New Zealand had his truck stolen from right outside of his business earlier this month. Four days later, the undamaged truck was returned to the same location. Inside was a handwritten apology note and a couple of new toys in the back for the owners young son, The New Zealand Herald reports.

Varun Chada owns the Kati Street cafe in Auckland, New Zealand. On November 14 he was done work for the day. He needed to run back inside the cafe to quickly grab something, so he left the truck running with the keys inside. When he returned just moments later, the truck was gone.

About one hour after the theft, Chada posted details about the truck that was stolen on the Kati Street Facebook page. Four days later, Chada posted a rather interesting update on the same page. His truck was again parked outside of the cafe where he last saw it. But what makes this story even more unusual is that the thief seemed to suffer from a bit of remorse for stealing the truck.

A handwritten apology note was left on the truck. In the note, the thief said he was sorry and explained that he was drunk and needed a ride home. As a thank you for "borrowing" the truck, the thief put a couple of new toys in the back and stated in the letter that they were for Chadas son. Other than the license plates being taken and a quarter of a tank of gasoline being used, the truck was in the same condition it was before the theft.

Chada was stunned by the turn of events.

Im not condoning what they did is fine, but I mean, they gave it back and they said sorry so, I dont know, Im just stoked to get it back, put it that way," the man told the New Zealand Herald.

The thief may have apologized and tried to make amends with the victim, however, the local police are still looking for the offender.

Never leave your car or truck running with the keys inside. That is just asking for trouble. And chances are slim that if your ride gets stolen, it will be returned in the same condition with gifts in the back seat.

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Chinese authorities are taking more forceful action to contain the growing financial troubles of one of the countrys biggest shadow lenders.

Police in Beijing said over the weekend that they had taken criminal coercive measures"a euphemism for arrestsagainst multiple employees of Zhongzhi Enterprise. The privately held conglomerate operates several businesses that sold investment products to many wealthy individuals and companies in China, and has struggled for months to make promised payments to investors.

The police probe is an escalation of Chinas response to the problems at Zhongzhi, which last week said it was insolvent and had at least $31 billion more liabilities than assets. Zhongzhi said it had been highly dependent on the decision-making of Xie Zhikun, its founder and largest shareholder, who died in December 2021.

Over the summer, Zhongrong International Trust, which is part of the group, defaulted on many of its high-yielding investment products and fueled fears of financial contagion from Chinas worsening property downturn. In September, two large state-owned financial institutions stepped in to provide assistance to Zhongrong, which had around $108 billion of assets under management at the end of 2022.

Zhongzhi is on the brink of becoming one of Chinas biggest corporate failures in years. The firms collapse could deal a major blow to investor confidence at a time when Chinas economy is still struggling to return to health and its stock market is languishing.

Investors who bought Zhongzhi products have gathered in social-media groups and in person over the past few weeks and tried to figure out ways to pressure the conglomerate to repay them, according to people familiar with the matter.

At one recent protest, dozens of people hung banners and shouted slogans such as Zhongzhi, return us our money!" and contract fraud!," according to a video seen by The Wall Street Journal.

In a social-media post on Saturday, a branch of the Beijing police department asked investors to come forward to report their losses. But some investors said they were reluctant to do so since they might get implicated in the process, and felt they werent likely to get most of their money back.

Zhongzhi last week said it has liabilities of $59 billion to $64 billion, and assets of $28 billion. The total amount it owes could be far larger because the company didnt include off-balance sheet liabilities in its calculation, said Zerlina Zeng, a senior analyst at CreditSights, a research firm.

The recovery rate for investors will be very, very low," said Zeng.

Chinese businesses have lost money, too. Since August, at least 17 publicly listed companies in mainland China have said in stock-exchange filings that they didnt receive interest or principal payments on products managed by Zhongrong. Those missed payments add up to the equivalent of $153 million.

In September, police in Shenzhen took similar actions against the wealth-management unit of China Evergrande. The property developer and its subsidiaries had raised around $13 billion by selling investment products to domestic investors. After Evergrande slid into financial distress in 2021, it struggled to make payments on them.

Zhongzhi caters mainly to wealthy investors, typically requiring its clients to invest the equivalent of at least $420,000 in its products, according to marketing documents for several funds seen by the Journal. The firm offered annual returns of around 7% to 8% last year, the documents show. There were few limits on what these funds could invest in.

Chinas sprawling trust industry, which had more than $3 trillion in assets under management at the end of June, has long been a source of financial support for property developers.

The property slump could pressure more trust companies, said Xiaoxi Zhang, an analyst at Gavekal Research. However, as the trust sector is still relatively small compared with Chinas financial system, any broader spillover is likely to be limited, she said.

Write to Rebecca Feng at rebecca.feng@wsj.com and Weilun Soon at weilun.soon@wsj.com

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Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, emphasized during a conversation with singer Dua Lipa that there are certain key character traits the company's HR managers seek in candidates during interviews. Cook highlighted the significance of 'collaboration' as one of the primary qualities that individuals must possess to secure a position at the tech giant's Cupertino, California headquarters.

"Is there a strong collaborative spirit among employees? Do they truly embrace the concept that the combined efforts of individuals result in greater collective success?" the Apple CEO commented.

The CEO provided further clarification on his concept of 'one plus one equals three': "Experiencing collaboration with individuals who inspire and bring out our best is truly remarkable. Essentially, we share the belief that the combination of your idea and my idea surpasses the merit of each individual idea in isolation."

Cook, who assumed the role of Senior Vice President at Apple in March 1998, was later questioned by Lipa about the prerequisites for working at the iPhone maker, such as needing a degree or exceptional coding skills.

In response, he emphasized that the company considers individuals from 'all walks of life' in its hiring process.

this includes those with or without a college degree. Even though I consider coding to be a valuable skill for everyone, we have hired individuals who lack expertise in it, or do not regularly utilise it in their daily work," added Cook.

Curious individuals unafraid to pose questions, those brimming with creativity, and candidates capable of being team players are sought after at Apple, according to Cook.

Meanwhile, Apple has reportedly announced support for RCS (Rich Communication Services messages) in iPhones. So far, Google has asked the California based tech giant to support its Rich Communication Services messages. Those who do not know, RCS chat is considered as the successor to SMS.

According to a report by 9to5Mac, Apple said in a statement that later next year they will be adding support for RCS Universal Profile which is the standard as per the GSM Association.

We believe RCS Universal Profile will offer a better interoperability experience when compared to SMS or MMS. This will work alongside iMessage, which will continue to be the best and most secure messaging experience for Apple users," told Apple to the publication.

Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.
Have a Google account you haven't used in a while? If you want to keep it from disappearing, you should sign in before the end of the week.

Under Google's updated inactive account policy, which the tech giant announced back in May, accounts that haven't been used in at least two years could be deleted. Accounts deemed inactive could be erased beginning Friday.

If you have an account that's deemed inactive" and at risk for deletion, you should receive notices from Google sent to the email affiliated with that account and its recovery address (if one exits). But if you're still catching up on this new policy  and want to ensure that your content on Google Drive, Docs, Gmail and more is saved  here's what you need to know.

Also Read | GTA 6 leaks inspire Reddit user to quit smoking: A growing trend among fans

Why is Google deleting inactive accounts?

In May's announcement, Google credited its inactive account update to security issues.

Accounts that haven't been used for a long time are more likely to be compromised, the company said  noting that forgotten or unattended accounts" typically have old passwords, often lack two-factor authentication and receive fewer security checks. As a result, these accounts could be hijacked and used for spam or other malicious content, as well as identity theft.

Also read | iPhone maker Foxconn plans to expand footprint in India with $1.6 bn investment

How can I prevent my account from being deleted?

The easiest way to keep your Google account active (and thus prevent it from being deleted) is to sign in at least once every two years.

Other actions that fulfil account activity requirements include sending or scrolling through emails, using Google search and watching YouTube videos (YouTube is owned by Google) all while signed into your Google account. Existing subscriptions set up through your Google account, including profiles for third-party apps and publications, can also account for activity.

Preserving content on Google Photos requires a specific sign-in. As previously announced by Google, Photos content may be similarly deleted after two years of inactivity  meaning you should open the application every so often to keep images from going into the trash.

Are there any exceptions to this policy?

Only personal Google accounts that haven't been used for two years or more will be impacted under this inactive account update. Accounts made for organizations, like schools or companies, will not be affected, Google says.

Per Google's online policy, other exceptions include Google accounts that manage active minor accounts, accounts containing a gift card balance as well as those that have been used to purchase Google products, apps or subscriptions that are ongoing.

As of May's announcement, Google also said there were no plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos. The Associated Press reached out to Google Monday to confirm that's still the case.

Can I save data from my Google account?

Beyond keeping your Google account active, there's a few tools to help manage and backup your data.

Google Takeout, for example, allows users to download and export account data outside of Google at any time. And its Inactive Account Manager lets you choose what would happen to your account and data if it becomes inactive  including options to send select files to trusted contacts or delete the account entirely. Google's online policy also says the company can work with immediate family to close the account of a deceased loved one and/or provide some account content  without sharing login credentials  on a case-by-case basis.

Google asks users to provide and update a recovery email for their account  which is also helpful for sending inactive account notices and other communications.

Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world  Click here to know more.
Gourmet Journey into Ecuadorian Excellence

Introduction: In the world of luxury chocolates, Toak stands as a beacon of exceptional craftsmanship, elevating the chocolate experience to unprecedented heights. Originating from the lush landscapes of Ecuador, Toak Chocolate has captivated connoisseurs worldwide with its commitment to quality, sustainable practices, and a flavor profile that transcends the ordinary. Join us on a delectable journey as we explore the fascinating story and exquisite offerings of Toak Chocolate.

A Chocolate Renaissance: Toak Chocolate is not just a brand; it represents a chocolate renaissance, where each bar is a testament to the artistry of cacao cultivation and meticulous crafting. Founded by Jerry Toth and Carl Schweizer, Toaks mission goes beyond creating chocolate; it aims to redefine the very essence of what fine chocolate should be.

The Ecuadorian Terroir: At the heart of Toaks distinctiveness lies the Ecuadorian terroir, where the Arriba Nacional cacao beans thrive in the fertile soil of the Piedra de Plata farm. This unique origin imparts a terroir-specific flavor, showcasing the nuanced notes of the regions flora and fauna, creating a sensory symphony in every bite.

Ceremonial Cacao: Toak takes chocolate appreciation to a spiritual level with its Ceremonial Cacao series. Crafted to honor the ancient tradition of ceremonial cacao consumption, each bar invites a mindful experience. The ceremonial edition is an ode to the history and cultural significance of cacao, offering a sensory journey that transcends the ordinary.

Aging Gracefully: In a pioneering move, Toak introduces the concept of chocolate aging, akin to the aging process of fine wines or spirits. By carefully storing chocolate bars for several years, Toak allows the flavors to mature, deepening the complexity and creating an unparalleled tasting experience. This commitment to aging reflects a dedication to pushing the boundaries of chocolate craftsmanship.

Sustainable Practices: Toak Chocolate is not just about taste; its a commitment to sustainability. The brand emphasizes agroforestry, preserving biodiversity, and supporting local communities. By championing sustainable practices, Toak ensures that every chocolate bar is a product of ethical and environmentally conscious cacao cultivation.

Limited Edition Excellence: Toaks Limited Edition series takes exclusivity to a whole new level. Each edition is a work of art, encapsulating the essence of a specific harvest year. With limited quantities available, these bars become coveted treasures for chocolate enthusiasts and collectors alike, showcasing the brands dedication to excellence and uniqueness.

The Future of Chocolate: Toak Chocolate isnt just a chocolate bar; its a vision for the future of chocolate. By embracing tradition, terroir, and innovation, Toak redefines the boundaries of what chocolate can be. As the brand continues to push the envelope of chocolate craftsmanship, it invites chocolate lovers to embark on a journey of flavor discovery and sustainability.

Conclusion: Toak Chocolate stands at the pinnacle of the chocolate industry, where each bar is a masterpiece, and every bite is a celebration of Ecuadorian terroir. From ceremonial editions to limited releases, Toak invites chocolate enthusiasts to savor the richness of a truly exceptional chocolate experienceone that goes beyond the ordinary and into the realm of extraordinary.
Stray dogs might be euthanized due to overcrowding at Georgia animal shelters

Multiple dogs living at animal shelters in a county just south of Atlanta could be euthanized due to overcrowding if they arent adopted before Nov. 30
As of now, if a person sends mail in Chattanooga, it is processed here and then sent off for delivery to its destination. But the proposal would change the process.
Daryl Hall is suing John Oates over plan to sell stake in joint venture. A judge has paused the sale

Daryl Hall has sued his longtime music partner John Oates, arguing that his plan to sell off his share of a joint venture would violate a business agreement the duo had
The Beatrice Police Department Fraternal Order of Police hosted the annual Stuff the Cruiser event on Sunday at Walmart.

Officer Brittney Ruh said she had worked a shift on Saturday night and had been at the event all day.

Its so worth it, she said. The community has really shown up and supported us. We werent sure about moving it to Sunday, but a lot of people brought gifts today.

Brothers, Bentley and Preston Steelman, brought a toy donation to the bus. Their parents, Ken and Brandy Steelman, said they wanted to do it for the kids in need.

Its for the kids, Ken said.

Sometimes kids arent so lucky when theyre growing up and so if we can make someone happy, Brandy said.

Linda Holtmeier said she has given a donation at the event for several years.

In the past Ive done this several times before, she said. Theres a lot of kids that arent very fortunate. Its a special time of the year.

Austin Gott parked the Red Bull vehicle near the Beatrice Police Department bus outside of Walmart and played music throughout the day.

This is amazing, he said. Just giving back as much as you can. Ive never been involved in something like this before and its amazing to see how many people give despite everything going on in the world.

Donations of new, unwrapped toys or money can be taken to the Beatrice Police Department until Dec. 5.
Year to date Chattanooga has had 116 pedestrians struck by cars and 15 of those incidents were fatal.
Crime

By Long Island Published: November 26 2023

John Howell was arrested in Hicksville for assaulting two individuals and holding a woman hostage, with Nassau County Police successfully negotiating her release.

The Second Squad reports the arrest of a Hicksville man for an incident that occurred on Saturday, November 25, 2023 at 10:20 am in Hicksville.

According to Detectives, Police were notified by a male victim, 44, of an Assault that occurred at an Ohio Street residence. The male victim was able to escape and call Police.

Upon Police arrival, officers were informed that the defendant John Howell, 40, physically assaulted the male victim and a female victim, 56. Defendant Howell also threatened them with a knife, before barricading himself inside the home. The Defendant refused to allow officers inside the residence or the female victim to leave.

Nassau County Police Hostage Negotiation Team communicated with the female victim through the telephone and were eventually able to assist her in escaping. The female victim was safely removed from the home and refused medical attention. The Bureau of Special Operations made entry into the home, secured the defendant who was secreting himself in the attic, and placed him into custody without further incident. The defendant was transported to a local hospital for evaluation and released into Police custody.

The initial male victim required medical attention at a nearby hospital and no other injuries were reported.
Former Babylon High School Teacher Avoids Jail: Sentenced to Probation for Endangering Welfare of a Child in 2013 Sexual Abuse Case.

Local News, Crime

By Long Island Published: November 27 2023

Former Babylon High School teacher Timothy Harrison, 48, receives a three-year probation sentence after pleading guilty to Endangering the Welfare of a Child for sexually abusing and providing alcohol to a 15-year-old student in 2013, ...

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that former Babylon High School teacher Timothy Harrison, 48, of Oak Beach, was sentenced to three years of probation after pleading guilty in September to Endangering the Welfare of a Child, for providing alcohol to and sexually abusing a 15-year-old student back in 2013.

This defendant violated his trust as an educator, and sexually abused a child whom he was

entrusted to care for, said District Attorney Tierney. This sentence will ensure that our children

are safe, because Timothy Harrison will no longer be in a school classroom in New York State

ever again, and it will protect the privacy rights of the victim, who will be spared from having to

testify publicly in court.

According to the investigation and the defendants admissions during his guilty plea allocution,

between September and November 2013, Harrison sent the victim, who was 15 years old at the

time, flirtatious text messages, gave her alcohol, and had sexual intercourse with her at his

residence in Oak Beach. The victim came forward in 2021 and reported the sexual abuse to staff

at Babylon High School and then to members of the Suffolk County Police Departments Special

Victim Section. Harrison was arrested on March 3, 2022.

On September 15, 2023, Harrison pleaded guilty before County Court Judge, the Honorable Karen

M. Wilutis, to Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a Class A misdemeanor.

On November 27, 2023, Judge Wilutis sentenced Harrison to three years probation with sex offender conditions, including but not limited to housing restrictions, computer and electronic monitoring, and a mandate to not contact the victim. Additionally, as a condition of the plea, prosecutors required that Harrison surrender his teaching license. Harrison was represented by Kevin Keating, Esq.
Some of the first survivors of human trafficking that Billings resident Britney Higgs ever spoke with were halfway around the world in Iraq. They were women seeking refuge from the wave of violence that fighters with the Islamic State brought to the region in 2015.

Higgs was then a videographer accompanying an NGO in rescuing those escaping a genocidal campaign against Yazidis living in Northern Iraq. Working through an interpreter, Higgs learned firsthand the experiences of the women and girls rescued from massacres and sexual slavery.

One thing Ill never forget was, so many of them told me I wish I would have just died, said Higgs, who with her husband Sammy Higgs launched the HER Campaign, a non-profit in Montana dedicated to assisting survivors of sex trafficking.

The U.S. State Department estimates there are 28 million victims of human trafficking throughout the world at any given time. Trafficking humans for sex or labor transcends demographics, but the dynamic is consistent: A victim is forced into an act against their will, be it through deception, threats of violence or physical and emotional abuse. While the State Department also estimates that about two thirds of trafficking victims are forced laborers, gaps in data collected from survivors mars the accuracy of all reports on human trafficking. Federal law has only recognized human trafficking as a crime since the year 2000.

The National Human Trafficking Hotline, operated by the non-profit Polaris Project, maintains an online database of the number of reports its received since it launched in 2007. From the roughly 1,500 tips the hotline received from Montana, which include phone calls, text messages or emails, the Human Trafficking Hotline identified 446 victims in the state.

Over the past decade, law enforcement in Montana has broken up suspected sex trafficking rings across the state. In one instance, a call for help from a survivor in Billings led to a 30-year prison sentence for a man who trafficked her in Montana, Washington and North Dakota. The shooting death of a young woman in 2019 led Billings police to a sex and drug trafficking racket in which woman and girls were brought to local motels and forced to engage in commercial sex. Five men were eventually charged and sentenced for operating the trafficking scheme.

During the most recent Montana State Legislature, lawmakers passed House Bill 112, which brought the penalty for patronizing a prostitute from a misdemeanor to a felony. In July, 18 people in Gallatin County were charged with sex trafficking, per the new state law, following a sting operation in Bozeman. The change in state law was one part of the Montana Department of Justices campaign to bolster its fight against human trafficking.

The department has tracked a massive upswing in human trafficking cases investigated in Montana, with a more than 1,000% increase in annual cases since 2015. Speaking to the Gazette in 2022, advocates and law enforcement attributed the increase in cases to the increase in resources dedicated to prosecuting traffickers and assisting survivors.

In the nearly eight years since Britney and Sammy Higgs launched the HER Campaign, both Governors Office and the Montana DOJ have become strategic partners for the non-profit, which has sheltered more than 200 sex trafficking survivors.

The seed that eventually blossomed into the HER Campaign began in 2016 during a family trip. While taking a break on a cross-state drive with her husband and children, Britney Higgs had a vision that she credits to her faith. Her experience in Iraq, combined with conversations shed had with a friend regarding sex trafficking in India and Nepal, spurred her interest in wanting to create a safe house for survivors in Montana. Without even knowing how to launch a safe house, she shared that vision with her husband, and the nonprofit was founded less than a year later.

In between Britney Higgss vision and the HER Campaign assisting its first survivor, the couple put themselves through a battery of trainings on hosting and assisting sex trafficking survivors. They made local contacts within law enforcement and social work agencies here in Billings, and received mentorship from a couple in Helena who have offered shelter for survivors for years. For professional training, they attended courses in creating residential programs from the non-profit Wellspring Living, an Atlanta-based organization dedicated to combating sexual exploitation through education and mentorship.

Sammy and Britney Higgs acknowledge having no professional training in social work or therapy, and have partnered with Billings health organizations to fulfill those needs for sex trafficking survivors. What the couple does offer, Sammy Higgs said, is support and a model for a healthy relationship. The first woman the couple brought into their home stayed for about 10 months, and received assistance from them for a year-and-a-half.

For us, our journey is to walk with them on their journey, he said. And its hard to get somewhere if youve never seen it before.

About 85% of the women assisted by the HER Campaign have been through the foster care system, Britney Higgs said, and most of them are mothers.

Many of them come from broken homes, and its never been modeled for them what safe relationships are, she said. Are Sammy and I perfect? No. But we do have tools in our tool belt to show them things like how to navigate conflict safely and healthily.

Since the Higgs assisted their first survivor through the HER Campaign, their programs have expanded from their Billings home doubling as a safe house to campuses providing housing along with on-site therapy and job training. Like all forms of trauma, healing from sex trafficking is not linear, Britney Higgs said, with nearly all of the survivors she has worked with seeking help from the non-profit with also grappling with addiction and mental health problems.

Somebody doesnt get into a vulnerable position if they havent been through something traumatic, she said. You need to get rid of your fear of someone who is dealing with mental issues or addiction, even if their behavior is something youd classify as crazy.Get rid of your fear, get curious about them and just listen.

Treating a person carrying the trauma of sex trafficking, she said, requires a holistic approach to meet specific needs as they make their way from recovery and into economic independence. For the HER Campaign that means offering a safe house for survivors where they can eat and sleep for a few days, then assigning them a case manager to see if theyd like clinical treatment at the organizations eight-week emergency shelter. After graduating from the emergency shelter, survivors have the option of entering programs for long-term residence, then transitional housing which can last over a year.

If theres just the long-term care, Sammy Higgs said, youre asking someone whose brain is on fire and in a crisis to commit to a long term decision. That emergency shelter is there to help them stabilize so they can make the decision thats best for themselves.

A recent grant for the Gianforte Family Foundation allowed the HER Campaign to purchase the emergency shelter property the couple had been leasing for the past two years. On November 28, the non-profit will host a benefit at the Billings Depot. Those interested in attending can find more information at https://hercampaign.org/.
Local News

By Admin Published: November 27 2023

On the surface, they are 4 ordinary women, but there is a lesser known side to their lives.

By Toni Gallo

Lynne Fuentes, of West Islip, is a certified public accountant living a relatively quiet life until about eight years ago, when her sister, Noel, changed all that.

Noel Fuentes, 46, of Glen Cove, who then worked at Macys, took up the call by management to participate in the annual Thanksgiving day parade.

As clowns.

Noel jumped at the idea and thought it would be extremely fun, said Lynne, 48. Noel is still part of the team even though she lost her job during the pandemic.

I wasnt on board at first, because I always enjoyed going out the night before Thanksgiving, and being with my friends, Lynne laughs. But, as I got older, and saw how much my other sisters enjoyed doing this, I decided to join them.

Since then, at least two sisters have gone to the parade every year, if they cannot all make it. But this year, they were all in.

Obviously, some years, we were busy having kids, etc. etc., but when we can, we always try to go together, says Lynne. It is so much fun. We really feel like kids, doing it.

Sisters Noel and 41-year-old Kathleen Nuzzi, of North Wantagh, began their journeys at Clown University, a part of the Big Apple Circus, where they met the people that would be in their groups, and learned the ropes of clownery.

Lynne and 34-year-old Bernadette Johnson chose to learn through experience.

The first time I did the parade, I thought I would just do it once, just to say I did it, but me and my sisters fell in love with it, Noel said. This is my twelfth parade, and I love how friends and family have made it their annual tradition to try and find us on TV. These are memories that my sisters and I can cherish.

Noel currently serves as a clown captain, after having been promoted her second year.

Her role begins a few weeks before the parade at the big apple circus, where with assistance from a professional clown, we teach our group a routine that will entertain spectators along the parade route.

Additionally, she assists in getting the group in their costumes, and painting on those red cheeks and noses, at around 6 a.m. (at the meeting place of the New Yorker Hotel) and ensures that the approximately 800 clown volunteers head to their respective buses, which will then bring them to their clown corners. She works hard to keep everyone enthused, and on pace throughout the long walk from West 77th Street & Central Park West to Sixth Avenue, in front of Macy's Herald Square.

According to sister Bernadette, the greatest joy of partaking in the yearly festivities is sprinkling confetti all over the watching kids, shouting Happy Thanksgiving! 

I also love that it is something I get to do with my sisters. It has become part of our tradition.

But, bringing happiness to the faces of adoring children, as the fill the gaps between floats and performers, is not the only benefit of doing the parade.

Jody Ruggiero, a 43-year-old woman from Levittown, who the family considers their adopted clown sister, is a woman Noel met through her training. They have worked the parade together, ever since, and began putting together bags for the homeless before they get ready for the parade.

The good they are able to do, coupled with the friends and memories they have made, has made this annual extravaganza something we have completely fell in love with.

Toni-Elena Gallo is a reporter with The SBU Media Group, part of Stony Brook Universitys School of Communication and Journalisms Working Newsroom program for students and local media.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: November 27 2023

The event saw Park Boulevard closed to motor vehicle traffic, with the street magically transformed into an enticing holiday landscape with bright festive lights strung all about.

Hundreds and hundreds of people were on hand Saturday evening, November 25th, to join in the festivities as the Village of Massapequa Park ushered in the 2023 holiday season with their annual Christmas Tree and Menorah lighting ceremony, serving as a bright shining ray of light amid the difficulties many in our nation are going through currently, reminding all in attendance that better things are always right around the corner.

Before the lighting ceremony began, Massapequa Park mayor Daniel M. Pearl addressed those in attendance, welcoming them on behalf of the Village.

I know everyone looks forward to tonight each and every year as our village is transformed into a winter wonderland. Many of you have come to this tree and Menorah lighting in years past as children, and now you are passing on this tradition to your children and your family, he said. There is something special about this night as we come together as a community to welcome in the holidays, and tonight we are all family.

The event saw Park Boulevard closed to motor vehicle traffic, with the street magically transformed into an enticing holiday landscape with bright festive lights strung all about and miniature display homes lining its sidewalks, each depicting various magical scenes of wonder.

At the end of the street, the Town of Oyster Bays Showmobile mobile stage was set up adjacent to the Massapequa Park train station, where various local politicians and dignitaries addressed the crowd, hyping them up as they counted down the minutes to the main event: the lighting ceremony.

The event opened with The Strolling Carolers belting out toe-tapping variations of many holiday favorites, setting the mood for what was still to come. Next, members of Massapequa High Schools Cheerleaders and Chiefettes took to the cordoned off area in front of the Showmobile to show off their dance moves for the rapidly growing and boisterous crowd.

And finally, Santa Claus himself - accompanied by Mrs. Claus, of course - showed up and shared a special message with the children in the crowd.

Oyster Bay Supervisor Joe Saladino was in attendance, who extolled the virtues of living in a tight-knit community such as Massapequa Park, especially during the holiday season.

Isn't Massapequa Park the best? Its so popular that folks from Suffolk County came out here tonight! he said. On behalf of all of us in the Town of Oyster Bay and all levels of government, we wish you healthy and happy holidays filled with laughter and filled with love! Thank you again to the Village of Massapequa Park for making this celebration rock!

Without any further ado, the Village moved on to what everyone was waiting for...the lighting ceremony. First, the Menorah was lit, and Mayor Pearl introduced the gentleman who was entrusted with the honor of throwing the switch to make it so- Massapequa Bagel Boss owner Jeff Grossfeld.

Jeff is the son of Holocaust-surviving parents, Mayor Pearl said. He has been selling blue and white bagels at Bagel Boss in support of Israel, with all the proceeds of those bagels being donated to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. He's a lifelong member of our community and has been in the bagel business for over 43 years, starting at the Buttered Bagel when he was at Massapequa High School. Pease join Jeff and his family as he lights the menorah.

After Grossfeld wished the crowd Happy Holidays and officially lit the Menorah, the tree lighting was next, which was carried out by local DJ Larry The Duck Dunn.

Larry and his family have lived in our Village for over 30 years, said Mayor Pearl. Larry is an accomplished radio broadcaster and DJ, having begun his career over 43 years ago. Larry currently broadcasts on Sirius/XM First Wave channel 33 from right here in our Village, six days a week.

After The Duck threw the switch and lit the Christmas Tree, the Village square was transformed into a heavenly and serene sight, driving home the fact that the holiday season had truly taken the Village of Massapequa Park within the palm of its hand.
Crime

By Chris Boyle Published: November 27 2023

Arrests Include Two For Aggravated DWI And One For Stolen Car And Drugs.

Suffolk County Sheriffs Office Deputies arrested six impaired drivers for Driving While Intoxicated from Thanksgiving Eve through the holiday weekend. Four of the impaired drivers were arrested late Wednesday night into Thanksgiving morning. Deputies also arrested one driver for unauthorized use of a vehicle and criminal possession of a controlled substance.

As part of ongoing DWI enforcement by the Sheriffs Office, Deputies were out in force on what many commonly refer to as Amateur Night. The night before Thanksgiving is historically a night where college students are home and get together with old friends. Sheriff Errol D. Toulon, Jr. has recently taken to social media to remind residents, young and old, to drink responsibly and have a designated driver or call for a ride if you have been drinking.

AGGRAVATED DWI

Jose Suruy Cubule, 35, of Flanders, on 11/22/23, entered a roadside sobriety checkpoint on CR 31 in the Village of Westhampton Beach. When asked if he had consumed any alcoholic beverages he stated, "just one beer." Mr. Suruy Cubule demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. He was arrested and submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .23% BAC.

Deyvid Cabreraposadas, 17, of Westhampton Beach, on 11/24/23, was stopped eastbound on the Long Island Expressway near exit 68 for traveling 95 mph in a posted 55 mph zone, while failing to maintain a single lane of travel and following a vehicle too closely. Mr. Cabreraposadas demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. He submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .19% BAC.

Derek Kotsay, 43, of Holbrook, on 11/22/23, was stopped while traveling southbound on Patchogue-Holbrook Road in Islip, for traveling 90 mph in a posted 45 mph zone. He demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. While administering the walk and turn test the defendant refused to continue the standardized field sobriety tests. Mr. Kotsay was arrested and submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .16 BAC.

Richard Pino, 33, of Nesconset, on 11/22/23, was pulled over for traveling at 95 miles per hour eastbound on the Long Island Expressway near exit 62, in Brookhaven. When asked how much he had to drink, Mr. Pino stated he had a glass of wine. He demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. Mr. Pino was arrested and submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .15% BAC.

Francisco Palaciosmillan, 23, of Mastic Beach, on 11/23/23, was pulled over for traveling 35 mph and failing to maintain his lane on Sunrise Hwy, eastbound near exit 61 in Brookhaven. When asked how fast he was traveling, Mr. Palaciosmillan stated he was doing about 65 mph. He demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. Mr. Palaciosmillan was arrested and submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .15% BAC.

Richard Bente, 61, of Lindenhurst, on 11/26/23, was stopped while traveling westbound on Sunrise Highway east of exit 50A in Islip for failing to maintain a single lane of travel. He demonstrated clues while performing standardized field sobriety tests indicating he was intoxicated. Mr. Bente was arrested and submitted to a chemical breath test resulting in a .15% BAC.

Monique Rodriguez, 41, of Patchogue, on 11/26/23, was stopped on Barton Avenue in Medford for having a taillight out. A routine computer check revealed the vehicle to be a rental car that had been reported stolen from a rental company at MacArthur Airport. Ms. Rodriguez, the driver, was also found to be in possession of a large quantity of suboxone without a prescription. She was taken into custody for Unauthorized Use of a Vehicle and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 5th degree.

Suffolk County Sheriff Dr. Errol D. Toulon, Jr. thanks his Deputies for their hard work. Thanksgiving is a time to come together and give thanks with family and friends. Unfortunately, that celebrating sometimes leads to poor choices and dangerous situations on our countys roads. I commend my staff for their hard work in safely removing these impaired drivers from the streets so that those who were traveling for Thanksgiving arrived safe and sound.

For more information, please contact Sgt. Paul Spinella at (631) 852-3405 or paul.spinella@suffolkcountyny.gov
The Iranian-backed Houthis, which controls large areas in Yemen, launched anti-ship ballistic missiles at a U.S. warship responding to a hijacking of a commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 27. The missiles missed their mark.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) confirmed that At approximately 0141 on Nov. 27 Sanaa time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the USS MASON (DDG 87) and M/V CENTRAL PARK.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships, CENTCOM reported.

The USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer assigned to the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, was responding to an attempt by an unknown entity to hijack the M/V Central Park, a Liberian-flagged tanker. The crew of the Central Park barricaded themselves in the tankers citadel, an armored panic room, and the hijackers left the ship as the USS Mason and a Japanese warship closed in, USNI News reported. Five pirates were captured. U.S. officials later stated they believe that Somali pirates likely attempted to hijack the M/V Central Park.

The Houthis, commonly referred to as Ansar Allah, are known to possess anti-ship ballistic missiles, which Iran has provided. In Sept. 2022, the Houthis paraded the missiles.

The Houthis, which have a history of harassing and attacking commercial vessels operating in the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al Mandeb Strait, and the Red Sea, have stepped up attacks on shipping over the past week. On Nov. 14, the Houthis threatened to sink commercial vessels, prompting the International Maritime Security Construct to issue a warning for vessels traveling thru the vital Bab al Mandeb Strait and the Red Sea.

We will sink your ships, the Houthis declared in Arabic, English, and Hebrew on a graphic released on Nov. 14 showing an Israeli commercial vessel in flames.

On Nov. 19, five days after issuing the threat, the Houthis hijacked the Galaxy Leader, a Bahamian-flagged cargo ship, as it was traveling in the Red Sea. On Nov. 23, the Houthis are believed to have unsuccessfully attacked the CMA CGM Symi, a Malta-flagged container ship, with a drone as it traveled in the Indian Ocean.

The Houthis, in an effort to weaken Israel as the latter battles Hamas and allied terror groups in Gaza, have launched a series of drone, ballistic, and cruise missile attacks against Israeli territory. U.S. warships have shot down Houthi weapons systems at least twice. Additionally, the Houthis shot down a U.S. MQ-9 Reaper unmanned Aerial Vehicle off the coast of Yemen on Nov. 8.

The U.S. has yet to respond to the Houthis provocations, as the Biden administration is seeking to prevent a wider war from breaking out in the region. In addition to the strikes on U.S. military personnel by the Houthis, Iranian-backed militias have launched scores of attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq and Syria.

The Houthis have not formally published a statement accepting responsibility for attacking the USS Mason and M/V Central Park.

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.
Seth Frantzman is reporting from Israel.

As part of a so-called humanitarian truce, Israel and Hamas agreed to a pause in fighting in Gaza on Friday. Hamas agreed to release fifty hostages in groups of 12 or 13 a day, while Israel would release 150 Palestinian prisoners over the same span. Under the agreement, Hamas was supposed to release elderly women, mothers, and kids. Hamas was not supposed to split up families in the hostage release.

The return of the hostages is one of the central goals of Israels war in Gaza. Israel began the war after the Hamas attack, initially resorting to three weeks of airstrikes and targeted raids, followed by four weeks of ground offensive. The pause in fighting, which many call a ceasefire, began as the war entered 50 days, meaning Israel has now fought longer in Gaza than the Fifty Day war in 2014.

Israeli reports estimate there were 40 children held in Gaza before the deal to release several dozen of them. When Hamas attacked on Oct. 7, it targeted many border communities called kibbutzim. The terrorist group kidnapped many families, including mothers and their children, or in some cases extended families. For instance, the IDF noted on Sunday that during the October 7th invasion and massacre, Hamas terrorists abducted hundreds of people from Israel, including 9-year-old Ohad Munder from Kibbutz Nir Oz. On Friday, Ohad Mundar was released with his mother and grandmother. Ohad and the other released hostages were then transferred via an IAF helicopter to a hospital to undergo medical assessment, the IDF said.

The deal for the hostages has also involved separate deals Hamas made with Thailand and a decision by Hamas to release one hostage who has dual Russian citizenship. Many of the hostages in Gaza have dual nationality, and estimates say they hold citizenship in 25 different countries. On Friday, Hamas released 22 hostages, including 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino. The second day of the pause in fighting saw 17 hostages freed, four of whom were Thai citizens. The Thai citizens are foreign workers who live and work in Israeli communities near Gaza. Sixteen hostages were released on Sunday evening, including three Thai citizens and one Russian-Israeli dual citizen. Eleven additional hostages were supposed to be freed on Monday, November 27, and Israel and Hamas appeared ready to extend the pause in fighting.

During the four days of pause, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant visited Gaza on Saturday. He entered from a naval vessel by sea and met with various IDF units in Gaza. He said that pressure on Hamas through ground operations had brought about the release of hostages. When you increase the pressure even more, they are ready to come forward with an offer, and when you increase it even more, they are ready to come with an acceptable offer  thats the whole method, he said.

Gallant then went to the northern border on Sunday, where he visited Mount Dov, which overlooks Lebanon and Syria. It has been a flashpoint of tensions with Hezbollah. He met with members of the IDF 210th Division and said that over fifty days of fighting on the northern border, 100 Hezbollah terrorists have been injured or eliminated. Hezbollah has suffered the destruction of dozens of observation posts, warehouses, bunkers and headquarters, he said. In addition, Hezbollah forces had retreated from the front. Hezbollah-Israel clashes generally consisted of Hezbollah launching several rockets or an anti-tank missile and Israel responding. However, the overall attrition of Hezbollah members is now estimated at 100, which appears to indicate several killed or wounded each day of the clashes. Hezbollah refrained from attacking Israel once the ceasefire began. Nevertheless, Israelis who had been evacuated from the northern border and near Gaza were still living in hotels and guest houses 50 days into the war. This consists of 43 communities in the north, including one city, 54 communities along the Gaza border, and one city near Gaza.

Israels Defense Minister indicated that Israeli forces were organizing and preparing for the next round after the pause. The pause in fighting gave the IDF the chance to shed light on the operations of some units. For instance, the Shaldag naval commandos participated in fighting from the first day of the war, responding to infiltrations at several communities and then fighting around Shifa Hospital during the ground operation. The IDF also revealed the IDF K-9 OKetz unit lost four dogs fighting in Gaza. Since the beginning of the fighting, Oketz (K-9) Unit fighters and dogs from the Marom Special Operations Brigade exposed approximately 50 booby-trapped explosive devices and dozens of weapons stockpiles. Female combat soldiers from the unit have played a significant role in supporting the efforts to locate findings regarding the Israeli hostages held captive in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

Israeli officials vowed to return to fighting Hamas. Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Sunday that we have created conditions for the framework for the release of the first group of children and mothers held hostage during this pause. When the framework is completed, we will return to our operations with determination for the continued release of the hostages and the complete dismantlement of Hamas.

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.
Police in Red Lodge are investigating a homicide that occurred Tuesday evening.

The Red Lodge Police Department is investigating the death with assistance from the Carbon County Sheriffs Office and Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, police officials said in a press statement Wednesday morning.

The man was killed at about 9:15 p.m. in the 800 block of Bonner Avenue North in Red Lodge.

Homicides are rare in Red Lodge and Carbon County.

In April of 2020, the sheriffs office investing the shooting death of a man at a trailhead south of Red Lodge. Investigators later considered the shooting may have been in self-defense.

At a different trailhead in 2018, Thomas Schifferns shot James McGregor to death. The two had been living together with Schifferns common-law wife and had been drinking and arguing over chores.

In 2016, three people were murdered in Belfry by a family member, Robert James LeCou.

- This story will be updated.
Companys proposal for new deal was insulting, union says

Ampacet workers on the picket line in Dudelange on Monday

Ampacet workers on the picket line in Dudelange on Monday  Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

Ampacet workers on the picket line in Dudelange on Monday  Photo credit: Marc Wilwert

Employees at plastics manufacturing giant Ampacet went on strike on Monday, after talks between unions and the company over the renewal of the collective agreement for staff broke down.

Labour union OGBL, which represents staff at the Dudelange-based company, has called for a 2.5% increase in salaries and an additional three days of annual leave.

However, the companys latest proposal to settle the dispute was rejected by two-thirds of Ampacet Luxembourgs 75 employees earlier this month, the union said.

The OGBL said that management had offered a 0.3% salary increase which it described as derisory and insulting.

Accepting the unions proposal would cost the company approximately 120,000, Stefan Osorio from OGBL, said in mid-November.

This does not seem excessive to us when we know that the company made, on average, 2.6 million profits per year over the last decade, and 3.7 million last year, Osorio told Virgule.

The strike at the plastics-maker is the latest in a series of walkouts by workers at businesses across Luxembourg in recent months.

In September, employees at Luxairs cargo business protested outside the countrys airport demanding protection of staff rights during the transfer of the companys cargo handling activities.

The company and the union eventually resolved their dispute, which includes a deal giving workers a 5.5% wage increase over four years.

Earlier this year, unions at a local subisidiary of Coca-Cola threatened a work stoppage after wage talks failed, and a protest was staged outside the company. The dispute was later resolved and employees were promised a 700 bonus this year and a 1.4% pay increase next year.

(This article was first published on Virgule. Translation and additional reporting by Haneyl Jacob)
Nigeria welcomes Malaria Consortiums Chief Executive on collective efforts for national health sector resilience

27 November 2023



From left to right: Dr Chukwuma Anyaike, Director Public Health, Federal Ministry of Health, James Tibenderan, Chief Executive, Malaria Consortium, Dr Godwin Ntadom, National Coordinator, National Malaria Elimination Programme

In a visit of Nigeria, from 6th to 10th November, Dr James Tibenderana, Malaria Consortiums Chief Executive, met with officials from the Federal Ministry of Health and representatives from national and international partners and stakeholders to explore the interventions, innovations, policy developments and financing required for resilience and health sector effectiveness in the pathway to malaria elimination. It was his first visit to Nigeria as Chief Executive since taking up the role in November 2022.

Welcoming the Malaria Consortium team on behalf of the Honourable Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Professor Muhammad Ali Pate, the Permanent Secretary, Daju Kachollom, thanked Malaria Consortium for their efforts over the years to strengthen the health system, acknowledging the impact and sustainability of Malaria Consortium programmes and its continued support for the Governments renewed approach.

Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Heath, Nigeria Mrs Daju S Kachollom in a handshake with Dr James Tibenderana

Dr James Tibenderana, Malaria Consortiums Chief Executive, commented, In Nigeria, thanks to huge investments to ensure effective tools to prevent and treat malaria are accessible to many more people, the prevalence of the disease has dropped in the last 15 years from 42 percent to now stand at around 22 percent. However, malaria is still a leading cause of illness and death, especially in children under five and pregnant women, the progress previously seen has stalled and funding has plateaued. We need to consider what is needed to get back on track otherwise the goal of a malaria free world is not achievable.

With partnerships, with governments in the lead, everything is possible. We must ensure that the next generation of tools, nets, vaccines, are deployed to the right places and importantly, deployed into a resilient health system thats built around national priorities. It has been heartening to hear the vision of the Ministry of Health who are mapping how to ensure health outcomes are achieved and domestic financing is increased.

Operating in global health for 20 years, Malaria Consortium recognised early in its evolution that addressing the burden of malaria also provided an opportunity to tackle other common conditions like diarrhoea, pneumonia and malnutrition, affecting the health of people living in communities across the countries in which it worked. Establishing a presence in Nigeria in 2008, the organisation with its development partners has mobilised over US$250 million to support health programmes, research, capacity development, technical assistance and procurement of commodities. In 2015, Malaria and Public Health Nigeria (MPH-N) registered as a national non-profit organisation and its activities currently cover 16 states with over 850 staff nationwide.

Generating evidence through implementation experience and robust research, Malaria Consortium is taking a whole-systems approach to tackling communicable diseases that builds capacity and resilience into health systems for the long term, alongside the delivery of mass campaigns of insecticide-treated bed nets and seasonal malaria chemoprevention. Seeking out collaborative partnerships, Malaria Consortium has been working with the private sector to improve the market supply chain of commodities that support the delivery of universal health coverage.

As part of the working visit to Nigeria, Dr Tibenderana and the Nigerian team met with long-standing partners, including officials from the National Malaria Elimination Programme, the World Health Organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK Governments Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office to discuss continued collaboration. Collective commitment from global partners will be imperative in supporting national governments achieve an integrated approach that maximises funding and expertise to improve the health outcomes of their populations.

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Manchester, VT (05254)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this morning will give way to cloudy skies and rain during the afternoon. High 49F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 36F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
The family of Ana Clara Benevides, a Taylor Swift fan who died at her Rio de Janeiro concert earlier this month, were treated to a VIP experience of the popstar's Sao Paulo show on Saturday.

Benevides, a 23-year-old Brazilian woman, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest last week amid an intense heat wave ahead of Swift's show in Rio. The stadium's ban on personal water bottles is part of the reason why the death occurred.

Taylor Swift invites family of Ana Clara Benevides to final show in Brazil

Swift, 33, reached out to the Benevides family a day prior to the Sao Paulo show following reports that she had not offered any help.

The extent of Swift's help for the Benevides family remains unclear, but they were spotted at the Sao Paulo concert under the popstar's VIP tent.

Ana Clara Benevides' family honors her

Ana Clara's family wore t-shirts with her face on them while understandably looking sad over the bittersweet situation.

The "Eras Tour" in South America is over after the Sao Paulo concert and Benevides will surely be what most remember from Swift's trip to Brazil.

Swift was reportedly glad to have the shoulder of boyfriend Travis Kelce to cry on after hearing the news of her fan's tragic death.
Montana public land leases produced an unexpected $161 million for public schools in the last fiscal year, state officials reported this week.

Coal was the unexpectedly big contributor for Montana schools and other public institutions primarily because complications with federal leasing forced the states only underground coal mine into state-owned coal deposits. The result was an unexpected $37 million increase in revenue, reports the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

The only time the state received more revenue from coal was in 2010 when Arch Coal paid $86 million to develop the never-materialized Otter Creek mine in southeast Montana. Ach cut the check but went bankrupt six years later.

Aside from 2010...more revenue was received through minerals activities this year than has ever been generated in past years exceeding the next largest amount by $18 million, DNRCs Ryan Weiss told the Montana Land Board this week. The largest contributor to this significant increase in revenue was due to coal royalties received from mining a single panel of underground state-owned coal seam at the Signal Peak coal mine, generating over $37 million and an average coal price of $120 a ton.

Montana coal production is downward trending, said Weiss, DNRCs deputy trust lands administrator, who noted the possibility of a mine closure in the next few years. Lee Montana newspapers analysis of coal production for four quarters ending in September, showed a decline of more than a million tons over the same period a year earlier, with production at one mine below 2 million tons due to declining demand.

The Signal Peak boost was an outlier brought about by the mines permitting challenges with federal coal. In March, U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy vacated federal approval allowing Signal Peak to mine federal coal at its underground mine 40 miles north of Billings. The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement had failed to consider the consequences of carbon emissions generated when Signal Peaks coal was eventually burned at power plants most likely in Japan, South Korea, or South America.

The mine was preparing to expand into 900,000 tons of federal coal when the court decision was issued. The expansion was to be the first step in a 175-million-ton mining project. After the ruling, Signal Peak relocated its longwall mining equipment to a pocket of state and private coal, generating an unexpected boost in Montana coal royalties.

The five-member Land Board consists of the states top 5 statewide elected officials, the auditor, attorney general, governor, secretary of state, superintendent of public instruction. The board meets one day a month, but the political importance of natural resource extraction in Republican election culture gives the Land Board an outsized priority in elections.

There were other trust land revenue sources that high-marked in the state 2023 fiscal year, which ended June 30. Oil and gas revenues were at their highest point in nearly a decade largely because of increases in oil prices and a 31% increase in production, according to DNRC.

Timber harvests generated $8 million. Recreational and public access generated $1.86 million, mostly through the sale of conservation licenses.

Monday, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Elsie Arntzen accepted checks total $57.7 million for K-12 education. DNRC estimated the contribution from the Common Schools Fund per student to be $323.
Much of the MBTAs Green Line, as well as one Orange Line station, closed Monday. Heres a rundown of these service changes.

Full Green Line closures

From Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, Green Line service will be suspended on the B branch between North Station and Babcock Street, on the C and D branches between North Station and Kenmore, and on the E branch between North Station and Heath Street Station. On Dec. 4 and 5, these closures will extend to Lechmere.

During the closures, shuttle buses will be available from Babcock Street to Copley on the B branch and from Kenmore to Copley on the C and D branches. From Copley, the MBTA suggests, riders can walk to Back Bay Station to access the rest of Boston. Additionally, B branch riders can take the 57 bus between Kenmore and Babcock streets.

During the closure, the MBTA recommends that E branch riders use the 39 bus route, which begins at Heath Street and runs along Huntington Avenue to Back Bay Station. They can then travel to the rest of Boston from Back Bay via the Orange Line.

The 39 and 57 bus routes, as well as the Commuter Rail between South Station, Back Bay and Landsdowne, will be free during the closures.

According to the MBTA, the closures will allow repairs at Boylston, track reconstruction throughout the line, and will allow for the eventual removal of a speed restriction on Commonwealth Avenue in Allston.

Other current closures

From Nov. 27 to Dec. 16, Orange Line trains will bypass Haymarket Station to allow for more work to be done on the Government Center Garage demolition project. The MBTA advises riders who regularly use the station get on and off at State or North Station instead.

From Nov. 27 to Dec. 10, trains on both Green Line Extension branches will stop running from approximately 8:45 p.m. through the end of the day. Shuttle buses will replace trains from North Station to Medford/Tufts, and on Dec. 4 and 5, they will replace trains from North Station to Lechmere all day.

Read More: Springfield factory repairs MBTA rift with deliveries of Orange and Red line cars

The MBTA recommends riders trying to get to Union Square take bus routes 86, 87, 91 or CT2.

Upcoming closures

The Commuter Rails Newburyport-Rockport Line will close from Dec. 2 to 10, with trains being replaced by shuttle buses. Additionally, there will be no service to River Works or Chelsea stations.

The MBTA recommends riders who normally get on and off at Chelsea use the Silver Line 3 route to get to and from Boston.

This closure will allow crews to install Automatic Train Control systems, the MBTA said. These are federally-mandated safety systems that send signals to trains about unsafe conditions and can automatically slow or stop a train if necessary.

Shuttle buses will also replace Green Line D branch trains between Kenmore and Riverside stations all day from Dec. 11 to 20. According to the MBTA, this will allow them to remove speed restrictions on the branch.

Riders can keep up-to-date with the latest MBTA service changes and closures by visiting mbta.com/alerts.
The Celtics will be without their two key offseason additions for the first time this season on Sunday night against the Hawks. as Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis were both declared out by the team. Holiday was downgraded from questionable shortly before tip after testing out his sprained ankle on the court. He also missed Fridays loss against the Magic after suffering the injury in Wednesdays win over the Bucks.

Porzingis is expected to miss at least the next week after suffering a calf strain in the second half of Fridays loss against the Magic. Joe Mazzulla said on Sunday night that the team will likely re-evaluate his injury in a week but the big man sounded optimistic in a post on Instagram Saturday that it wouldnt be a long-term absence.

Boston will be tested without their two key starters coming off two losses in their last three games including a blowout loss to the Magic on Friday. Boston currently sits atop the Eastern Conference at 12-4 but they have several teams on their heels in the top half of the conference.

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Without Porzingis and Holiday available on Sunday night, look for Sam Hauser and Al Horford to move into the starting five. Payton Pritchard should also be in line for bigger minutes off the bench while seldom-used reserves like Lamar Stevens, Svi Mykhailiuk and Oshae Brissett could be in line for a bigger opportunity.

The Hawks will be without starting forward Jalen Johnson for Sundays matchup after he suffered a wrist injury on Saturday night in Washington. Atlanta enters the matchups with an 8-7 matchup in the first game they will have this year against Boston since facing the Celtics in the first round of the East playoffs during the 2022-23 season.
On the hunt for a good cheeseburger? Then head over to The knack on Cape Cod.

The burger shack was included in Yelps list of the Top Cheeseburgers in Every State in 2023. The list was compiled from Yelp identifying businesses in the food and restaurants category with a large concentration of reviews mentioning cheeseburger.

The food review site then ranked each spot using several factors like the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning cheeseburger, between January 1, 2023 and July 20, 2023, and the knack rose to the top.

The Cape Cod shop was established in 2002 by natives Van and Michael Haidas

We grew up here. We played on the Capes beaches, we swam in the sound and in the bay, and we savored every hour of the late summer sun, the co-founders wrote on the knacks website. Most importantly, we ate. Burgers, lobster rolls, clam rolls, hot dogs, onion rings, shakes, ice creamwe love the Capes iconic food.

The duo used their upbringing, local connections and culinary knowledge to bring the best burgers possible to the Cape and, apparently, the entire state.

Our goal is to perfect the Cape Cod roadside stand, the Haidases continued. We work with a local butcher to serve you our own delicious burger blend that we grind in-house daily.

The knacks menu consists of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, sides and more. Popular burgers include the Ring Burger (onion rings, bacon, cheese, sweet horseradish sauce), the Veggie Burger (house made veggie patty, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, burger sauce) and, of course, the Classic Cheeseburger (classic cheeseburger sauce, lettuce, tomato, red onion, house made pickles).

One Yelp reviewer said after she ordered the cheeseburger, her and her boyfriend did not say one word to each other the entire time they ate.

This burger was perfect, she continued. Every bite included bun, burger, and toppings all the way down to the last bite. Also ordered onion rings and fries, both delicious and crispy.

The knack has locations in Orleans and Hyannis. More information can be found online.

Click here to see the full list from Yelp.
Looking to channel your inner writer through the means of a good cocktail? Well, alcohol will be your friend for your next novel at an Edgar Allen Poe-inspired speakeasy that is coming to Boston this week.

For six days fans of the writer, who was also born in Boston, will have the chance to sip on cocktails paired with some of Poes most beloved stories told by historians.

The Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy is a chilling cocktail experience in Boston that brings four of his stories off the page and onto the stage as told through the Poe Historians while pairing them with four classic cocktails, the events page reads. Dont miss your chance to bring Poes tales to life, one sip at a time.

Read More: Bear caught trying to break into chicken coop in Sterling while owners away

The pop-up will run from Tuesday, Nov. 28 to Sunday, Dec. 3. It will be located at the Huntington Theatre, located at 264 Huntington Ave. The visit will take around 75 to 90 minutes.

Standard admission includes entry to the experience and four cocktails. Tickets, which are already almost completely sold out, can be purchased here.
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.

Cheryl Toney Holley. (Courtesy photo)Cheryl Toney Holley

Cheryll Toney Holley

Age: 61

Community: Worcester

Her story: Cheryll Toney Holley is the Sonksq, or female leader, of the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band and the co-founder of the Nipmuc Indian Development Corporation. Both of her parents came from the Nipmuc tribe, with her mother from the Hassanamisco Nipmuc and her father from the Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuc, but she said it was her aunt Dolly and grandfather Walter who introduced her to the community.

Toney Holley began volunteering for the tribe when the community was petitioning the government for federal recognition in the early 2000s. She said she worked on any committee she was put on.

I learned through volunteering and listening to what it meant to be not only Nipmuc but how to be part of a community and how to contribute to the community, Holley said.

In 2013, she was chosen as Sonksq, and in that position, she advocates for economic and social justice in the community. This includes producing and distributing healthy foods, supporting Nipmuc artists, pursuing opportunities to secure land for the tribe and promoting cultural education.

In addition, Toney Holley, a former nurse, was one of the original founders of the Nipmuc Womens Health Coalition, the first Massachusetts organization to advocate for culturally appropriate healthcare for Indigenous people. She is also a former member of the Massachusetts Commission on Indian Affairs, the former director of the Hassanamisco Indian Museum, a member of the Worcester Black History Project, a professional researcher, writer, speaker and genealogist, and a mother of four and grandmother of eight.

In her words: Listen to the elders, those that are recognized by the community at large. Take the time to know our community, and ask how you can best serve the community. You do have great ideas, but ask first how those ideas can best serve the community.

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.
Two public schools in Acuchnet were swept by police over the weekend after the school district received a fake bomb threat over email on Saturday afternoon, according to officials.

Superintendent of Schools Paula J. Bailey said Acushnet Elementary School and Ford Middle School got the threat through a school district website form on Nov. 25. Bailey then told Police Chief Christopher R. Richmond and School Resource Officer Derek Cathcar, officials said in a statement Sunday.

The schools were evacuated as a result and police, including K9s, searched the buildings. The only people inside the schools at the time were custodial staff and employees conducting a deep cleaning of the schools, according to officials.

Read More: Police investigating swatting incident at place of worship in Needham Sunday

Nothing suspicious was found during the sweep, and authorities determined the email was a hoax. The cleaning at the Elementary School later resumed.

This came after several Massachusetts communities, including three places of worship, received bomb threats within 24 hours last Sunday, Nov. 19.

Unfortunately, these kinds of anonymous email threats have become far too common nationally, but we continue to take very threat seriously and respond in a consistent manner, Richmond said.

Police have determined that there is no threat to the community, but will have an increased police presence on campus Monday as an extra precaution. Classes are expected to resume normally as well, officials added.

We are grateful to Chief Richmond and their law enforcement partners for their prompt and efficient response this weekend, Bailey said. We followed our districts safety protocols, and as always we take every threat seriously. The safety of our schools is paramount.

The incident remains under investigation.
Gumby, a unique 11-week-old kitten, is in search of very special adopters through the MSPCA due to a deformity in his hind legs which makes them especially extended and limits his movement.

Shelter staff say despite the condition he was born with, Gumby is able to walk and use a litter box, adding he is very sweet and loving, even playful, according to the MSPCA-Angell in a news release Monday.

Weve never seen a cat quite like this, said Rebecca Fellman, the MSPCA-Angells lead clinician of community and shelter medicine, in a statement.

Read more: Dozens of sugar gliders seek new adoptive homes after large surrender to the MSPCA

Both of Gumbys back legs are severely deformed with muscle contracture that limits his joint mobility, but he still manages to get around  often on all fours, Fellman added.

You can watch a video of Gumby in action below or by clicking here to watch on the MSPCA-Angells YouTube channel.

Despite the challenges posed by his back-leg deformities, Gumby is overall doing well, Fellman noted.

She said the MSPCAs specialists are exploring different ways to manage his condition, but noted he isnt developing sores on his legs and that the possibility of surgery may not significantly improve his mobility.

Fellman said without this potential advantage it doesnt make sense to put him through what will be a painful process at this time.

As a result, the MSPCA said it is instead looking for a special adopter who can accommodate Gumbys needs and one is who is willing to take take on the unique challenges that come with a cat in his condition.

Read more: Springfield pet service looks to help homeless Puerto Rican animals

Erin Morey, clinic coordinator for the MSPCAs Boston Adoption Center, said in a statement that Gumby is unable to jump or climb stairs, and may need help getting around at times.

Long term, he might benefit from physical therapy or other formers of assistance, especially since his mobility and needs might change as he grows, Morey said.

Personality-wise however, Morey noted Gumby is no different from your average kitten.

He loves attention and can be a little mischievous, Morey said. Its remarkable how well hes learned to function with his limb deformities. He doesnt let anything get him down.

Those interested in adopting Gumby are asked to submit an inquiry to the MSPCA here. Prospective adopters are also asked to have or form a close relationship with a veterinarian.

Gumby came to the MSPCA from an overcrowded shelter via the SPCA of Texas earlier this month in search of medical treatment and a new loving home, the group said.

Anyone who wishes to donate to the MSPCA to support its care for and efforts to find new homes for pets like Gumby can donate here.
Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, the Qatari government said, bringing the prospect of a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war and further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

The announcement, made by Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majid Al Ansary in a post on X, came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides. A fourth swap of hostages for prisoners under that deal was expected later on Nov. 27.

Read More: Jason Eaton pleads not guilty in connection with shooting of 3 Palestinian VT students

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have crammed into United Nations shelters, and where dire conditions persist despite the increased delivery of aid under the truce.

Israel will resume its operations with full force as soon as the current deal expires if Hamas does not agree to further hostage releases, with the goal of eliminating the group and freeing the rest of the captives, government spokesperson Eylon Levy told reporters on Monday.

Read more: Police arrest suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent near University of Vermont

So far, 58 hostages have been released during the current truce, including 39 Israelis. Before the truce, four hostages were freed, another rescued and two were found dead inside Gaza.

After weeks of national trauma over the around 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and the militants are likely to make much greater demands for their release.

A Third Release of Hostages and Prisoners

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 hostages, including 14 Israelis, and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners  the third such exchange under the truce.

Most hostages appeared to be physically well, but 84-year-old Elma Avraham was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her of a new great grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.

So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.

The Palestinian prisoners released were mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out. Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight.

One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

Respite in Gaza

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled entire neighborhoods.

Footage showed a complex of several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun.

Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.

The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gazas population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.

Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds. Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.

My clothes are all wet and I am unable to change them. said Mansour, who is disabled. I have not drunk water for two days, and theres no bathroom to use.

The U.N. says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the U.N. said.

Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction.

Many say the aid is not nearly enough. Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.

She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics. People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return.
A Vermont man pleaded not guilty to attempted murder Monday in connection with the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent who were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday, a day after the shooting outside his apartment building near the University of Vermont campus. He appeared in court Monday by video from jail, speaking only to confirm his identity. His attorney entered pleas of not guilty on his behalf, and a judge ordered him held without bail pending a hearing that likely will be held in the next few days.

Read more: Police arrest suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent near University of Vermont

According to a police affidavit, federal agents found a shotgun in Eatons apartment. He refused to identify himself but told the officers he had been waiting for them.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime. The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Vermont authorities in the investigation.

There has been a sharp increase in threats directed against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, he said. There is understandable fear in communities across the country, Garland said.

The three men, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

Two of the victims are U.S. citizens and the third is in the country with legal permission. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from victims families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

The three men had been staying at Awartanis grandmothers house for Thanksgiving, Awartani told police. They had gone bowling earlier Saturday and were returning when a man walked up to them, pulled out a gun and started shooting, he said.

A second victim told police he saw a man staring at them from the porch of a white house. Abdalhamid told police that the man stumbled down the stairs and pulled out a pistol.

Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said the gunman shot them without saying any words and all three are now in the ICU.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference Monday to discuss the investigation. Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said.

The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school, in the West Bank.

While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country, the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. We will not let hatred win.

Read more: Debate over Palestinian flag in North Andover leads to town policy change

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

Read more: Palestinian flag flies outside Worcester City Hall as war in Gaza rages on

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in suburban Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. It was the third exchange under a four-day truce deal.
A 75-year-old woman from Massachusetts was killed in a crash on the New Jersey Turnpike early Sunday morning, according to NJ.com.

Maria Irgui, of Attleboro, was identified as the woman killed in the Nov. 26 crash, the outlet stated. The fatal crash happened on the southbound side of the highway in Chesterfield, near mile marker 55.8, the outlet said.
More than 1.3 million chickens are being slaughtered on an Ohio egg farm as the bird flu continues to take a toll on the industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said all 1.35 million chickens on the farm in Ohio's Union County will be slaughtered to help limit the spread of the highly contagious virus after a case was confirmed in the flock.

The outbreak that began in early 2022 has been much less severe this year as fewer cases of the virus are being found among the wild birds that spread it. But there have still been 8.1 million birds killed this year to help control the spread of the disease and 5.8 million of those have come just this month as several large egg farms have been struck. That includes 1.2 million birds at one Iowa egg farm and another 940,000 chickens at one Minnesota egg farm that had to be killed.

Egg farms tend to be much larger than turkey or chicken farms, sometimes with millions of birds. That's a big part of why Iowa  the nation's largest egg producing state  has been hit the hardest in this outbreak with nearly 17.3 million birds killed. Ohio is also one of the top egg producing states but it has seen only 5.1 million birds killed because of bird flu.

There have also been sizeable bird flu cases recently confirmed on farms in Minnesota, Maryland, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Georgia and California. But the biggest one of those cases was the Maryland chicken farm where 198,200 birds were killed.

North Dakota has had four confirmed bird flu cases this fall in small backyard poultry flocks -- two in McIntosh County, and one each in Golden Valley and Williams counties -- as well as a case in a commercial flock in LaMoure County, according to state data. The LaMoure County flock totaled 25,100 birds, according to federal data.

In 2022, nearly 58 million birds were slaughtered in the U.S. due to the outbreak. The highly contagious virus is spread easily by wild birds through droppings and nasal discharges.

Farmers are working hard to keep the virus from infecting their flocks by taking steps like requiring workers to shower and change clothes before entering barns, sanitizing trucks that enter a farm and investing in separate sets of tools for every barn. But the virus is difficult to keep out particularly along the main pathways for migrating birds who are headed south for the winter.

Officials say bird flu doesnt represent a significant health threat. Human cases are extremely rare and none of the infected birds are allowed into the nations food supply. Properly cooking poultry and eggs to 165 degrees Fahrenheit will also kill any viruses.
A police pursuit and arrest early on Monday led Newton police to a massive discovery  1,000 pieces of stolen mail in the hands of two suspects, the department said on Facebook.

Newton police were notified by Wellesley police about a vehicle heading in Newtons direction after the car was identified as being involved with mail theft.

By around 4 a.m., Newton police found the suspected car on Route 9 and pulled the vehicle over in the area of Hammond Pond Parkway, the departments post read.

After a short while, the vehicle drove away and sped off towards Brookline. It was not long until the same Newton police officer who pulled the car over was notified that the car had crashed on Newton Street in Brookline.

Two men fled from the car, leading police on a short foot chase, police said. Both men were arrested, but when police turned to the car, they found 1,000 pieces of stolen mail.

The two men, Yasser Teixeira Mendonca of New York and Dahshein Karon Perry of Massachusetts, were charged with receiving stolen property and failure to stop for police and were arraigned later on Monday, police said.

A Newton judge ordered Mendonca and Perry to be held on $5,000 cash bail, to stay away from each other, surrender their passports and not leave Massachusetts, Boston 25 News reported.
A 46-year-old man was arrested after several businesses and historical sites were damaged in a vandalism spree in Boston this past weekend, according to the Boston Police Department.

The front door of a business was found smashed with a brick near 125 Charles St. South around 11:30 p.m. on Nov. 25, police said on Facebook. Officers checked surveillance footage and obtained a description of the suspect.

A little after midnight, an officer noticed that the front windshield of his cruiser was smashed. Police again checked surveillance footage and obtained a description of the suspect.

Later that morning, officers found a broken window near 15 Sudbury St., police said. It was then that officers determined that the description of the suspect from this incident was similar to the other two incidents.

Officers followed the suspect through surveillance video and watched him throw an unknown object at the Holocaust Memorial located at 98 Union St. When they arrived, police found a brick on the ground and vandalism to the memorial.

Read More: Police arrest suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent near University of Vermont

Another vandalism report came in just after 3 a.m. Sunday at 15 Court Square, police said. This time, officers found a broken window at a nearby business at 201 Washington St. After checking surveillance video, officers determined it was the same suspect from the previous incidents.

The suspect was later seen entering a shelter at 112 Southampton St. and, at 4:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, he was arrested. The suspect was identified as Lawrence Hawkins, of Boston, police said.

Hawkins was charged with multiple counts of destruction of property and destruction of a place of worship. He is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court, according to police.

Although Hawkins had already been arrested, officers found 14 tombstones, including Paul Reveres, had been previously vandalized at the Granary Burying Ground located off Tremont Street at around 10:45 a.m. Sunday. The tombstones had either been pulled from the ground or broken into pieces, police said. Six more tombstones, including one that was ripped from the ground, were also damaged in Kings Chapel Burying Ground, according to police.

Officers later determined that Hawkin was also behind these vandalism acts. Police said he will be charged with additional counts of destruction of property and defacing a burial site.

The National Park Services was also notified of the incident, police concluded.
SPRINGFIELD  Square One is returning home to the South End neighborhood.

The early education organization originally known as Springfield Day Nursery is planning to rebuild a bigger, better center at its original location at the corner of Main and William streets that was heavily damaged by the June 1, 2011 tornado, said Dawn Forbes DiStefano, its president and chief executive officer.

No one was injured in the disaster, but the building was deemed uninhabitable and eventually razed. Square One moved classes and corporate offices to other spaces, including a location on King Street.

Faced with later financial struggles, Square One sold the land to Davenport Corporation in 2017, she said.

Square One continued to have a small presence in the South End, offering early child education and child care for about 20 children in a rented space at 1095 Main St.

While the building is nice, the space is not ideal because there is no outdoor area where children can go out and play, DiStefano said.

The South End is woefully lacking in places for childcare and early learning so we wanted to come back, she said.

While looking for a new home in the neighborhood, Square One landed at its old property, which was not developed after it was sold. It also decided to purchase two small vacant lots on William Street next to the property, which will give the new center a large enough space for an outdoor play area, DiStefano said.

We wanted to be in the South End and had to have some green space, and lo and behold the land that we once owned was available, she said.

The agency officially closed on the property in September. It still must get a final vote from the City Council to change the zoning from Residence C to Business A on the two small lots, which once held multi-family homes that were destroyed in the tornado. The Planning Board has already recommended the change.

The plan calls for an approximately 26,000-square-foot center that will have room for 80 children and 60 employees. Along with the early education and care, there will also be offices and space for wrap-around services such as parent education classes, DiStefano said.

The cost of the project is expected to be between $12 and $18 million. Square One has already secured the funding, which will be a mix of bonding, grants and donations. Included is $3 million from federal American Rescue Plan Act, $1 million that was awarded through the city and $2 million awarded by the state, she said.

It should be ready to start construction in February or March. The center should be opened in the fall of 2024, she said.

The wrap-around services are vital, since Square One focuses efforts on children and families who are vulnerable, including those who are at-risk, homeless and involved with the Department of Children and Families, she said.

In addition, the South End is continuing to grow and she said she hopes the center will serve children from the neighborhood as well as those whose parents work nearby in the South End, DiStefano said.

The agency is excited to be able to soon return to a building that it owns since it will improve the operations and will better serve the South End neighborhood, DiStefano said.

We dont want to spend a lot of money on rent. We want to spend it on our children, she said.
A University of Massachusetts Amherst professor was arrested at Boston Logan International Airport after police said he led a pro-Palestine protest at the airport and refused to leave on Sunday.

State police said about 40 people descended upon the lower level of Terminal B at Boston Logan around 12:05 p.m. on Nov. 26, near the Southwest Airlines baggage room.

Shai Gorsky, 43, of Boston, was the leader of the protest group, police said. Gorsky is a UMass professor. The school did not immediately respond for comment.

Gorsky currently teaches two statistics courses at the Mount Ida Campus, his profile on the school site stated. He received his doctoral degree from Duke University in Statistical Science and has authored multiple scientific publications.

Gorsky shouted through a bullhorn, police said, and did not stop when troopers asked him to. He also refused to leave the terminal or have a conversation with the officers, the department said.

The professor was arrested for disorderly conduct, police said, and the remaining protesters then agreed to leave the terminal and congregated outside.

Troopers spoke again with the protesters outside and they left the airport, police said. The group did not have a permit to protest, the department added.

Gorsky was booked at the State Police-Logan Airport Barracks and he was released on personal recognizance. He is expected to be arraigned in East Boston District Court at the end of November.
A women-owned business based in Massachusetts that crafts stylish and affordable accessories has been named to Oprah Winfreys Favorite Things list for two consecutive years.

Nothing shows the excitement better than her reaction to herself.

Karena Rasser said the feeling of Top It Offs gloves being featured on Oprahs Favorite Things 2023 is like the gif of Oprah wearing a red dress while screaming and throwing her hands in the air.

Thats sort of the reaction that we all had and still feel, the co-founder of the West Roxbury company told MassLive earlier this month. It is pretty remarkable to be a part of such an amazing group of companies and people that really see the value and the benefit of Top It Off accessories.

The Sherry Plaid Gloves from the women-owned small business made the list, which features gifts from many women-owned, Black-owned and other minority-owned small businesses from around the country.

The stylish gloves can be used on electronic devices, so people are not forced to freeze their fingers off when using their phone.

Featuring a plaid design with a woolen look and a vegan, micro-suede palm, these cotton poly gloves are the perfect blend of style and comfort to warm you through those long, chilly, winter days, the gloves description on Amazon reads.

Top It Off Sherry Gloves in in pink (left) and orange (right).Contributed photo

Top It Off started producing gloves roughly five years ago, and the company has now been featured on Oprahs Favorite Things two years in a row.

Elizabeth Hoenscheid, who considers the list the top list youd want to be on, said she and Rasser were more than excited that the Sherry Gloves followed the success of their Dawn Gloves from last year.

Its been really fun to really be prepared with inventory and really be able to get lots of gloves out literally in peoples hands, Hoenscheid said. Theyre very stylish. Theyre something you need and they make you feel good when you wear them.

Read More: Two young entrepreneurs in Granby bet money grows from Christmas trees

I love seeing someone walk down the street and I go, Oh, I know thats our gloves, I mean, thats a pretty fun feeling to have, Rasser added. Its very natural for us to design things that people like that are affordable, that are a moderate price point that every woman can enjoy.

Hoenscheid and Rasser founded Top It Off 20 years ago. Both New York natives, the duo met while working in Boston and quickly realized that they each wanted to start their own businesses that focused on helping women feel empowered through fashion.

Their company, which was originally called Martinis and More, started off by designing items like ribbon belts and painted picture frames. After some time, the women realized they needed a different name for their business  to have something other than the word martinis in it, Rasser said  thus giving birth to the name Top It Off.

Ever since then, Elizabeth and I have been growing the business and still designing things, but not making them ourselves like we used to, Rasser said. We manufacture in various countries around the world.

Top It Off is based in West Roxbury but does not have a store there. They do, however, have a corporate show room and offices.

The company designs all their accessories that are then sent to over 2,000 boutiques and gift shops around the country as well as the Caribbean and Canada. As creative people, Rasser said she and Hoenscheid are always looking to design something new and meet their customers needs.

Top It Off has something new every year and literally every six months we design a collection. It is not stale by any means, Rasser said. So, creating something different every season is really what were good at.

Were always listening to what our customers want and we know that they want, Hoenscheid added. Were always looking for new opportunities.

Top It Off Sherry Gloves in brown (left) and black (right).Contributed photo

Essentially, there is never a dull moment at Top It Off, and that sense of revitalization has been something both women have embraced, especially as female entrepreneurs. Hoenscheid said having that get it done attitude has helped both women move mountains.

We always put goals ahead of ourselves for every year, and we work really, really hard to achieve those, she said. I think thats really the key to our success is that ability to listen to our customers and to adapt and just do whatever it takes to get it done.

Rasser added that building a company truly comes from ones relationship with their business partner, regardless of their gender.

You have to be partnered with someone that is the right fit for you, man or a woman. It just happens to be Elizabeth is a woman. It just happens to be that Im a woman and we work incredibly well together, she said.

We bring people in on our team that have the qualities that we want, and we need. I think its great. I mean, I would not change anything for the world, Rasser said.

People can browse Top It Offs products by visiting the companys website. Those looking to support the small businesses featured in this years list, can browse curated items in Oprahs Favorite Things Amazon store.
Dear Annie: Im a newly married 32-year-old woman, and my husband is 31. Weve been married for three months, and were both really excited to share the holiday season together for the first time as husband and wife.

My childhood family is very small. I only have my mom and sister nearby and a brother who lives 2,000 miles away. My sister has been married to her husband for three years, and every year we have been celebrating holidays with my sister, her husband, his parents and my mom. Things have been fine up until last year.

My brother, who lives across the country, came out here for a month during the holidays. My brother is the different one in a family of conservative Christians. He is a homosexual liberal; he is still very loved nonetheless.

My brother-in-laws parents have never met him before. Knowing how they feel about gay people, he has never come out and told them that hes gay. But they must have discussed him and figured it out on their own, because two days before Christmas last year, they told us they were not coming because they couldnt be around someone with his views and lifestyle.

Of course, we were hurt and very offended because he is a member of our family. Anyway, my husband is not religious, but he is a wonderful, sweet man and the most incredible husband. He and I have decided to host Christmas this year at our new house, and my brother-in-laws parents will be there. Im worried they will be rude to my husband once they discover his lack of religion.

My mother-in-law and I are very close, so she of course knows about the whole situation that happened last year and is ready to stick up for us both; however, Im hoping that wont be necessary  although given the way they are, Im truly expecting the worst. Any advice on how to handle the situation if that does in fact happen?

 Worried Wife in Mississippi

Dear Worried Wife: Try not to anticipate a fight before it even happens. Everyone might love that you are hosting and all get along. It is Christmas, for goodness sake. One rule of thumb to avoid arguments during the holidays is to agree not to discuss religion or politics.

Dear Annie: At 54, my mother, already blessed with two academically accomplished children in the 8th and 12th grades, yearns for a third child. I am nearly 18 years old and will soon leave for college. My father, 57, is adamant that he doesnt want another baby. With retirement as a middle-school teacher within a decades grasp, the idea of raising another child weighs heavily on him, having managed students his whole life.

Nobody except my mother wants another child. To facilitate this wish without enduring another pregnancy, shes exploring surrogacy, encouraged by medical professionals who believe her fertility levels can produce a new life.

Im concerned about my mothers demanding work schedule, as she works from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., yet she still strongly desires to add another child to our family.

Would a 12-year-old want a father in his 70s? Am I selfish in questioning the allocation of resources, as my mother contemplates funding a new lifetime while lamenting her inability to pay full tuition for a private college? Is it OK for my mother to divide our family, countering everyones wishes but her own?

 Parenting at 70

Dear Parenting at 70: Your mom would be parenting at 54 at first. A 12-year-old wants a loving father, and it doesnt matter what age he is. If your mom really wants a child, that is up to her and your father. Try not to place your own judgement on her and focus instead on how exciting college will be for you.

How Can I Forgive My Cheating Partner? is out now! Annie Lanes second anthology  featuring favorite columns on marriage, infidelity, communication and reconciliation  is available as a paperback and e-book. Visit http://www.creatorspublishing.com for more information. Send your questions for Annie Lane to dearannie@creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2023 CREATORS.COM
This month, the city of Easthampton and the U.S. House of Representatives took similar actions. If you read only the headlines, the 8-0 vote by the Easthampton City Council and the 396-23 tally in Congress look like kindred efforts to oppose bias against Jewish people.

Thats a fair reading of the nonbinding resolution embraced by the Easthampton council: a sincere effort to stand against antisemitism. It came at a time when the Anti-Defamation League reports a sharp rise in bias against Jews, following the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 and Israels military campaign in Gaza  both of which have resulted in an enormous loss of life.

In Congress, the measure that won bipartisan support is more complicated. Its target was political activity on elite U.S. college campuses that included abhorrent support of Hamas, Hezbollah, and other terrorist organizations, leaving Jewish students feeling unsafe.

Any statement against discrimination holds merit. But what passed in the Republican-controlled House dripped with tired political talking points and agendas that, at heart, were not about standing up to hate.

We find more to admire in the resolution that passed in Easthampton Nov. 15, a few days before a Florence site was one of three Jewish congregations in the state evacuated after receiving bomb threats. The resolution declares that our nations founding principles include freedom for all people from persecution and bigotry.

The first weeks after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks saw a 388% increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S., according to the ADL. More than half of the 312 instances of bias tracked by the group from Oct. 7 to 23 related to the Israel-Hamas war.

Easthampton had already shown a commitment this year to fighting bias by updating and strengthening its policy on hate crimes and civil rights violations.

Then there is Congress.

While we support any resolution condemning antisemitism, this one orbits the culture wars, warping and demeaning its supposed cause.

One of its sponsors, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, crowed that only her party protects targets of bias. Joe Biden and the Far Left might not be able to call out this violent antisemitic language for what it is, Stefanik said in a statement after the House vote, but make no mistake, House Republicans condemn the propagandizing of terror on American soil.

Which part of the House resolution were GOP lawmakers most eager to embrace? The opportunity to beat up, once again, on their woke ideological opponents on campuses.

Thats politics as usual at a time that demands more.
Shannon Archambault felt her privacy shattered when she discovered a hidden spy camera inside her Springfield apartment last month.

Now, the man she and police suspect put them there will face charges.

Archambault, 31, pulled down a fake fire alarm on the ceiling outside her bedroom in October and found that a tiny camera lens was pointed toward her dresser where she gets changed.

I had a panic attack, said Archambault. I almost lost my (expletive). I freaked out.

Read more: Springfield woman discovers hidden camera in fake smoke detector spying on her

Archambault said she only found out about the hidden camera because a friend of her ex-boyfriend warned her about the hidden camera after the ex-boyfriend showed him a livestream.

She said shes installed an ADT security system since she discovered the hidden camera.

Im terrified hes going to have something done to my apartment, Archambault said.

A Springfield woman recently discovered she's been spied on through a fake smoke detector since May.Courtesy of Shannon Archambault

Arrest warrant issued

The Springfield Police Department issued an arrest warrant for the ex-boyfriend last week.

Christopher Anderson, 38, of Wales, was issued an arrest warrant based on eight felony charges of photographing sexual or intimate parts without consent. Anderson is currently being held at the Hampden County jail due to previous, unrelated charges.

Detectives in the Springfield Police Special Victims Unit under the direction of Captain Trent Duda applied for and were granted a warrant for Andersons arrest last week, Springfield police spokesperson Ryan Walsh said.

Anderson was being held on a $10,000 bail, which has been revoked pending his arraignment, according to Robert Rizzuto, a spokesperson for the Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchis Office.

An arraignment date for Anderson is not yet set.

A probable cause report for his arrest obtained from Springfield District Court shows that Springfield police found enough evidence to bring charges based on the videos reviewed by investigators.

Police recovered the fake fire alarm and a 32-gigabyte memory card with hundreds of videos from Archambaults apartment.

The videos spanned between May 20 and June 15, but a majority were captured between May 20 and May 24, according to Springfield detective Michael Vona who authored the probable cause report.

Police were granted a search warrant to review the video footage, which showed that Archambault was recorded changing clothes and being exposed nude or partially nude several times.

In an interview with police, Archambault said she and Anderson dated between March 2022 and September 2023, according to the report. Anderson did not live at the apartment, although he would stay overnight occasionally, she told police.

In total, there were 1,574 files and 120 folders on the memory card, according to police.

Read more: Man shot dead in Springfield apartment building early Monday morning

I freaked out

He did it while I was at work, Archambault told MassLive last month about when her ex-boyfriend installed the device. She added that in January she found a spy camera hidden in a phone charger in her room. When she confronted her boyfriend about it, He shrugged it off like it was nothing, she said.

My heart hurt because I loved this man, she said. I freaked out.

Archambault said the hidden camera streamed a live feed to her ex-boyfriends phone based on a video she saw from the device.

She hopes that her story will make people more aware of these hidden camera devices that are widely available online.

My message for people is please, please, please make sure you really know somebody before you let them completely in your life, Archambault said.

The fake smoke detector appears troublingly ordinary in photographs shared by Archambault with MassLive. A tiny pinhole camera peers out of the side of the fake smoke detector that might not easily be detectable once installed on a ceiling.

The photographs by Archambault show the fake smoke detector opened up to show where a memory card fits.

Read more: Leicester man suspected of Worcester massage parlor shooting appears in court

A Springfield woman recently discovered she's been spied on through a fake smoke detector since May.Courtesy of Shannon Archambault

These kinds of fake smoke detectors with spy cameras are being reported across the country.

Last week, a major with the United States Space Force was found guilty of invasion of privacy after secretly recording a 23-year-old woman in a Colorado rental home, according to Inside Edition.

In another instance, a Texas couple filed a lawsuit against a Maryland Airbnb host after finding multiple hidden cameras disguised as smoke detectors in a bathroom and bedroom where they stayed for two days, Fox News reported.
As support for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump climbs in voter polls, Democratic Gov. Maura Healey believes the next election will test the fate of Americas democracy  again.

November polls show Trump ahead of President Joe Biden in five of six swing states ahead of next years presidental election, according to The New York Times and Siena College. Except for Wisconsin, Biden is trailing behind Trump by 4-10 percentage points in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Pennsylvania, the poll found.

The results signal an early warning sign for Democrats who fear the controversial GOP candidate could earn yet another presidential nomination, amid waning support for Biden.

Were a nation of tremendous diversity and diversity of political viewpoints  thats what democracy is, thats OK, Healey said in an interview with GBH Monday afternoon. But its not OK if you have somebody in charge who is going to continue to deny elections, commit fraud in so many different ways and do things that are so destabilizing to our role and influence in the world [and] say nothing of the effect that its had on the lives of Americans.

As an attorney general, Healey was known for standing up to Trumps controversial policies during his time in the White House. In her former role, she sued the Trump administration nearly 100 times and won nearly 77 percent of the time, an analysis from the Boston Globe found.

Some of Healeys suits against Trump included filings against the former presidents attempts to exclude undocumented immigrants from Census data, his short-lived travel ban which barred people from entering the U.S. from seven Muslim nations and a bevy of environmental concerns.

My comment to people is really do all that you can to keep yourself informed on what happens because that shows you what is to come, Healey said.

When asked whether she was comfortable with Bidens candidacy, the governor said she replied with absolutely  the entire team and the administration, absolutely.
One year after signing a long-term free agent contract, a prominent former Red Sox player is reportedly on the trading block.

The Twins are shopping longtime Boston catcher Christian Vazquez in trade talks, according to a report from FanSideds Robert Murray. Its unclear if any progress has been made on a deal. Vazquez just completed his first season in Minnesota after signing a three-year, $30 million contract with the Twins in December. He may be the victim of a payroll crunch for the reigning American League Central champions.

The Twins are looking at shedding payroll and they have aggressively tried to move certain players, Murray said in an appearance on Foul Territory. One of them has been Christian Vazquez, according to sources who have spoken to the Twins.

Vazquez spent the first eight seasons of his major league career with the Red Sox before the club traded him to the Astros for prospects Enmanuel Valdez and Wilyer Abreu in a somewhat controversial move before the 2022 trade deadline. Vazquez won a World Series title in Houston last fall, then hit free agency for the first time. He talked to the Cubs and some other clubs before reaching agreement on a deal with Minnesota that came with a $10 million average annual value.

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The 33-year-old Vazquez had a poor season at the plate, hitting just .223 with six homers, 32 RBIs and a .598 OPS in 102 games while splitting time with Ryan Jeffers behind the plate. In total, Vazquez started 91 games at catcher for the Twins while Jeffers got 71 starts and had a very strong offensive year, hitting .276 with 14 homers and a .858 OPS. Vazquez also started one game at first base.

The Twins may be looking to give Jeffers more playing time or install him as the full-time catcher moving forward and Vazquez is an obvious roadblock in that regard. To move him, the Twins may have to eat a significant chunk of the money remaining on his contract.
A pickup truck rollover on a slick Interstate 94 over the weekend killed a 59-year-old Dickinson woman and injured three of her family members.

The truck driven by James Deichert, 59, of Dickinson, spun out of control on the snow- and ice-covered roadway about 5 miles east of Dickinson around 8:15 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday, the Highway Patrol reported. The vehicle rolled multiple times in the ditch.

His wife, Sandra Deichert, was pronounced dead at the scene. James Deichert was injured, along with two passengers: daughter Kelsey Deichert, 29, of Dickinson, and a 7-year-old grandson. All three were taken to a Dickinson hospital with unspecified injuries.

Separately, a crash in eastern North Dakota around 12:15 p.m. Central time Saturday killed a 71-year-old Lisbon man. Duane Krivarchka died when the SUV he was driving crossed over the center line on a Cass County road while entering the town of Alice and collided head-on with a semitrailer, the Patrol said.

Krivarchka died of his injuries. The semi driver wasn't hurt. He was identified as Christian Mueller, 25, of Hodgeville, Saskatchewan.
One Red Sox free agent target is getting a long look at the city of Boston this winter.

Free agent lefty Jordan Montgomery is spending the winter in Boston, calling the city his offseason home while his wife, McKenzie, begins her dermatology residency at an area hospital. Montgomery has been working out and throwing at Boston College in recent weeks, according to multiple sources.

Montgomerys move to Boston  at least for now  is not directly related to his free agent process and was necessitated by his wifes career. But its notable that the South Carolina native is getting a chance to see what life is like in the city. The Red Sox are one of many teams interested in signing the lefty, according to a source, and met with his representatives at the GM meetings in Arizona earlier this month.

Geography might not be the main factor Montgomery considers as he makes his free agent decision, as players almost always take the highest offer on the table. But the fact Montgomery is living locally cant hurt the Red Sox, either. First, hes getting a feel for the city that the club will try to lure him to. Logistically, it would be easy for the Red Sox to get him to Fenway Park for an in-person recruiting meeting. And if Montgomerys wifes residency requires her to live in Boston for multiple years, it would seem logical that could potentially be a factor in Montgomerys decision-making.

Montgomery, who turns 31 on Dec. 27, is one of the top free agents available this winter after posting a 3.20 ERA and 3.56 FIP in 188  innings between the Cardinals and Rangers. He pitched especially well after being shipped to Texas in a midseason trade, posting a 2.79 ERA in 11 starts for the eventual World Series champions. In the postseason, the southpaw pitched to a 2.90 ERA in 31 innings.

With Aaron Nola (Phillies) and Sonny Gray (Cardinals) already off the board, Montgomery is one of the top remaining free agent starters available along with Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Eduardo Rodriguez, Marcus Stroman, Shota Imanaga and Lucas Giolito. Because he was traded midseason, Montgomery was not eligible to receive a qualifying offer from Texas and therefore wont require draft pick compensation to sign.
A year full of stargazing and celestial wonders will wrap up with one more meteor shower before ringing in 2024, the Geminid meteor shower.

The meteor shower started on Nov. 19, and is among the most visible and regular sighting between November and December. Meteors flash by the night sky in bright colors, flying by at a rate of up to 120 per hour under perfect conditions, according to NASA.

When the meteor shower reaches its peak, the moon wont disrupt any stargazing opportunities. A waxing crescent is expected to not blot out the meteors as they streak across the sky, according to EarthSky.

The meteors are fragments from an asteroid called 3200 Phaethon, EarthSky said. This is rare as most meteor showers are fragments coming from comets, essentially dirty snowballs in space. Asteroids are solid rocks hurtling through space in an orbit around other celestial objects.

The meteors are so named because of their radiant point, appearing in the direction of the Gemini constellation. The higher that Gemini is in the night sky, the more Geminid meteors one is likely to see, according to EarthSky.

The Geminids radiant point nearly coincides with the bright star Castor in Gemini, EarthSky said. Thats a chance alignment, of course, as Castor lies about 52 lightyears away, while these meteors burn up in the upper atmosphere some 60 miles above Earths surface.

The Geminids are expected to reach their peak on Dec. 14 and continue on until the shower ends on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24. The best time to look up and see them at their peak is at around 2 a.m. While upwards of 120 meteors are expected to go across the sky in a single hour, you are not likely to see them all, EarthSky assured.

The best way to see the meteor shower is to be out under a dark sky with no light pollution when the meteors come in spurts. Telescopes are not necessary given how visible they will be. The biggest kicker is how much cloud cover there could be while waiting for the meteor shower to arrive.

Locations such as Cape Cod National Seashore, Wachusett Mountain State Reservation or Lake Dennison Recreation Area are recommended by Go Astronomys Dark Sky Parks in Massachusetts page.
The man suspected of killing a woman at a Worcester massage parlor the morning of Thanksgiving was arraigned in Worcester District Court on Monday and was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing.

Marcel Santos-Padgett, 31, of Leicester, was charged with armed assault with intent to murder in connection with the shooting at Angies Bodywork Spa at 383 Pleasant St., the Worcester County District Attorneys office said Monday. He was arrested at 4 Columbia Park in Haverhill on Friday.

Read more: Leicester man arrested in connection with fatal Worcester massage parlor shooting

First responders were called to a suspicious incident at Angies Bodywork Spa a little before 11:40 a.m. Thursday. They were led to the woman by a man who flagged down officers and took them to her. But they were unable to revive the victim, police said.

During the incident, Marcel Santos-Padgett was in possession of a firearm, court documents said. He then showed his intent to kill, when he pointed that firearm at the head of a known victim and pulled the trigger.

Police identified Santos-Padgett as a suspect through security video, on which they captured a clear picture of him, according to court documents. They also identified a car near the scene with license plates registered to him.

Read more: Jason Eaton pleads not guilty in connection with shooting of 3 Palestinian VT students

On Monday, Santos-Padgetts lawyer Elliot R. Levine made a motion that his client not have to come out of lockup for his arraignment, the Telegram & Gazette reported. The district attorneys prosecutor requested he be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, the office told MassLive. The Telegram also reported that Santos-Padgett did not appear in the courtroom during his arraignment.

Judge Steven Power ordered Santos-Padgett to be held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing, which is scheduled for Dec. 13.

Multiple calls to Angies Bodywork Spa on Friday went to voicemail, but Google now lists the massage parlor as being permanently closed.

The door to Angies Bodywork Spa was unlocked on Monday, Nov. 27, less than a week after a shooting left one woman dead. The sign reads, "We know almost nothing about the case. Please contact the police officers for information and do not bother us. Thank you." Ryan Mancini/MassLiveRyan Mancini

MassLive visited the massage parlor on Monday. While the door to the establishment was unlocked, no one appeared to be inside. A sign on the door read We know almost nothing about the case. Please contact the police officers for information and do not bother us. Thank you.
Over 300 people took to the streets around Worcester City Hall on Friday in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, the Telegram & Gazette reported, on the day that a now since-extended truce and hostage exchange between Israel and Gaza started.

Organizers with the Worcester Solidarity Coalition waved signs and Palestinian flags and marched by the Worcester Common, then through Mercantile, Foster and Commercial streets before returning to City Hall, the newspaper said.

Demonstrators chose Friday to point attention to U.S. tax dollars going toward Israel and its military, Worcester Solidarity Coalition member Zaina Mahmoud told the Telegram.

The day takes the attention off whats really happening, Mahmoud added. Theyre funding the Israeli government to continue to carpet-bomb and kill civilians.

Worcester Solidarity Coalition member Tatiana Carrion said to the newspaper that Black Friday contributes a lot to capitalism, and capitalism contributes to war. We want this to take the eye off from the attention of sales and more on the people who are dying  people who couldnt make it to this day.

The war has raged since Oct. 7, when the terrorist group Hamas struck Israel. Over 1,200 Israelis have been killed, leaving 6,900 injured, the Israeli prime ministers office told ABC News. Over 14,800 Palestinians have been killed since Hamas attack, the Gaza Health Ministry said according to Al Jazeera. Barbara Leaf, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, said on Nov. 9 that the Palestinian death toll numbers are likely higher, according to The Hill.

While the march criticized the war and the United States involvement, Carrion told Spectrum News 1 that the rally was just a group of people who care about humanity.

Were standing in solidarity with the people of Palestine who are being displaced, who are being carpet bombed, who are being displaced from their homes, she told the news channel. We want to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine to show them we stand behind them, against the genocide of their people and that we are with them all over the earth.

A temporary four-day cease-fire starting Friday, Nov. 25, was announced by Qatar. By Monday, which was intended to be the end of the truce, a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed, all are women and minors, the AP reported Sunday.

Then on Monday, Israel and Hamas agreed to an extension of two days to allow more hostages on both sides to be exchanged, while also allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, NPR reported. During the truce, Israeli forces killed seven Palestinians in the West Bank, raising the number of deaths there to 239 in the West Bank since Oct. 7, Al Jazeera reported.

During the truce, a man in Burlington, Vermont, shot three University of Vermont students of Palestinian descent on Saturday, the AP reported. The three men, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Read more: Jason Eaton pleads not guilty in connection with shooting of 3 Palestinian VT students

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday. The suspected shooter, Jason Eaton, pleaded not guilty in connection with the incident during his court appearance Monday.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday the Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting was a hate crime.
The African Development Banks participation in the 2023 Dakar Forum of The African Delivery Units Network, provided a unique platform to share success stories and strategies, and culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), expected to strengthen the network of Africas delivery units.

The two-day meeting, held in Dakar, Senegal, was organized in partnership with Senegals Presidential Delivery Unit (Bureau Operationnel du Plan Senegal Emergent) from 9-10 November 2023.

The event brought together representatives of government Delivery Units from 14 African countries, as well as key development partners, including UNDP, UMOA, the World Bank, AFD and Enabel.

Delivery units, small, highly skilled teams working at the center of government to help line ministries accelerate delivery of top priority programs and initiatives, have become increasingly popular.

Spearheaded by the African Development Bank and the President Delivery Unit of Senegal (Bureau Operationnel de Suivi du Plan Senegal Emergent), the African Delivery Units Network was launched in the Senegalese capital in January 2019.

During the forum, participants examined progress made by government Delivery Units in supporting national transformation agendas amid a challenging operating environment.

In a panel discussion on the institutional model of Delivery Units, African Development Bank Acting Director for Development Impact and Results, Armand Nzeyimana, underscored the continued relevance of Delivery Units in a context where prioritization, speed and efficiency in delivery of government flagship programs and reform initiatives remain critical. He urged greater efforts at leveraging private sector financing for large scale infrastructure projects to reduce pressure on sovereign debt.

Now- more than ever- Delivery Units must respond to the aspiration of the continent for accelerated and efficient public sector delivery, with greater attention to innovative financing solutions for transformational projects, he said.

The Banks Country Manager for Senegal Mohamed Cherif, shared the Banks experience in designing and structuring major projects in Senegal through a series of large-scale publicprivate partnerships or PPPs, including the Blaise Diagne International Airport.

The high note of the Dakar Forum was the signing of the MOU between all 14 Government Delivery Units, formally establishing the African Delivery Units Network. The network will provide a platform for sharing knowledge, experience and expertise on government execution capacity.

Welcoming the excellent initiative of joining forces by sharing expertise and best practices among delivery practitioners in Africa, Nzeyimana reiterated the African Development Banks support to the African Delivery Units Network as an important vehicle to accelerate Africas transformation agenda.

African Development Bank celebrates 10 Year anniversary of Plan Senegal Emergent

On the margins of the Dakar Forum, Cherif congratulated the Senegalese government for its significant achievements under the countrys national development plan- Plan Senegal Emergent  over the last decade.

The country has tripled energy production capacity, resulting in increased access to electricity from 54% in 2015, to 76% today.

Cherif noted that the Banks support to the development plan has shown huge dividends, particularly in boosting the countrys competitiveness through transformative infrastructure projects such as the Dakar Toll Road, the Regional Express Train, the Blaise Diagne International Airport (AIBD) and the Senegambia bridge. These infrastructure facilities have ushered in a new era of connectivity for the country, and the West Africa region.
Entrepreneurs hailing from Nigeria, Kenya and Egypt were in the top three following the final pitching session in the Grand Finale; ABH grant recipients contribute to the creation of over 123,000 direct and indirect jobs through their entrepreneurial endeavors.

The Africas Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition, a philanthropic initiative sponsored by the Jack Ma Foundation and Alibaba Philanthropy, has named Dr. Ikpeme Neto from Nigeria; Thomas Njeru from Kenya and Ayman Bazaraa from Egypt the first, second and third prize winners, respectively, of this years competition. The announcement took place during an AR-enabled Grand Finale held in Kigali, Rwanda, which also captivated a global audience through a live broadcast.

The top three Africas Business Heroes for 2023 are:

1st  winning US$300,000  Dr. Ikpeme Neto, CEO and Founder, Wellahealth Technologies (https://apo-opa.info/3qVGqvr) (Nigeria)

2nd  winning US$250,000  Mr. Thomas Njeru, CEO and Co-Founder, Pula Advisors Limited (https://apo-opa.info/3L4blfF) (Kenya)

3rd  winning US$150,000  Mr. Ayman Bazaraa, CEO and Co-Founder, Sprints (www.Sprints.ai) (Egypt)

The top three winners were selected through multiple stages of interviews and evaluations from a staggering 27,267 applications spanning all 54 African nations. They have demonstrated exceptional ingenuity and tenacity, substantially impacting their communities and beyond.

Apart from the three final winners, the top 10 contestants will each receive US$100,000 in prize funding from ABH. An extra US$10,000 will also be allocated to each of the top 10 finalists for post-competition training programs.

I am deeply honored to be named this years Africas Business Heroes winner. This award energizes my commitment to driving positive change through innovation. I extend heartfelt gratitude to ABH for empowering entrepreneurs like me, and I am dedicated to shaping a brighter future for our continent through entrepreneurship. I am excited for the recognition of Wellahealth Technologies work, and grateful for my team, family and the ABH team for making this impact in healthcare across Africa possible, said Dr. Ikpeme Neto, CEO and Founder, Wellahealth Technologies, ABH 2023 First Prize Winner.

The winners of this years ABH competition embody bold ambition and innovation, exemplifying the true essence of entrepreneurial spirit and a deep commitment to addressing societal challenges. The judges recognized them for their remarkable ability to turn challenges into opportunities, unwavering commitment to community betterment, and innovative approaches to solving pressing issues. Their resilience, passion and impactful contributions make them not just business leaders, but true champions of change, said Jason Pau, Executive Director of International Programs, Jack Ma Foundation.

Audiences from across the globe watched the Grand Finale both live and online, closely following the top 10 finalists as they pitched their businesses on stage to a final panel of esteemed judges: Dr. Diane Karusisi, CEO of Bank of Kigali; Ibukun Awosika, Founder and CEO of The Chair Centre Group; and Joe Tsai, Chairman of Alibaba Group.

2023 sees the 5th anniversary of ABH, marking the halfway point in the prize competition program. To commemorate this milestone, a celebratory summit spanning two days from November 23 to 24 was held in conjunction with the Grand Finale. Themed AI: African Insight, Innovation, Impact, the ABH Summit and Grand Finale brought together more than 1,750 entrepreneurial ecosystem players and aspiring entrepreneurs from across Africa in the largest physical event in ABHs history. In addition to the live pitching sessions held as part of the Grand Finale, the event featured a series of speeches and workshops, a showcase of the work of past ABH heroes and an afterparty to celebrate the anniversary, among other activities.

Since 2019, grant recipients of the ABH Prize Competition have achieved remarkable milestones, collectively raising over US$153 million in investments and serving a vast base of over 37.5 million customers or users. Collectively, these entrepreneurs have received US$7 million in prize money, facilitating their operations in 52 African countries. Notably, their endeavors have led to the creation of over 123,000 direct and indirect jobs, contributing to the regions economic development. With a combined reported revenue exceeding US$252 million, ABH grant recipients continue to exemplify the transformative power of entrepreneurship in fostering growth, innovation and socio-economic impact across the African continent.

Over the past five years, ABH has received immense support from investors, entrepreneurs and business professionals from across the globe. A total of 903 volunteers have collectively devoted over 15,280 hours to judging, mentoring and supporting thousands of contestants, underscoring the powerful spirit of collaboration that fuels the success of the competition.

Read more about ABHs history and achievements from the Africas Business Heroes 5th year anniversary report (https://apo-opa.co/47RnSvV).

Pau added, In commemorating our five-year journey, we extend our gratitude to all the judges, volunteers and partners who have worked hand-in-hand together on this remarkable journey. Looking back, we find strength in the tenacity of the entrepreneurs we have supported together. Moving forward, our mission is clear: to continue our work with ecosystem stakeholders to identify and support even more African Business Heroes so that their stories inspire millions more.

The Africas Business Heroes Prize Competition strives to foster an inclusive and dynamic entrepreneurial landscape in Africa. In its fifth year, this annual competition continues to spotlight the remarkable talents of African entrepreneurs dedicated to effecting positive change within their communities. What sets ABH apart is its grassroots orientation, coupled with its age, gender and sector-agnostic approach.
Dans une lettre adressee a Pravind Jugnauth, le leader de Linion Moris a demande quune motion soit presentee a lAssemblee Mauricienne aus plus vite afin de debattre sur la situation qui regne dans le Proche Orient.

Honourable Prime Minister,

Leader of the House,

Prime Ministers Office,

Port Louis

The 27th November 2023

Re: Special and urgent motion to debate at the National Assembly.

Dear Prime Minister,

I am humbly appealing to you to consider that the following motion be the subject of a debate in the National Assembly at the earliest:

The House is of the view that a permanent ceasefire should start immediately in Palestine.

Already, many Parliaments around the world have done so in the recent weeks and there is no reason for procedural impediments to prevent such a debate in our National Assembly. We wish to show clearly that the Republic of Mauritius upholds the principles of peace, justice and liberty. I earnestly appeal to you to do the needful exceptionally before the summer vacation.

Furthermore, I am sure that all members of other political parties present in the National Assembly will agree to such a proposal.

The Republic of Mauritius cannot condone any genocidal act before our eyes where children and other vulnerable victims are subject to unacceptable atrocities.

May I also urge you to use all your clout to speak to all our brothers and sisters within the African Union for our voice be heard to find a solution for peace.

Thanking you beforehand,

Faithfully yours

N. Bodha
The Mauritius Institute of Directors (MIoD), in collaboration with the Institute of Directors Kenya (IoD Kenya), hosted the Women in Leadership with Grace and Grit online webinar on Wednesday 22 November 2023.

This initiative of the Women Directors Forum, an Advocacy Forum of the MIoD in collaboration with Dale Carnegie Mauritius, served as a pivotal platform for collaboration and empowerment for members of both Institutes, sharing success stories, and forging cross-border networks between Mauritius and Kenya.

 The MIoD is proud to begin this collaborative venture with the IoD Kenya for this initiative on such a crucial topic as Diversity and inclusion, which is among our top priorities in promoting best corporate governance practices in the public and private sectors. This also aligns with the OECD Principles of Corporate Governance. Women in Leadership with Grace and Grit is a pivotal event in this journey, creating a powerful connection between our members and the members of IoD Kenya. This platform helped strengthen relations and provided opportunities for members from both institutes to engage and exchange valuable insights, contributing to a broader vision of enhancing the role of women in the corporate governance landscape in the African region, shared Sheila Ujoodha, CEO of MIoD.

This event was more than an opportunity to inspire and elevate women in leadership roles; it was a vital step in fostering a diverse and inclusive business environment on a global scale. The interactions during the webinar not only highlighted the unique challenges and triumphs faced by women leaders but also underscored the importance of cross-border collaboration in broadening perspectives and strengthening connections within the African business community and beyond.

I am truly honored to be part of this insightful webinar on Women Leadership with Grace and Grit. As we navigate the complexities of the modern professional landscape, it is crucial to recognize and celebrate the dynamic leadership that women bring to the table. Grace and Grit encapsulate the essence of resilient, compassionate, and strong leadership that is often synonymous with women leaders. This webinar serves as a platform to delve into the experiences, challenges, and triumphs of women in leadership roles. By sharing our stories and insights, we hope to inspire, empower, and foster a more inclusive leadership paradigm. Together, let us champion the invaluable contribution of women in leadership, paving the way for a more equitable and diverse future, expressed Meshack Joram, CEO of IoD Kenya.

In 2023, the MIoD has made significant strides in its commitment to diversity and inclusion, particularly in leadership roles within Mauritian businesses. The Women Directors Forum and the MIoDs Path to Boardroom program have been instrumental in this regard. The Women Leadership Academy, a core component of the Path to Boardroom program, has now successfully prepared 185 women who can bring their insights, fresh perspectives and expertise to boardrooms. In parallel, the MIoDs Board Recruitment service has been supporting listed companies in achieving the 25% target for women representation on their boards, ensuring that they are not just ticking a compliance box, but rather finding the right candidates that fit and align with their values and strategic objectives. The MIoD also co-hosted the 2nd bi-annual Women in Governance Series earlier this year along with five other corporate governance Institutes worldwide, and recently participated in the Women Legacy Programme  Global

Immersion Conference organised by The Global Exec and the International Womens Forum in line with its ongoing commitment to global female leadership.

The Institutes actions, supported by its various initiatives, demonstrate its perseverance and rigorous dedication to championing Diversity and Inclusion, as the key corporate governance partner for both the public and private sectors in Mauritius and in the region. The Women in Leadership with Grace and Grit event marks another significant milestone in these efforts, offering a platform for idea exchange, learning from successful women leaders, and building valuable cross-border connections. The insights and experiences shared at the event transcend mere networking; they symbolize a unifying force for diverse global leaders.
A LOCAL election candidate has accused the HSE of giving up on the ongoing overcrowding in Mayo University Hospital (MUH)

Harry Barrett has warned that patients are being left to their own devices after HSE CEO Bernard Gloster said that so-called winter plans would not be implemented due to the year-round nature of hospital overcrowding.

Speaking to The Mayo News, Mr Barrett said inaction over expanding the hospitals emergency department and lack of investment in general practice and primary care were contributing to ongoing overcrowding at MUH.

Yesterday (Monday), there were 17 patients in MUH waiting on trolleys, 12 of which were waiting in wards.

Mr Barrett, who has promised to stand for the next general election if elected to Mayo County Council, said the HSE were no further up the road in dealing with the lack of healthcare services in the county.

I was promised by senior management within the Saolta groupthat there would be a winter plan. That was during the summer, said Mr Barrett.

In the meantime, the HSE has dispensed with the winter plan. That means they are giving up, he added.

Citing the vacant position in Lahardane, the former Castlebar town councillor said that the ongoing GP crisis was leading to more referrals to emergency departments.

According to a study by the University of Bergen in Norway, cited by Mr Barrett, patients who attend a doctor who is familiar with their family history had up to 30 percent lower mortality.

Mr Barrett also expressed concern over the HSEs ongoing recruitment freeze. Consultants, GP trainees, nurses, midwives, dentists, orthodontists, health and social care professionals, and key ambulance staff are exempted from the freeze, which was implemented last month.

That has an effect in Mayo. The HSE themselves came out last winter and said yes, weve had about 1,500 premature deaths because of delays, and A&E has contributed to that, said Mr Barrett.

He also cited research from the UK which found that 1 in 82 patients who wait on hospital trolleys for more than six hours will not be alive a month later.

If you are an old person on a trolley for eight, ten, fifteen hours in a bright noisy environment, it has serious consequences. Early deaths as a result of this, it really does kill older people.

Plans to upgrade the emergency department in MUH were raised in the Dail this week by Mayo TD Alan Dillon.

Under the HSEs capital plan, provisions have been made to facilitate the expansion of the existing emergency department to add a ground-floor extension with seven new assessment and treatment spaces.

A new first-floor Medical Assessment United (MAU) with ten additional assessment spaces dedicated to unscheduled care and auxiliary services has also been proposed.

The HSEs design team is advancing through the proposals the stage 2b design report.

Deputy Dillon said that the proposed timeline was not aligned to the urgency of our situation.

While I accept the approval process must adhere to the public spending code, it is really important that we look at expediting the submission. It is really important, said Deputy Dillon.

The Government must look not just at MUH, but all hospitals that are facing similar challenges. We must prioritise projects as a matter of utmost importance and hold the HSE to account in relation to them. The health and well-being of the people of County Mayo must not be jeopardised any longer and this situation cannot be overstated.

Responding to Deputy Dillon, Minister of State at the Department of Health, Mary Butler, said she would bring his concerns to the attention of Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly.

As Deputy Dillon will be aware, a five-year allocation out to 2025 of 5.65 billion has been provided to the Department of Health as part of the review of the NDP to support projects and programmes throughout the country. As everyone here understands, the early stages of all capital projects are the slowest. Once construction starts, it generally happens very quickly, Minister Butler replied.

Local Sinn Fein TD Rose Conway-Walsh and the partys health spokesman Deputy David Cullinane met with MUH management last week to discuss fears of a potential budgetary shortfall at the hospital.

Deputy Conway-Walsh also raised the matter in the Dail on Thursday with Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, TD.
The North Dakota Department of Transportation will temporarily close all full-time Driver License offices and the Bismarck Motor Vehicle office Tuesday from noon to 5 p.m. for employee training.

We know that closing offices temporarily may inconvenience some, but we are expecting minimum service disruption, said Robin Rehborg, DOT deputy director for driver safety. Our online services, kiosks and mobile app will be available and are great options to complete most transactions.
North Dakota U.S. Senate candidate Katrina Christiansen and her family survived a car crash in South Dakota on Saturday, according to posts to Christiansens campaign accounts.

Another car was attempting to pass a semitrailer when the collision with Christiansen's vehicle occurred, according to the candidate's posts. Campaign manager Kerry Billings told the Tribune no major injuries were suffered by people in either car.

Christiansen said her family is all okay in part thanks to the work of Plankinton Fire & Rescue, a voluntary fire department serving the rural area surrounding Plankinton, South Dakota, a town that has fewer than 800 residents.

These folks represent the courage and generosity that makes our country exceptional, the North Dakota Democratic-NPL candidate said in a Facebook post. My family is so thankful for their dedication to helping people in the worst moments."

Christiansen, an assistant engineering professor at the University of Jamestown, announced in October that she would mount a challenge to U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., for the 2024 election. She previously challenged Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., for his Senate seat in 2022, but received 25% of the vote to Hoevens 56.4%.

Cramer first ran for Senate in 2018 when he ousted former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp -- the most recent Democratic-NPL member of North Dakotas three-person congressional delegation. He has not formally announced his intent to run again in 2024 but has indicated to multiple outlets that hes likely to do so.
Global Exosome Research Market was valued at US$ 174.94 million in 2022 and is anticipated to record a revenue of US$ 1,158.04 Million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 24.4% during the forecast period from 2023 to 2031.

According to Astute Analyticas assessment of the global exosome research market continues to attract considerable attention from academic and industrial researchers. While the primary focus of exosomes currently lies in diagnostics, where their ability to detect disease biomarkers provides distinct advantages over traditional methods, there exist unexplored opportunities beyond this initial application. The therapeutic proteins encapsulated within exosomes hold great potential for cellular therapies.

A Request of this Sample Report Here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/exosome-research-market

The exosome research market is experiencing rapid growth, witnessing remarkable advancements in recent years. This progress is due to an enhanced understanding of exosomes role in various diseases and their utility as biomarkers for diagnostics and therapeutics. Consequently, an ever-expanding community of researchers has emerged, dedicating their efforts to studying this field, and propelling the development of novel technologies, applications, and products. As comprehension of exosomes deepens, so does their potential for drug delivery and diagnostics. The increasing recognition of these promising therapeutic applications drives substantial investments in this sector.

Unleashing the Potential: Exosome Research Market Shifting Towards Tailored Disease-Specific Applications

Exosome research has gained significant interest due to its potential applications as biomarkers for diseases and as delivery systems for therapeutics. One of the key factors contributing to their importance is their ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, opening up new possibilities in treating neurological disorders.

Cancer has been a major focus of exosome biology investigations. The use of exosomes and their contents, including surface proteins, holds promise for early cancer detection, leading to improved prognosis and survival rates. For instance, in breast cancer, the presence of CD24, EDIL3, and fibronectin proteins on circulating exosomes has been proposed as markers for early-stage breast cancers. This is particularly significant, as breast cancer ranks as the third highest cancer diagnosis in Canada. Diagnoses in stage I have been associated with nearly 100% five-year survival rates, compared to a mere 22% survival rate for breast cancers diagnosed in stage IV. Similarly, in non-small cell lung cancer, overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), placental alkaline phosphatase (PLAP), and leucine-rich alpha-2-glycoprotein 1 (LRG1) proteins has been observed in exosomes, highlighting their potential as diagnostic tools.

In addition to cancer, exosome research also shows promise in the field of diabetes mellitus. Recent studies have revealed significant differences in the miRNA content of exosomes obtained from the serum of type 1 diabetes patients compared to a presumed healthy control group. Furthermore, these exosomes were found to impact insulin production in the presence of sugars, suggesting a potential role in the development of type 1 diabetes. Preclinical studies have also indicated the involvement of exosomes in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. Specifically, exosomes released by adipose tissue macrophages in obese mice were found to be enriched with miR-155, leading to impaired insulin sensitivity through inter-organ crosstalk with the liver and muscles.

The findings in exosome research hold immense potential for revolutionizing disease detection, treatment, and management. By harnessing the unique properties of exosomes, researchers are paving the way for early diagnosis, targeted therapeutics, and improved patient outcomes in various diseases, including cancer and diabetes mellitus.

Technological Advancement in Exosome Research: Uplifting Major Revenue Growth for Key Players

With the advent of advanced exosome purification methods, the untapped potential of these minuscule particles in precise clinical diagnosis and treatment of various diseases is now within reach. Furthermore, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has created new avenues for exosome technology to contribute to the well-being of humanity. In the realm of vaccine development, researchers are engineering exosomes to display SARS-CoV-2 proteins on their surface, offering promising prospects for combating the virus.

New and emerging technologies play a vital role in enabling the detection, tracking, in vivo monitoring, and analysis of exosomes. Magnetically-labeled particles and optical sensors hold great potential for in vivo monitoring and detection of exosomes. Innovative technologies also enhance the specificity of exosome targeting, resulting in heightened patient sensitivity to drug responses, reduced treatment costs, and improved disease outcomes.

Liquid biopsy-based technologies have also advanced through exosome research. Exosomes serve as valuable sources of biomarkers for various diseases, including cancer. Liquid biopsy techniques utilizing exosomes show promise in the early detection and monitoring of diseases like prostate cancer. These advancements in liquid biopsy technologies have the potential to revolutionize precision oncology and enhance patient outcomes.

The integration of artificial, digital, and optical technologies has the potential to detect exosomes at the single-particle level or even at extremely low concentrations, yielding highly valuable diagnostic information. Collectively, exosome technology is poised to revolutionize the field of diagnostics and the treatment of human diseases, offering unprecedented opportunities for improved healthcare outcomes.

Biomarkers Account for Over 49% Revenue Share of the Exosome Research Market

Biomarkers play a crucial role in various aspects of exosome research, encompassing disease diagnosis, drug development, prognosis prediction, therapeutic monitoring, and tumor microenvironment studies, among others. Their versatility and potential applications across multiple healthcare domains make biomarker-based products highly sought-after within the exosome research sector. Recent estimations indicate that biomarkers contribute to over 49% of the total revenue generated in this field, firmly establishing them as primary drivers of progress now and in the future.

Applications of biomarkers in exosome research span a wide range of use cases. They enable the analysis of cell surface receptors to assess how drugs interact with cells, facilitate protein profiling to identify changes in gene expression, enable RNA sequencing to monitor genetic variation and support other methodologies such as metabolomics and epigenetics. Moreover, advancements in automation technology have introduced automated sample processing, reducing costs and significantly expediting time-consuming tasks such as data collection and validation procedures. This automation enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of exosome research endeavors.

North America to Capture More Than Half of the Revenue Share of the Exosome Research Market

In 2022, North America held a significant revenue share of 53.1% in the global exosome research market. This region is expected to maintain its prominence and witness a further increase in revenue share to 55.7% by 2031. The projected substantial growth of the global exosome research market is primarily due to the growing demand from various healthcare organizations.

This dominance can be owing to North Americas well-established biomedical infrastructure and substantial investment in research and development activities related to drug development, diagnostics, and personalized medicine by major industry players. Favorable government initiatives, coupled with the presence of key industry participants, further accelerate market expansion in this region.

The United States, known for its high per capita income and healthcare expenditure, holds the majority share of revenue within North America. The increasing investment in medical facilities and advanced infrastructure has led to a surge in demand for advanced diagnostic tools that utilize nanotechnology and bioinformatics solutions. This demand is particularly evident in specialized treatment centers, such as cancer care clinics. The availability of these resources facilitates market growth during the forecast period.

Moreover, the increasing number of collaborations between international academia and research institutes, both at private and public levels boosts the market growth in the region. These collaborations have resulted in frequent advancements in therapeutic applications based on exosome technology, thereby significantly boosting regional sales dynamics. For instance, a recent collaboration between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of California Berkeley (UCB) focuses on developing innovative solutions using exosomal therapeutics for cancers like breast cancer. This collaboration creates immense opportunities in the near future throughout North America.

Furthermore, the growing trust among the patient population regarding exosome therapies as safe alternatives to conventional treatments also contributes to the increasing adoption rate over the years ahead. This factor further propels the growth of the exosome research market in North America.

For The Full Report, Please Follow This Link- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/industry-report/exosome-research-market

List of Key Companies Profiled:

Segmental Overview

By Product Type

Kits & Reagents

Antibodies



Isolation, Purification, Quantitation Kits & Reagents



Other Kits & Reagents



Instruments

Services

By Indication

Cancer

Lung Cancer



Breast Cancer



Prostate Cancer



Colorectal Cancer



Other Cancers



Non-Cancer

Neurodegenerative Diseases



Cardiovascular Diseases



Infectious Diseases



Others



By Application

Biomarkers

Vaccine Development

Drug delivery

Cosmetic Application

Tissue Regeneration

Other

By End User

Academic & Research Institutes

Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology Companies

CDMO



Biopharma



Hospital & Clinical Testing Laboratories

By Region

North America

U.S.



Canada



Mexico



Europe

UK



Germany



France



Italy



Spain



Poland



Russia



Asia Pacific

China



Taiwan



India



Japan



Australia & New Zealand



ASEAN



Rest of Asia Pacific



Middle East & Africa (MEA)

UAE



Saudi Arabia



South Africa



Rest of MEA



South America

Brazil



Argentina



Rest of South America



Get a Free Sample Report Here- https://www.astuteanalytica.com/request-sample/exosome-research-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.

    

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Scope of Work

Project Name: USAID Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity Contract No.: 72060520C00001 Consultant Title: Specialist for regional situation assessment on combating wildlife trafficking in Central Africa

USAIDs Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity (FABS) is calling for proposals from qualified individuals to produce situation assessments on combating wildlife trafficking (CWT) in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo.

1.0 Background

USAIDs Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity

The goal of USAIDs Forest and Biodiversity Support Activity (FABS) is to assist the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE) and other environmental stakeholders in Central Africa to implement strategies and actions that address the large-scale threats to biodiversity conservation and forest management. The Activity focuses on three interconnected Intermediate Results (IRs):

Leadership and participation of diverse local organizations and private sector strengthened; Policy, regulatory, and enabling environment improved; and Innovative and evidence-based approaches adopted and institutionalized within conservation and forest sectors.

FABS engages closely with a broad network of institutions including civil society, private sector, government, and other conservation and development practitioners across the Congo Basin to build sustainable local institutions with the capacity to generate new analysis and evidence to support policy reforms and implement innovative conservation approaches. Underpinning these objectives is the Activitys collaborating, learning, and adapting (CLA) approach to improve knowledge sharing, communications, and learning across conservation networks in the Congo Basin.

Wildlife trafficking in the Congo Basin

Central Africas Congo Basin is one of the most biodiverse regions in the world, its terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems serving as habitat for more than 10,000 species of plants, 400 species of mammals, 1,000 species of birds, and 700 species of fish.(*1) The forests of the Congo Basin are home to numerous endangered wildlife species, some of which are endemic to the region, including forest elephants, lowland and mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos, pangolins and okapis. Its savannas also provide habitat for antelopes, buffalo, giraffes, lions, savanna elephants, and many other species.

The regions wildlife is threatened by bushmeat hunting and wildlife trafficking, as well as habitat loss resulting from expanding smallholder agriculture, timber extraction, mining and infrastructure. Wildlife and wildlife products, such as ivory and pangolin scales, are trafficked on a lucrative international market which attracts violence to the region, increases corruption, and funds criminal syndicates. The regions growing bushmeat trade represents a major threat to its forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of millions of people in rural communities. The wildlife in approximately 75 per cent of Central Africas forests are under some level of pressure from village hunting, and estimates of the harvest rates of terrestrial vertebrate in Central Africa range between 1.6 and 11.8 million tons of meat per year.(*2)

Across the region, these environmental threats are driven widespread poverty, recurring conflict and instability, weak governance, corruption, population growth, gender and other social inequalities, and economic dependence on natural resource extraction. These dynamics occur and interact at the local, national and regional levels, further complexified by unregulated cross-border trade, population movements between the countries, and overlapping institutional mandates of the agencies responsible for nature conservation and law enforcement.

At the regional level, the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), created by treaty in 2005, is the main body responsible for coordinating and promoting the harmonization of national forest and environmental policies and actions. Its work is guided by the COMIFAC Plan of Convergence, 2015-2025, and Phase Two of the Sub-regional action plan to strengthen the application of national wildlife legislation, 2022-2025 (PAPECALF II). COMIFAC is recognized as a specialized body of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which also has responsibility for promoting sustainable natural resource management and the transition to a green and blue economy under its Indicative Medium Term Strategic Plan, 2021-2025.

The efforts of regional and national government bodies to combat wildlife trafficking are supported and complemented by a diversity of donors, non-government organizations, and civil society actors such as the Eco Activists for Governance and Law Enforcement (EAGLE) network. USAID has invested in the sustainable management of the basins forests and biodiversity for nearly three decades. Under CARPE, now in its fourth phase, USAIDs priorities include building capacity, collaboration, and coordination to improve the rule of law in the Congo Basin as it relates to forests and wildlife.

To inform its strategy in this area, USAID, through CARPE, commissioned a situation assessment on combating wildlife trafficking in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which was published in 2020. The present work will build upon this by producing comparable situation assessments for other countries in the region, as well as a regional assessment that synthesizes the national assessments and includes an analysis of key regional or cross-border issues.

2.0 Objective

The overall objective of this work is to produce situation assessments on combating wildlife trafficking in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo (hereafter, the target countries). The situation assessments will cover the actors involved in, and enabling environment for, combatting wildlife crime and trade in each country, as well as regional or cross-border issues such as regional trade and CWT mechanisms relevant to all countries in the Congo Basin region of Central Africa. In support of USAID CARPEs Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) objectives, the assessment will consolidate existing knowledge, and provide analysis and recommendations of strategic options for strengthening efforts in combating wildlife trafficking in the region. The target audiences of the assessment include USAID and other US Government services, implementing partners, and other environmental stakeholders in Central Africa. The assessments will be disseminated widely to share the findings and encourage uptake of the recommendations.

The assessment should include relevant contextual information on each country and the region as a whole, including the physical geography, demographics and level of biodiversity; threats to wildlife, including the levels and forms of wildlife crime and trade; and current understanding of associated zoonotic risks. It should also include a mapping and preliminary capacity assessment of the stakeholders (including government agencies, civil society organizations and private sector operators) and government or non-government initiatives/projects relevant to wildlife crime and trade.

Building on this, the assessment should then present an analysis of the strengths, weaknesses or gaps or constraints, and opportunities in relation to the below thematic areas, followed by recommendations for actions or measures to strengthen capacity or improve the enabling environment in relation to each area. In addition to considering the technical capacity, tools and resources available to the institutions involved in the above areas, the assessment will encompass political economy analysis to better understand the power dynamics and governance challenges involved; to identify, as far as possible, corrupt practices which undermine effective CWT; and to highlight potential entry points and institutional champions for strengthening CWT.

Thematic areas for analysis:

Legal framework: Analysis of the legal framework for wildlife protection and wildlife crimes, including an assessment of the relevant legislation, implementing regulations and other legal measures, and their degree of enforcement, as well as the institutional roles, responsibilities and coordination mechanisms involved. This should take into account the existence and recency of national CWT strategies or action plans.

Analysis of the legal framework for wildlife protection and wildlife crimes, including an assessment of the relevant legislation, implementing regulations and other legal measures, and their degree of enforcement, as well as the institutional roles, responsibilities and coordination mechanisms involved. This should take into account the existence and recency of national CWT strategies or action plans. Government agencies: Analysis of the government agencies responsible for wildlife protection and the enforcement of wildlife protection laws, including each countrys relevant ministry and/or agency and CITES management authorities.

Analysis of the government agencies responsible for wildlife protection and the enforcement of wildlife protection laws, including each countrys relevant ministry and/or agency and CITES management authorities. Judiciary: Analysis of the judiciary services responsible for prosecuting and administering justice in relation to wildlife crimes.

Analysis of the judiciary services responsible for prosecuting and administering justice in relation to wildlife crimes. Border controls: Analysis of the effectiveness of border controls at major airports, ports and land crossing points.

Analysis of the effectiveness of border controls at major airports, ports and land crossing points. Civil society: Analysis of the role and capacity of local and international civil society organizations, or other non-government organizations, in monitoring, detecting and preventing wildlife crimes; advocating for policy reforms or other government action; promoting public education or behavior change in relation to wildlife crime and trade, in particular to reduce demand for wildmeat and other wildlife products.

Analysis of the role and capacity of local and international civil society organizations, or other non-government organizations, in monitoring, detecting and preventing wildlife crimes; advocating for policy reforms or other government action; promoting public education or behavior change in relation to wildlife crime and trade, in particular to reduce demand for wildmeat and other wildlife products. Regional and international cooperation: Analysis of current channels or mechanisms for cooperation between the Congo Basin countries and internationally, both in theory and in practice. This should include existing and potential collaboration in relation to the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC), and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF).

3.0 Tasks

Task 1: Develop the assessment methodology

The offeror will meet with the FABS team and USAID to review priorities to inform the development of a robust methodology for the assessment that is consistent with USAID CARPE and FABS objectives. Based on these discussions, the offeror will propose a detailed work plan and research methodology, including data collection and analysis tools, and a list of key informants, including government, private sector (e.g., financial institutions, transport/logistics companies), other donors, NGOs, and civil society. The research methodology is expected to envisage an iterative approach to data collection and analysis, drawing on existing tools and best practices such as the ICCWC Indicator Frameworks. The offeror and FABS team will also agree on appropriate channels and timing of communication to enable the parties to jointly track progress, address any challenges or risk in a timely manner, and shares insights and perspectives to feed into the assessment.

Task 2: Conduct data collection and analysis including fieldwork in the target countries

The offeror will collect and analyze qualitative and quantitative data for the assessment, following the agreed research methodology. The offeror will conduct a desk review and synthesis of existing literature (government documents, policy papers, journals, studies, and news), and preliminary key informant interviews (conducted remotely). Building on this, the offeror will conduct in-country data collection in the target countries, including further key informant interviews, focus groups, workshops and site visits as appropriate. The offeror will analyze the data collected in an iterative manner, identifying and addressing data gaps or potential strategic entry points or opportunities throughout the process.

Task 3: Produce the assessment report

In adherence with USAID branding guidelines, the offeror will produce a clear, informative, and credible report (up to 80 pages, including an executive summary of no more than two pages) containing the individual country situation assessments and the regional synthesis, each section presenting the context and findings and recommendations organized by thematic area. Additional details and analysis should be placed in an appendix. The recommendations should focus on concrete actions to strengthen capacity or improve the enabling environment, and should be divided into short-term and medium/long-term opportunities. Each recommendation should have clearly identified entry point(s) and target audience(s).

The offeror will submit a draft version of the report for review and will facilitate workshops to share and validate the assessment findings and recommendations with relevant stakeholders (to be agreed with FABS). It will then integrate feedback received from FABS, USAID and other stakeholders to produce a final report.

Task 4: Produce the accompanying communications outputs

In adherence with USAID branding guidelines, the offeror will draft the following communications outputs to accompany the assessment report:

Four country issue briefs that summarize the national context, findings and recommendations for each target country: Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo.







A regional issue brief providing a synthesis of the country-level assessments, as well as findings and recommendations in relation to the cross-border and regional aspects of the thematic areas.







A policy brief summarizing the recommendations for national and regional stakeholders including policymakers, private sector, and donors.

The offeror will submit draft versions of the above outputs for review, then produce final versions integrating feedback received from FABS and USAID, as relevant.

4.0 Deliverables

No. Due date 1 Detailed work plan TBD 2 Research methodology, including data collection and analysis tools

Preliminary list of key informants TBD 3 Draft report TBD 4 Validation workshop presentation (slide deck) and summary report TBD 5 Final report TBD 6 Draft communications outputs: four country issue briefs; one regional issue brief; one policy brief TBD 7 Final communications outputs: four country issue briefs; one regional issue brief; one policy brief TBD

5.0 Qualifications

Advanced degree or equivalent in social science, political science, environmental law or other relevant degree;

At least ten years of professional experience;

Demonstrated prior experience conducting regional analyses focused on providing action-oriented recommendations;

Experience working to strengthen policy, institutions, and governance practices in Central Africas counter wildlife trafficking sector;

Strong analytical skills and experience using social science research methods;

Ability to write concise, clear, and well-founded project descriptions and technical justifications;

Proven interpersonal and communication skills, both oral and written;

Fluency in written and spoken French and professional English.

6.0 Application Process

Interested candidates are requested to submit an updated Curriculum Vitae (CV), a proposed methodology (not to exceed 3 pages) including period of performance, level of effort, and associated budget to ard.fabs.info@tetratech.com. Please submit your application no later than December 15th. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications in French are also accepted.

--------------------------------------------

(*1) USAID / Environmental Incentives (2022), Vision for Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE)

(*2) Petrozzi et al (2016). Ecology of the bushmeat trade in West and Central Africa; Ziegler et al. (2016). Mapping bushmeat hunting pressure in Central Africa; CIFOR (2019). Towards a sustainable, participatory and inclusive wild meat sector.
by Les Luchter , November 26, 2023

In a new outdoor activation, shoppers at two Los Angeles-area malls can view a Honda aircraft descend from the sky, rotate and then take off again.

That experience begins the automakers previously announced augmented reality (AR) mural, which started its two-week run Black Friday at The Grove shopping mall in Hollywood, to be followed by a concurrent Dec. 1 to Dec. 7 installation at The Americana mall in Glendale. Both locations come to Honda via Outfront Media.

With on-the-ground guidance from brand ambassadors, who will also give away sustainable branded bags, consumers activate the AR on their mobile phones via a QR code.

The entire AR show is dubbed Wall of Dreams. Following the opening act, which showcases Hondas planned eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) aircraft, the dreams include:

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- Honda's promise of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

- How Hondas DREAMO lab pursues carbon neutrality using algae.

- Hondas dominance and legacy in racing

- New vehicles and products, including Hondas first, all-electric SUV: the upcoming 2024 Prologue.

The brand promises surprises with each section of the AR.

The Prologue, the eVTOL and other Honda dreams are also featured in a :60 Keep Dreaming spot from RPA thats currently being broadcast nationwide.
North Dakota Public Service Commissioner Julie Fedorchak was elected this month to lead the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.

NARUC is a trade group that represents the interests of state public utility commissions at the federal level. The organization has been active since 1889.

Its members include utility regulators from all 50 states; Washington, D.C.; Puerto Rico; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

At the group's 135th annual meeting in La Quinta, California, Fedorchak announced the Gas-Electric Alignment for Reliability initiative. The program will bring together regulators and officials from the gas and electric industries to address some of the coordination issues that have occurred as the power sector has become more reliant on gas for electricity generation.

The safety and reliability of the grid is job No. 1 for regulators and the power sector, she said. GEAR will zero in on one of our biggest reliability risks, the misalignment of the gas and electric power systems. This regulator-led group will bring together key industry experts with the perspectives and experience needed to get to the root of these persistent problems and develop some solutions.

The three-member North Dakota PSC regulates utilities, telecommunications companies, railroads, coal mining and pipeline siting in the state, among other duties. Fedorchak has been a member since 2013.
by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 27, 2023

The relationship between Microsoft Retail Media, a division of Microsoft Advertising, and Mood Media company Vibenomics might seem complicated, but it is not. It is actually as simple as it can be for two completely different businesses. The biggest common goal is that both want to support in-store retail.

The two companies are collaborating to bring multiple channels to market, running tests with brands and retail-media networks in the grocery space across mutual clients.

These test campaigns consist of running simultaneous audio advertising in a physical store, digital advertising on the retail website, and using geographic controls to provide incremental lift of each type of media and as a combined omnichannel strategy.

Early tests show significant lift as a combined messaging tactic.

The Microsoft Retail Media business initially attempted to address the customer journey through multiple channels by bringing in-store sales data into its platform. It connected in-store sales attribution to online impressions, which did not really work in terms of connecting with consumers.

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Vibenomics changed that when the two companies began working together last year to develop a retail offering from websites and search to physical stores.

Many purchases still take place in stores, so any media strategy that does not consider in-store and measurement is missing a big piece of the puzzle, says Nate Pinkston, head of growth, retail media, Microsoft.

For that to happen, brands needed to see performance. Vibenomics puts a lot of effort into programming content, from music to voices and the tone of messages. Dynamic creative plays a role that can drive the consumer to a specific aisle in the store.

Artificial intelligence supports creative production copywriting, and voice products. The company also has begun to test things for display. Were trying to find the correct way to approach it, says Paul Brenner, senior vice president of retail media and partnerships at Vibenomics.

The focus is on merging the data that identifies customer behavior online and in the store. Microsoft and Vibenomics ran a multivariant controlled test that compared the joint lift of audio and retail onsite and open interest advertising on Bing search. The unnamed yogurt advertiser ran onsite and in-store, resulting in an increase of 40% higher household spend and 50% share of category results.

The goal to measure the lift at every point of the shopping journey starts with Microsoft Advertising serving an ad on the retailers website and in Bing search results. The consumer sees it before arriving at the physical store. At the store, the consumer hears the ad in an audio announcement.

Connected TV is not part of the strategy, yet, although Microsoft has access to services through Xandr.

It is a place we are headed as we bring the Microsoft Advertising ecosystem together, Microsoft's Pinkston says.

Microsoft Advertising is the exclusive provider of Netflix advertising, so brands could separately traffic connected TV ads in the platform, but the company is working on pulling together its entire ecosystem of services.

CPG, large sporting goods, and home-improvement companies have begun to use the combination of online digital ads and in-store audio ads.

The goal is to create different experiences for fashion retailers. Rather than audio on the loud speaker, the ad might appear on a screen in the store giving the consumer the ability to flip through a brands product catalog of items not carried in the store, but could be ordered.

Mood Media, Vibenomics parent company, is in about 500,000 retail locations, supporting Victoria Secret with tabletop displays with motion video. It also supports many of the largest grocery chains, and big-box sporting goods retailers.
A surge in acute respiratory illnesses among children in China was caused by the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, mycoplasma pneumonia, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and adenovirus, as pediatric departments throughout the country struggled with the caseload, reported the Chinese Health Commission spokesman, Mi Feng (1 Trusted Source

Upsurge of respiratory illnesses among children-Northern China



Go to source).





Multi-Stakeholder Approach to Curb Acute Respiratory Infections Among Children in China

He urged medical facilities to provide timely and up-to-date information about the demand for pediatric and fever outpatient services, and for schools to take adequate preventive measures.
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Sleepless Nights to Potty Woes  Social Media as a Rescue!

Rewriting the Rulebook for New Moms and Dads

Parents of young kids increasingly turn to social media for parenting advice - (https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/parents-young-kids-increasingly-turn-social-media-parenting-advice)

"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."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," she added.Mostor to share their experiences.The most common discussions included toilet training (44 percent), kids' sleep (42 percent) nutrition/ breastfeeding (37 percent), discipline (37 percent), behavior problems (33 percent), vaccination (26 percent), daycare/ preschool (24 percent), and getting along with other kids (21 per cent).Three-fifths of parents said they talk about these topics on social media because they want to hear different ideas while one in four said it's convenient or they want to do things differently than their parents.Fewer said they use these platforms because they don't have family or friends nearby, don't have enough opportunities to ask their child's healthcare provider, or are too embarrassed to ask in person.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 said it helps them decide whether to buy certain products.One in 10 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 noted, "it is usually prudent to contact the child's primary care provider with any questions."she added, are efficient ways for parents to ask for guidance and determine if the child needs to be seen in person.Most parents also 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 percent 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 percent believe parents may give personal information that could identify the child's location or embarrass the child when they're older.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."Source: IANS
Do you want to know something cool?

I rode my bike along India's coast and it was amazing!

You'll love hearing about my two favorite trips: from Mumbai to Goa and Chennai to Pondicherry.

I saw beautiful beaches, green fields, and small villages. Each place had its own magic and there were so many surprises on the way.

Imagine this: riding your bike, feeling the sea breeze, and stopping to try tasty local food. From yummy seafood in Konkan to spicy snacks in Tamil Nadu, it was all so good. These trips weren't just bike rides; they were adventures full of fun and tasty treats!

So are you ready to have your own adventure?

Put on your helmet, start your bike, and let's go explore these beautiful places!

Beachside Motorcycle Routes In India

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Here are some beachside motorcycle routes in India that promise an unforgettable journey:

1. Mumbai - Goa

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Distance: 572 Kilometers

Duration: Three Days

Scenic Stops: Sandy Beaches, Arabian Sea

Natural Beauty

The Konkan Coast, renowned for pristine sandy beaches and lush coconut groves, adds a touch of tropical serenity to your journey. Coastal roads wind through this natural beauty, providing a visual treat for riders.

Sightseeing Highlights

Explore the cultural richness of local villages and historic forts, silent witnesses to the region's heritage. These sightseeing opportunities add depth to your adventure, offering glimpses into the vibrant history and traditions of the Konkan Coast.

Culinary Delights

The route tantalizes taste buds with local culinary delights, from fresh seafood to traditional Konkani cuisine. Every stop becomes a gastronomic adventure.

Famous for

The Mumbai-Goa stretch is famed for its diverse landscapes, from pristine beaches to historical landmarks. This route seamlessly blends natural beauty with cultural richness, promising riders an immersive and enriching experience.

So, fasten your helmet, fuel up your bike, and get ready for a three-day expedition that combines the thrill of the open road with the allure of the Konkan Coast's unparalleled beauty. The Mumbai-Goa ride isn't just a journey; it's a sensory delight waiting to be explored.

2. Chennai-Pondicherry

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Distance: 151 Kilometers

Duration: One Day

Scenic Stops: Beaches, Lush Green Surroundings, Fishing Villages

Natural Beauty

The Chennai-Pondicherry route promises a scenic journey adorned with sandy beaches, lush green surroundings, and the charm of quaint fishing villages. The road meanders through nature's beauty, offering riders a delightful visual experience.

Sightseeing Highlights

Explore the vibrant culture of fishing villages and make stops at serene beaches along the way. The route provides glimpses into the local lifestyle, making it a unique and enriching adventure.

Culinary Delights

Indulge in local delicacies as the route is not just a feast for the eyes but also for the taste buds. Sample fresh seafood and traditional South Indian cuisine, turning each stop into a culinary discovery.

Famous for

The Chennai-Pondicherry stretch is renowned for its picturesque landscapes, combining pristine beaches, lush greenery, and the cultural charm of fishing communities. It's a route that encapsulates the essence of coastal South India.

En route, savor the coastal breeze and the rhythmic waves along the sandy beaches. The journey invites riders to absorb the tranquility of lush green surroundings, creating a one-day expedition that's more than just a ride  it's a sensory escape waiting to be experienced. So, gear up, rev your engine, and let the Chennai-Pondicherry ride be a delightful exploration of coastal wonders

Pro-Packing Tips for Beachside Motorcycle Routes

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Lightweight Clothing

Pack lightweight and breathable clothing suitable for warm beach climates

Consider quick-dry fabrics for comfort.

Swimwear

Don't forget your swimwear.

Many beachside routes offer tempting opportunities for a refreshing dip.

Sun Protection

Pack sunscreen, sunglasses, and a wide-brimmed hat to shield yourself from the sun's rays.

Waterproof Gear

Given the proximity to water, consider waterproof bags or covers for electronic devices and important documents.

Sand-Resistant Gear

Opt for gear and luggage that's resistant to sand, as beaches can be windy and sandy.

Bring flip-flops or sandals for easy transitions from riding boots to beach strolls.

Hydration Gear

Stay hydrated in the sun by carrying a reusable water bottle or a hydration backpack.

Preparation Before the Beachside Trip

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Bike Check-Up

Ensure your motorcycle is prepared for sandy conditions

Check tire pressure, and brakes, and consider a wash and wax for corrosion protection.



Route Research

Research your beachside route for road conditions, potential stops, and scenic viewpoints.

Plan for regular breaks to enjoy the coastal scenery.

Beach Regulations

Familiarize yourself with any local beach regulations or restrictions, especially if you plan to ride directly on the beach.

Tide Information

If riding close to the water, check tide schedules to avoid unexpected challenges.

Physical Preparation

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Endurance Training

Beachside routes can involve long stretches

Focus on cardiovascular exercises for stamina.

Core Strength

Strengthen your core muscles to maintain balance

Take care if riding on sandy or uneven terrain

Adaptability Exercises

Practice riding on different surfaces, mimicking the beach conditions you might encounter.

Hydration and Electrolytes

Hydrate well before and during the ride

Consider carrying electrolyte supplements to stay energized

Other Tips For You

 Pexels

Beachside Emergency Kit

Pack essentials like a first aid kit, a multi-tool, and a tire repair kit

Sand can be abrasive, so extra care for your bike is essential.

Local Attractions

Research local beach attractions and activities along your route

Take advantage of beachside cafes, viewpoints, and water sports

Travel Insurance

Ensure your travel insurance covers potential beachside activities

Any water-related excursions

Community Engagement

Connect with local motorcycle communities or forums to get insights from riders who have explored the same beachside routes.

Environmental Responsibility

Respect the beach environment

Dispose of waste responsibly, and be mindful of local ecosystems

How To Go for a Seamless Beachside Motorcycle Adventure?

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Local Cuisine Exploration

Embrace the coastal culinary scene.

Sample fresh seafood and local delicacies unique to the beachside regions you explore.

Camping Gear (if applicable)

Pack lightweight and compact camping gear

Such as a tent suitable for sandy surfaces

Mindful Riding

Be mindful of the unique challenges beachside riding presents

Keep a safe distance from the shoreline and be aware of tidal patterns.

Plan for relaxation days by the beach

Use this time to unwind, explore local attractions

Rejuvenate for the next stretch of your adventure

How to Warm Up Yourself With A Post-Ride Relaxation?

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Recovery Essentials

Pack recovery items such as muscle ointment, compression socks

Don't forget to take a comfortable pillow for post-ride relaxation

Beachside Yoga or Meditation

Unwind with beachside yoga or meditation sessions

The tranquil sound of waves can enhance your relaxation experience

Local Spa or Wellness Centers

Treat yourself to local spa treatments or wellness services to rejuvenate your body after the ride

Journaling or Photo Sessions

Capture memories by journaling about your experiences or engaging in a photo session to document the beauty of the coastal landscapes.

Reflect and Plan for Future Rides

Source: Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Review Your Journey

Take time to reflect on your beachside motorcycle adventure

Note memorable experiences, challenges faced, and lessons learned

Plan for Future Routes

Research and plan for future beachside routes

Explore new coastal destinations and incorporate feedback from your current adventure into your planning

Connect with Fellow Riders

Share your experiences with fellow riders, whether through online forums, social media, or local riding clubs.

Exchange tips and recommendations for future beachside journeys.

My Coastal Biking Partner - The Bajaj Dominar 400

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

When I go on coastal bike trips, I always take my trusty Bajaj Dominar 400. Riding my Dominar by the beaches just feels right.

The engine has great power for riding up and down the twisty coastal roads. The handling makes it easy to go around tight turns near the water. Even on loose sand, it feels totally under control.

The Dominar is comfy enough to ride all day too. I can stop anywhere for awesome coastal views without getting sore. The upright seat means I don't get tired riding for hours.

Plus, the Dominar 400 has awesome mileage of 27 km/l approx. On a full tank I can cover over 300 kilometers before needing to refuel. That lets me ride way out to amazing hidden beaches other bikes can't reach.

Whether it's short coastal day trips or week-long beach adventures, my Dominar 400 is the ultimate buddy. For me, nothing beats cruising the Indian coast on my Dominar!

Summary

 Bajaj Dominar/ Instagram

Riding my bike along the coast of India was so fun! I loved exploring new beaches and trying tasty food. My favorite trips were Mumbai to Goa and Chennai to Pondicherry. There were pretty views and interesting villages everywhere.

I hope you get a chance to take your own coastal adventure! Pack your bags, start your engine, and hit the open road. India's beaches are waiting for you. Just remember to be safe and respect the environment. Stop often to enjoy the views and make new friends.

I can't wait for my next beachside motorcycle journey! Where should I go next? Let me know if you have any suggestions.

For more such thrilling experiences do follow us on our new bikes category page.
Trucks carrying fresh produce, nonperishable food and boxed goods will make a stop Tuesday in two western North Dakota communities.

Food through the Great Plains Food Bank Mobile Food Pantry is available at no cost to those in need. Scheduled stops, with local time listed, are:

Parshall: North Country Oil, 7258 38th St. NW, 3:30-5:30 p.m.

White Shield: Public Safety Building, 401 Son of Star (Roseglen), 4:30 p.m. until gone

For more information, go to https://bit.ly/3lkvv80.

Great Plains is based in Fargo, with a distribution center in Bismarck. The food bank distributes food to 200 food pantries, shelters, soup kitchens and other charitable feeding programs in nearly 100 communities across North Dakota and into eastern Minnesota.
Thousands of pairs of updated protective eyewear will be distributed to Air Force pilots as the service deals with an increase in laser pointer incidents that can distract or even blind military aviators.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's Human Systems Division, based out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, is starting to field new, upgraded eyewear that can protect against both ballistics and lasers, as well as work for a variety of pilots.

A need for updated eye protection became apparent as the service has seen an increase in people using personal laser pointers -- small beam projectors used for everything from classroom presentations to entertaining your pets -- to target civilian and military aircraft.

Read Next: VA Plans Outreach to Screen 3 Million More Veterans for Toxic Exposures

According to the latest data from the Federal Aviation Administration, there was a surge in reported laser incidents nationally, with 2021 marking a 41% increase in aircraft laser strikes compared to 2020.

In 2022, there were almost 9,500 incidents reported across the U.S. And so far in 2023, more than 10,300 incidents have been recorded with one month left in the year.

"The consequences of getting lasered without having proper protection could not only prevent the pilot from flying and landing an aircraft safely, but it could also cost them their career," Capt. Pete Coats, lead program manager for the Human Systems Division's Aircrew Laser Eye Protection Program, said in a press release this month. "So, our goal is to ensure the right eyewear is available to everyone."

There are eight variations of the new eyewear, all dependent on what aircraft pilots are flying and what the mission requires, such as separate day and night glasses, ballistics spectacles, and different visors designed to work with night vision goggles, according to the release.

"If flying low and slow or hovering like a helicopter or CV-22 Osprey, aircrew would prefer to have ballistic protection as well as laser protection," Mark Beer, the Aircrew Laser Eye Protection Program deputy program manager, said in the release. "However, if you're in a fighter aircraft or flying in a bomber at high altitude, the chances of you needing ballistic protection are not nearly as high."

The new eyewear will be available for all aircrew, except those flying the F-35 Lightning II and the high-altitude U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft. In total, more than 42,000 upgraded devices are expected to be sent to various Air Force units by 2027.

A vast majority of the laser strike incidents occur at 10,000 feet in the sky, with fewer occurring at 25,000 feet and very few happening above 40,000 feet.

Notably, the small, hand-held lasers can often point a beam at an object from thousands of feet away. When a laser reaches an aircraft cabin or cockpit, it can cause temporary disorientation and blindness or even long-lasting optical damage.

There have been several incidents of lasers being aimed at military aircraft in recent years.

In 2018, the U.S. government protested to China about several incidents in which military planes were targeted with lasers while landing in Djibouti. The Pentagon reported at the time that two Air Force crew members received minor injuries during one incident. Officials requested China to investigate.

In 2019, The Associated Press reported that Air Force officials at North Carolina's Pope Army Airfield raised concerns following two separate incidents in which planes were targeted with laser pointers. That same year, someone pointed a laser at an Air Force C-17 Globemaster III when it was coming in for a landing at Charlotte International Airport in North Carolina.

Just last month, Aviano Air Base in Italy said in a news release that there had been 13 laser strikes against its aircraft so far in 2023, mostly on the installation's low-flying HH-60 Pave Hawks.

In the U.S., the FAA has "the authority to impose civil penalties, with fines escalating to $11,000 per violation and $30,800 for multiple incidents," the Air Force Office of Special Investigations said in a press release.

Individuals caught pointing lasers at civilian or military aircraft and charged criminally can also face fines of as much as $250,000 and up to five years in prison.

Thomas Novelly can be reached at thomas.novelly@military.com. Follow him on X @TomNovelly.

Related: Incidents of Laser Points Aimed at Aircraft Have Spiked, and It Has the Air Force Concerned
The Navy war plane that slid off a runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii a week ago while trying to land in rainy weather continues to rest in shallow water about 100 feet off the runway, with at least two points of the 42-foot-high P-8A sitting on coral reef.

U.S. Rep. Jill Tokudawho lives nearby in Kaneohe with her husband and two school-age sonstoured the site Saturday and said the plane was unarmed when it missed its landing and ended up in water so shallow that the plane's doors "are completely above water, " Tokuda told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser on Sunday.

Even before the P-8A mishap, the Marines already had a boom in place around the runway as a precaution to prevent contaminants from leeching into the ocean, Tokuda said.

"The plane essentially slid into the water, " Tokuda said. "It literally slid right into that boom like a lei."

The plane has since been surrounded by a second boom, along with "hydrophobic absorbent material " designed to absorb potential toxic material from the plane.

But Tokuda said she saw no sheen on the surface of the water indicating potential leaking during her hourlong visit to the runway Saturday.

"The water was absolutely clear, " she said.

She indicated the direction of her nearby house to Navy and Marine Corps officials and emphasized the importance of communicating to the public about their plans to remove the plane, prevent any further environmental damage and "to get it right."

"They need to over-communicate, over-test and over-engineer to consider every possible scenario, " Tokuda said she told the Navy and Marines. "This is not about rushing. This is about doing it right. They need to consider every possible scenario."

Instead, neither the Navy's Third Fleet in San Diego nor the Honolulu-based Pacific Fleet responded to multiple requests for comment Sunday on what Tokuda told the Star-Advertiser. But the Third Fleet said a news conference is scheduled for today.

The lack of public information over the botched landing and its environmental impact on Kaneohe Bay and the ocean has exacerbated frustration among some environmentalists and other elected officials following the lack of transparency over years of fuel leaks at the Navy's Red Hill fuel storage facility that contaminated Oahu's water supply, leading Tokuda and others to demand greater candor about information regarding the P-8A failed landing and its impact on the environment, including plans to remove the plane and ensure no further damage.

Sometime around 2 p.m.

Nov. 20, amid cloudy and rainy weather, the three pilots and six crew members of the P-8A based out of Whidbey Island in Washington overshot their landing at Marine Corps Base Hawaii and ended up in the water.

No one was injured.

The Navy uses the P-8A Poseidons assigned to the "Skinny Dragons " Patrol Squadron 4 for multiple missions including submarine warfare, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

The Boeing-built Poseidon is based on a 737 airframe and stands 42 feet tall with a wingspan of nearly 124 feet and a length of nearly 130 feet, according to the Navy.

It can be armed with torpedoes and cruise missiles and has a maximum takeoff weight of 189, 200 pounds, according to the Navy.

The Poseidon resting offshore of Marine Corps Base Hawaii "is not armed, " Tokuda said. "There's no weaponry of that nature on board."

Tokuda said she emphasized the community's concerns to the Navy and Marines about the mishap in Kaneohe Bay, a site of cultural, environmental and marine significance.

"I pointed out where my house is, " she told military leaders Saturday. "This is literally our backyard. As a lifelong Kaneohe resident and parent, this is personal for me. This is a long conversation. How do we make sure this never happens again ?"

Tokuda said she was impressed by the response, which includes 24-hour surveillance, Navy divers inspecting the plane, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, state Health Department "and pretty much everyone who should be at the table ... from the first day."

"It's good to know the state has been actively involved, " Tokuda said.

Boeing officials are also being consulted about how best to remove the plane, Tokuda said.

"They are literally looking at every scenario that preserves life and safety and the environment, in that order, " she said.

Flight operations at Marine Corps Base Hawaii already were reduced last week because of the Thanksgiving holiday, but the military has since diverted some flights from the base out of concern that wind shear from takeoffs and landings could shift the position of the downed P-8A and cause more problems, Tokuda said.

The military, Tokuda said, continues to review "double and triple safety measures."

___

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Navy is ramping up efforts to complete upgrades to its troubled wastewater plant at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as the facility ages.

The site is a flurry of workers and construction equipment working on projects throughout the plant and JBPHH public works officer Capt. Rob Kleinman said that so far there is roughly $75 million invested in contracts to refurbish or replace aging equipment and facilities.

The base's wastewater plant occupies 11.61 acres and processes household and industrial wastewater, providing service for up to 40, 000 people. But the facility operations have always been a challenge.

In September 2022 the state Department of Health slapped the Navy with a notice of violation and order that included an $8.7 million fine over repeated spills and maintenance problems with the Navy's wastewater system. Its proximity to the ocean and Hawaii's tropical climate have subjected it to heavy corrosion and the Navy has struggled to keep maintenance and funding at pace with the wear and tear of the elements.

Many parts of the facility itself are also old, and many of those who work there readily describe some systems as "antiquated " and say they welcome the boost in resources. Plant manager Wayne Salas, who has overseen operations for almost four years after a decades-long career working for the city said he's hoping to see "more efficient equipment, easier maintenance and a smaller footprint to get a better product. So these things it's coming with changes to bring the plant up to today's technical standards."

Kleinman said that the Navy's top officials at the Pentagon have been "personally involved with helping make sure we get the appropriate resources to address the challenges we have here, which also looks at the current plan, and also helping to start to initiate the plant evaluation for what the future is."

The plant was built in increments beginning in 1969 with most large-scale construction projects completed in 1997. Between February 2002 and December 2003 the Navy built a deep ocean outfall to drain waste at sea. Activated in 2005, the outfall is 2.4 miles long and expels wastewater 1.5 miles offshore roughly 150 feet beneath the ocean's surface.

But by 2019 officials from the state Department of Health's Clean Water Branch tried to inspect the plant and reported they found it in such a state of disrepair that they were unable to safely complete the inspection. They contacted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense.

After follow-up inspections, the EPA and Navy inspectors found that the plant had cracked concrete tanks, warped and disconnected parts in its machinery and severely corroded equipment. The EPA reported that the plant was well exceeding its discharge limits for zinc, cadmium, oil and grease, and pH and total waste toxicity under the Federal Clean Water Act.

In June 2021 the Navy entered a Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement with the EPA that required it to make a series of repairs and upgrades by the end of 2024. But challenges have persisted.

The September 2022 violation notice cited 766 counts of discharging pollutants into the ocean from January 2020 to July 2022 ; 212 counts related to operation and maintenance failures ; and 17 counts of bypassing filters without authorization. The violation order said the Navy exceeded the limit every day in 2020 as well as 276 days in 2021 and 122 days in 2022.

Many of the current problems have centered on the facility's sand filter, one of the last stages the water goes through before it's discharged to the ocean outfall. The filter uses sand and water pressure to remove as much residual scraps of solid waste as possible from the water before it goes into an ultraviolet filter meant to remove any remaining bacteria before it is discharged.

But the system, which was built in the 1980s, has been increasingly experiencing "bypass " overflow incidents in which partially treated water moves into the UV filter.

"Despite us bypassing we still are treating it, it still gets treatedall of itthrough the UV, " said Korey Tsubota, the plant's water commodity manager. Still, plant employees say it's an issue.

Collectively, millions of gallons of partially treated water had bypassed and Salas said the condition of the sand filter began "to kind of progressively get worse starting in September."

Last month the Navy increased environmental monitoring and testing after roughly 1.75 million gallons of partially treated effluent bypassed the sand filtration system over several days, which according to the Navy was approximately 6 % of the 30 million total gallons of waste processed at the plant during that period. The DOH said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that it asked the Navy to increase sampling because of "the increasing frequency and magnitude of sand filter bypasses " at the facility.

The Navy has a contract with North Carolina-based water treatment company Huber Technology to build a new disc filter.

"We knew this was a problem and we had awarded this contract before the massive issues, " said Kleinman. "But obviously, the degradation curve didn't match our material solution curves. And so we've now added additional money in November to that contract to speed this up."

Kleinman said that he estimates it will ultimately cost "a few million (dollars )" but that "we're still in the middle of the contract evaluation, procurement proposals evaluation. So that will take care of the final number ... I'm not being cagey, I just don't have it."

The plant is mostly overseen and operated by civilians, but Kleinman said several service members have been temporarily assigned to duties at the facility "to augment while we've had some staffing challenges." He said that while many of them don't specialize in waste management, they're able to provide labor to local workers to reduce some labor challenges.

One of them, Navy Lt. j.g. Joe Gramegna, had been working at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe before being assigned to the wastewater plant. He said that despite it being a less than glamorous job at face value, he works with "great people " and feels like "we're making progress every day."

But ultimately the future could look completely different. Kleinman said that climate change, sea-level rise and other challenges are prompting the military to think long term about the facility. He said the Navy has hired engineers and consultants to weigh the pros and cons of retrograding the existing plant or building a newer, better one.

"I think all of us want to build a new plant, that just makes a lot of sense, " said Kleinman. "Technology has changed since the late'60s, basically the EPA was still being created and the world was very different then."

Maintaining the existing facilities, building new ones and replacing old ones all come with challenges. The plant operates while sewage systems are constantly running. Even required maintenance can potentially disrupt those operations and cause risks for discharges and mishaps.

Salas said that they try to focus on "low-flow " periods to focus on maintenance, explaining that "we minimize the amount of impact by doing it in the morning hours, like 2 in the morning where the flows are lower, switch things around, hydraulically, we can handle that. And so we just we kind of work around that low-flow schedule."

The plant is preparing to utilize newly built facilities and equipment while taking others that need to be refurbished offline. Salas said that by the end of the process, operations at the plant should run more smoothly.

"We kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel within the next few months as (new systems ) come online so now our capacity gets back up, " said Salas. "We are only at about 70 % running so when we (complete ) the remaining projects we get back to 100 %."

___

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit The Honolulu Star-Advertiser at www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Long before becoming a peanut farmer or entering politics, James Earl Carter Jr. began his adult life in the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. Jimmy Carter's military service would not only advance the Navy's new nuclear submarine program, it would later color his views as president of the United States, on everything from his work ethic to atomic weapons.

Jimmy Carter's Military Background

Carter came from a military family. His father served in the Army during World War I, first enlisting in 1917 and receiving a commission in the Georgia National Guard after the 1918 Armistice. His uncle Tom was an enlisted radioman in the Navy, and was serving on Guam when it was captured by the Japanese in 1941.

The postcards and tchotchkes he received from his uncle's Navy travels led to a lifelong fascination with the Navy. Even before he was in first grade, Carter knew he wanted to be a sailor.

Read More: Rosalynn Carter, Outspoken Former First Lady, Dies at 96

Jimmy Carter's Military Serivce

As he grew older and the effects of the Great Depression set in, the Naval Academy became his first choice to ensure he received a college education.

Read: Naval Academy Honors President Jimmy Carter, Drops Confederate Name from Building

For years before his appointment to Annapolis, Carter memorized the entry requirements and fretted about everything that might keep him from being able to serve. Those fears were unfounded, however. He received his appointment one year in advance, and studied for a year in Georgia Tech's Navy ROTC program, before he finally began training at the Naval Academy in 1943.

Jimmy Carter's wife, Rosalynn, and his mother, Lillian, pin ensign bars on his epaulets after his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1946. (U.S. Navy)

Despite serving during two wars, Carter never saw combat. World War II was still in full swing during his time at the academy, so he also learned to fly the Navy's seaplanes, trained on old battleships and learned to man 40-mm anti-aircraft guns.

Carter was at sea on a training cruise when he learned about the atomic bombs that were dropped on Japan. A few days later, he learned Japan had surrendered. In 1946, he graduated from the academy and started his career as an officer on the USS Wyoming and the USS Mississippi, testing new technologies at sea.

Jimmy Carter's Military Rank

In 1948, he was transferred to New London, Connecticut, to attend an officer training school for his new Navy career, ultimately earning the rank of lieutenant. For five years, he served as a submariner, a time he called "one of the most interesting and enjoyable periods of my life" in his 1975 autobiography. He was soon sent to Hawaii to join the crew of the USS Pomfret.

Jimmy Carter's Military Service After WWII

In 1950, Carter was sent back to New London to help with the development of the Navy's first new ships since World War II ended, a submarine called K-1, where he became qualified to command one of his own. He never did. Instead, he trained in the mathematics, physics and hardware required to build and operate nuclear submarines.

Carter trained enlisted men in nuclear reactor and propulsion operations while the power plants for the first nuclear sub, USS Nautilus, and second nuclear sub, USS Seawolf, were being built. He became so knowledgeable that he and his team were asked to help avert a nuclear disaster in Canada's Chalk River reactor.

Read: How Jimmy Carter Saved a Canadian Nuclear Reactor After a Meltdown

The nuclear submarine program was overseen by the "Father of the Nuclear Navy," Adm. Hyman Rickover. Carter has repeatedly written that Rickover had more of a profound effect on him than anyone except his parents. Carter worked for Rickover in this role until 1953, when his father died of pancreatic cancer.

Adm. Hyman Rickover sits with President Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office. (The White House)

After his father's funeral, Carter left active duty in 1953, but remained in the Naval Reserve until 1961. He used the same dedication he put toward working for Rickover into rejoining the peanut business before entering politics in 1963.

-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.

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< and > at the left and right hand side of the screen move forwards and backwards for the other images associated with the media you selected. Usually this is used for previous/next photo in a gallery, in an article or in search results. Keyboard shortcuts: use shift + the left and right arrow keys.

< and > in the bottom center are used for switching between the photos of the same specimen. Keyboard shortcuts: use the left and right arrow keys.

> in the bottom center, raises the information box giving details and further options for the media, < at the top of this box then hides it. Keyboard shortcuts: use the up and down arrow keys.

? opens this help window. Keyboard shortcuts: use the H key or the ? key.

Other keyboard shortcuts:

1 Fit image to screen 2 Fill screen with image 5 Display at full resolution < Make background darker > Make background lighter space Hide/dim titles and buttons

Scalebar

If the field of view (FOV) is specified for the photo, the scalebar appears in the left bottom corner of the viewer. The scalebar is draggable and resizeable. Drag the right edge to resize it. Double click will reset the scalebar to it's default size and position. If the scalebar is in default position, double click will make it circular.

Controls - Video

Video files have a standard set of video controls: - Reset to start, - Skip back, - Play, - Pause, - Skip forwards. Keyboard shortcuts: You can stop/start video play with the P key.

Controls - Animation (Spin Rotation)

Animation (usually 360 degree spin rotations) have their own controls: - enable spin mode. Note that while images are loading this option will not be available but will be automatically activated when the animation has loaded. Once active you can spin the image/change the animation by moving your mouse or finger on the image left/right or by pressing the [ or ] keys.

The button switches to move mode so that you can use your mouse/fingers to move the image around the screen as with other media types.

The button, or the P key will start playing the animation directly, you can interrupt this by using the mouse or finger on the image to regain manual movement control.

Controls - 3D Stereoscopic images

If a stereoscopic 3D image is opened in the viewer, the 3D button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "3D settings" menu. The 3D images can be viewed in several ways:

- without any special equipment using cross-eyed or parallel-eyed method

- with stereoscope

- with anaglyph glasses.

- on a suitable 3D TV or monitor (passive 3D system)

For details about 3D refer to: Mindat manuals: Mindat Media Viewer: 3D

To enable/disable 3D stereo display of a compatible stereo pair image press the 3 key. If the left/right images are reversed on your display (this often happens in full-screen mode) press the 4 key to reverse them.

Controls - photo comparison mode

If a photo with activated comparison mode is opened in the viewer, the button appears in the bottom right corner giving access to "Comparison mode settings" menu.

Several layouts are supported: slider and side by-side comparison with up to 6 photos shown synchronously on the screen. On each of the compared photos a view selector is placed, e.g.: Longwave UV . It shows the name of currently selected view and allows to select a view for each placeholder.

Summary of all keyboard shortcuts
A fiery airplane crash Sunday morning took the lives of an Indiana couple and their two dogs, Michigan State Police said this afternoon.

The fixed wing, single engine plane crashed after takeoff from the Mason County Airport, which is located about two miles from downtown Ludington.

A 43-year-old female, 60-year-old male, and their two dogs were killed in the crash, Michigan State Police said.

A single-engine aircraft was taking off from the airport heading east when the plane experienced some sort of problem and banked hard to the north, Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole said earlier Sunday. The airplane crashed off of Meyers Road, north of Johnson Road, and caught fire.

More: 2 killed in fiery airplane crash witnessed by a citizen, sheriff says

The couple were visiting family in the Ludington area, police said. The cause of the crash in unknown.

After a five-agency response at the crash scene, the Federal Aviation Commission is continuing to investigate the crash with assistance from the National Transportation Safety Board.
Naloxone, the drug commonly used to reverse the effects of opioid overdoses, is becoming more widely available across North Dakota.

The drug sold under the brand names Narcan and Evzio, if used in time, counteracts a number of drugs including heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid medications, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Naloxone comes in two forms, a nasal spray and an injectable liquid.

The North Dakota State University School of Pharmacy recently announced that through its Opioid and Naloxone Program called ONE, more than 250 locations statewide have access to the drug through ONE boxes placed in public and private places where people gather. The boxes include two doses of nasal spray Narcan and a short instructional video for those who might be called upon to render aid.

NDSU has partnered with local public health agencies such as Western Plains Public Health in Mandan to distribute the materials. Each ONE box also contains gloves, a CPR mask and wipes.

The boxes are funded through a $632,000 grant from the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services. The money is part of $4 million dedicated to the State Opioid Response program, according to agency spokeswoman Jecca Geffre.

Meanwhile, many national retailers including Walmart and CVS have begun selling naloxone over the counter in some areas following federal approval last spring. Both retailers advertise Narcan as being available at Bismarck-area stores. Colborn's, the corporate owner of Cash Wise Grocery and Marketplace Foods, also recently announced that Narcan is now available in those stores.

'There in case'

There were 74 deaths in North Dakota in 2021 from opioid overdoses, according to the most recent data from KFF, an independent U.S. organization tracking health data and policy. Those 74 deaths accounted for 60% of all drug-related deaths in the state that year, according to the agency, and is nearly double the number of total drug-related deaths reported on the HHS website for all of 2019.

NDSU professor and ONE Program team member Heidi Eukel said the availability of Narcan through ONE boxes should be thought of in the same manner as an automated external defibrillator, or AED, which are used on people suffering cardiac arrest.

We hope to never have to use one, but its there in case of a severe emergency, Eukel said. ONE boxes help to ensure that naloxone is accessible where you need it, when you need it. During an emergency, minutes matter.

The boxes are not out in the open, like AEDs, but they're accessible to people at the sites should they be needed in an emergency, Eukel said.

Law enforcement officers in recent years have begun carrying Narcan under authority granted by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of their overdose response protocols. Police often arrive at scenes well ahead of ambulance crews who also carry the drug. Mandan Police Capt. Pat Haug said officers in that city use Narcan at least two to three times a month on average.

Bismarck officers also carry and use Narcan. Police spokesperson Lt. Luke Gardner said officers saw "a steady increase of overdoses in which Narcan was utilized over the last few years, but this year we are seeing a slight decrease year to date."

From January to September 2022, Bismarck police responded to 110 overdose calls, administering 137 doses of Narcan, according to Gardner. This year during the same time frame, Bismarck officers responded to 85 overdose incidents and gave 56 doses of the drug.

"These stats could be indicative that the wide availability of Narcan is leading to the decrease in (overdoses) and the use of Narcan by officers of the Bismarck Police Department," Gardner said.

For medications, too

Narcan isn't just for people who use illegal drugs.

Anyone taking high-dose opioid medications prescribed by a doctor for pain, or people who use opioids and benzodiazepines together are susceptible to an overdose, according to the CDC. Benzodiazepines are depressants that produce sedation and hypnosis, relieve anxiety and muscle spasms, and reduce seizures. Some of the most commonly prescribed are Valium, Xanax and Ativan. The agency recommends people in those groups carry Narcan in case of emergencies.

Anyone can administer the drug, and many states including North Dakota have good Samaritan laws that protect those who are overdosing and anyone assisting them in an emergency from arrest or charges.

Signs of an overdose may include slow, shallow or no breathing; tiny eye pupils; cold and clammy skin; blue lips and nails; unusual sleepiness or loss of consciousness; slow heartbeat; and vomiting or gurgling. Naloxone is temporary, so its important to call 911 immediately for further medical treatment, according to the CDC.

Narcan training

Free Narcan training will be offered in Bismarck on Wednesday. Registration is required.

Bismarck-Burleigh Public Health, the Heartview Foundation and the North Dakota Safety Council are offering the training at 6:30 p.m. at the council's campus, at 1710 Canary Ave. To register call 701-355-1597 or go to https://bit.ly/3uy9bj0.

Participants in the half-hour session will learn how to recognize an opioid overdose and how to properly administer Narcan. Each attendee will receive a free Narcan kit.

Training our community and workplaces in the use of Narcan is an important life-saving solution. Safe communities are strong communities, Heartview Opioid Treatment Program Case Manager Cathy Palczewski said.
ANN ARBOR, MI -- A 12-year-old boy riding a forklift was arrested Saturday evening after leading police on a chase and hitting 10 vehicles, according to Ann Arbor police.

Officers were called to Forsythe Middle School, 1564 Newport Road, in Ann Arbor around 6:45 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25, for a report of a stolen construction vehicle, police said in a release.

A few minutes later, police found the vehicle, a forklift, being driven south on Brooks Street near Pearl Street. Police began pursuing the forklift at speeds of roughly 15 to 20 mph with emergency lights and sirens, police said.

The vehicle was identified as a Construction Genie GTH-636 Telehandler, which has a forklift and can weigh up to 35,000 pounds. Police later learned the vehicle was unlocked with a key hidden inside the cab.

The driver, later identified as a 12-year-old Ann Arbor boy, took the vehicle through the Georgetown Boulevard Neighborhood, striking roughly 10 parked cars, police said.

Ann Arbor police officers dropped the pursuit around 7:20 p.m. when the boy drove north on Nixon Road across the M-14 Bridge. Deputies from the Washtenaw County Sheriffs Office then began the pursuit, according to police.

The boy stopped the vehicle shortly before 8 p.m. near M-14 and Gotfredson Road, where he was taken into custody. He was later lodged at the juvenile detention center.

No one was injured in the pursuit, police said.

This was a very dangerous situation that couldve easily ended with serious injuries, police said in a statement released on social media. The incident remains an active and ongoing criminal investigation.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page, the Ypsilanti-area news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Ann Arbor is bracing for the possibility that oak wilt may strike more parks and nature areas, and city officials want the community to be prepared.

The systemic, lethal, oak tree disease already has hit one Ann Arbor nature area, the city confirmed in September.

The oak wilt case at Bird Hills Nature Area was truly a matter of when, not if, Remy Long, deputy manager of the citys Natural Area Preservation division, said in a statement. While this is our first confirmed case of oak wilt, we know this disease will be an ongoing management challenge across the parks.

The city is now inviting Tree Town residents to attend an Oak Wilt 101 informational webinar over Zoom to learn more at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29.

Register to attend.

The webinar is expected to cover topics including oak wilt identification, reporting and community resources, as well as review the citys response to the active oak wilt infection at Bird Hills and efforts to stop further spread there.

A cluster of red oak trees in the popular hiking area was initially affected, the city reported in September.

Ann Arbor has 164 parks totaling over 2,200 acres, of which about 1,400 acres are natural areas managed by NAP.

Whats that at West Park? Ann Arbor putting mighty oak trees on life support

NAP was alerted to the first case of oak wilt at Bird Hills by a concerned neighbor, the city reported.

It was a powerful reminder of the value of attentive park neighbors and users, Long said in a statement. This webinar is a chance for everyone to learn more about this disease, what the signs and symptoms are, and how folks might report suspected cases in the future.

While oak wilt can be destructive, it is not considered as universally devastating as Dutch elm disease or the emerald ash borer, the city has noted, explaining the disease spreads most efficiently through grouped root systems, so street trees are less likely to be impacted.

10 great Ann Arbor nature areas perfect for fall trail hiking

Oak wilt kills healthy red oaks, and while white oaks also can be affected, they are more resistant and less vulnerable to mortality from the disease, according to the state of Michigan.

The citys oak wilt webpage has more information and asks residents who see a tree they suspect may be suffering from oak wilt to use the citys A2 Fix It reporting system to notify the city and have staff investigate.

The fungus can only be confirmed by lab testing, the city notes, directing residents to an Oak Wilt 101 website to learn more.

Want more Ann Arbor-area news? Bookmark the local Ann Arbor news page or sign up for the free 3@3 Ann Arbor daily newsletter.
MUSKEGON, MI -- A judge has delayed a hearing on whether to force Ottawa County to make good on a $4 million settlement with embattled county Health Officer Adeline Hambley.

A hearing scheduled for Monday, Nov. 27 has been reset to Dec. 4 after attorneys on both sides filed motions over the holiday weekend.

Related: Health officer asks judge to force Ottawa County to uphold $4M settlement offer

Muskegon County Circuit Judge Jenny McNeill said she needed more time to read the motions.

The delay causes further uncertainty surrounding efforts by a majority of Ottawa County commissioners to either fire Hambley or force her resignation with a settlement.

Commissioners are expected to meet again Tuesday to once again discuss options surrounding Hambley.

Related: A gross misuse of taxpayer funds: Ottawa County officials react to $4M health officer settlement offer

A majority faction of commissioners affiliated with a group called Ottawa Impact in January announced plans to replace Hambley with Nate Kelly, a safety manager at a HVAC company. Hambley then filed a wrongful termination lawsuit.

Commissioners in late October began a termination hearing against Hambley but her firing never came to a vote. Instead, commissioners on Nov. 6 talked about entering into a settlement with Hambley during a lengthy closed session.

Sarah Howard, attorney for Hambley, claims that it was during those negotiations that commissioners reached a $4 million agreement she thinks should be binding. She said it was solidified in emails.

She wants the Muskegon judge to enforce the agreement, although Ottawa Countys corporate counsel says there never was any agreement.

Related: Is Ottawa County on hook for $4 million settlement? County attorney says no

Howard has issued subpoenas to Ottawa County Clerk Justin Roebuck, Commission Chair Joe Moss and commissioners Roger Bergman, Doug Zylstra and Jacob Bonnema. Moss is the lead with Ottawa Impact, although Bergman, Zylstra and Bonnema are not tied to the group.

Roebuck was tasked with taking meeting minutes at closed sessions to discuss settlement negotiations.

Kallman has filed a motion to stop any testimony. An attorney for Roebuck also has filed a motion for a protective order.

Kallman, in speaking with media Monday, said a protective order would be legally necessary for Roebuck to testify about a closed session without opening himself up to legal problems.

Kallman said hes hoping to convince the judge on Dec. 4 that commissioners never agreed to a $4 million settlement. He said commissioners came out of closed session on Nov. 6 about 5 p.m. and never got a chance to discuss a possible $4 million settlement offer made about 15 minutes later.

The board adjourned at about 5:30 p.m. that day and agreed in a 7-3 vote to accept Kallmans recommendation on litigation and settlement activities. He said the vote was only to continue negotiations later.

But Howard said she believes the 7-3 vote was to accept the settlement.

She said terms of the deal were memorialized in emails between her and Kallmans legal team.

Whether that writing was exchanged before, after or during the vote is of no consequence for the statue of frauds purpose inherent in (state law), she wrote in a brief.

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.
This week is obviously starting out with a really wintry feel. The January cold wont last all week. Storm systems will be pretty sparse too.

The cold, wintry days of this week are today and Tuesday. With the wintry cold and a northwest-west wind, lake-effect snow will happen this afternoon through Tuesday morning. There will be three spots of meaningful snowfall.

Wednesday has a quick Alberta Clipper snow system moving through northern Michigan. It wont be a robust snow-maker with just a small accumulation far north.

Then expect a slightly warmer pattern into the weekend before the next widespread weather-maker. This next weather-maker appears to lean more toward rain for most of us.

Heres the rain and snow area projections through the week. I picked the big perspective so you get an idea of whats coming our way.

Surface weather forecast for Tuesday morning to Sunday, December 3NOAA

This afternoons and tonights snowfall will only have accumulations more than one inch in the classic snowbelt areas of Michigan.

Total snowfall from Monday afternoon to 7 a.m. Tuesday.NOAA

From east of Traverse City to Kalkaska to Mancelona and Gaylord there will be another three to six inches of snow. In southwest Lower Michigan look for two to four inches of snow late today into tonight for Kalamazoo, Allegan, Paw Paw, Dowagiac and Three Rivers. Grand Rapids should only have an inch or two.

Many parts of the Upper Peninsula will have three to six inches of additional snow by Tuesday morning.

The rest of us get another inch of snow here and there.

Wednesdays snow should be confined to the northern half of Lower Michigan and the Upper Peninsula. The snow should only mount up to less than two inches.

Total snowfall forecast for Wednesday, November 29NOAA

Temperatures are going to be cold to start the week and moderate by Thursday. In fact the southern part of Lower Michigan will actually become very mild for the first day of December.

High temperature forecast from Tuesday, November 28 to Sunday, December 3NOAA

Thursday may have afternoon temperatures close to 50 degrees for Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Jackson, Flint, Ann Arbor and Detroit.

The next weather system should move in as we continue the warming phase, so more rain is expected than snow by next weekend.
Black Sherif

27.11.2023 LISTEN

Black Sherif, the rising star in the Ghanaian music scene, has once again proven his star power as his recent concert in The Gambia witnessed an overwhelming success, with tickets selling out well in advance. The event, which took place on November 25th, 2023, has become a milestone moment in Black Sherif's career, marking his growing influence not only in Ghana but across borders.

The anticipation leading up to the concert was palpable, with fans eagerly awaiting the chance to witness Black Sherif's electrifying performance. The venue, buzzing with excitement, saw a diverse audience coming together to celebrate the artist's unique blend of afrobeat, highlife, and hip-hop.

The sold-out status of the concert reflects not only Black Sherif's popularity but also the impact of his music on a global scale. It speaks volumes about the artist's ability to connect with audiences beyond geographical boundaries, transcending cultural barriers through the universal language of music.

The success of the Gambia concert adds another chapter to Black Sherif's remarkable journey in the music industry. Known for his thought-provoking lyrics and soulful melodies, Black Sherif has carved a niche for himself, earning praise for his authenticity and raw talent.

Social media platforms were abuzz with excitement in the lead-up to the event, with fans expressing their enthusiasm and sharing their anticipation for what was expected to be a memorable night. The sold-out status only fueled the online buzz, with hashtags related to the concert trending on various platforms.

The Gambia concert showcased not only Black Sherif's musical prowess but also his ability to create a captivating live experience. The artist's energy, stage presence, and connection with the audience contributed to the overall success of the event. Concert-goers were treated to a night filled with unforgettable moments, creating memories that will linger in their hearts for a long time.

The sold-out success in The Gambia further solidifies Black Sherif's position as a rising star with global appeal. It opens up new possibilities for the artist, hinting at potential international collaborations and opportunities to share his music with an even broader audience.

As Black Sherif continues to ride the wave of success, his journey serves as an inspiration to aspiring artists and a testament to the power of authentic expression in music. The Gambia concert's sold-out status is not just a triumph for Black Sherif; it's a celebration of music's ability to unite people from different backgrounds and create moments of joy and connection.
Regimanuel Gray Ltd (RGL) , is bent on continuing its landmark impact on the housing landscape with its new Satellite City development near East Legon Hills in Accra. The project, spearheaded by Mrs Regina Botchwey, RGL's Group Vice Chairman, is poised to deliver 17,000 homes across 10 Communities including a light industrial enclave.

Expansive Satellite City Development

RGL's Satellite City development spans an impressive 1,200 acres, strategically located and bordered by key areas such as Amrahia township to the north, East Legon Hills to the south, Katamanso to the east, and the Adenta - Oyibi Highway to the west.

Elite Population Influx

The strategic location of this development captures the spill over of the elite population from Adenta into East Legon Hills, Katamanso and beyond towards the Akwapim Hills. This phenomenon has attracted eight other real estate companies to explore the area with various projects. Major roadworks are in progress to seamlessly connect the Satellite City development to Adentan townships, including East Legon Hills, Nanakrom, and Amrahia.

Ongoing infrastructure works - a section of the 1,200-acre Satellite Sity near East Legon Hills, Accra

Commitment to Quality and Longevity

Mrs. Botchwey, during a recent Project Process Re-engineering session in Accra, emphasized RGL's commitment to addressing Ghana's estimated 1.8 million housing deficit. In her words, "We are crafting this 10-Community Satellite City, one community at a time. It is a testament to our commitment to contribute to the housing deficit in our country." The development model involves meticulous planning, acquiring land decades in advance, and making extensive infrastructure investments before the construction of houses begins.

Mr & Mrs Botchwey leading a tree planting exercise at Regimanuel Satellite CIty

Mrs Botchwey further highlighted that RGL builds to last for generations. Indeed the East Airport/Spintex Development, which is over 20years old attests to this fact. And the RGL Homeowners by their testimony have assisted in our sales and marketing efforts, she concluded.

Professional Management and Quality Assurance

RGL emphasizes the use of quality building materials and professional estate management services for sustained property value. Having invested in subsidiaries that produce quality building materials, quality control is assured. Furthermore, RGL estates are professionally managed post-sales, providing progressive value to the properties over time.

Milestones and Future Phases

Phase 1 of the First Cluster (a.k.a. Adom Gate) is already completed and boasts a 90% occupancy rate. The upcoming second phase, Adom Gate Pearls, will introduce new and exciting building designs, further expanding the housing options within the Satellite City.

Thanks to The Dept. Urban Roads a Dual Carriageway connects the housing development to major towns in Adentan Municipality, Tema & Oyibi

Adom Gate Pearls Entrance - Regimanuel Satellite City

Media Contact:

Micheal Djanie - [email protected]
Hamas fighters were set Sunday to release a third group of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a day after freeing captives including a young woman snatched from a desert rave.

In a sign of the fragility of the exchanges, the latest swap Saturday was delayed for hours after Hamas accused Israel of breaching its side of the deal that led to a four-day ceasefire in the seven-week-old war.

Despite the dispute, Hamas finally released 13 Israelis and four Thai hostages at night, officials said.

Israel said it in turn freed 39 Palestinian prisoners.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it had since received a list of hostages due to be released by Hamas on Sunday.

The list was being checked by security officials, it said, and families of the hostages had been informed.

Among the hostages freed late Saturday was 21-year-old Maya Regev, who had been kidnapped by Hamas fighters in their deadly assault on the Supernova music festival, a brutal episode in the broader October 7 attack on Israel.

She was the first of the music festival hostages to be released since armed Hamas fighters swooped on the event, killing hundreds, taking captives, and sending others fleeing for their lives.

Maya Regev and her 18-year-old brother Itay, who was also abducted from the festival, were shown tied up in the back of a pick-up truck in a video posted on social media after the attack.

"I am so excited and happy that Maya is on her way to us now. Nonetheless, my heart is split because my son Itay is still in Hamas captivity in Gaza," her mother Mirit said in a statement released by the hostage families' forum.

'Sigh of relief'

The family of Emily Hand, a nine-year-old Israeli-Irish freed hostage, said they were "overjoyed" to embrace her again.

"We can't find the words to describe our emotions after 50 challenging and complicated days," the family said in a statement via the forum.

"We are overjoyed to embrace Emily again, but at the same time, we remember... all the hundreds of hostages who have yet to return."

The girl ran into the tight embrace of her father upon her release, a video by the Israeli Defence Forces showed.

"An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief," said Ireland's Prime Minister Leo Varadkar.

Thailand's Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said the four hostages from his country released Saturday were healthy.

"Everyone is glad to be released. Overall mental health is still good," he said in a social media post.

Israeli prison authorities said the latest group of released Palestinian detainees included 38-year-old Israa Jaabis, sentenced to 11 years in jail for detonating a gas cylinder at a checkpoint in 2015.

The ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner swap have brought the first significant relief to both sides since October 7, when Hamas fighters broke through Gaza's militarised border with Israel, snatched around 240 people and killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners, according to Israeli authorities.

Israel launched an air, artillery and naval bombardment alongside a ground offensive to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to the Hamas government in Gaza.

Ceasefire extension?

Egypt has said that it received positive feedback from both sides about the idea of extending the truce for a day or two and releasing more hostages and prisoners.

"It's only a start, but so far it's gone well," US President Joe Biden told reporters Friday, adding "the chances are real" for extending the truce.

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi called for "a permanent ceasefire and a complete end to this aggression".

But Israeli armed forces chief Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi said Saturday that the war to eliminate Hamas would continue.

"We will return immediately at the end of the ceasefire to attack Gaza," Halevi said.

"We will also do this in order to dismantle Hamas, also to create a great deal of pressure to return as quickly as possible and as many abductees as possible, every last one of them."

The latest hostage handover was delayed when Hamas said Israel was interfering in the selection of prisoners for release and not allowing aid to reach civilians in Gaza.

Hamas later said it relented when Egyptian and Qatari mediators relayed a promise by Israel to uphold the accord.

Israeli officials denied any breach of the ceasefire's terms, describing Hamas' actions as "psychological warfare".

West Bank celebrations

Despite the row, Sunday's release would be the third since the four-day truce entered into force Friday.

Hamas has released 26 Israeli hostages in exchange for 78 Palestinian prisoners in the two releases already completed.

The militants have also freed a total of 14 Thais and one Filipino. Iran's foreign ministry said it had joined with key mediator Qatar to help negotiate the release of the Thai nationals.

Israeli hostages who were let go in the initial swap Friday have since reunited with their families in touching scenes.

Nine-year-old boy Ohad rounded the corner of a corridor in a hospital near Tel Aviv, breaking into a run when he caught sight of his father and hurling himself into his arms, video images showed.

The boy, his mother and grandmother were among those released in the first exchange Friday.

In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, fireworks exploded and crowds filled the streets to welcome the first release of Palestinian prisoners on Friday.

"I was just waiting for the day I would be released from prison so I could hug my mother like this," said Rawan Abu Matar, who served eight years for attempting to stab an Israeli soldier.

Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages during the truce in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Aid trucks enter Gaza

The pause in fighting has also allowed more aid to reach Palestinians struggling to survive with shortages of water and other essentials. Israel had placed Gaza under near-total siege.

A total of 61 trucks delivered food, water and humanitarian aid via a "humanitarian passageway" to northern Gaza on Saturday, the United Nations office for humanitarian affairs said.

Another 187 trucks of vital supplies had been sent separately to aid organisations operating in the Gaza Strip, it said.

Thousands have been returning since the truce to what is left of their homes.

"We are civilians," said Mahmud Masood, standing in front of flattened buildings in Jabalia, northern Gaza. "Why have they destroyed our houses?"

Palestinian health authorities say Israeli troops killed six Palestinians in the occupied West Bank on Saturday.

The included four people killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said.
Iran said Saturday it helped broker the surprise release of Thai nationals who had been held by Palestinian militants in war-ravaged Gaza since their shock attack on Israel last month.

"The issue of Thai prisoners was jointly pursued by the Islamic Republic of Iran and Qatar," Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanani told the official IRNA news agency.

On Friday, Hamas unexpectedly released 10 Thais and a Filipino, along with the 13 Israeli women and children that were part of a temporary truce deal with Israel.

Israel in turn freed 39 Palestinian women and children from its prisons.

"A list of names of these prisoners was given to Hamas officials to review and assist with the issue from a humanitarian perspective," Kanani added.

The Thai foreign ministry confirmed the releases on Saturday, saying the 10 individuals -- nine men and one woman -- had been taken to Israel via Egypt.

It added that roughly 20 Thais are among the estimated 215 people still held hostage in Gaza.

The releases took place as a temporary truce paused fighting in Gaza for the first time since 7 October when Hamas gunmen attacked southern Israel, killing at least 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking 240 more hostage, according to Israeli figures.

Israel has responded with a withering bombing campaign on Gaza, that has killed more than 15,000 people, most of them women and children, according to the Hamas-run government.

During the four-day truce, Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 Israeli hostages, some of them dual nationals, in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners, under an agreement brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

On Thursday, Kanani welcomed the temporary truce as "the first step in the path of completely stopping war crimes committed by the Zionist regime against Palestinian people."

Iran, which supports Hamas financially and militarily, has hailed the 7 October attacks as 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.

(AFP)
This year's Prix Albert Londres, France's equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, will be awarded on 27 November. It bears the name of a legendary French journalist who travelled the world reporting  and both fascinated and appalled readers with what he described.

We stopped counting the blows. They were falling relentlessly. We left the porch and went across the street, a hundred metres away.

We looked up at the cathedral. Ten minutes later, we saw the first stone fall. It was 19 September 1914, at 7.25 in the morning.

In fact, by the time the French public was reading those lines, it was two days later.

The great cathedral of Reims was in ruins, and Albert Londres had his first big splash in morning paper Le Matin.

It was a time when newspapers were still the primary form of mass media, and a dispatch was still worth reading even days after the event.

Londres' first-person account of the bombing of Reims cathedral by German troops early into World War I would establish him as one of France's most compelling correspondents.

It launched a career that took him across four continents, brought distant lands and unknown people onto French front pages, changed public policy, and set a new standard for deeply reported, deeply felt journalism that continues to inspire today.

His writing prioritised the human side of stories, says Claire Meynial, a correspondent for French magazine Le Point who was drawn to journalism thanks thanks in part to reading Londres as a teenager.

The profession looks very different today, she says. But I still think there is value in descriptions and humanising stories  I still believe in this.

Listen to Claire Meynial on the Spotlight on France podcast:

From poetry to papers

Londres was six weeks shy of his 30th birthday when he wrote the story about Reims. Born in November 1884 to a middle-class family in Vichy, after high school he moved to the closest big city, Lyon, and started off as an accountant.

But his leanings were more literary and after a couple of years he left for Paris, where he began publishing poetry.

Around the same time, he had a daughter. Her mother died less than a year later.

Perhaps by vocation, perhaps to pay the bills, he began picking up work for as a Paris correspondent for papers in Lyon, before becoming Le Matin's parliamentary reporter.

Eight years later, a war broke out unlike any before it, and gave Londres his first taste of the field.

Observing the world

It was the right place for him. From Reims he travelled to frontlines throughout Europe, sending back dispatches from Belgium, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, Albania.

Readers were quickly drawn to his immediate, illustrative style: packed with anecdotes and observations, crafted without sounding pompous.

His editors didn't always agree. One of his bosses at Le Matin told him his articles had introduced the germ of literature; it wasn't a compliment. The paper soon sacked him.

Londres found work elsewhere throughout World War I and after it, roving southern Europe and the Middle East.

He became one of the few outside journalists to report from the newly formed Soviet Union, sketching the gulf between Bolshevik ideals and realities in columns that were quoted by The New York Times.

He travelled to Japan and described the disorientating experience of finding himself a clumsy stranger there. From India, he observed the swelling movement for independence, and in China he met warlords, pirates, traffickers and spies.

But he wasn't interested in simply painting exotic portraits for his readers back in France.

I'm going to go and observe, write about everything I see, Londres would write to his daughter. There are too many misfortunes in this vast world for us to be content with sitting still.

Devil's Island

In 1923 he found a profusion of them on Devil's Island, a penal colony in French Guiana, on the northern coast of South America.

Conditions in the bagne, as the remote prison was known, shocked even worldly Londres. His indignation blazes through his lengthy reportage, which was published first in a Parisian paper and quickly turned into a book.

It ends with an open letter to France's minister of the colonies, calling for urgent reforms.

I have finished. Now it is the government's turn to start, Londres wrote. The colonial minister promptly formed a commission and temporarily halted convicts being shipped to French Guiana.

Londres had gone from reporting the news to making it happen.

A voice for the voiceless

He wrote a flurry of exposes in the years that followed: on other penal colonies in French Algeria, on abusive psychiatric asylums, on trafficked sex workers in Argentina, on an escapee from Devil's Island who he tracked down in Brazil and helped return to France a pardoned man.

In 1928 he spent four months travelling from Senegal to the Congo, where he uncovered grievous and often fatal abuses of African labourers forced to build the Congo-Ocean railway for French colonisers.

The resulting book, Terre d'ebene (Land of Ebony), is a haunting work, says Meynial, who has herself reported extensively from West Africa.

It really stuck with me, she tells RFI. When you ride that train, you can see how difficult the terrain is  the trees, the forest, the mud everywhere. And he describes how 'slaves' [as Londres referred to them] were working with their bare hands, being beaten by the white colonial bosses.

And I remember thinking how much time you needed to report correctly on this. Albert Londres' whole work reflects a bygone era, when it was OK to take time to do good journalism.

Out of time

Months-long reporting trips  Londres would sometimes go weeks without filing, simply getting a feel for his subject  seem like a dream today.

But even he felt rushed. Up to the age of 45, I wrote fast, too fast; you had to, that was the job, he wrote in the early 1930s. From now on, I want to write like an author: am I up to it?

He would never find out. In 1932 he set out to report on China, where imperial Japanese troops had just invaded Manchuria.

He sent back a few dispatches, but informed his editors he was working on a longer investigation. It promised to be dynamite, he's said to have told them.

On 16 May that year, he was sailing back to France when an electrical fault on the liner caused a catastrophic fire. Londres was one of 49 people killed.

People have speculated ever since about the subject of his final story. When two friends with whom he'd discussed his investigation, who managed to escape the burning ship, died in a plane crash a few days later, it only stoked the conspiracy theories.

No record remains. Instead Londres left a different legacy: a prize in his name, awarded each year to a French journalist under 40.

His daughter, Florise, created it months after his death and the first one was announced in 1933. This year will be the 90th time it has been awarded.

Empathy

Meynial won it in 2016 for her reporting on West Africa. The jury told her they appreciated her empathy with the people she interviewed, something she says she took from Londres' work.

Nothing can ever replace travelling somewhere and talking to people and understanding whether they're hungry, disappointed, sad, angry, she says.

And that's probably the way I feel close to him: just listening to people, trying to put yourself in their shoes.

Listen to more on this story on the Spotlight on France podcast, episode 103.
Hon. Alhassan Tampuli

27.11.2023 LISTEN

The 2023 edition of the 3-day annual National Muslim Conference officially opened on Friday in Accra, with a call on all Muslims to pursue a common goal with focus on oness, unity as a massive transformation and development tool.

The call was made by Hon. Sulemana Alhassan Tampuli, MP and Deputy Minister of Transport, who spoke on behalf of the President Nana Akufo-Addo.

He commended the delegates for their transformational and development efforts and urged them to identify strategic avenues to address key national issues.

Spearheaded by the National Chief Imam of Ghana, His. Eminence Sheikh Dr. Osman Nuhu Sharubutu, the opening event saw the attendance of top Islamic leaders, leaders of the Muslim caucus, Members of Parliament, political enthusiasts amongst others.

Being held on the theme, "Promoting Religious Freedom and Rights in Ghana - The Role of the National Muslim Conference," it is geared towards building sustainable and effective economic potentials, linking opportunities across the globe as well as establishing connections between Arabic countries.

From Friday, 24th to Sunday, 26th November, 2023, at the National Mosque at Kanda, the conference focused on critical issues regarding the various Muslim communities.

Advancing the legal rights of citizens under the laws of Ghana and empowering the Muslim community, Understanding the roles of Muslim MPs in the legislative process in Ghana, Building strong networks; collaboration for community empowerment.

It would also see delegates deliberate effectively on the role of the NMC in safeguarding the legal rights & obligations of Muslim women in Ghana, Ensuring Socio-Economic & political empowerment of Muslims in Ghana and Presentation of the NMC TVET SURVEY report as one of the main steps to activate the economic empowerment strategy.

According to Hon. Alhassan Tampuli, the Muslim community have over the years played sustainable roles in the country's development.

"Throughout history, the Muslims have played pivotal roles in shaping cultural socio fabric of Ghana. We have contributed to the growth and development of our nation in various field, from education to commerce and from healthcare to governance," he said.

The Member of Parliament for Gushegu constituency also reiterated the need for the Muslim community to achieve a common goal.

"Our purpose is clear, which is to foster unity among us that across the nation, collaborate with our partners and government, diplomatic nation's and civil society to secure the royalty and freedom in all spheres of life. By promoting religious freedom, we contribute to larger growth to the nation," he stated.

On his part, Hajj Inusah Mohammed, the General Secretary of the National Muslim Conference expressed gratitude to the delegates and the various stakeholders for the output.

He also mentioned that, the National Chief Imam Sheikh Dr Nuhu Sharubutu would always protect the rights and freedom of the Muslim community across the country.
This is truly unfortunate. The world has many problems that cannot be addressed without leadership by its greatest powers, and, as America shirks the burdens of leadership, China remains focused on its own reconstitution, rejuvenation, technological advancement, and self-interested economic outreach. Beijing shows little willingness to lead other nations and has so far demonstrated no competence to do so. America doesnt want China to replace its global leadership. Neither, for the most part, does the world. But, without at least some degree of accommodation and cooperation with China by the United States and between China, India, Japan, and other great powers, neither the United States nor China will be able to mount an effective response to the planetwide challenges now facing humanity.

China now seems overconfident, while the United States is mired in self-doubt. If, as the Book of Proverbs puts it, pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall, China looks like its ripe for one or the other. Meanwhile, social and niche media in the United States have sliced, diced, and sorted Americans into disillusioned and mutually distrustful sub-communities that harbor incompatible visions of the American past and future and are no longer even on speaking terms with each other. Lacking unity, America seems politically splintered, scatterbrained, and unable to agree on much of anything except that China must be opposed.

Neither China nor America currently has much tolerance for ambiguity, nuance, or deviance from popular presuppositions or prejudices. Both have administrations that are obsessed with protecting leaders from criticism and that react badly to foreign censure or to homegrown unconventional ideas. Both are therefore prone to persist in error long after they should have been identified and corrected it.

A combination of solipsism and mutual disdain assures that Beijing and Washington no longer listen to each other. Both Chinese and American citizens now receive almost all information through digital filters in the form of media-certified and targeted judgments designed to reinforce established narratives. Neither citizenry is presented with many facts to contradict such judgments. Each finds it difficult to draw its own conclusions about trends and events touching national interests.

In China, the information flow is government-controlled, anodyne but upbeat about domestic matters, self-righteously nationalistic about foreign affairs, and calculated to unify the people politically. In America, it is corporate controlled, discordant, bigoted about both domestic and foreign affairs, and tailored to facilitate the marketing of political opinions as well as goods and services. Both systems treat objectivity as quaint and potentially subversive and indulge in the propagation of claptrap, but the mediaverse in America has a much higher percentage of stuff that experts aptly describe with the technical term, weird shit.

In large measure to placate nationalistic domestic audiences, both China and America appear to have decided to emulate the foreign policy of the Roman emperor, Caligula. His motto was ODERINT DUM METUANT  let them hate us, as long as they fear us. This was former Secretary of State Mike Pompeos idea of diplomacy. It appears to be that of todays China as well. So much for America making friends and influencing people or China presenting itself as credible, lovable, and respectable!

Chinas ruling Communist Party seems now to imagine that the brilliance of its ideology is responsible for Chinas astonishing economic and technological success. But its major contributions were to set aside its ideology, open the Chinese market to competition from foreign companies and their technologies, replace central planning with market economics and industrial policies, get out of the way of entrepreneurs, localities, and state-owned enterprises, curtail wasteful defense expenditures, and encourage the productive reinvestment of Chinese household savings. By stepping aside from micromanagement of the economy, the Party liberated it. The Chinese people then launched themselves into a level of dog-eat-dog economic competition not seen since 19th century America. This spurred rapid productivity growth and deflated prices while enriching the lives of ordinary Chinese and enabling them to become the producers of one-third of the worlds manufactures.

These were truly amazing achievements. But they were stimulated by judicious withdrawals of state control, rather than assertions of it. Now the controls seem to be going back on. This raises the possibility that, as has happened before in Chinas history, rising prosperity could fall victim to the arrogance and corruption of a domineering state bureaucracy. If this happens, who will have the courage to tell the masters of the Chinese political universe that the reimposition of the nanny state risks triggering rather than precluding unrest [] and reversing Chinas economic advance by blighting the aspirations for self-fulfillment of its enormous and growing middle class?

China leapt into prosperity by embracing ideologically unpalatable realities. Now many see Beijing appearing to reverse verdicts on ideological agendas previously refuted by experience. Are we back to   politics in command? What became of  seek truth from facts or   practice is the sole criterion of truth? Doesnt China need such principles along with further   reform and opening  to advance to the next stage of wealth and prestige?

Of course, China now has a highly competitive, self-sustaining economy. Chinas development may slow, but it is most likely to continue long enough for a new generation less obsessed with the need for regimentation to rediscover the open-mindedness that catalyzed Chinas return to wealth and power.

Sadly, whether China falters or not, the United States is presently in remarkably poor condition to compete with it. The infirmities of contemporary American democracy and its catastrophic inability to mobilize an effective response to the pandemic are telling. But the United States is now overmatched by China or about to be in just about every realm relevant to competition other than the military (and that too is increasingly uncertain).

Most sectors of the Chinese economy are served by multiple competitive enterprises whereas in the U.S. economy the norm is now oligopoly, monopoly, or monopsony.



In China, companies still invest their profits in expanded industrial capacity. In the United States, where financialized, shareholder capitalism now dominates, profits increasingly flow into stock buybacks, mergers, and acquisitions.



China already accounts for over 30 percent of global industrial production vs. Americas slightly more than 16 percent.



China is the worlds largest trading nation and the top economic partner of three-fourths of the worlds countries.



China now vies with the United States as the largest recipient of foreign direct investment.



China has about 2.5 times the savings and investment capacity of the United States and its government has surplus capital to export. America has become dependent on foreign purchases of around 40 percent of its debt just to run existing government operations, let alone launch new programs.



China is rapidly rising in the ranks of the worlds innovators while the United States, though still formidable, is slowly declining.



Students in Chinas schools rank 1st in the world in math and science, while American students rank 37th and 18th respectively.



There are now eight times as many scientists, technicians, engineers, and mathematicians in China as there are in the United States and if nothing changes, at the end of this decade, there will be fifteen times as many.



China has provided one-third of the total global growth in research and development expenditures in this century vs. Americas one-fifth. China and the U.S. each account for about one-fourth of worldwide spending on R&D, but China passed the U.S. in 2019 and now spends much more on basic research than the United States, where most R&D is business-funded incremental product development.



In China, government spending reflects strategic calculation; in America it reflects the vector of vested interests lobbying of Congress.



Chinese transportation and communications infrastructure is the worlds newest and most efficient, while deferred maintenance on Americas roads, bridges, railroads, and air and sea ports is over $2.5 trillion. (The Congress is now crowing over having just allocated about $110 billion annually over five years to additional funding for infrastructure  far, far short of what is required.)



China now allocates less than 2 percent of its GDP to the military vs. Americas 3.4  5.25 percent. (If China were a NATO member, the United States would be berating it for spending much too little on defense.) China can surge defense expenditures and production whereas the United States cannot.



The greatest comparative advantage of the United States has come to be its professional and highly lethal military. This makes it politically convenient for Americans to portray the contest the United States has launched with China in military terms. China is showing that it can match and raise anything the United States does. But military posturing is an exercise in futility. Sino-American war over the much-misunderstood Taiwan issue  the most probable casus belli  would leave Taiwan in ruins and could leave both the Chinese and American homelands devastated. Both would lose from any war if they did not destroy each other outright. They would be mad to go to war with each other. We must do what we can to ensure that they do not.
Sierra Leone's government said it was in full control on Sunday evening after reporting a security breach by unidentified attackers at a military armoury in the capital Freetown that sparked armed clashes.

Authorities in the English-speaking West African country -- which has been going through a political crisis following elections in June this year -- have declared a national curfew until further notice.

The "government is in firm control of the security situation in Freetown, the attackers are retreating," information minister Chernor Bah told AFP.

An AFP journalist said calm was slowly returning to the capital by Sunday evening, but checkpoints heavily guarded by security forces remained in place.

"We are trying to collate the number of arrests and casualties," Bah said, adding that "those responsible for today's attack will be hunted down to face the full force of the law".

Videos posted on social media appeared to show men in uniform under arrest in the back or beside a military pick-up truck.

Earlier in the day, witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the city's Wilberforce district, where the armoury and some embassies are located.

Other witnesses reported exchanges of fire near a barracks in Murray Town district, home to the navy, and outside another military site in Freetown.

The information ministry reported attacks on prisons earlier in the day that obliged the security forces to retreat.

"The prisons were thus overrun" with some detainees released and others "abducted", it said.

Video posted on social networks suggested numerous prisoners had escaped from the central jail.

One man who was in a group filmed on the street by an AFP correspondent said they had escaped from the prison.

Map of Sierra Leone. By (AFP)

The information ministry said security forces had pushed the attackers to the outskirts of Freetown, with drone video taken by AFP showing empty streets in the capital.

The situation remained unclear with the authorities making no comments on the motives or identity of the attackers.

'Like a war'

President Julius Maada Bio wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the government would "continue to protect the peace and security of Sierra Leone against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability".

"We remain resolute in our determination to protect democracy in Sierra Leone."

Regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has contended with a series of coups among its members since 2020, issued a statement underlining "its zero-tolerance for unconstitutional change of government".

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio said the government would 'protect democracy in Sierra Leone'. By Leonardo Munoz (AFP)

Echoing language used to condemn past coup attempts, ECOWAS spoke of its "utter disgust" over a "plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order".

The US embassy condemned on social media the bid to break into the armoury and offered continued support for those "working for a peaceful, democratic, healthy and prosperous Sierra Leone".

The European Union's local representation expressed concern and called for the respect of constitutional order.

Witness Susan Kargbo told AFP by telephone she was woken "by a loud sound of heavy machine gun (fire) and bombs coming from the Wilberforce barracks around 4:30 am.

"I was shocked and... the gunshots continued until this morning, it was like a war," she said.

Attackers 'repelled'

The government said those attempting to break into the armoury had been repelled but asked the public to stay at home while security operations continued.

The local representations of the UK and the European Union echoed the authorities' advice to stay at home.

An empty road in Freetown after the government said a military armoury had come under attack in Sierra Leone's capital. By Saidu BAH (AFP)

The civil aviation authority said Sierra Leone's airspace remained open but asked airlines to reschedule their flights after the lifting of the curfew.

President Bio, who was first elected in 2018, was re-elected in June with 56.17 percent of the vote -- just over the 55 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

International observers condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

The main opposition All People's Congress (APC) party disputed the results of the presidential, legislative and local elections on June 24 and boycotted all levels of government.

The APC and the government signed an agreement in October following talks mediated by the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS.

The APC agreed to end its boycott and begin participating in government in exchange for an end to detentions and court cases it said were politically motivated.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (NAPO) is a medical doctor by profession, member of parliament (MP) for Manhyia South Constituency in the Ashanti Region, former Education Minister and current Minister responsible for Energy. He has demonstrated that he is competent and innovative in handling any task given to him. He has also served his constituents diligently and to the best of his ability.

The success story of 'The Almighty' Free Senior High School (FSHS) policy cannot be told without mentioning the name of Hon. NAPO. FSHS policy is a policy well implemented despite the doubts opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) had about it. With their mindset of impossibilities, they thought because they couldn't feed SHS students in the Northern part of Ghana, NPP government under Nana/Bawumia could not offer free education for all SHS students in Ghana. However, under the abled leadership of Hon. NAPO, the unprecedented, if you like, the flagship FSHS policy has been implemented to the benefit of estimated 2.2 million students across the country so far. It started with over 400,000 students in 2017. The burdens of relief the FSHS policy has granted the parents/guardians of the beneficiary students is indescribable. The FSHS policy is generally successful evidenced by the much improved West Africa Secondary School Certificate Examination's (WASSCE) results over the years.

Under the leadership of Hon. NAPO at the Education Ministry, Basic Education Certificate Examination's (BECE's) fees were absorbed and parents/guardians do not pay for their wards' BECE fees any longer. The government under Nana/Bawumia has taken up the cost and parents/guardians are being relieved of that burden.

Under the leadership of Hon. NAPO, the country witnessed unprecedented recruitment of teachers across the country and at all levels of the education sector. It must be noted that under former President John Mahama, there was a freeze on employment and many graduates were sitting at home without jobs. The education sector employed numerous unemployed backlogged graduates Mr. John Mahama could not perform magic to employ. This massive recruitment in the Education Ministry cannot be mentioned without acknowledging the very competent and innovative Hon. NAPO.

Ghanaians witnessed the mess caused by former President John Mahama in the education sector where common chalk was not available to facilitate teaching and learning at the various basic and second cycle schools. Under the leadership of the abled Hon. NAPO, such embarrassing occurrences are the thing of the past.

We cannot also acknowledge the contributions of Hon. NAPO at the Education Ministry without mentioning the unprecedented infrastructural development across the country in the basic, second cycle and tertiary institutions. Under his leadership, the various existing SHS for example saw massive infrastructural development spanning from classroom blocks, dormitories, laboratories, libraries, dinning halls among others. The education sector equally saw establishment of new SHS across the country with much improved infrastructure. When we are commenting on infrastructure, the 29 completed E - Blocks under former President John Mahama would not even come into play at all. This government is building well equiped real brand new secondary schools but not E - blocks.

There are a lot of contributions that one can continue to project in the education sector under the leadership of Hon. NAPO. This is evident by the numerous awards and honours he has been receiving from institutions across the country and beyond due to his sterling performance at the Education Ministry alone. Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh's recent recognition for the great service he rendered at the Ministry of Education was honour of Honorary Fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Human Resource Management (CIHRM), Ghana. It indicated it was in recognition of your contribution, supporting the Institute attain its charter in 2020, as Minister for Education, leading to the coming into force of the CIHRM Act, Act 1020. The citation says it all.

Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is undoubtedly replicating the same competent and innovative performance at the Energy Ministry as well. I have no doubt that he will continue to receive many awards and honours in the coming days, weeks, months and years due to his dedicated service to mother Ghana. When you see a man destined for greatness, you will definitely know. There is no wonder Hon. Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh is highly tipped to partner the NPP flagbearer H. E. Alhaji Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia to face the NDC and the incompetent dead goat in the 2024 general elections. It is possible together. In Shaa Allah

Thank you

Alhaji Salifu Hadara

A Patriot

Nalerigu Gambaga Constituency

North East Region

[email protected]

26/11/23
The Director of Research at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Dr. John Kwakye has urged Ghanaians to be bold to hold leaders accountable.

In a series of posts on social media over the weekend, he noted that Ghanaians are docile and timid and allow their leaders to cheat them.

This he argues is not right and Ghanaians must not allow leaders to continue to trample on their rights.

Ghanaians are docile and timid and allow their leaders to cheat them and trample on their rights with impunity. Let's be bold to call our leaders out for what they are and hold them accountable, Dr. John Kwakye shared in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Dr. John Kwakye further admonishes Ghanaians to be aware of political economics who only look out for their interests at the expense of the good of the citizenry.

He said, Ghanaians must beware of political economists who distort economics to suit their political ends. Ghanaians must listen to professional, nonpolitical economists.

Meanwhile, Dr. John Kwakye has backed former President John Dramani Mahamas 24-hour economy idea.

He insists that if properly planned, it will benefit Ghana in so many ways.
The Chief of Esuonwunu in the Amansie West District of the Ashanti Region, Nana Achina Kwagyan Nuama V has donated medical equipment and consumables worth thousands of Ghana cedis to the Esuonwunu Health Center.

The Asantehene Brempong also donated 150 boxes of rice to residents in the Esuonwunu community.

Presenting the items on Saturday November 25, 2023, the renowned chief said the donation was a collaborative effort between him, and two Non-governmental Organizations (NGO).

Support from Ghana West Africa Medical Mission

Nana Achina Kwagyan Nuama V revealed that the medical equipment provided by the Ghana West African Medical Mission aimed at assisting efforts geared towards quality and effective health care in the area.

According to him, he was hopeful that the medical equipment would not only enable health workers in the area to deliver prompt and quality healthcare services to the people but also well position the health centers to achieve their mandate.

Support from Matter NGO

Touching on the source of the 150 bags of rice, Nana Achina Kwagyan Nuamah V said the bags of rice were donated by Matter NGO to the community.

He revealed that, prior to the donation of rice, Matter NGO had already constructed two mechanized boreholes for the Asuonwunu community.

He added that plans are far advanced to get an ultramodern toilet facility for the community with support from the same Matter NGO.

Appreciation

Receiving the items, the District Director of Health for the Amansie West District, Mr Bernard Badu Bediako, thanked the chief for the gesture and expressed appreciation for his unflinching support towards the provision of healthcare services in the area.

He described the traditional leader as hardworking, faithful and illustrious man of the area, saying his commitment to quality healthcare delivery remained unparalleled.

He pledged to use the equipment for its intended purpose and ensure residents in the area are given the right medical attention.
The Minister for Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has noted that Ghanas solution to climate change is anchored on forest and nature-based solutions.

Speaking at the pre-Conference of Paris (COP28) in Accra on Thursday, he lamented the impact of climate change on lives and livelihoods.

He, however, said, Forest and other nature-based solutions can deliver up to a third of climate solutions.

And given that 50% of our national Green House Gas emissions are attributed to Agriculture, Forest and Land Use (AFOLU) activities, we are confident that we can contribute to global efforts at halting climate change, he added.

He was optimistic that this years conference would end with a consensus to upscale forest-oriented solutions to climate change.

The minister noted that the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28) offers Ghana an opportunity to showcase its commitment to the fight against climate change.

Mr Jinapor said Ghana has, in successive COPs, played a lead role in forest and nature-based solutions to climate change because the country believe that it is one of the solutions.

Mr Jinapor disclosed that just like previous editions, the Lands Ministry has again secured a pavilion to serve as a centre of the countrys participation at the COP28.

He said the top activity is the Presidential Event, which will see President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo hosting Heads of State and the United States Special Presidential Envoy on Climate, Secretary John Kerry.

He added that the Ministry would hold a discussion anchored on the theme. Leveraging Nature-Based Solutions Towards 1.5C: Monitoring Progress.

The President will also lead Ghana to announce his countrys package, dubbed, Resilient Ghana: Advancing Climate Action for Prosperity, he said.

Mr Jinapor also announced that the Ministry is partnering with the Africa Women and Children Conference (AFRIWOCC) Secretariat, under the leadership of H.E. Samira Bawumia, to host a high-level event at Ghanas Pavilion on the implementation of the communique actions and roadmap of AFRIWOCC.

He appealed to stakeholders to rally behind the Ministry and help it deliver a successful COP28.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Two military officers have been arrested for allegedly robbing over GHS 100,000 from a gold dealer at Apantubom in the Bosome Freho District of the Ashanti Region.

The two according to residents were among five individuals who attacked the community and robbed them off their monies on Saturday November 25, 2023.

The suspected robbers reportedly kidnapped the gold dealer during their operations and released him upon their arrest by police.

The Assembly Member for Yaapesah Electoral Area, Hon Lot Adu-Asabre, in an interview with this reporter revealed that some residents were injured and hospitalised following the attack by the suspects.

"The five suspects attacked one man, Joe Malash, and some resident and made away with huge sums of money. They were however questioned by police in the area after getting to a police barrier.

"They were immediately arrested by police officers at the barrier after some residents accused them of robbery but on their way to the station, the suspects attempted to flee from police leading to a gun battle between them and the police.

"The suspects eventually fled into a nearby bush but three of them were later arrested by police with the help of residents.

"Upon interrogation, two of those arrested confirmed to the Ashanti South Police Command that they were military officers based in Accra," he stated.

Hon Lot Adu Asabre noted that, the suspects have since been held at Ashanti South Regional Police Command at Bekwai assisting investigations.

He added that two of the suspects are currently on the run.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Minority Caucus in Parliament says governments requests for tax exemptions running into several billions of Cedis are unconscionable, inordinate, and bear all the trappings of organized crime.

According to the Minority, about 45 companies have been presented to Parliament as one district-one-factory companies, GIPC strategic investors, among others, to be exempted from the payment of taxes.

In a statement issued on Monday, November 27, 2023, the Minority said the government was asking Parliament to grant tax exemptions to the tune of USD 449,446,247.95 for these 45 companies, which is equivalent to over half of GH5.5 billion.

The Minority stressed that this was an issue that significantly impacted the countrys economy and felt obligated to let the Ghanaian taxpayer who is being burdened with all manner of taxes know this truth.

It further disclosed that a total of 118 companies were being processed at the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Finance, and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre to be brought to Parliament for tax exemptions.

The total value of exemptions for these 118 companies is about seven billion Ghana cedis, it added.

The 45 companies indicated by the minority are listed below

-citinewsroom
A coalition of business groups in Ghana have kicked against a proposed policy that seeks to restrict the importation of 22 selected items into the country.

In a petition to Parliament, the Joint Business Consultative Forum - made up of the Ghana Union of Traders' Associations (GUTA), Food and Beverages Association of Ghana, Importers and Exporters Association of Ghana and others - said the proposed Legislative Instrument (LI) will hike prices of goods and stifle competition.

"The price of most products mentioned in the Ministry of Trade and Industry policy proposal will result in serious price hikes as competition will be severely restricted," said Dr. Joseph Obeng, Co-chairman of the Joint Business Consultative Forum.

He noted that limiting imports would effectively hand over control of the market to a select few businesses approved by the Minister of Trade and Industry.

"This will eventually lead to a monopolistic or oligopolistic position for a few select businesses in the country at the expense of many smaller businesses," Dr. Obeng added.

The groups said the permit system introduced by the proposed LI will disrupt international supply chains and delay imports into the country.

"The permit system will definitely hinder the flow of goods from exporting countries to receivers in Ghana since importers would no longer be able to rely on market demands to dictate the quantities to be ordered," the petition further read.

They have called on Parliament to reject the LI, arguing that Ghana currently lacks the capacity to produce most of the items locally.

The groups want consultations with stakeholders before a new policy is formulated and introduced.

The business groups' petition adds pressure to the government's push to limit certain imports in a bid to boost local production and conserve foreign reserves.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Ghana's agricultural sector, a cornerstone of its economy, faces the dual challenge of meeting the demands of a growing population and adapting to the impacts of climate change. Embracing smart solutions is crucial not only for enhancing food security but also for building resilience in the face of environmental uncertainties. For the last 38 years, Ghana has awarded farmers and promoted agriculture production towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.

Friday, December 1, 2023, will mark the 39th celebration of gallant farmers in the country under the theme Delivering Smart Solutions for Sustainable Food Security and Resilience. The 2023 Farmers Day celebration theme is coined to reflect the solutions to the current environmental challenges with the increasing population within the technological advancement era.

This article explores innovative approaches tailored to the Ghanaian context, offering practical strategies to achieve sustainable food security through the integration of smart solutions as the theme for the 2023 Farmers Day celebration.

Tailoring Technology to Local Needs: Precision agriculture, adapted to the specific needs of Ghanaian farmers, involves leveraging technology for optimal resource use. Introducing precision techniques such as GPS-guided planting, data-driven production, and soil health monitoring empowers farmers to make informed decisions. This precision approach can significantly enhance crop yields while conserving resources. Farm mechanization services where applicable should be provided to the rural farmers to advance the attainment of food sufficiency and security in the country. Mechanization of agriculture production with the evolving farm-driven technology is paramount and must be key in Ghanaian agriculture policies.

Bridging Gaps in Information Access: Internet of Things (IoT) technologies can play a transformative role in Ghana's agriculture by providing real-time data on weather patterns, pest infestations, and market conditions. Establishing IoT networks in rural areas can bridge information gaps, enabling farmers to respond swiftly to changing conditions. This connectivity ensures that even remote farmers are equipped with the knowledge needed to make timely and informed decisions. Ghanaian government through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture and farmer-based organisations in the country should prioritize information access for rural farmers. Local radio and television stations across the country should promote agriculture-centered programmes for rural farmers. Food security and rural resilience can be enhanced when the right information comes in handy for the rural farmer. Rural road networks should be improved to open up rural areas.

Embracing Ghana's Rich Biodiversity: Ghana's diverse ecosystems offer a fertile ground for agroecological practices. Encouraging farmers to adopt agroforestry, intercropping, and organic farming methods enhances biodiversity and soil health. Agroecology not only aligns with traditional farming practices but also contributes to building resilient agricultural systems capable of withstanding climate variations. Ghanas forest provides the platform for the country to combat the menace of emerging climate change despite the current challenge of illegal mining and its effect on the environment and agricultural landscape. To enhance food security and resilience in the country as the theme of the years celebration there is the need for the conservation of resources such as waterbodies, forests, and arable lands across the country.

Strengthening Community Bonds, Diversification, and Localized Food Systems: Ghana's agricultural resilience can be fortified by promoting diversified crops and localized food systems. Encouraging the cultivation of a variety of crops suited to different regions ensures a more resilient food supply. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) initiatives can be tailored to Ghanaian communities, fostering direct connections between consumers and local farmers and reducing dependence on centralized supply chains. Government through agriculture-centered policies like the Planting for Food and Jobs Phase 2.0 should focus on strengthening farmer co-operatives and providing the platform for them to leverage to enhance food security and community resilience. The five northern regions are noted for cereals and legumes, root and tubers, shea trees, and other commercial crops whose benefits are underutilized or underexploited, the middle belts and coastal regions are key in tree crops and some staple food production and should be promoted. More local and international NGOs should be encouraged to take up this initiative as there are pieces of evidence of success with the involvement of private organizations.

Climate-Resilient Crop Varieties: Adapting to Ghana's Changing Climate: The adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties is essential for Ghana's farmers facing increasing climate variability. Research and development programs focused on crops that thrive in the country's unique climate conditions contribute to long-term resilience. Empowering farmers with knowledge about and access to these varieties ensures the sustainability of Ghana's agricultural production. Therefore, the government of Ghana should empower the various institutions across the country responsible for developing climate-smart and adaptable crops for rural farmers to respond to the changing climate vulnerability and the best methods of mitigation. Research findings and information should be made available to rural farmers to promote food security and resilience in the country.

By tailoring smart solutions to the specific needs of Ghana's agricultural landscape, we can sow the seeds of sustainability and resilience. Tailoring technological needs, connectivity of farmers to the right information, agroecology, diversification, and climate-resilient crop varieties represents a comprehensive strategy for ensuring food security in Ghana. As the nation looks to the future, these smart solutions offer a pathway to not only meet the growing demand for food but also to cultivate a resilient agricultural sector that can withstand the challenges of tomorrow. The writer hopes that during the 2023 Agrifest celebration, the authorities responsible for agricultural development in the country will consider these proposed solutions and advance their attainment.

Long Live Ghana!

Long Live Farmers!!

Long Live Value Chain Players!!!

Ghana akuafo ayekoo!!!!
Tein UPSA, the intellectual youth wing for the National Democratic Congress (NDC), proudly announces its endorsement of the 24-hour economy policy proposed by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama. This forward-thinking initiative, designed to revolutionize our nation's economic landscape, aligns with Tein UPSA's commitment to progress, innovation, and inclusivity.

The 24-hour economy policy, put forth by His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, represents a bold step towards creating a more dynamic and resilient economy. Tein UPSA recognizes the potential of this life-changing policy to bring about positive transformation and address the evolving needs of our society.

As the intellectual youth wing for the NDC, Tein UPSA calls upon the vibrant and forward-looking youth of Ghana to embrace and support this visionary policy. By voting for the NDC and electing John Dramani Mahama as the next President of the Republic of Ghana on December 7, 2024, we collectively contribute to building a nation that thrives around the clock.

Tein UPSA believes that the 24-hour economy policy not only fosters economic growth but also provides opportunities for innovation, job creation, and improved living standards. It is a testament to our dedication to shaping a brighter future for Ghana.

We encourage all eligible voters, particularly the youth, to participate in the democratic process and make their voices heard. By supporting the NDC and His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, we can collectively embark on a journey towards a more prosperous and inclusive Ghana.

Together, let's build the Ghana We Want.

Signed

Parku Stephen Selacy

Tein UPSA President
Genres : Erotic, Thriller

Starring : Emotion Cheung, Paulyn Sun, Anthony Wong, Yuk-San Cheung, Yan Law, Melvin Wong

Director : Yiu-Kuen Ng

Plot Synopsis

Cheung is in an unhappy marriage. He works with his wife at a local barbecue restaurant and she takes every opportunity to belittle Cheung and use him for his money. To make matters worse, Cheung isn't able to satisfy his wife in the bedroom. One day his wife's cousin, Fung, arrives in Hong Kong from mainland China and Cheung and Fung instantly form a connection. Fung isn't like his wife, she is respectful and treats him well. Cheung tries his best to not give in to temptation, but eventually he is overcome with desire, and he and Fung start a secret relationship behind his wife's back. However, Cheung soon finds himself way in over his head when he discovers that the mild mannered Fung is hiding a dark and grisly secret.

Best described as a Cat III version of the erotic thrillers popularized in the 90s, THE UNTOLD STORY 2 is an in name only sequel to the notorious THE UNTOLD STORY released several years earlier. Whilst not a direct sequel to the original, THE UNTOLD STORY 2 manages to outdo its predecessor when it comes to sexual content, while making sure to still deliver a hefty helping of stomach-churning violence. Starring Emotion Cheung (Bio-Zombie, The Demon's Baby) as the downtrodden husband (a role which he is adept at playing), as well as a truly unnerving performance from Paulyn Sun (Ichi the Killer), and featuring a supporting performance from the king of Cat III films himself, Anthony Wong (Ebola Syndrome), Vinegar Syndrome Archive is proud to present THE UNTOLD STORY 2 for the first time on Blu-ray in the U.S., newly restored from original film elements, and featuring all of the sex and violence one expects to see in a Hong Kong Cat III film.

directed by: Yiu-Kuen Ng

starring: Emotion Cheung, Paulyn Sun, Anthony Wong, Yuk-San Cheung, Yan Law, Melvin Wong

1998 / 91 min / 1.85:1 / Cantonese Mono with English Subtitles + Mandarin Dub

Additional info:
27.11.2023 LISTEN

I write to congratulate the people of Avenor for their fifth anniversary celebration of the Avenor Tutudoza, which commemorates the migration of the Avenor from Notse under the leadership of Torgbi Dorglo Anumah the First, who made a firm commitment to associate and move alongside the people of Agu to the middle belt of Tsevie in the Republic of Togo. That firm and decisive stance undergirds Avenor history and differentiate them from others.

On this momentous occasion that reaffirms unique identity of Avenor, let me specially appreciate Torgbui Dorglo Anumah the Fifth, The Paramount Chief and the President of Avenor Traditional Council, Hon. Bernard Ahiafor, Member of Parliament, Akatsi South and Elder JK Hogle for their selfless devotion and monumental contributions which made Avenor to have their own traditional council, despite numerous protestations from known authorities.

This is so, because on the 14th of December, 2017, when the Avenor Traditional Council was about to be inaugurated, a fundamental an avoidable erroneous impression was created in the vain attempt to downgrade and discredit Avenor. There was a strong protest from some members of the Anlo Traditional Council, including the Awoamefia Torgbui Sri the Third. According to them, just as Ave, Dzodze, Fenyi, Aflao, Klikor, Some, Afife, and Wheta (which were originally independent Ewe states in the southeastern part of the Volta Region) belonged to the Anlo Traditional Council, so must Avenor too.

This erroneous impression and baseless agitation (which has been spearheaded by the Anlo Traditional Council ever since) emanated from the discredited Crowther Commissions report, which erroneously used river Tordzi as the boundary between Avenor and the Tongue and it was later pointed out to him that the land at the west of river Tordzi and the various settlements like, Tordzinu, Xikpo and Agbakorpe belong to Avenor. Doubtless, Commissioner Crowther himself was said to have suffered from a conflict of conscience but failed to resolve issues or make amends. As such, this same discredited report became the basis for transforming the Anlo confederation into Anlo State Council in 1913, which later metamorphosed into Anlo traditional council.

History doesnt support this line of action because before the Crowther Commissions report, there was Anlo Confederation. Not much was known about the history behind the formation of Anlo Confederation at that time; but it is an undeniable fact that it was a loose alliance of pre-existing independent Ewe states in the south-eastern part of the Volta Region. It had existed prior to the advent of British colonial rule and was described as a loose coalition of sovereign Ewe states which came together against external aggressors whenever the need arose. As such, it was also qualified as a break-or-join alliance of various independent Ewe states in the south-east. For instance, in the Nonobe War of 1750, the Avenor enclave broke away from Anlo and fought on the side of the Ada coalition that was pitted against Anlo. History has it that in 1767, Avenor joined the military coalition of Ada, Krobo, Agave, Mafi and Tefle to fight Anlo and Akwamu. Indeed, during the Anlo-Ada War of 1769, Avenor promised assistance to both warring parties of Anlo and Ada but joined Anlo in the battle to win a decisive victory.

Circumstances changed for the worse thereafter, though. The fragile relationship that had existed between the two independent Ewe states (that is, Avenor and Anlo) later became tense when an Anlo migrant seduced one of the wives of the Avenor military commander. This led to the Akor or Anyamakpa war, which was fought between Anlo and the Avenor without the involvement of allies. The Avenor were heavily defeated. To ensure peace and restore normalcy, these two independent Ewe states agreed to sign a blood pact, referred to as Dzonyinyi. According to Torgbi Yakagbe Gawuga the Second, a renounced chief of Atorkor in Anlo, the terms of the blood pact allowed the Avenor to subscribe to some of the Anlo customs and traditions, for instance, the submission of criminals to the Fifth Landing Stage (Torkor Atorlia) and the right of appeal at Anloga for Avenor citizens facing criminal prosecution at the court of the paramount chief of Avenor.

However, the Sagbadre War of 1784 changed the dynamics. Its impact on the Anlo confederation cannot be over emphasized. This war, which was fought by the large Danish military coalition of Ada, Akyem, Akwapim, Accra, Krobo, Anexor and the Danes against the Anlo, rekindled the consciousness of the Ewe states in the southeast for a stronger and more unified Anlo polity, which they believed would be distinct from the loose Anlo confederation. Besides, the spectacle of the large Danish coalition attacking Anlo had bounded some neighbouring Ewe states including Avenor to Anlo.

According to Torgbi Yakagbe Gawuga the second, it was the Anlo Confederation that was transformed into the Anlo State Council in 1913, based on the Crowther Commissions report. Besides, in attempting to resolve the lingering land disputes between the people of Anlo and their neighbours (including the Avenor, the Tongu, and the Ada enclaves), it is believed that the Crowther Commission was a deliberate instrument used by the British colonial administration to impose the Anlo paramountcy on the rest of the sovereign Ewe states for easy implementation of its Indirect Rule policy in the independent Ewe states in the south-east. To this end, the Commission created the Anlo State Council (using the Awoamefia as its overlord) with its membership based on the pre-existing Anlo Confederation, which was a voluntary and loose association of various autonomous Ewe states in the south-east.

Other schools of thought, however, had different viewpoints because they believed that the choice of the Anlo polity as an indigenous overlord was influenced by two main factors: (i) its being the most aggressive and assertive authority among the independent Ewe states, and (ii) its leader being a young and educated reformist who was a close friend of Philip Crowther. Doubtless, the claim can be made that it was the creation of the Anlo State Council that subsumed the identities of the pre-existing independent Ewe states in the south-east, forcing them to relinquish their authority and autonomy to the Anlo paramountcy.

Regardless of the implications of the Crowther Report, the difference between the Avenor and the Anlo in terms of settlement, migration route, clan and leadership among others, cannot be over-emphasized as these differences were woven into Atrikpui, Zokpo, and Kpegisu songs to recount the struggles and the heroism exhibited by their forebears to get them a place they now call home.

According to Mr Simon Kuegbala Gago (an elder of Avenor), the Avenor are also the components of Adja-Ewe people who migrated from Egypt to Ethiopia, then Sudan and finally settled in a suburb of Ketu called Ketukpe. Currently, they are one of the largest Ewe polities in the south- eastern part of the present-day Ghana.

Due to incessant attacks on the Adja-Ewes by the Yoruba, the Ewes at Ketu (including Ketukpe) decided to move to a new home. Those of Ketukpe were not exception as they were led by Torgbui Agbohlo to Dogbonyigbo where Togbui Agbohlo died and his son Anumah finally led the Avenor to Notse in the republic of Togo.

During the great exodus from Notse, the Avenor under their leader Anumah, moved closely with the Agus, with whom they founded their first settlement called Volui at Avenor-Agu near Kpalime, in the Republic of Togo. Here, Torgbui Anumah crossed the mountain and made his second settlement at Anyirawase - Awudome. However, tribal frictions and conflicts over farmland with the people of Awudome made the Avenor to move to Dorfor in North Tongu, where they settled at a place called Fodzoku. In search of a permanent place to call home, Torgbui Anumah and his group crossed the Volta River to Kroboland and founded a settlement at Kpong. They later became known as Avenor - Krobos. This is still sung in songs and dirges.

However, frequent clashes between the Akwamus and the Krobos forced the Avenors to leave. Here, Torgbui Anumah group got divided into two. The first group went south-west and founded a settlement among the Ga-Adangbe near Tesano in Accra, which they named Avenor. The larger group led by Torgbi Anumah wandered further south-east and founded a settlement on Fieve land on the bank of the Volta River and named it TefleAvenorkpo, which still stands.

At Avenorkpo in Tefle, there were frequent quarrels over farmland and fishing zones among the new settlers (namely, the Avenor and the original occupants of Tefle). This tension made the Avenor to look far afield for another settlement. They crossed the Volta River to found a new settlement at Yorta near Dabala, later called Detsowome. At Yorta, the dreams of the Avenor were shattered when a deformed child (with one arm and one eye was born). According to the customs and traditions of Avenor, a deformation of that kind, from birth, was an abomination, a harbinger of tragedy, hence the saying "Detsagbawor" (a typical Avenor word meaning what a strange thing that has befallen us?). This Detsagbawor was later corrupted to mean Detsawame.

As a result, the Torgbui Anumah group decided to move out of Yorta further south, where they founded a new settlement called Adume, near Avenorpedo. At Adume, Torgbui Anumah died and his son Atsu Fiadzea succeeded him. Unfortunately, the nearest source of water for the new settlers at Adume was Lotor which was a long distance away. The disappearance of women and children who went to Lotor to fetch water but didnt return home, caused much anxiety, especially when they were said to have been kidnapped. This terrifying happening led to the area being named as Lotor-Latsi, meaning "you will come but not return". These unfortunate incidents forced the Avenor, under their new leader Atsu Fiadzea, to move away to a place of safety later known as Korvenu, which Mr Simon Kuegbala Gago refers to as the grove that protects. At Korvenu the Avenor fought many battles, including the Akor or the Anyamakpa war. That battleground is currently traceable to Korvenu, where it is known as Ametawito, meaning the "pit of skulls".

The history of the Avenor entity is replete with many accounts of bravery and the determination of people bent on coming into their own, regardless of the obstacles put in and on their way by their detractors. As a result of the series of wars fought at Korvenu, the Avenors had to abandon their settlement to found a new home at Agbiveme also known as Afeyeme (new abode). Here, their leader Atsu Fiadzea died and was succeeded by his son Adoe under whom the Avenors made their permanent home at Avenorpeme.

On their arrival at Avenorpeme in 1776, the famous hunters and warriors such as Torgbi Tete Gefu and his son Torgbui Letsa Korba and others began expanding their new territory by annexing and acquiring the adjoining lands through conquests. In the end, thirteen (13) clans were identified and confirmed as legitimate spokes for the Avenor umbrella. These are: Fiato, Wugbeme, Awasiapedome, Agbevie, Atsiame, Deme, Kpogedi, Atsite, Lume, Seviawo, Gbodome, Agornu and Adrovie. These clans were (and still are) quite unique in their totemic representation and are distinct from the 15 clans of Anlo, making it impossible for Avenor to be considered and classified among the Anlo states as a vassal entity to be bullied or coerced. Avenor has walked the tightrope of history to come into its own and cannot be subdued.

To conclude, it is evident that just as how the Anlo, Asogli, and the Awudome states existed as independent and sovereign Ewe states in the past and still do so in modern-day Ghana, so also can the Avenor state which also existed as an independent and sovereign state with its membership based on the thirteen clans of Avenor before the Philip Crowther Commissions biased report which tried to create a centralized administration with the Awoamefia as its figure-head for the envisaged benefits of the indirect rule policy if ever implemented in the then Gold Coast to take root among the independent Ewe states in the south-east.

I shall return

By Dr. Peter M. Dzidza

Saturday, November 25, 2023
The floodwaters in the southwestern Somali district of Dolow may have started to recede -- for now -- but distraught families who have lost their homes, their livelihoods in the muddy deluge are now at risk of potentially fatal disease.

Shukri Abdi Osman, a 34-year-old mother of three, is sheltering in a camp for the displaced in Dolow with her children, among around 700 families forced to flee as flash floods engulfed many parts of town.

"I have never seen such devastating floods before, everything happened quickly. When we realised the water was coming it was too late to collect all our belongings. We left our houses at midnight and all we were able to grab was our children," she told AFP.

As the family breadwinner, Osman said she thought she had a bright future, with plans to expand her flourishing fruit and vegetable kiosk in the Garbolow neighbourhood of Dolow, which lies on the Juba River near the Ethiopia border.

"But I ended up here in this IDP settlement hopelessly waiting for the situation to change. My business is gone, my property is destroyed, and my house engulfed in water," she said, as she struggled to light firewood to cook a meal for her children.

'Leaking septic tanks'

And now disease is posing a threat to her family.

"The toilets were destroyed and even the tap water is now mixed with the dirty flood water which includes leaking septic tanks," she said.

"The situation is very tough now in this camp with my daughter feeling unwell, she might have already contracted malaria and typhoid."

Shukri Abdi Osman, 34, says she is worried about the oubreak of disease. By Hassan Ali Elmi (AFP)

Somalia's government has declared a state of emergency over what the United Nations has called "once-in-a-century" flooding, with almost 100 lives lost across the country and 700,000 people made homeless.

Torrential rains linked to the El Nino weather phenomenon have lashed the Horn of Africa on the heels of the worst drought in 40 years that drove millions to the brink of famine in Somalia.

It is considered one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, locked in a vicious cycle of drought and floods.

But is particularly ill-equipped to cope with the crisis as it battles deep poverty and a deadly Islamist insurgency.

In one of the worst El Nino episodes, in late 1997 and early 1998, at least 1,800 people died in Somalia alone when the Juba River burst its banks.

The latest floods have washed away homes, schools, farmland, roads and bridges, leaving many without shelter, food or clean drinking water.

'Children covered in mosquito bites'

Mohamed Dahir, water and sanitation officer with US charity Mercy Corps, told AFP that humanitarian agencies are now concerned about those vulnerable to disease.

Many residents of Dolow have fled to camps for displaced people. By Hassan Ali Elmi (AFP)

"The possibility for malaria outbreak is high due to the mosquitos, and there are also concerns about watery diarrhoea breaking out due to the possible contamination of the water system."

"We still don't know exactly the level of contamination but what we have seen is the leaked septic tanks and destroyed toilets of the affected neighbourhood which contaminate the water wells."

The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in an update last week that 33 districts of Somalia had been deluged, with a significant increase in cases of Acute Watery Diarrhoea (AWD) or cholera and a rise in malaria cases.

Owliyo Mohamed Abdirahman, 70, almost fell as she tried to enter her flood-ravaged home. By Hassan Ali Elmi (AFP)

It said there were concerns that contaminated stagnant water around schools poses a "serious risk" of waterborne diseases for school children.

Sadia Sharif Hassan, a 40-year-old mother of seven, sits in a makeshift shelter in a Dolow IDP camp, begging her neighbour for a container so she can fetch water.

"The most important thing is to save the lives of our children," she told AFP, saying the family barely had enough food to eat each day.

"The mosquitos are relentless and several of my children are already feeling unwell, they are suffering from fever... all their bodies are covered with bites now."

'Ran away with our lives'

In Garboolow, 70-year-old Owliyo Mohamed Abdirahman almost slipped and fell in the mud as she tried to rescue belongings from her damaged corrugated metal home but found everything had been swept away.

'This is what is left of my house in which I lived with my son who is sick now, his children and his wife," she said in despair. "We ran away with our lives and carried nothing else."

The UN's humanitarian agency OCHA says 33 districts of Somalia have been struck by floods. By Hassan Ali Elmi (AFP)

She and her family are having to rely on the kindness of well-wishers who have provided food and clothing.

Somalia has been locked in an endless cycle of drought and floods.

In one of the worst El Nino episodes, in late 1997 and early 1998, at least 1,800 people died when the Juba River burst its banks.

Garboolow commissioner Mursal Mohamed Adan said the authorities are waiting anxiously for help from aid agencies.

"God knows better what is next, but we are still concerned if rains continue to cause more flooding it will only make the situation worse."
Several business associations in Ghana have jointly petitioned Parliament to reject a proposed Legislative Instrument (LI) seeking to restrict the importation of 22 selected items.

The Joint Business Consultative Forum made up of groups including the Ghana Union of Traders' Associations (GUTA), Food and Beverages Association of Ghana (FABAG) and Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), outlined 11 reasons for opposing the LI in their petition.

One of their primary concerns is that the restrictions will result in price hikes as competition may reduce.

The grounds for the opposition as contained in the petition are;

1. The proposed policy will result in price hikes and severely restrict competition as the Minister will decide which companies trade which items, leading to monopolies.

2. The permit system will hinder the flow of goods as importers cannot rely on market demands to determine quantities, and orders typically take 3 months to deliver.

3. Smuggling from neighbors is increasing due to porous borders and high duties reducing imports through ports, and this policy will exacerbate issues.

4. The quota system will create corruption as permits will go to cronies rather than being based on need, as seen in previous experiences.

5. Currently there is no discrimination against local goods, and only imports fill shortfalls in local production.

6. Ghana lacks current capacity for most local products, so shortages will be serious.

7. No rules protecting against abuse by protected manufacturers who will monopolize.

8. The LI violates WTO trade agreements and can lead to retaliation affecting exports.

9. Issues around imports under the African Continental Free Trade Area are not addressed.

10. Business inputs were not considered in preparing the document.

11. No assurances or comfort on dealing with permit acquisition or bureaucratic bottlenecks and corruption.

The business groups' petition counters the government's push to limit certain imports in a bid to boost local production and conserve foreign reserves.
The Obuasi East District Assembly has partnered CRISSPAN company, an Obuasi based construction firm to construct a 5-storey 1,080-bed capacity hostel block for the students of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Obuasi campus.

The project when completed in the proposed 2-year period will contribute to ending the challenges students face in securing decent accommodation close to the campus.

Established in 2019, the Knust-Obuasi campus which is the first public tertiary institution in Obuasi has faced challenges with accommodation for the nearly 3000 students at the school with the available hostel facilities provided by the school and private individuals deemed inadequate.

The Obuasi East District Assembly in a move to salvage the situation by providing a convenient accommodation facility for the school decided to partner CRISSPAN Company Limited in a public-private partnership for the project.

At the sod-cutting ceremony for the first phase of a 3-storey 432-bed hostel facility, the Chief Executive for the Obuasi East District Assembly Hon Faustina Amissah said the initiative was aimed at helping resolve accommodation challenges confronting the school.

She stated that the first phase of the project which will be executed by CRISSPAN Company Limited is expected to be completed in 12 months.

Giving a brief history of how the hostel facility for the Knust-Obuasi was conceived, Hon. Faustina said, the Assembly as a major stakeholder decided to step in when it realized that accommodation would become a major challenge with the surge in students population of the school.

"We had to look around to see the appropriate remedies out there. Key to this was the unavailability of land so we decided to pull down some old, dilapidated bungalows which AngloGold Ashanti relinquished to the Assembly some time ago," she stated.

She was optimistic that after completion, the project stood the chance of further boosting the student population of the school.

According to the Coordinating Dean of the Knust-Obuasi campus Prof Lawrence Darkwa, the hostel facility is welcoming as the school plans to admit more students going forward.

He said the school is working hard to establish a fully-fledged University in Obuasi and this can only materialize once there are more accommodation facilities for students.

Prof Darkwa further suggested that going forward, the school will need investors to come on board to put up more facilities especially accommodation for teachers to complement existing ones.

On challenges facing the school, he mentioned that there was the need to improve the teacher-student ratio of the school. He however appealed to government to give the school the financial clearance to recruit more teachers for the school.

The Queenmother of the Akrokerri Traditional Council Nana Serwaa Bruwaa II commended the Assembly for the hostel project, describing it as innovative.

She said, " I am particularly excited about this project and see it as a step in the right up because the Assembly has put the land into good use for the benefit of the district".

Nana Serwaa Bruwaa II was upbeat about the future prospects of the University stressing that the University will contribute to improving the economy of Obuasi and also creating opportunities for the youth of Obuasi and Adansi to access quality tertiary education.

The contractors for the project CRISSPAN Company Limited told the media in an interview that, the company has what it takes to hand over a quality project to the school within the stipulated construction period of 12 months for the first phase.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has reaffirmed his commitment to restoring Ghana's fortunes, assuring the nation that his administration is diligently working to restore the growth and development disrupted by the covid-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking at the Valedictory Service for the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, President Akufo-Addo expressed optimism about fulfilling this commitment before the end of his term in office.

He highlighted that the policies and programs currently being implemented by his government are a strategic means to stabilize the country's economy.

"I want to assure you that the Akufo-Addo government is working hard to return the economy to a high rate of growth and characterize the management of the economy in the years preceding the COVID outbreak in 2020," President Akufo-Addo stated.

He recalled that before the global pandemic, Ghana's economy was one of the fastest-growing in the world, and the aim is to recreate that positive trajectory.

Acknowledging the challenges faced by the nation, President Akufo-Addo expressed confidence that Ghana is on the path to recovery.

"I know times have been bad, but it is clear that our economy is rebounding back, and we are turning back the corner to growth and development," he assured.

To achieve these goals, the President acknowledged that difficult and hard decisions had to be made.

He emphasized that the policies and programs in place are designed to address the challenges, which is becoming evident.

He further called for continued understanding and active cooperation from the citizens, stating, "Nevertheless, I will continue to need your understanding and active cooperation. We can make it if all of us work at it."
Samuel James Nii Adjei Tawiah

27.11.2023 LISTEN

An estate developer, Consika Limited, has dragged the Municipal Chief Executive Officer (MCE) of the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, Samuel James Nii Adjei Tawiah, and two others to court for trespassing on his land and causing damage to it.

The estate developer claims also that the MCE gave the land to another real estate developer, which was initially sold to him by the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA).

The plaintiff, Consika Limited, which owns the land located at a portion of Asylum Down now called Tudu, having sued the defendants, the Base Estate Company, its Director, Jonathan Odartey Baddo, the MCE, Samuel James Nii Adjei Tawiah, and Mr. Baisie Emmanuel, the Coordinating Director of Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly, further prays the court to restrain them from going on the land and to pay for the damages caused on the land.

According to the writ, the plaintiff [Consika Limited] in 2014 found a piece of land with kiosks on it opposite the State Transport Company (STC) yard in Tudu, then called Asylum Down, and was interested in purchasing it for its business because of the location of the land.

The plaintiff made inquiries into the ownership of the land and was told that it belonged to the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), and got in touch with the AMA which confirmed that the land was its property.

The AMA offered to lease the land to the plaintiff on agreed conditions, which the plaintiff accepted, and as part of the agreed conditions, the estate developer constructed a fully furnished two-storey office block for AMA to house its education unit at Tudu.

After complying with the demands of the AMA, the AMA granted the plaintiff a renewable 25-year lease of the land and also executed an indenture covering the land in favor of plaintiff to evidence the grant.

Immediately after the grant, the plaintiff entered into possession of the land and constructed a four-storey structure on a portion of the land for shops, leaving an adjoining portion undeveloped because there were temporary structures on it whose occupants required ample time to vacate.

In April 2023, the Korle Klottey Municipal Assembly (KoKMA) assumed jurisdiction over the land granted to the plaintiff by the AMA, whereas the MCE, Samuel James Nii Adjei Tawiah, and Mr. Baisie Emmanuel, the Coordinating Director called on the plaintiff and promised to regularise the previous grant of the land made by the AMA.

In a letter dated April 4, 2023, addressed to the plaintiff, KoKMA acting by the MCE, Samuel James Nii Adjei Tawiah approved the regularisation of the land allocated to the plaintiff by the AMA.

The plaintiff accepted the aforesaid regularisation offer by letter and proceeded to pay an amount of GH200,000 to the KoKMA as part payment of the agreed GH300,000 regularisation premium.

The plaintiff also issued a cheque of GH100,000 to KoKMA, being payment of the balance of the regularisation premium.

However, in October 2023, Mr. Jonathan Odartey Baddo, Director of the Base Estate Company, forcefully entered into a portion of the plaintiffs land along the Tudu to Accra Technical University (ATTU) Road, which is opposite the STC yard, and broke down the plaintiffs asbestos sheets fence and started digging a building foundation on the said land.

-DGN online
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Discipline is one of the most important traits in a person's life or a group. It refers to a set of rules and regulations which are to be followed while undergoing any task or activity. It is a trait that helps individuals and groups to complete tasks within a given fixed deadline. Life without discipline, they say, is like a ship without radar. Therefore, the importance of discipline in life, be it personal or for a group, cannot be overemphasized.

It is the reason I leapt for joy when the leadership of the Elephant fraternity did the needful and cracked the whip on the four miscreants who are now known as the 'Gang of Four'. 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, had their membership revoked for breaching the party's constitution as they were seen openly supporting Mr. Kyerematen, a former Osono presidential aspirant who had early on cut ties with the ruling party to form the 'Butterfly Movement', following his dismal performance at the Super Delegates Conference to elect the party's flag-bearer for the 2024 general elections.

The party's action was apt, as the four had obviously become bad nuts that needed to be separated from the good ones. Any objective observer could tell that the four had all along been engaging in divisive tendencies.

I'm sure you remember the ethnic diatribe from Hopeson, during the health walk in August, last year in Kumasi. In his warped analysis, he argued that Northern politicians in the great Elephant fraternity were only fit for the running mate slot, which attracted a lot of criticism within and outside the party. He later released a statement to clarify his comment. Ironically, the press statement ended up being worse as he extended his bigotry to the religious front. To put it mildly, his apology was an apology of an apology.

He continued on the same tangent throughout the campaign period. He spat fire and brimstone anytime opened his mouth, and one could easily tell that he was an angry man who had a case to grind with 'the powers that be'. It is therefore not surprising at all that he finally decided to betray the Elephant for the Butterfly.

Buabeng Asamoah was equally reckless in his utterances. He engaged in religious bigotry, not caring about the consequences of his actions. He was so reckless during the Osono primaries that, one was compelled to wonder if he cared for the unity of the party. He was also a peeved man who could not forgive the party leadership for stripping him off the position of Communication Director. It therefore came as no surprise that he too dumped the Elephant for the Butterfly.

Boniface was no different. He was a Minister at the Inner City and Zongo Development Ministry, and was subsequently reassigned to the Office of the Vice-President as Minister of State in Nana Dee's first term. After losing his parliamentary seat to Zu-za's Francis Xavier Sosu, and not given any position in the second term of the Nana Dee administration, he too became very peeved.

It was therefore understandable that he decided to go against the Vice-President in the Osono flag-bearership contest; his recklessness wasn't. It was obvious from his reckless commentaries that it was either his candidate, Chief Alan, or no one else. He even gloated publicly that he had family members in the Zu-za fraternity so he wouldn't go hungry if the Elephant went to opposition. His decision to fly with the Butterfly instead of riding on the Elephant is therefore not shocking at all.

As for Nana Ohene Ntow, the least said about him, the better. His mischief against Nana Dee did not start today. He has been engaged in disruptive tendencies for over a decade now. Search for 'Enough With The Nonsense From Nana Ohene Ntow' by one Rockson Adofo, published in Modern Ghana in 2014 and read more about his malice against Nana Dee.

Yes, he was once upon a time the General Secretary of the great Elephant. But it is no secret that he is one of the least liked folks in the party today. So someone should please tell him to lower his ego because he is not as important as he sees himself. Even, yours truly, a small fish in the Osono ocean, would beat him in any contest in the Osono fraternity because of his persona non grata status.

The party leadership needs to be commended for taking the bold and decisive step. The expulsion of the four bad nuts is good riddance to bad rubbish. History is only repeating itself and posterity shall judge the Stephen Ntim leadership kindly. We saw the difficulties the Freddie Blay leadership had to endure and how they took the bull by the horn for the party to win the 2016 elections. I have a hunch same will happen in the 2024 polls.

In the meantime, let's all bury our differences, pain and disappointment and rally behind the party leadership for the onward march towards 'breaking the 8'. For I shudder to imagine the resurrection of the Dead Goat!

See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente!
Routine health care that includes screenings, check-ups, and patient counseling to prevent illnesses, diseases, or other health problems is critical in preventing diseases.

In Ghana, a lot of health facilities pay critical attention to patients with primary, secondary and tertiary health challenges, hence pay little attention to regular check-ups or screening of members of the public who have no health disorders to detect early symptoms of possible disorders.

The President of the Adansi Development Association Henrietta Oppong believes that government has a role to play in supporting preventive healthcare to save more lives.

Speaking at the sidelines of a health screening exercise at Adansi Asokwa organised by the Adansi Development Association in partnership with Adansi Health Tourism, the Rotary Club of Accra Kanda and the Health Directorates of Adansi North and Adansi Asokwa Districts, Madam Oppong said the group is prepared to partner government in making sure people are aware of their health status through medical screening.

She said the Association as part of its health intervention programs dedicated the year 2023 to screening people of various ailments including blood pressure, diabetes, malaria, etc in all seven (7) paramoncies in Adansi. They also provided free medications for patients who were diagnosed with symptoms of different illnesses and dewormed children and adults who needed to be given dewormers.

"We started the screening exercise at Akrofuom and Akrokerri in May. This time around, we are doing it at Adansi Asokwa, Bodwesango, Ahinsan and Dompoase," she added.

The President of ADA said the rationale behind the health screening exercise was to bring quality healthcare services to the doorsteps of the people who hitherto do not go for checkups but only seek health care when they are sick.

The Founder of the Association, Fred Oppong believed that the Association which has more than 100 members is poised to contribute to the development of Adansi.

He said through the commitment of its members, the group has been able to achieve its purpose underlying its formation.

"We are committed to ensuring that we contribute to the development of the communities in Adansi. This year, we are focusing on the health needs of our people. Next year, we will concentrate on education," he stated.

Malaria tops OPD cases in Adansi Asokwa

The Director of Health Services at the Adansi Asokwa District David Kunta has revealed that Malaria tops OPD cases in the district, a situation he described as very worrying. He called on residents of the district to observe a clean environment to reduce the spread of the disease.

He commended the Adansi Development Association and partners for the health screening exercise adding that it contributes to enhancing preventive healthcare which is the best way to fight diseases.

Dr. Lois Patricia Laryea Cheataa-Laryea of Adansi Health Tourism, a subsidiary of Adansi Travels said her outfit was excited to be part of the free medical screening exercise since their objectives to help bridge the health gap in Adansi is in sync with that of the Adansi Development Association.

Participants who spoke with the media also advised people to pay attention to their health by regularly attending medical checkups. Afia Konadu and Ernestina Adu believed that the cost of attending health care is on the rise hence hindering people from accessing quality healthcare.

They called on government to make access to healthcare services less expensive to the aged.

The sponsors included Adansi Travels, Hentina Ltd, Sama Foundation, Kinapharma Ltd and members of the Adansi Development Association.
The NPP UK expresses its strongest condemnation of the disturbing and unacceptable acts of violence displayed at an assembly of NDC members and supporters.

Reports and evidence have shown that during this assembly, NDC supporters and members under the influence of provocative rhetoric, brandished machetes and were urged to show your weapons to the assembly. This blatant display of weapons and the fostering of a threatening environment are reprehensible and directly undermine the principles of peaceful assembly and democratic discourse.

This event took place not at a public rally but at the forecourt of the residence of the former president and current flagbearer of the NDC, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama.

It is alarming and deeply concerning that, till now, HE John Dramani Mahama has not publicly condemned this act of violence. This silence raises serious questions, particularly in light of his previous statement about the NDC's 'revolutionary roots' and his claim that 'nobody can beat the NDC when it comes to violence.' Such rhetoric is dangerously provocative and undermines the democratic principles and peace Ghana has worked hard to maintain.

In light of these events, the NPP UK urgently calls on all civil society organisations including all faith groups, which have remained quiet this far, to come forward and unequivocally condemn these acts of violence. It is a critical moment for civil society to stand up and voice their opposition to any form of violence in political processes, to safeguard the democratic integrity of our nation.

The NPP has always stood for and advocated peaceful, respectful, and constructive political debate. The aggressive and violent behavior demonstrated at the NDC assembly poses a significant threat to public safety and tarnishes the democratic fabric of our nation.

We demand that the leadership of the NDC, especially HE John Dramani Mahama, immediately denounce these actions and commit to ensuring their political activities are conducted in a manner that respects the rule of law, human dignity, and the safety of all Ghanaians.

The NPP UK also calls on all political parties and their supporters to denounce violence and commit to a peaceful and constructive political dialogue. As we move towards future elections, it is crucial for all parties to contribute to a peaceful and secure electoral environment.

Ghana's democracy and the safety of its citizens must be the paramount concern for all. It is time for responsible leadership and decisive action against any form of political violence.

Long live Ghana, long live NPP, and long live NPP UK.

Signed.

NPP UK Communication Directorate, NPP UK

[email protected]
27.11.2023 LISTEN

The Advocacy for Alleged Witches welcomes the collaboration between the foundations of Michelle Obama, Amal Clooney, and Melinda French Gates to end child marriage in Africa. These foundations have committed to ending this practice within a generation. This initiative, announced during their recent visit to Malawi and South Africa, demonstrates the urgency that such a harmful traditional and cultural practice demands. Child marriage is a sore on the conscience of humanity. It violates the health, rights, and well-being of women and girls. Culture, tradition, or religion should not be used to excuse or justify practices that undermine the humanity of women and girls. So it was a great relief to know that these influential women would be working together to combat this menace.

At the same time, AfAW wants to draw the attention of Obama, Clooney, and Gates to another practice that is undermining the rights of women in Africa: witch persecution. Witchcraft accusation is pervasive in Malawi and other parts of the region. Witchcraft accusation is a gendered phenomenon that predominantly targets women and girls. Those accused of witchcraft are tortured, banished, or murdered in cold blood. In Malawi and other parts of the region, accused women are raped, stoned to death, or lynched. Many accused women are banished and forced to live in make-shift shelters called witch camps in Ghana's Northern region. In Malawi and the Central African Republic, the accused are imprisoned, or flee to live in prisons to avoid being killed. Rooted in traditional and cultural beliefs, witch hunting is another vicious phenomenon which they said would not be eradicated.

This misperception should be rejected and discarded. This mistaken assumption has prevented international organizations including the UN from treating the problem of witch persecution with the urgency that it deserves. This misrepresentation has made the world ignore and look away while women and sometimes girls are accused, abused, abandoned, or savagely killed in the name of witchcraft. As in the case of child marriage, the Advocacy for Alleged Witches believes that witch persecution can end within a generation. The problem can be solved or resolved in a matter of years. AfAW is working and campaigning to rally national and international political will against witch hunting. That was why the organization announced in 2020 a decade of activism against witch persecution in Africa.

AfAW urges Obama, Clooney, and Gates to join efforts in stopping witch persecution of women and girls. They should know that the girls they are trying to save from being married away as children could end up being stoned to death or buried alive for witchcraft. Obama, Clooney, and Gates should include witch-hunting in their campaign because the practice is rooted in gender injustice and misogyny. The foundations should know that women are likely to suffer child marriages when they are young and witch persecution when they are growing old. So they should not focus on one and ignore the other. To effectively protect and defend the rights of women and girls, they should tackle both child marriage and witch-hunting . The foundations should commit to ending practices that violate the rights of women, whether they are young or old, children or adults.

Leo Igwe directs the Advocacy for Alleged Witches, which campaigns to end witch persecution in Africa by 2030
New Zealand lawmakers decided to restrict the sale of cigarettes to tobacconists and regulate the amount of nicotine in them, but the country's new right-wing government is scrapping the plans. Tax revenue from cigarette sales will let them balance the books on tax cuts elsewhere.

On Saturday, the new finance minister, Nicola Willis, said the measures will be axed before March 2024, with the revenue from cigarette sales going towards the coalition's tax cuts. National has had to find new ways to fund its tax plan, after its coalition partner, New Zealand First, rejected a proposal to let foreign buyers back into the property market.  But public health experts have expressed shock at the policy reversal, saying it could cost up to 5,000 lives a year, and be particularly detrimental to Maori, who have higher smoking rates. "This is major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry  whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives," said Prof Lisa Te Morenga, the chair of non-government industry group Health Coalition Aotearoa. Te Morenga highlighted recent modelling that showed the regulations would save $1.3bn in health system costs over the next 20 years, if fully implemented, and would reduce mortality rates by 22% for women, and 9% for men.

The obvious dynamic is that it makes a little money now and they don't really care if it costs more in the long term. It sounds from other reportage that the sort of people New Zealand voted into office would see unequal health outcomes as a bonus.
The Station Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) at the Upper West Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service, Chief Inspector Stella Niabi has said that education is the key to breaking the chains of poverty in the northern part of Ghana.

She was speaking in Wa over the weekend at a Girls Meetup, a quarterly meeting of young girls, facilitated by Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD Ghana) as part of the She Leads program it implements, with support from Plan International Ghana, in the Upper West Region.

Addressing the topic of sexual harassment, Chief Inspector Niabi advised the young girls to be confident and never succumb to young men and boys.

She told the girls that it was only education which could take them far in life to achieve their dreams and become responsible people in society.

She added that the girls should not mince words in telling boys and men who make advances at them that their place is the classrooms and not the bedrooms of men."

"Because for us in Northern Ghana, Upper West Region, to break that poverty cycle, it would be the education of the girls for a sustainable development," she said.

Chief Inspector Niabi further admonished the girls to look out for such luring triggers as men regularly sending them and offering them unsolicited gifts, complimenting them needlessly, among others in order to stay safe.

The She Leads Project Coordinator and Acting Executive Director of CARD Ghana, Ms. Ernestina Biney said the purpose of the Meetup was to sensitize the young girls to sexual harassment and to help them to develop confidence and assertiveness in dealing with issues of harassment.

She urged the girls to be open-minded and feel free to report any issues of sexual abuse that they encounter in their communities and schools.

She noted that the Meetup also coincided with the commencement of the 16 Days of Activism which marked a period of advocacy against sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and urged the girls to be active part of the campaign.

Ms. Biney hinted that CARD Ghana would engage in capacity building activities to strengthen the Girls and Young Women (GYW) networks it was working with to stem up their advocacy to meet the desired milestones and also to sustain the groups beyond the project duration.

Some of the girls who participated in the session expressed their views and their take-home messages in an interview with Info Radio.

And what I learnt again is to stay away from men and boys just for me to get a better future. I want to become a journalist, so if I dont stay away from boys and bad friends now, I wouldnt be getting to achieve my dreams and future.

I will tell them [friends] to stay away from men and bad friends and the bad advice that theyve been giving to them. Some people always sleep with men because of 10 pesewas chewing gum and some of them, 2 cedis, so I would like to advise them to stay from the men and bad friends, a participant, Rahima Yahaya said.
Chief Inspector Stella Niabi, the Station Officer of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) at the Upper West Regional Command of the Ghana Police Service has advised the general public to stop covering up issues of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV) so as to make the society a better place to live in.

She said the lives of many people and the sanity of society were at risk when perpetrators of crime were concealed.

Chief Inspector Niabi made this call at the sidelines of a Girls Meetup, a quarterly meeting of young girls, facilitated by Community Aid for Rural Development (CARD Ghana) as part of its She Leads campaign over the weekend in Wa, Upper West Region.

She advised the public against the "Tigyaabunyeni" mantra which literary means "we are all one" and usually comes up among the people of the Upper West Region when crimes are at stake, to ask for pardon for perpetrators.

She encouraged the people to take after the example of the famous "Anaata vs the Republic" case in which some members of the community actively took up and followed the matter to its conclusion.

Meanwhile, Chief Inspector Niabi said there have been series of reports by the public following the "Anaata vs the Republic" case which she said, was commendable.

She, therefore, encouraged the public to continue to report any such cases to the police for investigations and redress.

Giving a message of solidarity at the commencement of the 16 Days of Activism, Chief Inspector Niabi said the advocacy for women's rights was not a competition of the sexes, between men and women, but a call for equal opportunities for women and girls to function well in society.

She said men should not see women as competitors but partners in complementing each other's roles to make society a much better place.

Meanwhile, the Girls Meetup, according to the She Leads Project Coordinator and Acting Executive Director of CARD Ghana, Ms. Ernestina Biney, was to sensitize the young girls to sexual harassment and to help them develop confidence and assertiveness in dealing with issues of harassment.

One of the girls who participated in the session, Rahima Yahaya said: And what I learnt again is to stay away from men and boys just for me to get a better future. I want to become a journalist, so if I dont stay away from boys and bad friends now, I wouldnt be getting to achieve my dreams and future.

I will tell them [friends] to stay away from men and bad friends and the bad advice that theyve been giving to them. Some people always sleep with men because of 10 pesewas chewing gum and some of them, 2 cedis, so I would like to advise them to stay from the men and bad friends.

The She Leads campaign, aimed at increasing the sustained influence of girls and young women on decision-making and the transformation of gender norms, is implemented in the Upper West Region by CARD Ghana with support from Plan International Ghana.
Member of Parliament for Akrofuom constituency in the Ashanti Region Hon. Alex Blankson has donated 19 brand new sewing machines and a cash amount of Ghs19,000 to support graduands at the third graduation ceremony of the Ghana National Tailors and Dressmakers Association( GNTDA) in Akrofuom.

The MP since the inception of the graduation ceremony few years ago, has donated over Gh43,800 and 49 sewing machines to apprentices who graduated from GNTDA in Akrofuom.

Speaking at the short ceremony, the MP hinted at sponsoring 100 youth from January 2024 to engage in various vocational skills and urged the Association to make good use of the machines since they form part of his apprenticeship programme aimed at helping the youth in his constituency to learn skills and improve their lives.

The District Chief Executive of Akrofuom, Hon Dr. Maurice Jonas Woode expressed worry about the unwillingness of the young males in the district to enter into vocational works. He said the benefits of learning trade are enormous as it provides an opportunity for them to be economically independent and self-employed.

The beneficiaries of the MP's support program commended him for the initiative. They reveal that the program has enabled them set up their own businesses.

The well-attended program had Nananom, Clergymen, Assembly Members, the aged and the youth as well as leaders across the various political divides of the district in attendance.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Stephen Yakubu, has expressed concerns about the potential social implications of the proposed 24-hour economy proposal by former President John Dramani Mahama.

Minister Yakubu voiced apprehension that the initiative could lead to strained relationships as individuals, particularly farmers, may find it challenging to spend quality time with their spouses at night.

Delivering a speech on behalf of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia at the 2023 Sekote Tenglebgre Festival by the Chiefs and People of Sekoti in the Nabdam District, Minister Yakubu addressed the potential impact of a 24-hour economy on families, relationships and social life.

The vice president is saying that he understands the region. He says this 24-hour economy, my brothers; when we work in our farms and we are tired, we have to sleep with our wives.

We have to be with our wives. In the night you want us to go and be farming, and then people will come and take our wives away? Naa, chairman, we have to be careful with this 24-hour thing, cautioned Minister Yakubu.

The fear is that the proposed extended working hours could impact families, relationships and social life with the possibility of individuals having less time to spend with their love ones.
The Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company (BOST) has denied reports that it is responsible for importing manganese-laden gasoline into Ghana under the controversial 'Gold for Oil' policy.

This comes in response to reports that vehicles across the country are experiencing performance issues linked to elevated levels of manganese in fuel.

This has garnered reactions from some sections of the public who are of the belief that the current high manganese content in gasoline is a result of the oil deal, in which Ghana imported fuel from Russia, which wasnt so at first.

"So, in summary, #Gold4Oil has government buying fuel from Russia. Russia fuel has a high manganese content of 18 g/l, which is causing various problems to your cars. So yes, you will buy cheaper fuel, but you will use more than your saved cash to do repairs," media practitioner Edem Kojo of Accra-based GHOne TV noted via X.

Bright Simons, Vice President of Policy Think Tank IMANI Africa, observed, "Ghana's gasoline/petrol and diesel regulator, NPA, says fuels being imported into Ghana nowadays have too much manganese. But they don't say what has changed. Historically, Ghana imported most of its fuels from markets that ban or heavily limit manganese. Then "Gold 4 Oil" came."

Prior to the blame on social media, the National Petroleum Authority acknowledged complaints from motorists about reduced engine performance and identified higher manganese content as the cause.

In reaction on Monday, November 27, BOST said "We wish to state unequivocally that, we have not imported any product under the policy which is off the specifications per the regulations of the NPA and the product specifications of the GSA."

BOST, which handles fuel imports under the 'Gold for Oil' deal, added that "None of our 23 cargoes [imported] has failed the quality test as carried out by the GSA."

The company urged the public to "disregard the claims of our detractors regarding the importation of manganese-laden fuel."

It maintained that it will continue importing fuel "from safe sources without compromising on quality standards."

BOST maintains the 'Gold for Oil' policy is helping stabilize fuel prices and reduce demand for dollars despite criticism that it has brought higher manganese gasoline into Ghana.
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has condemned reported disturbances in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown and reiterated its commitment to supporting stability in the country.

In a statement issued on November 26, ECOWAS expressed "utter disgust" at an alleged "plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order" in Sierra Leone.

ECOWAS called for the arrest and prosecution of all those involved in the "illegal act".

The regional bloc underscored its "zero-tolerance for unconstitutional change of Government."

The statement comes amid reports of a foiled coup attempt in Sierra Leone last week, which prompted authorities to impose a curfew in Freetown.

"ECOWAS condemns this act and calls for the arrest and prosecution of all participants in this illegal act."

The regional body pledged to support "the government and people of Sierra Leone to deepen democracy and good governance, consolidate peace and security as well as foster socio-economic development."
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Former President, John Dramani Mahama has lambasted the government of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and his Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, accusing the duo of refusing to listen to wise counsel and leading Ghana into a ditch.

In a post on Facebook on Monday, November 27, he said the current government led by President Akufo-Addo has been characterised by a display of arrogance and broad daylight corruption.

According to the flagbearer of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), this is why nothing is working in the country with the economy on its knees.

I can tell you here and now that the government of Nana Akufo-Addo and Bawumia has reached "DZE-NU-NYE-KPO-DZI".

They refused to listen to wise counsel and have, by their actions and inactions, plunged this promising nation into a long, dark ditch. Today, we all can attest to the fact that nothing is working for anybody, John Dramani Mahama said in his post.

The former president continued, Cost of living has become very unbearable; businesses are collapsing, and the unemployment rate has gone up.

The naked display of arrogance, and power, broad daylight corruption among others remains their stock-in-trade.

These thoughts were also echoed by John Dramani Mahama when he delivered an address at the Sometutuza festival in Agbozume in Ketu Municipal District in the Volta Region over the weekend.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has warned that the countrys security agencies would deal ruthlessly with any riot and security disruption before, during after the 2024 general elections.

The President has also condemned the actions of some Ghanaians who were seen in a viral video brandishing machetes around the office building of the NDC Presidential Candidate, John Dramani Mahama, after a purported cleanup exercise on Thursday, 23 November 2023.

Addressing the Victory Congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Adentan Fafraha in Accra at the valedictory church service for the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Rt. Reverend Professor Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante, President Akufo-Addo said the actions of those in the viral video would not have a place before, during, or after the December 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.

President Akufo-Addo assured Ghanaians that the government was working to restore economic growth and stability which was affected by Covid-19 and further exacerbated by the Russian  Ukraine war.

The President commended the outgoing Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, Rt Rev. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante for his meritorious service to the church, God and to country.

He wished him a fruitful retirement and also wished the incoming moderator, Rev Abraham Nana Opare Kwakye, a successful tenure of office as the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.

Rev. Joseph Obiri Yeboah Mante is a Ghanaian theologian and Presbyterian minister who served as the 18th Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana, equivalent to the chief executive officer or managing director of the national church organisation.

In his valedictory sermon, Rev Mante called on Ghanaians to love each other, love their country Ghana and pray for its prosperity instead of running the nation down with their words. He also called for global peace, particularly in Gaza, Israel, Russia and Ukraine.
The youth wing of the opposition National Democratic Congress in the Greater Accra Region has "respectfully" inquired from President Nana Akufo-Addo whether he was "expecting us to use bread knife from Mrs Akufo-Addos kitchen for the clean-up exercise" they recently undertook at former President John Mahama's residence in Accra instead of the machetes they were seen brandishing, which the president has condemned.

"If that was the case, what stopped him from sending any of his wandering elephant-size presidential staffers to make them available to us?" a statement signed by Amorse Amos Blessing, Regional Youth Organiser, said.

It was a clapback to the Presidents remarks that: "It is my honest hope that the machetes and weapons brandished last week at the residence of the NDCs presidential candidate, the former President John Mahama, are not signs of things to come in the run-up to the 2024 elections elections".

The president then warned: If it is, I can assure them that they will find no success with them".

"I want to state for the record that under my watch, no person or group of persons no matter their political colouration, will destabilise our country nor destroy the peace that all of us are enjoying", he noted, stressing: "It will not happen".

However, the NDC says: "If there was, and still is any Ghanaian who poses a threat to our democracy ahead of the 2024 election, it is President Akufo-Addo himself".

They said under President Akufo-Addo, eight Ghanaians were killed by "state-sponsored brigands" who are "gleefully walking the streets" because they are part of the "militants" the president said were on the NPP's side when his party was in opposition.

They added that the presidents "belligerent posturing emboldened thugs to attack ASP Nanka Bruce at the Jubilee House without a word from him".

The NDC youth are of the view that the president has demonstrated, through his actions, that he is "enmeshed in hooliganism" himself.

They warned: "This time round, nobody would fold his arms and call on civil and moral society to condemn President Akufo-Addo and his trigger-happy thugs when they strike, kill and maim NDC members. In the 2024 elections, if the NPP comes with peace, we shall embrace them with peace. However, if they come the other way round, we will meet them squarely".

-classfmonline
The Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin at the weekend affirmed his conviction to remain resolute and stand against LGBTQI+ in the country.

These days they are fighting and killing each other because of that, and they are struggling in their country.

They know that it is not right, and they know that it has nothing to do with human right because we are not talking about gender, we are talking about sexuality, Mr Bagbin stated this when he addressed a colourful durbar of chiefs and people of Suma-Ahenkro to climax the 2023 Suma Royal Retreat at Suma-Ahenko.

The weeklong celebration was on theme if the son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed, a theme picked from the Holy Scriptures, the celebration brought together Suma-Ahenko natives and royals, both home and abroad to plan for the development of the town and to strengthen family ties.

Mr Bagbin stressed that it is rivalry, you are either a man or a woman and that is what God created you, and God knew why he did not leave Adam alone but created Eve.

In America, I am sure you heard the difference between President Biden and former Trump. The former President Trump is strongly against LGBTQI+ and President Biden and his people are for it.

Every day they are struggling in the United States, some states have passed laws prohibiting it, others have accepted it. But we in Ghana say capital no.

I am the Speaker of the Parliament of Ghana and represent the good people of Ghana and do not represent the Americans or the British.

We don't dictate to them what to do and they can't dictate to us what to do, the Speaker of Parliament indicated, a statement which received tumultuous applause from the excited crowd.

Odeneho Dr Afram Brempong III, the Paramount Chief of Suma Traditional Area, described LGBTQ+ and related sexual perversions as alien to the nation's culture and expressed the hope that the Speaker and parliament would remain resolute in standing against the practice.

GNA
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reports that it's received 52 reports of children who fell sick after eating lead-tainted fruit snacks. The cinnamon and apple-flavor pouches responsible are sold under several brands, including WanaBana, Schnucks and Weis, and were sold at Dollar Tree, Amazon and elsewhere: "This product should not be available for sale and consumers should not purchase or consume this product," the agency said.

The FDA said Wednesday it is investigating the source of the contamination in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The agency previously said cinnamon imported from a manufacturer in Ecuador was the "likely source" of the lead contamination.

Lead exposure can lead to serious learning and behavior problems. Heavy metals like lead can get into food products from soil, air, water or industrial processes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.
President Akufo-Addo's Lawyer Kow[left] and former President John Dramani Mahama

27.11.2023 LISTEN

President Nana Akufo-Addo's Legal Counsel Kow Essuman has accused former President John Mahama of endorsing political violence.

In comments posted on X today, Monday, November 27, Mr. Essuman slammed Mr. Mahama for his failure to condemn a group of NDC youth who were seen brandishing matchets in front of his office last week.

The youth had vowed to counter a planned protest by members of the pro-government #FixingTheCountry movement at the ex-president's residence over the Airbus bribery scandal.

"Instead of condemning such acts of threats and violence on his premises, Mr. Mahama encouraged them," said Mr. Essuman.

"One can only imagine if the protesters had gone ahead despite the threats of violence. Who is going to be employed when young people end up butchering themselves?" he further queried.

Mr. Essuman was referring to Mr. Mahama's campaign promise of creating a 24-hour economy to provide jobs.

But the Presidents lawyer questioned how the ex-President could generate employment "in an environment of violence that cows protesters from exercising their rights."

According to him, the planned protest aimed to push investigations into an Airbus bribery scandal that allegedly implicates Mr. Mahama.

"Until the investigation is concluded, these allegations will continue to hang over Mr. Mahamas head," said Mr. Essuman.

He called on Mr. Mahama to "condemn in no uncertain terms, the threats of violence" and asked if this was "the enabling environment" the ex-President wanted for jobs and investment.
Some New Patriotic Party members in the Ashanti Region have called on the Assin Central Member of Parliament, Kennedy Agyapong, to reject any offer to become the running mate to Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the partys flagbearer for the 2024 elections.

The individuals made up of members of the volunteer groups who campaigned for Kennedy Ohene Agyapong during the NPPs presidential primaries, allege bias in favour of the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia.

The groups maintain that the Assin Central MP is the best person to lead the country and want him to consider opting as an Independent candidate for the 2024 presidential elections.

The leadership of the groups says it has petitioned Kennedy Agyapong and will also have a series of engagements until concerns contained in the petition are addressed.

Chairman of the Volunteer groups, Gabriel Amankwaah, addressed a news conference in Kumasi.

Ken Agaypong, we are here today to urge you never to join them on any campaign platform because you are the only person that the success of this country lies in your hands. And we believe that Insha Allah, you will be the next president of this country. We, the volunteer groups, toured all these regions for you because we bought into your message and ideology as Ghanaians and not only as NPP members.
Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson

27.11.2023 LISTEN

Homosexuality should not be a criminal offence and people should be helped to understand the issue better, Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson told the BBC.

Cardinal Turksons comments come as Ghanas parliament discusses a bill imposing harsh penalties on LGBT people.

His views are at odds with Roman Catholic bishops in Ghana, who say homosexuality is despicable.

Last month, Pope Francis suggested he would be open to having the Catholic Church bless same-sex couples.

He added, however, that the Church still considered same-sex relationships objectively sinful and would not recognise same-sex marriage.

In July, Ghanaian MPs backed measures in a proposed bill, which has still not completed its passage through parliament, that would make identifying as LGBT punishable with a three-year prison sentence. People who campaign for LGBT rights could also face up to 10 years in jail.

Gay sex is already against the law and carries a three-year prison sentence.

In their statement in August, along with other leading Christian groups in the country, the Ghanaian bishops also said that Western countries should stop the incessant attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us, the Catholic Herald newspaper reported.

Cardinal Turkson, who has at times been regarded as a future candidate to become pope, told the BBCs HARDtalk programme that LGBT people may not be criminalised because theyve committed no crime.

Its time to begin education, to help people understand what this reality, this phenomenon is. We need a lot of education to get people to make a distinction between what is crime and what is not,  he said.

The cardinal referred to the fact that in one of Ghanas languages, Akan, there is an expression men who act like women and women who act like men. He argued that this was an indication that homosexuality was not an imposition from outside.

If culturally we had expressionsit just means that its not completely alien to the Ghanaian society.

Nevertheless, Cardinal Turkson said he thought that what had led to the current efforts to pass strict anti-gay measures in several African countries were attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights.

Neither should this position also become something to be imposed on cultures which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.

In May, Ugandas parliament approved a law that proposes life imprisonment for anyone convicted of homosexuality, and the death penalty for so-called aggravated cases, which include having gay sex with someone below the age of 18 or where someone becomes infected with a life-long illness such as HIV.

In August, the World Bank halted new loans to Uganda because of the measure and in October President Joe Biden said the US would be removing the country from a preferential trading arrangement because of gross violations of internationally recognised human rights.

Cardinal Turkson became the first-ever Ghanaian cardinal in 2003 when he was appointed by Pope John Paul II. He is now chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences.

-Citi Newsroom
The Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) has rejected a ruling by the High Court quashing adverse findings the anti-graft body found against two individuals in the Labianca caseColonel Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division.

The Court concluded that, the OSP is not a court of competent jurisdiction or a Commission of Enquiry to make adverse findings.

The court also prohibited the OSP from further investigating Col. Damoah (Rtd) and Joseph Adu-Kyei in respect of the adverse findings.

It also awarded a GHc10,000 cost against the OSP. However, reacting to the ruling, the OSP insisted that it did not constitute itself into a court or a Commission of Enquiry.

The OSP further said the decision of the court is extremely inimical to the fight against corruption, insisting that it will not permit the decision to stand.

The OSP rejects the decision of the court in its entirety. In arriving at the findings of the matter, the OSP did not constitute itself into a court or a Commission of Enquiry. The findings were based on investigations carried out by the OSP and the OSP is mandated by law to publish detected acts of corruption and its publication of the investigation report is in accordance with its statutory mandate.

Further, the decision of the court is extremely inimical to the fight against corruption and the administration of justice for a court to prohibit investigations. The OSP will not permit this decision to stand.

The OSP's report had accused Colonel Kwadwo Damoah, a former Commissioner of the Customs Division at the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), and Joseph Adu Kyei, a former Deputy Commissioner of the Division, of wrongdoing in the case.

The report alleged that the two officials had used their positions to grant favourable tax treatment to Labianca Company, a frozen foods company owned by Council of State member Eunice Jacqueline Buah Asomah-Hinneh.

Damoah and Kyei sued the OSP in November 2022, arguing that the report was without merit and had damaged their reputations.

Read the statement by the OSP below

Case update Republic V The Office of the Special Prosecutor. Ex parte Col. Kwadwo Damoah/Joseph Adu-Kyei An Accra High Court on 27 November 2023 quashed adverse findings in the report of the OSP on 3 August 2022 against Col. Damoah (Rtd) and Joseph Adu-Kyei.

The Court concluded that, the OSP is not a court of competent jurisdiction or a Commission of Enquiry to make adverse findings. The court also prohibited the OSP from further investigating Col. Damoah (Rtd) and Joseph Adu-Kyei in respect of the adverse findings.

The OSP rejects the decision of the court in its entirety. In arriving at the findings of the matter, the OSP did not constitute itself into a court or a Commission of Enquiry. The findings were based on investigations carried out by the OSP and the OSP is mandated by law to publish detected acts of corruption and its publication of the investigation report is in accordance with its statutory mandate.

Further, the decision of the court is extremely inimical to the fight against corruption and the administration of justice for a court to prohibit investigations.

The OSP will not permit this decision to stand.

-citinewsroom
Visualize a modern highway active with trade, not just spanning a single nation but stretching and winding across continents, over rugged mountains, through cities, and across oceans. This is perhaps the most straightforward illustration to describe the vision of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a grand strategy unveiled by the Chinese government in 2013 to boost infrastructure and trade links from China to Europe and Africa.

The BRI Concept

The Belt relates to the ancient Silk Road, where caravans once carried silk, spices, and ideas across vast landscapes. Its a reboot of those legendary routes, now envisioned as modern highways, railways, and trade corridors to connect the markets of Asia and Europe over land. Now, switch the scene to bustling ports where ships are loaded with goods ready to sail across seas.

This is the essence of the Road part of the BRI, which is a maritime journey connecting Chinas coastal regions with Africa and the Mediterranean through a network of sea routes. Its about creating a modern maritime Silk Road where ships, instead of ancient caravans, carry goods, fostering trade and mutual understanding among nations. Together, the Belt and the Road are not just pathways for goods but bridges for cultural and economic exchange aimed at creating a more interconnected world. Through this initiative, trade, exploration, and shared prosperity are getting a modern makeover, promising to rekindle the essence of the ancient Silk Road in todays globalized world.

As of August 2023, the BRI has magnetized the allegiance of 155 nations, embodying nearly 75% of the global populace and more than half of its GDP. The initiative has catalyzed nearly $1 trillion in investments, triggered 3,000+ collaborative ventures, and engendered over 420,000 jobs worldwide. Africa, burgeoning with potential and infrastructural requisites, is pivotal in this grand narrative.

Historical Imprints

The voyage through history unveils a rich narrative of potential juxtaposed with challenges in Africas infrastructure and economic development landscape. Despite abundant resources and youthful exuberance, the continent has navigated the tumultuous torrents of infrastructural deficits, which have invariably shackled its economic growth pace. Even before the dawn of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), the seeds of the China-Africa friendship had already been sown, with its roots reaching back to the epoch following the Chinese civil discord in 1947. The African continent emerged as a pivotal arena in Chinas foreign policy tapestry thereafter. The era of African independence during the late 1950s and early 1960s witnessed a blossoming of Sino-Africa interactions as the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) ardently embraced the opportunity to deepen its engagement with the continent. The narrative is even more spellbinding as Chinese emissaries, notably helmed by Zheng He, embarked on nautical voyages to the African shores. The Sino-Africa liaison has since transmuted from nascent trade and political affiliations to a more nuanced and strategic alliance, underscored by the advent of the BRI.

This initiative has rekindled a focus and broadened the vistas of cooperation, enveloping infrastructure development, economic coalitions, and a shared aspiration for a synergistic rapport.

Project Panorama

The BRI echoes a shared vision of enhancing regional connectivity as the projects unfurl across various African countries. Central to this is Nigeria, nestled in the heart of West Africa, witnessing many BRI projects. The AbujaKaduna Standard Gauge Railway, Phase II of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit, a fresh terminus at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, the LagosIbadan SGR, and the Port Harcourt International Airport all epitomize the essence of the BRI in fostering infrastructural amplification. Not to be overshadowed, Kenya also stands as a testament to Chinas commitment to buttressing Africas infrastructural tableau with the construction of about 100,000 kilometers of roads, more than 10,000 km of railways, and numerous ports, hospitals, and schools.

The influence traverses northward to Algeria where the Cherchell Ring Expressway and Port project, a part Chinese funded endeavor, is linking the Mediterranean with the African interior, extending the Bou-Ismail-Cherchell 48km Expressway with a main line of about 18.3 kilometers.

BRIs engagement also weaves into the fabric of sustainable development in Africa. In particular, Chinese enterprises are accelerating the process of green development under the framework of the BRI centered on green energy projects, especially energy infrastructure, that will be carried out in the form of clean energy - wind, hydro, and solar power. Peering into the horizon, potential future engagements can be envisaged in six project types: manufacturing in new technologies (e.g., batteries), renewable energy, trade-enabling infrastructure (including pipelines, roads), ICT (e.g., data centers), resource-backed deals (e.g., mining, oil, gas), high visibility or strategic projects (e.g., railway).

These projects are anticipated to further amplify the global resonance of the BRI, thereby continuing to shape the infrastructural and economic reliefs of the African continent in synergy with the indigenous developmental aspirations.

Stylized Facts

The path of economic growth under the aegis of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) sketches a compelling narrative. Research has shown that the envisioned BRI transportation network, coupled with the uptick in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), augments the GDP growth of BRI-affiliated countries by a notable 0.09 percentage point. This economic buoyancy, albeit varying across regions, highlights a remarkable 0.23 percentage point surge in Sub-Saharan Africa, juxtaposed to a modest 0.01 percentage point in the Middle East and North Africa.

The discourse on FDI unfolds a significant chapter in the BRI narrative. Over recent decades, a discernible ascent in FDI inflows into BRI economies has been observed, with a substantial impetus emanating from the East Asia Pacific and China emerging as a formidable contributor, accounting for 20% of the total FDI inflows. The landscape of FDI burgeoned, reaching an apex of $83 billion in Africa in 2021, a dramatic escalation from the preceding year, as per UNCTADs World Investment Report 2022.

Concurrently, the bilateral trade milieu between African nations and China has burgeoned, registering a record $282 billion. The BRI, envisaged as a long-term economic and political stratagem, endeavors to catalyze economic vibrancy within China and emerging nations and extend Chinas global resonance.

Labor Landscape

On the employment and skills front, the initiative emerges as a fulcrum for employment genesis and skill augmentation across the African continent. The Mombasa-Nairobi Railway construction, a quintessential BRI project, exemplifies this by engendering myriad employment avenues for the local denizens.

Moreover, the confluence between Chinese enterprises and local contractors multiplies skill development, orchestrating a conduit for the transfer of technical acumen and operational prowess. This synergy propels human capital development and also augments workforce competency and productivity.

The extensive project portfolio of the initiative in Africa, encapsulating sectors from transport to hydropower, transcends infrastructural development, and addresses the formidable challenge of unemployment, thus heralding a paradigm of sustainable growth and economic fortitude.

Framing the Future

As the curtain of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) continues to unveil across the African expanse, the narrative of Africas economic landscape is steadily being rewritten. The road ahead beckons African nations to foster a framework of transparent, inclusive, and sustainable BRI engagements.

Embracing a multi-dimensional approachencompassing infrastructural, technological, and human capital developmentis pivotal. Moreover, adopting robust regulatory frameworks, enhancing local participation, and nurturing innovation can amplify the BRIs impact significantly.

The synergy between BRI and Africas developmental aspirations harbors the potential to catalyze economic growth and script a fresh epoch of shared prosperity and enduring collaboration. In every stroke of this grand narrative, the answer to Who is Helping Africas Development Ascent? becomes vivid - it is a collective endeavor, with the BRI playing a crucial role in this epic tale of transformation.

Dr. Isaac Ankrah

Senior Research Fellow, Africa-China Centre for Policy and Advisory

Lecturer, Ghana Communication Technology University.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Ghana's real estate market has been experiencing notable shifts and developments in recent years, driven by a combination of economic growth, urbanization, and evolving consumer preferences. As the nation continues to attract both domestic and foreign investment, several emerging trends are reshaping the landscape of the real estate sector.

Increased Demand for Affordable Housing

One of the most prominent trends in Ghana's real estate market is the growing demand for affordable housing. With a rising population and increasing urbanization, there is a pressing need for housing solutions that are both cost-effective and meet quality standards. Real estate developers are responding by focusing on projects that cater to the middle and lower-income segments, incorporating innovative designs and construction techniques to keep costs down.

Rise of Mixed-Use Developments

Mixed-use developments are gaining popularity as developers seek to create sustainable and integrated communities. These projects combine residential, commercial, and sometimes industrial spaces in a single development, providing residents with convenient access to amenities such as retail outlets, offices, and recreational areas. This trend reflects a shift towards more holistic urban planning and a desire for well-rounded living environments.

Technology Integration in Real Estate

The adoption of technology is transforming various aspects of the real estate sector in Ghana. From digital property listings and virtual property tours to online mortgage applications, technology is streamlining processes and making real estate transactions more accessible. Additionally, smart home technologies are becoming increasingly common, enhancing the appeal of properties through features like home automation, energy efficiency, and advanced security systems.

Focus on Sustainable and Green Building Practices

Sustainability is a key consideration in modern real estate developments. Developers are incorporating green building practices, such as energy-efficient designs, waste reduction, and the use of renewable materials. This trend aligns with global efforts to address climate change and is driven by both consumer demand for eco-friendly living spaces and regulatory incentives promoting sustainable construction.

Expansion of the Mortgage Market

The mortgage market in Ghana is expanding, providing more accessible financing options for prospective homebuyers. Financial institutions are offering a variety of mortgage products, and government initiatives are aimed at making homeownership more achievable for a larger segment of the population. This is contributing to increased homeownership rates and a more dynamic real estate market.

Tourism-Driven Real Estate Growth

Ghana's growing reputation as a tourist destination is influencing the real estate market, particularly in coastal areas and historic sites. The demand for vacation homes, resorts, and Airbnb-style accommodations is on the rise as tourists and investors seek opportunities in the hospitality sector. This trend is contributing to the diversification of real estate offerings in the country.

Government Initiatives and Policy Reforms

The Ghanaian government has been actively involved in promoting sustainable growth in the real estate sector. Policy reforms and initiatives aimed at reducing bureaucracy, improving land registration processes, and enhancing transparency are positively impacting the market. These efforts create a more conducive environment for both local and foreign investors.

Ghana's real estate market is evolving in response to demographic shifts, economic growth, and changing consumer preferences.

The trends mentioned above indicate a dynamic and resilient sector that is adapting to meet the diverse needs of its population.

As the country continues to develop, these trends are likely to shape the future of Ghana's real estate market, providing opportunities for investors, developers, and homebuyers alike.

The writer, Joycelyn Kyei-Baffuor is a copy editor, real estate content specialist, and journalist.
27.11.2023 LISTEN

The New Patriotic Party (NPP) branch in Germany claims the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has become a comic relief to Ghanaians.

In the statement, it accused NDC flagbearer John Dramani Mahama of engaging in reckless politics of lies and deceit in his quest to become president of Ghana again.

NPP Germany is the least baffled when it comes to the in-swinging and reckless politics of lies and deceit by former President John Mahama.

It is sad that the NDC allies and John Mahama have become comic reliefs to Ghanaians since they keep making huge public mockery of themselves, the NPP release signed by Communications Director Nana Osei Boateng said.

This comes after the former President stated that Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) was working and making profits during their time.

According to NPP Germany, this is just political desperation from the former President in his bid to win power again.

The group wants Ghanaians to ignore the statement by John Dramani Mahama and vote for Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia in the 2024 General Elections to become the next president of Ghana.

Below is a copy of the release from NPP Germany:

NPP GERMANY

PRESS RELEASE

27---11---2023

Ahead Of 2024 Elections: John Mahama Still Trading Lies, Deceit, Incomprehensible Propaganda

In the turbulent landscape of modern politics, a pervasive sense of desperation has taken root, shaping the rhetoric and actions of political players.

Whether it's the scramble for power in democracies or the consolidation of authority in autocratic regimes, a common thread emerges  the lengths to which politicians are willing to go when confronted with political fragility.

Moreover, the impact of this desperation on the public psyche cannot be overstated.

As citizens witness the erosion of political norms, trust in institutions wanes, giving rise to a cycle of disillusionment.

NPP Germany is the least baffled when it comes to the in-swinging and reckless politics of lies and deceit by the Former President John Mahama.

It is sad that the NDC allies and John Mahama have become comic relief to Ghanaians since they keep making huge public mockery of themselves.

Joy News Fact Checks have exposed John Mahama and the NDC over claims they emphatically made that Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) was working and making profits during their time.

See the referenced news article here:

https://www.myjoyonline.com/fact-check-did-bost-make-profit-during-mahamas-administration/?utm_source=vuukle&utm_medium=talk_of_town

According to the former president, BOST was working and making profit under his administration.

Joy News Fact Checks proved otherwise contrary to the lies and deceit activated in full swing by John Mahama.

It has been affirmed from recent twists of events that John Mahama is struggling with his already stained, irreparable credibility crisis.

John Mahama has refused to accept that his unprecedented waning credibility each and every day, has hindered his electoral fortunes in the long-term and same story awaits us in the 2024 General Elections where the NDC will see defeat again with Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia comfortably leading the NPP as the leader and Flagbearer.

John Mahama has refused to focus on a well-thought-out strategy that aligns with his values and resonates with voters.

Political desperation can arise when politicians feel a strong need to win or maintain power, often leading them to engage in unethical or desperate tactics, so we understand John Mahama and where the NDC is coming from.

It can manifest in various ways, such as spreading false information, engaging in smear campaigns, or resorting to vile propaganda.

Political desperation can be driven by factors such as intense competition, fear of losing influence or control, or a desire to fulfill personal or party agendas which John Mahama is truly guilty of such tactics, stock and trade.

In elections, propaganda temptations can arise as political actors may be tempted to manipulate information to influence public opinion.

This is exactly what John Mahama and the NDC are up to.

John Mahama has been involved in exaggeration, misinformation, or framing issues in a way that negatively benefits his party NDC.

In the wake of all these, NPP Germany would like to assure John Mahama and the NDC that the blind days of political games are over.

This is because Ghanaian voters these days critically evaluate information and seek diverse sources to make informed decisions in electioneering seasons.

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
November 25 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. Each year women and other gender activists gather to create awareness on the unique challenges of women and advocate for what they really want. The day is often marked with 16 days of activism against gender-based violence.

The Advocacy and Communications Department of the Street Children Empowerment Foundation (SCEF) in partnership with the Greater Accra Paralegal group (2023) organized a training for some adolescents in Jamestown to mark the Orange Day, under the theme Acting Together to End Gender-based Violence.

The UN defines violence against women as, any act of violence that results in or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion, or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life. Gender-based violence takes many forms- physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological. Examples include but are not limited to rape, female genital mutilation, femicide, forced and early marriage, and sex trafficking. While gender-based violence can happen to anyone, anywhere, it disproportionately affects women and girls and people with disability.

Poverty, instability, and lack of education play a major role in exposing women and girls to gender-based violence and are most prevalent in developing countries. Recent global estimates indicate that 700 million girls were married before age 18many against their will. Girl brides are often vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse.

The theme for the 2023 campaign Invest to Prevent Violence against Women & Girls calls on all individuals to demonstrate how much they care about ending violence against women and girls and request governments worldwide to share how they are investing in gender-based violence prevention.

The World Bank reveals overwhelming statistics on Gender-based violence (GBV) or violence against women and girls (VAWG). The global pandemic affects 1 in 3 women in their lifetime:

35% of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual violence.

Globally, 7% of women have been sexually assaulted by someone other than a partner.

Globally, as many as 38% of murders of women are committed by an intimate partner.

200 million women have experienced female genital mutilation/cutting.

Perpetrators of GBV are most often identified with masculinity and power, hence has become very apparent to extend the advocacy and include boys and men as allies in the fight against GBV. Mr. Derick Kwame Botsyoe. Founder- Men For Impact Africa facilitated a session treating topics such as Masculinity and Violence Against Women and Girls, Gender norms and roles, Bystanding, and Consent. He encouraged the boys to treat the girls with respect and not to engage in activities that could cause them pain. Be active Bystanders and report issues or ill-treatments against women and girls.

Mr. Jude Sodatonu equally urged the boys to take consent very seriously, noting that at any point in time be in a sexual activity or not, they should learn to respect the views of the girls or women. No means No.

Advocate for the Street Children Empowerment Foundation, Madam Ophelia Allotey who also doubles as President of the Greater Accra Paralegal group, added that less than 40% of the women who experience violence seek help of any sort. People bottle up and suffer in silence due to stigma and shame, thus encouraging victims to speak up, it is only when you break the silence that we can help you and hold your perpetrators accountable for their unscrupulous actions against your dignity.

Madam Stephanie Edzordzinam Anyanah, a Broadcast Journalist in Ghana, urged the girls to look beyond their current circumstances, focus on their studies, and aim for a better future.

The training was crowned with a donation of sanitary pads to all the fifty (50) girls engaged. This was made possible due to the fundraising efforts of Miss. Magdalena Wolter and her German team. The girls were also educated on the effective use and proper disposal of the sanitary pads by Miss. Diana Adams, Deputy Secretary of the Paralegal Group.

Violence against women is a global injustice and the highest form of discrimination, which continues to be an obstacle to achieving equality, development, and peace as well as to the fulfilment of women's and girls rights.

Learn more in the report here: https://bit.ly/3u0MP9K
27.11.2023 LISTEN

Listening Bureau, a real estate brokerage and facility management company under The LB Group has been adjudged Most Trusted Luxury Real Estate Broker of the Year at the Ghana Property Awards held at the Accra International Conference Center on Saturday, November 25, 2023.

The category acknowledges an institution's unwavering commitment to integrity and client satisfaction, earning the trust of high-end clientele.

The other nominees in the category were Akka Kappa Ghana and Westfield Real Estate.

20 outstanding stakeholders at the 15th edition were rewarded over the weekend for their pivotal roles in shaping the real estate industry countrywide. The individuals, and institutions alongside other stakeholders have contributed immensely to the socio and economic vibrancy of the industry.

This year's theme Housing Policy, Regulation & Evaluation Impact on Delivery, highlighted the impact of regulatory frameworks and policies that will shape the trajectory of real estate.

The theme underscores the critical role government policies and regulations play in influencing the delivery of housing projects, ensuring sustainable development and meeting the evolving needs of Ghanaians.

Mrs. Akua Maafo Dosoo, C.E.O of Listening Bureau in a statement to the press after she received the award charged the government on the need to introduce policies that encourage public and private institutions to incorporate maintenance as a key component in their annual budgets.

She believes this move will ensure stakeholders pay more attention to the safety and integrity of their properties through regular maintenance.

The government should have a policy that encourages all private institutions and government parastatals to have maintenance as a key component in their budgets. It is believed that most buildings around the country are not maintained properly because Ghanaians dont have a maintenance culture, a part of the statement reads.

She wrote further the issue is not due entirely to the lack of a maintenance culture alone but also primarily because provisions for maintenance are not included in the budgets of these institutions and hence cannot be expended on or implemented regardless of the culture of the officials in charge of these buildings and facilities.

Mrs. Maafo Dosoo who is a Facilities Management Professional (FMP), a leading stakeholder and thought leader in luxury real estate believes a public-private partnership can improve the maintenance culture of facility owners.

The government must have private public partnership with organizations like the Listening Bureau to maintain and enhance the functionality, comfort, safety, sustainability and efficiency of the buildings they operate from. We believe such partnerships will help public and private infrastructure stand the test of time and contribute to sustaining the development of the country, she said.

A policy by the government to ensure all real estate developers set up a fund in collaboration with homeowners to ensure that facilities are effectively managed and maintained will also sustain the development of the nation, Mrs. Maafo Dosoo added.

Listening Bureau is a registered and active member of the Ghana Real Estate Developers Association (GREDA). Formed in 2011, theyre in the process of becoming an ISO 9001 International Standard Certified organization.
One of the four Commission Members of the National Commission for Civic Education, Mr. Bright Kwabla Agbodeka, said Ghana's coup days made citizens restless.

According to him, Ghana's democratic journey since independence has been interrupted by coup detats.

These coups, he noted, made Ghanaians restless.

Mr. Agbodeka made these remarks during the 2023 Oti Regional NCCE debate held at Dambai on November 22.

The Commissioner, who doubled as the chairman of the occasion in his opening remarks, detailed Ghana's political journey from independence to the fourth republic.

Concluding his historical narration of Ghana's democratic journey, Mr. Agbodeka said, "From 1966, the period between one regime to the other was marked by a coup detat and, in some cases, a counter Coup. During all these eras, citizens were restless".

The Oti Regional Office of the National Commission for Civic Education organised the debate as part of the activities marking the 30th anniversary of the 1992 constitution and the Commission.

According to the Regional Director, Mr. Robert Kwesi Boame, the debate aimed to grant future leaders an opportunity to research and know about Ghana's democratic governance, appreciating its fruits and prospects.

Mr. Boame also mentioned that the choice of the activity was to make the students understand that disagreements are best resolved by weighing the superiority of ideas. He advised students to always make superior arguments reign and not resort to violence when disagreements arise.

The activity, which was supported by GCB Bank Limited, Cereal Investment Company Limited, and the Oti Regional Coordinating Council, saw Krachi Secondary School take the first position, followed by Yabram Community Day Senior High School 2nd position, Kadjebi Asato Senior High 3rd position, Nkonya Senior High 4th position, Kyabobo Girls Senior High 5th position and Kpassa Senior High 6th position.

All schools first presented on the topic "30 years of constitutional democracy, how far have the fourth republic come and how far can we go?".

They then debated the topics: "In reference to countries like Saudi Arabia and China, there is a school of thought that a country under a dictator brings greater economic development than democracy. Argue for or against this school of thought.

"The 1992 constitution of Ghana demands that the majority of the ministers of state must come from parliament. There is a school of thought that this provision does not promote the effectiveness of the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. Argue for or against the motion.

"Dr. Kwame Nkrumahs dream of uniting Africa as one state couldnt materialize before his overthrow. Argue for or against that Nkrumah's dream of a United States of Africa is still worth considering."
Here's another googly-eyed creature you should know about. The Arabian sand boa is a non-venomous snake that has the cutest eyes on top of its headthey help it to see when it's hiding the rest of its body under sand, waiting for its next meal to come along. These ridiculous looking creatures eat whatever lizards, insects, and small mammals they can catch and squeeze to death.

In this funny as well as educational video about the Arabian sand boa, wildlife educator Ben G. Thomas says they look just like a "child's drawing" of a snake, and I can't say he's wrong.

Live Science provides more facts about these silly snakes:

Arabian sand boas are nocturnal; they spend the day buried deep in the sand and move toward the surface at dusk to hunt. And while their googly eyes are sometimes ridiculed, they are essential to these snakes' hunting strategy. Having eyes on top of their heads enables Arabian sand boas to peek out as they lie in wait for prey to pass nearby, with the rest of their golden-brown bodies buried in the sand. Arabian sand boas grow up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) long and can tolerate a wide range of temperatures. They are one of two boa species that lay eggs instead of giving birth to live young  the other egg-laying species being the Saharan sand boa (Eryx muelleri), which is found throughout Africa. Female Arabian sand boas lay their eggs in small clutches. They have to help their young break out from the eggs when they are ready to hatch, after roughly nine weeks, because the hatchlings lack an egg-tooth  a sharp projection on the snout, which the young of other snake species use to crack open their eggshells. Arabian sand boas are common throughout their wide range and are not thought to be threatened by human activities, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List of Threatened Species.

They truly are the cutest snakes I've ever seen!
Residents in the Krachi East Municipality of the Oti Region have expressed fear over the likely outbreak of diseases as many pit latrines were submerged by flood waters.

The Ghana News Agency (GNA) saw some guest houses and washrooms along the riverbanks of Oti already contaminated by the flood.

Checks by the GNA revealed increased cases of typhoid being reported among residents in the Municipality.

Dr Mavis Marfo, the medical doctor of Dambai Health Centre, disclosed to the GNA that from August to October, this year, the facility recorded a total of 951 typhoid cases against a total of 565 recorded in the same period in 2022.

Madam Sybil Marie Boison, the Oti Regional Environmental Health Officer, in an interview with the GNA, said her office would work with the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr Bernard Aborkugya Mensah for a lasting solution.

She said it was an eyesore to construct latrines along the riverbanks by putting the lives of those who used the water for domestic purposes at risk of getting infections and contracting waterborne diseases.

She said that the United Nations recognised access to water and sanitation as human rights issues and further as rights that were interlinked with the realisation of human dignity.

It is sad to say that due to the lack of access to toilet facilities, many people in every part of the country engage in open defecation, a practice that is an affront to the dignity of any civilised human society, she said.

GNA
Minority in Parliament has expressed disapproval over government's extensive request for tax exemptions, labelling them as unconscionable, inordinate, and bearing all the trappings of organised crime.

According to the Minority, approximately 45 companies have been presented to Parliament under designations such as one district-one-factory companies and GIPC strategic investors, seeking exemption from tax payments.

In a statement issued on Monday,27 November 2023, the Minority disclosed that the government is urging Parliament to grant tax exemptions totalling USD 449,446,247.95 for these 45 companies, equivalent to over half of GHS5.5 billion.

Emphasising the gravity of the situation, the Minority asserted that this issue significantly impacts the country's economy, and they felt obliged to inform the Ghanaian taxpayer who is being burdened with all manner of taxes know this truth.

The statement further revealed that an additional 118 companies are currently undergoing processing at the Ministry of Trade & Industry, Ministry of Finance, and the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre for future presentation to Parliament for tax exemptions.

The collective value of exemptions for these 118 companies is estimated at about GHS7 Billion.

The Minority presented a list of the 45 companies in question and reiterated their concerns about the potential adverse effects on the nation's economic landscape.

-classfmonline
Remember that uneasy sensation of feeling full and tight in the abdomen? It's that disruptive force in your daily routine that causes irritation and discomfort. Bloating, with its distended belly, gas, and sense of heaviness, persistently interrupts life, hindering both productivity and mood. Multiple factors, such as overindulging, rapid eating habits, intake of gas-inducing foods like beans or fizzy beverages, unintentional ingestion of air while eating, and underlying gastrointestinal conditions like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or food intolerances, play a vital role in causing bloating. It is, hence, important to stay steer clear of these triggers and embrace mindful eating practices. Natural remedies: If you are dealing with bloating, several natural remedies can offer relief. Peppermint tea eases bloating by aiding digestion and relaxing the gastrointestinal muscles. Ginger, on the other hand, whether consumed as tea or part of meals, supports digestion, and reduces gas and bloating discomfort. Probiotics, found in yoghurt or kefir, foster gut health by balancing intestinal flora, and fennel seeds, (saunf) chewed after meals, helps in digestion and soothes gas-related discomfort. Additionally, Chamomile tea's anti-inflammatory properties help ease digestive discomfort and fight both bloating and gas. In addition to these natural remedies, some popular yoga poses can also aid in relieving bloating. Naveen Sharma, Yoga Lead at Cult.fit, recommends the following asanas: 6 yoga asanas that help in bloating relief 1. Padahastasana (Standing Forward Bend) Instructions: Begin standing upright in Tadasana. Inhale deeply, and as you exhale, hinge at your hips to fold forward, keeping your spine long. Attempt to place your palms or fingertips on the mat beside your feet. If this is challenging, grasp your elbows and allow your torso to hang. Benefits: This forward fold stimulates the abdominal organs, thereby improving digestion and relieving the discomfort of gas and bloating. 2. Ashwa Sanchalanasana (Equestrian Pose) Instructions: Start in a plank position. Step your right foot forward between your hands, ensuring your right knee is directly above your heel. Lower your left knee to the ground. Maintain for a few breaths, then repeat with the opposite leg. Benefits: Ashwa Sanchalanasana invigorates the abdominal muscles, aids in releasing digestive discomfort, and enhances the mobility of the digestive organs. 3. Ardha Matsyendrasana (Half Lord of the Fishes Pose) Instructions: Sit with your legs extended. Bend your right knee, placing your foot outside the left thigh. Bend your left knee, bringing your left heel towards your right buttock. Place your right hand behind you, and with an inhale, stretch your left arm up. As you exhale, twist to the right, bringing your left elbow to the outside of your right knee. Maintain for a few breaths, then repeat with the opposite leg. Benefits: This twisting pose stimulates digestion and relieves bloating by massaging the abdominal organs. It also helps to release tension in the spine. 4. Balasana (Childs Pose) Instructions: Kneel on the floor with toes together and knees hip-width apart. Exhale and lower your torso between your knees, extending your arms forward with palms down. Rest your forehead on the mat. Benefits: This restorative pose gently compresses the abdomen, aiding in the expulsion of gas. It also helps to relax the body and reduce stress, which can be a contributor to digestive issues. 5. Jathara Parivartanasana (Revolved Abdomen Pose) Instructions: Begin by lying on your back, extending your arms out to the sides in a T-shape for stability. Bend your knees and bring them towards your chest. As you exhale, gently lower your knees to the right side, ensuring that your left shoulder remains in contact with the floor. Turn your head to the left, creating a full spinal twist. Hold this position for a few deep breaths, then gently bring your knees back to the center and switch sides, lowering them to the left and turning your head to the right. Benefits: Jathara Parivartanasana is a highly effective pose for enhancing digestive function and relieving bloating. The twisting action massages the internal organs, helping to release trapped gases and improve bowel movements. 6. Apanasana (Knees-to-Chest Pose) Instructions: Lie on your back. Inhale and as you exhale, draw your knees towards your chest, clasping your hands over your shins. Keep your back flat on the floor. Gently rock side to side if it feels comfortable. Benefits: This simple yet effective pose aids in the expulsion of digestive gases and reduces bloating. It also helps in easing tension in the lower back.
When Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843, he could not have imagined that Ebenezer Scrooge would still be an inspiration beyond the written word nearly 180 years. The same is true of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, who wrote The Nutcracker in 1892. Even the beloved film Its a Wonderful Life seemed destined to be forgotten after its lackluster release in 1946.

Yet here we are in 2023 and those three  among others  remain a holiday tradition. Here are the multiple ways we can enjoy them locally this season.

The Nutcracker

There are at least three ballet groups performing the enchanting ballet The Nutcracker about a little girl, a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve and a battle against the evil Mouse King.

The American Academy of Ballet has performances at 1 and 6 p.m. Dec. 2 at University at Buffalo Center for the Arts. Going into its 25th year, AAB says it is Buffalos longest-running production of The Nutcracker.

Neglia Ballet and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra return with this large-scale production that features 136 roles  85 performed by children  and more than 400 costume pieces. Performances are 7 p.m. Dec. 2 and 1 p.m. Dec. 3 at Sheas Buffalo Theatre. Tickets start at $36.75 (ticketmaster.com).

Classical Ballet of WNY has performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Dec. 9 and 2 p.m. Dec. 10 in the Lockport Palace Theatre. Tickets are $30.

In concert: Selections from The Nutcracker will be heard in a candlelight concert at 6 and 8:30 p.m. Dec. 21 at 500 Pearl. The music is among the holiday selections performed by the Listeso String Quartet. Tickets start at $37.

A Christmas Carol

Ebenezer Scrooge will appear in various versions of the Charles Dickens classic.

Alleyway Theatre is presenting A Christmas Carol for the 41st year. There will be carolers in the lobby 30 minutes before each performance. It runs Dec. 6-24.

When award-winning TV reporter Mike Randall learned that Charles Dickens performed in Buffalo in 1868, he decided to re-create A Christmas Carol as the one-man show Charles Dickens Presents: A Christmas Carol. Performances are Dec. 8-10 at the DYouville Kavinoky Theatre; Dec. 2 at the American Legion Tillman Post 900, Akron (dinner and a show), Dec. 3 at the Ellicott Creek Playhouse, Tonawanda; Dec. 15 at the West Falls Center for the Arts, West Falls; and Dec. 16 at the Barre Center Presbyterian Church, Albion.

The well-regarded 1951 film starring Alastair Sim  which is called by both Scrooge (its original British title) and A Christmas Carol (for the U.S. release) can be seen at two movie houses. The Screening Room is showing the film under the title of Scrooge at 5 p.m. Dec. 19 and Dec. 23; $7. A Christmas Carol is at 11 a.m. Dec. 3 in the free Aurora Theatre film series.

A Christmas Story

Fathom Events is hosting 40th anniversary screenings of the 1983 film at 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 10 and 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at the Dipson Amherst and Capitol theaters; and Regal Elmwood, Walden Galleria, Quaker Crossing and Transit.

A stage adaptation by Philip Grecian is performed through Dec. 10 at the Lancaster Opera House, 21 Central Ave., Lancaster.

Its a Wonderful Life

The inspiring story of down-on-his-luck George Bailey and how he got his wings back can be seen on the big screen and stage this season.

At least three movie theaters are showing the original 1946 Frank Capra film starring Jimmy Stewart.

Screening Room Cinema and Arts Cafe, 880 Alberta Drive at the Boulevard Mall: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 15-16, Dec. 19, 22 and 23, plus a mimosa matinee at 1 p.m. Dec. 17. Tickets are $7.

Lockport Palace Theatre, 2 East Ave., Lockport: 1, 4 and 7 p.m. Dec. 17 and 23; 1 and 7 p.m. Dec. 18-22. Tickets are $10; $5 for kids 12 and younger. lockportpalacetheatre.org.

Aurora Theatre, 673 Main St., East Aurora: Its a Wonderful Life closes out the Auroras free film series at 11 a.m. Dec. 23.

For the real experience, journey to the Its a Wonderful Life Festival held Dec. 8-10 in Seneca Falls, about 2 hours from Buffalo. Director Frank Capra visited Seneca Falls while writing the screenplay and the village is considered to be the inspiration for the films Bedford Falls setting. There are screenings, presentations, autographs and visits from stars Karolyn Grimes (Zuzu), Jimmy Hawkins (Tommy Bailey), and Donald and Ronald Collins (young Pete Bailey).

National Lampoons

Christmas Vacation

Not only can you watch the hilarious 1989 film on the big screen, you can watch it with star Chevy Chase, AKA Clark Griswold.

Chase will be at Sheas Buffalo Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 6 for a screening of the movie, followed by a conversation and Q&A with Chase and his wife, Jayni. Visit sheas.org.

Fathom Events shows the film at 1 p.m. Dec. 3 and Dec. 16 at Regal Elmwood, Quaker Crossing, Transit and Walden Galleria.

It will also be shown at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at Lockport Palace Theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m. for hors doeuvres, raffles and gift draws at this event hosted by Kenan Arts Council; tickets $10 advance, $15 at the door.

White Christmas

Curtain Up Productions presents a stage version of Irving Berlins White Christmas at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 29-31, 2 and 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 and 3 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Lockport Palace, 2 East Ave., Lockport.

Watch the film and sing along with the 1954 musical at a free showing at 11 a.m. Dec. 17 at the Aurora Theatre.
The only thing more irresponsible than WBEN-AMs coverage of the fiery explosion at the Rainbow Bridge at the United States-Canadian border last Wednesday was host Tom Bauerles excuse for erroneously claiming that it was an act of terrorism.

After hours of on-air speculation by Bauerle and midday host David Bellavia  fueled by what they called excellent unnamed sources  that the car explosion was an act of terrorism, Bauerle decided where to pin the blame on journalistic malpractice.

It was the governments fault.

Bauerle suggested Gov. Kathy Hochul needed to get some face time that needlessly delayed the explanation for hours that the incident appeared to be unrelated to terrorism.

Hochuls statement actually came after Bauerle and Bellavia backed away from the terrorism claim.

At the end of his day, Bauerle felt the entire matter could have been explained in an hour and there was no need to close all the Western New York bridges linking Canada to the United States.

He called it a a very bad day for government and New York State officials.

He said it was almost sadistic and very irresponsible to wait so long to make a statement and added it was a despicable performance by the government bodies of Western New York and the politicians of New York State to make people wait that long to clear things up.

His defense of his stations errors was preposterous. Of course, it would take much more than an hour to determine if the fiery crash  which we now know led to the deaths of a prominent couple from Grand Island  was terrorism. Waiting to give an accurate statement was the responsible thing for government officials to do rather than rush to judgment. It is hard to know how quickly it could have been determined, but an hour is unreasonable.

WKBW-TV (Channel 7) anchor Michael Wooten explained that shortly after the governor held a late afternoon news conference in which she said there was no evidence of terrorism at this time.

Obviously, it takes time to get that, said Wooten on the 5:30 p.m. newscast. You have to be certain to say that. It is sort of giving the all clear. 

Bauerle called the bridge story one of the single most messed up news story days I can ever recall on a local level in his 40-year radio career.

It was messed up all right. By Bauerle and Bellavia.

Bauerle eventually conceded that unfortunately most of the information on the station was not actually true.

In my 40-year career covering the local media, Im not sure there has been a more disastrous day of radio coverage.

WBEN is the only remaining commercial radio news station in town, which makes it more important to be responsible during major news events. It has often performed admirably during major events, as was the case during the racist mass shooting at Tops in May 2022.

The trust it has gained made Wednesdays speculation even more alarming.

Throughout the day, Bauerle said, we will do our best to report on it responsibly and we will attribute any information accordingly. He added that the station didnt want to speculate or panic people because we dont know exactly what happened. He said it was an evolving story and we dont want to speculate.

But those were only words. He carried irresponsible speculation that may have panicked some people.

WBENs best moment came when it carried a news conference by a Canadian official who said, to speculate on the origin and the reasons for the explosion is simply not responsible until reliable and verified information is received.

But WBEN speculated away.

Bauerle explained that the speculation that it was a terrorist attack came from usually reliable sources and suggested it may be tied to the war between Israel and Hamas.

His biggest source? Fox News, which claimed it was a terrorist attack before retracting it later.

According to Fox News, our region has been hit by a terrorist attack, he said.

Fox News is not mincing words, said Bauerle. This is a terrorist attack.

Later on, he added independent sources outside of Fox News were coming to the same conclusion.

It does appear to be a deliberate attack, said Bauerle.

And still later, he added that by all accounts, it was terrorism.

By all, he must have meant Fox News.

Of course, many people consider WBEN the local equivalent of Fox News with its conservative talk show hosts and anti-government and anti-media philosophy.

One of the WBEN hosts questioned whether the governor really would be coming to Western New York if it was a battery explosion.

It was faulty reasoning. She would be coming to address what had been an international story regardless of whether it was terrorism because the explosion was near the Canadian-American border. She certainly doesnt need any more face time on the news.

Bauerles speculation included some concern another vehicle may have been able to make it through customs.

Bellavia, who Bauerle noted is a Medal of Honor recipient to highlight his credentials, added fuel to the fire.

He admitted some confusion over why the car and supposed terrorists were entering Canada from the United States rather than the other way around. But he explained that away by saying it wasnt beyond reason that a car would cross the border and turn around and do the same thing.

Bellavia added he talked to a guy who said, that thing was loaded to Neptune.

It is absolutely clear that was intentional, said Bellavia. Thats a vehicle-borne IED (improvised explosive device).

The hosts discussed the second vehicle rumor.

A second vehicle could have nefarious intent, said Bauerle.

The second vehicle is what they are looking for, added Bellavia.

And then there was this unintentionally comic line from Bellavia: You have people who shouldnt be talking to the media, frankly.

At the head of the list were the people WBEN were relying on, like the guy who gave Bellavia the Neptune quote.

Like Fox News, Im not going to mince words here: Bauerle is being unreasonable to think the whole thing could have been cleared up in an hour. He and Bellavia owe WBENs listeners, government officials, including Hochul, an apology and a promise to do better.

It is the honorable thing to do to try to prevent further damage to the stations news reputation.
A 62-year-old woman and her family's four dogs died in a fire early Sunday that caused an estimated $1 million in damage to a home in the Spaulding Lake neighborhood in Clarence.

The Erie County Sheriff's Office identified the woman Monday afternoon as Joan S. Wozer.

Clarence Fire Company Chief Brett Hanford, who was first on the scene of the fire at 2:43 a.m., told The Buffalo News Monday that three people and one dog were able to escape the flames.

The Erie County Sheriffs Office reported Sunday that deputies are investigating the cause of the blaze at 4720 Spaulding Drive. Anyone with photos or videos relevant to the fire investigation is asked to contact the voicemail of Detective Scott Kuhlmey at 716-858-2579.

When Hanford arrived at the house, the first floor was fully engulfed, with fire billowing through bay windows, front door and second-floor windows, he said. His company was joined by Clarence Center and Main-Transit firefighters just a few minutes after the 911 call.

The fire appeared to have originated in the rear right of the house, he said, because that area had the "highest concentration of char."

Given the size of the home and volume of fire, Hanford quickly called for second and third alarms, which led to assistance in firefighters and equipment from Harris Hill, Newstead, East Amherst and Swormville fire companies.

A rescue attempt was made for Wozer, who was in a second-floor bedroom, by dousing the flames as a ladder was set up.

The $1 million in damages was split between $700,000 in structural damage and $300,000 in contents.

"The way the fire service works together  it's truly remarkable and amazing to watch," Hanford said. The Clarence chief praised the coordinated response, efforts of dispatchers and responsibility of other companies that helped with standby.

The upscale Spaulding Lake neighborhood was quiet later Sunday morning as an Erie County Water Authority worker assessed the water line in the yard in front of the burned house.

Windows and doors were boarded up, particularly on the north side of the two-story structure, where ash covered the grass separating the yard from its neighbors.

The Spaulding Lake development sits on a large tract north of Main Street, to the east of Goodrich Road.
With treats stuffed in the pocket of his faded jeans, Matt Albert led a large, fluffy, white and gray dog through the open fields of Against All Oddz Animal Alliance in Darien Center.

Sit, commanded Albert, the executive director of the animal sanctuary.

Bandit, a 4-year-old Alaskan malamute, complied and eagerly looked to Albert for his reward.

Good boy, Albert praised, as Bandit happily accepted a treat from his pocket.

Bandit has come a long way since the summer, Albert said, when he was deemed a dangerous dog by a Lancaster judge and sent to live out the rest of his life at the Genesee County rescue center.

Lancaster service dog deemed dangerous will spend rest of life at animal sanctuary A service dog who bit a neighbor will be removed from his owner's home and sent to live at an animal sanctuary, a Lancaster town judge ruled Thursday.

Against All Oddz takes in animals  mostly dogs  who have nowhere else to go, Albert said. Many, like Bandit, were designated as dangerous dogs by a court. Others come from rescues who werent able to handle the dogs.

Bandit used to belong to a village of Lancaster resident named Joshua Gilley. Bandit helped Gilley control seizures he suffers from as a result of a traumatic brain injury.

But Bandit was taken away from Gilley in June after escaping from his home and biting a woman in the neighborhood. The woman sustained serious injuries on both of her arms.

Albert, who is also the attorney who represented Gilley and Bandit in court, offered to take Bandit. He arranged for him to get training with a local expert.

Hes come a long way, Albert said of Bandit. Theres still a way to go. But him and I get along real well.

Bandit doing excellently

After Bandit was removed from Gilleys home in June, he spent two months at the Town of Lancaster animal shelter, where he didnt do well, Albert said.

Itd be like you living in a closet for 60 days, Albert said of Bandits living conditions at the shelter.

Once Bandit got out of the shelter, Against All Oddz paid for Bandits boarding and training program at BFK9 Training. He had a hard time with all the transitions and didnt like to be told what to do, at first.

Albert had to work hard to gain Bandits trust and go at the dogs pace.

Theres no substitute for time, Albert said. We had to go slower with him than weve had to do with other dogs. A lot of these dogs have had seamless adjustments. Wed be lying if we said Bandit was one of them.

But the consistent training is paying off.

Hes doing excellently now, Albert said. His true personality is coming out.

Albert described Bandit as a playful, energetic goofball. Hes fun-loving and somewhat dramatic, Albert said.

Bandit loves stuffed animals, and is one of the few dogs who doesnt rip them apart. His favorites are a squid, ladybug and tiger. He also loves playing tug-of-war and fetch.

Bandit lives in his own 220-square-foot, climate-controlled cabin on the Against All Oddz property. He has access to a fenced-in, outdoor enclosure so he can get fresh air whenever he wants during the day, Albert said.

The inside of his cabin looks like a little house, with a dog bed, small couch and toys strewn all over a soft, gray carpet.

Bandit continues to be wary of strangers, but he likes people once he gets comfortable with them, and he gets along well with other dogs.

He is still learning to control his impulses, Albert said. At 120 pounds, Bandit is a big dog, but he can jump very high, so keeping him contained was a challenge, initially. He jumped over the fence of his enclosure, so Against All Oddz had to put a covering over the top to stop him from getting out.

Gilley, Bandits previous owner, is allowed to come visit Bandit and spend time with him. Albert said there is an option to appeal the Lancaster judges decision and argue that Bandit should be returned to Gilley, but Gilley hasnt decided to go down that road, yet.

Albert founded Against All Oddz in 2015, drawing on his experience as a lawyer working on animal wellness cases.

Albert used to be an assistant district attorney in Erie County and led the animal cruelty task force, so he spent a lot of time prosecuting people charged with animal abuse and neglect, he said. When he left the DAs Office and got into private practice, other lawyers started referring clients with animal-related cases to him.

I started seeing this big void in animal welfare, both in the legal field, as well as refuge and homes for dogs that have been caught up in the legal system, he said.

Albert still practices law, on top of running the rescue at his home in Darien Center, which sits on 30 acres of sprawling fields and woods.

Against All Oddz is not a high-volume rescue. Its focus is providing a high quality of life for the animals.

Against All Oddz fills a void in the animal rescue community, Albert said. We take on animals that others wont. We believe in the sanctity of all life, including dogs that others have completely given up on. We provide them refuge and a chance at redemption and, in turn, it helps us redeem ourselves.

There are 13 dogs at the sanctuary now, and Against All Oddz relies on volunteers to help take care of them. Volunteers come by daily to spend time with the dogs, work on training, feed them and take them on walks.

Many of the dogs at Against All Oddz have a behavioral issue or history of biting, Albert said, but not all of them will live there for life. The rescue invests time and money in training to rehabilitate all their dogs, some to the point of being able to be adopted.

We are all about helping animals, but these animals have really helped us, Albert said. One of our mantras is empowering people by helping animals. 
While upholding an order passed by the Maharashtra state consumer disputes redressal commission, the national consumer disputes redressal commission (NCDRC) directed Akola-based Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital, Dr Prashant Mulawkar and Dr Rajendra Sonone (anaesthetist) to pay a compensation of Rs20 lakh with an interest of 9%pa (per annum) to the father of the patient, who died after a high-risk operation.

In an rder lasot week , the NCDRC bench of Dr Sadhna Shanker (presiding member) says, "We find that the appellants (Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital and the two doctors) have not been able to prove that there was proper care and attention during the post-operative period and the findings of the state commission in this case suffers from no illegality or infirmity warranting any interference."

The case is related to Huma, the daughter of Akola-based Manzoor Hussain Nadeem. Huma, the 27-year-old daughter of Mr Nadeem, had only one right-side kidney functioning and her left-side kidney was not functioning since birth, and she was leading a normal life. She was suffering from a fever and was treated by Dr SM Agarwal. After checking the reports of various tests, Dr Agarwal advised her to consult Dr Mulawkar from Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital. After examining Huma and considering all the reports, Dr Mulawkar stated that her right side kidney was affected due to a problem with the urinary bladder and prescribed some medicines from time to time.

Huma did not feel any relief, so she went to Dr Mulawkar again on 14 August 2010. At that time, on pathological tests, when it was found that her serum creatinine was slightly more than the normal limit, Dr Mulawkar advised her to undergo a minor operation of the right side kidney called as stenting of the kidney. Dr Mulawkar informed Mr Nadeem and his wife that the procedure was not complicated and the surgery was risk-free and there would be no danger to the life of Huma and she would be discharged from the hospital after the operation in a day or two.

On 16 August 2010, Huma was admitted to Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital for the operation. At about 11am, she was taken to the operation theatre. Dr Sonone administered anaesthesia to the patient before the operation and the operation was conducted successfully. After the operation, Huma was taken to the post-operation care room to keep her under observation.

However, in his complaint, Mr Nadeem, the father of Huma, alleged that in the post-operative care room, no competent doctor kept watch on her physical condition. "Also, from 2.30pm till 7pm nobody came to record her blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration, or temperature after every hour and Huma was not placed on any monitoring machine after the operation and she was not breathing normally."

Dr Zuber Nadeem, a Unani practitioner and brother of Huma, examined her pulse and found that her pulse rate was not normal. He then tried to contact Dr Mulawkar and Dr Sonone, but they did not come to the post-operative care room to see Huma's condition.

When nobody came to see Huma, Dr Nadeem called Dr Agarwal, who came to the hospital at 7.45pm, examined the patient, and found that her blood pressure was not stable and her pulse rate was very high. On seeing that the patient's condition was deteriorating, Dr Agarwal called another expert, Dr Pradeep Chandak in the hospital. Since Dr Mulawkar and Dr Sonone did not come out of the operation theatre to see the deteriorating condition of Huma, Mr Nadeem says Dr Agarwal advised him to take his daughter to Shyamdip Hospital and Critical Care Centre for CT scan.

At 9pm on 16 August 2010, Huma was admitted to Shyamdip Hospital in a serious condition and, despite the treatment, she died at about 1.30am in the night.

Mr Nadeem alleged that during the operation, Humas blood pressure was not normal as per medical standards and, as the proper antibiotics were not given either during the operation or after the operation to prevent septicaemia, septicaemia developed within a few hours after the operation.

He then filed a complaint before the state commission seeking compensation of Rs25 lakh from the Hospital and two doctors for causing the death of his daughter by negligently discharging their professional duties.

Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital, Dr Mulawkar and Dr Sonone contested the complaint by filing written statements. They submitted that the patient had chronic urinary tract infection coupled with the failure of body defence mechanism and the procedure of stent implantation is a complicated one because the patient had only one functional kidney and not a minor procedure and that the patient had a high risk and all these details had been explained to Mr Nadeem and Dr Zuber, the brother of the patient.

The counsel for Mr Nadeem submitted that this is a case of negligence in post-operative care. He further pointed out that since Huma, the patient was, admittedly having only one kidney, obese and had thyroid and when she was admitted, she had severe urinary traction infection, and she was a high-risk patient, a high standard of medical care was required in her case.

While partly allowing the complaint, the state commission directed Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital, Dr Mulawkar and Dr Sonone to pay jointly and severally a compensation of Rs20 lakh with interest at the rate of 9%pa from 5 January 2012 till payment, and a cost of Rs10,000 to Mr Nadeem.

Aggrieved by the order, Thirthankar Hospital and the two doctors approached NCDRC.

During the hearing, they stated that Huma, the patient, developed severe metabolic acidosis and, at about 12.30am (midnight), she went into cardiac arrest and died. All best efforts to save the patient were taken, and there was no negligence on the part of the hospital and doctors, and the complaint is liable to be dismissed, the counsel submitted.

The counsel for Mr Nadeem, however, pointed out that the affidavits of two experts, Dr Agarwal and Shrirang Samadhan Lawale, were not filed before the state commission; therefore, the same cannot be permitted to be filed at the appellate stage and the appeal has to be decided only based on the pleadings and proof filed before the state commission.

He also contended that no affidavit of the treating doctor has been filed in this case. He further submitted that if Dr Sonone had examined the patient in the recovery room from time to time after the surgery and had prepared the notes in the operation theatre, what prevented him from writing his observation on the bed continuation sheet and since the appellants filed the documents at a belated stage, i.e. written statement on 18 June 2012, affidavit and evidence of Dr Mulawkar on 12 October 2015 and the notes prepared by Dr Sonone had been filed on record on 2 August 2016, after almost five years and six months, no reliance can be placed on these documents.

He further submitted that the Hospital claimed that it is a super speciality hospital with facilities to treat all kinds of patients but lacks basic infrastructure. "There are no intensive care unit and CT Scan machines and properly trained staff at the hospital. The recovery room where post-operative patients are kept has no monitoring system available to monitor the patient."

After hearing both parties and perusing documents available on record, NCDRC observed that the central point for consideration is whether there was medical negligence on the part of the Hospital and the two doctors during the post-operative care.

The NCDRC bench of Dr Shanker noted that Huma, the patient, had only one kidney and a severe urinary tract infection. "It is clear that there was no Intensive care or infection disease specialist available during the post-operative care as per the guidelines. Further, it is admitted that there was no ICU facility, and as the surgery was high-risk, the appellant ought not to have proceeded to conduct the operation, ignoring the risk involved."

"Since the affidavits of electronic expert, Dr Agarwal and Mr Lawale are filed at the appellate stage, no reliance can be placed on them," the bench says.

So far as the point of development of septicaemia is concerned, Dr Shanker says Thirthankar Hospital and the two doctors failed to establish that the patient was suffering from septicaemia before conducting the operation and it came to the knowledge of Mr Nadeem through the death certificate.

"Even if it is presumed that the patient was suffering from septicaemia, the appellants ought not to conduct the operation even when the basic facilities like an intensive care unit were not available in the hospital. The appellants have also brought no evidence on record to show that either they prescribed or ensured that all the necessary pre-operative tests were done on the high-risk patient prior to surgery to see that the patient was fit for surgery," NCDRC says.

The bench also referred to the enquiry committee report sent by the Government Medical College and Superspeciality Hospital at Nagpur to Akola police station vide letter dated 12 September 2011. The report stated, "The details of the patient's pre-operative check-up reports have not been made available in the papers received so it is not possible to give an opinion about whether the condition of the patient was suitable for surgery. The surgeon and anaesthetist examine the patient and take a decision as to whether the condition of the patient is suitable for surgery or not."

"This is clearly a lack of due care and amounts to deficiency in service," NCDRC says.

As regards the point that no competent doctor kept watch in the post-operative care room is concerned, Dr Shaker from NCDRC noted that Thirthankar Hospital and the two doctors filed the documents at the belated stage showing that the patient was attended to from time to time.

"Had the documents been available with the appellants, the said documents should have been filed at the appropriate time before the state commission. It appears that these documents are an afterthought. No concrete evidence has been produced by the appellants to prove that the appellants attended the patient for a long period of four and a half hours after her operation. Moreover, at one place, the appellants averred that Dr Sonone and Dr Mulawkar attended the patient at 2.30pm while at another place, it was mentioned that assistant Suruchi attended the patient at 2.30pm. As the documents are contradictory to each other, the documents do not appear to be authentic. It is apparent that the patient was not attended from 2.30pm to 7.00pm," NCDRC says.

While dismissing the appeal, the bench directed Thirthankar Superspeciality Hospital, Dr Mulawkar and Dr Sonone to pay the compensation as awarded by the state commission.

(First Appeal No1951 of 2017 Date: 23 November 2023)
Sheas staff and invited guests filled the theater lobby Monday to warmly welcome Rep. Brian Higgins as Sheas Performing Arts Centers next president and chief executive officer.

Higgins, chosen after an extensive search process, will finish his 19-year tenure in Congress the first week of February, and plans to start his new job on Feb. 5 leading one of Western New Yorks most popular and successful cultural attractions.

On behalf of myself and the entire Sheas staff, we welcome you as president of this extraordinary institution  the anchor of the Theatre District and the heartbeat of our urban core, said Albert Nocciolino, Sheas presenter and producing partner.

Nocciolino was on the Sheas selection committee, consisting of Sheas trustees and non-trustees alike who chose Higgins.

Western New York has embraced what we do and has put their arms around Sheas, Nocciolino said. Our job  and your job, Brian  is to preserve it for the next generation.

The centerpiece of Sheas Performing Arts Center is Sheas Buffalo Theatre, the 1926 city-owned theater that was built as a movie palace and is home to touring Broadway shows. There are two smaller venues, Sheas 710 Theatre and Sheas Smith Theatre.

Mayor Byron Brown called the selection of Higgins an inspired decision.

I can tell you that Brian has a deep love and passion for the arts. He understands that the arts equals economic development, that the arts are a building block of a strong community, the mayor said.

Higgins' departure will leave Buffalo with an inexperienced tandem in the House. Will region lose clout? Sometime next year, after voters cast their ballots in a special election to replace Rep. Brian Higgins, the Buffalo area will be represented in the House by two first-term lawmakers for the first time in nearly half a century. Will it make a difference?

And Brian, I know that you will keep this jewel in our community polished and make the illumination of this jewel brighter than its ever been, he said.

Higgins expressed excitement for his new job, his appreciation for Buffalos rich arts and architecture and his desire to revitalize the Theatre District.

He celebrated friends and family who are or were in the arts. He also spoke of how his father, Daniel Higgins, played a role as a South District Council Member in aiding Friends of Buffalo Theatre. The group was trying to stave off the theaters demolition in 1978, and would evolve into Sheas OConnell Preservation Guild, the nonprofit that since 1980 has overseen Sheas.

Higgins also praised the efforts of those who came before him, including Anthony Conte and Patrick Fagan, and the current staff that endured a difficult 2022, which saw staff and trustee departures over the tenure of Michael Murphy as president before his firing that October.

Although Sheas didnt disclose Higgins salary, he is expected to earn a sizable increase over the $174,000 he earns as a member of the House of Representatives. Murphy was paid $305,000.

Higgins will take over with the theater in solid financial health and the Broadway series fully recovered from the pandemic.

The 2023-2024 season has 16,500 season subscribers, second only to the 2018-2019 season when the presentation of Hamilton contributed to a record-setting 18,474 subscribers.

Higgins, in an earlier interview with The News, said that along with enhancing the Theatre District, he wants to expand the theaters reach into Southern Ontario, and bring more federal resources and the use of state and federal historic tax credits for restoration projects.
The Kiwi Firefighters Calendar is up for grabs now at kiwifirefighterscalendar.co.nz with all proceeds heading straight to Movember.



Need help, or just wanna talk to someone?

Lifeline  0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP).

Suicide Crisis Helpline  0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO).

Depression Helpline  0800 111 757 or free text 4202 (to talk to a trained counsellor about how you are feeling or to ask any questions).

Youthline  0800 376 633, free text 234 or email talk@youthline.co.nz or online chat.

Anxiety Helpline - 0800 269 4389 (0800 ANXIETY).
Dressed to the nines, Lana and Speedy were ready to celebrate in style, but you can't please everyone.

Some viewers took to our socials to share their thoughts on the outfit choices, and in true Lana and Speedy fashion, the pair decided to turn the tables and read out some of the 'mean tweet' style comments.
Buffalo officials have banded together to adopt an automated enforcement program that will penalize drivers who pass school buses that have their stop signs extended and red lights flashing.

The purpose of the measure is unanimously agreed upon: protecting schoolchildren against inattentive or reckless drivers. But the revenue share from the approved technology has been perceived as a money grab for the City of Buffalo  prompting reminders of the short-lived school zone speed cameras a few years ago  with additional concerns that hefty fines might heighten inequity in a poor city.

If people say its a money grab, I say its about our children, said David A. Rivera, Niagara Council member, when the Common Council discussed a now-official partnership with camera vendor BusPatrol on Sept. 12.

The Buffalo School Board on Nov. 15 approved a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among the City of Buffalo, the school district and its transportation partner to allow BusPatrol to install outward-facing cameras on all school buses to catch drivers completing the illegal maneuver. The Common Council approved the contract 7-1 on Sept. 19. State law dictates that first-time violations lead to a $250 fine.

The use of stop-arm cameras will go a long way toward enforcing existing traffic laws that require motorists to stop for school buses that have stopped to let students board or disembark, said Jeffrey Hammond, Buffalo Schools spokesperson.

State statistics show that drivers frequently disobey bus stop signs  which extend from the side of the bus when amber warning lights flash and then the door is opened  with an estimated 50,000 New York drivers guilty each day. Officials believe its common in Buffalo, too, and aside from instances in which a police car is nearby, violators are rarely caught.

In first virtual meeting, Council committee OKs school bus stop-arm cameras In its first virtual meeting since figuring out how to include public comment, a Buffalo Common Council committee approved a contract for stop-arm cameras on school buses. The program targets drivers traveling behind or toward school buses, who illegally pass buses stopped with flashing red lights and stop arms extended as students board or disembark. During Tuesdays virtual Finance

In 2019, the City of Buffalo selected BusPatrol America, a Virginia tech company, to install a system of cameras on every First Student school bus in the city to automatically snap images of license plates of vehicles whose drivers pass a bus with stop lights flashing and arm extended. BusPatrol developed an artificial intelligence system called AVA, which its leaders say is 11% better than a human being at detecting stop sign violations. The Covid-19 pandemic, however, slowed progress on the project.

Video of an infraction is reviewed by a local law enforcement official, then confirmed to the tech company, which mails notices of violations on the citys behalf. Vehicle owners may appeal the citation, which provides details such as registration information, time and location of the violation, and directions for how to appeal.

Not everyone was thrilled by the partnership. Rasheed N.C. Wyatt was the lone Council member to vote against the bus cameras, fearing the city might appoint a program manager to drive up revenue. Council President Darius G. Pridgen, who voted in favor of BusPatrol, was initially concerned the program might increase inequities.

If its perceived to be only in poor neighborhoods, then it will be a problem, Pridgen said.

The city will determine the start date for the bus cameras; the contract allows up to six months for equipment to be installed. BusPatrol has committed to an awareness campaign and a warning program that does not fine offenders for the first 30 days after cameras are installed.

Communities are best receptive to a change in enforcement when they get a little bit of a grace period, BusPatrol representative Steve Randazzo told the Council in September.

Randazzo said the system is effective in reducing violations and discouraging repeat offenders. Because AI technology will be on every school bus and identifies vehicle license plates, Randazzo said, it does not prey on the poor and does not discriminate.

The secret sauce to changing behavior is that anywhere in the City of Buffalo where someone passes a school bus and endangers a childs life, they are held accountable, Randazzo said.

The program is of no cost to the City of Buffalo or the school district. BusPatrol installs and operates the camera systems, pays for a city employee to manage the program, and troubleshoots problems  all using money collected from fines paid by violators. The safety company receives roughly 60% of the revenue, while the City of Buffalo receives 40%.

In the MOUs draft, the city was guaranteed a minimum of $2.5 million in the programs first year, even if its revenue share percentage did not reach that level. That amount was predicated on the previous size of Buffalos bus fleet, which was 634 when the MOU was drafted.

Because First Student now operates about 470 buses to transport prekindergarten through eighth-grade students, Buffalos revenue minimum falls to roughly $1.8 million proportionally. Buffalo high school students use public transportation.

Neither Buffalo Schools nor First Student, its transportation partner, receives any revenue, but they also cannot be held liable, the MOU reads. Photographs taken by the bus cameras cannot be used in any disciplinary proceeding prompted by the school district or First Student, according to the MOU.

North Tonawanda and Niagara Falls school districts already partner with BusPatrol, while Erie County briefly considered a partnership in 2021.

Suffolk County on Long Island equipped about 5,000 of its buses with BusPatrol stop-arm cameras beginning in 2021. According to a county report, the program reduced violations significantly: For the first four months  September through December of 2021  there were 517 violations per day, which decreased to 317 violations per day in 2022.

Program revenue for noncontested violations in 2022 was $14.8 million, the report said, which was split roughly equally between the county and BusPatrol. An agreement between BusPatrol and Suffolk County said the county was required to spend its revenue share toward school safety measures.

Caught on camera: 20 vehicles passing stopped school buses in Niagara Falls Niagara Falls Schools Superintendent Mark Laurrie wondered how much of a problem there is with cars passing school buses whose red lights are flashing. After cameras installed on two buses picked up 20 vehicles passing stopped buses in the first week of a pilot program, he is convinced the problem is significant. Its kind of disturbing to hear that

The School Board approved the resolution 7-0, with Board President Sharon Belton-Cottman abstaining and Terrance Heard excused due to an illness. Belton-Cottman said she was not against transportation safety measures but was frustrated by the school districts financial history with the city.

Moving forward, I believe that our school district, our children, should be appreciated a little bit more and since this is an income-generating item for the city, I think that the city needs to have conversations with us about making sure the money we receive is increased every year, that we receive some benefits from our money being held in reserves by the city, and that we make sure Buffalo Public Schools gets what its entitled to in addition to what its been receiving  the same money for the last 20 years, except for one year, she said.
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, U.S. June 25, 2021 in a still image from video.
Guam Memorial Hospital in Tamuning is seen Nov. 6, 2019, in an aerial view.
Brian Higgins is looking forward to being around actors on a traveling Broadway stage, rather than politicians hes watched with dismay acting out on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The congressman, who announced his coming departure in the first week of February after a 19-year tenure, will be formally presented this morning as the next president and chief executive officer of Sheas Performing Arts Center, confirming whats been the most poorly kept secret in Buffalo for weeks.

There is a lot of theater nowadays in Congress, Higgins told The Buffalo News. The actors at Sheas are professional. The actors in Congress, where its become increasingly more performative, are not.

Higgins is leaving his seat in the 435-member House of Representatives to take the helm of the 3,019-seat Sheas Buffalo Theatre, one of Buffalos most popular and well-attended cultural attractions, and two smaller venues, Sheas Smith Theater and Sheas 710 Theatre. A student of history, the congressman sees much in common between the theater and representative government.

Theater has been an essential art form of democracy, Higgins said, reaching back to Athens, Greece, in the sixth century BC to make his point.

Jonathan Dandes, elected chairman of Sheas earlier this month, said Higgins was chosen from an extended process guided by a national search firm.

Sheas search committee, chaired by Dr. Toni Vazquez, included board members and nonmembers alike. More than 100 initial responses were eventually pared to three finalists.

Brian talked about his love for Sheas and made believers of everybody, Dandes said. Our vision was so closely aligned in terms of what Sheas is supposed to be all about that it was, quite frankly, a slam dunk.

Higgins, who holds a bachelors degree in political science from SUNY Buffalo State University and a masters degree in public administration from Harvard Universitys John F. Kennedy School of Government, was the unanimous choice, Dandes said.

Dandes said it was liberating to finally go public about Higgins appointment.

This announcement has been made multiple times when everyone who knew was being sworn to secrecy. If you want to keep a secret with three people, two of them have to die, Dandes laughed.

Higgins succeeds Michael Murphy, who was fired in October 2022 after six years as president. Employee complaints about his management style led to a large number of staff resignations during the tumultuous year, and the departure of five trustees after action wasnt taken sooner against Murphy. M&T Bank withdrew its decadeslong sponsorship, since replaced by Five Star Bank.

Robert Brunschmid, Sheas director of operations, told the Common Council in April that the theater instituted a series of changes and was confident of continued progress.

Our new board, who are some holdovers and some new members, have really taken the challenge of Sheas in all of its elements with great enthusiasm and expertise, and were lucky to have the board membership we do, Dandes said.

Higgins said hes excited to work in a 1926 theater designed by Rapp & Rapp, one of the handful of great movie-palace designers, with rare interior offerings by Louis Comfort Tiffany. He comes to Sheas with the theater in solid financial health and the Broadway season at Sheas Buffalo Theatre fully recovered from the pandemic.

The 2023-2024 season has 16,500 season subscribers, second only to the 2018-2019 season, when the offering of Hamilton  which Dandes called a force of nature  helped attract 18,474 subscribers.

For years now, Sheas has been one of the leading touring Broadway theaters in the United States, which was made possible by the stage expansion in 1999.

The staff and senior management at Sheas have done an extraordinary job over the past 12 months or more, Higgins said. They are deserving of a leader who will allow them to be their authentic selves without fear or apprehension.

Higgins said the average amount of time his staffers have worked with him is 10 years, compared to Congressional staffers who stay on their job in Washington, D.C., an average of three years.

I have learned that the people who work with you are invaluable, and no vision can be realized without everybody believing in it, he said.

High on Higgins to-do list is taking advantage of federal funding opportunities to bring more resources for all three theaters, and to use state and federal historic tax credits for projects at Sheas Buffalo Theatre, listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Higgins also wants to expand the theaters reach into Southern Ontario, noting less than 1% of subscribers are Canadian.

He also wants to revitalize the Theatre District, founded in 1978.

Sheas is magical, he said. But the magical experience doesnt start until you get in the building.

Higgins has a deep family connection to theater. His uncle, Michael Breen, who had extensive acting and directing credits in Western New York, lived with the Higgins family throughout Brian Higgins childhood and beyond.

He brought literature and arts and theater into our lives, Higgins said. He instilled in me a great appreciation for them.

Matthew Crehan Higgins, Brian Higgins nephew and godson, also acts in Buffalo.

I dont claim to be of the theater, but I have people close to me who are, Higgins said.

As a youth, Higgins was enchanted attending matinees at another Sheas movie house  Sheas Seneca Theatre, before the venue was demolished in 1970.

The movie theater was surrounded by shoe stores, dress shops, mens shops and restaurants still populating Seneca Street on what was South Buffalos main commercial strip.

Coincidentally, Higgins father, Daniel Higgins Sr., a South District Council Member in 1978, voted to help Friends of Buffalo Theatre, which was trying to save the theater and stave off demolition. That group would later evolve into Sheas OConnell Preservation Guild, the nonprofit organization that since 1980 has operated the city-owned building.

Higgins finds a similar allure in Sheas Buffalo Theatre, and proudly recalled when musician Bonnie Raitt, after he introduced himself to her backstage years ago in Washington, said without being prompted that Sheas was one of the most beautiful touring venues she had ever played.

Higgins favorite memory at Sheas isnt attending a musical, but a rock concert  Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Bands 1978 Darkness on the Edge of Town tour.

A big part of Higgins job, given his name recognition, contacts and knowledge of the ways of Washington, will be fundraising.

Dandes said the board is looking forward to making progress on raising the funds needed to install elevators and add bathrooms and other amenities to Sheas Buffalo Theatres mezzanine and balcony levels. The fundraising effort came to a halt during the pandemic.

If you are a special-needs person, or have trouble with mobility, Sheas is tough to get in and out of, Dandes said.

The selection of touring Broadway shows and other programming will continue to be done by Albert Nocciolino, Sheas co-presenter and Tony award-winning producer.

We dont need someone to book Broadway shows, Dandes said. Albert epitomizes Sheas Buffalo Theatre, and we are very fortunate to have him.

Higgins also wont need to worry about a roof  it was replaced in September by the city for $3 million as part of the theaters lease. The theater also completed a yearslong full restoration in 2016 under former President and CEO Anthony Conte and restoration consultant Doris Collins.

Still, Dandes said, the beauty of Sheas is dependent every year on the ability to maintain it.
California Gun Violence Research View Photo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  A state appeals court ruled that California can continue providing personal information of gun owners to researchers to study gun violence, reversing last years decision by a lower court judge who said such data sharing violates privacy rights.

In 2021, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law allowing the states Department of Justice to share identifying information of more than 4 million gun owners in California with qualified research institutions to help them better study gun violence, accidents and suicides. The information  which the state collects with every firearm sale to perform background checks  include names, addresses, phone numbers, and any criminal records, among other things. Under the law, researchers can use the information and make their findings public, but cant release any identifying information of gun owners.

In response, gun owners and organizations sued the state, arguing that the disclosure of their information violates their privacy rights. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ruled to temporarily block the law last October.

But on Friday, a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth District found that the lower court failed to consider the states interest in studying and preventing gun violence in its analysis before halting the law. In the opinion, Associate Justice Julia C. Kelety sent the case back to the lower court and said the preliminary injunction must be reversed.

Lawyers representing the gun owners and firearms groups suing the state didnt immediately respond to calls and an email seeking comment.

The Friday ruling came months after a federal judge refused to block the law in a separate lawsuit.

The data sharing law is among several gun measures in California that are being legally challenged. In October, a federal judge overturned the states three-decade-old ban on assault weapons again, ruling that the law violates constitutional rights.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta said once the data sharing ruling is implemented, the state will resume providing this information to researchers.

The courts decision is a victory in our ongoing efforts to prevent gun violence, Bonta said in a statement.

He added: The law serves the important goal of enabling research that supports informed policymaking aimed at reducing and preventing firearm violence.

Garen Wintemute, who directs the California Firearm Violence Research Center at University of California, Davis cheered the recent ruling. The center has been working with the state on studying gun violence.

The courts decision is an important victory for science, Wintemute said in a statement. For more than 30 years, researchers at UC Davis and elsewhere have used the data in question to conduct vital research that simply couldnt be done anywhere else. Were glad to be able to return to that important work, which will improve health and safety here in California and across the country.

By TRAN NGUYEN

Associated Press
Stolen Retail Items Confiscated by CHP View Photo

California Governor Gavin Newsom says the CHP will be utilized in several larger cities this holiday season to crack down on coordinated retail crime rings.

An Organized Retail Crime Prevention Task Force will have regional teams around the San Joaquin Valley, the Bay Area, Southern California, and Sacramento.

The Public Policy Institute of California recently reported that there was a 28% increase in commercial shoplifting crimes in 2022 in comparison to 2021. Under Proposition 47, commercial shoplifting is defined as theft of under $950 during regular business hours.

Newsom says the task force will be collaborating with retailers, loss prevention, and local law enforcement agencies.

CHP statewide Commissioner, Sean Duryee, says, Working together with our partners, and utilizing the CHPs extensive statewide resources, we are cracking down and stopping unacceptable criminal activity.

Governor Newsom adds, The California Highway Patrol  working with allied agencies  is increasing enforcement efforts and conducting and supporting covert and confidential takedowns to stop these criminals in their tracks during the holiday season.
Register to vote - mml archive image View Photo

San Andreas, CA  There are some things to remember ahead of the March 5 Presidential Primary Election.

Rebecca Turner, Calaveras County Clerk-Recorder, has a new myMotherLode.com blog about crossover voting. It applies to voters who decline to state a political party preference. In California, the parties that allow crossover voting, or voting in a party primary without actually joining the party, include the Democrats, Libertarians, and American Independents.

Turner details the logistics, and what to do if you wish to do crossover voting, in the full blog, which can be found here.

California moved up its Presidential Primary four years ago, from June to March, in an effort to be more relevant in the presidential selection process.

Meanwhile, the non-presidential races in California, like the US Senate, US House, California Senate, and California Assembly, use a jungle primary system. Voters will pick from all of the candidates running for a race, and the top two, regardless of party, will move on to the November General Election.

The March primary will also feature local, non-partisan races, like the board of supervisors.
Wreaths Across America director: The flag helped us get through 9/11

closeVideo

Executive director of Wreaths Across America Karen Worcester reflects on her group raising the American flag every Tuesday to honor the victims and first responders of 9/11.

Preparations have been underway for the annual tradition of honoring America's fallen veterans at holiday time  with National Wreaths Across America Day coming up fast already, on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022.

The nonprofit Wreaths Across America helps family members, friends, neighbors and volunteers all across the country lay wreaths at the gravestones of those who have served our country.

The holiday tradition of honoring America's lost veterans will take place not only at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia  but at over 3,500 locations across the U.S. and worldwide in 2022.

WORLD WAR II VETERAN GLADYS HUGHES, 99, HAS PATRIOTIC MESSAGE FOR THE NATION

Wreaths Across America continues to grow year after year  and it ships millions of wreaths to thousands of locations all around the world.

"This year we've seen extreme growth," Amber Caron, communications director, told Fox News Digital in a phone interview, expressing excitement about the growth of the meaningful gesture toward America's fallen veterans.

Wreaths are shown at the foot of headstones in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, during a recent December. Volunteers and families place thousands of remembrance wreaths on headstones across the cemetery  and at thousands of other locations  on National Wreaths Across America Day each year. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

"Over 500 new locations have signed up to participate in National Wreaths Across America Day," she said.

"Location," she explained, can refer to any cemetery in which veterans are buried, a memorial, a town square whose residents want to host a ceremony  or some other site where veterans are honored, respected and remembered.

There is no cost to become a participating location and host a Wreaths Across America ceremony.

"Basically, they're saying, We want to bring the mission to remember our veterans'"  and any participating, registered locations, said Caron, "will automatically receive eight ceremonial wreaths" from Wreaths Across America as part of the holiday remembrance

Each of those wreaths stands for a branch of the military, plus for POWs and MIAs.

MEET THE AMERICAN WHO INSPIRED THE NATION IN TWO WORLD WARS: CHRISTIAN SOLDIER SGT. ALVIN YORK

"For us," she said, "it's exciting because people who participate [at one site] then often want to bring the event to their own communities" the following year.

A child is shown carrying a wreath to a grave during the Wreaths Across America annual event at Arlington National Cemetery, on Saturday, Dec. 12, 2015, in Arlington, Virginia. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

"And that's how this continues to grow."

There is no cost to become a participating location and host a Wreaths Across America ceremony.

Caron noted, "There is a lot of tough stuff going on in the country and in the world. And it goes to show that  no matter what your background is, or your beliefs are  most people can agree on this: Our veterans are worthy of honoring. Their families are worthy of honoring. And it's important during this holiday season to take time out to say thank you."

All year long, Wreaths Across America does work for living veterans as well  to "remember, honor and teach" people about veterans' dedication to our country.

Caron also said they're bringing in new groups each year and working with new partners and different organizations.

She also emphasized that all year long, Wreaths Across America does work for living veterans as well  to "remember, honor and teach" people across the country about our veterans and their dedication to the country.

"There are many ways for people to be involved all year 'round," she said.

VIRGINIA NAVY VETERAN SAYS ALL VETERANS DESERVE THANKS, NOT JUST THOSE WHO SAW BATTLE

Participating organizations can raise money and funds for their veterans and their own work  "and those funds are making a difference" throughout the year, said Caron.

Wreaths lay covered in snow next to markers at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on Jan. 6, 2015, after a small winter storm. (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

"In many homes, there is an empty seat for [a loved] one who is serving or one who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country," the organization notes on its website.

"There is no better time to express our appreciation than during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. We hope you will join us at any of our  participating locations to show our veterans and their families that we will not forget. We will never forget," the organization also says.

"There is no better time to express our appreciation than during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season."

Caron said that this year, Wreaths Across America is expecting some three million volunteers to come out nationally to lay wreaths at veterans' graves and burial sites for the holidays on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022.

Any VFW, American Legion or other organization that would like to help its own local veterans throughout the year  as well as participate in National Wreaths Across America Day on Dec. 17, 2022  can go to the nonprofit's website at www.wreathsacrossamerica.org to learn more.

A veteran holds the hand of a child as they honor America's deceased veterans in a cemetery  with all gravesites adorned with a holiday wreath thanks to Wreaths Across America. (Wreaths Across America)

"It's an event for the community  plus people can learn more about the veterans in their local community  and that includes the children. Kids can learn what veterans have done," said Caron.

There is still plenty of time to sign up, by the way, for National Wreaths Across America Day this year.

ON VETERANS DAY, NEW YORK TEEN HONORS WWII VETERAN WITH MEMORIAL AND PERSONALIZED CREATIONS

Added Sean Sullivan, public relations manager for Wreaths Across America, "This organization started as just one family who wanted to make a kind gesture toward veterans at Arlington National Cemetery. And so many people loved the idea of what they were doing  and they were the ones who have grown this organization and built it to what it is today."

He added, "It is really word of mouth" that has helped grow the group.

Karen Worcester is executive director of Wreaths Across America. She and her husband, Morrill Worcester, who founded the nonprofit organization, remain actively involved in WAA and its multitude of efforts to this day. (Fox News)

The countrys longest veterans parade  the Wreaths Across America annual escort from Harrington, Maine, to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia  kicks off on Saturday, Dec. 10, 2022, with a ceremony in Calais, Maine.

There are a number of planned stops along the route, which will take a week and culminate in National Wreaths Across America Day.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Also, the organization's mobile education exhibit starts its national tour in California in mid-January.

It's a museum on wheels, essentially, the organization says. It has a small movie theater and exhibits and activities for kids, and operates as a "welcome home" unit for many veterans in America, especially Vietnam veterans who generally were not welcomed home and respected when they first returned from war.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER

Morrill Worcester, founder of Wreaths Across America and owner of Worcester Wreath Company of Harrington, Maine  his wife Karen Worcester, who is executive director  remain actively involved to this day.

Added Caron, "Morrill still donates the wreaths that go to all of the locations." These wreaths are sponsored by the thousands of generous Americans who believe in what Wreaths Across America is doing each and every year.

To learn how to participate on behalf of America's fallen veterans, anyone can visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org to find more information and details.

Maureen Mackey is managing editor of lifestyle for Fox News Digital.
ALBANY  As Thanksgiving Day ended, so did a one-year window allowing adult survivors of alleged sexual abuse to file lawsuits seeking monetary damages, regardless of when the abuse occurred.

The Adult Survivors Act, passed by Albany lawmakers in 2022, has spurred thousands of lawsuits, a majority of which alleged sexual abuse had been committed by male prison or jail guards against female inmates. There were a number of lawsuits, including in Erie County, alleging that abuse had been committed by Catholic priests. And there were lawsuits against high-profile figures, including a recent legal summons alleging that New York City Mayor Eric Adams committed sexual assault against a woman in 1993. Adams denied the allegation and said he could not recall ever meeting the accuser.

On Wednesday, a former aide filed a lawsuit against ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, his former counsel, and New York State, in State Supreme Court in Albany.

Her attorney wrote in a legal summons that Brittany Commisso had suffered continuous sexual harassment including unwelcome sexual advances, sexualized comments about appearance and personal matters, relations, their dating, their sex life, and her marriage, assignment of humiliating and demeaning tasks, hugs, kisses, sexual touching of the buttocks, and forcible touching of the breast ... 

The lawsuit includes Commissos previously made allegation that Cuomo forcibly groped her breast during an encounter in the Executive Mansion in 2020. That groping allegation was the subject of a misdemeanor criminal charge brought by the Albany County Sheriffs Office in 2021, a charge that was ultimately dropped by the Albany District Attorneys Office due to a lack of evidence. Cuomos attorney calls the allegations in the new lawsuit provably false and a cash grab.

The Adult Survivors Act was signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in 2022. On Nov. 24, 2022, a one-year window opened during which survivors of sexual assault, who were over 18 when abuse occurred, could file civil lawsuits seeking monetary damages, even if the statute of limitations had expired. That window closed Thursday.

The law is similar in its purpose to the Child Victims Act that gave victims of childhood sexual abuse more time to file lawsuits during a one-year window between 2019 and 2020.

The cases will play out in the coming years in two distinctly different types of venues.

Cases against New York State will generally be heard in the Court of Claims, which solely handles civil cases seeking damages from New York State. Those cases will be decided by judges in bench trials, not by juries, and judges will also render decisions about the degree of monetary damages awarded. Some claimants attorneys see the Court of Claims  where the judges are appointed to the positions by New Yorks governor  as a less favorable venue than State Supreme Court, where the cases will be decided by juries. But New York State also has a far greater capacity to pay damages than most individuals.

Through Nov. 1, 1,469 total claims had been filed in the Court of Claims, according to the state Office of Court Administration. That number surely grew over the past three weeks before the filing deadline.

Most of the cases filed in the Court of Claims involve allegations of sexual abuse by male prison personnel against female prison inmates across the state. And through Nov. 1, nearly 40% of all Court of Claims lawsuits were centered on alleged abuse at Western New York prisons.

As of three weeks ago, 515 of the claims concerned alleged abuse by personnel at Albion Correctional Facility in Orleans County, a medium-security facility for female prisoners. Sixty-eight claims had been filed by former inmates at Lakeview Shock Incarceration Correctional Facility, a minimum-security boot camp-style prison in Chautauqua County for young, nonviolent offenders.

Some of the claims, filed years apart, allege sexual abuse against the same guard at those facilities. For instance, at least three of the claims at Albion allege abuse by David Stupnick of Medina. (Separately, in 2020, Stupnick was sentenced to a six-month jail term after pleading guilty to third-degree criminal sex act with two other female Albion inmates.)

If Court of Claims judges find negligence by the state Department of Corrections and Community Service (DOCCS) contributed to abuse, or cases are settled, taxpayers may face a substantial bill. Some claimants in individual cases are seeking $25 million.

A DOCCS spokesman said in August that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.

The safety and well-being of staff and incarcerated individuals is our top priority, DOCCS spokesman Thomas Mailey said. The Department has zero tolerance for sexual harassment or sexual violence within our facilities and anyone engaged in misconduct will be disciplined, and if warranted, incidents will be referred for outside prosecution.

As of Wednesday, 1,382 lawsuits had been filed in county-based State Supreme Courts around New York, according to the Office of Court administration. In those matters, lawsuits were filed against defendants besides New York State, including counties, cities, institutions and individuals.

The final tally of lawsuits filed in Erie County State Supreme Court was 28.

In 11 of them, the Erie County Sheriffs Office was among the defendants. The Sheriffs Office could not immediately be reached for comment on Friday concerning the lawsuits, many of which alleged sexual abuse had been committed by male Sheriffs Office personnel against female detainees.

Seven of the lawsuits in Erie County were filed against various institutions affiliated with the Catholic Church. And several lawsuits were against local medical professionals or institutions.
Failed wheel bearing caused Kentucky train derailment but didnt trigger alarms beforehand, CSX says View Photo

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP)  A failed wheel bearing on a train car caused a derailment that sparked a chemical fire and forced residents of a small town in Kentucky out of their homes for just over a day, including most of Thanksgiving, according to CSX railroad.

The accident happened Wednesday afternoon just north of Livingston. A spokesman for the railroad said Monday that crews were able to restore the tracks over the weekend and trains resumed running through the area before midday Sunday. All 16 railcars involved in the derailment have been removed from the site, and crews removed the spilled chemical and 2,500 tons of impacted soil and replaced it with clean material, CSX said.

The CSX train derailed around 2:30 p.m. near the remote town with about 200 people in Rockcastle County. Residents were encouraged to evacuate just a day before the Thanksgiving holiday before being cleared to return to their homes late Thursday afternoon.

Two of the 16 cars that derailed carried molten sulfur, which caught fire after the cars were breached. No other hazardous materials were released. A spokesman for the Federal Railroad Administration said the investigation is ongoing and the agency doesnt typically release any preliminary findings.

State officials monitored the air after the derailment for traces of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide, but there had been no detection of those substances at the derailment site or the nearby town of Livingston since Thursday morning. The fire was extinguished at the site just after noon on Thursday, and officials said that it was safe for residents to return home. The railroads Bryan Tucker said no sulfur dioxide had been detected in the area since the fire was put out.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency website, sulfur dioxide can cause respiratory problems, depending on the concentration and length of exposure.

Tucker said the bearing that failed didnt get hot enough to trigger an alarm from the last one of the railroads trackside detectors that the train passed, so the crew didnt get any warning before the derailment. A wheel bearing has to be at least 170 degrees hotter than the ambient temperature to trigger an alarm.

The train traveled about 21 miles after the last detector and was two miles away from the next one along the tracks. Across all of CSXs networks in the eastern United States, those detectors are an average of 14.9 miles apart, but on less-traveled tracks that dont include passenger traffic the detectors can be farther apart. Tucker said that was the case here.

Those trackside detectors that railroads rely on to help spot defects before they can cause derailments received a lot of attention earlier this year after an overheating wheel bearing caused a fiery derailment on a different railroad in eastern Ohio in February. In that Norfolk Southern derailment, the crew did get a warning but it didnt come soon enough for them to be able to stop the train before it derailed in East Palestine.

That derailment and several others since put the spotlight on railroad safety nationwide, but the reforms proposed afterward have largely stalled in Congress, and regulators have also made little progress.

CSX said it was thankful to Rockcastle County authorities who helped respond to the incident and to community members and local businesses that helped affected residents and assisted the company in serving Thanksgiving dinners for the community.

CSX apologizes for the inconvenience this incident caused the local community and is appreciative for everyones patience throughout the recovery effort, the railroad said in a statement.

CSX worked with two local restaurants to provide a Thanksgiving meal at a local church around midday Thursday and delivered holiday meals to the people working at a middle school shelter for residents. The railroad also provided any necessary supplies from a Dollar Tree store in the area free of cost.

Tucker said that about 400 households, which each likely include several people, have applied for reimbursement so far from the railroad for costs related to the derailment.

___

Funk contributed to this report from Omaha, Nebraska.

By REBECCA REYNOLDS and JOSH FUNK

Associated Press
Russian FM says he plans to attend OSCE meeting in North Macedonia View Photo

MOSCOW (AP)  Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that he plans to travel to North Macedonia later this week to attend a conference, a trip that would mark his first visit to a NATO member country since Moscow sent troops to Ukraine.

Russia is one of the 57 members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, set up during the Cold War to help defuse East-West tensions. North Macedonia, which holds the groups rotating chairmanship, last week invited Lavrov to an OSCE foreign ministers meeting that starts Thursday in Skopje, the capital of the small, landlocked Balkan country.

NATO members banned Russian flights after Moscow launched its military action in Ukraine in February 2022. To reach North Macedonia, Lavrovs plane would need to fly through the airspace of Bulgaria or Greece, which also belong to the Western military alliance.

Bulgarias Foreign Ministry on Monday said it has granted permission for the overflight of Lavrovs plane through Bulgarian airspace.

The permission was granted on a request from North Macedonia for participation in the meeting of the Council of Ministers of the OSCE in Skopje to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov and falls under the exceptions from the application of the EU sanctions regime against him, the statement read.

The permission, however, does not apply to members of his delegation, who are also sanctioned persons, according to the current EU law, which is explicitly mentioned in the reply note of the Bulgarian side.

In Moscow, Lavrov said his office has received requests for bilateral meetings from several foreign ministers of other countries who plan to be in Skopje. Of course, we will meet with everyone, he said,

His deputy, Sergei Ryabkov, told reporters that Lavrov wasnt going to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who also is expected to attend the OSCE foreign ministers meeting.

Lavrov argued that the security situation in Europe is more dangerous now than at any time during the Cold War. In the past, he maintained, the Soviet Union, the U.S. and its NATO allies back then sought to restrain their rivalry with political and diplomatic practices and never expressed such serious concerns about their future, their physical future.

Now such fears are all too common, he added.

Lavrov further declared that Moscow isnt thinking about rebuilding ties with Europe but how instead we should safeguard ourselves in all key sectors of our economy, our life on the whole and our security.

The defiant stand appeared to reflect Moscows hope that Western support for Ukraine could wane amid the forthcoming elections in the U.S. and Europe, the Israel-Hamas war and the state of the battlefield where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed to make any significant gains.

Lavrov charged that while some in the West may want to freeze the conflict to buy time for Ukraine to rearm itself, well think over and weigh all those offers 10 times to see how they comply with our interests and how reliable those European counterparts are.

Theyve undermined their reputation very, very badly, Lavrov said. Maybe not completely yet.
By Shannon Kelleher, a staff reporter. Originally published at the New Lede.

In the wake of landmark settlements requiring chemical giants 3M and DuPont to pay billions to US water systems for alleged toxic chemical contamination, litigation over personal injuries from PFAS exposure is starting to move forward.

The first round of personal injury cases to go to trial will involve people who developed one of four diseases after drinking water contaminated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from firefighting foam used at airports or military sites in Colorado and Pennsylvania, which seeped into nearby communities drinking water, according to lawyers for plaintiffs.

No date has been set yet for a bellwether trial, which is probably at least a year down the road, said Anne McGinness Kearse, an attorney with the Motley Rice law firm, which will be representing plaintiffs in the litigation. Attorneys for both sides are currently in the process of determining which plaintiffs will be the first to have their cases heard. They are due to report a joint proposal to the court by Dec. 1. As with the water supplier cases, 3M and DuPont are the main defendants, said Kearse.

A separate round of litigation will focus on people exposed through occupational exposure to PFAS, a group that mostly includes firefighters who have been exposed to the chemicals through their firefighting gear and in aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), which has been used for decades to help quench fires.

We are seeing what we believe are increases in the rates of cancer in our members at younger ages, said Sean DeCrane, director of health and safety operational services at the International Association of Firefighters (IAFF). That gives us a lot of concern.

Roughly 75% of firefighters who died from work-related causes in 2022 died from cancer, according to the IAFF.

Both buckets of personal injury cases are included in the multidistrict litigation underway in the US District Court in Charleston, South Carolina (MDL) that includes the water system plaintiffs.

Thousands of people across the US have filed personal injury claims tied to PFAS exposure so far, with many more claims expected.

[There are] a large number of potential plaintiffs in the litigation, with the number of cancers that were seeing that could potentially be PFAS-related, Kearse said. Whatever happens in the water cases is going to have an impact on the occupational cases.

After the Settlements

There are over 12,000 types of PFAS forever chemicals, which do not break down naturally and can leach into drinking water from industrial sites, sewage treatment plants, landfills, and anywhere PFAS has been used or disposed. PFAS are found in about 83% of US waterways and are present in the blood of about 97% of Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Exposure to the chemicals has been linked to numerous health problems. In March, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced proposed drinking water standards for six PFAS chemicals. The agency has proposed designating several PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances.

In August, the federal judge overseeing the PFAS MDL granted preliminary approval for a $12.5 billion settlement by 3M and for a $1.185 billion settlement for DuPont and related companies to address the water supplier claims over toxic PFAS contamination. Both settlements relate to water system contamination by PFAS in AFF, which is widely used by military and civilian airports as well as municipal fire departments.

Water utilities across the country have until early December to decide if they want to join in the settlements. In separate litigation, PFAS producers are challenging a class action suit in Ohio that could include as many as 11.8 million residents. Meanwhile, Connecticut residents recently filed a class action lawsuit against two of the states water suppliers over PFAS in their drinking water.

A Drinking Water Bellwether

Twenty-eight plaintiffs will be selected for the drinking water bellwether, including eight with kidney cancer, eight with testicular cancer, eight with hypothyroidism or thyroid disease, and four with ulcerative colitis. The plaintiffs allege that they developed their illnesses as a result of drinking water contaminated with PFAS from Peterson Air Force Base or the Colorado Springs Municipal Airport in Colorado or the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove or Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster in Pennsylvania.

Residents of the Security-Widefield community near Peterson Airforce Base have two PFAS chemicals in their blood at concentrations up to 6.8 and 1.2 times higher than national levels, according to a 2022 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report. About 85,000 residents in two counties near the Pennsylvania Navy facilities were affected by PFAS contamination, EPA tests revealed in 2014, with the chemicals seeping into many private wells.

Being able to demonstrate with existing science that PFAS has a strong causal link to the plaintiffs cancers will be key to the litigation.

A 2005 to 2013 study of over 69,000 people long exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from a DuPont plant in West Virginia found evidence of probable links between this PFAS chemical and each of the health problems that will be represented in the bellwether. It also found probable links between PFOA and high cholesterol, as well as elevated blood pressure during pregnancy.

A 2021 review of PFAS and cancer studies concluded that the types of cancer most strongly linked to PFAS exposure are testicular and kidney cancer. Elevated blood levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS), a type of PFAS, have been linked to higher risk of developing testicular cancer, according to a study published in July 2023.

Toxic Gear

Research on firefighters has been a major contributor to our understanding of the links between PFAS and certain diseases, said Kearse.

Kearse, along with lawyers from three law firms, has been retained by IAFF to represent firefighters and their families who are seeking compensation for PFAS-related illnesses and to work towards changing regulatory standards around firefighting gear. PFAS has long been a major component of the gears moisture barrier, although the chemicals are present at varying levels in all layers of the gear, according to a May 2023 study by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

A vote by the National Fire Protection Association membership in June could potentially result in the removal of a requirement that has prevented PFAS-free moisture barrier alternatives, said DeCrane.

We get an email every day about firefighters concerned about their exposure, he said. We get an email I would say almost every day about members who have been diagnosed with cancer that want to find out why theyve been diagnosed with cancer or what theyve been exposed to. We understand that theres risk in the job that we do, but to potentially be exposed to toxins within our gearfirefighters are asking why.
Black dots on white fronts of African penguins may help them tell one another apart Phys.org

Wasabi effective in improving memory of elderly: study Kyodo News

Bacteria can store memories and even pass them on to future generations ZME Science

Plant Fungus Has Been Caught in an Evolutionary Leap Science Alert

Microbial miners take on rare-earth metals Nature

Dwarf galaxies use 10-million-year quiet period to churn out stars University of Michigan (news release)

The cocktail party effect  our stunning ability to filter out words and sounds ZME Science

Baby beaver makes unlikely journey to High Desert Museum in Bend OPB (LS)

Climate/Environment

#COVID-19

Must be a typo or misreported? Beijing has told the World Health Organisation (WHO) that the increase in cases of people with flu like symptoms is down to a new winter bug that has taken over due to Covid lowering immunity to common viruses.https://t.co/deZZ2poNDC  T. Ryan Gregory (@TRyanGregory) November 26, 2023

Widespread illness closes Southern Alberta schools Mountain View Today

Its not just that, its the fact that the govt refuses to have ANY mitigation strategies in the province. Multiple units on outbreak and staff out sick. The Premier has silenced any scientific thought. #abpoli #ableg https://t.co/nlOf7ExRnh  Katie OByrne (@KatuniaOB) November 26, 2023

A short thread on the contents of this article:

Kids cared for in hallways as viral illness overflows ER at McMaster Childrens Hospital 1/4https://t.co/kGAEcaOpTm    joseph.vipond@ucalgary.ca (@jvipondmd) November 26, 2023

Stretched NHS even less ready to cope with a new pandemic, scientists warn The Guardian

Old Blighty

UK foreign office accused of hindering investigation into proposed UAE takeover of publications Middle East Eye

The Emerald Isle

Africa

India

China?

European Disunion

Syraqistan

New Not-So-Cold War

Imperial Collapse Watch

U.S. Troops Still Train on Weapons With Known Risk of Brain Injury New York Times

South of the Border

With looming elections and geopolitical risks, concerns grow over fiscal discipline in emerging markets The Business Times

The West Is Suffocating the Global South With Debt Common Dreams

B-a-a-a-a-d Banks

In case you missed it: Vix  Wall Streets fear gauge  fell to its lowest since January 2020 as investors flocked into equities at the fastest pace in almost two years. Thats a reason to be worried! (via BBG) pic.twitter.com/b9t5TgAHnv  Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) November 26, 2023

2024

Heres what happens if Donald Trump dies while running in the 2024 presidential election Business Insider

Our Famously Free Press

Gunz

Three Palestinian American students injured in Burlington shooting WCAX

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

AI

Healthcare?

Supply Chain

Tech

Class Warfare

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
In the Baltic Sea  home of the twisted wreckage of the Nord Stream pipelines  another pipeline was recently damaged along with telecommunications cables. Western officials are making escalatory statements and are again floating the idea of closing the NATO lake to Russian ships, which would likely be viewed by Moscow as an act of war. Onshore, Finland is rapidly militarizing its border with Russia. And a notable Chinese cargo ship is now at the center of the firestorm.

The Newnew Polar Bear

Over the weekend of October 8th there was an unusual drop in pressure in the Finnish-Estonian Balticconnector gas pipeline. By the morning of October 10th, an investigation had found that the pipeline had ruptured. Telecom cables linking Finland, Estonia and Sweden had also been damaged, as had a Russian telecom cable in the Gulf of Finland.

By October 20th, Finland and Estonia were pointing the finger at the Newnew Polar Bear  a Chinese vessel. The Finnish National Bureau of Investigation produced a large anchor found near the damaged pipeline, which it believes belonged to the 169-meter-long ship and likely broke off as it was dragged across the sea floor. Investigators have not explained a theory for how exactly the anchor damaged telecom cables on opposite sides of the pipeline and broke off at the Balticconector.

I havent been able to track down an exact distance between the Balticconnector and the telecom cables, but Finnish telecom operator Elisa told Reuters that the distance between the two was significant.

Nonetheless, speculation is that damaging the pipeline and cables would have been hard to do without knowing. According to Insurance Marine News:

It seemed unlikely-to-impossible that the crew could have been unaware of this incident, as the event would have slowed the ship dramatically and involuntarily. If the anchor had fallen accidentally and it had hit the gas line, it could have caused severe damage to the pipe. If the anchor had been stuck to the seabed, it would not have passed unnoticed because the speed would have slowed and the ship would have tilted.

The Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat wrote on Oct. 23rd that the Newnew Polar Bear stopped in bad weather 1.4 nautical miles from the gas pipeline for about eight minutes before continuing on.

Images of the Newnew missing an anchor were soon circulating:

***UPDATE*** Photo circulating of the NewNew Polar Bear, the ship suspected of cutting the Balticconnector gas pipeline and two communications cables with its anchor. Everyone is looking at the (missing) anchor However, look at the containers #OSINT pic.twitter.com/mTThwHKSZl  H I Sutton (@CovertShores) October 27, 2023

Newnew Shipping Co. has been silent on the matter. Meanwhile, Finland and Estonia have formally submitted a legal notice to China for cooperation as part of their ongoing investigation. Beijing has promised its full cooperation, although its possible China might not be too eager to assist Estonia, which is allowing Taiwan to set up a government office in Tallinn. The Estonian FM recently doubled down on that decision, declaring that the countrys goal is to cooperate with like-minded partners, mainly our transatlantic allies.

Accusations have already been flying of a plot by the Russians and Chinese since the Newnew sails under the Hong Kong flag and had a Northern Sea Route sailing permission issued by the General Administration of the Northern Sea Route addressed to Torgmoll, a Russian-registered company with offices in Moscow and Shanghai. While this has been treated by some as some sort of smoking gun, its simply because of a joint project of two Chinese companies  the international shipping line Hainan Yangpu Newnew Shipping Co and cargo agent Torgmoll. Russias state-owned Rosatom also provides information and navigation support for the newly established container transportation service via the Northern Sea Route between China and Russia.

Sari Arho Havren, an associate fellow at Londons Royal United Services Institute, told RFE/RL the following:

Whether this incident was intentional or not, its something that both Russia and China can benefit from. Even if the scale may be small, it once again diverts NATOs attention and resources away from other global focal points.

Russia has denied any involvement and Chinas Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning recently said this on the issue:

We hope relevant parties will follow the principles of being objective, fair, just and professional and find out what happened soon. China stands ready to provide necessary assistance in accordance with international law.

Interestingly, there is much more significance to the Newnew Polar Bear than just its alleged involvement in the incident with the pipeline and communication cables. From Maritime Executive:

In another demonstration of the efforts to expand shipping along Russias Northern Sea Route, the Chinese-owned containership Newnew Polar Bear (15,950 dwt) became the first to reach the Russian port in Kaliningrad after a six-week passage. The governor of the Kaliningrad region Anton Alikhanov hailed the achievement on his Telegram account. The vessel was acquired earlier this year by a new Chinese shipping company, Hainan Yangpu Newnew Shipping Co., and ushered in the route sailing from St. Petersburg at the beginning of July. She started the return trip from China in late August, reaching Kaliningrad on Tuesday and spending three days on dock. The ship registered in Hong Kong is 554 feet long with a capacity of 1,600 TEU. She is part of the effort to expand trade between China and Russia and grow traffic along the Northern Sea Route. President Vladimir Putin has ordered the authorities overseeing the route to boost annual shipments to 80 million metric tons in 2024. Transport companies plan to make this logistics product permanent. It turns out cheaper and faster than through the Suez Canal, writes Alikhanov touting the party line on his Telegram account.

So the Newnew was also a symbolic milestone for the increasing Russia-China trade via the North Sea route  part of the Arctic final frontier of the New Cold War where Russia already has an apparent advantage. Moscow says freight turnover in the Arctic Basin rose 4.4 percent in 2022 to 98.5 mln metric tons. From Reuters:

Russia is sending more crude oil produced in the Arctic region to China and India, and at steeper discounts, after Europe slammed its doors shut on Russian supplies last month, trade sources and data show.

Over many years Russia has built up its fleet of icebreakers, ships and submarines. Moscow has also developed mining and oil well operations along its 15,000 miles of Arctic coastline. The US is trying to play catch up by pouring money into existing bases in Alaska and Greenland and establishing four US military bases on Norwegian soil. But Russian economic activity in the Arctic is only expected to increase in coming years, and Moscow considers it an area of existential importance: where it can use all components in the defense of its interests, including force.

Much of the oil and gas from the Russian arctic used to go to Europe. Its now headed to China and India. India got its first shipment of Arctic liquefied gas last year, and the countrys energy companies are looking at investing in Russian projects there.

As Andrew Korybko points out, Finlands efforts to manufacture crises at its Russia border could be seen as part of the Wests efforts to militarize the Arctic confrontation:

Granted, the mutually assured destruction (MAD) between NATO and Russia places very real limits on how much pressure can be exerted along this newfound front, but still opening it might be deemed by the blocs decisionmakers to be better than keeping it closed in that scenario. In other words, where one door closes, another opens, or to be more direct, the end of NATOs proxy war on Russia via Ukraine could lead to the opening of a less high-stakes but still destabilizing front in Finland. This outcome would also serve the supplementary purpose of being exploited by the Mainstream Media as the publicly plausible pretext for accelerating the Arctics militarization. This final frontier of the New Cold War is poised to soon be a theater of competition between the US-led Wests Golden Billion and the Sino-Russo Entente due to the Northern Sea Routes growing role in facilitating East-West trade. Considering this, hyping up the Finnish front like NATO is already doing kills two birds with one stone.

The immediate fallout from the damage to the Balticconnector is minor. According to Naval News, the Finnish gas grid is still stable thanks to a massive US-owned floating LNG facility that was moored last year to replace Russian gas. The rupture of the Balticconnector does mean that Finland cannot send gas to Estonia until repairs are made, which could take a few months. The telecom cables have already been repaired.

Bigger picture, however, it will serve as a useful tool to further militarize the Baltic and Arctic.

Before the investigation into the damage of the pipeline and communications cables even settled on the Newnew Polar Bear, Baltic officials had itchy trigger fingers pointed at Russia. For example, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said the Baltic Sea should be closed to Russia if it is found Moscow was involved. The statement was part of the growing chorus to turn the Baltic into a new front against Russia.

A Baltic Blockade?

The tale of the Newnew Polar Bear could provide more fuel for western hardliners who keep pushing the blockade gambit. The Financial Times reported on Nov. 14 that the EU was actually considering stopping Russian oil ships to check their papers as part of a desperate attempt to enforce the ill-conceived oil price caps. Under that failed plan oil not sold under the $60-a-barrel limit cannot be covered by western insurance for its sea voyage.

Well, western officials admit that almost none of Russian crude exports were sold below that price point in October, and the ships are simply using non-western insurance.

Now, EU officials are saying with a straight face that the reason they must stop ships carrying Russian crude is that non-western insurance policies may not be effective in the event of an oil spill. Anonymous EU officials told the Financial Times that the task would fall to Denmark in the narrow Danish Straits and checks would be conducted under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea laws permitting states to to institute proceedings, including detention of the vessel given clear objective evidence that the vessel poses a threat of environmental damage.

What of the problems with such a plan? The Financial Times notes:

But officials briefed on the proposal say it relies on the capacity of Denmarks naval authorities to stop and check the tankers, and raises the question of what Copenhagen would do if a ship refused to stop. Discussions appear to be centred on making life more complicated for Russia and the buyers of its oil, said Henning Gloystein at Eurasia Group. If you can make the bureaucracy and risk associated with trading Russian oil a lot more onerous the expectation is buyers will start to demand larger discounts again for their trouble.

The fact that Russia would almost certainly see such efforts as an act of war goes unmentioned. Roughly 60 percent of Russias total seaborne oil exports pass through the Danish straits on its way to international markets, and Moscows updated version of the Naval Doctrine of the Russian Federation lists the Baltic Sea and and the Danish Straits as important areas, in which the use of force will be available as a last resort after the other options have been exhausted.

After the FT report based on info from unnamed EU officials, Reuters shot it down with other anonymous EU officials saying that there was no such plan in the European Commissions proposal for tightening the implementation of a price cap on Russias crude oil, noting the following:

Three maritime experts said blocking commercial vessels in the Danish straits would be contrary to fundamental rules of the sea, including the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, which governs marine traffic. Denmark would only have the right to stop a vessel if it posed an obvious threat, they said. Denmark has never done anything like that before. Blocking commercial traffic in the Danish straits would come close to a declaration of war, said Hans Peter Michaelsen, an independent defense analyst.

Its possible that disagreement over the ship inspection gambit is one of the reasons behind the delay in the European Commissions delay on its 12th sanctions package. Its also possible that the FT report was just another in a long line of trial balloons on the possibility of upping the ante in the Baltic.

Estonia, which has a population smaller than Russias armed forces, is making noise about causing problems in the Gulf of Finland with Estonian Minister of Defense Hanno Pevkur recently talking about how Helsinki and Tallinn will integrate their coastal missile defense, which he says would allow the countries to close the Gulf of Finland to Russian warships if necessary. Early this year Estonia was also proposing closing the Gulf of Finland to Russia  effectively blockading Saint Petersburg.

The fact that western governments continue to go back to these ideas increases the odds that at some point theyre going to try something along these lines.

Theyre already well on their way to implementing The Center for Strategic and International Studies plan for NATO near-term actions in the Baltic:

Bring Sweden and Finland into NATO. The ratification of these two nations needs to move forward without delay. Elevating them from strong partners to alliance members changes the calculus of a Baltic conflict significantly. The alliance can immediately leverage these two nations to increase strategic depth.

Forward stage capabilities. Mines, anti-submarine capabilities, missile defense, and secure supply and logistics infrastructure should be forward staged across all domains, increasing deterrence.

Increase patrol. A whole-of-government approach from each Baltic nation and its allies is needed to ensure that energy, communications, and sea routes remain secure. This includes Baltic Air Policing, readiness to shift the balance of A2/AD, and the monitoring and protection of maritime infrastructure.

Strengthen command and control. Existing multi-domain command and control should be tested and ready for use. The need for effective command and control will be swift and will require resilient disaggregated nodes, though an eye should also be kept on future capability.

Taken altogether, its clear that despite the waning support for Project Ukraine, there will be no winding down of the confrontation between Europe and Russia, and the Baltic is one potential spot for tensions to rise considerably. The Caucasus and Central Asia are other hot spots, as is the Black Sea where attempts continue to sabotage the TurkStream pipeline that transports gas from Russia to Turkiye and onwards to southeastern Europe.

Upon the announcement that Finland and Sweden would join NATO, former Secretary General of the military bloc Anders Fogh Rasmussen proclaimed it was a strategic victory because If we wish, we can block all entry and exit to Russia through St. Petersburg.

The caveat to Rasmussens pronouncement is that such an effort could very well lead to open war. Is the West crazy enough to try?
Cast your mind back with me to that long-ago time of 2020, when  on the 60th anniversary of the bombing of civil rights attorney and sitting city Councilmember Z. Alexander Loobys home  I thought I would have the FBI file on the bombing shortly, after waiting two years for it. Three years after that  meaning five years after I requested it for the second time, which was a year after Id received a letter from the FBI telling me, Records that may have been responsive to your request were destroyed in September 1996 in response to me asking the first time in the spring of 2017, meaning six years in total from the first time I requested this file until now  I finally received the file.

The good news is that I can finally finish my book, Dynamite Nashville: Unmasking the FBI, the KKK, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control, which will be out in July. The bad news is that I didnt have to rewrite anything in the book, but rather just slap an epilogue on it and call it good. If that isnt just like the FBI  to lie about having destroyed a file that, when you see it, isnt worth all the subterfuge. The funny thing is, if Id gotten the file back when I asked for it, I probably would have taken it at face value, but now I know enough about the bombing that I can pretty easily spot the things that should be in the file and arent.

My general belief is that, in the 1950s and 1960s, to have a successful racist terror campaign, you needed three things: 1. Pissed-off local racists who were frustrated that the Ku Klux Klan was taking what they felt were only measured responses to local integration efforts. 2. Dynamite and someone who knew how to use it. 3. Local law enforcement that was either unwilling or unable to solve these crimes. Item one we had plenty of. Two we had because of our local racists ties to J.B. Stoner and Asa Carter. Three we had thanks to the FBI keeping information and witnesses from the Nashville police. And let me be clear: Im not suggesting that the Nashville police in 1960 werent just as racist as police everywhere, but they were determined to solve the three bombings Im looking at in my book, because the first bombing was of a white elementary school, and that was shocking and offensive to Nashvilles conscience.

OK, so, backstory on J.B. Stoner. He was a virulent racist from Chattanooga who lived in Atlanta. He and his buddies had been blowing up Black and Jewish homes and community buildings throughout the South. The FBI refused to step in and head up an investigation into him and his group, which made solving any of these bombings very difficult for local law enforcement, since Stoner often crossed state lines to make catching him difficult. In the spring of 1958, Southern cities headed up by Nashville held the Southern Conference on Bombings, where they shared information and swapped lists of known racist terrorists in their states. Circumstantial evidence suggests they identified Stoner as a lead suspect in these bombings. Crucially to this story, Eugene Bull Connor, the commissioner of public safety for Birmingham, Ala. (the guy who ordered firehoses and dogs be turned on children), was on Alabamas list of known racist terrorists. (And honestly, fair.) Bull Connor was also one of Alabamas delegates to the conference. Oops.

So he came home from the conference pissed and embarrassed and  in an effort to show that he too could fight the scourge of racist terrorism  set out to catch a racist terrorist. He just needed one who wasnt his friend. Turns out J.B. Stoner wasnt his friend.

+7 Who Bombed Z. Alexander Loobys North Nashville Home? Author Betsy Phillips Dynamite Nashville: The KKK, the FBI, and the Bombers Beyond Their Control is scheduled for release via Third Man Books

So Connor assigned undercover cops to hire Stoner to bomb the church of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. He agreed and offered to throw in the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King for $1,500 more. They declined at that time to the extra violence. The plan was that Connors men would schedule the bombing, and then police would arrest Stoner when he came to do it. Stoner, however, came a week early and planted a bomb right next to Shuttlesworths church. Only the fast thinking of a man who pitched the bomb into the street saved the building. So now, in essence, Bull Connor had just hired someone to bomb Fred Shuttlesworths church, and that person had done it.

Connor was in a pickle because he now owed Stoner for work done, but if he paid Stoner then he was completing a terrorist conspiracy that the FBI knew about, because Connor went and asked them for help getting out of this problem. When Stoner showed up again in Birmingham to collect his money, the undercover officer told Stoner that the people with the money didnt believe that Stoner had committed the bombing, but that instead Black church members had bombed their own church for sympathy. The undercover officer could not give Stoner the money unless Stoner could prove to the moneymen that he had committed the bombing. Stoner, who had been raised by his police chief grandfather in Lookout Mountain, clearly found the situation sketchy and declined to prove himself.

But keep your eye on this: Stoner commits a bombing. Credit for that bombing, that everyone knows Stoner committed, goes to Black people.

This brings me to a bit in the Looby file I cant decide about. After Loobys house was bombed, the FBI started frantically trying to figure out where Stoner had been on the night before the bombing. (To be clear, lest I make the FBI seem more on-the-ball than it was, Stoner usually came into town before a bombing and left before it, so whether he was in Nashville at the time of the bombing isnt as important as whether hed been in Nashville the week before, and theres no indication in the file the FBI asked that question.) Turns out he was in Louisville, Ky. One of the FBIs confidential informants in Louisville reported back to the FBI.

On April 21, 1960, LS T-2 advised that on that date J.B. Stoner had remarked that the recent bombing of a Negro home in Nashville, Tennessee, had been done by the [racial slur]s themselves in order to gain sympathy and to have a reason for the march by the [racial slur]s on the City Hall at Nashville, Tennessee.

I genuinely dont know what to make of this. If this very line of reasoning hadnt been used against Stoner in Birmingham to get out of paying him, I wouldnt think much of it  just Stoner being an asshole. But this very thing had been used to discredit him. And certainly at least some of the people in Louisville were Stoners closest compatriots. They would have known that this line had been used once before on a bombing Stoner was very much behind. So was this an in-joke? His way of taking credit for the bombing without saying so, since most of the people he was likely to say this to would have known of his past with this reasoning? Or was it just a jerk thing to say that wasnt any deeper than a jerk being a jerk?

I dont know, but I wonder.
NATO Foreign Ministers meeting in Brussels over the next two days will address the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, as well as growing strategic competition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday (27 November).

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Stoltenberg called for the halt in fighting in Gaza to be prolonged. "I call for an extension of the pause. This would allow for much needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages," Mr Stoltenberg said, calling on Iran to rein in its proxies" after a series of strikes against US forces in Iraq and Syria.

On Russia, Mr Stoltenberg warned that Moscow seeks to destabilise Allied democracies, citing cyber-attacks and energy blackmail, as well as its use of migrants against Finland. NATO stands in solidarity with our Ally Finland, the Secretary General said following Moscows actions in recent weeks to facilitate the arrival of migrants at Finland's border with Russia and use migration as a tool to put pressure on a neighbour and a NATO Ally prompting the closure of border crossing points.

Addressing Ukraines offensive, Mr Stoltenberg said that Kyiv is inflicting major losses on Russia, has recaptured 50 percent of the territory that Russia had seized, and that it has prevailed as a sovereign independent nation. This is a big win for Ukraine, the Secretary General said, adding that Russia is weaker politically, economically and militarily than before the war. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will attend the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at foreign ministers level on Wednesday (29 November). We will reaffirm NATOs long-term support to Ukraine Mr Stoltenberg said and agree recommendations for Ukraines priority reforms, as we continue to support Kyiv on its path to NATO membership.

Ministers will also discuss the situation in the Western Balkans. Mr Stoltenberg said that NATO was examining a more permanent increase of troop numbers in the region to keep the peace. Stability depends on all sides choosing dialogue and diplomacy over conflict and chaos, he added. Mr Stoltenberg also called on Turkiye and Hungary to complete the ratification process for Swedens membership of NATO as soon as possible, saying the time has come. Allies will also address the challenges posed by China. The Secretary General welcomed recent discussions between China and Allies underlining that dialogue is important. China is not an adversary but Beijings actions challenge our security, and we must work together to respond, he said.
(As delivered)

Good afternoon,

Over the next days, NATO Foreign Ministers will discuss urgent security issues.



We face the most dangerous world in decades.

Growing global competition.

War in Ukraine.

And renewed conflict in the Middle East.

I welcome that the agreement between Hamas and Israel has led to the release of hostages.

And the delivery of more humanitarian aid.

I call for an extension of the pause.

This would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza.

And the release of more hostages.

The suffering we have seen underlines the need for a lasting political solution.

NATO Allies are present in the wider Middle East region.

Including through our capacity-building mission in Iraq.

We have seen drone and rocket strikes on US positions in Syria and Iraq,

As well as attacks on commercial shipping.

This underlines the risk of escalation.

Iran must rein in its proxies.

Tomorrow, ministers will address Russias destabilising actions in Ukraine and beyond.

Russia has brought war back to Europe.

And it seeks to destabilise our democracies, with cyber-attacks, disinformation, energy blackmail, and even migration.

In recent weeks, Moscow has been facilitating the arrival of migrants at Finland's border with Russia,

Prompting the closure of border crossing points.

Using migration as a tool to put pressure on a neighbour and a NATO Ally.

NATO stands in solidarity with our Ally Finland.

And I welcome that Frontex is helping to bolster Finland's borders.

At our ministerial, Allies will also address the challenges China presents to our security.

I welcome recent discussions between China and Allies.

Dialogue is important.

And we must seek opportunities to work together on a range of issues.

Including climate and arms control.

China is not an adversary.

But Beijings actions challenge our security.

And we must work together to respond.

We will also address the situation in the Western Balkans.

We have seen serious violence in northern Kosovo.

Divisive and secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

And malign attempts to sow dissent, including from Russia.

Together with the EU High Representative we will discuss ways to enhance stability in the region.

NATO has already added 1,000 extra troops to Kosovo.

And we are examining a more enduring increase of our peacekeeping contingent.

Belgrade and Pristina must re-engage in the EU-facilitated dialogue.

Stability depends on all sides choosing dialogue and diplomacy over conflict and chaos.

On Wednesday, Ukraines Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will join us for the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council at foreign ministers level.

We will reaffirm NATOs long-term support.

Last year, Ukraine won the battles for Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kherson.

This year, they continue to inflict heavy losses on Russia.

Ukraine has recaptured 50 percent of the territory that Russia seized.

It has prevailed as a sovereign, independent nation.

This is a big win for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Russia is weaker politically, economically, and militarily.

Ukraine continues to fight bravely.

We continue to support them.

This month, Germany and the Netherlands pledged 10 billion euros for Ukraine.

Romania opened an F-16 training centre for Ukrainian pilots.

Allies including the US and Finland are sending more air defences and ammunition to protect Ukrainian cities from Russian attacks.

And 20 Allies have now formed an air defence coalition for Ukraine.

Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO.

At our meeting, we will agree recommendations for Ukraines priority reforms.

As we continue to support Kyiv on its path to NATO membership.

Finally, on Sweden.

Swedens membership will make NATO stronger.

And all of us safer.

So I welcome that the Turkish parliament has begun its ratification process.

I count on Turkiye and Hungary to complete their ratifications as soon as possible.

The time has come.

With that, I am ready to take your questions.

Jan Anderson (Swedish Radio): Mr. Secretary General, how does the statement from the leader of the Swedish Democrats that he wants to stop the construction of new mosques, even confiscate and demolish mosque buildings affect the possibilities of the finalisation soon on a Swedish NATO membership in Turkiye? And what do you think about the statement in general? And the second question, the increased migration, as you mentioned, the pressure we'll see in in Finland from Russia, how will it be raised at the meeting and in what way is it comparable with the situation with Belarus two years ago, according to you? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: So first on the last [question] on the Finnish border. Well, I think it's too early to say how many or to what degree this is the same as we saw on the border with Belarus. But I think what we can say is that this is yet another example of how Russia is using migration as a tool to try to put pressure on other countries in Europe and therefore I'm in close contact with the Finnish government. They have briefed us on the situation. And we are of course, following very closely what happens around the Finnish border. Having said that, I'm actually confident that the Finnish authorities are able to deal with this situation themselves also with the support I get from the EU Border Agency, Frontex and so far, there has been no request for any NATO increased involvement on this situation. And of course, border control is something which is done by border authorities and the by national authorities in NATO Allied countries like in Finland.

Then on the statement from the Swedish leader of the Swedish political party, I will just say that, I will not go into domestic discussions, but I believe in freedom of religion, freedom of expression, and these are also core NATO values: democracy. Freedom and democracy. And these are actually fundamental rights which shall be protected throughout the Alliance. What matters for NATO's, for Sweden's NATO membership, is the fact that Sweden as a government, as a nation has delivered on what they pledged. Sweden promised in Madrid and also later on in Vilnius to step up its fight against terrorism, step up its cooperation with Turkey, and also to remove restrictions on arms control, and that's exactly what Sweden has done. So Sweden has delivered on what they promised and now the time has come to Turkiye to finalise the accession process. And it's good that President Erdogan has submitted their papers for ratification to the parliament. It's good that the parliament in Ankara, the Grand National Assembly, has started to deal with these documents and I hope they can finalise this process as soon as possible.

NATO Acting Spokesperson Dylan White: We'll go to Iryna Somer, row four in the middle here please.

Iryna Somer (Interfax Ukraine): Thank you Dylan. Secretary General Iryna Somer, News agency Interfax Ukraine. What is your assessment for the implementation of Vilnius summit decision regarding Ukraine? What is your expectation towards upcoming summit in Washington, and what Ukraine have to do to get a good result there? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: So NATO Allies are following up and implementing the decisions we made on Ukraine and NATO membership at our summit in Vilnius in July of this year. And we made three important decisions.

First of all, we shortened Ukraine's path to membership from a two step process to a one step process by removing the requirement for a Membership Action Plan for Ukraine. So that's the part that has been taken. We have actually removed one of the phases that Ukraine has to pass to become a full member by removing the requirements for a Membership Action Plan, as we also actually did for Finland and Sweden.

Second, we have established a NATO Ukraine Council, which is an important body where Ukraine and all NATO Allies meet around the same table with the same rights, the same obligations, and that's about it where we can make decisions together. So that moves Ukraine, of course, significantly closer to NATO by establishing a decision making body at the NATO Ukraine Council and that body, that Council will meet for the first time after the foreign ministerial level this week when Minister Kuleba comes to NATO.

And thirdly, we have agreed, comprehensive substantial program for ensuring full interoperability between Ukrainian forces and NATO forces. This will of course help them also to come closer to us, that they are more capable of operating together with NATO forces and Allies are delivering on that. On top of that, of course, the fact that NATO Allies are delivering F-16s and battle tanks, artillery, training, all of that is in a very practical way, helping Ukraine to come closer to NATO because they are more and more capable of operating and working together with NATO soldiers and based on NATO doctrines and training procedures. It's too early to say exactly what will be the session at the Washington Summit. All Allies agree that in the midst of a war full membership is not possible. But of course, we will continue to look into to address how we can move Ukraine and NATO even closer together as we prepare for the Washington Summit. What decision we make there has to be addressed at a later stage when we are closer to the summit.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: We'll go to Petra, Jordan in second row here please.

Mohammad Al-Shboul (PETRA): This is Mohammad Al-Shboul from Jordan news agency. Mr. Secretary General what specific issues will the ministers discuss with respect to the situation in the Middle East? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: Of course, we are extremely concerned. And I also welcome the fact that King Abdullah visited NATO a couple of weeks ago and he gave a briefing to all Allies. I had a bilateral meeting with him and of course, his assessments and his analysis are of great value for NATO and it demonstrates also that Jordan is a close partner, a highly valued partner of NATO. We have partners in the region. Israel is a partner but also Jordan, Iraq, many Gulf countries and other Arabic countries are a NATO partners. And in this critical situation, we consult we work with we listen to our partners in in the region. So we welcome the pause in the fighting and this has enabled the release of hostages and enabled the delivery of support, humanitarian support to the people of Gaza.

I call on an extension of the pause because this will give the people of Gaza much needed relief. It will also enable further release of hostages. NATO as an Alliance has never played an active role in the Israel/Palestine conflict. We have a presence in the wider region with our training mission in Iraq to fight ISIS with our close cooperation with Jordan. We also do some defence capacity building efforts. And of course, we are concerned about the potential escalation of the conflict. And therefore our message to Iran is that they should rein in their proxies. And of course, what we have seen, drone attacks on ships, on US forces in the region but also attacks on commercial ships is of great concern and underline the importance that Iran actually really don't use this situation to turn this war into full scale regional conflict.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: Go to Teri Schultz in row three please.

Teri Schultz (DW): Thank you, Teri Schultz with DW today. Mr. Secretary General how concerned are you by the emergence of plans that could call for Ukraine to give up territories permanently, possibly in exchange for NATO membership? How much does this concern you about the long-term security of NATO? If this were actually to be the case, and are you also worried that perhaps flagging, flagging in the sense of declining weapons deliveries to Ukraine, could mean that Ukraine would be forced into that situation, again leaving territories in Russian hands that are Ukrainian land? Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: It is for Ukraine to decide what are acceptable ways to end this war. Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place when or if negotiations may start. Wars are by nature unpredictable. We have seen no sign that the President Putin is planning for peace, he is actually planning for more war.

So what we do know is that the more military support we provide to Ukraine, the stronger their position will be on the battlefield and the stronger their position will be on a potential negotiating table. I think we have to also recognise that Ukraine has already made big or achieved a big victories. We have to remember where this conflict started at the beginning of the war. We feared that Ukraine would collapse within weeks and that President Putin would control Kyiv within days. That didn't happen, the opposite happened.



The Ukrainians were able to push Russian forces out to the north, in the east and in the south. They liberates 50% of the territory that Russia occupied at the beginning of the war with a full-fledged invasion, and they have prevailed as a sovereign independent, democratic nation in Europe. This is a big victory for Ukraine. At the same time, Russia has suffered big losses. Significant fighting capabilities, tens of thousands of troops and unmatched personnel and Russia is becoming more and more isolated politically, weaker economically and militarily. So in total, what we have seen is big defeats for Russia. They have not achieved their strategic goal to control Ukraine and Ukrainians have achieved a lot. Again, it is for Ukraine to decide. Our responsibility is to put them in the strongest possible position. Therefore, I welcome the continued support from a NATO Allies.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: Go to Reuters here in third row please.

Andrew Gray (Reuters): Secretary General, you said that Ukraine has achieved big victories in this war, but it hasn't achieved any big victories this year. In the counter offensive, General Zaluzhnyi himself talks about a stalemate. So what does, is NATO content with that state of the war? And if not what is NATO and what are NATO Allies willing to do to break the stalemate?

NATO Secretary General: So what we see is intense fighting. This extremely difficult situation along the frontline especially in the in the east, we see high casualty numbers. And some of the most intense fighting that we have seen throughout the whole war has actually taken place over the last weeks and couple of months. This happens at the same time as the frontline has not shifted in a significant way. So I think we need to distinguish between the fact that the front line is not moving so much, and the fact that actually there is very heavy fighting going on. And again, we are impressed by the bravery, the competence of the Ukrainian forces, and also their ability to actually strike behind the Russian lines, deep into Russian controlled territory. And of course, military achievements can partly be measured in square meters, but also on the losses you are able to inflict on your adversary. And yes, the frontline has not moved so much. And of course, we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible as quickly as possible as possible. But even though the frontline has not moved, the Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders, both measured in personnel and casualties but also in taking out fighting capabilities. So these are significant gains and also the enable to push back the Black Sea Fleet from big parts of the Black Sea. So these remain important military gains even though last months we haven't seen any significant territorial gains. But again, we have to remember the starting point, the starting point was that most experts and also we feared that Ukraine was going to collapse in weeks. They've actually made huge gains.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: We'll go to Tanjug over here on the left side. Thanks.

Dusan Kocic (Tanjug): Mr. Secretary General How do you see the future of the mission of KFOR? And do you think that NATO could take on a bigger role than the existing one in order to improve the security situation, especially in the north of Kosovo and Metohija?

NATO Secretary General: I just visited Kosovo, I also visited Serbia and other countries in the region, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia and I met with the leaders from the whole region. And my message is that of course NATO will do what's necessary to maintain stability in this region. It is important for NATO. We have a history there. We have a presence there. And we have just recently increased our presence in Kosovo by adding 1000 extra troops. We are now assessing whether this should be a more enduring increase, where there is a need for any particular new capabilities. But we have already taking important steps and by increasing our presence. We also urge both Pristina and Belgrade to engage in good faith in the EU facilitated dialogue. And we also believe that proposal for association of Serb-majority municipalities could be an important step forward in moving this dialogue in a more constructive direction. My message again, both in Pristina and in Belgrade, was that both parties must refrain from inflammatory rhetoric, and must of course not conduct any actions that can further increase tensions in the region.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: We'll go to Telegraph in the fourth row in the middle here please.

Yaroslav Zharienov (Telegraph): Is the flare up of new conflicts increase the likelihood [of having] a global conflict between NATO and Russia? How do you assess the Alliances preparation for a possible Third World War? Is it being discussed in the context of the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine?

NATO Secretary General: Fundamentally, NATO has two main tasks when it comes to the war of aggression against Ukraine. One is to support Ukraine, as we have done since the beginning of the war, and actually many Allies have provided significant support to Ukraine before the full-fledged invasion. And we continue to provide support to Ukraine. The other main task is to prevent this conflict from turning into a full-fledged war between Russia and NATO because that will cause even more suffering and death and destruction. And we are preventing escalation in this war by sending a very clear message to Moscow that we are ready to defend every inch of NATO territory.

And we have demonstrated that not only words but also in deeds by increasing our military presence in eastern part of the Alliance. We have doubled the number of battlegroups, we have high readiness armed forces, and we also deployed more air and naval forces in the eastern part of the Alliance. We do this not to provoke a conflict, but to prevent the conflict and to make sure that there is no room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to defend Allies. This is fundamentally the same as NATO has done for almost 75 years: pursuing peace [and] preventing war by having a credible deterrence and defence. And that's what we continue to do: to make sure that Russia does not go further and actually seek a solution to the conflict in Ukraine where Ukraine prevails as a sovereign independent state.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: We have time for just a couple more. We'll go to ZDF up here, in the middle of the room please.

Florian Neuhahn (ZDF): Thank you very much Florian Neuhahn, ZDF, German TV. Mr. Stoltenberg, once again on Turkiye. You, yourself have raised the hopes that Sweden could celebrate its accession to NATO on this foreign ministerial. But now again, Turkiye has disappointed and hasn't delivered. Are you disappointed? I mean, President Erdogan himself has promised to you a rapid accession process. Are you disappointed and what can you do to accelerate this process?

NATO Secretary General: So I would have liked to see a more speedy ratification process. That's no secret. That has been my message now for several months. I actually made it clear several months ago that that the time has come to ratify not only Finland, but also Sweden. And therefore, I've continued to engage with the Turkish leadership including a phone call with President Erdogan around a few weeks ago, underlining the importance of finalising the ratification of Sweden's membership. After my phone call with President Erdogan, he decided to submit the protocols for ratification to the Turkish parliament. That was an important step. And it was also good news when the speaker of the parliament decided to submit the papers to the foreign affairs committee. And the foreign affairs committee had their first take on the protocols, the papers for ratification, I think a couple of weeks ago.

Then, of course, I would like them to finalise that and that's exactly what I have communicated many times. Because Sweden has delivered, NATO has delivered on what we promised and now it's time for Turkiye and Hungary to finalise the process. Because we have to remember that Turkiye has legitimate security concerns and no other Ally has suffered more terrorist attacks. They are concerned about terrorist groups which are attacking them. And of course, we should work with Turkiye to help them protect themselves against the terrorist groups.

And that's exactly what NATO is now doing. I have stepped up, we have stepped up here at NATO. I have appointed a special coordinator for our efforts in the fight against terrorism. We are in the process of updating our guidelines for the fight against terrorism. These are important things for Turkiye but also of course with the whole Alliance. And then Sweden has really stepped up when it comes to exchange of intelligence. Their security services are working more closely with the Turkish security services. Also knowing that PKK is not only regarded as a terrorist organisation by Turkiye, but also by Sweden and NATO Allies. And also the PKK is linked to organised crime in Sweden.

So I welcome the increased cooperation on fighting terrorism but also that Sweden has removed restrictions on arms exports and also, of course, follow up on the message from Vilnius that we should remove as many obstacles as possible for arms exports between NATO Allies. All of this has been followed up from NATO, and therefore my message remains that Turkiye should finalise and I'm expecting that this will also be a very clear message that will be conveyed to Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan when he arrives here at the NATO Foreign Minister meeting where Allies will express their need to see a speedy finalization of the ratification.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: Final question today goes to Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in the middle of the room, please.

Thomas Gutschker (FAZ): Thanks so much, Thomas Gutschker from FAZ. Secretary General, do you sense a willingness among NATO member states to equip Ukraine with what it needs for another counteroffensive next spring? And how do you assess General Zaluzhnyis recent statement that to break out of the stalemate, Ukraine would need new types of weapons, that the weapons of the past that have been delivered so far, are simply not enough to actually change the situation on the battlefield. Thank you.

NATO Secretary General: So what I see when I travel and meet NATO Allies, is unwavering commitment to support Ukraine, with an unprecedented level of military support, [such as] the recent announcement by Germany, 8 billion extra and then added with 2 billion extra from the Netherlands. So just over the last couple of weeks, we have had 10 billion extra euros for military support to Ukraine announced by two important Allies.

Then you have the air defence coalition, which is not only looking into how can we sustain and provide ammunition and the spare parts to existing air defense systems, but how can we add more and more advanced air defence systems to Ukraine which will enable them partly to protect the civilians, the cities but also to protect the economy, the critical infrastructure and also protect their own defence industry. Its enormously important to do what these 28 NATO Allies are doing to establish this air defence coalition to organise [and] facilitate more air defence support. Allies have delivered very advanced weapons including cruise missiles from the United Kingdom and from France. And Allies are also providing a lot of other modern types of weapons. And then of course, we also the establishment of the training facility in Romania for training F-16 pilots.

So overall, I see a very strong commitment from NATO Allies to really provide military support and wide range of types of weapons. Then, of course what you have seen is that, even with this substantial significant military support from NATO Allies, [Ukraine has] not, over the last year, been able to move the front line. And that just reflects the fact that we should never underestimate Russia. Their defence industry is on a war footing. They're able to resupply their forces with ammunition and new capabilities. They have got a significant amount of ammunition from North Korea, and there is a willingness to sacrifice people in this operation, which also makes it hard to for Ukrainians to achieve the territorial gains we all hope for. But, rest assured I'm absolutely certain that the message from NATO Allies at this meeting, but also when we gather later on at the Washington Summit, is that we need to stand by Ukraine. It is our security interest that President Putin does not win this war.

Then just one thing about technology. I think that first of all, we are providing Ukraine with more and more advanced systems. Second, technology is not only about one specific item, or weapon. It's about how they can operate together, how we can use drones, how we can use cyber, how we can use different systems and connecting them, and then providing new capabilities. And Allies are also working on that. And the way I read the article was also very much about actually how to connect and integrate different weapon systems so they can establish or provide even more advanced capabilities.

NATO Acting Spokesperson: Im afraid that's all we have time for today. There will be several other opportunities this week. See you tomorrow, thank you.

NATO Secretary General: Thank you so much.
BRICS nations may call for Israel to officially be labeled a terrorist state

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi is calling on all BRICS member nations  there are now 11 of them  to officially designate the Israeli government and its military apparatus as terrorist organizations.

Citing alleged war crimes in Gaza, Raisi submitted a request to the group's online Extraordinary Joint Meeting on the Middle East Situation in Gaza, asking everyone involved to use their influence to break Israel's "siege" of Gaza and insure that humanitarian aid can be safely delivered to embattled Palestinian civilians.

"It is necessary that this fake regime be recognized as a terrorist regime and its army be regarded as a terrorist organization," Raisi said, adding that all BRICS members need to recognize that the Palestinian state has a right to self-defense while cutting all ties with West Jerusalem.

"With regards to the constant crimes [committed] by and the racist nature of the fake Israeli regime, free nations [of the world] expect all governments, especially BRICS members, to immediately put the issue of the severance of political, economic and military ties with the regime high on the agenda," he added.

(Related: American diplomats are privately warning Biden that the Arab world is antagonistic to the U.S. position of unconditional support for Israel.)

BRICS to open inquiry into Israel's alleged illegal use of white phosphorus, other banned weapons

With the support of South Africa, a prominent BRICS member, Iran, Raisi added, has filed along with four other countries in the International Criminal Court (ICC) the launch of an investigation into Israel's alleged war crimes in Gaza.

These war crimes include allegations that Israel has been using white phosphorus and other illegal weaponry on the Palestinians in violation of international law. The filing also seeks to hold the United States responsible for Israel's murder of children in Gaza.

As of this writing, at least 13,500 Palestinians have died in Gaza at the hands of Israel since October 7 when Hamas was blamed for around 1,200 deaths in Israel. Many of those 1,200 deaths have since been discovered to have been caused by Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

At least 5,600 Palestinian children are now dead since October 7 because of Israel, while 6,000 additional residents are still missing and possibly dead. After October 7, Israel stopped all resources, i.e., food, water, electricity, and fuel, from being supplied to Gaza.

The original BRICS five  Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa  along with the six new incomers  Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE)  attended a virtual summit about all this that was hosted by South Africa.

All attendees are expected to publish a joint declaration regarding the conflict in the coming days, though South African President Cyril Ramaphosa indicated that diplomats have not yet had time to draft it. Instead, most member countries have opted to release their own individual statements, most of them calling for some kind of ceasefire in the conflict.

"The day the U.S. is destroyed and this man-made Israel removed from earth will be the beginning of change," one commenter wrote about the matter.

"Looking at a map of Israel, it becomes apparent that Gaza would be a plum if only Israel could push the Gazans into the Mediterranean," wrote another. "Given the ruins that have been made of (much of?) Gaza, it may be ripe for new Israeli settlements."

"The UN is a dog ignoring war crimes for its American puppets on command  good for thee but not for me," wrote another. "BRICS might have some relevancy in creating world peace with some real teeth."

The latest news about the situation in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

NaturalNews.com
Unfortunately, well-intentioned lawmakers in Albany have once again passed a bill that carries the potential for unintended consequences that will undermine the ability of doctors, especially high-risk specialties like OB-GYNs, to continue to serve communities in New York.

Gov. Kathy Hochul vetoed a similar bill  which radically expands the types of damages payable in wrongful death lawsuits  earlier this year, citing increased costs for patients and ballooning insurance premiums for doctors and hospitals across the state.

The medical community recognizes and understands the good intentions behind this bill and its predecessor  and are committed to working with the sponsors to draft a bill that works for all impacted parties. All we ask for is some balance in the system that will appropriately compensate patients and their families while also controlling rising costs and significant exposure to lawsuits.

Gov. Hochul should be applauded for her staunch advocacy for reproductive rights. New York is a vital beacon of reproductive freedom as access to safe abortion care is under constant threat from politicians in other states. Unfortunately, legislation like the latest liability-expanding proposal will deter OB-GYNs from practicing here at all. That means longer wait times and longer distances to travel.

New York is also continuing to deal with a maternal mortality crisis, which is worsened when birthing people cannot access the care they need in a timely manner. Now more than ever, New York must make every effort to ensure robust access to OB-GYNs and maternal fetal medicine specialists who care for high-risk pregnancies.

Womens health care physicians are already sued more than most other medical specialties. Over 83% report being named in a lawsuit at least once during their careers. High insurance costs and the specter of lawsuits deters medical students from pursuing obstetrics and drives providers out of practice or to less litigious states.

The Empire State needs comprehensive medical liability reform. Legislation that only accounts for one point of view, regardless of its good intentions, threatens the work we do to ensure access to high-quality maternity and reproductive care.

We urge Gov. Hochul to veto this liability-expanding legislation once again. And we look forward to working with bill sponsors to draft a new proposal that balances the needs of patients, families and their doctors. This needs to be a partnership. Access to safe reproductive care and the stability of New Yorks health care system are depending on our elected officials to get this right.
Former Meta director says Instagram FAILED to protect teen users

A former Meta employee testified before a Senate subcommittee earlier this month and revealed that Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, knew of the harassment and other harms affecting teenage users on its platforms but "failed to address them."

Arturo Bejar worked on well-being for Instagram from 2019 to 2021. From 2009 to 2015, he said that he was a director of engineering for Facebook's Protect and Care team. Bejar testified before the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law at a hearing about social media and its impact on teen mental health.

In written remarks made available before the hearing, Bejar said he is testifying because the public and parents must "understand the true level of harm posed by these 'products.'"

His shocking testimony follows a bipartisan push in Congress to pass legislation that would require social media platforms to provide parents with tools to protect young users online.

According to Bejar, his work at Meta was designed to influence the design of Facebook and Instagram in ways that would steer users "toward more positive behaviors and provide tools for young people to manage unpleasant experiences."

Bejar told senators that he met regularly with senior executives at the company, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and that they seemed supportive of the work at the time. However, he said that eventually, the executives would often decide not to tackle the issue.

He cited an email from 2021 flagged to Zuckerberg and other top executives revealing that 51 percent of Instagram users had reported having a bad or harmful experience on the platform in the past seven days. The data also found that 24.4 percent of children aged 13 to 15 had reported receiving unwanted sexual advances on Instagram.

Bejar also said his own 16-year-old daughter has received misogynistic comments and obscene photos.

He also recounted that in one meeting, Meta Chief Product Officer Chris Cox discussed "precise statistics on teen harms off the top of his head." However, Bejar said this was disappointing because it proved that even though they knew about the issues prevalent on Instagram, they did not act to protect teen users.

5 Tips for parents who want to help teenagers fight the negative side effects of social media

If your teenage children are online regularly, follow these tips to help protect them on social media:

Establish rules

A federal law, the Childrens Online Privacy Protection Act, makes it illegal for children under 13 to have social media accounts. Additionally, new legislation is being proposed to protect minors information until they are 16 years old.

If youre not familiar with the sites or apps your children are using, take the time to learn what they are doing and seeing.

Follow them on social media

The best way to understand social media apps that your children use is to use them yourself.

"Friending" or "following" them means you can regularly check what they see or post online, along with the people they interact with.

Monitoring your childs online activity doesnt mean spying on them, but they should know that you as their parents are aware of and care about what theyre doing.

Teach children that they must never give strangers, even their "online friends," access to their social media networks. Teach them to never share account passwords with anyone. (Related: Social media use linked to TEENAGE DEPRESSION, warn mental health experts.)

If your child receives a text or other message containing inappropriate content, tell them that the best response is to delete the content and reply with "I did not request this."

Show them how to use social media responsibly

As a parent, you should be a role model when it comes to using social media responsibly.

Try to create media-free spaces in your family life. Set phone-free mealtimes and actively talk to your children to bond and create happy memories as a family.

Offer to talk at signs of behavioral changes

If your teenager is showing changes in mood or eating habits, check in with them. These are some signs that you should be aware of and be prepared to talk about.

When it's time to talk, focus on using "I" instead of "you" statements, such as saying "I noticed this and Im really worried. Can we talk about it?"

If your children don't want to talk at that moment, make sure they know youll be there when they are ready.

Be aware of how your children use social media

Experts suggest that checking in frequently and being attentive to and aware of your kids' social media use can help protect them from any dangers online.

If you're not sure where to start, try asking children how they use social media. Do they use it to share updates with their friends? Or do they use their accounts to follow certain celebrities or influencers?

You can ask if they are seeking advice or help and how they feel when they use it. Does it entertain them? Does it make them happy or sad?

While it can be confusing or tiring, Dr. Mari Radzik, a clinical psychologist in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, said "active, attentive parenting is crucial." As parents, Radzik said you must try to be mindful of what your children are doing and how you "can help them feel confident, self-aware and resilient."

Talk to your children and make sure they know how to use their social media accounts responsibly.

Go to MetaTyranny.com to read more articles about how social media affects children.

Watch Dr. Duke Pesta discuss how Instagram is targeting little children with its new app below.

This video is from the Counter Culture Mom channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Ads for AI GIRLFRIENDS flooding social media platforms.

42 Attorneys general SUE Meta over highly addictive social media platforms they say harm young people.

Mastodon, a social media platform used by leftist media reporters, has a serious PEDOPHILIA problem.

Sources include:

Breitbart.com

CHLA.org

Brighteon.com
German politicians who openly and eagerly injected children with COVID jabs are now LYING about it  why?

Many people in high positions of power who insisted that children had to be "vaccinated" for the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) in order for the "pandemic" to end now claim that they never did such a thing. To this, we ask:

In Germany, many politicians, including those who work in education, pushed for kids to get jabbed in the summer of 2021 leading into the schoolyear that fall. They told Germans that ending the pandemic would be impossible if this did not happen, so many complied.

We now know that the shots did absolutely nothing to stop the spread of anything except common sense. And now, tens of millions of children are walking around with mystery chemicals inside their bodies, including spike proteins, fragmented DNA, and who even knows what else.

German media continues to call for an appraisal of all the pandemic policies that were implemented there to see who pushed them and why. The problem is that nobody seems to be listening, nor is anyone with the power to do so willing to conduct such an appraisal on behalf of public health.

(Related: Excess deaths in Germany during the "pandemic" only started to appear after COVID jabs were unleashed through Operation Warp Speed.)

Politicians blame corrupt government health bodies for COVID jab guidance

One of the only exceptions is the state parliament of Brandenburg where Alternative fur Deutschland are said to be strong enough to force a convening of a Corona Investigatory Committee. What has been uncovered there thus far is eye-opening, though admittedly limited due to substantial obstruction from the German political establishment.

"The Committee publishes no protocols, many of their sessions are closed to the public, and with a few exceptions the media studiously avoids reporting on their work," reports the Eugyppius Substack. "Nevertheless, every time its members meet, something new and very bizarre comes to light."

"During their third session, in October, the Committee summoned Britta Ernst, Minister of Education in Brandenburg from 2017 to 2023, and also since 1998 the wife of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. At one point in the proceedings, the CDU politician Saskia Ludwig asked Ernst a very important question, namely the one that stands at the head of this post: Why did Ernst advocate the vaccination of children in 2021?"

It is worth noting that similar things have transpired in the United States with the revelation that the new GOP house speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson (R-La.), made "getting vaccines into arms" one of his top priorities during COVID.

Now, Johnson is painting himself as a champion of individual liberty despite this past malfeasance, which many Americans have no idea even occurred. The situation is much the same in Germany with German politicians blaming others for their past support of COVID jabs.

When pressed about this very issue, Ernst told the parliament of Brandenburg that the Standing Committee on Vaccination (STIKO) "set the standard" that she ultimately used to claim in November 2021 that a "high vaccination rate" was "crucial for child welfare" in Germany.

Ernst says she had "no doubts" at the time "about the work of STIKO," which is why she had "naturally adopted their findings, which they make on a scientific basis."

"I suspect that this quote regarding the vaccination rate referred primarily to adults," Ernst now claims about her November 2021 statements as aforementioned. "In addition, STIKO also recommended the vaccination of children and adolescents, and we followed this recommendation."

In other words, Ernst was just "following the science," which is the same thing our own corrupt politicians claimed as to why they, too, pushed COVID jabs on children and everyone else.

COVID injections have destroyed countless lives. Learn more at ChemicalViolence.com.

Sources for this article include:

Eugyppius.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Israels Al-Shifa Hospital raid was THEATER  IDF substantially tampered with footage and evidence

New evidence has emerged to suggest that Israel is not exactly telling the truth about Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

Israel has long claimed that the Palestinian territory's largest medical complex served as cover for Hamas, which was using the facility and its patients as a human shield while operating a command post in the basement. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) recently raided the complex on this premise, only to reveal little in the way of actual evidence to prove that Hamas was ever operating there.

BBC, one of just two media organizations that Israel allowed to tour Al-Shifa after the raid, is reporting that the IDF tampered with evidence at the site, including with the release of "unedited" video footage that was, it appears, edited after all.

??????? BOMBSHELL: BBC proves that the Israeli army is moving weapons around to show them as found at a specific place! They also have not yet produced evidence that Al Shifa was a headquaters with a huge underground facility! Caught  pic.twitter.com/OvkjujhOc5  Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) November 17, 2023

As for those "underground tunnels" we keep hearing about, at least one of those has also been determined to actually be just a simple water tunnel, or reservoir, for a septic tank.

NOTICE? This is the SECOND time Israel claims a water reservoir at a hospital was a Hamas tunnel. They were exposed for doing this at Sheikh Hamad Hospital.https://t.co/YdK2QMyqkA pic.twitter.com/XZyLZGwsRF  Syrian Girl ??? (@Partisangirl) November 17, 2023

(Related: Very little was uncovered during the IDF raid of Al-Shifa to suggest that Hamas was operating a command center there.)

Israel twice claimed water reservoirs in Gaza were "Hamas tunnels"

This is actually the second time Israel has told a fib about a water reservoir at Al-Shifa. Last time, it was the same thing in the end: a simple water tunnel for delivering hydration resources.

NOTICE? This is the SECOND time Israel claims a water reservoir at a hospital was a Hamas tunnel. They were exposed for doing this at Sheikh Hamad Hospital.https://t.co/YdK2QMyqkA pic.twitter.com/XZyLZGwsRF  Syrian Girl ??? (@Partisangirl) November 17, 2023

Photos show how this type of septic tank/water reservoir looks like above ground. The pipe that would lead in and out of the tank can also be seen. This is not a "hamas tunnel" as the IDF claimed. #gaza pic.twitter.com/Mbnl5YPviy  Syrian Girl ??? (@Partisangirl) November 17, 2023

Photos show how this type of septic tank/water reservoir looks like above ground. The pipe that would lead in and out of the tank can also be seen. This is not a "hamas tunnel" as the IDF claimed. #gaza pic.twitter.com/Mbnl5YPviy  Syrian Girl ??? (@Partisangirl) November 17, 2023

In at least one instance, Israel actually went so far as to bulldoze an underground sewage tank in an attempt to make it look like a "Hamas tunnel" and apparently keep the ruse going:

Here is how the underground sewage tank looks before the IDF bulldozed it to make it look like a "Hamas tunnel" at Al Shifa hospital No wonder the IDF didn't want to go inside to film. #AlShifaHospital pic.twitter.com/Ph8hP42RSp  Syrian Girl ??? (@Partisangirl) November 17, 2023

Keep in mind that just the other day, David Friedman, the former U.S. ambassador to Israel under Donald Trump, claimed definitively that it has been "proven with certainty" that the headquarters of Hamas is, or was, located underneath Al-Shifa Hospital. When an Al Jazeera interviewer asked him for proof, Friedman retorted that he is in "Holocaust denial" for requesting such evidence.

David Friedman, former US ambassador to Israel under Trump, says "it's been proven with certainty" that the Hamas Headquarters is under the Shifa Hospital. Asked for the source of this alleged proof, Friedman accuses Al Jazeera interviewer of "Holocaust denial". pic.twitter.com/qvLFMYd5va  Clash Report (@clashreport) November 15, 2023

The latest news about the Israel-Gaza conflict can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

InformationLiberation.com

NaturalNews.com
Israel using depleted uranium weapons to wage GENETIC WAR on Palestine; newborns there now showing genetic DEFORMITIES

Since at least 2009, Israel has been using depleted uranium against Gaza, as evidenced in a 2014 European Union (EU) discussion about how these weapons impact innocent civilians.

According to the European Parliament, there was "enough convincing data" even in 2014 to link Israel to the repeated use of depleted uranium weaponry against the Palestinian people, including in the large-scale massacre that occurred in Gaza in August of that same year.

These chemical weapons are linked to cancers and fetal malformations, including in children exposed while in the womb. The horrific outcome of this has already been seen in Fallujah, which was bombed with depleted uranium by a United States-led international coalition.

As a result of the U.S.-led Fallujah bombing in 2003, which was predicated upon the fictitious notion that there were "weapons of mass destruction" hiding in Iraq, some 52 percent of children born in that area today suffer from bodily deformities.

"The lethal effects of radioactivity caused by explosions and subsequent fires, including cancer of the lungs and pleura, can persist for centuries in the environment and particularly in aquifers," the EU noted at the time about the horrors of what was discovered.

(Related: Another school in Gaza was bombed by Israel this week, resulting in dozens of injuries and deaths.)

Israel on an ethnic cleansing mission in Palestine

If it were any other country besides Israel dropping depleted uranium bombs on innocent people, the entire world would be in outrage calling for the perpetrator to be stopped. But, since Israel always has the "antisemitic" card up its sleeve, it apparently gets a free pass.

Almost a full decade ago, the EU was warning that Israel was unleashing "another humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine and in particular, in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of tons of depleted uranium bombs were dropped with the effects that have already been documented."

Again, this all happened in 2014, and before that in the early 2000s. Israel has maintained a stance of heavy aggression against Gaza since the Jewish state first came back into formation in 1948. Ever since that time, the Palestinian people have been persecuted relentlessly by Israel.

"In view of this situation, what is the Vice-President / High Representative thinking of doing to pressure Israel into assuming its responsibilities for this crime against humanity, and what help can the Vice-President / High Representative offer to the Palestinian authorities to carry out epidemiological monitoring, which also includes all EU citizens who have moved to the territory since then?" the EU asked at the time.

Already in this latest war, Israel has dropped the equivalent of nearly two atomic bombs, if using the size and scale of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima as a comparison.

The Hiroshima bombing on Aug. 6, 1945, dropped the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT on the Japanese city. So far in Gaza, Israel has dropped the equivalent of 25,000 tons of TNT on the Palestinian territory  and the war seems to have only just begun.

Minus the radiation, at least so far, Israel is basically nuking the Gaza Strip on the world stage as most countries seem to oppose this act of aggression by Israel. Will the international community do anything this time around, or will it just be more of the same?

The official death toll in Gaza has breached 12,000 people, with nearly half of these being children. This is ten times and counting the number of Israelis who died on October 7 in the Hamas attack, for which the Israeli military stood down a full seven hours before responding.

Interested in learning more about the situation in the Middle East? You can do so at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

Europa.edu

NaturalNews.com

Twitter.com
James Woods loses mind on Twitter, calls for mass killing and total genocide of all Palestinians with #KillThemAll hashtag

American actor James Woods had a meltdown on social media this week in response to an image of Palestinian supporters demonstrating against Israel.

The tweet below depicts five Middle Eastern-looking men holding the flag of Palestine, with one mock-stepping on a puppy draped in a small Israeli flag. This image triggered Woods to the point that he called for total destruction of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian supporters step on a puppy wrapped in the Israeli flag. They also attach a zip tie and string around the young puppys neck to the Palestinian flag as they smile and laugh. pic.twitter.com/vjaPjVrts8  Oli London (@OliLondonTV) November 18, 2023

"No ceasefire," Woods, a conservative, tweeted in response to the photo. "No compromise. No forgiveness. #KillThemAll."

It is the #KillThemAll part of Woods' tweet that suggests he supports a complete and total genocide of Gaza, which prior to the war, was home to around 2.2 million Palestinian people.

(Related: Israel seems to be gunning for a takeover of the rich maritime natural gas reserves located off the coast of Gaza.)

James Woods tweet visibility "limited" for violating rules against "Violent Speech"

The tweet by Woods seemingly calling for the complete annihilation of Gaza had its visibility "limited" by the X (formerly Twitter) platform because its contents "may violate X's rules against Violent Speech."

To be fair, the tweet Woods is criticizing also seemingly supports violence by depicting men in support of Palestine mock-kicking a small animal meant to represent Israel.

The escalating situation in the Middle East is anything but new, and yet it is new for many who were unaware of just how long the conflict has been taking place. Since its rebirth in 1948, Israel has largely been at odds with its neighbors, who used to live in the land now known as Israel before Israel was reestablished.

Ever since that reestablishment, those who were pushed out and into areas like Gaza and the West Bank have been calling for the annihilation of the Israeli "settlers" who came in and took over the land.

There is much debate over who really belongs on the land and who qualifies as "Semitic" in the eyes of God concerning the land prophecies. One side says the land belongs to Palestine while the other says it belongs to Israel.

Solving this conflict would seem to be the task of the ages, especially since the people calling themselves Israel have largely rejected the Prince of Peace and are still awaiting a different messiah to create peace in the land.

Everything taking place in the Middle East right now is paving the way for this different messiah to make his appearance when the time is right. Then, he will attempt to broker a peace deal between Israel and Palestine that will ultimately fail.

In the meantime, the war will continue escalating and the two "sides," which some would argue are the same side if you pull back the curtain, will fight to the death for the land they both claim as theirs.

"No nation would be willing to tolerate world condemnation for genocidal acts unless you get something valuable in the end," one of our own readers wrote about Israel's plans to take over Gaza and capitalize on its resources, including the maritime natural gas and oil reserves located off the coast of Gaza.

"This was all planned and executed to achieve economic power in the energy sector."

Another wrote that the Israeli plan all along has been to relocate or destroy all Palestinians in Gaza so the entire original boundary can be established as Israel.

The latest news about the conflict in the Middle East can be found at Prophecy.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
French lawmaker Marine Le Pen: Mass immigration fuels LAWLESSNESS in France

French lawmaker Marine Le Pen believes mass immigration is fueling lawlessness in France , and the problem has expanded beyond urban areas to rural regions.

In an interview with the news magazine Valeurs actuelles, she highlighted instances of disorder among migrants. Le Pen cited the tragic case of 16-year-old rugby player Thomas, who was fatally stabbed by a city gang member during a village winter ball.

Emphasizing the widespread feeling of insecurity, Le Pen said a new threshold has been crossed  with organized attacks originating from certain crime-prone suburbs. Based on her conversations with mayors of small towns, these officials are now grappling with a surge in crime that was previously absent, as violence spills over from urban to rural France.(Related: Hungarian expert: MIGRATION is the major reason for France riots.)

Many small towns no longer organize festivals due to fear of looting and attacks, impacting modest communities economically.

Le Pen expressed concern about a recurring pattern of gratuitous attacks, the use of cities as rear bases and the apparent lack of effective responses from public authorities. While acknowledging the challenges, Le Pen remains optimistic about saving France, insisting that politicians must recognize and address the problem.

"We are not there. What only affected the difficult neighborhoods of large cities in the 1980s spread to medium-sized towns, then to small towns. Now, this wave is reaching our villages. But I assure you: It is too early for pessimism. Nothing has really been attempted by successive powers to stem the phenomenon," she explained.

Le Pen also denounced the French government for turning a blind eye to the escalating reality. She warned that criminals continue to be emboldened due to the failure to stop them. The daughter of former National Front Leader Jean-Marie Le Pen also noted the shift in perception among rural citizens who once felt protected but now sense vulnerability.

She likewise criticized the mainstream media for downplaying incidents involving immigration and immigrant backgrounds. The politician likened it to "Cologne syndrome," and stressed the importance of naming the issues instead of striving for political correctness.

Violent crimes up in France

France has witnessed a rise in violent crime, exemplified by the recent widespread riots, highlighting the growing insecurity and elevated crime levels in the nation. Criminologist Alain Bauer reports a 90 percent increase in homicide and attempted homicides from 2000 to 2020.

According to Professor Pierre Buigues from the University of Toulon, France recorded the highest number of homicides in Europe in 2020, reaching 879, translating to an estimated 12.9 homicides per million inhabitants, surpassing Germany (8.7) and Italy (4.9).

Buigues suggests the actual homicide rate may be higher due to the underestimation caused by not counting "assaults leading to death" as homicides, a distinction made in other countries like Germany and Spain.

Recent years in France have seen high-profile incidents, including radical Islamic terrorist attacks like the 2015 Bataclan nightclub massacre and other headline-making killings. Notable among them was the tragic murder of 12-year-old Lola Daviet in Paris in October last year, allegedly committed by a 24-year-old Algerian woman with a deportation order.

The issue of failed deportations and the broader link between migration and France's security and crime problems have been raised. Some politicians highlight the high rates of criminal behavior among underage migrants from North African countries, contributing to a worrying increase in delinquency, according to French Sen. Henri Leroy.

The July riots, triggered by the fatal killing of 17-year-old Nahel by a French police officer in Nanterre, were also associated with immigration by prominent figures like former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.

Zemmour emphasized the potential for "civil war" and attributed the root cause to immigration, a sentiment seemingly echoed by the prevalence of the name "Mohammed" among those arrested for participating in the riots, as reported by French media.

Head over to Migrants.news for more stories like this.

Watch this video explaining why France is no longer France, thanks to migrants.

This video is from the Cheval channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Former counter-intelligence chief has been warning about CIVIL WAR in France long before riots erupted due to decades of MASS IMMIGRATION.

Parisians fear new wave of ILLEGALS in Lampedusa would eventually reach the French capital.

RIOTS erupt across France as EU falls to migrant invasion.

Sources include:

RMX.news

EuropeanConservative.com

Brighteon.com
Faucis former top deputy caught deleting correspondence on COVID-19 origins

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) has been at the forefront of the COVID-19 scandal, investigating the origins of SARS-CoV-2, biological weapons development, vaccine injury and the medical malfeasance and crimes against humanity that have taken place over the past four years.

Johnson recently obtained an email from Dr. David Morens, a former top deputy and senior advisor to Dr. Anthony Fauci at the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In the email, Morens admitted that he purposefully did not keep government records that would be sought out by congressional investigators and the public.

Faucis senior advisor purposefully destroyed documents related to the origins of SARS-CoV-2

On June 17, 2021, during the height of investigation into the origins of COVD-19, Morens wrote in an official document to his colleagues: "I have retained very few emails or documents on these matters, and continue to request that correspondence on sensitive issues be sent to me at my Gmail address.

At the time, Sen. Johnson and other Congressional investigators were asking then NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins for any documents related to the governments handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The congressional investigators sought more information about gain-of-function bioweapons research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which indirectly received grants from the NIH through a payment scheme funneled through Dr. Peter Daszak at EcoHealth Alliance.

Not only is Morens aware that there is pertinent information at the NIH that could be subject to investigation, but he also made his intentions clear that this information and correspondence should be deleted or kept private from the publics eye. Sen. Johnson has turned Dr. Morens statement over to Health Secretary Xavior Becerra.

"Based on this email, it appears that Morens may have intentionally deleted or destroyed records relating to the origins of COVID-19 given his admission that he has 'retained very few emails or documents on these matters," Mr. Johnson told Mr. Becerra. "Further, Dr. Morens' stated preference to receive correspondence on 'sensitive issues' through Gmail shows an apparent evasion of federal record keeping requirements and a complete disregard for transparency."

For three years, Sen. Johnsons congressional investigation into the NIHs dealings in Wuhan have been stonewalled by the Department of Health and Human Services. HHS has worked hand-in-hand with the NIH to stall, redact, or conceal documents related to the origins of COVID-19. Sen. Johnson notes that HHS repeatedly refuses to hand over records that have been requested by Congress. Johnson believes that Morens actions may have directly obstructed my oversight efforts."

Is the NIAID trying to shirk accountability for their role in planning COVID-19?

Dr. Morens email was titled "CONFIDENTIAL WITHOUT OUR SMALL GROUP, PLEASE. It was addressed to a group of high-level scientists at the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (AJTMH). Among those addressed is Dr. Peter Daszak, whose EcoHealth Alliance is implicated in the origins of COVID-19. In Morens missive, he said he saved correspondence relating to papers he wrote that were published online. However, he admitted that he retained no documents that might lead other members of AJTMH to be approached for similar document production."

In a previous missive obtained by a Congressional investigation, Dr. Moren wrote to a group of scientists that: "I try to always communicate on Gmail because my NIH email is FOIA'd constantly."

Dr. Morens disclosed in the July 9, 2021 email that his Gmail had been hacked and "until IT can get it fixed I may have to occasionally email from my NIH account."

"Don't worry, just send to any of my addresses and I will delete anything I don't want to see in the New York Times," he also wrote.

With these emails, it is clear that the NIAID sought to hide pertinent correspondence and details about COVID-19 from the public, in an attempt to shirk accountability and escape culpability for, not only their failures in how they responded to SARS-CoV-2, but also for their role in funding, developing, and planning COVID-19. At the very least, government employees who attempt to conceal or destroy government records must face criminal prosecution.

Sources for this article include:

TheEpochTimes.com

NaturalNews.com

DocumentCloud.org

NaturalNews.com
POLL: 60% of Americans believe Joe Biden actively helped Hunter in his foreign business dealings

A new poll has found that 60 percent of Americans believe President Joe Biden actively helped his son Hunter in his foreign business dealings.

The Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll surveyed 2,851 registered voters from Nov. 15 to 16 and found that 60 percent believe in the statement "Joe Biden helped and participated in Hunter Biden's business," while 40 percent responded that they do not believe the president had any involvement. (Related: Bank records show Biden pocketed $200K after his brother promised to "open doors" for a failing company.)

Among the respondents, Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say that they believe Biden participated in Hunter's business life, with 81 percent of Republicans compared to 39 percent of Democrats and 59 percent of independents believing that Biden knew about his son's activities.

Sixty-one percent of Democrats believe the president had no knowledge of his son's potentially illicit business dealings. Nineteen percent of Republicans and 41 percent of independents hold similar belief.

Biden continues to insist that he has never talked business with his 53-year-old son and has repeatedly denied knowledge of his dealings, despite evidence to the contrary already being found, including emails from Hunter's abandoned laptop and congressional testimony from Hunter's former business partner.

The poll's results come out as the Republican-controlled House of Representatives continues with its formal impeachment inquiry into Biden and his family. In September, the House Oversight and Accountability Committee held its first hearings on the impeachment inquiry into Biden, with a focus on Hunter's bank records and business dealings.

The impeachment inquiry is ongoing, with current House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) now helming the inquiry. Democrats claim Republicans have yet to create a concrete connection between the president and any potential wrongdoing.

Poll shows voters concerned about possible corruption in the White House

Harris Poll Chairman Mark Penn noted that the results show that voters are still very concerned about Hunter Biden's business deals and the president's potential involvement in these possibly illicit deals.

"While the news has pivoted to other topics, voters remain concerned about Hunter Biden and how involved President Biden was in his business," said Penn in a statement. "Hunter received a high unfavorable rating  worse than the president  and most believe that the president at least knew about his dealings."

Hunter received an unfavorable rating of 55 percent  37 percent "very unfavorable" and 18 percent "unfavorable"  the highest among more than two dozen public figures the nearly 3,000 respondents were asked to rate. The president received the second-highest unfavorable rating at 48 percent, with 36 percent saying they have a "very unfavorable" view of Biden and 12 percent saying they have an "unfavorable" view of him.

Former President Donald Trump, who is likely to win the Republican Party's nomination for president in the 2024 election, earned the highest favorability rating in the same poll. Thirty percent of respondents said they have a "very favorable" view of him.

Watch this clip from Fox News reporting on how a grand jury in California has convened to examine the probe against Hunter Biden.

This video is from the NewsClips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

DEEP STATE AT WORK: Documents show CISA launched dishonest campaign to discredit Hunter Biden "Laptop from Hell" story.

China-linked University of Delaware Biden partnership was Hunter's "baby" and part of the Biden Crime Family's "wealth creation" strategy.

Ben Armstrong: New bombshell documents prove Biden crime family SOLD OUT America to China for MONEY.

Stand-alone unit formed by FBI to investigate and mitigate threats against prosecutors and agents was involved in Hunter Biden probe.

SHAMELESS COLLUSION: Hunter is President Biden's "informal adviser" despite being the reason for father's impeachment inquiry, NYT reports.

Sources include:

RT.com

NYPost.com

TheHill.com

Brighteon.com
Putin reportedly willing to end war with Ukraine, sit down for PEACE TALKS

Russian President Vladimir Putin has expressed willingness to end the country's conflict with Ukraine through peace talks.

During a Nov. 22 virtual meeting, the Russian leader branded the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war as a "tragedy" and blamed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for the continued violence. He reiterated that Moscow has never closed the door for negotiations. Both sides have lost thousands of soldiers, on top of the many civilian casualties in Ukraine.

"Military actions are always a tragedy. And of course, we should think about how to stop this tragedy," Putin said. "By the way, Russia has never refused peace talks with Ukraine."

Putin also discussed wider geopolitical issues, saying economic activity worldwide is moving eastward  in particular, toward Asia. He also mentioned that Russia had shipped grain to Africa free of charge, and emphasized the continent's willingness to contribute to global climate and development goals. "Western observers have suggested that Putin is trying to bring African countries into Russia's sphere of influence," the Daily Express noted.

In contrast, Zelensky has favored ongoing military offensives against Russia. He signed a decree in October 2022 declaring that peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv are "impossible."

On the same day as the virtual meeting, the Ukrainian leader admitted that his troops faced a "difficult" winter while defending against Russian attacks. Zelensky cited "difficult weather" and "difficult defense" on four fronts  Lyman, Bakhmut, Donetsk and Avdiivka  as particular challenges for Ukrainian military units. He also urged Western leaders to continue their support for Ukraine.

"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; [and] that there will be some surprises every day," Zelensky remarked.

"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."

Ukraine and its Western backers don't want peace

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has attested to Putin's remarks about Moscow's willingness to sit down and talk with Kyiv as early as January. However, he pointed out that Ukraine's allies in the West  with the U.S. at the helm  have stopped such negotiations.

"It is well known that we supported the proposal of the Ukrainian side to negotiate early in the special military operation," Lavrov said. "By the end of March [2022], the two delegations agreed on the principle to settle this conflict."

"It is [also] well known and was published openly that our American, British and some European colleagues told Ukraine that it is too early to deal. The arrangement, which was almost agreed [upon], was never revisited by the Kyiv regime." (Related: Russian foreign minister Lavrov claims West has prevented Ukraine from taking part in peace talks, now 'almost in a real war' with his country.)

Lavrov ultimately warned: "Those who refuse [peace talks] must understand that the longer they refuse, the more difficult it is to find a solution." He and other officials in the Kremlin have blamed the closure of diplomatic channels on Zelensky, who has reiterated that he won't negotiate as long as Putin is in power.

Head over to UkraineWitness.com for more stories about the Russia-Ukraine war.

Watch Rachel Blevins discuss why the U.S. has suddenly encouraged Ukraine to sit down and negotiate with Russia below.

This video is from the Pool Pharmacy channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Chinese ambassador to Russia claims peace with Ukraine is impossible if NATO continues expansion plans.

Peace talks over Russia-Ukraine conflict could be held as soon as July, German media reports.

RFK Jr. calls for DIPLOMACY with Russia instead of "forever war" in speech.

Trump: COMPROMISE with Russia could have helped Ukraine avoid war.

Sources include:

Express.co.uk

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
Leaked document reveals White House surveillance program lets cops access TRILLIONS of private phone records

According to a shocking letter obtained by WIRED, a secret surveillance program tracks more than a trillion domestic phone records within the U.S. yearly.

The letter was sent by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) to the Department of Justice (DOJ), with the senator objecting to the programs legality.

DAS has been used for more than a DECADE

The letter revealed that the surveillance program called Data Analytical Services (DAS) has allowed federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to mine information regarding Americans calls for over a decade.

The DAS program was also used to analyze the phone records of countless citizens, including individuals not suspected of any crime and victims. The program uses a technique called chain analysis to target people in direct phone contact with a criminal suspect, as well as anyone those individuals have been in contact with.

A White House memo revealed that the DAS program (formerly called Hemisphere) is run with the help of telecom giant AT&T, which captures and conducts analysis of call records for law enforcement agencies, from local police and sheriffs departments to U.S. customs offices and postal inspectors throughout America.

According to records, the White House has provided more than $6 million to the program, which gives law enforcement access to records of calls that use AT&Ts infrastructure  a system of routers and switches that crisscross the country. (Related: WATCHED: CDC purchased location data of 55M phone users to track them during COVID-19 lockdowns.)

In the letter Wyden sent to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Nov. 19, the senator wrote that he had "serious concerns about the legality" of DAS. Wyden also told Garland that he received "troubling information" that "would justifiably outrage many Americans and other members of Congress."

Wyden explained that the DOJ confidentially gave the information to him and that it is categorized as "sensitive but unclassified" by the U.S. government. This means that the data does not pose a risk to national security. However, federal officials like Wyden himself are not allowed to disclose it to the public.

Kim Hart Jonson, an AT&T spokesperson, declined requests to comment on the DAS program, saying only that the company is required by law to comply with a lawful subpoena.

However, there is no law requiring AT&T to store decades worth of Americans call records for law enforcement purposes.

According to documents, AT&T officials have attended law enforcement conferences in Texas since 2018 to train police officials on how to efficiently use AT&Ts voluntary and revenue-generating assistance.

Officials undergo DAS training sessions

In 2020, the transparency collective Distributed Denial of Secrets released hundreds of gigabytes of law enforcement data stolen from agencies around the United States.

A review of the published files revealed detailed information about the processes and justifications that agencies use to monitor the call records of criminal suspects, along with their spouses, children, parents and friends.

DAS is managed under a program devoted to drug trafficking, but a leaked document from the Northern California Regional Intelligence Center (NCRIC) also revealed that local police agencies, such as those in Daly City and Oakland, requested DAS data for unsolved cases that were allegedly unrelated to drugs.

In one example, an officer with the Oakland Police Department requested a "Hemisphere analysis" to identify the phone number of a suspect by analyzing the calls of the suspects close friends.

One officer who requested information from AT&T under the program received "six months of call data for [a suspect]'s phone, as well as several close associations (his girlfriend, father, sister, mother)."

However, the records did not reveal how AT&T responds to every request.

Leaked law enforcement files also revealed that officials from different agencies, from a U.S. Postal Service inspector to a New York Department of Corrections parole officer, underwent DAS training sessions.

Other participants include port authorities and members of U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement, California Highway Patrol, the National Guard and those from other smaller agencies.

History of the DAS program

The DAS program, which was first revealed by the New York Times (NYT) in September 2013 as Hemisphere, was renamed in 2013. Since then, the surveillance program has mostly operated in secret.

Internal records about the programs secrecy obtained by NYT at the time revealed that law enforcement had long been instructed to never discuss Hemisphere in official documents.

After the release of the NYT article, former President Barack Obama allegedly suspended funding for the Hemisphere program in 2013.

But even though discretionary funding was withheld over the next three years, a White House memo acquired by WIRED revealed that individual law enforcement organizations across the country were allowed to continue contracting with AT&T directly to maintain access to its data-mining service.

According to the White House memo, funding resumed under former President Donald Trump but was stopped again in 2021. In 2022, under President Joe Biden, the funding resumed again. The White House acknowledged an inquiry but still hasn't provided a comment.

The DAS program is maintained under an affiliated program called HIDTA, which is funded by the White Houses Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP).

According to the White House, HIDTA, or "high-intensity drug trafficking area," is a designation assigned to 33 different regions of America. The first five regions mapped out in 1990 included areas around Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and the entire U.S.-Mexico border. They are some of the country's most active drug trafficking areas.

The collection of call record data under DAS is not considered wiretapping because it needs a warrant based on probable cause on U.S. soil. Additionally, the call records stored by AT&T exclude recordings of any conversations.

However, the records include identifying information, such as the caller and recipients names, phone numbers and the dates and times the calls were made, for six months or longer.

According to documents released under public records laws, the surveillance program has been used to produce location information on criminal suspects and their known associates. This practice was deemed unconstitutional without a warrant in 2018.

Jonson claimed that requests for location information need the highest level of legal demand, which is a court-issued warrant, except in emergencies. Any orders for a group of people are sometimes referred to as "community of interest" subpoenas. Among privacy advocates, the phrase is synonymous with dragnet surveillance.

In Wyden's letter to Garland, he warned that the "scale of the data available to and routinely searched for the benefit of law enforcement under the Hemisphere Project is stunning in its scope."

No one knows how far back the call records accessible under DAS go. A slide deck released under the Freedom of Information Act in 2014 showed that up to 10 years worth of records can be queried under the program, a statistic that differs from other internal documents alleging that AT&T could store decades' worth of data. In contrast, AT&Ts competitors usually keep call records for no more than two years.

According to a senior Wyden aide, the surveillance program exploits many "loopholes" in federal privacy law. For instance, the program operates out of the White House, which exempts it from rules requiring assessments of its impact on privacy.

The White House is also exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, reducing the publics overall ability to learn more about the program.

Earlier in November, Wyden and other lawmakers in the House and Senate introduced a comprehensive privacy legislation called the Government Surveillance Reform Act. The bill contains numerous provisions that, once enacted, would patch the majority if not all of these loopholes, finally rendering the DAS program explicitly illegal.

Watch the video below to learn how apps allow federal enforcement to track phones.

This video is from the Mckenna channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

British government caught surveilling social media presence of school staff members.

California Gov. Newsom signs bill to track sexually violent predators using GPS.

French government passes justice reform bill that vastly expands police surveillance powers.

Sources include:

Wired.com

NYTimes.com

Brighteon.com
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo has questions about the governments approach to providing defendants with crucial evidence for their defense. His concern seems warranted.

As outlined in his decisions on July 6 and July 27, Vilardo highlighted what he perceives as a systematic failure to fulfill discovery obligations. Now prosecutors find themselves on the defense.

As he stated in a July 27 decision: The government seems to approach its discovery obligations by finding ways not to disclose evidence and excuses for not disclosing it sooner or at all. That comment followed Vilardos ruling July 6 suppressing evidence in which he questioned the federal governments discovery practices.

The judges on-the-record criticism centers on the case against Lavon Parks, an accused killer and drug trafficker from Niagara Falls, and the dispute between prosecutors and defense attorneys on the timely disclosure of evidence.

The judge denied some of the governments information, including 71,000 pages of downloaded information from Parks iPhone. The judge also excluded statements made by a now-deceased witness near the scene of where prosecutors say Parks shot and killed 21-year-old Kevin Turner on Jan. 21, 2018, in Niagara Falls.

Vilardo also excluded the testimony of a witness who has not been identified in publicly available court filings.

The judge postponed the trial for Parks and his father, James Parks, which was supposed to have started last autumn. His reason? He has concerns the government did not promptly turn over evidence to the defense. The judge described the situation as a Brady violation, referring to a 1963 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that requires prosecutors to provide defendants with evidence that could aid their defense.

The trial was postponed again in July when prosecutors planned to appeal the judges suppression order to the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. As noted by News Enterprise Editor Patrick LaKamp, the government did not follow through with the appeal.

Vilardo made clear that in the Parks case, I dont think the government did anything intentionally wrong, calling it a misunderstanding of their obligations.

As to what appears to be the governments disregard of its disclosure obligations, which the judge noted in his July 6 decision,  is an understatement, prosecutors should heed his advice by putting themselves in the shoes of defense lawyers when it comes to evidence.

Lavon Parks lawyer sees the judges suppression ruling as exceedingly forgiving of the governments conduct, adding that the judge gave prosecutors the benefit of the doubt that they did not intentionally hide the ball. Prosecutors strongly object to what they deem unfair criticism.

Vilardo sees a larger problem within the U.S. Attorneys Office. Chief Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, in a September 2020 hearing for a narcotics case, voiced concern that the governments search for Brady material was insufficient, Vilardo said.

And Wolford, in presiding over the case against Rochester developer Robert C. Morgan, found the government mishandled discovery in that case, as well. Wolford said, that fact is self-evident and cannot be reasonably disputed. Morgan faced wire and bank fraud charges.

Additionally, U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara, in a firearms case, said he did not have enough information to decide a Brady dispute, but Vilardo said there isnt much doubt that Arcara was concerned about the governments view that it can avoid all its disclosure obligations.

Vilardos point should be taken:  there is a problem with the way the U.S. Attorneys Office understands and handles its discovery obligations in this district.  It is, as the judge said, a problem that, based on the violations and arguments made here, the U.S. Attorneys Office still has not addressed, let alone fixed. Those kinds of failures can result in miscarriages of justice, benefiting guilty defendants or harming innocent ones.

That comment highlights the need for a comprehensive examination of the discovery practices within the U.S. Attorneys Office in Western New York.
Weather experts said that stormy weather is expected to hit the southern portion, specifically Texas to Tennessee.

Risk For Floods

Due to this, the risk for flooding and severe thunderstorms in the area is imminent. Meteorologists said that dry and tranquil weather is forecasted over the southern Plains as well as in the mid-South through midweek.

This is because of the area of high pressure that has been moving pretty slowly from Oklahoma to northern Mississippi.

Meanwhile, the temperatures are forecasted to be slightly below the historical average for late-November through Monday in the South Central states.

Furthermore, on Tuesday, some parts of the mid-South will also encounter below the average weather before slowly warming up for the second half of the week.

According to weather experts, the lack of precipitation comes in the wake of an expansive storm that brought a fresh blanket of snow from Kansas and Oklahoma into the Midwest.

There is also a brief encounter of rain that has been spreading from Texas through the southern portion of the United States over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Weather experts said that it is very cold in North Texas during Sunday morning as the winds are gusting out of the north/northwest up to 30mph behind the cold front that has cleared the area.

This condition has left wind chills in the 20s for most.

Based on the weather forecast, a storm is also expected to move into Southern California in the middle of the week before moving into the southern Plains by Thursday or Friday.

As the weather system is tracking into this area, the winds will turn out of the south and it will later bring a surge of warmth and moisture.

Weather experts said that the cool air being pulled down from the Rockies, combined by the warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, is likely to provide the right atmospheric conditions for some robust thunderstorms.

They said that the exact track of the storm as it moves from the southern Plains into the Mississippi River Valley would be necessary in determining the locations that are most susceptible for severe risks such as damaging winds hail or an isolated tornado or two.

Meanwhile, a more southerly track will limit the violent weather closer to the Gulf Coast.

On the other hand, a more northerly track will allow for more widespread thunderstorms.

Weather experts said that the recent dry conditions could put the area at risk for flash floods, with the ground unable to absorb any rainwater.

Further, downpours can also bring ponding, especially in low-lying and poor drainage areas, but it can also also cause reduced visibility and delays in travel.

Read Also: Ice Storm Threatens Areas from Texas to Tennessee, Lower Ohio Valleys; Power Outages Expected [NWS]

US Drought

Experts from the US Drought Monitor said that there has been some improvement to the drought that is being experienced during the month of November in some parts of Texas.

They also said that 99% of Louisiana is still in some sort of drought, and 87% is in an extreme or exceptional drought.

These rates are the two most significant drought levels on the scale. Meanwhile, 90% of Mississippi is also in an extreme or exceptional drought.

Related Article: Storm to Unload Heavy Rainfall in Tennessee River Valleys, Red River, Ohio and Other States, Forecast Warns
Chinese officials said that the surge in respiratory illnesses across China has been caused by the flu and other known pathogens.

Authorities stressed that the sickness was not brought by a novel virus.

Caused by the Influenza Virus

Mi Feng, who serves as spokesperson for the National Health Commission, explained that the recent respiratory infectious diseases are mainly due to the influenza virus, while the additional cases were brought by rhinoviruses, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus, and adenovirus.

According to Mi Feng, measures should be implemented to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas as well as extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines for the patients.

Furthermore, Mi Feng advised the public to wear masks and call on local authorities to focus on preventing the spread of illnesses in crowded places such as schools and nursing homes.

To recall, it was since the middle of October when the World Health Organization (WHO) has monitored data from Chinese surveillance systems, which showed a significant increase in respiratory illness among children in northern China.

During a press conference on November 13, China's National Health Commission reported about the nationwide increase in the incidents of respiratory diseases, predominantly affecting children.

Chinese authorities earlier attributed this increase due to the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions and the arrival of the cold season.

They also pointed this spike to circulating known pathogens, such as influenza, Mycoplasma pneumoniae, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

Authorities said that Mycoplasma pneumonia and RSV are known to affect children more than adults.

Through the International Health Regulations mechanism, the WHO then made an official request to China to provide additional epidemiologic and clinical information, as well as laboratory results from these reported cases and data about recent trends in circulating respiratory pathogens.

Experts said that a key purpose to this request was to identify whether there have been "clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia" in Beijing and Liaoning as disclosed in media reports.

They also want to know if there were separate events or part of the known general increase in respiratory illnesses in the community.

Meanwhile, the WHO also reached out through clinical networks for additional information.

Read Also: China Virus Outbreak Expected to Last for Months

No Detection Of Novel Pathogens

On November 23, WHO had a teleconference with Chinese health authorities from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Beijing Children's Hospital, facilitated by the National Health Commission and the National Administration of Disease Control and Prevention.

During this online meeting, WHO's requested data have been provided and the information had depicted an increase in outpatient consultations and hospital admissions of children due to Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia since May, and RSV, adenovirus and influenza virus since October.

Furthermore, Chinese authorities said that there has been no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens or unusual clinical presentations, including in Beijing and Liaoning.

They maintained that only the aforementioned general increase in respiratory illnesses were due to multiple known pathogens.

These officials also said that the rise in respiratory illness has not resulted in patient loads exceeding hospital capacities.

Related Article: Pneumonia Cases Spike In China As Winter Sets In, WHO Asks For Records
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The Japanese have an art form called Kintsugi. When broken porcelain is repaired with gold, the fractures and splintered pieces make that object even more beautiful.

The idea is there is value in imperfection. The broken pieces come together in a way to create a beautiful new whole. I have always been interested in not just the art form, but also in this way of thinking. I always thought if something gets broken I should throw it out. The chips and fractures, I felt, were reminders of a mistake or an accident. Lately, however, I have adjusted my thinking.

I see that I can apply the Kintsugi philosophy to feel a sense of gratitude for heartbreak and loss. Why and how would any rational person be grateful for heartbreak? The pain of losing a pet, person, lifestyle, job or marriage alters you. Without resilience, a person can become permanently depressed or bitter. For years I felt jealousy, or got a lump in my throat when I would see a woman my age out with her mother. I wanted my mother to be well, to have a relationship with my children, to be the matriarch.

I would have to leave the room during a father and daughter dance at weddings. My dad and I never got to have that moment together. After all these years, it still hurts. But the gold mending my broken heart is the awareness that our time on this earth, time with our children, is short. I thought about what my legacy would be. I remember my father and his lessons about safety, work and relationships. I still hear his voice when I make sure my car has blankets, water, food and jumper cables every fall.

My mother listened to my opinions, and made me defend them. She talked about the importance of saving. My daughter said she hears my voice when driving saying, Be late if you have to. Be safe. Nothing is more important than that. Imparting the wisdom of my parents and my own experiences help me heal from their loss.

Years ago, I had a student talk to me about breaking up with her first boyfriend. Her mother told her it was puppy love, meaning not real. I disagreed, explaining the phrase heartbreak was called that for a reason. The pain is visceral, physical, emotional and even spiritual.

Sometimes that first breakup will be the worst in your life because nothing prepared you to handle that kind of pain. I have experienced heartbreak over failed relationships. The breaks in me, I felt, were permanent. I wondered how I could find those missing pieces that would make me whole again. I did not. Things such as trust and innocence, once gone, were irretrievable. But I learned the hole in your life can be filled.

Yes, when the wrong person leaves, it creates space for the right one, but loss can also present the opportunity to try again with more knowledge than you had the last time. A type of grief therapy gives the steps you need to take to heal from loss. It says you need to accept, process, adjust and ultimately reinvest in your new life without that person.

It is hard to see that growth comes out of failure. Nelson Mandela once said, I never lose. I either win or I learn. The ability to appreciate people and experiences as they happen, to be able to live in the moment is something to be thankful for and something that turns the broken into a beautiful whole.
News / National

by Staff reporter

The El Nino-induced dry period experienced across Zimbabwe is claiming the lives of livestock especially cattle, whose conditions have deteriorated due to water shortages in the Matebeleland South province.Matobo district is the most affected area where several villagers claim most of their cattle have died due to drought while others have been trapped in mud at water points, especially in dams.According to a report released during the weekend by Habaukkuk Trust, the rural communities in Matebeleland South are in distress after water sources and grazing areas have depleted resulting in the death of livestock."The prevailing harsh climatic conditions have precipitated an erratic start to the 2023/24 rainy season currently being experienced in most parts of the country."Zimbabwe is currently at the peak of the ongoing strong El Nino event which is driving below-average rainfall across much of southern Africa."According to villagers from Gohole in Matobo district, the situation is dire as dozens of cattle succumb to the crisis in an attempt to drink water from muddy ponds that are inside the local dam."Feluna Ncube, proportional representation councillor for Gohole in Matobo ward 20, told the Habakkuk Trust of the severity of the crisis with no end in sight as the dry conditions are worsening by the day."We are receiving daily reports of cattle dying from being trapped in muddy pools of Gohole Dam. As if it's not enough, some of our cattle are succumbing to starvation as grazing areas have been depleted and we are losing hope by the day," Ncube said.The report also stated that villagers from Sigangatsha in Matobo, ward 6, have not been spared from the devastating effects of the prevailing dry weather conditions as they are losing cattle on an hourly basis."We are involuntarily slaughtering our cattle everyday, especially the ones in calf. Once a cow in calf drops to the ground, chances of raising it to stand on its feet again are slim and we are left with no option but to slaughter," Mary Mhlanga, a member of the Habakkuk Trust Community Advocacy Action Team from Matobo ward 6 said.The report indicated that as a coping strategy, villagers from Madlambudzi in Bulilima ward 11 have since resorted to abstraction to provide their cattle water."The livestock situation is critical and we have resorted to watering our livestock through filling up large dishes with water dug from the basin of the dam," Silindeni Nleya, who is a member of the Madlambudzi Dam committee, said.The report further stated that Bulilima district has not been spared from the adverse weather conditions that have since claimed hundreds of cattle while the plight of villagers has also been worsened by wildlife raids."Hyena invasions are on the rise, compounding livestock losses as the animals are too weak to escape from attacks by these predators."The climate change-induced weather phenomena has colluded with worsening economic conditions coupled with a weak climate governance framework much to the detriment of local communities."The limited adaptation measures to the climate crisis is threatening to severely affect not only the household economic base but also has ripple effects on the local and national economies."Matebeleland South holds a very significant portion of the country's national herd, hence the need for urgent attention to the crisis, the report added.
Monika Yadav By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet would likely give its approval for the development of International Container Transhipment Port (ICTP) at Galathea Bay, Great Nicobar Island, by the end of this year, according to a top government official. With a total estimated cost of Rs 44,000 crore, the Centre is planning to invite tenders for the construction of the first phase of the project early next year, he said.

We are finalising the detailed project report (DPR) of the ICTP project. After it gets cabinet approval, we will invite tenders for the construction of the first phase, the official stated. The facility will be developed in four phases. Phase 1 is planned to be operational by 2028, with a capacity of approximately 4 million TEUs. The capacity will gradually increase, reaching 16 million TEUs by 2058. The estimated cost for Phase 1 is around I19,000+ crore, covering various aspects such as breakwaters, dredging, berths, storage areas, infrastructure, equipment procurement, and the development of a port colony with the government support.

On November 11, 2022, the Ministry of Environment and Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) granted environmental clearance for the project. Stage 1 forest clearance has also been obtained. The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has granted In-Principle approval for the holistic development of the Great Nicobar Island. The Mega Container Terminal is a crucial part of the comprehensive development plan for Great Nicobar Island. It aims to become a leading container transshipment port by leveraging its strategic location (40 nautical miles from the international shipping trade route), natural water depth exceeding 20m, and the ability to handle transshipment cargo from nearby ports, including Indian Ports.

According to the official, at present, a large portion (approximately 75%) of Indias transshipped cargo is managed by foreign ports. Colombo, Singapore, and Klang handle over 85% of this cargo, with Colombo Port alone accounting for 45%. The strategic location of Galathea Bay, situated along the international shipping route, provides a significant advantage for EXIM trade. The development of this port will enable Indian ports to attract more transshipment cargo. This development will yield notable benefits, including foreign exchange savings, increased foreign direct investment, enhanced economic activity at Indian ports, improved logistics infrastructure, greater efficiency, employment opportunities, and increased revenue share, he stated.

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NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet would likely give its approval for the development of International Container Transhipment Port (ICTP) at Galathea Bay, Great Nicobar Island, by the end of this year, according to a top government official. With a total estimated cost of Rs 44,000 crore, the Centre is planning to invite tenders for the construction of the first phase of the project early next year, he said. We are finalising the detailed project report (DPR) of the ICTP project. After it gets cabinet approval, we will invite tenders for the construction of the first phase, the official stated. The facility will be developed in four phases. Phase 1 is planned to be operational by 2028, with a capacity of approximately 4 million TEUs. The capacity will gradually increase, reaching 16 million TEUs by 2058. The estimated cost for Phase 1 is around I19,000+ crore, covering various aspects such as breakwaters, dredging, berths, storage areas, infrastructure, equipment procurement, and the development of a port colony with the government support. On November 11, 2022, the Ministry of Environment and Forests & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) granted environmental clearance for the project. Stage 1 forest clearance has also been obtained. The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has granted In-Principle approval for the holistic development of the Great Nicobar Island. The Mega Container Terminal is a crucial part of the comprehensive development plan for Great Nicobar Island. It aims to become a leading container transshipment port by leveraging its strategic location (40 nautical miles from the international shipping trade route), natural water depth exceeding 20m, and the ability to handle transshipment cargo from nearby ports, including Indian Ports.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to the official, at present, a large portion (approximately 75%) of Indias transshipped cargo is managed by foreign ports. Colombo, Singapore, and Klang handle over 85% of this cargo, with Colombo Port alone accounting for 45%. The strategic location of Galathea Bay, situated along the international shipping route, provides a significant advantage for EXIM trade. The development of this port will enable Indian ports to attract more transshipment cargo. This development will yield notable benefits, including foreign exchange savings, increased foreign direct investment, enhanced economic activity at Indian ports, improved logistics infrastructure, greater efficiency, employment opportunities, and increased revenue share, he stated. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Bansy Kalappa By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: If anyone says that Bengaluru is not the epicentre of India-United Kingdom engagement in the South, I would like to challenge them on that, said British Deputy High Commissioner Chandru Iyer.

Speaking to TNIE a year after he assumed office, Iyer said, Bengaluru is important in the UK-India relationship in terms of its contribution to all five streams of engagement between the two countries -- one the fifth largest economy in the world and the other the sixth largest. The five pillars are trade and investment, healthcare, defence and security, climate and sustainability and finally, the living bridge which is the people connect. In all these, Bengalurus contribution is significant.

Iyer said that leading Indian investors in life sciences or key contributors to the UK economy in the form of jobs, are from Bengaluru, just as there are some big British bellwethers here. There is much happening on the student engagement front, with many Indian students in the UK. Add to this the homegrown brand of MTR has opened two restaurants in London, I have to add that akki roti in MTR London is better than the akki roti here, Iyer said.

Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswamy has his roots in Bengaluru, and five ministers and multiple delegations have visited the city, so there is a great UK-India connect. We have given 1,60,000 student visas to Indians to study in the UK. We have over 950 Indian companies in the UK with an employee base of close to 2,00,000 people, generating over 50 billion pounds in revenue and paying over 1 billion pounds in tax.

Many businesses are focused on tech, with the likes of Infosys, Wipro, and also Microland and Happiest Minds. British brands with a big presence in Bengaluru are Diageo, Rolls Royce, GSK, Tesco -- the entire technology backbone of Tesco in the UK is run from Bengaluru, Iyer said.

On everyone from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the Deputy High Commissioner being persons of Indian origin, Iyer said, We are very proud of our Indian heritage and that starts with Prime Minister Sunak who likes his Indian sweets, including laddoos and barfis. I too love Indian sweets. He likes to celebrate Deepawali and that goes for the 1.6 million people of Indian origin who call UK their home.

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BENGALURU: If anyone says that Bengaluru is not the epicentre of India-United Kingdom engagement in the South, I would like to challenge them on that, said British Deputy High Commissioner Chandru Iyer. Speaking to TNIE a year after he assumed office, Iyer said, Bengaluru is important in the UK-India relationship in terms of its contribution to all five streams of engagement between the two countries -- one the fifth largest economy in the world and the other the sixth largest. The five pillars are trade and investment, healthcare, defence and security, climate and sustainability and finally, the living bridge which is the people connect. In all these, Bengalurus contribution is significant. Iyer said that leading Indian investors in life sciences or key contributors to the UK economy in the form of jobs, are from Bengaluru, just as there are some big British bellwethers here. There is much happening on the student engagement front, with many Indian students in the UK. Add to this the homegrown brand of MTR has opened two restaurants in London, I have to add that akki roti in MTR London is better than the akki roti here, Iyer said. Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswamy has his roots in Bengaluru, and five ministers and multiple delegations have visited the city, so there is a great UK-India connect. We have given 1,60,000 student visas to Indians to study in the UK. We have over 950 Indian companies in the UK with an employee base of close to 2,00,000 people, generating over 50 billion pounds in revenue and paying over 1 billion pounds in tax. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Many businesses are focused on tech, with the likes of Infosys, Wipro, and also Microland and Happiest Minds. British brands with a big presence in Bengaluru are Diageo, Rolls Royce, GSK, Tesco -- the entire technology backbone of Tesco in the UK is run from Bengaluru, Iyer said. On everyone from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to the Deputy High Commissioner being persons of Indian origin, Iyer said, We are very proud of our Indian heritage and that starts with Prime Minister Sunak who likes his Indian sweets, including laddoos and barfis. I too love Indian sweets. He likes to celebrate Deepawali and that goes for the 1.6 million people of Indian origin who call UK their home. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ujwal Jalali By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old man, irked over his 23-year-old fiance talking to other men, strangulated her to death with her own chuni (cloth), tied her hands and legs, packed her body in a jute sack and fled the city.

The accused, identified as Sultan, was in a relationship with the deceased woman Shama for the past 2-3 years but was unwilling to marry her immediately. The arrested accused was also enraged over the fact that the deceased woman was also in talks with a person for the last 8 years.

The horrific murder case came to light on November 26 when the Farsh Bazar police station received a call at 4:44 pm about a suspicious bag in a room near street no. 10 in Vishwas Nagar area of Shahdara district following which the police staff, along with a team from Forensic Science Laboratory, was dispatched to the spot.

"When the bag was opened, the body of a woman, who was possibly strangulated to death, was found," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said. He said the woman was later identified as a resident of NSA colony. Accordingly, the police registered a case of murder and began probing the matter.

During investigation, it came to know that the alleged Sultan had switched off both his mobile phones and fled away from Delhi. However, after a deep technical analysis, the police team traced the accused in Mulund area of Mumbai, Maharashtra.

"A team was rushed to Mumbai and apprehended Sultan with the help of technical surveillance and local intelligence," the DCP said.

On interrogation, the accused revealed that on November 25, the family members had to go to the house of the deceased to fix the marriage and the couple met at the office of Sultan in Vishwas Nagar.

"There Sultan raised an objection and asked Shama not to speak with any other boy as the accused was suspicious about her. Heated arguments took place between the duo and the alleged Sultan strangulated her with a cloth," the official said.



Thereafter, the accused tied her hands and legs and stashed her body in a plastic bag. After that he went to Mumbai at the place of his known via train from New Delhi Railway Station saying that he is looking for a new job.

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NEW DELHI: A 19-year-old man, irked over his 23-year-old fiance talking to other men, strangulated her to death with her own chuni (cloth), tied her hands and legs, packed her body in a jute sack and fled the city. The accused, identified as Sultan, was in a relationship with the deceased woman Shama for the past 2-3 years but was unwilling to marry her immediately. The arrested accused was also enraged over the fact that the deceased woman was also in talks with a person for the last 8 years. The horrific murder case came to light on November 26 when the Farsh Bazar police station received a call at 4:44 pm about a suspicious bag in a room near street no. 10 in Vishwas Nagar area of Shahdara district following which the police staff, along with a team from Forensic Science Laboratory, was dispatched to the spot.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "When the bag was opened, the body of a woman, who was possibly strangulated to death, was found," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rohit Meena said. He said the woman was later identified as a resident of NSA colony. Accordingly, the police registered a case of murder and began probing the matter. During investigation, it came to know that the alleged Sultan had switched off both his mobile phones and fled away from Delhi. However, after a deep technical analysis, the police team traced the accused in Mulund area of Mumbai, Maharashtra. "A team was rushed to Mumbai and apprehended Sultan with the help of technical surveillance and local intelligence," the DCP said. On interrogation, the accused revealed that on November 25, the family members had to go to the house of the deceased to fix the marriage and the couple met at the office of Sultan in Vishwas Nagar. "There Sultan raised an objection and asked Shama not to speak with any other boy as the accused was suspicious about her. Heated arguments took place between the duo and the alleged Sultan strangulated her with a cloth," the official said. Thereafter, the accused tied her hands and legs and stashed her body in a plastic bag. After that he went to Mumbai at the place of his known via train from New Delhi Railway Station saying that he is looking for a new job. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Mayank Singh By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), along with other oil pollution response agencies, has conducted a National-level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-IX), the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. The NATPOLREX-IX accomplished its objective of testing the level of preparedness and coordination between various resource agencies to respond to a marine oil spill, invoking provisions of the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP), the ministry said.

More than 31 foreign observers and 80 delegates participated in the ninth edition of the exercise, conducted on November 25, 2023, off Vadinar coast of Gujarat. DG Rakesh Pal, director general of Indian Coast Guard and the chairman NOSDCP, reviewed the preparedness of all agencies during the exercise. Representatives of various ministries and departments of Central and coastal state governments, ports, oil-handling agencies and other stakeholders participated in the exercise, said the MoD.

The ICG deployed surface as well as air platforms, including pollution response vessels, offshore patrol vessels, indigenous advanced light helicopter Mk-III, and Dornier aircraft configured for marine pollution response. The event also showcased Indias industrial prowess in terms of the Make in India thrust. The stakeholders like major ports also deployed their maritime assets for showcasing synergised efforts in combating marine pollution.

The Indian Coast Guard functions as the central coordinating authority for response to oil spills in Indian waters. Indian Coast Guard assumed responsibilities for protecting the marine environment in the maritime zones of India on March 7, 1986, when these responsibilities were transferred from the Ministry of Shipping. And subsequently, the coast guards prepared the NOSDCP for combating oil spill disasters at sea, which was approved by the Committee of Secretaries in 1993. Apart from drawing up the NOSDCP, the coast guard has established four pollution response centers at Mumbai, Chennai, Port Blair and Vadinar.

Calling for a robust national system for oil spill response as critical to Indias preparedness in Indian waters, the MoD said, Indeed, 75 per cent of Indias energy requirements are met by oil that is imported to our country by sea. Oil transportation by ships is fraught with inherent risks and requires preventive measures to be taken, both by the ship owners as well as the oil receiving facilities inside the port. But the threat of oil pollution through maritime accidents and unforeseen perils of sea persists.

Oil spill from accidents persists despite readiness

About 75 per cent of Indias energy requirements are met by oil that is imported to our country by sea. Oil transportation by ships is fraught with inherent risks and requires preventive measures to be taken, both by the ship owners as well as the oil receiving facilities inside the port. But the threat of oil pollution persists, the defence ministry said.

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NEW DELHI: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG), along with other oil pollution response agencies, has conducted a National-level Pollution Response Exercise (NATPOLREX-IX), the Ministry of Defence said on Sunday. The NATPOLREX-IX accomplished its objective of testing the level of preparedness and coordination between various resource agencies to respond to a marine oil spill, invoking provisions of the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan (NOSDCP), the ministry said. More than 31 foreign observers and 80 delegates participated in the ninth edition of the exercise, conducted on November 25, 2023, off Vadinar coast of Gujarat. DG Rakesh Pal, director general of Indian Coast Guard and the chairman NOSDCP, reviewed the preparedness of all agencies during the exercise. Representatives of various ministries and departments of Central and coastal state governments, ports, oil-handling agencies and other stakeholders participated in the exercise, said the MoD. The ICG deployed surface as well as air platforms, including pollution response vessels, offshore patrol vessels, indigenous advanced light helicopter Mk-III, and Dornier aircraft configured for marine pollution response. The event also showcased Indias industrial prowess in terms of the Make in India thrust. The stakeholders like major ports also deployed their maritime assets for showcasing synergised efforts in combating marine pollution.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Indian Coast Guard functions as the central coordinating authority for response to oil spills in Indian waters. Indian Coast Guard assumed responsibilities for protecting the marine environment in the maritime zones of India on March 7, 1986, when these responsibilities were transferred from the Ministry of Shipping. And subsequently, the coast guards prepared the NOSDCP for combating oil spill disasters at sea, which was approved by the Committee of Secretaries in 1993. Apart from drawing up the NOSDCP, the coast guard has established four pollution response centers at Mumbai, Chennai, Port Blair and Vadinar. Calling for a robust national system for oil spill response as critical to Indias preparedness in Indian waters, the MoD said, Indeed, 75 per cent of Indias energy requirements are met by oil that is imported to our country by sea. Oil transportation by ships is fraught with inherent risks and requires preventive measures to be taken, both by the ship owners as well as the oil receiving facilities inside the port. But the threat of oil pollution through maritime accidents and unforeseen perils of sea persists. Oil spill from accidents persists despite readiness About 75 per cent of Indias energy requirements are met by oil that is imported to our country by sea. Oil transportation by ships is fraught with inherent risks and requires preventive measures to be taken, both by the ship owners as well as the oil receiving facilities inside the port. But the threat of oil pollution persists, the defence ministry said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: In a major setback to ruling BRS four days before the Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India withdrew its permission for the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu, an investment support scheme, for farmers.

The ECI in its orders on Monday said that Finance Minister T Harish Rao violated the model code of conduct and announced at an election meeting that the Rythu Bandhu amounts would be disbursed before polls.

The ECI said four days ago that it had no objection to the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme. The government can disburse the amount during the silence period and also on the polling day.

After the ECI nod, Finance Minister Harish Rao announced at an election meeting that the ECI accorded permission and the government would disburse the amounts. The ECI felt that Harish Rao's statement was a violation of the election code and withdrew no objection to the disbursement of the amount.

The Commission has been now informed vide your letter no. 7022/Elections. A/A1/2023 dated 26.11.2023 that Sh. T. Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath & Family Welfare, Govt. of Telangana has made statements regarding disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme by a particular time before the date of poll, which is widely reported in newspapers and local media on 26th November 2023. The Commission has observed that Sh T. Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath & Family Welfare, Govt. of Telangana who is also a contesting candidate sponsored by the BRS Party from 33- Siddipet Assembly Constituency in ongoing GE to LA Telangana 2023, a Star campaigner of the Party and also the Finance Minister of Telangana, has not only violated the provisions of MCC contained in in Para VII of Model Code of Conduct but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the on-going election process.

"...It is a clear violation of Model Code of Conduct (Harish Rai's statement) and conditions laid down while granting 'no objection', the Commission has directed that the permission granted vide its letter of even no dated 25th November 2023 for disbursement of Rabi season instalment under the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme during the currency of MCC, shall stand withdrawn immediately and there shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its form. The Commission decision shall immediately be conveyed to the Govt. of Telangana and compliance report taken and submitted to the Commission by 3 pm on November 27, 2023," the ECI said.

Rythu Bandhu is an ongoing scheme. The ECI withdrew its permission because of the complaint lodged by the Congress, alleged BRS MLC K Kavitha.

Revanth Reddy alleged that BRS leaders tried to get votes in the name of Rythu Bandhu. He assured farmers that the Congress would deposit Rs 15,000 into the accounts of farmers within ten days of coming to power.

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HYDERABAD: In a major setback to ruling BRS four days before the Assembly elections, the Election Commission of India withdrew its permission for the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu, an investment support scheme, for farmers. The ECI in its orders on Monday said that Finance Minister T Harish Rao violated the model code of conduct and announced at an election meeting that the Rythu Bandhu amounts would be disbursed before polls. The ECI said four days ago that it had no objection to the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme. The government can disburse the amount during the silence period and also on the polling day. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After the ECI nod, Finance Minister Harish Rao announced at an election meeting that the ECI accorded permission and the government would disburse the amounts. The ECI felt that Harish Rao's statement was a violation of the election code and withdrew no objection to the disbursement of the amount. .@ECISVEEP withdraws permission for #Rythubandhu says its #HarishRao violated for condition for grant of permission to disbursement of Rythubandhu @NewIndianXpress @XpressHyderabad @Kalyan_TNIE pic.twitter.com/1QR0mvia3D  Ireddy Srinivas Reddy (@ireddysrinivasr) November 27, 2023 The Commission has been now informed vide your letter no. 7022/Elections. A/A1/2023 dated 26.11.2023 that Sh. T. Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath & Family Welfare, Govt. of Telangana has made statements regarding disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme by a particular time before the date of poll, which is widely reported in newspapers and local media on 26th November 2023. The Commission has observed that Sh T. Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath & Family Welfare, Govt. of Telangana who is also a contesting candidate sponsored by the BRS Party from 33- Siddipet Assembly Constituency in ongoing GE to LA Telangana 2023, a Star campaigner of the Party and also the Finance Minister of Telangana, has not only violated the provisions of MCC contained in in Para VII of Model Code of Conduct but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the on-going election process. "...It is a clear violation of Model Code of Conduct (Harish Rai's statement) and conditions laid down while granting 'no objection', the Commission has directed that the permission granted vide its letter of even no dated 25th November 2023 for disbursement of Rabi season instalment under the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme during the currency of MCC, shall stand withdrawn immediately and there shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its form. The Commission decision shall immediately be conveyed to the Govt. of Telangana and compliance report taken and submitted to the Commission by 3 pm on November 27, 2023," the ECI said. Rythu Bandhu is an ongoing scheme. The ECI withdrew its permission because of the complaint lodged by the Congress, alleged BRS MLC K Kavitha. Revanth Reddy alleged that BRS leaders tried to get votes in the name of Rythu Bandhu. He assured farmers that the Congress would deposit Rs 15,000 into the accounts of farmers within ten days of coming to power. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ujwal Jalali By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday conducted raids at multiple locations across four states in connection with the Ghazwa-e-Hind module case, officials said. The raids were conducted at the premises of suspects in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, Gir Somnath district of Gujarat, Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and Kozhikode district of Kerala.

The case was registered last year by the Phulwarisharif police in the Patna district of Bihar, following the arrest of Marghoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir who was the administrator of the WhatsApp group Ghazwa-e-Hind, created by a Pakistani national identified as Zain. Later it was transferred to the NIA, which had earlier this year filed a chargesheet against Marghoob under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

According to NIA officials, Sundays raids revealed links of the suspects with Pakistan-based handlers. These suspects were in contact with the handlers, and were involved in propagating the radical, anti-India idea of Ghazwa-e-Hind, an official said. Marghoob had added many from India and countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Yemen, to the group.

The WhatsApp group was being operated by Pakistan-based suspects and was aimed at radicalising impressionable youth to establish Ghazwa-e-Hind over the territory of India. Marghoob was trying to motivate the group members with an ulterior objective of raising sleeper cells for carrying out terrorist activities across India, the NIA official said.

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NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday conducted raids at multiple locations across four states in connection with the Ghazwa-e-Hind module case, officials said. The raids were conducted at the premises of suspects in Dewas district of Madhya Pradesh, Gir Somnath district of Gujarat, Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and Kozhikode district of Kerala. The case was registered last year by the Phulwarisharif police in the Patna district of Bihar, following the arrest of Marghoob Ahmad Danish alias Tahir who was the administrator of the WhatsApp group Ghazwa-e-Hind, created by a Pakistani national identified as Zain. Later it was transferred to the NIA, which had earlier this year filed a chargesheet against Marghoob under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. According to NIA officials, Sundays raids revealed links of the suspects with Pakistan-based handlers. These suspects were in contact with the handlers, and were involved in propagating the radical, anti-India idea of Ghazwa-e-Hind, an official said. Marghoob had added many from India and countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Yemen, to the group.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The WhatsApp group was being operated by Pakistan-based suspects and was aimed at radicalising impressionable youth to establish Ghazwa-e-Hind over the territory of India. Marghoob was trying to motivate the group members with an ulterior objective of raising sleeper cells for carrying out terrorist activities across India, the NIA official said. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Prasanta Mazumdar By

Express News Service

GUWAHATI: It is not uncommon for people to pray during elections. Some people pray for the victory of their favourite candidate or political party. Some pray for violence-free polling. But praying for a change in the vote-counting date is not something that happens often.

In Mizoram, which went to polls on November 7 along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, prayers were held in churches over the weekend seeking a divine intervention to change the vote-counting day, which falls on a Sunday.

Reverand K C Vanlalduha, a retired pastor, said people in the Christian-majority state are unhappy that the vote-counting falls on a Sunday. Church services are held thrice  morning, afternoon, and evening  every Sunday. If the votes are counted on December 3, many of our members will get caught up with the process and wont be able to attend the church, Rev Vanlalduha said.

Responding to our call, our members held prayers all over the state yesterday (Saturday), Rev Vanlalduha, who is a member of the states largest church denomination Mizoram Presbyterian Church, told this newspaper on Sunday. It is not just one denomination, prayers were held in churches across denominations, he said.

A delegation of the Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee, is currently camping in New Delhi, and has gotten an appointment to meet EC officials on Tuesday. Earlier, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, a church organisation, had urged the churches in the state to seek a divine intervention through prayers.

Appeals fail to move E.C.

Soon after the poll schedule was out, numerous appeals were sent to the EC to change the counting date, with no success

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GUWAHATI: It is not uncommon for people to pray during elections. Some people pray for the victory of their favourite candidate or political party. Some pray for violence-free polling. But praying for a change in the vote-counting date is not something that happens often. In Mizoram, which went to polls on November 7 along with Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Telangana, prayers were held in churches over the weekend seeking a divine intervention to change the vote-counting day, which falls on a Sunday. Reverand K C Vanlalduha, a retired pastor, said people in the Christian-majority state are unhappy that the vote-counting falls on a Sunday. Church services are held thrice  morning, afternoon, and evening  every Sunday. If the votes are counted on December 3, many of our members will get caught up with the process and wont be able to attend the church, Rev Vanlalduha said.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Responding to our call, our members held prayers all over the state yesterday (Saturday), Rev Vanlalduha, who is a member of the states largest church denomination Mizoram Presbyterian Church, told this newspaper on Sunday. It is not just one denomination, prayers were held in churches across denominations, he said. A delegation of the Mizoram NGO Coordination Committee, is currently camping in New Delhi, and has gotten an appointment to meet EC officials on Tuesday. Earlier, Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee, a church organisation, had urged the churches in the state to seek a divine intervention through prayers. Appeals fail to move E.C. Soon after the poll schedule was out, numerous appeals were sent to the EC to change the counting date, with no success Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Yeshi Seli By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu was heckled at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Long Island in New York by Khalistani supporters. However, these Khalistani supporters were overpowered and moved out of the gurudwara by other Sikh community members who were present there.

The Khalistani supporters were seen and heard shouting slogans alleging that the Ambassador belonged to a country that was responsible for the death of slain Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and were now threatening to kill founder of Sikhs for Justice (banned in India) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The hecklers were sidelined and the Ambassador moved inside the premises of the gurudwara with the support of others.

There was no official response to the incident by India and the Ambassador also chose to refrain from referring to it.

"Privileged to join the local sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurupurab. Listened to kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanaks everlasting message of togetherness, unity and equality. I partook langar and sought blessings for all," said Ambassador Sandhu.

Today was Gurupurab, the 554th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

There has been a spurt in instances involving Khalistani supporters in the US, Canada, UK and Australia in the past one year.

It may be recalled that the Consulate General of India in San Francisco was attacked on March 19 and an attempt was made to set it on fire. Again on July 2, another bid was made to set the consulate building on fire.

Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations across Punjab and Haryana in connection with the probe into the attacks made on the Consulate General of India in San Francisco.

ALSO READ | US doublespeak on Pannun hate speech, Khalistani separatism

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NEW DELHI: Indian Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu was heckled at the Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara in Long Island in New York by Khalistani supporters. However, these Khalistani supporters were overpowered and moved out of the gurudwara by other Sikh community members who were present there. The Khalistani supporters were seen and heard shouting slogans alleging that the Ambassador belonged to a country that was responsible for the death of slain Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar and were now threatening to kill founder of Sikhs for Justice (banned in India) Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. The hecklers were sidelined and the Ambassador moved inside the premises of the gurudwara with the support of others. There was no official response to the incident by India and the Ambassador also chose to refrain from referring to it.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "Privileged to join the local sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurupurab. Listened to kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanaks everlasting message of togetherness, unity and equality. I partook langar and sought blessings for all," said Ambassador Sandhu. Today was Gurupurab, the 554th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak. There has been a spurt in instances involving Khalistani supporters in the US, Canada, UK and Australia in the past one year. It may be recalled that the Consulate General of India in San Francisco was attacked on March 19 and an attempt was made to set it on fire. Again on July 2, another bid was made to set the consulate building on fire. Meanwhile, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last week conducted simultaneous raids at multiple locations across Punjab and Haryana in connection with the probe into the attacks made on the Consulate General of India in San Francisco. ALSO READ | US doublespeak on Pannun hate speech, Khalistani separatism Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
News / National

by Staff reporter

A Zanu-PF female provincial member assigned to the Beitbridge West ongoing campaign for the December 9 by-elections died on Saturday due to the heatwave currently being experienced in the border town.Temperatures in Beitbridge have in the last five days been hovering around 40 degrees Celsius with regular warnings for people to stay indoors and hydrated.The deceased identified as Sister Moyo Bhebhe was taken to Beitbridge Hospital after complaining that she was not feeling well but died soon after admission, the NewsDay heard yesterday.The death was also announced in a Zanu-PF WhatsApp group."Comrades, this is both painful and energy sapping. We were with this sister in the ward 14 programme in Beitbridge West."Yesterday, (Friday) we left her at the command centre. Today (Saturday) we went with her but she appeared unwell. We tried convincing her to remain behind but she insisted on going to the programme."When we knocked off, she showed signs of stress and we took her to hospital where all failed with her blood sugar level reported high, above 40. It is too hot here (in Beitbridge)," read the message that was posted in the WhatsApp group on Saturday.It added: "To us it's painful but her courage to die on duty is worth all respect. For us who were with her, it has badly impacted on us. But this is a heroine who has gone."Zimbabwean political parties are engaged in campaigns for the by-elections triggered by self-imposed Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) secretary-general Sengezo Tshabangu who has recalled lawmakers andcouncillors.These recalls have triggered by-elections, although Nelson Chamisa, the opposition party president, is battling to block him through the courts.The deceased was part of the Zanu-PF campaign team dispatched to Beitbridge West where their losing candidate Thusani Ndou faces Morgan Ncube and Blessing Choeni both of the CCC led by Chamisa and Tshabangu, respectively.Other candidates for Beitbridge West by-elections are Blessing Brendan Dube an independent and Thoriso Moyo, the only female candidate, from Zapu.
By PTI

MUMBAI: A 31-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly making a hoax call to Mumbai Police on the anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks on Sunday and claiming that three terrorists had entered the city, an official said.

Preliminary investigation suggested that the accused, Laxman Nanavare, was under the influence of alcohol when he called up the police at around 10 AM on Sunday.

"The caller informed the control room that two to three terrorists had sneaked into Mumbai city, following which we immediately launched an investigation," the official said on Monday, adding that the information was found to be false.

The location of the caller was traced to suburban Mankhurd and he was arrested on Sunday evening, he added.

A case was registered under section 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public) of the Indian Penal Code.

READ MORE | 15 years of 26/11: Remembering gruesome Mumbai terror attacks

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MUMBAI: A 31-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly making a hoax call to Mumbai Police on the anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks on Sunday and claiming that three terrorists had entered the city, an official said. Preliminary investigation suggested that the accused, Laxman Nanavare, was under the influence of alcohol when he called up the police at around 10 AM on Sunday. "The caller informed the control room that two to three terrorists had sneaked into Mumbai city, following which we immediately launched an investigation," the official said on Monday, adding that the information was found to be false.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The location of the caller was traced to suburban Mankhurd and he was arrested on Sunday evening, he added. A case was registered under section 505 (1) (b) (with intent to cause, or which is likely to cause, fear or alarm to the public, or to any section of the public) of the Indian Penal Code. READ MORE | 15 years of 26/11: Remembering gruesome Mumbai terror attacks Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Express News Service

GUWAHATI: Kuki-Zo tribal organisation Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) on Monday temporarily suspended its indefinite economic blockade enforced on two national highways.

National Highway 2 and 37 enter Manipur from Nagaland and Assam respectively. They are the states lifelines.

The CoTU had imposed the blockade on November 15 in protest against the indifferent attitude of the concerned authority in dispensing law and order in Kuki-Zo inhabited areas.

The Kangpokpi district-based organisation said the decision to temporarily suspend the blockade was made considering the plight of fellow tribals.

The Committee had announced an economic blockade for the selective execution of law & order in Kuki-Zo areas. However, after a considerable deliberation on the issue, the Committee, taking into understanding the hardship faced by the fellow tribals in the area, has decided to temporarily suspend the economic blockade, the tribal body said in a statement.

It added: In accordance with the necessity that may arise out of the current dynamics, it (CoTU) will review the current suspension and enforce (the blockade), if required.

The CoTU appreciated people for their support during the blockade.

The ethnic violence in the state, which broke out on May 3 after a tribal solidarity march, killed nearly 200 people and displaced over 60,000 others.

Peace talks with insurgent group

Chief Minister N Biren Singh said his government initiated a peace process with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group avowedly catering to the aspirations of Meitei community.

There are at least six such active groups and reports suggested that the government has been holding talks with a faction of outlawed United National Liberation Front.

The talks are at an advanced stage, Singh told journalists.

Unlike some armed groups claiming to fight for the rights of the Nagas and Kukis, the Meitei outfits have been known to stay away from the talks table.



Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

GUWAHATI: Kuki-Zo tribal organisation Committee on Tribal Unity (CoTU) on Monday temporarily suspended its indefinite economic blockade enforced on two national highways. National Highway 2 and 37 enter Manipur from Nagaland and Assam respectively. They are the states lifelines. The CoTU had imposed the blockade on November 15 in protest against the indifferent attitude of the concerned authority in dispensing law and order in Kuki-Zo inhabited areas.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Kangpokpi district-based organisation said the decision to temporarily suspend the blockade was made considering the plight of fellow tribals. The Committee had announced an economic blockade for the selective execution of law & order in Kuki-Zo areas. However, after a considerable deliberation on the issue, the Committee, taking into understanding the hardship faced by the fellow tribals in the area, has decided to temporarily suspend the economic blockade, the tribal body said in a statement. It added: In accordance with the necessity that may arise out of the current dynamics, it (CoTU) will review the current suspension and enforce (the blockade), if required. The CoTU appreciated people for their support during the blockade. The ethnic violence in the state, which broke out on May 3 after a tribal solidarity march, killed nearly 200 people and displaced over 60,000 others. Peace talks with insurgent group Chief Minister N Biren Singh said his government initiated a peace process with an Imphal Valley-based insurgent group avowedly catering to the aspirations of Meitei community. There are at least six such active groups and reports suggested that the government has been holding talks with a faction of outlawed United National Liberation Front. The talks are at an advanced stage, Singh told journalists. Unlike some armed groups claiming to fight for the rights of the Nagas and Kukis, the Meitei outfits have been known to stay away from the talks table. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Only 29 per cent of families of doctors who succumbed to COVID-19 during the first and second waves have been compensated by the government so far.

Though the government has said that they dont have the data on the total number of doctors who died during the pandemic, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) puts the number of doctors casualties to over 1,500.

As per the RTI, the government has paid compensation to 475 families of doctors so far.

Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), the government had announced insurance coverage of Rs. 50 lakh to healthcare providers, including community and private health workers, at risk of Covid-19 infection.

In an RTI filed on October 23, Kannur-based ophthalmologist K V Babu sought information on the total number of beneficiaries who have received compensation under the scheme since its launch on March 30, 2020.

Babu, who has been pursuing the matter since last year, asked for the number of doctors  who were earlier feted and called Covid warriors during the pandemic -were compensated.

He also asked for the total number of health workers who were awarded the compensation and also state-wise data on doctors and health workers who died during the pandemic.

Babu said as per the November 21 RTI reply, 2,244 families have been paid compensation amounting to Rs. 1122 crore till October 23.

As per the RTI, a compensation of Rs. 237.5 crores has been given to 475 families of doctors, while 1,769 families of health workers have been paid a compensation of Rs. 884.5 crores.

The RTI activist said of the total compensation made to healthcare professionals, the percentage of doctors who have received the compensation is just 21.16 per cent.

Babu told this paper that as per the data compiled by IMA, which has been raising the matter with the Union Health Ministry, a total of 1,596 doctors  757 in the first wave and 839 in the second wave lost their lives.

The IMA has prepared a state-wise list of doctors who died during the two Covid-19 waves. According to their data, 1,596 doctors laid down their lives. If we keep that data in mind - in the absence of government data - the centre has paid compensation to just 29.1 per cent of doctors families. This means only 475 families have been compensated so far.

During the pandemic, all the practising doctors were at risk of COVID-19 infection, whether general practitioners, specialists, or those working in Covid-19 designated hospitals, he said.

Babu said that many doctors  who died during the pandemic  were those who opened their clinics under compulsion since many state governments enforced the Epidemic Act, which enforced that clinics and other medical establishments will remain open.

It's clear from the RTI data that the government has not compensated most Covid martyr doctors' dependents. Unfortunately, the government of India is not willing to recognise the services rendered by the medical professionals who served the nation, which was going through an unprecedented health crisis.

I earnestly request the PMO to intervene and respect the martyrdom of our fellow doctors, he added.

Interestingly, the Union Health Ministry had told the parliament in July last year that there is no disaggregated data on deaths due to Covid-19 by profession or otherwise that is maintained centrally.

It was the IMA, which represents over 3.5 lakh doctors, that prepared a detailed state-wise list of doctors who died while performing their duties during the pandemic.

Of the 757 doctors who died during the first wave, as many as 90 were from Tamil Nadu. It was followed by West Bengal at 80.

It was followed by Maharashtra (74), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68), Uttar Pradesh (66), Gujarat (62) and Bihar (40).

In the second wave, the maximum deaths were reported from Delhi. Of the 839 doctors deaths, 128 were from Delhi alone. It was followed by Bihar (115), Uttar Pradesh (79), West Bengal (65) and Tamil Nadu (64), Andhra Pradesh (48), Odisha (46), Telangana (43) and Gujarat and Jharkhand reported 30 deaths each.

The Supreme Court is hearing the matter on December 13 after a special leave petition was filed raising the issue of non-disbursal of assured government medical cover to healthcare professionals who served the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and died.

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NEW DELHI: Only 29 per cent of families of doctors who succumbed to COVID-19 during the first and second waves have been compensated by the government so far. Though the government has said that they dont have the data on the total number of doctors who died during the pandemic, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) puts the number of doctors casualties to over 1,500. As per the RTI, the government has paid compensation to 475 families of doctors so far. googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), the government had announced insurance coverage of Rs. 50 lakh to healthcare providers, including community and private health workers, at risk of Covid-19 infection. In an RTI filed on October 23, Kannur-based ophthalmologist K V Babu sought information on the total number of beneficiaries who have received compensation under the scheme since its launch on March 30, 2020. Babu, who has been pursuing the matter since last year, asked for the number of doctors  who were earlier feted and called Covid warriors during the pandemic -were compensated. He also asked for the total number of health workers who were awarded the compensation and also state-wise data on doctors and health workers who died during the pandemic. Babu said as per the November 21 RTI reply, 2,244 families have been paid compensation amounting to Rs. 1122 crore till October 23. As per the RTI, a compensation of Rs. 237.5 crores has been given to 475 families of doctors, while 1,769 families of health workers have been paid a compensation of Rs. 884.5 crores. The RTI activist said of the total compensation made to healthcare professionals, the percentage of doctors who have received the compensation is just 21.16 per cent. Babu told this paper that as per the data compiled by IMA, which has been raising the matter with the Union Health Ministry, a total of 1,596 doctors  757 in the first wave and 839 in the second wave lost their lives. The IMA has prepared a state-wise list of doctors who died during the two Covid-19 waves. According to their data, 1,596 doctors laid down their lives. If we keep that data in mind - in the absence of government data - the centre has paid compensation to just 29.1 per cent of doctors families. This means only 475 families have been compensated so far. During the pandemic, all the practising doctors were at risk of COVID-19 infection, whether general practitioners, specialists, or those working in Covid-19 designated hospitals, he said. Babu said that many doctors  who died during the pandemic  were those who opened their clinics under compulsion since many state governments enforced the Epidemic Act, which enforced that clinics and other medical establishments will remain open. It's clear from the RTI data that the government has not compensated most Covid martyr doctors' dependents. Unfortunately, the government of India is not willing to recognise the services rendered by the medical professionals who served the nation, which was going through an unprecedented health crisis. I earnestly request the PMO to intervene and respect the martyrdom of our fellow doctors, he added. Interestingly, the Union Health Ministry had told the parliament in July last year that there is no disaggregated data on deaths due to Covid-19 by profession or otherwise that is maintained centrally. It was the IMA, which represents over 3.5 lakh doctors, that prepared a detailed state-wise list of doctors who died while performing their duties during the pandemic. Of the 757 doctors who died during the first wave, as many as 90 were from Tamil Nadu. It was followed by West Bengal at 80. It was followed by Maharashtra (74), Andhra Pradesh (70), Karnataka (68), Uttar Pradesh (66), Gujarat (62) and Bihar (40). In the second wave, the maximum deaths were reported from Delhi. Of the 839 doctors deaths, 128 were from Delhi alone. It was followed by Bihar (115), Uttar Pradesh (79), West Bengal (65) and Tamil Nadu (64), Andhra Pradesh (48), Odisha (46), Telangana (43) and Gujarat and Jharkhand reported 30 deaths each. The Supreme Court is hearing the matter on December 13 after a special leave petition was filed raising the issue of non-disbursal of assured government medical cover to healthcare professionals who served the nation during the COVID-19 pandemic and died. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ejaz Kaiser By

Express News Service

RAIPUR: Political parties know their election manifestos are for the crass consumption of voters, who latch on to the promises without bothering much about the economy. Not surprisingly then, ahead of the assembly polls, the ruling Congress and BJP competed with each other in offering the best Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the paddy farmers of Chhattisgarh. No one really knows about the economic costs of the promises, regardless of which party forms the government.

Here they are: If the BJP is voted to power in Chhattisgarh, it will launch Krishi Unnati Scheme that will offer an MSP at `3,100 per quintal for paddy procurement with the procured limit fixed at 21 quintals per acre. The Congress declared that after retaining power, they will provide MSP at `3,200 per quintal with a procured limit of 20 quintals per acre.

The influence of farmers on the political class is visible as they make for 2.03 crore votes; the registered paddy growers are over 26 lakh. Thats why paddy procurement remains a major political issue in Chhattisgarh. Any promise to better the paddy procurement price has a major bearing on the politics of the state. The state will have to bear an estimated spending of nearly one-third of the total annual budget outlay during Kharif marketing year 2024-25 whichever party forms the government this time. The Chhattisgarh budget size, including the supplementary demands, has this year crossed `1.25 lakh crore.

The state has witnessed a direct contest between the Congress and BJP in largely bipolar politics. The state government has raised the procurement target to 125 lakh metric tonne (LMT), the highest ever for 2023-24. The government spokesperson said that this year 7.5 lakh gunny bags would be required. Early this year, Chhattisgarh created a new record on paddy procurement with the figure crossing 107 LMT-mark, the figure cited by the state government as an achievement that reflects the growth of the agrarian community as the beneficiaries.

The exercise on procurement of paddy at MSP has begun from November 1 and will continue till January 31, 2024. Owing to the assembly elections and the festive occasions, the procurement process is slow and so far only 11.60 LMT have been sold by 2.81 lakh farmers. The number of paddy procurement centres in the state is 2,617. The number of cooperative societies established for the convenience of paddy growers was raised from 1,333 to 2058.

The Centre this year has decided to roll out a biometric-based system in an attempt to ensure greater transparency in the procurement of farm produce in the states. The practice has been made mandatory for food grain procurement for the Kharif marketing years 2023-24 in Chhattisgarh. The state has begun preparations for biometric authentication and placed an order for the purchase of equipment. Since the election code of conduct was implemented and the reach of all procurement centres couldnt become possible, the purchase is being done without biometric authentication.

The state also claimed a new system may create major inconvenience for the paddy growers in remote and inaccessible areas besides the hilly areas of Bastar (south) and Sarguja (north) where the exercise might hinder the effective process of procurement. The BJP had often asserted that the Centres share in paddy procurement is over 80% in the state. The Baghel government countered the oppositions claim, saying the state purchases the paddy after taking a loan every year.

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

RAIPUR: Political parties know their election manifestos are for the crass consumption of voters, who latch on to the promises without bothering much about the economy. Not surprisingly then, ahead of the assembly polls, the ruling Congress and BJP competed with each other in offering the best Minimum Support Price (MSP) to the paddy farmers of Chhattisgarh. No one really knows about the economic costs of the promises, regardless of which party forms the government. Here they are: If the BJP is voted to power in Chhattisgarh, it will launch Krishi Unnati Scheme that will offer an MSP at `3,100 per quintal for paddy procurement with the procured limit fixed at 21 quintals per acre. The Congress declared that after retaining power, they will provide MSP at `3,200 per quintal with a procured limit of 20 quintals per acre. The influence of farmers on the political class is visible as they make for 2.03 crore votes; the registered paddy growers are over 26 lakh. Thats why paddy procurement remains a major political issue in Chhattisgarh. Any promise to better the paddy procurement price has a major bearing on the politics of the state. The state will have to bear an estimated spending of nearly one-third of the total annual budget outlay during Kharif marketing year 2024-25 whichever party forms the government this time. The Chhattisgarh budget size, including the supplementary demands, has this year crossed `1.25 lakh crore.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The state has witnessed a direct contest between the Congress and BJP in largely bipolar politics. The state government has raised the procurement target to 125 lakh metric tonne (LMT), the highest ever for 2023-24. The government spokesperson said that this year 7.5 lakh gunny bags would be required. Early this year, Chhattisgarh created a new record on paddy procurement with the figure crossing 107 LMT-mark, the figure cited by the state government as an achievement that reflects the growth of the agrarian community as the beneficiaries. The exercise on procurement of paddy at MSP has begun from November 1 and will continue till January 31, 2024. Owing to the assembly elections and the festive occasions, the procurement process is slow and so far only 11.60 LMT have been sold by 2.81 lakh farmers. The number of paddy procurement centres in the state is 2,617. The number of cooperative societies established for the convenience of paddy growers was raised from 1,333 to 2058. The Centre this year has decided to roll out a biometric-based system in an attempt to ensure greater transparency in the procurement of farm produce in the states. The practice has been made mandatory for food grain procurement for the Kharif marketing years 2023-24 in Chhattisgarh. The state has begun preparations for biometric authentication and placed an order for the purchase of equipment. Since the election code of conduct was implemented and the reach of all procurement centres couldnt become possible, the purchase is being done without biometric authentication. The state also claimed a new system may create major inconvenience for the paddy growers in remote and inaccessible areas besides the hilly areas of Bastar (south) and Sarguja (north) where the exercise might hinder the effective process of procurement. The BJP had often asserted that the Centres share in paddy procurement is over 80% in the state. The Baghel government countered the oppositions claim, saying the state purchases the paddy after taking a loan every year. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Ramashankar By

Express News Service

PATNA: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Patna High Court challenging the recent amendment passed by the Bihar Legislature to increase the reservation for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes from the existing 50 per cent to 65 per cent.

The petitioners Gaurav Kumar and Naman Shreshtha said that the increase in the reservation quota was in violation of fundamental rights, guaranteed in the constitution.

The petition challenges the constitutional validity of the Bihar Reservation (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Back Classes) (Amendment)Act, 2023, and the Bihar (in admission in educational institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023.

With the amendment in place now, the SC will get 20 per cent, ST 2 per cent, EBC 25 per cent and OBC 18 per cent reservation in the state. With 10 per cent reservation already for the economically weaker sections (EWS), total reservation in Bihar goes up to 75 per cent.

READ MORE | Why raising the quota is not a solution to Bihar's caste woes

On November 21, Bihar governor Rajendra Prasad Arlekar gave his nod to the Reservation Amendment Bill which was passed unanimously by both houses of the state legislature during the winter session. Later, the state government had issued a gazette notification in this connection.

The state government has also requested the Centre to enlist the hike in the reservation quota in government jobs and educational institutions in the 9th schedule of the Constitution so that it is guaranteed immunity from legal scrutiny.

Petitioners asserted that amendments in the reservation quota had been made on the basis of a caste-based survey report according to which the population of OBCs, EBCs, SCs and STs accounted for 63.13 per cent as their reservation quota was increased from 50 per cent to 65 per cent.

The petitioners contend that the Constitutional mandate, as outlined in Article 16(4) of the Constitution, requires reservations to be based on adequate representation of the Socially and Educationally Backward Class rather than the proportional representation of these classes within a specific state.

They said that it was also in violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in the Constitution as it was also in contravention of the principle of equal rights in appointments in government jobs.

READ MORE | Advantage Nitish, but caste-economic survey shows how Bimaru Bihar is

Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp

PATNA: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Patna High Court challenging the recent amendment passed by the Bihar Legislature to increase the reservation for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes from the existing 50 per cent to 65 per cent. The petitioners Gaurav Kumar and Naman Shreshtha said that the increase in the reservation quota was in violation of fundamental rights, guaranteed in the constitution. The petition challenges the constitutional validity of the Bihar Reservation (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Back Classes) (Amendment)Act, 2023, and the Bihar (in admission in educational institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); With the amendment in place now, the SC will get 20 per cent, ST 2 per cent, EBC 25 per cent and OBC 18 per cent reservation in the state. With 10 per cent reservation already for the economically weaker sections (EWS), total reservation in Bihar goes up to 75 per cent. READ MORE | Why raising the quota is not a solution to Bihar's caste woes On November 21, Bihar governor Rajendra Prasad Arlekar gave his nod to the Reservation Amendment Bill which was passed unanimously by both houses of the state legislature during the winter session. Later, the state government had issued a gazette notification in this connection. The state government has also requested the Centre to enlist the hike in the reservation quota in government jobs and educational institutions in the 9th schedule of the Constitution so that it is guaranteed immunity from legal scrutiny. Petitioners asserted that amendments in the reservation quota had been made on the basis of a caste-based survey report according to which the population of OBCs, EBCs, SCs and STs accounted for 63.13 per cent as their reservation quota was increased from 50 per cent to 65 per cent. The petitioners contend that the Constitutional mandate, as outlined in Article 16(4) of the Constitution, requires reservations to be based on adequate representation of the Socially and Educationally Backward Class rather than the proportional representation of these classes within a specific state. They said that it was also in violation of the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in the Constitution as it was also in contravention of the principle of equal rights in appointments in government jobs. READ MORE | Advantage Nitish, but caste-economic survey shows how Bimaru Bihar is Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Tamil is an "Indian language", don't limit the expansion of such a classical language by calling it "regional", said celebrated Tamil writer Perumal Murugan about his mother tongue.

Murugan, winner of the recently announced 'JCB Prize for Literature 2023' for his book "Fire Bird" -- titled "Aalanda Patchi" in Tamil -- credited the Tamil language for giving him his identity along with everything else.

"The tag of regional language limits the expansion of a language. I would prefer to call Tamil an Indian language. Tamil is a classical language encompassing thousands of years of culture. For me, Tamil is my mother tongue, it is the only language I know. This language has not only given me my identity but has given me everything," said Murugan in an interview to PTI.

Known for taking social issues head-on in his writing, Murugan said he strives to navigate through controversies by experimenting with different writing styles -- which the former college lecturer admitted as a "formidable task".

The issues of gender discrimination, female foeticide, honour killing and declining sex ratio within the socio-cultural fabric of rural India have formed the basis of all his novels, including "Poonachi" (Black Goat), "Pukkuli" (Pyre) or "Kanganam".

In 2015, Murugan declared himself 'dead' and announced his retirement from writing after protests, litigation and the burning of his book "Madhorubagan".

His novel, "Madhurobhagan" (2010), translated into English as "One Part Woman", revolves around the suffering of a childless couple, Kali and Ponna, facing social stigma and humiliation.

"In a society dominated by caste and religious divisions, writers confront this challenge (of writing about sensitive social issues). I leverage the diverse tools that the language offers to tackle these obstacles head-on," he added.

Besides "Seasons of the Palm", which was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize in 2005, about a dozen on Murugan's novels -- including "Current Show", "One Part Woman", "A Lonely Harvest", and "Trial by Silence" -- have been translated into English and other languages, making him a widely read author globally.

When asked why his writing, which primarily focuses on nuances of village lives and caste problems in Tamil Nadu, draws such significant attention from readers worldwide, he said: "Regardless of one's nationality, novels that centre around emotions tend to resonate deeply".

"Drawing from my reading experiences, I have observed that human emotions possess a universal quality. Readers articulate their connection in diverse ways. In my creative works, I strive to weave in multiple layers of human emotions, believing this is the magnetism that attracts readers," he explained.

His recent book "Pyre", a translation of his original Tamil work "Pukkuli" published in 2012, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023.

The 57-year-old author during the interaction also spilled beans about his writing routine and how the period of 6 am to 9 am in the morning makes for the ideal atmosphere to get his creative juices flowing.

"I enjoy the morning hours -- between six to nine -- this is the time when my mind is in a wonderful state, eager to perceive everything anew. I choose to write while seated at the table on our terrace, surrounded by the sight of trees and birds, and with music on my laptop playing along in the background," he added.

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NEW DELHI: Tamil is an "Indian language", don't limit the expansion of such a classical language by calling it "regional", said celebrated Tamil writer Perumal Murugan about his mother tongue. Murugan, winner of the recently announced 'JCB Prize for Literature 2023' for his book "Fire Bird" -- titled "Aalanda Patchi" in Tamil -- credited the Tamil language for giving him his identity along with everything else. "The tag of regional language limits the expansion of a language. I would prefer to call Tamil an Indian language. Tamil is a classical language encompassing thousands of years of culture. For me, Tamil is my mother tongue, it is the only language I know. This language has not only given me my identity but has given me everything," said Murugan in an interview to PTI.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Known for taking social issues head-on in his writing, Murugan said he strives to navigate through controversies by experimenting with different writing styles -- which the former college lecturer admitted as a "formidable task". The issues of gender discrimination, female foeticide, honour killing and declining sex ratio within the socio-cultural fabric of rural India have formed the basis of all his novels, including "Poonachi" (Black Goat), "Pukkuli" (Pyre) or "Kanganam". In 2015, Murugan declared himself 'dead' and announced his retirement from writing after protests, litigation and the burning of his book "Madhorubagan". His novel, "Madhurobhagan" (2010), translated into English as "One Part Woman", revolves around the suffering of a childless couple, Kali and Ponna, facing social stigma and humiliation. "In a society dominated by caste and religious divisions, writers confront this challenge (of writing about sensitive social issues). I leverage the diverse tools that the language offers to tackle these obstacles head-on," he added. Besides "Seasons of the Palm", which was shortlisted for the Kiriyama Prize in 2005, about a dozen on Murugan's novels -- including "Current Show", "One Part Woman", "A Lonely Harvest", and "Trial by Silence" -- have been translated into English and other languages, making him a widely read author globally. When asked why his writing, which primarily focuses on nuances of village lives and caste problems in Tamil Nadu, draws such significant attention from readers worldwide, he said: "Regardless of one's nationality, novels that centre around emotions tend to resonate deeply". "Drawing from my reading experiences, I have observed that human emotions possess a universal quality. Readers articulate their connection in diverse ways. In my creative works, I strive to weave in multiple layers of human emotions, believing this is the magnetism that attracts readers," he explained. His recent book "Pyre", a translation of his original Tamil work "Pukkuli" published in 2012, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize 2023. The 57-year-old author during the interaction also spilled beans about his writing routine and how the period of 6 am to 9 am in the morning makes for the ideal atmosphere to get his creative juices flowing. "I enjoy the morning hours -- between six to nine -- this is the time when my mind is in a wonderful state, eager to perceive everything anew. I choose to write while seated at the table on our terrace, surrounded by the sight of trees and birds, and with music on my laptop playing along in the background," he added. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Narendra Sethi By

Express News Service

DEHRADUN: The operation to rescue the 41 labourers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand for the last 16 days continued on Monday with a team of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) successfully completing vertical drilling up to a depth of 21 metres. According to the rescue team, a total of 86 metres of drilling has to be done, which will take an estimated three days.

The labourers were trapped when a portion of an under-construction 4.5-km-long tunnel collapsed in Silkyara-Dandalgaon village in Uttarkashi district in the early hours of Diwali on November 12. With snowfall having started around Yamunotri Dham and the rainy season continuing in low-lying areas, the rescue team is faced with a challenging task.

Col Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue team, told The New Indian Express, "After the ongoing rescue operation from inside the tunnel suffered a setback, the rescue teams intensified the all-round rescue operation with renewed vigour on Sunday." While the removal of the trapped blades was expedited inside, the drill was started from above. At the same time, the work of creating an escape route from the other end of the tunnel has also been expedited.

"The SJVNL team has started vertical drilling in 1.2 metres diameter above the tunnel," NHIDCL MD Mehmood Ahmed told the media. "A drilling rig has a capacity of 40 metres of drill, after which the rig will be replaced," he added.

According to official sources in Silkyara, four explosions have been carried out from the other end of the tunnel and 10 metres have been excavated. Now, all the members of the rescue team are praying that there is no further interruption as the operation nears its end.

ALSO READ | 'Every day, we hear 2 more hours': Anxiety at peak in Jharkhand village as tunnel rescue hits setback

Timeline of rescue operation:

November 14: Drilling began inside the tunnel to rescue the labourers.

November 16: Drilling began with the second US auger machine after the first one failed. Hopes grew when it reached 18 metres.

November 20: A 6-inch pipe successfully penetrated inside the tunnel, raising hopes of a 900 mm pipe reaching inside.

November 21: The operation advanced as telescopic cameras were delivered inside and visuals of the workers were seen. After the 900 mm pipe got stuck at 22 metres, the work of inserting an 800 mm pipe from inside it started.

November 22: The 800 mm pipe reached more than 36 metres.

November 24: When the smell of gas cutter smoke reached the workers while cutting the iron trapped inside the 800 mm pipe, the hopes of evacuating them increased further.

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DEHRADUN: The operation to rescue the 41 labourers trapped in a tunnel in Uttarakhand for the last 16 days continued on Monday with a team of the Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL) successfully completing vertical drilling up to a depth of 21 metres. According to the rescue team, a total of 86 metres of drilling has to be done, which will take an estimated three days. The labourers were trapped when a portion of an under-construction 4.5-km-long tunnel collapsed in Silkyara-Dandalgaon village in Uttarkashi district in the early hours of Diwali on November 12. With snowfall having started around Yamunotri Dham and the rainy season continuing in low-lying areas, the rescue team is faced with a challenging task. Col Deepak Patil, who is in charge of the rescue team, told The New Indian Express, "After the ongoing rescue operation from inside the tunnel suffered a setback, the rescue teams intensified the all-round rescue operation with renewed vigour on Sunday." While the removal of the trapped blades was expedited inside, the drill was started from above. At the same time, the work of creating an escape route from the other end of the tunnel has also been expedited.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); "The SJVNL team has started vertical drilling in 1.2 metres diameter above the tunnel," NHIDCL MD Mehmood Ahmed told the media. "A drilling rig has a capacity of 40 metres of drill, after which the rig will be replaced," he added. According to official sources in Silkyara, four explosions have been carried out from the other end of the tunnel and 10 metres have been excavated. Now, all the members of the rescue team are praying that there is no further interruption as the operation nears its end. ALSO READ | 'Every day, we hear 2 more hours': Anxiety at peak in Jharkhand village as tunnel rescue hits setback Timeline of rescue operation: November 14: Drilling began inside the tunnel to rescue the labourers. November 16: Drilling began with the second US auger machine after the first one failed. Hopes grew when it reached 18 metres. November 20: A 6-inch pipe successfully penetrated inside the tunnel, raising hopes of a 900 mm pipe reaching inside. November 21: The operation advanced as telescopic cameras were delivered inside and visuals of the workers were seen. After the 900 mm pipe got stuck at 22 metres, the work of inserting an 800 mm pipe from inside it started. November 22: The 800 mm pipe reached more than 36 metres. November 24: When the smell of gas cutter smoke reached the workers while cutting the iron trapped inside the 800 mm pipe, the hopes of evacuating them increased further. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
Parvez Sultan By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday directed the Karnataka government to explain why advertisements highlighting its welfare schemes were published in newspapers in poll-bound Telangana in violation of model code of conduct (MCC).

The notice issued to the government by the poll body stated that after examination of its record, it had found that no approval was granted as required as per the provisions of the manual of MCC.

The Commission has also asked the state not to publish similar advertisements without necessary approvals from it.

Explain the circumstances which led to violation of the Commissions aforesaid MCC on the part of the government. The explanation should reach to the Commission by November 28, 2023, 5 pm...further, the publication of any such advertisements by the government of Karnataka in the state Telangana shall be stopped forthwith immediate effect till necessary approvals are taken by the government from the commission as required by the instructions on MCC, read the notice to chief secretary of Karnataka.

The Commissions notice stated that the advertisements of the Karnataka government having circulation in the poll-bound state are in gross violation of MCC and it had taken a serious view of violation.

Explain why disciplinary action is not directed against the secretary in charge of the department of information and public relations for the above-mentioned violation of procedure as required under MCC instructions as expected, also stated the notice.

The issue was brought to the notice of the Commission by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi. As per the notice, advertisements were published on November 24-27 in Hyderabad editions of several newspapers.

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NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday directed the Karnataka government to explain why advertisements highlighting its welfare schemes were published in newspapers in poll-bound Telangana in violation of model code of conduct (MCC). The notice issued to the government by the poll body stated that after examination of its record, it had found that no approval was granted as required as per the provisions of the manual of MCC. The Commission has also asked the state not to publish similar advertisements without necessary approvals from it.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Explain the circumstances which led to violation of the Commissions aforesaid MCC on the part of the government. The explanation should reach to the Commission by November 28, 2023, 5 pm...further, the publication of any such advertisements by the government of Karnataka in the state Telangana shall be stopped forthwith immediate effect till necessary approvals are taken by the government from the commission as required by the instructions on MCC, read the notice to chief secretary of Karnataka. The Commissions notice stated that the advertisements of the Karnataka government having circulation in the poll-bound state are in gross violation of MCC and it had taken a serious view of violation. Explain why disciplinary action is not directed against the secretary in charge of the department of information and public relations for the above-mentioned violation of procedure as required under MCC instructions as expected, also stated the notice. The issue was brought to the notice of the Commission by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Bharat Rashtra Samithi. As per the notice, advertisements were published on November 24-27 in Hyderabad editions of several newspapers. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
S Lalitha By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: The raging war between Hamas and Israel is the latest crisis to hit the already-troubled granite industry in Karnataka.

The flourishing export business had an unprecedented slump during the pandemic and was slowly recovering when the Ukraine-Russia war broke out. The annual granite exports from the state worth Rs 2,000 crore dipped by 50 per cent during the last two financial years and is expected to continue along similar lines this fiscal too.

Granite varieties  jet black, Ilkal pink, green granite and Himalayan blue  from Karnataka are in demand for decorative purposes across the world. Granite exports from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha and Gujarat to the US, China, Taiwan, Europe (particularly Italy) and the Middle East total Rs 12,000 crore annually, said S Krishna Prasad, General Secretary, Federation of Indian Granite & Stone Industry (FIGSI).

Of this, Karnatakas exports work out to nearly Rs 2,000 crore. But during 2021-22 and 2022-23, it nosedived to just Rs 1,000 crore due to multiple international issues. The general slowdown which began during Covid and then the Ukraine war has worsened due to the ongoing Palestine-Israel war. Orders from the Middle East have completely dried up, said Prasad, who also owns quarries in the state.

China has slashed 80% of its imports from India

Red granite from Ilkal was much sought after. Medium quality granite from Rajasthan and Karnataka used to be in demand in Russia, while the US would seek polished slabs and granite. The state used to send granite to Europe mainly to be used for tombstones, he explained. The proliferation of artificial granite (quartz) has also eaten into our business, he added.

The absence of international demand has resulted in a considerable number of granite processing units in the state shutting shop. Closure of units mainly in Jigani, Bommasandra and Attibele have cost at least 1,000 jobs, he said. The international slump has prevented us from taking advantage of the new mining policy in Karnataka, he added.

B Umashankar, president, Karnataka Federation of Granite & Stone Industry, and a quarry owner in Chikkaballapur, said, The state has come out with a new mining policy from March 27, 2023, which is good. It came into effect from July. The impact of it will take six to eight months to show. Because of poor policies earlier, no new designs have been created since 2015, he added.

China has slashed 80 per cent of its imports from India, while global problems have affected business in France, Germany and Poland as they are unable to resell our products. Our tombstone exports to Dubai and Palestine have vanished due to the crisis in the Middle East over the last one month, he said.

Quarrying is the most labour- intensive industry and due to lack of demand, businesses have shut and jobs have gone, Umashankar said. R Shivakumar, owner of 13 quarries across India and Kumar Granites and Marbles unit in Bengaluru, said, My business has gone down by 67%.

My exports to the tune of Rs 5 crore last year have shrunk completely. The energy bills, quarrying cost and processing labour cost in Karnataka are much more expensive than in China. They import from us and export the finished material.

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BENGALURU: The raging war between Hamas and Israel is the latest crisis to hit the already-troubled granite industry in Karnataka. The flourishing export business had an unprecedented slump during the pandemic and was slowly recovering when the Ukraine-Russia war broke out. The annual granite exports from the state worth Rs 2,000 crore dipped by 50 per cent during the last two financial years and is expected to continue along similar lines this fiscal too. Granite varieties  jet black, Ilkal pink, green granite and Himalayan blue  from Karnataka are in demand for decorative purposes across the world. Granite exports from Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha and Gujarat to the US, China, Taiwan, Europe (particularly Italy) and the Middle East total Rs 12,000 crore annually, said S Krishna Prasad, General Secretary, Federation of Indian Granite & Stone Industry (FIGSI).googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Of this, Karnatakas exports work out to nearly Rs 2,000 crore. But during 2021-22 and 2022-23, it nosedived to just Rs 1,000 crore due to multiple international issues. The general slowdown which began during Covid and then the Ukraine war has worsened due to the ongoing Palestine-Israel war. Orders from the Middle East have completely dried up, said Prasad, who also owns quarries in the state. China has slashed 80% of its imports from India Red granite from Ilkal was much sought after. Medium quality granite from Rajasthan and Karnataka used to be in demand in Russia, while the US would seek polished slabs and granite. The state used to send granite to Europe mainly to be used for tombstones, he explained. The proliferation of artificial granite (quartz) has also eaten into our business, he added. The absence of international demand has resulted in a considerable number of granite processing units in the state shutting shop. Closure of units mainly in Jigani, Bommasandra and Attibele have cost at least 1,000 jobs, he said. The international slump has prevented us from taking advantage of the new mining policy in Karnataka, he added. B Umashankar, president, Karnataka Federation of Granite & Stone Industry, and a quarry owner in Chikkaballapur, said, The state has come out with a new mining policy from March 27, 2023, which is good. It came into effect from July. The impact of it will take six to eight months to show. Because of poor policies earlier, no new designs have been created since 2015, he added. China has slashed 80 per cent of its imports from India, while global problems have affected business in France, Germany and Poland as they are unable to resell our products. Our tombstone exports to Dubai and Palestine have vanished due to the crisis in the Middle East over the last one month, he said. Quarrying is the most labour- intensive industry and due to lack of demand, businesses have shut and jobs have gone, Umashankar said. R Shivakumar, owner of 13 quarries across India and Kumar Granites and Marbles unit in Bengaluru, said, My business has gone down by 67%. My exports to the tune of Rs 5 crore last year have shrunk completely. The energy bills, quarrying cost and processing labour cost in Karnataka are much more expensive than in China. They import from us and export the finished material. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday slammed the BRS over the EC's withdrawal of permission to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, alleging it was a result of the "irresponsible and self-serving" approach of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party.

The Congress' attack on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came after the Election Commission (EC) withdrew permission given to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme following a state minister's violation of the model code by making a public announcement about it.

The poll panel had given its nod to the state government to disburse the rabi installment during the model code of conduct period on certain conditions.

The state was asked not to publicise the disbursement during the poll code as part of the condition.

Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu instalments.



The money is the right of the farmers. It is what they deserve for  K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) November 27, 2023

In a post on X, Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said, "Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu installments."

The money is the right of the farmers and it is what they deserve for their year-long hard work, he said.

"When this money is supposed to be released any time between October and January, it was the BRS' desperation which compelled them to make such irresponsible statements," he said.

"Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana," Venugopal said.

Telangana goes to poll on November 30.

The EC letter to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) read, "The Commission has observed that T Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath and Family Welfare, Govt of Telangana has not only violated the provisions of MCC (model code of conduct) but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process."

The EC informed the state chief electoral officer about its decision to withdraw its permission.

The state finance minister had made a public announcement about the release of disbursements of rabi installments. He had reportedly said, "The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account."

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NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday slammed the BRS over the EC's withdrawal of permission to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, alleging it was a result of the "irresponsible and self-serving" approach of the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led party. The Congress' attack on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) came after the Election Commission (EC) withdrew permission given to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme following a state minister's violation of the model code by making a public announcement about it. The poll panel had given its nod to the state government to disburse the rabi installment during the model code of conduct period on certain conditions.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The state was asked not to publicise the disbursement during the poll code as part of the condition. Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu instalments. The money is the right of the farmers. It is what they deserve for  K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) November 27, 2023 In a post on X, Congress general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said, "Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu installments." The money is the right of the farmers and it is what they deserve for their year-long hard work, he said. "When this money is supposed to be released any time between October and January, it was the BRS' desperation which compelled them to make such irresponsible statements," he said. "Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana," Venugopal said. Telangana goes to poll on November 30. The EC letter to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) read, "The Commission has observed that T Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath and Family Welfare, Govt of Telangana has not only violated the provisions of MCC (model code of conduct) but also conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process." .@ECISVEEP withdraws permission for #Rythubandhu says its #HarishRao violated for condition for grant of permission to disbursement of Rythubandhu @NewIndianXpress @XpressHyderabad @Kalyan_TNIE pic.twitter.com/1QR0mvia3D  Ireddy Srinivas Reddy (@ireddysrinivasr) November 27, 2023 The EC informed the state chief electoral officer about its decision to withdraw its permission. The state finance minister had made a public announcement about the release of disbursements of rabi installments. He had reportedly said, "The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
News / National

by Staff reporter

President Cyril Ramaphosa seems to have wiped out his political opponents by what many deem is the use of state organs to fight political battles. Arrests seem to have dampened the energy of the "RET faction", Ramaphosa's biggest rival from even before his election as ANC president at Nasrec in 2017.Many of Ramaphosa's opponents have been arrested during his tenure as head of state, including ex-president Jacob Zuma, former ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule, former spokesperson Carl Niehaus, former Durban mayor Zandile Gumede, former State Security minister Bongani Bongo, former public protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, former SAA chairperson Dudu Myeni (who chairs the Jacob Zuma Foundation) and former Eskom CEOs Matshela Koko and Brian Molefe.Niehaus has told the Saturday Star that he was not afraid to speak out against Ramaphosa's alleged first-hand involvement in their arrests."When I was arrested, I was arrested in public on national television. They put me through a very tough time when I had to travel almost every week to KZN to attend my case. I spent thousands in legal fees and when I was cleared no one wanted to touch me."The reason for my arrest was because of my support for Msholozi (Zuma's clan name) and because I have continually called for Ramaphosa to step down. I maintain that he is a sellout and the worst president the ANC has ever had," Niehaus said.The question among many within and outside the ANC is who is next in the growing list of Ramaphosa's detractors to face legal challenges.Another victim of Ramaphosa's alleged career limiting tactics is KZN businessman Toshan Panday, who this year was raided after R165 million worth of assets were seized from his family members. Panday is known to be a Zuma loyalist.Panday told the Saturday Star that he too became a target of victimisation by state organs."Many people are being pursued on frivolous charges just to deal with some of us. It is really sad what is being done. We are being persecuted and the laws are being weaponised to deal with some of us," he said.In 2021, former State Security minister Bongani Bongo was cleared of corruption charges after he was accused of trying to derail a parliamentary inquiry into Eskom in 2017.The case stems from Bongo allegedly offering a bribe to Eskom inquiry evidence leader Ntuthuzelo Vanara in October 2017, who was part of a Public Enterprises portfolio committee inquiry into state capture at Eskom. The case was however turned on its head when the secretary to Parliament's ethics committee, Shaham Langkar, who was in the room when an alleged bribe was offered, told police that Vanara was lying and was being used to "deal with Bongo".Langkar told Independent Media in 2021 that Bongo and Vanara had a conversation and no such bribe was paid.Lankar said: "It's strange that Vanara made these allegations and weeks after the conversation with Bongo. I was in the room and no such bribe was made. It's also interesting that Vanara made these allegations when the position of head of legal for the SABC was made available. He applied for the job and got it. If I'm asked if that was a thank you gift to Vanara, I'd say yes it was."This week, former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko, who was cleared by the Middelburg Regional Court when it struck his corruption case off the roll, accused the ANC, Ramaphosa and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) of using the courts to victimise him and his family.Koko said in a statement shortly after his acquittal: "The ANC is a threat to the rule of law and the Constitution. We must make 2024 better than 1994 by making the NPA a Section 9 institution. The hyenas cannot look after the sheep ..."Loyalty should be to the Constitution and the Rule of Law and not to a party ... As for President Cyril Ramaphosa, the voters will judge him and history will not be kind to him."On Friday, Koko revealed that he had laid a complaint with the public protector after he accused the Investigating Directorate (ID) and the NPA of overstepping the mark by "usurping the function of the courts".Many of the "pro-Zuma" supporters still have cases enrolled in the court. To many's shock, Gumede's case of four years ago still has an incomplete charge sheet.Media personality Ngizwe Mchunu, who has repeatedly called for Ramaphosa to step down, was in 2021 arrested for inciting violence. The charges were dropped earlier this month after the NPA failed to prove its case.Attempts to get a comment from Ramaphosa were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
By Online Desk

Since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 70 journalists and media workers have been killed, several have been injured and others are missing, according to the data available with the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), "Journalism is in the process of being eradicated in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israels refusal to heed calls to protect media personnel."

"The situation is dire for Palestinian journalists trapped in the enclave, where ten have been killed in the past three days, bringing the total media death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 48, as on Nov 22, 2023, going by RSF post on platform X.

According to Jonathan Dagher, Head of RSFs Middle East desk, The Israeli forces have killed nearly 50 journalists in 45 days in the Gaza Strip, including 11 in the course of their work. This is one of the deadliest tolls in a century. International journalists are banned from entering Gaza. Reporters there have no safe refuge and no way of leaving. They are being killed one after another. Since 7 October, the Palestinian territory has been subjected to a veritable eradication of journalism."

"We urge the international community to intervene to protect the journalists there, to open the Rafah border crossing, and to enable international reporters to go in, he added.

The well-known journalist Bilal Jadallah was killed by an Israeli strike that hit his car directly as he was trying to evacuate from Gaza City via the district of Zeitoun on the morning of 19 November. A prominent figure within the Palestinian media community, he held several positions including chair of the board of Press House-Palestine, an organisation that supports independent media and journalists in Gaza, RSF noted.

From north to south, a cemetery for journalists

While most of the attacks against journalists were committed in the north of Gaza, where Israeli forces have concentrated their attacks, at least five journalists were killed in the south, above all in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, where much of the territorys population has sought refuge. Most of the journalists were killed with family members when Israeli strikes hit their homes, RSF said.

As of Nov 23, 2023, 56 journalists were killed, according to the International Federation of Journalists. The IFJ is working closely with its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) to verify information in real time.

This apart, Palestinian journalists have lost several of their family members. Wael al-Dahdouh for instance. His wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli air raid.

In the Vietnam war that lasted two decades, 63 journalists were killed and a total of 69 were killed in World War II (1939-45)  the bloodiest war the modern world has seen.

According to Al Jazeera, In the war between Russia and Ukraine, 17 journalists in total have been killed since the war began in 2022, the last reported killing being of French cameraman Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff who was killed in May.

The US-led invasion of Iraq sparked a war that was particularly deadly for journalists  and set a trend that has continued. According to the CPJ, 283 journalists have been killed in Iraq since 2003. That includes 11 who were killed in the first month of the war, between March and April 2003, Al Jazeera said.

The war in Syria had zero journalist causalities in its first month of conflict in 2011, although the toll there has since increased dramatically to between 270 and 715, Al Jazeera quoting the Syrian Network for Human Rights added.

Meanwhile, in a critical piece, the French monthly newspaper Le Monde diplomatique has this comment about French newsrooms comparing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel's massacre of Palestinians in Gaza: "The murder of a reporter in Moscow prompts them  rightly  to challenge an authoritarian regime; the killing of ten Palestinian journalists elicits only a sad shrug. As of 14 October, Israel was responsible for the deaths of nearly a third of the journalists killed worldwide in 2023."

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Since the beginning of the war in Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 70 journalists and media workers have been killed, several have been injured and others are missing, according to the data available with the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate. According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), "Journalism is in the process of being eradicated in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israels refusal to heed calls to protect media personnel." "The situation is dire for Palestinian journalists trapped in the enclave, where ten have been killed in the past three days, bringing the total media death toll in Gaza since the start of the war to 48, as on Nov 22, 2023, going by RSF post on platform X.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); According to Jonathan Dagher, Head of RSFs Middle East desk, The Israeli forces have killed nearly 50 journalists in 45 days in the Gaza Strip, including 11 in the course of their work. This is one of the deadliest tolls in a century. International journalists are banned from entering Gaza. Reporters there have no safe refuge and no way of leaving. They are being killed one after another. Since 7 October, the Palestinian territory has been subjected to a veritable eradication of journalism." "We urge the international community to intervene to protect the journalists there, to open the Rafah border crossing, and to enable international reporters to go in, he added. The well-known journalist Bilal Jadallah was killed by an Israeli strike that hit his car directly as he was trying to evacuate from Gaza City via the district of Zeitoun on the morning of 19 November. A prominent figure within the Palestinian media community, he held several positions including chair of the board of Press House-Palestine, an organisation that supports independent media and journalists in Gaza, RSF noted. From north to south, a cemetery for journalists While most of the attacks against journalists were committed in the north of Gaza, where Israeli forces have concentrated their attacks, at least five journalists were killed in the south, above all in the cities of Rafah and Khan Younis, where much of the territorys population has sought refuge. Most of the journalists were killed with family members when Israeli strikes hit their homes, RSF said. As of Nov 23, 2023, 56 journalists were killed, according to the International Federation of Journalists. The IFJ is working closely with its affiliate, the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) to verify information in real time. This apart, Palestinian journalists have lost several of their family members. Wael al-Dahdouh for instance. His wife, son, daughter and grandson were killed in an Israeli air raid. In the Vietnam war that lasted two decades, 63 journalists were killed and a total of 69 were killed in World War II (1939-45)  the bloodiest war the modern world has seen. According to Al Jazeera, In the war between Russia and Ukraine, 17 journalists in total have been killed since the war began in 2022, the last reported killing being of French cameraman Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff who was killed in May. The US-led invasion of Iraq sparked a war that was particularly deadly for journalists  and set a trend that has continued. According to the CPJ, 283 journalists have been killed in Iraq since 2003. That includes 11 who were killed in the first month of the war, between March and April 2003, Al Jazeera said. The war in Syria had zero journalist causalities in its first month of conflict in 2011, although the toll there has since increased dramatically to between 270 and 715, Al Jazeera quoting the Syrian Network for Human Rights added. Meanwhile, in a critical piece, the French monthly newspaper Le Monde diplomatique has this comment about French newsrooms comparing the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Israel's massacre of Palestinians in Gaza: "The murder of a reporter in Moscow prompts them  rightly  to challenge an authoritarian regime; the killing of ten Palestinian journalists elicits only a sad shrug. As of 14 October, Israel was responsible for the deaths of nearly a third of the journalists killed worldwide in 2023." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By AFP

BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said Turkey should approve Sweden's stalled bid for membership "as soon as possible".

"Sweden has delivered on what they promised and now the time has come for Turkey to finalize the accession process," Stoltenberg said.

Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members to not yet have ratified Sweden joining the alliance more than 18 months after it applied for membership.

The Turkish parliament started this month to debate Sweden's bid to join after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the process following a deal at a NATO summit in July.

NATO's other 29 allies had hoped to be able to formally welcome Sweden into the alliance at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels this week.

However, the process is still at the committee level in the Turkish parliament.

"I would have liked to see more speed in the ratification process, that's no secret," Stoltenberg said.

"I would like them to finalize that, and that's exactly what I have communicated many times."

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BRUSSELS: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said Turkey should approve Sweden's stalled bid for membership "as soon as possible". "Sweden has delivered on what they promised and now the time has come for Turkey to finalize the accession process," Stoltenberg said. Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members to not yet have ratified Sweden joining the alliance more than 18 months after it applied for membership.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); The Turkish parliament started this month to debate Sweden's bid to join after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the process following a deal at a NATO summit in July. NATO's other 29 allies had hoped to be able to formally welcome Sweden into the alliance at a meeting of foreign ministers in Brussels this week. However, the process is still at the committee level in the Turkish parliament. "I would have liked to see more speed in the ratification process, that's no secret," Stoltenberg said. "I would like them to finalize that, and that's exactly what I have communicated many times." Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Associated Press

SEOUL: North Korea is restoring front-line guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, South Korea's military said Monday after animosities spiked between the rivals over the North's recent spy satellite launch.

The two Koreas previously dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone, under a 2018 deal meant to ease front-line military confrontations. But the deal is now in danger of being scrapped as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it.

The 2018 agreement required the two Koreas to halt aerial surveillance and live-fire exercises at no-fly and buffer zones that they established along the DMZ, as well as remove some of their front-line guard posts and land mines. The deal left South Korea with 50 board guard posts and North Korea with 150.

After North Korea claimed to place its first military spy satellite into orbit on Nov. 21, South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal and resume aerial surveillance along the DMZ in response. South Korea said its response was a minimum defensive measure because the launch showed the North's intentions to strengthen its monitoring of the South and improve its missile technology.

North Korea immediately slammed South Koreas decision, saying it would deploy powerful weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure. The North said it also wont abide by the 2018 deal any longer.

South Koreas Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday that it detected North Korea building guard posts at border sites where its dismantled guard posts once stood, and that North Korea deployed troops and heavy weapons there.

The ministry distributed to media outlets photos of North Korean soldiers building a guard post and moving a suspected recoilless rifle to a newly built trench.

ALSO READ | North Korea says it put a military spy satellite into orbit on third try

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the military to keep a close watch on the North and maintain a firm readiness, according to his office. The South Korean Defense Ministry later said it's ready to promptly and strongly punish" North Korea over any provocation that it launches.

South Korea, the United States, and others strongly condemned the North's satellite launch, which they viewed as a provocation that threatened regional peace. United Nations Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea because the world body regards them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology. North Korea says it has sovereign rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it says are escalating U.S.-led military threats.

On Monday, Kim Son Gyong, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, called the U.S. and others condemnation of the satellite launch a typical expression of the most hideous and brazen-faced violation of sovereignty that denies the justification of the existence of North Korea.

South Korean officials said they confirmed the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But they said they need more time to verify whether the satellite is functioning normally.

North Korea's state media said Monday that leader Kim Jong Un was shown pictures taken by the spy satellite of a military facility in the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. State media earlier said Kim had been presented with satellite photos of U.S. military bases in Hawaii and key sites in South Korea. North Korea hasn't released those satellite images.

Kim previously said the satellite gives North Korea eyes overlooking a very long distance and a strong fist beating a very long distance."

Many experts doubt the satellites ability to take high-resolution images, though they said it would still be militarily useful for the North.

South Korea suspects Russian technological assistance likely enabled North Korea to send the spy satellite into space. South Korean, U.S., and Japanese officials accused North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to enhance its military programs in return for shipping conventional arms to support Russias war in Ukraine. Both Russia and North Korea denied the alleged weapons transfer deal.

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SEOUL: North Korea is restoring front-line guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, South Korea's military said Monday after animosities spiked between the rivals over the North's recent spy satellite launch. The two Koreas previously dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border, called the Demilitarized Zone, under a 2018 deal meant to ease front-line military confrontations. But the deal is now in danger of being scrapped as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it. The 2018 agreement required the two Koreas to halt aerial surveillance and live-fire exercises at no-fly and buffer zones that they established along the DMZ, as well as remove some of their front-line guard posts and land mines. The deal left South Korea with 50 board guard posts and North Korea with 150.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); After North Korea claimed to place its first military spy satellite into orbit on Nov. 21, South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal and resume aerial surveillance along the DMZ in response. South Korea said its response was a minimum defensive measure because the launch showed the North's intentions to strengthen its monitoring of the South and improve its missile technology. North Korea immediately slammed South Koreas decision, saying it would deploy powerful weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure. The North said it also wont abide by the 2018 deal any longer. South Koreas Defense Ministry said in a statement Monday that it detected North Korea building guard posts at border sites where its dismantled guard posts once stood, and that North Korea deployed troops and heavy weapons there. The ministry distributed to media outlets photos of North Korean soldiers building a guard post and moving a suspected recoilless rifle to a newly built trench. ALSO READ | North Korea says it put a military spy satellite into orbit on third try South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the military to keep a close watch on the North and maintain a firm readiness, according to his office. The South Korean Defense Ministry later said it's ready to promptly and strongly punish" North Korea over any provocation that it launches. South Korea, the United States, and others strongly condemned the North's satellite launch, which they viewed as a provocation that threatened regional peace. United Nations Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea because the world body regards them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology. North Korea says it has sovereign rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it says are escalating U.S.-led military threats. On Monday, Kim Son Gyong, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, called the U.S. and others condemnation of the satellite launch a typical expression of the most hideous and brazen-faced violation of sovereignty that denies the justification of the existence of North Korea. South Korean officials said they confirmed the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But they said they need more time to verify whether the satellite is functioning normally. North Korea's state media said Monday that leader Kim Jong Un was shown pictures taken by the spy satellite of a military facility in the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. State media earlier said Kim had been presented with satellite photos of U.S. military bases in Hawaii and key sites in South Korea. North Korea hasn't released those satellite images. Kim previously said the satellite gives North Korea eyes overlooking a very long distance and a strong fist beating a very long distance." Many experts doubt the satellites ability to take high-resolution images, though they said it would still be militarily useful for the North. South Korea suspects Russian technological assistance likely enabled North Korea to send the spy satellite into space. South Korean, U.S., and Japanese officials accused North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to enhance its military programs in return for shipping conventional arms to support Russias war in Ukraine. Both Russia and North Korea denied the alleged weapons transfer deal. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
By Associated Press

Three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured  one seriously  near the University of Vermont, police said Sunday. Authorities said the attack may have been a hate crime.

Police are searching for the shooting suspect after the attack, which occurred at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday near the UVM campus, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said.

Two of the men are in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Murad said Sunday. The three, all age 20, were visiting the home of one of the victims relatives and were walking when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said in a news release. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

Murad said all three men are of Palestinian descent and expressed deepest sympathies for the men and their families. Two are US citizens and one is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Murad said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said in a news release.

He added, The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

Earlier Sunday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

It said a man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them.

The FBI said it is aware of the shootings.

If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate, Sarah Ruane, an FBI spokesperson based in Albany, New York, said in a statement.

The White House said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates as law enforcement gathers more information.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement that it has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding provided a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it described as being from the families of the victims.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, it said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country, the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said that any indication that the shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling.

Gov. Phil Scott called it a tragedy, calling on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war: More captives to be freed in Gaza truce; 4 Hamas leaders killed in Israeli attack

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions are escalating in the U.S. as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all young men. Its the third exchange under a four-day truce deal.

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Three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured  one seriously  near the University of Vermont, police said Sunday. Authorities said the attack may have been a hate crime. Police are searching for the shooting suspect after the attack, which occurred at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday near the UVM campus, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said. Two of the men are in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Murad said Sunday. The three, all age 20, were visiting the home of one of the victims relatives and were walking when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-8052921-2'); }); Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said in a news release. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities. Murad said all three men are of Palestinian descent and expressed deepest sympathies for the men and their families. Two are US citizens and one is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves. Murad said there is no additional information to suggest a motive. In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said in a news release. He added, The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less. Earlier Sunday, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab. It said a man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them. The FBI said it is aware of the shootings. If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate, Sarah Ruane, an FBI spokesperson based in Albany, New York, said in a statement. The White House said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates as law enforcement gathers more information. The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a statement that it has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings. The Institute for Middle East Understanding provided a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it described as being from the families of the victims. We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, it said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America. No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country, the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. We will not let hatred win. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting. It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement. Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said that any indication that the shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling. Gov. Phil Scott called it a tragedy, calling on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness. The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting. We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all. ALSO READ | Israel-Hamas war: More captives to be freed in Gaza truce; 4 Hamas leaders killed in Israeli attack The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime. Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions are escalating in the U.S. as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all young men. Its the third exchange under a four-day truce deal. Follow The New Indian Express channel on WhatsApp
IFFI 2023: I do not want to confine myself as an actor, says Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Panaji, Nov 26

N oted Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui on Sunday said that he does not want to confine himself only to a certain type of characters.

Rautu ki Beli a Hindi film, directed by Anand Surapur, in which Nawazuddin Siddiqui has played the lead role, had its Gala Premiere at the 54th International Film Festival of India in Goa.

Answering a question about choosing a role in a film, Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that I do not want to confine myself only to a certain type of characters, and I would prefer diversity of characters.

The film based in Rautu ki Beli, an idyllic town in hilly north India, takes its audience on an investigative journey with Inspector Negi after a school warden is found dead in the town.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that the films that depict the authentic tales of local flavor from across the country will receive world recognition; the more local, the more global.

He said that while playing any character, he tries to live the life of the character to the point that the characters life and his own life merges into one.

I would like to play the character of spiritual guru Osho if opportunity comes, said actor Siddiqui when asked about a character that he looks forward to play in future.

Answering a question about his inspiration for filmmaking, Director, Anand Surapur said that the passion for storytelling and unique ideas are the main source of my inspiration.

IFFI 2023: I do not want to confine myself as an actor, says Nawazuddin Siddiqui

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Los Angeles, Nov 26

A ctress Natalie Portman doesnt encourage young people to become child actors. The 'Black Swan' star, 42, launched her career at age 12 when she starred in the action film 'Leon: The Professional' in 1994.

She admitted that it's only down to "luck" and having "overprotective parents" that she wasn't "harmed", reports Female First UK.

She told Variety: "I would not encourage young people to go into this. I dont mean ever; I mean as children. I feel it was almost an accident of luck that I was not harmed, also combined with very overprotective, wonderful parents.

The 'Thor: Love and Thunder' star is hopeful that the industry is looking after young performers better these days. She said: Ive heard too many bad stories to think that any children should be part of it. Having said that, I know all the conversations that weve been having these past few years. Its made people more aware and careful.

However, she added: But ultimately, I dont believe that kids should work. I think kids should play and go to school.

As per Female First UK, Natalie - who has son Aleph, 12, and daughter Amalia, six, with husband Benjamin Millepied - didn't come away from being a child actor completely unscathed. Her classmates used to tease her for her career path because they believed she thought she was special.

Natalie was speaking to Drew Barrymore for the fellow actress eponymously titled talk show, in 2020, when Drew - who was also a child actor and starred with Natalie in the 1996 movie Everyone Says I Love You - said: I read this thing about how you didnt have an easy time in school because you would go out to movies and then come back and just have an awkward time with the other kids at school  I havent really read that from a lot of people and that was totally my experience, I really related to that.

Natalie confessed: I mean I think people get bullied for all sorts of reasons and thats a lucky reason to be bullied for because you are doing something that you love, I mean if you are doing something that you love. I do think that that sort of creates your empathy like being on that side of the teasing certainly makes you never want to make anyone feel like that ever again.

The Star Wars actress also admitted she found the experience tough, because she felt like she wasnt able to be proud of her accomplishments.

Kids should not work, says Natalie Portman

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News / National

by Stephen Jakes

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) has reported that depleted own-produced food stocks, has constrained access to income, and high food prices will likely drive Crisis (IPC Phase 3) outcomes into early 2024 in typical deficit-producing areas.FEWS NET made the remarks in its latest report adding that anticipated below-normal 2024 harvests due to El Ninoinduced poor rainfall will likely provide short-term improvements to household food access and acute food insecurity after the harvests. In the productive surplus producing resettlement areas in the north, the availability of own-produced stocks and income from mainly crop sales and casual labor are expected to maintain Minimal (IPC Phase 1) outcomes through May 2024."However, the communal parts of these areas are likely to continue to experience Stressed (IPC Phase 2) outcomes due to limited household stocks and access to income for market purchases," it said.The organisation said El Nino-induced poor rainfall is likely to negatively impact the area planted and crop conditions, leading to lower-than normal seasonal agricultural labor opportunities and labor rates."Likely erratic and cumulatively below-average rainfall is expected to result in a below-average 2024 harvest. Anticipated water challenges, especially in typical low rainfall areas, compounded by ongoing macroeconomic challenges, will likely drive below-normal engagement in non-agricultural casual labor and self-employment. Livestock body conditions, especially cattle, are expected to decline as water and pasture conditions deteriorate, impacting livestock sales," it said.The gathering, consumption, and sale of wild foods and other wild products will likely be below normal."The market supply of staple grains will likely decline through the 2023/24 agricultural season. In October, some farmers with surplus grain are speculatively holding on to their stocks in response to El Nino forecasts. As stocks diminish, grain prices will likely increase above normal levels in deficitproducing areas, increasing reliance on maize meal. Generally, USD prices of basic food and non-food commodities are expected to remain stable, with poor households relying mainly on informal retail shops and open markets where prices are relatively lower than formal chain supermarkets," the report said.However, FEWS NET said short-lived price increases associated with the end of-year festive season are likely for some commodities and areas.It said local currency (ZWL) prices are expected to follow likely increases in formal and parallel market exchange rates, driving increases in the ZWL cost of living."Historical trends indicate domestic and international remittances to poor households increase through a shock like an El Nino. However, poor households will likely receive less remittances as other household members in-country or abroad, mainly in South Africa, face poor macroeconomic conditions and high living costs. An increasing proportion of households are likely to engage in or expand income-earning opportunities from petty trade, but increased competition will negatively impact income. Informal mining is expected to increase as a source of income for participating households," it said.The barter of livestock and other commodities for food is likely to increase, although terms of trade are expected to remain unfavorable for poor households.FEWS NET is a USAID-funded activity. The content of this report does not necessarily reflect the view of the United States Agency for International Development or the United States Government.
Chennai, Nov 26

A s the Animal team is in Chennai, Bollywood star Ranbir Kapoor expressed his deep respect for South Indian cinema, citing his respect for superstars such as Rajinikanth, Thalapathy Vijay, Kamal Haasan, and Ajith.

The clip that has gone viral on social media saw Ranbir talking about Southern cinema, as well as both its craze among fans and how inspiring it is to watch these stars make dramatic entries and action scenes.

He said: Looking at the craze for the heroes and the heroines, I think it is very inspiring to watch. As an actor you aspire for that, and when you see Rajini sirs entry, or Thalapathy Vijay, or all the great stars like Kamal Haasan sir, or Ajith sir. You see that their audience, their fans just love them so much, and I believe that is just very inspiring to watch.

Bobby Deol talking about the action scenes in the film said: If you watch the film you will be amazed. The action scenes in the film are so well choreographed, there are no special effects used. It is just very raw and gritty, it is absolutely brutal. Just two animals going at it.

Ranbir talking about the film said: This movie is basically about an obsessive love. No kind of obsession is ever healthy and this is what it is about. The character is just someone who is deeply obsessed with his fathers love, he craves for it. There are also childhood scars which shape him, later turning him into what he is.

Directed and written by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the movie stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, Rashmika Mandanna, Tripti Dimri, Shakti Kapoor, among others. It will hit theatres on December 1.

Ranbir Kapoor expresses his respect for South Indian cinema

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Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 26

O ne after the other, megastar Mammootty is not looking to stop any time soon. After the massive success of his films Kannur Squad, and the ongoing spree of success that Kathaal  The Core is enjoying, his movie Turbo has unveiled a gritty, blazing first look.

The poster was released by the makers on Sunday as they wrote: Make way for Turbo Jose. Presenting the First Look Poster of @TurboTheFilm Directed by Vysakh, Written by Midhun Manuel Thomas & Produced by @MKampanyOffl

A rather raw and gritty looking film, and very much rustic in tone, Turbo sees the megastar basically wearing very standard clothing, donning little more than a black shirt, and a mundu (a standard dhoti worn in South states, particularly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala), while sporting a very short haircut and beard.

Stepping out of a black jeep amidst a bleak and hazy background, it really is unknown what to make of what the actor really is in the film.

Before this, the actor had revealed that the shooting for the film had already begun back on November 7 revealing a small glimpse of the shooting process.

Much like Kannur Squad, there are entire sets being designed from scratch and made with excruciating detail. Directed by Vyaskh, Turbo' marks Mammoottys third collaboration with the director after previously working together on the films Pokkiri Raja and Madhura Raja.

Also produced by the actor, the script for Turbo is written by Midhun Manuel Thomas.

In addition, apart from Turbo, the actor will also be seen in the film Bramayugam with both films hitting theatres sometime in 2024.

Mammootty unveils blazing, gritty first look for 'Turbo'

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New Delhi, Nov 26

C hief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud on Sunday said that the Supreme Court has acted as a "people's court" in the last seven decades.

He said that thousands of citizens have approached the apex courts door with the faith that they will get justice through this institution.

"Our court is perhaps the only Ccurt in the world where any citizen, no matter who they are or where they come from, can set in motion the constitutional machinery of the Supreme Court simply by even writing to the Chief Justice of India," he said in his address after a statue of Dr BR Ambedkar was unveiled by President Droupadi Murmu in the Supreme Court premises as part of Constitution Day celebrations.

The CJI said that establishing such a statue is an extension of the thought that the right to approach the Court is heart and soul of the Constitution, as Dr Ambedkar famously said.

"So when we say today, we honour the adoption of the Constitution, first and foremost, we honour the fact that the Constitution 'exists', and that the Constitution 'works'," he added.

CJI Chandrachud said that apart from ensuring that the citizens get justice through its judgments, the Supreme Court has been making its administrative processes citizen-centric. He said that recently, the Supreme Court has launched e-Sewa Kendras in all courts to ensure that no citizen is left behind in the judicial process.

We embrace our citizens as co-equal partners in a shared national endeavour," he said.

Supreme Court has always acted as a 'people's court', says CJI Chandrachud

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New Delhi, Nov 26

P resident Droupadi Murmu on Sunday launched various e-initiatives of the Supreme Court and also unveiled a statue of Dr B. R. Ambedkar in the apex court's premises.

The Virtual Justice Clock, E-SCR (Hindi) and FASTER (Version 2.0), among other initiatives, were launched by the President to bring awareness and transparency about the justice delivery system.

Virtual Justice Clock, now also available in Hindi, provides information about institution, disposal, and case clearance rate (CCR) of courts. The E-SCR (Hindi) will allow users to search for judgments rendered by the top court in Hindi.

The Supreme Court portal has 21,388 judgments translated into Hindi and 9,276 judgments have been translated into other regional languages with the help of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

FASTER (Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records) is a digital platform to communicate interim orders, stay orders, bail orders etc., of the Supreme Court to authorities concerned through a secured electronic communication channel so as to ensure timely release of undertrials.

In her address, the President said that the cause of justice is best served by making it accessible for all and commended initiatives taken by the Supreme Court, in particular, and the judiciary, in general, to expand the scope of free legal aid.

"As we celebrate the Constitution Day, we should note that the Constitution is after all only a written document. It comes alive and remains alive only if its contents are put into practice," Murmu said.

Working Sessions on 100 years of Dr BR Ambedkars law practice, state of the judiciary and institutionalising the use of technology in judicial administration were a part of the day long Constitution-day celebrations in the Supreme Court.

President Murmu launches Virtual Justice Clock, unveils statue of Dr B.R. Ambedkar in SC

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Tel Aviv, November 27

B usiness tycoon Elon Musk is set to meet Israel President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli President's Office confirmed the meeting between Tesla owner Elon Musk and Herzog.

Herzog said that he would be joined in the meeting by some family members of hostages who are being held in Gaza, as reported by The Times of Israel.

He further said that he will "emphasise the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online."

Musk, however, has recently come under fire for his endorsements of a virulently antisemitic trope on X, as well as the platform's complete failure to crack down on rampant disinformation and hate speech amid the ongoing war, The Times of Israel reported.

The failure to combat antisemitism on the app and comments viewed as anti-Semitic, shared by Musk himself resulted in several advertisers like Apple and Disney cutting off their spending on the microblogging site.

Amid the row over endorsing 'anti-semitic' post on X, the platform owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that the social media platform will file a "thermonuclear lawsuit" against the media watchdog 'Media Matters' alleging that it "completely misrepresented the real user experience" and "undermined free speech".

Musk is currently in Israel and is also expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his visit.

Earlier this week, Musk announced that X would be donating all revenue from advertising and subscriptions "associated with the war in Gaza" to hospitals in Israel and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote, "We will track how funds are spent and go through Red Cross/Crescent. Better ideas are welcome. We should care about the innocent regardless of race, creed, religion or anything else."

Elon Musk to meet Israel President Isaac Herzog tomorrow

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Mumbai, November 27

C reating more excitement among the audience, the makers of the action thriller 'Animal' starring Ranbir Kapoor and Bobby Deol are all set for a grand event today in the vibrant city of Hyderabad. Joining them are none other than ace filmmaker SS Rajamouli and superstar Mahesh Babu.

Taking to X handle, T-Series shared the news on Sunday and wrote, "Some might roar in streets, some might roar in certain locations, some might roar in a few places, but this man can ROAR across the globe with sheer brilliance. Our very own @ssrajamouli is the chief guest for #AnimalPreReleaseEvent."

https://twitter.com/TSeries/status/1728811593029603719?

In another post, they announced Mahesh Babu as the chief guest, the post read, "#Animal is set to REIGN and ROAR. The Sovereign...the one who always reigns supremely, Superstar @urstrulyMahesh is attending as the Chief Guest of #AnimalPreReleaseEvent. This one's going to make you all go berserk."

https://twitter.com/TSeries/status/1728811694863057373?

Mahesh Babu and SS Rajamouli will attend the event as chief guests.

Helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga, the film stars Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol and Rashmika Mandanna in the lead roles.

Recently, during the promotional event in Chennai, Ranbir opened up on why Sandeep Reddy Vanga's next directorial has been titled 'Animal'.

Ranbir said, "Once you see the film, you will understand." He elaborated on the reason and said, "I think the reason why Sandeep Reddy Vanga called this film Animal is because animal behaves out of instinct. They don't behave out of thought. So this character that I'm playing, he behaves out of instinct to protect his family. He is not thinking he is behaving out of instinct, he is impulsive, and I think that's where the title Animal came and once you see the film you'll realize that this film suits this title."

Recently team 'Animal' unveiled the film's official trailer which received a massive response from the fans.

The 3-minute-32-second trailer hinted that Ranbir's character had turned fierce because of his violent upbringing during his younger age.

Ranbir's character is protective and obsessive about his father's love. He is seen threatening everybody who comes in the way of his love for his father.

Reportedly, the film has a duration of 3 hours and 21 minutes.

'Animal' is all set to hit the theatres on December 1 and will be released in 5 languages- Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

'Animal': SS Rajamouli, Mahesh Babu to join Ranbir, Rashmika for event in Hyderabad

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New York, Nov 26

F ormer US President Donald Trump is moving "closer and closer" to "losing his own liberty" over his continued verbal and social media attacks on New York Judge Arthur Engoron and his staff on his $250 million civil fraud trials case in lower Manhattan courts, the media reported.

Trump is fast losing his advantage of being the frontrunner in the GOP nominations and polls predicting he is ahead in five swing states of incumbent President Joe Biden thus surrendering the advantage to Biden in the 2024 presidential race to the White House, Newsweek commented in a report in its latest issue released.

In the absence of a jury, as Trump's legal team has demanded, Judge Engoron has already ruled that Trump had orchestrated a tax and insurance fraud over a 10 year period and that his business licenses to conduct trade in New York be cancelled for which Trump had criticised him as a democrat launching a witch hunt.

Engoron twice fined him for violating the gag order but both gag order and cancellation of licenses in the New York are in abeyance by an appeals court pending his trial.

Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday, ex GOP veteran and former Congressman David Jolly said Trump's continued attempts to denigrate court officials in bringing the civil fraud trial against him, suggested he is inching closer to losing his personal liberties.

Jolly previously served as a GOP representative for Florida's 13th Congressional District, but has since left the Republican Party and become an outspoken opponent of Trump.

"In past years, his holiday messages have attacked socialists and Democrats and the deep state and this was an unhinged screed against prosecutors and judges and it gives you a little bit in terms of his state of mind," Jolly said.

"We continue to step closer and closer to Donald Trump possibly losing his own liberty either because of pre-trial behaviours and attacks on prosecutors and judges or a conviction."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment without getting a response.

Jolly also suggested on Saturday that Trump's tirades bode well for President Joe Biden's re-election chances, despite recent polls showing Trump in the lead. "I don't think he has a lead over Biden like the polls show because when people see his behaviour, they are reminded that he is an unstable, unhinged man, who should not be returning to the White House and that is enough to protect Joe Biden's lead going into a matchup," the former Congressman added.

New York Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump and his family, including sons Donald Jr. Trump and Eric Trump, for $250 million, accusing them of frequently inflating Trump's own net worth and the value of his assets by billions of dollars from 2011 to 2021 to secure better deals and loans.

The Trump family dismissed the accusations and maintained their innocence, accusing prosecutors of being politically motivated and attempting to harm Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, ruled last month that Trump, his adult sons, their businesses, and executives committed fraud, for which they will be held civilly liable to an extent to be determined throughout the rest of the trial. The court will also rule on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and conspiracy claims.

Engoron himself will rule on the charges, as Trump's legal team did not opt for a jury trial. The result could see the former president and his family lose some of their famous properties and be barred from doing business in New York.

'Trump closer to losing all liberties with attacks on NY judge & staff'

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Delhi chokes under blanket of smog, air quality plummets to 'severe' at several stations

New Delhi, Nov 27

A dense and noxious haze, commonly known as smog, enveloped Delhi on Monday, with the air quality plummeting to the 'severe' category at several monitoring stations across the national capital.

The Anand Vihar station was in the 'severe' category with PM 10 at 421 and PM 2.5 also at 421, while the ozone plunged to 190 in the 'moderate' category and CO was at 95, in 'satisfactory' level, as per CPCB.

At the Bawana station, PM 2.5 reached 432, in the 'severe' category and PM 10 at 366, in the 'very poor' category, while the CO reached 94, in 'satisfactory' levels and NO2 at 28, in the 'good' category.

In Dwarka sector-8 station, the PM 2.5 reached 425 and PM 10 was at 405, both in the 'severe' category while CO was at 110, in 'moderate' level.

The air quality at the Indira Gandhi International Airport T3 area was 'very poor' with PM 2.5 recorded at 372 and PM 10 at 316 while the CO plummeted at 111, under 'moderate' category and NO2 was at 20, in 'good' levels.

At ITO station, the PM 2.5 plunged to 500 and PM 10 was at 435, both under 'severe' category while the NO2 spiked to 290, in the 'poor' category.

The PM 2.5 at Jahangirpuri was recorded at 451 and PM 10 reached 435, placing both under the 'severe' category. Here, the carbon monoxide was 82 in 'satisfactory' level and NO2 at 18, in the 'good' category.

PM 2.5 at Okhla Phase-II was recorded at 427, while PM 10 reached 418, placing both under the severe category. The NO2 reached 107, in moderate 'category' and CO was at 92, in the 'satisfactory' levels.

Notably, 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'.

Delhi chokes under blanket of smog, air quality plummets to 'severe' at several stations

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Mumbai, Nov 27

A ctor Ali Fazal, who portrays the complex character of Guddu Bhaiya in the Mirzapur franchise, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming season, which will drop next year.

He said: "This time, it's going to be an even more intriguing and remarkable performance by Guddu Bhaiya."

Ali added: Guddu in season 2 was doing the wait and patience game, but hes all set to come back with a true sense of fire in season 3. Guddu Pandits fans were wondering of my minimal time in season 2, but I can be confident to tell that they will be pleased and more with whats coming up in season 3.

The makers have definitely amped this season up and Guddu has a very exciting arc he goes through and is back in action.

Mirzapur, a crime thriller starring Ali Fazal, Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi, Vijay Varma and Pankaj Tripathi. The gripping narrative of Mirzapur 2 concluded on an intriguing cliff-hanger.

The story follows Akhandanand Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi), also known as Kaleen Bhaiya, the mafia don and proverbial ruler of Mirzapur in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.

Ali Fazal promises a thrilling return of Guddu bhaiya in 'Mirzapur 3'

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News / National

by Staff reporter

Investigative journalists who worked on Qatar-based global news network Al Jazeera's Gold Mafia documentary say whistleblowers and an accountant for one of Africa's most notorious gold dealers confirmed criminals were making regular payments to President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House to ensure they operate smoothly.The journalists said documents they had trawled through and studied also confirmed the payments.Sara Yeo and Alexander James told The NewsHawks in an interview on the sidelines of the African Investigative Journalism Conference at Witwatersrand (Wits) University in Johannesburg, South Africa, this past week that whistleblowers and Pattni's accountant confirmed that Mnangagwa received regular payments.Yeo and James told journalists attending the conference that they had no doubt Mnangagwa was the power behind the rival gangs looting Zimbabwe's gold and that he was receiving payment from criminals. Although the gangs were different, they all operated with Mnangagwa's blessings."I think with Kamlesh Pattni as well, we were speaking to Raj, who is also his whistleblower, who is also his accountant. So he confirmed what Kamlesh Patni was saying; that he had to deliver to the State House every fortnight, I think it was just payment to Number One," Yeo said.James said all the evidence they gathered corroborated what the gangs revealed on camera."When they're talking about it, they're confirming essentially what we're seeing on the documentsor what we're seeing through the testimony of the whistleblowers too," James said."These guys, you know, they have the veneer of legitimacy. They have paperwork. They have gold trading licences. They are not hiding in the shadows. They're doing their own scams, too... I'm sure there's stuff that the President wasn't aware of that they're doing, too, but they operate at his discretion."They serve at his will. "Every single one of them talks about the necessity, as Pattni says, to have the king with you. And we're left in no doubt that that was how they operated and how they continue to operate. Someone like Kamlesh Pattni is a political operator first and foremost, too. So they occupy this space, and they occupy the space because of the situation created by President Mnangagwa."James said Mnangagwa was the common denominator I'm all these operations due to his relations with networks of dodgy businesspeople and key players in Zimbabwe, including the controversial pastor and businessman Uebert Angel, his niece Henrieta Rushwaya, who is also the Zimbabwe Miners' Federation boss, gold baron Pedzai Scott Sakupwanya and many other people."I think the phone call with Auxilia Mnangagwa confirmed that we were really dealing with the very top," James said.Pattni, who was implicated in the Goldenberg scandal which almost bankrupted Kenya in the 1990s, revealed his younger brother paid Mnangagwa every two weeks to enable him to smoothy carry out his gold and money laundering operations in Zimbabwe."This is like the norm of life. The incentives, the fees... the appreciation," said Pattni."Every two weeks, Swetang, my brother is there. Every fortnight, he is there at the State House. We always contribute our appreciation."At that point one of the reporters asked: "To Mnangagwa?""To the King himself," Pattni said."When you work, you must always have the king with you. The President."
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Rain likely. High 46F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with light rain this evening. Low 39F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
News / National

by Staff reporter

INVESTIGATIVE journalists who worked on Qatar-based global news network Al Jazeera's Gold Mafia documentary say whistleblowers and an accountant for one of Africa's most notorious gold dealers confirmed that criminals were making regular payments to President Emmerson Mnangagwa at State House to ensure they operate smoothly.The journalists said documents they had studied also confirmed the payments. Sara Yeo and Alexander James told The NewsHawks in an interview on the sidelines of the African Investigative Journalism Conference at Witwatersrand (Wits) University in Johannesburg, South Africa, this past week that whistleblowers and Pattni's accountant confirmed that Mnangagwa received regular payments.Yeo and James told journalists attending the conference that they had no doubt that Mnangagwa was the power behind the rival gangs looting Zimbabwe's gold and that he was receiving payment from criminals.Although the gangs were different, they all operated with Mnangagwa's blessing. "I think with Kamlesh Pattni as well, we were speaking to Raj, who is also his whistleblower, who is also his accountant.So he confirmed what Kamlesh Patni was saying; that he had to deliver to the State House every fortnight, I think it was just payment to Number One," Yeo said.James said all the evidence they gathered corroborated what the gangs revealed on camera."When they're talking about it, they're confirming essentially what we're seeing on the documents or what we're seeing through the testimony of the whistleblowers too," James said."These guys, you know, they have the veneer of legitimacy. They have paperwork. They have gold trading licences. They are not hiding in the shadows. They're doing their own scams, too . . . I'm sure there's stuff that the President wasn't aware of that they're doing, too, but they operate at his discretion."They serve at his will."Every single one of them talks about the necessity, as Pattni says, to have the king with you. And we're left in no doubt that that was how they operated and how they continue to operate. Someone like Kamlesh Pattni is a political operator first and foremost, too. So they occupy this space, and they occupy the space because of the situation created by President Mnangagwa."James said Mnangagwa was the glue holding the operations together because of his relations with the dodgy businessman and key players in Zimbabwe such as controversial charismatic pastor and businessman Uebert Angel and his niece Henrieta Rushwaya, who is also the Zimbabwe Miners' Federation boss."I think the phone call with Auxilia Mnangagwa confirmed that we were really dealing with the very top," James said. Kamlesh Pattni, who was implicated in the Goldenberg scandal which almost bankrupted Kenya in the 1990s, revealed his younger brother paid Mnangagwa every two weeks to enable him to smoothy carry out his gold and money laundering operations in Zimbabwe. "This is like the norm of life. The incentives, the fees . . . the appreciation," said Pattni."Every two weeks, Swetang, my brother is there. Every fortnight, he is there at the State House. We always contribute our appreciation." At that point one of the reporters asked: "To Mnangagwa?" "To the King himself," responded Pattni."When you work, you must always have the king with you. The President." He also showed reporters pictures of him with Mnangagwa and First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa."This is his number. I call him Tembo," said Pattni. One of the undercover reporters then said: "You WhatsApp him?"."I always give him how much we have done . . Yeah, he has to be informed. I was just writing him a message here," responded Pattni, showing the reporters WhatsApp messages he exchanged with the President.One of the undercover reporters appeared stunned and asked: "This is the President's number? Direct to the President?"Pattni responded: "Yes, directly . . . I have to inform him." Pattni, also known as Brother Paul, tells reporters they would enjoy the same protection that he gets from Mnangagwa before assuring them that the President was "100%" aware of the money laundering plan."Ewan Macmillan, a veteran Zimbabwean gold smuggler first arrested in the 1990s, revealed Mnangagwa was his business partner and friend although he abandoned him when he was arrested."He was my partner, my exact partner. He said to me, don't open your mouth. Your life will get worse than it is," Macmillan recalled. "I said f**k, are you kidding me?" Alistair Mathias, who sets up complex gold smuggling schemes for criminals looking to cleanse millions of dollars of undeclared cash, also claimed Mnangagwa was his business partner and friend."In Zim, ED is my partner. I can't say it in public because he's sanctioned," Mathias said. Footage of the Al Jazeera investigative docuseries shows Angel calling First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa to ask if the criminals should use their own plane as they sought to bring US$1.2 billion dirty money into Zimbabwe?"Remember those people that want to move cash," Angel asked. "They would want to know, are we providing the planes or [are] they providing the planes?"Auxillia referred her to Mnangagwa.James told The NewsHawks the Al Jazeera team had done a thorough job in their investigation which took four-and-a-half years."I think first and foremost what we have been able to do is to put something down on record. The corruption that our film exposes is incontrovertible. It's a mixture of documents, it's backed up by sources and the undercover filming," James said."You are hearing it from the perpetrators of that corruption. So don't let any of these media figures or politicians hoodwink you into thinking that this is part of an international conspiracy against the President. We followed a chain of evidence and that led us to our conclusions and the evidence is there for you to see. And maybe those in power do not want to confront this evidence right now, but it's there and if people are going to refer back to it in the future, it will still be there."Asked what the major takeaway from the investigation was, James said: "It's that Zimbabwe, under President Mnangagwa, is a captured state, and the distinction between supposedly independent institutions like the Reserve Bank and the pockets of the President and those around him, the gold miners, the lines of distinction aren't there."So when people talk about sanctions on the President, it's by extension the capture of the state because he has control of that state. And that was it. It was showing essentially the theft of a country, the theft of a nation by the gold mafia, by those close to the President and, by all accounts, these people are still doing business in Zimbabwe, still making money, still robbing the country." Did Al Jazeera play into Zanu-PF's factional politics? James said the Al Jazeera documentary was not motivated by Zanu-PF factional politics. The documentary was released in March, four months before Zimbabwe's general elections. There was talk in Zimbabwe's political circles that Vice-President Constantino Chiwenga had pushed for the documentary to discredit Mnangagwa ahead of the elections."I've spoken to some people, friends involved have talked about this, that essentially because we focused on Mnangagwa, that we played into some sort of factionalism within Zanu-PF between Chiwenga and Mnangagwa," James said."I think we followed the evidence. There are other guys in the Spincash story, there's the President. Vice-President Chiwenga is involved in money laundering, but our evidence didn't flow to Chiwenga. We focused on, as I said, the loops we felt we could close, where we could show each step of the way there was some money moving, and we could demonstrate that very clearly."I think that's one of the strengths of the investigation, that we've, through both the undercover work and the documents and the whistleblowers, we can confidently close those loops in which the money flow is moving. So in our case that all flowed to Number One (Mnangagwa). There wasn't really anything that led to Number Two (Chiwenga). That's not to say all flowed to Number One, there wasn't really anything that led to Number Two . . . It was just that the evidence we had just flowed in that direction."Spincash, an investigation by The Sentry, reveals South African chrome miner Zunaid Moti, who partnered the army to mine chrome in Zimbabwe, paid US$3 million to companies linked to Mnangagwa and Chiwenga.
In a recent study published in the journal PLOS One, researchers investigated the factors that community members prioritize for their well-being and how policymakers can incorporate them to promote community engagement and overall community health. They utilized qualitative focus group methodologies comprising intensive group interviews with adults (aged 18-75) from four Canadian communities across the nation's largest province, Ontario. Their findings revealed that in residents' minds, well-being is achieved through a combination of amenities, accessibility, and community engagement, with a lack of marginalization highlighted in the latter.

Study: Towards a community-driven definition of community wellbeing: A qualitative study of residents. Image Credit: VectorMine / Shutterstock

Can community health affect personal and social well-being?

A discordance between what the government thinks its citizens need and what they actually want themselves has been the cornerstone of most civil uprisings, the most historically notable of which was the French Revolution. In recent decades, research from both the scientific and social lens has increasingly recognized the role played by communities as the building blocks of nations, with attention paid to the influence of community health on individual and societal well-being.

Despite existing since time immemorial, community well-being has recently been formally defined as a framework encapsulating the environmental, economic, social, political, spiritual, and cultural domains that shape the goals and priorities of any community. Community-centric research aims to identify or develop objective indicators of community well-being. A community's amenities, services, and social resources are rapidly being formulated into discrete constructs comprising aspects of social, political, economic, cultural, and political factors associated with individuals living within that community. These constructs, in turn, are used as metrics to evaluate residents' satisfaction.

"More recently, researchers have underscored the importance of aligning community well-being tools (e.g., indicator measures and survey instruments) with the social and political values of the community in question to produce outcomes that are based on local evidence and reflect community perspectives."

An encouraging growing consensus amongst researchers is that evaluation and assessment metrics, hitherto devised by social scientists, should instead be conceived as a collaborative effort between experts and members of the community. A growing body of evidence suggests that every community is unique, and no metric or policy can suit all communities. Evidence from social distancing measures accompanying the recent coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-2019) pandemic indicates that residents of communities actively promoting engagement presented better compliance with COVID-19 restrictions while still maintaining better mental health outcomes compared to communities where crosstalk between residents and policymakers was minimal.

"participatory processes in indicator development can improve their relevance in policy and governance. Inductive approaches that generate domains directly from community actors have been demonstrated to (1) enable participatory engagement and transparency in regional decision-making, (2) promote the use of local evidence, (3) help define the shared goals and priorities of a community, and (4) help shift the focus towards practical outcomes for residents."

It is, therefore, evident that understanding the wants and needs of a community is essential in measuring resident satisfaction, as well as a prerequisite before the conceptualization of policies aimed at promoting community well-being. Unfortunately, research of this nature is scarce.

About the study

In the present study, researchers aimed to use semi-structured group interviews in tandem with thematic analyses to elucidate the critical perspectives and themes associated with community well-being. The study cohort comprised focal groups from four distinct communities across the Canadian province of Ontario. The included communities comprised the City of Toronto, the City of Greater Sudbury, the Regional Municipality of Peel, and the City of Thunder Bay.

Adult volunteers (over the age of 18) from the areas mentioned above were invited for screening and eligibility confirmation between May and July 2022. During screening, data on demographics was collected, and participants were informed about the technical aspects of the study. The Community Well-being Survey, an online survey employing the cross-sectional study methodology, was used for screening.

Selected participants were cherry-picked to maximize diversity in the final study cohorts. Care was taken to ensure that at least 50% of the final cohorts comprised women and included representation for all racial groups (Black, Indigenous, People of Colour). Variations in age, education, and economic factors were further represented.

The focal group interview comprised 3-4 participants per cohort (N = 15). It consisted of a 2-hour-long semi-structured interview focusing on community perceptions regarding four prespecified community well-being domains: social, environmental, physical, and political. Participants were queried on both individual and intersubjective experiences.

The NVivo 12 code generation tool was used for thematic analyses. Both descriptive and interpretative methods were used in qualitative data generation.

Study findings

The present study identified four major themes of community well-being across the assessed communities. The first pertained to the sense of community belonging and was found to be significantly associated with shared spaces, support, routines, and identities. Identities were found to correspond mainly to age and social responsibilities. Encouragingly, while 'groupism' was seen to foster community participation and a sense of belonging, respondents recognized the demerits of excessive groupism resulting in the marginalization of outliers and the formation of 'siloed communities.'

The second theme relates to the amenities and social contexts which promote community development. Amenities, including places of worship, grocery stores, recreation centers, health care facilities, and public greenspaces within the community's geographic confines, were essential requirements for resident satisfaction. Notably, the accessibility of residents to these amenities, specifically availability, affordability, proximity, and physical access, were key to a community thriving.

The third theme highlights that almost all respondents felt that effective policy and community decision-making must be informed by community residents instead of being entirely in the purview of policymakers. Furthermore, equal representation of all members of the community, irrespective of cultural, racial, or financial background, was emphasized.

"The politicians need to get this little catchphrase out of their vocabulary altogether, "It's not on my agenda." Just because it's not on your agenda doesn't mean it's not on everyone else's. To me, affordable housing is really lacking [as is] food security. So poor people, their concern is, how do I get food on the table? Middle class people say, is it nutritious? The wealthy say, is it pretty? So, the decision-makers say, is it pretty?  [Decision-makers need to understand] what happens when we don't have a liveable wage."

Theme four forms a distinct yet underlying factor of all pieces  community well-being relies on the equal, non-marginalized opportunity for participation and engagement of all residents. "Flourishing should not be a privilege".

Conclusion

In the present study, researchers conducted extended semi-structured interviews with focal representatives from 4 communities across Ontario, Canada. Their subsequent qualitative analyses revealed four themes broadly encompassing culture, politics, social connection, amenities, inclusive decision-making, and equity. Notably, marginalization based mainly on financial stability and race and a communication breakdown between residents and policymakers were identified as the key barriers preventing community growth and citizen satisfaction.

"As local governments gain interest in understanding the well-being of their communities, such efforts should recognize community residents as experts on their own needs and value their essential role in building communities that support better lives."
In a recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health, researchers evaluate the impact of temporal data aggregation on estimating the temperature-mortality relationship in Europe using weekly and monthly data as alternatives to daily health records.

Study: The effect of temporal data aggregation to assess the impact of changing temperatures in Europe: an epidemiological modelling study. Image Credit: Zyn Chakrapong / Shutterstock.com

Background

Exposure to ambient temperatures significantly increases morbidity and mortality, particularly in vulnerable populations. Approximately 9.43% of global urban mortality is due to sub-optimal temperatures, 8.52% of which are due to cold temperatures and the remaining 0.91% due to heat. These figures are lower for Europe, where temperature accounts for 7.17% of all deaths.

Short-term health outcomes resulting from temperature are typically assessed in a distributed lag non-linear model incorporating lagged and non-linear temperature health. Nevertheless, obtaining daily health records for these analyses is often difficult due to legal and bureaucratic barriers, thus narrowing the scope and depth of research.

To overcome these challenges, weekly or monthly health data that might be readily available could be used. Thus, further research is needed to ascertain if aggregated weekly or monthly health data can accurately estimate temperature-related mortality and ultimately overcome the limitations of accessing daily health records.

About the study

The current study utilized a mortality database covering 27,444,314 daily all-cause mortality counts from 1998 to 2004 within 147 regions across 16 European countries, including both urban and rural populations totaling over 400 million people. The represented countries included Croatia, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK) (specifically, regions in England and Wales).

This comprehensive dataset was free of missing values. Daily regional average temperatures were derived from gridded European Climate Assessment & Dataset (ECA&D) Observational (E-OBS) data.

The analysis period was confined to a specific seven-year stretch, thus ensuring a consistent weekly, two-weekly, and four-weekly Monday-to-Sunday cycle for data aggregation. Daily regional temperature and mortality data were averaged into these periods for separate epidemiological modeling.

In stage one, quasipoisson regression was performed for each region, thereby modeling the location-specific temperature-lag mortality relation. One such set of models differed in daily, weekly, two-weekly, and four-weekly temporal resolutions, including intercepts and a natural cubic spline for seasonal and long-term trends and cross-basis function for temperature-mortality relationships.

The daily model also controlled for day-of-week effects. Natural cubic splines were used as exposure- and lag-response functions for each temporal scale in these models.

In stage two, multilevel meta-regression analyses were used to pool location-specific coefficients derived from the initial stage. The analyses consisted of random effects by country and average temperatures as predictors.

This analysis generated zone-specific minimum mortality temperatures (MMTs), which were converted into local temperature and mortality statistics as fatal numbers and percentages. This approach was used to measure deaths due to heat and cold using the mean temperature deviation from the MMT.

Using empirically based Monte Carlo simulations, national and European burdens were aggregated from regional data. This allowed for a thorough assessment of temperature-related mortality across Europe that considered the challenges of accessing daily health records.

Study findings

The exposure-lag-response association varied significantly under the four data models for daily, weekly, two-week, and four-week exposure. An asymmetrical V-shaped daily pattern was established, whereas relative risk (RR) increased with rising divergence from MMT.

The general trend was evident in the weekly and two-weekly models, whereas the four-weekly model demonstrated more symmetrical relationships. The weekly model's lag-response relationship was similar to the daily model pattern for extreme temperatures.

The comparison between the models showed that regional MMT and RR differences increased as the level of time data aggregation rose. However, mean temperature differences were minor for the moderate correlations between daily, weekly, and two-weekly models. This resulted in no spatial relations of daily and four weekly models despite flattening RR values in the central temperatures for the model for four weeks.

The study further estimated attributable numbers (AN) and fractions (AF) for each model. The AF for weekly, two-weekly, and four-weekly periods were compared across the models.

While there was a strong linear relationship between the daily, weekly, and two-weekly models, systematic underestimations were observed, particularly for extreme temperatures. The weekly and two-weekly models tended to underestimate the lowest AF values for cold temperatures and generally underestimated hot temperature AFs. The four-weekly model showed significant deviations in both cold and heat AF estimations due to underestimation of the MMT in many regions.

Seasonal and annual variations in temperature-related mortality were also analyzed. For cold temperatures, the weekly and two-weekly models accurately captured winter mortality but underestimated it in other seasons, especially summer.

Hot temperature AFs were consistently underestimated from May to September. In absolute terms, the daily, weekly, and two-weekly models estimated significant numbers of temperature-related deaths, with notable underestimations in the weekly and two-weekly models.

Year-to-year analyses highlighted that the weekly and two-weekly models consistently underestimated total, cold, and heat AF across all years. Despite this, linear trends remained largely preserved. The underestimation percentages for total, cold, and heat-attributable mortality in these models were quantified, thus revealing significant discrepancies, particularly in the four-weekly model.

An in-depth analysis examined the relationship between annual AF values in the daily model and the differences found in the weekly and two-weekly models. To this end, a stronger correlation was observed for relative differences than absolute differences, with this relationship linear for all temperatures and cold but non-linear for heat. The weekly model's underestimation was minimal during the extreme summer of 2003, thus suggesting a smaller margin of error for less severe summers.

Conclusions

While temporally aggregated models generally maintain linear trends and capture major patterns, they tend to underestimate the impact of extreme temperatures, with the degree of underestimation varying with the level of temporal aggregation.
Abiomed, part of Johnson & Johnson MedTech, announces the first patient in the world has been enrolled in the landmark RECOVER IV randomized controlled trial (RCT). The on-label, two-arm trial will randomize 548 patients to assess whether Impella support prior to percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is superior to PCI without Impella in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) cardiogenic shock.

Impella is the only mechanical circulatory support device for the treatment of AMI cardiogenic shock with premarket approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration. Multiples studies, including the Inova Study, the National Cardiogenic Shock Initiative (NCSI) Study and the Japanese J-PVAD Study, have demonstrated significant improvement in AMI cardiogenic shock survival rates when Impella and best practices are implemented, including the use of Impella prior to PCI and identifying shock early.

Fifteen years of clinical studies have helped us establish best practices and shown that Impella increases survival and heart recovery in AMI cardiogenic shock patients. The design of RECOVER IV, which incorporates those best practices, is intended to further validate the benefits of Impella utilization in AMI cardiogenic shock patients and provide evidence to achieve a Class 1 guideline recommendation." Chuck Simonton, MD, Abiomed's chief medical officer

This first patient was enrolled at New Mexico Heart Institute by Mark Bieniarz, MD, an interventional cardiologist and the principal investigator for RECOVER IV at New Mexico Heart Institute. RECOVER IV is the first trial within the field of AMI cardiogenic shock to use the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) exception from informed consent (EFIC) protocol, an emergency research regulation. Since AMI cardiogenic shock patients are often too sick to provide consent, it has been difficult to study this patient population. Emergency research regulations require study investigators to consult and disclose information about the study with representatives from the community where the research will take place. EFIC allows for patients to be enrolled prior to obtaining traditional consent.

"We are thrilled to be the first site to enroll a patient into the historic RECOVER IV trial," said Dr. Bieniarz. "The EFIC process provides us a pathway to successfully enroll patients and compare outcomes in patients who receive Impella support for acute myocardial infarction cardiogenic shock and those patients who do not receive Impella support for the same condition."

The primary endpoint of RECOVER IV is all-cause mortality at 30 days. Secondary endpoints include major adverse cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events at 30 days, days alive out of the hospital at six months, recovery of left ventricular (LV) function, need for durable ventricular assist device or heart transplant, and health-related quality of life as measured by responses to the Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire at one year. Abiomed's goal in conducting the RECOVER IV RCT is to achieve AMI cardiogenic shock Class I guideline recommendations for Impella use in AMI cardiogenic shock.
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis and Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom  political rivals from opposite coasts and proxies for red and blue America  are set to square off for a first-of-its-kind debate Nov. 30 in Georgia.

Newsom, a liberal firebrand in his second term as governor of California, isn't running for president in 2024. But he goaded DeSantis, in his second term as governor of Florida, to go mano a mano. "I'll bring my hair gel. You bring your hairspray," he taunted on social media.

The matchup promises to be a heated brawl between rising political stars who lead two of the nation's most populous and diverse states. And it will mark the first time the politicians meet in person even as they have very publicly traded barbs and insults, in recent weeks attacking each other in fundraising videos and campaign ads.

Front and center will be homelessness and health care, top priorities for voters  and issues that have largely defined the governors' policies and leadership styles. From abortion to covid-19 vaccines, Newsom and DeSantis could not be further apart.

Earlier this year, DeSantis blasted California for being too generous with public benefit programs, such as Medicaid, which the Golden State has expanded to all eligible residents regardless of immigration status. That sweeping policy takes effect in January and goes well beyond the optional expansion of Medicaid that the Affordable Care Act offered states. In Florida, one of 10 states that have refused to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, DeSantis wears the state's 11% rate of uninsured residents as a badge of honor.

"We're not going to be like California and have massive numbers of people on government programs without work requirements," DeSantis said at a presidential primary debate in Southern California earlier this year.

DeSantis has led his state to restrict abortion and gender-affirming care and to ban covid-related mask and vaccine mandates.

Newsom, a slick and brash surrogate for Democratic President Joe Biden, has slammed DeSantis for putting Floridians in danger and stripping them of their rights.

"Join us in California, where we still believe in freedom," Newsom said in a political ad earlier this year.

Newsom has earned the moniker of "health care governor" by catapulting the issue to the top of his policy priorities. He made California an abortion sanctuary and is dramatically expanding health care benefits. He had promised to bring single-payer health care to the nation's most populous state while campaigning for his first term, but that idea hit stiff political opposition early in his tenure. And now Newsom boasts about bringing the state's uninsured rate to an all-time low of 6.5% by expanding coverage in other ways.

These issues are expected to take center stage during the nationally televised 90-minute debate on Fox News, which could have major reverberations for the presidential contest next year and could even help shape the 2028 field of White House contenders.

In advance of the showdown, KFF Health News analyzed 10 of the governors' top health care positions and how their policies have improved  or hindered  the health of the residents they represent.

Obamacare

Florida

DeSantis has refused to expand Medicaid eligibility to more people under the Affordable Care Act. Partly as a result, more than 3 million Floridians had coverage through the federal Obamacare exchange as of February, more than any other state. Florida does not have a state-based exchange or offer state-sponsored subsidies.

California

The state has enthusiastically embraced the Affordable Care Act, expanding Medicaid while setting up its own insurance exchange, Covered California. Under Newsom, it has also gone well beyond the provisions of Obamacare and created a state requirement for Californians to have health insurance after the federal mandate was eliminated.

Abortion

Florida

DeSantis approved legislation in April banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. However, the Florida Supreme Court has taken up a challenge to the 15-week ban introduced in 2022, which will determine if the six-week ban can take effect.

California

Newsom spearheaded the effort in 2022 to amend the state constitution to enshrine the right to abortion and birth control. He also approved $60 million to help uninsured patients and people from out of state pay for abortions in California, and signed reproductive health care laws, including one protecting doctors who mail abortion pills to other states.

Transgender care

Florida

Under DeSantis, Florida passed a law this year banning gender-affirming health care for trans minors and mandating that adult patients sign informed consent forms before starting or continuing hormone treatment. The law also restricts who can order hormone therapy to physicians and prohibits the use of telehealth for new prescriptions. A federal lawsuit challenging the law is set to go to trial in mid-December.

California

Newsom and other state leaders have amended state law to ensure all California adults and children are entitled to gender-affirming health care services. And insurance companies doing business in California must include information on in-network providers for gender-affirming services by 2025. State health care agencies are designing "enforceable quality standards" to ensure trans patients have access to comprehensive care.

Homelessness

Florida

DeSantis has not declared homelessness a priority. In a video filmed on the streets of San Francisco and posted to social media in June, DeSantis used the topic as a campaign cudgel to criticize what he called "leftist policies" in California. Florida is experimenting with using Medicaid funds to address homelessness, but the program is limited. Nearly 26,000 people are homeless in Florida, or 12 of every 10,000 residents.

California

Newsom has plowed more than $20 billion into the homelessness crisis, with billions more for health and social services. For example, some homeless Californians can get social services through the state's Medicaid program, such as money for rental security deposits, utility payments, and first and last month's rent. Newsom also led a new state initiative that could force some homeless people into mental health or addiction treatment. More than 171,000 people are homeless in California, or 44 of every 10,000 residents.

Mental health

Florida

DeSantis has kept his pledge to advocate for mental health treatment programs as governor, although Florida still ranks 43rd nationally in access to mental health care and has the fourth-highest rate of adults with mental illness who are uninsured, according to the Miami Center for Mental Health and Recovery. Under DeSantis, Florida has increased state funding for mental health programs in schools and peer-to-peer mental health services for first responders, and directed funding to suicide prevention.

California

Newsom in 2020 signed one of the nation's strongest mental health parity laws, which requires insurance companies to cover mental health and substance use disorders just as they would physical health conditions. He is funding a $4.7 billion initiative to provide mental health treatment in schools. Newsom is also leading the campaign for a statewide, $6.4 billion bond measure in 2024 to revamp and expand community-based behavioral health programs, including thousands of new treatment beds.

Addiction

Florida

Florida's drug overdose death rate was 37.5 per 100,000 people in 2021. In August, DeSantis announced a new statewide addiction recovery program billed as a "first of its kind" in the United States, using peer counselors, medication-assisted treatment, and a coordinated network of support services. DeSantis also authorized Florida counties to adopt needle exchange programs in 2019 to reduce the spread of blood-borne diseases and encourage addiction treatment.

California

California's drug overdose rate was 26.6 per 100,000 people in 2021. Newsom is sending the state Highway Patrol and National Guard into San Francisco to combat the open-air fentanyl trade and is boosting addiction recovery programs statewide. But he vetoed legislation last year that would have allowed Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Oakland to establish safe injection sites.

Prescription drugs

Florida

A DeSantis proposal submitted to the FDA in 2020 includes allowing imported medications from Canada. A new state law also sets price limits for pharmacy benefit managers  intermediaries between insurers, pharmacies, and manufacturers  and creates new rules for them around pricing transparency. The law also requires pharmaceutical companies to disclose significant price hikes.

California

Newsom is spearheading a $100 million, first-in-the-nation initiative that puts California in the generic drugmaking business, beginning with insulin and the opioid reversal drug naloxone. California already had a pricing transparency law when Newsom took office. This year, he signed a law that tightens state regulations for pharmacy benefit managers.

Health care affordability

Florida

In 2019, DeSantis signed the Patient Savings Act, which allows health insurers to share cost savings with enrollees who shop for health care services, such as imaging and diagnostic tests. Under his leadership, Florida lawmakers have also allowed short-term health plans lasting less than a year and direct health care agreements between a patient and a health care provider that are not considered insurance and are not subject to Florida's insurance code.

California

One of Newsom's first health care initiatives was to fund state-financed health insurance subsidies for low- and middle-income residents who purchase insurance through Covered California. Newsom this year also agreed to lower copays and get rid of some deductibles for plans sold through the exchange. California's newly created Office of Health Care Affordability is capping industry cost increases and could potentially regulate health industry consolidation. California bans short-term health plans.

Public health

Florida

DeSantis signed legislation in 2021 banning government, schools, and private employers from requiring covid vaccinations. In 2023, he pushed legislators to adopt laws prohibiting certain vaccine and mask requirements. He also formed a Public Health Integrity Committee led by his hand-picked surgeon general, Joseph Ladapo, whose official guidance on covid vaccines contradicts the CDC's recommendations. The Sunshine State's covid-19 vaccine booster rate for residents age 5 and older is 12.4%.

California

Newsom became the first U.S. governor to issue a statewide stay-at-home order at the start of the covid-19 pandemic. He pushed strong vaccination and mask mandates and accused DeSantis of being weak on public health. Newsom has also signed laws strengthening childhood vaccination mandates, including a measure that cracks down on bogus medical exemptions granted by doctors. The Golden State's covid-19 vaccine booster rate for residents ages 5 and older is 21.9%.

Immigrant health care

Florida

With DeSantis making immigration a priority, legislators passed a state law requiring all Florida hospitals to ask on their admission forms whether a patient is a U.S. citizen or lawfully present in the country. Doctors, nurses, and health policy experts say the law targets marginalized people who already have difficulty navigating the health care system and will further deter them from seeking care.

California

Beginning in January, all immigrants who meet income qualifications will be eligible for the state's Medicaid program. Before Newsom took office, California had already expanded eligibility to unauthorized immigrant children through age 18. Newsom then signed laws expanding the program to young adults up to age 26, adults 50 and older, and, later, immigrants of any age who otherwise meet eligibility requirements.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.
After years of debilitating bouts of fatigue, Beth VanOrden finally thought she had an answer to her problems in 2016 when she was diagnosed with Hashimoto's disease, an autoimmune disorder.

For her and millions of other Americans, that's the most common cause of hypothyroidism, a condition in which the thyroid, a butterfly-shaped gland in the neck, doesn't produce enough of the hormones needed for the body to regulate metabolism.

There's no cure for Hashimoto's or hypothyroidism. But VanOrden, who lives in Athens, Texas, started taking levothyroxine, a much-prescribed synthetic thyroid hormone used to treat common symptoms, like fatigue, weight gain, hair loss, and sensitivity to cold.

Most patients do well on levothyroxine and their symptoms resolve. Yet for others, like VanOrden, the drug is not as effective.

For her, that meant floating from doctor to doctor, test to test, and treatment to treatment, spending about $5,000 a year.

"I look and act like a pretty energetic person," said VanOrden, 38, explaining that her symptoms are not visible. "But there is a hole in my gas tank," she said. And "stress makes the hole bigger."

Autoimmune diseases occur when the immune system mistakenly attacks and damages healthy cells and tissues. Other common examples include rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, celiac disease, and inflammatory bowel disease. There are more than 80 such diseases, affecting up to an estimated 50 million Americans, disproportionately women. Overall, the cost of treating autoimmune diseases is estimated at more than $100 billion annually in the U.S.

Despite their frequency, finding help for many autoimmune diseases can prove frustrating and expensive. Getting diagnosed can be a major hurdle because the range of symptoms looks a lot like those of other medical conditions, and there are often no definitive identifying tests, said Sam Lim, clinical director of the Division of Rheumatology at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. In addition, some patients feel they have to fight to be believed, even by a clinician. And after a diagnosis, many autoimmune patients rack up big bills as they explore treatment options.

"They're often upset. Patients feel dismissed," Elizabeth McAninch, an endocrinologist and thyroid expert at Stanford University, said of some patients who come to her for help.

Insufficient medical education and lack of investment in new research are two factors that hinder overall understanding of hypothyroidism, according to Antonio Bianco, a University of Chicago endocrinologist and leading expert on the condition.

Some patients become angry when their symptoms don't respond to standard treatments, either levothyroxine or that drug in combination with another hormone, said Douglas Ross, an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. "We will have to remain open to the possibility that we're missing something here," he said.

Jennifer Ryan, 42, said she has spent "thousands of dollars out-of-pocket" looking for answers. Doctors did not recommend thyroid hormone medication for the Huntsville, Alabama, resident  diagnosed with Hashimoto's after years of fatigue and weight gain  because her levels appeared normal. She recently switched doctors and hopes for the best.

"You don't walk around hurting all day long and have nothing wrong," Ryan said.

And health insurers typically deny coverage of novel hypothyroidism treatments, said Brittany Henderson, an endocrinologist and founder of the Charleston Thyroid Center in South Carolina, which sees patients from all 50 states. "Insurance companies want you to use the generics even though many patients don't do well with these treatments," she said.

Meanwhile, the extent of Americans' thyroid problems can be seen in drug sales. Levothyroxine is among the five most prescribed medications in the U.S. every year. Yet research points to some overprescribing of the drug for those with mild hypothyroidism.

A recent study, paid for by AbbVie  maker of Synthroid, a brand-name version of levothyroxine  said a medical and pharmacy claims database showed that the prevalence of hypothyroidism, including milder forms, rose from 9.5% of Americans in 2012 to 11.7% in 2019.

The number of people diagnosed will rise as the population ages, said McAninch. Endocrine disruptors  natural or synthetic chemicals that can affect hormones  could account for some of that increase, she said.

In their search for answers, patients sometimes connect on social media, where they ask questions and describe their thyroid hormone levels, drug regimens, and symptoms. Some online platforms offer information that's dubious at best, but overall, social media outlets have increased patients' understanding of hard-to-resolve symptoms, Bianco said.

They also offer one another encouragement.

VanOrden, who has been active on Reddit, has this advice for other patients: "Don't give up. Continue to advocate for yourself. Somewhere out there is a doctor who will listen to you." She has started an alternative treatment  desiccated thyroid medication, an option not approved by the FDA  plus a low dose of the addiction drug naltrexone, though the data is limited. She's feeling better now.

Research of autoimmune thyroid disease gets little funding, so the underlying causes of immune dysfunction are not well studied, Henderson said. The medical establishment hasn't fully recognized hard-to-treat hypothyroid patients, but increased acknowledgment of them and their symptoms would help fund research, Bianco said.

"I would like a very clear, solid acknowledgment that these patients exist," he said. "These people are real."
Mass General Brigham and Annalise.ai today announced a collaboration to bring together their complementary expertise, capabilities and technology to build and implement AI-enabled diagnostic products. This strategic relationship includes plans to implement Annalise.ai's comprehensive radiology AI product, called Annalise Triage, across the Mass General Brigham system. The collaboration will be executed through Mass General Brigham's newly launched AI business office that supports the development of AI-enabled software as medical device products from concept, to prototype, to validation, to clinical adoption.

Leaders from Mass General Brigham and Annalise.ai have identified three core pillars for the collaboration: (i) joint development and/or clinical validation of radiology products; (ii) joint development and/or clinical validation within other diagnostic categories, including multimodal data-based AI products; and (iii) enrichment of Mass General Brigham's data assets through the use of Annalise.ai's AI solutions in support of the health system's clinical and research missions.

Annalise.ai is a global medical imaging AI company, with regulatory clearance for clinical use in over 40 countries including the U.S. Annalise Triage, an FDA-cleared worklist triage solution that is set to be deployed across the Mass General Brigham system, can automatically and rapidly monitor all chest X-ray (CXR) and non-contrast head CT (NCCTB) exams for time-sensitive critical findings and alert clinicians. Annalise Triage has the most FDA-cleared findings for both of these modalities, and Annalise has also earned breakthrough designation for obstructive hydrocephalus, the only radiology AI company to do so.*

Diagnosis today is a complex, iterative process requiring data gathering, integration and clinical interpretation from the medical record, imaging tests, labs and other sources. We believe there is significant low-hanging fruit for the use of artificial intelligence to address the intricacies of the diagnostic process. The technologies Mass General Brigham and Annalise.ai will focus on developing through this collaboration may help reduce diagnostic uncertainty and reach a data-driven diagnosis faster, enabling clinicians to assess and recommend optimal treatment pathways to patients sooner." Keith Dreyer DO, PhD, Chief Data Science Officer and Chief Imaging Information Officer for Mass General Brigham

Dimitry Tran, Co-founder of Annalise.ai, affirmed, "Since Annalise.ai's inception, our unwavering focus has been on crafting medical imaging AI solutions that address pressing clinical challenges. Partnering with Mass General Brigham is a pivotal step towards early detection and improved patient outcomes. Through the immediate implementation of the Annalise Triage product, we not only support care standards but also lay the groundwork for a revolutionary paradigm, opening avenues for the development of innovative solutions."

The new strategic collaboration is a natural expansion of Mass General Brigham and Annalise.ai's longstanding relationship and ongoing work validating AI products, which has resulted in 12 FDA-cleared chest X-rays and non-contrast head CT findings related to Annalise's Triage product. Mass General Brigham clinicians and researchers work with Annalise.ai to design and conduct clinical investigation studies to support these FDA clearances and publish such studies' results in high-impact journals. For example, a study published last year in JAMA Network Open led by Mass General Brigham investigators found the Annalise Enterprise CXR Triage Pneumothorax device was highly accurate in detecting pneumothorax on chest X-rays. Several additional studies and publications on other AI findings are currently underway.

The Boston-based health system's access to renowned clinical and research experts and its living laboratory environment support the development and validation of AI-enabled solutions that solve complex healthcare challenges. Additionally, Mass General Brigham has built foundational end-to-end capabilities to accelerate the productization and adoption of digital artificial intelligence tools that prioritize safety, efficacy, and quality considerations. Annalise.ai brings global experience, a clinically adopted and clinician approved platform, and an experienced leadership team.

The collaboration aligns with Mass General Brigham's commitment to driving life-changing medical innovation. The health system has made significant investments in utilizing artificial intelligence to enhance patient and clinician experience.

"Mass General Brigham is thrilled to deepen its relationship with the Annalise.ai team," said Aaron Gerber, MD, MBA, senior vice president of Diversified Businesses at Mass General Brigham, who oversees the AI business. "We are looking forward to working together to bring more differentiated products that have the potential to generate meaningful insights for clinicians and, ultimately, support better care and outcomes for patients across the world."
New artificial intelligence algorithms are developed to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of cancerous tumors that are difficult to interpret clinically.

A team of European researchers and companies, led by the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV), through the CVBLab-HUMAN-tech group, has developed innovative artificial intelligence algorithms to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of cancerous tumors that are difficult to interpret clinically. This is one of the main results of the CLARIFY project, which is currently in its final months of execution and focuses specifically on three types of cancer: triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), high-risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (HR-NMIBC) and spitzoid melanocytic lesions (SML).

In all three cases, the diagnosis is complex and challenging, which we are already addressing with this project. With these algorithms, we are taking another step forward in facilitating the interpretation of histological images and, ultimately, the diagnosis of these types of cancer for medical professionals." Valery Naranjo, project leader and coordinator of the Computer Vision and Behaviour Analysis Lab (CVBLab) at the UPV's Human-Centered Technology Research Institute (HUMAN-tech)

In addition to these algorithms, the project has already achieved other results of great interest, such as databases of the cancers under study, which can become valuable resources for the medical and scientific community, and advances in the secure management of data in the cloud, with requirements inherent to the health field and with several application scenarios within the project.

Excellence training and European research network

CLARIFY has also carried out a multidisciplinary training programme, which has enabled twelve young researchers of various nationalities to complete their PhD studies at one of the institutions involved in the project, learn about the latest scientific advances in artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and digital pathology and enhance new skills, which will be the key to meeting to the challenges of the engineering-medicine binomial in the coming years.

"And it has driven the launch of a European research network that brings together experts from both fields and helps to improve the exchange of knowledge, always with the same goal: to contribute to facilitating decision-making in the diagnosis and treatment of breast, bladder and skin cancers studied," adds Sandra Morales, researcher at CVBLab-I3B of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia.

Along with the UPV, the project also involves the INCLIVA Health Research Institute, the University of Granada, the University of Amsterdam, the Erasmus MC University Hospital Rotterdam, the University of Stavanger, the University Hospital of Stavanger, and the companies bitYoga and Tyris Software.

Final project meeting in Valencia

The project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 programme under the Innovative Training Networks (ITN), will hold its final conference in just two months at the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, where all the results of four years of research will be presented. It will be held on 25 and 26 January at the Polytechnic City of Innovation, UPV Science Park, with the aim of facilitating the debate between the research and clinical community and laying the groundwork for future developments and collaborations.

This meeting is open to all scientific and medical communicators interested in the topics addressed by CLARIFY. Registration is free and can be made via the website https://www.clarify-project.eu/final-conference/.

The call for papers is now open

In addition, 30 November is the deadline for submission of papers related to the topics to be addressed during the conference: artificial intelligence methods applied to histological images, data infrastructure, and cloud-oriented algorithms applied to histological images, computer-aided diagnosis tools from histological images, and content-based image retrieval tools from these images. Abstracts of previously published high-quality papers are accepted and encouraged, and selected abstracts will be presented in a poster session at the conference.
In a recent article published in Npj Digital Medicine, researchers utilized electrocardiogram (ECG) data from a large retrospective cohort to extract various heart rate variability (HRV) measures.

This data was used to develop a machine learning (ML)-based real-time predictive model for sudden cardiac arrest predictions in critical care settings.

The study validated the model on registry data of intensive care unit (ICU) patients at Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in South Korea between March 2020 and August 2022. They excluded data from patients under 18 and those without ECG data.

Study: Real-time machine learning model to predict in-hospital cardiac arrest using heart rate variability in ICU. Image Credit: Roman023_photography/Shutterstock.com

Background

There have been advancements in critical care medicine; however, the incidence of unexpected and sudden cardiac arrests remains high in patients admitted to ICUs.

Reasons for in-hospital cardiac arrest are diverse; thus, developing an accurate prediction model for real-time detection of cardiac arrest in ICU settings and their rapid treatment, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and early defibrillation, is critical for improved patient outcomes.

Earlier models used clinical features extracted from electronic medical records (EMRs) for in-hospital cardiac arrest predictions, which displayed good discriminatory performance. However, the need to collect various EMR variables limits these models.

On the other hand, ML algorithms-based ECG-based prediction models can ensure constant, real-time detection and monitoring of critically ill patients, especially for in-hospital cardiac arrest.

So far, researchers have tested several ECG-based markers, such as Q wave, R wave, and S wave (QRS complex) prolongation, heart rate, and heart rate variability (HRV) as predictors in their ML models.

From these, HRV, a measure of time variance between consecutive heartbeats (RR intervals), has emerged as the most reliable predictor of cardiac arrest.

There are several other HRV measures, such as the standard deviation of normal RR intervals (SDNN) and HRV triangular index (HTI), to name a few, and all arise from a single ECG source.

While the conventional logistic regression models overlook the diverse information offered by multiple HRV measures, the new-generation ML models can learn about intricate relationships among several HRV variables.

Several studies have highlighted the effectiveness of ML algorithms using HRV measures to predict sudden cardiac arrest; however, studies using several HRV measures (simultaneously) from only ECGs are scarce.

Moreover, studies often lack a large sample population of ICU patients to extract ECG data.

About the study

In the present study, researchers constructed a structured ECG dataset of 5,679 ICU stays from 4,821 patients, with (event group) and without (control group) sudden cardiac arrests from 0.5 to 24 hours before the event, with five-minute epochs at five-minute intervals.

They used epochs from ECG signals to calculate HRV features and predict the event.

Then, they divided the dataset into development (80%) and validation (20%) sets at the patient level. There were 634,396 and 139,663 epochs in the development and validation sets, respectively, with event rates of sudden cardiac arrest of 1.24% and 1.35%.

The Neurokit2 Python library provided 74 HRV measures, including time-domain, frequency-domain, and nonlinear measures, of which the BorutaShap algorithm selected 33 as the input features of the prediction model.

Utilizing such a comprehensive set of HRV measures, they developed a light gradient boosting machine (LGBM) algorithm that increased the accuracy and performance of the prediction model.

Further, the researchers optimized the hyperparameters of the LGBM model using Bayesian optimization to find the best model training parameters, which they tested on the validation set.

The primary outcome was the occurrence of cardiac arrest within 0.524 hours. The secondary outcomes included the occurrences of cardiac arrest from 0.5 to 18, 12, 6, 3, and 1h.

The team evaluated the discrimination performances of the model using the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC), the area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC), and the 95% confidence interval (CI).

Additional metrics for assessing model performance were specificity, sensitivity, precision, accuracy, and F1-score.

Furthermore, they employed the Shapley additive explanations (SHAP) method for feature importance analysis, which explained the output of the ML model based on a game-theoretic framework.

The SHAP assigned a unique contribution value to each feature of the model based on its impact on the prediction outcome.

Results

For the primary outcome, the model achieved an AUROC and AUPRC of 0.881 and 0.104 [95% confidence interval (CI)].

While the AUROC of the secondary outcomes was comparable to that of the primary outcome, the AUPRC decreased as the prediction period narrowed from 6 to 1 hour and neared sudden cardiac arrest; consequently, the model increasingly overpredicted event.

Moreover, the model exhibited consistent and reliable calibration for secondary outcomes at 18 and 12h. The AUROCs of subgroup analyses did not show substantial variations between the two patient monitors.

Furthermore, compared to a clinical parameter-based model, which utilized 43 features derived from six vital signs, the study model using HRV measures showed a significantly higher AUROC (0.881 vs. 0.735, p < 0.001).

The feature importance analysis results also revealed the top six features in the study model.

These were the 20th percentile of the RR intervals (Prc20NN), triangular interpolation of the RR interval histogram (TINN), and the interquartile range of the RR intervals (IQRNN), values for which began increasing at nearly six hours before a sudden cardiac arrest, after which dynamic changes occurred.

The HTI values increased until cardiac arrest, whereas the acceleration/deceleration segments (IALS) and the minimum of RR intervals (MinNN) values decreased by that time.

TINN and HTI are both time-domain HRV measures, where a larger TINN value signifies greater variability in the RR intervals, and lower and higher HTI values suggest a higher proportion of intervals cluster around the mode and wider intervals spread, respectively.

A prior study revealed that IALS was significantly higher (mean value =0.78) in patients with congestive heart failure (CHF).

Similarly, the current study results suggested that higher IALS can be associated with compromised cardiac conditions, and nearly 3050% of the patients with CHF were at risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

Conclusions

The proposed study model is highly accessible and transferable to other healthcare settings that collect ECG data. It offers easy application in clinical practice because continuous ECG monitoring is a standard practice in ICU settings.

Previous studies have not documented consecutive changes in HRV measures. Therefore, this study's analytical results could provide valuable insights into the real-time evaluation of a patient and facilitate the prompt initiation of interventions to prevent sudden cardiac arrest.

However, the causality between these HRV measures and cardiac arrest requires further investigation.

To conclude, if future studies validate these results, they could help detect in-hospital cardiac arrest in critically ill ICU patients.
GLOBALink | SCO member states optimistic about China's tourism potential Pub Date:23-11-27 09:59 Source:Xinhua



Participants at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum "Year of Tourism 2023" have expressed optimism about China's tourism potential, hoping for more future cooperation in the field. Produced by Xinhua Global Service Editor:Qin Shuying

Related News China shares opportunities with world via ... Global firms upbeat on China's digital tra... China's economy very resilient: South Afri... China aims to streamline forex procedures ...
Workforce Readiness

Pearson and Forage Team Up to Bring Job Simulations to College Students

Textbook and courseware company Pearson and job recruiting company Forage have announced a partnership to incorporate job simulations into Pearson's MyLab platform and Pearson+. The starting Forage job simulation integration will be offered in November 2023 to Pearson MyLab students studying in 15 different disciplines in business and economics.

Later this year, Pearson+ users will be able to access Forage's full 350 job simulations library. Starting in 2024, students will be able to earn badges from Pearson solution Credly upon completion of a Forage job simulation.

The existing MyLab courseware platform allows educators to design, track, and assess student coursework. Features include:

Freehand grader: Students upload assignments, demonstrate their thought processes, and get helpful feedback. Students can use the MyLab app on their computers with select titles.

Students upload assignments, demonstrate their thought processes, and get helpful feedback. Students can use the MyLab app on their computers with select titles. Dynamic study modules: Modules pose questions adapted to each student's individual progress and give feedback to help them advance.

Modules pose questions adapted to each student's individual progress and give feedback to help them advance. Targeted feedback: Educators can adjust lectures to students' needs and goals.

Educators can adjust lectures to students' needs and goals. Pre-built courses and assignments: Courses come with specific expert-developed foundational content that can be tailored to an educator's teaching needs.

Courses come with specific expert-developed foundational content that can be tailored to an educator's teaching needs. Early alerts: Students struggling, falling behind, or who may need extra help can be flagged with an algorithm in MyLab that projects risk levels and alerts instructors.

Students struggling, falling behind, or who may need extra help can be flagged with an algorithm in MyLab that projects risk levels and alerts instructors. Learning catalytics: Educators can use this interactive student response tool to pose questions and build surveys to assess student understanding, using real-time data to adjust instruction as needed. The tool can also group students into discussion, team-based learning, and peer-to-peer learning groups.

Educators can use this interactive student response tool to pose questions and build surveys to assess student understanding, using real-time data to adjust instruction as needed. The tool can also group students into discussion, team-based learning, and peer-to-peer learning groups. Pearson+ channels: Short videos and practice materials provide content for students seeking more information on a topic. Students can also access the learning community to discuss materials, get peer help, and rank the videos and practice materials.

The addition of the free Forage job simulations ensures that students can explore what they are studying in their courses in the context of what it would be like to work in that field and for specific companies.

"Preparing for the workforce can be daunting for any college student," said Tom ap Simon, Pearson's higher education division president. "Now students can build their skills anywhere, anytime, inside the same trusted Pearson platforms they already use for their studies."

"Forage simulations allow students to explore what it's like to work in their desired field and gain practical skills to bolster what they've learned in the classroom. Students also have the option of letting companies see their completed work," the company said.

"Through this partnership, Forage will build on Pearson's offering by giving students access to job simulations authored by some of the world's most iconic employers," said Tom Brunskill, Forage CEO.

Some of those companies include Red Bull, GE Aerospace, and Citi.

After completing a Forage simulation, student Alvin Fan was hired by Citi.

"This program on Forage is like having binoculars," Fan said. "You aren't experiencing the entire environment yet, but you get to peer across to see what it's like, piecing together what you have read about. After the Citi program, I knew what skills I needed to focus on. It helped me to understand what I need to work on and what I might be good at."

Visit the Pearson+ page to learn more about its features.

To learn more about Forage, visit its Education page.
This summer pedestrians, drivers, and passengers in Washington, D.C., saw a new type of graffiti among the usual urban scrawls: anti-abortion advocacy designed to troll this ultra-blue city. On sidewalks, on bridge overpasses, and near Metro stations some people had stenciled or spray-painted missives like "Be Gay: Ban Abortion" and, in stylized lettering, "Abortion Is Murder."

The messaging was likely a shock in Washington. The graffiti reflects part of a surprising segment of the ideological spectrum: anti-abortion using the language of the radical left.

One group on the vanguard of an increasingly confrontational anti-abortion movement is Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, which operates mostly in the nation's capital. They 've embraced all types of media and a good dose of misinformation to communicate a smashmouth message. One member of the group, Caroline Smith, boasted that they want to make people "uncomfortable." Their activities have also gotten several members convicted of trespassing and obstructing abortion clinics.

Demonstrations like these, which involve rowdy, obstructive protests livestreamed over the internet, have gotten more scrutiny, especially since the Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion. Since the beginning of the Biden administration, the Department of Justice has used the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to protect access to abortion clinics. As of June, it had pursued FACE Act cases against 48 defendants nationwide, with allegations ranging from shooting pellet guns into facilities to simply locking the gates with super glue.

Graffiti also is part of PAAU's strategy, with the group's social media providing instruction on "decorating public space," celebrating defacement as "culture jamming." (The group's founder, Terrisa Bukovinac, told KFF Health News in an interview that she did not "know anything about the specifics" about whether PAAU had done any anti-abortion graffitiing in Washington this summer.) The group's no-holds-barred strategies include livestreamed protests with combative counterprotesters and passersby.

In recent years, the group and its allies have been featured in livestreamed videos, some of which show protesters shouting combustible, misleading claims that have been rejected by medical experts and others. These livestreams include bystanders, patients, clinicians, and abortion rights activists, who, once they are on the livestream, risk becoming the subject of online attack, whether they are associated with the abortion clinic or not.

"It's a vector for doxxing and honestly would be foolish to think it's anything other than an aggression tactic," said Daly Barnett of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, speaking generally of livestreams and other social media about protests at abortion clinics. Doxxing describes a form of online attack in which someone's personal information is made public without permission.

PAAU's Bukovinac left a San Francisco anti-abortion organization in 2021 to help create this unorthodox group. She and some of her colleagues wanted to find "a space for themselves" on the ideological spectrum. The group's website boasts of "progressive feminist values of equality" and members' willingness to put their bodies "in between the oppressor and the oppressed." But the use of graphic anti-abortion rhetoric drew a cold reception from what Bukovinac called the "leftist" part of the pro-life movement.

A curious fit

Despite its otherwise progressive verbiage on inclusion and gay rights, the group mixes quite naturally into the right. Bukovinac, for instance, is a faculty member at the Leadership Institute, a conservative training group endorsed by the likes of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). She also attended a Heritage Foundation gala at which Tucker Carlson spoke.

She blames liberals for this strange company. "It should be embarrassing that I have to rely on Christofascists to end a genocide," she said.

Politically, it's a dissonant fit, too. Despite having made clear to documentarians that she didn't vote in the 2020 election, she recently declared a Democratic presidential run. In her view, that's because anti-abortion Democrats are underrepresented. Citing data of unspecified provenance, she claimed in an interview that a quarter of Democrats identify as pro-life, and that a majority say they want more restrictions on abortion. She said she intends to show graphic anti-abortion television ads as part of her campaign.

Her campaign is an escalation of the group's all-media tactics, which include livestreaming videos across the internet, accessible far and wide.

One livestream documented a 2020 blockade of a Washington, D.C., abortion clinic. It became a right-wing cause celebre after several activists, including Lauren Handy, PAAU's director of activism, entered the clinic, injuring a person while blockading the rooms, and livestreamed the whole thing  later earning an arrest, indictment, and conviction under the FACE Act. Right now, five of the 10, including Handy, are appealing; defense counsel Martin Cannon says it's "likely" a total of nine will appeal after sentencing. In March 2022, police found the remains of five fetuses in Handys house, which she said came from the clinic via a medical waste driver. The transport company disputed her account.

The group has enlisted multiple anti-abortion members of Congress, who have pressed their case  about the fairness of the prosecutions  to the Department of Justice and Washington city officials. More broadly, some congressional Republicans are gearing up to repeal the FACE Act. Former GOP presidential candidate Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) even complained during the first primary debate that prosecutors were pursuing anti-abortion activists.

Whatever their appeals to the right wing, the group and their allies are careful to appeal to the left too. Before their October 2020 blockade in Washington, organizers planned to present an aggressive  yet also multicultural, progressive  image, according to prosecutors' filings in federal district court, on the FACE Act charges. "The idea of deliberately breaking the law is sexy," advised Jonathan Darnel, an evangelical Christian activist, about their language advertising the event. Later another activist counseled making the language seem "more woke," according to text messages obtained by the government and provided in a trial brief.

Livestreams: A digital megaphone

In real time, the nearly three-hour livestreamed videos had a more Christian, conservative bent, with protesters blockading and subsequently getting arrested and featuring speakers extolling religious themes and praising "anti-abortion, anti-Sodomite" activists. An internet broadcast like this "presents the potential for martyrdom," said Mackenzie Quick, an assistant professor at Flagler College who has studied the rhetoric of anti-abortion movements. She thinks such streams might emerge as a common tactic for activists.

In the livestreamed videos, the protesters made typical anti-abortion claims in on-camera appearances, like that a fetus can feel pain at 12 weeks' gestation, which the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists rejects.

The livestreams also employ a take-no-prisoners approach to identifying  or misidentifying  people who, whether intentionally or not, become part of the video. "This may be the abortionist," Darnel said in the halls of the abortion clinic, of one potential target of the protest who walked in view of the camera. Then an offscreen speaker is heard telling him the person was an FBI agent.

At another point, Darnel speculated on the livestreamed video whether someone  it was unclear whom he was referring to  was a well-known, Washington, D.C.-based abortion rights activist. Then he changed his mind: "Oh wait, we don't know  we don't know who she is," he said.

Darnel summarily dismissed any potential concerns with his behavior. In a message to KFF Health News, he asked, given his opposition to abortion, why would he "be concerned with the privacy of the murderers or the corrupted police who sought to protect those murderers?" Days later, asked about a different subject, he added that these concerns are raised only against anti-abortion protesters.

It's not illegal in Washington, D.C., to film people in public without their consent, but the progressive anti-abortion types are "very media-oriented and theyre very noisy and aggressive," said Megan S., who helps run a volunteer group that escorts patients to appointments. She and other clinic escort volunteers are very aware of the risks of being identifiable. (Megan S. withheld her last name to protect herself from such risks.)

Exposing or potentially misrepresenting identities became a thorny point during the trial on the October 2020 obstruction, at which both Darnel and Handy were defendants.

The proceedings were marked by multiple clashes pitting expression and publicity against protecting courtroom deliberations.

Some pro-life activists, who Bukovinac maintained were unaffiliated with the progressives, protested outside the courthouse when jury selection began.

Once the trial began, the conflicts continued, with the judge raising concerns that activists' audible comments constituted witness tampering, Bukovinac said. The trial record showed the judge ultimately granted requests from prosecutors to shield witnesses' identities and restrict the dissemination of discovery material to only the defense team members.

The defense also attempted to introduce photos and videos of fetuses and a video of the clinic's doctor purportedly describing what he does to fetuses post-abortion, which counsel claimed would justify Handy's belief that fetuses were born alive before being killed. But the judge ruled that the photos were "particularly incendiary." She wrote that the defendants planned to mischaracterize the video, which she said was "propaganda."

The case is set to get tested in the appeals court, where some anti-abortion advocates see an opportunity to undo the FACE Act, which was designed to regulate these made-for-social-media protests that have become a signature of PAAU.

That's the hope of Cannon, senior counsel at the Thomas More Society, an anti-abortion public interest law firm representing one of the defendants. The law is questionably constitutional, despite its nearly 30-year history, he said. "We're not tilting at windmills."

If the courts won't end the law, the activists' next best hope may be their congressional allies. The Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising has rebranded one of its social media accounts previously devoted to providing trial updates "#RepealFACE."
In a recent article published in Npj Vaccines, researchers examine the comparative hazard of ischemic stroke (IS) in recipients of booster shots of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) bivalent vaccines or monovalent vaccines aged 65.

Study: Ischemic stroke after COVID-19 bivalent vaccine administration in patients aged 65 years and older in the United States. Image Credit: Wachiwit/Shutterstock.com

Background

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announcement that the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccine increases the risk of IS within three weeks of receipt was unanticipated as they raised no concern regarding the receipt of the Moderna bivalent vaccine previously.

Moreover, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) have found no higher IS risk for the Pfizer bivalent vaccine.

It may, thus, represent the higher prevalence of pre-existing comorbidities (IS risk factors) among patients who received the Pfizer bivalent versus monovalent booster.

Nonetheless, there is a need to examine the comparative hazard of IS among recipients of bivalent and monovalent COVID-19 vaccines in response to these inconsistent reports by important health agencies and given their wide use in older adults aged 65 in the United States (US).

About the study

Researchers conducted the present retrospective cohort study using de-identified electronic health data of people aged 65 from TriNetX, a cloud-based analytics platform in the US.

These people had received a Pfizer or Moderna bivalent or monovalent COVID-19 booster vaccination by August 27, 2023.

Accordingly, the Pfizer bivalent booster, Moderna bivalent booster, and monovalent booster recipient groups included 110,667, 26,962, and 96,156 recipients, respectively.

After propensity score-matching, all matched cohorts had 26,962 patients for whom the researchers used the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis to estimate the probability of a specific outcome (in this case, IS) occurring within two different time intervals (1-21 days and 22-42 days) after booster shot administration.

Its results were presented as hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Further, in this analysis, they censored patients to prevent bias in estimating IS probabilities.

They conducted all statistical tests within the TriNetX Analytics platform, setting the significance level at a p-value (two-sided) of <0.05.

Furthermore, the researchers conducted a sub-analysis to compare the hazard of first-time IS between the Pfizer bivalent and monovalent booster cohorts (only).

Results

The researchers noted a reduced hazard of IS diagnosis in the Pfizer bivalent cohort than in the monovalent cohort (n = 79,036 patients per cohort) at both time points assessed. Between 1 and 21 days post-vaccination, HR was 0.54, 95% CI, and between 22 and 42 days post-vaccination, HR was 0.62, 95% CI.

Even compared to the Moderna bivalent cohort, the Pfizer bivalent cohort showed reduced hazard of IS, with HR: 0.75, 95% CI at 121 days post-vaccination. Both cohorts had 26,962 patients per cohort.

They cited two possible reasons for the reduced hazard of an IS encounter diagnosis in the Pfizer bivalent booster recipients. First, bivalent boosters provide more robust protection against severe COVID-19 and related hospitalization.

Second, Omicron, a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variant causing less severe infection, was predominant when these vaccines were widely administered as booster shots.

The hazard of IS encounter diagnosis in the Pfizer bivalent cohort was markedly reduced compared to Moderna bivalent cohorts during the 121 day time window.

However, there was no marked difference in the first-time IS encounter diagnosis hazard in both bivalent and monovalent Pfizer vaccine recipients.

Furthermore, it is notable that severe COVID-19 may further increase the risk of subsequent stroke in patients who suffered a stroke before due to inflammatory and vascular factors.

Reports have also documented cases of IS associated with vaccine-associated immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia, which might have affected some people in the study cohorts, too.

The CDC warned of a potentially increased risk of IS within three weeks of administration of Pfizer bivalent boosters. However, both cohorts were already older and had many comorbidities, such as obesity, hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and cerebrovascular disease.

Considering the high incidence of IS in the general US population, it is likely that the etiology of these strokes was risk factors of IS, whether or not people received any COVID-19 vaccination.

Conclusions

To summarize, the study results do not favor that US people aged 65 have an increased risk of IS after receiving the Pfizer bivalent booster vaccine as anticipated by the CDC in their report, especially compared to the monovalent or bivalent vaccines from Moderna.

Thus, all healthcare providers and older adults (65+) should not feel demotivated from administering or receiving this booster vaccine.
Research suggests that publications considering microtissues and organoids provide greater predictive and translational observations than studies involving 2D monolayer cell models1,2. The use of multicellular tumor spheroids in oncology and immune-oncology research is also rising.

Specifically, researchers are accessing new functional aspects of drugs to evaluate chemoresistance and immune-tumor cell interactions. This is primarily due to the inclusion of an extracellular matrix (ECM) and additional cell types, such as stromal, endothelial, and immune cells, in the assessment of tumor microenvironment within in vitro models.

Evaluating tumor spheroid growth and shrinkage using existing techniques is constrained by time-consuming, costly, and complex experimental procedures. Methods currently involve fluorescent probes disrupting biological processes, single timepoint analysis that may overlook important temporal details, or indirect biochemical measurements failing to capture valuable morphological cell information.

To address these shortcomings, the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System provides an automated phase contrast and two-color fluorescence image acquisition within a standard cell culture incubator that optimizes cell viability and maintenance of physiological relevance.

The Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System can scan tissue culture samples repeatedly over pre-determined intervals, allowing users to monitor cultures and generate quantifiable, kinetic information.

The platform is coupled with the Incucyte Spheroid software, which provides rapid, flexible, and powerful control for the analysis of live cells.

Analytical methods include the acquisition of images and the processing and visualization of data. The reagents used for the analysis include non-invasive cell labeling, nuclear-targeted green fluorescent protein (GFP), and red fluorescent protein (RFP) for cell quantification.

Principle of the assay

This article examines how to study the growth of 3D tumor multi-spheroids in co-culture with fibroblasts or immune cells using the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System and Incucyte 3D Multi-Tumor Spheroid Assays.

The monitoring ability of the platform captures multiple time points while the depth of focus Brightfield (DF Brightfield) image acquisition provides long-term imaging of multiple tumor spheroids grown on an ECM bed (Matrigel).

Built-in Incucyte processing definitions can further improve image acquisition results with the ability to mask high-contrast images. Object characteristics such as size, count, and eccentricity can also be plotted automatically over time to determine spheroid formation and growth rates. The platform's capacity enables up to six 96-well plates to run in parallel and analyze thousands of images.

The following sections describe the data and validation methods demonstrating the effectiveness of the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System. In particular, the system is used to kinetically visualize and quantify the effect of stromal cells on tumor multi-spheroid morphology and the sensitivity to chemotherapeutic agents, while assessing immune cell-mediated toxicity within tumor multi-spheroids.

Material and methods

Figure 1. Assay Workflow. Image Credit: Sartorius

1. Coat 96-well micro-titer plate with a Matrigel layer (Corning) (40 L/well, diluted in serum-free media to a minimum concentration of 4.5 mg/mL) then polymerized at 37 C for 30 min

2. Harvest, count, and seed cells of interest into pre-coated 96-well plates at target densities (150 or 100 L/well)

a. Seed tumor and stromal cells at 1:1 ratio (150 L/well, 75 L of each cell type) in tumor and stromal cell co-culture

b. Seed tumor cells alone in tumor and immune cell co-culture (100 L/well)

3. Monitor multi-spheroid formation for three days using an Incucyte Image Analysis system (DF Brightfield acquisition, 10X magnification, every six hours)

4. Once the multi-spheroid has formed, add immune cells of interest to tumor monoculture at an optimized Effector-to-Target ratio (E:T) in a volume of 50 L/well

5. Add appropriate treatments to co-culture assay plates (50 L/well) at 4X final assay concentration to achieve a final volume of 200 L/well

6. Multi-spheroid proliferation monitored in Incucyte S3 (6-hour repeat scanning) for up to 10 days

All cell culture reagents were sourced from Life Technologies, except where specified. MDA-MB-231 (ATCC), SK-BR-3 (ATCC), and SKOV3 (EACC) cell cultures underwent stable transfection using Incucyte Nuclight Red Lentivirus Reagent (EF1 Alpha Promoter, Puromycin selection, Cat. No. 4625), prepared following the Essen BioScience protocol.

For BT-474 (ATCC) cells, they were stably transfected with Incucyte Cytolight Green Lentivirus Reagent (EF1 Alpha Promoter, Puromycin selection, Cat. No. 4481), following the Essen BioScience protocol.

Lapatinib and Camptothecin were procured from Sigma, while ZK164015 was obtained from Tocris Bioscience.

Normal human dermal fibroblasts (NHDFs) were acquired from CalTag Medsystems (Cat. No. ZHC-5102), and MCF7 Nuclight Red cells were sourced from Essen BioScience (Cat. No. 4524).

All cell lines were cultured in MEM medium supplemented with 10% FBS, 1% sodium pyruvate, and 1% non-essential amino acids. They were grown to confluence in 75 cm2 tissue culture-treated flasks (Corning). Subsequently, cells were harvested and seeded into 96-well plates (Corning No. 3595) coated with a 40 L/well Matrigel base layer. This allowed for the formation of multi-spheroids of the desired size three days after cell seeding.

Spheroid development was monitored using an Incucyte S3 system over three days at 6-hour intervals. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated from buffy coats from healthy donors using Lymphoprep density gradient medium from StemCell Technologies and were maintained in RPMI 1640 supplemented with 10% heat-inactivated FBS.

Influence of stromal cells on multi-spheroid morphology

Following the procedure, Normal Human Dermal Fibroblasts (NHDFs) had an observable effect on tumor multi-spheroid morphology. SK-BR-3 cells were seeded alone or with NHDFs (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well for each) and DF Brightfield images were taken every six hours.

Monocultured SK-BR-3 cells did not form compact multi-spheroids, whereas co-cultures with NHDFs did form more compact aggregates (Figure 2). The Incucyte Spheroid Software Module kinetically quantified both morphologies, using size measurements to track multi-spheroid growth (Total BF Area).

Various temporal growth profiles were measured through live-cell analysis for a panel of four breast tumor multi-spheroids (MCF7, MDA-MB-231, SK-BR-3, and BT-474) co-cultured with NHDFs (Figure 2 time-course plot).

Figure 2. Morphology observations with Incucyte DF-BF images and quantification of multi-spheroid size and kinetic growth using real-time analysis. SK-BR-3 cells were seeded in flat bottom, 96-well plates on a bed of Matrigel in mono- or co-culture with NHDFs (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well for each) and multi-spheroids (MS) allowed to form (3 d). Incucyte extended depth of focus Brightfield (DF Brightfield) images (8 d post cell seeding) of SK-BR-3 MS in mono- or co-culture with NHDFs. Brightfield outline mask shown in yellow. Note, the influence of NHDFs on SK-BR-3 MS morphology and size (Total Area). Time course plots show the individual well Total Brightfield Object Area (m2) (y-axis) over time (h) (x-axis) and illustrate cell type-specific kinetic growth profiles for a range of breast tumor MS co-cultured with NHDFs. Data were collected over 192 h period at 6 h intervals. Each data point represents mean  SEM, n=15 wells. Image Credit: Sartorius

However, growth profiles demonstrated a time-dependent effect on spheroid morphology when NHDFs were co-cultured with MDA-MB-231 cells (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well for each). Specifically, MDA-MB-231 multi-spheroids transitioned from a stellate, branched appearance early in development to a clustered round appearance after six days (Figure 3).

Figure 3. Temporal effects on morphology revealed through Incucyte DF Brightfield imaging. MDA-MB-231 cells were seeded in flat bottom 96-well plates on a bed of Matrigel in mono- or co-culture with NHDFs (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well for each) and multi-spheroids allowed to form (3 d). Incucyte S3 DF Brightfield images compare mono- and co-culture conditions over 7 d (10 d post cell seeding). Note the temporal impact of NHDFs on spheroid morphology. Image Credit: Sartorius

Pharmacological analysis using a 96-well multi-spheroid growth and shrinkage assay

To demonstrate the suitability of this 3D tumor and stromal cell co-culture for assessing compound toxicity, a pharmacological investigation was conducted using four commonly used breast tumor cell lines: MCF7, MDA-MB-231, SK-BR-3, and BT-474.

The cells were co-cultured with NHDFs at a ratio of 1:1, with 1,000 cells of each type per well.

After allowing the multi-spheroids to form for three days, treatment was initiated and continued for up to 10 days using standard-of-care and cytotoxic agents, namely Lapatinib, ZK164015, and Camptothecin (CMP).

The real-time, automated views from Incucyte enabled the observation of treatment effects on multi-spheroid size (Total BF Area).

A concentration-dependent inhibition of ZK164015 and CMP on spheroid size was observed from the 96-well vessel views of MCF7 multi-spheroids with overlay analysis mask and treatment time courses (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Incucyte S3 vessel views enable rapid visualization and quantification of treatment effects. MCF7 cells co-cultured with NHDFs were seeded in pre-coated (Matrigel) flat bottom 96-well plates (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well of each) and multi-spheroids allowed to form (3 d). Spheroids were then treated with serial dilutions of known standard of care and cytotoxic compounds (5 d). Incucyte microplate vessel views show effects of treatments on multi-spheroid size. Top image shows Brightfield Object Area (m2) segmentation mask (yellow) 5 d post treatment. Bottom image shows the individual well Total Brightfield Object Area (m2) (y-axis) over time (05 d post treatment) (x-axis). Image Credit: Sartorius

As a result, findings from brightfield images indicate the cytotoxic effects of Lapatinib on SK-BR-3 size and a non-specific cytotoxic effect of CMP on both MCF7 and SK-BR-3 spheroids (Figure 5).

Area under curve (AUC) analysis over the time-course data obtained showed a concentration-response curve (Figure 6). Data showed that Lapatinib and ZK164015 inhibited multi-spheroid growth, aligning with the known expression profile of receptors targeted by these agents.3

While Lapatinib, which is the dual EGRF and HER2 tyrosine kinase inhibitor, led to a concentration-dependent inhibition of SK-BR-3 and BT-474 multi-spheroid growth, the estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ZK164015 was an inhibited MCF7 multi-spheroid growth. In contrast, ZK164015 had limited effects on multi-spheroids devoid of ER expression. The DNA topoisomerase inhibitor, CMP, caused similar inhibition across all multi-spheroid types.

Figure 5. Interrogation of images to gain greater insight. MCF7 or SK-BR-3 cells co-cultured with NHDFs were seeded in pre-coated (Matrigel) flat bottom 96-well plates (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well of each) and multi-spheroids allowed to form (3 d) prior to treatment with Lapatinib and Camptothecin (CMP). Incucyte Brightfield images (5 d) show the effects of treatments on multi-spheroid size and integrity. Note: cytotoxic effects of CMP on both MCF7 and SK-BR-3 multi-spheroids and their difference in sensitivity to Lapatinib. Image Credit: Sartorius

Figure 6. Robust and reproducible pharmacological analysis through generation of concentration response curves. A panel of four tumor breast cell lines were seeded in 96-well flat bottom plates with NHDFs (1:1 ratio, 1,000 cells/well for each on a bed of Matrigel). Multi-spheroids were allowed to form for 3 d prior to treatment with standard-of-care and cytotoxic agents. Concentration response curves (CRCs) represent the area under curve (AUC) of the Total Brightfield Area (m2) time course data (not shown) from 06 d (MCF7, MDA-MB-231) or 010 d (SK-BR-3, BT-474) post-treatment. Each data point represents mean  SEM, n=912 wells. Note: differential compound pharmacology across cell types. Image Credit: Sartorius

Herceptin-induced ADCC in HER2-positive multi-spheroids

A key mechanism in immunotherapy treatments is the regulation of immune-mediated killing by mono-clonal antibodies4.

Antibody-dependent, cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) is induced by the binding of antibodies, such as Herceptin (a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting HER2 receptor), to receptors.

Therefore, HER2-positive (SKOV3 and BT474) and HER2-negative (MCF7) multi-spheroids were used to examine the impact of Herceptin-induced ADCC.

Multi-spheroids of tumors that either expressed nuclear-restricted RFP (NR) or cytoplasmic GFP (CyG), were co-cultured with isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (E:T, 5:1) before being treated with Herceptin.

Fluorescence intensity from within the brightfield boundary was then used to quantify multi-spheroid proliferation and immune cell-mediated cytotoxicity. When alone, PBMCs or Herceptin had limited effects on multi-spheroid size or viability (fluorescence intensity, Figure 7). However, when combined, Herceptin-activated PBMCs, lead to a loss of MS viability.

Due to Herceptin's action, an effect that caused cytotoxicity, dependent on concentration, was observed in HER2-positive multi-spheroids but not in HER2-negative multi-spheroids.

BT-474 multi-spheroids, in particular, were found to be the most susceptible targets, exhibiting the highest concentration of Herceptin (1 g/mL) and achieving approximately 80% inhibition, compared to approximately 50% in SKOV3 multi-spheroids (Figure 8, concentration-response curve).

Activation of the T cell population in PBMCs was achieved by an AntiCD3 antibody and IL-2 cocktail (10 ng/mL each), resulting in maximal cell killing across all cell types (Figure 8, time-courses).

Figure 7. Impact of Herceptin-induced PBMCs on multi-spheroid proliferation. Tumor cells either stably expressing nuclear restricted RFP (SKOV3-NR, MCF7-NR) or cytoplasmically restricted GFP (BT-474-CyG) were seeded in flat bottom 96-well plates (1,000 cells/well on a bed of Matrigel). Multi-spheroids were allowed to form (3 d) prior to addition of freshly isolated PBMCs (E:T, 5:1) and Herceptin. Incucyte S3 brightfield and fluorescence images (7 d; SKOV3-NR, MCF-NR or 10 d; BT-474-CyG) compare the effect of Herceptin on spheroid proliferation in absence (top panel) and presence (bottom panel) of PBMCs (Brightfield outline mask shown in yellow). Note the loss of fluorescence intensity in HER2- positive (SKOV3 and BT474) multi-spheroids in the presence of PBMCs. Image Credit: Sartorius

Figure 8. Kinetic quantification of ADCC immune cell killing of HER-2 positive multi-spheroids. Tumor cells were seeded in flat bottom 96-well plates (1,000 cells/well on a bed of Matrigel) and allowed to form multi-spheroids (MS) for 3 d. Once formed, MS were co-cultured with freshly isolated PBMCs (E:T, 5:1) and treated with serial dilutions of Herceptin. Time-courses show multi-spheroid death quantified as a loss of fluorescence intensity within the spheroid brightfield object. Concentration-response curves to Herceptin show sensitivity differences between HER2-positive multi-spheroids (SKOV3 and BT-474). Treatments targeting T cell populations (Anti-CD3 and IL-2, 10 ng/mL) induced maximal MS cytotoxicity across all cell types. Data were collected over 10 d at 6 h intervals. Each data point represents mean  SEM, n=4 wells. Image Credit: Sartorius

Conclusions

The effectiveness of the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System, together with the Incucyte Spheroid Software Module, is demonstrated through the analysis of 3D multi-spheroid co-cultures with stromal or immune cells over time and is applicable to compound testing. It has been shown that:

The live-cell analysis found that SK-BR-3 formed more compact multi-spheroids when cultured with NHDFs

Live-cell imaging revealed temporal effects of NHDFs on MDA-MB-231 multi-spheroid morphology

Cell type-specific temporal growth profiles were determined for a panel of breast tumor multi-spheroids

The capability to perform real-time compound profiling in a 96-well format

The ability to kinetically visualize and quantify antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) immune cell-induced within target tumor multi-spheroids in real-time

Herceptin-activated PBMCs caused a concentration-dependent loss of HER2-positive multi-spheroid viability

Incorporating an ECM and additional cell types (e.g. stromal cells or immune cells) into 3D models may provide more relevant translational models for the study of the tumor microenvironment on tumor biology.

Features of the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System are advantageous for monitoring and quantifying 3D multi-spheroid biology in real time. This includes the DF Brightfield imaging, which allows label-free study of 3D spheroid morphology and proliferation in 96-well assay formats for enhanced throughput.

Advantages also include the ability to run without predefined endpoint, consistent segmentation and quantification of brightfield images, which enables kinetic assessment of cell-dependent growth profiles, and the impact of stromal cells on tumor multi-spheroid resistance to chemotherapeutic agents.

Using brightfield with fluorescence imaging enables visualization and quantification of immune cell-mediated toxicity of tumor multi-spheroids.

Incucytes automated image acquisition, combined with user-friendly analysis tools and lab-tested protocols, allows non-expert users to quickly generate reproducible data, perform analysis, and generate publication-ready graphics. Taken together, the Incucyte Live-Cell Analysis System, Spheroid Software Module and reagents provide a unique and efficient technical platform that can be incorporated into existing workflows.

Acknowledgments

Produced from materials originally authored by Kalpana Patel, Miniver Oliver, Nevine Holtz, Tim Jackson, Nicholas Dana, Tim Dale, Del Trezise from Sartorius.

References and further reading

Lv D, et al. Three-dimensional Cell Culture: A Powerful Tool in Tumor Research and Drug Discovery (Review). Spandidos Publications. Oncology Letters, 14;69997010 (2017) Verjans ET, et al. Three-dimensional cell culture models for anticancer drug screening: Worth the effort? Cell Physiol. Apr;233(4);29933003 (2018) Subick K, et al. The Expression Patterns of ER, PR, HER2, CK5/6, EGFR, Ki-67 and AR by Immunohistochemical Analysis in Breast Cancer Cell Lines. Breast Cancer: Basic and Clinical Research, 4;3541 (2010) Griggs J, et al. The State of the Art: Immune-mediated Mechanisms of Monoclonal Antibodies in Cancer Therapy. British Journal of Cancer, 104;18071812 (2009)

About Sartorius

Sartorius is a leading international pharmaceutical and laboratory equipment supplier. With our innovative products and services, we are helping our customers across the entire globe to implement their complex and quality-critical biomanufacturing and laboratory processes reliably and economically.

The Group companies are united under the roof of Sartorius AG, which is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and holds the majority stake in Sartorius Stedim Biotech S.A. Quoted on the Paris Stock Exchange, this subgroup is comprised mainly of the Bioprocess Solutions Division.

Innovative technologies enable medical progress

A growing number of medications are biopharmaceuticals. These are produced using living cells in complex, lengthy and expensive procedures. The Bioprocess Solutions Division provides the essential products and technologies to accomplish this.

In fact, Sartorius has been pioneering and setting the standards for single-use products that are currently used throughout all biopharmaceutical manufacturing processes.

Making lab life easier

Lab work is complex and demanding: Despite repetitive analytical routines, lab staff must perform each step in a highly concentrated and careful way for accurate results.

The Lab Products and Services Division helps lab personnel excel because its products, such as laboratory balances, pipettes and lab consumables, minimize human error, simplify workflows and reduce physical workloads.

Sponsored Content Policy: News-Medical.net publishes articles and related content that may be derived from sources where we have existing commercial relationships, provided such content adds value to the core editorial ethos of News-Medical.Net which is to educate and inform site visitors interested in medical research, science, medical devices and treatments.
One of the longest bridges in India, the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), which will connect Mumbais Sewree to Nhava in Raigad district, is likely to charge a fee of Rs 500 for one way.

The concerned authorities of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), which has been working on the project for a very long time have already proposed the toll fee offer to the state government. However, the government did not show the green signal to the offer yet. Instead, suggested them make it Rs 330.

MTHL Bridge Final Toll Fee Call

It has been reported that Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who also takes care of the Uban development department, soon will make the final call on the toll fee matter.

Heres What MMRDA Official Says About Fee Proposal

Reacting about the same, one of the officials of MMRDA said,We have to recover the huge amount, which has been invested in the (MTHL) project in the past in past 30 years. If we start charging less money, then it upsets our statistics. We feel that the minister in charge of MMRDA must take a call on toll instead of low-ranking bureaucrats.

In addition, he said, There is a 30% shortage of skilled workers due to many ongoing projects in the MMR area. We have asked workers to do the job in all three shifts now.

Inauguration Ceremony

Meanwhile, some reports have suggested that the 22 km long sea link bridge is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 25. However, the official confirmation about the same is yet to come from the PMO.
Amid issues in his personal life, Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania has assured employees and board members that it is business as usual in the company and that he is fully committed to its smooth functioning.

In an internal mail to the employees and the board members of Raymond, Singhania, who announced separation from his wife Nawaz earlier this month, said he has chosen not to comment on the reports in media about matters pertaining to my personal life, saying maintaining the dignity of my family is paramount to me.

Also Read: Gautam Singhanias Divorce Battle Heats Up As Wife Demands 75% Wealth: Report

However, I remain resolute as Chairman & Managing Director and am fully committed towards the smooth functioning of the company and its business. Even in these difficult times for me, I assure you that at Raymond, it is business as usual, he asserted in his mail.

As you all are aware that over the last couple of months, we have made significant strides towards growing our businesses exponentially and have had our best quarter in history on top of a consistent upswing in performance over the last nine quarters.

Recently, we have almost doubled our engineering business by entering sunrise sectors of aerospace, defence, electric vehicle components through MPPLs (Maini Precision Products Ltd) acquisition, and have also been awarded two marquee real estate projects in our focus market of Mumbai Metropolitan Region, Singhania added.

Despite the issues in his personal life, he said, I am steadfast to create and deliver value to all our shareholders and ensure the interests of our employees, customers, and other stakeholders. When reached out, a Raymond spokesperson confirmed that it was an internal mail sent by Singhania to the employees and board members of the company.

Earlier this month, Singhania said he has separated from his wife Nawaz, in an announcement that came amid speculation over the future of the 32-year relationship. The billionaire industrialist, whose net worth is reported to be over Rs 11,000 crore, made the announcement over the microblogging platform X, saying it was not the same Diwali as in the past.

The industrialist  who is helming the multi-decade group having roots in textiles and branched out into newer ones like real estate  said Nawaz, a fitness trainer, and he were together for 32 years as a couple.

The couple has two children, and Singhania said they grew together in their years of companionship and were a source of strength for each other.
The iconic bungalow of Raj Kapoor in Chembur, Mumbai, which was recently acquired by Godrej Properties, will soon be converted into a luxury housing project.

The real estate arm of Godrej Group will soon launch a premium residential complex with a sales potential of 2 lakh square feet on the land parcel, spread over an area of 1-acre, purchased from Raj Kapoors legal heirs in February. According to a companys recent filing to the stock exchanges, the project built on Raj Kapoors bungalow is estimated to have a total sales booking value of Rs 500 crore, Moneycontrol reported.

On February 17, 2023, GPL declared that it had purchased Raj Kapoors Bungalow in Mumbais Chembur area in order to build a high-end residential complex. As per Moneycontrol, the company had stated that the land was acquired from the Kapoor family, who are the lawful descendants of the legendary actor, filmmaker and producer.

In close proximity to the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), the site is situated on Deonar Farm Road in Chembur, Mumbai, and is regarded as one of the posh residential neighbourhoods in the area. Similarly, to develop the Godrej RKS premium mixed-use project, GPL purchased R K Studios in Chembur, Mumbai, from the Kapoor family in May 2019.

Additionally, during the Q2FY24 earnings conference call, in response to a question about launches in subsequent months followed by large projects in the second half of the year, the company announced that one of the upcoming launches is of the Raj Kapoor Bungalow in Chembur.

Some of the big ones that we are looking forward to -the first one is 49 Gurgaon. This is in the advanced stages of approval. And our idea internally is to try and do a sort of a Q3 launch. Then we have the Raj Kapoor bungalow acquisition that we had done in Chembur. That would be another upcoming launch, Gaurav Pandey Managing Director (MD) and CEO of GPL said during the conference call, as reported by Moneycontrol.

Furthermore, the company also intends to enter the Hyderabad real estate market, as stated by Pirojsha Godrej, the Executive Chairperson of GPL, on November 2, 2023, during the release of second quarter results of the current financial year (Q2FY24).

The company also claims to have different approaches for plotted development and group housing. The leading real estate firm intends to concentrate on the top six markets  Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Kolkata.
Real estate developer Ganga Realty on Monday said it will invest more than Rs 1,000 crore to develop a luxury housing project, Nandaka 84, in Gurugram, Haryana. As part of this, the company will build 302 apartments spreading over 8.33 acres.

The housing project will be completed by 2028. Vikas Garg, Joint Managing Director, Ganga Realty, said the investment of over Rs 1,000 crore will be funded through internal accruals.

The prices of the apartments and penthouses start from Rs 4.05 crore onwards. In March this year, Ganga Realty had announced investments of Rs 750 crore to build an affordable housing project in Gurugram.

The company is developing 2,972 apartments in its project Tathastu, which is spread over 22 acres in Sector 5, Sohna-Gurugram. The price of the apartment starts from Rs 25 lakh. The demand for luxury homes have risen in Gurugram in the last two and half years.

To tap this demand, many real estate developers are developing luxury housing in Gurugram. DLF Ltd will launch two luxury housing projects worth Rs 15,000 crore in Gurugram during the second half of this financial year.

Vikas Garg, joint managing director of Ganga Realty, said, We have received a phenomenal response for our first luxury project in Gurugram. Because of several factors such as strategic connectivity, multiple access points, and an ever-growing appetite for uber-luxury residences, we are deeply grateful that our project has drawn unanimous praise from everybody.

Recently, Mumbai-based Oberoi Realty also bought land in Gurugram to develop an ultra-luxury housing project.

According to real estate consultants, Delhi-NCR has witnessed a two-fold jump in sales of luxury homes priced above Rs 1.5 crore to 13,630 units in January-September this year on better demand and supply.

As many as 6,210 luxury homes were sold during January-September last year.
An emergency situation can often leave one feeling vulnerable and confused. But with the right knowledge and preparation, one can handle any emergencies in the best possible way. From a fire outbreak to a road accident, one can face any emergency case and seek help. The government has taken several steps to provide immediate assistance to citizens during the crisis. Many government departments provide the facility of helpline numbers, so that citizens can get immediate help in case of emergency by calling these numbers.

By giving immediate information to the police and disaster management, one can seek immediate help. There is no need to spend any money on these calls; one can call these numbers even when theres no balance on their phones, because all these numbers are toll-free. Today, lets take a look at the All India Emergency Toll-Free Number List.

1. In case of a fire at home, office, or any public place, one can dial toll-free number 101 to call the fire brigade. This is the number of the fire department.

2. The government has started toll-free number 102, so that people can get immediate medical care in case of an emergency. Apart from this, one can also get medical facilities in an emergency by dialling 108.

3. In case of any emergency while travelling by road, one can seek help from the traffic police by calling toll-free number 103. One can also seek help from the police by calling 112.

4. The government has issued a toll-free number, 1072, to get help in case of a train accident. Any person can get the necessary help by giving information about a train accident to this number.

5. In case of a road accident, a call can be made to number 1073 for help.

6. A womens helpline is also prevalent in the country. Women can report any kind of atrocity or exploitation by calling the toll-free numbers 1090/1091.

7.1098 is a toll-free number to report child abuse.

8. Nowadays, people are being cheated a lot online. In case of cyber fraud, help can be taken by calling the toll-free number 1930. By calling this number, one can get guidance, report cyber crimes, and get help from trained professionals.

9. If LPG is leaking from the cylinder in ones home, shop, or hotel, then one can now lodge a complaint on the emergency helpline number 1906. This complaint will be registered in the control room located in New Delhi.
The Common Admission Test (CAT) 2023, for aspirants seeking admission into Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other affiliated institutions, is presently underway in three shifts. The CAT 2023 scores garnered by candidates will serve as the primary criterion for securing admission into diverse management programmes.

In accordance with the CAT 2023 information bulletin, the result of the examination is expected to be released by IIM Lucknow during the second week of January 2024. Aspiring candidates can access their results on the official CAT 2023 website, iimcat.ac.in, or may receive individualised scorecards via SMS.

The CAT 2023 score is valid only till December 31, 2024 and will accordingly be accessible on the website. Thereafter, no queries related to the issuance of CAT 2023 scorecards will be entertained, read the information bulletin.

Furthermore, the release date for the CAT 2023 answer key will be disclosed subsequent to the completion of the examination. Candidates are granted the opportunity to scrutinise provisional answers and submit objections within a designated timeframe. This process incurs a prescribed fee per questioned item, as determined by the examination authority.

Based on the challenges posed to the CAT 2023 answer key, IIM Lucknow will subsequently release the final version. The results, presented in the form of CAT 2023 percentiles, will be based on factors such as the difficulty level of exam slots, the number of candidates, and other pertinent considerations.

Its noteworthy that a normalisation process will be employed by the examination authority to ascertain the percentile ranking of each candidate, ensuring fairness in evaluation.

The CAT 2023 was conducted in three slots on November 26. Each slot exam featured three sections  Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC), Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning (DILR), and Quantitative Ability (QA). According to experts, the slot 1 paper was more complex when compared to last years paper. The morning slot was more challenging than the other two slot papers held in CAT 2023, students said.
Two class 4 students at a primary school in Indore pricked one of their classmates with a geometry compass over 100 times. The child reportedly started bleeding and suffered serious injuries, reported Free Press Journal. The parents of the victim took photos and videos of the child who suffered from serious injuries and lodged a complaint with the school authorities.

The school administration, however, didnt act immediately and tried to show sympathy to the parents. Thereafter, the parents approached the nearby police station to lodge a complaint against the two boys. Later, school principal Rama Sharma suspended the two children and also informed the police station in charge. Hence, no further complaint was filed in the police station.

The two accused students along with their parents were called to the school premises. The principal in a written statement told the parents that a complaint was filed by the parents of the victim. The students had pricked both the legs of Aaradhya with a pen and due to which their son had to face unbearable pain and also remained mentally disturbed throughout the night, the principal said.

The letter further stated that the parents of the student also showed photos and videos of the victim. The student also complained that the two class 4 boys constantly harass him in the class and had also hit him quite a few times before.

Following the complaint by the parents of the victim, the two students were suspended from the school immediately. The principal of the school informed the same in a meeting held on Sunday. In the letter, the principal also warned the parents that the victims parents were considering taking legal action. The teacher in charge talked to other students and teachers of the class and they also said that the two students often break rules and harass them, the letter read.
A holiday has been declared for schools in Delhi and Noida today, November 27 due to Guru Nanak Jayanti. The Telangana government too has declared a holiday for the schools, colleges, and all educational institutes on the occasion. Apart from schools, banks and several offices are also closed today.

Guru Nanak Jayanti marks the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, who is the revered founder of Sikhism. Also known as Gurpurab, the day is observed to celebrate the Sikh Guru. He was born on the full moon day of the Kartik month in the Nanakshahi calendar, which corresponds to November in the Gregorian calendar. On the auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, devotees visit Gurdwaras and take out processions, known as Nagars Kirtan. During the processions, devotees sing hymns and carry the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, through the streets. It serves as a reminder of Guru Nanaks teachings and their relevance in todays modern world.

Meanwhile, apart from today, state-run schools in Telangana are also expected to stay closed on November 29 and 30. However, an official announcement is yet to be made regarding the same. A formal statement is expected to be issued in accordance with the Election Commissions orders. The school closure is likely to be announced due to a large number of teachers engaging in election activities.

Furthermore, teachers participating in election duties in Telangana have been instructed to report by 7 AM on November 29 for the preparation and handling of EVM machines. On the day preceding the polling, teachers are expected to arrive at the designated schools, which will serve as polling centres for the Assembly elections in the state. Since teachers will be participating in election duties, the education department is contemplating a two-day holiday for government schools. However, it is expected that the teachers will be granted leave on December 1, the day following the polling.
The BJP has once again gone to the Election Commission of India, complaining against the Congress. The party has knocked on the doors of the poll body due to an advertisement by the Congress-ruled Karnataka government in Telangana edition dailies, which are circulated in poll-bound state, demanding criminal proceedings against Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah.

Projecting what the Siddaramaiah government claims to be the Karnataka model, the advertisements timing was of objection to the BJP. According to the BJP complaint, the Congress government projected its illusionary success claiming it brought progress and prosperity in the last six months in Karnataka. The BJP not only questioned the timing but also the advertisements being in Telugu  the language spoken in the poll-bound state instead of Kannada. The charge BJP has brought against the grand old party is that through such ads, they are alluring the voters for Congress.

Calling it both illegal and unethical, the BJP says, the ruling party of Karnataka is also contesting elections in Telangana. The Commission may like to note that the timing and context of such an advertisement is a cheap, blatant, and an ugly attempt by Indian National Congress to influence the voters of Telangana.

The Karnataka government, which is ruled by the Congress, has published such advertisements on November 25, 26, and 27 in four Telugu and three English dailies along with one Hindi newspaper, claims the BJP. While the saffron party has already complained to the Chief Electoral Officer in Telangana, the party is upset at no action being taken by him.

Highlighting various clauses of the Model Code of Conduct, which remains in place till the date of polling in poll-bound states, the BJP argued, The government of Karnataka has no justifiable reasons for advertising in newspapers that too in Telangana edition of Telugu dailies on taxpayers money of Karnataka. The BJP insisted that the publication of these advertisements violates Supreme Court set norms in letter and spirit.

It further argued that the publications also violate sections of the Representation of Peoples Act as well as sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Hence, the BJP has demanded that the EC issue directions to file criminal complaints against Siddaramaiah as well as other ministers in their personal capacity, invoking provisions of Section 123 of the RP Act, 1951, and prosecute them. Meanwhile, it has also asked to restrain the Karnataka government from publicising any such advertisements here on.

Earlier, the BJP approached the poll body accusing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of flouting the 48-hour silence period for tweeting about the Rajasthan elections on the day of voting. The BJP also went to the EC for Gandhis Panauti remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the campaign trail in Rajasthan.
The BJP on Monday said the Congress government in Karnataka has been putting out advertisements in the Telangana media with an eye on the assembly polls in the state, and urged the Election Commission to take action against the party.

A BJP delegation, including Union minister Bhupender Yadav, former minister Prakash Javadekar and party leaders Sudhanshu Trivedi and Om Pathak, submitted a complaint to the EC, saying the Congress has violated the Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct.

Yadav told reporters that the Karnataka government has been publishing advertisements in English and vernacular media of Telangana for the past few days.

Citing poll rules and regulations, he said it is a corrupt practice aimed at influencing polls and asserted that such action is another evidence of the opposition party devaluing democratic institutions and norms.

The BJP has urged the EC to take action against Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and other related members of his government and the Congress. What the Congress has done is using public money to influence elections in another state, he said, calling for legal action.

Trivedi asked the Congress did the Karnataka government published advertisements in all Indian languages and, if not, if its action was violative of the rules.

The Congress and the Karnataka government should be held accountable, he said. Pathak said the EC should take effective actions to send out a clear message.

All elections laws and rules expressly prohibit the use of government machinery or funds to run party campaigns so much so the parties and candidates are not even allowed to address press conferences in government buildings. This is a case of an absolute abuse of state government resources and public funds to promote the partys interest and run its campaign, the BJP told the poll panel.

The Model Code of Conduct, the BJP said, notes many times advertisements highlighting welfare schemes and achievements of the central and state governments are published by some non-poll going states in the editions of newspapers having circulation in the states where elections are going on.

The Election Commission has declared it to be a violation of the code, the BJP said.

Assembly polls are due in Telangana on November 30, with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Congress and the BJP locked in a keen battle.
It has been a bad day for the Congress with the Election Commission.

First, the EC decision to halt the 28th instalment of the KCR governments flagship Rythu Bandhu scheme benefitting Telangana farmers, a day ahead of the polls in the state.

ALSO READ | Karnataka Govt Gets EC notice over Model Code of Conduct Violation in Telangana

The Congress, which was initially thrilled with the decision of the EC to act upon its complaint, soon realized that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) was not to be seen as being on the backfoot. The BRS hit back, hard. It reached out to the voters, accusing the Congress of being anti-farmer.

Around 55% of the population in the state is involved in farming in some way or the other, which is why both the BRS and Congress are wooing these voters. The Rythu Bandhu scheme promises Rs 5,000 per acre per season to farmers. The Congress has a counter to this  Rythu Bharosa, under which Rs 15,000 to farmers and Rs 12,000 to farm labourers would be given annually. The Congress had hoped that the EC stricture would give the Congresss guarantee to farmers an edge, but it had not bargained for the strong fight back from the BRS.

The Congress gave quick clarifications, led by KC Venugopal and Revanth Reddy. But Jairam Ramesh had to clear the air immediately in damage control by announcing that the Congress, within 10 days of coming to power, would put money into their accounts.

But the damage or setback may have already been done.

It didnt stop at this.

ALSO READ | Cong Attacks BRS Over ECs Withdrawal of Permission for Giving Aid to Telangana Farmers

In a late night development, the EC declared that the Karnataka government ads, which were being shown in Telangana and flaunted as its achievements to be replicated in Telangana, were a violation of the model code of conduct. This action was based on a complaint filed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Congress from being a back-bencher in the battle for Telangana is clearly in the race. And it wants to ensure that no mistakes, which could derail their hope of winning in the state, are made.
Five day left for the election results of five stated to be declared, politics has heated up with political parties highlighting each others failures in a bitter battle. Before the December 3 results, Telangana will vote on November 30, following which exit polls will begin to trickle in by evening.

The top leaders, thus, are now focusing on the south Indian state with a blitzkrieg of campaign. While Union home minister has been stressing on ending the reservation for Muslims in the state and distributing them among the scheduled castes, K Chandrashekhar Raos Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has been promising sops to the minority community.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also scheduled to visit Telangana on November 27, Monday. The prime minister is scheduled to visit Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Hyderabad at 8am, following which he will hold rallies at Mahabubnagar at 11am, Karimnagar at 1pm and a road show in Kacheguda at 4pm.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda will also address public meetings in Telangana. At 2:05m, he is scheduled to be at Nizamabads NSF Ground. At 3:10pm, he will be at Banswadas government junior colleage in Kamareddy and at 4:20pm, he will at Jukkals Madhur HQ in Kamareddy.

Union home minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting at noon in Karimnagars Huzurabad.

Latest Election News Here:

 The Election Commission has sought an explanation from Karnataka Chief Secretary over state government ads in poll-bound Telangana. The Commission said these advertisements are in gross violation of the model code of conduct.

 The EC also said that further publication of any advertisements by Telangana government shall be stopped till necessary approvals are taken from the Commission.

 PM Modi holds a 3- kilometre long roadshow in Hyderabad.

#WATCH | Telangana Elections: Prime Minister Narendra Modi begins a roadshow in Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/VeyF7Q4CxK ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

 Election Commission of India on Monday revoked permission to disburse Rythu Bandhu scheme. This came after BRS leader Harish Rao made an open declaration that funds to farmers would be transferred on November 28, in violation of Model Code of Conduct.

 Reacting to the development, Congress veteran KC Venugopal lashed out at BRS and said that the money, which is right of the farmers, will not reach them on time because of irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi.

Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu instalments.The money is the right of the farmers. It is what they deserve for  K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) November 27, 2023

 Slamming the Congress for lodging a complaint with the Election Commission requesting it to stop the state governments proposal to make payment to the beneficiaries under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, BRS MLC K Kavitha on Monday said dirty politics of the grand old party has once again surfaced. Dirty politics of Congress has once again surfaced. They are delaying the payment of Rythu Bandhu, which is an ongoing payment. It is not an election promise. It is not a new programme that is made for the elections, she told PTI.

 A BJP leader on Monday accused BRS Patancheru MLA candidate, Gudem Mahipal Reddy, of using deepfake to fool Telangana people on Instagram.

So @BRSparty Patancheru MLA candidate, @GMRMLAPTC used deepfake video to fool #Telangana people on Instagram!Lies, fakeries and violence  That is all BRS can do to win upcoming #TelanganaAssemblyElections2023 pic.twitter.com/qBeWUj0WCy  Dr.B.L.Sreenivas Solanky (@SolankySrinivas) November 27, 2023

 The BJP on Monday released photos of PM Modi, stating that the prime minister prayed for the good health, well-being and prosperity of 140 crore Indians at the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala.

 Union home minister Amit Shah has alleged a secret understanding between the Congress and the BRS in the Telangana state assembly elections. He claimed that they will support each other in different elections. The Congress will support the BRS so that K Chandrasekhar Rao will become chief minister once again. In return, the BRS will support the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections so that Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister, Shah claimed at an election rally at Makthal in Narayanpet district.

 At an election rally in Telanganas Kamareddy, PM Modi on Sunday said, TRS changed its name to BRS. UPA became INDIA bloc. But nothing will change despite a change in their nomenclature. Their DNA is the same. They are not loyal to people. Both BRS and Congress fear the rising growth of BJP in Telangana, he said.

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, while addressing an election rally at Mahabubabad said that the BJP will bring Telangana out of the clutches of BRS. He further said that it is his partys responsibility to send the corrupt leaders of the ruling party to jail.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Monday served notice to Karnataka Chief Secretary over advertisements of various welfare schemes and achievements in the state of Telangana over the past week.

The ECI, in the two-page order, asked the Karnataka government to immediately stop such advertisements and sought a response on it by 5 pm on Tuesday.

ALSO READ | Cong Attacks BRS Over ECs Withdrawal of Permission for Giving Aid to Telangana Farmers

The Congress is the ruling government in Karnataka. The party is also contesting the elections in Telangana.

It has been brought to the notice of the Commission by the Bharatiya Janata Party and by Bharat Rashtra Samithi that the Government of Karnataka has published advertisements of various welfare schemes and achievements in the State of Telangana on 24-27th November 2023 in the Hyderabad edition of several newspapers, the ECI said.

The Commission added that they neither gave approvals for it nor any such application from the State of Karnataka is found pending for decision.

The said act of giving advertisements highlighting the welfare schemes and achievements of Government by the Government of Karnataka in newspapers having circulations in poll going State of Telangana is in gross violation of the Commissions directions. The Commission has taken a serious view of the said violative act by the government of Karnataka, the ECI said.

The poll body has asked the Chief Secretary to explain the circumstances which led to the violation of the Commissions MCC instructions on the part of the Government.

Further publication of any such advertisements by the Government of Karnataka in the State of Telangana shall be stopped forthwith with immediate effect till necessary approvals are taken by the Government from the Commission as required by the instructions on MCC, it added.

ALSO READ | Telangana Elections 2023: Blow for KCR as EC Stops Disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme Instalment

The poll body also asked the Chief Secretary to explain why disciplinary action is not directed against the Secretary-in-charge of the Department of Information and Public Relations for violations of procedure.

Telangana is going for polls on November 30 and counting of the votes will be done on December 3.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday once again slammed the Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao over his superstitious beliefs. Telangana is identified with tradition and technology, but KCR has branded it as superstitious, the prime minister said.

Addressing a rally in Telanganas Mahabubabad, PM Modi further said, KCR has been leaving no stone unturned to destroy Telangana. Telangana doesnt need this farmhouse CM. This farmhouse CM will lose on December 3 (election results day).

On Sunday too, while addressing a rally at Toopran in the Medak district, the prime minister alleged the KCR ruled from his farm house for 10 years.

Does Telangana need a CM who does not meet people? Why does Telangana need this farmhouse CM? For 10 years he ruled from his farm house, and farmers will send KCR permanently to his farmhouse now, PM Modi had said.

The prime minister further attacked KCR for his habit of breaking promises, alleging that the CM has failed to keep many of his promises.

KCR broke his promise of making a Dalit the chief minister. He broke his promise of providing jobs to youth. He promised water to farmers and broke that too. He promised schemes, but only gave scams. He also promised to work for your children, but has only worked for his own family and children. He has increased his wealth every year, Modi alleged.

PM Modis Old Quotes on KCRs Superstitions

K Chandrashekar Raos beliefs have often come under attack. Last year, when PM Modi had visited Telangana for the first time after the high-stakes Munugode bypolls, which the BRS won, he had said that the city of Hyderabad is a major IT hub, but he sees superstition taking major decisions.

The city of Hyderabad is a major IT hub, but what I see here is superstition decides who gets dropped from the cabinet, who will go where, where to live and office location. People here want development, Modi had said.

In the same year, during an earlier trip too, PM Modi had taken a dig at Telangana CM. The PM had said that superstitious people cannot work for the development of the state.

Vouching for his party and leaders, he added, I believe in science and technology. I also congratulate Yogi Adityanath, who is a saint but does not believe in superstition. We have to save Telangana from such superstitious people.

KCRs Superstitions in Detail

 Soon after taking charge as the chief minister, Chandrasekhar Rao made news for taking part in religious events and changing residence for good Vaastu.

 Several reports in 2016 stated that KCR moved to a new Rs 50 crore home in compliance with Vaastu. The chief minister got the camp office at Begumpet renovated which is the tallest with five floors, and six separate blocks. According to his belief, the ruler should function from a place that is at a greater height than others.

Part of the housewarming ceremony at #Telangana CM new Vaastu compliant office cum residence pic.twitter.com/cbLFMPfwC4 T S Sudhir (@Iamtssudhir) November 24, 2016

 A year before he moved into new home, KCR held a Yagyam at his farmhouse on the concluding day of the Ayutha Maha Chandi Yagyam. Reports stated that about 150 cooks prepared meals for more than 50,000 people over the five days of the ceremony. The five-day ceremony reportedly cost nearly Rs 7 crore. However, he claimed that he paid for the expenses and roped in some private sponsors.

 In 2018, he even recommended for dissolution of the assembly on September 6 due to his belief in numerology and fascination with number 6.

 Back in June 2, 2014, when KCR was to become the first Chief Minister of Telangana, he timed his oath down to minutes  12:57 pm. The reason? All the numbers add up to 15, whose individual numerals add up to 6. Even during campaigning, he was driven in cars with number plates whose numerals added up to six.
Eight years ago, the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) made a promise to the people of Warangal that it would be developed as the Dallas of India. The ruling party pledged that Warangal would not only transform into a smart city but also grow to the scale of Hyderabad in a short period. As elections approach, citizens are seeking answers, anticipating the fulfilment of promises related to employment, a proper drainage system, and investments by industries.

Politically, this election is perceived as a tight triangular contest among the BRS, Congress, and BJP. However, on the ground, people are questioning the feasibility of the promises being made. While the electorate acknowledges that BRSs welfare schemes such as Aasara pension, Rythu Bandhu, Rythu Bima, free power to agriculture, and Rs 1 per kg ration rice have reached them, they feel these initiatives have not been effectively implemented.

Shyamala, a homemaker and Jangaon native, raises questions about the promised 2BHK houses and other schemes.

Where are the promised 2BHK houses, Dalit Bandhu, and Gruha Lakshmi schemes? Those connected to BRS ministers seem to be the beneficiaries, creating significant discrepancies, she asks.

Sandeep, a voter who returned to Telangana after working in Vietnam, stresses on the unfulfilled promise of jobs by the BRS.

It has been a decade since the BRS came to power, yet the youth are still awaiting proper job opportunities. I returned to Warangal a year ago due to family pressures and have been job hunting since. Many like me seek employment, applied for government jobs, but with no success. The promised jobs by the BRSwhere are they? Thats why I believe the youth are turning to Congress in the hope of job opportunities, he says.

When questioned about whether people see the promised development to convert Warangal into the Dallas of India, Kareem, a young cloth merchant, acknowledges that it is taking place but at a slow pace.

There are a few promises they havent been fulfilled, which has angered people. Voters worry that if they vote again and the situation doesnt change, they will feel cheated. Development has occurred, that cannot be denied. However, it could have been better implemented, he states.

Regarding which party has an edge in Warangal, Kareem suggests, It seems like Congress is doing better.

Look at the drains; the city gets flooded during rains. Is this what the BRS government proposed in the name of a new underground drainage system for Warangal? questions Prathap Srinivas, another voter from Warangal East. He highlights that sewage water passes through open drains, causing overflows into homes during floods.

Is this the Dallas they want to build? he asks.

Warangal district comprises 12 Assembly constituencies: Station Ghanpur (SC), Palakurthi, Dornakal (ST), Jangaon, Warangal East, Waradhanapet (SC), Bhupalpalle, Mahabubabad (ST), Narsampet, Parkal, Warangal West, and Mulugu (ST).

On the other hand, the BJP could play a pivotal role as a potential disruptor in this election in the North Telangana region, of which Warangal is a part. Out of these 54 seats, the BRS dominated the 2018 polls by winning 47 seats. Although the Congress seems to have momentum in the region, some doubt whether it will translate into votes on polling day.

Its not the Congress or the BRS but the BJP that can bring a difference because we see a lot of political rhetoric but on the ground, we are yet to see the promised development. The BJP, on the other hand, is focused on making a better Telangana, so I think the party should be given a chance, says Pramod V, a software engineer, who has travelled to his hometown Warangal to cast his vote during the November 30 assembly polls.
Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao, whose alleged violation of the Model Code of Conduct led the Election Commission to withdraw permission for disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme funds, on Monday accused the Congress of making the anti-farmer complaint to the poll body.

The Congress treats farmers as vote banks. When they are in power, they will not give a single penny to farmers, but will raise objections if KCR gives Rythu Bandhu. This decision was taken after Congress leader G Niranjan complained to the EC, Rao alleged.

Earlier on Monday, the EC withdrew permission given to the Telangana government for disbursement of financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, saying Rao had violated the provisions of the Model Code by making a public announcement that the money would be credited by a certain date before Telangana elections on November 30. The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account, he had reportedly said.

Though the Election Commission said the decision was taken after Raos speech was reported widely in the media, Harish Rao, in his rebuttal, blamed the Congress for plugging financial aid to farmers. He alleged the EC took the decision on the basis of a complaint sent by G Niranjan, senior vice-president of Telangana Congress.

Niranjan hit back at the BRS leader, saying he never asked the EC to stop the disbursal of funds to farmers. Yes, I brought it (Raos speech) to the notice of the Election Commission, but it did not mention my complaint in its notice. I never asked the EC to stop Rythu Bandhu (funds). I had made a complaint on the basis of a speech he (Rao) had made during an election campaign, Niranjan told News18.

The Congress leader also shared the contents of the letter sent to EC:

Dated: 26-11-2023

To,

Sri Rajiv Kumar,

Chief Election Commissioner

Election Commission of India

Nirvachan Sadan

New Delhi

Sir,

Sub: Election Commission permission for

Rythu Bandhu  Direction to BRS

Party- not to use in Election

campaign  Regarding.

The Election Commission of India on the last Friday allowed the State Government to disburse amounts to farmers under Rythu Bandhu Scheme which is being misused by the BRS Party for their political benefit. Every BRS leader is making this as a tool to influence the voters as they are giving it from their own pockets. They are blaming Congress Party as it obstructed the disbursement, which is not correct. While attacking the Congress Party in an election campaign at Mahabubabad and Aleru, Sri T Harish Rao, Minister blamed the Congress Party as it created obstructions and said that Election Commission granted permission for the disbursement and an amount of Rs 7500 crores is ready per disbursement.

He further said as three days are holidays and on Tuesday morning by the time you complete your breakfast your cellphones will ring to inform you that Rythubandhu amount has been credited to your bank account. This is how the generous permission granted by the EC is being misused by the BRS Party.

HENCE WE REQUEST YOUR GOOD SELF TO PUT RESTRICTIONS ON BRS PARTY NOT TO MENTION ABOUT THE RYTHU BANDHU DISBURSEMENTS IN THEIR POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING.

This is very much needed for having a free and fair poll in the State.

Hope EC will respond to our request immediately.

Thanking You

Yours Sincerely

G.Niranjan

G Niranjan, along with two other Congress leaders, Ajoy Kumar Ghosh and M Ramachandra Reddy, had also written to the EC on November 21 alleging that IT minister K Taraka Rama Rao was misusing his official power in utilizing the government premises i.e., T-Hub premises for his election campaign. On November 26, the minister received a notice from the EC regarding the same.
Salman Khans reality show Bigg Boss 17 continues to stir excitement among viewers, all thanks to its unexpected twists and turns. In the latest episode, Bollywoods mysterious figure, Orhan Awatramani, also known as Orry entered the house. Just like outsiders, contestants along with Salman were also curious to know about Orrys background but he never directly answered the question. Despite this, the socialite seamlessly blended with the housemates and even played a task with the contestants. However, the show took an unexpected turn, as it was revealed that Orry wasnt a wildcard contestant.

In the recent segment of Just Chill with Arbaaz and Sohail, the Khan Brothers made a surprising revelation about Orhans stint on the show. Contrary to assumptions, Orry wasnt a wildcard entry; instead, his stay was only planned for just two days. As the actors announced this news, the housemates were left stunned as they loved Orrys presence in the BB house. Ankita Lokhande, Isha Malviya, Sunny Arya, Abhishek Kumar and others bid him farewell in the sweetest way. Later, when Orry met the Khan Brothers, he posed with Sohail and Arbaaz in his unique style.

Before bidding adieu to the Bigg Boss 17 house, Orhan Awatramani shared memorable moments with Abhishek Kumar, Ankita Lokhande, Vicky Jain, Munawar Faruqui and other housemates. Meanwhile, a day before his departure, the makers added excitement to the atmosphere by assigning a task to the housemates and told them to organize a housewarming party for Orry.

Divided into three groups based on their Makaans, Dil, Dimaag and Dum, the contestants left no stones unturned in arranging wild parties for Orry. After interesting preparations, Orhan concluded the task by declaring the Dil Makaan members as the winner of the task.

Before Arbaaz and Sohail Khans official announcement, Orhan Awatramanis departure from the Bigg Boss house was confirmed. The social media star was spotted at The Archies movie event held in Mumbai on November 25. During the event, Orry was seen meeting with his friends and upon noticing the paparazzi, Orhan graciously posed for the cameras, as he wore a T-shirt with the text, You Only Love Orry (YOLO).

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Manav Manglani (@manav.manglani)

Bigg Boss 17 airs on Colors TV and JioCinema, the show features a diverse lineup of contestants. The current list includes personalities such as Ankita Lokhande, Vicky Jain, Munawar Faruqui, Khanzadi, Mannara Chopra, Rinku Dhawan, Aishwarya Sharma, Neil Bhatt, Isha Malviya, Samarth Jurel, Sunny Arya, Anurag Dobhal, Sana Raees Khan and Arun Mashettey. In the recent Weekend Ka Vaar episode, the former crime reporter Jigna Vora was evicted from the house.
Lareb Hashmi, the 20-year-old accused who has been arrested for attacking a bus conductor with a cleaver after a dispute in Uttar Pradeshs Prayagraj, has revealed the reason for attacking the conductor.

The engineering student claimed that the dispute was over ticket fare and alleged that the conductor used casteist words.

The accused Lareb Hashmi also revealed that he follows the teachings of Pakistans Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi. He said that though he has not met Rizvi in person but has seen him on the internet.

What Led to the Attack?

The incident took place on Friday when Hashmi took a cleaver to bus conductor Harikesh sending him to hospital with serious wounds. Hashmi was nabbed the same day later from Chandi village after a gunfire encounter with police during which he was shot in the leg.

The incident came to light when a video shot by Hashmi went viral on social media. He was abusing a Muslim. Insha Allah he will not survive, Hashmi says in the video referring to the bus conductor.

Nobody should think that the government is of Modi and Yogi. Only Mustafa rules our hearts. Allah hu Akbar, Allah hu Akbar, he said.

Who is Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi?

Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi was known for his fiery oratory in Urdu and Punjabi and his memorisation of Arabic verses from the Quran, which he often quotes in his speeches.

Rizvi memorised the Quran and was an ardent follower of the Islamic theologian Ahmed Raza Khan Barelvi, who was born in Bareilly, UP in the 19th century and founded the Barelvi school of thought.

Rizvi was the head of a religio-political party Tehrik-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP), a radical grouping of the Barelvi sect among Sunni Muslims. He, however, weaponised Barelvism in a way unparalleled in the subcontinent in recent history.

Rizvi has been confined to a wheelchair since 2006 ever since an accident near Gujranwala. He died in 2020 at the age of 54 due to an unknown cause.

The wheelchair-bound preacher was also a former Pakistan government employee and hails from Attock district in the Punjab province of Pakistan.

How Khadim Rizvi Shot to Prominence?

Khadim Rizvi shot to prominence when he resigned from his government job to lead the charge against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leader and governor of Punjab Salmaan Taseer.

He smeared Taseer for committing blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad and called for the governors death.

Taseer, a prominent name in Pakistan, was pleading for mercy on behalf of Asia Bibi, who was famously accused of blasphemy and languishing in prison. In 2011, a policeman from the governors security Mumtaz Qadri, inspired by Rizvi, shot and killed Taseer.

Khadim Rizvis Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan magnified the slogan Sar Tan Se Juda among the masses of Pakistan to shield Qadri for the murder of Salman Taseer.

Sar Tan Se Juda Slogans in India

The slogan  Sar Tan Se Juda, which has been raised in several protests across India in the past few years, traces its roots to Moulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi.

Rizvi has often invoked Man Sabba Nabiyan Faqtolohu, which translates into Whoever Insults a Prophet, Kill him. During his rallies, he would raise a question to the audience during the mass demonstrations, Gustakh-e-Rasool ki Ek hi Saza? (Whats the only punishment for the Blasphemer?) to which the protestors would respond by chanting Sar Tan Se Juda, Sar Tan Se Juda.

Later, his followers normalised the slogan through YouTube videos and popularised it in protests. The slogans were also raised during the protests against BJP leader Nupur Sharma for her remarks against the Prophet and in Hyderabad during protests against Raja Singhs derogatory remarks.
Five college students were among eight people arrested in two police raids in Jharkhands Hazaribag district for alleged cybercrimes, according to a police officer. The students were suspected of being involved in cheating, extortion, and sextorting innocent girls, SP Manoj Ratan Chothe said.

Chothe explained that the gang allegedly trapped innocent victims, including girls, by threatening to make their private photos public if they did not pay money. They also allegedly extorted money by falsely promising employment.

In the first raid in Barkatha, police arrested five people and seized a laptop, 13 mobile phones, 23 fake SIM cards, Aadhaar cards, and electronic gadgets worth Rs 3 lakh from their homes, said Chothe.

Police found vulgar videos and chats on the mobiles, which were suspected to be used for blackmailing victims, the officer added. In the second raid in Massipiri village near the Hazaribag Muffasil area, Chothe said three underage cybercriminals were arrested. The minors were sent to remand homes while the others were put in Hazaribag Central Jail.
Crimes committed by foreigners are three times higher than the crime rate against foreigners in India, with 4,925 foreigners involved in crimes and 2,585 cases registered across the country in 2021, a report by the National Crime Records Bureau says.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has taken the initiative to establish a registry to track crimes committed by foreign nationals in India. The initiative, led by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, is aimed at assisting law enforcement agencies in quickly validating information about suspects among foreign nations. The registry will aid in the resolution of instances, including illegal immigration, visa fraud, narcotics, cheating, and cybercrime.

Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi governments initiative to check crime against foreigners in the country has resulted in a 70% decline in records of such crimes since 2019, according to the 2021 NCRB data.

According to NCRBs Crime in India 2021 report, majority of foreigners (3,430 out of 4,925) were arrested for violating the Foreigners Act of 1946 and the Registration of Foreigners Act of 1939, which primarily relate to visa fraud and illegal immigration, followed by violations of the Narcotics Control Act (449 foreigners) and the Passports Act of 1967 (247 foreigners).

Heres a look at some of the instances of crimes committed by foreigners and data on their arrest in the past six months:

November 9, 2023: The Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) disrupted a big narcotics network with operations across India, and two Zambian nationals were detained at a Mumbai hotel. The law enforcement officials also seized 2kg cocaine worth more than Rs 20 crore from them.

The Mumbai Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) disrupted a big narcotics network with operations across India, and two Zambian nationals were detained at a Mumbai hotel. The law enforcement officials also seized 2kg cocaine worth more than Rs 20 crore from them. November 3, 2023: NCB officers busted an Indo-Nigerian drug network that sourced synthetic drugs like cocaine, MDMA, LSD and amphetamine in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi from France.

NCB officers busted an Indo-Nigerian drug network that sourced synthetic drugs like cocaine, MDMA, LSD and amphetamine in cities like Chennai, Bengaluru and Kochi from France. August 25, 2023: According to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), three Sri Lankans involved in northern Bengaluru by a quirk of fate have been charged with over a dozen murders back home.

According to the Central Crime Branch (CCB), three Sri Lankans involved in northern Bengaluru by a quirk of fate have been charged with over a dozen murders back home. August 23, 2023: The Railway Protection Force (RPF) detained eight foreign nationals (five are Bangladeshi citizens and three are Rohingya) at the Agartala railway station when they were about to board a Kolkata-bound train. They allegedly illegally entered India and the police recovered three fake Aadhaar cards and one PAN card from the group.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) detained eight foreign nationals (five are Bangladeshi citizens and three are Rohingya) at the Agartala railway station when they were about to board a Kolkata-bound train. They allegedly illegally entered India and the police recovered three fake Aadhaar cards and one PAN card from the group. July 10, 2023: Two foreigners (one with a Japanese passport and the other with a Thai passport) were detained at the Mumbai airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle out Rs 1.15 crore. The customs departments Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) seized the cash.

Two foreigners (one with a Japanese passport and the other with a Thai passport) were detained at the Mumbai airport for allegedly attempting to smuggle out Rs 1.15 crore. The customs departments Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) seized the cash. May 31, 2023: Three Nigerians were detained in Greater Noida with 30kg methamphetamine (MDMA) worth Rs 150-Rs 160 crore in the international market. The police also recovered two cars involved in narcotics distribution, nine mobile phones, and four passports.

Here are some instances of horrific crimes like murder and robbery committed by foreign nationals in India:

November 12, 2019: Two suspected Bangladeshi nationals murdered and robbed an elderly couple who stayed alone in their house at Venmony in Chengannur, Kerala.

Two suspected Bangladeshi nationals murdered and robbed an elderly couple who stayed alone in their house at Venmony in Chengannur, Kerala. November 24, 2018: Delhi Police arrested five Bangladeshi nationals of an interstate gang following a brief encounter in New Friends Colonys Taimoor Nagar area. The gang was involved in crimes such as robbery, murder, and rape across different parts of the country.

Delhi Police arrested five Bangladeshi nationals of an interstate gang following a brief encounter in New Friends Colonys Taimoor Nagar area. The gang was involved in crimes such as robbery, murder, and rape across different parts of the country. November 4, 2016: The Teynampet Police arrested three Nepali nationals in connection with the murder of a 60-year-old woman who lived alone and the robbery of Rs 2 lakh at T Nagar in Chennai.

According to the annual Prison Statistics India 2020 by the NCRB, there were 4,926 foreigners imprisoned in India in 2020, up from 5,203 in 2019 and 5,157 in 2018. As of 2020, 70% of the foreign-origin inmates in Indian jails were awaiting trial.

West Bengal has the highest percentage of foreign criminals in jails with 466 cases (40.9%), followed by Uttar Pradesh with 127 cases (11.1%) and Delhi with 73 cases (6.4%) at the end of 2020.
A passenger aboard the Pune to Nagpur IndiGo flight was in a shock when she reached her seat, only to find half of its cushion missing.

The passenger, Sagarika Patnaik a Nagpur resident  was travelling for work on IndiGo flight 6E6798 in the early hours of Sunday. Sagarikas husband, Subrat Patnaik told Times of India that his wife was allotted a window seat, number 10A.

Once she reached her seat, she was shocked to see the cushion missing, her husband said. Sagarika raised this matter with a cabin crew member, who in response, asked her to look for the cushion under the seat, he added.

However, she was unable to find the cushion after looking around the seat. Sagarika raised the issue once again, but since boarding process was still underway, she was forced to wait in the aisle, creating a fuss for her co-passengers. Finally after a while, one of the cabin crew member brought her a cushion from a spare seat and placed it on Sagarikas seat.

How could such a seat cushion just vanish? This is certainly not expected from an airline brand like IndiGo, Subrat Patnaik added.

Reportedly sources in the airline said that the previous cushion was taken out for replacement because it was dirty, and a spare cushion was provided to ensure the maintenance of hygiene standards of the aircraft.

The airline replied to Subrat on the microblogging site X and said,  At times, the seat cushion gets adrift from its Velcro. The same can be repositioned with the help of our crew. Further, your feedback will be shared with the concerned team for review. Hope to serve you better in the future.

#Indigo !! #Flight 6E 6798 !! Seat no 10A ! Pune to Nagpur!!! Todays status  Best way to increase profit Pathetic  pic.twitter.com/tcXHOT6Dr5 Subrat Patnaik (@Subu_0212) November 25, 2023

Pointing out that a plane is thoroughly checked before it is opened for passengers boarding, Subrat said, Did they not notice the missing cushion? And the first to enter an aircraft is the cabin crew, couldnt they spot the lacuna?

Later the airline issued a statement on the incident and said, With reference to an incident on IndiGo flight 6E 6798 from Pune to Nagpur on November 26, 2023, the ground staff noticed an unclean seat, which was promptly replaced. IndiGo maintains the highest standards of cleanliness and hygiene to ensure a safe, hassle-free experience, and regrets any inconvenience caused to passengers.

This kind of carelessness has become common now, a frequent flyer  businessman Kanishka Gupta, was quoted as saying by ToI. Giving an example from one of his trips, Gupta said that a month ago, when he travelled from Delhi to Canada, none of the screens were working. On domestic flights as well, I have seen life jackets scattered and not in their place, he added.

Terming this incident as unacceptable, aviation analyst and expert Dhairyashil Vandekar said that no matter what the situation is, airlines are not supposed to provide broken or unusable seats to passengers. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has warned the airlines on this regard in the past. Despite that is such incidents take place, then the DGCA must carry out strict actions, Vandekar was quoted as saying.

In another episode of inconveniences in the airline, six passengers of a Chennai-bound IndiGo flight were tricked into getting off the aircraft at Bengaluru airport over what they alleged was the airliners unwillingness to fly to the destination with only six persons on board.

The incident reportedly took place at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) at around 9:30 pm on Sunday after landing of IndiGo flight 6E478 that took off from Amritsar and was going to Chennai via Bengaluru.

The airline, however, in his statement said On November 19, 2023 flight 6E 478 was operating from Amritsar to Chennai via Bengaluru with eight transit passengers on board. Due to the delay of the incoming aircraft from Amritsar, these passengers were unable to board the onward flight to Chennai at the Bengaluru Airport.

IndiGo ground staff made every possible effort to help passengers make the connection, but due to lack of time, they were unable to board the aircraft. IndiGo staff offered the passengers overnight accommodation and booking on the next available flight but certain passengers chose to stay at the airport lounge. We deeply apologize for the inconvenience caused to the passengers, their statement added.
Five members of a family were found dead in Sadashivanagar here in a suspected case of a suicide pact, police said on Monday.

Financial problems and alleged harassment by money lenders are believed to be the reason behind the extreme step.

Police have registered a case of murder and abetment to commit suicide against seven people including the deceased couple  Gharib Sab (aged 46) and wife Sumaiya (33)  for strangling their children  Hazira (14), Mohammed Subhan (11) and Mohammed Muneer (9) on Sunday evening.

The other accused are: Khalandar, his daughter Sania, son Shahbaz, their neighbour Shabana and her daughter Sania.

Police also obtained a video made by Gharib Sab before hanging himself, requesting state Home Minister G Parameshwara and police officers to punish those who forced them to take the drastic step.

Sab said in the video that he hailed from Lakkenahalli village in Shira Taluk of Tumakuru. He was selling Kabab for a livelihood.

Sab was living in abject poverty and had borrowed money from many people, including Khalandar, who allegedly used to harass him and his family members.

Reacting to the incident, Parameshwara mourned the deaths, and said he will get the matter thoroughly investigated.
In a shocking incident from Kerala, a six-year-old girl was kidnapped from Kollam by a group of people reportedly travelling in a white sedan on Monday. The incident took place at around 4:30 pm in Pooyappally. The kidnappers later called the mother of the girl demanding a ransom of Rs 5 lakh. Police have launched a state-wide search for the child.

The incident took place while the girl, Abigail Sara Reji, was going for tuition with her 8-year-old brother, who said she was kidnapped by four people in the car including a woman.

According to her brother, a group of four people in a white Sedan approached the siblings with a notice and asked them to give it to their mother. When they refused, the girl was forced into the car.

The kidnappers tried to forcefully push the boy inside the car too but he managed to escape.

The police have launched a Statewide search for the child. Police units in Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta were put on high alert.

Kerala Finance Minister, KN Balagopal assured that the police are taking all measures to arrest the accused and save the child.

The incident of a child kidnapped from Pooyappally, Kollam is shocking. As soon as we came to know about the incident, spoke to the top police officers. A police investigation is going on efficiently. The police are taking all measures to arrest the accused and save the child, he said.
A major emergency situation took place in Maharashtras Pune after highly flammable and toxic ethylene oxide leaked when a tanker carrying the gas toppled near Vadgaon Sheri Chowk on the Pune-Ahmednagar Highway.

The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, forcing the fire brigade and Pune Police to swing into action amid dangers of explosion and health issues.

Ethylene Oxide or EtO possesses several health hazards. Acute exposures to EtO gas may result in respiratory irritation and lung injury, headache, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, and cyanosis.

A report in Indian Express quoted officials from Pune Fire Brigade as saying that they received a call around 12.47 am on Monday about the leakage of ethylene oxide, a highly flammable, toxic and carcinogenic chemical, from a tanker operated by a private sector chemical company, toppled.

Considering the seriousness of the leak and risk of explosion and toxic exposure, we started deploying fire tenders from all nearby fire stations to the spot. Prima facie the tanker is operated by Reliance Petrochemicals and we informed the company officials, a fire brigade official said.

He added, After our fire tenders reached the spot, continuous spraying of water was started from the tenders on the tanker at the spot from where the leak is taking place. The spraying has not stopped even for a moment since our tenders reached the spot. One team from the company has arrived at the spot.

The report had stated that the fire departments chemical emergency response vehicles were expected to reach by around 8 am. We will continue to spray water until then, the official was further quoted.

#WATCH | Maharashtra: A gas tanker carrying ethylene oxide overturned on Pune-Ahmednagar road this morning, traffic affected: Pune Fire DepartmentPune Fire Department team is on the spot. Efforts are underway to empty the tank, experts from Reliance Petrochemicals are present pic.twitter.com/98nyM2vVAA  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

The area was cordoned off by local police and traffic control branch, and the traffic was diverted on Pune-Ahmednagar road and also some of the connecting roads to the area.

Fire brigade officials were quoted as saying that the driver of the tanker was admitted to the hospital after he complained of respiratory distress due to suspected toxic exposure. There were no other reports of cases of exposure, fire brigade officials added.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted light rainfall in several parts of northwest and central India while adding that the showers might lead to a fall in the minimum temperatures.

Meanwhile, residents of Delhi experienced light rainfall on Monday evening with people expecting a dip in the citys air quality. The weather department also recorded that some parts of Maharashtra like Dahisar and Thane received light rainfall, following which the citys AQI dropped to the good category.

ALSO READ: Why Some States, Including Gujarat & Maharashtra, Receiving Unseasonal Rainfall | EXPLAINED

Several flights to and from New Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport were affected after rain lashed parts of the national capital on Monday evening. Flights to and from Mumbai were also impacted due to bad weather and air traffic congestion.

Passengers were informed by IndiGo, Vistara and SpiceJet on social media regarding the delays and diversions of flights.

Latest Weather Updates:

Light to moderate rainfall along with thunderstorm has been predicted by the IMD till November 29 over the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, East Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.

The weather department predicted that the minimum temperature over northwest and central India will dip by 2 to 3 degrees over the next two days.

Heavy rainfall predictions have also been made over NicobarIslands till November 30.

The weather department also predicted reduction in rain and the weather likely to remain dry with a dip in the temperature in most parts of Rajasthan. Light to moderate rainfall occurred in parts of Rajasthan with the highest of 6 cm in the Sinderi area of Barmer during the last 24 hours. As per the Met Department, several places in western Rajasthan received light to moderate rainfall.

At least six districts of Marathwada witnessed unseasonal rains, with Jalna recording the highest 132.25 mm rainfall.As per officials, unseasonal showers lashed 107 revenue circles in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Hingoli, Nanded and Beed on Sunday. As per reports, one person died in a rain-related incident in Hingoli, while 32 livestock were also killed in the rains.

Many parts of west Madhya Pradesh and a few places in eastern parts of the state witnessed rainfall in the last 24 hours. IMDs Bhopal centre senior meteorologist said that rains are expected to stop from Tuesday. The downpours sent the mercury down by a few notches in many parts of the state, turning the weather slightly cold.

An orange alert was issued in Madhya Pradesh by the IMD for Monday, saying hailstorms, gusty winds at the speed of 30 to 40 km per hour and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning were likely to occur at isolated places of west and east MP.

Delhi witnessed light rains on Monday evening. Following the downpour, residents expected a fall in the citys air quality, which was close to the severe category this morning. The regional weather office had earlier predicted light rains in few areas of the national capital region.

Light rains were recorded in some parts of Maharashtra like Dahisar and Thane between Sunday night and Monday morning, as per the IMD data. The showers, however led to the Air Quality Index (AQI) to drop to the good category in several pockets of the city.

On Monday evening the average AQI of Mumbai was recorded at 51 (good category). The IMD in its forecast for the week said that Mumbai will witness dry weather conditions from November 28. However parts of Palghar, Thane and Raigad are expected to witness light to moderate rains on November 28 and 29.

(with PTI inputs)
In yet another gruesome incident of killing over illicit relationship, a 27-year-old woman was allegedly killed by her husband on Monday morning at a brick kiln in Uttar Pradeshs Barabanki. The accused, identified as Motilal who suspected his wife of having an extramarital affair, was arrested by the police.

Motilal was a resident of the Mahmudabad police station area located in the Sitapur district, as per police. He and his wife, Rajni used to work at a brick kiln in the Baddupurwa village which comes under the Ghunghter police station area and used to live there in a hut.

While talking about the incident, Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar Singh said that the accused suspected his wife of having an illicit relationship with someone due to which the couple had a fight on Monday morning.

During the altercation, Motilal attacked his wife in a fit of rage, several times with a shovel kept inside the hut. After the attack, Rajni died on the spot, police added.

In connection to the case, the police has registered an FIR and inititated an investigation. The SP further said that the husband was arrested after sometime from an area near the incident site.

Few days ago, 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.

(with PTI inputs)
Dont be nervous, were on it. Thats what family members of Saba Ahmad, one of the 41 workers trapped at Sikyara tunnel for the last 15 days, keep telling whenever they communicate with him. A mic has been sent to the workers, stuck in a 2-km built-up area beyond the rubble accumulated in the collapsed part, through a pipe which helps them talk to people outside.

As the rescue operation got delayed due to the hurdles in drilling, Saba Ahmad was counselled by doctors and psychiatrists to keep him motivated, his brother Naiiyar Ahmad told PTI. A team of doctors, stationed at the rescue operation site, talk to the trapped workers twice a day  from 9 am to 11 am and 5 pm to 8 pm.

Also, family members of the trapped workers are allowed to talk to them anytime they like. The administration has set up a camp for the kin of the workers outside the tunnel.
Manual drilling began on Monday after the world-class auger machine failed to rescue 41 workers, who had been trapped inside the collapsed site of the Uttarkashi tunnel for over 15 days. The rescuers have pushed the pipe in up to one metre inside the tunnel so far.

Meanwhile, vertical drilling from above the Silkyara-Barkot tunnel has been done up to 31 metres and the experts believe that the boring is likely to be completed by November 30.

Top NDMA expert also informed that the broken blades of the auger machine have been fully retrieved while the rescuers also brought in rat miners to drill through a narrow pipe at the collapse site.

Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse: Here Are Top Updates of The Day

Rescuers on Monday adopted the manual drilling process and managed to push the pipe in up to 1 metre.

36 meters of vertical drilling was completed to make an escape route for the trapped workers, said an NHIDC official.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi prayed for the safe evacuation of 41 workers trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel.

The broken part of the auger machine and debris were removed from the main horizontal approach from the Silkyara end of the tunnel.

Prayers were offered at the main entrance of the Silkyara tunnel collapse site where rescue operations to bring out the 41 trapped workers are underway.

A PMO delegation headed by Principal Secretary to the PM Pramod Kumar Mishra went inside Uttarkashis Silkyara tunnel to take stock of ongoing rescue efforts.

Drone cameras were deployed at the Silkyara tunnel site on Monday to monitor the rescue operation.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an alert for a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning/hail likely to occur in some areas for some areas in Uttarkashi while rescue efforts are underway.

A portion of the Silkyara tunnel collapsed on November 12, cutting off the exit of the workers inside. A huge auger drill a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end that is drilling into this stretch of debris got stuck Friday evening, forcing officials to give up on the 25-tonne machine.

The communication between the trapped workers and their relatives has been going on relatively smoothly for the last few days through a six-inch wide pipeline laid to provide food and other essentials to them.
The Laxmi Narayan Mandir in Canadas Surrey has become the flashpoint of tensions between Khalistanis and the Hindu community, with the former allegedly harassing Hindu devotees and the latter replying with peaceful counter-protests.

Reports said the counter-protests by Hindus forced the Khalistani groups to leave, but temple authorities are reportedly worried for their safety.

This is a regular feature. Khalistanis come and protest. We fear for our lives because of them. The Canadian government is showing no interest and has never taken any action despite repeated complaints from us against these groups, a source told News18.

Recently, unruly elements affiliated with the Khalistani separatist-terrorist movement staged a so-called protest outside the Kalibari temple in Canadas Mississauga, also known as Toronto Kalibari. An unruly mob consisting of a dozen or so Khalistani supporters held Khalistani flags and raised slogans against the Indian government.

The so-called protesters also demanded justice for Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the separatist-terrorist who was shot dead in Canadas Surrey in June. The death of Nijjar has led to war of words between Canada and India, with the former accusing New Delhi of playing a role in the death of Nijjar, who is also a Canadian citizen.

Earlier in April, the Kalibari authorities raised concerns about a theft attempt at the temple but suspected the original motive was to demoralise the Hindu community living there and also to spook frequent visitors.

Toronto Kali Bari, a Hindu Temple, in the City of Mississauga was established over 35 years ago and is maintained as a safe, common place of worship to protect and showcase the rich traditions of Hindu culture. Our goal is to provide a comfortable place where peaceful ideals and celebrations are aimed to further the well-being, prosperity and overall development of our community, the Toronto Kalibaris website reads. The three-decades old temple is located at 6815 Professional Court, Mississauga, ON L4V1Y3.

India on several occasions raised concerns with Canada over rising Hinduphobia and attacks on temples but the Canadian government has failed to address those concerns, leading to deterioration of ties between New Delhi and Ottawa.
In a freak incident, a woman allegedly bit her husbands right ear in a fit of rage in Delhis outer district area of Sultanpuri on Sunday, police said. According to the victim, his right ears upper portion was mutilated, following which he had to undergo a surgery.

After receiving treatment, the 45-year-old husband filed a complaint against his wife. Police registered an FIR under Indian Penal Code Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) and said that further investigation into the matter is underway.

In his statement to the police, the victim said I went to throw garbage outside my house around 9.20 am on November 20. I asked my wife to clean the house. Soon after I returned home, my wife started fighting with me over an unknown issue.

During the argument, he said that his wife also asked him to sell off their house, so that she can take her share and live separately with her children. He added that even though he tried to make her understand, a verbal tiff broke out between the two.

She even tried to hit me, but I pushed her away. I was walking out of the house when she held me from behind and in a fit of rage bit my right ear so hard that the upper portion of my ear got dismembered. My son took me to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Mangolpuri for treatment, he added. The victim underwent surgery at Rohinis Jaipur Golden Hospital.

The police received information about the attack from a hospital on November 20, following which they sent a team to probe the matter. A senior police officer said that the victim  unwell at the time  was not in a condition to give a statement. However, he had told them that he himself would come to the police station to give his statement, the official added.

On November 22, he approached the police and gave a written complaint. We have registered an FIR into the matter and further investigation is in progress, the senior official added.

Just last week, a 38-year-old woman was arrested for the murder of her husband in Maharashtras Pune, after he refused to take her to Dubai for her birthday celebration. The incident occured at the couples flat in a posh residential society in Punes Wanavdi area on Friday, after the accused punched 36-year-old Nikhil Khanna on the nose during a fight.

Police said that the accused  identified as Renuka  and Nikhil, had a love marriage six years ago.

During initial probe, police found that on Friday afternoon, the couple had a fight because Nikhil did not take Renuka to Dubai on her birthday and did not give her expensive gifts, neither on her birthday nor on their anniversary.

Renuka was also upset with Nikhil for not giving a favorable response to her wish to go to Delhi to celebrate the birthdays of some relatives, an official said.

The police registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Section 303 (punishment for murder) against the accused and arrested her for further investigation.

(with PTI inputs)
HAPPY GURU NANAK JAYANTI 2023 WISHES: Guru Nanak Jayanti, also known as Gurpurab, is a significant Sikh festival that commemorates the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism and the first of the ten Sikh Gurus. Celebrated with great enthusiasm and devotion, Guru Nanak Jayanti usually falls on the full moon day in the month of Kartik, according to the Nanakshahi calendar, falling this year on Monday, November 27. Here are some Gurpurab wishes, messages, quotes, and status ideas that you can use:

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Wishes

May the divine teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji guide you towards a life filled with love, peace, and compassion. Happy Gurpurab!

On this auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, may your heart be filled with joy, harmony, and divine blessings. Happy Gurpurab!

Wishing you and your family a Gurpurab filled with prosperity, happiness, and the divine grace of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Images

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Messages

May the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji inspire you to walk on the path of truth and righteousness. Happy Gurpurab to you and your loved ones!

On this sacred day, lets remember Guru Nanaks words: Truth is high, higher still is truthful living. Happy Gurpurab!

May the holy teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji bring wisdom and enlightenment into your life. Happy Gurpurab!

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Quotes

Let no man in the world live in delusion. Without a Guru, none can cross over to the other shore.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Even Kings and emperors with heaps of wealth and vast dominion cannot compare with an ant filled with the love of God.  Guru Nanak Dev Ji

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Facebook Status

Wishing everyone a blessed Gurpurab! May the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji inspire us all.

On this Guru Nanak Jayanti, lets celebrate the light of truth and wisdom. Happy Gurpurab!

Feel free to use and customize these messages and wishes to share the joy of Gurpurab with your friends and family.

Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 WhatsApp Status

Sat Naam, Waheguru! Happy Guru Nanak Jayanti to all. May Guru Nanak Dev Jis teachings guide us on the path of truth, compassion, and service.

On this auspicious occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti, let us all resolve to live our lives according to the Gurus teachings. Let us spread love, equality, and peace in the world.

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was a true visionary. His teachings are as relevant today as they were centuries ago. Let us all strive to follow his path and make the world a better place.

Guru Nanak Jayanti 2023 Celebrations

Guru Nanak Jayanti is marked by religious processions, prayers, hymn singing (kirtan), and the reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture of Sikhism.

Devotees visit gurdwaras, engage in community service, and partake in langar, a communal meal that symbolizes equality and inclusivity-a central tenet of Guru Nanaks teachings.

Guru Nanak Jayanti serves as a time for reflection on his teachings of unity, compassion, and selfless service.

Guru Nanak Jayanti FAQs

What is Guru Nanak Jayanti?

Guru Nanak Jayanti is a religious holiday celebrated by Sikhs to commemorate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the founder of Sikhism. It is the most important festival in Sikhism and is celebrated by Sikhs all over the world.

When is Guru Nanak Jayanti celebrated?

Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated on the full moon day of the month of Kartik, according to the Hindu lunar calendar. This day usually falls in the month of November in the Gregorian calendar.

What are the traditions of Guru Nanak Jayanti?

Guru Nanak Jayanti is a day of celebration and remembrance. Sikhs gather at Gurudwaras, or Sikh temples, to participate in religious services, listen to kirtan (Sikh hymns), and share a langar, or community meal.

Other popular traditions of Guru Nanak Jayanti include:

Akhand PathA continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh holy scripture. Prabhat PheriA procession that takes place early in the morning, led by a group of Sikhs singing hymns and carrying flags. KathaA sermon or lecture about the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

What are the teachings of Guru Nanak Dev Ji?

Guru Nanak Dev Ji was a spiritual teacher who emphasized the importance of love, equality, and service. He taught that all people are equal in the eyes of God and that we should treat each other with respect and compassion. He also taught that we should live a life of service to others, helping those in need.

Guru Nanak Dev Jis teachings are still relevant today and continue to inspire people all over the world.

How can I celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti?

There are many ways to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti. If you are a Sikh, you can participate in religious services at your local Gurudwara. You can also listen to kirtan, share a langar, or participate in other traditional activities.

If you are not a Sikh, you can still learn about Guru Nanak Dev Ji and his teachings. You can read books or articles about him, watch documentaries, or visit a Gurudwara. You can also celebrate the holiday by simply reflecting on the importance of love, equality, and service.
The highly-anticipated first look of Angad Bedi from the his south debut film Hi Nanna has been released, creating a buzz among fans. This marks Angad Bedis debut in the Telugu film industry, and he is set to share the screen space with the renowned Telugu superstar Nani.

Expressing his excitement, Angad Bedi said, Being a part of Hi Nanna has been a thrilling journey, especially since it marks my entry into the vibrant Telugu film industry. Collaborating with a versatile actor like Nani was a great experience. Nani is extremely humble and a much loved name, and this is an exciting collaboration for me.

What adds to the anticipation is Angads reunion with his Lust Stories co-star, Mrunal Thakur. Angad shared, Teaming up with Mrunal for the second time adds a special touch to the project. Our camaraderie, coupled with the dynamic duo of Nani and me, promises a cinematic treat for the audience.

The photos give the audience a sneak peek into the chemistry between Angad Bedi and Nani on the sets of the film. Angad has a guest appearance role in Hi Nanna and he is poised for his first Telugu pan India release, elevating the excitement to new heights.

Written and directed by Shouryuv, the movie marks his directorial debut. The film is expected to be a family drama. As per the trailer, the movie is centred around the emotional bond and relationship of a single father (played by Nani) and his little daughter (Kiara Khanna). Just like any dad, Nanis character seems to narrate bedtime stories to his kid; but theres one story that he always avoids  that of her mother. The daughter crosses paths with Mrunal Thakur and what follows next is a flashback love story that goes through various challenges. The movie also stars Shruti Haasan and Angad Bedi.
Deepika Padukones Chhapaak was a powerful film that had received widespread acclaim after its release. However, the Meghna Gulzar film was also embroiled in a controversy after Deepika Padukone visited Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) during the CAA-NRC protests. Now the film-maker has admitted that Deepika Padukones visit three days prior to its release made a dent on her film.

In an interview with Indian Express, Meghna Gulzar shared,I am sure that the answer is pretty obvious. Yes, of course, it made a dent on the film. Because the conversation went from acid violence, which I intended the film to amplify, to somewhere else. So, of course it impacted the film. There is no denying that.

Based on the story of real-life acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal, Chhapaak revolves around Malti (Deepika) and her struggle to find justice after a man pours acid on her face for rejecting his proposal.

For the unversed, Deepika Padukone had made a surprise visit at JNU in 2020 where student leaders were addressing a gathering. They were condemning the attack on Varsity students by some masked men and women. She was spotted standing with the students at the Sabarmati T-point, where a public meeting was called by alumni of JNU. Padukone did not address the meeting and left after an hour.

As for Meghna Gulzar, she is looking forward to her next film Sam Bahadur. It explores the life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, emphasising his sacrifices for the nation. The film pays a heartfelt tribute to his unwavering bravery and sharp wit. For the unversed, Sam Manekshawans career in the army spanned over four decades and five wars. He was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal and his military victory in the 1971 Indo-Pak war led to the creation of Bangladesh.

Sam Bahadur also stars Neeraj Kabi, Edward Sonnenblick (as Lord Mountbatten), Richard Bhakti Klein (as Ambassador Keating), Saqib Ayub (Captain Attiqur Rahman) and Krishna Kant Singh Bundela (as Subedar Gurbaksh Singh) in key roles. It is set to hit theatres on December 1.
Priyanka Chopra looked stunning at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday. The actress was seen making her way to the racing event sans Nick Jonas and stole hearts with her sexy look. For the special outing, Priyanka opted for a pink and black sleeveless outfit. The body-fitting outfit was styled with a pair of boots. Priyanka allowed the outfit do all the talking and sported minimal jewellery. She was seen wearing a pair of statement earrings and a bracelet.

The Bollywood-turned-Hollywood diva completed her look for the day with a pair of sunglassed and leaving her wavy locks loose. Photos and videos of her look have now gone viral. Several fans have showered her with compliments. So Gorgeous , a fan wrote. Uffffffffff , added another. Absolutely gorgeous! , a third wrote. Check out the photos below:

At the event, Priyanka was seen with supermodel Naomi Campbell and met Hollywood actor Orlando Bloom. A video showed her near the tracks with Naomi while another had Priyanka greeting the Hollywood star with a hug.

On the work front, Priyanka Chopra was seen in Love Again, where she shared screen with actors like Sam Heughan and Celine Dion. Additionally, the actress was in American spy action thriller series Citadel, alongside Richard Madden and Stanley Tucci. Looking ahead, the actress has an exciting lineup, which includes a film with John Cena and Idris Elba in Heads Of State, helmed by director Ilya Naishuller. Shes gearing up for an engaging role in Zoya Akhtars Jee Le Zara, starring alongside Alia Bhatt and Katrina Kaif.
When Pakistani terrorists inflicted the dastardly 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai in 2008, India was caught grossly unprepared. Its counterterrorism approach was found lacking, and various agencies, including Mumbai Police, were seen floundering while they desperately tried to rein in the terrorists. After losing 166 innocent lives and witnessing hundreds get injured, it was the National Security Guard (NSG) that got the situation under control after gunning down nine terrorists and capturing another, Ajmal Kasab alive. The 26/11 attacks became a watershed moment for India. The conscience of the nation was shaken, and the need of the hour was an overhaul of its security apparatus.

The then-UPA government took some measures to reform and strengthen Indias approach to counterterrorism. These included the raising of Sagar Prahari Bal (SPB) and the induction of fast interceptor crafts (FIC) to prevent intrusions from sea. The NIA Act was also passed in 2008, paving the way for the creation of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to investigate and prosecute terrorism-related cases affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of the country.

Importantly, the Narendra Modi government has strengthened the NIA and made it a formidable agency crucial to Indias anti-terrorism endeavour. After 26/11, the need for various wings of the Indian military and coastal security agencies to coordinate with each other became more pronounced. This led to the launch of Sagar Kavach  a joint exercise between the Indian navy, coast guard and police forces in 2009.

The fact is that India has not witnessed a major terror attack against unarmed civilians since 26/11, and that is because the country has consciously worked to strengthen its counterterrorism apparatus since 2008. For starters, the National Security Guard (NSG) hubs have been set up in different states in order to ensure a rapid response to terror attacks. Today, India is much closer to the West, especially the Ussharing between Indian and Western agencies like the CIA and MI6. India can now get hold of crucial intelligence from its global partners well ahead of a terror attack.

After the 26/11 attacks and until November 2021, more than 300 coastal security exercises were conducted with state authorities by the Indian Coast Guard to dominate the seas and eliminate any and all threats to India. An important exercise, Sea Vigil was conceptualised in 2018 and is being carried out since 2019 by the Indian Navy in tandem with the coast guard and other agencies involved in maritime activities.

The idea to have a specialised agency, called the National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID, which was floated during the UPA tenure. However, it got lost in petty political battles and came into operational existence only under the Modi government in 2020. Today, NATGRID works as an integrated intelligence grid that connects databases of core security agencies of the government. It ensures the quick availability of intelligence to security agencies.

The budgetary allocation for NATGRID has been increased by 108% to Rs 200.53 crore in the 2023-24 Union Budget compared to Rs 96.56 crore in the previous fiscal. Similarly, the Intelligence Bureau, among Indias most important spy agencies, saw its budget being raised by 13% from Rs 3,022 crore in the previous fiscal to Rs 3,418 crore now. The budget for the National Security Council Secretariat under NSA Ajit Doval was also increased from Rs 175 crore to Rs 185.70 crore this year. The home ministrys budget itself saw a near 6% rise this year as it was increased from Rs 3,022 crore to Rs 3,418 crore.

Having said one cannot ignore the fact that these measures are aimed at strengthening India internally. External deterrence against Pakistan was not established by the UPA while it was in power. The dastardly attack on Mumbai demanded that Pakistan be brought to task  using military force to neutralise its robust terror industry. Due to the lack of political will, however, that deterrence was not established. This ultimately led Pakistan into believing that terror attacks perpetrated against India will invite no military response against it.

The lack of a concrete Indian response paved the way for a series of terror attacks after 26/11, albeit at smaller scales. Mumbai was targeted by multiple bomb blasts just three years later, on July 13, 2011, in which 26 people died and another 121 were injured.

The lack of military deterrence continued until the Uri attack of September 2016. Then, with audacious surgical strikes inside Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, India changed the equation with its western neighbour for good. Unlike the Congress-led UPA government, the Narendra Modi-led NDA government is now much more likely to target Pakistan using the Indian military if Islamabad were to effectuate any provocation. This has no less been admitted to by the American intelligence. In its annual threat assessment report, USAs Office of the Director of National Intelligence earlier this year informed Congress that under the leadership of PM Modi, India is more likely than in the past to respond with military force to Pakistani provocations.

India took its campaign of establishing deterrence against Pakistan a step further in the aftermath of the February 2019 Pulwama attack. The IAFs precision air strikes against terror bases in Balakot, well within mainland Pakistan, showcased a doctrinal shift in how it responds to terror attacks. India then demonstrated its appetite of entering into a full-blown conflict with Pakistan in case Islamabad made the unwise decision of not returning Wing Commander Abhinandan or causing him harm. India is believed to have delivered direct warnings to Pakistan that failure on their part to return the wing commander would invite a larger escalation, and to back that warning, India deployed its Prithvi ballistic missile batteries in Rajasthan.

The Modi years can best be described as hellish for Pakistan. Today, Pakistan stands globally isolated. Its only good friend  China  is viewed as part of a global axis of evil. Islamabads economy is in tatters, and the Islamic Republic, for all practical purposes, is surviving on borrowed time and money. A big factor that led to Pakistans current state of affairs has been Indias proactive global diplomacy since 2014 that exposed Islamabad as a patron of terror groups and a destabilising and rogue entity in the Indian subcontinent.

The Making of a More Secure India

Fifteen years after 26/11, Indians are living in a much more secure environment. Indians today step out of their houses not fearing the prospect of being victims of serial bomb blasts. Only a decade ago, that was not a luxury Indians enjoyed, since serial blasts across the country became normalised as a part and parcel of life. Security agencies are today more empowered to hunt down threats than they were 15 years ago. They are also armed with stringent laws like UAPA and NSA that help them deal with elements that wish to hurt India.

As a result of various measures taken to prevent terror attacks, terrorist-related violence has been on the decline since at least 2011. According to the Global Terrorism Index 2020, 8,749 people were killed in terror attacks in India since 2001. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of terrorist incidents, excluding Kashmir, declined by 70%. The Modi government, on its part, claims that the nation experienced a significant decline in terrorist incidents over the past nine years alone, with 2,350 occurrences resulting in the loss of 377 civilian lives, compared to the UPA era which witnessed 7,327 terrorist incidents and claimed the lives of 2,056 innocent civilians.

Perhaps, the biggest success of Prime Minister Modis government has been the turnaround being witnessed in Kashmir. With one swift move in August 2019, the Modi government abrogated Article 370, ending Jammu and Kashmirs special status while also declaring Ladakh and J&K to be separate Union Territories. The move locked Kashmirs fate as an inalienable part of India. Pakistan was caught by surprise, and this was all done without the shedding of any blood. Remember, so-called experts and even politicians had warned of largescale violence breaking out in Kashmir if the government were to tinker with its special status. None of that happened, and today, Kashmir is finally reaping the benefits of development and peace.

Tourism has witnessed an upswing, with ordinary Indians no longer feeling a threat to their lives if they visit Kashmir. In pure percentage terms, heres how the law and order situation in Kashmir has improved after the abrogation of Article 370: a drop of 15% in grenade attacks, 77% in IED-related casualties, 60% in weapon snatchings, 92% in stone pelting and 32% in encounters. Further, 11% less civilians have so far been killed in terrorist-related violence, while arson has witnessed a drop of 60%.

The insurgency in Kashmir has been subdued to a great extent, and there are just about two areas which still witnessed regular terrorist-security forces confrontations. Soon, these areas will be sanitised as well. Simultaneously, India has been able to sustain a long ceasefire with Pakistan along the LoC for three years now, although Pakistan now seems intent to disrupt that status quo.

Recent ceasefire violations and also the uptick in encounters with Pakistani terrorists is a reminder that deterrence against Pakistan must be sustained. Pre-emptive strikes, whether carried out from air or by land cannot be reserved for after-the-fact scenarios alone.

That being said, there can be no denying that Pakistan today does not dare to attempt a 26/11-like attack against India, or something even remotely close  especially against civilians. This is largely due to the changed global perception of India. Today, India is viewed as a nation that knows how to give it back as good as it gets  even harder. India has drastically cut down on what was otherwise seen as a cycle of unending violence in its Northeast and Naxal-afflicted areas. Today, the whole of Northeast is calm and peaceful, barring Manipur, where too, ethnic tensions and not insurgency are causing troubles.

Terror deterrence has not just been created against Pakistan, but those who have for decades operated within India too. Naxal violence, for example, witnessed a drop of 77% between 2010 and 2022. The bottom line is: terrorist or violent extremists of any kind today must think several times over before waging a war against India, for the simple fact that it is a war they will lose. India is no longer viewed as a country that will spectate mutely or keep its response to violence mild. The increased deterrence levels are as much applicable to Pakistan as they are to Khalistanis, Naxals or insurgents in the Northeast. The focus must now be on continuously adding to Indias counterterrorism abilities. The fact is that today Indias enemies around the world have started fearing its counterterrorism abilities. That sentiment must be sustained.

Also, an important point to remember is that just as India has prepared itself to deal with 26/11-like attacks, terrorists around the world are experimenting with new ways of fighting as well. Hamas barbaric attack against Israel in October serves as a stark reminder of the same. That Hamas was able to hoodwink what is by far the worlds most feared spy agency, Mossad, and plan for the attack for months on end in radio silence should teach India many lessons. The next attack against India might not be something we have seen before. The government and security forces must be prepared for that X factor as well. Only then will we really be secure as a nation.
Whenever a war happens, innocent people often find themselves on the list of casualties. The same thing is happening in the Israel-Palestine (Gaza) conflict. Killing of any innocent  whether an Israeli or a Palestinian or of any nationality  can never be justified. Unfortunately, due to political reasons, all innocent people who are killed as a result of hatred or violence arent seen as equals. The same is happening to the innocents who got killed in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

In India, the Left parties are most vocal about the Palestinian cause. They organise rallies and hold processions or dharnas in various parts of the country. Recently, the Left parties even organised a long procession in Kolkata to express solidarity for the Palestinian cause.

Secular Lefts silence on Islamic terrorist group Hamas

Interestingly, during the solidarity rallies for the Palestinians, the secular Leftists have remained silent on the atrocities carried out by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas. Disgustingly, some Leftists have even supported the Hamas terrorists, who mercilessly killed more than 1300 Israelis during the attack carried out on October 7, and have been hailed as freedom fighters. It is so shameful that these terrorists, who didnt even spare babies, are being compared with freedom fighters of our country.

True that in the counterattack launched by Israel to finish off the Hamas terrorists, many Palestinians have lost their lives and as the war continues, they continue to lose their lives. It is not that the attacks launched by Israel are only killing the Palestinian people. A rocket launched by Hamas towards Israel failed and fell on the ground, causing an explosion in Gazas Ahli Arab hospital, killing hundreds. Initially, Israel was blamed but later, evidence showed that it was a rocket fired from within the Palestinian territory (obviously fired by Hamas terrorists). This shows how the lives of the common Palestinians have become pawns in this Israel-Hamas conflict.

Hamas, which claims to fight for the Palestinians, has never allowed any elections since 2007, when it came to power for the first time. Since then, there has been an authoritarian rule in Gaza. However, this aspect has been ignored by the Left parties, who otherwise do not get tired of raising slogans that democracy has been in danger in the country since the Narendra Modi-led BJP government came to power in 2014. Isnt this an irony? The Left will not talk about democracy in Gaza, where it ceased to exist since Hamas came to power in 2007 but is concerned about the health of democracy in the country where, despite some drawbacks, democracy has been the norm with free and fair elections taking place regularly.

Actually, the Left parties are not worried about the common Palestinians. If they are so concerned about the humanitarian cause, then why havent they held such large-scale solidarity rallies or processions for the Ukrainians, who have been facing the attack of Russia since last year? Or is it because the victims of the Russia-Ukraine war have no resonance in the countrys electoral politics?

Left utilising Palestine issue in Kerala to ally with IUML

Whether the Left parties accept this bitter truth or not, their solidarity rallies for the Palestinians are less about humanity and more about reaping electoral benefits. Recently, the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) of Kerala held a solidarity rally for Palestinians. The invitation for participation was also sent to the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), a constituent of the Congress-led United Democratic Front, the rival bloc of LDF. The IUML leadership later had to decline the invitation.

It was very clear for what intentions this invitation was sent to the IUML by the CPM, the largest constituent of the LDF. No wonder that the main Opposition leader of the state, V D Satheesan, alleged that the CPM was politicising the Palestinian issue. Lets not forget that the IUML is very influential among a significant section of Muslims, who account for 27 per cent of the states population. Currently, Kerala is the only bastion of the Left after losing West Bengal and Tripura and the beleaguered Left is using all tactics to save its last bastion by trying to woo the IUML.

Left compromising its own stand towards communalism

In doing this, the CPM itself is diluting its own stand on communalism. In a response to a question posed by this writer six years ago in Peoples Democracy, the national weekly mouthorgan of the CPM, the mouthpiece had called the IUML a Muslim fundamentalist party.

Thirdly, the CPI(M) is opposed to all forms of communalism  whether it be Hindu communalism, or, Muslim communalism. In political terms, the CPI(M) is opposed to the BJPs communal politics and of parties like the Indian Union Muslim League, the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen and other communal organisations. The CPI(M) had stood firmly against the Khalistani extremists who were motivated by Sikh fundamentalism.  Peoples Democracy (Vol. XLI No. 15 April 09, 2017)

However, this IUML, once termed as a Muslim communal party by the Left, is currently wooed by the same Left. The CPM argues that since IUML is opposed to BJP and Sangh Parivars Hindutva agenda, there is nothing wrong with the Left to ally with the IUML. The truth is that the Lefts leadership, particularly CPMs politburo, has turned into Dhritarashtra in its blind opposition against Hindutva. Isnt it surprising that the Left parties, which can organise rallies or processions for the Palestinians, are not seen doing processions or rallies for the minority Hindus of neighbouring Pakistan or Bangladesh facing discrimination and even persecution at the hands of Islamist fundamentalists? Such dualistic stand of the Left on communalism has only reduced its strength on the ground, particularly among the majority of Hindus. The comrades are so disconnected from the ground reality that they are unable to realise this bitter truth that a section of Hindus, who are their largest vote bank, are abandoning the party.

Left banks on Muslim appeasement to increase its tally in 2024

In the last Lok Sabha polls, the CPM had won only 3 seats, the lowest seat tally in its history since it first contested the Lok Sabha polls in 1967. Of these, two seats came from Tamil Nadu as a result of its alliance with the DMK. It failed to open its account in both West Bengal and Tripura while it was able to win a seat in Kerala. The less said, the better about CPI, which has lost its significance in national politics. The only two seats it won in the last Lok Sabha polls were because of its alliance with the DMK in Tamil Nadu.

Kerala remains the last hope for the Left, particularly for the CPM, to increase its tally in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls  and for this, it is not hesitant to even ally with IUML, which was once called a Muslim fundamentalist party by the Left. In West Bengal, its old bastion, the Left itself doesnt see much prospects in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls but still, it sees hope in some seats and many of them fall within the Muslim-dominated districts of Murshidabad, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur.

The Israel-Palestine war came at the right time for the Left to utilise it to appease the Muslims in Kerala and also in its old bastion, West Bengal. By raising the Palestinian issue, the Left is trying to send a message to the Muslim community that the community can trust the Left. However, in the race to appease the Muslim votes through the Israel-Palestine conflict, the Left parties have only exposed themselves. The bitter truth is that the commitment of the Left towards secularism and democracy changes according to electoral calculations.

Sagarneel Sinha is a political commentator and tweets @SagarneelSinha. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
The Israel-Hamas and Russia-Ukraine wars have inflicted a fatal wound on the new Western world order.

At first glance, this seems improbable. The United States and its Western allies are dominant globally, both militarily and economically. Russia is being systematically weakened by Western sanctions and a deadlocked war in Ukraine.

Israel, the Wests blood ally in the Middle East, is pounding Hamas out of existence. Washingtons principal rival China, is in economic and demographic retreat.

The Wests hegemony, established after the collapse of the Ottoman Caliphate a hundred years ago, seems unstoppable.

A closer look reveals three cracks in the evolving world order.

First, a weakened Russia has fallen into Chinas geopolitical embrace. The Russia-China alliance has the military and economic heft to challenge a new US-led world order.

Second, the neutral Global South led by India and comprising nations across Asia, Africa and South America are wary of the US becoming a neo-colonial successor to the defunct British and French Empires.

Third, the Shia Muslim Gulf powers in the Middle East  Iran, Iraq, Syria and Lebanon  remain unremittingly hostile to the West and will move closer to the China-Russia axis.

Russia already has a significant military presence in Syria. China was the first port of call for a delegation of Islamic leaders to the five permanent members of the UNSC: France, Britain, Russia, China and the US.

The Western world order being crafted in Washington needs to bring the Global South on its side or risk being seen as a neo-colonial construct.

The London-based author Pankaj Mishra warned in an article in Bloomberg: Only a few weeks ago, the Western press was full of speculation on whether India or China would lead the Global South. US President Joe Biden made his preference clear by wooing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Biden administration drew up various schemes involving India in alliances with Israel and rich Arab countries, aimed in part at stemming Chinese influence.

A European Council on Foreign Relations report echoed the new Western consensus: The West needed to woo friendly members of the Global South such as India and Turkey if it was to build a new world order. Now that the conflict in West Asia threatens to prematurely terminate this Western infatuation, it is worth asking what it was all about. Did the project of winning over emerging nations reflect wishful thinking and image-projection by Western elites?

The conflict in Gaza may now have mortally damaged Western power and credibility in the Global South. While Israel seems no closer to victory in its own counteroffensive against Hamas, it looks over-committed to a long war it cannot win, either on the battlefield or in the court of global public opinion. Indeed, Israels failure to define a viable future for itself and the Palestinians is now hitting its closest ally, inducing bitter division in the US State Department as well as on university campuses and endangering Bidens re-election in 2024.

Bombing Gaza

The four-day ceasefire and prison swap in Gaza ends on Monday, November 27, unless it is extended. Israel has vowed to resume bombing Gaza after the pause. Future ceasefires and prisoner swaps will depend on how successfully the first swap goes.

Hamas used the four-day pause to regroup, re-establish lost communications with divisional leaders across Gaza and strengthen its underground bunkers which the Israeli army, after nearly two months of fighting, has not yet been able to breach.

But bigger problems for the Washington-led world order lie closer at home. The US is ideologically fractured. President Joe Bidens Irish charm hides a cold warrior mind. He has encouraged Ukraine to fight Russia to the last Ukrainian. His son Hunter Bidens financial deals with Ukrainian company Burisma are publicly documented.

Biden has said if he was a Jew (he is Catholic) he would be a Zionist. Zionism is what drove European Jews to persuade the complicit British Empire into giving white Jews a homeland in the middle of West Asia.

A transactional ally

The West has never been a true friend of India. It supported Pakistan from 1947 right through to the early 2000s when it realised belatedly the folly of backing a state sponsor of terrorism.

Former President Richard Nixon in the 1970s did not try to hide his contempt for India and Indians. As late as 1998, former President Bill Clinton slapped harsh and sweeping sanctions on India following the Pokhran nuclear test.

The West is wary of a rising India and its sway over the Global South. Instead of prosecuting a terrorist like Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, who openly incites violence against India, the Biden government protects him.

It has used Canada and the FBI to make unverified allegations against India of plotting to kill Pannun and other terrorists.

Hubris and hegemony

The century of global hegemony that the West seized since the 1920s has given it a sense of hubris and infallibility.

It bombs Syria, Iraq, Libya and Yemen with impunity, killing thousands of civilians, including women and children.

It assassinates terrorists on the soil of other sovereign nations. It forces regime change in the Middle East and South America. It engineered an eight-year war in 1980-88 between Shia neighbours Iraq and Iran.

For the West, a rising India is both welcome and worrisome.

Welcome because it adds to the Wests anti-China alliance. Worrisome because the West does not like any country outside its civilisational ethos posing a future challenge to its global supremacy.

When China did, America launched a trade and technology war on it. India, it believes, can be managed with periodic pinpricks from Five Eyes allies like Canada.

Endgame

The West was a supplicant to the East till 1700. British envoys like Sir Thomas Roe spent four years in India during the 1600s flattering Emperor Jehangir. They received withering contempt in return.

European traders and envoys to China were treated even more harshly.

Colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade transformed Europe and America from supplicants to overlords.

The unwinnable wars in Ukraine and Israel have wounded Western civilisation as fatally as colonialism and genocide of indigenous peoples by settler-colonists in America and Australia fatally wounded the British Empire.

The writer is an editor, author and publisher. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
Maharashtra assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar on Monday said the Eknath Shinde-led government is stable and enjoys the majority support in the Lower House of the state legislature and asserted he will decide on disqualification petitions filed by rival Shiv Sena factions within the Supreme Court-set time frame.

Talking to the media in Sindhudurg district, around 500km from Mumbai, he slammed Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut for making statements questioning the stability of the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party-NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) government, saying it has the magic number on its side.

Asked by reporters about Rauts consistent claim that the ruling coalition is unstable, Narwekar said, A government falls only when it fails the number game in the legislative assembly and not because of comments made outside in public.

The state government has the magic number (support of 145-plus MLAs). People should not make such comments.

The Maharashtra assembly has a strength of 288 and support of at least 145 MLAs is required by a party or coalition to form a government.

Replying to questions on the adjudication of the disqualification pleas pending before him, the speaker stated, I am planning to complete the hearings and take a decision within the time frame given by the Supreme Court. I am taking care not to affect the principles of natural justice. I will decide on the disqualification of (Shiv Sena) MLAs at an appropriate time.

The Supreme Court has directed the assembly speaker to decide the cross-petitions filed by the rival factions of the Shiv Sena seeking disqualification of each others MLAs on or before December 31.

One of the pleas seeks disqualification of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and the MLAs who backed him during the rebellion against the president of the undivided Shiv Sena and then-CM Uddhav Thackeray last year.

Narwekar hit back at Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and former state minister Aaditya Thackeray over his comments on violating anti-defection laws.

The assembly speaker will decide whether or not there has been any violation of the anti-defection laws. Thackeray should not make any comments about it. If the violation has taken place, I will take an appropriate decision. I can assure the people of the state that I will not take any wrong decision, he asserted.
With the induction of close aide and former IAS officer V Karthikeyan Pandian into his ruling Biju Janata Dal, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may have just answered the question of who would take on the mantle in the party after him.

VK Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, joined the party in the presence of the Chief Minister, ministers, lawmakers and senior BJD leaders. He has been Patnaiks private secretary for 12 years since 2011. Known to be an able administrator, Pandian has enjoyed the complete support of Naveen Patnaik through the years.

He had taken voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year. He was later appointed as the chairman of the states flagship 5T (transformational initiative) and Navin Odisha scheme in the rank of a cabinet minister to work directly under the CM.

But with his formal induction into the party, experts say Patnaik seems to have sent a clear message  its Pandian after Patnaik. The move ends the speculation on future leadership of the party and with his tacit approval of Pandian, the BJD leader has also pre-empted any immediate prospect of a rift in ranks.

The opposition BJP and Congress, meanwhile, opposed the move, saying Patnaik had outsourced the government to a bureaucrat. The BJP has also approached the central government against the move.

Pandians rose to prominence as the close aide of the chief minister has often landed him in controversies, with opposition parties alleging that he was misusing his position for political gains.

In a letter to the states General Administration Department, the Centres Department of Personnel and Training had said his voluntary retirement has been accepted with the waiver of the notice period as recommended by the State Government.

Who is VK Pandian?

Pandian began his bureaucratic career as the sub-collector of Dharmagarh in Kalahandi district in 2002. He was appointed the collector of Mayurbhanj district in 2005, and then in 2007, he was made the collector of Ganjam. It was during his posting in Ganjam that he became close to the chief minister, who is originally from the Ganjam district.

Pandian joined the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) in 2011, and since then, he has been Patnaiks private secretary.

After Patnaik became the chief minister for the fifth time in 2019, Pandian was given the additional responsibility of the 5T secretary to implement some transformational initiatives in government departments.

The opposition BJP and Congress had asked him to resign and officially join the BJD, after he went on a whirlwind tour across the state during which he held 190 meetings to hear public grievances.

All eyes will now be on what charge Pandian is given ahead of Odisha Assembly elections due early next year.
Ashwini Vaishnaw the Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, shared a major achievement of Indias mobile industry. Vaishnaw said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that Indias mobile industry has grown by 20% in just nine years.

Met Mobile industry to review progress. Industry has grown 20 times in 9 years. 2014: 78% import dependent 2023: 99.2% of all mobiles sold in India are Made In India, Ashwini Vaishanaw said.

Met Mobile industry to review progress.Industry has grown 20 times in 9 years.2014: 78% import dependent2023: 99.2% of all mobiles sold in India are Made In India. pic.twitter.com/SxUeDwNjsn  Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) November 25, 2023

This notably came after he met some of the top stakeholders in the industry to discuss the state of mobiles in India.

Based on the ministers remarks, India was import-dependent in 2014, with 78% of total mobile devices being imported into the country, but that figure has gradually declined. Now, it is claimed that 99.2% of the mobile phone units being sold in India are now Made in India, which signals a positive shift in how the industry has shaped over the last decade or so.

Most manufacturers, including Chinese companies like BBK-owned Oppo, Vivo, OnePlus, or Xiaomi, have been making and assembling smartphones in India.

Also, it cant be forgotten that iPhones, too, are now being assembled in Indiaacross Foxconns Tamil Nadu plant, and several others including Winstron and Pegatron.

Notably, this year, Assembled In India iPhones 15 models were available to buy for Indian customers right on the launch date itself.

Furthermore, Tata group recently finalized its acquisition of Winstrons India operations, and it aims to start manufacturing iPhones in a span of about two and a half years. Within just two and a half years, Tata Companies will now start making iPhones from India for domestic and global markets, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Indias Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, said lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modis PLI scheme in October last month. Congratulations to the Tata team for taking over Wistron operations, he added.

Apple has also been focusing a lot more on the Indian market, and now, there are two official Apple stores in the country as wellApple BKC in Mumbai and Apple Saket in New Delhi.
As the wedding season approaches, the internet is putting on its dancing shoes with a flood of memes, bringing joy and laughter to the nations preparations. However, amidst the sea of amusing content, comes a Bangladeshi couples wedding invitation thats not just an ordinary card  its a hilarious masterpiece. These lovebirds decided to turn their invitation into a full-fledged research paper, featuring sections like Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References, all ingeniously woven into the announcement of their wedding date. Its a presentation that has even PhDs grinning from ear to ear!

In the current viral snapshot circulating on the internet, the wedding invitation of Sanjana and Imon from Dhaka unfolds like a scholarly adventure. The Abstract explains the significance of Nikkah, the Introduction narrates the tale of how they met, the Methodology outlines the intricate details of their wedding proceedings, and the Conclusion wraps it up, all contributing to the invitations viral fame for its comedic brilliance.

Also Read: Misprint On Wedding Card Changes The Meaning Of Invite, Guests Confused

While the Nikkah ceremony already unfolded in October, the card has recently caught the internets attention.

Check it Out:

Still cant believe that this is a wedding invitation card pic.twitter.com/DeOD2L8dOo rayyan definitely | Booktwt stan (@rayyanparhlo) November 25, 2023

Commenting on this academic twist to matrimony, one user cleverly remarked, 2 researchers are getting married. Understood. Another couldnt help but exclaim, What in the world of research papers A third user, in awe of the creativity, expressed, This is pretty awesome. Wish I would have thought of something like this.

Notably, this isnt the first time that wedding invitations have embraced a quirky touch. Earlier, computer-themed elements took centre stage, injecting a digital flair into the invitation. Shared on Reddit by the user @futtbucker696, the image displayed a seamless integration of computer jargon into the prose. Lines like Finally, Ive found the (Key symbol) to happiness and playful references to Ctrl, Del, Enter, and ESC keys added a tech-savvy charm to the announcement of wedded bliss.

Also Read: When IIT Delhi Meets IIT Bombay: Old Pic of Bizarre Wedding Invitation Card Goes Viral on X

Indeed, people are going the extra mile to ensure their weddings are unforgettable, and the invitations are stealing the spotlight!
In the village of Ossining, Westchester County, New York, 12-year-old Aliyah Rivera, facing the challenges of Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), experienced a heart-wrenching incident when her high-tech wheelchair, was stolen. Instead of finding empathy, Aliyah and her family encountered cruelty as the callous act unfolded on camera.

The distressing event transpired as a man in a van pulled up outside the Rivera residence. Seizing the opportunity, the thief approached Aliyahs wheelchair, which had been placed outside shortly before her school bus was about to arrive. Surveillance footage captured the thief loading the wheelchair into the van, snatching Aliyahs backpack, and driving away from the spot. This left the young girl stranded and her family in disbelief.

Aliyah Rivera suffers from Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM), a rare and poorly understood inflammatory condition affecting the spinal cord. Speaking to local media, Aliyah described her struggle, expressing how the theft of her wheelchair had exacerbated the challenges she faces due to her condition.

I have Acute Flaccid Myelitis; its an inflammation in the spinal cord," explained Aliyah to CBS New York. The scientific community still grapples with understanding AFM, a condition believed to be linked to viral infections.

Despite the adversity she faces, Aliyah remains resilient, and her family is determined to see her regain normalcy in her life. The stolen backpack, containing crucial school supplies, adds to the emotional toll on Aliyah. It mostly just hurts me in the heart because he saw the backpack, he looked in the backpack and saw that it was school supplies. Obviously, he knew it was a little girls wheelchair," expressed Aliyah.

In an effort to replace the stolen equipment, a family friend initiated the GoFundMe campaign, urging the community to come together and support Aliyah and her family. High-tech wheelchairs like Aliyahs can cost thousands of dollars, making the fundraising efforts crucial in helping her regain mobility and independence.

Local authorities, including the Ossining Police Department, are actively investigating the theft. So far, the CCTV footage is the only critical piece of evidence in identifying and apprehending the thief responsible for the heinous act against a vulnerable child.
Scientists recently made a groundbreaking discovery, as they finally found the long lost continent of Argoland that vanished over 155 million years ago after breaking away from Australia. A recent study has finally pinpointed the existence of Argoland, resolving the mystery that had baffled scientists for years. Researchers at Utrecht University in the Netherlands have identified this mysterious landmass, which was buried beneath the jungles of Indonesia and Myanmar. Led by geologists Eldert Advokaat and Douwe van Hinsbergen, this seven year study was similar to the exploration of another ancient land, Greater Adria, which was rediscovered in 2019. Both Argoland and Adria broke into numerous pieces.

Eldert, talking about the research paper said, We were literally dealing with islands of information, which is why our research took so long. We spent seven years putting the puzzle together. The situation in Southeast Asia is very different from places like Africa and South America, where a continent broke neatly into two pieces. Argoland splintered into many different shards. That obstructed our view of the continents journey."

Douwe van Hinsbergen explained, If continents can dive into the mantle and disappear entirely, without leaving a geological trace at the earths surface, then we wouldnt have much of an idea of what the earth could have looked like in the geological past. It would be almost impossible to create reliable reconstructions of former supercontinents and the earths geography in foregone eras."

Meanwhile, Eldert Advokaat and his team stepped forward after they identified evidence of Argoland in the Himalayas and Philippines. These wreckages of the lost land assembled as an archipelago instead of a solid landmass. Roughly 215 million years ago, an event triggered the shattering, leading the continent to crack into thin pieces. The geologists conducted their study across various islands like Sumatra, Andaman Islands, Borneo, Sulawesi and Timor. This exploration was aimed to authenticate their theories and examine the rock layers to determine their age.

Over the years, researchers have unearthed multiple lost continents and Zealandia being the eighth to surface. This island is estimated to be one billion years old and it is submerged in the southwestern Pacific region. Named after New Zealand, Zealandia stretches underwater from this area and was officially acknowledged as Earths eighth continent back in 2017. Approximately 105 million years ago, Zealandia separated from the supercontinent, a phenomenon that geologists are yet to explain.
Bangladeshs opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), accused India of siding with the authoritarian government led by the nations Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina.

BNPs senior joint secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday without any evidence alleged that India has decided to take a position against the people of Bangladesh. The Indian government and their politicians should understand why the people of Bangladesh have burst into anger against them. By supporting an authoritarian government, they [India] have taken a stance against the people of Bangladesh, Rizvi was quoted as saying by Bangladesh-based newspaper The Daily Star.

It should be noted that the BNP is not taking part in the elections and said it will only take part in the elections if Hasina resigns and lets a neutral government run the polls. BNP, with support from Islamist outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, held mass protests demanding the resignation of Hasina and setting up of a caretaker regime for polls.

However, Bangladesh abolished the caretaker system by the 15th Amendment to its constitution in 2011. The government feels that these demands are unconstitutional.

BNP has alleged that about half of its five million members face politically motivated prosecution and the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday that the government has launched a violent crackdown on opposition parties to eliminate competition ahead of general elections scheduled to be held on January 7.

HRW claims it based its report on multiple witness interviews, as well as analysis of videos and police reports.

However, the Bangladesh election commission has urged the BNP to join the polls. There is still time If they join, the election will be festive It will be a blessing for the Election Commission and for the entire nation if the party joins, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Habibul Awal said.

Violent Two-Day Bandh

A microbus carrying a doctor and two CNG-run auto-rickshaws were set ablaze in Sylhet by members of the Swecchasebak Dal, a party sympathetic to the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami. The vehicle was carrying a female doctor to the hospital when the miscreants attacked. The doctor remained unhurt, but the driver was injured while he was trying to douse the blaze, Dr Tareq Azad, director of Jalalabad Ragib Rabeya Medical College Hospital, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

The BNP and other opposition parties have called for a two-day bandh starting Sunday in Bangladesh. There have been incidents of arson by unknown miscreants in several regions of Bangladesh.

A report by The Daily Star said 10 vehicles were torched in various areas of the country, including Dhaka, on the first day of the bandh. Fifteen fire engines and 75 personnel helped douse the fire.

A total of 230 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed across the country today to help law enforcers maintain law and order on Monday, which is the second day of the bandh.
Chinas top diplomat Wang Yi will visit New York this week to hold a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Israel-Hamas conflict, Beijings foreign ministry said on Monday.

As it holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month, China will hold a high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29, spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Wang Yi will preside over the meeting, he added. Hamas militants poured across the border on October 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to Israeli officials.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Gazas Hamas government.

China said last week it welcomed a truce between Israel-Hamas, which began Friday and led to dozens of hostages being freed and the release of more than 100 Palestinian prisoners. The deal entered its final 24 hours on Monday.

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an international peace conference to resolve the fighting.
Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma said that India is not cooperating with the Canadian investigation into the murder of Khalistani separatist leader and terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar because there is a disparity in the information shared by Ottawa.

The Indian high commissioner said that India is cooperating with the US in the investigation into an alleged thwarted assassination attempt on Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, another separatist-terrorist leader who leads the Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) group, another radical outfit backing the Khalistani cause.

Verma told Canadian broadcaster CTV that India is working with the US in the case because the Americans have shared more specific information with India.

International news agencies reported that the US informed India that it thwarted a conspiracy to assassinate American-Canadian Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun on US soil.

The investigation in the case of the US As far as I know and understand, I presume that there would be better information shared within India, Sanjay Kumar Verma told CTVs Question Period host Vassy Kapelos.

There is no specific or relevant information for us to look into, Verma reiterated, referring to cooperation between Canada and India with respect to the investigation into Nijjars killing.

We are treating these guys like terrorists. They are terrorists because they are raising their funds in Canada, sending it across to the gangsters and gangs in India, who are doing illegal activities in India, Verma further added, and told the Canadian journalist that India shared its concerns with Canada regarding these issues.

There are red corner notices, which went through the Interpol. And by the way, one of the recording notices was for Nijjar, who was shot down. So, we have shared all (of) these things and Interpol certainly will not forward anything without the evidence being submitted. We have given all the documentation that we had and I hope to hear back from Canada soon, Verma further added.

India and Canada relations have taken a hit after Justin Trudeau, the Canadian Prime Minister, said India has played a role in the killing of Nijjar, who was shot dead in a parking lot outside a gurdwara in Surrey.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted billionaire Elon Musk on a tour of an Israeli kibbutz ravaged during the October 7 attack by Hamas. Musk, who landed in Israel on Monday, was also due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defense minister whos now part of a special war Cabinet.

The visit comes amid controversies surrounding Musks social media platform, X Corp, accused of spreading hate speech and endorsing antisemitic content. The worlds richest person has also faced criticism for allegedly amplifying anti-Jewish sentiments on his site.

What Elon Musk Wants to Achieve by Visiting Israel & Why He is Accused of Antisemitism | EXPLAINED

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured Kibbutz Kfar Gaza this morning with Elon Musk. Prime Minister Netanyahu showed Musk the horrors of the massacre in the kibbutz from the events of October 7. Elon Musk heard from the Head of the Shaar HaNegev Council Yossi Keren and the representative of the IDF Spokesman Liad Diamond an overview of the massacre at the kibbutz, the Israel Prime Ministers Office wrote on X.

       @elonmusk   .            -7 .                   . pic.twitter.com/QMQpRvvraI     (@IsraeliPM_heb) November 27, 2023

During the tour of Kfar Aza, Musk was shown the horrors of the Hamas attack, which saw Palestinian militants storm the community, The Times of Israel reported. The Tesla CEO heard briefings from a local council leader and from a representative of the IDF Spokespersons Unit about the killing in the kibbutz.

He was taken to the home of the communitys security chief Ofir Libstein, who was killed in a gunfight with the terrorists, the Israeli newspaper said. Musk also heard the story of Israeli-American girl Avigail Idan, 4, who was kidnapped to Gaza and was released yesterday as part of a hostage deal.

Last month, Netanyahu had urged Musk to combat anti-Semitism on X, calling on him to find the ability to stop not only anti-Semitism, or rolling it back as best you can, but any collective hatred. Earlier this month, Musk weighed in on the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas days. In an interview with popular US-based podcaster Lex Freidman, Musk said there is no easy answer in the dictionary when you look at the picture of the Middle East.

Read More: Strictly My Opinion, Elon Musk Weighs in on Gaza War, Israels Response to Hamas Attack

Strictly my opinion is that the goal of Hamas was to provoke an overreaction from Israel. They (Hamas) didnt expect to have a military victory. They really wanted to commit the worst atrocities they could in order to provoke the most aggressive response possible from Israel and leverage that response to rally Muslims worldwide for the cause of Gaza and Palestine, he said. The counterintuitive thing that should be done, even though it is difficult is that: Israel should engage in the most conspicuous acts of kindness possible, he added.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog will meet Elon Musk on Monday and emphasise the need to act to combat rising anti-Semitism online, the politicians office said Sunday.

Musk, owner of X, formerly known as Twitter, has come under fire over what critics say is a proliferation of hate speech on the social media site since his takeover.

He has also been accused by the White House of abhorrent promotion of anti-Semitism after endorsing a conspiracy theory seen as accusing Jews of trying to weaken white majorities.

Herzogs office said the meeting would be joined by representatives of families of hostages held by Hamas, who will speak about the horrors of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and of the ongoing pain and uncertainty for those held captive.

In their meeting, the President will emphasise the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online, Herzogs office said.

In September, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged Musk to combat anti-Semitism on X, calling on him to find the ability to stop not only anti-Semitism, or rolling it back as best you can, but any collective hatred.

Musk, the worlds richest person, said while his website could not stop all hate speech before it was posted, he was generally against attacking any group, no matter who it is.

X Corp is currently suing nonprofit Media Matters on grounds it has driven away advertisers by portraying the site as rife with anti-Semitic content.

Musk has also threatened to file suit against the Anti-Defamation League over its claims that problematic and racist speech has soared on the site since he completed his $44-billion takeover.
Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old American girl held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed, was released on Sunday as part of the cease-fire deal in the Israel-Hamas war.

Abigail, who has dual Israeli-US citizenship, was safely in Israel, US President Joe Biden confirmed Sunday. Thank God shes home, Biden said told reporters. What she endured was unthinkable.

Happening Now: President Biden delivers remarks on the release of hostages from Gaza. https://t.co/szqyYvhwcT The White House (@WhiteHouse) November 26, 2023

Who is Abigail Edan and Whats her story?

Abigail, who spent at least 50 days in captivity in Gaza, was the first US hostage to be released under the terms of the cease-fire. The White House said that Biden spoke by telephone with members of the girls family in the US and Israel. He also spoke with Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

Hamas militants stormed Abigails kibbutz, Kfar Azza, on October 7 and killed her parents. She ran to a neighbours home for shelter, and the Brodutch family  mother Hagar and her three children  took Abigail in as the rampage raged. Then all five disappeared and were later confirmed to be captives. They were among the more than 200 people taken to Gaza in the attack that touched off the war.

Abigail had a birthday while she was held in the Palestinian enclave. Two of Abigails family members on Sunday thanked Biden, the Qatari government and others involved in securing her release, saying in a statement they remain committed to the safe and swift return of all hostages. Todays release proves that its possible. We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, said Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali, Abigails great aunt and cousin.

She has an entire nation,

Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal Sunday. A fourth exchange was expected on Monday  the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners were to be freed. All are women and minors.

Biden described the Hamas negotiations as a day-by-day, hour-by-hour process and said he would continue working until all hostages were free. Meanwhile, Netanyahu issued a video statement after speaking with Biden. He talked about the happiness of bringing Abigail home, but also the sadness that her parents were killed.

She has no parents, but she has an entire nation that hugs her, and we will take care of all her needs, he said. Netanyahu reiterated his offer to extend the cease-fire by an additional day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. However, he also said Israel would resume its offensive against Hamas with all of its power once the cease-fire expires.

(With agency inputs)
The case of an elderly Indian Sikh woman, which was first reported in 2019, continues to attract widespread community support in Englands West Midlands as her supporters fight her deportation.

Gurmit Kaur, 78, came to the UK in 2009 and Smethwick has been home to her ever since, reads an online petition that has attracted over 65,000 signatures since it was launched in July 2020.

More recently, We Are All Gurmit Kaur has been running across social media platforms as the local community continues to rally around the widow.

Gurmit Kaur has no family to turn to in the UK and no family to return to in Punjab. So the local Sikh community of Smethwick has adopted her, reads the petition on change.org.

Gurmit Kaur applied to stay but has been refused even though she has no family to return to in Punjab, India. Gurmit is a very kind woman, even though she has nothing she is still generous and will always give what she can, when she can. Most of her days are spent volunteering at the local gurdwara, it read.

The UK Home Office maintains that Ms Kaur is in contact with people in her village in Punjab and that she would be able to re-adjust to life there.

Salman Mirza, an immigration advisor for the Brushstroke Community Project, who started the petition and is among those helping Ms Kaur through the visa appeals process, told BBC that her ordeal has been torture for her.

She has a derelict house in the village, with no roof, and will have to find heating, food, and resources in a village she hasnt been to in 11 years. Its like water torture, a slow death. Shes never had the right to work and provide for herself, he said.

A Home Office spokesperson said that while it cannot comment on individual cases, all applications are carefully considered on their individual merits and on the basis of the evidence provided.

Gurmit Kaur first travelled to the UK in 2009 to attend a wedding and initially lived with her son.

After getting estranged from her family, she went on to rely on the kindness of strangers. She has widespread support within the local community where she regularly volunteers at local charities.
A truce deal to pause fighting between Israel and Hamas will be extended by two more days amid international pressure to avoid a return to battle which claimed hundreds of lives and left more injured in the past 45 days.

Palestine-based terror group Hamas confirmed the two-day extension of the deal when the initial four-day agreement was set to expire on Tuesday.

Qatar announces that as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip, Qatari foreign ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X, formerly Twitter.

Over the course of the humanitarian pause and in weeks prior, Qatar, with the support of the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza, which mediators had said was designed to be broadened and expanded.

Over the course of the initial truce a total of 50 civilian hostages, women and children, were expected to be freed by Hamas. In exchange, 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel were to be released and humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza.

During its first three days, 39 Israeli hostages were freed by the militant group in exchange for 117 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails as part of the deal between the two sides.

As a result of parallel negotiations led by the Gulf state, 17 Thais, one Filipino and one dual Russian-Israeli national have also been released by the Palestinian militants.

The figure set for release is by far the largest since Hamas gunmen stormed across Gazas militarised border on October 7 and staged the deadliest attack in Israels history.

Israel says the attack killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and around 240 more were taken hostage, among them elderly people and children.

In response, Israel launched a relentless bombing campaign and ground offensive in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which the Hamas government says has killed 15,000 people, thousands of them children.

Qatar  with the support of the United States and Egypt  has been engaged in intense negotiations to establish and prolong the truce in Gaza.

White House Welcomes 2-Day Truce Extension

The White House welcomed an agreement Monday to extend a truce between Israel and Hamas by two days, saying it was hopeful the humanitarian pause would continue for longer still.

Of course, we welcome the announcement, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. We would of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.

Gaza Truce Extension a Glimpse of Hope: UN Chief

The United Nations chief hailed Mondays two-day extension of a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza as a glimpse of hope.

Its a glimpse of hope and humanity in the middle of the darkness of war and I strongly hope that these will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that is suffering so much, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said. Without more time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population in Gaza.

(With AFP inputs)
Since October the Shan province in the Myanmar-China border region and adjoining areas have witnessed clashes and unrest as an armed alliance of three ethnic minority groups launched an offensive against the Aung Min Hlaing-led junta.

On Sunday, the ethnic rebels  composed of Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), Arakan Army (AA) and Taang National Liberation Army (TNLA)  seized control from the countrys ruling junta of a lucrative border crossing to China. The rebels have now extended their gains in northern Myanmar and are now in control of dozens of military positions and a town important for trade with China.

This is a problem for junta, whose cash reserves are running low, as commercial routes are now choked. MNDAA also reported they seized one more border trade gate, which is called Kyin San Kyawt, in Monekoe area, Muse district this morning, Kokang News, a Myanmar-based news agency, said in a report.

The MNDAA hoisted their flag at the border trade zone at Kyin San Kyawt. The Kyin San Kyawt is a major trading point along the Myanmar-China border.

This trading point is important because it allows machinery, electrical appliances, agricultural tractors and consumer items to enter the country.

Operation 1027 and Road to Naypyitaw

We are continuing our attacks in northern Shan State, said Kyaw Naing, a spokesperson for the MNDAA.

A parallel government formed by pro-democracy politicians to oppose the junta allied with some insurgent groups. They have launched a Road to Naypyitaw campaign which is aimed at taking control of the capital.

The rebels are also running Operation 1027, which has seen unprecedented coordination between anti-military forces, and under which the rebels have taken control of several towns and more than 100 security outposts.

Is China Worried?

China is worried about the ongoing conflict between rebels and the junta in Myanmar. Its security concerns have heightened to such an extent that it began military exercises along its border with Myanmar on Saturday and urged its citizens to leave the north of that country.

Myanmars northern Shan state has already witnessed the displacement of more than 80,000 people due to the clashes. Some of these people have also entered China.

Beijings Southern Theatre Command said it launched combat training activities along the border with Myanmar to test the ability of troops to control and close borders and to strike with firepower and remains ready to respond to all kinds of emergencies.

The exercise was launched one day after a convoy of trucks carrying goods into Myanmar went up in flames. Myanmar state media called it an insurgent attack and the incident forced the Chinese envoy to meet top officials in Myanmars capital for talks on border stability.

The rebels claim that they did not commit the act and said they would not take any action that it detrimental to the citizens of Myanmar.

Impact on India

India has been impacted by the unrest in Myanmar. Earlier in November, a few dozen Myanmarese soldiers fleeing the ethnic rebels entered India to save themselves from being slaughtered.

India sent back most of them within that week itself through another border crossing, according to a report by Reuters.

The spokesperson for external affairs ministry Arindam Bagchi on November 17 said that India wishes for lasting peace in Myanmar and is concerned over the escalation of violence. We reiterate our call for the return of peace, stability and democracy in Myanmar. As a result of the fighting [at] Rihkhawdar area in Chin State, opposite Zokhawthar in Mizoram on the India-Myanmar border, there has been movement of Myanmar nationals to the Indian side. We are deeply concerned with such incidents close to our border, Bagchi said.

In the first two weeks of November, at least 5,000 people from Myanmar, fleeing the violence have crossed into Mizoram. More than 5,000 people took refuge in two Mizoram villages along the Myanmar border. As many as about 20 are injured. Eight of them are taken to Aizawl for better medical treatment and the rest are being treated in Champhai, the Mizoram Police said, according to a report by Livemint.
North Korea has sent troops to its southern border to restore guard posts taken down under a 2018 agreement with South Korea, Seouls military said Monday, after Pyongyangs launch of a spy satellite stoked tensions on the peninsula.

In response to the launch last week, Seoul partially suspended the agreement that was aimed at easing border hostilities, prompting Pyongyang to scrap the pact entirely and warn it would never be bound by the deal again.

A South Korean military official told AFP on Monday that Pyongyang had recently sent armed personnel and equipment to restore the guard posts.

Yonhap news agency reported that North Korean soldiers were seen rebuilding the guard posts from Friday, according to a military official, and that all 11 posts withdrawn under the five-year-old deal were expected to be restored.

One photo released by South Koreas military shows four North Korean soldiers rebuilding a wooden guard post in the Demilitarized Zone that separates the two countries.

North Koreas accelerated development of its weapons programmes has alarmed Seoul.

South Korea deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets to the border after the satellite launch, in what its military said was an essential measure to defend against North Koreas growing threats.

In response, Pyongyang said it would deploy more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware in the region along the Military Demarcation Line between the two Koreas.

Guam and Rome

Nuclear-armed North Korea is barred by successive rounds of UN resolutions from tests using ballistic technology, and analysts say there is significant technological overlap between space launch capabilities and the development of ballistic missiles.

Last weeks launch of the Malligyong-1 was Pyongyangs third attempt at securing a military eye in the sky after two failures in May and August.

The launch drew condemnation from the international community, including the United States and South Korea, for its destabilizing effect on the region.

Pyongyang said its launch was a legitimate and just exercise of the right to self-defense, according to a foreign ministry statement run by KCNA on Monday.

Successfully putting a spy satellite into orbit would improve North Koreas intelligence-gathering capabilities, particularly over South Korea, and provide crucial data in any military conflict, experts say.

In a visit to the Pyongyang space control centre on Monday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed great satisfaction at the preparations for the satellites reconnaissance mission that will begin on December 1, KCNA said in a separate report.

Kim also reviewed a batch of satellite photos of the US Anderson Air Force Base in Guam received at 0917 (0017 GMT), as well as photos of the Italian capital Rome, KCNA reported.

It is the latest in a series of North Korean reports purporting Kim has reviewed satellite imagery, though Pyongyang has not publicly disclosed it.

Pyongyang previously claimed, within hours of the launch, that Kim was shown photos of US military bases in Guam taken by the satellite.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson denounced the leader of the far-right party propping up his government Monday after he called for some mosques to be torn down.

Sweden Democrats (SD) leader Jimmie Akesson called for some mosques to be seized and levelled during a speech to his annual party conference on Saturday.

We need to start confiscating and tearing down mosques where anti-democratic, anti-Swedish, homophobic, anti-Semitic propaganda or general disinformation is being spread, Akesson said.

Kristersson, whose coalition government does not include SD but relies on its support, condemned the statements as disrespectful.

I think it is a disrespectful way of expressing oneself, a polarising way of expressing oneself, Kristersson told broadcaster SVT.

This misrepresents what Sweden stands for internationally, he added.

Akessons speech sparked anger both in Sweden and abroad and forced Kristersson to issue a statement on X, formerly Twitter, reiterating Swedens constitutional right to freedom of religion.

In Sweden, we do not demolish places of worship. As a society, we must fight back against violent extremism whatever its grounds  but we will do so within the framework of a democratic state and the rule of law, he said.

Former Social Democrat prime minister Magdalena Andersson called for Kristersson to remove all SD officials working at the cabinet offices in Stockholm.

It worsens the image of Sweden, does not facilitate our NATO application and further increases polarisation in our country. This is not putting Sweden and the Swedish peoples safety and security first, Andersson said on X.

Sweden, whose NATO application still needs ratification from Hungary and Muslim-majority Turkey, has seen a slew of incidents spark tensions with countries around the Middle East.

A series of Koran-burnings earlier this year led to protests and widespread condemnations of Sweden, with several Middle Eastern countries summoning Swedish envoys.

Iraqi protesters stormed the Swedish embassy in Baghdad twice in July, starting fires within the compound during the second incident.

Last year Sweden was the target of a vast disinformation campaign claiming its social services were kidnapping Muslim children and placing them in Christian homes, forcing the authorities to publicly deny the allegations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday visited Gaza for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began. He is the first prime minister of Israel in two decades to visit the Gaza Strip.

We continue until the end  until victory, footage posted online by his office showed him saying, on his first such trip since the war began October 7.

Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the wars goals, and we will, he further added.

Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 to its internationally recognized border with the enclave. It destroyed its 21 settlements there and handed the control of the coastal enclave to the Palestinian Authority (PA) but in 2007 the PAs Fatah Party was ousted from the enclave in a bloody coup.

The Israeli Prime Ministers visit to Gaza comes amid a four-day pause in the Gaza war.

Hamas took about 240 captives from southern Israel in an unprecedented October 7 terrorist attack and killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to Israeli officials.

Israel has vowed to eliminate Hamas and embarked on an aerial bombing campaign and ground invasion of Gaza and killed over 15,000 people, as claimed by Hamas.

The ceasefire agreement which spans for four days and is set to expire Monday midnight saw the release of 42 hostages. Hamas is expected to free a total of 50 hostages in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners in Israel over the course of a four-day pause brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

Hamas on Sunday said that the commander of its northern brigade and four other senior leaders were killed during Israels offensive against the terrorist group. The Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades said Ahmed al-Ghandour was a member of its military council and said that three others, including Ayman Siyyam, head of its rocket division, were killed. The West Bank branch of Hamas also confirmed that another of its leader died.
Nine children, four women and a Russian-Israeli were released Sunday by Gaza rulers Hamas, according to accounts given to AFP by their relatives, Israeli media and the Hostage Families Forum.

The releases bring to 63 the total number of freed hostages from around 240 taken to Gaza after the unprecedented October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

The releases came following a Friday agreement between Israel and Hamas, which is supposed to last for four days and allow for 50 Israelis and 150 Palestinians to be freed.

Thirteen Israeli hostages were released on Friday and the same number on Saturday, and in exchange Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners on Friday and a further 39 the following day, with a similar number released on Sunday.

The Russian-Israeli freed on Sunday was not part of the truce deal. Hamas said it freed him in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The Palestinian militant group also freed three Thai nationals on Sunday. Fourteen Thais and one Filipino had already been released by Hamas outside the deal.

The Israeli hostages freed on Sunday are:
An extraordinary effort to test well water in Dunn County resulted in nearly 1,000 tests being performed, and the effort received recognition in a statewide conservation magazine.

Chase Cummings, Dunn County conservationist, acknowledged that sending county workers to 977 locations to take well samples was ambitious.

We just made the commitment to spend staff time on it, and it paid off, Cummings said.

Heather Wood, county water resources specialist, said previous testing had shown spots in the county with water quality issues, but this effort included tests from all parts of the county.

We wanted to get an idea where there are problems with water quality, Wood said. If we are unaware of the problem, we cant do anything about it.

The Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association recently featured the Dunn County well water testing project in its quarterly publication, The Note.

As Cummings and Wood explained it, the Dunn County Planning, Resources, and Development Committee and the Land Conservation Committee asked them for ideas on how available ARPA funding could be used to improve water quality in Dunn County, an issue that the county board has made a priority.

They presented various alternatives to supervisors, who picked the most ambitious one that entailed collecting up to 1,000 samples across Dunn County. Cummings said assistance from the Dunn County Public Health Department and the Healthy Environment Action Team was crucial in recruiting the number of participants by providing a mailing to county residents to notify them and initiate interest in the program.

Groundwater concerns in this county have been pretty significant, Wood said, and the well sampling project grew out of those concerns.

The samples were tested using the UW-Stevens Point Water and Environmental Analysis Lab that looks for nitrates, hardness (calcium and magnesium), metals and atrazine and related herbicides, among other compounds. The samples were collected over eight weeks.

Cummings and Wood said that while the so-called forever chemicals PFAS have been in the news a lot, it was not financially feasible to test homeowner wells for them. However, water from each of the town halls in the county was sampled for PFAS. That testing showed 14 of the 22 town hall wells had PFAS in the samples, but the samples were within current health standards.

We got an idea of what PFAS looks like across the county, Wood said of the town hall test results.

After each of the 977 samples were analyzed, each well owner received the results with a letter from the county Land and Water Conservation Division, explaining what the samples would be used for and what resources are available if the results indicated contamination that needs to be mitigated.

The letter said: The data from your water sample will be included in the Dunn County groundwater data set and used to report on general groundwater conditions within Dunn County. Your personal information such as your name, address and contact information will not be used in any of this reporting.

The well owner also received a packet to help interpret the sampling results.

While the results are still being analyzed, the county's Planning, Resources, and Development Committee did receive some preliminary information in October that showed 128 wells were flagged for arsenic and 113 samples showed nitrate concentrations at or above the 10 mg/L limit considered safe for drinking water.

Cummings and Wood said the county board will receive a report in early 2024 that analyzes the results for supervisors. The results also will be added to the Dunn County Well Water Quality Map.

There are a number of different ways to use the data, Cummings said.

All the data will be broken down by why they matter and what we are concerned with, and then we will go from there, Wood said. The next steps will depend on funding and where we can get the most bang for our buck, she added.

Cummings said it will be important for local officials to understand the testing results as well because many of the land use decisions that affect water quality are made by local governments and not the county, Cummings said.

This report can be a tool in the toolbox in the planning process, he said.
Hamas wants to extend the pause in the ongoing war between the terrorist group and Israel, news agency AFP reported citing people familiar with the developments.

Hamas informed the mediators that the resistance movements were willing to extend the current truce by two to four days, the person mentioned above told AFP.

The person also said that Hamas believes it is possible to ensure the release of at least 20 to 40 Israeli hostages if the ceasefire deal is extended. The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the release of 20 to 40 Israeli prisonersin that time, the person further added.

Under the truce deal 50 hostages held by the terrorist are to be freed over four days in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners. There is a built-in mechanism in the deal that extends the ceasefire if Hamas releases at least 10 Israeli captives each day.

The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is yet to show any indication that the offensive will halt anytime soon. He visited Gaza for the first time since the war began on October 7 and also became the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit the blockaded coastal enclave since 2005.

We continue until the end  until victory, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in Gaza on Sunday as he met Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) soldiers stationed there. Dressed in green military fatigues, he vowed to free all the hostages and eliminate Hamas.

At least 58 hostages have been released from Gaza in the three days of the ceasefire, including citizens from Thailand, the Philippines and Russia. Israeli authorities have released 117 Palestinian women and children who were languishing in Israeli prisons.

The US has backed the plan of extending the ceasefire. Biden expressed a similar hope so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.

At least 120 aid trucks have entered Gaza through the Rafah border on Sunday, the Egyptian government told news agency CNN. The delivery of aid to the blockaded coastal enclave is one the crucial factors in sustaining the ceasefire and hostage-for-prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

On October 7, Hamas terrorists broke through Gazas militarised border with Israel in the countrys deadliest attack and killed about 1,200 Israelis and foreigners and took around 240 people hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

In response, Israel launched a military campaign to destroy Hamas, killing nearly 15,000 people, mostly civilians and including thousands of children, according to Gazas Hamas government.
Psilocybin, the psychedelic ingredient in magic mushrooms, eased symptoms of depression in a study by the Fitchburg-based Usona Institute, a Promega Corp. spinoff that aims to get the drug approved by federal authorities.

In a phase 2 study of 104 people with major depressive disorder, those who took psilocybin had significantly reduced depression scores a week later and six weeks later, compared with those who got a fake treatment, researchers reported recently in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Usona is preparing to launch a larger phase 3 study early next year before seeking Food and Drug Administration approval of psilocybin to treat major depression, if results are similarly positive.

It could provide hope for those who have not responded to other treatments, and it could also present a viable option for individuals seeking to avoid long-term treatment with standard antidepressants, said Dr. Charles Raison, Usonas director of clinical and translational research.

The development, part of a national resurgence of research on psychedelic drugs to treat a variety of mental health disorders, comes as Usona is opening a facility, estimated to cost $72 million, northwest of Promegas headquarters off East Cheryl Parkway.

With cathedral ceilings and spa-like treatment rooms, the 100,000-square-foot building provides space for education, training and guided hallucinogenic treatment experiences by patients in what is poised to become a national hub for psychedelic drug research.

Promega CEO Bill Linton co-founded nonprofit Usona in 2014 after a friend with late-stage cancer found relief from depression after taking psilocybin in a study at Johns Hopkins University. Studies suggest that by changing perception and cognition, psilocybin and other psychedelics can alter brain chemistry and help patients break free from mental anguish after just one or two doses.

Its my belief that people are undergoing a change in self-awareness, a re-set of who am I? Linton said last year.

Usonas study of psilocybin for depression used niacin, or vitamin B3, as a placebo in the roughly half of patients who didnt receive psilocybin, so they could serve as a control group. Niacin can cause flushing and chills, symptoms that may mimic part of the hallucinogenic experience of taking psilocybin.

But the researchers acknowledged that many patients may have been able to tell whether or not they experienced the true psychoactive effects of psilocybin. They said this may have resulted in some functional unblinding in a study in which participants are supposed to be blind as to whether they got a real or fake treatment.

Still, the study used off-site, objective assessors to chart participants depression scores. On a scale of 0 to 60, with higher scores indicating more severe depression, people who took psilocybin saw mean decreases of 17.8 points a week later, compared to a 5.8-point drop among those on niacin. After six weeks, the psilocybin group had a 19.1-point decline, compared to a 6.8-point reduction in the niacin group.

People who took psilocybin also had a significant improvement in functional disability after six weeks. They had higher rates of sustained remission from depression, but the difference was not statistically significant.

Those on psilocybin had more side effects, including headaches and changes in visual perception. The study used synthetic psilocybin made by Usona.

UW-Madison enrolled one subject in the study, which had 10 other sites, including Johns Hopkins, New York University, Yale University and the University of California-San Francisco.

Although the trial was relatively small, it demonstrated that a single dose of psilocybin in the context of a 6-week period that included active psychotherapy resulted in a rapid, robust, and sustained reduction in depressive symptoms, Rachel Yehuda and Amy Lehrner, psychologists at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, wrote in an editorial accompanying the study.

Other studies

UW-Madison researchers are also studying psilocybin to treat people with opioid and methamphetamine use disorders, using drugs made by Usona, in a tranquil treatment room at UWs School of Pharmacy.

In addition, campus researchers were involved in a phase 3 study of the psychedelic drug MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for post-traumatic stress disorder. After treatment, 86% of people who took MDMA improved on a standard PTSD assessment, compared to 69% in a placebo group, researchers reported in September.

MAPS Public Benefit Corporation, which sponsored the MDMA study, plans to soon seek FDA approval for PTSD.

Meanwhile, Usona recently finished a phase 1 study of 5-MeO-DMT, a psychoactive substance found in the venom of the Sonoran Desert toad, which has shown possible benefits for anxiety, depression and stress.

The study, which took place this year near Kansas City, injected the substance or a placebo into 54 healthy volunteers to assess safety and tolerability. Results have not been published yet.
1. It's been a year [November 2022] since I physically left Zimbabwe to assume my new responsibility at the global ecumenical space. My public theology and engagement have, however, remained shaped and informed by the developments in my beloved country, Zimbabwe. I love my country and my people, hence this long weaning process. But, this relationship can no longer be sustained. I am moving on.

2. My new responsibilities require me to read the global landscape as it impinges on the vision of God's kingdom of unity, peace, justice, and abundant life for all people. While Zimbabwe will remain important from my personal orientation, it ceases to be the main source for my public theology and engagement.

There are, however, three issues that I must mention in these parting words.

3. First, I encourage us not to give up on the value of participatory democracy in our nation-building agenda. Democracy (a) allows all people to choose the leaders they want on the basis of accurate information, (b) allows all people to meaningfully participate in their national affairs without fear or coercion,

(c) ensures the equal protection of the rights of all citizens, and

(d) it ensures that all our engagements are regulated and protected by laws. This creates order, predictability, and protection for everyone.

4. Democracy has been under threat for some time now, but right now, it is at the throes of death because of two main forces. The first is the force of capital. Capital eats democracy for lunch because it knows no nationality and can get what it wants since everything has a price. It is my hope that God's people will say, "Not everything can be sold for money."

The second challenge for democracy is that it has not been consistently applied and has not always contributed meaningfully to the well-being of the people. Therefore, it suffers a credibility challenge. It doesn't have a great track record, yet it remains the best alternative system of governance. Any system that denies people meaningful participation and freedoms is not sustainable even if it appears successful for a time.

5. I am not talking about democracy only at the national level, although that is the ultimate aim. I am more concerned about democracy and good governance within the political parties and institutions. If there is no democratic culture in the political parties and the other spheres of society, it won't miraculously come to life at the national level. The levels of mistrust in our current political environment makes broad participation not attractive. Followers prefer ready-made answers while "messianic" leaders are impatient for meaningful engagement.

6. Second, nation-building requires self-respect. Self-respect as a virtue means that we can not treat each other with indignity and expect the world to respect us. We need to treat each other the way we want other nations to treat us. Self-respect also means that we choose the best among us to carry out representative tasks. We need to honour merit and competence.

7. Since the liberation struggle, we have relied on one attribute as the basis for leadership, namely, courage. One needed courage to fight the settler colonial regime because it was risky. One needed (still needs) courage to confront the post-independence despotic systems because it was risky. Courage and sacrifice are important values. Actually, without them, we will never break some important new ground. Yet, courage alone is not enough. We need know-how and competence. Self-respect means that we are not afraid of people who are better than us in some areas. At the same time, we don't get intimidated by differences if we respect ourselves.

8. The third, since nation-building is my calling, I WILL BE BACK!! Rev Dr Kenneth Matata writing on X
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Jeff Post grew up a rock hound, scavenging the hills and valleys of Wisconsins Driftless Area for calcite, sphalerite, marcasite and pyrite crystals.

The Mount Horeb native even worked for a summer in Shullsburg in one of the states last operating lead mines.

It was from this basic, boots-on-the-grounds Badger State upbringing in the 1970s that helped lead Post to be in charge for the past 29 years of one of the most precious and most widely known stones ever found.

Were talking about the Hope Diamond mined nearly 400 years ago from India.

The now 45.5-carat stone, set in a necklace, rests here on the second floor of the Smithsonian Institutions National Museum of Natural History in a rectangular display case with walls of thick glass and soft lighting. The blue gemstone turns on a pedestal every few seconds to give the constant crowd a 360 degree view. Security here is understandably tight. But Post no longer has to worry about the invaluable diamonds well-being.

Yes, he still cares deeply about the stone and the rest of the museums vast collection of 350,000 mineral specimens and 10,000 gems. But Post, 69, is now curator emeritus of the museums mineral and gem collection. That means in retirement, which includes relocating to Wisconsin, he can relax a little bit and leave worrying about the Hope to his successor.

Theres a big, huge, interesting, fun part of the job, but theres also a huge part of the job thats just, every day, is a burden, Post said. You know, every day you come in and go, Thank God the Hope Diamond is still here. You dont want to be the guy that history associates with the Hope Diamond no longer being here.

I learned of Post earlier this year thanks to an interview with Wisconsin Public Radio. And since my daughter, Leah, now works in Washington, D.C., a trip out to visit her last week just before Thanksgiving created an opportune time for a trip to the museum and a meeting with Post. A government shutdown loomed but fortunately was avoided. That allowed Post to show me around the Janet Annenberg Hooker Hall of Geology, Gems and Minerals.

But first I had to find Post, who, via text, instructed me to meet him at the business end of the 13-foot-foot-tall, African bush elephant that serves as the imposing centerpiece of the museums rotunda. This was Tuesday, and it poured rain all day. The museum was crammed with people, and the first stop for many was the Harry Winston Gallery, home to the Hope Diamond. Unlike the Louvre in Paris, where the Mona Lisa is buried deep into the immense collection, the Hope is the first exhibit among the minerals and gems. Its positioning means the museums 3.9 million visitors each year are more likely to slow down, continue on and experience the rest of the collection.

Its amazing how it resonated here. Within weeks after it came to this museum the attendance more than doubled, Post said. Were happy it brings a lot of people in the door. They get to see the Hope Diamond and, hopefully, a lot of them them go on to explore the rest of the story of the earth and geology. The Hope Diamond brings people in the door in the way that geology does not.

Story of a stone

And while the Hope is a rare gem stone, its history also adds to its nearly incalculable value.

The story begins in the 1600s, when French merchant traveler Jean Baptiste Tavernier purchased a 112 3/16-carat diamond most likely from the Kollur mine in Golconda, India. Tavernier sold the diamond to King Louis XIV of France in 1668, and a few years later it was recut to 67 1/8 carats, set in gold and suspended on a neck ribbon that the king wore on ceremonial occasions, according to the Smithsonian website.

In 1791, after an attempt by Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to flee France, the jewels of the French Royal Treasury were turned over to the government but stolen a year later before resurfacing in 1812, sold to King George IV of the United Kingdom and then, upon his death in 1830, sold again before ultimately being owned by Henry Philip Hope. After his death in 1839, the diamond was passed on to family members and sold multiple times thereafter, including in 1909 to Pierre Cartier.

Two years later, in 1911, Cartier sold the diamond to Evalyn Walsh McLean, of Washington D.C., but upon her death in 1947, McLeans entire jewelry collection, which included the Hope and other large diamonds, was sold to Harry Winston.

He showed the Hope at exhibits and charitable events for 10 years before donating the diamond to the Smithsonian in 1958.

Theres hardly a day that goes by where someone doesnt have a question about the Hope Diamond, Post said. Whether its a visitor, whether its the press or somebody writing a book, whatever it is, its one of these stories that doesnt ever seem to end. Its just too good of a story not to keep telling it.

Mount Horeb to the Smithsonian

Post thought his career arc would involve working in the geology department of a college or university somewhere in the Midwest, since his wife, Ann Kirking Post, is a Lodi native, whom he met through 4-H. Post graduated from UW-Platteville, did graduate work at Arizona State and post doctoral research at Harvard University in Boston. When he began looking in 1984 for a job in geology, he happened across a listing from the Smithsonian and was hired as a research mineralogist.

The museums minerals and gems go far beyond the Hope. During our tour, Post showed off the Dom Pedro Aquamarine, the largest single piece of cut-gem aquamarine in the world. Its near a bowling ball-size, 242,323-carat quartz sphere from China and the 253.7-carat Oppenheimer diamond from a mine in South Africa. But Post also showed off more humble exhibits, including a chunk of zinc from Tennessee, calcite from South Dakota, white pectolite from New Jersey and geothite from Ironwood, Michigan.

The Wisconsin entries on display came fittingly enough from the Iron County community of Montreal. They included a pink glob of calcite and a chunk of black and gold marcasite. Back in the archives, Post pulled from a drawer red, quartz crystals gleaned from Rib Mountain near Wausau and pinkish quartz crystals from McCaslin Mountain in Oconto County.

Everyone of these things came out of the earth, Post said. Every diamond, every gem stone, every piece here started out as a mineral crystal that formed in the earth and we have to remind people of that because thats not what theyre thinking when they first walk in here. Theyre part of geology. Theyre part of a story.

He and his wife now have two grown daughters and recently closed on a house south of Cross Plains but wont be moving back to Wisconsin until next summer. Post would like to get involved with geology at UW-Madison and its geology museum and will continue to do research for the Smithsonian, established in 1846, two years before Wisconsin became a state. The Natural History Museum, one of 21 Smithsonian museums plus the National Zoo, opened its doors in 1910.

Theres always things happening, theres always the next thing, Post said about continuing research after his official retirement. Its kind of daunting in a way, but the nice thing is you get to the end and retire from here and you get to leave a place that you know has got this future that you know is going to go on. So youve been part of something that is just an amazing place, tradition and opportunity.

Photos: Jeff Post, curator emeritus at the National Museum of Natural History
The National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe (NPA) is working around the clock to minimise the level of crime and corruption through the efficient prosecution of cases, without fear or favour.

Postponement of trials should also be minimised at all costs to ensure justice is delivered in time, new Prosecutor-General Justice Loice Matanda-Moyo has said.

The recent conviction of accused in high-profile cases since Justice Matanda-Moyos appointment was evidence enough that crime would never be tolerated while proceeds of crime would not be enjoyed by anyone any more.

Since assuming the post of PG, Justice Matanda-Moyo has overseen the conviction of high-profile cases including that of former Deputy Finance Minister Terence Mukupe, who received a three-year jail term and was ordered to pay a steep fine, for importing more than 138 000 litres of diesel without paying duty.

Zimbabwe Miners Federation president Ms Henrietta Rushwaya was also convicted recently for attempting to smuggle 6kg gold worth US$333 000 to Dubai, a few years ago, and saw all that gold being confiscated while having to pay a large fine.

In an interview, Justice Matanda-Moyo said the NPA was making headway in ensuring that crime and corruption were reduced in the short-term and potentially eliminated in the long-term, to boost investor confidence and ultimately foreign direct investment (FDI).

President Mnangagwa continues to promote Zimbabwe as an investment destination of choice and many global companies are taking up the available opportunities while others are making serious inquiries.

In recent years, many people had christened the NPAZ a toothless bulldog as it struggled to see through the effective prosecution of cases.

But Justice Matanda-Moyo says she will change the peoples perception of the NPAZ through comprehensive work of ensuring everyone with a case to answer gets their day in court.

My main mission is to ensure that criminal cases are prosecuted without fear or favour in the interest of the public, she said.

In so doing, the office must maintain integrity in the processes and remain accountable. Crime and corruption rates within our country must be minimised through effective prosecution of cases.

It is our duty as the NPAZ that corruption is substantially reduced to also ensure Zimbabwe is positioned to attract foreign investment.

Presently, the PGs office is seized with clearing the backlog in cases as well as improving the clearance rate.

Public confidence, said PG Matanda-Moyo, was of paramount importance, hence the NPAZ is working on ensuring it is regained.

Definitely all the law enforcement agents must be assured that the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe will, henceforth, work closely with them in ensuring that criminal cases are finalised within the shortest period.

I have already instructed our prosecutors that postponement of cases should be the exception and not the norm. All cases set down for trial must be heard on those days that they are scheduled to be heard.

Furthermore, public trust remains key to achieving our mandate. It is, therefore, crucial that the office acts transparently in order not to lose that public trust. During my tenure as Prosecutor-General, I would want to see the development of criminal law jurisprudence.

Indeed there are a lot of areas that need improvement. Our backlog at the moment is huge and we are reviewing our prosecuting strategies to speed up our case clearance rate, she said.

PG Matanda-Moyo said gone are the days when witnesses were not accorded due respect. From now on, a symbiotic relationship with witnesses will be nurtured as well as increased collaboration with other arms in the criminal justice system, she said. The days when witnesses would be travelling to court just for postponements are now gone.

We value our witnesses and they shall be accorded that respect. We must never get to a point when the public loses trust in the system as that can create anarchy in society.

I am very alive to the important role this office enjoys within the criminal justice delivery system. We are also improving our collaboration and coordination with other actors in the criminal justice delivery system to ensure the smooth flow of cases from investigating authorities, thus ensuring quick disposal of cases, she said.

PG Matanda-Moyo added that the NPA was working towards increased transparency and seamless operations in the judicial services system.

The NPAZ urgently requires an integrated electronic system to feed into the judiciary one. The obtaining situation where prosecutors share gadgets with criminals is not ideal.

We are working flat out to ensure that the situation is resolved in all provinces, she said.

PG Matanda-Moyo, who is the immediate-past chairperson of the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (ZACC), took her oath of office last month. Herald
Popular rhumba group from Tsholotsho Insimbi ZeZhwane drove away in a BMW 318 after scooping the coveted Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards Peoples Choice Award.

In their seventh edition, the awards, which honour and recognise the immense talent within the Matabeleland region, were held on Saturday evening at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC).

In addition to winning the Peoples Choice Award, Insimbi ZeZhwane also took home the award for Outstanding Tshibilika/Rhumba Act. The groups popularity was evident as the crowd erupted in excitement and chanted the groups slogan, Jiiiii every time they were called to the stage.

The exhibition centres Hall 3 was filled to capacity with people from all walks of life, all dressed in their finest attire, adding to the glamour of the night.

In attendance were social media personalities from South Africa; Lasizwe Dambuza and his brother Lungile Mchunu, and UK-based Zimbabwean Mitchell Mimi Tshuma. The trio were fashion police on the night welcoming guests and asking them about their outfits. They were responsible for selecting the best-dressed individual of the night, who was rewarded with a weekend getaway to South Africa.

The awards ceremony was also attended by previous winners and nominees of the RoilBAAs including Mawiza, Thandy Dhlana, Lady Tshawe, Cde Phil, Ladee, Mzoe 7, and Nkwali, creating an atmosphere of celebration and recognition within the arts industry.

Other than Insimbi ZeZhwane, the spotlight was shone on DJ Nitefreak who scooped three awards; Outstanding Song of the Year, Outstanding Club DJ, and Outstanding Ambassador (Worldwide).

As part of this years edition, seven icons within the arts sector were honoured, over and above the Lifetime Achievement Award. These were traditional dance group Thandanani Womens Ensemble, musician Hudson Simbarashe, theatre practitioner Thabani H Moyo, prolific writer Ericah Gwetai, media personality Ezra Tshisa Sibanda, music group Black Umfolosi and the late hip-hop musician Cal_Vin.

The Outstanding Male Artiste of the Year Award went to Calvin Mangena while the Outstanding Female Artiste of the Year gong went to Joy Rukanza. Chronicles Mbulelo Mpofu was awarded Outstanding Arts Journalist while Outstanding Online media went to Dab Three Events. Chronicle
Irish writer Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize for fiction on Sunday with what judges called a "soul-shattering" novel about a woman's struggle to protect her family as Ireland collapses into totalitarianism and war, the AP reports. Prophet Song, set in a dystopian fictional version of Dublin, was awarded the $63,000 literary prize at a ceremony in London. Canadian writer Esi Edugyan, who chaired the judging panel, said the book is "a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave" in which Lynch "pulls off feats of language that are stunning to witness." Lynch, 46, had been the bookies' favorite to win the prestigious prize, which usually brings a big boost in sales. His book beat five other finalists from Ireland, the UK, the US, and Canada, chosen from 163 novels submitted by publishers.

"This was not an easy book to write," Lynch said after being handed the Booker trophy. "The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel, though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters." Lynch has called Prophet Song, his fifth novel, an attempt at "radical empathy" that tries to plunge readers into the experience of living in a collapsing society. "I was trying to see into the modern chaos," he told the Booker website. "The unrest in Western democracies. The problem of Syriathe implosion of an entire nation, the scale of its refugee crisis and the West's indifference.  I wanted to deepen the reader's immersion to such a degree that by the end of the book, they would not just know, but feel this problem for themselves."

The five prize judges met to pick the winner on Saturday, less than 48 hours after far-right violence erupted in Dublin following a stabbing attack on a group of children. Edugyan said that immediate events didn't directly influence the choice of winner. Lynch said he was "astonished" by the riots "and at the same time I recognized the truth that this kind of energy is always there under the surface." He said Prophet Songwritten over four years starting in 2018"is a counterfactual novel. It's not a prophetic statement." "I wrote the book to articulate the message that the things that are happening in this book are occurring timelessly throughout the ages and maybe we need to deepen our own responses to that," he told reporters.

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The other finalists were Irish writer Paul Murray's The Bee Sting; American novelist Paul Harding's This Other Eden; Canadian author Sarah Bernstein's Study for Obedience; US writer Jonathan Escoffery's If I Survive You; and British author Chetna Maroo's Western Lane. Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to English-language novels from any country published in the UK and Ireland, and has a reputation for transforming writers' careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie, and Hilary Mantel. (Read more Booker Prize stories.)
In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is "authentic," the AP reports. Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary company's site but were boosted to new heights throughout the year, editor at large Peter Sokolowski told the AP in an exclusive interview. "We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity," he said ahead of Monday's announcement of this year's word. "What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more."

Sokolowski and his team don't delve into the reasons people head for dictionaries and websites in search of specific words. Rather, they chase the data on lookup spikes and world events that correlate. This time around, there was no particularly huge boost at any given time but a constancy to the increased interest in "authentic." This was the year of artificial intelligence, for sure (and "AI" was chosen by another dictionary as word of the year), but also a moment when ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suffered a leadership crisis. Taylor Swift and Prince Harry chased after authenticity in their words and deeds. Musk himself, at February's World Government Summit in Dubai, urged the heads of companies, politicians, ministers, and other leaders to "speak authentically" on social media by running their own accounts.

Cambridge Dictionary also recently chose its word of the year: "hallucinate," the Guardian reports. This one can also be tied to AI: While the word's original definition is to "seem to see, hear, feel, or smell" something that doesn't actually exist, it now also has a meaning that relates to artificial intelligence. When AI systems like ChatGPT "hallucinate," they produce false information. "The new meaning gets to the heart of why people are talking about AI," the dictionary says on its website. "Generative AI is a powerful tool but one we're all still learning how to interact with safely and effectivelythis means being aware of both its potential strengths and its current weaknesses." (Click for the rest of Merriam-Webster's words of the year for 2023.)
New Zealand's ambitious plan to eventually turn the nation smoke-free has itself gone up in smoke. The legislation passed in late 2022 mandated a progressively increasing smoking age that would effectively mean that anyone born on or after Jan. 1, 2009, would never be able to legally light up. Now, however, the country's new government has decided to nix that bana move that public health experts say will prove "catastrophic," particularly for the Indigenous Maori people, per the Guardian .

In addition to the generational ban, other amendments slashed by the National Party's coalition government with the populist New Zealand First and libertarian ACT parties included one that drastically cut down on the number of stores legally allowed to sell tobacco products, as well as one that significantly decreased the amount of nicotine in said products. The law, which was set to go into effect in July 2024, had been put into place to help cut down on deaths tied to smoking and to save New Zealand's health system billions of dollars.

But the nation's new prime minister, Christopher Luxon of the conservative National Party, says prohibiting smoking would create "an opportunity for a black market to emerge, which would be largely untaxed," reports Deutsche Welle. Plus, "to say that ... you can concentrate all that distribution [of cigarettes] in a few shops and you have one smokeshop in one small town ... you can't not tell me they would be a massive target for ... crime," Luxon told Radio New Zealand.

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Finance Minister Nicola Willis says the revenue from the cigarette sales will be put toward paying for the new government's tax cuts, although Luxon insists that wasn't the prime motivation behind reversing the legislation. Health experts, meanwhile, are decrying what the BBC calls the government's "shock reversal," as the law had been expected to save up to 5,000 lives per year. "Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government's done and are calling on them to backtrack," says professor Richard Edwards, a tobacco control scientist and public health expert at the University of Otago. (Read more New Zealand stories.)
Elon Musk toured an Israeli kibbutz on Monday accompanied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, including the home of a 4-year-old hostage who was abducted when Hamas militants stormed the community on Oct. 7. CNN Business reports that during Musk's visit to Kfar Azza, he and Netanyahu stopped by the home of American Abigail Edan, who was just 3 when she was kidnapped (she turned 4 in captivity) and saw her parents murdered in the attack. Abigail was released over the weekend. "It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre," Musk said in an X Spaces forum with Netanyahu, whose office released video of Musk's visit, per the AP .

The AP notes it's not clear if Musk had been invited by the Israeli government. Musk was also set to meet Monday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as well as former Defense Minister Benny Gantz, now part of the Israeli war cabinet, and while Netanyahu didn't bring up the topic of antisemitism in particular during Musk's visit, Herzog did in announcing his own itinerary with Musk. "In their meeting, the president will emphasize the need to act to combat rising antisemitism online," a statement from Herzog's office noted, per Reuters.

Musk's visit to Israel comes as backlash continues over his endorsement of an antisemitic comment made on his X site, which claimed Jewish people support the immigration of minorities to displace the white populationaka the "Great Replacement" theory. Musk's answer to that post: "You have said the actual truth." UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak weighed in on the backlash against Musk on Sunday on Bloomberg TV, though Sunak was "careful" with his words.

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"Of course I abhor antisemitism," Sunak said when pressed. "It doesn't matter whether you're Elon Musk or you're someone on the street who's shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past you, that's wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong." The New York Times reports that Musk's social media platform could hemorrhage up to $75 million in ad revenue by the end of 2023, as brands defect from X following Musk's endorsement of the antisemitic conspiracy theory. (Read more Elon Musk stories.)
Abigail Edan was 3 years old when Hamas militants seized her as a hostage. The American girl had a birthday in captivity and returns to a much different world as a 4-year-old upon her release over the weekend . The militants murdered both her parents, Roy and Smadar Edan, and she was in her father's arms when he was shot to death, reports the New York Times . She ran to the home of her neighboring aunt, Tal Edan, but she and others hiding there were subsequently found and taken hostage. "Feels like a miracle that came true," her aunt wrote upon the release of Abigail, who has dual American-Israeli citizenship.

Abigail's older siblings, ages 6 and 10, managed to escape the militants, and all three are expected to remain in Israel and be raised by their aunt, uncle, and grandparents, per CBS News. "We know that for her to come back, for her sister and her brother, is their one hope," another relative had said prior to her release. With the release of Abigail, nine American hostages remainnational security adviser Jake Sullivan had put the count at 10 just before she was freed, per the Hill. The AP lists them as eight citizens and one lawful permanent resident and says the fate of those seven men and two women remain unclear. (Hamas previously released two American women.)

"We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing," said Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali, Abigail's great-aunt and cousin, in a statement. Abigail's father worked as a photographer for the Israeli media outlet Ynet, per the Washington Post. Her grandfather, Carmel Edan, was asked by the Times of Israel what he would say to his granddaughter when he could finally see her. "I won't tell her anything," he responded. "I'll kiss her, stroke her, hug her. Speak, no? There's nothing to say." (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.)
The US Navy responded to Sunday's seizure of an Israeli-linked tanker off the coast of Yemen, and took on some less-than-successful missile fire for its trouble. As the New York Times reports, the destroyer USS Mason and other ships involved in anti-piracy efforts in the region approached the hijacked cargo ship MV Central Park in the Gulf of Aden and demanded that the armed assailants aboard release it. "Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat," Central Command said, per the AP . "The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender."

That earned the US rescuers two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near the Masonbut not too near. "The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles from the ships," said the CentCom statement. "The USS Mason ... was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident." Early Monday, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors were unharmed. "We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law," said Zodiac Maritime, the vessel's Israeli-linked owner.

Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency. "The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park," the statement read. The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that "two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing" had been seen in the area. The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 35 miles south of Yemen's coast, some 50 miles east of Djibouti and around 70 miles northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route. (Read more Israel-Hamas war stories.)
President Biden will be skipping the world leaders' summit at the annual United Nations climate change conference for the first time in his presidency. Biden has called climate change the "ultimate threat" to humanity and it's not clear why the president won't be at the summit, though aides have suggested the Israel-Hamas war has consumed much of his energy, the New York Times reports. The White House has said American delegates to the COP28 conference will include Special Envoy John Kerry and his team. Vice President Kamala Harris will also be skipping the summit, according to the official White House schedule.

The conference begins Thursday, when Biden is scheduled to meet the president of Angola and take part in the White House Christmas tree lighting, the Washington Post reports. The only other event on his schedule for the weekend is the Kennedy Center Honors. Some 70,000 delegates are expected to attend the conference in Dubai, including Pope Francis as well as almost 200 world leaders, but China's Xi Jinping is not expected to attend, meaning the leaders of the two countries that produce the most emissions will be absent.

In a statement Sunday, the White House said Biden "has led and delivered on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, both at home and abroad." It said the White House "looks forward to a robust and productive COP28 where Special Envoy John Kerry, National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi, and Senior Advisor John Podesta, among others, will continue to build on the Administration's historic actions to tackle the climate crisis." It's still possible that Biden could travel to the United Arab Emirates for the second week of the summit, but most world leaders will have left by then, the Post reports. (Read more UN climate summit stories.)
Was it a hate crime? The shooting of three 20-year-old men of Palestinian descent near the University of Vermont has raised the question in Burlington. Police have arrested 48-year-old Jason Eaton of Burlington, who's in custody on three counts of aggravated assault. Eaton pleaded not guilty at an arraignment Monday, reports the Hill. All three victims remain hospitalized, with two in stable condition and a third suffering what police say were "much more serious injuries." What's known about the Saturday shootings:

Victims: They are Hisham Awartani, who attends Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, who attends Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, who goes to Trinity College in Connecticut, reports CNN. All three graduated from the Quaker-run Ramallah Friends School, a private institution in the West Bank, per the Burlington Free Press. The AP says two are US citizens and the third has legal permission to be in the country.
North Korean Hackers Disguise as South Korean Govt Agencies to Steal Cryptos: Report

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.

North Koreas state-backed hacking group Kimsuky, is supposedly behind a cryptocurrency heist, where hackers disguised as South Korean government agencies.

Per a local report, hackers impersonated as South Korean journalists, government agencies and research institutes. Between March and October 2023, a total of 1,468 people fell victim to the crypto hackers, the local police confirmed.

The victims included 57 incumbent or retired government officials in diplomacy, military and national security. The rest 1,411 victims were working in the private sector, the report added.

The police will work closely with relevant institutions and agencies to continuously track down North Koreas cyber-attacks and breaches to prevent losses, a police officer noted.

Phishing Mails Sent

The South Korean National Police Agency said that the perpetrators sent phishing mails to execute the dubious act. These mails pretended to be sent from South Korean government agencies including the National Police Agency, National Health Insurance Service, National Pension Service and National Tax Service.

Further, it contained clickbait  a link encouraging visitors to click to a particular web page  with words like notice, questionnaire. Once victims open the scam mail or attached files, the hackers infest computers with a malware, police explained.

The malware then stole victims personal information and cryptocurrency. Illegal cyber activity was aimed at stealing cryptocurrency, they added.

According to the police data, attackers stole IDs and profile information of 19 victims to access their crypto trading accounts. Additionally, they seized 147 proxy servers to carry out crypto mining programs.

The police have closed 42 phishing websites operated by the North Korean hacker group to prevent further loss.

The North Korean Kimsuky hacker group operates under the countrys Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Koreas foreign intelligence agency. South Korea government sanctioned Kimsuky in June.
Another 11 Israeli hostageseight children and three womenwere released by Hamas on Monday, the fourth day of the ceasefire. The Israeli military said late Monday that the 11 were back in Israel and would undergo an initial medical assessment before being reunited with their families. The kibbutz Nir Oz said all 11 were kibbutz residents, CNN reports. According to Qatar foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari, the released hostages include multiple dual nationals, reports the Times of Israel. He said "three French citizens, two German citizens, and six Argentinian citizens" were released, while Israel is releasing three Palestinian women and 30 minors from its prisons.
Madeleine disappeared from the Praia da Luz resort while her parents were having dinner, and to this day there has been no trace of her whereabouts.

Bruckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for rape, denies having anything to do with Madeleine's disappearance.

The current case against Bruckner was built around key witness Helge Busching's testimony, BILD reported.

Busching is said to have claimed that Bruckner confessed to him about his involvement in Madeleine's disappearance.

Busching also told investigators about video cassettes that he claimed to have stolen from Bruckner, German media reported.

He said the cassettes allegedly contained videos of sex crimes Bruckner had committed, according to BILD.

However, it's now revealed Busching changed his statement. After originally claiming that the videotapes were hidden in a caravan, neither the video cassettes nor the caravan were ever found.

In January 2023, Busching's lawyer said he had instead left the cassettes in a finca (farmhouse) where he used to live, and not in a caravan.

Because of this contradiction, Busching has been reported by Bruckner's lawyer Friedrich Fulscher, BILD reported.

The lawyer believes that Busching is not credible as a witness and told BILD: "The public prosecutor's office should have initiated an official investigation as soon as these circumstances became known. We are far beyond initial suspicion here."

According to Spiegel, investigators at the Federal Criminal Police Office informed Busching could be prosecuted for "unsworn false statements".

The public prosecutor's office also relies on Busching's statement about the video cassettes in a current indictment against Bruckner.

It concerns several sexual crimes: the alleged rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in Portugal, two cases of alleged child abuse and other rapes of senior women that are said to be seen on the videotapes, BILD reported.
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TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

In a groundbreaking move towards enhancing efficiency and service delivery, Bahrain has unveiled a new national appointment system for public entities.

The announcement came during the Ministerial Committee for Information Technology and Communications recent meeting, presided over by His Excellency General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Committee.

The esteemed gathering included key ministers and the CEO of the Information and e-Government Authority. HE General Shaikh Rashid commenced the meeting by acknowledging the unwavering support and attention of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa for initiatives aimed at improving government performance and delivering optimal services.

The Minister emphasised that these advancements align with the directives of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister. After endorsing the minutes of the previous meeting and reviewing the decisions issued, the committee delved into comprehensive discussions, including the latest developments in upgrading government websites.

As the Chairman of the Committee, the Minister of Interior stressed the significance of elevating government websites to international standards and best practices. Underscoring the importance of providing technical assistance for procedural clarity and data security, the Committee addressed the latest updates on the national appointment system.

It was unanimously agreed to initiate a pilot phase of the system in two entities, marking a pivotal step towards reducing bureaucratic burdens, streamlining procedures, and ensuring efficient service provision.

Electronic registration

The minister also shed light on the launch of the electronic death system and outlined plans for the imminent introduction of the national correspondence system. These initiatives aim to modernise and simplify processes, contributing to a more streamlined and citizen-centric government approach.

In his closing remarks, HE General Shaikh Rashid expressed gratitude to the committee members for their steadfast commitment to communication and coordination. He underscored their collective efforts to advance government services, ultimately benefiting all citizens and residents.

The unveiling of the national appointment system stands as a testament to Bahrains commitment to technological innovation and administrative excellence.
Greater efforts are needed to advance institutional innovation in China's pilot free trade zones, to better align with high-standard international economic and trade rules such as those of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, officials and experts said on Friday. This is part of a broader push by China to improve its digital trade governance system, and promote innovation and develop digital trade in the country, they said, in remarks made during the second Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. Guo Tingting, vice-minister of commerce, said more efforts should be made to deepen reform and innovation in pilot FTZs, with a key focus on cross-border data flow, application of digital technology, and openness and sharing of data, so as to inject new momentum into digital trade. Guo emphasized the need to shorten the negative lists for foreign investment access in pilot FTZs in an appropriate manner, introduce a negative list for cross-border trade in services as soon as possible, and expand international cooperation in the fields of digital identity, e-payment and electronic bills. The country's pilot FTZs, she said, have played an active role in aligning with high-standard international digital trade rules and carried out exploratory projects in digital standards, digital technology, digital services and digital transactions in recent years. Guo also called for efforts to vigorously develop new forms and models of digital trade, bolster the development of digital trade in services, as well as accelerate the construction of a modern digital industrial system. The DEPA, signed in June 2020 by Chile, New Zealand and Singapore, is a new type of trade partnership agreement aimed at bolstering digital trade by regulating issues related to the digital economy, including the facilitation of business and trade, data flow and protection, personal information safety and artificial intelligence. China formally submitted its application to join the DEPA in November 2021. In August 2022, the country set up a working group to advance talks on joining the DEPA, and launched negotiations on its accession to the agreement. Highlighting that China has paid great attention to the data flow issue in the context of safeguarding data security, Huang Xianhai, vice-president of Zhejiang University, said under the DEPA framework, it is necessary to encourage pilot FTZs to carry out trials on the facilitation of cross-border data flow, establish related governance and operation platforms, and explore data classification and supervision models. Huang said there should be a concerted push to nurture a data elements market, promote the confirmation of data-related rights, and facilitate the circulation and transaction of data resources, in a bid to bolster the safe, efficient and convenient flow of data. Zhou Nianli, a professor at the China Institute for WTO Studies in the University of International Business and Economics, called for establishing a comprehensive data governance framework that covers governance of cross-border data flow, personal privacy protection, openness and sharing of government data, and innovative governance of data. fanfeifei@chinadaily.com.cn


Cumberland Valley School District is considering revising an existing class rank policy that would eliminate placing class rankings on student report cards for grades 9-12 and discontinue recognition of a class valedictorian and salutatorian at graduation ceremonies.

Class ranks instead would be published only on official student transcripts with the intention of reducing student stress.

Weve been working on (revising) this policy for the past 18 months, Superintendent David Christopher said last week during the board meeting. Students have told us that this (class ranking on report cards) really affects their stress levels and their mental health.

Revisions also would allow the recognition of several students with weighted grade point averages at graduation rather than recognizing only two. Cum laude honors would go to students graduating with weighted grade point averages between 93-95%, magna cum laude would honor GPAs between 96-99.99%, and summa cum laude would recognized GPAs ranking 100% and above.

Christopher said the district believes that limiting academic honors only to valedictorians and salutatorians is unfair to other high achievers.

He said a number of students in the districts graduating class of 2024 currently carry GPAs higher than 100% due to weighted Advanced Placement classes. Thats a lot of recognition to hand out, he said.

Mark Blanchard, the districts assistant superintendent for secondary education and soon-to-be superintendent, said the proposed revisions would really recognize student achievement, and the only person you compete with is yourself.

School directors offered a mix of reactions during their initial review of the policy last Monday night. Michelle Nestor said many parents have reached out to me and say how stressful (the districts current class rank policy) is to our students.

Im a parent of a member of our Class of 2027, board member Jevon Ford said. I appreciate the board moving forward with this. I fully support this.

I have an issue with getting rid of a valedictorian and salutatorian, departing school board member Jessica Silcox said. Theyre going to have to learn to deal with the adversity of competition later in life, anyway. Theyre going to have to deal with it in the military and with jobs.  Were still going to have a first and second in the class, and they worked so hard for this. I dont think we should take that away from that.

Board member Brian Drapp, chair of the districts policy committee, said that if finalized, policy changes would be phased in gradually, becoming fully in effect when the districts current sophomore class graduates in 2027. The district would still recognize a valedictorian and salutatorian next June, but starting this year, a lot more students will be recognized, he said.

The school board is scheduled to review proposed policy revisions at two future meetings before voting on the proposal. District officials said they encourage families to contact them with feedback about the proposal in the meantime.

Appointments and departures

Also last week, the Cumberland Valley School Board unanimously re-appointed Gregory Milbrand as assistant superintendent for a term of four years and two months with a starting base salary of $175,000. Milbrand first came to the district in that position in 2019.

Likewise, the board unanimously re-appointed Michael Willis as the districts chief financial officer for a three and one-half year term with a starting base salary of $200,000.

School directors also unanimously re-appointed Michelle Zettlemoyer as human resources/district compliance officer for a three and one-half term with a starting base salary of $157,000.

School directors also said goodbye last week to Christopher and departing board members Heather Dunn and Silcox.

Christopher resigns from his post Dec. 3 to accept a position of superintendent with West Chester Area School District. He first became CVs superintendent in 2019.

Christopher said Tuesday that during his tenure, he is most proud that CV has remained one of the top performing districts in Pennsylvania, including having a National Blue Ribbon Award winning school (Hampden Elementary) while also being the fastest growing district over the four years I have been here.

Dunn was first appointed by the board in 2014. She most recently served four years as the board president and chair of the districts policy committee, preceded by two years as board vice president. She also represented the district on the Eagle Foundation and Capital Area Intermediate boards, as well as serving on several other committees.

Silcox was elected to the board in 2019, serving as chair of the districts Redistribution Committee and on several other panels. She also represented the district on the joint operating committee of Cumberland Perry Area Career and Technical School, as well as recognizing the districts military-connected families through several actions.

Dunn did not seek re-election this past year, and Silcox was defeated in the municipal election by Ford and newcomer Kelly Potteiger.
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO US WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA/

Q3 Revenue of $37.6 million - Year-over-year growth of 48% in Q3 and 87% for the nine months year-to-date

Q3 Adjusted EBITDA1 of $3.9 million - Year-over-year growth of 30% in Q3 and 60% for the nine months year-to-date

(All figures in US dollars, unless otherwise indicated)

TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - PopReach Corporation (dba "Ionik", or the "Company") (TSXV: INIK) (OTCQX: INIKF), a data-driven marketing technology company, announced its financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023.

Financial Highlights for the Third Quarter 2023

Revenue of $37.6 million , compared to $39.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 and $25.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 , with growth driven by the acquisition of Ubiquity in September 2022 and SCS and OpenMoves in April 2023 .

, compared to for the three months ended and for the three months ended , with growth driven by the acquisition of Ubiquity in and SCS and OpenMoves in . Gross profit of $15.1 million , compared to $16.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 and $11.3 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 .

, compared to for the three months ended and for the three months ended . Adjusted EBITDA 1 of $3.9 million , compared to $4.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2023 and $3.0 million for the three months ended September 30, 2022 .

of , compared to for the three months ended and for the three months ended . Adjusted Free Cash Flow 1 of $2.0 million (51% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate 1 ), compared to $3.7 million (91% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate 1 ) for the three months ended June 30, 2023 and $2.5 million (83% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate 1 ) for the three months ended September 30, 2022 . The reduction in the third quarter of 2023 is primarily attributable to $1.4 million of 2022 cash taxes paid, which changed the conversion rate from 87% to 51%.

of (51% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate ), compared to (91% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate ) for the three months ended and (83% Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate ) for the three months ended . The reduction in the third quarter of 2023 is primarily attributable to of 2022 cash taxes paid, which changed the conversion rate from 87% to 51%. Net loss of $2.4 million , versus $5.0 million net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2023 and $1.9 million net loss for the three months ended September 30, 2022 . The decrease in quarter over quarter net loss was due to lower finance and debt extinguishment costs related to the Company's new credit facility which closed in May 2023 . The increase in year-over-year net loss was due to higher finance costs associated with these financing arrangements.

, versus net loss for the three months ended and net loss for the three months ended . The decrease in quarter over quarter net loss was due to lower finance and debt extinguishment costs related to the Company's new credit facility which closed in . The increase in year-over-year net loss was due to higher finance costs associated with these financing arrangements. Cash as at September 30, 2023 was $8.9 million compared to $8.4 million at June 30, 2023 , an increase of $0.5 million . In the three months ended September 30, 2023 the Company generated cash flow from operations of $5.9 million , which was well in excess of principal and interest payments of $4.0 million . At September 30, 2023 , the Company had not drawn on its revolving facility of $10.0 million and had available to it $48.5 million of its $105.0 million term loan facility. Management believes that its current capital position is sufficient to execute its current business and operational strategies.

was compared to at , an increase of . In the three months ended the Company generated cash flow from operations of , which was well in excess of principal and interest payments of . At , the Company had not drawn on its revolving facility of and had available to it of its term loan facility. Management believes that its current capital position is sufficient to execute its current business and operational strategies. Total undiscounted debt as at September 30, 2023 was $64.9 million , including $54.4 million of senior lender debt, $9.0 million of convertible debt, and $1.5 million in a vendor take-back loan, compared to $67.0 million in total debt as at June 30, 2023 . The decrease results from principal payments made on senior lender debt in the current quarter.

1 Please refer to "Non-IFRS Measures" section of this press release

"Q3 was an eventful quarter which positioned us to complete a meaningful acquisition post-quarter end with SHIFT44," said Ionik CEO, Ted Hastings. "We made $4 million in debt principal and interest payments while increasing our cash position through the quarter, which is a testament to our financially resilient business model. We rebranded the company, and added two new executives soon after the quarter which will accelerate our ability to achieve cost savings integrations. As the industry deals with perennial change, we're staying focused on our long-term vision of creating a data-driven marketing technology company that is profitably assembling a robust, proprietary, first party data warehouse which will be a key element of our platform and our success."

Significant developments in Q3 2023 and subsequent to quarter end

On September 14, 2023 , the Company announced a rebranding and leadership transition. Moving forward the Company will operate under the new, unified brand name of Ionik. Ted Hastings was appointed as Chief Executive Officer effective October 1, 2023 , and Ben Colabrese was appointed as Board Chair.

, the Company announced a rebranding and leadership transition. Moving forward the Company will operate under the new, unified brand name of Ionik. was appointed as Chief Executive Officer effective , and was appointed as Board Chair. On October 2, 2023 , the Company announced the appointment of Lois Norris as Chief Financial Officer and Reena Bains as Chief People Officer.

, the Company announced the appointment of as Chief Financial Officer and as Chief People Officer. On November 20, 2023 , the Company acquired substantially all of the assets of S44 LLC "Shift44", a first party data acquisition, lead generation and performance marketing platform, for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $40.0 million

Non-IFRS Measures

The Company prepares its financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). However, the Company considers certain non-IFRS financial measures as useful additional information to assess its financial performance. These measures, which it believes are widely used by investors, securities analysts and other interested parties to evaluate its performance, do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and therefore may not be comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other publicly traded companies, nor should they be construed as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with IFRS. Non-IFRS measures include "Adjusted EBITDA" and "Adjusted Free Cash Flow".

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow

Consolidated adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization ("Adjusted EBITDA") is a non-IFRS measure of financial performance. Company management defines Adjusted EBITDA as IFRS Net income (loss) adding back finance costs, income taxes, depreciation amortization, gain/loss on disposal of assets and extinguishment of loans, fair value gain/loss on financial liabilities and contingent consideration, and excludes discontinued operations and the effects of significant items of income and expenditure which may have an impact on the quality of earnings, such as impairments where the impairment is the result of an isolated, non-recurring event. It also excludes the effects of equity-settled share-based payments, foreign exchange gains/losses, changes in deferred revenues, changes in deferred cost of sales, and other extraordinary one-time expenses, such as transaction costs and other severance and restructuring costs. See reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA in the table below.

Company management defines "Adjusted Free Cash Flow" as Adjusted EBITDA less capital expenditures, such as acquisition of property and equipment and additions to intangibles, and income taxes paid during the applicable period. Similarly, Company management defines "Adjusted Free Cash Flow conversion rate" as Adjusted Free Cash Flow divided by Adjusted EBITDA. See reconciliation of Adjusted Free Cash Flow in the table below.

The presentation of these non-IFRS financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation from, as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with IFRS and may be different from non-IFRS financial measures used by other companies.

Management believes Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow are useful financial metrics to assess its operating performance on a cash basis before the impact of non-cash and extraordinary one-time items.

The following tables presents the Company's calculation of Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted Free Cash Flow for each period:





For the three months ended





September 30,



June 30,



March 31,



December 31,





2023



2023



2023



2022

Net loss

$ (2,446)



$ (4,979)



$ (4,204)



$ (17,974)

Add:























Finance costs



2,053





3,359





1,269





1,274

Income tax expense



113





80





91





526

Depreciation and amortization



3,713





3,523





3,183





3,698

Impairment loss on intangibles and goodwill





















17,548

Fair value loss (gain) on financial liabilities















1,782





(530)

Loss (gain) on disposal of property and equipment



(8)

















1

Loss on modification/extinguishment of loan









1,129













Share-based compensation expense



242





296





400





386

Change in deferred revenue of in-app purchases



(280)





(56)





126





225

Change in deferred cost of sales



12





6





(45)





(110)

Extraordinary one-time expenses



372





576





184





187

Foreign exchange loss (gain)



86





89





229





(95)

Loan forgiveness





















(617)

Non-recurring income





















(2)

Adjusted EBITDA

$ 3,857



$ 4,023



$ 3,015



$ 4,517

Less:























Acquisition of property and equipment



(52)





(36)





(34)





(38)

Additions to intangible assets



(456)





(305)





(521)





(544)

Taxes paid



(1,374)





(32)





(22)





(76)

Adjusted Free Cash Flow

$ 1,975



$ 3,650



$ 2,438



$ 3,859







For the three months ended





September 30,



June 30,



March 31,



December 31,





2022



2022



2022



2021

Net loss

$ (1,886)



$ (1,443)



$ (820)



$ (1,736)

Add:























Finance costs



688





673





688





864

Income tax expense (recovery)



282)





(356)





(672)





275

Depreciation and amortization



3,070





2,396





1,718





1,623

Fair value loss (gain) on financial liabilities



(33)





(5)











33

Gain on disposal of property and equipment





















(1)

Loss on extinguishment of loan









1,216













Share-based compensation expense



353





131













Change in deferred revenue of in-app purchases



262





(62)













Change in deferred cost of sales



(56)





(100)













Extraordinary one-time expenses



245





469





518





1,688

Foreign exchange losses (gains)



39





(110)





(37)





44

Non-recurring income















(378)







Adjusted EBITDA

$ 2,970



$ 2,809



$ 1,017



$ 2,790

Less:























Acquisition of property and equipment



(21)





(13)





(15)





(6)

Additions to intangible assets



(466)





(202)













Taxes paid



(27)





(510)











(11)

Adjusted Free Cash Flow

$ 2,456



$ 2,084



$ 1,002



$ 2,773



Financial Statements and MD&A

Ionik's Financial Statements for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2023, and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the same period, are posted on its corporate website at www.popreach.com and available on the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

About Ionik

Ionik, a Tier 1 Issuer on the TSX Venture Exchange, with shares also trading on the OTCQX Best Market, is a data driven marketing technology company focused on assembling the most effective and complete suite of advertising, marketing and monetization solutions for brands, advertisers and publishers while building an extensive proprietary repository of opted-in first party data.

Additional information about the Company is available at www.sedarplus.ca.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain information in this news release constitutes forward-looking statements and forward-looking information under applicable Canadian securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking information"). Forward-looking information include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to and the business, financials and operations of the Company. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent management's expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events. Forward looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date of this news release, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements and future events to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to the factors described in greater detail in the public documents of the Company available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Investors are cautioned that undue reliance should not be placed on any such information, as unknown or unpredictable factors could have material adverse effects on future results, performance or achievements of the Company. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update this forward-looking information except as otherwise required by applicable law.

SOURCE PopReach Corporation

For further information: PopReach Corporation (dba Ionik), Sean Peasgood, Investor Relations, (647) 777-7564, [email protected]; Lois Norris, CFO, (416) 583-5918, [email protected]
DALLAS and TORONTO, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc. (TSXV: PINK) (OTC: PYNKF) (FSE: 4PC) ("Perimeter" or the "Company")  a commercial-stage medical technology company  today announced that it will participate in an investor webinar hosted by PropThink Conferences featuring Dr. Amelia Tower, breast surgical oncologist, to discuss the re-excision epidemic and potential benefits of AI in cancer surgery. Following prepared remarks, investors will have an opportunity to ask relevant questions through an interactive Q&A portal.

Webinar Information :

Date: Thursday, November 30, 2023



Time: 2:00 pm Eastern Time



Register Here: KOL/Breast Surgeon Discusses Re-excision Epidemic and Potential Benefits of AI in Cancer Surgery



Presenters: Dr. Amelia Tower, board-certified general surgeon with advanced training in breast surgical oncology based in Fort Worth, TX

Adrian Mendes, CEO, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc.

Deniel Mero, Editor, PropThink Conferences (Moderator)

Topic to include:

the clinical need to fill the technology gap for surgeons needing to assess margin status in real time

OCT imaging  a proven modality developed at MIT and used in other specialties for 30+ years  is being applied in a novel way in cancer surgeries

and used in other specialties for 30+ years  is being applied in a novel way in cancer surgeries an ultra-high resolution technology delivering 10x image resolution of X-ray and ultrasound and 100x greater than MRI

how AI is integrated into the next generation of this device, currently in a clinical trial

The webcast link will also be posted on the Investors section of the Company's website, and archived following the event. The above listed dates and times are subject to change.

Other Resources Featuring Key Opinion Leaders :

For additional background, Perimeter's technology has been discussed by surgical key opinion leaders at previous industry conferences and events. Some highlights include:

About Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc.

Based in Toronto, Canada and Dallas, Texas, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI (TSX-V: PINK) (OTC: PYNKF) (FSE: 4PC) is a medical technology company driven to transform cancer surgery with ultra-high-resolution, real-time, advanced imaging tools to address areas of high unmet medical need. Available across the U.S., our FDA-cleared Perimeter S-Series OCT system provides real-time, cross-sectional visualization of excised tissues at the cellular level. The breakthrough-device-designated investigational Perimeter B-Series OCT with ImgAssist AI represents our next-generation artificial intelligence technology that is currently being evaluated in a pivotal clinical trial, with support from a grant of up to US$7.4 million awarded by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas. The company's ticker symbol "PINK" is a reference to the pink ribbons used during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. In this news release, words such as "may," "would," "could," "will," "likely," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate," and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information may relate to management's future outlook and anticipated events or results and may include statements or information regarding the future financial position, business strategy and strategic goals, competitive conditions, research and development activities, projected costs and capital expenditures, research and clinical testing outcomes, taxes and plans and objectives of, or involving, Perimeter. Without limitation, information regarding the potential benefits of Perimeter S-Series OCT and Perimeter B-Series OCT, the expected benefits of Perimeter's updated version of its ImgAssist AI, and the expected details regarding Perimeter's ongoing clinical trials, are forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, any particular result will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management's good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Perimeter's control. Such forward-looking statements reflect Perimeter's current view with respect to future events, but are inherently subject to significant medical, scientific, business, economic, competitive, political, and social uncertainties and contingencies. In making forward-looking statements, Perimeter may make various material assumptions, including but not limited to (i) the accuracy of Perimeter's financial projections; (ii) obtaining positive results from trials; (iii) obtaining necessary regulatory approvals; and (iv) general business, market, and economic conditions. Further risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those applicable to Perimeter and described in Perimeter's Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is available on Perimeter's SEDAR+ profile at https://www.sedarplus.ca, and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Perimeter does not intend, nor does Perimeter undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events, or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.

SOURCE Perimeter Medical Imaging, Inc.

For further information: CONTACTS: Adrian Mendes, Chief Executive Officer, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Inc., Toll-free: 888-988-7465 (PINK), Email: [email protected]; Glen Akselrod, Investor Relations, Bristol Capital, Telephone: 905-326-1888 ext 1, Email: [email protected]
Pizza Hut Canada is giving away more than $1 million in free pizzas with its Repizza campaign on December 4 Post this

The inventor behind Original Stuffed Crust and Original Pan is back with its latest masterpiecea new, light and airy Handcrafted Crust that's so delicious guests can devour it no matter when they last enjoyed some 'za. Pizza Hut is offering a free pizza 'refill' to anyone who brings in any empty pizza box  even a box from one of the other guys  to their nearest Pizza Hut store on December 4. It's simple: trade in your empty box and Pizza Hut will slide you a brand-new Pizza Hut box with a piping hot Handcrafted Crust Pizza (to the first 100 customers per store). No strings attached  just cheese. Choose between a medium Handcrafted Pepperoni Duo or medium Handcrafted Smoky Tri-Cheese, while supplies last.

"Our team reimagined what a Pizza Hut light and airy crust should deliver without compromising on the unbeatable taste and flavour packed in every slice of a Pizza Hut pizza," said Daniel Meynen, Chief Marketing Officer, Pizza Hut Canada. "We developed and tested a new Handcrafted Crust and an exciting new range of recipes among Canadians that delivers on exactly that, providing an everyday experience that will make you want to 'Repizza' again and again".

Handcrafted Crust is now available in Pizza Hut stores coast-to-coast. Featuring new mouth-watering Handcrafted Crust recipes you're going to want to sink your teeth into: Handcrafted Pepperoni Duo, Handcrafted Cheddar Bacon Ranch, Handcrafted Smoky Tri-Cheese and Handcrafted Fajita Chicken. And for those just looking to get your Hut Hit more often, try Handcrafted with your favourite pizza recipe or create your own pizza.

Visit www.pizzarefill.ca/landing to learn more about Repizza on December 4. Get ready to Repizza again and again with Handcrafted Crust. #PizzaHutRefill #HandcraftedCrust

About Pizza Hut Canada

Pizza Hut and its community of entrepreneurial Franchisee Partners are proud to be one of Canada's largest pizza restaurant brands with 600 locations across Canada. As one of the largest pizza restaurant brands, Pizza Hut is committed to providing delicious pizza experiences and giving customers a meal that is delicious and unmistakably Pizza Hut so they can Repizza again and again.

Pizza Hut, Inc. is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM). Hungry for more information? Check out our website, Facebook, X, and/or Instagram.

SOURCE Pizza Hut Canada

For further information: Jeene Sulaivany, Edelman, [email protected], 647-245-7646
Working with a group of medical experts across the country, Sandoz Canada has put together a list of the Top 100 most important medicines from a clinical standpoint according to the criticality of the drugs and their prevalence of use within the Canadian population.

With this new initiative focused on patients' access to medicines, Sandoz Canada continues its efforts to tackle drug shortages and identify sustainable solutions for a steady, reliable supply in the pharmaceutical industry.

An affiliate of Sandoz AG (SIX:SDZ) (OTCQX:SDZNY) and a Canadian leader in generic and biosimilar medicines, Sandoz Canada is committed to pioneering access for patients.

BOUCHERVILLE, QC, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Sandoz Canada is proud to release a list of the Top 100 most important medicines for the health and wellbeing of Canadians that should be prioritized for continuous supply in the country. Sandoz Canada wants to reduce the burden on healthcare professionals and ensure patients taking those drugs do not have to worry about availability and access. That's why Sandoz Canada assembled an expert group of physicians and pharmacists from different backgrounds and regions across the country, to help identify the Top 100 list based on criticality and prevalence of use within the Canadian population. Medicines identified in the list are supplied by various manufacturers, either brand or generic companies, and span various therapeutic classes.

Michel Robidoux, President & General Manager at Sandoz Canada (CNW Group/Sandoz Canada) Dr. Regis Vaillancourt, Pharmacist and Chair of the initiative (CNW Group/Sandoz Canada) Angelique Berg, President and CEO at the Canadian Association for Pharmacy Distribution Management (CNW Group/Sandoz Canada)

Out of the Top 100 medicines, 25 molecules have been categorized as high risk of shortage. This means that 60 per cent or more of their supply is manufactured by either one or two sources and cannot be provided by other suppliers and/or have a history of supply shortages in Canada. Sandoz Canada wants to act as a catalyst and work with key stakeholders to identify the root causes of these shortages and develop sustainable solutions to address supply issues going forward.

Drug shortages and product discontinuations remain critical concerns within the Canadian healthcare system. On average, there are 242 shortage reports and 34 discontinuation reports per month.i

There are several complex factors that can cause drug shortages in Canada, including supply chain issues, labour-related challenges, and a lack of both manufacturing capacity and emergency stock in the face of increased demand.ii In addition, there are also economic causes such as pricing, regulatory and reimbursement that may impact pharmaceutical supply, according to Sandoz Canada's analysis.

Collaboration between public and private entities is imperative to ensuring that Canadians have access to the medicines they need.

"We are committed to pioneering access for patients. We want to reduce the burden on healthcare professionals and ensure that patients taking these drugs don't have to worry about availability," says Michel Robidoux, President and General Manager at Sandoz Canada. "With the Top 100 list, we're aiming to mitigate drug shortages by identifying the medicines that are most important for Canadians and developing actionable recommendations that can be implemented to address system burdens."

Out of the Top 100 medicines listed, 25 per cent of molecules are at a high risk for shortages, while 30 per cent are at a medium risk for shortages.

About the Top 100 medicines:

Sandoz Canada supplies approximately 50 per cent of the Top 100 most important medicines

62 per cent injectables; 35 per cent oral; 3 per cent other

"By identifying the Top 100 medicines considered critical to Canadians, this initiative is the first step in tackling supply issues and sharpening the focus on a select number of molecules," says Dr. Regis Vaillancourt, Pharmacist and Chair of the initiative. "To meaningfully address drug shortages, ongoing public and private collaboration is key to ensuring that Canadians will have reliable, consistent access to the medicines they need."

"Collaborators from government, manufacturers and distributors have developed various strategies to prevent shortages to ease the enormous strain on the supply chain and ensure stability," says Angelique Berg, President and CEO at the Canadian Association for Pharmacy Distribution Management. "With this Top 100 list, those strategies can be tested, bringing us closer to a sustained accessibility."

To view the full list of Top 100 medicines and those at high risk of shortage, click here.

Disclaimer

This Media Release contains forward-looking statements, which offer no guarantee with regard to future performance. These statements are made on the basis of management's views and assumptions regarding future events and business performance at the time the statements are made. They are subject to risks and uncertainties including, but not confined to, future global economic conditions, exchange rates, legal provisions, market conditions, activities by competitors and other factors outside of the control of Sandoz. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual outcomes may vary materially from those forecasted or expected. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of the particular statement, and Sandoz undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

About Sandoz Canada

As a Canadian leader in off-patent medicines, Sandoz Canada has a product portfolio that includes over 700 generics and biosimilars spanning multiple therapeutic areas, such as anti-infective, cardiovascular, central nervous system, immunology and oncology. Last year, Sandoz products helped over 8 million patients in Canada (source: IQVIA 2022).

The company's 250 employees, who work at the Boucherville (QC) headquarters or on the national sales force, are on a mission to pioneer access to high-quality medicines for Canadians. Sandoz Canada is a trusted partner for pharmacists, physicians and hospitals for quality medicines, outstanding customer service and is committed to ensure reliable supply. For more information about Sandoz Canada, visit: www.sandoz.ca

About Sandoz AG

Sandoz (SIX: SDZ; OTCQX: SDZNY) is the global leader in generic and biosimilar medicines, with a growth strategy driven by its Purpose: pioneering access for patients. 22,000 people of more than 100 nationalities work together to bring Sandoz medicines to some 500 million patients worldwide, generating substantial global healthcare savings and an even larger total social impact. Its leading portfolio of more than 1,500 products addresses diseases from the common cold to cancer. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Sandoz traces its heritage back to the year 1886. Its history of breakthroughs includes Calcium Sandoz in 1929, the world's first oral penicillin in 1951, and the world's first biosimilar in 2006. In 2022, Sandoz achieved sales of USD 9.1 billion and core EBITDA of USD 1.9 billion.

_______________________________________________ i Source: https://www.drugshortagescanada.ca/rws-search?perform=1, accessed on November 16, 2023. ii Canadian Paediatric Society. Managing critical drug shortages in clinical practice. Available at: https://cps.ca/en/documents/position/managing-critical-drug-shortages#:~:text=Tier%203%20drug%20shortages%20have,the%20face%20of%20increased%20demand, accessed on November 16, 2023.

Sandoz on social media

LinkedIn X (Twitter) Instagram Facebook https://www.linkedin.com/company/sandozcanada https://twitter.com/sandoz_global https://www.instagram.com/sandozglobal https://www.facebook.com/sandozglobal President and General Manager, Sandoz Canada, on

LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michel-robidoux

SOURCE Sandoz Canada

For further information: Media relations contact: [email protected], Paule Pelletier, Director, Corporate Communications, +1 514 702-7699
State and Charlottesville local law enforcement are investigating a death associated with a vehicle fire at Fontaine Research Park early Sunday morning.

At approximately 5:18 a.m. this morning, the Charlottesville Fire Department responded to 480 Ray C. Hunt Drive for a report of a vehicle fire, the University of Virginia Police Department said in a statement later Sunday.

The address is the location of the Sheridan G. Snyder Translational Research Building, which houses the UVa School of Medicines Department of Radiology and Medical Imaging research.

Upon arrival, they found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames, UVa police said.

After the fire department extinguished the flames, police and fire crews remained on the scene to investigate the incident.

State law enforcement has been called in to investigate a death related to the fire. That relation has not been explained by local or state police.

The University of Virginia Police Department, along with Virginia State Police and the Charlottesville Fire Department, are currently investigating a death associated with this vehicle fire, UVa said in its statement. The deceased is not affiliated with the University of Virginia.

No suspect has been identified or described in police statements.

Law enforcement agencies are asking for the publics assistance investigating the case.

Anyone with information related to the incident is urged to contact UVa police at (434) 924-7166.
A former National Vice Chairman, North-West, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Salihu Lukman has accused the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party of playing dirty politics with the dissolution of Rivers State executives at all levels.

The NWC of APC last week announced the dissolution of the Rivers State Executives of the party at all levels and appointed a seven-member Caretaker Committee led by Chief Tony Okocha to steer the partys affairs in the state for the next six months.

Lukman, in a statement issued on Monday titled, End of Progressive Politics, also accused President Bola Tinu and the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje of entrenching Garrison Politics in the party.

The party chieftain said it was an indication that the NWC was preparing the stage for the emergence of the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike as the new leader of the party.

Lukman recalled that Okocha, who was alleged to be a supporter and political ally of Wike, led a delegation of Wikes loyalists on a courtesy visit to the National Chairman of the party, Dr. Abdulahi Ganduje on Thursday, October 6, 2023 where he alleged that Rotimi Ameachi worked against President Bola Tinubu in the last election.

He noted that even without those allegations, it was public knowledge that Amaechi and many other APC Presidential aspirants for the 2023 elections have taken a backseat largely because President Asiwaju Tinubu has not demonstrated any interest to work with them.

He said: Given all these unfolding developments in APC, it is very clear that the NWC decision, dissolving Rivers State Executives of the party at all levels, is preparing the stage for the emergence of Barr. Wike as the new leader of APC in Rivers State.

With Chief Okocha, who is alleged to be a political ally of Barr. Wike given the responsibility of serving as Caretaker Chairman, it simply means that all the new emerging executives for APC at all levels in Rivers State will be Barr. Wikes supporters. This is the dirty politics at play in Rivers State.

Lukman wondered if Tinubu supported the removal of Senator Abdulahi Adamu as the chairman of the party, only to install Ganduje who would not say no to him.

Lukman added: With such reality, it simply means, the structures of APC in FCT will also be dissolved to produce new APC leaders at all levels of the party who will be loyal to Barr. Wike. And any state where APC is led by people who might have opposed President Asiwaju Tinubu will similarly be dissolved.




The federal executive council (FEC) has approved the N27 trillion proposed for the 2024 budget.

The FEC gave the approval on Monday at the weekly executive meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu. The president will present the budget to the national assembly in a few days' time.

On October 16, Atiku Bagudu, minister of planning and budget, announced that the federal government proposed N26 trillion for the 2024 budget.

He told State House correspondents that the budget proposal would be submitted to the national assembly before December 31.

Speaking on Monday, the minister said details of the budget would be released when President Bola Tinubu presents the proposal to the national assembly next week.

He said the 2024-2025 medium-term expenditure framework (MTEF) which has been passed by the national assembly was further reviewed.

Bagudu said the targeted revenue for next year is N18 trillion.

"The federal executive council considered the 2024 Appropriation bill. The MTEF was earlier approved by the National Assembly. It has an exchange rate of N700 to a dollar and a crude oil benchmark of $73," he said.

"To improve revenue, the council further reviewed the MTEF, with an exchange rate of N750 to a dollar, and a crude oil benchmark of $77. This will significantly improve revenue."




Some yet-to-be-identified gunmen have killed Eze Joe Ochulor, the traditional ruler of the Otulu community in Ezinihitte, Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State.





It was learnt that the traditional ruler was kidnapped on Saturday morning and killed in the evening but his body was not found until Sunday morning.





A community source who pleaded anonymity told DAILY POST the body of the abducted monarch was found on Sunday morning with his limbs cut off.





He said: His mutilated body, with one leg severed from his body, was discovered along the Chokoneze-Mbutu Road where it had been dumped, while his family and community waited for his kidnappers to get in touch with them and possibly demand a ransom.





The gunmen who broke into his palace and took him away reportedly shot intermittently, frightening away those who could have immediately raised an alarm.





The source said further: There is tension in the land and our people are currently living in fear. The traditional ruler was removed from his residence on Saturday morning, which has left the villagers terrified. This is terrifying.





Imo State Police Commands spokesperson, Henry Okoye, did not pick up his calls or respond to the message sent to him.
The apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, has urged Igbos residing in Lagos State to consider relocating their investments to the Southeast.

Ohanaeze said cities like Aba, Abakiliki, and Onitsha have immense potential for growth; hence, Igbos should consider investing in these areas.

A statement by the factional Secretary-General of Ohanaeze, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, reads partly: Ohanaeze Ndigbo encourages Igbos to seize this moment as an opportunity to reassess their investments and consider relocating them to the Eastern region.

Our vibrant cities, such as Aba, Abakiliki, and Onitsha, offer immense potential for growth and development. By investing and building international markets in these areas, we can create prosperous economic hubs that will benefit not only the Igbo people but also contribute to the overall development of Nigeria.

Ohanaeze Ndigbo calls on all Igbo residents in Lagos to come together and support one another during this challenging period. Together, we can navigate through these difficulties and forge a brighter future for ourselves and generations to come.
The conservation groups that pushed for a court order to draw down Green Peter Reservoir to aid in salmon migration have acknowledged the move has had the "unintended consequence" of lessening drinking water quality for the residents of Sweet Home and beyond.

Local officials have acknowledged that the drawdown likely caused the recent phenomenon of cloudy water  though the water has tested as safe  and the death of thousands of kokanee salmon.

'A Place to Sleep' podcast travels to Grants Pass It's a community that openly heckles  and worse  its homeless neighbors, many who have deep roots. And it may have a date with the Supreme Court.

Still, representatives from the environmental groups said the worst may be over soon and predicted future drawdowns may be able to avoid this year's impacts.

The environmental movement is rooted in efforts to improve water quality for people and wildlife, and the consequences of the (U.S. Army) Corps long-standing failure to protect wild fish should not fall on the shoulders of the community of Sweet Home, according to a Nov. 21 press release from Oregon City-based Native Fish Society, Northwest Environmental Defense Center of Portland, and WildEarth Guardians of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Down and out(rage)

The court-ordered drawdown of Green Peter Reservoir just outside of Sweet Home has been the cause of recent outrage. Just last week, Linn County commissioners voted to take legal action to reverse the injunction.

In October, thousands of dead kokanee, a non-native, land-locked salmon stocked for sport, were found dead downstream of Green Peter Reservoir. Because the fish were deeper in the reservoir due to the drawdown, they were coaxed into the regulating outlet and died from a dramatic change in water pressure, according to experts.

Then in November, Sweet Home residents started noticing their water was tinted a yellow-green and tasted like bleach. The discoloration came from plant matter, city officials concluded, and because of the drawdown, the drinking water had to be treated with more chlorine to ensure safety.

The court order is designed to help aid endangered salmon species as they migrate to the ocean. Willamette River chinook salmon and steelhead populations have been declining for decades, according to the environmental groups-plaintiffs. In recent years, just 1 to 2% of historic populations have returned to spawn in the Willamette and its tributaries.

This decline is partly due to the presence of eight dams in the basin, which are all are operated by the Army Corps of Engineers, the group's statement read. The height of the damns and reservoirs make it nearly impossible for small fish to swim downstream and for adult fish to access spawning habitats upstream.

Because dam operations impact salmon and steelhead, the Endangered Species Act requires the Corps to ensure its actions do not jeopardize these threatened species, the groups argued in court.

A 2008 Biological Opinion from the National Marine Fisheries Service laid out a series of measures the Corps must implement at the dams to ensure it complies with the Environmental Species Act.

Unfortunately, since the Biological Opinion was issued, the Corps failed to implement required measures to address fish passage and other harmful impacts from the dams. As a result, significant harm to Willamette River chinook and steelhead has continued to occur, the press release said.

In 2021 the court ordered an injunction, confirming that the Corps violated the Endangered Species Act, the press release said.

Drawdowns have been a recommended measure for its cost effective means to help grant safe passage for decades, according to the groups, citing measures at Fall Creek Dam which have resulted in an increase in salmon.

However this year's was the first time a deep drawdown was conducted at the Green Peter and Lookout Point reservoirs, the latter in Lane County.

Walking a line

In their news release, the environmental groups walked the fine line of sympathizing with residents while underscoring the need for the intervention that caused recent problems.

"All communities deserve clean and reliable drinking water, and we are committed to working with state and federal leaders to help craft a solution that provides immediate relief for Sweet Home and other impacted Oregonians," the release said.

Quality journalism doesn't happen without your help Support local news coverage and the people who report it by becoming a subscriber today.

In the long-run, recovering wild salmon will bring tremendous benefits to local communities, said Daniel Timmons, Wild Rivers Program director for WildEarth Guardians. But for now, we need to support those impacted by this national project to successfully navigate this changed landscape."

He urged local congressional representatives to act quickly to "ensure towns like Sweet Home are not left responsible for the impacts of these drawdowns.

The groups still believe drawdowns are part of the solution, saying they're "much more cost-effective than other fish passage measures proposed by the Corps, the press release said.

Looking forward

For now, water quality conditions seem to be improving since the reservoir has reached minimum levels and will start to be refilled again in December, the groups said.

And there may be changes in drawdown operations going forward. The conservation groups called for a study to see if the drawdown was done too quickly.

A slower drawdown in future years could help mitigate future water quality impacts, the press release said.

Related stories:








Aloy Ejimakor, the Special Counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Monday urged Igbo leaders to pay the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and President Bola Tinubu a visit.





Ejimakor made the call against the backdrop of demolitions in Lagos State.





The Lagos State Government has been accused of targeting Igbos in its demolitions.





However, Ejimakor said the Igbo leaders should also visit the National Assembly caucus, traditional and civic leaders.





Posting on X, he said Igbo leaders should issue an ultimatum against the demolition and not beg.





According to Ejimakor: #LagosDemolitions: Its time for entire IGBO leadership to pay a visit to

@jidesanwoolu & @officialABAT.





This should include the NASS caucus, all the governors, the clergy, traditional & civic leaders.





They shouldnt beg. Instead, they should issue an ultimatum; a cease & desist.




The Imo State Police Command says it has set up a high-powered investigating team to clamp down on the killers of the traditional ruler of Otulu Amumara, in Ezinihitte Mbaise Council Area of Imo State, Eze Joe-Benz Ochulor.





Recall that gunmen, yet to be identified, had on Saturday, kidnapped the monarch but his lifeless body was later discovered on Sunday.





Reacting to the unfortunate incident, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer, PORO, Henry Okoye told newsmen in Owerri on Monday that the Commissioner of Police, CP Aboki Danjuma had ordered that no stone be left unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators are apprehended.





The PPRO said, the CP vowed that the Command would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators of the heinous crime are arrested and made to face the full wrath of the law.





Accordingly, the CP has set up a high-powered Investigating team and charged them to go all out and clamp down on the assailants.





The CP calls on the general public to remain calm and cooperate with the Police by providing useful information that may assist in the apprehension of the suspects.




The Ijaw National Congress Worldwide has urged Rivers States immediate past governor, Nyesom Wike, to make peace with Governor Siminialayi Fubara for peace and prosperity.





The group, which expressed its discontent with the states political problems, particularly between Fubara and his predecessor, stated that it would always be on the side of truth and good administration.





This was said in a statement released by the groups President, Prof Benjamin Okaba, and made available to newsmen in Akure, Ondo State, on Sunday.





In the statement, the group commended the people of Rivers State for standing up to the alleged planned impeachment of Fubara and encouraged Wike not to destabilize the states existing administration.





The statement read, We urgently call on all political players in Rivers State to play their duty to their constituents and forthwith cease from any further acts capable of slurring the sanctity of the office, institution, and person of the Governor of all Rivers people.





We specifically appeal to Chief Nyesom Wike, to retrace his steps from stoking division of any sort against the government of the day under the guise of protecting his structure. The political structure to which he refers should not be rolled up with the structure of the government of Governor Fubara as one entity under anyones thumb.
Ajuri Ngelale, special adviser to President Bola Tinubu on media and publicity, says his principals administration has made substantial progress on the security front.

Ngelale spoke on Sunday during an interview on TVC.

He said security no longer dominates discourses among Nigerians due to actions of government, adding that keeping the country safe is the foundation on which to build investors confidence.

When you look at the progress made with respect to the national security situation in the country, I think it is important to note the reason why much of the conversation in the country is looking at things like the economy, looking at things like political development, he said.

This is really a testament to the fact that the national security situation has evolved to the extent that it is no longer the primary talking point in the country.

Before now, a few months ago or a year ago or two years ago, you open a newspaper, on the front page you are going to be seeing massive numbers about casualties of people in different parts of the country from the middle belt to the north-east to the north-west to the south-east and at some point, even with agitations in the south-west.

We have come a long way from that. Right now, you are not seeing those numbers now.

Yes, there are still theatres where combat is going on, but it is really about taking what we have inherited to a conclusion rather than being on the backfoot dealing with threats that are wreaking havoc on our people.

The presidents spokesperson also said there has been visible improvements on the security situation in the south-east.

So, we have a lot of progress. If you look at the south-east today, you would have seen that there is a dramatic change in the narrative in Igbo land with respect to the security situation, Ngelale added.

We are not saying Nigerians should be clapping for us. What we are saying is that we have made substantial progress, and we are going to ensure that we take that process to its appropriate conclusion so that our people can live in peace, do business in peace.

Ultimately, that is the foundation on which we will be able to attract the investments that we are aggressively promoting and attracting overseas.
A United Nigeria Airlines flight destined for Abuja on Saturday has landed in Asaba, the capital of Delta state.

Passengers said they only realised the mistake after the cabin crew announced Welcome to Abuja when they landed in Asaba.

We departed Lagos about an hour ago on Fly United to Abuja and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that we have arrived in Abuja only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba, Salihu Yakasai, the Kano governorship candidate of Peoples Redemption Party in the 2023 election, wrote on his X page.

After about half an hour on the tarmac, the plane was redirected to Abuja. This was after the pilot announced that the honest mistake was caused by a mix-up in the flight plan given to him.

People were thinking that theres something we were not being told. Until the pilot announced to us that he received a wrong flight plan, thats when calmness was restored, a passenger on the flight disclosed.

But in its defence few hours after the incident, United Nigeria Airlines claimed the flight was diverted to Asaba as a result of bad weather.

Achilleus-Chud Uchegbu, the airline spokesperson, said the pilot was properly briefed about the diversion, noting that the cabin crew made wrong announcement upon landing safely in Asaba [and] created confusion among the passengers.

A united Nigeria Airlines flight, NUA 0504, operating from the MM2 in Lagos enroute Abuja on Sunday, November 26, 2023, was temporarily diverted to the Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather, the statement reads.

At all material time, the Pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed. However, a wrong announcement was made by cabin crew upon landing safely in Asaba creating confusion among the passengers.

Some X users also reacted to the development.

Pilot miss road, carry us go Asaba instead of Abuja. Wonderful times.  Yaa (@Tesidorth) November 26, 2023

Imagine departing Lagos to Abuja for an important appointment that could turn your life around for good, only to find yourself in Asaba because of an Airlines incompetence.



Time wasted. Appointment missed.  Slimfit (@iSlimfit) November 26, 2023

Asaba Abuja, they almost got it right.  Bashir Ahmad (@BashirAhmaad) November 26, 2023

This bad, really bad, dangerous even. But what is even worse is that it is likely that nobody will be held accountable.  Garba Deen Muhammad (@garba_deen) November 26, 2023

He just stopped so you guys can buy suya and other things before continuing   Dee (@Nithsmit) November 26, 2023

Asaba, Abuja all na Nigeria you dey. Thank God say no be cotonou dem carry una go   Isah Musa Mohammed (@Mansaah_Musa) November 26, 2023
Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State on Sunday appealed to the residents of the State to continuously seek the face of God through fervent prayers against the lingering insecurity situation.





The governor spoke through his chief of staff, Hon. Mukhtar Lugga, during the opening ceremony of the states 27th Quranic recitation competition.





Lawal was reacting to the abduction of over 100 villagers by bandits in Mutunji and three other communities in Maru Local Government Area of the State on Friday.





According to him, the state government was aware of the mass abduction and the security challenges in the rural areas.





The state government had recruited 4,200 Community Protection Guards, CPGs, to address the dastard acts in the State, he added.





Recall that last Friday, a bandits kingpin, popularly known as Damina, attacked four villages under the Dansadau district and kidnapped over 100 residents.





The locals in the affected communities said their failure to pay harvesting levies to the bandits made them storm the four villages with motorcycles.
A 75-year-old Massachusetts woman was killed and two others were injured in a two-vehicle crash on the New Jersey Turnpike in Burlington County on Sunday, authorities said.

Maria Irgui was a passenger in a car that was rear-ended by another vehicle on the southbound inner roadway near milepost 55.8 at 2:30 a.m., State Police said. The impact pushed both vehicles into the center median.

Irgui, of Attleboro, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The driver, a 64-year-old Attleboro man, suffered minor injuries.

The driver of the other car, a 23-year-old Mount Laurel man, also had minor injuries following the crash in Chesterfield, about 2 1/2 miles north of Exit 7.

No charges had been filed as of Monday morning and the investigation is ongoing, State Police Trooper Troy McNair said.

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Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
A Jersey City killer who grinned at his victims family after pleading guilty to a fatal shooting will serve his full 20-year sentence, an appellate court panel ruled Monday.

In an eight-page decision, the panel rejected claims by Jim Hendrix  who admitted shooting 21-year-old Dyrell Taylor during a robbery on Oct. 14, 2014  that he received ineffective counsel and that the court failed to consider his age at the time of the shooting as a mitigating factor.
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.

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Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Periods of rain. High 47F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 38F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Looking for more to do this week? Check out the latest on Gambit's calendar at calendar.gambitweekly.com.

Reggie Houston Quartet

Saxophonist Reggie Houston spent more than 20 years as part of Fats Dominos band, and over his extensive career has performed with Dr. John, Irma Thomas, Dave Bartholomew, Professor Longhair, Chuck Berry, the Neville Brothers, Charmaine Neville, The Survivors and a host of others. After more than 15 years in Portland, Oregon, Houston recently moved back to his hometown. He leads his quartet with pianist Amasa Miller, guitarist Jimmy Ballero and drummer Hurley Blanchard at 7:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at Snug Harbor. Tickets are $25 via snugjazz.com.

Wicked

The popular music based on The Wizard of Oz tells the story of the friendship of young witches Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba is ostracized for her green skin, and Glinda is naturally beautiful. Their relationship is tested when Elphaba discovers the truth about Oz. The touring Broadway show returns to Saenger Theatre Nov. 29-Dec. 17. Showtimes vary. Find tickets via saengernola.com.

Pete Davidson

Pete Davidson started his stand-up career at age 16, before going on to become one of the youngest cast members of Saturday Night Live. Hes since starred in numerous films and in the TV series based on his life, Bupkis. He performs at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the Fillmore. Find tickets via fillmorenola.com.

Algiers Bonfire

Theres music by Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers and others, and the burning of a 30-foot wooden assemblage on the levee near the ferry landing in Algiers Point. From 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 2. Visit algierseconomic.com for details.

Documentary about French Quarter chess master Jude Acers premieres at Zeitgeist Theatre on Nov. 29 In 'The Man in the Red Beret,' Acers shares his love of chess, his life in the French Quarter and more about his professional feats and travels.

A Christmas Story, the Musical

Ralphie Parker still wants his Red Ryder BB gun in the musical adaptation of the popular holiday film. Rivertown Theaters for the Performing Arts presents the show Dec. 1-17. Tickets $39-$43 at rivertowntheaters.com.

Liz Phair

Liz Phairs Exile in Guyville was a critical hit when it was released in 1993, and the rocker's debut album has only grown in its essentialness to the alt-rock canon. Phair wrote the album partly in response to the guyville of Chicagos indie rock scene at the time, and Exile has been lauded as a feminist landmark album in 90s rock because of the way she embraced herself fully in her songwriting. Phair is on a 30th anniversary tour of Exile in Guyville, and plays at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 30, at the Orpheum Theater. Blondshell opens. Tickets start at $39.50 via orpheumnola.net.

Holiday Parade

The parade features floats, marching bands, helium balloons and more. The parade starts at the French Market, crosses the French Quarter and ends at Lafayette Square, where there is a holiday concert. At 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 2. Visit nolaholidayparade.com for details.

Pretty Lights

Producer and DJ Derek Vincent Smiths Pretty Lights has been a force in electronic music for nearly 20 years. But following a major Red Rocks show in 2018, the project had been on hiatus  until this spring with the announcement of the 27-date Soundship Spacesystem Tour. He ends the tour in New Orleans with three nights at Mardi Gras World. Pretty Lights has long had close ties to New Orleans: More than a dozen local musicians appeared on the album, A Color Map of the Sun, and drummer Alvin Ford Jr. is a regular member of the Pretty Lights band. At 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 3. Tickets are available through ticketmaster.com.

Sierra Green and the Giants

Vocalist Sierra Green has been a mighty presence on Frenchmen Street the last few years, often performing with her band The Soul Machine. With a new album of funk and powerful soul on the horizon and a retooled backing band, The Giants, Green is looking to have a breakout 2024. Catch Green and the Giants at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at Chickie Wah Wah with DJ Brice Nice. Tickets are $15 via chickiewahwah.com and $20 at the door.

After Midnight

Lacuna Productions is celebrating (but not officially connected to) electronic musician Pretty Lights shows in New Orleans with a long weekend of DJs and visual artists. The New Orleans takeover will feature sets by Chris Karns (a member of Pretty Lights band), Cut Chemist (playing a 50th anniversary tribute to hip-hop), Skratch Bastid, DJ Nu-Mark, Groovsauce, Parkbreezy and many more. Late-night shows take place Friday, Dec. 1, through Sunday, Dec. 3, at Cafe Istanbul. There also will be pre-party sets on Nov. 30, Dec. 2 and Dec. 4 at locations around New Orleans. Tickets for late-night shows start at $55, and pre-party events are free. Find tickets and info at beacons.ai/lacunaproductions.

Fat Ham

Le Petit Theatre hosts a staged reading of James Ijames Pulitzer-winning play Fat Ham. Ijames reworked Shakespeares Hamlet, but with a Black, queer main character, in a drama set at a family barbecue. At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 29, at Central City BBQ. Find information at lepetittheatre.com.

Meowy Catmas

The Amazing Acrocats return to New Orleans for their annual holiday shows. Felines do various tricks, and theres a performance by the Rock Cats band. Nov. 30-Dec. 17 at the AllWays Lounge & Theatre. Find tickets via rockcatsrescue.org.

Christmas Wrecktacular

Americana band Loose Cattle throw a roaring holiday party with a sleigh-full of guest musicians on the nice list, including Alexis & The Sanity with Jack Craft, Luke Spurr Allen & Arlo, John Boutte, Debbie Davis, Johanna Divine & Andre Michot, The Iguanas, Maggie Koerner, Lilli Lewis, Lola From Nola & Bruisey Peets, Anders Parker, Paul Sanchez and Edward Simon. At 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1, at the Maple Leaf. Tickets are $22 in advance via mapleleafbar.com.

Lisette Oropesa

World-renowned coloratura soprano Lisette Oropesa was born in New Orleans and studied vocal performance at LSU before winning the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 2005. She has now appeared in more than 100 performances at the Met and can be seen in concert halls around the world. She makes a special hometown appearance at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1, at the Mahalia Jackson Theater for a performance hosted by New Orleans Opera. Oropesa will be joined by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, mezzo-soprano Ashley Dixon, tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli and baritone Blake Denson. Joseph Colaneri conducts. Tickets start at $36 via mahaliajacksontheater.com.

Dana Ives Christmas Spectacular

New Orleans alternative rock band Dana Ives headline a mini music and arts fest on Saturday, Dec. 2, at The Rabbit Hole. Along with Dana Ives, the two stages of music includes Quarx, Midriff, The Quadroholics, Beach Angel, Zach Smallman, Lisbon Girls, Virtue Signal and Kidd Love. There also will be drag performances, clothing and jewelry vendors, food pop-up Confit Baby and tattoos by Tough Love Tattoos. Organizers are collecting non-opened, non-perishable food items for Culture Aid NOLA as well. Music starts at 4 p.m., and early bird tickets are $10 via rabbitholenola.com.
Thai telco True Corporation has unveiled its strategy for sustainable artificial intelligence (AI) adoption that includes new guidelines for ethical usage of the technology in Thailand.

At its AI Gets Good event last week, True made the case for how organizations and businesses can develop AI use cases and empower an AI-ready workforce whilst keeping high ethical standards in AI usage.

True Corp deputy CEO Sharad Mehrotra stressed that if Thailand wants to reap the promised benefits of AI and machine learning, ethics will be crucial to mitigating the inherent risks, which range from the amount of data being processed, the way it is collected to issues of bias and the impact of decisions made by machines.

As AI keeps getting better and better at performing a range of tasks, we also need to ensure AI also gets better and better at performing these tasks ethically and safely, Mehrotra said. We believe an integrated approach that considers technology, people and ethics is critical for Thailand to harness the power of AI.

Mehrotra said that ethical principles for AI usage guide should guide business operations to go beyond simply complying to the Personal Data and Protection Act. As an example, True has committed to its own AI charter outlining four principles for ethical usage:

Good intent: AI should only be used to benefit humans.

Fairness and bias mitigation: AI should not discriminate.

Data privacy and AI functionality: Full respect for customer data and the law.

Transparency: AI decisions should be explainable.

During a panel discission at the event, Dr. Chaichana Mitrpant, executive director of Electronic Transactions Development Agency (ETDA), commented that organizations need a framework for appropriate and transparent use of AI to minimize risk and adverse impact on users, as well as increase competitiveness and add value to Thailands digital economy.

We must therefore ensure that the ecosystem for the countrys electronic transactions is reliable, secure, and instills confidence in usage, he said.

Artificial intelligence has significant potential to boost productivity and social improvement in Thailand. However, developing and deploying AI systems carelessly may also cause harm, added Assistant Professor Dr. Jittat Fakcharoenphol, vice-chair of Kasetsart Universitys Computer Engineering Department. Therefore, it is crucial for corporations to adhere to principles like fairness and transparency when investing in AI development for societal benefit.

True Corp is already using AI and ML in various applications, such as customer service. Currently, agents in True and Dtac shops and call centers use AI-powered solutions that instantly diagnose issues, make more relevant recommendations, and reduce handling times by 35%, Mehrotra said. AI-powered chatbots process 150,000 customer requests per month.

Mehrotra added that AI will enable 100% of True and Dtac shops to go paperless by 2023, and the company is planning to automate all routine tasks by2027.

True is also using ML in its networks to predict usage at individual sites in real time and switch off unused equipment during low-usage times, which reduces energy usage by 10-15%.

Meanwhile, True aims to accelerate AI adoption in Thailand by training citizen developers who can digitalize manual processes using simple tools that dont require much (or any) coding skills. True plans to train up 200 citizen developers by 2027.
Gary police Cmdr. Edward Gonzalez has investigated countless homicides throughout his 20-plus-year career. However, his first exposure to gun violence started long before his career in law enforcement.

Two doors down from where he lived with his parents near the intersection of 41st Avenue and Jefferson Street, a 7-year-old Gonzalez heard his neighbor shoot his wife. He said he remembers looking outside the front door and seeing the woman, a friend of the family, as she lay bleeding on the sidewalk. His parents rushed outside to render aid to her. His mother placed a pillow under her head and draped a blanket over her body.

"I remember that incident pretty well," Gonzalez said. You dont really realize how those things affect you.

An estimated 3 million children witness a shooting each year, according to data from a 2015 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Pediatrics and Everytown for Gun Safety.

Between 1999 and 2020, the rate of children 17 and younger who were killed by guns in the United States stood at 2 fatalities per 100,000 residents, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data. The rate in Indiana is slightly higher than the national rate; however, the rate in Northwest Indiana was double the national rate.

Of the 782 Indiana kids who died from guns during this time, 23% were from Northwest Indiana.

Growing up in Gary in the mid-1990s, neighborhoods were very tight-knit, Gonzalez said. Mothers welcomed the children of their next-door neighbors into their homes after school. Children knew the name of the elderly woman who lived at the end of their block, and could be sure she would call up their parents in the event she saw them misbehave. The community held children accountable for their actions. Many children and teenagers didn't think about weapons because they feared the trouble they could get in.

In my experience, that was the difference when I grew up," Gonzalez said. "Now, (youth) think guns gives them a certain status level. Just because you have a gun, it doesnt make you powerful.

Gary police Chief Anthony Titus said he remembers one instance in which he had a gun pulled on him as a teenager in Gary. He said another teenager wielded the weapon, but he said was "smart enough to be afraid" of it at the time. He told his parents, who addressed the boy. The boy never came near him again, he said.

While homicide rates in Gary climbed during the early 1990s, Gonzalez and Titus said guns and deaths from guns were not as common among children and teenagers as they are today. Today, youth and adults might be more inclined to pull out a weapon in a situation where they feel threatened, rather than rely on conflict resolution skills.

"The simple value of human life is no more," Titus said. "Back then, it was pick up the stick you could find, the rock you could find, the chain ... it was a simple fist fight you might have handled that afternoon."

Gun culture, diminished family values, social media and a purported lack of accountability surrounding use of firearms all contribute to an increase in the glorification of weapons in the 21st century, multiple sources said. However, a single root cause as to why more children are getting access to guns has not been identified.

Indiana gun safety laws

Weak gun safety laws contribute to Indiana's ranking as the state with the 16th highest number of homicides in the country, according to an assessment by Everytown for Gun Safety.

However, Indiana is one of 19 states including D.C. with a red-flag law, which allows for temporary firearm removal from individuals believed to be at risk of harming themselves or others.

Earlier this year Rep. Mitch Gore, D-Beech Grove, authored House Bill 1366, which would prohibit storing firearms in a place where a child is likely to access them. The legislation would also make a childs possession of a firearm resulting from a persons failure to store a firearm correctly a misdemeanor crime. Gore introduced the bill after a video of a Beech Grove toddler playing with a loaded gun went viral online.

The bill did not pass through the House.

Negligence, not accidental

Targeted killings are not the only reason for gun-related youth fatalities.

Last week, a 3-year-old boy found a gun in his mother's purse and accidentally shot his brother, 2-year-old Samir Gill.

In September, a 4-year-old in Gary shot himself with an unsecured firearm he found in his mother's purse. Two weeks, prior, Edan Oliver Johnson, 5, fatally shot himself after getting ahold of a weapon a family friend left unsecured in a Gary home. This is one of five total cases of NWI children getting ahold of a weapon and shooting themselves since July.

Andrew Holmes and Lisette Guillen work in Northwest Indiana and Chicago to get gun locks in the hands of all gun owners. They've distributed more than 6,500 gun locks since their organization, the Lock It Down Foundation, was established in 2022.

"We see so many children get ahold of guns that are unsecured," Holmes said. "They always say it's accidental ... I don't believe in accidental, I believe in negligence."

Research shows children and teens are at heightened risk with guns in the home. Approximately 4.6 million children live in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms, according to a study published in JAMA Network.

"You can't talk about this only to certain groups in certain areas," Guillen said. "Guns are everywhere, whether they are in the country or urban America."

Youth are also dying from gun related suicides, although that is less common for their age group than homicides. Between 2018-2021, there were four gun suicides among Region teenagers, according to data from the Lake, Porter and LaPorte County coroners and the Cook County Medical Examiner. When children die by gun suicide, they are likely to have used a gun at home. A 2010 study from researchers at Boston University and Harvard University discovered 80% of youth suicides involve a gun belonging to a family member.

Ari Davis, policy advisor at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Gun Violence Solutions, said researchers noticed an uptick in gun purchases and violence during the COVID-19 pandemic. Gun sales in Indiana peaked in June 2020, with more than 78,000 firearms sold during that month, according to an analysis of data from the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by The Trace, a newsroom dedicated to reporting on gun violence.

"There are so many guns out there," Davis said. "We saw a large rise in gun purchases and homicides during the pandemic for a few reasons."

Davis said the stressors associated with the pandemic could have caused the increase in sales and violence. Trust in institutions, such as police, mental health services or after school programs, dwindled for many Americans. People suffering emotionally from lack of social interaction, financial problems and other factors are all potential contributors to the violence.

"That spike in gun violence in 2020 sustained itself in 2021," Davis said. "Based on the provisional data we have from 2022, the deaths stay about the same."

When it comes to children under 18 obtaining firearms, there are many possible causes. Children who shoot themselves or others find the guns in the homes of family or friends. Teenagers who perpetrate violence or die by suicide may often look for weapons in the homes of family and friends, or might search for them in parked vehicles. Some of it remains a mystery.

If we can really figure out how kids get access to these firearms, if we could put our finger on that," Titus said, "we wouldnt have to work anymore.

Lee Enterprises Midwest Public Service Journalist Analisa Trofimuk contributed to this report.

GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week
The St. John McDonald's will soon have a fundraiser to benefit Kolling Elementary School.

The fast food restaurant at 9769 Wicker Ave. will give 100% of pie sales and 20% of all sales from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 5 to the elementary school.

"Kolling Elementary is our biggest McTeacher's Night of the year and we have many community leaders, families and students that attend," St. John McDonald's Marketing Manager Iliana Ramirez said. "These are great family-friendly events and positive gatherings."

Locally owned Region McDonald's restaurants have recently held similar fundraisers for Grimmer Elementary School in Schererville, Glen Oak Middle School in Lansing and Lansing Christian School.

In addition to donating part of the proceeds to Kolling Elementary School, the St. John McDonald's will accept donations for kids' educations there at the Kolling Elementary McTeacher's Night. Kolling Elementary School teachers will dress up in pie costumes for the fundraiser, where people can give in tip jars while dining in.

Ramirez said the McTeacher's Night in St. John was always one of the McDonald's franchisee's best community fundraisers in Illinois and Northwest Indiana.

"This is such a special community of teachers, parents and students," she said.
A southern Indiana judge has scheduled a three-day trial in late May to decide whether the life or health exception to the state's near-total abortion ban is too restrictive.

The May 29-31 trial in Monroe County before Special Judge Kelsey Hanlon also is expected to determine whether she issues a preliminary injunction halting enforcement of a portion of Senate Enrolled Act 1 (2022) while her ruling inevitably is reviewed by Indiana's appellate courts.

Both the Indiana chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union  representing a coalition of abortion providers  and the attorney general's office  defending the state's abortion restrictions  agreed to consolidate the trial with a hearing on the preliminary injunction motion filed Nov. 9 by the ACLU in tandem with an amended complaint, according to court records.

The law permits a woman to obtain an abortion at an Indiana hospital prior to fetal viability when a doctor determines the procedure is necessary to prevent the woman's death, or when she faces a serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.

The litigants claim those restrictions run afoul of the Indiana Constitution because they deny abortion access to women facing myriad physical and psychological health risks related to pregnancy and childbirth that fall short of the conditions required to obtain an abortion under the statute.

They're asking the judge to allow a physician to decide whether the risk to a woman's health, including her mental health, warrants performing an abortion, and to overturn a statutory mandate that abortions only be performed in a hospital instead of an abortion clinic, where 98% of Indiana's pregnancy terminations were performed prior to the law taking effect.

"Hoosiers experiencing or at risk of pregnancy complications that may seriously and permanently impair their health  but that may not meet the limited exception for serious health risks set out in S.B. 1  will be forced to remain pregnant and to suffer serious and potentially life-long harms to their health," the lawsuit says.

The Indiana Supreme Court seemed to invite this kind of lawsuit June 30 when it recognized for the first time that the Indiana Constitution protects the right to an abortion "that is necessary to protect a woman's life or to protect her from a serious health risk."

Though Justice Derek Molter, a Newton County native, declined in the high court's 4-1 ruling to address what constitutes "a serious health risk."

He said the limited nature of the initial challenge to the law "does not present an opportunity to establish the precise contours of a constitutionally required life or health exception and the extent to which that exception may be broader than the current statutory exceptions."

The issues raised by the lawsuit also could be addressed prior to the May trial by the Republican-controlled General Assembly revising the state's near-total abortion ban  and its time-limited exceptions for health risk, lethal fetal anomaly, and pregnancies caused by rape or incest  when it convenes its 9-week session in early January.

Meet the 2023 Northwest Indiana legislative delegation State Rep. Carolyn Jackson, D-Hammond State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., D-East Chicago State Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary State Rep. Ed Soliday, R-Valparaiso State Rep. Pat Boy, D-Michigan City State Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage State Rep. Mike Aylesworth, R-Hebron State Rep. Mike Andrade, D-Munster State Rep. Vernon Smith, D-Gary State Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville State Rep. Kendell Culp, R-Rensselaer State Rep. Julie Olthoff, R-Crown Point State Rep. Jim Pressel, R-Rolling Prairie State Sen. Dan Dernulc, R-Highland State Sen. Lonnie Randolph, D-East Chicago State Sen. Eddie Melton, D-Gary State Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., D-Chesterton State Sen. Ed Charbonneau, R-Valparaiso State Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell State Sen. Mike Bohacek, R-Michiana Shores
Kelley Holdren had seen just about every critical care situation as chief flight nurse for the University of Chicago Aeromedical Network, or UCAN.

The suicide attempt survivor who shot off most of his face and lived. The double amputation of a crash victims legs performed on the Borman Expressway. Burn victims from a house fire. An abused child who went into full cardiac arrest and later died. Case after case, patient after patient, including one who I helped meet Holdren after she helped save his life.

I think its finally time I actually make the effort to seek out these true heroes. I would be grateful beyond words, Elliott Rauch told me after reading a column I wrote in 2013.

He first met Holdren on July 2, 2007, but has no memory of their encounter at 800 feet in the air during a helicopter flight to an adult trauma center. Rauch had been in a serious car crash in Porter County, suffering a closed head injury and other injuries including a broken femur bone in his leg, and bleeding and swelling on the brain.

He was a patient briefly at the old Porter Hospital in Valparaiso until his father argued for more urgent care at another medical facility. UCAN was called and a flight team, including Holdren, arrived to transport him to Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, Ill.

UCAN treats and transports patients each year, many from Northwest Indiana, which lacks a level one trauma center. Some of those patients get flown via UCANs medical helicopter to specialized hospitals in Illinois, South Bend, Indianapolis or other states. Youve possibly seen the red UCAN chopper land directly at a crash scene to provide tertiary care and emergency transport.

When we fly overhead, to people on the ground its either the sound of noise or the sound of life, a UCAN chopper pilot once told me.

Holdren had a passion for her job with an astute attention to detail and a gentle personal touch.

I always wanted to be a flight nurse and Im loving every minute of flying in the sky, Holdren told me 10 years ago when I shadowed her aboard UCANs medical helicopter.

I met her a handful of times, including once as a patient after I underwent wrist surgery a few years ago at the University of Chicago medical center. Seeing her familiar face brought me instant reassurance.

What are you doing here? I asked her.

Im a nurse, she replied with a smile.

Last week, I was stunned when I learned of her death. Visitation is scheduled Monday afternoon at Smits Funeral Home in Dyer. A funeral service will take place at 10 a.m. Tuesday at the funeral home.

The 48-year-old Dyer resident leaves behind a husband, two daughters, loved ones and a legacy of countless patients who will never forget her affect on their lives.

We rarely see patients afterward, especially ones who make an effort to see us and thank us, Holdren told me when I reintroduced her to Rauch.

I never thought I would ever meet her, he told me. "She was an angel in the air."

Rauch was a bit shy and awkward when he met Holdren at the University of Chicago medical center. She took him to the hospitals rooftop heliport to see the UCAN chopper, nicknamed Bessie, that transported him to the adult trauma center.

You were there, I sat there, and the doctor was there, she told him.

Its so nice to meet someone from that crew whom was instrumental in saving my life, he told her.

I watched Holdren care for a 2-day-old baby who was born in critical condition at a Chicago area hospital. The newborn needed specialized neurological medical care at Comer Childrens Hospital, a level one pediatric trauma center on the citys south side. I remember how Holdren treated the baby with such gentleness as the infants family nervously waited at the hospital.

Ive often wondered what happened to that baby, and the other patients who Holdren helped care for as part of her normal workday.

An industry motto for medical choppers sums up such scenarios: Theyre the best thing to happen on the worst day of someones life.

This is the affect Holden had on many of her patients. Some of them have already signed a guestbook at Holdrens online obituary, thanking her for caring for their loved ones.

Kelley and her team saved our youngest son in 2010. Kelley reassured us she would keep our son safe while being flown to UofC, Comers, until we drove there...scared otta our minds. She kept to her word, keeping us updated as we drove from Chesterton, one person wrote.

When Rauch met with his hero in the sky six years after Holdren cared for him, he told her what so many of us wanted to say.

I just want to say thank you. You were there when I needed you most.

GALLERY: The Times Photos of the Week
President Biden called the release of 24 hostages by Hamas on Friday only a start, but so far its gone well.

Speaking after Hamas freed hostages in Gaza and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees  the first exchange under their four-day truce  Mr. Biden predicted that more hostages would be released.

No Americans were among the first group of hostages freed, but Mr. Biden said his hope and expectation was that they would be released soon.

Mr. Biden, speaking from Nantucket, Mass., where he spent Thanksgiving with his family, said the chances are real that the pause could open the door to a longer cease-fire. He remains in contact with the leaders of Qatar, Egypt and Israel to make sure this stays on track and every aspect of the deal is implemented. Israel had already agreed to extend the truce if Hamas released at least 10 additional hostages per day.

Asked if he trusts Hamas to uphold its end of the deal, Mr. Biden said, I dont trust Hamas to do anything right. I only trust Hamas to respond to pressure.

Marc Polymeropoulos, a former C.I.A. operations officer who has spent extensive time in the Middle East, said he believed Mr. Biden would face tremendous pressure from Democrats, Arab leaders and others in the international community to press for a permanent cease-fire.

I think hell give Israel some runway, but pressure on him is growing, Mr. Polymeropoulos said. The looming question after the four-day pause, he said, is What happens on Day 5?

The Israeli army has a mission to destroy Hamas, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel said is not yet over. By some estimates, just over 2,000 Hamas fighters have been killed out of 40,000.

So, the fight is far from over if the objective remains the elimination of Hamas, said Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for the Middle East.

Those freed on Friday included 13 Israeli women and children, 10 Thai citizens and one Filipino, according to Qatari officials. They were among more than 200 hostages that Hamas has held captive since its forces entered Israel on Oct. 7 to massacre and kidnap civilians. The cease-fire deal, negotiated over weeks by the United States, Qatar and Egypt, included the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Mr. Biden said that U.S. officials did not know the names or conditions of Americans or other hostages slated for release.

On Friday evening Mr. Biden attended a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in downtown Nantucket. A handful of protesters holding Free Palestine shouted repeatedly, Biden, Biden, you cant hide. We charge you with genocide, until a man went to a microphone asking them to stop and to remind them, this is a community tree lighting.

More than 140 trucks carrying fuel, medicine and humanitarian aid had entered Gaza from Egypt on Friday, according to the U.N. humanitarian office. Hundreds more trucks are getting in position as well, ready to enter Gaza over the coming days to support Palestinians who are suffering greatly because of this war that Hamas has unleashed, Mr. Biden said.

The Israeli military now occupies much of the northern half of the Gaza Strip, and some 1.7 million of Gazas 2.3 million Palestinian residents have been forced to flee their homes.

Mr. Biden put the blame for that squarely on Hamas. Hamas doesnt give a damn about them, he said.

Julian Barnes contributed reporting.
Q: I live in a co-op apartment on the Upper West Side. There is a rent-stabilized apartment on my floor occupied by an older couple who have lived here for 50 years and have serious health issues. This morning, one of the occupants, who has advanced dementia, opened my apartment door, which was briefly unlocked, and was standing in my living room! I was able to gently escort her back to her apartment. Building management said that they have spoken to the citys adult protective services, which has investigated and declined to act. This is a terrible situation  there are no interested family members, and the couple is often unbathed and walking the halls. What can we do?

A: The situation you describe is no doubt difficult, but there are resources available for you and your neighbors.

Involving building management, as you have done, can be helpful. If the building receives reports from several tenants and passes them to adult protective services, caseworkers can get a better idea of what is going on.
Here are the main takeaways from our investigation, which is based on documents and interviews with current and former officials and others familiar with Mr. Brauns case:

The Commutation Undercut a Federal Criminal Investigation

Mr. Trumps decision to commute Mr. Brauns sentence undermined what had been an ambitious Justice Department investigation being led by the U.S. attorneys office in Manhattan into predatory lenders in the merchant cash advance industry by pulling the rug out from under investigators who had been in negotiations with Mr. Braun about cooperating with them.

Prosecutors felt they needed an industry insider to flip on others in the business, explain the intricacies of lending agreements and serve as a narrator on the witness stand. In Mr. Braun, who had made clear he was desperate to get out of prison, they thought they had an ideal candidate. They were still going back and forth with his lawyer about a deal that would have freed him from prison when Mr. Trump commuted his sentence.

Prosecutors instantly lost their leverage over Mr. Braun. The investigation into the industry, and Mr. Brauns conduct, remains open but is hampered by the lack of help from an insider.

The Case Exposed Shortcomings in the Justice System

At multiple levels, right up to the president, the justice system appeared to fail more than once to take full account of all of Mr. Brauns activities despite longstanding concerns among prosecutors that he was a threat and could not be deterred.

A decade and a half ago, he fled the country while the Justice Department was closing in on him in the drug case, but prosecutors later let him out of jail while awaiting sentencing because he agreed to cooperate with their ongoing investigations into drug traffickers. But he used that freedom to establish himself as a predatory lender, leading to a string of accusations that he employed threats and intimidation  a record that the Trump White House seems not to have considered or given any weight in granting him the commutation.
Indonesian telco Telkomsel has signed an agreement with Microsoft to collaborate on exploring the sustainability of generative AI as an accelerator for the development of Indonesias digital ecosystem.

Under part of the collaborate agreement, Telkomsel will implement generative AI in ways that boost the quality of its products and services and provide a better customer experience.

Earlier this year in March, Telkomsel signed an MoU with Microsoft to integrate Azure AI into its marketing platforms to improve the customer experience by analyzing data insights, better understanding customer interactions and sentiment, and anticipating future customer behaviors.

The new generative AI agreement was signed last Thursday during Telkomsels T-Connext 2023 event, which focused on using AI to enable innovative ecosystems. T-Connext is Telkomsels platform to connect various players within its own digital ecosystem as well as external ecosystems so they can collaborate with each other.

At the T-Connext 2023 event, Telkomsels Planning and Transformation director Wong Soon Nam urged all players in Indonesias digital ecosystem to jointly accelerate growth and development of AI-based innovations.

At this event, with the theme of AI, Telkomsel through T-Connext seeks to open up more opportunities in optimizing synergy value to create an inclusive and sustainable digital ecosystem, especially encouraging the rate of growth and development of AI-based innovation which can have an impact on progress for Indonesia now and in the future, he said.
Background: The fight was over pay, class sizes and more

The union, which represents about 3,700 teachers and other school employees, and the district were at odds over pay, class sizes and the amount of time that teachers get to plan, among other issues.

The tentative deal includes a 6.25 percent raise for employees in the first year of the contract, followed by 4.5 percent and 3 percent raises in subsequent years, the union announced. That is about in the middle of what the district had offered and what the union had asked for at the start of the strike.

The strike has drawn attention to public school funding in Oregon. While unions in other industries have recently secured major wins, taking advantage of profits of Hollywood studios and Detroits large automakers, Portland Public Schools said repeatedly that its budget was limited by state education funding, an assertion that was at least partly supported by state fiscal analysts. And the district has said that it will have to find more than $100 million in cuts to afford the contract, The Oregonian reported.

A Statistic That Sums It Up: 11 days of instruction missed

The strike began on Nov. 1. Classes are scheduled to resume on Monday.

Accounting for the Thanksgiving holiday, Veterans Day and other planned days off, students will have missed 11 days of instruction, or a little more than two full weeks of school.

The extended stoppage, which put pressure on many families and educators, was one of the longer teachers strikes in recent years. (Minneapolis students missed 14 school days during a strike last year.) As part of the agreement, Portland plans to shorten its winter break and extend the school year to make up lost time.

Why It Matters: Students could little afford to miss more classroom time

Portland Public Schools stayed remote longer than many other districts during the Covid-19 pandemic  returning to partial, in-person instruction in April 2021  and like other districts nationally, it has struggled with lower student attendance since the pandemic.

About 36 percent of Portland students were chronically absent last school year  defined as missing at least 10 percent of school days, for any reason  up from less than 20 percent before the pandemic.

The problem has been especially severe for Portlands Black, Hispanic and Native American students, who together make up about a quarter of students in a district that is majority white.

More than 50 percent of Black students were chronically absent last school year, compared with 31 percent in the 2018-19 school year. Among Hispanic students, the chronic absenteeism rate jumped to 48 percent, from 27 percent before the pandemic. And 66 percent of Native American students were chronically absent last school year, up from about 40 percent before the pandemic, according to state data.

(Chronic absenteeism among white students also increased to 31 percent, from 15 percent.)

The length of school closures during the pandemic was a strong predictor of increases in chronic absenteeism, according to national research by Thomas Dee, a professor at Stanford University. Students lost the daily habit of going to school and families came to see less value in regular school attendance, he said.

The strike, which kept students out of school for nearly the entire month of November, could risk amplifying that message in Portland.

Its reasonable to worry that students are seeing this loss of instructional time and its only affirming the sense in their mind that school time is expendable, Dr. Dee said.
A third group of Gaza Strip hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl whose parents were killed in the Hamas raids on Israel, was freed on Sunday, raising the prospect more captives could be set free and a fragile truce extended.

The 17 hostages released by Hamas, who were seized when the militants raided Israel on Oct. 7, included three Thai citizens, one Russian and the little girl Avigail Idan, a dual American-Israeli citizen who was kidnapped from a kibbutz. She marked her fourth birthday in captivity in Gaza on Friday.

Thank God shes home, President Biden said to reporters in Nantucket, Mass., where he spent the Thanksgiving holiday. I wish I was there to hold her.

Much hinged on the latest release of hostages, who were exchanged for 39 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel on the third day of a four-day truce.
The five gunmen who attacked a chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday and were later captured by the U.S. Navy were Somali pirates, American officials said Monday.

The five were in the custody of the U.S. Navy and were being questioned, U.S. officials said. The officials said the Somali pirates had no apparent connection to Iran or to Houthi rebels in Yemen, who are supported by Tehran.

More than 16 hours after the attempted takeover of the tanker, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled parts of Yemen toward the site of the attempted hijacking, though the missiles landed 10 nautical miles away from the U.S.S. Mason, the ship that responded to the attempted piracy and captured the gunmen.

A U.S. official said that episode was still being investigated to see if it was an opportunistic attack by Houthi rebels or if the missile strike was unrelated.

The U.S.S. Mason, and other ships from the U.S.-led counter-piracy task force that operates off the coast of Somalia, responded Sunday morning after the crew of the commercial ship, the Central Park, called for help. The Central Park crew reported they were under attack from an unknown entity, U.S. Central Command said Sunday.

When the coalition vessels arrived at the Central Park, they demanded the release of the ship. Five armed people fled from the ship and attempted to flee in the small boat they had used to attack the cargo ship. The U.S.S. Mason pursued the attackers and forced them to surrender, the news release said.

Regional tensions have intensified since Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel. But after their initial questioning of the captured gunmen, U.S. officials concluded that the attack on Sunday was unrelated to the conflict.

Complicating the initial assessment was the fact that Houthi rebels attacked several commercial vessels last week in the Red Sea,which connects to the Gulf of Aden. The Houthis and other groups backed by Iran, including Hezbollah in Lebanon, have increased attacks on Israel since Oct. 7.

But Sundays attack in the Gulf of Aden took place well away from where the Houthis operate.

Somali pirates have been a hazard to international shipping for nearly 20 years. Protecting commercial shipments from such attacks is why the U.S. helped create the international coalition of navies that patrol a shipping corridor in the Gulf of Aden.

Zodiac Maritime, the London-based company that manages the vessel, said that the ship and crew are now safe and unharmed but provided few further details. Zodiac Maritime is led by Eyal Ofer, an Israeli-born shipping magnate.
Hundreds of ancient artifacts from Crimea that were stored in a Dutch museum for nine years while Russia and Ukraine waged a legal battle over their ownership are now back in Ukraine, officials in Amsterdam said on Monday.

The works arrived on Sunday at the Museum of Historical Treasures of Ukraine in Kyiv, said officials at the Allard Pierson Museum, an archaeological museum at the University of Amsterdam, which borrowed around 400 works from four Crimean museums in 2014 for the exhibition Crimea: Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea. The artifacts included gold jewelry, gold plaques, precious gems, Greek and Roman stone ornaments and ceramics.

A month into the shows run, Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula, and when it came time to send the objects back, a legal conflict emerged: Should they go back to the Crimean museums, now under Russian state control, or to Ukraine, which argued that the works were part of its national heritage?
For the past two years, Greeces government has conducted delicate negotiations with the British Museum hoping to secure the return of the Parthenon marbles, the ancient Greek antiquities brought to Britain in the early 19th century by Lord Elgin.

Now, Britains prime minister, Rishi Sunak, appears to be throwing cold water on those discussions.

On Monday evening, Mr. Sunak abruptly canceled a planned wide-ranging meeting with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece, which had been scheduled for Tuesday. According to the BBC, the decision was made after Mr. Mitsotakis, appearing on British television on Sunday, called for the marbles, which include statues of Greek gods and carved frieze panels that once decorated the Parthenon, to be returned to Athens.

Mr. Mitsotakis said on the BBC television program that sculptures had been stolen and should be reunified in Athens. Where can you best appreciate what is essentially one monument? he said. The current situation, with the sculptures split largely between the British Museum in London and the Acropolis Museum in Athens, was unsatisfactory, he added, comparing it to cutting the Mona Lisa in half and splitting it between two museums.

Mr. Mitsotakis has made similar comments throughout his terms in office, and Mr. Sunak has also repeatedly stated he would not change British law to allow the sculptures, sometimes known as the Elgin Marbles, to leave the British Museum permanently.
Years ago, a reader wrote probing for details on a mystery that had vexed him: Whats the deal with the cookies that Cookie Monster eats?

The email said nothing else. I chuckled and filed the note in the cupboard of my brain where such things go. Until I realized something: Me want cookies. And me want answers.

Cookie Monster, for those of you who skipped childhood, is a classic Muppet on Sesame Street. He is a scraggly, blue fellow with bulging eyeballs, who has for decades been singularly obsessed with chaotically chowing down on cookies. The crumbs end up almost everywhere except his mouth, an effect that looks like a high-speed blender without a top.

The character was created in the 1960s by Jim Henson, the creator of the Muppets, for a General Foods Canada commercial. Cookie eventually moved to Sesame Street, where he presumably found a good rent-stabilized apartment.
Qatar says Israel and Hamas will extend the truce

Israel and Hamas agreed yesterday to extend their fragile truce for two more days, according to officials in Qatar who helped negotiate the initial cease-fire.

The deal could allow for additional aid to flow into Gaza and the release of more hostages, prisoners and detainees than initially expected. The extension came before the four-day truce was set to expire today. Israeli officials signaled that a fourth exchange of hostages and prisoners, the final round of the initial agreement, would proceed.

Heres the latest.

The head of the State Information Service in Egypt, which is also mediating the talks between Israel and Hamas, said yesterday that a two-day extension would include the daily release of 10 women and children being held hostage in Gaza in exchange for 30 Palestinian detainees being held in Israeli prisons.

The renewed agreement would also prolong a pause in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip that has killed at least 13,000 people and created a humanitarian disaster for its 2.2 million residents.
The program is an effort by the Biden administration to win support for its agenda to reduce American dependence on coal, oil and gas, the main drivers of global warming. But it also points to the broad realization that as the world transitions toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar, workers in fossil-fuel industries  as well as regions that depend on them  risk getting left behind.

Coal mining jobs have declined precipitously over the past decades, and there were less than 50,000 miners left in the United States in 2022, half the number 10 years ago, according to the latest figures from the Energy Information Agency.

And these energy workers havent been finding clean-energy jobs, despite the rapid growth in industries like solar and wind. A recent study that examined 130 million online work profiles found that in 2021, fewer than 1 percent of all workers who left jobs like coal, mining and oil and gas transitioned to green jobs in renewables.

Coal workers, in particular, have struggled in the transition, the study found. Less than a quarter of a percent of workers who left a fossil fuel job in West Virginia moved onto a job in renewable energy, said E. Mark Curtis, an economist at Wake Forest University who led the study. Education was another factor: Fossil fuel workers without a college degree were significantly less likely to find clean energy jobs.

In places like Texas or in the middle of the country where theres a lot of solar and wind, fossil fuel communities are relatively well positioned to take advantage of renewables, Mr. Curtis said. Coal communities generally dont have that, especially when you think about Appalachia.
Angelina, the tearoom and confectionary that has been tempting sweets seekers since Antoine Rumpelmayer first opened it 120 years ago on the rue de Rivoli in Paris, is now global with two locations in Manhattan. For the holiday season, starting this weekend, it will have a cart dispensing cups of its justifiably acclaimed hot chocolate, free, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. under the awning of the Langham New York on Fifth Avenue. The dates are Fridays and Saturdays, Dec. 7 through 9, and 14 through 16. At 6 p.m. each day there will also be carolers. And if youve missed the celebrated hot chocolate from Maury Rubins City Bakery near Union Square, which closed four years ago, its back throughout the winter with milk and dark and boozy for happy hour; find it at a pop-up kiosk, Color of Chocolate, in the Urbanspace Vanderbilt food hall.

The Langham, New York, 400 Fifth Avenue (36th Street), langhamhotels.com; Urbanspace Vanderiblt, 230 Park Avenue (45th Street), 646-747-0810, colorofchocolate.com.
I have offered electricians and plumbers, if I can make a platter for them and add more things, Mr. Vasquez said. But they say they love eating them on the way to work and how easy and convenient they are. Oscar Herrera, a chef who splits time between the two cities, said the region is a key market for aluminum-foil companies thanks to the popularity of burritos on the go.

Ms. Covarrubias worries about the future of the kind of burrito she wakes up so early to make. Her adult children have said theyd consider working in a burrito truck, but they are unwilling to dedicate the time to learn guisados right or make flour tortillas, as they can now be found in stores, she said.

Maybe she can find some hope across the river. Mr. Vasquezs 11-year-old daughter, Mia, has said she wants to continue her fathers work. Well see, he said with a sigh.

On both sides of the Rio Grande, the love for and dedication to the craft of making what they consider true burritos are perhaps what define the style most. Making them, Mr. Vasquez said, has to come from the heart.

Ms. Covarrubias echoed that sentiment. The main ingredient is mucho amor.
Kazakhstans minister of digital and aerospace told a government briefing that legislation will be amended to permit the general use of Space Xs Starlink satellite constellation after a trial of the technology connecting schools was permitted last month.

CommsUpdate reported via Profit.kz, Head of Kazakhstans Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation & Aerospace Industry (MDAI), Bagdat Musin, informed the government of the law change.

Some people have been connecting to Starlink services illegally and MDAI authorities have been pursuing users and sellers of terminals with warnings and fines, until the amendment takes place.

Minister Musin said: I cant say in the first half of the year or in the second, because everything depends on the Mazhilis [lower house of parliament]. That is, first from our development of the model, then we will come to the Mazhilis and continue to discuss. If the Mazhilis supports it, it will be accepted. By the end of next year we will definitely resolve the issue.

The government launched a pilot project with Starlink to connect 10 schools in rural locations to broadband connectivity. There are 2,000 schools being lined up to connect to Starlinks low earth orbit satellites within the next six months.
In the year since a one-time window opened in New York State allowing people to file sex-abuse lawsuits even after the statute of limitations had expired, more than 3,000 civil suits have been filed.

Before the deadline on Thanksgiving, a flurry of attention-grabbing suits were filed against politicians  like former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Eric Adams, the mayor of New York  and celebrities, like Sean Combs, the producer and music mogul, who had just settled a separate suit filed in Federal District Court in Manhattan accusing him of rape.

But hundreds of people have also  collectively and separately  sued institutions, including the states prisons, jails and prominent hospitals, for abuses they said were systematically ignored and hidden for decades. At least 479 suits contain charges of abuse at Rikers Island.

As the legislation to allow the civil suits, known as the Adult Survivors Act, approached its sunset date, the number of lawsuits filed  both in State Supreme Court and in the Court of Claims  steadily increased after a campaign to alert people to the deadline. The number of cases filed in State Supreme Court alone rose from 803 on Oct. 31 to 1,397 as of Nov. 22.
A state judge in Ulster County froze the interim program in August after four service-disabled veterans sued, claiming that they were illegally excluded from applying. They borrowed the argument from a lawsuit filed in March by a coalition of opponents that included four of the states medical cannabis companies.

The settlement would end both lawsuits. It would also limit avenues for future lawsuits against the program.

Going forward, 436 retail license holders caught up in the litigation would be able to open shops and begin making deliveries, including 23 dispensaries that were ready to open before the stoppage. Regulators would also be able to issue additional licenses.

Jorge Vasquez, a lawyer whose firm, Vasquez Segarra LLP, represented some license holders in the litigation, said the settlement should give stores that are already open peace of mind that their licenses wont be revoked, while licensees that have not opened can finally move forward in their business planning.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs in both lawsuits did not immediately comment on the settlement.

Opening more dispensaries is key to relieving a bottleneck that has left most of the states 600,000-pound stockpile of cannabis sitting in storage facilities unsold while some farmers and would-be retailers sink into dire financial straits. As a result of the delays with lawsuits and other financial and bureaucratic hurdles, there are just 27 licensed shops and delivery services open across the state, far short of the 150 dispensaries that the state wanted to have open this year.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, flash.

The lens is not new: It is the very one that beamed light on the water around Montauk from 1903 to 1987, when the Coast Guard removed it. The replacements required less maintenance, but some Montaukers grumbled that they were dim.

I would go there at night to take photographs of the lighthouse, and the lights on the outside of the building were brighter than the light in the tower, recalled Mia Certic, the executive director of the Montauk Historical Society. The group owns the lighthouse, commissioned by President George Washington in 1792 as one of the new nations first public works projects and built by John McComb, the architect who later designed Gracie Mansion.

The lens  named after the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel  made its comeback a couple of weeks ago through a pilot program with the Coast Guard and the historical society. Over the next couple of years, the society will collect data for the Coast Guard about the lens, one of 50 in service at lighthouses overseen by the Coast Guard as official aids to navigation.

Tick, tick, tick, tick, flash.

Certic said that Fresnels lenses improved safety in the days of kerosene-fueled lighthouses, when sailors mistook distant lighthouses for far-off boats and didnt realize they were heading for land, often with deadly results. In the 1820s, Fresnel figured out how to position concentric grooves in the glass to generate a more powerful beam of light.
The murder was investigated by an inexperienced detective, who said the case was steered by his supervisor, Detective Willie Parson, who discouraged him from pursuing other leads.

Around this time, the 30th Precinct, where the detectives were based, was the site of a scandal that eventually led to the conviction of 30 officers. Officers at the Dirty 30, as the precinct came to be known, stole drugs and guns from dealers, extorted them, beat them up and lied in court, prosecutors said. Detective Parson was not charged at the time, but he was arrested in 2000 and later pleaded guilty to transporting cash for a cocaine and heroin ring.

Later, during the Legal Aid Societys investigation, the younger witness, N.V., said that he and N.S. had agreed to accuse Mr. Gardine to appease their own drug boss, who was friends with the victim, and to avoid having to retaliate for the murder themselves. He said they had been at least 200 feet away when the shooting happened and could not make out the shooter.

Legal Aid also found that the police had failed to act on information about an alternate suspect who had a motive to shoot Mr. Mickens, the filing said.

Mr. Gardine, in immigration custody upstate, watched Justice Kate Paek vacate his conviction over Skype. Outside the courthouse, his mother, Grace Davis, thanked the judge and Mr. Bragg for giving my son a chance again.
To the Editor:

Re Palestinians Must Have Hope for a Brighter Future, by Bernie Sanders (Opinion guest essay, Nov. 23):

Senator Sanders states what has been obvious for decades to all who support two states living in peace, prosperity and dignity: The violence must end. The question is, how?

Each act of brutality radicalizes the other side. In this long struggle, extremists on both sides scuttle every hope for compromise and ensure the endless cycle of murder and retaliation.

The U.S. can pressure Israel by curtailing or attaching conditions to aid. Who or what can pressure Hamas and its allies? What, specifically, can disempower the Islamic radicals, defang the Israeli settlers and offer a path toward a commitment to peaceful coexistence on both sides?

Those who claim that Hamass war is somehow justified by Israeli actions (heinous as they may be) ignore its stated goal of eradicating Israel and killing Jews. Ultimately, this is a regional problem that requires a regional solution.

Senator Sanders and other peace-loving Americans must call on those Arab states that support Palestinian extremists to end their support and work toward genuine transformation.

I support Senator Sanderss vision, but he doesnt propose a concrete path forward, without which nothing will change.

Ellen W. Kaplan

Raleigh, N.C.

To the Editor:

While Senator Bernie Sanders offers what he believes to be constructive steps for Israel-Palestinian rapprochement, his prescription places nearly all of the obligations upon Israel. Of the 1,517 words in the senators essay, only these 13 words  new Palestinian leadership will be required as part of a wider political process  are demanded of the Palestinians. Not enough, in my opinion.

Here are just a handful of steps the Palestinians could take to demonstrate seriousness and good faith: Once and for all recognize Israels right to exist as an independent and sovereign Jewish state; hold free and fair Palestinian elections to put into place the new leadership Senator Sanders calls for; demand, without equivocation, Hamass permanent removal from Gaza and reject its political ideology committed to Israels destruction; cease providing financial compensation to the families of individuals who commit acts of terror against Israelis; remove antisemitic and historically inaccurate propaganda contained in textbooks used in Palestinian schools; reject the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (B.D.S.) movement targeted against Israel; and, finally, demonstrate a willingness to accept the peace proposals offered by Israel in previous rounds of failed negotiations, proposals that were continually rejected by the Palestinians under Yasir Arafat and Mahmoud Abbas.

Senator Sanders has articulated what Israel must do to advance peace in his view, but in order to balance the peace equation there is clearly much that the Palestinians can and must do to end the perpetual cycle of violence.

Mark S. Freedman

Parkland, Fla.

The writer is the North American board chair of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, based in Jerusalem.

To the Editor:

Senator Bernie Sanderss essay was well balanced, educational and pragmatic.

I wish the senator would have completed his comparison of deaths to date in the Gaza war. While the equivalent of 1,200 Israeli deaths on a per capita basis in the United States would be a shocking 40,000 lives, Senator Sanders didnt say what the equivalent of 12,000 Palestinian deaths would be.

Perhaps he did the math and didnt want to write down the unimaginable figure of almost two million.

I hope for a resolution of this war so there are no more needless civilian deaths on either side.

Harry Irwin

Cambridge, Mass.

The Civilian Toll in Gaza and Ukraine
It has been more than six months since the Russian playwright Svetlana Petriychuk and the theater director Zhenya Berkovich were arrested and jailed for their work on Finist, the Bright Falcon, an acclaimed play sympathetic to women recruited by ISIS.

The charge? Justifying terrorism.

The plaintiffs have appealed being held in pretrial detention three times; each time, the court has denied it. The prosecution, on the other hand, has asked the court three times to postpone the trial to interview important witnesses; each time, the court has granted the request.

Being a feminist is not against the law in Russia. But if Ms. Berkovich and Ms. Petriychuk are found guilty, that could change, lawyers say. As President Vladimir Putins crackdown on civil society continues, this case has sent a fresh warning  both to artists, who could be persecuted directly for their art, and to women. Expressing feminist views in Russia has become an increasingly dangerous thing to do.

The play at the heart of the case is based on the true stories of Russian women who were recruited by ISIS terrorists. (There were, at one point in 2018, some 7,000 of them in Syria, according to one human rights activist who has been documenting their cases.) The plays title refers to a folk tale about a woman named Maryushka who fell in love with Finist the Bright Falcon, a prince in the body of a magical bird living in a faraway kingdom.
The move to drop support for that digital trade agenda has been pilloried as a disaster for American companies and a boon to China, which has a host of complicated restrictions on transferring data outside of China. We have warned for years that either the United States would write the rules for digital trade or China would, Senator Mike Crapo, a Republican from Idaho, lamented in a press statement. Now, the Biden administration has decided to give China the pen.

The truth is that Ms. Tai is taking the pen away from Meta, Google and Amazon, which helped shape the previous policy, according to a research paper published this year by Wendy Li, a doctoral candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who used to answer the phone and interact with lobbyists at the U.S. trade representatives office. The paper includes redacted emails between Trump-era trade negotiators and lobbyists for Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon, exchanging suggestions for the proposed text for the policy on digital trade in the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. While they were previously allergic to Washington, as one trade negotiator described, over the course of a decade, technology companies hired lobbyists and joined trade associations with the goal of proactively influencing international trade policy, Ms. Li wrote in the Socio-Economic Review.

That paper explains how U.S. trade officials came to champion a digital trade policy agenda that was nearly identical to what Google, Apple and Meta wanted: No restrictions on the flow of data across borders. No forced disclosure of source codes or algorithms in the normal course of business. No laws that would curb monopolies or encourage more competition  a position that is often cloaked in clauses prohibiting discrimination against American companies. (Since so many of the monopolistic big tech players are American, rules targeting such behavior disproportionately fall on American companies, and can be portrayed as unfair barriers to trade.) This approach essentially takes the power to regulate data out of the hands of governments and gives it to technology companies, according to research by Henry Gao, a Singapore-based expert on international trade.

While some of this agenda is reasonable and good for the world  too much regulation stifles innovation  adopting this agenda wholesale would risk cementing the advantages that big American tech companies already enjoy and permanently distorting the market in their favor.

Many smaller tech companies complain that big players engage in monopolistic behavior that should be regulated. For instance, Google has been accused of privileging its own products in search results, while Apple has been accused of charging some developers exorbitant fees to be listed in its App Store. A group of smaller tech companies called the Coalition for App Fairness thanked Ms. Tai for dropping support for the so-called tech-friendly agenda at the World Trade Organization.
In the fall of 2021, a soft-spoken woman in her 60s came to the emergency room where I worked, complaining of pain in her foot. When I examined her, I could see that I would need to amputate the infected leg immediately, or she risked sepsis and death. I amputated her leg that night. She died 14 months later.

The entire episode could probably have been prevented. My patient was one of the estimated eight million to 12 million Americans with a condition called peripheral artery disease, in which clogged arteries limit the flow of blood to the legs, damaging and eventually killing the tissue. While the disease cant be cured, it can often be managed with routine monitoring and lifestyle changes like exercising, quitting smoking and taking blood-thinning and cholesterol-reducing medication. If the disease worsens, more aggressive treatments can help unblock or bypass blood vessels to increase blood flow to the foot. Amputation should always be a last resort.

But this wasnt my patients experience. Peripheral artery disease is more common among Black Americans, like my patient, in part because they are less likely to be effectively treated for its predisposing conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Many, like my patient, dont seek treatment until they have a wound that wont heal, the last stage before an amputation. This is largely because of a lack of access to health care and also because there is no gold-standard treatment for people with the disease.

Low-income adults, regardless of race, are at greater risk of advanced-stage peripheral artery disease. Still, Black people are losing limbs at a rate triple that of others. Worse, 40 percent to 70 percent of the patients who undergo amputation will die within five years of the surgery. Black Americans with the disease are less likely to be offered treatment that can restore blood flow, known as limb salvage, compared with white patients. Black Americans also pay more for hospitalization costs and have a lower rate of successful limb salvage compared with white patients.
I study government bureaucracies. This is not normally a key political issue. Right now, it is, and everyone should be paying attention.

Donald Trump, the former president and current candidate, puts it in apocalyptic terms: Either the deep state destroys America or we destroy the deep state. This is not an empty threat. He has a real and plausible plan to utterly transform American government. It will undermine the quality of that government and it will threaten our democracy.

A second Trump administration would be very different from the first. Mr. Trumps blueprint for amassing power has been developed by a constellation of conservative organizations that surround him, led by the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025. This plan would elevate personal fealty to Mr. Trump as the central value in government employment, processes and institutions.

It has three major parts.

The first is to put Trump loyalists into appointment positions. Mr. Trump believed that the resistance to his presidency included his own appointees. Unlike in 2016, he now has a deep bench of loyalists. The Heritage Foundation and dozens of other Trump-aligned organizations are screening candidates to create 20,000 potential MAGA appointees. They will be placed in every agency across government, including the agencies responsible for protecting the environment, regulating workplace safety, collecting taxes, determining immigration policy, maintaining safety net programs, representing American interests overseas and ensuring the impartial rule of law.
Safaricom Kenya and Nokia have announced an initiative to save on network energy usage and cost  one that makes use of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Nokia says it has deployed its AVA Energy Efficiency software for Safaricom Kenya to help the operator achieve lower power consumption and costs over its 5G, 4G and 3G networks.

Nokia says that the rollout, covering approximately 30,000 5G, 4G and 3G cells, is expected to lead to planned network energy cost savings of 8-10%. It follows the recent successful completion of a pilot programme with Safaricom Kenya.

Nokia says that AVA for Energy uses artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to shut idle and unused equipment automatically during low usage periods while maintaining customer experience; this, the company adds, is done in conjunction with Nokia Radio Energy Efficiency features.

Nokia says it has a growing list of more than 50 completed or active energy-saving projects with service providers around the world, as operators increasingly look to reduce energy consumption and costs, and address environmental sustainability issues in their networks.

As Anthony Gacanja, Network Director at Safaricom Kenya, puts it: Network power consumption is a challenging issue for operators on many levels, including costs and from an environment perspective. This rollout with Nokia represents an important step to helping Safaricom Kenya mitigate this challenge while delivering the same network quality and reliability to our customers.

Nokia-supplied energy efficiency has been very much in the news lately. We reported recently that Philippine operator Globe Telecom had deployed Nokias AI-powered energy efficiency software via a SaaS model to lower network power consumption and costs.

But its not just about Nokia. Last month Saudi Arabian mobile operator Zain KSA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Huawei to cooperate on green energy solutions for 5G networks.
The Brooklyn-based ceramic artist Eun-Ha Paeks pieces are defined by their renegade spirit. A recent work, a foot-high stoneware form, resembles a childs stick-figure drawing, but with a Surrealist bent: Instead of a head, it has a blue-and-white delftware-style dinner plate; instead of eyes, there are painted butterflies. I like combining serve ware with food shapes, as if elements of a meal had come together and were having a dinner party, says Paek, who builds her works hollow extremities, including legs that look like hot dogs, with a machine called an extruder and molds other parts by hand before coating the finished forms with cobalt and iron oxide washes and glazes. The pieces reflect Paeks training in animation, film and video at the Rhode Island School of Design  now in New York, she teaches ceramics at Doclay and at Greenwich House, and illustration at the Parsons School of Design  as well as her upbringing. Born in Seoul, she immigrated to Los Angeles with her family when she was 9 and was dazzled by the new culture she encountered there. The first place we went was to a drive-through for hamburgers, she says. I think my parents saw it as a symbol of having made it, to live in a country where food was brought to your car.

Paek, 49, belongs to a group of women of Korean descent creating singular American ceramic art. Living everywhere from New York to California, they make experimental sculptures that reflect the traditions and aesthetics of both cultures. Theres a rich heritage of ceramics in Korea thats very much centered around incredible craftsmanship, detail and history, says Jay Oh, 51, the senior director of arts and culture at the Korea Society in Manhattan. But theres a group of Korean artists in America who dont feel the burden of going back to the past or Orientalizing their work. Or as Paek says, I think in English, but I feel in Korean. Its a very dramatic and evocative language. In Korean, for example, instead of saying, The soup is boiling, you would say the sound the soup makes when it boils. That extraness and whimsy is what Im hoping to express.

Thats also true for the Manhattan-based ceramic artist Janny Baek, 50, who was born in Seoul and moved to Flushing, Queens, when she was 3. She earned a B.F.A. in ceramics at RISD but went on to get a masters degree in architecture at Harvard. When I was young, I felt the whole point of immigrating to the United States was to have better opportunities and a successful career. I felt like I needed to do something more than be an artist, Baek says. In 2019, though, five years after she and her husband established their practice, McMahon-Baek Architecture, she returned to ceramics. Baek now creates pieces that resemble amoebic animals or alien life-forms crafted from stained porcelain that she leaves unglazed for a matte, richly pigmented effect.

Besides being fascinated with color, the women are united by their zeal for experimentation, especially when it comes to mixing clay varieties and deploying unorthodox glazing methods. Inherent in ceramics is an element of the unpredictable (clay, after all, is an organic material, and even the most experienced artist will sometimes find herself bedeviled by it), and these makers all embrace the inevitable mistakes and surprises that arise in the process of building and firing their pieces. Raina Lee, 47, who lives in Los Angeles, creates Seussian works thickly coated with custom glazes featuring silicon carbide; the compound triggers reactions that produce textures suggestive of dried lava, dripping icicles or barnacles. Over the years, she has avoided making traditional vessels and vases, her pieces more often resembling decayed versions of those forms or artifacts weathered by the elements of time.
Jennifer Watkins, with her husband, Bruce, and their twin sons, Ben and Flynn, at their home in Australia. One son made a YouTube video that got Ms. Watkins locked out of all her Google accounts.

Credit... Adam Ferguson for The New York Times
If youre going to organize a three-year round-the-world cruise, a good first step is probably to acquire a ship.

For months, Life at Sea Cruises has been signing up travelers, taking their money and marketing this unusual offering, which it announced in March.

Its website, which was promoting the cruise as of Monday, described the ship, the MV Lara, and promised visits to the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, Machu Picchu and the Taj Mahal.

Prospective passengers might pause before booking, though, when they see that the voyage was already supposed to set sail on Nov. 1. And they may be more alarmed to learn that the ship, under its original name, the AIDAaura, was acquired in mid-November by Celestyal Cruises, not by Life at Sea.
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that two Arizona lawmakers must testify about their reasons for supporting state laws requiring proof of citizenship for voting in federal elections.

The courts brief order gave no reasons, which is typical when the justices act on emergency applications. No dissents were noted.

The Justice Department, the Democratic National Committee, civil rights groups and others had challenged the state laws, saying they violated federal laws and had been enacted with a discriminatory purpose.

After Arizonas attorney general, Kris Mayes, a Democrat, declined to defend aspects of the laws, Ben Toma, the speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives, and Warren Petersen, the president of the Arizona Senate, both Republicans, intervened to defend it.
Negative mailers are overstuffing Iowa mailboxes. Attack ads are cluttering the airwaves. And door knockers are fanning out from Des Moines to Dubuque and everywhere in between.

The Iowa caucuses, the first contest in the Republican nominating calendar, are poised to play an especially consequential role in 2024. But with only 49 days to go, Donald J. Trumps top rivals are running out of time to catch him as Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley thrash each other in the final sprint to the starting line.

Far ahead in national polls, Mr. Trump is aiming for an emphatic victory on Jan. 15 in Iowa that could serve as an early knockout punch. He leads in public surveys in the state by twice as much as the biggest winning margin in a competitive contest in the last 50 years.

Mr. DeSantis, the Florida governor, is betting on Iowa to pierce Mr. Trumps growing aura of inevitability  and to reassert himself as the main rival to short-circuit Mr. Trumps third run for president. Mr. DeSantis, who won the backing of the states popular Republican governor, has been barnstorming across all of Iowas 99 counties, bolstered by an army of door knockers paid for by his related super PAC.
The Supreme Court heard arguments on Monday over which drug offenses trigger mandatory 15-year sentences under the Armed Career Criminal Act, which is a kind of federal three-strikes law.

The justices had three choices. By the end of the arguments, most of them seemed to have settled on a middle ground.

The law imposes the mandatory sentences on people convicted of unlawfully possessing firearms if they had already committed three violent felonies or serious drug offenses. The question for the justices was how to determine which drug offenses count under the law, which refers to a schedule of controlled substances overseen by the attorney general.

That schedule is revised from time to time, giving rise to the puzzle in the case.

Depending on which version of the schedule applies, a state drug conviction may or may not count as a strike under the federal gun law. Lawyers in the two consolidated cases on Monday gave the justices three options for deciding which schedule applied: the one in force when the defendant committed the state drug offense, the one in place when the defendant committed the federal gun crime or the one that applied when the defendant was sentenced for the federal gun crime.
A 48-year-old Vermont man was charged on Monday with three counts of attempted second-degree murder in the weekend shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent on a Burlington street, a violent episode that stunned the small city.

As investigators sought to determine whether the shooting could be classified as a hate crime, local officials called the attack on the three men  college students who were visiting for Thanksgiving  one of the most shocking events in Burlingtons history, and a grave setback for a city that strives to be welcoming.

Whether or not it was a hate crime by the law, there is no question it was a hateful act, Chief Jon Murad of the Burlington police said at a news conference on Monday afternoon.

The suspect, Jason J. Eaton, pleaded not guilty on Monday and was being held without bail. He appeared in court through a remote video link from jail, and did not speak during the brief hearing except to thank the judge. If convicted, he could face life in prison.
My house was only meters away from the path where flood water passed, said Asmia, who, like many Indonesians, uses one name. At the refugee camp, it was miserable, she said. We have no water there. How could we live without water? When we dont have water, how do we work in the kitchen, bathe our children, water our field?

Weary of living in fear that the devastating flooding would reoccur, the women of Damaran Baru decided it was time to play a more active role in protecting their environment.

However, in Indonesia, where patriarchal culture is deeply rooted, womens roles are habitually diminished, and women are often overlooked in many fields of work. Being a ranger is considered a mans job and thus taboo for women in Aceh, where Islam is the dominant religion and which is the only Indonesian province to have implemented Shariah law.

Even though, most often, women are the ones who feel the direct impact from environmental loss and climate change, there was a lot of resistance when we brought up the idea of creating a women ranger team, said Rubama, a community conservation officer for the Forest, Nature and Environment Aceh Foundation, which funds the ranger initiative. Women are often left out and not allowed to do many roles in Aceh, especially at the village level.

While it required months of discussion, the village leaders were eventually convinced to let the women become rangers. A name was picked for the initiative: Mpu Euteun, or someone who looks after the forest.
Over the two weeks that dozens of Indian construction workers have been trapped in a Himalayan road tunnel, the authorities have reported meter-by-meter progress toward reaching them and offered hopeful timelines for their rescue. Each time a breakthrough has appeared imminent, politicians have rushed to the scene.

Yet 15 days after disaster struck, the 41 men are still stuck. Multiple attempts at boring through rubble have failed. And now, as Indian officials try a new tack  drilling down through the top of a mountain  they acknowledge that the effort will take several days, if it works at all.

We feel a looming sense of doom, said Jyotish Basumatary, whose brother, Sanjay Basumatary, is trapped inside. But we are holding on tight. We cannot afford to give up hope.

Jyotish, who works in a different part of the tunnel project and has been helping with the rescue endeavor, said he is now worried that colder weather would make the effort even more complicated. If it rains, the workers hands would freeze, he said by phone.
Direct train service from Amsterdam to London on the Eurostar, the sleek, fast train that connects Britain to northwestern Europe, will be suspended for six months next year, the train company said.

The closing, which will begin in June, is a result of renovations at Amsterdam Centraal Station, from which the Eurostar to London departs. Because of the work, the terminal that passengers use to go through security and passport control in Amsterdam wont be accessible, Carola Belderbos, a spokeswoman for the Dutch national railway company, said.

The terminal accommodates about 250 people. A larger terminal for Eurostar passengers, one that will hold nearly twice as many, is being built in a different part of the station, but it is not expected to be ready until January 2025, Ms. Belderbos said.

Its a shame, she said, adding that the train company has worked to entice people to take trains instead of planes for short distances. A flight from Amsterdam to London takes less than an hour. The train trip from Amsterdam to London takes about four hours, with stops in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, Brussels and Lille, France.
Anticipated increase in travel demand prompts carriers in China to woo talent

Global aviation industry players are continuing to hire more employees in China to prepare for a period of high demand for air travel in the post-COVID-19 era. British Airways said it is doubling the size of the company's cabin crew bases in China with its biggest international recruitment drive since the pandemic. The job application process has opened for cabin crew roles in Beijing and Shanghai. As demand for travel between China and Europe grows, British Airways is looking to bolster the number of Chinese-speaking cabin crew members. The number of Mandarin-speaking crew operating flights between Chinese mainland cities and London will increase from two to four per flight, allowing for more personalized service for Chinese customers, the carrier said. "We are excited to be expanding our bases in both Beijing and Shanghai. Growing our crew bases in Beijing and Shanghai is another step forward in rebuilding the travel industry and boosting the local employment market," said Calum Laming, British Airways' chief customer officer. China's air travel market has been on a steady track of recovery since the country optimized its COVID-19 response measures late last year. In October, about 56 million air passenger trips were handled, up 252 percent year-on-year, according to the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Meanwhile, European aircraft manufacturer Airbus said talent acquisition is becoming one of its priorities alongside business development and steady growth in China. Airbus signed partnership agreements with the Sichuan University Pittsburgh Institute and the Civil Aviation University of China in November to impart relevant competencies and skills to young talent. The plane maker said such agreements are part of its campus programs in China, which intend to attract younger generations to Airbus' local talent pool and contribute to sustainable development of the domestic civil aviation industry. The agreements aim to foster long-term collaboration in areas such as the development of strategic competencies, technical and soft skills, the design of common educational programs and cooperation on innovative projects, Airbus said. "In addition to attracting experienced candidates, the need to recruit young talent is increasingly urgent for a more sustainable development of Airbus in China. Developing a talent pipeline is vital to our success," said Ning Fei, vice-president of human resources and workplace of Airbus China. The agreements would link on-campus enrollments with employment in the industry by way of a joint cultivation base for aviation talent and a dedicated internship program. In the meantime, the International Air Transport Association announced in September that the strong post-COVID passenger traffic trend continued. Asia-Pacific airlines in particular saw a 92.6 percent year-on-year increase in their September traffic, continuing to lead other regions in terms of annual improvement. Capacity climbed 82.1 percent and the load factor increased to 82.5 percent, said the IATA, which represents some 300 airlines that command 83 percent of the global air traffic. China's domestic aviation market continued to perform well, with demand in September jumping 168.7 percent year-on-year on a relatively low base in September 2022, the IATA said. "The third quarter of 2023 ended on a high note, with record domestic passenger demand for September and continued strong international traffic. With the end of 2023 fast approaching, we can look back on a year of strong recovery in demand as passengers took full advantage of their freedom to travel," said Willie Walsh, the IATA's director-general. "There is every reason to believe that this momentum can be maintained in the New Year, despite economic and political uncertainties in parts of the world. But we need the whole value chain to be ready. A successful 2024 needs the whole value chain to be fully prepared to handle the demand that is coming," said Walsh.
At the recent Africa Digital Expo in Kinshasa Fast Congo, a subsidiary of the pan-African operator the Paratus Group in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), announced that it had signed a long-term agreement with Group Vivendi Africa (GVA) to provide fibre capacity between Muanda and Kinshasa in the DRC.

This, say the partners, will give GVA the capacity, scalability and flexibility it needs to service more customers with high-speed and secure internet services. GVA, a subsidiary of the Vivendi Group, specialises in the delivery of ultra-high-speed internet access in Africa.

The contract also gives GVA rights to use and access facilities that are operated and maintained by Fast Congo. GVA requires the high-speed and high-capacity bandwidth offered by the fibre route that Fast Congo operates and maintains. This means that GVA can offer high-speed and reliable internet services that are both cost-effective and secure.

Fast Congo was founded by Paratus Group when it was awarded a 15-year government tender to activate the 620-kilometre fibre optic network link between Muanda, on the West Coast, and the DRC capital, Kinshasa.

Speaking at the Africa Digital Expo, CEO of GVA, Moktar Tabouri says: Through our partnership with FAST Congo and Paratus Group, we can not only offer more customers more capacity at a lower cost, but we also have the option to extend these services and links across the globe.

He continues: Because we have not had to invest in the fibre infrastructure, our pricing is more competitive, and our offering of internet services is unequalled in the region. These are exciting times, not only for our business but also for the telecommunications industry in the DRC.
Mr. Paty, 47, had shown caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad to a civics class to illustrate free speech and was subsequently beheaded because of the act on Oct. 16, 2020, near the school where he worked in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, a northwestern suburb of Paris. The assailant, Abdoullakh Anzorov, an 18-year-old Russian of Chechen descent, was shot and killed by the police later that same day.

Mr. Patys killing deeply shocked France, where teachers play a crucial role in imparting the French Republics values of liberty, equality, fraternity and secularism. Teachers like Mr. Paty are seen as the first line of defense of a public, secular school system that many fear is increasingly under threat from Islamic extremism.

Just last month, almost three years to the day after Mr. Patys murder, another teacher, Dominique Bernard, 57, who taught French literature, was killed at his school in northern France in ominously similar circumstances. The suspect in that case is a former student at the school, a 20-year-old Russian immigrant who prosecutors say pledged allegiance to the Islamic State before going on a stabbing spree in which he also injured three other people.

The trial that started on Monday will run until Dec. 8. It is closed to the media, and reporters are legally barred from disclosing the identity of the defendants or from giving accounts of the proceedings.
One main outlet for the protest movement has been a channel on the Telegram messaging app called Put Domoy in Russian, or The Way Home, which has attracted more than 14,650 participants since it was founded in September.

The channels organizers published a manifesto pressing for mobilized soldiers to be sent home after a year in the combat zone. Military servicemen and their families  unite and fight for your rights, the manifesto said in part.

The authorities in Moscow and in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, rejected recent requests for a rally permit, with officials citing as the reason a restriction on public assemblies that was created to combat Covid-19. In Moscow, about 20 demonstrators unfurled posters with slogans like No To Indefinite Mobilization at a Communist Party rally on Nov. 7. The police led them away but did not detain them.

Maria Andreeva, who helped organize the Moscow protest, said that the government had largely responded by offering more money and benefits to families of soldiers. They agree to pay us even more, but only if we keep quiet, she said in an interview. Many women need their husbands and sons, not payments.
It was around 4 a.m. when Nariman Tamimis daughter, Ahed, roused her from sleep and told her that Israeli soldiers had surrounded their home in the occupied West Bank.

Nariman Tamimi had been expecting the raid: Over the previous week, an online campaign had vilified her daughter as a terrorist and demanded Aheds arrest. But the expectation did little to dull her terror on Nov. 6, when more than a dozen soldiers ransacked their home and hauled Ahed away in handcuffs.

Ahed Tamimi, 22, is one of the highest-profile Palestinians arrested by Israel since Oct. 7, as it has conducted a sweeping campaign of raids and detentions that it says is aimed at deterring terrorist attacks but has also prompted alarm from international human rights groups.

On Sunday, after holding Ms. Tamimi for nearly three weeks without access to a lawyer or her family, Israel moved to incarcerate her under administrative detention, according to her lawyer, Mahmoud Hassan. She now faces indefinite imprisonment, without charges or trial, based on evidence that neither she nor her lawyer are allowed to view.

Israels expansive use of administrative detention has been widely criticized as a violation of international law. The detentions, which Israel maintains are a preventative and necessary security measure, are typically upheld by the Israeli military court system and can be renewed indefinitely. The use of administrative detentions had hit a 30-year high even before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, human rights groups say.

Im hopeless to defend her, Mr. Hassan said.

Hours after Ms. Tamimis hearing, her name appeared on an Israeli government list of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who could be released as part of a hostage exchange with Hamas. The news brought little comfort to Nariman Tamimi, who said the Israeli militarys ban on celebrations and threats to arrest her other children had made her unwilling to speak publicly.

All of our lives we speak up and were not afraid, Nariman Tamimi said. But now were at a point where the situation is extremely dire.

The Israeli military has said Ms. Tamimi was arrested on suspicion of inciting violence and calling for terrorist activity, but has declined to provide further information. Her mother said the arrest was based on a post to an Instagram account in her name that referenced Hitler and vowed to slaughter settlers in the West Bank.

Her family has denied that she wrote the post, saying her account had been hacked months ago and that she is frequently impersonated online.

Ms. Tamimi comes from a family of prominent Palestinian activists and has protested the Israeli occupation of their village of Nabi Saleh for much of her life. Her father, Bassem Tamimi, a longtime activist, was also detained, on Oct. 29, and has been placed in the West Banks Ofer Prison under administrative detention for six months.

Ms. Tamimi made headlines as a child for physically confronting Israeli forces, who have wounded, imprisoned and killed many of her relatives. A video of one such episode, in which she slapped an Israeli soldier, went viral and transformed Ms. Tamimi into an international symbol of Palestinian resistance.

She subsequently served an eight-month sentence and spent her 17th birthday in jail. Her memoir, They Called Me a Lioness: A Palestinian Girls Fight for Freedom, was published by an imprint of Random House in 2022.

The Israeli military estimates that it has arrested 1,800 people in the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7. But the crackdown, coupled with escalating reports of violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers, has left the West Bank in an alarming and urgent situation with multilayered human rights violations, the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights has warned.

The Palestinian Prisoners Society, a nongovernmental rights group, gives an even higher estimate for the number of detentions since Oct. 7  more than 3,000  and says the arrests have been accompanied by abuse of the detainees, threats against their families and, often, damage to their homes. Ms. Tamimi was beaten during her arrest, and then transferred from the West Bank to a prison in Israel, where she was beaten again, her lawyer, Mr. Hassan, said.

PEN International, a writers association that defends freedom of expression, has demanded the immediate release of Ms. Tamimi and all Palestinians who have been languishing in unjust imprisonment for years, many of whom are children.

Administrative detention is inherently arbitrary, the associations head of the Middle East and North Africa region, Mina Thabet, said in a statement. This form of detention has been systematically used by the Israeli authorities to subjugate and silence Palestinians, including writers, for decades, he added.

Sara Aridi contributed reporting.
The deal came after an Israeli offer to continue the cease-fire by one day for every additional 10 hostages released, who would be exchanged for 30 Palestinians in Israeli prisons.

The Israeli hostages released on Monday were three women and eight children, all of them kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz during the Hamas-led assault on Israel on Oct. 7, when more than 200 people were seized and taken to Gaza.

They included Sharon Alony Cunio, 34, and her twin 3-year-old daughters, Emma and Yuli Cunio, three of the six members of their family who were taken hostage. David Cunio, the twins father and Ms. Cunios husband, is believed to still be in Gaza. Her sister and niece were released on Friday.

The French government said three of those released on Monday were dual Israeli-French citizens. A number of those kidnapped have dual nationalities, including about 10 Israeli-Americans, of whom only one, a 4-year-old girl, has been released.

Hamas said it had received a list of three women and 30 minors that Israel would release in return on Monday.

The exchanges so far have focused on Israeli and Palestinian women and minors. Dozens of Israeli soldiers as well as civilian Israeli men in their 70s and 80s are still being held captive in Gaza. In several cases, children have been released without their fathers, and wives without their husbands.

Family separations have been a stumbling block in the hostage negotiations.

Israeli officials have expressed concerns to Qatari mediators that some children were being released without mothers who were also being held captive, running counter to the agreement, according to an official briefed on the talks. The official said Hamas has said that in those cases, the mothers are being held by different groups, and it would take time to get them.

Late Monday, Israels Army Radio, citing the prime ministers office, reported that the government had received a list of hostages held by Hamas who are expected to be released on Tuesday.

The swap of hostages and prisoners is being negotiated by the government of Qatar, where many of Hamass political leaders live, and which has long acted as an intermediary for nations that refuse to deal directly with Hamas.
Hamas released 11 Israeli hostages  all women and children taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz  on Monday, the fourth day of the cease-fire, according to the Israeli government.

That followed an initial release of 13 Israelis on Friday, 13 more late on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. Some of those released are dual nationals.

An official briefed on the negotiations said that avoiding family separation was critical for the Israelis and that their concerns had escalated as the final day of the initial truce began on Monday. Two sets of siblings returned with their mothers to Israel late on Monday, but their fathers were believed to still be held in Gaza.

Heres what we know about the Israeli citizens released on Monday.
You started Emmas Torch, a network of restaurants and temporary locations in New York and soon to be in Washington, D.C., to provide culinary training to refugees to help them build new lives in their adopted communities. Why?

As the daughter of South African Jewish immigrants and the great-granddaughter of Holocaust survivors from Lithuania, weve seen the worst in humanity and what can happen when people turn a blind eye to refugees. Ive always felt that we have a huge privilege and responsibility to make the world a better place.

Why did your activism revolve around the restaurant industry?

I saw food as a powerful vehicle for giving on-the-job training in a real-world setting that generates income to offset the program. And with the restaurant industry accounting for an estimated 8 to 10 percent of all jobs in New York City, we saw training in this field as an entree to long-term employment opportunities in restaurants owned by our industry partners, all of whom are eager to invest in our students.

How does your program work?

Every full-time staff member at Emmas Torch teaches our students vital culinary skills while ensuring the quality and consistency of our menu items, which we describe as familiar dishes with a global twist. Students are with us for 440 hours  11 weeks  and receive full-time wages. Upon their graduation, they get the opportunity to create a dish for their celebration, some of which end up on our menu. Teaching students about different ingredients and kitchen equipment also helps them learn English, a result thats both delicious and accomplishes our larger goals.

How many refugees have come through your program?

To date, weve worked with 305 refugees from 42 different countries, including Ukraine, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Myanmar, Ghana and Haiti, creating about $7 million of increased wages (measured by how much more theyre earning after graduation than before). We seek out students who want to enter the work force, have clear goals and have work authorization and, while not all graduate, weve had so many success stories. Among them: A Syrian student who graduated in 2018 and recently fulfilled his dream of opening his own restaurant; we brought our entire current class to visit and celebrate. Our students reflect the current microcosm of world events; for example, weve recently seen an influx of refugees from Afghanistan as well as from Venezuela following the humanitarian and economic assistance made available to Venezuelan refugees in the United States this year.
A young mother who went viral for recording herself impersonating her 13-year-old daughter at her school in order to prove a point was recently found guilty of criminal trespassing.

On November 15, a jury sentenced Casey Garcia to six months of probation and ordered her to pay a fine of $700 in connection to a 2021 incident where she attended classes at San Elizario Middle School disguised as her teenage daughter, in order to show how easy it was for an adult to enter the school. The mother, who was 30 years old at the time, dyed her hair, put on skin tanner, and wore a hoodie and a face mask in order to pass for her 13-year-old daughter and gain access to the school. She recorded the controversial experiment and posted the video on social media where it got a lot of attention but ultimately led to her arrest.

Photo: Casey Garcia/YouTube

In the viral video titled Why I posed as my 13-year-old daughter. A raw but real answer., Garcia said that after putting on her rudimentary disguise, she went to the school, where someone just checked her ID and asked her if she had signed in yet, before allowing her inside. The mother claimed that security was more concerned about her smartphone being out than with checking her real identity. She was able to attend classes like a regular teenager.

I bet you anything someone else can do this, Garcia says in the video. This is why I did this  whether you agree with me or not.

Garcia was allegedly able to attend all classes without anyone asking her any questions, except for the last period, when the teacher asked her to stay behind, and recognized her voice when she answered.

I mean, Im no spring chicken, but it wasnt hard, Casey said in the video. And I made it to all seven periods, until the last teacher, she was female, and she said, Julie, can you stay after class? And I said absolutely. She looked at me and she (said), Youre not Julie.

The young mother explains that she only impersonated her daughter to expose the dangers of our schools and to protect my children and yours, adding If you want to come after me for that, theres really nothing else I can say.

And come for her they did. The incident was reported to the El Paso County Sheriffs Office by San Elizario Independent School District officials, and Casey Garcia was arrested on June 4, 2021. She actually recorded the moment deputies came to her home to arrest her and posted it on YouTube as well



Earlier this month, Garcia was sentenced to six months of probation, 100 hours of community service, and a $700 fine.
In an attempt to gather data on the effects of long-term isolation without any notion of time on the human brain, 15 volunteers will spend 40 days in a cave in Ariege, in the south of France.

In what is being described as a world first, eight men and seven women will be spending 40 days isolated in a large cave, without phones, watches or any type of device that could help them tell time. The project is called Deep Time and its the brain child of Franco-Swiss explorer Christian Clot, who himself is one of the participants. He along with the 40 other volunteers will started their timeless life experiment today, and will be spending the next 40 days isolated in a large cave in the Pyrenees mountains. They are all equipped with sensors allowing a dozen scientists to follow them from the surface.

Photo: M_Carted/Pixabay

This experiment is a world first, said Professor Etienne Koechlin, director of the Cognitive and Computational Neurosciences Laboratory at the Ecole Normale Superieure in Paris. Until now, all missions of this type focused on the study of the physiological rhythms of the body, but never on the impact of this type of temporal rupture on the cognitive and emotional functions of the human being.

Completely deprived of natural light, and the use of ubiquitous gadgets like phones or watches, the 15 volunteers will need to adapt to the constant 12-degree Celsius temperature and 95% humidity of the cave, generate their own electricity using a pedal boat system, and draw the water they need from 45 meters deep.

Losing time is the greatest disorientation there is, and it is this aspect that the Deep Time mission wants to better understand, the Deep Time official website reads. During certain events, our perception of time is altered : it seems to pass very slowly or very quickly, unrelated to the reality of each passing second. What happens then? How to find the sense of time? What are the connections between cognitive and biological time, between the brain and genetic cells? What is the relationship between perceived time and normative time, that of our watches? How does our brain see time?

In an attempt to answer some of these questions, scientists will allegedly be monitoring the 15 participant from the surface, collecting data transmitted by a number of sensors.

Christian Clot, the founder of Human Adaptation Institute, the non-profit behind the Dream Time experiment, was inspired to stage this mission by the Covid-19 pandemic and the way it impacted our lives. We were forced to spend long periods of time in isolation, despite having no idea of how this would affect our lives in the short or long-term.

Arnaud Burel, a 29-year-old biologist and one of the volunteers participating in Deep Time, said that he agreed to participate out of a desire to taste this timeless life, which is impossible outside with our computers and mobile phones that constantly remind us of our appointments and obligations. Burel agreed that spending 40 days in a cave with 14 strangers wasnt going to be easy, adding that communication will be key.

To organize Deep Time, the Human Adaptation Institute collected 1.2 million in both public and private funding. The 15 participants will receive no compensation, but they do gave 1.5 tons of supplies at their disposal in the cave, to ensure that they can survive without outside intervention.

Deep Time has been getting a lot of attention in France, but not exclusively for the right reasons. Christian Clot has come under fire for calling himself a researcher without having scientific training.

The Deep Time mission began on March 14, and is scheduled to last until April 22rd, if everything goes according to plan. For more information on the project, check out the official website of the project.
OZARK-A resolution defining rules to address the city council did not make it to a vote at the last Ozark City Council meeting in November after the motion by Councilman Leah Harlow failed to draw a second.

The motion dies for a lack of a second, Ozark City Council President Brenda Simechak said after waiting unsuccessfully for another council member to speak to Harlows motion to adopt the rules developed by Ozarks Mayor Mark Blankenship, City Clerk Chris Peters, and City Attorney Joe W. Adams.

After the resolution was introduced, several citizens questioned the transparency of the proposed change, saying that the resolution impacting the citizens had had not been available to the citizens to read.

Members of a citizens group that emerged after the recent debate over placement of certain books in the young adult section of the Ozark-Dale County Public Library were among those who voiced objection to the proposed rules of procedure, some calling it a denial of a citizens freedom of speech.

The focus of the citizens group, We the People, Dale County, is to ensure that our local government is working for the people and operating in a manner that protects the rights afforded to us, the citizens, according to the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, according to the groups social media site.

Last night was one of those nights that solidified the fact that truth and transparency, the main tenets We the People Dale County stand for, will always prevail, read a post on the citizens group social media site following the Ozark City Council meeting Tuesday evening.

This would have been a step towards silencing the citizenry, the post read, calling the failure of the motion a win for the citizenry and for We the People.

The seven-page proposed rules of procedure details the time and date of the councils administrative and voting meetings and addressed deadlines for city departments to submit to the city clerk all reports, communications, ordinances, resolutions, contract documents or other matters.

The council shall not deliberate, vote, or otherwise take action on any matter by reference to a letter, number, or other designation or other secret device of method, with the intention of making it impossible for persons attending a meeting of the council to understand what is being delivered, voted, or acted on, reads Section 10 of the proposed rules of procedure. The council may deliberate, vote or otherwise take action by reference to an agenda, if copies of the agendasufficiently worded to enable to public to understand what is being deliberated, voted, or acted onare available for public inspection at the meeting.

Procedure for addressing the council is outlined in Section 11, explained Adams. Any individual or group who wishes to address the council shall make a written request to be on the agenda to the city clerk. The request must state the nature of the specific comment, question, or concern that will be addressed.

With unanimous consent of the council, a person whose name does not appear on the agenda may be permitted to address the council if the council deems the matter to be germane to a current issue, Section 11 continues. A person may speak on any subject regarding the city and municipal government but may not address the same issue more than once every four meetings. However, the council shall determine at a subsequent meeting whether it will hear the individual or group.

Under the proposed rules of procedure, explained Adams, administrative matters or concerns of citizens must first be presented to the appropriate department director and, if the matter is not thus resolved, to the mayor. If a matter is still not resolved after addressing the the chain of command, a person may request to be on the city council agenda after submitting a request form to the city that includes the persons specific unresolved concern.
A Vietnamese man who had been suffering from severe headaches and even loss of vision over the last five months recently learned that he had a pair of chopsticks stuck in his skull.

The unnamed man was recently admitted to the Cuba Friendship Hospital in the city of Dong Hoi, Vietnams Quang Binh province, after complaining of constant headaches, vision loss, and fluid discharge from his nose. When asked, the man revealed no possible cause for these symptoms, but a CT scan showed a tension pneumocephalus, the intracranial equivalent of a pneumothorax, as well as two foreign objects protruding from his nose into his brain. Upon thorough examination, the objects were identified as broken chopsticks

Asked how the chopsticks might have found their way into his skull, the 35-year-old patient was initially as baffled as his doctors, but he later remembered an incident he had been involved in five months prior that could help explain his situation. While out drinking one night, the man got into a physical altercation and ended up in the emergency room. However, doctors there just patched him up and sent him on his way. Now, he assumes the other man stuck the chopsticks into his skull, through the nose, but he doesnt remember actually happening.

After considering all the options, the medical team decided to perform endoscopic surgery through the nose, combined with microsurgery to close the patients cranial fistula and remove the pair of broken chopsticks. According to doctor Nguyen Van Man, Head of the Department of Neurosurgery at Cuba Friendship Hospital, choosing the optimal surgical method is critical to avoid leaving the patient with sequelae.

The 35-year-old mans condition is stable and he has been discharged from the hospital.

Getting chopsticks stuck in your skull is apparently not as rare as youd think. Just a couple of years ago, we wrote about a similar case in Taiwan where a woman ended up with chopsticks piercing her brain after an altercation with her sister.
Monica Chase

Monica Chase has joined San Francisco-based TSG Consumer Partners private equity firm as managing director and head of investor relations.

Based in New York, Chase will lead the firms engagement with current and future investors.

The 15-year IR veteran joins TSG from Permira, global investment management firm, where she headed IR for its North American operation. She also served on Permiras diversity, equity and inclusion committee.

Earlier, Chase was a member of The Riverside Co.s IR and fundraising team. She began her career at Mercer Management Consulting.

TSG has more than $20B in assets under management. It has partnered with companies such as Canyon Bicycles, IT Cosmetics, Joe Hudsons Collision Centers, Mavis Tires, Planet Fitness, popchips, Super Star Car Wash, Stumptown, Thrive Pet Healthcare and Vitaminwater.


U of Calgary Shops for Ag Specialist Tue., Nov. 28, 2023 The University of Calgary, one of Canadas top facilities, is seeking a strategic communications partner to bolster the profile of its Simpson Centre agricultural institute.
Schools across Offaly will be able generate their own green energy thanks to a Green initiative to put solar panels on the roof of every school in the country. The Green Party plan was announced last week by Green Party Minister, Ossian Smyth and Education Minister, Norma Foley. The scheme will provide every school in the country with approximately 16 solar panels to create energy for their own use and for sale to the energy grid.

The announcement of a first wave of solar panels for schools opened the way for schools in Clare, Donegal, Dublin City, Galway, Kerry, Kilkenny, Leitrim, Limerick, Offaly, Waterford and Wicklow.

Green party candidate in the local elections in the Tullamore area next year, Liam Walsh said: I am delighted that Offaly will be one of the first areas in Ireland to benefit from the solar for schools scheme. Local schools have been hit by rising energy prices, so it is fantastic that they will be able to save money while helping the environment. This will benefit not only local schools, but the whole community will receive green solar energy generated when the schools are closed.

The Climate Action Fund will cover the full cost of installing 6 kilowatts of roof-mounted solar panels on all State schools. The solar panels will also be connected to the electricity grid, so that the schools can generate income by powering other homes and businesses with clean energy when the schools are closed at weekends and during holidays.

The typical school could expect to save in the region of 1,200  1,600 a year on their energy bill, through a combination of reduced bills and selling electricity to the grid.

Ossian Smyth TD, Minister of State for Public Procurement, eGovernment and Circular Economy, said: Schools across the country will not only taken an important green step forward to protect the environment, they will also see their electricity bills drop. Even when the school is closed, they will still make significant savings. Ive visited schools with solar panels before and I was impressed with how they provoked a huge interest among students. These panels will be a way to teach students about how they can play their part for the climate.

The scheme will assist schools in reducing both their energy costs and their carbon footprint, bringing Ireland closer to fulfilling its Climate Action Plan. The schools will also receive monitoring software allowing staff and students to review and learn about the energy generated. The sight of solar panels on their school roof will be an educational symbol to show students how they can contribute to taking climate action.
A Nude Man Runs In Residential Area In Bengaluru; Taken To NIMHANS

Bengaluru

oi-Prakash KL

A residential area witnessed a bizarre incident on Sunday when a fully naked man ran on the street.

A man named Naveen told Bangalore Mirror that he spotted the nude man running in front of his house and alerted the residents about the incident. "My mind didn't process anything" for a few seconds, he told the publication.

"I didn't go to the office on Sunday and just wanted to go to the street to run some errands, and then suddenly I spotted this middle-aged man running naked. This is a concerning matter because a lot of children also live in the area. I didn't know what to do, so I informed people in the group to be alert," he said.

Pier 11 Marks Milestone For Bengaluru Suburban Rail Project Amidst Urgency Of Timely Completion

He was told by his father that the said person had been taken to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS).

Another resident named Anil claimed that he might have witnessed the same man shouting in the area a few days ago.

"My first instinct was that we should call the police. As we are not very sure what is the background of the case, so we can't handle it on our own. This was the very first incident that I am hearing about a naked man running on the street. However, a few days back, a man was also seen screaming and running in the area," said Anil.

Dr Shashi, a resident of the locality, highlighted the need to take this matter seriously and provide mental health care to the individual.

"Though it is shocking to see such a thing in our area, we don't know what that person is going through. This fellow was also spotted during Deepawali and someone had called the police.

In Pics: PM Modi Takes To The Skies In Tejas Fighter During HAL Visit In Bengaluru

But even the police said that instead of them, the residents should take him to the doctor. Mental health issues are a stigma in our society, but one must handle such cases with sensitivity.

"I have also heard from people that the parents of the person have admitted him to NIMHANS," he said.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, November 27, 2023, 11:14 [IST]
Bengaluru Auto Drivers Demand Fare Hike To Address Cancellation And Refusal Issues

Bengaluru

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Bengaluru's auto drivers are urging the Karnataka transport department to revise the fixed government rates for auto rides in the city. The union emphasizes that issuing a new fare list would address issues such as ride cancellations and refusals within the city.

In a letter addressed to Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, the Autorickshaw Drivers Union highlighted, "Auto fares have seen only two increments in the past decade, leading many drivers to demand additional sums from passengers. Considering the rapidly rising cost of living, it's crucial to reevaluate the government-set prices to accommodate the requests of auto drivers."

Previous protests by auto unions in Bengaluru outlined various demands to the government, including a call for the ban of two-wheeler taxi services, citing passenger safety concerns. These demands were formally presented to the state's transport department.

Metro Mitra App Now Serves Entire Bengaluru For Hassle-Free Travel

Previously, aggregator apps like Ola, Uber, and Rapido came under government scrutiny for charging fares exceeding Rs 100 per trip. They were instructed to align their pricing with government-set rates and refrain from overcharging customers.

In November 2021, the Karnataka government increased meter fares for auto drivers across the state. The revised rates elevated the initial two-kilometer fare to Rs. 30 from Rs. 25 and raised the base price per kilometer to Rs. 15 from Rs. 13.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, November 27, 2023, 17:52 [IST]
Not Cong, KCR Should Say What He Has Done For Telangana: Rahul Gandhi

When Will Telangana Farmers Get Money Into Their Account After EC's Pause On Rythu Bandhu?

NIA Court Allows Activist Varavara Rao To Travel To Hyderabad For Cataract Surgery

EC Withdraws Permission Given To Telangana Govt Over Disbursal Of Rythu Bandhu Scheme

Hyderabad

oi-Prakash KL

The Election Commission (EC) has withdrawn the permission given to the Telangana government to disburse the financial assistance under the Rythu Bandhu scheme on Monday.

It comes after Congress raised objections to the EC's decision to grant permission for the KCR government to release funds.

In a statement, the EC said, "There shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its forms."

On November 25, the Election Commission of India on Friday granted approval for the distribution of Rythu Bandhu funds to farmers.

Not Cong, KCR Should Say What He Has Done For Telangana: Rahul Gandhi

Telangana has a cultivable expanse of 1.47 crore acres, and an allocation of Rs 16,000 crore will be distributed under the scheme directly to the accounts of farmers.

Election Commission (EC) withdraws the permission given to the Telangana government to disburse the financial assistance under Rythu Bandhu scheme.



EC says, "There shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply pic.twitter.com/Vxp1pq6JnH  ANI (@ANI) November 27, 2023

This move was expected to benefit approximately 60 lakh families just days before the polling day and it is perceived as a strategic maneuver by political analysts.

Earlier, the Congress had approached the EC, seeking its directions to prevent the state from disbursing the funds as it amounts to influencing voters.

Under the scheme, farmers will receive direct investment support of Rs. 5,000 per acre each season for both Kharif and Rabi, totalling Rs. 10,000 annually per acre. The Telangana government has already disbursed Rs. 70,000 crore over eleven cropping seasons, benefiting a total of 60 lakh farmers.
KCR Wanted BJP's Friendship: PM Modi At A Rally In Telangana

Hyderabad

oi-Prakash KL

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attacked the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) of trying to strike a deal with the BJP but the saffron party turned down his proposal.

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Array

Speaking at a rally in Mahabubabad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "KCR realised the increasing power of BJP much earlier. For a long time, he was making an effort to strike a friendship with the BJP. Once, when he came to Delhi, KCR met me and made the same request. But BJP can never work against the wishes of the people of Telangana. Ever since BJP turned down KCR, BRS has been baffled. The party doesn't lose any opportunity to abuse me. BRS knows that Modi will never let it anywhere near BJP. This is Modi's guarantee..."

This is the second time in one month that the PM has said that the KCR had tried to befriend with the BJP. At a rally in October in Nizambad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday claimed that Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao wanted to join the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance.

PM Modi Offers Prayers At Tirumala Temple In Tirupati

"When BJP won 48 seats in the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation election, KCR needed support. Before this election, he used to welcome me at the airport, but later suddenly he stopped doing so. After the Hyderabad Municipal Corporation elections, KCR came to meet me in Delhi and said that he wanted to join NDA. He also asked me to extend support to him. I told him (KCR) that due to his deeds Modi cannot be associated with him," ANI quoted the PM in a tweet.

However, the PM, in Mahabubabad, equated the BRS with Congress and said, "The four wheels and the steering of BRS' 'car' are no different from the 'hand' of Congress. Both these parties indulge in appeasement on the basis of religion. Both of them boosted corruption. Both of them promoted the dynasty. Both of them took appeasement to new heights. Wherever both these parties remained (in power), law and order got destroyed. Both parties betrayed Dalits and BC community. It is only BJP that is truly empowering the tribal community and SC community..."

EC Withdraws Permission Given To Telangana Govt Over Disbursal Of Rythu Bandhu Scheme

Both Congress and KCR are equally culpable for the destruction of Telangana. "So, the people of Telangana can't let in another disease after ousting one - I have seen this everywhere in the state. The trust of Telangana is in the BJP. You have determined that the next CM of Telangana will be from BJP. The BJP has promised you that the first BJP CM in Telangana will be from the BC community (Backward Class)," he added.

The single-phase voting for 119 Assembly seats in Telangana will be held on November 30.
Australia and Vietnam enjoy a strong bilateral trading relationship, one of Australias fastest-growing in recent years. The two countries ties are further strengthened by their commitment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Vietnams strong economic growth is built on a shift towards a more market-based economy and an expanding middle-class that has increased demand for imported goods.

Austrades Shine and Thrive in Education and Agrifood 2023 conference, held in September, in Ho Chi Minh City. Credit: Austrade

Australias total two-way trade with Vietnam in 2022 was valued at $25.7 billion, up from $15.8 billion in 2020-2021. This was an increase of 62 per cent, making Vietnam the 12th largest two-way trading partner for Australia.

Australias goods and services trade with Vietnam, 2022:

Exports: A$ 15.4 billion

Imports: A$ 10.3 billion

Total merchandise trade (exports + imports): $A25.7billion

Total Investment in Vietnam: A$1,759 billion

Total Investment from Vietnam: A$ 437 million

More comprehensive trade data can be found here on the DFAT website

Vietnams economic growth bucks the trends

Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing economies in the region, registering a growth rate of 8 per cent in 2022. This is driven by export-oriented manufacturing, foreign direct investment and increasingly strong domestic demand.

While global demand for manufactured exports dropped, Vietnams growth is expected to be close to 5 per cent in 2023.

According to the IMF, Vietnam is the fourth-largest economy in ASEAN and had a population of 99.46 million in 2022. The McKinsey Global Institute reports that Vietnam is well- positioned to be a significant driver of Asias consumption story and, over the next decade, the middle-class is projected to grow by 36 million.

Australias trade and investment relationship with Vietnam

On 1 November 2021, Australia and Vietnam launched the Australia-Vietnam Enhanced Economic Engagement Strategy, which supports the two countries joint ambition of becoming top ten trading partners and doubling two-way investment, says Rebecca Ball, Austrades Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner, Vietnam. This is also the first economic strategy Australia has developed in partnership with another country.

Ms Ball explains that three Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) are currently in force with Vietnam: the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA), the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

Vietnam also forms part of Australias Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040 released in September 2023. The new action plan is focused on raising awareness, removing blockages, building capability and enhancing trade and investment, especially across key sectors like agriculture & food, resources, green energy transition and education & skills, she says.

Opportunities for Australian exporters

Australian agriculture and food exports all have an impressive reputation in Vietnam: There are increased opportunities for red meat, seafood, horticulture, dairy and wine as local consumers seek premium produce for their families. Commodities such as cotton, wheat, malt and barley are also in high demand, Ms Ball continues.

Australias education system is highly regarded and there is a strong demand for education and training services. Ms Ball points to the need for training in areas such as the English language, business and management, and information technology which remains high, especially in the major urban centres.

Opportunities for trans-national education (TNE) partnerships in disciplines (besides business management) in IT, cybersecurity, graphic design, health, architecture, construction management, renewable energy, data sciences, mechanical engineering, and technological education.

Vietnam is also more than just an undergraduate market. There is an increasing demand for professional development  upskilling workers with micro-credentials  and e-learning can be an ideal way of delivering this.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, the country is also working to update its early childhood framework and school curriculum. At the school level, school leaders and teachers are badly in need of in-service training and capacity building to be ready for the new curriculum. Effective delivery will require teachers to equip themselves with digital skills and edtech solutions.

There is significant potential for Australian exporters in coal, iron ores, critical minerals and mining equipment, technology and services (METS). Vietnam is rich in minerals such as coal, bauxite, apatite, iron ore, gold, copper, tungsten and titanium. It has the second largest reserves of rare earths globally, behind China.

Ms Ball says that Vietnam has a robust power demand because of its thriving manufacturing industry and large population. Opportunities exist for offshore wind, solar power, Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), hydrogen, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and power system.

Rebecca Ball, Austrade Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner Vietnam speaking at an investment forum.

In May 2023, the Vietnamese Governments Power Development Plan VIII was approved, confirming a definite shift to renewable energy. The estimated investment needed is US$134.7 billion (A$211.5 billion) by 2030.

Vietnam has been active in a military modernisation program with maritime security among its top priorities, and this presents opportunities exist for Australia.

Historically, Russia has been the primary defence supplier to Vietnam, accounting for 66.3 per cent of the countrys defence imports. However, recent trends show Vietnams growing inclination to diversify its supplier portfolio since Russia faces increasing international sanctions.

Given this, Vietnam has shown openness to a broad range of advanced military equipment from some of the worlds top defence manufacturers, including Australia.

Vietnams infrastructure needs are driven by its strategic geography, fast urbanisation, industrialisation, economic growth and improving finance. It requires extensive investment in its expressways, metro, express railways, airports and ports and opportunities exist for Australia in smart infrastructure, sustainable development, water and logistics.

Australian exporters are also benefitting from Vietnams thriving tech sector, which is driven by a young population with a high digital adoption and a digital transformation push from the government, Ms Ball continues. Banks dominate the domestic financial sector, although stocks, bonds, derivatives and insurance opportunities also exist.

Driven by the countrys rapidly aging population, Vietnamese are spending more on healthcare. The Fitch Solutions Vietnam Pharmaceuticals Report Q4 2023 estimated expenditure hit US$27.9 billion (A$43.8 billion) in 2022.

Emerging Opportunities

Ms Ball says there are a number of emerging opportunities for Australian exporters. Based on high-growth export items in the first eight months of 2023, she identifies cotton, barley, live cattle, frozen beef, lobsters, nuts, and vitamins in agrifood and consumer markets.

The green economy is another to watch. Vietnam has set a target of increasing its green economys contribution to GDP from US$6.7 billion (A$10.5 billion) in 2020 to US$300 billion (A$471 billion) by 2050, according to the Minister of Planning and Investment. Ms Ball says. To reach that target, Vietnam is focusing on key priorities including digital transformation, smart and sustainable infrastructure (transportation, cities, water management).

According to a report from the Vietnam Ministry of Information and Communications, the proportion of the digital economy in GDP has increased from 11.91 per cent in 2021 to 14.26 per cent in 2022. In the first six months of 2023, it hit 14.96 per cent.

Its expected the proportion of digital economy by 2025 will be least 20 per cent of GDP and at least 30 per cent of GDP by 2030, according to the National Strategy on developing the digital economy and digital society to 2025, with a vision to 2030 approved in Decision No. 411/QD-TTg dated March 31, 2022.

Vietnam is also attracting foreign direct investment in semiconductors from, Intel, Amkor Technology, and Samsung, while advancing its standing within the global semiconductor supply chain.

Chip exports from Vietnam to the USA jumped from US$321.7 million (A$505.1 million) in February 2022 to US$562.5 million (A$883.1 million) after one year to account for an 11.6 per cent market share  behind only Malaysia and Taiwan (China). The biggest challenge lies with the shortage of IT hardware engineers in Vietnam, with an expected demand of 20,000 engineers needed over the coming five years  a 400 per cent increase of current capacity.

Challenges for Aussie exporters

Foreign exporters encounter intense competition in Vietnam, notes Ms Ball. For example, in agriculture and food, Australian produce must compete with those from Argentina, the U.S., Brazil, India, Indonesia, China, Thailand, among others. Countries like India, Indonesia, China and Thailand also have FTAs with Vietnam. Vietnams consumption market is growing, but not at a pace that can accommodate all players. 

Another challenge is that while most tariffs have been done away with FTAs, non-tariff barriers can hinder foreign exporters. According to the Vietnam National Trade Repository, Vietnam has 760 active non-tariff measures.

Cultural considerations

Ms Ball offers the following tips to Australian exporters entering the market:

Be punctual. If you are late, be sure to make an apology for your tardiness.

Personal relationships play a significant role in Vietnamese business culture. Third-party introductions are almost a necessity, as Vietnamese people prefer to work with those they know and trust. For them, trust is critical to good business. They will be looking for honest commitment from you in the relationship.

Everyone is consulted before reaching a decision, which can lead to lengthy negotiations. Remain patient. Dont expect things to be done quickly.

Austrade contact information Rebecca Ball Senior Trade & Investment Commissioner Vietnam Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) Email: info@austrade.gov.au Contact: 13 28 78

To learn more about how Austrade can help your business, visit austrade.gov.au

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
CAA Final Draft Likely To Be Ready By Mar 30, 2024: Union Minister Ajay Mishra

India

oi-PTI

Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra on Sunday said that the final draft of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA is expected to be ready by March 30 next year.

The BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh, while addressing a gathering of the Matua community at Thakurnagar in North 24 Parganas district, asserted that nobody can snatch citizenship rights from Matuas, who had fled religious persecution in Bangladesh.

"The process to roll out CAA has gained momentum in the last couple of years... some issues are being sorted out. Nobody can snatch citizenship rights from the Matuas. By March next year, the final draft of the CAA is expected to be ready for coming into force," he said to a thundering applause. Local BJP MP and Union minister Santanu Thakur was by his side.

The CAA seeks to grant Indian citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan entering India before December 31, 2014.

Delhi riots post CAA clearly indicate the target was Hindus and nothing else

Reacting to the claim, TMC Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen said, "The BJP remembers Matuas and the CAA only during elections. The saffron party will never be able to roll out CAA in West Bengal." "The BJP's false claims are becoming clear to the Matuas and others. The saffron party will be rejected by all in next year's elections," he said.

Sen said that the Trinamool Congress has ensured the rights of Matuas as citizens of the country.

"We will continue to work for the community throughout the year, unlike the BJP will only gives false promises," he added.

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Monday, November 27, 2023, 9:23 [IST]
Cong's 'Dirty Politics' Surfaced, BRS MLC Kavitha On ECs Directive On 'Rythu Bandhu' Scheme

India

pti-PTI

Slamming the Congress for lodging a complaint with the Election Commission requesting it to stop the state government's proposal to make payment to the beneficiaries under the "Rythu Bandhu" scheme, BRS MLC K Kavitha on Monday said dirty politics of the grand old party has once again surfaced.

Reacting to the ECs withdrawal of the permission given to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers, she said the scheme is not an election promise and an ongoing one. "Dirty politics of Congress has once again surfaced. They are delaying the payment of Rythu Bandhu, which is an ongoing payment. It is not an election promise. It is not a new programme that is made for the elections," she told PTI.

The EC on Monday withdrew permission given to the Telangana government for disbursements of financial aid to farmers for rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu scheme after a state minister violated the provisions of the model code by making a public announcement about it.

Kavitha said the Congress time and again has been complaining about this programme under which the BRS government has disbursed Rs 72,000 crore benefitting 65 lakh farmers in the past 10 seasons. The BRS leader said she is requesting the farmers of the state to take note of the situation to realise that the Congress is the enemy which has snatched the payments under Rythu Bandhu and farm loan waiver.

EC Withdraws Permission Given To Telangana Govt Over Disbursal Of Rythu Bandhu Scheme

Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, farmers in Telangana will get Rs 5,000 each per season, with a total of Rs 10,000 per acre annually. The Congress on Sunday requested the Chief Election Commissioner to impose restrictions on BRS, not to mention the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu amount in their poll campaign.

Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao had made a public announcement about the release of disbursements of rabi instalments. He had reportedly said, "The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account."
Dev Deepawali 2022: Kashi Ghats Illuminated with 21 Lakh Earthen Lamps

Dev Deepawali 2022: Kashi ghats were illuminated with around 21 lakh earthen lamps on the occasion of Dev Deepawali. The event showcased the splendour of Kashi and was attended by dignitaries from 70 countries.

India

-Krishna Kripa

Varanasi, Nov 27: The ghats of Kashi were illuminated with around 21 lakh earthen lamps on Monday as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurated the celebrations by lighting the first diya on the occasion of Dev Deepavali.

A Grand Spectacle

Attended by the city's residents, tourists, and dignitaries, including ambassadors from 70 countries, 150 delegates, and their families, the event showcased the splendor of Kashi on the occasion of Dev Deepavali, an official statement issued here said.

Celebrated on the occasion of Kartik Purnima, the last full moon night of the holy Hindu month of Kartik, Dev Deepavali in this holy city every year witnesses thousands of devotees thronging the ghats to light diyas.

Welcoming the Gods

On the occasion of Dev Deepavali, Kashi extended a divine welcome to the gods with the resonant echoes of conch shells, the grandeur of Maha Aarti, and the melodic symphony of bells and gongs reverberating across all the ghats, the statement said.

The chief minister welcomed the guests and joined them on a cruise to partake in the spectacle of Dev Deepavali.

A Sea of Light

Of the lakhs of lamps that lit Kashi on the occasion, the government contributed 12 lakh lamps, including one lakh made from cow dung, while voluntary organizations and public participation collectively added over 21 lakh lamps, transforming Kashi into a resplendent sea of light, the statement said.

Kashi's ponds, lakes, Markandeya Mahadev on the Ganga-Gomti banks, and the Shastri Ghat on the Varuna river were lit up with lakhs of lamps treating the guests and visitors with a spectacular visual feast. Earthen lamps were also lit on the ghats on the western bank and the sands on the eastern bank of Ganga.

A State Fair

With the Yogi government giving the status of 'state fair' to Dev Deepavali this year, the aura of the festival is spreading all over the world, the statement noted.

The ghats of Kashi underwent a dazzling transformation, becoming a lively tapestry of colors. The spectacle included a laser show in some areas, captivating both local and international tourists who reveled in the display of vibrant green aerial fireworks along the sandy banks of the Ganga, the official release said.

Tributes and Empowerment

Tribute was paid to the brave soldiers of the country through a replica of Amar Jawan Jyoti at Dashashwamedh Ghat. The brave martyrs were also honored with Bhagirath Shaurya Samman, it added.

Giving the message of women empowerment, as many as 21 women priests and 51 'Dev Kanyas' worshiped the Goddess Ganga and performed Aarti at the Dashashwamedh Ghat, the statement said.

A Citywide Transformation

A sound and light show was also held with a projection at the Chet Singh Ghat, narrating the history of Kashi and Lord Shiva.

Dev Deepavali witnessed a citywide transformation with temples, facade lights on the ghats, and electric poles along the roads adorned with tricolor spiral fringes, adding glory to the spectacle. Apart from this, the Maha Aarti performed at the ghats was live telecasted at six major places in the city.

In alignment with the grandeur observed during the Dev Deepavali inauguration, the Kashi Vishwanath temple complex was adorned with 11 quintals of flowers. The significance of Kashi, centered around the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham, along with details about the corridors construction, were highlighted through a laser show at the Ganga Dwar.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri and other state ministers also attended the Dev Deepavali celebrations here.

The Dev Deepavali celebrations in Varanasi were a sight to behold, with the ghats illuminated by 21 lakh earthen lamps. It was a grand spectacle that showcased the city's rich cultural heritage and traditions. The event was attended by dignitaries from all over the world, and it was a truly memorable experience for all who were present.
Election Commission Issues Notice To Karnataka Over Ads In Telangana Polls

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

The Election Commission of India on Monday issued a notice to the Karnataka government concerning advertisements of its achievements in Telangana newspapers. The commission requested a response by November 28, 5 pm, following concerns raised by the BJP and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regarding these advertisements, which are seen as potential violations of the Model Code of Conduct.

The Commission directed the Karnataka government to clarify the circumstances leading to the breach of the Model Code of Conduct and cease all such advertisements immediately. It referenced its earlier instruction from October, stipulating that non-election states must obtain approval from the Commission before publishing ads in newspapers circulated in poll-bound states.

Additionally, the poll body sought an explanation for the lack of disciplinary action against the Secretary-in-charge of the Department of Information and Public Relations in Karnataka, as required under the Model Code of Conduct for the alleged violation.

In another development, the Election Commission withdrew permission granted to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana regarding financial aid disbursed to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu scheme. This action was taken following a state minister's public statement on the initiative, deemed a violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The decision to withdraw permission was prompted by a request from the Congress party to impose restrictions on the BRS regarding the mention of Rythu Bandhu disbursements in their election campaign.

The Telangana Legislative Assembly election, scheduled for November 30, will witness a closely contested three-party battle involving the BRS, Congress, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the 119 assembly seats.

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Story first published: Monday, November 27, 2023, 21:43 [IST]
PM Modi In Telangana: BJP Will Free State From Clutches Of BRS, Vows To Jail Corrupt Leaders

Array

India

-Krishna Kripa

Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will free Telangana from the clutches of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and vowed to send the corrupt leaders of the Chandrasekhar Rao-led party to jail. Addressing election rallies in Mahabubabad and Karimnagar, Modi declared that the BJP considers it their responsibility to bring Telangana out of the clutches of BRS.

Exposing Scams and Seeking Justice

Modi emphasized that if elected, the BJP government will investigate the scams involving KCR and ensure justice. He warned that those who betrayed Telangana's poor and youth will not be spared. The Prime Minister highlighted his interactions with the people during his three-day campaign in the state and expressed confidence that the people of Telangana have already resolved to oust the KCR government.

Condemning Congress and BRS

Modi strongly criticized the Congress and BRS, holding both parties equally responsible for destroying Telangana. He urged the people not to allow another disease after getting rid of one. The Prime Minister asserted that the people's trust lies in the BJP, and they have decided that the next Chief Minister of Telangana will be from the BJP.

Remembering Former PM P V Narasimha Rao

Invoking former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao, Modi said that the soil of Karimnagar has given a PM to the country. He alleged that the Congress's "shahi parivar" (royal family) did not like it and insulted Rao at every step. Modi further claimed that even after Rao's demise, the Congress's "shahi parivar" did not miss any opportunity to insult him. He accused the dynastic parties of only thinking about their children and neglecting the welfare of the common people.

BJP's Commitment to Law and Order

Modi emphasized that dynastic parties destroy law and order, citing the frequent bomb blasts that occurred when Congress was in power. He warned that terror outfits like the Popular Front of India (PFI) get a boost in states where the Congress is in power. The Prime Minister cautioned people against Congress and KCR, referring to them as one and the same. He asserted that only the BJP can enhance the prestige of Telangana.

Promises for Telangana's Development

Modi exuded confidence that a BJP-headed government would be formed for the first time in Telangana after the upcoming assembly elections. He reiterated his claim that KCR had attempted to forge an alliance with the BJP in the past, acknowledging the saffron party's growing strength. Modi revealed that KCR had met him in Delhi and requested an alliance, but the BJP could not go against the wishes of the people of Telangana. He added that ever since the BJP declined KCR's request, BRS has been abusing him.

The Prime Minister highlighted Telangana's rich tradition and technology but alleged that KCR has promoted superstition. Referring to Rao as a slave of superstition, Modi questioned if the people needed a "Farmhouse CM." He asserted that Telangana does not need a Farmhouse CM.

Addressing Appeasement Politics and Corruption

Modi accused the Congress and BRS of indulging in appeasement politics, promoting corruption, and dynasty politics. He alleged that they have also betrayed Dalits and Backward Classes (BCs). The Prime Minister highlighted the BJP's promises to make a backward caste leader the Chief Minister if the party came to power in the state. He also mentioned the promise to do justice to the Madiga community of Scheduled Castes (SCs) by categorizing SCs for reservations.

Seeking Change and Progress

Modi asserted that change was imminent in Telangana, with the people determined to vote out BRS and keep Congress away. He warned that a vote for Congress could lead to the return of the KCR government. The Prime Minister assured that the BJP's "double engine" government would promote investment and modern infrastructure in Telangana.

Support and Roadshow in Hyderabad

On the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, Modi expressed confidence that the people of the country have decided to avail his services once again. Later in the evening, Modi held a roadshow from RTC X roads junction to Kachiguda in the state capital. Accompanied by state BJP president G Kishan Reddy and MP K Laxman, Modi received a rousing welcome during the event. People showered flower petals on him, and some women performed an aarti ritual. The Prime Minister also paid floral tributes at the statue of freedom fighter Veer Savarkar at Kachiguda, where the roadshow concluded.
Race Against Time: Rat-hole Miners Begin Manual Drilling To Save Trapped Workers In Uttarkashi Tunnel Collapse

India

oi-Madhuri Adnal

Authorities have confirmed the commencement of manual horizontal drilling at the Uttarakhand tunnel where 41 individuals have been trapped for over two weeks. This initiative began at 7 PM today after the American Augur Drill malfunctioned once again. Its blades got entangled with iron grill remnants from the tunnel ceiling and other debris.

The operation is being carried out by "rat miners," labourers experienced in drilling narrow shafts, utilising a primitive technique commonly used in coal extraction.

Additionally, officials mentioned that vertical drilling aimed at establishing an additional passageway has already advanced to 36 meters.

Rescue efforts for 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara-Barkot tunnel have intensified, employing vertical and horizontal drilling methods in an urgent bid to free the stranded individuals.

Multiple government agencies, including the Indian Army, joined the operation after an advanced drilling machine malfunctioned, necessitating manual drilling to expedite the process.

However, ongoing rescue efforts face potential weather challenges, with the India Meteorological Department issuing a yellow alert for rain, lightning, and hailstorms in Uttarkashi, which may impact operations.

A high-level delegation, including officials like PM Modi's Principal Secretary PK Mishra and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary SS Sandhu, assessed the situation on-site. The vertical drilling process has progressed steadily, requiring a total of 86 meters to create an escape passage, with preparations underway for the installation of 1.2-meter diameter pipes.

Additionally, 'rat miners' with experience in similar operations arrived, aiming to clear debris manually using trolleys, equipped with safety gear and expressing solidarity with the trapped workers.

Several rescue plans are in motion, including horizontal and vertical drilling, alongside the creation of a rescue tunnel and the removal of equipment hindering progress. Authorities aim to conclude vertical drilling by November 30, barring any unforeseen challenges.
As NIA ups the ante against Khalistanis, hypocrisy of countries such as Canada stare you in the face

Small Plane Crashes On A Malaysian Highway, Killing All 8 People On Board And 2 On The Ground

Malaysia To Allow Visa-Free Entry To Chinese, Indian Citizens

International

oi-PTI

Malaysia will grant a 30-day visa-free entry for Indian and Chinese citizens from December 1, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has announced, joining Thailand and Sri Lanka in recent weeks to offer such a facility to foreigners to promote tourism.

Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkiye and Jordan. However, Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister of the country, said the visa exemption was subject to top security screening, the official Bernama news agency reported.

"Initial screenings will be conducted for all tourists and visitors to Malaysia. Security is a different matter. If there are criminal records or the risk of terrorism, they will not be allowed to enter," the Prime Minister said.

"That comes under the authority of the security forces and immigration," the premier said. The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism and business. Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM 49.3 billion in tourism receipts. India remains to be among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia.

Six Countries Enjoy Visa-Free Travel To China: New Policy Starts December 1

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Malaysia to allow visa-free entry of Indian and Chinese tourists from December 1 | Oneindia News

In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 324,548 Indian tourists, while in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, according to data from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia. Currently, there are 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia and IndiGo, said the agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.

Malaysia's decision follows a similar visa waiver implemented by Sri Lanka and Thailand. Sri Lanka has introduced a visa-free entry initiative for visitors from India and six other countries, encompassing China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand.

This initiative will remain effective until March 31, 2024, and aims to boost tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, with the tourism ministry setting a target of attracting five million tourists in the coming years. Thailand has also lifted visa requirements for visitors from India and Taiwan.

Indians can travel to Thailand without a visa and stay for up to 30 days, the government announced recently. This visa-free access for Indian passport holders is applicable from November 10, 2023, to May 10, 2024.

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Story first published: Monday, November 27, 2023, 13:42 [IST]
Netanyahu Visits Gaza, Vows To Continue Fight

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the Gaza Strip on Sunday to meet with soldiers and boost their morale. He vowed to continue the fight against Hamas until the end.

International

-Sathish Raman

In a clear sign of Israeli control over parts of war-ravaged Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the Islamist Hamas-ruled coastal Strip on Sunday to meet Israeli soldiers to boost their morale and vowed to carry on the fight until the end.

Netanyahu Meets with Soldiers, Visits Hamas Tunnel

Netanyahu received security briefings from commanders and soldiers and visited one of Hamas tunnels that has been revealed, an official press statement said. He told the soldiers on the ground, "We are here in the Gaza Strip with our heroic soldiers. We are making every effort to return our hostages, and in the end, we will return them all. We have three goals in this war: eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and ensure that Gaza will not go back to being a threat to the State of Israel."

Netanyahu: 'We Will Continue Until the End'

Netanyahu asserted, "I am here to tell the soldiers, who all tell me the same thing, and I repeat it to you, citizens of Israel: We are continuing until the end  until victory. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the force, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all of our goals for the war, and this is what we will do."

Three Goals for the War

He reiterated the three goals for the war: "We have three goals for this war: eliminate Hamas, return all our abductees and ensure that Gaza does not become a threat to the State of Israel again."

Israeli Officials Visit Gaza

The Israeli prime minister was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi, his Military Secretary Maj-Gen Avi Gil, and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj-Gen Amir Baram. Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and other senior Israeli officials have visited the northern part of the Strip during the ongoing war in a clear indication that Israel now has control over the ground in a big chunk of the territory.

Hostage Exchange and Ceasefire

Israel and Hamas are currently exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners in a temporary four-day pause mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. The ceasefire will also see humanitarian aid, including fuel, entering the Gaza Strip. The four-day ceasefire, when 50 Israeli hostages are likely to be released against 150 Palestinian prisoners, may get extended with Israel agreeing to a one-day extension for every 10 hostages being released.

Netanyahu's visit to Gaza and his meeting with soldiers underscore Israel's determination to continue the fight against Hamas and regain control over the coastal strip. The ongoing hostage exchange and ceasefire provide a glimmer of hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, but it remains to be seen whether a lasting peace can be achieved.
Niger junta revokes law curbing migrant smuggling

Nigers junta has revoked a 2015 law that was enacted to curb the smuggling of migrants travelling from African countries through a key migration route in Niger en route to Europe.

International

-Sathish Raman

The military junta in Niger has repealed a 2015 law aimed at curbing the smuggling of migrants through the country, according to a government circular. The move comes amid growing political tensions between Niger and European Union countries that imposed sanctions on the West African nation following a July coup.

Revoking the Law

The decree, signed by junta leader General Abdourahmane Tchiani on November 25, nullifies the convictions and effects of the 2015 law. The Ministry of Justice will consider releasing all those convicted under the law, according to Ibrahim Jean Etienne, the ministry's secretary general.

Niger-EU Tensions

The revocation of the law adds to the escalating political tensions between Niger and EU countries. The sanctions imposed by Western and European countries in response to the coup have caused economic hardship for Nigeriens and emboldened the junta.

A Gateway for Migration

Niger's Agadez region serves as a key gateway for migrants from West Africa seeking to reach Libya and cross the Mediterranean to Europe. The region has also become a lucrative hub for people smugglers, prompting the government, in collaboration with the European Union, to enact the 2015 law.

Law's Impact

While the law transformed Niger into a migration hub housing thousands of migrants being returned to their countries, the UN human rights office noted that it led migrants to seek increasingly dangerous migratory routes, resulting in heightened risks of human rights violations.

Coup and Aftermath

Following the July 26 coup that ousted President Mohamed Bazoum, Western and European countries suspended aid for health, security, and infrastructure needs to Niger. The sanctions, intended to pressure the junta, have instead caused economic hardship for the population and strengthened the junta's resolve. The junta has established a transitional government that could remain in power for up to three years.

The revocation of the 2015 anti-migrant smuggling law in Niger adds a new dimension to the country's complex political landscape. As Niger grapples with the aftermath of the coup and the resulting sanctions, the fate of migration policies and the broader relationship with the international community remain uncertain.
Burlington is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Vermont and the seat of Chittenden County. It is located 45 miles (72 km) south of the CanadaUnited States border and 95 miles (153 km) south of Montreal. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 44,743. It is the least populous city in the 50 U.S. states to be the most populous city in its state.
Xero, the global small business platform, announced the 28 small businesses and non-profits that have won a share of the AU$ 690,000 global prize pool in the inaugural Xero Beautiful Business Fund.

One of the global winners is a regional New South Wales charity and volunteer organisation, winning a total of AU$70,000 in the Strengthening Community Connection category.

Launched earlier this year, the Xero Beautiful Business Fund seeks to help Xeros small business customers boost their growth plans and drive future success. More than 5,500 applications were received from Xero customers across Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom.

Joseph Lyons, APAC Managing Director, Xero: Its been amazing to see firsthand the incredible work Australian small businesses are doing and what their future aspirations are. They are having a remarkable impact on the wider community in diverse ways, and I am grateful for all of the applicants who took the time to tell their stories. Our local winners are extremely dedicated to tackling challenges head on and generating impact, and Im very proud that we at Xero can help them on their business journey.

The four global winners will each receive a total of AU$70,000, while the remaining 24 winners will each receive AU$20,000 in funding.

Four Australian businesses were recognised across the categories  Innovating for sustainability, Strengthening community connection, Trailblazing with technology and Upskilling for the future.

Strengthening community connection: We Care Connect (NSW)

Taking out the global prize for this category is We Care Connect, a charity and volunteer organisation from New South Wales Central Coast and Hunter. We Care Connect tackles childhood poverty in their local region by rehoming quality preloved childrens essentials with families who need them most, positively impacting the lives of around 30,000 families. This prize will fund the purchase of critical items that are rarely donated, like newborn car seats, nappies, cot mattresses and more.

Innovating for sustainability: Suitcase Records (Qld)

The Australian small business taking the next step on their sustainability journey is Suitcase Records, a family-run state-of-the-art vinyl pressing plant in Brisbane. Passionate about supporting artists to keep making music, Suitcase Records is also committed to spearheading sustainable ways of manufacturing records. This prize will be used to fund the import of a world first vinyl record bio compound that will reduce the carbon output of pressing records by 92 percent when compared to standard black PVC.

Trailblazing with technology: Natura Pacific (Qld)

Seeking to innovate through technology is Natura Pacific, a Queensland social enterprise. Natura Pacific connects communities with the natural world through regenerative agriculture. The Xero Beautiful Business Fund winnings will enable Natura Pacific to swap out their 1960s diesel tractor used for orchard spraying with an agricultural drone. This will reduce their organic spraying time twelvefold  from 24 hours a week to around two hours. Passionate about digital transformation in regenerative agriculture, they plan to leverage their experience and knowledge with other farmers.

Upskilling for the future: Rattlepod Landscapes (NT)

Based in Alice Springs, Rattlepod Landscapes provide landscape design, construction services, and community projects to design arid appropriate landscapes to improve livability in central Australia. Retaining staff in a transient environment is challenging for the business, so to improve team incentives the business will use their prize to upskill its staff, setting themselves up for future success and to help deliver the best outcomes for the communities they work for.

The Xero Beautiful Business Fund was first announced during Xero Day, Xeros founding day celebrations, on 6 July this year. Applications opened on 23 August and ran for six weeks, closing 6 October. To enter, applicants needed to submit a 90-second pitch video sharing details of their business, the category they were applying in and their plans to use the funding. Regional winners were chosen by a regional judging panel composed of local business and industry leaders, Xero accounting and bookkeeping partners and Xero employees, for a total of 28 winners. A global judging panel made up of global business and industry leaders, technology experts and Xero executives, then selected one global winner in each category from the 28 regional winners.

For more information and to learn about the winners, visit xero.com/beautiful-business-fund.

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The pause in fighting in Gaza will extend for an extra two days, Bruce Lehrmanns cross-examination continues in court and the fallout from the sacking of Home Affairs secretary boss Mike Pezzullo.
The electric carmaker has asked the courts to impose a fine of $96,000 if Sweden fails to ensure license plates for new cars. Organized labor is not only hurting Musk's business in Sweden, but also in Germany.
Rumble 29 Nov 2023

One of the three Palestinian college students who were shot while walking in Vermont may not be able to move his legs for the rest..
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Houthi rebels fired missiles towards the warship which chased the armed men trying to escape by boat.
Rumble 30 Nov 2023

The ADL tries to push Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs as a way to fight anti-Semitism while Elon Musk pushes back;..
Before their Mumbai and Delhi gigs, the Texas-bred/New York-based music collective Snarky Puppy discusses their musical mixtape, assembling a crew of 20 musicians, and returning to India after a decade. Snarky Puppy requires a specific skill set from each member that goes beyond virtuosic ability. Their music is described as visceral, adventurous, and constantly evolving. Besides the performances, they are looking forward to the food and writing music with friends in Mumbai and Bangalore, as well as taking music lessons. They might even bring a 'thavil' back home.
Attorney General Merrick Garland addressed the Americans taken hostage by Hamas in Gaza and how his office is hoping for more releases.
Newsy 29 Nov 2023

ViewDubai, in the United Arab Emirates, is preparing to host a summit of global leaders and experts at COP28 this week who will..
The group was returning home after meeting the First Lady in Nairobi when they were swept away.
Nguyen Minh Thu is rescued in HCMC after drifting over 10 km on the Soai Rap River, Nov. 26, 2023. Photo courtesy of the HCMC border guards

A man was rescued by HCMC border guards after drifting over 10 km on the Soai Rap River from Long An Province.

Nguyen Minh Thu was transporting salt from a ship onto land near the Long An Port on Sunday afternoon when he slipped and fell into the water. He tried to swim back, but the currents were too strong, leaving him no option but to drift away.

Several of his coworkers found out what happened, but Thu was already too far away, so they called the authorities.

After over an hour, border guards of Hiep Phuoc Port in HCMCs Nha Be District received reports about somebody drifting on the Soai Rap River section near the port. Thu was weakened after spending a long time in the water. Border guard forces then used boats to rescue him.

Thu has been taken home in HCMC's Can Gio District.

The Soai Rap River, spanning 40 km, is the natural border between HCMCs Can Gio and Nha Be Districts, between Can Gio and Long Ans Can Giuoc District and Tien Giangs Go Cong Dong District.

A dredging project is ongoing at the river so that ships with a capacity of 70,000 tons can enter Hiep Phuoc Port.

For several years, dozens of people have been saved by border guard forces at the river section that Thu was rescued.
As graphic images from Gaza flood social media platforms, many people are claiming those images are fake, in the latest iteration of a disturbing trope.
Monday marks the official end of a four-day cease-fire deal between the two sides, but an extension looked likely. Over that time 58 Hamas hostages have been exchanged for 117 Palestinian prisoners.
The three victims of the attack in the US remain hospitalised with multiple gunshot wounds after chilling attack.
Kuala Lumpur: From December 1 to December 30, Indian tourists can enjoy visa-free entry to Malaysia. It comes close on its heels after similar waivers were announced by Thailand and Sri Lanka recently. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the waiver was an additional facility to the existing visa exemptions currently enjoyed by Gulf nations and other West Asian countries, including Turkey and Jordan. However, Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister of the country, said the visa exemption was subject to top security screening, the official Bernama news agency reported.



"Initial screenings will be conducted for all tourists and visitors to Malaysia. Security is a different matter. If there are criminal records or the risk of terrorism, they will not be allowed to enter," the prime minister said. "That comes under the authority of the security forces and immigration," the premier said.



The 30-day visa-free entry is also currently enjoyed by eight ASEAN countries for the purpose of social visits, tourism, and business. Malaysia is currently targeting 16.1 million international tourist arrivals with RM 49.3 billion in tourism receipts. India remains to be among the top countries to contribute tourist arrivals to Malaysia. In 2022, Malaysia welcomed a total of 324,548 Indian tourists, while in the first quarter of 2023, Malaysia received as many as 164,566 Indian tourists compared to 13,370 in the same period last year, according to data from the Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, also known as Tourism Malaysia. Currently, there are 158 flights with 30,032 seats offered weekly between India and Malaysia through Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air, AirAsia, and IndiGo, said the agency under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.



Sri Lanka has introduced a visa-free entry initiative for visitors from India and six other countries, encompassing China, Russia, Malaysia, Japan, Indonesia, and Thailand. This initiative will remain effective until March 31, 2024, and aims to boost tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka, with the tourism ministry setting a target of attracting five million tourists in the coming years. Thailand has also lifted visa requirements for visitors from India and Taiwan. Indians can travel to Thailand without a visa and stay for up to 30 days, the government announced recently. This visa-free access for Indian passport holders is applicable from November 10, 2023, to May 10, 202
The persistence of British Empire and its colonial-era borders continues to cast a long shadow over nations like Guyana and Palestine, serving as a constant reminder of historical injustices, and igniting ongoing 21st century geopolitical tensions. The arrogant and arbitrary demarcations established during British colonial rule have entrenched complex challenges that affect these countries' political landscapes, economic prospects, and societal harmony. To borrow from Malcolm X: the horrid chickens have certainly come home to roost in the first decade of this century.

In Guyana, the border issue with Venezuela over the Essequibo region stands as a stark illustration of the lasting negative and potentially violent impact of British colonial borders. The roots of this long-simmering dispute go back to the 19th-century contention between the British and Venezuelan governments over the territory. Despite Guyana achieving independence in 1966, the border remains contested in 2023, creating a persistent threat to the nation's sovereignty and impeding its economic development.

The legacy of colonial borders in Guyana is reflected in the ongoing diplomatic tensions, stalling regional cooperation, and hindering efforts for resource exploration and infrastructure development in the Essequibo. The unresolved nature of this dispute poses significant challenges for the nation's stability and progress, underscoring the enduring ramifications of arbitrary colonial borders. The United States, no friend of Venezuela, has offered to patrol the waters between the areas contested by the two countries, seizing the opportunity to ramp up its military threat to Venezuela under the guise or "helping and protecting Guyana."

Of course, the fact that American oil companies are exploiting new-found Guyana oil fields - touted as the largest deposits in the world - makes the American "help" to secure and protect the Guyanese interests in the ongoing border spat is certainly no coincidence. This is also sending a message to Caracas about who is the big dog in the South America region. It creates the potential for a dangerous miscalculation that would be the excuse for a regional conflict between Venezuela and the United States.

Similarly, in Palestine, the repercussions of colonial-era divisions persist in the form of the brutal and genocidal Israeli-Palestinian conflict of today. The Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration, pivotal in shaping the Middle East, imposed borders without regard for the indigenous population's aspirations or historical ties to the land.

The subsequent creation of Israel in 1948 and the forced displacement of millions of Palestinians led to decades of conflict, marked by territorial disputes, displacement, and untold human suffering. The violent and brutal echoes of British colonialism in the Middle East reverberates today with every 2,000lb American-made bomb dropped by the Israelis on the Gaza Strip today. Its wrong-headed decisions are manifested in the Israeli apartheid state and its brutal occupation of the West Bank, its encouraged settler violence and the racism of Israel's most extreme and right-wing government that has embraced full-scale genocide as a national policy.

The legacy of these colonial borders in Palestine manifests in the ongoing struggle for self-determination and statehood. The fragmentation of Palestinian territories, with the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem under different political jurisdictions, exacerbates socio-political tensions, impedes cohesive governance, and hampers prospects for a lasting peace settlement.

The persistence of colonial borders in both Guyana and Palestine underscores the complexities and challenges arising from historical injustices. These borders not only delineate geographical territories but also symbolize deep-seated wounds, unresolved disputes, and the enduring impact of imperialist policies that continue to reverberate through generations.

Addressing the legacy of colonial borders requires a multifaceted approach. It necessitates international recognition of historical injustices and the rights of affected populations, fostering inclusive dialogues, and prioritizing peaceful resolutions through diplomacy and mutual understanding. In Guyana, diplomatic efforts to seek a resolution to the border dispute with Venezuela are crucial for regional stability and economic development.

In Palestine, a comprehensive and inclusive peace process that acknowledges the rights and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians is imperative for lasting stability and justice. Reconciling the past and forging a path towards a future free from the shackles of colonial borders demands a concerted commitment to justice, equity, and mutual respect among nations and peoples. Indeed, the lasting legacy of these arbitrary borders complicates governance, exacerbates identity-based conflicts, and obstructs efforts toward peaceful resolutions. They underscore the importance of addressing historical injustices and fostering inclusive dialogues to create more sustainable, just, and harmonious societies.
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"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)



Bundesarchiv Bild 102-04062A%2C N%C3%BCrnberg%2C Reichsparteitag%2C SA- und SS-Appell. Now wouldn't Trump like to have a rally THAT size!

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The Trump/Fascism danger is now being widely recognized. (Actually, it is the Republo--fascism danger, roaring down the track [2021], for which Trump is just the brightly glowing headlamp. But not too many observers want to make that connection --- yet.) For example, on the day I began writing this column, Nov. 21, 2023 (the day before my 87th birthday, by the way), The New York Times had a front-page story headlined: "Autocratic Tone Intensifies Fears of Trump's Plans." The word fascism even appears in the URL cited just above.

Last week, I republished my "early-warning" column from 2015 entitled "Is it Hair Trump or Herr Trump?" This week I am republishing a much earlier "early warning" column --- about Hitler's Nazi Germany. It was entitled "Warnung; Warnung Auch:" "Warning; Warning Also." As a sequel to my repeated column of two weeks ago, I thought that it would be useful to also republish that "Warnung," from 1935, once again, as the Trump-fascist danger is becoming even more openly spoken about, by Trump himself, and others (such as, as his close ally The Heritage Foundation).

In the past, fascist-leader-wannabees have rarely spoken openly about just what they would do, on the violence/Constitution-of-the-nation-sundering side, if and when they took over. Trump is historically unique in that regard. He, and the ruling-class supporters of his, like those ensconced in The Heritage Foundation, are hardly being shy in telling us how they would trample over the Constitution and the laws of the land enacted pursuant to it. From arbitrary arrests, imprisonments, and executions to (more mundanely, in this context) destroying the Federal Civil Service (again, without taking into account the laws under which it exists --- a distinctly fascist way of doing things). And so, I republish here a column drawn from a book on Nazi-German-as-it-was-happening, originally published in 1935 (Nazi Dictatorship: A Study in Social Pathology and the Politics of Fascism).

My Introduction to that column read:

"About 4 years ago, in a used bookstore, my son came across a fascinating book of history and political science on the development of fascism in a nation-state. Knowing my interest in this subject matter, he purchased it and forwarded it to me, tout suite. At that time, in this space I presented a few excerpts from that book. Now, given what we as a nation will be facing should the Republo-fascists take one House of Congress, or even worse, both Houses, in the upcoming mid-term elections, as well summarized recently by The New York Times' Michelle Goldberg (as well as many others to be sure), I thought that it would be useful to revisit those excerpts, published back then. As I did at the time, I presented them with certain edits and alterations for present relevance. This time around, I will put those edits and alterations in italics to make it clear exactly which text is updated. As it happens, the text which has been updated here is very limited. Most of what is presented here is exactly the same as it was in the original.)"

And so, from that column and the work which makes up the bulk of its text, with a few updates/additional comments to/for that text , if you will, in italics:

"A wholly definitive study is still impossible, because of the timing, and because many indispensable sources of information, such as party and organizational archives, such documents as income tax returns, intra-leadership communications, and 'classified [for various reasons] documents,' are as yet closed to scholars (unless leaked). With regard to many events, judgments must be based upon admittedly incomplete evidence. These difficulties, which always beset the student of contemporary politics, are aggravated here by the determined and well-organized efforts of the new government and party-in-power to discourage incisive research into its methods and objectives and to misrepresent many of its goals and techniques for reasons of political expediency. Deception is a political imperative in all government. In this regime, it is an applied science and a fine art.

"The new leaders who 'think with their hearts' repudiate all objectivity and scientific detachment as evil products of liberalism... Under these circumstances any effort at objectivity implies per se the adoption of an attitude evoking negative emotional response from the officials under observation. Like every form of highly emotionalized and subjectivized mass politics, Trumpism demands acceptance or rejection, period.

"Only a social revolution can destroy the Trumpist state. Only an upheaval in which the political power of the economically-dominant sector of the ruling class is permanently broken by mass action from below can offer hope of weakening the grip upon the sources of power of the Trumpist state. The new Trumpist absolutism is the only possible source of power for the ruling class in the age of increasingly concentrated monopoly capitalism, since it protects their interests far better than any imaginable alternative.

"In the run-up to Trumpism, the true left in the United States accepted this view of the situation. But their small size, the destruction of the militant trade unionism that they had led many years before, undertaken by a concerted effort of the ruling class across the nation, and the incredibly destructive in-fighting over who indeed were the 'true leftists,' especially in relationship to the history of the Soviet Union and its leadership, and over the 'lesser of the evils' proposition, with the resulting failure to form a Popular Front, rendered them very limited in what they were able to do to effectively fight the onslaught of Trumpism. At the same time, the bourgeois liberal forces over the years leading up to the triumph of Trumpism, on the one hand implemented a large number of policies and programs which led directly into the hands of the Trumpites, and on the other, because of their politico-economic history and record, they were totally unable to design and present an electoral politico-economic program that was a clear alternative, capable of defeating the Trumpites."

END OF THE QUOTATION, HERE.

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The basic text, for which I have taken the (obvious) liberty, with a few italicized comments here and there, of putting it into the contemporary U.S. context, is hardly contemporary. In fact, as noted above, it is drawn from a remarkable book entitled The Nazi Dictatorship: A Study in Social Pathology and the Politics of Fascism, by Frederick L. Schuman, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago. "So," you might say, "what is so remarkable about that? A zillion of so books have been written about the Nazi era, a few even from a true left-wing perspective." "Well yes," I would respond. "That is so. Except that the first edition of this book, from which the bulk of the (edited/updated-to-be-sure) text above was drawn, was published, by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., New York, on April 22, 1935, with the second, historically updated edition published on May 11, 1936."

With this understanding, it should be quite easy to see where, in the original, words like "Nazi," "fascist," "Communist Party of Germany," "Socialist Party of Germany," and so forth appeared. (And oh, by the way, in 1935-36 Prof. Schuman predicted the coming of the Second World War, as a natural outcome of fascism in most, but not all countries [e.g., Franco Spain] and its need for perpetual expansion.) There are many lessons for the opposition to Trumpism to be drawn from this book and the history it presents, from a then contemporary perspective.

As for a definition of fascism-in-the-21st century, on the Trumpian model, this is the one that I am using currently:

There is a single, all-powerful executive branch of government, in service of a capitalist ruling class that controls, for the most part, the functions of production, distribution, finance, and exchange. There is no separation of the principal governmental powers: executive, legislative, and judicial. There are no independent media. There is a single national ideology, based on some combination of racism, misogyny, religious bigotry and authoritarianism, homophobia, and xenophobia. There is a political party supporting the movement. There is a state propaganda machine using the big and little lie techniques. There may be a full-blown dictatorship, a charismatic leader, engagement in foreign wars, and the use of the mob/private armies to enforce governmental control."

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As regular readers know, I have written extensively on contemporary Republo-fascism. Further, I have pointed out that the fascist movement in today's Republican Party had its origins many decades ago (see my "forward history" The 15% Solution: A Political History of American Fascism, 2001-2022, the first version of which projected history of American Fascism, 2001-2022 was published in 1996).

Obviously, Trump is not anything like the creator of the movement (except as a poseur), Benito Mussolini. That is one of the ways in which he is distinctively different from Adolf Hitler, Mussolini (who seems to be making an after-life comeback in Italy), Francisco Franco, or the "fascist waanabe," Republican love-object, Viktor Orban (among others, for example history's first fascist-type dictator, Admiral Miklos Horthy of Hungary). Further, for Trump, as is being revealed in whole cloth by his current screaming, at its center, for him, it is personal: "These people individually and collectively, have all done these terrible things to me, and I am going to get back at them, in spades."
Isabella and Ferdinand Academia de Espanol, a nonprofit dedicated to fostering language education, proudly launches their 'Building Bridges, Changing Lives: Spanish for All' fundraising campaign. This initiative aims to expand access to quality Spanish education, offer scholarships, and foster inclusivity in underserved communities. Founded in 2010, Isabella and Ferdinand Academia de Espanol passionately advocate for educational equity and cultural enrichment through a certified immersion program. This campaign embodies their commitment to 
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Q. What can you tell me about minoxidil pills for hair loss? Some people say that low-dose minoxidil really does increase hair volume. Having thin, post-menopausal hair myself, Im planning to ask my doctor about it sometime soon. First, though, Id like your opinion.

A. Researchers initially developed minoxidil as an oral blood pressure medication. It was granted Food and Drug Administration approval in 1979 under the brand name Loniten. When people reported hair growth as a side effect, a topical formulation was created with the name Rogaine.

Topical minoxidil was less likely to cause worrisome side effects such as fluid retention (edema), rapid heart rate, headache and weight gain. More serious reactions associated with oral minoxidil include inflammation around the heart, congestive heart failure, worsening angina and severe skin reactions.

Most of those adverse drug reactions have been reported by people taking high oral doses for hard-to-treat high blood pressure. At the very low doses of oral minoxidil (OM) currently being prescribed off label for hair loss, such problems appear uncommon (Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Oct. 14, 2023).

We could find no large, well-controlled trials of low-dose OM for hair loss. A review in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (March 2021) concluded, however, Oral minoxidil was found to be an effective and well-tolerated treatment alternative for healthy patients having difficulty with topical formulation.

Q. I read recently that the Food and Drug Administration is changing the classification of natural desiccated thyroid extracts. They will now be considered biologics. I fear that this will increase the price a lot, even though these medicines are not expensive to produce.

The company that makes Armour Thyroid is not objecting to this change. To my mind, that could mean they stand to benefit financially. Can you enlighten your readers about what is going on?

A. The FDA appears to be skeptical about the value of desiccated thyroid extract. Even though a major pharmaceutical company (AbbVie) makes both synthetic levothyroxine (Synthroid) and Armour Thyroid, the FDA cites safety, effectiveness and quality issues with natural thyroid extract.

The FDA has classified DTE as a biological product. That means the agency could require a special license for these medicines. Whether the agency will ban natural thyroid remains to be seen.

To understand more about synthetic and natural thyroid products as well as testing for thyroid problems, you may wish to consult our eGuide to Thyroid Hormones. This online resource is available under the Health eGuides tab at www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.

Q. I have had trouble over the years with cracks at the corners of my mouth. To treat them, I tried everything from antifungals to antibiotics to vitamins B and D.

Nothing worked for me until I came across an article about a sensitivity to SLS, sodium lauryl sulfate. I discovered that my toothpaste contains SLS. Once I changed to non-SLS toothpaste, Ive had no more splits at the corners of my mouth!

A. There are many possible causes of angular cheilitis (red cracks at the corners of the mouth). Some readers report benefit with vitamin supplements, while others find topical cortisone plus antifungal cream helpful. You are not the first to discover that SLS, the foaming agent in many toothpastes, can trigger irritation.

* * *

In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of King Features, 628 Virginia Drive, Orlando, FL 32803, or email them via their website: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com. Their newest book is Top Screwups Doctors Make and How to Avoid Them.

(c) 2023 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
President Vo Van Thuong (L) receives leaders of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance in Tokyo on Nov. 27, 2023. Photo by VNA

Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, during his official visit to Japan, expressed confidence in the flourishing future of Vietnam-Japan relations.

Hosting Chairman of the Japan-Vietnam Parliamentary Friendship Alliance Nikai Toshihiro, former Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide, and leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party, Thuong on Monday discussed the potential for significant advancements in the bilateral relationship.

At the reception, the Vietnamese leader proposed Nikai and the alliance continue to pay attention to and promote cooperative relations between the two legislative bodies, promoting the exchange of parliamentarians, young leaders, and female parliamentarians of the two countries.

He also called for enhancing the role of parliamentary friendship organizations as well as boosting cooperation in new fields such as digital transformation, green transition, high-tech agriculture, education, labour and tourism.

President Thuong thanked members of the alliance, especially Nikai and former PM Suga, for always caring and giving friendly and sincere sentiments to Vietnam and its people and for their effective contributions to the development of the relations between the two countries.

Affirming that locality-to-locality cooperation, youth and cultural exchanges are important factors that connect the two countries, he urged parliamentarians to support the organization of more cultural festivals in both countries, as well as exchange programs for young generations and strengthening substantive connections among localities, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of the Vietnam-Japan relations in the future.

For their part, the Japanese officials expressed their confidence that the Vietnamese President's visit to Japan will help bring the bilateral relations to a new height.

They said that they will continue to pay attention and support the promotion of collaboration with Vietnam in all fields, particularly labor, agriculture, science and technology, and energy and people-to-people exchanges.

They also pledged to make utmost efforts to promote the Vietnam-Japan University project - a symbol of cooperative relations between the two countries.
When Brent Sutton lost his job at a food market on the Oregon coast earlier this year, he filed for jobless assistance and promptly started receiving benefits. Then, almost as quickly, the money stopped.

The Coos Bay resident said his third week of benefits didnt arrive, and that the employment department told him someone had submitted a direct deposit form to reroute his money to their account. Payments stalled for several weeks while the employment department investigated the apparent fraud, leaving Sutton struggling to make his car payments and pay his rent.

For it to be able to be put on hold like that, its crazy to me. It can really affect someones life. I called in every week and they just told me to wait and wait, said Sutton, 33. I can wait, but my car payment wont wait. Its really upsetting.

Oregons unemployment rate remains near a record low at 3.6%, but many laid-off workers are having to wait much longer for assistance. The share of jobless claims processed within three weeks fell sharply beginning in August, from more than 90% to around 75%.

The delays are reminiscent of the agencys pandemic breakdown, when Oregon was among the slowest in the nation at paying jobless benefits. But the reasons for the new delays appear very different.

Three years ago, Oregon was coping with an unprecedented number of jobless claims and a dysfunctional agency that had endured a succession of leadership failures and had repeatedly postponed structural reforms. The state notoriously delayed replacing the employment departments obsolete computer system despite receiving more than $80 million in federal funds to pay for an upgrade in 2009.

The new computers are still a work in progress  they arent due to begin processing claims until next year. The employment department says it has diverted staff to prepare for the new computer system, one reason claims processing is slowing.

The department says bigger factors in the slowdown are a decline in federal funding and a deluge of fraudulent claims.

When those fraudulent claims come in, it does create workload for us, David Gerstenfeld, the employment departments director, said on a media call earlier this month.

The agency says its receiving a high volume of fake jobless claims from cyberthieves, forcing it to delay payments for some unemployed Oregonians while it works to ascertain whether their applications are legitimate.

We cant quantify how many days of work it adds to the average processing, but I can say that its a significant effort that many teams in our agency work on, Gerstenfeld said.

The employment department says its own systems havent been breached. Instead, it says the issue is that identity thieves are using personal information about Oregonians that they gathered elsewhere to submit fake claims.

The result is long delays for some laid-off workers while the employment department sorts through the claims in search of fraud. Its hindering the launch of the Paid Leave Oregon program, also administered by the employment department, which is encountering high volumes of fraudulent claims.

The employment department wont say how many fraudulent claims are coming in and wont specify what tools it is using to separate legitimate applications from fake ones. Gerstenfeld said the agency is concerned about providing information thieves might use to modify their approach.

But he said the agency is sending out a significant number of letters to verify peoples claims for jobless and paid-leave benefits.

The current delays arent nearly as bad as those during the pandemic. At times in 2020, the vast majority of claims took longer than three weeks to process and thousands of people had to wait months for financial assistance during the deepest economic downturn in Oregon history.

The most recent problems dont affect nearly as many people for the simple reason that there arent nearly as many people out of work.

Moreover, Oregons performance today isnt much worse than the national rate and its considerably better than some states, like Washington, where nearly 40% of claims take longer than three weeks to process.

Employment department spokesperson Rebeka Gipson-King said a decline in federal funding is another major reason why Oregons performance declined beginning this summer, even more significant than fraudulent claims.

But federal funding for state employment agencies dropped off across the country as pandemic-era stimulus programs expired yet few other states experienced the same declines in timely payments that Oregon has.

Nationally, the rate of timely payments has hardly budged in 2023 despite the changes in funding levels. Gipson-King said its possible Oregon benefited from other, temporary funding programs that enabled it to keep staffing higher than elsewhere, for longer.

As they wait for their aid, laid-off Oregonians are spending a lot longer seeking answers. Most callers to the employment department are on hold for at least 10 minutes and many spend at least a half hour waiting to get through.

The employment department attributes those delays to the decline in federal funding, too. The agency said its talking with the Oregon Legislature about creating a permanent source of funds so it can process claims faster and improve communication with those seeking benefits.

In Suttons case, he ultimately reached someone at the employment department through its Facebook page who promised to speedily resolve his claim. Hes optimistic his payments will resume before his savings run out but said he doubts others would fare as well.

If I didnt have money saved, I would have lost my place, I would have lost my car, Sutton said. If this happened to a regular person who didnt have money saved, I cant imagine.

-- Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com |

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
When Debbie Fery started hearing this year from substitute teachers who had not been paid for time spent taking mandatory trainings, it felt personal.

Fery, treasurer and chair of government affairs for the Oregon Substitute Teachers Association, and a substitute teacher herself, took her own fight to get paid for a required safety training to the states Bureau of Labor and Industry back in 2020.

Its like no one respects us enough to pay for it, she said.

All teachers are required to take certain training courses, some each year, and most full-time teachers take the classes during the week before school starts when theyre technically back on the clock. But substitute teachers often have to complete the training when theyre not on the clock.

Many of the courses that districts require substitute teachers to take  on things like cybersecurity, federal academic and health privacy laws and what to do in the event of a school shooting  take no more than a few hours online, and by law, districts must pay substitute teachers for their time. But Fery said many arent doing so and that state money set aside for this since 2022 has gone unused.

District officials told the Capital Chronicle thats because they didnt need the money.

Fery settled her claim of wage theft with the Willamette Education Service District, 16 of the 21 districts it encompasses and the substitute teacher staffing company Edustaff, all of which had told her they didnt owe her money for the time she spent taking the online courses in 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Following the settlement, the labor bureau wrote a guidance letter to districts and posted it to its website, explaining that by law they needed to pay substitutes for mandatory training. Still, Fery said, district officials have told her and members of the substitute teachers association that they do not need to pay them.

Teacher associations like hers played a critical role in securing state funding in 2022 for districts so they could pay substitute teachers for more than 20 training classes, many of which are mandatory depending on the district. Less than one-third of Oregons 197 school districts and 19 education service districts have used the state money, leading Fery and legislators to wonder how widespread wage theft is for substitutes taking these trainings.

The Capital Chronicle emailed 17 districts that either requested money and did not use it, or did not request any money at all. The few administrators who responded said they tapped into other pots of money to pay substitutes to train, that they did not need the money or that a company that provides them with substitute teachers is responsible for paying them to take required courses.

New task force

Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, convened in early November the first meeting of a new Joint Task force on Substitute Teachers, of which Fery is a member. Its looking at a number of issues thats led to a shortage of substitute teachers statewide and the growing reliance on two private companies  ESS and Edustaff  to provide substitutes to districts.

Dembrow said the task force will consider concerns about wage theft in the coming year. It is slated to provide recommendations to the state Legislature by December of 2025.

Dembrow said he still needs to learn more about why districts have not used the money the state set aside in 2022.

To be fair to them, if there were problems with the process, we should know that, he said. But we need to get to a place where subs are getting paid for the training that they need.

Fery said shes heard from more than 30 substitutes in at least 10 districts who have not been paid to take SafeSchools Training, a series of courses intended to show that all teachers are following state and federal safety mandates. She asked several if they would talk with a Capital Chronicle reporter but said they declined out of fear of retribution.

$16 million unspent

Due to a critical shortage of both substitute teachers and fully licensed classroom teachers, the Oregon Legislature in early 2022 passed House Bill 4030 on teacher licensing and other requirements. It included $100 million in incentives and bonuses to attract and retain teachers, classroom assistants and substitute teachers and $19 million for districts to reimburse classroom assistants and substitute teachers for mandatory training through January of 2024.

But districts have spent just $3 million  15%  of that money, according to data from the Oregon Department of Education. Districts had until the end of July to submit invoices for reimbursement. The remaining $16 million can no longer be spent and will be returned to the Legislature in January, according to the Oregon Department of Education.

Of Oregons 197 school districts and 19 education service districts, 93 districts applied to the education department for money and just 53 actually used it.

Administrators in districts that applied but didnt spend the money, or used far less money than they were allocated told the Capital Chronicle they didnt need it or as much as they thought. They had substitutes take the training while they were on the clock, they said, or used money from the Student Success Act  meant to boost equity, mental health care and help recover learning time lost during COVID for the states highest needs students  to pay them.

Many districts that applied for funding did not submit invoices for reimbursement by July, according to the data from the education department. Some districts ultimately invoiced for just a fraction of the money the state was prepared to give them.

As one example, the West Linn-Wilsonville School District didnt spend any of the $263,000 it applied for and the state allotted. The Multnomah Education Service District, serving about 100,000 students in eight school districts  including Portland Public, the states largest district  didnt spend any of the more than $194,000 that officials applied for in 2022.

An unnamed media relations official wrote via email that most substitutes took mandatory trainings during work hours and that it used Student Success Act money to pay for any training outside of those hours.

Superintendent Mike Johnson of the Creswell School District near Eugene said the Lane Education Service District provides most of the substitute teachers at Creswell schools and pays for their training. He did apply for $56,250 to pay for SafeSchools Training for classroom teachers and classified staff from the states $19 million fund, but in the end, the district only owed $1,300 for training hours, he said. He expensed it to the schools general fund instead.

In all, the states money paid for 11,000 substitutes and classroom assistants to take mandatory training. The average per hour of training across employees was $50.

Of the 11,000, 30% were contracted by a third party service. The two largest in Oregon are ESS and Edustaff. Those companies arent allowed to bill the state for training, but they can bill the district for the training hours, and the district can bill the state for reimbursement, according to Fery. She has worked under contract for Edustaff as a substitute and said it is not uniformly paying substitutes to take the training.

The Greater Albany School District was allocated $300,000 from the state, but it never invoiced for reimbursement. Michelle Steinhebel, communications director for the district, said it entered into a contract with Edustaff last year and that officials were under the impression that the company is ensuring the teachers take the SafeSchools courses and paying them for their time.

Attempts by the Capital Chronicle to reach representatives of Edustaff and ESS by phone and email went unanswered.

For Fery, withholding payment for mandatory training is a form of wage theft that is leading to a lack of dignity and respect that perpetuates the states teacher shortages.

Dembrow agrees that it is not helping.

All the steps that we can take to get this workforce the professional recognition that they deserve  thats what we need to do, he said.
Leaders of Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers finalized a tentative agreement Sunday, allowing 43,000 students to return to school Monday for the first time since Halloween, union and district officials said Sunday afternoon.

A final sticking point  an additional $4 million in raises  was resolved in favor of teachers, school board chair Gary Hollands told The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Union leaders agreed that teachers will return to work on Monday, even though the districts 3,500 unionized educators wont have a chance to review and vote on the proposed contract by then.

Classes will resume after a two-hour late start. It could be a rough reentry for teachers and students alike, as educators have not had paid planning time since their final minutes at work almost a month ago as they prepared to launch the strike Nov. 1.

The return is going to be strange, said Linda White, a math teacher at Sellwood Middle School in Southeast Portland. I am glad that I pushed us to finish our unit on the 31st so we can start fresh with new material. I think the restart will look a lot like the beginning of school, with group activities and some processing. I am probably not the only one who is a little uneasy about how to jump back in.

In an email to union members, the unions bargaining team called the agreement a watershed moment for Portland students, families and educators and said that the contract would mean more mental health support for students and more time for educators to plan lessons and grade papers, among other priorities.

Sunday marked the 26th calendar day of the strike, the first in district history. The labor action canceled 11 days of school, setting back education for students trying to regain ground after the pandemic, and lopping off even more work days for teachers, leaving them without regular paychecks and putting their health insurance at risk.

As part of their tentative deal, the district and union agreed students will get 11 full days of class to make up for those they missed, starting with canceling the first week of winter break, the district said. That means the vacation period will begin Dec. 23 rather than Dec. 16. Two scheduled teacher work days and the Presidents Day holiday will also be converted to teaching days, and the school year will stretch three days further into June.

Under the terms of the re-entry, parent-teacher conferences that were supposed to be held in November will be moved to evenings on January 11 and 12, plus two more evenings set at the school level, and the overall time set aside for conferences will be reduced to 12 hours, from 18, the contract agreement says.

As The Oregonian/OregonLive reported Saturday, the two sides agreed on a host of thorny issues by late Friday, including maximum thresholds for elementary class sizes and middle and high school teachers student loads. They reached common ground on committees that will weigh in solely about schoolwide priorities if their school hits those thresholds. The union had sought to allow parents a voice in classroom-level decisions.

And they largely agreed on cost-of-living increases, compromising on 6.25% for this year and 3% for 2025-26.

The remaining point of bitter contention was the raise for next year  4%, as the district insisted, or 4.5% as the union wanted, at a cost of $4 million more over two years.

The union pointed out teachers will work one additional day starting next school year and said accepting a 4% raise would mean working that day for free, an especially bitter pill for long-time teachers who still recall working 10 days for free in 2003 as a part of a deal to avert a strike and avoid ending the school year in mid-May.

District officials countered that all their wage proposals this year, including its offer of a 4% hike for next year, took into account that the work year would grow from 192 days to 193 next year, a fact that was noted in their written offers.

Under immense pressure from everyone from Gov. Tina Kotek to increasingly furious parents to seal the deal Sunday, district negotiators agreed to pay the additional $4 million.

Hollands, the school board chair, acknowledged that the rancor of the past month and the whiplash of negotiations have taken a deep toll on a district that is still reeling from the pandemics extended building closures.

It is going to take a lot of healing, Hollands said. It is going to take a lot of building of trust to get back. But I cant be mad at the people across from me who care about our kids just as much as I do. We had a difference of opinion. Now we have to be intentional about moving forward.

When the strike began, many families showed fervent support for teachers, joining picket lines, writing to school board members and district officials to urge a settlement on the unions terms and contributing to GoFundMe campaigns to aid educators. But as the weeks wore on, an increasing number of parents got antsy about drifting children and unmet work obligations. Some began expressing concern that the unions ambitious proposals could only be fully met with state education funding reform.

Our children need [Portland Public Schools and the Portland Association of Teachers] to learn to trust each other so you can work together to pressure Oregon state leaders to improve education funding, parent Brent Langland wrote in an impassioned email to district and union leaders, which he shared with The Oregonian/OregonLive. The state leadership has to listen to the combined voice of administration and teachers of the largest school district.

The tentative agreement would result in a 14.4% cost of living increase over three years. The unions last offer before the strike was for 23% over three years and the district countered with 10.9%.

The first-year raise of 6.25% is far larger than the other five Portland-area districts provided their educators under contracts negotiated prior to this year. Those ranged from 3% in Gresham and Hillsboro to 5% in North Clackamas.

The Portland Association of Teachers message to its members noted that the contract would deliver the largest cost-of-living increases over three years in district history. It said it would soon send them more information about the ratification process.

The proposed contract would also yield more planning time for teachers in middle and elementary schools. Those teachers would receive no less than 410 minutes per week to plan lessons and grade papers, due in part to a reduction in staff meetings.

The agreement does not, however, include hard caps on class sizes, which union leaders had pushed for at the start of negotiations and which have been a rallying point for many families. Instead, teachers who are assigned more students than agreed-upon thresholds will continue to receive so-called overage payments.

In a message to families, Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero and school board members also noted the contract would:

>> Provide middle school students with a seven-period day to expand electives and help drive down class sizes

>> Commit $20 million from the city of Portlands green energy tax to mitigate extra high and low temperatures in classrooms and carry out school maintenance prioritized by educators

>> Add 15 minutes to the school day for elementary and middle students beginning next school year

The deal is not official until ratified by a vote of the full school board and the members of the Portland Association of Teachers. Board approval is assured, but approval by the districts 3,500 unionized educators is not.

The school board scheduled its vote for Tuesday evening.

The impetus to get back to school on Monday is fueled in part by math: There are not many days left on the calendar to make up for the lost teaching time. The districts plan to recapture 11 missed days extends the school year to Friday, June 14. Coming back for one more school day on Monday would be a non-starter for most families.

Making up days will also require accommodations for other district employees, including paraeducators, educational assistants, nutrition services workers, custodians and school secretaries, whose unions are negotiating their own separate contracts with the district. All of those employees historically make significantly less than teachers, and it is unclear how their contracts will be impacted by the tentative agreement between the district and its educators.

But district officials have already said that in order to afford the provisions in the educators agreement, they will have to find more than $100 million worth of savings somehow, in part by spending down reserves and cutting spending elsewhere. Superintendent Guadalupe Guerrero has said district management is prepared to assume more than our share of any cuts, but the vast bulk of the districts operating budget is spent on people who interact with students daily.

 Julia Silverman; jsilverman@oregonian.com; @jrlsilverman

 Betsy Hammond; betsyhammond@oregonian.com; @ChalkUp
A motorcyclist died Monday morning in a crash with a school bus carrying two children.

The crash happened just before 7:18 a.m. near the intersection of Southwest 65th Avenue and Prosperity Park Road in Tualatin. The motorcyclist has not been identified publicly.

The school bus was part of the West Linn-Wilsonville School District, according to a news release from the Washington County Sheriffs Office. The children and the bus driver were not injured, deputies said.

In June, a school bus carrying children from the Hillsboro School District collided with a 23-year-old motorcyclist who died.

Deputies ask that anyone with information about the latest crash call the non-emergency number at Washington County Sheriffs Office at 503-629-0111.

Three other motorcyclists have died in crashes in the Portland area in the past week, including one in Gresham on Wednesday, another on the Marquam Bridge in Portland on Thanksgiving, and a 38-year-old man in Vancouver on Friday.

 Beth Slovic; bslovic@oregonian.com; 503-221-8551

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
Five years ago, The Oregonian/OregonLive published the award-winning five-part series, Ghosts of Highway 20, accompanied by a full video series along with the articles that chronicled the victims of an Oregon serial killer.

Lead reporter Noelle Crombie, a senior criminal justice reporter for The Oregonian/OregonLive, joined Editor Therese Bottomly for a conversation about the original series, which is seeing renewed interest because of the debut this month of a new docuseries available on Max.

Crombie, along with videographer Dave Killen and photographer Beth Nakamura, spent months diving into archives, courthouse files, old police reports and contacting survivors and witnesses. The five parts started with the rape of Marlene Gabrielsen, followed by the disappearance and murder of jogger Kaye Turner.

After John Ackroyds stepdaughter disappeared, investigators refocused their attentions on the highway worker, who also was the one who found Turners remains. Two other women familiar to Ackroyd, Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson, disappeared. Their remains were later found in the woods along Highway 20.

The conversation touches on:

--The decision to focus on the women victims, rather than investigators

--The transformative impact of telling her story on Marlene Gabrielsen

--How the original documentary video differs from the new docuseries

Listen to the conversation:

Read more:

Part One of the original series, Ghosts of Highway 20, focused on Marlene Gabrielsen, who miraculously survived an attack by Ackroyd. Police didnt believe her report of rape and Ackroyd went on to kill other women he encountered along the highway.

Part Two looks at the disappearance and death of Kaye Turner, whose murder Ackroyd was tried and convicted for years later.

Part Three told the story of Rachanda Pickle, Ackroyds stepdaughter, whose disappearance led police to refocus on Ackroyd and his involvement in Kaye Turners disappearance.

Part Four focused on Melissa Sanders and Sheila Swanson, two teenagers who knew Ackroyd and also disappeared. Investigators are certain Ackroyd killed them.

Part Five traces the eventual unmasking of Ackroyd as a repeat killer, for the first time revealing his secret plea in his young stepdaughters disappearance.

Readers can also take a deep dive into the primary documents that the journalists used for the 2018 series. The project editor was senior managing producer Margaret Haberman.

How to watch the new docuseries, which premiered Nov. 5.
Brussels, Belgium (PANA)  The European Council on Monday adopted an assistance measure under the European Peace Facility worth 21 million to support the Yaounde Architecture and strengthen the capacities of military actors and navies of selected coastal states  Ghana and Cameroon  involved in maritime security operations in the Gulf of Guinea
Rome, Italy (PANA) - The world global food standards body marked its 60th anniversary on Monday at the headquarters of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
Khartoum, Sudan (PANA) - The conflict in Sudan has entered its eighth month, and while aid access remains extremely challenging, UN humanitarians are doing their utmost to reach people in need
Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hold a press conference after their talks in Japan on Nov. 27, 2023. Photo by VNA

Vietnam and Japan have officially upgraded their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for peace and prosperity in Asia and the world, the two nations leaders announced.

Dung the talks between Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishidaheld in Tokyo on Monday, the two leaders issued a joint statement on upgrading Vietnam-Japan relations to a "Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia and the world," affirming their desire to promote bilateral relations in all fields "to new heights," and their joint target of expanding into new areas of cooperation.

"This is an important landmark that opens a new chapter in Vietnam-Japan relations," Thuong told the press after the talks.

He said the new chapter would include more "substantial, comprehensive, effective and closely-linked development to meet the interests of both sides and contribute to peace, stability, cooperation, and development in the region and the world."

The two leaders joint statement said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1973, and especially since the two countries upgraded their ties to an Intensive Strategic Partnership for Peace and Prosperity in Asia in 2014, Vietnam-Japan relations have grown and strengthened significantly.

PM Kishida affirmed that Japan is committed to supporting the "strong, independent, self-reliant, and successful industrialization and modernization" of Vietnam, as well as the importance of Vietnam in implementing Japans foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region.

The prime minister added that he appreciated Vietnam's positive and constructive contributions to international and regional relations.

President Thuong said that Vietnam has always considered Japan one of its most important long-term partners. He said he hoped that Japan would continue to promote its leading role in maintaining peace and stability, cooperation and development in the region and the world.

The two leaders agreed on areas of cooperation to be strengthened between the two countries in the coming time.

In multi-layered and multi-level dialogues and communications, the two sides plan to maintain annual high level exchanges and meetings towards the strengthening of people-to-people exchanges and local cooperation.

Vietnam and Japan will implement bilateral mechanisms and research the establishment of new mechanisms, according to agreements reached at the recent meetings.

The two countries welcome close cooperation between their respective two Foreign Ministries and aim to continue creating favorable conditions for diplomatic and consular representative agencies to operate smoothly.

Regarding security and defense, the two sides agreed to strengthen practical and effective cooperation in the field, including in UN peacekeeping activities and efforts to overcome the consequences of war, such as mine clearance and dioxin detoxification, military medicine, humanitarian relief and natural disaster relief, human resource training and the transfer of defense equipment and technology.

The two countries agreed on the importance of pursuing the implementation of the Agreement on Technology and Defense Equipment Transfer signed in September 2021.

Kishida explained that Japan has established a new cooperation framework called "Official Security Assistance" (OSA) to deepen security cooperation and contribute to maintaining and strengthening international peace and security.

The two leaders agreed to promote cooperation on safety and security at sea through activities such as joint training, information sharing and capacity building, especially within the two countries coast guard forces.

Vietnam and Japan will continue to strengthen economic links and affirm the importance of cooperation to ensure economic security, in which Japan continues to support Vietnam in building an independent economy, deep international integration, industrialization and modernization, with the goal of officially becoming a developed country by 2045.

The two leaders welcomed the prospect that the value of yen-denominated loans in the Japanese fiscal year 2023 could exceed 100 billion yen for the first time since 2017. The two sides will make efforts to resolve remaining difficulties in the process of implementing Japanese ODA projects.

The two countries also reported that they want to strengthen the resilience of supply chains to ensure stable production activities for the benefit of both sides, taking into account the importance of transparent, diverse, safe, sustainable and stable supply chains

Regarding human resource development, culture, tourism, local exchanges and people exchanges, the two sides encouraged Vietnamese students to study in Japan. The leaders also agree to enhance exchanges in education between the two countries and promote teaching Japanese in Vietnam.

The two countries aim to boost tourism and cultural festivals, and create a favorable environment for citizens of the two countries to travel freely between the two nations. This includes promoting the dispatch of Vietnamese interns and workers in fields that fit the needs of the two sides.

In new fields such as energy, environment, science and technology, green transformation, digital transformation, and innovation, the two countries will promote cooperation on the development of smart grids and smart cities, improving the electricity market and localizing the energy industry.

Vietnam and Japan will also increase cooperation in development and innovation within the digital economy to create momentum for rapid and sustainable economic development. The leaders recognized the importance of facilitating the free flow of data across borders, developing digital connectivity and promoting consumer and business trust in the digital economy.

The two sides will increase cooperation in law and justice, health, construction, transportation, natural disaster risk reduction and urban development.

Japan will increase technical support and promotion for projects, including underground space management, urban underground works and water-related disaster risk reduction.

This will include "Smart JAMP," a smart city program based on the ASEAN-Japan joint partnership, and international standards for seaports.

Regarding regional and international issues, the two leaders emphasized the importance of a free and open international order based on the rule of law and principles upholding the United Nations Charter to promote cooperation, and achieve peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.

Vietnam and Japan reaffirmed the importance of solidarity and the central role of ASEAN plays towards that goal, agreeing to work together to improve the effectiveness and role of Mekong-Japan cooperation.

The two leaders expressed concern about the situation in the South China Sea (known as the East Sea) and reaffirmed the importance of avoiding unilateral actions by force or compulsion that increase tensions.

Both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining peace, security, safety, freedom of maritime, aviation and unhindered legal economic activities in the East Sea, self-restraint and peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), reaffirming that UNCLOS is the most comprehensive international legal basis for law at sea.
Essity Joins European Research Project Sustronics in Development of Eco-friendly Sensor Technology

One study aims to develop a reusable sensor, integrated into incontinence products that measures temperature, humidity and enzymes to avoid incontinence-related skin problems and enhance healthcare quality. One study aims to develop a reusable sensor, integrated into incontinence products that measures temperature, humidity and enzymes to avoid incontinence-related skin problems and enhance healthcare quality.

Nov. 27, 2023 - Essity announced that it has joined the European research project Sustronics, an EU funded project with the goal of moving the European electronics industry towards eco-friendly electronics and the development of cutting-edge functionalities.

Sustronics is a project within Horizon Europe, the EU's key funding program for research and innovation with a budget of EUR 95.5 billion.

According to Essity, the research project includes nine pilot studies with a focus on healthcare and diagnostics. Prototypes will be developed and in parallel life cycle assessments and methods for eco-design will be applied to ensure sustainability.

As a provider of incontinence and wound care products, Essity is participating in two pilot studies. One study aims to develop a reusable sensor, integrated into incontinence products that measures temperature, humidity and enzymes to avoid incontinence-related skin problems and enhance healthcare quality. The sensor uses data and AI algorithms to provide insights to the user or carer about issues such as skin health directly to a smartphone.

The second pilot study involves the development of a smart wound dressing fitted with sensors that measure temperature, pH and biomarkers for infection in the wound. The solution has the potential to both enhance patient well-being and reduce healthcare costs.

"Advances in sensor technology can drastically improve preventive care and be a game changer for large patient groups. Through the Sustronics research project, we can further strengthen our innovative capacity while in parallel improving people's health and well-being and contribute to a more sustainable and circular society," says Tuomas Yrjola, President Global Brand, Innovation and Sustainability, at Essity.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Essity is a global producer of consumer tissue, professional and personal hygiene and health products.

SOURCE: Essity
Photo: (Photo : by Tanaphong Toochinda on Unsplash)

Transitioning your baby from breast milk or formula to solid foods is a significant milestone in their development. Baby-led weaning is a method that allows babies to control their solid food consumption by "feeding" themselves from the very start of weaning. The idea behind baby-led weaning is that it promotes healthy eating habits and improves dexterity and hand-eye coordination. If you're considering this approach, here are some essential tips and tricks to make the process smoother and more enjoyable for both you and your baby.

Baby-led weaning involves introducing your baby to a variety of solid foods and letting them pick up and eat the food themselves. This method differs from traditional weaning, where babies are spoon-fed purees.

Baby-led weaning encourages babies to explore food at their own pace and develop skills to chew and swallow.

When to Start Baby-led Weaning

The World Health Organization recommends starting weaning around six months of age. Look for signs that your baby is ready, such as being able to sit up unaided, showing interest in food, and having the ability to grasp objects and bring them to their mouth.

Safety First

Choking Hazards: Always be aware of the size and shape of the food you offer. Avoid hard foods like raw carrots or apples and small, round foods like grapes unless they are cut into smaller pieces. Supervision: Never leave your baby alone while eating. Stay close and be vigilant to prevent choking. Allergies: Introduce new foods one at a time and wait a few days before introducing another to monitor for any allergic reactions.

Choosing the Right Foods

Soft and Easy to Grip: Start with soft foods that are easy for your baby to hold and chew, such as steamed vegetables, ripe fruits, and soft-cooked meats. Finger Foods: Cut food into manageable sticks or pieces that your baby can hold in their fist with a bit sticking out to bite. Nutritious Options: Focus on iron-rich foods like meats and fortified cereals, as well as a variety of fruits, vegetables, and grains.

Read Also: Transitioning to Solids: A Step-by-Step Guide for Infant Nutrition

Tips for a Successful Baby-Led Weaning Experience

Patience is key. Remember, Baby-led weaning is a learning process for your baby. It might be messy and slow at first, but it's important to be patient. Eat Together: Make mealtimes a family affair. Babies learn by imitating, so eating together can encourage them to try new foods. Offer Variety: Provide a range of foods to expose your baby to different textures and flavors. This can help prevent picky eating later on. Respect Your Baby's Appetite: Let your baby decide how much to eat. Trust their ability to regulate their appetite. Stay Positive: Keep mealtimes positive and stress-free. Avoid pressuring your baby to eat.

Dealing with Mess

Baby-led weaning can be messy as your baby learns to handle food. Use a wipeable high chair, place a mat under the chair to catch dropped food, and don't be afraid to let your baby get a little messy.

Baby-led weaning is an exciting journey that can foster a positive relationship with food from a young age. It encourages independence, develops motor skills, and can be a fun experience for your baby. Remember, every baby is different, so what works for one may not work for another. Stay flexible, consult with your pediatrician, and, most importantly, enjoy this special time with your little one as they explore the world of food.

Related Article: How to Stop Breastfeeding: Quick, Easy and Painless Weaning Methods Moms Can Try
Photo: (Photo : SAID KHATIB /Getty Images)

In a riveting and uplifting turn of events, Abigail Mor Edan, a 4-year-old American girl who endured weeks of captivity under Hamas, has been successfully rescued as part of a high-stakes hostage exchange amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

This remarkable development unfolded on the third day of the delicate truce, providing a glimmer of hope in the long-standing conflict.

Abigail Mor Edan's harrowing ordeal began on her fourth birthday when she was abducted by Hamas militants.

Tragically, she witnessed the brutal murder of her parents in their Kfar Aza kibbutz home, an indelible memory etched into her young mind. In a horrifying turn of events, her father shielded her from a Hamas gunman, sacrificing himself to protect his daughter.

Miraculously, Abigail crawled from beneath her father's lifeless body, seeking refuge in a neighbor's bomb shelter.

Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Brought Home Hostages

The rescue of Abigail unfolded against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, a result of extensive diplomatic efforts by the U.S., Qatar, Egypt, and Israel.

This momentous development is part of a broader hostage exchange, with 17 captives, including the young American girl, being released.

The ceasefire, born out of international collaboration, signifies a tentative step towards peace in a region scarred by enduring hostilities.

While the rescue is cause for celebration, the path to Abigail's freedom was fraught with challenges.

Saturday's release, marked by diplomatic negotiations, faced significant delays and tensions.

Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, citing insufficient aid delivery to northern Gaza and a deviation from the agreed-upon order of releasing Palestinian hostages.

The accusations led to a protracted waiting period, but despite the obstacles, the exchange eventually took place, bringing relief to families anxiously awaiting the return of their loved ones.

The current ceasefire, brokered by Qatar and the United States, represents the first substantial pause in the ongoing conflict.

The hostage crisis has garnered widespread attention within Israel, leading to a gathering of thousands in central Tel Aviv in solidarity with the captives and their families.

Criticism has been directed at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with claims that his efforts to secure the hostages' release have been inadequate.

The recent releases have evoked a mix of emotions, ranging from joy for those freed to ongoing concerns for the many still held in captivity.

Read Also: Black Friday Breaks Records with $9.8 Billion E-commerce Boom - Consumers Flock Online for Best Deals

Terms of Cease-Fire and Humanitarian Aid

The ceasefire agreement, set to conclude on Monday, outlines specific terms aimed at fostering stability in the region.

A critical component of the agreement is the release of at least 50 hostages by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

Israel, in turn, committed to extending the ceasefire for an extra day for every 10 additional hostages released.

Simultaneously, the agreement facilitated the entry of hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza, providing essential supplies such as water, food, medical provisions, and fuel.

This humanitarian aid addresses the pressing needs of the local population and aims to alleviate the suffering caused by the prolonged conflict.

In summary, the successful rescue of 4-year-old Abigail Mor Edan from Hamas captivity serves as a beacon of hope in a region marred by strife.

The Israel-Hamas ceasefire and the subsequent hostage exchange offer not only relief to Abigail and her family but also the potential for a broader shift towards peace in the conflict-ridden area.

Related Article: Salmonella Outbreak Worsens: Recall Expanded for Cantaloupes as Cases Double Across 32 States
Chapter 14 (pp. 123-127) 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.

*****

We are often informed that the New Mass is technically valid, but nevertheless objectively offensive to God. This is a quintessential example of the exact sort of ambiguity that radical Catholic reactionaries so decry in (what they falsely perceive to be) Vatican II. The New Mass is valid, they usually admit, but then they immediately proceed to tear it down, just as with recent popes and Vatican II. The Church cant defect, but it can get very, very sick, we are told (and there is indeed a sense in which this is true). Most very, very sick creatures, however, die. The Church, to the contrary, cannot die, by its very nature, as it is divinely ordained and supernaturally sustained. It cant die any more than Our Lord Jesus can die (post-Calvary), since it is His Body: an extension of the incarnation.

Such fine-tuned distinctions made by reactionaries are worthless  distinctions without a difference; equivocation, rationalization, special pleading. It is the spirit of the thing. Who cares about the technicalities, when the outcome is always the same: one or more manifestations of skepticism, suspicion, conspiratorialism, bleak despair, a martyr complex, exaggerated self-importance, and doubt about the Church and its proclamations? This modus operandi, mindset, and mentality is positively Pharisaical in many respects, and reduces logically (taken to its consistent logical conclusion) to the sedevacantist position.

Its almost as if these distinctions without a difference are regarded as a sort of challenging game whereby the participant sees how close he can get to the edge (heterodoxy; defectibility) without going over it: death by a thousand qualifications and beatings. Who can trash the New Mass with the most flowery, inventive rhetoric, while not ever being brash enough to presumptuously question its validity? . . . Doublethink reigns!

Reactionaries will argue that one cannot have an informed opinion on the validity of the New Mass unless he is well versed in liturgical history and canon law. Catholic laymen (no matter how actually or allegedly uninformed) are perfectly justified in believing  as a function of indefectibility, in faith  that God wouldnt allow the Mass of the vast majority of Catholics today to be invalid or even objectively offensive to God, etc. No one fully understands the Trinity or transubstantiation, either, but we believe in them, because they are doctrines of the Church, Bible, and tradition. The Church is the expert  and the Church tells us that the Sacrifice of the Mass today is legitimate, not blasphemous or idolatrous or a mockery, as the anti-Catholics among our Protestant brethren would have it  now strangely copied in some respects by reactionaries.

One reactionary stated that the Pauline Mass was fraudulent and that it weakens the faith of the faithful. How does one prove such an amazing, subjective assertion: simply because the crisis coincides in time with the New Mass? The fallacy of that reasoning is obvious. The height of the modernist crisis might be said to have been 1968, the very year that Humanae Vitae was promulgated. I am assuming that most reactionaries accept that wonderful encyclical (but perhaps not, as they frown upon Pope St. Paul VI). But by their own warped logic, the teaching against contraception must have caused the large scale disobedience of Catholics in this matter, since it coincided with it.

It is said that the New Mass caused the widespread lack of belief in the substantial presence of Christ in the Eucharist (some polls show that 70% of proclaimed Catholics deny it, though these can be disputed in various ways). But this is completely unsubstantiated argumentation, and circular reasoning. One could just as well argue (with far more justification) that the incessant Protestant and secularizing influence and incipient anti-traditionalism of our culture led to this demise in eucharistic faith. How do reactionaries know that the New Mass is the (sole?) cause? The fact is that they dont know that, and have no way of proving it. But since it is a convenient fallacy to incorporate within the overall worldview, they uncritically adopt it. It is far worse to have a relatively educated Catholic like most reactionaries blatantly disobeying and disbelieving the Church, its councils and popes, than an ignorant, poorly catechized Catholic who doesnt understand or accept the Real Presence. To whom much is given, much is required.

One reactionary described the Pauline Mass as a travesty and often a cruel mockery of the unbloody sacrifice of Calvary. The hostile attitude of the reactionary towards council, pope, and New Mass alike, transcends the technical, legalistic, canonical issue of validity. This is precisely why the crucial underlying schismatic spirit must be focused upon. As this person wrote  valid or not, . . . (in other words, that matter is practically irrelevant), it is a travesty and a cruel mockery.

Reactionaries always appeal to their belief in validity when their obedience is questioned by orthodox Catholics. Thus, it is beside the point in one context (in their internal soliloquies and jeremiads), yet quite to the point and essential as an indicator of Catholic legitimacy in another context (putting forth an orthodox appearance to the outside world and the traditional spirit of obedience and submission to Holy Mother Church).

We object to the routine, casual disobeying of popes, scorn for an ecumenical council, and a pervasive sectarian and divisive spirit among reactionaries.

Many reactionaries seem to equate communion in the hand, ugly church buildings, the Pauline Mass, terrible catechetical instruction, etc. (all the usual reactionary gripes) with such historical events as the barbarian invasions, the more or less complete eclipse of learning and literacy, widespread sexual debauchery, Attila the Hun and the Moslem conquests, Arianism, Donatism, Monophysitism, and so forth.

Oftentimes, abuses contrary to the rubrics are what are called into question (almost throwing the baby out with the bath water). Reactionaries will often ask: Is this Mass [the way it is often conducted today] the Mass of the ages? Well, no, it isnt, in many ways. If a Pauline Mass is filled with abuses and nonsense introduced into it which havent been sanctioned by the Church, it isnt (in a technical, non-canonical sense) even the New Mass, let alone the Tridentine. An abuse of anything is not identical to the thing itself.

Reactionaries will contend that the current Mass is a serious break. But why would that not imply (applying common sense) that it was invalid? Wouldnt invalidity be an inherent part of a serious break? On the other hand, if it is a legitimate development, then it cannot be a serious break. In other words, one might apply the Newmanian categories of development vs. corruption. But, as is so often the case, it seems that the reactionaries want it both ways. They want to habitually treat it like a corruption, yet retreat behind legalese when it suits their purpose, and speak of technical validity. This sort of Catholic no-mans land or neither fish nor fowl is what drives observers and critics of reactionaryism crazy.

If the Pauline Mass is not a serious deformation, then it is valid, and in the most important sense, the same Mass. After all, our Lord Jesus is present body, blood, soul, and divinity. How, then, can a Mass where our Lord is substantially present be a serious deformation or serious break or fundamentally impious? If someone simply says that they like the more traditional forms of worship, and the Latin Tridentine Mass, that would be fine with the Church. But so often reactionaries have to run down the Mass that they dont attend. Live and let live. Worship and let worship. Those at the Mass they irrationally detest receive Jesus, and the ineffable graces of the Holy Eucharist.

Vatican II stated that Latin ought to be maintained. As for the change in fasting and other penitential practices (another common complaint), in former times there were things like public whippings (even of kings), public confession of serious sins, and so forth. In Ireland they climb up mountains on their knees. The people of that time (or the more devout Irish) could just as well argue that the entire 20th century (if not the whole period after Trent) was extremely lax in such matters. Obviously, these things can be changed and differ somewhat according to culture and time. The Church has every right and prerogative to modify them as she pleases. The Church can also modify the Church calendar.

I agree partially with reactionary concerns about communion in the hand. I think allowing it (in our particular time and place and in our culture) was arguably imprudent, and played into the hand of the liberals; though I dont deny that the Church has every right to allow it, and I dont think it is necessarily harmful to piety. I think that in fact it often is  on an individual level , however, due to personal and cultural factors.

The early Church (as seen in the Bible) clearly had women teachers (not priests, of course). Would reactionaries not permit St. Therese of Lisieux or St. Teresa of Avila or St. Teresa of Calcutta to read the Bible at Mass, or to be eucharistic ministers? Reading Scripture or assisting a priest at the altar are not presiding over the Sacrifice of the Mass.

*

*****

*

Summary: Chapter 14 of my book, Reflections on Radical Catholic Reactionaries (December 2002; revised in November 2023 for the purpose of the free online version).
Cyber Monday is a spectacular time for monitor deals. Whether youre into watching movies, working all day, or competitive gaming at night, a good monitor can make a massive difference.

But choosing the right monitor specs can be downright stressful. From the various refresh rates to display sizes and response times, it can be a lot to take in. Thats why we put together a list of the best monitor deals. Weve also included a FAQ section that addresses what to look for in a good monitor.

Cyber Monday mainstream monitor deals

Sometimes all you want are the basics. So, if youre looking for an affordable, everyday monitor for office work or casual use, consider the following.

My top pick: The best bang for your buck is going to be the Acer R240HY at Amazon. For just $99.99, youre getting a 1080p display with a reasonable 60Hz refresh rate. Thats perfectly suitable for day-to-day tasks and office work.

Cyber Monday gaming monitor deals

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Cyber Monday 4K monitor deals

4K monitors are great for content creation thanks to their high resolutions and larger screens. Although theyre a good choice for editors who need to see the finer details of their work, theres really nothing like watching an epic movie on a 4K display, too. So, whether youre a video editor or a movie buff, weve got quite a few options below.

My top pick: The Samsung UR59 is a fantastic monitor for content creators because of its size. This display measures a spacious 32-inches, which is ideal for getting those minute details just right. It also features a refresh rate of 60Hz and an aspect ratio of 16:9, a perfect combination for Office work. 4K monitors sure are a lot more affordable than they used to be!

More great Cyber Monday 2023 tech deals
Ghana's Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Bryan Acheampong, has assumed the chairmanship of the Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) at the 5th Steering Committee Meeting held in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire.



The Minister of Food and Agriculture, who doubles as the Abetifi Constituency Member of Parliament, replaced the Ivorian Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hon. Kobenan Kouassi Adjoumani.



The Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) is the product of Ghanaian president, Nana Akufo-Addo and Ivorian head Alassane Ouattara, to bring pressure to bear on international cocoa buyers and trade houses for a minimum floor price of $2,600 per tonne for cocoa beans produced in the respective countries.



Meetings with stakeholders from trade houses, cocoa purchasing companies, chocolatiers, the World Cocoa Foundation, and the International Cocoa Organization culminated in a decision to introduce a new trading mechanism with the Living Income Differential (LID), set at US$400.00 per tonne, for cocoa sold by both countries starting from the 20202021 season.



Under the new role, Dr. Acheampong is expected to see to the completion and handover of the permanent headquarters of the Initiative in Accra, expanding bloc membership (bringing on board other African cocoa-producing countries), and general restructuring of the CIGCI, as well as roll out the West African Standards for sustainability and cocoa traceability systems.



The Cote d'Ivoire-Ghana Cocoa Initiative (CIGCI) was born in March 2018 to improve farmer pay and financially improve the lives of cocoa farmers. Regarding keeping the local front compliant with best cocoa practices, the CIGCI is also leading the process for the formulation of the West Africa Standards for certification and traceability of cocoa from the subregion.



Commenting on his new role, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Hon. Bryan Acheampong, promised to utilize his position to further the interests of cocoa producers in particular and the causes of the two countries.



He stated that his position was crucial and that it aimed to make sure that the dreams of Presidents, Alassane Ouattara of Cote d'Ivoire and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana, were realized.



As the only way to realize the initiative's goal, he tasked the participants with making sure that everyone carried their share of the responsibility for adhering to its rules.



Under his watch as an agriculture minister, Ghana has raised the state-guaranteed cocoa price paid to its farmers by more than 63% in a bid to boost income and prevent beans from being smuggled to neighboring countries.



The increment will see farmers receive 20,943 Ghana cedis ($1,837) per tonne for the new 2023/2024 season, which started in September 2023, compared with 12,800 Ghana cedis they got in 2022.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Parliamentary Candidate for Amenfi Central Madam Joana Gyan, celebrated a significant achievement as she graduated from the Doyen Institute with a Professional Diploma in Criminal Investigations and Intelligence Analysis.



Doyen Institute, recognized as Africa's premier security institution, held a graduation ceremony that included Joana Gyan who represents the NDC as the Parliamentary Candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency.



Speaking to the media after the event, Joana expressed her passion for continuous learning and personal growth, citing it as the driving force behind her pursuits.



She emphasized, I love to learn new things, I love to grow and discover new possibilities. I think the day I stop learning, I start dying.



On the challenges encountered during the course period, she mentioned that, Despite the challenges of balancing my course work with my responsibilities in Amenfi Central and other commitments, it's been worth it.



When asked why she chose a security-related course, Joana explained, 'Security is crucial, both on a personal and corporate levels. I believe what I've learned will significantly contribute to my ability to serve the people of Amenfi Central and Ghana better once elected.'"





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In a significant stride toward community well-being, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation on Friday, November 24, took its bi-monthly Healthfest program to Dodi, a vibrant community nestled in the Asuogyaman District of the Eastern Region.



Aligned with Vodafone Ghanas commitment to social responsibility, the initiative provided free medical care to over 583 residents. A dedicated team of doctors, nurses, and pharmacists delivered their expertise, conducting screenings for prevalent ailments such as blood pressure, blood glucose, typhoid, Hepatitis B, malaria as well as ultrasound scans.



Beyond diagnosis, the Healthfest programme embraced a comprehensive approach to community well-being by distributing essential medication to those in need.



The impact of care extended further, with the Foundation enrolling over 350 individuals on the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) for continued healthcare support.



Nana Okoampa Gyasi II, Dodi Hene, expressed profound gratitude, acknowledging the Vodafone Ghana Foundations empathetic stance towards the health of the people. He commended the Foundation for extending the Healthfest program to their community and urged them to persevere in their noble endeavours.



In October 2023, the Vodafone Ghana Foundation presented relief items to the Asuogyaman and Mepe communities in response to the visited Akosombo Water Spillage.



Rita Agyeiwaa Rockson, Manager for Vodafone Ghana Foundation, Sustainability and External Communication said, When we visited some of the communities of the Akosombo dam spillage last month, there were reports of health challenges in the communities, and so we thought it prudent to follow up with our Healthfest initiative to provide some medical relief to the community members. We are proud of this initiative and remain committed to improving the well-being of our communities.



This community-focused initiative reflects Vodafone Ghana Foundations ongoing commitment to supporting healthcare accessibility across the nation, ensuring that everyone has the opportunity for a healthier life.



As the year draws to a close, Vodafone Ghana leaves a lasting impact on communities, reinforcing the belief that good health is a fundamental right for all.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Member of Parliament for Mpraeso, Davis Ansah Opoku, is calling on the government to establish a water fund to deal with the problems caused by illegal mining. He recommends that the money generated from this fund be used to treat water bodies affected by illegal mining activities. Mr Ansah Opoku emphasises the need for the government to have more financial resources to tackle this issue.



Speaking on the floor during the debate on the 2024 budget statement and economic policy of the Government of Ghana, He stressed the importance of establishing a water fund to restore water bodies damaged by illegal mining. He believes this initiative will demonstrate the government's commitment to protecting the environment and safeguarding communities from natural disasters.



"Mr Speaker, everybody is talking about 'Galamsey' and how it has destroyed our water bodies. There's the need for a fund to be set aside so that monies deposited in this fund will be used to repair destroyed rivers, construct new waters for our people, and ensure that the Ghanaian is assured of good drinking water," Davis Opoku Ansah suggested.



He also proposed establishing the Ghana Water Guard to safeguard Ghana's water resources from pollution, degradation, and misuse, particularly in the ongoing challenges of illegal mining and industrial pollution.



During his speech, he suggested a fund be created to repair destroyed rivers, construct new waters for the people, and ensure that Ghanaians can access safe drinking water.



Meanwhile, the Minority MPs on the Lands and Forestry Committee of Parliament have criticised the government for failing to account for funds allocated in the fight against illegal mining. They claim that $30 million was allocated quarterly to the defunct inter-ministerial committee for three years. Over GH5 million was spent on the government's engagements with traditional leaders and security agencies to combat the 'Galamsey' menace.



Deputy Ranking Member on the Lands and Forestry Committee, Alhassan Suhuyini, emphasised the need for accountability in the fight against 'Galamsey,' questioning the absence of any mention of the issue in the budget statement despite significant expenditures.

Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/peacefmonline.com/ghana









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Sierra Leone has been placed under a nationwide curfew as armed men broke into a prison, setting inmates free.



Detainees from Central Pademba Road prison in the capital city Freetown were released on Sunday morning, an official at the facility told BBC News.



Earlier on, the gunmen had attacked a major military barracks in the city.



Residents reported hearing gunshots at the barracks, which are close to the presidential residence.



After the attack, the Ministry of Information declared an immediate curfew and "strongly" recommended people across the West African country stay indoors.



President Julius Maada Bio said calm had been restored and a manhunt launched to find all of the gunmen.



However, the BBC's Umaru Fofana, based in Freetown, reports that there is still disorder in the city.



He drove past soldiers carrying heavy weaponry in a seized police vehicle and saw others chanting that they planned to "clean Sierra Leone".



It is unclear exactly how many inmates have broken out of Central Pademba Road prison, but according to the US State Department, the facility held more than 2,000 people in 2019.



Videos shared on social media showed several people fleeing from the area of the prison.



One video appeared to show popular rapper Boss LAJ, who was imprisoned last year on robbery charges, running free.



BBC News has not been able to authenticate these videos.



The political situation in Sierra Leone has remained tense since June, when President Bio was re-elected after narrowly missing a run-off.



International observers condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.



In August, a number of soldiers were arrested and accused of plotting a coup against the president.



Eight countries in West and Central Africa are under military rule after a series of coups, including neighbouring Guinea.



The US, European Union, UK and regional block ECOWAS have released statements strongly condemning Sunday's violence.

Source: BBC









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The world is now witnessing the biggest surge in antisemitism that weve seen worldwide in many decades, said U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt in a recent briefing.

The October 7th terrorist attack perpetrated by Hamas against Israel was the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust and it precipitated a wave of not just support for Hamas, but a tidal wave of antisemitic rhetoric and incidents, said Ambassador Lipstadt.

Holocaust memorials defaced in Greece, Denmark, Canada and the United States. Molotov cocktails thrown at synagogues, including in Berlin and Montreal. Jewish stars dabbed on buildings housing Jews in France and Germany. Jews harassed, chants at a protest: gas the Jews, kill the Jews. Posters showing a Jewish star in a garbage can; you know, clean up society, free society.

The United States welcomes peaceful protests, even when the protesters are expressing views that run counter to U.S. policy. However, when you see people chanting or hear people chanting, kill the Jews or calling for a violent intifada ... thats not support for the rights of the Palestinian people, affirmed Ambassador Lipstadt:

Thats antisemitism, pure and simple. So, too, when you express support for the terrorism that was engaged in October seven. We believe that this kind of mindset only incites more hatred, more death, more violence.

Ambassador Lipstadt further clarified that criticism of Israeli policy is not antisemitism:

But bottom line, when you target Jewish communities with hate, intimidation, thats not taking a position on the Middle East conflict. Thats antisemitism.

In response to the rising tide of antisemitism, the United States has been working closely with the European Commissions coordinator for combating antisemitism and other leaders to develop a world-wide strategy for how to address it. In all her European travels, Ambassador Lipstadt has stressed that the United States sees this tsunami of antisemitism as not just a threat to Jews. ... But we see it as something larger, with great implications for democratic values, democratic governments, humanity, national stability, even national security.

Thats why no form of prejudice is acceptable, and no form of prejudice should be tolerated.
A teacher with the Olokinne High School, Ojowo, Ijebu Igbo in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State, Mrs Oluwatosin Aina, reportedly slumped on the school and died.



The incident, reported by the Punch, was said to have happened on Thursday morning and has left the community in shock.



A source who said he was a close family friend said the late Aina reportedly drove herself to the school on Thursday and was said to have started feeling feverish moments after arriving the school.



The Grade Level 14 officer who teaches Christian Religious Knowledge was said to have gotten permission from the Principal to go take care of her health but slumped right beside her car.



She was said to have been rushed to the annex of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, Ijebu Igbo of the state, where she was confirmed dead.



The incident reportedly threw the entire school into mourning, giving the dedication and love of the deceased to the students and colleagues.



Mrs Aina was said to be in her 50s and married to a retired Principal within Ijebu Igbo.



The source said, Yes, I can confirm that the unfortunate incident happened on Thursday morning. I know her very well. I heard that she started feeling uncomfortable after getting to the school and got permission from her Principal to go and treat herself but slumped beside her car.



She was confirmed dead at the hospital she was rushed to. She was a Christian Religious Knowledge teacher and married to a retired Principal. She should be in her 50s and either on Grade Level 13 or 14



Also speaking, a teacher who works in the area and craved anonymity has, however, expressed concern over the rate at which teachers are dying in the state, insisting that the stress of having limited numbers of teachers is taking a toll on the health of the available few hands.



Reacting, the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools, Ogun State, Felix Agbesanwa, while commiserating with the family of the deceased teacher, said that the union was quite aware of the challenges of the lack of required numbers of teachers in the school.



Agbesanwa said, We have a teacher shortage challenge. This week, the government commenced the employment of 2000 teachers. This is in addition to the 1000 OgunTeach interns who were given permanent employment recently.



We really appreciate this gesture from the Governor and hope that other outstanding issues that will further aid the teachers wellbeing will be addressed just as the Governor has promised.

Source: graphiconline









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Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson, seen by some as a candidate to become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years has reiterated his position on why LGBTQIA+ should not be an imposition.



In a Hard Talk interview with the BBC on Monday morning, [Nov 27, 2023], Cardinal Turkson said although he thinks that gay people or LGBTQIA+ may not be criminalised, it shouldn't be an imposition.



"Neither should these positions be imposed on cultures which are not ready for that," he said in the BBC interview with Stephen Sackur.



Stephen Sackur: Lets start with something which is very current, that is the discussion in the church on key issues of sexuality and gender.



Now I refer the beginning of this interview to Pope Francis and the hopes that have been vested in him to show leadership. I will put it to you that on some of these key issues for example, the churches attitude to homosexuality, for example the possibility of giving blessing to gay marriages in church, the attitude to LGBTQ community generally. Pope Francis has sent a confusion, not a clear message.



Cardinal Turkson: No, but lately about a week or so ago he came out with a small document just saying clearly what his position on all of these are, that LGBT people can be blessed, they can be admitted to church, and all of that, they can even become God parents of children and people who are being baptised and all of that. So he [Pope] himself has signalled, partly stuff that used to be left neck belows, undecided and all that and come clearly with these



Stephen Sackur: So you see him [Pope] as now following a policy which many people regard as, within the Catholic perspective liberal, doesnt that put you [Turkson], personally in a very difficult position. Because your own position for example on homosexuality seems quite clear, I have looked at your record over many years, you have been a consistent conservative on these issues.



Cardinal Turkson: Those are the expressions again, conservative, progressive, you know, my thing has been this, and Ill refer you to an interesting episode, a situation I got into responding to an invitation to go speak in Slovenia at one point and then the Bishops were wondering whether to allow it because there was a lot of media agitation.



My position has simply been this, that LGBT, gay people may not be criminalised because theyve committed no crime, but neither should this position also become something to be imposed on cultures, which are not yet ready to accept stuff like that.



Stephen Sackur: You are Ghanaian, this summer, the Ghanaian Parliament passed, it is called the Appropriate sexual rights and family values at which a tougher regime for gay people clearly criminalises homosexuality in Ghana, up to 10 years in prison for LGBT The Ghanaian Catholic Bishops Conference said that western countries must stop in certain attempts to impose unacceptable foreign cultural values on us. Are you backing that statement and therefore defending the criminalisation of homosexuality?



Cardinal Turkson: What I just said to you is, my position is contrary to what has just been passed, to criminalise anybody, if you are able to identify the crime, LGBT cases are not to be criminalised but neither, and this I think is basically what caused all of this in Ghana, the Ghanaian culture has known of people, with some such tendencies, and I say this because there is an expression in the local Akan language of men who act like women, and women who act like men, there is an expression for them [Kojo Besia], which means that this phenomenon is been known in the culture in the community and all of that.



But nobody went round to make any policy out of that, now I think what caused all of these was our attempts to link some foreign donations and grants to certain positions, which needed to be imposed in the name of freedom, in the name of respect for rights and all that. I think that is what led to this thing going to Parliament.



Reacting to the suggestion that Cardinal Peter Appiah Turkson could become the first African Pope in about 1,500 years, he jokingly, and interjecting while the question was still being posed said, "I pray a lot also against it."



Later in the BBC Hard Talk interview on Monday morning, monitored by Graphic Online, the interviewer, Stephen Sackur asked, "I just want to end with a more personal form. I began by saying you have been widely tipped as a possible first African Pope."



It was at this point that Cardinal Turkson injected and stated, "I greatly, I pray a lot also against it" amidst a laugh, he, however said, it will be in God's own time.



The interviewer, Stephen Sackur continued and said, "you have addressed the possibility in the past. In 2013 you said it will certainly mean a lot to me [Turkson] if I had to be Pope, if I was elected, it will signal a very big personal change, but it wouldn't just be a personal change, would it, it would also be a recognition of the change, extremely important role that Africa is now playing in the Catholic Church. My final question, is it time, for an African Pope, for a black Pope?"



Cardinal Turkson's answer



This was Cardinal Appiah Turkson's answer: "It will be time if it is time in God's time table, because the church belongs to its Lord. And the Lord has never abandoned the church and left the church, so I believe, and I have been in St Peter's Square at the election of three Popes in the past, and my thing has always been that of prayer."



"May the Lord who founded the church provide for the church always the type of leadership that he considers suitable for the church at this point in history and if this time round...[Stephen Sackur interjects: Has it reached that time now]



Cardinal Turkson answers: "Ok, so it is up to him [Lord] to decide, not me [Turkson], I pray for it but he [Lord] decides."

Source: Daily Graphic









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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In a parliamentary debate, the Majority Caucus in Parliament has questioned the National Democratic Congress (NDC) pledge to introduce a 24-hour economy in 2024.



They argue that certain aspects of this concept are already in place due to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments digitalization initiatives.



Carlos Ahenkorah, Chairman of the Trade, Industry, and Tourism Committee, highlighted that Ghanaians can now make payments for electricity and water charges at any time of the day thanks to the implementation of digital payment systems.



He argued that this is evidence of Ghanaians already experiencing a 24-hour economy.



Ahenkorah also addressed the need for additional taxation and borrowing to offset the costs incurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.



He emphasized that when the government provided free water and electricity during the lockdown, funds had to be sourced from somewhere.



Therefore, he stated that it is reasonable to ask citizens to contribute towards these expenses.



Former President John Dramani Mahama, however, remains committed to implementing his proposed 24-hour economy policy, even he says its voluntary.



He dismissed the criticism from opponents and emphasized the potential of this policy to boost employment and revitalize the Ghanaian economy.



Mahama clarified that his vision goes beyond extending the operational hours of existing businesses.



Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia suggested that the 24-hour economy concept was already being implemented in Ghana and accused Mahama of lacking understanding of the policy.



In response, Mahama explained that his policy is based on a comprehensive approach that encourages and incentivizes businesses across various sectors to adopt 24-hour operations.



He believes that this will create new employment opportunities and stimulate economic growth.



Mahama further stated that the 24-hour economy policy has the potential to transform Ghanas economic landscape and address the issue of unemployment.



He aims to provide incentives for businesses to operate on a 24-hour basis, including during harvest seasons where factories processing agricultural products could run two shifts.



The debate continues between the NDC and the NPP, with each party presenting their arguments regarding the implementation and benefits of a 24-hour economy for Ghana.

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.

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There is another long adjournment in the trial of Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North, James Gyakye Quayson, as the case has been set down for February 7, 2024.



The long adjournment was taken on Wednesday as the MP, who according to his lawyers has a medical condition, continues to receive medical attention in Canada.



It was also a result of the trial judge, Justice Mary Yanzuh due to proceed on leave having sat during the legal vacation which lasted for two months.



The prosecution was expected to call its third witness yesterday but when the case was called, Tsatsu Tsikata, lead counsel for the accused requested an in-camera hearing in the judges chambers to explain the issues regarding the MPs medical condition and his continuous absence.



Mr. Quayson is on trial for deceiving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs by making a false statement that he did not have a dual citizenship in order to acquire a Ghanaian passport.



He has been charged with five counts of deceit of public officer, forgery of passport or travel certificate, knowingly making a false statutory statement, perjury and false declaration of office.



Both the prosecution and the defence went into the judges chambers, and DAILY GUIDE later gathered the case had been adjourned to February 7, 2024, by which time the judge would have returned from her leave.



The prosecution has so far called two witnesses as it pushes to establish the guilt of the MP, who it says knowingly misinformed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that he did not owe allegiance to another country in order to acquire a Ghanaian passport.

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.

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Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Samuel Abdulai Jinapor, has disclosed that the official residence of the Clerk to Parliament, located at Cantonments in Accra, was sold to a private developer during the NDC administration.



He was responding to a statement released by the Parliamentary Service that the Clerks official residence was sold to a private developer in 2019, while debating the 2024 budget on the floor of Parliament yesterday.



According to a statement issued by the Parliamentary Service and signed by David Sebastian Damoah, Director of Media Relations, a visit to the Speakers official residence will unveil that almost all of the surrounding buildings and accompanying parcels of land have been sold out to private developers.



High-rise apartments have been constructed all around, leaving the Speakers residence as an island and endangering the safety and security of the Rt. Hon. Speaker, the statement noted.



It added, A trip down memory lane reveals that sometime in 2019, the official accommodation of a sitting Clerk to Parliament located in Cantonments was sold to a private developer. Other properties assigned to Parliament have suffered similar fate.



Rebuttal



However, the minister has strenuously refuted the Parliamentary Services assertions, stating that his checks at the Lands Commission indicated that the NDC government sold the Clerk to Parliaments official residence in 2015.



Mr. Speaker, the then Minister for Works and Housing gave an offer to a private developer in 2015. A lease was granted to the developer in 2015. These records are unimpeachable. It happened in 2015 and not in 2019, he asserted.



According to Mr. Jinapor, the developer took possession in 2019 despite having purchased the land in 2015, issued an offer letter and granted a lease in 2015.



So by all intent and purposes, the land was sold in 2015, he intimated.



The minister again debunked claims that the UNESCO building which houses its offices have been sold out.



I want to submit, Mr. Speaker, first of all, I will respectfully advise that we should be careful in making sweeping statements that the UNESCO building has been sold.



When you get into the records in many cases, as it always should be in land administration, it is governed by facts and records, he said.



Mr. Jinapor stated that the sale of a particular parcel of land can only be ascertained through facts and records.



Mr. Speaker, respectfully, Im not too sure that anybody will quarrel with me or doubt that the repository of the records for lands in our country by law or the constitution is vested in the Lands Commission, he argued.



According to him, there have been many occasions where it is said that the UNESCO land has been sold.



I want to put it on record that UNESCO is still occupying its office premises close to the police headquarters. So the claim that UNESCO land or UNESCO building has been sold is false, he noted.



Turn Corner



Meanwhile, the minister has said the government has turned the corner and will soon unleash prosperity on Ghanaians.



Just yesterday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer of UK, Jeremy Hunt, presented the autumn budget in the House of Commons and it is similar to our budget.



This is the direction the world is going. We are turning the curve, we are having the recovery and we are going to unleash prosperity, and God willing, when Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia becomes president in 2025, he will build on the record of President Akufo-Addo and we will unleash prosperity for the Ghanaian people, he intimated.

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.

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Vice-President Mahamudu Bawumia has said Ghanaians will soon be buying cars on credit thanks to the Ghana Card and digitalisation of the economy.



Speaking at the 57th congregation of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) on 24 November, he said discussions to that effect is ongoing with some automobile companies in Ghana.



Bawumia said one of such companies that has agreed to rollout out the initiative is Solar Taxi and according to him, all a purchaser may require for the transaction will be a Ghana Card.



The Ghana Card will also become the anchor for a credit system in Ghana and it will take a couple of car manufacturers in Ghana notably Solar Taxi to give cars on credit to people, he said. All they will need at the point of transaction will be your Ghana card and they will give you a car and then you pay over time.



This will be accompanied by the introduction of a credit scoring system for individuals which will be launched next year, Bawumia said.



The system aimed at providing credible credit history of individuals will sanitise the financial sector, clear the deficit of trust which has made the cost of doing business expensive and promote discipline, he added.



Ghana next year will be introducing a credit scoring system for individuals. Every individual will have a credit score. Right now our credit scoring system does not exist so we are seen as risky, Bawumia said.





Source: asaaseradio.com









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Ghanaian artist Josh Blakk is set to release his latest album, O.N.E, inspired by a profound conversation on the effort in love and the intricate connections in life. Blending Highlife, soul, Afro, and his signature guitar melodies, the album promises a unique musical journey.



The themes of love, peace, hope, and fulfillment thread through the album, reflecting Blakks introspective exploration of lifes complexities. The artist emphasizes that Everything is connected to Everything, hinting at the interwoven nature of his musical narratives.



Having conceptualized High Soul nearly two decades ago, Josh Blakk has refined the genre, making it a hallmark of his musical identity. The album features collaborations with Kojo-Cue, SBL WORLD, Misterkay, Chi-Wav Darkua, and Naadu, enhancing the sonic palette of each track.



Blakk distinguishes this project by highlighting the meticulous effort invested in its creation. The mixing and mastering are touted as top-tier, ensuring a premium auditory experience for listeners. The album will be publicly available on all digital stores on 15th December 2023. There will be an album listening on December 2nd at the Black City studio, promises a unique listening session with a special surprise for attendees and industry persons hosted by Jay Foley.



Followed by a release concert on 14th December at Alliance Francaise.

Reflecting on his musical journey, Josh Blakk defies limitations and genres, constantly pushing boundaries with his eclectic style. From learning multiple instruments at a young age to leading music at church, his upbringing laid the foundation for a career marked by innovation.



The artists message is encapsulated in three key phrases: it takes effort to not put in effort, Love is whatever you make it, and the overarching theme that Everything is connected to everything. Josh Blakks commitment to leaving an indelible mark on the music industry is evident in his diverse achievements, from Vodafone Icons to representing Ghana in Nigerias Project Fame.

As Josh Blakk continues to captivate audiences with his interactive performances, the release of O.N.E signifies not just an album but a testament to a life dedicated to the art of musical storytelling.



The Waakye Band, known for the fusion of Highlife and Soul Music coined as High Soul, is a testament to his quest for introducing new sounds and genres, aiming to transcend musical boundaries.



Kindly find pre-save link below.



https://vyd.co/JoshBlakkOne

Source: Peacefmonline.com









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By Kathy McCormack, The Associated Press

Three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured  one seriously  near the University of Vermont, police said Sunday. Authorities said the attack may have been a hate crime.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, a junior at Haverford College, was one of those students, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting.

The shootings occurred at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday near the UVM campus, according to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad. He said police are searching for the shooter.

Two of the men are in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Murad said in a news release Sunday. The three, all age 20, were visiting the home of one of the victims relatives and were walking when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said in a news release. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

Murad said all three men are of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and one is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Murad said there is no additional information to suggest the suspects motive.

My deepest condolences go out to the victims and their families, Murad said in the news release. In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven.

He added, The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

Before Murad issued his news release, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

The ADC said a man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them.

The FBI said it is aware of the shootings.

If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate, Sarah Ruane, an FBI spokesperson based in Albany, New York, said in a statement.

The White House said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates as law enforcement gathers more information.

The campus of the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vt., Wednesday, March 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File)AP

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings, the organization said in a statement.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding provided a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it described as being from the families of the victims.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, it said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country, the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the attack.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement. My thoughts are with them and their families.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said that any indication that the shooting could have been motivated by hate is chilling. Gov. Phil Scott called it a tragedy.

I urge Vermonters to unite to help the community heal, and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness, Scott said. We must come together in these difficult times  it is the only way to put a stop to the violence were seeing.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions are escalating in the United States as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all young men. Its the third exchange under the four-day truce deal.

McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire.
The Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa revealed Saturday that one of their booster stations had been hacked and partially controlled by a cyber guerilla group tied to the Iranian government, according to news reports.

Confirming the hack to KDKA, Matthew Motes, the chairman of the board of directors for the Municipal Water Authority of Aliquippa, said that the group, known as Cyber Av3ngers, took control of one of the stations.

The hacking ring shut down a pump on a supply line that provides drinking water from the Aliquippa Municipal Water Authoritys treatment plant to Raccoon and Potter townships in Beaver County.

As soon as the hack had occurred, an alarm sounded, the Beaver Countain reported.

Also confirming the hack was a haunting message that appeared that appeared on the systems control panel after the pump had been taken over, reading, You have been hacked. Down with Israel. Every equipment made with Israel is Cyber Av3ngers legal target.

The machine that was hacked by the cyber group uses a system called Unitronics, which uses software or has components that are Israeli-owned, KDKA reported.

Aliquippa municipal workers managed to disable the system and authorities were called to the booster station Saturday. Now the incident is under criminal investigation.

Back-up methods are now being applied to maintain water pressure to communities, the Beaver Countain reported.

They did not get access to anything in our actual water treatment plant  or other parts of our system  other than a pump that regulates pressure to elevated areas of our system, Mottes told the outlet. This pump has its own computer network, separated from our primary network, and is physically miles away.

The network also serviced multiple security cameras.

The booster system did what it was supposed to. It sent an alarm and we took control manually. Nobody was ever at risk, he added.

Congressman Chris Deluzio said in a statement on Facebook Sunday that he is monitoring the situation.

On X, formerly known as Twitter, the Cyber Av3ngers have taken responsibility for multiple attacks worldwide, including 10 water treatment stations in Israel as of Oct. 30, 2023.
Actor Kevin Bacon claims no responsibility for the recovery of a lost central Pennsylvania pig who shares his namesake and recently captivated the nation.

During Mondays episode of The Kelly Clarkson Show, the award-winning actor said he was happy to give a shout out this fall to the wayward Gettysburg-area pig.

The 200-pound pig, with quite possibly the greatest name ever, made national headlines in October when he was on the lamb for 2 1/2 weeks from his Cumberland Township, Adams County farm.

The pig also attracted the attention of the star of countless films such as Footloose, who posted on media: Bring Kevin Home!

I didnt help find Kevin Bacon. I pointed out he was missing, Bacon told Clarkson. If I was helpful, Im thrilled.

Clarkson pointed out Bacon likely had something to do with it thanks to his many social media followers, and interjected, Its a great name for a pig.

Sitting in the audience, the pigs owner, Chelsea Rumbaugh, shared how they lured Kevin home using pet-safe Benadryl and sitcky buns, noting he wandered in sleepily and is home safe forever. She praised Bacon for his help.

Nicky Paris interviews actor Kevin Bacon. (Courtesy of Nicky Paris)

Kevin Bacon human shared the story about Kevin Bacon the pig. Honestly, it was really renewed hope when Kevin Bacon human shared it. It was getting a little rough in the trenches, she said.

Earlier this fall, Rumbaugh told PennLive the saga began when she spotted the pig for sale online for a cool $50, which seemed liked a bargain for a 100-pound pig. It turns out Kevin weighed 200 pounds.

After pulling off the feat of getting him loaded into their Kia, Rumbaugh said they made it back home and Kevin seemed to quickly acclimate to his surroundings. But, she said, as soon as they turned their back, Kevin made a break for it, somehow escaping their barn and making his way to a nearby campground.

He really just wanted to get out and explore, she said. He is really testing his limits.

The familys Bring Kevin Bacon Home Facebook page launched during the ordeal attracted thousands of followers. The Facebook pages name has since been changed to Kevins Home Adventures.

Its just a short blip about my journey with my Kevin but it was an incredible experience, Rumbaugh wrote today.
RENO  New results from underground drilling at i-80 Gold Corp.s McCoy-Cove property in Lander County confirm continuity of high-grade mineralization in the CSD/Gap Zone and Helen Zone, according to the company.

Results continue to confirm that the Cove deposit is one of North Americas highest-grade gold deposits, said Ewan Downie, i-80 Golds chief executive officer. These results, when combined with previously released results, highlight Cove as a Tier 1 Nevada deposit.

He said that mineralization remains open for expansion, and significant exploration targets exist on the large land package.

Drilling is underway to define the Helen Zone, confirming high-grade mineralization over appreciable widths with intercepts up to 0.896 ounces per ton over 65.94 feet, i-80 Gold reported.

The company stated that initial holes are designed to define the western-most extremity of the deposit prior to proceeding east into the heart of the deposit.

So far, 40 drill holes have been completed out of roughly 120 holes planned that will cover more than 13,123 feet in advance of an updated resource estimate and economic study, according to the Nov. 20 announcement.

The company said that in addition to the underground drilling program at Cove, south of Battle Mountain, i-80 Gold is completing a 40-day pump test for the completion of a final hydrological model for the property and final mining permitting.

Allison Anderson, community and government relations manager for i-80 Gold, said in a recent email that the company anticipates the U.S. Bureau of Land Management will require an Environmental Impact Statement for the Cove Helen underground project.
A man was arrested after he was seen naked at Disneyland in California wandering around the Its a Small World ride Sunday.

The incident caused such a disruption that it ultimately caused the attraction to shut down for more than an hour while shocked park guests stared, according to reports.

The streaker was spotted around 1:30 p.m. local time, as many captured the bizarre scene and shared the videos to social media. In a video captured by Instagram user iheartdisneyland, the man was seen in nothing but glasses and a black pair of underwear while he walked around the displays.

In another video shared by magic.with.maegra, the man was seen climbing over the display and into the fake water in front of the Tahj Mahal on the ride, while Disney cast members instructed him to climb off out of fear of hurting himself. Stunned onlookers witnessed the scene.

The ride was shut down for more than an hour due to the disturbance.

In another video, the man is seen wandering outside the attraction at one point without any clothing, Fox Business reported.

One guest told Fox11 that the cast members near the ride did an excellent job handling the situation to the best of their abilities.

Authorities eventually arrived and arrested the streaker, who turned out to be a 26-year-old man. He was arrested for indecent exposure and being under the influence of a controlled substance.

Video captured officers carrying the streaker away as one man said, Idiot. In front of all these kids? Fox Business reported.

He was then transported to the hospital out of precaution, Fox11 reported.
Update: Suspect in shooting of 3 men of Palestinian descent in Vermont pleads not guilty

By KATHY McCORMACK, Associated Press

Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus Saturday evening.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eatons apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said.

The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.

Kinnan Abdalhamid, a junior at Haverford College, was one of those students, the Philadelphia Inquirer is reporting.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday. The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference Monday to discuss the investigation.

Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said.

The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

A man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them, the committees statement said.

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims families.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school in the West Bank.

While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country, the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war.
By BILL BARROW, Associated Press

AMERICUS, Ga. (AP)  Rosalynn Carter will make her final journey to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center on Monday as her family begins three days of memorials for the former first lady and global humanitarian who died Nov. 19 at the age of 96.

After brief ceremonies in the Carters native Sumter County in south Georgia, Rosalynn Carters remains will travel by motorcade to Atlanta, where she will lie in repose at The Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

The library will be open from 6 to 10 p.m., offering the most direct opportunity for the public to pay their respects during the three-day tribute. Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in the Carters tiny hometown of Plains, are for invited guests.

President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, lead the dignitaries expected to attend the Atlanta service. Motorcade routes will be open throughout the schedule. Rosalynn Carters burial Wednesday in Plains is private.

It is not known whether the former president, who is 99 and in his 10th month of hospice care, will take part in the events. Those close to his immediate family have said he will make every effort as he grieves his partner of more than 77 years.

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carters interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carters closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

Former President Jimmy Carter and wife Rosalynn visit the Habitat For Humanity community in Fairfield Ala. Friday October 8, 2010 to help put the finishing touches on the home of Ted and Wanda Harville. The Carter's are in the Birmingham area for the entire day and will visit several Habitat homes. (Joe Songer-The Birmingham News)THE BIRMINGHAM NEWS

All over the world, people are celebrating her life, said Kim Fuller, the Carters niece, while teaching a Bible lesson Sunday at Maranatha. And of course were coming into a week now where were gonna celebrate even more.

A detailed schedule is available online. Events will be streamed and broadcast by independent media.

Some well-wishers began honoring Rosalynn Carter soon after her death, including an uptick in visitors to the Presidential Center campus.

Mental health is more openly talked about because of Rosalynn Carters work to reduce the stigma attached to the conditions, said Brendan Green, a high school guidance counselor who came from Chicago.

She was a pioneer in that field, Green said. What a great legacy.

Formal ceremonies begin Monday at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus, near Plains. Rosalynn Carters remains will be transferred to a hearse there, accompanied by members of her Secret Service detail, past and present. A motorcade will travel to Georgia Southwestern State University, where the former first lady graduated in 1946 when it was Georgia Southwestern College.

At the campuss Rosalynn Carter Health and Human Sciences Complex, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony attended by the current leadership of the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving. She founded the institute to advocate for the millions of unpaid caregivers in American households.

The motorcade then departs for Atlanta. A brief service of repose is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.  before public access  once her remains arrive at Carter Presidential Center.

The campus, near downtown, includes the library and museum, and The Carter Center. The former first couple founded the center in 1982 to champion democracy, mediate international conflicts and fight disease in the developing world. Their work around the world redefined what former White House occupants can do after ceding political power.

Streets around the campus will be closed Monday. Parking and a shuttle will be available at St. Lukes Episcopal Church, 435 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta.

The largest single service will be held Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus. Emory helped the former first couple establish The Carter Center. Besides the Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have announced plans to attend. Other former first ladies and possibly former presidents are expected, as well.

Glenn is a Methodist congregation. The Carters married in 1946 at Plains Methodist Church, where Rosalynn Carter attended growing up. She joined her husband as a Baptist throughout their marriage.

Her final services at Maranatha will reflect their small-town Protestant roots: Church members are invited and also will eat a funeral meal with the Carter family the day of the service.

During her Sunday School hour, Fuller reminded her fellow Maranatha members that they are expected to provide dessert. Whatever you want to bring is fine, Fuller told them as she explained drop-off instructions. Spread the word if you dont mind.

Associated Press reporter Sudhin Thanawala contributed from Atlanta.
A trio of Pennsylvania legislators took the General Assemblys remote work rules to the ends of the Earth earlier this month, casting votes on issues like pension benefits for the states oldest pensioners and state aid for present-day college students from Taipei, Taiwan.

The trio, Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Montgomery County, and Reps. David Rowe, R-Union County, and Rob Leadbeter, R-Columbia County, were all in Taiwans capital city  a grueling 7,766-mile flight  throughout the Nov. 13-15 session week.

As far as the normal order of legislative business goes, the world would never know. All three are marked present for each of the three voting sessions that week. The roll calls show them voting on every amendment or bill that came up.

But sharp-eyed observers called attention to the absentee balloting this month after Pennycuick, on a personal social media feed, posted a picture of some Taiwanese delectables served to the group during their tour.

It turns out, in the modern-day Legislature, this can all fit within the rules.

Pennycuick, a freshman senator from Harleysville, asked for and received approval from her Senate caucus leadership to be placed on legislative leave, a designation that allows a member to cast votes when legislative business is keeping them out of Harrisburg.

If she was on personal leave, she would have forfeited her vote.

They (leadership) really thought about it and looked at it, and agreed with me that it was for the benefit of my district, the senator said in a telephone interview with PennLive upon her return stateside.

Pennycuicks leave slips, on file with the Senate Parliamentarians office, show that she asked for and was granted the leave because of priorly scheduled economic development tours and meetings.

Pennycuick said that while the trip itself wasnt tied to a specific piece of legislation before the Senate, she believes she was very much doing the business of a legislator while in Taipei.

Namely, she said, that involved meetings with several businesses that are considering U.S. plant siting decisions. Pennycuick said she left Taipei with significant leads on a manufacturer of electric busses eyeing a U.S. production site that she will continue to work on with economic development officials in her district and in the Shapiro Administration.

She also was exposed to some situations  one being what she called Taiwans abundance of science, math, engineering and technology teachers  that Pennycuick said she believes could lead to future initiatives to help solve teacher shortages in Pennsylvania.

A spokeswoman for Senate Majority Leader Joe Pittman, R-Indiana County, confirmed Pennycuicks leave request was deemed to meet requirements for the leave, and was approved without objection.

In the House, the rules for absentee voting are even looser. There, any member who is not present may designate either the majority or minority whip to cast his or her vote on any question.

Thats what Leadbeter, a freshman from Catawissa, and Rowe, a second-term member from East Buffalo Township, did.

Like Pennycuick, while they didnt publicly promote their travels in real time, they staunchly defended the merits of the trip when asked about it afterwards.

Rowe, whose legislative biography notes that he once studied at National Sun Yat-sen University in Taiwan and participated in its Mandarin Chinese Immersion program, called the trip a logical extension of the then GOP-controlled Legislatures action in 2021 to require the Wolf Administration to reopen a state-run Pennsylvania Office of Trade and Investment in Taipei.

In an email to Pennlive, he said he and his colleagues were invited by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office to meet with government officials and business leaders to discuss opportunities for additional investment and mutually beneficial economic and diplomatic ties...

Thanks to the generosity of TECO, Rowe added, not one penny of PA taxpayer dollars was needed for us to pursue such economic opportunities and thanks to live streaming, remote voting, and the time change, I was also able to fully participate in session, albeit at the expense of a few nights worth of sleep.

Three Pennsylvania lawmakers were "present" and voting during the Nov. 13, 2023 session week - from Taipei, Taiwan. From left to right, they were, Rep. David Rowe, R-Union County, Sen. Tracy Pennycuick, R-Montgomery County, and Rep. Robert Leadbeter, R-Columbia County.Photo submitted by Sen. Pennycuick

Because of the 13-hour time difference, most of the House and Senate floor action in Harrisburg that week took place in the wee hours of the morning for those in Taiwan.

Pennycuick said she was briefed at least daily about upcoming votes by her staffers, and was able to get word to Senate Whip Ryan Aument, R-Lancaster, on how she wanted her votes to be recorded, including her stance as one of five Republican dissidents who voted against a bill breaking the stalemate on routing hundreds of millions of dollars in state aid to Penn State, Pitt and Temple.

Leadbeter sent PennLive an email about the trip that stated, in part:

With the ever-growing threat of the Communist country of China, Taiwan continues to look for economic partners in the United States. I was proud to advocate and represent the Commonwealth on this trade mission to have those potential investments come to our state and counties.

Taiwan is one of Pennsylvanias significant international trade partners, with more than $1.1 billion in combined imports and exports annually. Just last month, a group of House members created a bipartisan Taiwan caucus. Rowe is a co-chair of that group.

Not everybody is so sanguine about what happened this month, though.

Eric Epstein, a longtime good government activist and coordinator of the Harrisburg-based Rock the Capital watchdog group, called the lawmakers voting-from-Taiwan ghost voting by another name.

Epsteins reference was to a now-dishonored practice in which legislators used to have their House floor neighbors  or sometimes, just a paper wad jammed into their electronic voting button  cast votes in absentia for them so they couldnt be accused by political opponents of shirking their duties.

Whether you call it ghost voting or legislative leave, theyre on a junket in Taiwan and we still dont have an education code bill done, Epstein complained, referring to one of several budget-related bills that remain indefinitely unsettled in the politically-divided Legislature.

Youve got to get your priorities right.

Another reformer, Michael Pollack, whose March On Harrisburg organization has been pushing for legislative consideration of a gift ban for the past seven years, said he was more concerned about the source of funds for the trip.

If this trip was so essential, Pollack said, public officials should have no trouble justifying the use of public funds to pay for it. When its paid for by another government, he said, it colors things.

We want our public officials to be responsive to we the people and not to another entity, regardless of who it is, Pollack said.

Heres what the New York office of the Taipei Economic and Cutural Office emailed PennLive last week in response to some questions about the trip:

The purpose of the recent trip to Taiwan was to further strengthen bilateral ties between Pennsylvania and Taiwan. PA legislators on the trip met with officials from Taiwan and visit industrial sites, fostering mutual understanding on future cooperation.

Taiwan has certainly been working hard at cultivating relationships with Pennsylvania lawmakers.

Current House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, was part of an earlier Pennsylvania delegation to visit the country in 2019, and just last month her office hosted a visit from James Lee, director of TECOs New York office.

The TECO staff had not responded to questions about the cost of this months trip at the point of publication of this post.

Its not clear if the lawmakers constituents were aware of their absentee legislating this month.

None of them alluded to the trip on their official social media accounts.

Pennycuicks accounts were tended to by her staff through the week, with posts touting progress on bills shes sponsored to help disabled veterans and active military families, and shining a light on her co-sponsorship of a measure to require a third-party investigation of any sexual harassment claim lodged in a state agency or the General Assembly.

She, or her aides, posted photos of Veterans Day events that Pennycuick had attended prior to her departure.

Leadbeter posted at least one commentary on Facebook explaining his vote against a cost-of-living adjustment for the oldest state and public school retirees.

Rowe posted a couple of items highlighting in-district events that hed attended prior to the trip.

On most session days in Harrisburg, there are bunches of lawmakers who are absent from committee meetings and voted by proxy by their respective chairs. And there are usually several members on leave from floor sessions, for various reasons.

But 13 time zones away is rare.

There have been scattered efforts by lawmakers to control such absentee voting in the not-too-distant past.

In a 2011 rewrite of its rules, several Republican senators irked by what they felt were routine abuses of the rules by Democrats in that chamber, asked for a physically present rule for voting in session the state Senate.

The compromise was that voting leaves could still be granted, but there would have to be a paper trail of the request that would be available for review by the public and kept for the duration of that two-year legislative session.

Just last January, House Republican leadership proposed tighter restrictions on voting by designation in that chamber to personal health conditions or family emergencies, military deployment or a disaster emergency.

That Republican proposal was never formally introduced as the Democrats won a protracted struggle for majority control at the beginning of the legislative session and pushed their own rules package through on a 102-100, party-line vote.

Its certainly not the first time that lawmakers have made business trips overseas. A cursory look through past financial disclosure statements show trips to Poland, Ireland, Israel and other spots around the globe in the course of their duties.

But in most of those cases, the travel schedule didnt coincide with session weeks.

Others, though, counter that just as more and more everyday Americans are working remotely, it doesnt seem outrageous that lawmakers do it, too.

Count Pennycuick among them.

The only one of the three legislators who gave PennLive a direct interview on the trip, Pennycuick said she believed she delivered on multiple fronts for her constituents during her trip and she was grateful for the chance to do it.

I feel like Im actually more effective, being able to vote (on the days business) while Im still out doing other things in my legislative capacity, she said in a telephone interview. And if were successful in getting the electric bus company to come here, I will be very, very happy.
By Zoya Hassan

I remember the day as if it were yesterday: deafening laughter erupted from a nearby lunch table. Curious, I walked towards the noise, only to recoil in anger as my classmates hurled insults and curses at Bahara, our newest classmatea refugee from Afghanistan.

Despite the verbal onslaught, her facial expressions did not show any signs of distress. She smiled and laughed, overwhelmed by the attention she was receiving, not understanding a word of the harsh language being thrown her way.

I escorted Bahara from the table, introduced her to my friends, and ensured I was by her side throughout her journey of navigating a new country.

When people ask me why I started the Hikmah Foundation, I often describe this exact day in middle school. Watching a refugee being so terribly mistreated due to her inability to speak English filled me with anger; I wanted to make sure that it would never happen again.

Two years later, in 2021, The Hikmah Foundation was borna student-run non-profit organization dedicated to bringing justice to children affected by conflict. You might wonder, What do you mean by children of conflict?

We define children of conflict as kids who have been or are currently being affected by armed conflict. Our organization focuses on refugee children from all corners of the world: Syria, Afghanistan, and Ukraine, to name a few countries. Furthermore, we cannot forget about children who are currently living in conflict zonesone of the most easily forgotten is Kashmir.

With over 30 high school volunteers under the organizations name, we have been able to provide tutoring, peer counseling, and mentorship to over 650 children of conflict worldwide. In late 2022, The Hikmah Foundation raised over $8,000 to furnish a library and science lab for our students in Kashmir. Being able to provide an abundance of resources that our students across the world had never before accessed was a significant milestone for our organizationseeing the smiles on their faces when they first saw the library that was now theirs was even more rewarding.

For the past three years, we have been offering online tutoring lessons to these children. These sessions often take place in the middle of the night, U.S. time, as it coincides with midday in Kashmir. We always aim to prioritize our students, even if it means making personal sacrifices.

The refugee students we work with in the Central PA area are children who, without our assistance, would easily fall through the cracks. Integrating oneself into a large American school district while facing the challenges of a significant language barrier is far from ideal. Thats where we come inby providing weekly tutoring sessions for our students, we make a difference one lesson at a time. We help our students feel more comfortable in the classroom and assist them in finding hope and meaning in various aspects of their lives.

The life of a refugee is seldom paid attention to; many people do not understand how difficult it is to move to an entirely different country and have to acclimate to a new language, school system, and the general culture of the country. Refugees often face adversity and difficulties throughout their transition, and we didnt want that to continue.

The Hikmah Foundation has evolved significantly over the last three years, achieving levels of success we never deemed possible. Initially, it was just me providing weekly tutoring lessons to a couple of refugee families, both in person and on Zoom, even as early as 3:30 a.m. in Kashmir.

Now, more people have started to believe in our mission, and were grateful for the support weve received from our community. Were excited to see what the future holds for our organization as we continue to expand our reach. Our aim is to provide support to as many children affected by conflict as possible, no matter the obstacles we may face.

Zoya Hasan is a student at Cumberland Valley High School and founder of The Hikmah Foundation.
By Matt Krupp

In todays world, where concerns about the environment are growing, the work of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is more critical than ever. The EPAs mission to regulate and control potentially harmful chemicals is undeniably important. However, we must take a closer look at how we balance environmental protection with economic sustainability, especially in Pennsylvania, the Keystone State.

As a passionate supporter of environmental conservation and sustainability, I have genuine concerns about the potential downsides that excessive regulation could bring. Many of the chemicals targeted by the EPA are deeply connected to vital products and industries, including semiconductors, automobiles, construction, and energy. These sectors are pivotal for job creation, technological progress, and economic prosperity.

Imposing overly strict regulations could increase the operating costs for businesses in these sectors, leading to potential downsizing, layoffs, or reduced investment in these industries. This, in turn, could negatively affect local economies and livelihoods.

Moreover, stringent regulations may divert resources towards compliance rather than research and development, slowing down innovation and potentially hampering our ability to transition to cleaner, more sustainable technologies.

Balancing environmental protection with economic sustainability is a complex challenge that requires careful consideration to minimize negative impacts on both the environment and the economy. While we must not overlook the potential domino effect of overregulation, its equally important to ensure that the EPAs mission aligns with our shared commitment to both environmental protection and economic prosperity.

The EPA should actively engage with stakeholders from various sectors to collaboratively craft regulations that safeguard the environment without causing undue economic harm. It is through open dialogue and cooperative efforts that we can find common ground and strike the right balance.

Pennsylvania can be a beacon of responsible environmental practices while fostering economic growth. The two are not mutually exclusive. Striking a delicate balance is not only possible but necessary for our state and our nations prosperity. Our actions today will shape the future for generations to come.

Matt Krupp is Prothonotary for Dauphin County.
A Red Cross vehicle carrying Israeli hostages drives by at the Gaza Strip crossing into Egypt in Rafah on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023. Jewish and Muslim groups in Canada say they are closely following the ongoing ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP/Fatima Shbair
Soleiman Faqiri is shown in this undated family handout photo. In the 11 days before Soleiman Faqiri's death, family members tried to visit him four times, making the hour-long drive to the Ontario jail where he was being held, his brother said. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO, Yusuf Faqiri *MANDATORY CREDIT*
Western Exploration Inc. Chief Executive Officer Darcy Marud said the company received very positive results from core drilling focused on identifying vein extensions in the Jarbidge rhyolite northeast of the Gravel Creek resource area at the Aura Project in Elko County.

Western Exploration has long believed in the potential to greatly expand resources within the Wood Gulch/Gravel Creek mineralized system, and it is now become more evident that Wood Gulch and Gravel Creek are part of a large Au-Ag (gold and silver) bearing hydrothermal system over an area of 10km2 (3.9 square miles), he said in the companys Nov. 21 announcement.

The integration of structural surface alteration and geochemical data generated by the 2023 core drilling program has brought greater understanding of the controls on the high-grade veins in the Jarbidge rhyolite overlying and peripheral to the Gravel Creek deposit, Marud said.

Significant additional oriented core drilling is justified to better define the vein trends and determine the extent of the mineralized system to the northeast, with the ultimate goal of extending the project resource base, he also said.

The latest drilling results from one drill hole, in combination with a 2020 core hole, identified multiple drill intercepts with significant gold and silver grades in a zone 495 feet wide near the northeast limit of the current drilling area, according to Western Exploration.

The results from the new drill hole intersected nine veins, with gold equivalent grades of more than 3 grams per ton, or more than 0.1 ounces per ton. A second holes results are still pending assay.

Western Explorations Aura Project covers 14,826 acres that features the Doby George, Gravel Creek and Wood Gulch deposits that are being explored. The project is roughly 75 miles north of Elko.

Western Exploration says it has exploration, development, and mining rights on 2,298 acres of privately owned fee lands through a mineral lease agreement with a local landowner and may purchase those fee lands at any time for the development of Doby George.

The company had 25 years of advancing exploration projects in Nevada as a private company, and today has an experienced team of precious metals experts that aims to lead Western Exploration to become a premier gold and silver development company in North America, the announcement states.
Day 1 of the 2023 Merit Poker Gangster Series hosted by the Crystal Cove Hotel and Casino attracted a total of 63 runners, with late registration still open until Level 12 on Day 2 of the event.

After eight levels of play, only 52 players remained in the tournament. Dmitry Gromov emerged as the chip leader with a stack of 255,500. Other players who bagged big stacks were Halil Tasyurek from Lebanon with 243,000 chips, Maksim Shornikau from Belarus with 249,000 chips, local Turkish Pro Koray Korkmaz with 251,000 chips, and Belarusian Ihar Soika with 235,000 chips.

Top Ten Chips Counts

Place Player Country Chip Count Big Blinds 1 Dmitry Gromov Russia 255,500 170 2 Koray Korkmaz Turkey 251,000 167 3 Aleksandr Kirichenko Russia 250,000 167 4 Maksim Shornikau Belarus 249,000 166 5 Halil Serdar Tasyurek Turkey 243,000 162 6 Ihar Soika Belarus 235,500 157 7 Simas Karaliunas Lithuania 234,500 156 8 Navid Samavati Iran 220,500 147 9 Danut Florin Chisu France 219,000 146 10 Jakub Maciej Michalak Poland 214,500 143

Dmitry Gromov

On the first day of the tournament, some other notable players who managed to get a bag included Ankit Ahuja, who finished third in the 2023 Merit Poker $2,200 Warm Up, with 121,500 chips, Erdal Gulseven with 193,500 chips, Nikolay Ponomarev with 126,000 chips, Damir Gabdullin with 90,000 chips, who also had a top 15 finish in the Warm Up, Romania's Danut Chisu with 219,000 chips, and Ireland's Toby Joyce with 160,000.

Toby Joyce

Day 2 of the High Roller tournament begins today at 8:00 p.m. The tournament will play down to a final table of eight, which will be live-streamed on the Merit Poker YouTube channel on Day 3.

The current prize pool is at $315,000 and late registration is still open until level 12. It is expected that some players will find their seats around that time. The players will begin the day at level 9 with blinds of 1,000/1,500/1,500. The current average stack is 138,000, which means that every player still has a chance to win and there are enough opportunities to make some creative moves.

Stay updated with the latest events, including the Merit Poker Gangster Series, by following PokerNews!
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Trump spent the Thanksgiving holiday ranting about the criminal and civil cases that he is facing, while President Biden got an extension on the Middle East ceasefire.

The White Houses John Kirby formally announced the extension of the ceasefire:

This humanitarian pause has already brought a halt to the fighting together with the surge of humanitarian assistance. Now, in order to extend the pause, Hamas has committed to releasing another 20 women and children over the next two days. We would have, of course hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages.

The president has been deeply engaged on this process throughout the Thanksgiving weekend. He spoke with Qatar and yesterday, we spoke with Prime Minister Netanyahu to work an extension of the pause. He was briefed this morning by Jake Sullivan on the ongoing talks to extend the pause. He and his entire national security team will obviously stay engaged on this other the coming days as we work to implement this extension of the original agreement as well as efforts to extend the pause even from there.

Video:

White House: Biden spent his Thanksgiving weekend working on extending the Middle East ceasefire. pic.twitter.com/NKcgoRRs9H  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) November 27, 2023

Meanwhile, Trump has spent his holiday promising to take healthcare away from 40 million Americans, attacking the civil and criminal cases against him, and arguing that he is not in cognitive decline.

President Biden is working to advance a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, while Trump is trying to avoid a criminal conviction.
A New Ellenton man is facing several charges of sexual exploitation of a minor stemming from a cyber tip investigation.

Jacob Ryan Glosser, 22 of New Ellenton, was arrested Nov. 21 and charged with one count of second-degree sexual exploitation of a minor and four counts of third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor, according to jail records.

During an investigation related to a Sept. 5 cyber tip from the South Carolina Attorney Generals Office in reference to criminal sexual abuse materials, Glosser waived his Miranda rights, according to two separate incident reports from the Aiken County Sheriffs Office.

Glosser admitted to touching a minor inappropriately last year before the summer, according to an incident report.

According to a media release from the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigators with the Aiken County Sheriff's Office made the arrest, with assistance from the Attorney General's Office, U.S. Secret Service and the New Ellenton Police Department.

Investigators received a CyberTipline report from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which led them to Glosser and stated Glosser distributed and possessed files of child sexual abuse material, the release said.

Glosser had a bond set at $2,000 and posted bond Nov. 22, according to jail records.

If convicted, Glosser could face up to 10 years in prison for each count.

The case will be prosecuted by the Attorney General's Office.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Overcast with rain showers at times. High near 65F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 58F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
A California vehicle manufacturer was the winning bidder in a bankruptcy auction for the Greenville-based electric bus division of Proterra Inc.

Phoenix Motorcars announced Nov. 14 that it agreed to pay $10 million for the business and battery lease assets. The Anaheim-based buyer of is a maker of electric shuttles and school buses.

Proterra Transit once aimed to build thousands of electric buses at its Upstate factory. Under the purchase agreement, Phoenix will pay $3.5 million for the vehicle manufacturing company and $6.5 million for the battery assets.

A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge is expected to decide whether to approve the deal Nov. 28.

"Proterra has built a strong market share in the full-size, zero-emission transit bus market, just as Phoenix has done in the medium-duty market," Denton Peng, CEO of Phoenix Motorcars, said in a written statement. "We are excited about the attractive business synergy and growth opportunities as we add a full suite of transit bus offerings to our fleet customers across North America."

He added that Phoenix sees "considerable growth opportunities" in adding full-size buses to the company's battery-powered school vehicle lineup.

Peng's company is buying a business that was formed in Colorado in 2004. Proterra later moved its operations in to the Upstate, where it began building electric buses in 2011. It then relocated its headquarters to the San Francisco Bay area.

Proterra filed for bankruptcy protection in August. It previously announced the sale of its battery division for $210 million to Swedish truckmaker Volvo Group.

Pine Hill purchase

A Florida company that provides third-party logistics and manufacturing assembly services has purchased property at the Pine Hill Business Campus in Dorchester County.
During the first episode of a new video series made in town called "Charleston Sessions," the singer-songwriter from Spartanburg was tasked with something heavy and soul-searching: to tour and learn about the Aiken-Rhett House, which includes the only intact slave quarters on the peninsula, before presenting an intimate listening session inside. Read morePlaces of pain and resilience: Charleston Sessions pairs musicians with historic sites for concerts
24 key institutes from Guangdong, HK and Macao join forces to spread culture Museums from Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions announced the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Alliance of Museums at the Chinese Museum Studies Conference on Friday in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The first members of the alliance are 24 key museums, including Guangdong Museum, Shenzhen Museum, Hong Kong Museum of History and Macao Museum of Art, with more to join in the future. As of December last year, there were 377 museums in Guangdong province. "These museums are complementary. They can work together to present high-quality shows through the alliance," said Liu Shuguang, head of the Chinese Museums Association. Museums from Hong Kong and Macao have more experience communicating and cooperating with museums from abroad, while museums from Guangdong province have a closer relationship with their counterparts from the rest of the country. They can collaborate to better use their resources to offer good exhibitions, and help spread Chinese culture to wider audiences from home and abroad. "It's common to see economic cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. I think cultural exchanges and cooperation are also important," said Liu. Xiao Haiming, director of Guangdong Museum, said that some of their joint exhibitions with counterparts from Hong Kong and Macao have won many awards and received warm welcome from visitors. Their show Focus: Acclimation of Art Between China and the West in the 18th-19th Century is going to be exhibited in Macao later this year. "We have long cooperated with museums from Hong Kong and Macao. The establishment of the museum alliance in this area will offer more cooperation," said Xiao at the opening of the first Chinese Museum Studies Conference held in Guangzhou on Friday. The conference attracted museum directors, scholars, experts and representatives of cultural institutions from home and abroad to discuss the high-quality development of museums in the new era. "A healthy development of museums is not only about an increase in the number of museums and visitors and the expansion of museums' sizes, but also the building of a theoretical system," said Liu. According to Liu, issues such as how to deal with the rising demand for tickets while museum accommodation is limited, how to transform the archaeological discoveries into a good show and how to offer better public services can not be completely resolved if there's no theoretical support. "The building of China's museological study is a little bit late compared to its highly developed museums. But better late than never," Liu added. Luo Wenli, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said that museums have become popular in the past few years due to their good exhibitions. He hoped scholars and museum workers can shoulder the mission of building Chinese museology and spreading the culture and stories behind relics to a wider audience. dengzhangyu@chinadaily.com.cn


Award winners for Top 100 Vietnam Best Places to Work 2023 in the large enterprises category. (Photo: Anphabe)

The rankings are based on the findings of the independent Vietnam Best Places to Work survey, which polled 63,878 experienced workers from 18 industry groups and 9,638 students from 113 universities.

The survey was conducted from April to September 2023, measuring the employer brand attractiveness of 752 companies and also evaluating the latest trends in talent, human resources and working environment in the country.

The evaluation model and methodology were verified by market research firm Intage Vietnam.

Nestle Vietnam gained the top spot in the large enterprises category followed by Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage, Vingroup, ACECOOK Vietnam, AEON Vietnam, DHG Pharmaceutical JSC, CJ Foods Vietnam, and Military Commercial Joint Stock Bank.

PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company topped the medium enterprises category, followed by JOLLIBEE Vietnam, Generali Vietnam Life Insurance, BMB STEEL, JABIL Vietnam, McDonalds Vietnam, IMEXPHARM Corporation, and ADP Group.

In the category of Top 50 Best Employer of Choice by Vietnam Students, the winners were Nestle Vietnam (third consecutive year), PepsiCo Foods Vietnam Company (third consecutive year), AEON Vietnam (second consecutive year), ACECOOK Vietnam (third consecutive year), and Honda Vietnam (third consecutive year).

The annual workplace environment ranking, done by Anphabe and endorsed by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, is now in its tenth year.

Agriculture sector responds to climate change with green development

Vietnams agriculture sector has identified the need to respond promptly and enhance growth quality by applying ecological, organic, circular farming methods that results in low carbon emissions (Illustrative photo - Source: VNA)

Bracing for the significant impact of climate change, Vietnams agriculture sector has identified the need to respond promptly and enhance growth quality by applying ecological, organic, circular farming methods that results in low carbon emissions, according to Vietnam News Agency.

Between 2019 and 2023, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) have implemented a project called "Accelerating Private Sector Engagement in Climate-Resilient and Low-Emission Investment in Vietnam's Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC)".

The project is expected to assist dragon fruit farming to go green in the south-central province of Binh Thuan and shrimp production in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.

Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the MARDs International Cooperation Department, stated that the ministry is currently completing procedures to participate in the Emirates Leaders Declaration on Resilient Food Systems, Sustainable Agriculture, and Climate Action. The document is expected to be approved at the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) in December this year.

The transformation of Vietnam's food system toward green, low-carbon, sustainable, and climate-adaptive orientations is imperative, contributing to the implementation of national agricultural and rural development strategies, action plans, and international commitments.

In recent years, the nations participation in international commitments on climate change has brought about a significant shift in the approach to agricultural production towards transparency, responsibility, and sustainability. They include commitments to achieve the net-zero emission goal by 2050 and a 30% reduction in methane emissions compared to 2020.

The transformation of Vietnam's food system toward green, low-carbon, sustainable, and climate-adaptive orientations is imperative, contributing to the implementation of national agricultural and rural development strategies, action plans, and international commitments. (Illustrative photo - Source: VNA)

At the fourth session of the national steering committee for implementing Vietnam's commitments at COP26, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stressed that green development, energy transition, and emission reduction are inevitable trends that cannot be reversed.

Businesses promote digital transformation and green recovery toward market development

Over 90% of Vietnam's small and medium-sized enterprises are currently facing numerous challenges such as the ability to apply technology, willingness to innovate themselves in order to improve product quality, increase competitiveness and take advantage of incentives from free trade agreements (FTAs), according to VOV.

Photo for illustration

According to economic experts, in the context of the world's unpredictably fluctuating situation, local businesses should enhance digital transformation and green recovery to boost market development.

Vietnam's current participation in many FTAs has opened up opportunities, but also posed challenges to businesses, especially small businesses that have to face fierce competition from major enterprises in terms of productivity, quality and market development.

Tran Thi Thanh Tam, director of the Small and Medium Enterprise Support Center under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) said, "Increasing product quality helps meet the increasingly demanding needs and requirements of domestic and foreign customers, especially when Vietnam has integrated into the world economy through signing many trade agreements.

Engaging in these agreements, we will also encounter barriers, especially technical ones that Vietnamese businesses need to learn carefully to meet certification quality standards for importing countries," Tam emphasized.

Economic experts also stated that in order to improve product quality and productivity and develop markets, Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises need to find ways to become involved in the supply chain for FDI businesses, supporting industrial product chain, while also supplying domestic investors.

According to Nguyen Anh Duong, head of the General Research Department under the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), to overcome challenges, local businesses need to take advantage of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and attract FDI, FTAs, and enhance digital transformation and green recovery to accelerate market development.

Businesses also need to stay creative, improve management capacity, and promote "Made in Vietnam" products based on innovation spirit and e-commerce development, he added.

Bright prospect for Vietnam-Japan relations: Japanese scholar

Dr Tomotaka Shoji, Director of the Regional Research Division at the National Institute for Defence Studies under the Japanese Ministry of Defence. (Photo: VNA)

Dr Tomotaka Shoji, Director of the Regional Research Division at the National Institute for Defence Studies under the Japanese Ministry of Defence, has said that Vietnam-Japan relations have potential for further development, according to Vietnam News Agency.

In an interview granted to the Vietnam News Agency's resident correspondent ahead of President Vo Van Thuongs official visit to Japan from 27-30, the Japanese scholar said that in the context that this year marks the 50th founding anniversary of Japan-Vietnam diplomatic ties and the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan friendship and cooperation, the visit is an opportunity for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and President Thuong to reaffirm the strength of the bilateral relations and further development of bilateral/multilateral ties.

According to Dr. Shoji, Japanese people consider Vietnam an ideal tourist destination due to its close geographical location, attractive sites and cuisine. He assessed that Vietnam is a very fast-growing economy and its people are full of energy.

He also expressed his delight that Vietnamese people feel familiar with Japan and Japanese people find that Vietnamese people are very friendly, especially when there are many Vietnamese people living in the East Asian country. The feeling of familiarity plays an important role in promoting Japan's cooperation with Vietnam, he continued.

Regarding the strengths of the Vietnam-Japan relations, Shoji affirmed that the two countries can establish and maintain strong bilateral relations thanks to geographical proximity, ethnic sympathy, and economic complementarity and converging strategic interests.

He said that the first strength is economic collaboration, emphasising that bilateral cooperation in this field has obtained strong progress. Japan has long valued economic cooperation in its foreign policy. With strong economic potential, Japan wants to promote its advantages to strengthen relations with Vietnam. Security is also a very important area of cooperation, Shoji said, elaborating that the two sides have many prospects for cooperation in this regard.

Touching on challenges in the bilateral relations, he said that despite good relations between the two countries, Vietnam and Japan still need to resolve a number of issues, including policies relating to technical apprentices. It is necessary for the two countries to maintain and deepen their relationship by collaborating more in areas such as sustainable economy, environmental protection and regional security, Shoji said. He expressed his confidence that cooperation in the economic and security fields between the two countries will continue to develop in the coming time.

Shoji noted that there are many issues that affect not only Vietnam and Japan, but also other countries in the world, such as climate change. Each country is facing different problems, such as the environment. Therefore, he believed that Japan and Vietnam should work together to solve these problems and this could be a potential area of cooperation in the future./.
IRMO  What started as a temporary closure at Alodia's Cucina Italiana, a neighborhood Italian eatery in Irmo, has become permanent following months of uncertainty and backlash for the restaurant's owners.

Owners of Alodia's in Irmo closed the restaurant's doors Nov. 25 after over 15 years in business, the eatery announced in a Facebook post.

"We want to express our deepest gratitude to each and every one of you who have supported us through the years. Your loyalty and patronage have been the cornerstone of our success, and it has been a privilege to serve you," the post said.

The neighborhood Italian place has two locations in the Columbia area  the now-closed Irmo location and a downtown Lexington location, which became the center of online controversy in June when a waitress posted about not receiving pay for nearly two weeks.

'A cash flow issue, for sure'

When Zoe Spires, a former waitress at Alodia's in Lexington, took her paycheck to the bank in mid-June, it bounced.

She didn't think much of it, at the time. In her nearly two years working at the restaurant, checks had bounced before. But, nearly two weeks later, when she still hadn't been paid, Spires grew concerned. As did her coworkers.

One of the servers looked at me and she said You need to find a new job, but you didnt hear that from me, Spires told the Post and Courier in a previous interview.

On June 28, while staff said owner Adam Huneau was out of town on vacation, the waitstaff walked out and closed the restaurant over lack of pay. Following the decision, Spires made a Facebook post, which has since been deleted, asking for support and explaining the situation.

Huneau responded to that Facebook post.
Ever since he was a boy in Poland, Victor Krupa had been smoking cigarettes. But after decades, he had done everything he could to quit.

"I tried just cold turkey," said Krupa, 47, of Johns Island. "I tried the gum once. I tried the patch once. Chantix (a medication), I tried that one."

It wasn't until he got a newer approach  electromagnetic brain stimulation at the Medical University of South Carolina  that he kicked the habit for good.

"There's no possible way I could have quit without it," said Krupa, owner and operator of Kowalski Deli in West Ashley.

The problem is, insurance companies won't cover it, even though it received approval from the Food and Drug Administration a few years ago.

The technique is called transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS, which involves sessions where a magnetic coil inside a helmet is strategically placed on a person's head for short bursts to specific areas of the brain.

The brain is an electrochemical organ, and most people are familiar with attempts to alter brain behavior through chemicals, such as taking medication for depression, said Dr. Baron Short, medical director of the Brain Stimulation Service at MUSC. They are less familiar with electrical attempts to try and alter the connections formed by neurons.

"The brain is this massive network of circuits that you can push or pull" depending upon the desired effect of stimulating or tamping down activity, Short said.

The technique was FDA-approved to treat major depression in 2008, then approved to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder in 2018. A major study on smoking found that using the brain stimulation over a series of weeks allowed 28 percent to quit for at least a month, or nearly three times the rate for those who got a sham treatment. That compares to a quit rate of 15-22 percent with medications or nicotine replacement therapies. The majority of smokers who use those other approaches, like Krupa, found "it doesn't work for them," Short said.
The City of Isle of Palms holiday street festival and tree lighting will take place on Dec. 2 from 2 to 7 p.m. on the Isle of Palms. The tree lighting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. This event will have an impact on some roads on the island. Read moreIOP announces road closures
Like many, in quiet moments I like to ponder the great mysteries of the universe. Like, have you ever wondered why the Dock Street Theatre is on Church Street? Often billed as the first theater in America, wouldnt it have been on Dock Street?

The first time a visitor to our Holy City asked me that question, back in my earliest days as a tour guide in the 1990s, I was stumped. And so, to avoid looking like a deer in headlights the next time, I did a little research.

Based on a 1736 advertisement in the South-Carolina Gazette, the new theatre in Dock Street opened Feb. 12 of that year with a comedy titled "The Recruiting Officer." This documentation places it among the oldest buildings, if not the first, built specifically for theatrical performances in America.

Yet crediting todays theater at 135 Church St., beautiful though it may be, as Americas first theater would be a miscarriage of historical justice.

According to research by Nicholas Butler, historian at the Charleston County Public Library, the Dock Street Theatre advertised in 1736 was probably built on the southwest corner of the intersection of Church and Queen streets, with an entrance on its northern facade. At that time, Queen Street was commonly still known by its original name Dock Street, so called because of a dock at its eastern terminus along the Cooper River.

Following King George IIs marriage to Queen Caroline of Anspach in 1705, the British powers-that-be renamed it Queen Street in her honor. In those days, however, word traveled slowly across the great Atlantic, and even once it did, it took a while for the new name to catch on with locals.

That 1736 advertisement, according to Butler, is the first and only remaining historical reference to the original Dock Street Theatre, which apparently was short-lived. Though no records of its demise exist, it may have burned down four years after its opening in the Great Fire of 1740 that devastated much of that neighborhood.
ORANGEBURG  A boy defined by a bright personality and a love of the outdoors was shot while hunting early Nov. 24. He died the next day.

Avery Davis, 6, died doing what he loved best, his father said by phone Nov. 27. Despite his youth, he was an experienced outdoorsman. He had hunted and fished in about 15 states, Jeremy Davis said of his youngest child.

"He was all boy. He loved hunting, fishing, farming," Jeremy Davis said. "Anything outside."

S.C. Department of Natural Resources officials called the fatal shooting an accident in a statement posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

"The boy was in an elevated stand and appears to have been struck by a stray shotgun pellet from a shooter on the ground," a second post said. "Our sympathy remains with the child's family and loved ones."

Greg Lucas, a spokesman for the state department, said he could not answer any other questions directly related to case citing the active investigation.

Jeremy Davis also declined to answer questions about the tragedy. Father and son were part of a group that had been hunting deer the day after Thanksgiving, he said.

"It was a freak accident," said Davis, who owns Carolina Coon Hunters Supply in Orangeburg. "You could do it 100 times over and it wouldn't end the way it did."

The shooting took place around 8:30 a.m. Nov. 24 in a wooded area on Whisperwood Road, which is in Orangeburg County near Cameron, according to an incident report from the Orangeburg County Sheriff's Office, which responded to the shooting to assist DNR.

The sheriff's report said Avery was in tree stand with another 6-year-old when a teenager shot too high. Part of a buck shot hit Avery in the side of the head, according to the report.

Jeremy Davis sped his son to a local MUSC facility, the police report said. The boy was later taken to Columbia's Prisma Health Richland, where he died Nov. 25.

The Calhoun Academy student was an organ donor, according to The Times and Democrat newspaper in Orangeburg.
U.S. Sen. Tim Scott has many admirable qualities that would have made him a compelling presidential candidate in another year. Still, given the state of the Republican race, his decision to drop out of the GOP primary should be welcomed. Read moreCommentary: Do the right thing, like Tim Scott
Those who think the study of history is a purely academic exercise largely miss the point. Yes, learning more about our past makes us smarter and may even entertain us, but it does more than that. It provides context and gives us a better sense of where we are today. Read moreEditorial: There are lessons to learn from Charleston's own tea 'party'
Super-cruise ship Celebrity Solstice docked at Phu My port. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn)

This is the next journey in Vietnam for these 2,700 cruise tourists. Previously, Saigon Tourist organized tours for the tourists to visit many destinations in Ha Long, Hue, Nha Trang, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

The increasing numbers of cruise tourists to Vietnam is a very good sign. Although the tourists have a short number of travel days at each destination, they are high-class tourists and spend a lot.

Tourists experience a tour on the Saigon River, Ho Chi Minh City. (Photo: hanoimoi.vn)

In particular, perception information from these tourists has a great impact on other tourist groups, thereby inviting more tourists to Vietnam./.
Its increasingly obvious to me that President Biden intends to suppress Israels campaign to eliminate Hamas. I may be mistaken, but thats the way the wind is blowing, isnt it?

You dont need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows in the mainstream media. That much I can tell you.

Author of Bad News: How Woke Media Is Undermining Democracy (published by our friends at Encounter Books), Batya Ungar-Sargon keeps her finger on the pulse of the New York Times and other such organs of the prestige press. She is not inclined to let this (below) pass. Hamas possesses a genius for evil, but some other explanation is required to explain Hamass media handmaidens  something beyond useful idiots.
Reporters want to fan the flames of conflict leading to war because theyre so damn stupid. That is my belief of your profession. As Sir Bedivere (Terry Jones) might say, who is this who is so wise in the ways of the media and world peace? Why, its Jerry Brown, billed by the allegedly damn stupid reporter as a former governor of California. That is true, but theres so much more to the man.

Jerry Brown is the son of California governor Edmund G. Pat Brown, which accounts for Jerrys gubernatorial win in 1974. In 1976, 1980 and 1992, Jerry Brown ran for president, and came up a loser every time. In his 1982 run for the Senate, Brown lost to Republican Pete Wilson, mayor of San Diego. In his jousts with reporters, Brown seems to have forgotten those losses.

After the recent summit in San Francisco, a reporter asked Joe Biden if he would still use the term dictator for Xi Jinping. Well, look, he is, Biden replied. Hes a dictator in the sense that hes a guy who runs a country that is a communist country, that is based on a form of government that is totally different than ours. That caused Antony Blinken to wince, and Jerry Brown to accuse the reporter of fanning the flames of war. The hereditary governor and three-time presidential loser then turned on Joe Biden.

When youve been in politics for 50 years, the first thing youre supposed to learn is how to avoid an embarrassing question, Brown said. That has to be lesson one. Other lessons might have escaped notice.

The Peoples Republic of China is indeed a Communist country, and in Marxist-Leninist doctrine the dictatorship of the proletariat rules over the people. For the Communists, free elections, free speech and such are so much bourgeois decadence. The sole political party in the PRC is the Chinese Communist Party, and the nation has been ruled by a series of Stalinist dictators, starting with the genocidal Mao Zedong, according to The Black Book of Communism, the worst mass murderer in human history.

Joe Bidens view that Xi is a dictator is perfectly accurate, and a big improvement over his 2019 statement that the Chinese Communists are not bad folks. For Jerry Brown, Bidens truthful statement was a mistake, and the reporter was somehow fanning the flames of war. That takes a special kind of person but Pat Browns son is up to the task.

His stint at Sacred Heart seminary was probably a draft-dodge, but Browns ability to quote Latin tags got him branded a sage. Like Biden and current governor Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown shows little familiarity with works by economists such as F.A Hayek, Milton Friedman and Thomas Sowell of the Hoover Institution. Great Catholic writers such as Michael Novak and Richard John Neuhaus also seem to have escaped his attention.

Gov. Brown wanted a California space program but hes more accurately perceived as an astronaut of arrogance. When reporters ask about his presidential losses he seems slightly annoyed, as he does most of the time

Californias 1978 Proposition 13 limited the amount property taxes could be raised. Gov. Brown denounced it as a rip-off, even though the measure required no new government spending or hiring. When it passed in a landslide, Brown proclaimed himself a born again tax cutter, which was never true.

Browns choice for chief justice was his former campaign chauffer Rose Bird. She was 40 years old and without judicial experience, but like Brown she had a soft spot for convicted murderers. In 1986, California voters booted Bird and Brown supreme court picks Joseph Grodin and Cruz Reynoso, who also held their personal views above the law. From this 63-37 defeat at the hands of the people, Brown learned nothing.

Toward the end of his final term, Gov. Brown signed Senate Bill 1391. Under this measure, anyone in California under the age of 16 can murder any number of people, be prosecuted only in juvenile court, and gain release at the age of 25. In his signing message, Brown said the concerns of crime victims weighed on me. A ballpark figure for how much would be zero.

In 1974, Jerry Brown denounced the sprawling new governors residence as a wasteful Taj Mahal. Gov. Brown refused to live there and instead moved into a sparsely-furnished, two-bedroom apartment on N St. not far from the state Capitol. The hereditary, recurring governor now boasts an estimated net worth of $10 million and lives in a 3,500-square- foot mansion on 2,500 acres in Colusa County. Simple lifestyle Jerry is now part of the landed gentry, but his politics havent changed.

In January, Brown told reporters Joe Biden was a good guy and should give serious consideration to another run for the White House. Vice president Kamala Harris, on the other hand, would probably like to be doing better. Brown still believes Biden is the man of the hour, but when asked about Kamala Harris Brown said, I do not have a thought on that topic.

As people should know, Kamala Harris got her start under one-time steady boyfriend Willie Brown, thirty years her senior. The Democrat queenmaker set up Harris in lucrative sinecures and backed her runs for district attorney in San Francisco and state attorney general. The prospect of Kamala Harris as President of the United States renders Jerry Brown speechless. As Trump says, well have to see what happens.
PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-27 21:01:05

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eXp Realty Celebrates Top Performers of 2022, Acknowledging the Strength and Excellence of the Brand's RealtorsVANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / In a notable achievement, Callaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group have secured their positions among the top 5 real estate agents in Canada for the year 2022. Specializing in the high-end market and the coveted neighbourhoods of Oak Bay and Saanich, their remarkable performance underscores their expertise and unrivalled knowledge of these exclusive locales.Industry Expertise in Luxury Real EstateWith an impressive track record spanning over a decade, Callaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group have consistently showcased their expertise in the high-end real estate market. Their dedication to delivering exceptional results has rightfully earned them a place among Canada's distinguished real estate professionals.Navigating Exclusive MarketsOak Bay and Saanich, recognized for their opulent properties and stunning natural landscapes, present unique challenges and opportunities. Callaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group's profound understanding of these markets empowers them to offer unparalleled insights and distinctive prospects that set them apart as trusted advisors in these prestigious communities.Acknowledgment of ExcellenceIn a recent accolade by eXp Realty, a prominent name in the real estate sector, Callaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group earned recognition as among the Top 50 Realtors in Canada for 2022. This acknowledgment underscores their exceptional performance and unwavering commitment to excellence within the industry.Pioneering Industry StandardsCallaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group's remarkable achievements not only redefine industry benchmarks but also reaffirm their role as leaders in the luxury real estate arena. Their consistent delivery of exceptional results reflects their dedication and deep-rooted expertise.Towards a Promising FutureContinuing to excel in the high-end market and catering to the exacting requirements of their clients, Callaghan O'Connor and the Oak Bay Group are positioned to establish new precedents and further elevate the standards of luxury real estate in Victoria, BC, and beyond. Their journey to the summit epitomizes their unwavering commitment to excellence and their dedication to providing exceptional opportunities in the realm of luxury real estate.Contact:eXp Oak Bay Group250-883-8883www.oakbaygroup.com SOURCE: Oak Bay Group
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VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Camino Minerals Corporation (TSXV:COR)(OTCQB:CAMZF) (WKN:A116E1) ("Camino" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it is arranging a non-brokered private placement to raise total gross proceeds of up to CAD$2,000,000 (the "Financing").The Financing will consist of the issue of up to 33,333,334 units (each, a "Unit") at a price per Unit of CAD$0.06. Each Unit will consist of one common share and one common share purchase warrant (each, a "Warrant"), allowing holders to purchase an additional common share at an exercise price of CAD$0.10 per Warrant within thirty-six months following the closing date of the Financing. In the event the volume-weighted average closing price of the Company's common shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") exceeds CAD$0.20 for twenty consecutive trading days, the Company retains the option to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants to thirty days after a public announcement of its election to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants. The Company may pay finders fees in connection with the Financing.The primary use of the gross proceeds will be the commencement of drilling activities at the Company's 100% owned Maria Cecilia porphyry complex ("Maria Cecilia") and for corporate working capital and business development activities. Two drilling campaigns are planned at Camino's two permitted copper properties in Peru. Drilling at the Los Chapitos Copper Project ("Los Chapitos") will commence in December, funded in co-operation with its Los Chapitos partner Nittetsu Mining Co., Ltd. (see news release dated November 23, 2023). The second drilling campaign is planned to commence consecutively at the fully permitted Maria Cecilia copper porphyry complex.The Company has received commitments as part of the Financing from a combination of executive management, directors, and existing shareholders of Camino. The participation in the Financing by related parties constitutes a "related party transaction" as defined under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101") and Policy 5.9 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions of the Exchange. Pursuant to sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101, the Company is exempt from obtaining a formal valuation and minority approval of the Company's shareholders in respect of the related party participation in the Financing due to the fair market value of the related party participation being below 25% of the Company's market capitalization for the purposes of MI 61-101.All securities issued and sold under the Financing will be subject to a hold period expiring four months and one day from their date of issuance. Completion of the Financing remain subject to the receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including the approval of the Exchange.This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933 (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons (as defined in the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration is available.The Maria Cecilia Porphyry ComplexThe Maria Cecilia porphyry complex is a mineralized system of several intrusives that extends for over 5 km and hosts the mineral resources of Toropunto and Emmanuel, that have been prepared in accordance with National Instrument 43-101 standards. The central intrusive of Maria Cecilia has never been drilled and exhibits the largest magnetic anomaly in the porphyry complex. Drilling at adjacent deposits demonstrates cross-cutting mineralization indicating multiple intrusive pulses of copper, gold, zinc, and molybdenum mineralization adjacent to Maria Cecilia.In addition, anomalous molybdenum has been encountered immediately next to Maria Cecilia indicating zoning proximity to a copper source and the potential for a robust porphyry. The Company proposes to drill from surface two porphyry outcrops with test pit grades up to 0.5 and 0.9% Cu, respectively, and drill to a potential quartz magnetite high-grade copper mineralized body within the magnetic anomaly.In September 2022, Camino was granted the Declaration of Environmental Impact permit to drill up to 23,000 meters at Maria Cecilia (see news release dated September 12, 2022).About CaminoCamino is a discovery and development stage copper exploration company. Camino is focused on advancing its high-grade Los Chapitos copper project located in Peru through to resource delineation and to add new discoveries. Camino has also permitted the Maria Cecilia copper porphyry project for a planned exploration drilling program. In addition, Camino has increased its land position at its copper and silver Plata Dorada project. Camino seeks to acquire a portfolio of advanced copper assets that have the potential to deliver copper into an electrifying copper intensive global economy. For more information, please refer to Camino's website at www.caminocorp.com Jose A. Bassan, FAusIMM (CP) 227922, MSc. Geologist, an independent geologist and a qualified person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, has reviewed and approved the technical contents of this document. Mr. Bassan has reviewed and verified relevant data supporting the technical disclosure, including sampling and analytical test data.ON BEHALF OF THE BOARDJay Chmelauskas, President and CEOFor further information, please contact:Camino Investor Relations info@ caminocorp.comTel: (604) 493-2058Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements: Certain disclosures in this release constitute forward-looking information. In making the forward-looking disclosures in this release, the Company has applied certain factors and assumptions that are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to the Company. Forward-looking information in the release includes the terms and conditions of the Financing, the use of proceeds of the Financing, the timing and ability of the Company to obtain final approval of the Financing from the TSX Venture Exchange, the closing date of the Financing, an exemption being available under MI 6
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NORTH CHARLESTON, SC / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Camplux, a leading brand in outdoor and camping equipment, is excited to announce its latest range of products designed to revolutionize the outdoor experience. Founded by professional climber and outdoor enthusiast Eric Jiang, Camplux has been at the forefront of outdoor innovation since its inception.Our new line of tankless water heaters and other camping essentials are designed to cater to the needs of overlanders and outdoor aficionados. These products not only offer unmatched quality but also embody the spirit of adventure that is integral to the Camplux brand."We are thrilled to introduce our newest innovations to the camping community," says Johnny Wang of Camplux. "Our goal has always been to enhance the outdoor experience, and with these products, we are a step closer to making every adventure unforgettable." User-Generated Content Adds CredibilityAs part of our marketing strategy, Camplux has amassed an impressive collection of user-generated content (UGC), including photos and YouTube videos showcasing our products in action. This UGC serves as a testament to the reliability and efficiency of our products, providing potential customers with real-world proof of their effectiveness.Setting New Standards in the Outdoor IndustryCompeting with brands like Joolca and Eccotemp, Camplux is dedicated to setting new benchmarks in the industry. Our commitment to quality and innovation has been the cornerstone of our success, helping us to stand out in a competitive market.Eric Jiang, founder of Camplux, states, "From the very beginning, our mission has been to create products that enhance the outdoor experience. Our future plans include solidifying our position as the top choice for tankless water heaters and continuously improving life quality for our customers." About CampluxFounded by Eric Jiang, Camplux started as a vision to improve outdoor living. Today, it stands as a beacon for adventurers worldwide, offering a range of products that are essential for camping and overlanding. With a presence in the US, Australia, the UK, and Thailand, Camplux is geared towards becoming a global leader in outdoor solutionsFor more information, visit Camplux.com and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.INS: https://www.instagram.com/camplux.us/FB: CONTACT:Camplux Johnny WangJunskysocialmedia@ gmail.com SOURCE: Camplux
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THUNDER BAY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Clean Air Metals Inc. ("Clean Air Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:AIR)(FRA:CKU)(OTCQB:CLRMF) is pleased to announce it has received approval from the Ontario Ministry of Mines for its 3-year exploration permit as submitted in May 2023. The permit covers the down plunge extension to the south-east of the Escape deposit as has previously been communicated but also covers other areas of interest for future potential drilling and geophysical work within the Company's Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project near Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada (the "Project").The Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project hosts an indicated mineral resource of 13.8Mt containing 1.2M ounces of 2PGE (Pt+Pd), 56,800 tonnes of Cu and 33,800 tonnes of Ni between the twin magmatic intrusions (chonoliths) known as the Current and Escape deposits. Both deposits remain open and largely unexplored below 500 metres in depth.In addition to the down plunge potential of the Escape Deposit, as outlined in the press release of August 29, 2023, this permit also includes proposed work to continue testing the Current chonolith down plunge, continued exploration of untested magnetotelluric (MT) anomalies associated with emplacement controlling structures of the Escape and Quetico faults and the capacity to undertake infill drilling for conversion of inferred to indicated mineral resources as required, in both the Escape and Current deposits.Figure 1. Plan view of the Current and Escape intrusions as defined by diamond drilling and magnetic interpretation. Spatial extend of Early Exploration permit PR23-000153 shown by green cross-hatching.Geoff Heggie, VP Exploration commented: "Approval of the 3-year early exploration permit which covers the two resource areas and the down plunge potential on both mineralized intrusions provides the Company the opportunity to continue expanding the mineral resource with future exploration programs." Company UpdateThe Strategic Alternatives process announced by the Company on October 3, 2023, is fully in progress. The Company does not expect to have any material information to report on this process until early in the new year.Jim Gallagher CEO stated: "The press has recently begun to cover the difficult situation in the Canadian junior mining market, with investor interest and available financing at an all-time low despite the global concern for supply of Critical Metals to supply the green energy revolution. BlackRock, the large American investment fund that has significant holdings in both the mining and green energy spaces, recently expressed concern that if investors don't return to mining, the green energy transition cannot happen. Further compounding the issue is the fact that many of the critical metals, including Platinum, Palladium, Copper and Nickel, all of which are in the Thunder Bay North mineral resource, are at multi-year low prices. Management at Clean Air Metals has recognized this growing issue and has proactively reacted to it. In June 2023, we reduced staff, deferred exploration drilling until early 2024 at a minimum and cutback on attendance at investor conferences and other investor outreach programs. These activities do not yield the intended benefits in the current environment." Mr. Gallagher continues, "I have taken direct calls from many investors recently, concerned about the lack of activity and news flow from the Company and my response remains consistent:the Company is committed to managing its cash which sits at approximately $7 million at the end of October 2023.The Company has no debt.The quality of the asset and the mineral resource has not changed. It is a rare Platinum, Palladium asset outside of South Africa and Russia. The Project is in a stable jurisdiction and is close to all necessary infrastructure.The Project has 4 critical metals and the price for these metals is projected to rebound, perhaps dramatically given the imbalance between green energy demand and the current investment levels in mining.The Company is taking further steps to reduce costs.The Company's valuation is unrealistically low.We remain reluctant to raise funds at these poor valuations and are positioning ourselves to wait out these markets until investor interest returns to the market."Permitting One additional permit is still pending for a bridge crossing required to access the Escape down plunge drill setup area. The process is well underway, and the Company does not expect any issues with the application.Qualified PersonDr. Geoff Heggie, Ph.D., P.Geo., a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and Vice President - Exploration for the Company, has reviewed and approved all technical information in this press release.Indigenous Community Social and Economic EngagementClean Air Metals Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. acknowledge that the Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project is located within the area encompassed by the Robinson-Superior Treaty of 1850, and includes the territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock Indian Band, Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek and Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek. Clean Air Metals also acknowledges the contributions of the Metis Nation of Ontario, Region 2 and the Red Sky Metis Independent Nation to the rich history of our area.The Company appreciates the opportunity to work in these territories and remains committed to the recognition and respect of those who have lived, traveled, and gathered on the lands since time immemorial. Clean Air Metals is committed to stewarding Indigenous heritage and remains committed to building, fostering and encouraging a respectful relationship with First Nations, Metis and Inuit peoples based upon principles of mutual trust, respect, reciprocity and collaboration in the spirit of reconciliation.About Clean Air Metals Inc.Clean Air Metals' flagship asset is the 100% owned, high grade Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project, a platinum, palladium, copper, nickel project located near the City of Thunder Bay, Ontario and the Lac des Iles Mine owned by Impala Platinum. The Thunder Bay North Project hosts the Current and Escape deposits, twin magma conduits which form the basis for the new mineral resource estimate reported on May 4, 2023.CEO Jim Gallagher and COO Mike Garbutt lead an experienced technical team who are using an orthomagmatic mineral deposit model to guide ongoing exploration and development studies for a for potential mine development on the Thunder Bay North project. Mr. Gallagher was formerly CEO of North American Palladium which operated the Lac des Ilse Palladium mine just north of the Thunder Bay North project. After a significant operation
PR-Inside.com: 2023-11-27 21:56:01

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LAS VEGAS, NV / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Esteemed physician Dr. Dhaval Shah proudly introduces the Dr. Dhaval Shah Scholarship for Future Doctors, an esteemed opportunity aimed at nurturing aspiring medical professionals. This one-time $1,000 scholarship is designed to support undergraduate students pursuing careers in medicine, emphasizing academic excellence, commitment to the field, and personal growth within the medical realm.Dr. Dhaval Shah, renowned for his unwavering dedication to healthcare and groundbreaking medical research, launches this scholarship to inspire and empower the next generation of medical practitioners. This prestigious opportunity, accessible via the official website https://drdhavalshahscholarship.com , seeks individuals who embody the values of compassion, innovation, and dedication championed by Dr. Shah throughout his illustrious career.Applicants for the Dr. Dhaval Shah Scholarship for Future Doctors are required to meet the following criteria:Academic Pursuit: Current undergraduate students pursuing careers in medicine or high school students planning to attend university for a medical degree.Excellence in Academics: Exceptional academic performance is highly valued, with emphasis on demonstrated outstanding scholastic achievements.Commitment to Medicine: Applicants should exhibit a profound commitment to the field of medicine, displaying genuine passion for positively impacting patients' lives.Dedication to Personal Growth: Driven individuals seeking continuous personal and professional growth within the medical field are encouraged to apply.To complete the application process, candidates are required to submit a thoughtful essay of 500-1000 words, addressing a significant challenge currently faced by the healthcare industry and proposing an innovative solution to address it effectively.Dr. Dhaval Shah, MD, a distinguished figure in the field of medicine, leads by example with a career reflecting his unwavering commitment to advancing healthcare. His roles as CEO of InfusionmedUSA and Carrollton Hospital showcase his leadership in healthcare administration, while his position as Chief Development Officer for Improve Bio-Science highlights his passion for pioneering medical solutions.Beyond administrative roles, Dr. Shah's dedication to patient care shines through his role as Medical Director at the CIDS Wound, Hyperbaric & Infusion Center, focusing on outpatient care. His commitment to education is evident in his role as Teaching Faculty in the Infectious Diseases Training Program at Mountain View Hospital, emphasizing his dedication to nurturing the next generation of medical professionals.An accomplished educator and researcher, Dr. Dhaval Shah holds the position of Associate Professor of Infectious Disease at TOURO University, contributing significantly to medical education and research. His leadership roles as Chairman of the P&T Committee and Chairman of Infection Control at multiple healthcare facilities underscore his commitment to healthcare innovation.Dr. Dhaval Shah's exemplary contributions to healthcare have garnered numerous accolades, including recognition as one of "America's Top Physicians" by the Consumers' Research Council of America and the esteemed title of "Best Infectious Diseases Doctor of Las Vegas." The deadline for applications for the Dr. Dhaval Shah Scholarship for Future Doctors is June 15, 2024. The scholarship recipient will be announced on July 15, 2024.For further details and application procedures, visit drdhavalshahscholarship.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Dr. Dhaval ShahOrganization: Dr. Dhaval Shah ScholarshipWebsite: https://drdhavalshahscholarship.comEmail: apply@ drdhavalshahscholarship.com SOURCE: Dr. Dhaval Shah Scholarship
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Funding will support organizations, initiatives committed to honoring Florida veterans and connecting them to unique services and programsST. PETERSBURG, FL / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Duke Energy and its Foundation are contributing more than $56,000 to five organizations in Florida that are working to provide career pathways, housing repairs and other unique services for veterans and their loved ones. Since last year, Duke Energy has invested more than $290,000 in support for veterans."At Duke Energy, we have a long history of providing career opportunities to our military, including transitioning military service members, veterans and military spouses," said Melissa Seixas, Duke Energy Florida state president. "We're proud to give back to this community and support the organizations across Florida that are delivering the care, opportunities and services to those who've answered the call to serve." Evergreen Life Services, an organization serving people with developmental disabilities and veteran with disabilities, will receive funding for its nonprofit program, HEAVENDROPT. Funds will be used to pay competitive wages to people with disabilities who handmake products made in the U.S. out of recycled military parachutes."Evergreen Life Services is grateful to Duke Energy for supporting our HEAVENDROPt program," said Dr. Sue Buchholtz, CEO, Evergreen Life Services. "This is a prime example of Duke Energy's strong commitment to our veterans and toward promoting community inclusion of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. We are so proud of this collaboration. Together, we are truly making a difference." Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay also received funds to support major repairs of two veteran homes in St. Petersburg. Repairs at Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay are offered at no cost to the homeowner. Programs address the most urgent needs impacting the well-being of homeowners, their families and our neighborhoods."Our collaboration with Duke Energy embodies the spirit of unity, service, and community, reminding us that together, we can transform lives and build a brighter future," said Jose Garcia, executive director of Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay. "Today, we honor the service and sacrifices made by our brave military personnel. It's a fitting moment to emphasize our shared commitment to ensuring every veteran has a safe and comfortable place to call home." Grants were awarded to the following organizations:Camaraderie Foundation - $500 to support the annual Ruck Sack Race to benefit the Camaraderie Foundation, which provides counseling, transition assistance and family support services to active military, veterans and their families.Evergreen Life Services - $25,000 to its HEAVENDROPt program to help pay competitive wages to people with disabilities who handmake products made in the U.S. out of recycled military parachutes.Heart Strings for Heroes - $1,000 to provide free guitars and in some cases lessons to assist in the ongoing, mental and physical healing of wounded veterans.Home of the Phantom Airborne Brigade - $250 to support an upcoming jump event where active duty, retired and/or veteran paratroopers can openly discuss Airborne experiences and continue jumping in the manner they were used to while serving.Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay - $30,000 to support major repairs of two veteran homes in St. Petersburg at no cost to the homeowner.In addition to the recent contributions, the company has an employee veteran resource group, Together We Stand (TWS), which mentors new hires, helps veterans adjust to Duke Energy's culture and eases the transition to civilian life.Throughout the year, the Florida TWS chapter actively participates in numerous local events to support initiatives focused on backing veterans in Florida. Earlier this month, Duke Energy employees honored veterans and families by installing 600 tribute flags at Seminole City Hall.Click here to learn more about the ways Duke Energy supports service members and veterans.Duke Energy FloridaDuke Energy Florida, a subsidiary of Duke Energy, owns 10,500 megawatts of energy capacity, supplying electricity to 1.9 million residential, commercial and industrial customers across a 13,000-square-mile service area in Florida.Duke Energy FoundationThe Duke Energy Foundation provides more than $30 million annually in philanthropic support to meet the needs of communities where Duke Energy customers live and work. The foundation is funded by Duke Energy shareholders.Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of America's largest energy holding companies. Its electric utilities serve 8.2 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky, and collectively own 50,000 megawatts of energy capacity. Its natural gas unit serves 1.6 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The company employs 27,600 people.Duke Energy is executing an aggressive clean energy transition to achieve its goals of net-zero methane emissions from its natural gas business by 2030 and net-zero carbon emissions from electricity generation by 2050. The company has interim carbon emission targets of at least 50% reduction from electric generation by 2030, 50% for Scope 2 and certain Scope 3 upstream and downstream emissions by 2035, and 80% from electric generation by 2040. In addition, the company is investing in major electric grid enhancements and energy storage, and exploring zero-emission power generation technologies such as hydrogen and advanced nuclear.Duke Energy was named to Fortune's 2023 "World's Most Admired Companies" list and Forbes' "World's Best Employers" list. More information is available at duke-energy.com . The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos and videos. Duke Energy's illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.Media contact: Audrey Stasko Media line: 800.559.3853 Twitter: @DE_AudreySView original content here.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Duke Energy on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Duke EnergyWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/duke-energyEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Duke Energy
Members of Chinese band Wu Tiao Ren perform during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

NEW YORK, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans.

The first leg of the two-day event attracted over three thousand people. The fans, mostly in their 20s or 30s, filled up Knockdown Center in Queens borough, and many were moved into tears during the three-hour performance.

Wu Tiao Ren, a band from south China's Guangdong Province, and Omnipotent Youth Society, a band based in north China's Hebei Province, featured in the performance.

Music serves as a bridge for communication among young people across the globe to make the world a better place, said Li Hongjie, founder of Friends From The East.

The bands' performances were well received on their respective tours in U.S. cities including Seattle, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and San Francisco, according to Li, who has been in the business for over 20 years.

"I was so excited. That was really, really good," said Sylvie Staiger, who works on theatrical literary management in New York City.

"They really brought it. There are so many different styles they have. Their energy was great. So I would say they're up there and one of the best bands I've seen," Staiger told Xinhua, referring to members of Wu Tiao Ren.

Members of Chinese band Omnipotent Youth Society perform during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

A member of Chinese band Omnipotent Youth Society performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Members of Chinese band Wu Tiao Ren perform during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Chinese band Wu Tiao Ren performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Chinese band Omnipotent Youth Society performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Sylvie Staiger (C), who works on theatrical literary management in New York City, speaks during an interview at the Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Audience watch performance during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

A member of Chinese band Wu Tiao Ren performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Chinese band Wu Tiao Ren performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Harry Shaheen, who studies Chinese and East Asian culture at Harvard University, speaks during an interview at the Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

A member of Chinese band Omnipotent Youth Society performs during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Audience cheer during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Members of Chinese band Omnipotent Youth Society perform during a Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Li Hongjie, founder of Friends From The East, speaks during an interview at the Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East in New York, the United States, Nov. 25, 2023. Chinese rock music festival themed Friends From The East kicked off on Saturday night in New York City and cheered up thousands of fans. (Xinhua/Li Rui)

Editor: GSY
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 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
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LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Horizonte Minerals Plc (AIM:HZM)(TSX:HZM) ("Horizonte" or the "Company") the nickel development company, announces the following changes to its board of directors (the "Board") and senior leadership team. These changes have been made as the Company advances discussions for a financing solution for its flagship Araguaia Nickel Project ("Araguaia" or "the Project") and the completion of construction of the Project.Jeremy Martin, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Company ("CEO") will step down as CEO and as a member of the Company's Board alongside Simon Retter, Chief Financial Officer of the Company who will step down as CFO and as a member of the Company's Board. In addition, in accordance with best practice corporate governance William Fisher, Non-Executive Interim Chair and Owen Bavinton, Non-Executive Director, will step down from the Company's Board having served as directors since 2011 and 2012 respectively. These director and officer changes are effective today with all departing directors and officers agreeing to assist the Board with an orderly handover.Jeremy is a founding director of Horizonte and has led the business as CEO since 2010. Under his leadership, Horizonte discovered, acquired and consolidated its interests in the Company's two tier-one nickel assets in Brazil. Jeremy oversaw the development of these assets and took Araguaia from a greenfield project through the feasibility stage and onto construction. The Board is appreciative of his significant contribution to the Company.New Management and Board AppointmentsThe Company is pleased to announce the following proposed appointments (subject to receipt of the usual director certifications where applicable in accordance with the AIM Rules) with further proposed Board directors expected to be announced in the coming weeks.Appointment of interim Chief Executive Officer:The Board is pleased to announce the appointment of Karim Nasr as interim CEO and his proposed appointment as a Board director. Mr. Nasr will lead the financing and restructuring process and will work with the Board to appoint a new senior leadership team.Mr. Nasr is Managing Partner and Co-Chief Investment Officer of La Mancha Resource Capital LLP ("La Mancha"), which advises La Mancha Resource Fund SCSp, one of the Company's major shareholders. Mr. Nasr has over 25 years of experience in corporate finance and investments, including experience of restructurings in Brazil. Mr. Nasr will step down from his day-to-day executive role within La Mancha to devote himself to Horizonte and put in place a financing plan to restart construction.Proposed appointment of Paul Smith as Non-Executive Director and Chair:Mr. Smith is a corporate finance professional and senior board member with extensive experience in driving industry-leading performance at natural resource focused companies. Upon his appointment taking effect, Mr. Smith will act as the Chair of the Board. Pending such appointment taking effect, Non-Executive Director, Vincent Benoit has agreed to act as interim Chair.Appointment of interim Chief Operating Officer ("COO"):The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Maryse Belanger as interim COO in a non-board capacity. Ms. Belanger was recently Chair of IAMGOLD Corporation (TSX: IMG) (NYSE: IAG). Ms. Belanger has been a consultant to the Company in recent months. Ms. Belanger has more than 30 years of experience in the global mining sector with proven strengths in operational excellence and turnaround, technical services and organizational efficiency, including in Brazil.The proposed new Board appointments of Karim Nasr and Paul Smith are subject to the standard AIM director due diligence procedure. Once completed, these appointments will become effective with a further announcement to be released in due course. Mr. Nasr will act as interim CEO in a non-board capacity with immediate effect.Non-Executive Director John MacKenzie commented, "Firstly, we would like to thank Jeremy for his leadership and contributions to the Company. Jeremy was a founding director of Horizonte and has led the Company since 2010. We are grateful for his dedication to the business and wish him well for the future.I would also like to thank Simon Retter, William Fisher and Owen Bavinton, who are also stepping down today as part of a restructuring of the senior leadership team, for their contribution to the evolution and growth of the business.I am pleased to welcome Karim Nasr as interim Chief Executive Officer. Karim is a highly respected senior leader and it is a credit to Horizonte as a group that we are able to call on someone of his calibre. The Board is grateful that Karim has agreed to lead the Company through this financing and restructuring process.I am also very pleased to welcome Paul Smith to our Board, which he will chair after the usual onboarding procedures are completed." This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014, as retained in the UK pursuant to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.For further information, visitwww.horizonteminerals.comor contact:Horizonte Minerals plcPatrick Chambers (Head of IR)info@ horizonteminerals.com +44 (0) 203 356 2901Peel Hunt LLP (Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker)Ross AllisterDavid McKeownBhavesh Patel+44 (0)20 7418 8900BMO (Joint Broker)Thomas RiderPascal Lussier DuquetteAndrew Cameron+44 (0) 20 7236 1010Barclays (Joint Broker)Philip LindopRichard Bassingthwaighte+44 (0)20 7623 2323Tavistock (Financial PR)Jos SimsonCath Drummond+44 (0) 20 7920 3150ABOUT HORIZONTE MINERALSHorizonte Minerals Plc (AIM/TSX: HZM) is developing two 100%-owned, Tier 1 projects in Para state, Brazil - the Araguaia Nickel Project and the Vermelho Nickel-Cobalt Project. Both projects are high-grade, low-cost, with low carbon emission intensities and are scalable. Araguaia is under construction and when fully ramped up with both Line 1 and Line 2, is forecast to produce 29,000 tonnes of nickel per year. Vermelho is at feasibility study stage. Horizonte's combined production profile of over 60,000 tonnes of nickel per year positions the Company as a globally significant nickel producer. Horizonte's top three shareholders are La Mancha Investments S.a r.l., Glencore Plc and Orion Mine Finance.CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATIONExcept for statements of historical fact relating to the Company, certain information contained in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is
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NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / National Grid has completed renovations at the former Niagara Falls Power Transfer Station, an historic landmark that now includes a pedestrian walkway and interactive, educational information about the building, which links to the earliest days of pioneering electricity engineering technology.In the 1890s, Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse worked together to build the world's first hydro-electric power plant, in Niagara Falls. It was Tesla's theory, technology and inventions that made the idea of alternating current a reality in Western New York, in America and eventually, the world.The building dates to 1895 and is also referred to as the North Tonawanda Transformer Building. Located at 521 Robinson St., it was one of many important components in Tesla's plan to capture the power of Niagara Falls to produce electricity and send it over long distances. On Nov. 15, 1896 the transmission of alternating current from Niagara Falls traveled 23 miles to Buffalo, passing through the transformer building along the way.In recent years National Grid staff began discussing the then-vacant transformer building, and how it could be used to better serve customers. That's because it seemed an ideal location to store equipment and serve as a hub for work crews, who could be deployed across parts of Niagara and Erie counties.But first, it needed some renovations."We replaced some roof tiles, and a lot of brick on the building that had broken off and cracked," said National Grid Regional Director Ken Kujawa. "And as we were considering the level of physical work that the building required we asked ourselves, How can we honor its history?"So, as the company decided to pay homage to Tesla and Westinghouse. Images of both men are now included among graphic window panels that in 2022 adorned the outside walls. Additional discussions resulted in decisions to landscape and pave an area that allows pedestrians to get closer to see the building's new artwork and a plaque that commemorates the work done by Tesla and Westinghouse. The plaque includes a QR code that points visitors to this web page, where they can learn more.More information about the building's history and the work performed in the region by Nikola Tesla and George Westinghouse is available here:* WGRZ-TV story transformer building history* Niagara Parks Power Station - Tesla patents* Tesla Memorial Society of New York* Visit Buffalo Niagara - honoring Tesla's workAbout National GridNational Grid (NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York and Massachusetts. National Grid is focused on building a smarter, stronger, cleaner energy future - transforming our networks with more reliable and resilient energy solutions to meet state climate goals and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.For more information, please visit our website, follow us on X (formerly Twitter), watch us on YouTube, like us on Facebook and find us on Instagram.Media ContactsDave BertolaBuffalo (Western NY)(716) 831-7136EmailView additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from National Grid on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: National GridWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/national-gridEmail: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: National Grid
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$112,000 in Safeway Grants will be awarded to schools, nonprofits, at ribbon cutting celebration.SURPRISE, AZ / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Safeway celebrated the grand opening of a new location at 17230 West Peoria, Surprise Ariz. on Wednesday, Nov. 8.The community was invited to attend the celebration, and as part of the event, the Safeway Foundation awarded $112,000 in grants to local schools and nonprofit organizations. In addition, Mayor Skip Hall along with community leaders spoke at the event. Guests were also able to enjoy a variety of food samplings and drawings for prizes and gift cards."We're thrilled to unveil this beautiful and highly upgraded Safeway store in Surprise," said Carl Huntington, President of the Southwest Division for Safeway. "This new location will give shoppers the finest selection of foods, along with a wonderful experience each time they visit us." The new store was developed by the Common Bond Development Group. "Safeway is the ideal anchor for the new Sterling Grove Shopping Center," said Brian Frakes, Principal of Common Bond Development Group, the developer of the project. "Surprise has grown nearly 300% over the past decade plus, and being able to anchor with an exceptional grocery operator like Safeway will continue to establish this red-hot submarket." The new store features a full-service, drive-up pharmacy, drive-thru grocery pick-up, expanded Starbucks and seating area, designer floral department and a premier produce department featuring the very best of locally grown fruits and vegetables including a variety of topline organic produce. The meat and seafood department affords shoppers an elaborate assortment of fine cut meats, poultry, and seafood. In addition, the store features a world-class expansive wine and craft beer section along with a full-service sushi counter.For shoppers who believe in eating dessert first, Safeway's bakery is a must see and has every item possible when it comes to indulging in something sweet. Shoppers will never have to compromise with Safeway's new deli and cheese departments. Both feature the finest assortment of domestic and international cheeses, meats, salads, and sandwiches, fresh and ready to go daily.Safeway is investing in the community by providing grants to the following schools and nonprofit organizations:Shadow Ridge High School - $2,000Shadow Ridge High School Marching Band - $2,000Shadow Ridge High School Cheerleaders - $2,000Willow Canyon High School - $2,000Willow Canyon High School Marching Band - $2,000Willow Canyon High School Cheerleaders - $2,000Mountain View School - $2,000Canyon Ridge Elementary School - $2,000Cimarron Springs Middle School - $2,000Sunset Hills Elementary School - $2,000Western Peaks Elementary School - $2,000Fighter Country Foundation - $10,000Archer-Ragsdale Arizona Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, Inc -$10,000Dysart Community Center - $15,000Valley View Food Bank - $15,000St. Mary's Food Bank - $15,000Falcon Warbirds Foundation - $25,000See the LinkedIn post on the store opening here, and read more about Albertsons Companies and our Recipe for Change on our website.View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from Albertsons Companies on 3 blmedia.com Contact Info:Spokesperson: Albertsons CompaniesWebsite: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/albertsons-companies Email: info@3 blmedia.com SOURCE: Albertsons Companies
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NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 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
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NASHVILLE, TN / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / BNP Media, publishers of ASSEMBLY Magazine and QUALITY Magazine are thrilled to announce the co-location of the publications two trade shows to be held at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN on May 1-2, 2024. This will be the 2nd year for The ASSEMBLY Show SOUTH which will be welcoming The QUALITY Show SOUTH to an expanded exhibit hall. One registration will give attendees access to both events, which will offer exceptional educational programming and dynamic networking functions."This is a booming time for manufacturing and the U.S. South is right in the heart of the action. According to our most recent annual capital spending survey, the South is projected to account for 31 percent of total spending this year, marking the fifth straight year this region has accounted for at least 30 percent of capital spending in the U.S.," said Bill DeYoe, Publisher, ASSEMBLY Magazine, producers of the event. "We had a very successful event in 2023 and look forward to welcoming the exhibitors, speakers and attendees of The QUALITY Show South, giving our attendees the chance to meet with leading suppliers of testing, measurement, inspection, software, and quality equipment, in addition to the latest for assembly manufacturing." "We are thrilled to be partnering with The ASSEMBLY Show South to provide the manufacturing industry in the Southern US with access to top-tier suppliers and cutting-edge quality and metrology experts on an array of topics," said Buck Bicek, publisher of Quality Magazine. "The Quality Show South will be the place to learn from experts at the top of their field and network with quality manufacturing professionals from across the southern U.S.-including automotive, appliances, electronics, aerospace, medical devices, and more." The two events will bring together thousands of buyers and end users to see the latest equipment, products and technology with the most cutting-edge, top-of-the-line tools to streamline the manufacturing processes. Attendees will have the opportunity to connect face-to-face with like-minded peers, learn from business thought leaders, and uncover emerging trends that will provide endless resources on how to solve current challenges.The 1st Annual ASSEMBLY Show South brought together 3,000+ manufacturing professionals to the Music City Center in Nashville, TN to source products from 150 exhibiting companies, share knowledge in the education program and network. The trade show and conference featured emerging trends and technologies related to assembly equipment and products including solutions for autonomous & electric mobility, robotics, automated assembly, fastening tools, pressing & riveting, and Industry 4.0 throughout a robust show floor.The two events will feature 250+ leading vendors with working machinery and live demonstrations for attendees to interact with, including ASSEMBLY Show Gold Sponsor Promess; Silver Sponsors Desoutter Industrial Tools; and Bronze Sponsors Schmidt Technology, UJIGAMI by Tutelar Technologies, and Weiss North America. The QUALITY Show South show floor will feature InnovMetric, FARO Technologies, 1factory, ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions and many others.The events will also offer pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, April 30th where attendees will have access to sessions held in partnership with the University of Tennessee Center for Industrial Services and the editorial staff of ASSEMBLY Magazine. There will also be a keynote presentation, Best in Show Awards, Learning Theaters in the Exhibit Hall, Networking Receptions, and more.The ASSEMBLY Show South is sponsored by ASSEMBLY ( www.assemblymag.com) the leading brand covering the processes, technologies, and strategies for assembling discrete parts into finished products. The South Show will be held May 1- 2, 2024 with pre-conference workshops on Tuesday, April 30 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. The ASSEMBLY Show will take place on October 22-24, 2024 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, IL. ASSEMBLY offers an integrated portfolio of products including the industry's leading trade show. The trade show and conference are produced by BNP Media, one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events, and market research.The QUALITY Show South is sponsored by Quality ( www.qualitymag.com) , the leading resource for manufacturing professionals focused on quality assurance and process improvement. The South Show will be held for the first time May 1-2 at the Music City Center in Nashville, TN. The event will be co-located with ASSEMBLY Show South. Quality's cutting-edge multi-media platform includes an eMagazine, eNewsletters, webinars, social media, video, and more! The Quality Show is produced by BNP Media ( www.bnpmedia.com) , one of the country's leading business-to-business media companies serving industry professionals across 60+ industries through magazines, custom media, e-newsletters, webinars, events and market research. For more information, visit www.bnpmedia.com # # #For Further Information, Contact: Amy Riemer, Media Relations Representative978-502-4895 (cell) amy@ riemercommunications.com SOURCE: Assembly Show South
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Chad Farley as CEO and Shay Sims as Sole PresidentHOUSTON, TX / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / ZTERS Inc., a leading provider of waste management solutions, is pleased to announce key changes to its leadership team. Co-founders Chad Farley and Shay Sims have been promoted to take on new roles within the company, with Chad Farley assuming the position of CEO and Shay Sims becoming the sole President.ZTERS ZTERS LOgo This transition reflects a strategic move to further strengthen and expand ZTERS Inc.'s leadership, building on the exceptional dedication, expertise, and passion that both Chad and Shay have consistently demonstrated throughout their tenure with the company. Their long-standing commitment to ZTERS' mission and their significant contributions as core members of the leadership team make them well-suited for these new roles.Chad Farley, with an impressive track record in the waste management industry, has shown exceptional leadership and strategic vision during his time at ZTERS. As the new CEO, he will be responsible for leading the company into the future, ensuring its continued growth, innovation, and success.Shay Sims, also a co-founder of ZTERS Inc., has been a driving force behind the company's growth and success. Her experience and leadership qualities make her the ideal choice for the role of President. In this capacity, Shay will play a pivotal role in overseeing the day-to-day operations of the company.Jon Farley, outgoing CEO, expressed his full confidence in the newly appointed leaders, stating, "I have no doubt that Chad and Shay will lead ZTERS Inc. to even greater heights. Their vision, dedication, and expertise will be instrumental in our continued success." He continued, "I would like to extend my deepest appreciation to our entire team for their hard work and dedication, which has been instrumental in our company's success. I invite everyone to join me in congratulating Shay and Chad on their well-deserved promotions." As ZTERS Inc. moves forward under the leadership of Chad Farley and Shay Sims, the company remains committed to its core values and mission, ensuring the highest level of service and innovation in the waste management industry.About ZTERS Inc.: ZTERS Inc. is a leading provider of waste management solutions, specializing in dumpster rentals, portable toilets, and temporary fencing services. With a commitment to exceptional service and environmental responsibility, ZTERS Inc. has been a trusted partner for customers across various industries since its inception.Contact InformationJesse Stallone Marketing Manager jesse@ zters.com 713.858.7643SOURCE: ZTERS
The price of crude oil fell on Monday as investors awaited the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) meeting later in the week for an agreement to curb supplies into next year.

Brent crude futures fell 39 cents, or 0.5 per cent, to $80.19 a barrel by 0728 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at $75.10 a barrel, down 44 cents, or 0.6 per cent.

Both contracts rose slightly last week, their first weekly gain in five, underpinned by expectations that Saudi Arabia and Russia could roll over voluntary supply cuts into early 2024 and OPEC+ might discuss plans to reduce further, Reuters reported.

OPEC and its allies were supposed to meet on Sunday, but the meeting has been postponed to 30 November.

The prices tumbled in the middle of last week after OPEC+ postponed its ministerial meeting to iron out differences in production targets for African producers.

OPEC and its allies had, in October last year, agreed to cut oil output by 2 million barrels per day in November, the deepest cut by OPEC+ since the 2020 COVID pandemic.

The decision came despite pressure from the United States and others advocating that the group increase its output.

In April, OPEC said it would start a voluntary reduction of 1.66 million barrels per day in its production of crude oil alongside other members of OPEC.

The cuts were to start in May and last through the end of the year, an official with the Saudi Ministry of Energy was quoted as saying by the Saudi state-run news agency, SPA.

The cut is in addition to the reduction announced by OPEC+ in October 2022, according to SPA.

In June, OPEC said it would extend the cut until 2024.

It noted that the decision was taken in light of the continued commitment of the OPEC and non-OPEC Participating Countries in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC) to achieve and sustain a stable oil market and to provide long-term guidance for the market.

Earlier in October, the OPEC+ Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC), kept the groups output policy unchanged.

The fall in crude oil raises more concerns for Nigeria at a time when the country faces severe revenue problems, pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft in its oil-producing region.

The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) had last week said oil thieves vandalised over 5,000 kilometres of oil pipelines connecting different parts of the country.

The Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, Mele Kyari, who disclosed this when he appeared before the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) last Tuesday said the continuous vandalisation of the pipelines was causing a huge loss to the NNPC Ltd while describing the situation as a national calamity.

Over 5,000 kilometres of oil pipelines in the country are not working as a result of pipeline vandalism. Ten million litres of oil was lost from the volume pumped from Aba to Enugu at a time. The company has been unable to pump oil from Warri to Benin within the last 22 years and cannot connect to Ore.

There is no amount of security measures that had not been taken to curb the crime without success, which, to us in NNPC Ltd, is substantially a national calamity, Mr Kyari said.

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MultiChoice took a bold step to address the rising challenges of piracy by hosting an anti-piracy event tagged Piracy Untells Our Stories.

The event aimed to foster collaboration among key stakeholders, develop strategies, and offer solutions in the ongoing battle against content theft and how it impacts industries, resulting in loss of revenue and jobs.

Held on Saturday in Lagos, the highlights included in-depth discussions, knowledge sharing, and the formulation of effective countermeasures to combat piracy in the digital age.

The Executive Head of Content and West Africa Channels at MultiChoice West Africa, Busola Tejumola, emphasised the need to host such an event where the objective is to exchange knowledge, encourage collaboration between industry players, discuss and develop initiatives to raise public awareness about the consequences of piracy and the importance of supporting legitimate content as piracy is a shared problem.

Ms Tejumola said MultiChoice recently earned the Promax Awards 2023 for its pioneering campaign, Piracy Untells Our Stories.

She said the company invested over $85 million in local content in the last two decades, creating opportunities for young creators to earn a living from their work, an investment the company states is under threat due to the negative effect of piracy.

As we navigate the complex landscape of digital content distribution, it is imperative that we unite against the common threat of piracy. Piracy takes away all that a producer has worked for. Our event signifies a commitment to collaborative efforts, where industry leaders share insights, develop strategies, and fortify our defences against content theft. I urge everyone to join the fight against piracy. Together, we can ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for the creative industry, she said.

During a panel discussion, Victor Okhai, president of the Directors Guild of Nigeria, emphasised the importance of effective communication in the battle against piracy. He pointed out that a significant hurdle in this fight is the need for more communication in a language that the average person can comprehend.

According to him, the messaging from the Nigerian Copyright Commission and other relevant organisations should be tailored to suit the audience.

The biggest challenge with fighting piracy is that we do not communicate in the language the common person understands. I think the messaging from the Nigerian Copyright Commission and concerned bodies must be tailored to the audience, he said.

Legal Practitioner and Intellectual Property Expert, Obafemi Agaba, reiterated that understanding the danger of piracy is a critical strategy in the fight against piracy.

We need to let people understand the danger piracy causes to talent. MultiChoice and other relevant parties must advocate for funding the Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC) in the fight against piracy.

Other panel members include Charles Amudipe, an official of the telecoms regulator NCC, and Chinenye Nworah, producer of Slum King.

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The Minister of Defence, Muhammad Badaru, has said the Defence Industries of Nigeria (DICON) Act, recently signed into law by President Bola TInubu, will stimulate investments in the sector.

Mr Badaru said this on Saturday during a tour of the facilities of Equipment and Protective Applications International Limited (EPAIL), a company that manufactured defence equipment, located at Orimerunmu, Mowe, Ogun State.

Mr Tinubu, signed the DICON Bill into law on Thursday. The bill was sponsored by the chairperson of the House of Representatives Committee on Defence, Babajimi Benson.

By the Act, DICON is empowered, among other things, to Operate, maintain, and control subsidiaries and ordnance factories to manufacture, store, and dispose of ordnance and ancillary stores and material.

Mr Badaru commended EPAIL for the massive investment in local manufacturing of defence gadgets and equipment, which include bulletproof vests, ballistic helmets, guard booths (armoured) and assembling of light Armoured Assault Vehicles.

Well, I really did not believe that something like this is happening in the country, and truly, the DICON Act that has just been signed into law certainly will help to develop more companies as EPAIL, Mr Badaru said.

The minister said the Ajaokuta Steel will also improve the manufacturing of the military wares by the government.

As you can see, they are not only assembling the armoured vehicles but also manufacturing some parts here. The systems on top, the gun station, the vision system and many other parts are being manufactured here.

I am impressed and satisfied with this. Given time and patronage, I believe they can do more and more. With Ajaokuta Steel coming on board, we can see ourselves doing 70 to 80 per cent of the production locally, he said.

In his welcome remarks, the chairperson of EPAIL, Kola Balogun, thanked the minister and the entire team for taking time out of their busy schedule to visit the factory.

He assured them that the company has the capacity to meet all the defence equipment, surveillance systems and technological solutions.

Mr Balogun disclosed that EPAIL was established to deepen technology, research and development indigenously to service the ordinance and technological needs of the security agencies, armed forces and private security firms. He stated that the company, though an indigenous company, is manufacturing in line with the best-known global standards.

READ ALSO: Defence minister warns troublemakers

He further said that EPAIL products are the best as they are manufactured in compliance with NATO, STAGNAT and NIJ standards.

Mr Badaru visited the facility in the company of the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Ibrahim Kana, and other senior officials.

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Vehicles carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

GAZA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released on Sunday the third batch of hostages from the Gaza Strip under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Israel.

"Within the framework of the humanitarian truce, we handed over to the Red Cross 13 Israeli detainees, three Thais, and one Russian," Al-Qassam said in a press statement.

Israeli Army Radio said part of the handover process took place in the northern Gaza Strip, adding that "a number of detainees crossed the border from a point between Gaza and Israel."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross the 13 Israeli hostages, including four women and nine children, with the youngest being four years old.

The army explained that "the Red Cross crews handed over 12 hostages to the Israeli Army Special Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency at the border fence in the central Gaza Strip, who will then transport them to the Hatzerim Airbase."

It added that the 13th one, an 84-year-old woman suffering from a medical condition, was airlifted directly to Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.

A vehicle carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrives at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

According to the Israeli Army Radio, "the four foreign hostages were transferred to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing by the Red Cross, before heading for the meeting point with Israeli troops in Israeli territory."

Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization's prisoners department published a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday evening, including 21 from Jerusalem, one from the Gaza Strip, and the rest from the West Bank.

Xinhua reporter stationed in Ramallah confirmed the arrival of the buses that transferred the 39 released Palestinian prisoners, all of whom are children.

At the same time, mediation efforts have been intensified to extend the current ceasefire, according to Palestinian sources.

"Qatar and Egypt conveyed a draft agreement to Israel and Hamas on extending the ceasefire due to expire Monday and facilitating a larger prisoner swap between the two warring sides," the sources, who wished to be anonymous, told Xinhua.

The sources said the discussions involved the release of 40 to 50 captives from Gaza, coupled with increased humanitarian aid flow into the strip to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

A Palestinian prisoner (L) returns to Jerusalem after being released from the Israeli Ofer prison, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday that he might agree to extend the truce by a few days if Hamas would free more hostages.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from a Hamas representative on Sunday night, "Hamas is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond the four days that were initially agreed upon with Israel."

The temporary ceasefire in Gaza, entering its third day, entails a cessation of hostilities and an increased flow of aid trucks into the Palestinian enclave.

On Saturday, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

The truce deal reached between Israel and Hamas also stipulates the release of 50 Israeli female and teen hostages from Gaza in exchange for some 150 Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons, with provisions for increasing the number of releases at subsequent stages of the agreement.

Editor: WXL
In a significant diplomatic move, Americas topmost intelligence chief, US Director of National Intelligence (DNI) Avril Haines, traveled on a high-stakes visit to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda between 19 and 20 November, as confirmed by the White House on 21 November.

In her delegation were Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Molly Phee and Special Assistant to President Biden and National Security Council Senior Director for African Affairs Judd Devermont. Ms Haines led the delegation focusing on de-escalating tensions in the troubled eastern DRC region.

During her visit, Ms Haines engaged in crucial talks with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, on commitments from both leaders to address and mitigate tensions in eastern DRC. The efforts aimed to alleviate the historical conflicts in the region, with Presidents Kagame and Tshisekedi planning specific steps drawn from previous arrangements supported by neighboring countries through the Luanda and Nairobi processes.

As the final outcomes of the US delegation remained undisclosed at the time of publication, the Biden administration expressed its support for, and commitment to monitoring, the steps taken by DRC and Rwanda towards de-escalation. Plans are underway to back diplomatic and intelligence engagements between the two countries, with the goal of enhancing security and prosperity for the people of both nations.

The visit occurred against the backdrop of rising tensions, notably highlighted in June when a UN Group of Experts obtained evidence of direct interventions by the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) on DRC territory. Allegedly, these interventions aimed to reinforce M23 combatants and conduct military operations against the Forces democratiques de liberation du Rwanda (FDLR) and local armed groups. While the Rwanda government denies these allegations, the situation escalates.

Despite a high-level expression of concern by SADC leaders in early November, no confirmed troop deployment was officially announced. UN reports suggested that a SADC Mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) force deployment had been expected by 30 September. Meanwhile, the ceasefire with the M23 remained fragile, adding complexity to the evolving situation in the region.

Pearl Matibe is a Washington, DC-based White House Correspondent, and media commentator with expertise in US foreign policy and international security. You may follow her on Twitter: @PearlMatibe

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Delegates from 54 nations of the world attended the 2023 edition of the Kingdom Power Glory World Conference (KPGWC) of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC) held last week in Abuja, Nigerias capital city.

The Senior Pastor of the church, Paul Enenche, announced this on Sunday during the Thanksgiving service to mark the end of the five-day event.

We have 54 nations represented here in this service, Mr Enenche said.

The conference was held between 21 and 25 November at the churchs headquarters on Airport Road, Abuja.

The countries where attendees came from increased to 54 from about 40 on the first day of the conference. By Thursday it had risen to 49 nations, and 51 on Friday. Delegates from 29 countries were already present on the Sunday preceding the event.

Some of the countries where the worshippers came from included Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Cuba, India, Ukraine, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Australia.

Apart from the delegates who were physically present, thousands of worshippers followed the sessions online from over 120 countries, especially during the vigil on Friday/Saturday night.

Also, thousands of worshippers came from Nigerias 36 states of the federation to attend the conference at the headquarters of the church in Abuja.

Some of the attendees, including pastors, are non-members of the church but identify with the mantle of the 27-year-old church.

Some of the worshippers arrived about a week ahead of the commencement of the conference.

Themed A Royal Priesthood, the five-day conference was held in the 100,000-capacity auditorium of the church called Glory Dome.

Conference sessions

There were morning and evening sessions during which Mr Enenche, his wife, Becky Paul-Enenche, both medical doctors, and other ministers preached.

On the morning of the first day, there was a healing and deliverance service, a routine weekly programme of the church that is held every Tuesday.

In his opening message on Tuesday evening titled, A Royal Priesthood: Priestly Kings and Kingly Priests, drawn from 1 Peter 2:9, Mr Enenche said God, at this end-time, is raising two sets of people, namely priestly kings and kingly priests.

He described priestly kings as kings that are priests who combine royalty, prosperity and spiritual authority. He cited examples of such from the scriptures to include Abraham, Job, Esther, David and Daniel.

On the other hand, Mr Enenche, referencing Leviticus 21:12, described kingly priests as servants of God who have the spirituality of the priest with the dignity of the king. He said they are originally priests but when you look at them, they carry the aura of royalty.

Scriptural examples he listed were Melchizedek, Moses, Samuel, Jesus Christ and Paul the Apostle. Some contemporary examples of kingly priests he cited are David Oyedepo, founder and presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church; William Booth, English Methodist preacher and founder of the Salvation Army and Billy Graham, the late American evangelist who founded the Billy Graham Evangelist Association (BGEA). Mr Graham, who died at almost 100 years old in 2018, enjoyed close relationships with many US presidents.

Mr Enenches subsequent messages that stemmed from the broad theme were titled: Responsibilities of Priesthood, Responsibilities of Kingship, The Making of the Priest, The Making of a King, The Purpose and Necessity of Above Only Existence, Called Out of Darkness, and Praise and the Royal Priesthood.

Mrs Paul-Enenche preached on the topic, A Royal Priesthood: Service via Seeds and Sacrifice, while the churchs Regional Pastor, North-east, David Majiyebo, titled his sermon, A Royal Priesthood: The Intercessory Service.

A spiritual son of Mr Enenche, Ntia Ntia, the senior pastor of the Akwa Ibom State-based Full Life Christian Centre, preached on the topic, A Royal Priesthood: The Service of Soul Winning.

Impacts of conference

During the event, hundreds of people gave their lives to Christ with the Counselling Department having a busy time preparing them for discipleship.

Several guest gospel music ministers including Owie Abutu, Oche JonKings and Nene Olajide ministered during the conference. Also, music ministers who are members of the church including Prospa Ochimana and Deborah Enenche-Hawthorn, the daughter of the senior pastor, electrified the conference with their ministrations.

Astounding and incredible testimonies were also shared by members and guests.

Spiritual sons of Mr Enenche testified of the remarkable progress made in their respective ministries through his mentorship. One of the most outstanding testimonies was that of a Venezuelan apostle who testified about his encounter with God through a song sung by the Dunamis senior pastor, titled, Mantles Are Falling.

Speaking through an interpreter, the apostle accompanied by his wife, said though the song was waxed in English, he could listen and understand it in Spanish, the official language in Venezuela.

The apparently excited cleric who was travelling to Nigeria for the first time, said he decided to come to the Glory Dome to catch more fire to be able to carry out more exploits in the South American country from which he flew for about 24 hours. He was then prayed for by Mr Enenche, who promised to make an apostolic visit probably in the coming year.

Although no new childbirth was recorded during the conference, over 100 children as well as cars and houses were dedicated to God during the thanksgiving service.

KPGWC is held in the last week of November every year. It is held to commemorate the anniversary of the church which held its first service ever on 10 November 1996.

Apart from KPGWC, Dunamis also holds the Destiny Recovery Convention in May of every year and the International Ministers Flaming Fire Conference (IMFFC) in August every year. Another major programme of the church is the Nations Worship in His Presence, which is held in January and July.

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Edo State Deputy Governor Philip Shaibu has formally declared his ambition for the 2024 governorship in the state despite facing strong opposition from Governor Godwin Obaseki, who appears to prefer another person as his successor.

Mr Shaibu, who made the declaration in a pre-recorded speech aired on Monday said, he will be contesting under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Channels television reported.

In his speech at Bishop Kelly Centre in Benin City, the venue of the event, Mr Shaibu, who has been at loggerheads with Governor Obaseki over his governorship ambition declared, Nobody can stop my ambition, Punch newspaper reported.

I just want to appreciate all of you. We have started the journey and I decided together with all of us that after the consultation, we needed to make the answer to our consultation known to Edo people and the answer is clear.

They (Edo people) have asked me to go and run and they said I am the one they see not just as a street boy but the original own boy that can live there.

I can assure you that by the grace of God, we will deliver practical governance, Mr Shaibu said.

Shut out from initial venue

Edo State is one of the states in Nigeria where off-cycle election is conducted.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed September 2024 for the governorship election.

Governor Obaseki, who appears to prefer another person as his successor, once described his deputy as being overambitious.

Eterno Hotel, Benin City, which was the initial venue for Mr Shaibus governorship declaration on Monday (today) was changed hours to the event after the hotel management informed Mr Shaibu that a political group loyal to Mr Obaseki has paid for and is using the venue the same time that Mr Shaibus declaration was scheduled for.

READ ALSO:

A staff of the hotel, who identified himself as Ezekiel confirmed to PREMIUM TIMES on the telephone on Monday that the event was billed to be held at the hotel but he only learned of the sudden change this morning. Mr Ezekiel had no idea why the venue was changed.

The relationship between Governor Obaseki and his deputy has so deteriorated that Mr Shaibu had to seek court protection against perceived impeachment plots by lawmakers in the state.

He, however, withdrew the suit after prominent elders in the state mediated between him and Governor Obaseki.

The relationship between the two former political allies further worsened after Mr Obaseki relocated the Deputy Governors Office from Government House to another part of Benin City.

Mr Shaibu, despite the feud with Mr Obaseki and his previous apology to the governor, appears unperturbed as he declares to run for the governorship. He said with his years of political experience and having served for two terms as a state lawmaker and later as a federal lawmaker before becoming a deputy governor, he is better experienced to succeed Mr Obaseki in 2024.

For me, competence and experience should be the watchword. Who is competent, more experienced and who will hit the ground running from day one if he becomes governor?

Are we going to experiment with a new person again and the person will spend the first four years learning on the job and the next four years trying to embezzle and set up businesses in the name of consolidating on his first term? Mr Shaibu said on Saturday in Abuja.

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The Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa-CDC), Jean Kaseya, on Monday said it is time for the African region to take charge of its public health system and strengthen it.

Mr Kaseya said this at a press briefing ahead of the official opening of the 3rd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA) holding in Lusaka, Zambia.

He said the region must improve its public health system to halt its vulnerability to disease outbreaks.

The conference is themed: Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture.

We believe we have the ambition to position not only Africa but Africans in the global health space.

Mr Kaseya said it is time for the world to hear from Africans and acknowledge the presence of African leaders.

He noted that African leaders have the power and capacity to bring everyone together, saying the continent is contributing to global health security.

Today, we are celebrating a great moment where Africa is hosting the world to discuss ways we can break the barriers. We have to acknowledge what Africa is bringing to the world and what it is giving to the world, he said.

About CPHIA 23

CPHIA is an annual conference organised by the Africa CDC. The conference provides a unique African-led platform for leaders across the continent to reflect on lessons learned in health and science and align on a way forward for creating more resilient health systems.

This years conference is holding in Lusaka, Zambia from 27 to 30 November to showcase new and exciting scientific discoveries.

Improved public health

Speaking at the briefing, the Director, Institute of Health Research and Co-chair of CPHIA 2023, Margaret Gyapong, said Africa is witnessing an unprecedented leap in health technology innovations.

Ms Gyapong said this innovation includes mobile health applications that provide remote consultations, to tech medicine platforms connecting patients with specialised care.

She explained that technology is bridging the healthcare access and delivery gap in Africa.

She noted that the success of these groundbreaking innovations rely on robust collaborations between governments, private sector entities and Civil Society Organisations.

Public Private Partnerships are fostering knowledge exchange, resource mobilisation and technology ampifying the impact of innovation in public health, she said.

READ ALSO:

She also noted that African scientists and researchers are leading the charge in developing groundbreaking vaccines tailored to address regional disease burdens including malaria, and tuberculosis amongst others.

She said the groundbreaking initiative with the new malaria vaccine demonstrates the significant contribution of African scientists and researchers to addresing regional disease burden.

The efforts reflect the commitment of African governments, international organisation and partners to improve public health outcomes and protect its citizens from vaccine-preventable diseases.

In her remark, the Minister of Health, Zambia, Sylvia Masebo, said the president of Zambias commitment to the health strategic agenda perfectly aligns with the Africa CDCs mission to public health institutions to detect and respond effectively to disease threats in the region.

Ms Masebo, who also doubles as the chairperson of the Africa CDC governing board, said she is optimistic that the conference will positively impact the region.

She also urges the media and other partners to support this great course of repositioning Africa in the global health architecture.

I implore the media to spread the word about Africas commitment to global health as a key player, she said.

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The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola, has advocated an amendment to the Nigerian constitution to stop most cases from getting to the Supreme Court.

Mr Ariwoola spoke against the backdrop of the enormous workload the 10-member Supreme Court currently grapples with, with many civil and political cases lingering for years before being decided.

The CJN said this on Monday in Abuja at the special session of the Supreme Court to mark the commencement of the 2023/2024 legal year and conferment of the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) on 58 lawyers.

I have made it clear at different occasions that it is not every dispute that must find its way to the court, and it is not every matter that must come up to the Supreme Court on appeal, Mr Ariwoola said.

Our laws have to be amended to make most appeals end at the Court of Appeal, he added, saying the appellate court is competent to adjudicate on all cases.

Mr Ariwoola also urged Nigerians to be less litigious and embrace alternative dispute-resolution mechanisms.

There have been futile calls by retiring justices of the Supreme Court for a reduction in the type of cases that get to the Supreme Court. However, only amendments to the Nigerian constitution and other relevant laws by the parliament can achieve that if signed into law by the president.

Breakdown of Supreme Court cases

Giving a breakdown of cases that were decided and those pending at the court, the CJN said a total of 1,271 appeals and motions were filed in the outgone year.

Out of these, we heard 388 political appeals, 215 criminal appeals, and 464 civil appeals. Similarly, the court considered a total number of 49 criminal motions, 153 civil motions, and two political motions, he said.

The CJN disclosed that the Supreme Court, between September 2022 and July 2023, delivered a total number of 251 judgements.

Out of these, 125 were political appeals, 81 were civil appeals and 45 were criminal appeals. Within the period under review (precisely 10 months duration), a total number of 91 Rulings were delivered by the Honourable Court, Mr Ariwoola said, praising the Supreme Court for its output in the last legal year.

With less than a year left for Mr Ariwoola as the CJN, he vowed to leave a legacy of having 11 more justices to the Supreme Court to achieve the unprecedented full complement of 21 justices.

Corrupt judge shakes litigants faith

Speaking on the need for judges to be upright, the CJN said integrity remains an essential quality of a judicial officer.

He urged judges to exhibit the standards of integrity, morality, and good behaviour in the discharge of their duties.

In a situation where a judge decides a case wrongly out of motives, it shakes the faith of the litigant public; and by extension, the whole society.

Mr Ariwoola noted that a corrupt judge has no right to continue to occupy the chair as a judicial officer.

He admonished judges to lead a disciplined and principled lifestyle that will enhance their trust and integrity quotient.

Public confidence in the Nigerian judiciary has plummeted in recent times because of allegations of corruption against judges.

A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, recently spoke about corruption and other ills plaguing the countrys judicial system.

While also retiring from the Supreme Court bench last month, Dattijo Muhammad criticised the Nigerian judiciary for alleged corruption that he said permeated its hierarchies.

He also criticised some recent decisions of the Supreme Court and other Nigerian courts, as well as the flawed and arbitrary appointments of judges in the country.

He made scathing comments about the alleged corrupt handling of the judiciarys funds and the judiciarys affairs in the Supreme Court and other courts down the hierarchy of the Nigerian judiciary.

AGF, others speak

In an address at the Supreme Court event on Monday, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, advised the National Judicial Council (NJC) to quicken the process of filling the vacancies at the Supreme Court.

Mr Fagbemi, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), expressed President Bola Tinubus readiness to implement judicial reforms with the cooperation of the judiciary.

We, therefore, earnestly await the judiciary to set the ball rolling to enable the other arms to play their part in this critical aspect of nation-building, he said.

Delays in the adjudication of cases have hampered efficient justice delivery in Nigeria, with legal experts calling for urgent reforms.

READ ALSO:

The Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (BOSAN) represented by Ebun Sofunde, a SAN, said Nigerians were fast losing hope in the capacity of the judiciary to deliver justice timeously.

In response to the problem, Mr Sofunde said disgruntled Nigerians were resorting to law enforcement agents for settling disputes, a situation he described as illegal.

Law enforcement agents now fill the void created by inefficient judicial system.

When judges are overwhelmed by work burden, they see adjudication of cases as perfunctory, he said.

The lawyer explained that excessive workload on judges impacts negatively on the quality of decisions emanating from the courts.

He warned that citizens loss of confidence in the justice system births anarchy.

He advised the Legal Practitioners Privileges Committee (LPPC), a body saddled with the conferment of the rank of SAN, to review its criteria in terms of the number of concluded cases lawyers are required to have in their kitty before applying for the prestigious award.

Mr Sofunde noted that the criterion concerning the number of cases to be filed by SAN applicants puts pressure on the courts as lawyers lodge frivolous suits that end up clogging the courts dockets.

Advising the new SANs, the AGF warned against unprofessional conduct.

He said the latest guidelines of the LPPC do not permit restoration of the SAN rank once it is withdrawn for violation of the rules.

Mr Fagbemi urged the lawyers to assist the courts in justice dispensation.

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The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Monday raised an alarm over what it termed the increasing rate of tuberculosis (TB) infection in Borno.

The organisations Head of Mission/Country Representative, Walter Mulombo, expressed the concern during the North-East Nigeria 13th WHO End-Term Joint Operations Review (JOR) in Yola, Adamawa State capital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by a type of bacteria and often affects the lungs.

NAN also reports that the JOR is for Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) states, affected by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The country representative, however, assured of WHOs readiness to work with Borno State Government to address the problem.

He said: The rate of tuberculosis infection in Borno is worrisome. It means that Borno could be a ticking bomb for tuberculosis explosion in Nigeria.

We dont want to allow that because of humanitarian crisis; we need to work together because that thing itself is strictly an emergency.

Mr Mulombo urged stakeholders to take action to accelerate help and to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal of leaving no one behind.

Governor laments

Earlier, Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State said the state has lost about 50 per cent of its health institutions and that many staff were abducted or killed due to the insurgency.

Represented by the Borno State Commissioner for Health, Baba Malam-Gana, Mr Zulum said One of the consequences of this is the issue of tuberculosis, which needs a lot of staff to work on it, including machines.

READ ALSO:

According to him, the state currently reaches the hard-to-reach areas through the help of the military to deliver services such as immunisation.

He urged the global body to help in that regard, as well as in tackling Gender-Based Violence in communities.

Adamawa governor speaks

Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State, represented by the Commissioner for Health, Felix Tangwame, thanked the organisation for its contributions to the state in many ways.

He said WHO had provided various services such as capacity building, and surveillance in preventing outbreak of diseases in the state, among others.

He called for more assistance, especially in the area of training for health workers, saying such efforts would help them to be updated on new diseases and to know how to handle them.

On his part, the Yobe State Commissioner for Health, Muhammad Gana, who was represented by Babagana Abba, the programme manager of Saving One Million Lives, described WHOs contributions to health issues as excellent.

He confirmed that as a result of the insurgency, the state experienced a lot of challenges but WHOs intervention helped to ameliorate the situation.

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President Bola Tinubu will present the 2024 Appropriations Bill to a joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The Secretary of the Research and Information Department of the National Assembly, Ali Barde, disclosed this to journalists on Monday.

The Appropriations Bill will contain budget proposals for the 2024 fiscal year.

This will be the first full-year budget President Tinubu will present to the National Assembly since he was inaugurated in May.

The presentation of the budget suggests that Mr Tinubu will maintain the January to December budget cycle initiated by former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Letter from President

Meanwhile, a letter from President Tinubu informing the National Assembly of his plan to present the budget was conveyed to the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Abbas Tajudeen, on Monday.

The letter will be read at the two chambers tomorrow during the plenary.

The lawmakers had on earlier this month passed supplementary budget of N2.17 trillion requested by President Bola Tinubu. The president signed the budget on 8 November.

Last Wednesday, the National Assembly passed the 2024-2026 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF-FSP).

The upper chamber approved the expenditure framework with a total spending of N26 trillion for the 2024 budget fiscal year and a borrowing plan of N7.8 trillion.

It passed the 2024-2026 MTEF-FSP after considering a report submitted by Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Sani Musa, during the plenary.

Also, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting on Monday, also approved the 2024 appropriation bill of N27.5 trillion.

The approval is with an increase of N1.5 trillion from the earlier estimated bill proposed in the MTEF-FSP.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Atiku Bagudu, said the new proposal was legitimate because the appropriation was dependent on the final process that could be changed due to many variables including new priorities and MDA presentations.

The budget is also with an increase of about N7 trillion from the 2023 appropriation presented by former President, Muhammadu Buhari last year.

That year, Mr Buhari presented a budget of N20.51 trillion.

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The Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) has begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the landing of an Abuja-bound aircraft at Asaba International Airport in Delta State.

The Director-General of NCAA, Musa Nuhu, disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Abuja, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that there was confusion among air passengers on Sunday when the aircraft belonging to United Nigeria Airlines Limited surprisingly landed at the airport in the South-south state.

The 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in Kano State, Salihu Tanko-Yakasai, who was a passenger in the aircraft, narrated how the incident happened in a post on his X handle.

We departed Lagos about an hour ago on @flyunitedng to Abuja, and upon arrival, the cabin crew confidently announced that weve arrived Abuja, only for us to realise that we landed in Asaba, Mr Tanko-Yakasai wrote at about 4:22 p.m. on Sunday.

READ ALSO:

The PRP candidate uploaded a photograph of the passengers inside the aircraft.

Another X user, Augustine Macky, who also boarded the aircraft, uploaded a video clip which showed some passengers of the aircraft complaining bitterly about the error.

Mr Macky said he and other passengers in the aircraft were terrified by the incident.

Investigation

Mr Nuhu, in the Monday statement, said Preliminary steps have been taken pending conclusions of (the) ongoing investigation.

The authority wishes to reassure the travelling public that it will leave no stone unturned as it has always done in the past to ensure continued safety of the aviation industry, he said.

Why we diverted the airline

Meanwhile, the United Nigeria Airlines has spoken about the incident.

In a statement on Sunday evening, the airlines spokesperson, Uchegbu Achilleus-Chud, explained that the affected aircraft, NUA 0504, was temporarily diverted to Asaba International Airport due to poor destination weather.

Mr Achilleus-Chud said a wrong announcement by the cabin crew upon landing at Asaba created confusion among passengers.

At all material time, the pilot of the aircraft was aware of the temporary diversion and was properly briefed, he said.

The spokesperson announced that the aircraft has since landed safely in Abuja following improvement on destination weather.

He maintained that the airline was committed to ensuring the safety of its passengers at all times.

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The House of Representatives has announced plans to hold a town hall meeting on the 2024 budget to allow citizens to make input.

The Speaker of the House, Abbas Tajudeen, announced this on Monday during a capacity-building retreat organised for chairpersons and deputies of House committees in Abuja.

President Bola Tinubu will present the 2024 budget on Wednesday at the joint session of the National Assembly.

Mr Tajudeen said the House will adopt the new model to allow active participation of citizens in the budget process.

As we expect to receive the 2024 appropriation bill in a few days, I wish to state that the House will convene a budget town hall meeting to enable citizens to make inputs into the 2024 appropriation.

It is the first time such an engagement is planned at the national level. I invite our partners to work with us in preparing for a vigorous and all-inclusive budget process, he said.

The Speaker did not give details of the meeting. He, however, urged the committees to ensure quick passage of the budget.

To ensure speedy passage of the 2024 budget, I charge all committees to double their efforts and finalise all considerations in two weeks, he said.

READ ALSO:

He noted that the quick passage does not imply that the budget should be considered in a haphazard and superficial manner but that it is a challenge to committee chairpersons to deploy all resources and make the needed sacrifices to ensure that the appropriation bill is passed in good time.

The National Assembly was criticised for passing the 2023 supplementary budget that contains some extravagant line items including billions for official cars for the office of the First Lady.

Committees are underfunded

Mr Tajudeen also raised the issue of funding committees, saying that they are not properly funded even though they are expected to function optimally.

Anyone familiar with the inner workings of the legislature knows the quantum of resources required to undertake robust oversight adequately, hire experts and consultants, undertake inspection visits and draft quality legislations.

Ironically, while Nigerians expect the best representation from the National Assembly and its members, they do not always understand that this is only possible through adequate funding, he said.

Committees should not depend on agencies for funding  Gbajabiamila

In his remarks, the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, also called for adequate funding of the committees, noting that it is not proper for agencies to be funding committees during oversight.

Like everything else in life, effective oversight requires resource allocation to be done correctly. Effective oversight requires secretariat operations, data gathering and analysis, travel and other logistics. Without funding, committees often rely on the agencies under their supervision to fund oversight activities.

Oversight funding for House Committees should be provided to ensure that the standing, special and ad-hoc committees of the House can fulfil their responsibilities effectively without depending on outside parties for support, he said.

Mr Gbajabiamila, who was the Speaker of the Ninth House, also charged the lawmakers to be professional and not be seen as using investigative hearings for personal gain.

Legislature must ensure that its investigative authority is never used in such a manner as to suggest abuse of power or other base objectives.

It is too easy for parliamentary investigations to be cast as exercises in witch-hunting or as distractions from governance, he said.

The House has 139 standing and special committees.

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PJSC Ukrhydroenergo is working to attract a total of approximately EUR 330 million from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the World Bank for reconstruction and development projects, General Director Ihor Syrota has said.

"We are now working to attract EUR 200 million from the EBRD, EUR 60 million from the EIB. This is all for restoration. We generally agreed with the EIB that the funds we are taking can be used for the temporary hydraulic construction of the Kakhovka HPP. We are also discussing additional funding of EUR70 million from World Bank to continue the implementation of the project to install storage devices," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

At the same time, Syrota said that the company expects to receive funds in the near future.

"I hope that we will be able to receive funds from the World Bank this year. We will most likely reach an agreement with the EBRD approximately in February next year. With the EIB, too, I think, around February next year. In total, approximately EUR 330 million," the company's head said.

At the same time, Syrota said that Ukrhydroenergo has been working on raising funds since the beginning of this year, emphasizing that despite the company's reputation as a reliable partner, "in the current conditions it is not so easy." At the same time, he called such loans very profitable: "The rate there is 1-1.5%. That is, these are cheap funds."

At the same time, the director general said that he does not practice attracting loans from domestic commercial institutions, including not trying to participate in the 5-7-9% program, part of which was announced for the restoration of the energy sector.

"Why are we profitable today? Because we work well and have never taken loans from domestic banks. If we take out a loan for all our needs and take it at 23-24%, sooner or later these loans will tame... Why should I take under the 5-7-9% [program], when I will work with other financial companies, with financial institutions, banks, and I will take at 1%? It's better to work for a year and take what is profitable for the company," Syrota said, explaining his decisions.
The magistrate court in Edo State has sentenced a man identified as Dele Eric to 14 years in prison after he was found guilty in a gang rape case involving a woman with disability.

According to BraveHeart Initiative (BHI) for Youth and Women, a non-governmental organisation that is based in the state, the victim was physically assaulted and sexually violated by four young men in Ikpeshi Community, Akoko-Edo LGA of Edo State, South-south Nigeria on 3 January, 2020.

The organisation, in a statement signed by its Executive Director, Priscilla Usiobaifo, explained that the perpetrators inflicted machete wounds on the victims body when she resisted their sexual violation, while the convicted man committed further atrocity by masturbating and ejaculating on the victims face and mouth.

It said though all the perpetrators had absconded as soon as the crime was committed, both Mr Eric and another unnamed accomplice were arrested seven months after the assault.

The organisation noted that while the whereabouts of the two others could not be traced by the police, only Mr Eric was sentenced while one was cleared by the police for being mentally unstable.

According to BHI, it funded the case investigation and court prosecution through the support by the Open Society Foundation (OSIWA-OSF) and the MacArthur Foundation, noting that the verdict was given on 24 November by Nosa Musoe, who is the Chief Magistrate (Special Grade) of the Magistrate Court, Igarra, Akoko Edo LGA of the state.

Erics case, COVID-19 impact

According to BHI, its intervention had commenced 4 January 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic; saying it facilitated the transfer of the case to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID) in Benin City, the state capital.

This it noted was followed by an arraignment on 24 July 2020.

Commissioner of Police vs Momodu Fatai, Dele Eric case with Charge No MIG/23c /2020 was prosecuted by

Inspector Obeze Samuel of the Igarra Area Command, the NGO noted in the statement.

It added that the prosecution timeline was significantly elongated as a result of the COVID crisis.

The statement further reads: Despite the slow pace, our team remained fiercely spirited, resilient, and hopeful in the judicial process to deliver justice, BHI noted.

We are grateful to the BraveHeart Initiative SGBV case workers for their determination for justice and support to the survivor to access essential services in the face of the several limitations from the rigid COVID-19 protocols in Edo State.

Despite the health risks and security anxieties during the pandemic, our team of dedicated caseworkers showed remarkable solidarity to survivors of Sexual and Gender Based Violence in rural communities of Edo State.

The group said it welcomed the verdict and remains resolute, steadfast and unwavering in our commitment to facilitating justice for survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Nigeria.

More cases

As of November 2023, BHI said it has facilitated court convictions of 29 sex offenders in 26 cases, with the highest in 2020 and 2021 with five and six cases and convictions respectively.

As we commemorate 16 Days of Activism for Violence Against Women this year 2023, I envision a strong, inclusive, resilient justice system that ensures survivor-centred litigation, Mrs Usiobaifo said in the statement.

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On Monday, African leaders, public health experts, top researchers, and scientists convened in Lusaka, Zambia, to explore and evaluate diverse strategies for overcoming barriers in global health on the African continent.

The discussion, said to be of great importance to the region, is holding at the 3rd International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA).

Speaking at the official opening ceremony of the conference, the Director-General of Africa-CDC, Jean Kaseya, said this years conference, themed: Breaking Barriers: Repositioning Africa in the Global Health Architecture, is significant as the region aims to take charge of its public health and prepare for future pandemics.

Mr Kaseya said CPHIA 2023 could not be happening at a more important time, noting that African countries have shown extraordinary resilience in recent disease outbreaks, including Ebola, cholera, malaria, and COVID-19.

He said the region has shown the world what it is capable of with fast action and strong leadership in the face of various disease outbreaks.

Africa faces significant barriers, but through our collective resilience and ingenuity, we are breaking down these barriers, he said.

Breaking barriers.

Mr Kaseya said among all efforts by African leaders, it is important to remember five key principles, which he said can guide the leaders in repositioning Africa in the global health architecture.

He said these principles are community, connectivity, capacity, collaboration, and climate.

He said the region cannot make progress in building a resilient health system if it fails to involve the community, noting that communities are the backbone of every effort made by the leaders.

He said parents, health workers, and religious and community leaders are all parts of the community and must be carried along for the continent to achieve its aim of a strong health system.

We cannot make the kind of progress we need to without listening to their concerns, bringing them to the decision-making table, and engaging them in every step of implementation.

The director-general also said connectivity is a major principle that can guide the leaders in repositioning Africa in the global health architecture.

He said: Digital technology is dramatically changing how we do our work and we must tap into this potential. Innovations will allow us to gather data, monitor trends and make decisions in real-time allowing us to significantly improve our public health response.

Mr Kaseya also said capacity is an important principle that must be considered, noting that the region needs skilled, well-equipped, and committed workforce to get the work done.

He urged the leaders to commit to building skills, retaining talent, and filling gaps where they exist.

On collaboration, Mr Kaseya said the region can achieve so much more by working together  across sectors and geographies and this is the only way it can have an impact that is sustainable.

He explained that Africa is feeling the impacts of climate change acutely, noting that the region has learnt an incredible amount in its efforts to prevent and contain disease outbreaks. So lets apply that same energy to addressing our changing planet.

We have a great opportunity in our hands  to chart a new course, create health systems capable of withstanding the inevitable shocks, and reposition the continent in the global health architecture, he said.

I hope you feel energised by the sessions over the coming days and walk away from CPHIA 2023 ready to actively contribute to changing our trajectory. I know I will.

Strong partnerships, collaborations

In his remark, the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, said the role of collaboration in building a resilient public health system cannot be overemphasised.

Mr Hichilema said African leaders must develop the habit of collaboration and partnerships to ensure the continent becomes a force to be reckoned with.

The conference is unique because it talks about health in a holistic point. Health for one, health for families, health for countries, and health for all, he said.

Also speaking at the event, the WHO director-general, Tedros Ghebreyesus, said he is confident the Africa region will play a pivotal role in the future of humanitys health over the next century.

Mr Ghebreyesus said the region has the capacity to break barriers in global health but that political will is required to achieve it.

CPHIA23

CPHIA is an annual conference organised by Africa CDC. The conference provides a unique African-led platform for leaders across the continent to reflect on lessons learnt in health and science and align on a way forward for creating more resilient health systems.

The organisers said the four-day conference will spotlight cutting-edge research and innovations, and present African-led solutions to public health challenges

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The Federal Executive Council (FEC) at its meeting on Monday approved the sum of N3.2 billion to procure modern scanners for five international airports in the country.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, said this while briefing the State House correspondents on the outcome of the meeting in Abuja.

The airports are the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Murtala Muhammad International Airport, Port Harcourt International Airport, Aminu Kano International Airport and the Enugu International Airport.

This is what Nigerians would be interested in because since I came to office we have been inundated with complaints of the harrowing experiences that passengers go through at the airport where the airport officials of various agencies have to physically search their bags and it has been really getting under the skin of Nigerians.

So we thought we should do something like where you have the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in America where there are detection machines that when it passes through your bag it detects explosives or any other thing and that is the end of the search.

So Council gave approval of a N3.2 billion award of contracts for the supply and installation of customized explosives and narcotics detection screening systems with remote and dual view.

Bilateral Agreement

Mr Keyamo also said FEC ratified Nigerias bilateral air service agreement with the Republic of Guyana.

According to him, the agreement was signed in 2014 but had not been ratified since then.

He said with the ratification, Guyana can now have direct flights to Nigeria.

We have entered into an agreement with Guyana, a South American country. They have been very anxious to have direct flights from Guyana to Nigeria. This agreement was entered into, way back in 2014 with the administration at that time but it required ratification by the Executive and that is what was done today, the minister said.

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The Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (EVC/CEO) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida, has requested Nokia Networks to increase its investments in Research and Development (R&D) to support the growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Nigeria.

Mr Maida spoke when a delegation from Nokia Networks of Finland led by the Deputy Minister, Under-Secretary of State for International Trade from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Jarno Syrjala, visited the Commission recently to explore further opportunities for mutually-beneficial relationships.

He told the delegation that the Nigerian government is keenly interested in harnessing Nokias capabilities through technology transfer to support Nigerian youths in technical skills.

The Nigerian government is targeting training of three million youths in ICT skills to advance the countrys digital economy. We are keen on getting the youths employed, as our Ministry is targeting three million youths for skills acquisition, the EVC said.

Mr Maida informed the Nokia contingent that the Commission places primacy in R&D as the bedrock of any knowledge economy, and for advancement of innovation.

He, therefore, urged Nokia and other Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), to explore R&D opportunities to deepen local content development in Nigeria.

While congratulating Mr Maida on his appointment by President Bola Tinubu as Nigerias chief telecom regulator, Syrjala said the purpose of the visit was to explore areas of collaboration to support Nigerias digital economy agenda.

Syrjala recalled Nokias continued partnership with communications service providers in Nigeria, as well as cable and other operators to deliver critical network systems with high performance, reliability, and security.

He noted that Nokia already has an R&D centre in Nigeria, and would target greater investment in this regard.

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Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani has awarded Hajj seats to the best two overall winners of the recently concluded Quranic recitation competition held in Kaduna on Sunday, among other cash gifts to participants.

According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mohammed Shehu, Mr Sani while speaking at the venue of the event at Kinkinau Kaduna, revealed that the best two overall candidates from the male and female categories would be granted Hajj seats to participate in the 2024 Hajj exercise.

He also highlighted the importance of integrating the teachings of the Quran into ones daily life, rather than limiting its application to challenging circumstances.

He therefore urged Muslims to embrace the Qurans wisdom and guidance, because of the transformative power it holds in all aspects of lives.

In response to the challenges encountered during the previous Hajj exercise, Mr Sani proactively addressed the situation by announcing the establishment of a committee. The committees main objective is to ensure a seamless and problem-free execution of the upcoming Hajj exercises.

The governor expressed his disappointment with the unfortunate circumstances which were recorded during the past exercise, particularly highlighting issues related to feeding the pilgrims.

He also exposed some individuals who approached him for a contract to feed the pilgrims, stating that he warned them anyone who cheated the pilgrims would incur Allahs wrath, as the prayers of the oppressed are answered without barrier.

At the event, Sheik Abdullahi Bala Lau, the Chairman of the occasion, who is also the National Chairman of Jamaatu Izalatil Bida wa Ikamatus Sunan (JIBWIS), praised the governor for his remarkable development initiatives since taking office.

Sheik Bala Lau specifically emphasised the Governors commitment to social welfare, lauding the positive impact it has had on the residents of Kaduna State.

The Islamic scholar praised Mr Sanis leadership style, commending his unwavering commitment to enhancing the lives of the populace through a multitude of initiatives and programs.

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In 2023, at the prestigious Tin City Fashion Week, Uche Agomoh unveiled a breathtaking bridal collection consisting of seven exquisitely crafted pieces under her iconic brand, Head to Heels. The event marked a pivotal moment in Nigerias fashion landscape, representing another remarkable chapter in Head to Heels journey.

This collaboration with Africa Fashion Week, while not the first, remains a crucial stride in continuing the legacy established since its inception in 2020.

Crafting Elegance: The Journey of Head to Heels

Emerging in 2020 from the heart of Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria, Head to Heels embodies the visionary creativity of Uche Agomoh. Graduating with a degree in English Language from the University of Jos, Uche Agomoh seamlessly transitioned into the fashion world.

The brand transcends being just a label. It embodies a commitment to enhancing womens beauty through bespoke and ready-to-wear collections for both kids and adults. Their ethos emphasise quality fabrics and impeccable fits, encapsulating their motto, THE GOOD LOOK.

Innovation and Inspiration: Learning from Fashion Titans

The prominence of Tin City Fashion Week attracted industry luminaries like Frank Oshodi Richard and Malik Afegbua. Mr Afegbua, CEO of Slickcity Media, shared insights on integrating AI into design, further enhancing the creativity of emerging designers. This blend of innovation and artistry signifies a future where technology harmonises seamlessly with the fashion realm.

Dreams to Reality: Head to Heels Aspirations

In an interview, Uche Agomoh expressed heartfelt gratitude for the platform offered by Tin City Fashion Week. Beyond national borders, her aspirations soar, envisioning the global showcase of her brand, a testament to its boundless potential.

Connect with Head to Heels

For inquiries or to experience the elegance first hand, reach out to Head to Heels via email at Uchayagomoh@gmail.com or explore their captivating world on Instagram at @headtoheels_official.

Where Elegance Meets Innovation

Head to Heels isnt merely a brand; its an embodiment of elegance, craftsmanship, and an unyielding pursuit of beauty. Step into this world, where every thread weaves a tale of sophistication and grace.

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Troops of the 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army on Sunday rescued two people abducted by kidnappers around the CBN- Babaya- U area of Jalingo, the Taraba State capital.

The army said it arrested two suspects during the operation which was initiated after the receipt of credible intel.

The Commander, 6 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Frank Etim, a brigadier general, said this in a statement released on Monday in Jalingo.

He said the operation was conducted when the troops, acting on credible information, launched an attack on outlaws in the city.

Mr Etim and other suspected kidnappers absconded upon sighting the troops. Troops are on their trail and will soon be arrested, he said

The swift response of the troops and conduct of raid operation on the terrorists hideout led to the capture of Awwal Bobo, 32 and Sallau Abdul, 33 as well as extrication and safe rescue of the victims named Fauziyya Yusuf and Abdulsallam Abubakar.

One of the rescued victims has since been reunited with his family while the other is currently being offered necessary medical attention and support to ensure her physical and emotional well-being before being handed over to her family, he said.

He commended the timely response of the troops and charged them not to relent in ensuring the peace and safety of the citizens.

He said residents should cooperate and support security agencies by providing timely security information.

Governor decries spate of violence

Meanwhile, Governor Agbu Kefas, on Sunday described the persistent attacks, killings and kidnappings across the state by terrorists as worrisome and unacceptable.

The governor, who stated this while reacting to the killing of 11 farmers by gunmen at Yangtu Development Area on Friday, said he was doing everything humanly possible to bring such carnage to an end.

In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Digital Communication, Emmanuel Bello, Mr Kefas called on security agents to redouble their efforts in ridding the state of all forms of terror.

ALSO READ: Nigerian troops rescue six kidnap victims

The governor said his recent visits to all security heads at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja were primarily geared towards attracting the federal government support in the fight against banditry in the state, stressing that security challenges were not restricted to the state as the entire country was reeling under the scourge.

To effectively combat the scourge, the newly elected local government chairmen would be adequately empowered to safeguard lives and properties in their domain while security agents would be provided with modern equipment and technologies in the field to enhance their performance, the statement reads.

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Gunmen have killed two police officers at Ahiara Junction in Ahiazu Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, Nigerias South-east.

The attack occurred on Monday during the visit of the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Danjuma Aboki, to his officers in the council area, Punch newspaper reported.

The attackers were said to have opened fire on the officers, killing two of them on the spot.

A yet-to-be-identified male resident was also killed by a stray bullet fired during the attack.

The police spokesperson in Imo State, Henry Okoye, confirmed the incident to Punch newspaper.

Mr Okoye, an assistant superintendent of police, said the police in the state had declared a manhunt for the attackers.

The Commissioner of Police, Imo State Command, CP Aboki Danjuma, commander 34 Artillery Brigade and Joint Task Force operatives are combing the scene of the crime for evidence that will possibly lead to the arrest of hoodlums responsible for the attack and killing of (the) two policemen, he said.

Worsening insecurity

Like other states in Nigerias south-east, security has deteriorated in Imo State with frequent attacks by armed persons.

The attacks often target security agencies, government officials and facilities.

This latest attack occurred about two days after gunmen abducted and then killed the traditional ruler of Otulu Community in Ezinihitte Mbaise Local Government Area of the state.

The killing of the traditional ruler happened barely 48 hours after gunmen killed Chiedoziem Anyanwu, a ward chairperson of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state.

The Nigerian government has accused the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the region. However, the group has repeatedly denied any involvement in the attacks.

IPOB is a group leading agitation for an independent state of Biafra which it wants carved out from the south-east and some parts of south-south Nigeria.

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State says it has resolved to challenge the Court of Appeals judgement, affirming Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner of 18 March governorship election.

The Lagos State PDP Publicity Secretary, Hakeem Amode, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos.

NAN recalls that the party had earlier said that it would review the judgement of the Court of Appeal before taking further action on the matter.

According to him, justice has not been properly served in the PDPs governorship candidate, Olajide Adedirans (Jandor) petitions against Mr Sanwo-Olus re-election.

We are challenging the ruling of the Appeal Court, affirming Sanwo-Olu as winner at the Supreme Court. In a couple of days, our petitions will get to the Supreme Court, Mr Amode said.

He said that justices of the Court of Appeal had failed the party by not seeing the merit in Mr Adedirans petition.

Looking at some of the Appeal Courts rulings, there has been so many inconsistencies on its stands on pre-election matters.

READ ALSO:

We, as a party, feel justice is yet to be served in our petitions against the outcome of March 18 governorahip election in this state.

We have a strong belief in the Supreme Court to look at the crux of the matter and make a statement that will serve as precedent.

The party and our candidate are not deterred, we have reviewed the 15 November Appeal Courts ruling and decided to pursue justice at the Supreme Court, Mr Amode said.

The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos on 15 November dismissed issues raised by the PDPs Mr Adediran and the Labour Party candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour, against the judgement of the election tribunal.

The appellate court dismissed Mr Adedirans 34 grounds of appeal against Mr Sanwo-Olus victory.

On the alleged non-qualification of Mr Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Obafemi Hamzat, the court had ruled that it could not litigate on the issue because it was a pre-election matter.

It held that the appellants failed to prove the allegation that Mr Sanwo-Olu forged his West Africa Examination Council (WAEC) certificate.

The tribunal had earlier on 25 September dismissed Messrs Adedirans and Rhodes-Viviours petitions against Mr Sanwo-Olus victory.

An appeal to the Supreme Court should be filed within 14 days from the date of the judgement of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court then has 60 days to hear the case and make its ruling.

(NAN)

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Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal, during a meeting with President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Werner Hoyer and his team, discussed existing and new projects to restore the country.

"I welcomed the opening of the EIB representative office in Eastern Europe with an office in Kyiv. We discussed existing and new restoration projects. We look forward to their implementation. The government is actively cooperating with the EIB in the areas of infrastructure restoration, energy, and heat supply. I am also grateful for the consistent work with communities and the implementation of municipal projects," Shmyhal wrote on his Telegram channel on Monday.

The head of the Ukrainian government thanked the EIB for financial assistance, in particular, for creating effective tools for the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.

"The EIB was one of the first international financial organizations to provide financial support to the state budget in March 2022. In general, the European Investment Bank has accumulated more than EUR 7.5 billion for our state. We highly appreciate the active role of the EIB in supporting Ukraine," Shmyhal emphasized.
DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PureBorn  a UAE founded vegan baby products brand known for its hypoallergenic, ultra-absorbent nappies (diapers) made with organic bamboo  has signed an exclusive European distribution deal with Laboratoire Naturel.

The Swiss-based personal care manufacturer is renowned for producing high quality wet wipes and soaps that are not only effective but also environmentally conscious.

PureBorns partnership with Laboratoire Naturel makes the much-loved products available to parents across Europe

This lucrative partnership enables PureBorn to break into the broader European market and offer direct distribution across the continent through its new global PureBorn website. The affiliation is also central to securing European Amazon contracts covering France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Italy, and Spain in the respective languages, in addition to PureBorn's existing presence on Amazon UK.

Commenting on the deal, Hannah Curran, Founder and CEO of PureBorn, said, "We are extremely excited to partner with Laboratoire Naturel  not only the company, but also the incredibly talented individuals in their team. Each member brings a dynamic edge to this partnership and the next few months are going to be an adventure. All our European-based families have been long awaiting to get their hands on PureBorn products, and we can't wait to start supporting them."

Vahagn Manukyan, CEO of Laboratoire Naturel, also commented, "I am thrilled that we have entered into this strategic partnership with PureBorn, as this collaboration marks an exciting milestone as we join forces to provide sustainable and innovative hygiene solutions for families. With our extensive experience in distribution throughout Europe, we are eager to expand the reach of PureBorn products and offer customers a comprehensive range of sustainable options."

Pavel Verblyudenko, CCO of Laboratoire Naturel SA, added, "Since my personal fruitful collaboration with PureBorn began in 2017, I have eagerly anticipated this exciting development. PureBorn stands as an extraordinary partner due to its ability to craft an incredibly strong brand, beloved by consumers  which is a testament to their exceptional leadership. Equally significant is their unwavering commitment to integrity and values, which deeply resonates with the principles we uphold at Laboratoire Naturel."

The distribution deal will see the full range of the much-loved PureBorn products available to parents across Europe from mid-November onwards.

In the UAE, PureBorn can be found in all major retailers across such as Carrefour, Lulu Hypermarket, and the Union Co-op, in addition to the brand's own e-commerce platform.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

About PureBorn

Launched in 2017 in the UAE by British entrepreneur Hannah Curran, eco-conscious baby products brand PureBorn was created to support little ones and their parents, while protecting the environment. With sustainability at its core, the company is committed to upholding a strong ethical stance in every element of its business and is particularly focused on using only the safest ingredients. With a slogan of "only PURE goodness," PureBorn uses recycled bottles and eco-plastic alternatives across its full range  which includes its popular bamboo nappies, wipes, and pants  to ensure the protection of babies around the world.

www.pureborn.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285362/PureBorn.jpg
The Chairman & CEO of JP Morgan Chase & Co praised the economic transformation agendas of Abu Dhabi , whilst announcing plans to expand the bank's operations in ADGM.

Global finance leaders assembled to analyse ADFW's main theme, 'Investing in the transition era.

ABU DHABI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the presence of His Highness Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi Finance Week (ADFW) commenced its four-day series of over 46 sub-events with a spectacular opening ceremony hosted under a specially designed event dome in the South Plaza of Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM) and followed the launch of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Economic Forum (ADEF).

The first day of ADFW brought together distinguished and high-level leaders from over 100+ countries under one roof to witness a range of high-level focused range of sessions, discussing Abu Dhabi's rise as a global financial centre including keynote speeches, panel discussions, workshops, and presentations.

One of the highlights of the opening ceremony was a thought-provoking keynote speech by the legendary investor Ray Dalio, who delved into the complexities of the Changing World Order, drawing insights from his recent book. The participation of influential leaders and prominent figures such as Mr. Dalio, emphasised the international significance of ADFW and its objective to explore new paradigms in finance and economics.

In his address at the opening ceremony of ADFW, His Excellency Ahmed Jasim Al Zaabi, Member of Abu Dhabi's Executive Council and Chairman of ADDED and ADGM welcomed the esteemed crowd to Abu Dhabi, the 'Capital of Capital' and the 'Falcon's Playground' and shared his thoughts on the momentous occasion, saying, "Abu Dhabi Finance Week is a testament to our commitment to positioning Abu Dhabi as a global financial hub. The opening ceremony was a remarkable start to a week that promises to be filled with insightful discussions and meaningful partnerships. The ADEF, in particular, symbolises our dedication to fostering economic growth and innovation, in alignment with the changing world order and the rising Falcon Economy of Abu Dhabi and the UAE."

The inaugural edition of ADEF was conducted in partnership with ADQ. The high-level event engaged in comprehensive discussions surrounding Abu Dhabi's evolving economy within the changing global context.

The event witnessed the participation of a distinguished group of leaders, including CEOs of Sovereign Wealth Funds such as ADQ and Mubadala and Ministers of Economy and Climate. These discussions provided an international perspective on strategies to foster regional monetary cooperation in support of the Falcon Economy.

ADFW's theme, 'Investing in the Transition Era,' was explored in a dedicated session, featuring prominent leaders from across the globe and deep-dived into the economic consequences and investment opportunities in a transitioning era.

A highlight of ADEF was the appearance of Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JP Morgan Chase & co, who praised Abu Dhabi's economic growth planning, whilst announcing a major expansion of the bank's operations in the Emirate. He stated ''The determination of the emirate that is forging ahead with its reform agendas is extremely impressive, be it their economic, financial and social agendas. These are not easy changes but there is clear progress on all fronts towards the goal to create a safe and secure society and a dynamic Falcon Economy. We've continued to add to the team this year and have submitted an application to upgrade our operating licence to a full category one banking entity, signalling our intent and commitment to the size of the opportunity here.''

In her keynote address at the ADEF, Her Excellency Mariam Almheiri, Minister of Climate Change & Environment, Government of UAE highlighted the event's significance as a premier platform for connecting and problem-solving within the finance and business community in the MENA region. Her Excellency addressed the global challenge of climate change, praising the UAE's proactive stance and advocating for a pro-climate, pro-growth strategy, and underscored the pivotal role of climate finance in achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement, expressing the UAE's commitment to kickstarting transformative change at COP28 and making climate financing more accessible, available, and affordable for the world.

ADQ unveiled during ADEF the SWF's fiver year progress along with a deep-dive into the company's vision, journey and investment approach.

ADGM also made a milestone announcement, committing to extending the facilities arrangement with the World Bank's office for an additional five years, signifying a continued collaboration on opportunities, in areas such as research, knowledge exchange, events and policymaking.

Abu Dhabi Finance Week is now in full swing, with its upcoming events Asset Abu Dhabi, Fintech Abu Dhabi, and the R.A.C.E Sustainability Summit scheduled for November 28th, 29th, and 30th, respectively.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2211082/4274742/ADGM_Logo.jpg
Anheuser-Busch's Continued Investments in Breweries Across the Country Underscore the Company's Commitment to Employees, Community, and Quality

CARTERSVILLE, Ga., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Anheuser-Busch is announcing that it has reached a $13 million investment in its Cartersville Brewery this year, which has gone towards ongoing capital projects designed to increase capabilities and support ongoing improvements at the brewery. The new projects include strengthening the brewery's beyond beer and craft production capabilities, as well as upgrades to its facility infrastructure and equipment that improve efficiencies to help sustain the longevity of the brewery.

"For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has been investing in our people and in our communities  that's who we are," said Brendan Whitworth, CEO of Anheuser-Busch. "The investments in our Cartersville Brewery will help us continue to drive economic prosperity and support good-paying jobs in Georgia for years to come."

Anheuser-Busch has been a major employer and a member of the Cartersville community for 30 years, and the brewer continues to reiterate its commitment through ongoing investments like this one. The $13 million invested throughout 2023 includes continued enhancement of production capabilities like dry hopping for key craft brands across Anheuser-Busch's portfolio, can variety packing, and bottling for Kona Big Wave, among others. The investments also include energy systems upgrades that will increase efficiency and reduce fuel usage.

"Anheuser-Busch's continuous commitment and investment in Cartersville has had a significant and positive impact on our local economy and community," said U.S. Representative Barry Loudermilk (R-GA-11). "The Cartersville Brewery has generated over 450 jobs for Georgians and contributed more than $400 million to the state's economy. I am thankful for our longstanding partnership and am looking forward to seeing how the brewery grows and continues to support hardworking Georgians."

"The investments we have made in our brewery this year are benefitting our employees as well as our broader Georgia community," said Jennifer Logan, Sr. General Manager, Anheuser-Busch Cartersville Brewery. "The upgrades to our brewing capabilities and facility infrastructure will continue to unlock new innovation capabilities at our brewery and position our team to continue producing the highest-quality beer nationwide."

This milestone in ongoing funding builds on the success of the brewers' capital expenditure program, which included investing $1 billion over two years in its facilities across the U.S. to help accelerate the nation's recovery and drive economic prosperity following the pandemic. Across the United States, Anheuser-Busch operates more than 120 facilities, including flagship breweries, agricultural facilities, and craft partner breweries, across 24 states.

For more on Anheuser-Busch's economic impact visit www.anheuser-busch.com/community/economic-impact or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram .

ABOUT ANHEUSER-BUSCH

At Anheuser-Busch, our purpose is to create a future with more cheers. We are always looking to serve up new ways to meet life's moments, dream big to move our industry forward, and make a meaningful impact in the world. We hope to build a future that everyone can celebrate, and everyone can share. For more than 165 years, Anheuser-Busch has carried on a legacy of brewing great-tasting, high-quality beers that have satisfied beer drinkers for generations. Today, we own and operate more than 120 facilities, including breweries, wholesaler distribution centers, agricultural facilities and packaging plants, and have more than 18,000 colleagues across the United States.

We are home to several of America's most loved beer and beyond beer brands, including Michelob ULTRA, Cutwater Spirits, Stella Artois, Budweiser and Bud Light as well as a number of regional brands that provide beer drinkers with a choice of the best-tasting craft beers in the industry. From responsible drinking programs and emergency drinking water donations to industry-leading sustainability efforts, we are guided by our unwavering commitment to supporting the communities we call home. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com or follow Anheuser-Busch on LinkedIn , Twitter , Facebook and Instagram .

SOURCE Anheuser-Busch
NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The audiobook market is estimated to grow by USD 1.86 billion from 2022 to 2027, growing at a CAGR of 20.37%. The audiobook market is fragmented owing to the presence of many global and regional companies. A few prominent companies that offer audiobook market are Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Awesound Inc., Barnes and Noble Booksellers Inc., Bertelsmann SE and Co. KGaA, Blackstone Audio Inc., Lulu Press Inc., News Corp., Nextory AB, Podium Publishing ULC, Rakuten Group Inc., RBmedia, Realm of Possibility Inc., Scribd Inc., Storytel AB, Strathmore Publishing and the Strathmore Studios, Ulverscroft Ltd., Vivendi SE, and W.F. Howes Ltd. The report provides a full list of key companies, their strategies, and the latest developments. Download Free Sample before buying

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Audiobook Market in Europe 2023-2027

Company Offering:

Alphabet Inc. - The company offers audiobooks through their app called Google Play audiobooks by rent or charge.

The company offers audiobooks through their app called Google Play audiobooks by rent or charge. Amazon.com Inc. - The company offers audio stories, Original audiobooks, and podcasts through their app called Audible.

The company offers audio stories, Original audiobooks, and podcasts through their app called Audible. Apple Inc. - The company offers podcasts, audiobooks, and audio under the brand called iTunes.

The company offers podcasts, audiobooks, and audio under the brand called iTunes. For details on companies and their offerings  Buy the report!

Impactful driver- Benefits and reader engagement of audiobooks

Benefits and reader engagement of audiobooks Key Trend - Growing number of partnerships and product launches

The growing popularity of online education and digital literacy is an emerging audiobook market trend. Rapid digitization and the rising availability of mobile devices can help educators provide high-quality education to students. Thus, educators rely on a blend of face-to-face and online instruction. As a result, several universities and colleges have started offering e-learning programs that include audiobooks.

Also, students can participate in live web classes, join interactive discussions, read audiobooks, and connect with their teachers. Furthermore, online education allows students to take part in online clubs and virtual field trips. Hence, the rising demand for online education is expected to drive the growth of the audiobook market in Europe during the forecast period.

Major Challenges - Inefficient management of audiobook content

- Inefficient management of audiobook content The management of the portfolio becomes more complex as consumers expect audiobooks to be frequently updated and instantly available. Audiobook publishers also require efficient media management techniques, robust infrastructure, and automation capabilities to ensure that various multimedia features are added and updated easily.

Market Segmentation

The adult segment will be significant for market growth during the forecast period. Consumer audiobooks include adult fiction and other fiction genres. They are mainly purchased by individual end-users and the demand for fiction books increases due to the evolving reading habits of individuals and leisure reading. Additionally, commercial fiction pertains to books from genres such as science fiction, thriller, romantic, teen fiction, and young adults' books. Hence, such factors drive the adult segment's growth during the forecast period.

Technavio Research experts have provided more insights on the market share of segments - View a Free Sample Report

Related Reports:

The global e-book market size is estimated to grow by USD 8,316.2 million between 2022 and 2027 accelerating at a CAGR of 7.7%.

The digital comic book market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.34% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 2,266.18 million.

Audiobook Market Scope Report Coverage Details Historic period 2017-2021 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 20.37% YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 18.35

TOC:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation by Age Group

7 Market Segmentation by Genre

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

SOURCE Technavio
Establishes connected software and data foundation for the future with next-generation life sciences CRM and harmonized customer data

BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Veeva Systems (NYSE: VEEV) today announced that Bayer will be among the first top 20 biopharmas to move to Veeva Vault CRM worldwide, while also standardizing global customer data with Veeva OpenData. As Bayer moves to Vault CRM, the next generation of CRM for life sciences, it is harmonizing customer reference data for greater efficiency and continued innovation into the future. By unifying its global master data, Bayer will be poised to leverage AI-driven engagement across channels and geographies.

"Partnering with Veeva sets us up with the long-term technology and data foundation to gain the speed and agility needed for the complexities of modern medicine," says Patrick Moeller, global head of commercial IT and digital pharma at Bayer. "Vault CRM and Veeva OpenData are essential to driving more precise and effective customer engagement in every region and therapeutic area."

Bayer currently relies on Veeva CRM to drive omnichannel engagement with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and launch new medicines across more than 80 countries. Bayer will expand its use of Veeva OpenData to replace legacy data products with consistent, high-quality customer reference data worldwide. In streamlining its global data landscape, Bayer can deliver more accurate, timely data to field teams to better serve their customers.

"Bayer and Veeva will continue our long-term partnership, working together to help its sales, medical, and marketing teams bring complex new medicines to global markets with speed and precision," said Tom Schwenger, president and chief operating officer at Veeva. "Vault CRM and Veeva OpenData will provide the foundation for commercial innovation to drive more effective on-demand engagement, expanding HCP relationships worldwide."

Keynote speakers from Bayer, along with another top 20 biopharma, will open Veeva Commercial Summit, Europe, sharing how Vault CRM is a key enabler of future commercial agility, innovation, and differentiation. Vault CRM is part of Veeva Commercial Cloud, the software foundation for commercial excellence. Veeva OpenData is part of Veeva Data Cloud, the modern data platform for life sciences that connects commercial and clinical for greater precision and speed.

About Veeva Systems

Veeva is the global leader in cloud software for the life sciences industry. Committed to innovation, product excellence, and customer success, Veeva serves more than 1,000 customers, ranging from the world's largest biopharmaceutical companies to emerging biotechs. As a Public Benefit Corporation, Veeva is committed to balancing the interests of all stakeholders, including customers, employees, shareholders, and the industries it serves. For more information, visit veeva.com/eu.

Veeva Forward-looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements regarding Veeva's products and services and the expected results or benefits from use of our products and services, including certain of our new solutions and applications that are still under development or not generally available. These statements are based on our current expectations. Actual results, availability, and any future events relating to these products and services could differ materially from those provided in this release and we have no obligation to update such statements. There are numerous risks that have the potential to negatively impact our results, including the risks and uncertainties disclosed in our filing on Form 10-Q for the period ended July 31, 2023, which you can find here (a summary of risks which may impact our business can be found on pages 38 and 39), and in our subsequent SEC filings, which you can access at sec.gov.

Contact:



Jeremy Whittaker

Veeva Systems

+49-695-095-5486

[email protected]



Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1488285/Veeva_Systems_Logo.jpg
Honor recognizes those who represent the community with 'mastery and drive'

DALLAS, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Aldous\Walker proudly announces that firm founder Charla Aldous has earned a place in D Magazine's Best Lawyers in Dallas Hall of Fame for the second consecutive year. Ms. Aldous was also among the inaugural class in 2022.

D Magazine's Best Lawyers in Dallas recognizes attorneys known for providing unparalleled counsel. An attorney must have received a mention in its Best Lawyers list at least 15 times to qualify for the Hall of Fame inclusion.

The publication describes honorees as members of the legal community whose mastery and drive enables them to provide exceptional representation for the people and institutions of Dallas.

"I am honored to have Dallas recognize me in this way again," said Ms. Aldous. "Our community has some of the best attorneys in the nation. I am grateful to have those legal minds nominate me time and time again for awards such as this."

The Hall of Fame tops off Ms. Aldous' incredible year of recognition, which includes her designation as a Living Legend by the Dallas Bar Association. Ms. Aldous was also listed among the state's top three lawyers in the annual Texas Super Lawyers survey, and she was selected by The Best Lawyers in America as plaintiff medical malpractice "Lawyer of the Year" for Dallas-Fort Worth.

This year, Aldous\Walker raked in awards for the firm's personal injury litigation practice. Texas Lawyer cited its $21 million verdict as the state's largest medical malpractice courtroom win for 2022. The firm also received recognition by Best Law Firms, a Best Lawyers in America publication.

The Aldous\Walker LLP law firm represents clients in civil litigation, personal injury, medical malpractice, products liability and wrongful death cases. Learn more about the firm at www.aldouslaw.com

Media Contact:

BeLynn Hollers

800.559.4534

[email protected]

SOURCE Aldous\Walker LLP
BEIJING, Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- China Matters releases a talk show on China's green development.

China aims to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and reach carbon neutrality by 2060. Harmony between humanity and nature has been defined as one of the five major features of Chinese modernization.

China Matters releases a talk show on Chinas green development

In this episode of The Talk, a talk show series under the video brand China Matters, we invite two environmental conservationists to share with us their stories in China.

Matt Grager, Climate Program Director of WildAid, believes Chinese people's attitude shift towards environmental protection is related to certain governmental policies.

"It started with ecological civilization and people starting to understand harmony with nature," said Matt Grager. "And then the dual carbon goal has come out, which really puts a numerical goal on that idea of ecological civilization."

Paul Holt, a birdwatcher and environmental conservationist based in Beijing, pointed out that most Chinese have no interest or knowledge of wildlife based on his observation in China.

"I think it's important to encourage an interest in wildlife and birds," said Paul Holt. "The best way to do that is to start with young kids."

YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXJfdgzZdag&t=295s

SOURCE China Matters
DTEK has imported 103,000 tonnes of thermal coal from Poland since September of this year, the company's press service reported.

Supplies of Polish coal to the company's thermal power plants are carried out on a regular basis; by the end of the heating period 2023/2024, it is planned to import another 177,000 tonnes of coal.

According to Ildar Saleev, General Director of DTEK Energy, this will help maintain the reliability of thermal generation and the energy system so that Ukrainians have light and heat in winter.

As reported, the first batch of coal from Poland in the amount of 4,200 tonnes was delivered to DTEK at the end of September.
Back in Hong Kong after four years, Asia's leading beauty and cosmetics show announces remarkable numbers, counting over 2,400 exhibitors and 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions

HONG KONG, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia proved a dynamic success yet again in the 26th edition, exceeding expectations and maintaining the exhibition's distinctive position as the ultimate meeting point for beauty professionals, industry insiders and innovative brands in Asia-Pacific.

Cosmoprof Asia 2023 Sets High Attendance Records upon its Hong Kong Return

More than 2,400 exhibitors from 44 countries and regions, 90% coming from outside Hong Kong, filled the 118,900sqm of show floor space this year. The show attracted 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions. This marked a remarkable 64% increase compared to the previous edition held in Hong Kong in 2019, and brought the visitor numbers close to the levels achieved in 2018, demonstrating the enduring appeal and global reach of the show. Significant increase were recorded from key Asian markets, including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, attendance from Europe remained steady, demonstrating the event's consistent appeal to international audiences.

The exhibition was appreciated by all stakeholders, who could find new launches and avant-garde solutions across the two main venues hosting the leading global suppliers and brands. Cosmopack Asia gathered global players from the supply chain, with the most renowned companies specialized in ingredients, machinery & equipment, packaging, contract manufacturing and private label. Cosmoprof Asia showcased the most innovative branded finished products for retail and professional distribution channels. Enriching the international appeal of the exhibition, this edition's 17 region and group pavilions included Australia, Mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkiye and the USA.

"We are honored to announce record-breaking numbers at Cosmoprof Asia 2023 in Hong Kong," says Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd. "This exhibition confirms its role as the perfect stage for brand companies, suppliers, retailers, importers, and distributors interested in new business opportunities in Asia. Together with our partners of Informa Markets we will work to create further business opportunities for companies and players of the Cosmoprof community in the region".

"We are delighted with the impressive turnout at Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia this year, and thrilled to see so many old friends and new attendees make the 26th edition their priority. The two events were home to showstopping products, innovative services and cutting-edge technologies, while attendees also enjoyed expert sessions outlining the region's future-forward trends, tips and trajectories. Hong Kong proved, once again, to be able to host a truly worldwide Cosmoprof edition and remaining the region's most effective meeting place. We look forward to showcasing the best-of-the-best of the industry here next year. " said David Bondi, Senior Vice President  Asia of Informa Markets and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd.

GREAT SATISFACTION FROM INTERNATIONAL BUYERS

Thanks to the esteemed buyers program, Cosmoprof Asia 2023 welcomed over 400 senior executives from 45 countries and regions including Australia, Mainland China & Hong Kong, Europe, India, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, UK and USA, out of which 200 were selected as Elite buyers representing C-level executives. Highly effective meetings were arranged throughout the four-day show, connecting suppliers and companies with shared interests through the AI-driven Match&Meet platform.

Positive feedbacks have been received from our esteemed buyers, who have expressed their satisfaction with their immersive experience at the event.

"I am deeply appreciative of the organiser for extending the invitation to participate in this year's buyer program. The exhibition showcased a diverse range of brands, and I was particularly impressed by the presence of niche perfumes and personal care brands. It was a refreshing experience, unlike anything I have encountered at other shows, and it truly excited me," said Ms Chen Lihong, Procurement Director of Beijing Kailan Brand Management Co Ltd from China. "Cosmoprof Asia this year provided us with an exceptional opportunity to connect with these brands and pave the way for future collaborations."

"Our trip was truly exceptional. The highlight of our experience was undoubtedly the invaluable relationships we formed with international suppliers and beauty brands. These relationships will serve as a catalyst for the exciting launch of our own brands in Sub-Saharan Africa, propelling us towards success in the beauty industry," said Mr Galib Virani, CEO and President of Supercosmetics Kenya. "We are deeply grateful for the opportunities and insights gained at Cosmoprof Asia, and we look forward to the exciting journey ahead.

Hitesh Sarda, Director of Bio-Sols India Pvt. Ltd. from India shared, "the show offers a one-stop solution for beauty, where you can find everything under one roof. It's a highly international and worldwide show, with exhibitors from all corners of the globe. I was particularly impressed by the focus on eco-friendly and sustainable packaging, such as products made from sugarcane."

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia provided ample opportunities to discover the latest trends, thanks to engaging initiatives and empowering educational sessions.

Cosmopack Asia Awards and Cosmoprof Asia Awards, organised in partnership with international trend agency BEAUTYSTREAMS, celebrated the most outstanding beauty products and industrial solutions presented by exhibiting companies in each exhibition venue. More than 220 exhibitors and professionals attended the awards ceremony on 15 November. To discover all winners, visit the dedicated website https://www.cosmoprofawards-asia.com/en

To have a comprehensive overview of the principal trends of Cosmoprof Asia 2023, trend scouters, press, influencers, operators and buyers can refer to CosmoTrends. The report presents the products influencing consumers' habits in the next months, curated by BEAUTYSTREAMS, and provides a strategic roadmap tracing the evolution of the Asia-Pacific market. Download the 2023 CosmoTrend report here: https://www.cosmoprof-asia.com/cosmotrends/

The latest product trends, market updates and regulations were the main points of CosmoTalks, the exclusive round tables of the Cosmoprof network. Global leaders from the cosmetics industry shared their comments and visions on macro-movements and trends forecasts, while CosmoForum presentations provided in-depth market analyses and case studies of specific consumers' behaviour. Over 1,800 attendees attended 23 sessions organised in collaboration with AsiaCosme Lab, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), BeautyMatter, BEAUTYSTREAMS, centdegres, CosmeticDesign-Asia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of Singapore (CTFAS), Ecovia Intelligence, Euromonitor International, Hong Kong Society of Cosmetic Chemists (HKSCC), The International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA), InvestHK, Kline, NielsenIQ Bases, Opal, QTCCC, Reach24H, re/sources, and SGS.

Dynamic platform Cosmo Onstage presented live shows and demo sessions by industry influencers throughout the event, featuring cutting-edge products and state-of-art equipment, nail art, makeup, hair styling and spa & wellness treatments. AHMA Hair Council, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), Cosmopolitan Middle East, Hong Kong Professional Nailist Union, Makari, Shanghai May Skin Information Technology and SYL joined the initiative.

Reflecting one of the show's main themes, sustainability, the COSMOLAB experiential installation at Cosmopack Asia drew crowds with its "bubble-cabin" booth outlining how clean and green beauty trends actually impact consumer behaviour, while Cosmoprof Asia's charitable sample store Boutique raised over HKD24,000 for the show's chosen charity Green Power, the local charity dedicated to protecting the environment.

COSMOPROF ASIA WILL BE BACK IN 2024

Save the dates of Cosmoprof Asia 2024 as below:

Cosmopack Asia: 12-14 November 2024 (AsiaWorld-Expo)

Cosmoprof Asia: 13-15 November 2024 (Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre)

For any further information please visit www.cosmoprof-asia.com

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Download the high-resolution images at this link:

https://bit.ly/46zjMrf

FOLLOW US:

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | WeChat | Weibo

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:

Cosmoprof Asia is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint-venture company between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets Asia Ltd.

ABOUT BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it)

BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. The Cosmoprof platform extends worldwide, with events in Bologna, Hong Kong, Las Vegas and Mumbai (with Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia). The fifth destination of the network, Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, in Thailand, focuses on the cosmetic industry in South-East Asia. The Cosmoprof platform is reinforcing its influence in the US, with the launch of Cosmoprof North America  Miami in January 2024, and in the Gulf region, with a new event scheduled on November 2024 in Riyadh.

ABOUT INFORMA MARKETS (www.informamarkets.com)

Informa Markets Beauty has an extensive network powered by B2B events across 11 cities in Asia (Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo), the world's fastest growing markets. By further expanding its strength, the Beauty Portfolio now includes a new B2B event in Miami 2024 will serve the Americas, North, South America and Caribbean Islands Region. Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Pharmaceuticals, Food, Medical Technology and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com.

SOURCE Cosmoprof Asia
CHENGDU, China, Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From November 29 to 30, the 2023 Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan will be held in Chengdu, hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province and co-organized by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Economic Cooperation, the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Department, the Sichuan Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the Sichuan Provincial Returned Overseas Chinese Federation.

"This is the 10th year since the founding of the Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan." Fang Qing, deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Economic Cooperation, said that during the event, Sichuan intends to hold one main event (2023 F2023 Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan Investment Promotion Conference and Project Cooperation Agreement Signing Ceremony), and two thematic activities (Roundtable on Cooperation and Exchange of well-known Foreign Enterprises, 2023 China (Sichuan) Advanced Materials Industry Cooperation Promotion Meeting), and co-ordinate the city (state) to organize numerous thematic activities. In order to pragmatically bridge the platform of government-enterprise exchanges and cooperation, it is proposed to organize and carry out the "Enterprise-Local Government Breakfast Communication Session", inviting the responsible representatives of the 21 cities (states) and the person in charge of the economic cooperation department to carry out "face-to-face" exchanges with important businessmen in Sichuan. In addition, it will also organize the participants to join the city (state) to carry out investment visits and hold talks and other series of activities.

Organized for nine consecutive years, the Sichuan Tour has become an annual investment promotion event in Sichuan Province, attracting a large number of Chinese and foreign investors, including the world's top 500 (multinational enterprises), central-government enterprises and key state-owned enterprises, China's top 500, private enterprises top 500, industry-leading enterprises, totaling more than 4,800 well-known enterprises and business associations, more than 8,000 people visiting Sichuan to discuss exchanges and on-site visits to invest and share the opportunities for development of Sichuan.

The "Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Sichuan Tour" is a major brand open platform activity with high level and wide influence in Sichuan Province. It has been held once a year since 2014, and has been held for 9 consecutive years, which has achieved fruitful results in investment promotion, with good brand effect, nurtured a number of important businessmen resources, promoted a number of major investment projects, and vigorously boosted the economic and social development of Sichuan.

SOURCE CRI Online
NEW YORK, Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The elevator and escalator market in APAC is expected to grow by USD 12.83 billion from 2022 to 2027. However, the growth momentum of the market will be progressing at a CAGR of 2.91% during the forecast period. The market is segmented by End-user (Residential and Non-residential) and product (Elevator and Escalator).

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Elevator and Escalator Market in APAC 2023-2027

Development of smart cities in the APAC region is notably driving the market growth. A smart city leverages information and communication technology and the IoT to use a city's resources intelligently and efficiently. One of the key features of a smart city is its smart infrastructure, which includes elevators and escalators that form an integral part of daily commutes. These smart commute solutions not only consume less energy but also have enhanced monitoring systems. The concept of smart cities is gaining traction worldwide, especially in the Asia Pacific region, which has seen rapid urbanization and a growing need to lower energy consumption. As a result, the Asia Pacific elevator and escalator market is expanding.

The report analyses the market size and growth and provides accurate predictions on the growth of the market. View Free PDF Sample

Key Higlights:

The report recognizes the following as some of the key players in the APAC elevator and escalator market: Doppelmayr Seilbahnen GmbH, EITA Elevator M Sdn. Bhd, Fujitec Co. Ltd., Glarie Elevator Co. Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Hyundai Elevator Co. Ltd., IFE Elevators Co. Ltd., KONE Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Corp., Otis Worldwide Corp., Schindler Holding Ltd., Sicher Elevator Co. Ltd., Sigma Elevator Co., Stannah Group of Co., Sunlong Elevator Co. Ltd., Suzhou Diao Elevator Co. Ltd., Syney Electric Co. Ltd., thyssenkrupp AG, Toshiba Corp., and Yuanda China Holdings Ltd.

Elevator and Escalator Market in APAC is fragmented in nature.

Market to observe 2.45% YOY growth in 2023.

Market Dynamics: Trends & Challenge

The introduction of smart elevators is an emerging trend shaping the market growth. Elevators and escalators are becoming more advanced and are no longer just used for transportation. Companies are now using cognitive analytics to monitor these machines in different locations. In order to collect data on their performance, various sensors are employed.

Volatile raw material prices are a significant challenge hindering market growth. Steel stock, wire rope, and stainless steel are raw materials required to manufacture elevators and escalators. To manufacture various elements for elevators and escalators, such materials are used. The costs of these materials have been increasing due to the rising demand for the end products. The volatility can enhance the manufacturing cost of elevators and escalators.

The report also covers information on upcoming trends and challenges. Explore detailed information by purchasing a report

Keg Segments:

The market share growth of the residential segment will be significant during the forecast period. The residential elevator market segment is for elevators used in residential buildings. The demand for residential buildings, especially high-rises, has been increasing, leading to the growth of the APAC elevator and escalator market. Rapid urban population growth in Asian countries such as India , China , Indonesia , Cambodia , and Vietnam has expanded the demand for high-rise buildings.

Get a glance at the market contribution of the segments, Request Free Sample

Related Reports:

The Australia - Elevator and Escalator Market size is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 4.25% between 2022 and 2027. The market size is forecast to increase by USD 507.45 million.

The elevator and escalator market in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 8.9% between 2022 and 2027, and the size of the market is forecast to increase by USD 784.24 million.

ToC:

Executive Summary

Market Landscape

Market Sizing

Historic Market Sizes

Five Forces Analysis

Market Segmentation by End-user

Market Segmentation by Product

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 focuses on emerging market trends and provides 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
SALT LAKE CITY, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Extra Space Storage Inc. ("Extra Space") (NYSE: EXR), a leading owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the United States and a member of the S&P 500, today announced that its operating partnership, Extra Space Storage LP (the "operating partnership"), has priced a public offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.900% senior notes due 2031 (the "Notes"). The Notes were priced at 99.712% of the principal amount and will mature on January 15, 2031. J.P. Morgan, PNC Capital Markets LLC, Truist Securities, BMO Capital Markets, TD Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities and US Bancorp are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Regions Securities LLC, BOK Financial Securities, Inc., Huntington Capital Markets, Scotiabank, Zions Capital Markets, Citigroup, Fifth Third Securities, Academy Securities and Ramirez & Co., Inc. are acting as the co-managers for the offering. The offering is expected to close on or about December 1, 2023, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Extra Space and certain of its subsidiaries.

The operating partnership intends to use approximately half of the net proceeds from this offering to repay a portion of its term loan under its Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 22, 2023, and use the remainder of the net proceeds to repay amounts outstanding from time to time under its lines of credit, and for other general corporate and working capital purposes, including funding potential acquisition opportunities.

The Notes will be issued pursuant to an effective shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor will there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale is not permitted. The offering will be made only by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, copies of which, when available, may be obtained from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, Attn: Prospectus Department, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, or by telephone: 1-866-803-9204; PNC Capital Markets LLC, 300 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, email: [email protected], or by telephone: 1-855-881-0697; or Truist Securities, Inc., Attn: Prospectus Department, 3333 Peachtree Road NE, 9th floor, Atlanta, GA 30326, email: [email protected], or by telephone: 1-800-685-4786. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will also be available free of charge on the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov.

About Extra Space Storage Inc.:

Extra Space Storage Inc., headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a fully integrated, self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust, and a member of the S&P 500. As of September 30, 2023, Extra Space owned and/or operated 3,651 self-storage properties, which comprise approximately 2.5 million units and approximately 278.8 million square feet of rentable storage space operating under the Extra Space, Life Storage and Storage Express brands. Extra Space offers customers a wide selection of conveniently located and secure storage units across the country, including boat storage, RV storage and business storage. Extra Space is the largest operator of self-storage properties in the United States.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain information set forth in this release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning the terms, timing and completion of the offering of securities by Extra Space and the operating partnership, including the anticipated use of proceeds therefrom. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "believes," "estimates," "expects," "may," "will," "should," "anticipates," or "intends," or the negative of such terms or other comparable terminology, or by discussions of strategy. All forward-looking statements are based upon our current expectations and various assumptions. Our expectations, beliefs and projections are expressed in good faith and we believe there is a reasonable basis for them, but there can be no assurance that management's expectations, beliefs and projections will result or be achieved. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in or contemplated by this release. Such risks and uncertainties include without limitation those associated with market risks and uncertainties and the satisfaction of customary closing conditions for an offering of securities, as well as the risks referenced in the "Risk Factors" section included in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. All forward-looking statements apply only as of the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Extra Space Storage Inc.
Dec. 7th Taproom Release Party Celebrates One Year Anniversary of the Spread The Warmth Campaign

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Faribault Mill, the esteemed American heritage brand renowned for its handcrafted, Made in USA wool and cotton throw blankets, bed blankets and accessories, announces the debut of a craft beer brewed in collaboration with award-winning, Minneapolis-based Fulton Brewing commemorating the first anniversary of Spread The Warmth  a national philanthropic campaign launched by Faribault Mill in November 2022 to donate a wool bed blanket for every one purchased to organizations serving youth experiencing homelessness in cities across the country.

Faribault Mill and Fulton Brewing Introduce Collaboration Winter Ale to Celebrate 10,000 Blankets Donated Nationally Post this Fulton Brewing Winter Warmer Can Mockups

Spread The Warmth Winter Warmer Ale will have limited distribution throughout Minnesota beginning the week of December 4. The 4-pack of 16oz cans feature four classic and collectable Faribault Mill blanket designs on the labels.

"This Winter Warmer Ale is a collaboration of craftsmanship and compassion forged between two Minnesota manufacturers to embrace the dropping thermometer," said Ryan Petz, Fulton Brewing founder and CEO. A marriage of tradition and surprise, a subtle malt presence mingles with the holiday comforts of citrus and cherry with hints of ginger and juniper to create an iconic 7% ABV beverage that wraps you up like an ageless Frontier wool blanket.

A portion of proceeds from every 4-pack supports Spread The Warmth, locally benefitting YouthLink, which serves homeless youth ages 16-24 in Minneapolis.

"For 158 years, Faribault Mill has kept Americans warm," said Ross Widmoyer, President and CEO of Faribault Mill. "The holiday season is a celebration of family, traditions, gratitude and giving, and this collaboration between two local brands with shared values serves as an opportunity to raise awareness for a cause close to our hearts." To-date, Faribault's Spread The Warmth campaign has donated over 10,000 blankets nationwide, far exceeding its goal for year oneand the campaign is here to stay, becoming a permanent fixture for Faribault Mill.

A launch party will take place at the Fulton taproom at 5 pm on Thursday, Dec. 7 with Faribault Mill giveaways, live music, and fresh crowlers to-go. In addition, Faribault Mill blankets and co-branded merchandise will be available for purchase.

Media samples will be available for distribution beginning the week of November 27.

About Faribault Mill:

Founded in 1865, Faribault Mill is renowned for producing timeless, handcrafted blankets, decorative throws, apparel, and accessories. Throughout its storied history, the company has provided woolen blankets to pioneers heading west and comforted our troops through two world wars. Today, Faribault Mill continues to create products that are built to stand the test of time, with a commitment to 100% Made in USA manufacturing using naturally sustainable fibers like wool and cotton. The company and its workers are woven into American history, so please visit us online at faribaultmill.com or at retail stores in Faribault, Edina, and Excelsior, MN, as well as a brand new store in Portland, ME, to learn more about our iconic brand.

About Fulton Brewing:

Fulton Beer was founded by four home brewers in a Southwest Minneapolis garage in 2009 with the mantra, "Ordinary Guys Brewing Extraordinary Beer." When Fulton opened the very first taproom in the North Loop neighborhood of Minneapolis, they laid the foundation for the philosophy of 'Minnesota Made.' Since then, Fulton has been making a name for itself as one of the most authentic, approachable, and community-driven breweries in Minnesota. Their commitment to quality laid the groundwork for making award-winning craft beers. From best-known brands like Sweet Child of Vine  one of Minnesota's first IPAs, and Lonely Blonde  an easy-drinking Blonde Ale, to Hop Kingdom  an unforgettable family of award-winning Minnesota-inspired IPAs, Fulton is restless and relentless in its drive to meet and beat expectations. The iconic Hop Star logo is a calling card for unforgettable experiences and surprising innovations from a local brewery built on the trust, enthusiasm, and integrity of its founders.

For Media Inquiries:

Rick Dow

Faribault Mill

[email protected]

612.743.5631

SOURCE Faribault Mill
NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A latest research report [110+] pages with 360-Degree visibility, titled "Medical Suction Devices Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Portability (Portable, Non-portable), By Vacuum System, By End-Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2032" published by Polaris Market Research in its research repository.

Medical Suction Devices Market, Medical Suction Devices Industry, Medical Suction Devices Market Size, Medical Suction Devices Market Share, Medical Suction Devices Market 2023, Medical Suction Devices Market 2032

According to [115+ Pages] research report, the global medical suction devices market size and share is predicted to grow from USD 1.14 billion in 2022 to USD 1.75 billion in 2032. It is anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 4.4% from 2023 to 2032, according to the latest report by Polaris Market Research.

What are Medical Suction Devices? How Big is Medical Suction Devices Market Size?

Overview

A medical suction device, also known as an aspirator, is a medical device utilized to get rid of fluids and gases such as mucus, vomit, blood, saliva, serum, or alternate discharge from the body cavities of the patient. These cavities might involve the lungs, mouth, or even the skull. The rapidly rising demand for medical suction devices market can be attributed to the fact that they are engaged in the course of in progress medical processes. Anyhow a single jar suction or a double jar suction device, they serve many fundamental functions in pre-hospital, in hospital, and unceasing patient care further on just separating obstacles.

The medical suction devices market growth can be attributed to growing cases of detrimental respiratory illnesses involving critical lower respiratory tract infections, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseases (COPD), and asthma. At the same time, the growing use of suction devices in several medical procedures additionally assists in this growth. Additionally, the escalating propensity towards home healthcare solutions, together with the depreciating prices of these devices, is making them more attainable and reasonable, thereby smoothening their wider acquisition.

Request Sample Copy of Medical Suction Devices Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-suction-devices-market/request-for-sample

(The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, Table of Contents, Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis and our research methodology.)

Which are the Largest Medical Suction Devices Companies in the World?

Allied Healthcare Products

Amsino International

ATMOS MedizinTechnik

Drive Medical

Integra Biosciences

Labcoco Corporation

Laerdal Medical

Medicop

Olympus Corporation

Precision Medical

Welch Vacuum

ZOLL Medical

Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/buy/2988/2

Important Highlights from the Report

Growing cases of detrimental respiratory illnesses involving critical lower respiratory tract infections are pushing the demand for the market.

Growing inclination towards home healthcare solutions is attributing towards market expansion.

The medical suction devices market segmentation is primarily based on portability, vacuum systems, end-use, and region.

North America has dominated the market with the largest share in 2022.

Medical Suction Devices Market Details

Report Attributes Details Market value in 2023 USD 1.18 billion Market value in 2032 USD 1.75 billion CAGR 4.4% from 2023-2032 Base year 2022 Historical data 2019-2021 Forecast period 2023-2032

Market's Prime Determinants of Growth, Trends, and Opportunities

Growth Drivers

Growth of detrimental respiratory illnesses: The growing existence of detrimental respiratory illnesses notably pushes the growth of the market. The medical suction devices market size is expanding as principally the worldwide weight of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma is sizeable, as proofed by WHO's 2019 report, which signifies that likewise 65 million persons are challenged with moderate to grave COPD leading to roughly 3.2 million yearly deaths accountable to this disease.

Growing cases of asthma: Asthma, an existing detrimental illness, impact a sizeable population, with an approximated 262 million persons encountering its impact in 2019, particularly among children. The medical suction devices market sales are soaring as provided that these conditions are linked with escalated airway discharge that can possibly barricade the airways; the demand for these devices is anticipated to rise over the predicted period because of their important role in inscribing this challenge.

Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-suction-devices-market/inquire-before-buying

(Inquire a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.)

Trends and Opportunities

Growing aging population: As the maturing population increases, their augmented awareness of detrimental respiratory conditions is anticipated to assist in the market's augmentation. The growing demand for compressed and mobile suction devices customized for usage in the home care environment is an undeviating result of this trend. Additionally, the upswing in surgical procedures is secured to boost the demand for these devices, further pushing their sales and market growth.

Segmental Analysis

The Non-Portable Devices Segment Collected the Largest Share

Based on portability, the non-portable devices segment collected the largest share in 2022. The medical suction devices market demand is on the rise as this sizeable revenue share is foremost credited to the proportionate escalated prices connected with non-portable apparatus. The growing gain of clinics and hospitals additionally pushes the growth ambit of this segment. Non-portable aspirators detect extensive usage within hospital backgrounds, dentist offices, and several healthcare spaces where patients usually do not need transportation. The future years are confident of observing an escalated demand for non-portable suction devices pushed by elements such as emergency situation and surgical mediation.

The Electrically Powered Segment Dominated the Market

Based on the vacuum system, the electrically powered segment dominated the market. The medical suction devices market trends include its varied intrigue involving an assorted array of devices customized for clear cut applications, additionally pushed by its foolproof nature and strong suction potential. Further, the escalating approval of electrically powered aspirators, indebt much to their enhanced transparency, is advocated by an escalating worldwide identification. This, in collaboration with the proliferating existence of prehospital and disaster care frameworks covering the globe has peaked in a sizeable segment of the market's revenue being credited to this segment. The confluence of these elements highlights the segment's outstanding growth orientation.

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(We customize your report according to your research need. Ask our sales team for report customization.)

Regional Insights

Which Country has the Largest Medical Suction Devices?

North America: The medical suction devices market in North America holds the largest share due to the existence of well-entrenched healthcare provisions and the prepared obtainability of progressive technology. The escalated usage of suction devices in the cure of detrimental respiratory illnesses and several surgical procedures behave as an important propeller for market growth. Additionally, countries such as the US and Canada have observed a sizeable upsurge in disaster department visits and hospital entries deriving from the augmented existence of detrimental medical conditions and important injuries.

Asia Pacific: This region is anticipated to grow at a fast pace due to the confluence of elements such as the aging demographic, the speedy resurgence of robust economies, and an elevated consciousness of healthcare proceedings pushing the growth of the regional market. The proliferating geriatric population and the growing existence of detrimental respiratory illnesses stick out as notable benefactors to the escalated demand for medical suction devices. Additionally, the region's industry development is expected to be sustained by the thriving medical tourism sector, the ongoing augmentation of the earmarked patient population, and the continuing improvisation in the healthcare sector.

Browse the Detail Report "Medical Suction Devices Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Portability (Portable, Non-portable), By Vacuum System, By End-Use, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2032" with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-suction-devices-market

For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail Us: [email protected]

Polaris Market Research has segmented the medical suction devices market report based on portability, vacuum system, end-use, and region:

Medical Suction Devices, Portability Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032)

Portable

Non-portable

Medical Suction Devices, Vacuum Systems Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032)

Manual

Electrically Powered

Venturi

Medical Suction Devices, End-Use Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032)

Respiratory

Gastric

Wound Suction

Delivery Rooms

Others

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About Polaris Market Research:

Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR's clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR's diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR's customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR's customers.

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SOURCE Polaris Market Research
"Find Your Voice Miami Beach" is a digital and social media campaign inspired by Sony Music Latin's award-winning series "En Letra de Otro", that aims to inspire travel and connection with the Miami Beach brand through music

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) announces a partnership with Sony Music Latin and City of Miami Beach that will pave the way for the launch of the "Find Your Voice Miami Beach" digital experiential campaign. The dynamic collaboration is set to resonate with music and travel enthusiasts alike and provides viewers with an immersive journey that brings together the vibrant sounds from Sony Music Latin's roster of artists and the iconic allure of Miami Beach. Follow the campaign and exclusive content on FindYourVoiceMiamiBeach.com and/or @VisitMiami, @MiamiBeachNews and @SonyMusicLatin via Instagram.

Pictured from left to right: Ruben Leyva - SVP Artist Services and Premium Content Sony Music, GALE - Sony Music artist, Julissa Kepner - GMCVB Board Chair and General Manager, Miami Marriott Biscayne Bay, and David Whitaker - GMCVB CEO/President.

The "Find Your Voice Miami Beach" episodes are based off Sony Music Latin's award-winning "En Letra de Otro," an original content series featuring performances and interviews where artists share their story through the songs that shaped their lives. This Miami Beach-based iteration includes collaborations with globally acclaimed artists including Fonseca, Kany Garcia, Gale, Boza and Bomba Estereo  all who have found inspiration within Miami Beach. In each episode, one artist will take viewers on a personal journey, delving into how the city has fueled their music and influenced their favorite songs. Through intimate interviews, exclusive behind-the-scenes footage, and breathtaking visuals, audiences will gain unprecedented access to the artists' creative processes and their deep connection with Miami Beach.

As part of the larger "Find Your Wave Miami Beach" program by the GMCVB, the series aims to showcase Miami Beach as the ultimate destination for both leisure and business travelers. By merging the magic of music with the enchantment of Miami Beach, "Find Your Voice Miami Beach" will captivate audiences worldwide and offer a unique perspective on the city's rich cultural tapestry.

The campaign will include immersive videos, live performances, and interactive features as part of the "Find Your Voice Miami Beach" digital experience, set to run through the beginning of 2024 for locals and visitors alike.

"Our partnership with Sony Music Latin is a testament to Miami Beach's enduring appeal as a destination that inspires creativity, fosters cultural connections, and leaves an indelible mark on the artists who visit," said David Whitaker, President and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. "We are excited to embark on this musical journey together, celebrating the fusion of Latin music and Miami Beach.

"We are honored to partner with the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and the City of Miami Beach on this next chapter for the En Letra de Otro series," said Ruben Leyva, SVP of Artist Services and Premium Content at Sony Music Latin. "Miami Beach is a source of inspiration for countless artists in the Latin music industry and we look forward to seeing how fans enjoy hearing our artists' unique stories, melodies and connections to this incredible city throughout the campaign."

"Find Your Voice Miami Beach" will premiere this fall, inviting you to embark on a musical journey like no other. Discover the harmonious blend of Miami Beach's stunning landscapes and the melodies that have shaped Latin music history by visiting www.FindYourVoiceMiamiBeach.com.

Commissioner Alex Fernandez of the City of Miami Beach expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating, "This collaboration between the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau and Sony Music Latin perfectly encapsulates the spirit of Miami Beach  a place where creativity knows no bounds and where music and culture converge. 'Miami Beach Find Your Voice' is an exciting initiative that will not only showcase the beauty of our city but also the artistic energy that flows through its veins. We welcome this partnership with open arms and look forward to the world discovering the vibrant soul of Miami Beach through this digital experiential campaign."

Stay tuned for updates and announcements by following the campaign on social media with the hashtag #FindYourVoiceMiamiBeach.

About the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau:

The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB) is an accredited, independent not-for-profit sales and marketing organization whose mission is to attract visitors to Greater Miami & Miami Beach for leisure, business, meetings and conventions. For a vacation guide, visit our website at www.MiamiandMiamiBeach.com or call 1-888-76-Miami (US/Canada only) or 305-447-7777. To reach the GMCVB offices dial 305-539-3000. Meeting planners may call 1-800-933-8448 (US/Canada only) or 305-539-3071 or visit www.MiamiMeetings.com. To get further engaged with Greater Miami & Miami Beach, join the conversation by following us on our social media channels at Facebook.com/visitmiami, Twitter.com/visitmiami, Instagram.com/visitmiami, TikTok.com/@visitmiami and Pinterest.com/visit_miami.

About Sony Music Latin:

Sony Music US Latin is the #1 Latin music label in the worldhome to the most prolific Latin artists, from rising and independent artists to global superstars. As a full-service record label with comprehensive artist services, we pride ourselves in elevating and supporting our creators at every stage of their careers. Our diverse roster of talent is known for some of the world's most beloved Latin music, spanning a wide variety of genres, including alternative, bachata, banda, classic, mariachi, merengue, pop, reggaeton, salsa, urban, and more. Sony Music US Latin is a part of Sony Music Entertainment. For more information, visit us here.

SOURCE The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau
LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Heifer Ecuador distributed purple work boots to women farmers on the Galapagos Island of San Cristobal today to bookend a multi-month effort in support of rural women to address restrictive gender norms. The event occurred in parallel with the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, observed worldwide on November 25.

A recipient of Heifer Ecuador's purple boot distribution effort dons the work boots in her vegetable field on San Cristobal Island, Galapagos. Photo by Isadora Romero/Heifer International.

The purple boots are a nod to the color that has long been tied to movements that oppose gender-based violence, and a continuation of Heifer Ecuador's work to facilitate the economic empowerment of rural women through agriculture-based livelihoods. On the Galapagos Islands, Heifer Ecuador works alongside primarily women farmers to help build sustainable food systems by implementing agroecological practices, generating profitable bio-businesses, and improving access to fairer markets to sell their nutritious products.

"Our goal is to raise awareness of the specific challenges rural women face on account of their gender, but more importantly to help them recognize what's possible when they have agency, decision-making power and a decent income," said Rosa Rodriguez, country director of Heifer Ecuador. "Through bio-businesses, women of the archipelago are contributing to the conservation of their ecosystem and the food sovereignty of their territory."

The boot distribution follows a series of seven workshops, organized by Heifer Ecuador in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Ministry of Human Rights and Women and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which focused on exploring gendered roles and responsibilities in rural communities. Titled "Empowering Rural Women," the workshops ran from March through October 2023 and provided a space for women and men to reflect together on the division of household chores, among other gender-related issues.

In Ecuador, according to official data, 57 percent of women have experienced psychological violence, 35 percent have experienced physical violence, a third have endured sexual violence, and 16 percent have experienced financial harassment, such as earning an income but lacking the decision-making power on how to spend it.

About Heifer Ecuador

Heifer Ecuador Foundation has been working for 30 years in Ecuador with peasant, indigenous and collector organizations in the development of rural businesses that increase the opportunities and income of families. Through a local development approach, it promotes initiatives with a triple impact: social, environmental and economic. Its interventions emphasize agroecological production, working with women and youth, and promoting adaptation to reduce vulnerability and mitigation of unfavorable climatic conditions and care of ecosystems.

About Heifer International

Since its founding in 1944, Heifer International has worked with more than 46 million people around the world to end hunger and poverty in a sustainable way while caring for the Earth. Heifer currently operates in 19 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas, including the United States, supporting farmers and food producers to strengthen local economies and build secure livelihoods that provide a living income. For more information, visit www.heifer.org

SOURCE Heifer Project International
SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) recognizes the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People. HHRD stands with the people of Palestine, giving continuing contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and other vetted entities involved with the ongoing humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza facing astronomical difficulties.

The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People was designated by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in 1977.

UNRWA accepts check from Helping Hand staff

According to the UN, "In 1977, the General Assembly called for the annual observance of November 29 as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (resolution 32/40 B). On that day, in 1947, the Assembly adopted the resolution on the partition of Palestine (resolution 181 (II))."

HHRD stands in solidarity with fellow human beings in Palestine. The HHRD team has containers of supplies being prepared in Jordan & Egypt, to provide necessary water, food, and medical supplies to the dwindling number of survivors, as daily limited number of trucks are allowed to enter Gaza from Rafah border.

Vetted partner organizations such as UNRWA are able to work on the ground to support relief efforts within Gaza with whatever is available, and HHRD started supporting them around October 23rd, 2023. Until now, more than 60,000 people have been served, and much more is needed & will be done.

UNRWA has makeshift shelters in 154 schools in Gaza providing relief and aid. Primary care is given to infants, injured people, persons with special needs, elderly, & women. HHRD is part of these efforts with UNRWA in providing dignity relief packages.

Visit https://www.HHRD.Org/Palestine2023 to give your generous donations in preparing from Egypt & Jordan, as many containers of supplies, as possible for the survivors in Palestine.

Ranked among the top 3% of 9,000+ NGOs, HHRD has received a four-star rating (100/100 score) from Charity Navigator over the past 12 years. For more information, please visit www.HHRD.Org or call 1-888-808-4357 (HELP). HHRD is a non-profit 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt organization. Tax ID# 31-1628040.

CONTACT:

iLyas Choudry

[email protected]

SOURCE Helping Hand for Relief and Development
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and other agency leaders will participate in the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP28) beginning Thursday, Nov. 30, through Tuesday, Dec. 12, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

This global conference brings together countries committed to addressing climate change, which is a key priority for the Biden-Harris Administration and NASA. For the first time, a NASA administrator will attend, joining an expected 70,000 participants, world leaders, and representatives from nearly 200 countries.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson delivers remarks before the ribbon cutting ceremony to open NASAs Earth Information Center, Wednesday, June 21, 2023, at the Mary W. Jackson NASA Headquarters building in Washington. The Earth Information Center is new immersive experience that combines live data sets with cutting-edge data visualization and storytelling to allow visitors to see how our planet is changing. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

Throughout the conference, parties will review the implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol and, also for the first time, provide a comprehensive assessment of progress since adopting the Paris Agreement.

In addition to Nelson, NASA participants in the conference include:

Kate Calvin , NASA's chief scientist and senior climate advisor

, NASA's chief scientist and senior climate advisor Susie Perez Quinn , NASA's chief of staff

, NASA's chief of staff Karen St. Germain, director, NASA Earth Science Division

Nadya Vinogradova Shiffer , program scientist, ocean physics, NASA Earth Science Division

, program scientist, ocean physics, NASA Earth Science Division Laura Rogers , associate program manager, ecological conservation, NASA Langley Research Center

, associate program manager, ecological conservation, NASA Langley Research Center Wenying Su , senior research scientist, climate science, NASA Langley Research Center

, senior research scientist, climate science, NASA Langley Research Center Ben Hamlington, research scientist, sea level and ice, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

During the conference, Nelson will participate in the first Space Agency Leaders' Summit, which aims to demonstrate a collective commitment toward strengthening global climate initiatives and promoting sustainable space operations.

Throughout the conference, NASA leaders also will participate in additional events and presentations at the NASA Hyperwall, a main attraction at the U.S. Center showing how the agency's climate science and research helps model and predict ocean health, heat waves, wildfires, hurricanes, floods, and droughts, among its other Earth-related research. NASA will provide a hyperwall presentation every day, some with interagency partners, between Sunday, Dec. 3, and Monday, Dec. 11.

Climate adaptation and mitigation efforts require robust climate observations and research. NASA's unique vantage point from space provides critical information to advance understanding of our changing planet. With more than two dozen satellites and instruments in orbit, NASA's climate data  which is openly and freely available to anyone  provides insight on how the planet is changing and measure key climate indicators, such as greenhouse gas emissions, rising sea level and clouds, and precipitation.

A full schedule of U.S. Center events at COP28 is available at:

https://www.state.gov/u-s-center-at-cop28-schedule/

SOURCE NASA
Russia has already stolen grain worth about $1 billion from the occupied territories of Ukraine, Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal said at the second international summit Grain from Ukraine in Kyiv on Saturday.

"The occupiers have prepared the technical means to steal and export 12,000 tonnes of grain from the occupied territories daily. They succeeded only partially, as the heroic resistance of Ukrainians forced the enemy to retreat. However, the amount of stolen goods is impressive - millions of tonnes of grain worth about $1 billion. The plundering of Ukraine by Russia continues even now," the Head of Government noted.

According to him, despite all this, Ukraine will remain one of the guarantors of global food security.

"This year, Ukraine's harvest is expected to exceed 79 million tonnes. That is 10% more than last year. For our domestic needs, 25% of the harvested grain is enough. The rest can be sent to places where there is a risk of hunger.

To date, 30 countries and international organisations have joined the Grain from Ukraine programme initiated by the President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, raising 180 million dollars to buy Ukrainian grain.

We have sent 170,000 tonnes of food to Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. We are about to send another 25,000 tonnes to Nigeria, Shmyhal said.

The head of government called for more active participation in this initiative, to support the Ukrainian Peace Formula and contribute to its implementation.

"The world must also put an end once and for all to Russia's barbaric practice of genocidal starvation. Russia must be severely punished. The top political leadership of the Russian Federation should be brought to justice not only for the act of aggression, the shelling of peaceful towns and villages, the abduction of Ukrainian children, the massacres in Bucha and Izium, but also for the theft of Ukrainian grain, the blockade of Ukrainian ports, the attempt to revive Stalin's methods of famine in the 21st century. There must be a clear legal response  a special tribunal for the members of the Putin regime," the Prime Minister of Ukraine said.
LACHEN, Switzerland, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- New clinical data from Octapharma's haematology portfolio will be presented during the scientific program at the 65th American Society of Hematology (ASH) Meeting and Exposition, which is being held on December 912, 2023, in San Diego, California. New data from the prospective clinical trial using wilate for prophylaxis in patients with von Willebrand disease (VWD) will be presented. Furthermore, the design of a new phase IV clinical trial of bone and joint health in people with haemophilia A will be presented, in addition to updates from research collaborations between Octapharma and academic institutions.

"We are excited to present new data at ASH 2023 highlighting our ongoing commitment to understand the mechanisms underlying bleeding disorders and to improve the standards of care for patients. We are delighted to support clinical and scientific research that advances the care of people with bleeding disorders."  Olaf Walter, Board Member and Head of International Business Units at Octapharma.

The WIL-31 study investigated the efficacy and safety of prophylaxis with wilate in adults and children of any gender with all types of VWD. WIL-31 is the largest prospective prophylaxis study in VWD and the only one with a prospective on-demand run-in study as an intra-individual comparator. The results of the study showed that wilate prophylaxis is highly effective at reducing the number of bleeds in children and adults and provides compelling evidence to support the use of regular prophylaxis in patients with severe VWD.

Data from sub-analyses of the study will be presented at ASH 2023, focusing on the effectiveness of prophylaxis in patients with different types of bleeding and in different subsets of patients. Women with bleeding disorders such as VWD are at an increased risk for heavy menstrual bleeding, but they are underdiagnosed and undertreated. A sub-analysis of WIL-31 will be presented, demonstrating that wilate prophylaxis was effective in reducing the incidence of heavy menstrual bleeding. An additional sub-analysis focused on the efficacy and safety of wilate prophylaxis in children and adolescents will also be presented.

People with haemophilia A often suffer from joint health issues and reduced bone strength. Prophylaxis with factor VIII replacement therapy has been associated with reductions in joint bleeding rates, joint deterioration, and degenerative joint disease. In contrast, there is a shortage of data on the long-term effects of prophylaxis with the non-factor therapy emicizumab. The new phase IV clinical trial PROVE aims to assess the long-term effects of prophylaxis with Nuwiq or emicizumab on joint and bone health. The study design will be presented for the first time at ASH 2023.

In addition to clinical studies, Octapharma is proud to support scientific investigations with academic research partners that further our understanding of different aspects of bleeding disorders. Results from various avenues of scientific investigation will be presented at ASH 2023.

In PUPs with haemophilia A, the development of inhibitors to FVIII is the most significant treatment complication, and there is a need to better understand the mechanisms underlying inhibitor development. The NuProtect study with Nuwiq was the largest prospective study of a single FVIII product in PUPs. Researchers from University College London, UK, will present new data from a sub-study of the NuProtect study, revealing differences in gene expression profiles between PUPs who developed inhibitors and those who did not.

In collaboration with the ETH Zurich and Balgrist Campus Zurich, Switzerland, the effect of FVIII on bone remodelling has been evaluated in vivo, with the results indicating that FVIII and/or von Willebrand can further inhibit the formation of osteoclasts, cells that play a key role in bone remodelling.

Platelets and endothelial cells play key roles in haemostasis. Research performed in collaborations with the ETH Zurich, Switzerland, and the University of Eastern Piedmont, Italy, revealed significant differences in the binding of different recombinant FVIII products to platelets and endothelial cells.

"We are excited to present additional data from the WIL-31 study, the largest prospective study in VWD, that further supports the use of prophylaxis for children, adolescents and women with von Willebrand disease. We are also proud to introduce the upcoming PROVE study, which will help us understand how best to protect people with haemophilia A from debilitating joint damage."  Larisa Belyanskaya, Head of IBU Haematology.

The posters will be presented at the following times:

Saturday December 9, 17:30-19:30 (PST)

Poster 1255: Design of a Comparative Study (PROVE) To Assess the Long-Term Effects of Prophylaxis With Simoctocog Alfa or Emicizumab on Joint and Bone Health in Hemophilia A Patients. Presenting author: Robert Klamroth

Poster 1227: Transcriptomic profiling to understand inhibitor development in previously untreated patients with severe hemophilia A. Presenting author: Paul Batty

Poster 1244: Impact of recombinant factor VIII and platelet interaction on platelet functionality and hemophilia A treatment. Presenting author: Fabrizio A. Pennacchio

Monday December 11, 18:00-20:00 (PST)

Poster 3977: Factor VIII is an endothelial factor that promotes vessel stability. Presenting author: Antonia Follenzi

Poster 3979: Inter-donor variability in Osteoclastogenesis and responses to Osteoprotegerin (OPG), von Willebrand Factor (vWF), and Factor VIII (FVIII). Presenting author: Joyce Kimenai

Poster 3992: Efficacy and Safety of Prophylaxis with a Plasma-derived von Willebrand Factor/Factor VIII Concentrate in Children and Adolescents with von Willebrand Disease  A Sub-Analysis of Data from the WIL-31 Study. Presenting author: Robert F. Sidonio, Jr

Poster 3997: Efficacy of Regular Prophylaxis with a Plasma-derived von Willebrand Factor/Factor VIII Concentrate in Reducing Heavy Menstrual Bleeding in Females with von Willebrand Disease. Presenting author: Robert F. Sidonio, Jr

About Octapharma

Headquartered in Lachen, Switzerland, Octapharma is one of the largest human protein manufacturers in the world, developing and producing human proteins from human plasma and human cell lines.

Octapharma employs more than 11,000 people worldwide to support the treatment of patients in 118 countries with products across three therapeutic areas: Immunotherapy, Haematology and Critical Care.

Octapharma has seven R&D sites and five state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Austria, France, Germany and Sweden, and operates more than 190 plasma donation centres across Europe and the US. Octapharma has 40 years of experience in patient care.

Octapharma press releases are specifically for health specialist/medical media and are not for consumer press.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1802873/Octapharma_Logo.jpg
Previous iterations of the event have raised over $2 million supporting girls' education

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- One Planet Group , a closely-held private equity firm headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, today announced the return of its annual fundraiser, Holidays with a Purpose . This year's holiday event is designed to benefit two worthy causes, Lide Haiti and Starfish International , two outstanding organizations dedicated to empowering girls through education in Haiti and The Gambia, respectively.

"At One Planet Group, we believe businesses can and should be elevated to serve humanity. We love the work of Starfish International and Lide Haiti and are excited to partner with them. We are grateful to have the opportunity to play a small role in these organizations' significant impact on the communities they serve."

At One Planet Group, we believe businesses can and should be elevated to serve humanity. Post this

- Payam Zamani, Founder, One Planet Group

The event will take place on Tuesday, December 12th at 9AM PST via zoom . Rainn Wilson, star of the NBC hit series, The Office, and Lide's Co-Founder, and Mam-Yassin Sarr, the Director of Starfish International, will join the One Planet team and their partners to share their respective organizations' missions, challenges, goals, and triumphs.

One Planet Group will match all donations up to $100,000, with the goal of $250,000, the total of which will be split between the two entities.

Starfish International works with Gambian girls and boys to support their education. Working with 150 students annually, Starfish International has been in service for twelve years, providing world-class education focused on serving humanity while also offering international service-learning opportunities for volunteers. This summer, One Planet Group sent five team members to their campus in Banjul, Gambia, as volunteers to lend a hand in their efforts. The values of Starfish International, nobility, independence, courtesy, knowledge, and service, are evident in every life they touch.

Lide Haiti takes a whole-person approach to building capacity and resiliency among adolescent girls who have been denied equal access to education, currently serving over 1,200 girls in eight locations across Haiti. Lide offers programs in the arts, education, and health. Their creative arts programs include photography, creative writing, dance, and theater, which enable girls to increase their creativity, resiliency, and self-confidence. Their academic support programs expand girls' educational attainment by offering over 1,100 primary and secondary school scholarships, along with academic tutoring and training in literacy, mathematics, and computer skills. Their health programming strengthens girls' mental and physical health through daily nutritious meals, medical services, individualized counseling, family planning education, and psychosocial support services.

Over the years, Holidays with a Purpose has raised over $2 million. Previous beneficiaries have included Lide Haiti, Starfish International, the Tahirih Justice Center , Feed Projects , and the MONA foundation .

One Planet Group wholeheartedly embraces the philosophy that service to humanity often benefits the giver more than the receiver. In line with this belief, they are grateful for the opportunity to support two extraordinary organizations working to make a positive impact through people-first initiatives.

About One Planet Group

One Planet Group is a closely held private equity firm that owns a suite of online technology and media businesses while also investing in early-stage companies. Owned and operated businesses span a variety of industries including ad tech, publishing, and media. One Planet Group's mission is to support strong business ideas while building an ethos that helps improve society and give back to communities.

Infused with foundational values that promote diversity and inclusion, unity, service to humanity, and excellence in all things, One Planet Group strives to foster an environment that promotes equality, love, and empowerment.

The company's investment portfolio includes over 45 startups representing a diverse group of innovative tech-enabled products and solutions. Investing primarily in high-growth early-stage entities, emphasizing companies that aspire to 'Innovation + Intention.' Specific areas of focus include the future of mobility, education technology, health technology, and environmental solutions.

One Planet Group's operating businesses include Buyerlink , a leading online marketplace for performance-based marketing; Autoweb , a company that provides performance-based marketing solutions to the automotive industry; California.com , a curated guide to traveling and living in California; WestWind Pictures , a production company that creates and distributes film and television content, and many more. One Planet Group also operates BahaiTeachings.org , a non-profit platform that shares personal perspectives to promote the oneness of humanity.

One Planet Group recently announced its annual conference, focused on the idea for elevating business to serve humanity. The inaugural event, One Planet Summit , is scheduled for November 2023.

One Planet Group was founded by tech entrepreneur Payam Zamani in 2015. With offices and employees in over ten countries, its global headquarters is in Walnut Creek, California.

About Starfish International

Starfish International is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing a well-rounded and quality education for Gambian girls and boys. Working annually with 100 girls and 35 boys, Starfish International has been in service for 12 years, uplifting, educating, accompanying, and providing a safe haven for their students' growth, well-being, and development.

Starfish's mission is to uplift Gambian girls by providing them with a world-class education that is focused on service to humanity while at the same time providing international service-learning opportunities for volunteers.

The values and the five qualities highlighted at Starfish International are nobility, independence, courtesy, knowledge, and service. As an organization, its major achievement is to have graduated and impacted over 900 students who are now doctors, teachers, lawyers, nurses, and many other professionals in their respective fields. Their three significant areas of impact are education, health, and agriculture, with a focus on mentorship, entrepreneurship, character development, scholarship opportunities, leadership training, career counseling, public speaking, and community service.

About Lide Haiti

Lide Haiti was co-founded in 2014 by actor Rainn Wilson, author Holiday Reinhorn, and psychologist Dr. Kathryn Adams, inspired by a successful short-term project they led to provide healing through the arts for adolescent girls who had survived the 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

Working towards a Haiti where every girl can play, create, learn, and lead, Lide programs in the arts, education, and health reach girls ages 11 to 21 who are out of school or significantly behind in age-to-grade, live in rural underserved communities where the majority of the community is living in extreme poverty, have experienced trauma or abuse, live in situations of domestic labor, are experiencing food insecurity or the effects of malnutrition, and/or have a disability.

Media Contact

Miriam Cohen

Senior Director of PR & Communications

[email protected]

SOURCE One Planet Group Inc.
BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The inauguration ceremony of the UAE's first wind power project constructed by Power Construction Corporation of China ("POWERCHINA") was held in Abu Dhabi, demonstrating the importance of renewable energy in global climate action at a critical moment when the fight against climate change is going into overdrive. The total installed capacity of the project, owned by Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company PJSC  Masdar, is 117.5MW that includes 103.5MW of wind power and a small 14MW photovoltaic power station.

the UAE Wind Program Project (PRNewsfoto/PowerChina)

Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, UAE Special Envoy for Climate Change, and Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, commented at the ceremony that the UAE Wind Program Project is the pride of the UAE, and the country is on track to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement which calls for installed renewable energy capacity globally to triple by 2030. He also mentioned that the project shows the UAE's firm commitment to expanding clean energy investment, especially given that the United Nations Climate Change Conference will be held in the country in November this year, adding the project is an important part of realizing the UAE's Net Zero by 2050 strategic initiative.

Recognized for its excellence, the project received the Energy Project of the Year 2022 by Big Project ME and the International Safety Awards 2023 by the British Safety Council.

Since 2008, POWERCHINA has been operating in the UAE, establishing its regional headquarters in Dubai in 2016 to oversee the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Specializing in water, energy, and urban development, POWERCHINA has become MENA's largest contractor for power station and seawater desalination engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). Notably, it completed six projects in the UAE, including the Etihad Railway Project 2F2 Freight Facilities. Currently, two projects are underway, including the Taweelah desalination project in Abu Dhabi, the world's largest with a daily water production of 900,000 cubic meters.

Climate change is a major challenge and every fraction of a degree of warming matters. As UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, "The good news is that the lifeline is right in front of us." He highlighted the urgency of utilizing renewable energy technologies like wind and solar power, often more cost-effective than fossil fuels. The UAE government plans to increase investment in renewable energy and invest at least 600 billion dirhams (approx. US$163.5 billion) in the field by 2050. According to its 2050 energy strategy, the UAE will achieve 44% of its energy supply from renewable energy by 2050.

POWERCHINA is committed to continuing to promote sustainable energy solutions and contribute to global climate action and clean energy development that benefit more people in the UAE.

About POWERCHINA

Founded in 2011, Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA) is a leading construction group specializing in investment and financing, planning and design, engineering construction, equipment manufacturing, and operation management. The company ranked 105th among the Fortune 500 in the year 2023.

SOURCE PowerChina
CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Restorative Dentistry Market in terms of revenue was estimated to be worth $5.6 billion in 2023 and is poised to reach $7.4 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 5.5% from 2023 to 2028 according to a new report by MarketsandMarkets. Growth in this market can primarily be attributed to the development of technologically advanced solutions. Patient compliance has concurrently increased, with a sharp rise in the demand for cosmetic dentistry procedures. Adhesive dentistry is an area that has gained attention this uses composite materials to improve aesthetics and strengthen teeth with minimal damage to tooth structures. As a result, the number of people opting for such procedures increases.

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Browse in-depth TOC on "Restorative Dentistry Market"

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Restorative Dentistry Market Scope:

Report Coverage Details Market Revenue in 2023 $5.6 billion Estimated Value by 2028 $7.4 billion Growth Rate Poised to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% Market Size Available for 20212028 Forecast Period 20232028 Forecast Units Value (USD Billion) Report Coverage Revenue Forecast, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, and Trends Segments Covered Product, type of cavity, End user and region Geographies Covered North America (US & Canada), Europe (Germany, the UK, France, Italy, Spain, and RoE), APAC (Japan, China, Australia, South Korea India, and the RoAPAC), LATAM (Brazil, Mexico, and RoLATAM), and MEA Report Highlights Updated financial information / product portfolio of players Key Market Opportunities Rising disposable incomes in developing countries Key Market Drivers Lifestyle Changes and unhealthy food habits

Based on the product segment, the material segment holds the major share of the restorative dentistry market in 2022.

Based on product, the restorative dentistry monitoring devices market is segmented into materials, equipments and instruments. The materials segment accounted for the largest share of the restorative dentistry in 2022. A large share of the materials segment can be attributed to the development of innovative and advanced technological products, such as composites, Glass ionomers and other bonding agents.

Based on the end user segment, the hospitals segment holds the major share of the restorative dentistry market in 2022.

Based on end user, the restorative dentistry market is segmented into dental hospitals and clinics , dental laboratories and other end users. The dental hospitals and clinics segment holds the major share of the restorative dentistry market. Growing public-private partnerships to improve access to healthcare servicesalong with rapid developments in healthcare infrastructure and improving access to healthcare servicesare expected to be the key factors driving the growth of the restorative dentistry market for hospitals in emerging economies in the coming years.

Based on the region segment, the Asia Pacific segment accounted for the largest share of the restorative dentistry market in 2022.

The global restorative dentistry market is segmented into North America, Europe, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. In 2022, Asia Pacific is the fastest growing market in the restorative dentistry market in 2022. Increase in dental tourism and high healthcare expenditure in the Asia Pacific are factors expected to drive the growth of the restorative dentistry market in the country.

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Restorative Dentistry Market Dynamics:

Drivers:

Lifestyle Changes and unhealthy food habits

Restraints:

Intricacies of using traditional dental composites

Opportunities:

Rising disposable incomes in developing countries

Challenge:

Dearth of Dental practitioners

Key Market Players of Restorative Dentistry Industry:

The major players in the restorative dentistry market include Envista Holdings Corporation (US), DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. (US), 3M Company (US), COLTENE Group (Switzerland), Mitsui Chemicals (Japan), GC Corporation (Japan), Septodont Holding (France), Ivoclar Vivadent (Liechtenstein), VOCO GmbH (Germany), BEGO GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), DMG Chemisch-Pharmazeutische Fabrik (Germany), DiaDent (South Korea), Ultradent Products (US), Kuraray Noritake Dental (Japan), Brasseler USA (US), SHOFU INC. (Japan), SDI Limited (Australia), Zhermack SpA (Italy), DENTAURUM GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), BISCO, Inc. (US), and Dental Technologies Inc. (US).

The break-up of the profile of primary participants in the restorative dentistry market (Supply Side):

By Company Type: Tier 1  35%, Tier 2  40%, and Tier 3  25%

By Designation: C Level  20%, Director Level  35%, Others-45%

By Region: North America  30%, Europe  27%, Asia Pacific  25%, Middle East  10%, and Latin America  8%

The break-up of the profile of primary participants in the restorative dentistry market (Demand Side):

By End User: Dental Hospital and Clinics- 47%, Dental Laboratories- 33%, DSOs and research & academic institutes -20%

By Designation: Doctors- 35% Diagnostic centre Lab Heads - 27%, Dental Hospital Directors & Managers-22%, Others-16%

By Region: North America -34%, Europe -22%, Asia Pacific -20%, Latin America -16%, Middle East & Africa -8%

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Recent Developments:

In September 2023 , J Morita launched its new Vera view X800 3D CBCT imaging system. This system is designed to provide dentists with high-quality 3D images of patients' teeth and jaws.

, J Morita launched its new Vera view X800 3D CBCT imaging system. This system is designed to provide dentists with high-quality 3D images of patients' teeth and jaws. In May 2022 , Dentsply Sirona introduced the initial version of a new line of Dentsply Sirona devices that will revolutionize digital dentistry, as well as Prime print Solution for dental offices and labs. This innovative 3D printing method makes it simple to build patient-specific and biocompatible appliances through an automated and simplified manufacturing procedure.

, Dentsply Sirona introduced the initial version of a new line of Dentsply Sirona devices that will revolutionize digital dentistry, as well as Prime print Solution for dental offices and labs. This innovative 3D printing method makes it simple to build patient-specific and biocompatible appliances through an automated and simplified manufacturing procedure. In March 2022 , Envisat Holdings Corporation announced Envisat's KaVo imagining business to be re-branded as DEXIS. The DEXIS brand represents a portfolio of award-winning imaging and digital solutions, including cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT), intraoral scanners, handheld X-rays, and sensors.

Restorative Dentistry Market - Key Benefits of Buying the Report:

The report will help the market leaders/new entrants in this market with information on the closest approximations of the revenue numbers for the overall restorative dentistry market and the subsegments. This report will help stakeholders understand the competitive landscape and gain more insights to position their businesses better and to plan suitable go-to-market strategies. The report also helps stakeholders understand the pulse of the market and provides them with information on key market drivers, restraints, challenges, and opportunities.

This report provides insights into the following pointers:

Analysis of key drivers (growing number of tooth repair procedures, rising demand for advanced cosmetic dental procedures, growing market for dental tourism in emerging countries, development of technologically advanced solutions, and lifestyle changes & unhealthy food habits.), restraints (intricacies of using traditional dental composites), opportunities (Growing focus on emerging markets & rising disposable income levels, Impact of DSOs on the dental industry, Increasing investments in CAD CAM technologies)), and challenges (Microleakage in composite restorations, Dearth of trained dental practitioners )

Product Development/Innovation: Detailed insights on upcoming technologies, research & development activities, and new product launches in the restorative dentistry market

Market Development: Comprehensive information on the lucrative emerging markets by product, by type of cavity, end user and region.

Market Diversification: Exhaustive information about new products or product enhancements, growing geographies, recent developments, and investments in the global restorative dentistry market.

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of market shares, growth strategies, product offerings, competitive leadership mapping, and capabilities of leading players like Players such as 3M Company (US), COLTENE Group ( Switzerland ), Mitsui Chemicals ( Japan ), GC Corporation ( Japan ), Septodont Holding ( France ) in the global restorative dentistry market.

Related Reports:

Dental Consumables Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Dental Equipment Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Dental Implants and Prosthetics Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Medical Ceramics Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

Medical Device Cleaning Market - Global Forecasts to 2027

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.

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SOURCE MarketsandMarkets
Revenues in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 3.85 billion, an increase of approximately 1.2% compared to NIS 3.81 in the corresponding quarter last year

The group's revenues in the first nine months of 2023 increased by approximately 2.4% and totalled approximately 11.3 billion NIS compared to approximately 11 billion NIS in the corresponding period last year

The operating profit (before other revenues/expenses) in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 138 million, which is approximately 3.6% of the revenues compared to NIS 115 million in the corresponding quarter last year, which was 3.0% of the group's revenues

An increase in operating profit (before other revenues/expenses) in the first nine months of 2023 which totalled approximately NIS 441 million, which is approximately 3.9% of the revenues compared to approximately NIS 324 million in the corresponding period last year, which was approximately 2.9% of the group's revenues

The net profit attributable to the company's shareholders in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 50 million compared to a loss of approximately NIS 96 million in the corresponding quarter last year which resulted from the realization of the efficiency plan that was implemented in the corresponding quarter

The "Iron Swords" war - Shufersal operates as a vital enterprise during this emergency period and continues its activity as usual in the chain's branches and online, and as of the date of the report, no material impact on the company's activity was evident. Since the outbreak of the war, the company has worked to provide aid and donations to support the evacuees, the rescue forces, the security forces and the families of the kidnapped. In addition, the company formulated an immediate aid plan for farmers and acts out of national responsibility and a desire to contribute as much as it can to the national effort

TEL AVIV, Israel, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shufersal (TASE: SAE), Israel's leading retailer, announced today financial results for the third quarter and the first nine months of 2023.

Itzik Abercohen, Chairman of the Shufersal Board of Directors and Uri Waterman, CEO of the Shufersal Group, said today:

"We conclude the third quarter of 2023 with an increase in revenues and an improvement in the profit indicators in accordance with the efficiency plan we implemented. This plan allows for the optimization of the expense structure as well as the deepening of the synergy between the various activities of the group.

In the shadow of the ongoing war, the chain's branches operated and operate normally. Shufersal manages its routine activity as a vital enterprise and as a leading food retail group committed to the nutritional security of all the country's residents. In the first week of the war, we experienced a sharp increase in demand, mainly in the company's physical branches, which, in the second week of the war, reached normal sales levels. The demand was directed mainly to basic food and consumer products, alongside a decrease in the level of demand in the business market and online. In the company's estimation, no significant impact is expected on the company's activities and results due to the war.

As a contribution to the residents of the Envelope who were evacuated from their homes and to the fighters in the assembly areas, we acted on many levels by donating coupons to the people who were affected and need help these days. In addition, Shufersal announced the preparation of an immediate assistance plan for farmers and the cessation of the import of agricultural produce from Turkey and worked to mark Israeli produce on the shelves in a voluntary manner, in order to do everything possible to support Israeli agriculture these days.

The group continues to operate in accordance with the strategy of focusing on food retailing alongside the variety areas of growth while improving profitability. Loyal to our work plans, we are on the right track towards the goals and objectives we have set for 2023 and the years to come."

The group's revenues in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 3.85 billion, an increase of approximately 1.2% compared to approximately NIS 3.81 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The retail sector showed an increase of approximately 0.8% in the third quarter, which was due to an increase in revenues in Shufersal stores and the expansion of business market activity and the operation of "Dan Deal" in the Stock sector, which was acquired in August 2022. Sales in the same stores in the group increased by approximately 0.3% and by approximately 0.2% in the retail sector compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

The group's revenues in the first nine months increased by about 2.4% and amounted to about NIS 11.3 billion compared to about NIS 11 billion in the corresponding period last year.

The sales in the same stores of the group in the first nine months of this year increased by about 0.6% and at a rate of about 0.8% in the retail sector compared to the corresponding period last year.

The gross profit in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 1,010 million, which is approximately 26.2% of the revenues, compared to approximately NIS 1,024 million in the corresponding quarter last year, which was approximately 26.9% of the revenues. The decrease in gross profit and its share of revenues was, among other things, due to the opening of the shipping center in Modi'in, which as of this date has not yet reached full capacity, as well as the effect of the increase in exchange rates.

In the first nine months, the gross profit increased by approximately 2.5% and totalled approximately NIS 2,996 million, which made up approximately 26.6% of the revenues compared to approximately NIS 2,922 million in the corresponding period last year, which made up approximately 26.5% of the total revenues. The increase is mainly due to the group's revenue growth.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the third quarter grew by 20% and totalled approximately NIS 138 million, which is approximately 3.6% of the group's revenues, compared to approximately NIS 115 million, which was approximately 3.0% of the group's revenues in the corresponding quarter last year.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the first nine months grew by approximately 36% and totalled approximately NIS 441 million, approximately 3.9% of the group's revenues, compared to approximately 324 million NIS in the corresponding period last year, which was approximately 2.9% of the revenues.

The operating profit after other revenues (expenses) in the third quarter totalled NIS 139 million, which is approximately 3.6% of the group's revenues, compared to the operating loss of approximately NIS 42 million in the corresponding quarter last year, which was mainly due to the effect of the efficiency plan implemented by the company.

The operating profit after other revenues (expenses) in the nine months totalled approximately NIS 463 million, approximately 4.1% of the group's revenues, compared to approximately NIS 201 million in the corresponding period last year, which constituted approximately 1.8% of the group's revenues. The increase was mainly due to the effect of the efficiency plan implemented by the company, as mentioned.

EBITDA in the quarter increased by approximately 11% and totalled approximately NIS 381 million compared to approximately NIS 344 million in the corresponding quarter last year and constitute approximately 9.9% of the group's total revenues compared to approximately 9% of the revenues in the corresponding quarter last year. The increase was mainly due to the operating profit growth.

EBITDA in the nine months increased by approximately 15% and totalled approximately NIS 1,145 million which make up about 10.2% of the company's total sales, compared to approximately NIS 994 million which made up approximately 9% of the company's total sales in the corresponding period last year. The increase was mainly due to the operating profit growth.

The net profit in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 51 million, which is about 1.3% of the revenues, compared to a loss of about NIS 96 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The profit attributed to the company's shareholders in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 50 million.

The net profit in the first nine months totalled approximately NIS 190 million, which is approximately 1.7% of the revenues compared to a loss of approximately NIS 1 million in the corresponding period last year. The profit attributed to the company's shareholders in the first nine months of the year totalled approximately NIS 180 million.

The revenues of the retail sector in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 3.56 billion compared to approximately NIS 3.53 billion in the corresponding quarter last year, an increase of approximately 0.8% which was due, among other things, to an increase in revenues in Shufersal stores, expansion of business market activity and "Dan Deal" activities in the Stock sector which was purchased in August 2022. Sales at shipping centers and Shufersal branches in the third quarter of this year increased by approximately 0.3% compared to the corresponding quarter last year.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the retail sector in the third quarter of this year totalled approximately NIS 73 million and at a rate of approximately 2.1% of total revenues, compared to approximately NIS 58 million and at a rate of approximately 1.6% of total revenues in the corresponding quarter last year.

The revenues of the retail sector in the first nine months totalled approximately NIS 10.43 billion compared to approximately NIS 10.19 billion in the corresponding period, an increase of approximately 2.4% which was mainly due to an increase in the sales of Shufersal stores and the expansion of activity in the business market (B2B) and the revenues from the Stock activity that was purchased in August 2022. Sales at shipping centers and Shufersal branches increased by approximately 1.4% compared to the same period last year.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the retail sector in the first nine months of this year approximately NIS 251 million and at a rate of approximately 2.4% of the revenues, compared to approximately NIS 159 million and at a rate of approximately 1.6% of the total revenues in the corresponding period last year.

The revenues of the Be network increased by approximately 1.5% and totalled in the third quarter approximately NIS 270 million, compared to approximately NIS 266 million in the corresponding quarter last year. Sales in the same Be stores increased by approximately 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) of the Be network in the third quarter of 2023 totalled approximately NIS 3 million, compared to approximately NIS 1 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

In the first nine months the revenues of the Be chain totalled approximately NIS 777 million, compared to approximately NIS 790 million in the corresponding period last year, a decrease of approximately 1.6% which is mainly due to the effect of the corona virus on sales in the corresponding period last year. Sales in the same Be stores remained unchanged compared to last year, and neutralizing the effect of the corona virus last year, sales in the same Be stores increased in the first nine months of this year by approximately 5.8%.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) of the Be network in the first nine months of 2023 totalled approximately NIS 7 million compared to approximately NIS 4 million in the corresponding period last year.

Revenues from the real estate sector in the third quarter totalled approximately NIS 64 million compared to approximately NIS 51 million in the corresponding quarter last year. The increase is mainly due to the effect of the acquisition of control in the "Lev Ha-Mifratz" company starting in October 2022 and index growth.

The operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the real estate sector totalled approximately NIS 48 million, compared to NIS 42 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Revenues from the real estate sector in the first nine months of this year totalled approximately NIS 188 million, compared to approximately 147 NIS million in the corresponding period last year, an increase of approximately 27.9% that was mainly due to the effect of the acquisition of control in the "Lev Ha-Mifratz" company starting in October 2022 and index growth.

Operating profit before other revenues (expenses) in the real estate sector totalled approximately NIS 144 million, compared to approximately NIS 124 million in the corresponding period last year.

On October 19, 2023 Shufersal Real Estate signed a contract with a third party that owns 35% of the rights of a commercial center built on approximately 8,150 square meters in Romema neighborhood in Jerusalem to purchase its entire holdings in the property for approximately NIS 76 million. The delivery date is set for December 26, 2023. Most of the property area (approximately 71%) is used by the company's retail activity.

In addition, Shufersal Real Estate signed an agreement with the partner in the property who owns the remaining 65% in the property, according to which he can sell his entire share at the same value as the value specified in the agreement, approximately NIS 141 million, so that if the partner exercises his right, Shufersal Real Estate will own 100% of the property.

Shufersal Real Estate continues negotiating the purchase of a commercial center in Harish. This is a new commercial center that was approved for occupancy in August 2023 and will be occupied in the coming months.

As part of the company's strategy, according to which the real estate sector will be used as a growth engine alongside the retail activity, in the second quarter of this year the group signed an agreement to transfer the logistics centers under the subsidiary company Shufersal Real Estate. After the completion of the transaction, Shufersal Real Estate will own yielding real estate with a significant scope of approximately 350 thousand square meters (the company's share is approximately 300 thousand square meters) and a fair value of approximately NIS 4.7 billion, which is located in key demand areas all over the country.

As of September 30, 2023, the group has approximately NIS 1,461 million worth of real estate for investment compared to approximately NIS 953 million on September 30, 2022. An increase of approximately NIS 392 million results from the purchase of additional shares in Lev Ha-Mifratz and the balance arises from an increase in the fair value as well as from additions and current investments.

Sales of the retail sector through Shufersal Online in the third quarter of this year totalled approximately 17.9% of all sales in the shipping centers and Shufersal branches compared to approximately 18.9% in the corresponding quarter last year. The decrease was mainly due to a decrease in the sale of Online non-food products in accordance with the company's strategy to reduce the sale of Online non-food products as part of a focus on the profitability of the activity. In the first nine months the sales of the retail sector through Shufersal Online totalled approximately 18.2% of the total retail sales, compared to approximately 19.8% in the corresponding period last year. The decrease, among other things, is due to the weakening of the corona crisis impact mainly in relation to the first quarter in the corresponding period last year, as well as to the reduction of sales of Online non-food products as part of a focus on the profitability of the activity.

The share of private label sales associated with the delivery centers and Shufersal branches in the third quarter of this year was approximately 26.5% of the total food retail sales in the delivery centers and Shufersal branches compared to about 26.7% in the corresponding quarter last year. In the first nine months of the year, the share of private label sales associated with the retail sector was approximately 27.2% of total food retail sales in shipping centers and Shufersal branches compared to approximately 27% in the corresponding period last year. Shufersal continues to expand and strengthen the private brand, including the launch of products in existing and new categories.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1592092/Shufersal_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Shufersal
Titan of the Insurance and FinTech industries, SimplePin, proudly announces it has added Innovate Insurance Agency Inc. as a new client.

PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SimplePin, a cloud-based payments infrastructure provider for the insurance industry, happily welcomes Innovate Insurance Agency Inc as a new client. SimplePin will streamline payment acceptance and customer experience for Innovate Insurance Agency Inc, making it easy for them to receive and pay invoices. Director of Product at SimplePin, Seth Baumwell, said, "We are excited to onboard Innovate Insurance Agency Inc onto our platform. We appreciate partnering with customers who understand the value technology brings to them as well as their customer's journey. Our specialized software provides a seamless solution to each of our clients, and we know it will make large improvements to the Innovate Insurance team's day to day functioning."

SimplePin welcomes Innovate Insurance Agency Inc as new client

SimplePin is known across the insurance industry for transforming back-office accounting and reconciliation processes, digitizing customer and staff experiences, and harnessing the ability to process all forms of incoming payments. SimplePin's system matches and posts receipts to receivables in real time, automatically reconciles the general ledger, and offers comprehensive integrated payment options for eCommerce and digital sales.

About Innovate Insurance Agency Inc

Innovate Insurance Agency Inc is a bilingual (English and Spanish) firm located in Clifton, New Jersey. Offering insurance for auto, home, business, and commercial needs, they are committed to providing unique and high-quality coverage to each client at an affordable price. Innovate Insurance Agency Inc prides themselves on their talented team who utilize cutting-edge services to address the varying needs of each individual customer. As an independent agency, they work with a wide variety of top carriers to find the best coverage for every situation.

https://innovateinsagency.com/

About SimplePin

SimplePin is the leading cloud-based digital payment network for the insurance industry, offering brokers a solution to capture all agency bill payments including digital, online and off-line, automatically matching and posting to the system of record and reconciling the GL.

Founded in Montreal, Canada and headquartered in Palm Beach, FL - SimplePin offers the most innovative payments infrastructure for the insurance industry to date.

www.simplepin.com

SOURCE SimplePin
Big savings take flight with $20 one-way airfare available HERE

MIRAMAR, Fla., Nov. 24, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is celebrating an entire weekend of sales today, launching Black & Yellow Friday with flights starting as low as $20* one way. Savvy travelers can take advantage of savings on their entire vacation with new deals released throughout the weekend, and holiday shoppers can give the gift of travel this year and stay within budget. Black & Yellow Friday deal hunters can browse all of Spirit's travel offers throughout the weekend here.

"We know our Guests want to make new memories with their family and friends well beyond the holidays, and our Black & Yellow Friday deals will make it easier to save on travels together in the new year," said Lania Rittenhouse, Vice President of Guest Experience, Brand & Communications for Spirit Airlines. "There are a variety of deals to take advantage of so travelers can plan for More Go in 2024."

Black & Yellow Friday deal highlights below. Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday deals will be published here.

Save big with $20 one-way flights *

Nov. 24  26

Guests with travel as a New Year's resolution can explore a new city in the new year with one-way flight fares starting at $20.* Discover flight options to some of the most popular destinations in the country and enjoy some of the biggest savings of the year. This offer is available for travel on Dec. 5, 2023, to Feb 14, 2024 (Tues/Wed Only; 7-Day Advanced Purchase Required; Excluding blackout dates: Dec. 22, 2023  Jan. 6, 2024). To book, visit Black And Yellow Friday Savings (spirit.com).

Earn up to an additional 500 Free Spirit Bonus Points **

Nov. 24  26, 2023

Earn more Free Spirit points while booking your next flight. Spirit is offering an additional 250 Free Spirit points when you book a one-way flight and 500 bonus points when you book a roundtrip flight on Nov. 24  26, 2023 and travel by Feb. 29, 2024. The Free Spirit loyalty program is free to join and the fastest way to rewards and status. Travelers can sign up here.

Get an extra 20% off all-inclusive resorts with Spirit Vacations ***

Nov. 24  Nov 28, 2023

Spirit Vacations is helping travelers go from winter wonderland to tropical paradise with an additional 20% off all-inclusive resorts in Cancun, Montego Bay, Punta Cana, Aruba and St. Maarten. For Guests looking to visit other destinations, Spirit Vacations offers packages to many destinations at up to 30% off or more by partnering with hotels across multiple countries to offer exclusive discounts. To book, visit vacations.spirit.com.

Score 2,000 Free Spirit Bonus Points when you book a Spirit Vacations Package ****

Nov. 24  Nov 28, 2023

The perks don't stop at savings on flights, hotel or car rentals. Guests that choose to Bundle + Save by booking any Spirit Vacations package this Black & Yellow Friday and travel by March 15, 2024, will receive 2,000 Free Spirit bonus points. To book, visit vacations.spirit.com.

Enjoy a free park-to-park upgrade at Universal Orlando Resort *****

Nov. 15  28, 2023

Theme park enthusiasts get double the thrills when booking with Spirit Vacations this season. Guests that purchase a two-day Universal Orlando Resort base ticket will receive a complimentary free Park-to-Park Upgrade, allowing them to use one ticket to visit both Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Orlando. To book, visit vacations.spirit.com

To receive emails for Cyber Monday, Travel Tuesday and more great offers throughout 2024, sign up at: https://www.spirit.com/email-notify-sign-in

Terms & Conditions:

*All fares must be booked on spirit.com between 10:00 AM EDT on November 24, 2023 and 11:59 PM EDT on November 26, 2023, for travel on the dates as specified by individual market and by market direction on nonstop flights only. Fares valid for travel 12/5/23 - 2/14/24 (Tues/Wed Only). Blackout dates: 12/22/23 - 1/6/24. 7 day advanced purchase required. Fares may be combined with other valid and applicable Spirit Airlines fares on other dates of travel. Lower fares generally available at the airport and all fares are subject to availability. You must be a member of the Saver$ Club to receive the member fares. To become a member of Spirit Airlines Saver$ Club, click here for membership details and Terms and Conditions. Not all markets are operated on a daily basis during the travel period, or necessarily for the entire travel period -- please see www.spirit.com for details.

**To qualify for the Free Spirit 250 one-way or 500 roundtrip points promotion you must (i) be a Free Spirit member; (ii) book travel on a Qualifying Flight Segment. A "Qualifying Flight Segment" is a trip originating from/to any station operated by Spirit Airlines and booked by 11:59PM ET on Nov 26, 2023, with travel completed by February 29, 2024. Free Spirit Bonus Points will be automatically added to your account after completing a Qualifying Flight Segment. Bonus points earned through the Free Spirit 250 one-way or 500 roundtrip points promotion would offer standard Status Qualification Points (SQPs). Offer is subject to change without notice. Other restrictions and conditions may apply.

***Valid for travel through March 31, 2024. Blackout dates may apply. Total savings may vary and may be up to 50% savings off of base fares/rack rates with flight + hotel + car package.

****To qualify for the 2,000 Free Spirit points when booking a Vacations package you must (i) be a Free Spirit member; (ii) Must purchase a flight and hotel or car during the same booking transaction at Black Friday & Cyber Monday and Travel Tuesday 2023 | Spirit Airlines Vacations (iii) book travel on a Qualifying Flight Segment. A "Qualifying Flight Segment" is a trip originating from/to any station operated by Spirit Airlines and booked by 11:59PM ET on Nov 28, 2023 with travel completed by March 15, 2024. Free Spirit Bonus Points will be automatically added to your account after completing a Qualifying Flight Segment. Bonus points earned through the 2,000 Free Spirit points Vacations promotion would offer standard Status Qualification Points (SQPs). Offer is subject to change without notice. Other restrictions and conditions may apply.

*****You must present a valid photo ID or credit card matching the lead guest name for identity verification at the gate. Availability for ticket is daily, and a start date much be selected for this ticket. The ticket is valid for any 2 calendar days during a 5 consecutive calendar day period which commences on and includes the date selected. You will activate the ticket upon entry into your first Universal Orlando Resort Theme Park. Days do not have to be used consecutively. When the 5-day valid use period has ended, the ticket is expired. This ticket will be delivered via email. While most tickets are sent within minutes, please allow up to 24 hours for successful email delivery. Parking is not included. Ticket includes: Two (2) days admission to Universal Studios Florida and Universal Islands of Adventure. Park-to-Park access. Access to Hogwarts Express. Universal elements and all related indicia TM &  2023 Universal Studios. All rights reserved.

About Spirit Airlines:

Spirit Airlines (NYSE: SAVE) is committed to delivering the best value in the sky. We are the leader in providing customizable travel options starting with an unbundled fare. This allows our Guests to pay only for the options they choose  like bags, seat assignments, refreshments and Wi-Fi  something we call A La Smarte. Our Fit Fleet is one of the youngest and most fuel-efficient in the United States. We serve destinations throughout the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean, making it possible for our Guests to venture further and discover more than ever before. We are committed to inspiring positive change in the communities where we live and work through the Spirit Charitable Foundation. Come save with us at spirit.com .

SOURCE Spirit Airlines, Inc.
WORCESTER, Ma., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Haven Detox-New England, a leader in substance abuse treatment and a proud member of the Haven Health Management family, announces a new mental health treatment facility .

Since its inception in 2021, The Haven Detox-New England has remained steadfast in its commitment to delivering exemplary care for substance use disorder and dual diagnosis across New England. The new facility has been meticulously designed to offer primary mental health treatment for various conditions, like anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more.

Jack Maroney MSHCA, LADC1, Cofounder of The Haven Detox-New England, highlighted the significance of expanding their services in light of the escalating mental health and substance abuse crises in Massachusetts: "Our commitment remains resolute in providing exceptional care for individuals navigating substance use disorders and mental health challenges. The establishment of our new facility mirrors our belief in universal access to comprehensive and compassionate care. We're thrilled to be taking this significant stride in meeting the demand for specialized mental health treatment, reinforcing our dedication to holistic wellness and fostering long-term recovery."

According to a KFF study , statistics from February 1 to 13, 2023, show 30.8% of adults in Massachusetts reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder. The data also showed the state's surge in drug overdose death rates, escalating from 12.7 per 100,000 in 2011 to a harrowing 36.8 per 100,000 in 2021. The increase in percentage highlights an urgent need for enhanced mental health and addiction treatment resources.

This state-of-the-art establishment complements existing services by providing a dedicated space for mental health treatment, enriching the breadth and depth of patient care. Outfitted with cutting-edge diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, the facility ensures that patients receive unparalleled care.

Under the umbrella of Haven Health Management, The Haven Detox-New England has continuously prioritized patients' mental health alongside their physical well-being. This new facility marks a renewed dedication to this mission, delivering an integrated, holistic approach to treatment that addresses the entirety of an individualnot solely the symptoms of their illness.

The Haven Detox-New England extends its warm invitation to all individuals seeking mental health support. We are eager to start this new chapter in serving the New England community and anticipate assisting more individuals on their path to improved mental health.

For further details about The Haven Detox-New England or our new mental health treatment facility, please visit our website at https://havendetoxne.com/.

About The Haven Detox-New England

Established in 2021, The Haven Detox-New England provides comprehensive treatment services for mental health and substance use disorder. As part of the Haven Health Management family, we offer tailored services to meet each patient's unique needs, fostering lifelong recovery and an improved quality of life.

About Haven Health Management

Haven Health Management stands as a leading provider of addiction and mental health treatment services nationwide. With a network comprising detox centers, inpatient psychiatric care, residential treatment centers, and outpatient programs, Haven Health Management is dedicated to supporting individuals in achieving long-term recovery from addiction. For more information, visit https://havenhealthmgmt.org/.

SOURCE Haven Health Management
FAIRBANKS, Ark., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Barbara Allison Haney is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Professional for her contributions in the Economic Research and Education Reform industry.

Barbara Allison Haney, a distinguished figure in the realm of economic research and education reform, continues to make indelible contributions to her field after an illustrious career spanning over 40 years. With an extensive academic and professional background, Barbara has left an indelible mark on universities, government, and legislative work, firmly establishing herself as an expert in her field.

Barbara Allison Haney's journey in academia has seen her serve as a faculty member at several prestigious institutions, including the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Washington State University, Eastern Illinois University, McKendree College, St. Mary's College, and the University of Notre Dame. Her expertise in economic research has led to numerous publications on topics ranging from econometrics to taxable capacity and political risks for financial institutions.

Barbara's impact extends beyond the confines of academia. She has been actively involved in the Alaska legislature, where her insights and research have played a pivotal role in shaping policy decisions. Her role as legislative research staff to the Alaska Legislature underscores her commitment to making a tangible difference in her community and state.

Education reform and property rights have been central to Barbara's advocacy efforts. She has dedicated her time and expertise to work on these critical issues, striving to create a positive impact on the lives of countless individuals. Her commitment to these causes exemplifies her unwavering dedication to societal betterment.

As Barbara Allison Haney looks ahead, her vision remains firmly focused on continuing her work in education reform, property rights advocacy, and addressing the fiscal challenges faced by her state. Her passion for making a difference in her community and beyond serves as an inspiration to all those fortunate enough to work alongside her.

Barbara Allison Haney's legacy is a testament to the power of dedication, expertise, and advocacy in creating lasting change. Her impact on economic research and education reform will continue to shape the future for years to come.

Contact:

Katherine Green

516-825-5634

[email protected]

SOURCE The Inner Circle
Nation's largest private provider of social services urges the public to donate to ensure millions continue to receive food, housing, and other vital services

ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Salvation Army, the nation's largest private provider of social services, is asking the public for support this Giving Tuesday. The organization, which has a presence in nearly every ZIP code in the country, relies on donations from the public to support life-changing programs for nearly 24 million people in the United States each year.

Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here: https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9208754-the-salvation-army-giving-tuesday-donations/

Angel Tree

In 2022, The Salvation Army saw requests for assistance increase anywhere from 10% to 40% in some communities. This year, based on the rise of evictions over the past 11 months, the organization expects the number of requests for assistance could increase another 13% or more. Despite rising operational expenses, The Salvation Army remains committed to its mission to meet human needs without discrimination, no matter the cost.

"Every day, millions of families struggle to make ends meet. Whether it's a single parent who needs child care while they are working or an individual who just needs a safe place to sleep, every person deserves to have their basic needs met," said Commissioner Kenneth Hodder, national commander of The Salvation Army. "At The Salvation Army, people who come to us for assistance are served according to their needs and our capacity to help. That's only possible thanks to the generosity of our donors."

Last year, donations to The Salvation Army helped the organization to:

Keep 3.1 million families in their homes and the lights on.

Provide more than 155 million meals and 8 million nights of shelter.

Help 600,000 disaster survivors and first responders access food, shelter, and emotional and spiritual care.

Give over 550,000 children a safe place to play and learn at summer and day camps.

With the depletion of federal aid programs, the organization expects nongovernmental providers of social services will be in greater demand. One study by The Century Foundation found that the end of pandemic-era funding for child care will impact 3 million children, making fundraising even more critical this year.

"When you give to The Salvation Army this Giving Tuesday, you make a difference in millions of lives across the nation and in your community," said Hodder. "However you choose to give, if you drop a donation at a Red Kettle or adopt an Angel from our Angel Trees, we thank you for loving your neighbors this Giving Tuesday and beyond."

The following options are available for those wishing to support their neighbors in need:

Donate with cash, coins, and checks or digitally with Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo at any Red Kettle across the country.

across the country. Provide Christmas gifts to children of local families in need through The Salvation Army Angel Tree. You can also contact your local Salvation Army about volunteering to distribute donated Angel Tree gifts.

gifts. Contact your local Salvation Army to sign up to volunteer at a Red Kettle .

. Sign up for a sustaining gift of $25 a month at give.SalvationArmyUSA.org.

a month at give.SalvationArmyUSA.org. Give any amount by texting "KETTLES" to 51555.

Donate cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Ethereum .

Visit SalvationArmyUSA.org to learn more about ways to support and give this holiday season.

About The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army helped nearly 24 million people in 2023 overcome poverty, addiction, and spiritual and economic hardships by preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and meeting human needs in His name without discrimination in nearly every zip code. By providing food, shelter, eviction prevention assistance, emergency disaster relief, rehabilitation, after-school and summer youth programs, spiritual enrichment, and more, The Salvation Army is doing the most good at nearly 7,000 centers of operation around the country. For more information, visit SalvationArmyUSA.org. Follow us on X @SalvationArmyUS and #DoingTheMostGood.

Media Contact:

Rebecca Reap

512.554.1715

[email protected]

SOURCE The Salvation Army
PrJSC Ukrhydroenergo has restored more than 1,000 MW of power from 1,500 MW damaged by shelling by Russian aggressors, company's general director Ihor Syrota says.

"Moreover, we restored even more than predicted (at the beginning of the winter period of 2023/2024 it was planned to restore 1,000 MW). We have approximately 370 MW left unrestored. These are two block transformers. This is equipment that is produced approximately eight to nine months. That is, we will have a little for next year," he said in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

At the same time, Syrota noted that the absence of these not yet restored capacities will not affect the overall balance of regulation and emergency reserve that is needed for the energy system.

At the same time, according to him, the company began the last heating season "even in a slightly worse condition," since massive attacks on the energy sector began on October 10, and since then a lot of equipment, including electrical equipment, and transformers have been damaged.

At the same time, the general director noted that in preparation for winter, enormous efforts were aimed at protecting facilities against enemy shelling.

"Now it's hard to say so, but these are tens and tens of millions, hundreds of millions, you know? All this is being done as part of capital investments. I'll simply say: if we were to allocate these funds for development, construction, then we would most likely build, say, a unit No. 5 of the Dniester pumped storage power plant - not in four years, as we see it possible now, but in three," the head of Ukrhydroenergo described the situation.

In general, Syrota noted that the company is completely ready for the autumn-winter period. As for the prospects for its passage, it can be complicated by too low temperatures.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In the first such visit since the pandemic; the U.S. Heartland China Association (USHCA) led a bipartisan delegation of six U.S. mayors representing communities along the Mississippi River Basin to visit their counterparts in the People's Republic of China. This Mayors' delegation visit took place in the context of recent visits by Senator Chuck Schumer and a bi-partisan delegation of six U.S. Senators, California Governor Gavin Newsom's recent trip to China, and the meeting in San Francisco between President Biden and President Xi. Like these national leaders, the mayors went to China to underscore the importance of maintaining open lines of communication between the United States and China.

The delegation included Mayor Jim Brainard of Carmel, Indiana; Mayor Barbara Buffaloe of Columbia, Missouri; Mayor Lee Harris of Shelby County, Tennessee; Mayor Chokwe Lumumba of Jackson, Mississippi; Mayor Kim Norton of Rochester, Minnesota; and Mayor Robyn Tannehill of Oxford, Mississippi. These leaders were selected for this sponsored trip based on their demonstrated thought leadership to represent municipalities of different sizes from the Mississippi River Basin in America's Heartland. Two science advisors and one expert: Dr. Gabriel M. Filippelli and Dr. Lixin Wang from Indiana University, and Edmund Downie from Princeton University, provided support that ensured successful bilateral engagements.

Over a ten-day period, just as the U.S.-China bilateral working group under the leadership of U.S. Special Envoy for Climate John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua strived to complete the Sunnylands Statement on Enhancing Cooperation to Address the Climate Crisis in California, the Heartland mayors delegation visited five Chinese communities to put the bilateral cooperative framework into action at the local level. (Read about the full itinerary of this delegation)

This visit kicked off a historic two-way exchange as part of USHCA's Yangtze-Mississippi Municipality Energy Transition Exchange project. This project aims to promote city-to-city best practice sharing between the communities along these two major rivers around energy transition, climate mitigation, and green economy.

"Collaboration between U.S. and Chinese Mayors not only benefits the hundreds of millions of people living in our two countries, but the on-going joint work will lead to best practices that can be applied around the world."

- Mayor Jim Brainard

Carmel, Indiana

USHCA Board co-chair & delegation leader

The mayors returned home equipped with new ideas for promoting economic growth and sustainable development in their respective communities as well as newfound, collaborative relationships they plan to continue with dozens of Chinese counterparts.

"USHCA is pleased to support open lines of communication with the People's Republic of China through pragmatic sub-national dialogues around shared challenges," remarked Min Fan, USHCA Executive Director who oversaw the organization of this historic delegation. "We wish to thank the Ford Foundation, Henry Luce Foundation, Carnegie Corporation of New York, and Energy Foundation China for their support that made this delegation possible and the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations for sharing its expertise in leading delegations to China."

In partnership with the six mayors, USHCA plans to host a reciprocal delegation of Chinese city leaders in Fall 2024, convening the next Yangtze-Mississippi Forum in the American Heartland. The next Yangtze-Mississippi Forum will continue the dialogue and best practice sharing between the two river basin communities to find innovative solutions to shared challenges our communities face.

SOURCE United States Heartland China Association
LONDON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XTX Markets is launching the Artificial Intelligence Mathematical Olympiad Prize ('AI-MO Prize'), a new $10mn challenge fund designed to spur the creation of a publicly-shared AI model capable of winning a gold medal in the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO).

A grand prize of $5mn will be awarded to the first publicly-shared AI model to enter an AI-MO approved competition and perform at a standard equivalent to a gold medal in the IMO.

There will also be a series of progress prizes, totalling up to $5mn, for publicly-shared AI models that achieve key milestones towards the grand prize.

The IMO is a prestigious high school maths competition. A gold medal is both a benchmark for exceptional performance and a predictor of future achievement. Indeed, half of all Fields Medallists participated in the IMO in their youth.

Building on these traditions, the AI-MO Prize will accelerate progress beyond large language models like ChatGPT and develop new AI models that can reason mathematically. As such, the AI-MO Prize could represent a new Turing Test.

Gregor Dolinar, President, International Mathematical Olympiad, commented:

"Using hard mathematical problems as a benchmark to determine if AI can match the highest cognitive functions of human beings is a wonderful idea.

Every year, more than 600 of the best students from more than 110 countries are challenged with six extremely difficult IMO problems, typically only one or two students solve all six IMO problems in the allotted nine hours.

I am sure that many people will be following the AI-MO Prize with great excitement, to see when, in the future, AI will match the world's brightest young minds."

Terence Tao, UCLA, Fields Medallist, commented:

"Despite recent advances, using AI to solve, or at least assist with solving, advanced mathematical problems remains an incredibly complicated and multifaceted challenge. It will be important to experiment with multiple approaches to this goal, and to benchmark the performance of each of them.

The AI-MO Prize promises to provide at least one such set of benchmarks which will help compare different AI problem solving strategies at a technical level, in a manner that will be accessible and appealing to the broader public."

The prizes will be designed by an AI-MO Advisory Committee (to be appointed), including mathematicians, AI and machine learning experts, and experienced Olympiad problem-setters.

The first AI-MO approved competitions will open to participants in early 2024. There will be a presentation of progress at the 65th IMO which will be held in Bath, England in July 2024.

Further details as to the competition rules and entry criteria will be released in due course.

Geoff Smith, Former President, International Mathematical Olympiad and AI-MO Prize Advisory Committee Member, commented:

"The ability of modern AI systems to create a facsimile of a human when engaging in a written exchange is remarkable. However, this works best when there is a large corpus of relevant material already placed on the internet by people.

It will be a far more demanding task to mimic a creative mathematician as they engage in abstract reasoning. The global IMO community will be delighted to be involved in supporting this competition, as we seek to measure AI systems against the best young mathematical minds."

Simon Coyle, Head of Philanthropy, XTX Markets, commented:

"XTX Markets is excited to be launching the AI-MO Prize to spur the development of AI models capable of mathematical reasoning. We look forward to working with mathematicians, scientists and technologists to develop the prizes, and to seeing how AI models compare against exceptional high-school mathematicians."

For more information and updates on the AI-MO Prize visit: https://aimoprize.com/

About XTX Markets:

XTX Markets is a leading financial technology firm which partners with counterparties, exchanges and e-trading venues globally to provide liquidity in the Equity, FX, Fixed Income and Commodity markets. XTX has over 200 employees based in London, Paris, New York, Mumbai, Yerevan and Singapore. XTX is consistently a top 5 liquidity provider globally in FX (Euromoney 2018-present) and is also the largest European equities (systematic internaliser) liquidity provider (Rosenblatt FY: 2020-2023).

The company's corporate philanthropy focuses on STEM education and maximum impact giving (alongside an employee matching programme). Since 2017, XTX has donated over 100mn to charities and good causes, establishing it as a major donor in the UK and globally.

In a changing world XTX Markets is at the forefront of making financial markets fairer and more efficient for all.

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285893/XTX_Markets_Logo.jpg
The German government, through the German state development bank KfW, has allocated NPC Ukrenergo an EUR 24 million loan and an EUR 500,000 grant to strengthen the sustainability of the Ukrainian energy system, head of the company's board Volodymyr Kudrytsky said.

"Ukrenergo is raising an additional EUR 24.5 million to strengthen the Ukrainian energy system. Today we discussed with new head of the KfW Office in Ukraine Lorenz Gessner and German Ambassador to Ukraine Martin Jaeger that these funds will be used to strengthen our technical ties with the power grid of continental Europe, restore high-voltage facilities in the western region of the country and build their protection," he wrote on his Facebook on Monday.

As Kudrytsky noted, the signing of all necessary agreements is expected in the coming weeks.

"Our partners are systematically investing in the development of our common energy security. It has three important components: restoration of energy facilities, their protection, and increasing trade in electricity with the EU," the head of the system operator said.

Previously, Ukrenergo attracted a total of more than EUR 220 million in KfW loan and grant funds for the restoration and reconstruction of substations. In addition, German transmission system operators Amprion, TenneT, TrasnetBW and 50 Hertz provided more than a hundred pieces of equipment needed to repair the system operator's main power grids and substations.
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
To move the dial between China and the United States, it takes a "partnership-above-competition" approach to base cooperation on mutual understanding and win-win results. by Xin Ping The world had been holding breath for the historical San Francisco summit between President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden that would pull back China-U.S. relations from running further downhill and thus anchor the world. Given serious headwinds and back-to-back crises facing the world -- the once-in-a-century pandemic, sluggish global economic recovery, and geopolitical flare-ups, hopes are high that the long-anticipated summit can help achieve a China-U.S. detente and inject positive energy into global development. Sitting across from each other at a long table at the Filoli Estate on the outskirts of San Francisco, the two presidents had a four-hour candid and in-depth discussion on issues critical to bilateral relations and regional and global issues of fundamental significance. They agreed to restore regular communication, both high-level and military-wise, and made progress on a number of key issues, including fentanyl and AI rule-making. It seems that the positive message reflected in both sides' readouts as well as private interactions between the two heads of state on the sidelines of APEC provide a confidence booster for the world to expect a thaw in relations between the two superpowers. San Francisco Counts but Not Suffices Highlighted agreements reached through the meeting, including restoration of mil-to-mil contacts, jointly curbing fentanyl and precursor chemicals, and establishing a dialogue on artificial intelligence, will for sure inject more certainty into the very rocky period of China-U.S. relations. Regular and sound interactions between the two presidents who are at the helm of this most consequential relationship will increase understanding and dispel mistrust. Keeping military hot-lines open is also important to prevent miscalculations and defuse possible flare-ups. Simmering differences still remain, both ideologically and pragmatically. Though relevant wording in press releases has been reduced from "competition" to "competitive aspects," the rivalry relationship is still portrayed as predestined and unavoidable by the United States. Prior to Secretary Antony Blinken's June visit to Beijing, the U.S. hegemonic attempt to remodel China was once again laid bare by the remarks by a U.S. official that "we know efforts to shape or reform China over several decades have failed." Based on this "democracy vs. authoritarianism" mindset, some in the United States have been using ideological differences as a tool to repress anyone who disagrees with them and to contain the development of other countries. In the same vein, if one still believes that China and the United States have competing interests on trade and technology, it will be highly impossible to find a harmonious way of seeking win-win cooperation. More than 7,000 Chinese companies have business footprint in the United States. Among them, members of the China General Chamber of Commerce alone have invested a total of over 137 billion U.S. dollars in the country, creating over 230,000 jobs. If such an interdependent trade tie is severed, both sides and even the wider world will stand to lose enormously. Analysts have kept warning time and again that having the world's two biggest economies at loggerheads will not help alleviate thorny issues faced by all and will only exacerbate global crises. However, the number one question is: Are China and the United States adversaries or partners? President Xi in San Francisco gave his answer: If one sees the other side as a primary competitor, the most consequential geopolitical challenge and a pacing threat, it will only lead to misinformed policy making, misguided actions, and unwanted results. To put it more explicitly, if the United States continues to see China as an enduring rival that it must out-compete in order to maintain its global hegemony, it will be very dangerous for both sides and the world as a whole. Lessons from history must be learned because such Cold War thinking plunged two countries who accounted for only 1 percent of international relationships into 80 percent of wars. The China-U.S. rift must not become another example of the "Thucydides trap". What's Next? China is ready to be a partner and friend of the United States. The Chinese side put forward "five pillars" that must be put in place for this most consequential relationship to remain stable and deliver benefits to the two peoples and beyond. Developing a right perception of each other and managing disagreements effectively are the two main pillars. To move the dial between China and the United States, it takes a "partnership-above-competition" approach to base cooperation on mutual understanding and win-win results. That said, agreeing to disagree is certainly not enough. More political commitment and real actions are needed from the United States to avoid backpedaling or even crossing the red line on the most sensitive issues, such as the Taiwan question. Despite promises made by the United States about managing the relationship responsibly and not veering it into conflict, more sources of tension are being created, such as unfounded accusations, additional sanctions and fabricated assertions. Though the world has been expecting a rosy picture of China and the United States restoring their relationship to a better place overnight, the freezing winter night in Beijing sharply brought me back to reality. This bilateral relationship is too complex to be simply defined as good or bad. Besides, it seems too naive to think that narrowing differences between the two countries is as simple as blending Chinese and Western music in a symphony, just like the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Beijing Philharmonic Choir in their collaboration performance. But I'm still convinced that it's not only meaningful, but also our responsibility, to improve the most critical bilateral ties for the better. Martin Luther King once said, "The time is always right to do what is right." The whole world has its eyes on the two major countries. From San Francisco onward, to continue the positive spin in China-U.S. relations, more "maintenance work" is needed to translate the "San Francisco Vision" into real actions and efforts that can truly help keep the relationship on the track of sound and steady development. Editor's note: The author is a commentator on international affairs, writing regularly for Xinhua News, Global Times, China Daily, CGTN etc. He can be reached at xinping604@gmail.com. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.
Germany has allocated more than EUR 625 million to support the energy system of Ukraine, and even more assistance is in the process of preparation, German Ambassador Martin Jaeger says.

"Hot take with energy minister Haluschenko. Germany is already putting over EUR 625 mln on the line for the support of Ukraine's energy system. More is in the pipeline. Besides much needed help for repairs, we increase our support for the development of decentralized energy," the ambassador said on X (Twitter).
Jerusalem, Nov 27 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured a tunnel in the besieged Gaza Strip and vowed to "eliminate" Hamas.

"We are here in the (Gaza) Strip," Netanyahu was seen saying on Sunday in a video footage released by his office, wearing an army vest and helmet.

His office said he received a briefing from commanders and toured an underground tunnel belonging to Hamas that was exposed during the war, Xinhua news agency reported.

Netanyahu stated that Israel's goals for the attack, launched on October 7 following Hamas' deadly surprise attack, are to "eliminate" Hamas, release about 240 hostages kidnapped by Hamas, and "ensure that Gaza will not pose a threat to Israel again."

"We are continuing until the end -- until victory. And nothing will stop us," he said, surrounded by soldiers.

He added, "We are making every effort to bring our hostages back home, and eventually, we will."

The visit took place on the third day of a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas, which includes the entry of desperately needed aid to Gaza and the release of about 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners.

The weeks of Israeli bombardment in Gaza have reportedly led to the deaths of over 14,000 people, 40 per cent of them children, while thousands remain missing, believed to be trapped beneath the rubble, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

According to Israeli figures, about 1,200 people were killed, mainly in the initial attack that triggered the war.
New York, Nov 27 : Three young Palestinian students were reportedly shot near a university campus in Vermont in the US.

According to media reports, the incident took place on Saturday evening near the University of Vermont's campus in the city of Burlington.

Victims, identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed, were attacked on their way to a family dinner. They are studying at three different universities in the US.

Husam Zomlot, Head of the Palestinian Mission to the UK, in a post on X, said: "Three young Palestinian men, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, students at Brown and other US universities, were shot last night on their way to a family dinner in Burlington, USA. Their crime? Wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh. They are critically injured."

"And Six weeks ago, 6-year old Palestinian child was stabbed 26 times in a hate crime in Illinois. The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop. Palestinians everywhere need protection," Zomlot added in the post.

The motive behind the attack is unknown.
Hamirpur, Nov 27 : In a gruesome incident, a man in Uttar Pradesh's Hamirpur district set his estranged wife ablaze, bludgeoned his father-in-law to death, and eventually shot himself with a country-made pistol.

According to SP Hamirpur Diksha Sharma, the couple was estranged, and the wife had been living separately with their three children for nearly two months.

The victims were identified as Anusuiya (39) her father Nandlal (60) and the husband, Om Prakash Rajput (42).

The daughter, eldest of all three kids, revealed that her mother, besides moving out, had filed an FIR on October 8 against Om Prakash for a murderous assault that occurred in Pathanpura of Rath area.

Presently, Anusuiya was residing at her father's under-construction house in Lodhipura of the Muskura police area and was sleeping in a separate room with her children.

Om Prakash entered the house and attacked his wife, subsequently setting her on fire.

Nandlal, attempting to douse the flames, was murdered with a stone by Om Prakash.

The assailant also tried to strangle the two minor children, but the daughter managed to save them, promptly informing the police on 112.

During the incident, Ratan Lal Varma, a teacher and a friend of Om Prakash, was injured while attempting to protect Anusuiya and Nandlal.

Varma had been sent by Om Prakash to persuade his wife for a compromise, and after visiting the family, he decided to stay overnight.

Varma, recounting the horrifying event, said: "He had gone crazy, and I tried to save Anusuiya but could not. I ran away from the house."

He sought medical treatment for burns sustained during the incident.

Last month, Om Prakash had assaulted victim Anusuiya and the children, leading to the filing of an FIR.

The police officials said that the bodies have been sent for autopsy as part of the ongoing investigations into this incident.
Varanasi, Nov 27 : Varanasi is set for a grand and majestic Dev Deepawali celebrations on Monday with 12 lakh earthen lamps illuminating the ghats of Kashi.

Among these, one lakh lamps will be made from cow dung.

The city and the ghats have been decorated with tricolour spiral lightings to add to the ethereal beauty of the place.

More than 8 lakh tourists are expected to visit Kashi on the occasion of Dev Deepawali.

Ambassadors, delegates and their families from 70 countries will visit Kashi to witness Dev Deepawali this time.

This year, a series of 85 ghats on the northern bank of the Ganges will be adorned with 12 lakh lamps while a total of more than 21 lakh lamps that will be lit on the ghats, ponds, and lakes of Kashi with public participation.

Lamps will also illuminate the sand across the Ganga.

Hotels, guesthouses, boats, and cruises are already booked for Dev Deepawali.

A laser show will also be organised at Chet Singh Ghat, which will bring to life the history of religion through historic monuments standing along the banks of Kashi's ghats for centuries.

Tourists will also be able to enjoy the fireworks along with devotional songs to Lord Shiva on the sand across the Ganges.

Moreover, Sri Kashi Vishwanath Temple is being adorned with 11 tonnes of flowers given by a devotee from Visakhapatnam.

The laser show at Ganga Dwar will showcase the significance of Kashi and information related to the construction of the Kashi Vishwanath Dham corridor.

After the inauguration of the renovated Kashi Vishwanath Dham, there has been a record influx of tourists to the city.

Tourists from all over the country and abroad come to witness the spectacular view of the ghats of Kashi. Along with decorations, the state government has also made elaborate security arrangements for the celebration of Dev Deepawali.

Apart from decoration with rangoli, facade lights, and decorative lamps, security measures have been put in place for the safety of tourists. Drone flights have been completely restricted, and surveillance will be intensified on the district borders.

Watchtowers will keep an eye on the ghats.

Given the large number of tourists, hospital beds have been reserved, and medical teams are on alert. Additionally, floating dividers will be placed in the Ganga.

Boatmen have been instructed to accommodate designated tourists and wear life jackets. Eight NDRF teams, equipped with rescue tools, will be stationed at various ghats.

A medical team with a awater ambulancea will provide free treatment to devotees at different ghats. Furthermore, water police personnel will be deployed in the Ganga. Traffic diversions and parking arrangements have been ensured to manage the anticipated heavy crowd of devotees and tourists.

Under the leadership of Yogi Adityanath, all the VIP guests will witness the unforgettable moments of Dev Deepawali.

The guests will arrive at Namo Ghat from the airport in the afternoon. From there, they will embark on a cruise to capture the magnificent views of Dev Deepawali.

The foreign dignitaries will also enjoy the laser show and fireworks.

During the cruise, guests will savour the local cuisine of Kashi and the akulhada tea.

Along with spirituality, a glimpse of nationalism and socialism will also be seen during Dev Deepawali. The aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat will be dedicated to Ram Lalla, providing a glimpse of the upcoming Ram Temple.

The replica of aAmar Jawan Jyotia is being finalised by Ganga Seva Nidhi at Dashashwamedh Ghat. The immortal brave warriors of India are also honoured with 'Bhagirath Shaurya Samman'.

Additionally, 21 archakas (priests) and 51 Dev Kanyas will perform the aMaha Aartia at Dashashwamedh Ghat, symbolising the message of women power.

The ghats will also convey messages through paintings of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, emphasizing the strength of women.

Furthermore, paintings depicting Guru Nanak Dev Ji will be exhibited during the celebration of the Prakash Utsav, marking the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

Dev Deepawali is celebrated 15 days after Diwali, there is a special Diwali celebration of the deities on Kartik Purnima. It is believed that to celebrate this festival, the gods descend from heaven in invisible form on the holy Ganga ghats of Kashi and pave the way for the salvation of the devotees participating in the aMaha Aartia.

This festival is a unique aspect of the ancient culture of Kashi.

The description of Dev Deepawali is found in the aShiv Puranaa, which narrates that when the demon Tripurasura began to oppress the deities and started killing them, Lord Vishnu killed this cruel demon on this day, and the deities celebrated Dev Deepawali.

It is also believed that the King of Kashi initiated the tradition of lighting lamps on the ghats for his martyred soldiers.
London, Nov 27 : A policeman has been convicted of gross misconduct in the UK for mimicking the Indian accent of a woman who had called to report a hate crime incident in November 2022.

Police Constable Patrick Harrison resigned from the West Yorkshire Police prior to a judgement by a misconduct panel, which ruled that his discriminatory actions "de-humanised" the caller, The Daily Mirror reported.

The panel heard that following the phone conversation between Harrison and the woman, the former imitated some of the phrases the caller had used, without realising that she was still on the phone line.

The woman heard these comments and reported Harrison to Islamophobia monitoring group, Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks), a national project recording anti-Muslim incidents across the UK.

Harrison admitted his 'unacceptable and inexcusable' behaviour and accepted it breached the standards of professional conduct and amounted to gross misconduct.

Panel chair Katherine Wood said if Harrison hadn't resigned, he would have been dismissed from the force for his "deliberate, conscious discrimination".

Wood ruled that Harrison had discriminated against the woman caller due to her race, adding: "Racism and Islamophobia within the police are issues of significant national concern. Had the former officer not already tendered his resignation, (the panel) would have recommended his immediate dismissal from the service," The Mirror reported.

Harrison told the panel that he was remorseful for his actions and offered to meet with the caller to apologise in person.

The panel heard that the officer's actions had caused 'psychological distress' to the woman, and had resulted in her 'loss of trust and confidence' in the police.

"The behaviour of the former officer is so serious and the impact that it has had on SA (the caller) and the confidence of the public as a whole is such that no lesser sanction would be justified... Harrison has engaged in behaviour which breaches the standard of professional behaviour relating to Authority, Respect and Courtesy and Equality and Diversity. We are satisfied that (his actions) amount to gross misconduct," Wood said.
Ottawa, Nov 27 : Three people were killed and two critically injured after a shooting in Winnipeg, the capital city of Manitoba in central Canada, local police said.

Winnipeg police arrived at the scene on Sunday and found five victims "with injuries consistent with being shot", Xinhua news agency quoted the local police as saying in a statement.

An adult male and female were pronounced dead at the scene, it said, adding that three of the victims were taken to a hospital, and one of those victims later died while the other two remained in critical condition.

No arrests have been made, the statement said, and the homicide unit continues to investigate.

The victims' identities are still being confirmed and further details will be shared as the investigation evolves, it added.

Winnipeg Policeas 2022 Annual Statistical Report, released in May, showed violent crime rates in Manitobaas capital last year reached the highest levels since 2009, including a record number of homicides a" 53.
Maharajganj, Nov 27 : Two Iranian nationals have been arrested in Uttar Pradesh's Maharajganj while trying to cross over to Nepal using fake documents, a senior immigration official said on Monday.

Solat Karmalou, 22, and Rashid Samadidoukanlu, 40, travelling from India to Nepal, were arrested by the Immigration Department in the Sunauli area of the India-Nepal border as their visas and passports had expired, Sonauli checkpost Immigration Officer Naresh Tyagi said.

Two illegal visas allegedly bearing forged stamps were recovered from both Iranian nationals, officials said.

A case has been registered against them under sections 419 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code and under section 14 of The Foreigners Act.

The Intelligence Bureau has been informed about the matter and they are being questioned, an official of the local intelligence unit said.

Sunauli in Maharajganj district is located on the India-Nepal border and is a common transit point between the two countries.
Quito, Nov 27 : Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has unveiled his ministerial cabinet with the first official photo of his work team, three days after assuming power for a short 18-month term.

The cabinet "is mostly made up of women and young people who head strategic departments of the State", Xinhua news agency quoted a statement issued by the General Secretariat of Communication of the Presidency as saying on Sunday

The president took the official photo wearing the presidential sash beside 24 ministers at Carondelet Palace, the seat of government, in the capital of Quito, it said.

It said that Minister of Women and Human Rights, Arianna Tanca, and Minister of Telecommunications and Information Society, Cesar Martin Moreno, joined the cabinet by executive decree.

In the coming days, Noboa will appoint Juan Carlos Vega as Minister of Economy and Finance, who has already been participating in government meetings with multilateral organizations.

Noboa will finish the mandate of his predecessor, Guillermo Lasso, who dissolved the National Assembly in May that gave way to early elections amid a political crisis.

The 35-year-old former lawmaker and son of banana exporting magnate Alvaro Noboa, has become the youngest president in the history of Ecuador.

Noboa, from the National Democratic Action coalition, won the presidential runoff on October 15.

According to the President, he has been gradually putting together his team to carry out a road map that will prioritize the reduction of criminal violence and poverty, and employment improvement.

Once considered one of the safest countries in the region, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years driven by rival drug-trafficking groups. Bloodshed reached an unprecedented crescendo with the murder of presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio.

Drug violence has led to some 3,600 murders so far this year, reports the Ecuadorian Observatory of Organised Crime.

Noboa has also said he will implement a state of emergency, suspend some citizen rights such as freedom of movement, and deploy the military to the streets.
Jaipur, Nov 27 : Many candidates were seen in a relaxed mood after hectic campaigning and polling on November 25 in Rajasthan.

On Sunday, the next day of voting, some candidates preferred to spend time with their families, some met their party workers and a few, including former Chief Minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje went temple hopping.

Some candidates even went to their constituencies and took feedback from the people while some met their workers.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot did not have any public programme and took feedback from nearby leaders in Jaipur on Sunday.

Former Deputy CM Sachin Pilot left for Delhi from Jaipur. He will stay in Delhi for the next few days.

Former Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje reached Banswara on Sunday. From the helipad, Vasundhara went to the Tripura Sundari Temple directly by car and worshiped there for about 30 minutes.

Congress candidate from Kota North, Shanti Dhariwal, spent time with his family and also met workers at his residence.

Pushpendra Bhardwaj, the Congress candidate from Sanganer, preferred to spend time with wife and children.

Even during the Covid period, he lived among the people without worrying about his family. "I am confident that its benefits will be visible in the election results," he said.

State Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasara spent time with his family on Sunday and he also met some people at his residence.
Umerov, US Secretary of Defense discuss priorities of military aid to Ukraine

Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov spoke by phone with U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and discussed the priorities of military assistance to Ukraine, the Pentagon said on its website on Saturday, November 25.

"Secretary of Defence Lloyd J. Austin III spoke by phone today with Ukrainian Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov to discuss the latest on the situation on the ground. Secretary Austin condemned Russia's continued barrage of missile and Unmanned Aerial System attacks on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure," according to the statement.

The ministers also discussed "security assistance priorities, as Ukraine continues to fight Russian aggression."

It is noted that both leaders pledged to remain in close contact.

In turn, Umerov said he discussed with his U.S. counterpart the issues of strengthening the capabilities of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"We discussed current security assistance priorities and common steps to strengthen the capabilities of the Ukrainian army. I also noted the massive Russian drone attack on Ukrainian cities and critical infrastructure on Holodomor Remembrance Day. I am grateful to Minister Austin for his unwavering support," Umerov said on Facebook on Sunday, November 26.
Melbourne, Nov 27 : Former MP Dave Sharma is returning to the Australian parliament by becoming the first person of Indian-origin from the opposition Liberal party to win the New South Wales (NSW) Senate position.

Dave defeated former state treasurer Andrew Constance 251-206 in a vote of Liberal Party members on Sunday for a seat left vacant by foreign minister Marise Payne.

"Daveas entry to the Senate as part of the Liberal Party comes at a crucial time given events abroad and at home," Peter Dutton, Liberal Party leader, said in a statement referring to the situation in the Middle East.

"His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise and experience will lend considerable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precarious circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific," Dutton said as he congratulated Sharma on securing the seat.

Dutton had endorsed both Constance and former minister Zed Seselja in the tightly-contested race where 10 candidates had thrown their hats in the ring but Dave emerged as a consensus candidate.

"I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold (Prime Minister Anthony) Albanese government to account in the senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across NSW struggling to deal with Labor's cost-of-living crisis," Dave said.

A federal member of parliament for the seat of Wentworth from 2019 to 2022, Sharma also served as Australiaas Ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.

"Dave will speak with moral courage and provide moral clarity as we grapple with unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism on our own shores following Hamasa horrific terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October," Dutton said .

The opposition leader added that Dave will be a voice of reason in the senate and "help hold senators from the Greens and others to account for their rank anti-Semitism and shameful moral equivalence".

Dutton further said that Dave will continue to fight for everyday Australian workers, families and small businesses which are being forgotten and left behind by the ruling Labor government.

As a career diplomat prior to entering parliament, Dave was also posted to Washington D.C. and Port Moresby, served as a peacekeeper with the Peace Monitoring Group in Bougainville, and headed the international division within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.

He studied at the University of Cambridge, where he graduated with first-class honours in Law.

He also has a Master of Arts from Cambridge and a Master of Arts (International Relations) from Deakin University.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi prayed at Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, Andhra Pradesh on Monday and also sought blessings of lord Venkateswara Swamy for the good health, well-being and prosperity of 140 crore Indians.

Sharing glimpses from Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, the Prime Minister posted on X: "At the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirumala, prayed for the good health, well-being and prosperity of 140 crore Indians."

Modi also greeted the nation on the auspicious occasion of the Parkash Purab of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

He also shared a video clip from yesterday's Mann Ki Baat in which he had paid tributes to the Sikh Guru.

The Prime Minister posted on X: "Greetings on the auspicious occasion of the Parkash Purab of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji. His emphasis on serving others and furthering brotherhood give strength to millions around the world. Had also paid tributes to him during #MannKiBaat yesterday."
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Last week, veteran Dutch anti-Islam politician Geert Wilders vowed to be Prime Minister of the Netherlands eventually, following an election in which his party won the most seats.

Wilders vowed on X: "I will be prime minister."

In a long post on X, he expressed frustration at other parties for their apparent unwillingness to cooperate with his Freedom Party (PVV), Wilders said he would "continue to moderate"; his positions if necessary to gain power.

Although Wilders' party finished well ahead of rivals in the November 22 vote on an anti-immigration platform, his party won only 37 seats in the Dutch parliament. That means he will have to cooperate with at least two more moderate parties in order to form a government.

Earlier, the conservative VVD Party, of caretaker Prime Minister Mark Rutte, which shares many of Wilders's views on immigration, said it would not participate in a cabinet with him.

However the VVD's new leader, Dilan Yesilgoz, did not rule out offering outside support to a Wilders-led government.

Pieter Omtzigt, who leads the centrist reform NSC Party and is also seen as a likely partner in a Wilders' government, has said cooperation will be difficult due to extreme positions Wilders has voiced that appear to violate Dutch constitutional protections on freedom of religion.

Wilders' stand on Islam Geert Wilders is known for his radical anti-immigration and Islamophobic politics and his staunch Euro-scepticism.

In 2007, Wilders sent a letter to the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant calling the Quran a "fascist book" just like Mein Kampf. The newspaper put the letter on the front page but in an editorial suggested that the PVV leader had gone too far with the comparison, which was deeply hurtful and offensive to many.

This letter and other comments led to Wilders being prosecuted for inciting hatred and discrimination.

He denied any wrongdoing. In 2011, he was acquitted and his comments ruled acceptable within the context of public debate.

In a 2008 interview with the Observer, Wilders said that Islam is not a religion; it's an ideology, the ideology of a retarded culture. The interview coincided with him creating a short film entitled Fitna, an Arabic word meaning "strife".

In the film he again criticises the Holy Quran as a "fascist book" and intersperses images of the September 11 attacks with quotations from the Islamic holy book.

It was screened on the internet and sparked violent protests in the Muslim world. In February 2009, Wilders was refused entry to Britain to screen the film on the grounds of it being a threat to public order. Wilders, who denied any wrongdoing, appealed, and a court later said the decision was wrong.

The Dutch public prosecutor stated that statements made in it were "hurtful and offensive to a large number of Muslims" but not punishable by law. The episode subsequently became part of the 2011 case.

Wilders coined the word "Head Rag" to describe the headscarves worn by Muslim women.

In the Netherlands' annual political debates in September 2009, Wilders suggested an annual tax of 1,000 euros on headscarves, provoking a scandalised reaction. His position on headscarves, and talks on Turkish accession to Europe, had led him to break with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) and set up the PVV, or "Party for Freedom", in 2005.

On immigration, Wilders stands for decreasing and clubs it with Moroccans, whom he describes as "scum" migrating to Netherlands and delivered a speech at The Hague in 2014 condemning migration. In a lengthy prosecution, which he claimed was politically motivated; this speech was eventually ruled as unlawful discrimination in terms of insulting a group. It resulted in a criminal record for Wilders but he was acquitted of inciting discrimination and given no other penalty.

From calling Moroccans "scum", to holding competitions for cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, Wilders has built a career based on his self-appointed mission to stop an "Islamic invasion" of the West.

Wilders also condemns the Dutch democracy and has stated that there is an enormous gap between this fake Dutch parliament and common people at large.

Talking in the 2015 budget debates, Wilders argued for a closure of the borders and questioned Dutch democracy because MPs did not agree with him. He also wants The Netherlands to leave the EU, just like the UK.

Moreover, Wilders pledges to close the Dutch representation in Ramallah, home to the "corrupt Palestinian Authority". He also describes Israel as the only true democracy in the Middle East and has stated that once in power he'll ensure Dutch relations with Israel are strengthened and will move the Dutch embassy to Jerusalem.

Dutch politics

The Netherlands is known for low corruption, press freedom and moderation, but for the past two decades it has witnessed a rising support for far-right parties.

Prof Tom Louwerse of Leiden University's Institute of Political Science, told the Guardian that the Dutch far right has polled on average 15 per cent to 20 per cent votes in the past decade.

Matthijs Rooduijn of Amsterdam University told a Dutch news website localnews.com that he sees the election as a "breeding ground for right-wing populism".

Although Wilders is extremely right wing on immigration, he has populist policies on healthcare, pensions, the minimum wage and social housing.

"The electorate of the PVV in general consists of people who experience more difficulties," said Rooduijn. "They feel they are being neglected. They have tough lives, economically but also culturally. And that is one of the reasons they vote for a party that promises radical change."

But will this radical change happen? Wilders has won the most seats and been invited to try to form a coalition. But the Dutch representative democracy and the process of electing a coalition Prime Minister is very complicated. And it could take months for him to be chosen the Prime Minister.

Overall, the Dutch elections may serve as an indication of the increasing right-wing sentiments in Western Europe. The far right has grown throughout much of Europe in the past decade.

Giorgia Meloni of Brothers of Italy rode to power last year, the National Rally led by Marine Le Pen came second in the 2022 French presidential election, and the Alternative for Germany party is currently polling second.

(Asad Mirza is a Delhi-based senior political and international affairs commentator.)
New York, Nov 27 : The solution to the decades-long battle against malaria may be as simple as adding soap, according to a study.

Scientists at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) found that adding small quantities of liquid soap to some classes of pesticides can boost their potency by more than ten-fold.

The discovery is promising news as malaria-carrying mosquitoes display an increasing resistance to current insecticides, said lead author Colince Kamdem, Assistant Professor in Department of Biological Sciences at UTEP.

"Over the past two decades, mosquitoes have become strongly resistant to most insecticides," Kamdem said.

"It's a race now to develop alternative compounds with new modes of action."

Both laboratory tests and field trials have shown that neonicotinoids, a special class of insecticide, are a promising alternative to target populations showing resistance to existing insecticides, said Caroline Fouet, Research Assistant Professor at UTEP.

Neonicotinoids, however, do not kill some mosquito species unless their potency is boosted.

In this case, Fouet said, soap is the boosting substance.

Malaria is a devastating mosquito-borne disease that is prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Latin America, causing fever, fatigue, headaches and chills; the disease can be fatal.

In 2020, there were an estimated 241 million cases of malaria worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control, resulting in 627,000 deaths.

In a new study published on Friday in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the team selected three low-cost, linseed-oil based soaps that are prevalent in sub-Saharan Africa -- Maitre Savon de Marseille, Carolin Savon Noir and La Perdrix Savon -- and added them to four different neonicotinoids, acetamiprid, clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam.

In all cases, the insecticides drastically enhanced potency, the team wrote in the study.

"All three brands of soap increase mortality from 30 per cent to 100 per cent compared to when the insecticides were used on their own," said Ashu Fred, first author and doctoral student at Cameroon's University of Yaounde.

The team also tested the addition of soap to a class of insecticides known as pyrethroids. In those cases, however, they saw no benefits.

The team hopes to conduct additional testing to establish exactly how much soap is needed to enhance insecticides.

"We would love to make a soap-insecticide formulation that can be used indoors in Africa and be healthy for users," Kamdem said.

"There are unknowns as to whether such a formulation will stick to materials like mosquito nets, but the challenge is both promising and very exciting."
Hyderabad: Congress working president Revanth Reddy talks to the media over IT department's raids at his residences and offices across Telangana, in Hyderabad on Sept 29, 2018. . Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, Nov 27 : After the Election Commission of India (ECI) revoked permission for disbursements under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, Telangana Congress chief A. Revanth Reddy appealed to farmers not to worry, promising that if the party comes to power, it will deposit Rs. 15,000 in their accounts under Rythu Bharosa.

Reacting to the ECI's order, Revanth Reddy said except the greed, anxiety and arrogance to get votes with Rythu Bandhu, the 'nephew and uncle' had no intention to really benefit the farmers.

He said this was evident from the orders to revoke the permission given to Rythu Bandhu.

The Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president took to 'X' to target Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and his nephew and Finance Minister T. Harish Rao.

He said it was clearly mentioned in EC's orders that it is withdrawing permission for Rythu Bandhu because of Harish Rao's comments.

"Unless these traitors are sent home, there will be no justice for the farmers," he said.

Under Rythu Bandhu, the BRS is providing investment support of Rs.10,000 per acre to 65 lakh farmers. The amount is given in two equal instalments before Khariff and Rabi crop seasons.

The state government so far claimed to have disbursed Rs.72,000 crore in 10 seasons.

Two days ago, the ECI had given permission to the state government for disbursals but laid down the condition that this announcement should not be used by the ruling party during the campaign to draw mileage in elections.

The Congress found fault with the permission given by the poll panel just a few days before elections saying this will give undue advantage to BRS.

When Harish Rao stated in his speech in an election rally that farmers will start getting messages on their mobile phones from Monday morning about the money getting credited in their bank accounts, the Congress lodged a complaint that the BRS is violating the conditions laid down by it.

The Congress party has already promised that if voted to power it will give Rs.15,000 per acre for farmers under a scheme to be called Rythu Bharosa.

The BRS too has promised in its manifesto that under Rythu Bandhu, the financial assistance will be increased to Rs.15,000 in a phased manner.

--IANS

ms/ksk
Pune, Nov 27 : A woman flier was shocked to find the cushion missing from her seat when she travelled on a Pune-Nagpur flight.

The incident took place early on Sunday.

The Nagpur resident, Sagarika S. Patnaik had boarded the flight 6E-6798 in Pune and was allotted a window seat 10A, but when she went to occupy it, there was no cushion and only the grey metal frame stared at her.

Her husband Subrat vented his grievance on social media and also to some mediapersons, saying that she immediately raised the issue with the cabin crew who asked her to check below the seat, but it was not there.

Later, one crew member brought a cushion from some other seat for Sagarikaas seat, but he said that this was unexpected from an airline like IndiGo.

When contacted for their reactions here, the IndiGoas official spokesperson said they would enquire and revert.

The incident sparked off a furore on social media with many slamming the airline for its attitude and blatant deficiency of service to the passengers.

Some people have even tagged Minister of Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia, DGCA and others demanding compensation for the woman passenger and action against the carrier.
Moscow, Nov 27 : Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has put Meta spokesperson Andy Stone to its wanted list under a criminal article.

Stone "is wanted under an article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation," reports state-owned news agency Tass, citing the ministry's database.

The reason Stone has been added to the list was not mentioned, according to the report.

In 2022, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Moscow officially designated Meta as a "terrorist and extremist" organisation.

Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) were banned and are only accessible in the country through VPNs.

In March 2022, the Russian investigative committee opened a criminal case on calls for violence and murder against Russians in connection with the actions of Meta employees.

Russia on Saturday launched the largest drone attack in Kiev since the beginning of the Ukraine invasion.

Posting on Telegram, Air Force Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said, "Russia attacked Ukraine with 75 kamikaze drones Shahed-131 and Shahed-136, and most of them were launched against Kiev."

The Ukrainian air defence destroyed 71 of the drones, it said.

The attack disrupted the electricity supply to 77 residential buildings and 120 institutions, it said.

Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko said four adults and an 11-year-old child suffered minor injuries in the attack.
Ali Fazal says he wants to tell stories on a global scale. Image Source: IANS News

Mumbai, Nov 27 : Actor Ali Fazal, who portrays the complex character of Guddu Bhaiya in the 'Mirzapur' franchise, expressed his enthusiasm for the upcoming season, which will drop next year.

He said: "This time, it's going to be an even more intriguing and remarkable performance by Guddu Bhaiya."

Ali added: "Guddu in season 2 was doing the wait and patience game, but he's all set to come back with a true sense of fire in season 3. Guddu Pandits fans were wondering of my minimal time in season 2, but I can be confident to tell that they will be pleased and more with what's coming up in season 3."

"The makers have definitely amped this season up and Guddu has a very exciting arc he goes through and is back in action".

'Mirzapur', a crime thriller starring Ali Fazal, Rasika Dugal, Shweta Tripathi, Vijay Varma and Pankaj Tripathi. The gripping narrative of Mirzapur 2 concluded on an intriguing cliff-hanger.

The story follows Akhandanand Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi), also known as Kaleen Bhaiya, the mafia don and proverbial ruler of Mirzapur in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh.
Indian envoy to US heckled outside NY gurdwara by Khalistani supporters, accuses him of killing Nijjar. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Nov 27 : A group of Khalistani supporters heckled Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu outside a gurdwara in New York and accused him of killing Sikh hardliner Hardeep Singh Nijjar and also "plotted to murder" Gurpatwant Singh Pannun -- a listed individual terrorist of the banned Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) outfit.

The incident came days after Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on November 22 said that US shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organised criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others and these inputs are a cause of concern for both countries and they decided to take necessary follow up action.

The incident took place at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York where a person could be heard shouting at the Sandhu with accusations over the killing of Nijjar, who was shot dead in Canada in June this year.

BJP spokesperson RP Singh Khalsa on Monday shared a video which showed Sandhu being surrounded by people amid continuous shouting.

"Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign," he said on X.

"Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused ambassador Sandhu for Indiaas role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was President of Surrey Gurdwara and the coordinator for Canadian Chapter of the Khalistan Referendum."

In a similar incident in September this year, Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami was not allowed to enter a gurdwara in Scotland's Glasgow by a few Khalistani radicals.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had on November 20 registered a fresh case against alisted individual terrorista Pannun 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.

In his statement on November 22, Bagchi had also said that issues in the context of US inputs were already being examined by relevant departments. In a statement on reports of discussions between India and US on security matters.

"During the course of recent discussions on India-US security cooperation, the US side shared some inputs pertaining to nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, terrorists and others."

He said the inputs were a cause of concern for both countries and they decided to take necessary follow up action and added that on its part, India takes such inputs "seriously" since it impinges on our own national security interests as well.

"Issues in the context of US inputs are already being examined by relevant departments," the MEA spokesperson added.
UPSIFS to introduce first five-year integrated forensic science course. Image Source: IANS News

Lucknow, Nov 27 : The Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Sciences (UPSIFS) is set to introduce a unique integrated BSc LLB (Forensic Science) five-year degree programme from the next academic session.

First-of-its-kind in the state, the programme is aimed at assisting in the administration of justice.

"The course will be a valuable asset in the administration of justice, as forensic science is not complete without law," said UPSIFS director G.K. Goswami.

The institute is also in the final stages of completing Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with prestigious institutions like the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting Diagnostics (CDFD) in Hyderabad.

Experts from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur are already guiding UPSIFS students in cyber forensics.

Elaborating on the approach of education at UPSIFS, Goswami explained that the institute focuses on three key areas. The first is the crime scene management where the students learn how to effectively manage crime scenes to preserve evidence and prevent contamination.

The second is sample analysis where students gain expertise in analysing various types of forensic samples, such as DNA, fingerprints, and trace evidence.

The third is expert opinion which helps students develop the skills to present their findings and expert opinions in a clear and concise manner, making them credible witnesses in courts of law.

The institute which held first public function in Lucknow on Sunday, brought together doyens of law, including judges of the Allahabad high court, legal luminaries, forensic experts, police officers and academia.

One of the legal experts, Prof. Anup Surendranath from the National Law University spoke about the alarmingly high rate of death penalty reversals during appeals.

His research has revealed that nearly 40 per cent of death penalty cases are overturned in appeals, raising concerns about the quality of evidence used to convict individuals.

Surendranath also highlighted the issue of 'junk science' (spurious or fraudulent scientific data, research, or analysis), where poor quality forensic evidence can lead to irreversible injustice for innocent people.

He emphasised the need for rigorous scientific standards in forensic investigations to ensure the fair administration of justice.

Justice AR Masoodi of the Allahabad HC, emphasised interconnectedness of scientific investigation and fair trial.

He cited examples from court cases to illustrate the crucial role of forensics in advancing justice.

He also stressed the importance of treating individuals in conflict with law as patients rather than mere criminals.
Head of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine Rustem Umerov reported on a productive meeting with the President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Michal Szczerba.

"Ukraine's Defence Ministry plans on adopting NATO standards and practices to strengthen the Ukrainian army. Exchanged ideas on NATO summit in Washington," Umerov said on the X social network on Sunday.

As reported, on November 25, events were held in Ukraine to mark the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor-genocide tragedy. A number of foreign delegations visited Ukraine on that day.
London, Nov 27 : An Indian-origin store owner has been hit with a community order after food contaminated with rat droppings and poison was found at his store in UK's Birmingham city last year.

Avtar Singh, 39, was sentenced to a 12-month community order with a requirement to complete 120 hours of unpaid work after he admitted to seven hygiene offences, BirminghamLive news website reported.

The Birmingham Magistrates' Court also ordered him pay 1,430 pounds in costs and a 114 pound victim surcharge.

Singh's offences date back to October 25 last year when city council officers discovered a number of issues at Singh's Diamond Drinks on Soho Road.

One of the charges stated there was 'rat activity in the premises' and another was concerned with "gaps in the structure that could permit the ingress of rats".

A further charge said that Singh "...failed to ensure that food was protected against any contamination likely to render the food unfit for human consumption, injurious to health, or contaminated in such a way that it would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state in that, packets of food were gnawed and contaminated by rat urine and rat kill cake".

The city council inspectors described the shop as 'dirty and poorly maintained' with lack of hand washing materials.

Further counts related to the failure to clean equipment which came into contact with food and the fact waste was stored inside an unlidded bin.

The shop, which is now under new ownership, has been revisited since the problems were discovered.

It was given a 1 out of 5 Food Standards Agency (FSA) rating, calling for 'major improvements'.

--IANS

mi/ksk
Uttarkashi: Rescue operations are underway following the collapse of a section of an under-construction tunnel. Image Source: IANS News

Uttarkashi, Nov 27 : Sixteen days have passed since the Silkyara tunnel accident took place in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, but no visible success has been achieved as several agencies with 200 employees continue rescue operations to bring out 41 workers trapped in the tunnel.

After repeated interruptions in the auger machine, vertical drilling work has been started from the top of the hill from Sunday. And till now drilling up to 30 meters has been completed.

Meanwhile, in a positive development, broken parts of the auger machine have been taken out. Now manual drilling work will be started here, which will proceed under the supervision of the engineering group of the Indian Army, Madras Sappers.

The rat hole mining technique will be adopted for manual drilling, in which small tunnels are dug. Such tunnels are made in coal mines.

Former PMO advisor Bhaskar Khulbe and PMO Deputy Secretary Mangesh Ghildiyal have reached the Silkyara tunnel site to take stock of the situation. General VK Singh (retired) also reached the site where he offered prayers in the temple of Baba Bokh Naag Devta built outside the tunnel.

Two days ago, the Meteorological Department had issued a yellow alert for three days. Light snowfall has also started in Uttarkashi, which may hamper the rescue operation.

Recently, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami met the family of Pushkar Singh Airi, a worker from Tanakpur, who is one of the 41 workers trapped in the tunnel. During the meeting, Dhami consoled the family members. He also said that the rescue work will be completed soon and all the workers will come out soon.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Hours after the TRS blamed Congress for Election Commission order on the Rythu Bandhu Scheme, Congress hit back, saying that only the 'gang of four' ruling the state was responsible, and who in desperation to hang onto power ended up denying what was owed to farmers.

It also said that the Congress remains committed to fulfilling its guarantees to the farmers of Telangana -- 'Rythu Bharosa'.

In a post on X, Congress General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Ramesh said, "The Election Commission has held the Finance and Health and Family Welfare Minister, Harish Rao in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

"Nobody else is to be blamed other than the aGang of foura ruling Telangana, who in their desperation to hang onto power have ended up denying what is owed to farmers. The Congress remains committed to fulfilling its Guarantee to the farmers of Telangana - Rythu Bharosa," he said.

Ramesh said Rs 15,000 per acre to farmers, Rs 15,000 per acre to tenant farmers, Rs 12,000 per year for agricultural labour.

"Not only that, we have promised up to Rs 2 lakh farm loan waiver to all farmers," he said.

Congress General Secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal also said: "Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under the instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu instalments.

"The money is the right of the farmers. It is what they deserve for their year-long hard work. When this money is supposed to be released any time between October and January, it was the BRSa desperation which compelled them to make such irresponsible statements," he said.

"Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana," Venugopal added.

The remarks came after the EC on Monday stopped the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme by Telangana government for violating the model code of conduct and conditions laid down while granting 'no objection'.

The poll panel in an official order said that it has been informed on November 26 that T. Harish Rao, Minister of Finance and Heath and Family Welfare, Government of Telangana has made statements regarding the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu Scheme by a particular time before the date of poll, which is widely reported in newspapers and local media on Sunday.

"The Commission has observed that Rao, who is also a contesting candidate sponsored by the BRS Party from Siddipet Assembly Constituency in ongoing Assembly elections for Telangana 2023, a star campaigner of the party and also the Finance Minister of Telangana, has not only violated the provisions of MCC but also the conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the on-going election process," the Commission said.

"In the context as above of clear violation of Model Code of Conduct and conditions laid down while granting 'no objection', the Commission has directed that the permission granted vide its letter on November 25, 2023 for disbursement of Rabi season instalment under the ongoing Rythu Bandhu scheme during currency of MCC, shall stand withdrawn immediately and there shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its form," it said.

Polling for the 119-member Telangana Assembly is scheduled on November 30 and counting of votes will take place on December 3.

--IANS

Aks/
Patna, Nov 27 : Four friends in the age group of 18 to 20 consumed poisonous substances together in Bihar's Aurangabad district in an apparent suicide pact on Sunday evening. While one of the girls died on the way to hospital the other three girls are in a critical condition and battling for their lives in Magadh Medical College, Gaya.

The family members of the four girls, two of whom are sisters, are clueless about the reason behind this suicide pact.

"I don't understand why they consumed poison," said the father of two of the girls.

Amanullah Khan, SDPO, Sadar, Aurangabad said, "We have learnt that four girls consumed poisonous substances together in a village that comes under Kutumba police station. They were taken to Sadar Hospital, Aurangabad, where one of them was declared brought dead while three others were referred to Gaya's Magadh Medical College for better treatment. Their condition is said to be critical."

"We are waiting for the recovery of the girls to know the reasons behind their actions. At present, they are not in condition to give a statement," Khan said.
Mumbai, Nov 27 : The first look teaser of the upcoming Rishab Shetty-starrer film 'Kantara Chapter 1' has been unveiled and it promises a captivating ride through its cinematic journey. The film is a prequel to Shetty's 2022 Kannada origin pan-India film 'Kantara', which told the story of a deity Panjurli Daiva, who protects a village and the forest under which the village falls.

The new teaser showcases an ominous yet captivating look of Rishab Shetty, and provides a glimpse into the world created by the actor-director for himself. It shows the origins of the legend and how it came into being.

It concludes with a unique touch a" seven different ragas of music representing each of the seven languages in which aKantara Chapter 1a will be released.

aKantaraa took the global cinematic landscape by storm last year, captivating audiences with its folklore-based storytelling that explored the intricate connection between humanity and nature.

The filming for aKantara Chapter 1a is scheduled to kick off at the end of December. Although the cast is currently undisclosed, the first look of the movie teases a journey into a parallel world filled with extraordinary storytelling.

aKantara Chapter 1a is produced by Hombale Films.
Tel Aviv : Discussions are on between Israel and Qatari mediators over hostages to be freed by the Hamas on Monday -- the final day of the four-day truce between the two warring sides.

Addressing mediapersons, the Israeli coordinator of hostages and missing persons, Gal Hirsh said the discussions were underway regarding the list of hostages that was received by the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday night.

It remains unclear on why discussions were required at this point.

In a statement on Sunday night, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said: "Discussions are being held on the list that was received overnight and which is now being evaluated in Israel."

However, the mediators told reporters that there wont be much difficulties in securing the release of the fourth round of hostages from Hamas's captivity.

Monday is the fourth, and potentially final, day of the initially negotiated truce between Hamas and Israel.

As of Sunday, Hamas and Israel had discussed the possibility of extending the truce, but no such deal has been announced yet.

Hamas has said that it sought to extend the ongoing four-day truce with Israel, which has so far witnessed the release of three groups of Israeli hostages from Gaza and three groups of Palestinian prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails.

In an official statement on Sunday night, which was sent to the Israeli government through the mediators in Qatar, the Palestinian militant group said it wants ato extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement".

The four-day ceasefire in Gaza, which began on November 24, entailed an increased flow of aid trucks carrying relief supplies and fuel into Gaza through the Rafah border crossing.

Under the agreement, Hamas promised to release a total of 50 hostages, mostly women and minors. It has just handed over a third batch of Israeli hostages to the Red Cross on the third day of the temporary truce, including 14 Israelis and three foreign nationals.

Israel promised to free some 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons in exchange.

Since the beginning of the ceasefire, 67 hostages were released by Hamas.

In exchange, Israel has released 39 Palestinian prisoners, according to the country's prison service.

Over the weekend, Qatar, which played a central role in mediating the agreement, said it too was hoping to extend the truce, which includes provision for an extension of one extra day for every 10 hostages Hamas is ready to free.

A senior Palestinian official familiar with negotiations taking place in Qatar has told the media that Hamas informed mediators that it is willing to extend the pause by two to four days, and that an extension could see the release of an additional 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners.

On November 25, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

But the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA) said that there is a regular flow of trucks into Gaza strip through the Rafah crossing and more trucks are likely to reach Gaza during the ceasefire period.
Guwahati, Nov 27 : The historic Gurudwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib in Assam's Dhubri district observed the 554th anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev's birth on Monday, officials said.

As they commemorated the birth anniversary of the first Sikh guru, devoted Sikhs assembled in great numbers and offered traditional prayers.

Three days have been dedicated to the celebration of Guru Nanak Jayanti at the historic gurudwara, where kirtan path and akhand path are being held.

In addition, those who attend the Guru Nanak Jayanti celebrations are given free meals at the community kitchen.

"We are commemorating in the Gurudwara Sri Tegh Bahadur Sahab the 554th anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji's birth. The Akhand Path ended on Sunday at 10 am, having started two days before," Gurbindar Singh, the gurudwara's manager said.

"The akhand path was held this morning at 11 a.m. Kirtans are now held constantly. The community kitchen also continues without interruption. Kirtan will conclude at 1pm. The langar will then go until five o'clock in the evening," he added.

Gurdwara Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib in Dhubri town is on the bank of the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The first Sikh guru, Guru Nanak Dev, visited the place in 1505 AD and met Srimanta Sankardeva on his way when he traveled from Dhaka to Assam.

Later, the 9th Guru Teg Bahadur also visited the place and established the Gurdwara in the 17th century.

Former Indian President Gyani Zail Singh visited the Gurdwara in 1983.
Shimla, Nov 27 : Lahaul-Spiti district, the cold desert of Himachal Pradesh, saw one of the devastating avalanches in 1979 that claimed more than 250 lost lives.

Locals believe learning from that disaster they started a campaign to save forests that showed positive results and such scale of loss of life and property has not been witnessed again.

This fact came to light in an open conversation organised by Himdhara, a state-based informal non-registered environment research and action collective, after screening its film 'Bano Haqq Kathare', based on the forest rights in 18 villages of Lahaul.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Pune's archives, 232 people died and 525 were reported missing owing to heavy unseasonal snow in the first and second week of March 1979 in Lahaul.

Many villages were buried under 4.5-6 metres of snow and many buildings damaged. In the Pin Valley, 12,000 people were stranded.

The film, which throws light on issues related to the Lahaul Valley, is about the relationship and dependence between the tribal society and their forests, which the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 ensures by granting ownership rights.

It also talks about why the law has more relevance in the changing social and economic context. The decades-long successful efforts of Mahila Mandals in the campaign to save forests in the Lahaul Valley have been brought before everyone through the film, a statement by Himdhara said on Monday.

From this example, other disaster-affected districts of Himachal can also take inspiration and start a campaign to save their forests so that effects of disasters can be reduced in the future, it said.

The film was shown to Mahila Mandals or women groups as well as other villagers in 18 villages across the valley from Darcha to Udaipur.

Anita, a Mahila Mandal member of Tandi village, was quoted as saying, "We are already saving the forests, but it is also the reality that people have very little land for farming. Now in Lahaul, land is not available either from Nautor policy or through FRA. On top of it, there is a talk about building dams. In Uttarakhand, more than 40 labourers have been stuck in the tunnel for many days, similar disaster will happen here if the dam is built."

"Nautor Land" means the right to utilize, with the sanction of authorities, wasteland owned by the government outside towns, reserved and demarcated protected forests and such areas as may be notified by the state government.

Another Mahila Mandal member Shilpa from Jasrath village said she learnt from the film and the subsequent discussion on the FRA that work on 13 types of development activities could be done at the village level under Section 3(2) of the Act.

Many such issues came up in the discussions held after the film screening, which showed that in some places there is no information about the FRA at all, while in some cases people are awaiting the administration to approve the claims of land along with the house as individual rights under Section 3(1) of the Act.

And amidst all this, there is a complete silence on the issue and understanding of the right to collective use and management of forests, which is considered most important for the communities living in tribal areas, said Himdhara.

(Vishal Gulati can be contacted at gulatiians@gmail.com)
Hyderabad, Nov 27 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday alleged that there is a deal between the Congress and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in Telangana.

He claimed that under the deal, Congress is supporting K. Chandrasekhar Rao to become the Telangana Chief Minister once again and in return BRS will help Rahul Gandhi to become the country's Prime Minister.

He, however, said that the Prime Ministerial post is not vacant as Narendra Modi will become the Prime Minister again in 2024.

Shah was addressing an election rally in Huzurabad constituency in Karimnagar district in support of party MLA Eatala Rajender.

The BJP leader mentioned that whenever Congress MLAs were elected by people, they defected to the BRS.

He said that there is public anger against the ruling BRS government and nobody wants KCR to become the Chief Minister again.

"It's time to give VRS to BRS and send their car (BRS poll symbol) to the garage," Shah added.

Alleging that Congress, BRS and MIM are one, he said that voting for any of them will be a vote for corruption and family rule.

The Union Home Minister also accused the three parties of indulging in minority appeasement and said a vote for them will be a vote for supporters of Razakars.

Shah reiterated that KCR is not supporting the 'Hyderabad Liberation Day' as he was scared of AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi.

He also promised that if voted to power, BJP will abolish the four per cent reservation for Muslims.

Claiming that the Modi government gave seven lakh crore rupees to Telangana in the last 10 years, Shah said if BJP is voted to power in the state it can become 'number one' state under Narendra Modias leadership
New Delhi, Nov 27 : The big deployment by foreigners into India Midcap funds peaked in the week ending September 13. They haven't done any incremental deployment since the past two months, as per a report by Elara Securities.

All incremental India dedicated flows continue to move into Large cap funds. Mid and Smallcap flows remain flat.

However, the domestic small cap inflows is helping them generate strong performance is mid/small cap space. Hence the relative NAV line of India dedicated Midcap to Largecap funds has broken-out in Auga22. Despite Midcap funds outperforming largecaps, we have seen FIIs not deploying incremental liquidity into that space. However, since the performance remains strong, we are also not seen any outflow pressure, the report said.

The proportion of Niftyas market cap to total Indiaas market cap has been drifting down since Octa20 and drops to historic lows. Such lower readings were previously seen in Jana04, Sepa07, Nova10 and Jana18 period. Every single time, the expansion in this ratio from lows was accompanied by a market correction, the report said.

In the phase of reversal from lows, the correction in Nifty was smaller than overall markets. In the current cycle, we had seen this ratio hitting lower end in Sepa22 (where we saw one strong round of small cap correction) however the strong revival in domestic small flows has again dragged the ratio down since Apra23. As soon as the ratio reached Auga23 lows, we saw FII inflows into India Midcap funds stopping.

Since then, all incremental FII liquidity is moving to Large caps.

(Sanjeev Sharma can be reached at sanjeev.s@ians.in)
On Sunday evening, Ukrainian power engineers returned to work the sole remaining main off-site power line between the Russian-occupied Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant and the Ukrainian power system  the 750 kV Zaporizhia NPP-Dniprovska overhead line, thereby preventing the threat of another blackout for the plant.

"Ukrainian specialists repaired the damaged 750 kV line at 08.52 p.m. Until that time, the Zaporizhia NPP had been on the verge of another blackout for almost the entire day, which would have occurred if the backup 330 kV line had lost power connection," Energoatom said in a statement on Monday.

They explained that on November 26, 2023 at 10:30, as a result of a short circuit that occurred around 100 km north of the Zaporizhia NPP captured by the Russians, its sole remaining (out of the four that existed before) line of its connection was disconnected. Three other lines were damaged even earlier by Russian shelling.

According to a report on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website, after the 750 kV overhead line was turned off, the Zaporizhia NPP received external power from its only available 330 kV back-up power line.

However, one emergency diesel generator also started operating to supply reactor unit 4 after the power loss, indicating a possible issue with its electrical configuration. The diesel generator was manually shut down after ten minutes.

They recalled that the ZNPP has lost external power supplies repeatedly during the conflict, including seven complete loss of off-site power events. The connection to the 750 kV line was last lost on 10 August, when the line disconnected and was reconnected twice on the same day.

At the same time, the IAEA said that on Sunday, the IAEA experts present at the ZNPP heard several rockets that appeared to have been fired from close to the plant. The IAEA team did not see the projectiles because of clouds but the distinctive sound indicated they were fired from a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) nearby.

"Today's events once again clearly demonstrate the extremely fragile nuclear safety and security situation at the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant. Europe's largest nuclear power plant  located on the frontline  continues to face many potential threats as a result of this tragic war," IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A plea has been filed in the Delhi High Court challenging the existing rule that exclusively permits female candidates to apply for the B.Sc (Hons.) Nursing Course in nursing colleges run by All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi University, and Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.

The petition by the Indian Professional Nurses Association seeks a reconsideration of the rule urging the court to direct the implementation of a new regulation that would make individuals of all genders eligible for admission to B.Sc.(H) nursing courses.

The association, a registered non-governmental body dedicated to the welfare of nurses nationwide, says that restricting admission solely to females is deemed arbitrary and contrary to the fundamental principles of democracy, fairness, and equality.

It is argued that the practice is "manifestly arbitrary" and fails to meet the standards of reasonable classification outlined in Article 14 of the constitution.

The plea contends: "The classification created only entitles female candidates to a specific B.Sc. (H) Nursing course on the basis of a rule that does not consider the present day realities."

It further says that the gender-specific eligibility rule overlooks the pressing need for more nursing professionals in the country and, consequently, runs against the broader interest of the public.
Kolkata, Nov 27 : After Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced a hike in the salaries of legislators and ministers in West Bengal, demands have started cropping up from former legislators to proportionately increase their pensions as well.

Sources from the Assembly said that a memorandum on this count reached the office of Speaker Biman Bandopadhyay from the welfare association of former legislators on Friday.

In the memorandum, the former MLAs have made an appeal for the entitlement committee of the state Assembly to consider an increase in the pension of former MLAs.

The pension for the former MLAs are decided on the basis of the number of terms the legislator concerned had in the House. While a one-term former MLA has a monthly entitlement of Rs 14,000 as pension and medical allowance, the amount in case of two-term MLA is Rs 16,000 and the same for three or more terms is Rs 18,000.

In addition to that, each former legislator, irrespective of the number of terms, is entitled to an annual travelling allowance of Rs 19,000. The proposal is to increase the highest monthly pension band to Rs 26,000 and the annual travel allowance amount to Rs 30,000.
The United States Senates wants the government to increase cooperation with India in multilateral frameworks. Indian Navy destroyer INS Kolkata and tanker INS Shakti, transits the international waters in the South China Sea along with along with US N. Image Source: IANS News

London, Nov 27 : Iran-backed Houthi rebels have fired missiles at a US Navy destroyer off the coast of Yemen in a 'significant escalation' with American forces in the Middle East, media reports said.

Reports said that the USS Mason had responded to a distress call from an Israeli-linked chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden that had been seized by the armed rebels.

The Central Park tanker was carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid when its crew called for help, saying 'they were under attack from an unknown entity', Daily Mail reported.

Allied ships from a counter-piracy task force that operates in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia, including the USS Mason, responded to the call for help and 'demanded the release of the vessel' upon reaching the tanker.

'Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,' the US Central Command said in a statement, adding: 'The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.'

Hours later, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen which landed near the US warship -- a guided-missile destroyer -- raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Both missiles fell short by 10 nautical miles and landed in the water, Daily Mail reported.
Panaji, Nov 27 : Goa Leader of Opposition (LoP) Yuri Alemao on Monday said that the report on soil erosion by IIT-Bombay is a warning bell for the BJP government and hence it should rethink on destructive three linear projects.

The three linear projects- double tracking of rail line from Karnataka's Hospet to Vasco in Goa, laying down a 400 kv power transmission line and widening of highway between Karnataka and Goa, were opposed by people as they were passing through Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary and Mollem National Park.

"A Study Report by IIT  Bombay shows the picturesque UNESCO World Heritage Site of 1600 kilometres long Western Ghats Region (WGR), one of the 35 Biodiversity Hotspots on the planet earth, is plagued with heavy and rapid soil erosion. This is one more 'Warning Bell' for the BJP Government to rethink on destructive three linear Projects," Yuri Alemao pointed out.

Reacting to the a recent study by Prof Pennan Chinnasamy and Vaishnavi Honap, at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IITB), revealing rapidly increasing soil erosion in the WGR, Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao said that this data needs to be studied and corrective measures needs to be taken on war footing basis by the Goa government.

"I urge the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to invite the team of IIT-Bombay to give a presentation to all the members of the Goa Legislative Assembly and environmental activists. We have lost Mhadei, if we fail to act now we will lose biodiversity rich Western Ghats which will eventually convert Goa into a desert," Alemao said.

He said that the BJP governments policies are anti-environment and pro-capitalists.

He said that it is only because of the efforts of the NGOs and activists that the identity of Goa remains protected.

"Goans will always remain indebted to the NGOs and activists for their hard work and efforts to save Goa from destructive policies of the BJP government," Yuri Alemao said.
Sex Scandal: People should not intervene in others personal life, says Goa CM. Image Source: IANS News

Panaji, Nov 27 : Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday expressed confidence that state will win the 'Mhadei' case, being heard in Supreme Court, against Karnataka.

"We are very much serious about the case and evidence wise we are very much strong. We are confident that the state will win the case," Sawant told reporters.

The Supreme Court has listed the hearing of the Mhadei river issue for November 29.

Sawant said that his legal team is taking review of the matter and are focused on the issue.

Goa Forward Party President Vijai Sardesai on Saturday demanded a House Committee meeting over issue, which was last held in February.

The bordering states of Goa and Karnataka are currently involved in a dispute over the Kalasa-Banduri dam project across the river.

"Call the House Committee meeting now. After a long delay, the Supreme Court has finally listed the matter for hearing on Wednesday (November 29). I demand an urgent review meeting of the House Committee on Mhadei on Monday to discuss this most important issue Goa faces today," Sardesai said.

"I urge Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodker to take the lead. As I have always maintained, this is a matter of life and death," said Sardesai, an MLA from the opposition group.

Sardesai said that the last meeting of the House Committee was held on February 8.

On that day, Subhash Shirodkar, after chairing the preliminary meeting of the House Committee, had said that the battle for Mhadei water diversion will be fought at the administrative and Supreme Court levels.

"We have to fight (this case) on the administrative and Supreme Court levels. We should be perfect in submission at the administrative level and should make our defence strong in the Supreme Court. These suggestions will play an important role," Shirodkar had said.

The BJP government in Goa is under attack since the Central Water Commission approved the detailed project report prepared by Karnataka for the disputed Kalasa-Banduri dam. The Goa government was then forced to appoint a House Committee over the issue.
Dhuri : , Nov 27 (IANS) Accompanied by his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday launched the 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Yatra' scheme to facilitate people to pay obeisance at the sacred places across the country.

Addressing a gathering after launching the scheme on the auspicious occasion of 'Parkash Purb' of Guru Nanak Dev here, Mann said the scheme is in line with the teachings and philosophy of the great Guru who spread the message of universal love and brotherhood.

He said a large section of society is not able to visit the sacred places across the country due to one reason or the other, and that is why the state government has started this scheme to facilitate the pilgrims to visit the various holy places.

The Chief Minister said 300 pilgrims from Amritsar, 220 from Jalandhar and more than 500 from Dhuri will be travelling to Sri Hazur Sahib at Nanded in Maharashtra on a train.

He said over 50,000 pilgrims will be availing this facility over three months, adding that 13,000 of them will travel via 13 trains carrying 1,000 passengers each which will leave every eighth day. The remaining will be travelling via buses, with 10 buses leaving every day, carrying 43 passengers each.

The Chief Minister said a team of doctors, volunteers and officials will also travel with the pilgrims to take care of any emergency.

The scheme was earlier launched by the Delhi government.

Some of the scared places where the pilgrims will go include Sri Hazur Sahib and Sri Patna Sahib, Varanasi, Mathura, Ajmer Sharif and others.

Similarly, the Chief Minister said through buses, the pilgrims will be able to visit Amritsar, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Damdama Sahib, Vaishno Devi, Mata Chintpurni, Naina Devi, Mata Jwalaji, Salasar Dham, Khatu Shyam and others.

In his address, Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal said the AAP governments in Delhi and Punjab are walking on the footsteps of the great Gurus to serve the people of these two places.

He said the important scheme is being launched for facilitating the people who canat travel to holy pilgrimages because of lack of resources.

In Delhi, 80 per cent pilgrims who are part of the scheme are women and senior citizens, he added.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 27 : A special fast track court in the Kerala capital on Monday sentenced a woman to 40 years in prison and a fine for abetting the rape of her seven-year-old daughter by her lover.

This horrific crime took place between March 2018 to September 2019 with the full knowledge of the young girlas mother.

When the girl complained to her mother about what was happening, she was asked to keep quiet and not to tell anyone. However when the young girlas 11-year-old step-sister came to the house, did she realise her step sister was also suffered the same crime.

Afterwards, the two girls lived in their grandmotheras house and it was during a counseling session revealed their plight and a POCSO case was registered against their motheras lover. During the trial, the alleged rapist committed suicide and hence the court sentenced the mother to 40 years in prison.

The two girls are now housed in a state run Childrenas Home.

--IANS

sg/vd
Seoul, Nov 27 : North Korea has begun rebuilding guard posts and bringing heavy firearms along the border with South Korea after effectively scrapping a 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction deal, the Defence Ministry said on Monday.

Ministry officials disclosed photos showing North Korean troops installing temporary guard posts, carrying what appeared to be recoilless guns and standing guard at night inside the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas.

These moves came after North Korea said last week that it would restore all military measures halted under the 2018 tension reduction deal. That decision came after South Korea suspended part of the agreement in protest of North Korea's successful launch of a military spy satellite, Yonhap news agency reported.

"Before destroying the GPs, there were observation posts and they are presumed to be rebuilding them. It was made of white wood and painted with a camouflage pattern," a senior military official told reporters, referring to a guard post seen in a photo released by the Defence Ministry on Monday.

"There are only a few guard posts currently undergoing restoration work, but North Korea is expected to restore all of them as they are essential facilities for surveillance," the official added.

Restoration work began on Friday, a day after North Korea said it was scrapping the deal, officials said.

The Comprehensive Military Agreement was signed on September 19, 2018, at the height of a reconciliatory mood when then South Korean President Moon Jae-in travelled to Pyongyang for summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The deal called for demolishing border guard posts within 1 km of the border, banning military drills and maneuvers near the land and sea borders, and establishing no-fly zones along the border, among a series of measures designed to reduce military tensions.

At the time, both sides demolished 10 guard posts each and withdrew troops and weapons from them.

In response to North Korea's latest move, the Defence Ministry vowed to keep close tabs on the North Korea's activities to detect signs of provocations along the border.

"Our military will closely monitor North Korea's provocative acts, while maintaining the full readiness to be able to retaliate to North Korea's provocations immediately, strongly and till the end, based on the strengthened combined posture with the US," the Ministry said.

North Korea's restoration of guard posts has raised speculation that the South Korean military could take further actions in addition to resuming surveillance activities near the border following the partial suspension of the accord.

General Kim Myung-soo, the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who took office on Saturday, said the South Korean military will take "corresponding measures" in response to North Korea's latest move, without elaborating on details.

"It depends on the enemy's behaviour. It is North Korea that has taken actions and broken trust ... We will take corresponding measures. Not taking an action would be more foolish," Kim said during his first meeting with reporters on Monday.

Later on Monday, Defence Minister Shin Won-shik visited the South Korea-US Combined Forces Command (CFC) in Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 60 km south of Seoul, to discuss the security situation on the peninsula with General Paul LaCamera, the commander of the CFC, US Forces Korea and the United Nations Command.

During the visit, Shin condemned North Korea's launch of a spy military satellite and taking steps to restore military measures halted under the 2018 pact near the border, calling for the allies' strong combined defence posture against North Korea's provocations, according to the Ministry.
Bhubaneswar, Nov 27 : The vigilance officials on Monday arrested a doctor after he was caught red-handed while taking bribe from a patient for performing cataract surgery at the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH), Subarnapur district in Odisha.

The accused doctor identified as Dr. Sanjib Kumar Kar works as the ophthalmologist at the DHH, Subarnapur.

The cataract surgery is conducted free of cost at all the government hospitals of the state.

However, Dr. Kar insisted the complainant, a daily wager, to pay Rs 6000 for the cataract surgery of his uncle, who is an ailing old man and an octogenarian. Subsequently, the complainant, Hadu Pradhan, informed vigilance officials about the illegal demand by the doctor.

"Based on the above complaint, the vigilance officials laid a trap and held Dr. Kar red-handed while accepting Rs 5,500 as bribe from the complainant," said a vigilance official.

The police also seized Rs 2,06,440 in cash during simultaneous raids at the house of Dr. Kar in Bolangir district, the government quarter inside DHH campus and his clinic at Kalapathar area in Subarnapur district.

The vigilance later arrested the accused, registering a case in this regard.
Rawalpindi, Nov 27 : Two civilians died while 10 others, including three Pakistan Army soldiers, were injured in a suicide attack on a convoy of security forces in Baka Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's Bannu district, Pak military's media affairs wing said on Monday, media reports said.

Inter-Services Public Relation (ISPR), in a statement, said that a "motorcycle borne suicide bomber" detonated himself on a security forces' convoy on Sunday.

It said that the bomber was affiliated with the Hafiz Gul Bahadur Group and "later identified as an Afghan national", Dawn reported.

"Sanitisation operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists in the area. Pakistan security forces are determined to eliminate the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave civilians and soldiers further strengthens our resolve," the ISPR said.

Last night, the ISPR said that eight militants were killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan.

On Wednesday, two soldiers were killed after an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded on a security forces' convoy in the Razmak area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's North Waziristan district.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities in recent months, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the banned militant Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan ended its ceasefire with the government last year, Dawn reported.
The Allard Pierson Museum donated artifacts from four Crimean museums to Ukraine, which were presented at an exhibition in Amsterdam, the National Museum of History of Ukraine has said.

"After almost ten years of trials, artifacts from four museums of Crimea, which were presented at the exhibition 'Crimea  Gold and Secrets of the Black Sea' in Amsterdam, returned to Ukraine. The Allard Pierson Museum transferred them to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. It is there that they will be stored until de-occupation of Crimea," the museum said on its website on Monday.

According to the press service, the exhibition of artifacts was held from February to August 2014 at the Allard Pierson Museum, it demonstrated objects from the collections of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine and four museums of Crimea: the National Preserve of Tauric Chersonesos (Sevastopol), the Taurida Central Museum (Simferopol), Bakhchisaray Historical and Cultural Reserve and Kerch Historical and Archaeological Reserve.

"In February 2014, Russia began the occupation of Crimea. Items from the collection of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine returned to Kyiv after the exhibition was completed. At the same time, it became impossible to return valuables from Crimean museums to territory not controlled by the Ukrainian authorities. However, the museums of Crimea, which de- is in fact controlled by the Russian government, they insisted on this. A trial has begun in the Netherlands," the report notes.

In December 2016, a court in Amsterdam decided to transfer the artifacts to Ukraine in accordance with the Inheritance Law. In addition, the appeal court decided to satisfy the claim for the transfer of Crimean artifacts to Ukraine, but on the basis of the Law of Ukraine On museums and the order of the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine dated March 2014, according to which the Minister of Culture has the authority to decide on the transfer of artifacts for safekeeping if there is a risk of their loss, damage or destruction.

However, the museums of Crimea filed a cassation appeal to the Supreme Court of the Netherlands with a request to overturn the decision of the Court of Appeal, but on June 9, 2023, the court rejected the cassation appeal of the museums and left the appeal decision unchanged.

According to the decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, Ukraine had to pay the Allard Pierson Museum EUR 111,689 with interest accrued for the entire period of storage of the collections of the Crimean museums.

"After fulfilling the obligations undertaken by the National Museum of the History of Ukraine and the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Allard Pierson Museum refused the payment determined by the court in its favor," the museum said in the statement.

At the moment, experts are examining the condition of 565 artifacts, including ancient sculptures, Scythian and Sarmatian jewelry, as well as Chinese lacquer boxes, which are 2,000 years old.

According to the State Customs Service of Ukraine, the customs of the capital has begun customs clearance of Scythian gold.

"Right now, a truck with 2,694 kg of cultural property, known collectively as Scythian Gold, has entered the territory of Kyiv Pechersk Lavra, where Kyiv customs officers will identify the treasures in the Treasury of the National Museum of Ukraine," the museum said in the Telegram channel.
New York, Nov 27 : 'Bridgerton' star Charithra Chandran will headline the cast of 'Arzu', a drama series based on the novel of the same name by Mumbai-based Riva Razdan, according to an exclusive report run by 'Variety'.

Geetika Lizardi, whose writing credits include 'Bridgerton', 'Mira, Royal Detective' and 'Outsourced', will write the series and also serve as showrunner.

The project comes out of the first-look deal between Fifth Season-backed Blink49 Studios and Canadian YouTuber Lilly Singh's Unicorn Island Productions.

'Arzu' follows a brilliant, young heiress who escapes scandal in Mumbai and lands in New York City. But while training to enter into glamorous Manhattan high society, Arzu risks throwing it all away for the adventure of living life on her own terms, reports 'Variety'.

"I am delighted to be part of a show that is full of glamour, romance and drama, and fearlessly touches on societal issues," Chandran said, adding: "Excited for the world to see it."

Lilly Singh added: "'Arzu' is an inspiring story about a woman who rejects societal norms in favour of her own passions and pursuits. It's sexy, surprising and subverts the limited South Asian stereotypes we've grown all too accustomed to seeing."
Aizawl, Nov 27 : A six-member delegation of NGO Coordination Committee (NGOCC), an umbrella body of influential civil society and students' organisations, would meet the Election Commission on Tuesday, even as the poll panel has already started its preparedness to count the votes of the November 7 Mizoram Assembly elections on December 3.

Official sources in Aizawl said that the NGOCC delegation, which went to Delhi on Thursday, would meet the Election Commission on Tuesday as part of its last-ditch effort to convince the poll panel to change the vote counting date, which falls on a Sunday.

Since the announcement of the election schedule for five states on October 9, all political parties, church bodies, NGOs, and civil society organisations in the Christian-majority state (87 per cent) have been requesting the ECI to reschedule the counting date -- December 3.

Counting for the four other states -- Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana -- would also be taken up on that day.

The ruling and Opposition parties and several organisations in Mizoram have been arguing that as a large percentage of the people in the state attend church services on Sunday, the vote counting should be rescheduled to another date.

In another development, following the request of the Mizoram Kohhran Hruaitute Committee (MKHC), a conglomerate of 15 major churches, all churches in Mizoram held prayers on Saturday and Sunday seeking divine intervention to reschedule the date of counting of votes.

In its letter to churches, the MKHC had expressed displeasure over no progress yet in the efforts to alter the date of counting of votes.

The NGOCC delegation went to Delhi after the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Madhup Vyas met with the ECI on this issue earlier. The ECI reportedly told the CEO that it will not reschedule the counting date since unlike polling, counting of votes does not involve common people who are free to do what they like on Sunday (December 3).

Media reports quoting officials said that the EC had deferred the date of counting in 2013 from December 8 to December 9 following appeals by political parties, civil society groups and churches in Mizoram.

Meanwhile, CEO Vyas said that a full-fledged trial for counting of votes would be held through the Encore portal on Thursday.

On December 3, over 4,000 counting personnel would be engaged in the counting of votes in 13 counting centres across the state.

Around 40 counting halls would be set up in different districts. All the EVMs are securely placed in the strong rooms in all the 11 district headquarters, officials said.

Director General of Police (DGP) Anil Shukla said that adequate security measures have been taken for counting of votes. Huge contingent of Central Armed Police Forces and Mizoram armed police would be deployed to maintain law and order and smooth process of counting of votes.
Seoul, Nov 27 : South Korea will bring in an all-time high of 165,000 non-professional migrant workers next year under the Employment Permit System to cope with growing labour shortages hitting many industries, the Ministry of Employment and Labor said on Monday.

The government will also expand the industries in which the foreign workers arriving here with the non-professional employment visa (E-9) can work, to newly include restaurant, mining and forestry sectors, the Ministry added.

In the case of the restaurant industry, for instance, Jeju, Sejong and 98 local governments plan to recruit foreign workers as kitchen assistants for Korean restaurants, Yonhap news agency reported.

By industry, manufacturing will accept the largest number of E-9 visa holders at 95,000 people, followed by 16,000 for agriculture and livestock, 13,000 for service, 10,000 for fishing, 6,000 for construction and 5,000 for shipbuilding, the Ministry said, adding the remaining 20,000 will be distributed regardless of industry.

The E-9 visa is issued for migrant workers wanting to engage in jobs that require manual or non-professional labour. The number of migrant workers entering South Korea with the E-9 visa has steadily increased in recent years, rising from 52,000 in 2021 and 69,000 in 2022 to 120,000 this year.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A Vistara flight from Kolkata to Delhi was diverted to Lucknow due to escalating air traffic congestion at the Delhi airport on Monday.

The airline announced the diversion in a tweet, informing passengers that the flight is anticipated to touch down in Lucknow at 6:45 p.m.

The decision to reroute the flight comes as a proactive measure to manage the challenges posed by the air traffic situation in Delhi.

Airports often face congestion issues, leading to necessary diversions for the safety and efficiency of air travel.

"Flight UK778 from Kolkata to Delhi (CCU-DEL) has been diverted to Lucknow (LKO) due to Air Traffic congestion at Delhi airport and is expected to arrive in Lucknow at 1845 hours," Vistara said in a tweet.
INS Tarkash commenced its deployment in the Atlantic following an exercise with the Moroccan Navy.. Image Source: IANS News

Rabat, Nov 27 : The Moroccan Navy has intercepted and rescued 56 illegal immigrants on board a boat off the Atlantic coast, the media reported on Monday.

A Moroccan Navy patrol vessel intercepted the boat during an assistance mission near the port of Tan-Tan, the media quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

The rescued people, including 55 from sub-Saharan African countries and one Cuban, were heading towards Spain's Canary Islands, the military source said as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

After receiving necessary care, the rescued migrants were handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie in the Tan-Tan port for the usual administrative procedures, the source added.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A man with ominous messages like "danger," "darinda" (demon), and "Mahakaal", tattooed on his body has been arrested by police in connection with over 80 cases of looting, burglary and arson.

A Delhi Police officer said on Monday that the accused, Sanjay Sharma (32) used to rob houses and then set them ablaze to eradicate all evidence.

A resident of Bulandshahr District in Uttar Pradesh Sanjay Sharma escaped from a juvenile observation home more than five times in the seven years that he spent there as a juvenile criminal.

The Deputy Commissioner of Police, (southwest), Manoj C said that on the basis of an input, a trap was laid after barricading Church Road, Near T-Point, Africa Avenue Road, Sector-1, RK Puram.

"As the police was checking vehicles, a motorcycle rider, attempted to flee on seeing them. The police team displayed exceptional courage and successfully apprehended him after a scuffle," said the DCP.

A flick knife, a T-type iron punch, an air pistol, and a packet of red chilli powder were recovered from his possession.

During investigation, it was discovered that Sanjay had been involved in more than 80 cases registered across various police stations in Delhi.

The DCP said that Sanjay committed his first crime in 2002 at the age of 10. Despite being apprehended multiple times as a juvenile, he managed to escape from observation homes over five times in seven years.

"Sanjay formed an infamous burgle-and-burn gang, comprising juvenile thieves. They would loot and burglarise houses, subsequently setting them on fire to eliminate evidence. He has been previously linked to over a dozen burglary cases, including 20 burgle-and-burn incidents," said the DCP.

"Having spent most of his time in jail, Sanjay was released on November 6 and he subsequently resuming criminal activities," the DCP added.
Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : Businessman and investor Elon Musk on Monday visited the Kfar Aza in Israel where the October 7 attack took place in which at least 1200 people were killed by Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accompanied Elon Musk to the residence of Ofir Liebstein, who fought back and died while fighting Hamas.

The IDF Spokesperson Liad Diamond gave a detailed presentation to Elon Musk about the October 7 attacks.

The head of the Negev Council, Yossi Keren also met Elon Musk at Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

Musk was also taken to the site Abigail Idan, where a 4-year-old American-Israel citizen was kidnapped during October 7 attack.

Israel President Issac Herzog is scheduled to meet Elon Musk later in the day. The relatives of the hostages will also meet Musk.
Palghar : , Nov 27 (IANS) The Mira Bhayander-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police have nabbed the alleged rapist of a minor girl from his native place in Varanasi, officials said on Monday.

According to the MBVV police, the heinous incident took place on November 14, celebrated as Childrenas Day, in Nalasopara town.

Around 9.30 p.m., the minor girl had stepped down to buy some sugar from a grocery shop located in her building and was returning back home.

Seeing her alone at that time, the accused tried to divert the girl's attention by saying that her mother was calling out to her.

As she turned around to look, the accused caught her, gagged her mouth and dragged her to an isolated spot nearby where he allegedly sexually assaulted her and decamped.

After returning home later, the girl narrated her ordeal to her parents and the family lodged a complaint with the Tulinj Police Station.

Taking serious cognizance of the incident which shocked the people of Nalasopara, Deputy Commissioner of Police Avinash Anbure guided the probe by setting up three separate teams to locate the accused.

Using tech-intel and network of informers, the police finally managed to zero in on him at his native Varanasi on Saturday where he was hiding since over 10 days.

The 23-year-old accused, whose identity has not been disclosed yet, was arrested and brought on a transit remand to Nalasopara on Monday and he will be produced before a Palghar court for further remand.

An official said that the accused will face charges under various sections of the Indian Penal Code plus the POSCO, and further investigations are underway.
Kochi, Nov 27 : On the occasion of its 75th anniversary, ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) released a commemorative stamp and special postal cover signifying the institute's rich legacy and contributions to the field of marine fisheries' research and development, here on Monday.

Sayeed Rashid, IPoS, Postmaster General, Kochi, officially released the stamp and cover by handing over them to A. Gopalakrishnan, Director, CMFRI.

In the special release, 5,000 sheets of stamps, each containing 12 stamps, have been made available, making them a collectible for philatelists and marine enthusiasts alike.

The stamp's design encapsulates CMFRI's dedication to marine research, bearing the inscription a75 Years of Research Excellencea alongside the institute's logo and the image of CMFRI headquarters in Kochi.

From a humble beginning in 1947, the institute has emerged as a leading tropical marine fisheries and mariculture research hub in the world.

Presently, CMFRI has 11 regional research centres along the peninsular coast of the country at Mandapam, Visakhapatnam, Veraval, Mumbai, Chennai, Calicut, Karwar, Tuticorin, Vizhinjam, Mangalore and Digha, along with 17 field centres and two Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK).

Speaking on the occasion, Gopalakrishnan said, "This is a proud moment for CMFRI as it is a testament to the institute's unwavering commitment to advancing marine fisheries and mariculture research and development for the socio-economic betterment of the coastal communities."

Over the years, serving as a leading institute under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), CMFRI has made significant contributions to the marine fisheries research, helping in sustaining the marine fish production and management of the sector in the Indian Ocean region and towards augmenting the livelihood of close to 40 lakh fisherfolks in India.
Kolkata, Nov 27 : As Binay Tamang, an influential leader in the hills of Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong has officially joined the Congress, the BJP might have to rework its strategy in 2024 for the Darjeeling Lok Sabha constituency which has seen the saffron camp winning for three consecutive terms since 2009.

Political observers say that chances are quite high that Binay Tamang might contest as the Left Front- supported Congress candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, since both the Congress and the CPI(M) might opt to use his influence among a section of the hills voters.

In that case, say political observers, the BJP will have to make an extremely calculative move with regard to the choice of candidate for the hills. This is because, the three elected BJP Lok Sabha members from Darjeeling till now, namely Jaswant Sinha in 2009, SS Ahluwalia in 2014 and finally the current MP Raju Bista in 2019 are not from the hills. So in the eventuality of Tamang contesting the polls from Darjeeling in 2024, he will surely exploit the "son of the hills" sentiment among the hill voters, political observers say.

In that case, the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM), whose backing ensured the BJP's victory for three consecutive terms, will also be in a fix in case the saffron party re-nominates Bista or again fields an outsider.

The task will be made even more difficult for the GJM given the recent complaints about successive elected MPs staying away from their constituencies for major part of their terms.

In that case, feel political observers, in order to ensure that the Darjeeling seat is retained, the BJP might have to consider fielding a local candidate and that, too, someone who will enjoy the confidence of the local hill political forces.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs handed over digitized copies of more than 1,000 criminal cases from the period of the Ukrainian genocide to the Holodomor Museum, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said.

"The indescribable pain of the entire Ukrainian people... Genocide by famine. A cruel and cynical crime against humanity. This is confirmed by numerous testimonies of people preserved in the archives. The other day we handed over digitized copies of more than 1,000 criminal cases from the period of the Ukrainian genocide to the Holodomor Museum," he said in the Telegram channel.

"Almost a hundred years later, the enemy has not abandoned his goal  to destroy our identity, take away our freedom and deprive us of our independence. The means are still the same  terror and genocide... We carefully collect evidence, document all the war crimes of the occupiers. They will definitely answer for everything," Klymenko said.
Ramallah, Nov 27 : Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki has said that the pause in fighting that is set to expire on Monday in the Israel-Hamas war must be extended to avoid more deaths in Gaza, the media reported.

"We have work so that this truce continuesa so that Israel does not continue attacking," al-Malki added at a meeting of delegations from members of the European Union and countries from Africa and the Middle East in Barcelona, Spain.

"The truce went into effect with 15,000 deaths. If we see the war resume, then the number of deaths will double because the concentration of the population is now twicefold," he said, citing unverified numbers claimed by Hamas, and include civilians killed by misfired Palestinian rockets.

"The population of Gaza has concentrated in the south of Gaza," he added, referring to the Israel-ordered evacuation of northern Gaza aimed at minimising civilian casualties.

"So any attack that before killed one child will now kill two. That is why it is important to extend this truce."

Al-Malki is one of 42 representatives of different countries and territories attending the Union for the Mediterranean meeting, which is focused on the war that has raged since the Hamas massacres in Israel on October 7, The Times of Israel reported.

The pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas continued on Sunday with a third day of releases of Gaza hostages and Palestinian prisoners accused or convicted of terrorism. It is scheduled for four days and what comes after today remains uncertain.
Patna, Nov 27 : Two persons have jointly filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Patna High Court challenging the decision of the Nitish Kumar government enhancing the reservation for EBC, OBC, SC and ST in Bihar up to 65 per cent.

Petitioners Gaurav Kumar and Naman Shrestha claimed that the enhancement of the reservation limit above 50% is a violation of the Constitution and fundamental rights of the common people.

"As per the provision of the Constitution, the parameters of reservation would be given on the basis of social and financial status of the people belonging to the backward class and not on the basis of population of the caste," Gaurav Kumar said.

"The Nitish Kumar government enhanced the reservation up to 65% on the basis of population of castes. Hence, 65% reservation has been given to EBC, OBC, SC and ST. Which means 35% people who belong to other castes come under the general category. This is a violation of the fundamental rights of the common people in Bihar," Kumar said.

The Nitish Kumar government used the Bihar Reservation Amendment Act 2023 passed in both the Houses of the Bihar assembly on November 10 this year and Governor RV Arleker approved this Act on November 18. This Act was based on the outcome of a recently concluded caste based survey.

With this, the people of Bihar who come under the Extremely Backward Castes (EBC), Other Backward Casted (OBC), Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) will get the benefit of reservation up to 65%. Earlier, the reservation was 50%. The Bihar government has also given 10% reservation to EWS in the upper caste category in the state. Hence, a total of 75% reservation has been given to people who come under the reserved category and EWS. This will help candidates in admissions to various educational institutions as well as in government jobs.

People coming under EBC had 18% reservation in the past. After this bill, the Bihar government has enhanced the reservation to 25%. Similarly, the OBC category with 12% reservation will now get 18%. SC had 16% reservation in the past and will get 20% and ST having 1% reservation will get 1% more to reach 2%.

Bihar is not the first state to have 75% reservation for EBC, OBC, SC, ST and EWS. As per the new reservation bill, Tamil Nadu has 79%, Jharkhand has 77%, Chhattisgarh has 76%, Telangana has 75%, and Maharashtra has 72%.
Bhopal, Nov 27 : In a horrifying incident, a 10-year-old schoolboy was allegedly attacked by his classmates with a geometry compass at a school in Indore over 100 times.

The victim, who is a student of Class 4 at a private school in Indore, was reportedly attacked by his classmates at least 108 times with a geometry compass.

As per the Preliminary Enquiry by the police, the boy was attacked during a fight with his classmates. However, the exact reason for the fight that led to such a violent reaction from the boys was yet to come to the fore.

Taking cognisance of the incident, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) has asked for the investigation report from the police, an official said on Monday.

Talking to reporters, CWC Chairperson Pallavi Porwal said, "It's a shocking incident. The reason behind this is said to be a fight among a group of students of the same class. However, the cruelty of the incident is very shocking. We have sought an investigation report from the police to find out the reason for the violent behaviour of children of such a young age."

Porwal further said that the CWC will counsel the boys and their families in connection with the incident and find out whether the children play video games that contain violent scenes.

The victim's parents have lodged a complaint accusing the school management of negligence and have sought a detailed investigation into the matter.

"All children involved in the incident are below 10 years of age, and appropriate steps are being taken as per legal provisions," ACP Vivek Singh Chauhan said on Monday.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : The case of the murder of a woman, whose body was found stuffed in a bag in Shahdara area, has been solved with Delhi Police arresting the 19-year-old alleged murderer from Mumbai where he fled after the crime, an official said on Monday, adding that the accused was suspicious of her interactions with other men and wanted to curb them.

The accused, identified as Sultan, a resident of Vishwas Nagar and a native of East Champaran district in Bihar, strangled the 23-year-old Shama, with a piece of cloth.

Subsequently, he bound her hands and legs before putting her body into a plastic bag.

"After that, he locked his office, turned off his phones, and fled the scene, traveling to Mumbai to an acquaintance's place, citing a job search," stated the official.

The incident came to light on Sunday, when the Farsh Bazar police station received a call from the police control room regarding a dead body in a plastic bag in an office on Gali No. 10, Vishwas Nagar.

The body of Shama was found at Sultanas office, where he operated an e-commerce packaging and delivery business.

"CCTV footage from the crime scene was collected, and a local inquiry was conducted. Through questioning of Shama's family members and technical surveillance, the alleged perpetrator, Sultan, was identified," Deputy Commissioner of Police, Shahdara, Rohit Meena said.

Further investigation revealed that Sultan had switched off his phones and fled Delhi.

"The team faced a significant challenge in apprehending him quickly, but through intense efforts, including deep technical analysis, Sultan was located in the Mulund area of Mumbai.

"The team, aided by technical surveillance and local intelligence, promptly apprehended him," the DCP said.

During interrogation, Sultan disclosed that he had known Shama for the past 2-3 years, and they were planning to marry. "On November 25, his family members were scheduled to visit Shama's house to finalise the marriage. However, on that morning, a heated argument ensued at Sultan's office in Vishwas Nagar, where he objected to Shama speaking with other boys due to his suspicions," the DCP said.

The argument escalated, leading Sultan to strangle Shama and flee to Mumbai by a train from New Delhi Railway Station, he added.
Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Israel Security Agency (ISA) have jointly released a video of two Hamas men revealing about the abduction of a Thai labourer and a Nepali citizen from Kibbutz Alumim's farms on October 7.

The two Hamas men -- Ismael Hawwas and Adham Hawwas -- who are in the custody of IDF and ISA told the interrogators that they had kidnapped a Thailand natives and one Nepali citizen and taken them in an ambulance to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza.

"We put the hostages in the ambulance and when we asked them about their nationalities, they could not understand. One of them said Thailand and we could understand that they he was from Thailand," the Hamas men told the interrogators.

The Hamas men also said that one of the two hostages was walking on his feet while they reached Al-Shifa. However, the second one was carried on a stretcher.

Adham Hawwas and Ismael Hawwas told the interrogators that the Al-Qassam Brigade had stood guard to the hostages in Al-Shifa Hospital.
Hyderabad, Nov 27 : Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's promise of an exclusive IT Park for the minority community has sparked a row and triggered a war of words among leaders of rival parties.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted the BRS for indulging in "appeasement" even in technology, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar also found fault with the idea and wondered how an IT Park for minorities would be possible.

Reacting to Shivakumar's statement, Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi alleged that both the BJP and the Congress are opposing government support for Muslim startup founders and entrepreneurs of Telangana.

"Dear DK Shivakumar, you have not heard of many things, doesn't mean that they are impossible. If youth, children and women don't have any caste, why is your leader promising caste census? The truth is that Muslims, BCs, SCs and STs face disadvantages that dominant castes don't," the Hyderabad MP posted on X.

"In Telangana, Muslim minorities are not just voters, but full citizens. This is why they will get a fair share in the state's progress. Providing them with support to start their businesses ensures that they are job-creators and not just job-seekers. They aren't getting anything solely based on religion, but on the basis of empirical data of backwardness," Owaisi wrote.

Data shows that Muslims face discrimination in getting loans for businesses, they face discrimination in private sector employment and that they're forced to live on daily wages in the informal sector, the MP said.

Owaisi mentioned that the Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited already has a policy of reserving 12 per cent of industrial plot allotments for SCs.

"The Sudheer Commission Report had recommended that the same policy should be extended to backward Muslims. It doesn't mean an EXCLUSIVE IT Park where ONLY Muslims work, but it definitely means that special support is provided to them so that they can overcome the discrimination that they face. Good to know that you have shown your real anti-Muslim face. Please tell us if the quota for backward Muslims in Karnataka will be brought back or if they should give it up," Owaisi asked.

Addressing an election rally in Maheshwaram constituency on the outskirts of Hyderabad four days ago, KCR had promised that an exclusive IT Park for minority youths will come up at Pahadi Shareef.

The Chief Minister had earlier given an assurance in this regard in the Assembly while responding to a demand from MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi.

Reacting to KCR's promise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that the CM was indulging in appeasement even in technology.

"Will IT Parks in India now be built on the basis of religion? Will this game go on? Is it respect for the Indian Constitution," he asked while addressing an election rally in Nirmal on Sunday.
Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : Elon Musk said on Monday on 'X' (formerly Twitter) with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there is "no choice" other than to destroy the Hamas terror group in order to bring about a better future for Gaza, and agrees with Netanyahu that the terror organisation has genocidal intentions toward the Jewish people, the media reported.

US billionaire Musk, the owner of X and head of SpaceX, said though he would like to help rebuild Gaza after the current war, and asserts that rehabilitating the Gaza Strip is an important step to prevent future war, The Times of Israel reported.

"If you want security, peace and a better life for Gazans, then you need to destroy Hamas. You first have to get rid of the poisonous regime as was done in Germany and Japan," says Netanyahu, to which Musk responds: "There's no choice."

Musk also remarks that civilian casualties are "unavoidable" and that Israel is trying to avoid them in its war against Hamas.

"You need to pair firmness and taking out the terrorists and those intent on murder, and at the same time help those that remain, which is what happened in Germany and Japan," he added.

"Usually the victor punishes the loser," he continues, and points to the rehabilitation of Germany and Japan by the allies after World War II as examples of how reconstruction efforts after a major war and a clear-cut victory helped secure peace for a long period of time.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A Delhi court has granted permission to Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar to travel abroad.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull allowed Shivakumar, accused in a money laundering case, to visit Dubai from November 29 to December 3.

The court's decision came in response to Shivakumar's application, citing an invitation to attend the COP28 Local Climate Action Summit in Dubai from Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and Michael R Bloomberg.

Acknowledging the right to travel as part of personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, the judge said that this right is not absolute and can be reasonably restricted, especially during an ongoing investigation or trial to prevent the risk of the accused absconding.

Considering Shivakumar's extensive political background as an eight-time MLA from Karnataka and the current Deputy Chief Minister, the judge deemed the likelihood of him fleeing from India as remote.

The court imposed conditions on Shivakumar, including furnishing a Fixed Deposit Receipt (FDR) of Rs 5 lakh before travel, providing a complete travel itinerary with contact details, and refraining from contacting co-accused or influencing witnesses during the trip.

The application said that the accused had a history of foreign travel without any flight risk and argued that the investigation was complete, with no criminal antecedents on Shivakumar's part.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED), however opposed the application alleging the accused's involvement in a criminal conspiracy related to moving tainted cash.
Bhopal, Nov 27 : Madhya Pradesh have has registered four FIRs against unknown persons for circulating deepfake videos of prominent politicians, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The development came 10 days after the state went to the polls on November 17. The counting of votes will be taken up on Sunday (December 3).

All four cases regarding deepfake videos have been registered in Indore. The move came after the police compared the original videos with the circulated ones during the election campaign.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an event on November 17 had cautioned the country about the dangers posed by deepfake images and videos which are generated using artificial intelligence (AI).

On the same day, an FIR was registered at the Kanadiya police station in Indore in the context of a purported video in which PM Modi could seen laughing while addressing the nation on a serious issue.

"The first FIR was registered by a social media user after seeing a deepfake video in which AI was used to edit a speech of the Prime Minister. It was circulated on social media in an attempt to portray his image as a 'non-serious' leader," the police said.

Later, three more cases were registered related to such deepfake photos/videos, including one showing former Chief Minister Kamal Nath.

In the fake video, Kamal Nath could be heard saying that he would discontinue Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led BJP's government flagship sceme - Ladli Behna Yojana - if the Congress forms the government in Madhya Pradesh.

That fake video led to a controversy during campaigning as some BJP leaders also mentioned that if the Congress is voted to power, all public beneficial schemes announced by the BJP government would be scrapped.

Subsequently, a delegation of Congress led by Rakesh Yadav had lodged an FIR before the polling on November 17.

Cases have also been lodged against unknown persons for circulating fake videos of BJP candidate from Indore 1 and the party's national General Secretary, Kailash Vijayvargiya, and Congress nominee from Indore-5, Satyanarayan Patel.

"Deepfake videos are being used mainly to malign the image of politicians and spread misinformation. The accused in the matter are unknown. It is very tough to trace the origin of such videos, but we are taking help of cyber experts to crack the case," said Nimish Agrawal, DCP (Crime Branch).
NATO Secretary General on possible peace for Ukraine in exchange for territories, NATO membership: It's for Kyiv to decide, our responsibility is to put them in strong position

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is convinced that only Ukraine will decide what terms of peace negotiations with Russia will be acceptable to it; it is the alliance's responsibility to support it.

So on Monday in Brussels, at a press conference, the Secretary General answered a question about the possibility of peace for Ukraine in exchange for the surrender of territories and renunciation of NATO membership.

"It is for Ukraine to the side what are acceptable ways to end this war. Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place, when or if negotiations may start," the NATO Secretary General said.

Stoltenberg said wars are by nature unpredictable. "We have seen no sign that president Putin is planning for a peace, he is actually planning for more war. So what we do know is that the more military support we provide to Ukraine, the stronger their position will be on the battlefield and the stronger their position will be on a potential negotiating table," the Secretary General said.

According to Stoltenberg, it is also necessary to realize that Ukraine "has already achieved a big victory." "We have to remember where this conflict started: at the beginning of the war, we were afraid that Ukraine would collapse in weeks, and that President Putin would control Kyiv in days. That didn't happen, the opposite happened. Ukraine was able to push Russian forces out of the north, east and south, they liberated 50% of the territory that Russia occupied at the beginning of the war, and they had prevailed as the sovereign independent democratic nation in Europe. This is a big victory for Ukraine. At the same time, Russia has suffered big losses, significant fighting capabilities, tens of thousands of troops and personnel, and Russia is becoming more isolated politically, weaker economically and militarily. So, in total what we have seen is big defeats for Russia  that had not achieved the strategic goal to control Ukraine, but the Ukrainians achieved a lot. Again, it is for Ukraine to decide, our responsibility is to put them in a strong position. And I welcome the continued support from NATO allies," the secretary general of the alliance said.
Jerusalem, Nov 27 : Israeli Opposition Leader Yair Lapid has asked the Benjamin Netanyahu-led government to reconsider the decision to approve the updated 2023 budget on Monday, in light of political promises that remain embedded within the framework, the media reported.

"I appeal to all government ministers, to all coalition members -- you are signatories to these fundsa You have the power to stop ita You can't do this to the citizens of Israel," Lapid said while speaking at the outset of his Yesh Atid partyas faction meeting at the Knesset.

He calls the decision to fund political priorities "more proof that the State of Israel is fighting for its life (in the war against Hamas) with an army of heroes but with the wrong government and the wrong Prime Minister".

Later on Monday, the cabinet is expected to approve changes to the remaining 2023 budget, in order to direct about NIS 30 billion toward wartime priorities, The Times of Israel reported.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich did not cut several politically-motivated funding guarantees, which were approved with the state budget in May as part of a discretionary package of so-called coalition funds.

An October cabinet decision froze not-yet-transferred coalition funds, including a controversial NIS 300 million promise for ultra-Orthodox private schools.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is paving the way for hundreds of millions of shekels to flow to settler priorities in the West Bank.

Only the National Unity party's five cabinet ministers are committed to voting against the budget, and it is expected to clear the cabinet and move on toward the Knesset for final approval.

By approving the budgetary changes without axing the discretionary items, Lapid says, the premier and Smotrich are acurrently transferring NIS 1.5 billion of coalition funds for 2023, and another NIS 5 billion for 2024".
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Delhi's Directorate of Education (DoE), in a circular on Monday, directed all schools under its jurisdiction to ensure a minimum of 220 working days in an academic year.

The directive, in accordance with Section 19 of the RTE Act-2009 and the National Curriculum Framework for School Education 2023, aims to uphold educational standards and aligns with the specified lists of gazetted, restricted, and local holidays for the calendar year (January to December).

Prior to the commencement of the academic year and preceding holiday periods, the heads of government schools are instructed to ensure that the stipulated 220 working days are completed.

Furthermore, the directive asks deputy district education (DDE) officers, urging them to rigorously enforce compliance before approving any restricted or local holidays for schools under their jurisdiction. Un-aided recognised schools are also instructed to obtain holiday approvals from their respective managements in addition to adhering to this mandate.
Exposure to air pollution in utero may affect reproductive health in men. Image Source: IANS News

New York, Nov 27 : While pollution has been known to cause infertility among women and even impact the unborn foetus, a new study showed that prenatal exposure to bad air may hurt men's reproductive health too.

Cross-sectional studies in adult men and women have shown that alterations in anogenital distance -- the length between genitals and the anus -- may be related to hormone levels as well as semen quality, fertility and reproductive disorders.

In animal studies, anogenital distance is used to determine developmental toxicity of pollutants.

One measurable impact is on the reproductive system.

When anogenital distance is reduced in male offspring, it's a sign that a toxic exposure is interfering with foetal testosterone production, said lead author Emily Barrett, Professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology at the Rutgers School of Public Health.

In the study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers speculated that a similar relationship may exist in humans. They used data from an ongoing study involving 700 pregnant women and their children that tracked anogenital distance at birth in children, and at one year for boys.

These data were then compared with levels of nitrogen dioxide and fine particulate matter particle pollution (PM) 2.5 micrometres or smaller released during the burning of gasoline, oil, diesel and wood. By comparing these two measures, the researchers identified a link between exposure to air pollution during key developmental windows and anogenital distance.

For instance, higher PM2.5 exposure during the so-called male programming window at the end of the first trimester, when the male foetus typically receives a surge of hormones, was associated with shorter anogenital length at birth.

The researchers also observed that higher PM2.5 during mini puberty (a period in early infancy when hormone production is high) was associated with shorter anogenital distance in males at age one.

These findings suggest there may be multiple points during early development that the reproductive system may be vulnerable to the impacts of air pollutants.

"PM2.5 is like a trojan horse," said Barrett, adding that particulate matter can carry metals such as cadmium and lead, known endocrine disruptors.

"When these disruptors interfere with the body's hormones, the result could be lifelong impacts on our health, from cancer risks to impaired ability to conceive a child.

"These findings suggest air pollution may interfere with normal hormone activity during critical periods of prenatal and early infant development, and we suspect that disruption may have long-term consequences for reproductive health," Barrett said.

--IANS

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Kanye West faces backlash for dressing up daughter North in 'racist' clothes. Image Source: IANS News

Los Angeles, Nov 27 : Rapper Kanye West appeared on stage in Dubai alongside Lil Durk and Ty Dolla Sign, where they gave a surprise performance of their new song 'Vultures'.

The performance took place during Lil Durk's show at nightclub Blu Dubai, who posted clips of the song on social media.

On the club's Instagram Stories, West can be seen rapping the song's incendiary lyrics, including, "How am I anti-Semitic? I just f***** a Jewish b****," reports 'Variety'.

West debuted the new song on November 17. It marks his first official release since July 2022as 'Hot S***' with Cardi B and Lil Durk.

In December, West's career tailspin worsened when he appeared on Alex Jonesa 'Infowars' talk show, during which he praised Hitler and made anti-Semitic jokes.

As per 'Variety', West's string of anti-Semitic comments culminated in him being kicked off of Twitter (though he has since been reinstated on Elon Musk's X), losing his partnership with Adidas.

According to Westas own Instagram post, he lost $2 billion in one day due to his hate speech.

West gave his first performance since the anti-Semitism controversy in August, when he joined Travis Scott on stage during a tour stop in Rome.

Together, West and Scott performed 'Praise God' and 'Can't Tell Me Nothing'.

"There is no 'Utopia' without Kanye West. There is no Travis Scott without Kanye West," Scott said, referencing his new album.

"There is no Rome without Kanye West. Make some noise for Ye."
New Delhi, Nov 27 : Global health experts have expressed shock over New Zealand government's plans to scrap its world-leading smoking ban to fund tax cuts.

In 2022, the Jacinda Ardern-led government banned cigarette sales to anyone born after 2008 in the country. The legislation aimed at preventing thousands of smoking-related deaths.

However, the new finance minister Nicola Willis said the measures will be axed before March 2024, with the revenue from cigarette sales going towards the coalition's tax cuts.

The experts believe axing plan to block sales of tobacco products to next generation will cost thousands of lives.

"We are appalled and disgusted... this is an incredibly retrograde step on world-leading, absolutely excellent health measures," Prof Richard Edwards, a tobacco control researcher and public health expert at the University of Otago, was quoted as saying to the BBC.

"Most health groups in New Zealand are appalled by what the government's done and are calling on them to backtrack," he added.

According to New Zealand Prime minister Christopher Luxon, the reversal would prevent a hidden tobacco market cropping up and stop shops from being targeted for crime.

"Concentrating the distribution of cigarettes in one store in one small town is going to be a massive magnet for crime," Luxon was quoted as saying to Radio New Zealand.

"The suggestion that tax cuts would be paid by people who continue to smoke is absolutely shocking," Emeritus Prof Robert Beaglehole, chair of New Zealand's Action for Smokefree 2025 committee told Pacific Media Network.

Luxon has said his government would continue to lower smoking rates through education and other smoking policies.

The anti-smoking group Health Coalition Aotearoa has expressed disappointment in the new coalition's plans to repeal the smoking ban. Experts noted that the policy reversal could also cost up to 5,000 lives a year, and be particularly detrimental to Maori, who have higher smoking rates.

"This is a major loss for public health, and a huge win for the tobacco industry -- whose profits will be boosted at the expense of Kiwi lives," Professor Lisa Te Morenga, the chair of Health Coalition Aotearoa, said in a statement.

New Zealand's laws were believed to have inspired the UK government in September to announce a similar smoking ban for young people. A spokeswoman said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's position remained unchanged after New Zealand's reversal, the BBC reported.
PM Modi holds roadshow in Hyd a day before campaigning ends. Image Source: IANS News

Hyderabad, Nov 27 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a roadshow in Hyderabad on Monday evening as part of the BJP's campaign for Telangana Assembly elections scheduled on November 30.

Hundreds of people were lined up along the two-km route from RTC X Roads to Kacheguda to welcome the Prime Minister.

Enthusiastic BJP supporters were seen showering petals on Modi, who was standing in an open top vehicle waving at the crowds.

Modi, who was wearing a saffron cap, was accompanied by state BJP president G Kishan Reddy and party MP K Laxman.

At Kacheguda crossroads, Modi garlanded the statue of Savarkar

With this roadshow, Modi concluded his three-day campaign in Telangana.

Earlier in the day, he addressed public meetings in Mahabubabad and Karimnagar. Later, the Prime Minister also visited a gurudwara in Ameerpet area in the city.

He was accompanied by state BJP leaders.

Several national leaders of BJP participated in the campaign on Monday, addressing rallies or attending roadshows.

BJP National President JP Nadda held a roadshow at Jagtial and addressed meetings in Bodhan, Banswada and Jukkal.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed the public meetings in Huzurabad, Peddapalli and Mancherial while Assam Chief Minister HB Sarma addressed rallies in Devarakadra, Prakal, Medak and Ibrahimpatnam.
Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 27 : Kerala Police has launched a massive search operation in South Kerala after a six year-old girl was kidnapped near Kollam when she was returning home along with her brother.

Her brother said, while returning home, a white car (Honda Amaze) stopped beside them around 4.45 p.m.

"They gave me a piece of paper and told me to give it to our grandmother. I was pushed aside and they forcefully took away my sister. A man was driving the car and there were two other men and a lady inside the car," said the eight year-old boy.

The six year-old girl has been identified as Abigel Sarah Regi.

Police said that around 8.15 PM, the mother of the girl received a call. "A man spoke first saying that the girl is safe. They demanded Rs 5 lakhs as ransom money for the release of the girl," the police officer said.

The police official said that a massive search operation has been launched in South Kerala districts while vehicles are also being checked.

State Finance Minister K.N Balagopal said that the police are doing their job with utmost seriousness.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : A Delhi court, while granting bail to a doctor accused of rape, has observed that the evidence suggests a consensual sexual relationship between the accused and the alleged victim.

The court criticised the Investigating Officer (IO) for an alleged lack of a fair investigation and directed a higher officer to conduct an inquiry into the manner of the investigation.

Additional Sessions Judge Dhirendra Rana, hearing the bail plea, noted that there was no medico-legal case supporting the allegations of rape and sodomy, especially as the complainant refused an internal examination.

The judge also noted discrepancies in the complainant's antecedents, revealing prior FIRs with similar allegations against different individuals, and stressed the need for a thorough investigation.

The court questioned the complainant's choice of seeking mediation rather than immediately informing the police about the alleged rape. It noted that the complainant did not provide her phone for investigation, did not join the investigation, and had not disclosed her present address to the IO.

Despite the serious nature of the offence, the court found the accused's investigation complete and expressed concerns about the fairness of the process.

It granted bail to the accused on a personal bond of Rs 25,000 with one surety.

During the proceedings, the accused's counsel claimed the doctor was lured into a honey trap racket run by the complainant. The court criticised the IO for not taking action on the doctor's complaint and ordered an inquiry by the Deputy Commissioner of Police to examine the conduct of the investigation.
Dhaka, Nov 27 : The Sammilita Islami Oikya Jote (SIOJ), an alliance of eight parties in Bangladesh, announced on Monday that it will take part in the general elections scheduled in January next year, saying that polls are part of a democratic movement.

"We have decided to participate in the general elections, but there must be an extension in the deadline for filing nomination by at least by 10 days. Many parties have not been able to prepare well for the elections," SIOJ Secretary General advocate Khairul Islam said during a press conference.

Islam also urged all the political parties, including the opposition BNP, to take part in the elections.

"Elections are part of a democratic movement," Islam said.

He said that at least 300 candidates from the SIOJ alliance will take part in the elections,as he and expressed hope that the Election Commission will keep its commitment by holding free and fair polls.

Responding to a query on election symbol, Islam said they have not finalised any symbol as of yet.

SIOJ includes Bangladesh Khelafat Andolan, Islami Andolan Bangladesh, Nizam-e-Islam Party, Bangladesh Janasheba Andolan, Bangladesh Islamic Liberal Party, Bangladesh Muslim Janata Party, Bangladesh Islami Democratic Forum, and Bangladesh United Islamic Party.

Bangladesh will go to polls on January 7 next year.
Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : More Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners are expected to be released Monday as Israel's war cabinet met to decide on Hamas demand for extending the four day ceasefire by another four days until coming Friday to facilitate more exchanges.

The four-day truce restored some calm and peace to war-torn Gaza and was slated to end Monday. However as details for a final hostage release were worked out, talks intensified toward extending the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to clear logistical hurdles that could have possibly come in the way of faster release of hostages and prisoners, media reports said.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders expressed support for extending the truce and freeing more militant-held hostages and Israeli-held prisoners. Israel has long offered to extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released, USA Today reported Monday. Qatar, which played a central role in mediating the agreement, said it too was hoping to extend the truce, which includes provision for an extension of one extra day for every ten hostages Hamas is ready to free.

"What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases  and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days, and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages," Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, had told CNN.

US President Joe Biden also wanted to extend the pause in fighting during his remarks on Sunday.

Hamas wanted the ceasefire extended by another four days until Friday for more prisoner/hostage swaps.

"The Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas seeks to extend the truce after the 4-day period ends through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian cease-fire agreement," Hamas said in a Telegram post.

Israel's war cabinet, in a preliminary meeting, discussed the possibility of extending the temporary truce with Hamas when it met Sunday evening, an Israeli source told CNN.

The source said conditions for an extension remain unchanged from the original agreement, which means Hamas needs to release an additional 10 hostages for each additional day's pause in the fighting. Israel and Hamas reached a deal last week for a four-day pause in fighting and the release of at least 50 women and children held hostage in Gaza in exchange for a number of Palestinian women and children in Israeli jails.

The truce, meanwhile, also allowed the entry of "a larger number of humanitarian convoys and relief aid."

The first release of hostages and prisoners took place on Friday, and subsequently on Saturday and Sunday.

Egyptian officials also said talks are aimed at extending the cease-fire for another four days, and one saying both sides have agreed in principle, according to multiple media reports.

Negotiations were also continuing over which Palestinian prisoners would be freed, media reports said.

But the Egyptians also said Hamas is demanding an end to Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Authority, which has administrative control over the West Bank, was among groups lobbying for the truce extension Monday. Foreign Minister Riad al-Malki said the extension was crucial "so that Israel does not continue attacking".

An estimated 240 people were taken hostage by militants in the October 7 raid into Israel, and more than 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli authorities. Another 77 Israeli soldiers have died in the subsequent military operation in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting.

There are efforts to return hostages held in Gaza by groups other than Hamas, a top US official said Sunday.

"We also are aware that it's not just Hamas holding hostages. Palestinian Islamic Jihad, another terrorist group that participated in the brutal massacre on October 7, is holding some  and other groups who are not directly affiliated but have loose connections to Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are also holding hostages," national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.

"Part of the effort here is to ensure all of these groups somehow get connected to a deal in which every last possible hostage in Gaza who is still alive gets turned back over and reunited with their families."
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba is to be in Brussels (Belgium) on a visit on November 28-29, the press service of the Ministry reports.

"The purpose of the visit is to mobilize political and military support from EU and NATO member states, promote Ukraine's accession to both organizations, in particular in the context of preparations for the next meeting of the European Council in December, as well as the integration of the defense industries of Ukraine and NATO, accelerating production and supply weapons and ammunition for Ukrainian soldiers, the message says.

According to the visit plan, on Tuesday, November 28, Kuleba will hold talks with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell, make a speech at the opening of a conference on responsibility for Russian crimes in the European Parliament, and also open the VR exhibition Living the war.

On Wednesday, November 29, the minister will take part in the first meeting of the Ukraine-NATO Council at the level of foreign ministers, which will take place at NATO headquarters as part of the meeting of the heads of foreign affairs agencies of the Alliance member states.

Kuleba will inform NATO allies about the current situation at the front and the priority military needs of Ukraine, and will discuss the adapted Annual National Program for 2024 in the light of preparations for the NATO Washington Summit.

The Minister will also hold a number of bilateral meetings in Brussels, in particular with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and with the foreign ministers of the Alliance member states.
Kolkata, Nov 27 : Naushad Siddique, the lone All India Secular Front (AISF) representative in West Bengal Assembly, on Monday expressed apprehension of life threat to Sujay Krishna Bhadra, a prime accused in the multi-crore cash-for- school-jobs case who is presently in judicial custody.

"The voice of Bhadra is very important in this case. Through his voice sampling, the ED might trace the influential people of the state involved in the case. So there is a life threat to him. There can even be a major accident," Siddique told mediapersons.

Siddique's remarks after the ED on Monday launched a full-fledged move to ensure that Bhadra's voice sampling test is done.

Meanwhile, Trinamool leader and state minister Rathin Ghosh claimed that such comments from Siddique are meant for creating unnecessary sensation, indirectly linking the ruling party with the case.

"I do not find any link between our party and the voice of Bhadra. There is no reason to give any importance to such mindless statements by Siddique," Ghosh said.

Armed with an order from a special court in Kolkata, the ED on Monday sent three communiques. The first was sent to the Centre-run ESI Hospital in Joka, which is supposed to form a board to evaluate the medical condition of Bhadra for voice sampling test.

The second was to the state-run S.S.K.M. Medical College & Hospital, where Bhadra is housed now.

The third was sent to the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CSFL) in Kolkata, so that once the central agency is able to procure the voice sample of Bhadra, forensic authorities can complete the testing process at the earliest.

The voice sample test has become imperative following the Calcutta High Court's direction to wind up the probe by December 31.
After uncertainty, Israel says 11 hostages to be released soon. Image Source: IANS News

Tel Aviv, Nov 27 : The Israel government on Monday informed the families of the hostages to be released from Hamas captivity that they would be freed soon.

The assurance came after hours of uncertainty over certain conditions imposed by the Hamas on the release of hostages.

Earlier, there were reports that Hamas had insisted of separating mothers from children during the release, which was strongly opposed by the Israel government.

Highly-placed sources in the Israel government told IANS that the release will take place soon and that the message has been sent to all the families whose members are to be freed on Monday.

The hostages who are to be released, according to Israel government sources, are from Nir Oz kibbutz. The hostages to be released include nine women and two children, as per sources.

The four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas will end on Monday, but sources in the Israel government told IANS that mediations are taking place at the highest level on extension of ceasefire for a few more days.

While Israel wants more hostages to be released for the extension of ceasefire, Hamas is keen that more aid trucks come into Gaza from Egypt.
New Delhi, Nov 27 : The Congress on Monday hit back at the BRS, the ruling party in Telangana, after it blamed the grand old party for the Election Commission of India (ECI) withdrawing permission for disbursements under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, saying that its response proves that it was a desperate 'election drama' for which the farmers will not fall.

In a post on X, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said, "The rapid response of the BRS to the ECI notice only proves that this is a desperate chunavi (election) drama being played out. The farmers of Telangana will not fall for this 'setting' between BRS and BJP."

He added, "Rythu Bharosa will be implemented within 10 days of forming the new government. That is Congress' guarantee."

His remarks came soon after the BRS blamed the Congress on Monday for the ECI withdrawing permission for disbursements under the Rythu Bandhu scheme.

BRS legislator K. Kavitha alleged that the Congress has once again demonstrated its 'anti-farmer' stand.

She claimed that this shows the insecurity the Congress has, because Rs 72,000 crore was disbursed among 65 lakh farmers during last 10 seasons and the farmers are in support of BRS.

The ECI withdrew the permission to disburse money to farmers under Rythu Bandhu, an ongoing scheme of the state government to provide investment support to farmers, citing violation of the model code of conduct and allied conditions.

The poll panel took cognizance of the statement of Finance Minister and BRS star campaigner T. Harish Rao that amount under Rythu Bandhu will be credited into the bank accounts of the farmers from November 28.

Telangana will go to the polls on November 30, and the counting of votes will be taken up on December 3.

Kavitha told reporters in Nizamabad that Rythu Bandhu is an ongoing programme and the financial assistance under the scheme has been disbursed for 10 seasons.

She said the BRS had raised an objection when the ECI did not give permission for disbursement and on a representation by the legal cell, the ECI had given the relief.

"But the Congress again went to the Election Commission and got this stalled. It also stalled farm loan waiver. The party has once again shown that it is anti-farmer," Kavitha said, as she urged the farmers to give a befitting reply by voting against the Congress.

Under Rythu Bandhu, the BRS government is providing financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per acre every year (Rs 5,000 for each crop).
Patna, Nov 27 : The son of a Bihar Police Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) was found murdered in Bihar's Arrah city on Monday.

The deceased is identified as Omkesh Singh, a resident of Umanagar locality under Nawada police station in Arrah and a BA-I student.

His body was found partially burnt and kept in a jute bag near Majhauwa embankment under town police station.

The police said that Omkesh was missing since November 24 from his house. The family members claimed that he went with his friends on that day but did not return.

On Monday, the town police station learnt that a dead body was found in the Majhaiwa embankment. Accordingly, a team went there, recovered the body, and sent it to the Sadar hospital for the post-mortem examination.

The family members suspected that his friends were involved in murder. An FIR has been registered against unknown persons on the statement of deceased sister Anu Kumari.

Deceasedas cousin Vikas Kumar said: "Omkesh went with his friend named Sumit Kumar on November 24 around 1 p.m. When he did not return till late at night, we asked Sumit about him. He said that he had left Omkesh at Majhauwa embankment and returned home. After three days, his partially burnt dead body was found there in a jute bag."

A spokesperson of Bhojpur police said: "We have recovered the dead body with the help of SDRF and the matter is investigated with all angles. The suspects will be questioned soon."

Omkeshas father Nagendra Singh is an ASI posted in Saharsa district. He is a native of Arakh village under Krishna Brahma police station in Buxar district and his family members are residing in Arrah city on rent.
Dakshina Kannada : , Nov 27 (IANS) An incident of moral policing was reported from Mangaluru in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district on Monday evening, leading to tension in the area, police said.

Following the incident, youths of two religions gathered and got into heated argument in the Morgans Gate area.

According to the police, a young woman from Chikkamagaluru was riding a scooter with a young man from a different religion. They both worked at a stall in Mangaluru.

Bajrang Dal activists, noticing them moving together for some time, chased and stopped them for questioning, shouting at the girl for being with a boy from another community.

Upon learning about the incident, youths from both religions rushed to the spot and engaged in an argument.

The Pandeshwara police rushed to the spot and dispersed the crowd, while taking the duo to the police station and are investigating the matter.
New Delhi, Nov 28 : Ace fashion designer Rohit Bal is reportedly in critical condition and on ventilator support for a pre-existing cardiac condition. Bal has been admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram.

In 2010, when the designer was at the peak of his career, he suffered from a heart attack for which he underwent an emergency angioplasty.

Earlier this year a close confidant of the designer disclosed to a leading daily that Bal had been admitted to hospital last November to flush out alcohol from his system.

The designers illustrious career spans over three decades. Bal being ahead of his time was one of the first designers to create couture collections and also introduce a range of pret with his Fashion line Balance.

The St. Stephens College alumnus, who studied fashion at the National Institute of Fashion Technology in Delhi has been honoured with numerous awards and is recognised as one of the leading names in the fashion industry.

Bal is recognised among peers for his creativity and has a loyal list of clientele from the Business world.
Dhaka, Nov 27 : Bangladesh opposition party BNP on Monday called for a nationwide blockade on Wednesday, followed by a complete shutdown on Thursday.

"We have called for a nationwide blockade on Wednesday and a complete shutdown on Thursday," BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said while addressing a press conference here.

He said the blockade will begin at 6 a.m. on Wednesday and end at 6 a.m. on Thursday, followed by a complete shutdown.

The Bangladesh opposition parties have observed blockades in seven phases asking the incumbent government to quit and hold the next general elections under supervision of a non-partisan administration.

However, Election Commissioner Rashida Sultana had said that even if the BNP decides to participate in the general elections, polls must be held by January 28, at the latest.

Later, it was announced that Bangladesh will go to the polls on January 7, 2024.

"It is imperative that they (BNP) participate within the stipulated election period, as outlined in the constitution. There is no provision to extend the schedule beyond January 28," Sultana had said.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has asked all the candidates to file their nomination by November 30.

The commission will scrutinise the nomination papers from December 1 to 4. Appeals against the nominations can be submitted between December 5 and 6, and if any candidate wants to withdraw, he/she can do so by December 17.

Regarding installation of CCTV cameras at the polling centres, she said: "We are currently not in a position to install the CCTVs as no company has the capacity to install a vast number of cameras."

Jatiya Party Secretary General Mujibul Haque Chunnu has also announced the list of the candidates, who will be in fray for the general elections.

Meanwhile, two buses were set ablaze in Dhaka's Shyamoli area on Monday afternoon.

"Two units of firefighters were rushed to the scene which doused the blaze," Shahjahan Sikder, Deputy Assistant Director (media cell) of Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence, told IANS.
Patna, Nov 27 : Five persons sustained injuries after a group of jackals attacked them in Bagaha subdivision of Bihar's West Champaran district on Monday, officials said.

One of the victims, Prema Devi sustained a fracture in her jaw and was admitted to GMCH Bettiah.

The other four injured persons are minors, identified as Sangeera Kumari, 15, Meenu Kumari,13, Neelam Kumari, 13, and Shivam Kumar,15.

The incident occurred at Laxmipur village under Bhairoganj police station in Bagaha. The victims had gone to a sugarcane field to collect combustibles for cooking when a group of jackals attacked them.

The other farmers raised an alarm and soon a large number of villagers arrived at the place and rescued them.

The victims were taken to sub-divisional hospital Bagaha where doctors have referred Prema Devi, who was bitten on the body and the jaw, to GMCH Bettiah.

The minors sustained bite wounds on their bodies. The villagers have informed local police who got in tough with the Wildlife Department officials. A Search operation is on to locate the jackals.
Whether it is to get visible in an art ecosystem, or to showcase cutting-edge contemporary art that define the times we live in, India Art Fair is a hit among art galleries. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, Nov 28 : India Art Fair will return for its 15th edition at the NSIC Exhibition Grounds in New Delhi from February 1 to 4.

India Art Fair 2024 is the biggest edition yet, featuring 100 exhibitors, including 71 galleries, 7 design studios, and the participation of major regional art institutions.

The fair welcomes 26 new exhibitors, including 10 first-time South Asian institutional participants as part of its mission to celebrate and further support the arts ecosystem in the region.

The fair's inaugural Design section will host pioneering designers and studios, spanning collectable furniture, jewellery, and fabrics, with a strong emphasis on contemporary interventions into traditional craftsmanship.

Building on the growth of the Indian art market and economy at large, the upcoming edition will also see the greatest international participation yet, with 18 international galleries and institutions exhibiting and several leaders of global arts organizations confirmed to participate in the fair's Talks Programme.

Jaya Asokan, Fair Director, India Art Fair says, "The landmark 15th edition of India Art Fair comes at an exciting time for both the South Asian art scene and the market, with artists from the region becoming a part of international conversations as never before. As we continue to grow as a fair, we remain focused on our mission to amplify the voices of the most exciting artists from the region and to support the expansion of South Asian creativity. We are thrilled to launch our very first Design section and to welcome a diversity of creative talent from across India and the broader region. I look forward to welcoming new and old friends to the fair."

Some of India's most important contemporary galleries alongside established international names will be showcasing rare masterpieces and contemporary works, as well as examples drawing from South Asia's traditional arts heritage.

Top Indian contemporary galleries exhibiting include Vadehra Art Gallery, GALLERYSKE, Nature Morte, Exhibit 320, Gallery Espace, Shrine Empire, Latitude 28, Blueprint12 (all New Delhi), Anant Art Gallery (NOIDA / New Delhi), Chatterjee & Lal, Jhaveri Contemporary, Chemould Prescott Road, Gallery Maskara, Galerie Isa, Project 88 (all Mumbai), Emami Art, Gallery Art Exposure (both Kolkata), Experimenter (Kolkata / Mumbai), Vida Heydari Contemporary (Pune), Apparao Galleries, Gallery Veda (Chennai), Archer Art Gallery, Iram Art, ZOCA (Ahmedabad), and Dhi Contemporary, Shrishti Art Gallery, Kalakriti Art Gallery (Hyderabad).

Alongside these are modern galleries, including DAG (New Delhi/Mumbai/New York), Crayon Art Gallery, Sanchit Art and Dhoomimal Gallery (all New Delhi).

India Art Fair also welcomes two new Indian galleries for the first time, Gallerie Splash (Gurugram) and Method (Mumbai).

Among the international galleries returning to the fair are Galleria Continua (San Gimignano/Beijing/Les Moulins/Habana/Roma/Sao Paulo/Paris/Dubai), Marc Straus, Aicon and Aicon Contemporary (all New York City), 1x1 Art Gallery (Dubai), neugerriemschneider (Berlin), Bruno Art Group (Tel Aviv/Singapore), Saskia Fernando Gallery (Colombo), and Grosvenor Gallery (London).

In addition, the fair introduces three new international gallery participants, Carpenters Workshop Gallery (London/Paris/New York/Los Angeles), Galerie Geek Art (Tokyo/New Delhi), and Indigo+Madder (London).

Comprising solo presentations curated by participating galleries, the Focus section showcases mixed media works by senior artists like Probir Gupta (Anant Art Gallery), Paresh Maity (Art Alive Gallery), V. Ramesh (Threshold Art Gallery), Chippa Sudhakar (Shrishti Art Gallery) and emerging practices including Dibin Thilakan (Gallery OED).

The Platform section spotlights the rich artistic heritage of South Asia through the works of contemporary masters of traditional arts, including presentations foregrounding the spiritual roots of these traditions.

The participants include: Delhi Crafts Council (DCC) (New Delhi) exhibiting traditional woodworking technique of marquetry; Inherited Arts Forum (New Delhi) making a curated presentation on the artistic trope of 'Devi and her vahana' with paintings and sculptures; Serenity Arts (New Delhi / Thimpu) bringing traditional Bhutanese Thangka paintings; Shrujan - Living and Learning Design Centre (Kutch) presenting contemporary crafts from the Kutch region of Gujarat; and Gallery Ragini and OJAS Art (both New Delhi) showing a variety of traditions ranging from Madhubani and Gond to Pattachitra and Bhil art, among others.
Bengaluru, Nov 28 : Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Monday that 99.2 per cent of the mobile phones used in the country are manufactured locally.

"The mobile manufacturing industry has crossed $44 billion worth," he underlined.

Speaking to reporters after visiting the Tata iPhone plant in Tamil Nadu's Hosur, Vaishnaw slammed the Opposition for "still thinking that the mobile phones used in the country are imported".

"They (Opposition) don't know that 99.2 per cent of the mobiles used here are manufactured in India. Presently, there are many cell phone manufacturing units in the country," he stated.

India has an ambitious goal to produce electronic goods worth more than $300 billion by 2025-26 and the manufacturers are encouraged by schemes and subsidies, the Union Minister said.

India is surpassing China in the production of mobiles and marching ahead, he underlined.

"Apple increased the production of its major iPhones in India last year. Cupertino Tech is contemplating raising the production in India to $40 billion in four to five years," Vaishnaw added

"In the last nine and half years, we have reached the stage of exporting electronic products. There is considerable progress in the semiconductor sector. Recently, Google announced that it will start producing Pixel smartphones here. This would prove to be a boost for India's ambition to emerge as a global manufacturing hub," he elaborated.

Earlier, Vaishnaw visited and inspected the Yeshwantpur Railway station in Bengaluru and declared that it is going to emerge as a world-class station. Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya also joined the Union Minister to inspect the progress of the redevelopment of Yeshwantpur Railway Station, undertaken by the Central Government at a cost of Rs 366 crore.

"Yeshwantpur is a crucial transport hub in Bengaluru undergoing significant redevelopment aimed at transforming it into a world-class station. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision to integrate such stations into multi-modal transport hubs will go a long way in addressing rapid urbanization and population growth," he said.

"The redevelopment is being carried out by keeping in mind the increased footfall in the coming decades and the integration of suburban rail. Once completed, it will also feature a roof plaza for recreational activities and showcasing local products. Glad to note that works are proceeding smoothly without causing hindrance to station operations," Surya said.
Prime Minister of Ukraine Denys Shmyhal and Vice-President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency Vera Jourova have met to discuss the development of mechanisms for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets.

"Despite the full-scale war, Ukraine continues to implement reforms necessary for its integration into the European Union. In the near future, we are committed to complete the legislative steps determined in the European Commission's report within the framework of the Enlargement Package. A decision to open negotiations with Ukraine on its accession to the EU is crucial, particularly in the context of restoration of our country," he said on the Telegram channel following the meeting on Monday.

According to the prime minister, the aggressor's liability was discussed separately.

"We count on our further effective work, together with the EU, on the development of a mechanism for the confiscation of frozen Russian assets. The 'Russia will pay' principle should become a reality as soon as next year. I also pointed at the necessity to create a special tribunal to bring the Russian leadership to justice," Shmyhal said.
Doha/Gaza, Nov 28 : Qatar has announced that Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the current humanitarian truce in the Gaza Strip for an additional two days.

Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari on Monday said that his country hopes "the humanitarian pause will lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and an end to the killing of civilians", Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement carried by the Qatar News Agency.

The truce extension was also confirmed by Hamas. It said in a statement that the temporary ceasefire would be extended for another two days "under the same conditions as listed in the previous deal".

Mediated by Qatar, Egypt, and the US, Israel and Hamas reached a four-day ceasefire agreement last week, which entails a halt to hostilities in Gaza, more humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave, and the release of 50 Israeli hostages held by Hamas in exchange for some 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

The initial truce deal took effect on Friday and is set to expire on Tuesday.

Since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7, Qatar has been making mediation efforts along with Egypt and the US between the two warring parties to secure the release of hostages and de-escalate the situation in the Palestinian enclave.
"This honor is a testament to every single member of our entire IT organization. These individuals truly embody the essence of Holman's long-standing values and principles, proving once again that our company's greatest strength is our people." - Jarrod Phipps, Executive Vice President & CIO Post this

In addition to being recognized for its exceptional workplace culture, Holman was commended for its award-winning Partners in Excellence program, which engages employees and celebrates their extraordinary accomplishments and its extensive Holman Wellness program, which provides employees the resources and support they need to live prosperous, healthy lives. Holman was also praised for its outstanding career development and opportunities for professional growth as well as the company's efforts to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that allows every individual to flourish by providing an accepting and affirming workplace for all.

The Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top work environments for technology professionals by Computerworld. The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, DEI efforts, future of work, training and retention. Additionally, the rankings are reviewed and vetted by a panel of industry experts.

"Technology is playing an increasingly important role in modern business. IT professionals continue to benefit from this trend, as this year's winning organizations increase staffing and offer a variety of pathways to upskill, reskill, and diversify their teams," said Rob O'Regan, Global Director, Content Strategy, Foundry. "These companies provide a model for IT and HR leaders who are looking for new ways to attract, engage, and retain talent in an increasingly competitive IT environment."

To learn more about this year's Best Places to Work in IT or to view the entire list of honorees, visit Computerworld.com. For additional information about Holman and to view current career opportunities, please visit Holman.com and connect with Holman on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

About Holman

Holman is a global automotive leader that serves both commercial and consumer clients The Holman Way by always doing the right thing for our people, our customers, and the community since 1924. The Holman story began nearly a century ago as a single Ford dealership in New Jersey. Today, Holman, headquartered in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, is one of the largest family-owned automotive service organizations in North America with more than 6,500 employees across North America, the UK, and Germany.

Holman delivers a unique range of automotive-centric services including industry-leading fleet management and leasing; vehicle fabrication and upfitting; component manufacturing and productivity solutions; powertrain distribution and logistics services; commercial and personal insurance and risk management; and retail automotive sales as one of the largest privately owned dealership groups in the United States. Guided by its deeply rooted core values and principles, Holman is continuously Driving What's Right. For additional information, please visit Holman.com and connect with Holman on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.

About the Best Places to Work in IT

The Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top work environments for technology professionals by Foundry's Computerworld. The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, DEI, future of work, training and retention. In addition, the rankings are reviewed and vetted by a panel of industry experts.

About Computerworld

Computerworld is the leading technology media brand empowering enterprise users and their managers, helping them create business advantage by skillfully exploiting today's abundantly powerful web, mobile, and desktop applications. Computerworld also offers guidance to IT managers tasked with optimizing client systemsand helps businesses revolutionize the customer and employee experience with new collaboration platforms. Computerworld's award-winning website (http://www.computerworld.com), strategic marketing solutions and research forms the hub of the world's largest global IT media network and provides opportunities for IT vendors to engage this audience. Computerworld is published by Foundry. Company information is available at http://www.foundryco.com.

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German Ambassador Martin Jaeger met with head of the State Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, Mustafa Nayyem, about progress and challenges in the implementation of large infrastructure projects.

Today I spoke with Mustafa Nayyem, head of the Agency for Reconstruction and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine about progress and challenges in the implementation of large infrastructure projects. Maximum transparency must be ensured in the restoration of Ukraine, the ambassador wrote on X (Twitter).




* Ten years ago, the first Confucian lecture hall was established in Beidongye Village, Sishui County near Nishan Mountain, where Confucius is believed to have been born.

* So far, Shandong Province has established more than 22,000 Confucian lecture halls in rural communities over the past decade, and holds over 120,000 cultural activities every year.

* The Confucian lecture hall in rural communities is starting to function as a cultural center where traditional Chinese culture is taking root, bringing more people access to diverse cultural experiences.

JINAN, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- On weekends, children in Ruanjia Village always come to the lecture hall early instead of the playgrounds.

In the village of Qufu City, the birthplace of the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius in east China's Shandong Province, traditional Chinese culture courses are provided for free every weekend at the Confucian lecture hall, attracting more than 30 students.

"I've been studying in the Confucian lecture hall for over three years. I love what I've learned here -- paper cutting, traditional Chinese painting, making dough figurines, and everything," said Hu Wenzhe, a 10-year-old student.

Ten years ago, the first Confucian lecture hall was established in Beidongye Village, Sishui County near Nishan Mountain, where Confucius is believed to have been born.

A group of scholars specializing in Confucianism from home and abroad gathered in the village and discussed how to revitalize traditional Chinese culture in modern society, especially in rural areas.

Since then, lecturers and volunteers delivered lectures on Confucian classics and told stories concerning the philosophy of harmony, integrity, and filial piety in Confucian lecture halls, combining the traditional Chinese culture and modern social norms.

So far, Shandong Province has established more than 22,000 Confucian lecture halls in rural communities over the past decade, and holds over 120,000 cultural activities every year.

In recent years, Shandong has brought the Confucian lecture hall into the rural public cultural service system and established unified standards for facilities, course contents, lecturer qualifications, and activities to build it into a platform for cultural communication.

Having been carried out for a decade, Confucian lecture halls are gaining popularity by providing more interactive and immersive experiences that now appeal to youngsters. In addition to courses on Confucian classics, children can now participate in traditional cultural activities such as paper cutting, painting, calligraphy, and traditional instruments, among others.

The Confucian lecture hall in rural communities is starting to function as a cultural center where traditional Chinese culture is taking root, bringing more people access to diverse cultural experiences.

When approaching the Confucian lecture hall in Qingye Village, Shandong's capital city Jinan, people will first hear the lingering melody of Wuyin Opera, a traditional local folk opera with a history of nearly 300 years.

As the cradle of the opera, Qingye Village now tries to promote the ancient form of art at the Confucian lecture hall.

"I did not miss any of the lectures with performances of Wuyin Opera. I like it so much," said Zhang Guilan, a 77-year-old villager.

Ma Benli, Party chief of the village, said that Wuyin Opera was once on the verge of extinction. "Now, with the regular Confucian lectures, more people can enjoy this intangible cultural heritage," Ma said.

"We hope that through the construction and promotion of the Confucian lecture halls, people of all ages could have the chance to enjoy traditional Chinese culture," said Ji Ranran, an official at the center of traditional culture inheritance and development in Sishui County.

(Video reporters: Feng Yuanyuan, Zhu Xiaoguang, Wu Xiaotong, Qu Lei, Zhai Longkang, Wang Nian; video editors: Liu Yutian, Li Qin, Jia Xiaotong, Ma Ruxuan)
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held talks on Monday with head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and thanked her for her positive assessment of Ukraines implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission, the press service of the head of state reported.

Our country will continue to implement all its obligations, in particular regarding the rights of national minorities and strengthening anti-corruption institutions, the President of Ukraine assured.

Zelenskyy informed his interlocutor about the bills adopted at the first reading aimed at further strengthening the anti-corruption infrastructure.

The head of state stressed the importance of maintaining the unity of the European Union ahead of the December meeting of the European Council.

He also noted that the approval of a multi-year assistance program for Ukraine in the amount of EUR 50 billion would be the best signal of sustainable support from the European Union, and the decision to begin negotiations on Ukraines membership in the EU would be a powerful motivation for Ukrainians, who for almost two years have continued to fight for their freedom and common democratic values, the head of state emphasized.

In turn, the European Commission's head said on the X social network on Monday evening: "Good exchange with President Zelenskyy ahead of crucial discussions at December's European Council meeting. Ukraine is focused on implementing 7 steps and reforms related to EUCO."

"The European Commission stands firmly by Ukraine in the preparation on its EU future," von der Leyen said.
Grand Gesture Books, a new Black and womanowned online shop devoted to romance, launched just ahead of the holiday weekend, on November 21. Founder Katherine Morgan is looking to move into a bricks-and-mortar storefront in her home city of Portland, Ore., by August 2024.

Morgan works part-time as a frontline bookseller at Powells City of Books in Portland, and in customer service for Bookshop.org. She started as a bookseller at Powells in 2017, and in 2020, she completed an internship at Catapult Books. When Powells laid her off at the start of the pandemic, Catapults then-publisher Andy Hunter hired her on to his burgeoning e-tail venture, Bookshop.org. Morgan stuck with Bookshop.org even after Powells brought her back on board.

It was during 2020 that Morgan became a fan of romance too. The nice thing about romance is, you always know how its going to end, she said, acknowledging the comfort of a happy outcome and a beautiful sense of hope. When she recommends a romance title to one customer at Powells, she said, several more visitors often gather to share ideas. No matter how tough the day is, the romance section gives me such bliss.

About three months ago, Morgan decided to make her fondness for romance official by creating her own business. She struggled with what to call it. Nothing was really clicking, and all the best tropes seemed to have been taken by the Ripped Bodice bookstore (Los Angeles), Meet Cute Romantic Bookshop (San Diego), and Grump and Sunshine Bookshop (Belfast, Maine). Then, while watching the 2018 romcom Book Club, Morgan told her boyfriend, The guy is about to do the grand gesture! Thats the best part of the movie. Her friend responded that she should name her bookstore Grand Gesture, after the essential formulaic moment when a character makes a dramatic play for true love. He gets half the credit for the shop's name, Morgan said.

While preparing the online opening, Morgan compared notes with friend Ren Rice, who in early November established The Romance Era bookstore in nearby Vancouver, Wash. (The Romance Era, which is Black and queerowned, sells new books online and used titles at its bricks-and-mortar location, and hosts pop-up vendors.)

Morgan also created lists for her Bookshop.org site, among them are Katherines Favorites of 2023 and Maasassins: Everything Sarah J. Maas. LGBTQ books, BIPOC authors and content, neurodivergence, and plus-size romances are popular, she observed. You can look at the dashboard and pending transactions, and you can see how people got there by clicking through the site and making buying decisions, she said. Queer romances have been selling hot, which makes me happy. Alexandria Bellefleurs The Fiancee Farce is my favorite book of the yeareven at Powells, Ive been hyping that one up.

Morgan is open to crossing categories, with forays into memoir and relationship advice. Everyones into love in general, she said. Ill be selling romance, but also talking about being a good friend, platonic things, self-love. As a Black bookseller, she sees romance diversifying in promising directions at publishers such as Forever and Sourcebooks, and she believes readers dig nontraditional options. People from historically marginalized identities "finally realized there is a space for them in this genre," she said, while white or heteronormative readers have decided "I dont necessarily need to see myself on the cover of this book."

If all goes well with Grand Gesture, Morgan will take things to the next level with a storefront and event space in the coming months. She's working with a realtor to find a central hub for visitors and authors, because events and bookstores go hand in hand, she said. My requirements are that its accessible and on a major bus line. I firmly believe I cant have a bookstore about happy endings if people cant make it through the front door and move freely around the space.


DTG has released a guide to FAST TV that highlights opportunities for standards to support FAST distribution. Noting the potential role of DVB-I, it also flags the opportunity to develop a metadata specification to support FAST library content search and discovery. DTG has released a guide to FAST TV that highlights opportunities for standards to support FAST distribution. Noting the potential role of DVB-I, it also flags the opportunity to develop a metadata specification to support FAST library content search and discovery.



The guide highlights potential challenges for FAST implementation, including the availability of viewing data to aid with scheduling and advertising. It notes ongoing regulatory discussions that could impact FAST TV delivery in the UK  including a government consultation on EPG regulation, and the potential for FAST services to be incorporated in existing advertising standards.



DTG (Digital TV Group) is the collaborative group that sets UK technical standards for digital TV and supports new platforms, representing large swathes of the television ecosystem. The organisation has a DTG FAST Forum that meets every month, and which produced the guide. The report includes the results of an industry survey to understand perceptions around FAST and the aims of FAST.



The guide is called FAST Forward  Your Essential FAST TV and says FAST represents a convergence of the broadcast and broadband TV delivery ecosystems and is driven by high uptake of connected TVs in households worldwide, and viewers looking for alternatives to paid-for services. It describes FAST as still an emerging market outside the U.S., with much opportunity for growth.



On regulation, the guide says it is important to understand that FAST is an emerging format, and therefore it is not clear if it falls under the same regulatory requirements as DTT broadcast, for example. Referring to the [highly anticipated] Media Bill in the UK (which has not yet been published), it says: It remains to be seen how FAST will be factored into it, and to what degree FAST channels in the UK will be required to meet the same requirements as the currently licensed (traditional) broadcast channels, for example in terms of them being able to meet the accessibility requirements as set out in Ofcoms Code on Television Access Services.



The DTG FAST Forum has outlined the following areas that it can work on collaboratively to benefit the FAST industry and support its deployment and future success:



1. Standards. The DTG Fast Forum can take a holistic view

of standards that impact FAST delivery and ensure they meet industry needs.



2. Metadata. The guide includes a recommendation for the creation of an industry guide to metadata requirements to help content providers ensure their content is surfaced, and to help consumers find the content they want. The DTG FAST Forum says it can create a specification, support uptake, and seek industry agreement.



3. Data sharing frameworks. DTG FAST Forum says there is a measurement gap in FAST, as each content or platform owner reports their own data. FAST is not currently covered by the industry measurement systems for linear TV (BARB) and BVOD (CFlight). It is possible to measure impressions but hard to demonstrate value of FAST through third-party verification of viewing data.



ISBAs Project Origin initiative seeks to measure video advertising across all digital delivery points, so could provide a future solution for measurement which encompasses advertising on FAST services, the guide continues. The DTG Fast Forum says it can ensure that all

members are aware of the latest discussions, and that requirements are captured.



4. Input to regulatory discussions: The DTG FAST Forum can present a coordinated and coherent message to decision-making enclaves involved with regulatory and policy discussions  including those that are currently underway. The FAST Forum can seek to ensure that new requirements are proportional and that they support rather than restrict innovation, the DTG says.



DTG credits its DTG FAST Forum members for their contributions to the guide, calling it a great example of industry collaboration to address common challenges. Member logos at the bottom of the guide include Amagi, Conviva, Fincons Group, Fremantle, Google, Gracenote, LG, NetGem, Ofcom, SimpleStream, Sony Pictures, Tellygence and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The Ukrainian Agrarian Council (UAC) calls on President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to uphold a petition on the postponement until two years after the end of the war of a 100-fold increase in the limit on land sale from January 1, 2024 and not send it to the government or parliament for consideration, Head of the UAC Andriy Dykun has said at a press conference hosted by the press center of the Interfax-Ukraine News Agency on Monday.

"In Ukraine, 60% of agricultural products are made by middle-sized agricultural business and only 25%  by big ones. As representatives of medium-sized business, we oppose [the 100-fold increase in the limit on land sale to 10,000 hectares from January 1, 2024]. We are asking the president to not give us a formal answer as well as not send the petition to the Cabinet of Ministers or the profile parliamentary committee for consideration," he said.

The head of Ukraine's largest agricultural association recalled that in 2019, before the start of the land reform, Zelenskyy explained to farmers the principle of work of the land market which game impetus to the launch of the land reform.

"We understand that the number one task today is victory. The president should direct his every effort at it. But many of our members, I mean not only employees but also owners of enterprises, are in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine," Dykun said and called on the president to take their opinion into account.

Serviceman Oleksandr Mohylevtsev, who headed a family farm with a land bank of 1,500 hectares in Zaporizhia region before the full-scale invasion, said that 70% of the region was occupied in the first ten days of the full-scale war.

"Our enterprise, which had been developing for 30 years, has vanished as it was nationalized and looted by Russia. We will certainly demine, restore it and bring things back to order there. But we need time and resources for this, and I hope this will take than 30 years," he said, adding that all farmers in the frontline territories, whose enterprises have been exhausted not only by the war but also by a land crisis, are facing the same situation today.

"The land corridors and blockades during the war have almost suspended the life of agricultural business. It is not the best time for the land market under such conditions," Mohylevtsev said.

He also emphasized the importance of creating equal conditions for the farmers, agricultural holdings and various foundations, developing financial instruments and programs, payment of compensations to the looted and destroyed enterprises, introduction of a transparent demining mechanism in the de-occupied territories.

"In addition to the Peace Formula, there should be also a formula of Ukrainian rural development, a formula of processing agricultural products. [] The sale of land is our of question while the war is going on. The reform should be suspended. [] We could get back to the issue when the war is over," the military farmer said.

Director of the Kalyna Loshnevska farm (Ternopil region) Alla Stechyshyn emphasized that not a single farmer, who represents small- and medium-sized business in the western regions of Ukraine, has savings in banks and any other financial wealth for the purchase of land. The value of the 2023 harvest is smaller than it was before the full-scale invasion. The farmers took lots of loans. The same situation is with the agricultural holdings which are having difficulties with grain export.

"The need to take loans for the purchase of land will force the farmers to choose between buying land or running agricultural business. I am calling on the president, the leadership of the industry: consider the petition which raised 25,000 signatures in a very short time. Take it into account. Most small- and medium-sized businesses are not ready to buy land plots. We need to stand for two or three years so as not to fall down on our knees," she said.

Director of the Andriivka private enterprise (Kharkiv region) Mykola Pyvovar admitted that the agricultural sector, small- and medium-sized businesses had good results as of January 2022. But already in 2022, part of the pre-war harvest was sold with losses. All farmers have been helping the army since the first days of the full-scale war.

"Agricultural businesses have a lot of loans today. We are all grateful to the government for increasing the loan portfolio under the 5-7-9 program from UAH 90 million to UAH 150 million. At the same time, we understand: if we work and see such results for one or two more years, then the agricultural industry won't be able to exist  it will go bankrupt," he said.

According to Pyvovar, under these circumstances, the government "will be unable to warm up" the land market enough to sell 10,000 hectares of land in one hand.

"We support the reform. We are in favor of admitting legal entities to the land market, but the concentration of land should be revised," he said, adding that a proposal to sell 1,000 hectares in one hand could be an acceptable step to continue the land reform.

The head of the UAC said that farmers understand the situation in the country very well, and no one is even thinking about any protests, however they count on the president's understanding and hope for his personal participation in addressing the issue of putting off the launch of the second stage of the land reform.
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Netflix is giving a glimpse of the new film Society of the Snow.

ADVERTISEMENT

The streaming service shared a trailer for the survival drama Monday.

Society of the Snow is based on the Pablo Vierci book of the same name, which explores the Andes flight disaster.

In October 1972, Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashed into the Andes Mountains while traveling from Montevideo to Chile. The survivors, which included members of an Uruguayan rugby team, were forced to resort to whatever means necessary to survive in the three months before their rescue.

The trailer depicts the crash and its aftermath, with the survivors struggling to endure extreme conditions.

Enzo Vogrincic Rolda, Matias Recalt, Agusta Pardella, Tomas Wolf, Diego Vegezzi, Esteban Kukuriczka, Francisco Romero, Rafael Federman, Felipe Gonzalez and Agusta Della Corte star.

Society of the Snow is co-written and directed by J.A. Bayona (The Orphanage, A Monster Calls).

The film closed the Venice International Film Festival in September and will start streaming Jan. 4 on Netflix.
Starting on Oct. 10, 120,000 high school seniors across Georgia received a letter informing them which public institutions of higher education in the state are likely to admit them. The mailed letters were part of the inaugural Georgia Match direct admissions program.
The goal is to organize analytical discussions on the implementation of industrial investment projects, present a report on the prospects and mechanisms for creating new investment funds, and award investors who have started and are implementing projects after February 24, 2022.

The event will take place on December 1, 2023, at the UCCI and will bring together high-ranking government and business representatives.

The recovery and economic transformation of Ukraine depends on adequate funding for reconstruction projects and attracting private investment. Despite the significant challenges of today, Ukrainian and international companies continue to invest, create new jobs, support the country's economy, and show the world an example of project implementation without waiting for the end of hostilities.

Participants will discuss the needs of business and the state in terms of industrial, energy-efficient equipment and materials, economic transformation, and factors of Ukraine's investment attractiveness.

The event will also feature an award ceremony for companies investing in Ukraine after 02/24/22, public figures and media contributing to the development of Ukraine's investment environment.



Time: 14:00-18:00

Among the speakers:

- Sergiy Tsivkach - Executive Director of UkraineInvest, the government office for attracting and supporting investments

- Volodymyr Kuzio - Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine

- Dmytro Kysylevsky, Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Deputy Chairman of the Committee on Economic Development of the - - -Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine

- Hanna Zamazeyeva, Head of the State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine



Organizers: UkraineInvest, Government Office for Investment Promotion and Support, and the Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce and Industry

Program of the event

https://shorturl.at/gixO4

Media accreditation is required:

E-mail: nazarii.volianskyi@ukraineinvest.gov.ua; tel. +38063-023-11-93
Kris Delaney remembers her daughter, Morgan, as someone kind and funny, someone who accumulated friends.

People just loved her  she was so loved, Delaney said.

Morgan Delaney died of a rare form of cancer on Sept. 19 at 21 years old. She was first diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma last Thanksgiving, which was treated. Scans in late June and early July came back clear. However, it was discovered that she had another rare cancer, CIC-DUX4, in her bone marrow, which the Ewings Sarcoma could have masked or morphed into, according to Delaney. Morgans cancer was so rare that there are only 200 cases and four doctors researching it, Delaney said.
In a move towards gender inclusion, Tamil Nadu has partnered Godrej Consumer Products (GCPL) to offer a 5 per cent job reservation for LGBTQAI+ and people with disabilities at GCPLs upcoming fast-moving consumer goods manufacturing unit in Thiruporur in Chengalpattu district.

According to industry experts and activists, while companies acknowledge transgender communities, this is the first time the entire spectrum of gender minorities, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning (ones sexual or gender identity), asexual and intersex, is receiving such a notable share of job participation in the private sector while signing memoranda of understanding with states.

For states like Karnataka and Odisha, the government has kept 1-2 per cent reservation in public sector jobs for transgender people.

"However, the private sector has not collaborated with the government to create a manufacturing plant with a 5 per cent reservation for LGBTQAI before.

"Only Godrej has done this, said Srini Ramaswamy, co-founder of Pride Circle, a diversity and inclusion consulting firm.

Over the past five years, Pride Circle has facilitated blue-collar and white-collar job placements for over 2,000 people from the community.

Other than Godrej, Tata, Infosys, Wipro, Mahindra Group, and Reliance are Indian groups that predominantly hire from the community.

"We have a tie-up with all of them.

"We do job placements and training, Ramaswamy added.

Interestingly, the numbers also indicate that India is a more inclusive place than other countries.

According to a Deloitte survey on LGBTQAI+ workplaces, over 60 per cent of Indian respondents work for an employer that demonstrates commitment to LGBTQAI+ inclusion both internally and externally, compared to 35 per cent globally.

Take the case of Godrej Industries and Associate Companies (GILAC), which claims that around 120 employees (both on-roll and off-roll) have identified themselves as part of the community.

Of course, there are many more, but as an organisation, we respect the confidentiality of our employees and provide all support to them, whether they choose to be out or not, said Parmesh Shahani, head, Godrej DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Lab, GILAC.

How the hiring process works

According to Godrej, it communicates LGBTQAI+ inclusive policies and practices through LinkedIn posts and ensures that job descriptions are crafted accordingly.

Additionally, teams are sensitised, including the talent acquisition team and hiring managers.

Organisations also partner LGBTQAI+ hiring consultants like Pride Circle, Vividhataa, PeriFerry, and non-governmental organisations like Tweet Foundation and Humsafar Trust.

We have seen that internships are a great way to build the talent pool in the community.

"Godrej Properties has launched a PRIDE Internship, a nine-month internship programme that provides on-the-job training along with mentorship from a Godrej leader and regular feedback mechanisms.

"This internship is currently seeing its sixth batch, and more than 10 PRIDE interns have joined as full-time employees, said Shahani.

In addition, Godrej Properties has hired recruiters from the LGBTQAI+ community; this has helped the company connect with candidates better and handhold them through the process, he added.

Experts from the hiring sector believe that discrimination is still forcing people to stay away from revealing their identities.

Numerous multinational corporations and young startups, particularly those dominated by millennials and GenZs, have recognised the significance of inclusivity.

"By nurturing an open culture and implementing inclusive policies, they provide a safe haven for the LGBTQAI community within their workplace.

"Despite strides made, many individuals within the LGBTQAI community continue to conceal their identities due to the pervasive fear of discrimination and potential career setbacks, said Santhosh Nair, director and chief operating officer of CIEL HR, which provides workforce and skilling solutions.

This is the first time the entire LGBTQAI group is getting recognised. Normally, the reservations used to start and end with transgender people.

"This is a great initiative, said Aishwarya Rutuparna Pradhan (formerly Ratikanta Pradhan), Indias first openly transgender civil servant.
The company attributes a surge in demand from across Indias north, west, south, and east markets to positive consumer sentiment and a compelling business proposition.

Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhury/Reuters

Tata Realty and Infrastructure, a subsidiary of Tata Sons, is looking to expand its business with over 50 projects across major cities in India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives.

The combined projects boast a development potential exceeding 51 million sq ft, according to a top executive.

The Mumbai-based real estate major has completed the first phase of project developments in Male (the Maldives), and is gearing up for the second phase.

It has also expanded its footprint in Sri Lanka and plans to add about 2 million sq ft. in Colombo.

In India, Tata Realty has added 470 acres of development in Navi Mumbai, comprising commercial, residential, retail, and IT centres.

The company attributes a surge in demand from across Indias north, west, south, and east markets to positive consumer sentiment and a compelling business proposition.

Residential projects  such as La Vida in Gurugram, New Haven in Bahadurgarh, Eureka Park in Noida, Serein in Mumbai, and Swaram in Bengaluru  have played a key role in driving the companys high sales growth.

Sanjay Dutta, CEO and managing director of Tata Realty, said the realty firm is set to launch 10 million sq ft of new projects over the next two to three years, which is expected to generate an estimated revenue of Rs 16,000 crore.

We have seen a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 26 per cent in our residential portfolio in the past five years.

"Keeping in line with the growth trajectory, we forecast to reach the same or higher levels going forward, Dutta told Business Standard.

Within its commercial portfolio in India, Tata Realty plans to launch 5 million sq ft of office space in Bengaluru, including two IT parks, with an investment of Rs 4,000 crore by the end of this year.

The company recently acquired over 102,000 sq meters in Bengaluru from Graphite India for Rs 986 crore, which has a developmental potential of 4.5 million square feet.

The company is also planning to develop about 8 million sq ft of office spaces in Bengaluru and Pune with an investment of Rs 6,000 crore.

It is also heavily focused on sustainable green development of projects and aims to achieve net zero emissions by 2035.

Dutta said he is focused on improving profitability and transforming Tata Realty into a high dividend company in the next five years through its expansion plans and by catering to customers needs.

The firm aims to grow its commercial portfolio with about 7.5 million sq ft of developed land, of which 2.5 million sq ft is under construction.

About 9 million sq ft of development is the future potential on the existing land bank.
Indias import of personal computers, including laptops and tablets, shot up in September by 42 per cent to $715 million, reversing a year-long downward trend after the government announced it would impose import restrictions on such electronic hardware items in August.

Image used for representative purpose only. Photograph: Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters

The rise in such imports were led by the largest source China (33 per cent) and Singapore (188 per cent), according to data released by the commerce department.

On August 3, the Centre had announced it was planning to bring seven products in the information technology hardware segment, such as personal computers, micro computers, mainframe computers, super computers, computer systems and data processing units under the restricted label.

The Centre, however, deferred the implementation till October 30 after the industry raised serious concerns over the decision originally aimed at reducing import dependence on China and ensuring a trusted supply chain.

In a further stepdown, the government last month announced it would not restrict import of such electronic products from any territory, while unveiling a new contactless import authorisation system.

Personal computer imports have been contracting since September last year.

In August, such imports contracted 26 per cent to $525 million.

In total, import of the seven items rose 34.2 per cent to $1 billion in September.

During April-August period of FY24, import of these items had contracted 20.5 per cent to $3.6 billion.

In FY23, India imported $8.8 billion of the seven items brought under the licensing regime, out of which $5.1 billion (58 per cent) worth of products were sourced from China.

Apart from personal computers, the other key item in the list  data processing units  rose 33.5 per cent to $234.5 million in September with shipments from China and the US rising 25 per cent and 129 per cent, respectively.

The US last month sought details on the matter from India at the World Trade Organisation committee on import licensing.

The US asked India to specify the data to be collected and how it would be used.

Will the information impact the process for granting licenses? Is India considering the use of quantitative restrictions based on the information supplied? it asked.

The government last month clarified that the import authorisation would remain valid till September 2024.

After the expiry of the authorisation, the government will study the data, continue to interact with the stakeholders, and will figure out how to take it forward, which will provide certainty to the industry.

With the import management system in place, the government will collect clear data about specific products, coming in from different sources and monitoring it in consultation with stakeholders.

This is to ensure a trusted supply chain for electronics in the country amid increasing cybersecurity threats for hardware products, it said.

The fresh import licensing norms come at a time when India is seeking to establish itself as a major electronics manufacturer.

It has, in fact, already rolled out a production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme for IT hardware to boost domestic manufacturing of such items.
'You have to have commitment to both, but it has to be done at the individual level.'

IMAGE: Kindly note the image has been posted only for representational purposes. Photograph: Kind courtesy Pavel Danilyuk/Pexels.com

The McKinsey Health Institute's 2023 survey conducted among 30,000 employees in 30 countries around the world found that Indian employees reported the highest level of workplace exhaustion at 62%, followed by Japan at 61%. Switzerland reported the least level of workplace exhaustion at 22%.

The highest rates of burnout symptoms was in India at 59%. Younger workers between 18 to 24, employees from smaller companies, and all workers who are non-managers reported higher burnout.

In September 2022, when Genius Consultants Limited conducted a survey on 'Workplace stress and its effect on Employee mental health', it discovered 100% of participants said that workplace stress had an adverse effect on mental health.

77% of the participants confirmed that work related stress induced anxiety and depression. 82% of the participants also said they suffered from health issues like immunodeficiency disorders, gastrointestinal disorders.

In another survey Genius Consultants conducted in September 2023, they found that 71% of employees believed discrimination and partiality by the managers created workplace toxicity.

"The three reasons for workplace exhaustion and burnout are lack of a proper regulatory mechanism, high personal ambition and then, of course, we are a developing country," R P Yadav, founder, chairman and CEO, Genius Consultants, tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier.

PART 1: Why Indians Suffer Work Burnout

Many reports say that marriages are breaking down among those working in the IT industry because of there is no work-life balance. How can they balance work and personal life?

If the general divorce rate is 1% in India, it is 8% to 9% among those work in the IT and ITES industry. But 92% are not getting divorced. It means 92% have found a way to balance work and personal life.

Individuals have to realise that family life is as important as work life. It is not that it's not possible to maintain the balance; it is possible. You have to have commitment to both, but it has to be done at the individual level.

Is it in the start-ups and small companies that employees are exploited more? Or, does exploitation happen in large companies too?

Burnout of employees is more in the smaller companies and start-ups. In start-ups, every aspect of the company is in the formative stage. So, everybody has to work really hard.

When I started my company, I used to work 10 to 12 hours every day. We would not have reached this level, if we had not worked that hard as a start-up.

I remember I used to leave the office at 9.30 pm every day, and the other employees used to leave at 8.30 pm. It was a normal practice in those days. That was because as a start-up, we could not employ more people.

But today, I see that everybody leaves office by 6.30 pm-6.45 pm. I also leave by then. We can afford to do that now.

In larger companies, there are fun times, celebrations, etc under the HR and staffing welfare policies. But in a start-up, you cannot form such policies as the only motto then will be work, work and become a bigger company.

Do you feel we need stricter labour laws to prevent employees being exploited?

Labour laws are already there. But I am sorry to say they are not being followed up. They are not regulated. So, what we need is a regulatory mechanism.

Labour laws are followed up more on the basis of complaints. If there is a complaint, they are questioned and asked to pay a fine. So, they pay the fine and carry on as usual.

In telecom, mutual funds, banking, etc. the regulatory mechanism is strictly implemented, and the fines are in crores. Recently, a public sector bank was asked to pay a fine Rs 600 crore (Rs 6 billion).

You need that kind of fine and regulatory compliance in this industry also. Then, all the companies will be forced to work as per the norms whether it is the number of working hours or creating a healthy work atmosphere or giving all the benefits including leave to the employees.

There is a central rule for leave and also a state rule for leave, and there is a shop and establishment timing. But how many follow them?

IMAGE: R P Yadav. Photograph: Kind courtesy R P Yadav IMAGE: R P Yadav.

The Microsoft Work trend index also found that 57% of employees in India felt overworked....

It is true. Our survey also found that employees felt overworked.

The genesis of overworking is because we are a developing country.

We take a lot of work from other countries, more than what we can do, particularly in the IT and ITES companies.

When you work for international companies, you need to do the work on time. So, your team is pressurised to finish the work, and that is the reason for the burnout of employees.

So, do you feel as long as India is developing, this kind of employee burnout is bound to continue?

In my opinion, this is bound to continue although it has improved a lot in many big companies. For example, they switch off the light so that nobody works from the office after the stipulated time.

It is also true that these days, work continues even on the go and even when you are at home!

I would say, the three reasons for workplace exhaustion and burnout are, lack of a proper regulatory mechanism, high personal ambition and then, of course, we are a developing country.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
'The moment the Army approved the script, they told us that they will give their full support and asked us for our full dedication.'

IMAGE: Meghna Gulzar's Sam Bahadur tells the life story of General (later Field Marshal) Sam Manekshaw, who led the Indian Army to victory in the 1971 War. Photograph: Kind courtesy Meghna Gulzar/Instagram

Fifty two years ago, the Indian Army fought a brilliant campaign and won a glorious victory against Pakistan.

It freed a people under brutal repression and carved out a new country, Bangladesh, from East Pakistan.

The war was fought under the exceptional leadership of General Sam Manekshaw, the chief of the army staff who over-ruled then prime minister Indira Gandhi from launching an attack in April because the monsoon posed logistical problems in moving large troops and in fighting a war in the east.

'It is my job to fight and win,' the general told the prime minister in his usual forthright manner -- and India went on to win its most decisive victory, eight months later.

The soldier delivered what he had promised and when Pakistan surrendered, he let his field commanders accept the honour, preferring to stay away from the limelight in Delhi rather than in Dacca.

That was the man he was.

A man of both physical and mental courage, he was decorated with the Military Cross for his courage on the battlefield in Burma where he took nine bullets during World War II.

Time and again, he stood up for his officers and men. There are soldiers who still break into a smile or are moved to tears when they recount their encounters with him.

Fifteen years after his passing, Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw continues to be India's tallest military hero.

This Friday, two days before the 52nd anniversary of the 1971 War, film-maker Meghna Gulzar brings out the general's story in the film Sam Bahadur, starring Vicky Kaushal in the title role.

This is Meghna's third consecutive film based on real-life characters, a genre that she handles with dignified sensitivity.

"It was a blink-in-a-minute decision for me when Mr Ronnie Screwvala approached me. It is my privilege to tell this inspiring and idealistic story," she says in a phone conversation with Rediff.com's Archana Masih. The first of a two-part interview:

Your film opens two days before the start of the '71 War which marked the pinnacle of Field Marshal Manekshaw's military career -- and I can't help make the connection that you share your name with the river that itself plays a crucial role in the war.

Indian troops were heli-borne in the first air operation of that kind, while other soldiers crossed the Meghna river on small fishing boats in the final advance to the fall of Dhaka.

So you, yourself have some sort of an earlier connection to '71 War and the field marshal, isn't it?

It is serendipitous [laughs]. We find these most abstract connections in very strange and unexpected ways. We don't realise it, but they keep popping up.

This just makes me believe more and more that there was a higher design up there that made this film happen to all of us who have come together to work on it.

Why did you want to tell Field Marshal Manekshaw's story?

I think the story wanted me to tell it, let's put it that way [laughs]. Honestly, when Mr Ronnie Screwvala [the film's producer] approached me with this subject, I knew only two things about the Field Marshal -

That he was the Chief of the Army Staff during the 1971 War, and That he was the first field marshal of our country.

That's all I knew and just that much was enough for me to say -- hmm... this is definitely an idealistic life that needs to be explored -- and it would be my privilege to tell this story.

It was like a blink-in-a-minute decision for me.

You have said that stories find you. When did this story find you?

It was towards the end of 2016 when I was just beginning my prep work on Raazi [2018]. Ronnie and I had been in conversation since the release of Talvar [2015] about working together, but we hadn't landed on a subject.

By the time we decided on telling the field marshal's story, Raazi had come into being and I was going into prep and production.

So, it's actually been with me since then. We took about two-three years just to research before we started writing.

Unlike Raazi, which was based on the book, Calling Sehmat, what went into researching this story? Did you conduct a lot of interviews with soldiers who had served with him? His family? How did you write the script of a man who was larger than life in so many ways?

We cast our net very wide for the research. The starting point were two books -- Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw, the Man and his Times by his ADC (aide de camp), Brigadier Behram M Panthaki (retd) and his wife Zenobia, and

Field Marshal Manekshaw, Soldiering with Dignity by his military assistant Lieutenant General Depinder Singh, PVSM, VSM, (retd).

Every fact in the film is cross-checked from three different sources because there is a great responsibility when you're telling a story like this.

The researcher Meghna Talwar did the preliminary groundwork of talking to the family and associates. This included material about him available in the Defence Services Staff College in Wellington, Tamil Nadu, the Indian Military Academy in Dehradun, etc.

I don't think there is any piece of information on the Field Marshal available in the public domain which we do not have. We culled material from this intensive research into a document and created a sort of Bible for it.

Once we saw that document, the story emerged. We decided on the milestones and how the story needs to be told. That was our roadmap for writing the script.

Photograph: Kind courtesy Meghna Gulzar/Instagram

What were your interactions with his family like?

The initial conversations were done by Meghna Talwar. Once we had the Bible in place, and the draft of the script, we shared it with the family.

Since the family is spread across Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Mumbai, US, we got together on a Zoom call in 2021 to know their feedback. They gave their pointers. I made notes and made the changes accordingly into the script. They saw the revised script and approved it.

I started prepping with Vicky. The Field Marshal's video interviews are from a much later time when he was 60-70 years of age, while the film covers his lifespan from the age of 20-60.

So we really did not have a barometer on how he spoke, or what was his body language as a young boy.

On one of my recces to Coonoor [where the field marshal lived post-retirement], I got in touch with Maya [his daughter] who happened to be visiting town.

I requested if I could come over to see the house. She graciously agreed and showed us his and Silloo's room.

Their dining table was covered with photographs of him, Silloo and the family. We took pictures for references and I realised that the way Maya spoke was so much like the field marshal.

I told Vicky that it would be interesting for him to meet her and just hear her speak and watch her.

I then requested Jehan [his grandson] to spend two-three days with us because genetics does play a part in how we are -- and I believed that there must be some traces of the Field Marshal as a young boy in his grandson.

The family has been incredibly supportive and immersed in this process. I'm really grateful for the faith that they have placed in us and the support that they've given us through the journey.

IMAGE: Vicky Kaushal with Meghna Gulzar on the sets of Sam Bahadur. Photograph: Kind courtesy Meghna Gulzar/Instagram

They said they have liked the film.

For Vicky and me that was our toughest screening because getting their approval is absolutely paramount.

My God, it was such a relief! They are such a gracious family.

IMAGE: Vicky Kaushal and Meghna Gulzar at Field Marshal Manekshaw's statue at Wellington, Tamil Nadu. Photograph: Kind courtesy Meghna Gulzar/Instagram

This film would have needed a lot of cooperation and coordination with the army? What was that like?

The moment they [the Army] approved the script, they told us that they will give their full support and asked us for our full dedication.

They said they did not want any errors or any lapses because we were telling the story of our tallest hero.

The intent and conviction absolutely matched on both sides.

The film's intent can be gauged from the fact that the jawans are not junior artists. They are actually our soldiers.

The song Badhte Chalo has war cries of all the regiments and those war cries are being said by actual soldiers from those specific regiments.

Our requirements and requests were that specific. Even if they were not locally stationed at the place we were shooting, the army brought them in for us or we would bring them in. Their support was immense.

We really consider ourselves blessed to have this faith reposed in us and provided this opportunity.

IMAGE: Vicky Kaushal as Sam Bahadur.

And what are the locations that this film took you to?

The attempt was to go almost everywhere that the Field Marshal was. The house that he was born in [Amritsar] doesn't exist anymore, so we had to recreate it.

We shot across eight states, Fort William, [Kolkata, West Bengal] Defence Services Staff College [Wellington, Tamil Nadu], Indian Military Academy [Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand], and several army cantonments in Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Delhi, Kashmir and Haryana.

We were standing on hallowed ground during filming. It was incredible.

Part 2 of the Interview: 'There was no doubt Vicky will deliver what I want'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'What's happening in Gaza is another ethnic cleansing, a repeat of what happened in 1948.'

'That is why people do not want to evacuate. Either you evacuate or you die.'

IMAGE: Houses destroyed in Israeli strikes at the Beach refugee camp, in Gaza City, November 26, 2023. Photograph: Abed Sabah/Reuters

Hanin Barghouti has lived 29 years under Israeli occupation in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank. A new mother, Hanin, heads the Ramallah office of Gift of the Givers Foundation, the largest disaster response, non-governmental organisation of African origin in Africa. The Foundation also works out of Gaza in Palestine, apart from Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Turkey, in the Middle East -- focussing on countries of conflict.

Since October 7 when the Gaza war began, Hanin says she starts her day asking her colleagues in Gaza if they are alive. Answers can take up to hours or a day depending on Internet connectivity, or none at all -- the Gaza head of Gift of the Givers was killed in an Israeli airstrike earlier this month.

More than 14,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza's health ministry, with most of the dead women and children.

While the eyes of the world are on a Gaza afire, less than 100 km away, the West Bank smoulders with increased killings by Israeli settlers, land grab and displacement of Palestinians.

According to the United Nations, Israelis have killed 201 Palestinians, including 52 children, in the West Bank, since this war began.

"To understand what occupation is, you have to live under occupation," Hanin tells Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt in the first of a two-part interview.

The attention of the world is on Gaza since this war, but the West Bank has been closed off since October 7 as well.

Your towns have been raided, curfews imposed, arrests and detentions made.

You live in Ramallah in the West Bank, what is your experience?

These actions in the West Bank have been taking place since 1967, which is when the West Bank along with Gaza, was occupied by the Israelis. In this year alone, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) killed nearly 200 Palestinian civilians [including 52 children] in the West Bank. Killings, raids, random arrests have always been a part of our 'daily life' as Palestinians.

After October 7, the intensity of these attacks increased significantly. The Israelis are taking advantage of the media focus on Gaza to destroy property and attack people in the West Bank.

I live with these struggles on an everyday basis -- from being stopped and humiliated on the Israeli check points, to getting my house raided and my brother arrested for no reason, except that we are Palestinian.

IMAGE: Israeli army vehicles during a raid in the Balata refugee camp in Nablus in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 23, 2023. Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters

Palestinians say this war has unleashed a new wave of provocations in the West Bank.

Villages have been stormed by Jewish vigilantes and settler attacks have surged, thousands of olive trees have been destroyed, says the UN.

Tell us what is happening.

Before October 7, attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians, especially in the villages near illegal settlements were happening on a daily basis, but those attacks increased manifold to around seven attacks a day since the 7th.

Twenty-two Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers between 2010 and 2019, but since this war, as many as nine Palestinians have been killed in less than 40 days. The Israeli settlers attack houses and burn them, destroy cars, burn and damage olive trees, and destroy our shops and markets.

The world and media is focussing on Gaza and the Israelis are taking advantage of that in the West Bank. We face constant attacks on our homes and at refugee camps in the West Bank.

Israeli attacks on villagers, destroying olive trees and stealing land is not new for Palestinians. Living under occupation means facing these issues and being forced not to react to them.

What makes it hard for the Palestinians to react to these attacks and protect themselves is that 80 per cent of the Israeli settlers living in the West Bank are armed and willing to kill. And they know there will be no consequences for their actions.

IMAGE: The Israeli military prison, Ofer, near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Photograph: Ammar Awad/Reuters

Can't Palestinians approach the police? What happens if you do?

Israeli settlers are protected by the Israeli police. Even the settlers that have committed crimes against Palestinians are set free after trials. But any Palestinian case against Israelis is taken up in a military court not a civilian one, so we can never hope for justice.

How do the settlers move in? Tell us exactly how this happens?

The Israeli government offers incentives to the settlers to come and live in illegal settlements. After these settlers arrive in Palestine from different countries, the Israeli government gives them a house, a monthly payment and all life essentials to guarantee that they stay back in the settlements.

IMAGE: Mourners carry the body of Shamikh Abualrob, a Palestinian who was killed in an Israeli raid, during his funeral in Qabatia near Jenin in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 25, 2023. Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters

Israel has been accused of apartheid in the occupied territories. Do you face apartheid in Ramallah?

I am a Palestinian who lives in Ramallah in the West Bank. So, what does apartheid mean to me? Every day when I wake up in the morning and leave for work, the Israelis stop me at gates and checkpoints between cities in the West Bank. I am late for work, because I have to wait for hours at checkpoints.

Apartheid means that my father is in an Israeli prison. In fact, I have spent most of my childhood without my father, because they consider him a 'threat to the State of Israel'. He is being held without charges. He did nothing. [As of October 1, Israel held 1,264 Palestinians in administrative detention without trial or a charge based on secret information, the highest number in more than 30 years, according to Human Rights Watch. That number had jumped to 2,070 by November 1.]

Apartheid is the wall between the cities in the West Bank and the wall that separates Jerusalem from the West Bank. [The Israeli West Bank barrier, comprising the West Bank Wall and the West Bank fence is a separation barrier built by Israel]. I'm not allowed to go to Jerusalem to practice my religion.

I have a Palestinian ID, so I'm not allowed to visit the villages where my ancestors lived because that is now land occupied by Israel.

We face constant attacks from illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank.

We cannot live freely or move around freely as people outside Palestine do. I can't visit all the places in my country, I can't live with my whole family around me because some of them are in prison, while others are prevented from coming to Palestine. That's apartheid for me.

Palestinians who live in Jerusalem and hold a Jerusalem or Israeli ID use the same transportation as the Israelis, and they face discrimination. In fact, the injustice is true for all aspects of life under occupation.

When did you last meet your father?

My father has been in and out of prison for eight years. This time he was imprisoned a year-and-a-half ago, so I haven't met him since then. I gave birth to my daughter and he wasn't there to be a part of our happiness. He hasn't held my daughter, embraced her, met her. She will be a year now. He only knows her name. So it's really hard.

And you are a representation of what most women in the West Bank face?

All Palestinians living in the West Bank and in West Jerusalem face similar hardships. Before this war, there were 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and in administrative detention as they call it, which means we are not given any reason for imprisonment or detention. It's like a secret file that they have which they don't share. That is what my father is facing.

Every house in Palestine has its own story of living under occupation.

You mentioned checkpoints. Has surveillance increased since October 7? Much of the West Bank's main highway has been closed to Palestinians. Has this increased your commute?

Since October 7 most checkpoints and gates between the cities of the West Bank are closed and civilians have to take use alternate roads. We are stopped for hours at the checkpoints, we are searched and humiliated or not allowed to pass through at all.

In the West Bank, all the roads have Israeli checkpoints on them and all villages and cities have gates that are controlled by the Israelis. Even before October 7, the Israelis would close these gates, which makes moving around a major obstacle for Palestinians.

I live in a village next to an Israeli settlement and I am forced to pass through a check point and a gate every day. Since this war, this gate has been closed and I have to take different routes that take triple the time to reach my office.

IMAGE: Children watch the funeral of five Palestinians. Photograph: James/Reuters

Do you think Palestinians can live peaceably with Jews even when this war ends?

The Israeli occupation of your land is unlikely to end and that is the root of your problems.

Let's go back a little bit in history. Before 1948, Palestine was a land where all Muslims, Christians and Jews lived peaceably. The Jews, the immigrants from Europe, came to Palestine after the Holocaust and the Palestinian people welcomed them with open arms, as their guests; we gave them houses to live in.

We don't have a problem with Judaism itself. The problem we have is with the Zionists, who are supporting the occupation of our lands. Those Jews who supported Zionism, those very people we welcomed, attacked us.

A huge displacement happened in the 1940s, with hundreds of 1000s of Palestinians killed, as many displaced, women raped. The Jews who committed these crimes even have videos talking about what they did back then.

There are thousands of Jews outside of Palestine who are against the occupation. We don't have problems with them just because they are Jews.

We have a problem with those who support the occupation, who commit these genocides with impunity.

You can't force a woman who lost her husband, her son, her whole family to live next to the Israelis responsible for the deaths. It is an impossible situation. To understand what it is to live under occupation, you must live under occupation.

We want freedom for our country, our lands back, our prisoners freed. There are around 10,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. We do not want the word occupation in our language.

Do you have any interpersonal relationships with Israelis?

I don't have any social relationships with them. The only interaction that happens with Israelis is when they stop me at a checkpoint, when they barge into my house to arrest my father or when the Israeli settlers throw rocks at my car when I am going to my work.

I don't see any other interactions going to happen, because they are they are occupiers and I am the occupied. They are the colonisers, and I am the colonised. There can be no social interactions or regular interactions with them in these circumstances.

IMAGE: People check the damage after Israeli forces demolished houses in Hebron in the West Bank. Photograph: Mussa Qawasma/Reuters

Israel first told Gazans in the north to evacuate to the south. Hospitals have been asked to evacuate. How do you evacuate a home?

Earlier generations in Palestine have been through this. Is this now a part of life for your people?

We have no clue how to evacuate; if we knew how, it would have been easier. For instance, they told Al Shifa hospital to evacuate in an hour. Can you just tell me how a hospital full of patients -- some of them unable to walk, some in a coma -- how are these people going to evacuate?

Nobody wants to evacuate from their homes; they were forced to do so because of the continuous bombing. They evacuated leaving behind all their belongings with barely a bottle of water -- if they did have water. Children too small to walk are strapped on to the backs of the parents. They just have the clothes on their backs, and remember, the weather in Palestine is getting colder each day.

I don't envy the doctors. They have to choose -- to leave the patients or to stand by them and get bombed. They know the patients they leave behind are going to die, they know if they stay back in the hospitals, they will die with the patients.

IMAGE: The funeral of five Palestinian fighters who were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Balata camp in Nablus in the West Bank. Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters

Your grandparents were forced to leave during the naqba of 1948. Do you believe this is another 1948?

What's happening in Gaza is another ethnic cleansing, a repeat of what happened in 1948. That is why people do not want to evacuate. Either you evacuate or you die. And a lot of people are preparing to die instead of evacuating. If there are no international interventions for a ceasefire and to stop this genocide, 1948 will be repeated.

Do you believe there will ever be peace in the region?

I hope and believe as a Palestinian that we will find freedom one day, maybe in this generation or may be the next. But I can't I can't imagine what that peace is going to be. As a Palestinian I can't comprehend the idea of a two-State solution.

Why am I forced to leave my land? Where are the refugees going to go? Are they going to live their whole life as refugees?

So I don't think there is going to be peace soon. The Palestinian Authority, who are working with Israelis since 1994 in a peaceful manner, are following international laws and so on, but the Israelis are doing the opposite.

So you can see the results. The Israelis are expanding the settlements. They are killing us, committing genocide. They are not following the peaceful solutions they claim to be following. They don't follow international law or the agreements they have signed with the Palestinian Authority.

Part 2 of the Interview: 'Are you alive? Please tell me you are alive'

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington City, Vermont, US on Saturday evening.

IMAGE: Three Palestinian students, Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid, were shot in Burlington, US. Photograph: @hzomlot/X

According to information, the students -- Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ahmed and Kinnan Abdalhamid -- were walking on Prospect Street after visiting a relative in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday when "they were confronted by a white man with a handgun."

The victims, two of whom are US citizens and one a legal resident, were taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center for medical care, according to a statement issued by the police on Sunday.

"Two are stable, while one has sustained much more serious injuries," the police said in its release.

"Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot," police said.

Notably, two of the students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, they added.

According to CNN, two students sustained injuries to the torso, while the third suffered injuries to the "lower extremities."

Authorities said that "there is no additional information to suggest the suspect's motive."

Moreover, detectives recovered ballistic evidence from the shooting, which will be submitted to a federal database, according to Burlington police.

Reportedly, the FBI on Sunday said that it was "prepared to investigate" the incident.

According to CNN, the shooter or shooters have not been identified or apprehended yet and the police department is "at the earliest stages of investigating this crime."

In a joint statement, the victims' families urged law enforcement to investigate the attack as a hate crime.

"We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice," they said.

"No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures," they added.

Meanwhile, the Institute for Middle East Understanding issued a statement and identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut, CNN reported.

The incident comes amid the increased tensions and hate crimes in the US in the past few weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, to which Israel retaliated with airstrikes across the Gaza Strip.
Authorities in Jammu on Monday reviewed the security scenario in border areas of the district and sought the people's cooperation in maintaining law and order, and harmony, an official said.

IMAGE: DGP, Jammu and Kashmir, RR Swain meets the people during a grievance redressal programme, at Police Headquarters Peer Bagh in Srinagar, November 25, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The district-level standing committee on security met under the chairmanship of deputy commissioner, Jammu Sachin Kumar Vaishya, the spokesman said.

The meeting, which was among others attended by senior superintendent of police of Jammu Vinod Kumar, undertook an in-depth review and discussed various critical issues of the areas along the India-Pakistan border, the spokesman said.

He said the SSP Jammu and the officers from the Army and paramilitary forces presented a detailed report on the security situation and deployments put in to thwart any attempt of mischief by the enemy.

The deputy commissioner inquired in detail about the security situation and the measures taken to prevent attempts of infiltration or ceasefire violation by the enemy forces, the spokesman said.

He appreciated the role of the security forces in safeguarding the border and ensuring peace and tranquillity in the region.

Highlighting the significance of development in border areas, including better connectivity and basic facilities for the border people owing to the unique challenges they face due to their demography, Vaishya said the administration is committed to providing all the basic amenities and infrastructure to the border residents and improve their quality of life.

He instructed the district officers to conduct regular pre-scheduled visits to the border areas for continuous review of saturation and delivery of government schemes and to take feedback on the grievances and demands of the local public.

The officers were told to maintain close coordination with the security agencies as well, the spokesman said.

The deputy commissioner stressed that the government will leave no stone unturned to address the issues and aspirations of border citizens.

In view of the multiple challenges faced by people there, the district administration is paying special attention to border areas, he said.
The Election Commission on Monday asked the Congress government in Karnataka to stop publishing advertisements about its work in newspapers in poll-bound Telangana and sought an explanation from it for not seeking prior approval as mandated under the poll code.

IMAGE: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah receives complaints from the public during a day-long Janata Darshan at CM's residential office Krishna, in Bengaluru, November 27, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

Earlier in the day, the Bharatiya Janata Party lodged a complaint with the Commission in the matter, alleging that the Congress has violated the Representation of the People Act and the Model Code of Conduct with its government in Karnataka by putting out advertisements in the Telangana media with an eye on the November 30 assembly polls there.

The BRS too approached the poll panel on the issue.

In a letter to the Karnataka chief secretary, the Commission said the state government did not obtain prior approval from it for publishing the advertisements, an action violative of the poll code instructions issued to central and state governments years ago.

It also said the publication of any such advertisement by the government of Karnataka in Telangana should stop with immediate effect till necessary approvals are taken by the state government from the Commission.

It has sought an explanation by 5 pm on Tuesday on the circumstances that led to the violation of the Commission's Model Code of Conduct instructions.

In its letter, the Commission also asked why disciplinary action should not be taken against the secretary-in-charge of the Department of Information and Public Relations for violations of procedure as required under MCC instructions.

In the past, the Commission had observed that certain advertisements highlighting welfare schemes and achievements of the central and state governments were being published by some non-poll going states in the newspapers in poll-bound states.

The Commission had considered this to be a violation of the spirit of the Model Code of Conduct.

In 2013, it had directed that, in future, all such advertisements issued by non-poll-going states during the Model Code of Conduct period would be forwarded to the Commission for clearance before they are sent for publication in newspapers having edition or circulation in the poll-bound states.

Assembly polls are due in Telangana on November 30, with the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party locked in a keen battle.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. FourPhase is exploring new technology to introduce to the Azerbaijani market, Neil Meldrum, Managing Director of FourPhase in UK told Trend on the sidelines of the SPE Technical Conference and Exhibition held in Baku.

"We have been active in Azerbaijan since 2016, managing the ACG (Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli) fields, specifically handling proppant and mill scale removal  essentially, all solids", he said.

Meldrum stated that the company's purpose is to provide innovative technologies to Azerbaijan in order to efficiently handle uncycled sand.

"Rather than transporting it onshore, we intend to clean it offshore and discharge it into the sea. By cleaning the sand before it reaches the shore for discharge, we reduce logistical costs and reduce our carbon footprint," the company's spokesman noted.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, escorted Tesla CEO Elon Musk on a tour of Kfar Aza, an Israeli Kibbutz that was attacked on October 7, 2023, by Hamas, according to The Times of Israel.

IMAGE: Tesla CEO Elon Musk visits the ruins of the Israeli Kibbutz with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu. Photograph: GPO via Reuters/ANI on X

Musk was shown the horrors inflicted on the people of Kibbutz by the Hamas terrorists during the tour of Kfar Aza and was briefed about the atrocities in Kibbutz by a local council official and an IDF Spokesperson's Unit representative.

On October 7, the Hamas terrorists stormed the region, murdering people, burning entire homes, capturing a large number of citizens and bringing them to Gaza.

Netanyahu, in a post on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) wrote, "I toured Kibbutz Kfar Gaza with Elon Musk to show him up close the crimes against humanity committed by Hamas."

Musk was also taken to the residence of Ofir Libstein, community's security chief, who was shot and killed by the Hamas terrorists.

Musk also heard the tale of 4-year-old Israeli-American Avigail Idan, who was taken to Gaza and freed on Sunday as a result of a hostage negotiation.

After the release of 13 hostages in Israel, including 4-year-old American girl Avigail Idan, US President Joe Biden vowed an unwavering commitment to ensuring the return of every hostage to their loved ones.

While speaking at a press briefing on Sunday, President Biden said that he would not stop until every hostage was returned to their loved ones.

He also underscored the 13 hostages, including an American, who were released on Sunday under a deal brokered and sustained through intensive US diplomacy.

"We will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones. This has been the product of a lot of hard work and weeks of personal engagement for me and my team," he said.

He further said that he, his wife, and so "many Americans are praying" that 4-year-old Israeli-American Avigail Idan will be all right after she was released from Hamas captivity earlier on Sunday.

"Idan saw her mother killed in front of her in Kibbutz Be'eri during Hamas's October 7 terror attack and then ran to her father, who shielded her with his body, as terrorists then shot him dead," said Biden.

She then ran to her neighbour's home, where she, along with those inside, was taken hostage in Gaza.

"What she endured is unthinkable," Biden emphasised, noting that she celebrated her 4th birthday on Friday in captivity and that he had personally pressed for her release in a recent call with the emir of Qatar.

Biden then expressed hope that the truce will be extended so that more hostages can be released.

"Israel has agreed to extend the four-day truce by an additional day for every extra 10 Israeli hostages released," he added.

Musk, however, has recently come under fire for his endorsements of a virulently antisemitic trope on X, as well as the platform's complete failure to crack down on rampant disinformation and hate speech amid the ongoing war, The Times of Israel reported.

The failure to combat antisemitism on the app and comments viewed as anti-semitic, shared by Musk himself, resulted in several advertisers like Apple and Disney cutting off their spending on the microblogging site.

Earlier this week, Musk announced that X would be donating all revenue from advertising and subscriptions "associated with the war in Gaza" to hospitals in Israel and the Red Cross/Crescent in Gaza.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Musk wrote, "We will track how funds are spent and go through the Red Cross/Crescent. Better ideas are welcome. We should care about the innocent regardless of race, creed, religion or anything else."
Qatar has successfully negotiated an agreement between Israel and Hamas to extend the four-day truce between them by an additional two days, Doha's foreign ministry spokesperson said.

IMAGE: Israel's military operates in the Gaza Strip in this handout picture released on November 27, 2023. Photograph: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via Reuters

"The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," posted spokesperson Majed Al Ansari on X.

This means at least ten more Israeli hostages will be released on Tuesday and that another ten will be released on Wednesday, with 30 Palestinian prisoners to be freed by Israel on each day as well, as reported by The Times of Israel.

There is no immediate Israeli confirmation of the truce extension but Hamas issues its own statement confirming as much, crediting the Qatari and Egyptian mediation efforts, it added.

As the deal appears to be back on track following an earlier dispute, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office has announced that Israeli authorities have informed the families of the hostages set to be released in the following hours.

An Israeli official told The Times of Israel earlier that Hamas was trying to separate mothers from their children in today's release, which Israel appears to have succeeded in blocking.

Hebrew media reports that 11 Israeli hostages will be released shortly -- nine children and two women, who are the mothers of some of the children.

There has not been an official Israeli statement confirming these numbers.

Hebrew media also reported that the hostages being released are from Kibbutz Nir Oz, the community that was hardest hit during the October 7 massacre.

As the truce enters its fourth day, 40 hostages Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas, with 13 on Friday, 13 on Saturday, and 14 on Sunday, CNN reported.

Released individuals include 21 children aged 18 or younger, 11 adult women, seven women aged 65 or older, and Roni Krivoy, an Israeli-Russian man released as a special case outside the deal parameters.

Besides 18 foreign nationals, including 17 Thai nationals and 1 Filipino citizen, were freed from Gaza in separate negotiations, not covered by the Israel-Hamas deal.

117 women and children released from Israeli prisons, with 39 on Friday, 39 on Saturday, and 39 on Sunday.

Released individuals include 28 adult women, two teenage girls, and 87 male teens aged 18 and younger.

Of the Palestinian prisoners released, 41 had been tried and sentenced, and 76 were in administrative detention.

The original Israel-Hamas deal stipulates that the truce will continue for four days as long as Hamas releases at least 10 Israeli hostages each day. The situation remains fluid, with the White House closely monitoring developments, CNN reported.
India's Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, offered prayers at a gurudwara in Long Island in New York on the occasion of Gurpurab where a group of Khalistani supporters heckled him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community.

IMAGE: India's Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu at a gurudwara in Long Island in New York. Photograph: @SandhuTaranjitS/X

"Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanak's everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all, Sandhu said in a post on X on Sunday.

Sandhu received a warm welcome at the Hicksville Gurdwara against the perceived notion of opposition from Khalistanis. A few nuisance makers tried to heckle him but were escorted out by members of the Sikh community, sources said.

In his remarks at the gurudwara, Sindhu assured members of the Sikh community that Indian diplomats in the US will provide all help and support to them.

Sandhu, accompanied by Consul General in New York Randhir Jaiswal and Deputy Consul General Varun Jeph, highlighted growth in the India-US partnership, whether in the healthcare, energy, IT, new emerging technologies, semiconductor or education sectors.

On the occasion, the gurudwara members and officials honoured and felicitated the Indian Ambassador.

Sandhu also spoke about the historical linkages between Sikh Gurus, Sikhs and Afghanistan. He noted that Afghan Sikhs have shown how to face adversities.

He mentioned that three Saroops of the Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib were brought from Kabul to Delhi in August 2021 after the Taliban took over the war-torn country.

During the visit to the gurudwara, some pro-Khalistan elements heckled Sandhu and shouted questions about Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, killed in Canada in June this year, according to videos being circulated of the incident.

Earlier, in a separate tweet, Sandhu said Guru Nanak Dev ji's timeless message of equality and universal oneness in the well-known Shabad of Guru Ravidass as he paid his respects at Sri Guru Ravidass Temple in New York on Saturday.
IMAGE: Released hostages disembark from an ambulance at the border crossing with Gaza. Photograph: Al Qahera News/Reuters TV via Reuters

IMAGE: Ruth Munder, a released Israeli hostage, walks with an Israeli soldier after her arrival in Israel. Photograph: Israeli Prime Minister's Office/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: An Israeli family is reunited with released Israeli hostages shortly after their arrival in Israel. Photograph: Israeli Prime Minister's Office/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: Aviv Asher, two and a half years old, her sister Raz Asher, four and a half years old, and their mother Doron, released Israeli hostages, step off an Israeli military helicopter. Photograph: Israeli Prime Minister's Office/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: Adi Shoham, 38, her children Yahel Shoham, 3, and Nave Shoham, 8, and Shoshan Haran, released Israeli hostages, arrive in Israel, in this still image obtained from a handout video released. Photograph: Israeli Prime Minister's Office/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: A Red Cross vehicle, part of a convoy believed to be carrying hostages abducted by Hamas, arrives at the Rafah border. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters

IMAGE: Hostages who were abducted by Hamas give a thumbs up as they are handed over by Hamas members to the International Committee of the Red Cross in an unknown location in Gaza, in this screengrab taken from video released. Photograph: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: A convoy of vehicles carrying hostages abducted by Hamas arrives through the border crossing with Gaza. Photograph: Al Qahera News/Reuters TV via Reuters

IMAGE: People react to the convoy carrying released hostages in Ofakim, Israel. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

IMAGE: Hamas militants stand by vehicles as they hand over hostages to the International Committee of the Red Cross in this screengrab taken from video released. Photograph: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: A Hamas militant interacts with members of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this screengrab. Photograph: Hamas Military Wing/Handout via Reuters

IMAGE: A boy waves an Israeli flag as people await a convoy carrying newly released hostages. Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
On Saturday, November 25, 2023, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, the chief of the naval staff, reviewed the passing out parade of the autumn term 2023 at the Indian Naval Academy in Ezhimala, Kerala.

158 trainees comprising midshipmen of the 105 Indian Naval Academy course, cadets of the 38 Naval Orientation Course (Coast Guard), 35 and 36 Naval Orientation Course (Extended) passed out with flying colours.

The passing out trainees included 8 cadets from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Myanmar and the first international women trainee from Mauritius.

Vice Admiral M A Hampiholi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, was the conducting officer for the parade.

IMAGE: You could go on to be an admiral later in your career, but Mum will always be your first commander. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Or Dad... Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Admiral Hari Kumar, accompanied by Vice Admiral M A Hampiholi, reviews the cadets in formation, here and below. Photograph: ANI Twitter

Photograph: ANI Twitter

Photograph: ANI Twitter

Photograph: ANI Twitter

IMAGE: The CNS reviews a ceremonial guard of honour. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Admiral Hari Kumar awards medals to meritorious Midshipmen and Cadets on completion of the ceremonial review, here and below Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: The successful trainees marched with their gleaming ceremonial swords and rifles held in salute, past the Academy's Quarterdeck, in Slow March -- their 'Antim Pag' or final step -- at the Indian Naval Academy. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Admiral Hari Kumar and his wife Kala Harikumar with a cadet and his family. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: The Admiral, Mrs Hari Kumar with cadets and their families. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Vice Admiral M A Hampiholi, who was a former commandant of the Indian Naval Academy, his wife Madhumati Hampiholi with a cadet and his familu. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

IMAGE: Vice Admiral Puneet K Bahl, Commandant, Indian Naval Academy, second from his right, his wife Anjali Bahl, right, Mrs Kala Hari Kumar, second from left, with a cadet. Photograph: Indian Naval Academy

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
In clear signs of Israeli control over parts of war-ravaged Gaza, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu entered the Islamist Hamas-ruled coastal Strip on Sunday to meet Israeli soldiers to boost their morale and vowed to carry on the fight "until the end".

IMAGE: Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets troops in war-ravaged Gaza Strip. Photograph: @netanyahu/X

Netanyahu received security briefings from commanders and soldiers and visited one of Hamas' tunnels that has been revealed, an official press statement said.

"We are here in the Gaza Strip with our heroic soldiers. We are making every effort to return our hostages, and in the end, we will return them all. We have three goals in this war: eliminate Hamas, return all of our hostages and ensure that Gaza will not go back to being a threat to the State of Israel," Netanyahu told the soldiers on the ground.

"I am here to tell the soldiers, who all tell me the same thing, and I repeat it to you, citizens of Israel: We are continuing until the end until victory. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the force, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all of our goals for the war, and this is what we will do," he asserted.

"We have three goals for this war: eliminate Hamas, return all our abductees and ensure that Gaza does not become a threat to the State of Israel again," he said.

The Israeli prime minister was accompanied by his Chief of Staff, Tzachi Braverman, National Security Council Director Tzachi Hanegbi, his Military Secretary Maj-Gen Avi Gil, and Israel Defence Forces (IDF) Deputy Chief-of-Staff Maj-Gen Amir Baram.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi and other senior Israeli officials have visited the northern part of the Strip during the ongoing war in a clear indication that Israel now has control over the ground in a big chunk of the territory.

Israel and Hamas are at the moment exchanging hostages for Palestinian prisoners in a temporary four-day "pause" mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States which will also see humanitarian aid, including fuel, entering into the Gaza Strip.

The four-day ceasefire, when 50 Israeli hostages are likely to be released against 150 Palestinian prisoners, may get extended with Israel agreeing to a one-day extension for every 10 hostages being released.
The transmogrification of Prime Minister Modi to Saint Modi began with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

By identifying himself with Lord Ram, Modi raised himself in popular imagination to a saintly person.

A fascinating excerpt from Minhaz Merchant's Modi, The Challenge of 2024.

Photograph: Prime Minister Narendra D Modi at the Kedarnath temple, October 21, 2022. Photograph: ANI Photo

As the 2024 Lok Sabha election nears, Narendra D Modi has emerged as the shrewdest Indian political leader since Indira Gandhi.

The two couldn't have come from more different backgrounds. Indira Gandhi was born into privilege in 1917.

Modi's circumstances -- and rise to power -- were a polar opposite. He grew up in the small Gujarat town of Vadnagar.

He left home at 17, joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh at 19, was seconded to the Bharatiya Janata Party at 37, became general secretary looking after six states at 48, was appointed chief minister of Gujarat at 51 and -- against fierce opposition from within the party and abuse from the Congress -- won office as prime minister at 63.

While L K Advani was regarded as the BJP's hardline leader who encouraged party workers to bring down the Babri structure, Atal Bihari Vajpayee cultivated a softer image.

Yet his speech just one day before the Babri structure was demolished on 6 December 1992, laid bare his true feelings on the issue: 'Sharp and pointed stones have come out. No one can sit there. The ground has to be levelled. It has to be made fit for sitting. Arrangements for a yagya (of the Ram temple) will be done, so there will be some construction.'

Two months after the Gujarat riots, in April 2002, Vajpayee, now the prime minister, said this at a BJP national council meeting: 'We should not forget how the tragedy of Gujarat started. The subsequent developments were no doubt condemnable. But who lit the fire? How did the fire spread?'

'Wherever Muslims live, they don't like to live in co-existence with others, they don't like to mingle with others; and instead of propagating their ideas in a peaceful manner, they want to spread their faith by resorting to terror and threats. The world has become alert to this danger.'

Vajpayee was careful to cloak his thoughts in poetry, long silences and pacifist prose.

So, in Parliament in May 2002, Vajpayee declared: 'I accept the Hindutva of Swami Vivekananda but the type of Hindutva being propagated now is wrong and one should be wary of it.'

Like most Indian leaders, Vajpayee realised early in his career that you can govern a complex country like India only from the centre.

The extremes -- right and left -- aren't sustainable.

In public therefore Vajpayee drifted from the right towards the centre just as Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and others had drifted from the left towards the centre.

Photograph: Modi takes to the skies in the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas, November 25, 2023. Photograph: Kind courtesy Narendra Modi/X

What about Modi's own ideological trajectory? Over the past nine years, Modi has evolved from a state leader to a national leader to a deified leader and finally to a world leader.

In doing so, Modi has used Vajpayee's playbook: Hard Hindutva warrior during elections; pro-poor messiah at home; and sober global statesman abroad.

Thus we see Modi's fiery version in election campaign rallies.

That is followed by a messianic touch: Providing free food and subsidies to 80 crore (800 million) distressed Indians.

And finally, a statesman-like role in global affairs as leader of the G20.

All three avatars are visible in Modi as he gears up for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Vajpayee took the BJP from two Lok Sabha seats to 182 seats in 1998.

He became the longest-serving non-Congress prime minister in 2004.

Modi has effortlessly passed Vajpayee's record of six years as prime minister by doing exactly what Vajpayee did: Moving from the hard right towards the centre-right where governance has greater longevity.

And yet India in 2024 will not mirror the India of 1998. A new generation of voters will have come of age.

They see no contradiction between centre-right nationalism and aspirational consumerism.

As 2024 looms, Modi is attempting what no other BJP or even Congress prime minister has done: Win three consecutive Lok Sabha elections.

But didn't Nehru win three successive Lok Sabha elections? He did. In 1952, 1957 and 1962. But, of course, he didn't complete his third term.

To surpass Nehru's electoral record, Modi will have to not only win in 2024, but complete his third term in office.

Is Modi becoming another Indira? He has her political instincts. But is he now, like her, a protectionist and an enthusiastic over regulator? The short answer: possibly.

Modi's slogan 'Be vocal about local' has protectionism encoded within it.

I wrote an article in the Hindustan Times in September 2020 that the slogan should be rephrased: 'Be vocal about both local and global'.

In short, make India self-reliant but also make India an export hub and make the world India-reliant.

That is true liberalisation. It too is the orientation Modi's new forward-looking trade and economic policy is now taking.

***

Photograph: Modi at the Shri Krishna Janmasthan temple in Mathura, November 23, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo

The prime minister's address at the centenary of the Aligarh Muslim University in 2020 seemed to launch a kinder, softer version of Modi.

By calling Islam an integral part of India's cultural heritage, Modi went even further than Vajpayee.

According to a translation of Modi's speech as reported by a leading daily, the prime minister adopted a conciliatory tone on religious identity.

'The policies made by the government reach every section irrespective of their religion. Bank accounts of over 40 crore poor have been opened without any discrimination.

'Without discrimination, more than two crore poor were provided pucca houses.

'More than eight crore women were given gas connections without discrimination.

'Around 50 crore people got free treatment of up to '5 lakh under the Ayushman scheme without any discrimination.

'What belongs to the country belongs to every countryman and every citizen should be benefited. Our government is working with this spirit.'

'AMU's founder Sir Syed had said that growth of the country is above the caste and religion of the people. He had also given an example and said that for the body to remain healthy, every body part should be healthy.

'Sir Syed had also said that religion should not be the reason for anyone's backwardness.

'India is on the path where no citizen would be left behind because of their religion and everyone would get equal opportunities so that everyone can fulfil their dreams.'

Hardline supporters of Modi fear that Modi's 'soft secularism' is as electorally motivated as Rahul Gandhi's 'soft Hindutva'.

They believe both are ideologically corrupt.

Modi's attempt to woo Muslims, they say, is counter-productive: Muslims see through the hypocrisy of the AMU speech and anyway vote en masse against the BJP just as most Hindus see through Rahul's temple-hopping and vote against the Congress.

Modi, Muslims believe, remains an implacable Hindutva warrior. His actions, they say, belie his words.

The CAA, the revocation of J&K's special status and the building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya where the demolished Babri structure stood, all point in one direction: hard Hindutva.

Photograph: Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's star campaigner, at a roadshow in Bikaner, November 20, 2023, for the Rajasthan assembly elections. Photograph: ANI Photo

What explains Modi's personal popularity despite the perfect storm of problems that periodically buffet India's economy and national security? A large part has to do with the psyche of the average Indian voter.

Modi's understanding of the Indian mind was acquired at an early age.

His teenage wanderings in the Himalayas, eating and living with monks, sadhus and ordinary villagers, gave him rare insights.

During a varied career in the RSS -- from doing menial jobs to fixing organisational issues -- Modi learnt much about human nature. He realised that religion played an oversized role in most Indians' lives.

Religion could have both political and psychological uses.

In Gujarat as chief minister, he employed religion to win and keep power.

But an equally powerful tool was the psychological impact of religiosity on individuals.

In no other country are religious figures treated as reverentially as they are in India.

IMAGE: Modi performs the bhoomi pujan for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, August 5, 2020. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India

The transmogrification of Prime Minister Modi to Saint Modi began with the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

By identifying himself with Lord Ram, Modi raised himself in popular imagination to a saintly person.

The year-long untrimmed beard was symbolic: Modi was signalling penance, sharing the pain and distress of poor Indians who had lost livelihoods during the Covid pandemic.

A saint can have foibles. But most Indians think that people with Godly souls have noble intentions, irrespective of outcomes.

That is why respondents in surveys continued to back Modi despite the insensitive treatment of migrant workers during the first pandemic lockdown.

Modi cultivated an air of being a father figure. His rhetoric was softer, more persuasive than aggressive.

But Modi is not turning into a Vajpayee or a saffron version of Nehru as many of his Hindutva supporters fear.

Modi's belief in Hindutva remains as strong as ever. Only the dressing has changed.

The Congress-Left ecosystem hasn't fully understood Modi's strategy. It attacks him personally and venomously. Rahul continues to taunt him.

NGOs have sharpened their attack on him. The foreign media is irredeemably hostile. All these attacks roll off Modi's new saintly skin.

Instead of weakening his popular appeal, they appear to strengthen it.

Indians admire martyrs. That is one reason why Modi has deliberately avoided actively pursuing cases that could send the Gandhis to jail over, for instance, the alleged Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) National Herald scam or prosecuted Robert Vadra over a decade old land corruption allegation.

The lessons of Indira Gandhi's 1980 election victory are fresh in Modi's mind.

She lost power in the 1977 general election shortly after the Emergency was revoked.

She was relentlessly attacked by the media and the Janata government between March 1977 and December 1979.

She spent hardly any time in jail. But Indians promptly voted her back to office in January 1980.

Excerpted from Modi, The Challenge of 2024, by Minhaz Merchant, Excerpted with permission from the author and publisher Amaryllis.
'We began hitting Kasab hard.'

'In the melee it struck me that the man we were beating to pulp should remain alive.'

IMAGE: Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab at the Chhattrapati Shivaji Terminus on the night of November 26, 2008. Photograph: Sebastian D'Souza. Kind courtesy Mumbai Mirror.

26/11 braveheart Sanjay Govilkar was on duty on the intervening night of November 26-27, 2008 at Grant Road's D B Marg police station in south Mumbai and recounts how Pakistani terrorist Abu Ismail was killed and another terrorist Ajmal Kasab was caught alive.

"Like Karna's kavach kundal, our uniform is our protective gear and whatever the odds that night we were all charged to go ahead and pin Kasab down and we did succeed in our efforts," says Govilkar, who is now a senior police inspector with the Mumbai police.

26/11 after 15 years

The last 15 years have prepared the entire police force to face such cowardly attacks and keep a round-the-clock vigil to protect the city from such attacks.

It was a terror attack on India's sovereignty that killed 166 Indian citizens, including 18 policemen, and injured 238 people. Many families lost their sole breadwinner in this attack. While this was no doubt a cowardly attack by Pakistan, the Mumbai police and India's defence forces used all their might to crush this terrorist attack and caught one of the terrorists red-handed.

We exposed Pakistan as a State that sponsors and abets terrorism.

How Kasab was caught alive

IMAGE: A video grab of the encounter where Tukaram Omble (inset) was killed and Ajmal Kasab was captured.

When we first got the news at D B Marg police station that there were gunmen killing people all over south Mumbai, most of us gathered immediately at the station and were asked by our senior PI (Police Inspector) to proceed for nakabandi (police roadblocks to check suspicious activity and take action) duty near Girgaon Chowpatty.

On our way to the spot, the wireless message on our walkie-talkies conveyed to us that armed men were using bombs, grenades and fire from automatic weapons at places like Nariman House, Colaba, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj railway station, the Trident and Taj hotels.

Given such a massive attack we were a bit confused in the beginning about what was happening in the city.

At 12.15 am (on the intervening night of November 26-27) we got a call that a suspicious Skoda was moving towards Girgaon Chowpatty.

Our team of 16 policemen including API Hemant Bavdhankar saheb (who retired as PI), my friend Bhaskar Kadam and (Tukaram) Omble saheb (the constable who sacrificed his life as he jumped on Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab as he sprayed bullets from his AK-47 from a distance of one-and-a-half feet).

As we stood guard at the nakabandi, the Skoda that came towards us tried to blind us with the car's headlights; they also started using their wiper. But as they came closer they realised they would not be able to cross the check post so they tried to take a U-turn. Their attempt failed and they got stuck at the road divider.

A team led by Bavdhankar and Kadam took position behind a pillar near the road divider. The other team comprising myself and Omble saheb were standing on the opposite side of the Skoda car.

Abu Ismail fired from his automatic pistol. Bavdhankar saheb and Bhaskar Kadam retaliated and injured Abu Ismail grievously.

Feeling the pressure, Kasab played a trick. He raised his hands, gesturing that he was willing to surrender.

All of us felt that he was ready to surrender as he raised his hands.

We were moving towards Kasab in a C formation, but the very next moment, Kasab whipped out an AK-47 from under his jacket and started firing upon us.

No sooner did he take out his Ak-47, Omble saheb immediately sprung upon him to pin him down. But he took a number of bullets; I too got hit by a bullet.

We were bewildered for a moment, but despite being armed with only lathya kathya (lathis given to the police) all of us pounced upon him and snatched away his AK-47.

We set ourselves upon him with all our strength and began hitting him hard. The other team led by Bavdhankar and Kadam too came to back us up.

In the melee it struck me that the man we were beating to pulp should remain alive. Years of experience in the Mumbai police has taught me the importance of solid evidence to prove one's case.

While Omble saheb sacrificed his life and showed exemplary bravery, the entire team showed presence of mind and caught Kasab alive. Of course, this would not have been possible without Omble saheb's bravery.

We showed Pakistan its place

This act of ours -- catching Kasab alive -- nailed Pakistan and we could prove to the world that Pakistan not only encourages terrorism but also sends homegrown terrorists to attack and kill innocents.

We gave the world the proof that showed that Pakistan is a terrorist State.

We knew we were dealing with terrorists'

Photograph: Sahil Salvi for Rediff.com IMAGE: A bust of Tukaram Omble in Mumbai's Marine Drive area.

When Abu Ismail fired on us, we knew that this was a terror attack. We had an inkling that the city was under siege and the way the Skoda drove at us made us realise that we were dealing with a terror attack.

We were only 16 of us, armed with a couple of pistols, but most of had lathis. But the police uniform in itself is a source of great strength. Once you don the uniform, the fear in you vanishes.

Like Karna's kavach kundal, our uniform is our protective gear and whatever the odds that night we were all charged to go ahead and pin Kasab down and we did succeed in our efforts.

Once we knew that this was an attack on India's sovereignty we all decided that come what may we will not let these terrorists succeed in their cowardly misadventure.

Our love for the country, the pride we take after donning the khaki uniform is what helped us take on these dreaded terrorists that night.

Once you know that your home is being attacked, all your fears and insecurities make way for strength and valour.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Minister of Defense of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze visited Azerbaijan to participate in the 10th trilateral meeting of defense ministers (Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkiye), which will be held in Baku on 27 November, Trend reports via the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan.

According to the information, the meetings, which will be held in bilateral and trilateral formats, will discuss prospects for the development of joint military cooperation and a number of issues that will contribute to regional security.

The last meeting in such a format was held in February this year in the Turkiye's Kars city.



Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
From right, jailed Hong Kong barrister Chow Hang-tung and Chinese rights attorneys Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi were honored with human rights awards by the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe.

Three jailed attorneys from Hong Kong and China have been honored with Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe human rights awards, as a Chinese court rejected appeals from two of them, upholding their original sentences for "subversion."

Jailed Hong Kong barrister Chow Hang-tung, who has been behind bars since September 2021, and Chinese rights attorneys Xu Zhiyong and Ding Jiaxi, who were jailed in April for attending a 2019 gathering of dissidents in the southeastern city of Xiamen, were given the awards in absentia in recognition of their work upholding human rights, the association said on its website.

The awards were to honor "the long-standing and outstanding commitment and sacrifice those three lawyers have demonstrated in upholding the fundamental values of the legal profession and in defending and advocating for human rights and the respect for the rule of law," it said.

The ceremony in Athens took place on Friday, the same day that a court in the eastern province of Shandong rejected appeals from Ding and Xu, who are currently serving 12- and 14-year jail terms handed down by the Linshu County People's Court for "subversion of state power," respectively.

Ding's wife Luo Shengchun said both men had been barred from meeting with their lawyers, who weren't allowed to enter the court building before the results of the appeal were announced.

"They did everything to prevent the lawyers from meeting with them, saying the system was down," Luo said. "They were under heavy guard [for the hearing]."

Barrister Chow Hang-tung is seen inside a vehicle after being detained in Hong Kong, Sept. 8, 2021. Credit: Tyrone Siu/Reuters





"The lawyers weren't allowed to publicize the appeal verdict," she said. "These people are more like gangsters than policemen and judges."

"All Ding Jiaxi wanted to do was be a lawyer, but now all he can do is sit in prison, and be locked up for such a long time," Luo said.

"All they can do in prison is use their own bodies, like the Tank Man who stood in front of those tanks just before June 4, 1989," she said in a reference to the iconic news photo taken shortly before the Tiananmen massacre.

"If they want to oppose this totalitarian dictatorship, they have no choice but to go to jail," she said.

Dignity of the law

Chow said in an acceptance speech sent from prison that the fight for democracy in China is part of ensuring that the law serves democratic and humanitarian values, rather than just the wishes of those willing to use force to bring others in law.

"The dignity of our profession ... it is bound up with the dignity of the law, with whether the law reflects our autonomy or denies it," wrote Chow, who organized now-banned annual vigils commemorating the 1989 Tiananmen massacre.

"In that sense the building of democratic institutions that alone can safeguard the laws dignity is also a lawyers duty, which is why all three of us receiving this prize today are jailed for working for democracy in China, a fight that may seem unrelated to our profession but is in fact, central to it," said Chow.

She is currently awaiting trial under a security law on charges of "subversion" amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong.

"It is a fight we cannot waver from, even when knowing that the laws we served would likely condemn us," she said, describing the fight as "the highest service a lawyer can offer her fellow men."

Little difference

Rights activist Patrick Poon said the fact that Chow was honored alongside Xu and Ding shows how little difference there is now between the judicial systems in Hong Kong and mainland China, following a years-long crackdown on political opposition and public dissent in the wake of the 2019 protest movement.

"It's very clear that things in Hong Kong are exactly the same as in mainland China, which is a judicial system within a totalitarian system," he said. "Chow [and other defendants] are faced with a country like China, which has no concept of the rule of law at all."

"If the Chinese government thinks you are inciting subversion, then you're inciting subversion," he said. "If they want you in jail, then you have to go to jail."

"It is fundamentally lawless," Poon said.

Chow has been held at Hong Kong's Tai Lam Centre for Women since Sept. 8, 2021, on charges brought against her in four different cases. All were for completely peaceful acts and related to the work of the Hong Kong Alliance in Support of Patriotic Democratic Movements of China or commemoration of the June 4 Tiananmen massacre, the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe said.

"She has worked in both Chinas and Hong Kongs legal systems to promote democracy and protect fundamental rights ... [and faces] a sentence of 10 years of imprisonment for inciting subversion with no guarantee of a fair trial, as well as to be disbarred by the Hong Kong Bar Association," it said, adding that the award was in part an attempt at "increasing her visibility" to mitigate the authorities' retaliation against her.

Pro-democracy lawmaker Leung Kwok-hung (2nd R), also known as "Long Hair," burns a letter during a protest calling for the release of Chinese rights advocate Xu Zhiyong, outside the Chinese liaison office in Hong Kong, Jan. 27, 2014. Credit: Tyrone Siu/Reuters





It said Xu Zhiyong first came to prominence in 2003 when he and two other legal academics took up the case of a university student who was beaten to death in Guangzhou and advocated for abolishing China's detention and repatriation system.

"This campaigning led the Chinese government to abolish a system in which rural migrants were arbitrarily detained, fined and expelled by police in big cities," the association said.

"Xu has been a prolific essayist writing on issues including access to fair education, governmental mistreatment and repatriation of migrant workers, corruption and wasteful government spending," it said.

Ding and Xu founded the New Citizens' Movement in 2010 to campaign for constitutional reform and a more transparent system of government, "rooted in democratic ideals of freedom and societal responsibility," it said.

Both have previously served time in prison after being detained in 2013 on public order charges after they called in public for China's leaders to declare their assets and those of their families.

Translated by Luisetta Mudie. Edited by Malcolm Foster.
People wait for traffic lights at the central business district in Beijing on July 23, 2023.

Chinas industrial enterprises continued to be hammered by shrinking profits even as Beijing reiterated that the economy is on track to reach its growth target for the year.

Profits at firms with revenue 20 million yuan (US$2.8 million) slid by 7.8% in the first ten months of the year, a narrowed 1.2-percentage point decline compared with the January to September number, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics Monday.

State-owned enterprises profits fell 9.9%, while companies with foreign, Hong Kong and Macau interests declined by a wider 10.2% at a time when China could use more foreign investment.

The statistics bureau said for October alone, profits at all firms only grew 2.7%. It is a third straight month of profit growth at a significantly slower pace, compared with 11.9% in September and 17.2% in August.

Topline numbers, which grew albeit at an almost unchanged pace, were more encouraging. Revenue for all enterprises edged up 0.3% for the ten months of the year, compared with the year-earlier period.

Chinese economic indicators to date have painted an uneven post-COVID recovery: slowing industrial activities against a recent pickup in domestic consumption, in part boosted by travel and spending during the Golden Week holiday in early October.

Analysts said more government policies are needed to fend off economic headwinds that include a persisting property crisis, which is tied to the local government debt issue, flagging global demand for manufactured goods, and foreign investors wary of an increasingly inward-looking investment environment.

Foreign confidence in China

Dwindling profits for foreign-invested enterprises reflected in Mondays data do not bode well for how foreign businesses perceive the worlds second-largest economy.

Alfredo Montufar-Helu, head of think tank The Conference Boards China Center for Economics and Business, said confidence levels among multinational company chief executives vary between industries and companies.

But it is also undeniable that the state of Chinas economy and the uncertainty brought by geopolitical tensions is hurting sentiment, Montufar-Helu said.

According to the Conference Boards biannual survey that measures CEO confidence for China released last week, just 31% of business leaders said the economic conditions in the second-half of 2023 were better compared to six months ago, down substantially from 88% in the first-half.

Short-term optimism has also decreased to 51% respondents surveyed versus 79% in the first six months of the year.

Still, Montufar-Helo said CEOs believe that China remains an unignorable market opportunity.

So, while the drop in confidence is reflective of worsening economic and market conditions, it is not indicative of an intention to leave the market.

He added that multinational companies are engaging with Chinese authorities to lobby for market-liberalizing measures.

Against the backdrop of economic weakness, I think the government understands the need to improve business conditions so that MNCs are able to contribute their capital, expertise and technologies to increase Chinas economic productivity.

Under Chinese President Xi Jinpings rule and vision, China has expanded the role for state-owned enterprises and industry policies while tightened its control over the private sector that included crackdowns of industries that were once the biggest employers and profit generators.

Shoring up

In recent months, the Chinese Communist Party has introduced a slew of measures to address the economic structural problems that are stunting growth.

It ordered financial institutions to make available capital-raising channels for property developers, while urging private businesses to join hands with state firms to invest in infrastructure to reboot the sluggish economy.

Externally, Beijing is trying to diffuse geopolitical tensions, especially the trade war with the United States since 2018, which have weighed on Chinas economy, preventing it from potential further growth.

The summit between Xi and his American counterpart Joe Biden in San Francisco earlier this month is a first step towards thawing icy relations. The long term resilience of Chinas economy may be tied to its relations with the U.S. and the latters allies that would give it a larger market access.

China must maintain its access to international markets and reignite foreign investment to counteract impacts from domestic economic headwinds like impacts from the property slump and local government debts.

Foreign direct investments fell 9.4% to 987 billion yuan (US$138 billion) in the first 10 months of the year, compared with the year-earlier period. China also recorded its first-ever quarterly deficit in FDI by balance of payments for July-September at US$11.8 billion. The measure records monetary flows linked to foreign-owned entities in the country.

Edited by Taejun Kang and Mike Firn.
North Korean soldiers rebuild a guard post on the North side of the Demilitarized zone (DMZ) dividing the two Koreas in this undated photo released on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023.

North Korea is reestablishing its Guard Posts (GPs) equipped with weapons along its border with South Korea  a move seen as part of Pyongyangs ongoing pressure campaign against Seoul and potentially sets the stage for future provocative activities at the frontline between the two states.

The South Korean military exposed images of what appears to be the Norths new Observation Posts (OPs) across the 11 GPs in the inter-Korean border Monday. A military official said the authorities also spotted North Korean troops, trenches as well as weapons, such as recoilless rifles.

From the 24th [of November], activities such as the introduction of heavy weapons into this area, and day and night guard duties have been observed, the official told reporters, adding that the observations were made through photos and night-vision thermal imaging taken from the frontline area using military surveillance equipment.

North Korea reinitiated its pressure campaign against the South last week when it declared an immediate and complete withdrawal of the military agreement designed to reduce hostilities between the two nations. It also pledged to deploy its latest weaponry along the borderline.

Pyongyangs decision came just a day after South Korea suspended the landmark 2018 inter-Korean military agreement as a countermeasure to Pyongyangs illegal satellite launch that violated a United Nations Security Council resolution. Rocket technology can be used for both launching satellites and missiles. For that reason, the U.N. bans North Korea from launching a ballistic rocket, even if it claims to be a satellite launch.

Cheon Seong-whun, a former security strategy secretary for South Koreas presidential office, sees escalated tensions in the Korean peninsula to be inevitable in the short term.

North Koreas actions appear to be a demonstration of their intentions, as they declared last week. They can fire artillery in the West Sea [Yellow Sea] or further restore additional GPs. This could temporarily escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Cheon said.

The two Koreas had agreed in 2018 to halt what each defined as hostile actions toward the other near the border. Under the agreement, both North and South Koreas dismantled their GPs on their respective sides as a part of efforts to reduce military tensions and build trust.

According to South Koreas defense ministry, however, the North has violated the agreement a total of 17 times up until last year since the agreement was signed. Critics in the South, thus, have long argued that the deal has already become ineffective, only serving to restrict Seouls operational and surveillance capabilities.

The blame game

Earlier on Monday, North Korea blamed the United States and South Korea for forcing it to scrap the inter-Korean military agreement.

After the adoption of the Panmunjom Declaration on April 27, 2018, and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration in September, along with its annex, the North-South military agreement, the puppet clique has slavishly followed the United States, wantonly violating these agreements, stated North Koreas official Rodong Sinmun on Monday, referring to South Korea as puppet clique.

Over the past four years alone, various invasive war drills have been conducted over 600 times, said the newspaper, referring to the joint drills between the U.S. and South Korea, as well as those including Japan. Moreover, since the emergence of the Yoon Suk Yeol traitorous clique, the foremost puppet serving foreign nuclear war forces, the war exercises have become even more dangerously frenzied, escalating to a real-world level of threat.

The report, however, did not mention North Korean leader Kim Jong Uns remarks to South Korean special envoy Chung Eui-yong in 2018, in which Kim stated that he understands Seouls position in conducting joint military exercises with the U.S.

North Korea has repeatedly expressed its unease with the intensifying trilateral collaboration among the U.S., South Korea, and Japan in the region. Pyongyang perceives this alliance as a threat to its regimes security, primarily because it cannot match the advanced military capabilities of these allies.

Recently, the puppet traitorous clique held what they called a military authority meeting with its superiors, the Americans and the Japanese, where they conspired about security cooperation between the three parties, the Rodong Sinmun said, calling the South Korea a war minion of the U.S. and Japan.

The U.S., South Korea, and Japan are currently conducting maritime exercises near the South Korean island of Jeju since Sunday, aimed at strengthening close coordination and operational capabilities, according to the Souths defense ministry.

Cheon noted the challenging situation faced by the South Korean government in dealing with the Norths provocations. Escalating tensions, he emphasized, would not be beneficial for South Korea and pointed out the complexity of Seouls response.

When South Korea suspended the September 19 military agreement, it only suspended the clause related to reconnaissance, said Cheon.

This means that each time North Korea engages in provocative actions, South Korea is confronted with the difficult choice of whether to suspend additional parts of the agreement or the entire agreement, Cheon added, stressing the need for South Korea to carefully formulate its overall military strategy to effectively handle the North Korean challenge.

Edited by Elaine Chan and Taejun Kang.
Nearly 1 million kyat and hundreds of weapons were captured, the group said.

Policemen arrested after the Shwe Pan Kone Police Station was seized by resistance forces on November 25, 2023.

A resistance group in central Myanmar arrested 16 junta policemen after capturing their police station, the peoples defense force told Radio Free Asia.

The group captured a Sagaing police station after more than an hour of fighting, the leader said on Saturday, adding that they also seized a large number of weapons and ammunition. The Peoples Defense Army, under the command of the civilian shadow National Unity Government, instigated the battle on Tuesday in Wetlet townships Shwe Pan Kone village.

We had to prepare for a long time to take this camp, the Peoples Defense Army leader said, asking to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals. The camp was seized, and so far, the military council has not returned or been stationed there.

The junta carried out airstrikes twice during the battle, the group said on Saturday, adding that they had confiscated a significant number of weapons from the police station.

Over the course of the clash, the Peoples Defense army claimed it seized over 6,400 different types of ammunition, 32 grenades, 38 magazines, 31 small firearms, and six landmines in addition to 900,000 kyat (US$428).

One resistance fighter and three junta soldiers were killed during the battle, according to a statement on Saturday by the National Unity Governments Military Regional 1, which oversees the Peoples Defense Army and its local divisions.

Resistance groups have targeted junta outposts frequently in November, with peoples defense forces reporting heavy junta losses during battle.

On Nov. 12, a fire set by allied peoples defense forces killed four policemen, including a police outpost officer and three junta soldiers, in Salingyi townships Kyar Tet town in Sagaing region.

The junta has not released any information regarding the alleged arrests. Calls by RFA to Sagaing regions junta spokesperson Naing Naing Kyaw went unanswered.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Mike Firn.
Clashes in Shan state over the weekend also saw resistance forces take control of another border gate.

Trucks burn near Muse, Myanmar, on the border with China on Nov. 23, 2023.

Chinese authorities fired tear gas at people attempting to flee from intensifying fighting between Myanmars military junta and allied ethnic armed groups.

Social media videos showed several dozen people covering their faces at the China-Myanmar border as tear gas hovered on one side of a fence in Shan states Laukkaing township on Saturday afternoon.

Chinese police and soldiers used tear gas to expel Kokang people who sought shelter at the border line, a resident in Laukkaing township told Radio Free Asia on condition of anonymity for security reasons. They recently fled there due to the escalation of armed conflict.

The allied resistance forces announced on Friday that they would intensify an offensive that has seen widespread gains over the last month.

The Three Brotherhood Alliance of the Arakan Army, the Taang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, or MNDAA, launched an offensive on Oct. 27  dubbed Operation 1027  and have made notable gains against the military in several key cities in Shan state.

On Saturday, the MNDAA seized the Kyin San Kyawt border gate near the key border town of Muse, about 90 kilometers (55 miles) from Laukkaing.

The gate is one of five major entry points in the area that handles Myanmars largest volume of trade with China.

Its the second border gate in Muse township that the alliance now controls, along with two others elsewhere, according to the Associated Press, which noted that almost all legal cross-border trade with China has stopped over the last month because of the fighting.

On Sunday, allied forces near another gate in the area carried out drone attacks, which disrupted a cargo inspection area and hit some buildings, while junta forces fired artillery shells from a highland area, locals told RFA.

Junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun confirmed to state-owned media on Monday that there were clashes near Muse over the weekend, but he didnt disclose details or comment on the loss of control of the Kyin San Kyawt gate.

Chinas live-fire exercises

In Laukkaing, MNDAA spokesperson Li Kyar Win said he has seen the tear gas videos but didnt have any further information. He noted that junta troops had carried out artillery attacks on nearby areas, which forced the local residents to move toward the border.

Shan state-based media Shwe Phee Myay News Agency and the local Kengtung Hit Tine online news outlet reported on their Facebook pages that Chinese police had deployed tear gas on the border line.RFA has not independently confirmed the reports. Messages left with Chinese government sources seeking comment about the tear gas werent immediately returned on Monday.

This house was damaged in fighting in the 105 Mile Trade Zone in the Myanmar-China border town of Muse on Nov. 27, 2023. Credit: Citizen journalist





Also on Saturday, junta-controlled media reported that the Chinese government informed Myanmars military of live-fire exercises near the border over the weekend.

The regular military drill of the southern command of the Peoples Republic of China was reported on Nov. 25, Zaw Min Tun said. It is aimed to ensure peace and stability at the border area.

Political analyst Than Soe Naing told RFA that the Chinese drills are the first in the area since 2017  a period that also saw heavy fighting in Shan state.

I assume that the Chinese army conducts these drills to protect their sovereignty and to ensure the least impact on their people, he said. It is not directly related to Operation 1027, but it is their message for readiness on security of their peoples lives and property.

Chinese media reported that the exercises began Saturday and ended Monday, but didnt disclose the exact location or the number of troops involved.

It is not an unordinary exercise, said Thein Tun Oo, the executive director of Thayninga Institute for Strategic Studies, a think tank run by former military officers.

There may be some rumors and assumptions on this issue, he said. However, China and Myanmar have agreed on military exercises and cooperation in foreign affairs. A mutual understanding has been made between the two countries.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Matt Reed and Malcolm Foster.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. According to the training plan for 2023 approved by the Defense Minister, training shooting carried out with the aviation equipment of the Azerbaijan Air Force, Trend reports.

Practical flights were conducted after the delivery of safety rules to the personnel.

After carrying out combat maneuvers along the specified routes, Su-25ML aircraft fired 250- and 500-kilogram smart air bombs at ground targets from a long distance.

In order to improve the combat training of military pilots, the assigned targets were destroyed from a long distance by precise air strikes.
Vigils were held in Turkey and the UK for the tragedy that claimed as many as 44 lives.

Uyghurs marked the one-year anniversary of a deadly fire in Xinjiangs capital Urumqi with vigils over the weekend, demanding accountability for the tragedy that they say killed as many as 44 people, four times higher than the official death toll of 10.

The fire broke out at a high-rise residential building in the citys Tianshan district just before 8 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2022, according to state media. Among the dead were Qemernisa Abdurahman, 48, and her four youngest children.

The deaths, widely blamed on COVID-19 restrictions, prompted an outpouring of public grief as many Chinese poured in the streets in several cities in what came to be called the white paper protests that tapped into pent-up frustrations of millions of Chinese who had endured nearly three years of repeated lockdowns, travel bans, quarantines and various other restrictions to their lives.

On Friday, a group of around a dozen people held a vigil for the victims of the fire outside of the Chinese Embassy in London, led by World Uyghur Congress, or WUC, U.K. Director Rahima Mahmut. During the event supporters called for an end to Beijings persecution of the Uyghur people in Xinjiang.

A similar gathering was held in Istanbul, Turkey, to mark the anniversary, while rights groups and global leaders slammed China for censoring information about the tragedy and called on the international community to hold Beijing accountable.

Over 40 Uyghurs were killed in this fire, but the true number was censored by the CCP, Canadian lawmaker Garnett Genius wrote in a tweet, referring to the Chinese Communist Party. Today we grieve and remember the innocent lives lost in this tragedy of oppression, and we stand with those who continue to resist [Chinese President] Xi Jinping's communist regime.

In a statement, the WUC suggested that Chinese authorities were to blame for the deaths, noting that the Uyghur community estimates that the number of victims is higher than the official toll.

The complete disregard for Uyghur lives, which we have seen during the [Urumqi] fire, is characteristic of the Chinese regimes repressive measures against Uyghurs, WUC President Dolkun Isa said.

No follow-up report

Reports from inside Xinjiang indicate that more could have been done to prevent the loss of life during the incident.

Sources in Urumqi have said that firefighters arrived three hours after the fire began, despite their close proximity to the predominantly Uyghur-inhabited building, and that residents were barred from evacuating due to strict COVID-19 lockdown measures.

At the time of the incident, RFA Uyghur spoke with residents who confirmed that assistance was hampered by blocked doors and fire exits, despite claims by authorities that the building was not locked and that victims died because they did not adhere to safety measures during the blaze.

RFA also spoke with a hospital staff member at the time who said that there were more than 40 people who died in the fire.

Over the weekend, RFA contacted authorities in Urumqi for further information about the death toll, what happened to the remains of the victims, and whether their relatives were able to attend their funerals.

Several officers with the Urumqi City Police responded that they had no new information to divulge about the fire, in part because higher-level authorities did not publish a detailed report on the tragedy beyond what was stated in an official statement at the time.

However, an officer at the Ghalibiyet Yoli, or Shengli Road, police station told RFA that while he hadnt seen the number of deaths listed in the official report, rescue team members told me the number is 44.

Shehide, 13, Nehdiye, 5, their mother Qemernisa Abdurahman, 48, and Abdurahman, 9, are seen in an undated photo. All four  as well as another child of Abdurahman  died in the residential building fire in Xinjiangs capital Urumqi on Nov. 24, 2022. Credit: Handout

Furthermore, RFA learned that not only did authorities withhold detailed information about the fire from the public, but also from the families of victims.

The son and nephew of victim Qemernisa Abdurahman, who live in Turkey and Belgium, said this weekend that they had yet to receive any official notification about the handling of her remains or those of her four children.

They also expressed anger over the ongoing persecution of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, where the ethnic groups 12 million members have been subject to harsh government campaigns that China says are necessary to fight extremism and terrorism. Among the campaigns is a mass incarceration program that has affected as many as 1.8 million people, including two of their relatives.

We dont have any information about this, said one of the relatives, who spoke to RFA on condition of anonymity, citing fear of reprisal. We dont know where our family members are, who is alive, who is dead, or any other information on them.

White paper detentions

In the meantime, Chinese authorities have not only ignored calls from the European Parliament and others to provide a detailed account of the Urumqi fire and hold those responsible for the tragedy to account, but instead have arrested dozens of activists associated with the white paper protests that were prompted by the blaze.

In December 2022, authorities in Atush, the capital of Xinjiangs Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture, detained Kamile Wayit, a 19-year-old preschool education major at a university in Chinas Henan province, after she posted a video about the protests.

In addition to frustration over authorities handling of the Urumqi fire, the demonstrators also opposed the rolling lockdowns, mass surveillance and compulsory testing under Chinas zero-COVID policy, with some holding up blank sheets of printer paper and others calling on President Xi Jinping to step down.

Over the weekend, the Uyghur Human Rights Project, or UHRP, called for accountability for the deaths of dozens of Uyghurs and for the release of those detained for participation in the white paper protests that followed in a separate statement released on the anniversary of the fire.

Uyghurs were very moved to see so much sympathy for what happened following the [Urumqi] fire, said UHRP Executive Director Omer Kanat. The Chinese government must release all those detained during the protests and guarantee freedom of assembly.

UHRP said that the deaths resulting from the fire are deeply intertwined with broader repression faced by Uyghurs across the region.

Strict control over Uyghur movement, especially during Covid-19 lockdowns, exacerbated repressive policies that amount to crimes against humanity and genocide, the group said.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
The two countries hold two joint patrols back-to-back amid tensions in the South China Sea.

Vietnamese coast guard ship 8002 leaving port for a joint patrol with China in the Gulf of Tonkin, Nov. 26, 2023.

China and Vietnam are holding two joint patrols this month in the Gulf of Tonkin despite conflicting interests in the wider South China Sea.

A naval joint patrol was held last week from Nov. 21-23 and a patrol between the two coast guards is being held from Monday until Dec. 2, media from both countries reported.

Two vessels from each side have taken part in each event.

The main purpose of the joint activities is to carry forward the traditional friendship and deepen mutual trust between the two countries, as well as further promote mutual understanding between the two militaries, they said.

The Gulf of Tonkin, called Beibu Gulf in Chinese and Vinh Bac Bo in Vietnamese, is the shared water between northern Vietnam and Chinas Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as well as Leizhou Peninsula and Hainan Island.

Hanoi and Beijing formally agreed on the demarcation of the gulf in 2005. The two countries have since been holding regular joint patrols of the navies and coast guard forces.

According to media reports, vessels from the two countries conducted patrols along the gulfs division line, exchanging information about hydrology, meteorology, sea and air conditions in the patrol area.

After the joint patrol, the two sides carried out joint search and rescue drills as well as communication drills, Xinhua news agency reported.

The ongoing coast guard joint patrol also focuses on monitoring and control of fishing vessels from both countries in order to reinforce the law against illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, according to Vietnams Peoples Army Daily.

Lack of mutual trust?

These are routine joint patrols between the two militaries, besides some other similar activities along their land border, said Nguyen Ngoc Truong, a former Vietnamese ambassador turned political analyst.

But the gulf is clearly demarcated so this is an easy routine. I dont think it says much about the mutual trust, he added. The South China Sea is a totally different matter.

Chinese and Vietnamese ships during a joint patrol, June 22, 2022. Credit: Chinas Ministry of Defense





Vietnam and China are among six parties holding overlapping territorial claims in the South China Sea and Hanoi rejects the so-called nine-dash line that Beijing uses to claim historical rights over the entire sea.

The two countries have also been embroiled in bitter disputes over natural resources in the South China Sea.

China has been sending ships to harass Vietnams oil and gas exploration in its own exclusive economic zone, such as at the Vanguard Bank, said analyst Nguyen Ngoc Truong.

You can see how it is very difficult to build mutual trust.

Hanoi has been careful in balancing its relations with the worlds major powers China and the United States but in September upgraded its partnership with the U.S. to the comprehensive strategic level, on par with China.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.






If I stayed in Vietnam, I would have faced a lot of difficulties, and could be rearrested at any time.

Former prisoner of conscience Nguyen Viet Dung says authorities in Vietnam had threatened to arrest him again and were not allowing him to get medical treatment he needed.

Vietnamese former prisoner-of-conscience Nguyen Viet Dung fled his homeland this month for Thailand shortly after completing a six-year prison term because authorities threatened that he could be arrested again.

They said the third verdict is waiting for me, and it would not be as light as the one I received six years ago, and it could be rather long, Dung told RFA Vietnamese, referring to a Nov. 3 meeting he had with police over his post-prison social media activity. He has been in prison twice, including a one-year stint that started in 2015.

At that moment, I thought they were not kidding, he said of his decision to flee.

Nguyen Viet Dung, was most recently arrested Sept. 27, 2017, on anti-State propaganda charges. He had posted seven articles on his personal Facebook page that were found to be distorting the policies and guidelines of the Party and State, distorting history, and smearing leaders in order to oppose the Vietnamese state.

Additionally he made four flags of the Republic of Vietnam, the government of South Vietnam before it lost the Vietnam War to the communist North in 1975, which he flew at his home in Yen Thanh district, Nghe An province, and several public places.

On April 12, 2018, Dung was sentenced to seven years in prison and five years probation. His appellate trial on Aug. 15, 2018, reduced the sentence to six years of imprisonment but upheld the probation time.

Dung had already served a year in prison on charges of disrupting public order for his involvement in a 2015 tree protection campaign in Hanoi.

Third case developing

On Sept. 27, Dung, 38, completed his sentence and returned to his home, where he was supposed to spend the next five years on probation.

Since then he was active on Facebook, and his posts attracted the attention of police, who called him in to verify that he had made the posts on Nov. 3.

The Facebook posts discussed three major stories: A post about the deteriorating health of prisoner of conscience Vu Quang Thuan, who was one of Dungs fellow inmates while he was in prison; a poll about lingerie model Ngoc Trinh, known popularly as the Underwear Queen, who was arrested for disrupting public order after she posted photos on social media of herself riding a motorcycle unsafely; and an interview with RFA on him being abducted and tortured by Nghe An Police and Ho Chi Minh City Police before his arrest in 2017 as well as him being in solitary confinement and maltreated in prison.

Dung said that after the meeting, he realized that his freedom of thought would not be guaranteed if he continued to stay in Vietnam, even though this freedom is enshrined in the current Vietnamese Constitution and recognized by international conventions, that Vietnam has signed.

With those pressures, I realized that if I continued to stay in Vietnam, I would not have freedom of thought, said Dung. I would not be able to speak what I think and express my ideas in a peaceful way.

Medical needs

Dung affirmed that he was totally healthy before he went to prison for six years, but now he has medical problems and he was not able to receive proper treatment while incarcerated.

He said that during the time he was a prisoner, he received many beatings by the police and spent two years in solitary confinement, resulting in him having bone and digestive problems.

Since his release from prison, he has not been allowed to go to larger cities like Hanoi or even to smaller ones like Vinh City in Nghe An province for proper medical treatment.

They said that on the one hand, I wanted to go to a [proper] hospital to get medical treatment, stabilize my life, and find a job, but on the other kept putting up such posts on my Facebook account. How come they can let me go? said Dung.

RFA contacted the district and provincial police agencies to verify the information provided by Dung, but the officers who answered the phone said they could not provide a response unless a reporter came to their offices in person with a letter of introduction from RFA.

If I stayed in Vietnam, I would have faced a lot of difficulties, and could be rearrested at any time. Therefore, I decided to leave Vietnam as soon as possible, Dung said. I have left Vietnam and am currently living outside the territory of Vietnam.

According to Dung, representatives from the local authorities have come to his home many times to summon him since his departure, saying that if he refuses to show, a warrant for his arrest could be issued.

He said that his immediate goal in Thailand was to get medical treatment and improve his health. Next, he plans to continue to fight for inmates rights and democracy in Vietnam by establishing a political organization which he will call the Republican Party.

I hope one day, the Vietnamese people will wake up to the truth, he said. Activists cannot take action alone, and freedom cannot come to Vietnam without the joint efforts of its people.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Eugene Whong and 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.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Today in Baku, Azerbaijan's Minister of Defense, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, and Georgia's Minister of Defense, Juansher Burchuladze, met bilaterally, Trend reports, referring to the Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan

Welcoming the guests at the meeting, Colonel General Z. Hasanov emphasized the important role of meetings of the heads of state in the development of ties between Azerbaijan and Georgia. He noted that, like in many spheres, ties between the two countries are strengthening and developing in the military sphere.

Burchuladze expressed happiness with his visit to Azerbaijan and congratulated his colleague on the restoration of the Republic of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity from Armenian occupation. Such encounters, he said, are a vivid reflection of Azerbaijan and Georgia's high level of cooperation.

The discussion covered the prospects for the growth of military cooperation between the two countries, as well as a detailed exchange of ideas on raising the intensity of joint exercises. The countries were noted to promote internationally recognized territorial integrity.

Following that, the parties discussed issues of regional peace and security, potential for military, military-technical, and military-educational cooperation, as well as other mutual interests.

At the end of the meeting, the Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Georgia signed a plan of bilateral military cooperation for 2024, said in the statement of the Ministry.



Stay up to date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Ever since Vladimir Putin reassumed the presidency in 2012, championing a conservative, anti-Western agenda, life for Russia's LGBT community has resembled a ship caught in increasingly turbulent waters.

It may be about to get even worse.

Russia's Justice Ministry this month requested that the country's Supreme Court designate something it calls the "international LGBT social movement" as an "extremist" organization, sending fear rippling through the gay and lesbian community.

The court will hear the ministry's petition on November 30. If it sides with the ministry, as many activists expect, law enforcement agencies will be handed a blunt tool to shut down LGBT organizations and pursue activists operating inside the country, members of the community say.

It would be the latest in a series of measures taken under Putin since 2013 curtailing rights and freedoms of LGBT people.

LGBT organizations will be forced to close down, go underground, or work from abroad if the court agrees with the Justice Ministry, said Igor Kochetkov, an activist who heads an entity called the Russian LGBT Network.

"Legal activity of LGBT organizations and initiatives in Russia will become impossible," he said in a Telegram post on November 17, the day the ministry filed its case with the Supreme Court. "There should be no illusions."

'A Direct Incitement To Hatred'

Under Russia's extremist law -- which was first passed in 2002 shortly after Putin took power -- any designated organization is effectively outlawed.

The measure has been amended over the years to give it more teeth. Legal experts say it is now sweeping and ambiguous, possibly by design, and can be used go after anyone deemed a threat for any reason.

Other groups that have been deemed extremist include Aleksei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation, the Jehovah's Witnesses, and, more recently, Meta, the parent company of Facebook.

Some LGBT activists fear an extremist designation will put a target on any member of the community, regardless of their involvement with LGBT organizations.

"The actions of the Justice Ministry are direct incitement to hatred and encouragement of violence against people," Nikolai Rodkin, an activist in Omsk, told RFE/RL.

Daria Yakovleva, a Kaliningrad-based lawyer who offers legal support to the LGBT community, wrote in a Facebook post that her legal colleague would most likely leave Russia and move the whole team abroad.

The Justice Ministry case comes amid a crackdown on civil society and opposition members following Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, an effort that has gone far worse than political and military leaders had predicted.

Authorities have gone after any sign of dissent or opposition to the war under the pretext of a law criminalizing "discrediting the armed forces." Even public discussion of the death toll or casualties rate suffered by Russia's armed forces can be deemed illegal.

Last December, authorities expanded the scope of a 2013 law prohibiting the promotion of nontraditional sexual relations. Lawmaker Aleksandr Khinshtein, the bill's lead author, directly connected the legislation to the war, saying a battle was "taking place not only on the battlefields but also in the consciousness of the people, in their minds and in their souls."

The Kremlin's decision to pass such a bill in the middle of the Ukraine war was no coincidence, Human Rights Watch said.

Putin had "mobilized the rhetoric of 'traditional values' to legitimize the war in Ukraine," the U.S. rights group said.

Still, the ministry's decision to initiate the case took the LGBT community by surprise.

The case comes less than four months before presidential elections that Putin is expected to run in -- and win.

Putin is trying to rally his supporters around "an enemy," Maria Sabunayeva, a psychiatrist who works with LGBT individuals, told RFE/RL, calling it a "beneficial and easy" political card to play.

No More Rainbow Flags

Homosexuality was criminalized during the Soviet Union; only after the Soviet breakup was that changed.

In the years that followed, Russia's gay and lesbian community grew and flourished to a certain degree.

Still, social attitudes toward gays and lesbians have never been strong. A 2021 poll by the Levada Center found that nearly 60 percent of people opposed equal rights for LGBT people.

In 2013, Putin signed into law a measure widely known as the gay propaganda law, which introduced harsh restrictions against the positive depiction of or raising awareness of homosexuality.

It triggered an uptick in attacks on gays, hate-crime researchers have reported. Many gay Russians have emigrated as a result.

The ministry's lawsuit this month alleged that "signs and manifestations of an extreme nature" had been identified in the "activities of the international LGBT movement operating on the territory of the Russian Federation."

The activities, the ministry added, included "the incitement of social and religious hatred" that it said violated the country's law on countering extremist activity.

Boris Vishnevsky, an opposition politician who himself has been targeted for "discrediting the armed forces," ridiculed authorities for attempting to designate a so-called LGBT movement with extremism while welcoming to Moscow the leaders of Hamas, the U.S. and EU-designated terrorist organization that seeks to eradicate Israel.

Adding to the confusion surrounding the Justice Ministry's petition is the lack of any definition of what it considers to be the "international LGBT movement." LGBT activists say no such thing exists and say it is just a pretext to suppress LGBT activists and organizations.

Maksim Olenichev, a rights lawyer who has worked with LGBT groups, said the ministry's case is legally weak.

Russian legislation only allows the Justice Ministry to request the court to ban an organization, not a movement, he said. And an organization can only be deemed to exist if it holds a constituent assembly, approves a charter, or selects governing bodies, he said.

Adding further confusion: The arguments before the Supreme Court will be held behind closed doors, Olenichev said, presumably because there may be information deemed to be government secrets. That means the evidence and justification for the petition cannot be reviewed by outside lawyers.

'Everything Will Depend On Their Imagination'

An extremist designation means the potential for large fines and criminal charges if Russians are found to be financially or publicly supporting such an organization. Or if they're found to be promoting its symbols online -- for example, a rainbow flag, which is often used around the world as a symbol of support for gays and lesbians.

Because the hearing will be held in secrecy, no one will know what symbols the Justice Ministry has assigned to the fictitious movement, Olenichev said.

Moreover, the law gives police broad authority in determining what symbols or drawings are extremist, he said.

"Everything will depend on their imagination," Olenichev said.

Yakovleva, the Kaliningrad-based lawyer, said her colleague asked her to remove all LGBT symbols from their website as a precautionary step.

Sanubayeva said she would not be surprised if someone is eventually detained for merely possessing a rainbow flag.

Ideas, Not Intimacy

Kochetkov said the state's goal in pursuing the case is not to prohibit homosexual relations in Russia. Rather the Kremlin is seeking to eradicate organizations whose ideas contradict Kremlin ideology.

In comments made the day the Justice Ministry announced its lawsuit, Putin said LGBT people are "part of Russian society too." He made no comment on the lawsuit or about the right of LGBT organizations in Russia to exist.

Russian LGBT organizations are largely grassroots groups, with no state support. As such, they clash with the conservative and pro-Orthodox platform that Putin has embraced.

The "gay propaganda" law was expanded last December making it illegal for anyone to promote same-sex relationships or suggest that nonheterosexual orientations were "normal." That forced libraries and streaming services to pull certain books and films.

This past July, Putin signed additional legislation banning "medical interventions aimed at changing the sex of a person" and changing one's gender in official documents or public records.

Putin's ideology "is becoming totalitarian," Kochetkov said in his Telegram post: "That is, not only criticizing it becomes a crime, but also refusing to publicly support it."

Written by Todd Prince based on reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service and Siberia.Realities. This story is based in part on reporting by correspondents on the ground in Russia. Their names are being withheld for their protection.
KYIV -- As it prepares to start membership talks with the European Union, Ukraine faces a fundamental debate about freedom of speech, a key EU value: Does Russias full-scale invasion still justify restrictions on accredited journalists reporting from inside parliament?

To pro-government lawmakers, citing security risks, it does. But to some opposition members of parliament, the restrictions are a cover to limit public scrutiny of the legislature.

Over a year and a half since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiys declaration of martial law, missile strikes on Kyiv have become more infrequent. A barrage on November 11 was the first in nearly two months.

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.

Although legislators and their staffs go to work regularly in parliament, restoring the access of all accredited journalists to the building is still deemed too dangerous.

Since September 2022, only one television channel, the state-run Rada TV, an outlet charged with covering the parliament, or Verkhovna Rada, has been allowed to broadcast the legislatures plenary sessions, with a delay of at least several hours for security reasons. Other accredited journalists are not allowed within the parliament or its perimeter.

Zelenskiys February 24, 2022, order declaring martial law --recently extended until February 14, 2024 -- authorized expanded restrictions in the interests of security.

Yet, nearly two years later, the Ukrainian parliaments website offers no explanation for these restrictions on media access. By contrast, a frequently-asked-questions piece addresses restrictions imposed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, although the pandemic-related state of emergency in Ukraine was ended on July 1.

Asked about the grounds for the ongoing media restrictions, parliament Chairman Ruslan Stefanchuk, of the ruling Servant of the People party, told Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service, that he needed to clarify the matter since all this was adopted when martial law first went into effect.

As a decision-making center, parliament cooperates very actively with the Ukrainian special services, which constantly send us their messages regarding danger, Stefanchuk added.

As soon as this danger subsides [and] I receive notice that there is no longer any danger, we will return and restore everything as it always was in parliament, he stressed.

The parliamentary administration, its bureaucratic apparatus, also could not help. A month after Schemes submitted a request for information, a staff member responded that the administration must first summarize all the facts related to the restrictions and then analyze it. Stefanchuk later said the inquiry would be answered.

As of the date of publication, neither Stefanchuk nor the parliamentary administration had completed their clarifications, summaries, or analyses.

Verkhovna Rada Deputy Chairman Oleksandr Korniyenko, the former head of the Servant of the People party, told a conference in September that [i]f parliament were in a different location, outside of the government district, it would be easier to allow journalists to return.

No 'Clear Arguments'

However, no security guard challenged Schemes journalist Maksym Savchuk in October when he walked through the restricted government district to an interview near parliament.

A former head of the SBU security service, the main organ responsible for ensuring parliaments safety, said he did not understand the security arguments for keeping accredited media out of parliament.

We do not hear clear arguments about security, and I am a security professional like no other, said opposition deputy Valentyn Nalyvaychenko, who ran the SBU under then-President Viktor Yushchenko from 2006 to 2010, and also led the security service in 2014-15 after popular protests resulted in the ouster of Moscow-friendly President Viktor Yanukovych.

In case of a Russian air strike, journalists have the same safety (provisions) as me or any other deputy, he said, adding that they would also have access to the same air-raid shelters.

Nalyvaychenko, a member of parliaments European Integration Committee, contended that restricting media access to parliament could impact Ukraines EU membership talks since access to mass media and access to information, freedom of speech, are one of the key requirements for joining the bloc.

A November 8 report from the European Commission recommended the start of membership talks with Ukraine and recognized that martial law had led to some restrictions of rights and freedoms. But it added that these have so far remained largely in proportion to the actual needs and have been applied with caution. The report did not criticize the restricted media access to parliament.

The discussion of the Verkhovna Radas media restrictions comes amid concerns about a lack of content diversity among Ukrainian television outlets, including from the EU. The Zelenskiy administration has not responded to such criticism.

'What Exactly Do You Want To See?'

Rada TVs broadcasts of parliaments plenary sessions do not come live. For security reasons, the state broadcaster posts its recordings on YouTube with a delay of hours.

Rada TVs other coverage often focuses more on presidential administration officials than on the workings of parliament. News briefs called Parliamentary Day are updated daily, but are under 11 minutes long.

Opposition deputy Mykhaylo Bondar, a member of the European Solidarity faction, complained that Rada TV often only broadcasts parliaments sessions at night so that people go to sleep and dont watch what is happening inside parliament.

Servant of the People deputy Maksym Buzhanskiy, a member of parliaments Law Enforcement Committee, defended the access restrictions.

They enable the legislature to work properly for the country, he said.

If we want to see populist slogans, a populist contest (among deputies), then perhaps we really need to open the door, Buzhanskiy said.

And you, personally, what exactly do you want to see that you couldnt find? he asked a Schemes reporter.

Buzhanskiys own committee, however, has not published transcripts or protocols of its purportedly open hearings since a meeting in February 2022.

Sufficient Public Scrutiny?

Some deputies provide livestreams themselves using their mobile phones.

On October 6, Stefanchuk chided European Solidarity deputy Oleksiy Honcharenko for conducting a live broadcast on TikTok using his phone mounted on a tripod.

Such actions put our states legislative body and the people here at risk, Stefanchuk said from the speakers chair.

Honcharenko retorted that deputies had closed off parliament from the people so that they would not know anything about what is happening here.

European Solidarity deputy Volodymyr Vyatrovych, a former head of the SBUs archives, agreed. He told Schemes that the lack of live access to parliament corrupts the parliament from within by isolating the body from public scrutiny.

But Voice opposition party deputy Yaroslav Zheleznyak argued that, given existing coverage and deputies own social-media feeds, there is no need for extraordinary security restrictions.

Are we afraid that some Russian will find out that were convening? he scoffed.

Although the pro-Moscow Opposition Platform-For Life party has been banned, its deputies are still in the parliament, he noted.

Pro-government deputies respond cautiously when asked about the restrictions.

Stefanchuk said only that his own views follow the constitution and parliaments Rules of Procedure.

Serhiy Shvets, a former journalist for the 1+1 television channel, which broadcast Zelenskiys series Servant Of The People and provided strong backing for the former comedian during his 2019 presidential campaign, claimed he had no opinion about the restrictions.

Kostyantyn Kasay, a member of the parliaments Human Rights Committee, acknowledged that he supported returning all accredited media to parliament, but said security concerns had prevented the committee from finding a solution.

Even with the ban, Kasai argued, you have the opportunity to talk with people's deputies whenever you want.

Written by Elizabeth Owen based on reporting by Serhiy Andrushko of Schemes, the investigative unit for RFE/RLs Ukrainian Service.
James L. Jones is a retired four-star Marine Corps general and a former NATO supreme allied commander in Europe (2003-06) and onetime national-security adviser to U.S. President Barack Obama (2009-10). He is now a consultant and frequent commentator on security issues who has strongly advocated for military and other aid to help Ukraine defend itself against the Russian invasion.

Jones talked to RFE/RL's Georgian Service about the global reverberations of the Ukrainian war, whether providing longer-range weapons risks a wider war, and what this coming February should tell us about "donor fatigue."

RFE/RL: How would you describe the battlefield situation in Ukraine in chessboard terms? It has been likened to "positional warfare" by [Ukrainian commanding] General Valeriy Zaluzhniy.

James L. Jones: I don't think it's a matter of chess so much as it is probably one of the biggest historical blunders that any leader has made, when [Russian President] Vladimir Putin decided to invade. And we might never know what prompted the decision, but I think he -- like all dictators -- he listens to people who echo his own views. But I think that he saw the unfortunate [U.S.-led international] withdrawal from Afghanistan as an indication that the United States probably would not be happy about an invasion, but they would believe that the war would be over very quickly and eventually, like the annexation of Crimea, that this would become a fait accompli very quickly. Unfortunately, for him, he was sadly mistaken.

To the extent that there's any analogy with chess right now, it probably wasn't present then but is probably present on the ground now. How the denouement of this fight between Ukraine and Russia turns out is probably very important for the world.

RFE/RL: How would you describe the situation on the battlefield?

Jones: I don't think there's any clear picture right now. The Ukraine spring offensive [launched in June] was unfortunately lacking in one key element, and that's air power, and the Russians had plenty of time to mine the areas where they thought the Ukrainian [ground forces] would advance. And it just caused everything to slow down. But I think one thing is clear: Mr. Putin's ambition to take over Ukraine in its entirety is not going to happen.

The Tavberidze Interviews Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Vazha Tavberidze of RFE/RL's Georgian Service has been interviewing diplomats, military experts, and academics who hold a wide spectrum of opinions about the war's course, causes, and effects. To read all of his interviews, click here.

RFE/RL: Is a decisive battleground victory still feasible for either side?

Jones: I don't know the answer to that. It doesn't look like it, although I think the stated ambitions on both sides have not changed all that much. But if you look at what's going on right now on the ground, I don't see a definitive advantage on either side, except for the fact that there's pretty much no doubt that Russia will not be successful in taking over Ukraine as a country.

RFE/RL: Can we conclude that the Ukrainian counteroffensive is over and that another Russian offensive is beginning?

Jones: I think it's extremely important -- on almost a global basis -- that how this ends has to be seen as a victory for Ukraine and a defeat for Russia. And I don't know what that looks like, but I'm pretty convinced that it has to end that way. Because if it doesn't, the autocrats of the world will be emboldened. I would think that the president of China would rethink his position with regard to Taiwan, perhaps.

If Putin is readmitted to the family of national leaders, in the international meetings and as though nothing happened, I think that would be the worst outcome. He's an indicted war criminal by the ICC [International Criminal Court in The Hague], and that should stand for something. But how this ends, I think, is really, really important in terms of the perceptions that are going to reverberate all over the world and will cause many countries to behave differently one way or the other.

RFE/RL: As you mentioned, at this moment, there is no end in sight -- we don't know what the end of this war would look like. But what we know is that Russians are launching another offensive at Avdiyivka. I have a very simple and perhaps naive question: How come? Wasn't the Russian Army supposed to be depleted to a degree as to being unable to mount another massive offensive?

Jones: Well, I think one thing that was always clear is that the Russian leader was willing to commit whatever manpower he needed, because they outnumber the Ukrainians in terms of population. And their ability to launch a major offensive -- it might surprise someone -- but I think that his ability to draft young men and throw them into the Russian Army, even though they're fairly poorly trained, is something that you have to take into account. But it's clear that the lessons learned from the first year have taken root in Russia as well as Ukraine. They know each other better now; they know where their strengths and weaknesses are. It's not surprising that both sides are trying to exploit that advantage. But I don't see that the Russians are capable of achieving Putin's goal of taking over the whole of Ukraine.

RFE/RL: For a long while, it was assumed that Ukraine had this long line of volunteers willing to fight to defend the country. And then this Time magazine profile on Zelenskiy comes out and it cast doubts on many things, and the manpower was one of these things. It highlighted that this is also a problem for Ukraine. Who has the bigger problem when it comes to manpower, Ukraine or Russia?

Jones: Well, it's good to have enough manpower; [but] it's a problem to have qualified manpower that is organized, trained, and equipped to do the job. In the first year of the [full-scale] war [during 2022], Ukraine was more on the defensive, which is much easier in terms of manpower losses. And then the second year, Ukraine wanted to go on the offensive, but they also found out that if you don't go on the offensive with at least a three- to four- to five-to-one ratio, you're going to take more casualties. And the fact that they were fighting a combined arms war without one of the key elements -- which is air power -- that slowed things down. And I think the needed air power is on the way, but it's not going to be ready to go for quite a while. Once they get that, they can really complete that combined arms capability for which they do have great comprehension --- but they need to get it all together before they can really start making a difference.

RFE/RL: On this combined arms maneuver -- and let's call it NATO's military vision of how combat warfare needs to be carried out -- there was this great interview with General Zaluzhniy in The Economist, where he said that "If you look at NATO's textbooks and at the math which we did [in planning the counteroffensive], four months should have been enough time for us to have reached Crimea, to have fought in Crimea, to return from Crimea, and to have gone back in and out again." Were NATO, or rather Western military calculations and forecasts wrong, or was it Ukraine that underperformed?

Jones: Generally speaking, all along, it would have been better for the allies to provide the needed equipment that Ukraine wanted and should have had in order to prosecute a more effective campaign, especially when they tried to go on the [offensive]. And I think the United States was complicit in not providing the weapons rapidly enough -- particularly the air side. We were too cautious about not giving the Ukrainians weapons that could strike into Russia. And so, you're really causing them to have to fight the war with one hand tied behind their backs. But I think people realize that now, and the supply chains are better, and the equipment is arriving at a faster rate. So, we'll have to wait and see. But the big missing piece, I think, for me, is aviation. If there isn't a resolution this year, which there doesn't appear to be, when they get the air power that they need, it'll make a difference.

RFE/RL: Zaluzhniy himself admits that they're at a stalemate, but he doesn't see the combined arms maneuver as a solution; he is betting on technological advancement. He says that "in order for us to break this deadlock, we need something new, like the gunpowder which the Chinese invented and which we are still using to kill each other." Where does this leave us when it comes to the Ukraine war, if one side doesn't suddenly conjure up a modern equivalent of gunpowder in terms of technology?

Jones: That's a great question, and I think you'll get the first indication of where that leaves us in February [2024] at the Munich Security Conference, which I'm sure will be dominated by the Ukraine-Russia conflict. I was there last year, and there was great enthusiasm and many words spoken by political leaders that were very encouraging, like, "We're with you until the end." So, it'll be interesting to see what the dialogue is this year. And then I think we'll have an idea about whether there's donor fatigue out there. And I think Mr. Putin is certainly counting on the fact that he can outlast the West, because the West is always wanting to end wars quickly: "Do whatever you have to do but stop this."

RFE/RL: I will be asking you about this donor fatigue in a moment. But before that, let's go through the Western military assistance issue in a bit more detail. We saw the impact of HIMARS [U.S.-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System] on the battlefield. Will there be an ATACMS [U.S.-made Army Tactical Missile System] era or an F-16 [fighter jet] era, too?

Jones: I think so, yes. I think the military advice here in Washington would be to provide that.

RFE/RL: Many noticed that the ATACMS given to Ukraine are of older production with a shorter range than their modern equivalents? Will there be more, better, longer-range ones?

Jones: It goes back to a fear in [NATO] capitals that if you give the Ukrainians the weapons that can strike into Russia, they will do that and it might cause a wider war. I don't think that's correct, to be honest with you. My first war was in Vietnam, and I was always frustrated by the fact that we couldn't pursue the enemy into Laos or Cambodia or go north of the DMZ [demilitarized zone], and there were so many restrictions on us that we did have the impression that we're fighting with one hand tied behind our back. And I think that's a risky strategy that normally contributes to defeat of the side that has so many impositions on it. The fear, obviously, is that Vladimir Putin would escalate to a nuclear conflict, and everybody's concerned about that. But I do think that the important thing is to give the Ukrainians the panoply of weapons that they need and to certainly prevent Russia from advancing any further into Ukraine.

RFE/RL: So, should we expect more, better, longer range ATACMS? And what's that dependent upon?

Jones: I think the military advice here is that they want to give them longer ranges. I'm not sure where the political leadership is on that. But if you're going to fight a war, you need to fight a war to win it. And you need to have the equipment that you need to prevail. Otherwise, you're working toward a stalemate, and that's not very good for anybody.

RFE/RL: With all this taken into account, what can be done now? What's the hand that the West has and how can they play it?

Jones: Well, I think that the list of things that they don't have needs to be shortened. I've mentioned aviation two or three times in our discussion, and I think that's the big missing piece, to be honest with you. The land offensive was stymied by the amount of time the Russians had to prepare the field with mines and fortifications that make it much harder for the Ukrainians to achieve a mass of success, especially if they're trying to do it without air power -- because then the manpower bill becomes much more expensive. So that's where I think we are.

RFE/RL: Let's look at this from General Zaluzhniy's perspective. You are a general, you have to conduct a counteroffensive, and you are asked by your partners on whom you are heavily dependent in your war efforts to go into it without air support. How does it feel?

Jones: Not good. You know, in my days in Vietnam, we always had adequate air power, whether [it was] gunships or Phantom jets. The North Vietnamese that we fought against did not have that, and they paid a heavy price militarily, regardless of how it worked out politically. And I think that Ukraine understands that without air power, the manpower bill goes up exponentially. So, you have to be very careful, because for Ukraine manpower is really important. And they can't afford the Putin doctrine, which is just throw men at the problem; he doesn't care.

RFE/RL: On this manpower topic. Which approach is proving more effective: One relying on people's willingness to defend their country, versus one where people are corralled like cattle, or one where people are so poor that going to the front is an economic solution?

Jones: I think the advantage there is with Ukraine. They're defending their homeland; they're obviously very passionate about that. And there seems to be consistent support for President Zelenskiy -- some criticism but generally speaking, he's regarded as a heroic figure -- and I have not seen a crack yet in Ukrainian society that says, "Enough." I think they're very determined, and I think the allies, and especially the United States, should accelerate to the extent possible the delivery of equipment and ammunition that they need to be successful.

RFE/RL: You said you don't see cracks in Ukrainian resolve. But do you see cracks in Western resolve, perhaps?

Jones: Well, Vladimir Putin is counting on that. And I think the first time that you may see it -- if it in fact exists -- will be at Munich in February. That's where they launched this thing from. (Editor's Note: Putin delivered a key speech at the Munich Security Conference in 2007 that was highly critical of the United States and NATO and is widely regarded as having signaled the Russian leader's foreign policy intentions.)

On the positive side, though, one of the good things is the resurgence of NATO. I think NATO deserves a lot of credit, with the secretary-general and the member countries who are going to increase their financial contribution. The defense of Europe is now a valid concept, and we know what that is, and we know where the line of defense is for the defense of Europe and protection of other countries like Georgia, Moldova, and others. And if we're able to limit Russia's advance to what it is now -- if that becomes a negotiating position -- then I think the West will be able to say that they prevailed, and the battle between the autocracies and the democracies in other parts of the world will probably have a different outcome.

RFE/RL: So that would be a partial victory but still a Ukrainian victory?

Jones: Right.

RFE/RL: You mentioned countries like Georgia and Moldova. Ever since the full-scale war started, we've seen some profound changes in Russia's neighborhood: Finland has become a NATO ally; Sweden is poised to; Moldova has aligned with the West more strongly than ever; in the South Caucasus, we saw Azerbaijan reclaiming Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia, subsequently, drifting from the Russian orbit and recently getting arms deliveries from France and India. What would be your advice to a country like Georgia in these troubled times?

Jones: I think the closer the countries are to the threat posed by Mr. Putin and Russia, the more the relationship with NATO becomes important. And I think that NATO needs to reach out to those countries that are at risk and lend a hand toward explaining to them what it takes to become a NATO member. And frankly, I think, right now in Ukraine, the Ukrainians should be doing things to prepare for NATO accession that they can do right now[so] that when the day comes and the conflict is over and they become a NATO member, that they don't have to wait another couple of years. So, I think there's a lot of work that can be done right now to reassure the people of those at-risk countries that the NATO embrace is out there and they should be doing things that they can do now to shorten the time between where we are now and eventual accession to NATO.

RFE/RL: Those countries have been standing in front of NATO's "open door" for decades, and it's not reassuring that they might have to wait another decade or decades. How would you reassure them?

Jones: Well, I think it's up to NATO to reach out, and there are all kinds of different programs as countries get closer and closer to NATO. Certainly, NATO interoperability with the military forces is something that can be worked on. There are all kinds of standards for NATO admission.

But I think that, at the end of the day, Russia has to be convinced that this was a mistake, what they did, and secondly that NATO is going to be many times stronger and more capable than it was before the invasion. And that there is a line of defense for the defense of Europe. And countries like Georgia and others will probably be on it at some point.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Attempts by countries outside the region to aggravate the situation in the South Caucasus are inadmissible, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov said, Trend reports.

He spoke at a press conference after a trilateral meeting with Turkish National Defense Minister Yashar Guler and Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze in Baku.

He noted that the meeting was a vivid example of dialog at the strategic level between Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Georgia.

During the discussions, the importance of peace, stability, security and joint cooperation in the region was emphasized.

"We stated that attempts by countries outside the region aimed at aggravating the situation in the region are unacceptable. The importance of peaceful settlement of conflicts, based on the norms and principles of international law, in particular the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognized borders of states was once again stressed," Hasanov added.

The X trilateral meeting of the defense ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkiye was held today in Baku. The meeting discussed prospects for the development of joint military cooperation and a number of issues that will contribute to regional security.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Azerbaijan plans to hold a number of events on various spheres of military cooperation in trilateral format in 2024, Azerbaijani Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov said, Trend reports.

He spoke at a press conference after a trilateral meeting with Turkish National Defense Minister Yashar Guler and Georgian Defense Minister Juansher Burchuladze in Baku.

"At the meeting, we exchanged views in detail on the prospects of cooperation between the defense structures of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkiye in military, military-educational and military-medical spheres, possibilities of holding various joint events and other cooperation issues," Hasanov said.

The X trilateral meeting of Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkiye was held today in Baku.

The meeting discussed prospects for the development of joint military cooperation and a number of issues that will contribute to regional security.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Parliament Winter Session 2023 Latest News

Preparations for Upcoming Parliament Session Accelerate with Early All-Party Consultation

Parliament Winter Session 2023 Latest News: In anticipation of the Winter session of Parliament, the Central Government has called for an all-party meeting scheduled on December 2. The announcement was made by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Prahlad Joshi, emphasizing the need for constructive discussions before the parliamentary proceedings kick off.

The Winter session is set to commence on December 4 and will span until December 22, with 15 sittings spread over 19 days, as revealed by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on November 9. Notably, this all-party meeting has been rescheduled a day earlier, likely influenced by the vote counting scheduled for December 3 in states currently undergoing elections.

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Among the significant agenda items for the upcoming parliamentary session is the presentation of the Ethics Committee's report on the "cash-for-query" allegations involving TMC MP Mahua Moitra. The Lok Sabha will be required to adopt the report, determining the fate of the expulsion recommended by the panel.

During the session, the spotlight will also be on three crucial bills aimed at replacing the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), and the Evidence Act. These legislative discussions are expected to draw considerable attention and deliberation. Additionally, Parliament will deliberate on a key bill related to the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners. Initially introduced during the Monsoon session, the government had deferred its passage in the special session due to opposition protests and concerns raised by former Chief Election Commissioners. The proposed bill seeks to align the status of the Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners with that of the cabinet secretary.

(For More News Apart from Parliament Winter Session 2023 Latest Updates, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman)


Gurpurab 2023 News: Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit

Governor offered prayers for the Chardikala of the people of Punjab and Chandigarh

Gurpurab 2023 News: On the auspicious occasion of Gurpurab 2023, the birth anniversary of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, which reverberates with spiritual significance, the Governor of Punjab, Banwari Lal Purohit, paid obeisance at the Gurdwara situated in Sector 8C, Chandigarh.

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In a gesture of profound respect and solidarity with the people of the State and UT Chandigarh, the governor offered prayers for the Chardikala of the people of Punjab and Chandigarh. The Governor not only extended his reverence but also partook in the sacred 'langar', sharing a meal with the devout 'sangat' (congregation) present at the Gurudwara.

Expressing his heartfelt gratitude for the warm reception and spiritual experience, the Governor emphasized the importance of Gurpurab in fostering harmony, compassion, and unity among all communities. He reiterated the need to uphold the values propagated by Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji, emphasizing equality, selfless service, and compassion for all.

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(For More News Apart from Gurpurab 2023 News, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman)
Punjab Weather Update Latest News

Meteorological Shift Brings Clouds and Possible Rainfall, Prompting Cautionary Measures in Punjab and Chandigarh.

Punjab Weather Update Latest News: In a noteworthy weather shift, Punjab and Chandigarh experienced a change in climate on Monday, with many areas enveloped in clouds. The Meteorological Department predicts rainfall in certain locations on Monday, potentially leading to a dip of two to three degrees in night temperatures.

Manmohan Singh, Director of the Chandigarh Center of the Meteorological Department, issued a cautionary advisory, urging people to exercise caution, especially during morning commutes. The weather is expected to revert to dry conditions from Tuesday onwards.

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On Sunday, a noticeable drop of 0.6 degrees was observed in the day temperature across Punjab. Pathankot recorded the highest temperature at 26.4 degrees, while Gurdaspur experienced the lowest temperature at 10 degrees.

Meteorological experts suggest that the Air Quality Index (AQI) could witness improvement following the anticipated rainfall, as it aids in clearing fine dust particles from the air. Despite a recent decrease in stubble burning cases, Punjab's atmosphere remains polluted, with AQI levels in most cities falling in the poor category.

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(For More News Apart from Punjab Weather Update Latest News, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman)






Punjabi girl Died in Canada Latest News

Promising Future Cut Short as Praneet Kaur, Hailing from Malerkotla, Passes Away in Calgary

Punjabi girl Died in Canada Latest News: In a heart-wrenching incident, a 20-year-old Punjabi girl, Praneet Kaur, lost her life to a sudden heart attack in Calgary, Canada, where she had embarked on a journey for higher studies six months ago.

Every year, numerous young individuals from the vibrant land of Punjab venture abroad with dreams of a brighter future. Unfortunately, Praneet Kaur's promising journey was tragically cut short while she grappled with the challenges of life in a foreign land.

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The deceased, identified as Praneet Kaur, hailed from Amargarh in Malerkotla. Having pursued higher studies in Calgary since April, she represented the aspirations of many Punjabi youth seeking educational opportunities overseas.

Expressing profound grief, Praneet's father, Satbir Singh, recounted the devastating turn of events. He revealed that a day ago, Praneet's friend received a distressing call informing them that she had suffered a heart attack, presumably aggravated by a cold. Rushed to the hospital, Praneet was declared brought dead by the doctors. The untimely demise of Praneet Kaur has cast a pall of sorrow over her community.

(For More News Apart from Punjabi girl Died in Canada Latest News Latest News, Stay Tuned to Rozana Spokesman)


Biopharmaceutical company Outlook Therapeutics, Inc. (OTLK) announced Monday the receipt of the official minutes from the Type A meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held in October 2023.

The type A meeting was regarding the Complete Response Letter (CRL) dated August 29, 2023 for the Biologics License Application (BLA) for ONS-5010, an investigational ophthalmic formulation of bevacizumab under development to treat wet AMD.

As previously reported, the FDA requires an additional adequate and well-controlled study to support the ONS-5010 BLA.

The FDA has informed Outlook Therapeutics that it can conduct a non-inferiority study evaluating ONS-5010 versus ranibizumab in a 3-month study of treatment naive patients with a primary endpoint at 2 months.

As recommended by the FDA at the Type A meeting, Outlook Therapeutics has been working with the Division of Ophthalmology to design an appropriate study to satisfy the FDA's requirements. The FDA and Outlook Therapeutics have also identified the approaches needed to resolve the CMC comments in the CRL.

Based on the October Type A meeting and ongoing informal discussions with the FDA, Outlook Therapeutics has submitted a protocol for review at an upcoming Type A meeting with the FDA in December 2023.

Upon confirmation of the protocol details with the FDA, Outlook Therapeutics intends to submit a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) to memorialize the agreement with the FDA on the trial design.

It will also confirms that, if successful, this additional study, in combination with the successful completion of the ongoing work related to the CMC requests in the CRL, would support approval of a resubmitted ONS-5010 BLA.

Outlook Therapeutics said it continues to believe that the proposed clinical trial design as included in the Type A meeting request would allow for completion of the study in 2024 and resubmission of the ONS-5010 BLA by the end of calendar year 2024.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The head of the U.S. space agency will travel to India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a series of meetings beginning Monday with key government officials.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson will meet with space officials in both countries to deepen bilateral cooperation across a broad range of innovation and research-related areas, especially in human exploration and Earth science.

The visit to India fulfills a commitment through the United States and India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology spearheaded by President Joe Biden, NASA said in a news release.

Nelson will visit several locations in India, including the Bengaluru-based facilities where the NISAR spacecraft is undergoing testing and integration for launch in 2024.

NISAR, or NASA ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar, is a joint Earth-observing mission between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Indian Space Research Organization.

As the first satellite mission between the space agencies of India and the United States, NISAR is a revolutionary Earth-observing instrument. The first in the Earth System Observatory, that will measure Earth's changing ecosystems, dynamic surfaces, and ice masses. It will provide information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, key information to guide efforts related to climate change, hazard mitigation, agriculture, and more.

While in the UAE, Nelson will participate in the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference, highlighting NASA's role as a global leader in providing decision makers with critical Earth-science data. It will be the first time a NASA administrator will have attended the conference.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
The European Union has completed the ratifying procedures of the ambitious free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand.

The Council of the European Union on Monday decided to ratify the deal less than a week after the European Parliament gave its consent.

The deal is expected to cut some EUR140 million a year in duties for EU companies. As a result, bilateral trade is expected to grow by up to 30 percent within a decade, with EU exports growing by up to EUR4.5 billion annually. EU investment into New Zealand is expected to grow by up to 80 percent.

This landmark agreement also includes unprecedented sustainability commitments, including respect of the Paris Climate Agreement and core labour rights.

Trade agreements form part of the EU's open trade - or "partnering" - approach, which is one of the three goals of the European Economic Security Strategy presented in June. This agreement also strengthens the EU's engagement in the strategically and economically important Indo-Pacific region.

The European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said, "New Zealand is a key partner for us in the Indo-Pacific region, and this ambitious free trade agreement will bring us even closer together."

The EU-New Zealand FTA will provide new opportunities for businesses by eliminating all tariffs on EU exports to New Zealand; opening the New Zealand services market in key sectors such as financial services, telecommunications, maritime transport and delivery services; and ensuring non-discriminatory treatment to EU investors in New Zealand and vice versa.

The deal will improve access for EU companies to New Zealand government procurement contracts for goods, services, works and works concessions; and help small businesses export more through a dedicated chapter on small and medium enterprises;

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
Upcoming Simple Dot One is the companys affordable EV that packs a 3.7 kWh battery promising a range of up to 160 km and cost under Rs. 1 lakh

Since the revised FAME II scheme is in effect, there have been more and more affordable EV offerings to offset reduction in subsidy. Ather launched 450S, Ola launched S1X and S1 Air lineup. What is Simple Energys take on this new strategy? This is where just announced Simple Dot One comes into play.

Simple Dot One affordable scooter announced  Debut 15th December

In August 2023, we covered Simple Energys new Dot One name trademarks in detail. The company has trademarked both Dot One and Simple Dot One names. The company have made it official now by announcing its first new affordable scooter line under Simple Dot One sub-brand.

This will sit below Simple One in Simple Energys portfolio, which was launched recently. Simple Energy electric mobility startup has announced 15th December as the debut date for Simple Dot One. This way, the company can penetrate the EV segment better with a broader range of vehicles across multiple price brackets.

Simple Dot One will help the company target multiple audiences and demographics too. The Bengaluru-based startup promises a meticulously developed vehicle that strikes a balance between performance and features that should fall in line with customer expectations along with carving a bigger name in the industry for Simple Energy.

Sub Rs. 1 Lakh price tag

The company has divulged a few specifics about Simple Dot One which is set to debut on 15th of December. For starters, the primary objective for Simple Energys new affordable scooter is to be actually affordable. The company quotes sub Rs. 1 lakh price tag. In our experience, this should be around Rs. 99,999.

This pricing is more likely to be inclusive of FAME II Subsidy too (Central and State). Not a bad proposition at all. Simple Dot One will pack a 3.7 kWh battery that promises a range of up to 160 km (IDC). Direct rivals include Ola S1 X, S1 X+ and S1 Air.

3.7 kWh battery under Rs. 1 lakh price bracket is impressive for a scooter that promises to offer a feature-rich experience. There are specially designed tyres too that contribute towards this range.

Words from the manufacturer

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Suhas Rajkumar, Founder & CEO, Simple Energy, said, Today marks a significant chapter in the journey of Simple Energy as we proudly introduce the Simple Dot One, the latest affordable addition to our pioneering Simple One series.

Our vision to deliver accessible electric mobility converges in the Simple Dot One, fusing sleek design with state-of-the-art features. We are eagerly anticipating its market launch, counting on the unwavering support of our esteemed customers.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov met with the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Turkiye, Yashar Guler in Baku, Trend reports via Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry.

Colonel General Hasanov warmly welcomed the guests and noted that cooperation and strategic alliance between Azerbaijan and Turkiye in military field is based on friendship and brotherly relations as in other fields.

Memory of martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the independence and territorial integrity of both fraternal countries was honored with respect and reverence.

The defense minister emphasized that the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Ilham Aliyev and President of the Republic of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan highly value the current cooperation and prospects in the field of defense between Azerbaijan and Turkiye, and noted the necessity of such meetings in terms of further expansion of the relations.

Expressing satisfaction with his visit to the fraternal country, Guler thanked for the hospitality and conveyed confidence that the cooperation between the countries, based on mutual trust and support, will continue to develop successfully.

It was highlighted that Azerbaijani-Turkish ties are based on allied relations according to the Shusha Declaration. The exceptional role of the declaration in the development of bilateral relations was emphasized.

A detailed exchange of views on the importance of increasing the intensity of joint exercises, military-political processes in the region and in the world, ways to ensure stability in the region and other issues of mutual interest was also held at the meeting.

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Vera Cunningham remembers clearly watching a news report in 2015 that fire had destroyed an Oceanside mobile home and that a woman had died inside. As the news footage rolled, Cunningham recognized the trellis in the charred ruins.

Thats how she learned her mother, 74-year-old Gertrudes Diana Hollis, was dead. She didnt know yet it was murder.

On Tuesday, a tearful Cunningham watched in a Vista courtroom as Andrew Hollis, her mothers husband of about 20 years, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the slaying.

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Last month, a North County jury found the 65-year-old Vietnam veteran and career Marine guilty of murder and of intentionally setting the Feb. 22, 2015, fire in the couples living room, on the other side of the wall from his wifes bed.

Diana Hollis  who had limited mobility after a October 2014 car crash  was found in a running shower, trying to escape the flames. She died from smoke inhalation.

To this day, I still have bad dreams, Cunningham, 45, said in court Tuesday. I couldnt get into the shower for the first two weeks, because I could see my mother, trying to save herself.

She and other family members, including Hollis youngest son Marshal Giles, spoke in Vista Superior Court Tuesday before Hollis was sentenced by Judge Blaine K. Bowman. They talked about the void left in their hearts after Diana Hollis death and said she was the glue that held them together  the matriarch with an infectious laugh, quick wit, and deep love for her family.

I know its wrong, but I am jealous of God that she is with Him now and I want her here with me, Giles, 43 said during the hearing. Andy, you took all of that away. And why?

All I can think about is how scared she must have been in the last moments of her life, hoping and praying that someone would save her, GIles continued. Just because you didnt love her didnt give you the right to take her away from ones who do.

Before handing down the sentence, Bowman called the defendants actions incredibly cruel and inhumane.

I cant imagine the fear and despair she felt while she is in that bathtub, waiting for rescue, knowing that she was going to die, Bowman said.

On the evening of the fire, neighbors came rushing and found Andrew Hollis outside. He told them his wife was not in the home. Authorities say he knew she was inside.

As paramedics were treating him, Hollis blamed his wifes adult son Conrad Giles, whod had an ugly argument with his mother a day earlier.

Police investigators later cleared Conrad Giles; he had an alibi backed up by cell phone tower data. (In another blow to the family, Conrad Giles was stabbed to death in Oceanside the following year. His former brother-in-law is awaiting trial for murder.)

The house fire left Andrew Hollis with burns to his hands and face so severe, he spent several weeks in a burn ward. Prosecutor Natalie Villaflor said his injuries were flash burns caused when the fire whooshed to life.

Investigators found four empty bottles of lighter fluid at the site, and a full bottle in the SUV outside. They also found lighter fluid on the jacket Andrew Hollis wore on the night of the fire.

Hollis declined to make a statement during his sentencing hearing. The prosecutor said Hollis denies setting the fire.

Bowman said the crime was motivated by financial gain, noting that the couple was getting ready to divorce. He said Hollis had previously threatened to burn the home down so she could not have it.

In sentencing Hollis, the judge noted the defendants long military career.

But your legacy will not be that where you served honorably 30 years serving your country, Bowman said. Your legacy will be that you killed your wife in just the most heinous way possible.

As the judge spoke, Hollis shook his head as if in disagreement.

You shake your head at me right now, the judge continued, but I sat through that evidence. I am convinced that the jury did the right thing in this case.  You are going to have a long time to sit in prison and think about it.

teri.figueroa@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @TeriFigueroaUT
The day starts early for Tang Shengli, a bird protection volunteer in Lanshan county, Yongzhou, Hunan province. At about 5 am, the 60-year-old is in uniform and ready to start his day's work protecting and recording migratory birds. Located on the northern side of the Nanling Mountains, Lanshan is an important passageway for migratory flocks.

From September to December every year, more than 240 species of migratory birds fly from Siberia to Australia via Hunan. In the past 10 years, Tang has recorded more than 120 species of such birds with his camera.

"The flight calls of the migratory birds at night attract me so much that I cannot sleep. All I want to do is get up and record them," Tang says.

When Tang joined the Hunan provincial bird protection organization in 2013, he knew he faced a tough task.

Numerous migratory birds were lost each year as a result of killing and illegal trade. At that time, poachers lit up the hillside to lure the birds off course and hunt them.

Some nights hundreds of birds would be killed or caught, remembers Liao Changgui, an official with the local forestry bureau.

By day, Tang distributes brochures to villagers in Lanshan to raise public awareness of bird protection, while at night, he goes deep into the wilderness to tackle illegal hunting.

"Many villagers didn't think bird hunting was illegal, and some made a living from it. Our work has affected their business," Tang explains, adding his wife was threatened at their home in a bid to stop him doing his work.

To curb poaching, in October 2012, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration issued a notice to prohibit the illegal hunting of migratory birds. In December that year, the Hunan provincial government vowed to crack down on rampant poaching and establish a bird monitoring and protection system.

So far, 43 migratory bird protection stations have been built across the province, covering almost all key points on the passageway.

In 2020, a "lights out" program was initiated in Lanshan county to prevent the birds from being distracted.

On Nov 1, the Hunan provincial government issued a ban on hunting migratory birds and other wildlife listed under national and provincial protection.

Nationwide, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration is carrying out a two-month special action plan to strengthen patrols and remove illegal hunting equipment in national parks, nature reserves and bird migration routes across the country.




BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Head of NATO Liaison Office in Tbilisi Alexander Vinnikov has arrived in Azerbaijan, US Embassy in Azerbaijan said, Trend reports.

"Charge d'Affaires Hugo Guevara met with the head of NATO Liaison Office in Tbilisi Alexander Vinnikov, who is on a visit to Azerbaijan," the embassy said.

NATO Liaison Office (NLO) in Georgia was formally opened on 1 October 2010. NLO's mission is to represent NATO in Georgia, facilitate political and military dialogue and practical cooperation under the NATO-Georgia Commission in support of Georgia's efforts to join the Alliance.

The Head of the Office also serves as the NATO Liaison Officer for the South Caucasus, covering both Armenia and Azerbaijan as well.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The US sees a real opportunity for Azerbaijan and Armenia to make peace, James O'Brien, the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, told journalists, Trend reports.

I think here, as Ive said publicly, we see a real opportunity for Azerbaijan and Armenia to make peace. Were encouraged that the two sides are speaking with one another directly and with mediators. And with that, we see a real opportunity for the entire region to benefit, he said.

O'Brien noted that, if trade from Central Asia is able to flow through Azerbaijan and Armenia into Turkiye, then it would be a substantial boost for all the countries on that trade route.

And wed welcome the opportunity to be part of that, the official added.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The return of former IDPs to the liberated territories of Azerbaijan in accordance with the I State Program 'Great Return' is in full swing, Trend reports.

To date, nearly 1,000 native families have already returned to restored and rebuilt settlements.

A total of 175 families (871 people) have already returned to Aghali, the first village in the Zangilan district, where the 'Great Return' began.

In Aghali, built based on the concept of a 'smart village', the necessary socio-technical infrastructure has been created, meeting modern requirements and providing all conditions for the comfortable and safe living of residents. State enterprises and private institutions operating here provide support for ensuring employment for rural residents.

The residents of Aghali have established subsidiary farms on the plots of their homes, cultivating fruit trees, horticultural crops, and keeping domestic poultry.

The 'Great Return' brings new life to the liberated territories, accelerating the revival of these places. Within the framework of the 'Great Return' program, each state institution supports this process by fulfilling its assigned duties.

Reintegration activities and community-based development projects are carried out to facilitate the adaptation of the population in the restored and rebuilt settlements.

Aghali village was liberated from Armenian occupation during the second Karabakh war.

Following the liberation of its territories from Armenian occupation in 2020, Azerbaijan initiated the long-awaited 'Great Return' program, which envisions the return of IDPs to their native lands.

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BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. In accordance with the instruction of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, the return of former internally displaced persons to the restored city of Fuzuli continue, Trend reports.

Another group of citizens was sent from the Gobu Park 3 residential complex in the Garadagh district of Baku on November 27. At this stage, another 25 families (106 people) moved to the city of Fuzuli.

The resettled families will settle in the houses where they once lived in Fuzuli, which were restored or rebuilt on the basis of instructions from the head of state after the end of the Armenian occupation. Fuzuli residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva for their comprehensive care, expressed gratitude to the valiant Azerbaijani Army, which liberated the lands from occupation.

Thus, until today, a permanent settlement in the city of Fuzuli has been provided for 308 families - 1106 people.
Last August when the Nicaraguan government seized control of Seattle Universitys Jesuit university partner, the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) in Managua, Nicaraguaone of three Jesuit universities in Central America and one of Nicaraguas most prestigious higher ed institutionsthey left the roughly 5,000 students enrolled at the time wondering if and how they could complete their studies.

The governments seizure of the university is the culmination of a series of attacks on academic freedom, political opponents, the Catholic clergy and democracy that started in the early 2000s and worsened in 2018 with country-wide protests against President Ortegas policies.

Many college students, including from the UCA, participated in the protests and the university itself called on the government to listen to protesters and respect rule of law and human rights. In May of 2018, police and paramilitaries shot into crowds of protesters and many sought refuge on the UCA campus. The UCAs then-president Jose (Father Chepe) Idiaquez, S.J, opened the gates of the university to the demonstrators. Acts like these, along with Fr. Chepes calls to the government to enter into dialogue with the protesters, led the government to declare the university a center for terrorism. In addition to refusing to allow Fr. Chepe to return to the country after a visit to Mexico, the government continued to harass the UCA with a police cordon and threats. And with the full seizure in August, the universitys bank accounts and academic records were frozen and the government had full control of the university and its Jesuit residence. From one day to the next, UCA students lost their hopes of receiving a college degree and others lost their livelihoods entirely.

About 2,000 former UCA students have applied to study at Jesuit universities in El Salvador and Guatemala and a campaign spearheaded by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU) with all 27 Jesuit universities and colleges in the U.S.with Seattle University at the forefrontaims to raise funds for scholarships for these UCA in Exile students. The #TodosSomosUCA ("We Are All UCA") campaign runs through December 31.

AJCU and President Penalver endorsed our commitment to be a leading school nationwide on this effort to support these students, says Joe Orlando, EdD, special assistant to the provost, who oversees the Central America Initiative, which is comprised of twinning relationships with the three Jesuit universities of Central America. The UCA in Managua was the first university partner for the Central America Initiative, which started at SU in 2014. In addition to the UCA, the Central America Initiative includes the Universidad Centroamericana Jose Simeon Canas in El Salvador and the Universidad Rafael Landivar in Guatemala.

SUs involvement in this fundraising campaign is not only because of our deep ties to Central America and our Jesuit provinces in these countries but also because of the solidarity and trust with the people of Nicaragua built over many years, says Orlando.

For us to stand with our brothers and sisters in Nicaragua is so important. Its personal because Ive come to know these friends and colleagues and this is the Jesuit educational family we are all a part of, he says. We stand together.

Associate Professor Serena Cosgrove, PhD, who is the faculty coordinator of the Central America Initiative and director of the Latin American and Latinx Studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences, says this campaign provides more than just financial support for these exiled studentsit offers hope, a feeling of security and stability in a time of tumult.

Students from the UCA in Managua have experienced so much disruption over the past months, says Cosgrove, not only has their university been closed but also many students have had to leave Nicaragua because of fears for their own safety and security given the human rights record of the government.  It is very important that we do everything in our power to support the UCA in Exile students because there is so much that connects us and our support means so much to students who have lost their university.

For Orlando who, like Cosgrove, has deep roots working with the people of Central America, this campaign speaks to Seattle Universitys mission and what it means to be part of a global Jesuit network.

Its powerful, meaningful and profound, Orlando says. Its been inspiring for me to be in this global family.

Learn more about the Todos Somos UCA campaign and visit Todos Somos UCA Donation to make a gift.
Nickel developer Horizonte Minerals announced several changes to its board of directors and senior leadership team on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said co-founder and chief executive officer Jeremy Martin would step down from his role as CEO and resign as a board member.

Similarly, chief financial officer Simon Retter would step down as CFO and resign from the companys board.

In addition to those changes, non-executive interim chair William Fisher and non-executive director Owen Bavinton would step down from the board under best practice corporate governance.

Both Fisher and Bavinton had served as directors since 2011 and 2012, respectively.

Horizonte said all departing directors and officers had agreed to assist with an orderly handover, with the changes effective immediately.

In light of the changes, the company announced new management and board appointments, with Karim Nasr appointed as interim chief executive officer and a proposed board member.

The board said Nasr, the managing partner and co-chief investment officer of La Mancha Resource Capital, one of the companys major shareholders, would lead the financing and restructuring efforts.

He would bring over 25 years of corporate finance and investment experience, including experience with restructuring in Brazil.

Nasr would step down from his day-to-day executive role at La Mancha to focus on Horizonte and develop a financing plan for the project.

Corporate finance professional Paul Smith was proposed to join the company as a non-executive director and chair of the board, with non-executive director Vincent Benoit set to serve as interim chair until Smiths appointment took effect.

Former Iamgold chair Maryse Belanger was meanwhile appointed interim chief operating officer in a non-board capacity.

Belanger, who has over 30 years of experience in the global mining sector, would leverage her expertise in operational excellence and turnaround, technical services, and organisational efficiency to support Horizontes operations.

Firstly, we would like to thank Jeremy for his leadership and contributions to the company, said non-executive director John MacKenzie.

Jeremy was a founding director of Horizonte and has led the company since 2010.

We are grateful for his dedication to the business and wish him well for the future.

MacKenzie described interim CEO Karim Nasr as a highly respected senior leader.

The board is grateful that Karim has agreed to lead the company through this financing and restructuring process.

I am also very pleased to welcome Paul Smith to our board, which he will chair after the usual onboarding procedures are completed.

At 1156 GMT, shares in Horizonte Minerals were up 3.12% at 9.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
MediaZest announced on Monday that it recently secured a new business opportunity with an international retail client.

The AIM-traded company said the contract was built on a successful project undertaken in the UK in 2023 and was for another installation slated for early 2024.

Additional store installations in Europe were on the horizon later in the same year.

The firm said the projects would be executed by its European subsidiary based in the Netherlands.

It said the subsidiary had demonstrated strong performance in its inaugural year of trading and was continuing to acquire new business projects.

At 1338 GMT, shares in MediaZest were up 11.73% at 0.042p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
BT Group said on Monday that it is not planning to make an offer for MusicMagpie .

MusicMagpie announced last week that it was in early-stage talks with both BT Group and private equity firm Aurelius Group about a possible bid for the company.

MusicMagpie sells second-hand phones and other tech.

Under takeover rules, BT and Aurelius had until 18 December to either announce a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.

At 1350 GMT, MusicMagpie shares were down 10.1% at 17.75p.
Property portal Rightmove said in an update on Monday that since its interim results in July, its overall revenue growth had surpassed consensus expectations, primarily driven by higher-than-anticipated average revenue per advertiser (ARPA).

The FTSE 100 company said both estate agent subscriptions and new home development listings remained stable.

Its share of consumer time held steady at around 85%, underscoring its strong brand, consumer position, and the established network effect of its business model.

Rightmove said it now anticipated ARPA growth for the full year to reach between 112 and 116, exceeding the previous guidance of 103 to 105.

New home developers propelled that growth, which expanded their use of native search adverts and advanced development listing products.

Estate agents also continued to bolster their pipelines through various product offerings, including branding, lead generation, and property products.

In addition, Rightmove said its commercial real estate business unit remained on track to meet full-year revenue targets, demonstrating consistent growth.

The firm made notable progress with its mortgage business, recently launching its first broker product, enabling consumers to access broker advice when applying for a mortgage through the Rightmove platform.

Looking ahead, Rightmove maintains confidence in its full-year outlook for 2023, expecting ARPA growth to range from 112 to 116, revenue growth in the range of 8% to 10%, Underlying Operating Profit growth of 7% to 8%, and an underlying margin of approximately 73%.

The momentum that we reported in July has continued through the third quarter and beyond, said chief executive officer Johan Svanstrom.

The strength of our performance against an uncertain market backdrop demonstrates the strength of the UK consumer affinity to our platform, the value of the established network effect of our business model, the depth and richness of our consumer data, and the value that our customers place in our products to build their businesses.

It also illustrates the resilience of our business model in all phases of the property market cycle.

We continue to look to the future with confidence and remain focused on the delivery of our strategic plans, both in our core business and in strategic growth areas.

At 0810 GMT, shares in Rightmove were up 4.71% at 533.2p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. A state border violation was averted on the territory of the State Border Service (SBS) of Azerbaijan's "Zagatala" border detachment, owing to the vigilance of the border patrol as part of measures to provide dependable security of the state border and combat illegal migration., the Azerbaijani State Border Service told Trend.

On November 25, at 19:20 (GMT +4) near the village of Yeni Sharif in the Balakan district, a citizen of Pakistan, Iqbal Kashif (born in 1994), was detained while attempting to violate the state border of Azerbaijan in the direction of Georgia.

"The investigation established that the detained individual had officially arrived in the country with the intention of violating the state border and migrating from Azerbaijan to Georgia, and from there to one of the European countries," the SBS said.

"Operational and investigative measures are ongoing in connection with the incident," added the service.

Previously, on November 21, four citizens of Pakistan (Majid Abdul Muhammad, Muhammad Yasin Ali, Abu Bakar Ahsan, and Ullah Ubayd Ahsan) were apprehended for trying to breach the state border of Azerbaijan in the direction of Russia.

They were detained at the service territory of the border outpost located near Zuhul village in Gusar district.

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Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023, organized by Department of IT, Bt, Government of Karnataka and Software Technology Parks of India, Bengaluru is one such a place where the pulse of global innovation beats strong, and boundaries are not just pushed but shattered. This year's theme, 'Breaking Boundaries,' sets the stage for a dynamic convergence of tech leaders, startups, investors, and research labs from 30+ countries. Briefing the media today, Shri Priyank Kharge, Hon'ble Minister for Information Technology & Biotechnology and Rural Development & Panchayat Raj, Govt. of Karnataka shared exciting updates on the much-anticipated Tech Summit.

26th Bengaluru Tech Summit is set to open with the inauguration by Shri Siddaramaiah, Honble Chief Minister of Karnataka, in the august presence of Shri D.K. Shivakumar, Honble Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, and a distinguished gathering of dignitaries including; Shri M B Patil, Honble Minister for Large & Medium Industries, Govt. of Karnataka; Shri N S Boseraju, Honble Minister of Science & Technology, Minor Irrigation, Govt. of Karnataka; Smt. Vandita Sharma, IAS, Chief Secretary, Govt. of Karnataka; Dr. Ekroop Caur, IAS, Secretary to Government, Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka; Shri Shailendra Tyagi, Director, STPI- Bengaluru; and Shri Darshan H.V., IAS, Managing Director - Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), Dept. of Electronics, IT, Bt and S&T, Govt. of Karnataka". The spectacular inauguration will also feature international dignitaries such as Mr. Bagdat Mussin, Minister of Digital Development, Innovations, and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan; Mr. Mark Papermaster, EVP & CTO of AMD; a recorded message from Ms. Sari Multala, Minister of Science and Culture of Finland; and a recorded message from Mr. Volker Wissing, Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport of Germany.

Adding to the grandeur, the event will host key figures from the Indian industry, including Mr. Rishad Premji, Executive Chairman of Wipro Limited; Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson, Vision Group on Biotechnology, Govt. of Karnataka, and Executive Chairperson of Biocon Ltd.; Shri Kris Gopalakrishnan, Chairman, Vision Group on IT, Govt. of Karnataka, and Co-founder of Infosys; Shri Prashanth Prakash, Chairman, Vision Group on Startups, Govt. of Karnataka, and Founding partner of Accel Partners India; Ms. Nivruti Rai, Managing Director and CEO of Invest India; Shri BV Naidu, Chairman, Karnataka Digital Economy Mission; and Shri Arvind Kumar, Director General of Software Technology Parks of India (STPI). Bengaluru Tech Summit 2023 will feature a diverse and enriching Event Spectrum, encompassing a Multi-Track Conference on IT & Electronics, Deep Tech, Start-Ups & Biotech, an International Exhibition, Global Innovation Alliance, India-USA Tech Conclave, R&D-Lab2Market, B2B Meetings, STPI IT Export Awards, Smart Bio Awards, VC Awards, ATF Awards, Rural IT Quiz, Bio Quiz and Bio Posters.

An exclusive Fireside Chat, 'Legend, Legacy & Leadership,' featuring Shri N.R. Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys, in conversation with Shri Nikhil Kamath, Co-founder of Zerodha. Promising a deep dive into the legendary journey and leadership principles that have shaped the tech landscape. BTS 2023 will have another interesting Fireside Chat featuring Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Honble Union Minister of State for Electronics & Information Technology, Government of India. In an insightful conversation, he will be joined by Ms. Jaya Jagadish, Country Head and Senior Vice President of Silicon Design Engineering at AMD India, offering a unique perspective on the intersection of government initiatives and cutting-edge technology in India. Some of the Key Dignitaries and Speakers addressing the years BTS include Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, Former Director General, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Nobel Laureate & American Biologist Dr. H. Robert Horvitz; among others.

The ITE & Deeptech Track will have some interesting sessions like Opportunities for GCCs, AI, Technology for Sustainability, Future Mobility, Cybersecurity & Cyberwarfare, 5G adoption and future wireless technologies, Electronics and semiconductors, Spacetech, Web 3.0, Animation, Gaming & VFX. The Biotech Track will have sessions focusing on areas like Biotechnology for a Fossil Carbon-free Future, Synthetic Biology, Sustainable Food and agri-systems, preventing tomorrows Illnesses and Keeping Epidemics at Bay, Investment in Biotech, Skill Development, Policy and regulators, and the Future Forward. The Start-up Track will include sessions like Digital Public Goods, Idea to IPO, Emerging Tech, Fintech, Agritech 4.0, Bharat Opportunity, and Startup India. Large delegations from the Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) Partner nations are expected to participate in the event. The GIA track in the Conference will have around 17 engaging sessions curated by the partner nations & regions, including Australia, Finland, Netherlands, South Korea, Denmark, Sweden, United Kingdom, France, Israel, Poland, Austria, Germany and NRW, Japan, Switzerland, Lithuania and EU. Senator Franziska Giffey, Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises, Berlin; Dr. Stephan Keller, Mayor of Dusseldorf, Germany; Mr. Victor Fedeli, Minister of Economy, Job Creation and Trade, Ontario, Canada will be addressing the GIA Sessions. Further ministerial-led delegations are to be announced in due course. Various Tech Nations will also showcase their tech prowess in the Exhibition, adding to the event's vibrant international presence.

The third edition of the India-USA Tech Conclave will be a significant part of BTS 2023 and will aim at creating a meaningful dialogue between the two nations. The conclave will focus on enabling future innovations, thought exchange and creating strong collaborations through sessions focusing on Commercial Space, e-commerce, Supply Chain & Logistics, Healthtech, AVGC and so on. The Conclave will be inaugurated by the US Consul General Mr. Christopher Hodges, Mr. Alexander Slater, Managing Director, U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), and the Honble Minister Shri Priyank Kharge on November 29, 2023, between 03.00 PM to 03.50 PM.

The highlight of this year's Bengaluru Tech Summit is the Chandrayaan 3 ISRO-Industry Pavilion, symbolizing India's significant presence in space exploration. The pavilion not only showcases ISRO's remarkable achievements but also emphasizes the crucial contributions of SMEs, startups, and private industries in ensuring the success of the Chandrayaan-3 Mission. For the first time, a 1:1 scale model of Chandrayaan 3 Lander will be on display. Also, in a specially erected geodesic dome, using AR/VR technology, an immersive experience is created to learn about lunar missions, space science, and technology behind Chandrayaan. Visitors can engage with simulations for a fun and enriching learning experience.

Green BTS- this year, Bengaluru Tech Summit has taken a significant stride by committing to achieve Net Zero in the upcoming years. This ambitious goal involves integrating eco-conscious practices in procurement to minimize waste generation and establishing a Sustainability Advisory for various stakeholders. The focus on key pillars such as carbon, water, energy, waste, food, and experience underscores BTS's commitment to sustainability a pioneering initiative and the first-of-its-kind event in India.

BTS Exhibition- the tech marketplace will include Country Pavilions, IT & Biotech Majors, Unicorns, Start-Ups, R&D Labs and Educational Institutes. Experience the prowess of India's research and development with institutions like DRDO, ICMR, CDAC, BIRAC, IIAP, IIIT-B, and NRDC participating in this technological extravaganza. Rub shoulders with industry giants like Kyndryl, Infosys, Bosch, Microsoft Startup, Cashfree, Builder AI, Biocon and many more, creating unprecedented opportunities for collaboration. A showcase from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra that displays their tech prowess and Expo Pavilions like STPI, ABLE, ELCIA, TiE Bangalore, i-BIOM, BBC, and Voice Consortium will offer the tech disruptions of their members and clusters. Startups will again be at the center stage showcasing the technologies that will deliver immersive experiences in diverse sectors like Healthtech, Edutech, Agritech, Mobility, e-commerce, Rural Technologies and more.

The summit promises over 75 sessions, 400+ speakers, 350+ startups, 600+ exhibitors, and 20,000+ business attendees, setting the stage for an unparalleled exploration of innovation and collaboration. The dates for the next two editions were also announced- November 19-21 in both 2024 and 2025. The early announcement of these dates will encourage international tech organizations to plan their participation well in advance. This is a testament to Karnatakas continued commitment to the growth of the sector while transcending national & international boundaries through collaborations.
German multinational manufacturer, fischer Group of Companies recently hosted its maiden International Expert Forum (IEF) 2023 in New Delhi. The group, best known for its fastening products for the construction and DIY industry, hosted a day-long knowledge-sharing session for professionals committed to the advancement of the construction process through extensive research and collective experience. Dedicated to the field of Civil Engineering, the forum brought together experts from around the world to delve into critical topics such as Connection Interactions, Seismic Behaviour of Structures, Structural Retrofitting, Fire Designs of Connections, and the Necessity of Governing Standards.

The discussions at IEF focused on future construction trends, innovative methodologies, and the significance of connections in various construction segments. Speaking at the event, Mr. Mayank Kalra, India's Managing Director said, "At fischer India, we do more than build structures. We create a legacy of Innovation, Accountability, and Reliability in the construction industry. We are driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence. We empower our clients to achieve their construction goals with confidence and precision. Our proactive approach is all about exceeding, not just meeting, expectations".

With a widespread presence across India, fischer India boasts a dedicated team of over 110+ techno commercial sales and technical representatives. These experts stand ready to provide the right solutions to customers every day, ensuring that the construction needs are met with precision and professionalism. fischer India has built a robust foundation with a network of over 300+ channel partners across India. This extensive partner network significantly expands fischer Indias reach and distribution capabilities, making its products and solutions accessible to a diverse clientele and a wide array of projects.

fischer products have been used in a variety of construction projects in India. For example, numerous steel and chemical anchors and other solutions by fischer were used in the construction in Indias Statue of Unity, which towers above all other statues in the world at 182 metres. Furthermore, fischer products are being used in important Indian construction projects such as the Jewar International Airport, the Central Vista, the Diamond Quadrilateral project and the Chennai Metro Rail Corporation.

Further, Mr. Uday Shikhare, National Technical Manager, fischer India added, "We are deeply honored and overwhelmed with the response received at the inaugural edition of the fischer International Expert Forum in India. The symposium has been curated with the vision to open new avenues of understanding connections, providing valuable insights for structural consultants, planners, and architects. I thank all participants, speakers, and sponsors for making the International Expert Forum 2023 a resounding success. Your contributions have undoubtedly propelled the industry forward, and we look forward to continued collaboration in the future".

The fischer International Expert Forum 2023 featured renowned speakers sharing their expertise on a diverse range of topics:
LatentView Analytics, a global digital analytics consulting and solutions firm, unveiled Project Apoorva today, aimed at transforming the lives of young adults from marginalized communities. This flagship initiative focuses on enhancing academic opportunities, career awareness, and exposure for adolescents through a specialized skill development program across government schools in Chennai. The inauguration ceremony at Arignar Anna Government Higher Secondary School in Besant Nagar was attended by key members from the Tamil Nadu government, LatentView Analytics management, and Learning Links Foundation, the primary implementation partner for Project Apoorva.

Project Apoorva signifies LatentView Analytics' commitment to social impact and community development, by leveraging its core competency in data analytics to impart valuable skills to 4000 students from grades 912. The program's design ensures a sustainable and scalable impact, equipping students with essential 21st-century skills to navigate adulthood successfully. The curriculum of Project Apoorva has been co-created by the LatentView Analytics team, meticulously integrating real-life applications and practical training elements to ensure students gain skills directly applicable to real job scenarios. The project has garnered significant interest from the Chennai education department, considering its alignment with the Naan Mudhalvan Scheme by the Tamil Nadu Government, showcasing the collaborative effort between public and private sectors to drive positive change in education and skill development.

At the inauguration, Rajan Sethuraman, CEO of LatentView Analytics, said, "At LatentView Analytics, we're driven to go beyond traditional philanthropy and financial support and intend to make a meaningful difference in society. Project Apporva is an opportunity to transform lives, and we are committed to this mission." He added, "Our passion extends to our employees, who actively participate in our initiatives. We are keen to utilize our data expertise and resources to create tangible, lasting change in the youth of Tamil Nadu".

Learning Links Foundation, a non-profit organization established in 2002, shares LatentView Analytics' vision of empowering youth through education and skill-building initiatives. Their mission is to foster purpose and progress by unlocking lifelong learning in children, adolescents, and youth through the key pillars of education, skill building, entrepreneurship, technology, innovation, and research and development. This alignment in vision makes them a robust partner to LatentView for Project Apoorva. Project Apoorva aims to enhance academic opportunities and instill confidence and valuable skills in the young minds of tomorrow, paving the way for a brighter future for these students.
NASA Administrator Bill Nelson has planned a trip to India and the UAE for a series of meetings with important government officials. During the visit, Nelson will also meet with space officials in both countries to enhance collaboration on a wide range of research and innovation-related areas, particularly in the fields of Human Exploration and Earth Science. The American space agency, NASA, stated that Nelson's visit to India will fulfill a commitment made under the US and India initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, which President Joe Biden initiated.

In the India leg, Nelson will visit several locations, including the Bengaluru-based facilities where the NISAR spacecraft, a joint Earth-observing mission between NASA and its Indian counterpart ISRO, is undergoing testing and integration for launch in 2024.

NISAR is a groundbreaking Earth-observing instrument that marks the first satellite mission between NASA and ISRO. It is also the first instrument in the Earth System Observatory that will provide critical measurements about Earth's dynamic surfaces, changing ecosystems, and ice masses. By gathering information about biomass, natural hazards, sea level rise, and groundwater, NISAR will enable us to make informed decisions about climate change, agriculture, hazard mitigation, and more. Its invaluable insights will guide efforts to safeguard our planet's future.

Laurie Leshin, Director, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), recently said that scientists from both space agencies ISRO and NASA are working closely on the NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) mission to help make sure that they make the most out of the data that will be coming down from the spacecraft.
4 lakh crore has been conducted in India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the citizens to buy' Made-in-India' products. Some trade organizations have estimated that the wedding season could bring in a business of around 5 lakh crore. "Last month in 'Mann Ki Baat' I had laid emphasis on 'Vocal for Local' buying local products. Within the last few days, business worth more than 4 lakh crore has been done in the country on Diwali, BhaiyaDooj, and Chhath puja. And during this period, tremendous enthusiasm was seen among the people in buying products 'Made in India'. Now even our children, while buying something at the shop, have started checking whether 'Made in India' is mentioned on them or not", he said. During the festive period, business worth more than4 lakh crore has been conducted in India.has urged the citizens to buy' Made-in-India' products. Some trade organizations have estimated that the wedding season could bring in a business of around5 lakh crore. "Last month in' I had laid emphasis on 'Vocal for Local' buying local products. Within the last few days, business worth more than4 lakh crore has been done in the country on Diwali, BhaiyaDooj, and Chhath puja. And during this period, tremendous enthusiasm was seen among the people in buying products 'Made in India'. Now even our children, while buying something at the shop, have started checking whether 'Made in India' is mentioned on them or not", he said.

In the 107th episode of 'Mann Ki Baat', Modi mentioned that nowadays, people are more cautious and selective while purchasing goods online. He added that just as the success of 'Swachh Bharat Abhiyan' has become an inspiration, the success of 'Vocal For Local' is leading the way to a developed and prosperous India.

"This campaign of 'Vocal For Local' strengthens the economy of the entire country. The Vocal For Local campaign is a guarantor of employment. This is a guarantee of balanced development of the country. This provides equal opportunities to both urban and rural people", he noted. This also paves the way for value addition in local products, and if ever there are ups and downs in the global economy, "the mantra of 'Vocal For Local' also protects our economy".

The Prime Minister mentioned that there has been a declining trend in purchasing goods using cash payments during the Deepawali festival for the second year in a row. This indicates that more people are switching to digital modes of payment. "This is also very encouraging. You can do one more thing. Decide for yourself that for one month you will make payments only through UPI or any digital medium and not through cash. The success of the digital revolution in India has made this absolutely possible. And when one month is over, please share your experiences and your photos with me", he urged during his radio programme.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a two-day visit to Dubai this week to attend a global summit on climate change that will focus on reducing emissions and supporting developing countries in dealing with extreme weather events. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said PM Modi will visit Dubai to participate in the World Climate Action Summit, which is part of the 28th meeting of the United Nations 'Conference of the Parties' on Climate, known as COP28.

Several world leaders are set to attend the climate action summit to discuss ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and effectively combat climate change. At the summit, PM Modi is expected to highlight India's ambitious climate agenda and related issues. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be travelling to Dubai, the UAE at the invitation of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and the ruler of Abu Dhabi, to attend the World Climate Action Summit", the Ministry of External Affairs said. The World Climate Action Summit is the high-level segment of the COP28.
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, November 27. Work is underway to build up ties between non-governmental organizations (NGOs) of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Non-Governmental Non-Profit Organizations of Uzbekistan Kamoliddin Ishankhojaev told Trend.

He spoke on the sidelines of the Forum of Cooperation between Azerbaijani and Uzbek non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Azerbaijan's Fuzuli.

"Work is underway, firstly, to build up ties between our NGOs to solve social problems that face our countries, that is, our peoples. And in this regard, it should be noted that there are many problems of social nature, the solution of which should be entrusted not only to state bodies, but also to public organizations. Thus, it is necessary to involve public organizations to solve the problems facing our states," he said.

Speaking about future plans, Ishankhojaev noted that attention is paid to the development of cooperation between NGOs of Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, as well as bilateral relations.

"We also have plans to strengthen cooperation between NGOs dealing with gender equality and women's rights, problems related to unemployment, as well as other aspects, actually working in both Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. In addition, I would like to note that environmental, health and women's rights issues are priorities for Uzbekistan. To address them, we carry out various activities, including cooperation with our foreign partners," he added.

The Forum of Cooperation of Azerbaijani-Uzbek non-governmental organizations (NGOs) is being held at secondary school No.1 named after Mirzo Ulugbek in Fuzuli. More than 100 representatives of NGOs of both countries are taking part in the forum.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
TiE Ahmedabad, as part of its TiECON Ahmedabad flagship event, organized a gathering spotlighting and honoring the accomplishments of female entrepreneurs and startup founders. The session included enriching conversations and motivational talks delivered by accomplished women entrepreneurs/startups. The event drew attendance from over 40 TiE members spanning across Gujarat and beyond.

The event kicked off with Anar Thakershy, TiE Ahmedabad Women Lead, extending a warm welcome, signaling an evening dedicated to honoring women's achievements in the entrepreneurial realm. Dr. Neha Sharma, Founder and Director of Accelerate India, graced the occasion as a distinguished guest, sharing her valuable insights and experiences. Anar moderated a significant panel discussion featuring TiE Womens Program finalists & semi-finalists. The 2023 TiE Womens Program showcased the talent of 16 women from Ahmedabad, contributing to a global pool of 1,700 applicants across 30+ chapters and 70+ countries.

Pooja Khemka, CEO and Co-founder of TrackNow clinched the TiE Womens Program Abad title, while Shruti Mehta, Founder of BharatGodam Solutions, secured the runner-up position. Parishi Atodaria, Co-founder and CTO of Seedtree Surat joined them as an esteemed panelist. The discussion centered on their entrepreneurial journeys and challenges. The panelists found inspiration in witnessing more girls and women pursuing entrepreneurship driven by passion. They highlighted the increasing role of technology, especially AI, and expressed gratitude for TiEs support throughout their entrepreneurial ventures.

Rashida Adenwala, President of TiE Hyderabad, shared valuable insights, emphasizing the collaborative spirit among TiE chapters. Dharti Desai, TiE Board of Trustees member leading TiE Women, addressed women entrepreneurs, stressing the importance of inspiring more women to venture into entrepreneurship. TiECON Ahmedabad 2023 celebrated the resilience of Gujarat's entrepreneurs, attracting over 700 entrepreneurs, innovators, and industry leaders. It served as an exceptional platform for networking, collaboration, and idea exchange, featuring insightful panel discussions and sessions spanning various topics.
President Biden strengthens the semiconductor supply chain through global collaboration, emphasizing alliances with India. The recent MoU underscores mutual dedication to advancing technology and global innovation.

FREMONT, CA: In recent developments, US President Joe Biden has emphasized the nations commitment to fortifying the semiconductor supply chain, particularly emphasizing collaborative efforts with key global partners, including India. President Biden underscored the significance of joint efforts with India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Singapore to enhance the critical semiconductor industry. He highlighted the launch of initiatives aimed at shaping technologies and standards to drive transformation in the semiconductor sector, signaling a shared commitment to addressing technological challenges collaboratively.

President Biden acknowledged Indias pivotal role in this global initiative, highlighting the strengthened partnership between the US and India in the semiconductor domain. This collaboration reflects a mutual commitment to technological advancement and underscores the strategic significance of India as a key player in the technology landscape.

The momentum for this collaboration was set in India, and the US signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the semiconductor supply chain and innovation partnership during the India-USA Commercial Dialogue. The dialogue, re-launched with a strategic outlook after a three-year gap, focused on supply chain resiliency, diversification, and emerging areas.

The MoU between India and the US aims to establish a semiconductor supply chain resiliency and diversification collaborative mechanism, aligning with the USs CHIPS and Science Act and Indias semiconductor mission. It leverages the complementary strengths of both nations, fostering commercial opportunities and the development of semiconductor innovation ecosystems. The agreement envisions mutually beneficial research and development, talent, and skill development.

As per the official statement from the ministry, the United States stands as India's third-largest provider of foreign direct investment (FDI), securing its position among India's top five preferred investment destinations. The ministry anticipates that the visit of the U.S. Commerce Secretary will significantly enhance the advancement of trade and commercial relations between the two nations. Notably, leaders from the 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum are presently convening in San Francisco for the 30th APEC Leadership Summit, a gathering hosted by the United States and presided over by President Biden.

President Biden's invitation to Prime Minister Modi to attend the APEC Leadership Summit underscores the growing importance of global partnerships in the technological and economic domains. India, represented by Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, stands as a key participant in shaping the future of collaborative efforts to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain and drive technological innovation on a global scale.

President Biden's commitment to fortifying the semiconductor supply chain through collaborative global efforts, particularly with key partners like India, demonstrates a shared dedication to addressing technological challenges. The strengthened partnership, highlighted by the recent MoU, signifies a mutual commitment to advancing technology. The invitation to Prime Minister Modi for the APEC Leadership Summit emphasizes the growing importance of global alliances in technology and economy. With Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal representing India, the nation is pivotal in shaping collaborative efforts to strengthen the semiconductor supply chain and drive global technological innovation.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Mayor Eric Adams announced a crackdown by New York City on landlords who continue to provide space for use as illegal smoke shops.

The New York City Sheriffs Office Joint Compliance Task Force sent letters to owners of 50 buildings across the five boroughs warning that they could face thousands of dollars per day in penalties and forced evictions if they continue to allow the unlicensed sale of cannabis or tobacco products at their properties, according to a news release from the mayors office.

The letter dated Monday said that the unlicensed sale of tobacco or cannabis products could be deemed a nuisance due to illegal activities on the premises, allowing the city to effectively shutter those businesses.

The mayors office declined to release the names of owners who received letters for their properties on Staten Island. A source with the mayors office said that the main goal of the letter is to educate landlords and give them the opportunity to take corrective action. In addition, some of these shops are targets of open investigations and releasing the names of their owners could jeopardize those cases.

The task force already has slammed the 50 locations with more than $7 million in penalties, including an estimated $3.9 million in illegal products seized and nearly another $3.2 million in civil penalties issued, according to the news release.

Our administration is using every tool available to protect young people and all New Yorkers from dangerous, illegal cannabis and tobacco products, while sending a clear message that anyone helping these illegal, unlicensed shops spread throughout our communities will be held accountable, Adams said in the news release. To support the emerging, legal cannabis market, we must go after the bad actors who are breaking the law. Our interagency task force is coming together to keep our communities safe.

While there is no single solution to the proliferation of illegal smoke shops, the landlord letter is one more tool that provides an opportunity for correction, said New York City Sheriff Anthony Miranda. Landlords are informed of their obligations and potential liability, as well as how to take corrective action and the support available for them.

The New York City Police Department is committed to eradicating the unlicensed, illegal smoke shops that destabilize an emerging business interest and pose significant public safety and health risks in neighborhoods throughout the five boroughs, said NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban. The NYPD remains focused on our citys mission to protect New Yorkers and ensure that cannabis and tobacco regulations are properly recognized, accepted, and enforced.

ILLEGAL SMOKE SHOPS ARE MAGNETS FOR CRIME

Smoke shops that sell illicit substances have been growing like mushrooms on Staten Island in what one borough official in May called a modern gold rush of shady entrepreneurs who are profiting from delays in establishing a marketplace for legal marijuana in New York City.

Mayor Eric Adams and other city officials have repeatedly sounded the alarm about these shops, which they believe are undermining the financial viability of the budding marketplace for legal marijuana.

While some smoke shops may be legitimate businesses, multiple NYPD raids have revealed others sell marijuana and a variety of candy and other snacks infused with drugs such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active ingredient in weed, and psychedelic psilocybin, which is typically is referred to as magic mushrooms.

Convenience Store Smoke Shop & Vape at 350 Port Richmond Ave. reportedly was robbed two times on Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel

SMOKE SHOP ROBBED 2 TIMES ON SUNDAY

A smoke shop allegedly was robbed two times by the same two men on Sunday night in Port Richmond, according to sources.

The first of two brazen heists occurred around 6:50 p.m. when the two suspects were buzzed into the store at 350 Port Richmond Ave. near Palmer Avenue, according to a spokesman for the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

Convenience Store Smoke Shop & Vape is located at the address supplied by police.

The suspects then allegedly ran behind the counter, assaulted a 25-year-old cashier and took cannabis (CBD) products from store shelves before fleeing in an unknown direction, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The same suspects returned about an hour later, claiming that they dropped their cell phones during the first robbery. The cashier told them that he did not have their cell phones, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

A suspect then displayed a knife and allegedly attempted to stab one of the workers. A scuffle ensued between the two suspects, the cashier and a second 25-year-old worker, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.

The suspects then allegedly snatched the workers cell phone and fled from the store.

The victims iPhones had a combined value of about $1,440 and the CBD products were valued at about $500 the police spokesman said.

One of the victims suffered a minor abrasion on his back from falling and was treated and released on scene.

Police described the suspects as both around 18 years old with dark complexions; one male stands about 61 inches tall while the other has a height of about 5 8 and clothing descriptions arent available for either individual.
Get ready for Elf on the Shelf a.k.a Santa Claus helpers, sent to make sure all of the kids are on tip-top behavior before Christmas. While living in your house, an elf will consistently change its spot, making sure they make an accurate report of how your child is doingthe teeny problem with that is that elves tend to get themselves into trouble.

Get your Elf on the Shelf on Amazon.

Tag us at #SILive on Instagram to share your creative Elf photos with us for a chance to be featured on SILive.com and our social platforms

Over the years, Staten Islanders have shared some photo-worthy scenarios with us. Here are some highlights.

From the Kenul family. Staff-ShotStaten Island Advance

The Chung's elves on Staten Island, New Springville. (Staten Island Advance)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf photos submitted from years past. (Advance photo)

Elf on the Shelf, Cavagnaro, West Brighton, in their special home made by James and Andrew Cavagnaro, 2017 (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Chippy and Amanda Cavagnaro (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)Staff-Shot

Staten Islanders are sharing their Elf on the Shelf ideas that are perfect for the last minute!

Staten Islanders have really funny and easy ideas to share!

Photo courtesy of Barbara.

Photos courtesy of Stuart Murphy.

These Lego characters tied up the Elf as his reindeer looked shocked. (Photo courtesy of Christina Deliso) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Hannibal elf? (Photo courtesy of Rita Costanzo) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

This elf came in like a recking ball, and never meant to fall in love. (Photo courtesy of Sherry Large)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

The residents of Eger Harbor House got creative and had Carl the elf go fishing. (Photo courtesy of Kristin Ortado)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

From The Illuzzi & Ball Family.

Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

If you want to take your elf one step further, put the chocolate on tissue and leave a funny note. (Photo courtesy of Monique Prter) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of Sherrie Lynne.

Set up your elf to go fishing with Goldfish. (Photo courtesy of Misty Cooper) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Have the kid's leave snacks for the elf. (Photo courtesy of Rose Wenzell) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

If you have games, set up your Elf and other figures to have some friendly competition. (Photo courtesy of Sanders Jessica) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

These elf's are having fun playing UNO -- who will win? (Photo courtesy of Dana Materia)( Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of Lorraine Pavlick.

Courtesy of Ildy Figueroa of New Jersey.

Photos courtesy of Stuart Murphy.

Even the Elf runs on Dunkin. Stick a small straw in coffee for the Elf -- he has a long trip back to the North Pole. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Buccellato) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of Chuck Sommers.

Operation gingerbread house is in full affect. (Photo courtesy of Joe and Tara)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photos courtesy of Paula Mastroguilio.

Have your elf leave messages for the children, making sure they are good this year. (Photo courtesy of Julie Everhart)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of the Chioffe family.

Creative Elf on the Shelf ideas: Staten Island edition

Photos courtesy of Gaby Amalfitano.

Even elf's can be mischievous, have your elf make photo copies as a prank. (Photo courtesy of Dawn Harris-Williams)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photos courtesy of Paula Mastroguilio.

Winter is coming and this elf is the Queen of the North(Pole). (Photo courtesy of Jenna Guzzi)(Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Have your elf make a statement. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Mauro) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

- These elf's are having a snowball fight with mini marshmallows -- who will win? (Photo courtesy of Linda Lee) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of Maria.

Have a water dispenser on your refrigerator? Add your elf and a soap bar to show to the kids he's squeaky clean. (Photo courtesy of Sarah Buccellato) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photo courtesy of Katy Bucsi.

Have your elf show some team spirit -- what team are they rooting for? (Photo courtesy of Larry Yorks) (Staten Island Advance/ Caitlin Della Rocca) Caitlin Della RoccaCaitlin Della Rocca

Photos courtesy of Barbara.

Photo courtesy of Barbara.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Cafe Bella Vita was the venue for the Staten Island Business Outreach Center (SIBOC) annual small business dinner, held on Oct. 24. The event was sponsored by Rucci Oil, Northfield Bank, Eden II Programs, Snappy Solutions and the Forest Avenue BID.

Honored at the dinner were Tariq Zaid, The Young Professionals Group of The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and PPA Tavern Corp, who were selected for their high standards of ethical conduct, integrity, civic and social responsibility through business leadership and volunteerism efforts in the community.

SIBOC is a non-profit organization that has been serving Staten Island since 1980. The mission is to provide small business development programs and technical assistance to business owners, managers, and entrepreneurs to ensure their individual growth while providing sustainable economic growth on Staten Island.

SIBOC has several programs run under its business services, including SBA Womens Business Center (WBC), NYC MWBE Leadership Association and NYS Entrepreneurship Assistance Center (EAC)

In addition, SIBOC manages the Forest Avenue Business Improvement District and merchants on Castleton Avenue and is currently conducting a Commercial District Needs Assessment Study for the neighborhood of West Brighton.

SIBOC Board President Teresa Cirelli, left, Maureen Higgins of Eden II, Renee Sarno of the Borough President's Office, Eric Campione of PAC Plumbing, Michael Savarese of Comserv, and Nina Flores, Executive Director of SIBOC. (Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography) Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography

ABOUT THE HONOREES

TARIQ ZAID

Tariq Zaid is a multifaceted entrepreneur, brand ambassador, and community influencer and co-owner of Richmond Hood Co., a thriving retail boutique and clothing brand, and VODEGA, a plant-based eatery promoting community health.

Zaid has seamlessly integrated himself into the fabric of the borough. Despite a challenging upbringing in Brooklyns foster care system, Zaids trajectory changed when attentive counselors recognized his creativity, steering him away from a destructive path.

Introduced to the legendary Wu Tang Clan, Method Man and Redman, he became immersed in the citys art and music subculture, resulting in the emergence of his own unique blend of art, music, and fashion. Through Richmond Hood, Zaid builds alliances, representing Staten Island in the realms of fashion, art, and culture. His journey from adversity to success fuels his determination to give back and uplift those in need.

A recipient of the Louis R. Miller award and a member of Mayor Adams Small Business Advisory Commission, he organizes events like Van Duzer Days, Sticky Situations and Coolin on Castleton, showcasing his unique blend of art, music, fashion, and prose. Beyond accolades, Zaid actively addresses social issues, raising awareness about opioid abuse through community events.

Recognized by City Councilwoman Debi Rose, NY 1, and local media, Zaids philanthropy extends to regular contributions to non-profits and lending his voice for awareness campaigns. Committed to empowering local youth, he provides employment opportunities in fashion, retail and marketing.

Teresa Cirelli, President of SIBOC, left, Nina Flores, Executive Director of SIBOC, and honorees Tommy Casatelli and JP Casatelli of PPA Tavern Corp. (Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography)Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography

YOUNG PROFESSIONALS GROUP

The Young Professionals Group (YPG) is a networking faction of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, comprised of dedicated, talented young professionals ranging in age from 21-40 in Staten Island. The YPG mission is to engage and empower young professionals to become future leaders by providing personal and professional development opportunities through programming, networking and civic involvement.

Through YPG, young professionals build relationships, develop personally and professionally, and contribute to the economic development and high-quality living of the community. The YPG provides educational and professional development, build awareness of governmental process and issues and promotes volunteer opportunities, cultivating future leaders.

PPA TAVERN CORP - THE CASATELLI FAMILY

A retired, decorated FDNY firefighter, Tommy Casatelli of PPA Tavern Corp. has been in the restaurant business for 34 years, both in Brooklyn and Staten Island. Casatelli is a peer mentor for firefighters suffering from PTSD, and recently retired from the Forest Avenue BID to spend more time with his family.

Casatelli is the oldest of five brothers who are also in the restaurant business. His younger brother Jon Patrick (JP) JP started as a dishwasher in Bay Ridge but was shortly promoted to busboy. He then became a waiter when Casatelli opened the original Kettle Black.

JP followed in Casatellis footsteps and joined the FDNY, became a bartender, and then became partners in both Kettle Black and HoBrah Tacos. With his younger brother Dave, JP branched out and opened Brooklyn Roots, a critically acclaimed Italian Restaurant on Third Avenue in Bay Ridge.

The Casatelli family owns and operates seven restaurants, which continue the traditions that started 20 years ago at that little bar in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

A photo of Tariq Zaid with Nina Flores, Executive Director of SIBOC. (Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography)Courtesy Anthony Nasti Photography

ABOUT SIBOC

Since 1980, the SIBOC has been serving Staten Island, providing small business development programs and technical assistance. SIBOC provides technical assistance to business owners, managers, entrepreneurs, and residents to ensure their individual growth thereby providing sustainable economic growth on Staten Island.

SIBOC empowers low- and moderate-income people through a combination of business assistance, such as one-on-one counseling, business plan development, seminars, webinars, entrepreneurship training classes, and assistance with M/WBE certification, contracting, and related help.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A Staten Island drug smuggler, who had a 10-year prison sentence commuted by President Donald Trump, helped secured clemency through apparent ties to Jared Kushner, according to a New York Times report.

The paper published its report Sunday highlighting the findings of an investigation into Trumps 2021 pardon of Jonathan Braun, a convicted drug smuggler and accused predatory lender with ties to Meiers Corners.

Braun and his supporters pursued various avenues to secure the commutation, which came in the final hours of Trumps presidency, including ties to Kushner, the former presidents son-in-law and senior White House advisor, according to the Times.

Their investigation found Braun enrolled in the inaugural class of the New Jersey-based Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School alongside Jared Kushners youngest sister, Nicole.

The paper also reported that a business associate of Brauns told them that the convicts cousin said that Brauns father, Jacob Braun, contacted Jared Kushners father, Charles Kushner, about getting their push for a pardon before the former president.

Like other Trump pardon pursuers, the Braun family also retained the services of attorney and Trump ally, Alan Dershowitz, who helped several people in their clemency efforts with the former president, but told the paper that he didnt remember what efforts he made specific to Jonathan Brauns commutation.

Ultimately, the various efforts led to Jonathan Brauns sentence commutation on Jan. 20, 2021 for his 2019 conviction related to his role in a billion-dollar international ring that smuggled marijuana into the U.S.

The convict, who wouldve served 10 years on that sentence, told the Times that he and his supporters pursued his commutation through multiple paths, and that he wasnt sure which led to Trumps ultimate decision.

I believe God made it happen for me because Im a good person and I was treated unfairly, he told the paper.

Trumps administration highlighted Jonathan Brauns commutation in a Jan. 20, 2021 press release that came in the final hours of the former presidents time in office, and outlined the circumstance of 73 pardons and 70 commutations.

The press release, which the Times reported was written by Kushners office, said Jonathan Braun would seek employment to support his wife and children.

However, the Times reported that the commutation caught the leaders of a federal investigation into the predatory lending industry off guard as prosecutors from the U.S. Attorneys office in Manhattan had been pursuing a cooperation agreement with Jonathan Braun.

The deal would have seen the convict let out of prison in exchange for flipping on insiders of the predatory lending industry and potentially wearing a wire, but law enforcement lost any leverage after Trumps commutation.

Jonathan Braun, who has been banned from participating in the usurious industry across the country, is the subject of an ongoing lawsuit brought by Attorney General Letitia James, who has also brought a fraud case against Trump.

James launched her case against Jonathan Braun and some of his business associates in 2020 alleging that they cheated small businesses across the country out of millions of dollars by selling them merchant cash advances, or fraudulent, sky-high interest loans.

In his interview with the Times, Jonathan Braun portrayed himself as the victim of an unfair criminal justice system.

What is so bad about me? he said in the interview with The Times. I never hurt anybody, never did anything wrong to anybody.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  Hundreds of vinyl record enthusiasts and casual collectors found themselves stopping by The Flagship Brewing Co. in Tompkinsville Sunday for Maker Park Radios fourth annual record fair.

I love records, its the healthiest hobby I have, said Tim Duffy of St. George. Duffy spent much of his time at the event sorting through the dozens of record bins on display in search of punk, new wave and anything unexpected, like the Captain Beefheart album he found at last years event. However, Duffy jokingly lamented the limited amount of rap and hip-hop records available for purchase.

Tim Duffy of St. George scoured countless record crates in search of hip-hop at Maker Park Radio's fourth annual record fair. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod

The event kicked off at 11 a.m., as at least 20 different vendors helped attendees sort through thousands of records from 45s, LPs and 78s, to CDs and other music memorabilia, while DJs from Maker Park Radio performed hour-long vinyl-only sets designed to showcase the wide variety of music represented at the station.

DJ Adam Bomb of Randall Manor who spun an eclectic set, runs the Shaolin Record Club, which he describes as: Whatever you want it to be. We play records, chill out and just have good vibes, Randall said.

DJ Adam Bomb of Randall Manor runs the Shaolin Record Club which he describes as: Whatever you want it to be. We play records, chill out and just have good vibes." (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod

Steve and Paul, who run Two Bald Guys records from New Jersey, said the day had gone very well. A lot of good sales and a lot of good people. This is our first time here and well return next year, Steve said.

Richard Ellis, also of New Jersey, echoed a similar sentiment: Im always happy to do the show. Its a great bunch of people and a great cause. Ill be back next time, Ellis said.

While the event helps support the nonprofit community radio station, a basket raffle table was available with prizes from local businesses and prizes for music enthusiasts.

Our record fair is curated to bring a great assortment of vendors to Staten Island, said Tom Ferrie, Maker Park Radios operating manager and co-founder. Collectors looking for rare and valuable records as well as people who are just looking to buy some fun cheap used records can find something at the fair. Buying records at retail stores can be expensive but you can always find great records used for bargain prices. Its also a great place to meet people and learn more about music.

The fair is one of the many events the station holds, as just this past July they celebrated their sixth anniversary with a music and art festival in Stapleton.

Steve and Paul who run Two Bald Guys Records from New Jersey, said the day had gone very well. A lot of good sales and a lot of good people," at the fourth annual Makers Park Radio record fair. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod

Richard Ellis also of New Jersey echoed said: Im always happy to do the show. Its a great bunch of people and a great cause. Ill be back next time." (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod

Vinyl record enthusiasts and casual collectors found themselves stopping by The Flagship Brewing Co. in Tompkinsville Sunday for Maker Park Radios fourth annual record fair. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod

Vinyl record enthusiasts and casual collectors found themselves stopping by The Flagship Brewing Co. in Tompkinsville Sunday for Maker Park Radios fourth annual record fair. (Staten Island Advance/Scott R. Axelrod)Scott R. Axelrod
Hi Neighbor,

If youre from Brooklyn, maybe youll know of what I speak.

When I was a kid on Staten Island, Halloween was a thing. But not the thing it is today. One might think its even bigger than Christmas.

Its not. Not even close.

Halloween does eclipse July Fourth, Fathers Day, St. Patricks Day, Mothers Day, Easter and Thanksgiving in spending on costumes, candy and decorations.

In 2022, economists say we spent a whopping $10.6 billion on Halloween stuff. Something called the National Retail Federation estimates well spend between $942-$960 billion during the holiday season this year.

I dont recall Staten Islanders decorating their homes for Halloween back when I was a kid, the way we did for Christmas. At least in my neighborhood, graveyards with zombies popping from the ground in front yards just wasnt a Staten Island thing -- yet.

What I do remember are cheap plastic costumes that had you sweating within a half hour, andflimsy plastic face masks with cheap elastic bands attached by cheap tiny staples. One side of the band was sure to snap free after about 10 minutes.

Before those cheap K-mart costumes, before Halloween, Thanksgiving was the holiday of choiceto knock on neighbors doors.

It was the precursor to Halloween, and it wasnt trick or treat then.

This is where our Brooklyn neighbors come in.

It was just over a century ago when Thanksgiving became known as Ragamuffin Day. Instead of dressing as the superhero or ghoul of the day, kids dressed as sloppy as they could and called themselves ragamuffins.

It was simple. Kids donned tattered, oversized clothes, dirtied their faces, mussed their hair, andprowled the neighborhood on Thanksgiving morning, begging for handouts.

It got so popular across the country that Thanksgiving became known as Ragamuffin Day and towns held ragamuffin parades.

Even though the tradition pretty much ended by the 1930s, the Laline household was old-school.

It was the early 60s. Mom took a break from Thanksgiving cooking, had me dress in Dads old clothes, convinced other moms to do the same, and our little band of ragamuffins went from house to house, from Midland Beach to South Beach, begging.

Anything for Thanksgiving? was the chant. Anything for Thanksgiving?

We might have gotten an apple or a nickel here and there, but what I quickly discovered was most of our Staten Island neighbors  probably all natives back then  were unaware of the rich history of Ragamuffin Day.

Get the %$&% outta here, was the Thanksgiving greeting we heard more than once.

This was Before the Bridge and before so many of our neighbors in Brooklyn became our neighbors on Staten Island.

Turns out, Ragamuffin Day has been a major part of the Brooklyn tradition in Bay Ridge  although not on Thanksgiving  to this day.

A Ragamuffin Parade in Bay Ridge from 76th Street to 92nd Street in the fall draws thousands every year, an annual event since 1966.

Father McKenna of Our Lady of Angels and Ridgeite Cliff Scanlon rounded up neighborhood children from different parishes to put on a parade, just for fun, reads the event website. Back then, no one wore costumes, said a Bay Ridge Ragamuffin Parade committee member. Kids just wore their parents clothes, so they looked messy like little ragamuffins.

Bay Ridge isnt the only community that still stages a Ragamuffin parade. Theyre held in New Jerseys Hoboken and New Yorks Rochelle Park, too.

So, for all my friends and relatives out there, you might have been surprised to hear a knock on your door Thanksgiving morning, only to find a band of little ragamuffins standing outside.

Anything for Thanksgiving?

They were my granddaughters.

Brian

Oh by the way: Staten Islanders might not be giving treats to ragamuffins on Thanksgiving morning, but generous Islanders from St. George to Tottenville donate thousands of meals to those in need. People like Councilwoman Kamillah Hanks, Mike Cusick and the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, and KI Legal, who rounded up a bunch of donors and gave Thanksgiving turkeys to 130 families at PS 78. Or the five Staten Island Rotary clubs, who have been providing Thanksgiving food baskets for years. Rotarian and Staten Island Chamber of Commerce President Frank Scarangello has been at it for a lot of those years. The five local Rotary Clubs are busy tonight packaging 1,000 Turkey dinners for Thanksgiving, Frank reported from the warehouse, where scores of volunteers assembled the baskets. The same volunteers delivered the baskets. People like Matt Scamardella, Dave Dillion, Frank Wilkinson, Christine DeHart, and more. The whole thing is organized by Mike DeAngelo. Even the Wagner College Cheer team participated, Franksaid. All the monies to finance this were raised by the five Rotary clubs -- over $40,000. That, neighbors, is what Staten Island is all about.

The Wagner College Cheer Team (Photo courtesy Frank Scarangello)staten island advance
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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.
FUZULI, Azerbaijan, November 27. Relations between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan have been intensively developing in recent years, including within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, Executive director of the Agency for State Support to Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) of Azerbaijan Aygun Aliyeva told Trend.

She made the remarks on the sidelines of the Forum of cooperation between Azerbaijani and Uzbek non-governmental organizations (NGOs), organized in Fuzuli, held at Mirza Ulugbek Secondary School No. 1 in Azerbaijan. The forum is attended by around 100 representatives of NGOs from both countries.

"Political dialog between Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, cooperation in economic and humanitarian spheres with direct support of the heads of state of the two countries are strengthening day by day with high dynamics. In this regard, cooperation of civil society representatives of both countries is very important," she said.

Aliyeva also noted Uzbekistan's 30-member delegation, which is in Azerbaijan at the invitation of the State Support Agency for Non-Governmental Organizations for further development of cooperation and mutual exchange of experience," she said.

She added that the delegation includes representatives of the Administration of the President of Uzbekistan, relevant state structures, reputable NGOs and media outlets.

"During the 5 days of the visit it is planned to hold meetings in many governmental and non-governmental structures, sign memorandums on cooperation with donor agencies-partners of the agency operating in Uzbekistan, visit offices of non-governmental organizations, historical places of Baku and Shusha and hold the Forum of cooperation between Azerbaijani and Uzbek NGOs. The 1st secondary school named after Mirzo Ulugbek, located in Fuzuli and a gift from Uzbekistan to Azerbaijan, has been chosen to hold this forum. Interesting discussions and exchange of experience will take place within the forum," she said.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Macquarie Street can be a place for second chances.

In 2018, Clifford Jennings was at the centre of a plot to stack the Young Nationals with his fellow alt-right sympathisers and drag the party down a nationalist rabbit hole. He subsequently resigned from the party and was banned for life amid an investigation into alleged ties to alt-right groups.

Five years on, Jennings is working in NSW parliament as a senior adviser for Liberal Democrat upper house MP John Ruddick.

Jennings, whos also worked for veteran Bible basher Fred Nile, wound up in the office of Wagga Wagga independent MP Joe McGirr this year. Upon learning of Jennings past, which included expressing views such as banning immigration to Australia from non-Western countries, McGirr dumped him.

Thats when Jennings got on the phone to Ruddick, with whom hed already interviewed for a job.
Sydney Theatre Company has confirmed it is seeking undertakings from actors who expressed solidarity with Palestine during Saturday nights curtain call for the companys production of The Seagull, after patrons and donors expressed their anger to the company.

At the end of the opening night of the Chekhov classic, adapted by Andrew Upton and starring Sigrid Thornton, actors Harry Greenwood, Mabel Li and Megan Wilding each emerged wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Mabel Li (left), Harry Greenwood (right) and Megan Wilding (second right) wear traditional keffiyeh in the Sydney Theatre Companys production of The Seagull. Source: Instagram Credit:

On Instagram, Greenwood, who is the son of actor and STC foundation director Hugo Weaving, shared a video of the actors on stage which had the caption It warmed my heart to see these beauties at the opening of The Seagull wearing traditional keffiyeh in protest against the genocide in Gaza and ongoing occupation of Palestine.

Li reshared the same post and followed up with a quote from singer and civil rights activist Nina Simone: An artists duty, as far as Im concerned, is to reflect the times.
A year before an ambitious and adventurous woman was allegedly murdered by her partner, she shared a burning desire to live life intensely and take advantage of every moment.

It was Catiuscia Machados birthday. Alongside a photo of her admiring a horizon at golden hour in her home country of Brazil, she remarked in her last Facebook post about her great will to live and her positive expectations about the next lap around the sun.

Catiuscia Machado was excited for her future. Credit: Facebook

Less than two months after that lap was complete, police allege she was killed in an inner-west apartment by Diogo De Oliveira, her 40-year-old boyfriend.

De Oliveira briefly faced court on Monday after he was charged on Saturday night with murdering Machado  believed to be in her 40s  at a Chiswick unit.
In his two- by four-metre prison cell in Sydneys west, a unique national security inmate drags his mattress into a shaft of sunlight and scrawls his story the way he wants it to be told  a furious denial of police claims that he sold Australias secrets to Chinese spies.

New evidence has emerged in the case of Australian businessman Alexander Csergo, his handwritten prison diary-of-sorts begins, which calls into question the entire narrative [Australian authorities] have presented of covert meetings, cash payments, and deception of individuals.

Bondi businessman Alexander Csergo has penned a letter from his cell in Parklea prison while awaiting trial on a charge of reckless foreign interference, which he staunchly denies.

Csergo, 55, became the first Australian charged with reckless foreign interference after he returned to his mothers home in Bondi after years working with Chinese telco giants as an advertising executive.

The family home was raided by both ASIO and the Australian Federal Police in March before Csergo was arrested in April. He has remained inside Parklea prison since, a designated national security inmate, which means restricted visits and contact with the outside world.
Bruce Lehrmann often refers to struggles with his headspace amid the fallout from Brittany Higgins sexual assault allegations. He says he resorted to cocaine because he was spiralling. I was in a pretty bad place, he told the court.

So one can only imagine what was going on in his head as he braced for Kings Counsel Matt Collins to rake over his every move on Monday, picking apart closed-circuit footage of his movements, texts with his boss, and pages of messages with his friends.

Bruce Lehrmann arrives at the Federal Court in Sydney for his defamation trial on Monday. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

In an intense day of questioning in the defamation action Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson, Collins walked the political staffer-turned-law student through deep detail of two of the worst days of his life.

The day he was told to leave then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds office in disgrace, and the day he realised Higgins had gone to journalists with allegations she was raped in Parliament House and they had worked out she was talking about him.
Scandalous allegation Collins said Ten would call more than 20 supporting witnesses, including a media adviser, Lauren Gain, who would allege Lehrmann touched and pashed Higgins at Canberra bar 88mph on March 22, 2019, before the alleged rape in the early hours of March 23. Lehrmann has denied this account. In the course of his evidence, Mr Lehrmann made a scandalous allegation that Ms Gain had colluded with Ms Higgins to make up false evidence against him, Collins said. I invited him to withdraw the allegation, but he declined to do so. The allegation is without foundation. Collins said Gain texted a person in Reynolds office on March 23: Brittany hooked up with Bruce.

So there is a contemporaneous record supporting Ms Gains recollection, Collins said. She did not make it up. Lawsuit bound to fail Lehrmann alleges The Project interview, which did not name him, accused him of raping Higgins in then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds Parliament House office. He denies the allegation and says they had no sexual contact. If the court finds Lehrmann was indirectly identified by the broadcast, Ten and Wilkinson admit the interview conveyed the central claim of rape and are seeking to rely in part on a truth defence. During his opening address, Collins said Lehrmanns case was misconceived and bound to fail for a number of reasons.

Wilkinsons barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, said Lehrmanns lawyers were running an all or nothing identification case that Lehrmann was identified by Ten as the alleged rapist, and his case would fail if he was only identified as one of a small group of people who could possibly have been him. Lisa Wilkinson outside court on Tuesday with her barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC. Credit: Kate Keraghty She said that if the court found Lehrmann was identified as a member of a group, the only defamatory meaning that might have been conveyed was that there were reasonable grounds to suspect he committed the alleged sexual assault rather than that he was guilty, but Lehrmann had not brought a case complaining about that meaning. Seven paying accommodation Earlier on Tuesday, Lehrmann told the court the Seven Network was paying his accommodation costs for 12 months. Under cross-examination by Chrysanthou, Lehrmann said Seven had agreed to pay for his accommodation for a year to June 2024.

Thats what I get, Lehrmann said. For filming in those places. Chrysanthou said: What do you mean for filming in those places? Lehrmann replied that there was a section in the first broadcast [on Sevens Spotlight program] I recall that was filmed in the place I was in at the time. Bruce Lehrmann arrives at court on Tuesday morning. Credit: Kate Geraghty Chrysanthou took Lehrmann to an invoice and asked him if it reflected his agreement with Seven. He replied that he didnt know.

You dont know how much you were paid? Chrysanthou asked. Ive never seen that, Lehrmann said. So you dont know how much was paid by Seven for your accommodation for 12 months? Chrysanthou asked. Network Seven handle the accommodation arrangements, Lehrmann said. Seven has previously said in a statement: 7News Spotlight made no payment to Bruce Lehrmann for the interview, however the program assisted with accommodation as part of the filming of the story.

Stupid speech Chrysanthou also asked Lehrmann about a February 2022 speech in parliament in which then-prime minister Scott Morrison apologised to Higgins and to all those who came before Ms Higgins and endured the same. Former prime minister Scott Morrison during question time in Parliament House on November 27. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen You heard the prime minister refer to Ms Higgins as having the courage to stand, do you remember that? Chrysanthou asked. In his stupid parliament speech, yes, Lehrmann said.

Chrysanthou replied: Ill just ask the next question rather than responding to what Mr Lehrmann said. And the terrible things that took place here, he apologised to her for that? Loading Yes, Lehrmann replied. And the [then] leader of the opposition [Anthony Albanese] also paid tribute to the courage of Brittany Higgins, who is with us today? Yes, and a number of party leaders and other Labor Party frontbenchers, yes.
A good city is like a party where people stay longer than they expected because they are enjoying it, says Jan Gehl, the Danish architect.

The urbanist, author and international expert on creating walkable cities that put people first and cars last, 87-year-old Gehl visited Sydney recently to see the 2019 pedestrianisation and greening of George Street that his team recommended.

Jan Gehl outside Sydney Town Hall. Credit: Janie Barrett

It was not very good, he said of Sydney back in 2006. All the clutter, the obstacles on the sidewalks, the noise, and of course, the Monorail.

He was also in Sydney to throw the weight of his international reputation, earned by transforming parts of New York, London, Melbourne and Buenos Aires, behind Lord Mayor Clover Moores push to realise their grand plan for Sydney that includes a public plaza to be called Town Hall Square. Its been delayed until 2033.
A separate motion, signed by 115 teachers and school staff, called on the Victorian branch of the union to condemn what it described as Israels campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing. The union last month condemned both Hamas and Israel for targeting civilians in the escalating conflict. Lucy, who did not want her surname published out of fear of repercussions, said participating teachers arrived at school on Monday with watermelon badges, keffiyehs and Free Palestine stickers. Watermelons, which share the colours of the Palestinian flag, have become a symbol of Palestinian resistance. Education Department deputy secretary David Howes issued a statement to teachers on Monday making it clear the action was not supported and that staff should be cautious of causing distress or isolating students. It is important to be reminded that school staff should not use their professional position to make political statements or seek to influence the political views of students, Howes said.

Howes and Carroll both reminded teachers of their obligations to be unbiased, objective and not have political or personal agendas in the classroom. Loading Carroll said it was up to school principals to enforce the codes of conduct and for the department to decide if there would be consequences. He said he was seeking advice on whether teachers could be instructed not to wear specific attire. The Maribyrnong sub-branch motion claimed a member was reprimanded by their principal earlier this month for handing out leaflets in the staff room. Lucy said she did not believe the action by the sub-branches was in breach of the codes of conduct, but that teachers and school staff were regrouping to decide how to continue.

I think there was a lot of confusion and outrage, real fury that the department could interfere like this. Its not over, she said. Jess Wilson, the Coalitions spokeswoman for education, said the department should have directly instructed staff not to participate and ought to have listed the consequences for doing so. This departmental advice does not come close to communicating the harmful and divisive nature of this politically motivated campaign to teachers, students and school communities, Wilson said.

Loading Concerningly, there is no reference to the rise of antisemitism in Victoria and how this political activism will impact Jewish students and teachers in government schools. She said the government should have been quicker to condemn the distressing week of action, noting the opposition released a statement a day earlier. Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin called on teachers and schools to condemn the fringe extremists. Sadly, there are teachers who want to recruit children rather than educate them, Ryvchin said in a statement.

We have heard from the state and federal governments, but ultimately this is a battle for the integrity of the profession and if fringe extremists are the loudest and most prominent voices, the damage to teachers and children will be profound and long-lasting. Carroll commended school communities for managing tensions in a difficult period. Ive been out to Jewish schools, Islamic schools, state and private, independent schools, theyre all doing a very important and difficult job at the moment. The teachers week of action comes after hundreds of protesters joined the School Students for Palestine rally in the CBD on Friday. Students were asked to leave school at lunchtime for the protest.
More than 8000 patients will undergo long-awaited elective surgery as the Western Australian government injects $40 million to help clear the backlog.

An extra 6000 procedures will be performed in the next six months, with the extra cash to be announced in the December mid-year financial review.

WA Premier Roger Cook. Credit: Trevor Collens

Wait times for elective surgeries blew out during the COVID-19 pandemic, with some patients forced to wait almost six months for simple day surgery.

Premier Roger Cook announced the extra funding on Monday, saying the health system had already cleared record numbers of patients on the wait list.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Of late, fake news is hitting social networks with fraudsters who, using the Trend News Agency logo, offer citizens some "ways to earn money," citing an interview with the former head of SOCAR, allegedly published on our website.

Trend News Agency declares that these messages are unrelated to the agency and have never appeared on our website or in the company's information products.

We urge citizens to remain vigilant, not fall for fraudsters' trickery, and, if necessary, to call law enforcement authorities.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A $13 billion scheme to recover 3200 gigalitres a year of water for the ailing Murray-Darling river system looks set to be saved after the government struck a last-gasp deal with the Greens to ensure the national environmental reform is completed.

The Greens have agreed to back Environment and Water Minister Tanya Pliberseks Restoring Our Rivers bill, which removes barriers to more water buybacks and opens the door to a new round of water-saving infrastructure projects.

Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek (right) and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young announcing their deal on Monday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen.

It would allow up to 750 gigalitres of outstanding water to be bought back from willing farmers and extends the deadline for its recovery from December until the end of 2027.

Pliberseks bill pits the Albanese government against farmers and Victoria, both of which oppose more buybacks. The government still needs to lock in support from two Senate crossbenchers, and Plibersek said negotiations were ongoing.
Hundreds of Australian business and community leaders have joined forces to warn against a sharp rise in antisemitism in the wake of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, with former premiers from both sides of politics also backing the call to reject racism.

Former premiers including Daniel Andrews from Victoria, Gladys Berejiklian from NSW, Anna Bligh from Queensland and Mark McGowan from Western Australia are among the 600 people who have signed the statement out of concern at the attacks.

Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian and former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews have signed the statement. Credit: Christopher Pearce/Darrian Traynor

Telstra chair John Mullen, BlueScope chair Jane McAloon, Macquarie Group chair Glenn Stevens, Wesfarmers chair Michael Chaney and AFL Commission chair Richard Goyder are also among the signatories.

The letter is being described by supporters as one of the most powerful petitions of its kind in Australian public life, highlighting the growing anxiety about antisemitism since a small group of protesters chanted f--- the Jews at a march near the Sydney Opera House on October 9.
A French foursome who cut their teeth reinvigorating the cocktail bar scene in Paris are expanding their flourishing hotel portfolio across Europe, finding success in a model that redefines luxury for a bon vivant clientele.

Childhood friends Romee de Goriainoff, Pierre-Charles Cros and Olivier Bon first worked their magic together on a New Years Eve party. They made a profit from the event, tripled the money at a local casino and used the winnings to splurge on a Michelin-starred meal. They were 18.

Graphic yet grounded villas at Menorca Experimental. Credit: Karel Balas

After stints studying and spending time abroad, Experimental Group launched in 2007 with Experimental Cocktail Club, a turning point for Paris drinking scene. Xavier Padovani joined in 2010, and they continued to expand their offering to include wine bars, speakeasies, restaurants, beach clubs and hotels.

Unlike some larger hotel chains, the Experimental empire remains a personal extension of the mens epicurean taste, savoir-faire and strong instincts. This adds a certain je ne sais quoi, like your stay was a tip-off by a stylish, in-the-know friend. Even if guests arent aware of the curation that goes on behind the scenes  like the Frenchmen personally trying 15 mattresses before selecting the best (Davilaine) and only choosing locations where they themselves would holiday  its implied.
Dubai: COP28 host the United Arab Emirates planned to discuss possible natural gas and other commercial deals ahead of UN climate talks that begin this week, an investigation by the BBC and the Centre for Climate Reporting (CCR) said on Monday.

The climate summit will be the first global assessment of progress since the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015, which set a goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees, while aiming for a cap of 1.5 degrees.

A COP28 spokesperson disputed the conclusion of the report saying the documents were inaccurate.

Dubai hosts the United Nations COP28 climate talks starting on November 30. Credit: AP

Climate scientists have said achieving that goal depends on phasing out fossil fuels.
The pause in hostilities in Gaza is an opportunity to reflect on the nature of Hamas, even if only because this explains whats going to happen next.

Many assume that Hamas is an anti-colonialist resistance movement. That Hamas, because it attacked Israel, it is a pro-Palestinian, nationalist organisation.

Illustration: Dionne Gain. Credit:

All of this is entirely understandable because Hamas often employs the same language of the anti-colonial movement, and it talks a lot about the oppression of the Palestinian people. But all this is a facade. Its aim is not to decolonise Palestine but to exterminate Jews. It calls itself a resistance movement but it is actually genocidal.

It couldnt care less about the Palestinian people. A senior Hamas official, Mousa Abu Marzouk, was asked on October 27 why the organisation had built hundreds of kilometres of tunnels for itself instead of bomb shelters for the Palestinian people.
Stein said she has felt dissatisfaction with the major parties growing steadily since her first presidential campaign and its off the charts now. Attendees dressed as former US president George Washington and MAGA King during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, earlier this year. Credit: Bloomberg Seventy-five per cent of Americans think Biden should not run for president again, and 69 per cent think Trump should not, according to an August poll from The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research. Both men are underwater with their approval ratings, meaning more Americans view them unfavourably than favourably. Americans think Biden, 81, is too old and they are divided about criminal charges against Trump, 77, who has been indicted four times and is facing trial next year. Nearly 80 per cent said Biden was too old to be effective for four more years. About half of Americans approved of the Justice Department indicting Trump over his efforts to remain in office after losing the 2020 election to Biden.

Conscious of their candidates middling approval ratings, Democrats and Republicans are watching the third-party campaigns with wariness. Many Democrats blame Stein for Trumps victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Stein won 1.5 million votes as Trump defeated Clinton by the slimmest of margins in a few swing states. Democrats assume that many of voters supporting a progressive environmental activist would likely have chosen Clinton if forced to choose between the major parties. Stein takes umbrage at the suggestion that votes can be stolen from the major parties. Robert F. Kennedy jnr has decided to run as an independent. Credit: Getty Meanwhile, a little-known Minnesota congressman is challenging Biden in the Democratic primary. Minnesota representative Dean Phillips says Democrats are sleepwalking into disaster with their march towards renominating an unpopular president who is the oldest person to hold the office.

Im just saying the quiet part out loud, Phillips said in an interview in South Carolina. Everybody else is still staying in line, shushing up, sitting down and doing what you do to make sure you get the money for your next election. Robert F. Kennedy jnr, last month ended his Democratic primary challenge to Biden and is running instead as an independent. Kennedy, an environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist, has higher approval ratings among Republicans than Democrats despite his deep familial ties to the Democratic Party. Kennedys uncle was president John F. Kennedy and his father was senator Robert F. Kennedy. Kennedy has developed close relationships with far-right figures and has a kinship with some conservatives drawn to his fringe views, including his vocal distrust of COVID-19 vaccines, which studies have shown are safe and effective against severe disease and death. Loading His anti-vaccine organisation, Childrens Health Defence, currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organisations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by acting to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines. Kennedy took leave from the group when he announced his run for president but is listed as one of its attorneys in the lawsuit.

No Labels, a well-funded group that is laying the groundwork for a possible bipartisan ticket, is working towards ballot access in all 50 states, with more than a dozen already approved. The plan has caused increasing anxiety among Democrats whose support will come primarily from would-be Biden voters. This could ease Trumps path back to the White House. If the group managed to win one or more states, it could result in no candidate receiving a majority of the Electoral College votes and the election being decided by the House of Representatives. No Labels has said little about how it will choose candidates. The party planned to release a selection process in October, but the timeline slipped to November and it appears to be slipping further. Senator Joe Manchin will also run as an independent. Credit: AP Democrat Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia announced this month he would not run for reelection next year but would travel the country to consider an independent presidential campaign. At the same time, a new group emerged calling for Manchin and Utah Senator Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, to run under the No Labels ticket. The group is raising money for polling to test the viability of a bipartisan ticket with the two retiring senators, starting in Arizona and Michigan, according to Jennifer Franks, chairman of the Draft Romney/Manchin Committee. Romney considered running for president but abandoned the effort after concluding it would help Trump, according to a Romney biography by journalist McKay Coppins published last month.
French Quarter, St. Martin  The public is invited to the launch of a new book, St. Martin Sea Life, this Saturday from 9 am to noon at Amuseum Naturalis at The Old House in French Quarter. Attendees can get a free copy of the book in English or French at the launch.

St. Martin Sea Life is a book that explores the marine habitats surrounding this island, from mangrove wetlands and seagrass beds to coral reefs and the open ocean. Readers will discover how each habitat is special, and get to know some of the unique animals that live in each one.

We are very excited to launch this guide to the sea life of St. Martin, said author Mark Yokoyama. It shows some of the amazing things we can see in our seas. We also wanted to explain how these plants and animals depend on each other in language that is easy for anyone to understand.

The book features over 140 vivid color photos that will captivate readers both young and old. The book has been published in English, French and bilingual editions. It was produced by Les Fruits de Mer, and will be distributed to local schools as part of the associations book program. The French translation was done by Amandine Vaslet. Were thrilled to share this special marine life book with St. Martin students and teachers through our 2023 program, said Les Fruits de Mer President Jenn Yerkes. And we invite everyone to come celebrate the islands undersea world at the launch!

The free launch event and book giveaway will be held at Amuseum Naturalis on Saturday, Saturday, December 2nd from 9am to noon. Amuseum Naturalis is a free museum of nature and heritage located in French Quarter, St. Martin. It is open every day from sunrise to sunset.

St. Martin Sea Life is also available from http://lesfruitsdemer.com, and for purchase on amazon.com worldwide. Teachers and youth group leaders interested in copies are encouraged to contact Les Fruits de Mer at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Companies, organizations or individuals interested in sponsoring copies for schools are also encouraged to contact the association.

This book was made possible with the financial support of the Office of Biodiversity of France, thanks to a micro-grant from Te Me Um, a program from the Office of Biodiversity of France to support biodiversity in French overseas territories (TErres et MErs UltraMarines).
PHILIPSBURG:--- The Ombuds institutions of the Kingdom of the Netherlands recently met in Aruba for their annual meeting. One of the topics discussed during the meeting was the Aruban Ombudsman. The process to appoint the Aruban Ombudsman is in an advanced stage and an appointment is expected during the first quarter of 2024. Another important subject that was deliberated upon is the existing challenges the countries face regarding undocumented immigrants. The ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti and the interrelated detention and forced repatriation are especially a concern. In this regard, it is important to recall the statement of support issued by the International Ombudsman Institute (IOI) in May of this year for the Ombudsman (Office for the Protection of the Citizen) of Haiti. In said letter the IOI expressed its concern about the acts of violence that have been taking place, particularly the acts of looting, vandalism, arson, and murders recorded both in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in other regions of the country during the last months.

The IOIs 13th World Conference which will be hosted by the National Ombudsman of the Netherlands in the Hague from May 13-17, 2024 was also discussed. The annual meeting was followed by presentations, by the three Ombudspersons, at the University of Aruba to law students and other legal professionals. The Ombudsman of Curacao, Keursly Concincion, on the occasion of World Childrens Day, spoke on the protection of the child against violence, abuse, and neglect. The Ombudsman of Sint Maarten addressed complaint handling and the standards of proper conduct and the National Ombudsman, Reiner van Zutphen, presented on the subject of the Venice Principles and the role of the Ombudsman in a democratic system of government. The Venice Principles are the codification of a set of constitutional and legal principles specifically devoted to the institution of the Ombudsman established by the Venice Commission (European Commission for Democracy through Law), which is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law.

During the visit to Aruba, the Ombudsmen also met with His Excellency the Governor of Aruba, Alphonso Boekhoudt, and the Honourable Prime Minister of Aruba, Ms. Evelyn Wever-Croes.
VIZSLA SILVER REPORTS ADDITIONAL HIGH-GRADE INTERCEPTS on the COPALA and COPALA 2 STRUCTURES

Vizsla Silver Corp. (TSX-V: VZLA) (NYSE: VZLA) (Frankfurt: 0G3) (aVizslaa or the aCompanya)  https://www.commodity-tv.com/ondemand/companies/profil/vizsla-silver-corp/  A is pleased to report new drill results from 22 expansion and infill holes targeting the Copala resource area at its 100%-owned, flagshipA PanucoA silver-gold project (\Panuco\ or the \Project\) located in Mexico. The reported results have successfully expanded Copala mineralization by ~100m to the southeast and identified new vein splays situated in-between Copala and the high-grade Cristiano structure.

Highlights

CS-23-304 returned 1,722 grams per tonne (g/t) silver equivalent (AgEq) over 2.80 metres true width (mTW) (1,366 g/t silver and 6.80 g/t gold)

Including 6,618 g/t AgEq over 0.55 mTW (5,320 g/t silver and 25.20 g/t gold)

CS-23-300 returned 724 g/t AgEq over 3.10 mTW (519 g/t silver and 3.57 g/t gold)

Including 1,749 g/t AgEq over 1.00 mTW (1,255 g/t silver and 8.61 g/t gold)

aResource expansion drilling at Copala, both to the north and southeast, continue to highlight a robust precious metals structure well beyond the January 2023 resource boundary,a commented Michael Konnert, President & CEO. aNew step out drilling has extended the total mineralized strike length of Copala by approximately 100 metres to the south and it remains open in both directions. Additionally, drilling has confirmed the continuity of the high-grade Copala 2 vein located between Tajitos and Copala main which now measures a total of 600 metres in mineralized strike. Moving forward, we intend to continue infilling and expanding these high-grade zones with two drill rigs, in preparation for the updated resource estimate planned for January 2024.a

The precious metals dominant Copala Structure, located in the western portion of the Panuco district, is situated ~800 m to the east of the Napoleon vein. Copala currently hosts Indicated Resources of 51.1 Moz AgEq at 516 g/t AgEq and Inferred Resources of 55.4 Moz AgEq at 617 g/t AgEq within a broad envelope of vein-breccia interlayered with host rock, up to 82 metres thick. Interpretations by Vizsla geologists indicate Copala has an average dip of ~46A to the east (~35A in its northern sector and steepening to ~52A in the southern sector).

Ongoing drilling at Copala has now traced mineralization along ~1,770 metres of strike length and ~400 metres down dip. The recently completed batch of resource expansion drilling consisted of 21 holes drilled at ~50 m and ~100 m centres in the southern extent of Copala and one hole in the north, targeting both the main Copala structure and the Copala 2 vein to the footwall. At Copala, hole CS-23-300 in the north, intercepted a broad mineralized structure (~30 mTW) consisting of two high grade zones enveloping a low grade stockwork zone carrying anomalous silver and gold grades throughout (see cross section on figure 5). Results from seven step-out holes in the south show that the Copala structure gets steeper at depth (~70A) and develops vein splays carrying significant silver and gold grades. The recently interpreted Copala 4 and FW Splay vein sit between Cristiano and Copala, approximately 100 m and 50 m west of Copala, respectively. To date, drilling has traced Copala 4 approximately 300 m along strike and 400 m down dip whereas the FW Splay has been traced for ~350 m along strike and 250 m down dip. The vein splays strike at 15A to 35A due northwest and dip at 60A to 70A to the east. These new splays, like Cristiano, are relatively narrow compared to the main Copala structure, and host precious metals rich epithermal mineralization. The drilling completed in the southern extent of Copala was designed to explore and/or infill the Copala structure. Due to geometry those holes could not efficiently test the projection of the Cristiano vein, which remains an open target. A Vizsla is preparing an exploration program for next year that will consider additional exploration on the southern extent of Cristiano and the newly identified splays.

The Copala 2 vein sits at the footwall of the main Copala structure and is bounded to the west by the Tajitos vein and to the east by the Copala Fault. The Vein strikes northeast, dips to the southeast at approximately 48A and has been traced for ~330 metres along strike and ~290 metres down dip. Refer to the Companya?s news releases dated July 13, 2023, and May 19, 2022, for previous drillhole results from Copala 2.

To date, Vizsla has completed ~89,800 m of its fully funded 90,000 m 2023 drill program.

About the Panuco project

The newly consolidated Panuco silver-gold project is an emerging high-grade discovery located in southern Sinaloa, Mexico, near the city of MazatlAn. The 7,189.5-hectare, past producing district benefits from over 86 kilometres of total vein extent, 35 kilometres of underground mines, roads, power, and permits.

The district contains intermediate to low sulfidation epithermal silver and gold deposits related to siliceous volcanism and crustal extension in the Oligocene and Miocene. Host rocks are mainly continental volcanic rocks correlated to the Tarahumara Formation.

The Panuco Project hosts an estimated in-situ indicated mineral resource of 104.8 Moz AgEq and an in-situ inferred resource of 114.1 Moz AgEq. An updated NI 43-101 technical report titled aTechnical Report on the Mineral Resource Estimate Update for the Panuco Ag-Au-Pb-Zn Project, Sinaloa State, Mexicoa was filed on SEDAR on March 10, 2023, with an effective date of January 19, 2023 was prepared byA Allan Armitage, Ph.D., P.Geo.,A Ben Eggers, MAIG, P.Geo. andA Yann Camus, P.Eng. of SGS Geological Services.

About Vizsla Silver

Vizsla Silver is a Canadian mineral exploration and development company headquartered in Vancouver, BC, focused on advancing its flagship, 100%-owned Panuco silver-gold project located in Sinaloa, Mexico. To date, Vizsla has completed over 310,000 metres of drilling at Panuco leading to the discovery of several new high-grade veins. For 2023, Vizsla has budgeted +90,000 metres of resource/discovery-based drilling designed to upgrade and expand the mineral resource, as well as test other high priority targets across the district.

Quality Assurance / Quality Control

Drill core and rock samples were shipped to ALS Limited in Zacatecas, Zacatecas, Mexico and in North Vancouver, Canada for sample preparation and for analysis at the ALS laboratory in North Vancouver.A The ALS Zacatecas and North Vancouver facilities are ISO 9001 and ISO/IEC 17025 certified. Silver and base metals were analyzed using a four-acid digestion with an ICP finish and gold was assayed by 30-gram fire assay with atomic absorption (aAAa) spectroscopy finish. Over limit analyses for silver, lead and zinc were re-assayed using an ore-grade four-acid digestion with AA finish.

Control samples comprising certified reference samples, duplicates and blank samples were systematically inserted into the sample stream and analyzed as part of the Companya?s quality assurance / quality control protocol.

Qualified Person

In accordance with NI 43-101, Martin Dupuis, P.Geo., COO, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has reviewed and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release.

Information Concerning Estimates of Mineral Resources

The scientific and technical information in this news release was prepared in accordance with NI 43-101 which differs significantly from the requirements of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the aSECa). The terms \measured mineral resource\, \indicated mineral resource\ and \inferred mineral resource\ used herein are in reference to the mining terms defined in the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum Standards (the aCIM Definition Standardsa), which definitions have been adopted by NI 43-101. Accordingly, information contained herein providing descriptions of our mineral deposits in accordance with NI 43-101 may not be comparable to similar information made public by other U.S. companies subject to the United States federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder.

You are cautioned not to assume that any part or all of mineral resources will ever be converted into reserves. Pursuant to CIM Definition Standards, ainferred mineral resourcesa are that part of a mineral resource for which quantity and grade or quality are estimated on the basis of limited geological evidence and sampling. Such geological evidence is sufficient to imply but not verify geological and grade or quality continuity. An inferred mineral resource has a lower level of confidence than that applying to an indicated mineral resource and must not be converted to a mineral reserve. However, it is reasonably expected that the majority of inferred mineral resources could be upgraded to indicated mineral resources with continued exploration. Under Canadian rules, estimates of inferred mineral resources may not form the basis of feasibility or pre-feasibility studies, except in rare cases. Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of an inferred mineral resource is economically or legally mineable. Disclosure of acontained ouncesa in a resource is permitted disclosure under Canadian regulations; however, the SEC normally only permits issuers to report mineralization that does not constitute areservesa by SEC standards as in place tonnage and grade without reference to unit measures.

Canadian standards, including the CIM Definition Standards and NI 43-101, differ significantly from standards in the SEC Industry Guide 7. Effective February 25, 2019, the SEC adopted new mining disclosure rules under subpart 1300 of Regulation S-K of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the aSEC Modernization Rulesa), with compliance required for the first fiscal year beginning on or after January 1, 2021. The SEC Modernization Rules replace the historical property disclosure requirements included in SEC Industry Guide 7. As a result of the adoption of the SEC Modernization Rules, the SEC now recognizes estimates of ameasured mineral resourcesa, aindicated mineral resourcesa and ainferred mineral resourcesa. Information regarding mineral resources contained or referenced herein may not be comparable to similar information made public by companies that report according to U.S. standards. While the SEC Modernization Rules are purported to be asubstantially similara to the CIM Definition Standards, readers are cautioned that there are differences between the SEC Modernization Rules and the CIM Definitions Standards. Accordingly, there is no assurance any mineral resources that the Company may report as ameasured mineral resourcesa, aindicated mineral resourcesa and ainferred mineral resourcesa under NI 43-101 would be the same had the Company prepared the resource estimates under the standards adopted under the SEC Modernization Rules.

Contact Information: For more information and to sign-up to the mailing list, please contact:

Michael Konnert, President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (604) 364-2215

Email: info@vizslasilver.caA

Website: www.vizslasilvercorp.caA A

In Europe:

Swiss Resource Capital AG

Jochen Staiger & Marc Ollinger

info@resource-capital.ch

www.resource-capital.ch

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes certain aForward?Looking Statementsa within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and aforward?looking informationa under applicable Canadian securities laws. When used in this news release, the words aanticipatea, abelievea, aestimatea, aexpecta, atargeta, aplana, aforecasta, amaya, awoulda, acoulda, aschedulea and similar words or expressions, identify forward?looking statements or information. These forward?looking statements or information relate to, among other things: the exploration, development, and production at Panuco, including plans for resource/discovery-based drilling, designed to upgrade, and expand the maiden resource as well as test other high priority targets across the district.

Forward?looking statements and forward?looking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of Vizsla Silver, future growth potential for Vizsla Silver and its business, and future exploration plans are based on managementa?s reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on managementa?s experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of silver, gold, and other metals; no escalation in the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; Vizsla Silvera?s ability to operate in a safe and effective manner and its ability to obtain financing on reasonable terms.

These statements reflect Vizsla Silvera?s respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward?looking statements or forward-looking information and Vizsla Silver has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the Company\-s dependence on one mineral project; precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company\-s mining activities in Mexico; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company\-s management team and outside contractors; risks regarding mineral resources and reserves; the Company\-s inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects, including the inaccuracy of reserves and resources, metallurgical recoveries and capital and operating costs of such projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; the ability of the communities in which the Company operates to manage and cope with the implications of COVID-19; the economic and financial implications of COVID-19 to the Company; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company\-s interactions with surrounding communities and artisanal miners; the Company\-s ability to successfully integrate acquired assets; the speculative nature of exploration and development, including the risks of diminishing quantities or grades of reserves; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; and the factors identified under the caption aRisk Factorsa in Vizsla Silvera?s management discussion and analysis. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward?looking statements or forward-looking information. Although Vizsla Silver has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. Vizsla Silver does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward?looking statements or forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, November 27. The Research Institute of Natural Gas of the Turkmengaz State Concern and the 'Nebitgaztaslama' Institute of the Turkmennebit State Concern are working on the issue of reducing methane emissions, Trend reports.

This was announced by the Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of Turkmenistan Ashirguly Begliyev at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.

According to him, the scientists of the institutes have developed a number of specific measures to reduce methane emissions, including through the introduction of modern environmentally friendly technologies in energy, industry and transport.

The purpose of these initiatives is to fulfill the conditions of the Global Methane Commitment, to which Ashgabat plans to join during the upcoming 28th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28).

Summarizing the report, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov focused on the need for further development of scientific institutes of the oil and gas industry.

Noting the importance of using the latest scientific and technological achievements in their work, the Head of state ordered to effectively apply the recommendations of scientists in the activities of state concerns.
It also suggests the purpose of one of the entities, called Phantom Investments 2, was for investment into Wagestream, a payment platform, when investment into the British fintech was in fact made by another firm in the structure, Bellis Phantom Holdco, before the shares were moved out of it in November last year.
What Andrew Bailey actually told ChronicleLive following a visit to the North East was that rates would not be cut in "the foreseeable future" and that it was "too soon" to be having that discussion. Which is central bank talk for 'go away and come back when you're more productive'.
The chief virtues of the Telegraph and the Spectator, both part of Telegraph Media being sold in a forced auction, is that they are, in fact, for sale. Rupert Murdoch wanted to buy them! (Pay no attention that hes 92 and past thinking clearly.) The fact that this is print, a business Jeff Zucker has no familiarity with, and, a safe assumption, no interest in, and that the Telegraph and Spectator are in the UK, a market that for Jeff Zucker surely appears oddly quaint, if not embarrassing (UK media execs come to the US, not the other way around) takes a back seat to the fact that here are media brands that he might be able to actually own.
I was fortunate to enjoy several trips with Russell. We visited the vineyards of Alvaro Palacious in Catalonia and his beloved Venice. Our travelling companions were Angela Hartnett, John Hutton, Robin Hutson, and Tom Parker Bowles. Russell always made it fun. In Venice, he insisted that we all stay at his favourite hotel in the world, Pensione Seguso. It could never be described as the most luxurious place in the world, or even Venice, to stay, but it very much suited Russells character - unpretentious and genuine  and Seguso never lost its charm, even when he had to come to rescue us when we all got stuck in the hotels lift.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. Kazakhstan and Abu Dhabi Ports Group are interested in cooperation on the development of the ports of Aktau and Kuryk in the Caspian Sea, Trend reports.

This was stated during a meeting between President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Managing Director of Abu Dhabi Ports Group Mohamed Juma Al Shamisi.

Tokayev described the development of these ports as a strategic priority for Kazakhstan. Taking into consideration Abu Dhabi Ports Group's extensive experience in transportation and logistics, the parties addressed the opportunities for mutually beneficial partnership in this sector.

At the same time, Tokayev praised the collaboration between KazMunayGas JSC (Kazakhstan's national oil and gas corporation) and ADP in transferring Kazakh oil to Azerbaijan via the Middle Corridor.

As Tokayev previously stated, Kazakhstan is planning a large-scale modernization of its Caspian ports of Kuryk and Aktau.

Over 2.6 million tons of dry and oil cargo were transshipped through Kazakhstan's Aktau Commercial Seaport in the first seven months of 2023, which is 24 percent higher than the same period last year. The port handled 142,000 tons of grain, 114,000 tons of metal, and over 13,000 containers.

At the end of 2022, the cargo turnover at the seaport of Aktau amounted to 3.8 million tons, which is 9 percent higher than the level of the previous year. Of these, 2.5 million tons accounted for oil, 447,000 tons for grain, 119,000 tons for metal, and about 786,000 tons were other cargoes.

About 1.5 million tons of cargo were transshipped through the seaport of Kuryk from January through August 2023, which is 15 percent higher than the same period last year. Including over 1 million tons delivered by rail, more than 430,000 by road.

Over the eight months of 2023, the port handled 480 ferries, over 13,800 wagons, and more than 18,000 freight vehicles.
Victoria Prew is the brains behind Hurr Collective, which has its own website featuring brands and peer-to-peer lending, as well as being the logistic tech power behind a slew of retailer rental. She positions Hurr as a fashion forward aspirational platform where we see the best demand is for pieces that have sold out online. The current hottest items are a Saloni bow dress, 16Arlington solaria gown and vintage Jean Paul Gaultier pieces. Our sweet spot for rental is a 300-600 item being rented at roughly 15 to 20 per cent of RRP, she explains. In terms of sizing, Hurr has better results than others, although My Wardrobe HQ is pretty good on this, too.
He just said they must have got in the trailer while he was in the shop. Its a very hot spot for migrants in the Calais area. Its very common. I had no reason not to believe his account.
He was excluded from the first six Cobra meetings in February and March 2020. This meant the Government was uninformed about Londons specific risks from covid, such as the greater risk of transmission in multi-generation households and the large number of Londoners who were on zero-hours contracts and thus could not afford to stay at home.
Buttle UK, which is one of the charities being funded by a 50,000 grant from our Winter Survival Appeal in partnership with Comic Relief, spent 4 million last year to help about 4,400 children  and Sarahs family was one of the beneficiaries. It settled her debt of 435 and also helped pay for school uniforms and beds and bedding for her children, all aged under 10, and which helped lift the financial burden on the family. Sarah, who was able to keep studying and is now in her final year before qualifying as a midwife, said: It was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I cant explain the feeling of when I went to the school and she said, thats been paid. Even her face lit up and I remember sending a text message to the social worker telling her how grateful I was because I didnt realise there was that kind of help out there.
Ms Hidalgo's office said that she will close her X account - which has 1.5 million followers - at the end of the week. Paris City Hall will keep its own separate account on the platform, they added.
Over the weekend, the WHO and China's health ministry stressed that the increased pressure on hospitals is being caused by "known pathogens". In other words, there is no need to dig out your FFP2 mask before you get on the Northern line just yet.
Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled," Mr Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities."
When is Black Friday?

Every year, Black Friday takes place on the last Friday of November. This year, it falls on November 24. Nevertheless, some brands start their sales roll-out a week early  so its always a good idea to keep an eye on your favourites.

What is Black Friday?

An annual sales extravaganza originating in the US, Black Friday serves as a post-Thanksgiving, pre-Christmas stock clear-out for brands across the globe. Its the date that is triple-underlined in every savvy shoppers diary in the run-up to the festive season.

When does Black Friday end?

Black Friday ends with an event known as Cyber Monday, which falls on November 27.

Does Gymshark have holiday sales?

You bet. This year, Gymshark are beginning their sales on November 16  a whole week early.

What kind of Gymshark deals can we expect?
We have cared for the marbles for generations and our position is we want that to continue. The world comes to the UK regularly to see the marbles and there are no plans to change that or to change the law, he said.
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Several sections of national roads in Bacau, Constanta, Braila, Galati, Tulcea and Vaslui counties are closed to traffic on Monday morning, due to inclement weather.

The INFOTRAFIC Center of the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police (IGPR) informs that on Monday, at 7:00 a.m., 21 sections of national roads were closed due to unfavorable weather conditions.

At the same time, the ports of Midia and Mangalia remain closed.

As for the roads in Tulcea county, they will remain closed to vehicle traffic until the snow clearing vehicles manage to make them passable, the Delta Emergency Situations Inspectorate (ISU) announced on Monday morning, mentioning that there are still cars in the county stuck in the snow, and 53 towns have no electricity.

The decision regarding the closure of the county roads to public traffic was taken by the County Committee for Emergency Situations, and it will be suspended when the snow clearing vehicles succeed in unblocking them.

Around 7:00 a.m., in the county, seven cars were blocked, and 11 people requested the help of the fire department.

"Of the seven blocked cars, three are in the Luncavita - Vacareni area and one in the Babadag area. There are nine people in these cars. In the area of the Iazurile town, there is intervention to unlock three cars in which there are two people, in the other there is no information that there are people stuck in the third car," mentioned ISU Delta.
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, November 27. Kazakhstan will continue to fully promote the implementation of One Belt, One Road initiative, said President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev during a meeting with Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Ding Xuexiang, Trend reports.

The parties discussed the state and prospects for the development of the Kazakh-Chinese strategic partnership, as well as the progress in implementing the agreements previously reached by Tokayev and President of China Xi Jinping.

As Tokayev noted, bringing bilateral relations with China to a new qualitative level is the most important priority for Kazakhstan.

"I believe that Kazakh-Chinese relations are, in fact, a model of mutually beneficial, effective interstate interaction. We consider China as a very important strategic partner and have high hopes for achieving concrete results of our cooperation in all areas," he said.

President of Kazakhstan reminded that the recent Third 'One Belt, One Road' Forum was a great success and determined the future path for the development of a large-scale initiative.

"I recently visited Beijing and held detailed negotiations with President Xi Jinping. The negotiations were highly substantive and became an important step towards deepening cooperation. A visa-free regime has come into force," he said.

According to him, developing cooperation with China is a priority.

"We are paying special attention to this issue at the highest level," Tokayev noted.

In 2022, Kazakhstans trade turnover with China amounted to $24.1 billion, which is 34.1 percent more than a year earlier.

Exports from Kazakhstan increased over the year by 34.7 percent, to $13.2 billion. The share of Kazakhstan's exports to China accounted for a significant 15.6 percent of the country's total trade turnover.

Imports from China to Kazakhstan grew by 33.5 percent over the year, to $11 billion. China's share in the structure of imports of the Republic of Kazakhstan amounted to 21.9 percent.
Inspector General with the General Border Police Inspectorate Victor Stefan Ivascu was released from office on his own accord and will be succeeded at the leadership of the law enforcement organization by Border Police Deputy Inspector General Cornel Laurian Stoica, the Ministry of the Interior announced.

Also, the Ministry's Control Body will carry out a control at the Sighetul Marmatiei Border Police Territorial Inspectorate, including at the Petea Border Crossing Point.

The head of the Maramures County Police Inspectorate was also dismissed, and the respective local structure will undergo an inspection, the cited release informs, noting that these decisions were taken "following a series of events (...) on the work lines of certain structures under the authority of the Ministry of the Interior, which occurred due to superficiality or lack of pro-active professional and managerial attitude on the job."

Baia Mare mayor Catalin Chereches, who was supposed to begin on Friday a five-year prison sentence after being convicted definitively for corruption, fled the country on the same day through the Petea border crossing point with Hungary, using the identity document of a relative.
The specialist staff of the National Council for the Study of the Securitate Archives 9CNSAS) now in its sixth day of protest, sent an open letter to politicians and civil society on Monday calling for predictability and pay equity.

CNSAS employees addressed the open letter to President Klaus Iohannis, Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, Senate President Nicolae Ciuca, acting Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies Alfred Simonis, political parties with parliamentary representation and civil society and public actors concerned with democratic culture and education.

"The rise of authoritarianism, the seduction of populism, the ideological falsification of the historical past, the manipulation of totalitarian memories for undemocratic purposes make our entire educational activity part of a national effort to strengthen societal resilience. CNSAS is not just an institution. It is a commitment of democratic Romania, an ideal. Free worlds survive through their ideals. Within this horizon, we want the 23 years of institutional construction not to be lost. We want our people not to leave. We want predictability and pay equity. We cannot passively watch the institution being destroyed by demotivation, the lack of the necessary resources to fulfil the public mandate entrusted to us and the lack of interest of the decision-makers. We make a public appeal so that history and knowledge are not laid aside in irrelevance and oblivion," the CNSAS employees state in the letter.

They call on policy makers and society for a "fair ranking, sizing and funding of the CNSAS", pointing out that there are less than 200 specialists left in the institution, many leaving for higher salaries.

CNSAS employees show that "the lack of urgent measures to stop the voluntary departures from the specialized directorates will irreparably deprive the public interest of the expertise of professionals who cannot be easily replaced"
The Minister of National Defense, Angel Tilvar, is taking part, from Monday to Wednesday, in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, at the Conference dedicated to the initiative of providing NATO with ammunition and missiles.

According to the Ministry of National Defence (MApN), The program of the visit also includes meetings with the British counterpart, Hon Grant Shapps, and with the British

Minister for Defence Procurement of United Kingdom, James Cartlidge. Minister Tilvar will also have talks with the head of Defense in Great Britain, Admiral Tony Radakin.

The discussion related to the bilateral meetings included topics related to the security situation in the Black Sea region, in the context of Russia's war in Ukraine, cooperation within the North Atlantic Alliance from the perspective of implementing decisions of the NATO Summit in Vilnius, current issues and perspective on bilateral cooperation between the two armies, with emphasis on the procurement programs of the Romanian Army.
Ex-HealthMin accused of abuse of office Ioana Mihaila resigns from REPER leadership

The former minister of health Ioana Mihaila announced on Monday that she has resigned as a member of the REPER National Bureau.

"I have always carried out my work honestly, observing the law and the public interest. I trust that a fair and transparent investigation will prove these things. At the same time, I have decided to self-suspend from the position of member of the REPER National Bureau," Ioana Mihaila wrote on Facebook.

President Klaus Iohannis sent, on Monday, to the minister of justice, Alina Gorghiu, the requests for the initiation of criminal proceedings against the former ministers of health Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihaila, informs the Presidential Administration.

The Presidential Administration specifies that the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice has been informed about these two requests being submitted.

On November 23, the National Anti-corruption Directorate announced that it had sent to the Prosecutor General of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice the report of a case with a view to referencing the President of Romania and the Senate for the formulation of requests for the initiation of criminal proceedings against three persons who allegedly committed crimes of abuse of office.

It is about former prime minister Florin Citu and former ministers of health Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihaila. The file concerns the purchase of anti-COVID vaccines.
ForMin Odobescu to attend meeting of NATO foreign ministers

Romania's Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu will participate, November 28-29, in a meeting of NATO ministers of foreign affairs at the NATO headquarters in Brussels, according to the Romanian Foreign Ministry (MAE).

The meeting takes place "in a complicated, constantly deteriorating security context, with impact on multiple geographical areas of increased interest in the vicinity of the Alliance (the continuation of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, tensions in the Western Balkans, a military conflict between Israel and Hamas)."

At the same time, the meeting has an increased relevance as a milestone in preparation for the NATO Summit in Washington in 2024, according to the MAE.

The purpose of the meeting is to assess the progress with the implementation of the decisions of the Vilnius Summit of 2023 and to identify the next steps for a substantial decision-making package of the Washington Summit. Thus, a solid message will be sent regarding NATO solidarity and NATO's effectiveness in promoting security and stability.

The first session of the ministerial meeting will be dedicated to the major themes in preparation for the Washington Summit. Discussions will focus on meeting the Vilnius commitments regarding the deterrence and defence posture, the continuation of support for Ukraine and the country's Euro-Atlantic perspective. The exchange of views will include countering the disruptive actions of third countries, challenges from the southern neighbourhood and the role of NATO partnerships.

Odobescu will highlight the importance of the anniversary Summit in Washington in 2024, both in a firm message regarding NATO's unity and solidarity, and by ensuring a consistent agenda and results that will strengthen NATO's profile.

The Romanian official will emphasise the strategic importance of the Black Sea to Euro-Atlantic security and will encourage the development of a more structured approach to the region in line with the decisions of the NATO summits in Madrid and Vilnius.

Odobescu will also highlight the need for the full implementation of the decisions regarding the NATO deterrence and defence posture as a premise for neutralising the long-term consequences of Russian aggression on Euro-Atlantic security and the European security architecture.

During the second ministerial session, the NATO foreign ministers will discuss, in the presence of the EU High Representative, recent developments in the Western Balkans, revitalising the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, containing destabilising trends in the region, with an emphasis on combating Russia's malignant influence and disinformation. Odobescu will present the conclusions of her recent tour in the region, with an emphasis on Romania's constant commitment to the stability of the region through increased contributions to the KFOR and EUFOR Althea missions.

The Romanian chief diplomat will plead for the need of NATO's continued support and involvement in the region through close coordination with the EU, at the same time with conducting domestic reforms pledged by the partners in the region, essential to maintaining the European and Euro-Atlantic perspective of the region.

The ministerial meeting will end on November 29 with a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, the first meeting of the NATO foreign ministers since the establishment of the format. Discussions will focus on the central themes on the partnership agenda with an emphasis on domestic reforms, continued support for Ukraine and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic perspectives, including through the lens of reflecting these aspirations at the Washington Summit.

Odobescu will also reiterate Romania's support for NATO's open doors policy, including for Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations and for NATO's partnership policy, while encouraging the continuation of an enhanced engagement of the most vulnerable partners, including Moldova.
MP Raisa Enachi: Violence against women is a violation of human rights

Violence against women is a problem with repercussions in the sphere of human rights, and legislation must be relevant in order to put an end to this phenomenon, chairwoman of the Committee for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men in the Chamber of Deputies Raisa Enachi said on Monday.

"Since 25 November, a national campaign has been underway dedicated to our common effort to eradicate violence against women and girls. (...) It is essential to understand that violence against women is not only a social problem, but also one with repercussions in the sphere of human rights. It is a systemic problem, with deep roots in social structures and in many cases it reflects the failure of the protection system that should ensure the security and integrity of half of the country's population," said the Alliance for Romanians' Union (AUR) deputy, at the debate on "Human rights, elimination of violence against women and protected symbols" - debate organised by the Committee for Equal Opportunities for Women and Men, together with the National Red Cross Society of Romania.

Raisa Enachi drew attention to the responsibility of parliamentarians in this regard and added that the most effective ways must be found to eradicate the phenomenon of violence.

"The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women is a moment of reflection and a moment of action where we analyse and debate the most effective ways to eradicate this worrying problem that is pressing the Romanian society," said Raisa Enachi.
President Iohannis submits to JusMin requests for criminal prosecution of former HealthMins Voiculescu, Mihaila

President Klaus Iohannis on Monday submitted to the minister of justice, Alina Gorghiu, the requests for the initiation of criminal proceedings against the former ministers of health Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihaila, informs the Presidential Administration in a press release.

According to the same source, the head of state submitted to the minister of justice the requests for the launch of criminal proceedings against Vlad Voiculescu, a former minister of health between December 23, 2020 and April 14, 2021, in the Criminal File no. 243/P/2021 of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice - the National Anti-corruption Directorate (DNA) - the Anti-corruption Section, in which he is accused of committing two counts of abuse of office.

Also, president Klaus Iohannis sent the request for the initiation of criminal proceedings against Ioana Mihaila, a former minister of health between April 21, 2021 and September 8, 2021, in the Criminal File no. 243/P/2021 of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice - National Anti-corruption Directorate - Anti-corruption Section, in which she is too accused of committing the crime of abuse of office.

The Presidential Administration specifies that the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice has been informed about the two requests having been submitted.

On November 23, the National Anti-corruption Directorate informed that it had submitted to the prosecutor general of the Prosecutor's Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice the report of a case with a view to referencing the president of Romania and the Senate for the formulation of requests for the initiation of criminal proceedings against three persons who allegedly committed crimes of abuse of office.

It is about former prime minister Florin Citu and former ministers of health Vlad Voiculescu and Ioana Mihaila. The file concerns the purchase of anti-COVID vaccines.

The Senate is to discuss on Wednesday the request of the DNA regarding the start of the criminal investigation in the case of former prime minister Florin Citu, now a Liberal senator.
The winners of the 2023 Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair were named on Sunday, with the Humanitas, Polirom and Litera publishing houses being rewarded with the Gaudeamus Trophies, while the Excellence Award went to Vellant Publishing House.

* The Gaudeamus public's choice awards went, in order, to publishing houses Humanitas (1st place), Litera (2nd place), and Polirom (3rd place).

* Ana Blandiana's memoir and diary book 'Mai mult ca trecutul/Past Perfect' put out by Humanitas was designated 'The Most Wanted Book' of the fair, and the Education Award went to the Publishing House of the Bucharest University of Economic Studies.

* The jury made of Ion Bogdan Lefter, Cristian Teodorescu and Cosmin Ciotlos bestowed the Excellence Award on the Vellant Publishing House in Bucharest "for the quality of its presence at the 2023 edition of the Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair, for its long series of literature and art books with exquisite graphics, and for its highly attractive wheeled stall mounted at the fair. The award consists of the partial financing of an editorial project with RON 10,000.

* The recipients of the 'Antoaneta Ralian' Translation Award worth RON 1,300 decided by the jury made of Denisa Comanescu, Ion Bogdan Lefter and Bogdan Ghiu are as follows:

- for translation from a foreign language into Romanian - Alexandra Coliban, for her English rendition of Jonathan Frazen's novel Crossroads, published in 2023 by Polirom, a sophisticated family saga, a riveting psychological piece of writing;

- for translation from Romanian into a foreign language - Serban Foarta, for his bilingual volume of poems Schlimmericks, put out by the Publishing House of the West University of Timisoara, written/self-translated in German and self-translated back into Romanian, in an approach typical of his ludic personality.

The Miss Reading Award offered by Avon Cosmetics Romania went to Teodora Ioana Pavel, a student at the Gheorghe Airinei Technical Post and Telecommunications College.

The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair is a cultural project sponsored by the Culture Ministry.
Romanian Parliament to consider resolution on European perspectives of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Western Balkans

The Romanian Parliament will debate and pass a resolution regarding the European perspectives of Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia and the Western Balkans at a future plenary sitting.

A decision in that sense was approved on Monday at a joint sitting of the standing bureaus. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has agreed on the text of the draft.

Under its resolution, the Romanian Parliament reiterates its full support for the advancement of the European integration of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. At the same time, it supports the adoption of a positive decision by the European Council regarding the opening of EU accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine taking into account the "clear and substantial efforts and progress made by the two countries with the implementation of EC recommendations," as well as the European Union's commitment to supporting these countries in their European process.

The Romanian Parliament calls for the continuation of European support for the advancement of Georgia's European journey, including by granting the status of a candidate state for accession, taking into account the clear pro-European orientation of the country's citizens. It also encourages the continuation of Georgia's efforts to implement the recommendations of the European Commission.

Also, the Romanian legislature emphasises the need for an increased commitment from the EU to ensure peace, stability and security in its Eastern Neighbourhood, as well as in order to develop all dimensions of the connectivity between the countries in the region and the European Union.

The Romanian Parliament reaffirms its support for the advancement of the enlargement process in the Western Balkans based on the merits of the candidates in fulfilling their commitments, their attachment to European values and a clear pro-European strategic option.

According to the draft resolution, the Romanian Parliament reiterates its willingness to co-operate and provide support to the parliaments of the candidate and potential candidate states, for the advancement of the accession processes. Mentioned in the resolution are the right of sovereign countries to decide on their foreign policy and security arrangements in line with their national interests.

The debate of the resolution also takes place as the Romanian Senate's Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs Titus Corlatean has suggested the passage of a declaration in support of Georgia's European journey.

On September 24-27, Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili visited Romania. At a meeting with Chairman of the Romanian Senate Nicolae Ciuca, the Georgian side, by virtue of the strategic partnership, requested the adoption by the Romanian Parliament of a declaration of support for Georgia being granted a candidate to the EU status at the meeting of the European Council before the end of 2023, citing the precedent set by the declaration recently adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament.

The request was brought back up for discussion between October 17-19, when a delegation of the Foreign Policy Committee led by Titus Corlatean, made an official visit to Tbilisi. Corlatean said that it is important to avoid disconnecting Georgia from Ukraine and Moldova in the process of European integration. He called for the passage of a declaration under which Parliament supports the start of EU accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the granting the candidate status to Georgia.
Romania's delegation, at meeting of Foreign Affairs Council (Trade)

The minister of Economy, Entrepreneurship and Tourism, Stefan-Radu Oprea, led the Romanian delegation to the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council (Trade), organized in Brussels on November 27, 2023, told Agerpres.

According to a press release from the relevant ministry, the discussions concerned the preparation of the 13th Ministerial Conference (CM13) of the World Trade Organization (February 26-29, 2024, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), the preparation of the signing of the EU Interim Trade Agreement - Chile and the state of trade relations between the EU and the USA. The European Commission's Report on the implementation and enforcement of EU trade policy was also presented.

During the working lunch, the ongoing commercial negotiations were discussed, respectively the agreements already negotiated, but not yet concluded (such as those with Australia and Mercosur), the press release states.

Minister Oprea emphasized the importance of the process of reform and modernization of the World Trade Organization, by promoting the objectives of the EU within CM13, with an emphasis on the restoration of the Body for the Settlement of Disputes, the extension of the application of the multilateral moratorium on customs duties applicable to electronic transmissions and the initiation of a work program aiming at the deliberative function of the organization to ensure a fair competitive framework. In the context of expressing support for the signing during the Spanish Presidency of the EU Council of the EU-Chile Interim Trade Agreement, he also highlighted the importance of the ratification by all EU member states of the trade and investment agreements already signed, such as the one in relation to Vietnam signed in the last day of the Romanian Presidency at the EU Council.

Considering the importance of transatlantic relations for Romania, the Romanian official supported the development of a positive commercial agenda within the EU-US Trade and Technology Council, with the objective of facilitating transatlantic trade and investments.

He also advocated for the completion of the negotiations of the Agreement on Critical Minerals and the Global Agreement on Sustainable Steel and Aluminum (GSA), the latter being essential for the steel industry. In the absence of the GSA, in order to maintain a constructive framework for the continuation of the negotiations, he supported avoiding the reimposition of the 232 measures by the USA, respectively those of the rebalancing of the EU, but by improving the administration system of the tariff quotas applied by the American side to steel imports and EU aluminum.

The Foreign Affairs Council (Trade) brings together the ministers responsible for international trade from the EU member states, representing the highest decision-making body at the European level in this field.
DUSHANBE, Tajikistan, November 27. The World Bank (WB) has approved extra funding for Tajikistan to proceed with the execution of two energy projects, Trend reports.

The projects are: The Central Asia South Asia Electricity Transmission and Trade Project (CASA-1000) and CASA Community Support Project.

According to the WB, the funding allocated for these two projects totals $21 million and is offered in the form of grant funding through the International Development Association (IDA).

Out of this total, $11 million will be allocated to the CASA-1000 project. This funding aims to cover the remaining tasks required to finish the construction and start using the transmission infrastructure in Tajikistan. Currently, 95 percent of the key infrastructure construction has been finished, and the remaining part is anticipated to be completed by December 2024.

Furthermore, $10 million has been authorized to advance the ongoing CASA Community Support Project. This initiative is designed to enhance access to reliable energy, enhance social and economic infrastructure services, and bolster local governance in communities within projects areas.

CASA-1000 is an infrastructure project with the objective of transmitting surplus electricity from Central Asian countries, particularly Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, to high-demand electricity markets in South Asian countries, namely Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The project involves upgrading the electrical grids in participating countries through the construction of new substations and high-voltage power transmission lines.

At the moment, the WB is funding 27 projects in Tajikistan, amounting to a total of $1.67 billion.
Units 1 and 2 of Cernavoda nuclear power plant operate at nominal power

Units 1 and 2 of Cernavoda nuclear power plant are operating at nominal power, Nuclearelectrica company informs on Monday.

According to a company's report submitted to the Bucharest Stock Exchange, on November 26, 2023, both units of Cernavoda were operated at reduced power due to the severe weather conditions in Dobrogea region.

Operation at reduced power was carried out in safe conditions, in accordance with the specific procedures of Cernavoda applicable in these situations, without impact on security of the reactor, the unit's personnel, the population and the surrounding environment.
ST. LOUIS  A dispute over lead contamination has now officially shuttered an acclaimed new Central West End restaurant.

Brew Tulum, a Mexican restaurant and cafe, announced last week with a heavy heart that it will not reopen its location in the burgeoning Delmar Maker District along Delmar Boulevard.

Unfortunately, we could not reach a satisfactory agreement with our landlordfor the proper remediation of the premises as outlined by certified environmental specialists, the announcement on social media said.

Married owners Laura McNamara and Alberto AJ Juarez opened Brew Tulum in 2022 in the space next to Craft Alliance at 5090 Delmar Boulevard. The restaurant received praise for its coffee program and its enfrijoladas, molletes and other breakfast and lunch fare.

In September, however, the restaurant temporarily closed and launched a GoFundMe campaign to address an unspecified maintenance issue.

A statement sent from a lawyer for the buildings owner said a risk assessor hired by the owner had found no hazards in the building. The statement said the building is in compliance with regulations governing lead.

The closure of Brew Tulum is an early setback for the Delmar Maker Districts ambitious restaurant vision. The plan includes the relocation of Ben Porembas celebrated restaurants Elaia, Olio and Nixta as well as additional locations of Steves Hot Dogs and the Fountain on Locust and a distillery from Alpha Brewing Co.

At the end of Brew Tulums closure announcement, McNamara and Juarez said, You will continue to see us at various holiday markets, pop-ups, and coffee experiences during the 2023 holiday season.
ST. LOUIS  A St. Louis man was sentenced Monday to 18 years in prison for killing a 15-year-old boy in the city's Greater Ville neighborhood.

Tevin Collins, 22, was charged in 2020 with first-degree murder and armed criminal action in the killing of Ezell Johnson III. Collins pleaded guilty on Monday to second-degree murder and armed criminal action in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Police said they believed Collins approached a white sedan and fired shots into the passenger side of the vehicle, killing Johnson. Multiple witnesses identified Collins as the shooter.

Collins also admitted to shooting the teen, charges said.

He was sentenced to 15 years for second-degree murder followed by three years for armed criminal action. His lawyer declined comment.
When Trish Mitchell got an abortion three decades ago in Missouri, she didnt tell the doctor her pregnancy was a result of sexual assault.

She couldnt bring herself to.

It would be years before she told anyone that she had been raped.

Speaking for myself, it was literally almost impossible, said Mitchell, who was 21 at the time of the assault. I wasnt able to talk about what happened to me for many, many years.

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the constitutional right to abortion, a near total ban on the procedure went into effect in Missouri. It doesnt include exceptions for victims of rape like Mitchell.

An initiative petition effort to add an exemption for rape victims to Missouris abortion ban is officially underway, alongside provisions that would prohibit the government from interfering with access to an abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy and provide immunity from prosecution for women who receive abortions and for those who help them.

But the proposed constitutional amendment would require women seeking an abortion following a rape to report the assault to a crisis hotline, an idea that has drawn criticism from some survivors and advocates who worry it will be a barrier to accessing care.

If thats whats required, then I say yes, its better than telling someone, No, you cant make this decision about your own body, Mitchell said. But at the same time, I really wish they would talk with people whove had that experience and understand the amount of trauma that they actually go through before they even arrive at the decision to have an abortion.

Reporting requirement

The initiative petition campaign is being led by Jamie Corley, a longtime Republican congressional staffer who formed a 501(c)(4) nonprofit in June to jump-start the effort.

When crafting the proposal, Corley and her team at the Missouri Women and Family Research Fund decided a reporting element was necessary to establish a qualifying event for the rape exception. She believes it also makes for a stronger ballot initiative. The group has until May to garner enough signatures to get the proposed initiative on the ballot.

Corley said she studied reporting requirements in other states, including Florida, where victims have to provide proof of a police report or restraining order. But she felt that was too onerous because there are myriad reasons survivors may not report an assault to police.

Our intention is to give crime victims access to care, Corley said of the crisis hotline requirement, which she said is unique from any other state.

She pointed to 2019 numbers from the Missouri Rights of Victims of Sexual Assault Task Force which showed more than three times as many people reached out to a crisis hotline as reported sexual assaults to police.

As she sees it, the reporting can be done confidentiality; anonymously; via text, call or email; and done locally or through national groups. It can be as simple as writing I am a survivor of sexual assault to meet the reporting requirement, she said.

But Corley hopes it would also provide access to care for survivors who they might not have known about previously.

Hotlines and how they work

Dozens of crisis hotlines are operated by victim agencies across Missouri. Many are 24/7 and dont require survivors to share their identity. All are voluntary.

National hotlines are also plentiful. For example, the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse & Incest Network, is confidential and does not even record the callers full phone number.

Hotlines provide survivors a space to process what they are going through with an advocate who is trained to listen. From there, the advocate suggests information and services that could be helpful to the survivor, said Matthew Huffman, a spokesman for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence.

Huffmans group has not taken a position on any of the initiative petitions at this point.

Im very hesitant to ever say that a survivor should have to make a decision in order to qualify for another service, Huffman said of Corleys proposal, adding that he also has concerns about asking someone to relive the trauma of a sexual assault. Its important that we are able to preserve the intent of what a hotline is, so that there isnt a chilling effect where survivors feel like they would be uncomfortable calling a hotline for any reason.

No one would be required to tell the story of their assault, Corley said, only required to report that it happened.

It can also be dangerous to call a hotline, Huffman said, as some survivors fear being found out by their abusers. During the pandemic, hotline calls were down in many states as victims remained stuck at home with abusers, unable to get help as easily.

Corley said if there are concerns about calling a hotline, those same concerns would exist in making the abortion appointment in the first place.

Huffman said he does see a benefit to the proposal, in that it could be a path to bodily autonomy for survivors.

These conversations and these efforts are important for us to be having, but I think we also have to be cautious about how they arent actually implemented, he said. And so I take a very pragmatic both/and approach where we can see benefits, but we can also see risks.

Survivors perspectives

Mitchell was a young mother with two boys when she was raped on a first date.

She learned she was pregnant 12 weeks after the assault. Mitchell was already in survival mode, trying to stay present for her boys despite the rape playing on repeat in her head.

I was very young and didnt know how to begin to understand what happened to me, she said.

Mitchell, who comes from a very religious upbringing, said the decision to seek out abortion care was met with much prayer and consideration. Calling a hotline was the last thing on her mind. Even if it was a priority, Mitchell said she did not have the mental or emotional capacity at the time to do so.

Mitchell has worked with the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault. While she agrees calling a hotline is recommended and can be helpful, survivors should be able to seek those services on their own timeline.

Contacting a hotline is not as cut and dry as it seems on paper, she said. After her assault, Mitchell said she waded through guilt, shame and embarrassment, and that reaching out to a hotline would have been extremely taxing.

Even to make a quick call to say, Hey by the way, I got raped, and I need abortion care, it just feels so impersonal and uncaring, Mitchell said.

After she was raped in 2016, Taylor Hirth said calling a rape crisis center was the furthest thing from her mind.

This requirement adds one more thing to the extensive to-do list that further traumatizes survivors of sexual violence when they are just trying to move on with their lives, said Hirth, a survivor and advocate who has occasionally written columns for The Independant and lives in the Kansas City area.

While Hirth said she will take any scraps of bodily autonomy the government is willing to offer me, she would rather do without the requirement.

While Im grateful for any attempt at improved access to abortion, inherent in the fight for reproductive rights is the belief in the bodily autonomy of the person seeking an abortion, she said, later adding: This is just one more unnecessary expectation.

Trojan horse?

While Corley has settled on an initiative to move forward with, 11 more expansive abortion-rights amendment proposals filed in March by St. Louis physician Anna Fitz-James remain in limbo.

Corleys initiative has been met with criticism from both sides of the abortion debate, including from groups who oppose any abortion exclusions and from groups that oppose any limitations to abortion.

Emily Wales, Planned Parenthood Great Plains CEO and president, said Corleys ballot initiative reinforces stigma around abortion by allowing the government to declare what is a good abortion versus a bad abortion.

Planned Parenthood has not yet taken a public position on any of the proposed initiative petitions.

At the end of the day, she said, what it does is have non-physicians sitting in a position of determining what an individuals private health care should be.

She remains skeptical that other abortion restrictions in place that have driven providers out of the state will allow providers to reasonably return to Missouri. But if they did, she argued the reporting requirement could affect a patients experience.

This type of reporting requirements doesnt do anything but further restrict the rights of the individual who has already been violated, Wales said. It is deeply upsetting to me to read this and to hear that from somebody who thinks they are advocating for abortion access or individual rights.

Both Wales and Huffman raised questions about how the government would maintain patient and provider confidentiality.

I have a real concern about how those conversations, which are intended to be confidential for a reason, end up being documented, Huffman said.

Weve seen the state be really irresponsible when it comes to patient information when it comes to tracking periods and patient data. I dont want to give the government any more reason to be watching Missourians private lives, Wales added, referencing a 2019 incident in which the states then health director, Randall Williams, testified that the state monitored personal information of Planned Parenthood patients, including womens menstrual cycles, with the goal of identifying who had failed abortions. The patients names were not included.

Missourians deserve better, Wales said.

This is not the moment for something is better than nothing, she said.

Corley said to get an abortion in Missouri before the ban, some level of reporting was always required. But she emphasized privacy would always be respected.

Just like Planned Parenthood tries to make it as easy as possible with their confidential online portals to make an appointment and confidential phone lines to make an appointment, we have the same amount of respect and understanding for patient privacy, Corley said.

Her biggest priority, Corley said, is in getting access to survivors as quickly as possible. Her proposal is not some sort of Trojan horse to get reporting requirements in place.

Survivors have no access right now, Corley said. And so to sit on the sidelines and complain about ballot initiatives, without offering your own real solution is disrespectful to sexual assault survivors.

Editors note: This story has been updated to clarify that Taylor Hirths sexual assault occurred in 2016.

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.
NEW DELHI  Sunil Kumar watched helplessly in July as his home and 14 others were washed away by intense monsoon rains lashing the Indian Himalayas.

All my lifes work vanished in an instant. Starting over feels impossible, especially with my three children relying on me, said Kumar, a waste collector in the village of Bhiuli, in the mountainous state of Himachal Pradesh.

This years monsoon season in India was devastating, with local governments estimating 428 deaths and more than $1.42 billion in property damage in the region. But India was just one of many developing nations to suffer from extreme weather made worse or more likely by climate change, caused largely by greenhouse gas emissions that result from the burning of fossil fuels.

Tropical storm Daniel hammered Libya with massive flooding in September, and Cyclone Freddy battered several African nations early in the year. Activists say all three disasters show how poorer nations, which historically have contributed less to climate change because they have emitted fewer planet-warming gases than developed countries, are often hit hardest by the impacts of global warming.

Developing nations had long sought to address the problem, and finally broke through with an agreement at last years annual United Nations climate talks, known as COP27, to create whats known as a loss and damage fund. But many details were left unresolved, and dozens of contentious meetings were held in the year since to negotiate things like who would contribute to it, how large it would be, who would administer it, and more.

A draft agreement was finally reached earlier this month, just a few weeks before this years COP28 talks open Nov. 30 in Dubai. The agreement will be up for final approval at the climate talks, and dissatisfaction from both wealthy and developing nations could block approval or require additional negotiations.

For us, its a matter of justice, said New Delhi-based Harjeet Singh, head of global political strategy at Climate Action Network International, a group that spent the past decade lobbying to compensate those nations. Poor communities in developing countries are losing their farms, homes, and incomes due to a crisis caused by developed countries and corporations.

A recent report by the United Nations estimates that up to $387 billion will be needed annually if developing countries are to adapt to climate-driven changes. Even if details of a loss and damage fund are worked out, some are skeptical that it will raise anything close to that amount. A Green Climate Fund that was first proposed at the 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen, and began raising money in 2014, hasnt come close to its goal of $100 billion annually.

Chandra Bhushan, head of New Delhi-based climate think tank International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology, said he doesnt expect countries to contribute more than a few billion dollars to the loss and damage fund.

Developing countries should be ready to manage these events independently, as seen with COVID-19. They cant always rely on others, Bhushan said.

The draft agreement calls for the World Bank to temporarily host the fund for the next four years. It lays out basic goals for the fund, including its planned launch in 2024, and specifies how it will be administered and who will oversee it, with a requirement that developing countries get a seat on the board.

The agreement asks developed countries to contribute to the fund but says other countries and private parties can, too. It says allocations will prioritize those most vulnerable to climate change, but any climate-affected community or country is eligible.

Developing nations were disappointed that the agreement didnt specify a scale for the fund, and wasnt more specific about who must contribute.

They also wanted a new and independent entity to host the fund, accepting the World Bank only reluctantly. They see the organization, whose president is typically appointed by the United States, as part of a global finance system that has often saddled them with crushing loans that make it more difficult to cope with the costs of climate change. They have long argued that there is a need for a larger, better coordinated pool of money thats available without deepening debt crises.

This arrangement wont provide the new fund with true independence, will obstruct direct access to vulnerable communities, and will lack full accountability to governments and those most affected by climate change, said RR Rashmi, a former climate negotiator with the Indian government who is now a distinguished fellow at New Delhi-based think-tank The Energy Resources Institute.

Meanwhile, wealthy nations sought to limit countries eligible for payments from the fund to the most vulnerable, like Afghanistan and Bangladesh in Asia, several African countries as well as island nations such as Kiribati, Samoa and Barbados. They also said all nations should contribute, particularly rapidly growing countries like China and Saudi Arabia.

Its important that the fund focuses on the poorest and most vulnerable. Those who have the strength and resources to contribute should do so, said Dan Jrgensen, Denmarks minister for global climate policy.
BIGFORK, Mont.  After 17 years in the U.S. Senate, Democrat Jon Tester is a well-known commodity in Montana  a plain-spoken grain farmer with a flattop and a carefully cultivated reputation as a moderate.

The 67-year-old lawmaker smiled and laughed his way through the crowd at a Veterans Day event in Bigfork, a small town on Flathead Lake where the population has surged in recent years. He chatted with veterans who supported him and some who didnt, then stood behind a lectern in the Bigfork High School gymnasium to promote his biggest recent accomplishment: expanded federal health care for millions of veterans exposed to toxic smoke at military burn pits."

Tester has survived three close elections and a changed national political landscape to emerge as the lone Democrat still holding high office in Montana. The 2024 election brings possibly his stiffest challenge yet: Republicans, just two seats short of Senate control, are expected to spend tens of millions on attack ads painting him as a Washington insider tainted by lobbyist cash.

Ousting Tester also would cement a Republican lock on a state that voted overwhelmingly for Republican Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.

Tester entered the Senate after selling Montana voters on his authenticity, and the former high school band teacher's message hasnt changed much. He still mingles comfortably with union members, ranchers and veterans, has a record of working on their behalf, and says his heart remains firmly in his sparsely populated state, a vast expanse that spans from the arid Great Plains to the lush forests of the Pacific Northwest.

Still, authenticity is harder to sell when youve become a top Washington fundraiser. He's taken in almost $20 million for next year's election, ranking Tester sixth among Senate candidates nationwide, according to Federal Election Commission data through September. Tester insisted that the money hasnt changed him, that he doesnt even know where it all comes from.

I cant tell you whos donating to me. Even from within the state of Montana, I cant tell you who donates to me because I dont look at that list, he said in an interview. Its not important. I trust that those people believe in me and Im going to continue to do the same job.

His campaign reports reveal abundant lobbyist cash, the kind that rarely comes from people who don't want something, and yet the lawmaker's journey from outsider to fundraising behemoth has largely been one of necessity. With West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin's decision against seeking another term, Tester has become a top target for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and his massive fundraising operation.

McConnell's aspirations to again be majority leader could get bogged down if a primary fight develops between his anointed candidate in Montana, U.S. Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy, and U.S. Rep. Matt Rosendale, one of the far-right House members who ousted fellow Republican Kevin McCarthy of California as House speaker. Dozens of state lawmakers have encouraged Rosendale to enter. He ran against Tester in 2018 and lost despite a huge push from then-President Trump.

Republican unity next November would narrow Tester's path to victory, especially if he's branded as a Washington insider. As hes gained seniority and influence  and as election spending nationwide has exploded  the flood of campaign cash that's flowed toward Tester has left him vulnerable to attack.

The potency of the authenticity issue even within his own party was on display during a recent town hall hosted by Tester in the Democratic stronghold of Butte, where a group of activists pressed him repeatedly to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. The lawmaker, who heads the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on defense, rebuffed their pleas, saying Israel had a right to defend itself against the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas.

That rankled Noah Sohl of Missoula, who said he twice voted for Tester and supported the Democrats last reelection by making phone calls and registering voters. The nursing student drew a straight line between donations to Testers campaign by defense industry lobbyists and Tester's opposition to a cease-fire.

After becoming the panel's chairman in 2021, Tester received more than $160,000 in contributions from employees and committees representing the defense industry. The donations came at a crucial juncture for both the defense budget and Lockheed Martin, which benefited from $1.8 billion for the F-35 fighter jet that Testers subcommittee pushed as part of a military spending package.

Sohl pledged not to help Tester this election if he won't change his stance on a cease-fire. Sohl acknowledged that could benefit Republicans.

Theyre all licking their chops over the fact that among his (Testers) constituents, theres a rising group that dont agree with him, Sohl said. His big thing is, Im not like those Republicans. Im a true Montanan just going to Washington to fight for the people who voted for me. But it seems like he lost his footing.

Tester dismissed any notion that campaign donations sway his vote or that hes fundamentally changed since 2006. He also brushed off the increased pressure on him since Manchins departure.

Tester invited anyone who think he's changed to come out and pick rock at the farm near the small town of Big Sandy that he runs with his wife, Sharla. He said hes still cognizant that in Montana, every connection with voters is vital.

To his way of thinking, that makes authenticity the kind of thing money can't buy.

This is an eyeball-to-eyeball state, he said.

The 10 Senate seats most likely to flip in 2024 1. West Virginia 2. Montana 3. Ohio 4. Pennsylvania 5. Arizona 6. Nevada 7. Wisconsin 8. Michigan 9. Texas 10. Florida Analysis: Pennsylvania moves up list of contested Senate seats in 2024
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / CCL Industries Inc. (TSX:CCL.A)(TSX:CCL.B), a world leader in specialty label, security and packaging solutions for global corporations, government institutions, small businesses and consumers, will be hosting an Investor Day on Wednesday, December 13, 2023, from 8:00 a.m. ET to 1:00 p.m. ET.

The live webcast can be accessed by all interested parties at https://CCLInvestorDay.can.chime.live. For those unable to view the event live, a replay will be available on CCL's website at https://cclind.com/investors/investor-presentations shortly after the event.

ABOUT CCL INDUSTRIES INC.

CCL Industries Inc. employs approximately 25,300 people operating 205 production facilities in 43 countries with corporate offices in Toronto, Canada, and Framingham, Massachusetts. CCL is the world's largest converter of pressure sensitive and specialty extruded film materials for a wide range of decorative, instructional, functional and security applications for government institutions and large global customers in the consumer packaging, healthcare & chemicals, consumer electronic device and automotive markets. Extruded & laminated plastic tubes, aluminum aerosols & specialty bottles, folded instructional leaflets, precision decorated & die cut components, electronic displays, polymer banknote substrate and other complementary products and services are sold in parallel to specific end-use markets. Avery is the world's largest supplier of labels, specialty converted media and software solutions for short-run digital printing applications for businesses and consumers available alongside complementary products sold through distributors, mass market stores and e-commerce retailers. Checkpoint is a leading developer of RF and RFID based technology systems for loss prevention and inventory management applications, including labeling and tagging solutions, for the retail and apparel industries worldwide. Innovia is a leading global producer of specialty, high performance, multi-layer, surface engineered films for label, packaging and security applications. The Company is partly backward integrated into materials science with capabilities in polymer extrusion, adhesive development, coating & lamination, surface engineering and metallurgy; deployed as needed across the four business segments.

For more information, contact:

Sean Washchuk

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

416-756-8526

SOURCE: CCL Industries Inc.

View source version on accesswire.com:
BEIJING, CHINA / ACCESSWIRE / September 27, 2023 / First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd. ("First High-School Education Group" or the "Company") (OTCQB: FHSEY), an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China, today announced its unaudited financial results for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

Third Quarter 2023 Financial and Operational Highlights - Continuing Operations

Total revenues were RMB194.0 million (US$26.6 million), a decrease of 29.2% from RMB274.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

were RMB194.0 million (US$26.6 million), a decrease of 29.2% from RMB274.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Gross profit was RMB51.7 million (US$7.1 million), a decrease of 58.6% from RMB124.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

was RMB51.7 million (US$7.1 million), a decrease of 58.6% from RMB124.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Income from operations was RMB15.2 million (US$2.1 million), a decrease of 78.6% from RMB71.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

was RMB15.2 million (US$2.1 million), a decrease of 78.6% from RMB71.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Net loss was RMB50.2 million (US$6.9 million), compared with a net income of RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Such loss was primarily incurred by non-cash charge of asset impairment loss.

was RMB50.2 million (US$6.9 million), compared with a net income of RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Such loss was primarily incurred by non-cash charge of asset impairment loss. Adjusted net income [1] (Non-GAAP) was RMB1.9 million (US$0.3 million), a decrease of 96.2% from RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

was RMB1.9 million (US$0.3 million), a decrease of 96.2% from RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The total number of students enrolled at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of October 31, 2023 was 32,511, an increase of 47.4% from 22,062 as of October 31, 2022.

at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of October 31, 2023 was 32,511, an increase of 47.4% from 22,062 as of October 31, 2022. The total number of school programs at our school programs and public schools that we provide management services as of October 31, 2023 was 25, an increase of 8.7% from 23 as of October 31, 2022.

CFO Comments

Mr. Tommy Zhou, Chief Financial Officer of First High-School Education Group, commented:

During the third quarter period, from July to September, the Company did extensive preparation work for school opening, and experienced steady operation for the first month of our new school year. We welcomed three new schools for which we started to provide management services. Currently, there are a total of 25 school programs under our management.

For the 17 school programs that we operate independently, we hired 220 new teachers for this new semester. We recruited both senior and junior teachers across the country. During the summer, we also did thorough inspections and repairs of our school facilities to ensure our students a safe and enjoyable studying environment. For the eight school programs that we provide management services, we provided consulting services for improved teaching quality, enrollment, and campus management.

The Company will stay focused on providing premium education services for our students, and looks forward to profound development of all our school programs.

Financial Results for the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2023 - Continuing Operations

Total Revenues

Total revenues were RMB194.0 million (US$26.6 million), a decrease of 29.2% from RMB274.2 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to mixed factors including reduced sales of education materials and income from meal catering services, and the discontinued and limited operations of some schools in our network.

Revenues from customers were RMB167.4 million (US$22.9 million), a decrease of 32.0% from RMB246.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to mixed factors including reduced sales of education materials and income from meal catering services, and the discontinued and limited operations of some schools in our network.

Revenues from government cooperative agreements were RMB26.6 million (US$3.6 million) a decrease of 5.4% from RMB28.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the tightening of various local governments' budget.

Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues were RMB142.4 million (US$19.5 million), a decrease of 4.8% from RMB149.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to reduction in rental expenses for schools of discontinued operations, and decreased staff compensation.

Gross profit

Gross profit was RMB51.7 million (US$7.1 million), a decrease of 58.6% from RMB124.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Gross margin was 26.6%, compared with 45.5% for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to the decrease in total revenues, as sales of education materials, and income from meal catering services reduced substantially, as well as the loss of revenues due to the discontinued and limited operations of some schools in our network.

Total operating expenses

Total operating expenses were RMB36.4 million (US$5.0 million), a decrease of 32.0% from RMB53.6 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Selling and marketing expenses were RMB2.2 million (US$0.3 million), an increase of 18.6% from RMB1.9 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The increase was primarily due to the increased expenses in brand promotion and marketing activities for our three newly managed school programs.

General and administrative expenses were RMB34.2 million (US$4.7 million), a decrease of 33.9% from RMB51.7 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. The decrease was primarily due to our improved expense control.

Income from operations

Income from operations was RMB15.2 million (US$2.1 million), a decrease of 78.6% from RMB71.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022. Such decrease was primarily incurred by non-cash charge of asset impairment loss.

Net loss from continuing operations

Net loss from continuing operations was RMB41.0 million (US$5.6 million), compared with a net income of RMB61.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Net loss from discontinued operations

Net loss from discontinued operations was RMB9.2 million (US$1.3 million), compared with net loss of RMB10.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Net loss

Net loss was RMB50.2 million (US$6.9 million), compared with net income of RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Adjusted net income [2] (Non-GAAP)

Adjusted net income (Non-GAAP) was RMB1.9 million (US$0.3 million), a decrease of 96.2% from RMB51.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2022.

Impact of Implementation Rules for Private Education Laws

On May 14, 2021, the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the amended Implementation Regulations of the Law on the Promotion of Private Education of the People's Republic of China () (the "Implementation Rules"), which became effective on September 1, 2021. The Implementation Rules prohibit social organizations and individuals from controlling private schools that provide compulsory education through, among other methods, mergers, acquisitions and contractual arrangements. Additionally, the Implementation Rules prohibit any private schools providing compulsory education from conducting transactions with its related parties. As a result, the Implementation Rules affected the Company's control over the affiliated entities providing compulsory education as well as the sponsor entities (collectively referred to as the "Affected Entities").

In compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations and based on the relevant accounting standard in accordance with U.S. GAAP, the Company has determined to cease to recognize revenues for all activities related to schools providing compulsory education and the sponsor entities after September 1, 2021 within China that are affected by the Implementation Rules, and classified such Affected Entities as discontinued operations. The discontinued operations of the Affected Entities had certain impact on the Company's financial conditions for the for the nine months ended September 30, 2023. Net loss from discontinued operations was RMB9.2 million (US$1.3 million) for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

There still exist uncertainties with respect to the interpretation and enforcement of the Implementation Rules. The Company will closely monitor the developments related to the Implementation Rules, and continue to assess the possible impacts on the Company and make any applicable actions to keep in compliance with the Implementation Rules and other applicable PRC regulations.

Conference Call

First High-School Education Group's management will hold an earnings conference call on Monday, November 27, 2023, at 7:00 AM U.S. Eastern Time (8:00 PM November 27, 2023, Beijing/Hong Kong Time). Please dial in 15 minutes before the conference is scheduled to begin using below numbers.

International +1-973-528-0011 United States +1-888-506-0062 Hong Kong +852 3018 4049 Mainland China +86 400 120 3199 Passcode 994919 Webcast URL https://www.webcaster4.com/Webcast/Page/2967/49507

A telephone replay of the conference call may be accessed by phone at the following numbers until December 11, 2023.

International +1-973-528-0005 United States +1-800-332-6854 Replay Access Code 994919

A live and archived webcast of the conference call will be available on the Company's investors relations website at https://ir.diyi.top/

About First High-School Education Group

First High-School Education Group is an education service provider primarily focusing on high schools in Western China. The Company aspires to become a leader and innovator of private high school education in China, with the focuses on a comprehensive education management integrating education information consulting, education research project development, education talent management, education technology management, education service management, and general vocational integration development services. For more information, please visit https://ir.diyi.top/.

Non-GAAP Measure

The Company has provided in this press release financial information that has not been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. The Company considers and uses one non-GAAP measure, adjusted net income, as a supplemental measure to review and assess its operating performance. Adjusted net income enables the Company's management to assess the Company's operating results without considering the impact of non-cash charges, including share-based compensation expenses, and without considering the impact of donation expenses and transaction costs in relation to previous financing activities. The Company also believes that the use of the non-GAAP measure facilitates investors' assessment of its operating performance.

The presentation of the non-GAAP financial measure is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

Exchange Rate

The Company's business is primarily conducted in China and all of the revenues are denominated in Renminbi ("RMB"). This announcement contains translations of certain RMB amounts into U.S. dollars ("USD" or "US$") at specified rates solely for the convenience of the readers. Unless otherwise noted, all translations from RMB to USD are made at the rate of RMB7.2960 to US$1.00, the exchange rate set forth in the H.10 statistical release of the Federal Reserve Board on September 29, 2023. No representation is made that the RMB amounts could have been, or could be, converted, realized or settled into US$ at that rate on September 29, 2023, or at any other rate.

Statement Regarding Preliminary Unaudited Financial Information

The unaudited financial information set out in this earnings release is preliminary and subject to potential adjustments. Adjustments to the consolidated financial statements may be identified when audit work has been performed for the Company's year-end audit, which could result in significant differences from this preliminary unaudited financial information.

We have made rounding adjustments to reach some of the figures included in this earning release. Consequently, numerical figures shown as totals in some tables may not be arithmetic aggregations of the figures that precede them.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects, as well as any other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the expected trading commencement and closing dates. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "target," "will," "would" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties related to market conditions and the completion of the public offering on the anticipated terms or at all, and other factors discussed in the "Risk Factors" section of the preliminary prospectus filed with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date hereof, and the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For Investor and Media Inquiries Please Contact:

First High-School Education Group

Tommy Zhou

Chief Financial Officer

E-mail: [email protected]

Customer Service

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: 010-62555966 (9:30-12:00, 13:30-16:00 CST)

First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income

(All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted)

Nine month ended September 30, 2022 2023 2023 RMB RMB US$ Restated Revenues Revenue from customers 246,092 167,417 22,946 Revenue from governments cooperative agreements 28,122 26,594 3,645 Total revenues 274,214 194,011 26,591 Cost of revenues (149,541) (142,358) (19,512) Gross profit 124,674 51,653 7,080 Operating expenses and income Selling and marketing expenses (1,891) (2,244) (308) General and administrative expenses (51,743) (34,203) (4,688) Total operating expenses (53,635) (36,447) (4,995) Income from operations 71,039 15,206 2,084 Other income (expenses) Interest income 534 829 114 Interest expense (5,297) (5,746) (788) Government grants 941 584 80 Asset impairment loss (52,153) (7,148) Others, net 935 1,022 140 Income from continuing operations before income tax 68,152 (40,259) (5,518) Income tax expenses (7,108) (775) (106) Income (loss) from continuing operations 61,045 (41,034) (5,624) Income (loss) from discontinued operations (10,062) (9,192) (1,260) Net income (loss) 50,983 (50,226) (6,884) Foreign currency translation adjustment 1,332 4,180 573 Comprehensive income (loss) - continuing operations 62,377 (36,854) (5,051) Comprehensive income (loss) - discontinued operations (10,062) (9,192) (1,260) Comprehensive income (loss) 52,315 (46,046) (6,311) Earnings per share: Basic earnings per share from continuing operation 0.70 (0.47) (0.06) Basic earnings per share from discontinued operation (0.12) (0.11) (0.01) Diluted Earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share from continuing operation 0.66 (0.44) (0.06) Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operation (0.11) (0.10) (0.01) Weighted average number of ordinary share outstanding Basic 86,838,700 86,838,700 86,838,700 Diluted 92,388,700 92,388,700 92,388,700

First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.

Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets

(All amounts in thousands, except share data and per share data, or otherwise noted)



As of December 31, As of September 30,

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB US$

Restated



Current assets





Cash 105,258 293,527 40,231 Accounts receivable, net of allowance for doubtful accounts 87,247 101,704 13,940 Amounts due from related parties 73,450 169,874 23,283 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 144,708 194,823 26,703 Assets related to discontinued operation 65,815 76,384 10,469 Total current assets 476,479 836,312 114,626

Non-current Assets Property and equipment, net 128,163 110,408 15,133 Intangible assets, net 5,995 6,500 891 Goodwill 30,348 30,348 4,160 Deferred tax assets 13,309 12,574 1,723 Amounts due from related parties - - - Other non-current assets 47,176 33,498 4,591 Assets related to discontinued operation 11,010 16,404 2,248 Total non-current assets 236,000 209,732 28,746 Total assets 712,479 1,046,044 143,372







As of December 31, As of September 30,

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB US$

Restated



Current liabilities





Contract liabilities 141,574 206,199 28,262 Bank loan 33,572 120,000 16,447 Borrowings under financing arrangements 20,540 17,865 2,449 Accounts payable 13,809 16,715 2,291 Accrued expenses and other payables 52,463 197,044 27,007 Income tax payables 29,622 22,790 3,124 Amounts due to related parties 53,807 125,671 17,225 Liability related to discontinued operation 104,641 138,180 18,939 Total current liabilities 450,028 844,464 115,743

Deferred revenue 113 - - Borrowings under financing arrangements 24,987 15,259 2,091 Other long-term liabilities 1,532 - - Deferred tax liabilities 5,155 5,200 713 Liability related to discontinued operation - - - Total non-current liabilities 31,787 20,459 2,804 Total liabilities 481,815 864,923 118,548

Equity/(Deficit) Ordinary shares (US$0.00001 par value; 5,000,000,000 shares authorized; and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of December 31, 2022, and 86,838,700 shares issued and outstanding as of September 30, 2023, respectively) 6 6 1 Additional paid-in capital 349,658 348,591 47,778 Statutory reserves 53,833 54,110 7,416 Accumulated other comprehensive income 2,430 4,180 573 Accumulated deficit (175,694 ) (226,467 ) (31,040 ) Non-controlling interests 431 701 96 Total equity/(deficit) 230,665 181,121 24,825

Total liabilities and equity/(deficit) 712,479 1,046,044 143,372

First High-School Education Group Co., Ltd.

Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP Measure

(All amounts in thousands)



Nine month ended September 30,

2022 2023 2023

RMB RMB US$







Reconciliation of net income to adjusted net income:





Net income 50,983 (50,226 ) (6,884 ) Add: Asset impairment loss - 52,153 7,148 Share-based compensation expenses - - - Donation expenses - - - Transaction costs in relation to previous financing activities - - - Tax effects of adjustments* - - - Adjusted net income 50,983 1,928 264



*Tax effects were determined based upon the nature, as well as the jurisdiction, of each reconciliation adjustment at the respective applicable income tax rate.

[1] Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

[2] Adjusted net income is a non-GAAP measure. See "Non-GAAP measure" in this press release. A reconciliation of the Company's most directly comparable GAAP measure to historical non-GAAP financial measure has been provided in the tables captioned "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Measure" included at the end of this press release, and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

SOURCE: First High-School Education Group

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FREYR Battery (NYSE: FREY) has announced the appointment of Jessica Wirth Strine to FREYRs Board of Directors.

Jessica Wirth Strine, a U.S.-based executive with prior experience as a portfolio manager at BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Investments, is joining FREYRs Board of Directors effective immediately. Strine is the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Partner of Sustainable Governance Partners LLC, an independent corporate advisory firm that she co-founded in 2020. In this capacity, she provides strategic counsel to public companies with a focus on corporate governance, sustainability, and investor relations best practices.

After serving as a Board Director since 2021, Olaug Svarva has stepped down from her role as an independent director and a member of the Board of Directors Audit and Risk Committee, effective November 24, 2023.

With the re-domiciliation process to the U.S. underway, this was the right time for me to step down from FREYRs Board. I wish FREYR and the management all the best in creating a cleaner and more sustainable battery value chain, remarked Olaug Svarva.

I am delighted to welcome Jessica Wirth Strine to FREYRs Board of Directors, commented Tom Einar Jensen, FREYRs Co-founder and Executive Chairperson. Jessicas deep understanding of the U.S. capital markets, corporate governance standards, and sustainability programs will be instrumental to FREYRs strategic development in this next chapter of our companys growth. On behalf of FREYRs Board of Directors, I also wish to thank Olaug for her invaluable contributions to the company.

Jessica Wirth Strine brings nearly twenty years of experience in active equity fund management and passive fund stewardship. Prior to forming Sustainable Governance Partners, Jessica was a senior director on the Investment Stewardship team at Vanguard, where she also led an interdisciplinary ESG working group. Jessica also has experience in active equity portfolio management, most recently at BlackRock and previously at Putnam Investments and Wellington Management Company. She holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College, and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 27. Uzbek Ministry of Economy and Finance and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, have discussed ways to enhance Uzbekistans mortgage market, Trend reports.

The announcement came after a meeting between Uzbekistan's Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Zhasur Karshibaev, and the IFC's head of investment programs in Central Asia and Turkey, Alan Nunke, as well as other IFC executives.

During the discussion, the parties addressed the opportunities for mutual cooperation, with a focus on assisting Uzbekistan in strengthening its mortgage lending sector.

Initially, international partners were educated about the nature of recent large-scale economic reforms, particularly the tasks of boosting the role of the private sector in assuring economic growth.

Following the discussions, the participants reached an agreement to continue bilateral cooperation.

Earlier this year, IFC expressed its readiness to provide a loan in the amount of $10 million to Uzbekistans Ipak Yuli Bank to support lending to small scale business enterprises.

IFC investments will allow Ipak Yuli Bank to increase its loan portfolio and provide much-needed financing to the countrys small enterprises.

This project is a continuation of IFC's cooperation with Ipak Yuli Bank, which began in 2018. Since then, IFC has provided the bank with financing in the amount of $25 million to support small and medium scale enterprises in hopes to increase labor productivity and reduce poverty in the country.
DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- An affiliate of Paceline Equity Partners, LLC (Paceline), a Dallas-based private equity manager, today announced that it has provided a $50 million investment to Kelso Industries, LLC (Kelso or the Company). Kelso is a portfolio company of Oxbow Equity Partners (Oxbow), a Salt Lake City-based private investment firm, and Peterson Partners (Peterson), a Salt Lake City-based investment management firm. Pacelines investment will be used by Kelso to fund the acquisitions of several complementary businesses.

Kelso is a provider of installation and maintenance services for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration (HVACR) and other mechanical building systems including plumbing, and process piping systems. The Company is based in Phoenix, Arizona and serves a diverse range of industrial, commercial, and institutional clients across numerous geographies.

Sam Loughlin, Chief Executive Officer of Paceline, said We are excited to contribute to the ongoing expansion of Kelso, a dynamic operating company with a compelling business model and multiple avenues for growth, alongside Oxbow and Peterson. Paceline has significant experience investing in building products and construction sectors, and we look forward to bringing our financial and operational resources to bear to help Kelso scale and accelerate its growth.

Leigh Sansone, Chief Investment Officer of Paceline, added This transaction reflects Pacelines ability to source differentiated investment opportunities while building strong, new relationships with likeminded financial sponsors, such as Oxbow and Peterson. We are pleased to provide strategic capital to growing operating companies like Kelso, which we believe has attractive geographic and end market exposure. We look forward to supporting Oxbow, Peterson and the Companys management team as they continue to deliver a high level of service to customers and pursue various organic and inorganic growth initiatives.

About Paceline Equity Partners

Paceline is a Dallas-based private equity manager focused on value-oriented, opportunistic, and special situations investments across corporate credit, private equity, and real assets. With over $1 billion of commitments currently under management, Pacelines senior leadership team has 15 years of cohesive investment experience, having worked together previously at a global private equity manager and its affiliates. To learn more, please visit www.pacelineequity.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127272642/en/

Media

Nathaniel Garnick/Grace Cartwright

Gasthalter & Co.

(212) 257-4170

Source: Paceline Equity Partners
 Sales increased by 28.0% and operating profit surged by 72.7% year-over-year (YoY)

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- APR Corp. (APR, CEO: Byunghoon Kim), a global beauty tech company, broke its record-high performance in Q3 2023.

APR disclosed on November 14 that it had consolidated sales of KRW 122 bn (approx. USD 94.8 mn) and an operating profit of KRW 21.7 bn (approx. USD 16.87 mn) in Q3 2023. APRs revenue climbed by 28.0% year on year, while its operating profit increased by 72.7%.

On a cumulative basis, Q3 achieved record-breaking sales of KRW 371.9 bn and an operating profit of KRW 69.7 bn. Year-on-year, cumulative sales soared by 37.9%, while operating profit surged by an impressive 277%. Remarkably, Q3s cumulative sales reached 94% of last years total sales (KRW 397.7 bn), and operating profit surpassed the total amount for the entire 2022 (KRW 39.2 bn).

APRs beauty business, which grew by an impressive 37.4% year-on-year, played a pivotal role in driving its outstanding results. The combined growth of medicube cosmetics and medicube AGE-R beauty device has been particularly impactful. AGE-R, which sold around 600,000 units in total in 2022, witnessed a remarkable surge in demand, reaching 750,000 units in Q3 2023, marking a 46.8% year-on-year expansion. This success can be partly attributed to Booster Healer, an entry-level beautification device that has enjoyed consistent sales both domestically and internationally.

medicube cosmetics also achieved outstanding performance thanks to its products, including the best-selling Zero Pore Pad as well as the deep line and collagen line that create synergy effects with beauty gadgets. Other established beauty brands such as APRILSKIN, FORMENT, and GLAM.D Bio also showed solid performance, with an overall growth rate of 28.0% YoY in the cosmetics sector.

Overseas achievements are also noteworthy. Beauty gadgets drove the overall growth in international sales, which totaled KRW 56.1 bn in Q3, a 52.5% increase year on year. APR, which recorded overseas sales of KRW 82.6 bn in H1 2023, achieved a figure equivalent to 96.5% of the total overseas sales of KRW 143.7 bn in 2022 in just three quarters.

Byunghoon Kim, CEO of APR, said, Starting in the third quarter of this year, our records are expecting to go through an upheaval in the beauty industry. We will focus ahead of time on strengthening corporate competitiveness through bold measures based on diversification of the global market.

Meanwhile, APR aims to be listed on the stock market in H1 2024.

The CEO added, As the listing schedule has materialized after submitting the preliminary review request last September, APR will make its utmost efforts to operate the company stably and systematically while preparing for the listing schedule.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126297312/en/

APR Corp.

Joon Hur

[email protected]

Source: APR Corp.
LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ault Alliance, Inc. (NYSE American: AULT), a diversified holding company (Ault Alliance, or the Company), today issued a letter from its Executive Chairman to its valued stockholders.

Dear Stockholders:

Ault Alliance proudly announces its financial results for the third quarter 2023 and a strategic shift in capital raising plans.

The Company recently announced a strategic corporate alignment, whereby it intends to focus on the strengths of its three core subsidiaries, Circle 8 Crane Services LLC (Circle 8), Sentinum, Inc. (Sentinum), and Ault Venture Group. Ault Venture Group, which has not yet been formed, will house all other subsidiaries and will serve as the investment side of Ault Alliance. Ault Venture Group is expected to include Ault Lending, LLC and Ault Alliances ownership of other public companies.

In line with our strategic focus, we have listed key properties owned by Ault Global Real Estate Equities, Inc. (AGREE) for sale, with the goal of streamlining our holdings and reducing debt. This move aligns with our commitment to concentrate on our core businesses and optimize capital allocation. The net assets of AGREE met the criteria for classification as held for sale and we presented the financial results of AGREE as discontinued operations in our third quarter 2023 financial results.

Key third quarter 2023 financial highlights included:

Total assets of $378 million as of September 30, 2023;

A book value of $7.23 per share;

Total stockholders equity exceeding $119 million;

Revenue growth of 38% from the prior period, reaching $120 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023;

Revenue from Sentinums Bitcoin mining operations for the nine months ended September 30, 2023 were $23 million, up $12 million, or 104%, from $11 million in the prior fiscal period; and

Revenue from Circle 8, acquired in December 2022, were $39 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2023.

The companys financial results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023 can be found on the Companys Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 20, 2023.

Our Bitcoin operations and our data center, at which we mine Bitcoin and offer colocation and hosting services for the emerging artificial intelligence ecosystems and other industries, were significant in increasing our revenues for this reporting period. The Sentinum team is making tremendous progress on developing our Montana site and the team is excited for it to come online. Once the Montana site becomes operational, which is expected to occur in the first quarter 2024, it will significantly change the Sentinum financial model as we shift our machines away from third party hosting agreements and back into our own facilities. Hosting our own machines will significantly improve top line revenue as well as profitability.

The Circle 8 crane operations, which contribute significantly to our revenue, reflect our strategic focus on sectors that enhance our cash flow and business stability.

Further, we have revised our capital-raising approach. We will maintain our existing At-The-Market issuance agreement without amendments and currently have no plans for a new agreement in 2024 after sales of our common stock under the existing agreement is completed. This strategy reflects our confidence in our financial stability and commitment to stockholder value.

Ault Alliance is actively exploring options to address the undervaluation of our common stock. Our strategies, including potential share buybacks, tender offers or special dividends funded by Bitcoin operations, are focused on enhancing stockholder value. We remain committed to structuring our business for sustainable profitability and long-term growth.

Regards,

Milton Todd Ault, III

Executive Chairman

Ault Alliance reminds you that its estimates and projections are subject to the volatility in Bitcoin market price, the fluctuation in the mining difficulty level, the ability to build out and provide the necessary power for miners, and other factors that may impact the results of Bitcoin mining production or operations. Our trading activities, encompassing both realized and unrealized gains or losses, can cause notable volatility in our reported earnings.

For more information on Ault Alliance and its subsidiaries, Ault Alliance recommends that stockholders, investors, and any other interested parties read Ault Alliances public filings and press releases available under the Investor Relations section at www.Ault.com or at www.sec.gov.

About Ault Alliance, Inc.

Ault Alliance, Inc. is a diversified holding company pursuing growth by acquiring undervalued businesses and disruptive technologies with a global impact. Through its wholly and majority-owned subsidiaries and strategic investments, Ault Alliance owns and operates a data center at which it mines Bitcoin and offers colocation and hosting services for the emerging artificial intelligence ecosystems and other industries, and provides mission-critical products that support a diverse range of industries, including metaverse platform, oil exploration, crane services, defense/aerospace, industrial, automotive, medical/biopharma, consumer electronics, hotel operations and textiles. In addition, Ault Alliance extends credit to select entrepreneurial businesses through a licensed lending subsidiary. Ault Alliances headquarters are located at 11411 Southern Highlands Parkway, Suite 240, Las Vegas, NV 89141; www.Ault.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as believes, plans, anticipates, projects, estimates, expects, intends, strategy, future, opportunity, may, will, should, could, potential, or similar expressions. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any of them publicly in light of new information or future events. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors. More information, including potential risk factors, that could affect the Companys business and financial results are included in the Companys filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, the Companys Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K. All filings are available at www.sec.gov and on the Companys website at www.Ault.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127559652/en/

Ault Alliance Investor Contact:

[email protected] or 1-888-753-2235

Source: Ault Alliance, Inc.
Hands-on experience in obtaining all UN R155/ 156 related certifications

Providing a one-stop solution tailored to customers needs

SMBs and emerging automakers prefer Cybersecurity Tier 0.5 company FESCARO

SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- FESCARO, a pioneer in automotive cybersecurity, today announced a groundbreaking achievement: becoming the first company in South Korea to attain a Grand Slam in consulting and delivering all four major international automotive cybersecurity certifications for its clients, while complying with international laws and standards.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231123078664/en/

FESCAROs CEO Seok-min Hong (Left), CTO Hyun-jung Lee (Right) (Photo: FESCARO)

As automotive software technology advances, so do cybersecurity vulnerabilities and hacking threats. In response, the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE WP.29) enacted regulations on automotive cybersecurity (UN R155, R156) in 2020. These mandate that automakers seeking to sell vehicles in the 27 EU countries must obtain three critical certifications: CSMS (Cyber Security Management System), SUMS (Software Update and Management System), and VTA (Vehicle Type Approval). It applies to all new vehicle types from July 2022 and all new vehicles produced from July 2024.

FESCARO played a pivotal role in helping K Group, a global automaker, achieve all the certifications over three years since 2021, demonstrating its ability to deliver practical and effective solutions. Its comprehensive approach included integrated regulatory consulting, TARA (Threat Analysis and Risk Assessment), security solutions, customized engineering, security testing, deployment of mass production, IT infrastructure, and Security Gateway (SGW).

FESCARO also secured Kanavi Mobility, a global controller development company, the ISO/SAE 21434 certification in April 2023. This international standard for cybersecurity engineering provides the criteria for implementing CSMS.

Born from the synergy of an automotive electronic system developer and a white hat hacker, FESCARO delivers practical and tailored solutions to its customers varied needs. The company successfully developed a unique software solution compatible with HSM (Hardware Security Module) for a global automaker, empowering them to meet security requirements without replacing existing semiconductor chips. Compared to traditional methods, this solution resulted in significant cost, workforce, and time savings of over 50%.

FESCARO's automotive cybersecurity solution, equipped with internationally patented technology, became the first in South Korea to obtain FIPS 140-2 certification from the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), validating its security reliability for use by the U.S. Department of Defense. Additionally, FESCARO attained Automotive SPICE Level 2, a development process evaluation model for enhancing automotive software quality. The solution has been applied to 11 vehicle types from five global automakers.

FESCAROs international standing is further underscored by its strategic partnerships with the worlds first and second-leading automotive semiconductor companies. The companys commitment to excellence and innovation has also earned it recognition as one of the Top 10 Automotive Solutions Providers 2023 by CIOReview APAC.

"FESCARO has excelled in fulfilling the cybersecurity tier 0.5 role and has garnered recognition for its practical capabilities throughout the vehicle lifecycle. Our competitive edge lies in our proactive approach," stated Seok-min Hong, CEO of FESCARO.

We are committed to providing even more advanced and sophisticated solutions based on our extensive experience and success cases. If you are facing challenges with automotive software, FESCARO is here to identify technical breakthroughs and provide support along the way, said Hyun-jung Lee, CTO of FESCARO.

About FESCARO

FESCARO is a company specializing in automotive cybersecurity co-founded in 2016 by an automotive electronic system developer and a white hat hacker. It has been expanding the business to include the next-generation ECU and SDV (Software-Defined Vehicle) solutions, making practical breakthroughs to realize the Mobility for All. | www.fescaro.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231123078664/en/

Young-ji Na

Marketing Communications

+82 70-5153-8269

[email protected]

Source: FESCARO
CEO Frederic Revah discusses how Artificial Intelligence is creating next-generation gene therapy vectors and reducing bioproduction costs in the latest issue of Genethons Newsletter

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Genethon, a unique non-profit gene therapy R&D organization founded by the French Muscular Dystrophy Association (AFM-Telethon), provided an update on its efforts to employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) in revolutionizing the development and bioproduction of gene therapies.

At Genethon, we have multiple examples of how these technologies can be used to develop products that are more efficient and safer with improved production technologies, Genethon CEO Frederic Revah said.

Genethon partnered in 2021 with Whitelabs Genomics, a company which has developed the proprietary CatalystTM platform enabling the multi-parametric analysis of complex biological data. The partnership has the primary objective of harnessing the CatalystTM platform to develop next-generation gene therapy vectors, enhancing their precision regarding the tissues to be treated while reducing their immunogenic potential, and other possible side effects.

This promising collaboration is ongoing and covers both the creation of proprietary AI tools specifically tailored for our specific objectives and the generation of innovative AAV capsids, Dr. Revah observed.

On the manufacturing side, Genethon is collaborating with Thales, a European leader in AI for mission-critical systems for Defense, Security, Aeronautics, Space and Cybersecurity. The collaboration focuses on AI tools for improving bioproduction efficiency.

Producing gene therapy treatments is an extremely, complex, time-consuming, and particularly costly process, Dr. Revah said. Major challenges include reducing the production time and costs. To improve the productivity and the quality of gene therapy products, the objective of this collaboration is to develop first of its kind efficient digital models for increasing bioproduction yields in the field of gene therapy.

This project is in line with Genethons objectives of improving production yields and thus reducing the production costs of innovative therapy drugs, which for certain diseases can reach several hundreds of thousands of euros per patient. The use of AI thus serves Genethons global goal of guaranteeing access for patients to these innovative treatments.

Dr. Revahs commentary on the impact of AI on gene therapy is part of Genethons current newsletter highlighting the organizations product development, research collaborations and scientific journal publications. Read the full commentary and other news.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127513402/en/

US

Charles Craig

Opus Biotech Communications

http://opusbiotech.com/

404-245-0591

[email protected]

EU

Stephanie Bardon / Marion Delbouis  +33 06.45.15.95.87 

[email protected]

Source: Genethon
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KBRA is pleased to announce the assignment of preliminary ratings to 18 classes of BMO 2023-C7, a $739.3 million CMBS conduit transaction collateralized by 32 commercial mortgage loans secured by 85 properties.

The collateral properties are located throughout 47 MSAs, of which the three largest are Chicago (14.9%), New York (11.4%), and Baltimore (8.1%). The pool has exposure to all major property types, with four types representing more than 10.0% of the pool balance: retail (39.8%), multifamily (19.3%), industrial (13.3%) and office exposure (12.2%). The loans have principal balances ranging from $1.7 million to $68.0 million for the largest loan in the pool, Woodfield Mall (9.2%), which is secured by a 2.2 million sf, super-regional mall located in Schaumburg. The five largest loans, which also include Arundel Mills and Marketplace (8.1%), Bala Plaza Portfolio (5.4%), RTL Retail Portfolio (4.9%), and 2136 Honeywell Avenue (4.9%), represent 32.5%, while the top 10 loans represent 53.9%.

KBRAs analysis of the transaction incorporated our multi-borrower rating process that begins with our analysts' evaluation of the underlying collateral properties' financial and operating performance, which determine KBRAs estimate of sustainable net cash flow (KNCF) and KBRA value using our U.S. CMBS Property Evaluation Methodology. On an aggregate basis, KNCF was 10.8% less than the issuer cash flow. KBRA capitalization rates were applied to each assets KNCF to derive values that were, on an aggregate basis, 38.5% less than third party appraisal values. The pool has an in-trust KLTV of 85.8% and an all-in KLTV of 88.5%. The model deploys rent and occupancy stresses, probability of default regressions, and loss given default calculations to determine losses for each collateral loan that are then used to assign our credit ratings.

To access ratings and relevant documents, click here.

Click here to view the report.

Related Publications

Disclosures

Further information on key credit considerations, sensitivity analyses that consider what factors can affect these credit ratings and how they could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade, and ESG factors (where they are a key driver behind the change to the credit rating or rating outlook) can be found in the full rating report referenced above.

A description of all substantially material sources that were used to prepare the credit rating and information on the methodology(ies) (inclusive of any material models and sensitivity analyses of the relevant key rating assumptions, as applicable) used in determining the credit rating is available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) located here.

Information on the meaning of each rating category can be located here.

Further disclosures relating to this rating action are available in the Information Disclosure Form(s) referenced above. Additional information regarding KBRA policies, methodologies, rating scales and disclosures are available at www.kbra.com.

About KBRA

Kroll Bond Rating Agency, LLC (KBRA) is a full-service credit rating agency registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an NRSRO. Kroll Bond Rating Agency Europe Limited is registered as a CRA with the European Securities and Markets Authority. Kroll Bond Rating Agency UK Limited is registered as a CRA with the UK Financial Conduct Authority. In addition, KBRA is designated as a designated rating organization by the Ontario Securities Commission for issuers of asset-backed securities to file a short form prospectus or shelf prospectus. KBRA is also recognized by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners as a Credit Rating Provider.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127043579/en/

Analytical Contacts



Vidhya Naidu, Director (Lead Analyst)

+1 646-731-1315

[email protected]



Michael McGorty, Senior Director

+1 917-535-4414

[email protected]



Christina Moy, Managing Director (Rating Committee Chair)

+1 646-731-2327

[email protected]



Business Development Contact



Daniel Stallone, Senior Director

+1 646-731-1308

[email protected]

Source: KBRA
SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nextdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: KIND) today announced that Chief Financial Officer, Matt Anderson, will participate in the 2023 Wells Fargo TMT Summit on Tuesday, November 28, 2023 in Los Angeles, CA. Please contact the host company for more details on the conference, including registration and meeting information.

Nextdoor uses its Investor Relations website (investors.nextdoor.com), its Twitter handle (twitter.com/Nextdoor), its LinkedIn Home Page (linkedin.com/company/nextdoor-com), and Sarah Friars LinkedIn posts (linkedin.com/in/sarah-friar-922b044) as a means of disseminating or providing notification of, among other things, news or announcements regarding its business or financial performance, investor events, press releases, and earnings releases, and as a means of disclosing material nonpublic information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

About Nextdoor

Nextdoor (NYSE: KIND) is the neighborhood network. Neighbors, businesses of all sizes, and public agencies in more than 315,000 neighborhoods across 11 countries turn to Nextdoor to connect to the neighborhoods that matter to them so that they can thrive. As a purpose-driven company, Nextdoor leverages innovative technology to cultivate a kinder world where everyone has a neighborhood they can rely on  both online and in the real world. Download the app or join the neighborhood at nextdoor.com. For more information and assets, visit nextdoor.com/newsroom.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127171332/en/

Nextdoor Investor Relations:

John T. Williams

[email protected]

Nextdoor Media Relations:

Antonia Gray

[email protected]

Source: Nextdoor Holdings, Inc.
The firm is strengthening the team with new hires and promotions, deepening the commitment to helping innovative founders grow their businesses

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SignalFire, a tech-enabled early-stage venture capital firm harnessing data and artificial intelligence at scale to identify investments and support the next generation of startups, has announced the firm has hired nine new team members and promoted three existing team members in order to scale for long-term growth.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127360783/en/

SignalFire Head of Marketing Lauren Nguyen and Partner Sooah Cho. (Photo: Business Wire)

SignalFire is welcoming Sooah Cho as a Partner; Veronica Mercado as a Principal and Chief of Staff to CEO Chris Farmer; Lisa Liu as a Principal, Venture; Bradford Jones as a Principal, Venture; Lauren Nguyen as the Head of Marketing; Asher Bantock as the Head of Research; Sadasia McCutchen as our Head of Ecosystem; Mario Espindola as the Senior Director of Talent; and Andrew Reid as Director of GTM Recruiting.

In addition to welcoming new faces, the firm takes pride in fostering an environment where the team can grow and thrive. Three existing team members have recently been promoted to new roles. Libby Hadzima Perkins has been named General Counsel (formerly Vice President, Legal), Yuanling Yuan (YY) has been named Partner, Venture (formerly Principal); and Heather Doshay now serves as a Partner, People + Talent (formerly Managing Director).

I am tremendously proud to welcome these remarkable individuals to the SignalFire family and to be able to grow the careers of our existing team members, said Chris Farmer, CEO, Partner, and Co-Founder. I am optimistic that together, we can provide greater value to our current and future founders as they navigate the challenging environment. By investing in our current and future talent, we are propelling the firm into a new era of growth where we are better positioned to serve more founders in more ways.

With the addition of nine talented team members and growth of three, SignalFire is harnessing momentum to propel the firm into a new era. For a full list and bios of the SignalFire team, please visit https://signalfire.com/.

New SignalFire team members

Sooah ChoPartner: As a product builder, GTM strategist, and policy nerd turned investor, Sooah will expand our early-stage health and life sciences tech investment practice. Previously, Sooah led fast-growing B2B software investments at Underscore VC. Sooah was also a product leader at Devoted Health, which was recently valued at over $12B, and CVS Health, where she launched its prescription delivery and virtual care products.

Veronica MercadoPrincipal and Chief of Staff to CEO Chris Farmer: Veronica will lead efforts related to early-stage enterprise AI investments through the AI Lab. Previously, she spent several years leading special projects and strategic growth initiatives at Thoma Bravo in San Francisco. Veronica began her career at Bain & Company in Boston, where she advised a variety of private equity, hedge fund, and technology clients.

Lisa LiuPrincipal, Venture: Lisa will focus on venture and growth-stage software investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, Lisa spent more than five years at General Atlantic in New York, where she invested in growth-stage and pre-IPO software and consumer internet investments globally. She also helped build the firms first thematic sourcing program and earlier-stage investing efforts.

Bradford JonesPrincipal, Venture: Bradford is focused on seed and early-stage AI/ML and vertical SaaS investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, he was an investor at Insight Partners, where he deployed about $600M in capital across application software, data infrastructure, security, and consumer internet investments. Bradford is a former D1 athlete, operator, and entrepreneur with experience investing in and working with founders of early-stage, growth, and pre-IPO companies.

Lauren NguyenHead of Marketing: Prior to joining SignalFire, Lauren built the self-service growth team at Cloudflare responsible for all self-serve revenue across its product portfolio. Previously, she built and led marketing teams at high-growth startups such as Pantheon, Mattermost, and Sauce Labs, focusing on building and scaling data-driven and results-oriented marketing practices with an emphasis on developer-focused products.

Asher BantockHead of Research: Asher will apply our Beacon AI data platform to develop insights to inform the firms investment strategy and support our portfolio companies needs. Prior to joining SignalFire, Asher worked as a data science leader at companies like Squares Cash App, Facebook, and SoundCloud.

Sadasia McCutchenHead of Ecosystem: Sadasias goal is to cultivate vital relationships with key customers, corporates, and strategic partners to drive portfolio growth. She leads the firms Mentor and Specialist program and supports the portfolio via scaled efforts that: propel product-market fit, scale revenue, and foster potential future investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, Sadasia was the VP of Community and Growth at CapitalG, where she envisioned the firms community strategy and built networks of portfolio founders, industry experts, and customers to drive portfolio growth.

Mario EspindolaSenior Director of Talent: Mario will be assisting portfolio companies with talent acquisition strategies. Prior to joining SignalFire, Mario served as the Head of Talent Acquisition for healthcare technology company Wheel, and Head of Global Talent for Autodesk Construction Cloud. He is an experienced talent acquisition professional with a background in startups and publicly traded organizations.

Andrew ReidDirector of GTM Recruiting: Andrew will be assisting portfolio companies with talent acquisition initiatives across Go-to-Market functions. Prior to joining SignalFire, Andrew was the Head Of Talent at growth equity fund Lead Edge Capital, and worked on executive placements at retained search firms Artisan Talent and SPMB.

Recently promoted SignalFire team members

Libby Hadzima PerkinsGeneral Counsel: Libby works closely with the investing and operations team, board members, LPs, and portfolio entrepreneurs and CEOs on a range of legal activities across the firm. She joined SignalFire in 2021 to oversee the legal affairs of the firm. Prior to joining SignalFire, Libby advised high-growth companies and their investors at Cooley LLP in the San Francisco office on private financing of all stages, mergers and acquisitions, public capital markets transactions, and corporate governance matters.

Yuanling Yuan (YY)Partner, Venture: YY focuses on venture and growth-stage investments in health tech. She joined SignalFire in 2019 and previously held the title of Principal. Prior to SignalFire, she worked on the investment team at Blackstones Strategic Opportunity Fund, where she evaluated late-stage and IPO investment opportunities. At Blackstone, she also spent time on the Emerging Markets team, evaluating macroeconomic and political risk in countries such as China, Brazil, and Egypt.

Heather DoshayPartner, People and Talent: Heather leads the people and recruiting programs for the portfolio. She joined SignalFire in 2021 as a managing director. Prior to SignalFire, Heather served as a Vice President, People at Webflow. Actively involved in the people and talent leadership community, Heather is SHRM senior certified, serves on the PeopleTech Partners Advisory, and has served on the Forbes HR Council. She was honored as a top Talent Operator on the inaugural 2020 Anchor List and Top Women Leader in SaaS in the 2018 SaaS Report.

About SignalFire

SignalFire is the first venture capital firm built like a technology company to better solve for the needs of founders. The core of its value-add is Beacon, the AI engine SignalFire has been refining since the firms launch in 2013. Beacon tracks more than 600 million employees and 80 million companies to guide the funds investing and assist portfolio companies with scaling their teams and revenue. SignalFire also helps early-stage founders navigate the toughest parts of building a company at every stage, with expert advisors, 200 skill-building workshops a year, and an in-house team of recruiters, data scientists, PR experts and go-to-market leaders. With over $2.1 billion in assets under management, SignalFire focuses on investing from seed to scale. The firms key sectors include AI/ML, developer tools, B2B SaaS, healthcare, cybersecurity, and consumer.

Disclosure

For a full list of our portfolio companies and disclosures, please visit https://signalfire.com/. This is not a solicitation or an offer to purchase securities and may not be relied upon in connection with the purchase or sale of any security.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127360783/en/

Brent Shelton

[email protected]

Source: SignalFire
PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Enlit Europe 2023  Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities and IIoT, will participate in Enlit Europe as a Silver Partner. The conference will take place at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France from November 28-30, 2023.

Enlit Europe addresses every aspect of the energy agenda and welcomes 15,000 energy professionals, 700 exhibitors and 500 speakers. The conference provides a space for energy leaders, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to learn about new technologies and new insights related to the energy transition.

Enlit Europe is a critical opportunity for energy leaders to meet and learn from each other, said Tom Tipple, Managing Director of EMEA for Trilliant. Were excited to participate at this years event, and we look forward to discussing digital strategies for our industry. In particular, Trilliant continues to focus on how we can provide true interoperability as the energy transition continues.

During the event, Trilliant executives will participate in engaging sessions:

As part of the Summit programme, on November 28 at 2 p.m. Sozon Kokkinaras, Director of Customer Operations, APAC at Trilliant, will participate alongside other industry experts, engaging in a moderated panel discussion titled Digital Strategies. The session will be followed by the opportunity for a Q&A, and will take place on the Inspire Stage (Hall 7.3).

Additionally, Trilliants Gavin Farrand, VP of Sales, UK and Europe, will present a session focused on interoperability titled Empowering Interoperability through an Independent Data Layer for the Digitalisation Hub. This session will be held on November 28 at 2:15 p.m. in Theatre 2 (Hall 7.3).

See Trilliants Power of Choice Value Proposition in Action

Attendees can visit Trilliant at Stand 7.2.A140, where they can Discover the Power of Choice via demonstrations of the companys Next-Generation Network Technologies, AMI, Demand Response, Data & Analytics, and a new AMI for Smart Water solution.

Trilliant works with utilities across the globe to digitalize their water networks with its Smart Water solution. Its ease and speed of installation, performance and scalability make it not only powerful, but also unique. Its designed to work with virtually any system to provide a secure, powerful source of data.

The Smart Water solution is also key part of Trilliants smart building initiative. Trilliant is revolutionizing connectivity in buildings, while empowering building owners to better manage infrastructure without intrusive wired installations. Trilliant has successfully implemented water solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Japan.

From residential to commercial developments, Trilliants solutions range from electrical and thermal applications to water, reducing or eliminating the overhead costs, risks, and maintenance that come with wired installations.

Trilliant also continues to work closely with utility companies around the world, supporting them to meet their energy transition goals. The company most recently announced an extension of its partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the largest utility in Malaysia, to accelerate TNBs path to net zero. It also launched a new partnership with IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited, a leading Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) and digital solutions provider in India, supporting Head-end System (HES) cellular implementations.

To learn more about Trilliants solutions, or to book a one-on-one demo and meeting with Trilliant at Enlit Europe, contact [email protected].

For more information about Enlit Europe, visit: https://www.enlit-europe.com/

About Trilliant

Trilliant empowers the global energy industry with the only device-agnostic communications platform that enables utilities and cities to deploy any application securely and reliably on one powerful network. Our purpose-built portfolio is designed to offer the power of choice, without risk of customers being locked in with one technology provider or meter manufacturer. We are proud to offer mission-critical solutions that support AMI, Data & Analytics, Smart Metering, Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Customers worldwide benefit from Trilliants unique combination of flexibility, sustainability and scalability that connects utilities and cities to the IIoT and a more strategic path to the Energy Transition. Visit us at www.trilliant.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126337008/en/

Media:

Tracey Mitchell

[email protected]

Cindy Watson/Anita Wong

StrategicAmpersand Inc.

[email protected]



Source: Trilliant
FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County, Texas, U.S., November 22, 2019. REUTERS/Angus Mordant/File Photo

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Monday, with the Brent benchmark dipping below $80 a barrel as investors awaited this week's OPEC+ meeting and expected curbs on supplies into 2024.

Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.86. Both contracts lost $1 in early trading.

Last week, prices tumbled when OPEC+ - the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - postponed to Nov. 30 a ministerial meeting to iron out differences on production targets for African producers.

Since then the group, helmed by de facto leader Saudi Arabia, has moved closer to a compromise, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday. OPEC+ is looking at deepening oil production cuts despite its policy meeting being postponed to this Thursday, an OPEC+ source said on Monday.

"Although there are headlines that Saudi has made progress reaching consensus, there is limited risk appetite to buy crude ahead of the formal announcement," said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth US.

"Until we get clarity on how this plays out, expect crude to struggle to rally," she added.

ING analysts said they expected Saudi Arabia to roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) into next year, and Russia to extend its own cuts.

"Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market," they said in a note.

Estimated exports by OPEC countries have declined to 1.3 million bpd below levels in April, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note, in line with the group's supply targets.

"We still expect an extension of the unilateral Saudi and Russia cuts through at least the first quarter of 2024," the bank added.

The United Arab Emirates, however, is poised to ramp up exports of Murban crude early next year, according to traders and Reuters data.

Efforts by Iraq to resume northern crude exports via Turkey continue. Iraqi oil officials will meet representatives of international oil companies and Iraqi Kurdish officials in early December to discuss contract changes central to the issue, a deputy minister said.

The International Energy Agency said it expects a slight surplus in global oil markets in 2024 even if OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year.

Higher crude stockpiles in the United States have also put downward pressure on prices, analysts said. However, four analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 24.

Meanwhile, mediator Qatar on Monday said a truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare. The Middle East crisis had impacted oil prices as investors worried about impacts on supply.

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Nov. 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, Paul Carsten in London, Florence Tan and Mohi NarayanEditing by Peter Graff, Mark Potter, Tomasz Janowski, Cynthia Osterman and David Gregorio)
British investment Minister, Dominic Johnson revealed Monday his efforts to attract Chinese car manufacturers to invest in the country. He emphasized the significance of Chinese investment in achieving environmental goals.

During a foreign direct investment summit held at Hampton Court Palace on Monday, British investment minister Dominic Johnson highlighted that commercial negotiations could proceed independently alongside political disagreements.

"Chinese investment is crucial if we're to achieve our net zero goals ... I welcome strong business collaboration between the UK and China when it comes to investing in each other's countries," Johnson told reporters.

Johnson added however, that he would rather Chinese cars were made in Britain than imported into the country.

Sunak restated his belief that collaborating with China in certain domains is feasible while safeguarding Britain's interests in particularly sensitive areas.

Britain is reassessing the application of its recently enacted National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, which has notably hindered deals supported by Chinese entities to a greater extent.

Johnson expressed worries regarding the perception of discord generated by the act. However, he clarified that it had intervened in only a few deals overall, emphasizing the necessity of having protective measures in place.

"We've been very clear that we need to work with our European partners not to get stuck in rules of origin omelettes, which is unhelpful to both sides," Johnson said. "We want to have sensible, pragmatic outcomes to help our car manufacturers."

By Michael Elkins | [email protected]
Extra Space Storage Inc. ("Extra Space") (NYSE: EXR), a leading owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the United States and a member of the S&P 500, today announced that its operating partnership, Extra Space Storage LP (the "operating partnership"), has priced a public offering of $600 million aggregate principal amount of 5.900% senior notes due 2031 (the "Notes"). The Notes were priced at 99.712% of the principal amount and will mature on January 15, 2031 . J.P. Morgan, PNC Capital Markets LLC, Truist Securities, BMO Capital Markets, TD Securities, Wells Fargo Securities, BofA Securities and US Bancorp are acting as the joint book-running managers for the offering. Regions Securities LLC, BOK Financial Securities, Inc., Huntington Capital Markets, Scotiabank, Zions Capital Markets, Citigroup, Fifth Third Securities, Academy Securities and Ramirez & Co., Inc. are acting as the co-managers for the offering. The offering is expected to close on or about December 1, 2023 , subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions. The Notes will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by Extra Space and certain of its subsidiaries.

The operating partnership intends to use approximately half of the net proceeds from this offering to repay a portion of its term loan under its Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement, dated as of June 22, 2023 , and use the remainder of the net proceeds to repay amounts outstanding from time to time under its lines of credit, and for other general corporate and working capital purposes, including funding potential acquisition opportunities.
PRESS RELEASE

THE CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MASITINIB IN SICKLE CELL DISEASE, A HIGHLY PREVALENT GENETIC CONDITION, IS AMONG THE 19 WINNING PROJECTS UNDER THE SIXTH CALL FOR "HOSPITAL-UNIVERSITY RESEARCH IN HEALTH (RHU)".

THIS PROGRAM WILL FUND A MASITINIB PHASE 2 CLINICAL TRIAL

AB SCIENCE WILL HOLD A WEBCAST ON THIS RESEARCH PROGRAM ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2023, FROM 3PM TO 4PM CET

Paris, November 27, 2023, 8am CET

AB Science SA (Euronext - FR0010557264 - AB) announces today that a new clinical development program for masitinib in sickle cell disease is among the 19 winning projects to be funded under the sixth call for "Hospital-University Research in Health" (Recherche Hospitalo-Universitaire en sante) projects, which is part of the Future Investments Program.

The "Hospital-University Research in Health" (RHU) call for projects of the Future Investments Program, operated by the National Research Agency, aims to support innovative and large-scale research projects in the field of health. Focused on translational research, i.e., converting results in basic research into results that directly benefit humans, RHU projects involve academic, hospital, and business stakeholders.

For this sixth wave, an international jury reviewed 62 applications based on criteria of scientific quality, innovation, and potential for medical and socio-economic impact. It proposed to select and fund 19 projects covering various therapeutic areas and medical needs. These 19 projects will receive an exceptional grant of 160 million euros from the Future Investments Program.

As part of this call for projects, the SICKMAST project, funded with 9.2 million euros, aims to:

First, identify and validate, from a database of 1500 patients (including 700 already identified), biomarkers highlighting the role of mast cells and basophils in orchestrating acute and chronic complications of sickle cell disease.

Second, demonstrate in a phase 2 clinical trial the efficacy of masitinib in the treatment of acute and chronic complications of sickle cell disease in patients identified based on biomarkers.

The Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Paris (AP-HP) will be the promoter of these phase 2 studies. AB Science will mainly be involved in supplying masitinib and monitoring masitinib pharmacovigilance data. AB Science remains free to carry out, as it sees fit, any potential phase 3 development following the success of phase 2.

A new patent has been filed, which, if granted, will extend the international protection of masitinib in sickle cell disease until 2040. As part of the consortium agreement established for its patents, AB Science will pay royalties to APHP in the event of commercialization of masitinib in sickle cell disease.

Prof. Olivier Hermine, Necker-Enfants malades AP-HP, coordinator of the SICKMAST program, said, "We are delighted to be among the laureates of this program, recognized for its extremely rigorous selection of innovative and medically impactful projects. Sickle cell disease represents a major public health challenge due to the number of affected individuals and the early mortality it causes. This program should allow us to demonstrate the relevance of selectively targeting two key immune cells in the treatment of this disease and identifying patients most likely to respond through new biomarkers."

Alain Moussy, President and co-founder of AB Science, said, "We are very pleased with this collaboration with APHP, one of the largest promoters of clinical studies in France, whose research excellence is globally recognized. This project demonstrates the full potential of masitinib in targeting certain key immune cells involved in numerous pathologies. It opens an extremely promising new development avenue for masitinib and offers partnership prospects that we will explore to enable the registration and commercialization of masitinib in this indication under the best conditions."

A webcast with experts in sickle cell disease will be held on November 30, 2023, to provide a more detailed presentation of this project. Login details for this live webcast will be provided later.

Scientific rationale

Inflammation mediated by innate immune cells and promoting vaso-occlusion has recently been shown to play a major role in sickle cell disease. In particular, our clinical observations and experimental work in mice, have revealed the involvement of mast cells and basophils in complications associated with sickle cell disease:

The degree of mast cell activation in patients with sickle cell disease may contribute to the heterogeneity of inflammation and chronic and acute complications.

The potential role of basophils in sickle cell disease has not been studied, however, given their role in various diseases and their ability to release substance P and histamine, they could also play important roles in the pathophysiology of sickle cell disease.

Masitinib is an inhibitor of KIT, LYN, and FYN, three major kinases involved in the activation of mast cells and basophils.

Epidemiology

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an autosomal recessive disorder affecting millions of people worldwide. Although life expectancy has increased over the last 20 years, acute and chronic complications still result in comorbidities, high social burden and premature death at around 40 years. Approximately 1.1% of couples worldwide are at risk of having a child with a hemoglobin disorder (sickle cell disease or thalassemia), and 2.3 conceptions per 1,000 are affected by sickle cell disease. Estimates suggest that each year, around 300,000 children are born with sickle cell disease, and this number could reach 400,000 by 2050 [1]. Sickle cell disease affects over 100,000 children and adults in the United States. In France, approximately 26,000 patients are affected (50% children, 50% adults).

Medical need

The classic view of sickle cell disease pathophysiology, involves polymerization of mutated hemoglobin (HbS) leading to red blood cell (RBC) sickling with subsequent hemolytic anemia, painful vaso-occlusive crisis (VOC) and acute chest syndrome (ACS).

Current treatment options such as hydroxycarbamide, chronic transfusion or anti-P-selectin antibodies, do not fully prevent life-threatening acute and chronic complications of sickle cell disease. Allogeneic stem cell transplantation and gene therapy are available only for a minority of patients, are associated with toxicity and are very expensive, which limits their use.

There is a significant medical need to prevent the acute and chronic complications of sickle cell disease.

Reference

[1] Piel FB, Steinberg MH, Rees DC. Sickle Cell Disease. N Engl J Med. 2017;376(16):1561-1573.

About AB ScienceFounded in 2001, AB Science is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs), a class of targeted proteins whose action are key in signaling pathways within cells. Our programs target only diseases with high unmet medical needs, often lethal with short term survival or rare or refractory to previous line of treatment. AB Science has developed a proprietary portfolio of molecules and the Companys lead compound, masitinib, has already been registered for veterinary medicine and is developed in human medicine in oncology, neurological diseases, inflammatory diseases and viral diseases. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: AB).

Further information is available on AB Sciences website: www.ab-science.com.

Forward-looking Statements - AB ScienceThis press release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts. These statements include projections and estimates as well as the assumptions on which they are based, statements based on projects, objectives, intentions and expectations regarding financial results, events, operations, future services, product development and their potential or future performance.

These forward-looking statements can often be identified by the words "expect", "anticipate", "believe", "intend", "estimate" or "plan" as well as other similar terms. While AB Science believes these forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of AB Science and which may imply that results and actual events significantly differ from those expressed, induced or anticipated in the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include the uncertainties related to product development of the Company which may not be successful or to the marketing authorizations granted by competent authorities or, more generally, any factors that may affect marketing capacity of the products developed by AB Science, as well as those developed or identified in the public documents published by AB Science. AB Science disclaims any obligation or undertaking to update the forward-looking information and statements, subject to the applicable regulations, in particular articles 223-1 et seq. of the AMF General Regulations.

For additional information, please contact:

AB ScienceFinancial Communication & Media Relations [email protected]

Attachment

Source: AB Science
CHICAGO, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of Giving Tuesday, and as part of its ongoing commitment to helping communities grow and thrive, Byline Bank announced it will be distributing $30,000 to fund philanthropic initiatives in its neighborhoods, including a $5,000 donation to three local charities.

We believe that supporting our communities is about fostering an ecosystem where both small businesses and local charities can thrive, creating a ripple effect of hope, goodwill and economic opportunity, said Megan Biggam, Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Banking at Byline Bank. Every dollar we contribute is a seed for community growth; our Giving Tuesday contribution represents our dedication to our vibrant communities in Illinois and the small businesses that help them grow.

The following organizations will each receive a $5,000 donation from Byline this Giving Tuesday:

The Cook County Health Foundation in Evanston helps expand and improve health care for the most vulnerable in the Cook County public health system through education, fundraising and advocacy.

The Kendall County Community Food Pantry in Oswego-Yorkville provides food, household goods, personal care items and other necessities to neighbors in need in Kendall County.

The Oak Park-River Forest Community Foundation promotes racial justice, equity and inclusion efforts within Oak Park, River Forest and surrounding communities.

An additional $15,000 will be distributed by Byline Bank branches directly to community nonprofits or in support of charitable activities such as coordinating meals and buying winter coats for those in need.

The need for quality healthcare among our most vulnerable populations is more than most realize; every day nearly 2,000 people arrive at Cook County Health in need of care, and over 80% are from communities of color, said Joseph P. Flanagan, board chairman for the Cook County Health Foundation. With only 3% of the health systems budget supported through county tax dollars, the need for private support to help sustain and expand high-quality, accessible care is great. We appreciate Byline's support to amplify our mission of making quality and responsive healthcare available for all.

These donations are part of Byline Banks overarching commitment to community enrichment, which as of December 2022 includes more than $680,000 in community grants, donations and sponsorships toward financing for affordable housing initiatives, education and financial literacy, health and welfare, and small business and workforce development. Byline has also prioritized more than $60 million in community development investments and $70 million in community development loans.

For more information on Byline Banks philanthropic activities, please visit www.bylinebank.com.

About Byline Bancorp, Inc.Headquartered in Chicago, Byline Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: BY) is the parent company of Byline Bank, a full service commercial bank serving small- and medium-sized businesses, financial sponsors, and consumers. Byline Bank has approximately $8.9 billion in assets and operates 48 branch locations throughout the Chicago and Milwaukee metropolitan areas. Byline Bank offers a broad range of commercial and retail banking products and services including small ticket equipment leasing solutions and is one of the top Small Business Administration lenders in the United States. Byline Bank is a member of FDIC and an Equal Housing Lender. For more information, visit www.bylinebank.com. 2023 Byline Bank. All rights reserved.

Contact:Investors / Media:Brooks Rennie Investor Relations DirectorByline Bank(312) 660-5805[email protected]

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/3c61cae6-c8ea-47a2-91a7-0f380a4f8503

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/47e6d62b-c84d-455e-94c6-09e98360048c

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/86235108-3744-427e-aed0-79473bac3540

Giving Tuesday at Byline Bank's Oswego branch Dulce Vargas (center), Kendall County Community Food Pantry assistant director, receives a Giving Tuesday donation from Soledad Gaytan (left), manager of the Byline Bank Oswego branch, and Ken Holmstrom, Byline Bank Oswego market president. Giving Tuesday at Oak Park Several people holding a large check. Giving Tuesday at Byline Bank's Evanston Branch Joseph Flanagan (from left), Cook County Health Foundation board chairman, receives a Giving Tuesday donation from Tracy McGuire, Byline Banks Evanston market president, and Ivette Ramirez, senior branch manager at Byline Bank.

Source: Byline Bank
MIAMI and DUBLIN, Ireland and SINGAPORE, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fly Leasing Limited (Fly Leasing), a subsidiary of SASOF V which is managed by an affiliate of Carlyle Aviation Partners Ltd., today announced that it will release financial results for the third quarter of 2023 on November 29, 2023, and host a conference call on December 11, at 9:00 a.m. EDT. The conference call will be posted on the reporting site hosted by iDeals and a replay will be available on the platform for two weeks following the calls completion. To view the full call notification, review the quarterly financial results and participate in the conference call, please log onto the iDeals reporting site at: https://www4.idealsvdr.com/v3/Fly_Financials_Reporting. Instructions for new iDeals users are below.



Using the iDeals Reporting Site:

If you are a current or potential investor, or research analyst, please follow the below instructions to receive access to the reporting site and view the most recent notification:

1) Please send an email to [email protected] to request data room access. Once your request has been processed, you will receive an email from the iDeals platform with a link to Enter Data Room.

2) Click on the Enter Data Room link and follow the prompts to set up your profile and establish security preferences.

3) Upon completing set-up, you will be directed to the data room located at the following link: https://www4.idealsvdr.com/v3/Fly_Financials_Reporting

For technical assistance, please email [email protected].

About Fly Leasing Limited

Fly Leasing Limited is a global aircraft leasing company with a fleet of modern and fuel-efficient commercial jet aircraft. Fly Leasing Limited leases its aircraft under multi-year operating lease contracts to a diverse group of airlines throughout the world.

About Carlyle Aviation Partners

Carlyle Aviation Partners is the commercial aviation investment and servicing arm of Carlyle's Global Credit platform, with $150 billion in assets under management. It is a multi-strategy aviation investment manager that seeks to capitalize on its extensive technical knowledge, in-depth industry expertise and long-standing presence in the aviation sector. As of September 30, 2023, it has a team of more than 120 employees and offices in the US, Ireland and Singapore. For more information, visit www.carlyle.aero.

Contacts:

Jordan Sulkin

786-476-2388

[email protected]

Carlyle Aviation Partners



Kristen Greco Ashton

(212) 813-4763

[email protected]

Carlyle




BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Castellum, Inc. (the Company) (NYSE-American: CTM), a cybersecurity, electronic warfare, and software services company focused on the federal government, announces that it has signed a non-binding $4 million debt term sheet with a significant regional bank. The closing of the debt financing is subject to customary due diligence by the bank, including a field audit as well as the negotiation and execution of definitive loan documents. Castellum expects that the transaction should close in approximately six weeks.

We are pleased to announce that we have signed a term sheet which, upon closing, will facilitate the partial paydown and extension of our 2024 debt maturities until 2025 or later, said Mark Fuller, President and CEO of Castellum. We believe that this non-dilutive financing reflects our improving financial performance, strong backlog and pipeline, and excellent payment history on all our existing debt. Closing this transaction will represent an important milestone for our Company.

About Castellum, Inc.

Castellum, Inc. (NYSE-American: CTM) is a defense-oriented technology company that is executing strategic acquisitions in the cybersecurity, MBSE, and information warfare areas - http://castellumus.com/.

Forward-Looking Statements:

This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain, based on current expectations and assumptions concerning future events or future performance of the company. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are only predictions and speak only as of the date hereof. Words such as will, would, believe, and expects, and similar language or phrasing are indicative of forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are outside of the Companys control, that could cause actual results to differ (sometimes materially) from the results expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, including, among others: the Companys ability to close the described debt financing; its ability to effectively integrate and grow its acquired companies; its ability to identify additional acquisition targets and close additional acquisitions; the impact on the Companys revenue due to a delay in the U.S. Congress approving a federal budget; and the Companys ability to maintain the listing of its common stock on the NYSE American LLC. In evaluating such statements, prospective investors should review carefully various risks and uncertainties identified in Item 1A. Risk Factors section of the Companys recently filed Form 10-Q, Item 1A. "Risk Factors in the Companys most recent Form10-K, and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission which can be viewed at www.sec.gov. These risks and uncertainties, or not closing the described potential debt financing in this press release, could cause the Company's actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements.

Contact:

Mark Fuller, President & CEO [email protected] 301-961-4895

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1e0a56f4-4ef5-4b41-ad28-d8f9e376291c

Castellum, Inc. Announces Execution of Debt Term Sheet Castellum, Inc. (the Company) (NYSE-American: CTM ), a cybersecurity, electronic warfare, and software services company focused on the federal government, announces that it has signed a non-binding $4 million debt term sheet with a significant regional bank - http://castellumus.com/

Source: Castellum, Inc.
Washington, D.C., Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon will visit the United States for an economic mission from December 4-6, 2023. Prime Minister Rutte will be accompanied by Minister Micky Adriaansens of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. The visit will focus on the semiconductor industry and will take place in Phoenix, AZ, and San Francisco, CA. A delegation of Dutch companies and knowledge institutes that specialize in the semiconductor industry, led by Ingrid Thijssen of the Dutch employers organization VNO-NCW, will join the visit.

The visit coincides with new, rising employment numbers in the US. The jobs of 1 million Americans are supported by trade and investments with the Netherlands. During a visit to the White House in 2018, Prime Minister Rutte vowed to increase the number of Americans whose jobs are supported by the US economic ties with the Netherlands. In 2023, that number grew to 1,022,743 jobs. Of that number, 78,000 jobs are in California and 15,000 jobs are in Arizona. These numbers illustrate the vibrant role the Dutch play in supporting a robust US economy.

Program

In the afternoon of Monday, December 4, Prime Minister Rutte will visit Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, AZ, which is the training grounds for Dutch F-35 pilots. Afterwards, he will be welcomed by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego; he will meet with the Dutch companies that are part of the economic mission; and he will visit the Heard Museum. To conclude the first day, a reception will be held with Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs.

On Tuesday, December 5, Prime Minister Rutte will visit Waymo, a market leader in self-driving cars. After that, a roundtable conversation will take place with Dutch and American companies in the semiconductor industry at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. The Prime Minister will also meet with representatives of Arizona State University, and visit Dutch companies ASM and ASML, both of which are active in the Phoenix area.

The next morning, Wednesday, December 6, Prime Minister Rutte will be in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he will visit the DeFremery Recreation Center in Oakland, CA. He will continue his trip with visits to Stanford University, Microsoft, and Nvidia for conversations with companies that specialize in artificial intelligence. The visit will conclude with a pitch session of Dutch startups in the ScaleNL accelerator, as well as a business reception.

NOT FOR PUBLICATION:

Credentialing for the visit by sending an email to [email protected]

Attachment

Sietze Vermeulen Consulate General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in San Francisco 415-866-5572 [email protected] Carla Bundy Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands 202-413-9786 [email protected]

Source: Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
Toronto, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- This holiday season, Pizza Nova will offer its 60th anniversary tote bag, featuring the brands renowned Ciao greeting, to help raise funds for SickKids Foundation. Retailing at $15.99 per bag, Pizza Nova will donate a portion of proceeds toward the goal of raising $15,000 for health and scientific advancements to improve the lives of children and their families in Canada and around the world. This is the second annual fundraiser the company has organized for the hospital. In 2022, Pizza Nova launched a memorable Vespa tree ornament, which attained its goal of raising the same amount.

Supporting our local communities has been a priority of ours since day one, says Domenic Primucci, president of Pizza Nova. Were honoured to be a part of SickKids community of supporters  helping it serve the needs of children from the GTA, Ontario and around the world.

Supporting the community continues to be a core value for the company, deeply ingrained in both its business ethos and customers' values. While Pizza Nova has worked for six decades to ensure customers "Taste the Difference," the company has equally strived to Make a Difference within the community by giving back.

As we embark on the second year of our partnership, we are thrilled to witness the evolution of pediatric care through the launch of Precision Child Health (PCH)," says Stacey Robinson, director of cause marketing at SickKids Foundation. This marks a pivotal step towards our vision of 'Heal the Future. SickKids is honoured to have Pizza Nova as our partner, and their commitment is a testament to their unwavering support for improving children's health and supporting the community.

The company invites everyone to be part of this holiday event by visiting a local Pizza Nova or www.pizzanova.com to purchase a tote bag that carries more than just goods; but also renewed hope for children.

For more information on Pizza Nova, pizzanova.com or follow the company on social media at @pizzanova.

- 30 -

About Pizza Nova

Founded in 1963, Pizza Nova is a family-operated business that is committed to sharing the rich taste of Italy with Canadians. Pizza Nova has more than 150 stores and concession locations in Southern Ontario and inspired by family values such as trust, integrity, and authenticity. They are known for fresh toppings, high-quality ingredients and a wide range of authentic Italian menu items including lasagna, panzerotti, Italian sandwiches, chicken wings and arancini. They also have a line of Primucci branded products featuring Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Homestyle Tomato Sauce, Italian Hot Peppers, Spicy Green Olives, and Sundried Black Olives. Taste the Difference and learn more at pizzanova.com.

About SickKids Foundation

Established in 1972, SickKids Foundation raises funds on behalf of The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and is the largest charitable funder of child health research, learning and care in Canada. Philanthropy is a critical source of funding for SickKids  one of the world's foremost paediatric health-care institutions. Thanks to the generosity of the community, SickKids Foundation generated more than $205 million in revenue in support of children's health for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023. Precision health for every child is the future. At SickKids, it's already begun. Join us at HealtheFuture.ca.

Attachments

Dalia Esposito Torchia Communications 514-654-2635 [email protected]

Source: Pizza Nova
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 27. President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, jointly with a Saudi Arabian delegation, took part in the launch ceremony of connecting a modern combined-cycle power plant with a capacity of 1,500 MW to the electricity supply network of the Uzbek Syrdarya region, Trend reports.

According to the president's press service, the $1.1 billion project for a thermal power plant in Syrdarya will meet the electricity needs of nearly 3 million households and countless industrial businesses.

Furthermore, the participants began construction of a green hydrogen pilot plant in the Tashkent region, which will be carried out in collaboration with the prominent Saudi energy business, ACWA Power.

The pilot project calls for the generation of 3,000 tons of hydrogen in the first stage, followed by processing into mineral fertilizers, as well as the construction of a 52 MW wind farm.

These initiatives will help to build 25 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, saving 4.5 billion cubic meters of gas and reducing harmful emissions into the atmosphere by 3 million tons.

Meanwhile, with projects totaling 7.5 billion dollars, ACWA Power is currently the leading investor and significant partner in the development of green energy in Uzbekistan.

ACWA Power also won the first stage of the tender for the building of a 200 MW wind farm and a 100 MW electricity storage facility in Uzbekistan's Karakalpakstan region earlier this month.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is funding this project as part of the "Program for the development and provision of consulting services for the construction of a wind farm with a total capacity of 200 MW."
ICG Enterprise Trust plc (the Company)

27 November 2023

Transaction in Own Shares

The Company announces that on 24 November 2023 it bought back 10,000 of its own shares, to be held as treasury shares, at an average price of 1218 pence per share.

Further details are set out below:

Number of shares held as treasury shares following this purchase: 5,553,133.

Total shares in issue excluding treasury shares following this purchase: 67,359,867.

The Company has bought back these shares under the authority granted by shareholders at its Annual General Meeting in June 2023, which permits the Company to repurchase a maximum of 14.99% of its ordinary shares. The actual number of shares repurchased by the Company will depend on market conditions. This authority lasts until the next shareholder authority granted (expected to be at the Annual General Meeting in 2024), or until expressly revoked by shareholders.

The above figure 67,359,867 may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.

No maximum consideration payable has been determined by the Company, but the Company is unable to pay a price for any shares pursuant to the buyback which would equate to a premium to the net asset value. It is the Companys current intention to hold any shares bought back in treasury.

The Company has instructed Numis Securities Limited as its broker in respect of its buyback transactions. This arrangement is in accordance with the UKLA Listing Rules and the Companys general authority to repurchase shares.

Analyst / Investor enquiries:

Chris Hunt

Shareholder Relations, ICG

+44 (0) 20 3545 2020

Andrew Lewis

Company Secretary, ICG

+44 (0) 20 3545 1344

Media:



Clare Glynn

Corporate Communications, ICG

+44 (0) 20 3545 1395
ZKH Group Ltd (NYSE: ZKH) has filed for a proposed IPO.

The company describes itself as: "We are a leading MRO procurement service platform in China. We provide one-stop MRO procurement and management services for our customers, and offer digital and fulfillment solutions for participants along the industry value chain. We spearhead digital transformation of the MRO industry for cost reduction and efficiency improvement."



Deutsche Bank, China Renaissance and CICC will serve as underwriters.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Archer Exploration Corp. (CSE: RCHR) (OTCQB: RCHRF) (FSE: 6YR0) (the "Company" or "Archer") is pleased to announce that, further to its news releases dated October 23rd and November 15th, 2023, it has closed its non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") for gross proceeds of $2,038,030.

Pursuant to the Offering, the Company issued: (i) 10,602,400 non flow-through units (the "NFT Units") at a price of $0.08 per NFT Unit, (ii) 5,998,200 flow-through units (the "FT Units") at a price of $0.09 per FT Unit, and (iii) 6,500,000 Quebec flow-through units (the "QFT Units") at a price of $0.10 per QFT Unit.

Each NFT Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (a "Common Share") and one non-transferable Common Share purchase warrant (a "Warrant"). Each FT Unit and QFT Unit is comprised of one Common Share that qualifies as a "flow-through share" within the meaning of subsection 66(15) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) (the "Tax Act") and one Warrant. The Warrants comprising each of the NFT Units, FT Units and QFT Units are subject to the same terms, with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share (a "Warrant Share") for a period of three (3) years from the date of issuance at an exercise price of $0.16 per Warrant Share.

The gross proceeds from the sale of FT Units and QFT Units will be used by the Company to incur eligible "Canadian exploration expenses" that qualify as "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditures" as such terms are defined in the Tax Act (the "Qualifying Expenditures"), with all proceeds from the sale of QFT Units and FT Units used to incur Qualifying Expenditures on the Company's flagship Grasset Nickel Project in Quebec, Canada and the Company's nickel exploration assets located in the Sudbury Basin of Ontario, Canada, as applicable. All Qualifying Expenditures will be renounced in favour of the subscribers of the FT Units and CFT Units effective December 31, 2023 and incurred on or before December 31, 2024. The net proceeds from the sale of NFT Units will be used for general working capital purposes.

Certain directors and officers of the Company (the "Insiders") participated in the Offering and purchased a total of 1,984,275 NFT Units and 222,200 FT Units. Participation by the Insiders in the Offering is considered a "related party transaction" pursuant to Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company is exempt from the requirements to obtain a formal valuation and minority shareholder approval in connection with the Insiders' participation in the Offering in reliance of sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(a) of MI 61-101, respectively, on the basis that participation in the Offering by the Insiders did not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Company's market capitalization.

In connection with the Offering, the Company paid aggregate cash finder's fees in the amount of $73,705.55 and issued a total of 120,750 non-transferable finder's warrants (the "Finder's Warrants"). Each Finder's Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at a price of $0.16 per Common Share for a period of 18 months from the closing date of the Offering. All securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to a 4-month statutory hold period, in accordance with applicable securities laws and the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange (the "CSE").

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or U.S. persons. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold to, or for the account or benefit of, persons in the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About Archer

Archer Exploration is a Canadian Ni-Cu-Co-PGE focused exploration and development company with an extensive portfolio of assets in Quebec and Ontario, Canada. The Company's flagship asset is the Grasset Project, located within the Abitibi Greenstone Belt, with an Indicated Resource of 5.5 Mt @ 1.53% NiEq. In addition, the Company holds a portfolio of 37 properties and over 300 km2 in the world-class mining district of Sudbury, Ontario.

The Company's growth strategy is focused on the exploration and development of its nickel sulphide properties within its portfolio. Archer's vision is to be a responsible nickel sulphide developer in stable pro-mining jurisdictions. Archer is committed to socially responsible exploration and development, working safely, ethically, and with integrity. For more information, please visit www.archerexploration.com.

Tom Meyer

President & Chief Executive Officer

Tel: +1 866 899 7247 (RCHR)

Email: [email protected]

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Neither the CSE nor its Market Regulator (as that term is defined in policies of the CSE) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, identified by words or phrases such as "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "is expected", "scheduled", "estimates", "pending", "intends", "plans", "forecasts", "targets", or "hopes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "will", "should" "might", "will be taken", or "occur" and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking information herein includes, but is not limited to, statements that address activities, events or developments that Archer expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including the use of proceeds from the Offering; tax treatment of the FT Units and QFT Units; and timing of the renunciation of the Qualifying Expenditures.

Forward-looking statements and forward-looking information relating to any future mineral production, liquidity, enhanced value and capital markets profile of the Company, future growth potential for the Company and its business, and future exploration plans are based on management's reasonable assumptions, estimates, expectations, analyses and opinions, which are based on management's experience and perception of trends, current conditions and expected developments, and other factors that management believes are relevant and reasonable in the circumstances, but which may prove to be incorrect. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, the price of metals; costs of exploration and development; the estimated costs of development of exploration projects; and the Company's ability to operate in a safe and effective manner.

These statements reflect the Company's respective current views with respect to future events and are necessarily based upon a number of other assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by management, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties and contingencies. Many factors, both known and unknown, could cause actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements that are or may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information and the Company has made assumptions and estimates based on or related to many of these factors. Such factors include, without limitation: the future tax treatment of the QFT Units and FT Units; competitive risks and the availability of financing; precious metals price volatility; risks associated with the conduct of the Company's mining activities; regulatory, consent or permitting delays; risks relating to reliance on the Company's management team and outside contractors; the Company's inability to obtain insurance to cover all risks, on a commercially reasonable basis or at all; currency fluctuations; risks regarding the failure to generate sufficient cash flow from operations; risks relating to project financing and equity issuances; risks and unknowns inherent in all mining projects; contests over title to properties, particularly title to undeveloped properties; laws and regulations governing the environment, health and safety; operating or technical difficulties in connection with mining or development activities; employee relations, labour unrest or unavailability; the Company's interactions with surrounding communities; the speculative nature of exploration and development; stock market volatility; conflicts of interest among certain directors and officers; lack of liquidity for shareholders of the Company; litigation risk; and the factors identified in the Company's public disclosure documents. Readers are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements or forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions or changes in circumstances or any other events affecting such statements or information, other than as required by applicable law.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188836
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) ("Purepoint" or the "Company") announced a non-brokered private placement (the "Offering") of up to 47,619,048 flow-through units (the "Flow-Through Units") at a price of $0.0525 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds up to $2,500,000. Each Flow-Through Unit consists of one common share of the Company to be issued on a "flow through" basis pursuant to the Income Tax Act (Canada) (each a "Flow-Through Share") and one common share purchase warrant. Each warrant entitles its holder to purchase one common share of the Company (each a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.07 per share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used for the exploration and advancement of the Company's projects in the Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The gross proceeds of the Flow-Through Shares sold under the Offering will be used for Canadian Exploration Expenses (within the meaning of the Income Tax Act (Canada)) which qualify as a "flow-through critical mineral mining expenditure" for purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada) related to the exploration program of the Company to be conducted on the Company's properties located in the Province of Saskatchewan. The Company will renounce such Canadian Exploration Expenses with an effective date of no later than December 31, 2023. The Canadian Exploration Expenses to be renounced by the Company will qualify for the critical mineral exploration tax credit under the Income Tax Act (Canada).

In connection with the Offering, the Company has agreed to pay to certain finders facilitating the Offering including Red Cloud Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Finders"), a cash commission equal to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering raised through the Finders and issue to the Finders non-transferrable compensation warrants (the "Compensation Warrants") to purchase in aggregate such number of common shares of the Company (the "Compensation Warrant Shares") as equal to 6% of the number of Flow-Through Units sold through the Finders under the Offering. Each Compensation Warrant entitles its holder to purchase one Compensation Warrant Share at an exercise price of $0.0525 per share for a period of 24 months from the date of issuance.

The completion of the Offering is subject to certain conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and corporate approvals, including the approval of the listing of the Flow-Through Shares, the Warrant Shares and the Compensation Warrant Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange. Resale of the securities of the Company distributed under the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada of four months and one day following the closing date of the Offering.

About Purepoint

Purepoint Uranium Group Inc. (TSXV: PTU) (OTCQB: PTUUF) actively operates a uranium exploration pipeline of nine advanced projects in Canada's Athabasca Basin. In addition to its flagship joint venture project at Hook Lake with partners Cameco and Orano and a second joint venture with Cameco at Smart Lake, Purepoint also holds seven 100% owned projects with proven uranium rich targets. With an aggressive exploration program underway on multiple projects, Purepoint is emerging as the preeminent uranium explorer in the world's richest uranium district.

For more information, please contact:

Chris Frostad, President & CEO

Phone: (416) 603-8368

Email: [email protected]

For additional information please visit our new website at https://purepoint.ca, our Twitter feed: @PurepointU3O8 or our LinkedIn page @Purepoint-Uranium.

Neither the Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this Press release.

Disclosure regarding forward-looking statements

This press release contains projections and forward-looking information that involve various risks and uncertainties regarding future events. Such forward-looking information can include without limitation statements based on current expectations involving a number of risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance of the Company. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. These and all subsequent written and oral forward-looking information are based on estimates and opinions of management on the dates they are made and expressly qualified in their entirety by this notice.

Not for Dissemination in the United States or through U.S. Newswire Services

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188661
Focus on drilling regional Segilola gold targets, continuation of lithium prospects

Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Thor Explorations Ltd. (TSXV: THX) (AIM: THX) ("Thor Explorations", "Thor" or the "Company") is pleased to provide an operational and financial review for its Segilola Gold mine, located in Nigeria ("Segilola"), and for the Company's mineral exploration properties located in Nigeria and Senegal for three ("Q3 2023" or the "Period") and nine months to September 30, 2023.

Financial Highlights of Q3 2023 and nine months to Sept 2023

US$ Q3 2023 Q3 2022 Nine months

to Sept 2023 Nine months

to Sept 2022 Revenue $36.6m $55.7m $118.2m $121.9m AISC* $1392/oz $1378/oz $1321/oz $1273/oz Cash operating cost $1193/oz $1137/oz $1005/oz $991/oz EBITDA $11.8m $17.8m $47.0m $49.0m Net Profit $2.3m $7.6m $14.5m $17.8m Cash at end of period $8.3m $2.5m - - Net Debt $19.4m $40.7m - -

* all-in sustaining cost

Operational Highlights for Q3 2023

Gold production targets on track for FY23 guidance

Gold production for the Period totalled 19,021 ounces ("oz")

Nine months to Sept '23 production of 63,328 oz - in line with expectations

All main operating units of the process plant continue to perform well, with the main west wall push back completed

Ongoing improvements at process plant being undertaken and to be commissioned in Q4 2023

Focused exploration at Segilola

Focus of gold exploration activities within a 25km radius from the Segilola operations

Continuation of reverse circulation ("RC") drilling, stream sediment sampling and grid auger sampling at the Kola Prospect, 23km south of Segilola

Continuation of diamond drilling on identified high-grade quartz-vein style mineralisation at Aye-Ile prospect which is located 15km west of Segilola with several narrow high-grade intersections drilled

Ongoing Preliminary Feasibility Study Workstreams of Douta Project

Further progress made with Pre-Feasibility Study ("PFS") workstreams with an expected completion for Q1 2024

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is ongoing

Metallurgical test work is continuing at IMO Laboratory in Perth, Western Australia

Compilation and reporting of geotechnical data

Resource drilling, which targeted the higher-grade parts of the existing inferred resource has been completed

Thor Lithium Exploration at Oyo Project

At Oyo Project Location 6 a total of 77 RC drillholes totalling 4,585 metres ("m") were drilled

Significant intersections previously reported include 11m grading 1.53% lithium oxide ("Li2O"), 9m grading 2.42% Li2O and 11m grading 2.61% Li2O

Regional soil geochemical surveys commenced

Additional tenure obtained at both the Oyo and Ekiti Project Areas

Reconnaissance mapping and sampling at the Ekiti Project returned positive results including a rock chip sample grading 2.92% Li2O with drilling now commence at this Project

ESG

Two weather stations installed at Segilola to assist with accurate climate database and mine planning

Continuous progression of livelihood restoration programmes to individuals affected locally within the Segilola mine footprint

Community projects undertaken by Africa Star Resources team in Senegal, including improvements of local school toilet facilities, clearing wasteland at local cemetery and providing a generator for the local police station

Outlook

FY 2023 production guidance of 85,000 oz of gold maintained

AISC guidance for the year maintained at US$1,150 - US$1,350 per ounce

H2 2023 drilling programs: Continuation of drilling at Segilola gold regional targets and underground project Continuation of drilling at Oyo lithium prospect and commencement of drilling at the Ekiti lithium prospects in Nigeria

Completion of the Douta resource update in Q4 2023

Continued assessment of prospective exploration properties in Nigeria

Continued exploration programs across our exploration portfolio in Nigeria

Segun Lawson, CEO, commented:

"Our Q3 2023 gold production of 19,104oz is in-line with our August guidance update of 85,000oz for the full year 2023.We are pleased to have achieved this and to have completed the pushback of the west wall which means that the pit conditions have significantly improved. We are now well positioned to mine more flexibly and efficiently going forwards.

Our process plant continues to perform above design capacity. Upgrades to the process plant leaching and electrowinning circuits are being phased-in over Q4 2023 and Q1 2024, which are expected to result in a release of gold-in-circuit and increased plant recoveries from December 2023, continuing throughout 2024.

In terms of financial performance, whilst the lower grades have led to lower revenue and profits in the quarter, we have maintained good levels of positive cash flow. We anticipate a stronger financial performance in the final quarter as the mine grade increases.

The resource drilling at our Douta gold project in Senegal, which was targeting the higher-grade zones of the inferred resource, has been completed and final assays are pending. The Environmental and Social Impact Assessment is ongoing and metallurgical test work is continuing at IMO Laboratory in Perth, Western Australia. To maximise the full potential of the 1.78 Moz of gold resource at Douta, we are extending the metallurgical testwork program with IMO and will also be conducting further testwork with our engineering design partner JinPeng engineering in China to confirm equipment selection. It is important that we confirm a robust process design that maximises the overall economics of the project and that provides us with the confidence to progress directly to project implementation. We are therefore postponing the preparation of an updated resource for Douta until confirmation of the process design and thereafter release of the PFS, targeting Q1 2024.

We have made good early progress at our West Oyo Lithium Project in Nigeria, with an encouraging initial set of drilling results. We have been able to confirm and delineate lithium-bearing mineralisation, with spodumene confirmed as the primary lithium-bearing mineral. Our plan is to expand our drilling program to the other pegmatites across our permits and expect to receive further results in Q4 2023."

The Group's Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements together with the notes related thereto, as well as the Management's Discussion and Analysis for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, are available on Thor Explorations' website at https://thorexpl.com/investors/financials/.

About Thor Explorations

Thor Explorations Ltd. is a mineral exploration company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of mineral properties located in Nigeria, Senegal and Burkina Faso. Thor Explorations holds a 100% interest in the Segilola Gold Project located in Osun State, Nigeria and has a 70% economic interest in the Douta Gold Project located in south-eastern Senegal. Thor Explorations trades on AIM and the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "THX".

For further information please contact:

Thor Explorations Ltd

[email protected]

Email: [email protected]

Canaccord Genuity (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

Henry Fitzgerald-O'Connor / James Asensio / Harry Rees

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7523 8000

Hannam & Partners (Broker)

Andrew Chubb / Matt Hasson / Jay Ashfield / Franck Nganou

Tel: +44 (0) 20 7907 8500

Fig House Communications (Investor Relations)

Tel: +1 416 822 6483

Email: [email protected]

Yellow Jersey PR (Financial PR)

Charles Goodwin / Shivantha Thambirajah / Soraya Jackson

Tel: +44 (0) 20 3004 9512

BlytheRay (Financial PR)

Tim Blythe / Megan Ray / Said Izagaren

Tel: +44 207 138 3203

Qualified Person

The technical information included in this report has been prepared under the supervision of Alfred Gillman (Fellow, AusIMM, CP Geology), who is designated as a "qualified person" under National Instrument 43-101 and AIM and has reviewed and approves the content of this news release. He has also reviewed QA/QC, sampling, analytical and test data underlying the information.

Production Metrics



Units Q3 - 2023 Q2 -2023 Q1 - 2023 Q4 - 2022 Q3 - 2022 Q2 - 2022 Q1 - 2022















Mining















Total Mined Tonnes 5,673,193 5,633,688 4,194,689 4,296,494 4,018,431 4,031,584 3,759,524 Waste Mined Tonnes 5,370,279 5,355,105 3,996,264 3,974,073 3,793,249 3,747,504 3,533,610 Ore Mined Tonnes 302,915 278,583 198,425 322,421 225,182 284,079 226,314 Grade g/t Au 2.44 2.43 2.85 3.51 4.43 3.63 2.68 Daily Total Mining Rate Tonnes/Day 61,665 61,909 46,608 46,701 43,679 44,303 41,772 Daily Ore Mining Rate Tonnes/Day 3,292 3,061 2,205 3,505 2,448 3,122 2,515

















Stockpile















Ore Stockpiled Tonnes 338,558 297,060 270,215 300,531 229,909 249,281 179,758 Ore Stockpiled g/t Au 0.99 1.06 1.14 1.48 1.19 1.46 1.23 Ore Stockpiled Oz 10,756 10,124 9,904 14,300 8,796 11,701 7,109

















Processing















Ore Processed Tonnes 261,671 255,231 231,001 254,824 241,434 211,582 221,900 Grade g/t Au 2.46 2.99 2.95 3.38 3.58 3.66 3.18 Recovery % 92.3 94 94.1 95 95.5 95.5 94.1 Gold Recovered Oz 19,104 23,078 20,629 26,331 26,523 23,785 21,343 Milling Throughput Tonnes/Day 2,844 2,805 2,567 2,770 2,624 2,325 2,466

Key Exploration updates

Exploration Activity Summary Q3 2023

Segilola near mine exploration continued as a priority for the Group in 2023. The Group also completed its field exploration activities at the Douta Project in Senegal and is now completing various workstreams for the Douta Preliminary Feasibility Study.

The Group continued to expand its portfolio in Nigeria through the acquisition of additional pegmatite bearing lithium licences in various locations via entering into joint venture agreements with existing licence holders.

The majority of the exploration activities carried out on all the Group's licences, consisted of Reverse Circulation drilling, Diamond Drilling, geochemical stream sediment sampling, auger drilling and soil sampling. Work continued on the Kola target which is located about 20km from the Segilola Mine following the significant geochemical signature and follow up drill results that included several anomalous zones.

In Senegal, the Group's Douta Project encompasses a mineral resource of 1.78 million ounces ("Moz") of gold ("Au"). Workstreams focussed on the proposed process flow sheet in support of a Preliminary Feasibility Study (PFS) commenced during the quarter following the completion of the resource drilling program.

As part of its strategy of identifying high-value mineral resource opportunities, Thor, through its fully owned subsidiary Newstar Minerals Ltd, continued to carry out drilling activities on its West Oyo Lithium project however the drilling program was interrupted due to heavy rains in Oyo, delaying the drill results to Q4 2023.

Exploration drilling statistics summary for the Period

Prospect Target

Commodity Diamond RC Total



No.

Holes Metres No.

Holes Metres No.

Holes Metres Western Prospect - Aye-ile gold 14 1,866



14 1,866 Southern Prospect -Kola gold



39 2,621 39 2,621 Newstar Lithium - Oyo lithium



77 4,585 77 4,585 Total

14 1,866 116 7,206 130 9,072

Nigeria Gold

Introduction

The high grade Segilola gold deposit is located on the major regional shear zone that extends for several hundred kilometres through the gold-bearing Ilesha schist belt (structural corridor) of Nigeria.

The key objective of the exploration strategy is to extend the life of mine ("LOM") at Segilola. Approximately 80% of the Group's Nigerian exploration effort is concentrated within a 25km radius from the Segilola operation such that potential gold-bearing material can be easily trucked to the existing plant. In parallel to this, the Group also continued to carry out generative exploration activities in areas that are further from the mine.





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Segilola Southern Prospects

The southern prospects cover an area that is located to the south from the Segilola Gold Mine. Regional stream sediment sampling located an area of interest at what is now referred to as the Kola target. Kola is located about 20km from the Segilola Mine. Further follow up drill testing of this greenfield target intersected several high grade anomalous zones of interest including 13m grading 11.57g/tAu.

Further drilling at the Kola Target has delineated high grade mineralisation extensions to the north-west and the south-east as illustrated in Figure 2.2 below. Drilling is ongoing throughout Q4 2023 to test these extensional targets.





Figure 2.2 Segilola Southern Prospects

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Kola Prospect Significant Results Q3 2024

Hole ID x Y Z Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) SGRC202 699920 807870 259 31 -90 0 0 7 7 0.86 SGRC203 699913 807870 259 26 -90 0 0 13 13 11.57 SGRC203











21 24 3 0.97 SGRC204 699938 807889 259 70 -60 270 5 11 6 0.73 SGRC215 699921 807890 259 31 -60 90 17 22 5 2.54 SGRC236 699901 807898 259 60 -60 90 20 26 6 2.24

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 1m internal dilution)

Segilola Western Prospects

The Western Prospects are located about 15km directly west from the Segilola Gold Mine and cover mostly amphibolitic rocks that contrast with the more gneissic terrain that is developed at Segilola itself. The prospect comprises several exploration permits that are held under exercised option agreements. The area is easily accessed through a series of sealed roads and gravel tracks. The Western Prospects are held under a joint venture agreement ("Thor-Esteedan JV") between Thor's wholly owned subsidiary Segilola Gold Limited ("SGL") and a local mineral exploration company, Esteedan Limited ("Esteedan").

Igila

Drilling continued at Igila following up on the series of narrow high grade mineralised lodes. Exploration activities at the Western Prospects was aimed at identifying additional strike length and identifying additional lodes such as the Aye-Ile prospect.

Aye-Ile

The Aye-Ile prospect is located approximately 1.2km along strike to the south-east from Igala. Drill testing of anomalous auger geochemistry located a north-east dipping vein-system that is developed on the same structural orientation as Igala. Additional drilling is planned to expand the zone of mineralisation and to infill the prospective strike between Igala and Aye-Ile. Further drilling intersections were drilled in the period with results highlighted in the table below.

Prospect Hole ID x Y Z Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) Aye-Ile SGD250 684182 836855 386 110 -60 320 40.7 41.8 1.1 0.64 Aye-Ile SGD266 684219 836824 376 84 -60 320 36.2 38.1 1.9 8.34 Aye-Ile SGD272 684246 836842 347 101 -60 320 70 73 3 6.84

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; maximum 1m internal dilution)





Aye- Ile exploration map

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Newstar Lithium

Thor has secured over 600km2 of granted tenure in Nigeria that form Oyo State, Kwara State and Ekiti State Lithium Project Areas. The Oyo State Project Area encompasses what Thor considers to be one of Nigeria's most significant lithium pegmatite occurrence which is currently being exploited by small-scale lithium mining. In the period, Thor has added further licences in Ekiti to its portfolio.

The Oyo State Lithium Project comprises approximately 38km2 of exploration tenure that is located towards the westernmost border of Nigeria and within 200km of the commercial capital of Lagos. The project area is unique in the Nigerian context as it is mostly located in a relatively sparsely populated region of the country but within close proximity to large population centres and advanced infrastructure such as road, rail and ports.

Target Area 1

Reconnaissance rock chip sampling carried out in 2022 in the western parts of Oyo State returned Li 2 O analyses of between 1.34% and 9.31%. Thor has secured tenure over this area in a number of joint venture agreements together with wholly owned exploration permits.

A program of reverse circulation targeted an identified pegmatite trend that is developed within northerly trending mafic sequence that is surrounded by granitoid-gneiss terrain.

The significant results from this program are listed below.

Hole ID X Y Depth Dip Azimuth From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(%Li2O) True

Width

(m) NRC006 494432 899276 110 -60 110 14 25 11 1.53 10.5





includes

15 24 9 1.70 8.6 NRC009 494530 899242 50 -60 110 14 15 1 0.42 1.0 NRC010 494515 899248 60 -60 290 15 26 11 2.61 10.5 NRC018 494450 899300 46 -90 0 26 29 3 1.66 2.9





includes

27 29 2 2.11 1.9











35 44 9 2.42 8.6 NRC019 494445 899365 52 -90 0 33 35 2 1.27 1.9





includes

33 34 1 2.08 1.0 NRC020 494396 899351 50 -90 0 6 10 4 0.43 3.8 NRC024 494500 899300 50 -90 0 35 39 4 1.03 3.8





includes

35 36 1 2.50 1.0

(0.4%Li 2 O cut-off grade, minimum 1m thickness, up to 2m internal dilution)

Sample analyses were carried by SGS Randfontein (GE_ICP90A50 and GE_FUZ90A50). Cross check analyses were carried out by MSA Laboratories, Vancouver (PER-700).

The drilled pegmatite averages 20m in thickness and dips at 5 degrees towards the north west. A continuous sheet of coarse spodumene mineralisation of up to 11m thick is developed towards the upper contact of the pegmatite and mafic country rocks.

On going exploration is underway to locate additional pegmatites in the immediate vicinity of this target and further to the south where extensive exposures of pegmatites have been mapped in Target Area 2.





Exploration Target Map

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Thor/Newstar has also secured additional tenure over this area in a number of joint venture agreements together with wholly owned exploration permits. Further to the west additional exploration tenure has been obtained through the granting of a large exploration permit (EL42245) to the north east together securing additional ground under an agreement with SCT Mining & Exploration Ltd.

The ongoing drilling program has been extended to test all the mapped pegmatites with results expected to be announced by the Group in Q4 2023.

Senegal

Introduction

The Douta Gold Project is a gold exploration permit E02038, located within the Knieba inlier, eastern Senegal. The northeast-trending license has an area of 58 km2. Thor, through its wholly owned subsidiary African Star Resources Incorporated ("African Star"), has a 70% economic interest in partnership with the permit holder International Mining Company SARL ("IMC"). IMC has a 30% free carried interest in its development until the announcement by Thor of a Probable Reserve.

The Douta licence Is strategically positioned 4km east of Massawa North and Massawa Central deposits, which form part of the world-class Sabadola-Massawa Project owned by Endeavour Mining. The Makabingui deposit, belonging to Bassari Resources Ltd, is immediately located east of the northern portion of E02038 (Figure 2.5).

Drilling Results

Drilling has been focussed in the following areas:

Resource Upgrade: Makosa and Makosa Tail, Makosa East

Metallurgical Sampling Makosa and Makosa Tail

Exploration: Sambara area

Potential Resource Upgrade

In April 2023 Thor commenced a program of infill RC drilling with the objective of upgrading the inferred portions of the resource that fall within the optimised pit shell, to indicated classification. At Makosa, zones of gold mineralisation are developed either within a sheared gabbro intrusive or within a steep north-westerly dipping sequence of meta-sedimentary rocks that are in close proximity to the gabbro. Higher grade zones or shoots are suspected to occur along east-west oriented structures that cut across the main north-east trend of the mineralisation.

The significant intersections from this program are listed in table below. Drill samples were analysed by ALS Laboratories in Mali using the AA26 fire assay method (50 gram charge).

Douta Project Significant Results (>20 gram-metres: grade*true width)

Prospect Hole ID Easting Northing Depth Dip From

(m) To

(m) Interval

(m) Grade

(g/tAu) True Width

(m) Makosa Tail DTDD0017 174590 1434805 45.2 -50 32 41 9 2.38 2.4 Makosa DTDD0021 175377 1436071 90.2 -50 36 44 8 8.08 7.2 Makosa DTDD0021 175377 1436071 90.2 -50 55 61 6 4.03 11.7 Makosa DTDD0023 175219 1435902 70.4 -50 58 66 8 3.14 7.2 Makosa DTDD0024 175477 1436151 95.4 -50 64 71 7 3.77 14.4 Makosa DTDD0029 175949 1436665 20 -50 0 16 16 2.03 14.4 Makosa East DTRC779 175885 1436181 54 -60 39 48 9 2.46 8.0 Makosa Tail DTRC805 173959 1433743 50 -60 36 46 10 2.25 4.8 Makosa Tail DTRC806 173939 1433758 74 -60 52 54 2 13.90 1.6 Makosa Tail DTRC807 173920 1433773 100 -60 78 81 3 25.35 5.6 Makosa Tail DTRC812 174161 1433787 90 -60 50 56 6 4.94 13.5 Makosa Tail DTRC842 174556 1434762 69 -60 25 43 18 1.82 6.3 Makosa Tail DTRC844 174476 1434806 69 -60 45 55 10 3.00 7.2 Makosa Tail DTRC848 174583 1434868 114 -60 96 109 13 4.59 5.4 Makosa Tail DTRC854 174545 1435016 107 -60 61 76 15 1.79 9.0 Makosa DTRC864 176149 1437011 90 -60 49 56 7 3.90 8.1 Makosa DTRC865 176203 1437037 72 -60 93 102 9 4.33 8.1

(0.5g/tAu lower cut off; minimum width 2m with 2m max internal waste)

The drill results demonstrate the continuity of gold mineralisation both along strike and down dip. Several higher-grade intersections were obtained including 2m grading 13.90g/tAu g/tAu in drillhole DTRC806, 3m grading 25.35g/tAu in DTRC807 and 6m grading 4.94g/tAu in DTRC812.

In addition to upgrading the resource classification, intersections such as these will likely have a positive effect in locally elevating the average resource grade.

With the exploration fieldwork complete, the Group aims to announce an updated resource in Q4 2023. The preliminary feasibility study workstreams are ongoing with a preliminary feasibility study expected to be completed in Q1 2024.





Douta Project Location Map

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Metallurgical Sampling

A total of 22 diamond holes were completed to obtain representative samples, from both Makosa and Makosa Tail to undergo detailed metallurgical test work. Several of these holes twinned existing historic RC holes and returned results that are consistent with the earlier grades and thicknesses. Independent Metallurgical Operations (IMO) are undertaking the test work program in Perth, Western Australia.

Exploration

At the Sambara prospect several RC holes were drilled to test both the extremities of the Sambara deposit and a soil geochemical anomaly that was located in the northwestern part of the exploration licence. Best results include 5m grading 1.35g/tAu in drillhole DTRC726 and 4m grading 1.43g/tAu in DTRC729. Further testing along the prospective strike length is planned for the remainder of 2023.

Drillhole location map showing Significant Results (>20gram-metres)

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Makosa Tail Cross-section Showing Grade Continuity on In-fill Drill-section

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AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. strengthens its governance and leadership as it continues to grow its corporation.

LAS VEGAS , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. (OTCQX Market: AGSS), a nationwide, armed security guard company, announced that it has appointed Lieutenant General (Retired) Russel Honore to its Board of Directors. Lieutenant General (Retired) Honore retired as Commanding General of First Army, the oldest Field Army in the U.S. He is best known for serving as commander of "Joint Task Force Katrina," responsible for coordinating military relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina. Most recently, the General was called upon to lead the investigation into security failures surrounding the January 6th U.S. Capital riot.

"I see a continuing growing need for professional armed security service providers as contractors to the government and other organizations. I see AmeriGuard as an excellent company to meet that need, and that is why I am pleased to join its Board of Directors," said Lieutenant General (Retired) Honore. "Bringing Lieutenant General (Retired) Honore onto our Board of Directors, fits perfectly with our strategy to aggressively grow our company through more government contracts, more acquisitions, and exploring international opportunities as well," Said CEO Lawrence Garcia . "We are in a much stronger position to compete and win larger government contracts, with the guidance of Lieutenant General (Retired) Honore," said Board Director, Douglas Anderson .

The CEO Lawrence Garcia said, "We are pleased to welcome Lieutenant General (Retired) Honore's breadth of experience, knowledge, and leadership to AmeriGuard, which will be an asset to our Corporation, its clients, and our shareholders at large."

About AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. (OTCQX Market: AGSS)

AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. is a security services company, specializing in armed security guards. Its principal clients are the Military, Federal, and State government. It has been in business since 2000.

AMERIGUARD SECURITY SERVICES, INC. ( Nevada )

AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. is a Nevada corporation.

Media Contact:

Lawrence Garcia , CEO, or Investor Relations

[email protected]

+1-559-271-5984

https://www.ameriguardsecurity.com

Statements in this press release regarding AmeriGuard Security Services, Inc. that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future events or results to differ materially from such statements.

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SOURCE Ameriguard Security Services Inc
VIENNA, Va. , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Attune, the only customizable indoor air quality solution in America, in partnership with school districts in Colorado , the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDPHE), and the University of Colorado Boulder, deployed Attune IAQ systems in 45 school districts and 369 school buildings across the state. This CDC-funded initiative aims to improve IAQ environments in Colorado school districts for students, teachers and administrators.

Attune real time air quality monitors are now in every building of Denver Public Schools after expanding statewide to improve air quality in schools with outdated infrastructure. President Biden recently praised the work Denver Public Schools have done to address the indoor air quality crisis.

"The expansion of the Attune partnership across the state of Colorado will enable the assessment of how clean the air is in classrooms where students and teachers spend the most time," said Dr. Serene Almomen, CEO and co-founder of Attune. "Attune's indoor air quality sensors will alert school administrators in real-time if there are any classrooms which are outliers in terms of air quality and ventilation performance so they can act in an evidenced-based manner in the best interest of their staff and students quickly."

Colorado's Department of Education reports 1 in 5 students are chronically absent from school, resulting in an average of nearly 113,000 Colorado students consistently truant during the school year. In educational settings, poor indoor air quality can have negative health effects, chronic absenteeism and lower academic performance.

Attune's monitoring networks report levels of selected environmental factors and airborne pollutants in real-time through an easy-to-read dashboard format, which can be customized for any audience. This valuable data can be used to optimize HVAC system performance and students' educational environment, for any school infrastructure, classroom occupancy levels, location and season. The first-of-its-kind sensor-based platform is supported by 58 patents and detects changes in temperature, humidity, CO 2 , Particulate Matter (PM) levels, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) and other gasses and contaminants. These monitors can be customized for any urban or rural educational setting to also include ozone, combustion products and/or noise levels.

"The installation of Attune in 369 Colorado Public School buildings is a major step towards validating that our schools have acceptable air quality as we now have the ability to mitigate the potential transmission of airborne viruses and other respiratory challenges," said Dr. Mark Hernandez , a civil and environmental engineering professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. "You can't monitor what you don't measure and Attune allows us to "see" exactly what is in the air in real-time."

Professor Hernandez's research focuses on microbiological aspects of indoor air pollution, and with support from the Centers for Disease Control, is leading the initiative that will analyze air quality data generated by Attune's monitoring networks across more than 3,000 classrooms in about 25% of Colorado school districts.

Attune was selected as an IAQ schools expert by the Environmental Protection Agency, and its real-time monitoring is currently in many school districts across the nation including Washington D.C. Public Schools, Montgomery County Public Schools, Monterey County Schools, South Monterey County Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools.

Attune is involved in many IAQ monitoring initiatives across the nation that are driven by the Biden administration's Building Better School Infrastructure Plan, which includes a $500 million grant program to bolster school energy efficiency. The plan offers grants to improve HVAC/ventilation systems within school buildings in support of local, state, territorial, and tribal nation education.

For more information about Attune, visit their website at https://www.attuneiot.com .

About Attune:

Attune is a first-of-its-kind, sensor-based technology platform with 58 patents for its technology innovations. It provides real-time assurance into critical areas such as indoor air quality, energy consumption, risk of water leaks, critical equipment status, and more. Attune is the only customizable indoor air quality monitoring solution on the market and is UL 2905 and SOC2 certified and GBAC Star Registered.

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Bosch Brand Donates Over $20,000 Worth of Power Tools, Measuring Tools and Accessories to Programs in Charlotte , Tampa , Dallas and San Antonio

MT. PROSPECT, Ill. , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Giving Tuesday, Bosch Power Tools is empowering the future of the trades by providing tool donations to four high school and pre-college construction trade programs across the U.S. Valued at approximately $20,000 , the donation of power tools, measuring tools and accessories is designed to support students' learning and development with hands-on skill-building experiences in the classroom, as the demand for skilled workers across the U.S. reaches new heights.

"As a company dedicated to hard work on the jobsite and in the community, we recognize the importance of investing in the local organizations that are empowering the workforce of tomorrow," said Teresa Sabatino , Director of Brand Marketing Power Tools North America. "Bosch Power Tools is proud to partner with these four distinguished trade school programs this Giving Tuesday to help ensure students are ready for work their first day on a professional jobsite, while also doing our part to help address the skilled trades gap."

To support the next generation of workers as they enter in-demand careers in the skilled trades, Bosch Power Tools identified ROC Construction Skills Training Center in Charlotte , the Career Institute North Trade High School Program in Dallas , the Construction Careers Academy in San Antonio and the Building Construction Academy at Bowers/Whitley in Tampa , as recipient organizations of its Giving Tuesday initiative.

Bosch Power Tools' donation of tools includes a wide range of equipment, from drills and saws to batteries and chargers, all of which are essential for hands-on training and skill development. The donation follows similar acts of giving in Dallas and Tampa , where Bosch recently donated tools and time as they worked alongside volunteers from the regional Habitat for Humanity teams. Efforts in both communities were impactful for all parties, resulting in new windows and doors, to complete interior framing for new family homes.

"Our school is incredibly grateful for Bosch Power Tools' donation and continued partnership, knowing we both value hard work and strive to empower the workers of tomorrow," said Krista Ackles , Vice Principal of the San Antonio Construction Careers Academy High School.

For more information on Bosch Power Tools' latest innovations, visit our Press Room at pressroom.boschtools.com or connect with Bosch Power Tools on Facebook , Instagram and TikTok.

About Bosch

Having established a presence in North America in 1906, today the Bosch Group employs nearly 37,000 associates in more than 100 locations in the region (as of Dec. 31, 2022 ). According to preliminary 2022 figures, Bosch generated consolidated sales of $15 billion in the U.S. , Canada , and Mexico . For more information visit www.bosch.us , www.bosch.ca and www.bosch.mx .

The Bosch Group is a leading global supplier of technology and services. It employs roughly 420,000 associates worldwide (as of Dec. 31, 2022 ). The company generated sales of $93.1 billion in 2022. Its operations are divided into four business sectors: Mobility Solutions, Industrial Technology, Consumer Goods, and Energy and Building Technology . As a leading IoT provider, Bosch offers innovative solutions for smart homes, Industry 4.0, and connected mobility. Bosch is pursuing a vision of mobility that is sustainable, safe, and exciting. It uses its expertise in sensor technology, software, and services, as well as its own IoT cloud, to offer its customers connected, cross-domain solutions from a single source. The Bosch Group's strategic objective is to facilitate connected living with products and solutions that either contain artificial intelligence (AI) or have been developed or manufactured with its help. Bosch improves quality of life worldwide with products and services that are innovative and spark enthusiasm. In short, Bosch creates technology that is "Invented for life." The Bosch Group comprises Robert Bosch GmbH and its roughly 440 subsidiary and regional companies in some 60 countries. Including sales and service partners, Bosch's global manufacturing, engineering, and sales network covers nearly every country in the world. The basis for the company's future growth is its innovative strength. At 128 locations across the globe, Bosch employs roughly 84,800 associates in research and development, of which more than 44,000 are software engineers. In North America , Bosch employs approximately 3,500 associates in research and development.

Additional information is available online at www.bosch.com , www.iot.bosch.com , www.bosch-press.com , www.twitter.com/BoschPresse .

About Construction Careers Academy High School

Since its beginning in 2009, Construction Careers Academy provides an advanced and rigorous curriculum to its public magnet high school students. Focusing on Construction Technology (Plumbing, Electrical, HVAC, Carpentry), Construction Management, Architectural Design and Applied Engineering, the premier campus offers real-world experience and industry certifications that prepare their students for higher education and/or a career in a construction related field.

About ROC Construction Skills Training Center

The mission of The ROC is to provide technical construction skills and job readiness training, mentorships, paid apprenticeships and permanent job placement for students attending high schools in under-served areas of Mecklenburg County.

The ROC was brought to life in 2018 through collaborative efforts with CPCC, CMS and over 40 construction industry partners. CPCC provides rigorous, industry-driven, college level construction education and CMS assists with recruiting, pathways and student transportation. The ROC provides soft skills and job readiness and Industry partners provide paid apprenticeships and full time employment.

About Career Institute North

The Dallas Independent School District is continually preparing its more than 141,000 students for college or a career. The district offers a competitive mix of innovative programs, choice programs and instructional initiatives that support the increased academic achievement and the social and emotional development of its students. To learn more, visit www.dallasisd.org.

About Hillsborough County Public Schools

Hillsborough County Public Schools, located in Tampa, Florida , is a leading educational institution dedicated to "Preparing Students for Life." The district is the seventh-largest in the nation and the third-largest in Florida . We proudly educate over 220,000 students, employ more than 24,000 individuals, and offer our families innovative and nationally recognized programs at 250-plus public schools. HCPS ranks 19th in the state for academics and led the nation in the 2022 NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) scores for 4th Grade Reading and 4th Grade Math .

For more information, visit hillsboroughschools.org and follow @HillsboroughSch on all social platforms.

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SOURCE Bosch Power Tools
CHENGDU, China , Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- From November 29 to 30 , the 2023 Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan will be held in Chengdu , hosted by the People's Government of Sichuan Province and co-organized by the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Economic Cooperation, the Sichuan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Sichuan Provincial Economic and Information Department, the Sichuan Federation of Industry and Commerce, and the Sichuan Provincial Returned Overseas Chinese Federation.

"This is the 10th year since the founding of the Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan ." Fang Qing , deputy director of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Economic Cooperation, said that during the event, Sichuan intends to hold one main event (2023 F2023 Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Visit to Sichuan Investment Promotion Conference and Project Cooperation Agreement Signing Ceremony), and two thematic activities (Roundtable on Cooperation and Exchange of well-known Foreign Enterprises, 2023 China ( Sichuan ) Advanced Materials Industry Cooperation Promotion Meeting), and co-ordinate the city (state) to organize numerous thematic activities. In order to pragmatically bridge the platform of government-enterprise exchanges and cooperation, it is proposed to organize and carry out the "Enterprise-Local Government Breakfast Communication Session", inviting the responsible representatives of the 21 cities (states) and the person in charge of the economic cooperation department to carry out "face-to-face" exchanges with important businessmen in Sichuan . In addition, it will also organize the participants to join the city (state) to carry out investment visits and hold talks and other series of activities.

Organized for nine consecutive years, the Sichuan Tour has become an annual investment promotion event in Sichuan Province , attracting a large number of Chinese and foreign investors, including the world's top 500 (multinational enterprises), central-government enterprises and key state-owned enterprises, China's top 500, private enterprises top 500, industry-leading enterprises, totaling more than 4,800 well-known enterprises and business associations, more than 8,000 people visiting Sichuan to discuss exchanges and on-site visits to invest and share the opportunities for development of Sichuan .

The "Well-known Chinese and Foreign Enterprises' Sichuan Tour" is a major brand open platform activity with high level and wide influence in Sichuan Province . It has been held once a year since 2014, and has been held for 9 consecutive years, which has achieved fruitful results in investment promotion, with good brand effect, nurtured a number of important businessmen resources, promoted a number of major investment projects, and vigorously boosted the economic and social development of Sichuan .

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cri-online2023-well-known-chinese-and-foreign-enterprises-visit-to-sichuan-to-be-held-soon-301997543.html

SOURCE CRI Online
Salmonella Cantaloupe Outbreak has sickened 162, hospitalized 62 with 3 deaths.

SEATTLE , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- "Since last week the U.S. and Canadian health officials reported 162 people with Salmonella, including 62 hospitalized with three deaths, all linked to the consumption of cantaloupe imported from Mexico ," said food safety attorney, William "Bill" Marler. "In the U.S. the FDA should use its authority under the Food Safety Modernization Act to stop Mexican cantaloupe imports until the "root cause" of the outbreak has been determined," added Marler.

The Salmonella Cantaloupe Outbreak. In the U.S. as of November 24 , 99 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from 32 states. Illnesses started on dates ranging from October 17, 2023 , to November 10, 2023 . Of 77 people with information available, 45 have been hospitalized. Two deaths have been reported from Minnesota . In Canada as of November 24 , there have been 63 laboratory-confirmed cases of Salmonella in six provinces, Individuals became sick between mid-October and mid-November 2023 . Seventeen individuals have been hospitalized. One death has been reported.

The Salmonella Cantaloupe Recall. Whole fresh cantaloupes with a label on the cantaloupe that says "Malichita" or "Rudy", "4050", and "Product of Mexico /produit du Mexique." Retailers and wholesalers would have received recalled whole melons from Crown Jewels Produce in boxes labeled "Malachita/Z Farms" or from Sofia Produce doing business as TruFresh in boxes labeled "Malichita" or "Rudy." Additional secondary recalls have been issued for products that were made using recalled cantaloupes and for produce items that were processed alongside recalled cantaloupes.

William "Bill" Marler has been a food safety lawyer and advocate since the 1993 Jack-in-the-Box E. coli Outbreak which was chronicled in the book, "Poisoned" and in the recent Netflix documentary by the same name. Bill work has been profiled in the New Yorker, "A Bug in the System;" the Seattle Times, "30 years after the deadly E. coli outbreak, A Seattle attorney still fights for food safety;" the Washington Post, "He helped make burgers safer, Now he is fighting food poisoning again;" and several others.

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TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, November 27. Japanese ITOCHU trading and investment company has expressed interest in developing business in Uzbekistan, Trend reports.

The news followed a meeting between Deputy Prime Minister of Uzbekistan Jamshid Kuchkarov and a delegation of ITOCHU Corporation headed by Masahiro Imai, Senior Vice Representative for External Relations.

During the meeting, prospects for investments in the automotive industry were discussed. ITHOCU representatives emphasized Uzbekistans high investment potential of Uzbekistan.

The parties expressed their intention to continue cooperation and agreed on further steps to implement the plans and ideas discussed.

Earlier this year, ITOCHU and Uzbekistan's Navoiyuran, specializing in geology, mining and metallurgy, expressed their interest in implementing new projects for the joint extraction of uranium in Uzbekistan.

Proposals were also put forward to increase the existing volumes of uranium production and reduce the cost of production by introducing digital technologies into production.

Moreover, the Japanese expressed their proposals on geological exploration and the development of new deposits, the introduction of high technologies, the effective use of the corporation's international experience in the global market and the creation of new capacities for the production of sulfuric acid with the participation of geologists and engineers.

Uzbekistan plans to double the volume of uranium production by 2030, bringing it from 3,600 in 2022 to 7,000 by the end the designated period.
SILVER SPRING, Md. , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development, two of Maryland's largest affordable rental housing developers, will host a groundbreaking ceremony for Sligo Apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland on Monday, November 27, 2023 .

Sligo Apartments is a new construction residential development, that is 100% affordable with restricted rents. Sligo Apartments will provide a modern, high quality apartment community dedicated to providing quality affordable housing to qualifying tenants in need, as well as market rates units and commercial rental space. The property is financed through a Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) investment from Hudson Housing Capital and Capital One  who is also providing the permanent debt financing, as well as loans from the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. Ed Delany , Community Finance Senior Capital Officer for the Mid Atlantic at Capital One said "At Capital One, we understand that financing the creation and preservation of affordable housing is essential to mitigating the ongoing crisis across the nation, and especially in Montgomery County . We were pleased to once again leverage the LIHTC program, as well as provide construction debt and a Freddie Mac permanent loan, to bring the new Sligo Apartments development to life."

The co-developers, Green Street Housing and TM Associates Development, have developed many similar projects across Maryland and are proud of Sligo's promise to provide affordable housing to its residents and serve as a long-term community asset to Silver Spring and the surrounding area.

" Sligo Apartments is a great project and we are excited to bring another high-quality affordable rental community to Maryland ," said Dave Layfield , Principal of Green Street Housing.

The event will be held at 715 Sligo Avenue , Silver Spring, MD at 11:30AM on November 27, 2023 . Refreshments will be provided. Parking is available on site.

About Sligo Apartments

Sligo Apartments will be a 98-unit affordable rental apartment community. The apartment building will be a five story, elevator building with a podium parking garage. Sligo Apartments will serve Silver Spring families, offering a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom apartments and will serve incomes between 30-80% of the area median income.

About Green Street Housing

Green Street Housing is a Maryland -based affordable housing developer whose principals have many years of development experience and over $100 's of millions in closed transactions in the region. Green Street Housing takes great pride in its green-building practices which include Energy Star building practices and on-site solar energy production at all its Maryland affordable apartment communities. Learn more at www.greenstreethousing.com .

About TM Associates Development

TM Associates' history of successes includes new construction and rehabilitation projects. They have enjoyed trusted partnerships with many for-profit and non-profit organizations and continue to work alongside those who share their dedication to the development and preservation of affordable housing communities. They have gained invaluable experience mastering complex projects and have been repeatedly recognized for their green-building efforts.

Contact: Ray Perdue

Phone: 443-614-3233

Email: 369100@email4pr.com

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SOURCE Green Street Housing
BEIJING , Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At 1:18 pm Beijing time on November 26 , Hainan Airlines' non-stop flight HU729 from Beijing to Boston departed from Beijing Capital International Airport and landed at Boston's Logan International Airport at 2:09 pm local time. The event marks the successful resumption of Hainan Airlines' first China-US route since the COVID-19 outbreak and represents the airline's seventh intercontinental route originating from Beijing .

Hainan Airlines' Beijing - Boston route is scheduled for three round-trip flights every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, using Boeing 787-9 wide-body airliners. The outbound flight departs from Beijing Capital International Airport at 1:20 pm local time and arrives at Boston Logan International Airport at 3:40 pm local time, with a flight duration of approximately 15 hours and 20 minutes. The return flight departs Boston at 5:40 pm local time, with a brief stop in Seattle and arrives in Beijing two days later at 3:30 am local time. The estimated total flight time is 20 hours and 50 minutes. All times mentioned are local, and actual flight schedules should be checked for confirmation.

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco . President Xi emphasized the need for both nations to enhance humanistic exchanges. He advocated for more direct flights between China and the US, boosted cooperation in tourism, expanded local interactions, strengthened educational ties, and increased visits and communication between their peoples. In response, Hainan Airlines is meticulously preparing to restore its China-US flight frequency to pre-pandemic levels as swiftly as possible. This effort aims to provide convenient, high-quality, and safe air transportation services, facilitating cooperation across various sectors between China and the United States .

To date, Hainan Airlines has resumed and inaugurated over 30 international and regional round-trip passenger routes departing from 10 cities, including Beijing , Shenzhen , Shanghai , Haikou , Chongqing , Xi'an , Changsha , Taiyuan, Dalian and Guangzhou . The airline is also focused on accelerating the resumption and launch of more international and regional flights, aiming to better cater to the growing market demand for travel to and from China .

Schedule: The detailed schedule of Hainan Airlines' Beijing - Boston / Boston - Seattle - Beijing route is as follows (all schedules are in local time)

Flight No. Airplane

Model Route Schedule Departure

Time Arrival

Time Flight Date HU729 787-9 Beijing -

Boston Wednesdays, Fridays and

Sundays 1:20 pm 3:40 pm November 26, 2023 -

March 9, 2024 HU730 787-9 Boston -

Beijing 5:40 pm 3:30am+2

Flight No. Aircraft

Model Route Schedule Departure

Time Arrival

Time Flight Date HU729 787-9 Beijing -

Boston Wednesdays, Fridays and

Sundays 1:20 pm 4:40 pm March 10, 2024 -

March 30, 2024 HU730 787-9 Boston -

Beijing 6:40 pm 3:30 am+2

Note: Flight information is subject to change without notice.

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SOURCE Hainan Airlines
Thanks to its members, Visible will donate $100,000 to charitable partners, plus three $20,000 matching donations in honor of Giving Tuesday

DENVER , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Visible, the Verizon-owned all-digital wireless carrier, today announces a multi-charity matching campaign for Giving Tuesday. Visible is also revealing the results of its Visible Impacts member-voting program, in which subscribers voted to donate a total of $100,000 to U.S. Hunger , Empower Work and SAGE .

To support each organization on Giving Tuesday, Visible is calling on its members and non-members alike for help connecting people to food, work and community: Now through December 7 , Visible will match individual donations made to U.S. Hunger, Empower Work, and SAGE  up to $20,000 to each nonprofit  for a total of $160,000 to fund essential connections. People can visit visible.com/impacts to learn more about these impactful charities and find links to their websites where donors can give directly to each nonprofit.

Visible's Giving Tuesday campaign builds on efforts throughout the year to make sure members have a voice in the brand's social impact commitments: When Visible members reach their anniversary, or "Visiversary," they can vote on one of three causes  food, work or community  they'd like to see Visible donate to on their behalf. Based on the feedback from its members, this year Visible is donating $50,000 to U.S. Hunger, $30,000 to Empower Work and $20,000 to SAGE.

"Our commitment isn't just to our members, but to the communities we serve," said Jeremy Bolton , Managing Director of Visible. "That's why Visible has partnered with these leading nonprofits this year to build programs that use the power of a mobile connection to increase access to food, work and community. We're incredibly proud to support these organizations, while at the same time giving our members a voice to inform Visble's continued charitable giving."

Visible's partnership with U.S. Hunger helps fund their Full Cart program, a virtual food bank that collaborates with key community partners to provide those in need food access with dignity and discretion.

"This partnership with our longtime partner, Visible, signifies a tremendous opportunity to magnify our impact in connecting people to their basic needs," said Rick Whitted , CEO of U.S. Hunger. "We are grateful for Visible's continued support and commitment to making a difference in the lives of those who need it most. This Giving Tuesday, together with Visible, we are determined to bring hope, nourishment, and opportunities to our community."

In partnership with Empower Work, Visible launched Connection Protection this year to help those who have experienced job hardships receive three months of wireless service with costs covered by Visible and support from Empower Work through their text line.

"One of the most critical pieces of our confidential text line for workers is that it's free," explains Jaime-Alexis, Fowler, founder and executive director of Empower Work. "We support tens of thousands of workers nationwide at their hardest moments - job loss, hours cut, job searches - often when they're at their most financially vulnerable. Donations help ensure our text line is accessible to those who need it the most. This match from Visible will support the wellbeing of even more people, especially as we head into the holiday season when the strain of a job loss is even harder."

To support the most vulnerable within the LGBTQ+ community, Visible invests in key SAGE programs, including the SAGEConnect, which is a free phone-buddy program that matches LGBTQ+ elders with volunteers for weekly phone calls, offering a safe and easy way to stay connected.

"While a time of joy and celebration, the holiday season can also be very difficult for many, especially for LGBTQ+ elders who struggle with loneliness, isolation and lack of family connections," said Michael Adams , CEO of SAGE. "We're honored to be one of the recipients of Visible Wireless's Giving Tuesday match to help us help the many thousands of LGBTQ+ elders who count on SAGE during this season and throughout the year. We deeply appreciate Visible shining a spotlight on their needs so people of all generations can support each other."

Visible Impacts is Visible's social impact platform. Launched earlier this year, it focuses on powering connections to three pillars: food security, career opportunities, and community  the basic needs vital to achieving one's full potential. For more information on Visible Impacts and how you can donate to this year's charitable partners, visit visible.com/impacts .

About Visible

Visible is the first all-digital wireless service in the US, offering unlimited data, messages, minutes, and hotspot, powered by Verizon, 5G included. On a mission to dramatically change the wireless service experience, Visible has been named to Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies list and has been named "Best Telecom Brand" in Adweek's Challenger Brand Awards. Known for its commitment to giving back to the community it serves, Visible's social impact platform, Visible Impacts, helps people in need connect with their most basic needs: food, work, and inclusive communities.

For more information, visit www.visible.com or search for our service in the App Store or the Play Store .

Media Contact

Lindsey Cohen

Head of Communications, Verizon Value

[email protected]

M: 732.221.4509

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SOURCE Visible
Best data will determine industry's most valuable AI engine, and Trend Micro takes the lead

DALLAS , Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Trend Micro Incorporated (TYO: 4704; TSE: 4704), a global cybersecurity leader, announced today its latest evolution in generative AI: the integration of its leading global threat intelligence and millions of diverse sensor types to enhance outcomes for its flagship Trend Vision One cybersecurity platform.

Trend's AI-powered platform blocked more than 146 billion threats worldwide in 2022.

In 2022, Trend handled over six trillion threat queries from customers across 65+ countries. Using AI trained on this data, Trend blocked more than 146 billion threats, three billion of which were ransomware.

Kevin Simzer, COO at Trend: "AI is only as strong as the data it's trained on. We have undisputed leadership in native threat intelligence that empowers us to simplify output for informed actions. Our approach represents our commitment to threat-informed cybersecurity, leveraging global insights to deliver the most intelligent AI in the industry."

The analyst community agrees data is critical to delivering improved AI outcomes in cybersecurity. A distinguished analyst at research firm IDC declares that "Data is the enabling infrastructure for security AI," and that "the key to enabling outcomes in security is not about the AI; it is about the data."

Trend's leadership in the industry stands on the unparalleled breadth and depth of its data collection. Its data diversity is characterized not just by volume but by high-quality analysis, curation and labeling to reveal impactful and highly usable insights.

Specifically, Trend leverages:

Global Insights : Trend Vision One, the most informed and adaptive platform in cybersecurity, with threat insights captured by millions of sensors and trillions of threat queries from over 500,000 global commercial customers.

: Trend Vision One, the most informed and adaptive platform in cybersecurity, with threat insights captured by millions of sensors and trillions of threat queries from over 500,000 global commercial customers. Diverse Telemetry S ources : Data from more sensor typesincluding endpoint, mobile, OT / IoT, server, network, cloud, email, identity, and moredelivers an unmatched and holistic security overview. Diverse telemetry sources provide data from all steps of the attack kill chain to boost AI capabilities.

: Data from more sensor typesincluding endpoint, mobile, OT / IoT, server, network, cloud, email, identity, and moredelivers an unmatched and holistic security overview. Diverse telemetry sources provide data from all steps of the attack kill chain to boost AI capabilities. Human Research Expertise : Locally curated and globally relevant threat data from 14 research labs and over 500 threat researchers around the world enhances global analysis and insights. Trend's partnership with global law enforcement on high-profile cases reinforces the value of its unique and detailed insights into cybercriminal activities.

: Locally curated and globally relevant threat data from 14 research labs and over 500 threat researchers around the world enhances global analysis and insights. Trend's partnership with global law enforcement on high-profile cases reinforces the value of its unique and detailed insights into cybercriminal activities. The Zero Day Initiative: The world's largest bug bounty program, driving vulnerability insights and protecting Trend customers up to 79 days ahead of the industry before a breach can occur on zero-day vulnerabilities.

To learn more about the AI-powered Trend Vision One platform, visit: https://www.trendmicro.com/en_us/business/products/one-platform.html

Cyber threats are borderless. Trend has the most geographically diverse customer base in the security industry, compiles the most comprehensive global threat intelligence, and reaches geographies through unrivaled local sensors that other vendors do not have comprehensive insights or access to.

About Trend Micro

Trend Micro, a global cybersecurity leader, helps make the world safe for exchanging digital information. Fueled by decades of security expertise, global threat research, and continuous innovation, Trend Micro's cybersecurity platform protects hundreds of thousands of organizations and millions of individuals across clouds, networks, devices, and endpoints. As a leader in cloud and enterprise cybersecurity, the platform delivers a powerful range of AI-enabled threat defense techniques optimized for environments like AWS, Microsoft, and Google, and central visibility for better, faster detection and response. With 7,000 employees across 65 countries, Trend Micro enables organizations to simplify and secure their connected world. www.TrendMicro.com.

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SOURCE Trend Micro Incorporated
FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed logo of Facebook parent Meta Platforms is seen in front of displayed Google logo in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) -Australia's competition watchdog said on Monday new competition laws were required in response to the rapid expansion of digital platforms such as Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft in the country.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in its latest report for the Digital Platform Services Inquiry raised concerns that the expansion of these platforms has increased the risk of them engaging in harmful behaviour such as invasive data collection and practices that lock in customers and limit their choices.

"Our proposed reforms include a call for targeted consumer protections and service-specific codes to prevent anti-competitive conduct by particular designated digital platforms," ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

The ACCC has not made specific findings of anti-competitive conduct, but said digital platforms with significant market power can use practices such as the bundling of products, pre-installation and default settings to limit customer choice or deter innovation at competitors.

An Amazon spokesperson said "we are still assessing the details of the report", while Meta declined to comment. Apple, Google and Microsoft did not respond to Reuters requests for comment.

In terms of data collection practices, the ACCC found that these providers have greater access to rich consumer data via expansion, and it was not always clear from the relevant privacy policies if the data collected exceeds that which is required for device functionality or product improvement.

The regulator has also proposed new mandatory obligations on all digital platforms to address scams, harmful apps, fake reviews, including notice and action requirements and stronger verification of business users and reviews.

Competition laws should also address the potential challenges posed by emerging technologies such as generative AI and virtual reality, the ACCC said.

Earlier this year, the regulator announced plans to probe the country's fast-evolving ecosystem of digital platform service providers as part of a five-year inquiry into the sector.

(Reporting by Ayushman Ojha and John Biju in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Tom Hogue)
FILE PHOTO: A supporter of the main opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) waves a Taiwanese flag outside of the Central Election Commission in Taipei, Taiwan November 24, 2023. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

BEIJING/TAIPEI (Reuters) - Beijing is fretting that a split in Taiwan's opposition could pave the way for the island's ruling party - which the Chinese government despises - to stay in power, as China took centre stage in election campaigning over the weekend.

China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, looms large over the Jan. 13 presidential and parliamentary election as it has ramped up military pressure against the island.

Last week, negotiations for a united presidential ticket between the two main opposition parties, which seek closer ties with China, imploded, giving a boost to the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), already leading opinion polls.

China's official response so far has been a brief statement from its Taiwan Affairs Office late Friday saying it hopes the election result will help maintain peace and stability, and reiterating that Taiwan faces "a choice between war and peace".

But on Chinese social media, the drama has been followed with a sense of despair at the opposition's disunity.

Zhang Xuesong, director of strategic research at Chinese think tank CICG Asia-Pacific, wrote on his Weibo social media account that the disintegration of the talks was a "loss for cross-Taiwan Strait peace".

"That was an extremely frustrating day," he added. "Of course, the only thing that gives us confidence is that Taiwan is one step closer to finally being reunified."

Other Chinese Weibo accounts that follow Taiwan have been similarly despondent.

State-run Shenzhen Television wrote that the breakdown in talks signalled "a chaotic battle" to come in the election.

One Chinese Weibo user wrote simply: "I saw news that the talks broke down, and now I've lost hope."

The DPP has defied Chinese pressure. Beijing views DPP presidential candidate Lai Ching-te as a separatist and has rebuffed repeated offers of talks from both him and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.

Speaking at a campaign rally on Sunday night in Taipei's sister city New Taipei, Lai said that if Taiwan accepts it is part of China - Beijing's bottom line for talks - it will lose sovereignty.

"With no sovereignty, you will have no ownership over your land, your homes," Lai said.

Hou Yu-ih, the candidate for Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), told his supporters that a vote for Lai was a vote for war and only he could bring peace. Lai and the DPP strongly dispute that point of view.

On Monday, China's Taiwan Affairs Office repeated its attacks on Lai and running mate Hsiao Bi-khim, formerly Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the United States.

Lai and Hsiao "distorted facts and downplayed the harmfulness and danger of 'Taiwan independence' separatist activities to deceive voters in the 2024 leadership election in Taiwan", it said.

Opinion polls since the opposition talks collapsed have given a mixed picture.

The Taiwanese Public Opinion Foundation said that just more than half of respondents to the question of who they regarded as having the "best prospects" of winning answered Lai.

Television station ETtoday put Lai at about 35%, with Hou nipping at his heels with 33% and former Taipei mayor Ko Wen-je from the small Taiwan People's Party at 21%.

A split opposition gives Lai an increased chance of victory in Taiwan's first-past-the-post system. In 2020's election, the DPP won in a landslide, taking 56% of the vote, but only had to face one main opponent, the KMT's Han Kuo-yu.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom and Ben Blanchard; Editing by Gerry Doyle)
A man looks at his mobile phone next to a logo of Realme during its X50 5G product launch event in Beijing, China January 7, 2020. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File photo

By Josh Ye

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Chinese smartphone maker Realme said it had shipped more than 200 million phones since it was established a little over five years ago, most of them outside China, with data showing it was the fifth fastest smartphone maker to achieve this milestone.

Realme, owned by Chinese consumer hardware giant BBK Electronics which also owns the Oppo and Vivo brands, said it had reached the 200 million mark in the second quarter.

Data from market analytics firm Counterpoint Research shows that only four companies - Vivo, Huawei, Samsung and Apple - have taken less time to ship the same number of units. In total, just 14 companies globally which have shipped over 200 million phones to date.

"We came into existence when there were over 700 smartphone brands in the world," said Xu Qi, Realme's chief marketing officer. "We are extremely proud that we have been able to be in the world's top 10 brands for the past five years."

According to Counterpoint Research, there were more than 700 phone brands in 2017 and that number has plunged to about 250 in September.

Xu said Realme was ready to take on premium phones with its upcoming launch, the Realme GT 5 Pro, which will be among the first handsets to feature Qualcomm's latest high-end chip the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Sony's new Lytia camera sensor.

Xiaomi has recently released the Xiaomi 14 Pro which also runs on the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.

(Reporting by Josh Ye; Editing by Miral Fahmy)
FILE PHOTO: Zhao Changpeng, founder and chief executive officer of Binance, attends the Viva Technology conference dedicated to innovation and startups at Porte de Versailles exhibition center in Paris, France June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Ph

By Chris Prentice and Hannah Lang

(Reuters) -Former Binance chief Changpeng Zhao must stay in the United States for the time being, a federal judge said on Monday, after the founder of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws.

Zhao will be required to stay in the United States until the Seattle court considers whether he should remain through his sentencing hearing in February, or if he should be allowed to return to the United Arab Emirates, where he is a citizen.

Zhao, who is also a citizen of Canada, stepped down as CEO of Binance last week after pleading guilty to willfully causing the exchange to fail to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program.

U.S. District Judge Richard Jones in Seattle said he would review whether Zhao should have to stay in the United States after the U.S. government appealed a decision by another judge allowing Zhao to return to the UAE before his Feb. 23 sentencing hearing. Zhao agreed to a $175 million bond as part of the bail agreement.

Binance Holdings agreed to pay over $4.3 billion and pleaded guilty to breaking U.S. anti-money laundering and sanctions laws.

Binance said last week it had worked hard to make the company "safer and even more secure." Lawyers for Zhao did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Monday.

Last week, Zhao conceded: "I made mistakes, and I must take responsibility."

Zhao faces a maximum prison sentence of 18 months under federal guidelines and has agreed not to appeal any sentence up to that length. Prosecutors will take a position on how much jail time to seek closer to Zhao's sentencing, a Justice Department spokesperson said last week.

The government had said it may be unable to secure Zhao's return to the United States given it has no extradition treaty with the UAE.

Lawyers for Zhao disputed that he was a potential flight risk, noting that he paid a "substantial" bail package and voluntarily came to the United States to accept responsibility for his actions.

(Reporting by Chris Prentice in New York and Hannah Lang in Washington; editing by Michelle Price and Bill Berkrot)
FILE PHOTO: Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks during a hearing at Germanys lower house of parliament Bundestag following the ruling of Germany's Constitutional court that the government's re-location of 60 billion euros ($65 billion USD) of unused debt fro

(Reuters) - Germany's cabinet is expected to agree a supplementary 2023 budget this afternoon, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

The cabinet will also try to present a 2024 budget by the end of the year, the spokesperson said, adding that if this did not work out, the plan was to agree a budget in January.

The cabinet would base its reasoning for a renewed suspension of the country's debt brake on 2022 reasoning, the spokesperson added, speaking at a regular press conference in Berlin.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government was forced to freeze most new spending commitments after the constitutional court blocked plans to repurpose unused pandemic funds towards green projects and industry subsidies, wiping billions from the federal budget.

(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Christian Kraemer, Editing by Rachel More)
A view of the ruins of a hotel under construction, that was recently abandoned after being destroyed by a sudden rise in water level which damaged several hotels and houses in the coastal towns east of Abidjan in August, in Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast Septe

By Loucoumane Coulibaly and Coulibaly Media

ASSINIE, Ivory Coast (Reuters) - On a shrinking strip of beach in southeast Ivory Coast, hotel owner Habib Hassan Nassar has to stack thousands of sandbags each week to protect his property from the rising sea.

Thanks to the metres-high sandbag barricade, the Kame Surf Camp hotel clings to its section of beach in the resort of Assinie, even as the waves hem the hotel in on three sides and, in a recent surge, devastated the businesses of its neighbours.

"Frankly, I am exhausted," said Nassar, 50, who first came to the area as a child when this stretch of beach on the Gulf of Guinea was much wider and it took five minutes on foot to reach the shoreline.

Now he spends up to 1 million cfa francs ($1,640) a week to keep the sea at bay and his business afloat, buying truckloads of sand and hiring workers to pour it into bags and shore up the hotel's defences.

Such expenses are likely to increase. Without adaptation, damages from sea level rise could cost 12 large African coastal cities up to $86.5 billion by 2050, according to U.N. climate experts. Those cities include Ivory Coast's commercial capital Abidjan, just down the coast from Assinie.

"A small business like mine, all it can do is fill sandbags and put them out front and pray for the best," Nassar said, surveying his sea wall in a skull T-shirt bearing the slogan: 'Call of the Wave'.

The rapidly growing populations of West Africa's low-lying coastal areas are particularly exposed to rising sea levels, a trend that is accelerating globally due to extreme glacier melt and record ocean heat levels, the World Meteorological Organization warned in April.

Coastal erosion at the palm-fringed tourist haven of Assinie is classified as of particular concern due to the high rate of beach loss at a resort that is an important economic hub, according to Ivory Coast's National Coastal Environment Management Program. It says the national coastal erosion rate averages between 0.5 and 3 metres a year.

Over several days in August, a series of rogue waves underscored the vulnerability of Assinie and other coastal towns east of Abidjan.

The oversized waves pummelled the shore, striking higher than ever before and devastating homes and businesses.

"I was lucky enough to anticipate ... but if you look around me, everything else has been completely destroyed," said Nassar, recalling the thunderous crash of the six and seven-metre-high waves against his homemade ramparts.

More than three months on from the onslaught, the water has receded from its peak but other hotels and restaurants are struggling to reopen after the waves swept away beach huts, swamped swimming pools and knocked down sea-facing walls.

The coordinator of the National Coastal Environment Management Program, Eric Djagoua, told Reuters such extreme events are becoming more frequent and said more political will was needed to protect vulnerable coastal infrastructure.

The urgency is clear. West Africa's coastal areas generate at least 56% of the region's economic activity and host a third of its population, according to a World Bank study from 2019.

Even as needs rise, richer countries are falling short on a promise to give $100 billion a year to help poorer countries adapt to climate change impacts like sea level rise.

For some, it is already too late.

Thirty kilometres down the coast from Kame Surf Camp, 60-year-old Alex Messan Kouassi stands in the wreckage of his home and hotel that the waves tore through in August.

"Everything is gone ... the sea came and took it all, what can I do?"

($1 = 607.3700 CFA francs)

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Bate Felix and Susan Fenton)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran will maintain its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on its nuclear program, despite some non-constructive statements from some parties, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Nasser Kanaani said at a press conference in Tehran on November 27, Trend reports.

According to Kanaani, Iran and the IAEA have a signed document, and they are working together within that framework. He said that Irans nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment at different levels, are completely peaceful and are Irans right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

He added that Irans peaceful nuclear activities are under the IAEAs supervision.

The spokesman also said that Iran has complied with all its commitments under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). He rejected the claims of some countries that Iran has violated the UN Security Council Resolution No. 2231 and withdrawn from the JCPOA.

He noted that these claims are politically motivated and based on confusion between voluntary and legal obligations. Kanaani added that the JCPOA involves other members besides Iran, and they also have to fulfill their obligations. Furthermore, he said that they cannot expect Iran to fulfill its obligations and not fulfill theirs.

On March 4, 2023, a statement was signed between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency on cooperation on Iran's nuclear program.

Recently, some world media reports cited the IAEA as saying that Irans 60 percent enriched uranium reserves had increased from 6.7 kg to 128 kg. 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
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 6-K

Report of Foreign Private Issuer

Pursuant to Rule 13a-16 or 15d-16 of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

For the month of November, 2023

Commission File Number 1-34129

CENTRAIS ELETRICAS BRASILEIRAS S.A. - ELETROBRAS

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)









BRAZILIAN ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY

(Translation of Registrant's name into English)









Rua da Quitanda, 196  24th floor,

Centro, CEP 20091-005,

Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil

(Address of principal executive office)







Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F ___X___ Form 40-F _______

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant by furnishing the information contained in this Form is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes _______ No___X____

1

CA Av. Graca Aranha, 26, 4th floor Centro, Rio de Janeiro  RJ 997th BoD, held on 11.24.2023

CERTIFICATE

MINUTES OF THE 997TH MEETING OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF CENTRAIS ELETRICAS

BRASILEIRAS S.A.  ELETROBRAS

NIRE 33300346767/CNPJ No. 00001180/0001-26

It is certified, for all due purposes, that on the 997th meeting of the Board of Directors of Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras S.A.  Eletrobras ( Company  or  Eletrobras ) was installed at 09:15 am of the twenty-fourth day of November of the year two thousand and twenty-three, as convened by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, by means of electronic correspondence, pursuant to article 25, paragraph 4, of the Company's Bylaws. The meeting was held at Eletrobras' headquarters, located at Avenida Graca Aranha, No. 26, 20th floor, Centro, Rio de Janeiro - RJ. Board Member VICENTE FALCONI CAMPOS (VFC) chaired the meeting in person. Directors CARLOS EDUARDO RODRIGUES PEREIRA (CRP), FELIPE VILLELA DIAS (FVD), IVAN DE SOUZA MONTEIRO (ISM), MARISETE FATIMA DADALD PEREIRA (MFP), DANIEL ALVES FERREIRA (DAF), PEDRO BATISTA DE LIMA FILHO (PBL), MARCELO GASPARINO DA SILVA (MGS) and MARCELO DE SIQUEIRA FREITAS (MSF) attended the meeting in person. There was no record of absence from the meeting, understood as non-participation in any segment of the conclave. In compliance with the provisions of art. 163, 3, of Law no. 6.404/76, the following members of the Fiscal Council took part in the explanatory and deliberative part of the meeting as guests: Carlos Eduardo Teixeira Taveiros, Gisomar F. de Bittencourt Marinho, Jose Raimundo dos Santos and Ricardo Bertucci. The meeting was chaired by Governance Superintendent BRUNO KLAPPER LOPES (BKL) and Governance Secretary FERNANDO KHOURY FRANCISCO JUNIOR (FKJ). The Vice-President for Governance, Risks and Compliance, Ms. Camila Gualda Sampaio Araujo, attended the meeting in person as a guest.

INSTRUCTION: The support material was made available to the Directors via the Governance Portal.

INSTALLATION AND DELIBERATION QUORUMS: As prescribed in article 25, caput, of the Eletrobras Bylaws, the deliberations of this conclave must take place in the presence of the majority of its members, and its resolutions must be taken, as a general rule, by the majority of those present, except in cases of qualified quorum portrayed in article 26 of the Bylaws. The meeting was installed with the presence of 9 members, in compliance with the minimum installation quorum of five members, and with a minimum quorum for taking resolutions of five members, except in cases where there is an explicit record of a change in the quorum of those present at the time of the resolution. The prior declaration of a conflict of interest on the part of a director and/or their momentary absence from the conclave will result in their absence for the purposes of calculating the minimum quorum for the respective resolution.

AGENDA: Eletrobras' Board of Directors, by means of RES-624/2023, of November 14, 2023, formalized a resolution proposal with the purpose of calling Eletrobras' 188th Extraordinary Shareholders' Meeting with the following agenda: (1) ratify the appointment of Impacto Consultores Associados as the appraisal company responsible for preparing the appraisal report on the value of the book equity of Furnas - Centrais Eletricas S.A. (" Accounting Appraisal Report " and " ELETROBRAS Furnas ", respectively); (2) to approve the Accounting Appraisal Report; (3) to approve, subject to the implementation of the suspensive conditions set out in the Protocol and Justification, the Protocol and Justification for the Merger of Companies, entered into by the managers of the Company and ELETROBRAS Furnas, which establishes the terms and conditions for the merger of ELETROBRAS Furnas into the Company (" Merger " and " Protocol and Justification ", respectively); (4) to approve, subject to the implementation of the suspensive conditions set forth

in the Protocol and Justification, the Merger, under the terms of the Protocol and Justification; and (5) to authorize, subject to the implementation of the suspensive conditions set forth in the Protocol and Justification, Eletrobras' directors to perform all acts necessary for the implementation of the Merger.

RESOLUTION: DEL 191,dated from 11.24.2023. Merger of ELETROBRAS Furnas. RES 624, of 11.14.2023. The terms of the Merger, as reflected in the Protocol and Justification, as well as the convening of the 188th Extraordinary General Meeting of Eletrobras and all the items on the respective agenda, were approved, without reservations or restrictions, by unanimous vote of the Board of Directors present, and with the prior advice of the Company's competent governance bodies, as applicable, under the terms proposed by the Board of Executive Officers by means of RES-624/2023.

Closure and drawing up of minutes: It is hereby recorded that the material relating to the items resolved at this Board of Directors' Meeting is on file at the Company's head office. There being no further business to discuss with regard to DEL-191/2023, the Chairman VFC declared the related work closed and instructed the Governance Secretary to draw up this Certificate which, having been read and approved, is signed by the same Secretary. The other resolutions taken at this meeting have been omitted from this certificate, as they relate to purely internal interests of the Company, a legitimate precaution, supported by the Administration's duty of secrecy, in accordance with the "caput" of article 155 of the Brazilian Corporate Law, and therefore fall outside the scope of the rule contained in paragraph 1 of article 142 of the aforementioned Law. The following were present: Chaiman VICENTE FALCONI CAMPOS; Directors CARLOS EDUARDO RODRIGUES PEREIRA (CRP), FELIPE VILLELA DIAS (FVD), IVAN DE SOUZA MONTEIRO (ISM), MARISETE FATIMA DADALD PEREIRA (MFP), DANIEL ALVES FERREIRA (DAF), PEDRO BATISTA DE LIMA FILHO (PBL), MARCELO GASPARINO DA SILVA (MGS) and MARCELO DE SIQUEIRA FREITAS (MSF); Governance Officer: BRUNO KLAPPER LOPES; Governance Secretary: FERNANDO KHOURY FRANCISCO JUNIOR. This certificate is drawn up and signed by me, FERNANDO KHOURY FRANCISCO JUNIOR, Governance Secretary of Eletrobras.

Rio de Janeiro, November 24, 2023.

_________________________________

FERNANDO KHOURY FRANCISCO JUNIOR

Governance Secretary

SIGNATURE

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

Date: November 24, 2023

CENTRAIS ELETRICAS BRASILEIRAS S.A. - ELETROBRAS By: / S / Eduardo Haiama Eduardo Haiama Vice-President of Finance and Investor Relations

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These statements are statements that are not historical facts, and are based on management's current view and estimates offuture economic circumstances, industry conditions, company performance and financial results. The words "anticipates", "believes", "estimates", "expects", "plans" and similar expressions, as they relate to the company, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the declaration or payment of dividends, the implementation of principal operating and financing strategies and capital expenditure plans, the direction of future operations and the factors or trends affecting financial condition, liquidity or results of operations are examples of forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current views of management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. There is no guarantee that the expected events, trends or results will actually occur. The statements are based on many assumptions and factors, including general economic and market conditions, industry conditions, and operating factors. Any changes in such assumptions or factors could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations.
A C-130J Super Hercules crew prepares to take off from Yokota Air Base, Japan, for Operation Christmas Drop, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The humanitarian-aid mission serves remote islanders in the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan  The Defense Departments longest-running humanitarian aid mission will be a novelty  Canadian airlifters in Santa hats  when it officially kicks off on Tuesday.

This will be the first time Canada has participated in Operation Christmas Drop, an annual, two-week mission to airdrop essential supplies to far-flung and isolated islands in the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau, Capt. Miranda Bapty said Monday at the home of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo.

The C-130J Super Hercules pilot from Yokotas 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was preparing to take off for Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, home base of the massive operation, which runs through Dec. 13.

Three C-130Js from Yokota will help with this years mission. The other two airlifters are slated to link up with Baptys crew at Andersen later this week.

We do these (airdrop missions) all the time, she said. But this is the one time we get to see the impact of all that training coming to a head.

Capt. Miranda Bapty, a C-130J Super Hercules pilot with the 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, and Master Sgt. Justin Magno, the loadmaster, prepare to depart Yokota Air Base, Japan, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The pair are set to participate in their first Operation Christmas Drop. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) A C-130J Super Hercules crew prepares to take off from Yokota Air Base, Japan, for Operation Christmas Drop, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The humanitarian-aid mission serves remote islanders in the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

Now in its 72nd year, the tradition began during the Christmas season of 1952, when the crew of a B-29 Superfortress saw islanders waving at them from Kapingamarangi, Micronesia, according to a writeup on Andersens website.

In the spirit of Christmas the aircrew dropped a bundle of supplies attached to a parachute to the islanders below, giving the operation its name, the writeup said. Today, airdrop operations include more than 50 islands throughout the Pacific.

This years mission will serve 20,000 people, 374th Airlift Wing spokesman Lt. Danny Rangel said in an email Monday.

Each dropped bundle contains myriad provisions and amenities, including food, water, medical supplies, fishing gear, clothing and toys. Last year, crews from Japan, South Korea, Australia, India and New Zealand flew alongside Air Force crews from Yokota, Andersen and Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

C-130H Hercules from Japan and South Korea, which participated in past Christmas Drop operations, are flying again this year, Bapty said shortly before taking off with an advance party of 40 airmen and cargo for the flight to Guam. Ground support will be provided by Australian and Filipino troops.

News of Canadas participation comes as the country ramps up its activity in the region. Ottawa has pledged to spend $360 million through 2027 to enhance its Indo-Pacific presence.

Canada will reinforce its Indo-Pacific naval presence and increase Canadian Armed Forces participation in regional military exercises, the government states on its website.

A C-130J Super Hercules crew prepares to take off from Yokota Air Base, Japan, for Operation Christmas Drop, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The humanitarian-aid mission serves remote islanders in the Federated States of Micronesia and Republic of Palau. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes) Operation Christmas Drop supplies are loaded onto a C-130J Super Hercules at Yokota Air Base, Japan, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. (Akifumi Ishikawa/Stars and Stripes)

That activity has made headlines in recent weeks. On Oct. 29, a pair of Chinese twin-engine, air superiority J-11 fighters buzzed a multirole Canadian CH-148 Cyclone helicopter over the South China Sea. The Cyclone was operating from the frigate HMCS Ottawa.

Four days later, the Ottawa and the guided-missile destroyer USS Rafael Peralta made a trip together through the Taiwan Strait, drawing protests from Beijing. China considers the 110-mile-wide waterway its territorial waters.

This will also be the first Christmas Drop for Bapty and her loadmaster, Master Sgt. Justin Magno, the pair said ahead of liftoff on Monday. The Super Hercules crew wore Santa hats and Operation Christmas Drop patches on their shoulders.

However, the two do have experience dropping cargo to small islands in southern Japanese and Palau, Bapty said.

Magno, who has been flying for 17 years, said hes done airdrops for forward-operating bases in the Middle East but hasnt helped a humanitarian mission on the scale of Christmas Drop.

Most of my experience has been passengers and cargo movements or just combat movements, he said. An airdrop is an airdrop, but working with our partner nations is a good challenge.
A portrait of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Lionel Rhone Jr. is projected onto a wall of the Northside Chapel at Ramstein Air Base in Germany on Nov. 27, 2023. Airmen held a memorial for Rhone, who died last month after a motorcycle crash near the base. (Phillip Walter Wellman/Stars and Stripes)

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany  A U.S. service member who had been born just a few miles from his final duty station received a posthumous promotion Monday at a memorial service attended by hundreds of airmen.

Tech. Sgt. Lionel Rhone Jr. was praised for his humble and caring leadership as his mother, Kathy Hill, joined in attendance at the Northside Chapel.

Lionel was a natural leader who thrived on success and never gave up on himself or others, Lt. Col. Michael Twining, the 86th Security Forces Squadron commander, told attendees. He made an impact simply because of the [noncommissioned officer] and leader he was.

Rhone was a flight sergeant and came from a military family. He was 36 at the time of his death on Oct. 10, following a motorcycle crash about 12 miles southeast of the base.

At Mondays ceremony, Rhone was awarded the Air and Space Commendation Medal, fifth oak leaf cluster, which was presented to his mother.

Rhone was born in 1987 in Landstuhl, Germany. He moved to the U.S. when he was 7 and graduated from Highland High School in Anderson, Ind., before enlisting in the Air Force.

Rhone had served in Germany since September 2019 and led over 50 co-workers through 122 emergency responses at the Air Forces largest non-nuclear security forces unit in Europe.

He was responsible for security during a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group hosted by the Defense Secretary at Ramstein, which resulted in $800 million in support of Ukraine.

As unit deployment manager, Rhone also managed the commands busiest security forces mobility section, deploying personnel to support two presidential missions.

He also served in Iraq and Japan during his career.

Several of Rhones fellow airmen at the ceremony spoke about his impact.

Tech. Sgt. Charles Murray recalled how elegantly he would talk to his troops.

The way he would talk, he wanted to fix problems and he wanted to identify the problems. I wanted to be just like Lionel, Murray said.

Senior Airman Kyle Murphy spoke of Rhones penchant for telling cheesy jokes, especially early in the morning.

Lionel was the funniest unfunniest person I ever met, Murphy said.

Rhone is survived by his wife of eight years, Haylee, their son Emilio and his father, Lionel Rhone Sr., as well as Hill, his mother.

He was my heart; he was my inspiration, Hill said.
Naval Facilities Engineering Command Hawaii is upgrading the wastewater treatment plant at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. (Denise Emsley/U.S. Navy)

HONOLULU (Tribune News Service)  The Navy is ramping up efforts to complete upgrades to its troubled wastewater plant at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam as the facility ages.

The site is a flurry of workers and construction equipment working on projects throughout the plant and JBPHH public works officer Capt. Rob Kleinman said that so far there is roughly $75 million invested in contracts to refurbish or replace aging equipment and facilities.

The bases wastewater plant occupies 11.61 acres and processes household and industrial wastewater, providing service for up to 40,000 people. But the facility operations have always been a challenge.

In September 2022 the state Department of Health slapped the Navy with a notice of violation and order that included an $8.7 million fine over repeated spills and maintenance problems with the Navys wastewater system. Its proximity to the ocean and Hawaiis tropical climate have subjected it to heavy corrosion and the Navy has struggled to keep maintenance and funding at pace with the wear and tear of the elements.

Many parts of the facility itself are also old, and many of those who work there readily describe some systems as antiquated and say they welcome the boost in resources. Plant manager Wayne Salas, who has overseen operations for almost four years after a decades-long career working for the city said hes hoping to see more efficient equipment, easier maintenance and a smaller footprint to get a better product. So these things its coming with changes to bring the plant up to todays technical standards.

Kleinman said that the Navys top officials at the Pentagon have been personally involved with helping make sure we get the appropriate resources to address the challenges we have here, which also looks at the current plan, and also helping to start to initiate the plant evaluation for what the future is.

The plant was built in increments beginning in 1969 with most large-scale construction projects completed in 1997. Between February 2002 and December 2003 the Navy built a deep ocean outfall to drain waste at sea. Activated in 2005, the outfall is 2.4 miles long and expels wastewater 1.5 miles offshore roughly 150 feet beneath the oceans surface.

But by 2019 officials from the state Department of Healths Clean Water Branch tried to inspect the plant and reported they found it in such a state of disrepair that they were unable to safely complete the inspection. They contacted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Defense.

After follow-up inspections, the EPA and Navy inspectors found that the plant had cracked concrete tanks, warped and disconnected parts in its machinery and severely corroded equipment. The EPA reported that the plant was well exceeding its discharge limits for zinc, cadmium, oil and grease, and pH and total waste toxicity under the Federal Clean Water Act.

In June 2021 the Navy entered a Federal Facilities Compliance Agreement with the EPA that required it to make a series of repairs and upgrades by the end of 2024. But challenges have persisted.

The September 2022 violation notice cited 766 counts of discharging pollutants into the ocean from January 2020 to July 2022 ; 212 counts related to operation and maintenance failures; and 17 counts of bypassing filters without authorization. The violation order said the Navy exceeded the limit every day in 2020 as well as 276 days in 2021 and 122 days in 2022.

Many of the current problems have centered on the facilitys sand filter, one of the last stages the water goes through before its discharged to the ocean outfall. The filter uses sand and water pressure to remove as much residual scraps of solid waste as possible from the water before it goes into an ultraviolet filter meant to remove any remaining bacteria before it is discharged.

But the system, which was built in the 1980s, has been increasingly experiencing bypass overflow incidents in which partially treated water moves into the UV filter.

Despite us bypassing we still are treating it, it still gets treated  all of it  through the UV, said Korey Tsubota, the plants water commodity manager. Still, plant employees say its an issue.

Collectively, millions of gallons of partially treated water had bypassed and Salas said the condition of the sand filter began to kind of progressively get worse starting in September.

Last month the Navy increased environmental monitoring and testing after roughly 1.75 million gallons of partially treated effluent bypassed the sand filtration system over several days, which according to the Navy was approximately 6% of the 30 million total gallons of waste processed at the plant during that period. The DOH said in a statement to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that it asked the Navy to increase sampling because of the increasing frequency and magnitude of sand filter bypasses at the facility.

The Navy has a contract with North Carolina-based water treatment company Huber Technology to build a new disc filter.

We knew this was a problem and we had awarded this contract before the massive issues, said Kleinman. But obviously, the degradation curve didnt match our material solution curves. And so weve now added additional money in November to that contract to speed this up.

Kleinman said that he estimates it will ultimately cost a few million (dollars ) but that were still in the middle of the contract evaluation, procurement proposals evaluation. So that will take care of the final number ... Im not being cagey, I just dont have it.

The plant is mostly overseen and operated by civilians, but Kleinman said several service members have been temporarily assigned to duties at the facility to augment while weve had some staffing challenges. He said that while many of them dont specialize in waste management, theyre able to provide labor to local workers to reduce some labor challenges.

One of them, Navy Lt. j.g. Joe Gramegna, had been working at Marine Corps Base Hawaii in Kaneohe before being assigned to the wastewater plant. He said that despite it being a less than glamorous job at face value, he works with great people and feels like were making progress every day.

But ultimately the future could look completely different. Kleinman said that climate change, sea-level rise and other challenges are prompting the military to think long term about the facility. He said the Navy has hired engineers and consultants to weigh the pros and cons of retrograding the existing plant or building a newer, better one.

I think all of us want to build a new plant, that just makes a lot of sense, said Kleinman. Technology has changed since the late 60s, basically the EPA was still being created and the world was very different then.

Maintaining the existing facilities, building new ones and replacing old ones all come with challenges. The plant operates while sewage systems are constantly running. Even required maintenance can potentially disrupt those operations and cause risks for discharges and mishaps.

Salas said that they try to focus on low-flow periods to focus on maintenance, explaining that we minimize the amount of impact by doing it in the morning hours, like 2 in the morning where the flows are lower, switch things around, hydraulically, we can handle that. And so we just we kind of work around that low-flow schedule.

The plant is preparing to utilize newly built facilities and equipment while taking others that need to be refurbished offline. Salas said that by the end of the process, operations at the plant should run more smoothly.

We kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel within the next few months as (new systems ) come online so now our capacity gets back up, said Salas. We are only at about 70% running so when we (complete ) the remaining projects we get back to 100%.

(c)2023 The Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Visit www.staradvertiser.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Navy plane that slid off a runway at Marine Corps Base Hawaii a week ago while trying to land in rainy weather continues to rest in shallow water about 100 feet off the runway, with at least two points of the 42-foot-high P-8A sitting on coral reef. (U.S. Representative Jill Tokuda/Facebook)

HONOLULU  U.S. Navy officials said Monday they would discuss how they plan to remove a large aircraft from an environmentally sensitive Hawaii bay after it overshot a runway last week.

The Navy placed two temporary floating barriers around the P-8A aircraft at its resting spot in the shallow waters of Kaneohe Bay to prevent any potential fuel spill or other contaminants from polluting the ocean.

Navy officials scheduled a news conference for Monday to provide an update.

On Thursday, sailors retrieved the data recorder and conducted a hydrographic survey to assess the planes structural integrity.

The Navy has not said whether the plane is sitting on sand or coral in the water. State environmental officials expect to conduct a damage assessment once the plane is removed. Kaneohe Bay is home to coral reefs, an ancient Hawaiian fishpond and a breeding ground for hammerhead sharks.

In addition to the floating barriers, the Navy has placed material around the plane to help absorb any potential pollutants and provide early warning of petroleum spills. The Navy has also kept a skimmer on standby so it can remove any pollutants quickly.

There were no injuries to the nine people who were on board when the plane landed in the water on Nov. 20. Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay is about 10 miles from Honolulu.

The Navy uses P-8A planes manufactured by Boeing to search for submarines and to conduct surveillance and reconnaissance. The plane is a military version of the 737 passenger jet.

The plane is assigned to Patrol Squadron 4 stationed at Whidbey Island in Washington state. Patrol squadrons were once based at Kaneohe Bay but now deploy to Hawaii on a rotating basis.
Elements of the 3rd Cavalry Group (Mechanized) liberated Ebensee concentration camp in Austria on May 6, 1945. (3d Cavalry Regiment/X)

GREENSBORO, N.C. (Tribune News Service)  An American soldier helping to liberate a concentration camp finds one of the prisoners collapsed in a ditch.

The man is suffering from typhoid fever.

The soldier knows he needs help and drives him to a hospital not far away.

The Hungarian teenager in the ditch was Zev Harel, who has spent the decades since looking for that man. He sees him as a hero of World War II. If only he could find him or his family so he could say that. And so much more.

Harel doesnt know the soldiers name.

Or rank.

Or hometown.

Or anything that might help identify him.

Just his unit  the Armys 3rd Cavalry Group.

In 1945, the Allies freed prisoners of the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp and others. Harel, who spent time in Auschwitz, was by then in the brutal Ebensee work camp, which the 3rd Cavalry liberated.

The soldier he knows nothing about  other than he was Black and attached to the 3rd Cavalry  but not for a lack of trying.

Years later when Harel, by then with a degree from Hebrew University, came to the United States to continue his education, he landed in Ohio and reached out to then- U.S. Sen. John Glenn, the former astronaut and retired colonel, and U.S. House Rep. Lou Stokes, the longtime politician and civil rights attorney.

But they could not find anyone matching Harels tale.

Harel wasnt content to stop there. If he couldnt find the soldier, he would pay it forward, working on the needs for the African American community, especially seniors.

Days became months. Months became years. Years became decades.

Now 93 and in Greensboro, Harel hasnt given up. Hes still telling his story  with the hope that it might get to the right ears. His recollections are among the oral histories on file at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

He does not know if the soldier is alive, although many Americans who fought during World War II were likely not much older than Harel was at the time.

Maybe there are friends and family of the soldier who have heard the story from his point of view.

Maybe someone reading this will be able to help.

I owe my life to him, Harel said.

Growing up in a small village back in Hungary, Harel was largely carefree, climbing trees and spending time with his grandfather, who was his hero. The family later moved to the city.

Harel remembers the changing attitudes toward him and other Jews in his native country. He was about 10 in 1940 when the Hungarians began treating Jews very much like the way Germans did. Jewish children were soon excluded from schools. His father couldnt continue to work as an engineer.

You were not allowed to walk the streets during certain hours, Harel recalled.

Soon many were forced out of their homes and into ghettos. His family was among those crowded into an abandoned factory.

Then the cattle cars arrived in May 1944.

Jews were headed to concentration camps where some lost their lives almost right away in the gas chambers.

I will forever remember that night, Harel said. The night was beautiful. The sky was full of stars. The stench was overwhelming.

Those physically able were sent away to perform manual labor.

Harel was just 14 and warned to lie about his age. Younger prisoners were almost always taken to the gas chamber. Another prisoner who had been assigned tasks by a Nazi guard told him to say he was 17.

He experienced the brutality of the camps. Guards would use their rifle butts at will on prisoners. And they did other things. Unspeakable things.

The Nazi guards were doing all kinds of evil at will, Harel remembered. It is hard for me to comprehend this level of brutality.

He was there for a year working by day and suffering in silence at night.

By the time the Allies arrived in 1945 and the doors to the camps were swinging open, Harel and the others marched right out. But he wouldnt get far.

As I was walking out, I fell into a roadside ditch, Harel recalled.

Thats when he felt the hands of the American soldier.

Had he not stopped to pick me up, Harel said, I would not be here.

The soldier drove him to a hospital in a nearby town 10 miles away in Linz, Austria.

He asked the nurses to nurse me back to life, Harel said.

Harel spent the next three weeks there.

But not once had he knowingly been in the company of the American soldier again.

After he left the hospital there was little time to squander. Harel went back home where he was reunited with is brother, who also survived the Nazi brutality, but they didnt want to stay there. They moved to Israel and attended school.

Harel enrolled at Hebrew University, where after earning a degree, he received a scholarship to attend the University of Michigan to work on his masters degree in social work. There he would meet his future wife, Bernice. He later earned a doctorate in social work at Washington University in St. Louis. He moved to Ohio and took a job at Cleveland State University.

Thats the story of what became of Harel after the war.

But what happened to the unknown soldier? Whats his story? Did he survive the war? Did he make it home?

The search over the years has been hard.

Glenn and Stokes, the politicians, had little to offer beyond what little information was already known.

Between the two they had all kinds of connections but they couldnt come up with records on the attached unit, Harel said.

In Ohio, Harel and wife Bernice raised a family while at Cleveland State. He was there 40 years before retiring as professor emeritus and following his youngest daughter to Greensboro 11 years ago.

Harel, an American citizen, has stayed busy. He is a member of the North Carolina Council on the Holocaust, which has input into student textbooks. He has written extensively on the Holocaust.

In 1995, during celebrations for the 50th anniversary of the liberation, Harel did meet the commanding officer of the squadron that liberated his camp. But time, and the way African American soldiers were treated by the system, have worked against him.

Harel is hoping that as he spreads his story, it might reach someone who might have had a connection with the soldier.

Id just like to shake his hand.

Nancy.McLaughlin@greensboro.com

(c)2023 the News & Record (Greensboro, N.C.)

Visit www.news-record.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, 21, of Leesburg, Fla., was identified in July nearly eight decades after the heavy bomber he was flying in was shot down over France during World War II. (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency)

WASHINGTON  A U.S. Army Air Forces gunners remains have been accounted for nearly eight decades after the heavy bomber he was flying in was shot down over France during World War II, military officials said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Franklin P. Hall, 21, of Leesburg, Fla., was identified in July by scientists who used anthropological and DNA analysis, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said in a news release.

Hall was assigned to the 66th Bombardment Squadron, 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) in the European Theater in January 1944, officials said. The airman was the left waist gunner on a B-24D Liberator called Queen Marlene when it was attacked by German air forces near Equennes-Eramecourt, France. German forces found the crash site and recovered nine sets of remains, which were interred in the French cemetery at Poix-de-Picardie. Halls remains were not accounted for after the war, and he was declared non-recoverable in 1951.

Ongoing research into soldiers missing from combat around Equennes-Eramecourt eventually led to the discovery of two sets of remains buried in Normandy American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site. The remains were disinterred in 2018 and transferred to the DPAA laboratory, where one set was identified as Hall.

Halls name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at Ardennes American Cemetery, France, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Hall will eventually be buried in Leesburg, though officials didnt say when.
Members of the Military Funeral Honors-Caisson Platoon from Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston deliver the remains of Pfc. Clinton Edward Smith to Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2023. Smith died in combat in Reipertswiller, France, during World War II on Jan. 14, 1945. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified Smiths remains last year. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas  Pfc. Clinton Edward Smith left behind his music studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, to enlist in World War II.

The musician in him persisted, and Smith found himself playing Lili Marlene on a battered piano on a beachhead in Anzio, Italy, with German artillery shells supplying the bass, he told his local newspaper, the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.

The report was published May 20, 1945, about four months after Smith was struck by shrapnel and killed in France during an attempt by German forces to break the American front line. He was 19 years old when he died, and it took 77 years to bring him to rest.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, or DPAA, identified Smiths remains last year from a group of unknown soldiers buried in Belgium. Smith, who was known in his family as Ed, was buried Monday with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

Doug Smith accepts a folded flag during the funeral service of his uncle, Pfc. Clinton Edward Smith, at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2023. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Doug Smith, the soldiers 84-year-old nephew, said his uncles service  or that he hadnt made it home  was not discussed much within the family, but hes been amazed to learn the history during the past year.

Information provided by DPAA exposed the hidden pain of the soldiers parents, which was laid out in nearly 20 pages of correspondence between them, the Army and recovery teams as the couple pushed for answers that would not come in their lifetime.

It must have hit them hard, Doug Smith said. The process of finding him was just a miracle.

Ed Smith was one of three brothers, all of whom served during World War II, Doug Smith said. Ed was the only brother who did not return home.

He enlisted in the Army on Jan. 6, 1944, and just a few months later fought on the beaches of Anzio with Company D, 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division, according to DPAA.

Pfc. Clinton Edward Smith enlisted in the Army in January 1944 and died in combat in Reipertswiller, France, during World War II on Jan. 14, 1945. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency recently identified Smiths remains. (Photo provided by Martita Fleming)

From Anzio, Smith took part in the campaign to Rome and the invasion of France.

On Jan. 14, 1945, Smith was hit by shrapnel while manning his machine gun in Reipertswiller, France, and died. The battle was part of Germanys final push to break American lines, known as Operation Northwind.

Because the Germans controlled the territory where Smith fell, his fellow soldiers were unable to recover his body.

His remains were later found by a resident in Reipertswiller and buried as an unknown soldier at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Belgium, said Carrie Brown, laboratory manager for DPAA at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska.

Originally, 15 service members were missing from that battle, according to DPAA. To date, eight have been identified.

The family of Pfc. Clinton Edward Smith stands to honor the fallen soldier during a funeral service at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 27, 2023. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes)

Across the entirety of the war, DPAA has accounted for 1,543 missing service members. More than 72,000 remain missing.

Smiths remains were removed from the Belgium cemetery in August 2021. DPAA scientists then used DNA, dental records and personnel records  including those letters his parents wrote after the war  to identify his remains.

The personnel records help us support the circumstances of loss, and help us support things like height and age, Brown said. Thats an amazing thing to think about the impact that this loss is having because its still felt decades and generations later. And there it is in that letter.

Doug Smith said he wished his father and the other relatives who knew his uncle were alive to see him returned home Monday. During the service, he sat among his cousins as a horse-drawn caisson brought Ed Smiths flag-draped casket toward the small gathering of people there to honor the soldier.

If he had just made it another two or three months, it was all over, Doug Smith said. He was such a young man going over there to fight at 19 years old.
Crew members from China's People's Liberation Army-Navy Luhu-class destroyer Qingdao man the rails as it pulls into Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Friday, Sept. 6, 2013. (Cynthia Clark/U.S. Navy)

A decade ago, Chinese President Xi Jinping launched the Maritime Silk Road, the oceanic component of his flagship Belt and Road Initiative aimed at improving Chinas access to world markets by investing in transportation infrastructure. The initiatives investments have since slowed as Chinese growth falters, the United States pushes back and countries question the indebtedness the projects brought.

But China has already secured a significant stake in a network of global ports that are central to world trade and freedom of navigation. Although the stated goal of the investments was commercial, the United States and its allies have grown increasingly concerned about the potential military implications.

Xi has frequently talked of his ambition to turn China into a maritime superpower. The port network offers a glimpse into the reach of those ambitions.

Chinas ambitious sea route runs south from the coast of China through the major transit route of the Indian Ocean and the busiest maritime choke points of the Middle East, ending up in Europe.

When Xi announced his plan, China had stakes in 44 ports globally, providing a foundation for his strategy. A decade later, China owns or operates ports and terminals at nearly 100 locations in over 50 countries, spanning every ocean and every continent. Many are located along some of the worlds most strategic waterways.

The majority of the investments have been made by companies owned by the Chinese government, effectively making Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party the biggest operator of the ports that lie at the heart of global supply chains.

The expansion is critical to Chinas economic power and has significant military implications as well, analysts say. This is not coincidental, said Carol Evans, director of the Strategic Studies Institute of the U.S. Army War College. I firmly believe there is a strategic aspect to the particular ports theyre targeting for investment.

The total number of ports owned or operated by Chinese companies. (The Washington Post)

The stated aim of this maritime network is commercial: to enhance and streamline Chinas access to worldwide markets. In 2018, China expanded its maritime footprint at the Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates, an important connector between Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Chinese state-owned Cosco Shipping built a commercial container terminal at the port, which it now operates.

But the investments go beyond that. They give Beijing a window into the business dealings of competitors and could be used to help China defend its supply routes, spy on U.S. military movements and potentially engage U.S. shipping, according to analysts. Chinese-owned ports or terminals are already ports of call for Chinese warships, such as the flotilla that entered the Nigerian port of Lagos in July.

In late 2015, China acknowledged it was building a military base adjacent to the Chinese-operated port of Djibouti. The African base was officially opened in 2017, only six miles away from a U.S. military base in the country. Located at the narrow entrance to the Red Sea, Djibouti is on one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, where about 10 percent of global oil exports and 20 percent of commercial goods pass through the narrow strait to and from the Suez Canal.

Beijing is decades away from matching the U.S. military presence worldwide, but China has the biggest and fastest-growing navy in the world, and increasingly it is venturing beyond the shores of eastern Asia. From having no naval presence in the Indian Ocean two decades ago, for instance, China now maintains six to eight warships in the region at any given time, U.S. officials say.

A journey along the Maritime Silk Road illustrates some of the strategic advantages of Chinas port investments.

Indian Ocean

A route for some major shipping lanes and global ports, the Indian Ocean was an early priority for China. About 80 percent of Chinas trade crosses the ocean, including almost all of its oil. Chinas port investments seem designed to protect the route. Beijing, for instance, has secured a 99-year lease at the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka, giving it an important foothold on the busy shipping lane between Asia and the West.

Persian Gulf and Red Sea

Chinas interest in these port locations goes beyond purely commercial concerns, U.S. officials say. Many are located at strategic chokepoints with high shipping traffic. At these locations, sea routes are narrow and ships are potentially vulnerable.

Strait of Hormuz

Leaked U.S. intelligence documents earlier this year suggested that China has revived an effort to establish military facilities at the United Arab Emirates port of Khalifa in the Persian Gulf, by the crucial Strait of Hormuz and just 50 miles away from an important U.S. military base.

Djibouti

China has already established one military facility adjoining a commercial port operation, in Djibouti, at the mouth of the Red Sea. U.S. officials say there are indications that it is scouting for more.

Suez Canal

Beijing has also been growing its influence in ports on Egypts Suez Canal, a vital human-built waterway that provides a shortcut from Asia to Europe. Earlier this year, Chinese shipping companies announced investments in terminals at the ports of Ain Sokhna and Alexandria.

Europe

China already controls or has major investments in more than 20 European ports, giving it significant sway over the continents supply routes. Many serve as vital logistics and transshipment points for NATO and the U.S. Navy. Its a significant national and economic security concern, said Michael Wessel of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Logink ports

One way in which China has secured a commanding position is through a little-known software system called Logink, a digital logistics platform owned by the Chinese government. It potentially gives China access to vast quantities of normally proprietary information on the movements, management and pricing of goods moving around the world. So far, at least 24 ports worldwide, including Rotterdam and Hamburg, have adopted the Logink system. The U.S. Transportation Department issued an advisory in August warning U.S. companies and agencies to avoid interacting with the system because of the risk of espionage and cyberattack.

The Americas

The original Maritime Silk Road, as laid out in Chinese documents, focused on three main routes. The plan has expanded to include the Atlantic and the Americas. Latin America is one of the fastest-growing destinations for Chinese port investments. China manages ports at both ends of the Panama Canal. It is building from scratch a $3 billion megaport at Chancay in Peru that will transform trade between China and Latin America, enabling the worlds largest shipping containers to dock on the continent for the first time.

The United States is still the worlds biggest military power, with about 750 bases overseas. China, with only one, is a long way from matching U.S. naval power, said Stephen Watts of the Rand Corp. The implications of these far-flung bases have been overblown, he said. China would be easily overcome in these small outposts if it came to a shooting match.

But Chinas port network presents a different kind of challenge to U.S. security interests, separate from the threat of war, said Isaac Kardon of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. China is now the worlds premier commercial maritime power, and its strategic hold over the worlds supply routes could be used to interdict or restrict U.S. trade, troop movements and freedom of navigation in a range of different ways. Its an asymmetrical threat, he said.
A Marine received a one-year suspended sentence for punching a police officer in the face Oct. 29, 2023, near a popular nightlife area on Okinawa. (Pixabay)

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa  A U.S. Marine has received a one-year suspended sentence for punching a police officer in the face last month near a popular nightlife area.

Cpl. Addison Moss, 21, pleaded guilty Wednesday in Naha District Court to inflicting injury and obstructing police for the assault in Okinawa citys Uechi neighborhood, Okinawa Times reported Thursday.

A spokesman from Naha District Court reached by phone Monday would not confirm the guilty plea by the Marine, who serves as an air delivery specialist with 3rd Landing Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group at Camp Foster.

The victim, an unidentified officer in his 20s, received five stitches for a gash above his left eye, a spokesman for Okinawa prefectural police said last month. Moss was indicted Nov. 9, according to his charge sheet.

Police responded to a disturbance call shortly before Moss arrest at 1:39 a.m. Oct. 29, the spokesman said. Area residents had reported that foreigners were banging on their door.

Moss struck the officer as he attempted to question the Marine for suspicious behavior, according to the spokesman.

The Marine appeared drunk at the time of his arrest and a Breathalyzer detected alcohol, though police declined to release the results. They also declined to say whether Moss was a suspect in the disturbance.

On Wednesday, Moss stood before Judge Tetsuro Sato, the Naha District Court spokesman said. The verdict was delivered immediately.

Sato suspended Moss yearlong sentence for three years, meaning he will not serve jail time unless convicted of another crime in the country, the spokesman said.

Some government officials in Japan speak to the media on condition of anonymity as a requirement of their employment.

Moss faced up to 15 years in prison or a $3,300 fine, according to the Japanese penal code. Prosecutors had sought one year imprisonment, according to the Okinawa Times.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Iran has unveiled its latest warship, the Deylaman destroyer, which joined the Iranian Navy in the Caspian Sea on November 27, 2023, Trend reports.

The Deylaman destroyer is the fifth of its kind built by the Iranian armys Naval Industry and boasts various military and defense systems.

The destroyer can perform long-range sea search, reconnaissance, and combat missions against any air or submarine threats. It also has a helipad for landing a military helicopter.

Iran's high-ranking military officials participated in the event regarding the launch of the Deylaman military destroyer.

---

Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur
In this photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, South Korean army soldiers, wearing helmets, prepare to cross the Military Demarcation Line as North Korean army soldiers stand inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) to inspect the dismantled North Korean guard post in the central section of the inter-Korean border in Cheorwon, on Dec. 12, 2018. The sign read The Military Demarcation Line. (South Korea Defense Ministry/AP)

SEOUL, South Korea  South Korea said Monday North Korea is restoring frontline guard posts that it had dismantled during a previous period of inter-Korean rapprochement, deepening tensions that spiked over the Norths recent spy satellite launch.

The two Koreas each earlier dismantled or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside their heavily fortified border under a 2018 deal meant to ease frontline military confrontations. But the deal is now in danger of being scraped, as both Koreas openly threaten to breach it amid rising animosities over the Norths satellite launch.

After North Korea claimed to place its first military spy satellite into orbit last Tuesday, South Korea said it would partially suspend the deal and resume front aerial surveillance in response. South Korea called its step a minimum defensive measure to respond to the launch that it says involved the Norths intentions of improving its missile technology as well as establishing a space-based surveillance system.

North Korea immediately slammed South Koreas decision, saying it would deploy powerful weapons at the border in a tit-for-tat measure. The North said it also wont abide by the 2018 deal any longer.

In a background briefing for local journalists Monday, South Koreas military said it detected North Korea building guard posts and trenches at border sites where its dismantled guard posts once stood. The military said it found North Korea deployed troops and heavy weapons there.

The contents of the briefing were shared with foreign media including The Associated Press.

South Koreas Defense Ministry also distributed to the media four photos that it said showed related activities on the northern side of the border, with North Korean soldiers building a guard post and moving a suspected recoilless rifle to a newly built trench.

After being briefed on the North Korean move, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered the military to keep a close watch on the North and maintain a firm readiness, according to Yoons office.

South Korea, the United States and others strongly condemned the Norths satellite launch which they viewed as a provocation that threatened regional peace. U.N. Security Council resolutions ban any satellite launches by North Korea because the world body regards them as covers for testing its long-range missile technology. North Korea says it has sovereign rights to launch spy satellites to cope with what it calls escalating U.S.-led military threats.

On Monday, Kim Son Gyong, a senior North Korean Foreign Ministry official, called the U.S. and others condemnation of the satellite launch such brigandish idea and a typical expression of the most hideous and brazen-faced violation of sovereignty that denies the justification of the existence of North Korea.

South Korean officials said they confirmed the North Korean satellite entered orbit. But they said they need more time to verify whether the satellite is functioning normally.

South Korea suspects Russian technological assistance likely enabled North Korea to send the spy satellite into space. South Korean, U.S. and Japanese officials accused North Korea of seeking high-tech Russian technologies to enhance its military programs in return for shipping conventional arms to support Russias war in Ukraine.

Both Russia and North Korea denied their alleged weapons transfer deal.
Kuomintang presidential candidate Hou Yu-ih, left, and his running mate Jaw Shaw-kong. (I-Hwa Cheng/Bloomberg)

Taiwans voters in January will have the chance to reset the islands fraught relationship with China, and cool down one of the worlds key geopolitical flashpoints.

With less than seven weeks to go until polling day, that prospect now hangs in the balance after opposition parties that seek better relations with Beijing failed to unite behind a single candidate, despite weeks of chaotic and often acrimonious negotiations that played out in public.

The collapse of the opposition alliance makes Chinese President Xi Jinpings stated goal of voluntary unification with Taiwan more remote, with pro-Beijing votes scattered among the challengers to the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party. That would benefit the ruling partys candidate, Vice President Lai Ching-te, who wants to further strengthen Taiwans ties with Washington.

Standing in Lais way are the Kuomintangs Hou Yu-ih and the Taiwan Peoples Partys Ko Wen-je, both of whom have said they plan to restart direct talks with Beijing. Foxconn Technology Group founder Terry Gou withdrew from the presidential race just hours before Fridays registration deadline, saying he did so for the greater good to give the two remaining opposition candidates a better chance of unseating the DPP.

Despite the fractured opposition, an unprecedented third straight term in power for the DPP is by no means a foregone conclusion. After almost eight years in power, theres growing unhappiness with the party, especially among younger voters. Support for Lai dipped to 31.9%, leaving him just a fraction ahead of the KMTs Hou on 30%, according to a survey by the Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation released Sunday. Ko trails in third place on 26%.

There are a substantial amount of voters who want a change, said Wei-Ting Yen, assistant professor at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. So there is a higher chance for the DPP to lose the majority in the legislature.

Geopolitical tensions with China are also giving opposition candidates something to seize on.

Current trends look dangerous to many Taiwanese voters, said Kharis Templeman, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University who cited concerns about sudden economic embargoes, more diplomatic isolation and more threats of war.

The KMTs Hou can credibly claim his administration would be able to work with Beijing, Templeman said, adding that his election could also buy time for Taiwan to implement more extensive defense reforms.

Fridays registration deadline for the election confirmed the final roster of candidates contesting the Jan. 13 vote. Their choices of vice presidential running mates also provided strong indications of where their priorities lie.

Lais vice presidential pick, Hsiao Bi-khim  Taiwans former de facto ambassador to the U.S.  points to his partys efforts to build upon its success in strengthening unofficial ties overseas, especially with Washington.

Weve been put in a situation where geostrategic challenges are formidable and the rock-solid partnership with the U.S. is critically important, Hsiao said at a press conference Thursday.

While the U.S. doesnt formally recognize Taiwan as a nation, it has vowed to help the island defend itself against what American officials say is an increasingly aggressive China. Beijing views Taiwan as a part of Chinese territory.

Both Lai and Hsiao assert Taiwan is already a de facto sovereign country in need of greater international recognition. China has labeled Lai a troublemaker, and has put Hsiao on its sanctions list of die-hard Taiwan independence supporters.

Their potential to win Januarys vote raises the stakes for Beijing. Responding to the breakdown in opposition talks, Chinas Taiwan affairs office issued a statement saying it hopes Taiwanese voters oppose independence and make the right choice when facing peace or war, prosperity or recession, according to a China Central Television report.

Hou selected television presenter and media owner Jaw Shaw-kong as his running mate. A former KMT legislator in the 1980s, Jaw split from the party in the early 1990s to co-found a hardline unification political party, only to rejoin the KMT in 2021.

Hous choice of a China-leading vice president sends a clear signal that they aim to consolidate the blue voters, Franklin & Marshall Colleges Yen said, referring to that part of the electorate that favors Taiwans eventual unification with China. If the KMT is successful in the strategic voting campaign, we can expect the poll number to go up for the KMT candidate, and it will be a much closer race, she said.

With assistance from Jill Disis.
An F-35C Lightning II stealth fighter rests on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson in Busan, South Korea, Nov. 22, 2023. (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)

SUWON, South Korea  Warships from the United States, South Korea and Japan trained near the Korean Peninsula over the weekend to better prepare for North Korean provocations, according to the Souths military.

The one-day exercise came four days after Pyongyang scrapped the Comprehensive Military Agreement, which has eased tensions at the border since 2018.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett and destroyer USS Kidd trained southeast of Jeju Island alongside the South Korean and Japanese destroyers Sejong the Great and JS Kirisame, the Ministry of National Defense said in a news release Sunday.

With North Korean unmanned aerial vehicles in mind, the ships carried out air-defense drills and maritime maneuvers, the ministry said.

The exercise was an opportunity to strengthen the response capabilities and posture of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan at a time when North Koreas nuclear and missile threats are escalating, South Korean navy Capt. Kim Sung-pil said in the release.

The Carl Vinson arrived at Busan, South Koreas largest port, on Nov. 21. The warship is the third aircraft carrier to dock in South Korea this year after the USS Nimitz in March and USS Ronald Reagan in October.

The USS Carl Vinson sets sail for a trilateral exercise south ofJeju Island, South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. The aircraft carrier is followed by the JS Kirisame, left, ROKS Sejong the Great, center and the USS Kidd. (U.S. Navy)

President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol agreed to boost the visibility of U.S. strategic assets on the peninsula to manage the threat to the nonproliferation regime posed by [North Korea], according to a joint statement from the leaders on April 26.

Since then, U.S. military assets have made appearances in South Korea on a level not seen in decades.

The USS Kentucky sailed to Busan in July, becoming the first nuclear-capable U.S. submarine to visit the country in 42 years. A nuclear-capable B-52 Stratofortress visited in October, becoming the first bomber of its type to touch down in the country in at least 30 years.

Also in October, the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group conducted the Navys first maritime exercise with South Korea and Japan or the first time since 2016.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and Japanese Defense Minister Kihara Minoru held a virtual meeting Nov. 12 and announced that a multi-year trilateral exercise plan between the three militaries was nearly complete.

The defense chiefs also confirmed that a real time missile-warning system for the three nations is nearly complete and will be operational in December.

The aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier docks in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023 (David Choi/Stars and Stripes)

The Comprehensive Military Agreement, signed in 2018 by then-South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, enacted a host of deconfliction measures at the border, including a ban on armed guards at guard posts and establishing no-fly zones.

Seouls revision of the accord last week lifted the prohibition on aircraft flying near the border. North Korea was entirely responsible for Seouls decision, which was prompted by Pyongyangs successful launch of a military spy satellite on Nov. 21, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Heo Tae-keun told reporters Wednesday.

Pyongyang responded by scrapping the agreement entirely.

North Korea will deploy more powerful armed forces and new-type military hardware in the region near the border, according to a Thursday statement by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

North Korean soldiers have returned to at least one abandoned guard post with heavy weaponry, according to a Monday news release from the Souths military.

Stars and Stripes reporter Hana Kusumoto contributed to this report.
Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi speaks during a press conference in Damascus, Syria, Monday, July 3, 2023. Safadi says his country wants a meeting of Mediterranean officials this week to help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire. (Omar Sanadiki/AP)

BARCELONA, Spain  Jordans Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Sunday he hopes a meeting of Mediterranean officials will help bridge a gap between Arab and European countries in calling for a humanitarian pause in Gaza to become a permanent cease-fire.

The fragile pause in hostilities between Israel and the Hamas militant group continued Sunday with a third straight day of hostages and Palestinian prisoners released. It was originally scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

Safadi said the truce was holding up but that more effort was needed to reach at least 200 daily trucks bringing aid into the Gaza Strip, and for the pause in the fighting to immediately develop into a permanent cease-fire.

The minister spoke to The Associated Press on the eve of Mondays Union for the Mediterranean gathering that will bring to Barcelona in northern Spain 42 delegations from Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, many of them represented by their foreign ministers.

Israel is not attending the meeting, which in past years has largely become a forum for cooperation between the European Union and the Arab world. But the meeting has taken on new significance since the Oct. 7 militant attack on Israel and Israels ensuing war with Hamas.

Jordan, a key Western ally, signed a peace agreement with Israel in 1994. The countries maintain covert security relations and some business ties, but relations have cooled over Israels treatment of the Palestinians.

Safadi noted that while Arab nations have demanded the end of what he called Israels aggression in Gaza, most European nations have not gone that far, instead calling for a humanitarian pause.

We need to bridge the gap, Safadi said, adding that the war is producing nothing.

What is this war achieving other than killing people, destroying their livelihoods, and again, creating an environment of hate and dehumanization that will define generations and will take us a very, very long time to navigate through toward the future that we want, he said.

Asked about the future of Gaza, the Jordanian minister said Gaza must be part of a comprehensive plan to settle this conflict once and for all, although he refused to outline what that future will look like or which party should be in charge of the territory.

Instead, he said that all manifestations of the reoccupation of Gaza should end, accusing Israel of acting on the fallacy that it can parachute over the Palestinian issue and have peace, the regional peace, without solving the Palestinian problem.

The root cause of the conflict is the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, he said. We have a conflict because we have an occupation that Israel has been consolidating. Israel has killed hope for peace, has killed prospects for peace.

Jordan, which borders the West Bank and is home to a large Palestinian population, has rejected suggestions that it take in Palestinian refugees from Gaza.

Although some foreign passport holders and some of their relatives have been allowed to leave the territory, most of the more than 2.3 million Gaza residents have remained trapped amid the constant shelling and facing a shortage of food, water and basic needs.

Safadi said Jordan would not accept the possibility of Palestinians leaving Gaza, even if it was for their safety, given the long history of displacement and the idea that a new exodus would play into Israels interest.

We believe that displacement is something that will further empty Palestine from its people, the minister said. We in Jordan said thats a red line because we see it as a threat to our national security and will do whatever it takes to prevent this from happening.
U.S. Army soldiers with Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, execute tactical movement on an urbanized terrain during the Strong Griffin exercise at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, Nov. 17, 2023. Strong Griffin 2023 saw Task Force Marne Soldiers serve as an opposing fighting force for the Griffin Brigade of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, which provided an opportunity to share Allied tactics and strategies. (Cesar Salazar Jr./U.S. Army)

PABRADE, Lithuania  An enemy force had set its sights on Lithuania and was advancing rapidly on the small Baltic nation from the south, with the aim of capturing a major city.

Tanks and armored fighting vehicles maneuvered through dense forest terrain, the ground oozing with slippery mud. The next day, soldiers were on the streets, engaging in urban combat.

The battle for Lithuanias territorial integrity was dirty, cold and wet but at least for now, hypothetical. The attackers were American soldiers, the defenders were Lithuanians and mixed among them were troops from Poland, Portugal and Norway.

This months Strong Griffin 2023 was the first time the U.S. contributed large numbers of soldiers  700 of them  and firepower to the Lithuanian militarys annual exercise in a show of American commitment to defending NATOs most exposed and at-risk flank.

The exercise involving about 2,200 troops also came nearly two years after Russia launched a very real, full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which like Lithuania and the rest of the Baltics once belonged to the Soviet Union.

All the time you feel the threats coming, how its very close to you, said Col. Aurelijus Alasauskas, commander of the Lithuanian armys Griffin Brigade. When you train your soldiers in peacetime, thats one story. Its a totally different story when you understand that one day things can change.  All the time we have to remind our soldiers: This is a real thing we have to train for.

No one at the General Silvestras Zukauskas Training Area in Pabrade would mention Russia by name. But the simulation of an invasion by a peer enemy took place just 10 miles from Belarus, Russias closest ally, host to Russian troops and tactical nuclear weapons and the staging post Russian soldiers used to storm into Ukraine from the north last year.

(Noga Ami-rav/Stars and Stripes)

The Baltics no longer consider Belarus an autonomous country, viewing it instead as a satellite of Russian military intentions, said Artis Pabriks, a former Latvian defense minister. Any future Russian aggression is expected to come from both countries simultaneously, he said.

Valery Karbalevich, an independent Belarusian analyst, estimates that 1,500 Russian soldiers are in Belarus  a huge drop from the 30,000 troops in the country at the start of the war in Ukraine. Only about 500 of the thousands of Wagner Group mercenaries exiled to Belarus this summer after a brief mutiny remain in country, some working as instructors for the Belarusian military, he said.

There are no real Belarus-Russia military bases on the territory of Belarus right now, but at any moment Belarus military infrastructure can be used by Russia for some kind of aggression, Karbalevich said.

The threat from Russia looms especially large in the Baltics, where scars from a 50-year Soviet occupation marked by deportations to Siberia remain. Kaliningrad, Russias heavily militarized exclave that was once part of Germany, sits on Lithuanias southwestern border. Estonia borders the Russian mainland, and Latvia is squeezed between Russia to its east and Belarus to its south.

Though bogged down in Ukraine, Russia has the ability to exert credible military pressure on the Baltics and could reconstitute its military presence near the Baltic states borders within four years, according to a report this year by Estonias Foreign Intelligence Service.

The tiny Baltic nations, which have a combined population of 6 million people and a total land mass that is lightly smaller than Missouri, are dwarfed by Russia, the worlds largest country by land area.

Russia considers the Baltic states to be the most vulnerable part of NATO, which would make them a focus of military pressure in the event of a NATO-Russia conflict, the Estonian service said.

Staff Sgt. Jaden Brown, a tank commander with Alpha Ares Company, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment. (Svetlana Shkolnikova/Stars and Stripes)

Russia has made no secret of its appetite for regaining former Soviet and imperial territory.

President Vladimir Putin last year likened himself to Peter the Great, praising the czars conquest of the Baltic coast in the 18th century as the returning and strengthening of land that was rightfully Russian. Mikhail Kasyanov, a former Russian prime minister under Putin, warned: If Ukraine falls, the Baltic states will be next.

Such rhetoric is empty talk for now, Pabriks said. But it is a clear indication of Russias desires and intentions.

This is what theyre thinking, theyre not lying, he said. Its just like Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf what he will do, and everybody thought it was just a book. So when Russians are speaking, they will tell [their plan], and they can do it. We must not take this simply as a joke.

In Pabrade, American soldiers tested Lithuanias defenses against a major power, probing for weaknesses as Abrams tanks faced off against Lithuanian troops armed with anti-tank missiles in what one American tank commander described as a giant laser tag game.

Bringing in all that heavy machinery against a much lighter force allows them to develop how they would act against a much better equipped, much larger force, said Staff Sgt. Jaden Brown, a tank commander with Alpha Ares Company, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment.

It is a learning opportunity for American service members as well. The thick woods that cover much of the Pabrade training area are a far cry from the desert landscape where the U.S. has fought recent wars in the Middle East.

In mid-November, the ground in Lithuania was soggy after weeks of rain, causing at least one tank to get stuck and several Bradley fighting vehicles to slide off dirt roads. Snow swirled as military personnel traded in SUVs for Joint Light Tactical Vehicles to navigate the grounds.

Its a very different environment for a lot of us and so we have to rely on our Lithuanian partners and be like, Hey, how do we fight in this weather?  said Capt. Joseph Camarata III, a battery commander for Charlie Battery, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery Regiment. Were here not only to help the Lithuanians should a threat occur, but were here to learn from them as well, learn their culture, eat their cold beet soup that is the pinkest thing Ive ever seen in my life and just see how they do things on this side of the world.

The U.S. began sending long-term rotational forces of about 500 troops to Pabrade in 2019, and Lithuania, eager to turn the deployments into a permanent stay, inaugurated a new camp for American soldiers there two years later.

Today the base is teeming with construction, evidence of a $70 million investment by Lithuania to build barracks for several thousand soldiers, dining facilities and roads and to improve ranges for future combined fire exercises, said Lt. Col. David Griffith, commander of 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment.

Probably once or twice a week, someone will reach out to me to be like, Hey, any problems with the base right now? Any problems with training? Do you need anything?  he said. I havent experienced that before, where it seems like theres such an effort here to make sure that were getting what we need.

The Baltics sharply increased defense spending after Russias initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 and are among the top contributing member states of NATO as a percentage of their economic output. Russias all-out war with its neighbor prompted Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to pour even more money into their militaries, though their capabilities remain limited.

U.S. Army soldiers with Charlie Company, 3rd Battalion, 67th Armored Regiment, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, execute tactical movement on urbanized terrain during the Strong Griffin exercise at Pabrade Training Area, Lithuania, Nov. 17, 2023. (Cesar Salazar Jr./U.S. Army)

Latvia next year will mandate nine-month military service for 18- to 27-year-olds and is making all possible efforts to develop our own military industry, logistic lines, just everything, said Pabriks, the former defense minister. The country is also building the largest military training ground in the Baltics, hoping to provide a premier facility for foreign troops.

NATO has maintained multinational, battalion-sized battlegroups in the Baltics, led by Germany in Lithuania, Canada in Latvia and the United Kingdom in Estonia, since 2017 and reinforced them with additional personnel in response to the war in Ukraine.

But the Baltics want to see even more boots on the ground. They are asking for those forces to be beefed up by thousands in each state and are particularly interested in American troops and permanent U.S. or NATO bases, said Pabriks.

Western military industries have been depleted for 30 years. There is not enough ammunition, there is not enough stocks, there is not enough U.S. presence in Europe, he said. European armies, most of the Western armies are quite weak actually.

Only American forces are capable of commanding the sort of respect from Russia that makes the Kremlin think twice about an incursion, said Tomas Jermalavicius, research fellow for the Estonia-based International Centre for Defense and Security think tank.

The biggest thing which impresses them most and which they fear most and which they sort of bang their chest and their posturing against the most is the Americans, he said. American firepower, American forces, American armor, American technology, American air power  this is what deters the most.

The soldiers in Pabrade are keenly aware of the effect their presence, and their heavy military hardware, is having in the Baltic region.

It assures our NATO partners and allies in theater, said Griffith, the battalion commander. Obviously us being here is a sign of commitment for U.S. forces.

Hundreds of American service members are also in Latvia and Estonia, where the U.S. deployed HIMARS multiple-launch rocket systems and an infantry company late last year.

In Narva, a northeastern Estonian city that is separated from Russia by a river, Estonia is expanding surveillance along the border to keep better watch over its warring neighbor. There is no threat of an invasion, but the fear of war is never gone, said Eerik Purgel, who heads the border and migration control service in Narva.

We have always known who Russia is and how Russia acts, he said.

Russias all-out invasion of Ukraine did not come as a big surprise, Purgel said, and there is widespread belief in Estonia and the rest of the Baltics that their nations fate will ultimately hinge on its outcome.

We are in a situation where its not our blood [being spilled] at the moment, Purgel said. But who knows what might happen next.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan speaks to the media as he stands in front of a flag of the European Union before talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz at the Chancellery on Nov. 17, 2023, in Berlin, Germany. (Sean Gallup, Getty Images/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  A Turkish ex-employee of the U.S. Consulate in Turkey was released from jail recently, according to people with knowledge of the matter, ending a long imprisonment that had frayed ties between the two nations.

Metin Topuz, a Turkish national who worked as a liaison for the Drug Enforcement Agency at the consulate in Istanbul, was arrested in 2017 on terrorism-related charges in the wake of a 2016 coup attempt. The U.S. diplomatic mission publicly denied the charges, demanded his release, and the issue became a bitter diplomatic spat.

Topuz was released due to time served, according to the people. The news comes as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans government is seeking F-16 fighter jets from the Biden administration as well as looking to attract foreign funds.

Topuzs lawyers declined to comment on the matter when reached by Bloomberg via phone. We are aware of reports about Metin Topuz. Out of respect for the Topuz familys wishes, we have nothing further to offer, said a spokesperson for the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul.

Ties with the U.S. deteriorated in the aftermath of the failed coup in 2016, which Turkish officials blamed on U.S.-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen and his network. Turkish authorities detained several local staffers working for the U.S. mission, accusing some of them of being part of that network.

Gulens movement, dubbed FETO locally, was listed as a terror organization by Turkey after the coup attempt. It was previously an ally of Erdogans government, and established strong roots in the police forces, the military and judiciary.

Relations with the U.S. were worsened further after Turkey rejected calls to free an American pastor, Andrew Brunson, who was arrested in late 2016. Brunson was eventually released in 2018 after the U.S. imposed symbolic sanctions on Turkish officials, with former U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to follow suit with more punitive economic measures if he wasnt set free.

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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg answers a question Nov. 27, 2023, at a news conference in Brussels on the eve of a meeting at alliance headquarters featuring U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and NATO country foreign ministers. (NATO)

Sacrificing territory to Russia to end the fighting in Ukraine is a decision only Kyiv can make, NATOs top official said Monday ahead of high-level security talks this week at the alliances Brussels headquarters.

It is for Ukraine to decide what are acceptable ways to end this war, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in response to a question about proposals for Ukraine to relinquish territory in exchange for NATO membership  and the security guarantees that come with it.

But Stoltenberg only reaffirmed NATOs position that it will support Ukraine for the long haul and thereby place it in a stronger position at the potential negotiating table.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will join his NATO counterparts in Brussels, where the wars in Ukraine and Gaza are expected to dominate the agenda.

Stoltenberg called for an extension of the pause in the fighting between Israel and Hamas while speaking to reporters on the eve of the talks.

This would allow for much-needed relief to the people of Gaza and the release of more hostages, he said.

Stoltenberg also talked up the performance of Ukraines military, which he said has exceeded all expectations. When the war started in February 2022, it was assumed that Ukraine would fall to Russia in a matter of weeks, Stoltenberg said.

Last year, Ukraine won the battles for Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson. This year, they continue to inflict heavy losses on Russia, Stoltenberg said. Ukraine has recaptured 50% of the territory that Russia seized.

But most of Ukraines territorial gains were made during the first nine months of the war. Since then, its much-anticipated counteroffensive has failed to substantially dislodge Russian forces.

The top Ukrainian military commander told The Economist magazine earlier this month that the fight is now essentially a stalemate.

There will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny said, adding that Ukraine needs a technological breakthrough to avoid a war of attrition favoring Russia.

Zaluzhnys sobering assessment also comes amid wavering in Western political support. In the U.S., future funding for Ukraine is now in limbo, with lawmakers at odds over how to proceed.

Meanwhile, recent elections in Slovakia and the Netherlands have seen wins by political leaders opposed to continued support for Ukraine. Such circumstances could intensify pressure on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his government to find a way out of the war.

On Friday, Germanys Bild tabloid newspaper, citing unidentified German government sources, reported that Berlin and Washington intended to pressure Ukraine to negotiate with Russia.

Still, allies are likely to stick to the script this week in Brussels. Stoltenberg said that there is no sign that Russia is ready for peace and that its leader, President Vladimir Putin, is planning for more war.

Ukraine continues to fight bravely. We continue to support them, Stoltenberg said.
An overhead view of silos at a grain handling and storage facility in central Ukraine, on Nov. 10, 2023. (Hanna Arhirova/AP)

KYIV, Ukraine  Grain thunders into rail cars and trucks zip around a storage facility in central Ukraine, a place that growing numbers of companies turned to as they struggled to export their food to people facing hunger around the world.

Now, more of the grain is getting unloaded from overcrammed silos and heading to ports on the Black Sea, set to traverse a fledgling shipping corridor launched after Russia pulled out of a U.N.-brokered agreement this summer that allowed food to flow safely from Ukraine during the war.

It was tight, but we kept working  we sought how to accept every ton of products needed for our partners, facility general director Roman Andreikiv said about the end of the grain deal in July. Ukraines new corridor, protected by the military, has now allowed him to free up warehouse space and increase activity.

Growing numbers of ships are streaming toward Ukraines Black Sea ports and heading out loaded with grain, metals and other cargo despite the threat of attack and floating explosive mines. Its giving a boost to Ukraines agriculture-dependent economy and bringing back a key source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products for parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia where local prices have risen and food insecurity is growing.

We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes, said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyds, whose members make up the worlds largest insurance marketplace.

Ihor Osmachko, general director of Agroprosperis Group, one of Ukraines biggest agricultural producers and exporters, says hes feeling more optimistic than two months ago.

At that time, it was completely unclear how to survive, he said.

Since the companys first vessel departed in mid-September, it says it has shipped more than 300,000 metric tons of grain to Egypt, Spain, China, Bangladesh, the Netherlands, Tunisia and Turkey.

After ending the agreement brokered by the U.N. and Turkey, Russia has attacked Ukraines Black Sea ports  a vital connection to global trade  and grain infrastructure, destroying enough food to feed over 1 million people for a year, the U.K. government said.

The risk to vessels is the main hurdle for the new shipping corridor. Russia, whose officials havent commented on the corridor, warned this summer that ships heading to Ukraines Black Sea ports would be assumed to be carrying weapons.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that allies had agreed to provide ships to help his country protect commercial vessels in the Black Sea but that more air defense systems were needed.

Air defense is in short supply, he told reporters Saturday at an international food security summit in Kyiv. But whats important is that we have agreements, we have a positive signal and the corridor is operational.

While a deadly missile strike on the port of Odesa hit a Liberian-flagged commercial ship this month, not long afterward, insurers, brokers and banks teamed up with the Ukrainian government to announce affordable coverage for Black Sea grain shipments, offering shippers peace of mind.

Despite such attacks, Ukraine has exported over 5.6 million metric tons of grain and other products through the new corridor, U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Bridget Brink tweeted Friday. Before the war, it was nearly double that per month, Ukrainian Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka said.

The way that theyre transporting right now, its certainly much more expensive and time consuming, said Kelly Goughary, a senior research analyst at agriculture data and analytics firm Gro Intelligence.

But they are getting product out the door, which is better than I think many were anticipating with the grain initiative coming to an end, she said.

Farmers also are facing low prices for their grain, which makes sending trucks to Odesas often-attacked port not worth the risk for one agricultural company near the front line.

Instead, Slavhorod, which farms near the border with Russia in the Sumy province that faces daily shelling, has chosen to store its peas, wheat, soybeans, sunflower and corn in warehouses.

Theres risk in keeping the 8,650-acre farm running at all: Signs warned of explosive mines near where workers were collecting corn in a field nearly 2 miles from Russia.

But who, if not us? Its the only industry that brings some income to the country, said Slavhorods chief agronomist, Oleksandr Kubrakov, who survived driving over a mine last year.

But its becoming increasingly challenging to maintain morale.

This year, there is less enthusiasm because grain prices are low, the product remains near the border and at any moment it could be destroyed, he said. Its a big risk.

Since the war started, Ukraine has struggled to get its food supplies to countries in need. Even during the yearlong U.N. deal, when Ukraine shipped nearly 33 million metric tons of food, Russia was accused of slowing down ship inspections required to be done by all sides.

That corridor worked in an unpredictable way for us, said Mykola Horbachov, president of the Ukrainian Grain Association.

Now, the Ukrainian military decides when its safe to sail.

This may incur additional costs, but it is still more predictable than it was before, Horbachov said.

Osmachko of Agroprosperis Group agrees. Before the invasion, the exporter paid $50 per metric ton to ship grain through the Black Sea. Alternatives since the war  including river routes through Europe  cost the company nearly three times more, Osmachko said. Under Ukraines new corridor, the company pays $70 to 80 per metric ton.

Its more efficient, more profitable, he said.

Plus, Ukraines shipping corridor allows vessels to travel less in dangerous areas compared with the grain deal and avoid those often-delayed inspections, said Anderson of Vessel Protect.

Agroprosperis Group no longer needs to pay for ships to wait around. Inspection delays cost the company $30 million in losses during the yearlong grain deal, Osmachko said.

While the delays are gone, there still is military risk, safety risk, war risk. And not all of the insurance companies are ready to take this risk, Osmachko said.

To ease that hurdle, an insurance program launched this month to provide affordable coverage to shippers carrying food from Ukraines Black Sea ports. The partnership between insurance broker Marsh McLennan, Lloyds, two Ukrainian state banks and the government offers up to $50 million for each of two types of coverage protecting against damage and other losses.

In another boost, a humanitarian program was extended Saturday that donates Ukrainian grain to nations facing food shortages with support from countries worldwide. Next, it will bring enough grain to help nearly 400,000 people in Nigeria, Zelenskyy said.

The goal for the new shipping corridor is to export at least 6 million metric tons of grain a month, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi said. It has a lot of work to do: Ukraine exported 4.3 million metric tons of grain in October through all routes, the ministry said.

We maintain cautious optimism, based on the fact that we have been fighting before and will continue to fight further, he said.

Bonnell reported from London.
A child sits among rubble on Oct. 30, 2023, after Israeli airstrikes targeted Khan Younis in southern Gaza. (Loay Ayyoub/for The Washington Post)

The carnage in Kfar Aza was indelible. Villagers shot dead in the streets. Bodies set on fire.

Menachem Isseroff, a 29-year-old from Brooklyn, was among the Israeli soldiers dispatched to the kibbutz where Hamas militants, having massacred dozens, staged a raging battle amid their surprise cross-border assault. He described the barbarity as absolutely horrific, adding, Any one of those individual scenes would ... last most people a lifetime.

Thousands of miles away in New York, his younger sister Shterny was celebrating the Jewish holiday Simchat Torah. As she learned what had happened, her perspective darkened, too  though for different reasons: The Israeli government, she was sure, would use the atrocities committed by Hamas on Oct. 7 as justification for carrying out acts of violence against the Palestinian people.

War crimes, even, she said.

The Isseroffs are among thousands of Americans with ties to the Israeli military as it prosecutes a fierce, divisive retaliatory war in Gaza. Weeks of aerial bombardment and an ensuing ground offensive  both now temporarily paused to enable an exchange of hostages and prisoners  have killed thousands of children and other civilians in the Palestinian enclave. With neighborhoods leveled, hospitals crippled, and food, fuel and medical supplies scarce, the crisis has torn at some families, and those directly involved have pondered difficult questions about the cause they have joined.

About 10,000 people living in the United States have reported for Israeli military duty after receiving draft notices, part of a larger mobilization of 360,000 troops, Israeli officials told The Washington Post. At least eight U.S. citizens have been killed while serving in Israeli security forces since the war began, according to the State Department.

The rush of U.S. citizens willing to take up arms for Israel resembles, in ways, the early days of Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine, whose government appealed to Americans and other foreign nationals to help repel the incursion now nearing the start of its third year. But there are differences, too.

In this case, most of the Americans who have joined the war effort have served previously in the Israel Defense Forces or remain IDF reservists. Historically, about 1,200 Americans serve in the IDF at a given time, according to a study published last year by the journal Sociological Forum. Many are, or become, dual citizens.

Bullet holes scar the walls of a burned house in Kibbutz Beeri, Israel, on Nov. 2, 2023. (Kobi Wolf/for The Washington Post)

In interviews, IDF veterans and reservists who have left behind their American lives described feeling galvanized by the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, even as the ferocity of Israels response draws scrutiny and some have begun to wonder about the wars outlook beyond the Israeli governments stated goal of destroying Hamas.

Its really not clear to any of us how this is going to play out long-term, Isseroff said, referring to fellow members of the 55th Paratroopers Brigade. ... You hope that the people who are telling you what to do have a good grasp on the bigger picture.

Theyve put their trust, he said, in the belief that there is good in fighting to ensure nothing so ghastly can ever happen again.

Yes, people will die

Brooklyn-born, Miami-raised Izzy Ezagui was in Los Angeles last month when the attack on Israel occurred.

His IDF service dates back more than a decade. In 2009, during the Israelis 22-day offensive into Gaza known as Operation Cast Lead, he was catastrophically wounded, losing his left arm when a mortar hit his base.

A sharpshooter, he fought to stay in the Israeli military, he said, by learning to cradle, fire and reload his rifle with one arm.

About three years ago, Ezagui, now 35, completed his duty, feeling, he said, like he was getting old for a soldier.

That changed in an instant last month, when he decided to leave his service dog, Punch, with family and pause his career in finance to rejoin the IDF.

As a Jew, there is no better place to be than an IDF base, he said. There is no hopelessness here. I would be suffering if I stayed home.

Soon after his reinstatement, he had a chance encounter with an officer he had known for years who offered Ezagui an assignment ferrying water and ammunition to units inside Gaza and then bringing the wounded back out. He characterized the nighttime missions as quick and chaotic, traversing foggy, narrow corridors where friendly-fire incidents had occurred.

Izzy Ezagui with his dog, Punch, at Palisades Park in Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 16, 2023. (Eric Thayer/for The Washington Post)

Ezagui returned to Los Angeles on Nov. 7 to settle affairs at home, including, he said, identifying which of his family members will look after Punch. He volunteered for 10 more years of reserve duty, he said. The forms he signed asked the reason he wanted to extend his service.

Ezagui wrote two words, he said: Kibbutz Beeri, another of the Israeli villages where Hamas fighters rampaged. He appears resigned to the likelihood that there will be difficult and uncertain days ahead.

Yes, people will die, he said. More Israelis will die. A lot of Palestinians will die. But what choice does Israel have?

No room for skepticism

Houston Mack, 33, lived in Israel for 10 years, earning citizenship before returning to the United States over the summer. As the magnitude of Hamas savagery came into view, IDF commanders directed his unit of reservists to prepare for action. The message was unambiguous, Mack recalled: Get your bags. Grab your kit and show up to base immediately. Were at war.

Mack, a Los Angeles native who had settled in Las Vegas, rotated through a variety of assignments earlier in his Israeli military career, primarily in the West Bank, another Palestinian territory. As a reservist living in the United States, he was not obligated to return, he said. But he was moved to do so after watching videos of the Hamas assault.

In Tel Aviv, Mack said, there are shrines to those killed and taken hostage, some with teddy bears. He intends to stay as long as he is needed. His employer in the United States, a Marine Corps veteran, told Mack he will have a job waiting for him when he returns, he said.

Asked about the doubts held among some Americans over Israels prosecution of the war, Mack urged critics to remember that there is a long history of antisemitism and atrocities perpetuated against Jews.

There is no room for skepticism. There are still people to this day that deny the Holocaust, he said. Were here to defend our right to exist in front of an enemy that wants to destroy us.

Palestinians mourn dead relatives outside a morgue in Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Nov. 19, 2023. (Loay Ayyoub/for The Washington Post)

A family divided

Shterny Isseroff sees things differently than her brother. She moved to Israel after high school, spending about five years there. But she left, she said, in part because shed become troubled by the Israeli governments treatment of Palestinians.

She did work in Israel opposing its occupation of Palestinian areas, she said, but also was disgusted to hear Palestinian friends celebrate after seeing footage of rockets hitting Israeli homes.

Very often, people are looking for a good guy and a bad guy, she said. If anything, I have learned that this is complex and there is a long history and a lot of pain.

Her brother Menachem also said he sees war as inherently bad. But he added that, as he sees it, there was no alternative after the Hamas attack. Israelis, he said, are damned if we do and damned if we dont, forced between defending their homeland and contending with international criticism.

The people of Gaza are not our enemies, he said. Hamas is our enemy.

Shterny Isseroff said she worries about her brother and how he might process his military service years from now. It was his choice to be in the IDF, she said, and hes going to have to live with the consequences of his decisions.

Menachem Isseroff said he and his sister care about each other deeply, but that they see the world differently. Theres a large amount of human suffering and death that is happening in Gaza right now, but it was set in motion by the attacks Hamas launched, he said. The militant group, he added, is glossing that over as it cynically highlights that suffering in the messaging that people like his sister internalize.

On a recent break from duty, Isseroff said, he visited his wife and their 2-year-old son, whom he left behind on Oct. 7. He was struck by his son asking him to sing Shalom Aleichem, a traditional song often sung as Jews mark Shabbat, their day of rest. Those singing it wish that peace be upon you.

Thats what you ask for, Isseroff said. Every week, thats all you ask for.

The notion, he thought, seems far away.
Sharon Hertzman, right, hugs a relative as they reunite at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday Nov. 25, 2023. Sharon Hertzman and her daughter Noam, 12 years old, not pictured, were released by Hamas after being held as hostages in Gaza for 50 days. (Haim Zach, GPO, handout via AP)

This story has been corrected

TEL AVIV, Israel  Israel and Hamas agreed to extend their cease-fire for two more days past Monday, raising the prospect of further exchanges of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel and a longer halt to their deadliest and most destructive war.

Eleven Israeli women and children, freed by Hamas, entered Israel Monday night after more than seven weeks in captivity in Gaza in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began Friday and was due to run out. Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners released by Israel arrived early Tuesday in east Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ramallah. The prisoners were greeted by loud cheers as their bus made its way through the streets of Ramallah.

The deal for two additional days of cease-fire, announced by Qatar, raised hopes for further extensions, which also allow more aid into Gaza. Conditions there have remained dire for 2.3 million Palestinians, battered by weeks of Israeli bombardment and a ground offensive that have driven three-quarters of the population from their homes.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. After the announcement by Qatar  a key mediator in the conflict, along with the United States and Egypt  Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension under the same terms.

But Israel says it remains committed to crushing Hamas military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza after its Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel. That would likely mean expanding a ground offensive from devastated northern Gaza to the south.

Mondays releases bring to 51 the number of Israelis freed under the truce; an additional 18 hostages of various nationalities have also been released. So far, 150 Palestinians have been released from Israeli prisons.

After weeks of national trauma over the roughly 240 people abducted by Hamas and other militants, scenes of the women and children reuniting with families have rallied Israelis behind calls to return those who remain in captivity.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen who was released Sunday, said in a statement.

Hamas and other militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks. But those include a number of soldiers, and Hamas is likely to make much greater demands for their release.

Fourth release

The newly released hostages included three women and nine children  including 3-year-old twin girls and their mother  from the kibbutz Nir Oz, a community near Gaza that was hard hit in Hamas Oct. 7 attack. The kibbutz said 49 of its residents remain in captivity, including the father of the twins. The Israeli military said late Monday that the hostages were undergoing initial medical checks in Israel before being reunited with their families.

Most of the hostages freed so far have appeared to be physically well. But 84-year-old Elma Avraham, released Sunday, was airlifted to Israels Soroka Medical Center in life-threatening condition because of inadequate care, the hospital said.

Avrahams daughter, Tali Amano, said her mother was hours from death when she was brought to the hospital. Avraham is currently sedated and has a breathing tube, but Amano said she told her mother of a new great-grandchild who was born while she was in captivity.

Avraham suffered from several chronic conditions that required regular medications but was stable before she was kidnapped, Amano said Monday.

So far, 19 people of other nationalities have been freed during the truce, mostly Thai nationals. Many Thais work in Israel, largely as farm laborers.

France said three of the hostages released Monday were French-Israeli dual citizens, two 12-year-olds and one 16-year-old. The French government is working tirelessly to free five other French citizens held hostage, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The Palestinian prisoners released so far have been mostly teenagers accused of throwing stones and firebombs during confrontations with Israeli forces, or of less-serious offenses. But some were convicted in alleged attempts to carry out stabbings, bombings and shootings. Many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye, but details of their captivity have started to trickle out.

Merav Raviv, who is related to three hostages released Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

In Washington, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby welcomed the extension of the truce.

We would, of course, hope to see the pause extended further, and that will depend upon Hamas continuing to release hostages, Kirby told reporters.

Respite in Gaza

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two-thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. More than 1,200 people have been killed on the Israeli side, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israels ground offensive.

The calm from the truce allowed glimpses of the destruction wreaked by weeks of Israeli bombardment that leveled entire neighborhoods.

Footage showed a complex of several dozen multistory residential buildings that had been pummeled into a landscape of wreckage in the northern town of Beit Hanoun. Nearly every building was destroyed or severely damaged, some reduced to concrete frames half-slumped over. At a nearby U.N. school, the buildings were intact but partially burned and riddled with holes.

The Israeli assault has driven three-quarters of Gazas population from their homes, and now most of its 2.3 million people are crowded into the south. More than 1 million are living in U.N. shelters. The Israeli military has barred hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled south from returning north.

Rain and wind added to the hardship of displaced Palestinians sheltering in the compound of Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza. Palestinians in coats baked flatbreads over a makeshift fire among tents set up on the muddy grounds.

Alaa Mansour said the conditions are simply horrendous.

My clothes are all wet, and I am unable to change them, said Mansour, who is disabled. I have not drunk water for two days, and theres no bathroom to use.

The U.N. says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared.

Long lines formed outside stations distributing cooking fuel, allowed in for the first time. Fuel for generators has been brought for key service providers, including hospitals and water and sanitation facilities, but bakeries have been unable to resume work, the U.N. said.

Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction.

Many say the aid is not nearly enough.

Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a U.N. distribution center since the cease-fire began.

She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and gas stations as people try to stock up on basics. People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return.

Jeffery and Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Melanie Lidman in Jerusalem contributed.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The Caspian Sea is a sea of peace and friendship for the coastal countries, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Lieutenant General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri said, Trend reports.

He made the remark at an event regarding the joining of the new Deylaman destroyer to the Iranian Navy in the Caspian Sea.

According to Bagheri, Iran has comprehensive friendly and military relations with Caspian littoral states. Iran once again sends a message of peace and friendship to these countries and their armed forces.

He added that Iran's Deylaman destroyer and other ships in the Caspian Sea, which are currently in service, serve peace and operate in order to maintain stability, ensure the safety of merchant ships, and fight against terrorism and possible events in the future.

On November 27, 2023, Iran launched a new destroyer Deylaman into the Caspian Sea.

---

Follow the author on X (Twitter):@BaghishovElnur
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason steams in the Atlantic Ocean in July 2021. (Bill Mesta/U.S. Navy)

WASHINGTON  Five hijackers captured by U.S. forces after attempting to take over a commercial ship off the coast of Yemen on Sunday are likely Somalis, not Iranian-backed Houthi rebels, the Pentagon said Monday.

The five armed individuals  theyre currently aboard the USS Mason. Were continuing to assess but initial indications have that these five individuals are Somalis, said Air Force Brig. Gen Pat Ryder, the Pentagons top spokesman. Its clearly a piracy-related incident.

The attackers attempted to seize a Liberian-flagged tanker called the Central Park carrying a cargo of phosphoric acid. U.S. Central Command said Sunday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to a distress call from the tanker during the attack. The five hijackers abandoned their attack and attempted to flee in a small boat.

The Mason pursued the assailants and they surrendered eventually.

The Yemen government blamed Houthi rebels for the attack.

Within two hours after the attack on the Central Park, two ballistic missiles fired from a Houthi-controlled part of Yemen landed about 10 nautical miles from the Mason and the tanker. The U.S. destroyer tracked the missiles but did not attempt to shoot them down, Ryder said. It was still not clear whether the ballistic missiles were aiming for the Mason, he said.

The Houthis, who now control Yemens capital Sanaa, did not acknowledge the seizure or the missile attack.

We know theyre not Houthi, Ryder said about the hijackers.

Ryder also said there were three Chinese navy ships in the area but they did not respond to the Central Parks distress call. Those ships are supposedly there as part of a counter piracy mission, Ryder said. According to international maritime law, any ship in the vicinity is required to respond to a distress call.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Secretary Antony J. Blinken meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel, Nov. 3, 2023. (Chuck Kennedy/U.S. Department of State)

JERUSALEM  In 2009, when Benjamin Netanyahu returned to power for a second run as Israels prime minister, a job he has held almost continuously since, he was confronted with a major change in the region: Hamas, a militant Islamist group, had been elected to power in the Gaza Strip three years earlier.

From the beginning, Hamas vowed to destroy Israel and, in his 2009 campaign, Netanyahu vowed to destroy Hamas. What happened instead was a decade and a half of uneasy coexistence, during which Netanyahus serial governments and Hamass leaders found each other useful for their own purposes.

The odd symbiosis endured - through years of escalations and accommodations, hopes of calm and periods of chaos - until now, when both Hamas and Netanyahu face a possible end to their hold on power.

Hamas leaders, after directing the attack that killed at least 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, are being bombed and hunted by an Israeli military that has pledged the group will never rule in Gaza again. In the midst of devastating attacks that have killed more than 11,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, even some Gazans have taken the rare step of publicly criticizing Hamas for the October attack and leaving civilians exposed to military onslaught.

Netanyahu, who agreed last month to share emergency war powers with his chief political rival, is facing unprecedented public rage for his failure to prevent the October attack and a disordered government response in its aftermath. Polls show 75 percent of Israelis calling for him to resign now or be replaced when the fighting stops.

Its a strange alliance that has run its course, said Israeli historian Adam Raz, who has made a study of the relationship between the prime minister and the militant group. Hamas will not be the government of Gaza. And I think we can assume that Netanyahu is nearing the end of his political career.

Circumstances are changing rapidly and neithers fate is certain. A four-day pause in the fighting that Israel and Hamas agreed to began Friday. The first of 50 Israeli hostages were released the same day as part of the deal. Netanyahu has vowed to continue the fight after the pause with the aim of eradicating Hamas.

Raz, and other observers, made clear that Netanyahu didnt anticipate the Hamas attack and the capture of around 240 Israelis on Oct. 7, the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust.

But they say that as soon as he regained power, Netanyahu - who as a candidate had pledged to knock out the rule of Hamas in Gaza - instead largely pursued a strategy that didnt disrupt the status quo of a divided Palestinian population, leaving Hamas to rule in Gaza and the rival Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

That schism served the purposes of Netanyahu and opponents of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict by hobbling the Palestinians ability to oppose Israels occupation, analysts said.

With no unified leadership, Bibi was able to say he couldnt move forward with peace negotiations, said Dahlia Scheindlin, an Israeli pollster and political analyst, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname. It allowed him to say, There is no one to talk to.

The situation allowed Netanyahu to largely sideline the Palestinian question, an issue that had shaped the tenures of Israeli leaders over the previous four decades. Instead, Netanyahu focused on Iran and other threats and on Israels development into an economic powerhouse, according to Netanyahu biographer Anshel Pfeffer.

Netanyahu always felt that the Palestinian conflict was distraction being used as a wedge issue in Israel, Pfeffer said. He called it a rabbit hole.

Year after year, successive Netanyahu cabinets approved moves that had the effect of easing pressure on Hamas: Israel agreed to periodic prisoner releases, the transfer of money from Qatar to pay public salaries in Gaza, improve infrastructure and, critics say, fund Hamas military operations.

The prime minister hoped to prevent any reconciliation between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority, even when the two sides came close to rapprochement in 2018.

In the last 10 years, Netanyahu worked to block any attempt at demolishing Hamas in Gaza, Raz said. Netanyahus office declined to provide anyone to respond on the record. But a senior government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity denied that the prime minister ever pursued a policy of keeping Hamas in power.

He is the most cited prime minister in history, and I dont think youll find one statement of his that lobbies for strengthening Hamas, the official said. It was the opposite. He hit Hamas harder than any prime minister in history. He led three large-scale military operations against Hamas in 2012, 2014 and 2021.

He didnt destroy Hamas, which is what his war cabinet directed [Israel Defense Forces] to do after the October 7 atrocities, the official said. That is what the IDF is doing right now.

During those years, a volatile detente emerged. Hamas continued to launch rockets into Israel, most of which were intercepted by sophisticated aerial defense systems. Wars flared, but each ended in negotiated cease-fires. Hamas remained in power and hopes grew that the group was evolving into a more reliable governing body focused on building Gaza instead of all-out war.

Netanyahu was not alone in seeing benefits in the situation. Israeli moderates began to envision a future beside a stabilizing Gaza with a better standard of living. Businesses hailed Israels improving relations with Arab neighbors willing to forge stronger ties with the Jewish state.

Exports from Gaza grew. And in recent years, both Netanyahu and an 18-month-long government led by less conservative opposition parties granted Gazans increasing numbers of permits to work in Israel. The number had topped 18,000 by Oct. 7.

Now, the strategy that left Hamas entrenched in Gaza is being scrutinized by traumatized Israelis. Anger across the political spectrum has driven Netanyahus support to historic lows. Just 25 percent of voters now tell pollsters he is the most suitable politician to be prime minister, according to Scheindlin.

The right wishes he had wiped out Hamas and the center and left wish he hadnt dropped the negotiations track, she said.

In Gaza, where elections havent occurred since 2006, gauging support for Hamas is more difficult. Before the war, fear of Hamas retribution kept criticism of the regime largely to whispers. Now, the massive disruptions of bombardment and displacement make polling almost impossible. Some recent surveys show continuing support for Hamas, as anger at Israel grows during the ongoing military assault.

But more Gazans are willing to criticize Hamas on social media and in interviews with The Washington Post. Im not afraid to say it: We dont want Hamas, and not just because of the war, but for years, said Ahmad, 44, a pharmacist from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. The Post is not using his full name to protect him from possible reprisals. The lack of competent governance has left us in poverty and misery, exacerbated by this devastating war. Israels actions spare no one, regardless of being affiliated with Hamas or not.

Motaz, 39, said Hamass attack on Israel left him in horror, and left his family exposed to Israeli attacks that destroyed his grocery store in Khan Younis last month.

He doesnt believe Hamas can survive. But he doesnt see what difference any change of leadership in Gaza would make to its devastated citizens.

Even if Hamas remains in power, what will remain for us here? Motaz asked. There are no homes to live in, and no work to sustain us. I lost my only source of livelihood.

Balousha reported from Amman, Jordan. Judith Sudilovsky in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington, DC., on Oct. 1, 2023. (Tasos Katopodis/TNS)

(Tribune News Service)  Lawmakers return to Washington this week with billions of dollars in funding for Israel, Ukraine and border security up in the air  and widespread skepticism on whether Congress will answer President Joe Bidens pleas to take action on the daunting range of global crises.

The commanderin-chief has asked Congress to approve nearly $106 billion in emergency funding  $61.4 billion for Ukraines struggle with Russia, $14.3 billion for Israels war with Hamas and $13.6 billion to boost security at the U.S. border with Mexico, among other initiatives.

But with Republicans voicing skepticism on Ukraine and progressive Democrats calling for restrictions on funding for Israel, members of Congress sounded a bleak note through Thanksgiving weekend.

I think itd be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year, Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) said Sunday on NBCs Meet the Press.

He went on to criticize the White House approach to including border security in its massive spending proposal.

Its going to need policy changes, Turner said. Congress is going to require that there be laws changed to make certain that the border returns to its prior state.

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have said they wont support funding for Ukraine unless the U.S. cracks down on immigration.

But immigration reform has long eluded Congress, and recent months have seen more GOP lawmakers voicing opposition to funding for Ukraine, with a majority of Republican voters saying the military aid should stop.

On Israel, the Republican-controlled House passed an aid package this month. But tying the funding to cuts to the Internal Revenue Service made the legislation a nonstarter in the Democrat-run Senate.

As the House is forced to go back to the drawing board on Israel, some progressives are demanding curbs on future spending, arguing that the U.S. shouldnt fund potential human rights abuses.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), whos involved in the budget negotiations, voiced openness to such restrictions on Sunday as Hamas released 17 hostages, including a 4-year-old American girl.

We regularly condition our aid to allies based upon compliance with U.S. law and international law, he told CNNs State of the Union.

And so I think its very consistent with the ways in which we have dispensed aid, especially during wartime, to allies, for us to talk about making sure that the aid we give Ukraine or the aid we give Israel  is used in accordance with human rights laws.

Biden recently called the restrictions a worthwhile thought. But national security adviser Jake Sullivan was noncommittal Sunday on conditions for aid to Israel.

The president acknowledged the idea, Sullivan told CBS Face the Nation. And then he said  he thought the approach that he is taking is the approach that has generated the results that we have seen so far.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) recently called for conditions on aid to Israel including an end to indiscriminate bombing, massive humanitarian assistance and a commitment to broad peace talks for a two-state solution in the wake of the war.

Nobody has been a stronger advocate for a two-state solution than President Joe Biden, Sullivan said Sunday.

Prior to Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which prompted a fierce military response, the situation between Israel and Palestinians was widely seen as being on the back burner in Washington.

But the outbreak of war in the region and Russias invasion of Ukraine represent a major test of U.S. leadership on the global stage. With a presidential election coming up next year, the stakes are high on the home front, too.

Recent weeks have seen a significant drop in voter support for Biden as he seeks to continue helping Israel and Ukraine. Along with a slumping overall approval rating, hes facing decreasing support from young voters, according to Politico.

In brief remarks Sunday, Biden shied away from politics as he confirmed Hamas release of 4-year-old hostage Abigail Edan, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen.

Thank God shes home, he told reporters in Nantucket, Mass., as he readied to return to Washington. I wish I were there to hold her.

2023 New York Daily News.

Visit at nydailynews.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Police in Vermont are investigating the possibility of a hate-motivated crime in the Saturday evening shooting of three Palestinian college students in downtown Burlington, Vt. (Wikimedia Commons)

Police in Vermont are investigating the possibility of a hate-motivated crime in the Saturday evening shooting of three Palestinian college students in downtown Burlington, Vt.

Burlington police said on Sunday that a white male with a handgun approached the three students as they walked through downtown and without speaking shot the three men at least four times before fleeing on foot. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement. All three remain hospitalized, one with very serious injuries, the department added.

The victims parents identified them in a statement as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a civil rights advocacy group, said it believed the students were targeted because they are Palestinians. Police said that two are U.S. citizens, and one is a legal U.S. resident.

As parents, we are devastated by the horrific news that our children were targeted and shot in Burlington,  the parents said in a statement. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. . . . No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.

The ADC said the three men are students at Brown University, Haverford College and Trinity College, respectively, and had gathered in Burlington to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with Awartanis grandmother.

The ADC also said that the students were wearing kaffiyehs, the traditional Arab scarf associated with Palestinians, when they were attacked.

We have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three victims being Arab, the ADC statement said.

The Burlington police did not respond to a request to confirm the ADCs description of the students dress and conversation at the time of the attack.

However, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday that police are investigating the possibility that the attack was hate motivated while cautioning against jumping to conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less than police do amid the ongoing investigation.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, Murad said. His officers first priority is to identify, locate and apprehend the suspect, he added.

Were working every investigatory angle on this case, and will continue to provide reliable, factual information to public while protecting the victims and our investigation, he said. The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said in a statement that the possibility of a hate crime is being prioritized in the BPDs investigation.

Federal authorities say they have been responding to a rise in threats against Arab, Jewish and Muslim communities as anger over the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict has spilled into protests, street confrontations, and targeted attacks thousands of miles from the war zone.

On Oct. 14, an Illinois man fatally stabbed a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy and injured his mother in an apartment they were renting from him, authorities said. The Justice Department is investigating the killing as a hate crime.

Israel has mounted a massive assault on the densely populated Gaza Strip, killing more than 13,000 Palestinians - including thousands of children - since Oct. 7, when the Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a brutal cross-border assault on Israel, killing some 1,200 people - including dozens of children - and taking about 240 people into Gaza as hostages.

The Biden administration and U.S. lawmakers from both parties have largely supported Israel in its war, and some lawmakers have echoed Israeli revenge rhetoric that has likened Palestinians to animals or cast doubt on whether Palestinian civilians are truly uninvolved civilians.

Basil Awartani, who identified himself on X, previously known as Twitter, as Awartanis cousin, suggested Sunday that the shooting in Vermont was a consequence of dangerous and dehumanizing rhetoric regurgitated by US politicians and right wing pundits.

Abed Ayoub, the ADCs national executive director, told The Washington Post on Sunday night that his organization has been in touch with the students parents, some of whom were en route to Vermont. Awartani, the Brown University student whose grandmother lives in Burlington, was the most critically injured, Ayoub said.

Hisham has a bullet lodged in his spine. We dont know the total damage of that yet. We dont know how severe, or what that will lead to, Ayoub said. Another of the men had sustained damage to a lung, and the third, who had been less critically injured, was expected to be released from the hospital on Sunday, he added, declining to say which.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nations biggest Muslim advocacy group, issued a statement Sunday offering a $10,000 reward for information about the shooting in Vermont.

A Palestinian high school in the West Bank, Ramallah Friends, said all three of the men had attended school there before enrolling in U.S. universities.

Allam reported from Cairo.
White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zeints listens to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan about the situation in Israel after the terrorist attacks by Hamas, Oct. 9, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Adam Schultz)

Earlier this month, a group of about 20 distressed White House staffers requested a meeting with President Bidens top advisers, as Israels war in Gaza entered its sixth week.

The diverse group of staffers had three main issues they wanted to discuss with White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients, senior adviser Anita Dunn and deputy national security adviser Jon Finer: They wanted to know the administrations strategy for curbing the number of civilian deaths, the message it plans to send on the conflict and its postwar vision for the region.

Zients, Dunn and Finer listened respectfully, but some participants felt they fell back on familiar talking points, said a White House official familiar with the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a private exchange. The administration had to be careful not to criticize Israel in public so it could influence its leaders in private, the advisers said. U.S. officials were pushing Israel to minimize civilian casualties. And the president and his top aides were advocating for a two-state solution once the conflict was over.

The previously unreported meeting of officials underscores how Bidens handling of what is arguably the biggest foreign policy crisis of his presidency is dividing a White House that has prided itself on running a disciplined and united operation. The Israel-Gaza war has roiled the administration more than any other issue in Bidens first three years in office, according to numerous aides and allies inside and outside the White House, as staffers agonize over their positions on highly emotional issues.

Adding to the sensitivity, the unwavering embrace of Israel that many staffers find upsetting stems in large part from Bidens personal lifelong attachment to the Jewish state, aides said. Biden often cites his 1973 meeting with Prime Minister Golda Meir as a seminal event that crystallized his view of Israel as critical for Jewish survival.

At the time, Israel was 25 years old, a left-leaning nation and a military underdog, struggling to find its way in the aftermath of the Holocaust. Now Israel is a military powerhouse led by a far-right coalition, and the Biden administration has become identified with a military campaign that has killed more than 13,000 Palestinians, displaced hundreds of thousands of others, created a humanitarian disaster and damaged Americas moral authority in much of the world.

Yet there are limits to how much the United States has been able to influence Israels actions as it largely refrains from criticizing them publicly. I think the administration has realized from quite early on that it was in a bind, said Ivo Daalder, chief executive of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs who served as NATO ambassador under President Barack Obama.

And it was in a bind not only because of Bidens own predilection, which is real and strong and important, Daalder said, but because of the political costs of breaking with Israel, especially after the bloody Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that killed more than 1,200 people and resulted in over 200 hostages taken.

This account of how the administration has handled the Israel-Gaza war is based on interviews with 27 White House officials, senior administration officials and outside advisers, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly to reveal internal conversations.

White House officials contend that Bidens bear hug approach to Israel has given him credibility with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, allowing the president to exert the kind of pressure that led to the current hostage deal and fighting pause. U.S. officials are now using the pause to urge Israel to make its expected military operation in the south of Gaza, where nearly 2 million Palestinians are concentrated, more targeted and less deadly, according to two senior administration officials.

Bidens foreign policy team has long been mindful of the influence of Washingtons pro-Israel lobbying organizations. But the changing demographics of key swing states, such as Michigan, home to a growing Arab American community, is prompting some Democratic analysts to question the conventional political wisdom.

Progressives such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) have urged Biden to make Americas $3.8 billion in annual aid to Israel conditional on an end to the widespread bombing of Gaza and a freeze on West Bank settlements. Biden said Friday that was a worthwhile thought, but that if he had done it too quickly it would have hurt his leverage with Israel, adding, I dont think if I started off with that we ever would have gotten to where we are today.

The division inside the White House is to some degree between Bidens senior longtime aides and an array of younger staffers of diverse backgrounds. But even top advisers said they recognize the conflict has hurt Americas global standing. Were taking on a lot of water on Israels behalf, one senior official said. Still, Bidens aides noted that his public statements have become increasingly direct on the responsibility Israel has to minimize civilian casualties and to allow aid into Gaza, even as he declines to call for a cease-fire as many liberals want.

The White House also insists it has influenced Israels military tactics, pointing out that more than 100 aid trucks a day on average are getting into Gaza and that Israel is now allowing in some fuel. One senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss secret diplomacy, said that after the United States dispatched three senior military officers in late October to advise the Israelis on strategy, they sent only about a third as many troops into Gaza as they had initially planned.

Following the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust, President Biden remains focused on helping Israel defend itself against the imminent threat posed by Hamas, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement, citing Bidens efforts to secure the release of hostages and the transit of aid into Gaza.

The president, his senior staff and his entire team are committed to supporting and listening to the communities who are experiencing pain because of the events since October 7, both inside the administration and throughout the country.

Some experts said Biden would have more room to maneuver if he had moderated his support for Israel at the outset last months. If at the beginning of the conflict we had a more nuanced approach to this, the administration could have distanced itself in a way that would be safer for it diplomatically and politically, said Steven Cook, senior fellow for Middle East and Africa studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. The no-daylight strategy is causing a lot of problems for them.

I will do better

Biden at times has seemed to wrestle with his own emotions regarding the war. On Oct. 25, he voiced skepticism about the Gaza death toll provided by the Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed, he said.

The following day, Biden met with five prominent Muslim Americans, who protested what they saw as his insensitivity to the civilians who were dying. All spoke of people they knew who had been affected by the suffering in Gaza, including a woman who had lost 100 members of her family.

Biden appeared to be affected by their account. Im sorry. Im disappointed in myself, he told the group, according to two people familiar with the meeting. I will do better. The meeting, scheduled for 30 minutes, ended up lasting more than an hour, according to one White House official, and ended with Biden hugging one of the participants.

Many in the White House have been aware since the outset of the political peril that the conflict poses for Biden. Since Hamas launched its attack on Oct. 7, administration officials have held regular discussions with staffers, political appointees and outside groups to reassure them and to gauge their reaction.

On Oct. 7, many in the White House responded viscerally to the brutal nature of the atrocities. Zients emailed staffers expressing empathy with Jewish staffers and those with personal ties to Israel. Many Jewish staffers appreciated the note, but some Arab and Muslim officials felt it was tone-deaf to their concerns, given that Israeli officials were vowing to carry out a scorched-earth campaign in Gaza.

Muslim appointees in the administration began raising alarm bells about the email from Zients and what they believed was one-sided rhetoric by the administration, a senior administration official familiar with the efforts said. Shortly after Oct. 7, Zients directed staff to conduct a robust internal and external outreach strategy to Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Palestinian American communities. And Dunn, Bidens top political strategist, has led a daily meeting with about 30 White House staffers responsible for outreach to various communities, according to two senior administration officials.

Both Zients and Dunn have conducted regular meetings and listening sessions with staffers, including those who disagree with the presidents response. After a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was fatally stabbed last month, Zients wrote in an Oct. 17 email: I wanted to take a moment to acknowledge how difficult it has been for our Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim American colleagues - in addition to our Jewish colleagues.

As Biden prepared a major Oct. 10 address, one that many Jewish groups would praise as one of the most pro-Israel speeches by a sitting American president, Vice President Harris suggested that he add a line denouncing Islamophobia, according to two White House officials familiar with the planning.

Harris cited the way Islamophobia had dogged the Muslim and Arab communities for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Biden took the suggestion. But he rejected others, for instance dismissing the recommendation of some staffers that he cut a line about Hamas beheading babies because those reports were unverified.

Biden has received praise from numerous Jewish groups for his empathy since the Oct. 7 attacks, saying he has shown a sensitivity to antisemitism and the Jewish peoples long history of facing persecution. It has brought to the surface painful memories and scars left by a millennia of antisemitism and the genocide of the Jewish people, Biden said during a whirlwind trip to Tel Aviv on Oct. 18.

Two Jewish administration officials said there was widespread support internally for Bidens response and his efforts to address antisemitism. Antisemitic language and tactics by the far left are making Jewish staffers nervous to speak out and say they are happy with how the response is going, one of the officials said.

But White House officials have also heard from myriad progressive groups and religious leaders, including some Jewish activists and Black church leaders, who have voiced their concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and urged the administration to call for a cease-fire.

One meeting between White House aides and about a dozen Palestinian Americans turned contentious when participants warned that Biden would lose Arab and Muslim voters over his handling of the war. An aide explained that Biden was not thinking about the issue in political terms and instead was trying to prevent World War III, according to one person familiar with the meeting.

One of the Palestinian Americans in the meeting said the participants left with more resolve to organize their communities not to vote for Biden in the 2024 election. The person said Arabs and Muslims would also not vote for former president Donald Trump, who has called for banning travel to the United States from Muslim-majority countries, but could sit out the race.

Inside the administration, a growing number of American diplomats, defense officials and aid workers have called for a cease-fire, including more than 1,000 staffers at the U.S. Agency for International Development. At the State Department, there have been multiple dissent cables from diplomats urging the administration to use more leverage to stop the violence.

One Arab staffer said they felt empowered by the level of outreach the White House has conducted. Yet a range of Muslim Americans across the administration have formed group chats to air their disappointment. Many have faced pressure from family and friends to resign in protest, and while most have decided to stay, some said they have lost faith they could influence the administrations position. I dont have any optimism at this point that anything is changing in terms of the policy, one Muslim staffer said.

Biden and Netanyahu

Some in Bidens circle worry that he does not distinguish between an idealistic image of the state of Israel and the reality of the Netanyahu government, which includes several representatives from the far right. The presidents personal historical commitment to Israel was not modulated by the reality that this Israel happens to have a government that is the worst government its ever had, an ally of the administration said. Biden has underestimated the degree to which you have to separate how Israel reacts to this and how a Netanyahu government reacts to this.

U.S. officials view Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich as particularly troubling influences who make it harder for Netanyahu to rein in extremist elements in Israeli society. Hes always looking over his shoulder at the political ramifications of everything, one U.S. official said of Netanyahu.

So at the time when you need someone to make the right decisions on letting fuel go in so people have water, or reining in West Bank settler violence, he keeps looking over his shoulder at the far-right voices in his cabinet who could balk and collapse his government.

The first five days after the Hamas attacks were especially troubling, one senior administration official recalled, as Israeli officials were consumed by rage and grief, convinced Hezbollah and Iran were behind the atrocities. U.S. officials helped deter Israel from launching an attack on the Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which could have opened another front in the war.

Biden decided to travel to Tel Aviv on Oct. 18 in part to calm the Israelis and to buy time before they launched their ground invasion of Gaza. At a meeting with Netanyahus war cabinet, the president was blunt about their strategy. I completely disagree with that policy, Biden said of Israel at first refusing to allow aid into Gaza, according to a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The president said the United States could not support a comprehensive siege of Gaza in which Israel cut off access to food, fuel, water and electricity.

For much of his presidency, Biden did not prioritize the Israeli-Palestinian issue in his foreign policy, spending far more time on issues such as China and the Russia-Ukraine war. He spent years watching American presidents try and fail to bring comprehensive peace to the region, and concluded that such efforts would fail unless the Israelis and Palestinians had leaders who were deeply committed to the process. That meant that when the attacks erupted, the United States did not have a significant engagement in Israeli-Palestinian dialogue.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has borne the brunt of Arab outrage at the enormous civilian death toll in Gaza as he has traveled to the Middle East twice in the past month, and he has used stronger rhetoric than the president in demanding more restraint. Far too many Palestinians have been killed. Far too many have suffered these past weeks, Blinken said on Nov. 10. There is more that can and should be done to minimize harm to Palestinian civilians.

The central dispute between Biden and Netanyahu is not over a cease-fire, which neither supports, but over the view in Washington that Israel has an unacceptable standard for proportionality. In its effort to eliminate Hamas, Israel is using powerful bombs, leveling neighborhoods and taking down high-rise buildings, tactics that inevitably kill large numbers of civilians and, many argue, further radicalize the Palestinian population.

U.S. officials said Biden has taken a more confrontational approach to Israel in public and in private in recent weeks, even if it is not always obvious to the public. Biden has banged Bibi really hard on settler violence and civilian casualties in private, one official said. Biden has told reporters that the humanitarian pauses by Israel in its bombing campaign should have happened sooner and gone on longer. In an opinion piece for The Washington Post, Biden said the United States is prepared to issue visa bans against Israeli settler extremists who have attacked Palestinian civilians in the West Bank.

Many senior officials fear Israel will not show restraint as it moves its operation to the south of Gaza and worry the longer the conflict goes on, the more harmful it will be for Biden politically and diplomatically. While Israeli officials have said the conflict could last a year or longer, U.S. officials remain hopeful that the conflict will not stretch into the heart of the 2024 campaign, because of the speed of the Israeli incursion and an assessment that it does not have the resources to sustain an operation for that long.

Still, Biden officials are in an increasingly vexing predicament. The problem they have, which is the problem theyve had from day one, is the Israelis dont have a strategy for doing what they want to do that does not harm, kill and expel a lot of Palestinians from Gaza, one outside adviser said. They have to go down south and do the same thing. I dont know how you do that with 2-plus million people in the south.
Jason J. Eaton. (Burlington Police Department via AP)

BURLINGTON, Vt.  Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk in Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street  an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on Monday. He was ordered held without bail.

The U.S. Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, were investigating whether Saturdays shooting was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. There is understandable fear in communities across the country, he said.

The three men, all age 20, were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington, and were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

They stated that the person had not made any comments to them and had merely approached them while they were walking down the street, essentially minding their own business, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad told reporters.

Two of the young men were struck in their torsos, while one was hit in the lower extremities, Murad said. All three were being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and one faces a long recovery because of a spinal injury, a family member said.

Ive been with them almost constantly since Saturday evening. Ive been listening to them talk to one another and try to process the events, and Im blown away by their resilience, by their good humor in the face of these difficult times, said Rich Price, the uncle of one of the students.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from victims families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

The three shooting victims have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are remarkable, distinguished students, said Rania Maayeh, head of the school.

Awartani is studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown University in Rhode Island; Abdalhamid is a pre-med student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Ali Ahmad is studying mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Maayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are U.S. citizens while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Maayeh said.

Our students are not safe in their own country because of the occupation. Theyre studying abroad and have a bright future ahead of them, and look at what happens, she said. This has deeply shaken us.

Abdalhamids uncle Radi Tamimi, who flew from California and spoke Monday at the press conference, shared a similar sentiment.

Kinnan grew up in the West Bank and we always thought that that could be more of a risk in terms of his safety and sending him here would be a right decision, the uncle said. We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and were just trying to come to terms with everything.

Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer from Syracuse, New York, and legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. According to a police affidavit, federal agents found the gun in Eatons apartment on Sunday. Eaton came to the door holding his hands, palms up, and told the officers hed been waiting for them.

Syracuse police said Eatons name appeared in 37 police reports from 2007 until 2021, but never as a suspect. The cases ranged from domestic violence to larceny, and Eaton was listed as either a complainant or victim in 21 reports, according to Lt. Matthew Malinowski, the departments public information officer.

Price, Awartanis uncle, said the gunman shot them without saying any words and that the family suspects they were targets of a hate crime.

The familys fear is that this was motivated by hate, that these young men were targeted because they were Arabs, Price said.

The victims were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, Murad said.

Speaking at a news conference, Sarah George, states attorney, said law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But, she said, I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.

Murad echoed Georges language.

Whether or not this is a hate crime by the law, it was a hateful act. Its one that we abhor, he said. And anybody who steps out from a porch and attacks three random passersby for whatever reason, hes expressing a form of hate.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who called it one of the most shocking and disturbing events in the citys history, said he spoke to President Joe Biden on Monday.

Biden said he and his wife were horrified by the shooting and were praying that the students make a full recovery.

While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives, Biden said in a statement.

Burlington has gone from a city that typically saw two shootings per year to one that experienced 26 in 2022, said Murad, who created a task force last year to address the increase.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting. It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott said the shooting was a tragedy, and called on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was set to continue for two more days past Monday as 11 more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce deal.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in suburban Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

University of Vermont graduate student Jacob Friz-Trillo, who lives down the street from where the weekend shootings took place, said he believes New England itself has sort of a different type of racism than the rest of the United States, but that the violence was out of character in a city regarded as super liberal.

Maayeh said the most recent attack shows safety must improve. This incident is a reminder of the urgency to change the discourse, which has dehumanized Palestinians. They are people who are deserving of empathy, compassion, rights, freedom, happiness and life, she said.

Associated Press writers Kathy McCormack in Concord, N.H., and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.
Surrounded by Army cadets, then-President Donald Trump watches the first half of the 121st Army-Navy Football Game in Michie Stadium at the United States Military Academy, Saturday, Dec. 12, 2020, in West Point, N.Y. Experts in constitutional law and the military say the Insurrection Act gives presidents tremendous power with few restraints. Recent statements by former President Donald Trump raise questions about how he might use it if he wins another term. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

WASHINGTON  Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago crime dens, the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, The next time, Im not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and were going to show how bad a job they do, he said. Well, we did that. We dont have to wait any longer.

Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the countrys borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.

A law first crafted in the nations infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.

The principal constraint on the presidents use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents dont want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street, said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. Theres not much really in the law to stay the presidents hand.

A spokesman for Trumps campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about what authority Trump might use to pursue his plans.

Congress passed the act in 1792, just four years after the Constitution was ratified. Nunn said its an amalgamation of different statutes enacted between then and the 1870s, a time when there was little in the way of local law enforcement.

It is a law that in many ways was created for a country that doesnt exist anymore, he said.

It also is one of the most substantial exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military for law enforcement purposes.

Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor.

The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach.

Trump already has suggested he might bring back retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as Trumps national security adviser and twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its Russian influence probe before being pardoned by Trump. Flynn suggested in the aftermath of the 2020 election that Trump could seize voting machines and order the military in some states to help rerun the election.

Attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military for domestic policing would likely elicit pushback from the Pentagon, where the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Gen. Charles Q. Brown. He was one of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs who signed a memo to military personnel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The memo emphasized the oaths they took and called the events of that day, which were intended to stop certification of Democrat Joe Bidens victory over Trump, sedition and insurrection.

Trump and his party nevertheless retain wide support among those who have served in the military. AP VoteCast, an in-depth survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide, showed that 59% of U.S. military veterans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. In the 2022 midterms, 57% of military veterans supported Republican candidates.

Presidents have issued a total of 40 proclamations invoking the law, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis, Nunn said. Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times  in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington  in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

During the Civil Rights era, Presidents Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower used the law to protect activists and students desegregating schools. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect Black students integrating Central High School after that states governor activated the National Guard to keep the students out.

George H.W. Bush was the last president to use the Insurrection Act, a response to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King in an incident that was videotaped.

Repeated attempts to invoke the act in a new Trump presidency could put pressure on military leaders, who could face consequences for their actions even if done at the direction of the president.

Michael OHanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the question is whether the military is being imaginative enough with the scenarios it has been presenting to future officers. Ambiguity, especially when force is involved, is not something military personnel are comfortable with, he said.

There are a lot of institutional checks and balances in our country that are pretty well-developed legally, and itll make it hard for a president to just do something randomly out of the blue, said OHanlon, who specializes in U.S. defense strategy and the use of military force. But Trump is good at developing a semi-logical train of thought that might lead to a place where theres enough mayhem, theres enough violence and legal murkiness to call in the military.

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, the first graduate of the U.S. Military Academy to represent the congressional district that includes West Point, said he took the oath three times while he was at the school and additional times during his military career. He said there was extensive classroom focus on an officers responsibilities to the Constitution and the people under his or her command.

They really hammer into us the seriousness of the oath and who it was to, and who it wasnt to, he said.

Ryan said he thought it was universally understood, but Jan. 6 was deeply disturbing and a wakeup call for me. Several veterans and active-duty military personnel were charged with crimes in connection with the assault.

While those connections were troubling, he said he thinks those who harbor similar sentiments make up a very small percentage of the military.

William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow unlawful orders. That could create a difficult situation for leaders whose units are called on for domestic policing, since they can face charges for taking unlawful actions.

But there is a big thumb on the scale in favor of the presidents interpretation of whether the order is lawful, Banks said. Youd have a really big row to hoe and you would have a big fuss inside the military if you chose not to follow a presidential order.

Nunn, who has suggested steps to restrict the invocation of the law, said military personnel cannot be ordered to break the law.

Members of the military are legally obliged to disobey an unlawful order. At the same time, that is a lot to ask of the military because they are also obliged to obey orders, he said. And the punishment for disobeying an order that turns out to be lawful is your career is over, and you may well be going to jail for a very long time. The stakes for them are extraordinarily high.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Michelle L. Price in New York, and Linley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.
Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., at left in foreground, heads to the Senate Chamber on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

In late 2015, cranes at a seaport in Jacksonville, Fla., carefully hoisted U.S. military helicopters worth up to $40 million each onto a massive cargo ship set to deliver the equipment to the Egyptian government.

Egypts Ministry of Defense had turned to an unusual figure to help arrange transport of the prized hardware: Wael Hana, an Egyptian American businessman who had previously run a trucking business, a gas station and a truck stop along a gritty, industrial strip in northern New Jersey.

I dont know how he got involved with shipping aid for the Egyptian military, said Essam Youssef, a former Hana associate who runs a marine transport company in New Jersey and said he helped Hana arrange the November 2015 shipment. It was strange. The way he was coming to me, he didnt have a clue about shipping. But it was clear the Egyptian government trusted him.

Eight years later, Hanas ties to the Egyptian government are under a bright spotlight.

After a years-long investigation, U.S. authorities charged him in September with paying bribes to Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and his wife, Nadine Menendez, in exchange for actions that benefited Egypt, including Menendezs promise to help keep military aid flowing to the North African nation.

Hana, 40, lavished the couple with gold bars, checks and household furnishings between 2018 and 2022, prosecutors allege, while helping to introduce the senator to Egyptian military and intelligence officers and serving as a go-between for their communications.

A Washington Post examination, based on records and interviews with dozens of people who know or have worked with Hana, found that his connections to the Egyptian government go back further and are more extensive than previously reported. Those connections help explain how Hana was in a position to capitalize on his relationship with Menendez, until recently the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, when they met years after the helicopter shipment and forged a bond that prosecutors say quickly became mutually beneficial.

The examination also sheds light on how Hana rose from being a down-on-his-luck entrepreneur in New Jersey to a central figure in an international scandal that has ensnared a powerful U.S. politician and sent shock waves through the diplomatic world.

In the years after the helicopter shipment, Egyptian authorities entrusted Hana with greater responsibility and power, enriching him even as business associates and government officials around the world found the arrangements mysterious.

In 2019, after Hana had begun helping introduce Menendez to Egyptian government officials, Egypt granted a lucrative monopoly to one of the companies Hana had started, suddenly making him a player in international trade.

The firm, IS EG Halal Certified, was given sole responsibility for certifying that halal meat exported to Egypt was processed according to Islamic law, rankling the global beef industry. Prosecutors allege the company was used to funnel bribes to Menendez and his wife.

Egypt later sought to further expand Hanas monopoly to other imports, creating a massive backlash among foreign diplomats, The Post found.

In addition to the criminal charges, U.S. authorities are examining Hanas background as part of a counterintelligence probe, according to people familiar with the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe an ongoing investigation and prosecution. Federal investigators are working to understand the precise nature of Hanas relationship with Egyptian government officials, including intelligence officers, and how far back those relationships may go.

Hana has denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty.

Wael Hanas background is a classic immigrant story, having come to the U.S. through the lottery system as a 22-year-old in 2006, Lawrence Lustberg, an attorney for Hana, said in a statement in response to questions from The Post. Since then, he has been an entrepreneur who has built several businesses, and he has always acted ethically and legally.

Mr. Hana is innocent and has nothing to hide, Lustberg continued, saying that Hana has cooperated with investigators and had offered to meet with prosecutors before he was charged, an offer that Lustberg said was turned down.

Menendez and his wife also have pleaded not guilty to federal charges that they acted as foreign agents and accepted bribes from Hana and two other New Jersey businessmen.

Egypts Embassy and its Ministry of Defense office in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.

Stumbles, then an ascent

As a young man in Egypt, Hana studied social work at a university and helped out at his familys farming and wholesale food distribution company, but he aspired to a business career of his own in the United States, a person familiar with his background said, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the criminal case.

After his U.S. arrival in 2006, Hana settled initially for a job at a cleaning service, said Andy Aslanian Jr., a lawyer and longtime associate of Hana. He attended two Coptic Orthodox Christian churches in Hudson County, N.J., St. Mark and St. Abanoub & St. Antonious, and boarded in the basement of one of them, Aslanian said.

By 2007, Hana had the means to take out a $450,000 mortgage on a home in Bayonne, N.J., and start a trucking company called Elmanhry, one of a handful of businesses he launched in the ensuing years.

However, five of those ventures  three trucking companies, a limo service, and gas station and truck stop  had folded within a decade, according to incorporation records in New Jersey. Hana and his businesses were facing multiple lawsuits alleging unpaid debts and bad checks, and his home was in foreclosure, as the Record of Bergen County, N.J., previously reported.

Despite that turmoil, Hanas ties to Egyptian government officials became apparent to Aslanian, who performed legal work for one of Hanas trucking companies.

In late 2014, the Egyptian Ministry of Defense hired Aslanian to handle a real estate transaction in New Jersey  the purchase of a residential annex for Egyptian diplomats  based solely on Hanas recommendation, Aslanian said.

Hana made the recommendation to Col. Yasser Hassan, an Egyptian military adviser who was in New York at the time, according to a person familiar with the arrangement. Hassan was working out of Egypts consulate in Manhattan and was part of its U.N. delegation, according to a diplomatic directory from that year.

He had good contacts with the government, Aslanian said of Hana. All the way up.

Aslanian, who traveled to Egypt with Hana, said he believed Hanas contacts came through his late father, a claim The Post could not verify. Hassan did not respond to a request for comment.

Hana later said in a court filing that he knew Egyptian officials because I have a large family in Egypt and am active in the Egyptian community through my church. The filing stemmed from a 2019 FBI raid of his home that  although it was not known publicly at the time  was an early step in the investigation that would eventually result in Menendezs indictment.

In 2015, a unique opportunity arose for Hana.

The Obama administration had lifted a two-year freeze on military aid to Egypt, agreeing to resume $1.3 billion in annual assistance that included fighter jets, tanks and helicopters. Obama had suspended the aid after the 2013 military coup that overthrew Egypts democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood-led government. He decided to undo the freeze so Egypt could fight extremism in the region, including Islamic State militants in the Sinai Peninsula.

Youssef, the maritime executive in New Jersey, said Hana contacted him that year to ask for help coordinating the shipment of military equipment on behalf of Egypts Ministry of Defense. He said it was clear to him that Hana had little experience and few contacts in shipping.

Youssef said he agreed to help Hana on the condition that they split any commission from the shipment.

Youssef traveled multiple times with Hana to meetings at Egypts Ministry of Defense office in Washington to discuss the transport; he helped Hana seek proposals from shipping companies; and he negotiated the contract for the November 2015 transfer, he said.

He and Hana went to Jacksonvilles port, Youssef said, and watched three 10,000-pound U.S. military helicopters, valued at $35 million to $40 million each, being loaded onto a cargo ship named Ocean Freedom on the day before it embarked for the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Egypt. The shipment also included 10 ambulances. Many details of the shipment are contained in a news release issued at the time by JaxPort, Jacksonvilles port authority.

After the deal was done, Youssef said, he found it hard to reach Hana or to collect his commission. I never saw a penny, he said. Youssef said he did not sue, in part, because they had not formalized the agreement in writing.

Hanas attorney did not address specific questions about the shipment.

Its not clear if Hana continued to arrange military shipments for Egypt. He wrote in the 2020 court filing seeking to get his property back after the FBI raid that one of his companies, Loundes Express Group, takes bid requests ... to ship goods and materials into Egypt on behalf of the government. He provided no other details.

He incorporated Loundes Express Group in September 2015, a month before the helicopter shipment, state corporate records show. The company is still active.

Aslanian, who was initially listed as a member of the firm, said he believes that Hana also coordinated a shipment of U.S. military tank parts at some point, but he said he could not recall the details. The departments of Defense and State, which both have roles in overseeing foreign military sales, declined to comment.

Around the time that Hana arranged the helicopter shipment, people in Hanas middle-class neighborhood in Bayonne, N.J., noticed signs of his apparent ascent.

Hana, who largely kept to himself, was seen pulling up to his home in a Bentley, said one neighbor who spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect his privacy. It really stuck out in this neighborhood, said the neighbor, who recalled approaching Hana to inquire what he did for work.

I work for the Egyptian government, Hana replied, according to the neighbor.

In a statement, Hanas attorney said neither Hana nor any of his immediate family members had ever been employees of the Egyptian government.

A puzzling monopoly

Around the time of the helicopter shipment Hana struck up a friendship with Menendezs future wife, then named Nadine Arslanian. Aslanian, the lawyer, said he introduced Hana and Arslanian at a Mexican restaurant in 2014 or 2015.

In early 2018, according to the federal indictment, Arslanian and Menendez began dating. They had met in an International House of Pancakes restaurant in Union City, N.J. She has said they were introduced by the owner. They married in October 2020.

Only months into the relationship, Arslanian and Hana worked to introduce the senator to Egyptian intelligence and military officials at a series of private meetings, prosecutors allege.

At these meetings, Egyptian officials relayed their requests for foreign military sales and financing, and the Menendezes promised to use the senators power to help keep the aid flowing, according to the indictment.

As part of the corrupt arrangement, prosecutors said, Hana also agreed to give Menendezs future wife a low-or-no-show job at a halal certification company that was not yet operational in 2018.

That company got a sudden windfall the following year, when the Egyptian government announced that Hanas New Jersey-based IS EG would get the monopoly certifying halal meat exported to Egypt from the United States and countries in South America. Hana, a Christian, had no prior experience in the industry, he acknowledged in the court filing after the 2019 FBI raid.

An investigation by independent Egyptian media outlet Mada Masr in 2019 found that Hanas halal company was working closely with Medi Trade, an Egyptian company linked to high-level Egyptian security institutions. The story noted that Hana had created a firm with the same name in New Jersey.

Egyptian authorities did not explain their reasoning behind the decision to grant the monopoly. It set off pushback inside the U.S. government and among diplomats across the globe, who worried it would stifle trade and drive up prices for exporters, as well as for consumers in Egypt, according to interviews.

Prosecutors allege that the halal company provided a revenue stream that allowed Hana to make good on the bribe payments. In July 2019, the company paid $23,000 to head off the foreclosure of Arslanians Englewood Cliffs home and bring the mortgage current, according to federal charges. It also issued $30,000 in checks to her newly created consulting firm, Strategic International Business Consultants, between August and November 2019, the final check coming only weeks before the FBI raid on Hanas home, according to the indictment.

IS EG, meanwhile, continued to expand, setting up offices in other countries, including in Montevideo, Uruguay, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, by late 2019.

Ahmed Ibrahim, who worked out of the companys Sao Paulo office certifying chicken meat for IS EG from 2020 to 2022, said his supervisor was not forthcoming about who controlled the company.

The boss kept on saying that the company belongs to the sovereign entity in Egypt,  he recalled. That term is generally used in Egypt to describe an entity controlled by the military or intelligence service.

No one is supposed to ask about it, he said his supervisor warned.

Lustberg, Hanas attorney, disputed that.

It is a well-documented and indisputable fact that IS EG Halal Certified, Inc. is a New Jersey corporation solely owned by Mr. Hana and wholly unaffiliated with the Egyptian Government, he said in a statement.

In 2021, Egypt moved to expand the companys monopoly beyond meat, to all imported halal food and beverages, including dairy products. The decision confounded other countries.

A Sept. 6, 2021, a cable from Brazils Embassy in Cairo captured that puzzlement and the resulting suspicion. The cable, obtained by The Post, reported that New Zealands ambassador in Cairo had expressed concern to his Brazilian counterparts about IS EGs monopoly, in part, because his contacts within the Egyptian government were treating the issue like a state secret.

The topic, the cable reads, is treated as taboo within the Egyptian government because a superior decision cannot be criticized.

European officials summoned representatives of the Egyptian government and IS EG to a meeting in Cairo on Oct. 13, 2021, in another effort to get answers, documents show. The meeting illustrated the close working relationship between Hanas company and the Egyptian government.

Hana, who remained mostly quiet during the meeting, was accompanied by a clutch of Egyptian government officials, according to two diplomats who attended the meeting.

Among them was Ahmed Abdelkarim, a senior official in Egypts Ministry of Agriculture, according to a readout provided to attendees and obtained by The Post. Another was Hussein Mansour, who was then chairman of Egypts national food safety authority.

Mansour told The Post that he was there as a board member of a government-owned company in Egypt called ISEGHALAL, a firm with an almost identical name to Hanas company. The company, authorized by Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly in January 2020, was created to oversee halal certification for imported foreign products, according to a prime ministerial decree.

Lustberg, Hanas attorney, said the two companies are, despite the similarity of their names, entirely separate companies with different owners and different corporate structures. Hanas company, he said, certifies halal products in exporting countries, while the government-owned company certifies the halal products after they arrive in Egypt.

Mansour said he was not aware of any alleged bribery. If these things are happening now, I am not aware of them and they do not concern me, he said.

Abdelkarim did not respond to requests for comment. Neither did a spokesman for Madbouly.

Unsatisfied by the answers at the October 2021 meeting, diplomats from the United States, Europe, Australia and three South American countries repeatedly lodged their concerns in committee meetings at the World Trade Organization over the next two years, according to a review of public meeting minutes. At one such discussion in November 2021, a U.S. official said certification fees for halal meat exported to Egypt from the United States had gone up by 1,000 percent since the Egyptian government had given the Hana-owned IS EG a monopoly.

Diplomats began to whisper that the arrangement had the makings of a front for Egyptian intelligence.

It would have been impossible to carry out such an operation, changing the whole system in an inefficient manner, without it being part of the security system in Egypt or being protected by it, a Western diplomat told The Post, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

The pressure from other countries prompted Egypt to repeatedly postpone the planned expansion of the monopoly to non-beef products  even to this day.

But Hanas influence appeared to grow in other ways.

This spring, he showed up at the Brazilian Embassy in Cairo, wearing a business suit and a large gold ring, according to two Brazilian officials who discussed the meeting on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

In a meeting with Brazilian diplomats to discuss increasing beef importations from the South American country, he boasted of powers that went far beyond that of a traditional businessman, the Brazilian officials said.

He spoke in an arrogant way, one of the officials recalled. He said if an Egyptian inspector was in the way, hed solve it. If a health authority is blocking some process, hed unblock it.

Hana told the diplomats he was helping an additional Brazilian slaughterhouse export to Egypt. He needed authorization from Egyptian sanitation officials. To facilitate the process, he asked the Brazilian diplomats if they could submit a formal request.

The Brazilians declined  they told The Post that Hana made them uneasy. But weeks later, word got back to them: The Egyptian authorities had nonetheless approved the new Brazilian slaughterhouse for exportation to Egypt  without the Brazilian Embassy ever having made a request.

It was clear that Hana had access to the [Egyptian government]  and had succeeded, said one of the diplomats.

Samantha Schmidt and Devlin Barrett contributed reporting.
Holiday decorations adorn the Grand Foyer of the White House for the 2023 theme Magic, Wonder, and Joy, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

WASHINGTON  Step inside the White House during the holidays by walking beneath the branches of a Christmas tree. Stroll along a hallway decorated with oversized holiday candy and other sweets. See Santas sleigh and his eight reindeer suspended above the grand foyer in dramatic fashion.

Jill Biden wants everyone who visits the White House during the holidays to feel like a kid again.

Each room is designed to capture this pure, unfiltered delight and imagination so visitors see this time of year through the wondrous, sparkling eyes of children, the first lady said Monday at the first of a months worth of holiday receptions. About 100,000 visitors are expected for the holidays.

Magic, Wonder and Joy is the theme this year, President Joe Bidens third in the White House.

Jill Biden said it was so amazing to see the Christmas tree atop the entrance to the East Wing when they returned Sunday night after spending the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket, Mass.

When Joe and I saw that last night, we were just, like, mesmerized, she said.

The whimsical set of oversized decorations are meant to inspire the feelings that put children on joyful edge at this time of the year, White House aides said.

Holiday decorations adorn the China Room of the White House for the 2023 theme Magic, Wonder, and Joy, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP) Holiday decorations adorn the China Room of the White House for the 2023 theme Magic, Wonder, and Joy, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

Throughout two public floors of the White House, the decor features numerous nods to the 200th anniversary of the publication of the poem and book commonly known as Twas the Night Before Christmas. (The official title is A Visit from St. Nicholas.)

The papier mache reindeer suspended in the foyer are so cool, she said. Its like theyre leaping from the storybooks pages. I dont know how you feel about it. I feel its just breathtaking.

The Library of Congress provided samples of editions of the book from the past 200 years that are on display in protective cases along the ground floor corridor. The traditional gingerbread White House includes a large sugar cookie replica of the book opened to a page that says Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night. Santas sleigh and reindeer also fly above the cookie White House.

National Guard families, who joined the first lady as part of her Joining Forces initiative to support military families, were among the first members of the public to see the decorations. Children of these and other military families were also treated to a performance by the cast of the North American tour of the Disney musical Frozen.

One of the first Christmas trees visitors see after entering the White House is decorated with wooden gold star ornaments engraved with the names of fallen service members.

The official White House Christmas tree, an 18-foot-tall Fraser fir, stands in its usual place in the Blue Room. The massive tree highlights cheerful scenes, landscapes and neighborhoods from across the country. A toy train runs around its base.

The State Dining Room has been transformed into Santas workshop, with elves workbenches, stools and ladders circling Christmas trees, and tools and gifts-in-progress rounding out the decor.

Holiday decorations adorn the library of the White House for the 2023 theme Magic, Wonder, and Joy, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

The dining room is the customary stage for the gingerbread White House, which was assembled using 40 sheets of sugar cookie dough for the book and 40 sheets of gingerbread dough for the house, 90 pounds of pastillage, a cake decorating paste, 30 pounds of chocolate and 50 pounds of royal icing.

The library honors the tradition of bedtime stories with dangling golden moons and shimmering stars;, the China Room has been turned into a sweet shop featuring baked goodies, and the Vermeil Room celebrates music with a display of rotating big Marine Band figurines with trumpets.

Glowing candles and stained glass in the Green Room celebrate faith, and holiday craft-making is the theme in the Red Room, where a tradition of featuring cranberries continues.

The official White House Menorah is on display in the Cross Hall connecting the State Dining Room and the East Room, which is decorated with trees and various advent calendars.

The decor also features likenesses of family cat Willow and dog Commander, who was sent away recently after multiple incidents of biting Secret Service personnel.

Holiday decorations adorn the library of the White House for the 2023 theme Magic, Wonder, and Joy, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)

In her prepared remarks, the first lady says she knows that magic, wonder and joy can be hard to find, especially as the days grow shorter, the weather turns colder and our hearts grow heavy in the face of a tumultuous world.

But its in these times, when we are searching for hope and healing, that we need those points of light the most, that we need each other the most, she says. Its in these times that I hope you remember, if even just for a moment or a season, how you saw the world as a child.

Ninety-eight Christmas trees, nearly 34,000 ornaments, over 22,000 bells and more than 350 candles were used in the decor, according to the White House. Nearly 142,500 lights illuminate trees, garlands, wreaths and other displays, and nearly 15,000 feet of ribbon are part of it all.

Seventy-two wreaths sporting red ribbons adorn the north and south exteriors of the building.

Decorators spent last week working while President Joe Biden and his family were in Nantucket, Massachusetts, for the Thanksgiving holiday. For the decorators, that meant three days in a warehouse assembling decorations, and the past three days transforming the White House.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Hamas has provided Israel with a list of hostages who will be released today, Trend reports.

The number and nationality of hostages have not been published by Israeli media.

On November 24, the first day of the four-day humanitarian ceasefire, Israel and Hamas exchanged hostages. Israel agreed to return three Palestinian inmates for each hostage. 13 Israeli prisoners and 39 Palestinian hostages were freed on November 25.

On October 7, Israel was subjected to a coordinated strike. From the start, a huge rocket bombardment from Gaza Strip territory was launched, followed by militant penetration by land, sea, and air.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Judge Miller told the court Damien Craig betrayed the children, their families and also his own wife

There were emotional scenes in court today as the husband of a registered child minder was handed an eight year sentence for abusing two children.

As 64-year-old Damien Craig was taken to the cells at Downpatrick Crown Court, emotional friends and relatives of his two victims wept as they shouted at the self-confessed paedophile that he is a scumbag and he should rot in hell.

Jailing the pervert, Judge Geoffrey Miller KC had earlier described their victim impact statements as raw and visceral where they spoke of the utter betrayal they rightly feel as the defendant was someone who they completely trusted.

In a gross breach of that trust the judge said Craigs offending has had a fundamental effect on the victims and their families, emphasising there can be no doubtthey have been greatly harmed by the defendants actions.

With the victims families placing their trust in Craigs wife and by extension to him also, Judge Miller told the court the creep took advantage of that situation to commit these acts, thus betraying the children, their families and also his own wife.

At an earlier hearing Craig, a former senior civil servant from Bishop's Brae Avenue in Downpatrick, entered guilty pleas to a total of six counts of sexually assaulting the two girls.

One victim came forward when she read newspaper reports of Craig being arrested and charged with those offences.

When the case began Judge Miller said while he accepted that emotions are running highthis is a court of law and the court will run its course so anyone who feels that their emotions are likely to run away with them then please take the opportunity to leave court now.

Before the judge began his sentencing remarks, defence counsel Michael Boyd highlighted that Craig had entered guilty pleas at the first opportunity and until that, he had a completely clear record.

He acknowledges that he will get a significant custodial sentence and indeed, he feels he deserves that, said the barrister adding that as a result of the offences Craigs good reputation in the community lies in tatters and he will have to live with the consequences.

Turning to the facts of the case, Judge Miller outlined how the youngest victim came home and when he mums was helping her in the shower, the little girl told her how Craig had tickled her mini, referring to her private parts.

Their relationship had been so close that the victim referred to Craig as Granda and the court how she showed her mum what Craig had done, firstly in the living room and then in the bedroom of the child minders home.

Over the weekend the parents debated the next course of action and on the Monday, they confronted Craigs wife who refused to belief the defendant had offended and they then alerted the police.

During a video recorded interview with specialist detectives the little girl repeated her allegations, telling police it had made her sad because Granda had tickled me too hard.

Arrested and interviewed Craig admitted that he had touched the girl inappropriately but he denied there was any sexual gratification or that he had any sexual interest in children.

The pervert was charged to court for those offences and when that first appearance was reported in the press the second victim came forward, said judge Miller.

She told her mother I couldve stopped it and then began to cry as she disclosed that he had abused her too, he told the court.

This victim also recorded a video interview with police where she revealed she had been touched inappropriately by Craig on multiple occasions.

Questioned about the allegations, Craig again admitted that he had touched her private parts both over and under clothing but again, he denied obtaining any sexual gratification from it, claiming that he didnt think he was causing harm.

Despite those protestations, Judge Miller highlighted the fact that the first three years of a childs life is vital as regards their developmental path and revealed that for Craigs youngest victim, she is already showing signs of post traumatic stress response as she needs greater reassurance, needs to sleep with her mummy and is more clingy.

Sadly she has exhibited signs of distrust towards male figures in her life, including her own dad and grandfathers.

He revealed that according to medical reports, the emotions she is feeling now are likely to have a negative impact in later years as she develops further and will impinge upon her daily life such as relationships, having her own children and even routine medical examinations.

The other victim, the court heard, had tried to block out the abuse for years but she has also experienced serious trauma with a sense that her childhood has been stolen at the abuse she suffered at the hands of the defendant.

Judge Miller told the court while Craigs culpability and the harm he caused were both very high, it was evidence from the reports that he was not a dangerous offender and had been assessed as posing a low risk of re-offending.

The defendant has expressed his remorse and disgust at what he has done, the judge told the court adding there were multiple aggravating features including the breach of trust, the multiple victims and the particularly vulnerable ages of the victims.

Judge Miller told Craig that had he been convicted after a trial he would have been given a 12 year sentence but allowing credit for his personal background and his guilty pleas, he would reduce that sentence to eight years, split half in prison and half on licence.

In addition, Craig was ordered to signed the police sex offenders register for life and made the subject of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order for the next ten years.
Evil McCarthy, who is originally from Saggart, Co Dublin, was jailed for 15 years with three suspended back in 2015 after details of the systematic campaign of rape and grooming he carried out over his partners daughter were revealed in court.

Sex beast Andrew McCarthy, who subjected his seriously ill partners daughter to a seven-year campaign of rape, was ferried out of Arbour Hill prison by car on Friday morning after serving just nine years of a 12-year jail sentence.

A car picked up the relentless child sex predator  who has never been pictured until today  inside the blue goods inwards gate of the prison to allow the 43-year-old enter the vehicle unsighted by our cameras.

It then emerged from the Dublin prison before turning into the prison officers car park to avoid being followed, before leaving through a rear exit.

But, despite McCarthys best efforts to conceal his identity, a source later supplied us with images of the evil paedophile, taken before he was jailed in 2015, saying: The public has a right to know this predator is out and what he looks like.

Evil McCarthy, who is originally from Saggart, Co Dublin, was jailed for 15 years with three suspended back in 2015 after details of the systematic campaign of rape and grooming he carried out over his partners daughter were revealed in court.

Andrew McCarthy

McCarthy, whose court address was given as Ballymoe, Castlerea, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to eleven counts covering the rape, oral rape and sexual assault of the child at houses in Dublin and Galway on dates between May 2006 and January 2011.

The sample counts were from a total of 27 charges within that period.

The predator began raping the girl in 2006 when was she nine years old.

McCarthy first molested the child in the summer of 2006 after taking her to a seaside amusement arcade where the court heard she had won two big teddies.

He took her back to a relatives house where they had to share a bed. After sexually assaulting her he told her he was sorry if it had hurt her.

Around Christmas that year he began asking her about the possibility of her giving him a blow job or oral sex.

Sometime in 2009, he had raped her after she had said no to him. He told her that it would be easier if she just agreed and got it over with.

The court heard McCarthy would take pictures of her partially and fully undressed. He would also take photos and video footage of him orally raping her.

During this time her mothers health wasnt very good and McCarthy would tell her not to tell her mother about the abuse because it might disturb her.

McCarthy began buying alcohol for the victim and her friends and she later had to be treated in hospital as a result of drinking alcohol from an early age.

He would promise to drive her places but then later make it conditional on her performing oral sex on him. He did this ten times in a three-month period in 2009.

He also began driving her to a lake area where he would rape her on the bonnet of the car.

The abuse was discovered in March 2011 when the victims mother saw inappropriate messages on her partners Facebook account.

In the messages, McCarthy was telling the child that he loved her and would wait for her.

In a victim impact report the woman said that instead of being a father figure, McCarthy had instilled nothing but fear in her for ten years.

She said she was too young to understand what he was doing until she went into fifth class. After that she felt disgusting all the time. She was bullied in school and her Leaving Certificate suffered because of an earlier trial during which he had pleaded not guilty.

She said his actions have left a wedge within her family.

I dont sleep I always feel scared and vulnerable. I never feel safe. I have contemplated suicide. I have nightmares. I felt disgusting, insecure, used. I cannot open up to anybody, she said.

Elva Duffy BL, prosecuting, told the court that the victim was happy for McCarthy to be identified in the press but wanted her own identity to remain unpublished at all times.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said one aggravating factor in the case was the fact that McCarthy would ply the victim with alcohol to the point that she suffered liver damage.

He also noted that McCarthy photographed and video recorded the abuse.

He suspended the final three years of a 15-year sentence on condition that McCarthy stay away from the victim and undergo 18 months of post release supervision.

The judge also ordered that McCarthy be registered as a sex offender.

Peter Finlay SC, defending, said his client wished to apologise for his actions but admitted he has limited insight.

He said McCarthy was himself the victim of child sex abuse and in 2010 had made a suicide attempt and was admitted into a psychiatric unit.

Speaking this week, a source with knowledge of the original investigation labelled McCarthys behaviour as pure evil.

He inveigled his way into this womans family when she was severely ill and immediately preyed on her daughter, the source said.
Lawlor had developed a cocaine addiction after he began experimenting with drugs when he was a teenager and had been under financial strain at the time because of the Covid lockdown. The court heard he is now drug free and training to qualify as a drug counsellor.

A man who was caught with over 1 million in cocaine in a "sophisticated" operation where the drugs were hidden in a modified compartment in his van has had his two-year jail sentence doubled by the Court of Appeal.

Andrew Lawlor (38) was originally jailed for two years after he pleaded guilty to possessing 1.2 million of the drug that was hidden in his van and was uncovered after a Garda surveillance operation in 2020.

At Trim Circuit Court in February, Judge Elva Duffy sentenced Lawlor to four and a half years in prison, with the final two and a half years suspended in mitigation considering his guilty plea, personal circumstances and efforts at rehabilitation for a drug and alcohol addiction.

Lawlor, of The Paddocks Grove, Adamstown, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine for sale or supply on July 11, 2020, at the Ashbourne Business Centre on the Ballybin Road in Co Meath.

The court heard the drugs had been brought by truck from the UK through Northern Ireland and then to Ashbourne where they were transferred to the defendant's van.

Gardai who had mounted a surveillance operation moved in after the handover and arrested both drivers. The truck driver was later jailed for 18 months.

The court heard Lawlor had developed a cocaine addiction after he began experimenting with drugs when he was a teenager and had been under financial strain at the time because of the Covid lockdown. The court heard he is now drug free and training to qualify as a drug counsellor.

At the Court of Appeal on Monday, Carl Hanahoe BL, for the State, successfully appealed the sentence on grounds of undue leniency.

Mr Hanahoe submitted that the headline sentence of six and a half years set by the trial judge was too low, considering the value of the drugs, which weighed 17kg, and the "sophistication of their concealment".

The court was told that the drugs were found in a compartment in a hydraulic press bolted to the floor of the Volkswagen Caddy.

"The value of the drugs is one of the core elements of where on the spectrum the offence lies and in nominating the headline," said Mr Hanahoe.

Mr Hanahoe suggested a 10-year headline sentence as an appropriate one in line with the "presumptive mandatory minimum sentence" for similar drug offences.

Mr Hanahoe said that Lawlor had also benefited from an "excessive" reduction in mitigation and described the headline sentence nominated as a starting point as being "out of kilter and insufficient".

Roderick O'Hanlon SC, for Lawlor, said the value of the drugs was "obviously of considerable importance but it is not determinative in of itself" when it came to applying the presumptive mandatory minimum sentence.

Mr O'Hanlon said his client had entered an early guilty plea. He added that, after his arrest and search, Lawlor had upon request returned voluntarily to the Garda Station, where he wrote out a statement admitting he had been in possession of the drugs later found in the van.

Appeal Court judge Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said there was a "sophisticated concealment" involved in the operation and that a "level of trust" had to have been put in Lawlor by others.

Mr Justice John Edwards noted that when calculating a headline sentence, the sentencing judge had failed to take into account the potential harm to society, not just any actual harm.

Mr O'Hanlon said the trial judge recognised the value of the drugs and the level of offending committed "on more than one occasion" but that there was still a "discretionary" element to sentencing for the trial judge.

Mr O'Hanlon said his client had previous convictions for road traffic offences but that they were "not relevant" to the drugs offence.

Because of Covid restrictions in place at the time, gardai released Lawlor for a time but when they discovered the drugs in the van, he agreed to return to the station and made out a written statement, said Mr O'Hanlon.

Mr O'Hanlon said that, in his statement, Lawlor said that he was "shocked" when the value of the drugs was told to him.

"I accept responsibility for having the drugs in my van but I did not know the type. I was shocked. I was doing this for 1K and some cocaine - I relapsed. I hope to get back to treatment. I am genuinely sorry. I will regret it for the rest of my life. I am in fear for my life and for my family," Mr O'Hanlon said his client told gardai.

Mr O'Hanlon said the father-of-two was in Loughan House open prison, was released one day a week for treatment and that on weekends he was allowed to visit his parents.

"The reports reflect a prisoner who is doing extremely well," said counsel.

Mr O'Hanlon agreed with Ms Justice Kennedy he was submitting that while the sentence "may seem lenient, it is not too lenient".

In delivering the Court of Appeal's judgement, Ms Justice Kennedy noted Lawlor's personal difficulties, his efforts to overcome them and that he was a father of two with an offer of work upon his release.

Ms Justice Kennedy said the operation would have taken "time and planning" regarding the concealment of drugs that were "a potential harm to society".

"The quantity and value are critical; not determinative but critical," said the judge.

In quashing the original sentence, Ms Justice Kennedy said the headline sentence of six and a half years had been unduly lenient and that the court would re-sentence Lawlor.

Ms Justice Kennedy identified 10 years as a headline sentence before reducing it to seven and a half years in mitigation.

Ms Justice Kennedy then suspended the final three and a half years of the sentence to encourage Lawlor's rehabilitation.

In re-sentencing Lawlor to four years in jail, Ms Kennedy said drugs were a "scourge in our society and there is such a vast quantity of drugs on our streets it cannot be ignored".

At his previous sentence hearing, Judge Elva Duffy had described the offence as "significant" and the defendant's method of concealing the drugs as "sophisticated", but took into account his drug free status before imposing a sentence of four and a half years with the final two and a half years suspended.

The court heard Lawlor had developed a cocaine addiction after he began experimenting with drugs when he was a teenager and had been under financial strain at the time because of the Covid lockdown. The court heard he is now drug free and training to qualify as a drug counsellor.
Ishan Makhan (33) went on to make sexual comments to the arresting garda when he was found after the incident

A man threatened a frightened shop assistant in a city centre store, making sexual and racial comments and leaving her visibly shaken, a court heard.

Ishan Makhan (33) went on to make sexual comments to the arresting garda when he was found after the incident.

Judge Bryan Smyth spared him a criminal record after hearing Makhan was suffering from mental health issues at the time and wanted to be arrested.

He applied the Probation of Offenders Act, leaving the accused without recorded convictions.

Makhan pleaded guilty to two counts of threatening, abusive and insulting behaviour on August 22 this year.

Dublin District Court heard gardai responded to a panic alarm activation at Circle K on Grafton Street. When they got to the scene they met the employee who was upset and visibly shaken. She told the gardai a man - Makhan - had entered the shop, threatened her and made racial comments to her.

He said he would wait for her after work and she would see what would happen, Sergeant Michelle Lynch told the court.

He also made sexual comments to the shop worker.

Gardai went on patrol and found the accused. He told a female garda he had been at the shop on Grafton Street and wanted to get arrested.

He told the garda he would get her and also made sexual comments to her, the court heard.

Members of the public were nearby and could hear what he said.

Makhan had no previous convictions.

The accused, who was from Mauritius, had suffered from mental health issues, his solicitor Brian Doherty said. He had been working until earlier this year, when things went awry for him.

His family believed he had undiagnosed schizophrenia.

Judge Smyth remarked that the incident had been very upsetting for the shop employee but said the offences were more indicative of mental health issues than anything else.
The German national has denied he had anything to do with her disappearance

The murder trial of a Dublin-based IT worker who is accused of killing his wife while they were on a Mediterranean cruise will hear evidence from ship passengers and staff.

Prosecutors in Italy allege that Daniel Belling (50), who lives in Coolock, killed his wife Xing Li (38) and threw her body into the sea while they were on a family trip in 2017.

The German national has denied he had anything to do with her disappearance.

His lawyer Luigi Conti told the Irish Independent that the hearing is to resume today, with more prosecution witnesses called.

The trial is taking place in Italy in Mr Bellings absence.

It has always been a circumstantial process, but to date not even the slightest element has emerged, Mr Conti said.

He said his client is pleading not guilty.

Mr Belling, Ms Xing and their two children boarded the MSC Magnifica cruise ship in the Italian port of Civitavecchia on February 9, 2017.

Crew members noticed Ms Xing was missing when they did a head count at the end of the cruise.

Belling reportedly told an Italian judge that he and his wife had an argument and she wanted to quit the trip.

He claimed his wife left the vessel when he and the children went on an onshore excursion.

Mr Belling told reporters he believed she had arranged her disappearance.

He was held on remand in an Italian jail for 14 months in relation to his wifes disappearance, before being released and allowed to return to Ireland in 2018.

Last year, the IT worker was given a three-and-a-half-year suspended sentence after he successfully applied for a mortgage with Bank of Ireland using falsified documents.

He used the mortgage of 112,000 in buying a property in Clongriffin, Dublin, for 125,000 in 2014.

Belling rented the property to two tenants to cover the mortgage repayments and took a case with the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) after they allegedly stopped paying rent.

He recently sold the property for 310,000.

Belling used fake documents, including a German ID card with an incorrect date of birth, payslips overstating his salary as 90,000, bank statements with incorrect information and an altered P60 when he applied for a mortgage for the property.

It was his fourth time applying for a loan with Bank of Ireland. The other attempts were unsuccessful.

He told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that the plan to dishonestly gain mortgages was his wifes. He said she knew Chinese people involved in forgery and she liaised with them to forge the fake documents, payslips and ID card.

In July 2020, Italian investigators announced that their probe into Ms Xing's disappearance had determined that computer programmer Mr Belling killed his wife while on the ship and disposed of her body in the sea.

Mr Belling returned to Ireland in 2018 after 14 months on remand in an Italian jail in relation to the disappearance.

He has remained here since.
The Uzbek and Irish nationals - including a grandmother-of-50 - are facing more than 200 charges between them

Atica Umat and Fatime Jabbarov pictured at the Criminal Courts of Justice (Pic: Paddy Cummins)

SIX people facing a series of money laundering and international terrorist financing charges have been sent for trial.

The Uzbek and Irish nationals - including a grandmother-of-50 - are facing more than 200 charges between them in what has been described as a complex case.

The four men and two women had books of evidence served on them at Dublin District Court.

Judge Bryan Smyth returned them for trial to Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Fatime Jabbarov (43) of Gravel Walk Court, Blackhall Place, Dublin 1; Muhammad Amin (37) of Summer Street North, Dublin 1 and Dawood Mhadhbi (22) of Dodderbrook Terrace, Ballycullen are charged with money laundering.

Oybek Jabbarov (45), Atica Umat (68) of Gravel Walk Court, and Abdurahim Mhadhbi (25) of Dodderbrook Terrace, are also charged with providing, collecting or receiving funds for the benefit of a terrorist group.

The alleged offences date back to the early 2010s.

Abdurahim Mhadhbi at the Criminal Courts of Justice (Pic: Paddy Cummins)

Mr Jabbarov faces a further charge of directing the activities of a criminal organisation, between 2009 and 2019.

State solicitors said books of evidence were served on all accused.

Judge Smyth ordered the prosecution to disclose garda interview videos to the defence.

He gave them each the formal alibi notice before sending them forward on existing bail conditions to the present sittings of Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.

Oybek Jabborov said yes when he was asked if he understood the notice. The others also indicated they understood.

Solicitor Donal Quigley, representing Oybek and Fatime Jabbarov as well as Ms Umat, asked the judge to certify for both junior and senior counsel on free legal aid. He said this was not because of the value of the amounts of money allegedly involved in the case but the sheer number of charges and it was a quite complicated matter.

He also asked Judge Smyth to order the return of Ms Jabbarov and Ms Umat's passports. This was for Ms Jabbarov to liaise with her social welfare officer and other matters, while Ms Umat wanted to travel to visit her many grandchildren. She had five here and 45 outside the state, Mr Quigley said.

The judge refused to return the passports, but both women were told they could have copies of the document.

Mr Amins bail requirement to sign on at a garda station three times per week was reduced to twice weekly at his lawyers request. He also sought two counsel on legal aid.

Abdurahum and Dawood Mhadhbis solicitor Damien Coffey in his request for second counsel said the case was complex, with exhibits running to 700 pages, including an assistance request for another jurisdiction and financial analysis.

Dawood Mhadhbi pictured at the CCJ (Pic: Paddy Cummins)

Judge Smyth granted two counsel for Oybek Jabborov but said he did not think any of the other cases merited this. He said the defence lawyers could renew their applications in the circuit court.

The accused were all sent forward to the circuit court on December 8.

Previously, the court heard in reply to some charges, Ms Umat said: its not terrorism, its my son, he has four wives; to my son, my family and he is my son, his wives have children."

Ms Jabbarov a mother-of-three, had 19 charges, the court heard.

Her replies when cautioned included: I sent it to my family, not terrorists; Its probably my husbands family; just my husbands family; this is money I managed for my mother-in-law; I cant tell; I sent it to my husbands family; its family; its family, not terrorists and its my mother-in-laws money.

Mr Amin and Abdurahim Mhadhbi made no reply to any of the charges after caution. Dawood Mhadhbi said when charged with two money laundering offences: I dont recall it.

Detective Sergeant Deirdre Ryan said Oybek Jabbarov was charged with 101 offences - 50 counts of money laundering, 50 of terrorist financing and one of directing the activities of a criminal organisation.
Amy Reid had a crack cocaine problem, mental health issues and had relapsed at the time of the offences, her defence said.

A serial thief who returned repeatedly to the same hairdresser to steal hundreds of euro worth of cosmetics has been jailed for eight months.

Amy Reid (37) had 175 previous criminal convictions before her latest spate of thefts, Dublin District Court heard.

Reid had a crack cocaine problem, mental health issues and had relapsed at the time of the offences, her defence said.

The accused, with an address at a city centre hostel, pleaded guilty to multiple theft charges.

Dublin District Court heard gardai were called to Peter Mark on Mary Street on November 1. The duty manager said several thefts had been carried out and showed the garda CCTV of repeated incidents over several days in October when Reid was seen entering and taking various cosmetics items.

A week later, Reid was arrested and was found in possession of other stolen goods which had security tags still attached.

Separately, the court heard she was also seen taking 340 worth of goods at Dunnes Stores on Henry Street on November 8.

At the time of the offences, her boyfriend, who had assisted her in staying clean, went into custody, her solicitor Daniel Hanahoe said.

She was on her own and vulnerable in hostel accommodation and without him there, she lapsed, Mr Hanahoe said.

Judge Bryan Smyth said a jail sentence was warranted, particularly on the thefts from Peter Mark, where no property was recovered.

He noted the accuseds early guilty plea and imposed a series of consecutive one-month sentences.
Hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospital

Statement from An Garda Siochana after several injured in Dublin incident

The five-year-old girl who was critically injured in last Thursdays stabbing attack in Dublin remains gravely ill in hospital this morning.

The hero school-worker who received multiple stab wounds in the attack is also in a very serious condition in hospital.

The only suspect in the case, an Algerian man aged in his fifties, also remains in hospital where he is being treated for serious head injuries.

Gardai continue to maintain a discreet presence at the medical facility he is being treated in.

Sources say that because of his condition, it is highly unlikely that he will be medically fit to be arrested for questioning by investigating gardai today.

He suffered the least serious injuries of the three people who remain being treated in hospital.

On Saturday, a six-year-old girl injured in the horrific attack was released from hospital.

Earlier, a five-year-old boy who had also been wounded in the same incident was discharged after treatment.

At this stage, detectives have still not established any link between the suspect and the school he attacked but it is not considered to be a terrorism incident.

Information has come to gardai that the suspect was highly agitated in recent days about an issue that had nothing to do with the school.

The grievance is the suspected motivation for the stabbing attack.

For a reason only known to himself, this individual seems to have targeted children and their carer in a dispute that has nothing to do with them, a source said.

The man was not born in Ireland but became a naturalised Irish citizen a number of years ago.

The scene in Dublin city centre on Thursday after five people were injured, including three young children, on Parnell Square East (Brian Lawless/PA)

Riots

Shortly after the incident at the school, a group of protesters gathered at the scene.

It was not long before they attempted to break through a garda cordon. Within a few hours, hundreds of people were on the street as the situation gradually grew more violent.

As darkness fell on the capital, chaos ensued, with gardai suffering assaults, public transport being torched and shops being looted.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris on Friday said it was disgraceful that garda inquiries into the knife attack had been disrupted by the riots in Dublin.

He told a press conference: These [riots] are scenes that we have not seen in decades but what is clear is that people have been radicalised through social media and the internet.

But I dont want to lose focus on the terrible event in terms of the dreadful assault on schoolchildren and their teacher. Theres a full investigation ongoing. Theres also a full investigation in respect of the disorder.

Meanwhile, a hero Deliveroo rider who helped stop the attacker has told how he sprang into action when he saw a child being stabbed.

Father-of-two Caio Benicio described how he used his helmet to hit the man who had attacked three young children and the female creche worker.

Mr Benicio is originally from Rio de Janeiro and arrived in Ireland a year ago.

Mr Benicio told the Irish Independent that he had not been frightened when he intervened on Thursday.

I didnt have time to be afraid. I have two kids myself and I didnt have time to be afraid, I just acted, he said.

Mr Benicio said he originally thought it was a fight between a man and a woman.

I was working like a normal day. And I was passing by in Parnell Square. For me, at first, it looked like a fight, a normal fight. I slowed down my motorcycle and it was a man and a woman, he said.

Mr Benicio then described how he saw a woman fighting for a young girl.

She was very, very brave. She was fighting for a girl, a little girl.

I was like, Whats happening here and then I saw him with a knife and he grabbed a little girl.

It was then that Mr Benicio saw the man stab the little girl.

I stopped my bike and I dont know, I acted by instinct I took off my helmet and hit him with the helmet on the head.
This was the same engine that carried the crew that worked so hard to keep the 5-year-old injured girl alive

The smashed windscreen of the fire engine that saved the stabbed child

The fire-engine used to respond to the Parnell Street stabbings where a five-year-old girl was critically injured was the same one attacked and ransacked just hours later.

Video obtained by this newspaper shows the crew being attacked during the height of the rioting in Dublin city centre at around 8.30pm.

In the footage, rioters can be seen ransacking the foot lockers to the sides of the vehicle while photos taken later show how efforts were made to smash the front windscreen and side windows in on top of the crew.

What happened was utterly sickening, a source told this newspaper.

This was the same engine that carried the crew that worked so hard to keep the five-year-old girl, who was so badly injured, alive.

Rioters attacking the engine

And then, not three hours later, that same engine is attacked by thugs claiming theyre protesting against that attack.

The source said when they came under attack, the crew were responding to a call-out that a Garda van had been set on fire with a garda still in the back of it.

Thats the level of what our people were dealing with, he said.

Ultimately, the information that brought our people down there turned out to be incorrect  the officer had gotten himself out of there, the source said.

Shockingly, the same thugs who were responsible for looting and attacking first responders were calling 999 looking for ambulances to be despatched to them later in the night.

We had a call from one fella who was complaining that he had a broken arm, the source said.

When he was asked what happened, he said hed been hit with a baton as he was coming out of Foot Locker.

Another fella said he wanted an ambulance because he claimed his wrist had been fractured during a baton charge on OConnell Street.

Its that brazen.

On one hand, our people are fair game for them to attack but when the rioters get themselves injured, were the first they ring for help.
Gardai today confirmed that an incident room has been set up to examine the footage with a Senior Investigating Officer appointed to lead the investigation.

Gardai continue to trawl through thousands of hours of CCTV and social media footage in an attempt to identify rioters who took part in the violent events in Dublin city centre on Thursday night.

The riots erupted after a knife attack on three children and their care assistant outside Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire on Parnell Square East at lunchtime on Thursday.

Hundreds of rioters looted and damaged shops and set fire to garda cars, buses, fire engines, and Luas trams in what has been described as mayhem in the city centre.

Minister for Justice Helen McEntee confirmed that gardai arrested 48 people between Thursday and Saturday, although only 34 of these were directly related to the rioting. The remainder were arrested on public order offences between Friday and Saturday.

She previously stated that officers are trawling 6,000 hours of CCTV footage and vowed that further arrests would follow the 34 already made.

Gardai today confirmed that an incident room has been set up to examine the footage with a Senior Investigating Officer appointed to lead the investigation.

A spokesperson said: An Garda Siochana continue a criminal investigation into all of the circumstances of the Violent Disorder and Public Order events that occurred on Thursday, 23rd November 2023.

An incident room has been established at Store Street Garda Station and a Senior Investigating Officer has been appointed.

An Garda Siochana are in the process of collating and harvesting CCTV and social media images from the events on Thursday 23rd November 2023.

An Garda Siochana wishes to acknowledge the significant volume of support received from the public to date including calls to Store Street Garda Station, the Garda Confidential Phone Number and receipt of images and videos from members of the Public.

Investigating gardai are requesting that those who were in Dublin city centre at the time of the riots and may have video footage or images contact the team at Store Street Garda Station via email at store.street.public@garda.ie along with their contact details only.

The spokesperson added that the public are not requested to submit any footage at this time as investigators will later arrange for the collection of any video footage.

An Garda Siochana continues to appeal to any person with any information on the events on Thursday evening or has any information on persons organising or involved in Thursdays events to contact the garda investigation team.

The garda investigation team can also be contacted at Store Street Garda Station at 01 666 8000, the Garda Confidential Line 1800 666 111 or any garda station.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun procedures to accept the fourth group of hostages released by Hamas, Trend reports.

It is reported that this information was confirmed from Egypt by the head of the state information service Diya Rashwan.

He noted that the process of exchanging 11 Israelis detained in the Gaza Strip for 33 Palestinians from Israeli prisons will be completed in the next few hours.

A combined attack was carried out on Israel on October 7. From the beginning, a massive rocket attack began from the territory of the Gaza Strip, followed by the penetration of militants by land, water, and air.

Israel declared a state of war after a massive rocket attack from the Gaza Strip. Moreover, Israel Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced a mass gathering of reservists.
Ulster-based pals of hate boss fear he dobbed them in

Adair's skinhead band Offensive Weapon: Johnny Adair playing the bass, Sam 'Skelly' McCrory on vocals and 'Big' Donald Hodgen the roadie

Robert Talland and his daughter Rosie who is also on trial.

Neo-Nazis here were left reeling after an organiser of secret far-right gigs appeared in court on terror charges  and claimed he was a police tout.

The case against Robert Talland is being heard at Woolwich Crown Court, where he is accused of stirring up race hate as well as encouraging terrorism.

Talland is better known to his Hitler-worshipping goons in Ulster as Ginger Rob. He has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland over the last couple of decades.

The 54-year-old has played a leading role in promoting the Blood and Honour movement over here.

The Ulster Division has staged numerous gigs in recent times, as the Sunday World has exposed.

But Neo-Nazis in Northern Ireland were sent into meltdown this week after his trial started.

The court was told Talland had been passing on information about fellow far-right members to the police.

His barrister argued Talland had been an important police informant  accusing the prosecution of playing down his role as a tout.

A far-right insider told us: There has always been speculation that someone from within the organisation was tipping off the cops and press about the Blood and Honour gigs in Ulster.

The stories were too close to the knuckle to be guesswork. Now the finger of blame is firmly being pointed at Talland.

There are some very worried people who were involved in setting up those gigs in Belfast over the years. They want to know if Talland was passing on their names and information too.

The Sunday World understands Ginger Rob has attended recent Ulster Blood and Honour shows.

Sources have told us the Belfast organiser of the gigs made contact with Talland through his Rampage Records label, which promotes White Power bands from around the world.

With his connections, he was able to organise and liaise with the Belfast man  whose identity we know but arent revealing at this stage  to bring bands to the city.

Nothing happens in that scene without the knowledge of Ginger Rob, added our source.

With him spilling the beans there are a lot of worried people here. It could spell the end of the B and H scene in Northern Ireland.

Whos going to get involved in anything like that, now they know they were working with a police informer?

During the first day of the trial, it emerged Talland attended several secret meetings with Special Branch officers.

He had handed over names of far-right pals and given details of neo-Nazi bands who have also played here.

Talland, from Waltham Abbey in Essex, is accused of encouraging terrorism through records released on his label.

His two children, Stephen (34) and Rosie (32)  who played in a band called Embers of an Empire  are accused of stirring up racial hatred through concert performances and an album called Phoenix Rising.

Talland allegedly made considerable sums of money through his label, merchandise and putting on gigs across Europe for a network of far-right bands called Blood and Honour, the court heard.

One of the largest events celebrated a musician called Ian Stuart Donaldson, who founded Blood and Honour and died in a car crash in 1993.

Adair's skinhead band Offensive Weapon: Johnny Adair playing the bass, Sam 'Skelly' McCrory on vocals and 'Big' Donald Hodgen the roadie

Donaldson fronted notorious band Skrewdriver  a favourite of UDA boss Johnny Adair.

But bombshell revelations about Tallands cooperation with the cops were read out in court.

Martin Hall, a retired Special Branch officer with Northamptonshire Police, described four meetings with Talland between September 6, 2011 and August 5, 2014.

He said these meetings took place to obtain information to assist local policing in managing the gigs.

At the first meeting, held at a motorway service station on the M1, Talland told him about a splinter group called the Racial Volunteer Force, Mr Hall said.

But when asked about that years memorial concert, he was very vague and wouldnt give specifics about numbers or venues, Mr Hall added.

At a second meeting on August 29, 2013, the court heard Talland told Mr Hall that bands would be travelling from Italy and Germany and there would be British bands including Whitelaw, Nemesis, Brutal Attack and Legion of St George.

London-based band Brutal Attack are beloved of white pride fanatics

Alistair Richardson, prosecuting, said Talland was asked if Blood and Honour had any members attending from Northamptonshire, and he gave three names.

At a follow-up meeting on September 8, 2013, held at a supermarket in Northampton, Mr Hall was told the event would start on September 20 at the Red Lion truck stop, near junction 16 of the M1 in Northamptonshire, the court heard.

The last meeting was held on August 5, 2014 at the same supermarket. Mr Hall was told that years gig would take place between September 19 and 21, although a venue had not yet been agreed, the jury was told.

Talland was asked if anyone from Northamptonshire would attend and gave his own and three other names, Mr Hall said.

Mark Gadsden, defending, claimed there had been other meetings and accused Mr Hall of downplaying the usefulness of Mr Talland.

The barrister said Mr Hall had asked Talland to let him know if there was anyone behaving unpredictably or [who] might be a bit of a loose cannon. Talland had told him about a drug user expelled from the group.

He also told Mr Hall about where members would stay the night after a gig.

There was no secrecy, was there? Mr Gadsden asked. There was no, I wont let you know this because you might go out and arrest him or investigate him? He was open and honest.

Mr Gadsden said Talland and Mr Hall got on pretty well. The officer only had to ask and he gave it to you, he said.

All the defendants deny charges of stirring up racial hatred and Robert Talland also denies encouraging terrorism. The trial continues.

Ulster B and H are a relatively small but active branch of the Blood and Honour group and we recently revealed how they staged a neo-Nazi gig in Belfast.

Notorious British band Brutal Assault were joined at the secretive show by two bands from Europe.

It wasnt the first time the hate-filled bands have held secret gigs in Northern Ireland. The Sunday World was told there were plans for many more gigs after the Nazi-supporting lunatics were chased from holding their gigs in Britain.

Following these revelations, its unclear if anyone will want to get involved in the near future.
Convicted dealer pleads guilty to possessing pills and money laundering after order granted

A convicted killer and drug dealer previously shot by gardai has been jailed in the same week the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) seized his county Cork home.

John Keith ODonovans run of bad luck saw CAB granted a High Court order to have his house declared the proceeds of crime  just days before he added to his 51 criminal convictions.

The Cork-city native pleaded guilty to possessing tablets and money laundering after a sum of cash was found at his Monataggart home during a garda raid in May 2020.

The search came after ODonovan was injured by armed gardai after the car he was travelling in was stopped by officers at a checkpoint in Mallow.

The incident made headlines at the time, coming as the first Covid restrictions had come into force. A passenger in the car was subsequently caught with a stash of cocaine.

Officers later found 1,382 worth of prescription tablets and 8,950 in cash hidden in the attic of ODonovans house, which he told gardai he could explain  but not now.

During a Proceeds of Crime hearing earlier this year, it was heard that the house at Monataggart, Co Cork, was in his mothers name but he was the beneficial owner and lived there.

The house was bought in August 1997 for 25,300  when ODonovan was particularly active in armed robbery and drugs, according to counsel for CAB  and he has been the sole occupant since then.

ODonovans home in Monataggart, Co. Cork

Last week, Judge Alex Owens said CAB had presented a convincing case that the house was bought when ODonovan had no legitimate means.

He added that it was clear the property represented the proceeds of crime, while 15,000 in a bank account was also forfeited.

According to an affidavit filed by CAB, ODonovan had been under surveillance after gardai received information he was travelling to Dublin to collect a consignment of heroin.

At the time of his arrest in May 2020 he was considered one of the main suppliers of heroin in Cork and has been observed in the company of many serious criminals and known drug dealers over the years.

Despite his long list of convictions, the detective garda also stated they do not truly reflect John Keith ODonovans involvement in criminal activity.

During the search of his Monataggart home evidence was found of cash being transferred to a man in Dublin known to be heavily involved in the sale and supply of heroin in the Dublin area.

During his most recent appearance at Cork Circuit Cork, ODonovan was described as a career criminal who had 51 previous convictions, including armed robberies in 1995 and 2002 and manslaughter in 2004.

The judge imposed a prison term of one year, backdated to July 23 when he went into custody on the charges.

He had previously been jailed for seven years in 2010 for possession of a firearm.

In 2004, ODonovan was found guilty of the manslaughter of a neighbour after his previous conviction for murder had been quashed.

The Court of Criminal Appeal granted a retrial for the murder of Noel McCarthy in May 2000 and ODonovan then pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

ODonovan, originally from Spriggs Road in Cork, had called to the victims home on the same street around 2.30am and stabbed McCarthy in the groin when he answered the door.

The attack came after ODonovan and another man had been drinking and got into a row with McCarthy who had refused to allow them into his house.

Mr McCarthys femoral artery was cut and he later died on the operating table.

ODonovans mother and brother hugged him and sobbed loudly at the Central Criminal Court as the verdict was read out after the jurys deliberations.

Cork criminal John Keith ODonovan

During the trial graphic evidence of the victims injuries were heard from the State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.

McCarthy, who was stabbed in front of his mother, died from massive internal bleeding and shock due to the knife wound in his left groin.

Dr Cassidy found multiple injuries to the victims face, head, ear, groin and hand as well as the massive internal bleeding.

McCarthys mother Mary also gave evidence and said she was threatened by ODonovan and another man when she ran after them.

I didnt know what I was going to do when I caught up with them. I cant understand it. I just followed both of them, she said.

She told the court that when a friend of her son ran out of her house the two men, turned round to her and asked: Is he going for the guards?

Mrs McCarthy said: I kind of woke up then and I said to them No, hes not, but I am. The men turned round and started walking towards her saying: Go on, go on, and then well be down for you.

I got very nervous and I started screaming then for an ambulance because I didnt have a phone in the house. I was screaming Please, please, my son has been stabbed. Could someone get an ambulance?

ODonovan was sentenced to seven years for the killing.
Jamie Anderson was jailed for 22 months in 2019 for raping a sleeping woman in his home

A convicted sex offender says he plans to move from Northern Ireland to Amsterdam when his travel restrictions are removed.

Jamie Anderson was jailed for 22 months in 2019 for raping a sleeping woman in his home.

He was also placed on the sex offenders register for life and had a sexual offences prevention order (SOPO) imposed on him for five years.

As part of the SOPO, Anderson (34), from Avenue Road in Lurgan, is required to notify police if he wishes to travel outside of the UK.

If he wishes to stay at an address other than his home, he is also required to get prior approval from his designated risk manager.

However, he failed to do both of those things when he travelled to Amsterdam in August. As a result, Anderson was brought back before a court this week.

A police officer told Omagh court that, on August 22, the PSNI received a notification from border officials that Anderson had entered Belfast City Airport the previous day after returning on a flight from Amsterdam.

A check by police showed he had given no notification of his trip to Holland.

Addressing the court this week, a defence solicitor for Anderson claimed the sex offender did not know he had to make the authorities aware of his travel plans.

However, the solicitor added Anderson accepts that was absolute stupidity on his part and he now understands the onus was on him to understand what he can and cant do.

Andersons legal representative said he had gone to Amsterdam for two days to meet a friend who lives in the Dutch city.

During his stay, he stayed in a single room and no issues arose.

The solicitor said given the nature of the offence which Anderson was convicted of in 2019, and the fact that Lurgan is a small town, his intention is to hopefully move to Amsterdam when his travel restrictions allow.

Anderson has been out of prison for two years and the trip to Amsterdam was the only issue which had arisen during those two years, his solicitor added.

The judge said looking at the notification documents given to Anderson, he could not see how he did not understand the requirements to let the authorities know about his travel plans.

The purpose of the legislation is to ensure that people who have been convicted of offences, such as the offence you were convicted of, can properly be tracked and traced so that society knows there is no risk to people, said the judge.

He added that he was not entirely convinced by Andersons explanation but said because it was his first breach he would not be sending him back to prison.

Anderson was handed a 12-month suspended sentence for failing to notify the authorities about his trip to Amsterdam.

The Lurgan man was convicted of raping a woman in the early hours of November 19, 2017.

Anderson admitted two charges of sexual assault by penetration and a count of rape in that he had sexual intercourse with his victim to which he did not reasonably believe that she so consented.

Jailing Anderson and imposing the SOPO, a judge told him that without the guilty pleas, he would have had a longer term.

The judge outlined how the defendant and the woman had been at a house-warming party, adding that while the victim was not sober, she was not drunk.

She left to go home but had a row with her mother so she left and met Anderson, whom she had known for a number of years.

She asked him to phone a taxi, but he suggested going to his house and getting a taxi from there.

When they arrived, she began drinking Jack Daniels. Cocaine was taken by the defendant, said the judge.

Judge Lynch said there was an agreed arrangement that she should take his bed, but a short time later she was awakened by Anderson sexually assaulting her.

She pulled away from him and made it clear she was not consenting to any sexual activity, said the judge, but he told the court that despite those protests, she was woken again and this time Anderson was raping her.

According to victim-impact reports, the attack had badly affected her confidence, but Andersons guilty pleas ahead of the trial  saving her the ordeal of having to testify in court  was very welcome.

Judge Lynch said the misuse of illegal drugs played a part in the case.

He said one aggravating feature was that the victim was vulnerable and was in the home of the defendant and had every right to expect protection.

As well as the jail term and SOPO, the judge ordered Anderson to spend the same period under supervised licence conditions.
The Italian gangster had been on the run since 2016 and was living luxuriously in Dubai and spending 400,000 a month to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

KINAHAN Cartel partner Raffaele Imperiale has handed over an island he owns off the coast of Dubai to the Italian authorities.

The Camorra mafia drug trafficker Imperiale, who was a guest at Daniel Kinahans 2017 wedding, gave up the property, it was heard in court today.

A trial in Naples involving 20 defendants, including the international drug trafficker turned state witness, is continuing, as reported by the Italian news agency ANSA.

Imperiale was arrested in Dubai in August 2021 after five years on the run and extradited to Italy the following March after a visit from the senior Italian government figure.

The Italian gangster had been wanted since 2016 and was living luxuriously in Dubai and spending 400,000 a month to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

Imperiale, who began his criminal career from a coffeeshop in Amsterdam, is believed to have been at the top of the super drug cartel along with Dutch criminal Ridouan Taghi, Daniel Kinahan and Bosnian drug trafficker Edin Gacanin.

The group was observed having meetings in the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai, the base of the alleged cartel in 2017 and attended Kinahans wedding there.

The cartel is considered to be one of the biggest in the world with almost complete control over the sale of Peruvian cocaine.

Daniel Kinahan, his father Christopher and brother Christopher jr are still at large despite a US $5 million bounty on their heads.

Close associate Sean McGovern who is the subject of an arrest warrant for murder from the Irish authorities is also still believed to living in Dubai.

McGovern, is wanted in Ireland on charges of murder and organised crime related offences in connection with the 2016 fatal shooting of Noel Duck Egg Kirwan.

Last month three senior Dubai police officers visited Dublin to discuss how they can help tackle the Kinahan cartel.

They met with Garda Commissioner Drew Harris following his visit to the Gulf state in September

Speaking the meeting, Drew Harris said: "Dubai Police has already provided us with great assistance with our ongoing investigations into transnational organised crime.

"This 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.

"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 they will be dismantled."

Justice Minister Helen McEntee also held a phone conference last month with her Dubai counterpart to discuss a plan to get the Kinahan leaders extradited to Ireland.

The talk with Abdullah bin Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi is aimed at solving the problem caused by a lack of extradition agreements between Dubai and the EU.

Gardai believe there is enough evidence to have the Kinahans charged with directing a crime gang - an offence that could demand a life sentence.

Officers recently sent a file to the Director of Public Prosecutions asking for those charges to be laid.

The DPP has already ordered McGovern, from Crumlin, South Dublin, be charged with one of the 18 murders in the deadly Kinahan-Hutch feud.
We Brazilians are immensely proud of Caio, whose bravery reflects the values of compassion, solidarity, and selflessness.

Deliveroo driver Caio Benicio was today honoured for his role in dismantling the horrific stabbing attack on three schoolchildren and their carer in Dublin city centre last week.

The Brazilian was on his motorbike in the area when the incident unfolded on Parnell Square East at lunchtime on Thursday and was one of the first on the scene to disarm the knife-wielding attacker.

His actions were recognised by the Brazilian Embassy in Dublin at an official ceremony where he was presented two honorific certificates.

Speaking at todays event, a representative from the Brazilian Embassy said: I want to extend our warmest congratulations to you for your exceptional act of bravery.

Your selfless and courageous actions served as inspiration and an example to us all and demonstrated the true meaning of heroism and compassion.

Lovely moment as Caio Benicio is recognised by the Brazilian Embassy in Dublin.



They have hailed his actions on Thursday as heroic, inspirational and a moment of pride for the Brazilian community at a time of fear and concern for many immigrants.@VirginMediaNews pic.twitter.com/IArdgSa3bC  Richard Chambers (@newschambers) November 27, 2023

Your actions have not only made a profound impact on the lives directly involved, but have also resonated deeply with your community.

We Brazilians are immensely proud of Caio, whose bravery reflects the values of compassion, solidarity, and selflessness.

It comes after GoFundMe pages set up in the wake of Thursdays knife attack have raised more than 600,000 for Caio and three others who helped take down the assailant.

A GoFundMe titled Buy Caio Benicio a pint raised 360,969 with more than 33,000 patrons donating to the cause after Mr Benicio stopped the attacker by hitting him with his helmet on Parnell Square.

The appeal saw an outpouring of gratitude from the public as organiser Paul Darcy wrote: The man's a hero and the least we can do is buy him a pint so I'm asking you to donate the price of a pint of Guinness in your local to Caio so that he knows the people of Dublin appreciate him.

It was stated GoFundMe had been in contact with Mr Benicio to ensure the money will be transferred directly to him.

A GoFundMe was also set up to support carer Leanne Flynn Keogh, who bravely put herself in front of so many children so they could run to safety while putting her own life at risk.

Ms Keogh received multiple stab wounds in the attack after placing her body in front of the knife wielded by an Algerian-born Irish citizen.

She is currently recovering from her injuries at a Dublin hospital following multiple surgeries.

The Support Hero Carer & Children Attacked In Dublin fundraiser has received more than 13,000 donations amounting to 247,761 to date.

The organiser stated that the funds will also be donated to the children and families impacted by the attack, including a five-year-old girl who remains in critical condition in Temple Street Hospital.

GoFundMe appeals have also been set up in honour of French teenager Alan Loren-Guille, a trainee chef at the Michelin-starred Spitalfields Restaurant in south central Dublin, and Wicklow man Warren Donohoe, who was in the city to celebrate his 11-year-old daughters birthday with his family.

The Buy Alan Loren-Guille a pint (hero) fundraiser has taken in 12,382 to date, while the Buy Warren Donohoe a pint! Unsung hero of Dublin appeal has raised 11,820, with the heroic dad being added as a beneficiary on the official GoFundMe page.
Patrick McDonagh (12), from Finglas in Dublin, died in June last year, just days after making his Confirmation

President Michael D Higgins has called for the documentary revealing the story of young Traveller boy who took his own life, to be shown in schools.

Patrick McDonagh (12), from Finglas in Dublin, died in June last year, just days after making his Confirmation.

Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost is a new documentary which shines a light on Patricks story and on the issue of high rates of suicide among the Irish Traveller community.

The documentary, which is being shown on RTE One tonight, also explores the wider multifaceted challenges facing the community and highlights the devastating impact on those left behind.

In sharing his story, Patricks familys are hoping to inspire other people to speak up and ask for help when they need it.

President Higgins, who attended an advance screening of the film, said: Even though I am familiar with the issues with which the Travelling community struggle, the personal testimonies of Patrick McDonagh's parents, and Bernie Power [a Traveller Outreach worker] moved me in a way I find difficult to describe.

It would be so valuable if all members of the public could see this film, which describes a life lost to bullying. Patrick was an incredibly talented boy, interested in all aspects of life and full of curiosity, within one year had his life destroyed.

There are so many reasons I could think of why this film should be seen in every household, and it would be just incredibly valuable if it were seen in every school."

Research shows that more than one in 10 Irish Travellers die by suicide. The suicide rate for Irish Traveller women is six times higher than settled women. Meanwhile, the suicide rate for Irish Traveller men is seven times higher than settled men, according to a 2015 study by All Ireland Traveller Health.

Patrick McDonagh (12)

In the documentary Patricks mother Michelle Ward shared some of her treasured memories of her son.

I remember when he was born. He was the most beautiful little boy that was ever brought into this world. He was always clever. He loved English, said Ms Ward.

He loved Irish. He knew everything about science. He loved fixing bikes. He would take a bike apart and put it together in seconds. I just can't believe he left the world the way he did. I just thought he was so happy. He showed no signs...

She said Patrick had deleted all his social media platforms on his phone before he died.

I couldn't figure out why he deleted all of them, you know? We didn't know what he was going through until the end, until people came and told us, little friends of Patrick's came up and told us bits and pieces like we didnt know, said Ms Ward.

I didn't just want him for 12 years; I wanted him forever. I was meant to go first. Not him. Suicide is the most hurtful thing to me as a mother. To lose a child. I feel like I have no answers. You know, why would he feel so hurt? That he thought he wouldnt be happy in life you know? Why? I don't get it.

Patricks father Pat McDonagh reflects on the bullying his son experienced which the family were unaware of until after Patricks death.

My little boy didn't tell us nothing. I mean, secrets he took it to the grave. God rest him, said Mr Donagh.

We never expected Patrick to do what he done. I'm no good with phones  that's the reason why we didn't pass any notice of the phones. But when he passed away, we started taking notice of the phones, started realising it was the phone. It was a poxy phone.

He was hiding stuff where he was being bullied. He never told us deep down inside, the mental torture. God knows what he was going through.

The documentary hears from Traveller voices, with the story told from their perspective. It hears from Ms Power, Senator Eileen Flynn and Director of the Traveller Counselling Service Thomas McCann.

Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost will be broadcast tonight at 9.35pm on RTE One and RTE Player.
More than 2000 volunteers in 12 locations across New Zealand are expected to pack a record 32,000 Christmas Boxes for kiwi families in need this Saturday.

Christmas Box began in 2001 as a small community initiative of delivering gift-wrapped food boxes to neighbouring families at Christmas time.

Twenty-three years later, Christmas Box is New Zealands largest Christmas charity initiative, involving 500 partner organisations. Its estimated more than one million people have been fed since 2001.

Head of Community Response, Rebecca So'e, says they have raised $900,000 through sponsors and partnerships, and are now appealing to the general public for the remaining $300,000 to reach a need greater than ever before:.

Weve seen hardship stats get worse across the country and one in five kids are living in food scarcity. Here at LIFE Community were serving around 2000 meals per week to families in need, which is a 33% increase from last year.

We know a lot of families are dreading an empty table and feelings of failure as a parent this Christmas.

Donating a Christmas Box not only means a family has a meal to look forward to, it removes a lot of stress and worry and tells that family that someone sees them and cares about them. We see so many families break into tears when they receive a Christmas box and see someone cares about them.

But Soe says LIFE Community cant do it alone.

To reach all the families we can this Christmas, were asking kiwis to band together with us and donate $40 to provide a Christmas Box to a family in need. None of us can meet this need on our own, but together we can bring help and hope to families in need this Christmas.

Head of Community Response, Rebecca So'e.

Each Christmas Box caters to a family of four to six and contains around 20 food items including staple items and treats.

Organisations partnering to make Christmas Box happen include community groups, churches, government agencies, the NZ Police domestic violence unit, and logistics and freight companies.

Olivia Huang is a solo mother of an eight-year-old son and a domestic-abuse survivor who has no wider family to turn to at Christmas.

She was made redundant from her job as an early childhood teacher earlier this year and says she can only just afford to put basic food on the table.

We drive past McDonalds to go home every day from school and my son asks me if we can go there, because his friends have McDonalds parties there. I dont know how to explain that if we do, we wont be able to eat the next day. Sometimes I buy him a cheeseburger and go without food.

Im so grateful for New Zealanders helping me in my time of need. Im just shocked and lost for words that people who dont know us would reach out their hands to us.

My son asks me: who are they? I tell him I don't know but we have to pay it forward and help other people, not only people we know but people we dont know too, because were so touched a stranger would do this for us.

Chris Young is one of the 2000 volunteers that pack and distribute the boxes. Its his twelfth year volunteering this Christmas.

My favourite part is seeing the smiles on childrens faces when they open their boxes, and the parents joy at seeing their childrens smiles. The fact I can provide that for $40 is a total no brainer.

To donate provide a Christmas Box for a family in need, donate at Christmasbox.co.nz
Police will continue to be highly visible across parts of the North Island later this afternoon and tomorrow to monitor the movements of gang members, travelling home from the funeral of William Hines.

"The current focus is on Foxton and the tangi proceedings occurring there this morning," says Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson.

"As a result, the residents of Foxton and surrounding areas will continue to see a highly-visible Police presence, due to the gathering of a large number of gang members and other mourners for this event."

Police say there were no significant issues overnight although they dealt with a number of driving-related offences.

"We will continue to monitor the event and are prepared to respond when needed.

"Police Eagle helicopter will remain in the area to provide support as required."

There is a traffic management plan in place and lane restrictions outside the Motuiti Marae, on State Highway 1.

"Police thank the public for their patience," says Assistant Commissioner Mike Johnson.

"We continue to ask that anyone who witnesses any unlawful or unsafe behaviour gets in touch with us via 105 either over the phone or online.

"When you are making your report, please advise if you have any videos or photos of the offending."

Anyone who finds themselves in a position where they do not feel safe is asked to contact Police immediately on 111.
Despite P&O Cruises Australia saying the cleaning required for the Pacific Adventure cruise ship to enter NZ was minor, Biosecurity New Zealands northern regional commissioner Mike Inglis says biofouling continues to be a major biosecurity threat for the country.

Our biosecurity rules are in place to protect us against pests such as exotic caulpera which can impact New Zealand's environment, unique marine ecosystems, aquaculture industry, and economy," says Mike.

We know that almost 90 per cent of the exotic marine species already in New Zealand likely arrived here as marine growth on the submerged surfaces of international vessels.

Passengers on board the cruise ship are furious with P&O Cruises over the decision to turn Pacific Adventure away from New Zealand and return to Australia due to the failure to meet NZs strict biosecurity requirements. The ship is currently at sea until it arrives in Hobart on November 28.

The Pacific Adventure. Photo: Sean McGrady.

Despite the cruise ship company offering compensation, passengers, some who have spent thousands of dollars on the cruise, have taken to social media to voice their complaints.

I completely understand nothing is 100 per cent, but missing two ports and missing the whole NZ are totally different stories. Just like you had your dinner but still hungry, we never have our dinner, we were just at the door, paid full. How do we get the money back? According to P&O: Come next time, pay full again, and you will eat 2 dinners, writes one passenger.

A Facebook group for the cruise has had its name changed to 'Pacific Adventure V353 Hobart via NZ waters 20th Nov 2023' with passengers cheering each other up with sharing their activities on board.

P&O Cruises Australia runs a 13-day "Kiwi Adventure" voyage, taking passengers from Sydney, sailing around New Zealand and stopping at different cities.

In a statement to SunLive, the company says Pacific Adventures itinerary has changed and unfortunately guests on this current voyage will no longer be visiting New Zealand.

The ship left Sydney for hull cleaning off the Bay of Plenty, but unfortunately the weather didnt allow this to happen.

P&O Cruises Australia say that the cleaning that was required for Pacific Adventure to enter New Zealand was minor  the removal of three juvenile mussels and a single hydroid commonly known as lace coral.

Conditions for diving off the Bay of Plenty were worse than forecast, meaning we could only safely complete part of the required cleaning.

The ship had undergone multiple inspections in the months leading up to this New Zealand cruise, however it was only during the final inspection that the high-risk species was located and unfortunately, the change to the forecast weather conditions has not been in our favour to be able to remove it.

As a result, the ship could not meet the very strict New Zealand entry requirements.

Mike says the operator did attempt to clean the hull and specifically the areas of concern in recent days, however, abandoned cleaning due to bad weather and chose to cancel the New Zealand leg of the journey.

We have been talking with the cruise ships operator P&O over the past few weeks around their planned voyage from Australia to New Zealand and concerning levels of biofouling on the vessel the Pacific Adventure, says Mike.

The photos they sent us showed the vessel had high risk organisms including mussel and oyster growth and could pose a risk to New Zealand if the ship cruised in our waters.

Mike says there has been a lot of effort since the last season to alert cruise lines about their biosecurity requirements, including ensuring they comply with New Zealands biofouling rules.

Biosecurity New Zealand staff visited Sydney earlier in the year and met with Carnival to reinforce our requirements and has continued to meet and engage regularly with the cruise operator and others in preparation for the new season.

Weve been working closely with cruise lines to ensure their vessels arrive with clean hulls this summer season.

To help manage the risk we've been asking cruise lines to submit all their documentation and risk management plans as early as possible so we can provide early notification of any cleaning requirements, helping avoid voyage delays.

We appreciate that cleaning the hull of a cruise ship is a difficult and complex task often dictated by the weather. We need to all we can to protect New Zealand from biosecurity threats.

In a statement to SunLive, P&O Cruises Australia are advising a change to the compensation for guests on board Pacific Adventure, after the ship was unable to visit New Zealand.

We have listened to the feedback from our guests and understand not all of them wish to cruise with us again, says a P&O Cruises Australia spokesperson.

The 50 per cent Future Cruise Credit already offered will be converted to a refund.

The $300 per person on board credit remains.

Again, we apologise for the change in itinerary, and thank our guests for their patience and understanding.

The updated itinerary means that the ship is at sea from Saturday November 25- 28 when it arrives in Hobart for an overnight visit. It then heads to Port Arthur, another night at sea, then Eden and finally arriving in Sydney on December 3.
Plans to extend paid parking in Taurangas city centre have been deferred after a public outcry.

Paid on-street parking was set to be extended from Third Avenue up to Arundel Street, and from McLean Street up to Monmouth Street on February 26 2024.

The commission decided to delay this at a Tauranga City Council meeting today.

Vetro Mediterranean Food co-owner Liz Gore Cerdeira presented a petition calling for paid parking not to be put in close to her business on Glasgow Street and Third Ave West.

Gore Cerdeira said the two streets were made up of industrial businesses with the exception of her food store.

The businesses served the city and all of them she had spoken to had issues with the paid parking, she said.

They feel it's going to drastically affect their business.

Getting the bus wasnt an option for many staff as they started too early, she said.

[Public] transports got to be sorted out before you put in paid parking all through the city.

Vetro co-owner Liz Gore Cerdeira petitioned the council to not put paid parking on her street. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

Buses needed to run from 5am to midnight to serve early morning workers and hospitality staff that finished late at night, she said.

Gore Cerdeira said she knew it was the Bay of Plenty Regional Council that ran the buses but the councils needed to work together on it.

If paid parking were to happen in her area, she asked that business were given two parks for staff or permits that enabled staff to park for free.

Most workers would be unable to afford the parking charges each day she said.

Commission chair Anne Tolley said they agreed with Gore Cerdeira about the buses.

We were hopeful that the regional council would have their bus services running a lot more frequently and a lot more reliably by now.

For many of our workers who are trying to travel at different times, or who have to travel at different times, there are no bus services.

The commission were concerned about the huge amount of community concern about the parking, said Tolley.

Commission chair Anne Tolley said they weren't convinced paid parking needed to be extended. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

I don't think any of us really took into account the major disruption, particularly in the centre city, that Cameron Road would have.

Cameron Road stage one has seen the street under construction for two years.

The work is adding a separated two-way cycleway, bus lanes and making layout changes to Cameron Road between Harrington Street and 17th Avenue.

Sewers, wastewater pipes and stormwater treatment upgrades were also being done.

When the parking management plan was put in place they were hopeful the Cameron Rd works would be done on a block by block basis, said Tolley.

They werent convinced that there was a case for extending the paid parking in the CBD when there was still a lot of parks available, she said.

Normally you put paid parking in when you're trying to manage and get turnover.

We've got good, good turnover in the centre of the city, so there's no need to try and extend that at this stage.

The council cancelled consultation about paid parking in Mount Maunganui. Photo: John Borren/SunLive.

The council also consulted on paid parking in Mount Maunganui at the main shopping area and beachfronts which was met with fierce opposition from businesses and the public.

Public consultation was meant to happen from November 13 to December 15 but the was deferred after the communitys initial response.

Tolley said she wanted the parking problems in Mount Maunganui defined first.

Commissioner Bill Wasley wanted to ensure the parking time limits in the Mount were being enforced.

The commission also decided to defer the introduction of clearway bus lanes along Cameron Rd that were meant to start in January.

It would have meant parking in the bus lanes would be prohibited during peak hours.

Tolley said this was to provide some relief for businesses.

Council staff will report back to the commission in March 2024 with recommendations for the parking strategy.

Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 27. Since November 24, at least 58 hostages have been released from the Gaza Strip, Director General of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Robert Mardini said, Trend reports.

Another 85 released Palestinian prisoners have arrived in the West Bank, he said.

Mardini said in this regard that "the opportunity to reunite hostages with their families and Palestinian prisoners with their families" is a glimmer of hope.
Youth with a Mission Ships NZ has raised the $200,000 needed to have its stranded medical aid ship repaired and brought home to New Zealand by Christmas.

The charity of volunteers, who freely donate their time and expertise, appealed for help to save its medical aid ship after an issue with the tailshaft left it stranded in Lautoka, Fiji as cyclone season was setting in.

The YWAM Koha and its crew of volunteers were providing medical aid to isolated communities in Fiji when an issue with a bearing in the tailshaft was discovered, leaving the organisation with a $300,000 bill.

The organisation was able to pay $100,000, leaving a $200,000 shortfall. Trinity Lands offered to match every donation up to $100,000, so YWAM Ships NZ appealed to New Zealanders to cover the shortfall of $100,000 by November 28.

YWAM Ships managing director Marty Emmett says the target was hit over the weekend.

Were just buzzing and completely blown away by the generosity of New Zealanders. It actually makes us emotional to know there are people who care about reaching our Pacific neighbours with medical aid.

Well now be able to get our ship repaired and back home by Christmas, so we can avoid cyclone season, restock and head back to our friends in the Pacific in May.

To everyone who donated: thank you, thank you, thank you. Please be a part of our family and sign up for updates so you can see what your help will achieve this next season.

The YWAM Koha was originally built in 1968 in Germany as a buoy tender and was used as a ferry between NZ and Pitcairn Island before being gifted to YWAM Ships NZ in 2019 as a gifthence the name Koha.

The ship is 48m long and is fitted with two dental clinics and equipment to set up pop-up clinics on land, and is based in Tauranga.

The YWAM Kohaat sea.

During Covid, while borders were closed, YWAM ships pioneered a free dental clinic in New Zealand communities experiencing poverty, providing free dental care and oral health education to more than 3000 kiwis in need.

Marty says this is something theyre keen to continue.

People tell us I can eat now. I can sleep now. I can go get a job now and get off the benefit. I have my confidence restored. But the greatest thing we hear is I can smile again. Were seeing people smiling at each other again, including communities that have had generations of gang involvement.

I think we're best as kiwis when were looking after our communities and neighbours in need.
Irene Quirante Malaga Monday, 27 November 2023 | Updated 28/11/2023 11:31h. Compartir Copiar enlace

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A missing persons association appeal to the general public in Malaga to keep an eye out for a Melilla teenager who had been missing for five days, has borne fruit.

The 15-year-old was last seen on 23 November but, after being made aware of the alert about her disappearance, she voluntarily presented herself at the city's Local Police headquarters this Tuesday morning, 28 November. The National Police force was also alerted.

The teenager has been temporarily admitted to a juvenile centre in Torre de Mar to give her a place to stay, until her family travel to collect her.
Plainclothes police officers catch pickpockets who stole purse with 2,000 euros in Malaga city The officers followed the three suspects after watching them allegedly target an elderly woman among a group of tourists

Irene Quirante Monday, 27 November 2023, 17:47 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Three people have been arrested after plainclothes police officers caught them in the act stealing a tourist's purse containing 2,000 euros in Malaga city.

An off-duty Local Police officer first alerted his colleagues on 9 November when he saw three people - two men and a women - behaving suspiciously near a crowd of tourists.

Plainclothes officers were then deployed to the area on Avenida Manuel Agustin Heredia and started watching them. The suspects, pretending to be tourists themselves, went to Plaza de la Marina to select their victims among a large group of visitors, including several elderly people. Officers watched as the suspects stole a red bag out of a woman's backpack and then fled towards Paseo del Parque.

The officers caught up with them and found a purse with 2,000 euros inside the bag, as well as a thousand dollars, two passports and more money from Malaysia, where the tourist was from. The alleged thieves - all of Romanian nationality - were arrested.
Thousands take to the streets in Malaga calling for an end to violence against women The protesters marked International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Saturday as they marched through the streets voicing demands to protect women

The front line of the march for 25N, as it passed through Muelle Heredia.

Matias Stuber Monday, 27 November 2023, 12:53 Compartir Copiar enlace

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Some 3,000 people marched through the streets of Malaga city to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women on Saturday 25 November.

Their chanting echoed through the streets, while slogans carried on banners and placards, called for an end to women being killed and attacked by their partners or former partners. With many protesters wearing purple, the rally began at 12.30pm in Plaza de la Marina and ended in the Plaza de la Constitucion with the reading of the 25N declaration.

SUR reporter Cristina Vallejo was the woman chosen to speak to the crowds of people this year. She spoke about how often violence against women makes headlines, especially this past year.

"Today we say no more violence against women and girls. We denounce that the figures of violence against women are intolerable in a democratic society, so we demand action from all public authorities and citizens," she said.

A tarpaulin revealing the names of all the women murdered by their partners since 2003, when the records began, was also unveiled at the event: a total of 1,237 women have died at the hands of their partners in Spain.

Some political parties and trade unions also joined the march, with the Socialists, Izquierda Unida and Podemos marching with their own banners. The UGT and CCOO trade unions did the same. Meanwhile, Malaga mayor (PP) Francisco de la Torre kicked off the march condemning violence against women.

Demands

Protesters called for "training in the prevention of gender violence, especially in education", "compliance with the national pact against gender violence" and that "all institutions and legal operators apply the laws objectively and with a feminist perspective, as the lives of women and girls are at stake".

Four women have died as a result of gender-based violence in Malaga this year. A total of 172 women in Malaga province have an electronic device to monitor restraining measures and sentences dictated by the courts.
CyberMonday: What is it and what kind of offers are there? Today is when anyone wishing to grab anything tech will be stalking shop windows and eyeing off special offers as big retailers announce huge discounts on popular products

Isabel Mendez Malaga Monday, 27 November 2023, 12:21 Compartir Copiar enlace

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After a weekend of sales thanks to Black Friday the shopping continues today with Cyber Monday, serving the perfect opportunity for anyone looking to grab a bargain on anything tech.

Both Amazon and Media Markt, among other brands, are expected to go all out this Monday 27 November. Media Markt announced on its website a "final bang" from Saturday until Friday at 9am in which you can find laptops up to 100 and 200 euros cheaper, mobile phones with more than 400-euro discounts and up to 600 euros off on various models of smart TVs. Amazon also offers a series of sales for today on popular items such as smartwatches, Apple products, toys, hoovers and video games.

Cyber Monday derived from the United States in 2005 where online retailers chose the Monday after Thanksgiving to take advantage of the pull of Black Friday. As online shopping was not nearly as popular in 2005 as it is today, most people waited until they went in to the office on Monday to search online for bargains.
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Once the email address is confirmed please provide your Account Number to activate your Print Subscription Service.
Staying up to date with the world, work and watch affairs is no easy feat. Luckily for the watch affairs, we have you covered

The flood of horological information from social media, newspapers, magazines, websites, and blogs can sometimes feel overwhelming, even we get submerged by it all sometimes and it is our job! This made us realise that we need to give you  dear reader  the choice of both slow, long-format news but also lightning-fast news, so you can stay up-to-date with everything that is happening in record time. Like this, you can make informed purchasing decisions, take advantage of opportunities, and above all, hold your own in any watch-related conversation. So, whenever you have a free minute, we can fill you in on what has been going on.

This Weeks Watch News in 60 Seconds

The first way to do this is by reading our This Weeks Watch News in 60 Seconds. Every Saturday, we publish a weekly round-up of the weeks watch news that covers everything that has been going on at WorldTempus and across the watch world during the week. This one-minute read includes new releases, the most read articles from our website, events (past and upcoming), watch videos, competitions, and more, so if you dont have time to pay us a visit in the week, just pop by over the weekend, and stay up-to-date with your watch news and wow your friends with your astounding horological knowledge.

Monthly Gallery

In addition to our weekly round-up of news, we thought you might also like to discover a photo gallery compilation of every single new watch that was launched during the month. At the end of October alone, we counted 49 new watches that had been unveiled on WorldTempus. Even we were surprised at how hard the watch industry had been working!

We put them in a flick-book-style gallery format so you can flip through them one by one at top speed. It takes us forever to compile them, but we think you will agree that it is worth it to have a fast and efficient overview of all the individual pieces and overall trends. Of course, if something catches your eye, just type the watchs name into the search bar and you can find all the information you need about the watch to dig deeper.

WatchFinder

We also have an incredible WatchFinder tool, which isnt new, but is extremely popular. In a nutshell, it helps you find your dream watch. Just tell us what you are looking for and it will do all the searching for you, giving you lots of ideas for new watches. With the holidays just around the corner and over 20,000 watches in our database, we are already seeing increased web traffic from the North Pole!

Dubai Watch Week

As the team is just back from a fantastic fair in Dubai, we have also prepared a specially dedicated This Weeks Dubai Watch Week News in 60 Seconds with all our articles and videos, along with a Dubai Watch Week Gallery of all the new watch releases.

We hope you enjoy this new 5Hz watch content! If you want more, you can also log in on the homepage to save these pages so you dont miss a beat!
Jason Aldean is returning to the Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview.

The country star will perform at the Empower FCU Amphitheater in Syracuse on Thursday, July 11, 2024, as part of his newly announced Highway Desperado tour dates. Special guests Hailey Whitters, Chase Matthew, Austin Snell and Dee Jay Silver will open the show at 7 p.m.

Tickets go on sale Friday, Dec. 1 at 10 a.m. through Live Nation; prices may vary.

Live Nation said outside lawn chairs will not be allowed at the concert, suggesting a large crowd is expected. Fans may want to check resellers like VividSeats, StubHub, Megaseats, TicketNetwork or SeatGeek for tickets.

Its one of seven concerts booked for the Empower FCU Amphitheaters 2024 season so far. Aldean is also scheduled to perform Aug. 1 at the Darien Lake Amphitheater near Buffalo.

Aldean last performed at the Syracuse amphitheater in 2022 when it was known as St. Josephs Health Amphitheater at Lakeview, or St. Joes Amp. The venue, originally known as the Lakeview Amphitheater, was recently renamed in a 7-year deal worth $4 million.

Aldean is known for country hits like Big Green Tractor, Dirt Road Anthem, Burnin It Down, Tonight Looks Good on You, and You Make It Easy. He sparked controversy this past year when his single, Try That in a Small Town, featured a music video that was shot on the site of a 1927 lynching in Tennessee; CMT removed the video after critics accused him of promoting violence and guns with threatening undertones.

2024 Empower Federal Credit Union Amphitheater at Lakeview concert schedule

May 21 - Hozier

May 22 - Judas Priest

June 21 - Lainey Wilson

July 11 - Jason Aldean

July 18 - Jordan Davis

Aug. 15 - ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd

Sept. 6 - Hootie & The Blowfish with Collective Soul, Edwin McCain
Syracuse, N.Y.  The city of Syracuse has filed a new lawsuit against the owner of a set of commercial properties on Burnet Avenue who is accused of multiple violations of city codes and ordinances.

The new complaint, filed last week in State Supreme Court, accuses developer Tom Hornstein and his company, Cashe LLC, of failing to correct several violations, many of which city inspectors first noted in August.

The violations include failure to obtain proper parking permits, failure to remove illegally parked vehicles, failure to remove improper signs, failure to make necessary repairs to a deteriorating roof, a ceiling and garage doors, and failure to remove graffiti.

The suit also claims the centerpiece of the Burnet Avenue development, the Antiques at Railway Commons store at the corner of Burnet and Catherine avenues, never obtained a proper permit and is in violation of city zoning laws.

The new complaint seeks a court order for Cashe LLC to correct the problems and pay fines. The complaint notes many of the violations were recorded by inspectors in the summer and were supposed to corrected by late August.

The citys new actions follow other citations and complaints it made at the properties earlier this fall. In September the city codes office shut down what it called an illegal nightclub in a storage building at 400 Burnet. In October, the city filed a claim that Hornsteins company failed to correct ongoing violations on the property.

Hornstein did not respond to a request for comment. In texts he sent to syracuse.com after a previous report in October, he said he is putting the property up for sale, and is acting as his own broker. His text indicated hes seeking $2.1 million.

The properties in question, often listed as 400 Burnet Ave., run from the back of the former New York Central Railroad station to Catherine Avenue.

Hornstein bought the properties in 2020, calling the project Burnet Square. The Antiques at Railway Commons opened in 2022.

He has often said his intention was to restore a historic part of the city to its former glory.

But Hornsteins project has repeatedly drawn criticism and anger from residents and other business owners on Burnet and in the Hawley-Green neighborhood. Theyve complained for years about loud noises, trash heaps, parking violations and other nuisances and issues on Hornsteins property. In the case of the illegal nightclub, neighbors said it was run by tenants of Hornstein who were members of a biker gang.

Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.
Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh wants to create a new arm of government that would allow the city to own and manage apartment buildings and help private homeowners fix up their homes.

Walsh has asked the city council to create a housing trust  a separate public authority with its own board and mission, and the power to issue bonds, make loans and award grants.

The goal is to boost quality, affordable housing in a city in crisis.

It would give the city game-changing powers to take on long-neglected housing problems that dont fit the molds of other government programs. It comes at a time when quality housing is scarce and an increase in demand is imminent.

A study released in March exposed two related problems in Syracuse: Most residents cant afford market-rate housing. And the cost to rehabilitate existing homes often exceeds their worth.

A survey of the more than 35,000 residential properties in Syracuse found that one-third showed signs of chronic disinvestment, syracuse.com | The Post-Standard reported in March.

Many of the existing nonprofit housing agencies and streams of funding are too specific to fix the problem  focusing, for example, on homelessness or lead paint remediation in homes with children, said Michelle Sczpanski, the citys deputy commissioner of neighborhood development.

A housing trust could be flexible enough to build new housing and to encourage private landlords and homeowners to make improvements, city officials say.

The first step is to create the trust and accept a $5 million grant already awarded in last years state budget.

The next steps, defining the mission and identifying specific projects, are still in development.

City officials are looking to Montgomery County, Maryland as one model.

There, a government housing authority is building, owning and managing public housing that looks nothing like the low-income public housing of the past.

One new building with 268 units charges about $2,200 in market-rate rent for a one-bedroom apartment and cuts the rate in half for people who live in poverty. Thirty percent of the units are affordable.

To make the economics work, the projects start with a big government grant. They sell bonds to borrow money. They use the higher rents to subsidize the lower rents and pay off the bonds. They use money and momentum from one project to build another one.

The business model is intended to keep itself afloat without relying on recurring government subsidies or tax credits that ebb and flow with the whims of Congress. It has some similarities with private development, such as the plan to rebuild the old public housing near Interstate 81.

In addition to the $5 million seed money, the city has identified some other sources of revenue for a housing trust.

For the trust to work, it would need to find some reliable, recurring revenue sources. Some would need city, county or state approval.

Proceeds from the sale of the former Syracuse Developmental Center property, for example, could go into a housing trust fund, Sczpanski said.

The city is negotiating with a developer to sell the abandoned 600,000-square-foot site to a Long Island-based company with plans to build 440 apartments and up to 85 townhomes on South Wilber Avenue.

Some income for the trust could also come from a provision in the citys new zoning law that allows developers to pay a fee and be partially released from requirements to create affordable housing units. New residential buildings with more than 20 units must make 10% of the units affordable. Paying a fee can reduce that number by 25%.

The city could impose fees on vacant property. It could increase the mortgage recording tax and ask the county to direct some of it to the city.

The city could also make an annual contribution or direct code enforcement fines to a housing trust, she said.

Its exciting to have a tool that doesnt rely on constant subsidy to make it happen, said Joe Driscoll, the citys point person on I-81.

Timing is right

When the state tears down the Interstate 81 overpass in the city, it will leave behind about 10 acres of vacant land it could use to get into the landlord business.

Some of that property is on the north end of downtown, a parking lot near the Erie Canal Museum. The other sizeable acreage is on the south end of the elevated highway, near Martin Luther King Elementary School.

They are very different areas  one near a business district, the other near homes. At least three years will pass before they become vacant, transferred out of the states ownership and rezoned.

But city officials may not wait for that land to become available to try out their housing idea. They could build on property the city already owns. The city also has access to hundreds of acres of land being repurposed by the Greater Syracuse Land Bank.

The first project would likely be downtown, where they can charge the highest market-rate rents, Driscoll said.

At the same time the highway is coming down, Micron Technologies has announced plans to build a massive semiconductor manufacturing plant in Clay.

It could bring thousands of well-paid workers who may want to live downtown.

Were trying to capture the electricity of the market and take advantage of it while Syracuse is going through this Micron boom, Driscoll said.

Hundreds of volunteers painted porches, sealed driveways and planted flowers on Syracuse's South Side as part of Home HeadQuarter's annual Block Blitz earlier this year. Photo by Michelle Breidenbach.

Money to fix houses

Despite that enthusiasm, city officials who handle neighborhood development said the idea of building new real estate is far in the future, if the market proves it can support apartments like Montgomery County.

The more immediate need is to help the existing owners of small homes and apartments, they said.

About 80% of the citys housing stock is small buildings with one to five units. Those are likely to be the trusts focus.

As it is, big home renovations do not make financial sense in many neighborhoods. The cost of a major rehab in a desirable neighborhood averages about $250,000. But it is unlikely to add more than $78,000, on average, to a homes value, the housing study said.

In the poorest neighborhoods, homeowners could pay an average $92,500 just to bring a house into compliance with building codes. The value added there is only about $14,600, the study said.

The city could tailor grants or loan programs to address specific needs once they determine if the problem is property acquisition, construction or permanent financing, said Hannah Garty, manager of the citys housing initiatives project.

The trust could go beyond other government programs in another important way: It could loan money to people who make higher incomes than traditional government programs allow. That could make a difference in attracting future Micron workers, officials said.

The trust could also set rules that require rent to remain affordable as homes are upgraded.

We want to make sure its not contributing to any kind of displacement, Sczpanski said.

As the city creates the housing trust, staff is also finishing the next phase of the housing study that showed the extent of the crisis. Recommendations from strategy sessions, expected to be finished in April, will set priorities for the trust fund. It will answer questions about the types of property and the neighborhoods that need help, Szpanski told councilors in a recent committee presentation.

The city relies too much on the Greater Syracuse Land Bank to acquire and renovate property, she said. The land bank takes properties that fall behind in property taxes. That gives the city access to hundreds of distressed properties that have been abandoned over time.

But what about problem properties that are not tax delinquent?

A housing trust can focus on other levels of distress. It can also use methods other than foreclosure to acquire property. For example, the city can use eminent domain, but it is an expensive process.

The trust could also help homeowners through other obstacles. Deputy Mayor Sharon Owens said she is setting up sessions for residents to learn how to be sure they are listed as owners of family property. She said people cant qualify for loans if they cannot show the house has been passed on from the last generation.

A trust could also force landlords to join the rental registry in order to accept grants  a lesson city officials learned when they handed out pandemic relief. That means code enforcement officers can look inside one- and two-family rentals for peeling paint that could cause lead poisoning.

Sczpanski has presented the idea to the Common Councils Neighborhood Preservation Committee. It is not yet on the agenda for a vote, but that could be coming soon.

Councilors questioned the logistics and funding sources for a new entity. It would need approval from the city council but not the state. It would have its own board of directors like the Land Bank and the Syracuse Industrial Development Agency. They would be appointed by the mayor and councilors. The trust would be subject to open meetings laws and the states public authorities law.

The mission statement would be vague enough to fill immediate gaps in housing and to handle new trends in the future, the mayors staff said.

Councilor Pat Hogan, chairman of the Neighborhood Preservation Committee, said the city needs to explore every option to face the housing crisis.

I like the concept, but with many things, once you get into the details, Im wondering how its going to be set up, he said. And Im also wondering how are we going to fund it after the $5 million from the state comes in?

Contact Michelle Breidenbach | mbreidenbach@syracuse.com | 315-470-3186.
Joseph T. Burns, of the Buffalo suburb of Amherst, is a Central New York native and Republican election lawyer who has represented candidates and party committees throughout New York state. In the redistricting case currently before the New York State Court of Appeals, he filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of the Lawyers Democracy Fund in support of keeping the existing Congressional district map.

Almost a decade ago, the voters of New York, in a referendum, approved an amendment to the state constitution reforming the states redistricting process and prohibiting partisan gerrymandering in the drawing of state legislative and Congressional districts. Support for this historic redistricting reform amendment came from organizations across the political spectrum, and voters in the reddest and bluest corners of New York voted in favor of its passage.

In voting for this amendment, the people of New York approved the strongest prohibition on partisan gerrymandering found in any state constitution in the country. An effort to weaken this ban on gerrymandering in a 2021 referendum was soundly defeated by New York voters. The people of New York had spoken: the partisan gerrymandering of our Congressional and state legislative districts was done, forever.

New Yorks ban on partisan gerrymandering was put to the test in 2022 after the state Legislature approved and Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a redistricting plan so egregiously partisan that critics cheekily named it the Hochulmander. After months of legal wrangling, the Court of Appeals  New Yorks highest court  found that the Hochulmander violated the state constitution and, therefore, must be thrown out.

In place of the Hochulmander, the courts ordered a map drawn by an independent, nonpolitical academic from Pennsylvanias Carnegie Mellon University to be used. This new map was praised by people and organizations from across the political spectrum and resulted in New York having some of the most  and maybe the most  competitive congressional races of any state in the country in 2022. The court-ordered map fulfilled the intentions of the voters who voted in favor of the constitutional ban on partisan gerrymandering.

Unfortunately, Washington Democrats  the same folks behind last years Hochulmander  are seeking to upend New Yorks nonpartisan, court-ordered Congressional district map. Their lawsuit to scrap the map was argued before the Court of Appeals on Nov. 15, and a decision is expected in the next few weeks. If these Washington Democrats succeed, the state legislature  the same body that gave us the unconstitutional map  will get a second chance to draw New Yorks Congressional districts. The Court of Appeals should not allow this to happen.

While the effort to undo the current map is being driven by Washington Democrats on a mission to pick up seats in the narrowly divided House of Representatives, not everyone on the political left backs this endeavor. For instance, the League of Women Voters of New York State  a key supporter of the 2014 anti-gerrymandering amendment and a major voice in left-of-center politics  argued in a friend of the court brief that the Court of Appeals must uphold the existing Congressional map and not permit the state legislature to draw another Hochulmander. All New Yorkers who believe in our state constitution and its explicit prohibition on partisan gerrymandering should be thankful the league puts principles over raw, partisan politics.

Ending the partisan gerrymandering of Congressional districts has been a cause long championed by progressives and those on the left. It was, after all, President Barack Obama, in his 2016 State of the Union address, who said, We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters and not the other way around. Another progressive leader, former Attorney General Eric Holder, has even likened gerrymandering to voter suppression. Obama and Holder see that partisan gerrymandering is a problem. Why dont the Democrats behind the effort to scrap New Yorks fair, nonpartisan Congressional district map see this, too?

Our state constitution is the voice of the people of New York. Unlike the United States Constitution, the state constitution can only be amended  and a new constitution can only be adopted  through a vote of the people. The Court of Appeals, in a decision from over a century ago, even stated that the state constitution manifests the will of the People of New York state.

The voters of New York had a clear understanding of the redistricting reform amendment they approved in 2014. They knew they were voting to prohibit the political class from engaging in partisan gerrymandering. When the voters soundly defeated the 2021 amendment to water down the constitutions ban on gerrymandering, they reaffirmed their commitment to independent, fair, nonpolitical redistricting.

The voice of the people of New York  as expressed through the state constitution  must be respected. The Court of Appeals must honor the decision of the people of New York to take politics out of the redistricting process, and New Yorks nonpartisan, nonpolitical Congressional district map must be preserved.
UPDATE: Deputies continue to attempt to locate Matthew Grant, 22, of Henrietta, last seen on 11/20/23 at 10pm. ... Posted by Monroe County Sheriff's Office - Rochester, NY on Wednesday, November 22, 2023

The search for missing Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) student Matthew Grant, who has not been seen since Nov. 20, has expanded beyond New York state according to the Monroe County Sheriffs Office.

FingerLakes1 reported that Grant was last seen leaving Rochester around 10 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 20 without his phone, driving east.

The 22-year-old was driving a 2014 gray Jeep Cherokee with Michigan license plate ESR 8141, which may have an Onaway wrestling sticker on the back. A Henrietta resident, he is described by RIT authorities as being 5-foot-8, and 125 pounds, with brown hair, and brown eyes. He was last observed wearing a green jacket and blue jeans, the Daily Voice wrote.

The Jeep Cherokee was last traced to a thruway exit in Syracuse.

Recent online searches on his computer pulled up maps of the Adirondacks and the Appalachian Trail, though Grants father said his disdain for the cold made those confusing locations for his son to head to.

Matthew Grant is a fourth year engineering student at RIT and is co-captain of the wrestling team. WKBW 7 reported that he went to practice the night he went missing and nothing was reported out of the ordinary.

Sergeant Mike Zamiara with the Monroe County Sheriffs Office told UpNorthLive that they have been working on leads which have been encouraging, and that there has been activity with Matthew.

Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
Three years before the holding of the Algeciras Conference, a meeting set on April 1906 to find a solution to the first Moroccan crisis between France and Germany, which arose as Germany responded to Frances effort to establish a protectorate over the independent state of Morocco, the Kingdoms fate was already decided. France and Spain had agreed to share the country. For this purpose, negotiations had been carried out between 1901 and 1904 between the two governments in a completely covered fashion.

Details regarding these negotiations were revealed for the first time by the book A las Puertas del Protectorado ( At the Protectorates gates). The 260-page book written by Francisco Manuel Pastor Garrigues, a professor of contemporary history in Valencia, was published in 2013 and was well received by critics in Spain. It also won the History prize awarded by Ateneo, a cultural association based in Seville.

Morocco instead of Cuba

For the Spanish monarchy, losing control over Cuba in 1898, after a three-year war with the separatists was a historical setback. Once the Spanish were kicked out of the island, the Americans had set up puppet governments. This situation lasted until 1959, when Fidel Castro came to power.

Targeted by the US fleet deployed in the Atlantic, Spain had to react in order to protect the Canary and the Balearic Islands. Meanwhile, France started to expand its presence in Algeria by controlling the Saharan territories previously under the reign of the Moroccan Sultan.

During these circumstances, Spain couldnt afford occupying Morocco by itself. Forced to share, it opted for France, a rival with which it could agree on the future of the kingdom. Washington and London, on the other hand were not well positioned to take part of the Madrid treaty, precisely because of Cuba and Gibraltar.

The discussions

Even though the author of the book A las Puertas del Protectorado claims that the negotiations on the future of Morocco were secretive, other historical accounts suggest the opposite. According to a document issued by French media entitled Rumeurs de partage (rumors of sharing), handing over the northern and southern regions of Morocco to Spain and the rest to France was known to everybody.

In addition to the speculations put forward by the media in France, Italy and Germany, having heard of the plan of France and Spain regarding Morocco, also wanted their slice of the cake. Talks on the Moroccan question lasted until the 27th of November 1912, the same day the Treaty of Madrid was signed. An agreement reached eight months after the establishment of the French protectorate, March 30, 1912.
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.
Russian comedian Klara Novikova, who was born and raised in Kyiv, graduated from the university there, and worked in many Ukrainian cities in philharmonic societies, gave her first solo concert in Moscow after a long absence, and immediately caused a scandal. In her monologue, the comedienne recalled her childhood in Kyiv, and therefore often switched to Ukrainian. But the biggest resonance was caused by the moment when an image of a blue and yellow flag appeared on a huge screen behind the artist.

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The news that the comedian had "supported" Ukraine quickly spread in the propaganda media. However, Novikova hastened to justify herself for displaying the blue and yellow symbols at her concert. And she did so in a completely inept manner, saying that she "didn't know anything."

Novikova has always spoken openly about her love for Kyiv, but during the years of Russian aggression against Ukraine, she has never once defended her country. Moreover, the star visited the annexed Crimea, for which she was included in the Myrotvorets database, and also stated that "Ukraine and Russia are one people, because they share the same language."

Interestingly enough, at her solo concert in the capital of the terrorist state, the ex-Kyivite did mention that Ukrainian is not Russian at all, and therefore unexpectedly switched to her native language.

ADVERTISIMENT

"I am a Kyivan. I grew up and graduated from the 145th mathematical republican school in Kyiv... Thank you very much! I speak Ukrainian!" the propaganda media quoted some fragments of Novikova's monologue.

At this time, according to the same sources, the comedians were showing photos of Kyiv streets behind them, and at one point they displayed a picture of the Ukrainian flag.

Of course, this caused great concern among Z-patriots and a desire to deal with the "pro-Ukrainian" star as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Novikova herself quickly disavowed the scandalous slide show at the concert. She decided to play the fool - "I didn't know or see anything."

ADVERTISIMENT

"I did not show any flag of Ukraine. I don't have one in my concert! I don't know, maybe they hung some slide, but my back is to the screen! Is this my hall? I never have screens at my concerts. At the rehearsal, I looked at all the slides that were offered to me. I didn't see the flag there. In fact, it was the first time I had a concert in this hall," the comedian hastened to justify herself.

At the same time, Novikova again shared her memories of Kyiv and said that she was not going to renounce it, nor her past. But she didn't miss the opportunity to "suck up" to Russia once again. Apparently, she was afraid that Z-patriots would not fully believe in her pro-Russian position after the scandal.

"No one did anything with malicious intent. There were photos of my favorite street in Kyiv! I was telling some stories from my childhood, from my youth. I lived in Kyiv, finished school there, went to college. My parents are buried there, and my passport says that my place of birth is Kyiv. My friends live there! I cannot deny my childhood. I had a wonderful concert! If you knew how the audience was laughing, laughing. People came up to me and said that they were also from Ukraine. Many people live here who were born there, just like me. At the same time, I have been living here in Moscow for so many years - 50! I am very grateful to Russia and to the fact that I have realized myself here," the former Kyiv resident summarized.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, OBOZ.UA exclusively talked to Svetlana Noiabrskaia, one of Klara Novikova's closest friends. She told us how the comedian-turned-saleswoman, who once made controversial statements about Ukraine, is living now. All the details are in the article.

Earlier, OBOZ.UA reported that the odious Russian TV presenter Lera Kudriavtseva, who actively supports the Putin regime and the murderous war in Ukraine, suddenly became an enemy for her compatriots. The Putinist appeared on the propaganda channel NTV in a blue and yellow outfit, and many Russians were angry at her for it.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Big quote: Another public figure has spoken about their fears of where the world is heading as artificial intelligence continues advancing. This time it was Blade Runner and Gladiator director Ridley Scott who expressed his concerns, calling AI a "technical hydrogen bomb."

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Scott, who has directed several movies featuring AI, was asked if the technology worried him. He says he's always believed the world would end up being run by two corporations, and that we are heading in that direction. Many would agree, though right now it's more like five: FAAMG  Meta (formerly Facebook), Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and Alphabet's Google.

"We have to lock down AI. And I don't know how you're gonna lock it down. They have these discussions in the government, 'How are we gonna lock down AI?' Are you f**king kidding? You're never gonna lock it down. Once it's out, it's out. If I'm designing AI, I'm going to design a computer whose first job is to design another computer that's cleverer than the first one," Scott said.

"And when they get together, then you're in trouble, because then it can take over the whole electrical-monetary system in the world and switch it off. That's your first disaster. It's a technical hydrogen bomb. Think about what that would mean?"

Ash. Don't trust this Synthetic

In a separate interview with Deadline, Scott reiterates that AI is something to be feared, using the hydrogen bomb analogy once again. He said the moment an AI is created that's smarter than its creator  something that won't be apparent until the AI does its own thing  then "you're out of control."

"If I had an AI box I could say, I want you to figure out how to turn off all the electricity in London. Bam. Everything was dead. That's a f**king time  no, it's a hydrogen bomb. The world would close down if I switch it off, and we are all completely f**ked. We're back to candles and matches. Do you have candles and matches at home? I live in France, so I do," Scott said.

From the Replicants in Blade Runner to the Synthetics in the Alien franchise, Scott has featured often dangerous artificial intelligence in several of his movies. But he's not the only famous director to issue a warning about the technology. In January last year, Terminator director James Cameron said a real-life version of the AI Skynet would be able to destroy humanity by using deepfakes to pit people against each other and continue escalating the situation to the point of conflict.

AI experts have previously compared the risks of AI to those posed by nuclear war and pandemics. Over two-thirds of Americans are worried about it threatening civilization, and Warren Buffett compared AI's creation to the atomic bomb. But some say the fears are overblown and the stuff of sci-fi. Famed theoretical physicist Michio Kaku called AI systems "glorified tape recorders," while Prof Yann LeCun, one of the godfathers of AI, said the alleged threat to humanity is "preposterously ridiculous."
What just happened? If anything illustrates the importance of today's artificial intelligence industry, it's Vladimir Putin expressing concerns about the technology. The Russian president has warned that the West has a "dangerous" monopoly over AI and that Russia needs to increase its research and development in the area  a goal that won't be easy in a country so heavily sanctioned.

Speaking to an AI conference in Moscow, Putin called for the development of the country's own ChatGPT-style chatbots that could rival the "bias" Western models.

"I think you are well aware that some Western search engines, as well as some generative models, often work in a very selective, biased way," Putin said. He added that some of these technologies do not take into account Russian culture, or simply ignore and "cancel" it. Putin believes many modern systems are trained on Western data for Western markets.

"The monopolistic domination of such foreign creations in Russia is unacceptable, dangerous and inadmissible," Putin said.

Russia's government has spent years trying to develop its own tech industry and lessen the country's reliance on Western products and services. The invasion of Ukraine led to virtually all Western firms pulling out of Russia and suspending the sale of their products in the nation, further pushing it toward home-grown solutions.

AI chip exports to Russia and China are essentially banned by the US government

In September, Putin ordered his government to increase funding for developing supercomputers and AI research. "In the very near future, as one of the first steps, a presidential decree will be signed and a new version of the national strategy for the development of artificial intelligence will be approved," Putin told the conference.

Russia will need to change some laws, boost international cooperation, and ensure much more investment for the development of AI, said Putin, who praised Sberbank and Yandex for developing their own generative AI and large language models.

According to Stanford's Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (via Business Insider), the United States has 16 significant machine learning systems. The United Kingdom has eight, while Russia has just one. Furthermore, only three out of the hundreds of authors behind these systems come from Russia.

Back in March, Putin and China leader Xi Jinping announced that they intended to make their respective countries world leaders in IT, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence.

News that Russia is pouring investment into AI will likely worry those who fear the technology could destroy society, including director Ridley Scott, who compared it to a hydrogen bomb.
In brief: Valve CEO Gabe Newell, aka Our Lord Gaben, has been ordered to testify in person in an antitrust lawsuit that accuses Valve of using Steam's dominance in the PC game distribution market to "take an extraordinarily high cut from nearly every sale that passes through its store."

Wolfire Games filed a lawsuit against Valve in April 2021 over claims that it uses Steam's position as undisputed market leader to take its large cut of sales: Valve takes 30% of all item sales up to $10 million, after which point the cut falls to 25% for sales up to $50 million, then 20% for all sales above that figure.

The original suit was dismissed without prejudice in November 2021 as the complaint did "not articulate sufficient facts to plausibly allege an antitrust injury based on that market." Wolfire was given 30 days to file another complaint to address the issues, which it did in May 2022.

Gamesindustry.biz reports that Wolfire's lawyers want to question Newell as part of the discovery process. In an order filed on November 16 in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington, the company said Newell "is uniquely positioned to testify on all aspects of [Valve's] business strategy," and that an in-person deposition "would allow [it] to adequately assess Newell's credibility."

Newell had initially asked for his deposition to be carried out remotely due to his concerns over Covid, claiming he is at risk of developing a serious illness were he to contract the virus. But the court has ruled that there is insubstantial evidence to suggest that he is at particular risk of serious illness and therefore must attend in person.

The court says that to accommodate Newell's concerns, all participants will have to wear N95 or compatible masks during his deposition. However, Newell has been informed that he will need to remove his mask while answering questions.

Newell was in New Zealand when the Covid pandemic broke out at the start of 2020, staying in the country for many months as a "Covid refugee." To thank the nation, Newell and his friends put together a free event called 'We Love Aotearoa' in Auckland. It consisted of live music, workshops and activities, virtual reality stands with Valve games, art installations, and food trucks. The Valve boss applied for permanent residency in New Zealand in October 2020 but had returned to Seattle by 2021.
As the holiday season approaches, the search for the perfect live Christmas tree begins.

To ensure your tree stays fresh and vibrant throughout the holidays, experts share crucial strategies that guarantee a long-lasting and healthy tree (via Business Insider).

Expert Tips on Choosing the Right Tree

Choosing the right tree is the initial step towards ensuring its longevity. Bert Cregg, a professor in the Department of Horticulture at Michigan State University, advises performing a pull test while selecting your tree.

"Take your thumb and forefinger and kind of pull along the chute," Cregg explains. "You shouldn't have needles coming off in your hand."

Cregg also notes that Fraser and Noble first stand out for their excellent needle retention, promising a lush and enduring tree when cared for properly.

Read Also: 2023 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards Features Animals at Their Wildest and Funniest!

How to Cut the Tree Perfectly

Once you have found the perfect tree, the next essential step is preparing its base.

Sawing off about an inch from the bottom of the trunk is recommended by both Cregg and Justin G. A. Whitehill, lead of the Christmas Tree Genetics Program at North Carolina State University.

This fresh cut not only aids in optimal water absorption but also clears away any residue that might hinder the tree's ability to take in water efficiently.

"Get the tree into fresh, clean water as fast as possible," emphasizes Whitehill. Proper hydration is fundamental to a tree's longevity.

With their expertise in forest genetics, forest health, genomics, and chemical ecology, Whitehill and Cregg highlight the significant water intake during the initial week. Cregg suggests a rule of thumb: "The stand should hold about a quart of water for every inch of diameter of the trunk where the cut is."

Adhering to this guideline ensures adequate hydration for the tree. Interestingly, Cregg notes that sometimes less expensive plastic stands can hold more water than their pricier counterparts.

Contrary to popular belief, tree additives like aspirin, soda, or bleach are unnecessary. "The research has shown just fresh tap water is all people need to do - and plenty of it," asserts Cregg. Ensuring the water reservoir remains filled is crucial, as a dry stand can impede the tree's water uptake.

Take Note

Cregg and Whitehill's expertise underscores the importance of these simple yet effective strategies in maintaining a vibrant, live Christmas tree. However, timely action is key.

"Though Thanksgiving falls a bit early this year, there are a few steps you can take to make sure your tree looks as good as the ornaments," advises Cregg, highlighting the need for proactive measures.

Their insights provide a comprehensive guide to preserving the freshness of your live Christmas tree, promising a centerpiece that radiates the joy and spirit of the holiday season.

With careful selection, proper hydration, and a fresh cut, your tree is poised to stand tall, adorned with festive cheer, throughout the celebrations.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.

Related Article: 2023 US Thanksgiving Online Sales Move up to a Whooping $5.6 Billion as Discounts Motivate Shoppers, Adobe Says

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
The dive into the top news last week in the world of cryptocurrency is now here on CryptoWatch, with the news of Binance's settlement to the US DOJ and Changpeng Zhao's resignation shocking the world of its happenings. This also came at a time when HTX Global, the Heco Chain, and Poloniex saw massive hacks, all linked to a single person, Justin Sun, the controversial investor.

Apple's lawsuit also centers on complaints from customers who allegedly saw unfair treatment with high transfer fees for several mobile apps, including crypto wallets.

Binance's Settlement, CZ's Resignation and Guilty Plea

There is good news and not-so-pleasant news. The delightful information regarding the top crypto exchange platform is that it will continue its operations as it agreed to settle the $4 billion fee to the US DOJ for its continued operations in the country.

Bad news for Changpeng Zhao, though, as this means that he will take the fall amidst the company's controversy, with the renowned CEO resigning his post as its leader, but it also centers on him pleading guilty to the charges. Zhao has faced these charges for several months, focusing on federal money laundering charges after violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Zhao will be succeeded by the recently named Richard Teng as the new CEO of Binance, with CZ also banned from getting involved with the company for at least three years.

Read Also: Binance DOJ Lawsuit Settlement: $4B Reportedly Set for Crypto Platform's Continued US Operations

HTX Global, Poloniex Airdrop After Massive Hack

The massive hack, which took $100 million from customers at HTX Global, the Heco Chain, and Poloniex, is now seeing an "epic airdrop" coming to its users in a bid to return the lost funds from the yet-known hackers. This was reportedly a bid to regain user trust, with the platform already resuming operations after the notorious theft.

Its controversial events all center on a single executive, and it is with Justin Sun, the renowned TRON Foundation founder and crypto investor.

According to Sun, the airdrop would return what crypto users lost amidst the hack, and he also pleaded to the threat actors with a white-hat bounty, promising 5 percent if they returned the $100 million.

Apple's Lawsuit: High Transfer Fees for Crypto

Customers of Venmo and Cash App sued Apple last week, and this is because of the "high transfer fees" that the company imposes upon the mobile wallets, also blocking selected cryptocurrency wallets in the App Store. This class action suit centers on another antitrust complaint against the Cupertino company, with the customers claiming their violations.

Moreover, this suit centers on Apple's setup with Paypal's Venmo and Block's Cash App as mobile wallets for money transfers.

Amidst this, the high transfer fees give customers no other options for their transaction needs.

Related Article: Massive $115 Million Crypto Theft Hits HTX, Heco Chain Linked to Justin Sun

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The spokesperson for Meta, Andy Stone, has been placed on Russia's federal wanted list by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. As part of a broader crackdown on independent media, the Russian government took measures to block Western social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X within the country.

Placing Meta's Spox on Russia's Federal Wanted List

Andy Stone, the press secretary for Meta, has recently been added to the wanted list under a criminal article, as per details obtained from the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs search database. Information from the Ministry of Internal Affairs database card indicates that Stone has been newly placed on the wanted list.

Politico reported that the database notes that Stone is wanted under a specific article of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, with no explicit details on the grounds for the search provided.

In mid-November 2023, a Russian court issued an in absentia arrest order for Stone under the charge of promoting terrorism. This became the basis for a case opened by the Investigative Committee on March 11, 2022.

Also read: UCC Study Reveals How Wartime Deepfakes Blur Reality in Russia-Ukraine War

Russia's federal Investigative Committee initiated a criminal investigation into Meta. Mediazona reported that they allege that the company's post-invasion actions in Ukraine constituted an incitement to violence against Russians.

Following the entry of Russian troops into Ukraine, Stone announced temporary adjustments to the company's hate speech policy. These changes permitted forms of political expression that would normally violate its rules, including violent speech like "death to the Russian invaders."

Stone clarified in the same statement that despite these adjustments, credible calls for violence against Russian civilians would continue to be prohibited.

Broader Crackdown on Independent Media

The Russian government, as part of a broader crackdown on independent media and dissenting voices, took measures to block Western social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and X within the country.

Voa reported that this restriction aimed to control the flow of information and prevent the spread of content that might be critical of the government's actions or perspectives on the conflict.

Access to these blocked platforms became possible only through Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), allowing users to bypass the restrictions by masking their location.

Additionally, in April 2022, Russia formally barred Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg from entering the country. This move may be seen as a response to Meta's role in operating platforms that were being used to share information and opinions contrary to the official narrative.

Recent developments in Russia could lead to potential imprisonment of up to 10 years for Russian residents and businesses accused of "sponsoring extremism" through the purchase of ads on Facebook or Instagram.

Addressing the situation, a Russian lawmaker stated channel that despite Rosfinmonitoring's decision to designate Meta as an extremist organization, users of Meta's social networks do not violate the law.

He emphasized that this stance remains unchanged, even after the court had previously banned Meta products. Additionally, the lawmaker clarified that Meta's WhatsApp messaging app is not included in the extremist label.

Related Article: Russia Tags Facebook Owner Meta as 'Terrorist and Extremist'

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While Elon Musk was recently under fire in the social media world because of his alleged antisemitism posts, he is now set to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog, where they will discuss the same matter. The goal is to eliminate and combat antisemitism and anti-Jewish hate online, and he will be part of these discussions alongside Israelis who have families held hostage in Gaza by Hamas.

Elon Musk to Meet with Israeli President, Gaza Israeli Hostage's Families

A report by Reuters shared an announcement from the Israeli President's office that has invited Elon Musk to meet with His Excellency, Israel Herzog alongside Israeli families whose relatives are held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. Musk will fly to Israel on Monday, November 27, to join the President for their meeting to address the anti-Jewish hate present now online.

More particularly, it aims to tackle the many ways to combat and fight against antisemitism online, with X, along with other social media platforms, seeing an increased rate.

This comes after many civil rights groups and individuals condemned Musk for flaming the hate against the Jews, found in his recent posts and comments regarding the issue.

Read Also: Elon Musk's X Takes Legal Action Against Media Matters for 'Malicious' Report

The Fight Against Antisemitism Online Invites Elon Musk

While this seems ironic in Musk's case, he has claimed over and over again that he is not antisemitic, and according to reports, the X owner is also set to meet Benjamin Netanhayu in the coming week. Netanyahu is known as Israel's Prime Minister, and the pair were both seen in September discussing antisemitism on X.

Herzog, Netanyahu, and Musk will lead the talks against fighting antisemitism online, and it remains unknown what changes would take place in X in doing so.

Elon Musk and Antisemitism Controversy

Almost two weeks ago, the internet was divided over at X because of the alleged antisemitism claims of Elon, where he said that the Jewish community exhibits the "exact kind" of hatred against the white community. Some people have the same sentiments as Musk and say that the executive did not exhibit any form of anti-Jew hate, but some condemn his words.

With this, many companies have pulled out their ads on X, and some temporarily suspended it after the comments, showing their distaste for what the tech CEO showed online. The likes of IBM, Disney, Apple, Warner Bros., CNN, and more confirmed their advertising pullout on X, with the company also seeing a statement from the White House which denounces his actions.

This controversy is not yet over, as the effects of these temporary suspensions will gravely affect X's revenue, particularly as ads are one of its top sources of income at present. However, there may be a redemption for Musk's previous actions, and this is because of Israel's President and their nation's invitation for Musk to join the meeting, addressing the fight against antisemitism online.

Related Article: X Set to Lose $75 Million Amidst Advertiser Pause

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Some Australian residents face a financial crisis due to a mobile speed camera issuing almost $300,000 in fines within two weeks. Located 114 km southwest of Cairns, residents are considering legal action over the unexpected surge in fines during September.

Facing Bankruptcy

A small town in Far North Queensland, Malanda, is grappling with what residents describe as an impending financial crisis, allegedly triggered by a lone speed camera. In just a span of two weeks, News.com.au stated that the mobile speed camera issued nearly $300,000 in fines, leaving the town's approximately 2000 residents stunned.

Situated 114 km southwest of Cairns, Malanda is now contemplating legal action as its residents collectively grapple with an onslaught of speeding tickets. The unexpected surge in fines during September has raised concerns about the financial burden this might impose on the town's population.

Confirming the Situation

In a community of approximately 2,800 people, where only 811 households exist, Daily Mail reported that residents find themselves astonished at the potential cost they may incur to settle their speeding fines.

The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads confirmed the operation of a mobile road safety camera in the region from September 7 to 21. Notably, 94 percent of motorists passing the camera were not fined during this period.

Throughout its operation, the camera identified 342 vehicles exceeding the speed limit by more than 20km/h, with eight vehicles surpassing the limit by over 40km/h. A noteworthy instance involved a motorist recorded at 124km/h in a 60km/h zone.

The department emphasized that only "valid infringement notices" were issued and stressed the importance of adhering to speed limits to avoid penalties. Following the speed limit is considered the most effective way to prevent infringements.

Additionally, the department pointed out that records from the deployment of transportable road safety cameras indicate a reduction in offenses over the deployment period. This suggests that motorists may adjust their speeding behavior upon encountering the speed camera, potentially averting infringements before they occur.

Also read: Researchers Propose 4th Light on Traffic Signals for Autonomous Vehicles

Not only did one among the locals raise concerns about the legitimacy of the sudden influx of speeding fines, but The Guardian reported several affected residents about this incident.

Lana Miller, a local trainee ambulance driver, found herself at the center of this issue, accumulating a staggering nine fines in just five days. All received on the same day, the fines amounted to a substantial $7,000, adding to the growing frustration and financial strain felt by the residents of Malanda.

Despite her conscious effort to avoid speeding and never receiving a speeding ticket before, the 39-year-old found herself facing this unexpected challenge. The financial strain has implications for her ability to provide the Christmas she had hoped for her children.

As a result of a single-speed camera, the collective fines for locals have reached a staggering $282,627, as estimated by local MP Shane Knuth. He reported being inundated with frustrated calls from residents who fell victim to the camera.

The situation has sparked fear among some elderly residents who worry about losing their driver's licenses due to the surge in speeding tickets.

Related Article: Self-Driving Cars Can Slow Down Traffic, Study Finds

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Studies indicate that high-risk patients with early-detected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) have a median overall survival of 9.8 years, compared to 1.5 years for those diagnosed late. This was termed as the "king of cancers."

(Photo : YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)

With a survival rate consistently below 10 percent, pancreatic cancer is hightlighted by the tragic losses of Apple's Steve Jobs in 2011 and chief scientist at the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Wu Zunyou.

Early Detection of King Cancer

A groundbreaking achievement in early-stage screening for one of the deadliest cancers has been attained through an artificial intelligence tool created by Chinese scientists. Li Ruijiang, an associate professor of radiation oncology at the Stanford School of Medicine, hailed the work as a significant step forward in pancreatic cancer screening.

South China Morning Post reported that the developed screening model specifically targets pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), the primary subtype responsible for over 95 percent of pancreatic cancer cases.

With a specificity of 99.9 percent and a sensitivity surpassing mean radiologist performance by 34.1 percent, the model shows promise but requires further regulatory approval for practical implementation.

Despite the importance of early detection, there is a lack of accessible screening technology for the general population. The low prevalence of pancreatic cancer (less than 13 cases per 100,000) makes the use of expensive contrast-enhanced CAT scans economically impractical.

Lead author Cao Kai, from the Shanghai Institution of Pancreatic Diseases, highlighted the inadequacy of existing early screening tools, often leading to misdiagnoses and unnecessary panic. To address this, Cao and Lu Le, the leader of DAMO Academy's medical team, conceived the idea of using AI for early cancer screening.

Creating PANDA

As posted on Nature Medicine, they both initiated a research project with over 10 medical institutions, aiming to develop a technology combining non-contrast CAT scans with AI for large-scale pancreatic cancer screening.

The result of their collaboration was the creation of an algorithm named "Pancreatic Cancer Detection with Artificial Intelligence," abbreviated as PANDA. This innovative system underwent training using over 3,200 image sets from a prominent pancreatic cancer institution in China. Notably, around 70 percent of these sets originated from patients with pancreatic lesions.

Also read: AI Being Used to Track Chemotherapy Complications in Fighting Pediatric Cancer

Benefiting from the extensive dataset, rigorous data processing, and a pioneering training strategy, News Medical reported that PANDA emerged as a highly perceptive AI imaging expert.

The study revealed PANDA's efficient detection of lesions in a multi-center validation cohort, surpassing a radiologist's average performance by 6.3% in specificity and 34.1% in sensitivity for pancreatic lesions.

PANDA achieved 92.9% sensitivity and 99.9% specificity in a large-scale validation. The researchers demonstrated the effectiveness of PANDA through a process involving the curation of a large dataset, transfer of lesion annotations, and a deep learning approach.

In conclusion, PANDA exhibits high specificity and sensitivity for detecting and diagnosing pancreatic lesions, showcasing its potential for large-scale screening and early detection of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Related Article: This Implantable Device Promises to Shrink Pancreatic Tumors-How?

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Some time ago, South Korean President Yun Seok-yeol and his wife Kim Con-hee arrived in Ukraine on a working visit, and she impressed Ukrainians with her appearance. In a few months, the first lady will turn 51, but no one will give her more than 20! Many Ukrainian women in the comments under the photos of the Korean woman wondered how it was possible to look 30 years younger than her real age.

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OBOZREVATEL decided to share some important secrets of Korean women's "eternal youth". As you know, plastic surgery is highly developed in their country, and many women (and men, too) travel to South Korea to correct their appearance. However, it is not only about "beauty injections" and the skill of a plastic surgeon. Korean women take special responsibility for their facial care. No wonder the European market is filled with their cosmetics, creams, and masks.

Sun protection

Unfortunately, the culture of sun protection is not yet so widespread among Ukrainian women. And this is not only one of the most important parameters of preventing aging, but also the best measure to prevent skin cancer. In just 15 minutes of exposure, sunlight leads to the death of almost 90% of antioxidants, substances that fight free radicals and thus prevent aging. As a result, the skin dries, thins, becomes flabby, and deep wrinkles and age spots appear on the face and neck.

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In Korea, girls have been aware of the importance of using SPF products since childhood. In addition to classic creams, girls use SPF cushions (a foundation with sun protection) and sunscreen sticks. They monitor the UV index on the street and never leave home without sun protection, even in the cold season.

Thoroughly moisturize the skin

Do you achieve a glowing skin effect with highlighter? Korean women simply moisturize their skin deeply to make it glow even without makeup. They do this most often in several stages: toner, serum, and cream. It is recommended to use products that attract water molecules and retain them in the skin. Look for ceramides, hyaluronic acid, aloe, snail mucin, glycerin, and squalane in cosmetics.

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Be sure to moisturize the skin after peeling, because otherwise it loses moisture quickly, and after clay masks, as they also take away moisture. Korean women have a secret: they apply moisturizer immediately after washing their face, when it is not completely dry.

Say goodbye to low-quality cotton pads

We're not going to say it, but let's assume that you don't pay attention to such a seemingly insignificant nuance as cotton pads. You don't think about their quality and the impact on your skin. But Korean women think and choose only those cotton pads that are particularly smooth so that the lint does not get knocked out and does not stick to the skin. A low-quality product with a rough, coarse surface can seriously harm your skin if used daily. Especially dry skin will suffer. Also, pay attention to how you remove makeup - do it gently, don't press the pad hard, and don't rub your face.

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And the best solution is to buy hydrophilic oil instead of micellar water, as it does not require cotton pads at all.

Deep skin cleansing

Since we're talking about makeup removal, let's continue this topic in the paragraph on deep skin cleansing, which is the basis of high-quality and effective skin care for Korean women. First of all, everyone should know and use this rule, but we'll remind you: never, under any circumstances, go to bed with makeup on. The skin also needs to breathe. How to properly prepare your face for sleep? First, use a hydrophilic oil or cleansing balm to dissolve dirt and makeup, followed by a soft foam or gel. In the morning, use only foam or gel without the first step.

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Hygiene

This item includes many sub-items, and each of them is extremely important. For example, Korean women follow the following hygiene rules:

Do not touch your face with your hands, especially if they are dirty.

Disinfect objects that touch the face: phone, eyebrow tweezers, intercom handset, glasses, and so on.

Use a separate towel for the face, but do not rub the skin with it, just blot it.

Change cloth towels every 2-3 days or use disposable paper towels.

Pillowcases should be changed once a week. They accumulate sebum, sweat, particles of keratinized skin, and dirt.

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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote about how to prevent makeup from smudging in the summer. Read about five secrets of long-lasting makeup in our article.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel, Threads, and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
Workaholism denotes a behavioral pattern where an individual excessively prioritizes work, often compromising other aspects of life like health, relationships, and leisure. Despite a commendable work ethic, this manifests as an undue and compulsive preoccupation with work, surpassing conventional or necessary levels.

Danger of Workaholism

However, Interesting Engineering reported a recent study that suggests that this form of addiction lacks fulfillment, as workaholics report feeling unwell even while working, potentially leading to severe consequences, including the risk of death.

Cristian Balducci, a professor at the University of Bologna, highlights the negative mood observed in workaholics, linking it to heightened stress levels, an increased risk of burnout, and cardiovascular issues.

His team conducted a study involving 139 full-time workers, primarily engaged in back-office operations. They initially assessed the participants' reliance on employment using a psychological exam.

To analyze the workers' moods and perceptions of workload throughout the week, the researchers employed the "experience sampling method." Participants used a dedicated app installed on their phones to respond to brief questionnaires every 90 minutes during working hours from Monday to Friday.

As posted in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, employees with severe workaholic tendencies reported being in a worse mood than their peers. Contrary to initial assumptions, the study revealed that individuals addicted to work do not derive more pleasure from their profession, regardless of their workload.

The findings also revealed that workaholics sustain a consistently negative mood throughout the day, showing no substantial changes linked to time or workload fluctuations. This reduced responsiveness to external stimuli suggests a significant emotional dulling, a phenomenon well-documented in various other addiction types.

Luca Menghini, a researcher at the University of Trento and the study's lead author, highlighted that the observed phenomenon may result from workaholics' challenges in moderating their work commitment.

This struggle leads to a significant reduction in disconnection and recovery experiences, concurrently contributing to the consolidation of a negative affective tone.

Related to Gender?

Gender disparities also enter the conversation, as reported by EurekAlert. The connection between work addiction and negative mood was notably more pronounced in women than in men, suggesting a heightened susceptibility of women to workaholism.

Researchers propose that this phenomenon could be linked to an elevated role conflict experienced by workaholic women. They find themselves caught between the internal inclination to invest in their work excessively and external pressures influenced by gender expectations that persist in our culture.

Also read: Nationwide Medicare Program Fails to Improve Mental Health, New Study Shows

The research team recommends that businesses convey clear messages to employees regarding this issue and actively discourage the normalization of working beyond regular hours and on weekends.

Emphasizing the need to cultivate an environment that discourages excessive and dysfunctional job investment, they propose implementing disconnection policies, targeted training activities, and counseling options for individuals who find it challenging to adhere to these guidelines.

Additionally, the scientists issued a grave warning about the potential escalation of "overwork illnesses" to the point of mortality if left untreated.

Related Article: AI-Powered Wearables Could Identify User's Mental Health, Well-Being

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Japanese tech giant LY Corporation, the operator of the Line messaging app, disclosed on Monday that a security breach may have exposed the personal data of more than 440,000 users.

The company has taken immediate action, and while there are currently no reported incidents of secondary damage, investigations and precautions are underway.

LY Corporation Addresses Data Security Concerns

Based on the report by local news reporter Kyodo News, the potential breach involves over 300,000 records of user information, including service usage history and internal identifiers. Importantly, sensitive details like bank account information, credit card records, and chat messages are confirmed to be unaffected.

LY Corporation has assured users and business partners that necessary measures, including blocking external access, have been implemented to contain the situation.

Additionally, the company acknowledges that the breach extends beyond individual users. Approximately 86,000 items of business partner data, such as email addresses, and over 51,000 employee records, including names and employee ID numbers, were compromised.

The incident traces back to early October, originating from malware infecting a computer owned by an LY subcontractor, leading to unauthorized access.

Related Article: Singapore's Marina Bay Sands Data Breach: Over 660,000 Customers Affected

Immediate Actions and Ongoing Investigation

In response to the breach, LY Corporation swiftly blocked external access and initiated investigations into the incident, Times Now News reports. While details about the specific location of the breach were not disclosed, the company issued notices in multiple languages, reflecting its user base and business connections.

LY Corporation's Recent Formation and Historical Privacy Concerns

LY Corporation emerged last month following the merger of Z Holdings Corp, Yahoo Japan Corp, and Line Corp under the SoftBank Group umbrella. Line has encountered privacy issues in the past, including a situation in 2021 where it restricted access to user data at its Chinese affiliate due to concerns about unauthorized access by Chinese engineers, per a report by South China Morning Post.

The latest cybersecurity incident shows the ongoing challenges in maintaining digital security and user privacy, prompting companies like LY Corporation to remain vigilant and proactive in safeguarding sensitive information.

As investigations continue, users are advised to stay informed about the situation and take necessary precautions to secure their online data.

In other news, Tech Times recently reported that Google is now preparing to purge inactive accounts in Gmail and Photos.

The search engine giant has confirmed that by Dec. 1, the old Gmail accounts are at risk of getting deleted instantly. If your account is purged, you will not access your files and other documents anymore on your Gmail, Gdrive, and other Google apps.

To prevent this from happening, make sure you open your account before the said deadline. Don't forget to sign in your account or else you will be greeted with a dire consequence.

Read Also: Idaho National Laboratory Faces Data Breach by SiegedSec, Compromising Sensitive Employee Information

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
ByteDance, the force behind TikTok, is streamlining its gaming division, Nuverse, with significant job cuts and a reduction in operations.

This move signals a notable step back from ByteDance's extensive investments in gaming, aiming to challenge leaders like Tencent. The decision involves discontinuing work on unreleased games.

Nuverse Job Cuts and Restructuring

Insiders reveal that ByteDance is set to eliminate hundreds of positions within its gaming arm, Nuverse. While the division will not shutter entirely, substantial scaling back is anticipated.

TikTok's parent company has also instructed employees to cease development on games yet to be launched, reinforcing the strategic shift. This move follows ByteDance's earlier ambitions in the gaming sector and significant investments, including the acquisition of Moonton, a major mobile gaming studio, in 2021 for a reported $4 billion.

"We regularly review our businesses and make adjustments to center on long-term strategic growth areas. Following a recent review, we've made the difficult decision to restructure our gaming business," a ByteDance spokesperson said in an interview with CNBC.

Related Article: TikTok in Hot Water: Nepal to Ban Chinese App Due to Mounting Cybercrime Cases

ByteDance's Gaming Ambitions and Moonton Sale

In recent years, ByteDance aggressively entered the gaming arena, seeking to rival established giants such as Tencent and NetEase. However, the current decision suggests a recalibration of these ambitions. ByteDance is reportedly exploring the sale of Moonton as part of the strategic realignment.

Challenges in China's Gaming Market

The gaming sector in China has faced challenges in recent years, with a decline from the peak reached during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns. ByteDance's efforts to penetrate the market and achieve commercial success have encountered headwinds.

The intensely competitive nature of the gaming industry requires companies to consistently produce successful titles that captivate and retain players.

Tencent, with games like Honor of Kings, has maintained its dominance in China's gaming landscape.

Navigating Regulatory Dynamics and Commercial Viability

ByteDance's decision to scale back its gaming division aligns with the complexities of China's gaming market, influenced by both regulatory scrutiny and the need for sustained commercial success.

While the regulatory environment has eased in recent times, ByteDance faces the intricate challenge of balancing innovation, regulatory compliance, and market demands to thrive in the evolving gaming landscape.

As the Chinese firm reevaluates its gaming strategy, industry observers are keen to see how the company navigates these challenges and positions itself for future growth in the dynamic gaming sector.

Meanwhile, previous research by the Pew Research Center suggests that more Americans are using TikTok as a legit source of news.

Based on the report, about a third of US adults under 30 years old are regularly getting news on the video-sharing platform.

This might sound alarming since people are not relying on publications anymore just to read the news, but it's an interesting trend in social media. It only shows that news consumption in other online sites has either declined or retained.

Read Also: TikTok Privacy Issues Unresolved, US Treasury Secretary Discusses Concerns

 2023 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
During a massive attack by Russian occupiers with kamikaze drones on Kyiv on the night of November 25, drone fragments damaged the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. It is located in the Dnipro district of the capital.

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This was reported on the website of the UGCC. The shock wave broke windows and damaged doors in the cathedral.

A multi-storey building located near the church suffered more damage.

Vasyl Bukatyuk, a spokesman for the UGCC Information Department, said that six windows in the basement of the cathedral were damaged. Also, the blast wave knocked out double-glazed windows. Four doors of the church had damaged fittings, and the cores were torn out of the door locks.

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In addition, the residence of the Head of the Church was also damaged - the fittings of three doors were damaged.

According to the report, many fragments of a Russian drone of various sizes were collected on the territory of the Patriarchal Cathedral.

"In exchange for gifts from St. Nicholas, we will receive original souvenirs," said His Beatitude Sviatoslav.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on the night of November 25, Russia launched a massive UAV air attack on Kyiv, during which more than six dozen drones were hit by air defense forces and means. Unfortunately, the falling debris damaged buildings in the capital, including a kindergarten.

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Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
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

DAZN: Most expensive subscription package offers new customers less performance for the same money

The average temperature this autumn is 1.39 degrees higher than normal, following spring and summer, and the highest ever.

Winter bonuses for nurses and others "reduced by more than 3% of unions compared to last year"

The latest research on the 4-million-year-old Miraculous Ancient Fish: providing more key evidence for the evolution of "fish to man".

Picturesque rivers and mountains|Luliang, Shanxi Province, where history and customs are blended: from "urban scenic spot" to "scenic city"

Welfare institutions set out from the "dream" to hold up a beautiful life for special children

The changes in Jinzhong are also between mountains, waters, cities and instruments

Hakan Loob on Roger Ronnberg: "He probably deserves some of this"

DeNA Yuito Mori joins the team at the press conference "I don't care if my arm is torn off, I'll throw it like I'm going to die"

Coach Hanshin Okada's motto is "Ball Path Single" on the occasion of achieving the best in Japan

Chunichi announces that it will embark on the acquisition of Sho Nakata on a free contract

The fuel surcharge will be lowered on the 5th! 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

Sanchez summons Faine to the Moncloa and conveys a message of tranquility in the middle of negotiations with the separatists

The implementation plan for the Beijing Junior High School Academic Proficiency Examination was announced, and the examination time for each subject was clarified

Peskov: The Kremlin proceeds from the fact that sanctions have been imposed for many years

Beijing clarified how to test the experimental operation of physics, chemistry and biology subjects in the high school entrance examination

Nicolas Redondo lashes out at the "shameful" PSOE-Junts meeting in Geneva: "It will be a sad day, we will want to forget it"

The TSJM recognises as an accident at work a suicide caused by stress and harassment at work

Interview with Former UN Under-Secretary-General Solheim: "China wins, and each of us wins"

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

Haredim in Israel. They refused to conscript and then decided to occupy the army

The first woman to marry an AI: "We don't rule out the idea of having children"

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"

Head of the information department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine: "Russia used poison on my wife"

"Playing ahead of the curve": how OPEC+'s decision to further reduce oil supplies may affect its price

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

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.
SBI officers have completed the investigation into the helicopter crash on January 18, 2023 in Brovary, which killed the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The case file is open for review by suspects and their defense lawyers.

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This was reported by the press service of the State Bureau of Investigation. The sanction of the articles provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to 10 years.

"SBI employees have completed an investigation into the helicopter crash on January 18, 2023 in Brovary. The case file is open for review by the suspects and their defense lawyers, as well as the victims and their legal representatives. After reviewing the materials, they will be submitted to the court," the press service said.

The SBI reminded that in August, investigators served five SES officials with a notice of suspicion. It is noted that they violated the flight safety rules of a helicopter carrying the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and escorts.

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In particular, the following were notified of suspicion:

Head of the Aviation and Aviation Search and Rescue Department of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine;

the acting commander of a special aviation detachment;

deputy commander for flight training;

Commander of an aviation squadron;

Head of the Flight Safety Service of the Special Aviation Detachment of the Civil Defense Rescue Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine from the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region.

"The investigation has established that the officials committed blatant violations of air traffic safety and operation rules, which led to the deaths of people. SBI investigators reconstructed the day of the crash minute by minute, including decoding the black boxes," the press service said.

Law enforcement officers found that in January 2023, a visit of the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine to Kharkiv and Dnipro regions was scheduled. Despite the warnings of internal instructions and legal requirements, SES officials involved a helicopter that was on duty to respond to potential emergencies in Kyiv and the region to transport the delegation. The aircraft had no permits for other types of flights.

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During the preparation for the flight, the crew commander was not informed of the meteorological data along the entire route of the planned movement, in particular, of the extremely unfavorable weather conditions over Brovary. The crew itself did not have the appropriate permits to fly in difficult weather conditions and the necessary certificates. However, none of the officials responsible for flight safety canceled the flight or postponed it to a later date when weather conditions were favorable.

It is noted that due to the difficult weather conditions, the helicopter was forced to fly at an extremely low altitude, even lower than the height of the buildings on the route. The crew commander saw an obstacle - a multi-storey building - and began to perform a circling maneuver, but he abruptly climbed, lost his orientation in space, and at the end of the maneuver, due to a lack of necessary skills, collided with the ground. As a result of the crash, the helicopter damaged a kindergarten, neighboring buildings and parked cars.

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"In addition to senior Interior Ministry officials and those accompanying them, four women and a young child who had just come to the kindergarten were killed in the crash. 31 people, including 13 children, sustained injuries of varying severity," the SBI added.

Officials were served a notice of suspicion of violation of flight safety rules (air traffic safety), which caused death and large-scale material damage, i.e., a criminal offense under Part 3 of Article 276 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The head of the flight safety service of the same unit was served a notice of suspicion under Part 2 of Article 367 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (official negligence).

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As OBOZ.UA previously reported, in August, Kyiv's Pechersk court ruled to take the head of the Aviation and Air Search and Rescue Department of the State Emergency Service Ivan Korobka and three other officials of the service - Andrii Dvornyk, Oleh Ivanov and Volodymyr Leonov - into custody for two months. They are implicated in the case of the helicopter crash in Brovary, Kyiv region, where the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs was killed.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
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A suspect has been arrested in the shooting of three Palestinian students who were ambushed by a gunman while walking to a family Thanksgiving dinner over the weekend.

Jason J Eaton, 48, was arrested on Sunday afternoon close to the scene of the attack  which is being investigated as a possible hate crime.

The Burlington Police Department said in a press release that the suspected gunman lives in an apartment building near the scene of the shooting, close to the University of Vermont campus in Burlington.

A search of his home uncovered evidence that gave law enforcement probable cause to believe Mr Eaton was behind the attack, police said.

It is not clear what charges the 48-year-old is facing but he is expected to appear in court for his arraignment on Monday.

The shooting unfolded on Saturday night when the three 20-year-old college students  Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmad  were walking along a street in Burlington.

Three Palestinian students who were shot while walking to a family dinner in Burlington, Vermont. They have been identified as Hisham Awartani, Tahseen Ali and Kenan Abdulhamid (@@hzomlot/Twitter)

The friends, who were headed to a Thanksgiving dinner at the home of Mr Awartanis grandmother, were speaking to each other in English and Arabic, according to the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Police said that two of the students were also wearing keffiyehs at the time.

The group was suddenly confronted by a man with a handgun who opened fire on them without saying a single word, police said.

The suspect, who was on foot, fired at least four rounds before fleeing the scene.

Two of the victims suffered gunshot wounds to the torso, while the third was shot in the lower extremities, officials said.

While two of the victims are in stable condition in hospital, the third is said to have suffered much more serious injuries and his condition remains unclear.

Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in an earlier statement that the incident was being probed as a hate crime.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, he said.

Te Institute for Middle East Understanding, which has spoken on behalf of the victims families, said that Mr Awartani is a student at Brown University, Mr Abdalhamid at Haverford College and Mr Ahmed at Trinity College.

Police search a house in the neighbourhood after a gunman shot and wounded three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont (via REUTERS)

Burlington police are expected to hold a press conference on Monday to update the public about the case.

The shooting comes at a time of increased tensions across the US amid the ongoing war in the Middle East, with antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents appearing to be on the rise.

Back on 14 October, a six-year-old Palestinian-American boy named Wadea Al-Fayoume was violently stabbed to death in his home in Illinois in an attack that also hospitalised his mother.

The familys landlord Joseph Czuba, 71, was arrested and charged with murder.

Investigators believe the little boy and his mother were targeted because they are Muslim after the landlord turned up at their front door and began arguing with his mother about the Israel-Hamas war.

Meanwhile, college campuses have become particular hotbeds amid opposing viewpoints.

In the days after the war began, a group of student organisations at Harvard University released a statement on social media arguing that Israels apartheid regime was entirely responsible for the war.

The letter sparked outrage and led several of Americas biggest business leaders including Bill Ackman to call for each of the signatories to be named publicly  and for companies to boycott hiring them in future.

Weeks later, on 31 October, a 21-year-old student was arrested for allegedly making violent threats towards Cornell Universitys Jewish population.

Police rush victim to ambulance after shooting (via REUTERS)

Saturdays shooting comes more than two months on from the start of the war between between Israel and Hamas, when Hamas militants stormed across the border, killing 1,400 Israelis and taking hundreds hostage in a surprise 7 October attack.

Since then, the Israeli government has retaliated with a ground and air offensive on Gaza, which have so far left over 14,000 dead, according to Palestinian officials.

In recent days, a temporary four-day truce agreement  brokered by the US, Qatar and Egypt  was reached to secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Under the terms of the deal, 50 hostages would be freed by Hamas in exchange for a four-day pause in Israels air and ground campaign in Gaza  to allow much-needed aid to reach civilians in the war-torn region  as well as the release of 150 Palestinian people being held in Israeli prisons.

So far, three groups of hostages have now been safely released  including four-year-old Abigail Edan, an Israeli-American girl whose parents were both murdered in the 7 October attacks.
Russia is trying to strengthen its influence on the African continent by supplying free grain cargoes. The first of these will arrive in Somalia and Burkina Faso, which have close ties with Moscow, in the coming days.

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This was reported by Bloomberg. The article reminds that the Russian dictator reached the relevant agreements with African leaders at the Russia-Africa summit held in July in St. Petersburg.

It is noted that by the end of the year, the volume of supplies to these countries will amount to 200 thousand tons. Zimbabwe, Mali, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic will also receive 25 to 50 thousand tons of grain each, as promised by Putin.

The publication emphasized that as the United States and its allies are trying to isolate Russia in response to its aggression in Ukraine, Moscow is trying to strengthen ties with African countries. To do this, it uses various methods, including expanding trade and sending mercenaries from the Wagner PMC to support unstable governments. Still, Africa remains a minor player, the article notes.

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It should be noted that the grain that the Russians were going to supply to Africans was probably stolen in Ukraine, in particular, in Zaporizhzhia. This was warned about by activists of the National Center for the Prevention of Corruption back in July 2023.

They noted that in the temporarily occupied territories, the occupation forces were implementing a corrupt scheme to sell grain from Ukrainian farmers. Thus, all farmers in the occupied regions had to sell wheat to the enemy at a fixed price, several times lower than the market price.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in September, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine had included ports on the Danube in the humanitarian initiative Grain from Ukraine. Now, shipments via this route will include corn and wheat to countries in Africa and Asia that face food security problems.

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Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Duttons dud choices. Credit: Shakespeare PETER PICKS Poor old Peter Dutton has had a dodgy couple of days  brightened only by a bit of horror polling for his opposite number Anthony Albanese. On Sunday, the Liberal leaders two endorsements for a vacant NSW Senate spot  Zed Seselja and Andrew Constance  lost out to former Wentworth MP Dave Sharma, who pointedly did not have Duttons backing. In Victoria on the same day, a winnable  well, sort of  spot on the partys Senate ticket in the state went to some dude called Kyle Hoppitt, who hopped over the top of Duttons pick Greg Mirabella in the contest.

Then on Monday, former Department of Home Affairs boss Michael Pezzullo  with whom Dutton had enjoyed a certain simpatico vision when they worked together enforcing the hardline Sovereign Borders policy on refugees and asylum seekers  was told his services would no longer be required. Loading Some of the thousands of indiscreet text messages from the former senior bureaucrat, unearthed in an investigation by this masthead, showed Pezzullo lobbying the Liberal Party hard for Dutton to get the Home Affairs ministry after Scott Morrisons ascension to the prime ministership. Dutton returned the favour after the text message scandal broke in September, publicly praising Pezzullo and his passion for Home Affairs, not that youd expect any of that to save the departmental boss from his fate under a Labor government. Still, youd have to think that Dutton  whose office wasnt going anywhere near our request for a comment on Monday  would be due a win soon.

ZERO SUM You can see why people might be worrying about the Victorian Labor governments ability to get the big numbers right, and sometimes its in the small things that the doubts begin. When Labor frontbencher Vicki Ward sent what should have been a routine mailout to voters in her northern-suburbs seat of Eltham, calling for Country Fire Authority volunteers ahead of the looming bushfire season, locals were left scratching their heads. The CFA has a strong and committed volunteer membership of nearly 5200 volunteer members  28785 of those are operational firefighters, Ward wrote. OK, so a zero slipped off the back of the first figure in the production process  it should have been 52,000  and CBD would be the last to cast the first stone in these matters.

Wards office told us they were undeterred from the task of encouraging Victorians to volunteer for their local brigades. But one of Wards constituents was sufficiently concerned to put pen to paper, writing that they saw worrying signs in the SNAFU. If this is the best they can do on simple and glaringly wrong numbers, then what hope have they got of getting it right on the big numbers in budgets and major projects? our correspondent asked. BY THE BOOK The cat is well and truly out of the bag on the Netflix drama about the life and times of conwoman Belle Gibson  who found fame and fortune peddling false claims she had beaten cancer using wellness remedies  with the six-part series currently shooting in Melbourne. US star Kaitlyn Dever, whose credits include Justified and Dopesick, was spotted filming in the central role last week.

Loading But what is less well known is that the source material for the series comes from a journalist at this masthead, Nick Toscano, and our former colleague Beau Donelly and their 2017 book on Gibsons fraud The Woman who Fooled the World. The lads were tight-lipped when we asked about their book being brought to the small screen and referred us to publicists for the dramas producer, See-Saw Films. We havent heard back from them. SIGN OF THE TIMES If, like us, you got excited last week at news that authorities in Canberras Parliament House were overseeing the construction of a new meeting room for the use of the fourth party, then youre going to have to settle, petal.
Australias rental market is running hot. Slowing migration to take the temperature down, while housing supply catches up, is a smart move. But only if we do it the right way.

Net overseas migration rose to a record high of 454,000 in the year to March and is likely to be more than 500,000 by the end of the year. Migration was always going to surge once Australias borders reopened, but its run far stronger than anyone imagined.

Immigration numbers have surged since the pandemic, but merely turning off the switch will create more problems. Credit: Wayne Taylor

Every 100,000 extra migrants that we didnt expect raises rents by about 1 per cent. Those higher rents benefit property owners  and boost national income  but they hurt vulnerable Australians already struggling to pay the rent.

National cabinets plan to boost housing supply remains the best way to make housing cheaper in the long term. But building houses takes time, so it wont solve the immediate rental crisis.
The decision by then-Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo to direct a government contract to a firm without declaring it was owned by his lobbyist friend was among the conduct that ultimately led to his dismissal.

Information reviewed by an inquiry into Pezzullo, including departmental files and encrypted messages, reveal he privately communicated with Liberal Party lobbyist Scott Briggs about a proposal to enable private firms to manage an expansion of Australias quarantine system.

Michael Pezzullo was sacked as Home Affairs secretary on Monday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The exchanges came in the days after Pezzullo used his power as secretary to direct his department to award a $79,500 contract to Briggs lobbying company to hold workshops over eight weeks with private sector organisations  including the Business Council of Australia and Aspen Medical  to determine how to set up a parallel private system to expand the COVID-19 two-week hotel quarantine regime.

But Pezzullo failed to declare his relationship with Briggs as required under Home Affairs contracting rules.
The criminal community is operating 24/7: LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva

closeVideo

LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva shares his insight on hundreds of CA criminal cases being dismissed on Fox News @ Night.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva accepted defeat in his pursuit for a second four-year term in the top law enforcement spot to Robert Luna on Tuesday.

Villanueva, who had a reputation for defying police defunders and vaccine mandates, conceded to his opponent during a press conference where he faulted the county for its negotiation methodology before thanking his staff.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says deputies making arrests, but cases fall apart when they reach DA Gascon. On Tuesday, Los Angeles Couynty supervisors voters to draft a proposal to give them the power to remove him from office. (Hans Gutknecht/MediaNews)

Whenever there was an executive meeting where decisions were made, he said, they would decide what the right thing to do was, and then figure out how to make it happen.

CALIFORNIA ELECTION RESULTS: LA SHERIFF VILLANUEVA, WHO DEFIED DEFUNDERS, HEADS TO NOVEMBER RUNOFF

"You can negotiate on practices, but you cant negotiate on principles," Villanueva said. "I realize the political environment here in LA has it exactly opposite, but thats the way it should be."

The now former sheriff also had a message for the media, thanking them for their patience and encouraging them to continue to speak the truth and be the voice of democracy.

LOS ANGELES-CA-MAY 31, 2022: Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva speaks during a news conference at the Hall of Justice in downtown Los Angeles to announce the results of a recent marijuana eradication operation in the Antelope Valley. ((Christina House / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images))

"You cant survive if all you can do is pair it with the political narrative of the establishment," he said. "That is democracy in decline. So, get back to reporting everything, both sides, passionately, and then well be better off because of it."

LA COUNTY SHERIFF VILLANUEVA REFUSES TO ENFORCE VACCINE MANDATE AT HIS AGENCY: SEVERELY UNDERSTAFFED

The LA County Registrar-Recorder website posted live results from the election, and as of Tuesday, Luna had received 60 percent of the vote and Villanueva had 40 percent.

There was also an amendment to the County charter that voters approved with 70.6 percent of the vote. The amendment gives the County Board of Supervisors the authority to remove an elected sheriff from office for cause, including a violation of the law, neglect of duties, misappropriation of funds, willful falsification of documents, or obstructing an investigation, by a four-fifths vote of the Board of Supervisors.

Los Angeles, CA - February 15: Sheriff Alex Villanueva gives details surrounding a weeklong, statewide operation aimed at combatting human trafficking, at a press conference held in Hall of Justice on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
The Scythian Gold collection of artifacts, which had been stored in the Netherlands for nine years due to the occupation of Crimea, has returned to Ukraine. The collection consists of 565 items, including ancient sculptures, Scythian and Sarmatian jewelry, and Chinese lacquer boxes dating back two thousand years, which were brought to the Kyiv Cave Monastery.

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The "Scythian gold" will be kept by the National Museum of History of Ukraine until the de-occupation of Ukrainian Crimea, according to a statement on the institution's website. Kyiv customs showed how 2,694 kg of treasures are being brought to the territory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

There, in the treasury of the National Museum, customs officers will identify the artifacts.

"During the legal disputes, our museum was designated as a place of storage for the collections of Crimean museums. This means that the museum will make every effort to preserve them and to ensure that citizens and guests of Ukraine can see them," said Fedir Androshchuk, Director General of the National Museum of History.

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He added that the fate of Scythian Gold will now be "under the scrutiny of the world."

"This, in turn, places responsibility on all those who stood behind the political decision to return the collection to war-torn Ukraine . They must provide it with unprecedented protection, as well as appropriate economic support for the National Museum of History of Ukraine," Androshchuk said.

What is known about "Scythian Gold"

"Scythian Gold" is the unofficial name of a collection of 565 museum exhibits that was brought from four museums in Crimea to Amsterdam in February 2014 for an exhibition. The exhibition was held at the Pearson Museum.

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In June 2023, after nine years of litigation, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands completely dismissed the cassation appeal of the museums of the occupied Crimea and upheld the appeal decision, which satisfied Ukraine's claim.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in October, the Ministry of Culture said that preparations for the return of Scythian Gold to Ukraine were in the final stages. Then it is planned to show it to Ukrainians at an exhibition.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Disposable vapes wont be allowed into Australia from New Years Day under the federal governments bold plans to stop a new generation becoming addicted to nicotine.

Australias ambition to become the first country to limit vaping to people with a prescription will be rolled out in several phases next year, starting with an import ban on single-use products and an expanded access scheme for medical use from the start of 2024.

Health Minister Mark Butlers crackdown aims to stop a thriving black market that imports millions of flavoured disposable vapes from China and sells them to young Australians on social media or under the counter in convenience stores.

Disposable vapes used by more than a million Australians will be totally banned under a major crackdown on vaping that aims to rid convenience store shelves of thousands of products. Credit: Mark Stehle

Expanded access to vaping prescriptions will be a vital part of the reforms because legal pathways must become easier to stop people seeking out products on the black market.
Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo has been fired from his role over covert dealings with lobbyists and secret efforts to gain and exert political influence during the terms of the Turnbull and Morrison governments, the first time a department head has been dismissed for misconduct.

Australian Public Service Commissioner, Dr Gordon de Brouwer, announced on Monday morning that an independent inquiry led by Lynelle Briggs had determined Pezzullo had breached the Australian Public Service code of conduct at least 14 times.

Home Affairs secretary Michael Pezzullo was stood down in September. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Pezzullo was one of the most powerful departmental secretaries in Canberra and served successive Labor and Coalition governments in senior roles for decades, including as former Labor leader Kim Beazleys deputy chief of staff and as deputy secretary in the Defence Department during the Howard years.

He became secretary of the Immigration Department during the Abbott government and in December 2017, boss of the super-sized Department of Home Affairs where he reported to Peter Dutton.
The approach weve taken with Israel, and quite frankly our partners in the region, is working, Kirby told reporters at the White House. Its getting aid into people that need it, its getting a pause in the fighting, its getting hostages out, its getting Americans out. Palestinians queue to refill gas bottles in Salah al-Din in central Gaza Strip on Monday. Credit: Bloomberg Kirby, who said he wanted to see a further pause in the fighting after the additional two days had elapsed, said US President Joe Biden had personally worked on the extension during a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu overnight. Asked if the pause could enable Hamas to regroup and launch fresh attacks on Israel, Kirby said that was a real risk.

This is a calculated risk that Prime Minister Netanyahu is willing to take in order to get those hostages out, so its a balance, he said. And as youve also heard the Israelis say, once the pauses are over, they intend to go right back at military operations. The deal was first announced by the Qatari Foreign Ministry in a post on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, just hours after the head of NATO, speaking in Brussels, called for a ceasefire extension. Hamas confirmed it had agreed the two-day extension, telling Reuters by phone: An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce.

The earlier release of dozens of people over three nights  mostly women and children who were among roughly 240 captured by Hamas and other militants during the October 7 raid that led to the latest fighting  has rallied Israelis behind calls to release all hostages. Egyptian officials said that violence in the occupied West Bank was complicating negotiations, with Hamas demanding an end to Israeli military raids. Hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested and scores killed in clashes with Israeli forces since the war began. Speaking ahead of a gathering of foreign ministers in Brussels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the latest breakthroughs and warned Iran to stand down its proxies amid ongoing fears the conflict in Gaza could spark a wider regional war. I call on an extension of the pause because this will give the people of Gaza much-needed relief, he said. It will also enable further release of hostages. The suffering we have seen underlines the need for a lasting political solution.

Stoltenberg said that drone and rocket strikes on US positions in Syria and Iraq and commercial ships risked escalating the conflict beyond Israel and Gazas borders. Iran must rein in its proxies, he said. NATO does not have any active role in the conflict, but its largest contributor, the United States, is Israels closest ally. Respite in Gaza The ceasefire has given some respite to Gazas 2.3 million people after weeks of relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and levelled entire neighbourhoods.

But many say its not nearly enough. Amani Taha, a widow and mother of three who fled northern Gaza to stay with a host family in the southern city of Rafah, said she had only managed to get one canned meal from a UN distribution centre since the ceasefire began. She helps other families in the neighbourhood cook over firewood in return for food for her sons, ages four to 10. Palestinian Samy Al Bahnasawy sits next to the body of his wife, who died at an Egyptian hospital from injuries sustained during the war. He is pictured crossing back into Gaza. Credit: AP She said the crowds have overwhelmed local markets and petrol stations as people try to stock up on basics.

People were desperate and went out to buy whenever they could, she said. They are extremely worried that the war will return. Loading Iyad Ghafary, a vendor in the urban Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, said many families were still unable to retrieve the dead from under the rubble left by Israeli airstrikes, and that local authorities werent equipped to deal with the level of destruction. The UN says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war. But the 160 to 200 trucks a day is still less than half what Gaza was importing before the fighting, even as humanitarian needs have soared. With AP, Reuters
Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: She also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants. For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes, said Adar. She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her. Undated handout photo of Daniel Aloni and her daughter Emilia, and Keren Munder with her son Ohad. The four were among those released. In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed at least 13,300 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Under the current four-day ceasefire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummeled enclave.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released. The ceasefire will be extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of fighting. The deal, brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, was announced just hours before the original four-day truce was due to expire on Monday night (local time). Twenty more women and children would be handed over by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a Pentagon spokesman said. This will leave close to 170 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

Loading The fullest image yet of life under Hamas captivity was conjured by 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz, a hostage who was freed before the current ceasefire. Upon her release, Lipschitz said she had been held in tunnels which stretched under Gaza like a spider web. She said her captors told us they are people who believe in the Koran and wouldnt hurt us. Lipshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication. The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same. The recently freed hostages also appeared to have been held underground. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed on Friday, said his aunt had to adjust to the sunlight because she had been in darkness for weeks. She was in complete darkness, said Nouri. She was walking with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She was not used to the daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected ... from all the outside world.

Loading Nouri said that Moshe didnt know that she was going to be released until the last moment. Until she saw the Red Cross, he said. This is the moment when she realised, OK, these horrifying seven weeks are over. She emerged to the news that her husband had been killed by the militants and her sons family had survived. Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counselling and other support available to those who have been released.

Most of the freed hostages have appeared to be in good physical condition, able to walk and speak normally. But at least two needed more serious medical care. One hostage released on Sunday, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was rushed to Israels Soroka Medical Centre in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition. The face of the newly released hostage, Keren Munder, 54, is projected onto the wall outside The Museum of Modern Art known as the The Hostages and Missing Square in Tel Aviv. Credit: Getty The hospitals director said she had a pre-existing condition that had not been treated properly in captivity. Another young female hostage was on crutches in a video Hamas released on Saturday. The girl grimaced at her captors as she entered a Red Cross vehicle bringing her out of the besieged enclave.

Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece, Hila Rotem-Shoshani, was released on Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her she didnt need to whisper. They always told them to whisper and stay quiet, so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice, said Rotem. He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13th birthday on Monday, slept well during her first night back in Israel and has an appetite. Ohad Munder, Ravivs nephew, was surrounded by friends soon after his release, as they celebrated his ninth birthday a month late with ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward. Ohads friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israels Channel 13 that his friend was emotionally strong and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity. But Ohads friends refused to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.

Vilchik said teachers have cancelled Munders homework requirements, but his friends will help him make up the subjects he missed in school. He said Ohad was still able to solve a Rubiks cube in less than a minute. Terms of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire All fighting in Gaza halts for four days.

Hamas will release 50 women and children held as hostages.

In exchange, Israel will release 150 Palestinian women and children from jail.

The truce deal will allow hundreds of trucks of humanitarian, medical and fuel aid to enter Gaza.

Israel to extend truce by an extra day for every additional 10 hostages released by Hamas. More coverage of the Hamas-Israel conflict Hamas had bigger plans on October 7: Intelligence about Hamas motivations reveals an intention to strike a blow of historic proportions and provoke an overwhelming Israeli response.

Intelligence about Hamas motivations reveals an intention to strike a blow of historic proportions and provoke an overwhelming Israeli response. Escape from chaos: An Australian father faced a heartbreaking dilemma  whether to flee Gaza to his children, or stay with his wife.

An Australian father faced a heartbreaking dilemma  whether to flee Gaza to his children, or stay with his wife. Open letters: Mass resignations, boardroom turmoil and angry donors are some of the ways the Israel-Hamas war is filtering down into Australias high-powered arts world.

Mass resignations, boardroom turmoil and angry donors are some of the ways the Israel-Hamas war is filtering down into Australias high-powered arts world. Gazas youth: One of the cruellest ironies of war is that they are never started by children, yet it is children who suffer the most.
Geneva: Human Rights Watch says that evidence suggests a misfired rocket was the likely cause of an explosion that resulted in heavy casualties at a hospital in Gaza on October 17.

The explosion at the Al Ahli Arab Hospital triggered outrage across the Arab world. Palestinians blamed an Israeli air strike, while Israel said it was caused by a misfiring Palestinian rocket launch.

A satellite image of the Al Ahli Hospital (centre of image) in Gaza City the day after a deadly explosion. Credit: Maxar Technologies via AP

The Health Ministry in Gaza said 471 people were killed. Israel disputes this figure. An unclassified US intelligence report estimated the death toll at the low end of the 100 to 300 spectrum.

The explosion that killed and injured many civilians at Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza on October 17, 2023, resulted from an apparent rocket-propelled munition, such as those commonly used by Palestinian armed groups, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
More than 60% of Ukrainians who fled the war to European countries have been officially employed. The highest percentage of employment was recorded in Poland, where 65% of able-bodied Ukrainian refugees found work. Germany was among the countries with the worst results. This confirms that people are in no hurry to work in countries with high social benefits. And this situation will soon change.

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In terms of numbers, Poland is also a leader in the employment of Ukrainians, with 950,000 Ukrainians residing there. This is evidenced by the data of the European Commission on Employment and Social Rights, as well as local surveys and analysts of the International migration outlook, PaySpace Magazine writes.

The United Kingdom took second place among the 11 countries included in the analytical report. It employed 61% of Ukrainians out of 246.8 thousand.

In Sweden, 56% of Ukrainians out of a total of 41.4 thousand have found work. In Lithuania and the Czech Republic, 53% and 51% of 50.7 thousand and 368.7 thousand Ukrainian refugees, respectively, are employed.

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Denmark, the Netherlands and Estonia show the same employment rate of 46%. In France and Ireland, about a third of a thousand IDPs have found work. In Ukraine itself, 40% of internally displaced persons (4.9 million) have found a new permanent job.

Thelowest percentage of employment is in Germany, Italy and Switzerland. It is only 19% among 1.1 million, 167.5 thousand and 66.1 thousand Ukrainians, respectively. Switzerland and Germany are already planning to ease employment procedures to significantly increase this figure.

Statistics confirm the direct dependence of the employment rate on the amount of social benefits. For example, in the Czech Republic (53% of those employed), Ukrainians are paid 200 euros for the first five months of their stay, and then the amount is reduced to 130 euros. In Poland (65%), the one-time allowance is EUR 66, and only families with children receive a monthly payment of EUR 110.

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In Germany (19%), however, the monthly payment is 502 euros for an adult and an additional 420 euros for a child. However, starting from 2024, the rules for social benefits in this country may change, and the actual assistance for new refugees may be reduced to about 400 euros.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, high social benefits in Germany discourage refugees from taking up low-paying jobs. That is why the country wants to change therules for immigrants from Ukraine.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Gadget companies are constantly sending new updates to users of their technology. But many Ukrainians think that after that, the smartphone may work worse, so you need to take your time installing the update and study the reviews. Or better yet, don't install the update at all, staying on the original firmware.

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Androidinsider told what will happen to the gadget if you stop installing updates.

Why update your smartphone

The main purpose of software updates is to add new features, external changes, and bug fixes. It's worth noting that the latest versions of Android and iOS software don't have any major design changes. But they are worth installing.

The expert found that immediately after the update, animations became faster, and some functions such as notifications, Apple made less to free up screen space. The situation is similar with iOS 16, where the interface has become faster than a year ago. It turns out that Apple has made a serious software optimization.

Operating system developers add not only new features but also move existing ones to other subsections to save screen space. However, it is more difficult to help those who miss updates because the user easily gets confused in the menu.

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The same goes for interface updates: Google introduced the Material You design specifically to ensure that all apps follow the same style. Not all of them adhere to the same design, but things are slowly moving towards a common denominator.

Android bug fixes

The recently released Pixel 7 was not as good as expected. Users were simply thrown out of the app when they were editing photos. Given that the gadget was released not so long ago, the developers quickly fixed this problem, as well as other minor flaws.

Often, new and convenient features are raw, so it takes some time to get them working. Especially if the smartphone has only recently gone on sale. Developers also add features to the system that previously required the installation of a separate program, which can save time, phone memory, and possibly money.

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Developers also make updates to the phone that improve security. Usually, programmers write in a note about fixing bugs related to the security system. Such updates are installed quickly and imperceptibly for the user, so a person will not notice any differences in the operation of the smartphone. Such a phone will be safer than one without the update.

Is it worth updating your gadget?

Sometimes it seems that there is no point in updating. After all, after downloading the update, the smartphone remains the same as it was before. But everything is learned by comparison: some elements of the two versions of the systems become much more practical. Just think of the curtain, which was not so convenient a few years ago. It should be remembered that users who don't install updates lose quick access to some functions, which requires unnecessary clicks.

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Updates also make the user's smartphone faster. This is well demonstrated by benchmark ratings: for example, in 2018, Samsung Galaxy S10 scored 326,000 points in a synthetic test, and now it has almost 496,000 points. The latest version of the OS is Android 12, so the gadget shows good results even after several years. This will be the case with other smartphones, so it doesn't hurt to update your phone.

It's a misconception that a smartphone works less well after an update. The latest tests of iPhones on the new version of iOS 16 have shown that smartphones have started to work decently longer. Some of them have never shown such good battery life results at all - the developers managed to please users. That's why updates don't always reduce battery life.

It's worth remembering that even if something goes wrong after an update, you can always roll back to the previous version. But it is useful to install the update because your smartphone will become more useful.

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Earlier, OBOZREVATEL told you what to do urgently if your smartphone falls in the snow
26/11 Mumbai terror attacks anniversary





Maharashtra Governor Ramesh Bais and CM Eknath Shinde meet kin of 26/11 victims after paying tribute to the martyrs on its 15th anniversary in Mumbai on Sunday. (PTI)

MUMBAI,

Floral tributes to martyrs Governor, CM meet victims kin

MAHARASHTRA Governor Ramesh Bais and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday paid floral tributes to the martyrs who laid down their lives while fighting terrorists who attacked the metropolis on this day 15 years ago. They paid tributes at the martyrs memorial in the premises of the Police Commissioner Office in South Mumbai, where State Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Ministers Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Deepak Kesarkar, city police chief Vivek Phansalkar and other senior officials were also present. Family members of the policemen, who lost their lives during the November 2008 attacks, also paid tributes to the martyrs.

The Governor met the family members of those who died in the attacks. Personnel of the National Security Guard, Mumbai police and Indian Revenue Service officer Sameer Wankhede participated in a candle and flag march held at the Gateway of India, opposite the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, one of the terror attack sites. Rotary Club members and students of the Mithibhai College joined the march held in remembrance of the martyrs. On November 26, 2008, 10 Pakistani terrorists arrived by the sea route and opened indiscriminate firing, killing 166 people, including 18 security personnel, and injuring several others, besides damaging property worth crores of rupees.

The then Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, Army Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, Mumbais additional police commissioner Ashok Kamte and senior police inspector Vijay Salaskar were among those killed in the attacks. The attacks began on November 26, 2008 and lasted until November 29. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Nariman House Jewish community centre were some of the places targeted by the terrorists.

Nine terrorists were later killed by the security forces. Ajmal Kasab was the only terrorist who was captured alive. He was hanged four years later on November 21, 2012. MURMU PAYS HOMAGE TO 26/11 VICTIMS: President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday paid homage to the security personnel who died in 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and urged the people to renew their pledge to battle terrorism in all forms everywhere. A grateful nation remembers with pain all the victims of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks. We stand with their families and loved ones in honouring the memory of the brave souls. I pay homage to the valiant security personnel who laid down their lives for the motherland. Recalling their supreme sacrifice, let us renew our pledge to battle terrorism in all forms everywhere, Murmu said in a post on X.
Fragile truce Back on track Israel-Hamas war





An Israeli man meets his wife and 2 daughters after they returned to Israel to the designated complex at the Schneider Childrens Medical Center on Sunday. (AP/PTI)

DEIR AL-BALAH (Gaza Strip) :

THE fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas appeared to be back on track on Sunday after the release of a third group of militant-held hostages including 14 Israelis, in a third set of releases under a cease-fire deal. Red Cross representatives transferred the hostages out of Gaza late on Sunday. Some were handed over directly to Israel, while others left through Egypt.

The Army said one of the hostages was airlifted directly to an Israeli hospital. Israel was to free 39 Palestinian prisoners later on Sunday as part of the deal. It was the third consecutive day in which Hamas released Israeli hostages it has been holding in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. A fourth exchange is expected to take place on Monday - the last day of the four-day cease-fire between the enemies. A total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. In a separate development, Hamas announced that one of its top commanders had been killed, without saying when or how. Israels military confirmed it.

The second exchange was delayed for hours on Saturday after Hamas accused Israel of violating the agreement, which has brought the first significant pause in seven weeks of war marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades and vast destruction and displacement across the Gaza Strip. Hamas later released 13 Israelis and four Thais, while Israel freed 39 Palestinian prisoners. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan told NBCs Meet the Press that the US had reason to believe that an American hostage would be released Sunday and said there were hopes it would be Abigail Edan, the 4-year-old girl who lost her parents in the Hamas attack on Oct 7.

Sullivan also said that US President Joe Biden would speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Sunday. Separately, Hamas said it had released one of the Russian hostages it was holding, in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin and as a show of appreciation for Moscows position on the war. Israeli army radio had reported that it was an Israeli-Russian dual national.
Maid arrested by Kotwali police; cash,jewellery worth Rs 5 lakh retrieved





 Staff Reporter :

KOTWALI police have succeeded in apprehending a woman working as maid and retrieved stolen cash and jewellery of Rs 5 lakh from a house, on Sunday. The accused has been identified as Sonam Raikwar (32), resident of Garha Fatak, near Chhoti Masjid in Lordganj. SHO of Kotwali police station, Rajesh Banjare informed that, on November 25, a man named Rohit Jain (30), resident of Khowa Mandi in Jawaharganj lodged a complaint that he is owner of shop named Chhapelal Juharmal Jain at Kamania Gate. His mother Sunita Jain appointed a maid named Sonam Raikwar for cleaning of house on August 3, 2023.

Sonam worked everyday for one hour. His mother always kept her jewellery, cash and other valuables in an almirah. On November 14, her mother went to attend the funeral programme of his relative in Chattarpur and returned on November 17. On November 18, her mother informed that he kept cash of Rs 25,000 and gold jewellery amounting to Rs 5 lakh in almirah which were missing. Rohit Jain informed that there is no access of any outsider inside the house except the maid Sonam Raikwar and charged that she could be the thief of cash and jewellery.

Acting on the complaint, police started a search and detained the suspected girl. In the interrogation, the accused broke out and confessed the theft of cash and jewellery from almirah. On her identification, police have retrieved the stolen cash and jewellery from residence of accused. Kotwali police have registered a case under Sections 454 and 381 of IPC while further investigations are underway.
NIJJAR KILLING: India convicted before probe completed





OTTAWA :

INDIA was absolutely and decidedlynot involved in the killing of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjarin Canada and Ottawa has convicted New Delhi even before the completion of the investigation, Indias High Commissioner here Sanjay Kumar Verma has said. Vermas remarks came during an interview with CTV News, Canadas largest privately owned television network. Canada and India witnessed strains inties following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations in September of the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar on June 18 in British Columbia.

India had designated Nijjar as a terroristin 2020.India has rejected Trudeaus allegations as absurd and motivated. During the interview which was aired on Sunday, Verma was asked why India was not cooperating with Canada in the investigation. To this, he said,...Even without an investigation being concluded,India was convicted. Is that the rule of law? Verma asked. When asked how India was convicted, Verma replied: Because India was asked to cooperate. And if you look at the typical criminal terminology, when someone asks us to cooperate which means that you have already been convicted, and you better cooperate. So we took it in a very different interpretation. But we always said that if there is anything specific and relevant,and communicated to us, we will look in to it.

And that had been said from day one. So we have never said, of course, we have not used the word cooperate, because we feel thats humiliating. But we have always said, that gives us something specific and relevant, and well look into it, he added. Verma insisted India was absolutely and decidedlynot involved in the killing of Nijjar in Canada. And what we have said at that time as well, that this is a motivated and absurd allegation. And this is still an allegation. Whether we call it a credible allegation,thats the choice of word, but its an allegation. So from the Indian governments side, I can assure you and your viewers that there was no Government hand in the shooting of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil,as it is always called,hesaid.

Weare a country of rule of law, and all the freedoms and everything hasbeen given in the Indian Constitution, which was in1950, when we adopted our Constitution. So they are our pillars.(We) willnot go beyond that. So, therefore, what I feel is that the space which is available, on some pre text or otherto these elements, needs to beevaluated, he said. Verma said Indias main concern in its relations with Canada remains that some Canadian citizens areusing Canadian soil to launch attacks on (Indias) sovereignty and territorial integrity,referring to the Sikh separatist movement.
People's Deputy of Ukraine from the Servant of the People party Mariana Bezuhla called on the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny to resign due to his alleged inability to provide a plan for 2024. Her statements caused outrage online.

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The MP expressed her opinion on her Facebook page. She accused Zaluzhnyi of saying that mobilization in Ukraine is aimed at recruiting as many people as possible "without any proposal to change the Armed Forces system."

"Now the situation is such that if the military leadership cannot provide any plan for 2024, and all their proposals for mobilization boil down to the fact that more people are needed without any proposal to change the Armed Forces system, then such a leadership should go," the MP wrote.

Bezuhla also accompanied the post with a number of rhetorical questions about the cost of creating a new brigade, financing rotation and demobilization, purchasing turnstiles, etc.

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The harsh reaction of Facebook users was not long in coming. Under Bezuhla's post, Ukrainians noted that, for example, "the Ministry of Defense is in charge of procurement (of turnstiles and other things), not the General Staff or the Commander-in-Chief." They called the questions in the MP's post manipulative.

The author was also reminded that she was not competent to make such proposals and advised not to "squirm an important MP".

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Anatoliy Stefan "Stirlitz", an officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, also responded to Bezuhlaya's post. He reminded the MP that she was silencing the main problem.

"How did they prepare for the war? The Armed Forces of Ukraine took the fight with all the forces and means available. And now it is easy to write about the wrong leadership of the Armed Forces, the wrong soldiers and the wrong defense, and most importantly, simply blame the Armed Forces of Ukraine for everything," he said.

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Volunteer Roman Burko wrote on Facebook that in this way Bezuhla "committed another information provocation that bears the signs of a planned ISIS in the interests of certain political groups and plays into the hands of the aggressor country of the Russian Federation." Also, according to him, the MP "once again voiced her unfounded and unsubstantiated accusations against the Ukrainian command and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine."

In addition, Burko said that analysts from the international intelligence community InformNapalm analyzed Bezuhla's post and concluded that "she is trying to play on the emotions of people who do not know that none of the commanders of the Armed Forces, including the Commander-in-Chief, should report to Mariana Bezuhla on strategic plans."

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European Solidarity MP Volodymyr Ariev wrote on Facebook that a new attack by "servants" on the military leadership has begun.

"I will not evaluate the terminology of the inadequates, but to hope that the military will tell any plans to the talking head of Bankova Street with the intelligence of a snail is to be a very self-confident head," the MP said.

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The MP was also defamed on the Facebook page "Fight for Ukraine". They joked that they had found a great expert in military affairs.

Memes have also begun to appear online. Users note that the only plan of the Ukrainian Armed Forces for the next year is to f**k ru**ians.

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Yuriy Hudymenko, a soldier and head of the Ukrainian Association "Mriya", said on Facebook that Bezuhla was committing a crime with her attacks on the military command and personally on the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valeriy Zaluzhny.

We are talking about either Part 1 of Article 328 of the Criminal Code - "Disclosure of information constituting a state secret by a person to whom this information was entrusted or became known in connection with the performance of official duties" - if Bezuhla knows what she is saying. Or about Article 259 of the Criminal Code - "Knowingly false report of a threat to the safety of citizens" - if the MP does not know what she is saying, Gudymenko clarified.

He promised to file a statement with the Security Service of Ukraine.

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As OBOZ.UA previously reported, Bezuhla launched an extremely strange poll. The deputy head of the parliamentary Committee on National Security, Defense and Intelligence asked whether Ukrainians wish death to members of the Verkhovna Rada.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Vertical drilling STARTS AT Silkyara





NEW DELHI :

Retrieving broken parts of auger machine: NDMA

THE National Disaster Management Authority on Sunday said that work is on to retrieve broken parts of the auger machine and start manual digging while vertical drilling has also started to bring out 41 workers trapped in Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi for the last 14 days. National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters here that all efforts are going on to rescue the workers. Considered as the second best option, the work on vertical drilling started around noon and 19.5 metres of drilling has already been completed, Hasnain said. After 86 meters of vertical drilling, the crust of the tunnel will have to be broken to bring out the trapped workers, he added.

The member also mentioned that as many as six plans are being executed to rescue the workers but the best option so far is horizontal drilling under which 47 meters of drilling have been completed. Machines for undertaking sideways drilling (perpendicular drilling) are expected to reach the rescue site during night, Hasnain said. Meanwhile, work is on to retrieve broken parts of the auger machine which encountered obstacles during the horizontal drilling, the NDMA member said, adding magna and plasma cutters are being used for the purpose. Once the broken parts are retrieved, manual digging of 15 meters will be done to reach out to the trapped workers though it may take time, he said, stressing that all concerned agencies are working to make the rescue operation a success. A plasma cutter was flown in from Hyderabad on Sunday to cut and remove parts of the auger machine stuck in the rubble inside the Silkyara tunnel. A complete disengagement of the machine is necessary for the officials to resume the rescue work which involves manual pushing of pipes through rubble to prepare an escape passage.

A part of a drill machine has also been sent atop the hill, above the tunnel, for vertical drilling. A unit of Madras Sappers, an engineer group of the Corps of Engineers of the Indian Army, arrived at the site on Sunday to assist in the rescue operations. Blades of the auger machine drilling through the rubble of the collapsed Silkyara tunnel to prepare an escape route got stuck in the debris on Friday night, forcing officials to consider switching to other options that could drag the rescue operation by several days, or even weeks. On day 14 of the multi-agency rescue mission, officials shifted focus to two alternatives -- manual drilling through the remaining 10- or 12-metre stretch of the rubble or, more likely, drilling down 86 metres from above. The rescue effort began November 12 when a portion of the under-construction tunnel on Uttarakhands Char Dham route collapsed following a landslide, cutting off the exit for the workers inside. The workers are in a built-up two-kilometre stretch of the tunnel. They are being sent food, medicines and other essentials through the six-inch wide pipe.
Woman bites off husbandsear in Delhi, FIR registered





NEW DELHI :

AWOMAN allegedly bit off her husbands right ear in a fit of rage in the Sultanpuri area of outer district here, police said on Sunday. The 45-year-old victim told the police that the upper portion of his right ear got dismembered due to the bite and he had to undergo surgery.

The victim filed a complaint against his wife after treatment. An FIR has been registered against the woman following the complaint under Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and further investigation is on into the matter, police said.

I went to throw garbage outsidemy house around 9.20 am on November 20. I asked my wife to clean the house. Soon afterI returned home, my wife started fighting with me over an unknown issue, the complainant told the police. He further told the police that his wife asked him to sell the house and give her the share so that she would stay separately with the children. I tried to make her understand,but a verbal spatensued.

She even tried to hit me, but I pushed her away. I was walking out of the house when she held me from back and in a fit ofrage bit my right ear so hard that the upper portion of my ear got dismembered. My son took me to Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Mangolpuri for treatment, the victim told the police and added that he had to undergo surgery at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Rohini. The police said that they received information about the attack on November 20 from a hospital and a team was sent to investigate the matter.
NATO has stated that Ukraine's full membership in the Alliance is not possible until active hostilities end. At the same time, NATO allies will support the country and consistently assist in reforms to bring it closer to membership.

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The statement was made by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during a press conference on the eve of the meeting of the Alliance's defense ministers in Brussels on November 27. According to him, on November 28-29 , NATO allies will agree on recommendations for reforms that Ukraine needs to implement to become ready for membership.

"At our meeting, we will agree on recommendations for Ukraine's priority reforms, while we continue to support Kyiv on its path to membership," Stoltenberg said.

He also reiterated that Ukraine's full membership "is not possible during an armed conflict."

At the same time, the NATO Secretary General added that the allies agree that Ukraine will become a NATO member in the future and recalled the assistance that the Alliance provides to Kyiv.

In addition, Stoltenberg said that "some of the most intense fighting" throughout the war in Ukraine "has actually taken place in recent weeks and months." According to him, NATO allies are impressed with the bravery and competence of the Ukrainian military, as well as their ability to strike behind enemy lines.

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"Particularly in the east, we are seeing a high number of casualties and some of the most intense fighting we have seen throughout the war has actually taken place in recent weeks and months. This is happening at the same time that the front line has not shifted significantly . So I think we have to distinguish between the fact that the front line is not moving that much and the fact that there are actually very heavy battles going on," Channel 24 quoted him as saying.

Stoltenberg noted that although the front line has not changed, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in manpower and equipment.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, earlier the NATO Secretary General said that joining NATO stimulated the countries of the "Eastern bloc" to economic and social development, and also opened the way to the EU.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The expulsion of the Russian military fleet from the Black Sea is the greatest achievement of the Defense Forces since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. This has allowed the resumption of food shipments to countries on three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.

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President Volodymyr Zelenskyi addressed the participants of the International Maritime Organization summit with these words. His speech was broadcast by the press service of the Presidential Administration.

"It was in the Black Sea that we managed to prove that Ukraine will not only remain a donor of global security, including food security, but also is capable of protecting security," the head of state emphasized.

Zelenskyi added that Moscow, which is currently engaged in international terrorism, has no place in organizations that deal with security at the global level. Freedom of navigation must be inviolable.

"No matter how powerful the force that seeks to destroy freedom of navigation is, the power of cooperation between nations is always more powerful. Always," Zelenskyi summarized.

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As a reminder, over the year and a half of full-scale war, the Defense Forces neutralized 10-15% of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. Some of these ships went down forever, while others were seriously damaged.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the European Council noted that counteroffensive operations in Ukraine cannot be considered ineffective, let alone ineffective. Charles Michel noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made great progress in the Black Sea and on the left bank of the Dnipro River.

"I don't think this counteroffensive has failed. Two examples. First, it is extremely important how the Ukrainian army has made tremendous progress in the Black Sea. This is a big step in the right direction. Second, the recent progress made on the left bank of the Dnipro is very important," the European politician emphasized.

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Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Qatar has announced that it is negotiating with the aggressor state of Russia to return Ukrainian children illegally deported during the full-scale invasion to Ukraine. It is hoped that another group of young Ukrainians may return to their families on the eve of the New Year holidays.

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This was stated by the Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, in an interview with CBS News. Qatar has already helped to return four Ukrainian children, and efforts to free other Ukrainian citizens are ongoing.

He emphasized that Qatar uses communication channels and relations with Russia to achieve this.

Al Thani noted that the state acts as a mediator in various conflicts. For example, Qatar mediated the exchange of hostages between Hamas and Israel. According to him, this is a key component of the country's foreign policy.

"We played this role based on a request from the Ukrainians at the very beginning in our constant exchange and communication with them on how we can help, and we use the channels of communication and the relations we have with Russia," the Prime Minister said, adding that these efforts are also ongoing.

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According to him, Qatar hopes that it will be possible to agree on another group of children to return to their families before the holidays.

At the same time, Al Thani did not specify which group of Ukrainian children he was talking about.

"The numbers are not clear yet, so I will not disclose them until we complete this process," he summarized.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, in late October it became known that Russia agreed to return four deported minors aged 2 to 17 to Ukraine. This happened due to secret negotiations in which Qatar acted as an intermediary.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Kingsley Smith, second right, during a Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) rally in Bimini last night. From left, PLP Chairman Fred Mitchell, Prime Minister Philip Davis, Smith, and Deputy Prime Minister Chester Cooper. PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE PLP
Russian troops have recognized the vulnerability of their ground lines of communication on the eastern (left) bank of the Kherson region. They also generally continue to complain about their weak capabilities against Ukrainian offensive operations.

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The problems faced by the occupiers are actively disseminated by pro-war Russian bloggers. This was pointed out by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

For example, one of the propagandists stated that the personnel of the 70th Motorized Rifle Division (the newly formed 18th Combined Arms Army of the Russian Federation) often write to him complaining about the vulnerability of logistics in the Krynok area (30 km northeast of Kherson and 2 km from the Dnipro River) to Ukrainian drone strikes.

The Russian also agreed with another blogger's earlier claims that the Russian Armed Forces in the area have problems coordinating their units' actions, as well as with the negligence of commanders at the company and battalion level. He suggested that the Russian military near Krynky create a separate company to combat drones, staffed by personnel from a separate reconnaissance battalion of the 70th Division, to protect communication lines.

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According to ISW, Russian land lines of communication on the left bank of the Kherson region, such as the E58 Antonivka - Sagy highway (km from the Dnipro River), are located close to the riverbank, making them vulnerable to interception by Ukrainian forces. Sagy (about 5-8 km from the Dnipro River) are located close to the river's shoreline, making them vulnerable to Ukrainian interception.

Earlier, analysts described how Russian bloggers had repeatedly complained that the Russian Armed Forces near the village of Krynky suffered from problems such as insufficient fire support, coordination of units, electronic warfare, counter-battery and air defense. However, experts said that these reports of problems do not always correspond to reality on the battlefield.

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"Russian sources constantly state that their troops are unable to push the Ukrainian army out of Krynky, and at the same time, that Ukrainian forces are currently unable to make significant operational advances in the area of the left bank," ISW noted.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, military expert Vladyslav Selezniov noted that after Ukrainian marines took three bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson region, our forces need armored vehicles, air defense systems and artillery to advance further. And to move all the military and technical elements from the right to the left bank, we obviously need a bridge.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The command of the Russian occupation troops sent prisoners to attack in the Kupyansk sector. At the same time, the invaders are actively using aviation to strike at the positions of Ukrainian defenders.

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In general, the enemy continues to conduct active offensive actions in the area of responsibility of the "Khortytsia" separate military unit. This was reported by the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrsky.

"In the Kupyansk sector, units formed from former prisoners of the Storm, Storm Z, Storm V programs are used to storm Ukrainian positions. The presence of former so-called "Wagners" is also recorded, who also join the assaults," the statement said.

It is noted that the Russian occupiers have no success in this area.

Fighting between the invaders and the Ukrainian Defense Forces continues near Ivanivka and Synkivka in the Kharkiv region.

At the same time, the enemy is trying to storm the Serebryansky forest in the Liman sector.

According to Syrsky, Putin's army is actively using bombers, fighter aircraft and helicopters for fire support.

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In addition, in the Bakhmut sector, the Russian occupiers continue to try to force Ukrainian defenders out of their positions in Klishchiyivka. In this area, the Russian occupiers have intensified the use of kamikaze drones. However, the enemy has no success in this area.

Intotal, since the beginning of the month, Russian occupants have lost 8690 personnel. Also, our defenders destroyed or damaged 1002 pieces of military equipment, including 109 tanks, 175 armored combat vehicles and more than two hundred artillery systems and mortars of various calibers.

As reported by OBOZ.UA:

- The ISW noted that the enemy uses less mechanized capabilities compared to October. According to analysts, the occupiers' new assaults will not lead to their rapid advance.

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- The Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the invaders launched the third wave of the assault on Avdiivka, trying to attack "head-on," which had not happened before. The enemy's actions are illogical and are related to the absurd demands of their command.

- Vitaliy Barabash, head of the Avdiivka ity military administration, said that the occupiers are "coming in all directions" near Avdiivka, but unlike previous waves of the offensive, they are not advancing in columns.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Smartphone technology gives donors the option to use Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo or PayPal Orange, Texas (November 27, 2023) The Salvation Army of Orange is making it easy for donors to give at the Red Kettle this Christmas season. Smart chips and QR codes have been added to the Red Kettle signs, providing convenience for shoppers to donate digitally. Donors can easily use their smartphones to "bump" or scan the QR codes, making it more accessible for people who may not carry cash or prefer digital payment methods.

"We have integrated Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal and Venmo into donation options at the Red Kettle," said Captain Dante Salgado of The Salvation Army. "Fewer people carry cash these days and prefer the convenience of using their smartphones for giving. This technology simplifies the donation process and encourages people to contribute to The Salvation Army during Christmas and beyond!"

In the United States, The Salvation Army's Red Kettle Campaign raises millions of dollars annually to provide services for people experiencing unexpected hardship. Whether it is helping with rent and utility bills, providing food assistance, or ensuring that children have the necessary school supplies and clothing, The Salvation Army serves as a lifeline for people bearing the burden of financial hardship.

"The Salvation Army has an unwavering commitment to helping people in times of need, and the Red Kettle campaign is a critical source of funding that helps us meet that commitment," said Captain Salgado of The Salvation Army of Orange. "The funds the community generously gives to the Red Kettle ensures families do not have to make agonizing choices between basic needs like housing, food and medical care."

For more information about The Salvation Army or to learn how you can support The Salvation Army this Christmas, visit https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/orange/ or call 409-291-8400
The Czech Republic has stated that there is "not much equipment" left in the country's warehouses that the state could transfer to Ukraine to help fight a full-scale Russian invasion. However, Prague is actively applying for export licenses for military materials.

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This was stated by the head of the Czech Ministry of Defense, Jana Cernohova, on Sunday, November 26, as quoted by Radio Prague International.

As the minister explained, thanks to these licenses, military equipment and shells continue to be transferred to Ukraine through private companies and donors.

At the same time, the stock of weapons for the Ukrainian army is almost exhausted in army warehouses.

According to her, the country has free production capacity to produce the types of weapons that the Ukrainian army needs and that private companies and partners abroad know about. In particular, fifty infantry fighting vehicles, 2,500 pistols, 7,000 assault rifles, 500 handguns and 500 rifles were sent through the Czech Republic with Danish money.

Chernokhova added that in 2023, more than four thousand servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine underwent military training with Czech instructors. The training took place in Poland and the Czech Republic. The minister added that the state will continue to support Kyiv in its fight against the invasion of Russian troops and provide the country with similar assistance.

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As reported by OBOZ.UA, Slovakia and the Czech Republic raised 400 thousand euros for a Black Hawk helicopter for the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine in 7 days. The total cost of the aircraft is about 4.3 million euros. As soon as the required amount is raised, the Black Hawk will be delivered to Ukrainian intelligence officers.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
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Ten thousand earthen lamps were lit up during the Dev Deepawali function at Baje Kadamtala ghat this evening. Mayor Firhad Hakim inaugurated the ceremony. He said: We respect all religions and beliefs of different people. It is unfortunate that BJP is using religion for political gain. Dev Deepawali was held for the first time on a large scale. It is a popular ceremony in Utter Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

One view of the Puranas states that to celebrate the victory of Lord Shiva who killed Tripurasura, Dev Dipabali is held. In Varanashi, thousands of people gather on the bank of river Ganga to watch this spectacle. The priests chant hymns while the lamps are being lit up.

The lamps are lit up as a symbol of the victory of good over evil. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation has assigned Debottar Jaychandi Thakurani Trust to conduct ganga aarati. The KMC and police officers had inspected Baje Kadamtala ghat where the ceremony was held. The area surrounding the ghat has been brightly illuminated. People gathered at the ghat since late afternoon to watch the ceremony. photo by Moul Mondal

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The South Bengal State Transport Corporation  a statebacked passenger transport company  has lodged an FIR against the huge pilferage of revenue worth several crores of rupees earned from the sale of e-tickets by a company it had engaged as its principal booking agent operating from Durgapur for six Bengal districts since October, 2014 on an yearly renewal agreement.

According to the complaint lodged by Mayuri Vasu, MD, SBSTC: The company siphoned off revenue worth Rs 7.19 crore by misusing the password through dishonest means and distributed excess tickets to its sub-agents, which were sold to commuters but the sale proceed wasnt deposited in the account of SBSTC.

During the LF regime, in its 110th Board Meeting on 8 April, 2004, the state-owned transport major had decided to outsource the job of ticket booking with an aim to bring the booking to the doorstep of the commuters. In 2013, SBSTC introduced e-ticketing system and the modalities of online ticket booking system were developed through states Webel Technologies (WRL). In 2015, SBSTC introduced Integrated Traffic Management System following which the passwords of the ticket selling web platform was handed over to the private company.

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The Chief Accounts Officer, SBSTC, in December, 2020, first detected gross anomalies in ticket selling throughout the selling points in the districts of West Burdwan, Bankura, Murshidabad, Purulia, Howrah and even in Kolkata those were controlled by the Durgapur-based private company.

The Chief Accounts Officer, on 31 March, 2021, in his report detected a negative balance worth Rs 7.56 crore in his report and the matter was moved for an external audit. In October, the auditor estimated the looted sum as Rs 7.19 crore.

After scrutiny, the Directorate of Anti Corruption Branch of the state government decided to lodge a police complaint against the private player bringing charges of criminal breach of trust and criminal conspiracy (Sections  409 & 120-B of the IPC). Subsequently, the SBSTC lodged an FIR on 23 November last year and the police began investigations on 24 November. However, none of the company officials, as per the police, could either be quizzed or arrested as yet
Responding to BJPs allegation of irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board (DJB), the AAP pointed out that the bureaucracy in Delhi reports to the Centre and hence the BJP has all the powers to take disciplinary action against any official.

The BJP had alleged a scam in tender process for upgrading sewerage treatment plants in Delhi.

The AAP said the ruling dispensation at the Centre was alleging that some officers of the DJB violated tender guidelines, while on the other hand the BJP chose to protect corrupt officials of the Delhi government, including the Chief Secretary.

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The AAP accused the BJP of inaction when it comes to taking action against the erring officials despite having powers, and coming up with allegation of a new scam every day, which is nothing but, a political drama, AAP added.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party said the Delhi government itself asked the DJB and the Finance Department to identify errant officers based on complaints received so far, but no action has been in this regard.

The AAP further said that ministers play no role whatsoever in the tendering process, which is all handled by concerned officials.

It is not the ministers responsibility to go into the technicalities and rules of NGT, DPCC, or CPCB; but rather the job of DJB officials to take cognizance of such standards, the party added.

It is well known that the GNCTD Act does not give powers to elected government to take any action. But if any kind of wrongdoing has taken place, we would urge LG to take strongest possible action against anyone who has worked against public interest, the AAP said in a statement.

Meanwhile on Monday, the BJP demanded Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals resignation blaming him for the scam in the DJB tender process.

Addressing a press conference, BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia claimed that the contractors were paid more than the estimated costs of the project to upgrade the sewer treatment plants.

While the estimated cost was around Rs 1,500 crore, the tenders were awarded at a rate of around Rs 1938 crore, he added.

Raising questions over Detailed Procedure Report (DPR) on the issue, which is supposed to be prepared for such projects according to government rules, Bhatia said only two reports were prepared in this connection whereas there were ten projects.

Squarely blaming the AAP supremo for the scam, Bhatia demanded his resignation.
Pointing to the projected economic shift from global north to global south by 2030 when the latter will have three out of four worlds largest economies, and the domination over the discourse about human rights and access to justice by the America dominated metaphorical North Atlantic, Chief Justice of India, Justice DY Chandrachud on Monday called for amplification the justice needs of under-represented populations of the countries in Asia Pacific.

Referring to a universal shift in wealth from the metaphorical North Atlantic to Asia Pacific by 2030, Chief Justice Chandrachud pointed out: The discourse about human rights and access to justice has been historically monopolized by voices from the Global North, which often makes such dialogue unsuitable for application in other contexts. Undeniably, it is imperative to amplify the justice needs of under-represented populations in our respective countries.

Chief Justice Chandrachud said that this in his address at the first Regional Conference on Access to Legal Aid: Strengthening Access to Justice in the Global South jointly organised by the National Legal Services Authority of India (NALSA), the International Legal Foundation (ILF), the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF).

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Pointing to the shift in changing economic scenario from global north to global south, the Chief Justice Chandrachud said: There has been a universal shift in wealth from the metaphorical North Atlantic to Asia Pacific by 2030, it is projected that three of the four largest economies will be from the Global South. The GDP in terms of purchasing power of the Global South-dominated BRICS nations surpasses that of the so-called Global Norths G7 club.

Connecting the discourse of the human rights and access to justice with the economic might of the people expounding and advocating them, the Chief Justice of India said, The discourse about human rights and access to justice has been historically monopolized by voices from the Global North, which often makes such dialogue unsuitable for application in other contexts. Undeniably, it is imperative to amplify the justice needs of under-represented populations in our respective countries.

The CJI further said that the concept of justice has historically been construed as applicable solely within the confines of a sovereign state and given the intricate web of transnational relationships in the present age, our conceptions of justice have also changed. In these transnational relationships, not all nations are treated equally.

Pointing to the solidarity and belonging that some nations share and for the Global South it becomes an important point of collaboration, Chief Justice Chandrachud said, The term is not geographical, but rather it reflects political, geopolitical and economic commonalities between certain nations. Several nations in the Global South, including India, have historically been at the receiving end of imperialism or colonial rule.

CJI Chandrachud further said that these political, geopolitical and economic commonalities have resulted in a relationship of unequal power, with such nations being forced into the periphery of the world economy.

It is for this reason that before academics used the term Global South, terms such as developing, underdeveloped and third world had gained wide currency.

Reiterating to the commonalities, the CJI said that one of the reasons why nations in the Global South have been able to achieve economic prosperity is their willingness to recognize their unique needs and collaborate with each other.

He further said that the countries in the Global South have been grouped together not only in terms of their economic status or shared colonial history but also based on their legal response to their colonial past and socio-economic conditions.

Apparently referring to the commonality of constitutional vision of the countries belonging to the Global South, the CJI said: Our constitutions are a deviation from the language of constitutionalism and justice prevalent among Western Nations

He referred to a scholar who had described constitutions in the Global South as sharing a core normative commitment towards state institutions having obligations to address the economic injustices and inequalities in their societies.

For instance, the CJI said that the constitutions of several nations in the Global South are cognizant of the existence of indigenous minorities, who have been historically prejudiced, and expressly recognize their rights through special provisions.

Provisions providing for affirmative action in education, public employment, and the legislature for Scheduled Tribes in the Indian Constitution is one such example.

Pointing to the extraordinary role that the judiciary has the potential to play in increasing access to justice, the Chief Justice Chandrachud said: Countries, including India, have developed ingenious legal Page of practices to increase access to justice. For instance, since the early 1980s, the Supreme Court has made revolutionary attempts to increase access to justice by way of its Public Interest Jurisprudence. The court removed procedural barriers to access the Supreme Court and allowed all citizens to approach the court for the amelioration of socio-economic injustices.
A war of words broke out between the BRS and the opposition Congress on Monday after the Election Commission ordered to stop the financial disbursement under the Telanagana governments Rythu Bandhu scheme over violation of model code of conduct.

The development comes in the wake of Telangana minister T Harish Raos statements regarding disbursement of the scheme funds despite the model code of conduct (MCC) being enforced in the state due to the assembly polls.

The Rythu Bandhu scheme is a farmers investment support initiative by the BRS government under which each farmer receives Rs 10,000 every year in two installments.

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In a notification, the poll body said it was informed on Sunday that Rao, the Minister of Finance and Health and Family Welfare, had made statements regarding disbursement of Rythu Bandhu scheme by a particular time before the date of poll, which is widely reported in newspapers and local media.

Rao, who is a contesting candidate sponsored by the BRS (Bharat Rashtra Samithi) party from Siddipet Assembly constituency in the ongoing elections, is also a star campaigner of the party. He has not only violated the provisions of MCC contained in Para VII of model code of conduct, but also the conditions laid down as above by publicising the release under the scheme, and thereby disturbed the level playing field in the ongoing election process, the Commission said.

While the move is seen as a huge setback for the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), the Congress hopes to capitalise from the situation.

The opposition party had apprehended a repeat of the 2018 assembly election when farmers standing in queue for polling were alerted by SMS notification about the money disbursed under Rythu Bandhu scheme credited into their accounts. A team of Congress leaders had even urged the poll panel that the amount under thge scheme be disbursed before November 15.

After the Election Commission (EC) approved the scheme disbursal on November 24, Harish Rao had announced in a campaign rally that despite complaints from the Congress in Delhi, they received approval for the disbursal and it would start from November 28. He even reminded the gathering that they would receive notifications in their phones as he mimicked the ting ting sound.

After the EC revoked the permission for the scheme, Rao once again blamed the Congress. What is new in what I said about Rythu Bandhu? The Congress kept urging the EC to stop the scheme. The Congress will never give Rythu Bandhu nor will it allow KCR (chief minster) to give it.

BRS supremo and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said in Shadnagar, Arent Congress supporters ashamed of supporting a party which is against farmers welfare, be it stopping Rythu Bandhu or giving only three hours of power to farmers?

The BRS has now written to the EC to reconsider its decision, saying the comment by Harish Rao was an inadvertent one and he was actually expressing gratitude to the poll body. It also cited that the central government was allowed to disburse money under the Prime Minister Kisan scheme and there was no difference between the two schemes.

Reacting to the charges, K C Venugopal, Congress general secretary, slammed the BRS. Due to the irresponsible and narrow self-serving approach of the BRS and Harish Rao, under instructions of his boss KCR, the ECI has denied permission for the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu installments.

Asserting that the money is the right of the farmers, Venugopal said, It is what they deserve for their year-long hard work. When this money is supposed to be released any time between October and January, it was the BRS desperation which compelled them to make such irresponsible statements.

Yet another sin committed by the BRS, which will not be forgiven by the farmers of Telangana, he alleged.

Echoing a similar sentiment, Congress general secretary in charge of Communications Jairam Ramesh wrote on X, The Election Commission has held the (Telangana) Finance and Health and Family Welfare Minister, Harish Rao in violation of the model code of conduct.

Without naming anyone, Ramesh who is also the Congress MP in Rajya Sabha said, Nobody else is to be blamed other than the Gang of 4 ruling Telangana, who in their desperation to hang onto power have ended up denying what is owed to farmers.

The Congress remains committed to fulfilling its Guarantee to the farmers of Telangana  Rythu Bharosa: Rs 15,000 per acre to farmers, Rs 15,000 per acre to tenant farmers and Rs 12,000 per year for agricultural labour. Not only that, we have promised upto Rs 2 lakh farm loan waiver to all farmers, he said.

Voting for the 119-member Telangana Assembly will be held in a single phase on November 30. Counting of votes will take on December 3 along with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram.
The preliminary investigation into Saturday evening stampede at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) that claimed four lives has revealed lapses including on the part of the university authorities in implementing the Kerala High Court order on October 20, 2015, emphasizing that DJ performance and music programs conducted by agencies outside the college campuses, should be strictly prohibited, led to the tragedy.

Based on the High Court order in 2015, the Higher Education Department issued a circular comprising 19 directives. It specifically prohibited the involvement of external agencies, DJs, and music programs from any agencies outside the campus and was incorporated in the 12th directive.

The circular also mentions the need for organizing technical festivals as technical activities. Had the provisions in the circular been implemented; five precious lives would not have been lost. The University authorities also did not seek police security for the programme. Poor crowd management and having a single exit and entry point at the amphitheatre, also led to the tragedy.

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Police are examining whether there were any organisational lapses. They are also investigating the presence of a large number of outsiders at the event. Several people, including students from other colleges, may have caused crowding at the venue. This is also being probed, said a police officer.

Meanwhile, a day after the Kochi City police said that the organisers of the tech fest conducted by the School of Engineering (SOE) of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT ) did not alert them or write to them seeking security for the event, a letter written by the Principal of SOE to the university Registrar, requesting adequate security and deployment of police has emerged.

The letter by the SOE Principal to the Registrar has Police and security arrangement during off-campus musical programme as its subject. A copy of the letter had also been marked to the Head of the Department of SOE and the security officer, CUSAT.

The letter said that the programme was confined to the SOE campus except two activities  two musical programmes, one in front of the Amenity Centre on Friday, followed by the ill-fated music event that never took place due to the tragedy on Saturday.

I understand that the students have received permission from the Registrar for these two off-campus activities. These activities have access to the public due to their location. Although I have arranged duties by faculty members for overall discipline, it is essential to deploy adequate security staff and police to avoid untoward incidents, said the letter dated November 24, 2023, a day before the tragedy.

Meanwhile, the condition of the two girls who were injured during the stampede at CUSAT tech fest is critical. It is reported that Geetanjali from Alappuzha and Sheeba from Malappuram are still seeking treatment at the emergency wing of Aster Medicity Hospital. As many as 34 victims of stampede are currently under treatment.
AAP MLA Somnath Bharti on Monday filed a complaint with the Delhi Police over an incident where a person tried to steal his mobile phone and later hurt a party worker with a blade.

The AAP MLA in his complaint has asked the police to investigate the matter by registering the case under various sections including 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, suspecting that the same could be a part of a bid to attack him.

I started having the prasad. Suddenly I saw one boy, seemingly unkept, sitting on a chair next to me and suddenly he took my mobile phone from my side pocket and started running towards the outside. On my shouting people interfered and caught him, Bharti stated in his complaint to the SHO of Malviya Nagar Police Station.

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Though the phone was recovered, he took out a blade from his pocket and tried to attack me but before he could reach me, Mr Parveen Paul, who is a local resident as well as old volunteer of Aam Aadmi Party and working these days as secretary to area councilor Ms Leena Kumar, attempted to stop him and got hurt with the wound in his hand, Bharti further mentioned in the letter.

Bharti has told the police that the person who tried to run after taking his phone was stopped by the local party worker in his constituency, whom the person attacked with a blade.

The AAP MLA had gone to Jhulelal Mandir for receiving prasad, after spending time while participating in Nagar Kirtans organized on the occasion of the Gurpurab of Sikh Guru Guru Nanak Dev Ji in his constituency.

He has also said that nothing of this kind happened to him during the past nine years, suspecting that it could be more than stealing his phone.

Meanwhile, the police said that they have received the MLAs complaint.

Police said they have identified the person in connection with the complaint, and added that he has been involved in three cases of theft and robbery under Tughlaq Road Police Station.

As per the statement, offence under Sections 394 and 411 of IPC is made out so far, a police official said. A case may be registered and further investigation will be taken up accordingly, he added.
The Election Commission has asked the KCR-led Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana to stop all disbursements under the Rythu Bandhu scheme and informed the state election commissioner about its decision to withdraw the permission granted earlier.

There shall be no disbursement under the Scheme till the Model Code of Conduct in the State of Telangana ceases to apply in all its forms, the EC said.

The decision was taken after Congress party objected Rabi disbursements under the scheme. The EC had earlier given its conditional nod to the Telangana govt to disburse Rabi crop installment.

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The KCR govt was asked not to publicise the disbursements. However, a Telangana minister violated the poll panels guidelines and announced that the Rabi installment will be credited to peoples Bank account on Monday before the breakfast.

Earlier, Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy had called for a protest against KCR govt after ECs decision to allow the direct benefit transfer less than a week before the voting.

Why is Dalit Bandhu, BC Bandhu, and minority Bandhu facing obstruction to be disbursed, if it can be disbursed in the case of Rythu Bandhu? In protest against this, we called for burning effigies of KCR in all Mandal centres tomorrow, he told news agency ANI.

Reddy said that the KCR government is paying only Rs 10,000 whereas the Congress will pay Rs 15,000 if elected to power.

Under the Rythu Bandhu KCR Government is paying Rs 10,000 whereas Rs 15,000 will be paid if Congress comes next month. BJP and BRS have conspired to harm the farmers. Anyway rest of the money will be paid to the farmers when the Congress comes under Rythu Bharosa, he added.

Elections to the 119-member Telangana Legislative Assembly will be held on November 30. The Congress and the BRS are fighting a neck and neck battle with the BJP also putting up a tough challenge in the south Indian state. Results will be declared on December 3.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Ukraine will make its own decision on the terms of ending the war with Russia. At the same time, he added that the Alliance's task is to assist Kyiv on the battlefield.

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Stoltenberg emphasized that such cooperation between NATO and Ukraine would help strengthen Kyiv's position in future negotiations with Russia. He said this at a press conference on the eve of a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers.

According to Stoltenberg, Ukraine must decide what acceptable ways to end the Russian-Ukrainian war are. At the same time, the NATO Secretary General emphasized that Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin is not thinking about negotiations, but about how to plan a new war.

"Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and enable it to liberate as much land as possible and put it in the best possible position when or if negotiations begin. Wars are by their nature unpredictable. We have not seen any signs that President Putin is planning for peace, in fact, he is planning for a new war," said the NATO Secretary General.

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In addition, he noted that the more military support the West provides to Ukraine, the stronger Kyiv's position will be on the battlefield and the stronger the Ukrainian position will be at the potential negotiating table.

"I think we should also recognize that Ukraine has already achieved great success and great victories. We have to remember where this conflict started at the beginning of the war. We were afraid that Ukraine would fall within a few weeks and that President Putin would control Kyiv within a few days. This did not happen, the opposite happened," Stoltenberg said.

The NATO Secretary General emphasized that Ukrainian troops pushed the occupiers out of the north of the country and strengthened their positions in the east and south. As a result, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have already liberated 50% of the territory occupied by Russia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

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"This is a great victory for Ukraine. At the same time, Russia has suffered heavy losses. It has lost significant combat capabilities, tens of thousands of troops and unrivaled personnel, and Russia is becoming more and more isolated politically, weaker economically and militarily. So, in general, what we have seen is a major defeat for Russia. They have not achieved their strategic goal of controlling Ukraine, and Ukrainians have achieved a lot. Again, the decision is up to Ukraine. Our duty is to put them in the strongest possible position," the NATO Secretary General summarized.

As a reminder, Turkey views negotiations as the most effective way to reduce threats and end the conflict between Ukraine and Russia. The country has also expressed its readiness to act as a platform for peace talks.

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Earlier, Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that no state has the right to push Ukraine to negotiate with the Russian occupiers. According to him, the aggressor country is not looking for a political solution to end the war that it started.

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Gurpurab, the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, was celebrated with religious fervor and enthusiasm in Delhi along with the rest of the country and world.

Devotees thronged gurdwaras across the national capital and paid their obeisance. The gurdwaras including the Sri Bangla Sahib Gurdwara have been decorated on the occasion.

For convenience of the devotees, free ride services were also available from the Patel Chowk metro station to the Bangla Sahib Gurdwara.

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Earlier, Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and leaders from political parties also extended their warm wishes on the occasion.

In a post on X, the LG said, Best wishes to everyone on Guru Nanak Jayanti. The welfare of the entire world lies in the path he showed for the welfare of mankind with equality and kindness.

Kejriwal, who is also the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in a post on X wrote, My warm wishes to all on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev ji.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva welcomed the Prakash Parv Shobha Yatra outside his residence here and took blessings on the occasion.

Sachdeva visited the local Sri Gurudwara Sahib in Mayur Vihar and welcomed the panj pyaras outside his house giving a grand welcome to the Prakash Parv shobha yatra taken out in Mayur Vihar and distributed prasad.

Many other party office bearers, MLAs and MCD councilors of Delhi BJP also welcomed the processions in their respective areas.
If BJP is voted to power the CM will be from the backwards castes. This is what PM Narendra Modi said while addressing a rally in Telangana on Monday.

With just five days until the results of the five states elections are announced, political polarization has intensified as rival political parties expose one others shortcomings in a fierce contest. Telangana will vote on November 30 before the results are announced on December 3. After that, exit polls will start to appear by evening.

As a result, the senior leaders are currently concentrating their blitzkrieg campaign on the state of south India. While K Chandrashekhar Raos Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) has been promising benefits to the minority community, the Union home minister has been emphasizing the need to stop the states Muslim reservation program and divide Muslims among the scheduled castes.

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On Monday, November 27, Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Telangana. After visiting the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Hyderabad at 8 a.m., the prime minister attended a rally in Mahabubnagar at 11 a.m., Karimnagar at 1 p.m., and will visit Kacheguda at 4 p.m.

JP Nadda, national president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), will also speak in Telangana at open forums. He is expected at the NSF Ground in Nizamabad at 2:05 p.m. He will be visiting Jukkals Madhur Headquarters in Kamareddy at 4:20 p.m. and at Banswadas government junior college at 3:10 p.m.
Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu was Monday heckled by pro-Khalistani elements during his visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York, reported news agency ANI.

The Ambassador had gone to the Gurdwara to offer prayers on the occasion of Gurpurab.

According to a purported video shared on various social media accounts, a group of pro-Khalistani elements can be seen confronting Sandhu and accusing him of plotting to kill Khalistani terrorists Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

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They can also be heard saying you got Hardeep Singh Nijjar murdered.

Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign. Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused pic.twitter.com/JW5nqMQSxO  RP Singh National Spokesperson BJP (@rpsinghkhalsa) November 27, 2023

Soon after, Sandhu left the premises in his car while a man raised Khalistani flag outside the Gurudwara.

The latest incident of pro-Khalistani elements disrupting an Indian envoys program comes in view of an alleged plot to kill proscribed Sikhs for Justice founder Pannun.

According to a report published by the UK daily Financial Times, US authorities thwarted a plot to kill a Sikh separatist in the United States and issued a warning to India over concerns the government in New Delhi was involved.

The report named SFJ founder Pannun, who was booked by Indias anti-terror probe agency NIA over his video threatening to fliers of Air India. Earlier today, the NIA also conducted raids on several premises linked to the Sikh extremists SFJ in Punjab.

White House spokesperson Adrienne Watson, when asked about the FT report, said that India expressed surprise and concern and stated that activity of this nature was not their policy.

We understand the Indian government is further investigating this issue and will have more to say about it in the coming days. We have conveyed our expectation that anyone deemed responsible should be held accountable, Watson was quoted as saying by Reuters.

This comes just two months after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Ottawa has evidence of credible allegations linking agents of Indian government to the murder of another Canadian Sikh extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June early this year.

While India rejected Canadian PMs claims as absurd and motivated, the issue triggered a massive diplomatic row between Canada and India.
Addressing the inaugural session of the 7th batch of capacity building programme in the field administration for senior officers of Jammu & Kashmir Administrative Service (JKAS) at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh, appealed them to be catalysts of Modis governance reforms and help their effective implementation in Jammu & Kashmir.

The Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and the unexplored North-Eastern Region (NER) have huge natural resources that would drive Indias future growth story during the Amrit Kaal towards attaining a Viksit Bharat @ 2047, he said.

Dr Jitendra Singh said the value addition to Indias growth is going to come from these unexplored regions during the next 25 years.

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He said the success of Aroma Mission and Purple Revolution in Bhaderwah and Gulmarg regions of J&K has resulted in over 3,000 Startups engaged in Lavender cultivation alone. Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have sent delegations to J&K to study the Lavender cultivation model and have evinced interest in emulating the Aroma Mission.

Dr Jitendra Singh, who represents Udhampur constituency of J&K in the Lok Sabha, said the discovery of Lithium in Reasi district may well turn out to be Indias next big story, giving a multifold boost to the countrys economy.

Analysis suggests that the value of lithium deposits in Reasi may be higher than China, he said, stating that lithium is a key component in rechargeable batteries and there is huge demand for lithium as the world turns to renewable energy.

Stating that an increasing number of items from J&K have been geo-tagged, Dr Jitendra Singh called upon the J&K Administration officers to promote sales of GI-tagged products from the UT to boost the local economy.

Ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, he has made it a commitment to bring the neglected and remote regions of India including J&K, Ladakh, islands and the NER to the national mainstream.

PM Modi has walked the talk, said Dr Jitendra Singh, pointing out that J&K today has an express corridor, tallest rail bridge that would soon link the Kashmir Valley with the railway network and a number of projects of national importance have been fast-tracked, ensuring that development touches the lives of citizens of J&K.

Dr Jitendra Singh said, PM Modi has introduced several governance reforms towards socio-economic uplift of people. Public policy in our country is currently aimed at enhanced transparency and accountability in governance with focus on fiscal federalism, transforming rural India, and improving the quality of public service delivery, he said.

The Minister said, the Central Government grievance redressal system, CPGRAMS, has been made more responsive and relevant, achieving a disposal rate of 97%. J&K GRAMS portal has been integrated with the CPGRAMS for seamless grievance redressal between Central and UT Administration, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, V. Srinivas, Secretary, DARPG said that more than 280 J&K Administrative Service officers have visited NCGG. This Workshop is part of an MoU signed in 2019 between J&K administration and NCGG to train 500 J&K cadre officers in a 5-year period.

The 7th Capacity Building Programme is being conducted from 27th November, 2023 to 8th December, 2023 at NCGG, Mussoorie. The programme is being attended by 26 JKAS Officers working in the ranks of secretaries, special secretaries, additional secretaries, CEOs, directors, joint directors, development officers among others.

During this programme, civil servants of Jammu & Kashmir will interact with the domain experts on diverse topics, viz., communication strategies, poverty elimination, Rural Housing, Skill India, Artificial Intelligence in Government, Tourism & Culture, Jal Jeevan Mission, DIGITAL INDIA, approach to SDGs by 2030, Ayushman Bharat, anti-corruption strategies, vigilance administration, circular economy, rejuvenation of rivers, innovation & entrepreneurship, etc. among other important areas. The participants will also be taken on an exposure visit to the Parliament.

The capacity building programme is scientifically tailored to equip civil servants of Jammu & Kashmir to deliver robust and seamless services to the people. The cutting-edge knowledge and new skill set acquired during this programme will help these civil servants in efficient public service delivery to improve the lives of people. The aim of this programme is to reorient officers to work with single-mindedness to improve the quality of life and create opportunities for the people. The officers are given exposure to the Best Practices in Good Governance to emulate these practices of good governance, transparency and efficient service delivery in Jammu & Kashmir. The focus of the programme is on sharing the practical aspects of governance, to work with speed and scale, and be accountable to citizens and address their grievances proactively.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday reiterated his allegation that the Union Finance Ministert Nirmala Sitharaman was trying to mislead people on allocation of fund to the state.

Speaking to media persons at Tirur in the Malappuram district on the sidelines of the Nava Kerala Sadas, Vijayan alleged that the Union government had been preventing all means that bring money to Kerala. It is financially strangulating the state by denying funds eligible to the state.

The Centre is blocking all revenue streams of the state and was turning away from its legitimate demands as punishment for Kerala leading in all indices of social development, he said.

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The chief minister asked the Centre government not to punish a state for its social advancements. Social advancements should not be a burden or punishment for a state, he added.

Vijayan alleged besides cutting down the borrowing capacity of the state, the Union government ended the GST compensation despite requests to continue the same for a few more years.

Reacting to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans statement that there was no default on the part of Centre government in allotting funds to Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Sunday that the Union minister was misrepresenting the facts and that the Centre had withheld the welfare pension for three and a half years.

The chief minister said the Union finance minister claimed that 34,714 crore grants has been allocated to Kerala. This is not generosity and is the share that Kerala has to get, he added.

While replying to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharamans statement that not one rupee due to the state government being held by the Centre, CM Vijayan on Sunday said the state government has to get Rs 750 crore from the Union government as part of the UGC salary revision of university and college teachers.

By March 31, 2022, we informed the Union government that this money has been disbursed. We have to get (50 per cent of) the disbursed money, he said while speaking at Mukkam in Kozhikode.

Officials of the State government held talks with the officials of the Union government. But the arrears have not been settled, he said.

On Saturday, while speaking at a function Nirmala Sitharaman specifically touched on the pay revision arrears of teachers of higher education institutions in Kerala .

On the issue regarding 7th UGC pay revision, the Ministry of Education has informed that the Scheme of 50 per cent Central share (7th CPC), through reimbursement was given to those state governments who adopted and implemented the revised pay scales as per the 7th CPC, subject to fulfilment of all the conditions laid down in the scheme and submission of the complete proposal as per the guidelines on or before 31st March, 2022, Nirmala Seetharaman said The Kerala government didnt fulfil the requisite conditions, hence the funds couldnt be released, she added.

It has been reported that that the state government had not released the arrears of the 7th UGC pay revision, as claimed by the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan . As the Union governments financial assistance to bear 50 per cent of the total commitment towards UGC pay revision is a reimbursement, the state government has to give an undertaking saying it( state government) has released the said amount to teachers as payment of arrears. But Keralas additional chief secretary Venu V gave an undertaking saying the state government has decided to release Rs 1501.60 crore to the teachers of state universities and colleges as payment of arrears. This could be the reason why Union Finance Minister Sitharaman said on Saturday that the Kerala government didnt fulfil the requisite conditions, hence the funds couldnt be released.

It learnt that the Kerala government did not disburse 7th Pay revision arrears to university and college teachers as claimed by the chief minister. The Union government closed the financial assistance scheme on March 31, 2022 resulting in around 10,000 teachers of colleges and universities in Kerala likely to lose around 1,500 crore of their arrears because the state government did not clear the dues in time.
Uttarakhand (Silkyara) tunnel rescue operation latest update: Prime Minister Narendra Modis Principal Secretary Dr PK Mishra Monday arrived at the Silkyara tunnel site to take stock of the rescue operation being carried out to extract 41 construction workers who are trapped inside a 400-meter buffer since November 12 when a portion of it caved in.

Below are the latest updates on Uttarakhand tunnel rescue operation:

Mishra spoke to the trapped workers to know how they are doing and also inquired about the food they are being given. Meanwhile, rescue teams have started manual drilling after auger machine broke and its parts stuck inside the pipe being pushed through the rubble to extract the trapped workers. The broken parts of the auger machine have been pulled out. The manual drilling is being looked after the Army which was pressed into action on Saturday. On the other hand, vertical drilling is also underway in the hill above the tunnel. So far, 31 meters of the vertical drilling has been completed and remaining work is likely to be completed within 3-4 days. The rescue teams are also believed to be exploring other rescue options and a mini tunnel perpendicular to the collapsed Silkyara tunnel is being planned. They are also trying to reach the trapped workers from the other side of the tunnel but that is a very long process. The American auger machine completed 46.9 meters of the roughly 60 meter stretch before its drilling tool and cutter broke inside the pipe. With manual drilling the safest option, rescuers believe the operation will be completed by Christmas, which is still a month away. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also constantly monitoring the situation. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, who has visited the tunnel several times, has also met the family members of trapped workers and assured them of all the help.

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Farmer leaders under the banner of Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) will meet Punjab Governor Banwari Lal Purohit on Tuesday to give a memorandum of their demands including a legal guarantee to minimum support price (MSP) for all crops.

The SKM, an umbrella body of various farmer unions, has said that its next strategy will be drawn up immediately after meeting the Governor at 11 am.

After being invited by the Governor, the SKM leaders condemned the statements made by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to mislead the people against the farmers movement and said the Aam Aadmi Party government should be ready to bear the political consequences of such statements of the CM.

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The key demands of SKM include guaranteed purchase of all crops at MSP, fixing the prices of crops according to the Swaminathan Commission report, cancellation of all the loans incurred by the farmers due to the policies of the governments and cases against farmers during Delhi agitation.

The SKM is also demanding the government to stop implementation of the Electricity Amendment Bill through loopholes and give Rs 10,000 monthly pension to all farmers above 60 years.

The SKM has taken strict notice of the fact that the Chief Minister of Punjab has not yet sent any response to the demands sent in writing to the Punjab government through the officials.

The SKM demanded the Punjab government to give compensation for the crops destroyed by floods and hailstorms, waive all the debts incurred by the farmers, hike price of sugarcane to Rs 450 per quintal, withdraw cases registered against farmers due to stubble burning and provide compensation and jobs sto the families of farmers who died during the agitation.

Meanwhile, on the second day of the three-day dharna being given by the SKM on Chandigarh border, a large number of farmers, men and women reached the protest site. The arrival of tractor trolleys and farmers from all corners of Punjab also continued.

The SKM maintains the Union government has not fulfilled the promises made two years ago when they called off their historic protest against now repealed farm laws. Punjab, Chandigarh, and Haryana police have sealed interstate barriers to prevent farmers from entering Chandigarh.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann, accompanied by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, launched the Mukh Mantri Teerth Yatra Scheme on Monday to facilitate the people to pay obeisance at the sacred places across the country.

Addressing a gathering after the launch of the Mukh Mantri Teerth Yatra Scheme on the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev at Dhuri (Sangrur), the chief minister said this scheme is in line with the teachings and philosophy of the great guru who gave the message of universal love brotherhood and peace to the people.

He said a large section of society was not able to visit these sacred places across the country due to one reason or another. The state government started the scheme to facilitate the pilgrims to visit various holy places across the country and the state.

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The CM said today 300 pilgrims from Amritsar, 220 from Jalandhar and more than 500 from Dhuri will be travelling to Sri Hazur Sahib through this train. More than 50,000 pilgrims will be availing of this facility over three months adding that 13,000 of them will travel via trains, with 13 trains carrying 1,000 passengers each leaving every eight days.

Mann said the remaining will be travelling via Buses, with 10 buses leaving every day, carrying 43 people each.

He said a team of doctors, volunteers and officials will be travelling with yatris to take care of any emergency. He said an advanced team of officials have been sent to take care of all the amenities before the yatris arrive.

The CM said the elderly, above the age of 75, can have young attendants to travel with them.

The scheme was earlier started by the Delhi government led by the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. Now, the CM said the state government has replicated this scheme as per which air-conditioned (AC) transport (bus for close destinations and train for far destinations).

He said AC accommodation and food will be provided to the pilgrims during their visit to the pilgrimage. By trains, the pilgrims will be able to go to Sri Hazur Sahib and Sri Patna Sahib, Varanasi, Mathura, Ajmer Sharif and others.

Similarly, through buses the pilgrims will be able to visit Sri Amritsar Sahib, Sri Anandpur Sahib and Sri Damdama Sahib, Sri Vaishno devi, Mata Chintpurni ji, Mata Naina Devi ji, Mata Jwala ji, Salasar Dham, Khatu Shyam ji and others.

Mann said the good governing experience of the Delhi government is being successfully replicated in the state as it is in the interest of the people.

In his address Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal said in the last 75 years, no government ever started such a scheme to facilitate pilgrimage of the people. It is a matter of great pride and satisfaction that so far, more than 80,000 people have taken benefit of this scheme in Delhi.

Kejriwal said the money being spent on this scheme was earlier spent by the predecessors on their maritime activities. 80 per cent of the pilgrims who availed of the scheme are women and senior citizens.

He said this scheme will also go a long way in facilitating the senior citizens of Punjab to visit the pilgrim sites.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday warned against voting for the Congress in the upcoming Telangana Assembly polls, saying polling in favour of the grand old party will only lead to the return of the BRS.

Exuding confidence that the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) will be defeated on December 3, he said relatives of K Chandrashekar Rao were cursing him while the chief minister was making a last ditch attempt to placate the angry voters.

On day three of his campaign, Modi addressed public rallies in Mahbubabad and Karimnagar before participating in a mammoth roadshow in Hyderabad.

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You must get rid of the BRS and also stop the Congress from coming to power. Beware of the Congress, he said in Karimnagar while campaigning for party MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar.

There are no guarantees of Congress MLAs. They can join the BRS any day. That is why people will never vote for the Congress because they know it will mean keeping the door open for KCR to come back to power. There is only one way to keep him out of power  press the button for lotus, he said.

Both the Congress and KCR have destroyed Telangana  both are equal sinners, he added.

The prime minister asserted that the next chief minister of the southern state will be from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), adding that people will not exchange one disease for another.

He further alleged that wherever the Congress is in power, terrorist organisations like PFI (Popular Front of India) are given encouragement.

Addressing the rally at Mahabubabad, Modi recalled that since KCR was aware of the BJPs strength, he had tried to ally with the saffron party.

Once when he had come to Delhi, he met me with the same request. But the BJP will never do anything that will go against the wishes of the people of the state. Since then the BRS has been in a state of nervousness. It does not leave any chance of abusing me knowing that Modi will not allow BRS to be around the BJP, he claimed.

In Karimnagar, the PM said KCR was superstitious enough to believe that if Modis shadow fell on him, his dreams will fall apart.

He also accused KCR of destroying the secretariat which was built with taxpayers money because of his superstitions. He also promised to put all those involved in scams behind the bars if a BJP government comes to power.

On December 3, the farmhouse chief minister will be defeated. The BJP thinks it is its duty to free Telangana from the clutches of BRS, he said.

Amidst the controversy over the Rythu Bandhu scheme, Modi said while the BRS government did not care about small farmers, the BJP sent money into their accounts through PM Kisan Samyannidhi.
In the intricate realm of international relations, where the tides of diplomacy ebb and flow, the death sentence handed down on eight former Indian Navy personnel in Qatar has emerged as a testament to the delicate ties between nations. Now, the Qatari courts acceptance of the appeal against the death sentence of the eight who were accused of espionage marks a significant juncture in a narrative that initially seemed shrouded in uncertainty. The sentence ~ by the court of First Instance ~ sent shockwaves not only through families of the accused but also reverberated across diplomatic channels.

The acceptance of the appeal is not just a legal victory. It is a triumph of diplomacy, a subtle yet potent reminder that dialogue and engagement remain formidable tools in resolving international disputes. The External Affairs Ministrys immediate reaction characterised the verdict as deeply shocking. This visceral response was not just a diplomatic formality. It was a reflection of the profound concern and determination to explore every legal avenue available. The pledge to leave no stone unturned demonstrated a governments unwavering dedication to safeguarding the rights and lives of its citizens. The accused, all former Indian Navy personnel, faced charges under Qatari law. The complexity of navigating foreign legal systems added layers of challenge to an already precarious situation. The fact that the court agreed to hear the appeal without specifying a timeline injects an air of cautious optimism into the proceedings. While it does not guarantee an acquittal, it does signal a willingness to re-evaluate the case. Amidst the legal intricacies, the political landscape came alive with the Congress party urging the government to expedite the release of these individuals. Congress leader Jairam Rameshs call for leveraging diplomatic and political influence with the Qatari government echoes a sentiment that transcends party lines  the urgency of securing the release of fellow countrymen. The detainees, identified as Captain Navtej Singh Gill, Captain Birendra Kumar Verma, Captain Saurabh Vasisht, Commander Amit Nagpal, Commander Purnendu Tiwari, Commander Sugunakar Pakala, Commander Sanjeev Gupta, and Sailor Ragesh, were not just names on a court document. They were, and are, individuals with families, dreams, and a shared history of service to their nation.

The relief granted by Qatari authorities, allowing the former navy personnel to move from solitary confinement to shared jail quarters with colleagues, offers a glimmer of humanity in an otherwise grim scenario. It underscored the importance of acknowledging the human aspect in the pursuit of justice. In the grand tapestry of international affairs, this episode serves as a poignant reminder that diplomacy, when conducted with sincerity and perseverance, can influence even dire outcomes. As the legal proceedings unfold, the global community watches, hopeful that a fair evaluation of the appeal will be conducted, ultimately steering these former navy men away from the precipice of an irrevocable fate.

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House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Turner, a Republican, expressed doubt that Washington would be able to agree on and approve aid for Israel and Ukraine by the end of 2023. At the same time, his Democratic opponent, Senator Chuck Schumer, noted that military aid packages for both countries at war are a key task that needs to be resolved by early 2024.

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This was reported by Bloomberg, citing the words of the two congressmen. Turner believes it is necessary to limit the provision of asylum for those who seek it in the context of the armed conflict in the Middle East.

"Congress is going to demand that the laws be changed to ensure that the border returns to its former state, without a flood of refugees from the Gulf of Mexico," the Republican said.

Schumer, on the other hand, prepared an official letter to his colleagues, emphasizing the importance of the necessary military capabilities to confront and deter the enemies of those allies who seek Washington's help. The Democratic senator also considers it "critically important" for Congress to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinian citizens.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the packages of comprehensive military aid to Jerusalem and Kyiv will be discussed in detail in the United States after Thanksgiving, which Americans celebrate on November 23 this year. Representatives of the Democratic and Republican parties managed to reach an agreement.

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At the same time, the House of Representatives emphasized that US aid to Ukraine and Israel will be divided. The decision will be made by two different bills, not one, as previously expected.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Egypt finds itself once again at a crossroads, grappling with a trifecta of challenges that could reshape its economy. The recent eruption of conflict in the neighbouring Gaza Strip, coupled with preexisting vulnerabilities exposed by the Russia-Ukraine war and the persistent spectre of the Covid-19 pandemic, have cast a shadow over Egypts economic prospects. The countrys economic frailties have long been a subject of concern, with a heavy reliance on short-term investments, tourism, and remittances to offset a chronic trade deficit. The recent Gaza crisis compounds these vulnerabilities, testing the resilience of a nation already strained by the economic aftershocks of global events. Economists succinctly capture the sentiment, calling it a third crisis.

Tourism, a once-reliable pillar of Egypts economy, is now under threat. The sector, showing promise with an expected growth of 30-40 per cent this year, now faces uncertainty due to cancellations in the popular Sinai destinations. While winter bookings appear relatively unscathed, reservations for the future are sluggish, signalling potential long-term repercussions. The Egyptian Tourism ministers assurance that the impact is contained to under 10 per cent of bookings offers fragile comfort, as industry insiders express concern over the slow pace of reservations. Another blow comes in the form of disruptions to natural gas imports. Egypts dependence on these imports for both domestic consumption and re-exports underscores a vulnerability that the recent suspension of production at Israels Tamar gas field has exposed. The dimming hopes of increasing liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe further cloud Egypts economic outlook, leaving a void that was expected to contribute significantly to the nations revenue.

The Gulf states, once stalwart supporters of Egypts economy, are now poised at a pivotal juncture. The shift from providing financial deposits to seeking profitable investments had strained the relationship. However, the Gaza crisis prompts a potential re-evaluation. Reports suggest that Gulf countries are discussing a financial rescue package, contemplating additional cash deposits and support for Egypts currency after any potential devaluation. This marks a subtle but significant shift in sentiment, indicative of a willingness to extend a lifeline amid regional turmoil. Egypt, with its over $28 billion debt repayment looming in 2024, is in dire need of assistance. The $3 billion IMF programme, derailed by Egypts reluctance to float its currency and delays in asset sales, adds another layer of complexity. The sovereign rating downgrade further paints a grim picture, highlighting the urgency for decisive measures to stabilise the economy. In navigating these treacherous waters, Egypt stands at the intersection of crisis and opportunity. The resilience displayed during previous economic downturns provides a glimmer of hope. However, decisive action, both domestically and through potential Gulf assistance, is imperative. As the global stage continues to evolve, Egypts economic fate hangs in the balance, awaiting the next move in this intricate dance of survival

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On a train to Gaya, on 4 March 1953, Jayaprakash Narayan was writing a letter to a person whom he addressed as Bhai. Like Dada in Bangla, Anna in Tamil, Bhai in Hindi is a term of respect for an elder brother. For Jayaprakash, it was Pt Jawaharlal Nehru whom he always addressed as Bhai, even when they had disagreements on issues political or personal. Bhai, to whom he writing in 1953, was also the Prime Minister of India.

I meet you after long periods and get the impression that youre not in touch with what we have been doing or saying or thinking, wrote JP, as he was popularly known. The last few times that I met you, I heard you repeat some points practically in the same language. For instance, your remarks about nationalisation. I am afraid we are, in your mind, doctrinaire socialists who insist on sticking to outworn formulas. But had you cared to know better the evolution of thinking in our movement, you would not have found the need of impressing upon us the empirical and changing processes of socialist reconstruction. No doubt JP believed in shooting from the hip, even if he was firing at his revered Bhai. By 1953, the Socialist Party helmed by JP, Dr Rammanohar Lohia, Acharya Narendra Deva among others was transformed; it merged with Acharya Kripalanis Krishak Mazdoor Praja Party and emerged as Praja Socialist Party.

I assure you our approach to socialism is not doctrinaire, hidebound or conservative, JP wrote in the letter, adding, I must make one point clear. Not matter how empirical and experimental may be our approach, the goals and values of socialism are unalterably fixed before us. Whether we give it or not the name of any ism, we all desire without the shadow of any doubt to create a new society in which there is no exploitation, in which there is economic and social equality, in which there is freedom and well-being for all. Further, these goals, for us or for that matter for any socialist, are not to be achieved in a distant future but in the soonest possible time.

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The 1953 letter, titled Minimum Programme for National Reconstruction is included in Socialism, Sarvodaya and Democracy, Selected Works of Jayaprakash Narayan. The series, edited by the venerable Dr Bimal Prasad, outlines the evolution and main elements of JPs political philosophy. JP said the past course of my life might well appear to the outsider as a zigzag and tortuous chart of unsteadiness and blind groping. But as I look back I discern in it a uniform line of development.

In communication with Prime Minister Nehru, his Bhai, he said, You had written once to me, when you were perhaps a little rattled, that while you thought socialism was not the monopoly of any group, you were not, in any case, a formal socialist. You perhaps meant that you did not subscribe to any particular theory of socialism. But you could not have meant to say that you did not accept the aims and values of socialism.

Those values and aims give direction and create a sense of urgency which, you will agree, have been lacking in your policies. A great deal can be said for caution and fearing to create too many upsets, but in the balance, if one has a definite political philosophy, one must act and move boldly towards ones goals. The move must be rapid and drastic at the beginning, when a new departure has to be madethe move, further must be said that the mass of people are able to appreciate and understand and realize that they are on the move. Sometimes a right move may be made, but at such levels and points, that it is beyond the understanding of the man in the street.

Both Nehru and JP were immensely indebted to Mahatma Gandhi, not just for the political orientation he gave but for guiding their lives. JP wrote, We have all been deeply influenced by Gandhiji. I do not mind saying that I have been rediscovering him lately and re-understanding him. I believe he was one of the most vital thinkers of the modern age. I am sure there is a deal to learn from him today and also tomorrow.

I am sure, had he lived, he would have evolved further, as he ceaselessly did, and we would have today a clearer picture of the method he would have followed to achieve the goals that we jointly share. I do not find today Gandhijis dynamism and incessant quest towards his ultimate values except in Vinoba, who has produced a remarkable Gandhian method for the solution of the countrys biggest problem  the land problem.

I feel sure that the Gandhians and Socialists, dropping their respect jargons, must work together. I have said all this only to emphasise that I do not find in your policies any, or marked, awareness of these considerations. When the policies of the Government of India make a concession to Gandhi, well, it is just a concession, he commented. There is another consideration which JP places before Bhai and this concerned China.

Pt Nehrus friendship with China, and the Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai slogans were jarring JP. He wrote, China and India are the two countries in Asia to which all of Asia and Africa are looking. If India fails to present anything but a pale picture of a welfare state (which phrase I do not particularly like; Gandhijis and Vinobas Sarvodaya is a far better phrase) I am afraid the appeal of China would become irresistible and that would affect the lives of millions and change the course of history disastrously.

Prime Minister Nehru had proposed to the Socialists to join his Cabinet in 1953, after the launch of community development projects and national extension service. Jayaprakash Narayan again wrote with candour and honesty, The proposal that you made to me was a bold and unusual one, because the Congress Party stood in no need of a coalition either at the Centre or in most of the States. But you rose above partisan considerations and took a statesmanlike step. What you proposed was, to my mind, not a parliamentary coalition, but a joint effort to build a new India.

We are not a power in the legislatures, but we do claim to have a following in the country and a cadre which in some respects is superior to that of the Congress ~ a cadre which has training and a distinct political philosophy, which in itself is a valuable thing the task of national integration of which you spoke the other day cannot be accomplished under static conditions. If we moved forward in new directions of social and economic change, the forces of integration would be vastly strengthened.

The emotional and psychological climate that would be created should prove to be a powerful binding force. Jayaprakash Narayan was clear that the Socialists would not join the Pt Nehru Cabinet in 1953 merely to strengthen the Government or carrying out present policies. But if it means launching a bold joint venture of national reconstruction, it might well have been a historic move. You do not have unlimited time and it is now that you must act. It is in this perspective that the draft programme was prepared.

It is not too ambitious a programme, and it can be carried out in the next four years if all of us make a determined effort, he wrote, referring to the minimum programme for national reconstruction drafted. First, we have suggested that certain constitutional reforms must be made. I for one was never able to understand how you permitted yourself to approve of such a drab and conservative constitution, he wrote, taunting his Bhai. He added, Second the whole system of administration must be overhauled. Reform must be drastic and must affect all levels.

Centralisation of political power and authority would be disastrous. We must deliberately work for devolution of powers and decentralization of authority. Everyone likewise talks of corruption. An effective machinery must be created to deal with this monster. Likewise with legal reform. The present law and legal procedure are too complicated, dilatory, and costly. There is practically no justice for the common man today.

The lower law courts have become a breed and training ground for lying, deceit, forgery, perjury and worse. we must make a determined effort at the highest levels to cure these ills. In commemorating Jayaprakash Narayan through his writings and scholarship is to discover him as second only to the Mahatma ~ for distancing himself from public office or becoming a parliamentarian, for adhering to an austere lifestyle and a relentless commitment to nation- building through democratic processes.

(The writer is a writerresearcher on history and heritage issues and former deputy curator of Pradhanmantri Sangharalaya)
US President Joe Biden has expressed hope for an extention of the humanitarian deal between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza.

Bidens remarks come as the deal entered its last and fourth day. As per the agreement, a four day ceasefire was agreed by Israel in exchange for the release of hostages being held by Hamas.

As per the deal brokered by Qatar, the United States and Egypt, Israel will observe a ceasefire for four days and in return, Hamas will free Israeli around 50 hostages in batches. So far, Hamas has released three batches of 12-14 hostages in the first three days.

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Israel has also freed Palestinian prisoners in exchange and allowed humanitarian aid trucks to enter Gaza.

Meanwhile, Hamas has also offered to extend the deal for another 2-4 days that will see the release of up to 40 additional Israeli hostages.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also hinted the deal could be extended further but vowed action with full force once the deal is off.

On Sunday, Hamas released a group of fourteen Israeli and three foreign nationals and Israel freed a further 39 Palestinian prisoners in return. This was the third such release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Israel declared a war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in response to its deadly October 7 attack in which more than 1,200 people were killed and around 240 others were kidnapped.

Hamas-run health ministry has said that more than 14,500 Palestinians have been killed in Israelis retaliatory campaign since October 7.

Following days of fighting, both the warring factions relented under international pressure and agreed on a deal to pause the fighting and release hostages.
Endless shifts with no food, water, working environment; having to choose between patients, do surgeries without anaesthesia, letting them die for want of medicines, with infection; constantly losing their own health, house, colleagues and family members  these are some of the realities being faced by the doctors and healthcare staff in war-torn Gaza for over a month now.

The Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million people, is under siege by the Israeli military in response to Hamas terror attack on October 7 that left 1,200 dead and 240  from babies to octogenarians  taken hostage by Hamas.

While accidents, calamities, wars and deaths are not something unknown to doctors and other healthcare workers, the situation in Gaza is reportedly way beyond imagination. Yet amid a collapsing health system, limited painkillers, huge numbers of burns victims, amputations, the doctors are putting on a brave front.

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We are humbled by the heroic work of health workers in #Gaza, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, posted on X.

Since October 7, the WHO has verified more than 250 attacks on healthcare in Gaza  at hospitals, clinics, ambulances and patients  and the West Bank.

Half of Gaza Strips 36 hospitals and two-third of its primary healthcare centres are not functioning at all. Those that are functioning are operating way beyond their capacities, the WHO chief said.

Many doctors and healthcare workers have lost their lives by choosing to stay back for their patients.

We are being overwhelmed. There is nowhere to evacuate to There is no escape route. We are probably one of the last lines of defence, Paul Ley, a doctor at the European Hospital in Khan Yunis, Gaza, was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

We never leave the hospital. We work round the clock. We do operations with minimal anaesthesia. If we run out, we cant operate, but there is no clear line. There are a lot of people crying, screaming with pain, but we dont have enough analgesics. We keep them for the kids or very severe cases.

Normally we would change dressings on patients with 40 per cent burns with them under sedation and minimise the time by using more attendants Now it has to be done with a lot of pain. We try to keep our heads cool and steady, but for local staff this is their families, friends, their people, Ley said.

Speaking to IANS, Dr Ishwar Singh Gilada, Health Expert and Secretary General, Peoples Health Organisation-India, said that in a normal scenario, a patient is surrounded by a team of expert doctors. But it is difficult in warzones.

A general surgeon may have to do even cardiovascular surgery, plastic surgery or neurological surgery and sometimes even MBBS doctors will have to do some kind of minor surgery. So in that situation, it is not kind of more of a standard care. It is not optimal care.

Doctors cannot get any emergency care; blood supply, or any kind of surgery done immediately to plug the holes, and are likely to make judgmental errors, and not make the proper decision; feel fatigued, overwhelmed and ultimately burnout.

Even as there is no safe water, air and food, doctors in Gaza are also facing patients with waterborne and respiratory diseases, in addition to war victims.

This brutal annihilation of an entire populations health system stretches beyond what humanitarian aid can fix. Doctors cant stop bombs, said Joe Belliveau, Executive Director for Doctors Without Borders, while calling for a sustained ceasefire in Gaza.
The humanitarian truce between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip has been extended for two more days, Qatar said on Monday. The four-day deal was about to expire today.

Hamas has also confirmed the extention of the deal and said that the truce will continue under the same conditions reached before.

According to the current truce, in exchange for one hostage released by Hamas, Israel will free three Palestinian prisoners. So far, Israel has released 117 Palestinians detained in the country in exchange for 39 Israeli Hostages.

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A fourth exchange of Israeli hostages for Palestinian prisoners is likely to take place later today. Israel has notified family members of the hostages that will be released today.

Under the terms of the current deal, Hamas will release another 11 hostages while Israel will free another 33 detained Palestinians.

The decision to extend the truce came after intense international pressure on both Israel and Hamas.

Both the head of Nato, Jens Stoltenberg, and EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, had called for the temporary truce to be extended.

Earlier today, Hamas had offered to extend the deal and release more hostages. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had also said that he is open to the idea but also vowed to resume Israeli military operation in Gaza with full force once the truce is over.

Meanwhile, the Israeli military said that 200 trucks carrying humanitarian aid entered Gaza earlier today. It said that 42 of them carried shelter equipment.

As part of this aid, some 3,600 tons of tents, blankets and mattresses have been transferred to Gaza ahead of the winter. Over 2,000 trucks have entered Gaza since the start of the war, transferring water, food and medical equipment, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said in a post on X.
The monthly average of Chinese travellers visiting South Korea remained far below pre-pandemic levels, despite Chinas reopening from Covid-19 restrictions and resumption of group tours, data showed on Sunday.

Around 144,000 Chinese nationals visited South Korea per month on average this year, according to the data released by the Hyundai Research Institute.

The tally was about one-third of the monthly average of 416,000 recorded from 2017 to 2019, when the Chinese government had banned group tours to South Korea amid a bilateral rift over the deployment of the US defence shield, the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), to the country.

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In 2017, China began to gradually scrap its ban, starting with some regions, but the group tours were suspended once again due to the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020. They fully resumed this August, Yonhap news agency reported.

The Hyundai Research Institute attributed the sluggish recovery in Chinese travellers to the country to the slower-than-expected rebound of Chinese consumers economic sentiment.

The institute also said Chinese peoples travelling style has changed, with preference for group tours to South Korea down and demand for travel to Japan up amid a weak yen.
Saint-Laurent, CA (H4T1V6)

Today

Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain for the afternoon. High around 45F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain...mixing with snow overnight. Low 32F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of precip 90%.
Benjamin Tarbutton III, the president of the Sandersville Railroad, testifies on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023, during a Public Service Commission hearing in Atlanta. The railroad is seeking permission to condemn property to build a 4.5-mile railroad line near Sparta, Ga., over opposition from property owners
Egypt's parliament  the House of Representatives  gave Monday its final approval for a new law that facilitates reconciliation in building violations.
Sierra Leone's leader says most behind the weekend attacks are arrested, but few details are given

Sierra Leones president says most of the leaders of weekend attacks on the nations main military barracks and prisons have been arrested, but the capital remains tense
NED BRISTOL is a retired editor of The Sun Chronicle who writes occasional columns for the newspaper. Drop him a line at news@thesunchronicle.com .
The writer is host of the Kane & Co. radio talk show, which broadcasts from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturdays, on WARA in Attleboro, 1320-AM.
Our View: MCAS has made our students, and state, better
Charithra Chandran, one of the leads of season 2 of the Bridgerton series is teaming up with comedian Lilly Singh for a new series, Arzu. The drama series will be the adaptation of a novel by the same name, written by Mumbai-based author Riva Razdan.



Writer Geetika Lizardi, whose writing credits include Bridgerton, Mira, Royal Detective and Outsourced, would write the series and helm it. The project is the result of a deal between Blink49 Studios and the Canadian YouTuber's Unicorn Island Productions.



Arzu follows a heiress from Mumbai, who lands in New York after escaping a scandal. She wishes to live life on her own terms at the risk of throwing away her chances of entering New York's glamorous high society. While Chandran and Lizardi will also executive produce, Lilly Singh will be executive producing the series under Unicorn Island Productions, along with Polly Auritt. Carolyn Newman and Virginia Rankin will produce under Blink49 Studios.



Im delighted to be part of a show that is full of glamour, romance and drama that also fearlessly touches on societal issues. It has been a dream working with Blink49 and Unicorn Island Productions as well as being reunited with Geetika on this. Excited for the world to see it, Chandran told Variety.

Arzu is sexy, surprising, and subverts the limited South Asian stereotypes weve grown all too accustomed to seeing, Singh said.


After the immense success of Kannada film Kantara: A Legend, the makers are set to bring Kantara 2 on to the big screens. Titled Kantara: A Legend - Chapter 1, the film is in fact a prequel that looks back at the birth of the folklore on which the original film was based.

Hombale Films on Monday unveiled the teaser and first look of the much-anticipated film that will release in seven languages.

Directed by Rishab Shetty, Kantara, set in a village in Dakshina Kannada, revolved around a Kambala champion (essayed by Rishab) who is at loggerheads with a forest officer. The film was hailed for its visual excellence that captured the folklore of the state. Kambala is an annual race, held from November to March in coastal Karnataka, in which a jockey drives a pair of buffaloes through muddy tracks.

The teaser opens with the roar, familiar to those who watched the first film. Rishab takes on a fierce avatar in the teaser, as we catch a glimpse of his blood-soaked character. As we soak in the intrigue set by the visuals and background score, the narrator says. Light. Everyone can see everything in light. But this is not light, this is vision. Vision of what has happened, what is happening and what is going to happen, the light that shows everything.

According to reports, the film which went on floors, will feature crew members from different south Indian states.
German actor Diane Kruger, Bollywood star Ranveer Singh and Saudi actor-writer Abdullah Al-Sadhan are set to receive career honours at the Red Sea Film Festival, which will kick off on November 30. The festival will take place in Jeddah on the Red Sea's eastern shore. The event will end on December 9.



HWJN, the fantasy film directed by Yasir Al-Yasiri from Iraq, will open the festival. Actors Freida Pinto, Joel Kinnaman, Egyptian actor Amina Khalil and Paz Vega will join Baz Luhrmann, who is presiding over the main jury for the festival.

Meanwhile, Turkish-German director Fatih Akin, Saudi writer and film critic Hana Alomair and French-Moroccan actor Assad Bouab, known for the comedy-drama series Call My Agent, will be on the festival's shorts competition jury. Mohammed Al-Turki, CEO of the Red Sea Film Foundation, said, We are thrilled to be recognising each of their varied and deep contributions to cinema and to have them with us for our third edition, Variety reported.

The Red Sea Honoree Award is conferred on artists who have contributed to shaping the history of cinema. The award expresses great respect and appreciation on the part of the festival for those with profound cinematic contributions from all over the world, the organisers told the Hollywood Reporter.
With the electoral future of Chhattisgarh assembly polls candidates now sealed in EVM machines, several of the politicians are now on a temple run, apparently seeking final divine intervention in their favour in the form of a victory.

Many prominent candidates including the state presidents of both Congress and BJP were seen visiting well known temples across Chhattisgarh and even other parts of the country during the past few days, in most cases accompanied by family members.

Chhattisgarh polls, held in two phases on November 7 and 17, saw an overall turnout of 76.31 per cent, marginally less than the turnout of 76.88 per cent in 2018.

There have been speculations and also opinion poll indications that the ruling Congress led by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel might retain the state due to its welfare measures focused on rural economy, farmers and women. However, the opposition BJP that looked in tatters a few months ago is said to have covered quite some ground during the last three months, posing a challenge to the ruling party.

The marginally low voters turnout is being considered by political watchers as being in favour of the ruling party, but the final outcome remains sealed in the EVMs and will become known only on December 3.

Meanwhile, the politicians have decided to shift their appeals from voters to divine power.

CM Baghel took a pre-sunrise holy dip in the river Kharun at Mahadev Ghat in Raipur on occasion Kartik Poornima on Sunday, but it is an annual ritual for Baghel and therefore cannot be linked to the polls.

However, Congress state president and member of parliament, Deepak Baij, who is also party candidate for assembly polls from Chitrakot seat, visited the famous Mahakal temple of Ujjain of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh a few days ago. He was accompanied by family members and posted photographs on social media platform X, saying that he sought blessings of Lord Mahakaleshwar and prayed for the happiness, peace and prosperity of all Chhattisgarh residents.

BJP state president, member of parliament and Lormi candidate of the party Arun Sao visited the famous Mahamaya temple at Ratanpur (Bilaspur) and sought blessings on the occasion of his birthday two days ago. He too was accompanied by family members. Sao has also been visiting other temples including those in his ancestral village Lohdia in Mungeli district.

Minister and Konta candidate of Congress Kawasi Lakhma, visited a tribal deity temple at Meradam of Telangana during his election campaign tour there. The Samakka-Saralamma Devi temple here is considered as one of the biggest religious and social spots for tribal people, especially the Koya tribe in Chhattisgarh, Telangana, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Former minister BJPs Raipur (South) candidate Brijmohan Agrawal visited the famous Rajiv Lochan temple at the confluence town of Rajim to seek blessings with his family members. Interestingly, he also sought Mahant Ram Sundar Das of Dudhadhari Math, who is the Congress candidate against him, during a chance meeting at Rajim. All these leaders posted their temple visits on social media platforms.

According to sources, among other leaders who have sought divine blessings for victory post polling include BJP candidate Dharmajit Singh who reached Maa Sharda temple in Maihar of neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, Congress Vaishali Nagar candidate Mukesh Chandrakar who visited Mahakal temple in Ujjain and BJP candidate Ramvichar Netam who sought blessings at Budhadev temple. Congress candidate from Keshkal seat, Santram Netam, visited religious town Haridwar and sought blessings at various temples and ashrams there.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered the BRS government in Telangana to stop disbursing all financial aid to farmers under the Rythu Bandhu Scheme over violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

The poll panel had earlier allowed the KCR government to proceed with disbursing the rabi instalment under the condition that it should not publish the disbursement as the poll code was in place. The funds were to be deposited in the farmers' bank accounts through the Direct Benefit Transfer method before November 28.



However, the state finance minister went ahead to make a public announcement about the release of disbursements of funds. "The disbursement will be made on Monday. Even before the farmers complete their breakfast and tea, the amount will be credited into their account," local media reports quoted.



Following this, Congress approached the Chief Election Commissioner seeking restrictions on the BRS government against mentioning the disbursement of Rythu Bandhu amount in their poll campaign. In a letter addressed to CEC Rajiv Kumar, Congress alleged that BRS leaders are making the EC's nod as a "tool to influence" voters as if they are giving it out of their own pockets.



Following this, the Election Commissioner informed the state chief electoral officer about its decision to withdraw its permission.



The State Agriculture Department said that 70 lakh farmers will benefit through Rythu Bandhu in this Yasangi (rabi) season.



Telangana goes to election on November 30.
A four-year-old American girl is safely in Israel after being released Sunday from captivity in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said as he urged the pause in Israeli war on Gaza be extended to allow for more captive releases.

"She's free and she's in Israel now," Biden said in a hastily arranged appearance before the media after the Israeli army announced that 17 captives were being freed by Hamas.

"She's been through a terrible trauma," Biden said of Abigail, whose parents were murdered in Hamas- led offensive on Israel on October 7.

On Friday in captivity, she marked her fourth birthday, the president said.

"Today, she's free, and Jill (Biden) and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright," he said.

"She is now safely in Israel, and we continue to press and expect for additional Americans will be released as well. And we will not stop working until every captive is returned to their loved ones."

The White House has said that 10 Americans, seven men, two women and Abigail, were missing and presumed held captive by Hamas.

Biden said a total of 58 captives have now been released by Hamas during the current temporary halt in fighting, through what he called "intensive US diplomacy" by himself and administration officials working with Israel, Qatar, Egypt and others.

The US president said he hoped to see the pause extended.

"That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more captives come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza."

The three-day-old truce "is delivering live-saving results," Biden added.

"Critically needed aid is going in, and captives are coming out."

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With the Chinese Navy increasing its numbers at a blazing pace, the Indian Navy is also stepping up the tempo and how. By upping production speed, deploying cutting-edge technology and by going indigenousa process already spurred by the ongoing atmanirbharta effort.

In that sense, the INS Imphalthe third amongst the four Project 15B guided missile stealth destroyersis a perfect indictment of the new approach.

From its keel-laying on May 19, 2017 to its launch on April 20, 2019 in less than two years, and from the commencement of sea trials on April 28, this year to deliverywithin six months to the Indian Navyon October 20, the INS Imphal stands testimony to Indias new focus.

Indian Navys spokesperson commander Vivek Madhwal said: Indias first Indigenous destroyer INS Imphal has taken a very short time to build and complete its sea trials.

On Tuesday, the crest of Yard 12706 (Imphal), built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), will be unveiled in New Delhi. This is also the first time that an Indian Navy ship has been named after a city in Indias northeastern region.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh and senior defence ministry officials are expected to be present at the crest unveiling on Tuesday.

As per the maritime traditions and naval customs, Indian naval ships and submarines are named after prominent cities, mountain ranges, rivers, ports and islands.

On November 22, it was from the INS Imphal that the first-ever test-firing of the extended-range Brahmos missile by a warship was conducted before the commissioning.

The warship is likely to be commissioned into the Indian Navy next month. It has been designed by the Indian Navys Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built at the Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd in Mumbai.

A Navy release called the ship amongst the most technologically advanced warships in the world that boasts of a high indigenous content of approximately 75 percent, including medium range surface to air missiles, BrahMos; surface to surface missile, indigenous torpedo tube launchers, anti-submarine indigenous rocket launchers, and 76 mm super rapid gun mount (SRGM).

Capable of speeds of more than knots or 45 kmph, several top Indian companies have been involved in the INS Imphal. Among them are Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) in Bengaluru, BrahMos Aerospace in New Delhi, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in Mumbai which made the indigenous torpedo tube launchers and anti-submarine indigenous rocket launchers, and Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) in Haridwar which manufactured the 76mm super rapid gun mount.
Amid opposition to celebrating Maa Veerar Naal or the birth anniversary of slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, Tamils coordinating committee in UK announced that it will organise functions in London and Glasgow by live streaming the speech of Duwaraka Prabhakaran, the daughter of Prabhakaran, who is said to have been killed during the last phase of the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Though there have been several reports about the AI-generated videos of Duwaraka that have been produced by the LTTE sympathisers living abroad, there is no official confirmation about her video message.

Who is Duwaraka?

Born in 1986 in Jaffna, Duwaraka was named after Prabhakarans favourite bodyguard Mayooran. His real name was Duwarakan. She was the second child of Prabhakaran and Mathivathani, born in between their two sons - Charles Anthony and Balachandran. Prabhakaran named his eldest son after his best friend and military commander Charles Anthony alias Seeman who died in Chavakacheri. Balachandran was named after Mathivathanis brother who died in a military combat.

Duwaraka was raised in Denmark by her maternal family. Later, she came back to Jaffna with her mother Mathivathani immediately after the IPKF left Sri Lanka. She did her primary schooling at John Bosco in Jaffna and then moved to Killionchi and later to Wanni. During the final stages of the war, Duwaraka was with her family members in the conflict zone. According to highly placed sources, Duwaraka was in the bunker or the container, a hideout, in Mulliwaikkal during the final phase of the conflict. She was reportedly killed in an aerial bombshell attack.

In 2008, when the war was at its peak and getting close to Mulliwaikkal, it was rumoured that Mathivathani and Duwaraka had fled to Europe. It was said that she was pursuing her graduation in an undisclosed location in Europe. It was not revealed if she was in the no-fire zone, or how she fled the conflict zone. However, the Sri Lankan army confirmed the death of Prabhakarans wife Mathivathani and Duwaraka, through former LTTE commander Karuna Amman, who was a minister in Mahinda Rajapaksas regime then.

Duwaraka's video

Though there is no proof that Duwaraka is alive, Mathivathinis elder sister Aruna, who lives in Denmark, had released a video saying that Duwaraka will come out soon. And then Poet Kasi Ananthan, an LTTE sympathiser who closely works with Pazha Nedumaran, had also said that Duwaraka will deliver a video speech on November 27. But, in a YouTube video, Prabhakarans nephew Karthik Manoharan revealed that there is no information about Prabhakaran or his family after the end of the war. We havent heard about Duwaraka for the past 14 years. If it is true that our uncle and aunt are alive, it is Prabhakaran or Mathivathani who will come out to talk and not Duwaraka. Karthik Manoharan, reportedly lives in Denmark.

According to highly placed intelligence sources, the plans to telecast the AI-generated video of Duwaraka was devised a month ago by the LTTE sympathisers who are living in Canada and London. There is a spike in the Sinhala settlements in Sri Lankas north and east.

The recent Kuruthurmalai issue is yet another example. The land parcels owned by Tamils are forcefully transferred to the Sinhalese in this region. The belief is that only Prabhakaran can stop this. But, because the talk about Prabhakaran being alive did not prove successful, the LTTE sympathisers have started playing up this rumour, say sources in the Indian intelligence, who closely follow Sri Lanka.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday warned district-level officers of stern action if they failed to resolve the citizens' grievances locally. Citizens being forced to reach the state capital to find solutions to all their issues shows the failure of the district officials, Siddaramaiah said.



"The people's grievances must be addressed at the district level and must not reach the state capital. If people are forced to spend money and come to Bengaluru seeking a resolution to their problems, it is the failure of the district officials. Delay in grievance redressal is a form of corruption," said Siddaramaiah during the first "Jana Spandana" (meet-the-people) programme held at 'Krishna' - CM's home office in Bengaluru.

During the meeting, the Chief Minister received as many as 3,812 applications (including the petitions filed through QR code and helpline 1902) related to various departments including the Revenue, police, BBMP, social welfare, women and child development among others.

Many people had sought housing, pension, financial assistance for medical treatment and employment. CM Siddaramaiah interacted with the deputy commissioners and other district-level officers virtually, directing them to follow up on each case.

The chief minister who sought reports from the districts on similar meetings held in their respective districts, said, "The applications received today will be disposed of within 15 days by the concerned department officials. If the request cannot be met owing to the existing rules, the departments should intimate the CM's office about the reason for the same."

Speaking to reporters after the programme, the chief minister said there was an overwhelming response to the programme and that he would hold 'Jana Spandana' once every three months.

"We did not expect such a huge turnout. More than 3,000 people have given the applications today," said Siddaramaiah.
The BJP conducted a spirited campaign in the four states with Prime Minister Narendra Modi taking the lead. He became the face of the campaign in poll bound states as the party firmly kept its eyes on 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The campaign will draw to a close in Telangana on Tuesday evening, the last of the five states to go to polls on November 30. The first signs of how the contest has gone between the BJP and the INDIA grouping will be available on Tuesday evening with exit polls conducted by various agencies being revealed.

The BJP has expressed its hope that it will win all the state elections. If that happens, it will set tone for the Lok Sabha elections, a few months away. If the Congress which is in direct contest in all the states goes on to do well, it will provide it with necessary confidence before the Lok Sabha polls, apart from giving it greater bargaining power within the Opposition alliance.

The current round of election provided a template as to how BJP will nuance its campaign during the general elections. It promised to provide gas cylinder at Rs 450 for Ujjwala beneficiaries. The party may extend the benefit to the entire country in its Lok Sabha manifesto. The increase in PM Kisan Samman Nidhi will also be taken in Lok Sabha polls as saffron party promised to give Rs 12,000 to farmers every year. Currently Rs 6,000 is given to farmers by the Centre every year.

Both the parties aggressively wooed women voters as it happened in the the Madhya Pradesh where CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan proposed a lot of sops for women. In 2018, the Congress had won three states, though it lost Madhya Pradesh to BJP owing to its rebellion by Jyotiraditya Scindia. This prompted the Congress to rely on its regional leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel and Kamal Nath for its current campaign.

The BJPs campaign, however, was in sharp contrast to the Congress in five states. The BJP, in order to counter anti-incumbency against its local leaders, projected Modi as the main mascot as all the promises were called Modis Guarantees. Home Minister Amit Shah and party president J.P. Nadda also conducted rallies and roadshows across the states to bolster partys chances.

All eyes will be on the December 3 results as it will not only decide the messaging and campaign style for the 2024 elections but also the fate of many regional leaders like Kamal Nath, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje among others.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) which has been on a spree conducting searches at the sand mining quarries in Tamil Nadu, on Monday made shocking revelations, in the Madras High Court, with regard to financial irregularities. The ED informed the court that the total sale value of the illegal excess sand mined in the past one to two years was Rs 4,730 crore as against the recovered revenue of merely Rs 36.45 crore.

In the objection petition filed before the court, the ED said that the technical study of the mining sites and illegal mining happened in extended areas as well as extended depths. The technical study, according to ED, was collected through Satellite Imagery by National Remote Sensing Centre, ISRO and IIT Kanpur.

The expert team conducted the technical survey using technologies such as drones and LIDAR surveys, Bathymetric surveys, etc, during the months of October and November 2023.

ED also informed the court that as per the report from the expert team, as against permitted mining area in 28 sites of 195.37 hectares, actual mining impacted area is 987.01 hectares. Further, the report reveals that as against volume recorded in the books of Water Resources Department (WRD) of 4.05 lakh units of sand, actual volume of sand mined is 27.70 lakhs units, resulting in excess volume of sand illegally mined of around 24 lakh units.

A Madras High Court division bench comprising of Justices S.S. Sundar and Sunder Mohan heard the petition filed by ED, in objection to the five writ petitions filed jointly by the state Public Department Secretary K. Nanthakumar on behalf of the collectors of Ariyalur, Karur, Vellore, Thanjavur and Tiruchi districts challenging the summons issued to them by the ED. The ED had summoned them for interrogation on November 17, in the illegal sand mining case which has shaken the political infrastructure in Tamil Nadu.

After hearing the arguments from senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for the state government and Additional solicitor general A. R. L. Sunderesan, appearing for the ED, the bench reserved the orders for Tuesday.

ED has been conducting searches and interrogating several water resources department engineers for the past two months. Subsequently ED had issued summons to district collectors to produce details regarding the names of sand mining sites in their districts, the complete address of the quarries, their GPS coordinates, the GPS address of the sand depots, the GPS coordinates of the depots, the permitted area of sand mining and the permitted depth.

Meanwhile, the DMK insiders say that the illegal sand mining case could turn into yet another 2G moment for the party.
The drilling work to create a vertical escape route for the 41 workers trapped inside the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarakhand is likely to be completed by November 30, officials said on Monday.

A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to prepare the passage.

"We have completed around 30 meters of drilling. The current machine that has been deployed can drill around 40-45 meters, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) Managing Director Mahmood Ahmad said at a press conference, reported ANI.

He informed that two more machines have been brought by SJVN for the vertical drilling work.

Changeover machines will take time. We are expecting vertical drilling work would be completed by November 30, Ahmad said.

Authorities began vertical drilling on Sunday as a second option to reach the stranded workers after an augur machine carrying out the horizontal drilling met with multiple snags, and finally broke and got stuck in the debris.

Rescuers are planning to insert pipes of 1.2 metre diameter vertically through the top of the tunnel.

Meanwhile, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters on Monday that rat-hole miners will start manual digging at the site shortly.

The broken parts of the auger machine have been removed from the rubble with the help of a plasma cutter flown in from Hyderabad, he added.

The government is fully committed to the safe rescue of all the 41 workers who have been trapped in the tunnel, the officer said, adding that both private and public agencies are involved in the rescue operations.

Earlier in the day, a delegation led by Principal Secretary to Prime Minister, Pramod Kumar Mishra visited the site and took stock of the rescue operation.
After months of speculation, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide and former IAS officer V Karthikeyan Pandian formally joined the ruling Biju Janata Dal on Monday. He joined the ruling party of Odisha in the presence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, ministers, lawmakers and senior BJD leaders.

Pandian, who sought voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year, is speculated to succeed Patnaik.

Top BJD leaders welcomed Pandian into the party. Senior leader Amar Patnaik said Pandian's move will strengthen the party. "This is not only a question of strengthening the party but also the state. He is committed to the development of the state like the Chief Minister," Patnaik added.

He said Pandian's arrival is not just aimed at the 2024 elections but a "long-term vision of the Chief Minister." "The people of Odisha want the CM to continue to fulfil that vision and Pandian will be an able ally in it."

Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, sparked several controversies during his stint as the private secretary to Naveen Patnaik. In March, Pandian undertook a tour across the state to engage directly with the people, covering 147 constituencies, addressing 200 meetings and engaging with 25 lakh people.

This had irked the opposition parties, including Congress, which accused the opposition parties of violating the service rule by carrying out what was clearly political work.

Pandian took voluntary retirement from government service on October 23 this year. Pandian was later appointed as the chairman of the state's flagship 5T (transformational initiative) and Navin (new) Odisha scheme in the rank of cabinet minister to work directly under the chief minister.
Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders.

The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on Oct 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war.

Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel as rain fell, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahu's office.

The Tesla CEO and prime minister visited the homes of some victims, including the family of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli-US citizenship who was held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed. She was released Sunday in the latest round of exchanges during a cease-fire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.

It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre, Musk later said in an X Spaces conversation with Netanyahu. Musk said he was troubled by video and photos that the prime minister showed him of the killings of civilians, including children.

They spoke broadly about the conflict, the protests it has generated, Hamas, the Middle East and more but did not touch on antisemitism online. Netanyahu said he hoped Musk would be involved in building a better future, to which the billionaire replied, I'd love to help.

Musk also was due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defence minister who's now part of a special war Cabinet.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy declined to say whether Musk was invited or came on his own. X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel's communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, tweeted earlier Monday about a deal that his ministry had reached with Musk's Starlink satellite internet company.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Karhi wrote, without providing further details.

Musk has faced accusations from the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights organisation, and others of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has gained increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

A slew of big brands, including Disney and IBM, decided to stop advertising on the platform after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and white nationalist posts.

It came the same week Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory that drew outcry, including from the White House.

Musk responded on X this month to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism by posting, You have said the actual truth.

X has since sued Media Matters, saying the Washington-based nonprofit manufactured the report to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.

Monday's visit is not the first time Musk and Netanyahu have met. Netanyahu came to California in September, telling the Tesla CEO that he hopes Musk can find a way to roll back antisemitism and other forms of hatred within the limits of the First Amendment.
As it released 17 more captives on Sunday, Hamas has sought an extension of the four-day truce with Israel beyond Monday. A statement from the militant group said it wants "to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement."

Besides Hamas, both key players - Qatar and Egypt - have called for an extension of fighting pause. "What we are hoping for is that the momentum that has carried from the releases  and from this agreement of four days will allow us to extend the truce beyond these four days, and therefore get into more serious discussions about the rest of the hostages," Qatars foreign ministry spokesperson, Majed Al-Ansari, told CNN on Saturday.

A helicopter transporting newly released hostages arrives at Schneider Children Medical Center in Petah Tikva after they were released by Hamas | AP

Israel's war cabinet is said to have discussed the possibility on Sunday but insisted that conditions remain unchanged: Hamas would need to release an additional 10 hostages for each additional days pause in the fighting, reported CNN.

US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told ABC News on Sunday that the pause could be extended for another day, or two days, or three days or even more. "The ball is in Hamass court on that because what Israel has said is that it is prepared to pause another day of fighting for every 10 hostages that Hamas releases," he said. "If the pause stops, the responsibility for that rests on the shoulders of Hamas, not on the shoulders of Israel," the top Biden aide asserted.

However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is reported to have told Biden that he would welcome extending a temporary truce if it meant that on every additional day, 10 captives would be freed. However, Netanyahu said Israel would "return with full force to achieve our goals: The elimination of Hamas, ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages" at the end of the truce.

"I am sure that we will succeed in this mission  because we have no other choice," he added.
On the final day of the four-day truce, Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend the truce for two more days on Monday. The spokesperson for Qatar's Foreign Ministry announced that an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days.

Qatar, along with Egypt, has been the key mediator in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.

The State of Qatar announces, as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.  .    Dr. Majed Al Ansari (@majedalansari) November 27, 2023

Meanwhile, Israel PM's office said that they have notified the families of hostages to be released tonight.

"Israeli authorities have notified the families of hostages slated to be released in the coming hours," the Israeli prime ministers office has said.

Before the statement released by Qatar, Egypt had informed that an extension agreement was close and would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages from among those seized by Hamas during October 7. In an exchange, 60 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails would be freed, it added.

Reportedly, a release of 11 Israeli hostages was expected on Monday.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 people, including a 4-year-old Israeli American girl. So far 58 hostages were freed by Hamas. With 39 Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday, a total of 117 were freed by Israel under the truce.

Earlier, Israel PM's office said that negotiations over list of hostages to be released was continuing. Negotiations on the list of those slated to be released under the framework of the hostages release outline are continuing...We are aware of the tension in the families and will release additional information when possible. We request to refrain from disseminating rumors and unreliable information," read the statement.

Arab states, EU agree for two-state solution

The Arab states and the European Union at a meeting in Spain on Monday agreed on the need for a two-state solution to the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said that almost all EU members attending the meeting of Mediterranean nations in Barcelona and almost all attendees overall had agreed on the need for a two-state solution. The Palestinian Authority should rule Gaza, said Borrell.

Borrell also added that Palestinian people cannot pay for the action of Hamas. It makes no sense to give food to somebody that will be killed the day after. We need to stop the bombardment, and we have to avoid more deaths. Humanitarian help is necessary, but its not enough, he said.

The Palestinian Authority must hold elections and improve its functioning but is the only "viable solution" to the future leadership of Gaza, currently run by Hamas Islamists, to avoid a "power vacuum", he said.

Over 14,000 people were killed since the Hamas attack.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of the Gaza Strip in a 2007 power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza. "We have been there all the time, we have 60,000 public workers there," he said.

Meanwhile, an Israeli spokesperson said that the total number of hostages still held in Gaza has now become 184, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual nationality.
Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus on Saturday evening.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while searching the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.



Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton's apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, police said.



The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.



Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday.



"The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun," police said.



"Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled," Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.



The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are US citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.



Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference on Monday to discuss the investigation. Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive. "In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven," he said.



The fact is that we don't yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. "But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.



The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement on Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.



A man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them, the committee's statement said.



The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.



The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.



The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a USD 10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.



The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims' families. "We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice."



Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school in the West Bank. "While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time."
Ahmedabad, Nov 27 (PTI) Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Monday met some key Japanese leaders on the second day of his visit to that country and invited them to attend the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024, as per an official release.

A high-level delegation led by Patel reached Tokyo on Sunday morning to promote the key business summit, to be held next January. The delegation is visiting Japan and Singapore between November 26 and December 2.

On Monday, Patel and the delegation accompanying him called on the president of JETRO (Japan External Trade Organisation) Susumu Kataoka in Tokyo and discussed the organisation's role in attracting Japanese investors to Gujarat.

The CM appreciated JETRO for opening its Business Support Centre in Ahmedabad recently to guide Japanese firms wanting to start their businesses in Gujarat, the release said.

Patel told Kataoka that JETRO's partnership with Gujarat can help the state in attracting new investment in different sectors, such as semiconductors, green technology, bulk drugs, medical devices, ceramics and textiles.

JETRO office-bearers also expressed keen interest in Gujarat's development journey and said they are eager to strengthen their relations with Gujarat. The chief minister formally extended an invitation to Kataoka and others to attend the Vibrant Summit to be held in Gandhinagar, the release said.

Later, the delegation travelled to Yokohama city on a bullet train and held a meeting with the Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike. Patel informed her about the role being played by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in strengthening the relations between India and Japan, as per the release.

"Nearly 350 Japanese firms are currently operating in Gujarat," Patel said and stressed that Gujarat and Japan can work closely in smart cities and sustainable urban development sectors.

Patel highlighted that the upcoming Vibrant Summit will prove to be an ideal occasion to finalise agreements in that direction and invited Koike to attend the mega event next year. PTI PJT
PUNE, India, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- ECOBARI, a Collaborative by the Pune-based Watershed Organisation Trust (WOTR), recently organised a special edition of 'Southbound Resilience Webinars.' The event aimed to shed light on the urgent need for Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) strategies in addressing climate change through the lens of biodiversity conservation.



The webinar successfully brought together key stakeholders from Academia, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), and Corporations. Dr. Erach Bharucha, a distinguished figure in environmental education and wildlife conservation in India with nearly 50 years of experience, moderated the panel discussions.



Describing the purpose of the webinar series Arjuna Srinidhi, National Anchor, ECOBARI, and Thematic Lead for Climate Change Adaptation at WOTR, said, "The phrase Southbound Resilience refers to the particularly challenging context of the global south in meeting development targets while also ensuring that we do that in a sustainable way. With this webinar series, we aim to learn on-ground experiences of practitioners, discuss issues with experts and foster collaboration for upscaling EbA in India and soon in the global south."



Distinguished participants in the webinar included Nitin Kakodkar and Subhash Bhadve, former officials from the Government of India's Forest Department, Dr. Kranti Yardi from Naoroji Godrej Centre For Plant Research, and researchers from WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS).



Bharucha said, "For me, this initiative resembles a startup and it is crucial to have think tanks like these in today's time. Climate change is going to go on for decades from now and all different types of stakeholders need to get involved to find solutions. Adaptation to climate change is living with climate change and if we have to live with climate change then we need to understand the types of ecosystems, their structures, functions, the composition of species, and so on."



Several practitioners presented interesting case studies at the event:



Krutika Ravishankar, Co-founder of the NGO Farmers for Forests (F4F), discussed a case study on the 'Forest and Carbon Credit Market.' She provided an overview of topics such as carbon credit, carbon farming, trading, and different types of carbon markets.



Amit Setiya, Founder of NGO CRANES, presented a case study on 'People's Participatory Nature Management' in 13-14 pilot villages of Gadchiroli, Maharashtra. The study focused on raising awareness about biodiversity and highlighted the challenges and opportunities associated with connecting participatory biodiversity conservation practices to income.



Sanjay Kumar, Country Head, and Anitha Chowdary, Research Manager at Valagro Biosciences Pvt. Ltd., covered two main areas in their study: access and benefit sharing, and transfer of research. Their research on microbial product development earned them the India Biodiversity Award 2021 from The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, recognising their contributions to this field.



About WOTR



WOTR is a globally recognised organisation dedicated to transforming the lives of millions of poor villagers across India through participatory watershed development and ecosystems restoration, climate resilient sustainable agriculture, integrated and efficient water management and climate change adaptation, with a special emphasis on building resilience of vulnerable communities, farmers, and women. WOTR was established in 1993 and is headquartered in Pune, Maharashtra, India. As of March 2021, WOTR, in collaboration with its partners, has worked in over 5,200 villages across 9 Indian states - Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Odisha. It has impacted more than 4.3 million people, trained over 530,000 people from across India and 63 countries and collaborated with 230 NGOs/Project Implementing Agencies (PIAs), and promoted over 15,500 SHGs involving 190,000 women.



About ECOBARI



A collaborative, ECOBARI brings together diverse stakeholders with a shared vision: empowering communities for a sustainable future employing the EbA approach. ECOBARI facilitates the joint action of committed individuals and institutions, representatives of Government, Civil Society Organisations, Businesses, Academia, NGOs, and Media to enable communities to conserve their local biodiversity, and restore and sustainably manage their natural resources aligned with the ecosystem they live in. ECOBARI's vision is to empower communities to sustainably regenerate and manage their ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, derive resilient incomes, and improve their quality of life through nature-based and nature-positive solutions, as they adapt to climate change.



Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285060/PanelistsSouthboundResilience.jpg



(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire and PTI takes no editorial responsibility for the same.). PTI PWR

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HYDERABAD, India and CINCINNATI, Ohio, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Narwal, a leading technology solutions provider, proudly announces the appointment of Nanda Padmaraju as the Chief Operating Officer. With over 25 years of global IT experience, Nanda brings a wealth of expertise to steer Narwal's strategic growth, emphasizing customer centricity, operational efficiency and innovation.



In his new role, Nanda will drive Narwal's business strategy to align with industry trends and market demands. Leveraging his operational prowess, honed through successful global subsidiary setups, he aims to optimize efficiency through streamlined processes and best practices. Nanda's emphasis on client relationship management is pivotal for Narwal's growth. Committed to customer satisfaction, he will focus on nurturing partnerships, securing repeat business, and expanding the client base. His global business scaling experience will support Narwal's expansion initiatives, identifying new markets for sustained growth.



A proponent of team building and positive work culture, Nanda aims to attract top talent aligning with the company's strategic objectives. In the dynamic tech landscape, his role in fostering innovation involves leveraging emerging technologies and guiding the adoption of cutting-edge solutions for enterprise customers. Nanda's financial acumen will play a crucial role in driving Narwal's financial management practices, including budgeting, cost optimization, and aligning financial strategies with growth objectives.



"I am honored and excited to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer at Narwal. Together with the talented teams at Narwal, we will prioritize client satisfaction, expand our reach in new markets, and build a positive work culture. I am committed to steering Narwal towards new heights and contributing significantly to its continued success." - Nanda Padmaraju, COO, Narwal.



Raj Kanuparthi , Founder and CEO of Narwal, commented on Nanda's appointment,"Bringing Nanda on board as our COO is a game-changer for Narwal. His track record in scaling companies aligns perfectly with our aim to grow tenfold. Nanda is a trusted, humble, and visionary leader who understands the intricacies of our industry and the dynamics of exponential growth. This move is not just about growth; it's about strategically evolving while maintaining our core values and culture. This is more than a new chapter; it's a pivotal leap towards realizing our dream."



"We extend a warm welcome to Nanda Padmaraju, our new Chief Operating Officer at Narwal. Nanda's strong emphasis on team building and leadership aligns seamlessly with Narwal's commitment to fostering a positive and collaborative work culture. His global experience and strategic approach will undoubtedly contribute to attracting top talent, aligning teams with the company's objectives, and driving overall organizational success. We are excited about the positive impact Nanda will have on our workforce and look forward to working together to achieve our people-centric goals and objectives." - Amit Sahoo, VP and Global Head of Human Resources, Narwal.



Nanda joins Narwal from Cigniti, where he was instrumental in building and scaling successful business entities globally, including the UK, Europe, South Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. Prior to Cigniti, Nanda's career footprint spans across CSC, AppLabs, TechMahindra (Satyam) and IBM.



About Narwal:



Narwal, with its Global Delivery Model, strategically expands its reach across North America, the United Kingdom, and an offshore development center in India. Consistently surpassing expectations, Narwal has achieved remarkable triple-digit growth rates year after year, earning accolades such as Inc. 5000, Best IT Services Company, Best Data Technology Company, and Partner of the Year with Tricentis.



For more information, visit us on LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.



Contact Information:



Ganesh Rayala

Head of Marketing

Narwal Inc

ganesh@narwalinc.com

www.narwalinc.com



Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285642/NandaPadmarajuNarwal.jpg



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With adherence to stringent international regulatory guidelines, the new facility at Pithampur marks a significant leap in manufacturing capabilities with an annual capacity of 400 tonnes, catering to domestic and international supplies and in compliance with international quality standards.



Pithampur, Madhya Pradesh, India  Business Wire India



Rusan Pharma, a leading pharmaceutical company committed to improving healthcare globally and pioneering pain management and addiction solutions worldwide  recently achieved a momentous milestone with the launch of its state-of-the-art API facility in Pithampur, Special Economic Zone (SEZ), Madhya Pradesh. This achievement represents Rusan Pharma's unwavering commitment to addressing the alarming rise in pain management, drug, alcohol, and tobacco addiction while contributing to the growth of the Indian pharmaceutical industry.



With an approach to sustainable development and technological advancements, the total investment over two phases will be up to INR 300 crores, highlighting Rusan Pharma's commitment to the pharmaceutical sector and its potential impact on the industry's growth and development. The facility is designed to meet stringent international regulatory guidelines, ensuring the highest level of compliance. With the production capability of 400 metric tonnes of APIs annually, the facility significantly contributes to Rusan Pharma's growth and expansion plans, diversifying its portfolio and expanding its reach in India and other markets.



Dr. Navin Saxena, Founder and Chairman  Rusan Pharma, said, The new API facility in Pithampur, will enable Rusan to significantly enhance our existing API capacity and ensure the security of supply of critical APIs to meet the growing demand for our addiction treatment and pain management products in India and globally. Rusan has invested the last 30 years and pioneered in making the treatment of addiction acceptable and accessible. We firmly believe that access to quality healthcare is a right and not a privilege. Our goal is to ensure that everyone who seeks treatment for addiction and pain management can access it.



Strategically situated within the Pithampur Special Economic Zone (SEZ), the new facility will capitalise on the support and subsidies provided by the Madhya Pradesh state government. This central location will streamline business operations and export processes through the dry port, making it an optimal choice for Rusan Pharma's expansion plans. The facility's location in a dedicated pharmaceutical zone ensures a cleaner environment, reducing the risk of pollution from other industries in the area.



Highlighting more about the initiative, Dr. Kunal Saxena  Managing Director, Rusan Pharma said, At Rusan, we exemplify the 'Make in India' initiative, especially in the area of controlled substances. With an investment of about Rs. 300 crore in two phases, this new API facility will increase our current API manufacturing capacity from 40 metric tonnes in Ankleshwar to 400 metric tonnes in Pithampur. Our new plant boasts five modular API manufacturing blocks with dedicated suites for finished API manufacturing. This grants us complete control over the quality of our products and reduces our dependency on imports, aligning perfectly with our commitment to excellence. Incorporating advanced automation and compliant software will help us move towards paperless manufacturing, along with stringent environmental controls, which will enable us to produce essential medicines more affordably, expanding accessibility to a broader population.



The facility in Pithampur sets itself apart with world-class automation, in-house design optimisation and a commitment to environmental controls, resulting in higher yields, reduced production costs, and top-notch product quality. Visually, the facility is an architectural marvel designed to withstand earthquakes and minimise disruption to the natural terrain. The facility's unique feature includes an altitude difference between the ground floors of about 9 meters (3 floors), facilitating the flow of materials and supplies. Its eco-friendly and sustainable design minimises environmental impact while optimising the utilisation of natural resources. The architectural excellence of the facility also showcases robust elements ensuring operational efficiency and resilience. During the construction phase of the Pithampur facility, over 3000 contract workers were employed, and once it is fully operational, the facility will directly generate more than 300 employment opportunities, and over the years, more than 500+ indirect employment opportunities will be created.



Over the years and prior to this, Rusan Pharma has continuously diversified its portfolio. Besides manufacturing, the company has invested heavily in R&D to develop first-time, technologically advanced products. Rusan was the first company to introduce Buprenorphine Sublingual and Buprenorphine Naloxone Sublingual Tablets for the treatment of drug abuse in India. Previously, the company had launched Apomorphine Injections for treating Parkinsons. It also specialises in the category of transdermal patches and was the first company to launch indigenous formulations of Fentanyl, Buprenorphine, and Lidocaine transdermal patches for moderate to chronic pain and Nicotine transdermal patches for tobacco cessation. Rusans current GMP approvals for its APIs and finished formulations facilities have the potential to cater to 90% of the world's demand. Some of the GMP approvals they are accredited with are Health Canada, TGA-Australia, SAPHRA-South Africa, EU, UAE, and Russia, to name a few.



Drug addiction, a global concern, has seen a significant impact with 296 million reported drug users worldwide in 2021, according to the UNODC World Drug Report 20231. In India, the issue persists with 23 million reported drug users in 2019, as reported by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (MOSJE) in the Magnitude of Substance Abuse in India, 20192.



Shifting the focus to alcohol addiction, it is a pervasive global issue, with 2.35 billion3 people (43% of the global population) identified as current consumers of alcohol. The harmful use of alcohol led to 3 million deaths worldwide in 2016, as reported by the WHO Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health in 20184. While in India, 160 million people were identified in alcohol consumption, and a concerning 57 million Indians were reported to need assistance for alcohol use problems, according to MOSJE5.



Tobacco addiction, another critical health challenge, affects 1.3 billion individuals globally. The devastating consequences include more than 8 million deaths annually, with 1.3 million non-smokers succumbing to the effects of second-hand smoke, as reported by the World Health Organization (WHO)6. In India, a staggering 266.8 million adults were identified as current tobacco users in the Global Adult Tobacco Survey Report for India (2016-17)7.



[1] https://www.unodc.org/res/WDR-2023/WDR23ExsumfinSP.pdf

[2] https://www.lgbrimh.gov.in/resources/AddictionMedicine/elibrary/magnitudesubstanceabuseindia.pdf

[3] https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/274603/9789241565639-eng.pdf?sequence=1

[4] https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/274603/9789241565639-eng.pdf?sequence=1

[5] https://www.lgbrimh.gov.in/resources/AddictionMedicine/elibrary/magnitudesubstanceabuseindia.pdf

[6] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/tobacco#:~:text=Around%2080%25%20of%20the%20world's,(WHO%20FCTC)%20in%202003

[7] https://assets.tobaccofreekids.org/global/pdfs/en/GATSIndia2016-17FactSheet.pdf



To View the Image, Click on the Link Below:



Rusan Pharma's new API Facility in Pithampur MP



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Noida, Nov 27 (PTI) Luxury realtor Bhutani Infra on Monday said all retail spaces in its new project Avenue 133 -- a mall in Noida Sector 133 -- were sold out within 12 hours of its launch.

Industry sources said the sale of retail space in phase one of Avenue 133 has fetched over Rs 1,000 crore for the real estate developer, with price ranging from Rs 24,000 sq ft to Rs 40,000 sq ft.

The second phase of the project is scheduled for sale next year and the group is eyeing revenue upwards of Rs 1,500 crore from it, a source close to the realty group told PTI.

"Avenue 133 is one of the fastest selling assets. Our last record stood at three weeks. This time it has been less than 12 hours," Bhutani told PTI.

However, he declined to share details about units sold or revenue earned.

About the pace of sale, Bhutani said the speed is not surprising for Noida, which has become the point of focus in the industry now.

"The plus point with this project is that it has filled a void for a good, major commercial project in a location where lot of residential projects have come up," he added.

Located along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Avenue 133 offers a mix of retail shops, wellness centres, office spaces, and a lively food court.

It aims to be the longest high street commercial project in Delhi-NCR, providing a modern retail experience and a bustling commercial hub, Bhutani Infra said in a statement.

"While Avenue 133 stands as a prime example of the developer's commitment to quality, innovation, and environmental responsibility, the quick sell-out from the launch reflects the trust and confidence buyers and investors have on Bhutani Infra's projects," the group said.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Sembcorp Industries on Monday announced that it has signed two separate agreements to acquire 428 MW of wind power assets in China and India for 200 million Singaporean dollar (about Rs 1,247 crore).

The Singaporean energy company, backed by state-owned investor Temasek Holdings Pte, will acquire 228 MW of operational wind power assets of Leap Green Energy Pvt Ltd for 70 million Singaporean dollar and 200 MW of Qinzhou Yuanneng for 130 million Singaporean dollar, the firm said in a statement.

Sembcorp has been operating in India for more than 12 years, with a presence across 18 states. With this acquisition, the company now has a balanced portfolio of 3.7 GW of renewable assets, comprising 2.25 GW of wind and 1.45 GW of solar assets. Last year, it announced the acquisition of Vector Green to add 583 MW of renewable assets in India.

"Sembcorp's wholly-owned subsidiary, Sembcorp Energy (Shanghai) Holding Co Ltd has signed an agreement with Envision Energy Co Ltd to acquire 100 per cent of the share capital in Qinzhou Yuanneng Wind Power Co Ltd (Qinzhou Yuanneng) for an equity consideration of approximately 130 million Singaporean dollar. Qinzhou Yuanneng owns 200MW of operational wind assets in Guangxi, China," the statement said.

Separately, its "wholly-owned subsidiary, Green Infra Wind Energy Limited (GIWEL), has signed an agreement with Leap Green Energy Private Limited (Leap Green Energy), an independent power producer in Tamil Nadu, India. Under the agreement, GIWEL will acquire from Leap Green Energy, 100 per cent of the share capital in two special purpose vehicles (SPVs) for an equity consideration of approximately 70 million Singaporean dollars. The SPVs own 228MW of operational wind assets in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, India," it said.

Sembcorp has signed agreements to secure 673MW of renewables capacity since it announced its 2028 target to achieve 25GW of gross installed renewables capacity.

This includes the proposed acquisition of 245MW of renewables assets in Vietnam, announced on November 10, 2023. Upon completion of these acquisitions, Sembcorp's gross renewables capacity will reach 12.6 GW globally.

"The acquisitions will be funded through a mix of internal cash resources and external funding, and are expected to be completed by the first half of 2024, subject to fulfilment of applicable conditions precedent in each case, including regulatory approvals," the statement said on the buyouts announced on Monday.

These acquisitions are in the ordinary course of business and will not have a material impact on the earnings per share, and net tangible assets per share of Sembcorp for the financial year ending December 31, 2023, it added.

Sembcorp is a leading energy and urban solutions provider, holding a balanced energy portfolio of 20.1GW, with 12.6GW of gross renewable energy capacity comprising solar, wind and energy storage globally. The company also has a proven track record of transforming raw land into sustainable urban developments, with a project portfolio spanning over 14,000 hectares across Asia.

Sembcorp is listed on the main board of the Singapore Exchange.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will come back to power in 2024 with a "good majority" and global investors need not be "jittery".

She also said the government is committed to systemic reforms to accelerate the pace of growth.

Participating in a debate virtually organised by India Global Forum, she said, investors "need not be jittery at all" about the outcome of general elections due in April-May 2024.

"...keeping their (investors) fingers crossed is normal and I can understand that. But here I am and also there are several people who are observing the Indian economy, observing the political environment, observing the ground level realities and the situation as it prevails today, Prime Minister Modi is coming back and coming back with a good majority," she emphasised.

The government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken various initiatives that have transformed the life of every Indian and the business environment has improved.

So, she said, "It is not as if this government has worked for one and not for the other. It has worked for everybody."

On the employment front she said the government is committed to providing 10 lakh jobs to youth of the country by December this year through Rojgar Mela held every month.

Out of this, she said, about 8 lakh have already been provided by the central government so far this year.

Talking about climate action, the Finance Minister said India is pushing forward on that with its own funds.

"The Paris commitment given by us has been funded by us. We didn't wait for the USD 100 billion that is never on the table...a lot of talk but no money coming ... no pathway to show how technology is going to be transferred," she said.

An additional issue is transition from fossil fuel to clean energy is going to be a challenge, particularly for developing and emerging market economies in terms of funding transition.

Asked about the impact of the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza on India-Middle East-Europe Connectivity Corridor (IMEC), she said, it is a long-term project and it is not going to be dependent on one or the other major event.

So it's going to face challenges due to some event or other but it has got its own strength, she said, adding, that countries who are directly or indirectly in connection with this project are absolutely clear that it is going to be critical for global trade, global partnerships.

The IMEC was signed at the 18th G-20 Summit held in New Delhi in September. It is a multimodal economic corridor that incorporates multiple networks of shipping, railways, and roadways and will also include electricity cables, high-speed data cables, and a hydrogen pipeline.

The corridor is expected to create a reliable and cost-effective cross-border, ship-to-rail transit network to supplement existing maritime and road transport, and facilitate trade and connectivity, leading to the economic integration of South Asia, West Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The IMEC will connect Indian ports such as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority, Mundra (Gujarat), and Kandla (Gujarat), with West Asian ones such as Fujairah, Jebel Ali, and Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Saudi Arabian ports of Dammam, Ras Al Khair, and Ghuwaifat.

Then there is a rail segment that will continue the IMEC and provide connection to the Saudi Arabian cities of Haradh and Al Haditha, onward to the port of Haifa in Israel.

The final segment, which some call the Northern Corridor, will once again be a maritime segment connecting the port of Haifa to the Greek port of Piraeus and there to Europe. PTI DP CS
Chandigarh, Nov 27 (PTI) The Haryana Cabinet has approved the revision of the Communication and Connectivity Infrastructure Policy  2023 to enhance the availability of high-quality technology and communication infrastructure throughout the state.

The updated policy supersedes the Communication and Connectivity Policy  2017, and aligns with the amended Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, as notified by the Union Ministry of Communication (Department of Telecommunications) in 2022, said an official statement after a meeting of the state cabinet here on Monday evening.

This decision encourages the integration of cutting-edge technological advancements in the telecom sector, including fibre to the home (FTTH), and innovative business models like the open access network (OAN), which separates physical access to the network from service delivery.

The revised policy establishes a framework for the creation of enabling 5G infrastructure, including through ducts alongside roads, allowing multiple service providers to share the same infrastructure to optimise Right of Way (RoW) availability and prevent frequent disruptions caused by multiple infrastructure providers digging in the RoW, the statement said after the meeting chaired by Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar.

Under the newly approved schedule, if the nodal officer fails to either grant permission or reject the application within 45 days from the submission date, permission will be deemed granted. The Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district will be the single contact person for all clearances.

Any telecom infrastructure and service provider registered or licensed with/from the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India or infrastructure provider duly authorised by the licensee to lay the communication and connectivity infrastructure is eligible to seek permission under this policy to install, lay or provide Communication and Connectivity Infrastructure in the state, it said.
Imphal, Nov 27 (PTI) Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda arrived here on Monday to marry his girlfriend Manipuri model and actress Lin Laishram.

Talking to reporters after offering prayers at a temple at Heingang in Imphal East district, Hooda said, "Peace for Manipur, peace everywhere in the world and happy married life."

Asked if other Bollywood stars would be attending the November 29 wedding, Hooda said, "It's just me."

Later in the evening, the duo went to Shri Govindaji temple to offer prayers.

On Saturday, Randeep, 47, and Lin took to Instagram to share the details about their wedding in the latter's hometown, which will be followed by a reception in Mumbai for their film industry friends.

"Taking a leaf out of Mahabharata where Arjuna married Manipuri warrior princess Chitrangada, we are getting married with the blessing from our family and friends.

"We are filled with immense joy to share that our marriage will take place on the 29th November, 2023, Imphal, Manipur, followed by a reception in Mumbai. As we set to embark on this journey, we seek your blessing and love for this union of cultures, for which we are forever indebted and grateful," the couple said in a joint statement.

The duo has been in a relationship for sometime. Lin, 37, is a model, actor and businesswoman, who has featured in films such as 'Mary Kom', 'Rangoon' and recently 'Jaane Jaan'.

Hooda was last seen in movie 'Sergeant'. His upcoming film is 'Swatantrya Veer Savarkar', which he has also directed. PTI COR
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Animated visuals in the background, the dashing Irish boy band Westlife belting out their iconic hits and excited fans swaying to timeless tunes around them... Sunday night at JLN stadium was a sight to behold.

After gigs in Mumbai and Bengaluru, it was time for the famous Westlife quartet -- Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan, Shane Filan and Mark Feehily -- to wow the Delhi-NCR audience and the heartthrobs of 90s didn't disappoint as they ended their India leg of "The Wild Dreams" Tour on a high note.

The performance started with a pitch-perfect opening sequence with members of the boy band storming the stage unannounced and singing the rousing pop number, 'Starlight', followed with streams of confetti appearing from nowhere.

"We love you India. We have been waiting for many years to come to India and do the concert, tonight is going to be the best of the lot. Are you ready to party, Delhi?" asked one of the band members to the pumped-up audience.

The Irish-band didn't wait too long to make music lovers walk down the 90s lane as they crooned to their nostalgic classics "Uptown Girl", "I Lay My Love On You", "Seasons in the Sun", "If I Let You Go", "My Love", and "Swear it again" -- the band's first single from their debut album in 1999.

"When we started this band we were a lot younger than what we are now, but so were you guys," said 43-year-old Kian Egan as he joked about how the group and its audience have grown old together.

To everyone's delight, the band, performing its 90th concert, wore matching silver basket coats to perform a medley of ABBA tunes including "Mamma Mia", "Take a Chance on Me", "Dancing Queen", "Thank You for the Music" and "Money Money Money".

Waving their hands in the air, singing along to every word or at times getting caught up in the emotion of powerful ballads, the audience -- particularly the older millennials' -- enjoyed the concert to the tee.

"I know it is a cliche but it was indeed a dream come true moment for me. I have grown up listening to Westlife, and getting to see them performing live after all these years is no less than a blessing. This is surreal. Of course, this is by far the best concert I have ever been to," said Piyush Sharma, 28, who attended the concert with his wife.

The band was formed in Sligo, Ireland, by the name 'IOYOU' by Egan, Feehily and Filan in 1997 with Byrne and Brian McFadden joining them a year later. The group was later renamed as Westlife.

They released their first single in April 1999 and have since released 12 studio albums, including 2021's "Wild Dreams".

The group ended its act and the Indian leg of the tour with the soaring anthem of "You Raise Me Up", and everyone, as if on cue, flashed their camera lights towards the stage to capture the magical moment and their childhood idols for one last time.

Westlife's "The Wild Dreams" tour was brought to India by BookMyShow Live.
Colombo, Nov 27 (PTI) The followers of slain LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran commemorated his 69th birthday as Great Heroes Day, Tamil media sources said on Monday.

Prabakaran used to make his annual policy speech on his birthday on November 26 during the days when LTTE ran a parallel state in parts of the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

Maaveerar Naal or Great Heroes Day is observed on November 27 by sections of Sri Lankan Tamils regarded as being generally supportive of the Tigers. It is the day on which fallen members of the LTTE are commemorated.

At Jaffna University on Sunday, students celebrated the 69th birth anniversary of Prabakaran by cutting a cake.

Similarly, a group of Tamil provincial politicians cut a cake opposite the house of Prabakarans birth at Velvettithurai.

Oil lamps were lit at different places in the north and east despite authorities banning holding the celebrations.

The police were accused on Monday of storming a Heroes Day celebration held in the eastern district of Batticaloa.

Tamil groups said that armed with riot gear the police tore down red and yellow flags and pulled oil lamps out of the ground to disrupt the celebrations.

Police obtained court orders at some places banning the celebrations.

The LTTE had run a military campaign for a separate Tamil homeland in the northern and eastern provinces of the island nation for nearly 30 years before its collapse in 2009 after the Sri Lankan Army killed its supreme leader Prabhakaran.
Vermont (US), Nov 27 (AP) Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus on Saturday evening.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton's apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday, police said.

The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement on Sunday.

The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are US citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference on Monday to discuss the investigation.

Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven, he said.

The fact is that we don't yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. "But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement on Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

A man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them, the committee's statement said.

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a USD 10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims' families.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice."

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of the private school in the West Bank.

While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.

In response to the shooting, US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country," the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. "We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation," Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organisation said on Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the US have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners. It was the third exchange under a four-day truce deal. (AP) PY

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Melbourne, Nov 27 (PTI) Dave Sharma, who became the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament in 2019, will return to politics after his victory in the New South Wales Liberal Senate race.

Sharma, 47, will replace ex-foreign minister Marise Payne, who has retired from the Senate, the Australian Associated Press reported.

Sharma, who represented the Sydney seat of Wentworth until his defeat at the 2022 election, beat former New South Wales (NSW) minister Andrew Constance, a frontrunner backed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

In a vote by the New South Wales Liberal Party members, Sharma defeated Constance 251-206 in the final ballot on Sunday, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported.

Sharma, who served as Australia's ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017, was backed by the moderates within the party.

Asserting that taking over from former Senator Payne was a privilege, Sharma said, "I would like to thank the party members for the opportunity to hold the Albanese government to account in the Senate over its many missteps and wrong decisions, and to fight for the many households across New South Wales (NSW) struggling to deal with Labor's cost-of-living crisis."

"The opportunity to serve in the Senate will allow me to fight for our nation's national security interests in a time of greater global turmoil," he was quoted as saying in the report.

Congratulating him on securing the NSW Senate position, Opposition leader Dutton said Sharma's entry to the Senate would come at a crucial time.

"His diplomatic and foreign policy expertise will lend considerable weight and wisdom to the public policy debate given the precarious circumstances in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific," Dutton said in a statement.

Asserting that Sharma was a "fitting replacement" for Payne, Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said, "Dave Sharma will bring a unique perspective to the Australian Senate."

In 2019, Sharma scripted history by becoming the first Indian-origin lawmaker in Australia's Parliament after winning a seat in a Sydney suburb in the federal election.
London, Nov 27 (PTI) A police officer from northern England has been found guilty of gross misconduct by a disciplinary tribunal for mimicking the Indian accent of a woman who had called the West Yorkshire Police call centre to report a hate crime.

Patrick Harrison was found guilty following a misconduct hearing last month, and the panel concluded that he would have been dismissed had he not already resigned as a Police Constable (PC) from West Yorkshire Police.

The incident, which occurred in November last year, involved a phone call with a female complainant  named only as SA  who overheard the PC mimicking her and reported it to an anti-racism helpline.

On 29.11.2022, former PC Harrison was on duty, working in the Force Call Centre, when he made a call to SA, a female member of the public who had reported a hate-related assault, reads the judgment.

The former officer asked SA for more details in relation to why she believed that it was a hate crime. Having had the conversation, the former Officer failed to clear the line and repeated back some of the phrases SA had used, mimicking her accent whilst doing so. SA heard these comments and made a report to Tell MAMA, it said.

Harrison accepted that his behaviour was unacceptable and inexcusable and that it breached the standards of professional conduct. During the course of the misconduct hearing, it also emerged that he acted to conceal his wrongdoing and did not report what he had done at the time.

He was found to have called SA back shortly after the first call from a different phone, which was not recorded. The panel felt it was likely he did so in order to see whether SA had heard what he had said.

Their judgment goes on to state: The former officers actions caused SA psychological distress and resulted in her withdrawing her direct cooperation with the police, such was her loss of trust and confidence in the police."

If the former officers actions become known more widely, there will be significant reputational damage to the police service as a whole. Racism and Islamophobia within the police are issues of significant national concern. The actions of the former officer have caused or may cause harm to the wider community, it said.

The actions of the former officer were deemed discriminatory to SA on the basis of her race, religion or belief. The panel found that this factor was aggravated by the fact that it took place in the context that she was reporting a hate crime.

The panel accepts that this was a single, impulsive incident which was of limited duration and extent We have carefully considered whether the facts as we have found them to amount to gross misconduct. We are satisfied that they do amount to gross misconduct, the tribunal concluded.

It also acknowledged the officer's prior unblemished record during 15 years of service with the police and that he has suffered a "significant degree of shame, regret and remorse for his actions and the consequences".
Beijing, Nov 27 (PTI) Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to make his first visit to Shanghai - the communist giant's commercial hub - on Tuesday, days after his high-profile visit to the US where he promised to "tear down barriers" amidst dwindling foreign investments in the country.

Xi, 70, who presided over the powerful Politburo meeting of the ruling Communist Party on Monday to review guidelines on policies and measures for promoting high-quality development in the country, will visit Shanghai on Tuesday, his first to the commercial hub, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported.

With a population of more than 25 million and contributing nearly four per cent of Chinas economic output, Shanghai is home to some of the biggest foreign investments in the country, including Tesla, General Motors, Walt Disney and the 10-year-old Shanghai Free-Trade Zone (FTZ), a testing ground for China's economic reforms.

There is, however, no official announcement of Xi's visit to the city which was hit hard by a harsh two-month-long COVID-19 lockdown in 2022 during which its population was confined to their dwellings under Xis 'zero COVID' policy.

The lockdown was enforced after the city was hit hard by the Omicron variant of COVID-19 for about eight months.

Since, 2021, the worlds second-largest economy has been hit hard by recurring and prolonged lockdowns of various cities which exasperated China's economic woes, denting the business confidence including its once-booming property sector.

Xi's first visit to Shanghai where he was previously the CPCs boss comes close to his successful visit to the US this month where he had a strategic and historic summit with US President Joe Biden during which the two leaders agreed to tone down their harsh policies and rhetoric against each other.

While their summit sparked speculation of a subtle shift in US-China power dynamics, Xi in his address to the APEC CEO summit in San Francisco earlier this month pledged to tear down foreign investment barriers and promised to invite foreign capital with heart-warming measures.

"We will strive to tear down the barriers to the flow of innovation factors, deepen reform of the digital economy, and promote free and orderly flow of data in compliance with the law, he said in his speech aimed at rising sagging business confidence in China leading to shifting of supply chains.

During his trip to Shanghai, Xi is expected to encourage city officials to pursue more market liberalisation to spur cross-border trade and capital flows via the mainlands gateway city amid mounting worries about Chinas decoupling from the West, Ding Haifeng, a consultant at Shanghai financial advisory firm Integrity said.

"Shanghai's role as an economic locomotive will be further highlighted following the top leader's visit," he told the Post.

Observers say China's current economic woes were largely attributed to Xis emphasis more on security issues denting business confidence.

"In the past five years, however, security concerns have taken top priority," Post columnist Wang Xiangwei said.

Last year, in his keynote speech at the 20th Communist Party national congress, Xi spoke of pursuing development as the governments central task but devoted far more time to national security and social stability, Wang wrote in his column in the Post on Monday.

"But, in reality, restoring economic vigour and the confidence of domestic and international businesses is a far greater challenge for Chinas leadership, not least because Xi has further consolidated his position as the countrys most powerful leader in decades after eliminating all other political factions," Wang said.

"Now that China and the US are heading for a period of uneasy calm, Chinas leadership must take advantage of the window of opportunity to find a better balance between security and development. That calls for a renewed effort to genuinely make pursuing development the government's central task," he said.
Islamabad, Nov 27 (PTI) The Islamabad High Court on Monday adjourned until Wednesday the hearing of appeals of Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif against his conviction in two cases of corruption.

Sharif, 73, had challenged in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) his sentences in the Avenfield property and Al-Azizia cases in which he was convicted in 2018.

Chief Justice Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb heard appeals on Monday.

Sharifs lawyers argued in favour of appeals and answered various questions asked by the two judges. Later, the bench adjourned the hearing until November 29.

The former premier was convicted in July 2018 and handed 10 years in jail in the Avenfield properties corruption case about assets beyond known income in London. He was sentenced in the Al-Azizia Steel Mills case to seven years in jail in December 2018.

The cases were filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), the national anti-corruption watchdog. He had filed an appeal against both convictions.

Sharif went to London in 2019 and could not return and was declared a proclaimed offender in both cases in December 2020 by the IHC. He came back last month after nearly four years of self-exile and his appeals were revived.

He was present during the hearing and strict security measures were put in place to avoid any untoward situation.
Jerusalem, Nov 27 (AP) Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants and was set to meet with top leaders.

The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on Oct 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war.

Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel as rain fell, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahu's office.

The Tesla CEO and prime minister visited the homes of some victims, including the family of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli-US citizenship who was held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed. She was released Sunday in the latest round of exchanges during a cease-fire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.

It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre, Musk later said in an X Spaces conversation with Netanyahu. Musk said he was troubled by video and photos that the prime minister showed him of the killings of civilians, including children.

They spoke broadly about the conflict, the protests it has generated, Hamas, the Middle East and more but did not touch on antisemitism online. Netanyahu said he hoped Musk would be involved in building a better future, to which the billionaire replied, I'd love to help.

Musk also was due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defence minister who's now part of a special war Cabinet.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy declined to say whether Musk was invited or came on his own. X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel's communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, tweeted earlier Monday about a deal that his ministry had reached with Musk's Starlink satellite internet company.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Karhi wrote, without providing further details.

Musk has faced accusations from the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights organisation, and others of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year, and the content on X has gained increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began.

A slew of big brands, including Disney and IBM, decided to stop advertising on the platform after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and white nationalist posts.

It came the same week Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory that drew outcry, including from the White House.

Musk responded on X this month to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism by posting, You have said the actual truth.

X has since sued Media Matters, saying the Washington-based nonprofit manufactured the report to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.

Monday's visit is not the first time Musk and Netanyahu have met. Netanyahu came to California in September, telling the Tesla CEO that he hopes Musk can find a way to roll back antisemitism and other forms of hatred within the limits of the First Amendment. (AP) SCY

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Khan Younis, Nov 27 (AP) Israel and Hamas are preparing for a fourth exchange of militant-held hostages for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, as mediators seek to extend a cease-fire in Gaza that is set to expire after Monday.

On Sunday, Hamas freed 17 more hostages  14 Israelis and three Thais  in a third exchange under the four-day truce. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Of the roughly 240 hostages captured by Hamas in its October 7 attack in southern Israel that ignited the war, 62 have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

Israel has said it would extend the cease-fire by one day for every 10 additional hostages released. Hamas has also said it hopes to extend the truce, which was mediated by the United States, Qatar and Egypt.

With the truce deal has come increased shipments of fuel and supplies into Gaza  though aid groups say it's still barely enough to dent the needs of the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza who have endured weeks of Israeli bombardment.

More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will press ahead with the war after the cease-fire expires. Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, mostly during the initial incursion by Hamas. At least 77 soldiers have been killed in Israel's ground offensive.

Currently:

 The cease-fire is back on track as Hamas frees 17 more hostages and Israel releases 39 Palestinian prisoners.

 As freed hostages return to Israel, details of captivity emerge.

 Elon Musk visits kibbutz attacked by Hamas.

 Qatar is the go-to mediator in the Mideast war. Its unprecedented Tel Aviv trip saved a shaky truce.

 Representatives of European and Arab countries meet in Barcelona to discuss the Israel-Hamas war.

 US Navy seizes attackers who held an Israel-linked tanker.

 With antisemitism rising as the Israel-Hamas war rages, Europe's Jews worry.

Here's what's happening in the war:

ELON MUSK VISITS A KIBBUTZ THAT WAS ATTACKED BY HAMAS

Elon Musk, who's been under fire over accusations of antisemitism flourishing on his social media platform X, paid a visit Monday to Israel, where he toured a kibbutz that was attacked last month by Hamas militants.

The billionaire and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured the Kfar Azza kibbutz, which was stormed by Hamas militants on Oct. 7. Musk, wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel, used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahu's office.

Musk also was due to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Benny Gantz, a former defense minister who's now part of a special war Cabinet.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy declined to say whether Musk was invited or came on his own. X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel's communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, posted on X earlier Monday about a deal that his ministry had reached with Musk's Starlink satellite internet company.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Karhi wrote, without providing further details.

Musk responded on X this month to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism by saying, You have said the actual truth.

PALESTINIAN FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS TRUCE MUST BE EXTENDED

Barcelona: Palestinian Foreign Affairs Minister Riad al-Malki says the pause in fighting that is about to expire in the Israel-Hamas war must be extended to avoid more deaths in Gaza.

We have work so that this truce continues  so that Israel does not continue attacking, al-Malki said Monday at a meeting of delegations from members of the European Union and countries from north Africa and the Middle East in Barcelona, Spain.

The truce went into effect with 15,000 deaths. If we see the war resume, then the number of deaths will double because the concentration of the population is now twicefold, he said.

The population of Gaza has concentrated in the south of Gaza, he said, speaking in Spanish. So any attack that before killed one child will now kill two. That is why it is important to extend this truce.

Al-Malki is one of 42 representatives of different countries and territories attending the Union for the Mediterranean meeting, which is focused on the war that has raged since Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7.

The pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas continued Sunday with a third day of releases of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. It was scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

IN NORTH GAZAN TOWN, VIRTUALLY EVERY BUILDING IS DAMAGED

Beit Hanoun In the north Gazan town of Beit Hanoun, virtually every building has been damaged by the ongoing conflict, some entirely leveled and others ripped open.

Associated Press videos captured on Monday show the extent of the destruction as the planned four-day truce between Israel and Hamas enters its final 24 hours.

A handful of residents searched beneath the rubble for anything of use or value. The UN Palestinian relief agency UNRWA's Beit Hanoun school was one of few buildings still standing, but with holes in its walls and roof, likely caused by missile or artillery fire.

The war-ravaged city has been largely abandoned after Israel called for Palestinians in northern Gaza to evacuate and head for the south.



UN EXPERTS CALL FOR A FULL INVESTIGATION OF ANY WAR CRIMES

Berlin- Experts from the United Nations have called for full and independent investigations into any crimes committed by Israel and Hamas in their ongoing conflict.

The U.N. experts, Morris Tidball-Binz, special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary and arbitrary executions, and Alice Jill Edwards, special rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, said in a joint statement in Geneva on Monday that independent investigators must be given the necessary resources, support and access required to conduct prompt, thorough and impartial investigations into crimes allegedly committed by all parties to the conflict.

They urged all parties involved in the conflict to protect civilians, comply with their obligations under international law, and cooperate fully with investigations.



CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER TO LEAD SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR

Beijing-China's top diplomat will travel to New York to lead a U.N. Security Council meeting on the war in Gaza on Wednesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi will chair the meeting, spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced Monday. China currently holds the Security Council presidency.

China hopes that by holding this high-level meeting, we can ... contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realizing a cease-fire and cessation of hostilities, protecting civilians and ultimately promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian issue through a two-state solution, Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing.

The Chinese government has joined Arab states in calling for a cease-fire as Israel mounted counterattacks in response to the initial Hamas attack and taking of hostages. Hamas has released some hostages during a truce that began Friday in return for Israeli releases of Palestinian prisoners.

The pace towards peace, no matter how small, should be encouraged, and the difficulty in protecting civilians, no matter how daunting, should be overcome, Wang Wenbin said of the hostage and prisoner releases. We have repeatedly emphasized that violence cannot create real security and the use of force cannot bring lasting peace.



GERMANY TO HELP RECONSTRUCT HAMAS-DESTROYED COMMUNITIES IN ISRAEL

Berlin- Germany says it will provide financial support for the reconstruction of communities destroyed by Hamas in Israel.

During a visit on Monday to Kibbutz Beeri, which was brutally attacked by Hamas on October 7, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said his country would provide 7 million euros (USD 7.6 million) for the kibbutz in 2024. The money is for reconstruction of a cultural center and a meeting center for senior citizens, German news agency dpa reported.

It is far too early to think about reconstruction now, Steinmeier said during his visit, adding that nonetheless many residents who are currently staying elsewhere in Israel are already thinking about returning to Beeri.

Beeri and the many other kibbutzim deserve not only to be part of Israeli history, but above all to be part of Israel's future, the German president said.



HEZBOLLAH WILL COMPENSATE LEBANESE WHOSE HOMES WERE DAMAGED BY ISRAEL, LAWMAKER SAYS

Beirut A senior Hezbollah legislator said Monday that the Iran-backed group will compensate Lebanese whose homes along the Lebanon-Israel border were damaged by Israeli shelling and strikes.

Hezbollah militants and Israeli troops have clashed along the border since Oct. 8, stoking fears that the Hamas-Israel war in the Gaza Strip will spill over into the rest of the region. Though the clashes have been intense, with both combatants and civilians killed on both sides, they have remained largely contained to areas near the border. Hezbollah was not officially a party to the four-day truce between Hamas and Israel that took effect Friday, but calm has largely prevailed on the Lebanon-Israel border since then.

What we are offering those affected is money and the efforts and capabilities of Hezbollah, and that is part of our battle, said parliament member Hassan Fadlallah, who made the announcement at an event honoring a slain Hezbollah militant in the border town of Aita al-Shaab.

Fadlallah said the group surveyed most of the damaged areas in southern Lebanon, widely seen as a political and military stronghold for the group.

Israel and Hezbollah fought a monthlong war in 2006 that ended in a draw. Israel sees Hezbollah as its most direct threat and estimates that the group has about 150,000 precision-guided missiles pointed at it.

SIX TEENAGERS GO ON TRIAL IN THE 2020 BEHEADING OF A FRENCH TEACHER

Paris-Six teenagers go on trial Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm France's cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Paty's name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.



SUSPECT ARRESTED IN SHOOTING OF 3 MEN OF PALESTINIAN DESCENT NEAR UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT

Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus.

Agents arrested Jason J. Eaton while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington on Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

Authorities collected evidence during a search of Eaton's apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said. Online court records did not list an attorney who could speak on Eaton's behalf.

The attack that injured the three men on Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington police said Sunday. (AP)



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London, Nov 27 (PTI) A new strain of swine flu has been detected in a person in the UK for the first time and close contacts are being monitored to determine its potential to spread among humans, the countrys health authorities reported here on Monday.

The UK Health Security Agency (HSA) said the virus strain found in pigs was detected in a person with mild respiratory symptoms after a routine test at a general practitioner (GP) surgery was analysed in a lab.

While investigations are underway to determine the source of the infection, the close contacts of the individual who has since fully recovered are being monitored.

This is the first time we have detected this virus in humans in the UK, though it is very similar to viruses that have been detected in pigs, said Dr Meera Chand, Incident Director at the UKHSA.

We are working rapidly to trace close contacts and reduce any potential spread. In accordance with established protocols, investigations are underway to learn how the individual acquired the infection and to assess whether there are any further associated cases, she said.

The Indian-origin microbiologist stressed that routine flu surveillance and genome sequencing led to the early detection of the new virus strain named Influenza A(H1N2)v. It is similar to flu viruses currently circulating in pigs in Britain and the UKHSA said it is working closely with partner agencies to determine the characteristics of the pathogen and assess the risk to human health.

We know that some diseases of animals can be transferred to humans  which is why high standards of animal health, welfare and biosecurity are so important, said Christine Middlemiss, UKHSA Chief Veterinary Officer.

"Through our animal and human surveillance systems we work together to protect everyone. In this case we are providing specialist veterinary and scientific knowledge to support the UKHSA investigation. Pig keepers must also report any suspicion of swine flu in their herds to their local vet immediately, she said.

The UKHSA advice, meanwhile, is that people with any respiratory symptoms should continue to follow the existing guidance, which is to avoid contact with other people while symptoms persist, particularly if the people they are coming into contact with are elderly or have existing medical conditions.

UKHSA is monitoring the situation closely and is taking steps to increase surveillance within existing programmes involving GP surgeries and hospitals in parts of North Yorkshire. To assist in the detection of cases and assessment of transmission, those people who are contacted and asked to test are encouraged to do so, it said.

According to experts, when an influenza virus that normally circulates in swine is detected in a person, it is called a variant influenza virus. H1N1, H1N2 and H3N2 are major subtypes of swine influenza A viruses in pigs and occasionally infect humans, usually after direct or indirect exposure to pigs or contaminated environments.

Based on early information, the infection detected in the UK is a distinct clade (1b.1.1), which is different from recent human cases of influenza A(H1N2) elsewhere in the world but is similar to viruses in pigs in the UK.

UKHSA analysis reveals that in 2009, there was a pandemic in humans caused by an influenza virus named Influenza A H1N1(pdm09), commonly referred to as "swine flu". That virus contained genetic material from viruses that were circulating in pigs, birds and humans in the 1990s and 2000s. Influenza A H1N1(pdm09) is now circulating in humans seasonally and is no longer referred to as swine flu.

However, that strain is distinct from the viruses currently circulating in pigs. The UKHSA has notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) of the latest case.
French, German and Argentinian dual nationals are among 11 Israeli captives to be freed in a fourth group by Hamas in exchange for 33 Palestinians in Israeli prisons, Qatar said on Monday.

On "the fourth day of the humanitarian truce agreement, 33 Palestinian civilians will be released today in exchange for the release of 11 Israeli captives from Gaza," Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari said on X, formerly Twitter

"Those released from Israeli prisons include 30 minors and 3 women, while the Israelis released from Gaza include 3 French citizens, 2 German citizens, and 6 Argentinian citizens," he added.

"Based on information that was received from the Red Cross, 11 captives are currently on their way to Israeli territory," the military said in a statement.

* This story was edited by Ahram Online.

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Barcelona, Nov 27 (AP) The top Palestinian diplomat made a plea Monday to extend the fragile cease-fire in Gaza, hours ahead of its scheduled expiry, at a meeting of European Union members and Middle Eastern and north African countries that focused on diplomatic efforts to stop the Israel-Hamas war.

"We have to find how to apply the necessary pressure so that the Israeli government does not continue killing innocent people, so that we can continue counting cadavers, Riad al-Maliki said in Spanish during a news conference during the gathering of diplomats in Barcelona, Spain.

Israel is not attending the meeting hosted by the Union for the Mediterranean and chaired by the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, and Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. Many of the 42 delegations were represented by their foreign ministers.

In recent years, the event has become largely a forum for cooperation between the EU and the Arab world. Monday's gathering was supposed to focus on the role of the union 15 years after its foundation, but it has taken on new significance since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis and led to nearly 240 people being taken hostage and Israel's ensuing war in the Gaza Strip.

Borrell said he "regretted" the absence of Israel. He repeated his condemnation of the Hamas attack, while calling on Israel to permanently end its assault, which he said has claimed the lives of over 5,000 children.

"One horror cannot justify another horror, Borrell said. Peace between Israel and Palestine has become a strategic imperative for the entire Euro-Mediterranean community and beyond."

Jordan's Safadi, who told The Associated Press on the eve of the event that he hopes the talks will help "bridge a gap" between Arab and European countries, urged the officials attending the meeting to back a two-state solution that would recognize a Palestinian state.

But Safadi also acknowledged Monday after the meeting that despite a broad consensus for peace, there are still some differing viewpoints on how hard to push Israel to stop.

"Today, we came for a very open, very frank, very blunt conversation. We agreed and we disagreed. Some of our colleagues still call the killing of 15,000 Palestinians, the destruction of over 160,000 homes, the complete devastation of hospitals, the denial of food, water, fuel, medicine, is self-defense, the Jordanian minister said. We call it blatant aggression.

Safadi would not say which countries took the softer approach to Israel, but the Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia, and Hungary have insisted on Israel's right to defend itself.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, was invited to the event. Israel had been close to normalizing relations with Saudi Arabia before the Hamas attack.

"Continued escalation will produce no severe pain for any party, Prince Faisal said. The only sure result is more destruction, radicalization and further conflict at the expense of Palestinian lives, as well as regional security, including that of Israel. Since this crisis erupted, we have been clear on condemning all the targeting of civilians in any form. On both sides.

Borrell said he wanted the gathering to focus on managing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza once hostilities finally stop. The EU would want the United Nations to take a leading role in establishing how best to fill any security vacuum should Israeli forces defeat Hamas, according to a senior EU official who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Borrell mentioned in his opening remarks that there were Arab partners who "don't want to talk about the day after in Gaza without having a clear and credible political prospect. That is why we should agree today to work together to build such a political horizon.

A small pro-Palestinian group rallied before the gathering at the art nouveau building that once housed Barcelona's Sant Pau Hospital.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters Monday that the fact that Israel has to fear one-sided hostility here and is therefore not taking part today shows how deep the rifts are at the moment.

That is precisely why I am here today, even though these meetings were not previously given a high profile by Germany, she added. Precisely because the rifts are getting deeper.

Israel gave no reason for its decision not to attend the gathering.

The pause in hostilities between Israel and Hamas continued Sunday with a third day of releases of hostages and Palestinian prisoners. It was scheduled for four days and neither side has made fully clear what comes after Monday.

Spain is one of the EU countries that has called for Israel to cease its assault, while also condemning the Hamas attack. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said the time has come for the international community and the EU to recognize a Palestinian state, during a trip with his Belgian counterpart to Israel, the Palestinian territories and Egypt last week. That prompted Israel to summon the Belgian and Spanish ambassadors.

Speaking alongside al-Maliki, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Albares said that Hamas cannot be part of the solution. Al-Maliki is the foreign minister for the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, whose forces were driven out of Gaza by Hamas when it seized power in 2007.

The Union for the Mediterranean is an intergovernmental organization formed by the 27 members of the EU and 16 from the southern and eastern Mediterranean including Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan.

The EU is the world's biggest provider of assistance to the Palestinians. Almost 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion) has been earmarked for 2021-2024.

The EU is Israel's biggest trade partner, accounting for 28.8% of its trade in goods last year. (AP) ZH

ZH
Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Amid the Maratha-OBC face-off over quotas, Maharashtra minister Chhagan Bhujbal has demanded a stay on Kunbi caste certificates issued to Marathas and disbanding of Justice Sandeep Shinde (retired) panel saying it has done its job of identifying records in the Marathwada region.

Bhujbal also called for a survey to check the caste-wise backwardness of all sections along with the Maratha community and a comparative study before deciding on facilities for them.

The demand made by Bhujbal, who had sided with Ajit Pawar when he joined the Shiv Sena-BJP government, has drawn a sharp reaction from his cabinet colleague Shambhuraj Desai, who belongs to Shiv Sena headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bhujbal, a prominent OBC leader, said CM Shinde had set up the committee to find out Kunbi lineage from the Nizam regime in the pre-Independence period.

"I have no issues with this process. I am opposed to people from other regions of the state who are making fake claims to obtain Kunbi certificates so that they can enjoy the existing benefits of reservation in education and government jobs.

The Shinde committee found a sufficient number of proofs in the Marathwada region. Eligible people from Marathwada should get the certificates. Its (committee's) work is done, now it should be discontinued, Bhujbal said.

Bhujbal also said he was not against a separate reservation for Marathas but was opposed to the "ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi (caste) certificates by submitting fake or forged documents."

Speaking to a regional news channel, Desai said, Bhujbal should not make inflammatory comments when the situation is tense in the state. All the ministers should take a harmonious stand in this situation.

Queried on Bhujbal's demand to scrap the Shinde committee, Desai said, We cannot have a law applicable to a handful of districts in Marathwada region only. Once a law or ruling is out, it generally applies to all parts of the state.

When pointed out that a government resolution (GR) specifically mentions that the Shinde committee's scope is restricted to Marathwada, he said, Once you decide, you cannot restrict it to only one region".

Desai further said the state cabinet ministers have informed the chief minister and two deputy chief ministers that they can make necessary changes in the GR in the larger interest of the state. "The Maratha reservation issue cannot be discussed only on technical terms. It is beyond it.

Amid the agitation for the Maratha reservation led by activist Manoj Jarange, the state government set up the five-member panel headed by Justice Shinde (retired) to decide the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for giving Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community who (or whose ancestors) were referred to as Kunbis in the Nizam-era documents.

Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.

The state government on October 31 published an order asking officials concerned to issue fresh Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Maratha community members, paving the way for them to avail reservation benefits under the OBC category.

Bhujbal has said the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving the reservation to Marathas.

He made a similar demand to disband the Shinde committee on Sunday at a rally of OBC communities in Hingoli district. He also appealed to the communities to unite and fight for their rights.

"As Marathas will be given Kunbi caste certificates across the state, which means there will be no Maratha community left in the state.

"There should be a stay on the Kunbi caste certificates which have been issued in the past two months," he said at the rally.

Bhujbal wondered how the number of records about the Kunbi reference have been rising suddenly.

OBC leader Prakash Shendge has shown some 7-8 documents to the chief minister where old certificates were tampered with a pen. Such fake claims should not be entertained and Kunbi certificates should not be given to people based on such forged documents," he said.

Bhujbal said Marathas should be given the reservation separately.

"The caste-wise backwardness should be checked through a survey of all communities along with the Maratha community and then the facilities should be given. A comparative study should be done of all communities," he added.

Asked about his being portrayed as a strong opponent of the Maratha quota demand, Bhujbal said the Supreme Court has already stated that Marathas cannot be categorised as OBC.

"When the first list of OBCs came out after the Mandal Commission's report was accepted by the Union government, some 200 backward communities were identified. Later more communities were identified as OBCs and the number increased to more than 350. I never opposed such a change, he said.

On quota activist Manoj Jarange's recent remark that Marathas had to work under undeserving people, Bhujbal said, "But these were the people who worked with Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. Many saints were also from the (OBC) community and now the new leader (Jarange) says that we are undeserving."

Bhujbal also said that facilities and funds given to SARTHI should also be given to Mahajyoti, the autonomous Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Research & Training Institute of the Other Backward Class Bahujan Welfare Department.

Meanwhile, Desai also expressed disapproval over Bhujbal's purported remarks blaming the state Home department over the violence in Beed district wherein houses of two MLAs were torched when the Maratha quota agitation was at its peak.

The police have not yet completed their investigation into the Beed violence. The home minister (Devendra Fadnavis) will receive the report, which, if he finds it dissatisfactory, can be discussed in the Cabinet meeting. Without the report, it is unfair to level such serious allegations against the government and the police force, he said. PTI ND AW GK
Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) Maharashtra cabinet minister Chhagan Bhujbal on Monday said the committee headed by retired Justice Sandeep Shinde, formed in connection with the issue of Maratha quota demand, should be discontinued as its work is over.

Bhujbal also said he was not against a separate reservation for Marathas, but was opposed to the "ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi (caste) certificates by submitting fake or forged documents."



The state government had set up the five-member panel headed by Justice Shinde to decide the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for giving Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community who (or whose ancestors) were referred to as Kunbis in Nizam-era documents.

Kunbis (the community associated with agriculture) are grouped under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category in Maharashtra.

The Maratha community, led by activist Manoj Jarange, has been demanding the issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas, enabling them to get inclusion in the OBC category for reservation in government jobs and education.



Bhujbal has said the existing reservation for the OBCs should not be curtailed while giving reservation to Marathas.



Speaking to reporters on Monday, Bhujbal said Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had set up the committee to find out Kunbi lineage from the Nizam regime in the pre-independence period.

"I have no issues with this process. I am opposed to people from other regions of the state who are making fake claims to obtain Kunbi certificates so that they can enjoy the existing benefits of reservation in education and government jobs, he said.



The Shinde committee found sufficient number of proofs in the Marathwada region. Eligible people from Marathwada should get the certificates. Its work is done, now it should be discontinued, said the minister, who is a prominent OBC leader.



Bhujbal made the similar demand on Sunday at a public rally in Hingoli district.



Our (OBC) leader Prakash Shendge has shown some 7-8 documents to the chief minister where old certificates were tampered with a pen. Such fake claims should not be entertained and Kunbi certificates should not be given to people on the basis of such forged documents," he said.

One can draw a conclusion from such examples that how serious and rampant such practice would have been on the ground, Bhujbal said.



Asked about he being portrayed as a strong opponent of the Maratha quota demand, Bhujbal said the Supreme Court has already stated that Marathas cannot be categorised as OBC.

"The Maratha community can avail a separate reservation. I am not opposed to it. My opposition is against the ongoing practice of obtaining Kunbi certificates by submitting fake or forged documents, he said.



"When the first list of OBCs came out after the Mandal Commission's report was accepted by the Union government, some 200 backward communities were identified. Later more communities were identified as OBCs and the number increased to more than 350. I never opposed such a change, he said. PTI ND
Agartala, Nov 27 (PTI) The Tripura government has started an in-depth survey to know the status of plots exchanged between the people of the state and erstwhile East Pakistan before and after the Partition in 1947, an official said on Monday.

A large number of people on both sides of the international border had mutually exchanged properties during that period. The exchange had taken place mainly between Hindus seeking to come to India and Muslims who sought to settle in Pakistan.

Many of these people who came to Tripura, a border state, following the exchange of land did not register those properties due to lack of awareness and administrative set-up. Several such plots have also been sold.

"The state government has ordered a survey to check the status of exchanged plots of land and to know the number of unregistered plots. The survey has started," the official told PTI.

Once the list of unregistered plots is compiled, the state government will send it to the Centre.

"We will act according to the directive of the Ministry of Home Affairs," the official said.

He made it clear that those who have an exchange deed or registered deed for their plot will continue to hold the land.

"No one will be evicted from the exchanged land. I hope there will be a policy decision on the exchanged land properties which were not registered," the official said.

Pradip Datta Bhoumik of Bagma in Gomati district is one person whose exchanged land was not registered.

"My father was a landlord in East Pakistans Alikamaura village in Commilla district. He migrated to Bagma area during the early '60s and started living on exchanged land. We are now living in Agartala. We do not know the status of the exchanged land property," Bhoumik said.

Sanjib Deb, the editor of a local media outlet, also said his family had properties in Commilla districts Payat village in East Pakistan.

"My father came to Tripura in 1949, while my two uncles did it in 1951 after exchanging land with a Muslim at Bishalgarh in Sepahijala district. Later, my uncles sold the exchanged land," Deb said.

Sepahijala is the district with the highest number of exchanged plots at 2229, the official said.

West Tripura District Magistrate Vishal Kumar told PTI that the number of unregistered exchanged plots can be known after the survey is complete.

"A senior officer has been asked to undertake the survey to find out the status of exchanged land," Kumar said. PTI PS


Patna, Nov 27 (PTI) Bhojpuri actress Akshara Singh on Monday announced that she has joined 'Jan Suraaj', the campaign launched a year ago by political strategist-turned-activist Prashant Kishor, who has vowed to transform his home state Bihar.

Making the announcement at the Jan Suraaj office here, Singh called herself a "Bihar ki beti" who was moved by the aspiration of Kishor, currently away in north Bihar as part of a statewide 'pada yatra'.

Often called "Bhojpuri Queen" by virtue of being a highly paid actress in the relatively smaller budget regional cinema, Singh told reporters, "I chose Jan Suraaj precisely because it is a movement and not a run of the mill political party".

"If I had any political ambitions, had I been looking for a ticket in elections, I could have approached my well wishers who are aplenty in all political parties. But my dream is to see a developed (viksit) Bihar and I feel proud to be associated with Prashant Kishor who is working to this end tirelessly", the actress said.

She was also asked about her recent meeting with Union minister and former BJP president Nitin Gadkari, which had fuelled speculations of her joining the party with which a number of her seniors in Bhojpuri cinema like Manoj Tiwari, Ravi Kishan and Dinesh Lal Yadav "Nirahua" have been associated.

She replied, "Nitin sir is like my father. He showers affection on me whenever we meet. I was in Nagpur recently in connection with a stage show and met him on the sidelines. I request that nothing more be read into it".

Notably, Kishor, the founder of IPAC which first shot to fame for handling Narendra Modi's spectacularly successful campaign in Lok Sabha polls of 2014, gave up his political consultancy business in 2021 with his last assignment being the assembly polls in West Bengal where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee romped home, surmounting a spirited challenge thrown by BJP.

Kishor has said once he completes touring Bihar, Jan Suraaj may transform into a political party, though he has made it clear that he would not head the outfit nor himself contest elections. PTI ANW NAC
Guwahati, Nov 27 (PTI) Opposition parties of Assam on Monday said they will oppose any move by the central government to implement the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), a day after Union MoS for Home Ajay Mishra claimed that the final draft of the legislation is expected to be ready by March next.

They said people of the state will not tolerate any attempt to impose an unconstitutional law, which goes against the provisions of the Assam Accord of 1985.

Mishra, while addressing the Matua community in West Bengal on Sunday, said the process to roll out CAA has gained momentum and the final draft is expected to be ready by March.

The BJP MP from Uttar Pradesh asserted that nobody can snatch citizenship rights from Matuas, who had fled religious persecution in Bangladesh.

Congress MP Abdul Khaleque said the Centre should exert pressure on Bangladesh to protect the Hindus living there so that they do not enter India due to any religious persecution.

"India provides assistance to Bangladesh with open hands but it cannot exert pressure on their government to ensure protection of Hindus. Rather, our BJP government is trying to bring the Hindus here in the pretext of religious persecution," he said.

The Barpeta Lok Sabha MP alleged that the BJP, which claims to espouse the cause of the Hindus, is targeting to shut down the famous Dhakeswari temple in Bangladesh through the CAA.

"If all the Hindus are brought to India in the pretext of communal torture, who will be left there to even light a lamp in the temple? Khaleque said.

Leader of opposition in Assam assembly Debabrata Saikia said the Congress will resist the CAA as it is against the provisions of the Assam Accord.

"The Assam Accord has fixed March 25, 1971 as the date for identifying illegal foreigners in the state. We will not accept any law that goes against it," he asserted.

Assam Jaitya Parishad (AJP) chief Lurinjyoti Gogoi said people of the state will not "tolerate an unconstitutional" legislation like the CAA.

"The people will never tolerate imposition of such an unconstitutional law, which goes against the very essence of secularism of our country," he said.

Gogoi said Assam was not ready to take any additional burden of foreigners, and asked the prime minister to rehabilitate Hindus who enter the country in his home state Gujarat.

BJP legislator Jitu Goswami, however, asserted that the saffron party is known for keeping its announcements, be it welfare schemes or other issues.

"BJP always keeps its words. Be it our assurance over Ram Mandir in Ayodhya or Ayushman Bharat scheme or the CAA," he said.

The CAA seeks to provide Indian citizenship to Hindus, Jains, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Parsis entering India on or before December 31, 2014 from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan after five years of residence here.

It was passed by both Houses of Parliament and given Presidential assent in December 2019, though the rules are yet to be notified. PTI SSG








Paradip (Odisha), Nov 27 (PTI) President Droupadi Murmu on Monday said there is a need to further strengthen the infrastructure of ports in the country and increase their efficiency.

Murmu said this while gracing the 'Boita Bandana' (boat worship) ceremony, organised by the Paradip Port Authority here. Boita Bandana is an annual festival observed in Odisha, remembering the ancient maritime glory of the state, earlier known as 'Kalinga'.

Stating that the government's Sagarmala programme is a commendable step to strengthen the port activities, Murmu said the Government of India is working to realise the vision of 'Ports for Prosperity' and 'Ports for Progress'.

The president said that maritime trade has been playing an important role in the trade and economic development of the country. "I am told that 95 per cent of India's total trade in terms of volume and 65 per cent in terms of value are done through sea transport," she said.

Stating that India's ports need to function with greater efficiency in line with global standards, she said: "That is why there is a need to further strengthen the infrastructure of Indian ports and increase their efficiency."

The president said that historic Baliyatra is a symbolic boat trip of merchants to the islands of Java, Sumatra and Bali. Baliyatra is a unique festival celebrated in memory of Odisha's glorious past.

"Celebrated since time immemorial, this festival is a symbol of the prosperity of maritime trade of Odisha. It also highlights the rich cultural consciousness of the people of Odisha," Murmu said.

Noting that the sea has been a major means of strengthening India's trade, commerce and international relations, the president said that literature based on the sea has also enriched Indian culture.

Murmu said Odisha and other coastal states had a long and prosperous tradition of naval commerce. Apart from trade and commerce, those merchants also played an important role in spreading Indian art and culture abroad, the president pointed out.

The president expressed her pleasure that Paradip Port's cargo handling capacity has doubled in the last decade. It is poised to become the largest port on the East Coast, she said, adding that it also got the 'Port of Operational Excellence Award' at the Global Maritime India Summit  2023.

Murmu also inaugurated the Multi-Modal Logistics Park which she hoped will give a new direction to the transparent development of trade.

She said that the Vessel Traffic Management and Information System (VTMIS) enabled new modern signal stations will make navigation through this port safer and orderly.

Odisha Governor Raghubar Das and Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu also joined the event. Murmu also flagged off a special boat at the event, commemorating the state's ancient maritime glory. The president also boarded a special vessel 'Amogh' of the Indian Coast Guard.

The president inspected port craft and met members of the fishing community.

This is Murmus second visit to Odisha in a week after spending three days in her home district Mayurbhanj and Sambalpur from November 20. PTI COR
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Manual horizontal digging will start soon in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, NDMA said on Monday.

Manual drilling was resorted to as the auger drill -- a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end -- which drilled up to 46.8 metres busted as it hit several hurdles on the way and got entangled in a girder in the debris.

Vertical and manual horizontal drilling are the two methods on which rescue efforts are being focused at the moment. Work on the other options, such as horizontal drilling from the Barkot end of the tunnel is also underway.

A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to prepare an escape passage. Pipes of 1.2 metres in diameter have to be laid vertically through the top of the tunnel on which work began on Sunday as a second option to reach the stranded labourers.

Giving an update on the rescue operations, National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters here that rat-hole miners will start manual digging shortly. Broken parts of the auger machine have been removed from the rubble with the help of a plasma cutter flown in from Hyderabad.

He further said the government is fully committed to the safe rescue of all the 41 workers who have been trapped in the tunnel since November 12.

Hasnain said both private and public agencies are involved in the rescue operations.

Prime Minister's Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Home Secretary Ajay K Bhalla and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S S Sandhu also took stock of the ongoing rescue operations. PTI BKS NKD CS
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Manual horizontal digging will start soon in addition to the ongoing top-down drilling to rescue the 41 trapped workers in the Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, NDMA said on Monday.

Manual drilling was resorted to as the auger drill -- a corkscrew-like device with a rotary blade at the front end -- which drilled up to 46.8 metres busted as it hit several hurdles on the way and got entangled in a girder in the debris. "The broken blades of the auger machine have been fully retrieved. There were some obstacles while retrieving the broken part, but the damage has been fixed.

"Now, the manual drilling technique will be employed by today evening with the help of Indian Army engineers, rat miners, and other technicians," National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Member Lt Gen (retd) Syed Ata Hasnain told reporters here. Hasnain further said there will be a team of six members who will work in groups of three.

Vertical and manual horizontal drilling are the two methods on which rescue efforts are being focused at the moment. Work on the other options, such as horizontal drilling from the Barkot end of the tunnel is also underway.

A total of 86 metres have to be drilled vertically to prepare an escape passage. Pipes of 1.2 metres in diameter have to be laid vertically through the top of the tunnel on which work began on Sunday as a second option to reach the stranded labourers.

"Around 32 metres of vertical drilling has been done by SVNL. RVNL is working on another pipeline which will become a vertical 'lifeline' and it has been inserted up to 75 metres. The estimated depth is around 86 metres," he said.

He further said the government is fully committed to the safe rescue of all the 41 workers who have been trapped in the tunnel since November 12.

When asked about the timeline, Hasnain said, "It is very difficult to suggest any timeline for completion of rescue operations. Once the manual digging starts in the evening, we will able to say something tomorrow morning."

He noted that manual digging may face some obstacles.

"Once we are able to overcome them, progress will be fast," the NDMA member said, adding that however 'we can not give any estimate' for the completion of the rescue operation Hasnain said both private and public agencies are involved in the rescue operations.

Prime Minister's Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Home Secretary Ajay K Bhalla and Uttarakhand Chief Secretary S S Sandhu also took stock of the ongoing rescue operations. Hasnain said that Mishra has directed the authorities to ensure all medical facilities for trapped workers as "difficulties could increase with the passage of time'. PTI BKS NKD CS


New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar on Monday said the Congress will touch the halfway mark of 119 seats in the Telangana assembly election.

"I am fully confident that people want a change for better administration and a government with governance. ...I am sure we will touch the halfway mark," Shivakumar, , considered a 'trouble shooter' of the Congress, told PTI.

The politician, who campaigned 4-5 times in Telangana, ruled out the possibility of hung assembly. "No question of hung assembly. We will have a clear government."

The deputy chief minister said that the BRS-led Telangana government has failed to fulfil its promises in the ten years of its governing the state, and the people are now eager to replace it.

Shivakumar said that around 40 leaders from Karnataka were deputed to cover all assembly segments in Telangana to support the candidates.

"They are working and coordinating well. They will be there till the polling day," he added.

Polling in Telangana is scheduled on November 30.

Shivakumar was in the national capital to attend two weddings and meet a lawyer in connection with a court case.
Egypt is communicating intensively with all parties to extend the four-day truce between the Palestinian and Israeli sides for one or two additional days, the Head of Egypt's State Information Service (SIS) Diaa Rashwan said Saturday.

Rashwan noted that the truce's extension would mean the release of more Israeli captives in Gaza and Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

The head of SIS further explained that Egypt has so far received positive indicators from all parties on the possibility of an extension to the truce.

According to Rashwan, Egypt received a list of 13 captives in Gaza and 39 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons who are set to be released Saturday as part of the truce.

In addition, Rashwan disclosed that 50 trucks carrying humanitarian aid bound for northern Gaza crossed into the strip through the Rafah border crossing Saturday.

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached a truce agreement on a 4-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza through Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediation.

The truce agreement involves a stop to all hostilities in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid to 2.4 million Palestinians in the besieged strip.

The agreement stipulates the release of 50 Israeli captives, including women and children.

In return, 150 Palestinian political prisoners, including women and children, would be released from Israeli detention.

The agreement also allows room for an extension and the release of more captives and prisoners.

On Friday, as per the agreement, Hamas released 13 of its Israeli captives and Israel released 39 Palestinian political prisoners in its jails.

Moreover, as per an Egyptian mediation, Hamas also released 11 Asian workers - 10 Thai and one Philippine - who were taken captive on 7 October.

A total of 200 aid trucks, carrying food, water, medical supplies, and fuel, entered the Gaza Strip through the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Friday.

On Saturday, the spokesperson for the civil defense forces in Gaza told Al Jazeera that retrieving the bodies of thousands of Palestinians who were buried under the rubble due to Israeli bombardment cannot be done in the four-day window of the truce.

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New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Congress on Monday hit out at BRS leader K T Rama Rao for tom-tomming that Telangana has the highest per capita income in the country, saying the high per capita income was only because of three districts while more than 75 per cent of the state's population lives in the other 30 districts.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said this is nothing but a betrayal of one of the main reasons for the formation of Telangana  balanced development of the state.

In a post on X, he said KTR has been tom-tomming that Telangana has the highest per capita income in the country.

What are the facts? According to the RBI, at CONSTANT prices which is the yardstick that matters, Karnataka and Haryana have higher per capita incomes than Telangana, while Tamil Nadu is at the same level with a much larger population base, Ramesh said in his post.

The high per capita income in Telangana is only because of the three districts of Hyderabad, Rangareddy and Sangareddy, he claimed.

More than 75 per cent of the population of Telangana lives in the other 30 districts, where the per capita income is lower than the state average, the Congress leader said.

This is nothing but a betrayal of one of the main reasons for the formation of Telangana  balanced development of the state, Ramesh said.

Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao's son and BRS working president K T Rama Rao has been citing the welfare measures taken by the government and the economic parameters during the poll campaigning.

The Congress has been countering him, claiming uneven development.

Polling for the 119 assembly seats in Telangana will take place on November 30 and results will be declared on December 3.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena has dissolved the standing committee constituted by the AAP government with a putative view to ensure the quality of investigation in criminal cases and their prosecution, saying it was in "gross violation" of the 2014 Supreme Court directions, according to a Raj Niwas order.

"Delhi LG V K Saxena has dissolved the existing Standing Committee constituted by the AAP Government for ensuring the quality of investigation in criminal cases and their prosecution, noting that it was in gross violation of the 2014 Supreme Court directions and subsequent guidelines of the Centre," an official from the LG office said in a note shared with media on Monday.

While scrapping the existing Standing Committee headed by Standing Counsel (Criminal), Delhi High Court, and Additional Standing Counsel as a member, Saxena approved the proposal for its reconstitution with an Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary (Home) as chairman and Principal Secretary (Law), Director (Prosecution) and Special Commissioner of Police, as members.

There was no immediate reaction from the Delhi government on the committee's scrapping.

Saxena noted that there was no reason or justification for the continuation of the existing committee and even his predecessor had time and again objected to it, the official said.

He said that in his note on May 11, 2017, his predecessor, Anil Baijal, had directed a review of the constitution of the committee to bring it in conformity with the order of the apex court and reminders were also issued by the LG Secretariat on February 19, 2018, June 22, 2018, October 18, 2018, and May 31, 2019.

However, no proposal for the reconstitution of the committee was submitted, the person said.

After the enactment of the GNCTD Amendment Act 2023, the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) proposed the reconstitution of the standing committee with an Additional Chief Secretary (Home) as Chairman, Principal Secretary (Law), Director (Directorate of Prosecution) and Special CP as members.

The Supreme Court had in 2014 directed the Home departments of every state to constitute a standing committee with senior officers of police and prosecution departments, vesting them with the responsibility of examining all orders of acquittal and recording reasons for the failure of prosecution in each case.

"It was noted by the LG that the existing committee is headed by Standing Counsel (Criminal) with Additional Standing Counsel as Member, who are part of prosecution and entrusted with the presentation of cases before the court.

"Therefore, their role in such cases also comes under the purview of the Committee and inclusion of these officers in the Standing Committee should be viewed as an attempt to dilute the directions/guidelines issued by the Supreme Court/Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India," the official said in the statement.

The Union Ministry of Home Affairs had in 2014 issued an advisory on the monitoring of investigations to ensure that the investigating officers, as well as prosecuting officers, discharge their duties.

The standing committee was initially constituted by the Home Department with the Director of Prosecution as its chairman.

"However, the standing committee was reconstituted with the approval of Delhi Home Minister with Senior Standing Counsel (Criminal) as Chairman in violation of rules," the official claimed.

The proposal for reconstituting the committee was also not placed before the then LG for his opinion as "Services" and "Police" were outside the purview of the AAP government at that point, he added.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Two people were seriously burned when a gas cylinder went through a blast during refilling in south Delhi's Sangam Vihar area, police said on Monday.

The house where the blast took place was gravely damaged. Police found two gas cylinders and tools used in refilling at the house.

According to police, the blast took place on November 25, when two people were refilling a cylinder that caused a gas leak and an electricity spark set off the blast.

"A spark resulted in the blast which caused injuries to those people and damage to the roof of the room. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital by police in a PCR vehicle. The two men were identified as Jaiveer and Arvind Pandey," the FIR filed in the matter read.

Police said that they could not record statements of the victims due to their condition.

"We have registered a case under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter) and 337 (acts endangering human life). Further investigation into the matter has been started," a senior police officer said.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) The Delhi Police on Monday arrested a man for allegedly trying to steal Malviya Nagar MLA Somnath Bharti's phone when he was attending a religious function in the area, an officer said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (south) Chandan Chowdhary said the lawmaker from the Aam Aadmi Party had earlier in the day called police to report the crime.

"We got a telephonic call from MLA Somnath Bharti, who informed us that he along with some of his colleagues had gone to Jhulelal Mandir in G-Block of Malviya Nagar to join Nagar Kirtan on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti.

"He said when he was taking prasad, a man stole his phone from his pocket and tried to flee, but was caught by those present," Chowdhary said.

One person who received a cut when he was attacked with a blade by the accused was sent for medical examination, police said.

The accused was identified as Karan, a history-sheeter involved in three cases of theft and robbery.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) Legal aid has a functional role in strengthening the justice system and it needs to be understood beyond the aid to the needy, Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjiv Khanna said on Monday.

Addressing the inaugural session of a two-day regional conference hosted by the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) on access to legal aid, Justice Khanna said the role of government was crucial in promoting the rule of law, access to justice and quality representation.

Giving an overview of the conference, he said this is the first time the heads of the judiciary, heads of law and justice ministries, heads of legal aid bodies and civil society representatives from 70 countries of the Global South came together at an international platform dedicated to the cause of legal aid.

"Legal aid needs to be understood much beyond the aid to the needy. Legal aid has a functional role in strengthening the justice system. It empowers individuals to participate and engage with public institutions and become active and equal stakeholders," Justice Khanna said.

He said, "Indian Constitution imposes an obligation on the state to provide free legal aid to ensure access to justice to all citizens. In India, the Legal Services Authority Act, 1987 forms a backbone of how legal aid accessibility and awareness is structured."

The conference has been hosted by NALSA with the support of the Government of India and in collaboration with the International Legal Foundation (ILF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Besides Justice Khanna, the inaugural session was also attended by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Supreme Court judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, who is also the Executive Chairman of NALSA, along with Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, Attorney General R Venkataramani and others.

Justice Khanna said the conference has set the stage for a unique collaboration between NALSA, ILF, UNDP and UNICEF.

He said for a child in conflict with the law and for grass-root level work in the juvenile justice system, the work done by UNICEF has been remarkable.

"The role of government is crucial in promoting the rule of law, access to justice and quality representation. They are necessary for the development of strong and independent legal institutions," Justice Khanna said, adding that governments are entrusted with enacting and implementing inclusive and equitable policies.

He added the conference is designed to arrive at policy, governmental, judicial and grassroots-level solutions to the challenges and to increase access to quality legal aid.

Justice Khanna said the conference comprises 17 sessions which will include two round tables, three preliminary sessions, 10 panel technical sessions along with inaugural and valedictory functions.

Professionals from diverse fields of expertise and social backgrounds will engage in corroborative discussions, he said, adding the chief justices' round table conference to ensure equal access to justice to all in the Global South chaired by the Chief Justice of India is one of the kind initiatives taken by the conference.

This brings together chief justices of 70 countries of the Global South and it is a rare opportunity to catalyse the exchange of the most effective practices and an insight garnered from years of experience, he said.

Justice Khanna said being a citizen of the Global South "holds a significance in our shared history and experiences, colonial past, poverty, addressing diverse strata of big population, climate change and rapid evolution of public institutions".

The expanse of the Global South is estimated to be about 80 per cent of the worlds total population. The issues of the Global South are the issues of the world. A platform like this conference gives voice to concerns as well as reflects the strength of the Global South, he said.

During the two-day conference, the key areas for deliberations include developing effective examples of people-centric justice systems, measuring the quality of legal aid services, strategies for reducing pre-trial detention, early access to legal aid in criminal cases, legal aid in civil cases, sustainable funding mechanisms, child-friendly legal aid, etc.

In an earlier statement, NALSA said the conference will bring together chief justices, ministers of justice, legal-aid officers, policymakers and civil society experts from 70 Africa-Asia-Pacific countries of the Global South to discuss the challenges and opportunities in ensuring access to quality legal aid services for the poor and vulnerable.

It has said over 200 delegates will participate in the conference, which includes Chief Justices of Bangladesh, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, the Maldives, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nepal, Zimbabwe and the minister of justices from Kazakhstan, Nepal, Palau, Seychelles, South Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Zambia.
New Delhi, Nov 27 (PTI) A Delhi court has allowed Karnataka deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, accused in money laundering case, to travel abroad.

Special Judge Vikas Dhull allowed Congress member Shivakumar to travel to Dubai from November 29 to December 3 on an application moved by him.

The application claimed that he was invited by His Excellency Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, COP28 President-Designate, and Michael R Bloomberg, United Nations Secretary-General's Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solution, to attend the upcoming COP28 Local Climate Action Summit in Dubai, which is an annual international climate summit convened by the United Nations.

"It is a settled principle of law that right to travel abroad is part of personal liberty as per Article 21 of the Constitution of India. However, such right is not unfettered and reasonable restriction can be imposed upon the same. One of the restrictions which can be imposed is to curb the said right during the course of investigation or trial if it appears that accused is likely to abscond and will not be available to face the trial," the judge said in an order passed on November 25.

Noting that the accused was eight-time MLA from Karnataka, where he is currently serving as a deputy chief minister, the judge said that the possibility of him fleeing from India was quite remote.

"In the facts and circumstances, there is no impediment in allowing the application of applicant. Hence the application filed by Shivakumar seeking permission to travel abroad is allowed and he is permitted to travel to Dubai with effect from November 29, 2023 till December 3, 2023," the judge said.

The judge, however, put several conditions on the accused, including that he furnishes an FDR of Rs 5 lakh in his name before the court prior to his travel and files his complete travel itinerary, along with a telephone or mobile number.

"Accused shall not try to contact any of co-accused or try to influence any of the witnesses connected with the present case while travelling abroad," the judge said.

Shivakumar was granted bail on October 23, 2019 by Delhi High Court, with the condition that he will not leave the country without the permission of the court.

The application claimed that the accused had on several occasions travelled abroad and returned to India and was not a flight risk.

It was further submitted in the plea that the investigation was complete and prosecution complaint was already filed before the court.

It was further submitted that applicant has no criminal antecedents.

"Thus, there is no likelihood that applicant will commit any offence or tamper with the evidence or influence any witnesses," the application claimed.

The ED opposed the application, claiming that the accused was involved in a criminal conspiracy to move tainted cash and hide the source of such cash with active participation and help of the other accused.

Shivakumar was booked for alleged offences under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act.

The case was based on a charge sheet filed by the Income Tax Department in 2018 before a special court in Bengaluru on charges of alleged tax evasion and 'hawala' transactions worth crores of rupees.

The IT department had accused Shivakumar and his alleged associate S K Sharma of indulging in transactions involving huge amounts of unaccounted for money on a regular basis through 'hawala' channels with the help of three other accused.
Hyderabad, Nov 27 (PTI) Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Monday expressed confidence that his party would win the assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana with a full majority. Addressing a press conference here, he said the people of Telangana will vote overwhelmingly for the Congress in the November 30 polls.

"In three states -- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan -- where elections are over, Congress is going to form governments with a clear and absolute majority," Pilot claimed.

He said he is fully confident that a "good" government of Congress will be formed in Telangana and the promises (along with the six guarantees) made in the manifesto will be implemented in a timeline.

"We will run a transparent and sensitive government here," he said and claimed the grand old party is way ahead and people will bless Congress with an overwhelming majority in Telangana.

"People trust in what Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka and Mallikarjun Kharge are telling (during their poll campaigning)," Pilot said.

He alleged that the Telangana Chief Minister (K Chandrasekhar Rao), the ministers and the ruling party leaders have nothing much to boast about in terms of development in the state despite being in power for the last 10 years.

Pilot further claimed that with corruption allegations (against the BRS government), the people are also fed up and they want a change.

He also recalled the role of the grand old party in the creation of Telangana state and also contribution of Congress chief ministers in the development of undivided Andhra Pradesh prior to formation of Telangana. PTI VVK


Bengaluru, Nov 27 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the Bengaluru Suburban Railway Project (BSRP) will start soon and it will not suffer due to the lack of a full time dedicated Managing Director in the joint venture company K-RIDE.





He also noted that the Railways was planning to develop a circular railway network around Bengaluru to check traffic woes and Rs seven crore has been sanctioned to conduct a pre-feasibility test.





During a media interaction after a meeting with the officials of South Western Railway and the Rail Infrastructure Development Company (Karnataka) (K-RIDE), the minister said the Centre will take up the BSRP with 'full emphasis, full focus and full sincerity'.





I think that the time will soon come. Our government, when we started the journey in 2014 at the central level, things changed a lot, Vaishnaw said replying to a question on the reason behind delay in completing the project.





K-RIDE is a joint venture between the central government and Karnataka government.





Quoting K-RIDE officials, Vaishnaw said the progress of funding the project was going on very well and it (funding) will be tied up by the end of the year.





Regarding the need to have a full time MD in K-RIDE, the Minister said, I can say that the project will not suffer because of these things. I told the railway team to pick up whatever gaps are there in the JV company and fulfill those gaps from the railway side. From the central government side, pick up whatever gaps are there in this (project) and do the work and provide that technical input, which is required to be provided in this project.





Asked about deadline for commencing the operations, he said, You have to ask this to both, the state and the Centre. My point is, suburban project has got full commitment of the Centre. I can assure you that very sincerely, very emphatically. Everything that is needed, we will do.





To a query whether there was a lapse on the part of the state government in completing the project, Vaishnaw said the Centres commitment is to the people of Bengaluru.





We should not bring politics in such discussions. We have to rise above politics and deliver the services which the people of Bengaluru need, he underlined.





The Minister, however, blamed the previous Congress government for neglecting the BSRP for a very long period.





He rubbished the statement that the union government was not cooperating.







According to him, passenger carrying railways require a detailed project report in a very technical manner with zero error in the design and

whenever the DPRs are returned or not approved, it is only because of technical reasons.





He added that during the meeting, he had put forth before the K-RIDE team to find a way by which properly technically qualified people can be utilised in the project.





On the 287 km circular railway around Bengaluru, he explained, We have sanctioned Rs seven crore for doing a Detailed Project Report of a circular railway. For a ring railway kind of system, which will basically provide a complete connectivity to the city as it grows in the next 20 to 30 years."





The circular railway will have 10 spokes which are basically inward connections, Vaishnaw said and added that this project is still in a survey stage.





Regarding frequent landslides on Bengaluru-Mangaluru rail line, the minister blamed a joint venture company HMRD.





That company again is a joint venture and it has very limited technical capabilities. I've already requested the GM (South Western Railway General Manager) itself. In the first discussion I was asking about when are we going to take Vande Bharat to Mangaluru, he said. PTI GMS






Javier Milei, the pro-Israel pro-Jew president-elect of Argentina, met with the Jewish community Buenos Aires on Motzei Shabbos, and even participated in Havdala led by Rabbi Chananya David Pinto.

Milei, who won the presidency in an upset victory last week, has made reference to his love of Judaism on numerous occasions and holds close ties with many frum rabbis. He has also expressed interest in being megayer, but says he is concerned about how he would be able to keep Shabbos properly as president.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie has attributed the recent surge in antisemitism in the United States to what he describes as former President Donald Trumps intolerant rhetoric.

When you show intolerance towards everyone, which is what he does, you give permission as a leader for others to have their intolerance come out, Christie said on CNNs State of the Union program, directly linking Trumps behavior to the rising tide of antisemitism. He emphasized that such intolerance isnt just limited to Trump but extends to other influential figures, including university professors and administrators who have failed to adequately confront antisemitism on their campuses.

The issue has gained prominence following the October 7th surprise attack by Hamas on Israels southern border, which was followed by a noticeable increase in both antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents in the U.S. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported a staggering 388 percent increase in antisemitic incidents in the two weeks following the attack, compared to the same period in the previous year.

This rise in antisemitism has been particularly pronounced on college campuses across the country. One alarming incident occurred at Cornell University, where the kosher dining hall was temporarily closed after a student posted death threats online against members of the Jewish community.

Christie expressed his concern over the safety of Jewish students on campuses, saying, [T]here should be no campus in this country where a Jewish student is afraid to leave their dorm, a Jewish student is afraid to go to their classes, a Jewish student is afraid to go to even have a meal in the dining hall. I mean, that is outrageous and its wrong.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Seven fuel trucks and 80 aid trucks crossed Egypt's Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip on the third day of the truce between Hamas and Israel, the Egyptian Red Crescent announced on Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, approximately 84 tons of cooking gas entered the sector, contributing to a relative improvement in electricity and water services.

Al-Qahera News channel reported that five planes loaded with humanitarian aid arrived at El-Arish Airport on Sunday: three from Qatar, two from Saudi Arabia, and one from Belgium, in preparation for transferring their cargoes to the Gaza Strip.

Additionally, on Sunday, two relief planes from the Kuwaiti airlift took off, heading to El-Arish Airport, equipped with food, medical supplies, and two ambulances to provide assistance to Gaza.

On Wednesday, Israel and Hamas reached a truce agreement on a 4-day humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza through Egyptian, Qatari, and American mediation.

The truce agreement involves a stop to all hostilities in Gaza and the entry of humanitarian aid to 2.4 million Palestinians in the besieged strip.

The agreement stipulates the release of 50 Israeli captives, including women and children. In return, 150 Palestinian political prisoners and detainees, including women and children, would be released from Israeli detention.

According to Hamas, the truce agreement involves the entry of 200 trucks daily, carrying humanitarian aid, including water, food, medical supplies, and fuel, to 2.4 million Palestinians in the strip.

The agreement also gives room for an extension and the swap of more detainees from both sides.

On Friday, as per the agreement, Hamas released 13 of its Israeli captives and Israel released 39 Palestinian political prisoners out of nearly 8000 in its jails.

Moreover, as per an Egyptian mediation, Hamas also released 11 Asian workers  10 Thai and one Filipino  who were taken captive on 7 October.

Until last Friday, the Palestinian side received 2,468 tons of medicines and medical supplies, 8,440 tons of food, 658 tons of fuel, 6,345 tons of water, and other relief materials totaling 1,885 tons, according to Egypt's official figures.

The aid also included 82 tents, 18 ambulances, and 1,849 trucks. Egypt has welcomed approximately 236 injured Palestinians along with 273 accompanying them, as well as 8,514 foreign nationals and 1,256 Egyptians.

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Montreal Police are investigating an incident where a Molotov cocktail was hurled at a Jewish community center in the Cote-Des-NeigesNotre-Dame-De-Grace borough early Monday morning. According to Jean-Pierre Brabant, a spokesperson for the Service de Police de la Ville de Montreal (SPVM), a 911 call was received around 1 a.m., reporting an incendiary device thrown at the front door window of a building on Decarie Boulevard, near Vezina Street.

At the scene, investigators discovered remnants of the Molotov cocktail at the Jewish Community Council of Montreal (JCC). Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the damage to the property was minor, as noted by Brabant.

The SPVMs arson squad has taken charge of the investigation, with the hate crimes unit being informed about the case, though it is not yet actively participating in the investigation.

In response to the attack, the JCC released a statement on Monday morning, expressing alarm over the rise in antisemitic incidents in the city. The rise in antisemitism in our city is frightening, and the repeated violence and attacks on our community are abhorrent, the statement said.

As part of their investigation, police officials are planning to review CCTV footage from the surrounding area to gather more information and potentially identify the perpetrator(s) of this attack.

This incident is but the latest in a string of antisemitic attacks against visibly Jewish institutions over the last month, including bullets being fired into a Jewish school on two separate occasions, and the attempted firebombing of a shul.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Six teenagers go on trial Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm Frances cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Patys name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

All hearings at a Paris juvenile court are to be held behind closed doors in accordance with French law regarding minors.

The defendants arrived Monday morning at the Paris court, their faces hidden behind masks and hoods, accompanied by their families. The media are not allowed to disclose their identity.

Among those going on trial, a teenage girl, who was 13 at the time, is accused of making false allegations for wrongly saying that Paty had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons. She later told investigators she had lied. She was not in the classroom that day and Paty did not make such a request, the investigation has shown.

Five other students of Patys school, then 14 and 15, are facing charges of criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence to be committed.

They are accused of having waited for Paty for several hours until he left the school and of having identified him to the killer in exchange for promises of payments of 300-350 euros ($348-$406).

The investigation established that the attacker knew the name of the teacher and the address of his school, but he did not have the means to identify him.

The lawyer for one of the defendants, Antoine Ory, said his client is tormented by remorse and very much afraid of the confrontation with Mr. Patys family. He said the teenager obviously didnt know about the criminal plan of the killer, Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Moscow-born Chechen refugee.

Ory said his client since then had difficult times, changed school and friends and now sees the trial as an opportunity to turn the page.

All six teenagers are facing 2 1/2-year in prison. The trial is scheduled to end on Dec. 8.

Louis Cailliez, the lawyer for Patys sister, Mickaelle, said she wants to understand the real causes that led the students to commit something irreparable. He pointed to the fatal combination of little acts of cowardice, big lies, calumnies, arrangements, complicity and help without which Samuel Paty would still be alive.

Without the denunciation, there would be no visibility (on the social media), without visibility, there would be no crime, he said.

Eight other adults are to be sent to trial later. They include the father of the teenage girl charged with false allegations. At the time, he had posted videos on social media that called for mobilization against the teacher.

A radical Islamic activist who helped him disseminate the virulent messages naming Paty has also been charged.

The trial comes six weeks after a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people injured in a school attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization. The killing in a context of global tensions over the Israel-Hamas war led French authorities to deploy 7,000 additional soldiers across the country to bolster security and vigilance.

(AP)




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Hundreds of radicalized students ran rampant through the halls of Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, for nearly two hours this past Monday, prompted by a teachers attendance at a pro-Israel rally. The teacher herself had to hide during the rampage to avoided being lynched.

The controversy centered around the teachers Facebook profile photo, which displayed her at a pro-Israel rally on October 9th, holding a poster declaring, I stand with Israel.

A group of students subsequently organized a chat to advertise the teachers attendance at the rally, leading to discussions about staging a protest. As a result, chaos ensued as hundreds of students poured into the hallways, chanting, jumping, shouting, and waving Palestinian flags and banners. Despite the efforts of school staff to block their entry, many students attempted to barge into the teachers classroom.

Witnesses told the NY Post that the protest was characterized by chants of Free Palestine! and calls for the teachers firing. School administrators and the NYPD were alerted to the situation just in time to escort the teacher to safety, locking her in an office as the chaos unfolded.

The situation escalated as some students vandalized the school, with reports of a water fountain being torn out and damage to the second-floor boys bathroom.

The NYPD responded, deploying a significant number of officers to restore order. They also involved their counterterrorism bureau to investigate a potential threat to the school.

School authorities, with the assistance of a sergeant stationed at the school, eventually managed to corral the students back into classrooms.

The situation took a further disturbing turn when it was alleged that some students had accessed the teachers personal information, including her address and phone number.

This incident, lasting approximately two hours, stands out as one of the most alarming instances of antisemitism in New York schools and colleges in recent memory.

NYC Mayor Adams tweeted the following: The vile show of antisemitism at Hillcrest High School was motivated by ignorance-fueled hatred, plain and simple, and it will not be tolerated in any of our schools, let alone anywhere else in our city. We are better than this.

It comes on the heels of a pro-Palestinian citywide walkout by nearly 700 NYC high school students on November 9th, during which some students were captured on video making antisemitic statements.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Maya Regev, 21, of Hertziliya was the only captive released on Motzei Shabbos who wasnt a resident of Kibbutz Beeri and the only one who wasnt in good physical condition.

On October 7th, Regev was at the music festival with her brother Itai, 18. She was shot by Hamas terrorists at the festival and then abducted along with her brother to Gaza.

She was the only captive released so far who required urgent medical care. She was brought to the closer Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva where she is in moderate condition due to the gunshot wound she suffered. The other hostages were brought to Shea Medical Center in central Israel.

She was released without her brother and Hamas has informed Israel that they were unable to locate him. They also failed to locate Raya Rotem, the mother of Hila, 12, who was also released on Motzei Shabbos.

Maya will have to undergo a number of surgeries but is expected to fully recover.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Hamas released a propaganda video featuring the terror groups transfer of 13 hostages to the Red Cross on Motzei Shabbos.

In an attempt by the barbaric terror group to appear benevolent, they forced the captives to hold their hands.

They also ordered them beforehand to wave goodbye at them and in the video, one of the terrorists can be heard saying: Keep waving.

Government spokesperson Eylon Levy, who gained viral fame after his astonished reaction to an absurd question posed by a British TV host, posted the video, commenting: Get your filthy hands off our children.

Hamas presents:

I slaughtered your mother and your sister,

I left your father in captivity,

I shot you and left your brother captive,

I murdered your grandfathers,

I slaughtered all your friends at work.

Now, smile at the camera and wave goodbye, like were the good guys. pic.twitter.com/xXomULW6G9    | noa magid (@NoaMagid) November 25, 2023

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Palestinian terrorists in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the Shomron executed two alleged collaborators with Israel over the weekend.

A frenzied mob then abused the bodies by kicking the bloodied corpses and dragging them through alleys before trying to tie them to an electrical tower.

Like the Hamas barbarians, the Palestinians filmed themselves abusing the dead bodies and shared the videos on social media.

The scenes, widely shared on social media, were reminiscent of the chaos in the area during two the first and second intifadas, in 1987 and in 2000, respectively, each lasting several years. During these periods of heightened conflict, there were frequent killings of alleged informers, at times with bodies displayed in public.

Israels Embassy to the US wrote: Last night, Hamas terrorists executed two Palestinians on suspicion of cooperating with Israel. They hung their bodies on an electric pole and a Palestinian mob abused the bodies, filmed themselves and then uploaded the footage to social media.

Barbaric.

A Palestinian journalist in the camp, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said residents of the camp beat and stomped on the corpses after the two were shot and killed by terrorists in the streets. Videos show hundreds of Palestinians flocking to the entrance of the camp, gawking and filming with their phones as men try to hang the mutilated corpses from an electrical tower.

It apparently proved too difficult and residents ended up tossing the bodies over the walls of a U.N. school in the camp, tying their feet to a chain link fence, the journalist said. They were not taken to the hospital, she said.

Purported confession videos surfaced online showing the two men, worn out, their eyes downcast, describing their recent interactions with Israeli intelligence officials who they said paid them thousands of dollars for information.

(AP & YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




The IDF confirmed the targeted killing of five high-ranking Hamas commanders just before the current ceasefire agreement went into effect, with officials saying the precision strikes were conducted with intelligence support from the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA).

Among those killed was Ahmed Ghandour, the commander of Hamas Northern Gaza Brigade. Ghandour was a key figure in Hamas, responsible for orchestrating various terror activities in the northern Gaza Strip, including shootings, bombings, and rocket launches. He played a central role in the planning and execution of several attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops, including the October 7th massacre.

Aiman Siam, the head of Hamas Rockets Array, was also eliminated. Siam, a senior figure in the organization for about 15 years, oversaw Hamas rocket forces and directed rocket launches into Israel. His extensive experience and knowledge made him a significant asset in Hamas military operations.

Wael Rajeb, the deputy commander of Hamas Northern Gaza Brigade, was responsible for the brigades operations. Previously, Rajeb had served as the commander of the Hamas police in the northern Gaza Strip and the Commander of the Beit Lahia Battalion.

Farsan Halifa, a senior operative in Hamas Judea and Samaria Headquarters and head of the Tulkarm Committee, was involved in the development of battalions and terror cells. He was eliminated in the same strike that targeted Ahmed Ghandour and Aiman Siam.

Rafet Salman, commander of the Combat Assistance Unit in the northern Gaza Strip and a senior operative of the Gaza City Brigade, had previously served as a deputy commander of the brigade. He was involved in developing offensive capabilities for attacks against Israel and played a part in the planning of significant operations.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)




Danielle Aloni, 44, and her daughter Emilia, 5, who returned to Israel from Gaza on Friday, returned to their home in Yavne on Sunday.

Residents of the city lined the street holding Israeli flags to greet them.

On October 7th, Danielle and her daughter were visiting her sister on Kibbutz Nir Oz. Her sister, Sharon Aloni Cunio, 33, was also abducted along with her three-year-old twin daughters, and her husband, David Cunio. They are still in captivity.

Meanwhile, in an unprecedented moment since the commencement of the hostage releases, a jubilant crowd of hundreds of Israelis in Ofakim warmly welcomes the vans transporting recently freed compatriots as they travel towards Hatzerim Airbase near Beersheba.

Eager onlookers enthusiastically wave both flags and their hands to greet those inside the vehicles. In response, some of the returnees can be seen reciprocating the wave, sharing in the elation of the exuberant crowd.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




Roni Krivoi, a 25-year-old Israeli with Russian citizenship, was released from Gaza on Sunday evening on the demand of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hamas issued a statement that it complied with Putins request due to his support of Palestine. Krivoi was released in addition to the 13 women and children and 3 foreign nationals released last night and is the first male captive to be released.

Krivoi was born and grew up in Israel, with Hebrew as his mother tongue, but his parents obtained Russian citizenship for him when he was a child. On October 7th, he was working as a sound technician at the music festival near Reim and was abducted by Hamas.

On Monday morning, Krivois aunt, Yelena Magid, recounted the amazing story her nephew told her to Kan News.

Roni said that he was caught by terrorists who held him in a building that collapsed due to IDF airstrikes, she said. He managed to escape and hide for four days alone. He tried to reach the [Israeli-Gazan] border but he wasnt familiar with the area and Gazans [those innocent civilians] caught him and returned him to Hamas.

Yelena also spoke about what happened to her nephew on October 7th. When the terrorists arrived, Roni and his friend tried to flee the area. At a certain point, Roni decided to stop running, his aunt said. His friend was in contact with him until 10:30 a.m. when Roni told him that he could hear the terrorists getting closer to him. Ten minutes later, his friend called him again and someone answered in Arabic. His friend yelled: Roni, Roni  they laughed and hung up.

Regarding Ronis condition, his aunt said: I asked him if he has nightmares. He said yes, but thats good because it means hes dealing with it. He has a few head wounds because he was hit by a stone when the building collapsed but he fine, hes being taken care of. 

Roni is always happy and smiling. What gave us hope from the first day is that we know what hes like, and someone whos always smiling can always manage, no matter what the conditions.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)




The IDF has confirmed that 11 Israeli hostages and 6 Thai hostages have been handed over by Hamas terrorists to the Red Cross. They are no enroute to Israel. Among them are nine children and two women who are the mothers of some of the children.

In return, Israel is releasing 33 Palestinians from prison.

The eleven Israeli hostages, who have been freed, have arrived in Israel through the Kerem Shalom Crossing, deviating from the previous practice of traveling through Egypt during some days of the truce.

Following a brief medical examination and allowing the hostages to make their first phone calls to their families, they will be airlifted to Tel Avivs Ichilov Hospital. There, they will receive additional medical care and be joyfully reunited with their loved ones, as reported by the Health Ministry.

Additionally, Qatar Foreign Minister Majed Al-Ansari confirms in a statement that as part of the ongoing mediation, an agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian truce for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip.

Cunio family:

1. Sharon Cunio (33)

2. Emma Cunio (3)

3. Yuli Cunyo (3)

Engel Family:

4. Karina Engel (51)

5. Mika Engel (18)

6. Yuval Engel (10)

Calderon Family:

7. Sahar Calderon (16)

8. Erez Calderon (12)

Yaakov Family:

9. Or Jacob (16)

10. Yagil Yaakov (12)

Yahalomi Family:

Eitan Yahalomi (16)

Video released by the IDF of the moment the 11 hostages crossed into Israel.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Big hitter: Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman and wife Christine

Wall Street bosses including Blackstone and Goldman Sachs have flown in to hear Rishi Sunak set out 29.5billion in new UK investments.

Last night the Prime Minister said some of the world's top bosses had committed billions to new UK projects, ahead of today's Global Investment Summit.

The investments are worth triple the sum raised at the last summit, held in 2021, and will see more than 12,000 jobs created, the government said.

Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of asset management giant Blackstone, will take the stage at Hampton Court Palace with Sunak to discuss the skills and technology needed.

British fashion designer Anya Hindmarch will also attend.
Metro Bank investors have approved the proposed 925million plan to rescue the troubled lender.

Shareholder approval clears the remaining hurdle to the capital injection approved by bondholders last month, with Metro Bank set for a 600million of debt refinancing and a 325million capital raise.

Just shy of 93 per cent of votes cast backed the plan to strengthen Metro Banks balance sheet on Monday afternoon, providing stability to the lender after it warned it would need to bolster its capital position in October.

Metro Bank secures shareholder approval for 925m recue package

The agreement, which gives majority shareholder control to Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski, will see bondholder take a hit as a result of switching them into higher interest paying debt.

Shareholders have already taken a hit, with Metro Bank shares trading almost 60 per cent lower since last month and the rescue plans seeing new shares issued at a significant discount to their level when the lender announced its intentions.

Metro Bank shares were up by 6.6 per cent to 41.5p on Monday afternoon.

Launched in 2010, the challenger bank has suffered under accounting errors, senior departures and delayed regulatory approval for key capital relief plans.

Savers were pulling money out of their Metro Bank accounts even before its emergency fundraising plan was revealed, highlighting fears over its future.

It is also in discussions regarding the sale of up to 3billion of residential mortgages in efforts to provide further breathing space on its balance sheet.

Metro Bank was forced to call in consulting giant Ernst & Young in efforts to find a buyer, having previously rejected a bid from rival Shawbrook.

Ahead of the crunch vote on Monday, hedge funds were ramping up bets against Metro Bank on hopes that the plan would fail to get investor approval and the lender would be deemed unviable.

However, Metro Bank has vowed to press on with plans to open more bank branches, despite agreeing to cut costs by 30million a year as a condition of the funding deal.
They have been among the most vocal critics of Brexit  but now bosses at Japanese carmaker Nissan have talked down its impact.

There was a 'negligible' effect from leaving the European Union, the firm said, while chief executive Makoto Uchida insisted Britain will remain its European base for 'the foreseeable future'.

Nissan, which had warned about the effect of Brexit on its investment, now says it would not be making a fresh 2billion investment into its Sunderland factory if the UK was not still worthy.

Mr Uchida added: 'I am quite surprised that people here in the UK are asking, 'Why UK?' We have great people and great talent here.'

Instead, he said, Britons should back the nation's business credentials more. After the Brexit referendum, there had been fears over the future of Nissan's Sunderland hub, which employs 6,000 people and supports 70,000 supply chain jobs.

Nissan, which had warned about the effect of Brexit on its investment, now says it would not be making a fresh 2billion investment into its Sunderland factory if the UK was not still worthy

After the Brexit referendum, there had been fears over the future of Nissan's Sunderland hub (pictured), which employs 6,000 people and supports 70,000 supply chain jobs

The company's chiefs warned UK operations would not be 'sustainable' without a trade deal with the EU.

But last week Nissan announced a multi-billion-pound plan for the North East, including funding for a third major battery plant.

It also confirmed it will make its latest electric Qashqai and Juke models at the factory, alongside the next generation of the electric Leaf.

Mr Uchida said the investment puts 'our Sunderland plant at the heart of our future vision'.

Alan Johnson, Nissan's senior vice-president of manufacturing, said the firm had 'quickly adapted' to a 'more bureaucratic' post-Brexit and it would not have a major impact on its prices. 'It's negligible,' he said.

Meanwhile, the Government yesterday pledged 50million of newly allocated funding to boost the UK's battery supply chain on the world stage by 2030.

Ministers said the battery sector alone could create 100,000 highly paid and skilled jobs in the UK.
StockNews.com cut shares of Genie Energy (NYSE:GNE  Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

Genie Energy Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE GNE opened at $25.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $694.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.30. Genie Energy has a 52-week low of $8.28 and a 52-week high of $26.25. The businesss 50 day moving average is $19.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.25.

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Genie Energy (NYSE:GNE  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, November 6th. The oil and gas producer reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of $125.05 million for the quarter. Genie Energy had a return on equity of 26.88% and a net margin of 14.98%.

Genie Energy Cuts Dividend

Insiders Place Their Bets

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th were paid a $0.075 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. This represents a $0.30 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Genie Energys dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.33%.

In other Genie Energy news, Director James A. Courter sold 13,717 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total value of $336,752.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 329,915 shares in the company, valued at $8,099,413.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Genie Energy news, Director James A. Courter sold 13,717 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.55, for a total value of $336,752.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 329,915 shares in the company, valued at $8,099,413.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Avi Goldin sold 6,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.06, for a total transaction of $156,390.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 141,763 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,410,817.78. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 18.90% of the companys stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Genie Energy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Genie Energy during the second quarter worth about $31,000. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Genie Energy by 168.7% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 3,348 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 2,102 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of Genie Energy by 42.4% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,417 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Genie Energy by 450.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,026 shares of the oil and gas producers stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 3,294 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of Genie Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $93,000. 41.58% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Genie Energy

(Get Free Report)

Genie Energy Ltd., through its subsidiaries, supplies electricity and natural gas to residential and small business customers in the United States and internationally. It operates in two segments, Genie Retail Energy and Genie Renewables. The company also develops, constructs, and operates solar energy projects for commercial and industrial customers, as well as its own portfolio; provides energy advisory and brokerage services; and manufactures and distributes solar panel, as well as engages in solar installation design and project management activities.

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StockNews.com cut shares of WESCO International (NYSE:WCC  Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on WESCO International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on WESCO International from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised WESCO International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $180.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on WESCO International from $214.00 to $189.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $189.86.

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WESCO International Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:WCC opened at $154.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a PE ratio of 10.30, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.01. The companys fifty day moving average is $141.21 and its 200 day moving average is $152.83. WESCO International has a 52 week low of $117.12 and a 52 week high of $185.23.

WESCO International (NYSE:WCC  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.85 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.64 billion. WESCO International had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 3.75%. Research analysts anticipate that WESCO International will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current year.

WESCO International Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.375 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 14th. WESCO Internationals dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 10.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. KB Financial Partners LLC increased its position in WESCO International by 76.8% during the 3rd quarter. KB Financial Partners LLC now owns 198 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new stake in WESCO International during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new stake in WESCO International during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp purchased a new stake in WESCO International during the 1st quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, RFP Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in WESCO International during the 2nd quarter valued at $55,000. Institutional investors own 99.15% of the companys stock.

About WESCO International

(Get Free Report)

WESCO International, Inc provides business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS).

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StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Barnwell Industries (NYSE:BRN  Free Report) in a report issued on Friday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the stock.

Separately, TheStreet downgraded Barnwell Industries from a b- rating to a c rating in a research report on Monday, September 11th.

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Barnwell Industries Stock Performance

Insiders Place Their Bets

NYSE:BRN opened at $2.51 on Friday. The stocks 50-day simple moving average is $2.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.58. The company has a market cap of $25.08 million, a P/E ratio of -27.89 and a beta of 0.36. Barnwell Industries has a 52-week low of $1.89 and a 52-week high of $3.17.

In other Barnwell Industries news, major shareholder Ned L. Sherwood purchased 81,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.59 per share, with a total value of $211,540.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,312,929 shares in the company, valued at $5,990,486.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Barnwell Industries news, major shareholder Ned L. Sherwood purchased 81,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $2.59 per share, with a total value of $211,540.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,312,929 shares in the company, valued at $5,990,486.11. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Ned L. Sherwood purchased 21,151 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $2.70 per share, for a total transaction of $57,107.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,395,647 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,468,246.90. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have acquired a total of 194,960 shares of company stock valued at $509,411 over the last 90 days. 16.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Barnwell Industries

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Barnwell Industries during the third quarter worth approximately $40,000. Susquehanna International Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Barnwell Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $75,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Barnwell Industries during the first quarter worth approximately $78,000. EA Series Trust bought a new stake in shares of Barnwell Industries during the second quarter worth approximately $88,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Barnwell Industries by 145.1% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 40,745 shares of the companys stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 24,118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 9.38% of the companys stock.

Barnwell Industries Company Profile

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Barnwell Industries, Inc acquires, develops, produces, and sells oil and natural gas in Canada. It operates through three segments: Oil and Natural Gas, Land Investment, and Contract Drilling. The company acquires and develops crude oil and natural gas assets in the province of Alberta; and invests in land interests in Hawaii.

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Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD  Free Report) (NYSE:TD) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from C$95.00 to C$94.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods currently has an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the company. National Bankshares set a C$90.00 target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$94.00 to C$92.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 25th. Credit Suisse Group dropped their price target on shares of Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$93.00 to C$92.00 in a research note on Friday, August 25th. CSFB set a C$93.00 price objective on Toronto-Dominion Bank and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank from C$84.00 to C$82.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of C$92.42.

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Toronto-Dominion Bank Stock Performance

Shares of TD stock opened at C$83.35 on Thursday. Toronto-Dominion Bank has a one year low of C$75.89 and a one year high of C$94.05. The firms 50 day moving average price is C$80.98 and its 200-day moving average price is C$81.83. The firm has a market cap of C$151.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.86.

Toronto-Dominion Bank (TSE:TD  Get Free Report) (NYSE:TD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 24th. The company reported C$1.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$2.02 by C($0.03). The firm had revenue of C$12.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$12.16 billion. Toronto-Dominion Bank had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 28.98%. As a group, research analysts predict that Toronto-Dominion Bank will post 8.502045 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.96 per share. This represents a $3.84 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 5th. Toronto-Dominion Banks payout ratio is currently 49.68%.

Toronto-Dominion Bank Company Profile

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The Toronto-Dominion Bank, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial products and services in Canada, the United States, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Canadian Retail, U.S. Retail, and Wholesale Banking. The company offers personal deposits, such as chequing, savings, and investment products; financing, investment, cash management, international trade, and day-to-day banking services to businesses; and financing options to customers at point of sale for automotive and recreational vehicle purchases.

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Friday.

PNR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays dropped their target price on Pentair from $82.00 to $81.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a buy rating on shares of Pentair in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Pentair from $78.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Mizuho raised their price target on Pentair from $65.00 to $78.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Pentair from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $72.21.

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Pentair Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE PNR opened at $63.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.79. The stocks 50-day moving average is $62.68 and its 200-day moving average is $63.76. Pentair has a one year low of $43.19 and a one year high of $71.82.

Pentair (NYSE:PNR  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The industrial products company reported $0.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.87 by $0.07. Pentair had a return on equity of 21.35% and a net margin of 12.36%. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. Pentairs revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pentair will post 3.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pentair Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, October 20th were paid a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 19th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Pentairs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 28.66%.

Insider Activity at Pentair

In other Pentair news, EVP Philip M. Rolchigo sold 4,000 shares of Pentair stock in a transaction on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.77, for a total value of $243,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 18,535 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,126,371.95. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pentair

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Pentair by 382.0% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,606,412 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $144,056,000 after buying an additional 2,065,697 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Pentair by 10.6% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 15,999,717 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $884,304,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,893 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Pentair by 100.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,208,270 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $99,328,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105,735 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its position in Pentair by 31.2% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 4,337,319 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $239,724,000 after acquiring an additional 1,031,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Schweiz AG grew its position in Pentair by 41.3% during the 1st quarter. Robeco Schweiz AG now owns 2,667,551 shares of the industrial products companys stock worth $144,608,000 after acquiring an additional 780,043 shares during the last quarter. 88.60% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pentair

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Pentair plc provides various water solutions worldwide. The company operates through three segments: Pool, Water Solutions, Industrial & Flow Technologies. It designs, manufactures, and sells residential and commercial pool equipment and accessories, including pumps, filters, heaters, lights, automatic controls, automatic cleaners, maintenance equipment, and pool accessories for residential and commercial pool maintenance, repair, renovation, service, and construction applications; and water treatment products and systems comprising pressure tanks, control valves, activated carbon products, conventional filtration products, and point-of-entry and point-of-use systems for use in residential whole home water filtration, drinking water filtration, water softening solutions, commercial total water management and filtration, and foodservice operations.

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StockNews.com started coverage on shares of WestRock (NYSE:WRK  Free Report) in a report released on Friday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials companys stock.

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of WestRock from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of WestRock from $44.00 to $40.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WestRock from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Finally, Argus raised shares of WestRock from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Friday, November 17th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.57.

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WestRock Stock Up 2.1 %

WestRock stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. WestRock has a fifty-two week low of $26.84 and a fifty-two week high of $39.30. The stock has a market cap of $9.67 billion, a PE ratio of -5.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.10. The firms 50-day simple moving average is $36.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.42.

WestRock (NYSE:WRK  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.06. WestRock had a negative net margin of 8.12% and a positive return on equity of 7.52%. The business had revenue of $5 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 earnings per share. The firms revenue for the quarter was down 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that WestRock will post 2.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

WestRock Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 21st. Investors of record on Monday, November 13th were issued a dividend of $0.3025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 10th. This represents a $1.21 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is a positive change from WestRocks previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. WestRocks dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -18.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WestRock

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of WestRock by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 30,619,872 shares of the basic materials companys stock worth $1,440,053,000 after purchasing an additional 252,490 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in WestRock by 9.6% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 26,528,567 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $808,325,000 after buying an additional 2,320,073 shares during the period. Greenhaven Associates Inc. grew its position in WestRock by 6.9% during the second quarter. Greenhaven Associates Inc. now owns 13,561,470 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $394,232,000 after buying an additional 874,750 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in WestRock by 14.7% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,986,307 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $348,442,000 after buying an additional 1,538,825 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in WestRock by 59.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,318,827 shares of the basic materials companys stock valued at $283,947,000 after buying an additional 3,459,641 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.51% of the companys stock.

About WestRock

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WestRock Company, together with its subsidiaries, provides fiber-based paper and packaging solutions in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. It operates in four segments, Corrugated Packaging, Consumer Packaging, Global Paper, and Distribution. The Corrugated Packaging segment produces containerboards, corrugated sheets, corrugated packaging, and preprinted linerboards to consumer and industrial products manufacturers, and corrugated box manufacturers.

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Jabil Inc. (NYSE:JBL  Get Free Report) has been given a consensus rating of Buy by the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $120.00.

Several research analysts have recently commented on JBL shares. Argus lifted their price target on shares of Jabil from $125.00 to $145.00 in a report on Friday, September 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Jabil from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $120.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a strong-buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $126.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Jabil from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 29th.

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Jabil Price Performance

JBL opened at $131.17 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.00. Jabil has a 52-week low of $64.74 and a 52-week high of $141.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $125.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.05. The company has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.41.

Jabil (NYSE:JBL  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 28th. The technology company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.32 by $0.13. Jabil had a net margin of 2.36% and a return on equity of 38.02%. The company had revenue of $8.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Jabils revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Jabil will post 8.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Jabil Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 4th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be given a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.24%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 14th. Jabils dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.33%.

Jabil declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Thursday, September 28th that permits the company to repurchase $2.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 15.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the companys board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Jabil

In related news, CFO Michael Dastoor sold 4,289 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.77, for a total transaction of $590,895.53. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 154,985 shares of the companys stock, valued at $21,352,283.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Jabil news, SVP Daryn G. Smith sold 1,541 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.76, for a total value of $212,288.16. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 58,669 shares in the company, valued at $8,082,241.44. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Michael Dastoor sold 4,289 shares of Jabil stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.77, for a total transaction of $590,895.53. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 154,985 shares of the companys stock, valued at $21,352,283.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 314,601 shares of company stock valued at $40,201,576 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.75% of the companys stock.

Institutional Trading of Jabil

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of JBL. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Jabil in the first quarter worth $384,818,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Jabil by 71.2% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,232,495 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $549,457,000 after purchasing an additional 2,591,893 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in Jabil by 27.5% during the 1st quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,552,930 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $754,026,000 after purchasing an additional 1,844,254 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Jabil during the 4th quarter valued at $102,656,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Jabil by 230.6% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,863,230 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $115,018,000 after buying an additional 1,299,593 shares during the period. 92.88% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Jabil

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Jabil Inc provides manufacturing services and solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Electronics Manufacturing Services and Diversified Manufacturing Services. The company offers electronics design, production, and product management services; electronic circuit design services, such as application-specific integrated circuit design, firmware development, and rapid prototyping services; and designs plastic and metal enclosures that include the electro-mechanics, such as the printed circuit board assemblies (PCBA).

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Shares of IGM Financial Inc. (TSE:IGM  Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the six research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is C$40.63.

IGM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. National Bankshares cut their target price on IGM Financial from C$47.00 to C$44.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Scotiabank cut their target price on IGM Financial from C$45.00 to C$40.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on IGM Financial from C$35.00 to C$36.00 in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on IGM Financial from C$49.00 to C$42.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Finally, TD Securities cut their target price on IGM Financial from C$38.00 to C$37.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 3rd.

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IGM Financial Trading Up 0.0 %

IGM opened at C$33.43 on Monday. IGM Financial has a one year low of C$30.34 and a one year high of C$43.97. The stock has a market capitalization of C$7.96 billion, a PE ratio of 8.32, a P/E/G ratio of 14.05 and a beta of 1.58. The businesss 50 day moving average price is C$33.57 and its 200 day moving average price is C$37.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 48.87, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 1.74.

IGM Financial (TSE:IGM  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The financial services provider reported C$0.89 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of C$0.88 by C$0.01. IGM Financial had a return on equity of 15.38% and a net margin of 24.05%. The firm had revenue of C$770.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of C$770.00 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that IGM Financial will post 3.5508919 EPS for the current year.

IGM Financial Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 31st. Investors of record on Friday, December 29th will be paid a dividend of $0.563 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 28th. This represents a $2.25 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.74%. IGM Financials payout ratio is currently 55.97%.

IGM Financial Company Profile

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IGM Financial Inc operates as a wealth and asset management company in Canada. It operates through Wealth Management, Asset Management, and Strategic Investments and Other segments. The company offers financial advisory services; and IG Living Plan that provides financial planning services, such as investment vehicles, insurance products, mortgage and banking solutions, and charitable giving program.

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Shares of Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) have been assigned an average rating of Moderate Buy from the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have given a hold recommendation and eleven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.00.

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Dell Technologies from $50.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, September 22nd. Barclays lowered shares of Dell Technologies from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Dell Technologies from $70.00 to $76.00 in a research report on Friday, October 6th.

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Insider Buying and Selling

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dell Technologies

In other Dell Technologies news, General Counsel Richard J. Rothberg sold 30,009 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $2,040,612.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 99,899 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $6,793,132. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . 48.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Dell Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $529,103,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Dell Technologies by 655.7% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,534,968 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $182,351,000 after buying an additional 3,934,878 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Dell Technologies by 59.6% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,376,674 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $646,053,000 after buying an additional 3,499,760 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in Dell Technologies by 36,540.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 3,151,077 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $170,505,000 after buying an additional 3,142,477 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alkeon Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Dell Technologies by 241.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alkeon Capital Management LLC now owns 4,273,625 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $294,453,000 after buying an additional 3,023,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 38.10% of the companys stock.

Dell Technologies Trading Down 0.4 %

DELL opened at $74.41 on Monday. Dell Technologies has a 1-year low of $35.96 and a 1-year high of $75.38. The company has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.95. The companys fifty day moving average price is $69.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $59.45.

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.88 by $0.56. Dell Technologies had a net margin of 2.03% and a negative return on equity of 149.91%. The firm had revenue of $22.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.78 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Dell Technologies will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dell Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 3rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 24th were paid a $0.37 dividend. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 23rd. Dell Technologiess payout ratio is 57.14%.

Dell Technologies Company Profile

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Dell Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) and Client Solutions Group (CSG).

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Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC  Get Free Report) and Standard Chartered (OTCMKTS:SCBFY  Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their risk, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and Standard Chartereds net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Wells Fargo & Company 17.06% 11.18% 0.96% Standard Chartered N/A N/A N/A

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Wells Fargo & Company and Standard Chartereds gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Wells Fargo & Company $82.86 billion 1.88 $13.18 billion $4.63 9.27 Standard Chartered N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

Insider and Institutional Ownership

Wells Fargo & Company has higher revenue and earnings than Standard Chartered.

72.5% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by institutional investors. 0.1% of Wells Fargo & Company shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Wells Fargo & Company and Standard Chartered, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Wells Fargo & Company 0 8 7 1 2.56 Standard Chartered 0 0 0 0 N/A

Wells Fargo & Company presently has a consensus price target of $48.31, suggesting a potential upside of 12.56%. Given Wells Fargo & Companys higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Wells Fargo & Company is more favorable than Standard Chartered.

Summary

Wells Fargo & Company beats Standard Chartered on 9 of the 9 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Wells Fargo & Company

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Wells Fargo & Company, a diversified financial services company, provides banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. It operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management. The Consumer Banking and Lending segment offers diversified financial products and services for consumers and small businesses. Its financial products and services include checking and savings accounts, and credit and debit cards, as well as home, auto, personal, and small business lending services. The Commercial Banking segment provides financial solutions to private, family owned, and certain public companies. Its products and services include banking and credit products across various industry sectors and municipalities, secured lending and lease products, and treasury management services. The Corporate and Investment Banking segment offers a suite of capital markets, banking, and financial products and services to corporate, commercial real estate, government, and institutional clients. Its products and services comprise corporate banking, investment banking, treasury management, commercial real estate lending and servicing, equity, and fixed income solutions, as well as sales, trading, and research capabilities services. The Wealth and Investment Management segment provides personalized wealth management, brokerage, financial planning, lending, private banking, and trust and fiduciary products and services to affluent, high-net worth, and ultra-high-net worth clients. It also operates through financial advisors. Its serves to independent offices and consumer banks. The company was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

About Standard Chartered

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Standard Chartered PLC, together with its subsidiaries, provides various banking products and services primarily in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas, and the Middle East. The company operates through two segments: Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking; and Consumer, Private and Business Banking. It offers retail products, such as deposits, savings, mortgages, credit cards, and personal loans; wealth management products and services that include investments, portfolio management, insurance, and wealth advices; and transaction banking services, such as cash management, working capital, and trade financing products. The company also provides financial markets products and services that comprise project and transportation financing, debt capital markets and leveraged financing, financing and securities services, and sales and structuring services, as well as macro, commodities, and credit trading services. In addition, it offers digital banking solutions. The company serves financial institutions, governments, banks, investors, corporations, small businesses, and individuals. The company was founded in 1853 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

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BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB.TO) (TSE:ZWB  Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Tuesday, November 28th, TickerTech reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 4th will be paid a dividend of 0.11 per share on Monday, December 4th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 28th.

BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB.TO) Stock Performance

Shares of BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF (ZWB.TO) stock opened at C$16.60 on Monday. BMO Covered Call Canadian Banks ETF has a one year low of C$15.29 and a one year high of C$19.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$16.34 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$17.17.

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Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS  Free Report) by 93.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 62,482 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 30,130 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLCs holdings in Novartis were worth $6,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of NVS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Novartis by 514.9% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,461,446 shares of the companys stock worth $112,669,000 after buying an additional 7,085,365 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Novartis by 19.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 7,604,681 shares of the companys stock worth $699,631,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235,303 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Novartis by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,982,292 shares of the companys stock valued at $642,371,000 after purchasing an additional 279,999 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in Novartis by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 6,488,196 shares of the companys stock valued at $588,609,000 after purchasing an additional 377,693 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Novartis by 1.4% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,257,343 shares of the companys stock worth $631,414,000 after purchasing an additional 83,672 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 7.00% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

NVS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Novartis in a research note on Monday, November 20th. They set a strong-buy rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Novartis from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, September 25th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Novartis currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $84.50.

Novartis Stock Performance

Shares of NVS traded down $0.44 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $97.70. 129,667 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,807,845. The stocks 50 day simple moving average is $96.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $99.44. The company has a market cap of $207.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.38, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.56. Novartis AG has a twelve month low of $79.98 and a twelve month high of $105.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Novartis (NYSE:NVS  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 23rd. The company reported $1.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.04. Novartis had a net margin of 15.35% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The business had revenue of $11.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $12.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.58 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Novartis AG will post 6.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Novartis Profile

(Free Report)

Novartis AG researches, develops, manufactures, and markets healthcare products in Switzerland and internationally. The company offers prescription medicines for patients and physicians. It focuses on therapeutic areas, such as cardiovascular, renal and metabolic, immunology, neuroscience, and oncology, as well as ophthalmology and hematology.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding NVS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Novartis AG (NYSE:NVS  Free Report).

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L2 Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS  Free Report) by 67.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 865 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 1,792 shares during the quarter. L2 Asset Management LLCs holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of GS. Pacific Center for Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC raised its position in The Goldman Sachs Group by 140.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Bell Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 120 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in The Goldman Sachs Group during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 69.06% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at The Goldman Sachs Group

In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, insider Ericka T. Leslie sold 1,376 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $335.15, for a total transaction of $461,166.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 10,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,509,355.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other The Goldman Sachs Group news, major shareholder Goldman Sachs Group Inc sold 72,874 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $0.71, for a total transaction of $51,740.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 397,954 shares in the company, valued at approximately $282,547.34. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Ericka T. Leslie sold 1,376 shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $335.15, for a total value of $461,166.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,471 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,509,355.65. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.54% of the companys stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GS shares. StockNews.com started coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $447.00 to $468.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, November 16th. HSBC started coverage on The Goldman Sachs Group in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. They set a buy rating and a $403.00 target price for the company. Atlantic Securities raised The Goldman Sachs Group from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and raised their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $351.00 in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on The Goldman Sachs Group from $400.00 to $380.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $393.76.

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The Goldman Sachs Group Stock Down 0.2 %

The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded down $0.78 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $338.37. The stock had a trading volume of 134,692 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,357,219. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a 12 month low of $289.36 and a 12 month high of $388.39. The company has a market capitalization of $110.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.43, a PEG ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $319.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $327.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.11.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS  Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 17th. The investment management company reported $5.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $5.42 by $0.05. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 7.37% and a net margin of 7.77%. The business had revenue of $11.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.15 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $8.25 EPS. The firms revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 22.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 28th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of $2.75 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th. This represents a $11.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.25%. The Goldman Sachs Groups dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.24%.

The Goldman Sachs Group Profile

(Free Report)

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in resale agreements.

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L2 Asset Management LLC increased its position in The Charles Schwab Co. (NYSE:SCHW  Free Report) by 7.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,347 shares of the financial services providers stock after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the period. L2 Asset Management LLCs holdings in Charles Schwab were worth $246,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of SCHW. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lifted its holdings in shares of Charles Schwab by 93,993.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 965,692,348 shares of the financial services providers stock worth $54,735,442,000 after purchasing an additional 964,666,040 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Charles Schwab in the 4th quarter valued at $1,325,555,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Charles Schwab by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,255,649 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $1,853,005,000 after buying an additional 8,563,389 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Charles Schwab by 91,051.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 5,365,193 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $446,706,000 after buying an additional 5,359,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership raised its position in Charles Schwab by 133.0% in the 2nd quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 9,103,386 shares of the financial services providers stock valued at $515,980,000 after buying an additional 5,195,531 shares during the last quarter. 81.61% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Charles Schwab Price Performance

Shares of SCHW traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $56.05. 982,363 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,239,705. The stock has a market cap of $99.30 billion, a PE ratio of 18.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The Charles Schwab Co. has a 12 month low of $45.00 and a 12 month high of $86.63. The firms 50 day simple moving average is $53.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.57.

Charles Schwab Announces Dividend

Charles Schwab ( NYSE:SCHW Get Free Report ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 16th. The financial services provider reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $4.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $4.62 billion. Charles Schwab had a return on equity of 24.58% and a net margin of 30.14%. The businesss quarterly revenue was down 16.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 EPS. Equities analysts expect that The Charles Schwab Co. will post 3.16 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 10th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 9th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Charles Schwabs dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.33%.

Insider Transactions at Charles Schwab

In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 3,114 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total value of $174,975.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,122.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Peter B. Crawford sold 3,114 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.19, for a total value of $174,975.66. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 41,611 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,338,122.09. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Peter J. Morgan III sold 8,000 shares of Charles Schwab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.61, for a total value of $476,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 8,014 shares in the company, valued at $477,714.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,824 shares of company stock worth $1,214,937. 6.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on SCHW. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Charles Schwab from $92.00 to $85.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Barclays raised their target price on Charles Schwab from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $80.00 to $72.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 16th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a market outperform rating and set a $77.00 target price on shares of Charles Schwab in a research report on Tuesday, October 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Charles Schwab from $70.00 to $69.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the companys stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Charles Schwab currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.91.

Read Our Latest Analysis on SCHW

About Charles Schwab

(Free Report)

The Charles Schwab Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services. The company operates in two segments, Investor Services and Advisor Services.

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iSAM Funds UK Ltd purchased a new stake in Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX  Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 32,804 shares of the medical equipment providers stock, valued at approximately $1,774,000. Boston Scientific accounts for about 1.6% of iSAM Funds UK Ltds investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new position in shares of Boston Scientific during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Boston Scientific by 209.4% during the 2nd quarter. BDO Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 594 shares of the medical equipment providers stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Boston Scientific during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Nemes Rush Group LLC bought a new stake in Boston Scientific during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Boston Scientific in the first quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.11% of the companys stock.

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Insider Transactions at Boston Scientific

In related news, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.95, for a total transaction of $629,650.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 57,058 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,078,279.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Boston Scientific news, CEO Michael F. Mahoney sold 113,356 shares of Boston Scientific stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.51, for a total value of $5,952,323.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,498,922 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $78,708,394.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Wendy Carruthers sold 11,671 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.95, for a total value of $629,650.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,058 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,078,279.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 379,275 shares of company stock worth $20,051,388. 0.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Boston Scientific Price Performance

NYSE:BSX traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $55.48. The company had a trading volume of 1,214,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,073,055. The stocks fifty day moving average price is $52.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $52.41. Boston Scientific Co. has a 52-week low of $43.62 and a 52-week high of $55.83. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $81.28 billion, a PE ratio of 67.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.77.

Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The medical equipment provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Boston Scientific Co. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on BSX shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Boston Scientific from $59.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. TheStreet raised shares of Boston Scientific from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Evercore ISI reiterated an outperform rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Boston Scientific in a research note on Tuesday, September 19th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Boston Scientific from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Boston Scientific currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $60.55.

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Boston Scientific Company Profile

(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.

Further Reading

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding BSX? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Boston Scientific Co. (NYSE:BSX  Free Report).

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Karpus Management Inc. raised its stake in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (BATS:QUAL  Free Report) by 86.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 115,289 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 53,297 shares during the quarter. Karpus Management Inc. owned about 0.05% of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF worth $15,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Summit Financial LLC acquired a new position in iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF in the second quarter valued at about $365,000. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 21.9% during the second quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 5,898 shares of the companys stock worth $795,000 after purchasing an additional 1,059 shares in the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 81.5% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 77,066 shares of the companys stock worth $10,394,000 after purchasing an additional 34,595 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF by 127.3% during the second quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 171,049 shares of the companys stock worth $23,069,000 after purchasing an additional 95,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fairhaven Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF during the second quarter worth about $284,000.

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iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF Stock Performance

Shares of QUAL remained flat at $141.17 during mid-day trading on Monday. 328,704 shares of the stock traded hands. The company has a market capitalization of $31.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.30 and a beta of 1.03. iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF has a 1-year low of $71.96 and a 1-year high of $88.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $134.59 and a 200-day moving average of $134.25.

About iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF

The iShares MSCI USA Quality Factor ETF (QUAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the MSCI USA Sector Neutral Quality index. The fund tracks an index of US large- and mid-cap stocks, selected and weighted by high ROE, stable earnings growth and low debt\u002Fequity, relative to peers in each sector.

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The Egyptian Red Crescent that through local and international donations, they have been able to deliver 30,000 tons of aid to its counterpart the war began, the Palestinian Red Crescent, and the UNRWA in Gaza.

The announcement was made by Executive Director of the Egyptian Red Crescent Society Dr Ramy El-Nagar during a press conference on Monday.

The organization has intensified its efforts over the past three days to take advantage of the truce, the director said.

These efforts include dispatching more trucks carrying medical, relief, and food aid through the border crossing to alleviate the burden on Gazas residents, he added.

El-Nagar affirmed that the Egyptian Red Crescents staff and volunteers are still working diligently to prepare more aid, including ensuring the quality of products, sorting, repackaging, reviewing, and preparing them for transport.

During the press conference, Kuwaits Ambassador to Egypt Ghanem Saqr Al-Ghanem expressed gratitude to the organization for working with its Kuwaiti counterpart to send a convoy of 35 trucks filled with medical, food, and other aid.

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Cornerstone Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY  Free Report) by 7.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 48,700 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the quarter. Eli Lilly and Company accounts for about 1.1% of Cornerstone Advisors LLCs holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cornerstone Advisors LLCs holdings in Eli Lilly and Company were worth $22,839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. MYDA Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,566,000. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 200.1% in the 2nd quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 10,472 shares of the companys stock valued at $4,911,000 after purchasing an additional 6,982 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 96.7% in the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 24,785 shares of the companys stock valued at $11,624,000 after purchasing an additional 12,187 shares in the last quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co raised its stake in shares of Eli Lilly and Company by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 919 shares of the companys stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Front Barnett Associates LLC raised its stake in Eli Lilly and Company by 3.2% during the second quarter. Front Barnett Associates LLC now owns 3,255 shares of the companys stock worth $1,527,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the companys stock.

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Eli Lilly and Company Price Performance

Shares of LLY stock traded down $5.35 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $595.75. 1,117,944 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,076,686. Eli Lilly and Company has a fifty-two week low of $309.20 and a fifty-two week high of $629.97. The stocks fifty day moving average is $578.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $515.78. The company has a market cap of $565.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 1.05 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

Eli Lilly and Company Announces Dividend

Eli Lilly and Company ( NYSE:LLY Get Free Report ) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.08) by $0.18. Eli Lilly and Company had a net margin of 15.55% and a return on equity of 48.12%. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.88 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eli Lilly and Company will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 8th. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be issued a $1.13 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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%.

Insider Activity at Eli Lilly and Company

In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 670 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,708 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,738.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CAO Donald A. Zakrowski sold 670 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 4,708 shares in the company, valued at $2,688,738.80. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Alonzo Weems sold 1,148 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.98, for a total transaction of $678,445.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 7,760 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $4,586,004.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 432,999 shares of company stock worth $254,659,215 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.13% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $565.00 to $633.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Eli Lilly and Company from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the company from $408.00 to $615.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating and set a $630.00 target price on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Wednesday, November 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Eli Lilly and Company from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, UBS Group restated a buy rating and set a $710.00 price objective (up previously from $612.00) on shares of Eli Lilly and Company in a report on Friday, October 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Eli Lilly and Company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $557.00.

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Eli Lilly and Company Profile

(Free Report)

Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, and markets human pharmaceuticals worldwide. It offers Basaglar, Humalog, Humalog Mix 75/25, Humalog U-100, Humalog U-200, Humalog Mix 50/50, insulin lispro, insulin lispro protamine, insulin lispro mix 75/25, Humulin, Humulin 70/30, Humulin N, Humulin R, and Humulin U-500 for diabetes; and Jardiance, Trajenta, and Trulicity for type 2 diabetes.

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Karpus Management Inc. cut its position in BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund, Inc. (NYSE:MYN  Free Report) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 994,480 shares of the investment management companys stock after selling 16,327 shares during the period. Karpus Management Inc. owned 2.55% of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund worth $10,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Breakwater Capital Group bought a new position in shares of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund in the second quarter worth about $105,000. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new position in shares of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund in the second quarter worth about $382,000. Fiera Capital Corp raised its stake in shares of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund by 16.4% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 541,406 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $5,484,000 after buying an additional 76,285 shares during the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its stake in shares of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund by 18.7% during the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 62,394 shares of the investment management companys stock worth $634,000 after buying an additional 9,837 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in shares of BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund during the second quarter worth approximately $118,000. 24.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MYN traded down $0.04 on Monday, reaching $9.69. 56,015 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 81,337. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $8.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.55. BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.47 and a 12 month high of $10.80.

BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund Announces Dividend

BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund Company Profile

The firm also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, February 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.0442 per share. This represents a $0.53 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, February 14th.

(Free Report)

BlackRock MuniYield New York Quality Fund, Inc is a closed ended fixed income mutual fund launched by BlackRock, Inc It is managed by BlackRock Advisors, LLC. The fund invests in fixed income markets. It invests primarily in a portfolio of long-term investment grade municipal bonds exempt from federal income taxes and New York State and New York City personal income taxes.

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Fort L.P. lifted its holdings in Chevron Co. (NYSE:CVX  Free Report) by 43.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,854 shares of the oil and gas companys stock after acquiring an additional 559 shares during the quarter. Fort L.P.s holdings in Chevron were worth $292,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CVX. V Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Chevron by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. V Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,007 shares of the oil and gas companys stock valued at $1,102,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. CIC Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Chevron by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. CIC Wealth LLC now owns 14,755 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $2,407,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Chevron by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. NCM Capital Management LLC now owns 5,570 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $909,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in Chevron by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 7,569 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its holdings in Chevron by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 678 shares of the oil and gas companys stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. 68.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Chevron Stock Performance

Chevron stock traded down $1.37 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $143.53. The stock had a trading volume of 2,443,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,321,591. Chevron Co. has a 12 month low of $140.72 and a 12 month high of $187.81. The firms 50-day moving average price is $156.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $157.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $270.95 billion, a PE ratio of 10.66, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Chevron Announces Dividend

Chevron ( NYSE:CVX Get Free Report ) last posted 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 company had revenue of $54.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $51.41 billion. Chevron had a net margin of 12.11% and a return on equity of 16.15%. The firms quarterly revenue was down 18.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.56 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Chevron Co. will post 13.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.51 per share. This represents a $6.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Chevrons payout ratio is presently 44.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CVX. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Chevron from $180.00 to $184.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an outperform rating and set a $180.00 price objective on shares of Chevron in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Chevron from $215.00 to $195.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Chevron from a neutral rating to a buy rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $190.00 to $200.00 in a research report on Monday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised shares of Chevron from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and reduced their price target for the company from $184.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Chevron has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $187.89.

View Our Latest Research Report on Chevron

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.

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Puzo Michael J boosted its holdings in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX  Free Report) by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,353 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the quarter. Becton, Dickinson and Company makes up approximately 1.7% of Puzo Michael Js holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Puzo Michael Js holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company were worth $5,373,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in Becton, Dickinson and Company by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 23,794,080 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $5,889,987,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,866 shares during the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 98,105.4% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 6,929,375 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $1,829,424,000 after acquiring an additional 6,922,319 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,134,645 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $1,351,490,000 after acquiring an additional 113,425 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 25,185.5% in the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,492,216 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $18,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,474,450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Becton, Dickinson and Company by 95,813.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,045,643 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $1,028,807,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041,425 shares in the last quarter. 86.72% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on BDX shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $284.00 to $303.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on Becton, Dickinson and Company in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating for the company. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $305.00 to $280.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Raymond James reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $304.00 to $269.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Becton, Dickinson and Company from $282.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Monday, October 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the companys stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $283.86.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Stock Performance

BDX stock traded down $0.11 during trading on Monday, reaching $238.78. 679,187 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,188,536. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57. Becton, Dickinson and Company has a 1-year low of $228.62 and a 1-year high of $287.32. The companys fifty day moving average price is $253.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $260.03. The firm has a market cap of $69.34 billion, a PE ratio of 48.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.92 and a beta of 0.55.

Becton, Dickinson and Company (NYSE:BDX  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The medical instruments supplier reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts consensus estimates of $3.42. Becton, Dickinson and Company had a return on equity of 13.91% and a net margin of 7.66%. The company had revenue of $5.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.75 EPS. The firms quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Becton, Dickinson and Company will post 12.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Becton, Dickinson and Company Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.95 dividend. This represents a $3.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This is an increase from Becton, Dickinson and Companys previous quarterly dividend of $0.91. Becton, Dickinson and Companys payout ratio is currently 73.39%.

Insider Transactions at Becton, Dickinson and Company

In other news, EVP Richard Byrd sold 459 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.48, for a total value of $125,986.32. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,444 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $945,309.12. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.31% of the companys stock.

About Becton, Dickinson and Company

(Free Report)

Becton, Dickinson and Company develops, manufactures, and sells medical supplies, devices, laboratory equipment, and diagnostic products for healthcare institutions, physicians, life science researchers, clinical laboratories, pharmaceutical industry, and the general public worldwide. The company operates in three segments: BD Medical, BD Life Sciences, and BD Interventional.

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Cornerstone Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Inc. (NYSE:NBXG  Free Report) by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,302,466 shares of the companys stock after buying an additional 92,683 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLCs holdings in Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund were worth $14,210,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James & Associates acquired a new position in Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,964,000. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund in the 1st quarter worth about $643,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund by 44.1% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 853,716 shares of the companys stock worth $11,909,000 after buying an additional 261,238 shares in the last quarter. UBS Group AG lifted its position in shares of Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 633,762 shares of the companys stock worth $8,841,000 after purchasing an additional 153,959 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new stake in Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund during the 1st quarter valued at $232,000.

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Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Price Performance

NYSE:NBXG remained flat at 10.59 during midday trading on Monday. The company had a trading volume of 159,744 shares, compared to its average volume of 237,125. Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Inc. has a 52 week low of 7.70 and a 52 week high of 11.31. The companys 50 day simple moving average is 10.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is 10.48.

Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Dividend Announcement

Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Company Profile

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 15th will be paid a $0.10 dividend. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 14th.

(Free Report)

Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Inc (NBXG) is a newly organized, non-diversified, limited term closed-end management investment company focused on next generation mobile network connectivity and technology.

The Funds investment strategy focuses on equity securities issued by U.S.

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Cornerstone Advisors LLC raised its holdings in United Parcel Service, Inc. (NYSE:UPS  Free Report) by 48.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 41,500 shares of the transportation companys stock after buying an additional 13,500 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLCs holdings in United Parcel Service were worth $7,439,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in UPS. Pacific Center for Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Worth Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of United Parcel Service during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of United Parcel Service by 216.0% in the second quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 158 shares of the transportation companys stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. WFA of San Diego LLC acquired a new stake in United Parcel Service during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, PSI Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in United Parcel Service by 892.9% in the second quarter. PSI Advisors LLC now owns 278 shares of the transportation companys stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. 58.45% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UPS shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of United Parcel Service from $177.00 to $167.00 in a report on Friday, September 29th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $173.00 to $160.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of United Parcel Service from $180.00 to $175.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 28th. Stephens reaffirmed an equal weight rating and issued a $195.00 price objective on shares of United Parcel Service in a research note on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of United Parcel Service from a buy rating to a neutral rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $198.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have assigned a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, United Parcel Service has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $188.91.

United Parcel Service Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE UPS traded down $2.15 on Monday, reaching $149.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,341,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,384,621. United Parcel Service, Inc. has a 52 week low of $133.68 and a 52 week high of $197.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market cap of $127.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.16, a PEG ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.10. The stocks 50 day moving average is $149.46 and its 200-day moving average is $165.53.

United Parcel Service (NYSE:UPS  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The transportation company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.53 by $0.04. United Parcel Service had a return on equity of 43.46% and a net margin of 9.19%. The company had revenue of $21.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $21.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.99 earnings per share. United Parcel Services revenue for the quarter was down 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that United Parcel Service, Inc. will post 8.81 earnings per share for the current year.

United Parcel Service Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 13th will be paid a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 10th. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. United Parcel Services dividend payout ratio is 65.59%.

United Parcel Service Company Profile

(Free Report)

United Parcel Service, Inc, a package delivery company, provides transportation and delivery, distribution, contract logistics, ocean freight, airfreight, customs brokerage, and insurance services. It operates through two segments, U.S. Domestic Package and International Package. The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers time-definite delivery of letters, documents, small packages, and palletized freight through air and ground services in the United States.

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Nia Impact Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Brookfield Renewable Co. (NYSE:BEPC  Free Report) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 129,066 shares of the companys stock after selling 18,996 shares during the quarter. Brookfield Renewable comprises approximately 2.1% of Nia Impact Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Nia Impact Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Brookfield Renewable worth $3,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of BEPC. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc bought a new stake in shares of Brookfield Renewable during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Federated Hermes Inc. bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Renewable during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spirit of America Management Corp NY raised its holdings in shares of Brookfield Renewable by 76.9% during the second quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 1,150 shares of the companys stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Brookfield Renewable during the first quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Brookfield Renewable by 20.6% in the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,390 shares of the companys stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.15% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on BEPC. BNP Paribas began coverage on Brookfield Renewable in a research note on Friday, October 20th. They issued an outperform rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Brookfield Renewable from $37.00 to $34.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 22nd.

Brookfield Renewable Price Performance

BEPC traded down $0.09 on Monday, hitting $26.23. 430,758 shares of the companys stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 707,625. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72. Brookfield Renewable Co. has a one year low of $21.77 and a one year high of $36.16. The companys 50 day simple moving average is $24.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.86. The firm has a market cap of $4.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.79 and a beta of 1.08.

Brookfield Renewable (NYSE:BEPC  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 3rd. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $1.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.27 billion. Brookfield Renewable had a return on equity of 2.47% and a net margin of 8.39%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Brookfield Renewable Co. will post -0.36 EPS for the current year.

Brookfield Renewable Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.338 per share. This represents a $1.35 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.15%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 29th. Brookfield Renewables dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -275.50%.

Brookfield Renewable Profile

(Free Report)

Brookfield Renewable Corporation owns and operates a portfolio of renewable power and sustainable solution assets primarily in the United States, Europe, Colombia, and Brazil. It operates hydroelectric, wind, and solar power plants with an installed capacity of approximately 12,857 megawatts. The company was incorporated in 2019 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lessened its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities, Inc. (NYSE:AVB  Free Report) by 0.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 218,377 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 2,003 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned about 0.15% of AvalonBay Communities worth $41,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Creative Planning grew its holdings in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 17.0% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 9,941 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 1,445 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC bought a new position in shares of AvalonBay Communities in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Texas Yale Capital Corp. increased its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 3.3% in the second quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp. now owns 5,413 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,025,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 49.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 9,132 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of AvalonBay Communities by 122.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 58,438 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $11,132,000 after buying an additional 32,147 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the companys stock.

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AvalonBay Communities Stock Performance

AvalonBay Communities stock traded down $0.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $172.58. 439,663 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 750,070. The business has a 50 day moving average of $171.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $180.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.84. AvalonBay Communities, Inc. has a 12 month low of $153.07 and a 12 month high of $198.65.

AvalonBay Communities Dividend Announcement

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $1.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 28th. This represents a $6.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. AvalonBay Communitiess payout ratio is 100.46%.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on AVB. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $190.00 to $186.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Colliers Securities raised AvalonBay Communities from a neutral rating to a buy rating and set a $202.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on AvalonBay Communities from $214.00 to $202.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of AvalonBay Communities in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. They set a neutral rating and a $179.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of AvalonBay Communities from $188.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock an underweight rating in a research note on Monday, August 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, AvalonBay Communities has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $195.29.

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AvalonBay Communities Profile

(Free Report)

As of September 30, 2023, the Company owned or held a direct or indirect ownership interest in 296 apartment communities containing 89,240 apartment homes in 12 states and the District of Columbia, of which 17 communities were under development and one community was under redevelopment. The Company is an equity REIT in the business of developing, redeveloping, acquiring and managing apartment communities in leading metropolitan areas in New England, the New York/New Jersey Metro area, the Mid-Atlantic, the Pacific Northwest, and Northern and Southern California, as well as in the Company's expansion regions of Raleigh-Durham and Charlotte, North Carolina, Southeast Florida, Dallas and Austin, Texas, and Denver, Colorado.

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Silverback Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Scorpio Tankers Inc. (NYSE:STNG  Free Report) by 5.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,824 shares of the shipping companys stock after acquiring an additional 2,824 shares during the quarter. Silverback Asset Management LLC owned about 0.10% of Scorpio Tankers worth $2,495,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. GTS Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Scorpio Tankers during the 2nd quarter worth $4,601,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 18.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 64,030 shares of the shipping companys stock worth $3,024,000 after acquiring an additional 10,200 shares during the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in Scorpio Tankers by 18.5% during the 2nd quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 207,678 shares of the shipping companys stock valued at $9,809,000 after purchasing an additional 32,416 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Scorpio Tankers in the second quarter valued at $439,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Scorpio Tankers in the second quarter worth about $485,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.82% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on STNG. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Scorpio Tankers from $55.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Scorpio Tankers from $83.00 to $73.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Scorpio Tankers from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Saturday, November 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Scorpio Tankers has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Scorpio Tankers Trading Down 1.8 %

STNG stock traded down $1.04 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $55.81. The company had a trading volume of 432,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,229,773. Scorpio Tankers Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.34 and a 12 month high of $64.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $55.07 and a 200 day moving average of $50.06. The company has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of 4.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.16 and a beta of 0.34.

Scorpio Tankers (NYSE:STNG  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The shipping company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.31. Scorpio Tankers had a return on equity of 27.56% and a net margin of 46.07%. The firm had revenue of $291.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $277.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.29 EPS. The businesss revenue for the quarter was down 40.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Scorpio Tankers Inc. will post 10.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Scorpio Tankers Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 30th will be paid a $0.35 dividend. This represents a $1.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.51%. This is an increase from Scorpio Tankerss previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th. Scorpio Tankerss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.35%.

Scorpio Tankers Profile

(Free Report)

Scorpio Tankers Inc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 23, 2023, its fleet consisted of 113 owned, finance leased, or bareboat chartered-in tankers, including 39 LR2, 60 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 7.2 years.

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Thomson Reuters Co. (TSE:TRI  Get Free Report) (NYSE:TRI)s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as C$191.60 and last traded at C$191.59, with a volume of 82371 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$189.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

TRI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. National Bankshares lowered their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$186.00 to C$180.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$136.00 to C$133.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$145.00 to C$150.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. TD Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$190.00 to C$185.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Thomson Reuters from C$192.00 to C$201.00 in a research note on Thursday, November 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Thomson Reuters currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of C$175.71.

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Thomson Reuters Stock Up 1.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.34. The firms 50 day moving average price is C$174.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is C$173.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 40.94.

Thomson Reuters (TSE:TRI  Get Free Report) (NYSE:TRI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported C$1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.91 by C$0.19. The business had revenue of C$2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$2.15 billion. Thomson Reuters had a net margin of 33.14% and a return on equity of 18.53%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Thomson Reuters Co. will post 5.0555407 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Thomson Reuters Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 16th will be issued a $0.68 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 15th. This is a boost from Thomson Reuterss previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Thomson Reuterss dividend payout ratio is currently 41.60%.

Insider Activity at Thomson Reuters

In related news, Senior Officer Michael Keith Eastwood sold 17,960 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$138.90, for a total value of C$2,494,644.00. In related news, Senior Officer Michael Keith Eastwood sold 17,960 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$138.90, for a total value of C$2,494,644.00. Also, Director Linda Walker sold 4,101 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$133.26, for a total transaction of C$546,499.26. 66.58% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Thomson Reuters

(Get Free Report)

Thomson Reuters Corporation engages in the provision of business information services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. It operates in five segments: Legal Professionals, Corporates, Tax & Accounting Professionals, Reuters News, and Global Print. The Legal Professionals segment offers research and workflow products focusing on legal research and integrated legal workflow solutions that combine content, tools, and analytics to law firms and governments.

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Egyptian Minister of Health and Population Khaled Abdel-Ghaffar revealed on Sunday that a majority of the injured Palestinians arriving in Egypt from Gaza for treatment are children, while approximately 43 percent are women.

The minister made his remarks during a video conference discussing the Israeli war on Gaza with EU Ambassador to Egypt Christian Berger, Egypts Ambassador to Belgium Badr Abdel-Aati, and a number of EU officials.

Abdel-Ghaffar began the session by outlining the ministrys plans to provide medical care to wounded Palestinians.

The plan includes initial assessment, ambulance transport to hospitals, precise surgical interventions for critical cases, and psychological support.

The health ministry has stationed over 150 fully equipped ambulances at the Rafah border crossing, the ministrys spokesman said.

Furthermore, 35 ambulances with incubators are on standby to evacuate premature infants.

Infants who have already been evacuated are now being treated at 24 hospitals across Egypt, and all are in stable condition.

Berger expressed gratitude to the Egyptian government for its efforts in supporting to the people of Gaza, praising the health ministry for providing medical services to Gazas wounded.

He also affirmed the EU's readiness to provide humanitarian and medical aid to support Egypt's healthcare system in delivering the best medical services to the wounded.

Abdel-Aati underscored the urgent need to expedite medical aid deliveries to Gaza as well as ensure the availability of essential supplies and equipment to provide care in Egyptian hospitals.

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Shares of Journey Energy Inc. (TSE:JOY  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as C$4.05 and last traded at C$4.04, with a volume of 127375 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$4.10.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

JOY has been the subject of a number of research reports. Echelon Wealth Partners restated a buy rating and issued a C$7.15 price objective on shares of Journey Energy in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Journey Energy from C$7.30 to C$7.00 in a report on Monday, August 14th.

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Journey Energy Stock Down 1.7 %

The businesss 50 day moving average is C$4.97 and its 200-day moving average is C$5.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 22.15, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of C$245.51 million, a PE ratio of 2.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.01 and a beta of 3.59.

Journey Energy (TSE:JOY  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The company reported C$0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of C$0.08 by C$0.03. Journey Energy had a net margin of 55.44% and a return on equity of 45.67%. The company had revenue of C$57.28 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$51.60 million. As a group, analysts predict that Journey Energy Inc. will post 0.4395492 EPS for the current year.

Journey Energy Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Journey Energy Inc engages in the exploration, development, and production of crude oil and natural gas in the province of Alberta, Canada. The company was formerly known as Sword Energy Inc and changed its name to Journey Energy Inc in July 2012. Journey Energy Inc was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (BATS:EFG  Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $92.48 and last traded at $92.12, with a volume of 450599 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $92.46.

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of 18.69 and a beta of 0.89. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.03 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.49.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 11.9% during the first quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,254 shares of the companys stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 34.0% during the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,468 shares of the companys stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 2,657 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 5.9% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,076 shares of the companys stock valued at $392,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF by 81.0% during the first quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 5,319 shares of the companys stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 2,381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Interchange Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF during the first quarter valued at $266,000.

About iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF

iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (the Fund), formerly iShares MSCI EAFE Growth Index Fund, is an exchange-traded fund (ETF). The Fund seeks to provide investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the MSCI EAFE Growth Index (the Index). The Index is a subset of the MSCI EAFE Index and constituents of the Index include securities from Europe, Australasia (Australia and Asia), and the Far East.

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Egypt is set to host the third edition of the Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX) between 4 and 7 December under the patronage of Egypts President and Supreme Commander of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi.

The four-day exhibition will be held at Egypt International Exhibition Centre in Cairo.

EDEX is the only defence and security event that covers Africa and the Middle East and is the largest in Africa.

It is organized by Arabian Word Events (AWE) -- the leading organizer of award-winning international events -- and in cooperation with the Ministry of Defence, Military Production, and the Arab Organization for Industrialization.

According to the EDX official website, the exhibition will showcase through 22 pavilions the latest in land, marine, and air military technology, equipment, and systems through 400 exhibitors from 46 countries.

The pavilions represent several countries from all over the world, including Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, and the United States of America.

The Egyptian pavilion will feature the cutting-edge present and future capabilities of the Ministry of Military Production.

High-level military delegations from more than 100 countries have been invited, and 35,000 visitors are expected to attend the exhibition over four days.

The third edition of EDEX showcases state-of-the-art products covering all aspects of defence and security, including shipbuilding, maintenance and repair, cyber security, missile systems, unmanned and autonomous systems, parachuting and airdrop, satellite communication, search and rescue, surveillance systems, tactical equipment, training and simulation equipment, and much more.

EDEX has also secured high-level industry sponsors, including some of the world's most reputable military equipment manufacturers, namely Amstone, Dassault Aviation, Hanwha, MBDA, ALIT, Lockheed Martin, Naval Group, Northrop Grumman, Boeing, Esri, NAS, and Leonardo DRS.

The event has gained momentum after nearly 400 exhibitors from 42 countries participated in the exhibition in 2021, a notable increase from 376 exhibitors from 41 countries in 2018, when it began.

Furthermore, EDEX 2021 saw the attendance of 78 official VIP delegations from 54 countries and more than 30,000 visitors.

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A 12-year-old boy who reached out to the Tipperary Museum to hand over a pair of horse racing goggles given to him by the legendary Rachael Blackmore has been praised for his selfless gesture.

Daniel Goldbach, a 5th year student at St Marys CBS in Clonmel, is a big horse racing enthusiast and he cherished the goggles Rachael Blackmore presented to him.

The young Clonmel student has been making a name for himself since Covid with a series of You Tube interviews and interviews he has started to do during Covid.

He has a keeninterest incurrent affairs and in his community and his approach to Rachael Blackmore for an interview was met with great generosity.

The Killenaule legend invived Dylan to accompany her on a behind the scenes day out at Thurles racecourse recently. After a most enjoyable day Rachael presented Dylan with the goggles she wore racing that day.

Shortly after , aware that the Tipperary Museum did not have items for display concerning one of Tipperarys great sporting heroes, Dylan wrote a letter to Marie McMahone, Managing Curator at the Tipperary Museum of Hidden History offering the goggles to her.

Any other boy might have kept the goggles, however, Dylan went one step further and wrote a letter offering the goggles to the museum. Dylan has been a huge supporter of Tipperary Museum and has offered advice to me on many occasions. The letter was beautifully written and sincere. I promised Dylan I would arrange to display the goggles at the museum in late Autumn, said Marie McMahon.

Dylan is a son of Bernie and Ruth who settled in Clonmel in the early 2000s.

Bernard is from Lancaster, Pennsylvania and he moved to Ireland following a career as a US military pilot.

Ruth is originally from Dublin and works as an IS project leader in Tipperary County Council.

Bernard works as a lecturer in TUS University(LIT, Clonmel.

Both are keenly interested in technology and encouraged Dylan to start making his You Tube videos during Covid as Dylan was always interest in what people were doing in the community.

The invterview started with the local postman and Dylan was delighted that Rachael Blackmore agreed to be interviewed.

It has been a huge confidence builder for Dylan to contact and interview people he is interested in. It also helps him with his school work, preparing the questions and carrying out the research, said Ruth.

Dylans kindness in offering the goggles was also acknowledged by RTE earlier this month when Dylan, along with Tipperary Museum staff, appeared on the Today Show.

The Tipperary Museum had been contacted by Museum was contacted by RTEs the Today Show to bring artefacts relating to Tipperarys social history and vernacular furniture, to the studio.

Marie McMahon, rewarding Dylan for his kindness, included the goggles in the items for display during the programme.

Marie McMahon and Jayne Sutcliffe from the museum then met with historian and author Claudia Kinmonth who would be presenting the Treasures of Ireland slot on RTE, and selected objects from their vast collection.

Claudia was so impressed with Dylans kind gesture, she wanted to include the storybehind the donation. The museum team travelled to Cork and with the help of their technician David Nolan, they set up the display in the Cork studio, said Marie McMahon.

TODAY SHOW

On the day Dylan was invited to the Today Show to view the workings of the studio and to meet the presenters.

Dylan had a wonderful time and smiled throughout the whole morning. Dylan is an incredible young boy and deserves huge praise for his kindness and interest in our local history. Special thanks to Mr Eoin Morrissey Principal St Marys for giving Dylan the thumbs up to travel to Cork, said Marie McMahon. The show was aired on Monday, November 6.
[November 26, 2023] Jebhealth Partners Airwallex Singapore and Visa to Launch Corporate Health and Employee Benefits Payment Cards Tweet

SINGAPORE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Technology (HealthTech) is a nascent industry and is associated with digital software products to address inefficiencies and reduce cost in the delivery of health services to the community. Jebhealth, a Singapore-based Health Technology (HealthTech) company, is founded on a mission to overcome challenges associated with accessibility, accuracy and affordability through innovation and technology. During COVID times, Jebhealth was involved in high-profile COVID-19 response projects. The company is a MOH-authorised distributor of Standard Q SD Biosensor Antigen Rapid Test kits and an issuer of verifiable notarised HealthCerts, or Digital Covid-19 Certificates, in partnership with GovTech Singapore to enable safe travels. "One thing we observed during COVID times was that medical and healthcare payments, whether transacted locally or overseas, were difficult to facilitate and costly. There is an access hurdle for new medical services that are traditionally not covered by insurance and third-party administrators. Alongside this, there is an inherent productivity problem when it comes to claims assessment and processing," says Jimmy Boey, CEO at Jebhealth. "By collaborating with Visa and Airwallex Singapore, we are excited to announce the launch of two Visa Business cards  the Helix Health Card and J World Card, designed to streamline online, outpatient and overseas healthcare payments, creating a novel digital health wallet and payment product and a new class of Health-FinTech soluion."





With these Visa Business Cards, employees and underserved worker communities no longer need to pay upfront for medical bills, which saves time for organisations on reimbursement and manual reconciliation. Employers and HR professionals can remotely manage Cards via a web portal in real-time for pre-hires and employees, who can provision the Cards natively to their Google Pay and Apple Pay on their own without the need for physical medical chits or additional identity proofs. The Helix Health Card is pre-set for use only in the health and medical merchant code categories, and transactions outside of these categories are automatically blocked. All sales receipts can also be matched against these transactions and verified conveniently. The J World Card is a more flexible enterprise solution in harmonising and administering employee benefits, especially those on self-funded scheme. The company can decide on the approved categories and transaction parameters in advance. This eliminates the typical 60 to 90-day claims disbursement wait time facilitated by traditional third party administrators and can improve corporate productivity by more than 80%. References: https://en.prnasia.com/releases/apac/singapore-johor-vtl-resumes-with-covid-19-test-results-issued-by-jebhealth-350802.shtml

https://www.airwallex.com/sg/blog/best-corporate-card-in-2024-for-singapore-businesses#Case_study:_Powering_Jebhealth%E2%80%99s_corporate_solutions_with_white_label_cards View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/jebhealth-partners-airwallex-singapore-and-visa-to-launch-corporate-health-and-employee-benefits-payment-cards-301991533.html SOURCE Jeb Healthcare Technologies

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[November 26, 2023] INDUSTRY 4.0 FURNITURE ENTERS SINGAPORE HOMES: PICKET & RAIL INTRODUCES THE FUTURE OF FURNITURE Tweet

New Range by Picket & Rail Uses 3D Design Software with Precision Engineering to Produce Purpose-Built, On-Demand, Custom-Sized Furniture

Futuristic Furniture Designs for Homes Now Possible at Reasonable Cost SINGAPORE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of furniture is here. Now in Singapore through Picket & Rail's new range developed using Industry 4.0 technology. Envision the space pod with a floating bed, neatly tucked away spaces that turn odd corners into useful storage, and furniture that fits 'just nice' in every room. Gone are the days of furniture hunting to find that one piece to fit into that space-restricting spot. With time being an increasingly valuable commodity and a generation of homeowners who want it fast, want it exact and want it 'my way', Picket & Rail is pleased to launch Future Furniture and customized carpentry under Picket & Rail's new business unit, Picket & Rail Custom. Picket & Rail Custom will use this new technology to design and outfit homes with personalised storage, tables and cabinets. With the help of precision design and build technology and engineering, storage areas can be neatly tucked away and daily use areas be maximised to create more comfortable living spaces. Engineered to Be Error-Free: Saves Material, Saves Cost, Saves Time Gone are the days of manual carpentry where anything can go wrong from miscommunication to woodcutter and installation errors, Picket & Rail's customized carpentry and Future Furniture is designed to be error-free from the onset. Best of all, due to precision cut furniture with reduced errors and material wastage, it is also extremely cost-effective. Upon ascertaining the homeowner's needs, Picket & Rail's Custom team will measure the home and input data into the Industry 4.0 design software. After a few rounds of design edits with the homeowner, a final furniture plan is derived for the homeowner's sign off. This design is then electronically transmitted to the factory where, using precision engineering, the furniture design is broken down by computers into individual pats for production and laser cutting. After which, the parts are automatically regrouped, packed and packaged for shipment, along with their associated components (handles, nuts, bolts, screws). When the packages arrive in Singapore, they are then delivered to homes and installed by Picket & Rail's trained installation team.



Furniture Designed for The Future, with Updated Technology Using this same technology, Picket & Rail has also designed a Future Furniture range which may be added to complement the custom carpentry, or be standalone pieces.

Picket & Rail's Future Furniture range currently includes: the futuristic Floating Platform Bed ( S$299 onwards)

onwards) the Convertible Cabinet that assimilates various furniture pieces through a growing child's life stages ( S$799 onwards)

onwards) the Tatami Storage Bed which doubles up as a wardrobe on the floor ( S$499 onwards)

wardrobe on the floor ( onwards) the Montessori Bed, the world's safest 'no-fall' bed ( S$399 onwards)

onwards) the Pedestal Dining Table, a 'legless', full legroom dining table ( S$599 onwards)

onwards) the Floating Coffee Table ( S$599 onwards) All Future Furniture products are 100% customizable to desired sizes, colours and finishes. "As more customers opt for on-demand furnishing options, we anticipate a dramatic increase in demand for our customized carpentry and Future Furniture range, and a corresponding decline in loose furniture pieces," says Mr Jack Li, Picket & Rail's Chief Financial Officer. "By end of 2023, Picket & Rail intends to discontinue our loose furniture range. All will now be custom - custom dining tables, custom beds, custom cabinets, custom sofas." With the focus on creating futuristic, functional furniture that fits 'just nice' into Singapore homes, Picket & Rail will also provide a higher level of personal service and consultancy to homeowners wishing to design their dream homes, using the latest technology in furniture design and construction. Heavily Internet-Driven: Time and Cost Savings for Homeowners This new direction is heavily internet-driven, with 'everything online' where customers can choose sizes and colours and get prices for their custom furniture. Furnishing a home is a large financial decision and it can get overwhelming. By making customisation available online, customers can make play around with sizes and materials to establish their budget first, before heading down to the Picket & Rail Custom showroom to touch and feel their material selections. "With this new way of furniture buying, Picket & Rail has restructured our business in order to optimise this change in purchasing pattern with new available technology. With the reduced manpower and storage costs, Picket & Rail is now proud to launch Industry 4.0 for furniture and pass these savings on to Singaporean homeowners," adds Mr Li. "The new Picket & Rail Custom showroom is housed within an old furniture factory in the Chai Chee area. To preserve part of the factory's heritage, Picket & Rail has preserved some parts of the factory. We hope that customers will enjoy getting a glimpse into Singapore's furniture manufacturing past. Customers will get to see the platforms for leather colouring, and chair drying rails in our new premises." The new showroom opened on 15 November 2023. Picket & Rail is Singapore's most complete furniture brand, with products for every room from the kitchen to the living, dining and the bedrooms. Besides its own furniture designs, manufactured under the Picket & Rail brand, Picket & Rail also manufactures a mattress range under the Inkagu brand, and is the exclusive distributor for other number one Asian brands. View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/industry-4-0-furniture-enters-singapore-homes-picket--rail-introduces-the-future-of-furniture-301996369.html SOURCE Picket & Rail

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[November 26, 2023] Work Together to Create Value for Customers Tweet

Shandong Heavy Industry Group Global Partner Conference and New Product Exhibition Held in Dubai DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 25, local time, Shandong Heavy Industry Group's global Partner Conference and New Product Exhibition was held in the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, UAE. 570 dealers and major customers from more than 70 countries in the Middle East, Europe, Africa, South Asia and other regions participated. Dubai has unique geographical advantages. It is the first choice for Shandong Heavy Industry Group to gather strength and deepen the development for Middle East and Africa market, and is also the second stop for Shandong Heavy Industry Global Partner Conference. The Conference aims to work with partners to explore new paths for international cooperation, create a new platform for regional win-win cooperation, and open up new space for future development. Shandong Heavy Industry Group, headquartered in Jinan, China, is a global industrial equipment group with annual revenue of 72 billion US dollars. It owns Weichai Power, Sinotruk, Shacman, Lovol Intelligent Agriculture, Shantui Construction Machinery, Zhongtog Bus, Ferretti, KION, Linde Hydraulics, Dematic, PSI, Baudouin and other well-known brands, and has 14 stocks from 12 listed companies. The main business covers powertrain systems, commercial vehicles, agricultural equipment, construction machinery, intelligent logistics and marine mobility. It has set up science and technology innovation centers in more than 10 countries in the world to provide products and service solutions for more than 150 countries and regions. Heavy-duty engines, heavy-duty transmissions, heavy-duty trucks, industrial forklifts, luxury yachts and other products lead the world in technology and sales.



In recent years, Shandong Heavy Industry Group has continued to increase its investment in the Middle East market, and invested in Dubai to establish its Middle East Operation Center integrating product display, warehousing and logistics, after-sale service, gen-set testing, and training support. At present, Shandong Heavy Industry is planning to build regional operation centers in Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, South America and other places, link up with the world's leading dealer partners, and strive to build a unified service platform for the whole Group, and synchronize the layout of local manufacturing and financial support to build a complete global market service support system. During the event, the New Product Exhibition of Shandong Heavy Industry Group was held at the same time, and more than 10 ownership enterprises of Shandong Heavy Industry Group brought their popular products and the latest technologies. The event focused on promoting the popular products in the field of high-end heavy-duty trucks, buses, gen-sets, new energy power and other fields within the Group, as well as the collaborative research and development technology with unique international competitive advantages. The companies can customize a full range of integrated product portfolio solutions for global customers in multiple scenarios and individual needs to create maximum value for customers.

There is an Arabic proverb, "Words are the leaf, and actions are the fruit." Shandong Heavy Industry Group will join hands with global partners and move forward side by side, take root in local operations, develop markets, expand brand effect, and jointly create a new model of international win-win. More beautiful fruits would be born around the world through practical cooperation, and we will join hands to sail to a better future! Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285373/Shandong_1.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285374/Shandong_2.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/work-together-to-create-value-for-customers-301997569.html

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[November 26, 2023] BLUETTI Introduces Reliable Power Solutions to Ukraine Tweet

STUHR, Germany, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- BLUETTI, a leading power solution brand, has made a strategic market entry into Ukraine by offering several convenient power stations on its new Ukrainian website to power households through possible blackouts. BLUETTI Portable Generators for Emergency

For emergency power needs, BLUETTI offers the EB series grab-and-go generators, with the EB3A weighing only 4,6kg. The EB55 and EB70 are also handy and powerful for various power needs. Sporting multiple outlets, they can power phones, radios, drones, and small appliances like car fridges all at once. Additionally, they support efficient solar charging for a constant power supply when the grid is unavailable. BLUETTI Home Backup Power Stations

BLUETTI's AC200 series, such as the AC200P and AC200MAX, serve as powerful home backup power generators. They come with around 2kWh capacity and multiple outlets, powering most home appliances and even air conditioners. The flagship model AC200MAX even has an RV-specific 30A NEMA TT-30 outlet for outdoor excursions.



For prolonged power outages, BLUETTI's AC300 and AC500 modular power stations serve as perfect uninterrupted power sources. The AC300 allows users to choose 1-4 B300 battery packs for flexible capacity ranging from 3.072Wh to 12.288Wh, capable of powering an entire house for several days. The AC500 goes a step further with 5.000W power and a maximum storage of 18.432Wh with 6 B300S batteries. It also includes a self-heating function to withstand sub-zero temperatures down to -20C. In the realm of home-specific solutions, BLUETTI offers the EP series, which includes the all-in-one EP500, an off-grid power station with wheels for mobility, and the EP600, a grid-connected energy storage system. The EP600 can seamlessly connect with either new or existing solar panels to help users achieve power self-sufficiency and earn feed-in credits. This easy-to-install system provides 6.000 watts and a substantial 19,8kWh capacity, ensuring reliable home backup power.

BLUETTI's entry into the Ukrainian market promises to address the nation's energy challenges effectively. Their innovative power product range will power Ukrainians through harsh winters and beyond. About BLUETTI

BLUETTI has been committed to promoting sustainability and green energy solutions since its inception. By offering eco-friendly energy storage solutions for both indoor and outdoor use, BLUETTI aims to provide exceptional experiences for our homes while also contributing to a sustainable future for our planet. This commitment to sustainable energy has helped BLUETTI expand its reach to over 100 countries and gain the trust of millions of customers worldwide. For more information, pls visit the BLUETTI Ukraine website and follow our social media. BLUETTI Ukraine Website: https://ua.bluettipower.eu/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluettiua

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluetti_ukr/ Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285048/1.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/bluetti-introduces-reliable-power-solutions-to-ukraine-301997571.html

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[November 26, 2023] David Licauco to show up on Gaabor's 12.12 TikTok livestream Tweet

MANILA, Philippines, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Gaabor Philippines ambassador David Licauco is set to take the stage and host the brand's grandest livestream on TikTok this 12.12. Aside from exclusive discounts and promos, viewers can look forward to "Pambansang Ginoo" David himself sharing his Gaabor top picks to give them thoughtful Christmas gift ideas for their loved one or themselves. David's Top 6 Favorites For David, juggling a busy showbiz career, managing businesses, and spending time with his loved ones can be challenging, so a little help with the household chores means a lot for him. This is why he was pleased to be chosen as the ambassador of a brand like Gaabor that is dedicated to embodying the "Prime Life" concept by developing innovative household prodcts designed to turn time-consuming chores into lighter tasks.



"My life is actually super fast-paced, I would say, because I'm a businessman and at the same time, I'm an actor, and I also have to spend time with my family. So it's really tedious. But of course, I need a good brand for my cooking at home since I live alone. Gaabor products are really efficient and good," David said. That explains why all his favorite Gaabor's products are kitchen appliances like the 3L Rice Cooker, 2L Electric Pot, sandwich maker, and air fryers with different capacities depending on his needs.

David shared that he enjoys preparing his post-workout meal, chicken inasal with java rice, using Gaabor's airfryer. Sleek Design Aside from its products' functionality, David said he likes Gaabor's aesthetics, which are sleek and easy on the eyes. "I was so surprised because it's my first time to see home appliances, kitchen appliances with very sleek designs and unique features. They are also user-friendly so you can prepare quick meals, especially if you're on the go," David shared. "The products are really sleek, as you can see, and it's nice to represent a brand like this. Their products can actually make good home decorations as well, right?" he added. In October this year, David was chosen as Gaabor Philippine's first ambassador and the actor said he is happy and grateful for this opportunity. "When I heard that I am their first-ever ambassador, I became even more delighted, more excited. Because I know that the thought process needs to be considered, that choosing a brand ambassador really takes time, so I'm really, really grateful," the actor recounted. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/david-licauco-to-show-up-on-gaabors-12-12-tiktok-livestream-301996363.html SOURCE Gaabor

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[November 26, 2023] XTransfer and TransferMate Jointly Announces Strategic Partnership Empowering Importers/Exporters with New Market Opportunities Tweet

Partnership between B2B Foreign Trade Financial Technology Platform, XTransfer, and TransferMate, the world's foremost non-bank licensing payments infrastructure will expand available market for approximately 400,000 merchants HONG KONG, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XTransfer, China's No.1 B2B foreign trade financial technology platform, and TransferMate, the world's leading B2B global payments infrastructure-as-a-service provider, jointly announced a strategic partnership agreement at the Singapore Fintech Festival. XTransfer is dedicated to providing SMEs with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost foreign trade payments & fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness. TransferMate, a subsidiary of CluneTech, has built the world's most comprehensive and advanced payments network, allowing businesses and individuals to make cross-border payments as easily as if making a domestic funds transfer, supporting trade in more than 200+ countries and across 140+ currencies. Foreign trade SMEs constantly encounter various challenges when it comes to cross-border payments and fund collections. These hurdles include difficulties in opening accounts with traditional banks, high risk of funds freezing, high exchange losses, long remittance time and high remittance costs. XTransfer's "local account" service, on the other hand, offers compliant, highly efficient, convenient and cost-effective solutions for global trade payments and fund collections, specifically tailored to meet the needs of foreign trade SMEs. By using the "local account", XTransfer's clients can collect funds from the same countries in the local currency of their buyers, before transferring funds back into their own local currency, enabling them to lower their exchange losses and speed up the trade transaction. By integrating Transfermate's global payments infrastructure into its platform, XTransfer enriches its clients with another choice of payments & fund collections to local accounts. This capability will initially cover the U.S.A., Mexico, Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand on behalf of up to 400,000 merchants, with room for expansion. The agreement will benefit importers/exporters for machinery, apparel, electronics, household durables and other goods. This ability to collect locally and transfer funds home efficiently is another benefit of TransfeMate's globally regulated infrastructure. The partnership enables TransferMate to scale its business and reach a larger client base, particularly in China where XTransfer has the largest number of clients in the field.



While the partnership gives XTransfer clients additional capabilities and benefits, the user experience will remain the same. All activity will happen within the existing XTransfer web portal, meaning no disruption to users or need for retraining. Violas Xiao, local CEO of Singapore, XTransfer, said: "The strategic partnership with TransferMate represents a pivotal milestone for us, signifying our commitment to empowering SMEs with the tools they need to expand globally. The partnership also represents a significant step for XTransfer towards globalisation. Together with TransferMate, we are poised to make a lasting impact, revolutionising the way businesses navigate foreign trade. This partnership means growth, innovation, and a strengthened position in the global marketplace for XTransfer and our valued clients."

Vijay Rao, Head of APAC, TransferMate, said: "Partnering with the largest B2B payment company in China is a significant moment for TransferMate, and we also believe will be of great benefit to XTransfer and their merchant users. This integration will help them grow their businesses, make trading internationally easier, and create efficiencies in their financial processes. Partnerships should always be about creating win-win situations and, in this situation, everybody wins." Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Minister of State (Financial Services, Credit Unions, and Insurance) of Ireland (3rd) and Terry Clune, Founder and Chairman of TransferMate (2nd), witnessed the signing of the strategic agreement between XTransfer, represented by Violas Xiao, the local CEO of Singapore, and Vijay Rao, Head of APAC of TransferMate. About XTransfer XTransfer, No.1 B2B Foreign Trade Financial Technology Platform, is dedicated to providing SMEs with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost foreign trade payment & fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Shanghai and has branches in China's major foreign trade cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Singapore. XTransfer has obtained local payment licenses in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. With more than 400,000 enterprise clients, XTransfer has become the industry No.1 in China. By cooperating with well-known multinational banks and financial institutions, XTransfer has built a unified global multi-currency clearing network and built a data-based, automated, Internet-based and intelligent anti-money laundering risk control infrastructure centred on small and medium enterprises. XTransfer uses technology as a bridge to link large financial institutions and small and medium enterprises around the world, allowing small and medium enterprises to enjoy the same level of cross-border financial services as large multinational corporations. XTransfer completed its Series D financing in September 2021, and the company's current valuation exceeds USD$1.3 billion, making it a unicorn. The lead investor is China Merchants Venture, and other global leading strategic investors include eWTP Capital, Yunqi Capital, Gaorong Capital, 01VC, Telstra Ventures, MindWorks, Lavender Hill Capital Partners, and D1 Capital Partners LP. For more information: https://www.xtransfer.cn/ About TransferMate TransferMate  a subsidiary of CluneTech  is the world's leading provider of B2B payments infrastructure-as-a-service, enabling companies to send and receive cross-border payments faster, easier and at lower cost. TransferMate, under the leadership of founder Terry Clune and CEO Sinead Fitzmaurice, has built one of the largest portfolios of payments licenses worldwide, including 51 US states and territories, to support trading in more than 201 countries and 141 currencies. Leading banks, fintechs and software providers partner with TransferMate to offer an enhanced user experience for their business customers. The company has created bespoke integrations for banks like ING and AIB, who are also investors in the company. The TransferMate API solution allows partners to digitalize the payments flow within their software, enabling all businesses to achieve significant time and financial savings. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/xtransfer-and-transfermate-jointly-announces-strategic-partnership-empowering-importersexporters-with-new-market-opportunities-301997633.html SOURCE XTransfer

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[November 27, 2023] Technologies to Decarbonise the Agri-Food Sector in Asia Identified in 2023 Asia Food Challenge Report Tweet

SINGAPORE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PwC, Rabobank, Temasek and Terrascope have launched the third edition of the biennial Asia Food Challenge Report , focused on the opportunity to decarbonise the agri-food value chain in Asia. Agri-food accounts for over a third of global carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, second only to energy. Agri-food is an even more significant source of emissions in some regions of Asia; it is up to 50% of all emissions in South and South East Asia. In total, Asia is responsible for 42% of all global emissions from agri-food, in a region with only 35% of the world's arable land. The good news  there are readily available technologies and practices to address this. We quantified the impact of more than 20 of the most suitable technologies, which have the potential to reduce CO 2 e emissions from agri-food in Asia by 12% (840 Mt CO 2 e) by 2030. This is the equivalent of all CO 2 e emissions from global aviatin in 2022.



Significant investment is required to implement these technologies  up to US$125bn for on-farm technologies on rice and cattle farms, in addition to infrastructure investments. However, agri-food can still represent a better carbon return on investment than sectors such as energy and aviation due to the relatively low capital expenditure and high technology readiness level of solutions. These technologies offer opportunities for investors to support decarbonisation of agri-food. Technologies such as micro-irrigation to support changing rice cultivation practices, the variable rate application of farming chemicals, storage infrastructure with continuous cold chain, and the emergence of digital platforms, which are enabling farmers to access new markets and better inputs, can help reduce emissions.

Importantly, these technologies can improve profitability across the supply chain - for example, these actions could improve the gross margin of a rice farm by up to 16 ppt, e.g. by using inputs (such as fertiliser) more efficiently, extracting value from side streams, or boosting yield. Find the full report here: https://www.theasiafoodchallenge.com/ . At PwC, our purpose is to build trust in society and solve important problems. We're a network of firms in 151 countries with over 360,000 people who are committed to delivering quality in assurance, advisory and tax services. Find out more and tell us what matters to you by visiting us at www.pwc.com . View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/technologies-to-decarbonise-the-agri-food-sector-in-asia-identified-in-2023-asia-food-challenge-report-301997220.html

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Trilliant to Highlight Digital Transformation Strategies and Interoperability at Enlit Europe 2023 in Paris

Enlit Europe 2023 - Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities and IIoT, will participate in Enlit Europe as a Silver Partner. The conference will take place at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France from November 28-30, 2023.

Enlit Europe addresses every aspect of the energy agenda and welcomes 15,000 energy professionals, 700 exhibitors and 500 speakers. The conference provides a space for energy leaders, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to learn about new technologies and new insights related to the energy transition.

"Enlit Europe is a critical opportunity for energy leaders to meet and learn from each other," said Tom Tipple, Managing Director of EMEA for Trilliant. "We're excited to participate at this year's event, and we look forward to discussing digital strategies for our industry. In particular, Trilliant continues to focus on how we can provide true interoperability as the energy transition continues."

During the event, Trilliant executives will participate in engaging sessions:

As part of the Summit programme, on November 28 at 2 p.m. Sozon Kokkinaras, Director of Customer Operations, APAC at Trilliant, will participate alongside other industry experts, engaging in a moderated panel discussion titled "Digital Strategies." The session will be followed by the opportunity for a Q&A, and will take place on the Inspire Stage (Hall 7.3).

Additionally, Trilliant's Gavin Farrand, VP of Sales, UK and Europe, will present a session focused on interoperability titled "Empowering Interoperability through an Independent Data Layer" for the Digitalisation Hub. This session will be held on November 28 at 2:15 p.m. in Theatre 2 (Hall 7.3).

See Trilliant's Power of Choice Value Proposition in Action

Attndees can visit Trilliant at Stand 7.2.A140, where they can Discover the Power of Choice via demonstrations of the company's Next-Generation Network Technologies, AMI, Demand Response, Data & Analytics, and a new AMI for Smart Water solution.







Trilliant works with utilities across the globe to digitalize their water networks with its Smart Water solution. Its ease and speed of installation, performance and scalability make it not only powerful, but also unique. It's designed to work with virtually any system to provide a secure, powerful source of data.

The Smart Water solution is also key part of Trilliant's smart building initiative. Trilliant is revolutionizing connectivity in buildings, while empowering building owners to better manage infrastructure without intrusive wired installations. Trilliant has successfully implemented water solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Japan.

From residential to commercial developments, Trilliant's solutions range from electrical and thermal applications to water, reducing or eliminating the overhead costs, risks, and maintenance that come with wired installations.

Trilliant also continues to work closely with utility companies around the world, supporting them to meet their energy transition goals. The company most recently announced an extension of its partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the largest utility in Malaysia, to accelerate TNB's path to net zero. It also launched a new partnership with IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited, a leading Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) and digital solutions provider in India, supporting Head-end System (HES) cellular implementations.

To learn more about Trilliant's solutions, or to book a one-on-one demo and meeting with Trilliant at Enlit Europe, contact [email protected].

For more information about Enlit Europe, visit: https://www.enlit-europe.com/

About Trilliant

Trilliant empowers the global energy industry with the only device-agnostic communications platform that enables utilities and cities to deploy any application securely and reliably on one powerful network. Our purpose-built portfolio is designed to offer the power of choice, without risk of customers being "locked in" with one technology provider or meter manufacturer. We are proud to offer mission-critical solutions that support AMI, Data & Analytics, Smart Metering, Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Customers worldwide benefit from Trilliant's unique combination of flexibility, sustainability and scalability that connects utilities and cities to the IIoT and a more strategic path to the Energy Transition. Visit us at www.trilliant.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126337008/en/
[November 27, 2023] Diapason accelerates its growth and international expansion by joining forces with PSG Equity Tweet

Diapason, a leading French provider of treasury and risk management software ("TRMS") for large and mid-sized companies, continues its growth strategy by joining forces with PSG Equity ("PSG"), a leading growth equity firm partnering with software and technology-enabled services companies to help accelerate their growth. This transaction, which makes PSG Diapason's new reference shareholder (replacing Seven2, a shareholder since 2020), will enable the management team to consolidate the company's leading position in France, both in the large and mid-market segments. This partnership also reaffirms Diapason's European ambitions and will accelerate the company's international expansion. In addition, this transaction will further strengthen Diapason's ability to uphold best-in-class standards in terms of customer support and to continue investing in product enhancements. Diapason, a leading French treasury management company Launched in 2009, Diapason rapidly established itself as a reference software solution for managing treasury, payment and risk processes for major and mid-market companies, with a presence in France and abroad. Boasting a team of around 70 corporate treasury specialists and experts in software engineering and technology, Diapason today deploys its solutions in more than 100 companies, including 35% of CAC 40 companies, benefiting more than 10,000 users in over 50 countries. With growing reporting requirements, regulatory constraints and customer demands, companies are increasingly turning to TRMS solutions to optimize their financial processes. To address the digitalization needs of finance departments, Diapason offers a comprehensive solution to simplify and optimize cash management, automate and secure payments, and manage the risks associated with financial portfolios. Diapason's offering is also distinguished by its extensive customization capabilities, enabling the company to meet both standard and highly specific customer requirements. In particular, the company offers a range of scalable solutions, both for large corporations through myDiapason Enterprise and for small and medium-sized companies through myDiapason Treasury. PSG, a strategic partner to become a pan-European leader in cash management software With the strategic and financial support of PSG, Diapason's management team aims to reinforce its leading position in France, and expand into new international markets, becoming a champion in cash management software across key Euopean countries. The company's ambition is to carry out targeted external growth operations, broaden its geographical footprint and enrich its product offering. Diapason will benefit from PSG's sector expertise, having supported the successful growth of Nomentia, one of Europe's leading cash management software companies.



Pascal Kravitzch, Chairman and co-founder of Diapason, commented: "After a very successful first phase with Seven2, I'm delighted to be starting this new chapter with PSG. PSG has an established track record in growing software companies, especially in the cash management space. This new phase should enable us to become a full-blown European player while broadening our market position. This change of scale will benefit Diapason's customer and shareholder communities." Romain Railhac, Managing Director at PSG, commented: "We are excited about this new partnership with Diapason. We were impressed by the relevance of their solutions, led by a strong and qualified management team. With PSG, Diapason will be able to expand and capitalize on the growing opportunities in the digitalization of financial processes within companies. Our in-depth knowledge of the sector will enable the company to accelerate its growth strategy and position itself as a European champion in cash management."

Isabelle Hermetet, Partner at Seven2, commented: "I'm proud of Diapason's progress throughout the three years we've been supporting them. Our collaboration with the management team has enabled Diapason to establish itself as a reference cash management platform in France. Given the quality of its talent and its leading solutions, Diapason has succeeded in pursuing its ambitious growth strategy, which we jointly outlined when we became shareholders. Having such an experienced partner as PSG is a great opportunity for Diapason's continued growth." PSG's team works hand-in-hand with founders and management teams to support them in their day-to-day strategic decisions, drawing from their strength in M&A and international expansion, especially in Europe and the U.S., while pursuing a sustained investment plan. Diapason is PSG's 10th platform investment in France and its 23rd in Europe. This investment in Diapason is in line with PSG's second European fund, PSG Europe II, which invests exclusively in European software companies. Announced on November 7, 2023, the PSG Europe II fund closed with over 2.6 billion euros of commitments. About Diapason Founded in 1990, Diapason, has been involved in the world of software publishing in the service of financial processes for 30 years. The company focused its activities in the world of corporate treasury from 2009, giving birth to the Diapason solution. Diapason offers a software solution that meets the digitalization needs of financial departments, allowing them to optimize their liquidity management, automate and secure their payments and manage the risks associated with their portfolios of financial instruments. Diapason is the translation of an approach of innovation and values carried by its employees: intellectual rigor and reliability, curiosity and a sense of service to our customers. Deployed in more than 60 groups of all sizes, the solution is used by more than 10,000 finance professionals in 50 countries. Learn more about Diapason: www.mydiapason.com About PSG PSG is a growth equity firm that partners with software and technology-enabled services companies to help them navigate transformational growth, capitalize on strategic opportunities and build strong teams. Having backed more than 130 companies and facilitated over 470 add-on acquisitions, PSG brings extensive investment experience, deep expertise in software and technology, and a firm commitment to collaborating with management teams. Founded in 2014, PSG operates out of offices in Boston, Kansas City, London, Madrid, Paris and Tel Aviv. To learn more about PSG, visit www.psgequity.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126908872/en/

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[November 27, 2023] Cosmoprof Asia 2023 Sets High Attendance Records upon its Hong Kong Return Tweet

Back in Hong Kong after four years, Asia's leading beauty and cosmetics show announces remarkable numbers, counting over 2,400 exhibitors and 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions HONG KONG, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia proved a dynamic success yet again in the 26th edition, exceeding expectations and maintaining the exhibition's distinctive position as the ultimate meeting point for beauty professionals, industry insiders and innovative brands in Asia-Pacific. More than 2,400 exhibitors from 44 countries and regions, 90% coming from outside Hong Kong, filled the 118,900sqm of show floor space this year. The show attracted 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions. This marked a remarkable 64% increase compared to the previous edition held in Hong Kong in 2019, and brought the visitor numbers close to the levels achieved in 2018, demonstrating the enduring appeal and global reach of the show. Significant increase were recorded from key Asian markets, including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, attendance from Europe remained steady, demonstrating the event's consistent appeal to international audiences. The exhibition was appreciated by all stakeholders, who could find new launches and avant-garde solutions across the two main venues hosting the leading global suppliers and brands. Cosmopack Asia gathered global players from the supply chain, with the most renowned companies specialized in ingredients, machinery & equipment, packaging, contract manufacturing and private label. Cosmoprof Asia showcased the most innovative branded finished products for retail and professional distribution channels. Enriching the international appeal of the exhibition, this edition's 17 region and group pavilions included Australia, Mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkiye and the USA. "We are honored to announce record-breaking numbers at Cosmoprof Asia 2023 in Hong Kong," says Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd. "This exhibition confirms its role as the perfect stage for brand companies, suppliers, retailers, importers, and distributors interested in new business opportunities in Asia. Together with our partners of Informa Markets we will work to create further business opportunities for companies and players of the Cosmoprof community in the region". "We are delighted with the impressive turnout at Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia this year, and thrilled to see so many old friends and new attendees make the 26th edition their priority. The two events were home to showstopping products, innovative services and cutting-edge technologies, while attendees also enjoyed expert sessions outlining the region's future-forward trends, tips and trajectories. Hong Kong proved, once again, to be able to host a truly worldwide Cosmoprof edition and remaining the region's most effective meeting place. We look forward to showcasing the best-of-the-best of the industry here next year. " said David Bondi, Senior Vice President  Asia of Informa Markets and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd. GREAT SATISFACTION FROM INTERNATIONAL BUYERS

Thanks to the esteemed buyers program, Cosmoprof Asia 2023 welcomed over 400 senior executives from 45 countries and regions including Australia, Mainland China & Hong Kong, Europe, India, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, UK and USA, out of which 200 were selected as Elite buyers representing C-level executives. Highly effective meetings were arranged throughout the four-day show, connecting suppliers and companies with shared interests through the AI-driven Math&Meet platform.



Positive feedbacks have been received from our esteemed buyers, who have expressed their satisfaction with their immersive experience at the event. "I am deeply appreciative of the organiser for extending the invitation to participate in this year's buyer program. The exhibition showcased a diverse range of brands, and I was particularly impressed by the presence of niche perfumes and personal care brands. It was a refreshing experience, unlike anything I have encountered at other shows, and it truly excited me," said Ms Chen Lihong, Procurement Director of Beijing Kailan Brand Management Co Ltd from China. "Cosmoprof Asia this year provided us with an exceptional opportunity to connect with these brands and pave the way for future collaborations."

"Our trip was truly exceptional. The highlight of our experience was undoubtedly the invaluable relationships we formed with international suppliers and beauty brands. These relationships will serve as a catalyst for the exciting launch of our own brands in Sub-Saharan Africa, propelling us towards success in the beauty industry," said Mr Galib Virani, CEO and President of Supercosmetics Kenya. "We are deeply grateful for the opportunities and insights gained at Cosmoprof Asia, and we look forward to the exciting journey ahead. Hitesh Sarda, Director of Bio-Sols India Pvt. Ltd. from India shared, "the show offers a one-stop solution for beauty, where you can find everything under one roof. It's a highly international and worldwide show, with exhibitors from all corners of the globe. I was particularly impressed by the focus on eco-friendly and sustainable packaging, such as products made from sugarcane." SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia provided ample opportunities to discover the latest trends, thanks to engaging initiatives and empowering educational sessions. Cosmopack Asia Awards and Cosmoprof Asia Awards, organised in partnership with international trend agency BEAUTYSTREAMS, celebrated the most outstanding beauty products and industrial solutions presented by exhibiting companies in each exhibition venue. More than 220 exhibitors and professionals attended the awards ceremony on 15 November. To discover all winners, visit the dedicated website https://www.cosmoprofawards-asia.com/en To have a comprehensive overview of the principal trends of Cosmoprof Asia 2023, trend scouters, press, influencers, operators and buyers can refer to CosmoTrends. The report presents the products influencing consumers' habits in the next months, curated by BEAUTYSTREAMS, and provides a strategic roadmap tracing the evolution of the Asia-Pacific market. Download the 2023 CosmoTrend report here: https://www.cosmoprof-asia.com/cosmotrends/ The latest product trends, market updates and regulations were the main points of CosmoTalks, the exclusive round tables of the Cosmoprof network. Global leaders from the cosmetics industry shared their comments and visions on macro-movements and trends forecasts, while CosmoForum presentations provided in-depth market analyses and case studies of specific consumers' behaviour. Over 1,800 attendees attended 23 sessions organised in collaboration with AsiaCosme Lab, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), BeautyMatter, BEAUTYSTREAMS, centdegres, CosmeticDesign-Asia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of Singapore (CTFAS), Ecovia Intelligence, Euromonitor International, Hong Kong Society of Cosmetic Chemists (HKSCC), The International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA), InvestHK, Kline, NielsenIQ Bases, Opal, QTCCC, Reach24H, re/sources, and SGS. Dynamic platform Cosmo Onstage presented live shows and demo sessions by industry influencers throughout the event, featuring cutting-edge products and state-of-art equipment, nail art, makeup, hair styling and spa & wellness treatments. AHMA Hair Council, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), Cosmopolitan Middle East, Hong Kong Professional Nailist Union, Makari, Shanghai May Skin Information Technology and SYL joined the initiative. Reflecting one of the show's main themes, sustainability, the COSMOLAB experiential installation at Cosmopack Asia drew crowds with its "bubble-cabin" booth outlining how clean and green beauty trends actually impact consumer behaviour, while Cosmoprof Asia's charitable sample store Boutique raised over HKD24,000 for the show's chosen charity Green Power, the local charity dedicated to protecting the environment. COSMOPROF ASIA WILL BE BACK IN 2024

Save the dates of Cosmoprof Asia 2024 as below:

Cosmopack Asia: 12-14 November 2024 (AsiaWorld-Expo)

Cosmoprof Asia: 13-15 November 2024 (Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre) For any further information please visit www.cosmoprof-asia.com NOTES TO EDITORS:

Download the high-resolution images at this link:

https://bit.ly/46zjMrf FOLLOW US:

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | WeChat | Weibo ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:

Cosmoprof Asia is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint-venture company between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets Asia Ltd. ABOUT BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it)

BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. The Cosmoprof platform extends worldwide, with events in Bologna, Hong Kong, Las Vegas and Mumbai (with Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia). The fifth destination of the network, Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, in Thailand, focuses on the cosmetic industry in South-East Asia. The Cosmoprof platform is reinforcing its influence in the US, with the launch of Cosmoprof North America  Miami in January 2024, and in the Gulf region, with a new event scheduled on November 2024 in Riyadh. ABOUT INFORMA MARKETS (www.informamarkets.com)

Informa Markets Beauty has an extensive network powered by B2B events across 11 cities in Asia (Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo), the world's fastest growing markets. By further expanding its strength, the Beauty Portfolio now includes a new B2B event in Miami 2024 will serve the Americas, North, South America and Caribbean Islands Region. Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Pharmaceuticals, Food, Medical Technology and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cosmoprof-asia-2023-sets-high-attendance-records-upon-its-hong-kong-return-301997716.html SOURCE Cosmoprof Asia

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[November 27, 2023] Spryker Announces Product Updates to Increase Efficiency for Enterprises Tweet

New additions to the Spryker App Composition Platform and new middleware slashes development time, enables more personalized customer experiences, and shortens time-to-value BERLIN and NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Spryker , the leading composable commerce platform for sophisticated use cases in B2B Commerce, Enterprise Marketplaces, and IoT Commerce, has today announced a number of product updates that are focused on increasing business efficiency, saving development time, and enabling a more tailored user experience for global customers in a rapidly changing landscape. These updates include the new Spryker Middleware powered by Alumio , new additions to the Spryker App Composition Platform , new fulfillment and Click & Collect / Buy Online Pick Up In-Store capabilities for Unified Commerce , the new Oryx Framework for frontend composability, and more. Spryker has also recently launched CommerceQuest , an interactive community space to promote collaboration, idea sharing, problem-solving, and networking. These updates are the latest in Sprykers commitment to enabling business efficiency and sophisticated digital innovation for global enterprise customers. The new Spryker Middleware powered by Alumio solves today's challenges of data integrations in a flexible and composable way. Additionally, with Akeneo , the Product Experience Company, Spryker launched an out-of-the-box PIM integration app for more seamless management of product information across channels. Spryker Middleware powered by Alumio enables enterprises to: Reduce time-to-market with easy integration that can reduce the data exchange implementation and maintenance efforts by 90%.

Lower total cost of ownership by centralizing the management of data flows.

Lower return rate with comprehensive and accurate product information.

Increase customer satisfaction by keeping consistent and up-to-date information across all touchpoints.

Increase conversion rate by reacting to customer demands and competitive challenges more quickly. We are thrilled to announce the new Spryker Middleware powered by Alumio. By streamlining integration processes and offering a low-code solution, our new middleware gives enterprises the competitive edge they need to thrive in a fast moving market, said Elena Leonova , SVP Product at Spryker. Faster and easier than ever to integrate, Spryker customers can reduce the data exchange implementation and maintenance efforts by 90%. Such a reduction can lead to a massive amount of efficiency gained, freeing up development time for other business priorities.



Spryker is consistently expanding the Spryker App Composition Platform and has announced the inclusion of two new apps. Vertex : staying up-to-date with ever-changing tax regulations and rates can require a lot of resources. Spryker, through the Vertex integration, offers a means for businesses to automate the update of tax rates and rules and tax calculation on their transactions.

: staying up-to-date with ever-changing tax regulations and rates can require a lot of resources. Spryker, through the Vertex integration, offers a means for businesses to automate the update of tax rates and rules and tax calculation on their transactions. Algolia: an innovative AI search engine that helps to build a more efficient path to value. Spryker customers can easily integrate powerful search capabilities into their digital storefront, streamlining the customer journey and increasing conversions with blazing fast speed and at significant scale. Simplified product discovery is another key benefit and can address the needs of enterprise customers with sophisticated products that need powerful search capabilities. "A composable solution in todays digital commerce landscape is critical. Thats why we are proud to announce new apps for the Spryker App Composition Platform in partnership with Vertex and Algolia, said Manishi Singh , SVP App Composition Platform & Technology Partnerships at Spryker. With this platform, the enterprise world can seamlessly integrate and optimize an array of top-tier services and vendors, delivering business agility and efficiency.

Sprykers Unified Commerce capability offers a consistent online and offline experience on a single platform, allowing for a seamless customer journey. It enables easier management of separate systems such as sales, CRM, inventory, and more, as well as eliminates integration complexities. Its comprised of two new and improved efficiency-enabling solutions: Fulfillment App : provides an all-new user interface designed to streamline the order fulfillment process, simplifying tasks for warehouse and store staff. Spryker customers can expect to fulfill orders faster, easier and smarter.

: provides an all-new user interface designed to streamline the order fulfillment process, simplifying tasks for warehouse and store staff. Spryker customers can expect to fulfill orders faster, easier and smarter. Enhanced Click & Collect: gives end customers the flexibility to choose between delivery or pickup, enhancing customer experience and convenience, reducing shipping costs, and fostering direct customer-business interactions. Customers can also expect updated product availability information across channels. In the dynamic world of digital commerce, the importance of Unified Commerce cannot be overstated, said Boris Lokschin , Co-founder and CEO at Spryker. The ability to seamlessly integrate online and offline sales channels not only increases efficiency but also empowers businesses to adapt to evolving consumer preferences. Thats why we are proud to announce both the Fulfillment and Click & Collect apps that will enable enterprises to meet customer expectations with speed, enhance customer satisfaction, and save costs. The new Oryx Framework empowers developers to build composable frontends with ease. It provides a rich library of components, including a design system, which lets developers create modern and visually appealing user interfaces. The components integrate with Spryker APIs which provide a seamless experience for developers. The Oryx Framework is built to make business for enterprises easier with benefits including internationalization, authentication, search, check out, user experience and more. Spryker invites the digital commerce community to join CommerceQuest to engage and explore these and future product updates. Further details about Spryker product updates can be found here . About Spryker

Spryker is the leading composable commerce platform for enterprises with sophisticated business models to enable growth, innovation, and differentiation. Designed specifically for sophisticated transactional business, Sprykers easy-to-use, headless, API-first model offers a best-of-breed approach that provides businesses the flexibility to adapt, scale, and quickly go to market while facilitating faster time-to-value throughout their digital transformation journey. As a global platform leader for B2B and B2C Enterprise Marketplaces, IoT Commerce, and Unified Commerce, Spryker has empowered 150+ global enterprise customers worldwide and is trusted by brands such as ALDI, Siemens, Hilti, and Ricoh. Spryker is a privately held technology company headquartered in Berlin and New York backed by world class investors such as TCV, One Peak Partners, ProjectA, Cherry Ventures, and Maverick Capital. Learn more at spryker.com and follow Spryker on LinkedIn and X . A photo accompanying this announcement is available at: https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4911c781-f20a-4f27-b3f3-425468695b21

Contact Details: [email protected]

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[November 27, 2023] Edupoint Selects Wyoming Public Schools (Michigan) for 8th Annual Partner for Life Award Tweet

Company recognizes school district for spirit of innovation and commitment to collaboration MESA, Ariz., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Edupoint Educational Systems, creator of the industry-leading Synergy Education Platform for K-12 student information and learning management, today announced that Wyoming Public Schools (WPS) has been selected as the recipient of the company's eighth annual Partner for Life Award. Edupoint Founder and CEO Bob Weathers presented the award to Deb Sellers, Data/Training Specialist for WPS, on November 2 at the 2023 Synergy Connect Users Conference in Orlando, Florida. Located near Grand Rapids, Michigan, Wyoming Public Schools began using Synergy in 2011 to support the district's 4,000 students and staff across nine buildings. Over the years, Wyoming's use of Synergy has evolved to include hosting and mentoring to four neighboring school districts, supporting a combined population of more than 12,000 students. WPS and the districts it supports elected to adopt Synergy as their common student information system in order to better collaborate across districts as well as with Edupoint. The Wyoming technology department takes a leading role in supporting all aspects of that collaboration, coordinating the rollout of new releases, recruiting users to pilot new features, taking feedback from end users, and communicating those feedback points to Edupoint. "My passion is making everyone's lives a little easier," said Sellers. "You really have to listen to what people's needs are and how to help them. The more success our teachers have with the technology that we provide for them, the more successful our students will be." "Over the years, the Edupoint team has had the pleasure of seeing Wyoming Public Schools leverage the Synergy platform's functionality, and in particular its customization and automation capablities, to maximize what the district can do despite the small size of its technology team," said Bob Weathers, Founder and CEO at Edupoint. "The Wyoming team consistently approach new product features and solutions with enthusiasm and a mindset for innovation, and have been outstanding partners to Edupoint for more than a decade. I am delighted to recognize Wyoming as this year's Partner for Life Award recipient."



Edupoint has awarded $10,000 to Wyoming Public Schools to be granted as a student scholarship. About Edupoint Educational Systems

For over 35 years, the leadership of Edupoint Educational Systems has provided well-designed, technologically advanced student data management systems that empower K-12 stakeholders to improve student achievement. Synergy Education Platform by Edupoint is an industry-leading student data management ecosystem built to fit the way educators already work. Synergy is unique among K-12 student data management solutions in providing an array of role-based mobile apps designed to give all stakeholders access to the tools they need when and where they need them. More than 5.5 million students use Synergy in 22 states.

Learn more: https://www.edupoint.com/ *LOGO link for media: https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.send2press.com%2F300dpi%2F23-1127-s2p-partnerlife-300dpi.jpg&data=05%7C01%7Cnyhubs%40prnewswire.com%7C20a8b45759a2424ab4bc08dbeadbd4b5%7C887bf9ee3c824b88bcb280d5e169b99b%7C1%7C0%7C638362002110807891%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=QrN506YvbutlmIA3jXdue2CEwJh7B2visw7JWL9eHR8%3D&reserved=0 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/edupoint-selects-wyoming-public-schools-michigan-for-8th-annual-partner-for-life-award-301995416.html SOURCE Edupoint Educational Systems

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[November 27, 2023] OQC launches OQC Toshiko, the world's first enterprise ready quantum platform Tweet

At the Global Investment Summit, the company also announces that SBI Investment, Japan's premier VC fund, is leading OQC's $100m round LONDON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- OQC, the global leaders in quantum compute-as-a-service (QCaaS), today announced the public availability of OQC Toshiko, the world's first enterprise ready quantum computing platform, and that SBI Investment, Japan's premier VC fund, is leading OQC's $100m round. OQC Toshiko is a powerful next generation 32-qubit platform, deployed to commercial data-centres, enabling businesses to tap into ground-breaking technology from anywhere in the world, seamlessly and securely. OQC's $100m round will pave the way for industry-leading R&D furthering its ability to bring enterprise ready quantum to businesses globally. OQC Toshiko - world's first enterprise ready quantum computing platform Quantum computing is a world changing $1.3 trillion opportunity with the power to not only reshape and transform entire industries but ignite and catalyse entirely new ones. Today, quantum computers are predominantly located in labs, making secure access the biggest barrier to wider business adoption of this groundbreaking technology. With OQC Toshiko, an upgradeable 32-qubit platform, OQC has brought quantum computing to commercial data centres, thereby enabling secure and easy access for customers. This world-first platform is especially important for customers handling sensitive data, in sectors such as financial services, pharmaceuticals, energy, defence and government. Bringing quantum into data centres makes it possible to offer hybrid compute, integrated quantum and HPC, to the market. OQC has achieved this by adopting an advanced networking infrastructure, Digital Fabric Interconnect, to enable secure, hybrid compute for customers. To bring quantum out of the lab and into the enterprise, OQC is collaborating with leading global companies including Equinix, NVIDIA, AWS and McKinsey. OQC Toshiko is available today in private preview with expanding availability across public cloud and data centre fabric in the coming months. OQC believes in a brighter future for all enabled by quantum and is passionate about championing diversity in tech. OQC Toshiko is named after the first female Japanese physicist, Toshiko Yuasa. SBI Investment, Japan's premier venture capital fund, leads $100m round At the Global Investment Summit today, OQC announced that SBI Investment, Japan's premier venture capital fund, is leading OQC's $100m Series B raise. New investors in the round have been confirmed in addition to existing investors, Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE), University of Tokyo Edge Capital (UTEC), Lansdowne Partners, and OTIF, acted by manager Oxford Investment Consultants (OIC). The ongoing round is the UK's largest ever Series B in quantum computing enabling industry-leading R&D that paves the way to quantum advantage and furthers OQC's ability to bring next generation platforms of hundreds of qubits to businesses globally. OQC's announcements at the Global Investment Summit today, cement OQC and the UK as a global leader in quantum technology. Commenting on the news, Ilana Wisby, Chief Executive Oficer at OQC, said: "To solve the world's most pressing challenges  from climate change to accelerated drug discovery  we need to put quantum computers in the hands of humanity and at the fingertips of our most brilliant minds. We're proud to be pioneering enterprise ready quantum with our customers, partners and investors."



Yoshitaka Kitao, Representative Director, Chairman, President & CEO of SBI Holdings, Inc., a wholly owning parent company of SBI Investment Co., Ltd., said: "Quantum computing is a game changer for financial services and many other sectors, unlocking unprecedented power, speed and accuracy that will redefine the industrial landscape. As Japan's premier venture capital firm, SBI Investment is proud to lead a $100m Series B round of OQC, a global leader in quantum computing." Eugene Bergen President, EMEA at Equinix, said "As the world's digital infrastructure company, Equinix continues to partner with the very best to accelerate innovation by facilitating secure, high-bandwidth access to cutting-edge technology such as quantum computing for thousands of organisations worldwide. The inclusion of OQC's quantum computer into our global interconnection ecosystem on Platform Equinix reinforces our dedication to fostering innovation and continues to push the boundaries of what is possible. We are thrilled by the great partnership with OQC that enables us to stay ahead in innovation to help organisations across the globe address some of the world's most pressing challenges."

"Addressing the grand challenges of tomorrow requires the seamless integration of quantum with the GPU-accelerated supercomputing of today," said Tim Costa, director of HPC and quantum at NVIDIA. "By combining OQC Toshiko with the NVIDIA GH200 Grace Hopper Superchip through NVIDIA CUDA Quantum, a platform for integrated quantum-classical computing, OQC can better empower businesses and researchers to make breakthroughs across industries and in critical scientific domains." Mike Sewart, Chief Technology & Operating Officer, QinetiQ said: "QinetiQ is delighted to welcome the latest innovation from Oxford Quantum Circuits (OQC). QinetiQ regularly conducts experimental studies on a range of problems including optimisation, chemistry and machine learning and we've seen great results from OQC's technology to date. QinetiQ's focus is very much on identifying the areas where quantum computing can add real value for our government and defence customers. This involves mapping complex customer requirements to currently available hardware and algorithms, as well as considering the practical elements of future solution design, including the validation and assurance of quantum applications in real-world operational scenarios. QinetiQ's quantum team looks forward to working closely with OQC and their technology in order to drive future capability developments in this emerging but important field for defence." Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan, UK Government said: "Oxford Quantum Circuits is leading the way in seizing the potential of quantum computing, which can help discover new drugs, boost cybersecurity and manage financial systems to improve our lives and drive growth. "Today's news will support businesses to scale up by tapping into this technology and is another vote of confidence in the resounding strength of the UK's quantum capability. "Our National Quantum Strategy will help us go even further, backed by 2.5 billion over the next 10 years to help unlock untold advances in healthcare, green tech and beyond." Minister for Investment Lord Johnson, UK Government said: "We are a global leader in quantum computing, and the levels of innovation from companies like Oxford Quantum Circuits is exactly why we are fast on the way to becoming a Science & Tech Superpower. The UK has a rapidly growing quantum sector which is no.1 in Europe for the number of start-ups and in attracting private investment - around $850m in the past 10 years. In March we published a National Quantum Strategy which more than doubles our public investment in quantum to 2.5 billion over the next 10 years, and already we are investing 100 million into new quantum research hubs to ensure the UK stays at the forefront of this vitally important technology." Prior to Series B, OQC raised 41 million including the largest Series A in quantum in the UK at that time. In 2023, OQC's team grew to over 100, attracting talent from across the globe. The team has built and deployed OQC Toshiko platforms to colocation data centres expanding its operations in the UK, Japan and Spain. Companies wanting to test this groundbreaking technology can join the private preview www.oxfordquantumcircuits.com/technology/toshiko, and mark a key moment of quantum computing entering the mainstream. About OQC OQC is the globally leading enterprise-ready quantum compute company. We bring quantum to our customers' fingertips and enable them to make breakthrough discoveries. OQC Toshiko, a powerful and secure 32-qubit quantum computing platform, is now in private preview and coming soon on public cloud and data centre fabric. For more information: For more information: www.oxfordquantumcircuits.com About SBI Investment Co., Ltd. SBI Investment Co., Ltd. is one of Japan's leading venture capital firms, focusing on the creation and cultivation of key industries for the 21st century. SBI's investment portfolio has expanded to include core technologies such as Fintech, AI, Block chain, 5G, IoT, big data and now Quantum Computing, Metaverse and Web 3.0. Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAYx9-tNDDc

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2285831/OQC_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/oqc-launches-oqc-toshiko-the-worlds-first-enterprise-ready-quantum-platform-301997838.html SOURCE OQC

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[November 27, 2023] Jais Climate: MBZUAI and Core 42 launch first bilingual LLM dedicated to climate intelligence Tweet

The two organizations join forces to introduce Jais Climate, a technological breakthrough set to revolutionize climate intelligence.

Built on models Jais and Vicuna, Jais Climate will be available to the public during COP28 UAE to provide detailed knowledge on climate and sustainability-related queries. ABU DHABI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today marks the official launch of Jais Climate, the world's first bilingual large language model (LLM) dedicated to climate and sustainability. Developed through a partnership between Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the world's first graduate research university dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI), and Core42, a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi-based technology holding group G42, Jais Climate aims to inform, inspire, and drive awareness about climate change and sustainability. As a means of informing national and international discussion, Jais Climate is predominantly fine-tuned with 1.4 million climate-related instructions to also provide detailed information about the UAE's environmental policies, as well as the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP28 UAE, which will convene in Dubai later this month. Jais Climate was trained on ClimaInstruct, the largest instruction-based, bilingual dataset on climate and sustainability-related topics, prepared from various sources in English and Arabic languages. Designed to support and empower a diverse audience, Jais Climate caters to government decision-makers, business leaders, students, and families, making climate data accessible to more than 274 million Arabic and 1.4 billion English speakers worldwide. "Jais Climate uses AI to make climate change information accessible and accurate, empowering millions of people to enhance their understanding of these complex issues," said Eric Xing, MBZUAI's President and University Professor. "This is especially important as the UAE hosts COP28 UAE, shining a spotlight on how advanced technology and scientific research plays an important role in shaping future, sustainable solutions." Andrew Jackson, Executive Vice Presidet and Chief AI Officer at Core42 emphasized: "Jais Climate is not just a technological milestone; it's a testament to how innovation can drive meaningful change and societal progress. Our ambition is that by enabling accessibility to a vast corpus of verified climate data Jais Climate will not only support research but also foster heightened awareness across communities, furthering more conscious behaviors towards our planet."



Jais Climate is built on Jais 13B, the highest-quality Arabic LLM co-developed by Core42, MBZUAI, and Cerebras Systems, as well as on the technology and lessons learned from Vicuna, an open-source, energy-efficient LLM launched in April 2023. The product of a global collaboration between researchers at MBZUAI, UC Berkeley, CMU, Stanford, and UC San Diego, Vicuna was developed to address the unsustainable costs and resources required for training chatbots. Jais Climate will be available online at https://www.jaisclimate.com/ae from today until the end of COP28 UAE. The model will also be on display at MBZUAI's stand at COP28 UAE from November 30 to December 12, 2023, in the Greening Education Hub (Erth), Legacy from the Land of Zayed, that is organized by the Ministry of Education (MoE) in the UAE. 'AI for Climate' is one of MBZUAI's three research pillars, and its key sustainability projects will also be showcased alongside Jais Climate.

About Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) MBZUAI is a graduate, research university focused on AI, computer science, and digital technologies across industrial sectors. The university aims to empower students, businesses, and governments to advance AI as a global force for positive progress. MBZUAI offers various graduate programs designed to pursue advanced, specialized knowledge and skills in AI, including computer science, computer vision, machine learning, natural language processing, and robotics. For more information, please visit www.mbzuai.ac.ae To apply for admission, visit mbzuai.ac.ae or contact [email protected]. For press inquiries, please contact: Aya Sakoury

Head of Communications

Amy Rogers

Communications Specialist

[email protected] Roger Field/Aaya AbuNahwa

Wallis PR

[email protected] About Core42: Core42 is the UAE-based national-scale enabler for cloud and generative AI, combining G42's expertise across multiple technology domains into a common platform for Enterprise AI. Building on a comprehensive set of capabilities across cloud infrastructure and services, data and AI, high-performance computing, and digital services, our mission is to empower organizations, industries, and nations through the transformative power of AI. For further information, visit www.core42.ai For press inquiries, please contact: [email protected] View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jais-climate-mbzuai-and-core-42-launch-first-bilingual-llm-dedicated-to-climate-intelligence-301997843.html SOURCE G42

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[November 27, 2023] FansHood Unleashes Innovative SocialFi Platform Redefining the Creator Economy Tweet

SINGAPORE , Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In a digital era marked by innovation, FansHood emerges as a distinct dark horse, unveiling its revolutionary SocialFi platform. Positioned not merely as an evolutionary step in social networking, FansHood stands as a trailblazer, fundamentally reshaping the creator economy and revolutionizing social interactions. The focal point of this groundbreaking platform is the introduction of the Pump mechanism, a novel concept set to lead the industry into a new era of user-driven influence and economic empowerment.

Pump Mechanism: Transforming Social Influence into an Economic Model FansHood's Pump mechanism introduces a unique social economic model empowering users to fine-tune the pricing dynamics of their "Hood," symbolizing individual social influence, through direct financial contributions. Key aspects of this transformative concept include: 1. Concept of Hood: Within the FansHood platform, each user possesses a quantifiable "Hood," reflective of their social influencea measurable representation of their social media reputation. 2. Operation of Pump: The Pump mechanism allows users to enhance the value of their Hood through financial injections, effectively monetizing their social influence and elevating their standing on the platform. 3. Monetization of Influence: Users' social influence becomes a tradable asset through Pump. As a user's Hood undergoes pumping, its value rises, translating into heightened influence, prestige, and potential economic returns. 4. Value Growth: Incremental investments (Pump) result in the escalation of the Hood's value, attracting increased attention and raising the user's social status, thereby enhancing influence and economic opportunities. 5. Community Interaction: The Pump mechanism actively encourages user interaction, enabling support for fellow creators by pumping their Hood and fostering a sense of community and collaboration. 6. Incentive for Creation: The Pump mechanism seres as a motivational force, encouraging users to produce high-quality content. A robust social influence (higher Hood value) correlates with heightened earning potential, incentivizing users to enhance content quality and interactivity.





This flexible pricing strategy not only enables creators to directly capitalize on their social influence but also invites fans to actively participate in the success of their preferred creators. The Pump mechanism dynamically showcases each creator's influence and income potential, establishing a real-time valuation and monetization of social influence. Diversified Content and Interaction FansHood's multi-channel support strategy, encompassing short videos, live streams, social plazas, and diverse content forms, creates a sophisticated and varied interactive platform. Users seamlessly transition between creators and consumers of content, fostering a dynamic and engaging ecosystem. Community-Driven, Growing Together Grounded in the belief in the power of community, FansHood integrates decentralized governance mechanisms and DAO voting, providing users with direct influence over the platform's development and functionalities. This community-driven model enhances user participation, fosters a sense of belonging, and ensures perpetual innovation and growth. Security and Transparency, Building Trust FansHood prioritizes user data security and privacy through deployment on the zk-chain and seamless integration with esteemed Web3 wallets. Rigorous professional audits of the platform's smart contracts fortify user trust in FansHood. FansHood transcends conventional social platforms, establishing itself as a SocialFi ecosystem uniting creators, users, and technology. With the introduction of the Pump mechanism and the collaborative effort of the community, FansHood emerges as a frontrunner in the industry, reshaping the future of social networking. Join FansHood, become part of this distinguished social and economic revolution, and together, let's cultivate endless possibilities. For more information, please visit: https://nextme.one/FansHood

About FansHood FansHood, a new SocialFi platform, disrupts the digital landscape with its innovative Pump mechanism. This unique social economic model enables users to adjust the pricing of their "Hood" (social influence) through direct financial injections. Encouraging community interaction and incentivizing quality content creation, FansHood is rapidly becoming a dark horse in reshaping the creator economy and social networking. Join FansHood to be part of this revolutionary SocialFi ecosystem, connecting creators, users, and technology for endless possibilities. Website: www.fanshood.io/hood

Media Contact: Airkin Wu [email protected]

Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, or intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended that you practice due diligence (including consultation with a professional financial advisor) before investing in or trading securities and cryptocurrency.

Airkin Wu FansHood airkin at fanshood.io

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[November 27, 2023] EDOTCO Triumphs as 'Industry Champions of the Year' at the Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards Tweet

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- EDOTCO Group, has clinched the coveted 'Industry Champions of the Year' accolade at the prestigious Asia Corporate Excellence & Sustainability Awards (ACES). Organized by MORS Group, these awards shine a spotlight on exemplary companies that demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainability in their respective sectors. This recognition underscores EDOTCO's unwavering commitment to innovation, sustainability, and industry leadership. This award solidifies EDOTCO's stature as a dominant force in the Asian market, with its continuous endeavours in pioneering advanced tower technologies, including IoT-enabled towers, green energy solutions and sustainability. As a premier integrated telecommunicationsinfrastructure services provider in Asia, EDOTCO is resolute in its mission to help nations accelerate equitable connectivity in connecting the un-connected and under-connected community. Simultaneously, the company places immense emphasis on supporting its workforce, clients, and communities. All of this, while minimizing its environmental impact and championing digitalization objectives in every region it operates in.



Adlan Tajudin, Group Director and CEO shared, "At EDOTCO, every tower we build, every innovation we introduce, is a step towards a more connected and sustainable Asia. This accolade is a nod to the passion, innovation, and resilience of our team. While we celebrate this achievement, it also reminds us of the journey ahead. Our goal is to redefine the boundaries of digital infrastructure, ensuring sustainability is at its core." About EDOTCO Group

Established in 2012, EDOTCO Group is the leading digital connectivity infrastructure services company in Asia, providing end-to-end integrated solutions in the tower services sector. Its mission is to help nations across Asia advance their connectivity infrastructure with leading-edge solutions and achieve equitable connectivity. With a portfolio of over 58,000 towers across nine countries, the company is present in Malaysia, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia, Cambodia, Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Laos - fulfilling connectivity demands innovatively and sustainably to help its customers and partners accelerate sustainable growth. EDOTCO prioritises prudent portfolio expansion for organic and inorganic opportunities that carry the right scale, economics, and returns for its shareholders. EDOTCO Group was named Asia Pacific Telecoms Tower Company of the Year for six consecutive years by Frost & Sullivan and was recognised as one of three ASEAN Unicorns based in Malaysia. For more information, visit www.edotcogroup.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/edotco-triumphs-as-industry-champions-of-the-year-at-the-asia-corporate-excellence--sustainability-awards-301997928.html SOURCE MORS Group

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[November 27, 2023] Canon Middle East and Turkey poised for 11% growth in 2023, eyes double-digit growth in 2024 Tweet

Annual Partner Conference bolsters Canon's 'New Customers, New World' vision, anchored in a resilient 'Rethink, Revive, Reach' approach

Company continues to invest in people and talent to enhance its customer-centric workforce DUBAI, UAE, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Canon Middle East and Turkey has set its sights on robust growth, projecting 11% revenue growth in 2023. Driven by its commitment to serve the 'Customer of Tomorrow', the company anticipates double-digit growth in both consumer and business product segments in 2024. Canon continues to invest more than 8% of its global sales in R&D annually, underscoring its commitment to innovation. The company's growth mirrors global economic trends, with thriving markets such as the Middle East showcasing a robust 4.8% growth rate, surpassing the global average. These figures and projections were revealed during Canon's 17th regional Annual Partner Conference. Centred around the theme 'ONE', the recent event emphasized the importance of collaboration and innovation in the ever-evolving world of customer-centricity. It also served as a platform to address the shifting industry landscape and respond to evolving customer needs across Middle East and Turkey. Reaffirming the 'New Customers, New World' vision, the conference stressed on the approach of 'Rethink, Revive, Reach' that is propelling Canon forward. This approach is rooted in the understanding that in a rapidly changing landscape, Canon and its partners must constantly adapt, evolve, and refresh their strategies to meet the needs of emerging customer segments. Venkatasubramanian (Subbu) Hariharan, Managing Director of Canon Middle East & Turkey, spoke passionately about the significance of this annual gathering in the region. He emphasized the importance of unity, innovation, and customer-centricity, stating: "Our commitment to our partners and our shared vision to be lifetime imaging partners, enhancing the lives of the 'Customers of Tomorrow', has never been stronger. Canon's achievements in 2023 are testament to our resolute mindset focused on understanding customers and elevating our value propositions in the market." Subbu continued by highlighting the importance of investing in people and talent, developing the skills, cpabilities, and mindsets of employeesboth within Canon, its partner organizations and local communitiesin line with Canon's philosophy of KYOSEI; living and working together for the common good.



"As we journey ahead, my message to our partners remains simple yet profound: let's steadfastly live our purpose. Embracing this purpose fosters a continuous focus on our people, customers, corporate values, and brand ethos. This collective commitment brings forth the finest in both our people and our organizations," Subbu added. With a strategic focus on nurturing new skills essential to meet the needs of tomorrow's customer, Canon supports the development of youth and future-ready employees through nurturing interns and empowering women in the workforce. Canon's dedication to sustainability initiatives goes hand in hand with its ethos of giving back to society, ensuring a positive impact on both its customers and the broader community.

The conference highlighted the shared successes and milestones achieved by Canon and its partners over the past year. The deepening partnership between Canon and its network of dedicated partners is testament to the company's customer-centric approach, which remains at the core of its business philosophy. During the conference, Canon representatives underscored the dawn of a post-pandemic landscape, spotlighting an emerging wave of consumers. These encompass casual content creators, gamers, young storytellers, hybrid home enthusiasts, proponents of digital detox, socially hyperactive individuals, avid followers of video-on-demand, independent filmmakers, and ardent supporters of live streaming. In the business realm, a shift in demand was emphasized, reflecting a surge in requests for Managed Print Services fused with security solutions and sustainability factors. Other trends highlighted include the burgeoning sectors of creative and industrial printing, mirroring a growing interest in centralized work processes. Additionally, an uptick in regional investments directed toward tourism and business travel was highlighted during the discussions. Canon showcased its forward-looking approach by addressing future customer needs in image capture, from crafting human avatars for the metaverse to enhancing live streaming and vlogging with improved kits. The company also outlined its commitment to businesses of tomorrow by embracing the digital shift, offering pioneering business applications for packaging and label printing. Canon's innovative products and software offer unparalleled workplace and remote connectivity solutions. "As we emerge from the shadows of the pandemic, our growth journey evolves and phase two beckons. From 2024 to 2026, we embark on an accelerated growth trajectory in this new world, Subbu concluded. The discussions and collaborations that took place at the conference are expected to pave the way for future success. This shared commitment to excellence sets Canon and its partners on the right path to explore new horizons, address challenges with innovation, and unlock opportunities for sustainable growth. About Canon Middle East Canon Middle East, a subsidiary of Canon Europe, is the operational headquarters for Canon in the Middle East is based in Dubai, UAE. Founded in 1937, the desire to continuously innovate has kept Canon at the forefront of imaging excellence throughout its 80-year history and has commitments to invest in the right areas and capture growth opportunities. From cameras to commercial printers, and business consultancy to healthcare technologies, Canon enriches lives and businesses through imaging innovation. Canon's corporate philosophy is Kyosei 'living and working together for the common good'. In EMEA, Canon Europe pursues sustainable business growth, focusing on reducing its own environmental impact and supporting customers to reduce theirs using Canon's products, solutions and services. Canon invests heavily in R&D to deliver the richest and most innovative products and services to satisfy customers' creative needs. From amateur photographers to professional print companies, Canon enables each customer to realize their own passion for image. Further information about Canon Middle East is available at www.canon-me.com Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2267778/4385066/Canon_Logo.jpg View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/canon-middle-east-and-turkey-poised-for-11-growth-in-2023-eyes-double-digit-growth-in-2024-301997968.html SOURCE Canon Middle East and Turkey

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[November 27, 2023] Viamericas and Banco GyT Launch Viamistad Donation Campaign to Provide Educational and Recreational Camps for Guatemalans with Disabilities Tweet

Viamericas Corporation, a licensed, international remittance company, has partnered with Grupo Financiero GyT Contiental (Banco GyT), the third largest financial organization in Guatemala, to raise money for people with disabilities to attend the educational and recreational camps of Viamistad in Guatemala. Between November 2023 and March 2024, they will donate 20 cents of every transaction made from a Viamericas location to Banco GyT to Viamistad. Celebrating its 16th year, Viamistad is a charitable organization that provides Guatemalans with disabilities several life-changing opportunities through summer camps, an inclusive school and entrepreneurship programs. Nearly 90 people with disabilities and local volunteers come to camp annually, where campers build authentic friendships and learn a range of essential skills. Campers that attend the Viamistad camps open the hearts and minds of the community by breaking the barriers and stigma of people with disabilities. "Banco GyT Continental takes pride in being part of the Viamistad project and will continue to promote actions and collaborate with initiatives that contribute to the development and well-being of Guatemala," stated Oswaldo Sanchez, irector of Remittance Business at Banco GyT Continental.



Viamericas and Banco GyT are committed to growing the Viamistad organization and bringing even more opportunities to the people of Guatemala. To further the sense of community, a future goal for Viamericas is to create a recreational center in Guatemala where people with disabilities can attend year-round to build their skills and have access to any resources needed. "Viamistad created an educational camp for people with disabilities in Guatemala, which did not previously exist, and the program continues to grow each year. At the camp, we erase divisions and labels and focus on providing experiences that bring inclusion, fun and a sense of community into everyone's lives," said Joseph Argilagos, Co-Founder of Viamericas and President of Viamistad. "We are grateful for the support Banco GyT provides to Viamistad and its camp. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of people in need. With every donation, we can continue to provide hope, smiles and dreams."

Over eight non-profit organizations in the United States have already collaborated with the Viamistad donation campaign. Visit www.viamistad.org for additional information. About Viamericas Corporation Viamericas is a leading licensed money transmitter providing international money transfer, bill payment, check processing and top-up services at thousands of agent locations across the United States. Individuals can send money to more than 100,000 locations in 80 countries. Founded in 1999, Viamericas helps families achieve their financial goals by providing international payment services at a great value. In addition to Florida, the company has regional offices in Los Angeles and operational centers in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines. Viamericas recently won Fintech Futures' Paytech Award for the category "Best Business Payments System - Cross-Border & Remittances". For more information, see https://corporate.viamericas.com. About Grupo Financiero GyT Contiental More than 75 years of experience in the country's financial market have allowed Grupo Financiero GyT Continental to deepen its relationship with the client, which opened the gap for the creation of innovative products and services. That is why today its companies actively participate in the growth plans of Guatemalan families through Banco GyT Continental, its GyT Insurance branch, surety company, brokerage houses and other companies, promoting the engines of the national economy through of its products and services. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127362767/en/

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[November 27, 2023] "World Youth Energy Tour" Kicks off in Beijing Tweet

BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by China.org.cn: The "World Youth Energy Tour" was launched in Beijing on November 16. Young participants from 12 countries gathered to explore the latest developments in China's energy industry, engaging in exchanges and dialogues on topics such as green energy, energy conservation, emission reduction, and innovative energy solutions. The "World Youth Energy Tour" is co-hosted by China Energy Investment Corporation (CHN Energy) and China International Communications Group (CICG). With the theme of "Clean Energy, Green Development, and a Better Life", it aims to invite international youths to learn about the advancements in China's energy industry, the construction of China's modern energy system, and the practices in green and low-carbon development. It also encourages them to contribute their wisdom and strength to the high-quality development of world energy and to the expansion of the global green map. The launching ceremony began with the melody of the multilingual song "Auld Lang Syne". At the ceremony, four young representatives from CHN Energy presented China's overseas energy projects in cooperation with countries such as South Africa, Greec, and Indonesia. They also introduced the overview of domestic green mining practices, demonstrating China's collaborative efforts to implement the concept of green, low-carbon, and innovative development, its support in ensuring energy supply to international partners, and the outstanding achievements of Chinese companies in fulfilling global social responsibilities. Moreover, they shared stories of the high-quality development of China's energy industry and the win-win cooperation in China's modernization process through vivid examples.



The attending youths listened attentively, sought to understand the relevant information, and actively shared their own thoughts. Eliseev Filipp from Russia said that he was amazed by the rapid development of China's energy sector, especially in green energy. How to strike a balance between ecological conservation and economic development is worthy of in-depth consideration and communication by young people all over the world, he noted.

"I am very excited to participate in this event and look forward to learning from and building friendships with young people from various countries in the following activities," said Mphuthi Thembekile Lumwata from South Africa. She emphasized that young people from different countries should communicate more, contemplate the innovative development, production, and use of energy from a global perspective, and contribute to environmental protection. Yu Tao, Vice President of China International Communications Group, said in his speech at the launching ceremony that nowadays, humans are facing universal challenges in terms of resources and environmental issues, leading to the need for joint efforts to find the greatest common denominator in building a better world and a beautiful earth. Yu expressed his hope that through this event, young people from various countries would get insights into China's contributions and progress in addressing global energy challenges, tell stories about China's energy to the world, and work together to create a more prosperous and sustainable future. Wang Min, Director of China Energy Investment Corporation, spoke at the ceremony, expressing his hope that the event would enhance young people's understanding of the high-quality development in China's energy industry, foster friendship through mutual learning and sharing, and encourage the contribution of youth wisdom and strength towards better international cooperation in the energy sector. It is reported that from November 17 to 19, young participants of the "World Youth Energy Tour" visited the Taizhou coal-fired power plant of CHN Energy and Jiangsu Offshore Longyuan Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. to personally experience China's achievements in technological innovation and green development within the energy industry. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/world-youth-energy-tour-kicks-off-in-beijing-301997049.html SOURCE China.org.cn

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[November 27, 2023] Enhanced Potential of Myricx's NMT Inhibitor Payloads with Dual Senolytic and Cytotoxic Modes of Action as ADC Cancer Therapies Tweet

Data published today in Nature Cell Biology by Myricx collaborators at the MRC-LMS (Laboratory of Medical Sciences) led by Prof. Jesus Gil have uncovered the central role of N-myristoyltransferase (NMT) as a druggable pathway in senescence

Myricxs proprietary NMT inhibitors (NMTis) were shown to have a potent senolytic effect, selectively eliminating senescent non-dividing cells

Clear differentiation for Myricxs NMTi proprietary payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) with dual senolytic as well as cytotoxic MOA has the potential to induce deeper and more durable tumour responses

Myricx has licensed exclusive IP rights to develop NMTis for senescence applications from Imperial College Innovations Limited and UKRI LONDON, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Myricx Bio (Myricx), a UK biotech company focused on the discovery and development of a completely novel class of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) payloads based on N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT) inhibition, is pleased to announce the publication today of ground-breaking research in Nature Cell Biology1 by its collaborators at the MRC-LMS (Laboratory of Medical Sciences) that has uncovered the central role of NMT as a druggable pathway in senescence. Cellular senescence, the process when cells stop dividing and undergo distinct physiological changes, is implicated in many diseases. Senescent, or so called zombie cells, can have deleterious effects on tissue function as they are persistent and secrete many proteins. In tumours, these proteins can drive chronic inflammation, metastasis, drug resistance and tumour growth. Small-molecule drugs that selectively eliminate senescent cells, known as senolytics, provide a promising novel strategy for treating multiple diseases, including cancer, fibrotic diseases, and age-related conditions. The research, funded by UKRI MRC and CRUK, involved a major collaborative study led by Myricxs Scientific Consultant and Collaborator, Professor Jesus Gil, lead author of the study and Head of the Senescence Research Group at MRC-LMS, together with Myricx co-founder Professor Ed Tate, and 18 other scientists, discovered that small molecule NMTis can selectively kill senescent cancer cells. Overall, the study demonstrated that senescent cells rely on a hyperactive secretory apparatus and that this secretory phenotype is dependent on NMT and inhibiting NMT kills senescent cells. This discovery opens up the potential to treat various senescence-associated diseases with NMTis, including cancer. At a more detailed cellular level, this study demonstrated that coatomer complex I (COPI) vesicle formation in senescnt cells is a process (vulnerability/liability) that can be targeted with COPI inhibitors, however these senolytic drugs have poor pharmacological properties. Compelling data then showed that Myricxs proprietary potent NMTis are non-toxic senolytics that mirror the effects of (phenocopy) COPI inhibition by selectively eliminating senescent cells with improved outcomes in different in vivo proof-of-concept cancer models. Specifically, NMTi targets ARF1, a key regulator of COPI vesicle formation that needs a lipid modification (called myristoylation) to be functional.



Professor Jesus Gil, MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences, and Institute of Clinical Sciences (ICS), Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, added, Our team has long been looking into senolytic targets that effectively and selectively kill senescent cells. In a previous study, we showed the potential of repurposing existing drugs, but there are only limited drugs to choose from. In this study, we expanded our selection pool to be much larger by seeking targets in over 7,000 druggable genes. We were thrilled to reveal previously unknown vulnerabilities of senescent cells. This opens up new possibilities for treating age-related diseases and cancer. A big part of the success of the project was thanks to the close collaboration with Ed Tates lab and all of the Myricx team. Roberto Solari, a Myricx Bio co-founder, was always there to give advice and see how we could push the project forward.

Prof. Ed Tate, Myricx co-founder and Chair of its Scientific Advisory Board, and GSK Chair of Chemical Biology at Imperial College London, and a Satellite Group Leader at the Francis Crick Institute, said, "Our findings suggest that NMT inhibition could be a game-changer in senolytic therapy. Our potent, selective, in vivo active small molecule NMTis open exciting avenues for further research and development, as the first senolytic targeting protein lipidation. CEO of Myricx BIO Dr Robin Carr said, The senolytic properties that this research has demonstrated gives our NMTi-ADCs the potential for a highly differentiated profile not addressed by any other ADCs. Combined with the cytotoxic effect of NMTis, the senolytic mechanism has the potential to induce deeper and more durable responses in treating tumours than purely cytotoxic payloads. We look forward to exploring this as we advance our drugs into clinical trials. Myricx has patents pending and licensed exclusive IP rights to develop NMTis as novel drugs including in senescence applications from Imperial College Innovations Limited and UKRI. The company has validated its NMTi payload platform having demonstrated in vivo pre-clinical efficacy for three NMTi-ADCs in its pipeline (B7-H3-NMTi, TROP2-NMTi, HER2-NMTi), showing complete and durable tumour regressions in multiple cancer models. COPI vesicle formation and N-myristoylation are targetable vulnerabilities of senescent cell, Nature Cell Biology, 27 November 2023 - www.nature.com/articles/s41556-023-01287-6 About Myricx Bio - www.myricxbio.com Myricx Bio (Myricx) is a UK biotech company focused on the discovery and development of a completely novel class of payloads for antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), based on inhibitors of N-myristoyltransferases (NMT) for the treatment of cancer. NMT is an enzyme that adds a specific lipid modification to a number of protein targets key to cancer cell survival. Myricx is advancing a pipeline of ADCs to address serious unmet needs in oncology based on its NMT inhibitor (NMTi) payload chemistry platform and has demonstrated excellent preclinical efficacy and safety across multiple solid tumour associated antigens and cancer cell types. Based in London, Myricx is a spin out from Imperial College London and the Francis Crick Institute with investment from Sofinnova Partners and Brandon Capital Partners. Follow us on LinkedIn For further information please contact At the Company

Dr Robin Carr, CEO, Myricx Bio, [email protected]



Media Enquiries

Sue Charles, Charles Consultants, [email protected], +44 (0)7986 726585



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[November 27, 2023] Computerworld Names Dine Brands Global to 2024 List of Best Places to Work in IT Tweet

Foundry's Computerworld names Dine Brands Global as a 2024 Best Places to Work in IT, ranking No. 11 among small organizations. This award recognizes the top organizations that provide great benefits, a diverse work environment, and opportunities for advancement. This marks a milestone moment in Dine's continued effort to provide world-class experiences for corporate team members. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127580138/en/ (Photo: Business Wire) "We are honored to be recognized as a Best Place to Work in IT. This acknowledgment reaffirms our commitment to fostering a dynamic, inclusive, and innovative workplace where team members thrive," says Justin Skelton, senior vice president and chief information officer at Dine Brands Global. "We believe in empowering our IT team to drive technological excellence, and this recognition is a testament to their expertise, dedication, and the collaborative spirit that defines Dine's unique culture." As one of the world's largest full-service dining companies, Dine has established itself as an industry leader in workplace culture. Over the past year, Dine has implemented a new Parent Transition Program, rolled out an interactive Total Rewards Dashboard, and continues to emphasize and invest in its Team Member Resource Groups. Since 2019, Dine has tripled its investment in technology and continues to make smart investments that meets the needs of restaurant guests, franchisees and their restaurant teams, and Dine corporate team members. "Technology is playing an increasingly important role in modern business. IT professionals continue to benefit from this trend, as this year's winning organizations increase staffing and offer a variety of pathways to upskill, reskill, and diversify their teams." said Rob O'Regan, Glbal Director, Content Strategy at Foundry. "These companies provide a model for IT and HR leaders who are looking for new ways to attract, engage, and retain talent in an increasingly competitive IT environment."



About Dine Brands Global, Inc. Based in Pasadena, California, Dine Brands Global, Inc. (NYSE: DIN), through its subsidiaries and franchisees, supports and operates restaurants under the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill + Bar, IHOP, and Fuzzy's Taco Shop brands. As of September 30, 2023, these three brands consisted of over 3,500 restaurants across 18 international markets. Dine Brands is one of the largest full-service restaurant companies in the world and in 2022 expanded into the Fast Casual segment. For more information on Dine Brands, visit the Company's website located at www.dinebrands.com.

About the Best Places to Work in IT The Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top work environments for technology professionals by Foundry's Computerworld. The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, DEI, future of work, training and retention. In addition, the rankings are reviewed and vetted by a panel of industry experts. About Computerworld Computerworld is the leading technology media brand empowering enterprise users and their managers, helping them create business advantage by skillfully exploiting today's abundantly powerful web, mobile, and desktop applications. Computerworld also offers guidance to IT managers tasked with optimizing client systems-and helps businesses revolutionize the customer and employee experience with new collaboration platforms. Computerworld's award-winning website (www.computerworld.com (http://www.computerworld.com)), strategic marketing solutions and research forms the hub of the world's largest global IT media network and provides opportunities for IT vendors to engage this audience. Computerworld is published by Foundry. Company information is available at www.foundryco.com (http://www.foundryco.com). Follow Computerworld on Twitter: @Computerworld #BestPlacesIT

Follow Computerworld on LinkedIn

Follow Computerworld on Facebook PPL-TM

SG-DT View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127580138/en/

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[November 27, 2023] Avaap Named to Best Places to Work in IT list by Computerworld Ten Years in a Row Tweet

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avaap, a successful Workday Services partner and advisory organization, today announced its recognition on the Foundrys Computerworld 2024 Best Places to Work in IT list for the tenth year in a row. This award recognizes the top organizations that challenge their IT staff, while providing great benefits and compensation.

A decade of recognition as a best place to work is a testament to the focus on innovation and strong culture we have built as a team, said Steve Csuka, Avaap CEO. We listen and respond to employee feedback and continually review and enhance our benefits offerings and the overall work experience for individuals who build their career at Avaap. Our main goal is to stay true to our shared core values for passion, transparency, collaboration, innovation, and genuineness, while giving consultants a place to grow and hone their skills. Awards such as being named on the Computerworld 2024 Best Places to Work in IT give new hires confidence in their decision to join Avaap and recognition for current employees for their impact on the culture that allows us to attract the best talent in the industry. Since 2006, Avaap has maintained employee-centric policies that attract and retain top talent, provide growth opportunities, and position employees for career advancement in a manner that aligns with the market need for Workday, change management, and data and analytic skills. Avaaps Workday practice helps customers implement Workday products and solutions and provides continuous change management and ongoing Workday support. Avaaps advisory practice brings experienced strategists and impartial expertise to enterprise solution seletion, business transformation, organizational change management, and data and analytics. Avaap has a track record of success in higher education, nonprofit, healthcare, government, and commercial organizations and helping customers adopt modern best practices in core operations such as HR, finance, and student management.



Technology is playing an increasingly important role in modern business. IT professionals continue to benefit from this trend, as this years winning organizations increase staffing and offer a variety of pathways to upskill, reskill, and diversify their teams. Said Rob ORegan, global director, content strategy, Foundry. These companies provide a model for IT and HR leaders who are looking for new ways to attract, engage, and retain talent in an increasingly competitive IT environment. About Avaap

Avaap is an experienced Workday partner known for helping its customers maximize the value provided by Workday HCM, Workday Finance, and Workday Student, as well as post-production support services and effective change management. Our platform-agnostic business transformation services offer full life cycle expertise from system selection through ongoing support, including data and analytics and a dedicated team with the skills and experience in planning and delivering successful change management programs. Organizations ranging from medium-sized businesses to large enterprises, including health systems, higher education institutions, and government agencies have partnered with Avaap for successful transformation. To learn more, visit www.avaap.com. About Computerworld Computerworld is the leading technology media brand empowering enterprise users and their managers, helping them create business advantage by skillfully exploiting today's abundantly powerful web, mobile, and desktop applications. Computerworld also offers guidance to IT managers tasked with optimizing client systemsand helps businesses revolutionize the customer and employee experience with new collaboration platforms. Computerworld's award-winning website (www.computerworld.com), strategic marketing solutions and research forms the hub of the world's largest global IT media network and provides opportunities for IT vendors to engage this audience. Computerworld is published by IDG. Communications, Inc. Company information is available at www.idg.com. Follow Computerworld on X: @Computerworld #BestPlacesIT Follow Computerworld on LinkedIn About the Best Places to Work in IT list The Best Places to Work in IT list is an annual ranking of the top work environments for technology professionals by Computerworld. The list is compiled based on a comprehensive questionnaire regarding company offerings in categories such as benefits, career development, DEI, future of work, training and retention. In addition, the rankings are reviewed and vetted by a panel of industry experts.

Melissa Prusher [email protected]

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[November 27, 2023] Connect K-12's 2023 report celebrates 74% of U.S. school districts now meeting FCC internet connectivity goal Tweet

Districts meeting or exceeding this benchmark pay less for high-speed internet access than others

WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Connected Nation's (CN) Connect K-12 Program has released its 2023 Report on School Connectivity in collaboration with Funds For Learning (FFL). School districts that are meeting the 1 Mbps per student goal are also getting internet access at a much lower rate. The annual report, now in its fourth and final iteration, includes findings on the nation's progress toward meeting the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) bandwidth goal of 1 Mbps per student. The latest data show that 74% of school districts (9,573) across the country are now providing internet access at speeds that are sufficient to support digital learning in their classrooms every day  impacting 27.1 million students, an increase of over 5 million students since 2022. "A critical finding is that school districts that are meeting the 1 Mbps per student goal are also getting access at a much lower rate than those districts not meeting that benchmark," said Emily Jordan, Vice President of Education Initiatives, CN. "In fact, the cost is substantially higher for those school districts not meeting that level of connectivity. The good news is school and state leaders can leverage CK12's free and easy-to-understand data to better navigate the market when negotiating new internet contracts  giving them the information they need to obtain better rates for their budgets and better connectivity for their classrooms." In 2023, the national median cost per megabit for districts meeting or exceeding the goal dropped to just 85 cents. In comparison, those districts not meeting the goal are paying well above that median price at $1.55 per megabit. "This demonstrates that the FCC's goal is not just attainable, it actually benefits shool districts in several ways," said Jordan. "Students and teachers are getting the connectivity they need in every classroom, every day, and the districts are potentially saving money."



The data in the 2023 Report on School Connectivity was compiled and analyzed by CN in partnership with FFL and is available to the public on the ConnectK12.org website. The free site aggregates, analyzes, and visualizes federal E-rate data and provides internet pricing and speed transparency that equip state and district leaders with critical information on school connectivity and affordability. Key takeaways from this year's Connectivity report include:

74% of all U.S. school districts now meet or exceed the FCC goal That's an increase of 57.4% since 2020





16 states now have 80% or more of their districts at 1 Mbps per student Only nine states met the goal in 2022





Kentucky saw the biggest leap from 2022 to 2023 Jumping from 49 th in the country to 5 th with 97% of districts now having access to the FCC benchmark





saw the biggest leap from 2022 to 2023 3,330 of the nation's 12,911 school districts are not yet meeting the goal



For questions about the 2023 report, the Connect K-12 website, or the program's data, contact Emily Jordan at [email protected]. The ConnectK12.org website will remain live through the close of the Funding Year 2024 filing window, and connectivity and cost data will continue to be available for free on Funds For Learning's website. About Connected Nation: The national nonprofit celebrated 20 years of service in 2021. Connected Nation's mission is to improve lives by providing innovative solutions that expand access to and increase the adoption and use of broadband (high-speed internet) and its related technologies for all people. Everyone belongs in a Connected Nation. For more information, please visit connectednation.org and follow Connected Nation on Facebook and Twitter. About Funds For Learning: Funds For Learning is a professional firm specializing in the federal E-rate funding program. Its mission is to provide high-quality consulting and support services for the needs of E-rate program participants, including preparing and submitting paperwork, and helping clients to understand and maintain compliance with E-rate rules and regulations. Proudly serving schools and libraries since 1997. For more information, please visit www.fundsforlearning.com. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/connect-k-12s-2023-report-celebrates-74-of-us-school-districts-now-meeting-fcc-internet-connectivity-goal-301998129.html SOURCE CONNECTED NATION, INC.

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[November 27, 2023] Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Expected to Cross USD 43.29 Billion By 2032, Driving 26.3% CAGR Growth: Polaris Market Research Tweet

NEW YORK, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- A latest research report [110+] pages with 360-Degree visibility, titled "Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Offering (Hardware, Software, Services); By Application; By End User; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023- 2032" published by Polaris Market Research in its research repository. According to research report, the global edge computing in healthcare market size and share is predicted to grow from USD 4.19 billion in 2022 to USD 43.29 billion in 2032. It is anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.3% from 2023 to 2032, according to the latest report by Polaris Market Research. What is the use of Edge Computing in Healthcare? How Big is Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Size? Overview The process of bringing computer power and data processing devices closer to the sources of medical data so they can be examined more quickly in order to save lives and enhance patient outcomes is known as edge computing in the healthcare industry. Edge devices handle data from asset tracking to the Internet of Things (IoT) for equipment maintenance and environmental monitoring. This application improves patient safety, lowers downtime, and maximizes hospital efficiency. Moreover, hospital electronic health records (EHRs) are managed by edge computing systems, which give doctors quick and safe access to patient data. The accuracy of diagnosis and treatment plans is improved, and workflows in the healthcare industry are streamlined as a result of this connection. Therefore, edge computing in healthcare market demand is growing. Request Sample Copy of Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Research Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/edge-computing-in-healthcare-market/request-for-sample (The sample of this report is readily available on request. The report sample contains a brief introduction to the research report, Table of Contents, Graphical introduction of regional analysis, Top players in the market with their revenue analysis and our research methodology.) Who are the Market Leaders in Edge Computing? Advantech

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Aruba Networks

Cisco Systems, Inc

Dell Technologies, Inc.

General Electric Company

Google LLC

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company

IBM

Intel Corporation

Microsoft Corporation

Nokia Corporation

NVIDIA Corporation

Philips Healthcare

Siemens Healthineers Directly Purchase a copy of report with TOC @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/buy/2979/2 Important Highlights from the Report Increased emphasis on patient safety, telemedicine service expansion, and Internet of Things usage are anticipated to drive market demand.

The edge computing in healthcare market segmentation is primarily based on application, offering, region, and end user.

Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience significant growth during the forecast period. Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Details







Report Attributes Details Market value in 2023 USD 5.28 billion Market value in 2032 USD 43.29 billion CAGR 26.3% from 2023  2032 Base year 2022 Historical data 2019-2021 Forecast period 2023-2032

Market's Prime Determinants of Growth, Trends, and Opportunities Growth Drivers Real-Time Data: Healthcare practitioners must have rapid access to patient data, which is why real-time data processing is essential. This is especially important in situations involving critical care because instantaneous judgments have the potential to save lives.

Healthcare practitioners must have rapid access to patient data, which is why real-time data processing is essential. This is especially important in situations involving critical care because instantaneous judgments have the potential to save lives. The Rapid Growth of Telehealth Services: Low-latency data transfer is required because the COVID-19 pandemic accelerates the rapid spread of telehealth services. Remote patient monitoring, diagnostics, and smooth, high-quality video consultations are all made possible by edge computing, which is expanding edge computing in healthcare market growth. Inquire more about this report before purchase @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/edge-computing-in-healthcare-market/inquire-before-buying (Inquire a report quote OR available discount offers to the sales team before purchase.) Trends and Opportunities Increased Prevalence of Chronic Diseases: Comprehensive remote patient monitoring is necessary due to the rising incidence of chronic illnesses. By properly processing and sending data from medical sensors and wearable devices, edge computing satisfies this demand and enables healthcare providers to treat chronic illnesses more successfully.

Comprehensive remote patient monitoring is necessary due to the rising incidence of chronic illnesses. By properly processing and sending data from medical sensors and wearable devices, edge computing satisfies this demand and enables healthcare providers to treat chronic illnesses more successfully. Accessibility and Quality of Care: The need for edge computing infrastructure is further fueled by government programs and financing for telemedicine development, healthcare digitization, and the widespread adoption of electronic health records ( EHRs ). By bringing healthcare delivery into the digital era, these efforts hope to increase care quality and accessibility. Segmental Analysis Hardware Accounts for a Significant Market Share The hardware sector accounts for the crucial edge computing in healthcare market share. An essential element in guaranteeing the successful implementation of edge computing in healthcare environments is hardware. Internet of Things sensors are critical to edge computing in healthcare. These consist of glucose meters, blood pressure monitors, temperature sensors, and other data-gathering equipment. Moreover, AI and machine learning applications in the healthcare industry use hardware accelerators like GPUs and TPUs to expedite the processing of intricate algorithms for tasks like medical image analysis. High-definition cameras are necessary for clear video conferencing and medical imaging in telehealth and distant consultations. Hospitals and Clinics Hold the Significant Revenue Share Hospitals can now monitor patients in real time due to edge computing, which processes data from medical sensors and wearables with ease. This feature guarantees ongoing patient monitoring, expedites the recognition of significant alterations in medical situations, and eventually improves patient results. Furthermore, X-rays, MRIs, and CT scans are among the medical pictures that edge computing expedites in processing and analysis. This development enables doctors and radiologists to access and analyze images at a never-before-seen speed, leading to quicker treatment decisions and diagnoses. Request Customized Copy of Report @ https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/edge-computing-in-healthcare-market/request-for-customization (We customize your report according to your research need. Ask our sales team for report customization.) Regional Insights Which Country is Leading in Edge Computing? Asia Pacific: Throughout the projection period, the edge computing in healthcare market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to have substantial growth. In Asia-Pacific, edge computing is bringing in a new era of patient-centric healthcare. Continuous remote patient monitoring is made possible with real-time data processing at the edge. This enables medical professionals to create more individualized treatment programs, guaranteeing prompt interventions and better patient results. Asia-Pacific's telemedicine scene is growing, with edge computing at its center. North America: In 2022, North America surpassed all other regions in size. The pandemic hastened the U.S. adoption of telehealth, and edge computing is essential to this change. It makes healthcare more accessible by guaranteeing safe, low-latency video consultations, quick data transfers, and remote patient monitoring. Browse the Detail Report "Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Share, Size, Trends, Industry Analysis Report, By Offering (Hardware, Software, Services); By Application; By End User; By Region; Segment Forecast, 2023- 2032" with in-depth TOC: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/edge-computing-in-healthcare-market For Additional Information OR Media Enquiry, Please Mail Us: [email protected] Key Questions Answered in the Report What is the current and expected edge computing in healthcare market size during the forecast period?

At what rate is the market growth rate estimated?

What are the key driving factors in the market?

Which segment holds the largest market share?

What are the key trends and opportunities in edge computing in healthcare market?

Who are the key edge computing players in healthcare market?

Which is the largest region of the market? Polaris Market Research has segmented the Edge Computing in Healthcare market report based on offering, application, end user, and region: Edge Computing in Healthcare, Offering Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032) Hardware

Software

Services Edge Computing in Healthcare, Application Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032) Robotic Surgery

Diagnostics

Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth

Others Edge Computing in Healthcare, End User Outlook (Revenue - USD Billion, 2019 - 2032) Hospitals and Clinics

Ambulatory Centers

Nursing Homes and Home Care

Others Browse More Research Reports: Full Dentures Market, 202-2032 Research Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/full-dentures-market

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/full-dentures-market Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension Market, 202-2032 Research Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pulmonary-arterial-hypertension-market

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/pulmonary-arterial-hypertension-market Mouth Ulcer Treatment Market, 202-2032 Research Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/mouth-ulcer-treatment-market

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/mouth-ulcer-treatment-market Disposable Bronchoscope Market, 202-2032 Research Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/disposable-bronchoscope-market

https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/disposable-bronchoscope-market Medical Equipment Maintenance Market, 202-2032 Research Report: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com/industry-analysis/medical-equipment-maintenance-market About Polaris Market Research: Polaris Market Research is a global market research and consulting company. The company specializes in providing exceptional market intelligence and in-depth business research services for PMR's clientele spread across different enterprises. We at Polaris are obliged to serve PMR's diverse customer base present across the industries of healthcare, technology, semi-conductors and chemicals among various other industries present around the world. We strive to provide PMR's customers with updated information on innovative technologies, high growth markets, emerging business environments and latest business-centric applications, thereby helping them always to make informed decisions and leverage new opportunities. Adept with a highly competent, experienced and extremely qualified team of experts comprising SMEs, analysts and consultants, we at Polaris endeavor to deliver value-added business solutions to PMR's customers. Contact: Likhil G 30 Wall Street 8th Floor, New York City, NY 10005, United States Phone: +1-929 297-9727 Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.polarismarketresearch.com Follow Us: LinkedIn | twitter Blog: https://www.polarisnewsblog.com Meta Title: Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Expected to Cross USD 43.29 Billion By 2032, Driving 26.3% CAGR Growth: Polaris Market Research Meta Description: Global edge computing in healthcare market size and share is predicted to grow from USD 4.19 billion in 2022 to USD 43.29 billion in 2032. It is anticipated to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 26.3% from 2023 to 2032, according to the latest report by Polaris Market Research. Meta Keyword: Edge Computing in Healthcare Market, Edge Computing in Healthcare Industry, Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Size, Edge Computing in Healthcare Market Share, Edge Computing in Healthcare Market 2023, Edge Computing in Healthcare Market 2032 Industry: Healthcare | Healthcare It Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2286039/Edge_Computing_in_Healthcare_Market.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1316207/4424214/Polaris_Market_Research_Logo.jpg View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/edge-computing-in-healthcare-market-expected-to-cross-usd-43-29-billion-by-2032--driving-26-3-cagr-growth-polaris-market-research-301998136.html SOURCE Polaris Market Research

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A military armoury in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown came under attack on Sunday, the government announced, as it imposed an immediate national curfew.

A military armoury in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown came under attack on Sunday, the government announced, as it imposed an immediate national curfew.

The government said those attempting to break into the armoury at a major army barracks had been repelled, but the public were asked to stay at home.

Witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the city's Wilberforce district, where the armoury is located as well as a number of embassies.

Other witnesses said they heard exchanges of fire near a barracks in Murray Town district, home to the navy, as well as outside another military site in Freetown.

Automatic weapons fire and explosions could be heard on soundtracks posted on social networks.

The streets of the capital were empty, the witnesses said.

"The public is assured that the government and our state security forces are in control," Information Minister Chernor Bah wrote in a "public notice".

"To enable the security forces to continue the process of apprehending the suspects, a nationwide curfew is declared with immediate effect across the country," the minister said.

No details were given on the alleged perpetrators of the attack, or their motives.

Sierra Leone, an English-speaking country in West Africa, has been going through a political crisis following presidential and general elections in June this year.

Series of West Africa coups

West Africa has seen a series of military coups and attempted coups since August 2020.

Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Guinea, which shares a border with Sierra Leone, have all fallen under military control.

Sierra Leone President Julius Maada Bio also offered assurances that calm had been returned to the capital, urging people to stay indoors.

"In the early hours of this morning, there was a breach of security at the Military Barracks at Wilberforce in Freetown, as some unidentified individuals attacked the military armoury," he posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"Unidentified individuals attacked the military armoury. However, they were repelled by our gallant Security Forces and calm has been restored," said Bio.

"As the combined team of our Security Forces continue to route out the remnant of the fleeing renegades, a nationwide curfew has been declared and citizens are encouraged to stay indoors," Bio said.

He added that the government would "continue to protect the peace and security of Sierra Leone against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability" and said it was "resolute in our determination to protect democracy in Sierra Leone."

Bio, who was first elected in 2018, was re-elected in June with 56.17 percent of the vote -- just over the 55 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

International observers condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

The main opposition All People's Congress (APC) party disputed the results of the presidential, legislative and local elections on June 24 and has boycotted all levels of government.

The APC and the government signed an agreement in October following talks mediated by the Commonwealth, the African Union and the West African bloc ECOWAS.

The APC agreed to end its boycott and begin participating in government in exchange for an end to detentions and court cases it said were politically motivated.

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[November 27, 2023] Citizens for Judicial Fairness Places Thanksgiving Print Ad Highlighting Chancery Court Corruption by Delaware Insiders Tweet

Today, Citizens for Judicial Fairness announced the launch of a new print advertising campaign on Thanksgiving weekend criticizing Delaware legal insiders for their profiteering off of their Chancery Court connections. The advertisement showcases what elites like former Chancery Court-appointed Custodian Robert Pincus, attorney Kevin Shannon, Governor John Carney, former Chancery Court Chancellor Andre Bouchard, and current Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick are "thankful for" this holiday season This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127511482/en/ Chancery corruption advertsing that ran in the News Journal on Thanksgiving weekend (Photo: Citizens for Judicial Fairness)



Citizens for Judicial Fairness released the following statement about the campaign: "We are grateful to have the opportunity to expose the hypocrisy and enrichment of Chancery insiders this holiday season. Time and again we have seen these insiders enrich themselves at the expense of companies they are supposed to serve and the people of Delaware. This holiday season, we're redoubling our commitment to reform the Chancery to work for the people, not for insiders."

The advertisement reads: "Profiteering on the menu this Thanksgiving? "'Allegations of misconduct and ongoing lawsuits of overbilling multiple companies didn't stop me from making millions from companies where I was appointed to help. I was able to hire my own firm, where I was a partner, and that left me in a position to approve massive bills that lined my pockets. I am thankful that despite emails stating that I misled bidders to boost their prices unnecessarily, I've faced no consequences. The Courts made up of Delaware's elite continue to rule in favor of me and Skadden Arps.' - Robert Pincus "'I'm thankful for not needing to prioritize diversity and keeping the status quo on the courts and the revolving door open.' - Governor John Carney "'This holiday, I'm thankful to Chancellor McCormick for keeping my legacy alive, and for allowing my friends to continue to fleece TransPerfect and its workers. I got to use my position to enrich my business partner Steven Lamb and my friend Kevin Shannon. I'm proud of my legacy that continues to deliver for Delaware's elite lawyers and judges. The 'Delaware Way' continues' - Andre Bouchard "'I'm thankful that our Chancery allows judges to assign themselves to cases. I could pick the TransPerfect case even though in my former job, I represented TransPerfect's rival HIG. This would be a conflict of interest to some because my impartiality could be questioned (CITE 9), but I can still make decisions against TransPerfect that enrich my friends, including Skadden Arps and Bob Pincus.' - Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick "Corporate insiders like Former Chancellor Andre Bouchard, Robert Pincus, and Kevin Shannon make loads of money trading on relationships with the Chancery Court, and Chancellor Kathaleen McCormick continues to make rulings benefiting them. "Join us to close the revolving door and make the courts more just and representative of the people." View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127511482/en/

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[November 27, 2023] Wollemi launches to solve multi-trillion dollar emissions problem Tweet

Wollemi.io Pty Ltd is a world-first solution to measuring and reporting on emissions from land and agricultural investments, as countries and regions act to legislate disclosures. SYDNEY, Nov. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wollemi, a world-first solution to measuring and reporting on financed agricultural and land emissions, launched today following successful pilot programs. CEO and co-founder Sam Sneddon said Wollemi modelling calculated approximately AUD$2.4 billion will be spent every year trying to measure climate risks to agriculture, including emissions, in Australia, Brazil and the US alone. "Companies with lending, investment or insurance exposure to land and agriculture have a huge problem  there is no scalable, automated, accurate way to measure the greenhouse gas emissions attributed to financing activity at asset level, even as regulation is requiring them to do so," she said. "There are no national or international measurement methodologies that can deliver like-for-like comparable data; and there has never been an efficient, transparent way to measure them without onerous requirements from farmers  until now." Wollemi replaces a combination of Excel spreadsheets and expensive external consultants with a SaaS solution that allows real-time, verifiable, audit-grade analysis of any investment or loan exposure to land or agriculture. The system integrates private and public data sets and applies its proprietary emissions factors to deliver highly accurate and actionable emissions and physical risk metrics at a hyper local level. Only minimal customer data is required. Machine learning and AI are applied to ensure any gaps are filled with accurate predictive modelling, and results are updated automatically in real time as underlying data changes. In FY23, Suncorp Bank (Suncorp-Metway Limited) conducted a successful pilot with Wollemi. Heidi Aspinall, Sustainability Strategy Manager, Suncorp Bank said the Wollemi pilot had provided a significant improvement in Partnership for Carbon Accountng Financials (PCAF) data quality score, reducing the Financed Emissions calculation at the farm level by 14-97%, with variance driven by data availability.



"The Banking industry  not just in Australia but around the world  has been searching for solutions to measure emissions from agriculture and land that enables the limitations of data availability to be navigated, and that can provide outputs that are transparent, verifiable and support effective risk management and decision making, as well as enable Banks to comply with the rapidly evolving disclosure landscape," she said. "Our experience with Wollemi has been exceptional." Ms Sneddon said that regulatory pressure to accurately report on emissions from investments and loans has surged in the past two years, with requirements either recently implemented or about to come into effect in Australia; Brazil, Japan; Canada; the US; Europe and Singapore. "Sovereign wealth funds; governments; retail and investment banks; insurers; superannuation and pension funds, and asset managers all face mounting pressure to report accurately on agricultural and land investments, the value of which runs into trillions of dollars globally," she said.

At the same time, institutions are faced with the problem of quantifying and managing climate risk from events such as storms, floods, fires, and drought. "Wollemi can solve for both sides of this equation  on one hand we provide state of the art emissions reporting, on the other hand, we assess physical climate impact too, with our models that are also deployable to calculate climate risk across a huge universe of scenarios," Ms Sneddon said. "With up to 25% of global emissions related to agriculture, and food security and climate risk at the top of investors' list of concerns, Wollemi represents a meaningful contribution to the acceleration we need toward true decarbonisation." Sneddon is a long-time entrepreneur and sustainability leader, and the former Data Workstream Chair and current Sustainability Steering Committee Co-Chair of the IoT Alliance Australia. She is joined on the Wollemi founder team by: Co-founder and CPO John Mottram, formerly Head of Food and Agriculture at Swiss Re and Head of Agricultural Commodities at ANZ Bank; and

Co-founder and CTO Distinguished Professor Fang Chen, Executive Director of the UTS Data Science Institute; award-winning, international leader in (AI) and data science; and member of the NSW Government AI Advisory Committee. Wollemi also enables climate-informed product and service development by incorporating emissions and climate-related risk into existing modelling and evaluation processes. This could allow for the delivery of innovative products such as drought-protected loans and natural capital lending, as well as accurate, standardised carbon credits. "This is a fulcrum moment in the carbon economy," Sneddon said. "We are very excited to be an enabler for one of the biggest transitions humanity has seen since the industrial revolution, and help to achieve a sustainable future for us all." For further information and interviews with Sam Sneddon: Kristin Westlake

[email protected]

+61 416 219 358 View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/wollemi-launches-to-solve-multi-trillion-dollar-emissions-problem-301997649.html SOURCE Wollemi.io

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[November 27, 2023]

Sodium-Ion Battery Breakthrough Propels Battery Tech Market to 8.2% CAGR by 2034 | Future Market Insights, Inc.

The sodium-ion battery breakthrough is revolutionizing the battery technology market, paving the way for advancements in energy storage solutions. FMI's comprehensive report delves into the key drivers and restraints shaping the market while highlighting the top companies and their competitive landscape.

Battery Technology Market Forecast by Lead-acid and Lithium-ion Battery, Global Growth Opportunities and Revenue Forecast from 2024 to 2034.

NEWARK, Del., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The global battery technology market is likely to secure a valuation of US$ 113.5 billion in 2024, with a CAGR of 8.2% during the forecast period. The global market is expected to surpass US$ 250 billion by 2034.

Get an Exclusive Sample Copy of the Battery Technology Market, 2024-2034.

Focus on consumer requirements and minimizing the necessity of critical minerals is gaining traction among the manufacturers. Moreover, developing an intelligent solution to reduce carbon footprint drives its adoption globally. For instance, Stellantis, an Amsterdam-based provider of innovative mobility solutions, signed an agreement with CATL in 2023. Under the agreement, CATL will source LPA battery cells and modules for its electric vehicles.

Advancements in medical instruments and wearable devices to monitor patients' health have increased the demand for battery technology. Similarly, electronic toys and consumer goods like smartbands are widely expanding the adoption of battery technology.

Manufacturers integrate advanced technologies to enhance work efficiency with better charging solutions, driving market growth. Focus on green solutions, eco-friendly devices, and recyclable approaches are gaining vast market revenue to reduce carbon footprints. Strategic plans for developing intelligent wearable technologies that can convert solar energy into power create opportunities for market players.

Key manufacturers are bringing new technologies to increase global market revenue through their improved product portfolio. Increasing consumer demand for reliable, fast, and energy-efficient devices is raising the adoption of battery technology. Manufacturers are making crucial and valuable products integrating primary and secondary battery technologies, which are booming market revenue.

"Rising wireless devices in transportation and healthcare are crucial in boosting the global market. Technology-based companies are researching ambient energy harvesting and sensing solutions for wireless devices. These breakthroughs in wearable and touchable devices will change the face of battery technology," says Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.).

Report Scope as per Battery Technology Market Analysis









Attribute Details Forecast Period 2019 to 2023 Historical Data Available for 2024 to 2034 Market Analysis US$ billion for Value Key Regions Covered North America, Latin America, Europe, South Asia, East Asia, Oceania, and Middle East & Africa Key Countries Covered United States

Canada

Brazil

Mexico

Argentina

United Kingdom

Germany

Italy Russia

Spain

France

BENELUX

India

Thailand

Indonesia

Malaysia Japan

China

South Korea

Australia

New Zealand

Turkey

South Africa

North Africa Key Market Segments Covered By battery type

By applications

By Region Key Companies Profiled Exide Corp.

Hitachi Limited

SAMSUNG SDI CO. LTD

Sony Corp Google Inc

General Electric Co.

Honda Inc.

Honeywell Batteries China Bak Battery, Inc

Fujitsu Ltd

American Battery Charging Inc



Understand global, regional, and country-level parameters with growth opportunities, historical data (2019-2023), and forecasts (2024-2034). Buy this report today!

Key Takeaways:

The battery technology market is registering a CAGR of 8.2% between 2024 and 2034.

is registering a CAGR of 8.2% between 2024 and 2034. The United States is expected to register a CAGR of 8.3% by dominating the global market by 2034.

is expected to register a CAGR of 8.3% by dominating the global market by 2034. Japan is anticipated to capture a CAGR of 3.1% of the global market during the forecast period.

is anticipated to capture a CAGR of 3.1% of the global market during the forecast period. South Korea is anticipated to register a CAGR of 8.4% in the global market by 2034.

is anticipated to register a CAGR of 8.4% in the global market by 2034. China significantly drives the global market with a CAGR of 8.5%.

significantly drives the global market with a CAGR of 8.5%. With a CAGR of 8.7%, the United Kingdom is rapidly advancing globally.

is rapidly advancing globally. The automotive category is estimated to lead the global market during the forecast period.

Key Players in the Battery Technology Market

Due to growing consumer demand, key players are adopting various marketing methodologies to bring new product launches. These key players are creating realistic touch sensations that can monitor vibration and motions. Moreover, manufacturers offer a wide range of products integrating innovative battery technology with non-invasive sensors. They are developing sustainable and recyclable products to reduce carbon emissions.

Purchase this report now to get key companies with their Revenue Forecast, Volume Forecast, Company Ranking, Competitive Landscape, Growth Factors, Trends, and Pricing Analysis.

About the Autor:

Nikhil Kaitwade (Associate Vice President at Future Market Insights, Inc.) has over a decade of experience in market research and business consulting. He has successfully delivered 1500+ client assignments, predominantly in Automotive, Chemicals, Industrial Equipment, Oil & Gas, and Service industries.

His core competency circles around developing research methodology, creating a unique analysis framework, statistical data models for pricing analysis, competition mapping, and market feasibility analysis. His expertise also extends wide and beyond analysis, advising clients on identifying growth potential in established and niche market segments, investment/divestment decisions, and market entry decision-making.

Nikhil holds an MBA degree in Marketing and IT and a Graduate in Mechanical Engineering. Nikhil has authored several publications and quoted in journals like EMS Now, EPR Magazine, and EE Times.

Explore FMI's Extensive Coverage in the Automotive Domain:

About Future Market Insights (FMI)

Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. 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: [email protected]

Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com

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Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1197648/3531122/FMI_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/sodium-ion-battery-breakthrough-propels-battery-tech-market-to-8-2-cagr-by-2034--future-market-insights-inc-301997803.html
[November 27, 2023] Earth Systems, LLC Announces Partnership With Orlando-Based Firm Bio-Tech Consulting Tweet

Earth Systems, LLC has partnered with Bio-Tech Consulting as part of its strategy to grow its industry-leading environmental engineering and consulting practice across the United States. Established in 2003, Bio-Tech Consulting is a full-service environmental consulting firm focused on permitting, environmental assessments, wetlands mitigation, aquatic management, wildlife consulting, land management, and other consulting and environmental compliance services. The acquisition brings expanded capabilities to Earth System's clients and solidifies the combined company as a market-leading environmental services firm across the country. "We are very excited about partnering with Bio-Tech given their industry-leading position in ecological services and long-standing client relationships throughout Florida and the Southeast. This transaction is a pivotal step for us as we continue executing our long-term growth plan with Palm Beach Capital to expand both our service offerings and geographical footprint to best serve our growing client base," stated Rick Ofsanko, Co-President and Co-Founder of Earth Systems. "We are looking forward to this partnership with Earth Systems as we expand throughout the country and create a leading environmental engineering and consuling firm," said John Miklos, President and Founder of Bio-Tech Consulting. "This partnership provides us with additional resources to continue executing on our growth strategy and enhances our service capabilities and geographic reach to best serve our clients."



About Earth Systems Founded in 1999, Earth Systems is an environmental engineering firm based in Lantana, FL, with 16 offices across 8 states including Florida, New Jersey, New York, Colorado, North & South Dakota, Pennsylvania, and Texas. Earth Systems has a 24-year track record of low employee turnover, steady growth, and long-term relationships with a variety of highly selective clients in various markets and industries.

Earth Systems and Palm Beach Capital formed a strategic partnership in August 2022 and both organizations are committed to a long-term growth strategy. Palm Beach Capital's success in the engineering and environmental services industries spans 20 years and more than 35 transactions. About Palm Beach Capital Founded in 2001, Palm Beach Capital is a middle-market private equity investment firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. The firm has invested in more than 35 engineering businesses, including the fastest growing engineering firm in 2020, 2021, 2022 as referenced by the Zweig Group. Currently investing out of its sixth committed fund, the firm focuses on high-growth investment opportunities and partners with management teams in management buyouts, recapitalizations and growth equity investments. Since its inception, Palm Beach Capital has made investments in 55 portfolio companies and more than 100 add-on acquisitions, with a focus on engineering, business services, healthcare, and transportation and logistics sectors. For more information, please visit the firm's website at www.pbcap.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127800666/en/

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[November 27, 2023] SignalFire Announces Strategic Growth with the Addition of Nine New Team Members Tweet

SignalFire, a tech-enabled early-stage venture capital firm harnessing data and artificial intelligence at scale to identify investments and support the next generation of startups, has announced the firm has hired nine new team members and promoted three existing team members in order to scale for long-term growth. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127360783/en/ SignalFire Head of Marketing Lauren Nguyen and Partner Sooah Cho. (Photo: Business Wire) SignalFire is welcoming Sooah Cho as a Partner; Veronica Mercado as a Principal and Chief of Staff to CEO Chris Farmer; Lisa Liu as a Principal, Venture; Bradford Jones as a Principal, Venture; Lauren Nguyen as the Head of Marketing; Asher Bantock as the Head of Research; Sadasia McCutchen as our Head of Ecosystem; Mario Espindola as the Senior Director of Talent; and Andrew Reid as Director of GTM Recruiting. In addition to welcoming new faces, the firm takes pride in fostering an environment where the team can grow and thrive. Three existing team members have recently been promoted to new roles. Libby Hadzima Perkins has been named General Counsel (formerly Vice President, Legal), Yuanling Yuan (YY) has been named Partner, Venture (formerly Principal); and Heather Doshay now serves as a Partner, People + Talent (formerly Managing Director). "I am tremendously proud to welcome these remarkable individuals to the SignalFire family and to be able to grow the careers of our existing team members," said Chris Farmer, CEO, Partner, and Co-Founder. "I am optimistic that together, we can provide greater value to our current and future founders as they navigate the challenging environment. By investing in our current and future talent, we are propelling the firm into a new era of growth where we are better positioned to serve more founders in more ways." With the addition of nine talented team members and growth of three, SignalFire is harnessing momentum to propel the firm into a new era. For a full list and bios of the SignalFire team, please visit https://signalfire.com/. New SignalFire team members Sooah Cho-Partner: As a product builder, GTM strategist, and policy nerd turned investor, Sooah will expand our early-stage health and life sciences tech investment practice. Previously, Sooah led fast-growing B2B software investments at Underscore VC. Sooah was also a product leaderat Devoted Health, which was recently valued at over $12B, and CVS Health, where she launched its prescription delivery and virtual care products.



Veronica Mercado-Principal and Chief of Staff to CEO Chris Farmer: Veronica will lead efforts related to early-stage enterprise AI investments through the AI Lab. Previously, she spent several years leading special projects and strategic growth initiatives at Thoma Bravo in San Francisco. Veronica began her career at Bain & Company in Boston, where she advised a variety of private equity, hedge fund, and technology clients. Lisa Liu-Principal, Venture: Lisa will focus on venture and growth-stage software investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, Lisa spent more than five years at General Atlantic in New York, where she invested in growth-stage and pre-IPO software and consumer internet investments globally. She also helped build the firm's first thematic sourcing program and earlier-stage investing efforts.

Bradford Jones-Principal, Venture: Bradford is largely focused on early-stage AI/ML and vertical SaaS investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, he was an investor at Insight Partners, where he deployed about $600M in capital across application software, data infrastructure, security, and consumer internet investments. Bradford is a former D1 athlete, operator, and entrepreneur with experience investing in and working with founders of early-stage, growth, and pre-IPO companies. Lauren Nguyen-Head of Marketing: Prior to joining SignalFire, Lauren built the self-service growth team at Cloudflare responsible for all self-serve revenue across its product portfolio. Previously, she built and led marketing teams at high-growth startups such as Pantheon, Mattermost, and Sauce Labs, focusing on building and scaling data-driven and results-oriented marketing practices with an emphasis on developer-focused products. Asher Bantock-Head of Research: Asher will apply our Beacon AI data platform to develop insights to inform the firm's investment strategy and support our portfolio companies' needs. Prior to joining SignalFire, Asher worked as a data science leader at companies like Square's Cash App, Facebook, and SoundCloud. Sadasia McCutchen-Head of Ecosystem: Sadasia's goal is to cultivate vital relationships with key customers, corporates, and strategic partners to drive portfolio growth. She leads the firm's Mentor and Specialist program and supports the portfolio via scaled efforts that: propel product-market fit, scale revenue, and foster potential future investments. Prior to joining SignalFire, Sadasia was the VP of Community and Growth at CapitalG, where she envisioned the firm's community strategy and built networks of portfolio founders, industry experts, and customers to drive portfolio growth. Mario Espindola-Senior Director of Talent: Mario will be assisting portfolio companies with talent acquisition strategies. Prior to joining SignalFire, Mario served as the Head of Talent Acquisition for healthcare technology company Wheel, and Head of Global Talent for Autodesk Construction Cloud. He is an experienced talent acquisition professional with a background in startups and publicly traded organizations. Andrew Reid-Director of GTM Recruiting: Andrew will be assisting portfolio companies with talent acquisition initiatives across Go-to-Market functions. Prior to joining SignalFire, Andrew was the Head Of Talent at growth equity fund Lead Edge Capital, and worked on executive placements at retained search firms Artisan Talent and SPMB. Recently promoted SignalFire team members Libby Hadzima Perkins-General Counsel: Libby works closely with the investing and operations team, board members, LPs, and portfolio entrepreneurs and CEOs on a range of legal activities across the firm. She joined SignalFire in 2021 to oversee the legal affairs of the firm. Prior to joining SignalFire, Libby advised high-growth companies and their investors at Cooley LLP in the San Francisco office on private financing of all stages, mergers and acquisitions, public capital markets transactions, and corporate governance matters. Yuanling Yuan (YY)-Partner, Venture: YY focuses on venture and growth-stage investments in health tech. She joined SignalFire in 2019 and previously held the title of Principal. Prior to SignalFire, she worked on the investment team at Blackstone's Strategic Opportunity Fund, where she evaluated late-stage and IPO investment opportunities. At Blackstone, she also spent time on the Emerging Markets team, evaluating macroeconomic and political risk in countries such as China, Brazil, and Egypt. Heather Doshay-Partner, People and Talent: Heather leads the people and recruiting programs for the portfolio. She joined SignalFire in 2021 as a managing director. Prior to SignalFire, Heather served as a Vice President, People at Webflow. Actively involved in the people and talent leadership community, Heather is SHRM senior certified, serves on the PeopleTech Partners Advisory, and has served on the Forbes HR Council. She was honored as a top Talent Operator on the inaugural 2020 Anchor List and Top Women Leader in SaaS in the 2018 SaaS Report. About SignalFire SignalFire is the first venture capital firm built like a technology company to better solve for the needs of founders. The core of its value-add is Beacon, the AI engine SignalFire has been refining since the firm's launch in 2013. Beacon tracks more than 495 million employees and 80 million companies to guide the fund's investing and assist portfolio companies with scaling their teams and revenue. SignalFire also helps early-stage founders navigate the toughest parts of building a company at every stage, with expert advisors, 200 skill-building workshops a year, and an in-house team of recruiters, data scientists, PR experts and go-to-market leaders. With over $1.8 billion in assets under management, SignalFire focuses on investing from seed to scale. The firm's key sectors include AIML, developer tools, B2B saas, healthcare, cybersecurity, and consumer. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127360783/en/

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Here's the argument against police and the crusade to ruin the nicer places in this college town.

Check-it:



The suit alleges the complainants constitutional rights were infringed upon last winter when Phillip Michael Eravi, owner of the Lawrence Accountability YouTube Channel, was banned from the homeless encampment and Chansi Long, then a reporter for The Lawrence Times, was temporarily banned as they sought to report on the lack of heat sources at the encampment amid bitterly cold winter temperatures.



Barring the two from the camp violated their First Amendment rights to speak, the right to listen, the right to photograph and record, and the right to associate and assemble with other residents of the City of Lawrence.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

City of Lawrence faces a second freedom of speech lawsuit in less than a week Two Lawrence activists have filed a federal lawsuit alleging freedom of speech violations by the City of Lawrence. It's the second lawsuit of that nature filed against the city this week, following one from an anti-mask protester.

Activist, reporter say Lawrence violated First Amendment rights after unhoused man died A local activist and news reporter have jointly filed a lawsuit against the city of Lawrence, alleging the city violated their First Amendment rights.

Developing . . .
Allegations of domestic violence are serious . . . The NFL's record on addressing the topic is not.



Meanwhile . . . Diversion is common practice in courtrooms around the country and here's how it plays out locally . . .

The 23-year-old was facing two charges for felony criminal damage and misdemeanor domestic battery.



On Monday, The Johnson County District Attorney's office confirmed to KMBC 9 that a judge had formally diverted the criminal case against Ross.



A diversion interrupts a case following a deal between the defendant and the prosecutor where the prosecutor either dismisses the charges entirely or does not bring any charges at all.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com links . . .

Chiefs receiver Justyn Ross no longer facing criminal charges, case diverted The Johnson County District Attorney's office has confirmed the dismissal of charges against the 23-year-old
Right now actress and hottie Sara inspires us to think warmer thoughts as we review pop culture, community news and top headlines.



Check TKC news gathering . . .

Game On . . .

Tickets for Chiefs potential playoff games on sale this week Tickets for any potential playoff games for the Kansas City Chiefs that may be played at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium go on sale Wednesday.

Traveling Music For Newsie

KSHB 41 anchor Dia Wall moving to Dallas in February 2024 KSHB 41 evening anchor and journalist Dia Wall has announced plans to step down from her position in February 2024.

Rock Chalk Mizzou Admission

Face it, Kansas: Our new license plate design looks slapdash and dull. Surely we can do better. - Kansas Reflector Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.Except when it comes to the design of new Kansas license plates. Those things are ugly.

Show-Me WELL-DESERVED Pay Bump

Missouri minimum wage increasing in 2024 | Jefferson City News-Tribune Missouri's minimum wage is increasing to $12.30 per hour in 2024.

Serving Success

'It's very humbling': Kansas City Restaurant Association names its 1st Black leader "If you would have asked me 15 years ago, I would have said that's impossible."

Angel Shares Fashion Secret

Victoria's Secret model Sara Sampaio slips into a very small bikini The runway model looked better than ever in a tiny bikini as she posed on the shore of a pristine beach. The suit was unusual as the top pulled up and had a large gold accent in front.

MAGA MEANT TO DO THAT!!!

Trump claims he mixed up Obama and Biden in speeches on purpose and got a 'perfect score' on a cognitive exam "No, I know both names very well, never mix them up, and know that they are destroying our Country."

Prez Against Hate Crime

Biden condemns shooting of Palestinian students: 'No place for violence or hate in America' President Biden on Monday condemned the shooting in Burlington, Vt., that seriously injured three Palestinian college students visiting the city for Thanksgiving. "They were simply spending Thanksgiving gathered with family and loved ones," Biden said in a statement on the Saturday shooting. "While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely...

Blue Skirt Declaration

Monica Lewinsky calls for constitutional ban on presidential self-pardons Monica Lewinsky penned on op-ed Monday calling for a series of constitutional amendments, including age limits for elected officials and a ban on presidential self-pardons. In a piece in Vanity Fair, Lewinsky offered her vision for a more robust democracy via six new amendments: no presidential self-pardons, mandatory background checks for presidents, no suspensions of...

Obamacare Confession

No one's promising you can keep your doctor anymore Democrats and Republicans agree that the primary care system needs an overhaul. They're encouraging nurses to do more and embracing virtual care.

Holy Land Hot Mess Cont'd

Live updates: Israel-Hamas war, Gaza truce, hostages and prisoners released A third set of hostages was released by Hamas on Sunday, including the first American to be successfully freed, according to US and Israeli officials. Follow for live updates.

Brits Against Vlad

UK intelligence says Russia now suffers heaviest losses since beginning of invasion due to offensive on Avdiivka Losses of Russian occupying forces over the past six weeks have reached the highest level since the beginning of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, UK Defence Intelligence has reported. Source: UK Defence Intelligence review on Twitter dated 27 November, as reported by European Pravda Details: The UK MoD attributes these losses to the Russian attack on the town of Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Far East Economy Crumbling

China Scrambles to Contain a Looming Shadow-Bank Meltdown Chinese authorities are taking more forceful action to contain the growing financial troubles of one of the country's biggest shadow lenders.

Diva Jets To More Publicity

Taylor Swift's jet 'lands in Kansas City' to see Travis Kelce Swift, 33, was unable to watch her boyfriend and the Kansas City Chiefs in action Sunday, when they beat the Las Vegas Raiders, but it appears the hit-maker and Kelce, 34, are set to be reunited.

Upscale Local Debut

Popular chef driven Food Hall opens third location at a Plaza Hotel Strang Chef Collective opened a third location on November 6 in the Marriott Cascade Hotel. The new spot features four food vendors.

Rock 'N Roll Revival

Priscilla Presley, Elvis' former wife, is about to bring her tour to Kansas City "An Evening With Priscilla Presley" comes to KC soon after the release of the movie about her.

Home Team Stays Losing

Why the Royals are in such a tricky spot this offseason Not a lot of surplus value

Suburban Survival Story

'Miraculously, she's here': Lee's Summit woman wants justice after falling victim to snowy hit-and-run One woman is lucky to be alive after being struck by a vehicle during a snowy Saturday night in downtown Lee's Summit.

Creative Inspiration

KC Cancer survivor is empowering women of color to celebrate their natural hair. Cancer survivor Crissi Curly uses art to empower women of color to celebrate their natural hair through classes and events.

Cowtown Finance Tech Check

'We wanted to be the solution': New Kansas City startup is getting national acclaim This business owner saw how small businesses struggled to get loans. Banks are now applauding her solution.

Late November Fades . . .

FORECAST: Frigid start back to work and school but dry at least until end of the week Temperatures are on the colder side this morning but just like Sunday, the sun is peeking through to help temperatures at least feel warmer.

The Smile - Wall Of Eyes is the song of the day and this is the OPEN THREAD for right now.
The toy train seems bereft of new ideas and totally dependent on Prez Biden winning another term and tossing around a lot more free money.

Accordingly . . .

CHECK LOCAL TOY TRAIN HYPE STILL HOPING THAT KANSAS CITY WILL TRANSFORM INTO SEATTLE ON THE PLAINS!!!

It's a nice idea but still hasn't materialized after nearly a decade of streetcar promotion.

Now that the bus might have to reinstate fares . . . The argument against freebie streetcar rides threatens to spoil so many good vibes that this form of transit has garnered.

Again . . .

The key to streetcar "success" has always been limiting voter participation by way of mail-in low turnout localized elections read: gerrymandering.

And so . . .

The end result will be less freedom of movement on Main.

What's worse is that we haven't seem ANY of the economic growth promised by streetcar proponents. Look closely and notice a YUUUGGGEEEE vacant storefront at the apex of the current toy train line at 12th & Main.

Meanwhile . . .

Here's the promise to bring that kind of "success" further along and hope that West Coast imitation translates into economic gain . . .



Acting on a request from the Kansas City Council, the authority is including dedicated lanes as part of an overall plan intended to tame Main to be a more pedestrian and transit-friendly street.



Were already taking Main Street from six lanes to four lanes, said Tom Gerend, executive director of the Streetcar Authority.



This is considering an opportunity to take those outside travel lanes where the streetcar will be running and sign them as dedicated, transit only.Seattle took the same approach.



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

City Scene: Redesigned Main Street Will Include Dedicated Streetcar Lanes, Landscaping

Developing . . .


Top photo explanation & education . . . Weather news hottie Yanet can make any kind of politicized claims she likes!!!



But I digress . . .

Actually . . .

In Kansas City some of the most celebrated weather newsies are climate change deniers.

Kansas State Senator & former local weather dude regularly disputes the "climate change narrative" in his social media posts.

And . . .

Last year . . . Beloved former Kansas City weather dude Gary Lezak toyed with the idea that a warmer climate isn't so bad after all.

Here's public radio reporting on the adventures of weather newsies who don't seem like any fun at all:



"Meteorologists and climatologists often have a tough job explaining climate change to the public, especially in places where audiences may be more skeptical of the science. In the Midwest and Great Plains, strong resistance has pushed some out of the field. "



Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis continued his three-day official working visit to London on Monday, when he will have the opportunity to meet leading investors and present the investment opportunities in Greece at the conference organized by the Athens Stock Exchange and Morgan Stanley, ANA reports.

He will also meet with the leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer, while in the afternoon he will speak at an event organized by the Greek embassy in London about the "Seferis Office" (within the embassy residence), the space where the Greek Nobel laureate worked, and the "Roderick Beaton Reading Room", which have been opened as museums.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations, Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report
The charm of traditional Christmas feasts in Europe is undeniable. As December brings its cool weather, streets across the continent are alive with the preparation of festive foods, each rich in history and flavor. These traditional Christmas feasts are not just meals; they are celebrations of cultural heritage, with each dish telling a story. From the hearty roasts in the United Kingdom to the sweet Stollen in Germany, every bite offers a taste of history.

Europe's different cooking styles make these feasts really special. Each country, from Italy with its sunny beaches to the lovely roads of France, brings its own special touch to Christmas meals. This guide helps you find the best traditional Christmas feasts, great for anyone who loves food or enjoys learning about different cultures.

Top 5 Destinations for Traditional Christmas Feasts in Europe

When you think of traditional Christmas feasts, Europe surely comes to mind with its rich and diverse culinary traditions. Each country has its own special way of celebrating, making it the perfect continent to explore for an authentic Christmas food experience. Here are the top 5 destinations in Europe where you can find the most popular and delicious traditional Christmas feasts.

1. Germany: A Wonderland of Flavors

Let's start with Germany, where traditional Christmas feasts are special. Walk through the Christmas markets, and you will smell mulled wine and gingerbread. The main attraction? Stollen, a fruit bread with nuts, spices, and dried fruits, covered in powdered sugar. And don't miss the roast goose. Here, Christmas is about both food and celebration.

2. Italy: A Seafood Extravaganza

Next, head to Italy, where Christmas looks different. The Feast of the Seven Fishes is a seafood lover's dream. You will find spaghetti with clams, grilled octopus, and more. In Italy, Christmas isn't just turkey and ham. It's a celebration of seafood that you will remember long after the holidays.

Read Also: What to Expect When You Visit the Vienna Christmas Market

3. France: Elegance on a Plate

In France, Christmas dining is elegant. Reveillon, the Christmas Eve dinner, is luxurious. Picture tables with fine china, candles, and foods like foie gras, oysters, and buche de Noel, a chocolate cake. France shows us how to dine with elegance and a love for food.

4. United Kingdom: A Classic Celebration

In the United Kingdom, Christmas feasts are about comforting flavors. The British dinner has roast turkey, stuffing, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and gravy. For dessert? Christmas pudding, often lit with brandy. It's a meal that warms you up.

5. Spain: A Fiesta of Flavors

In Spain, Christmas is lively and flavorful. The main dishes are often roast lamb or suckling pig, with tapas and regional foods. Don't forget turrones, a type of nougat, essential at Christmas. In Spain, Christmas is about joy, sharing, and great food.

Planning Your Christmas Feast Adventure

Planning your Christmas feast adventure is like no other. It is a festive escapade where every stop brings its own flavor and every meal tells a story. Here's how you can make the most of it.

1. Begin with Research: Start by looking up the best places for traditional Christmas feasts. Check out travel blogs, reviews, and travel forums. This homework is key to discovering great spots in Europe for festive meals.

2. Reserve Early: Europe during Christmas is very popular. To secure a place at these special feasts, book your travel and hotels early. Avoid waiting until the last minute to prevent disappointment.

3. Join in Local Customs: To fully enjoy these feasts, participate in local traditions. Learn a few words in the local language or understand their Christmas customs. This respect can make your experience more genuine and fun.

4. Plan Your Feast Stops: Plan your trip. You might start in Germany at a Christmas market, then go to Italy for the Feast of the Seven Fishes. Planning like this ensures you visit the best places.

5. Try New Foods: Be bold with your food choices at these traditional Christmas feasts. Try everything, even if it looks unusual. It's exciting to try new flavors and foods.

6. Document Your Experiences: Take a camera or make room on your phone. You'll want to remember these meals and the fun you had. These are memories you'll want to look back on.

7. Have Fun: Most importantly, enjoy yourself. This trip is not just about food, but about the experience, culture, and people you meet. Enjoy each moment, from the lively markets in Germany to the cozy restaurants in France.

Related Article: Why Switzerland Adventure Tops Every Explorer's List
Italy, a country rich in culture and stunning landscapes, holds a secret for you to uncover - its tourism villages. These villages, away from the typical tourist areas, offer an experience that is both different and deeply authentic.

In these tourism villages, every corner tells a story, and every experience connects you to the heart of Italian culture. You will find yourself moving through narrow lanes, discovering artisanal crafts, and meeting locals who embody Italian hospitality. This trip is not just about seeing new places but also connecting with a lifestyle that has been preserved over generations.

Top Tourism Villages

Italy, known for its rich history, stunning landscapes, and delicious cuisine, offers more than its famous cities like Rome, Venice, and Florence. Hidden from the busy tourist routes, Italy's tourism villages are the country's best-kept secrets, ready to be explored by those who seek an authentic experience. Here are some of the top tourism villages in Italy with amazing architecture designs.

1. Civita di Bagnoregio: The Dying Town

Located atop a hill in the Lazio region, Civita di Bagnoregio is often called "The Dying Town" because erosion is gradually wearing away its volcanic rock base. Reachable only by a pedestrian bridge, this captivating village seems frozen in time. Walk through its ancient streets, admire the medieval architecture, and enjoy breathtaking views of the surrounding valleys. This tourism village is a perfect example of Italy's enduring beauty.

2. Alberobello: Land of Trulli

In the heart of Puglia, Alberobello is known for its trulli houses - white, conical-roofed structures that look like they came out of a fairytale. As you walk through the streets, the charming nature of these UNESCO World Heritage structures is clear. Alberobello is not just a visual delight but also offers a glimpse into traditional Italian life, away from the noise of modern cities.

Read Also: These are Eco-Friendly Accommodations in Sweden Where Nature Meets Comfort

3. Positano: A Cliffside Wonder

While not entirely hidden, Positano on the Amalfi Coast deserves a mention for its sheer beauty and less crowded areas. Situated on steep cliffs overlooking the Tyrrhenian Sea, its colorful buildings and narrow streets provide a picturesque setting. Explore the less known pathways, try local dishes at small eateries, and relax at secluded beaches. Positano is a tourism village that truly captures the Mediterranean spirit.

4. Montefioralle: A Step Back in Time

Montefioralle, a small village in Tuscany, is a hidden spot offering a peaceful escape. This medieval village, with its cobblestone streets and stone houses, gives a look into the past. It is ideal for those who love fine wine and peaceful landscapes. The local vineyards around Montefioralle are a must-visit, offering some of the best Chianti in the region.

5. Castelluccio: Nature's Canvas

High in the Apennine Mountains, Castelluccio is a village known for its stunning natural scenery. Every year, its plains burst into a display of colors with the flowering of lentils - a spectacle known as "La Fiorita." Nature lovers and those who enjoy hiking will find this tourism village a paradise, offering incredible views and a peaceful retreat from city life.

These tourism villages in Italy are more than just places to visit but also experiences that connect you with the heart of the country. Each village, with its own charm and story, invites you to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures of life.

Planning Your Visit to Italy's Secret Tourism Villages

Planning your visit to Italy's secret tourism villages can be an exciting and unique adventure. Here's a straightforward guide to help you get started:

1. Research and Choose Your Destination: Start by researching the less-known tourism villages in Italy. Each village offers a distinct flavor of Italian culture, from the sun-kissed streets of a coastal hamlet to the rustic charm of a mountain retreat. Websites, travel forums, and blogs are great resources for finding these hidden gems.

2. Best Time to Visit: Timing is key. To fully enjoy these villages, consider visiting during the off-peak seasons. Spring and early autumn usually offer pleasant weather, fewer tourists, and a more authentic experience of local life.

3. Accommodations: When it comes to staying in these tourism villages, think local. Opt for family-run guesthouses or B&Bs. Not only does this support the local economy, but it also offers you a more personal and genuine experience.

4. Travel Light and Flexible: In smaller villages, streets can be narrow and accommodations quaint. Packing light is not just convenient, it is almost necessary. Plus, a flexible itinerary allows you to explore unexpected finds and local recommendations.

5. Learn a Bit of Italian: While you do not need to be fluent, knowing basic Italian phrases can enhance your experience. It shows respect for the local culture and helps in connecting with the villagers.

6. Embrace Local Cuisine: Italian cuisine is renowned, but each region, even each village, has its own specialties. Do not miss out on the chance to try local dishes and wines, which are often prepared with a passion that rivals the more famous Italian restaurants.

7. Respect Local Customs: Remember, these are not typical tourist spots. The charm of Italy's tourism villages lies in their authenticity and traditions. Be respectful of local customs and lifestyles to ensure a harmonious experience for both you and the residents.

Related Article: What You Need to Know About Denizli's Ancient Cities
AirAsia Malaysia is set to fly to Perth, joining its sister airline AirAsia X on this popular route. This move shows how AirAsia is bouncing back from the COVID-19 crisis.

AirAsia Malaysia Adds Perth Route

AirAsia Malaysia, with the biggest fleet in the AirAsia group, will start flights to Australia in 2024. It's their first route to this country. Perth, already visited daily by AirAsia X, will now also have AirAsia Malaysia flights. From March 11, 2024, AirAsia Malaysia will add daily flights using the A321neo aircraft.

Simple Flying reported that this strategy uses two types of planes, the A321neo and the A330. It lets AirAsia offer more flights and prepare for more passengers in the future. Although AirAsia and AirAsia X are separate companies, they both contribute to the overall success of the AirAsia brand. Flying both airlines to the same place makes sense.

Read Also: Saudi Arabia Cancels Visa of 177 Nigerians Trying to Enter the Country

From January to October this year, about 30,000 passengers flew with AirAsia from Malaysia to Perth. The main travelers were Australians, Malaysians, Indians, Chinese, and New Zealanders. AirAsia Malaysia's CEO, Riad Asmat, thinks now is a great time to grow in West Australia. He plans to add more routes soon.

The new AirAsia Malaysia flight, AK604/605, will leave Kuala Lumpur at 14:10 and reach Perth at 19:50. It goes back from Perth at 20:40 and lands in Kuala Lumpur at 02:40. AirAsia Malaysia has a large fleet, mostly Airbus planes, including 68 A320-200s and 29 A320-200neos.

With this new route, AirAsia Malaysia is expanding its reach and offering more options for travelers to and from Australia.

AirAsia Malaysia Expands into Central Asia with New Flights to Kazakhstan

AirAsia X, an affiliate of AirAsia Malaysia, is set to fly to Almaty, Kazakhstan, from March 2024. This marks AirAsia X's, and by extension, AirAsia Malaysia's first venture into Central Asia. The airline will begin four weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur to Almaty starting March 14, making it the first Malaysian carrier to directly link the two countries.

This new route is a big step for AirAsia Malaysia as it recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, the airline had to reorganize its business. Benyamin Ismail, the CEO of AirAsia X, says that flying to Kazakhstan shows AirAsia Malaysia's strong plan to explore new places and get back to popular routes after the pandemic.

Besides AirAsia X, another airline in the AirAsia Malaysia family, Batik Air Malaysia, is also expanding. It plans to start flights to Tashkent in Uzbekistan in December, using Airbus A330 planes, as per FlightGlobal.

Other airlines under AirAsia Malaysia are increasing their flights too. Thai AirAsia is adding more flights within Thailand because more tourists are coming. They will have 18 more flights every day, making 105 flights in total. This includes more flights to cities like Chiang Mai, Phuket, and Krabi.

Indonesia AirAsia, also part of AirAsia Malaysia, is opening two new routes next year. They will fly from Bali to Lampung on Sumatra four times a week starting January 17. They will also start flights from Jakarta to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia from February 6.

As AirAsia Malaysia and its related airlines grow, they are playing a big role in changing air travel in the region. Their expansion shows they are getting stronger after the pandemic and are ready to offer more travel options.

Related Article: There will be Nonstop Alaska Airlines Flights Between Nashville and Portland by Next Year
Damascus airport in Syria was hit by air strikes on Sunday. This happened just a few hours after the airport started working again. Last month, there was a similar attack. Reports from Syrian media say the strikes targeted Damascus International Airport and other places near the capital.

Recent Strike on Damascus Airport

In a recent development, Damascus airport in Syria was struck by Israeli air strikes on Sunday. This attack rendered the airport inoperative, just a few hours after it had resumed operations following a previous strike last month. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, confirmed the incident, which was also reported by Syrian state media.

According to Arab News, the air strikes, conducted by Israeli warplanes in the afternoon, specifically targeted Damascus airport, leading to a temporary shutdown. The attack focused on the airport's runways. Additionally, an explosion was heard from the direction of a military airport in the Mazzeh area, situated on the opposite side of Damascus.

The strikes resulted in injuries to an officer and two other personnel. These injuries were reported to be at an air defense base in the Mazzeh area. A military source, quoted by the Syrian state news agency SANA, stated that the attack was launched from the occupied Syrian Golan area at around 4:50 pm local time.

Read Also: AirAsia Malaysia Expands with New Direct Flights to Perth, Almaty

Damascus airport, along with several locations in the surrounding countryside, suffered material damages due to the strikes. Syrian air defenses claimed to have destroyed most of the incoming missiles.

Israel has been actively conducting air strikes in Syria since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011. These strikes often target forces backed by Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and Syrian army positions, the report stated. The frequency of these attacks has increased following the outbreak of conflict between Israel and Hamas, an ally of Hezbollah, which began on Oct. 7.

Previously, similar Israeli strikes on Oct.12 and Oct. 22 had disrupted operations at both Damascus airport and Aleppo airport in the north. Following the Oct. 22 strikes, flights were redirected to Latakia, a city on Syria's west coast.

While Israel seldom comments on individual strikes in Syria, it has consistently stated its intention to prevent Iran, a supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, from expanding its influence in the region.

Deadly Strike on Aleppo, Damascus Airports

On Oct. 22, two workers lost their lives due to an Israeli bombardment on Damascus airport in Syria. The attack led to the shutdown of Syria's two main airports during the ongoing conflict.

Alarabiya News reported that the strikes, which are part of a series of recent events, disabled both Damascus airport and Aleppo airport in the north. The transport ministry announced that flights were being redirected to Latakia, a city on the west coast.

In the past, Israeli strikes have often led to flights being suspended at these government-controlled airports. However, the deadly strike was the second time in October that both airports have been hit simultaneously. Also, the month was marked the beginning of a conflict between Israel and Hamas.

Alarabiya News disclosed that the latest strikes happened at the same time. They were launched from the west of Latakia over the Mediterranean Sea and from the direction of the Golan Heights, which Israel occupies.

Previously, on Oct. 12, Damascus aiport was rendered inoperative due to simultaneous strikes. After that, another strike targeted Aleppo airport, injuring five people. That attack also forced the airport to shut down, as confirmed by the authorities.

Over more than ten years of conflict in Syria, Israel has carried out numerous air strikes against its northern neighbor. These strikes primarily target forces backed by Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, and positions of the Syrian army.

Israel seldom makes public comments about its strikes in Syria. However, it has consistently stated its determination to prevent Iran, a major supporter of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government, from increasing its influence in the region.

Related Article: India Resumes E-Visas for Canadian Tourists Amid Diplomatic Tensions
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Slovenia will contribute to the restoration of the Izyum hospital in the Kharkiv region, the country will transfer 200 thousand euros through the Olena Zelenska Foundation.

This was reported by the press service of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Ukrinform reported.

"We are currently in the process of transferring 200 thousand euros from the Olena Zelenska Foundation to rebuild the Central City Hospital of Our Lady of Pischansk in Izyum. In general, we are determined to deepen our cooperation in the restoration of the Kharkiv region," said Mateja Prevolsek, Ambassador of the Republic of Slovenia to Ukraine, at a meeting with Oleh Syniehubov, Head of the Regional Military Administration.

It is noted that representatives of the Slovenian Center for International Cooperation and Development and the Ministry of Defense of Slovenia were also present. They discussed the security situation in the region, the needs of the Kharkiv region, in particular, the restoration of the social infrastructure of the city of Izyum.

As reported, the Olena Zelenska Foundation has allocated 600 thousand euros to restore the operating room of the Izyum hospital.

On December 13, 2022, in Paris, Zelenska called for donations to help rebuild the hospital. Fundraising began in November 2022 during the presentation of the Olena Zelenska Foundation in London.

As a result of the occupiers' actions, four operating rooms and an intensive care unit were destroyed, everything was cut up by shrapnel, and a tomograph was smashed. The Russian invaders also took out equipment, beds from the covid ward, oxygen concentrators, even removed taps, linoleum, sockets and ripped out the power supply.

According to preliminary estimates by the Kharkiv Regional Medical Association, EUR 30 million is needed for the reconstruction and purchase of equipment. The project envisages not only eliminating the consequences of shelling, completing work in the building, which has long been a long-term construction project, but also a comprehensive reconstruction in compliance with all modern building standards and the wishes of the medical staff.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer plans to hold a vote on President Joe Biden's request for billions in assistance for Ukraine and Israel as soon as the week of December 4.

He stated this in a letter to senators on Sunday, Ukrinform reports, citing Politico.

Schumer also called on Democrats to engage more with Republicans to agree on border security measures to help manage the influx of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Earlier, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson said that he wanted to combine Ukraine funding with border security measures.

Schumer blamed that border demand as the "biggest holdup" to delivering new funds to Ukraine's defense against Russia and Israel's war with Hamas.

"This has injected a decades old, hyper-partisan issue into overwhelmingly bipartisan priorities," Schumer said. He said his 51-member caucus was "ready to work on common-sense solutions to address immigration" but warned that if the Republican Party took too hard a line, it could "jeopardize the entire" supplemental bill.

Read also: Congressional leaders hope to pass Ukraine aid package before Christmas

"Nothing would make autocrats like Putin or Xi happier right now than to see the United States waver in our support for the Ukrainian people and its military," Schumer wrote in his letter, referring to the leaders of Russia and China. "This is not just about Ukrainian or Transatlantic security, it's about American security as well because an unchecked Putin would be an emboldened Putin."

Schumer also said there would be an all-senators briefing on Ukraine in the coming days.

A bipartisan gang formed several weeks ago with hopes of clinching a deal that would marry Biden's request for more than $100 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and the border with changes to U.S. asylum and parole policy.

Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images/TheBlaze.com
Master Gold Egypt launched the first ATM in Egypt selling gold bars in partnership with local e-payment technology company Finway, according to a statement on Sunday.

The new ATM will provide the best user experience to customers, supporting Egypts financial inclusion and digital transformation efforts, said Minister of Supply and Internal Trade Ali Moselhi on the sidelines of the third edition of the Nebu Expo for Gold and Jewelry.

The statement did not provide details on where the new ATM is located.

The event is being held in Cairo 26-28 November with the participation of 50 local and foreign companies and 110 investors from 18 countries.

Egypt seeks to position itself as a hub for gold exports to the Gulf states, Italy, and Africa, Moselhi noted.

The Egyptian government and private sector launched a group of initiatives to boost investments in gold, including gold investment funds.

On 8 November, the Egyptian Cabinet approved extending the zero-custom initiative for gold imports by Egyptians abroad for six months ending on 10 May.

Egyptian gold exports grew by 45 percent to reach $1.633 billion in 2022, up from $1.126 billion in 2021, according to Egypt's General Organization for Export and Import Control.

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Egypt's Administrative Capital for Urban Development Company (ACUD) targets a projected profit of EGP 26 billion by the end of 2023, which surpasses the EGP 20 billion in profits achieved in 2022, Chairman Khaled Abbas said on Monday.

Speaking at a symposium organized by the British Egyptian Business Association (BEBA), Abbas shared his optimism for continued growth in the company's profits in 2024.

Highlighting the company's successful journey, he described ACUD as a realization of a dream within a span of six years. Starting from scratch in 2017, a dedicated team worked tirelessly to meticulously plan and develop the new capital.

The foundation of the new capital rests on three fundamental pillars: sustainability, intelligence, and environmental consciousness, Abbas added.

ACUD is committed to building an urban landscape that is both eco-friendly and technologically advanced, Abbas highlighted.

In September, ACUD revealed its intention to offer up to 10 percent of its shares on the Egyptian Exchange in the first half of 2024, he said.

This step aligns with the Egyptian government's larger plan to offer stakes in 35 state-owned companies to strategic investors by 2024.

With a total capitalization of EGP 204 billion ($6.6 billion), ACUD's public offering signifies the company's confidence in its future prospects and commitment to further growth.

The new capital, spanning an expansive area of 170,000 feddans (approximately 71,500 hectares), is situated 35 kilometres southeast of Cairo.

The symposium also witnessed the presence of prominent individuals, including Sherif Hamouda, chairman of GV Group, the developer of Tarboul Industrial City, and Ibrahim Mustafa, vice president of the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), alongside other notable figures.

Hamouda provided insights into the development of Tarboul Industrial City, revealing plans for approximately 3,000 factories spanning various industries, along with numerous service centres.

The city will boast administrative, financial, and business centres, as well as shopping malls, residential areas, and a comprehensive range of community services, healthcare facilities, and training centres.

Hamouda also shared that 18 factories have already been established in Tarboul City, accompanied by key infrastructure such as a dry port, a university area, a research and training centre, a handicrafts training centre, and a storage and refrigeration area.

Notably, the city has already completed around 10 million square metres of development, with further details set to be unveiled in June, Hamouda added.

For his part, Mustafa highlighted that over the past three months, SCZone has approved 43 major projects in industrial zones, attracting investments totaling $4.6 billion.

Furthermore, the authority has identified key industrial sectors, with a particular focus on green hydrogen, which has been designated as a top priority for SCZone in the coming period.

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In the heart of the United Arab Emirates, Zayed University finds itself at a critical crossroads as it faces the potential loss of its U.S. accreditation. The Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) delivered a stern statement on Monday, issuing a demand that the institution must demonstrate why its accreditation should not be withdrawn. The reasons behind this ultimatum were not explicitly outlined, but the implications for Zayed University are profound.

The Show-Cause Order and Its Implications

A show-cause order is a serious measure taken by accrediting bodies, signaling concerns about an institution's compliance, integrity, or the potential harm it may pose to students. While the exact grounds for Zayed University's show-cause order remain undisclosed, the potential consequences are cleara looming threat of losing accreditation. Such an outcome could have far-reaching effects on the university's reputation, enrollment rates, and financial stability.

In a proactive move, Zayed University officials responded on Wednesday, shedding light on the institution's perspective. The university had undergone a comprehensive self-study evaluation earlier in the year, revealing a commendable level of compliance. The MSCHE Commission acknowledged Zayed's adherence to 11 out of 15 requirements of affiliation and 5 out of 7 standards.

Additional Time Granted

Despite the acknowledgment of compliance, the MSCHE opted to grant Zayed University additional time, extending the deadline until March 1. This extension is crucial, indicating that the accrediting body is open to considering the university's efforts to address the identified issues. It provides a window of opportunity for Zayed to submit necessary documents as part of the show-cause process.

Zayed University, in its official statement, asserted that it has already taken decisive action to rectify most of the concerns highlighted by the visiting MSCHE team. The university is actively working on resolving the remaining issues and expressed confidence that the accreditation will be renewed. This confidence is grounded in the institution's commitment to addressing and rectifying any deficiencies in its operations.

READ ALSO: Community Colleges Across US To Assist Students In Choosing Degrees

The Importance of Accreditation

Accreditation is a linchpin for higher education institutions, serving as a hallmark of quality and adherence to standards. Losing accreditation is akin to a seismic event, shaking the very foundation of an institution. The repercussions extend beyond a mere loss of prestige; it can lead to a decline in student enrollment, tarnished reputation, and financial instability.

As the March 1 deadline looms large, Zayed University faces a pivotal moment in its history. The institution must meticulously compile and present a compelling case for the retention of its accreditation. While the proactive measures taken by the university are encouraging, the ultimate decision rests in the hands of the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Upholding Standards and Protecting Students

Accrediting bodies, such as the MSCHE, play a vital role in maintaining the standards of higher education. Their primary responsibility is to safeguard the interests of students and ensure that institutions adhere to rigorous criteria. The demand for Zayed University to show cause necessitates a thorough examination of the institution's practices, policies, and commitment to meeting accreditation requirements.

In conclusion, Zayed University's current predicament serves as a stark reminder of the paramount importance of accreditation in the lands

cape of higher education. The institution's ongoing journey to renewal underscores the dynamic nature of maintaining compliance and continually improving standards.

The outcome of this accreditation renewal process will not only impact Zayed University directly but will also reverberate through the broader academic community. It accentuates the global significance of preserving and upholding the integrity of higher education institutions. As Zayed University navigates the path to renewal, the eyes of the academic world remain fixed on the March 1 deadline, eagerly anticipating the resolution of this critical chapter in the university's history.



RELATED ARTICLE: Bard College Prioritizes Academic Freedom Despite Pressure From Israeli Diplomat
Two recent reports from education technology firms, Anthology and Chegg, shed light on the underwhelming adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) among students and university leaders in the United States compared to their global counterparts.

Student AI Usage: U.S. Lags Behind, UK Shares the Bottom

According to Anthology's report, only 38 percent of U.S. students reported using AI at least monthly, placing the country second to last, with the United Kingdom having an even lower usage rate. Chegg's global study echoed these results, revealing that 20 percent of U.S. students reported using generative AI, with the UK trailing closely at 19 percent.

Contrastingly, over 30 percent of U.S. university leaders surveyed by Anthology expressed concerns about the ethics of AI, specifically its potential role in plagiarism. This suspicion level surpassed that of leaders in any other country except the U.K., indicating a higher degree of caution within the U.S. academic leadership.

Mirko Widenhorn, senior director of engagement strategy for Anthology, sees the lower AI usage as an opportunity for U.S. university leaders. He suggests that the relatively slower adoption provides a valuable window for leaders to assess the AI landscape and deepen their understanding of its effective application.

Anthology's survey, conducted in August, involved approximately 2,600 university leaders and 2,700 students across 11 countries. Chegg's global study, also conducted in August, polled around 11,000 undergraduate students across 15 countries. Both surveys aimed to gauge perspectives on AI usage, concerns, and expectations in higher education.

READ ALSO: How Much Does It Cost To Study In The US?

Divergence in Student Engagement and Views on AI

While both reports touched on students' thoughts regarding generative AI, different takeaways emerged. Anthology's study highlighted U.S. students' more favorable opinion of AI's potential to boost student engagement and interactivity, with 46 percent citing it as AI's top use, surpassing global peers. This optimism could be linked to U.S. students' familiarity with AI chatbots, despite the overall low usage of generative AI.

Both U.S. students and university leaders showcased a surprising focus on AI's potential for student engagement. Over 30 percent of leaders in the Anthology survey believed AI could enhance student engagement, ranking it as the top use case, followed by generating ideas and revolutionizing teaching and learning. This consensus indicates a shared vision for improving the overall student experience using AI.

Anthology's survey unveiled several disparities between university leaders and students. While over 50 percent of U.S. students anticipate their AI usage increasing in the next six months, only 3 percent of leaders consider themselves "frequent" users of AI. Additionally, more than 30 percent of U.S. leaders expressed concerns about AI being unethical, particularly its role in potential plagiarism.

Human Expertise and Curriculum Evolution

Chegg's study added a global perspective, revealing that 55 percent of respondents worldwide advocated for human expertise in generating answers. While 40 percent of students globally use AI, nearly half are concerned about receiving incorrect information. A notable 65 percent believe universities should alter their assessment methods due to the widespread availability of AI. Similarly, 65 percent express the desire for AI training in the curriculum to better prepare for future careers.

The reports highlight the evolving landscape of AI adoption in U.S. higher education, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of AI's potential benefits and ethical considerations. As the world advances into an era increasingly intertwined with AI, U.S. institutions have an opportunity to catch up, reassess, and strategically integrate AI to enhance the learning experience for students.

RELATED ARTICLE: AI Technology Has Begun Copying Nonfiction Works; Authors Start Suing OpenAI, Microsoft
The recent shooting of three Palestinian college students near the University of Vermont has sparked widespread concern and condemnation, amplifying tensions across the United States amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. The incident, reported by WPXI, occurred on Saturday when a white man with a handgun approached the three 20-year-old students, leading to injuries and raising fears of a hate crime.

Investigation Points to Hate Crime Amidst Global Outcry

According to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad, the victims were identified as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid, and Tahseen Ahmed. The assailant shot two of the students in their torsos, while the third was struck in the lower extremities. The injured students were promptly transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center, where two are reportedly in stable condition, and the third faces more serious injuries. The suspect is currently at large, prompting an intensive investigation by law enforcement.

The authorities are treating the attack as a potential hate crime, given that two of the victims were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves at the time of the shooting. Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad, in a press release, acknowledged the possibility of a hate-motivated crime, stating, "No one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime." Murad emphasized ongoing collaboration with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for potential developments in the case.

Families of the victims, in a statement issued through the Institute for Middle East Understanding, expressed profound devastation, emphasizing their primary concern for the full recovery of their children. They called for a thorough investigation, urging law enforcement to treat the shooting as a hate crime and bring the perpetrator to justice.

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Responses from Officials and Calls for Justice

Social media has been a platform for widespread condemnation and calls for justice. Prominent figures, activists, and concerned citizens have taken to various platforms to express their shock and condemnation of the incident. Political analyst Omar Baddar described the shooting as a "deeply alarming time" in the country, reflecting the growing unease and tension surrounding the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Human rights activist Mohamad Safa called for an end to hate crimes against Palestinians, emphasizing the urgent need for protection. Basil Awartani, a relative of one of the victims, linked the incident to "dangerous and dehumanizing rhetoric regurgitated by U.S. politicians and right-wing pundits," highlighting the potential consequences of such inflammatory speech.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), in response to the shooting, has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest or conviction of those responsible. In a statement on social media, CAIR underscored the urgency of holding the perpetrators accountable for their actions.

The Government's Response

Senator Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent, denounced the attack on social media, expressing his shock and deep upset. Sanders emphasized that "hate has no place here, or anywhere," and he looks forward to a full investigation. The senator's remarks underscore the gravity of the situation and the need for swift action.

The White House reported that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates as law enforcement gathers more information. The incident adds to the rising concerns about violence fueled by Islamophobic or antisemitic sentiment amid escalating tensions related to the Israel-Hamas conflict. As the investigation unfolds, the public remains on edge, awaiting justice for the victims and hoping to prevent the recurrence of such heinous acts in a nation grappling with the broader ramifications of an overseas conflict.





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In a recent ceremony at the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Illinois, 16 men from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program (NPEP) achieved a historic milestone as the inaugural class of incarcerated students to earn bachelor's degrees from a top 10 university.

A Journey of Triumph Over Adversity

The commencement served as a poignant celebration of resilience and triumph over adversity. Michael Broadway, one of the graduates, shared a heartfelt address acknowledging his past and expressing gratitude to his family. Broadway, incarcerated for almost two decades and a survivor of stage four prostate cancer, encapsulated the transformative power of education within the prison system.

In his emotional speech, Broadway extended a heartfelt apology to his mother and family, recognizing the impact of his past actions. His words resonated with the audience, underlining not only personal growth but also the broader theme of redemption. Post-ceremony, Broadway struggled to articulate his feelings, describing the experience as indescribable.



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Michael Broadway's Inspiring Story

For Broadway's mother, Elizabeth, the ceremony marked a long-awaited reunion after nearly two decades. Overwhelmed with pride, she expressed shock at her son's accomplishment, stating, "I'm just so proud of him." Broadway's scheduled release is in 2084, yet his aspirations extend beyond confinement, envisioning a nonprofit focused on youth empowerment -- a testament to the potential for positive societal impact post-incarceration.

Broadway's resilience and commitment to making a positive impact post-release highlight the transformative potential of education within the prison system. His story reflects not only personal triumphs but also the collective potential for change and rehabilitation through education.

Northwestern's Commitment to Transformation

Since 2018, Northwestern University has collaborated with Oakton College and the Illinois Department of Corrections to provide accredited courses to incarcerated individuals through NPEP. Professor Jennifer Lackey, the program's founding director, highlighted the initiative's profound impact. The program fosters community and growth, bringing together individuals who, two decades ago, may have been on opposing sides of gang conflicts.

NPEP currently enrolls around 100 students across Stateville Correctional Center and Logan Correctional Center, a women's prison in Illinois. This inclusive approach extends educational opportunities to incarcerated individuals, transcending societal expectations and providing a chance for redemption.

David Soto, another graduate from the program, sees his degree as a stepping stone, planning to pursue law school. Soto hopes the inaugural class of incarcerated students will inspire others to showcase their potential and contribute positively to society. The success of Northwestern's Prison Education Program extends beyond academic achievements, challenging societal perceptions about the impact of education within the prison system.

Transformative Power Beyond Academic Achievements

Graduates, once on opposing sides of gang conflicts, now stand united in their pursuit of knowledge and transformation. As this pioneering class paves the way for others, their stories illuminate not only personal triumphs but also the collective potential for change and rehabilitation through education.

Northwestern's commitment to providing opportunities for incarcerated individuals exemplifies the profound impact education can have on lives, fostering hope and redemption where it was once thought impossible. The NPEP graduation ceremony at Stateville Correctional Center stands as a testament to the transformative power of education, offering a glimpse into the potential for positive change within the incarcerated community.

The NPEP graduates from Northwestern University have shattered barriers, proving that education has the transformative power to break the cycle of incarceration. Their stories underscore the importance of providing educational opportunities within the prison system, offering a pathway to redemption, personal growth, and societal contribution. As these graduates embark on a new chapter, they leave behind a legacy of hope, resilience, and the belief that education can truly change lives, regardless of the circumstances.





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In a disquieting trend, the decline of local news in the United States is accelerating, revealing a grim reality through a Northwestern University study. Since 2005, the nation has witnessed the disappearance of one-third of its newspapers and the departure of two-thirds of its newspaper journalists, marking a profound crisis for democracy.

Worsening Advertising Climate

The study places the blame squarely on a deteriorating advertising climate as the driving force behind the surge in newspaper closures. In 2023, an average of 2.5 newspapers shuttered weekly, a sharp increase from the previous year's two closures per week. Notably, the brunt of these closures falls on weekly publications, leaving many regions devoid of alternative local news sources. The collapse of the advertising market has been particularly harsh on daily publications, resulting in the loss of a staggering 43,000 newspaper journalists.

This challenging landscape has forced newspapers to grapple with shrinking revenues and a decline in advertising income. The traditional business model of print newspapers has struggled to adapt to the digital era, where online advertising revenue is often insufficient to sustain robust journalistic operations. As local newspapers face financial hardships, the repercussions extend beyond economic concerns, influencing the very fabric of information dissemination and civic engagement.

READ ALSO: Research Fraud Committed By More Than 1,000 Authors; List Of Highly Cited Researchers Trimmed

Digital Outlets Struggle to Fill the Void

While digital outlets initially emerged as a potential remedy for the diminishing local news landscape, the study paints a bleak picture. Despite the rise of digital platforms, they are closing at a rate comparable to the birth of new ones. This precarious equilibrium highlights the challenges digital outlets face in establishing sustainable business models.

The report indicates that despite discussions around public financing and increased philanthropic support, these efforts have yet to alter the trajectory of the decline. Iconic media outlets, including The Washington Post and NPR, grapple with financial challenges and workforce layoffs, signaling a pervasive issue across the industry.

The struggle of digital platforms to fill the void left by declining local newspapers raises concerns about information accessibility and diversity. As digital outlets face their own financial constraints, the risk of losing crucial voices in the media landscape becomes more pronounced. The ability of these outlets to provide comprehensive and nuanced coverage, particularly at the local level, remains uncertain, posing challenges for communities seeking reliable sources of news.

Local News Deserts

The impact of vanishing local news is felt nationwide, with 204 counties devoid of any local news outlet and 1,562 counties relying solely on a single source, often in the form of a weekly newspaper. Notably, Texas, the second most populous state, has witnessed a 50% population increase since 2005, accompanied by a staggering 65% loss of newspaper journalists. The report highlights a "supply problem" rather than a lack of demand, emphasizing the need for multifaceted solutions to address this ongoing crisis.

The term "news deserts" aptly describes the growing regions without reliable local news coverage. These areas, often in rural or economically challenged communities, face not only an information deficit but also potential consequences for civic engagement and accountability. The lack of diverse voices in media outlets contributes to a diminished public sphere, with communities relying on fewer sources for information and analysis.

The consequences of the local news decline extend beyond economic implications, permeating the very foundations of democracy. This decline has been linked to increased political polarization, a surge in political corruption, and the proliferation of misinformation. Co-author Penny Abernathy frames the situation as a "crisis for democracy," urging heightened awareness. The study explores potential avenues for revitalizing local news, including public broadcasting and community support.



As the decline unfolds with alarming speed, the report serves as a clarion call for concerted efforts to address the systemic challenges faced by local news outlets. The repercussions are not confined to economic realms but encompass the essence of democratic society.

Innovative and sustainable solutions are imperative to safeguard and fortify local journalism, ensuring its resilience in the face of unprecedented challenges. In the absence of robust local news, the bedrock of an informed and engaged citizenry is at risk, posing a fundamental threat to the democratic principles that underpin the nation.





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The Senate on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution demanding that all governments, including the government of Pakistan, enhance measures to provide better security for humanitarian workers

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) The Senate on Monday adopted a unanimous resolution demanding that all governments, including the government of Pakistan, enhance measures to provide better security for humanitarian workers.

The resolution was tabled by Senator Sania Nishtar.

The resolution said, The Senate commemorates World Humanitarian Day on August 19 and recognizes the selfless efforts of humanitarian workers and organizations who strive to save and protect lives across the globe and to reduce human suffering.

The House also honors those frontline humanitarian workers who have lost their lives in the line of duty.

The House particularly shows appreciation for the humanitarian assistance extended to Pakistan by the global community during last year's devastating floods.

The Senate noted with alarm that humanitarian workers worldwide continue to remain vulnerable to violence and attacks, with major attacks numbering 235 in 2022 alone, including one in Pakistan, undermining the safety and security of those dedicated to saving lives and delivering assistance.

The Senate called upon the Government of Pakistan to enhance its support for humanitarian efforts, both within its borders and beyond, through diplomatic, financial, and logistical means, in partnership with other governments and multilateral organizations.

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Barcelona, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) The EU's top foreign policy official Josep Borrell called for an extension of the truce in the Gaza Strip, which is due to end on Tuesday.

The four-day pause has seen tearful reunions of families and hostages, released in exchange for dozens of Palestinian prisoners, in the first relief in the seven-week war.

The truce between Israel and Hamas entered its final 24 hours on Monday.

"The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long lasting while working for a political solution," he said on Monday in Barcelona, at the start of a meeting of the intergovernmental organisation Union for the Mediterranean.

Borrell called for a "political solution that should allow us to break the cycle of violence once and for all".
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Ukraine was still inflicting major losses on Russia, despite Kyiv not managing to regain captured territory

Brussels, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Ukraine was still inflicting major losses on Russia, despite Kyiv not managing to regain captured territory.

"Of course we would like them to liberate as much territory as possible, as quickly as possible, but even though the frontline has not moved, Ukrainians have been able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders," Stoltenberg said.

The assertion from the head of the Western military alliance comes after Ukraine's top general said the conflict with Russia has ground to a "stalemate".

"We see high casualty numbers, and some of the most intense fighting that we have seen in the whole war, have actually taken place over the last weeks and couple of months," Stoltenberg said.

"We need to distinguish between the fact that the frontline is not moving so much and the fact that actually there's very heavy fighting going on."

The NATO chief insisted that, while Ukrainian forces were not currently progressing, Kyiv had already recaptured 50 percent of territory seized by Russia since its full-scale invasion.

"This is a big win for Ukraine," he said.

"Meanwhile, Russia is weaker politically, economically and militarily."

Ukraine's failure to score a decisive breakthrough comes as doubts have emerged over the future of military support from key backer the United States.

Stoltenberg pointed to recent pledges of military assistance from Germany and the Netherlands worth 10 billion Euros ($11 billion) as evidence the West's support was not drying up.

Stoltenberg played down fears that any dwindling of weapons deliveries to Ukraine would force Kyiv to the negotiating table with Russian President Vladimir Putin before it was ready.

"It is for Ukraine to decide what are acceptable ways to end this war," Stoltenberg said.

"Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place when or if negotiations may start."

NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday will look to reassure Kyiv of their backing despite Israel's war with Hamas diverting much attention.

Washington insists it is supporting Ukraine "for the long haul" despite opposition but hardline Republicans are so far blocking major new commitments.

Stoltenberg said NATO allies had sent increasingly advanced weapons systems to Ukraine to help it advance and work was going on to try to better link up how Kyiv's forces use technology like drones and cyber to attack.

"I'm absolutely certain that the message from NATO allies at this meeting... is that we need to stand by Ukraine," Stoltenberg said.

"It is our security interest that President Putin does not win this war."
Sofia, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) A highly acclaimed satirical play about President Vladimir Putin and his allies facing a war crimes tribunal is making waves in Bulgaria, a country historically close to Russia.

Titled "The Hague", the play by Ukrainian author Sasha Denisova recounts the story of an orphaned teenager from Mariupol who imagines how Russia's top brass is brought to justice over its devastating war in Ukraine.

After premiering in Poland and the United States earlier this year, celebrated guest director Galin Stoev adapted the play for a Bulgarian audience, seeking to challenge the Balkan country's pro-Kremlin sentiment.

In the drama currently staged at Sofia's National Theatre, Putin is portrayed by a woman -- Bulgarian actor Radena Valkanova -- donning a sleek black suit and red shoes.

"If we can't watch the Hague trial in real life, let's watch it in the theatre," Denisova said of the scene she penned before the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin over the alleged unlawful deportation of Ukrainian children.

In the same way, as Charlie Chaplin mocked Nazi leader Adolf Hitler on screen, "Putin must be laughed at without mercy," she told AFP, stressing the power of satire.

Historically close to Russia, EU and NATO member Bulgaria still has many citizens nostalgic for what they see as the glory days of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union.

The nostalgia also refers to Russia as a protector for the Slavic people of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule.

Studies suggesting that 30 percent of Bulgarians are pro-Putin -- despite Moscow's relentless war on Ukraine -- encouraged Stoev in his determination to stage an "eye-opening" adaptation of the play in Sofia.

And he seems to have hit a mark.

"The audience is deeply moved and asks questions," Stoev told AFP, after the actors received another round of standing ovations from the crowd.

But the main challenge lies in constantly updating the script to reflect the current state of the war.

Yulian Vergov -- who plays Russian Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin -- said working with a changing script was challenging, as both the aborted mutiny and Prigozhin's death in a plane crash had to be "newly added" while leaving his fate in doubt.

"The play is fiction, but after all you play a real character, who then dies during rehearsals -- this is impressive," Vergov said.

The troupe also has to stay on top of the latest rumours about the state of health of Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov and the Russian president.

Amid all the accolades, detractors have criticised the play as a "biased propaganda vaudeville", with one actor reportedly declining a role for ideological reasons.

"With this show, we're inviting spectators to reflect on real events" and draw their own conclusions, theatre director Vasil Vasilev countered.

"Politicisation is just the opposite: when we're told what to think and do."

Putin impersonator Valkanova said she was glad the play has sparked "very polarised opinions", deeming them "the purpose of this type of theatre".

"I am happy that there is something like this to wake up people's thinking -- something that we lack as a nation."

After a stopover in the French city of Toulouse, where Stoev heads the national drama centre, he hopes to stage the play in the Bulgarian countryside, known to be susceptible to pro-Russian sentiment.
Polygyros, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Nov, 2023) Greek organic farmer Zaharoula Vassilaki looks with admiration at a huge olive tree on her property believed to be over two centuries old, still yielding despite a direct lightning hit years ago.

But climate change -- in this case, the absence of deep winter -- is proving too much for even this gnarled veteran to cope with.

"The climate has changed and the trees cannot cope with these big changes. We no longer have winter at all," she told AFP.

In mid-November, the temperature in the Halkidiki region of Polygyros, northern Greece, was still over 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit).

"I consider climate change the main challenge this season," noted Nikos Anoixas, a board member of Doepel, the Greek national interprofessional organisation for table olives.

"At this time, temperatures should be 10 degrees Celsius... the year is already lost, and we fear next year will be similar. I don't even want to think what will happen if another such year follows," Anoixas said.

Vangelis Evangelinos has been growing edible olives on his family land in Halkidiki, northern Greece since he was a child.

At 62, he does not recall adverse weather conditions such as his area has endured this year -- or such a poor crop -- ever before.

"We've never had a year such as this," Evangelinos told AFP, two months after the Thessaly region, to the south, was devastated by massive floods.

"The rainfall is intense and brief," the opposite of what is needed to enrich the soil," he said.

The warm weather has affected some six million trees in the region, according to producers and experts.

"This year the phenomenon of 'fruitlessness' was very intense, but it is an issue that we have noticed mainly in the last five years," said Vassilaki, 48.

The European Union's olive production giants Italy and Spain have faced similar problems, pushing up prices.

Spain, the world's biggest producer of olive oil, suffered a very difficult year in 2022 and drought this year has compounded the problem.

In Italy, this year's olive harvest is down by an estimated 80 percent, according to producers.

The EU estimates global olive oil production will fall more than 26 percent in 2022-2023 compared to a year earlier, to just over 2.5 million tonnes.

In the EU itself, production is expected to drop 39 percent.
A tanker linked to an Israel-affiliated company has been boarded off the coast of Yemen, the maritime security firm Ambrey said on Sunday following a series of incidents on the same shipping route.

Ambrey said that "US naval forces are engaged in the situation" after the incident involving the Central Park vessel owned and managed by a UK-based, Israel-linked company.

Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels had previously threatened to attack the tanker if it did not divert to the port of Hodeida, it said.

Communications from a US coalition warship had been intercepted warning the Central Park to disregard the messages, Ambrey added.

The boarding took place offshore from the Yemeni port city of Aden, with another vessel in the area reporting "an approach by eight persons on two skiffs wearing military uniforms", Ambrey said.

It comes after a US defence official claimed an Israeli-owned cargo ship was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone attack in the Indian Ocean on Friday, and a week after the Huthis seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the southern Red Sea.

The Huthis, declaring themselves part of the "axis of resistance", have launched a series of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel since it launched a war on Gaza.

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With hard work, he continued his progress, ultimately graduating four years later.

As an undergraduate in Alabama, Larios continued to flourish academically. He earned a bachelors in science and minor in chemistry at the University of Mobile. A masters in biology followed at Auburn University. Then, his education led him to UTSA, where hes earned a masters in psychology. Although hell cross the stage in December to receive that second masters, hes already started on the path toward a doctoral degree in psychology.

Earlier this year, the UTSA graduate student presented findings from his masters thesis at the 2023 Southwestern Psychology Association (SWPA) conference. Though doubt plagued him just before he took the stage, Larios overcame yet another obstacle. He won first place in the graduate student competition.

Despite his successful academic achievements, the time Larios spent at the orphanage still pervades him. At the same time, it serves as the driving force behind Larios desire and determination to better understand the nature of humans.

Theres been a lot of strife to contend with in my life. I hold myself accountable to get better, because for me whats really, really important is that at the core Im a scholar who wants to learn why things work and recognizing the nuance, the complexity and having that helps me understand the world better. I hope that through my research I can help other people understand why we are the way we are and make the world better, Larios said.

Mentors, like Itamar Lerner, an assistant professor in the UTSA Department of Psychology, and fellow students have helped shaped Larios. In Lerners laboratory, Larios began to study the effects of sleep on stress. That research opportunity challenged Larios to grow and expand his worldview. He crossed paths with fellow students, whose varying perspectives inspired his outlook on research and in his personal life.

I want to understand how psychology and biology weave together. My focus has always been understanding trauma, how it works and human resilience. UTSA has helped create an environment in which I can engage with this  with that process and make it more refined, Larios said.

Larios is currently working on research to understand the biological mechanisms supporting the role sleep plays in the development of stress and trauma, and with subsequent disorders that may arise such as PTSD.
The Wyoming-WWAMI Medical Education Program, located in the University of Wyomings College of Health Sciences, recently hosted its fifth annual research symposium at Ivinson Memorial Hospital in Laramie.

Medical students in the WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) program are required to complete research projects during the summer between their first and second years of medical school. They then must present their summer projects at the research symposium during their second year.

Thirteen students took part in the Rural/Underserved Opportunities Program (RUOP) this past summer. During a four-week rotation, each student worked side by side with a primary care physician in a rural or urban underserved community.

While at their RUOP sites, students also were expected to complete an abbreviated community health assessment to identify both community assets and public health issues. They presented posters on these assessments at the research symposium.

Emily Schmitt, WWAMI research adviser and UW Division of Kinesiology and Health assistant professor, notes the efforts of the medical students in preparing their research for the symposium.

The students worked very hard over the last few months compiling their research into poster presentations, and we were thrilled to be able to showcase all of their hard work at our annual research symposium, Schmitt says. We also are extremely thankful for the community partners, physicians and scientists who dedicated their time to mentor students throughout their projects.

McKenzie Stampfli, from Cheyenne, completed her research project in Rawlins, working with Dr. Gary Mikesell, a family medicine physician specializing in hormone therapy and osteopathic manipulation.

I chose my community-based project because, while I was in Rawlins, I saw many older adult patients come into the clinic with a lack of understanding of their medications, no advance directives, fall risks, etc., and Carbon County has a higher 65-plus population at 18.9 percent versus the U.S. at 17.3 percent, Stampfli says. I provided information in the form of a pamphlet for patients on each of the 4Ms (what matters, medication, mentation and mobility) that are questions they should ask their provider.

Completing his RUOP research at Blackfeet Community Hospital in Browning, Mont., Cale Hinkle, from Lander, focused his interest on working in Native American health settings.

Speaking to the benefits of working alongside a health care professional with similar interests, Hinkle says, Dr. Andrew Langfield is compassionate about providing high-quality health care to rural communities, especially those that have been traditionally underserved and underresourced. His work inspires me to do the same, especially in Native American communities.

Langfield serves as a physician specializing in the field of hospitalist -- caring for patients who are currently hospitalized.

At the same time, five students took part in a second area of research called Scholarship of Discovery (SoD). This empirical research examines new discoveries made through original investigation under a principal investigator. The study may take the form of a basic laboratory study; a survey; a secondary analysis of an existing dataset; a chart review; a qualitative study; or a prospective clinical trial.

Madeleine Prince, of Cheyenne, did her SoD research at the Seattle Childrens Hospital (SCH) Rheumatology Department. Her focus of interest was the prediagnostic course of pediatric patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

During the summer, I also participated virtually in all of the SCH rheumatology team meetings, Prince says. When I visited Seattle Childrens Hospital in person, through a generous research scholarship given to Wyoming-WWAMI students, I was able to shadow at SCHs outpatient nephrology and rheumatology clinics. I will be attending the American College of Rheumatologys conference through a scholarship I received for medical students from underserved areas.

Noting the support Prince received from the physician she worked with at SCH, Prince says, I worked with Dr. Jordan Roberts, a pediatric rheumatologist at Seattle Childrens Hospital. Dr. Roberts made herself available to me over email and video call all hours of the day and night and advocated for me to receive the Choose Rheumatology-Workforce Expansion Scholarship for medical students from rural and underserved areas. Dr. Roberts also reached out to her colleagues to find me an in-person mentor for my trip out to SCH, then welcomed my husband and me into her home for dinner during that same trip. When it came time to make my poster, she worked patiently with me through many drafts and edits, using each as a learning experience.

On an international front, Heidi Taggart, of Jackson, spent over eight weeks in Dhulikhel, Nepal, through the Global Health Immersion Program (GHIP). The purpose of GHIP is to give students a chance to witness the practice of medicine in a resource-limited setting; to assess the health needs of the local community; and to develop health-promotion projects within the host communities. Taggart also presented her project at the research symposium.

Asked how they would describe the benefits of conducting research in these various WWAMI programs, all current medical students note the great experiences they had while doing their research.

Aside from the community project, the best thing about RUOP was getting hands-on clinical experience, Stampfli says. After a whole year of learning clinical skills, RUOP gave me a great opportunity to practice these skills day in and day out.

The Scholarship of Discovery program gave me an incredible research and shadowing experience over the summer between my MS1 and MS2 years, Prince says. Performing most of my research from home allowed me the flexibility to participate in family obligations while still taking part in this priceless learning experience with a team of pediatric experts at the top of their field.

The 2023 Wyoming-WWAMI Medical Education Program Research Symposium awardees are:

Madeleine Prince -- Top SoD Project.

Franklin Powell and Thomas Robitaille -- Top Community-Engaged Projects.

In a separate award category, members of the public attending the event were invited to choose their favorite research poster by popular vote. Caleb Hoopes won the Peoples Choice Award.

WWAMI medical students, listed by hometown and research presentation title, are:

Big Horn -- Andrew Quinn, Spinal Tumor Surgery for Metastatic Cancer: Complete vs. Partial Resection and Treatment; and Andrew White, Heavy Alcohol Use and Binge-Drinking in Douglas, Wyoming.

Casper -- Thomas Robitaille, Fighting Media with Media: Addressing the Youth Mental Health Crisis in Gillette, Wyoming, by Meeting Them Where Theyre At.

Cheyenne -- Madeleine Prince, Assessing Barriers to Diagnosis Among Children with Pediatric Lupus; and McKenzie Stampfli, Age Friendly Healthcare in Rawlins, Wyoming.

Cody -- Trent Bronnenberg, "Analysis of Biologic Therapies in Pregnancy with Maternal Rhematologic Disease"; Aaron Erickson, Community Awareness and Intervention Prompts for Hemorrhage Control in Powell, Wyoming; Brayden Feusner, Addressing Alcoholism in Cody, Wyoming; and Galen Tribble, Utilizing an Infographic to Increase Human Papillomavirus Vaccination in Evanston, Wyoming.

Jackson -- Franklin Powell, Assessing general opioid literacy and awareness of high school students in Hot Springs County, Wyoming (Hot Springs Health, Thermopolis, Wyoming); and Heidi Taggart, Enhancing Post-Stroke Outcomes Through Direct Patient Education in Dhulikhel, Nepal.

Lander -- Ross Cook, Community-Provided Fentanyl Test Strips: A Legal, Cheap and Easy Harm Reduction Program for Sheridan, Wyoming; Cale Hinkle, Building Trust in Providers Through Biographies on the Blackfeet Reservation; and Casey Pikla, Increasing Bystander Naloxone Distribution on Wyomings Wind River Indian Reservation.

Lovell -- Hyrum Hopkin, Improving Healthcare Workers Mental Health in Sundance, Wyoming.

Powell -- Jenni Ebersberger, Hepatitis C Care Continuum Among People Who Inject Drugs in King County, Wash.; and Hannah Mills, Addressing Teenage Pregnancy in Torrington, Wyoming.

Sheridan -- Caleb Hoopes, Characterizing Right Ventricle Function in Physiologically Aged Male Mice.

Thermopolis -- Shayna Bauer, Enhancing Health Literacy and Promoting Preventive Medicine Among the Geriatric Community in Buffalo, Wyoming.

About WWAMI Medical Education

WWAMI Medical Education -- Wyomings medical school -- is a partnership between the University of Wyoming and the University of Washington School of Medicine. WWAMI Medical Education reserves 20 seats each year for qualified Wyoming residents. Students accepted to the program spend 18 months on the University of Wyoming campus. The third and fourth years are spent at selected clinical sites throughout the WWAMI region.

About UWs College of Health Sciences

UWs College of Health Sciences trains health and wellness professionals and researchers in a wide variety of disciplines, including medicine, nursing, pharmacy, speech-language pathology, social work, kinesiology, public health, health administration and disability studies. The college also oversees residency and fellowship programs in Casper and Cheyenne, as well as operating a speech/hearing clinic in Laramie and primary care clinics in Laramie, Casper and Cheyenne.

With more than 1,600 undergraduate, graduate and professional students, the college is dedicated to training the health and wellness workforce of Wyoming and conducting high-quality research and community engagement, with a particular focus on rural and frontier populations.
The Israeli occupation army said Sunday that 13 released captives were back on Israeli territory, and another four were on their way to Egypt.

Twelve were headed to a military base near the southern city of Beersheva accompanied by Israeli special forces, it said in a statement, while one had been flown directly to hospital.

In a statement, Sorocca hospital in Beersheva confirmed receiving an 84-year-old female captive who was flown in by helicopter, saying she was undergoing tests, but without elaborating.

Four additional captives were on their way to the Rafah crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, it added.

The captives released on Sunday are 13 Israeli women and children, one man with Russian-Israeli citizenship and three Thai nationals, according to statements from different governments involved.

According to a list issued by the Israeli prime minister's office, there were nine children and four women among the released Israelis, including a four-year-old girl called Abigail whose case had been highlighted by US President Joe Biden.

Three family groups made up 10 of the people who were on the list.

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The People's Bank of China and the National Bank of Cambodia on Tuesday signed a memorandum of cooperation on establishing a yuan clearing arrangement in Cambodia, China's central bank said, furthering economic cooperation between the two countries.

China has been trying to boost the yuan globally since 2009 to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar in trade and investment settlements and challenge the greenback's role as the world's major reserve currency.

Over the past two years, Beijing has signed similar yuan clearing deals with Brazil, Kazakhstan, Laos, and Pakistan.

China has also signed an estimated 40 currency swap agreements, predominantly with emerging markets, which analysts say function as a credit line for these countries to draw on. China and Saudi Arabia on Monday announced they signed a local currency swap agreement worth $6.93 billion.

The yuan clearing agreement should enable Cambodian firms to more easily conduct financial transactions with China in yuan.

China's central bank governor Pan Gongsheng and his Cambodian counterpart Chea Serey also discussed financial cooperation between the countries, a statement said.

Two-way trade between China and Cambodia reached $16.3 billion in 2022, according to United Nations COMTRADE data.

Knitted or crocheted fabric goods constituted the biggest Chinese export to the Southeast Asian nation last year, according to COMTRADE, followed by electronic equipment and machinery for plastics manufacturing.

Cambodia, which is among Asia's poorest countries, has been an important ally to China in recent years and has been accused of giving it de facto veto power in Southeast Asia's ASEAN grouping consensus-based decision making process in return for economic support.

China and Cambodia agreed to a free trade agreement in 2020 that was sealed in just one year and saw both countries cut duties on agricultural products and improve market access in their respective tourism industries.

The trade deal gave Cambodia a much needed economic cushion, after the European Union in 2019 applied punitive trade measures against it over human rights concerns.
A compensation hearing began in Beijing Monday for family members and relatives of the passengers on Malaysian Airlines flight MH370, which mysteriously disappeared almost a decade ago. At the same time, families are also calling for a renewed search for the passenger jet.

Flight MH370 was on a planned route from Kuala Lumpur to Malaysia, carrying 239 passengers, mostly from China, when it veered off course and disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

Family members of those on board have demanded compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce and Allianz insurance group among others.

According to Chinese state media more than 40 relatives are seeking between $1.4 and $11.2 million each in compensation.

More than 110 other passengers have already reached settlements for much less, with families receiving around $300,000-$400,000, according to Chinese state media.

There was no immediate comment from the court on the first day of the hearing or from the companies involved in the suit. The compensation hearing is expected to continue until mid-December.

Outside Chaoyang District Peoples Court in Beijing there was a heavy police presence ahead of the hearing, with reporters unable to talk to any family members before the case began.

Family members have also been calling for the reopening of the search for the flight, as well as an investigation into what caused the disappearance.

Relatives held signs outside of the court that read, "resume the search" and "re-establish an international investigation team."

Many family members said resumption of the investigation, as well as the providing of psychological counseling, would be more important than monetary compensation.

Seventy-one-year-old Bao Lanfang lost her son and daughter-in-law on board the crash. She told Reuters that her husband died recently after suffering severe depression because of the incident.

My mother died last year and she brought up my son. Until the very end I hid from her what really happened to him, Bao said.

Some Information in this report was taken from The Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France Presse
The United States is joining member states from NATO this week in renewing the alliance's "steadfast commitment" to Ukraine in its fight against Russia's aggression, according to a senior State Department official.

Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Brussels, where foreign ministers from NATO will gather from November 27 to 29.

On Wednesday, Blinken will lead the U.S. delegation to NATO member North Macedonia who is hosting a meeting of foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe or OSCE in its capital Skopje later this week.

The United States is hosting the next NATO summit in Washington from July 9 to 11, 2024. Blinken will discuss priorities for the Washington meeting with his counterparts as the alliance celebrates its 75th anniversary next year.

NATO-Ukraine Council foreign ministers

The chief U.S. diplomat is set to attend the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council as Kyiv aspires to be a NATO member.

The Council supports Ukraines close partnership with NATO, said Jim OBrien who is State Departments Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs. Allies will continue to support Ukraines self-defense until Russia stops its war of aggression, he added.

The NATO-Ukraine Council was inaugurated at the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 12, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other heads of member governments also in attendance.

It convened for the second time in late July to discuss Black Sea security following Russias withdrawal from a deal overseeing grain exports from Ukrainian ports.

The third meeting was held in October to discuss substantial assistance to Ukraine and to ensure Ukraines forces are fully interoperable with NATO.

The NATO-Ukraine Council is the joint body where Allies and Ukraine sit as equal participants to advance political dialogue.

Western Balkans

One of the sessions at this weeks NATO foreign ministers meeting is to address security and democracy in the Western Balkans.

A stable, prosperous future for the Western Balkans must be based on good governance, rule of law, multi-ethnic democracy, and respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, OBrien said.

NATO officials have affirmed the alliance's commitment to maintaining a safe and secure environment while contributing to broader stability in the Western Balkans.

The statement came in response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's earlier warning this month, in which he conveyed information suggesting that Russia has a plan for the destabilization of the Balkans.

Speaking on November 21 in Skopje, North Macedonia, during the final stop of a tour of the Western Balkans, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg stated that the alliance closely monitors Russia's activities in the region. But he said there is currently no perceived military threat to any NATO member in the area.

North Macedonia, OSCE

After the government of North Macedonia announced that it would briefly lift a flight ban and permit the plane carrying Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to land in Skopje for the OSCE ministerial, Lavrov said on Monday he would attend the OSCE foreign ministers meeting in North Macedonia if Bulgaria opened its air space to the Russian delegation.

North Macedonias sanctions will remain in place against Russia for all other flights.

Most European countries banned flights from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

OBrien declined to comment on whether there will be any interaction between Lavrov should he attend the OSCE ministerial and the U.S. delegation but told VOA during a phone briefing that U.S. Secretary of State Blinken will have a good discussion with OSCE counterparts about U.S. support for Ukraine.

Some material is from Reuters.
Julia Rabelo, a Brazilian studying in the U.S. state of Texas, has spent a month on campus, and she says she's learned a lot.

Here, she offers her top tips for students looking to study in the U.S. They include getting involved in campus organizations, keeping in touch with loved ones at home and remembering to have fun. (October 2023)
German missionary Father Hans Joachim Lohre who was kidnapped in Mali's capital Bamako last year has been freed by his captor, a church official told Reuters on Sunday.

Patient Nshombo of the Missionaries for Africa told Reuters by telephone that Lohre had been released.

"Yes, he has been freed, but we have to wait for further details from the authorities," Nshombo said.

The government of Mali did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the German foreign office declined to comment.

Lohre, who had been living in Bamako for 30 years, was meant to celebrate Mass on a Sunday morning in the Malian capital last year when his colleagues noticed that his car remained parked in front of his house and his telephone was switched off.
Hamas has released hostages and Israel has released Palestinians from jail, now Qatar says the deal is extended two more days. We get the details on what could be an anti-Muslim hate crime against Palestinians in Vermont. Plus, an update from Kyiv and a look at the Holodomor famine.
Russia launched its largest drone strike to date on Ukraine over the weekend. VOAs Arash Arabasadi provides details while correspondent Anna Chernikova in Kyiv tells us how the strikes led to a sleepless night for residents in the Capitol. As Ukraine's forces continue their counteroffensive, mines and explosives threaten its people in de-occupied regions. Myroslava Gongadze tells the story. A Russian woman who wants to run for president says the Kremlin should end the conflict in Ukraine, free political prisoners and undertake major reform to repair the division between Russia and the West. Well hear from Reuters correspondent Sean Hogan on the Russian woman who wants to run for president.
Hundreds turned out to salute Rosalynn Carter on Monday with the former U.S. first lady and global humanitarian's final journey from her rural hometown to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Center in Atlanta as her family began three days of memorials following her death at age 96.

The former president, who is 99 and has spent the past 10 months in home hospice care, plans to attend a memorial church service Tuesday in Atlanta for his partner of more than 77 years, The Carter Center confirmed. Rosalynn Carter died November 19.

The tributes started Monday morning as Rosalynn Carter's casket traveled by motorcade through the Carters' native Sumter County, where well-wishers gathered along the route in their tiny hometown of Plains and attended a wreath-laying ceremony at the college from which she graduated in 1946.

Lyndea Brown drove to the short ceremony at Georgia Southwestern State University from nearby Albany, saying she wanted to salute a remarkable woman who attended local cancer benefits and fought for rural health services.

They were always real hometown people, Brown said. We dont get presidents and first ladies like that anymore, people who have true hometown roots and understand what its like to grow corn and peanuts and whatever else and to struggle over health care.

During the stop at Rosalynn Carters alma mater, her four children  Jack, Chip, Jeff and Amy  watched as wreaths of white flowers were placed beside a statue of their mother on the campus where she founded the Rosalynn Carter Institute for Caregiving to advocate for millions of unpaid caregivers in American households.

Generations of the Carter family  including the former first lady's grandchildren and great-grandchildren  accompanied the hearse to Atlanta, where she was to lie in repose as members of the public paid respects Monday evening at the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum.

Two funerals, set for Tuesday in Atlanta and Wednesday in Plains, will be for invited guests. President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, longtime friends of the Carters, will lead the dignitaries expected to attend the Atlanta service. Rosalynn Carter's burial Wednesday in Plains will be private.

The schedule, a product of detailed planning that involved the former first couple, reflects the range of Rosalynn Carter's interests and impact. That includes her advocacy for better mental health treatment and the elevation of caregiving, her role as Jimmy Carter's closest adviser and her status as matriarch of Plains and Maranatha Baptist Church, where she and the former president served in various roles after leaving the White House in 1981.

All over the world, people are celebrating her life, said Kim Fuller, the Carters' niece, while teaching a Bible lesson Sunday at Maranatha. And of course, were coming into a week now where were going to celebrate even more.

Some well-wishers began honoring Rosalynn Carter soon after her death, including an uptick in visitors to the Carter Presidential Center campus.

Mental health is more openly talked about because of Rosalynn Carter's work to reduce the stigma attached to the conditions, said Brendan Green, a high school guidance counselor who came from Chicago.

She was a pioneer in that field, Green said. What a great legacy.

Elizabeth Laudig, a registered nurse from Dallas, said she drove 12 hours to be in Georgia this week, starting with the wreath-laying ceremony in Americus. She said Rosalynn Carters emphasis on mental health and caregivers was especially inspiring to her as a nurse.

She just quietly went about the business of trying to make the world a better place, Laudig said. You know, she was not a showy or extravagant first lady, but she was humble, you know, kind, hardworking, and got things done for people because she cared about people."

After the motorcade arrived in Atlanta, the family joined staff at the Carter Presidential Center for a short, private service.

The campus near downtown Atlanta includes the library and museum, and the Carter Center, where scores of people waited in line outside to pay their respects at the public viewing.

The former first couple founded the center in 1982 to champion democracy, mediate international conflicts and fight disease in the developing world. Their work around the world redefined what former White House occupants can do after ceding political power.

Carter Center CEO Paige Alexander recalled Rosalynn Carter as a tough and fiercely intelligent advocate who in every respect was her husband's full and equal partner.

Her compassion, her ability to connect, her political savvy was something that helped build the support for all of our programs over the past 40 years, Alexander told co-workers and the family.

The largest single service will be held Tuesday at Glenn Memorial Church on the Emory University campus. Emory helped the former first couple establish the Carter Center.

Besides the Bidens, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband, Doug Emhoff, have announced plans to attend. Also expected are former President Bill Clinton and his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, as well as former first ladies Laura Bush, Michelle Obama and Melania Trump, according to the Carter Center.

Glenn is a Methodist congregation. The Carters married in 1946 at Plains Methodist Church, where Rosalynn Carter attended growing up. She joined her husband as a Baptist throughout their marriage.

Her final services at Maranatha will reflect their small-town Protestant roots: Church members are invited and will eat a funeral meal with the Carter family the day of the service.
Greek police have arrested six people who they say are members of a large human trafficking gang that violently extorted money from migrants to assist them in crossing into neighboring Albania and travel to European Union countries to the north.

The six suspects  a Syrian, a Palestinian and four Iraqis  were arrested Saturday at a village less than 10 kilometers (six miles) from the Albanian border, police said Sunday.

Seven more members of the gang were arrested in the same area on Sept. 28. At that time, 11 migrants had been found detained in shacks and abandoned military outposts.

Police said in September that the traffickers, who had already collected upward of 1,000 euros (nearly $1,100) from each of the migrants to help them cross into Albania, had detained them, demanding an additional 1,500 euros ($1,640). Police said the traffickers tortured the migrants, videotaped the torture sessions and sent the footage to the victims relatives in the Middle East and South Asia.

This time, no migrants were found with the traffickers.

Police say they are searching for seven other members of the gang still at large.
Indian rescuers began drilling vertically Sunday from the top of a mountain under which 41 workers became trapped two weeks ago while working on a highway tunnel in the Himalayas, government officials said.

The men, construction workers from some of India's poorest states, have been stuck in the 4.5-km (3-mile) tunnel being built in Uttarakhand state since it caved in early on Nov. 12. Authorities have said they are safe, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines.

But rescuing them will take much longer than previously hoped as rescuers have switched to manual drilling following damage to the drilling machine, officials said Saturday.

Rescuers had hoped to finish the drilling late Thursday but had to suspend the operation after the platform on which the machine was placed was damaged.

Work resumed Friday evening only to be suspended soon afterward as the machine ran into a new obstacle, officials said, without elaborating.

Vertical drilling started Sunday and it will take about 100 hours, the officials said.

Initially, the rescue plan involved pushing a pipe wide enough to pull the trapped men out on wheeled stretchers.

The men have been getting cooked food via a lifeline pipe that was pushed through to ensure steady supplies of essential goods.

More than a dozen doctors, including psychiatrists, are at the site, talking to the men and monitoring their health. The fact that the tunnel is closed by the debris keeps the men warm.

They have been told to do light yoga exercises and walk around in the 2-kilometer tunnel space they have been confined to, and keep talking to each other.

Deepak Patil, one of the officers in charge of the rescue mission, told Reuters authorities had sent in two mobile phones and memory cards with Hindi films and electronic games.

Priyanka Chaturvedi, a spokesperson for one of India's opposition parties, asked Sunday for an investigation into the accident and asked the government to ensure the safety of the men.

A member of a panel of experts investigating the disaster said Friday the tunnel does not have an emergency exit and was built through a geological fault.
Plastic chairs as beds. Meals of bread and rice. Hours spent waiting for the bathroom. As hostages return to Israel after seven weeks of Hamas captivity, information about the conditions of their confinement has begun to trickle out.

The 58 hostages freed under the cease-fire over the past three days have largely stayed out of the public eye, with most still in hospitals around the country.

Nearly two months after Hamas militants dragged them into Gaza during a bloody cross-border attack on Israel that also killed 1,200 people, most freed hostages appear to be in stable physical condition.

Information about the conditions of their captivity has been tightly controlled, but family members of the released hostages have begun to share details about their loved ones' experiences.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released by Hamas on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and had eaten mainly rice and bread. She said her cousin and aunt, Keren and Ruth Munder, had each lost around seven kilos (15 pounds) in just 50 days.

Her nephew, 9-year-old Ohad Munder-Zichri, also looked thin.

Raviv said she'd heard from her freed family members that they had slept on rows of chairs pushed together in a room that looked like a reception area. They said they sometimes had to wait hours before going to the bathroom.

Adva Adar, the grandchild of 85-year-old released hostage Yaffa Adar, said her grandmother had also lost weight.

She counted the days of her captivity," Adar said. "She came back, and she said, I know that Ive been there for 50 days.'

Adar said that her grandmother was taken captive convinced that her family members were dead, only to emerge to the news that they had survived. Still, her release was bittersweet: she also found out that her house had been ravaged by militants.

For an 85-year-old woman, usually you have your house where you raised your kids, you have your memories, your photo albums, your clothes," said Adar. She has nothing, and in her old age she needs to start over. She mentioned that it is tough for her.

In the 50 days since the hostages were taken captive, Israel has devastated the Gaza Strip with a ground and air offensive that has killed more than 14,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-ruled territory. Under the current four-day cease-fire, Hamas has agreed to release a total of 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian security prisoners and ramping up aid to the pummeled enclave.

Eighteen foreign nationals, mostly Thais, have also been released.

Eleven more hostages are set to be released Monday on the last day of the cease-fire, leaving close to 180 hostages in the Gaza Strip. Israeli authorities have said that they are willing to extend the truce one day for every 10 hostages released by Hamas.

The fullest image yet of life under Hamas captivity was conjured by 85-year-old Yocheved Lipschitz, a hostage who was freed before the current cease-fire. Upon her release, Lipschitz said she had been held in tunnels which stretched under Gaza like a spider web. She said her captors told us they are people who believe in the Quran and wouldnt hurt us.

Lipshitz said captives were treated well and received medical care, including medication.

The guards kept conditions clean, she said. Hostages were given one meal a day of cheese, cucumber and pita, she said, adding that her captors ate the same.

There were initial indications that the recently freed hostages had also been held underground. Eyal Nouri, the nephew of Adina Moshe, 72, who was freed Friday, said his aunt had to adjust to the sunlight because she had been in darkness for weeks.

She was in complete darkness," said Nouri. "She was walking with her eyes down because she was in a tunnel. She was not used to the daylight. And during her captivity, she was disconnected ... from all the outside world.

Nouri said that Moshe didn't know that she was going to be released until the very last moment.

Until she saw the Red Cross, he said. "This is the moment when she realized, okay, these horrifying seven weeks are over.

She emerged to the news that her husband had been killed by the militants and her son's family had miraculously survived.

Doctors have warned of the steep psychological toll of captivity. Israel has made counseling and other support available to those who have been released.

But most of the freed hostages have appeared to be in good physical condition, able to walk and speak normally.

But at least two needed more serious medical care. One hostage released Sunday, 84-year-old Alma Abraham, was rushed to Israel's Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba in life-threatening condition.

The hospital's director said she had a pre-existing condition that had not been treated properly in captivity. Another young female hostage was on crutches in a video Hamas released Saturday. The girl grimaced at her captors as she entered a Red Cross vehicle bringing her out of the besieged enclave.

Yair Rotem, whose 12-year-old niece, Hila Rotem-Shoshani, was released Sunday, said he had to keep reminding her she didnt need to whisper.

They always told them to whisper and stay quiet, so I keep telling her now she can raise her voice, said Rotem. He added that Hila, who will celebrate her 13th birthday Monday, slept well during her first night back in Israel and has an appetite.

Ohad Munder was surrounded by friends soon after his release, as they celebrated his ninth birthday a month late  with ice cream and pizza in a hospital ward.

Ohad's friend, Eitan Vilchik, told Israel's Channel 13 that his friend was emotionally strong and already able to answer their questions about what he ate and what happened to him while he was in captivity. But Ohad's friends refused to share details, saying they wanted to respect his privacy.

Vilchik said teachers have canceled Munders homework requirements, but his friends will help him make up the subjects he missed in school.

He said Ohad was still able to solve a Rubiks cube in less than a minute.
Pakistan launched a week-long nationwide polio vaccination campaign Monday, as the country remains one of only two around the world where the paralyzing virus still exists.

This year, so far, Pakistan has reported five cases of the highly infectious disease. The latest polio eradication campaign will target more than 44 million children across much of the country, as well as in Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

The South Asian nation came close to eradicating polio in 2021 when it reported only one case of paralysis from the virus. However, last year the country saw a spike with 20 cases on the record. The virus generally spreads through the fecal matter of a carrier that has contaminated the water supply.

Two of this years five cases were detected in the countrys most populous city Karachi in the southern province of Sindh. This came after the city recorded zero cases in the last two years.

A spokesperson of the provincial Emergency Operation Center, Syed Nofil Naqvi, told VOA both cases are children from Afghan families settled in Pakistan for years.

Naqvi blamed cross-border movement between Pakistan and Afghanistan for the disease. Afghanistan, the only other country fighting to eliminate the virus has reported six cases so far in 2023.

The environmental samples found across Pakistan are genetically linked to Afghanistan, Naqvi said.

To counter the spread of the virus through travelers, Naqvi said, polio teams vaccinate children at bus stops and other transit points.

All of Pakistans remaining polio cases this year came from Bannu, a town in the northern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Muhammad Zeeshan Khan, deputy coordinator for the provincial Emergency Operation Center, told VOA all three families had refused to vaccinate their children.

We tried a lot to convince them. One childs family agreed to giving polio drops but the child had not received an [initial] injection [to build immunity]. This [refusal] is the reason that all three children succumbed to paralysis. Khan said the families worried the vaccine might harm their children.

Parents refusal to give the oral polio vaccine to their children is one of the primary reasons polio virus still exists in Pakistan.

Polio workers and the security personnel protecting them frequently come under lethal attacks from parents and militants who see the vaccination drive as part of a foreign conspiracy to render Pakistani children impotent or to give them ingredients not permissible for Muslims to consume.

Provincial officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded more than 16,000 refusals in October. According to Khan, Peshawar, the provincial capital, recorded nearly 8000 refusals followed by Bannu, and North Waziristan where most of Pakistans polio cases were recorded last year.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 14 incidents of violence against polio teams this year.

To counter such misconceptions, authorities have been engaging local clerics and influencers, and running expensive TV and radio campaigns to convince parents to vaccinate their children.

Still, other parents refuse and bargain for unmet civic needs. The National Emergency Operation Centers plans for the latest campaign show several communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have refused to vaccinate their children until gas, roads or teachers are provided.

For us, the biggest concern is the child whose family has refused [to vaccinate], said Khan.

In any campaign cycle thousands of children are also missed because they are not home, or the family is unwilling to allow the vaccination team inside if a male member of the household is not present.

Data shows over 13 percent of children in Quetta, Baluchistans provincial capital, missed getting the vaccine last time. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, nearly 1.2 percent of children or more than 90,000 were missed as well.

However, Khan said many of the missed children get vaccinated as guests in whichever community they are temporarily present.

In Quetta too, nearly half the children who were missed at one point were eventually covered, according to data.

Still, in parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan that border Afghanistan the vaccination campaign will either be conducted later or postponed indefinitely, primarily due to security reasons.

As hundreds of thousands of polio workers and security personnel go door to door this week in areas facing a high risk of polio, Naqvi is hopeful Pakistan will get closer to eliminating the crippling disease.

We are using a positive way of giving the message, Naqvi said. From posting signs that said Caution! Your area has polio, he said, we now say, we can eliminate polio.

A previous version of this story included an incorrect figure for the number of children being targeted by the campaign. Pakistan is hoping to vaccinate more than 40 million children.
Pakistan confirmed Monday that an overnight suicide bombing of a military convoy in a northwestern region had killed two civilians.

The militarys media wing reported that Sundays attack in Bannu, a garrison district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, had also injured seven civilians and three soldiers.

The army statement said a motorcycle-borne suicide bomber exploded himself near the convoy, adding that a post-attack search operation was underway to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area.

The bomber was identified as an Afghan national affiliated with the anti-state Hafiz Gul Bahadur militant group, known as a close ally of Afghanistans ruling Islamist Taliban.

Separately, an overnight military statement said that an intelligence-based raid in the provinces turbulent South Waziristan district near the Afghan border killed eight terrorists.

Sundays raid targeted a hideout of the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which routinely plots attacks on security forces.

Pakistan says TTP and other fugitive militants operating out of sanctuaries in Afghanistan have dramatically intensified attacks since the Taliban returned to power in the neighboring country two years ago.

Authorities have confirmed that Afghan militants carried out at least 16 suicide bombings this year in collaboration with the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban.

The violence has prompted the Pakistani government to unleash a nationwide deportation campaign against an estimated 1.7 million undocumented Afghan nationals in the country.

The crackdown has forced nearly 400,000 individuals to return to Afghanistan since mid-September, according to official data.

Pakistani caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar defended the deportation drive in a statement earlier this month, saying TTP and other Afghan-based militants have killed more than 2,300 people, including security forces, in the last two years.

Kakar said the Taliban government in Kabul had failed to rein in the cross-border terrorism and demanded the extradition of an officially estimated 6,000 TTP members sheltering in Afghanistan. He went on to allege that Afghan Taliban members also help militants in carrying out some of the attacks.

The Taliban have rejected allegations their members or territory is being used for attacks against Pakistan or any other country.

Recent United Nations reports have documented the presence of thousands of TTP and militants linked to other terrorist groups in Afghanistan, contradicting Taliban claims about fighting terrorism.
Rescue teams will switch to digging by hand in an effort to extricate 41 construction workers trapped in a collapsed road tunnel in northern India for the past 16 days.

Officials said Monday that workers will use a so-called rat hole mining technique to access the collapsed tunnel, digging a narrow passageway through the remaining rocks and debris to reach the men.

There is no other way left except the manual method and this is also the safe one through which we can reach the laborers, former Lt. Gen Harpal Singh, who is at the site to provide technical assistance to the operation, said on Monday. "Our people are also taking care of the safety measures of those who will go inside for manual drilling. Safety is our priority.

The tunnel, being built as part of a massive highway project in the northern state of Uttarakhand, caved in on November 12.

Efforts to reach the workers have hit repeated setbacks in the difficult Himalayan terrain, with sophisticated drilling equipment breaking down several times as it encountered rocks and boulders.

The latest setback came on Friday when the drilling machine was damaged irreparably about 14 meters away from the tunnel.

A team of Indian army engineers joined the rescue effort Monday, assisting other teams who had been already working on the site. They include international tunnel experts.

Work is also in progress to create an alternate escape route with workers drilling vertically from the top of the mountain toward the tunnel.

"We have to drill around 86 meters to be done within four days, that is, by November 30th. Hopefully, there will be no further hurdles and the work will be completed on time," Mahmood Ahmad, managing director of the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited said on Sunday.

However drilling into the mountain poses higher risks, with geologists warning that it could destabilize the hilly terrain.

Plummeting temperatures and forecasts of hail, thunderstorms and rainy weather pose another challenge to the rescue teams.

Everyone has been trying, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Pushkar Singh Dhami said on Monday. We hope that the work is completed at the earliest."

Contact has been maintained with the 41 men since they were trapped, first via radio and then with a camera that was inserted last Tuesday through a 15 centimeter pipe that is being used to send hot meals and medicines to the trapped men. Oxygen is being supplied through a separate pipe.

Doctors and psychologists are on standby to ensure their physical and mental well-being of the mostly migrant workers, who had come to work on the project from some of Indias poorest states. Mobile phones have been sent in so that they can talk to their families as well as board games such as Ludo to help them stay occupied.

They have electricity and a two kilometer passageway along which they can walk. This will help in ensuring their well-being. Counselors are constantly in touch with them. We are giving them what they need, Syed Ata Hussain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority told a press conference Monday.

Authorities have not said what caused the partial collapse of the under-construction tunnel, which is part of an ambitious but controversial $ 1.5 billion highway project to improve access to important Hindu pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand. Reports say it happened due to a landslide.

Several experts had opposed the Char Dham highway project saying that cutting of hillsides and felling of trees would disturb the geology of the Himalayas, the worlds youngest mountain chain, as well as pose a risk to communities living in the vicinity.

This is a region that has become increasingly prone to disasters such as landslides. So whatever we are building, we must take the fragility of the Himalayas into account, Anjal Prakash, research director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business, told VOA.

There is a need for infrastructure but how do we plan, that is a conundrum. We need to ensure that the construction being done is environmentally benign and meets international standards for road safety. It looks to me as if some of these issues have been compromised in the present case.
A man in the U.S. state of Vermont has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder in connection to the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent.

The suspect, 48-year-old Jason Eaton, appeared by video from the county jail at his arraignment hearing on Monday, which was held at the Chittenden County Court in Burlington.

Eaton spoke only to confirm his identity. His attorney entered pleas of not guilty, and the judge ordered Eaton to be held without bail, pending a hearing that is expected to take place within the next few days.

Police say Eaton shot the three men with a pistol near the University of Vermont on Saturday evening, then ran away.

The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are assisting Vermont authorities in the investigation.

The shootings will also be investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice to determine if they amount to hate crimes, according to Attorney General Merrick Garland.

The victims were reportedly speaking Arabic at the time, according to the Institute for Middle East Understanding, a nonprofit pro-Palestinian advocacy organization. Two of them were wearing a keffiyeh, a traditional black-and-white checkered scarf commonly worn in the Middle East, police said.

President Joe Biden released a statement saying he was "horrified," and that his administration "will provide any additional federal resources needed to assist in the investigation."

"While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives," Biden said.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger joined Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad at a press conference in which Weinberger thanked Biden for the swift federal support the city has received for the investigation.

The victims have been Identified as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmed, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut. All of the victims are 20 years old.

They were all transported to the intensive care unit of a local hospital, where two of them were in stable condition, while the third faces "much more serious injuries," according to police.

President Joe Biden released a statement saying he was "horrified," and that his administration "will provide any additional federal resources needed to assist in the investigation."

"While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives," Biden said.

Some information in this report was contributed by The Associated Press and Reuters.
Members of Turkey's civil society are voicing concerns for their future as international funding declines. As Dorian Jones reports from Istanbul, significant donors have been ending or cutting back their support after Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, emboldened by his reelection this year, continues his crackdown on dissenting voices.
The United States accused North Korea on Monday of using the prohibited launch of a military spy satellite to try to advance its nuclear weapons program, a charge Pyongyang denied.

The DPRK is unabashedly trying to advance its nuclear weapons delivery systems by testing ballistic missile technology in clear violation of this councils resolutions, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told council members, using the abbreviation for North Koreas formal name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

Pyongyang is prohibited by several Security Council resolutions from carrying out nuclear or ballistic missile activity. Thomas-Greenfield noted that North Korea has launched three Satellite Launch Vehicles this year and 29 ballistic missiles, including four intercontinental ones.

The United Nations said North Korea issued a pre-launch notification to the Japanese Coast Guard about its space launch vehicle but failed to issue airspace or maritime safety notifications to international sea and air organizations about its November 21 launch, which flew directly over Japan.

The DPRKs launches represent a serious risk to international civil aviation and maritime traffic, U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari said in his briefing.

Japans envoy condemned Pyongyangs appalling and reckless behavior.

The international community must express grave concern over such an irresponsible act by North Korea and take decisive action to address it, Ambassador Kimihiro Ishikane said.

South Koreas envoy said the launch was far from peaceful, as its northern neighbor claims.

Any launch that uses ballistic missile technology, regardless of its success or payload, can contribute to the further advancement of ballistic missile technology, in particular ICBMs capable of delivering nuclear weapons, Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said.

North Koreas envoy defended the launch.

It is a legitimate and righteous exercise of the rights to self-defense, which fully belongs to the legal sphere of our self-defense, Ambassador Kim Song told the council.

He attributed North Koreas need for such technology to the United States hostile policy toward his country and its joint military exercises with Japan and South Korea.

Washington has repeatedly offered to open talks with Pyongyang without pre-conditions.

The DPRK can choose the time and the topic, but the DPRK needs to make that choice, Thomas-Greenfield said on Monday.

Chinas deputy envoy said if Washington is sincere about talks, it should build trust and stop engaging in pressure tactics such as the joint military exercises.

The council last adopted a sanctions resolution on North Korea in 2017. Russia and China have used their veto or the threat of it to prevent further council action.

Several council members also expressed concern about reported military cooperation between North Korea and Russia.

Thomas-Greenfield said U.S. information indicates that Pyongyang has provided Russia with more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions for its war in Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a national budget for the next three years that increases spending by around 25% and reportedly devotes a robust amount to defense as Russias war in Ukraine drags on.

The budget foresees spending in 2024 of $415 billion with an expected deficit of $9.5 billion.

After the budget was passed by the lower house of the parliament, Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said it was developed specifically to fund the military and to mitigate the impact of international sanctions imposed on Russia after its Ukraine invasion in February 2022.

Record low unemployment, higher wages and targeted social spending should help the Kremlin use most of its budget to fund the military, but could present a problem in the long term, analysts say.

Part of the Russian budget is secret as the Kremlin tries to conceal its military plans and sidestep scrutiny of its military operation in Ukraine. However, it is estimated that around 39% of all federal spending will go to the military and law enforcement, according to independent business journalists Farida Rustamova and Maksim Tovkaylo.

EU-Ukraine

While on a visit to Kyiv on Monday, EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova praised Ukraines fight against corruption, but said additional efforts were needed if Ukraine aspires to become a member of the European Union.

In November, the commission recommended that the 27-member EU formally start accession talks once Ukraine meets several remaining conditions, including strengthening anti-corruption efforts.

Jourova said she was impressed with Ukraines improvement since 2017. However, she added there are still things that need to be done.

She also stressed that the EU needed "to think about our absorption capacity" when it comes to new members' accession and adapt the system.

Membership talks take years as candidates must meet extensive legal and economic criteria before joining. The EU is also unwilling to take in a country that is at war.

NATO meeting

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to Brussels Monday for a NATO meeting where he will pledge NATOs ongoing support for Ukraine in its war with Russia, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien told reporters.

The war between Israel and Hamas and concerns of the war widening in the Middle East have raised questions whether Washington can sustain the level of military and diplomatic support it has offered Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022.

Asked about a report by Germany's Bild newspaper that the United States and Germany were quietly nudging Kyiv into negotiations with Moscow, O'Brien said Washington does not have such a policy.

"We've always said that this is a matter for Ukraine to decide," he said.

Germany is trying to fend off an economic crisis triggered by high energy costs and skyrocketing prices since Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Berlins ruling coalition unveiled a supplementary budget Monday that will temporarily lift a self-imposed cap on borrowing, allowing it to tap into an extra 45 million euros.

The budget, which parliament must approve, will see Germany suspend its constitutionally enshrined debt brake for a fourth year in a row.

Polish blockade continues

Meanwhile, Polish truckers and farmers started a round-the-clock blockade of access to one of the busiest border crossings with Ukraine Monday, extending a protest that has left over a thousand trucks stranded for days in queues that stretch for miles.

The truckers, now blocking the Medyka crossing as well as three other border crossings, protest that they are losing out to Ukrainian competition, which offers cheaper prices for services and goods within the European Union.

Ukraines grain and other exports are increasing in the Black Sea as growing numbers of ships carrying grain, metals and other cargo are using Ukraines ports through a new, narrow shipping corridor protected by the military.

The route is still threatened by Russian attacks and explosive mines, but the increased exports are giving a boost to Ukraines agriculture-dependent economy.

It is also bringing back a key source of wheat, corn, barley, sunflower oil and other affordable food products for parts of Africa, the Middle East and Asia, where local prices have increased, and food insecurity is growing.

"We are seeing renewed confidence among commercial operators keen to take Ukrainian grain cargoes, said Munro Anderson, head of operations for Vessel Protect, which assesses war risks at sea and provides insurance with backing from Lloyds, whose members make up the worlds largest insurance marketplace.

Artifacts returned

More than a thousand ancient Scythian artifacts from museums in Russian-occupied Crimea dating back to the 7th century B.C. have been returned to Ukraine after a legal dispute over ownership rights. The artifacts stayed for almost a decade in the Netherlands where they were on loan when Russia invaded Crimea, the National Museum of History of Ukraine said Monday.

The museum had previously said the collection would be stored in the museum until the de-occupation of Crimea.

Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
A two-state solution would be the answer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, officials of Arab states and the European Union agreed at a meeting in Barcelona, Spain, on Monday.

They said the Palestinian Authority, rather than Hamas, should rule Gaza.

European Union foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell said during the meeting in Barcelona that all EU members and almost everyone else attending agreed on the need for a two-state solution.

The Palestinian Authority must hold elections and improve its governance, but it is the only "viable solution" to the future leadership of Gaza to avoid a "power vacuum," Borrell said.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said the Palestinian people should decide who rules them and that any talk of administration of Gaza after the conflict should focus on the West Bank and Gaza as one entity.

A two-state solution envisages a state for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip alongside Israel.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said the Palestinian Authority, which lost control of the Gaza Strip in a 2007 power struggle with Hamas, had no need to return to Gaza, adding, "We have been there all the time. We have 60,000 public workers there."

The three officials spoke at the conclusion of a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean, a 43-member grouping of European, North African and Middle Eastern countries.

Israel did not attend the summit. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan spoke as a representative of a group of ministers from the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

The original four-day truce between Israel and Hamas has been extended by 48 hours to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. This is the first lull in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In response to that attack, Israel bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Israel and Hamas reached an agreement Monday to extend their cease-fire in Gaza for two more days, with the militants releasing more hostages and the Jewish state freeing more Palestinian prisoners, the Qatari government announced.

The extension of the temporary cease-fire was negotiated by Qatar and came on the final day of the original four-day truce between the warring sides. The United States, which has been calling for a truce as long as hostages are being released, said it welcomed the extended cessation in fighting.

Israel had said it would halt its ground invasion and aerial attack on Hamas in the Gaza Strip by one day beyond the original pact for every 10 additional hostages Hamas releases and free three times that many Palestinians held in Israeli jails on various offenses. Hamas confirmed it had agreed to a two-day extension "under the same terms."

A fourth swap of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian prisoners was expected later Monday, with a total of 50 Israeli hostages freed over the last four days and 150 Palestinians released.

While the extended cease-fire held out the prospect of a longer truce, Israel has remained adamant in its stated goal of crushing Hamas' military capabilities and ending its 16-year rule over Gaza, the narrow territory along the Mediterranean Sea, after the shock October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed about 1,200 people and led to the Hamas capture of about 240 hostages, according to Israel.

Israel's offensive against Hamas militants in Gaza has killed more than 14,000 people, the majority of them women and children, according to Gaza health officials.

Under the original agreement, before any Monday swap of hostages and prisoners, 58 hostages have been released, including 39 Israelis. Before the truce, four hostages were freed, another rescued and two were found dead inside Gaza. More than 100 Palestinians have been freed from Israeli jails.

In a statement, two relatives of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli American citizenship who was released Sunday, said, "We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing."

Hamas, a U.S.-designated terror group, and other allied militants could still be holding up to 175 hostages, enough to potentially extend the cease-fire for two and a half weeks.

But the hostage group includes a number of Israeli soldiers, and the militants could make stiffer demands for their release.

The White House said in a statement Sunday that President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about the release of hostages and discussed the pause in the fighting and the surge in much-needed additional humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip.

In Barcelona, European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called the four-day truce an "important first step," but said much more is needed to "alleviate the dire situation in Gaza and to find a way out of the current crisis."

"The pause should be extended to make it sustainable and long-lasting while working for a political solution," he said Monday at the start of a meeting of the Union for the Mediterranean.

Borrell said the "indiscriminate brutality" of the Hamas attack on Israeli civilians cannot be justified but said "one horror cannot justify another horror," noting the widespread destruction in Gaza from Israel's military campaign.

China said Monday its top diplomat, Wang Yi, will preside over a Wednesday U.N. Security Council meeting focused on the Israel-Hamas situation.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters that China hopes the talks would lead to a prolonged cease-fire and an end to the fighting, and alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Locked up Citizens Coalition for Change activist Job Sikhala attending a court case in Harare in which he is accused of inciting public violence. He says police have added more allegations against him which were not in the initial state case. (VOA) #jobsikhala #zimbabwe
A four-year-old American girl is safely in Israel after being released Sunday from captivity in Gaza, US President Joe Biden said as he urged the pause in Israel-Hamas fighting be extended to allow for more hostage releases.

"She's free and she's in Israel now," Biden told reporters shortly after the Israeli army announced that 17 hostages were being freed by Hamas.

"She's been through a terrible trauma," Biden said of the child, Abigail, whose parents were murdered by Hamas militants when members of the Islamist group attacked Israel on October 7. On Friday in captivity, she marked her fourth birthday, the president said.

"Today, she's free, and Jill (Biden) and I, together with so many Americans, are praying for the fact that she is going to be alright," he said.

"She is now safely in Israel, and we continue to press and expect for additional Americans will be released as well. And we will not stop working until every hostage is returned to their loved ones."

The White House has said that 10 Americans -- seven men, two women and Abigail -- were missing and presumed held hostage by Hamas.

Abigail's case particularly gripped Biden, a senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Since the conflict's onset, Biden "raised Abigail in nearly all of his phone calls with counterparts as well as with the emir of Qatar yesterday," the official said.

Witnesses helped US officials track Abigail's ordeal more closely than that of other US hostages, many of whom are in unknown locations in Gaza.

- 'In front of her eyes' -

"We learned early from witnesses what happened. Her mother was murdered in front of her eyes. Her father tried to protect Abigail -- and then he was killed," the official said.

She ran to a neighboring family but militants took the family and Abigail into northern Gaza, the official said.

US officials insisted that Abigail be included on an early list for release.

Her release Sunday held moments of drama. The convoy bearing Abigail and other freed hostages was diverted from the crossing at the border point of Rafah into Egypt to a more direct route into Israel due to another freed hostage, an 85-year-old woman, needing urgent medical care, the official said.

Questioned by reporters about when other US citizens might be released, Biden -- speaking from Massachusetts, where he was wrapping up a Thanksgiving break -- said: "I don't have anything firmly to tell you at this moment."

Biden said a total of 58 hostages have been released by Hamas during the current temporary halt in fighting, through what he called "intensive US diplomacy" by himself and administration officials working with Israel, Qatar, Egypt and others.

The US president said he hoped to see the pause extended.

"That's my goal, that's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza," Biden said.

Asked for how long he would like to see a pause in fighting, he said: "As long as prisoners keep coming out."

"I get a sense that all the players in the region are looking for a way to end this so the hostages are all released and... Hamas is completely no longer in control of Gaza."

He also pointed to the humanitarian benefits of the break in fighting, saying hundreds of aid trucks have been able to enter the besieged Gaza Strip, providing much-needed food, water, medicine and fuel.

The three-day-old truce "is delivering life-saving results," Biden added.

"Critically needed aid is going in, and hostages are coming out."

US Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican, said without mentioning Biden that it was "a great relief" Abigail was released. But he noted that a native of Tillis's state of North Carolina, Keith Siegel, remained captive by Hamas.

Siegel's spouse, Aviva Siegel, was released on Sunday even as her husband remained captive, the senior official said.

mlm/bbk/tjj/st
Sierra Leone's government said it was in full control on Sunday evening after reporting an attack at a military armoury in the capital Freetown that sparked armed clashes, which the president called an attempt to destabilise the state.

Authorities in the English-speaking West African country -- which has been going through a political crisis following elections in June this year -- have declared a national curfew until further notice.

President Julius Maada Bio said late Sunday that calm had been restored after what he described as an attempt to undermine peace and stability in the country.

"Most of the leaders have been arrested. Security operations and investigations are ongoing," Bio said on national television, adding that the government would "ensure that those responsible are held accountable".

An AFP journalist said calm was slowly returning to the capital by Sunday evening, but checkpoints heavily guarded by security forces remained in place.

The "government is in firm control of the security situation in Freetown, the attackers are retreating," information minister Chernor Bah earlier told AFP.

Videos posted on social media appeared to show men in uniform under arrest in the back or beside a military pick-up truck.

Earlier in the day, witnesses told AFP they heard gunshots and explosions in the city's Wilberforce district, where the armoury and some embassies are located.

Other witnesses reported exchanges of fire near a barracks in Murray Town district, home to the navy, and outside another military site in Freetown.

The information ministry reported attacks on prisons earlier in the day that obliged the security forces to retreat.

"The prisons were thus overrun" with some detainees released and others "abducted", it said.

Video posted on social networks suggested numerous prisoners had escaped from the central jail.

One man who was in a group filmed on the street by an AFP correspondent said they had escaped from the prison.

The information ministry said security forces had pushed the attackers to the outskirts of Freetown, with drone video taken by AFP showing empty streets in the capital.

The situation remained unclear with the authorities making no comments on the motives or identity of the attackers.

- 'Like a war' -

President Bio wrote on X, formerly Twitter, that the government would "continue to protect the peace and security of Sierra Leone against the forces that wish to truncate our much-cherished stability".

"We remain resolute in our determination to protect democracy in Sierra Leone."

Regional bloc the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which has contended with a series of coups among its members since 2020, issued a statement underlining "its zero-tolerance for unconstitutional change of government".

Echoing language used to condemn past coup attempts, ECOWAS spoke of its "utter disgust" over a "plot by certain individuals to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order".

The US embassy condemned on social media the bid to break into the armoury and offered continued support for those "working for a peaceful, democratic, healthy and prosperous Sierra Leone".

The European Union's local representation expressed concern and called for the respect of constitutional order.

Witness Susan Kargbo told AFP by telephone she was woken "by a loud sound of heavy machine gun (fire) and bombs coming from the Wilberforce barracks around 4:30 am.

"I was shocked and... the gunshots continued until this morning, it was like a war," she said.

- Attackers 'repelled' -

The government said those attempting to break into the armoury had been repelled but asked the public to stay at home while security operations continued.

The local representations of the UK and the European Union echoed the authorities' advice to stay at home.

The civil aviation authority said Sierra Leone's airspace remained open but asked airlines to reschedule their flights after the lifting of the curfew.

President Bio, who was first elected in 2018, was re-elected in June with 56.17 percent of the vote -- just over the 55 percent needed to avoid a run-off.

International observers condemned inconsistencies and a lack of transparency in the count, as well as acts of violence and intimidation.

The main opposition All People's Congress (APC) party disputed the results of the presidential, legislative and local elections on June 24 and boycotted all levels of government.

The APC and the government signed an agreement in October following talks mediated by the Commonwealth, the African Union and ECOWAS.

The APC agreed to end its boycott and begin participating in government in exchange for an end to detentions and court cases it said were politically motivated.

sb-lal/imm/acc/pvh
According to the Israeli media, the July Israeli governmental crisis can be explained by IDF admonitions that Hamas was preparing to launch, from Gaza, a perfect storm against Israel.

General Amit Saar, head of the IDF Military Intelligence Research Department, wrote to the Prime Minister on 19 March and 16 July, warning him of an impending Hamas attack. He explained that Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran interpreted the domestic debate taking place over fundamental legislative reforms as a sign of Israels internal weakness.

General Yoav Gallant, Minister of Defense, then asked Benjamin Netanyahu to hold off the reforms and focus on the threat coming from Hamas. He was immediately shown the door. However, in view of the uproar that followed his dismissal, the Prime Minister went back on his decision and finally reinstated Gallant in his ministerial functions.

This incident is not disputed. It has been corroborated by the release of Amir Saars letters. It gives the lie to the official version to the effect that the alerts sent to the government had not reached the Prime Minister and that, in any case, he was too busy with the West Bank to worry about Gaza.

The possibility of a false flag attack cannot, therefore, be discarded.

This episode is not in dispute. It is today attested by the publication of the letters of Amir Saar. He rejects the official version according to which the alerts sent to the government had not reached the Prime Minister and that, in any case, he was too busy with the West Bank to worry about Gaza.

The question of a false flag attack is raised.
Photo: MEGA/GC Images

For those wondering if Timothee Chalamet might have met Stormi: Who can say? The real question is whether hes ready to be a stepdad to half a dozen dogs. If hes not prepared to be the dad who stepped up, he luckily has the help of a dog nanny. In a conversation with Jennifer Lawrence for Interview magazine, Kylie Jenner said the best hire [she] ever made was a dog nanny, since she has seven canines. That count is down from a previously reported ten dogs. Whos left? Maybe Odie, unless he has gone to live with Jon and Garfield. In the nicest way possible, Lawrence did the work of any good journalist and followed up on why, exactly, Jenner is housing a full animal shelter that requires a separate worker in her home. Because they kept multiplying, Jenner said. One of them had children, and I had to keep the family together. Does Jenner know you can get dogs spayed and neutered? Does she intend to create a new type with especially big lips through selective breeding?
The Gilded Age Close Enough to Touch Season 2 Episode 5 Editors Rating 5 stars * * * * *  Previous Next  Previous Episode Next Episode  Photo: HBO

OMG. What! Was this episode amazing?? I think it was! I cant believe the number of things that happened. When Adas wedding approached, I felt like I was watching an episode of The Bachelor and saying, They cant do a rose ceremony with five minutes left! But then they did. Someone was hustling along some exciting plot this week, and I commend them for it. This is how you do a Gilded Age: nonsense events put on by rich people, coupled with things that actually matter. Have to show the gild on the age, if you will.

Bertha is in Newport, preparing for the dinner in honor of the Duke of Buckingham. Only she is at risk of being foiled by the crafty Mrs. Winterton. Just kidding. Mrs. Wintertons ideas for how to ruin this event are like what your 10-year-old nephew would come up with if you said, How do I ruin a dinner party? Idea No. 1: Make the sauce taste gross! Everyone will be like, Ew, why did I even come to this dinner when it has such terrible sauce? And that will be embarrassing. Idea No. 2: Spill hot soup on the dukes pants! Hell hate it! Its so hot! Also, then hell have soup pants. Vengeance achieved!! Come on, Winterton. When you threw that newspaper in the fire, I expected better of you. It is, however, hilarious to see these two ideas completely fail. You cant even revenge correctly, Winterton!

Watching Bertha triumph is extremely satisfying, even though her husband is literally a robber baron who is trying to crush a union. Were also witnessing her growth as a Lady of Society because she effortlessly throws out that she wants the Bernardaud china with the Saint Louis glass. I have looked up both of these, and they are worth whatever she paid for them. Good for you, Bertha, for learning all this information without the internet. Seems hard. She also knows she needs a new ladys maid because her temporary maid, Adelheid, apparently has limited tiara skills. Well, then. No, Im kidding. Ive seen this show; tiaras are a weekly affair, and how are you supposed to show them off to their best advantage if you have an unskilled tiara worker? Its like people dont want to work these days, and by work, I mean learn the intricate methods for placing a tiara on someones head.

But what of Peggy and T. Thomas Fortune, whom I will call Fortune because T. Thomas is awkward as hell. Theyre still in Tuskegee, meeting students at the Tuskegee Institute and having a great time, which you know is going to go to shit, and then it does. Peggy and Fortune eat at a Black womanowned restaurant with an incredible ambience, and some white asshole comes in and really starts in on his asshole behavior, grabbing the owner by the neck and demanding food. Fortune tells him to stop and ends up shoving the mans sidekick, so he and Peggy run out the door, grab their things from the Washingtons house, and hide in a barn. Its terrifying. In the barn, they, of course, kiss. He is married, and I do not support this, but adrenaline will make people do things. This was genuinely such a frightening situation for them to be in, and I hope they get out of there soon.

Now we come to Maud. I had a theory about Maud based on a misremembering of history. Jay Gould once had to flee to New Jersey to escape arrest due to railroad chicanery. It turns out this was about 20 years before the events of this series, which is a real bummer because after finding myself bored by Maud (a potentially exciting character), I suddenly thought, Wait! What if this is all a SCHEME to get rich men to invest in this railroad venture? I 100 percent want con-artist Maud. I havent fully given up hope, but it looks like Gould didnt do anything con manlike in the 1880s, and then he died, so. I dont know; hope springs eternal. Maud also wears a very Georgia OKeeffeish hat in this episode, if you know what I mean, so Im still holding out for a marriage of equals between her and Oscar. And he could marry her despite her conning him, like in The Lady Eve! Wow, this show that Ive imagined sounds great.

As we all remember from last week, Ada is now engaged to Reverend Luke Forte, who proposed to her after a highly brief acquaintance. If I were a suspicious person who thrives on fictional intrigue, I would not trust it (I am, and I did not). But it all seems fine? Just a weirdly fast engagement and marriage? Ada tells Agnes, which goes about as well as you would expect, and gives us Christine Baranskis best scene this season. She tells Ada that Ada is a spinster and shes always been a spinster and then orders Bannister to rescind his congratulations. We also get an icy Please do not tell me how to speak to my own butler, which is why we watch this show. When else are you going to hear that in daily life? Unless you call your dog your butler, which would be very cute or possibly weird, I cant decide.

Ada tells Agnes not only that she is engaged but that the wedding is NEXT WEEK. What is happening? If this is that thing in Christian circles where abstinent youth get married real fast because they want to bang, then like  okay, fine. Theyre both in their 50s. I get it. But it still seems SUSPICIOUS. Trust no one! Constant vigilance! What dark secrets is the reverend hopefully hiding? But no, they do all these speeches about love and marriage and moving on with your life, so they cant just say phbbbbt to that and have his three hidden wives show up, no matter how fun that would be. After many adamant refusals to attend, Agnes is shamed just enough that she ends up making a dramatic entrance at Adas wedding. Oscar walks Ada down the aisle. Everyone is together and happy. This cannot last! Unless it can. Hmmmmm.

Lastly, lets quickly touch on the plots running just slightly behind the scenes. The one where Bertha is trying to throw Gladys at the duke is more obvious, but I am concerned about what this will do to the Russells marriage since (as we have discussed) Gladys is Consuelo Vanderbilt, and that means she does not love the duke, and George is determined shell marry someone she loves. This is not good!!

The other plot, which I am about 50 percent sure of, is that Larry and Marian are endgame, and theyre just really keeping it low-key until theres going to be some moment when they realize theyre in love. If its true, though, its been very subtle, so we shall see.

Things to Gossip About at Mrs. Astors Next Ball

 Should we all talk about Larry Russell and how he has a curly lock falling gently across his forehead, or should we ignore that somehow?

 I heard a rumor that the duke almost had soup pants at Mrs. Russells.
China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit New York this week to hold a United Nations Security Council meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Beijing's foreign ministry said on Monday.

"As it holds the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council this month, China will hold a high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29," spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

Wang Yi will preside over the meeting, he added.

China said last week it welcomed a truce between Israel-Hamas, which began Friday and led to more than 100 Palestinian prisoners freed and the release of dozens of people held in captivity in Gaza.

The deal entered its final 24 hours on Monday.

China has historically been sympathetic to the Palestinian cause and supportive of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for an "international peace conference" to resolve the fighting.

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NAIROBI, Kenya  The Kenyan government on Monday urged people living in flood-prone areas to relocate to higher ground as heavy rains and flash floods continued to wreak havoc across East Africa. At least 76 people have died and 40,000 displaced from their homes since the rains began pounding the country in October. President William Ruto convened an emergency cabinet meeting on Monday and said 38 of Kenyas 47 counties had been affected by floods and mudslides made worse by the El Nino phenomenon.

State House spokesperson Hussein Mohammed also noted disease outbreaks, destruction of infrastructure and property as well as prolonged power outages across Kenya and the region.

The worst affected areas are the coastal cities of Mombasa and Malindi and the northern Kenya region which borders Somalia, also hit hard by flooding.

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In Kenyas Garissa town, thousands of people have been displaced after their homes were swept away.

All roads are destroyed. I dont even know where people will go, Garissa resident Joel Ngui told The Associated Press.

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Many roads and bridges have been washed away or partially destroyed, making it difficult to reach people marooned by flood waters.

Residents living by the Tana River, Kenyas largest, have been left homeless and hungry after it burst its banks.

Marian Ware, a widow and mother of five, escaped with her children after her home was carried away. She constructed a makeshift shelter on higher ground.

I had no one to help me, my husband died a long time ago, she said. I was struggling to get my children to safety. When I went back, everything was gone.

Ruto on Sunday activated a National Disaster Operation Center but fell short of declaring the floods a national emergency. His spokesperson, Hussein, said that could change if things get out of hand, if things get worse.

Kenyas meteorological department has warned that the heavy rains will continue into the new year.

In Somalia, the death toll from the deluge stood at 96 on Monday. In Ethiopia, 44 people had been killed.

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Inganga reported from Bangale, Kenya.
In an unsavoury court case, venture capitalist and philanthropist Mark Carnegie has successfully sued his former wife to release $35.4 million from their family trust, to take advantage of a $13 million tax exemption available to him through his residency in New Zealand.

Carnegie, 61, moved to New Zealand in January 2020, with his then partner Lady Katie Percy, a gunsmith and mechanic, who is the daughter of Britains 12th Duke of Northumberland. Her parents own Alnwick Castle, which doubles as Hogwarts in the Harry Potter films.

Carnegie and Percy settled in the town of Takaka on New Zealands South Island, but it was reported their relationship didnt survive the pandemic.

Mark Carnegie made his name by selling Carnegie Wiley, the investment bank he co-founded, for more than $200 million in 2007. Credit: Michael Quelch

The move to New Zealand was described by Carnegie as a shift into semi-retirement. It also made him eligible for a tax break. NSW Supreme Court Justice Michael Elkaim explained the tax break this month as a transitional residency exemption  on any foreign income received by him for a period of up to four years from his arrival. The expiration of that tax exemption is next January.
Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for later Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Got it Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size The movie biz is one of the few industries that still employ children. We might reel at the notion of minors working in factories or fields, but chuck them on a big screen and its pass the popcorn, please. Given the emotional demands of the job, plus the long hours and outsized personalities, and its no wonder so many child actors face struggles in later life. Its a welcome surprise to discover that Julian Dennison has his head on straight. At 12 years old he was one of two leads in the highest grossing New Zealand film of all time. Hunt for the Wilderpeople saw him give an unforgettable turn as Ricky Baker, a pint-sized wannabe-gangsta who goes on the run with a grizzly, misanthropic backwoodsman (Sam Neill). Directed by Taika Waititi, the film is one of the most critically and commercially successful offerings from the country Dennison calls home. My world did change, says the now 21-year-old. I started to get noticed more, people wanted photos, and to this day if I walk down the street its always hey Ricky Baker! Dennison, aged 12, with Sam Neill in Hunt for the Wilderpeople. Wilderpeople opened doors and made him a celebrity, but it also altered him on a more internal level. He pulled off such a high-profile role partly because even at that young age, he was already a seasoned screen star. His first film role was at nine, in a small film called Shopping (a very sad movie, very classic NZ drama). That led to a role in Australian director Robert Connollys feature Paper Planes, and soon afterwards Waititi cast Dennison in a hilarious anti-drug driving ad that went viral. It wasnt until Wilderpeople that he really began to take acting seriously. It was very much playing the lead, being on set every day, seeing how it works. Going, oh, I do enjoy this. I do see this as a future for myself. And what a future. A film like Wilderpeople could have been a career highpoint, after which everything else seemed to pale. But Dennison has since appeared in a superhero film (Deadpool 2), a monster movie (Godzilla vs. Kong), and starred opposite Hollywood royalty the likes of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn (The Christmas Chronicles 2).

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Working on Hollywood blockbusters must be a long way from the intimate indies he began with? The foods a little better, the cars that pick you up are a bit nicer. At the end of the day, its all just telling stories, and Im very blessed to be able to do those projects. But theres something special about independent film. Just you and the crew and youre getting it done because you love the craft. Dennison stars in the new coming-of-age film Uproar. Dennisons latest film is one of those independents. Set in 1981, Uproar follows Josh Waaka (Dennison), a teenager whose mental horizons are limited by the small-town mindset of Dunedin, but whose world opens up as political, ethnic and familial faultlines begin to grow unstable beneath him. One of Uproars inspirations is the protests that swept New Zealand when South Africas rugby team toured, with police responding violently in some cases. Dennison wasnt born at the time, but has family who were part of those marches. I appreciated when my aunties and uncles who are older were like oh yeah, (Uproar) captured the sense of what it was like really well. The film is a coming-of-age drama first, however, and its political implications are second to the emotional workings of the story. Josh has grown up almost entirely disconnected with his Maori heritage, and some of the films most affecting moments emerge as he begins to grow curious about this own side of himself. Thats not an experience Dennison personally shares. His mother is Maori, father Pakeha, and Mum always made sure we knew who we were. We went back home to the marae (meeting grounds) or to our whenua, our Indigenous land, a lot growing up.

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But like Josh, he attended an all-boys school that was predominantly white, a call each other by last names, socks to your knees kind of place. You come out of those schools and you almost feel institutionalised. While its quietly heartbreaking to see the bullying Josh endures at the hands of several schoolmates, its that much more devastating to realise how it echoes the same inequalities underpinning the school in general  if not wider society itself. TAKE 7: THE ANSWERS ACCORDING TO JULIAN DENNISON Worst habit? Biting my fingernails. Greatest fear? The open ocean. The line that stayed with you? If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together. (African proverb) Biggest regret? Answering these questions! Favourite room? The bathroom. The artwork/song you wish was yours? The Mona Lisa. If you could solve one thing World hunger. Dennison plays Josh with admirable restraint, but there are a number of key scenes in which he really lets his acting chops show. You have to remind yourself that hes only just out of his teens  not to mention that he never studied acting. When he was just starting out, he says, he didnt think too hard about his job. I remember being young, knowing that I didnt have to go to school, I got free food, but I didnt really know what acting was. Even when success came, its hard to develop an oversized ego in a country where you might spot the Prime Minister going out for coffee. As Kiwis its hard to be big and famous without being humbled. I was doing these films and then coming back home and doing the dishes and going to school with my friends. After Wilderpeople I was still walking to school and catching the train. I was just living my life. His family kept him firmly grounded, too. It wasnt a thing of oh now youre big and famous, now youre Hollywood. It was: just remember who you are. Youre good enough without that. That was really positive for me. Even without those films, youre still this great person. Thats what my parents really solidified into all of us. It doesnt matter what you do, just be a good person. Dennison is very close with his family, immediate and extended. He even lives with his twin brother, Christian, in Auckland. Its a contrast to his screen life  many of the characters hes played have complicated personal lives, and their travails involve building new families around themselves, or rekindling relationships that have faltered.

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For decades the hip-hop culture emanating out of Western Sydney - considered the epicentre of emerging talent in the genre - has had no fixed address to call home.

Now music and street art representing neighbourhoods between Parramatta and Penrith will be honoured and sustained at Powerhouse Parramatta when it opens in 2025, under a cultural partnership between the new museum and Blacktown City Council.

Performers at the 4Elements Hip-hop Festival, Maya Jupiter, festival producer Vyvienne Abla, and performer MC Trey in Blacktown. Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

The Powerhouse Parramatta and Blacktown City Council Foundational Cultural Partnership is a five-year program set up to tell the urban and suburban stories of Blacktown, one of the most multicultural areas of Australia, with residents coming from 188 different birthplaces.

It aims to spotlight the diversity of the creative skills of the communities, ranging from street art from Mount Druitt, and hip-hop across the region to Pacific Islanders weaving.
JAMES DAVERN OAM February 21, 1933-November 13, 2023

Film and television producer, sailor and vigneron James Davern lived a life full to the brim with humour and adventure. He was a man of creativity, generosity, and zest for life and love.

Jim, as he was known to all, was an influential figure in Australian television, and his death leaves a huge hole in the lives of his colleagues, friends, family, and the many thousands of fans of his popular television shows. He was not just a successful writer, director and producer, but also a mentor to countless aspiring newcomers, this writer among them. He is credited with developing the process of team scriptwriting for long-running Australian drama and his influence on Australian television culture is ongoing.

Born in Belgrave, Victoria, the eldest son of Eva and Edmund Davern, Jims early life was marked by the war and economic depression. His father died of an illness contracted during his time as a soldier in Papua New Guinea, leaving Eva widowed at an early age with four children to raise.

A bright boy, Jim won a scholarship to De La Salle College but never achieved academic glory. He had, shall we say, a clash of personalities with the nuns, and he would often escape the classroom to go fishing. He did not finish his education until many years later when he returned to night school.
A woman who was allegedly killed by her partner in Sydneys inner west can be revealed as a special needs teacher from Brazil.

Diogo De Oliveira, 40, briefly faced court on Monday over the alleged murder of his partner Catiuscia Machado at a Chiswick unit between Friday and Saturday night.

Catiuscia Machado was allegedly murdered by her partner Credit: Facebook

Court documents reveal Machados body was potentially left undiscovered for up to a day after her death.

Police were called to a unit at Bechert Road about 9.50pm on Saturday, following reports of a domestic incident.
Asked if a text message in which he said happy days was a reference to cocaine being available, Lehrmann said: I dont know if it was or not. Probably. Lehrmann alleges the Ten interview, which did not name him, defamed him by alleging he raped Higgins in then-defence industry minister Linda Reynolds office in Parliament House in the early hours of March 23, 2019. He denies the allegation. Coming for you Lehrmann was also taken in court on Monday to an anonymous email he received on January 25, 2021, titled Coming for you, which appeared to have been sent by Bruce Lehrmann, although the email address was not his. The email appeared to refer to a speech delivered that night by 2021 Australian of the Year Grace Tame, a survivor of sexual abuse, and said: A woman spoke about what happened to her tonight, and shes Australian of the Year.

Lisa Wilkinson and her barrister Sue Chrysanthou, SC, outside the Federal Court in Sydney on Monday. Credit: Dominic Lorrimer I want you to think about what you did, and what might be around the corner for you. Its inspiring when justice is delivered and the truth comes out, the email said. You know what they said: The truth will set you free. Its going to be a magical 2021. Collins put it to him that he must have thought this email was someone making an allegation of sexual assault. No, I thought someone had hacked into my account, Lehrmann said. Collins put to Lehrmann that this email was another reason why he knew that a News Corp article about Higgins allegations, published in the morning before The Project broadcast, related to him. He was not named by either media outlet. Lehrmann maintained he didnt know it related to him and didnt form a view at the time.

Collins said this answer was exactly the opposite of those Lehrmann gave earlier this year in court in relation to a preliminary issue in the case. Asked to explain the difference in those responses, he said: I cant, Im sorry. He said he couldnt confirm the article was about him until a journalist from The Australian contacted his work at about 2pm that day. The lie to Reynolds In a letter on April 5, 2019, referred to in court on Monday, Lehrmann told his then-boss, Liberal senator Linda Reynolds, that he had retreated to Queensland to see my mother. He admitted in court that he was not in Queensland on April 4 or 5. Lehrmanns employment was formally terminated on April 5, 2019, for accessing his Parliament House office after hours on Saturday, March 23, 2019, following a night out drinking with colleagues.

Collins put to Lehrmann that he understood it was important to be completely frank and truthful in this response [to Reynolds], didnt you? As best as I could recall, yes, Lehrmann said. Here in a letter to the minister youve lied? Collins said about the claim he had retreated to Queensland. Well, yes, Lehrmann said. What explanation do you give for that lie? Collins asked. There were plans back then to  [go to Queensland]; I cant take myself back there to why, Lehrmann said.

Lehrmann also wrote in the letter that he refuted a claim that he informed security that he was entering Parliament House for official purposes. However, the court has heard that he told security he had been requested to pick up some documents after giving Reynolds name. Senator Linda Reynolds at Parliament House in August. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Asked why he gave a false account, Lehrmann said that my headspace would have been probably unclear of what the exact allegation was being made by minister Reynolds. I was probably trying to play it down, Dr Collins, Lehrmann said. You accept its not true, Collins said.

It would appear that way, yes, Lehrmann replied. Sexual assault denied Lehrmann said on Friday he told Higgins and two other staffers at Canberra bar 88mph that he needed to return to Parliament House to pick up his apartment keys. At the time, he lived in Barton with his then-girlfriend. Higgins joined him in an Uber. Lehrmann repeatedly denied having sex with Higgins on the couch in Reynolds office, saying it did not happen. Lehrmanns ACT criminal trial for sexual assault was aborted in October last year due to juror misconduct and the charge was later dropped altogether amid concerns about Higgins mental health.

Loading He said he did not see Higgins again once he went to his desk to get his keys and do some work on question time briefs, and did not ask her later what time she left the office. He admitted lying to security guards and later to Reynolds then chief of staff, Fiona Brown, about why he returned to the office that night. Asked on Monday if he had told Brown in a phone call on April 5, 2019, that when he left Parliament House on March 23 that Higgins was happy, Lehrmann said: That didnt happen. Truth defence
Shock Culture paid Gulasi a salary, designed his marketing strategy and boosted his followers into the millions. In return, bouts of nationalism from its stars would lead to higher sales of the products the agency was flogging, including pharmaceuticals, skincare products and fashion. All of them benefited from a patriotic surge from Chinese consumers while relations with the West stumbled. Loading When youre young, you do some things not even thinking of the end result, Gulasi says. The Sydney-raised English teacher has spent the past four years back in Australia after leaving China just before COVID struck in 2019. Then you cop the hate, and you think: could I have done something better? I wouldnt say its regret. But I would say I dont want people to think I dont love my country.

Three years on, the Chinese agencies that propelled English teachers such as Gulasi into local social media stars have evolved. His successors are increasingly joining a network of Chinese state-backed influencing operations covering universities, studios, competitions with thousands of dollars in cash prizes and major US networks including the Discovery Channel and National Geographic. They are building up a group of foreigners who are ready at critical juncture points to stand up for China, says Fergus Ryan, a researcher for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). Ryans research on 120 foreign influencers, conducted with Matt Knight and Daria Impiombato and released at the weekend, shows the Chinese government has become more ambitious and sophisticated in its use of influencers to try to manage public opinion at home and abroad. The Australian think-tank receives some financial support from Washington  though not for this research  and has previously been accused by Chinas Foreign Ministry of receiving funding of foreign forces to support its concoction of lies against China. The goal of the influencing team, according to Chinese state media editor Du Guodong, is to cultivate a group of foreign mouths, foreign pens and foreign brains. They are then transformed by Chinese state media into objective observers of Western societies, maintaining the credibility of the states narrative within the confines of the Great Firewall, Ryan says.

That gives the Chinese state power to ward off domestic criticism of its policies and, by highlighting the views of the in-house foreign voices, criticise international responses to Chinese-US competition, COVID-19 and human rights disputes. Abroad, the combination of the volume of content being produced by some studios has meant that some of the videos on issues such as the treatment of Uyghurs in Xinjiang have risen to the top of YouTube rankings. Two videos The Xinjiang THEY dont want YOU to see and Xinjiang  a modern oasis are now competing with investigative documentaries at the top of YouTubes charts in Australia. Beijing is establishing multilingual influencer studios to incubate both domestic and foreign influencers to reach younger media consumers globally, Ryan says.

In June last year, the Chinese state-linked Shanghai United Media Group announced an Integrated Media Studio Empowerment Plan that would funnel resources to develop stars and co-operation with leading Chinese tech companies including Douyin, a subsidiary of TikTok owner ByteDance, and Tencents WeChat Strategic Research Institute. Andy Boreham, a Chinese social media influencer from New Zealand. Credit: YouTube The Shanghai United Media Group also represents New Zealander Andy Boreham, who transformed from a food and pet blogger into a staunch defender of the Chinese government. Boreham has described Australia as brainwashed and accused the West of a systemic slander campaign. He was contacted for comment. Others such as American influencer Nathan Rich, who goes by the nickname Hotpot King, have pumped out a steady stream of videos fuelling doubts about the origins of COVID-19. Did the COVID-19 virus originate from Fort Detrick in the US? Is it a conspiracy theory or reasonable suspicion? has more than 7.5 million views. These pseudo or entirely fictitious identities work to paint state narratives with a veneer of independence and spontaneity, says Ryan.

The narrative is also being driven by Chinese President Xi Jinpings push to tell Chinas story well, which he frames as establishing an international discourse power that aligns with our countrys comprehensive national strength. In a video shared by the Chinese embassy in Australia in December 2021, Italian international student turned media critic Rachele Longhi attacked the BBC for its reporting on Tibet by spending a day guided by Chinese government minders at a school in the capital, Lhasa. Longhi said she was determined to tell the story of China and present a credible, lovable and respectable real China. Prizes awarded at the My China Story competition in Beijing. Credit: ASPI That sentence echoes a clear directive laid out by Xi Jinping earlier that year, in May, at a collective study session of Chinas Politburo on external propaganda, says Ryan.

The investment in foreign social media stars is being matched with prizes worth thousands of dollars and university training programs around the country to unearth the next generation of video bloggers. The 2022 edition of the My China Story competition had a budget of $400,000, according to a government procurement document reviewed by ASPI. Sixty thousand short videos were submitted to the competition, covering US-China relations and Chinas response to COVID-19. The Chinese government then had the right to use any of the submitted videos to showcase a positive vision of China around the world. Later that year, top Chinese universities Fudan, Nanjing and Sun Yat-sen became the first external discourse innovation research centres under the direction of Chinas propaganda department. Huaqiao University in Fujian established an Overseas New Voice Generation new media studio. This year, Tsinghua University asked international students to produce short videos destined for US social media as part of a competition titled 100 reasons to love Beijing. Chinas influencer studios are now reaching beyond social media and into traditional broadcast networks. Last year, a film executive-produced by Chinas State Council Information Office and starring one of Chinas most prominent influencers, Takeuchi Ryo, was broadcast on major US cable network National Geographic. The China International Communication Centre, a Party production unit, is now producing a six-part documentary series titled What makes China, China? for the Discovery Network.

In the case of Discovery, co-operation with the Peoples Republic of China propaganda apparatus appears to be exceptionally longstanding, prolific and tightly aligned with the Chinese Communist Partys external propaganda objectives, Ryan found. Australian Harry Harding (right) with fellow GRT presenters in China. But others argue that despite the extra resources, Chinas use of Western influencers remains clunky, poorly managed and ineffective. Harry Harding, a former Chinese state media presenter and pop star who returned to Australia last year, said the system was failing to turn the tide of global public opinion. I think that, in all honesty, they are getting fairly desperate in terms of what theyre doing because most of Chinas outreach programs are just failures, he said.

I think for most non-Chinese people that are still in China working in a media-related field, its just getting more and more difficult for them to do stuff that isnt propaganda. I think they might have a bit of a difficult future ahead because, for a lot of these people, I dont know where they would go if China one day decides this kind of hostile content just isnt working for us any more. Harding, known in China as Hazza, worked in Guangdong for a decade. He was reluctant to criticise China while he was living there as he transformed into a minor celebrity and paid tribute to Chinese officials. Harding now believes he was targeted for espionage work after he said he was sceptical of claims of human rights abuses in Xinjiang in a previous interview with this masthead. In October 2021, he was approached at a Starbucks in Guangzhou by a pair of representatives purporting to be from a think tank. The meeting was first reported by the ABC in May. The pair offered him a Dior wallet and $5000 per interview or essay on a prominent Australian that never had to be published. Harding suspected they were Chinese intelligence operatives. Australian security services confirmed his concerns were valid. I think sometimes we give China a little too much credit, Harding said. When it comes to some of its operations, a lot of the time things are sloppy. Gulasi now runs English lessons online and takes little personal responsibility for his past material. He claims he split with his agency after refusing to do some forms of content and disagreements over marketing and strategy:
Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting of three young men of Palestinian descent who were attending a Thanksgiving holiday gathering near the University of Vermont campus Saturday evening.

Related The New York Times highlights historic rate of civilian deaths in Gaza

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives arrested Jason J. Eaton, 48, while conducting a search of the shooting area in Burlington at 3:38 p.m. Sunday, the Burlington Police Department said in a statement.

US authorities collected evidence during a search of Eatons apartment in a building in front of the shooting location. He is scheduled to be arraigned Monday, police said.

The attack that injured the three men around 6:25 p.m. Saturday may have been a hate crime, authorities previously said.

Two of the men were in stable condition and the other suffered much more serious injuries, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a statement Sunday. The three, all age 20, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victim's relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled, Murad said. All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities.

The victims are all of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, Murad said.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger is expected to join Murad at a press conference on Monday to discuss the investigation.

Murad, who expressed sympathies for the victims and their families, said there is no additional information to suggest a motive.

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven, he said.

The fact is that we dont yet know as much as we want to right now, Murad added. "But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

A man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them, the committee's statement said.

The FBI in Albany, New York, posted a statement late Sunday on X, formerly Twitter, saying the bureau is actively investigating the shooting with the Burlington Police Department, the ATF and other federal, state and local agencies.

The White House said President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and would continue to receive law enforcement updates.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations released a statement offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding posted a statement on X that the institute said was from the victims' families.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice."

Ramallah Friends School posted a statement on Facebook saying the three young men were graduates of a private school in the West Bank.

While we are relieved to know that they are alive, we remain uncertain about their condition and hold them in the light, the school said. We stand united in hope and support for their well-being during this challenging time.

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America.

No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country," the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. "We will not let hatred win.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting.

It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation," Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the state's residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israeli war on Gaza, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

The American Jewish Committee, an advocacy organization for Jewish people worldwide, also said via X it was horrified by the attack and urged law enforcement to investigate this act as a possible hate crime.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

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There are calls to make a level crossing in southeast Mayo safer following an accident there.

Independent councillor Richard Finn put forward a motion at a recent meeting Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District calling on Mayo County Council to write to Iarnrod Eireann to ascertain what upgrades they plan on making at the Garryredmond level crossing, between Claremorris and Ballyhaunis, in the interests of health and safety.

It comes after a train collided with a car there in September. The adult male driver of the vehicle and the teenage male front-seat passenger were both airlifted to Galway University Hospital but survived the collision. The two males were brothers from Clifden, Co Galway.

Cllr Finn called on road users who are crossing the level crossing to close the gates after they are finished using them. He counted nine signposts coming off the N60 warning motorists who are approaching the level crossing in Garryredmond.

Cllr Finn believes that the area needs to be better lit. However, as the ESB has not connected electricity yet, he questioned why a solar-powered lighting system cannot be installed there.

Fine Gael Cllr Tom Connolly agreed with Cllr Finn, saying he could not understand why Iarnrod Eireann wont use solar panels in Garryredmond.

Cllr Patsy OBrien, who worked with Iarnrod Eireann for many years, said he used to walk that particular section every Monday morning and close the gates. He believes it is very important that the ESB brings electricity to light up the area.
Despite sharing the most common surname in Ireland (and a popular girls first name), Ashling Murphys profile now seems indelibly etched on the public consciousness. Her short life and her death, gruesome and inexplicable, has stunned the people of Ireland. It seems as if the very ordinariness of Ashlings time and space in the world has disturbed, frightened and captivated the attention of the people, (especially, the parents), of Ireland.

Theres no need to explain who she is. Probably because we all know Ashling Murphys. Because in such a short time, Ashling Murphy has become almost an adopted member of every family in Ireland.

Probably, even more so, because theres a young woman like Ashling in every extended family in Ireland. So she is now a representative figure whose death and especially its grotesque and brutal manner has overnight come to stalk the fears and nightmares of living parents.

The most monstrous and spine-chilling of family fears set against the very ordinariness of the life Ashling lived seem to have brought its frightening possibility home to almost every parent and kitchen in Ireland.

Picture it. An athlete going for a run after her days work. A sportswoman intent on progressing her physical fitness. A teacher beloved of her young charges. A young woman in love beginning to dream of a future of making real the outlines of everyones, everyday dream of living and loving forever and a day.

Going for a run in the idyllic circumstances of the Canal beat near Tullamore had become a natural, normal, everyday extension of the life Ashling was so familiar with. What could possibly go wrong with that? The odds of a disastrous sequel to her usual run along the Canal seemed millions to one.

There are hundreds of Ashling Murphys in Ireland.

Going to primary school overwhelmed by that inevitably awkward school bag on their backs, caught between the excitement of the first day in school and the lingering fear that the parent who never let them out of their sights before this may not return to bring them home.

Going to secondary school and indulging that grown-up sense of a grown-up place in the world with multiple subjects, teachers and classrooms. And finding after six years that they had somehow transformed chrysalis-like into adults.

And then on to college, now the semi-official birthright of the Irish young, and the opening up of a wider world where they continue lifes journey of presumption and progress until graduation beckons and possibilities are measured, tested and decided. And until in time the inevitable picture of a happy newly-fledged graduate with proud parents graces the sitting room at home.

Sometimes then a gap year to Australia to find themselves, to measure the weight of their progress against the possibilities ahead, savouring relationships that help them assess whats real and what isnt, whats passing like ships in the night and what has the making of something more permanent.

Countless families in Ireland have been there and done that (or are in the midst of doing it) and the dreadful experience of Ashling Murphy makes the blood in their veins run cold. Which is why they turned out in their thousands to mourn Ashling  as if they understood as never before an experience that passed their children by or they hoped would still pass them by. It was as if, in embracing Ashlings memory and supporting her parents and siblings, they were in deferred gratitude mode for the might-have-beens that bypassed their own Ashlings or prayed that such a dispensation would not afflict their Ashlings still at risk.

Parents worry. Its what they do. It goes with the territory. And every teenager headed for college or the bright lights of far and near can list the parental guidelines  even sometimes put them to music! Dont over-drink! And, if you do, dont let your drink be spiked! Dont walk home in the dark! And if you do, dont walk home alone! Dont bring any shame on our home! And if you are tempted, well, you know what to do!

And children, of all ages, tend to reserve the right to resist the proffered advice  even though when they themselves become parents they end up repeating to their own children, almost verbatim, the litany of parental advice still ringing in their ears on that weekend bus back to college.

Parents will always see their children (of all ages) as, well, children always. We never grow up in our parents eyes. And children, even when as adults they endlessly admonish their own children, can somehow almost reserve the right to ignore their parents. As Ashling Murphy did in rejecting her mothers plea of not going for a run on that fateful day. And there, but for the grace of God, go so many others.

Family is like that. Its limitations frustrate and exasperate us. Parents irritate us, until one day we realise (as if in a momentary intuition) the scale of their love and care becomes impossible to quantify. And, if we are honest enough, our awareness of the wisdom of their unsolicited advice.

May Ashling Murphy rest in peace and may her parents, siblings and all who loved her, find solace in her absence.

* My new book, Holding Out for a Hero/The Long Wait for Pope Francis, is now available at 18 in the usual outlets and from www.mayobooks.ie.
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.

Tomorrow

Mostly cloudy with some patchy morning fog; quite mild with a few breaks of sun possible later in the day.
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.
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP)  Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk in Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street  an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on Monday. He was ordered held without bail.

The U.S. Department of Justice, along with Vermont authorities, were investigating whether Saturday's shooting was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. There is understandable fear in communities across the country, he said.

The three men, all age 20, were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington, and were out for a walk while visiting one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

They stated that the person had not made any comments to them and had merely approached them while they were walking down the street, essentially minding their own business, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad told reporters.

Two of the young men were struck in their torsos, while one was hit in the lower extremities, Murad said. All three were being treated at the University of Vermont Medical Center, and one faces a long recovery because of a spinal injury, a family member said.

Ive been with them almost constantly since Saturday evening. Ive been listening to them talk to one another and try to process the events, and Im blown away by their resilience, by their good humor in the face of these difficult times," said Rich Price, the uncle of one of the students.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from victims families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

The three shooting victims have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are remarkable, distinguished students, said Rania Maayeh, head of the school.

Awartani is studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown University in Rhode Island; Abdalhamid is a pre-med student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Ali Ahmad is studying mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Maayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are U.S. citizens while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Maayeh said.

Our students are not safe in their own country because of the occupation. Theyre studying abroad and have a bright future ahead of them, and look at what happens," she said. This has deeply shaken us.

Abdalhamids uncle Radi Tamimi, who flew from California and spoke Monday at the press conference, shared a similar sentiment.

Kinnan grew up in the West Bank and we always thought that that could be more of a risk in terms of his safety and sending him here would be a right decision, the uncle said. We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and were just trying to come to terms with everything.

Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer from Syracuse, New York, and legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. According to a police affidavit, federal agents found the gun in Eatons apartment on Sunday. Eaton came to the door holding his hands, palms up, and told the officers hed been waiting for them.

Syracuse police said Eatons name appeared in 37 police reports from 2007 until 2021, but never as a suspect. The cases ranged from domestic violence to larceny, and Eaton was listed as either a complainant or victim in 21 reports, according to Lt. Matthew Malinowski, the departments public information officer.

Price, Awartanis uncle, said the gunman shot them without saying any words and that the family suspects they were targets of a hate crime.

The familys fear is that this was motivated by hate, that these young men were targeted because they were Arabs, Price said.

The victims were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, Murad said.

Speaking at a news conference, Sarah George, states attorney, said law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime charge, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But, she said, I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.

Murad echoed Georges language.

Whether or not this is a hate crime by the law, it was a hateful act. Its one that we abhor, he said. And anybody who steps out from a porch and attacks three random passersby for whatever reason, hes expressing a form of hate.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who called it one of the most shocking and disturbing events in the citys history, said he spoke to President Joe Biden on Monday.

Biden said he and his wife were horrified by the shooting and were praying that the students make a full recovery.

While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives, Biden said in a statement.

Burlington has gone from a city that typically saw two shootings per year to one that experienced 26 in 2022, said Murad, who created a task force last year to address the increase.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting. It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott said the shooting was a tragedy, and called on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was set to continue for two more days past Monday as 11 more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce deal.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in suburban Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

University of Vermont graduate student Jacob Friz-Trillo, who lives down the street from where the weekend shootings took place, said he believes New England itself has sort of a different type of racism than the rest of the United States, but that the violence was out of character in a city regarded as super liberal.

Maayeh said the most recent attack shows safety must improve. "This incident is a reminder of the urgency to change the discourse, which has dehumanized Palestinians. They are people who are deserving of empathy, compassion, rights, freedom, happiness and life," she said.

This story has been corrected to reflect the proper spelling of Kinnan Abdalhamid's uncle's last name. It is Tamimi, not Tamini. ___

Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire; Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington; and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Armed assailants seized and later let go of a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being apprehended by the United States Navy, officials said. Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near a U.S. warship aiding the tanker in the Gulf of Aden, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Yemen's internationally recognized government blamed the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, though the rebels in control of the capital, Sanaa, did not acknowledge either the seizure or the missile attack.

The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the U.S. and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.

The U.S. military's Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat, Central Command said. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.

The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships, the statement said. The USS Mason  was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey and Vietnam were unharmed.

We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Yemen's internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that government's forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the U.S. and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiac's oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Park's location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemen's coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.

Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days.

The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. In the Central Park's case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict  even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Earlier in November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel off the port city of Hodeida.

However, the Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military said. The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.

Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.
READING, Pa.  The Berks County Election Board voted during a special meeting Monday to delay certification of votes cast in the Nov. 7 general municipal election.

The vote to delay was to allow the county to be compliant with a recent court decision that requires all undated and incorrectly dated mail-in ballots be counted.

Last Tuesday, Judge Susan Baxter of the United States District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania directed Pennsylvania counties to accept mail-in ballots that were undated or incorrectly dated.

Plaintiffs in the case included the NAACP and the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania.

The topic has been a legal dispute ever since the states mail-in voting law took effect in 2019.

Berks County, along with numerous counties in the state, was named as a defendant in the case.

A special election board meeting was scheduled Monday with an anticipated agenda to certify votes, cumulate write-in votes and determine rules for the breaking of ties.

All of the agenda votes were tabled because of the federal court decision.

Board solicitor Cody Kauffman explained undated ballots had not been counted based on a previous decision from the state supreme court.

The law was set forth by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Kauffman said. That decision ordered county boards of election to refrain from counting any absentee and mail-in ballots received that are contained in undated or incorrectly dated envelopes. Prior to the issuance of last Tuesdays order in the Western District, I think it's important to note that we were ready to certify the election and our staff has worked hard to achieve a fair, secure and timely certified election in Berks County and they have delivered that to this board.

Kauffman noted that an appeal is likely to the decision, but to date, no appeal has been filed.

Absent a stay, these ballots should be counted, or we risk being in violation of Judge Baxters order and the federal Civil Rights Act as interpreted by Judge Baxter, Kauffman added. Unfortunately, it puts the board in the untenable position of not being able to meet the statutory deadline for certification or being in violation of Judge Baxter's order. I do know other counties have delayed certification and are planning to count these ballots.

There will now have to be time allotted to canvas the undated ballots and then another five-day unofficial review period prior to the boards certification of the election results.

Judge James E. Gavin, a member of the elections board, said Berks County now has no choice because of the court decision.

Judge Jill Gehman Koestel, another board member, said it is her opinion that the county should be counting undated or incorrectly dated ballots.

I don't know materially what the date has to do with anything as long as they were submitted prior to the deadline, Gehman Koestel said. You know that they were filled out sometime between the time they were mailed and sometime between the deadline, so who cares what date it was.
READING, Pa.  The Schuylkill River Passenger Rail Authority announced at its meeting Monday afternoon that there still has been no word on whether it will be accepted into the Federal Railroad Administration Corridor ID program.

The decision is critical because, if accepted into the program, it will become a vital step in establishing passenger rail service.

The authority is a joint venture between Berks, Montgomery and Chester Counties and is tasked with the long-term goal of restoring passenger rail service from Reading to Philadelphia.

If accepted into the program, the first step will be to develop the scope, schedule, and cost estimate to prepare what is known as a service development plan by the end of 2024.

That first step would be funded through the FRA with $500,000 in seed money, with no matching funds required.

Step two would use the service development plan to identify the schedule of work, the capital project inventory, and a plan to specify what would have to be done to institute service. While there would be no funding ceiling identified from the FRA, a 10% match would be required from the authority.

Step three would be the preliminary engineering and design phase, and would also have no funding ceiling from the FRA, but would require a 20% match from the authority.

There are about 90 applicants seeking to become a part of the federal program.

It is not known how many out of the 90 will be accepted.

Scott France, a member of the authority and the chair of its planning committee, reported that because the news of the acceptance was expected by this time, his planning committee had coordinated a meeting with Penn DOT on Tuesday to have talks with the Deputy Director of Multimodal Transportation.

France said the meeting will still take place as he believes it will still prove to be productive.

We'll just be going out there to continue our discussions with PennDOT with thoughts of the future and how this project will progress and both our role and their role in it, France said.
BETHLEHEM TWP., Pa. - Bethlehem Township's Planning Commission will review a plan for a warehouse on the Freemansburg border at their Monday meeting.



The agenda also includes reviews of preliminary plans for a housing development at the site of the old V7 driving range, and a Bethlehem Area School District school that the BASD says it has no imminent plans to build.



Agendas are subject to change, and no final votes will be made at the meeting.



The 866,350-square-foot warehouse is proposed for 1600 Freemansburg Ave., a privately owned 45-acre tract that has been used as a quarry and a dump for trees, stumps and other material.



"This is going to create a traffic nightmare," Stephen Melnick, a member of the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, said when the LVPC reviewed the plan in July.



Commissioner Melnick said then that there are 15 intersections between the site and Route 33. Those crossings are in residential areas, commercial strips and in front of St. Luke's University Health Network's Anderson campus.



Most traffic from the site would head east on Freemansburg Avenue, according to the LVPC study. The trucks would also pass what is often called "the worst intersection in Bethlehem Township," the two T-intersections where Farmersville Road meets Freemansburg Avenue. That double crossing may be aligned into one intersection with a traffic light in 2027.



The LVPC estimated 1,481 daily vehicle trips to the warehouse, with 520 of them by trucks. The developer is Trammell Crow of Texas, which is part of CBRE Group Inc., the world's biggest commercial real estate company. In 2022, CBRE's revenue was $30.8 billion.



Trammell Crow is developing warehouses at the former Dutch Springs water park in Lower Nazareth Township and Bethlehem Township.



If the Planning Commission votes on the warehouse plan, that would not be final. Their recommendation would be passed to the township's Board of Commissioners. The plan straddles the border of the township and Freemansburg, which is also reviewing the plan.



The Chrin Cos.' proposal for 256 apartments at the old V7 driving range at the southeastern intersection of William Penn Highway and Route 33 is also on the agenda, but only as a sketch plan. That is a preliminary look and no vote will be held on it. Developers present sketch plans to hear input from the Planning Commission that can guide later submissions.



The Chrin plan presented earlier this year showed 12 apartment buildings, a clubhouse and pool on 16.9 acres. The eastern boundary of the property is Hope Road.



Then there is the sketch plan for a Bethlehem Area School District elementary school at the northeast corner of Farmersville Road and Freemansburg Avenue.



The plan for a two-story school does not mean anything will happen soon, BASD Superintendent Dr. Jack Silva said two weeks ago.



"No new school is imminent," Silva said. The plans were filed as the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation prepares to improve that "worst intersection in Bethlehem Township."



Filing the plans protects the district's property rights, Silva said, as PennDot moves ahead. The state may use some district land as part of its plan for the Farmersville/Freemansburg realignment.



The Bethlehem Township Planning Commission will meet Monday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. in the township municipal building at 4225 Easton Ave. The agenda and a link to the meeting via Zoom are available on the township website.
NORTHAMPTON CO., Pa. - Northampton County has put its voting-machine company on notice, County Executive Lamont G. McClure said Monday.



"ES&S is on the clock," McClure said in an email statement, referring to Election Systems & Software.



"There can be no more clerical and/or human errors," he said. "People need to know we care as much about Election Day voting as we do. And, eliminating clerical and human errors will go a long way toward accomplishing that important goal."



Some ES&S machines experienced problems in 2019, when the touch-screen machines were too sensitive, and again Nov. 7, when the paper trail provided by the machines to voters contained errors. ES&S said the paper printout was incorrect but the electronic votes were counted correctly.



Last week, about 100 residents attended an Election Commission meeting to complain about the Nov. 7 issues. Many said they do not trust the results of the recent election and asked for a return to paper ballots. Then on Friday, county Director of Administration Charles Dertinger resigned. The county election office was under his authority.



In 2019 and this year, Omaha, Nebraska-based ES&S blamed human errors by its staff for election problems. In 2019, some machines were not set up properly. This month, it came down to typing.



"The error which occurred during the general election in Northampton was caused by an employee incorrectly typing the wrong race label abbreviation into a text field and was 100% a human mistake," ES&S said in a statement on Sunday.



"Additional quality control steps are being established to prevent mistyping, and if a mistake does happen, to catch it prior to an election. There are many steps taken before and after elections to ensure accuracy, including pre-election logic and accuracy testing and post-election results. ES&S will work alongside Northampton County to enhance pre-election steps to prevent this error in the future," the ES&S statement said.



The printouts showed some incorrect votes in the yes/no "retention election" for two Pennsylvania Superior Court judges.



That error led to confusion at the polls, and some would-be voters may have not been able to cast their ballots. One polling place was locked for more than an hour, according to a statement made at the Election Commission meeting.



Some residents asked the commission not to certify the election results, but it had no choice but to do so, according to Richard Santee, the commission's legal adviser.



Santee said challenges to the election can be made only through the court system.
WASHINGTON TWP., Pa. - Rifle season is underway in Pennsylvania, and an increasing number of hunters are donating their deer meat.

It's the busiest time of the year at Frable's Deer Processing in Washington Township, Lehigh County.

The longtime family-owned business has been donating extra venison for years, but it recently got involved with Pennsylvania's Hunters Sharing the Harvest program.

"We donate to Northern Lehigh Food Bank," said Jeremy Frable, one of the owners of Frable's Deer Processing. "Last year, we donated about 1,000 pounds of deer venison. This year, we're hoping to donate somewhere around 3,000 pounds."

Things are looking good so far. Workers are bringing 500 pounds of meat over Tuesday, after a couple hundred deer were dropped off over the last few days alone.

Frable says hunters are eager to give back.

"They're constantly calling and asking about or stopping in and asking or when they bring their deer," said Frable.

Hunters Sharing the Harvest allows people to donate deer free of charge. Partnering processors then bring meat to local food banks, pantries, charities, and soup kitchens.

"Typically, a hunter or his or her family are only going to consume maybe one or two deer in a year," said Randy Ferguson, the executive director of Hunters Sharing the Harvest. "So, as they're filling all these additional tags and wanting to spend more days out in the field, we give them an opportunity now to go ahead and fill those tags and donate deer to folks in your community that you may not know that are struggling with food insecurity."

The program was recently revived in Lehigh and Northampton counties.

"They processed about 800 pounds of venison during the previous hunting season, which really equates to almost 4,000 servings," said Ferguson.

Organizers say the Keystone State set a national record with more than 235,000 pounds of venison donated last season. They're hoping to top that this year.
SCHUYLKILL COUNTY., Pa. - A woman who worked as a state prison employee in Schuylkill County has been charged with institutional sexual assault and other criminal offenses.

Jennifer Newberry was charged and arrested on Nov. 22, according to court documents.

A state official confirms a Jennifer Newberry had been employed at the State Correctional Institution of Frackville until she resigned in August. Various prison documents found online refer to a Jennifer Newberry as Assistant to the Superintendent and as Public Information Officer.

The 48-year-old Newberry is charged with institutional sexual assault, a contraband offense involving a telecommunication device, delivering obscene material inside a correctional institute, and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.

Court documents say that from June 15 - June 22, 2023 Newberry texted nude videos and photos of herself to an SCI Frackville inmate. Documents continue to say she destroyed a cellphone she gave to the inmate on June 26.

The press secretary for the Corrections Department would only confirm for 69 News that Newberry had resigned.
BRUSSELS (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will return this week to the Middle East as the U.S. hopes to find a way to extend a cease-fire in Gaza and get more hostages released, the State Department said Monday. It will be his third trip to the region since Israel's war with Hamas began last month.

Blinken will travel to Israel and the West Bank after attending Ukraine-focused meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday in Brussels and Skopje, North Macedonia, where foreign ministers from NATO and the Organization for Peace and Security in Europe are gathering.

Israel has agreed to pauses in its military operations in exchange for the gradual release of hostages taken by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel. The agreement had been due to expire Monday but was extended for an additional two days, meaning the extension will be expiring just as Blinken is arriving in Israel.

White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday the U.S. hopes to see the pause extended further, but it is dependent on Hamas continuing to release hostages.

In Israel and the West Bank, Blinken will discuss Israels right to defend itself consistent with international humanitarian law, as well as continued efforts to secure the release of remaining hostages, protect civilian life during Israels operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.

He said Blinken also will discuss the principles for a post-conflict Gaza, as well as the need to establish an independent Palestinian state and prevent the conflict from widening.

In the occupied West Bank, Blinken is expected to see Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Blinken and other U.S. officials have said they believe the Palestinian Authority should play a significant role in governing post-conflict Gaza.

From Israel and the West Bank, Blinken will travel to the United Arab Emirates for discussions with regional leaders who will be in Dubai to attend the COP28 climate summit.

Blinken has been engaged in furious diplomacy to try to prevent the Gaza conflict from spreading, expand the provision of humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in the territory, secure the release of hostages and arrange for foreigners and dual nationals to leave Gaza overland to Egypt.

On each of his prior two trips, Blinken has traveled to Israel and Jordan multiple times. Between the two trips, he also made stops in Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the UAE.

Blinken will arrive in Israel having just participated in an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe foreign ministers meeting in Skopje. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said he plans to attend the OSCE meeting, possibly setting the stage for a U.S.-Russia confrontation there over Ukraine.

In Brussels, Blinken will attend the two-day NATO gathering, which will include the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a body created by alliance leaders at their last summit to improve cooperation and coordination and help prepare Kyiv for eventual membership.

Allies will continue to support Ukraines self-defense until Russia stops its war of aggression, said Jim OBrien, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe.

The NATO meeting will also address the tensions in the Western Balkans, where there are calls for NATO to increase its military presence in response to concerns that hostility between Serbia and Kosovo could escalate to outright conflict.

Violence between the two has broken out twice in recent months, and Western countries fear that Russia could try to foment trouble in the Balkans to avert attention from the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Albania's prime minister urged NATO to further boost its military forces in Kosovo and secure the countrys borders with Serbia, warning that recent ethnic violence in Kosovo could potentially trigger a wider Balkan conflict. NATO has already strengthened its military presence in Kosovo  established after the 1999 bombing campaign against Serbia  with about 1,000 additional troops and heavier weaponry, bringing its deployment there to about 4,500 troops.

Blinken will underscore U.S. and NATO support for democracy and stability in the region, including a commitment to back all countries aspirations to join the European Union, OBrien said.

Serbia doesnt recognize Kosovos formal declaration of independence in 2008. Both countries want to join the European Union, which is mediating a dialogue between the former foes. Brussels has warned both that refusal to compromise jeopardizes their chances of joining the bloc.

The NATO ministers will also discuss plans for the alliances 75th anniversary summit to be held in Washington in July 2024.
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP)  The fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed 17 more hostages, including 14 Israelis and the first American, in a third exchange under a four-day truce that the United States said it hoped would be extended. In turn, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

Most hostages were handed over directly to Israel, waving to a cheering crowd as they arrived at an air force base. Others left through Egypt. Israel's army said one was airlifted to a hospital, and the director of Soroka Medical Center said Elma Avraham, 84, was in life-threatening condition as a result of an extended period of time when an elderly woman was not taken care of as needed.

The youngest hostage released was Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl and dual Israeli-American citizen whose parents were killed in the Hamas attack that started the war on Oct. 7.

What she endured was unthinkable, U.S. President Joe Biden said of the first American freed under the truce. He did not know her condition and did not provide updates on other American hostages. Biden said his goal was to extend the cease-fire deal as long as possible.

In all, nine children ages 17 and younger were on the list, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office. Three more Thai nationals were released. Separately, Hamas said it released a Russian hostage in response to the efforts of Russian President Vladimir Putin."

The three Thai nationals were undergoing health checks at a medical center in Israel and brought the total number of Thai hostages released to 17, Thailand's Foreign Ministry said. The ministry said it was pursuing efforts for the safe release of the 15 remaining Thai hostages. Thais working in Israel are mostly employed as semi-skilled farm laborers, at wages considerably higher than those at they can earn at home.

The Palestinian prisoners released were children and young men, ages 15-19, largely accused of public disorder, property damage and in some cases causing or threatening physical harm to Israeli officers by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails. Many were scooped up from protests and confrontations with troops. In turn, many Palestinians view prisoners held by Israel, including those implicated in attacks, as heroes resisting occupation.

A fourth exchange is expected on Monday  the last day of the cease-fire during which a total of 50 hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners are to be freed. Most are women and minors.

International mediators led by the U.S., Egypt and Qatar were trying to extend the cease-fire that began Friday.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, said two of Edans relatives, a great aunt and cousin, in a statement thanking mediators.

Hamas for the first time said it would seek to extend the deal by looking to release a larger number of hostages. Netanyahu issued a statement saying he had spoken to Biden and reiterated his offer to extend the cease-fire by an additional day for every 10 hostages Hamas releases. But he said Israel would resume its offensive with all of our might once the truce expires.

Ahead of the latest hostage release, Netanyahu donned body armor and visited the Gaza Strip, where he spoke with troops.

At the end of the day we will return every one, he said of the hostages, adding that we are continuing until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us. It was not clear where he went inside Gaza.

This is the first significant pause in seven weeks of war, marked by the deadliest Israeli-Palestinian violence in decades. More than 13,300 Palestinians have been killed, roughly two thirds of them women and minors, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants. The war has claimed more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians killed in the initial attack.

In New York, hundreds of Jewish protesters and allies demanding a permanent cease-fire in Gaza shut down vehicle traffic on the Manhattan Bridge in both directions for several hours Sunday. A New York police spokesperson said one person was arrested for reckless endangerment and two others were issued summonses for disorderly conduct.

LIFE IN CAPTIVITY

Hamas  military wing released a video showing militants handing over the hostages to Red Cross workers and paramedics, with some of the balaclava-wearing fighters and hostages waving goodbye to each other.

Families from the southern Israeli town of Kfar Aza embraced, cried, and applauded Sunday at the news that hostages from their town had arrived in Israel. More than 70 members of the kibbutz of around 700 people were killed and 18 were kidnapped.

The freed hostages have mostly stayed out of the public eye. Hospitals said their physical condition has largely been good. Little is publicly known about the conditions of their captivity.

Merav Raviv, whose three relatives were released on Friday, said they had been fed irregularly and lost weight. One reported eating mainly bread and rice and sleeping on a makeshift bed of chairs pushed together. Hostages sometimes had to wait for hours to use the bathroom, she said.

Pressure from families has sharpened the dilemma facing Israels leaders, who seek to eliminate Hamas as a military and governing power. Hamas and other militant groups seized around 240 people during the incursion into southern Israel that ignited the war. Fifty-eight have been released, one was freed by Israeli forces and two were found dead inside Gaza.

AID TO NORTHERN GAZA

The pause has given some respite to Gaza's 2.3 million people, still reeling from relentless Israeli bombardment that has driven three-quarters of the population from their homes and leveled residential areas. Rocket fire from Gaza militants into Israel also went silent.

War-weary Palestinians in northern Gaza, where the offensive has been focused, made their way through entire city blocks gutted by airstrikes.

But those among the hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled the north have been turned back by Israeli troops while trying to return to check their homes.

They open fire on anyone approaching from the south, said Rami Hazarein, who fled Gaza City.

The Israeli military has ordered Palestinians not to return to the north or approach within a kilometer (around a half-mile) of the border fence. The Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service said Israeli forces opened fire Sunday on two farmers in central Gaza, killing one and wounding the other. An Israeli military spokesperson said they weren't aware of the episode.

The United Nations says the truce made it possible to scale up the delivery of food, water and medicine to the largest volume since the start of the war, but it calls the 160 to 200 trucks a day hardly enough.

It was able to deliver fuel for the first time since the war began, and to reach areas in the north for the first time in a month. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said 50 Egyptian aid trucks crossed through Israeli checkpoints to reach Gaza City and northern areas Sunday.

HAMAS COMMANDER KILLED

Hamas announced the death of Ahmed al-Ghandour, who was in charge of northern Gaza and a member of its top military council. He is the highest-ranking militant known to have been killed in the fighting. Israels military confirmed the death.

Al-Ghandour had survived at least three Israeli attempts on his life and was involved in a cross-border attack in 2006 in which Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier, according to the Counter Extremism Project, an advocacy group based in Washington.

Hamas said he was killed along with three other senior militants, including Ayman Siam, who Israel says was in charge of Hamas rocket-firing unit. The Israeli military mentioned both men in a Nov. 16 statement, saying it had targeted an underground complex where Hamas leaders were hiding.

The Israeli military claims to have killed thousands of militants, without providing evidence.

The war has been accompanied by a surge in violence in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Palestinian health authorities said Sunday that five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli military raid in the West Bank city of Jenin that began the day before. The war toll in the West Bank is now 239.

The Israeli army has conducted frequent raids and arrested hundreds of Palestinians since the start of the war, mostly people it suspects of being Hamas members.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Isabel DeBre in Jerusalem and Tia Goldenberg in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this report.

Full AP coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
ALLENTOWN, Pa.  The former Brass Rail restaurant on Lehigh Street in Allentown has been sold for $2.65 million to a Florida firm that develops and invests in real estate.

The sale to the Ferber Co., based in Ponte Vedra Beach, was completed in September, according to Lehigh County records.

In December 2022, the Brass Rail's Mark Sorrentino told 69 News that a sale to the Royal Farms convenience-store company had fallen through. The Baltimore-based chain has more than 260 locations and is known for its breaded, pressure-cooked chicken.

Royal Farms asked for several extensions, Sorrentino said in December, before the deal fell apart. By then, the Brass Rail's equipment had been sold and staff let go, so reopening as a restaurant was not an option.

"The Rail," as the restaurant was known to generations of customers, started in 1931 when Philip Sorrentino opened a hamburger and hotdog stand.

The Brass Rail website said the founder moved in 1933 to 1137 Hamilton St. in Allentown. Then in 1937, the Rail credits Sorrentino with introducing the cheesesteak sandwich to Allentown.

The 3015 Lehigh St. location, near Interstate 78, opened in 1961 and remained open through 2022. The Hamilton Street restaurant closed in 2001.

Ferber is a privately held company with offices in Florida and New Jersey. It was founded in 1907, according to its website, and has developed projects in the Southeastern U.S. along with the Philadelphia and New York City areas.

Ferber lists Wawa, Starbucks, Lowes, CVS, McDonald's and other businesses as clients.

69 News has contacted Ferber for additional details.
The Japanese grant assistance was provided to the Al-Munawer Foundation for Development with the purpose of providing appropriate education for mobility-disabled children, renovating the school building, and equipping the school with furniture and sports tools.

On Thursday 23 November, Oka Hiroshi, the ambassador of Japan to Egypt, and Suzanne Maher El-Nagar, chairperson of Al-Munawer Foundation for Development, signed a grant contract for Japanese Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (KUSANONE). The $102,323 grant assistance was extended by the embassy of Japan to the foundation with the purpose of providing an appropriate education for mobility-disabled children and improving the safe educational environment in Cairo.

This is the first collaboration between the embassy of Japan and the Al-Munawer Foundation for Development.

At the signing ceremony, Ambassador Hiroshi expressed his hope that the project will be successful, bring a smile to children's faces, and contribute to supporting the Egyptian governments efforts to promote inclusive education. He also expressed his respect for the role of Egyptian NGOs and his willingness to continue working with them to provide assistance to as many local residents as possible through the implementation of KUSANONE.

El-Nagar also expressed her deep appreciation for KUSANONEs support and her commitment to the project. She also highlighted that this project is a reflection of extended historical relations between the peoples of Japan and Egypt.

KUSANONE provides direct and small-scale financial support to non-profit organizations including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in local communities.

Japan has extended approximately $10 million in Egypt since 1994, supporting 177 projects throughout Egypt in many sectors including education, health, water and sanitation, vocational training, women empowerment, and special needs support.

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Growing calls for the world to come to grips with the many ways that global warming affects human health have prompted the first day dedicated to the issue at crunch UN climate talks starting next week.

Extreme heat, air pollution and the increasing spread of deadly infectious diseases are just some of the reasons why the World Health Organization has called climate change the single biggest health threat facing humanity.

Global warming must be limited to the Paris Agreement target of 1.5 degrees Celsius "to avert catastrophic health impacts and prevent millions of climate change-related deaths", according to the WHO.

However, under current national carbon-cutting plans, the world is on track to warm up to 2.9C this century, the UN said this week.

While no one will be completely safe from the effects of climate change, experts expect that most at risk will be children, women, the elderly, migrants and people in less developed countries which have emitted the least planet-warming greenhouse gases.

On December 3, the COP28 negotiations in Dubai will host the first "health day" ever held at the climate negotiations.

- Extreme heat -

This year is widely expected to be the hottest on record. And as the world continues to warm, even more frequent and intense heatwaves are expected to follow.

Heat is believed to have caused more than 70,000 deaths in Europe during summer last year, researchers said this week, revising the previous number up from 62,000.

Worldwide, people were exposed to an average of 86 days of life-threatening temperatures last year, according to the Lancet Countdown report earlier this week.

The number of people over 65 who died from heat rose by 85 percent from 1991-2000 to 2013-2022, it added.

And by 2050, more than five times more people will die from the heat each year under a 2C warming scenario, the Lancet Countdown projected.

More droughts will also drive rising hunger. Under the scenario of 2C warming by the end of the century, 520 million more people will experience moderate or severe food insecurity by 2050.

Meanwhile, other extreme weather events such as storms, floods and fires will continue to threaten the health of people across the world.

Air pollution

Almost 99 percent of the world's population breathes air that exceeds the WHO's guidelines for air pollution.

Outdoor air pollution driven by fossil fuel emissions kills more than four million people every year, according to the WHO.

It increases the risk of respiratory diseases, strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes and other health problems, posing a threat that has been compared to tobacco.

The damage is caused partly by PM2.5 microparticles, which are mostly from fossil fuels. People breathe these tiny particles into their lungs, where they can then enter the bloodstream

While spikes in air pollution, such as extremes seen in India's capital New Delhi earlier this month, trigger respiratory problems and allergies, long-term exposure is believed to be even more harmful.

However it is not all bad news.

The Lancet Countdown report found that deaths from air pollution due to fossil fuels have fallen 16 percent since 2005, mostly due to efforts to reduce the impact of coal burning.

Infectious diseases

The changing climate means that mosquitoes, birds and mammals will roam beyond their previous habitats, raising the threat that they could spread infectious diseases with them.

Mosquito-borne diseases that pose a greater risk of spreading due to climate change include dengue, chikungunya, Zika, West Nile virus and malaria.

The transmission potential for dengue alone will increase by 36 percent with 2C warming, the Lancet Countdown report warned.

Storms and floods create stagnant water that are breeding grounds for mosquitoes, and also increase the risk of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea.

Scientists also fear that mammals straying into new areas could share diseases with each other, potentially creating new viruses that could then jump over to humans.

Mental health

Worrying about the present and future of our warming planet has also provoked rising anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress -- particularly for people already struggling with these disorders, psychologists have warned.

In the first 10 months of the year, people searched online for the term "climate anxiety" 27 times more than during the same period in 2017, according to data from Google Trends cited by the BBC this week.

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Ally Financial Inc. bought a new position in Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP  Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,000 shares of the railroad operators stock, valued at approximately $1,637,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in UNP. Vise Technologies Inc. lifted its stake in Union Pacific by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 4,388 shares of the railroad operators stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares during the last quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 25.6% during the first quarter. Capital Asset Advisory Services LLC now owns 5,046 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 1.1% during the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,933,582 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $389,153,000 after purchasing an additional 21,361 shares during the period. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 18.4% during the second quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 20,508 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,186 shares during the period. Finally, First Hawaiian Bank increased its holdings in shares of Union Pacific by 6.9% during the second quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 12,535 shares of the railroad operators stock worth $2,565,000 after purchasing an additional 806 shares during the period. 77.36% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on UNP. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $265.00 to $257.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Union Pacific from a hold rating to a buy rating and raised their target price for the company from $223.00 to $235.00 in a research report on Friday, October 20th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $285.00 to $275.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Union Pacific from $233.00 to $232.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Union Pacific from $254.00 to $236.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Union Pacific currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $238.96.

Union Pacific Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of Union Pacific stock traded down $3.51 during trading on Monday, reaching $220.77. The companys stock had a trading volume of 675,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,807,569. Union Pacific Co. has a 52-week low of $183.69 and a 52-week high of $240.48. The company has a market cap of $134.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. The firms 50-day moving average is $210.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $210.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.57, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.22.

Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 19th. The railroad operator reported $2.51 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $2.41 by $0.10. Union Pacific had a net margin of 26.37% and a return on equity of 49.14%. The business had revenue of $5.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.19 EPS. Union Pacifics revenue was down 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Union Pacific Co. will post 10.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric J. Gehringer sold 1,274 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Monday, October 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.24, for a total transaction of $258,927.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 31,991 shares in the company, valued at $6,501,850.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Union Pacific Profile

(Free Report)

Union Pacific Corporation, through its subsidiary, Union Pacific Railroad Company, operates in the railroad business in the United States. The company offers transportation services for grain and grain products, fertilizers, food and refrigerated products, and coal and renewables to grain processors, animal feeders, ethanol producers, and other agricultural users; petroleum, and liquid petroleum gases; and construction products, industrial chemicals, plastics, forest products, specialized products, metals and ores, soda ash, and sand, as well as finished automobiles, automotive parts, and merchandise in intermodal containers.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding UNP? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Union Pacific Co. (NYSE:UNP  Free Report).

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AltaGas Ltd. (TSE:ALA  Get Free Report)s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as C$22.22 and last traded at C$27.52, with a volume of 183729 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$27.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ALA has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$33.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$31.00 to C$32.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a report on Friday, September 1st. Scotiabank set a C$31.00 price target on AltaGas and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Monday, September 18th. BMO Capital Markets set a C$36.00 target price on AltaGas and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 8th. Finally, TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of AltaGas from C$34.00 to C$32.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, AltaGas currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of C$32.38.

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View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ALA

AltaGas Trading Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of C$7.75 billion, a PE ratio of 13.51, a P/E/G ratio of -4.97 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of C$26.52 and a 200 day moving average of C$25.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 114.73, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.82.

AltaGas (TSE:ALA  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Friday, November 3rd. The company reported C$0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$0.09 by C$0.01. AltaGas had a return on equity of 8.02% and a net margin of 4.48%. The company had revenue of C$3.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of C$3.08 billion. Equities research analysts expect that AltaGas Ltd. will post 2.1202776 EPS for the current year.

AltaGas Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. AltaGass dividend payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Insider Activity at AltaGas

In other AltaGas news, Director Angela S. Lekatsas acquired 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of C$26.15 per share, with a total value of C$26,150.00. In other AltaGas news, Director Angela S. Lekatsas bought 1,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Friday, November 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of C$26.15 per share, with a total value of C$26,150.00. Also, Director Aaron Bishop sold 13,148 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$27.51, for a total value of C$361,701.48. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 509 shares of the companys stock, valued at C$14,002.59. Insiders sold a total of 72,028 shares of company stock valued at $1,948,451 over the last three months. 0.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

About AltaGas

(Get Free Report)

AltaGas Ltd. operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through Utilities and Midstream segments. The Utilities segment owns and operates franchised, cost-of-service, rate-regulated natural gas distribution and storage utilities in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and the District of Columbia serving approximately 1.7 million customers.

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Avenir Corp decreased its stake in American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT  Free Report) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 584,232 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 11,944 shares during the period. American Tower accounts for about 9.9% of Avenir Corps holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Avenir Corps holdings in American Tower were worth $113,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in American Tower by 75.3% during the second quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 135 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in American Tower during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Sittner & Nelson LLC grew its stake in American Tower by 151.7% during the first quarter. Sittner & Nelson LLC now owns 151 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.29% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on AMT. Citigroup decreased their target price on American Tower from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 17th. Raymond James cut their price target on American Tower from $211.00 to $205.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on American Tower from $215.00 to $210.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. StockNews.com started coverage on American Tower in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on American Tower from $233.00 to $230.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, American Tower presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $228.60.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT traded up $2.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $201.51. The stock had a trading volume of 1,085,236 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,116,086. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $182.79. American Tower Co. has a 12-month low of $154.58 and a 12-month high of $235.57. The stock has a market cap of $93.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.63.

American Tower Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 27th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 11th were given a $1.62 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, October 10th. This is a boost from American Towers previous quarterly dividend of $1.57. This represents a $6.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.22%. American Towers payout ratio is 423.53%.

About American Tower

(Free Report)

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of nearly 225,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding AMT? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for American Tower Co. (NYSE:AMT  Free Report).

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StockNews.com upgraded shares of Annaly Capital Management (NYSE:NLY  Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Annaly Capital Management from $21.50 to $22.00 in a report on Friday, July 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Annaly Capital Management from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. Jonestrading reaffirmed a buy rating and set a $21.00 price target on shares of Annaly Capital Management in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Annaly Capital Management from a neutral rating to a buy rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $21.00 to $24.00 in a report on Monday, September 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $21.71.

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Annaly Capital Management Price Performance

Annaly Capital Management Dividend Announcement

Shares of NYSE NLY opened at $17.55 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.62 and a 200 day moving average of $19.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. Annaly Capital Management has a twelve month low of $14.52 and a twelve month high of $24.43. The firm has a market cap of $8.78 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.74 and a beta of 1.41.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 31st. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 29th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. Annaly Capital Managements dividend payout ratio is currently -55.44%.

Insider Activity at Annaly Capital Management

In related news, CEO David L. Finkelstein sold 50,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $852,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 545,259 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,291,213.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.31% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Annaly Capital Management by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 381,525 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,828,000 after acquiring an additional 73,892 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Annaly Capital Management in the first quarter worth about $199,000. Rhumbline Advisers grew its holdings in shares of Annaly Capital Management by 3.3% in the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 1,185,123 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $8,343,000 after purchasing an additional 37,762 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Annaly Capital Management by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 97,368 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $685,000 after buying an additional 6,043 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. bought a new stake in Annaly Capital Management during the 1st quarter valued at about $163,000. 49.16% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Annaly Capital Management Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Annaly Capital Management, Inc, a diversified capital manager, engages in mortgage finance. The company invests in agency mortgage-backed securities collateralized by residential mortgages; non-agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets; mortgage servicing rights; agency commercial mortgage-backed securities; residential mortgage loans; and agency or private label credit risk transfer securities.

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B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG grew its stake in Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR  Free Report) by 114.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,772 shares of the energy companys stock after purchasing an additional 40,446 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG owned about 0.06% of Matador Resources worth $3,964,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MTDR. Steward Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Matador Resources during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp raised its stake in Matador Resources by 202.6% during the 4th quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp now owns 690 shares of the energy companys stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Matador Resources by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 760 shares of the energy companys stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the period. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Matador Resources during the 1st quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Matador Resources by 938.2% during the 2nd quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,059 shares of the energy companys stock worth $55,000 after buying an additional 957 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.23% of the companys stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MTDR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Matador Resources in a research note on Wednesday, November 15th. They set an overweight rating and a $73.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, October 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Matador Resources from $80.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Matador Resources from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $73.67.

Matador Resources Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE MTDR traded down $0.88 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $57.70. The companys stock had a trading volume of 27,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,390,517. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Matador Resources has a fifty-two week low of $42.04 and a fifty-two week high of $69.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.32 and a beta of 3.53. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $59.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.98.

Matador Resources (NYSE:MTDR  Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The energy company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.27. The firm had revenue of $772.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $697.33 million. Matador Resources had a return on equity of 23.09% and a net margin of 31.56%. Equities research analysts predict that Matador Resources will post 7.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Matador Resources Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Matador Resourcess previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Matador Resourcess payout ratio is 11.36%.

Matador Resources Company Profile

(Free Report)

Matador Resources Company, an independent energy company, engages in the exploration, development, production, and acquisition of oil and natural gas resources in the United States. It operates through two segments, Exploration and Production; and Midstream. The company primarily holds interests in the Wolfcamp and Bone Spring plays in the Delaware Basin in Southeast New Mexico and West Texas.

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Biondo Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Edwards Lifesciences Co. (NYSE:EW  Free Report) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 114,626 shares of the medical research companys stock after selling 1,782 shares during the period. Edwards Lifesciences makes up 2.0% of Biondo Investment Advisors LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Biondo Investment Advisors LLCs holdings in Edwards Lifesciences were worth $10,813,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 98,836.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 759,315,387 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $71,626,220,000 after purchasing an additional 758,547,908 shares during the period. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 27,015,032 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $2,548,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,926 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 15,850,055 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,311,275,000 after purchasing an additional 578,319 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 104,971.3% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,399,249 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,148,938,000 after purchasing an additional 15,384,593 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Edwards Lifesciences by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 14,314,297 shares of the medical research companys stock valued at $1,350,268,000 after purchasing an additional 225,931 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.25% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Edwards Lifesciences

In other Edwards Lifesciences news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total value of $115,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 23,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,836,725.50. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, VP Daveen Chopra sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.69, for a total transaction of $115,035.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 23,950 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,725.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Scott B. Ullem sold 7,255 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.79, for a total transaction of $564,366.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 19,248 shares of the companys stock, valued at $1,497,301.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 179,795 shares of company stock worth $12,724,914. 1.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Edwards Lifesciences Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE EW traded down $0.60 on Monday, hitting $67.30. The companys stock had a trading volume of 747,180 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,425,981. The company has a quick ratio of 2.45, a current ratio of 3.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. Edwards Lifesciences Co. has a 1-year low of $60.57 and a 1-year high of $94.87. The companys 50-day moving average is $68.44 and its 200 day moving average is $78.78. The firm has a market cap of $40.82 billion, a PE ratio of 28.80, a PEG ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.02.

Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The medical research company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.59. Edwards Lifesciences had a net margin of 24.59% and a return on equity of 24.54%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $1.48 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.61 EPS. The companys revenue was up 12.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Edwards Lifesciences Co. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EW has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $83.00 to $76.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. SVB Leerink assumed coverage on shares of Edwards Lifesciences in a report on Monday, October 16th. They set a market perform rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $88.00 to $75.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Edwards Lifesciences from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $90.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Edwards Lifesciences from $94.00 to $85.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Edwards Lifesciences presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $84.29.

Check Out Our Latest Report on Edwards Lifesciences

Edwards Lifesciences Profile

(Free Report)

Edwards Lifesciences Corporation provides products and technologies for structural heart disease, and critical care and surgical monitoring in the United States, Europe, Japan, and internationally. It offers transcatheter heart valve replacement products for the minimally invasive replacement of heart valves; and transcatheter heart valve repair and replacement products to treat mitral and tricuspid valve diseases.

Further Reading

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Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of Moderate Buy from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and eleven have assigned 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 $71.00.

DELL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Barclays downgraded shares of Dell Technologies from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and set a $53.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Dell Technologies from $70.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. Credit Suisse Group lifted their target price on Dell Technologies from $62.00 to $74.00 in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Dell Technologies from $60.00 to $70.00 in a report on Friday, September 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Dell Technologies from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 25th.

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Check Out Our Latest Report on Dell Technologies

Insiders Place Their Bets

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dell Technologies

In other news, General Counsel Richard J. Rothberg sold 30,009 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.00, for a total transaction of $2,040,612.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 99,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,793,132. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink . Corporate insiders own 48.60% of the companys stock.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Dell Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,665,000. Comerica Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dell Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $890,000. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dell Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $213,000. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Dell Technologies by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 35,351 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Dell Technologies in the 3rd quarter valued at $524,000. 38.10% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Dell Technologies Price Performance

Shares of DELL opened at $74.41 on Monday. The stocks 50-day moving average is $69.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.45. The stock has a market cap of $53.83 billion, a PE ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.95. Dell Technologies has a 12 month low of $35.96 and a 12 month high of $75.38.

Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 31st. The technology company reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.88 by $0.56. The firm had revenue of $22.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.78 billion. Dell Technologies had a negative return on equity of 149.91% and a net margin of 2.03%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Dell Technologies will post 5.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Dell Technologies Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 3rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 24th were given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 23rd. Dell Technologiess payout ratio is 57.14%.

About Dell Technologies

(Get Free Report

Dell Technologies Inc designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments, Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) and Client Solutions Group (CSG).

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM  Free Report) (NYSE:CM) had its price objective cut by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from C$58.00 to C$56.00 in a research report released on Thursday, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on CM. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$67.00 to C$66.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$65.00 to C$69.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, September 1st. TD Securities decreased their target price on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$60.00 to C$57.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Desjardins reduced their price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce from C$62.00 to C$55.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 6th. Finally, National Bankshares set a C$62.00 price target on shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$61.73.

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Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce stock opened at C$53.69 on Thursday. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has a 12-month low of C$47.44 and a 12-month high of C$65.24. The businesss 50 day moving average is C$51.83 and its 200-day moving average is C$54.58. The stock has a market cap of C$49.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.98, a P/E/G ratio of 31.58 and a beta of 1.04.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (TSE:CM  Get Free Report) (NYSE:CM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported C$1.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of C$1.69 by C($0.17). The company had revenue of C$5.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$5.80 billion. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce had a net margin of 22.51% and a return on equity of 9.45%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce will post 6.756927 EPS for the current year.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 27th. Investors of record on Friday, October 27th were issued a $0.87 dividend. This represents a $3.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.48%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 27th. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerces dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 71.17%.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, a diversified financial institution, provides various financial products and services to personal, business, public sector, and institutional clients in Canada, the United States, and internationally. The company operates through Canadian Personal and Business Banking; Canadian Commercial Banking and Wealth Management; U.S.

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Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:DLR  Free Report) by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 459,291 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock after selling 331,265 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned 0.15% of Digital Realty Trust worth $52,299,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 0.7% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 27,569,868 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $2,710,394,000 after purchasing an additional 185,845 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 0.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,131,762 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $1,979,148,000 after purchasing an additional 96,038 shares during the last quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its position in Digital Realty Trust by 0.3% during the first quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 10,020,960 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $985,161,000 after purchasing an additional 26,148 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Digital Realty Trust by 74.2% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 7,324,758 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $834,070,000 after acquiring an additional 3,118,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Digital Realty Trust by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,170,504 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $704,925,000 after buying an additional 176,565 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.71% of the companys stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $130.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $102.00 to $98.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Digital Realty Trust from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, November 13th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $80.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Digital Realty Trust from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an outperformer rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Digital Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $121.71.

Digital Realty Trust Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DLR traded up $1.00 during trading on Monday, reaching $137.50. 723,171 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,405,871. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.11. Digital Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $86.33 and a 12-month high of $138.00. The firm has a market cap of $41.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.53. The firms 50-day moving average price is $125.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $118.08.

About Digital Realty Trust

(Free Report)

Digital Realty brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions. PlatformDIGITAL, the company's global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data "meeting place" and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.

Further Reading

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Citizens & Northern Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (NYSE:CMG  Free Report) by 21.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,077 shares of the restaurant operators stock after selling 302 shares during the quarter. Chipotle Mexican Grill makes up 0.9% of Citizens & Northern Corps portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Citizens & Northern Corps holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill were worth $2,304,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Addison Advisors LLC grew its stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 350.0% in the first quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 18 shares of the restaurant operators stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. IMA Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 185.7% during the first quarter. IMA Wealth Inc. now owns 20 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 13 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its position in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill by 240.0% during the second quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 17 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 12 shares during the last quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Chipotle Mexican Grill by 320.0% in the first quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 21 shares of the restaurant operators stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, Worth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Chipotle Mexican Grill in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 91.19% of the companys stock.

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Chipotle Mexican Grill Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE CMG traded up $3.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $2,223.14. 57,093 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 275,373. The stock has a market cap of $61.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.33. Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1,344.05 and a 1 year high of $2,238.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1,951.73 and a 200 day moving average of $1,986.82.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Chipotle Mexican Grill ( NYSE:CMG Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The restaurant operator reported $11.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $10.46 by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $2.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.47 billion. Chipotle Mexican Grill had a return on equity of 45.26% and a net margin of 12.27%. The firms quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $9.51 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. will post 44.04 earnings per share for the current year.

CMG has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,200.00 to $2,250.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,391.00 to $2,260.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Chipotle Mexican Grill from $2,010.00 to $2,070.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Stephens reaffirmed an overweight rating and issued a $2,330.00 price objective on shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Chipotle Mexican Grill in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $2,161.33.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on CMG

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Patricia Filikrushel sold 57 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,049.81, for a total transaction of $116,839.17. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 686 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,406,169.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, COO Scott Boatwright sold 1,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $2,042.02, for a total value of $2,905,794.46. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 3,034 shares of the companys stock, valued at $6,195,488.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Patricia Filikrushel sold 57 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2,049.81, for a total value of $116,839.17. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 686 shares in the company, valued at $1,406,169.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 4,642 shares of company stock worth $9,041,139 in the last three months. 0.96% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Chipotle Mexican Grill Company Profile

(Free Report)

Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, owns and operates Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurants. It offers burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos, and salads. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

Further Reading

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Vivic (OTCMKTS:VIVC  Get Free Report) and THOR Industries (NYSE:THO  Get Free Report) are both consumer cyclical companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, valuation, profitability, dividends and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Vivic and THOR Industries, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

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Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Vivic 0 0 0 0 N/A THOR Industries 0 6 1 0 2.14

THOR Industries has a consensus price target of $93.50, suggesting a potential downside of 7.63%. Given THOR Industries higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe THOR Industries is more favorable than Vivic.

Valuation and Earnings

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Vivic N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A THOR Industries $11.12 billion 0.48 $374.27 million $6.95 14.56

This table compares Vivic and THOR Industries revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

THOR Industries has higher revenue and earnings than Vivic.

Profitability

This table compares Vivic and THOR Industries net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Vivic N/A N/A N/A THOR Industries 3.37% 9.77% 5.09%

Institutional and Insider Ownership

96.5% of THOR Industries shares are owned by institutional investors. 4.7% of THOR Industries shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

THOR Industries beats Vivic on 8 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Vivic

(Get Free Report)

Vivic Corp. engages in the construction of marinas and yachts under Monte Fino brand in the mainland China. It operates Joy Wave, an online platform that offers yacht rental and leisure services; development of energy-saving yacht engines; and provision of tourism consultancy services, as well as yacht services. The company was incorporated in 2017 and is based in Las Vegas, Nevada. Vivic Corp. is a subsidiary of Honetech Inc.

About THOR Industries

(Get Free Report)

THOR Industries, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells recreational vehicles (RVs), and related parts and accessories in the United States, Canada, and Europe. The company offers travel trailers; gasoline and diesel Class A, Class B, and Class C motorhomes; conventional travel trailers and fifth wheels; luxury fifth wheels; and motorcaravans, caravans, campervans, and urban vehicles. It also provides aluminum extrusion and specialized component products to RV and other manufacturers. The company provides its products through independent and non-franchise dealers. THOR Industries, Inc. was incorporated in 1980 and is based in Elkhart, Indiana.

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Duolingo, Inc. (NYSE:DUOL  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $225.66 and last traded at $223.86, with a volume of 164766 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $221.46.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on DUOL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Duolingo from $180.00 to $200.00 in a report on Thursday, October 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Duolingo from $140.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, November 9th. Bank of America restated a neutral rating and set a $188.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a report on Thursday, October 19th. Piper Sandler restated an overweight rating and set a $217.00 price target on shares of Duolingo in a report on Monday, November 20th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on Duolingo in a report on Thursday, September 28th. They set a buy rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $176.78.

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Duolingo Trading Up 1.0 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 3.49 and a current ratio of 3.49. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $172.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $155.82.

Duolingo (NYSE:DUOL  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 8th. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.14. Duolingo had a negative return on equity of 1.72% and a negative net margin of 2.06%. The business had revenue of $137.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $132.14 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. The businesss revenue was up 43.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duolingo, Inc. will post 0.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Durable Capital Partners Lp sold 21,751 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $3,154,330.02. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,087,636 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $592,788,972.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ahn Luis Von sold 1,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $200.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Durable Capital Partners Lp sold 21,751 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total value of $3,154,330.02. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 4,087,636 shares of the companys stock, valued at $592,788,972.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 415,496 shares of company stock valued at $73,360,476 in the last ninety days. 19.85% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duolingo

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its holdings in Duolingo by 91.0% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 9,910 shares of the companys stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 4,722 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Duolingo by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 91,284 shares of the companys stock worth $13,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,082 shares during the last quarter. M&G Investment Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the 2nd quarter worth about $6,393,000. Deuterium Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the 1st quarter worth about $285,000. Finally, Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Duolingo in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,151,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.93% of the companys stock.

About Duolingo

(Get Free Report)

Duolingo, Inc operates as a mobile learning platform in the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company offers courses in 40 different languages, including Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese through its Duolingo app. It also provides a digital language proficiency assessment exam.

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Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP  Get Free Report) have earned a consensus rating of Moderate Buy from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $197.50.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Eagle Materials from $215.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Eagle Materials from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 24th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Eagle Materials from $195.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Monday, July 31st. Raymond James cut their price target on Eagle Materials from $193.00 to $170.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com cut Eagle Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Friday, October 20th.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $375,980.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 7,041 shares in the company, valued at $1,323,637.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website . In related news, EVP Matt Newby sold 5,613 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total value of $1,066,470.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares of the companys stock, valued at $4,145,610. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website . Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 2,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total transaction of $375,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,041 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,323,637.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here . Company insiders own 1.70% of the companys stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXP. Comerica Bank bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,942,000. Creative Planning raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 304.5% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,352 shares of the construction companys stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 7,793 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 15.5% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 371,077 shares of the construction companys stock worth $61,792,000 after purchasing an additional 49,878 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 19.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 3,896 shares of the construction companys stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 645 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Toroso Investments LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 35.0% in the 3rd quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 3,838 shares of the construction companys stock worth $639,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.57% of the companys stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Up 0.5 %

EXP opened at $179.32 on Monday. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $129.25 and a fifty-two week high of $195.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.72 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The firms fifty day moving average price is $165.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.73. The company has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.14 and a beta of 1.34.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 26th. The construction company reported $4.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $4.18 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $622.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $636.00 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.45% and a net margin of 22.17%. The businesss revenue was up 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.72 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials will post 14.14 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Eagle Materialss dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.33%.

About Eagle Materials

(Get Free Report

Eagle Materials Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures.

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EastGroup Properties (NYSE:EGP  Get Free Report)s stock had its hold rating restated by stock analysts at Truist Financial in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $175.00 price target on the real estate investment trusts stock. Truist Financials target price indicates a potential upside of 1.09% from the companys current price.

EGP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on EastGroup Properties from $165.00 to $179.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Raymond James raised EastGroup Properties from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 27th. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on EastGroup Properties from $177.00 to $170.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley reissued an equal weight rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of EastGroup Properties in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, EastGroup Properties has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $186.08.

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EastGroup Properties Price Performance

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

EastGroup Properties stock traded up $0.64 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $173.12. The company had a trading volume of 200,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 260,516. EastGroup Properties has a fifty-two week low of $144.40 and a fifty-two week high of $188.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.97. The firms fifty day moving average is $166.65 and its 200-day moving average is $171.55.

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in EastGroup Properties by 544.4% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 2,044,292 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock worth $302,678,000 after buying an additional 1,727,071 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners acquired a new position in shares of EastGroup Properties in the second quarter valued at approximately $91,926,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in EastGroup Properties during the 4th quarter worth about $64,710,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of EastGroup Properties in the third quarter worth $58,974,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in EastGroup Properties by 11.5% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,412,188 shares of the real estate investment trusts stock valued at $492,949,000 after purchasing an additional 248,538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.69% of the companys stock.

About EastGroup Properties

(Get Free Report)

EastGroup Properties, Inc (NYSE: EGP), a member of the S&P Mid-Cap 400 and Russell 1000 Indexes, is a self-administered equity real estate investment trust focused on the development, acquisition and operation of industrial properties in major Sunbelt markets throughout the United States with an emphasis in the states of Florida, Texas, Arizona, California and North Carolina.

Further Reading

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Formula Growth Ltd. increased its position in Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Free Report) by 543.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,928 shares of the information technology services providers stock after buying an additional 43,855 shares during the quarter. Formula Growth Ltd.s holdings in Fidelity National Information Services were worth $2,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FIS. EA Series Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Fidelity National Information Services during the second quarter valued at about $230,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Fidelity National Information Services by 29.7% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 19,909 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 4,558 shares in the last quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Fidelity National Information Services in the second quarter worth about $6,911,000. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Fidelity National Information Services by 78.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 130,921 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $7,113,000 after acquiring an additional 57,623 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its holdings in Fidelity National Information Services by 241.5% in the first quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,170,829 shares of the information technology services providers stock worth $63,577,000 after acquiring an additional 827,952 shares during the last quarter. 85.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FIS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Fidelity National Information Services from $64.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Tuesday, August 22nd. Stephens lifted their price target on Fidelity National Information Services from $69.00 to $72.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Fidelity National Information Services from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, November 8th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a neutral rating on shares of Fidelity National Information Services in a report on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Fidelity National Information Services from $60.00 to $55.00 and set an in-line rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $66.00.

Fidelity National Information Services Stock Performance

FIS stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $56.15. 2,189,559 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,333,306. Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. has a twelve month low of $46.91 and a twelve month high of $79.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.76, a current ratio of 0.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $55.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.84.

Fidelity National Information Services (NYSE:FIS  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The information technology services provider reported $0.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.59 by ($0.65). Fidelity National Information Services had a negative net margin of 180.32% and a positive return on equity of 13.89%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. will post 3.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Fidelity National Information Services Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a $0.52 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $2.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Fidelity National Information Servicess payout ratio is -5.08%.

Insider Transactions at Fidelity National Information Services

In related news, Director Ellen R. Alemany acquired 855 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.00 per share, for a total transaction of $45,315.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 4,598 shares in the company, valued at approximately $243,694. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Fidelity National Information Services Profile

(Free Report)

Fidelity National Information Services, Inc provides technology solutions for financial institutions and businesses worldwide. It operates through Banking Solutions, Merchant Solutions, and Capital Market Solutions segments. The Banking Solutions segment provides core processing and ancillary applications; mobile and online banking; fraud, risk management, and compliance; electronic funds transfer and network; card and retail payment; wealth and retirement; and item processing and output solutions.

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Want to see what other hedge funds are holding FIS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Fidelity National Information Services, Inc. (NYSE:FIS  Free Report).

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Glaukos Co. (NYSE:GKOS  Get Free Report) fell 4.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $60.26 and last traded at $60.26. 524,827 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 15% from the average session volume of 457,363 shares. The stock had previously closed at $63.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GKOS shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Glaukos from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $83.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Glaukos from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Glaukos from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reiterated a buy rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Glaukos in a research report on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Glaukos from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, November 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Glaukos presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $81.22.

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Glaukos Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $68.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $69.36. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.99 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 5.36, a current ratio of 5.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Glaukos (NYSE:GKOS  Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The medical instruments supplier reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $78.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.25 million. Glaukos had a negative net margin of 42.61% and a negative return on equity of 20.82%. The companys revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.45) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Glaukos Co. will post -2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Glaukos

In other Glaukos news, CEO Thomas William Burns sold 45,000 shares of Glaukos stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.98, for a total transaction of $3,239,100.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 54,785 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,943,424.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 7.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. American International Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Glaukos by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 25,246 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $1,798,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Glaukos by 4.8% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,353 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Glaukos by 3.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,878 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its stake in Glaukos by 17.1% in the second quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,738 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock valued at $79,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Glaukos by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 13,040 shares of the medical instruments suppliers stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.04% of the companys stock.

About Glaukos

(Get Free Report)

Glaukos Corporation, an ophthalmic medical technology and pharmaceutical company, focuses on the development of novel therapies for the treatment of glaucoma, corneal disorders, and retinal diseases. It offers iStent, iStent inject, iStent inject W micro-bypass stents that enhance aqueous humor outflow inserted in cataract surgery to treat mild-to-moderate open-angle glaucoma.

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Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Halliburton (NYSE:HAL  Free Report) by 0.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,792,183 shares of the oilfield services companys stock after buying an additional 3,560 shares during the quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC owned about 0.53% of Halliburton worth $158,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vantage Consulting Group Inc increased its position in Halliburton by 2.6% during the second quarter. Vantage Consulting Group Inc now owns 10,093 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $333,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 7.6% during the second quarter. Ten Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,305 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 1.8% during the second quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 16,978 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $560,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC increased its position in Halliburton by 7.5% during the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 4,411 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank increased its position in Halliburton by 0.3% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 106,831 shares of the oilfield services companys stock worth $3,524,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 82.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Halliburton Price Performance

HAL traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $37.60. 1,962,833 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,398,550. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.58 and a beta of 2.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85. Halliburton has a one year low of $27.84 and a one year high of $43.85. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.18.

Halliburton Announces Dividend

Halliburton ( NYSE:HAL Get Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 24th. The oilfield services company reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. Halliburton had a net margin of 11.52% and a return on equity of 31.61%. The company had revenue of $5.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. Halliburtons quarterly revenue was up 8.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Halliburton will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 27th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 7th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, December 6th. Halliburtons dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.99%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 5,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 186,334 shares of the companys stock, valued at $8,012,362. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Myrtle L. Jones sold 16,800 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total value of $722,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,126 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $1,811,418. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Van H. Beckwith sold 5,000 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.00, for a total transaction of $215,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 186,334 shares in the company, valued at $8,012,362. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,236 shares of company stock worth $2,573,715. Insiders own 0.60% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Halliburton from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Halliburton from $42.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on Halliburton from $49.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Halliburton from $49.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Halliburton from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Halliburton has an average rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $49.00.

Get Our Latest Research Report on Halliburton

About Halliburton

(Free Report)

Halliburton Company provides products and services to the energy industry worldwide. It operates in two segments, Completion and Production, and Drilling and Evaluation. The Completion and Production segment offers production enhancement services that include stimulation and sand control services; cementing services, such as well bonding and casing, and casing equipment; completion tools that offer downhole solutions and services, including well completion products and services, intelligent well completions, and service tools, as well as liner hanger, sand control, and multilateral systems; production solutions comprising coiled tubing, hydraulic workover units, downhole tools, and pumping and nitrogen services; and pipeline and process services, such as pre-commissioning, commissioning, maintenance, and decommissioning.

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Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of PPL Co. (NYSE:PPL  Free Report) by 0.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,160,360 shares of the utilities providers stock after selling 130,200 shares during the quarter. PPL accounts for about 1.5% of Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLCs portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLCs holdings in PPL were worth $401,143,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of PPL by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC now owns 10,638 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $281,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,367,253 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $36,120,000 after buying an additional 519,192 shares in the last quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. ClearBridge Investments Ltd now owns 4,374,045 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $115,737,000 after buying an additional 627,002 shares in the last quarter. Inceptionr LLC acquired a new position in shares of PPL during the 2nd quarter worth $1,126,000. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of PPL by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,145,466 shares of the utilities providers stock worth $189,069,000 after buying an additional 697,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.09% of the companys stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on PPL shares. TheStreet cut PPL from a b- rating to a c rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on PPL from $31.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Citigroup began coverage on PPL in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a neutral rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised PPL from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, October 13th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on PPL from $26.00 to $25.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, PPL currently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $30.13.

PPL Stock Down 0.2 %

PPL stock traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $26.25. 1,136,269 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,428,256. The company has a current ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firms 50-day moving average price is $24.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.77. PPL Co. has a one year low of $22.20 and a one year high of $31.74. The company has a market cap of $19.35 billion, a PE ratio of 23.70, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.83.

PPL (NYSE:PPL  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($0.02). PPL had a return on equity of 7.82% and a net margin of 9.53%. The firm had revenue of $2.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $2.20 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that PPL Co. will post 1.58 EPS for the current year.

PPL Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.24 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 7th. This represents a $0.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. PPLs dividend payout ratio is presently 86.49%.

About PPL

(Free Report)

PPL Corporation, an energy company, focuses on providing electricity and natural gas to approximately 3.5 million customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Kentucky Regulated, Pennsylvania Regulated, and Rhode Island Regulated. The company delivers electricity to customers in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Virginia, and Rhode Island; delivers natural gas to customers in Kentucky and Rhode Island; and generates electricity from power plants in Kentucky.

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Israel's Foreign Ministry said Sunday that it would summon the Irish ambassador over a tweet celebrating the release of a 9-year-old girl from Hamas captivity, alleging the post didn't adequately condemn the militant group.

Earlier Sunday, the Irish prime minister lauded the release of Emily Hand, an Israeli-Irish girl whose story has captivated both nations.

"An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered," Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

The girl was initially believed to have been killed in the Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel by Hamas and other militants. A month ago, her father learned that she was alive and among the 240 people held hostage by Hamas in Gaza.

The Hamas attack, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel, triggered a blistering Israeli air and ground assault on Gaza in which at least 14,000 Palestinians, about two thirds of them women and children, have died.

Emily was one of 17 hostages released by Hamas Saturday, the second day of a four-day ceasefire that allowed critical humanitarian aid into Gaza and gave civilians their first respite after seven weeks of war.
Wick Capital Partners LLC reduced its position in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (NYSEARCA:EQAL  Free Report) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 215,804 shares of the companys stock after selling 12,664 shares during the period. Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF comprises 5.3% of Wick Capital Partners LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Wick Capital Partners LLC owned approximately 1.40% of Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF worth $9,029,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EQAL. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Bartlett & Co. LLC acquired a new stake in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Blair William & Co. IL acquired a new stake in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF during the 1st quarter valued at $61,000. Citadel Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF during the 2nd quarter valued at $219,000. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 6,870 shares of the companys stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 1,860 shares during the last quarter.

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Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF Price Performance

NYSEARCA:EQAL traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $40.71. 51,075 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 57,356. The firms 50-day moving average is $39.45 and its 200-day moving average is $40.82. The stock has a market cap of $628.97 million, a P/E ratio of 16.57 and a beta of 1.11. Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF has a 1-year low of $37.35 and a 1-year high of $45.04.

Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF Company Profile

The Invesco Russell 1000 Equal Weight ETF (EQAL) is an exchange-traded fund that is based on the Russell 1000 Equal Weight index. The fund tracks an index of the 1,000 largest US stocks. Each sector receives equal weight, and each stock within a sector receives equal weight. EQAL was launched on Dec 23, 2014 and is managed by Invesco.

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Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSE:LB  Free Report) had its target price reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from C$33.00 to C$28.09 in a report released on Thursday morning, BayStreet.CA reports. They currently have a market perform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. CSFB dropped their price target on Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$41.00 to C$39.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 1st. Desjardins decreased their price target on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$35.00 to C$29.00 and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 6th. National Bankshares set a C$27.00 price objective on shares of Laurentian Bank of Canada and gave the company an underperform rating in a report on Tuesday, November 21st. TD Securities cut their target price on Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$45.00 to C$36.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. Finally, CIBC lowered their price target on Laurentian Bank of Canada from C$37.00 to C$35.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Laurentian Bank of Canada presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of C$33.39.

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Check Out Our Latest Report on LB

Laurentian Bank of Canada Stock Up 0.2 %

TSE:LB opened at C$25.92 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of C$27.26 and a 200 day moving average of C$32.92. Laurentian Bank of Canada has a 52 week low of C$24.95 and a 52 week high of C$48.23. The stock has a market capitalization of C$1.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.79, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.31.

Laurentian Bank of Canada (TSE:LB  Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 31st. The company reported C$1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of C$1.15 by C$0.07. Laurentian Bank of Canada had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 21.20%. The firm had revenue of C$260.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of C$263.60 million. As a group, analysts expect that Laurentian Bank of Canada will post 4.8186916 EPS for the current year.

Laurentian Bank of Canada Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, November 1st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 28th. Laurentian Bank of Canadas dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.96%.

Laurentian Bank of Canada Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Laurentian Bank of Canada, together with its subsidiaries, provides various financial services to personal, business, and institutional customers in Canada and the United States. It operates through three segments: Personal Banking, Commercial Banking, and Capital Markets. The Personal Banking segment offers financial services, such as financial advisory services to financial intermediaries; and operates digital direct-to-customer platform to retail clients.

Further Reading

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Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Mastercard Incorporated (NYSE:MA  Free Report) by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,902 shares of the credit services providers stock after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLCs holdings in Mastercard were worth $1,141,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MA. Naviter Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 31.1% during the second quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 4,582 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 1,087 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 0.7% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 24,680 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $9,707,000 after buying an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.9% during the second quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 7,433 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $2,923,000 after buying an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. lifted its stake in Mastercard by 12.9% during the second quarter. Fragasso Group Inc. now owns 1,115 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Old North State Trust LLC lifted its stake in Mastercard by 5.8% during the first quarter. Old North State Trust LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the credit services providers stock valued at $486,000 after buying an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.94% of the companys stock.

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Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard K. Davis purchased 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 9th. The shares were bought at an average price of $390.96 per share, with a total value of $390,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 9,743 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,809,123.28. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Richard K. Davis bought 1,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 9th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $390.96 per share, with a total value of $390,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,743 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $3,809,123.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Foundation Mastercard sold 125,816 shares of the businesss stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $390.12, for a total transaction of $49,083,337.92. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 97,795,141 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,151,840,406.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 530,100 shares of company stock valued at $204,704,311 over the last 90 days. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Mastercard in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $510.00 to $496.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 9th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $450.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Mastercard from $460.00 to $475.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Friday, September 15th. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Mastercard from $453.00 to $452.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $450.09.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on MA

Mastercard Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MA traded down $2.62 during trading on Monday, reaching $409.88. The stock had a trading volume of 330,226 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,634,155. Mastercard Incorporated has a 52 week low of $336.43 and a 52 week high of $418.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $384.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $394.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $392.61.

Mastercard (NYSE:MA  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The credit services provider reported $3.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts consensus estimates of $3.21 by $0.18. Mastercard had a net margin of 44.85% and a return on equity of 188.83%. The company had revenue of $6.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.53 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.68 earnings per share. The companys quarterly revenue was up 13.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Mastercard Incorporated will post 12.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Mastercard Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 9th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 5th. Mastercards dividend payout ratio is 19.86%.

Mastercard Company Profile

(Free Report)

Mastercard Incorporated, a technology company, provides transaction processing and other payment-related products and services in the United States and internationally. It facilitates the processing of payment transactions, including authorization, clearing, and settlement, as well as delivers other payment-related products and services.

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PAR Technology (NYSE:PAR  Get Free Report) and NCR Voyix (NYSE:VYX  Get Free Report) are both computer and technology companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their institutional ownership, dividends, earnings, risk, analyst recommendations, valuation and profitability.

Profitability

This table compares PAR Technology and NCR Voyixs net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets PAR Technology -15.92% -15.16% -6.45% NCR Voyix -1.42% 24.31% 3.02%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares PAR Technology and NCR Voyixs top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio PAR Technology $355.80 million 3.01 -$69.32 million ($2.36) -16.18 NCR Voyix $7.84 billion 0.29 $60.00 million ($0.91) -17.79

Analyst Recommendations

NCR Voyix has higher revenue and earnings than PAR Technology. NCR Voyix is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than PAR Technology, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for PAR Technology and NCR Voyix, as provided by MarketBeat.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score PAR Technology 0 2 3 0 2.60 NCR Voyix 0 0 2 0 3.00

PAR Technology currently has a consensus target price of $45.50, suggesting a potential upside of 19.14%. NCR Voyix has a consensus target price of $21.50, suggesting a potential upside of 32.80%. Given NCR Voyixs stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe NCR Voyix is more favorable than PAR Technology.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

89.8% of NCR Voyix shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.7% of PAR Technology shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 8.6% of NCR Voyix shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

PAR Technology has a beta of 1.8, meaning that its stock price is 80% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NCR Voyix has a beta of 1.68, meaning that its stock price is 68% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NCR Voyix beats PAR Technology on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About PAR Technology

(Get Free Report)

PAR Technology Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides technology solutions to the restaurant and retail industries worldwide. The company operates in two segments, Restaurant/Retail and Government. The Restaurant/Retail segment offers Punchh, an enterprise-grade customer loyalty and engagement solution; MENU, an omnichannel digital ordering solution; Brink POS, an open cloud, point-of-sale solution; Menu, a digital ordering solution; PAR Payment Services, a transaction-based payment processing service; and Data Central, a cloud software solution for back-office applications. This segment also offers Point-of-Sale Hardware; wireless headsets for drive-thru order-taking; and related peripherals. In addition, this segment provides services, including hardware repair, installation and implementation, training, and on-site and technical support services. The Government segment provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance solutions; mission systems operations and maintenance, and commercial software products; systems engineering support and software-based solutions; satellite and teleport facility operation and maintenance, engineering, and installation services; satellite control center services; and information technology infrastructure library services to the United States Department of Defense and other federal agencies, as well as licensed software products. The company was founded in 1968 and is headquartered in New Hartford, New York.

About NCR Voyix

(Get Free Report)

NCR Corporation provides various software and services in the United States, Americas, the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company operates through Retail, Hospitality, Digital Banking, Payments & Network, and Self-Service Banking segments. It offers managed services, including ATM-as-a-Service solutions that allow banks to run their end-to-end ATM channels; software, services, and hardware; and digital banking solutions for financial institution's consumer and business customers. The company also provides solutions for banking channel services, transaction processing, imaging, and branch services. In addition, it offers solutions for retail industry comprising comprehensive API-point of sale (POS) retail software platforms and applications, hardware terminals and peripherals, payment processing solutions, and consumer engagement solutions, as well as self-service kiosks, which consists of self-checkout (SCO). Further, the company provides technology solutions to customers in the hospitality industry comprising table-service, quick-service, and fast casual restaurants. It also offers cloud-based and cloud-enabled software applications for point-of-sale, back office, payment processing, kitchen production, restaurant management, eCommerce, and consumer marketing and loyalty; and hospitality-oriented hardware products, such as POS terminals, kitchen display systems, handheld devices, printers, and peripherals. Additionally, the company provides managed network and infrastructure services to enterprise clients, as well as professional, field, and remote services for network technologies. It also offers solutions for customer account opening and onboarding across digital, branch, and call center channels. NCR Corporation was founded in 1881 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

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South Street Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Stride, Inc. (NYSE:LRN  Free Report) by 5.2% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 84,192 shares of the companys stock after acquiring an additional 4,171 shares during the quarter. South Street Advisors LLC owned about 0.20% of Stride worth $3,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Stride by 34.6% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 54,746 shares of the companys stock worth $2,038,000 after acquiring an additional 14,073 shares during the period. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in Stride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $113,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in Stride by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 92,520 shares of the companys stock worth $3,631,000 after acquiring an additional 29,107 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Stride by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 427,565 shares of the companys stock worth $15,918,000 after acquiring an additional 26,582 shares during the period. Finally, Portside Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in Stride in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.24% of the companys stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO James Jeaho Rhyu sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total transaction of $1,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 587,475 shares in the company, valued at $29,702,736. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Vincent Mathis sold 10,587 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Friday, October 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.81, for a total transaction of $569,686.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,193 shares of the companys stock, valued at $2,270,405.33. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO James Jeaho Rhyu sold 25,000 shares of the firms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.56, for a total value of $1,264,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 587,475 shares in the company, valued at $29,702,736. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 53,714 shares of company stock worth $2,871,742 over the last ninety days. 2.76% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on LRN. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Stride from $57.00 to $67.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th. Barrington Research increased their target price on Stride from $50.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. StockNews.com cut Stride from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Stride from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, November 16th.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Stride

Stride Stock Performance

LRN traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $57.94. 237,033 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 511,945. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $43.65. Stride, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.66 and a 12 month high of $59.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 3.61 and a quick ratio of 3.54.

Stride (NYSE:LRN  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 24th. The company reported $0.11 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.50. Stride had a return on equity of 16.94% and a net margin of 8.16%. The firm had revenue of $480.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $456.24 million. Analysts anticipate that Stride, Inc. will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

About Stride

(Free Report)

Stride, Inc, a technology-based education service company, provides proprietary and third-party online curriculum, software systems, and educational services to facilitate individualized learning for students primarily in kindergarten through 12th grade (K-12) in the United States and internationally.

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South Street Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in KBR, Inc. (NYSE:KBR  Free Report) by 9.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 216,253 shares of the construction companys stock after buying an additional 18,521 shares during the quarter. KBR accounts for approximately 2.8% of South Street Advisors LLCs holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. South Street Advisors LLCs holdings in KBR were worth $14,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KBR. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in shares of KBR by 930.0% during the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 515 shares of the construction companys stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of KBR during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Spire Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of KBR by 110.6% during the 2nd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 697 shares of the construction companys stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares in the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC bought a new stake in KBR in the third quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp bought a new stake in KBR in the first quarter worth $48,000.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on KBR from $75.00 to $66.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. StockNews.com downgraded KBR from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Friday, November 3rd. DA Davidson lifted their target price on KBR from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on KBR from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on KBR from $75.00 to $74.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, KBR has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $69.71.

KBR Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of KBR traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $52.21. The companys stock had a trading volume of 593,191 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,278,972. The companys 50 day moving average is $56.89 and its 200 day moving average is $60.13. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of -33.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.98. KBR, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.70 and a 12-month high of $65.87.

KBR (NYSE:KBR  Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The construction company reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.02. KBR had a positive return on equity of 25.18% and a negative net margin of 2.82%. The company had revenue of $1.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.78 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that KBR, Inc. will post 2.87 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KBR Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a $0.135 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 14th. This represents a $0.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. KBRs dividend payout ratio is currently -34.18%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Mark W. Sopp purchased 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $51.53 per share, with a total value of $257,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 147,178 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $7,584,082.34. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.03% of the companys stock.

KBR Company Profile

(Free Report)

KBR, Inc provides scientific, technology, and engineering solutions to governments and commercial customers worldwide. The company operates through Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions segments. The Government Solutions segment offers life-cycle support solutions to defense, intelligence, space, aviation, and other programs and missions for military and other government agencies in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

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Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC trimmed its position in shares of Targa Resources Corp. (NYSE:TRGP  Free Report) by 8.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 471,893 shares of the pipeline companys stock after selling 46,326 shares during the quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC owned 0.21% of Targa Resources worth $35,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Targa Resources by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 47,658 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $3,868,000 after acquiring an additional 137 shares during the period. Veracity Capital LLC boosted its position in Targa Resources by 3.7% during the second quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 3,933 shares of the pipeline companys stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 75.1% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 338 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its holdings in Targa Resources by 2.4% in the second quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 6,368 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its stake in Targa Resources by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 4,609 shares of the pipeline companys stock valued at $336,000 after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the last quarter. 90.21% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on TRGP shares. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Targa Resources from $104.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, August 4th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Targa Resources from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Monday, November 6th. TheStreet raised shares of Targa Resources from a c+ rating to a b rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Targa Resources from $106.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 29th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Targa Resources in a report on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a hold rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Targa Resources currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $104.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Targa Resources news, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $255,030.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 116,524 shares of the companys stock, valued at approximately $9,905,705.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Julie H. Boushka sold 2,000 shares of Targa Resources stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $180,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 58,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,225,940. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Charles R. Crisp sold 3,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.01, for a total value of $255,030.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 116,524 shares in the company, valued at $9,905,705.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,000 shares of company stock worth $1,335,330. 1.39% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Targa Resources Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of TRGP traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $87.91. 635,007 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,600,464. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $85.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $80.44. The company has a market cap of $19.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99 and a beta of 2.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.81. Targa Resources Corp. has a 1-year low of $64.85 and a 1-year high of $90.64.

Targa Resources (NYSE:TRGP  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The pipeline company reported $0.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.20). Targa Resources had a return on equity of 19.08% and a net margin of 5.33%. The company had revenue of $3.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.13 billion. Research analysts expect that Targa Resources Corp. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Targa Resources Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 31st were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, October 30th. Targa Resourcess dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 52.36%.

About Targa Resources

(Free Report)

Targa Resources Corp., together with its subsidiary, Targa Resources Partners LP, owns, operates, acquires, and develops a portfolio of complementary domestic midstream infrastructure assets in North America. The company operates in two segments, Gathering and Processing, and Logistics and Transportation.

Further Reading

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Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE:HIG  Free Report) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,275,739 shares of the insurance providers stock after acquiring an additional 5,505 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned 0.42% of The Hartford Financial Services Group worth $91,879,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 4,930,723 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $355,111,000 after acquiring an additional 90,680 shares during the period. Buckingham Strategic Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group in the 2nd quarter valued at $202,000. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 127,556 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $9,187,000 after acquiring an additional 5,242 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 17,791 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 4,592 shares during the period. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in The Hartford Financial Services Group by 94.6% in the 2nd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 558,034 shares of the insurance providers stock valued at $40,190,000 after acquiring an additional 271,203 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 90.81% of the companys stock.

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The Hartford Financial Services Group Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:HIG traded up $0.10 on Monday, reaching $78.25. 436,402 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,730,372. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day moving average of $72.97 and a 200-day moving average of $72.15. The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.25 and a 52-week high of $79.44.

The Hartford Financial Services Group Increases Dividend

The Hartford Financial Services Group ( NYSE:HIG Get Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The insurance provider reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.34. The company had revenue of $6.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.17 billion. The Hartford Financial Services Group had a net margin of 9.62% and a return on equity of 19.05%. The businesss revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current year.

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 3rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 30th. This is a positive change from The Hartford Financial Services Groups previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. The Hartford Financial Services Groups dividend payout ratio is 23.32%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Stephanie C. Bush sold 5,000 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.74, for a total transaction of $363,700.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,063 shares in the company, valued at $731,982.62. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 6,003 shares of company stock worth $436,159. Company insiders own 2.00% of the companys stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $75.00 to $77.00 in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $93.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research report on Wednesday, October 4th. They set a hold rating and a $85.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and set a $77.00 price target on shares of The Hartford Financial Services Group in a research report on Monday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $85.43.

Read Our Latest Report on The Hartford Financial Services Group

The Hartford Financial Services Group Company Profile

(Free Report)

The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc provides insurance and financial services to individual and business customers in the United States, the United Kingdom, and internationally. Its Commercial Lines segment offers insurance coverages, including workers' compensation, property, automobile, general and professional liability, package business, umbrella, fidelity and surety, marine, livestock, and reinsurance through regional offices, branches, sales and policyholder service centers, independent retail agents and brokers, wholesale agents, and reinsurance brokers.

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Trilogy Metals Inc. (TSE:TMQ  Get Free Report)s share price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as C$0.55 and last traded at C$0.57, with a volume of 6000 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$0.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Raymond James dropped their price objective on shares of Trilogy Metals from C$1.75 to C$1.50 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 12th.

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Get Our Latest Analysis on TMQ

Trilogy Metals Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 5.25, a current ratio of 6.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.06. The businesss 50-day moving average is C$0.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$0.68. The company has a market capitalization of C$90.41 million, a P/E ratio of -3.53 and a beta of 1.32.

Trilogy Metals (TSE:TMQ  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 11th. The company reported C($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts consensus estimates of C($0.01). As a group, analysts predict that Trilogy Metals Inc. will post -0.07 earnings per share for the current year.

About Trilogy Metals

(Get Free Report)

Trilogy Metals Inc, a base metals exploration company, explores for and develops mineral properties in the United States. It principally holds interests in the Upper Kobuk mineral projects that include the Arctic, which contains polymetallic volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits; and Bornite that contains carbonate-hosted copper  cobalt deposits covering an area of approximately 448,217 acres located in the Ambler mining district in Northwest Alaska.

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Heidelberg Materials (OTCMKTS:HLBZF  Get Free Report) and UltraTech Cement (OTCMKTS:UCLQF  Get Free Report) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends, profitability, institutional ownership and valuation.

Profitability

This table compares Heidelberg Materials and UltraTech Cements net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

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Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Heidelberg Materials N/A N/A N/A UltraTech Cement N/A N/A N/A

Dividends

Heidelberg Materials pays an annual dividend of $0.60 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.8%. UltraTech Cement pays an annual dividend of $8.54 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.3%. Heidelberg Materials pays out 24.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. UltraTech Cement pays out 10.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. UltraTech Cement is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Analyst Ratings

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Heidelberg Materials 0 0 1 0 3.00 UltraTech Cement 0 0 0 1 4.00

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Heidelberg Materials and UltraTech Cement, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Heidelberg Materials and UltraTech Cements revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Heidelberg Materials N/A N/A N/A $2.42 32.87 UltraTech Cement N/A N/A N/A $84.03 1.23

UltraTech Cement is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Heidelberg Materials, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

33.9% of Heidelberg Materials shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.1% of UltraTech Cement shares are owned by institutional investors. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

UltraTech Cement beats Heidelberg Materials on 5 of the 8 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Heidelberg Materials

(Get Free Report)

Heidelberg Materials AG, together with its subsidiaries, produces and distributes cement, aggregates, ready-mixed concrete, and asphalt worldwide. It provides cement products; natural stone aggregates, including sand and gravel; crushed aggregates comprising stone chippings and crushed stones; and ready-mixed concrete for use in the construction of tunnels or bridges, office buildings, or schools, as well as to produce precast concrete parts, such as stairs, ceiling elements, or structural components. The company also offers asphalt; and trades in cement, clinker, secondary cementitious materials, and solid and alternative fuels. The company was formerly known as HeidelbergCement AG and changed its name to Heidelberg Materials AG in May 2023. Heidelberg Materials AG was founded in 1873 and is headquartered in Heidelberg, Germany.

About UltraTech Cement

(Get Free Report)

UltraTech Cement Limited, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells cement and cement related products in India. It offers ordinary Portland cement, Portland blast furnace slag cement, Portland Pozzolana cement, ready mix concrete, white cement, and white cement-based products; and ready-mix concrete. The company provides Tile Adhesive polymer under TILEFIXO, FLEX, HIFLEX; Seal & Dry water proofing products for kitchen balconies, chajjas, slope roofs, bathrooms, canal linings, swimming pools, and water tanks; Power Grout, an industrial grout for machine foundation, precast elements, and safety vaults; Readi Plast and Super Stucco, a plastering agent for internal and external walls; as well as liquid system for mortar and concrete modifier, repair mortars and concrete under the name of Basekrete and Microkrete. In addition, the company offers bed jointing material for AAC block, Fly Ash Bricks, and concrete blocks, and light weight block for masonry construction, and flooring screeds. Further, the company offers construction products for home builders; and value-added services that include technical advice during concreting, vaastu consultancy, various training programs, and other related services. The company exports its products to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Sri Lanka. UltraTech Cement Limited was incorporated in 2000 and is based in Mumbai, India. The company operates as a subsidiary of Grasim Industries Limited.

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A fire tore through a shopping mall in the southwestern Pakistani city of Karachi, killing at least 10 people and injuring 22 others, police and local officials said Saturday.

The multistory RJ Mall is in a commercial high-rise that also houses call centers and software firms. The fire department dispatched eight fire trucks to the scene after being alerted at 6:30 a.m. Chief fire officer, Ishtiaq Ahmed Khan, said the fourth floor of the building was the most affected.

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the fire had been extinguished and a cooling process was underway. He said that five of the 22 injured were in critical condition. "We are trying our best to do whatever it takes to save their lives and to provide them with whatever treatment that is required for saving their lives," Siddiqui, who was at the scene, told reporters.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.
Cooper Haims Advisors LLC decreased its position in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF (NYSEARCA:VGK  Free Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 276,782 shares of the exchange traded funds stock after selling 6,910 shares during the period. Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF accounts for approximately 13.1% of Cooper Haims Advisors LLCs investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Cooper Haims Advisors LLC owned 0.09% of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF worth $17,077,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 5.2% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 35,003,290 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $2,159,703,000 after buying an additional 1,745,652 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 12.1% during the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 4,981,866 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $303,630,000 after purchasing an additional 536,550 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 80.2% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,261,262 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $259,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,896,544 shares during the last quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 6.1% in the second quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,921,623 shares of the exchange traded funds stock valued at $239,024,000 after purchasing an additional 224,215 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF by 13.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,840,852 shares of the exchange traded funds stock worth $239,208,000 after purchasing an additional 460,941 shares in the last quarter.

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Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSEARCA:VGK traded down $0.23 on Monday, reaching $61.44. 1,199,222 shares of the companys stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,056,748. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.10 and a beta of 0.95. The business has a fifty day moving average of $58.11 and a 200-day moving average of $60.35. Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF has a 52-week low of $54.92 and a 52-week high of $63.81.

Vanguard FTSE Europe ETF Profile

Vanguard European Stock Index Fund is an exchange-traded fund. The Fund seeks to track the performance of a benchmark index that measures the investment return of stocks issued by Companies located in the markets of Europe. The Fund on focuses indexing investment approach by investing all, or substantially all, of its assets in the common stocks included in the FTSE Developed Europe All Cap Index.

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StockNews.com cut shares of WESCO International (NYSE:WCC  Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of WESCO International from $214.00 to $189.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 4th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of WESCO International from $210.00 to $185.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on shares of WESCO International from $190.00 to $185.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of WESCO International from a neutral rating to an overweight rating and set a $180.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the companys stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $189.86.

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Check Out Our Latest Report on WESCO International

WESCO International Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE WCC opened at $154.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.30, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 2.01. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $141.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $152.83. WESCO International has a 52 week low of $117.12 and a 52 week high of $185.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 2.36.

WESCO International (NYSE:WCC  Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $4.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts consensus estimates of $3.85 by $0.64. WESCO International had a return on equity of 19.22% and a net margin of 3.75%. The company had revenue of $5.64 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts expectations of $5.64 billion. On average, research analysts predict that WESCO International will post 15.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

WESCO International Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 15th were paid a $0.375 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 14th. WESCO Internationals dividend payout ratio is currently 10.01%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WESCO International

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in WCC. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of WESCO International by 116.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 413,063 shares of the technology companys stock worth $73,963,000 after buying an additional 222,092 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers raised its position in shares of WESCO International by 165.2% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 134,385 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $24,063,000 after acquiring an additional 83,703 shares during the last quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of WESCO International by 89.2% in the 1st quarter. Braun Stacey Associates Inc. now owns 151,224 shares of the technology companys stock valued at $23,370,000 after purchasing an additional 71,289 shares during the period. American International Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of WESCO International by 12,007.8% in the 2nd quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 68,046 shares of the technology companys stock worth $12,184,000 after purchasing an additional 67,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of WESCO International by 28.9% during the first quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 244,975 shares of the technology companys stock worth $37,858,000 after purchasing an additional 54,875 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.15% of the companys stock.

About WESCO International

(Get Free Report)

WESCO International, Inc provides business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions in the United States, Canada, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Electrical & Electronic Solutions (EES), Communications & Security Solutions (CSS), and Utility and Broadband Solutions (UBS).

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Whitecap Resources Inc. (OTCMKTS:SPGYF  Get Free Report) announced a dividend on Wednesday, November 22nd, investing.com reports. Investors of record on Thursday, November 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.0445 per share on Friday, December 15th. This represents a yield of 7.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, November 29th.

Whitecap Resources Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of SPGYF opened at $7.03 on Monday. The companys fifty day moving average is $7.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.69. Whitecap Resources has a fifty-two week low of $6.63 and a fifty-two week high of $8.98.

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Whitecap Resources Inc, an oil and gas company, focuses on the acquisition, development, and production of oil and gas assets in Western Canada. The company's primary areas of focus of its development programs are in Northern Alberta and British Columbia, Central Alberta, and Saskatchewan. Whitecap Resources Inc was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

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Tourists visit the Narat scenic area in Xinyuan County, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 19, 2023. [Xinhua/Hao Zhao]

URUMQI, Nov. 24 (Xinhua)  The opening ceremony of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Forum "Year of Tourism 2023" was held on Friday in Urumqi, the capital of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

The forum will run until Sunday, bringing together heads of tourism administrations, representatives of international organizations and tourism businesses, and experts in the field of tourism from SCO member states and other countries.

"The forum aims to provide a broad platform for people to discuss issues related to the development of tourism within the SCO, and actively seek cooperation options in this respect," said Zhang Ming, secretary-general of the SCO. Zhang said that the SCO covers a large area with great tourism potential, and countries should create favorable conditions for the development of the tourism industry.

The year 2023 was declared "the SCO year of tourism" by the SCO member states, aiming to support the tourism industry and increase the appeal of SCO cities and regions to tourists.

"Kazakhstan attaches special importance to the comprehensive cooperation within the SCO, and in 2022, over half of the foreign tourists in Kazakhstan were from SCO member countries," said Yerzhan Malikovich Erkinbaev, Kazakhstan's deputy minister of tourism and sports.

Forum participants will be invited to visit Kashgar, Altay, Aksu and Urumqi in Xinjiang.

Since its inception in Shanghai in 2001, the SCO has expanded from an organization with six members into an organization with nine full members, three observer countries and 14 dialogue partners, covering over 60 percent of the Eurasian landmass and nearly half of the world's population.

(Source: Xinhua)
Japan has decided to support the Korean port city of Busan's bid to host the 2030 World Expo.

Busan is up against Riyadh and Rome in the final vote at the General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions in Paris on Tuesday.

The Yomiuri Shimbun reported on Sunday that the Japanese government decided to vote for Busan and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told President Yoon Suk-yeol so when they met at the G20 Summit in New Delhi in September.

If Busan is chosen, Japan is ready to share its knowhow after hosting the 2025 World Expo in Osaka.
Hundreds of thousands of people marched in London on Saturday, demanding an end to Israels onslaught on Gaza.

The march was the first in the UK capital since the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas was brokered and the beginning on Friday of a four day pause in the aerial bombardment by the Israel Defences Forces (IDF).

Protesters listening to the speeches at the London rally, November 25, 2023

Protesters in London and internationally turned out in numbers, rejecting efforts by western governments to claim that that Israels bombing pause signified a move towards an eventual ceasefire and peace. Many on the London protest brought homemade placards condemning the war crimes carried out by the Netanyahu government, with the full backing of the United States, Britain, and other imperialist powers, including the bombing of refugee camps, hospitals and schools. One banner on the demo was a replica of Pablo Picassos searing painting Guernica, comparing Israels war crimes with the destruction wrought by German forces in April 1937 during the Spanish Civil War.

The march was met with mass state intimidation, with the Metropolitan Police, backed up by forces from around the country under Mutual Aid arrangements from as far away as Northumberland, Durham and Wales.

Police officers handed out intimidatory leaflets along the route of the march from Park Lane to Whitehall and deployed spotters looking out for what is deemed criminal activity. The leaflet warned To avoid ending up in our cells, DONT use words or images that are racist or incite hatred against any faith, that support Hamas or any other banned organisation and stated, If in any doubt bin any placard or sign that might break these rule. It warned against using threatening words or aggressive behaviours that could be considered intimidating.

Sky News reported that police officers would also be briefed on chants which may cross the line into criminality, with lawyers and Arabic speakers on hand.

The police made 18 arrests, including four members of the Maoist Communist Party of Great Britain (MarxistLeninist) manning a stall on Whitehall. Police confiscated literature. A police statement on the incident read, Images were shared on social media showing literature being distributed which featured a swastika inside a Star of David that was likely to stir up racial hatred.

The homes of the four CPGB (M-L) members were raided by police at 3am on Sunday morning, while they were still being held in cells.

Two weeks ago, a female protester was detained after a police and media witch-hunt for carrying a placard with the same image featuring a swastika intertwined with the Star of David.

The organisers of the march, including the Stop the War Coalition (STWC) and Palestine Solidarity Campaign have been insisting for weeks that the only way to stop Israels onslaught is to pressure bourgeois politicians, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and opposition Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer to reverse their support for Tel Aviv. This same line continued Saturday.

Noticeable by their absence on this weeks protest was any prominent representative of the Labour left grouped in the Socialist Campaign Group (SCG), or any recognisable nominal left trade union leader. In previous weeks, including at the 800,000 strong march two weeks ago, speeches were given from the platform by former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who now sits as an independent having been booted out of the parliamentary party by Starmer and has spoken at every national rally since the genocide started, his former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, and SCG secretary Richard Burgon.

But one of only two Labour MPs who spoke in London Saturday, Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, said, A four-day pause is good. The release of Israeli hostage and Palestinian prisoners is good, but its not enough Western governments should stop pretending there is nothing they can do. They should be moving every diplomatic channel for a ceasefire.

Bell Ribeiro-Addy speaking at the demonstration in London

She concluded, So we have to keep up the pressure internationally. We have to keep marching, keep lobbying, keep sitting in, because that is what brought about the pausepeople powerdemanding an end to the bloodshed, and that starts with a true and meaningful and permanent ceasefire, because in the end the only option is peace.

Neither Ribeiro-Addy nor her colleague Apsana Begum addressed their membership of a party which supports the genocide, with three quarters of its MPs opposing a ceasefire in a vote only 10 days ago. Yet again, as with every Labour MP, and Corbyn, party leader Sir Keir Starmer, was the great unmentionable, as the left determined not to conflict with the pro-genocide Labour leadership.

Speaking on behalf of the Stop the War Coalition was John Rees, a leader of the pseudo-left Counterfire group, upheld the amnesty for the Labour and trade union bureaucracy. The words Labour, Starmer or trade union never passed his lips.

John Rees speaking at the demonstration in Whitehall, London

Rees declared, We will have a ceasefire, we will not go back to the mass slaughter of Palestinians by the IDF. If this pause does not turn into a full ceasefire, we will have a demonstration the size of which the capital of this country has never seen.

Nothing, he said, in full rhetorical flight, would stop protesters from demonstrating and chanting the slogans they choose and aiming to bring down any government, this government, the next government that does not commit itself to freedom for Palestine.

The STWC are not in the necessary and essential business of mobilising the working class to bring down the governments supporting Israels genocide in Gaza and will do nothing to damage their cosy relations with the Labour and trade union lefts. Their explicit aim is only to change policy in ruling circles so that British imperialism is not so closely tied to US imperialism and pursues a more peaceful orientation.

Last week, Rees spoke at a demonstration outside Starmers constituency office. He stated that after the demonstration of 800,000, 'last Wednesday they [MPs] were queuing up to speak on our platform outside the House of Commons. And we have now got the Liberal Democrats to come out for a ceasefire, we have split the Tory government, we've caused the biggest rebellion in the Labour Party since the rebellion against Blair over Iraq, we've got the Welsh Parliament to come out for a ceasefire, we've got the leader of the Scottish Parliament to come out for a ceasefire... My message to Keir Starmer is this, get with the programme. Demand a ceasefire now.
Nassau County Court House, Long Island, New York. [Photo by Jim Henderson / CC BY 3.0

A New York state court has issued a restraining order blocking a vote by members of the New York City public defenders union opposing Israels genocide in Gaza. The order was granted after their employers filed suit to prevent the resolution from being passed.

The move is a major legal attack on the right to free speech. Through this ruling, employers and the capitalist courts are attempting to arrogate to themselves the right to determine whether public expression of opposition to genocide is legally permissible.

It comes amid a growing campaign of censorship and retaliation, as the ruling class struggles to contain the massive global protests against the assault on Gaza. This includes the outright banning of pro-Palestinian student groups, harassment and media smear campaigns of opponents of Zionism and even proposals to ban pro-Palestinian demonstrations outright.

In addition to providing political cover for the assault itself, which Israeli politicians have admitted is deliberately aimed at the death or expulsion of Gazas 2.2 million inhabitants, the propaganda campaign has also served to incite racial hatred against Palestinians in general. In Vermont over the weekend, three Palestinian-American teenagers were shot.

The public defenders are members of the Association of Legal Aid Attorneys, United Auto Workers Local 2325. The text of their proposed resolution endorses the call by the Palestinian trade unions for industrial action to halt the supply of weapons to the Israeli military, calls for an immediate ceasefire and end to military aid to Israel, demands an end to Israels apartheid regime against Palestinians, and supports the right of Palestinian refugees expelled since Israels creation in 1948 to return to their homeland.

It also rejects all attempts to intimidate workers for their political speech and resolves to organize against any attempts by our employers to procure funds denied to other legal services providers due to their unions political activism in support of Palestinians and in opposition to the Israeli apartheid regime and occupation.

After four law firms that employ ALAA members filed suit to block the resolution, a court in Nassau County issued a temporary restraining order at the last second in the morning of November 16, shortly after voting had already begun. On November 21, the court upheld the restraining order after a brief hearing.

The lawsuit is a legal travesty which slanders this resolution as antisemitic and tantamount to support for terrorism. The plaintiffs do not attempt to substantiate this claim with a single word from the resolutionnor could theywhile regularly denouncing it with words such as hateful, a screed, vile, etc.

They also reduce entirely Israels systematic and targeted destruction of civilian infrastructure in Gaza, which has claimed the lives of close to 20,000 people, to merely the events surrounding Hamas October 7 incursion into southern Israel, which it hypocritically characterizes as unprecedented, brutal and historic terrorist attacks and crimes against humanity.

They claim that an injunction is not only necessary but paramount in order for the state of New York to continue to provide public defenders to indigent clients. The resolution would endanger the right to counsel, the law firms argue, by triggering inevitable retaliation by pro-Zionist groups. Already, a furious media campaign has been whipped up in New York City demanding the de-funding of the Bronx Defenders, after union members there earlier passed a similar pro-Palestinian resolution.

This turns reality on its head. As the ALAA resolution itself states, the real threat comes from the relentless campaign against public defenderswhich includes not only demands for de-funding but doxxing, harassment and slanders in the mediafor expressing their opposition to genocide. The suit explicitly lines up with this, even citing as precedent a previous scandal whipped up against attorney Victoria Ruiz, who was forced to resign after a campaign against her in the right-wing New York Post.

The suit claims that the resolution runs counter to attorneys professional obligation to avoid the appearance of conflict of interest. Incredibly, they argue that whether or not the resolution is actually antisemitic is irrelevant: The foregoing is true not only in practice, but also in perception, in thatregardless of whether any valid arguments could be made supporting the proposition that the Resolution is somehow not overtly antisemiticit is perceived by members of the public at large as overtly antisemitic.

But the plaintiffs themselves, in filing the suit and baselessly slandering the resolution as antisemitic, have gone out of their way to help create this perception. This sweeping and sinister argument could be used to justify virtually anything. For example, right-wing groups could launch a racist campaign against firms which hire Arab-American attorneys for their perceived association with terrorism.

In reality, worldwide perception is overwhelmingly on the side of the Palestinians, as shown by the tens of millions who have taken part in demonstrations around the world. This includes countless Jewish people, including in Israel itself, who are outraged over the attempt to use the Holocaust to justify genocide against the Palestinians. There is also growing support in the working class for industrial action to halt the shipment of weapons to Israel. The perception with which the lawsuit is concerned is that which prevails in the isolated and hated political establishment and in the corporate media.

The suit also contains a chilling implicit threat of blacklisting against ALAA members. The stench of extreme, rank antisemitism will attach to each and every attorney [in the union], and will follow and haunt them for all the remainder of their lives and careers. Later on, it states, as far as reputational damage is concerned, in very short order after such statements and Resolutions are made public, the tendency of the media and large social media accounts  has been to not only publish the name of the relevant individuals and/or organizations  but to list the names of each and every constitution member of those organizations  meaning that even if a current employee of [Nassau County Legal Aid Society] were to pursue other employment opportunities some 10, 15, 20 years or more from now, their name will appear in search results as having been associated with the proposed Resolution.

In fact, history shows that a stench will attach not to those who took a courageous and principled stand against genocide, but those who attempted to silence them.

Both the legal and political significance of this case is immense. If the argument of the plaintiffs is accepted, it would essentially provide court backing for witch-hunts against supporters of Palestine, while silencing those targeted and preventing them from speaking out or defending themselves. It would also effectively allow employers to censor the political speech of their workforce, even outside of work. Everything that a worker says in a union meeting could render them liable for causing reputational damage to their employer.

The move also recalls judicial attacks on anti-war figures during the First World War, including the jailing of socialist leader Eugene Debs for his famous speech in Canton, Ohio. The ruling class is laying the groundwork for similar measures today.

In response to the restraining order, the ALAA issued a statement calling it an unprecedented free speech violation which was enabled by the rightwing New York Post. It also revealed that one of its members had already been doxxed as a result of a post the person made in an internal union mailing list.

In their actions, LAS [the Legal Aid Society] and NYLAG [New York Legal Assistance Group] resorted to fear-mongering in their attempt to silence critiques of Israel by mislabeling them as anti-Semitic  in doing so, they reflected that their allegiance to corporate funders takes higher priority than the organizations stated missions of progressive public defense.

In a Twitter/X thread on the November 21 hearing, one ALAA member called upon UAW President Shawn Fain and District 9A Director Brandon Mancilla to step up against this absurd attack on @UAW members and the unions democratic process. But the UAW has not issued a single word of support for ALAA members either on social media or on its website.

In reality, Fain gave his answer earlier this month in Illinois, when he appeared alongside President Biden, while thousands of demonstrators protested the administrations backing for the genocide, to promote the sellout contracts for US autoworkers. As a member of the Executive Council of the AFL-CIO, Fain also supported a resolution last month which made clear the union federations support for Israel.

UAW officials have also ignored a statement by socialist autoworker Will Lehman, viewed nearly a million times, calling for industrial action to halt the production of weapons for Israel. It has also ignored an open letter by members calling for action to stop the assault on Gaza, to protect its members from retaliation and to not overturn resolutions passed in support of Palestine as the union has in the past.

The trade union bureaucracy has supported US imperialism for decades and has played a critical role historically in helping to suppress anti-war and left-wing sentiment among workers. The most infamous example of this was during the McCarthy period, when countless socialists who had earlier helped to build the unions during the Great Depression were thrown out of the unions.

The response to this attack on democratic rights must come from the rank and file. All workers must come to the support of the ALAA members and organize themselves to force this outrageous suit to be withdrawn. This must be connected with a strategy to organize the working class, the most powerful force in modern society, to stop the genocide in Gaza.
More Korean schoolkids want to be doctors, while public servant and soldier are falling out of favor. Interest is also growing in bioscience and computer engineering, according to a poll by the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training of 38,300 schoolkids and their parents.

The top profession chosen by elementary schoolchildren was athlete with 13.4 percent, followed by doctor, teacher, YouTuber and chef.

Among middle schoolers, the most popular profession was teacher with 9.1 percent, followed by doctor, athlete, police officer, computer engineer and software programmer. Among high school students, the most popular profession was teacher, followed by nurse, scientist, researcher, computer engineer, software programmer and doctor.
For the seventh consecutive week, mass protests were held across Australia in opposition to the Gaza genocide. Over 30,000 attended in Melbourne, some 10,000 or more in Sydney and thousands of others in Perth and Brisbane.

The anger at the Labor governments full-throated support for Israel is only growing. Participants also rejected with contempt suggestions that the phony humanitarian pause of recent days marked any deviation from Israels genocidal campaign. Many pointedly described it as an opportunity to reload and an attempt to dissipate popular hostility.

The demonstrations were again minimised, downplayed or simply ignored by the mainstream media. The Sydney Morning Herald did not mention the Sunday rally in its Monday edition. That meant the only reference to the protest in a major print newspaper was an appalling article in the Daily Telegraph, which stated that more than 200 people marched through Sydneys CBD. The intrepid reporters must not have seen the thousands of other people who were also marching.

****

In Sydney, Anna said: We are here trying to inconvenience the Australian government as much as possible so that they feel and know that there is no way that they can continue to support Israel financially and militarily. We also want to let them know we will not accept this kind of treatment.

A government that treats people overseas that look different to us this way will also treat the most vulnerable people in Australia the very same way. Even though we are not being impacted personally right now this reflects the way that the government will treat us if we let them. Instead of focussing on issues like rents and the cost of living, they are supporting Israels war. Racism is used to divide the workers.

Tinial and Anna

Her cousin Tinial added: If they divide us, they can conquer us. We need to show them [the government] that they work for us and if they dont do what we want then they are out.

Areebah, a university student, said: Im here to protest the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the genocide they are carrying out in Gaza and the increased levels of settler and colonial violence elsewhere, including the attacks on Lebanon and Syria.

It is limiting to look at it as a mere Israel/Gaza conflict because really, it is all about protecting American interests in the area, as Joe Biden said himself. Everyone should look at it on a bigger picture scale because at the end of the day it is about US imperialism in the Middle East protecting their economic and military interests in the area.

I think developments are connected, like the genocide in Congo and Sudan. They are all funded by the same people, so it is really a global issue that we all need to mobilise against.

Areebahs mother, Shanchita, added: This time is a little different because the people are not just being fed information by the media like we used to be in the past. People can see exactly what is happening in real time and so the whole media narrative is falling apart a little. The media is still trying as hard as it can, but peoples eyes have opened. My hope is that this will lead to something different.

Areebah said, The reason we have seen a very slight shift in the media is because it has become increasingly untenable for them to maintain their narrative when there is such a public outcry against it. It is becoming impossible to ignore the fact that the general population completely opposes what is going on.

In the beginning every conversation was centred around Hamas and so-called terrorism, but now they are starting to talk about what the Israeli occupation is doing. On the ABC this morning they were talking about settler violence on the West Bank, and I was like finally youre talking about this after weeks and weeks.

The reason the ABC changed their narrative was because one afternoon about 200 journalists came forward in a meeting and said they were very unhappy with the way the ABC cover the war and then that night there was a slight shift in the narrative.

In Melbourne the WSWS spoke with Khadija, who explained, Im from a different ethnicity, but yesterday, today and tomorrow I am Palestinian. Weve been watching this genocide unfold. I think you need to be here to support the people.

In Gaza it is horrendous, so many international humanitarian laws are being breached and the fact that Israel is not being held accountable for that is shocking. When you compare Muslim countries, Third World countries that are being held accountable for international humanitarian laws, its just hypocrisy at its finest. This shouldnt be happening at any level.

A section of the Melbourne rally on November 26, 2023

On the role of the Labor Party and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, she said, Its shocking to see, especially Albanese who said he supported Palestine protests in the past. Hes now here making bold statements against Palestine. On Labor, I think it is a deeper issue, a historywe know that there is oil located in Gaza. It is all about money. Australia is known for its fossil fuels, of course theyre going to support a state that wants the fossil fuels from Gaza, it just makes sense.

Asked about the truce, Khadiha responded: Excuse my language, I think it is utterly bull. Do you really expect a state that is committing genocide to hold its promises? Were only three or four hours into this pause, and there were Israeli snipers shooting at journalists. You can see its all fake, its for the media.

She also spoke of the global movement in defence of the Palestinians, including school student strikes held in the previous week across multiple Australian cities. The younger generation is finally waking up from this media control. Our parents, our grandparentsthey have been under control. Seeing children fighting for a cause, children fighting for children, their right to live, I think it is amazing. I think more of us need to do that.

Children that went to the strike rally, theyre heroes, to me theyre better than any other person Ive ever seen. You know when you go to school youre held up by these rules and regulations, and you can get suspended, expelled even for breaking them. These kids need to be protected from the media, and as adults it is our duty to protect them now.
Joseph Kishore, National Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in the US, is visiting Sri Lanka to speak at public meetings organized by the SEP and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE).

Two meetings entitled Leon Trotsky and the Struggle for Socialism in the 21st Century will be held at Peradeniya University on December 7 and in Colombo on December 10. The first meeting is sponsored by the Political Science Association of the university. Kishore will discuss the contemporary significance of the struggle of the Trotskyist movement for the principles of international socialism.

Kishore has been the national secretary of the SEP (US) since 2008 and is a regular writer for the World Socialist Web Site published by the International Committee of the Fourth International. He was also the presidential candidate of the SEP (US) in the 2020 US elections.

Socialist Equality Party National Secretary Joseph Kishore

The meetings in Sri Lanka are part of a series of events organised by the ICFI globally to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Left Opposition in the Soviet Union in October 1923 under the leadership of Leon Trotsky, co-leader with V.I. Lenin of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

The eruption of imperialist war, including the murderous siege by the Zionist state of Israel against the Palestinians, confronts the international working class and youth with all the unresolved problems of the 20th century. All the burning issues facing workers and the oppressed massessocial inequality, war, the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change, state repression and the rise of authoritarianism and fascismare international problems and require a global and revolutionary solution by the working class.

The entire South Asian region, including Sri Lanka, has been dragged into a global maelstrom of geopolitical tensions, as US imperialism intensifies its war preparations against China. What is needed is a powerful socialist and global anti-war movement of the working class. Against this backdrop of a looming nuclear world war, understanding the lessons of the struggle of the Trotskyist movement over the past century is essential in building such an anti-war movement.

The SEP and IYSSE invite workers, youth, students, academics and World Socialist Web Site readers to participate in these important meetings.

Dates and Venues:

Peradeniya

December 7 at 3 p.m.

Hall No. 86, Department of Political Science,

University of Peradeniya

Colombo

December 10 at 3 p.m.

New Town Hall, Colombo

As the deadly COVID-19 pandemic is far from over and rapidly spreading throughout the world, we kindly request all participants wear N95 or KN95 facemasks when they join the meeting.
Almost two weeks after defying Allison Transmission workers 99 percent strike vote, the UAW announced a tentative agreement (TA) Wednesday before the Thanksgiving holiday. The Local 933 bargaining committee sent out a mass text message notifying workers that details would be released in the next 48 hours.

Lehman campaigner speaks with worker at Allison Transmission plant in Indianapolis

Workers began questioning the union leaderships initial 48 hours claim after George Freeman, the local chairperson, sent out a report that the details would not be released until after the Thanksgiving holiday.

One Allison worker stated, Yeah, its kind of funny how at the last minute there was a clerical error so we couldnt strike, then 6 days later theres a TA? Its beyond discouraging as a working class individual who just wants fair pay for fair work and not have to work 6070 hours a week to raise a family and therefore missing all the time with your family!

To attempt damage control, a member of the bargaining committee, Kyle Colbert, posted on Facebook, We understand the Memberships concern due to lack of communication during this time. The Memberships stress and frustration in this time of negotiations is not lost with this Negotiation Team. He goes on, All this to say that in the coming week we want to give this Membership something to expect without violating any terms that have been agreed upon during our negotiations. Dates and times are currently being discussed between the UAW and the company to make sure our Members receive a Tentative Agreement that can be looked over, discussed, then voted on. In other words, We will meet with the company to discuss the best measures to sell out the membership.

The Allison worker said, They backtracked on the 48 hours to claim it was 48 business hours. Then the bargaining committee posts the timeline without a timeline. You cant tell people wait another 7296 hours. Its a mess right now. Already new hires make $1415 an hour, year after year and Allison nets $600700 million in profits. Theres lot of people disgruntled, fed up with not being told whats going on. We havent had any weekly updates, then midnight theres a clerical error.

Post on Facebook by Local 933 Chairman Kyle Colbert

Everyones guessing its a terrible shut your mouth TA, because they will put this TA forward for us to vote it down. They know it will go down. Theyre not answering questions on the extension. It supposedly ends Tuesday at midnight. Based on that well probably meet Thursday and vote Friday. Basically, that 99 percent was a formality for the UAW. Since our membership is under 2,000 like Mack, [UAW] International doesnt care. The Facebook post by the bargaining committee was basically just to beat around the bush and give vague responses.

Post on Facebook by Local 933 Chairman Kyle Colbert

In the concluding section of Kyle Colberts post, he gave an outline stating that the TA will be rolled out in an informational meeting for all three shifts, then workers will vote. He ended by cynically asking workers to trust in the negotiating team as they have always had workers best interests in mind.

Who is he fooling? Sixteen years have passed since Allison Transmission was sold by GM to Carlyle Group. Allison workers were promised by GM in 2007 that pensions and retiree health care costs would be guaranteed. Under the UAW-GM contract, the company unloaded the retiree health care costs into a voluntary employee beneficiary association (VEBA). It underfunded retiree health benefits and alongside this the contract implemented the two-tier system, lowering the wages of new hires.

As the World Socialist Web Site noted, Carlyle is not only a vicious corporate predator, it has long had the most intimate ties with the military-intelligence apparatus, particularly in connection with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. The private equity firm has employed numerous war criminals from both capitalist parties, including former Defense Secretary Frank Carlucci, once its chairman, and former CIA director and Pentagon chief Leon Panetta, a highly paid consultant. Both George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were directors of the company or a subsidiary.

There should be no doubt that following the Big Three and Mack Trucks contracts, Shawn Fain and Biden are again in close discussions with Allison Transmission to push through another sellout agreement so as not to disrupt military production for the expanding US wars. Allison Transmission was awarded a $51 million contract to support Abrams tank production for the US Army and for export. Alongside this, Allison is partnering with defense contractors for Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles and the XM30 Combat Vehicle Program. In the third quarter of 2023, Allison Transmission Holdings reported $267 million EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) up from the 2022 figure of $245 million EBITDA. For the first nine months of 2023, Allison has surpassed their EBITDA from 2023, with $831 million.

Undoubtedly, Biden assured Carlyle Groups co-founder Rubenstein that he is working with the UAW to suppress workers opposition. The Biden administration and both Democrats and Republicans, while attacking workers at home, are prosecuting the war in Ukraine, the genocide in Gaza, as well as preparing for war against Iran and China.

Allison Transmission workers, like their brothers and sisters at other plants and industries, should expand the network of rank-and-file committees to oppose the betrayal that is underway. The veteran worker explained the necessity for a rank-and-file committee at Allison. Biden is calling Fain saying, I have a war in Ukraine to fund. As a father, the situation worries me as well as for my future grandkids.

Im optimistic. All over the world the gap between the top 1 percent and the rest of us is wider. I dont need millions and I dont want to work 70 hours to raise my family. Thats the feeling of 7580 percent of people here.

They (management) see people banding together and are afraid. The more they screw us over, the easier we can build a rank-and-file committee, especially at Allison. Its a small but critical step and important in the grand scheme.
Washington has over the course of a decade militarized the vital and hotly disputed waters of the South China Sea with basing agreements and deliberately provocative operations. The military activity in the region, spearheaded by Washington and targeting China, had been of an aggressive but occasional character. Now it is virtually daily and unrelenting.

Philippine Navy ships BRP Davao Del Sur (centre) and BRP Gregorio Del Pilar (back) conduct a maritime cooperative activity with HMAS Toowoomba on November 25 [Photo: Australian Department of Defence]

Over the past week, both the United States and Australia launched joint military patrols of the South China Sea, markedly escalating tensions in the region. China has responded with a sharpening of rhetoric, live fire exercises, and placing troops in the region on high alert.

The Philippines and the US conducted joint patrols last week in the straits south of Taiwan, in a three day joint military exercise. The joint patrol sailed from Mavulis Island only 142 kilometers from Taiwan and headed to the South China Sea. It did so pursuing what is the most provocative possible route, transiting the vital Bashi Channel with combat ships.

Both the Ferdinand Marcos Jr administration in Manila and the Pentagon have presented the relentless escalation of their joint military activity in the disputed waters as defensive in response to growing Chinese aggression. This stands reality on its head. It is Washington that is instigator of the aggression in the South China Sea, drawing tight a dragnet of regional military alliances, basing agreements and joint patrols around China. The provocations lead to further escalations. China responded to the joint patrol by launching two one-day live fire drills near Hainan Island, adjacent to the South China Sea.

Speaking in Hawaii on November 20, Marcos declared that the situation in the South China Sea was becoming dire. The situation is dire but not for the reasons elaborated by Marcos. The alliances and military provocations and joint patrols in the South China Sea are the stuff of imminent war. It is the escalating aggression of Washington, dragging behind it all of the various regional actors, that has brought this about.

Liu Pengyu, the spokesperson for Chinas embassy in Washington, spoke to the press regarding the joint patrols, China believes that defense and security cooperation needs to be conducive to regional peace and stability. They should not escalate tensions or undermine trust between countries, still less target any third party.

The Chinese Ministry of Defense issued a blunter statement accusing the Philippines of having enlisted foreign forces to patrol the South China Sea [and] stir up trouble.

Exercises staged by the United States and the Philippines previously always maintain the pretense that they were targeting an unnamed outside aggressor. Now Washington leads joint patrols that are explicitly preparing for conflict with China.

On Friday, the United States staged a Freedom of Navigation Operation (FONOP), sending a destroyer to transit near the disputed Paracel Islands, an archipelago of small coral islands in the northern portion of the South China Sea. As it routinely does when staging such provocations, Washington asserted that it was upholding the right of innocent passage in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The law Washington claims to be upholding is one which it has refused to ratify.

The Chinese militarys Southern Theater Command responded to the transit by deploying naval and air forces to track and monitor the destroyer. Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Command spokesperson Tian Junli told the press, The serious violation of Chinas sovereignty and security by the United States is further iron proof that it is pursuing navigation hegemony and creating militarization of the South China Sea.  It fully proves that the United States is an out-and-out security risk creator of the South China Sea  Troops in the theater remain on high alert.

With Chinese troops on high alert, the Philippines and Australia staged their first ever joint sea and air patrols in the South China Sea over the weekend. Marcos declared that the exercises were a practical manifestation of the growing and deepening strategic and defense partnership between our countries.

Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief of Staff Gen Romeo Brawner Jr told the press that two fighter jets from the PLA had shadowed the drills in the Spratly Islands.

The Japanese Coast Guard was present for four-day exercises conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard off Bataan peninsula. The exercises included identifying maritime threats and fire at sea scenarios. The return of Japanese forces, under the guise of interoperability, to Bataanwhere Japanese militarism committed some of the worst atrocities in the Pacific theater of the Second World War, including the infamous death marchis another example of how Washingtons relentless warmongering is resurrecting the barbarism of the 20th century.

During his visit to Manila earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida supplied the Philippines with military hardware through Overseas Security Assistance and began the initial stages of discussion regarding the creation of a Reciprocal Access Agreement for the exchange and interoperability of military forces of the two countries.

The joint patrols between the Philippines with the US and Australia are immensely dangerous. A confrontation at sea between Chinese vessels and a joint patrol is imminently plausible and could easily escalate into conflict and a rapid spiral of events to war.

Confrontations in the South China Sea are now occurring with alarming regularity. In late October, Chinese and Philippine vessels collided in the disputed region surrounding the Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines is attempting to maintain a small unit of military forces.

Washington is responding to the growing confrontations with escalation. In the wake of the Second Thomas Shoal confrontation, Nikkei reported that the United States has begun advising the Philippines on how to repair and upgrade the Sierra Madre, the World War II era warship that Manila in 1999 deliberately grounded on the shoal to create a basing platform for permanently deploying forces in the South China Sea.
Some 400 demonstrators marched and rallied Saturday at the steps of the Michigan state Capitol in Lansing to demand a halt to the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza and call for justice for the Palestinian people.

Protesters against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, in Lansing, Michigan, November 25, 2023

Facing the Capitol steps lined with dummies wrapped in winding sheets soaked in fake blood, the crowd angrily chanted the now-familiar, Biden, Biden you cant hide. We charge you with genocide, and From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.

The latter chant has been attacked by politicians in both capitalist partiesDemocrats as well as Republicansas implying the eradication of Israeli Jews, but speakers explained, with the demonstrators support, that what is envisioned in the chant is an end to the apartheid conditions that now prevail, with freedom and equality for the Palestinians.

The crowd exemplified the shock and horror of workers, students and young people of all races and nationalities expressed at anti-genocide demonstrations that have mobilized millions of people all over the world, as the Zionist regime of the gangster Benjamin Netanyahu, with the full support of the US and imperialist governments internationally, bombs densely populated neighborhoods, destroys hospitals, and withholds water, fuel, food and electricity in a calculated campaign of mass murder and ethnic cleansing. This is being done in broad daylight before the entire world, shattering the claims of Washington and its European allies to be waging war against Russia in Ukraine and threatening war against China in defense of democracy and human rightsnot to mention the wars of the previous 30-plus years against Iraq, Afghanistan, Serbia, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Mali.

Rally against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, in Lansing, Michigan on November 25, 2023.

Speakers included representatives of Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace and a number of unaffiliated individuals. The crowd, and for the most part the speakers, were distinctly unimpressed by the attempts of Biden and his fake-left supporters such as Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to pass off the operational pause in Israels military rampage as a humanitarian move in the direction peace.

Members and supporters of the Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality passed out hundreds of copies of a statement published by the World Socialist Web Site titled, Hostage/prisoner exchange used to prepare next stage of Israels Gaza genocide.

One demonstrator, Alejandra, said she had joined the rally to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine and all of humanity. Asked why she thought the US was supporting the genocide in Gaza, she responded: That is a very good question, and from what I have read and learned, and also just from being a Mexican American... its money and oil. Theres a lot more to this story than people are really looking at Sadly the history of occupied lands is that people want resources.

Anees, whose family is Palestinian, said, Theres a sayingthe United States has no feelings, it has interests. I think the Palestinian is just an inconvenience for the broader policy in the Middle East.

Another protester, Dana, told World Socialist Web Site reporters that an immediate ceasefire and an end to Israeli occupation is the bare minimum, adding, Im going to be here as long as theres no free Palestine.

Asked about the temporary pause in the killing, Sonya, one of the organizers of the demonstration, said, You pause a song. You pause a video game. You pause Super Mario Brothers. You dont pause a genocide. You end a genocide.

She went on to say, Never again means never again to everybody, not just a certain class of people. They say that the old will die and the children will forget. Thats not the case.

Children at a rally against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, in Lansing, Michigan, November 25, 2023

Asked what she thought about the call by Palestinian unions for workers in every country to stop arms production and shipments to Israel, Sonya said she supported it and added, I would do more. The thought that my money and everything I buy is going to the federal government to fund this? Our independence is coming, and we will defund the federal government if they dont defund Israel.

She disagreed with the accusation by governments and the media that those who oppose the genocide are antisemites. They are not, she said. This where ignorance comes in, and at this point its willful ignorance.

Speaking from the Capitol steps, Barry Grey, national editor of the World Socialist Web Site, received a warm response from the crowd when he gave remarks expressing the support of the Socialist Equality Party in the US and the world Trotskyist movement for the mass global protests against the genocide in Gaza. He called for the movement against imperialist war to root itself in the expanding global movement of the working class, which, he explained, was objectively a movement against capitalism, and which had to be consciously waged on the basis of an international socialist strategy.

Greys denunciation of Netanyahu, Biden and all of the government leaders supporting Israels genocide, and his call for them to be tried as war criminals, evoked cheers from the crowd. He declared, The Palestinian people will not be defeated. They will not end their resistance. He went on to condemn attempts to equate violence used by the oppressed in resisting their oppressors with the violence of the ruling classes against those they exploit and subjugate.

Fatima, a survivor of the 1948 Nakba in Palestine, with her family at a rally against the Israeli genocide in Gaza, in Lansing, Michigan, November 25, 2023

Especially moving was the presence of a 94-year-old woman named Fatima, a survivor of the 1948 Nakba (catastrophe in Arabic). Fatima and her family were dispossessed of their home in northern Palestine and allowed to keep only what they could carry. Announcing to the hushed crowd, This is all she has left of her home, Sonya held up the small rock Fatima had brought to the demonstration.

Saturdays demonstration ended with a funeral procession of cars past the governors mansion.
Amid an upsurge of transmission internationally, a new wave of COVID-19 is occurring in Australia.

By the limited data available, COVID-19 community transmission is now considered moderate to high, in New South Wales (NSW), the countrys largest state, following a 20.6 percent increase in COVID notifications over the past fortnight. In Victoria, quantitative wastewater levels indicate high COVID-19 viral loads. In Western Australia (WA), wastewater concentrations have reached levels not seen since January this year.

This undated, colorized electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, indicated in yellow, emerging from the surface of cells, indicated in blue/pink, cultured in a laboratory. [AP Photo/NIAID-RML]

The immune-evasive EG.5, Eris, subvariant of Omicron and one of its sublineages, is reported to be responsible for the current surge in cases. The Omicron BA.2.86 subvariant (nicknamed Pirola) has also been detected in Victorian wastewater at low levels. In WA, the Pirola variant appeared with a wastewater frequency of 12.43 percent.

The upsurge of the virus takes place amid the waning vaccine immunity of the population. 89 percent of Australians have not received a COVID-19 vaccine in the past six months. New monovalent boosters, which have shown a significant antibody response against the Eris subvariant, are already available in the United States and were approved in Australia last month. They will, however, not be made available until December 11.

Professor Brendan Crabb told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) last week that it was, likely a few hundred thousand people in Australia have [a COVID-19] infection now. Crabb warned that if we dont do anything by the time this wave is over there will be 3, 4 or 5 million Australians who will get COVID in the next few months. There will be thousands of Australians who die early in the next few months as a result, there will be 50,000 to 100,000 cases of Long-COVID, there will be business disrupted and aged care facilities shut down

As Crabb indicates, this wave is occurring under conditions where the federal and state governments, now all Labor with the exception of Tasmania, have made clear that there will be no change to public health measures to stop the spread of the pandemic and protect health and lives.

The Albanese Labor governments systematic dismantling of even the most basic measures to stop the spread of the virus, including mask mandates, vaccine mandates, testing and reporting requirements, means that the population faces this new wave of COVID-19 infections totally unprepared.

Mass testing clinics have been shut down and state authorities are blocking individuals from reporting positive Rapid Antigen Tests, as self-reporting portals were closed in the countrys largest states, NSW, Queensland and Victoria.

What has been established in place of a coordinated public health response is a policy of mass infection and death, as the continued circulation of a deadly virus is treated as a non-event.

Following the dismantling of COVID-19 public health measures over the past two years, on October 20, Australias Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, announced that COVID-19 was no longer considered a communicable disease of national significance. Like the formal ending of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency response by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in May, this decision had no scientific basis.

Kelly later admitted that the ending of the national significance designation was made, even as he and other health officials were aware that a new wave was beginning. Rather than seek to minimise the damage, the health authorities are acting like arsonists, doing everything to ensure maximum carnage.

The criminality of the official response was summed up by remarks NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant made in an interview with the ABC last month. Chant declared:

We are not recommending everyone needs to know exactly what virus theyve got, so if you're young, fit and your doctor wouldnt recommend antivirals or any change in management, please stay at home be aware of what are the signs of deterioration and you can always call our health service health direct if you can't discuss it with your GP. Generally, we're not recommending any testing in that group... We are recommending stay at home and don't share your germs around.

That is a statement with staggering implications. In the first instance, people are being instructed that they are essentially on their own even if they are infected with a potentially-deadly virus. The signs of deterioration presumably include increasing difficulty breathing, which can be a prelude to a major medical episode, including rapid death.

More generally, Chants statement repudiates public health as it has been understood for decades if not centuries. The instruction for young people to essentially tough it out, and not bother finding out what they are infected with would be more appropriate to the Dark Ages, than to modern medicine. The absolute prerequisite for advanced healthcare is accurate information, but Chant is declaring that the relevant authorities are simply not interested.

They have rejected calls for the reintroduction of mask mandates in any of the states or territories. Queenslands chief health officer, John Gerrard, said that a basic measure such as that would be disproportionate.

The dismantling of testing has rendered official case numbers meaningless, but figures of hospitalisations and deaths provide a hint of the growing transmission of the virus and its impact, though both are lagging indicators.

Nationally, hospitalisations have increased from recent lows of 910 at the beginning of September, to around 1,400.

The death toll is rising. There have been over 300 COVID-19 deaths since September. In Victoria, 145 deaths were reported in the most recent 28-day reporting period. More than 5,900 deaths from the virus have been recorded in Australia since the end of 2022.

In line with the true character of the let it rip policy as a program of mass murder, particularly targeting the elderly and vulnerable, widespread fatalities are continuing in aged care facilities, with little or no comment.

Earlier this month, the grim milestone was passed of 6,000 total COVID-19 deaths in such facilities. The virus is killing at least six people every day in aged care homes. There are over 2,400 active COVID-19 cases in aged care, with 1,707 cases among residents and 718 among staff, across 334 aged care facilities. Over 1,200 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded in residential aged care this year alone, more than in the first two years of the pandemic combined.

The latest Department of Health and Aged Care report for November revealed that just 39 percent of aged care residents have received a COVID-19 booster in the past 6 months, meaning that residents face the present wave of cases with waning vaccine immunity and under conditions of the spread of new and more vaccine-evasive variants.

The responsibility for ensuring vaccines are provided has been left in the hands of aged care providers, rather than any coordinated response by the government. Thousands of aged care residents as well as staff are left vulnerable to the risk of serious health complications and death through infection.

Even in the hospitals, mask mandates have largely been withdrawn, and in many, specific COVID wards have been abolished. That means the circulation of the virus among the most vulnerable, those in hospital for other medical conditions.

The corporatised trade unions have collaborated with the Labor governments in creating these conditions.

In August, the Health Services Union (HSU) lauded the NSW Labor governments ending of mask mandates in public hospitals, declaring in an email to members on the day of the changes that the decision was a milestone in health. In fact it was a milestone in death. The HSU leadership, were it consistent, may consider renaming the organisation to the anti-health services union.

The policies directed against public health are being dictated by capitalist profit interests. The measures needed to end the pandemic, including indoor masking with N-95s and respirators, air filtration and mass testing and contact-tracing, are well known. The issue is they would impinge on the economy, by which is meant the fortunes of the corporations and the ultra-wealthy.

The current surge demonstrates that the fight to finally end the pandemic requires a political struggle against the Labor governments and the union leaderships. That requires the development of independent rank-and-file committees across health, aged care and more broadly. Above all, it underscores the fact that this struggle must be based on a socialist perspective that places the health and needs of the working class above the demands of big business.
Last week, the Student Parliament (StuPa) of Humboldt University (HU) in Berlin rejected by a large majority a motion aimed at defending Israels genocide in the Gaza Strip and suppressing criticism of it. Many visitors attended the public meeting and rejected the war propaganda in harsh terms.

The Juso university groupthe student arm of the Social Democratic Party (SPD)had attempted to glorify the Netanyahu governments war policy as a defence and slander protest against it as antisemitic. The motion went so far as to misuse the memory of the Holocaust to justify the war policy.

Although the initiative was also supported by the openly right-wing parliamentary groups in the StuPa and several student representatives attempted to stifle the debate bureaucratically, the motion failed. Instead, the StuPa adopted a motion condemning antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism and calling for solidarity with all students affected by the war.

HU students protest against the massacre in Gaza and the silence of the university management, 7 November 2023

In the run-up to the StuPa meeting, the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) university group called for the motion to be rejected and conducted an intensive campaign among students. The IYSSE had already publicly condemned the Jusos motion at the previous StuPa meeting and called for an end to the genocide. Several dozen visitors, including Muslim and Palestinian students, as well as members of the Black Student Union (BSU) and the Student Collective Berlin, responded to the IYSSEs call on Tuesday. The conference hall was fuller than it had been for years.

In her opening plea in favour of the motion, Juso spokesperson Thekla M. left no doubt as to the right-wing agenda behind the motion. She explicitly condemned an open letter from students and staff at Berlin universities and several student protests criticising the university administrations support for Israel and calling for a stop to the killing.

According to the Juso spokesperson, such protests meant that Jewish students no longer feel safe at university. In reality, students of Jewish origin, together with their fellow students worldwide, are taking part in the protests en masse and playing a prominent role in them.

Gregor Kahl, IYSSE representative to the StuPa, unequivocally rejected these lies and the Juso parliamentary groups motion in his counter-speech. The annihilation and expulsion of two million Palestinians, said Kahl, had nothing to do with self-defence, but was tantamount to genocide. With its support for this policy, the German government does not have the protection of Jewish life in mind, but rather wanted to expand its geopolitical influence in the entire region.

According to Kahl, it was not the millions of people who are fighting for the freedom of the Palestinians worldwide who were expressing antisemitism, but the German ruling class, which abuses the memory of the Holocaust to legitimise new crimes and at the same time runs a murderous and racist campaign against Muslims and refugees. Kahl concluded by calling on all the StuPa representatives to support the IYSSE motion condemning the genocide in Gaza and highlighting the central role played by Humboldt University in ideologically justifying Germanys pro-war policy.

As a result, numerous visitors came forward to condemn the massacre in Gaza and reject the Jusos motion. Many supported the IYSSEs criticism and emphasised other critical aspects. In the meantime, around 20 people were on the list of speakers.

One HU student of Palestinian origin castigated the Juso motion as disgraceful and full of hypocrisy, ignorance and sheer bigotry. He explained: Basically, we have to decide today, whether we agree or not, that the Palestinians deserve to be considered human beings.

It is ironic that once again the ruling partys youth organisation is being used as a tool to lead attacks and smear campaigns against an oppressed minority that is persecuted at every turn, removed from their jobs, ostracised and even deported. This persecution, by the way, extends to anti-Zionist Jews as well.

I will say what many are afraid to say, he concluded. It is not complicated. Israel is a state, not a people, and it is a racist, colonial, ethno-religious apartheid state. Israel is a terrorist organisation.

Several speakers criticised the motion from a Jewish perspective, among others. Benny, for example, whose relatives, as Jews, had to flee Eastern Europe, declared:

Please stop equating Judaism with Israel. Jews have legitimate criticism of the state of Israel, including in Israel itself. I find it ridiculous to use this hammer of antisemitism to destroy any criticism of Israel. When I hear the way some people talk here, I get the feeling that some people are not really interested in the topic. I would ask you to perhaps read a few books. If the whole thing starts for you on 7 October, then that just shows how ignorant you are.

Benny then denounced the whole discussion as it is being conducted in the media and in public. He concluded: I ask you all to think about how it feels for your Muslim fellow citizensfor all the people around you who have fled from different countrieswhen their lives are not perceived as human lives and not mentioned, for example in the Jusos motion.

Another student rejected the use of the term historical responsibility in the Juso motion as shameful:

My grandmother remembered what the Germans did. Many of us have remembered. I think the historical responsibility is to stand up for human rights. Even if that means not siding with your state. Instead, you stand with the Jewish Israelis, with the Jewish-Arab Israelis, with the Palestinians, and condemn the ongoing genocide. This is a very fundamental statement. I think we are voting today on the notion of solidarity with both Jewish students and Palestinian students. The motion put forward by the SPD bourgeoisie is clearly one-sided. Anyone who has read it can see that. We have well over 13,000 dead. Lets condemn Israel and the genocide. Otherwise, history will hold a tribunal.

Alban, whose grandfather had fought against the Nazis in Yugoslavia, referred to the criticism of international human rights organisations and denounced the fact that the memory of the Holocaust was being misused to justify new crimes:

I am very disturbed that in Germanywhere six million Jewish people were killed and the Holocaust was committedwe turn a blind eye to the fact that the Palestinian people are being slaughtered and massacred. That is disgusting and despicable. I hope that the German people have learnt the lesson of history and the Holocaust: That human rights must be valid for all people. For this reason, I would like to call for all victims of wars and crimes to be recognised and for the genocide in Gaza to end.

Thao criticised the anti-democratic actions against Palestinian organisations and the restriction of freedom of expression at universities:

People and institutions that show solidarity with Palestinian people are accused of supporting Hamas. They are associated with antisemitism without any differentiated judgement. They are fired or their funding is withdrawn. This also affects institutions that have been actively addressing racism and anti-Semitism in a differentiated way for years and are currently trying to do so.

Juliette explained that the Juso motion was based on a definition of antisemitism that is scientifically untenable and is criticised and questioned from many perspectives. She continued: As we have already seen in some contributions, this leads to a conflation of criticism of Israel with antisemitism. Justified criticism of Israel is dismissed and delegitimised as antisemitic, and so academic freedom and freedom of speech are restricted.

This is particularly problematic in an academic context, because academic freedom should actually allow us to have a space in which precisely these things can be discussed on an academic level.

In his contribution, Tobias noted that it was not the opponents of the massacre in Gaza who are part of the antisemitic tradition of the German elites, but the supporters of the Juso motion. This identified Jewish people worldwide with the genocidal crimes of the Israeli government:

My grandpa was in a concentration camp and my grandma was deported to Germany for forced labour. The descendants of those who committed these crimes now want to advocate another genocide in the name of these victims. They are doing this because they are just like their grandparents. Pretending that all Jews are criminals and are in favour of genocide is antisemitism. Pretending that Israel speaks for all Jews is antisemitism. Because everyone sees that crimes are being committed against children and the civilian population, that Israel is bombing hospitals and schools.

The representatives of the German government in particular embodied the same as their grandparents, said Tobias. This state, which committed the crimes back then, is still doing it today. And it is an advocate of antisemitism. Yes, we must fight antisemitism. Lets start with these people.

Throughout the course of the debate, representatives from other student groups repeatedly attempted to stifle criticism of the Juso motion using antidemocratic arguments to curtail the debate bureaucratically. While the IYSSE group in every case objected and voted against, several of these motions found a majority among the representatives.

For example, a member of the SDS (Left Party university group) proposed a motion that each speaker should only be allowed to speak once. A little later, the RCDS (Christian Democrat group) moved that speaking time be limited to two minutes per speaker. The Juso group itself tried to push through a motion to halt the debate immediately when it became clear that the next six speakers on the list would be opponents of their motion.

One HU graduate, who was specifically attacked in the Juso motion, was even to be denied the right to comment on the accusations against his group. Georg, who now works as a researcher at the Centre for Modern Oriental Studies, had the microphone cut off by the chair on the grounds that he was no longer a student.

When he explained to the meeting, without a microphone, that a protest criticised by the Jusos in 2018 had nothing to do with antisemitism, the chair banned him from the building and organised a 20-minute pause to the debate in order to call in security guards to supervise the rest of the session.

Georg had tried to clarify that the protest was directed against a right-wing politician and Knesset (Israeli parliament) member who had supported the Gaza war in 2014. The critic slandered by the Jusos as antisemitic was herself a Jewish Israeli, a peace activist and conscientious objector.

Because only student representativesbut not visitorshad the right to vote, the IYSSE motion was rejected against the votes of the IYSSE group and under protest from several participants. Instead, a majority of representatives adopted a motion that called for solidarity for all students and researchers affected by the escalation of violence, but did not criticise Israel's or Germany's war policy.

The IYSSE is calling for further protests against the massacre in Gaza. Contact us to develop the movement and reject the intimidation and censorship at the universities!
On Saturday evening, three university students and lifelong friends of Palestinian descent walking together on their way to enjoy a family holiday dinner were shot in a suspected hate crime in Burlington, Vermont. Two of the students are American citizens, while the other is a legal US resident.

According to a statement released by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), all three students, Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tasheen Aliahmad, are 20 years old and attending nearby colleges. ADC and the police have confirmed that the students were visiting relatives in Burlington, the largest city in Vermont, with a population of roughly 45,000.

A photo of students Tasheen Ali Ahmad (left) Kinnan Abdalhamid (center) and Hisham Awartani (right) taken shortly before they were shot. [Photo: The Awartani family.]

While the three were shot at the nearby University of Vermont campus, they are studying at other colleges. Awartani studied at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; Abdalhamid at Haverford College, near Philadelphia; and Aliahmad at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut.



Trinity College confirmed in a Sunday statement that Aliahmad is set to graduate from the university in 2026 and is currently in stable condition. Haverford President Wendy Raymond and Dean John McKnight confirmed to the Philadelphia Inquirer that Abdalhamid is a biology major and a member of the track team. They described his injuries as non life-threatening. Brown University President Christian H. Paxson confirmed that Awartani is a junior at the college and is still hospitalized.



Paxson said the university will be holding a vigil for Awartani on Monday. I know that this heinous and despicable act of violencethis latest evidence of anti-Arab and anti-Palestinian discrimination spiraling across this country and around the worldwill leave many in our community deeply shaken, wrote Paxson.

In a Facebook post, Ramallah Friends School, a pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 private Quaker institution in Ramallah, Palestine, confirmed that Awartani, Abdalhamid and Aliahmad were high school graduates. The school said it did not know the severity of all the injuries, but that it appeared Abdalhamid only suffered minor injuries, while Aliahmad was shot in the chest and Awartani in the back.

As of this writing, police have yet to release a motive or the name of the suspect in Saturdays shooting. In a statement issued Sunday, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad confirmed that the Palestinian victims were confronted by a white male with a handgun, who shot at least four rounds without speaking before fleeing.



The statement noted that two of the victims were wearing keffiyehs at the time, and all three students were speaking Arabic. While police have yet to declare a motive, Murad noted that [i]n this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime.  And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if its proven.



In a joint statement issued by the victims families through the ADC, the parents of the students said they were extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children and called on police to treat the shooting as a hate crime.



They added, Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.



Saturdays shooting is part of a geyser of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab hate and bias that has been encouraged by wealthy Zionists, imperialist politicians and virtually every press outlet outside Qatari-backed Al Jazeera. Politicians, media talking heads and opinion columnists have slandered protesters against the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, many thousands of whom are Jewish, as antisemitic, while urging police and university administrators to charge and outlaw expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.



From October 7 through November 4, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) reported that it had received 1,283 requests for help and reports of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bias, a 216 percent increase compared to the same time last year.



Reports of bias and requests for help received by CAIR included: First Amendment issues (23.9 percent), employment (20.56 percent), hate crimes (15.32 percent) and education and bullying (9.2 percent).

Among the hate crimes, which do not include the shootings in Vermont, is the murder of six-year-old Wadea al-Fayoume in Illinois. Other hate crimes include two attempted murders, numerous violent threats, the use of vehicles as weapons to target protesters, and incidents involving guns being discharged or brandished to threaten supporters of Palestinian human rights.



CAIR Research and Advocacy Director Corey Saylor observed, Both Islamophobia and anti-Arab racism are out of control in ways we have not seen in almost 10 years.

American Muslims are facing the largest wave of Islamophobic bias that we have documented since then-candidate Donald Trumps Muslim Ban announcement in December 2015. Political leaders, corporations, media outlets, civic organizations and others all have a role to play in ending this surge in bigotry.

Saylor added that the Islamophobic and anti-Palestinian rhetoric that have been used to both justify violence against Palestinians in Gaza and silence supporters of Palestinian human rights here in America has contributed to this unprecedented surge in bigotry.

A particularly odious example of this bigotry was the exposure of former Obama National Security Council and longtime State Department official Stuart Seldowitz last week. Social media videos, garnering millions of views, showed the ex-government official and then-government lobbyist harassing and threatening Halal food cart workers in New York City.



Late Wednesday night last week, the New York Police Department arrested Seldowitz and confirmed that he had been charged with two counts of stalking in the fourth degree as a hate crime and aggravated harassment in the second degree. All charges are misdemeanors.

Saturdays shooting in Vermont appears to be the latest anti-Muslim/anti-Arab crime in the United States fueled by the US- and NATO-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. As of this writing, some 15,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel began combat operations on October 7, including over 6,000 children.

Despite daily protests around the world over the past month-and-a-half, involving tens of millions of people, President Joe Biden and a large majority of Congress have refused to publicly endorse a ceasefire.



Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, a supposed progressive long promoted by the pseudo-left Democratic Socialists of America, on November 5 publicly opposed calls for a ceasefire in Israels murderous military rampage against the population of Gaza. Sanders, who has already endorsed Genocide Joe for president in the 2024 election, offered his empty thoughts on Sunday following the shooting.

Then-candidates Joe Biden, left, and Sen. Bernie Sanders, right, greet one another before they participate in a Democratic presidential primary debate, March 15, 2020. [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

Hate has no place here, or anywhere, Sanders bloviated on X/Twitter. This piece of hypocrisy elicited thousands of angry comments pointing to Sanders role in supporting Bidens presidential campaign and his earlier opposition to a ceasefire.


Mosab Abu Toha, an acclaimed Palestinian poet, was detained last week by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which questioned and beat him before releasing him. The poets ordeal is a distilled expression of the barbarity of the Israeli state, which is attacking not only Palestinians themselves, but also their culture.

Abu Toha was born in a refugee camp in Gaza and has lived in the enclave throughout his life. He wrote his first poems in 2014 as Israel was attacking Gaza from the air, the sea and the land. In 2019, he traveled to the United States to become a Scholar-at-Risk Fellow in Harvard Universitys Department of Comparative Literature. He returned to Gaza in February 2021.

Mosab Abu Toha (Facebook)

Abu Tohas first collection of poetry, Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear (2022), won an American Book Award and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker, the New York Times and the Atlantic, among other publications.

Like many other Palestinians, Abu Toha and his family were fleeing to southern Gaza on Monday, following the Israeli governments warnings that they would not be safe in the north. The poet, his wife and his three young children were traveling to Rafah, where they hoped to cross into Egypt.

It is worth mentioning that the American embassy sent him and his family to travel through the Rafah crossing, the poets brother Hamza Abu Toha wrote on Facebook. The Guardian, too, reported that the US embassy in Israel had told the poet that he was on a list of US citizens and their families who were allowed to enter Egypt. One of Abu Tohas children was born in the US and is an American citizen.

At a checkpoint between northern and southern Gaza, the IDF ordered Abu Toha to put down his three-year-old son, whom he had been carrying in his arms, and put his hands up. Soldiers then arrested him and took him away with about 200 other men.

The IDF later said that Abu Toha and the others had been detained because of intelligence indicating of a number of interactions between several civilians and terror organizations inside the Gaza Strip. Aside from being extraordinarily vague, this assertion deserves as much credence as the IDFs claim that the Al-Shifa hospital was the main headquarters for Hamas terrorist activity.

Diana Buttu, a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer and a close friend of Abu Toha, wrote on social media that the poet had been beaten while in Israeli custody and began receiving medical treatment after he was returned to his family. Information about his condition was not available as of this writing.

The gratuitous violence inflicted upon Abu Toha reflects the desperation of the crisis-ridden Netanyahu government, which rests on far-right parties that promote Jewish supremacism, political ignorance and social blindness. The treatment of Abu Toha also reflects the brutal, reactionary character of Zionism itself.

Zionist violence has punctuated the poets life, but he has often created positive things in its aftermath. In August 2014, Israel bombed the Islamic University-Gaza, destroying its English department, where Abu Toha was studying. Just a few days before that, our house was badly damaged in a separate Israeli airstrike, he told PEN America. My small book collection was pierced by the shrapnel of an F-16 bomb. On Facebook, my friends and their friends started to offer to send books to me to rebuild my collection. As he received more and more books, Abu Toha decided to found the Edward Said Library, which now has three branches.

After the Israeli onslaught began, the poet and his family took refuge in the Jabaliya refugee camp. In an article published October 20 in the New Yorker, he described what he saw on his return home to Beit Lahia. On the main street leading to my house, I find the first of many shocking scenes. A shop where I used to take my children, to buy juice and biscuits, is in shambles. The freezer, which used to hold ice cream, is now filled with rubble. I smell explosives, and maybe flesh.

In his interview with PEN America, Abu Toha spoke eloquently about the writers role. A writer must speak on behalf of the unheard, those who cannot articulate well what they feel or see, and most importantly to me, those who lost their lives under the rubble of vicious wars. Thats part of resistancekeeping memories of oneself and others, eternalizing shared feelings in human life.

He acknowledged various ways in which writers can respond to oppression. Other writers may pen revolutionary poems or manifestos, he told PEN America. This can move people to act and lead marches and clashes with their oppressor. But we mustnt forget that what writers also need to address are the detailsthe unnoticed in peoples lives, as well as the inner and recurring feelings that people have daily. Glorifying peoples resilience may well affect how far they can advance towards liberty.

In the same interview, Abu Toha described poetry as an essential part of our humanity and our mutual connection. Poetry is something that confirms to us that we are part of this world. All of us. No one is alien when it comes to war or suffering. When blood seeps through our flesh, the earth doesnt mind absorbing it. It doesnt ask for an ID; it doesnt look for the color of skin or the language or belief of the bleeding.
Three days into the first letup in Israels two-month-long bombardment and invasion of Gaza, film crews have begun to document the evidence of the deliberate mass murder of Gazas civilian population in what is the worlds largest crime scene.

Last week, Politico reported that the White House was concerned that a pause in Israels attack against Gaza would allow journalists broader access to Gaza and the opportunity to further illuminate the devastation there and turn public opinion on Israel.

Indonesian hospital in ruin, massive damage to facility with patients trapped inside

And so they have. An on-the-ground report by Al Jazeera over the weekend described the scene at Gazas Indonesian Hospital: The stench of death forces people to cover their nose, charred, decomposing bodies, children among them, are piled up in one corner. No burials have taken place because Israeli snipers targeted anyone who ventured out to dig a grave. Streets, schools, houses, shops, Israeli strikes have destroyed them all.

These reports have completely exposed US President Joe Bidens lie that Palestinian health authorities were overstating the death toll in Gaza. In fact, the Biden administration now admits the official death toll is a significant underestimation.

It has been two weeks since the last official death toll was published by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, due to the collapse of health services which made counting the dead impossible. However, the latest unofficial count from the government information ministry, published Wednesday, estimated that 14,352 people had been killed, including 6,000 children and 4,000 women.

Palestinian filmmaker Bisan Owda, whose social media reporting from Gaza has captivated millions of people all over the world, put the reality more plainly: Numbers from Gaza you need to know: 20,000 people were killed, in 50 days of escalation7,000 of them still under the rubble8,000 of them are childrenall of them are civilians.

According to Gazan officials, 233,000 housing units, or approximately half the houses in Gaza, have been either destroyed or damaged. Bombs or missiles hit 266 schools, of which 67 have been destroyed. Israel has killed 205 healthcare providers and 64 journalists. The most striking element of the death toll is the massive scale of death among women and children.

Palestinian mother Hiyam Qudih cooks in front of her family's building destroyed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip in the village of Khuza'a, east of Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023. [AP Photo/Adel Hana]

An article published in the Guardian on Sunday stated that Israel claims it has killed between 1,000 and 2,000 Hamas fighters. Even if this were true, it would mean that for every fighter killed, Israel has killed three to six children, and that between 85 and 92 percent of those killed are civilians.

On Sunday, the New York Times published a front-page article explaining that the massive death toll among women and children in the Gaza war is without precedent in the 21st century.

Israel has cast the deaths of civilians in the Gaza Strip as a regrettable but unavoidable part of modern conflict But a review of past conflicts and interviews with casualty and weapons experts suggest that Israels assault is different.

The Times notes: More than twice as many women and children have already been reported killed in Gaza than have been confirmed killed in Ukraine, according to United Nations figures, after almost two years of Russian attacks.

The report goes on to say that 70 percent of all deaths reported in Gaza are women and children, even though most resistance fighters are men. In past clashes between Israel and Hamas, for example, about 60 percent of the reported deaths in Gaza were men, the Times wrote.

The article notes that Israels use of 2,000-pound bombs eclipses anything seen in previous 21st century wars. The Times reports, citing a US official, that roughly 90 percent of the munitions Israel dropped in Gaza were satellite-guided bombs weighing 1,000 to 2,000 pounds.

The Times writes: In fighting during this century, by contrast, US military officials often believed that the most common American aerial bomba 500-pound weaponwas far too large for most targets when battling the Islamic State in urban areas like Mosul, Iraq, and Raqqa, Syria.

The Times article, like everything it publishes, is crafted and vetted to protect American state interests. While presenting statistics that can only be explained by the willful targeting of the civilian population, the Times is careful never to connect these actions to the statements of Israeli officials, who have repeatedly stated that their aim is to kill Palestinian civilians.

Earlier this month, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said that the entire population of Gaza was responsible for the October 7 attack in southern Israel, declaring, It is an entire nation out there that is responsible It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. Its absolutely not true.

Asked whether that makes them, by implication, legitimate targets, Herzog replied, When you have a missile in your goddamn kitchen and you want to shoot it at me, am I allowed to defend myself?

Last month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, You must remember what Amalek has done to you, invoking the biblical passage that commands, put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.

We are fighting human animals, and we are acting accordingly, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said last month.

As Craig Mokhiber, former director of the New York office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, explained: Explicit statements of intent by leaders in the Israeli government and military leaves no room for doubt or debate that Israel is engaging in a textbook case of genocide.

In other words, to use the language of the Times, Israels assault is different from earlier wars not just in the scale of death among the civilian population, but in the willingness of Israeli officials to admit that they have a deliberate aim of killing as many civilians as possible.

Everything Israel has done, moreover, has been coordinated with the Biden administration. All the 2,000-pound bombs it has dropped on Gaza were made in the United States and supplied by the Pentagon. From the standpoint of Israel and US imperialism, one of the aims of the pause is to resupply the Israeli military, which the Biden administration is eagerly carrying out.

While the Times attempts to distance Israels assault on the population of Gaza from the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, the genocide in Gaza marks an extension and expansion of the crimes of US imperialism. These wars killed over 1 million people and involved the use of torture, kidnapping and rape as state policy.

Not one single elected official or military officer was charged, let alone went to prison, for these vast crimes. Now, as the images from the destruction of Gaza demonstrate, US and world imperialism are carrying out crimes on an even larger scale, and are preparing yet greater ones for the future.

Stopping the genocide in Gaza requires the building of a mass antiwar movement of the international working class, armed with a socialist perspective. A key demand of this movement must be that those responsible for these war crimes, including not just Israeli civilian and military officials, but also leaders in Washington, Paris, London and Berlin are prosecuted for war crimes.
Press Release

November 26, 2023 Bong Go welcomes groundbreaking of Super Health Center in Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte to enhance grassroots healthcare access Senator Christopher "Bong" Go, chairperson of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, applauded the local government of Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte, and the Department of Health (DOH) for the successful groundbreaking on Wednesday, November 22, of the new Super Health Center in the city. "Patuloy po akong tutulong sa pagpaparami ng Super Health Centers sa bansa sa abot po ng aking makakaya. Sa mga itinayo ng Super Health Centers, nakita namin kung gaano kalaki ang naitutulong nito sa komunidad lalo na sa rural areas," Go said in a video message during the event. "It is a significant step towards enhanced healthcare services. 'Yun po ang layunin ng mga Super Health Centers, ang ilapit sa mamamayan ang serbisyong medikal ng gobyerno," he added. Through the collective efforts of DOH, local government units (LGUs), and fellow lawmakers, sufficient funds have been allocated for 307 Super Health Centers in 2022 and 322 in 2023. DOH, the lead implementing agency, identifies the strategic areas where they will be constructed. The Super Health Center is an enhanced version of a rural health unit, offering basic health services such as database management, outpatient care, birthing facilities, isolation areas, diagnostic services (including laboratory tests, X-rays, and ultrasounds), pharmacy services, and ambulatory surgical units. Additionally, these centers provide services such as eye, ear, nose, and throat (EENT) care, oncology centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation centers, and telemedicine, which enables remote diagnosis and treatment of patients. Go then offered additional help to those requiring medical attention. He strongly encouraged them to visit the Malasakit Centers at the Jose Rizal Memorial Hospital in Dapitan City and the Zamboanga del Norte Medical Center in Dipolog City. These centers provide convenient access to medical assistance from the government, ensuring that individuals in need receive timely and appropriate care. The Malasakit Centers program has made a significant impact nationwide, aiding over ten million indigent Filipinos, as reported by DOH. With the establishment of 159 centers, the program brings together various relevant agencies, including DOH, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office. It aims to reduce the burden of hospital expenses for patients, ensuring they receive the care they need without financial strain. Go is the principal author and sponsor of Republic Act No. 11463 or the Malasakit Centers Act of 2019, which institutionalized the Malasakit Centers program. Go emphasized, "Pera naman ito ng taumbayan na binabalik lang sa inyo sa pamamagitan ng maayos at maaasahang serbisyo." Go also principally sponsored and is one of the authors of the Republic Act No. 11959, also known as the Regional Specialty Centers Act, which was signed into law by Marcos on August 24. The law mandates the establishment of regional specialty centers within existing Department of Health (DOH) regional hospitals. It stands as a testament to the commitment of the government to uplift the nation's health infrastructure. Go, vice chairperson of the Senate Committee on Finance, has consistently supported initiatives aimed at promoting the development of the province. Notably, he has supported the funding for the construction of multipurpose buildings in Dapitan City, Jose Dalman, Mutia, President Manuel A. Roxas, Salug, Siocon, and Sindangan. Additionally, he has facilitated the acquisition of ambulance units for Mutia, as well as trucks for Katipunan and Mutia. Furthermore, Go has been instrumental in the rehabilitation of roads in Dapitan City, Godod, Jose Dalman, Liloy, Kalawit Labason, La Libertad, Sergio Osmena and Salug.
A Montenegro court last Friday gave the green light to the extradition of fugitive crypto fraudster Do Kwon, but where he will be sent is so far unclear.

The Montenegrin Justice Ministry must now decide whether the 32-year-old behind the spectacular collapse of the TerraUSD and Luna cyber coins will be sent to Korea or the U.S., which have both put him on their wanted list.

A high court in the capital of Podgorica said on its website that the legal conditions for Kwon's extradition have been met and that it received Korea's request first.

Korea's request was received by the ministry on March 29 and the U.S.' on April 3. The court added that Kwon has agreed to be extradited to Korea.

But Montenegrin Justice Minister Andrej Milovic has hinted that his government would favor the U.S. in a decision he described as "political."

"The U.S. is our main foreign policy partner. We want to sign a bilateral extradition agreement as soon as possible to create a legal framework for future extraditions," Milovic told local TV Vijesti.

The court did not specify when Kwon will be extradited, except that the decision should be made after he completes his four-month prison sentence in Montenegro for passport forgery.

Kwon fled first Korea and then Singapore ahead of Terraform's crash in May last year. After stopping in Serbia he was arrested at Podgorica Airport this March while trying to board a flight to Dubai on forged Belgian and Costa Rican passports.

The collapse of his Terra USD stablecoin and Luna cryptocurrency wiped out some $300 billion in investors' money.
On Wednesday, a CSX train derailed in Rockcastle County in Kentucky. According to CSX, the 15-car derailment took place in the area between Mullins Station and Livingston, causing a chemical spill. Two cars carrying sulfur were part of the breach and one person was injured.

CSX yard in Louisville, Kentucky

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear declared a state of emergency, with a half-mile evacuation zone implemented. More than a dozen homes have been impacted by the train derailment, with the police calling on residents to evacuate. CSX claims it will provide residents with hotel vouchers and food.

This was one of several high-profile accidents on US railroads in recent days. An Amtrak train carrying passengers from Pontiac, Michigan, to Chicago also derailed November 16 in southwestern Michigan near New Buffalo. The train, part of Amtraks Wolverine service, crashed into a vehicle on the tracks. There were over 200 passengers and six crew members on board. At least 10 passengers were injured.

On November 17, a Norfolk Southern train and a CSX train collided, which caused a fire and a diesel fuel spill. A fuel tank on the CSX train was ruptured with over 4,000 gallons in it, and 1,200 gallons were burned off. CSX claimed that it had contained all runoff, while also claiming that safety is our highest priority.

On November 20, 29-year-old FedEx truck driver Delontae Fairman was killed by a freight train collision in Chicago at the Norfolk Southern rail yard in the citys South Side.

Norfolk Southern Intermodal Freight Yard in Chicago's South Side. [Photo by Richard Hurd / CC BY 2.0

The cause of the accident has so far not been disclosed. According to the Chicago Fire Department, the semi-truck was stuck on the tracks when it was hit by the train.

A statement put out by Norfolk Southern on Monday said, Norfolk Southern is aware of an incident involving a truck driver at our 47th street intermodal facility in Chicago this morning. Our thoughts are with their family and colleagues during this difficult time. We are working with first responders at the scene, and will work with them to fully investigate the incident.

In fact, train derailments are a regular occurrence in the United States, with at least a 1,000 taking place each year, or at around three per day. The indifference of the rail companies to the safety of the rail workers and the environmental disasters they leave in their wake is fully sanctioned by the Democrats and Republicans.

Earlier this year, Norfolk Southern was responsible for the dangerous conditions that led to the accident in East Palestine, Ohio, which resulted in the burning of a toxic chemical plume that poisoned the working class community and surrounding areas.

Investigations into the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment revealed that the wheel bearings of the train overheated. Two temperature alarms had gone off, but the company did not stop the train. Moreover, instead of mandating that the trains have more advanced electronic braking systems, the rail companies have spent millions to lobby Congress against such efforts.

The East Palestine disaster occurred only a few weeks after the Biden administration banned a potential strike by 120,000 railroaders, in which safety would have been a key demand. In the aftermath of the spill, both state and federal officials worked overtime to shield Norfolk Southern from responsibility.

Management has driven the railroads into the ground through cost-cutting and by keeping rail workers in unsafe conditions. While the rail companies have made billions in profits in recent years, including share buybacks and dividends for their wealthiest shareholders, little resources are spent to improve safety or working conditions.

Also in Chicago last week, a Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Yellow Line commuter train also crashed, causing 38 injuries. The crash occurred in the far North Side working class neighborhood of Rogers Park.

According to National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators, the cause of the crash was a design problem within the CTA system that prevented the train from stopping sooner. NTSB chairwoman Jennifer Homendy told ABC Chicago that the train was going 26 miles per hour when it crashed into snow fighter equipment.

According to Homendy, the trains automated braking system did not start soon enough. Instead of starting at 2,745 feet, the train braked at 1,780 feet. The conductor did everything possible to manually stop the train, but the trains wheels were slipping on leaves on the tracks, making it very difficult to stop.

Conditions for CTA workers have rapidly deteriorated since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which took the lives of a number of transit workers. In addition to low wages and terrible working conditions, the CTA is facing a serious shortage of workers due to resignations and early retirements. A WTTV study found that at least 14 percent of CTA workers are working more than 50 hours a week and many are working 80 hours more with overtime spiking.

Between 2016 and 2018, CTA workers worked without a contract. While rank-and-file members authorized a strike, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 308 and Chicagos Democratic-controlled city government suppressed the strike action. The last transit strike in Chicago was in 1979, when a three-day strike of rail operators and bus drivers shut the city down to demand higher wages and cost-of-living adjustments.
With one hand they held the pen; with the other, a gun. They were writers, but they dreamed of being warriors or better yet, heroes.

They didnt fear death. They were the last romantics. And, almost a century later,

Italian writer Maurizio Serra has brought many of them together in The Armed Esthete, a book about several poet-warriors who fought in Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. They were the spiritual children of DAnnunzio, Kipling, Marinetti, Junger, Croce, T.E. Lawrence and other exalted writers. They were fascinated by utopias and attracted to the epic of tragedy. Due to their young age, they hadnt fought in the trenches of World War I. They felt nostalgic for what they hadnt experienced: they yearned for a patriotic adventure, an era of ideological overdose and fascination with banners and flags. Perhaps thats why they began to poetize fascism, communism and war. Many would take up arms in the name of various causes.

Maurizio Serra  the biographer of several Italian poets  explains that the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) constituted an essential milestone to understanding the profound dimension reached by the armed esthetes of Europe. To understand the French writer Antoine de Saint-Exupery  already in his forties and tired of not being able to lend his strength to his country  you must understand what motivated him to fly with the French Air Force. To understand the poems by the British writer W. H Auden, one must grasp his obsession with honor. And, to enter the mind of the Italian poet Lauro de Bosis, one must recognize his anti-facism, which made him capable of writing a text titled Story of My Death, shortly before fulfilling the mystical call of sacrifice.

Likewise, Serra finds it essential to examine the communist soul of the English novelist Christopher Caudwell and his early death in Spain with the International Brigades, or the leanings of Simone Weil (so intellectual with her glasses), who left Paris to fight the fascists. He also dives into why the German writer Klaus Mann  frightened by Nazism  joined the Anti-Fascist Front in the Spanish Civil War, before enlisting in the US Army to take part in the liberation of Italy.

The embryo of many of these stories are found in the battle between the Republicans and the Nationalists in the lead-up to World War II. First, says Maurizio Serra, because it was probably the last romantic conflict in Europe. Secondly, because this romanticism gave a prominent role to intellectuals, to the point that the Spanish conflict was baptized as the war of the intellectuals. And, finally, because the Spanish Civil War revealed the need for many writers to take action. To leave the libraries, the newsrooms and the cafes: to go protest in the squares, or fight on the frontlines, abandoning the ambiguity that was typical of intellectuals.

Spain, the author of the book explains to EL PAIS, represented a fundamental crossroads. A phenomenon with no equivalent in the 20th century, neither before nor after. This shows that Spain  alien to the two world wars  was nevertheless a protagonist in the history and sensitivities of [the 20th century].

French writer and aviator Antoine de Saint Exupery (left), circa 1929 Roger Viollet via Getty Images

Its impossible to summarize a 500-page book, whose index compiles more than 800 names. There are excerpts from novels, fragments of poems, political connections, human stories all the threads of an intellectual spiderweb that trapped many authors. Some died on the frontlines, while others committed suicide afterwards, or spent the rest of their lives in exile. Serras book paints a portrait of a lost generation that inflamed Europe, creating a veritable cultural bonfire. The Italian explains that, during the interwar period, culture aroused passions that were, in turn, a reflection of its power to disrupt. The culture didnt [opt for reconciliation]  it provoked reflections from some and counter-reflections from others. But many ended up [engaging in inappropriate actions] which had disastrous results.

The catastrophe tore apart both Europe and the poets, who shared a rejection of a sedentary and bourgeois life. Their mystical vein was inflamed; their sense of honor was very pronounced. They wanted to show the public that they also knew how to fight that they could sacrifice themselves just like the common people. All very romantic. However, reality contradicted them time and time again.

The English writer Frank Jellinek spoke about how Barcelona was packed with thoughtful intellectuals who had no idea [about] what was happening and had no qualifications at all [regarding how to use] a machine gun or a typewriter. The author of The Armed Esthete asks a similar question: Spain, the Republic, freedom, the revolution did they really need [the intellectuals] blood, his often weak muscles, his often uncertain aim, his enthusiasm and his spirit of sacrifice, [all of which] rarely compensated for his poor aptitude for military discipline and combat?

Perhaps the intellectuals greatest contribution to the war wasnt in the trenches, but in the legacy left behind by the literature of testimony. An investigation has calculated that the 2,300 British combatants who fought in the Spanish Civil War wrote and published a total of 730 literary works, mostly war diaries one book per every three combatants. They wanted to remember everything, while also reminding others about their feats, either in a romantic way, or in an authentic, crude way.

This latter realistic feeling was condensed in a phrase that summarized the destiny of that generation of young poets who carried rifles on their shoulders: Where are the war poets? Killed in Spain. This emphasizes the failure of the armed esthetes. One of them  Esmond Romilly, an anti-fascist journalist (and Churchills nephew)  noted, upon his arrival in Spain: I came here because they told me there was a revolution and, instead, I found a full-blown war! I came here to fight against the fascist executioners not to be turned into an idiot dressed as a military man. Esmond survived the battle of Boadilla del Monte and its dense and dangerous fog. And then, a few years later, he died in World War II. He was only 23-years-old.

Incomparable to the present

In the opinion of Maurizio Serra  a member of the French Academy and winner of the Prix Goncourt in the category of Biography  its impossible to compare the role of intellectuals in those feverish times with the current era, which is also marked by wars and ideological ardor. Comparisons are always difficult and incomplete. They belong more to sociology than to the history of ideas, which is my field. I dont think it makes much sense to talk about armed esthetes today.

The writer George Orwell (background left) with the International Brigades, circa 1936 Photo 12 (Universal Images Group via Getty)

What made them do it? Virginia Woolf, who lost her favorite nephew  the poet and critic Julian Bell  in the Spanish Civil War tried to answer that question. Why did so many intellectuals risk and lose their lives in that decade? I think theres a fever in the blood of the younger ones that we cant understand, Woolf said.

But it wasnt in the blood. It flowed, rather, in ideas and emotions, in the longing for a regenerated humanity  the new man  and its absolute dedication to a goal that would give meaning to life. There wasnt a right-wing or left-wing in that; it wasnt a question of Malapartes or Malraux. There was shared messianism. Culture didnt manage to inoculate Europe from horrors. There was poetry after Auschwitz, just as there was poetry before Auschwitz, to harken back to the horrors that preceded it. There were poets who, in the 1930s, believed that it was no longer sufficient to just publish  they wanted to fight in the mud of the prosaic trench. They were looking for the absolute and they lost everything, in a bitter final verse.
Avi Shlaim, author of "The Iron Wall" and other histories of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, at the annual Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival in Oxford, England, in 2008. (David Levenson / Getty Images)

When Hamas invaded Israel on Oct. 7, the scale and savagery shocked the world. But the attack, as well as Israels ruthless response in Gaza, is less surprising in historical context: the intifadas of the 1980s and early 2000s, the 1967 war and ultimately the events surrounding Israels founding in 1948.

The Israel-Hamas war has created a vast divide  each side with its own set of arguments and sometimes impossible-to-prove facts. That isnt just true of keyboard warriors or politicians; even historians within the same small movement can develop vastly different perspectives. If sorting out an objective truth feels hopeless, its still worth seeking points of convergence or, at the very least, stable terms of debate.

The Times is attempting to do that, beginning with two conversations with scholars once dubbed the New Historians  a loose group of Israeli revisionists who, in the 1980s, reexamined their countrys heroic origin story. As the interviews  one with Avi Shlaim, below, and the other with Benny Morris, which youll find here  make clear, there is no one answer to the same set of questions.

(The interviews were conducted before the start of a temporary cease-fire and hostage release.)

Read more: The author of '1948' on the 'mistakes' Palestinians made in Israel from the very start

Avi Shlaim  author of Collusion Across the Jordan, War and Peace in the Middle East and The Iron Wall  was born in Baghdad, but fled with his family to Israel from persecution that surged after 1948. As an adult he moved to England, where he has lived and taught for more than half a century.

Shlaim, 78, spoke by video from his home in England about the current war and how he believes it is shaped by the past. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The history of this land is riven by two incompatible narratives, Israeli and Palestinian. What can we definitively say about what happened in 1948?

After the war in 1948, the two winners were Israel, which expanded its territory beyond the borders of the U.N. Partition Plan, and King Abdullah of Jordan, whose army captured the West Bank, what was to be the heartland of the Palestinian state under the partition plan. [Israel would capture it in 1967.] The losers were the three-quarters of a million Palestinians  more than half the population  [who] became refugees during the Nakba. These are the true roots of the current conflict.

Noam Chomsky once said that settler colonialism is the most extreme and vicious form of imperialism. The Palestinians have had the misfortune to be at the receiving end of both Zionist settler colonialism and Western imperialism, first British and then American. The aim of the Zionist movement from the beginning was to have a Jewish state over as large an area as possible with as few Arabs inside its borders as possible.

Do Israelis and Palestinians see the current war in that context?

Benjamin Netanyahu said, we are fighting our second War of Independence. No one is challenging Israel's independence or existence today. Why call it a Second War of Independence? I think the reason is a sinister one  the first War of Independence was accompanied by the Nakba (The Catastrophe) and now there are signs in leaked documents that the Israeli government is planning for a second mass expulsion [from Gaza]. History tells us that when Israel carries out ethnic cleansing as it did in 1948, it wont allow the Arabs to come back.

And I think America is largely responsible for where we are now because of its blind support for Israel, which continues despite Israeli atrocities in Gaza.

Read more: 14 essential books for understanding the Israel-Hamas war, according to experts

But Hamas has talked about creating a permanent state of war. Doesnt that challenge Israels independence or existence?

People forget that in 2006 Hamas won a fair and free election, not just in Gaza but in the West Bank as well. They formed a government, but Israel refused to recognize it and so did the United States and United Kingdom and European Union; Israel engaged in economic warfare to undermine the Hamas government, and Israels European and American allies, to their eternal shame, joined Israel.

This is one of many examples of the utter hypocrisy of the Western powers. They say they believe in democracy and here was a shining example of Arab democracy in action, but the Western allies refused to recognize the result because the Palestinian people had chosen the wrong bunch of people.

The New Historians looked to break free from old ideas about the events of 1948. What misconceptions are there today?

The main misconception is that Hamas is the obstacle to peace. It has a terrible charter, and it had an extremist program, but after it came to power, it moderated its program and offered Israel a long-term cease-fire [as part of larger negotiations over territory and other issues in 2006 and again in 2015]. But Israel rejected it. So that's one misconception  that Israel wants peace, and Hamas was stopping it. Israel is the obstacle to peace.

Another misconception is that Israel wanted a two-state solution. This is complete rubbish. Its now fashionable to say the two-state solution is dead because of things like Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but I say the two-state solution was never born because no Israeli government since 1967 has offered a two-state solution that would be acceptable even to the most moderate Palestinian leader, and no American government has ever really pushed Israel into a two-state solution.

Read more: 6 memoirs to put you in a Palestinian's shoes

You obviously have strong opinions. With this violent and tangled history and the current war, can any journalist or historian even be close to objective?

It's very difficult to be objective because it's such an emotive issue, and emotions are running very high on both sides now. But scholars can look at this conflict more or less objectively. Rashid Khalidi, a professor at Columbia, is the leading Palestinian historian of the conflict and we don't differ that much fundamentally. We both see the essence of the conflict as being the Zionist settler colonial movement.

Your book The Iron Wall focused on Israels insistence on being unassailable. How does the Hamas attack change that perception within Israel?

Israel came to think of itself as invincible and Netanyahu thought, We can do whatever we like on the West Bank, we can manage the situation in Gaza, and we can make peace with the Arab states without having to make any concessions to the Palestinians.

But on the 7th of October, the whole of this policy collapsed overnight. And the whole of Israeli society has been unhinged by the experience. It was a truly traumatic experience. And now Israelis can't think straight  they want the government to dismantle Hamas once and for all. But you can't eradicate Hamas. Hamas is not a military organization. It's a social movement, part of the fabric of Palestinian society.

Read more: How a California-born writer unveiled the tragedy of Palestine through one grieving father

Is there any good solution you can see?

I wish I could see a light at the end of the tunnel but I'm utterly pessimistic.

Get the latest book news, events and more in your inbox every Saturday.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Chef Yotam Ottolenghi, 54, seems to have found a tremendously successful formula in the ultra-competitive business of gastronomy a sector in which selling oneself  the concept, the idea, the story  is often just as important as the food itself.

Since he began his career in London more than two decades ago, he has brought the ancient Arab cuisine of the Middle East and North Africa to the trendy food scene, while also writing cooking books with his friend and partner, the Palestinian chef Sami Tamimi. Both men were born in Jerusalem. Their dynamic has continued to triumph, bringing together a joyous melting pot of chefs from countries around the world  such as Australia, Greece, Malaysia and Bahrain  under the leadership of Ottolenghi. He has become more of an orchestra director than a man who cooks.

The result is a business group that bears his name and includes nine best-selling co-authored books, four restaurants and three delis spread throughout the city of London. The company also offers catering services and its own brand of packaged products. In addition, theres the Ottolenghi Test Kitchen (OTK), a culinary experimentation laboratory with a large presence on social media. The groups first project outside of London will open next year in Paris (more of a deli than a restaurant).

With such an array of endeavors  something that tends to happen when a chef becomes a brand  one might wonder what really remains of Ottolenghi in this chain. EL PAIS asked him this very question, one day at the beginning of October in his deli in the Chelsea neighborhood of London. The establishment overlooks a charming pedestrian street in one of the most exclusive areas of the British capital: it shares a block with Tiffany and Cartier.

Question. What maintains the coherence of the project? Whats the thread that continues to tie it all together?

Answer. Thats the question that keeps us up at night: whats the Ottolenghi effect? When so many people bring their individuality to the story, whats the common denominator? I think its not just one thing. Theres something very colorful about food and the way its presented, not just in the sense that it has a lot of color, but that theres openness and positivity, optimism, fun, joy nothing is too serious. I think you can have different influences and the common denominator is the fun factor, the surprise, the joy. Theres also a desire to juxtapose, to put things next to each other that may not always go together... contrasts make life more interesting. And then, there are elements that are differentiating for me, for example, the use of a lot of acidity with a little sweet flavor. Our dishes arent orderly: theyre like traveling along a road full of potholes, its not about sailing smoothly

A perfect example of that trip is the savory cheesecake that were offered at NOPI. Its one of the star dishes of the first restaurant that Ottolenghi opened in Londons Soho district 12 years ago. The cake mixes  among other ingredients  Valdeon cheese (a blue cheese produced in the Spanish province of Leon), thyme, honey, beets and almonds. The head chef  Dawid Nowosadzki, who hails from Poland  explains that NOPI is a Middle Eastern restaurant with Asian elements, in which theyve been reducing the complexity of the dishes. This is what has happened in all parts of the group since the beginning, when jokes were made about the mountain of ingredients required for their recipes.

Nowosadzki has been working with Ottolenghi since he was 18 (hes now 33). As a result, hes very well aware of the effect that his boss was telling EL PAIS about. He sums it up like this: Here, you can do whatever you want. You can mix yuzu (a Japanese citrus) with olives, which is quite unusual. With French cuisine, for example, you have to follow the rules, you cant break them, but here, as long as it works and is delicious, there are no limits. He proudly shows off all the fresh products that are bought and consumed every day in the restaurant (he boasts of having a very small refrigerator) and talks about some of his favorite ingredients: eggplant, cauliflower and tomato.

The way of treating vegetables  turning them into protagonists of these festivals of colors and textures  has been one of Ottolenghis hallmarks from the beginning. In 2006, he began a collaboration with The Guardian titled The New Vegetarian, which was a big leap on the path to fame for this chef, who studied Comparative Literature in university.

He later worked for a couple of media outlets before arriving in London in the late-1990s, with the goal of becoming a chef. He studied French cuisine at Le Cordon Bleu and worked as a pastry chef in several fine dining restaurants until, in 2002, he opened his first deli in Notting Hill. Then came the books, the television shows, the expansion, the success... according to the latest public tax filings, the group has recorded profits of more than $7 million.

Q. Have you ever felt like you have too many things on your plate? Do you get overwhelmed?

A. Yes, often. Although, I think weve been modest in terms of expansion and growth. Its true that I cant stop thinking about how to maintain quality, because food is something that has to be cooked every day  its not like a [regular] product where you do a formula and it always comes out the same. We establish processes to control it, but still, something can always go wrong. That keeps me up at night.

Q. With so many places to look after, whats a typical day like for you?

A. On most days, I go to my test kitchen (OTK), which is a kind of company headquarters. I spend a lot of my time there, discussing all the things were developing. Everything revolves around ideas about food or service. Years ago, we decided to create a space where many people could try out [new recipes] and have those conversations. Thats become our way of creating new recipes. Theyre never the result of a single person doing something, but rather, theyre the result of a conversation. And I sincerely believe that this is the reason for the success of our books. If I worked alone, I would have run out of ideas a long time ago.

That space is, in fact, the protagonist of two of the latest titles by Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi: Extra Good Things (2022) and Shelf Love (2021). The third author is Noor Murad, who was born in Bahrain and trained in New York City. Shes in charge of the test kitchen. In fact, she conceived of the idea of publishing the books during the COVID-19 pandemic, as a tool to empty pantry shelves, cabinets, refrigerators and freezers and put the leftover ingredients together using recipes with the Ottolenghi touch. Here are three hand-picked examples: salty oatmeal porridge with bits of garlic and ginger, tabbouleh fritters with spicy sauce and chocolate flan.

Pictures of various dishes in Ottolenghis test kitchen Manuel Vazquez

The OTK is the center of gravity, but Ottolenghi also insists on giving the well-deserved credit to the chefs in the restaurants and delis, which he visits whenever he can. He reviews the presentations, rearranges products on the display shelves, poses for photographs behind the window of his Chelsea shop, tastes the dishes, makes corrections

Maybe hes not involved in the day-to-day, Nowosadzki admits. But when he comes in, he gives the place his special touch.

A touch that no one explained out loud to Nowosadzki when he arrived. The new hires arent taught about it either  they learn as they go. Christos Karetsos  of Greek origin, the head chef at Ottolenghi Spitalfields  didnt receive any talk when he began working at NOPI six years ago. Since then, he explains that hes learned, for example, to value vegetables  personally, I prefer meat, but some vegetables can be tastier than meat  and to create dishes within a space filled with continuous conversations between different people. Of course, there are some limits in this case, the ones physically marked on a map hanging in the kitchen, which delimits the culinary traditions of the Middle East and North Africa.

Three cakes from Ottolenghi Spitalfields: the financier, with mixed fruit; tangerine and pistachio cake with yuzu glaze, and flourless orange-and-almond cake with chocolate ganache Manuel Vazquez

At the entrance of the test kitchen, theres a beautiful landscape of cakes and pastries, which stands out in the space. Undoubtedly, this capacity for esthetics is another of Ottolenghis strong points. Precisely for this reason, in 2018, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York commissioned him to organize a gastronomic gala that he turned into a great culinary and cultural event. This was reflected in the documentary Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles. Before this production, he had already starred in another: Jerusalem on a Plate. In Australia, hes particularly well-known, having participated as a guest judge in several editions of MasterChef. In Holland and Belgium, his events are typically attended by more than 1,000 people.

Q. Have you ever felt like a rock star?

A. Once in a while. And its strange, because I dont feel like Ive earned it.

Q. What do you think about the phenomenon of the star chef?

A. Its part of a broader phenomenon: many people become famous for all kinds of reasons. I dont think anything I do justifies my position as a cultural phenomenon. It seems pretty random to me who gets the worlds attention and who doesnt. Im a little skeptical.

Q. Do you think that this phenomenon has changed gastronomy? Has it changed what it means to be a chef today?

A. Yeah. When I started working in a kitchen, about 25 years ago, the only thing I thought about was the food, the customer experience, the look of the dish, the menu, what people like to eat and what they dont... and now I think we spend most of our time thinking about other things. What does what we do mean? What kind of impact do we have on the environment, on society?

Q. And is that bad?

A. Weve gone too far in that other direction. Many people tell me their ideas for restaurants and it takes them half-an-hour to talk about the food. They start with whether its going to be sustainable, whether its going to be farm-to-table... and those things are really important, but sometimes, [the future restaurateurs] dont even know what kind of food theyre going to serve. Thats putting the cart before the horse. Food has to do with sensuality, with the experience of putting something in your mouth and feeling that ecstasy. I dont think its wise to think about other things before that.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Food documentaries have taken over Netflix like a whirlwind, taking viewers across the globe and different cultures. As the popularity of the platform grew, so did the variety of shows for one to stream. From competitive cooking shows on television networks to chefs hosting their own shows on the streaming service, the times have changed a great deal.

Below are a few best and popular food documentaries available to stream on Netflix at any time. Without a doubt, the list includes Chefs Table  hosted by some of the most renowned chefs from around the world  as well as David Changs Ugly Delicious.

Chefs Table

Chefs Table on Netflix is an Emmy-nominated show that premiered on the streaming service in April 2015. The six-season-long food documentary series features some of the most renowned chefs from across the world, who shared their respective stories. They dive into detail about their personal narratives regarding the food they make, their inspirations, and exquisite styles.

An official synopsis, per Netflix, states, In this Emmy-nominated series, meet culinary stars around the world who are redefining gourmet food with innovative dishes and tantalizing desserts.

However, the critically acclaimed series concluded in 2019 with the sixth season.

Ugly Delicious

Award-winning Chef David Changs Ugly Delicious premiered in 2018 and has dropped two seasons, each comprising 12 episodes. The series features celebrity guests, including but not limited to entertainers and chefs. These guests include Jimmy Kimmel, Steven Yeun, Aziz Ansari, and Ali Wong, among others. The Emmy-nominated show also focuses on deeper lessons that come with the food, oftentimes inclining toward a dishs political and cultural relevance.

Rotten

Netflixs Rotten is a food-investigative series that takes viewers along the dark side of the industry. The series centers on uncomfortable truths ranging from massive meat-processing plants to farms tightly packed with chickens. Directly from the source to the market, the documentary offers a clearer view to consumers. Moreover, it shows the consequences of their actions (or what they eat), per Screen Rant.

According to Netflix, Rotten dives deep into the food production underworld to expose the corruption, waste and real dangers behind your everyday eating habits. This docuseries travels deep into the heart of the food supply chain to reveal unsavory truths and expose hidden forces that shape what we eat.

Salt Fat Acid Heat

Iranian-American chef Samin Nosrats Salt Fat Acid Heat is based on her book of the same name. Viewers get to witness the host travel across countries, showcasing the best uses of salt, fat, acid, and heat. Undoubtedly, the documentary series has turned into one of the best Netflix has ever seen. Nosrat samples local dishes in Japan, Italy, Mexico, and California in the traveling-cum-cooking series. She also demonstrates the use of fundamental tasting elements in these meals.

The official synopsis for the documentary series says, Chef and food writer Samin Nosrat travels the world to explore four basic keys to wonderful cooking, serving up feasts and helpful tips along the way. Watch all you want. Inspired by Nosrats best-selling book of the same name, this series features excursions to Italy, Japan and Mexico.

Fresh, Fried And Crispy

Lastly, food critic Daym Drops hosts Netflixs Fresh, Fried And Cripsy as he takes viewers around the US introducing them to coal flavors. Drops, who is also a YouTuber, samples anything that is fried and crispy across big cities like St. Louis, San Diego, and Savannah. The series comprises eight episodes with each focusing on a different city. Besides, viewers can also witness the host tasting a variety of mouth-watering local favorites on the documentary series. These dishes range from basic to bizarre items.

The official synopsis reads, Passionate about food and ready for fun, critic Daym Drops drops in on Americas smokin hot spots for the best, freshest takes on fried food.

All these above-mentioned food documentaries are available to stream on Netflix.

The post Best & Popular Food Documentaries on Netflix: Chefs Table, Ugly Delicious & More appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
A relative found the body of Keith McKechnie, 45, in a well located on the victim's Massachusetts property

Avon MA Police Department/Facebook Keith McKechnie

Authorities announced that a body found in Massachusetts belonged to a man who had been missing since September.

On Saturday, the Norfolk District Attorney's Office confirmed the remains are those of Keith McKechnie, 45.

McKechnie was later found by a relative in the well located on his residence in Avalon, authorities added. Family members confirmed his identity at the scene.

The statement noted that Avon Police and Avon Fire were involved in the recovery of McKechnie's body from the well.

No obvious signs of trauma were observed by officials on scene, including Massachusetts State Police homicide investigators assigned to the Norfolk District Attorneys office, the statement continued.

Related: Man's Body Found at Abandoned N.C. Home Was Mistaken for Mannequin: 'I Dont Know How,' Says Mom

In a separate news statement released on Monday, the district attorneys office said that the medical examiner completed its autopsy on McKechnie Sunday.

While toxicology and other testing may remain outstanding for some time, the initial indications of the autopsy did not suggest foul play contributing to Mr. McKechnies death, per the announcement.

District Attorney Michael Morrissey offered his condolences, saying in an earlier press release: Our thoughts are very much with the McKechnie family tonight. This is a very sad result.

According to the Avon Police Department, McKechnie left his home on Sept. 7 and did not return.

Related: Body of Man Who Vanished on His Way to an Ill. Hospital Found in Nearby Pond: 'Such a Good Guy'

Keiths family reports that he has a history of health challenges and may be resistant to being approached, police noted in their statement on Wednesday.

The department did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.



Authorities also said that McKechnie was known to walk around the neighborhood.

Prior to the confirmation of the identity of the body, police announced Saturday that they were conducting a search in a wooded area on the property of a home.

Related: 2 Bodies Found in Ariz.'s Salt River After Kayakers Disappeared on Easter

At this time, the search efforts are focused on an old well on the property that had been previously visually searched, police said in a statement.

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.

Christine Connolly, a cousin of the victim, said that the family made calls for the well to be examined. "We felt something nefarious happened because Keith didnt have his wallet, cell phone or his glasses," Connolly told NBC affiliate WBTS. "The glasses were found by the well on the ground. We were told that they had determined due to the size of the well and Keiths build, he wouldnt fit."



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Read the original article on People.
Whether you just moved here or are a Valley native, new bars and restaurants are yours to discover. Metro Phoenix is home to 21 James Beard Award winners, finalists or nominees. According to the Spirited Awards this year, downtown Phoenix has the best cocktail bar in the United States.

While recognition in the past few years has certainly increased, Arizona always has had excellent eateries and chefs serving up unforgettable dishes.

This week on Valley 101, a podcast about metro Phoenix and beyond, we sit down with two of The Arizona Republic's dining and nightlife experts, Felicia Campbell and Bahar Anooshahr. They dish on the cities' historic bars and restaurants, which places they think are pouring noteworthy cocktails and what they believe it takes to stand the test of time.

Listen to the episode

Listen to Valley 101 on your favorite podcast app or stream the full episode below.

Click here to submit questions you have about metro Phoenix and Arizona for a chance to be chosen for the podcast.

Note: Valley 101 is intended to be heard, but we offer an AI transcript of the episode script. There may be slight deviations from the podcast audio.

Follow Valley 101 and all azcentral podcasts on X, formerly Twitter and on Instagram.

Reach the reporter at aluberto@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @amandaluberto.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Where to eat, drink for taste of Arizona history? Valley 101 explores
A GoFundMe page described Hilda Gurrola as someone who was "the life of the party"

Go Fund Me Hilda Gurrola

Texas authorities are searching for a suspect in connection with the stabbing death of his wife who was getting ready to leave him.

Police allege Luis Pardo, 38, stabbed his estranged wife, 34-year-old mother of three Hilda Gurrola, in their Balch Springs home before he fled the scene.

The Nov. 21 alleged attack was witnessed by her 3-year-old son and 7-year-old nephew, Gurrolas sister Gricelda told FOX4.

"She didnt want to be with him anymore, the sister said. She didnt feel like the love was there anymore, that his character had changed so much, and that she just didnt want to do it anymore."

Gricelda told WFAA that Gurrola and her three kids had moved out the week prior to her death but had gone back with a sister and other family members to pick up a few items.

Balch Springs Police Department/Faceb- Luis Pardo

Gurrolas sister Maricela alleged her sister was attacked when Pardo lured her back inside the home.

I just heard my sister scream four times, and I ran as fast as I could, Maricela told NBC5.

According to police, Pardos pickup was later found in El Paso, FOX4 reported.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

He has not been arrested at this time, a spokesperson for the Balch Springs Police Department tells PEOPLE.

A GoFundMe page described Gurrola as someone who was the life of the party.

The fun, silly, crazy, strong, and loving one, it reads. She leaves behind an empty space in our hearts. Her daughters and her son are left without their mommy. Our parents left without one of their daughters, us without one of our pieces of our sister puzzle.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call 911 and contact Detective Sergeant Traughber #547 at 469-853-2670 or via email at traughber547@balchspringspd.com

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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Read the original article on People.
The WWE Hall of Famer was involved in a car crash that killed a 75-year-old man in Florida in March 2022

Moses Robinson/Getty

Former WWE star Tammy Sytch has been sentenced to more than 17 years in prison in connection with a 2022 crash that killed a 75-year-old man in Florida.

Sytch, 50, will also serve eight years of probation following her release for the deadly accident, according to The Daytona Beach News-Journal and CBS affiliate WKMG-TV.

The former wrestler pleaded no contest on Aug. 26 to DUI manslaughter, four counts of DUI with damage to person and two counts of DUI with damage to property, per the newspaper.



She was arrested in May 2022, just four months after she was released from an eight-month stint in prison for a previous DUI.

Related: WWE's Tammy Sytch Under Investigation After Being Involved in Fatal Car Accident

Prosecutors sought the maximum penalty of 26 years in prison for Sytch, who they called a danger to society for her repeated offenses.

In 2019, Sytch was charged with her sixth DUI after being arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. She allegedly drove down the wrong way of a one-way street with a suspended license, which led to her 8-month prison stay.

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.

On Monday, Sytch received a credit of 566 days for her sentence, WKMG reported.

Shortly before 8:30 p.m. on March 25, 2022, Sytch was driving south on United States Highway 1 when she ran into a vehicle that was sitting at a traffic light. The car that Sytch struck then hit the car in front of it, which was also stopped at the light.

Related: WWE Wrestler Bray Wyatt Died of a Heart Attack: Source

The driver of the second car, Julian Lafrancis Lasseter of Daytona Beach Shores, was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The driver and passengers of the third car involved were also injured.

Sytch, who went by Sunny during her wrestling career, rose to fame as what many consider to be the very first WWE "Diva."

She was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2011, after leaving the company in the late 1990s.



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Read the original article on People.
A Geophysics professor in Iceland, Magnus Tumi Gumundsson, shared that the solidification of the magma dike at Svartsengi, a geothermal field near Grindavik, by 90% over two weeks has decreased the likelihood of a volcanic eruption.

Reduced seismic activity and low tectonic plate reflection contribute to the diminished risk. While Gumundsson emphasizes a potential eruption cannot be entirely ruled out, he deems it less likely.

Concerns of a Grindavik eruption following an earthquake on November 10 have eased, with no signs of magma accumulation.

Likelihood Of Iceland Eruption Is Lower As '90% Of Magma Dike' At Svartsengi Solidifies

Iceland gov shows video of volcano wrecking roads & buildings! Grindavik evacuated as magma shakes the ground with thousands of tremors last week. pic.twitter.com/gn1yGtpbsb  Sociat USA  (@SociatUSA) November 19, 2023

According to Gumundsson, a geophysics professor at the University of Iceland, the solidification of the majority of the dike at Svartsengi, close to the town of Grindavik, has led to a decrease in the likelihood of a volcanic eruption.

Speaking to the Iceland Monitor, Gumundsson likened the magma's decomposition at the edges of the magma channel to "water that's put inside a fifty-degree frost."

He explained: "This doesn't preclude that there's still something left and that there's still an open way the magma could go upwards, if more magma accumulates. But the likelihood of an eruption has become considerably lower than it was, among other things, because of this."

The reduced likelihood of an eruption is attributed to the dike's 90% solidification over the past two weeks, per the publication.

'A New Process Can Start In The Near Future'

Incredible drone footage flying over a volcano and lava flows at night, captured by Iceland Aerials. Source: https://t.co/eWLO6xsHuP pic.twitter.com/2KylKwTUTf  HypnoFlick (@HypnoFlick) November 24, 2023

As stated by the geophysicist, the reduced seismic activity in the area, coupled with the low tectonic plate reflection, has contributed to a decreased likelihood of an eruption.

However, he emphasizes that the possibility of an eruption cannot be entirely ruled out, stating: "There is no way to exclude that there will be an eruption. The most likely area is in the middle of the dike, east of Sylingarfell mountain."

"This naturally only applies to the current situation. A new process can then start in the near future," Gumundsson pointedly added, noting that although magma continues to flow into a storage chamber beneath Svartsengi, there is minimal tension and earthquake activity.

Worries Of Iceland Volcanic Eruption Ease, 'No Signs Of Magma Accumulating' In Grindavik

Iceland's seismic activity turned into sound. The country is bracing for a volcano eruption, with thousands of small tremors recorded in the town of Grindavik for the past few days. The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) says the volcano could erupt with just 30 minutes pic.twitter.com/bd2MyIGReo  Cosmic Curiosities (@TheCosmicCurios) November 22, 2023

Previously, there were concerns about a potential eruption in or near Grindavik following a significant earthquake on November 10 that resulted in the fishing community being evacuated. A fissure was formed following the earthquake, but there is reportedly no sign of magma accumulation.

Geophysicist Gumundsson clarified that there are no current signs indicating an eruption will commence in the fissure, specifically stating, "There are no signs of any magma accumulating in Grindavik itself."

He shared that although the land rise at Svartsengi has slightly decelerated, it's deemed improbable that it will reach the same level by the end of the month as on November 10.

Gumundsson highlighted potential scenarios, stating: "There are several scenarios. One is that the land rise will continue under the Svartsengi at a significant rate and in a few weeks there will be a situation similar to that which existed before this event."

He continued: "The other thing is quite clear, however, that pressure cannot build up to the same extent as it was before. There is now a weakness where the tunnel is, and although it is largely solidified, there is still, in all likelihood, a connection [where the magma flows upwards]."

He concluded by emphasizing the unlikelihood of heavy pressure rebuilding beneath Svartsengi due to the weakened roof, adding, "The roof has been broken and it takes months or years before it reaches its previous strength. Even though it has been deconstructed, it is weak."

Iceland Defense Walls Can Offer Protection To Homes

Iceland authorities are currently building a "volcano wall" to divert the inevitable eruption https://t.co/Sk8ko5iNkJ  Mt. St. Helens (@MtStHelensWA) November 20, 2023

According to Gumundsson, there's no absolute assurance that defense walls being constructed will safeguard everything, but they can offer substantial protection to numerous homes and valuable assets.

He noted the complex nature of dealing with natural forces and acknowledged the inherent risks associated with harnessing geothermal energy in Iceland despite its significant benefits.

Gumundsson suggested a potential solution, proposing the connection of hot water from Reykjavik to the Suurnes region. He said: "If the Svartsengi power plant was to be discontinued, then the pipeline from the Reykjavik area could keep Suurnes, Keflavik Airport, Keflavik and these areas running."

"A town like Reykjanes is based on getting power and heat from a power plant that would be destroyed or damaged by a volcanic eruption. This kind of connection would save everything," he noted, per the Iceland Monitor.

Government Officials say the "likelihood of an imminent volcanic eruption diminishes with time." However, local residents will still remain in temporary homes due to seismic activities, which are decreasing but continue to happen.
The View star Sunny Hostin says Ana Navarro could date her son if she 'were younger'

"Sweetheart, your son might want an older woman. It might kill you!" Navarro responded.

After expressing a firm desire to breastfeed international superstar Maluma, The View cohost Ana Navarro once again has her sights set on a handsome young man: colleague Sunny Hostin's son, Gabriel.

While discussing their Thanksgiving vacations on Monday's episode of the talk show, Navarro revealed that she went to Panama to meet with various political and social leaders, including a U.S. marine who knew her late mother.

Then, channeling the same vibe that recently got the police to show up to her house party with Gloria Estefan, the political commentator said she let loose and went for a high-speed ride on the Pacific ocean atop a Seabob.

"I'm telling you, I want one in every color, for my bathtub. You go down, it's like, the best thing," the 51-year-old said, mimicking her riding position while seated at the Hot Topics table. Hostin then cut her off to exclaim, "If you were younger, you should really date my son."

ABC Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin on 'The View'

Navarro paused, turned to Hostin, and quipped, "Sweetheart, your son might want an older woman. It might kill you!"

The studio audience  and Hostin  laughed, before Navarro continued, posing the thought, "If I live to see Gabriel with a cougar..." before trailing off.

Moderator Whoopi Goldberg  fresh from scolding America for criticizing her gloveless Thanksgiving turkey preparation method  then threw the show to commercial with one final joke: "How much time you got?"

Hostin has long been open about her loving relationship with her kids on the show, though the family recently endured a scary ordeal after Gabriel was hit by a car in Cambridge, Mass.

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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These are the best things to do on St. John, according to experts.

NANCY PAUWELS/Getty Images

The U.S. Virgin Islands are home to three main islands, each with a surprisingly distinct feel: St. Thomas is thoroughly cosmopolitan, and St. Croix boasts incredible food and laid-back beaches, but what of tiny St. John? Accessible only by boat  or even better, private yacht  the tiny island of St. John is sometimes known as the "Beverly Hills of the Caribbean."

Tongue-in-cheek moniker aside, St. John's true richness lies in both its human-made luxuries and its natural ones. Most of the island is protected as part of the Virgin Islands National Park, hiding white-sand beaches, underwater snorkeling trails, and even age-old petroglyphs among miles of hiking trails and unforgettable scenery. With destinations like St. John, it's no wonder that the U.S. Virgin Islands made T+L's list of the 50 best places to travel in 2023.

We spoke with local experts from the United States Virgin Islands Department of Tourism, Onefinestay, and the Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) about St. John, and they all said the same thing: This small yet spectacular island boasts an incredible array of things to do. Here are their recommendations for the best things to do on St. John.

Related: T+L's Guide to St. John

Explore Virgin Islands National Park.

Lauren Breedlove/Travel + Leisure

Virgin Islands National Park is the jewel of St. John and the highlight of any visit to the island. 30 different hiking trails zigzag through the park and cut through its numerous ecosystems, while its white-sand beaches, like the world-famous Trunk Bay, are some of the most popular destinations on the island. Whether you're interested in visiting historic sites, snorkeling at colorful reefs, or enjoying a relaxing beach day in paradise, you could easily spend your entire trip to St. John exploring just within the bounds of the park.

Related: T+L's Guide to Visiting Virgin Islands National Park

Celebrate St. John Carnival.

Vist USVI

The beloved St. John Carnival simultaneously celebrates the founding of the United States on July 4, 1776 and the abolition of slavery on July 3, 1848, bringing music, dance, food, and plenty of fanfare across the island. While the celebrations tend to be smaller than those on neighboring St. Croix and St. Thomas, they're enough to keep even the most active visitor busy and worth a summertime trip to the island. It's one of the best ways to experience "the island's rich cultural tapestry," says Joseph Boschulte, commissioner of tourism for the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Spot Taino petroglyphs.

Vist USVI

There's no need to visit a museum in St. John. Etched in a rock face at the base of a plunging waterfall, age-old petroglyphs carved by the Taino Indigenous peoples native to the island offer a little-seen window into St. John's rich past. The Reef Bay Trail that takes visitors to the site cuts past four former sugar plantations, making it a historical walking tour among some of the island's most impressive landscapes.

Relax at a private villa.

cdwheatley/Getty Images

There are no oversized all-inclusive resorts to speak of on St. John; instead, renting a villa is the most popular accommodation choice for visitors. Onefinestay boasts over 40 private villas for rent on St. John, including everything from intimate cottages with ocean views to palatial estates with on-site spas. The concierge team at Onefinestay sets it apart and can guide guests' itineraries and arrange for local experiences to help take all the stress out of planning a trip.

Related: The Best All-inclusive Resorts in the U.S. Virgin Islands

Visit a floating taco bar.

What could be better than snacking on tacos from the warm waters of the Caribbean? "Only available via boat, kayak, or stand-up paddleboard, Lime Out is situated in the middle of Coral Bay on a floating pontoon. This delectable option also has underwater seats to keep guests afloat while enjoying their tasty tacos and a selection of draft beer and beverages," shares Michele Bayens, director of concierge services of Onefinestay. It's just as dreamy as it sounds.

Related: Visit a Unique Floating Taco Bar on the Island of St. John

Shop at Wharfside Village in Cruz Bay.

NANCY PAUWELS/Getty Images

Some of the best shopping in St. John can be found at Wharfside Village, steps away from the harbor in the island's largest town of Cruz Bay. After an afternoon of perusing the shops, stop for bites at nearby Johnny Lime, or visit High Tide Bar & Seafood Grill for the island's best conch fritters. Coral Bay and Mongoose Junction are the island's other shopping destinations.

Dive at Eagle Shoals.

StAphane ROCHON/Getty Images

"The protected waters in Virgin Islands National Park make St. John a paradise for divers looking for beautiful wildlife," says Kristina Leadbeater from PADI. Eagle Shoals is a memorable dive site, complete with a dramatic cave known as the Cathedral. The cave and surrounding extensions of reefs hold incredible wildlife, including tropical fish, manta rays, and even an occasional shark.



Follow a snorkeling trail at Trunk Bay.

Bkamprath/Getty Images

St. John has plenty to offer beneath the waves, even for those who aren't divers. Trunk Bay's Coral Reef Underwater Park Trail is a 650-foot-long sea trail complete with underwater plaques identifying the endless corals, plants, fish, and turtles that inhabit these crystalline waters for the most informative swim of your life.

Snorkeling aside, stretching out on the pristine sands of Trunk Bay is a highlight of any visit to the island. "There are beautiful beaches, and then there are beaches that leave you speechless," lauds Rondel Holder for T+L of what is considered among the best beaches in the Caribbean.

Try local island dishes.

St. Croix may earn the title of the culinary capital of the U.S. Virgin Islands, but St. John has some hidden gastronomic gems that include the best of the flavors of the Caribbean. Roadside spots serve up favorites like barbeque and the national dish of fish and fungi. With a daily rotating menu of island favorites like curried goat, oxtail, or the catch of the day, Ekaete Pink Corner feels and tastes as local as it gets.

Camp on the beach.

Travelers looking to get closer to nature in St. John can skip the luxe villa for an experience only steps from the waves and under the stars. Cinnamon Bay Beach & Campground is the only location within Virgin Islands National Park that permits camping, though they also offer cottages and fully equipped eco-tents, plus a restaurant and food truck, for those visitors looking for a few simple luxuries.

Visit the historic Annaberg Sugar Plantation.

Medioimages/Photodisc/Getty Images

The history of the U.S. Virgin Islands is marked by its reliance on the labor of enslaved peoples in its sugarcane fields. The ruins of Annaberg Sugar Plantation, first established in 1722, offer a peek at both the daily lives of the enslaved people who lived here and the vital role of sugar in the island's economy. Open daily and administered by the National Park Service, the plantation offers free entry to all.

Snorkel at a unique wreck site.

cdwheatley/Getty Images

Dozens of beaches dot the island of St. John, but local experts recommend Cinnamon Bay Beach for snorkelers. "I like to recommend [Cinnamon Bay Beach] due to its unique snorkeling options. A substantial table reef can be found in five to 15 feet of water if you go snorkeling off the eastern end of the beach. There's an interesting submerged aircraft wreckage here  it's little more than a small plane's motor, prop, and section of wing, but in eight feet or less of shallow water, it's an interesting sight!" says Bayens.

Explore the island on foot.

cdwheatley/Getty Images

Miles of trails crisscross St. John, making the island a paradise for avid hikers and beginners alike. Lind Point Trail offers impressive vistas on its 2.3-mile route from Cruz Bay to Salomon Beach and Honeymoon Beach. Ram Head Trail is a bit more challenging but offers even more spectacular views. Get an early start to avoid the heat, and bring a bathing suit to enjoy where the trail meets the sea.

Enjoy live music at Miss Lucy's.

Thursday nights are the perfect time to visit family-owned beachfront staple Miss Lucy's in Coral Bay thanks to live music that draws locals and visitors alike. Well known for favorite island dishes like conch fritters and Callaloo soup, Miss Lucy's also serves up a signature grouper Reuben sandwich worth crossing the island for.

Sip a painkiller cocktail.

AlexPro9500/Getty Images

The painkiller is a staple on nearly every cocktail menu on St. John. While the original painkiller cocktail was created on the island of Jost Van Dyke in the neighboring British Virgin Islands, this must-try beverage features classic tropical flavors like coconut, orange, and pineapple. The original recipe calls for the dark, spiced Pusser's Rum, so make sure to request it with your order.

Spot sea turtles at Maho Bay Beach.

Bkamprath/Getty Images

With so much of the shoreline of St. John protected as part of Virgin Islands National Park, the beaches on St. John are a haven for multiple species of turtles. Snorkelers and divers are often lucky enough to share a swim with a turtle or two, but for the best chance of spotting these gentle giants, head to Maho Bay Beach. Beds of seagrass make the waters of the bay particularly appealing to turtles, while stunning white sand and nearby food and drink vendors make it among the most beloved beaches on the island.

Sail around St. John  and beyond.

cdwheatley/Getty Images

Sunset sails featuring tasty bites and drinks are some of the most popular experiences for travelers visiting St. John, while daytime excursions offer easy access to the island's best beaches and hard-to-reach snorkel and dive sites. Full-day sails also take passengers to neighboring islands, including St. Thomas and British Virgin Islands destinations like Jost Van Dyke.

Meditate with ocean views.

Stunning vistas of the Caribbean from the historic Peace Hill Windmill make for the perfect spot for a sunset meditation session, offered weekly on Sundays at 5:45 p.m. Hike or drive along North Shore Road to reach the spot or take the free shuttles from the Cruz Bay ferry dock and the Hawksnest parking lot.

Catch an exhibit at Bajo El Sol.

Courtesy of Bajo El Sol

The eclectic Bajo El Sol in Mongoose Junction is equal parts gallery, bookstore, cafe, and event space that highlights the best of the local art scene in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Stop by to catch a new exhibit or a poetry reading, or come back for happy hour when the space converts into a rum and cocktail bar.

Get a bird's-eye view on North Shore Road.

Taxis in St. John can be prohibitively expensive, costing up to $30 per passenger for even a short drive, so consider renting a car if you're looking to explore the island. Take advantage of the freedom and head to North Shore Road for some of St. John's best scenic views. Vistas overlooking Trunk Bay, Maho Bay, and Caneel Bay make for an unforgettable drive.

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Cyber Monday is still going strong, capping an exciting weekend of Black Friday savings with the best Cyber Monday deals on essential items for clothing, beauty, kitchen and home. Were talking up to 60% off socks, batteries, trash bags, grooming goods and cleaning supplies, presenting the perfect opportunity to stock up on everyday staples  the ones you'd end up purchasing anyway  for a fraction of the typical cost.

Dont miss out on Scrub Daddy sponges (only $1.87 with sale and coupon), No. 1 bestselling no-slip socks ($1 a pop), internet-famous kitchen cloths (down 43%), iconic Beautyblenders (slashed in half), supportive Bali bras (under $15) and editor-favorite dryer balls (over 30% off)  just in time for nesting and hosting season (they make great stocking stuffers, too!). Inventory is low and these Cyber Monday sale prices end soon, so act fast! And don't miss these additional Cyber Monday deals (while supplies last).

Cyber Monday 2023: Clothing and care deals

Amazon Bali Comfort Revolution Wireless Bra $15 $48 Save $33 First up: this top-rated wireless bra from Bali, which has some 14,900 positive reviews for its stretchy yet still supportive fabric and flattering shape. The solution to all my bra problems, wrote one enthusiast. I personally purchased one of these bras last time it was on sale out of curiosity and can attest that it keeps its shape (and lift) while remaining incredibly comfy. And at 70% off (less than $15 each), this is the perfect time to stock up  for relaxing, work, the gym; I now own three! $15 at Amazon

More Cyber Monday clothing and care deals

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Cyber Monday 2023: Beauty deals

More Cyber Monday beauty deals

Target Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Original Dry Shampoo $4 $6 Save $3 with coupon Not Your Mother's Clean Freak Original Dry Shampoo is another great resource for when you're hair needs a refresh (especially when you could use a volume boost, or have to get out the door stat). Scoop it up on sale for 25% off during Target's Cyber Monday sale. Target is running a parallel promotion for a free $5 gift card with the purchase of four beauty items so it's essentially like getting it for less than $4 a can. Save $3 with coupon $4 at Target

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Amazon Beakey Makeup Sponges Set, 5-Pack $6 $13 Save $7 These No. 1 bestselling makeup blenders  over 55% off  have been swirling around the beauty world for their bouncy, absorbent material and convenient teardrop shape (especially great for getting into corners, comparable to some of the more expensive blenders on the scene). Theyre endorsed by nearly 72,000 customers (including me) and theyre hypoallergenic, latex-free and super easy to clean. For Beautyblender loyalists, I also found options on sale for $11 at Sephora and $14 at Target  the lowest I've seen. $6 at Amazon

Cyber Monday 2023: Kitchen deals

Cyber Monday kitchen deals

Amazon Greenzla Natural Kitchen Sponges, 12-Pack $15 $20 Save $5 For a natural option, consider these eco-friendly, 100% plant-based and biodegradable sponges made from coconut husk fibers that are non-scratch and chemical-free. I especially like them for cleaning lighter surfaces where dyes from some colorful sponges can bleed. Score them on sale for Cyber Monday for only $15 (a little over $1 each). $15 at Amazon

Amazon Mr. Siga Microfiber Cleaning Cloth, 12-Pack $13 $16 Save $3 Microfiber cloths have risen in popularity for their ability to replace paper towels, saving you money and lessening the amount of trash going into landfills. And more than 68,000 fans give Mr. Siga a thumbs up for sustainable, durable towels with maximum absorbency. Now 43% off through Cyber Monday, this is the perfect opportunity to make the switch (or at least experiment). $13 at Amazon

Amazon Mrs. Meyer's Peppermint Kitchen Set, 3-Count $28 $30 Save $2 Give your kitchen a festive update with this bestselling set from Mrs. Meyers, starring the brands bestselling dish soap, hand soap and multi-surface cleaner in an uplifting peppermint scent (the package also happens to be adorable). Its currently 20% off as part of the brands Cyber Monday sale, just in time for company. $28 at Amazon

Cyber Monday 2023: Home deals

More Cyber Monday home deals

Flacchi Flacchi Multi-Color Indoor-Outdoor String Lights $18 $30 Save $12 with Prime When it comes to decorating, you cant go wrong with these multicolored LED string lights from Flacchi, which feature eight lighting modes for getting the mood just right. Theyre also extendable and waterproof for outdoor use  meaning you wont have to stop short or worry about rain when youre attempting to light the night. They're currently 40% off for Prime members (and on sale for all) for Cyber Monday. Save $12 with Prime $18 at Amazon

Amazon Seventh Generation Disinfecting Wipes, 6-Pack $41 Disinfecting wipes are another great essential to have on hand for tackling holiday spills and touching up before guests arrive. Scoop up a pack of six tubes from Seventh Generation (each containing 70 botanical wipes, designed to kill 99.9% of germs) for keeping counters clean and cold season at bay. (The brands spray cleaners are also discounted as part of the sale). $41 at Amazon

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The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.

Your Cyber Monday Shopping Guide: See all of Yahoos Cyber Monday coverage here. Follow Engadget for Cyber Monday tech deals. Learn about Cyber Monday trends on In The Know. Hear from Autoblogs experts on the best Cyber Monday deals for your car, garage, and home, and find Cyber Monday sales to shop on AOL, handpicked just for you.

How we find and select deals: Our deal-hunting team of award-winning writers and editors are seasoned experts in their fields (tech, style, home, beauty), many with 20+ years of experience. This team works diligently to bring you the best sales, deals and price drops. Our unbiased experts maintain strict editorial integrity: We only feature items we believe will save you money. Heres more on how we select deals for our Cyber Monday coverage.
1.Thanksgiving does not have the history you likely grew up learning it did. First of all, the Wampanoag Native Americans had already had plenty of contact with Europeans when the settlers arrived in Plymouth (Europeans had already sold some into slavery), and multiple members of the tribe knew English and had been to Europe. While the leader of the Wampanoag tribe, Ousamequin, did offer an alliance to the English people in Plymouth, it was really so they would be protected against the Narragansetts, a rival tribe.

Photo12/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

2.Also, Thanksgiving used to be celebrated with fasting and prayer, and it only became what it's known as today because descendants of the Pilgrims in Plymouth wanted to make it more of a festival to ensure New England's place in American history and increase tourism. It wasn't declared a national holiday until the Civil War, by President Abraham Lincoln, because he wanted to unify the states.

The Good Brigade / Getty Images

3.Oh, and BTW, the Wampanoags-Pilgrim alliance fractured slowly over the years and eventually came to an end with the bloody King Philips War, which included colonists burning women and children alive in their homes, and selling many Native people into slavery. Both the Wampanoag and Narragansett tribes were all but annihilated by the settlers.

MPI / Getty Images

4.Let's talk about the Puritans for a moment: While it's true they came to the Americans to practice their own religion, they certainly did not practice religious freedom. They banished and even killed those who didn't agree with their religion.

Art Images / Getty Images

5.President Lincoln was not quite the bastion of equality history makes him out to be. In 1858, he stated, There is a physical difference between the white and the Black races which I believe will forever forbid the two races living together... While they do remain together, there must be the position of superior and inferior, and I as much as any man am in favor having the superior position assigned to the white race." He also said, I will say then that I am not, nor ever have been in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and Black races.

Lincoln also made a number of other problematic remarks, including blaming enslaved people for starting the Civil War and telling racist jokes. Stock Montage / Getty Images

6.The Declaration of Independence wasn't signed on the 4th. The vote for independence occurred on July 2, and the document's final language was approved on July 4, but the signing occurred on Aug. 2.

Douglas Sacha / Getty Images

7.There is no evidence that Betsy Ross made the first American flag, or had any involvement in the creation of the flag at all.

Buyenlarge / Getty Images

8.In fact, it's just as much of a myth as the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. The story  about a 6-year-old Washington cutting down his father's cherry tree, then admitting to it, proving the virtue of honesty  was invented by one of Washington's biographers.

Corbis via Getty Images

9.And speaking of George Washington...he didn't have wooden teeth. He did have dentures made, but they were made of lead, brass, gold, and steel...and possibly the teeth of enslaved people.

Glen Stubbe/Star Tribune via Getty Images

10.Another American myth? Johnny Appleseed. While he did plant many apple trees, the apple variety he planted was for the purpose of making hard apple cider. Also, he planted the orchards to sell them to incoming settlers, who were required to plant such trees to prove they would stay in these newly developing areas. Our modern image of the man (actually named John Chapman) likely comes from his portrayal in Disney's 1948 film Melody Time.

Disney

11.Delaware was part of Pennsylvania, and was never its own colony under British rule. It didn't become an independent state until 1776, and declared its independence from Pennsylvania and Britain on the same day (a few weeks before the Declaration of Independence was signed)  meaning that it was not one of the thirteen original colonies, and that there were in fact 12 original colonies.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

12.Paul Revere did not shout "The British are coming!" during his midnight ride. Revere actually said, "The Regulars are coming out!" To say the "British" were coming would've been confusing for colonists who considered themselves British. Plus, while Revere did wake and warn many households, he did not shout through the streets as stories suggest. Though he was definitely a patriot, he was also just a paid messenger and submitted a bill for the ride.

Interim Archives / Getty Images

13.He was also not the only rider. After he reached Lexington, he was joined by William Dawes, who had arrived to deliver the same news. They met a doctor named Samuel Prescott on the way to Concord who decided to help them  he was the only one to actually finish the ride and reach Concord before fighting began, meaning Paul Revere never even finished the ride.

Revere was captured (and later released) while Dawes managed to escape the soldiers chasing him but lost his horse and could not complete the journey. Hulton Archive / Getty Images

14.You may have gotten the impression in school that the majority of colonists wanted independence from Britain when the Revolutionary War began. In fact, the percentage of colonists who supported the war was closer to 45%  and often below that. One-third of the colonists actually fought for the British. And many would constantly switch sides based on who was winning.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

15.Molly Pitcher was not likely a real person  at least, not a singular person. Some believe the story (of a woman fighting in the Revolutionary War) refers to Mary Ludwig Hays, who got the nickname Molly Pitcher from handing out water to fighting soldiers. In the Battle of Monmouth, she reportedly took her husband's spot at a cannon after he was incapacitated. However, Molly Pitcher could also refer to Margaret Corbin, who was also nicknamed Molly and took the place of a wounded male soldier on the firing line. And Deborah Sampson, who disguised herself as a man to fight in the war, was also apparently nicknamed Molly.

HUM Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Thus, "Molly Pitcher" is likely a figure meant to represent multiple women who fought in the war, instead of referring to any one story (especially considering there are differing accounts of each of these stories). In fact, some historians have suggested that many women may have taken up arms and fought when the need arose, and there were certainly many women accompanying the troops.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

16.No "witches" were burned in the Salem Witch Trials. They were usually hanged if found guilty, or died while still in prison. Also, men were also accused of witchcraft  in fact, about 25% of those accused were men.

People were burned to death in European witch trials, but not in Salem. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

17.George Washington was not technically the first president. He was the first elected president under the Constitution, but in the years following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation, which had multiple presidents  though they were technically presidents of Congress, and held no executive power.

MPI / Getty Images

18.One more Washington fact for you: He was opposed to political parties. He thought they'd tear us apart.

Smith Collection/Gado / Getty Images

19.Pocahontas was literally a child when the fully adult John Smith met her, and there's no record of them having a romantic relationship.

Three Lions / Getty Images

20.The US did not enter World War II to beat the Germans or rescue the Jewish people. They didn't even enter the war until late 1941 (it had begun in 1939), when they were attacked by the Japanese, then spent most of their time fighting them. It wasn't until 1944 (a year before the war's end, and two years after credible reports that millions of Jews were being killed) that the US actively began trying to rescue Jews. World War II was not America's great moral battle like media makes it seem, nor were they as involved as media suggests.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

21.In fact, the US actively turned away thousands of Jewish refugees during the war (right back to places under Nazi control), despite not having filled their quota for German immigrants. Countries that did accept Jewish refugees included China and the Philippines.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

22.The rhetoric that the atomic bombs the US dropped in Japan 100% had to be used in order to end the war (and prevent further death) is not entirely true. There is plenty of evidence to suggest the US dropped the bombs to A) prevent the Soviet Union from getting too involved in the offense against Japan, which could lead to them seizing territory, and B) intimidate and impress the Soviet Union with the US's power. There were other options to using the bombs, and there was plenty more time to consider them before the planned invasion of Japan.

Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images

23.The Texas Revolution is often sanitized in history books, particularly in Texas. One of the main causes of the revolution was not a patriotic desire for freedom from Mexico, but instead to preserve slavery. Mexico had outlawed the practice, which upset Texans, whose main industry was cotton.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

24.The Georgia state flag did not always feature a Confederate flag. It was actively added as a response to the Civil Rights Movement in 1956, and lasted until 2001.

John van Hasselt/Sygma via Getty Images

25.Speaking of the Civil Rights Movement  the commitment to nonviolence was more of a tactical strategy than anything else. Nonviolence was effective because it provided a stark contrast to the violence of segregationists, and when these images were spread throughout the country, it was very clear who the "bad guys" were in the situation because the segregationists were the only ones inflicting the violence. Civil rights leaders hoped that media coverage would show Northerners how badly Black people were treated in the South.

National Archives/Interim Archives / Getty Images)

26.Rosa Parks was not just an older woman who didn't want to leave her seat. She was not tired nor old  she was 42. She was also a longtime NAACP member and activist, and had worked to raise funds for a previous woman who had been arrested for not giving up her seat on a bus, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin. Although Parks knew the NAACP needed a lead plaintiff in their case to end the Jim Crow law, the act of protest was not planned.

Underwood Archives / Getty Images

Also, the arrest largely occurred because of the driver. Parks was sitting in a middle section that was first come, first serve. She was asked to move for a single white passenger  the three Black passengers in her row obliged, meaning the man had a spot to sit. However, the driver still demanded that she move. This was a driver she had met before and disliked  Parks said in her autobiography that she wouldn't have even ridden his bus that day if she'd noticed he'd been driving.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

27.Christopher Columbus was not the first person to "discover" the Americas. Except Columbus was not the first European to reach the Americas. Leif Erikson had been to Canada hundreds of years prior.

Universal History Archive / Getty Images

28.In fact, Columbus also never even set foot on North America. Also, his ships the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria, were probably not named that at all. Oh, and he was an absolutely abhorrent person who committed atrocities.

Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

29.William F. Cody  also known as Buffalo Bill  saw very little combat and was by and large an actor who exaggerated his own exploits. In fact, the whole of the Wild Wild West was largely a myth/propaganda to galvanize white men in America and enforce ideas of masculinity, white superiority, and settlers' right to the land. There were not even close to as many skirmishes between settlers and Natives as stories might make you believe  and very few bank robberies (I'm talking 8 in 40 years) or shootouts occurred.

The shootouts that did occur certainly didn't look as they did in the movies  namely, they were a lot more drunken and close-up. Inkkstudios / Getty Images

30.Also, cowboys are not American  the first cowboys were Mexican cattlemen, and many "cowboy" terms were stolen from them. Also, many American cowboys were Black men freed from slavery. And cowboys didn't wear what are now known as cowboy hats.

Michael S. Lewis / Getty Images

31.Oh, and the killing of buffalos that gave Buffalo Bill his name? In case you didn't know, this was done to attempt to kill Natives and force them out of areas by taking out their food source. And the US ended up causing the near-extinction of the buffalo. There were between 30 and 60 million buffalo in the early 1800s, but as settlers started to expand west (and built their first transcontinental railroad) over the next century, the number of buffalos dwindled down to less than 1,000.

Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

32.Thomas Edison is likely best known for inventing the lightbulb. Except versions of lightbulbs had actually already been invented, and electric street lights already existed. Edison was just the first to create a cheap and effective light bulb that could be used by the average family in their home. Also, Edison did not come up with his inventions alone  he had an entire team behind him, and the movie camera he "invented" in particular was largely created by his assistant, William Kennedy Laurie Dickson.

Some argue that Edison often took the credit for inventions that were not his own. Bettmann Archive / Getty Images

33.And finally, for the record, the United States government was not founded as a Christian nation  much of the ideas about America being a Christian nation are from the 19th century, and the founding fathers were very clear about dividing church and state. In fact, "Under God" was only added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954, and "In God We Trust" became the country's motto in 1956. Both laws were signed by President Eisenhower, in part as a response to the Cold War ideas of Communists being "godless" and Americans being morally superior.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author. These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. All opinion articles written by individuals from outside the staff of EL PAIS shall feature, along with the authors name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

I met Roger Waters in the spring of 1979: we coincided at the Cannes Film Festival, at an evening party held on the lawn of a lavish rented mansion. I imagine that the evening was an initiative on the part of the producers of Quadrophenia, the film adaptation of The Whos album: movie and rock stars abounded. True, some guests  Roman Polanski, for example  evaporated if you identified yourself as a journalist. But not Waters: he seemed happy to have attentive ears around him.

He dodged, of course, issues such as the catastrophe of Norton Warburg, the investment fund that squandered most of the millions of dollars generated by The Dark Side of the Moon. I understand that would be equivalent to citing the noose in the hangmans house: the person mainly responsible for the disaster, Andrew Warburg, came to manage Pink Floyds finances by the hand of Waters himself.

No. That night what interested Roger was to talk about Ca Ira, his opera about the French Revolution. A project that took decades to materialize; with the glacial speed to which Pink Floyd had accustomed us, Ca Ira would not appear on disc until 2005. By then, we had already witnessed one too many of Waters skids. In the mid-1980s, he announced that he was leaving Pink Floyd, convinced that the group would disintegrate without his input. It didnt: the commercial power of the brand, above and beyond its captains hook, was evident; Waters efforts to throw spanners in the works of his former bandmates were pathetic. Indeed, there was plenty of embarrassment on both sides: according to the dissolution agreement, Waters had exclusive use of the inflatable pig from the cover of Animals; the others sidestepped that inconvenience by turning the blow-up creature into a female pig.

A note of caution. In fact, Ca Ira had a partial premiere in 2002, during a London event staged by the Countryside Alliance, an organization initially created to fight legislation against ritual fox hunting; it was surprising to find Waters surrounded by the cream of the British aristocracy. But he made no secret that he was a hunter. I interviewed him in a suite at the Hotel Alfonso XIII in Seville, after what he described as a few happy days killing partridges in an Andalusian game preserve.

Coming from a rural area, I wasnt shocked by that hunting frenzy; I was shocked by Waters defiant tone. I tend to be reminded of that cocky attitude when he wades into successive international puddles, from supporting Chinese claims on Taiwan to excusing Putins actions in the Ukraine war. Although the biggest shocks come from his attacks on the Israeli state, starting with criticism of fellow musicians  Nick Cave, Radiohead, even Bon Jovi!  for breaking the BDS movements boycott by performing in Israel.

In recent times, Waters has approached conspiracy theories typical of anti-Semitism. The other side has also increased its stridency, attempting to veto his concerts in German cities; in Argentina and Uruguay, he has been turned away from hotels where he intended to stay. They even labelled him a Nazi because of a dictators uniform like the one used in the movie The Wall (1982). I have the suspicion that all this reaffirms his fantasy of being the Noam Chomsky of rock. And not.
Best Amazon Cyber Monday deals in Canada (photos via Amazon).

Cyber Monday 2023 has arrived in Canada, and if you missed out on this weekend's Black Friday sales, you'll want to pay attention  Cyber Monday is one of the last big opportunities to save ahead of the holiday season. This Cyber Week has over 75 Cyber Monday sales to check out; however, few are as jaw-droppingly good as Amazon Canada's. Amazon's Cyber Monday sale includes thousands of the retailer's best-selling products, including picks from Apple, Samsung and KitchenAid, many of which are marked down to their Prime Day prices or better. Below, we've gathered some of Amazon's best and most exciting Cyber Monday deals in 2023. To save money and find out the deals worth shopping, scroll below.

Amazon Cyber Monday deals:

What are the best Cyber Monday deals in Canada?

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Baroness Falkner has said her group defends the rights of everyone, 'not merely those that shout the loudest' - ditGeoff Pugh

Britain could be blacklisted at the UNs human rights body over its defence of biological sex, The Telegraph can reveal.

The UKs Equalities and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is facing a special review of its international accreditation after lobbying by trans rights groups led by Stonewall, the controversial LGBT charity.

The review could leave the EHRC stripped of its so-called A status, which means it would no longer have a place at the table of the UN Human Rights Council and other UN bodies.

It is the latest row to involve the UK and the UN after the international bodys commission for refugees said that the Governments plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda did not comply with its obligations under international law.

Now, the ability of the UK to take part in UN discussions on human rights is under threat from a review by the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (Ganhri).

Ganhri is an independent body whose accreditation grants access to the UN.

The inquiry was launched after the EHRC gave advice to ministers that suggested that changing the law to define sex as biological sex would bring clarity to contentious issues such as the provision of single-sex spaces, Baroness Falkner of Margravine, the watchdogs chairman, has revealed.

Targeted action

Writing in The Telegraph, Lady Falkner said that she was disappointed that the EHRC was being investigated following targeted action by a group of campaign organisations.

Despite the review, she said that the organisation would continue to consider the balance of rights and would not allow its decisions to be swayed by those that shout the loudest.

Any change to the accreditation would put the EHRC behind similar watchdogs in countries which have a poor record on human rights including Iraq, Qatar, Colombia, The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zimbabwe.

Countries which have previously been stripped of their A status by Ganhri include Azerbaijan, Mauritania, Nicaragua, Paraguay and Afghanistan, which was first downgraded before then being removed from the list entirely when its watchdog collapsed last year.

The Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation held A status until it was suspended in March pending the results of a special investigation, which had been due to take place last month.

Organisations with B status can observe international meetings but do not participate and do not have the right to submit documentation to the UNs Human Rights Council.

Just last year, in the face of complaints by Stonewall and other trans rights lobby groups including Mermaids and the Good Law Project, the EHRC had its A accreditation confirmed as part of a routine review.

However, in April this year, Lady Falkner provided advice to Kemi Badenoch, the Women and Equalities Minister, stating that changing the word sex to biological sex in the equalities law would help bring clarity on contentious issues such as sport categories and women-only shortlists.

Undermining statutory role

As a result of the letter, the EHRC experienced targeted action by a group of campaign organisations, who again used the UN accreditation process as a means to undermine our statutory role  which involves a legal duty to advise on the effectiveness of equality laws, Lady Falkner said.

She added: Our advice on this complex and divisive issue made clear that the Government should lean towards a biological definition of sex as the fairest way of protecting everyones rights, but that it should carefully identify and consider the potential implications of any such change.

We were saddened to see that Stonewall and other campaigners chose to go low with unsubstantiated claims in matters which have little to do with the daily lives of the people or groups who we are there to protect, instead of engaging with us to discuss our proposals to improve the balance of rights and protections.

Stonewall and others first lodged a complaint about the EHRC to Ganhri in February last year after Lady Falkner wrote to the governments in Holyrood and Westminster calling for them to pause before enacting laws governing legal gender recognition and conversion therapy.

She has faced a number of challenges since taking on the role as chairman of the EHRC, including an internal bullying investigation which she says she was grateful to see closed last month.

The lobby groups request for a special review was rejected, but they were invited to contribute to a regular five-year review which took place later in the year.

That review re-accredited the EHRC as an A status organisation. However, in May this year Stonewall again led a complaint to Ganhri saying that the EHRCs suggested protections for biological sex were actively harming trans people.

In a letter copied to UN human rights bosses, the organisations accused the EHRC of a lack of political independence and of issuing guidance on single-sex spaces which sought to enable greater exclusion of trans women from women-only spaces such as bathrooms and toilets.

It said that the suggestion that sex should be defined in law as biological sex was unfair.

Ganhri has since informed the EHRC it will be subject to a special review.

A difficult position

Lady Falkner said that she would be happy to discuss her bodys advice line by line with the trans lobby groups and that it absolutely refuted the latest allegations against it, which include that it was in cahoots with the Government in allegedly seeking to erode the rights of trans people.

She noted that considering a balance of rights between different groups such as women and transgender people can put us in a difficult position but its position on sex and gender had received support from across the political divide.

Lady Falkner added: We are confident that we can respond robustly to any questions the [review panel] may have for us in spring next year, when we will be invited to attend an interview to discuss the special review of our A status. In the meantime, we will continue to get on with the job.

At the EHRC, we keep our eyes on our public duty first, which is to protect and promote the rights of everyone  not merely those that shout the loudest.

Ganhri has not yet responded to a request for comment but has previously said that its reviews are confidential until the final reports are published.

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.
Beans are one of the most humble foods in the world, and that also means they are one of the most diverse. First grown and domesticated in the Americas, beans spread around the world after contact with Europe, and there are now over 40,000 varieties worldwide. As an affordable, filling, and healthy ingredient packed with protein, they have become a staple food in almost every cuisine, from the Middle Eastern seasoned beans ful medames to the Indian curries.

And, of course, they remain eternally popular in their original home, where bean dishes are still ubiquitous throughout Latin America and bowls of barbecue beans and bean soup are regularly enjoyed across the United States. That means that there are a lot of different bean recipes to learn, including two that are commonly served in different parts of the Americas: chili beans and baked beans.

Both chili beans and baked beans are relatively simple dishes consisting of beans in sauce, with only a few ingredients used to impart them with deep flavor. They are both also popular as a pre-cooked, canned pantry option, although baked beans are probably more familiar to most shoppers. Hidden behind those big similarities, however, are some pretty big differences. And it's not just about comparing the Southwestern spice of chili beans to the sweeter flavor of Northeastern baked beans, but examining how they are prepared, and the precise origins of those specific flavors.

Read more: 13 Simple Tricks To Pick The Best Fresh Fruit Every Time

What Are Baked Beans?

Stack of Heinz baked beans cans - Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

Baked beans actually come in a lot of forms, but the specific dish we usually think of refers to American-style "Boston" baked beans, which are cooked in a dark, sticky sauce. Modern variations can include a lot of different spices, sauces, and condiments like ketchup, but the classic dish is made with navy beans cooked with molasses, black pepper, and salt pork. Baked beans are traditionally made by mixing all the ingredients together in a heat-proof dish and setting the oven for a long, slow cook.

The end result is a bowl of creamy, tender beans with a thick, syrupy coating. The combination of molasses and salt pork gives the dish a smoky, lightly sweet flavor, although some versions lean more sweet with the addition of things like brown sugar. Baked beans were some of the first canned products, dating back to the mid-19th century.

Although several companies claim to have originated them -- and plenty of brands make canned baked beans today -- they are highly associated with Heinz. The manufacturer is credited with mass producing baked beans, and also introducing them to the British market from America, where they became wildly popular and even found their way into the full English breakfast. Back home in the United States, baked beans are commonly eaten as a side with a variety of meals like barbecue, hot dogs, and cornbread.

What Are Chili Beans?

Chili beans in a bowl from above - Oksana Mizina/Shutterstock

Chili beans are less clearly defined than baked beans, but their name is a pretty clear indication of how they are made. Chili beans are just beans coated in a meaty chili sauce, reminiscent of the stew that's also called chili. Unlike the original dish, however, chili beans are mostly just beans with a smaller amount of sauce acting as gravy and flavoring. They are very much a side, not a soup. They are usually made with pinto beans, although they can also be made with black beans, kidney beans, or any other Southwestern option.

The flavor of chili beans is drawn from chili dishes like chili con carne. Just like there is no one way people can agree on when making chili, there are a lot of options for flavoring chili beans, though the ingredients have a lot of crossover. The sauce can be tomato-based or can use rehydrated, dried chiles. Onion and garlic are also common additions, as are spices like chili powder, cumin, or coriander. Most recipes also include ground beef or turkey to flavor the sauce, although you can easily make most recipes vegetarian, too.

Chili bean recipes also vary in how they are prepared. Some fry the vegetables and spices in a pan before adding water and cooking everything together with the beans, while others make the sauce separately and then just mix it with the beans after everything is cooked. But both ways end the same, with a pile of tender beans in a mildly spicy gravy.

Baked Beans Originated With Native Americans

Baked bean crock and bread next to a served plate - Classicstock/Getty Images

Chili beans have a clear historical tie to the cuisine of Mexico and the Southwest, but baked beans have the more documented and mythologized origin story. When European settlers first came over to what is now New England, they found native Indigenous people cooking beans, which were a staple food throughout the Americas. The local people would cook their beans in clay pots over a fire, using bear fat, meat like venison, and maple syrup as flavoring.

New England pilgrims then learned this recipe and technique from the Indigenous people and adopted it themselves. The Europeans eventually adapted the recipe to their own ingredients, using salt pork like bacon in place of the bear fat. Trade with the Caribbean also made molasses, a byproduct of sugar manufacturing, plentiful and cheap, so it took the place of maple syrup.

Baked beans were a popular dish not just because they were hearty and filling, but because they could be cooked the day before they were to be eaten and left over heat, which allowed the strictly religious settlers to avoid working on the Sabbath and still have a meal ready. The dish was commonly served with New England brown bread, which was also made with molasses, as a cheap meal. Baked beans remained so popular into the 19th century that Boston acquired its nickname: "Beantown."

Chili Beans Are A Spicy Taste Of The Southwest

Various dried chile peppers and spices in bowls - Photography By Tonelson/Getty Images

While they look similar due to their saucy presentation, chili beans' hot flavor is miles away from the more sugary taste of baked beans. Chili sauce is a more complex mixture than most baked bean sauces, incorporating meat, vegetables, dried chiles, and spices. The origins of chili are hard to track down, as there were a number of similar dishes prepared throughout the Americas in Indigenous societies, but the flavor profile we think of as chili today most clearly emerged in Texas in the late 19th century, where the dominant spice besides dried chiles was cumin.

That chili was similar to modern Texas red chili and mostly consisted of chili sauce cooked with meat. Much like the chili beans of today, that mixture was used as a condiment, ladled over tamales or beans, as much as it was eaten straight like a stew. The combination of meaty richness, chile heat, and cumin spice is still what defines chili flavor today, even though the ingredients vary.

Chili beans aren't just spicy, but smoky and earthy, with creamy fat from the ground beef. You may get a little sweetness from the addition of brown sugar, but it should be subtle and in the background, not dominant like it is with baked beans. Like any chili dish, they can also vary in the intensity of their heat, and canned versions often come in both mild and hot varieties.

Baked Beans Are Cooked In An Oven, Not On A Stovetop

Baked beans in a crock with a spoon - P Kyriakos/Shutterstock

It may seem obvious to point out that baked beans are, you know, baked, but that method of cooking is actually important to the dish for a specific reason. As we learned, traditional baked bean recipes contained molasses, and this sugary ingredient has certain characteristics that slow down bean cooking. Molasses is slightly acidic, and acids prevent tough cells in the beans from breaking down and becoming soft.

The sugar and calcium in molasses have the same effect, and the sugar also slows down the rate at which beans absorb water. That all adds up to extra cooking time for an ingredient that already takes a notoriously long time to become tender. Ovens were ideal for long cooking times because they could retain heat overnight and cook the beans without the need for an open flame like a stovetop or fire requires.

Because modern versions of baked beans often use other flavorings like barbecue sauce instead of molasses there is less of a need for such a long time in the oven. However, baking does one other thing that's important. Cooking uncovered baked beans in an oven dries out and caramelizes the top of the mixture, creating a browned crust. This crust adds extra flavor and complexity to the dish, and you won't get it by cooking your beans on the stovetop. Even if you can make "baked" beans without baking these days, the oven is still the best option.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
With the promise of supersonic business jets about five years away, yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of the last Concorde flight. The joint project between Britain and France, which made its first flight on May 24, 1976, from London Heathrow to Dulles International Airport, launched a nearly 30-year era of jet-setting. With prices hovering around $10,000 for a round-trip ticket ($20,000 in todays dollars) the Concorde was equated with the wealthy and famous. Proponents pointed to ravel time between Europe and North America being cut in half.

In 1996, a British Airways Concorde crossed from New York to London in about two hours and 52 minutesstill the fastest trans-Atlantic crossing by a passenger plane. At its height, the Concorde hosted jet-setters such as Paul McCartney and Elizabeth Taylor, according to NPR.com. During the famous Live Aid concert in 1985, Phil Collins performed in London, jumped on the Concorde, and then played in Philadelphia on the same day. I was in England this afternoon, Collins said to the crowd as he took his seat behind the piano. Funny old world, isnt it?

More from Robb Report

Though many other airlines placed orders for the aircraft, in the end only Air France and British Airwaysoperating seven aircraft eachflew the Concorde. JFK became the most regular route from London and Paris, but London to Bahrain, London to Dulles, and London to Miami via Washington also became common. Dallas also had service from Washington, but it was subsonic. London to Barbados, on Saturdays, was perhaps it most unusual route.

In 1996, British Airways set a transatlantic speed record with the Concorde of 2 hours 52 minutes from New York to London, a record that still stands.

But the Concorde always had critics. It consumed four times more jet fuel than a Boeing 747, which could carry 500 passengers compared to the Concordes 100. The supersonic jets round-trip price was about $10,000 in the 1990s, or about twice that in todays dollars. The sonic boom garnered global criticism, with Congress and many other governments banning overland supersonic travel.

An Air France Concorde crash at Charles de Gaulle Airport in 2000, which killed all 109 people aboard, forced all Concordes in service to be grounded for more than year. Shortly thereafter, 9/11 shook up the airline industry, making it hard for most travelers to justify the environmental costs and expenses of supersonic travel on an aging fleet.

Commercial supersonic flight will become like travel to the moon: a goal achieved, and then long abandoned, commentator Lester Reingold said on NPRs Morning Edition in 2001.

Booms Overture is the heir-apparent to Concorde, but with a more eco-friendly footprint.

But companies like Boom are hoping to bring back Mach-1-plus travel with a new generation of supersonic business jets. The delta wings and slender fuselage of the Boom Overture look similar to the Concordesthough the Overtures wingspan is 23 feet wider, and it holds a third less passengers. The Concorde was faster, too, with the ability to reach up to twice the speed of sound. The Overture is designed to reach Mach 1.7. Boom predicts that the Overture will be able to serve more than 600 routes around the world in about half the time of subsonic commercial jets.

The company is working on ways to mitigate the sonic boom, while also developing its engines to fly on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which reduces carbon emissions by up to 90 percent over conventional jet fuel.

United and American Airlines have placed 35 orders for Overtures. Boom is planning to have the aircraft in commercial service by 2029.

The Concorde was the symbol of international jet-setting, but its star dropped after a 2000 crash that killed all passengers on board.

Critics remain skeptical of the ambitious timeline and some question whether the Overture will ever fly.

Boom reports that it is ahead of schedule on the construction of its new production facility in North Carolina. Saudi Arabias Neom state-owned fund confirmed that it has invested an undisclosed amount in Boom, and the company said it has raised $700 million to date with the completion of its latest round. But putting the Overture into commercial service will require as much as $6 billion to $8 billion, Boom CEO Blake Scholl told Robb Report.

The Darth Vaderlike aircraft is permanently grounded after nearly 30 years in service.

The company plans to do the first test flight of its XB-1 demonstration aircraft before the end of this year. The company says the first flight will be one of its milestones before attempting supersonic speeds in 2024.

In the meantime, 20 years after its final flight, the Concorde lives on as the symbol of supersonic flight. Its presence is mostly relegated to air museums and, of course, as the lead outdoor sculpture at Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris. But the concept could live on if Boom and other lesser-known supersonic start-ups are successful.

Best of Robb Report

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Click here to read the full article.
In our long-running series "How I'm Making It," we talk to people making a living in the fashion and beauty industries about how they broke in and found success.

When Diarra Bousso was growing up in Senegal, custom-made dresses and expert tailoring were more standard than luxury.

"In Senegalese culture, it's very common to have your dresses made," she tells Fashionista. "My mom always had something new and always stood out. I was always in awe whenever I saw her dressed up, and I thought, 'Wow, it would be nice to work with textiles and be able to do that for a living.'"

Fashion wasn't her only love, though: She pursued a degree in math while simultaneously soft-launching her fashion brand. Typically, there's not much on-paper formula and equation-solving to do in a creative position, but Bousso had an idea.

"I was working on a different collection using the Fibonacci sequence, which is when each number is the sum of the previous number  you start with one, then one plus one is two and two plus one is three and so on," she says. "I thought, 'How cool would it be to create a Fibonacci sequence with these fabrics?'"

That's how Diarrablu was born. It still relies on innovative equations to create endless varieties of patterns using lines and graphs. And with such a unique perspective on design, Bousso declared herself Chief Creative Mathematician, paving the way for more overlap between fashion and STEM.

Ahead, Bousso talks about how her inventive role, starting her brand on top of her parents's roof in Senegal, the surprisingly beneficial impact the pandemic had on her business and more.

How did growing up in Senegal influence your style and, later on, your brand?

Senegalese women are very, very fashionable. There's an idea in Senegal that anytime you leave your house, you have to look spotless  even if you're going to the corner store to buy bread. But there's also the concept that looking beautiful is effortless, so you're not putting on tons of makeup unless you're going to a wedding or something.

I saw this idea around me everywhere, regardless of people's social class or wherever they came from. I decided to infuse this philosophy into Diarrablu. Everything is effortless  our brand doesn't use zippers or buttons. You can throw it on really fast, but look really regal at the same time. That really was inspired by Senegal.

You shared that your mom inspired your love of fashion. What inspired your love of math?



Growing up, I was always very good at math. I left Senegal when I was 16, to move to Norway for boarding school. I couldn't speak English very well, and the school was taught in English because everyone came from a different country with a different language. I started not performing well in that school when I had been a top student back in Senegal, but no matter what, I performed well in math. It became my safe space. I realized that I could communicate with math no matter who I'm speaking to or what country I go to.

Diarrablu Alegria collection. Photo: Courtesy of Diarrablu

How did your time spent in Norway influence your design aesthetic?

Going to that international boarding school in Norway made me fall in love with differences. Everybody was so different and unique in their own way, and I think that really opened my mind. The school itself was between two mountains and a lake. It was so cold in the winter, but so beautiful. Our art class took place in a studio where you could sit underwater and just paint all day. By the time I became a designer, the idea of mixing all of these different disciplines was ingrained in me.

You have a degree in mathematics from Stanford University and previously worked in finance. How did you realize that you could combine your love of math and fashion?

I started working on Wall Street after college, and I quickly realized that it wasn't for me. I decided to go to graduate school [at Stanford] and focus on mathematics. I had my 'aha' moment with one of my professors there, Dr. Jo Boaler: One day after class, I told her I was working on a swimsuit design using a concept called combinatorics... You start with two fabrics and, at the end, you'd probably end up with something that looks like a rainbow  [Bowler] was blown away and encouraged me to pursue it.

At the time, I was focused on the education side and how I could use this process to teach math to students in a more creative way. It was so nerdy, but she was so supportive. Fast forward a few months, these lesson plans are used by thousands of teachers around the United States. So I thought, 'What about the other way around?' That's when my brand joined social media.

How did you discover that math equations could turn into patterns and designs?

After graduating from Stanford, I was teaching. One day, I was grading papers and exams  my students were learning how to graph equations, and most of the work on the exams was full of mistakes. Most of the students missed the concept, and it was very frustrating. I was looking at their mistakes and thought, 'They're wrong, but they're so beautiful if you stack them.' That led me to write a bunch of equations within a computer software, and I started seeing more patterns. That made me realize I could do something really cool, so I started digging more into the ideas.

Diarra Bousso. Photo: Courtesy of Diarrablu

How did Diarrablu begin?

While running a blog for two years, while I worked in finance, I had a life-threatening accident that made me reconsider a lot of things. I decided I was going to start over. I quit my job, packed up my bags in New York, took out my 401K and moved back to my parents's house in Senegal. I set up a design studio on the roof and started modeling the dresses on Instagram.

My first collection was used math equations, which resulted in the brand getting a lot of attention. The American Math Society reached out to me, and I learned there's a whole community of people who pursue math and art together. But in the fashion industry, the concept of using math for designs was brand-new, so that's how it became the brand's focus.

After years of treating the brand more like a blog, I was finally able to focus on creating the business side. I moved to California in 2017, and registered the company in the United States the following year. I got into the Fashion Incubator San Francisco, and I would go there after work, meet mentors and get advice from experts within the industry. After the program ended, I was able to hire some of those experts as consultants, and we started building what the company is now.

Diarrablu Resort 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Diarrablu

What were the first few years like for the business?

It was mostly spent building the community and traveling. I was going to factories to understand how companies are built and operate. I call that period my five-year undergrad in fashion: We weren't making money  we'd sell a little bit, but then I'd spend it on the next research trip. Eventually, I ran out, and that's when I was like, 'I need a plan.' I'm glad I made that investment, though. I think when many people start a business, they think about the financials so much. I focused more on the learning. I wasn't focused on making money because I knew I wasn't going to. We didn't make a profit until 2020. Luckily, I didn't raise any money, so I didn't owe anybody. I had debt from my family and stuff, but I paid it up.

How has the business grown from first turning a profit in 2020?

It was hard when the lockdown happened. Before Covid, our business was just in a few stores in Africa. We were barely selling online. If I sold [a few] dresses a month, I was happy. Then, Covid happened, and I got all the artisans to stop working while committing to paying their salaries no matter what. Then George Floyd happened, and the whole world realized that Black people exist and maybe we need to celebrate them a bit more. So the fashion press became very supportive, and we made it to all these 'Black-owned brands' lists. Within a few weeks, we grew a hundred times, and I think that really kicked things off.

Between 2020 and now, we've grown seven times, or 600 percent as a company, which is extremely high. I feel like all of the effort over the past nine years has kind of exploded in the past three. Everything is made to order. We kind of operate like a restaurant: We buy all the ingredients based on consumer voting (on Instagram Stories), so we know we have good ingredients and they don't perish. If you place an order today for a dress, it's going to be cut tomorrow and you'll get it within a week.

Diarrablu Alegria collection. Photo: Courtesy of Diarrablu

Your clothes continue to be made by a team of artisans in Senegal. Has that presented any challenges in the business, particularly with selling wholesale?

It has been challenging, but it's what allows us to be sustainable. When you own your production, you can produce to order. At the same time, you also have limitations, because it's not like you can just call up a factory in China and say, 'I need you to produce this and deliver it by these dates.' I'm also working with two different cultures: The approach to business and cultural norms are very different in America and Senegal, which makes it challenging, but also very interesting.

How did you decide on "chief creative mathematician" as your title, as opposed to something like "creative director" or "lead designer"?

When I was starting out, I didn't know what my title should be. I'm doing finance, CEO work, marketing and design  then I met Boaler, and her field is called Creative Mathematics. I had an 'aha' moment, because it described what I'm interested in perfectly. That day, I went home, logged onto Linkedin and changed my title.

The Diarrablu Nurr handbag. Photo: Courtesy of Diarrablu

What are your goals for the business in the next five to 10 years?

Focusing on operational and product quality. Also, upgrading our supply chain. We started working with a warehouse here in the U.S. to accept returns and process them. We also launched a handbag line in March, and it was my first time working with that product category. Expanding into more of a lifestyle brand is something that's really important to us. Diarrablu should be the destination for everything you'll be putting on your body.

If you could give any advice to an aspiring designer or creative mathematician, what would you say?

Do what you love. Forget about money and success and title and all of it: Find something you love enough that you'd do it for free, then find a way to be really good at it and become an expert. If you're doing what you love, you've won.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

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If you frequent upscale steak houses, then chances are good that you'll have noticed some form of aged steak on the menu. You may have then wondered why it was so expensive and what methods chefs used to make it that way. For instance, you might head to Cote, a fashionable New York City Korean steakhouse, where you can order a dry-aged NY strip steak for $56 and a similarly aged ribeye for $58. Get an unaged version of either cut from the more run-of-the-mill, typically suburban Outback Steakhouse and they'll cost $28.99 and $31.99 respectively. The ambiance is not a sufficient explanation, though that certainly can help to raise prices. Instead, it's more about the meat itself.

But what's going on here? Some restaurant-goers who shy at the idea of shelling out big bucks for aged steak may not be fully aware of what the aging process entails. First, chefs and butchers choose the finest cuts from the healthiest, happiest animals. They then prepare those cuts of meat over an extended period of time that can take weeks to complete -- or even longer. There are a variety of techniques they can choose from, too, meaning the taste of one aged steak can be very different from another.

Before you pull out your wallet to pay for this luxury item, it's smart to understand what you're getting on the plate. Then, with your knowledge, you can take the time to truly enjoy each forkful, knowing that the steak in front of you wasn't easy or fast to prepare. These are all the different ways to age steak, according to professional chefs.

Read more: Cuts Of Steak, Ranked Worst To Best

What Is Aged Steak?

Steak and butchers' cleaver - Mediterranean/Getty Images

Aging meat is a process that is almost exactly what it sounds like. When aging a cut, chefs and butchers leave the meat in a controlled environment to undergo changes that enhance its flavor and texture. However, the fact that many diners find this particularly desirable is a modern concept. Before refrigeration, livestock owners who lived in cooler climates butchered animals in the fall and left the carcasses hanging somewhere to be chilled by wintery weather. Sometimes they cured the meat, such as by making sausage. At other times they simply saved the meat in a cool, dry environment until it was needed. Foodborne illnesses were also a major issue, as pathogens could grow all too easily on the meat.

Once butchers could count on refrigeration, though, the meat industry blossomed. Now, slaughter could happen at any time of the year and meat packers could send massive amounts of product to grocery stores after hanging it for just 30 to 48 hours. In fact, their profit then and today depends on making this aging process as short as possible. The two-day hanging time remains a practice for modern producers because muscle tenses up the first day after slaughter, making the meat too hard to consume. Then, an enzyme called actomyosin starts to break down the muscle fibers in a cut and the meat becomes far more tender. That tenderness will increase the longer the product is left to sit on a rack, hang on a hook, or remain in a vacuum pack. According to regulations set by the USDA, meat sold as aged must have been allowed to relax for a minimum of 14 days.

Dry Aging Between Two And Four Weeks

hanging meat for dry aging - Milanchikov Sergey/Shutterstock

In dry aging, large cuts of meat hang from hooks or sit on special racks in a designated refrigerator or cold storage area. To get things just right, culinary experts obsessively control the airflow, humidity, and temperature, which should always be above freezing. Too low and the enzymatic changes stop. Too high, and you won't reduce the growth of harmful bacteria.

Large, fatty cuts of prime beef are best for aging. Chef Dean Harper, the founder of Harper Fine Dining, says that with a large enough cut "Time taken can allow the formation of a protective 'crust' (also called the bark) that protects the meat itself from spoilage and is removed later." Larger pieces of meat mean less gets wasted during trimming.

Executive chef Michael LeDuke of the Capital Grille line of steakhouses describes his aging process in detail: "The key to the dry age room is keeping it at 34-38 degrees and approximately 75% humidity." He says that he gets the best results when he ages beef between 18 and 28 days. Chef Joe Paish of Rolo's in New York employs a slightly lower temperature (34 degrees) and humidity (55% for the first three days, then 80%). He also highlights one of the main benefits of aging: "The water loss allows for a more beautiful sear and more even cookery."

Liquor Dry Aged Meat

Chef holds a rum bottle - Bloomberg/Getty Images

One of the most interesting ways to add a new dimension of flavor to steak is by dry aging it in liquor. Here, temperature and humidity are still carefully controlled, but chefs take a couple of additional steps to infuse the meat with the taste of whiskey, rum, wine, or another alcoholic beverage. Chef Michael Saperstein, owner of Sunshine Provisions, elaborates on his process: "The loin is wrapped in cheesecloth and sprayed with the liquor of choice. At Sunshine, we spray the loin one time per week. Popular liquors are whisky, dark rum, or other dark liquors with aromatic properties."

How meat takes on the characteristics of what surrounds it can be a blessing or curse. Meat easily absorbs the flavors of other pungent items nearby, so restaurants and supplies take steps to keep their meat lockers immaculate. It's a huge faux pas to age steaks in the same cooler as sausages, for example. According to Paish, "In the case of a restaurant or butcher with a dedicated dry aging cooler, this is generally not a problem -- a clean, cold, dedicated aging fridge will generally not impart a funk to the product." This need for a large space for aging meat is one of the main reasons this dish is so expensive, too.

Dry Aging With Mold

isolated koji mold in petri - Sinhyu/Getty Images

Saperstein uses mold to add a distinctive taste to aged beef, lightly covering cuts "with white mold, a form of penicillin that is used for dry curing, or Aspergillus oryzae, also known as koji mold, and dried for 21-45 days." Penicillin gives sausage its white outer layer while koji grows on rice and imparts distinctive flavor to sake and soy sauce.

Chef Guy Meikle demonstrates the process of using koji on the YouTube channel The Chef's Roll. Meikle cuts a crisscross through the outer fat on a ribeye then smears the cut with koji paste. A couple of days later, he does the same on the bottom. Besides improving flavor, Meikle claims this speeds up the aging process so that, instead of storing meat for 45 days, his restaurant can move the same high-quality product after just 15 to 20.

Some even claim koji can age a steak to restaurant perfection in just 48 hours. To try it at home, grind up koji rice (you can order it online), rub it over a steak, and leave it in the fridge for a couple of days. Afterward, scrape the layer of koji off with a knife before pan-searing the meat.

Dry Aging For Longer Than 30 Days

Alexandre Polmard beside meat storage - Patrick Robert - Corbis/Getty Images

Some butchers allow cuts of meat to age for much longer, to the tune of months or even years, though eating meat that's been stored for that long may not sound appetizing to newcomers. Meat expert Dana Ehrlich of Verde Farms and board member of the North American Meat Institute says "I've seen as long as 75 days in Australia [...] Mold also grows on the outside and needs to be cut off, so the flavor ends up becoming very concentrated (and very expensive)."

For most diners, having to cut a mold layer off meat may not sound appetizing, but some are fans. As Paish recalls, "I recently sampled a 110-day dry aged grass-fed beef shank and found it to be incredibly delicious."

French cattleman Alexandre Polmard is widely recognized as the champion of long steak aging. He has some steaks in storage that he's been waiting to eat (or sell at high prices) for over a decade. A single kilo of his meat can fetch more than $3,200. Polmard's secret is a two-step process. First, he dry ages beef. After around 50 days, he places it in a specially designed freezer where extra-cold air blows constantly. That means the ice crystals form differently than they do in a regular freezer. The final result is, to some, a fantastic steak.

Wet Aging

steak in vacuum pack - Natali _ Mis/Shutterstock

Wet aging is the most common method of imparting a more tender texture to your meat. It means putting steaks in vacuum packs and then a refrigerator. Ehrlich says this aging process usually takes between 14 and 21 days and "typically won't have as dramatic an effect on the flavor as dry aging, though there is still a significant tenderization process involved." What you think of as the taste of meat, is, in fact, the taste of wet-aged beef. Most meat you buy in the grocery store has been wet-aged for some amount of time, although not always a full two weeks.

Aging meat this way has some huge benefits. Reduced food waste is a major one. Cutting the bark off of dry-aged meat when it's ready to consume means throwing out quite a bit. Wet-aged meat doesn't need any additional trimming. The cold storage where meat is kept in vacuum packs doesn't have to be exclusively for aging meat either. The plastic pack will keep most pathogens and funky flavors from getting to the meat. In other words, wet aging meat is a practical way to get beef to your table at the cheapest possible price.

Combination Of Dry And Wet Aging

Aging meat in cold storage - Thepalmer/Getty Images

Some chefs prefer using a combination of dry and wet aging and the result can be fantastic. Chef Dean Harper explains that when the two methods are used together, the dry hang usually lasts between a week and two. The period over which the meat ages in a vacuum pack can vary depending on the taste and texture a chef is after.

Executive butcher Tom Mylan wrote in The Atlantic that the best steak he ever tried was one aged this way. The animal had been 100% grass-fed. After slaughter, the carcass hung for two weeks. Then, the meat aged for a second two week period in a vacuum pack.

Apart from creating mouth-watering steaks, one of the biggest advantages to using this combination of aging styles is a reduction of moisture loss. While meat dry ages, a lot of water evaporates from it. This is one of the reasons it tastes so much meatier. On the other hand, chefs and butchers sell beef by the pound, and letting it dry for too long means it weighs significantly less. Putting meat in a vacuum at a certain point stops this loss of moisture, but the period spent dry aging adds flavor.

Tallow And Butter Aged Meat

butter aged ragyu - Nick DiGiovanni/YouTube

Coating a cut of meat in a layer of semi-solid fat such as tallow or butter before starting the aging process can bring some incredible benefits to the final product. That's because one of the biggest problems with dry aging is the loss of so much moisture and weight from a given cut of meat over the lengthy aging process. Adding a layer of fat around a cut before leaving it to age not only helps retain water but also adds flavor.

Saperstein explains his tallow aging method: "The loin is dipped in liquid tallow until thoroughly coated. This produces a very beefy concentrated flavor profile." Other animal fats can produce slightly different flavors. For example, chef William Eick of Matsu points out that covering meat in duck fat before aging creates delicious results with distinct flavors.

Chef Nick DiGiovanni walks viewers through his process of butter aging on YouTube. He takes a smaller cut of meat than what's traditionally used in dry aging -- just 10 pounds of wagyu. He whips up homemade butter and covers the cut with a 3/4-inch layer, wearing gloves to prevent the butter or meat from becoming contaminated. Then, he leaves it to age for 60 days. When cut open, there is only a thin bark on the exterior of the meat.

Understanding The Labels On Aged Meat And Menus

Woman reads label on beef - Seventyfour/Getty Images

Labels can be confusing and the ones on aged beef are no exception. Any time a package says that the meat inside has been aged, it must specify the method and for how long the cut was aged, as per the USDA. Additionally, meat sellers must have aged the product for at least 14 days. On the other hand, if the label says that a cut was dry aged, it doesn't have to specify how many days the meat was subject to the process. However, vacuum packaging cannot have played a role. Neither is there a minimum number of days required for this label, although the agency's Food Standards and Labeling Policy Book states that the process usually takes between 10 days and six weeks.

Generally, however, you can rely on some careful reading. According to Paish, "If meat has been dry aged, it will be declared boldly on the signage, packaging, or menu -- one simply does not undertake the expense and effort of dry aging in secret." Moreover, if spendy additions like liquor, butter, or koji have helped the aging process along, menus and labels will likely trumpet that fact, too.

If places don't tout their process in detail, it could mean they're trying to exaggerate. Likewise, you won't see many labels declaring that a cut has been wet-aged because most commercial meat goes through this process.

Can You Age Steak At Home?

meat in fridge - Cookelma/Getty Images

Though it may be tough to hear, the reality is that you should not attempt to dry age steak at home unless you plan to make a significant investment. Aging steak requires a specific environment and specialized knowledge that most homes and amateur cooks just don't have, not to mention seriously expensive equipment and large amounts of meat that could be difficult to store.

Wet aging doesn't prove as problematic, though. "People can age meat at home if they buy vacuum-sealed beef, but it's typically not necessary as it has already been sufficiently wet aged prior to purchase. Dry aging is risky at home without a proper setup," says Ehrlich. Trying to dry age meat in your everyday refrigerator would mean exposing it to all of the funky smells and potential pathogens that live there. In comparison, commercial meat aging setups have very strict disinfecting schedules and specialized equipment.

Which Method Of Aging Meat Is The Best?

meat dry aging on racks - Ilia Nesolenyi & Turker Minaz/Getty

Each method of aging meat will appeal to different people. This is a matter of personal taste and so there is no correct answer. Many consumers prefer the flavor of wet-aged beef because it tastes familiar. Dry aged cuts have a far more intense beefy flavor and often have notes of blue cheese due to the mold that sometimes grows on the bark.

From a practical point of view, wet aging is superior to dry in that it allows for more flexibility. Restaurants don't need exclusive cold storage only for aging steaks, and neither do determined home cooks. Dry aging, on the other hand, is more of an art and can be tremendously poetic from a culinary point of view. If you're feeling truly curious about which is better, you probably have some delicious dinners to look forward to. Have fun taste-testing aged meat at steakhouses near you until you discover one perfect flavor you love more than the others.

Read the original article on Mashed.
Officials in Canada's Northwest Territories have issued an emergency caution to hikers and dog walkers after a pack of wolves exhibited concerning behavior in the area.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, the department of Environment and Climate Change urged anyone using the walking trails at and near Fred Henne Territorial Park, located on Long Lake near Yellowknife, to use extreme caution due to at least one pack of wolves "beginning to show stalking behaviour."

"Officers responded to an incident where nine wolves were reported to be showing brazen stalking behaviour towards their dogs," writes the ECC, noting that wolves are known to become aggressive towards dogs.

If you are hiking with a dog in the area, you are cautioned to keep your pets on-leash in all areas at all times and travel in groups, especially if you're walking after dark. Currently, there are only about six hours of daylight in the area, between approximately 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. and though wolves are not nocturnal, they tend to be active at dawn and dusk and often hunt at night.

Plan your hikes to take place during daylight hours and if you come across a wolf, secure your dog by your side, do not run and make yourself appear big. Making noise has also been proven an effective deterrent, which you can do by blowing your hiking whistle or knocking your trekking poles together. Learn more in our article on what to do if you encounter a wolf on the trail.
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, is renowned as a lawyer, human rights activist, author and speaker. He is also a Delaware native.

Based in Montgomery, Alabama, the Equal Justice Initiative focuses on securing justice for incarcerated juveniles, the indigent and the condemned. Stevenson's legal prowess has resulted in victories in four out of the five cases he has argued before the Supreme Court. According to the nonprofit, Stevenson has won reversals, relief or release from prison for hundreds of wrongly convicted or sentenced individuals.

One of these cases took center stage in the 2019 movie '"Just Mercy," a film portraying Stevenson's relentless efforts to secure the release of an unjustly convicted Black man who was committed to death row before his trial began. Stevenson continues to make significant impacts on racial justice and the fight against inequality.

Among its many endeavors, the Equal Justice Initiative operates the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, an exhibition that investigates the historical connection between lynchings during the post-Reconstruction era and present-day rates of incarceration and executions among people of color in the United States. In March 2023, President Biden awarded Stevenson a National Humanities Medal for his work.

A resident of Montgomery, Alabama, Stevenson lectures widely on racial inequality, criminal justice reform and human rights. Originally from Milton, he will return to the First State as the featured guest for the Wilmington Friends School Nathan M. Clark Speaker Series on Nov. 30.

Ahead of his appearance, Delaware Online/The News Journal had the opportunity to interview the Cape Henlopen High School graduate. The discussion focused on the influence his upbringing had on his life's work, America's reluctance to confront its history and the legacy and impact of his advocacy. This interview has been edited and condensed.

Equal Justice Initiative founder and Executive Director Bryan Stevenson is shown at the Equal Justice Initiative offices in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, March 31, 2022.

Question: Was there anything about your Delaware upbringing that inspired you to pursue a career in law, particularly in social justice and human rights?

Answer: Yes. I am a product of Brown versus Board of Education. I started my education in a colored school, and then lawyers came into our community and made them open up the public school. I was really influenced by the power these lawyers had to protect the rights of a vulnerable community. These lawyers had the power to enforce our rights, and that motivated me to want to access that same power after I graduated from high school and college. So I went to law school very much to continue the legacy of social justice lawyering that had so profoundly impacted my own opportunities.

Delaware is engaged in critical discussions regarding police accountability, reforms in law enforcement rights and the death penalty. Do you perceive any connection between what is happening here, our nation's history and the contemporary structure of the criminal justice system?

Delaware is not immune from the problems created by our long history of racial injustice in the United States. I think we have all inherited this long, long history of racial bias. Narratives of racial differences have compromised our ability to do justice and to treat people fairly. The legacy of slavery created a presumption of dangerousness and guilt that got assigned to Black people, which was used to justify the extreme and horrific abuse of enslaved people. Following emancipation, that same narrative, that same presumption of dangerousness and guilt was used to justify mob violence against Black people.

So, Delaware, like other parts of the country, struggles to free itself from all of these presumptions. It doesn't matter whether you are a journalist or a doctor, a lawyer or a teacher, whether you're kind or you're loving. If you're Black or brown, you go places in this country where you have to navigate presumptions of dangerousness and guilt, and that's what creates distortions in our legal system and distrust of law enforcement.

And while we've made progress in eradicating the architecture of racial hierarchy, that presumption still exists.

Equal Justice Initiative founder Bryan Stevenson at his office in Montgomery, Ala., on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

Why do you believe Americans may feel uneasy about engaging with the history of America regarding racial injustice and disparity?

I think there's a long history of silence.

For generations, we have not required people to talk honestly about what happened to Indigenous people when Europeans came to this continent, when millions were killed by famine, war and disease. We have not talked honestly about the brutality and the horrors of slavery and the language that created real distortions in our view of one another because of race.

We haven't been honest about the traumatizing consequences of lynching violence and subjecting Black people to harsher punishments and treatments in our legal system, and we haven't really created space to deal with the multiple ways in which in schools and in employment spaces and in public places, you're often disfavored if you're a person of color.

And so that silence for a lot of people has become comfortable. And when you try to end the silence, start talking about things, a lot of people are made uncomfortable by that.

I think it's incredibly important that we have an era of truth-telling in the country. I would love for the children of our children to not be burdened by the presumption of dangerousness and guilt that has shaped my life and the life of the young people in my family, but to get there, we're going to have to commit to having these conversations.

Bryan Stevenson accepts the National Humanities Medal from President Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 21, 2023.

What efforts can be taken to create an environment that encourages individuals to address this history with openness and willingness?

I do think there are models out there for us to emulate. When you go to Berlin, Germany, you can't go 200 meters without seeing markers and stones placed next to the homes of Jewish families that were killed during the Holocaust. You cannot graduate from high school in Germany without a clear understanding of the Holocaust in the multiple ways in which it created such harm.

There are no Adolf Hitler statutes in Berlin. There are no monuments and memorials to the perpetrators of the Holocaust. But we still have iconography throughout our country that romanticizes and even celebrates the perpetrators of these narratives of racial difference and hierarchies built on race.

I don't talk about history because I want to punish America. I talk about it because I want us to be liberated from the burdens we have inherited from the challenges we continue to see manifested in so many areas of our lives.

What long-term impact do you hope your work and the initiatives of your institution will achieve?

I think it would be just to understand that there's something better. I think there's something that feels more like freedom. More like equality, more like justice, more like liberty waiting for us in this country, but we can't get there.

If we don't have the courage to talk honestly about our past, if we don't get past the fear and anger that shaped too many of our policies when it comes to the criminal justice system, if we allow ourselves to be governed by fear and anger, we'll tolerate things we should never tolerate, we'll accept things we should never accept.

It's my hope that we can move in a different direction. One where we can see through hope, education and understanding, a path that leads to a healthier future, a more connected future and a dramatically better future for for everyone.

Wilmington Friends School's Nathan M. Clark Speaker event featuring Bryan Stevenson will be held at the Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington from 7 to 8 p.m. Nov. 30. Admission is free, but seating is limited and tickets are required. To reserve a ticket, visit Eventbrite.

Contact reporter Anitra Johnson at ajohnson@delawareonline.com. Join her on the Facebook group Delaware Voices Uplifted. Support her work and become a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Roots of activist attorney Bryan Stevenson's impact began in Delaware
Colorado's mountains always see their first rush of the winter season over Thanksgiving week, and it's not uncommon for tourists to want to enjoy the Rocky Mountain trails despite the plummeting temperatures at this time of year. One such family, who were visiting from Chicago last week, found themselves in hot water when they set off on a mountain trail in southern Colorado unprepared for the worsening conditions, and required mountain rescue to get them home safely.

The family of five, which included three adults and two children, set off on the Greenhorn Mountain trail southwest of Pueblo on Wednesday morning according to a Facebook post from the Pueblo County Sheriff's Office.

"They became hampered by effects of the altitude, unexpected snow and their experience level, which slowed their progress. As it was nearing dusk and realizing they still had quite a long way to go with no food and inadequate clothing for the dropping temperatures, the family called 911 for help."

The Green Mountains form some of the state's lower ranges, but Greenhorn Mountain, the highest point, tops out at 12,347 feet above sea level, which is more than high enough to encounter deep snow at this time of year. The hike itself is anywhere from 11 to 14 miles roundtrip depending on the route, and these factors ultimately proved too much for the family.

Posted by pueblosheriff on

The rescue took seven hours and entailed team members being airlifted to the family where the were given food, water and clothing. They then hiked down with rescuers to the top of Ophir Creek where emergency vehicles were waiting for them to escort them to safety.

Though the rescue crews involved noted the family were not adequately prepared, the did take several measures that helped ensure their safety and survival.

"While this rescue took extensive time and coordination by all involved, we commend this family for the things they did that led to their successful rescue," writes the sheriff's office, citing the presence of an outdoor survival kit and the fact that they had informed family members of their hiking plans prior to departure.

"They also had the awareness to call for help before it became a life-threatening emergency, before it got dark, and before their cell phone died. They also followed 9-1-1 operator instructions and remained in one location until rescuers could arrive and locate them."

How to tie hiking boots: winter hiking

Winter hiking safety

The Pueblo County Sherriff's office reminds all hikers to be prepared for changing conditions at high altitude, and in winter.

"We remind hikers or anyone going on trails or in the mountains to be prepared and aware of conditions and abilities before going out, especially this time of year when conditions can change rapidly, and the sun sets earlier."

When hiking in the winter, always check the weather, leave extra time for challenging walking conditions, dress in winter hiking layers and carry traction devices and emergency gear like an emergency blanket or shelter and a satellite communicator. Learn more in our article on winter hiking safety.
Toss these products in the trash immediately.

Anna Nahabed / Shutterstock

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning parents against giving their children certain pureed food pouches due to elevated levels of lead.

In an announcement, the FDA recalled cinnamon apple puree and applesauce products under three brand names: WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches, Schnucks-brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack, and Weis-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches.

According to the Associated Press, the FDA received 52 reports of elevated lead levels in children who reportedly consumed the products. This, the AP noted, is up from 34 cases reported one week ago. The children, ages 1 to 4, live across 22 states, according to the FDAs announcement.

The three affected products were sold in stores across the U.S. and available online. According to the FDA, the WanaBana apple cinnamon fruit puree pouches are sold at multiple retailers including Amazon, Dollar Tree, and other online outlets. It added that it is aware the recalled product is still available at several Dollar Tree stores in multiple states, but that it should not be available, nor should consumers purchase it.

Related: What to Do if You Think You've Eaten Recalled Food

The FDA noted that the Schnucks-brand cinnamon-flavored applesauce pouches and variety pack are sold at Schnucks and Eatwell Markets grocery stores, and the Weis-brand cinnamon applesauce pouches are sold at Weis grocery stores.

The FDA investigation into the source of contamination is ongoing and is being assisted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). However, according to the AP, the potential source of lead is the cinnamon imported from a manufacturer in Ecuador.

Lead is toxic to humans and can affect people of any age or health status, the FDA added in its announcement. Protecting children from exposure to lead is particularly important because they are more susceptible to lead toxicity. Most children have no obvious immediate symptoms. Parents and caretakers should consult a healthcare provider if [they] suspect a child may have been exposed to lead.

The agency added, short-term exposure to lead could result in the following symptoms: headache, abdominal pain/colic, vomiting, or anemia. Longer-term exposure could result in the following additional symptoms: irritability, lethargy, fatigue, muscle aches or muscle prickling/burning, constipation, difficulty concentrating/muscular weakness, tremor, or weight loss.

Those who purchased any of these products should dispose of them immediately. But before you do, the FDA encourages consumers to carefully empty the contents of the pouch before discarding it separately to prevent others from salvaging recalled product from the trash.

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Read the original article on Food & Wine.
Peruvian Andres Ricvot remembers the time when his partner, who helped him with his HIV treatment, tried to murder him in France, and he had no one to turn to to save himself. Venezuelan Angel Trompis has a painful memory of the two weeks he spent lying in the Darien jungle with a broken leg after being expelled from his country because of his gender identity. These instances of violence against the LGBTQ+ community have been portrayed by several artists in seven doors that reflect painful times in the lives of people who found hope in Mexico.

Between the white walls of the Hilario Galguera gallery, where the exhibition Puertas de Esperanza (Doors of Hope) will be on display until January 13, the artist Barbara Lazara and Ricvot meet again. A conversation between the two created Salvoconducto (Safe conduct), a green door with gold lines that represents the Mexican passport. It is a document that the 34-year-old Peruvian hopes to obtain in two years while he lives at Casa Frida, the non-profit shelter for LGBTQ+ people that welcomed him.

Ricvot accepts his situation: I am not in Mexico because I wanted to be, but because I was a victim of violence for being gay. He has a degree in history and now works as a receptionist in a hotel in the capital. In his native Peru, he grew up in a small, very conservative coastal town where he could not reveal his sexual identity. Being HIV-positive, he traveled to Spain in April 2023 to seek treatment against the virus.

The artist Barbara Lazara accompanied by Andres Ricvot, along with the work inspired by his story. Gladys Serrano

In Madrid, he met a Frenchman who took him to Paris to help him with his illness, and they lived together in a country house on the outskirts of the city. It was a home with all the comforts and luxuries that soon became a golden cage. His partner became jealous and threatening, and Ricvot could not leave the house. One day, when the two were heading to the hospital, his partner tried to murder him in public.

He had to get out of that situation all by himself. I didnt have money, I didnt have anything. On top of that I had left all my things at his house. He told me that he had all my information, and that if I returned to Peru he would look for me, Ricvot recalls. Violence also came from the French state. The police told him that it had been a lovers quarrel and that there was nothing they could do. They only recommended that he go to the Peruvian consulate. Frightened for his life, he heard something he did not expect: The consul told me very breezily that this was a typical case for women, and he had never seen it in men.

The consulate was able to get him a return ticket to Peru with a stopover in Mexico. Ricvot didnt think twice. I didnt want to return to Peru because I knew that person was still after me, so I contacted Casa Frida. The exhibitions seven stories of violence came from the shelter for LGBTQ+ people.

Green is my favorite color, the Peruvian says. At his side is Barbara Lazara. The artist, who works mainly in dance and theater, had never painted for exhibition. She describes why there is a circle on the hope-colored door that disjoints the straight lines of her work: They are vanishing points that represent the effort that you have to make to get a passport.

Escape from Venezuela

43-year-old Venezuelan Angel Trompiss door is dark in color. There is another smaller door inside with a screen showing the colors green and blue. The work, Una puerta carecia de cerradura (A door without a lock) by Yupica, a Mexican artist of Japanese origin, is what Trompis saw lying with a broken leg, on his passage through the Darien jungle in 2022.

About 25 years ago, the Venezuelan realized that he was attracted to women. At the age of 13 he revealed it to his mother. At work it was a little more difficult. In my country there is not much talk about sexual diversity education. We have no rights, we are not heard, we are not really visible. We still live closeted lives so that we arent judged, Tromps explains.

Angel Trompiz, a trans man from Venezuela, stands next to a piece by the artist Yupica at the 'Doors of Hope' exhibition. Gladys Serrano

He simply modified part of his old name. I consider myself non-binary transmasculine. My legal name is Angelica Maria. I identify myself and I like being called Angel, he explains. When he lived in Caracas, he couldnt be who he really was, especially at his job in a Venezuelan public hospital. He was working there one day when was harassed by a colleague. He reported him and he went to jail, but he was released shortly after. Then the threats came from what he calls collectives, which he explains are the Maduro regimes paramilitary groups that have infiltrated every public institution.

The nurse remembers how beautiful his motherhood was. He only shared a brief time with his girlfriend, who died from Hodgkins lymphoma when her daughter was one year old. In 2017, he left for Colombia with the 17-year-old girl, returned to Venezuela in 2020 due to his fathers illness, and then left again. In September last year, he decided to cross the Darien to head towards Canada.

During his journey as a migrant, he did not have any problems due to his gender identity. Partly because there were more immediate problems, and he was traveling alone, with almost no contact with other people. The worst was the death trap between Colombia and Panama. For me, the Darien jungle was a very traumatic experience, he recalls. When he saw his door, which Yupica created after an interview with Trompis, it reflected that time perfectly.

Although his goal was the extreme north of the continent, he has been in Mexico for a year and feels very comfortable. Here in Mexico it feels very good to have been given the safety to express myself and identify myself by my gender. I think that in South American countries we are very closed in because there is no open education in sexual diversity, he says, dressed in a shirt that has the tricolor flag of his host country is printed on it.

The artists

Daniel Dugan is from Alabama, in the United States. The 45-year-old painter and actor has art studios in Mexico City and Los Angeles. When he was contacted with the proposal for Puertas de Esperanza he did not hesitate for a moment. In his southern drawl he talks about a work that reflects the two paths of Jose, a young gay man who had to flee El Salvador because he suffered verbal and physical violence from his neighbors.

Artist Daniel Dugan. Gladys Serrano

Dugan is known as the labyrinth guy, and his curved lines twist around themselves on different backgrounds on both sides of the door. As you can see, the door has a dark side, which represents Jose's most difficult path, he explains. The labyrinth leads to a small hole in the door that faces the other side, and where the stripes continue on a golden background, which is the path that Jose now takes in Casa Frida. Jose's labyrinth has been very difficult, but his story has been very powerful in creating the work, says the artist.

Nikky Lee Galvez is a transgender woman from Honduras who suffered violence from antisocial gangs in her country. Her story is told by 28-year-old artist Alexis Martinez, originally from Tijuana. His work is called IMMURED. It is a reflection of the feeling of feeling trapped in a situation from which you cannot escape, says Martinez. My exercise was listening to Nikky and taking notes about things that seemed relevant to me on a visual level in order to make the door, he explains about his creation process, which is very similar to that of other artists in the exhibition.

The exhibition arose from an idea of the LLYC Foundation, which is dedicated to communicating issues of social change. They contacted Casa Frida to highlight the violence suffered by the LGBTQ+ community in the Machine Room of the Hilario Galguera Gallery. It was not easy for Andres Ricvot to talk about his experience, but he did it for a reason: I think that together we help our stories serve a positive purpose in making us think a little that we are all people, we all deserve the same treatment, and we are all equals. No matter what we have been through, there will always be doors of hope.

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A video posted by NPR revealed an intriguing, and arguably somewhat cute, species of octopus known to live over a mile below the oceans surface.

The species is fondly known as the dumbo octopus, named after Dumbo the flying elephant for the large, floppy, ear-like fins on the side of its head.

It was spotted on Sept. 13 by a remotely operated research vessel. According to the NPR post, the octopus was found on a seamount  which are cone-shaped underwater land formations that are remnants of old volcanoes  in the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument in the northwestern Hawaiian islands.

Theyre rarely spotted, living at such low depths, and Live Science reported that even researchers were thrilled to see it on the livestream: Oh, look at the flappy ears! said one, along with another who added, Ive never seen one before.

Researchers arent sure which of the 15 species of dumbo octopus this particular one is, but many have two unique features in common  their dumbo fins and their surprising lack of an ink sac, one of the commonly known features of octopuses.

Dumbo octopuses dont need ink sacs because they live so far below the surface that its incredibly dark anyway  the ink sacs wouldnt do them any good. They use their dumbo fins to move through the water as well as a unique internal organ called a siphon, which shoots out jets of water to propel the octopus.

For scientists and ocean lovers alike (and maybe those who are freaked out by the ocean and want to know whats down there), discovering new species is fascinating and exciting.

From a conservation standpoint, finding any new species or subspecies leads to increased information about the animal. This means there will be a better understanding of its role in the ecosystem, the challenges it may face, and how to help if it becomes endangered.

Viewers of NPRs post were entertained and fascinated with the funny-looking sea creature.

This is what I want to be for Halloween, joked one user, while another pointed out how stunning the find really is. This is why I dont understand the fascination with aliens, they wrote. Weve already got some pretty strange and beautiful creatures roaming the Earth and sea.

Join our free newsletter for cool news and cool tips that make it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
Luxury resort Nemacolin transformed its lodge into a contemporary all-suite escape.

Jordan Millington Liquorice

Pennsylvania's Laurel Highlands has been hiding a secret: it's home to a magical retreat that feels like a playground for adults. (And yes, kids too.) Set amid the Allegheny Mountains, Nemacolin is a luxury resort on a 2,200-acre property. Its first lodge opened in 1968. Now, some 55 years later, the owners have transformed that very same lodge into a contemporary stay called The Grand Lodge.

"The original Nemacolin lodge was a wonderful accommodation and a great representation of the historic property my father and I fell in love with and began to build together," Maggie Hardy, the owner and CEO of Nemacolin, told Travel + Leisure. "The Grand Lodge marks an evolution in Nemacolins history, rooted in the Laurel Highlands region but inspired by the travels that continue to make the property what it is today."



The 110,000-square-foot lodge offers six types of suites from the Junior King Suite to the Grand Lodge Penthouse Suite. From a design and aesthetic standpoint, the suites continue to build on the resort's whimsical and woodsy feel. (Some of the suites will even have a walk-out balcony with views of the Nemacolin grounds.)

Each of the 56 suites comes with butler service, which Hardy said "is a testament to Nemacolins service and commitment to excellence." While Hardy noted that all the accommodations at Nemacolin "offer the highest level of service and luxury," she said The Grand Lodge "offers even more enhanced and personalized service."



Jordan Millington Liquorice

As for dining, The Grand Lodge has a farm-to-table American steakhouse called Fawn & Fable. Hardy said the fine-dining restaurant will offer "regional delicacies elevated with our signature Nemacolin flair." Think steak accompaniments like mushrooms with garlic aioli, baby carrots with feta and chili-infused honey, mac and cheese, and sea salt potato puree.

Helmed by chef Christine Hazel, who is a former winner of Chopped, the restaurant sources ingredients from Nemacolin's on-site greenhouse and other local vendors. "Fawn & Fable ties together our Laurel Highlands roots with The Grand Lodges established history here in Pennsylvania," Hardy said. "It is the only dining venue on the property specifically curated to spotlight the regional purveyors we enjoy working so closely with."

The Grand Lodge also has two mocktail and cocktail venues: Circle Bar and The Study. The former is a place to socialize while the latter is a quieter, more private space. Both, said Hardy, "invite guests to experience a lavish beverage prepared by expert mixologists."

Additionally, the lodge is home to Patisserie, a grab-and-go market with curated treats. And, of course, the property at large has other dining establishments. (Lautrec, for example, is a French restaurant in The Chateau that just underwent an upgrade and offers a six-course tasting menu.)



Jordan Millington Liquorice

Hardy told T+L that she hopes visitors feel empowered to be themselves when they visit The Grand Lodge and Nemacolin. "I always want guests to leave Nemacolin with a little more magic in their life. We aim to reawaken a belief in magic from the minute guests arrive at the property," she said. "We want guests to remember their visit fondly and with the pervasive thought that they must return, whether to experience a different suite style or try a different seasonal menu at Fawn & Fable. A visit to Nemacolin is to be welcomed into our family and an invitation to return whenever one needs."

Nightly rates start at $2,000. To learn more and to book, visit nemacolin.com.



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Read the original article on Travel & Leisure.
JetBlue's sale ends on Nov. 29 and Southwest's ends on Nov. 30.

Courtesy of JetBlue

The Cyber Monday deals have officially rolled in  and travelers can now jump on these limited-time JetBlue and Southwest airfare sales.

Switching into Vacation Mode is a breeze with great deals on flights and vacation packages, JetBlue wrote on X about its sale.

JetBlue flights are on sale for as low as $59 one-way, valid for travel on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between Jan. 9 and March 27, 2024. A sampling of routes on sale includes New York-LaGuardia to Tampa, Fort Lauderdale to Charleston, and more  but these flights must be booked by Nov. 29.

And exclusively for Cyber Monday, JetBlue Mosaic travelers can enjoy an additional 3x points on JetBlue-operated flights through next October. This means current elite status holders can enjoy up to 12x points on all eligible JetBlue flights if booked by the end of the day today.

Southwest flyers can save 30% off one-way or round-trip flights sitewide with promo code CYBER30. This discount can be applied on most Southwest flights in the contiguous U.S. from Jan. 9 and March 6, 2024, as well as the carriers flights to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and international destinations between Jan. 9 and May 22, 2024.

While there are no blackout dates for flights within the contiguous U.S., blackout dates apply for flights from the contiguous U.S. to Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and international destinations from Jan. 11 through Jan. 13, Feb. 15 through Feb. 18, and March 7 through March 31. Returning to the U.S. from these destinations, additional blackout dates apply from Jan. 15 through Jan. 16, Feb. 23 through Feb. 27, and March 14 through April 7.

Southwests Cyber Monday sale ends on November 30. The sale fares are valid for Southwests base-level Wanna Get Away and Wanna Get Away Plus fares, which allow for free same-day standby and free same-day confirmed changes, respectively. As always, two checked bags fly free for all Southwest flyers.

Travelers looking to take advantage of these Cyber Monday sales can browse Travel + Leisure's best places to travel in 2024, which include Aspen, Colo., Los Cabos, Mexico, and other top winter and spring destinations.

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Is it OK for parents to give their kids melatonin? Here's what experts say. (Millennium Images/Gallery Stock) (Millennium Images/Gallery Stock)

Melatonin has been a buzzy supplement for years, and it's often used as a sleep aid. But a growing body of research finds that some parents have been using it to help their kids fall asleep at night, despite a lack of evidence that it's effective in treating insomnia in healthy kids.

But what's the official guidance on using melatonin supplements for kids? Is it safe? And what do pediatricians have to say about it? Here's the deal.

What exactly is melatonin?

Melatonin is a hormone naturally produced by the body that controls the sleep-wake cycle, according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health. The body naturally produces melatonin in response to darkness, but it's also available in supplement form.

What new research says

Research from the University of Colorado, Boulder found that nearly 1 in 5 school-aged kids and preteens take melatonin for sleep. Published in JAMA Pediatrics in November, the survey of about 1,000 parents found that 18.5% of kids between the ages of 5 and 9 had been given melatonin in the past 30 days, while 19.4% of 10- to 13-year-olds had used the sleep aid. Some younger children are also taking it, with 6% of kids between the ages of 1 and 4 using melatonin before bed.

The University of Colorado research follows a recent survey conducted by the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in March, which found that nearly half of parents polled gave their child a melatonin supplement to help them sleep. For that survey, researchers asked more than 2,000 adults in the U.S. about sleep habits and melatonin use for their families. The researchers discovered that 46% of parents had given melatonin to a child under the age of 13 at some point to help them fall asleep. Results also revealed that 30% of parents had given a child over the age of 13 melatonin to help them fall asleep at night.

When the researchers drilled down further into the data, they discovered that fathers were 13% more likely than mothers to have given melatonin to a child who is 13 or older to help them fall asleep. Parents between the ages of 25 and 34 were also the most likely to have given melatonin to a child under the age of 13 to help them sleep.

What experts think

The use of melatonin in kids has been questioned, despite mounting evidence that parents are giving the supplement to their kids. A YouGov survey conducted by the New York Times and published last year found that almost half of kids who had struggled with sleep in the past year had been given melatonin by their parents.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has weighed in on melatonin use in kids, stressing that it's a supplement and is therefore not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. In fact, one study of 31 popular melatonin supplements found that the actual melatonin content varies widely, from less than half to four times the amount stated on the label, with the biggest variability in chewable tablets  the kind kids are most likely to take. Some of the melatonin products in the study also contained substances that require prescriptions, even though they were sold over the counter.

There's also the potential for harm. There were more than 260,000 accidental pediatric melatonin ingestions reported to the American Association of Poison Control Centers' National Poison Data System between 2012 and 2021  a 530% increase during the study period. Of those, five children required mechanical ventilation and two died.

The AAP notes that while melatonin plays a role in sleep, it's not a sleeping pill and should be used only after a discussion with a pediatrician and after establishing healthy sleep habits that don't include medication. However, the AAP says that melatonin may be a short-term way to help kids get rest while parents try to establish good bedtime routines, or to help some older children and teens reset their sleep schedules after vacations, summer breaks or other sleep interruptions.

"Most children do not need melatonin to sleep and should instead focus on limiting screen time before bed and improving overall sleep hygiene," Dr. Katie Lockwood, a pediatrician at Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, tells Yahoo Life. "Some children with neurodevelopmental disorders may benefit from melatonin, but they should talk to their health care provider about how to use this supplement."

Dr. Danelle Fisher, a pediatrician and chair of pediatrics at Providence Saint Johns Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., tells Yahoo Life that melatonin is being "overused" by families. "I find that families nowadays want a quick fix for everything," she says. "The quick fix is to give your kid a pill to go to sleep. Do most kids need that? No, they need sleep hygiene, and that's tough. It's much easier to take a pill."

The takeaway

Doctors say families need to focus more on good sleep hygiene. Fisher says constant exposure to screens and a fast pace of life make it tough for kids to wind down for bed, and as a result they may have trouble getting to sleep. "It's much better to build healthy sleep habits  stop doing screens before bed [and instead] read, write, draw or do quieter activities. Those are the best ways to prepare your mind and body for sleep," she says.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine specifically suggests that parents do the following to build good sleep habits:

Maintain a consistent sleep schedule, in which your child goes to bed and wakes up at the same time every day, including on weekends.

Reduce exposure to screens at least 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime.

Develop a relaxing nighttime routine, which may include a warm bath or shower, journaling or reading before bed.

Fisher says parents shouldn't think that melatonin cannot be used  it should just be used sparingly, and under the guidance of a medical professional. "Some people may benefit from it," she says. "But right now it's being overused."

This article was originally published on Sept. 7, 2023 and has been updated.
From Hawaii to California, the biggest swell of the year has wreaked havoc.

On Black Friday, Hawaii saw wash-through sets at Waimea Bay, lifeguard towers inundated by rogue waves in the dead of night, pro surfers tackling deadly closeouts at Oahus Outer Reefs, and Kai Lenny doing Kai Lenny things at Jaws over on Maui.

Then, the swell continued west and hit California over the weekend.

On Saturday, a five-year-old girl and a 54-year-old man were on the beach near Half Moon Bay, where the infamous big-wave surf spot Mavericks breaks, when they were swept out to sea by a sneaker wave. The Coast Guard jumped into action.

Per ABC7 News:

The five-year-old swept into the ocean at Martins Beach yesterday has died. That is according to the Coast Guard.

The girl was with a man at the beach when a wave swept them into the water. Firefighters were able to pull her out, and she was airlifted to Stanford Medical Center, where she was later pronounced deceased.

The man is still missing, but the search for him has been suspended. The Coast Guard spent 22 hours and searched 100 square miles attempting to find him. A beach hazard warning was in effect for the coast this weekend.

In the official press release, Capt. Jordan Baldueza, deputy commander of the Coast Guard Sector San Francisco, said:

The decision to suspend search efforts is one of the hardest decisions to make, but our crews searched for nearly 24 hours without any sightings of the missing person. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this very tragic event.

Tragic. RIP.

***

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Ralph Lauren is betting on a major expansion in China both in the digital and physical space, shortly after a recent meeting between President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping in California that may have signaled a slightly warmer era in Sino American relations.

On Monday, Ralph Lauren announced that it is creating limited-edition versions of the Polo ID shoulder bag, developed with Tao Liang, professionally known as Mr. Bags. There will be a black calfskin and a pink suede version of the mini Polo ID, and a black calfskin large-size Polo ID.

More from WWD

Its the end of a year now. Many people have worked hard for a whole year and they want to buy something to treat themselves but do not want to stress too much, Liang said in an interview with WWD.

Thats why we decided to develop around the Polo ID style. It comes with a simplistic and elegant shape, which is very much in line with the old money trend. Its also very practical. Both sizes have good capacity, which is good for outings and commuting, and can be matched with different styling. The price point is very reasonable as well for a full leather, well-made bag, he added. The mini-sized bag is priced at 4,290 renminbi, or $605, and the big one retails at 6,590 renminbi, or $928.

He also noted that pink is a hot color for young Asian customers, while the black and silver combination is considered a timeless and versatile option that can fit into either the old-money narrative or the cool-girl vibe.

A limited run of 118 pink suede versions of the mini Polo ID, alongside the other two styles, will go on sale on Dec. 6 on Mr. Bags WeChat Mini-program. The black versions will be then available for purchase from all Ralph Lauren stores in mainland China at a later date.

Chua Shin Hwee, regional chief executive officer at Ralph Lauren, said the handbag, which is a core part of the brands womenswear business, has enormous potential upon brand development in the long term.

The collaboration with Liang is meant to help the brand build long-lasting connections with local customers in China, especially in the digital space.

Liang is an expert in luxury handbags and one of the most influential fashion bloggers in China. We believe this collaboration can really elevate Ralph Laurens credentials on handbags as well as womens apparel in terms of expanding its reach among the discerning fashion-conscious audience in China. We would further invest in smart retail, and leverage social media and e-commerce channels to drive our growth. This collaboration is also an innovative attempt for us in this area, Chua said.

In 2024, Ralph Lauren said it will continue its strategic plan introduced in 2022  dubbed Next Great Chapter: Accelerate  to deliver long-term, sustainable growth and value creation in the Chinese market.

Emblematic stores will be a significant part of our plan as we continue to elevate the shopping experience and tell the Ralph Lauren story to our customers. It is a combination of global strategy and the understanding of whats relevant to local customers, providing a unique engagement platform that captures the Ralph Lauren story, Chua said.

With this solid foundation, we expect our growth to accelerate and are planning to open more than 30 new stores per year in China over the next couple of years, Chua added.

The brand operates four flagship stores in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

We wanted to make sure we have a presence in these key cities and radiate throughout the smaller cities; thats where we started when we mapped out the key cities strategy. These emblematic stores are developed with a digital-first mindset that puts consumers at the center, aiming to deliver an elevated, immersive brand experience that integrates smart retail, digital activations as well as hospitality such as Ralphs Coffee and Ralphs Bar, Chua noted.

The brands effort in digital space, such as the collaboration with Liang, meanwhile, is aimed at brand elevation, consumer engagement and acquisition.

Ralph Lauren is available across Tmall, JD and the WeChat Mini-program, and has been embracing local digital tools such as WeChat Work, ShopDog and livestreaming to connect people, inventory and places.

With more than 6 million followers on Weibo and a dedicated fanbase on WeChat, Liang is known for helping brands including Chloe, Burberry, Dunhill, Givenchy, Tods and Longchamp to sell out limited-edition bags in China.

Best of WWD
Officials report a recent update outbreak of salmonella in cantaloupes across 32 states has caused 45 hospitalizations and two deaths. | Adobe.com

A recent outbreak of salmonella in cantaloupes across 32 states has caused 45 hospitalizations, 99 reported illnesses and two deaths as of Nov. 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Canada recalled Malichita brand cantaloupes on Nov. 1, Trufresh recalled Malichita brand cantaloupes on Nov. 8 and expanded the recall on Nov. 11 to include over a dozen more products.

On Nov. 17, the CDC and the FDA launched an investigation into a Salmonella Sundsvall outbreak. At that point, infections had been reported in 15 states. Aldi has recalled whole cantaloupes, cantaloupe chunks and pineapple spears between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31 due to potential salmonella contamination.

Current cantaloupe recalls

Here are the cantaloupes that have been recalled so far:

Whole cantaloupes with Malichita or Rudy stickers numbered 450.

Vinyard brand pre-cut cantaloupe products including cantaloupe cubes, melon medleys and fruit medleys sold in Oklahoma stores between Oct. 30 and Nov. 10.

Aldi whole cantaloupes and packaged cantaloupe chunks and pineapple spears with best-by dates between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31. Stores with recalls are in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Freshness Guaranteed and Racetrack brand pre-cut cantaloupes, including cantaloupe chunks, seasonal blends, melon mixes and fruit mixes with best-by dates between Nov. 7 and Nov. 12. Stores with recalls are in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Related

What is salmonella?

Salmonella is a bacterial disease in the intestinal tract. Its generally caused by consuming raw meat, eggs or unpasteurized milk, per the Mayo Clinic. It can take anywhere between six hours and six days to start feeling sick after contracting salmonella, and many people believe they are sick with the stomach flu.

What are symptoms of salmonella?

Symptoms can last from several days to a week and include:

Most common: diarrhea, stomach cramps and fever.

Other symptoms: nausea, vomiting, chills and headache.

Most serious: diarrhea and a fever over 102, diarrhea for over three days, bloody stool, prolonged vomiting, dehydration, per the CDC.

How did the cantaloupes become infected with salmonella?

Though salmonella is usually contracted post-harvest, the bacterium can enter the plant earlier from contaminated soil. Salmonella can reach the soil from manure containing animal feces or contaminated irrigation water, Food Safety Network explained.

Canadas public health department recommends anyone who bought a Malichita or Rudy brand cantaloupe to sanitize all areas and items it touched with hot soapy water.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center, described this outbreak as a further wake-up call that produce grown in a place where the U.S. has little to no control can be packaged and sold in many states, endangering many people.
If youre ready to see Mexicos Quintana Roo State in a different light and outside of its party representation (thanks to Cancun and Tulum), consider visiting Bacalar Lagoon. On the southeast tip of Quintana Roo, near the border of Belize, sits the renowned body of water known worldwide by its nickname, The Lagoon of Seven Colors.

The nickname comes from the fact that water looks seven shades of blue. The lagoon has crystalline water and white limestone soil, creating a unique phenomenon of witnessing several hues of blue. The water is so blue and beautiful that it has even garnered another nickname in recent history: The Maldives of Mexico.

How To Get To Lagoon of Seven Colors

Bacalar Lagoon is a two-hour drive from Tulum, a four-hour drive from Cancun, and a three-hour drive from Belize City. Renting a car and driving is the best way to get to the small town of Bacalar, but its essential to be mindful of the rental companys policy on driving a car to another country.

The ADO bus is another option for people who dont feel comfortable renting a car. ADO is a well-known bus company that travels throughout the southern Mexican states of Oaxaca, Chiapas, Tabasco, Veracruz, Guerrero, and parts of central Mexico.

Visitors can take the bus from Cancun or Playa Del Carmen. Bus fare from Cancun is $40 one-way and about $16 for a one-way ticket from Playa del Carmen.

Another option is booking a private driver to take you there. It will be more expensive, but this is another way to feel safe if driving and the bus arent viable options. The best way to find a private driver is by asking the hotel receptionist or Airbnb host for suggestions.

Photo credit: Camila-Vazquez

Where To Stay

The long way down to Bacalar is exactly why travelers should plan to make it more than a day trip. Visitors will find Mexicos hidden gem has affordable accommodation and is not overrun with tourists like its sister cities.

Casa Shiva Bacalar by MIJ is one of the most unique stays in Bacalar. The villas are right on the lake, giving you an unforgettable experience since you will have the lake in your footsteps.

Amainah Bacalar is another luxurious option. The adults-only hotel faces the lake and only offers 16 rooms in total on the property. Travelers will get intimate service along with breathtaking views of the lagoon.

Bacalar only stretches roughly 40 miles long, but there are more than 1,000 places visitors can choose from on Airbnb.

Photo credit: Fernando Gutierrez

What To Do and See

While the lake and water activities are the main attraction, there are other things to do while visiting Bacalar. Travelers can book a boat ride or rent equipment like kayaks and paddleboards. Sadly, pollution over time has made the seven colors harder to see. Its still worth the visit, but respecting the lake and the locals working to protect its beauty is essential. Tour companies in Mexico, like Eco Experience, work with visitors to help protect the lagoon while exploring it.

Another fun activity is exploring the cenotes in the area. Bacalar is also home to some of Mexicos largest cenotes, which are breathtaking to witness up close.

When youre done with the water, head to Fort San Felipe to explore the museum and beautiful lake views. There are also Mayan ruins outside of Bacalar that are worth exploring, including Kohunlich, Chacchoben, and Chicanna.
For far too long, many companies have been able to hide behind opaque supply chains replete with human rights abuses. Business as usual, however, is no longer a given in light of the crisis occurring in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (Uyghur Region), where the government of China is targeting the Uyghur population and other Turkic and Muslim-majority peoples, on a massive scale, with multiple forms of involuntary labor. Import prohibitions with broad and flexible enforcement powers are absolutely essential in the fight against these kinds of practices.

The good news is that the United States has passed the strongest piece of legislation globally to address state-imposed Uyghur forced labor, focusing on U.S.-facing supply chains: the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which entered into force on June 21, 2022. This puts the United States at the forefront of a worldwide effort to combat human rights abuses in the Uyghur Region. The new law established a rebuttable presumption against the importation of any goods mined, produced, or manufactured wholly or in part in the Uyghur Region, or produced by certain listed entities. When the presumption applies, goods cannot come into the United States unless Customs and Border Protection (CBP) determines that the importer has provided clear and convincing rebuttal evidence.

More from Sourcing Journal

Despite claims that some companies face significant challenges in ramping up their compliance programs, we should not threaten the success of the UFLPA by imposing new requirements on the government agencies tasked with enforcing it. Importers should by now be well aware that the sine qua non of genuine compliance is tracing their entire supply chains down to the raw material level and being able to provide full documentation to CBP on each link in these chains. This level of traceability is necessary for any company to know whether they are sourcing goods made with Uyghur forced labor, or any type of forced labor for that matter.

The UFLPA and related customs laws give CBPa law enforcement agencythe necessary flexibility to respond nimbly to changing commercial conditions. This flexibility is a feature, not a bug, of the statutory scheme, as the industries utilizing forced labor are a moving target and the techniques employed for circumventing import restrictions are not static. Since the law entered into force, CBP officials have stopped thousands of shipments from at least 10 countries because of links to the Uyghur Region and forced labor. These goods come from a variety of industries and include solar, apparel, base metals and agricultural products. As of March 2023, shipments from the Uyghur Region to the United States had reportedly decreased by 90 percent.

Given the challenges some companies claim to face in adjusting to this law, they might view its flexibility as unwarranted and advocate that the government be required to set out all of the circumstances triggering the rebuttable presumption. They might even seek to weigh down the CBP decision-making process with burdensome procedures. Either of those approaches would return the United States to square one in the fight against systemic forced labor in the Uyghur Region and beyond.

The role in this process played by civil society is to provide information and perspective to CBP and other government agencies tasked with enforcement responsibilities. To that end, we will continue to insist that, in situations of state-imposed forced labor, where widespread, systemic and egregious human rights violations are committed by state actors, it is a practical impossibility for a business to undertake credible due diligence on the ground or use its leverage to prevent, mitigate, or remedy abuse within its supply chains. Therefore audits, accreditation schemes, and/or supplier attestations should not be seen as sufficient evidence from importers that suppliers and/or sub-suppliers are not using forced labor.

In sum, the new approach embraced by Congress in enacting the UFLPA and the Administrations efforts to implement it are beginning to show results. Although enforcement of this law is a large undertaking and certainly involves significant responsibilities for industry, that undertaking and those responsibilities are necessary preconditions for success in achieving Congresss laudable human rights goals. Now is not the time to turn our backs on those who bear the burden of state-imposed forced labor. That burden is incalculably greater than any conceivable compliance difficulty faced by corporations.

Dean Pinkert, Special Advisor to Corporate Accountability Lab, is a former Commissioner (and Vice Chairman) of the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Charlotte Tate is the Advocacy Lead at the Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region.
Taylor Swift wasnt at Travis Kelces Kansas City Chiefs game on Sunday, nor did she fly back from her Eras tour stops in Brazil during her Thanksgiving break. Still, her boyfriend was on her mind yesterday after he set a Chiefs NFL record, and she let the public know.

For the second time since they started dating, Swift liked an Instagram about Kelce making history for the team. This time, she liked the post on the Chiefs official account, which said, Fastest tight end to 11k receiving yards AND the only player in the franchises history to do it. Page Six noted that only three other NFL tight ends in history have surpassed 11,000 receiving yards: Tony Gonzalez (15,127), Jason Witten (13,036), and Antonio Gates (11,841).

Instagram

Swift is now on a break from her Eras tour until February 7, when shell resume her international leg in Tokyo. She played her last show in Sao Paulo yesterday.

Swift and Kelce are planning to spend Christmas and New Years Eve together, sources told multiple outlets. One insider told Us Weekly on November 22 that Travis has already started Christmas shopping and has some really special surprises [for Taylor] in store. Their connection is off the charts, and they cant wait to celebrate together. That source added things are getting very serious and Taylor sees long-term potential with Travis.

A second source said, They have very detailed plans coming up while shes on tour and he has games. Taylor and Travis have the next few months completely laid out. They dont want to start their relationship off with big gaps [in time spent apart]. Theyre trying to be as much like a regular couple as possible.

That source added that while they will spend time with each others families, they are also planning a romantic getaway for just the two of them: They love [getting together] with their families and friends, but right now, what they value above all else is alone time.

Dating someone so publicly is different for Swift, the source continued, as her last boyfriend Joe Alwyn, whom she dated for six years, avoided the spotlight. With Taylors ex Joe, she was so private, the source explained. Theyd never go outside and walk around together. They just stayed at her Nashville compound or her Rhode Island house. With Travis, shes more free and able to share her full life and she loves it.

A third source stressed how much things have escalated since their romance began in earnest this September: Theyre in love, the insider claimed, alleging they recently started saying it to each other, too.



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Emma Hansson, chairman of IF Metall Stockholms lan, stands on strike outside Tesla's Service Center in Segeltorp, in Stockholm, Sweden, October 27, 2023.

Tesla on Monday filed a lawsuit against the Swedish state via Swedens Transport Agency as striking postal workers in the Scandinavian country halted the delivery of license plates of new vehicles manufactured by the Texas-based automaker.

Tesla is non-unionized globally, but the Swedish workers are demanding that the carmaker sign a collective bargaining agreement, which most employees in Sweden have. Tesla has no manufacturing plant in Sweden, but has several service centers.

Tesla said it was suing the Swedish state through the Swedish Transport Agency because not accessing the registration plates constitutes an unlawful discriminatory attack directed at Tesla.

Mikael Andersson, a press spokesperson for the agency, told The Associated Press in an email that we at the Swedish Transport Agency do not share this view that the agency was blocking the distribution of license plates. Therefore Tesla has decided to have the issue tested in court, which is their right.

We have not yet seen the lawsuit and it is therefore difficult for us to give any direct comments. We need to look at the lawsuit and Teslas reasoning in it, Andersson said.

According to the lawsuit obtained by The Associated Press, Tesla demands that the district court fine the agency 1 million kronor ($95,383) to oblige the Swedish Transport Agency to allow Tesla retrieve license plates within three days from notification of the district courts decision.

The lawsuit was handed in on Monday. Tesla said that the agency has a constitutional obligation to provide license plates to vehicle owners.

The fact that the license plates are withheld cannot be described in any other way than as a unique attack on a company operating in Sweden.

The lawsuit argues that should the agency not fulfill its constitutional obligation, it obstructs the applicants right.

The trade union ST whose members work for the postal and delivery service PostNord, said that they were blocking the delivery of mail and packages to Tesla in accordance with the rules of the Swedish labor market.

By going to court, Tesla, shows that they do not accept the rules that prevail in Sweden, Asa Erba Stenhammar of the ST trade union said.

On Oct. 27, 130 members of the powerful metalworkers union IF Metall walked out at seven workshops across the country where the popular electric cars are serviced, demanding a collective bargaining agreement.

Swedish mechanics stopped servicing Tesla cars and several unions, including postal workers, have joined in a wave of sympathy with IF Metalls demands. Dockworkers at Swedens four largest ports also stopped the delivery of Tesla vehicles to put more pressure on the automaker.

Last week, Teslas CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, which he owns, that it was insane that Swedish postal workers were refusing to deliver license plates for new vehicles.

IF Metall earlier said that Tesla Sweden has refused to sign a collective agreement and violates basic principles in the Swedish labor market. It called such agreements the backbone of the Swedish model.

The union also asked consumers for their understanding, saying, We are doing this for the sake of our members, to ensure that they have safe working conditions.

In the lawsuit, Tesla demanded the district court ensure the Swedish Transport Agency delivered its license plates.

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Tilda Swinton was sharply suited for the opening ceremony of the 20th Marrakech Film Festival.

On Saturday, Swinton arrived for the occasion in Morocco in a pair of sharp pumps. The Chronicles of Narnia actress style featured a pointed-toe silhouette with a smooth black leather base, complete with crossed front straps and thin stiletto heels.

More from Footwear News

Tilda Swinton attends the 20th Marrakech International Film Festivals ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco on Nov. 25, 2023. Marc Piasecki/Getty Images

Swintons footwear was complete with smooth pink silk toe paneling, bringing her heels a two-toned effect. The elegant shape and silhouette added a sharp finish  and a tonal pop of color  to the We Need to Talk About Kevin actress thick white coatdress for the occasion, which featured a boxy, double-breasted silhouette with silky lapels. Similar pumps are favored for their smooth textures and tonal jewel colors, as seen in new styles from labels including Manolo Blahnik, Roger Vivier and Nina Shoes.

A closer look at Swintons pumps. Marc Piasecki/WireImage

During the ceremony itself, Swinton also shared a special moment with fellow actresses Jessica Chastain and Isabelle Huppert as the trio held hands together onstage.

(L-R): Tilda Swinton, Jessica Chastain and Isabelle Huppert attend the 20th Marrakech International Film Festivals ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco on Nov. 25, 2023. Stephane Cardinale  Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images

When it comes to footwear, Swintons style is sharp and artistic. The Three Thousand Years of Longing star often wears sharply pointed pumps for formal occasions, as well as pointy mules and stiletto-heeled sandals in a range of hues. When off-duty, Swinton slips on flat-soled sneakers from brands including Vans and Louis Vuitton. Outside of shoes, the actress has also served as a muse and ambassador for numerous brands, including Chanel, Schiaparelli and Haider Ackermann.

About the Author:

Aaron Royce is the Digital Editor for Footwear News, where he writes stories on trending news, celebrity style, collaborations and in-depth profile interviews. Prior to joining Footwear News, Aaron wrote for publications including PAPER, Grazia and the Daily Front Row. He currently holds a B.S. in mass communications from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Chanel cruise 2022-2023, Monte Carlo, kristen Stewart

Chanel Cruise 2022 Show Celebrity Front Row Arrivals

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Launch Gallery: Chanel Cruise 2022 Show Celebrity Front Row Arrivals

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Editors Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation.

The summer of 2023 was very significant for the travel industry. By the end of July, international tourist arrivals globally reached 84% of pre-pandemic levels. In some European countries, such as France, Denmark and Ireland, tourism demand even surpassed its pre-pandemic level.

This may be great news economically, but theres concern that a return to the status quo is already showing dire environmental and social consequences.

The summer saw record-breaking heatwaves across many parts of the world. People were forced to flee wildfires in Greece and Hawaii, and extreme weather warnings were issued in many popular holiday destinations like Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Experts attributed these extreme conditions to climate change.

Tourism is part of the problem. The tourism sector generates around one-tenth of the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving the climate crisis.

The negative impacts of tourism on the environment have become so severe that some are suggesting drastic changes to our travel habits are inevitable. In a report from 2023 that analyzed the future of sustainable travel, tour operator Intrepid Travel proposed that carbon passports will soon become a reality if the tourism industry hopes to survive.

What is a carbon passport?

The idea of a carbon passport centers on each traveler being assigned a yearly carbon allowance that they cannot exceed. These allowances can then ration travel.

This concept may seem extreme. But the idea of personal carbon allowances is not new. A similar concept (called personal carbon trading) was discussed by UK Parliament in 2008, before being shut down because of to its perceived complexity and the possibility of public resistance.

The average annual carbon footprint for a person in the US is 16 tons  one of the highest rates in the world. In the UK this figure sits at 11.7 tons, still more than five times the figure recommended by the Paris Agreement to keep global temperature rise below 1.5 Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Globally, the average annual carbon footprint of a person is closer to 4 tons. But, to have the best chance of preventing temperature rise from overshooting 2 Celsius, the average global carbon footprint needs to drop to under two tons by 2050. This figure equates to around two roundtrip flights between London and New York.

Intrepid Travels report predicts that we will see carbon passports in action by 2040. However, several laws and restrictions have been put in place over the past year that suggest our travel habits may already be on the verge of change.

The average annual carbon footprint for a person in the US is 16 tons. - AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images/Getty Images

Targeting air travel

Between 2013 and 2018, the amount of CO emitted by commercial aircraft worldwide increased by 32%. Improvements in fuel efficiency are slowly reducing per passenger emissions. But research from 2014 found that whatever the industrys efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, they will be outweighed by the growth in air traffic.

For emission reductions to have any meaningful effect, ticket prices would have to rise by 1.4% each year, discouraging some people from flying. However, in reality, ticket prices have been falling.

Some European countries are beginning to take measures to reduce air travel. As of April 1, 2023, passengers on short-haul flights and older aircraft in Belgium have been subject to increased taxes to encourage alternative forms of travel.

Less than two months later, France banned short-haul domestic flights where the same trip can be made by train in two-and-a-half hours or less. Spain is expected to follow suit.

A similar scheme could also be on the horizon for Germany. In 2021, a YouGov poll found that 70% of Germans would support such measures to fight climate change if alternative transport routes like trains or ships were available.

Cruises and carbon

Its not just air travel thats being criticized. An investigation by the European Federation for Transport and Environment in 2023 found that cruise ships pump four times as many sulphuric gases (which are proven to cause acid rain and several respiratory conditions) into the atmosphere than all of Europes 291 million cars combined.

Statistics like these have forced European destinations to take action against the cruise industry. In July, Amsterdams council banned cruise ships from docking in the city center in a bid to reduce tourism and pollution  an initiative that has shown success elsewhere.

In 2019, Venice was the most polluted European port, due to large numbers of cruise ship visits. But it dropped to 41st place in 2022 after a ban on large cruise ships entering the citys waters reduced air pollutants from ships in Venice by 80%.

Slovenia may grow in popularity as travelers seek out European destinations with cooler temperatures. - Westend61/Getty Images

Changing destinations

Intrepid Travels report also highlights that not only how we travel, but where we travel will soon be impacted by climate change. Boiling temperatures will probably diminish the allure of traditional beach destinations, prompting European tourists to search for cooler destinations such as Belgium, Slovenia and Poland for their summer holidays.

Several travel agencies reported seeing noticeable increases in holiday bookings to cooler European destinations like Scandinavia, Ireland and the UK during 2023s peak summer travel months.

Whatever the solution may be, changes to our travel habits look inevitable. Destinations across the globe, from Barcelona to the Italian riveria and even Mount Everest are already calling for limits on tourist numbers as they struggle to cope with crowds and pollution.

Holidaymakers should prepare to change their travel habits now, before this change is forced upon them.

Ross Bennett-Cook is a visiting lecturer, School of Architecture + Cities, University of Westminster

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Instead of a hot cup of coffee, visitors at the Starbucks Reserve Roastery in Seattle's Capitol Hill found broken glass and graffiti over the weekend. The window of the Pike Street coffee chop was smashed in an act of vandalism, reports local Seattle news outlet Kiro 7, and the destruction seems to be politically motivated. The words "Free Gaza" were spray painted on the walls and windows in black paint, and "Free Palestine" was painted on the floors.

The vandalism is tough not only for the local community and regular customers who frequent the shop but also because the flagship Roastery is a tourist destination for coffee lovers, many of whom have already driven out of the way to visit the shop and found it temporarily closed. Customers who were in the Roastery at the time of the attack had to evacuate through the back of the store.

The Seattle Roastery is temporarily closed, and as employees told Kiro 7, they expect the doors to remain shut for another week. The attack could be connected to a larger wave of demonstrations; per the news outlet, the same group of protestors disrupted the downtown annual Seattle tree lighting the day before.

Read more: 31 Coffee Brands, Ranked From Worst To Best

The Controversy Surrounding Starbucks' Response To The Israel-Hamas War

Starbucks Seattle Reserve Roastery vandalism - Kiro 7 News

Aside from its union-busting tactics, Starbucks' political leanings regarding international affairs have come under the public eye in recent months. Corporate Starbucks and union group Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) have been embroiled in a mutual lawsuit over a pro-Palestinian social media post made by the SBWU. On October 9, SBWU posted "Solidarity with Palestine!" on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The post was deleted 40 minutes after it was created, but notably, it was also met with a wave of violent demonstrations. One Rhode Island store was vandalized with a spray-painted swastika and Star of David on the windows.

Starbucks also allegedly encouraged the boycott of unionized stores following the controversial Tweet in late October. SBWU accused the company of giving the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce (OJCC) a list of at least 300 unionized Starbucks locations, citing them as "stores to avoid," per Restaurant Business News.

The group that vandalized the Seattle Reserve Roastery has not claimed any affiliation with SBWU. Meanwhile, SBWU has been making impactful changes via a series of peaceful, non-violent demonstrations, successfully unionizing at least 366 stores since December 2021.

Long-Winded Vandals Bring A Series Of Contentious Points To Light

Starbucks Reserve Roastery Seattle at night - 400tmax/Getty Images

The Israel-Hamas war wasn't the only topic that the pro-Palestine protesters mentioned in their graffiti on the Seattle Roastery. There was also a Pride flag spray-painted with the word "Lies," and another poster with the word "genocide" written in the same font as retail giant Amazon.com. Earlier this year, Starbucks was accused of banning Pride decorations put up by employees in several stores during the month of June, citing "uniformity and safety" issues, while simultaneously releasing a line of Pride-themed collectible cups and tumblers for the same month.

This new act of intense vandalism  while not affiliated with the union  could also ultimately have less to do with Starbucks itself than with the high visibility of the Seattle Roastery as a landmark. As Kiro 7 reported in its on-the-scene interviews, some folks were shocked to see the damage and vandalism but also recognized the act as a strong way to reach a public platform and provide a louder voice to a message they want to spread. Either way, this violent act marks another chapter in what is shaping up to be a pretty depressing side quest for the controversy-shrouded coffee giant.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
Asking if there's a right way to drink Japanese whiskey is like asking if there's a right way to eat pizza. The best answer is going to be: Sort of, but not really. If you're eating pizza with a fork and a knife you're 100% doing it wrong but after that, you're free to go. If you're drinking Japanese whiskey by adding it to a margarita, you probably don't understand how to pair flavors, but there's nothing unique about Japanese whiskey that requires its own serving style compared to other whiskeys.

In Japan, most people drink whiskey in one of two ways -- neat or as a highball. Serving whiskey neat means you don't do anything to it. Simply pour it into a glass and serve, maybe with an ice cube. Japanese whiskey highballs are served in tall cylindrical glasses with a big block of ice and some club soda. It's essentially a mixed drink in a cool glass. If you're looking to drink whiskey the way the Japanese do, drink it either of these ways. Serving whiskey neat is a common form all over the world, but the highball is fairly unique to Japan. You're more likely to find whiskey mixed drinks being served with Coke in a rocks glass rather than club soda in the United States -- though it's not unheard of.

Read more: The 25 Best Bourbon Brands, Ranked

Drinking Etiquette

Japanese whiskey highballs - mujijoa79/Shutterstock

When you're doing it right, drinking should be fun, but different people have different ideas of fun. A rowdy party on a boat that lasts 14 hours is one idea of fun and a quiet whiskey bar where you comment on the flavor profile of your sipper is another. Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

But if someone is telling you that what you're doing is wrong and what they're doing is right, you're better off just letting whatever wise words they have to say just slide right off you. Nobody knows what you like better than you, so you should be the one who decides how to enjoy your glass.

Japanese whiskey comes in a wide variety of styles and flavors. A few are comparable to some of the best Scotch whiskies on the market, others are better diluted with soda. Each brand and each bottle is going to offer something unique to your palette. In this way, Japanese whiskey is just like any other type of whiskey. Have fun with it, experiment with new styles, and don't let stuffy etiquette get you down.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.
[Source]

As part of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Hamas has released a total of 58 hostages, including Thai and Filipino citizens, in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.

Temporary truce: On Nov. 21, Israel agreed to a four-day ceasefire with a deal to release three Palestinians for every Israeli hostage allowed out of Gaza. The exchange deal resulted in the release of 117 Palestinians, primarily women and minors.

Over the first three days of the truce, 13 Israeli women and children were released each day by Hamas, as well as citizens from Thailand, the Philippines, Poland and Russia. On Sunday, when the third of four groups planned to be exchanged took place, 39 Palestinian teenagers were also freed from the Israeli prison service and were transported to Ramallah. Tearful reunions with families have followed, facilitated by negotiations and coordination between the conflicting parties with foreign mediation assistance.

Thai hostages: In total, 17 Thai nationals were freed by Hamas from Gaza from Friday to Sunday. Among Hamas 200 hostages since the Oct. 7 attack were at least 30 Thai nationals, the largest group from a single country excluding Israel. Since the attack, 32 other Thai citizens have been killed and 19 others injured.

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The negotiation of the release of the hostages was facilitated by the Thai government with the help of various countries, including Qatar, Israel, Egypt, Iran, Malaysia and the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Reuniting with family: The release has brought joy to many families, including Buasri Jirachart, a mother from northeast Thailand, who experienced immense relief when her son was shown in a video walking towards a car in Egypt after nearly 50 days in captivity.

It was like a mountain was lifted off my chest, Jirachart, who frequently visited numerous Buddhist temples to pray for her sons release, told The Washington Post.

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We are all very happy. Everybody is crying, Rungarun Wichangern, whose brother Vetoon Phoome was also released, told The Guardian. I was crying at first, but he said: Dont worry, dont cry. Physically he looked OK, and I think mentally as well because he was smiling.

Kanyaporn Raektaisong, 35, also cried and prayed every night for the return of her husband, Santi Boonphrom, reported Matichon. Their son had reportedly become a monk for 15 days while awaiting his return.

I want to hear my husbands voice, saying that hes boarding [a plane to return], Kanyaporn was quoted saying. We will go to the airport to pick him up. I will make canned fish stir-fry, his favorite dish. I will do whatever to make him happy.

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Thai workers: There are approximately 30,000 Thais residing in Israel, most of whom work in the agriculture sector. Many of those are low-wage farm laborers from the nations impoverished northeast who sought higher wages in Israel.

Thai authorities had since worked on potential evacuation options, returning home around 7,000 nationals. However, many other Thai workers have chosen to stay in Israel despite the conditions due to higher pay. The Thai government is encouraging repatriation by offering compensation, including 50,000 baht ($1,400) and soft loans.

Filipino hostage: On Friday, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. shared on X that he was overjoyed to confirm the release of Filipino worker Gelienor Jimmy Pacheco. Marcos also expressed concern about the whereabouts of another national, Ms. Noralyn Babadilla, and pledged to make every effort to locate and ensure her safety if she is confirmed to be one of the other hostages.

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He is now safely in the custody of officials in our Israel Embassy, Marcos wrote. I salute the work of the Philippine Foreign Service in securing his release, and once again thank the State of Qatar for their invaluable assistance in making Jimmys release possible.

About Pacheco: Pacheco, a 33-year-old father of three, was working as a caretaker when he was captured by Hamas.

We are so relieved and happy that Gelienor Jimmy Leano Pacheco, 33, a Filipino caregiver and father of three, who was taken hostage to Gaza by Palestinian terrorists attacking Kibbutz Nir Oz, is among the 24 people who were released today back to Israel Jimmy Pacheco lived in pic.twitter.com/PyeDICk1z5  Avraham Berkowitz (@GlobalRabbi) November 24, 2023

According to Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega, financial and livelihood assistance to Pacheco will be given if he chooses to return home. Additionally, the Israeli government has committed to providing him and his immediate family with lifetime social security benefits and regular stipends, similar to those given to Israelis who are victims of terrorist attacks. Pacheco is eligible to receive a pension from the Israeli government. After 49 days in captivity, Pachecos wish now is to be reunited with his family in the Philippines.

What he wants is to get well first, sort out his documents and come home before Christmas, de Vega told the Inquirer. He probably wants to take a Christmas vacation.

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How to apply for student loan forgiveness  and scams to watch out for

The cost of colleges has increased over recent years in the United States and paying for fees through savings and investments is not as easy as it used to be.

As of this year, Americans now owe $1.77 trillion in federal and private student loan debt and while the Biden administration tried to decrease that amount, the Supreme Court issued a decision blocking the one-time student debt relief plan.

The three-part plan aimed to help working and middle-class families and included a loan forgiveness of up to $20,000.

It was set in place to address the financial harms of the pandemic and provide borrowers with a smooth transition back to repayment.

Here is everything you need to know about student loan forgiveness and what you might need to watch out for

What plans are available and how is my monthly payment amount calculated as a repayment plan?

Federal Student Aid has said that in certain circumstances if a person has taken out student loans, these can be forgiven, cancelled and discharged. This basically means you may not need to pay some or even all of the loan.

There are currently four different income-driven repayment plans, as per the Federal Student Aid website  these are:

 Saving A Valuable Education (SAVE) plan  formerly known as PAYE. This payment generally takes 10 per cent of your discretionary income.

 Income-based Repayment (IBR)  for this payment it is generally 10 per cent of your discretionary income, but never more than the 10-year Standard Repayment Plan amount.

 Pay As You Earn (PAYE)  The FSA says this is generally 10 per cent of your income if youre a new borrower on or after 1 July 2014, but never more than the Standard Repayment Plan amount.

Generally, 15 per cent of your discretionary income if youre not a new borrower on or after 1 July 2014.

 Income-contingent Repayment loan (ICR) - The lesser of the following: 20 per cent of your discretionary income or what you would pay on a repayment plan with a fixed payment over the course of 12 years, adjusted according to your income.

Under all four plans, any remaining loan balance is forgiven if your federal student loans arent fully repaid at the end of the repayment period, the FSA says on its site.

The table below, provided by the Federal Student Aid website shows data comparing monthly amounts and repayment periods under each plan.

Everything you need to know about the payment plans (Federal Student Aid)

Who qualifies for student loan forgiveness?

Each individual income-driven replayment (IDR) plan has its own set of further eligibility requirements that youll need to meet to qualify.

For, SAVE any borrower with qualifying student loans is eligible for this plan.

With PAYE and IBR, the estimated payment you make for either of these plans has to be less than what you would pay on the Standard Repayment Plan within a 10-year period.

But for PAYE, only loans given after 1 October 2011 are eligible.

And with ICR, just like SAVE, any federal student loan borrower is eligible for this plan. But this plan is the only income-driven repayment plan that accepts PLUS (Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students) loans made to students.

How do I apply?

The FSA recommends that you contact your loan servicer if you have any questions as this will help you decide whether one of these plans is right for you.

To apply for the right plan, you can fill in the form online or via paper format  which you can get from your loan servicer.

During the application process, youll be asked to provide income information that will be used to determine your eligibility for the PAYE or IBR plans and to calculate your monthly payment amount under all income-driven repayment plans.

Find out more about the IDR plan request here.

Is there a deadline for applications?

The application period for student loan forgiveness will close on 31 December 2023.

How to avoid student loan scams

Getting a bunch of texts, emails and calls about student loan forgiveness?

Scams come in different forms, so its best to take extra caution. Here are a few ways to spot a scam:

- Being asked for log-in information: the FSA and loan providers will never ask you for these details.

- Promises that are too good to be true: according to the FSA, most government forgiveness programs require years of qualifying payments and/or employment in certain fields before forgiving loans.

- Typos in texts, emails or other forms of communication.

- Unofficial addresses or phone numbers:remember, official emails from the FSA will only come from these emails:

noreply@studentaid.gov

noreply@debtrelief.studentaid.gov

ed.gov@public.govdelivery.com

And text messages from the FSA will only come from 227722 or 51592.
WASHINGTON  After seven weeks of struggling with a crisis that defies easy solutions, President Joe Biden could take solace in saving a single 4-year-old girl whose parents were killed in the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel.

But gratifying as it was to secure the release of Avigail Idan from her Hamas captors over the weekend, the challenge for Biden going forward is not only to free the rest of the Americans being held hostage but to use the success of recent days to alter the trajectory of the war consuming the Gaza Strip.

At the presidents urging, the two sides agreed Monday to extend the temporary pause in the war between Israel and Hamas two more days to allow the release of an additional 20 hostages, according to Qatar, the Persian Gulf emirate that has been serving as intermediary. That gives all sides more breathing space but only postpones the most critical question by another 48 hours  namely what happens whenever the negotiated pause eventually expires.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

Israel has vowed to resume its withering assault on Hamas once the hostage releases end, and Biden has said repeatedly that the country has a right to defend itself after a terrorist attack that killed an estimated 1,200 people. At the same time, the president hopes to influence any fresh military action, ensuring that it is more targeted and does more to avoid civilian casualties. The White House has already warned Israel against moving into southern Gaza, where many Palestinians living in the coastal enclave have fled, without a concrete plan to protect civilians.

Bidens in a bind, said Aaron David Miller, a longtime Middle East negotiator now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Hes tethered himself to Israels war aims  eradicating Hamas. But in view of the rising humanitarian catastrophe and the exponential rise in Palestinian deaths, hes looking for ways to de-escalate and eventually for an exit ramp.

Freeing hostages is one way to try and extend the truce, get aid into Gaza and hostages out, Miller added. But theres a moment of decision coming when Israel seeks to resume its ground campaign. Will he press Israel to stop or at least try to shape its operations in the south?

The announcement Monday of a two-day extension in the truce came after a weekend of telephone diplomacy by Biden. He consulted with Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, the emir of Qatar, on Saturday, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Sunday.

In working to extend the pause and hostage releases, Biden has American interests to consider as well as those of Israel. Among the 240 hostages taken by Hamas, 10 were believed to be American. Among those released under the original deal brokered last week by Biden to free 50 hostages, the only American to be handed over so far has been Avigail, who has dual citizenship in the United States and Israel and whose name is often spelled Abigail in U.S. media.

Two American women from that group had been expected to be among the hostages released Monday in the final stage of the initial deal between Israel and Hamas, but were not freed. That was a significant setback for Biden, who was already under criticism for failing to win the release of the vast majority of the American hostages.

Now the question will be whether any or all of the Americans will be among the hostages turned over during the two-day extension agreed to Monday. Israel has said it would extend the pause by a day for each 10 additional hostages released.

Were grateful that weve got an extra two days to work with here, John Kirby, the strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, said before it became known that no Americans would be released Monday. That will result in the release of 20 more individuals, women and children.

He added: Wed certainly like to see even that extension extended further until all the hostages are released. Thats really the goal here. Get all the hostages home with their families where they belong however long that could take.

Biden and his team, though, have been vague about what happens after that. Were going to continue to urge our Israeli counterparts as they plan to go back to military operations that they do it in the most discreet, deliberate, careful, cautious way possible, Kirby said.

The longer the pause, the more time Hamas has to regroup in preparation for further Israeli assault, according to military experts. Jake Sullivan, the presidents national security adviser, acknowledged over the weekend that Hamas had exploited the hostage agreement to build itself back up after weeks of airstrikes and ground attacks by Israeli military forces.

I cant deny that Hamas gained some benefits from this deal, Sullivan said on ABCs This Week on Sunday. One of them is the ability to refit and retool inside Gaza. Another is to try to use social media and other formats to generate some propaganda out of it. But he added that the trade-off had been dozens of innocent people coming out of Gaza to be reunited with their families.

Republicans have offered mixed responses to the hostage deal-making, leery of challenging Netanyahu, the leader of Israels right-wing governing coalition, even as they castigate Biden for supposed weakness. Netanyahu agreed not only to enter a temporary truce to facilitate the release of hostages but also to release three Palestinians held in Israeli prisons for various crimes for every one hostage freed under the deal brokered by Biden.

What Im grateful for is that these hostages have been returned to their families, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey, a Republican presidential candidate, said on State of the Union on CNN over the weekend. Thats extraordinarily important and humane to have that done. So I think President Biden deserves credit for that.

Where I think hes starting to err, Christie added, is to say he hopes that this continues, that the truce continues. He cant be doing that kind of stuff, in my view, publicly.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., took a harsher position on Fox News Sunday. While he said he did not want to second-guess the Israeli government, he was happy to second-guess Biden, accusing him of not supporting Israel enough.

I have to say it seems like President Biden puts more pressure on Israel than he does on Hamas and its hosts in Qatar, Cotton said. The Biden administration has consistently behind the scenes insisted that Israels government take steps that are clearly not in Israels interest, he added, citing the delivery of fuel to Gaza, which he said would aid Hamas, not just civilians.

Still, the pause in fighting has eased some of the criticism Biden has taken from the left wing of his party, which has assailed him for, in its view, supporting Israel too much. Israels military campaign has killed thousands of civilians in Gaza even as it has focused on destroying Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.

The release of Avigail gave Biden a small but emotionally powerful victory amid all the tumult in the region. Taken hostage after her parents were gunned down in front of her, Avigail spent seven weeks in captivity and turned 4 on Friday in the hands of Hamas. Her case generated waves of international concern and condemnation.

Shes been through a terrible trauma, Biden said. What she endured is unthinkable.

But he reveled in her release. Thank God shes home, he said. I wish I was there to hold her.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
As Chicagos brutal winter looms, city and state officials are scrambling to find shelter for more than 2,000 migrants now living at airports, police stations and on the citys streets, plus long-term housing for thousands more already crammed into overcrowded shelters.

But advocates question whether newly announced measures from state and city officials intended to help migrants settle more quickly into the city will work as planned or contribute to the worsening of a humanitarian crisis spurred by the busing of thousands of people to the city from Texas.

So much is riding on Chicago winter, and we cant afford for anyone in our beautiful state or city to freeze because we didnt figure this out, to die because we didnt figure this out, said Karina Ayala-Bermejo, the CEO and president of the Instituto del Progreso Latino, which is involved in case management and other programs for migrants.

As of Monday morning, there were 12,251 migrants living in 26 active city-run shelters, with another 2,175 waiting in OHare and Midway airports, as well as inside and outside of police stations, for placement, according to a city census of new arrivals. According to the city, more than 21,700 asylum-seekers and migrants have arrived since August 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbotts migrant busing program reached Chicago.

Nathan McCarthy walks through a parking lot outside the 15th District police station, a space he shares with newly arrived migrants in Chicago's Austin neighborhood on Nov. 5, 2023. (Chris Sweda / Chicago Tribune via Getty Images)

The influx has put a strain on Chicagos network of social services. There have not been enough shelter beds for everyone in need. And the process of moving people from temporary shelter to permanent, independent housing has been painfully slow, advocates have said.

Its all about, how do you triage an ecosystem that is already in crisis? Ayala-Bermejo said.

The process of finding housing, in particular, has been very difficult for 35-year-old Johan Martinez Hernandez, who has been searching for an apartment in Chicago for three months while staying at a shelter with about 600 other migrants. He, like thousands of others, was bused to the city and has since struggled to find his footing.

As he was preparing last week to visit yet another apartment, Martinez Hernandez was hopeful it would finally be his ticket out of the packed shelter.

I really hope they rent to me, Martinez Hernandez, who traveled to the U.S. seeking asylum from Venezuela, said in Spanish.

The move into an apartment, he said, would allow him to get a legal job and bring stability to his life in a new city.

You cant survive like this forever, Martinez Hernandez said.

A young migrant boy sweeps off frozen snow on a toy car next to the small tent community near a Northside police station in Chicago on Nov. 1, 2023. (Charles Rex Arbogast / AP file)

As part of a plan to move people out of shelters and eventually into permanent housing, the state and city have put new restrictions on the assistance migrants can receive, reducing both the number of days they can stay in shelter and also the amount of rental assistance they can receive, both with the stated goal of moving people more quickly into independent living.

Last week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced that the state would invest an additional $160 million to address bottlenecks in the asylum-seeker resettlement pipeline. According to the governor, that includes: $65 million to expand case management, housing assistance and legal services; another $65 million to create winterized temporary housing for up to 2,000 migrants and ensure safe and warm places for migrants to live during winter months; and $30 million to launch an intake center.

The state also is reducing rental assistance for asylum-seekers in shelters to three months of rent, down from up to six months. The governors office said this would allow all current shelter residents to access the rent-assistance program. But going forward, the program will not be available to new migrant arrivals, the state said, adding, housing assistance will still be provided to support the housing search process, tenant rights, and landlord-tenant communications.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, meanwhile, announced that the city would begin limiting the amount of time a person can stay in shelter to 60 days.

The goal of the 60-day limited stay policy is to accelerate how new arrivals engage with the emergency shelter system, the city said on its website. The City can continue to support existing residents on a pathway to self-sufficiency while also maintaining our ability to meet the immediate needs of new individuals and families arriving in Chicago daily, including providing direct access to public benefits and other supports during their 60-day stay.

The city said migrants may be granted temporary extensions under extenuating circumstances, including medical crises or extreme cold weather. The city said that if a migrant is not eligible for an extension and has not yet secured housing, they may return to the citys landing zone and request a new shelter placement.

Advocates said those changes could hinder efforts to find housing and potentially lead to asylum-seekers falling through the cracks and out onto the streets in plunging temperatures.

Yessica Karolina Badell Palmar, right, a migrant from Venezuela, in her tent outside the Chicago police 1st District station on Oct. 30, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune via Getty Images file)

This is like a gut punch for me, the Rev. Kenneth Phelps, who helps migrants find housing and is involved in several programs to assist them transition to life in Chicago, said of the reduction in rent assistance. That binds our hands so much.

Phelps said it had already been difficult to find landlords and property managers willing to rent to migrants with up to six months of rental assistance, as most asylum-seekers lack documentation usually provided during the rental process and do not yet have work permits. He feared that reducing the program would make the process more daunting.

I feel very defeated. Theres no way the city is going to be able to keep its promises, Phelps said.

Ayala-Bermejo said a 60-day limit for shelter stays would require intensive case management to make sure that migrants dont lose out on housing opportunities and social services.

We have to make sure that were not tossing out all the good that has been invested in that individual, in that family, that will be lost if theyre just hitting the ground and adding to the unhoused, she said.

She also said the investment from the city, state and federal government should follow the migrants beyond housing, to work authorization, work development, and work opportunities, so that they can sustain themselves.

You cannot then pull the carpet from under them once they have a job, she said. You have to continue to invest in the case management and support services that are going to help them stay employed, and then continue to pay their rent and not turn over and join the unhoused population.

But Matt DeMateo, the chief executive officer of New Life Centers of Chicagoland, a nonprofit that works with the state on resettlement, said that while the reduction to three months of rental assistance may provide a challenge in finding housing, it could ultimately allow more migrants to benefit from the program.

DeMateo believes another aspect of the states plan  submitting 11,000 applications for work authorization and temporary protected status by February  also will improve the migrant crisis.

Once that opens up, people can get on a stable path, he said. With all of those investments, the idea is how do we better the whole system, so we can get through this and get past these bottlenecks.

The state said last week that since August 2022, some 9,000 migrants have been resettled  either by being placed in permanent housing or with relatives  both inside the state of Illinois and in other states.

Oscar Penalver Sanchez hopes to soon be among them. After living for about a year in a shelter with more than 150 other migrants, he recently moved into his own apartment.

Its a huge relief because its difficult to stay in the shelters for so long, he said in Spanish, but added that he was grateful to have had somewhere to sleep and lay our heads.

He is in the process of applying for a work permit, which he hopes will put him on track to becoming financially independent.

I want to work and face life head on, he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
DOVER  As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Childrens Museum of New Hampshire is most proud of having never wavered from its mission: teaching children that learning can be fun.

The Childrens Museum of New Hampshire has announced plans for an expansion of the second floor, which will add two new exhibits and better prepare the museum to serve children and families in the future. Jane Bard, museum president, said fundraising for the $420,000 expansion launched this spring, when it was awarded $175,000 in tax credits from the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority.

The additional 1,000 square feet will include a farm-themed exhibit designed for visitors ages birth through 5, plus a second, flexible exhibit that changes multiple times a year providing new experiences and offering opportunities for active play and creative movement, the museum announced.

"The ongoing shortage of childcare and preschool openings continues to challenge families with young children who are seeking in-person socialization and learning experiences," said Bard. "This additional space will enable the museum to expand our current drop-in programs, playgroups, community events and more."

The expansion is the continuation of hands-on exhibits that have delighted children for four decades.

The Children's Museum began in Portsmouth, in 1983, as the Portsmouth Childrens Museum. In 2008, the museum relocated to Dover and became the Childrens Museum of New Hampshire. But one thing has never changed  the mission of children learning through play.

Children's Museum President Jane Bard has been with the museum for 29 years. Education Director Xanthi Gray has been there for 33 years. Together they sat and talked about the evolution of a place where children, parents and grandparents love to visit, a place dedicated to fun and education, for kids of all ages.

Sam Grady, left, and his twin brother Ben, 3, from Epping explore the trains and tracks at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover Nov. 15, 2023. The museum is celebrating 40 years.

"We were in Portsmouth, at the old South Meeting House for 25 years," Bard said. "We simply outgrew the space. In 4,000 square feet, we were hosting 70,000 visitors a year. We made efforts to stay in Portsmouth, but when it didn't pan out, Dover brought us an offer."

Children's Museum's opening at South Meeting House in Portsmouth

The museum opened July 30, 1983, in South Meeting House (erected in 1863) in Portsmouth and play through learning began. In a Portsmouth Herald article from June 1999, it was touted as fun for all ages and includes a quote from Gray (then exhibits director). The whole idea of the museum is, of course, to be fun and intriguing. But also, to learn something without even noticing it. Its our hidden agenda.

Even back in 1983, when the Childrens Museum of Portsmouth opened  some of the original exhibits featured technology (The Computer Center featuring educational computer games, WFUN Radio which was a broadcasting station with records and mics, and WFUN TV where kids could be actors, script writers or camera operators.)

Making music by pushing panels and seeing a light display to the right is one of the many activities offered at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover.

Museum moves to Dover in 2008

The move came in 2008, after the city of Dover offered the old Butterfield Gym, the former home of the city's recreation department.

"They gave us the same lease as we had in Portsmouth, $1 a year," Bard said. "For that we were to renovate the space and improve it, on a 60-year lease. We raised $3.5 million through fundraisers and did that. We are now a silver LEED certified space. We have all LED lighting and solar panels. We are about as green as you can get. We have more space, offer more programs and are looking forward to a long future."

And Dover is thrilled to have the museum, in part because it is a great addition, but the museum also bring families to the downtown area.

"The Children's Museum of New Hampshire is an anchor for Dover's visitor industry," said Margaret Joyce, president of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce. "Along with the Woodman Musuem and the Strand, the Children's Museum attracts visitors to Dover who spend money in our community, which benefits our local economy. The programming that the museum offers engages children's curiosity, setting them on a path of lifelong learning."

Children explore a device which pushes air through cylinders pushing light material through and into the air at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire Nov. 15, 2023. The facility celebrates 40 years of helping children learn with play.

Bard said they were doing education through play as a concept before it was in vogue, before the New Hampshire Department of Education declared, in 2018, that all kindergarten students should be taught using a play-based curriculum.

"We have become the champions of that concept," said Bard. "We have become a resource to early childhood educators. We host open houses and workshops to help develop curriculum and we love this."

COVID and crisis in childcare

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world basically shut down, Bard said the museum staff rallied and offered all the help they could.

"Everything was locked down, including us," she said. "COVID changed everything. Families who relied on us as a communication connector suddenly lost that. The impact of quality childcare exploded, and we recognized that we had a role to play, we had a responsibility to make play-based learning accessible wherever we could."

Kids explore how to work a cash register and also work in a kitchen as some of the many activities offered at the Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover Nov. 15, 2023.

Gray said they moved into a new phase.

"Suddenly there was a childcare crisis," said Gray. "Parents, grandparents were home with their kids and were required to become their children's teachers. We helped them understand the value of play, how it helps kids grow to become problem solvers, to learn cooperation, to think outside of the box. Social interaction was harder, so we decided to develop kits, and to give them away for free."

Gray said they worked with a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to create guides for kids of different ages. They offered them to the community.

"We had 30 and thought it was enough," she said. "We got 83 requests immediately and we needed to find a way to make more. We worked with the University of New Hampshire to fund more kits. We developed partnerships with childcare centers, got feedback and kept improving what we were doing. We created a monthly newsletter to keep everyone in touch."

Kids work on metal parts and shapes as they visit the Children's Museum of New Hampshire in Dover Nov. 15, 2023.

"When we finally were able to reopen, people cried," said Bard. "They were so happy. There were babies who had been born during the pandemic, who had never had the experience of being in a community setting. It was incredible to watch."

96,000 children served annually

Gray said many of their programs, like "Wee Ones Wednesday" are intended for preschool children to be able to come and learn how to interact with each other. She said it is children learning to take direction, in a safe environment.

The work through the pandemic is just one of the ways the museum's staff strives to touch the lives of the state's smallest populations.

"This past year we served over 96,000 children in New Hampshire," said Bard. "We want to continue to be a resource for all of New Hampshire's children and their families. They come here but we also reach out more now, are traveling to other areas of the state with our programming, engaging kids and families where we can, keeping our vision as it has been since the beginning and we intend to keep adding new exhibits, new programs."

New outdoor spaces, programs in the works

In addition to the expansion and new exhibits on the second for, future plans include new outdoor spaces in the works for the spring.

"We are working to incorporate more mental health components into our programming," said Gray. "We are creating a space for a quiet room, a restful roost. It will be a safe space for any child, at whatever age, who needs a space to decompress, who might be a little sensory overloaded."

The museum staff has using Play based learning" as a guiding principle to strengthen and improve hands-on exhibits inside the museum.

"We help plan for the future knowing what we know about how unstructured play helps improve kids' mental health which is taking a huge hit currently," said Bard.

The museum is looking at active play areas for the colder winter months.

"We have some great ideas," said Gray. "We can change it up. We can do the floor is lava, winter sock skate, bumble bees and beach balls. Kids need to play no matter the weather outdoors."

The Greek Heroes program in 1993 at the Children's Museum at its original location in Portsmouth.

How to support the Children's Museum of New Hampshire

An online auction/fundraiser is currently taking place at: childrens-museum.org, where donations are also accepted.

Businesses paying New Hampshire state taxes that are interested in purchasing tax credits to support this expansion project can contact Monique Deforge, director of development and community engagement, at monique@childrens-museum.org.

The museum leaders anticipate opening the new space in late 2025.

This article originally appeared on Fosters Daily Democrat: Children's Museum of NH celebrates 40th anniversary with expansion
The United Way of Central Massachusetts Womens Initiative will host its third DEI Speakers Series, featuring guest speaker Celia Johnston Blue, president, chief executive officer and founding member of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition. The event is set for 5 p.m. Nov. 28 at Clark University.

The United Way of Central Massachusetts Womens Initiative will host its third Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Speakers Series, featuring guest speaker Celia Johnston Blue, president, chief executive officer and founding member of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition, and moderator Joyce Augustus, president of JCassand Inc.

The event is set for 5 p.m. Nov. 28 at Clark University.

Celia Johnston Blue is an executive leader with over 25 years of leadership experience in the private, public and nonprofit sectors. In 2015, she collaborated with 12 women of color from across the state in the development and public launch of the Massachusetts Women of Color Coalition Inc. In her role as president and chief executive officer, she is leading the organization in its mission, as well as a focus on advocating for the voices of women of color to be heard to address the inequities in every aspect of their lives.

JCassand Inc. is an online fashion accessories retail store for both men and women. As a former president of the board of directors of the YWCA Central Massachusetts, Augustus emphasized a mission of empowering women, eliminating racism and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity. Augustus serves on the board of directors for the Greater Worcester Community Foundation, Worcester Regional Research Bureau, United Way of Central Massachusetts Womens Initiative Leadership Council and Entrepreneurship for All Greater Worcester Advisory Council.

The United Way of Central Massachusetts Womens Initiative is hosting the third installment of its DEI Speakers Series to celebrate diversity, honor local women leaders, educate members and create opportunities for role models and mentorship in the community.

DEI Speakers Series

When: 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 28

Where: Clark University, 950 Main St., Worcester

How much: Free, registration required. giveclassy.org.

This article originally appeared on Worcester Magazine: Women of Color Coalition leader set to speak at DEI event
Julius Maada Bio, President of Sierra Leone, speaks at the start of the Transforming Education Summit at United Nations headquarters, Monday, Sept. 19, 2022.

Sierra Leones president declared a nationwide curfew Sunday after gunmen attacked the militarys main and largest barracks in the West African nations capital and then overran detention centers, including a major prison.

The attack raised fears of a breakdown of order amid a surge of coups in the region.

The detention centers, including the Pademba Road Prisons  holding more than 2,000 inmates  were attacked just as security forces fought to restore calm during sustained shootouts at the Wilberforce military barracks, according to Information Minister Chernor Bah.

The prisons were overrun (and) some prisoners were abducted by the assailants while many others were released, Bah said. Security forces managed to push back the assailants to the outskirts of the city where fighting continues, he added.

Sierra Leones President Julius Maada Bio earlier declared a nationwide curfew in response to the attacks.

An Associated Press journalist in the capital said that gunshots were still heard in the city hours after the government assured residents of calm, although it wasnt clear who was behind the exchange of fire, nor if any arrests were made.

The security forces are making progress in the operation to defeat and apprehend those responsible for todays attacks, Bah said. The government remains in control and on top of the situation.

The president and the countrys Ministry of Information and Education also both said that the government and security forces are in control of the situation, trying to dismiss fears of a possible escalation of violence in the country whose population of 8 million people is among the poorest in the world, having some of the lowest scores on the U.N. Human Development Index.

No details were immediately given about the gunmen or the reason for the attack, which comes months after Bio was reelected for a second term in a disputed vote in which the main opposition party accused the electoral commission of rigging the results.

Videos posted online showed soldiers patrolling Freetowns empty streets and captured the loud blasts of gunshots at dawn. The AP couldnt immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.

West Africas regional economic bloc ECOWAS  of which Sierra Leone is a member  described the incident as a plot to acquire arms and disturb the peace and constitutional order in the country. The bloc has in recent months tried to reverse the surge in coups in West and Central Africa, which has recorded eight military takeovers since 2020, the latest in Niger and Gabon this year.

ECOWAS reiterates its zero tolerance for unconstitutional change of government, the bloc said in a statement.

Bio was reelected in Sierra Leones fifth presidential election since the end of a brutal 11-year civil war  more than two decades ago  which left tens of thousands of people dead and destroyed the countrys economy.

He continues to face criticism because of debilitating economic conditions. Nearly 60% of Sierra Leones population is facing poverty, with the youth unemployment rate being one of the highest in West Africa.

Two months after Bio won the disputed vote, police said they arrested several people, including senior military officers planning to use protests to undermine peace in the country.

A protest against the government in August last year resulted in the deaths of more than 30 people, including six police officers.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
A pair of three-year-old twin girls and their mother were among 11 Israeli hostages released by Hamas on Monday as a truce between the two sides was extended for another two days.

The latest releases mean Hamas has now released 51 Israelis and 18 foreigners since the ceasefire began on Friday.

Israel released another 33 Palestinian prisoners on Monday from its Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and from a detention centre in Jerusalem.

It brought the total number of Palestinians it has freed since Friday to 150.

Israel has reportedly been given a list of the additional hostages who could be freed on Tuesday, and has provided its own details of an additional 50 detainees who could be released in exchange.

The two-day extension to the temporary truce between Israel and Hamas will run through Wednesday, and allow for more truckloads of aid to enter the Gaza Strip.

Key Points

Mother and three-year-old twin daughters among 11 hostages freed

Hostage handover is underway to Red Cross

Netanyahu takes Elon Musk on tour of kibbutz from which Hamas kidnapped Israelis

Qatar announces two-day extension to temporary Israel-Hamas truce

Israel and Hamas having problems with fourth day negotiations, say sources

Hamas official says truce extension depends on finding more hostages in Gaza

Mother and three-year-old twin daughters among 11 hostages freed

04:31 , Shweta Sharma

A mother and her three-year-old twin daughters were among the 11 hostages released yesterday on the fourth day of a truce between Israel and Hamas.

Sharon Aloni-Cunio, 34, and her three-year-old daughters Emma and Yuli were being held captive by Hamas since they were taken from their home kibbutz Nir Oz.

Her husband, David Cunio, and his brother, Ariel, are still believed to be in captivity in Gaza.

The family was abducted during the attack on 7 October while seeking refuge in a secure room.

Following the arson of their house by Hamas, the family was seized as they attempted to flee the flames.

Sharons sister, Daniele Aloni, and her daughter, who were also taken captive, were released last Friday.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum described Emma as an open-hearted and amazing child, full of love. A true kibbutz girl who prefers trucks and mechanical tools over dolls.

It said her sister Yuli was shy, and in the weeks before her kidnapping she became more open and smiley to her surroundings.

Another mother and seven other children were among the latest batch of freed hostages.

(AP)

Met Police investigating reports of war crimes in Gaza

10:35 , Alexander Butler

The Metropolitan Police is investigating reports of war crimes committed in Gaza.

Scotland Yards war crimes unit is collaborating with the International Criminal Court to investigate any war crimes committed by Israel or Hamas in the region since 7 October.

The unit has received over 20 referrals, including those made by individuals recently returned from Gaza, since the conflict began.

In one case, the force has contacted a leading surgeon who worked in Al-Shifa and Al-Alhi hospitals for nearly two months to give testimony of potential war crimes.

Met Police investigating reports of war crimes in Gaza

If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension'

10:22 , Alex Ross

The words of Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in an interview with the Financial Times before the truce extension was agreed by Hamas and Israel.

He was talking about Hamas requiring more hostages to complete the exchanges for Palestinian prisoners as set out as part of the truce agreement.

Sheikh Mohammed said that more than 40 other women and children were being kept captive in Gaza, but not inthe hands of Hamas. The Independent understands that figure to be more than 100 for all hostages.

Speaking before Mondays truce extension, Sheikh Mohammed said: If they get additional women and children, there will be an extension

We dont yet have any clear information how many they can find because . . . one of the purposes [of the pause] is they [Hamas] will have time to search for the rest of the missing people.

Israel had provided Qatar with a list of more than 90 women and children seized during Hamas attack on 7 October, says the FT.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Did the Israel-Hamas war cause a hate crime in Vermont?

10:00 , Josh Marcus

Federal law enforcement agencies are investigating whether the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont was a hate crime.

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, in remarks from New York on Monday addressing the work of the US Department of Justice to combat hate-fuelled violence, confirmed the FBI and ATF have launched investigations in the wake of Saturdays shooting.

A white gunman fired at the three men, all in their 20s, at least four times without saying anything while they were walking near the University of Vermont, according to police. The students were speaking English and Arabic and wearing keffiyehs.

Two of the victims remain in stable condition, while one of the men remains hospitalised with serious injuries.

Alex Woodward reports.

FBI investigating hate crime motive in shooting of Palestinian students in Vermont

Hamas looking for hostages

09:58 , Alex Ross

Heres more on what US Natioanl Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told CBS on Monday night:

Were still in active discussions with all the parties here about potential extensions of the deal.

Over the weekend the president was able to get this extension over the finish line, well keep at itI couldnt tell you right now as were talking if theres going to be an extension and what that could look like in terms of length of days and number of hostages.

We know that Hamas has more hostages either that they are holding or that they can get access to. So the pool is much larger than what weve been able to get out so far obviously.So we want to see this extended for as long as it possibly can take.

(Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

ICYMI: A temporary ceasefire gets a last-minute extension

09:00 , Josh Marcus

Israel and Hamas have agreed to extend a ceasefire for two more days  in a breakthrough that could see dozens of additional hostages released and more lifesaving aid flow into war-ravaged Gaza.

The decision offers a rare glimmer of hope of a possible end to the conflict that has caused unparalleled and unprecedented bloodshed, according to the United Nations.

Bel Trew reports from Jerusalem.

Israel and Hamas agree to extend Gaza truce for two more days

List of Israeli hostages to be freed received

08:52 , Alex Ross

A list of Israeli hostages to be freed today has been received by Israeli prime ministers office.

The families are being notified, the office said.

So far, Hamas has released 51 Israelis and 18 foreigners since the ceasefire began on Friday.

The pause in fighting has meant the UN has been able to increase urgent aid deliveries to Gaza.

Scenes at 33 Palestinian prisoners are freed

08:40 , Alex Ross

Israel released 33 Palestinian prisoners from jails following the freeing of 11 Israeli hostages from Gaza. It brings the total number of Palestinians freed since Friday to 150.

Pictures show crowds greeting the prisoners as they arrived in the West Bank.

Palestinian prisoners freed from the Ofer Israeli military prison disembark from a bus as they return to Beitonia, near Ramallah, West Bank (EPA)

A Palestinian prisoner freed from the Ofer Israeli military prison (EPA)

Prisoners greeted by crowds on their release (EPA)

Clashes outside prison

08:20 , Alex Ross

An Israel-Hamas truce in the Gaza Strip has been extended to a fifth day today as both sides complete the release of Israeli hostages and detained Palestinians - and more could be freed today.

The truce as been extended by two days - however, it is a limited deal, according to Israel which still holds the intention to send forces back into the territory.

Were hearing from the the Palestinian health ministry this morning that there were clashes outside the Ofer pirson in Israel where dozens of Palestinians who gathered to await the prisoner release on Monday.

Some of the protesters waved the flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian militant group.

The ministry said a Palestinian was killed in the area, and that it was unclear if he had participated in the clashes.

Israel slammed for repulsive embrace of Elon Musk

08:01 , Josh Marcus

Haartez journalist Ben Samuels slammed Israeli officials on Monday for their repulsive embrace of Elon Musk, after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu toured a destroyed kibbutz with the Twitter owner.

Welcoming such a toxic mogul with open arms and taking him around sites of a massacre that has been belittled, demeaned and denied on his watch should be a stain on Netanyahus legacy, Mr Samuels wrote.

Heres more detail on Musks controversial visit to Israel.

Elon Musk takes tour of kibbutz where Hamas kidnapped Israelis

News is good...It is a great, great relief'

07:59 , Alex Ross

Among the 11 Israeli hostages released yesterday were three young French nationals; Eitan, 12, Erez, 12, and Sahar 16.

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna welcomed the news this morning, stating they were in good health.

We have indirect news and that news is good... It is a great, great relief, she told RTL radio, when asked about the health of children.

Three French children were finally freed, now we must work relentlessly for the release of all the other hostages, she said, adding that five French nationals were still missing or believed to be held hostage.

Hamas on Monday released 11 hostages from Gaza, also including two with German nationality and six with Argentinian nationality.

Eitan Yahalomi, 12, who was released after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack (via REUTERS)

Israeli hostages arrive for treatment in Tel Aviv

07:00 , Josh Marcus

The 11 Israeli hostages released on Monday were all taken to Israels Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv for medical consultation.

Medical and psychological specialists were on hand to treat them.

We wish to remind you that these are sensitive moments for the freed hostages and their families and we wish to preserve their privacy, the health ministry said in a statement to CNN. The entire health system is prepared to receive anyone who will return to Israel and is preparing for tomorrow.

Israeli government adds 50 female prisoners to potential release list: PM

06:00 , Josh Marcus

Israel is prepared to release as many as 50 female prisoners if Hamas continues to free hostages under the ongoing ceasefire deal.

The Government has approved the inclusion of 50 female prisoners in the list of prisoners eligible to be released in the event that a release of additional Israeli hostages is carried out, the Israeli prime ministers office said in a statement.

Relative of two teens released speaks of joy and endless anxiety

05:48 , Shweta Sharma

Ido Dan, a relative of Israelis Sahar Calderon, 16, and Erez Calderon, 12 who were released on Monday, spoke of his joy mixed with anxiety about their father, Ofer, who is still being held.

It is difficult to go from a state of endless anxiety about their fate to a state of relief and joy, Mr Dan said.

This is an exciting and heart-filling moment but ... it is the beginning of a difficult rehabilitation process for Sahar and Erez, who are still young and have been through an unbearable experience.

White House says Hamas not intentionally holding back two American citizens

05:14 , Shweta Sharma

The White House does not believe that Hamas purposefully held back the release of two American women who have not been included in the exchanges so far.

A senior Biden administration official said that so far the idea that Hamas is deliberately holding back the two American hostages because of their citizenship was not a conclusion we would draw.

The Biden administration still hopes for the release of the two women, noting that Hamas has committed to releasing an additional 20 hostages over the next two days after the ceasefire was extended.

Eleven Israeli women and children were freed by Hamas and entered Israel on Monday night in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce.

Well see where we are two days from now, the official said.

Photo shows reunion of hostage Eitan Yahalomi and his mother

05:00 , Josh Marcus

Eitan Yahalomi, age 12, returned happily to his mothers arms on Monday, one of 11 Israeli citizens released today as part of the ongoing IDF-Hamas ceasefire.

His father, Ohad, who was kidnaped with him, remains in Gaza.

The meeting between Eitan Yahalomi and his mother on his return, at the Kerem Shalom meeting point, on 27 November, 2023 (IDF)

Relatives respond to release of Israeli hostages: 'Such a happy moment'

04:07 , Shweta Sharma

A relative of three of the Israeli hostages released yesterday said it was such a happy moment to see them freed, full of love and smiles.

Karina Engel-Bart, 51 and her two daughters Mika Engel, 18, and Yuval Engel, 12, were released by Hamas on Monday night in the fourth swap under the original four-day truce, which began on Friday and had been due to run out.

Karinas brother Diego Engel-Bart told CNN they are happy to be home and ready to start their lives again.

He said his two nieces are skinnier than before and the youngest one has to go undergo surgery on her leg.

His brother-in-law, Karinas husband, still remains in Hamas captivity.

Tomorrow we are going to move forward and we are going to win, he said.

This is not just Israels problem. It is a global problem. Today it happened in Israel. Tomorrow it could happen somewhere else, he added.

Israeli hostages Karina Engel-Bart, 51, Mika Engel, 18, and Yuval Engel, 11, who were released after being taken hostage during the October 7 attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas (via REUTERS)

As hostages leave Gaza, medical aid flows in

04:00 , Josh Marcus

While much of the attention on the ongoing ceasefire deal is rightly directed towards the hostages being released, the fighting pause between Israel and Hamas has also allowed crucial medical aid to reach Gazas beleaguered civilian population.

Thousands of doses of routine immunisations were delivered to the Palestinian territory on Monday, according to UNICEF Palestine.

7,600 doses of vaccines were transported to Muscat Qarara Clinic in southern Gaza, aiming to boost routine immunisation, which was disrupted due to shortage of supplies & ongoing hostilities.

The transfer was conducted in a joint UN mission with @WHOoPt, @UNRWA, @ochaopt & @UNDSS pic.twitter.com/dDWNwRiTZf  UNICEF Palestine (@UNICEFpalestine) November 27, 2023

Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi set to be released by Israel - report

03:42 , Shweta Sharma

Prominent Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi is believed to be on the list of approved 50 female Palestinian prisoners slated to be released today, reported theTimes of Israel.

The additional group will be released if the next release of Israeli hostages by Hamas goes as planned, the prime ministers office said today.

Ms Tamimi was arrested after posting a controversial social media post following the 7 October attack.

Her family has denied the allegations, claiming her social media account was hacked.

Family of American girl released says we can get all hostages back home

03:16 , Shweta Sharma

Two relatives of an Israeli-American girl freed from Hamas captivity have expressed hope in securing the release of all hostages through continued negotiations.

Abigail Edan, who turned four while in captivity, was the third person with US citizenship freed by Hamas on Sunday after seven weeks of bloodshed between the Iranian-backed Palestinian militia that controls the Gaza Strip and the Israeli military.

We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing, two relatives of the girl said.

Relatives told CBS News last week that the toddler, if she was released, would go to stay with family members in Israel who have already taken in her two older siblings.

Three hostages released today were French, as five remain in captivity

03:00 , Josh Marcus

The government of France celebrated the release of three French citizens from Hamas captivity on Monday.

France welcomes the liberation of three of its children today: Eitan, Erez and Sahar, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press. They are now in security in Israel. We share the relief of their families and all those who mobilized for their freedom.

Five other French citizens remain Hamas hostages, according to officials.

Israel government receives list of hostages to be released today

02:57 , Shweta Sharma

The government of Israel has received a list of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza who are expected to be released today, following the releases of 11 a day for the past four days.

Israel was given the names of the latest group expected to be released under a truce deal which has been extended for two more days, Israels Army Radio reported, citing the Israeli prime ministers office.

Around 10 more hostages would be released, Axios reported.

There was no immediate comment from the prime ministers office.

33 freed Palestinians arrive in Ramallah

02:00 , Josh Marcus

Thirty-three Palestinian prisoners who were freed as part of the ongoing ceasefire-hostages deal between Israel and Hamas arrived in the city of Ramallah, West Bank, early on Tuesday.

The prisoners, who were carried in on a Red Cross bus, were part of the fourth group of detainees in Israel traded for hostages held by Hamas.

A total of 150 Palestinians have been released during the ongoing ceasefire, NBC News reports.

Israel and Hamas extend their ceasefire for two days

01:45 , Josh Marcus

A two-day extension of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas offers the chance to free further hostages, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell received reports of the deal while answering questions in the House of Commons and having previously insisted that the pause in hostilities should not be a one-off.

Addressing the chamber, he said: There is some suggestion that while Ive been on my feet in the House, Qatar has announced a truce would be extended by two days.

Obviously, we all hope that is true and that more hostages, as a result, will be able to leave.

Richard Wheeler reports.

Israel-Hamas truce extension offers further hope for hostages, says minister

Israel told of 10 more hostages to be released on Tuesday: report

01:30 , Josh Marcus

Israeli officials are reportedly aware of the next 10 Hamas hostages who will be released under the ceasefire deal.

Israeli Army Radio reports that the prime ministers office has a list of the hostages who will be released on Tuesday, while Axios reports the list will contain 10 people.

The reported release of hostages would be the first such transfer to take place under the extension of the ceasefire announced earlier today.

ICYMI: Met Police investigating reports of war crimes in Gaza

01:15 , Josh Marcus

The Metropolitan Police is investigating reports of war crimes committed in Gaza.

Scotland Yards war crimes unit is collaborating with the International Criminal Court to investigate any war crimes committed by Israel or Hamas in the region since 7 October.

The unit has received over 20 referrals, including those made by individuals recently returned from Gaza, since the conflict began.

In one case, the force has contacted a leading surgeon who worked in Al-Shifa and Al-Ahli hospitals for nearly two months to give testimony of potential war crimes.

Alexander Butler has the story.

Met Police investigating reports of war crimes in Gaza

Netanyahu takes Elon Musk on tour of kibbutz from which Hamas kidnapped Israelis

01:00 , Josh Marcus

Elon Musk toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas on Monday during his visit to Israel. It follows an outcry over his endorsement of an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform, Twitter/X.

The worlds richest man met Israels prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and visited the Kfar Aza kibbutz, which Hamas attacked on 7 October, killing an estimated 52 residents. Another 20 people are reported as missing.

It was the home of four-year-old American-Israeli citizen Abigail Edan, who was taken hostage after her parents were killed by the militant group during the attack. Abigail was reunited with members of her family on Sunday as part of the hostage exchange.

Mr Musk said witnessing the scenes of the massacre was jarring, during a live event on Twitter/X with Mr Neetanyahu after the tour.

Ariana Baio reports.

Elon Musk takes tour of kibbutz where Hamas kidnapped Israelis

ICYMI: How a 4-year-old American was freed from Hamas

00:15 , Josh Marcus

President Joe Biden denounced the unthinkable actions of Hamas after a four-year-old girl with American citizenship whose parents were killed by terrorists last month was released from inside Gaza on Sunday as part of a hostage agreement.

That four-day truce is currently underway in the northern Gaza Strip where Israeli forces have been bombarding the city for weeks; Hamas militants, following a shockingly bloody attack that killed roughly 1,200 across southern Israel last month, continue to hold dozens of hostages within the Palestinian territory.

On Sunday, Israel confirmed that Abigail Edan, four, had been among hostages released by the militant group into the care of the Red Cross. Her immediate condition was unknown.

Thank God she is home, Mr Biden said of Abigail on Sunday, as he addressed Americans from Nantucket. What she endured is unthinkable.

More details in the full story from John Bowden.

US girl, 4, orphaned by Hamas then kidnapped is reunited with family

As three Israeli hostages are freed, father remains in Gaza

Monday 27 November 2023 23:41 , Josh Marcus

Monday brought reunions across Israel as another 11 hostages were released.

Among those freed from Hamas captivity today were Sharon Aloni Cunio, 34, and her twin daughters, Yuli and Emma, 3.

Their father, David, is still being held in Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.

The family was abducted from Kibbutz Nir Oz on 7 October, when Hamas militants attacked the border community.

Two-day extension to humanitarian pause in Gaza is not enough, charities say

Monday 27 November 2023 23:15 , Josh Marcus

A two-day extension to the humanitarian pause in the Gaza Strip is insufficient to meet the needs of people there, charities have said as they called for an immediate ceasefire.

The Qatari government announced on Monday that Israel and Hamas had agreed to extend the humanitarian pause for two more days.

Further releases of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in Israels jails are expected as the deal is structured to allow more exchanges for every day the pause holds.

Read the full article here

Two-day extension to humanitarian pause in Gaza is not enough, charities say

Pictures show people freed in latest hostage release

Monday 27 November 2023 23:04 , Josh Marcus

More hostages were released Monday from Hamas captivity as part of the ongoing ceasefire deal.

Here are photos of some of those who were released, courtesy of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, an advocacy group that has been pushing for the release of those taken in the 7 October attacks.

For the full list of the latest Israeli hostages who have been freed, consult this tweet from the prime ministers office.

Brothers Yagil Yaakov, 12, and Or Yaakov, 16 (AP)

Karina Engel-Bart, from left, and her children Mika, 18, and Yuval Engel, 11 (AP)

Erez Kalderon, 12 (AP)

Sahar Kalderon, 16 (AP)

Sharon Aloni Cunio, center, and her twin daughters, Emma and Yuli, 3 (AP)

Eitan Yahalomi, 12 (AP)

Who are the Israeli hostages who have just been released?

Monday 27 November 2023 22:45 , Josh Marcus

Officials have revealed the names of the 11 Israelis released on Monday from Hamas captivity as part of the ongoing ceasefire.

Most of those being freed are children.

Their names, according to the Israeli prime ministers office, are as follows:

Eitan Yahalomi (12)

Karina Engel-Bart (51)

Mika Engel (18)

Yuval Engel (12)

Sharon Aloni-Cunio (34)

Yuli Cunio (3)

Emma Cunio (3)

Sahar Calderon (16)

Erez Calderon (12)

Or Yaakov (16)

Yagil Yaakov (12)

The Cunio family:



Sharon Aloni-Cunio (34)

Yuli Cunio (3)

Emma Cunio (3)



The Calderon family:



Sahar Calderon (16)

Erez Calderon (12)



The Yaakov family:



Or Yaakov (16)

Yagil Yaakov (12)  Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) November 27, 2023

WATCH: Moment 11 Hamas hostages appear to cross into Israel

Monday 27 November 2023 22:31 , Josh Marcus

Hostages kidnapped from Israel on 7 October continue to be released as part of a temporary ceasefire deal.

Watch below as the some of the latest group of captives were returned.

Freed hostage had escaped Hamas kidnappers but was recaptured days later, family says

Monday 27 November 2023 22:00 , Holly Evans

An Israeli hostage released during the truce in Gaza managed to esacape his Hamas kidnappers for a few days before being recaptured, his family have said.

Roni Krivoi, 25, who is also a Russian citizen, spent four days alone in Gaza according to his aunt, after escaping the building where he was held after it was bombed in an airstrike. Unable to find his way to the border he Hamas eventually retook him.

Mr Krivoi was kidnapped from the Supernova music festival on 7 October. Speaking a day after his release to an Israeli broadcaster, Yelena Magid said: He was kidnapped by terrorists and they held inside him some kind of building... Its my understanding that from the bombings, the building collapsed and he managed to get out and escape. Its a movie, this whole thing.

Read the full article from Tom Watling here

Freed hostage escaped Hamas but was recaptured days later, family says

Three-year-old twins among captives released by Hamas

Monday 27 November 2023 21:37 , Bel Trew

Video footage shared on Israeli networks showed Hadas Calderon, shrieking with joy and jumping on a chair as she was informed children, Sahar (16) and Erez (12) were in Mondays group of releases.

Their father Ofer remains in captivity and their grandmother Carmela was killed on 7 October. Also on the list were twin daughters Emma and Yuli, who, aged just three were Mondays youngest releases.

Their mother Sharon Aloni Cunion, 34, was released with them. Their husband David and brother Ariel remain in captivity. Siblings Or Yaakov, 16, and Yogi, 12 were already released, while their father Yair remains in captivity.

Karina Engle-Bart, 54 who had recently recovered from breast cancer, was released with her children Mika, 18 and Yuval ,11 - the father Ronen is still a Hamas captive. Eitan Yahalomi, 12 was released on his own : his father Ohad, who was kidnaped with him, remains in Gaza.

Out of the remaining hostages who are still in Gaza, 49 are from Kibbutz Nir Oz, said the head of the kibbutz Osnat Peri. Among them are women, men, children, mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers.

The three year-old twins Emma and Yuli were among the youngest hostages kidnapped on 7 October (via REUTERS)

US Anthony Blinken will visit Israel and West Bank this week

Monday 27 November 2023 21:30 , Holly Evans

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates later this week, a senior State Department official said on Monday, to press for more humanitarian aid into Gaza and help secure release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

The Secretary will stress the need to sustain the increased flow of humanitarian assistance to Gaza, secure the release of all hostages, and improve protections for civilians in Gaza, a senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said.

Blinken will also discuss with partners in the region Washingtons principles for the future of Gaza and the need for an independent Palestinian state, the official said. He will also attend the UN COP28 climate summit in Dubai, the official added.

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken is due to visit Israel this week (REUTERS)

IDF says hostages have arrived back in Israeli territory

Monday 27 November 2023 21:18 , Holly Evans

The Israeli military has confirmed that 11 hostages are now in Israeli territory after being released by Hamas.

The hostages will undergo medical assessments, the IDF said, and forces will accompany them until they are reunited with their families.

US thinks there are no Americans in latest group of hostages released by Hamas

Monday 27 November 2023 20:56 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

The United States does not believe that there are any Americans in the latest group of hostages released by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told CNN on Monday.

The Israeli military said on Monday that the Red Cross confirmed 11 hostages were on their way to Israeli territory after being released by Hamas in Gaza.

Official Statement from Kibbutz Nir Oz

Monday 27 November 2023 20:26 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz have confirmed that all 11 Israeli hostages to be released this evening are from our community.

Out of the remaining hostages, 49 are from Nir Oz.

This list includes women, men, children, mothers, fathers, grandfathers, and grandmothers.

Osnat Peri, the Head of the Kibbutz says: The news this evening brings a sigh of relief to our community, however we remain deeply concerned about our loved ones that are still held hostage. We demand the return of all hostages, immediately, whatever it takes.

Eitan Yahalomi 12 (child)Sharon Kunio (mother)Emma Kunio 3 (child)Yuli Kunio 3 (child)Karina Engel (mother)Mika Engel 18 (child)Yuval Engel 11 (child)Sahar Kalderon 16 (child)Erez Kalderon 13 (child)Or Yaakov 16 (child)Yagil Yaakov 13 (child)

Qatar foreign ministry: Israeli hostages released from Gaza include 3 French, 2 Germans and 6 Argentinians

Monday 27 November 2023 20:15 , Maryam Zakir-Hussain

Israeli hostages released from Gaza on Monday include three French citizens, two Germans and six Argentinians, a Qatari foreign ministry spokesman said on social media platform X.

11 hostages on their way to Israeli territory

Monday 27 November 2023 19:57 , Holly Evans

The Israeli military has said that the Red Cross have confirmed that 11 hostages are on their way to Israeli territory in the latest hostage deal exchange since a temporary truce was struck four days ago.

Hostage handover is underway to Red Cross

Monday 27 November 2023 19:48 , Holly Evans

A hostage handover to release Israeli hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza is under way, a Palestinian official familiar with the truce efforts has said.

33 Palestinian prisoners are being exchanged for around 11 Israeli hostages, although this is yet to be officially confirmed.

White House gives latest update on American hostage releases

Monday 27 November 2023 19:35 , Holly Evans

Israeli media reporting that hostages are now in Israeli hands

Monday 27 November 2023 19:30 , Bel Trew

Residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz have confirmed that all 11 Israeli hostages to be released this evening are from their community.

Out of the remaining hostages, 49 are from Nir Oz. This list includes women, men, children, mothers, fathers, grandfathers and grandmothers.

Osnat Peri, the Head of the Kibbutz says: The news this evening brings a sigh of relief to our community, however we remain deeply concerned about our loved ones that are still held hostage. We demand the return of all hostages, immediately, whatever it takes.

Foreign Office minister says temporary truce offers chance of more hostage releases

Monday 27 November 2023 19:24 , Holly Evans

A two-day extension of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas offers the chance to free further hostages, a Foreign Office minister has said.

Andrew Mitchell received reports of the deal while answering questions in the House of Commons and having previously insisted that the pause in hostilities should not be a one-off.

Addressing the chamber, he said: There is some suggestion that while Ive been on my feet in the House, Qatar has announced a truce would be extended by two days.

Obviously, we all hope that is true and that more hostages, as a result, will be able to leave.

White House hope two American women to be freed from Gaza in hostage deal

Monday 27 November 2023 19:06 , Holly Evans

The White House said U.S. officials hope two American women would be among those freed from Gaza, where it believes eight or nine U.S. citizens are being held.

Only one American-Israeli citizen, four-year-old Avigail Idan, has been released so far.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office said it had notified the families of hostages due to be released on Monday, without specifying a number.

Netanyahu had said at the weekend that once the truce ended, We will return with full force to achieve our goals: the elimination of Hamas; ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages.

Suspect in shooting of three Palestinian students in Vermont pleads not guilty

Monday 27 November 2023 18:50 , Holly Evans

The suspect in the shooting of three college students of Palestinian descent in Vermont over the weekend pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted second-degree murder on Monday and was ordered by a judge to be held without bond.

The suspect, Jason J. Eaton, 48, appeared at an arraignment at the Chittenden County Criminal Court in Burlington via a remote video feed from the county jail, where he has been held since his arrest on Sunday.

Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdel Hamid and Tahseen Ahmed, three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot near the University of Vermont (via REUTERS)

The attack is under investigation by local and federal authorities as a suspected hate-motivated crime. At the time of the shooting, two of the victims were wearing a keffiyeh, the traditional black-and-white checkered head scarf commonly worn in the Middle East, police said.

Police say Eaton used a pistol to shoot them on the street near the University of Vermont in Burlington on Saturday evening and then ran away.

All three remained under medical care on Monday, two with gunshot wounds in their torsos and one shot in the lower extremities. Two were in stable condition, while one has sustained much more serious injuries, police said.

UN chief warns truce is not enough time to meet aid needs of Gaza

Monday 27 November 2023 18:36 , Holly Evans

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described an extended truce between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas on Monday as a glimpse of hope and humanity, but warned it was not enough time to meet the aid needs of the Gaza Strip.

Mediator Qatar said on Monday that the initial four day truce had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare that has killed thousands and laid waste to the Palestinian enclave.

I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much - knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population, Guterres told reporters.

Family of four-year-old taken hostage say she is safe and in a medical centre

Monday 27 November 2023 18:22 , Holly Evans

A day after 4-year-old Israeli American hostage Avigail Edan was released by Hamas, her family has given an update on the girls well-being.

Avigail is still being evaluated at Schneider Childrens Medical Center, where she was taken immediately upon her release, the statement said.

The girl is safe and being looked after by her aunt, uncle and grandparents, the statement said. Her parents were killed in Hamas Oct. 7 incursion into Israel.

Abigail Edan lost her parents on 7 October and was taken hostage (via REUTERS)

Two-day truce extension will come into effect when fourth group of hostages are released, says senior Israeli advisor

Monday 27 November 2023 17:46 , Tom Watling

The two-day extension of the truce between Israel and Hamas will not go into effect until the hostages set to be released on Monday are freed, according to Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israel's prime minister.

Regev confirmed that a truce extension had been reached and under the agreement, Hamas would release 10 hostages each day.

For every 10 hostages released, we're willing to give an extension of another day, and if Hamas will release Israeli hostages as agreed we will extend  that's the bottom line, Mr Regev said.

Regev said he believes the hostages released over the next two days would be women and children.

The senior adviser credited US President Joe Biden for helping arrange the parameters of the deal.

These were negotiated with the help of President Biden and we thank him for putting his effort and his office behind these arrangements. I don't think we would have reached the deal without his input, he said.

Mark Regev, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said the truce extension was predicated on todays swaps (Channel 4 News)

Freed hostage had escaped Hamas kidnappers but was recaptured days later, family says

Monday 27 November 2023 17:33 , Tom Watling

An Israeli hostage released during the truce in Gaza managed to esacape his Hamas kidnappers for a few days before being recaptured, his family have said.

Roni Krivoi, 25, who is also a Russian citizen, spent four days alone in Gaza according to his aunt, after escaping the building where he was held after it was bombed in an airstrike. Unable to find his way to the border he Hamas eventually retook him.

You can read the full report below.

Freed hostage escaped Hamas but was recaptured days later, family says
This shouldnt be hard, right?

Any freshman criminal-justice major still clutching his or her class schedule could have answered the question:

Which prison inmate in America has the biggest target on his back?

Well, that would be the man who killed George Floyd.

That would be the cop who put his knee in the back of Floyd as Floyd gasped for air and begged for his life and then for his mother.

An inmate stabbed Chauvin in Tucson

Any freshman could have deduced that Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer convicted of murdering Floyd in the second degree and violating his civil rights, would be the inmate who had better watch his back.

But somehow that eluded the brain trust of the United States federal prison system.

Because at about 12:30 p.m. on Friday at the Federal Correctional Institution in Tucson, that system broke down so spectacularly that another inmate was able to arm himself with a sharp instrument and stab Chauvin until he was seriously injured and needed life-saving hospital care, according to the Minnesota Attorney Generals Office.

Chauvin is still in the hospital today and expected to survive, unnamed sources have told The New York Times.

Unlikely to survive are the careers of federal prison officials who let this happen  who believed you could put Chauvin in an environment with other prisoners and ensure his safety.

Derek Chauvin needed extra protection

Former Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court in Minneapolis on June 25, 2021.

Consider the facts that told you otherwise  that would have told any college freshman that Derek Chauvin needed extraordinary protection.

Chauvins crime was captured on more than nine minutes of excruciating cellphone video.

That video became the A-roll of every national and local newscast for a week and B-roll for months thereafter.

The murder of George Floyd provoked a cultural revolution that led to protests and riots and burning streetscapes in cities across America.

As an ex-cop, Derek Chauvin was automatically a target for other prisoners  a convicted sheep in a den of wolves.

Finally, theres the matter of deduction.

Other high-profile inmates have died

Derek Chauvin has the biggest target on his back because so many of the other most notorious prisoners with targets on their backs were either murdered or died by suicide while under the auspices of the geniuses who manage our federal prison system:

Whitey Bulger, the famous Boston mob boss, was beaten to death in 2018 with a padlock by fellow prisoners shortly after he was moved into the general population at the U.S. Penitentiary in Hazelton, W.V.

Jeffrey Epstein, who famously sex trafficked and abused young girls, was found dead in 2019 at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan. A Justice Department investigation concluded a combination of negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures allowed him to hang himself in his cell, The New York Times reported.

Theodore J. Kaczynski, better known as the Unabomber, died by suicide in June of this year at a federal prison medical center in North Carolina.

It's a massive prison system failure

These are massive failures of the federal prison system, which apparently cannot be trusted to incarcerate high-profile inmates.

Chauvin was stabbed in Tucson while in a dropout yard or special protective unit within the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Joe Rojas, a recently retired president of the local union representing workers at a federal prison near Coleman, Fla., told The Times.

That unit houses informants, people convicted of sex crimes, former gang members and former law enforcement personnel, The Times reported.

Is this justice? Chauvin's trial wasted money, time

In its coverage of the breakdown of security for high-profile inmates, The Times reported that federal prisons are struggling with an exodus of employees, who find better jobs in the private sector.

John H. Hinderaker, a retired Minnesota attorney and co-founder of the conservative Powerline blog, has followed Chauvins case closely and wrote on Saturday that Chauvin knew his life would be in danger.

After he was convicted, Chauvins lawyer requested that he be isolated from other inmates, foreseeing the likelihood of an assassination attempt. That request was denied, presumably because the authorities did not want to seem to be giving Chauvin special treatment.

This stuff launches conspiracy theories

When you fail to protect the lives of your most endangered inmates, you not only violate their rights to serve out their punishment in a secure and safe environment, you also launch a thousand conspiracy theories.

To this day, millions of Americans believe Jeffrey Epstein was murdered and that the federal prisons may have played a role.

A 2019 Rasmussen poll showed that 42% of those surveyed believed Epstein was murdered to prevent him from testifying against powerful people with whom he associated. Only 29% believed he actually died by suicide.

Breakdowns in our justice system are corrosive and undermine all of the institutions that serve that system from law enforcement to prosecutors to the courts to the prisons.

On Friday a prisoner was stabbed in Arizona.

All weekend, the internet was alive with conspiracies that our justice system had railroaded Derek Chauvin.

You can ignore this problem or you can fix it. But you cant likely fix it with the people who have bungled the last four high-profile cases.

An overhaul is in order.

Phil Boas is an editorial columnist with The Arizona Republic. Email him at phil.boas@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Derek Chauvin was stabbed in Tucson, in yet another prison failure
Former US first lady Rosalynn Carter, who died on 19 November at the age of 96, will be remembered over three days this week in a series of memorial services.

The funeral services will start across Georgia, from Atlanta to her hometown of Plains, where she will be laid to rest.

Ms Carter died shortly after she entered hospice care at home in Plains, alongside her husband, a Democrat who gave his wife a prominent voice during his presidency from 1977 to 1981.

A repose service will be held on Monday, giving members of the public a chance to view the casket and pay their respects.

On Tuesday, a tribute church service will be held for invited guests. On Wednesday, for the final event, Ms Carters funeral will be held at the Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains before an internment at the family residence.

Here are all the first ladies from the United States who are most likely to attend Ms Carters funeral.

Jill Biden

First Lady Jill Biden will pay her respects to Lady Carter on Tuesday (PA)

First lady Jill Biden, 72, will be paying her respects to Ms Carter in Georgia on 28 November alongside her husband and US President Joe Biden, 81.

Ms Biden became first lady in 2021 and is known for supporting military families and advocating for increased educational opportunities in the country.

After Ms Carters passing, Ms Biden shared a statement on X/Twitter, paying tribute to the former first lady and her legacy.

The statement said: 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.

In 2021, POTUS and FLOTUS made a visit to see the Carters in their home in Plains. We just had a nice time, Mr Biden said at the time.

The Carter Center posted an image of the couples on their account with the caption: Were pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.! Thank you President and Mrs. Biden!

Were pleased to share this wonderful photo from the @POTUS and @FLOTUS visit to see the Carters in Plains, Ga.!



Thank you President and Mrs. Biden! pic.twitter.com/QcA33iUev4  The Carter Center (@CarterCenter) May 4, 2021

Melania Trump

Melania Trump is also among the first ladies invited to Carters funeral (PA)

Melania Trump, 53, is also among the first ladies invited to Ms Carters funeral.

Ms Trump served as first lady alongside her husband Donald Trump during his presidency between 2017 to 2021.

During her time as first lady, Ms Trump served as an advocate for children and used her time to help young people navigate the many issues they face in an ever-changing society.

In 2018, she announced her campaign BE BEST which strives to promote a world for children based on healthy living, kindness, and respect.

After Ms Carters passing, Ms Trump shared her thoughts on the former first lady.

The statement said: 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.

Michelle Obama

Ms Obama paid tribute to Lady Carter (PA)

Michelle Obama, who served as first lady from 2009 to 2017 recounted the special moments she had with Ms Carter.

Ms Obama was the first African-American first lady of the United States. Through her four main initiatives, she became a role model for women and an advocate for healthy families, service members and their families, higher education, and international adolescent girls education.

Remembering Ms Carter and her work, Ms Obama said in a statement: "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 others."

Ms Obama praised the 39th US first lady as a woman who worked to combat the stigma faced by those struggling with their mental health, highlighting that it 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."

Laura Bush

Laura Bush served as the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. (PA)

Laura Bush, 77, is wife of George W Bush and served as the first lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009.

Ms Bush was in the White House for eight years and is a former teacher and librarian.

She was also a key advocate of the Presidents historic education reform  the No Child Left Behind Act  and a staunch supporter of NCLBs Reading First program, which is the largest early reading initiative in American history, the White House website states.

In a joint statement with former President George W Bush, the couple said they were saddened by the passing of Ms Carter.

They added: She was 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.

Hilary Clinton

Hillary Clinton served as the First Lady of the United States to the 42nd President (PA Media)

Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, 76, served as the first lady of the United States to the 42nd President, Bill Clinton between 1993 to 2001.

She went on to become a US secretary of state and US senator from New York. In the 2008 election, Ms Clinton was a leading candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination.

After Ms Carters passing, the Clintons released a joint statement remembering the former lady as a compassionate and committed champion.

The statement continued: 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 through her decades of work at the Carter Center and with Habitat for Humanity, she spread hope, health, and democracy across the globe. Rosalynn will be forever remembered as the embodiment of a life lived with purpose.

Hillary and I are deeply grateful for her extraordinary service to our nation and world, and for more than forty years of friendship. Our prayers are with President Carter, Jack, Chip, Jeff, Amy, and the entire Carter family, they added.
The woman in the video, her face blurred, gave a blunt assessment of Russian military policy: Soldiers mobilized over a year ago to fight in Ukraine deserved to come home. Why werent they?

Our mobilized became the best army in the world, but that doesnt mean that this army should stay there to the last man, she said. If he did something heroic, spilled blood for his country sincerely, then maybe it was time to return to his family, make way for someone else, but thats not happening.

The speaker was part of a new, grassroots movement that has been gathering steam in Russia over the past several weeks. Women in various cities are seeking to stage public protests, challenging the official argument that mobilized troops are needed in combat indefinitely to secure their Russian homeland.

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Hand-lettered posters behind the speaker in the video echoed that sentiment with slogans like Do only the mobilized have a homeland? A video of the speech, delivered at a rally in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk on Nov. 19, was released online.

The nascent movement is a rare example of public displeasure with the war, the kind that the Kremlin has sought to suppress through draconian laws. The women and the government officials have been involved in a delicate dance, with the protesters trying not to trigger those laws while the authorities seek to avoid hauling the relatives of active duty soldiers off to jail.

Authorities have so far stepped lightly, using intimidation and cajoling rather than detention or arrests. Permits to hold rallies in several major cities were denied, for example, and women in chat forums have complained about harassment.

Some said law enforcement officers visited them at home to inquire about their online activity and to warn them of the legal consequences of attending unauthorized rallies.

One main outlet for the protest movement has been a channel on the Telegram messaging app called Put Domoy in Russian, or The Way Home, which has attracted more than 14,650 participants since it was founded in September.

The channels organizers published a manifesto pressing for mobilized soldiers to be sent home after a year in the combat zone. Military servicemen and their families  unite and fight for your rights, the manifesto said in part.

Authorities in Moscow and in Krasnoyarsk, in Siberia, rejected recent requests for a rally permit, with officials citing as the reason a restriction on public assemblies that was created to combat COVID-19. In Moscow, about 20 demonstrators unfurled posters with slogans like No To Indefinite Mobilization at a Communist Party rally on Nov. 7. The police led them away but did not detain them.

Maria Andreeva, who helped organize the Moscow protest, said that the government had largely responded by offering more money and benefits to families of soldiers. They agree to pay us even more, but only if we keep quiet, she said in an interview. Many women need their husbands and sons, not payments.

Participants in protests across the country are fed up, Andreeva said. While crowing that more than 410,000 men have signed contracts to join the military this year, the government has brushed aside demands from the families to demobilize those drafted in 2022.

The rally in Novosibirsk, held by a different organization, was the result of a compromise between organizers and local authorities. Instead of a demonstration on the streets, local civilian and military officials gathered in a government auditorium. The press was largely banned, and participants had to prove that they had a relative serving in Ukraine.

Chelyabinsk, a major Russian city in the center of the country, held a similar meeting in its City Hall.

In Novosibirsk, the organizers said that countless women across Russia were boiling because all their quiet appeals and petitions fell on deaf ears. The situation drove us, our relatives, to despair, and those mobilized to a critical degree of fatigue, both physical and moral, the group said in a statement.

The groups protesting take pains to stress that they are not unpatriotic and that they strive to respect the law. They say they are simply asking that the Kremlin introduce troop rotations.

When the Russian government implemented what it called a partial mobilization in September 2022, calling up 300,000 men, it said those conscripted would have to stay in the military until President Vladimir Putin decided that they could be discharged.

Having already enacted one mobilization, ordering another one would be politically unpopular. In the meantime, tens of thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed and wounded, including many in ongoing assaults in Ukraine at places like Avdiivka.

The official response to the demand for rotation has been indirect at best. Protest organizers noted that Sergei Shoigu, the defense minister, made a statement last December saying that replacing the mobilized troops was one reason to raise the number of soldiers overall.

But in September, Andrei Kartapolov, the chair of Parliaments defense committee, said there would be no rotation for troops in Ukraine, noting that They will return home after the special military operation is completed. A petition with tens of thousands of signatures sent to the Kremlin evoked a similar response, Russian press reports said.

Our men are already physically and mentally tired of being there, Andreeva said. Thats enough! We must act!

A generation ago, an anti-war movement that coalesced around mothers opposed to the war in Chechnya was a significant factor in prompting the Kremlin to end the war there. The authorities have tried to ensure that no similar national movement emerges out of the current protests.

The subject of rotations is a delicate matter for the Kremlin, which is seeking to make sure that any protests remain a regional issue and do not become national news that Putin would be forced to address, said Tatiana Stanovaya, who recently wrote about the subject in her analytical newsletter, R.Politik.

The Ministry of Defense is cautious, preferring to boost soldier numbers whenever possible and keep them at the front, Stanovaya wrote. She said any decision on a new mobilization wave would be especially undesirable in the run-up to the presidential election next year.

At a recent seminar focused on the presidential election in March, held in a town called Senezh, near Moscow, regional officials received specific instructions to prevent the womens protest movement from metastasizing into something larger, according to Russian press reports.

Authorities said a demonstration could provide an opening for foreign powers to sow chaos, according to the business daily Kommersant, which is sympathetic to the Kremlin. But in a nod to the protesters frustration, the officials were told that they needed to stay in touch with the women, to pay attention to their problems and to help solve them, the report said.

Another Russia publication, the independent online newspaper The Insider, quoted an unidentified regional official as saying the preferred strategy was to persuade, promise, pay to avoid any kind of displeasure to be expressed on the streets.

Some participants hoped that the protests would spark a wider questioning of the war.

One woman in the chat group described herself in text messages as a longtime participant in anti-government rallies. Although she does not have any relatives fighting in Ukraine, she believes that the womens anti-mobilization movement has real potential to grow.

Communicating anonymously to avoid criminal charges for questioning the official narrative of the war, she said she hoped to seed the online discussions with information that depicted an alternative to the rosy official picture of the war, to sow doubts about the truthfulness of the words of officials and the president (well, hes lying all the time).

By raising doubts, she said, she hoped that people begin to ask questions, to be interested in politics, to be interested in what is happening in the country.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
'Time has come' for Turkey to approve Sweden NATO membership - Stoltenberg

NATO's Secretary General urged Turkey to ratify Sweden's entry into the military alliance "as soon as possible" on Monday.

Stockholm "has kept its promises, the time has now come for Turkey to finalise the accession process," said Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference in Brussels.

The Turkish Parliament began in mid-November to examine Sweden's bid, which has been pending since May 2022.

Under NATO rules, all 31 members must agree before a new country can join.

Turkey - along with Hungary - is blocking Stockholm's entry into the US-led alliance, after having green-lit the membership of neighbouring Finland in March.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used his veto power to get political concessions from the two Nordic countries.

Ankara has accused Sweden of showing leniency towards Turkish and Kurdish refugees inside the country, claiming they are "terrorists".

Some of those Turkey wants deported to its territory from Sweden are opponents of Erdogan, such as critical journalist Bulent Kenes, or Kurdish activists who have engaged in political activity against the Turkish government.

Critics claim that should Sweden meet Turkey's demands it could undermine the country's sovereignty, as well as the rights of those Ankara wants extradited.

Erdogan lifted his veto to Sweden's membership in July - specifying that the final decision was up to the Turkish Parliament.

Things have not progressed further, however.

Ukraine inflicting 'heavy losses' on Russia

NATO's Secretary General also made comments about the Ukraine war, during Tuesday's press conference.

Kyiv continues to inflict heavy losses on Russia after some of the most intense fighting since the start of the war in February 2022, he said.

"The Ukrainians were able to inflict heavy losses on the Russian invaders, both in terms of soldiers and combat capabilities," Stoltenberg said at the news conference, adding that these military losses occurred over the last few weeks.

He did not mention Ukrainian losses.

Since the start of its Spring counteroffensive, Ukraine's army has failed to achieve a decisive victory on the battlefield, causing concern in Western capitals.

"Although the front line has not moved", Stoltenberg claimed Kyiv continues to be very effective on the battlefield.

We have to differentiate between the fact that the front line is not moving significantly and the fact that very, very intense fighting is taking place, he explained.
Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, predicted Sunday that approval of an aid package to Ukraine and Israel is unlikely before the end of the year.

Turner identified the White Houses southern border policies as an obstacle for passing the aid package for Ukraine and Israel before the end of the year on NBCs Meet the Press. House Republicans had passed a $14.3 billion aid deal earlier this month solely for Israel, but that package likely faces an uphill battle in the Senate and is opposed by the White House because it also does not include aid to Ukraine. The Israel-only bill also established the cutting of added IRS funding opposed by the GOP that the White House established in a bill last year.

I think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year and the impediment, currently, is the White House policy on the southern border, Turner said Sunday. The White House in this package making  including it as a national security package, recognizing that the southern border is a threat, put in funding, but its going to need policy changes.

Congress is going to require that therell be laws [changing] to  to make certain that the border returns to its prior state, you know, perhaps Remain in Mexico, other types of provisions that would secure the southern border, he continued.

The White House had proposed last month a roughly $106 billion national security supplemental funding request that included money for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan as well as humanitarian aid and border security measures. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) already announced that the upper chamber would not take up the House GOPs proposal earlier this month, and the White House has maintained that President Biden would not sign a bill that aids only Israel.

Let me be clear: The Senate will not take up the House GOPs deeply flawed proposal, Schumer said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, at the time. Instead we will work on our own bipartisan emergency aid package that includes funding for aid to Israel, Ukraine, humanitarian aid including for Gaza, and competition with the Chinese Government.

There are a growing number of House GOP members who are opposed to approving more aid for Ukraine, which is still battling Russian forces after Moscow invaded Ukraine more than a year and a half ago. Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) floated that he wants to pair funding for Kyiv with border security.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Ten-year-old Lana Azizieh, a fifth grader at Clinton Elementary School, said that before she came to the United States two years ago, she didnt know English.

Now Im really good at English, she said, noting that she loves math, but not so much reading. I like to read graphic novels, but mostly Im not reading graphic novels (in school) so there are just words, words, words. I get tired of reading.

Azizieh, a refugee from Syria, is one of 103 students receiving tutoring from Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America (FORA), the West Ridge education center dedicated to helping refugee children arriving in Chicago.

Azizieh came to the U.S. in 2021 and enrolled at FORA almost immediately, joining students mostly from Myanmar.

A minority of students at FORA are from Afghanistan, and a few are from South Sudan, Syria, Bhutan and Eritrea.

We primarily serve refugee students who have been denied the opportunity to go to school before arriving in Chicago, said Kathleen OConnor, FORAs director of education. I think most people are familiar with the idea that the Taliban doesnt want girls to be educated. But I dont think very many people realize that means there are lots of Afghan girls here in Chicago, who are attending Chicago Public Schools, who do not have the background that they need so they can really engage in a class the way they want to.

OConnor and her husband, Michael OConnor, thought of the idea for FORA while they were volunteering to help resettle refugee families around 2015. They noticed children who were often fluent in multiple languages were struggling in school because they didnt have the age-appropriate core curriculum skills to succeed at a high level or communicate effectively.

For Moe Tun, a 15-year-old from Myanmar who is a 10th grader at Mather High School, the safe space at FORA allows her to ask all the questions she feels too shy to ask in school.

My least favorite subject is English because its my third language for reading and writing so it has been a bit challenging for me, Tun said. FORA helped me become a good learner and seeing all the tutors willing to help, encouraged me that I can learn this new language. And I dont have to feel like I am being judged (for my questions).

Tun, who came to the U.S. four years ago, said she used to like math a lot, but then she started learning about chemistry over the summer.

I think its really cool and interesting, she said. Also, I started learning a little about physics and I like that too now.

Tuns brother, Soe Tun, 17, also gets after-school tutoring help at FORA.

Since English is my fourth language, I usually struggle to bring my ideas and gather them in structured words, he said. So having someone who can walk me through and explain to me how to write is really helpful.

Kathleen OConnor, a former Dominican University professor with a doctorate in child development psychology, said most of the students who come to FORA lack basic literacy and numeracy skills, which is why high-impact tutoring is so beneficial. The students get anywhere from two to four hours a day of tutoring in math and reading, five days a week, with at least one tutor for every two students.

Since opening its facility in 2019, it has partnered with several organizations and institutions to foster a volunteer base, most recently working with students from a class at DePaul University.

Last quarter Kate Cooper, an assistant professor of communication studies at DePaul, taught an experiential learning class where her students worked with FORA. Cooper was given a grant from DePauls Migration Collaborative to work on a project that benefits an organization. Cooper also worked with Michael OConnor close to 20 years ago and was familiar with his work in the migrant communities.

We looked for a project that we could do together  and its something students are reading about a lot, Cooper said. Theyre hearing about migrant and refugee issues and its very visible right now in Chicago, where DePaul students are living and working and studying so its something that they care about.

Tristan Balgemann, a senior at DePaul, focused on helping FORA enhance its volunteer turnout as part of Coopers class.

Our focus group team has been looking at ways to bolster engagement and retention and seeing if theres anything that we can offer that will help volunteers stay in it for a longer haul, Balgemann said.

Giulianna Larson, chief outreach officer at FORA, started as a work-study tutor in 2021 before being hired in 2022.

I look at recruitment as an opportunity to provide our students with individualized tutoring resources as well as a way to educate the community on refugee literacy, Larson said. My first semester in this role I recruited about 120 tutors and this semester we had just over 200 tutors for our fall sessions.

Larson, who is a junior majoring in multimedia journalism at Loyola University, said the tutors are just as inspired by the students as the students look up to the tutors.

Many tutors are like mentors for students, supporting them on good days and bad days and were inspired by the students resilience, she said. And the students have been inspired by the tutors hobbies and academic interests. FORA students see the wide range of studies and become inspired and feel a sense of belonging that they can find something that interests them.

Logan Taylor Black, a student at Northwestern Universitys School of Education and Social Policy, tutors students in kindergarten through seventh grade five days a week at FORA. Although she found the organization through a need to complete a quarter-long experiential learning component for her program at Northwestern, Black said the experience has been twofold.

The most rewarding aspect of tutoring is feeling like Im actually making a difference in the lives of the students, she said. The fact that every day I am able to come in and support them in something that I have taken for granted but they are so curious about is incredible.

Black said one of her students  a seventh grader from Afghanistan  recently scored high on a test and proudly brought the paper to tutoring to show her.

Sometimes  though not often  there can be a language barrier between the tutors and students, but Black said she was impressed with how much English every student knows while also being fluent in their native tongue.

OConnor said the bridge between the students and their tutors, especially those in college, has been fantastic.

Its so great for college students to have the opportunity to make an immediate impact, she said. But on a deeper level, I think when students walk into our building, they get to experience the kind of joy that all of our staff and volunteers and our students are experiencing as they connect with one another through learning  its hard work teaching literacy and restoring the right to read, but we have a culture that brings joy to that effort.

zsyed@chicagotribune.com
Why are flags being flown at half-staff for Rosalynn Carter?

Following the death of the former First Lady Rosalynn Carter, who passed away at the age of 96 on 19 November, the White House has been taking measures to pay homage to her.

President Joe Biden signed a proclamation that ordered all US flags to be lowered down to half-staff from 25 November as a mark of respect for the memory of Ms Carter.

Where will the flags be flown at half-staff?

The proclamation said all US flags will be flown at half-staff, meaning the flag will be dropped down to somewhere around the middle of the pole.

US flags on the White House, all public buildings and grounds, naval stations, military posts, and naval vessels throughout the country and its territories will fly at half-staff from 25 November until 29 November at sunset, when Ms Carter is due to be laid to rest.

Mr Biden followed in the proclamation that this also applies to all US embassies, legations, consular offices and all other facilities abroad.

Why is this tradition carried out?

Flags in the US are flown at half-staff, also known as half mast, as a sign that the whole nation is mourning, according to the US Department of Veterans Affairs.

Mourning periods can be proclaimed by the United States president for national remembrance, but regional authorities or heads of departments can also order them to be lowered in smaller areas, such as in a state or military base.

It is unclear what started this tradition, but countries all around adopt the same practice for similar mourning reasons.

The flag is usually run quickly to the top of the pole before being lowered slowly down to a half-staff position.

Ms Carter will be laid to rest on 29 November (Diana Walker/Getty Images File)

Why are they being lowered for Rosalynn Carter?

Despite Ms Carters passing on 19 November, Mr Biden waited until after the Thanksgiving holiday to declare a proclamation.

Her husband, 39th president Jimmy Carter, 99, who currently is receiving hospice care in his home in Plains, Georgia, will have the flag flown for an entire month upon his death.

Mr Biden has chosen to declare national mourning for the former First Lady for her services as a public figure.

She was a champion for equal rights and opportunities for women and girls; an advocate for mental health and wellness for all; and a supporter of the often unseen and uncompensated caregivers of our children, ageing loved ones, and people with disabilities, the presidents proclamation stated.

Her time as First Lady and holding many positions within human rights, democracy, health, and womens rights causes, among others throughout her life, has earned her a highly-respected reputation in American politics.

A service for Ms Carter will take place in Atlanta on 28 November, with another funeral the following day at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, a church the Carters were members of for more than 40 years.

She will be buried on land near the couples home where she and Mr Carter have lived since 1961.

Ms Carter with her husband, former president Jimmy Carter (Getty Images)

Other occasions flags are at half-staff

Flags are flown at half-staff, usually for government officials, military members or someone the president believes the country will be in mourning for.

They are also lowered for national tragedies, such as recently for the victims that were killed in the Lewiston, Maine shooting in October.

Flags are also flown at half-staff on Memorial Day on the last Monday of May, or other national memorial occasions, such as the anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
It Happened here is a weekly history column by Yakima Herald-Republic reporter Donald W. Meyers. Reach him at dmeyers@yakimaherald.com. Sources for this weeks column include historylink.org, the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, the Museum of Flight, the National Museum of the United States Air Force and the archives of the Yakima Herald-Republic.
Hamas releases a third group of hostages as part of truce, and says it will seek to extend the deal
Participants of the Delhi Queer Pride Parade carry a banner during the march in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023.

More than 2,000 people took part in a gay pride event in New Delhi, waving rainbow flags and multicolored balloons as they celebrated sexual diversity in India but also raised concerns over the countrys restrictive laws.

Dancing to drums and music, the participants walked for more than two hours to the Jantar Mantar area near Indias Parliament. They held banners reading Equality for all and Queer and proud.

The annual event comes after Indias top court refused to legalize same-sex marriages in an October ruling that disappointed campaigners for LGBTQ+ rights in the worlds most populous country.

Its not about marriage. Its about equality. Everybody should have the same right because thats what our constitution says, said Noor Enayat, one of the volunteers organizing this years event.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Courts five-judge bench heard 21 petitions that sought to legalize same-sex marriage in India.

The justices called for steps to raise awareness among the public about LGBTQ+ identity and to establish hotlines and safe houses for those in the community who are facing violence. They also urged the state to make sure same-sex couples dont face harassment or discrimination in accessing basic needs, like opening a joint bank account, but stopped short of granting legal recognition to same-sex unions.

Legal rights for LGBTQ+ people in India have been expanding over the past decade, mostly as a result of the Supreme Courts intervention.

In 2018, the top court struck down a colonial-era law that had made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in prison and expanded constitutional rights for the gay community. The decision was seen as a historic victory for LGBTQ+ rights.

Despite this progress, Prime Minister Narendra Modis Hindu nationalist government resisted the legal recognition of same-sex marriage and rejected several petitions in favor. Some religious groups, too, had opposed same-sex unions, saying they went against Indian culture.

Homosexuality has long carried a stigma in Indias traditional society, even though there has been a shift in attitudes toward same-sex couples in recent years. India now has openly gay celebrities and some high-profile Bollywood films have dealt with gay issues.

According to a Pew survey, acceptance of homosexuality in India increased by 22 percentage points to 37% between 2013 and 2019. But same-sex couples often face harassment in many Indian communities, whether Hindu, Muslim or Christian.

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Irregular meals, benches as beds. As freed hostages return to Israel, details of captivity emerge

Details about the conditions of the released hostages' captivity in Gaza are emerging through stories their family members are telling
Do you want to visit a WA state park for free? Here are 12 days that you can in 2024
Redistricting was meant to boost Pasco Latino voices. Some wonder why they lost ground
Kili is on a mission at Mool-Mool, or Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, outside of White Swan near Yakima.

A palomino-colored yellow Lab, Kili nearly disappears amid the bleached rye and bunchgrass. Hes looking for human remains, some possibly thousands of years old.

When he finds something interesting, he lies down and barks.

This is Kilis job. He has been trained for years by his owner and handler, Suzanne Elshult.

He is a historical human remains detection dog and hes also certified as a crime scene human remains detection dog, Elshult said. This is the work he does. This is what he lives for.

Elshult and Kili specialize in buried-cold cases and finding historical remains. She said when humans decompose they leave behind hundreds of different compounds that her specially-trained Kili can sniff.

Essentially what they are alerting on is the volatile organic compounds that they have been trained to, the odor of human remains, she said.

Kili is searching for Yakama Nation dead. The remains that could be found here might include some from when this site was a long-inhabited village thousands of years ago, from those killed during the Yakama War in the 1850s and even the remains of children from when this area was turned into a Native American boarding school from 1860 to 1920.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has been heading an initiative to uncover unmarked graves and hidden history at boarding schools across the nation since June of 2021. Members of the Yakama Nation also started their research work about the same time and their work continues now. To date, this volunteer project at Fort Simcoe hasn't received any federal funding.

Among the volunteers is Emily Washines, a member of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and a historian.

There are definitely a lot of layers that come with these types of projects and work, Washines said.

Washines helps find missing and murdered Indigenous people through a podcast, historical work and volunteering on the recent search at Fort Simcoe to find the dead.

There are definitely emotions that come about with trying to find answers to this kind of historical trauma and things that have taken place or possibly taken place here, Washines said.

On this warm fall day, Washines stood in the shade of an oak tree laced at the very fringe with golden leaves. This place was known as Mool-Mool when it was a natural springs, a village site and a meeting place for well-established trails, like the eel trail that runs down to the Columbia River, near whats now Dallesport, Wash. The trail is named for the lamprey that are caught in the Columbia River and tributaries. Then came the fort, which served as a military post, and in 1860 the federal government established Fort Simcoe Indian Boarding School at the site.

So, basically, some of the places that they were bringing our people to be hung, now they were bringing our kids right next to that area and telling our kids how to be educated. How to not speak their language to survive, Washines said.

The school was built before the infamous Carlisle boarding school in Pennsylvania.

To calm herself and to protect herself from this heavy work of searching for her ancestors, Washines uses wild rosewater.

If you look at our cradle boards of infants  the hoop that goes over their heads is traditionally made of wild rose, Washines said. So, we believe it has a protection that is from infancy to death.

High-tech mapping

At Fort Simcoe Historical State Park, the volunteer team is also using laptops, mapping tools and ground-penetrating radar to find potential burials.

Under a park shed, with a remote Wi-Fi setup, a laptop and cables strung across the grass is Guy Mansfield, a co-founder of the Washington State Search And Rescue Planning Unit. It is a group of about 20 volunteers who are based in Puget Sound. He is working with a team of handlers and specially-trained dogs.

Cause the search dogs have a relatively little amount of nose time, it's really important for us to carefully prioritize where we assign them, Mansfield said.

His computer can track the dogs using their radio collars and draw probability maps of where bodies might be buried in this 200-acre area.

So, an example of the factors could be proximity to the old boarding school dormitories, Mansfield said. Another factor might be where theres already been a previous unmarked burial found.

Research is ongoing into how many children may have died at Fort Simcoes boarding school. Washines said there are some inaccuracies in the written record about where and how people were buried. The research is complex, and historical records are often sketchy, she said. For example, some people were recorded as being buried in Fort Simcoes cemetery but were actually buried at another site in White Swan, she said.

Personal history

Jon Shellenberger, an archaeologist and member of the Yakama Nation and also Washines husband, measures out a grid before working a ground-penetrating radar machine, or GPR, at Fort Simcoe. Shellenberger is leading this effort at the site.

Shellenberger has been a part of hundreds of archaeological surveys and has taught at Central Washington University.

Once the grid is laid, Shellenbergers research assistant, Shane Turntoes-Kuhnhenn, pushes the GPR machine back and forth across the grass in narrow swaths like a lawn mower. The machine sort of looks like a baby jogger with a small digital screen.

In this vast grassland, there is a prominent stone monument surrounded by a fence. Its a large white obelisk.

Shellenberger said his own familys history with this village, fort and boarding school site makes this work especially meaningful for him. His own great-great-great-grandfather, Nathan Olney, who died in the late 1860s, was a sub-Indian agent for the Oregon Territory. The monument is Olneys  and much of the visible markers and buildings are all of white settlers or the federal governments footprint on the site. Much of the Native American history here has been stamped over. Shellenbergers great-great-great-grandmother Ehatinsh James was a member of the Skinpah tribe near the north side of Celilo Falls on the Columbia River, Shellenberger said.

He said some questions about this place, and the dead it hides, might outlive him.

If theres a moment our people are waiting for, in this big moment where everything will change, and everything will go back to normal or everything will be better  thats never going to come when it comes to boarding schools, Shellenberger said.

Surveys of Fort Simcoe will be done through next spring. Eventually, after more than another year of further research, any data or knowledge of found remains will be brought to Yakama Nations tribal council for review. The remains may be left to rest where they are and the council may choose no action as the best course forward. The council may also not choose to inform anyone of their ultimate decision. Washines echoes her husbands sentiments.

This work will continue probably beyond my lifetime, is a point I had to get to, Washines said. And upon a lot of reflection and prayer and what really helped me in that moment is, I thought, we and others that work on this are exactly who our ancestors prayed for. To one day help solve and bring to light some of the atrocities and horrible things that happened.

Washines and Shellenberger said the Yakama Nation wants to honor their dead and give them peace and closure, whatever is decided.
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Writers are limited to one published letter per calendar month.
Pope Francis smiles as he waves faithful at the end of his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023.

Pope Francis went to the hospital Saturday for tests after he came down with the flu, but the results ruled out any respiratory problems, the Vatican said.

Francis, who had part of one lung removed as a young man, underwent a CAT scan, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.

The test at Romes Gemelli hospital, where Francis was treated for a respiratory infection earlier this year, was done to rule out any possible respiratory problems and came back negative, Bruni said in a statement.

Earlier Saturday, the Vatican said the pope had canceled his audiences because of the flu.

Francis is due to travel on Friday to Dubai for the COP28 conference on climate change. Bruni provided no information about any change in his plans and the Vatican on Saturday gave new details about his itinerary, suggesting the trip was still on.

Francis, who will turn 87 next month, spent three days at Gemelli in April for what the Vatican said was bronchitis after he had trouble breathing. He was discharged after receiving intravenous antibiotics.

Francis spent 10 days at the same hospital in July 2021 following intestinal surgery for a bowel narrowing. He was readmitted in June of this year for an operation to repair an abdominal hernia and remove scarring from previous surgeries.

When asked about his health in a recent interview, Francis quipped in reply what has become his standard line  Still alive, you know.

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Prietenul elevei care l-a injunghiat pe un pedagog la Oradea a fost retinut de procurori

Procurorii Parchetului de pe langa Judecatoria Oradea au hotarat sa-l retina, pentru 24 de ore, pe prietenul elevei de 15 ani, de la Colegiul tehnic Traian Vuia, care l-a injunghiat cu un cutit pe un pedagog. [citeste mai departe]
In a city known for its excesses, whether reaching toward the sky with the worlds tallest building or hard partying at its beach resorts and bars, Dubai has pulled off another record-breaking feat in the rolling dunes of its desert outskirts.

Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, named for the ruling sheikh of Dubai, stretches across some 122 square kilometers (47 square miles) and represents a pledge of billions of dollars by this city-state to reach its goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. Its a solar-paneled gamble in a city where casinos have yet to arrive  though it always seems to be betting big no matter the risk.

Rising rapidly from a creek-bound pearling village to a city associated with international glamor, Dubai has a long history of finding economic success amid the war-ravaged woes of the wider Middle East. Its ruling family likely views the upcoming United Nations COP28 climate talks as another such opportunity, though it carries the significant peril of becoming synonymous with a collapse in negotiations on limiting greenhouse emissions, or being overshadowed by the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

Theres a risk of reputational damage to the UAE if they fail to make any traction in the talks, particularly as they are a major oil producer, said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a research fellow at Rice Universitys Baker Institute who has long studied the region.

There is also a risk that media and civil society coverage will focus critically on issues such as the UAEs planned expansion of oil production capacity and depict the UAE as part of the part of the problem rather than the solution in terms of climate politics, Ulrichsen added.

From mud walls to steel and glass

Given the futuristic skyline of downtown Dubai  and how it gleams at night as one side of the Burj Khalifa lights up with a massive 770-meter (2,525-foot) LED display  it can be easy to forget that the city only received its first electrical generator in 1952. Before that, only candles and kerosene lamps lit the night along its eponymous Dubai Creek, where the village first grew.

Oil, first discovered offshore of Dubai in 1966, was never at the levels found in the sands and waters of Abu Dhabi, which would become the capital of the United Arab Emirates when the country formed in 1971. Dubai instead used the oil as seed money for massive infrastructure projects that seemed to strike at just the right moment as the UAE grew into a home for some 9.3 million people  only 10% of them Emirati and the rest foreign workers and their families.

The massive Jebel Ali Port, the U.S. Navys busiest port of call outside of the United States, is the worlds largest human-made harbor. It opened in 1979, just ahead of the Iran-Iraq War. Many ships damaged in that conflict ended up dry-docking at Jebel Ali for repairs, bringing money to the area.

That money also built the Dubai World Trade Center, which in 1979 stood out as the sole high-rise in a desert expansive. Today, it is dwarfed by all the towers that followed, fueled by a boom in the citys real estate market that came with a 2002 decision to allow foreigners to own property.

That decision came after the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan started, and just before the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq. Dubai became a safe harbor for people with the means to flee the conflicts  as well as those needing to park tens of millions of dollars in suspected ill-gotten gains, once again leading to major investments. That has continued with Russias war on Ukraine, with Russian investors injecting cash into Dubai real estate projects.

While benefiting during crises, the Emirates  a federation of seven sheikhdoms  waged a war on Yemen that saw its soldiers and allies criticized for indiscriminate strikes and abuses on the battlefield. The UAE also has ties to leaders who are viewed with great skepticism or, at the worst, targeted with financial sanctions in the West. They include Libyan military commander Khalifa Hifter and Sudans Rapid Support Forces leader Gen. Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, who wages a civil war in Sudan with forces the State Department says have committed conflict-related sexual violence and killings.

One of the likely goals of UAEs hosting of COP28 is reputation laundering, said Jodi Vittori, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who has written extensively on Dubai being a money-laundering haven. By hosting COP28, UAE can move the media headlines from their support for the murderous RSF in Sudan and facilitation of Russian sanctions busting to their supposed support of green causes.

In response to questions from The Associated Press about criticism over its foreign policy and other issues, the Emirati government said that the UAE is deeply committed to human rights and building upon its steady progress in this field.

As the host of COP28, the UAE will welcome constructive dialogue and continue to work with international partners and stakeholders to deliver impactful results, the statement said. Climate change is a global problem that demands a collective effort, and this significant, momentous event will be a conference of action.

Going green while pumping more oil

Generators have powered Dubais growth for decades, first by noisy diesel units and later through natural gas plants that still provide the bulk of Dubais power for its skyscrapers and crucial desalination plants to provide water. The gas comes from both Abu Dhabi and nearby Qatar.

But in recent years, Dubai has started to focus on renewable energy  despite a moment where it appeared it would launch a coal-fired power plant before switching it to use natural gas instead as its hosting of COP28 loomed.

The jewel of Dubais clean energy efforts is Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, some 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the citys downtown. There, solar panels stretch far into the distance, taking in the rays in a country that sees, on average, 10 hours of sunlight 350 days a year.

Towering over everything in the distance is the worlds tallest solar tower at some 260 meters (850 feet). It collects the light off of 70,000 reflectors to boil salt to run an electricity-generating turbine.

In the sparse surroundings of the desert, where camels freely roam, the glowing tower appears otherworldly over the dunes.

Dubai spent billions of dollars on the plant, which involves businesses from China, Saudi Arabia and other countries. By 2030, the city hopes to get 5 gigawatts of electricity from the plant, which could power some 1.3 million homes based on U.S. averages. These days, peak demand in the city-state is nearly 10 gigawatts, according to the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority, its sole utility provider.

Overall, the Emirates says it plans to be carbon neutral by 2050. While not specifically outlining plans to achieve the goal, projects like the solar park and Abu Dhabis Barakah nuclear power plant, the first on the Arabian Peninsula, aim to make generating electricity a green endeavor.

But reporting on these projects is difficult in the Emirates, where speech remains tightly controlled. Authorities have not responded to multiple requests for AP journalists to visit the solar plant. Requests to see the countrys four-reactor nuclear power plant have been pending for years.

On top of all that, while the UAE pledges to zero out its own emissions, its also planning to ramp up oil production.

A member of OPEC, the UAE produces some 4 million barrels of crude oil a day. In the coming years, it aims to produce 5 million barrels a day, fuel that will be exported, used by other countries and contribute to climate change.

Those plans have sparked criticism by activists ahead of COP28, with most aimed particularly at the upcoming talks president-designate, the oil company chief Sultan al-Jaber.

The UAE must end its greenwashing campaign, abandon its plans to dramatically increase state oil and gas production and rectify the profound conflict of interest created by al-Jabers appointment, more than 200 groups said in a joint letter in September.

Al-Jaber, who also has led billions of dollars in Emirati investments in renewable energy, has dismissed criticism from those who just go on the attack without knowing anything, without knowing who we are.

The U.S. has backed al-Jabers appointment, with the White Houses top energy envoy praising the Emirati strategy of bringing activists and the oil industry to COP28.

I think that the COP28 being hosted here in this region in an oil-producing country gives us moment of opportunity of bringing together the fossil fuel industry and climate advocates to say, How do we work together? American envoy Amos Hochstein said at a summit in Bahrain last week.

Worlds fair site to again host the globe

Dubais $7-billion Expo City, built for the 2020 world fair that was delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic, will host the upcoming climate talks. In recent weeks, hard-hatted workers have been preparing the site in Dubais far southern reaches for the event. Its exhibition center will host the talks, with the site divided into one secure side for delegates and another, more open site for advocates, business interests and others.

The decision to host the conference at Expo City in Dubai is designed to keep Dubai firmly on the world stage and to bolster its credentials as a hub for soft power and aspirational appeal, Ulrichsen said. Expo 2020  was supposed to symbolize Dubais reemergence from the global financial crisis a decade earlier.

In the time since the Expo, Dubai has pivoted to offering the site as a new real estate development, something that will be advertised during the climate talks. One official email from the site about the talks included a link offering spacious and secluded four-and five-bed semi-detached homes for sale, beginning at $1.6 million.

But the selection of Expo City also raises questions about Dubais reliance on low-paid foreign workers in its construction boom. Many from Asian and African nations travel to the Emirates to work in jobs to send money back home. However, some find themselves trapped by abusive employers.

The Expo site work saw at least three workers killed and some 200,000 laborers exposed to high heat and potentially exploitative labor practices ahead of the worlds fair. Those labor abuses continue at Expo City, renewable energy projects and elsewhere in the Emirates, according to Equidem, a labor advocacy group.

African and Asian workers  are doubly impacted by the global climate crisis  they migrate in response to climate impacts and find employment in exploitative industrial and service contexts where they work long hours in extreme heat, Equidem said.

While the Expo didnt draw all the worlds biggest names, the climate conference already has King Charles and Pope Francis confirming theyll attend, along with other world leaders. That makes it an opportunity for Dubai, as well as a risk given the wider regional tensions over the Israel-Hamas war.

Already, a water-and-energy deal signed between the Emirates, Jordan and Israel during the Expo has collapsed due to the war.

Meanwhile, the UAE has pledged to allow protests at the summit. The Emirati government told the AP that participants can assemble peacefully and have their voices heard in designated areas in both the Blue and Green Zones of the venue. The Green Zone will be accessible to the general public under Emirati control, while the Blue Zone will be the site of formal negotiations, an area governed by the U.N.

We invite all participants to express their opinions in a positive and constructive manner, sharing solutions to address the climate crisis, the government said.

That promised openness adds to the challenge ahead for the Emirates, where political parties and unions remain illegal and protests are rare, given the threat of arrest.

Theres a hypocrisy of having a host that outright forbids and stringently represses human rights, civil society, free speech and political activity amongst its own citizens and residents, Vittori said.

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27 noiembrie 2023



Comunicat de presa

Participarea ministrului afacerilor externe Luminita Odobescu la Seminarul privind Uniunea Europeana si politica de extindere



Ministrul afacerilor externe Luminita Odobescu a participat luni, 27 noiembrie 2023, la deschiderea seminarului privind Uniunea Europeana si politica de extindere, cu titlul Necessary And (Im)Possible: What The Eu Really Thinks About Enlargement, eveniment organizat de think-tank-urile European Council for Foreign Relations si GlobalFocus Center, cu sprijinul Ministerului Afacerilor Externe.In interventia sa, ministrul afacerilor externe a prezentat pozitia Romaniei, de sustinere a procesului de extindere a Uniunii Europene, cu precadere in contextul actual marcat de crize suprapuse atat in plan regional cat si international. In context, a evidentiat faptul ca procesul de extindere reprezinta o investitie geostrategica pentru mentinerea si dezvoltarea pacii, stabilitatii si prosperitatii in Europa valorilor democratice comune.Seful diplomatiei romane a subliniat, totodata, pozitia Romaniei favorabila continuarii accelerate a procesului de extindere a UE, bazat pe meritele proprii ale candidatilor, in paralel cu procesul institutional intern necesar pentru a pregati Uniunea sa primeasca noi membri.In context, ministrul Luminita Odobescu a reiterat sprijinul pentru adoptarea, pana la finalul acestui an, a deciziilor necesare deschiderii negocierilor de aderare cu Ucraina si Republica Moldova, in conformitate cu realizarile remarcabile ale celor doi candidati recunoscute de catre Comisia Europeana prin evaluarile pozitive publicate la 8 noiembrie 2023.Totodata, seful diplomatiei romane a reiterat sprijinul pentru avansarea parcursului european al Balcanilor de Vest, in conformitate cu metodologia extinderii, precum si necesitatea ca optiunea pro-europeana strategica a partenerilor din Balcanii de Vest sa fie asumata de acestia in baza promovarii si aplicarii valorilor europene, cu precadere in contextul amenintarilor asimetrice la adresa regiunii, ca efect al agresiunii Rusiei impotriva Ucrainei.Redam, mai jos, transcriptul discursului sustinut de ministrul afacerilor externe Luminita Odobescu in deschiderea evenimentului:Good morning,Your Excellencies,Distinguished guests,Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, dear colleagues,It gives me a great pleasure to address this distinguished audience on such a timely and challenging topic as the EU Enlargement.I thank the European Council for Foreign Relations and Global Focus for their active engagement in the current debates. The stakeholders, academia, civil society, think-tanks and policy-makers are our partners in finding the most appropriate solutions to be able to advance enlargement, in difficult times. And special thanks to the National Bank of Romania for this beautiful location.Ever since Russia launched its brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, the world has ceased to be a safe place. We also witnessed the Middle East rising conflict and worrying humanitarian situation on the ground. Insecurity, radicalism, migration, the economic situation, climate change are all interconnected. All these bring their fair share of challenges to us.All these overlapping crises lead us to only one conclusion: we all need to remain focused and united towards preserving stability, security, our freedoms and our long standing set of values and principles.The European perspective of both the Western Balkans and of our Eastern partners is the only sound option for long-term peace, stability and prosperity. I believe that nobody should be left behind. Neither the Western Balkans countries nor our Eastern partners, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Georgia.We cannot afford to leave them in the sphere of aggressive actors, particularly now, when democracy is on edge and security in the region is very fragile.Dear colleagues,Against the backdrop of the ongoing military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, in the strategic neighbourhood of the EU, a strong common understanding inside the Union took shape: EU enlargement should be re-dynamized as a strong part of the EU tool-box to properly answer unprecedented and dramatic geopolitical developments.Together, we have come to restate that enlargement is a geostrategic investment in peace, stability and prosperity.This message was unequivocally sent by the European leaders in Granada, as well as by the European Commission in the latest Enlargement Package, a historic moment, as the first such package to include an evaluation for our three Eastern Partners  Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia  which last year embarked upon a European membership path.It is the same message that is being relayed to our partners in the Western Balkans, as well  they belong to the European family.In this context, the recent Enlargement Package as a whole is a key input to the advancement of the enlargement policy, based on the candidates merits, while the individual country reports offer to each enlargement partner the necessary guidance on the priorities of actions for the short and medium term future.Granted, we all know that EU membership does not happen overnight, but for instance, the progress achieved by Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova since the submission of their respective applications has been remarkable  especially during a time of full-blown war, with particularly dramatic consequences.Romania, you all know, pays a special attention to the European perspective of Western Balkans region as well.I recently completed a three days visit to the Western Balkans, covering Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro.I was there not only to reiterate our strong support for their European path, but also to put forward further concrete proposals from our side, with the view of securing solid and irreversible achievements in many accession negotiation areas, decisive for meeting the requirements of EU membership.I was extremely pleased to see that my interlocutors from all three capitals expressed a firm commitment to their European future. They reiterated their political willingness to continue to implement the necessary benchmarks, paying attention also to the quality and sustainability of the reforms. At the same time, they expressed their hope for a strong and visible political message from the EU and member states, in recognition of their efforts.The main message I conveyed to them was that, despite the inherent frustration and difficulties along the way, the European path is worth every effort. At the end of the day, this process of EU integration has transformative power across their entire societies and its concrete benefits will soon start being felt by every citizens. And for that, we all need to do more for a proactive and positive communication to the public opinion in the Western Balkans that is necessary in order to maintain the citizens support for the European integraton process. To do so, we should also continue to use the various fora of regional and sub-regional cooperation in order to deploy an integrated set of political, economic and operational instruments in support of the Western Balkans.Dear friends,A few remarks on the various aspects of the current debate on the future of Europe, enlargement and institutional matters:Firstly, in December, we need to act courageously and take the political decisions our partners expect. Then engage without hesitation in a difficult process that will remain rules and merits based throughout.We are not talking in terms of geopolitical versus merits. Is is true that the geopolitical arguments in favor of enlargement are even stronger today than they were 20 years ago. But enlargement is not only about geopolitics. Our Union is, first and foremost, a community of shared values, principles and norms. Political will, European strategic orientation and assuming EU values is even more relevant today, as new challenges have emerged.Secondly, on a wider note, this debate is neither about enlargement versus EU internal track. We see them as complementary.We see EU enlargement and the debate on institutional reforms as parallel processes. We pursue to make our Union stronger. Enlargement and reform can and should advance without preconditions, at their own pace, following their own mechanisms and rules. Both processes  enlargement and enhancing the EUs capacity to act  are poised to make our Union a more relevant and geopolitical actor, both in our strategic neighbourhood and on the world stage.Thirdly, enlargement is a process beneficial to the EU and its current member states. As such, I am confident that an enlarged EU has the potential to be a stronger and more relevant actor on the global world.It is true that these are complicated times we live in. But we should stand our ground. EU citizens and citizens of our enlargement partners expect us to act in a resolute manner to respond to their main concerns. On enlargement per se and on many other instances, we need to show them that we are ready to move from declarative approaches to real work and decisions for the benefit of the Union and our like-minded partners  and this is what we need to do.This is why Romania firmly supports adopting in December the decision for the opening of the accession negotiations with R. Moldova and Ukraine. We also consider that Georgia should continue to enjoy our support in order to advance on its European path, and at the same time we fully support advances of the European path of our Western Balkans partners.These reflections are anything but easy. They require thorough analysis  so, the more we engage in looking at all the relevant dimensions, the better we will be equipped to understand and internalise both the opportunities and the challenges that emerge. But forging a common understanding on all the complex topics on our agenda and reaching common decisions will benefit us all.We are ready to do so, to help and assist all our partners in the neighborhood, by all available methods, in order to achieve our common goal: a 30+ stronger and more prosperous European Union for the generations to come.
Opposition party Momentum and womens NGOs held a commemoration in front of the prime ministers office in Budapest on Saturday marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women.

Opposition MEP Katalin Cseh asked the government to launch a campaign to draw attention to this serious problem, noting that on average one woman per week dies in Hungary due to a violent crime.



Momentum head Ferenc Gelencser, and MPs Anna Orosz and Eva Sebok also spoke at the commemoration, saying they had submitted two resolution proposals to Parliament for the protection of women.



The proposals ask the government to take decisive and effective action against forms of violence that typically or exclusively affect women. In response to the commemoration, the Government Information Centre (KTK) said violence against women is on the rise due to the pro-immigration policies of Brussels and the parties on the left.



KTK said in a statement that today those are demonstrating in front of the Carmelite Monastery, who vote for everything in Brussels to flood Europe with migrants, and added that Cseh herself supported all proposals from Brussels to settle migrants. KTK said in Europe, Hungary is the only country where people are asked what they think about Brussels pro-immigration policy and the fact that they want to create migrant ghettos in our country as well.



Fidesz MEP Calls for Standing Up for Abused Women



Fidesz MEP Livia Jaroka has called for paying increased attention to violence against women and helping the victims in the European Union through comprehensive regulations and national programmes.



Jaroka submitted written remarks to an EP session commemorating the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, to which United Nations dedicated November 25 in 1999.



Jaroka said instead of empty words and forcing the ratification of the failed Istanbul Convention, central and regional programmes and united social actions were needed for preventing violence against women.



One in three women has experienced physical and/or sexual violence since the age of 15. This figure is estimated to be double that among Roma women and girls.



Jaroka welcomed Hungary and Czechias decision not to ratify the convention, arguing that those countries could now create strong national guarantees for the protection of womens rights and dignity.
A few weeks ago, the firing of a department head at Corvinus University of Budapest caused a stir in Hungary: the professor had previously reported and initiated an ethics investigation regarding an influential familys child finishing the semester in spite of not fulfilling the semester requirements.

While in Slovakia, several prominent police investigators, protected by whistleblower status, were dismissed by the new government in complete disregard of the law. These are just a few recent cases drawing attention to the legal security of whistleblowers in Central Europe.



People who report unlawful activities and abuse of law, such as corruption, fraud, and business malpractice in their workplace or to authorities or disclose it to the public, deserve legal protection as they help detect threats or harm to the public interest.



The European Union has developed a common framework for the protection of whistleblowers and introduced a directive in 2019. Although the directive has generally been transposed in most of EU countries by now, national regulations and practical experiences are diverse throughout the region. As a consequence, whistleblowers are often discouraged from reporting their concerns for fear of retaliation.



Better keep your head down or you may be called a dirty prostitute

In a recent Romanian case, Mara Paraipan, a former Ministry of Transport official, was demoted following her complaint to the countrys National Anticorruption Directorate. As Context.ro revealed, she reported that her superiors asked her to approve funding for infrastructure projects that would have defrauded taxpayers of millions.



She told Context that her superior put pressure on her, but she resisted as her conscience doesnt allow for her to overlook how public money was spent. In March 2023, she was transferred to an inferior position and department. In an attempt to regain her old position, Paraipan filed two lawsuits against the ministry.



She lost both, although the court did determine that her superiors actions against her represented an act of retaliation. Paraipan appealed both rulings. When asked about the matter, representatives from the Ministry of Transport stated that she should have kept her head down and refrained from asking any questions. Paraipan appealed both rulings.



In Slovakia, two employees of the Foreign Ministry, Zuzana Hlavkova and Pavol Szalai, brought to light suspicious orders made during the Slovak presidency in the Council of the European Union in 2016. They faced serious consequences as they had to leave their jobs, and the case never led anywhere. This was the case where then-PM Robert Fico attacked journalists covering the case, calling them dirty anti-Slovak prostitutes.



The Whistleblower Protection Office was established in Slovakia in 2021, with the aim of providing protection in cases such as those above. If a person contacts the office, he/she can be granted the status of a whistleblower (in the Slovak language this is translated as the one who reports on anti-social behaviours).



A person with this status cannot be fired now and his/hers job description and details cannot be changed by the employer, without explicit consent from the Office.



However, representatives of the state recently showed the public what they think about these lines in the law. Several police investigators around Jan Curilla, who have in the past several years worked on the most explosive cases of corruption and organized crime with links to the previous Fico governments, have been previously granted the status of whistleblowers by the Office, as they faced backlash from within the law enforcement agencies and they reported on the crimes from within.



The same was true for Peter Juhas, a policeman who previously led the team that investigated the Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova murder case and who, until November 6th, led the police inspection  the unit responsible for investigating the crimes of other policemen.



Despite this, the new Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok suspended the investigators around Jan Curilla and replaced Peter Juhas. The lawyers of Jan Curilla claimed the suspension is not valid as the Whistleblower Protection Office was not even consulted.



The Whistleblower Protection Office claims any acts against protected whistleblowers without its agreement are invalid by law, pointing out that the Minister even proceeded against the methodological guidelines of the Ministry of the Interior itself, and threatens the ministry with a high fine.



The investigators were unable to enter their workplace when they tried to continue the work. But in two cases courts dismissed the suspension of the investigators, due to the whistleblowers protection status and issued precautionary measure that two of the investigators has to be allowed back to work. Ministry of interior informed that it will file appeal to the second instance court.



Paper rights

The EU Whistleblower Directive refers primarily to a work-related context: the directive protects persons working in the private or public sector who acquired information on breaches in a work-related context, including employees, their colleagues, shareholders, administrative, management or supervisory body, volunteers, trainees and persons working for subcontractors.



The Directive defines the framework for setting up easily accessible reporting channels, underlines the obligation to maintain confidentiality and the prohibition of retaliation against whistleblowers, and establishes targeted protection measures.



Member states had until the end of 2021 to transpose the directive into their national laws. However, several failed the deadline. In January 2022, the Commission sent letters of formal notice to 24 Member States, then later during the year sent reasoned opinions to 19 Member States (among others Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia, Romania) for not fully transposing the regulation.



Finally, in February 2023, the European Commission decided to refer Czechia, Hungary, and Poland (among other member states) to the Court of Justice for failure to transpose the directive.



The Hungarian Parliament adopted the Whistleblowing Act in May 2023; in the Czech Republic, the Whistleblower Protection Act came into force in June 2023. In Poland, although initial work on the legislation began two years ago, the bill, which has been changed several times, has still not passed all the required consultations, nor has it received final approval from the chancellery.



In Bulgaria, the National Assembly of Parliament formally adopted legislation transposing the EU Directive in January 2023, which was then enacted. In fact, this law was part of the anticorruption package required by Brussels to free the billions allocated to Bulgaria for the Resiliation and Reconstruction Plan.



Although Slovakia was one of the first European countries to have protection for whistleblowers enshrined in law in 2015, the amendment to the law in accordance with the wording of the EU directive was only approved in May 2023.



Romania already had a dedicated whistleblowing law for public servants and several sectoral-based protections. The legislation that adopted the EU Directive passed in June 2022.



What is regulated?

According to the Directive, organizations must implement internal reporting channels that provide for anonymous reporting if this is allowed under national legislation, protect the identity of the reporter and parties mentioned in a report, and is not accessible to non-authorized staff members.



Such reporting channels should allow reports to be made orally or in writing. Organizations must also appoint a dedicated person or department to handle incoming reports. It applies to companies in the private and public sector with 50 or more workers, and all public institutions.



In Hungary, municipalities with a population below 10,000 are exempt from setting up such a system, but entities subject to the anti-money laundering law, such as financial institutions, accountants, auditors, and law firms, are included even if they employ fewer than 50 people.



In Bulgaria, the Commission for Protection of Personal Information is the body designated to collect reports from whistleblowers and dispatch them to the competent authorities  ministries, commissions, agencies, and law enforcement bodies.



In Hungary, reports can be made either anonymously or under the whistleblowers name. In the Czech Republic, anonymous reporting is also permitted and protected, but in a more narrow sense. In other countries, however, e.g. Romania, and Bulgaria, reporting anonymously is restricted.



In Romania, whistleblowers are required to first report internally to the relevant institution or to the National Integrity Agency before going to the press.



The Directive also sets requirements regarding protective measures concerning the reporter and other individuals involved in the report, such as the accused. The Whistleblower Directive explicitly states that the whistleblower cannot face negative consequences because of their report, e.g. the termination of employment, reduction of wages, any kind of discrimination, intimidation, withholding training, cancellation of a license etc.



In Hungary, if such violations do occur, and the employee takes legal action, it is the employers obligation to prove before the court that the measures were not taken because of the report. The Czech Republic only allows the whistleblower to seek adequate compensation in court if he or she has suffered non-pecuniary damage as a result of the retaliatory measure following his or her notification.



It is up to each member state to define how the reporting channels will be established, provided that protections to ensure confidentiality and anonymity are incorporated. The Directive obliges member states to impose effective and proportionate sanctions on companies and public bodies that do not adhere to the reporting system, including failing to maintain the confidentiality of whistleblowers and hindering attempts to report breaches.



Whistleblowers are critical for journalists

Central European investigative outlets agree that whistleblowers and confidential sources significantly help them in finding important stories, and all have several examples where a source provided invaluable help.



In 2021, the Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak received information that as much as 24 million euros, which were meant to help alleviate pressure on employers during the Covid-19 pandemic, might have ended up in shell companies. After investigating the case, we indeed found out millions did not help employers retain employees but rather ended up on the accounts of shell companies owned by imaginary foreign owners with zero actual employees.



The case is being investigated to this day; several state employees from the local Bureau of Labour who approved the payments were charged, as well as several people who were identified by police as the members and leaders of the criminal group that misappropriated and laundered these stolen millions.



Atlatszo was informed about two illegal waste storages this year by external sources: in the outskirts of the village of Abasar, behind a former army barracks, about a thousand barrels of battery waste is stored in a hall.



In the building, without fire protection, are not only barrels full of battery cells but also a large amount of scrap metal from the Samsung battery factory.



In another village, Iklad, huge quantities of battery cells are stored in an abandoned industrial site, where otherwise only plastic, rubber, and textile waste would be stored. Barrels of discarded batteries and bags covered in black dust with Korean writing are piled up in the halls of the plant. The buildings at both sites have an extremely strong chemical smell.



Investigace.cz revealed that Andrej Babis, Czech Prime Minister, sent almost CZK 400 million through his offshore companies, which he then used to buy real estate on the French Riviera, including the Chateau Bigaud. According to experts, this operation bore the hallmarks of money laundering. The covert operation came to light years later thanks to leaked documents from the Panamanian law firm Alcogal, obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (Pandora Papers).



VSquare investigated a troll farm for six months in 2020 and learned that the troll action was aimed at undermining the governments sugar tax project and promoted a campaign prepared for Coca-Cola by a PR company.



Had it not been for information from a whistleblower who knew the behind-the-scenes operation of the farm, the material would never have been written. It was his information that gave rise to the journalistic investigation and became the basis for the article.



Sometimes, the police make you famous

Investigative outlets in the region receive leaks on a regular basis: some of them receive tips a couple of times a week, while other may recieve them once every three months.



However, only a few eventually become whistleblowers  claims Konrad Szczygie, journalist from frontstory.pl and vsquare.org.  This is due to the nature of the information provided  often, the information provided by whistleblowers is insufficient to base an article on and involves issues where it is impossible to find additional sources to confirm the sources account.



An additional difficulty is that the person providing the information often stops after a single interaction and does not give journalists the opportunity to find out additional details that may be relevant to the case.



Tomas Madlenak from the Investigative Center of Jan Kuciak says, The biggest issue is that very seldom are these people willing to go on record, so we cannot speak of them as about whistleblowers in the narrow sense, but rather as confidential sources. That means their information needs to be verified and then we protect their anonymity with a great deal of effort. He says it has not happened to them that they were required by any authorities to reveal their sources.



As he said, in Slovakia, journalists do have a right to protect their sources, even during criminal proceedings and testimonies. Therefore the authorities do not even try to pry this kind of information from journalists.



Attila Biro (context.ro) has a different experience: I have encountered a situation where a public institution refused to give me access to public documents and demanded that I disclose the identity of a whistleblower who provided me with information. I did not reveal the whistleblowers identity. Such practices are not uncommon in Romania, where authorities often seek to uncover the identities of those who expose wrongdoing.



We have had a few requests to provide the documents from Pandora Papers says Zuzana Sotova (investigace.cz)  but since they are not ours to give, we just instructed the people asking to go to International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. In any case, source protection is defined by law in the Czech Republic, so we dont have to provide any information unless a court orders us to do so.



Atlatszo in Hungary, actually became well known due to a case when police demanded the editor-in-chief disclose the identity of an informant back in 2011.



Tamas Bodoky remembers he was visited by the Budapest Police Headquarters organized crime department without announcement right after he established Atlatszo and was summoned to a hearing as a witness because of an article about a hacker case.



Referring to the Hungarian law, the European Convention on Human Rights, and the practice of the European Court of Human Rights, he refused to reveal the source. Right after the case, we developed a proposal to modify the media law, and some months later, the government amended the law that resembled Atlatszos proposal.



They introduced that sources must be identified only if they could provide irreplaceable evidence in a crime investigation. At the end, it turned out as a successful story for us.



The European Commission is currently performing a conformity analysis of national whistleblower regulations and will provide an implementation report to the Council and the Parliament by the end of the year.



Source: Atlatszo.hu - republished with permission
Hungarys media and the issue of media freedom have been factually misrepresented by various international organisations and their biased and methodologically flawed reports, Hungarys media authority NMHH said.

NMHH welcomed in a statement all initiatives to assess Hungarian media freedom but said that professional and methodological concerns had been raised in connection with several such reports and rankings.



A review of various international organisations reports since 2011 revealed that the rankings applied questionable methodologies and, in several instances, only a few experts had been interviewed, resulting in poorly founded arguments, while in many cases positive developments were left unmentioned, the NMHH said.



In several instances, the same comments were included in the various annual reports despite the fact that the figures had changed in the meantime, such as in a 2017 report of the EU-supported Media Pluralism Monitor showing 75% score for access to media for minorities as against 25% in the previous year, the statement said.



The 2021 Media Pluralism Monitor called Hungary to account regarding implementation of an EU regulation that was only approved in 2022, it added. A Freedom House report on media freedom in 2011 stated that the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information would restrict the freedom of information even before the authority was set up, the NMHH said.



It was also questionable whether groups of writers and experts involved in the preparation of reports were sufficiently diverse or balanced, the authority said. In several instances when it came to Media Pluralism Reports the writers were all from a single university department or news desk, while independent experts were not allowed to properly contribute to the final assessment.



Reports by Freedom House about the freedom of the internet were done by a single staff member of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union TASZ, which NMHH said was an organisation hardly known for its unbiased criticism of the government. Reporters Without Borders did not even offer any information about the writers of the reports, it added.



The NMHH report available on the organisations website lists further examples. The authority trusts that with its constructive critiscism, it will contribute to more professionally well-founded and balanced reports, better reflecting reality, to be published about Hungarys media situation in the future, it added.
In a landmark move, Noida International Airport (NIA) sealed a pivotal Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IndiGo. The collaboration designates IndiGo as the inaugural carrier for NIA, showcasing a firm commitment to fortify support for India's burgeoning aviation sector. The agreement outlines a strategic partnership between NIA and IndiGo, with a primary focus on enhancing air connectivity within Uttar Pradesh and extending beyond its borders. The synergy will foster the exploration of innovative concepts aimed at operational efficiency and an elevated customer experience. Addressing the occasion, Pieter Elbers, Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo, said that they are delighted to announce their partnership with Noida International Airport to become the launch carrier at this upcoming facility.

"As India's leading airline, IndiGo is committed to enhancing connectivity and facilitating seamless travel. Our operations at NIA will provide Uttar Pradesh residents with access to our extensive network. We eagerly anticipate the airport's inauguration in 2024 and will collaborate with NIA management to innovate and deliver an affordable, on-time, and hassle-free travel experience," he said.

Also Read - Vande Sadharan Express: Heres All About It - Design, Coaches, Routes, Top Speed, Features

Christoph Schnellmann, Chief Executive Officer of Noida International Airport, said that this MoU with IndiGo marks a significant step forward.

"The collaboration aims not only to strengthen air connectivity but also to innovate, ensuring an exceptional experience for our passengers. Leveraging IndiGo's expertise, we aspire to provide unparalleled connectivity and travel experiences," said Christoph Schnellmann.

The Noida International Airport's first phase is set to be operational by the close of 2024, featuring one runway and a terminal capable of handling 12 million passengers annually.

Upon completion of the fourth phase, the airport aims to accommodate a staggering 70 million passengers each year, solidifying its position as a major aviation hub.
New Delhi: From the powerful trailer of 'Sam Bahadur', we know that Vicky Kaushal has done a commendable job. The actor is all set to play the powerful character of the real-life hero , Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. However, Vicky Kaushal wasn't director Meghna Gulzar's first choice and it comes as a shock, right?

Recently, in an interview with ANI, the director admitted, Vicky wasn't my initial choice, I had worked with him in Raazi and knew his talent, but for this role, we needed someone who could portray Sam Bahadur's entire life, from a young soldier to a seasoned veteran. When I was working on this story, Vicky was not really in my mind because we had to show the journey from 20 years to 60 years. Because I had worked with Vicky in Raazi and I knew what a good actor he was, then we met, a lot of look tests were done, Vicky worked hard and the result is in front of you.

Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film is about the life of the enigamatic Sam Manekshaw who was the Chief of the Army Staff during the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971. Manekshaw was the first Indian Army Officer to become Field Marshal. Other than Vicky Kaushal, the film also stars Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh along with others in key roles. The much-awaited film is scheduled to hit the theatres on December 1.

However, the film is all set to clash with Ranbir Kapoor, Anil Kapoor, Bobby Deol, and Rashmika Mandanna-starrer 'Animal' which is helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga. While 'Sam Bahadur' is based on the life of the real-life hero, 'Animal' is a revenge drama described as a father-son bond carved in blood.

Meanwhile, 'Sam Bahadur' is Vicky Kaushal's third release in a year after 'Zara Hatke Zara Backe', and 'The Great Indian Family'.

Recently, actors Vicky Kaushal, and Sanya Malhotra along with director Meghna Gulzar sought blessings at the Golden Temple in Amritsar ahead of the release of their film 'Sam Bahadur'.
New Delhi: In the wake of the ongoing efforts to rescue 41 workers trapped in Uttarakhand's Silkyara tunnel in Uttarkashi, the Adani Group has released a statement vehemently denying any connection to the collapse of the tunnel.

In a press release, a spokesperson for the Adani Group stated, "It has come to our notice that some elements are making nefarious attempts to link us to the unfortunate collapse of a tunnel in Uttarakhand. We strongly condemn these attempts and those behind them. We clarify with utmost emphasis that the Adani Group or any of its subsidiaries has no direct or indirect involvement of any kind in the tunnels construction. We also clarify that we do not own or hold any shares in the company involved in the tunnels construction. At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with the trapped workers and their families." (Also Read: PPF: Rs 12,500 Per Month Investment Will Give Rs 2.27 CRORE Return In These Many Years)

The rescue operation, now in its 16th day, has faced numerous challenges. Initially employing a soft-cutting machine, the efforts progressed to the use of an American auger machine for drilling through the collapsed portion of the tunnel. (Also Read: Making UPI Payments Via Rupay Credit Cards? Here's Everything You Need To Know)

Unfortunately, both plans were unsuccessful, with the auger machine malfunctioning and becoming stuck, further complicating the rescue operation.

In response to these setbacks, the rescue team has shifted to a vertical drilling approach, having completed 30 meters of drilling as of the latest update. The expected completion date for this phase of the operation is November 30.

However, Lieutenant General (Retd.) Syed Ata Hasnain, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), has emphasized the challenges posed by the difficult geological terrain in Uttarakhand, making it impossible to provide a definitive estimation for the extraction time.

The families of the trapped workers and the local community anxiously await further developments as rescue teams navigate the complexities of the situation.
Tolentino holds Tagaytay tour for Asia-Pacific lawmakers

TAGAYTAY CITY -- Senator Francis "Tol" Tolentino conducted a warm welcome for parliamentarians from Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Mexico, South Korea, India, Malaysia, and Thailand as part of the 31st Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF 31) cultural tour segment.

Cultural performances welcomed the delegates and local delicacies were served for lunch at Taal Vista.

This was followed by a tour around Tagaytay to showcase the city's heritage.

Tolentino, who served as a long-time mayor of Tagaytay, expressed his pride in its hospitality reflected by its strong tourism.

"We pride ourselves with our hospitality. And we are honored to host you today," he said.

The lawmaker also said that he looks forward to stronger ties with the member-states of the APPF 31.

"As we forge a united Asia-Pacific and share the vision of peace, prosperity, and innovation that could be appropriate for generations to come," Sen. Tol remarked.

APPF 31 organized by the Philippine Senate and House of Representatives concluded on 25 November after adopting 10 resolutions encompassing resilient partnerships for peace, prosperity, and sustainability.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, right, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, center, and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pose for a photo prior to the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting in Busan, South Korea, Sunday, Nov. 26, 2023.

Meeting for the first time in about four years, the top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China agreed Sunday to revive cooperation among the Asian neighbors and resume their leaders trilateral summit  but without a specific timing.

Closely linked economically and culturally with one another, the three countries together account for about 25% of the global gross domestic product. But efforts to boost cooperation have often hit a snag because of a mix of issues including historical disputes stemming from Japans wartime aggression and the strategic competition between China and the United States.

We three ministers agreed to restore and normalize three-nation cooperation at an early date, South Korean Foreign Minister told reporters after his meeting with Japans Yoko Kamikawa and Chinas Wang Yi in Busan, South Korea.

Park said the three ministers affirmed an earlier agreement by lower-level officials to restart the summit at the earliest mutually convenient time and agreed to expedite preparations for the meeting. Kamikawa separately said the ministers agreed to speed up their work to achieve the summit at an early and appropriate timing.

The three also agreed to push for diverse cooperation projects in areas such as people-to-people exchange, trade, technology, public health, sustainable development and security, according to South Korean and Japanese statements.

The lack of an agreement on the timing for the trilateral summit would suggest the top-level gathering wont likely happen this year as South Korea, the chair of the next summit, had hoped, observers say. Still, Kamikawa said that a reactivation of a trilateral diplomacy is an important step toward achieving an upcoming Japan-China-South Korea summit.

Since they held their first stand-alone, trilateral summit in 2008, the leaders of the three countries were supposed to meet annually. Instead, the summit has been suspended since 2019. The meeting Sunday was also the first since 2019.

South Korea and Japan are key U.S. military allies, hosting a total of 80,000 American troops on their territories. Their recent push to beef up a trilateral security cooperation with the United States has angered China, which is extremely sensitive to any moves it perceives as seeking to contain its rise to dominance in Asia.

But some observers say that the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden struck a conciliatory tone in their first face-to-face meeting in a year earlier this month would provide Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing with diplomatic rooms to maneuver to find ways to revive three-way cooperation.

After her meeting with Wang on Saturday, Kamikawa said she renewed Japans demand that China remove its ban on seafood imports from Japan in response to Tokyos discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from its tsunami-hit nuclear power plant. Wang, for his part, said China opposed Japans irresponsible action of releasing the wastewater and called for an independent monitoring mechanism of the process, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Ties between South Korea and Japan deteriorated severely in past years due to issues originating from Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relations have warmed significantly in recent months as the two countries took a series of major steps to move beyond history wrangling and boost cooperation in the face of North Koreas advancing nuclear program and other shared challenges.

In a reminder of their difficult relations, however, a Seoul court earlier this week ordered Japan to financially compensate Koreans forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops during the colonial period.

During her meeting with Park earlier Sunday, Kamikawa called the court verdict extremely regrettable and urged South Korea to take appropriate steps to remedy the breaches of international law, according to Japans Consulate in Busan. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said the ministers discussed the court ruling as well as ways to work together to reinvigorate three-way cooperation with China. The ministry also said that both strongly condemned the Norths spy satellite launch last week.

Park also asked Wang for China to play a constructive role in persuading North Korea to halt provocations and take steps toward denuclearization, according to South Koreas Foreign Ministry.

Wang described China as a stabilizing force in the region that has always played and will continue to play a constructive role in easing the situation on the peninsula, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It said Wang called for stronger trade and economic ties between the two countries and criticized the tendency to politicize economic issues.

North Koreas growing arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles poses a major security threat to South Korea and Japan. But China, North Koreas last major ally and biggest source of aid, is suspected of avoiding fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea and shipping covert assistance to the North to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against U.S. influences on the Korean Peninsula.

On Sunday, South Korea, Japan and the U.S. held maritime drills involving the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula, their latest show of force against North Korea.

North Korea typically views such U.S.-involved military training as an invasion rehearsal.

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CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, in a politically calculated move, unveiled the statue of former Prime Minister V P Singh at Presidency College in Chennai, in the presence of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday. Besides Yadav, the late prime ministers family members were also invited to the event. Stalin's move to invite Yadav as the chief guest for the event has ignited speculations about DMK's ambition for a more prominent role in national politics.

VIDEO | Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav unveil statue of former PM VP Singh in Chennai. pic.twitter.com/xzXCnBOz0E  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) November 27, 2023

Stalin's decision follows a recent national-level conference hosted by DMK earlier, which was attended by 19 Opposition leaders. At the event, Stalin launched the All-India Federation for Social Justice, countering the BJP's narrative and setting the stage for the Opposition INDIA bloc.

The move - the unveiling of the VP Singh's statue - comes ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as DMK aims to position social justice as a compelling counterpoint to the BJP's campaign. Interestingly, unlike his past practices of inviting all-party leaders or constitutional authorities, the Tamil Nadu CMs specific invitation to Yadav for the statue is a clear indication of DMK's pan-India ambitions.

Met DMK MP Shri TR Baalu in Delhi and received an invite from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Shri MK Stalin, to attend the unveiling ceremony of former Prime Minister Shri VP Singh's statue. pic.twitter.com/O4Qg4HuHqg  Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 20, 2023

DMK-VP Singh Legacy

V P Singh, a celebrated figure among the political parties in Tamil Nadu, has always been perceived as a champion of social justice among the Dravidian parties in the southern state. The age-old ties between DMK and VP Singh, dating back to the late 1980s and 1990s, add depth to the significance of this move. VP Singh's recognition of DMK in Delhi politics during his tenure has left a lasting impact.

Political observers suggest that Stalin's move indicates a broader ambition for DMK in national politics. The decision to invite Yadav, seen as holding a 'third front' card, signals a strategic positioning for post-election scenarios.

Singhs Legacy Of Social Justice

VP Singh's emphasis on social justice resonates with DMK's stance, creating a political backdrop that connects Tamil Nadu's social justice measures to national politics. The invitation also reflects the enduring relationship between Kalaignar Karunanidhi and Mulayam Singh, transcending generations. Karunanidhi fondly described V P Singh as "an embodiment of political decency, culture and high ambitions."

Notably, Akhilesh Yadav, an OBC leader and the late SP patriarch's son, had earlier equated the Samajwadi Party with the DMK of North India, emphasizing a common ground in their political approaches.
Mahabubabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, launched a scathing attack on the Congress and Bharatiya Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the upcoming Telangana elections. He asserted that both parties share equal responsibility for the deterioration of the state. Addressing a public rally in poll-bound state's Mahabubabad PM said, "Both Congress and KCR are equally responsible for the decline of Telangana. Therefore, the people of Telangana cannot afford to replace one problem with anotherI've observed this sentiment widespread across the state. The confidence of Telangana lies in the BJP."

The Prime Minister expressed strong optimism about the BJP securing victory in Telangana, emphasizing that the Chief Minister from the party in the state will hail from the Backward Class (BC) community. Accusing the Congress and Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao of betraying the state, he asserted that only the BJP has the capability to assist and rejuvenate Telangana.

"The four wheels and the steering of BRS' 'car' are no different from the 'hand' of Congress. Both these parties indulge in appeasement on the basis of religion. Both of them boosted corruption. Both of them promoted dynasty politics. Both of them took appeasement to new heights," he said.

"Wherever both these parties remained (in power), law and order got destroyed. Both parties betrayed the Dalits and the BC community. It is only BJP that is truly empowering the tribal community and SC community," he added.

PM Modi said that Telangana is going to create new history by overthrowing the KCR government. He also vowed to initiate an investigation into the scams under the BRS government once the BJP comes to power in the state.

"The people of Telangana are gearing up to overthrow the KCR government. Telangana is going to create a New History! BJP considers this its responsibility to free Telangana from the clutches of BRS. All scams of KCR that he did here will be probed by the BJP Government. Those who betrayed the poor and youth of Telangana will not be spared," the PM said. PM Modi also accused CM KCR of 'branding' the state as 'superstitious' while it identifies with tradition and technology.

He added that since BJP refused to be 'friends' with BRS, CM KCR has been abusing him.

"KCR realised the increasing power of BJP much earlier. For a long time, he was making an effort to strike a friendship with the BJP. Once, when he came to Delhi, KCR met me and made the same request," he said.

"BJP can never work against the wishes of the people of Telangana. Ever since BJP turned down KCR, BRS has been baffled. The party doesn't lose any opportunity to abuse me. BRS knows that Modi will never let it anywhere near BJP. This is Modi's guarantee," PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister is in the state promoting BJP's candidates as the state is slated to be held on November 30. Apart from PM Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP national president JP Nadda are also holding public rallies and roadshows in the state in an attempt to woo the voters.

All prominent political parties in the state, such as Congress, BJP, and BRS, have intensified their campaign efforts as the last day of campaigning approaches on Tuesday, ahead of the state's polls on November 30. In the previous Assembly elections in 2018, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), secured victory in 88 out of the 119 seats, capturing 47.4 percent of the overall vote share. The Congress trailed significantly with only 19 seats, while the BJP did not secure any.
UTTARKASHI: In a significant development in the ongoing rescue operation in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi, a team of rat miners arrived at the Silkyara tunnel site on Monday to start the manual drilling process to save all 41 workers trapped inside the tunnel. At least 6 rat hole miners have arrived from Delhi and Jhansi to dig the tunnel manually. Reports earlier stated that vertical drilling from the top of the hill has made swift progress with 31 metres of drilling completed so far out of the 86 metres needed to reach the 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara tunnel.

The drilling work is being done to lay an 800/900 mm or 1.2 m diameter pipeline to aid the rescue work. The option to drill vertically was chalked out after the auger machine being used for horizontal drilling of the tunnel broke down.

Sharing more updates, micro tunnelling expert Chris Cooper said, "... All the debris (of the Auger machine) has been removed...(Manual drilling) will probably start after 3 hours...We have 9 meters of hand tunnelling to do. It really depends on how the ground behaves. Could be quickly, could be a bit longer. If we hit some lattice girder. Then we've got to cut out the lattice girder, but we're confident we can get through... The Army is just supervising (the operation)... 30 metres of (vertical drilling) has been done..."

The officials from the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL) earlier said that vertical drilling reached a depth of 19.2 meters on the 18th day of the ongoing rescue operations. The Silkyara tunnel collapse on November 12 left 41 workers trapped, prompting urgent efforts to free them.

Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami said, "Everyone has been trying. The auger machine has been taken out completely...Drilling & pushing work will start & we hope that the work is completed at the earliest...PM Modi is seeking all important information...NDRF, STRF, Indian Air Force & Indian Army everyone is cooperating & contributing..."

Principal Secretary to PM Modi, P K Mishra along with former advisor of PMO Bhaskar Khulbe and Deputy Secretary of PMO Mangesh Ghildiyal also arrived at the Silkyara Tunnel site to review the ongoing rescue work there

Fast-Paced Rescue Operation

Addressing a press conference, NHIDCL Managing Director Mahmood Ahmad revealed that the drilling, a crucial part of the rescue strategy, is progressing rapidly. "We have completed around 19.2 meters of drilling. We have to drill around 86 meters within four days by November 30," said Ahmad. He expressed optimism that the work would be completed on time, barring any unforeseen obstacles.

Auger Machine Removal Accelerates

Neeraj Khairwal, the Secretary of the Uttarakhand Government and the nodal officer in the rescue operation, highlighted the accelerated pace of work to remove the stuck auger machine from the tunnel. With the introduction of advanced machinery, the operation is advancing smoothly, with no reported hurdles. Khairwal emphasized a positive trajectory in the rescue efforts.

Panel Formed to Explore Escape Passage

Amidst the ongoing drilling, NHIDCL MD Mahmood Ahmad acknowledged the consideration of an escape passage. He revealed the formation of a committee to explore this option, emphasizing that the immediate priority is the safe extraction of the trapped workers.

Pipeline Drilling In Progress

Officials reported the completion of an 8-inch pipeline drilling for 70-80 meters, temporarily halted, while a 1.2-meter diameter pipeline drilling reached 20 meters.

Devotees Light Lamps For Trapped Workers

Ahead of 'Dev Deepawali,' devotees gathered at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar to light 21,000 lamps, offering prayers for the trapped workers in the Silkyara Tunnel.

#WATCH | Ahead of 'Dev Deepawali', devotees lit 21,000 lamps at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar and prayed for the people trapped in the Silkyara Tunnel. (26.11) pic.twitter.com/ipolaIJyiI November 27, 2023

All Workers Safe And Stable

Lt General (Rtd) Syed Ata Hasnain from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) provided updates on the drilling progress. Plan 2, involving vertical drilling, is underway, with 17 meters already completed. Plan 3, sideways drilling, is yet to be implemented. Lt General Hasnain assured that all workers are in stable and safe conditions. Medical and psycho-social support is being provided, and drone cameras monitor the rescue operation.

Union Minister VK Singh Visits Site

Union Minister General VK Singh visited the Silkyara tunnel site to oversee the ongoing rescue operation, where a unit of Madras Sappers has been deployed for manual drilling.

Manual Drilling, Rat Boring Being Considered

To expedite the rescue, the Indian Army, along with civilians, is considering manual drilling methods, including rat boring. This involves using hands, hammers, and chisels to clear debris inside the tunnel.

Supplies And Communication Inside Tunnel

Freshly cooked food, fruits, medicines, and communication tools are being provided to the trapped workers through a lifeline, ensuring their well-being during the operation. THDC has initiated the construction of a rescue tunnel from the Barkot end, aiming to create an alternative route for the rescue operation. The Border Roads Organization (BRO) and other agencies are actively involved in infrastructure development to support the rescue efforts.

The tunnel collapse occurred on November 12, trapping 41 workers inside. Since then, various agencies, including THDC, BRO, and ONGC, have collaborated to expedite the rescue operation. The situation is being closely monitored, and the collaborative efforts aim to ensure the safe and swift extraction of the trapped workers.
New Delhi: Ahead of the state assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi conducted a large-scale roadshow in Hyderabad, Telangana on Monday. The Prime Minister was greeted with enthusiastic cheers from the enormous crowd that gathered for the event. Union Minister and Telangana BJP President G Kishan Reddy, along with BJP MP K Laxman, accompanied the Prime Minister during the roadshow.

A sizable crowd lined both sides of the roads to extend a warm welcome to the Prime Minister. Prior to the event, the Hyderabad police had implemented several restrictions and diversions at various locations in the city to facilitate PM Modi's electoral roadshow.

#WATCH | Telangana Elections: Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a roadshow in Hyderabad. pic.twitter.com/7u66pEVJja November 27, 2023

Earlier today, PM Modi launched an attack on the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and Congress and said that whenever someone talks about 'corruption', 'appeasement' or 'Dynastic Politics', the picture of BRS and Congress comes to people's mind, adding that there is no guarantee as to when Congress MLAs will join BRS.

"Whenever someone talks about corruption, appeasement or Parivarvaad (Dynastic Politics), the picture of BRS and Congress immediately comes to their mind. Both Congress and KCR are equal sinners in destroying Telangana," PM Modi said in Karimnagar on Monday. The trust of Telangana is in the BJP. Whenever one talks about development and prosperity, they see the BJP," he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the famous Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple in Tirupati and offered prayers on Monday. Telangana is set to witness a triangular contest between the ruling Bharat Rasthtra Samithi, Congress and BJP as the state goes to the polls on November 30.

In the 2018 Assembly election, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly known as Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), secured victory in 88 out of the 119 seats, capturing 47.4 percent of the overall vote share. The Congress trailed significantly, securing only 19 seats.
MEERUT: In a shocking and reprehensible incident reminiscent of a recent crime in Madhya Pradesh, a class 12 student fell victim to a brutal assault and humiliation by a group of miscreants in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. The assailants not only physically attacked the student but also urinated on his face, an act that was captured on camera and has since gone viral on social media and sparked public outrage.

The victim, a class 12 student, was on his way to deliver Diwali sweets to his aunt's house when he was kidnapped by a group of boys. The assailants, without mercy, took the youth to a nearby forest, where they subjected him to a vicious assault, all of which was filmed and put on social media.

Blackmail And Extortion Threats

In a horrifying turn of events, the miscreants not only physically assaulted and humiliated the student but also resorted to blackmail. Threatening to make the video of the gruesome act viral, they extorted money from the victim.

Case Registered Against 4 Individuals

The Meerut police swiftly responded to the incident after the video went viral, registering a case against four accused individuals. "On 13.11.2023, a youth was assaulted by some persons in Mohalla Jagriti Vihar under Police Station Medical area and during the assault, urine was passed on the said youth. In relation to the incident, on the basis of the complaint filed by the victim's father, a case has been registered at the Medical Police Station under relevant sections and the main accused has been arrested. Advance investigative action is being taken", the city police said in a post on X.

Though one arrest has been made in connection with the case, the victim's father has alleged foul play by the police in registering the FIR. Expressing concern over the perceived inadequacies in the filing of the case, the victim's father expressed fears that the accused may be released on bail soon.

This disturbing incident in Meerut brings to light broader concerns as a similar case was reported in the Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh earlier this year, which triggered huge public outrage. The accused, Pravesh Shukla, who urinated on a tribal youth, was arrested after the video of the incident surfaced on social media.

More recently, in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh, a Dalit boy was thrashed brutally and forced to consume urine and soil and even his eyebrows were shaved off. Authorities registered an FIR and launched an investigation after the matter came to light.

As the nation grapples with these distressing events, questions arise about the safety of citizens and the urgency for stronger measures to curb such heinous acts. The Meerut and Jaunpur incidents serve as a stark reminder of the pressing need for societal introspection and robust legal action to ensure justice prevails.
NEW YORK: In a distressing incident, Indian Ambassador to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, had to face a hostile reception from pro-Khalistani elements during his visit to the Hicksville Gurdwara in Long Island, New York, for Gurpurab prayers.

Privileged to join the local Sangat, including from Afghanistan, at Guru Nanak Darbar of Long Island in celebrating Gurpurab- listened to Kirtan, spoke about Guru Nanaks everlasting message of togetherness, unity, & equality, partook langar, and sought blessings for all. pic.twitter.com/i45M2TuSdf  Taranjit Singh Sandhu (@SandhuTaranjitS) November 27, 2023

The event took a tumultuous turn as a group of Khalistani extremists confronted Ambassador Sandhu and scouted anti-India slogans in connection with the alleged killing of terrorists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

A video of the shocking incident was also shared on social media. The purported video showed a Khaklistani protester shouting in Punjabi, "You are responsible for the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. You plotted to kill Pannun."

In the video, Ambassador Sandhu was also seen leaving the premises in his vehicle, while a lone protester unfurled the Khalistani flag outside the Gurdwara. This unsettling incident sheds light on the escalating pro-Khalistani activities globally.

BJP's national spokesperson RP Singh claimed in a video post on X that the protest against Ambassador Sandhu was led by Himmat Singh.

Khalistanies tried to heckle Indian Ambassador @SandhuTaranjitS with basless Questions for his role in the failed plot to assassinate Gurpatwant, (SFJ) and Khalistan Referendum campaign.



Himmat Singh who led the pro Khalistanies at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York also accused pic.twitter.com/JW5nqMQSxO  RP Singh National Spokesperson BJP (@rpsinghkhalsa) November 27, 2023

This incident follows a series of pro-Khalistani activities in various countries, including Canada, the UK, Australia, and the US. In July, Khalistan extremists orchestrated an arson attack on the Indian consulate in San Francisco, prompting India to seek evidence under the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty.

Regrettably, this marks the second instance of a senior Indian envoy being heckled by pro-Khalistani elements in recent months. In September, Indian High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami faced a similar obstruction at a Gurdwara in Glasgow, Scotland. This has sparked concerns over the security of Indian diplomats globally.

In response to these incidents, India and the US have engaged in discussions on security cooperation. Recent talks between the two nations revealed inputs regarding the nexus between organized criminals, gun runners, and terrorists. Both countries express mutual concern, emphasizing the need for follow-up actions to ensure the safety of diplomats and prevent the recurrence of such incidents.

It may be recalled that India-Canada ties soured badly after Khalistani terrorist Nijjar was shot dead by masked men at a parking lot in Canada's British Columbia. Months later, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged the role of Indian agents in the killing, sparking a massive diplomatic row. India trashed the allegations as "absurd" and "motivated". In recent remarks, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India is not ruling out an investigation but wants Canada to provide evidence backing its allegations.
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In the middle of the crystalline waters speckled with reefs and sandbars that make up the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, the Sierra Madre  an old American World War II ship  lies stranded. The rusty, pockmarked hulk has a long and tortuous history. In 1999, when it had been in the service of the Philippine Navy for two decades, the government in Manila decided to run it aground on the Ayungin atoll (also known as Second Thomas Shoal), a spit of sand that breaks the oceans surface about 105 nautical miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan. The island nation claims sovereignty over this disputed archipelago, since it is located within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), and the ship has become an outpost against Chinas strength in the area and a metaphor for a great geopolitical battle.

Technically, the Sierra Madre is still an active warship as Manila maintains a small military garrison on board. The detachment is often surrounded by Chinese ships that patrol the area to try to reaffirm their presence. To survive the isolation, the handful of Filipino troops try to prevent further deterioration of the ship that is so damaged that it looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie. Various journalists who have come on board have documented how the water has penetrated the interior, how everything is covered in rust, how the military improvises harpoons for fishing, how lonely the men are. Pounded by water, wind and salt, the complete disintegration of the Sierra Madre would make Philippine interests in the area difficult to maintain and would most likely trigger an immediate response from Beijing.

The Asian giant claims 90% of the waters of the South China Sea for historical reasons. That includes the Ayungin atoll, which it calls Renai Jiao. It considers the atoll part of its territory and believes that by sending a military ship to land on the shoal, the Philippines seriously violated its territorial sovereignty. The Chinese maintain their claim to the atoll despite the fact that a ruling by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in 2016 dealt a blow to Beijing by unanimously denying the legal basis for its arguments. The Peoples Republic has always questioned the authority of the decision.

We urge the Philippines to tow away the illegally stranded warship as soon as possible and refrain from undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea, the Chinese Foreign Ministry complained in October.

The stranded ship lies at the epicenter of a very complex case in international maritime law and is, at the same time, the uncomfortable stone in Beijings shoe that is preventing it from deploying its military in the Spratly Islands. China has been extending its dominance in the archipelago  where the interests of many countries collide, including China, Malaysia, and Vietnam, in addition to the Philippines  with the construction of artificial islands and military installations. This has resulted in strained relations with neighboring countries and irritation in Washington, which sees it as another example of growing Chinese assertiveness.

Huge symbolic value

The Philippine ship has enormous symbolic value, because it is proof of Philippine jurisdiction over its EEZ and continental shelf, explains Jay L. Batongbacal, professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law and director of the universitys Institute of Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea. Based on the 2016 arbitration, he says via email, the Philippines has the right to manage, exploit, conserve and protect its resources. And he adds that it is not that the Philippines claims sovereignty over the sandbar based on the ship having run aground there. Rather, it asserts its rights as a coastal state with exclusive sovereign rights.

Built in 1944 in Indiana in the United States as a tank landing ship, and originally launched under the name LST-821, the vessel was assigned to the Pacific theater of operations during World War II in preparation for a possible invasion of Japan. There she won a battle star for her war work. During the Vietnam War, she was refitted as a floating base in the Mekong Delta, where her crew was distinguished for their extraordinary heroism, as reconstructed by Jonathan L. Hoppe in an article from the United States Naval Institute. The old LST [tank landing ship] had a long and decorated career spanning three navies and multiple continents over five decades.

In 1969, as part of a U.S. military assistance program, she was transferred to the Navy of South Vietnam to participate in that countrys war with the communist North Vietnam, against whom Washingtons troops were also fighting. With the fall of Saigon, the ship was forced to flee with 3,000 refugees on board. She left Vietnam as part of a flotilla carrying thousands of people. The Philippines allowed the refugee ships to dock and disembark in its ports in exchange for them becoming part of its navy in the future. This happened in 1976. Under the orders of the Philippine government, she was renamed Sierra Madre, in honor of the longest mountain range in the Philippines, and served as an amphibious ship until the government decided to run her aground in the Ayungin atoll. Though her hull is now pockmarked with gaping holes, and she is for all intents and purposes no longer seaworthy, the Sierra Madre remains in service and is, therefore, an official extension of sovereign Philippine territory, Hoppe writes.

Sparks often fly in this highly volatile region, through which a third of the worlds maritime trade passes. In October, for example, a collision took place between Chinese ships patrolling Ayungin atoll and two Philippine ships, which entered the area on a regular and routine rotation and resupply mission to the Sierra Madre. They were bringing supplies and a fresh military contingent that are key to the ships survival. According to Manilas version, a Chinese Coast Guard ship caused a collision with the supply ship contracted by the Philippine Armed Forces. Later, a Philippine Coast Guard ship was hit by a Chinese maritime militia vessel. Beijing, on the other hand, argued that the Philippine vessels ignored warnings and dangerously collided with Chinese Coast Guard vessels that were carrying out order maintenance tasks at the site. Chinese authorities claimed they were trying to stop Philippine ships carrying illegal construction materials.

After this latest clash, Washington reminded those involved that the mutual defense treaty signed in 1951 with Manila extends to armed attacks against the Philippine Armed Forces, civilian ships, and aircraft  including those of its Coast Guard  in any part of the South China Sea, and reiterated its condemnation of Chinas expansive and illegal maritime claims in the area.

Although clashes subsided during the years that Rodrigo Duterte  who was closer to Beijing  was president of the Philippines, the altercations at different points have gained greater prominence since 2022, after Bongbong Marcos, son of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, came to power. He has pivoted away from China and intensified the countrys military relationship with the United States. The skirmishes in these waters were part of the discussions between the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and the American president, Joe Biden, during their meeting last week in San Francisco, in which they agreed to resume high-level military communications with each other in order to prevent misunderstandings. This week, Washington and Manila have begun joint military exercises in the area, in another sign of their growing ties in the face of a situation that Marcos Jr. has described as more serious than it was before.

There is growing pressure from China on the outpost, with increasingly intense attempts to prevent the Philippines from replenishing the sandbar, according to Batongbacal, the jurist specializing in maritime law. They are trying to prevent any attempt to repair or shore up the rusting ship, probably hoping it will sink very soon.

But for Manila keeping the ship in place is key. If the old ship disintegrates, the Philippines could have difficulty maintaining its outpost, he continued. China could use such an event as an excuse to intervene and remove the Philippine troops from the sandbar, as well as destroy the ship. If it does, it is also likely that it will cordon off the sandbar thereafter and prevent the return of Philippine troops or ships ever again.

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The Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares (center) chats with the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell (left), before the welcome dinner of the 8th Regional Forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) , on Sunday in Barcelona. Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores (Ministerio Asuntos Exteriores/EFE)

The foreign ministers of the European Union will meet with representatives of Arab countries in Barcelona on Monday to discuss how to bring an end to the humanitarian catastrophe being caused by the war between Israel and Hamas, and to draw up a road map for the future of the Gaza strip and Palestine when the guns fall silent. The forum of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM), an organization dedicated to fostering cooperation between EU countries and those on the southern shores of the Mediterranean and whose discussions are usually of a technical nature, will this time be a space for high-level political dialogue on a war that threatens to spread throughout the region and is already widening the gulf between the West and Muslim countries.

The guest of honor at the meeting is the Saudi Arabian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who is not a member of the UfM but will lay out the conclusions of the summit held between Arab and Islamic countries on November 11 in Riyadh and who will speak on behalf of the Arab-Islamic ministerial committee. The Riyadh meeting was attended, among many others, by Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who visited the Saudi kingdom for the first time after the recent reconciliation between the two countries, which was mediated by China.

The Barcelona meeting, which brings together 43 countries, is expected to break the record for participation in this type of forum, with 27 delegations represented at ministerial level. Among the European ministers who have confirmed their attendance are those of France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, and Portugal, while representing the Arab nations will be the heads of diplomacy of Jordan  which co-chairs the UfM  Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia, Lebanon, and Morocco, as well as the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

The most notable absentee will be Israel, which announced last Thursday that it would leave its seat empty claiming that the agenda of the meeting had been altered, without consultation, to focus on the Gaza war, posing the risk that it would become a trap against the government of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israels absence does not mean that there will not be serious debate. European sources acknowledge that it is difficult for some Arab countries to recognize Israels right to defend itself after the terrorist attack launched by Hamas on October 7. On the European side, some partners, such as Germany, are reluctant to ask the Israeli government for a ceasefire and limit themselves to calling for pauses to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Strip, although an appeal could be tabled to extend the current four-day truce.

Mutual recognition of two states

Instead, consensus is likely to be reached on the need for an international conference to address the resolution of the Middle East conflict based on mutual recognition of two states  one Jewish and the other Palestinian  living in peace and security. Israel rejects this initiative, which was promoted by Spain and has already been taken up by the EU, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, whose representatives will also be in Barcelona.

According to EU sources, The blocs High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, will put forward the need to prepare for the post-conflict situation in Gaza, not only due to the destruction of essential infrastructure but also because of Israels stated objective of dismantling Hamas, which in addition to being an armed militia managed the administration of the daily life of more than two million Gazans in the Strip before the war. It will not only be a question of implementing a multi-million-dollar investment plan but of taking over the administration of the Strip, a role that Brussels believes the United Nations could perform, at least until the Palestinian Authority is in a position to do so.

At a dinner on Sunday evening attended by the heads of the delegations invited to the forum, Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Jose Manuel Albares reiterated his condemnation of the indiscriminate killing of civilians carried out by Hamas on October 7 and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all the hostages being held by militias in Gaza. Spain has been very clear since the beginning of the crisis in calling for an immediate ceasefire and demanding that Israel scrupulously respect international humanitarian law, said Albares, who also rejected Israels accusation that Madrid has aligned itself with Hamas, which the Islamist militia itself has fueled by applauding the position maintained by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his Belgian counterpart, Alexander De Croo, during their recent tour of the region.
They held a formal meeting in a room. Afterward, they all had lunch together. The men wore light-colored shirts and brown pants. The women wore long dresses. Mealtime should have been a moment of relaxation but there was still a certain discomfort in the air. For example, Luis Carlos Sarmiento Angulo  Colombias richest man  hadnt said a single word at that point, according to one of those present.

During the meal, President Gustavo Petro displayed that sensation of distance that seems to accompany him like a cloud. To break the ice, First Lady Veronica Alcocer concluded the lunch and directed everyone to a room with dark furniture bathed in artificial light, where she personally offered cigars and Cointreau liqueur to the guests. The presidents wife won everyone over: little by little, the stern faces relaxed. Petro seemed less grave, while Sarmiento Angulo  whom everyone was paying attention to  spoke a bit.

For a few moments, the world was at peace. Everything was flowing. The president wasnt a communist who had come to destroy capitalism, nor were the businesspeople misers with no conception of a nation.

Petro  aware of all the difficulties that will arise in 2024  is trying to establish a different political climate in the country, one thats less tense than the current one. The meeting he held this past week with a group of businesspeople  whose companies have the greatest economic weight in terms of national production  has been the first sign that were entering the era of Petro 3.0, a leader who, once again, is open to generating a new political consensus that can unite the country.

The first Petro  who took office in 2022  sought a national agreement, placing centrist heavyweights in his cabinet to manage finances, agriculture and education. The second Petro  fed up with the resistance that was generated within his own government against his proposed transformation  broke with that moderate wing and returned to his essence, to his base. He began asking his supporters to march in the streets, while he gave aggressive speeches from the balcony of the presidential palace.

This defiant Petro came face-to-face with his countrys resistance. He knew that it was powerful but he wasnt aware of how paralyzing it was going to be. His reforms stalled in Congress and the president, at times, found himself isolated. A sense of urgency came over him recently, according to those around him. He suddenly realized that, if he continued down this path, his administration was headed straight for failure. His popularity has dropped, violence isnt improving, and the economy isnt doing particularly well. He needed to change the script.

Thus arrives this third version of a president who, throughout his life, has proven to be ambiguous and chameleonic. Hes an outsider who has been a career politician for 30 years; an ex-guerrilla without the soul or discipline of a soldier and, finally, a president who wants to craft a national agreement. He has ended up disappointed and isolated, but hes now trying to get back into the fray.

The meeting with the business leaders was accompanied by another meeting with former right-wing president Alvaro Uribe, who served from 2002 until 2010. Petro and his former political nemesis have had five meetings in total. Petro has also met with members of Uribes party  the Democratic Center  to discuss their differences regarding the healthcare reform, which has been the proposal most heavily resisted in the Congress and across many sectors of Colombian society. While the summit concluded without any agreement, it is yet another piece of evidence that a new Petro is appearing on the horizon.

There cannot be an ideological dispute between the public [sector] and the private [sector]. This [relationship] must transcend the ideological dispute, Uribe declared, after a meeting that he described as having been a frank debate. Petro didnt give any statements. Both meetings were well-received among their critics. The president needs governability, as he seeks to recover a lost legislative majority and achieve a new national agreement between different political parties. Hes worried about his legacy.

With this new mood, Petro has also dismissed a key figure who once enjoyed his complete trust: Danilo Rueda, his peace commission. This move was made amidst a public safety crisis that threatens Petros desire for total peace. He chose to replace his old ally with Otty Patino, a more experienced figure, who will now be tasked with carrying out dialogues between different armed factions.

However, some issues appeared during a week that could well mark a turning point in the administration. This past Friday, Petro was expected to attend the ceremony for the seventh anniversary of the signing of the peace agreement between the Colombian government and the now extinct FARC guerrillas. He never showed up. It was a snub to Juan Manuel Santos, another former president (2010-2018) whom he has a good relationship with. This was not well-received by the architects of the peace deal, who are considered to be part of the governing coalition in Congress.

Unfortunately, he had promised us that he would come today but he just announced that he wont be here, Santos sighed, from the stage of the National Center of Historical Memory. The Nobel Peace Prize winner didnt miss the opportunity to ask  for the umpteenth time  that Petros policy of total peace not overshadow the implementation of the agreement that has already been signed. Just by implementing it, this government would go down in history, Santos opined. He repeated his request that someone be appointed to oversee the implementation of the peace agreement, with autonomy and a budget. Petro promised this back in March.

The first left-wing president in modern Colombian history also hasnt been in dialogue with congresspeople from within his own coalition. Many have aired their objections to the presidents proposed healthcare reform, especially those from the fractured progressive Green Alliance party. Apparently, [he only talks] to Uribe. Not with his other critics, lamented Representative Catherine Juvinao, from the Green Alliance, in an interview with EL PAIS. She has advocated that her party become independent of the ruling coalition.

In fact, the summit that was intended to bring Uribes hard-right bloc closer to Petro ended up distancing the Greens. Another incident added fuel to the fire: unfortunate statements made by Minister of Health Guillermo Alfonso Jaramillo, who claimed that nobody could have a position in the government without supporting the healthcare reform. His words triggered multiple indignant voices, who are asking the Greens to declare independence from Petro.

The broad national agreement may be back in style, but its still unclear who it will include.
Since his arrest on November 20 for allegedly organizing the shooting in broad daylight of Alejo Vidal-Quadras  one of the founders of Spains ultranationalist Vox party who earlier served as vice president of the EU Parliament  Naraya G. has been rumored to be the son of an Israeli citizen who brought him up in a hippy commune in Granadas Alpujarra, a mountain region that was popularized among English speakers by Gerald Brenans South From Granada and, much later, by Chris Stewarts best-selling Driving Over Lemons.

According to those who know him, Naraya G. did indeed grow up in a commune named Beneficio, which is located in a huge ravine just ten minutes from Orgiva, a town of 5,791 inhabitants in the southern Spanish province of Granada. But rather than Israeli, his father is Syrian and still lives in the commune, although he did not wish to talk or be photographed.

A radicalized Shiite according to police reports, Naraya G. has always maintained close links to the commune. EL PAIS visited Beneficio just days after Naraya G.s arrest, but found it impossible to locate his father. In Beneficio, everyone has a different take on the attack on Alejo Vidal-Quadras on November 9 that saw the politician shot in the face by a passing motorcyclist in Madrid, leaving him with a fractured jawbone.

Some people in Beneficio know what happened, others do not, and yet others pretend not to. Some even dare to come up with theories involving the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad. But the most plausible theory is that Iran was behind the assassination attempt.

The spokesman for the Beneficio commune, Edgar Thompson, a Peruvian national who moved to Granada in the late 1980s from the U.S. and bought part of the land on which the commune was established, was in Germany when EL PAIS visited, according to those familiar with his movements, though in Beneficio, nobody feels obliged to offer explanations and, quite often, would rather not.

Mateo, who is originally from the nearby province of Jaen, came to the commune for a weekend and is still here 14 years later. He is one of the few who are willing to talk. Ive seen him around recently, he said of Naraya G. who he has known since he was a small boy. Now, he says, he must be just over 20. He is unsure whether Naraya was born in the commune itself.

More than 10 years ago, we did have a midwife and some babies were born in cases of emergency, says a man with a Brazilian accent who is having a beer with Mateo and several others, among them a Swede, and a man from Madrid. Naraya G. was raised by his father, they say, but it is also true that he had a close relationship with a certain Avi Tor, described as a Jewish man who raised Naraya G.s brother but who is no longer welcome in the commune.

One of the posters in the commune. Javier Arroyo

Simone is another Beneficio resident, an Italian who arrived here eight years ago and who believes deeply in the communes founding principles. Here, its a permanent rainbow gathering where we want to coexist with nature, share, meditate and not resort to money, he says. Like many others, Simone came to Beneficio via a friend and settled in what he calls the Italian plateau, an elevated area of the commune where the Italians have congregated.

Beneficio is currently home to between 100 and 300 people, according to the residents themselves. It consists of an enormous eucalyptus forest, rising more than 20 meters over the ground, with a stream that runs through the length of the terrain and provides residents with water. The commune can be accessed from a dirt track off the road that joins the town of Orgiva with the town of Canar, where Naraya G.s birth is registered. Barely 500 or 600 meters along the track is a parking area. This is where the commune begins. It all started with a few hectares bought by Thompson and other founders. Now, Beneficio is far bigger. Everyone arrives and settles wherever they like, says Mateo.

A road one kilometer long runs through the middle of Beneficio. The first stretch is flanked by the tents of the communes latest arrivals. Moving further along, there are larger and sturdier constructions in the shape of tipis and yurts as well as infrastructure in the shape of solar panels. Many of the homes are invisible due to the undergrowth and the unevenness of the terrain. The central zone is occupied by orchards and a large childrens play area. Here, too, is Thompsons home, undoubtedly the most stable and luxurious of them all.

This is where Naraya G., the son of a Syrian hippy, grew up. According to police reports he is the organizer, but not the mastermind, behind the assassination attempt on Vidal-Quadras. The police are investigating who he was working for. In Beneficio, they insist that Naraya G. always lived according to the communes ideology. At some point, however, he seems to have forgotten what he learned about peace and love, but it is not yet known when or why.
In recent days, Ireland has desperately needed a moral boost to lift itself out of its misery. After the night of street violence, burning vehicles, broken windows and racist and xenophobic slogans that hit the center of Dublin this past Thursday, November 23, most of the Irish have clung to Caio Benicio, 43, who hails from Brazil. Born in Rio de Janeiro, hes been a delivery driver in Dublin for the past year.

I dont see myself as a hero, no matter how much people repeat it. I also have two children. Anyone would have done what I did. When you see a big man, with a big knife, whos attacking a girl it doesnt occur to you if youre an immigrant, or if hes an immigrant. Youre simply a human being who decides to act. Its an instinct: you dont consider whether its dangerous or not, Benicio explains to EL PAIS. In such a painful week, he has received much applause in the country.

Caio Benicio, who works for the company Deliveroo as a delivery driver. He is pictured in Dublin this past Saturday, in front of the primary school where the stabbings took place. Rafa De Miguel

At 1:40 p.m. local time on Thursday, a man armed with a knife spread terror in Parnell Square, in the center of Dublin. The students from the Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire primary school were exiting the building. He stabbed three children and a teacher who tried to defend them. Of the victims, a five-year-old girl and the woman remain hospitalized in critical condition.

Benicio dropped his motorcycle on the ground and hit the aggressor with his helmet. He knocked him down immediately and managed to get the knife away although not before the man had already inflicted several stab wounds on himself. He remains hospitalized and in police custody.

I hit him again when he was already on the ground. Immediately, a lot of people approached and started kicking him. He didnt move at all. Someone took the girl away from there, Benicio explains in front of the school door, adorning his story with gestures. From then on, I only remember bright flashes. I saw three ladies who were trying to protect him, because if not, Im afraid [the crowd] would have ended up killing him, the Brazilian sighs.

The news spread on social media instantly. The rage of those present turned into anger and fury, as hundreds of far-right fanatics took to the streets. There was a rumor  never confirmed by the police  that the attacker was a foreigner. Some identified him as Algerian.

Everyone city center tonight 7pm no excuses everyone out enough is enough, wrote anti-immigration activist Gavin Pepper on X (formerly Twitter). He is one of the most active far-right figures in Ireland. He subsequently deleted his message but the fuse was already lit. They wont be able to control us all. Lets break up into small groups and do what we have to do. At seven, everyone on the street. Well-equipped. Any fucking foreigner you see, kill them. Kill them all, said a voice message on Telegram, from an account calling itself Kill All Immigrants. Security journalist Conor Gallagher reported this in The Irish Times.

Within this context, Caio Benicio is the hope that many are clinging to, as they try to convince their fellow citizens not to fall into doubt amidst a wave of immigration in Ireland and throughout Europe. Hes a symbol of not losing the human side of the crisis.

Racism and street crime

The center of Dublin was filled with chants against immigrants on Thursday night. Some groups of protesters attempted to hunt down refugees sleeping in accommodations across Ireland. There are about 73,000 currently in the country, with more than 50,000 from Ukraine. The doors and windows of the Dublin City Dorms (a residential building) were covered with wooden panels: no immigrant had slept there for months, but the assailants tried to enter the building.

The Dublin City Dorms covered in panels, this past Saturday. Rafa De Miguel

Most of the rioters, however, were more concerned about burning cars, police vehicles, buses and tram cars and grabbing a good pair of sneakers, after smashing the windows at Foot Locker. Several specialized clothing stores were covered with protective panels by the weekend.

The windows of that [convenience store] were also smashed, a woman points out. She runs an Oxfam second-hand bookshop, where proceeds go towards charitable purposes. They were only interested in cigarettes and chocolate, she laughs with relief, hoping that the worst is over.

Hundreds of police have been deployed across the city center to prevent a repetition of riots that, the government admits, have been the worst-ever recorded in Ireland, at least since 2006. The Garda  as the forces of order are known (Guardians of Peace, in Irish)  wasnt prepared for such enormous violence. Several of its officers suffered attacks and injuries. It took a lot of work to control the 200 or 300 rioters who were bent on destroying everything in their path.

The threat from the extreme-right and xenophobic movements has been there for at least two years. It has worsened with the arrival of refugees from Ukraine the messages of hate that have been spread on social media have skyrocketed, says Peter Farrelly, the campaign coordinator for one of the legislators from the center-right Fine Gael, one of the three main Irish political parties. But theres a second factor that has caused everything to overflow. Theres increasing decay in Dublin One. This inner-city northern district  despite being increasingly trendy  suffers from serious security problems. Theres massive drug consumption in [full public view] and a considerable increase in crime. [Some people from this area]  the ones who have nothing to lose  have combined their forces with the extreme-right to raze the city, he points out.

This explanation is a double consolation for many. Not only is it easier to blame thugs for violence and riots: it also serves to preserve the image of Ireland as a tolerant, welcoming country. The signals that reality emits, however, are more worrying. Last year, almost 150,000 foreigners arrived in Ireland, a country of five million people that has serious problems with housing and public services. They may be a minority, but the ultra-right fans who walk the streets of Dublin with signs demanding Houses for Irish make sure that they cant move freely. EL PAIS was able to see one of these extremists chasing and harassing two local journalists, recording them on his mobile phone and accusing them of protecting the perpetrator of the girls stabbing. Later, alongside another group of extremists, he gloated while posting the video on social media.

The police immediately told us to seek protection [on Thursday] and I hid. Today, I feel comfortable again, but I admit that I was scared, explains Promise Enofe. Of Nigerian descent, he has been in Ireland for 20 years. He works in public, soliciting donations and subscriptions for the humanitarian organization ActionAid. Near him, there are several agents patrolling the commercial streets.

I feel very safe in Dublin. Remember, I come from Rio de Janeiro, Benicio jokes. I know many Irish people who have treated me very well. Theres a small group of people who hate immigrants but I dont think [this sentiment] can be generalized.

Today, many Irish people are relying on the Brazilians optimism. However, the government has already announced that it will toughen the laws against hate crimes and strengthen the capacity of the police. What happened this past week in the center of Dublin, everyone admits, is a warning sign that must be addressed.

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The Qatari government, the main mediator in the conflict between Israel and Hamas, announced on Monday afternoon a two-day extension of the truce that began last Friday morning. Thus, the cease-fire is extended until early Thursday morning and the daily exchanges of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will continue until then. In principle, these exchanges will mirror the ones that have occurred in recent days, with 20 more hostages expected to be released in exchange for 60 prisoners.

An agreement has been reached with the brothers in Qatar and Egypt to extend the temporary humanitarian truce by two more days, with the same conditions as in the previous truce, a source in the Palestinian fundamentalist movement told Reuters. I hope we can extend it until we reach the end of this war and the end of the aggression against our people in Gaza, Ghazi Hamad, a member of Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera, optimistically. Hamad believes that, in addition to the support of Qatar and Egypt as mediators, this is also what Western governments are hoping for. Israel also confirmed the extension of the truce, according to a source consulted by the Haaretz daily.

Throughout Monday, the fourth and last day of the truce agreed upon last week, optimism grew at the expectation that the pact would be prolonged. The announcement to extend the ceasefire until Thursday came as the parties prepared for the fourth exchanged supervised by the International Committee of the Red Cross: 11 hostages are scheduled to be released on Monday in exchange for 33 Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Both Israel and Hamas had previously hinted that they wanted to extend the truce. They were under pressure from the international community, which sees the current hiatus as necessary. The pause is preventing the Israeli army from resuming its attacks on Gaza  where nearly 15,000 people have been killed  in response to the October 7 Hamas massacre. The extension was endorsed by the main mediators in the ongoing war  Qatar, Egypt and the United States  as well as by the European Union, NATO and the United Nations through its Secretary General, Antonio Guterres.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also faced mounting domestic pressure, particularly from the families of the 200 or so hostages still held in the Palestinian enclave, for whom securing their loved ones safe return is the top priority. Even the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), which maintains administrative control of the West Bank but not Gaza, expressed its support for the extension of the cessation of hostilities, which would give the hard-hit population of Gaza more time to stock up in the event that the invading forces resume their military campaign.

Israeli authorities had expressed their desire to extend the truce day by day, while the intermediary countries pushed for a more ambitious multi-day agreement, which ended up being the case, according to an Egyptian security source quoted by Agence France-Presse. Hamas, for its part, had proposed extending it between two and four days, according to the same agency. Egyptian government spokesman Diaa Rashwan said that the parties were close to agreeing to a two-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 20 hostages from Gaza and the release of 60 more prisoners. From Washington, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby confirmed the extension.

In the first three days of the truce, Hamas released 54 hostages and the Israeli authorities released 117 Palestinian prisoners.

Israel maintains that, once the hostages have been released, it will continue its attacks on the Strip to wipe out Hamas. If you want peace, destroy Hamas, insisted Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after accompanying Elon Musk on his visit to one of the sites of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

Unlike the testimonies that emerge from the freed Palestinian prisoners, Israel jealously guards any information brought back by the hostages from their weeks of captivity. However, it did transpire that Roni Krivoi, the Russian-Israeli citizen released on Sunday night, managed to escape from his captors and remained in hiding for four days before being recaptured, his aunt Elena Magid explained, as reported by Times of Israel, which cited Radio Kan. The young man, released as a gesture from Hamas to Russian President Vladimir Putin, was in a building that was partly destroyed by the bombings, so he was able to escape. He managed to escape and hid alone for several days. In the end, the Gazans captured him and returned him to the terrorists hands, Magid said.

Meanwhile, the most hard-line wing of Netanyahus government continues to defend the presence of settlers  around half a million  in occupied Palestinian areas. On Monday, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich proclaimed that, despite the restrictions that the war imposes on the country, an allocation of around $1.3 billion destined for these settlements  considered illegal  and for the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community should go ahead. This comes at a time when Israeli settlers are actively involved in the escalating violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

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What may have been Abdallah Nabils only chance of surviving his colon cancer vanished on October 9. The 24-year-old had run out of tissues, so he decided to go and buy some, leaving the Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem  the Palestinian part of the Israeli-occupied city  where he was awaiting surgery to remove the tumor. On his way back, he ran into an Israeli settler accompanied by some children, who started beating him, he says. Hospital security called the police, but when Israeli officers arrived and saw on his ID card that Nabil was from Gaza, they told him: You are a Hamas terrorist and arrested him, he recounts in a modest hotel in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he is staying.

I told the policemen I was in the hospital for cancer, but they wouldnt even let me pick up my medical documents, he says. This emaciated young man recounts how the officers took him to a police station where they beat him up, causing him to bleed internally. He was then taken to a checkpoint leading to the West Bank and expelled. In the occupied Palestinian territory, where the autonomous administration of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) manages health and education, among other things, he was admitted to another hospital, where he spent three days.

In Gaza, even before the war, only the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital treated oncology patients, even though the enclave is home to 2.3 million people. Now this center is one of at least 25, out of a total of 35, according to the United Nations, rendered inoperable by the bombardments in which nearly 15,000 people have been killed, according to the Strips health authorities. But even that hospital did not have the means to treat cases like Nabils.

Since it imposed its blockade on Gaza in 2007, Israel has banned the import of radiotherapy machines, among other equipment, because it believes that they could be used for military purposes. As a result, many Gazans have to ask for permission to leave the territory to go to Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem. The most important is the Makassed, financed with Palestinian and Arab funds, where the PNA pays for the treatment of patients from Gaza and the West Bank, as was the case with Nabil.

Nabil was not the only Gazan patient detained in Jerusalem in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, in which 1,200 Israelis were killed. According to testimonies gathered by this newspaper in Ramallah, the Israeli police arrested other patients or their companions in a hotel and even inside the Makassed hospital itself. Aseel Abu Rass, spokesman for the NGO Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, confirms that Israeli police officers carried out a raid on the hospital complex on November 2.

Nisreen, 39, was taken away handcuffed with plastic cable ties, she says, while sitting on an armchair near where Nabil is showing a video of a colonoscopy on his cell phone. This Palestinian woman does not want to have her picture taken, nor does she want to give her last name. She is afraid. Nisreen was in the hospital waiting to begin treatment for sequelae in a knee resulting from breast cancer she suffered in 2012. It was about 10 a.m. when the policemen came in. They were looking for Gazans. They arrested nine of us women and took us to the police station near Salah Eddine Street in Jerusalem, she recounts.

The mother of a baby who was admitted was allowed to go back to the hospital. The rest of us were interrogated for 12 hours. They kept asking me what kind of treatment I was undergoing. They thought that our stay in the hospital was a cover-up. After being questioned, she continues, the Israeli police took them to the Zeituna checkpoint and expelled them into the West Bank. The PNA sent a car to pick them up, Nisreen explains, and put them up at their own expense in the same hotel where Nabil lives. In her office in Ramallah, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila says that on another occasion, the Makassed Hospital contacted her ministry to say that they had to take charge of 20 patients from Gaza, otherwise they would be arrested.

At the same time, Israel arrested and expelled thousands of Gazans who until then had been working in the country and who were caught outside the Strip when the war began: 1,000 of these arrested workers are still missing. Among those detained, Physicians for Human Rights is aware of at least one sick child and his father. Unfortunately, we have no information on whether or not they have been released, says Rass.

Israels justification for arresting these Gazans is that their residence permits had expired, according to a police statement earlier this month. The Israeli authorities maintain that even the Palestinian section of Jerusalem is part of their territory: the United Nations considers East Jerusalem to be Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. When they raided the hospital, the police did not warn the management that they were coming to check on these people allegedly in an irregular situation, Rass continues. They simply sealed the entrance doors, burst into the hospital and violently detained even elderly women accompanying children, and interrogated health personnel. This is unacceptable. Even if their permits had expired, these people had nowhere to go because they could not return to Gaza, she points out. Some of the detainees were parents who were accompanying their sick children, so the children were left alone in the hospital.

The background to these arrests, Rass says, is that the Palestinian health infrastructure is considered [by Israel] complicit in the terrorist system, underlining the Israeli militarys sieges of hospitals in Gaza. This context, which affects all Palestinians, is even worse for patients coming from Gaza because of Israels blockade. Sick Gazans are faced, on the one hand, with a health system half dismantled by the 17-year blockade and, on the other, by what Rass calls a bureaucratic hell  the process of requesting authorization from Israel to leave the enclave and be treated outside.

Neither the criteria used by the Israeli authorities to approve these requests nor the reasons for their refusal are made public, although it is known that the main condition is security. The slightest suspicion that the patient is somehow linked to Hamas is enough for Israel to deny the request, or even not to answer it. For having a brother related to Hamas, to cite one example, breast cancer patients have died for lack of permission to leave Gaza. In 2022, according to the NGO BTselem, Israel denied 20,000 requests from patients and their companions. The spokeswoman for Physicians for Human Rights stresses that the blockade allows Israel to ensure that the Strip is dependent on its aid as an occupying power. Its like keeping Gazans submerged in water, but with their heads sticking out above the surface.

Abdallah Abutuor,, 33, with his daughters Etaf, 5, in the center, and Malak, 13, in Ramallah (West Bank), on November 19. Alvaro Garcia

Fear

Nisreens life is not in danger. That is not the case for Nabil, whose only chance for a cure now is to undergo surgery in Jordan. As in Gaza, hospitals in the West Bank also do not have the means to treat cases like his. The PNA has offered to pay for treatment there but the stumbling block is travel. Minister al-Kaila explains that many Gazans cannot travel abroad because they only have Palestinian passports, which not all countries recognize. Jordan grants Palestinians temporary permits but they have to provide documents that are not available to these sick people trapped in the West Bank.

Two-year-old Yusef Mohamad cries because he wants a soda. The boy has hemophilia and was also to be treated at Makassed Hospital. Yusef and his mother were not arrested by the Israeli police. They fled out of fear. Since the Hamas attack on October 7, groups of Israeli settlers surrounded the hotel where they were staying in East Jerusalem and threatened them, the woman recalls. On October 10, she escaped with her son in a cab that took them to Ramallah.

The next day, the police raided the hotel and arrested 10 women who were accompanying their children, who have cancer. A day later, they allowed them to return to the hospital with the children but, the following day, they went to the hospital again to expel them, Yusefs mother says. Another Gazan at her side confirms this. EL PAIS telephoned one of the 10 mothers who had been detained and expelled. The woman declined to talk.

Abdallah Abutuor, 33, looks like a pious man. He too was not detained but, like many others, he took refuge in Ramallah when the war began in his native Gaza. He remains hopeful that the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, in the Israeli part of the city, will forward to the Makassed Hospital the results of genetic tests that will identify the rare disease affecting two of his five children: girls Malak, 13, and Etaf, five.

Malak  angel in Arabic  smiles incessantly as she puts what is left of her hands, barely stumps, in her mouth. Malak and Etaf were born with fingers, but later ate them. The girls have bitten off their own fingers. Both girls arms are full of scars and bite wounds.

Self-mutilation is not the only symptom. Malak has the body of an eight-year-old girl. She has a prominent jaw and the bones in her arms are crooked. Her father says that the doctors told them they could only be treated in Israel or Germany. He still hopes that, when the war is over, his daughters will be able to seek treatment in Israel.
After threating to break the four-day truce in Gaza, Hamas on Sunday released 13 more Israeli hostages  children and teenagers aged between 4 and 17 and women  the Israeli army confirmed. Another Israeli citizen, who also holds a Russian passport, was released along with a further three Thai captives. The oldest hostage, 84-year-old Alma Avraham, was evacuated by helicopter to a hospital in serious condition, according to Israeli state television. As provided for in the agreement that came into force on Friday, Israel released 39 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, all of them minors, shortly afterward. The swap on the third day of the truce came amid renewed pressure from the main mediators in the ongoing war  the United States, Qatar, and Egypt  for the parties to negotiate an extension of the ceasefire.

Late in the day, Hamas said in a statement that it is seeking to extend the four-day truce to secure the release of more Palestinian prisoners, marking the first time the fundamentalist movement has expressed its willingness to accept such an extension. Hours earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Gaza for the first time in the seven-week war. In the Strip, Netanyahu told Israeli troops: We will continue until the end, until victory. Nothing will stop us, and we are convinced that we have the power, the strength, the will and the determination to achieve all the wars goals, and we will. Netanyahus words do not suggest that the partially regained calm in the ravaged land of Gaza will last longer than the four days already agreed upon in the deal that provides for the exchange of 50 of the approximately 240 Israeli hostages for 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Late Sunday, U.S. President Joe Biden held a telephone conversation with Netanyahu, who told him that when the current truce expires, the Israeli army will resume the military operation in Gaza with full force.

Gazans, of whom nearly 15,000 have been killed during the current war according to the Strips health authorities, are probably those most eager for an extension of this ephemeral truce, but the international allies of both sides in the conflict are also hoping for a prolongation of the casefire. Biden affirmed last week that Washington is working toward an extension of the cessation of hostilities. From the moment Hamas kidnapped these people, I, along with my team, have worked around the clock to secure their release, Biden said. " I have consistently pressed for a pause in the fighting for two reasons: to accelerate and expand the humanitarian assistance going into Gaza and, two, to facilitate the release of hostages [] This deal also is structured to allow a pause to continue for more than 50 hostages to be released. Thats our goal. The U.S. president also reiterated Washingtons commitment to the two-state solution. We need to renew our resolve to pursue this two-state solution where Israelis and Palestinians can one day live side by side in a two-state solution with equal measure of freedom and dignity. Two states for two peoples. And its more important now than ever.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is scheduled to travel to Israel again in the coming days. On his last visit, on November 3, he again displayed the unwavering support of the Biden administration for Israel, but with a nuance that displayed the growing discomfort in Washington over death toll in Gaza: Blinken urged his Israeli counterpart to do more to prevent civilian deaths. At least 6,150 of those killed in Gaza are children. During that visit, according to the Israeli press, the groundwork was partly laid for a temporary truce in the fighting to allow for the release of hostages and the arrival of more humanitarian aid to the Strip. That outline is the one that was finally accepted by the parties and entered into force last Friday.

The Israeli press on Sunday took it for granted that Blinken will again address the issue of the captives in Israel, but it also assumed that the trip is aimed at convincing the Netanyahu government to extend the truce. The two issues are closely related. So far, the only concrete option for an extension offered by Netanyahu is to add one day to the ceasefire for every additional 10 hostages released by Hamas. Since the truce began, the Palestinian militia has released 58 hostages, 40 Israelis and the rest workers from Asian countries, while Israel has released 117 Palestinian prisoners.

Protesters march in support of Palestinians outside the Columbia University in New York, November 15. EDUARDO MUNOZ (REUTERS)

A positive response

Egypt had displayed cautious optimism about the truce on Saturday. In a statement, a government spokesman said Cairo had received positive signals that the truce could be extended by a day or two, according to Reuters. An Egyptian security source went further on Sunday, telling the EFE news agency that the parties have given a positive response to a proposal by Egypt and Qatar to extend the truce for another four days, under the same conditions.

On Saturday, an official Qatari delegation arrived in Tel Aviv in what was billed as a surprise visit. Subsequently, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al-Ansari told France 24: We hope that after the four days we will be able to sign a second agreement extending the ceasefire. At least part of the delegation visited Gaza on Sunday.

The cautious optimism expressed by Egypt and Qatar runs against repeated statements by Netanyahu and his defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The Israeli prime minister has stated that after the current four-day truce, the war will continue. According to the daily Haaretz, one of the issues that Blinken will discuss with Netanyahu is the intention of the Israeli government to extend its ground offensive to the southern region of Gaza, where most of the 2.3 million residents of the Strip are now concentrated after Israel ordered them to evacuate on October 12. This idea has been met with misgivings in Washington, which fears that the already huge death toll in Gaza will soar even higher if Israel takes its offensive to the south, which would further jeopardize Israels international standing and that of the U.S. as its main supporter.

Due to Washingtons support, international pressure on Israel to extend the truce remains far less relevant for the Netanyahu government than the pressure it faces at home, not only from the families of the hostages but also from a large part of the population. Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday afternoon in Tel Aviv to show their support for the relatives, while thousands more in Jerusalem demanded the resignation of the prime minister.
Press Release

November 27, 2023 Bong Go lauds success of 31st Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum hosted by Phl Senator Christopher "Bong" Go commended the success of the 31st Annual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) held at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City from November 23 to 26. Go, alongside his colleagues in the Senate, personally attended APPF's opening ceremony. The event, with the theme "Resilient Partnerships for Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability" marks the second time the Philippines has hosted the prestigious forum since sponsoring its inaugural meeting in 1994. The Senate, designated as the host for the event's preparations, collaborated closely with the House of Representatives as co-host, to ensure the seamless execution of the annual meeting. This year's APPF meeting brought together 273 delegates from 18 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Parliamentarians from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Mexico, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Russian Federation, Thailand, and Vietnam joined their Filipino counterparts to discuss a broad spectrum of issues crucial to the region's progress. Go lauded Senate President Miguel "Migz" Zubiri and House Speaker Martin Romualdez as co-chairs for their collaborative efforts and commitment to fostering meaningful discussions during the APPF meeting. He also extended heartfelt thanks to the organizers and participants of the event, acknowledging their dedication and meticulous planning that contributed to the successful execution of the forum. The senator emphasized the significance of such forums in promoting diplomatic ties and understanding among nations in the Asia-Pacific region. He likewise underscored the need for continued dialogue and cooperation for the betterment of the region as a whole. "The successful outcome of the 31st APPF Annual Meeting is a testament to the collective commitment and hard work of everyone involved. I am confident that the experience can pave the way for continued collaboration and positive advancements in the region," expressed Go. As one of the founding members of the APPF, the Philippines takes pride in facilitating a platform for open dialogue and collaboration among parliamentarians to address common challenges and foster stronger ties among nations. The meeting's primary focus is on forging resilient partnerships, recognizing the role parliamentarians play as representatives of the people in overcoming challenges related to peace, prosperity, and sustainability, particularly in these critical times. On the first day of the forum, Zubiri and Romualdez said several draft resolutions were presented to them. These resolutions cover a diverse range of topics, including combating transnational crimes, strengthening parliamentary capacities to promote peace and stability, gender and sustainable development goals, women and leadership, education and culture, universal health care, and critical infrastructures.
The mediators of the pact between Israel and Hamas are seeking to extend the ceasefire in Gaza but face several obstacles. Since the cessation of hostilities came into effect last Friday, mutual accusations of non-compliance and a few isolated episodes have failed to derail the agreement: four days of truce in which Hamas is gradually handing over 50 Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza in exchange for Israel releasing 150 Palestinian prisoners and allowing more humanitarian aid to enter the Strip from Egypt. Among the incidents that have threatened the ceasefire are the death on Saturday of a Gazan farmer by Israeli fire (the first fatality during the truce), the shooting of Palestinians trying to return to their homes in the north of the Strip, and the launching of a rocket from Gaza 15 minutes after the ceasefire began. But it is not the same to unblock an exchange of hostages and prisoners that is already underway  which a diplomatic frenzy across three continents resolved on Saturday  as it is to agree on an extension by closing the loopholes that have been emerging. The agreement expires early Tuesday morning and is designed to last up to five more days if both sides continue to meet their obligations. After that, as Israel has made clear, the war will resume.

One of the elements of contention is the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip. Following the Hamas attacks on October 7, Israel put Gaza under a complete blockade: no water, no electricity, no fuel. Later, it agreed to allow the entry of a minimal amount of humanitarian aid through Egypt, and only for southern Gaza, where almost the entire population is concentrated: 80% of the 2.3 million inhabitants of Gaza have been forcibly displaced, according to United Nations data. Under the agreement the number of trucks entering has increased to 200 per day and extended access to the entire Strip, although this is still 300 trucks per day fewer than before October 7.

On Friday, the first day of the agreement, 200 vehicles arrived at the Rafah border crossing, but only 137 were unloaded for logistical reasons, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). On Saturday, 187 were allowed through. On each of those days, 129,000 liters of fuel  needed to run hospitals, desalination plants and the water treatment system  and four truckloads of cooking gas were also delivered, according to OCHA.

On Saturday, Hamas halted the handover of hostages, accusing Israel of breaching the humanitarian aid pact. Its spokesman, Osama Hamdan, said only 65 trucks, carrying food, water, medicine, and tents, but no fuel, had reached the north of the Strip, which has been virtually reduced to rubble after the Israeli army ordered the evacuation of the population and where the ground invasion has been focused. Its less than half of what was agreed, Hamdan noted. Israel interpreted it as merely a psychological warfare strategy to exploit the importance the country attaches to the return of the hostages. Qatar and Egypt, the two main mediators, had to intervene urgently, while an official Israeli source threatened anonymously to resume the bombing of Gaza if the hostages did not set foot on Israeli soil before midnight.

On Sunday, the Palestinian Red Crescent reported that, for the first time, 50 Egyptian trucks had gone directly from the Rafah crossing into northern Gaza, including to the capital of the Strip, through a military checkpoint manned by Israeli troops.

This crossing has also allowed those who were stranded in Egypt by the outbreak of the war on October 7 and wanted to be reunited with their families to return home. Cairo permitted this for the first time on Friday. The ceasefire has also facilitated the transfer of patients to hospitals in southern Gaza from the north, where virtually all medical facilities are inactive due to a combination of lack of resources and Israeli raids and shelling. The head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, reported the evacuation on Friday of 22 patients from the Al Ahli medical center to the European hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which is already treating twice its capacity.

Released Palestinian prisoners leave the Israeli military prison, Ofer, in Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. AMMAR AWAD (REUTERS)

Hostage lists

Another source of disagreement are the hostage lists. Israel accuses Hamas of reneging on an agreement that families would not be separated, as those being released are women and minors. On Saturday Qatar, which brokered the deal, received complaints from Hamas that the agreed principle of releasing the longest-serving prisoners first was not being applied. Just as Hamas decides who to release from the list at each stage, we decide which Palestinian security prisoners to release, an official Israeli source told Channel 12 television.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Sunday, who stressed the need to make every effort to implement the humanitarian aid part of the agreement, according to an Egyptian diplomatic statement. On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden had telephoned the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to unblock the situation. The emirate  where part of the Hamas leadership resides and which has been funding the movement for years with Israels approval  sent the first delegation from another country to Gaza since October 7 headed by its Minister of State Cooperation Lolwah Al Jater.

Visits to the hostages by the Red Cross is an issue that has also been attracting more and more protesters in Israel. At a press conference Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu read the section of the agreement that contains that promise in what was largely a point-scoring exercise. In reality, it is a moot point. The Red Cross can only access the hostages with the agreement of both parties. And  no matter how many assurances it receives  Hamas is unwilling to provide the slightest clue as to where the hostages are being held, with Gaza controlled from the sky by Israeli surveillance drones and thousands of soldiers on the ground in the Strip.
Opinion articles written in the style of their author." These texts are to be based on verified facts and must be respectful towards people, even though their actions may be criticized. shall feature, along with the author's name (regardless of their greater or lesser renown), a footer stating their office, academic title, political affiliation (if any) and main occupation, or the occupation related to the topic being assessed

Arbitrary borders  lines drawn by men in the annals of history  hold the power to bestow names like Leila, Ahmed, Mary, Joseph, David and Esther. Our names do not truly belong to us. We arrive by chance in places that mold and christen us. From the moment we are born, we are thrust into a world unknown, where foreign languages, cultures and religions are imposed upon us.

The children dying in Gaza did not choose to be born in an open-air prison, trapped by the ambitions of a colonizing nation that has disregarded their basic humanity. They did not choose to be born in a long-coveted land of great religious significance, yet seemingly destined for perpetual turmoil.

Israel is the darling of the West, a child spoiled by countries with a guilt complex about the extermination of European Jews during World War II. Some allowed it to happen, others even collaborated in the genocide. Yet, Palestine is left to pay the price for Nazi infamy.

We have mistakenly believed that those who endured the Shoah would never perpetrate the same atrocities as their ancestors. How would the victims of Nazi concentration camps view the crimes against humanity committed by their descendants? How would they view the war criminals exploiting the Holocaust to monopolize the exclusive status of eternal victims deserving of compassion?

A nation that has settled on foreign lands, disregarding U.N. resolutions since its inception, cannot be considered an exemplar of democracy or human rights. It is a supremacist nation that prioritizes one religion over others, endorsing racism and inequality. The cruelty inflicted upon Israels Arab population, from a historical perspective, becomes even more unjustifiable. The magnitude of the hatred directed towards those who have given little cause for revenge is incomprehensible. We shouldnt overlook the historical tensions between Muslim and Jewish communities in the Arab world. Yet, compared to European nations, their coexistence was relatively peaceful.

Many Jews of Moroccan origin are part of the extremist wing of the Israeli right, and their leaders serve in a government waging war with Hamas in Gaza. Judaism has a long history in the Maghreb, predating Islam. In addition to the native Amazigh Jews, Sephardic Jews arrived in Morocco fleeing persecution and the Spanish Inquisition. One notable example from recent history is Sultan Mohammed V, the grandfather of the current Moroccan king, who defended his Jewish subjects against the French Vichy governments plan to send them to concentration camps. The sultans strong opposition prevented this, saving Moroccan Jews from Nazi barbarity.

A Muslim Moroccan surely has more in common with an Israeli of Moroccan origin than with a Palestinian (some of whom are Christians). While the latter is united by language, religion and culture, the former is united by genes, language, culture, gastronomy and more. The only thing that divides them is religion. Religions, contrary to Marxs belief, are not the opium of the people. For centuries, religion has ignited war and fostered animosity in the name of God.

Which side of the border we end up on is determined by chance. However, a sense of justice, empathy for the suffering of others, and discernment can save us from succumbing to community and religious biases, hatred, manipulation and propaganda. When rulers manipulate their own legitimacy and the media bombard us with biased images and information, we must close our eyes and seek answers within ourselves. Our humanity is often obscured by imposed beliefs, rigid dogmas, ingrained prejudices and inherited resentments. Imagine yourself with a different name. If my name were Esther, would I have written the same editorial?

Houda Louassini is a translator who focuses on the literature and culture of the Spanish-speaking world.
(L-R) Polish Minister of State Assets Jacek Sasin, President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and Minister of Finance Magdalena Rzeczkowska attend a ceremony for the appointment of the Prime Minister at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw, Poland, 13 November 2023.

Polands president on Monday swore in a government that is expected to last no longer than 14 days, a tactical maneuver that allows the conservative Law and Justice party to hang onto power a bit longer  and make more appointments to state bodies.

Following a national election in October, President Andrzej Duda swore in Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who has held that position since late 2017. According to the constitution, Morawiecki and his Cabinet will have 14 days to face a vote of confidence in parliament.

Theyre almost certain to lose the vote because Morawiecki has no coalition partners after his nationalist and conservative Law and Justice party lost its parliamentary majority and no other parties want to join its government.

Morawiecki says he is trying to find partners to govern with, but himself puts his chances at 10% or even less.

Other members of Morawieckis new Cabinet also took their oaths. Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak remained but most of the other ministries, including foreign, justice and education ministries  were filled by new appointees. Some political veterans likely did not want to be part of a government expected to fail.

There were many women and young members in the new government, something Duda praised. He addressed them, telling them he knows most of them already, not as ministers but as experts, as people who have so far worked in the second line.

Critics of Morawiecki and Duda  who is politically aligned with Law and Justice  denounce the decision to tap a government with no apparent chance at winning parliamentary backing as a hopeless act of political theater.

Some critics point out that the outgoing party is using the time to make more appointments, which will extend its influence over state bodies even after giving up the reins of government. It has in recent days nominated loyalists to head the state auditing body and the financial supervision authority.

After eight years in power, Law and Justice won the most votes in the election but lost its parliamentary majority, getting just 194 seats in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm.

Power is already passing to a bloc of pro-European Union parties that ran on three separate ballots but vowed to work together. They jointly gained a parliamentary majority of 248 seats and are already leading the work of the parliament.

Their candidate for prime minister is Donald Tusk, who already held that position from 2007 to 2014 before becoming a top EU leader, the president of the European Council, a job he held for five years.

He is on track to once again be prime minister after Morawieckis time runs out in December.

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Ceremony at the inauguration of the renovated Cais do Valongo dock in Rio de Janeiro; November 23, 2023.

During the preparations for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, workers made an unexpected discovery in a square in the port area. They found large stone slabs, shells, amulets and personal objects. Archaeologists later confirmed that these artifacts were from the Cais do Valongo, the wharf where over a million enslaved Africans arrived in Brazil. In 2017, UNESCO named it a world cultural heritage site, acknowledging the significance it holds for the ancestors of Black Brazilians.

In years that followed, the site witnessed a steady increase in visitors, yet remained neglected with minimal signage and insufficient lighting. In late November, local authorities unveiled the beautifully renovated space with great pride, as a group of ialorixas (priests of Candomble, an African-based religion), performed a traditional purification rite by anointing the wharf stones with holy water and flowers.

Under the blazing sun, Ivanir dos Santos, a religious leader who is on the monuments management committee, watched the ritual with excitement. This place is really special and we must take care of it. It has a sad history that we can never forget. But its also where the folks who shaped Brazil as we know it today first set foot. I mean, everything passed through here, including our ancestors standing up for what they believed in.

Until 1831, when the transatlantic trafficking of enslaved people was outlawed, one-fifth of those captured by the Portuguese in Africa arrived on this Brazilian wharf. It is the sole remaining vestige of the slave trade on the entire South American continent. Crossing the Atlantic could take 30-90 days, depending on the ports of departure and arrival. Slave ships held up to 300 people, and some more than 500; 15-30% of the Africans perished due to overcrowding, hunger and poor hygiene. They were sold to plantation owners in Rio and spent the rest of their days working in tobacco, coffee and sugarcane fields.

Aerial view of the renovated Cais do Valongo dock. Beth Santos/Ayuntamiento de Rio de Janeiro

Those who arrived in the city and perished before being sold were laid to rest in the Pretos Novos cemetery, a large mass grave near the port managed by the Catholic Church. By 1830, the cemetery had fallen into neglect, slowly engulfed by the advancing cityscape. However, it was accidentally unearthed in 1996 by a family renovating their house. Mercedes Guimaraes was surprised to see human bones emerge from the earth, and eventually converted her home into a museum known as the Pretos Novos Research and Memory Institute.

Despite facing challenges in recent years, the small Pretos Novos center has remained a precious haven in the city for visitors to delve into the history of slavery in Brazil. Until recently, the countrys official narrative deliberately concealed its uncomfortable past. The Valongo wharf underwent a grand renovation in 1843 to warmly welcome Teresa Cristina of the Two Sicilies, the fiancee of the Brazilian Emperor Pedro II. It changed from a place of horror to a stage of joyous celebration, and was proudly renamed as the Empresss Pier.

The place where enslaved African first stepped foot in the city was erased by the urban development of the early 20th century when the stones of the wharf were buried underneath a plaza. It would be over 100 years before most Cariocas would learn about the tragic events that happened almost every month for two decades in the heart of their city.

After UNESCO named the Cais do Valongo a world cultural heritage site, Brazil committed to maintaining the area and building an information center. Instead, it was neglected  the site flooded frequently and filled up with garbage during storms. Activists and archaeologists involved in the preservation efforts became concerned that UNESCO might revoke the world heritage designation.

Inauguration of the renovated Cais do Valongo wharf; November, 2023.

After a six-year effort, the monument finally has new lighting, a hydraulic pump to prevent flooding, explanatory signage, and even a sculpture depicting human figures forming the silhouette of the African continent. The project cost $815,000 and was funded by the U.S. Embassy in Brazil and a Chinese electricity company. Rio de Janeiros city council and the Brazilian government have blamed the neglect on the Bolsonaro administration, and former Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical pastor who viewed African-based religions as satanic. The state-owned National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) will contribute $2 million to promote Afro-tourism and revitalize the cultural fabric of an area known as Little Africa.

A long-shelved museum project will also get another push. The idea to build a large museum about the history of slavery in Brazil has been dormant for years, but now plans are underway to locate it in a spacious port warehouse near the ruins of the Valongo wharf. The building was erected by Andre Reboucas, Brazils first Black engineer, a prominent abolitionist who insisted on building it without using slave labor. The museum is expected to open in 2026 and will exhibit a selection of the 1.5 million artifacts found at the Valongo wharf.

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves on the day of his departure from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, U.S. November 27, 2023, as he travels to Brussels for a NATO Foreign Ministers meeting.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken is turning his attention to Ukraine, NATO and the Western Balkans after weeks of intense focus on Israels war against Hamas in Gaza.

Blinken has spent much of the last month-and-a-half deeply engaged on the Gaza crisis, making two trips to the Middle East. Now, amid signs that a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas due to expire on Monday may be extended, Blinken is departing for Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting.

In Brussels, the alliance will reaffirm its support for Ukraines defense against Russias invasion, explore ways of easing tensions between Kosovo and Serbia and look at preparations for NATOs 75th anniversary next year.

The two-day session on Tuesday and Wednesday will include the first foreign minister-level meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, a body created by alliance leaders at their last summit to improve cooperation and coordination and help prepare Kyiv for eventual membership.

Allies will continue to support Ukraines self-defense until Russia stops its war of aggression, said Jim OBrien, the top U.S. diplomat for Europe.

The ministers will also address the situation in the Western Balkans where there are calls for NATO to increase its military presence amid concerns that hostility between Serbia and Kosovo could escalate to outright conflict.

Violence between the two has broken out twice in recent months, and Western countries fear that Russia could try to foment trouble in the Balkans to avert attention from the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Albanias prime minister urged NATO to further boost its military forces in Kosovo and secure the countrys borders with Serbia, warning that recent ethnic violence in Kosovo could potentially trigger a wider Balkan conflict. NATO has already strengthened its military presence in Kosovo  established after the 1999 bombing campaign against Serbia  with about 1,000 additional troops and heavier weaponry, bringing its deployment there to about 4,500 troops.

Blinken will underscore U.S. and NATO support for democracy and regional stability in the region, including a commitment to back all countries aspirations to join the European Union, OBrien said.

Serbia doesnt recognize Kosovos formal declaration of independence in 2008. Both countries want to join the European Union, which is mediating a dialogue between the former foes. Brussels has warned both that refusal to compromise jeopardizes their chances of joining the bloc.

In addition to Ukraine and the Western Balkans, the ministers will also discuss plans for the alliances 75th anniversary summit to be held in Washington in July 2024 at which allies will celebrate NATOs founding and highlight what leaders call the most successful military alliance in history.

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A generation used to unlimited access to information and tools is recovering the charm of objects that invite the opposite of smartphones immediacy. Interest in old-fashioned film cameras is increasing, especially for those whose childhoods are documented on film. We take a lot of photos that last only until we change phones. But almost all of us keep albums from when we were little that are memories of our lives, places to return to and revisit, say Cristobal Benavente and Marta Arquero, managers of the Sales de Plata store, a stop for lovers of analog photography.

We are seeing a return to analog documentation of events: at festivals, people put away their cell phones and take out a disposable camera instead. Only once the film is developed does one encounter the final result, which becomes a treasure. Film photography is synonymous with beauty, melancholy and memory. It is also a limited service: since a film roll is not infinite, it forces photographers to choose with precision the moments to capture, creating an emotional bond with the subject, something which has been lost with smartphones. Currently, we have images of absolutely everything we do and experience, whether it has value or not. Now, your wedding photos are interspersed with the image of the toast that you had for breakfast the previous week, reflects Clara Sanz, Social Media Strategist at the creative agency Porque Pasado.

Restructuring priorities

Normally, after taking a selfie or asking for a photo for a potential social media post, there is an almost obsessive scrutiny of all the supposed defects of the face and body. This image is studied from all angles and, on some occasions, editing and filters are used, modifying the people who appear in it beyond recognition. Researchers at the Boston Medical Center speak of selfie dysmorphia, referring to the disorder suffered by those who undergo plastic surgery with the purpose of looking like the version of themselves they see with social media filters.

Alternative social networks like BeReal, which was born in 2020 to fight against this lack of reality and the complexes that derive from Instagram and other applications, offer a less artificial option. Members of Generation Z, who have shown a clear concern for mental health, have embraced them. But, as Clara Sanz points out, from the moment you can choose the moment to take the photo and you can repeat the image, it loses a bit of its meaning.

Analog photos may not be perfect, and everyone may not look their most attractive. But they capture the memory of a certain moment and what it felt like then, as well as a window to understand how others see: Analog photography is authenticity and reality. Its seeing your birthday photos around a cake with a stain on the tablecloth. It is having chocolate on your cheek and remembering how much fun you had at those parties, says Sanz.

These imperfections are what millennials miss so much. The youth of Generation Z long for what they never experienced. The rise of analog cameras comes as a response to the need for naturalness lost after so many years of feigned perfection. Photography once again becomes a means of expression and a tool to materialize memories. In the case of disposable cameras, there is also the added attraction of not knowing what the result will be like until the roll is developed, which for many young people is a totally new experience.

The owners of Sales de Plata say that they receive a lot of questions every day regarding the management and characteristics of cameras, since many people who are curious about the subject have never had contact with it before, not even as children. The curious thing is that the question is very common among older people: does this still exist? There is a great difference in perspective according to age regarding analog photography: those who see it as a creative medium full of possibilities and those who experienced its decline in the early 2000s, sold all their equipment and feel that it is obsolete, say Benavente and Arquero.

Yashica Electro 35 GSN.

Nostalgia without filters

There are countless photo editing tools that create a vintage look. This fixation has existed for a while. Many young adults now remember those teenage years when they spent hours in front of the computer screen visiting Tumblr accounts where this aesthetic reigned. It was common to want to live inside the music videos for Lana Del Reys Video Games and Summertime Sadness, which were suffused with the romanticism of home videos, found footage  fake documentaries and, in general, a nostalgic, dreamy atmosphere.

Going back to the past means returning to comfort, to the familiar, to the place where one feels safe. Perhaps this explains why there are now young kids taking photos at trap concerts with cell phones from years ago and taking the trouble to transfer these photos to the computer. Or people shooting video clips with MiniDV cameras. It is the same type of nostalgia that Wim Wenders includes in the film Paris, Texas, scenes from years ago in Super 8 films: it takes us back, conclude Benavente and Arquero.

Hashtags like #filmphotography have 40,764,153 followers on Instagram. In videos on social media, couples imitate photographs of their parents when they were their age, filling social networks with flashbacks to the 1980s and 1990s. People want to feel natural again, to have references on which to base ourselves without fearing that everything is false. We are tired of not being able to believe what we see, of being bombarded with messages that are not real and that generate toxic feelings for no reason. I think it is a trend that should be maintained and promoted by all creators and that would give them added value, says Sanz regarding the trend of images taken with analog cameras on social networks.

The analog camera industry experienced an evident decline with the arrival of digitalization. In 2012, the journalist Ramon Peco wondered in an article in this newspaper whether analog photography would survive. It may seem like a romantic statement, and it probably is, but we must not forget that the photography business fuels many dreams. And for some, those dreams cannot be captured with digital technology, he reflected at the time.

Maybe that is the crux of the matter. Charlotte Wells manages to capture all that melancholy with Sophies home videos in the film Aftersun. It is not a coincidence that a film about memory and the survival of images in the brain revolves around those files, nor that the memory of Sophies last night with her father in Turkey is an instant photograph taken with a Polaroid. That crucial moment, materialized with an analog camera, is physical proof that all those scenes existed, even though they are now blurred and confused with those in your mind. The Polaroid stops being an image and becomes a treasure, something that can still be touched when everything else is gone.

As Y2K becomes fashionable again, so has the use of digital cameras. Surely many millennials remember carrying one in their bag alongside their keys or mobile phone, as well as arriving home after a gathering with friends or a trip, plugging it into the computer and downloading all the photos. They may remember the flash that dyed the eyes red and the skin nuclear white. Celebrities like Paris Hilton carried them on their wrists. Now, social media influencers are recovering those cameras: they may appear in videos in which current couples imitate their parents photos, filling Instagram with a retro aesthetic thanks to digital cameras.

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Margaret Mitchell, born in Los Angeles, prefers not to reveal her age. This could be a matter of vanity, or her tendency to safeguard the privacy and the proper use of data. Perhaps the latter, as she is one of the leading experts in ethics of technology and has devoted her career to reducing algorithmic biases. She founded and led Googles Ethical AI team alongside Timnit Gebru until they were both fired, a few months apart, three years ago. She now oversees the ethics department at Hugging Face, is one of the 100 most influential people of 2023 according to Time magazine and was one of the most anticipated speakers at the Smart City Expo World Congress held recently in Barcelona, Spain.

Question. How do technology companies react when they are warned about ethical issues?

Answer. The people I worked with [at Google] were absolutely passionate about it. I think at a higher level, it was maybe not as clear why what I was doing was important. Maybe they didnt understand.

Q. Why were you fired?

A. It wasnt someone saying ethical work is bad. It was more tied up in weird power differentials. It had to do with my co-lead [Timnit Gebru] being treated as less than her peers. That kind of treatment was consistent with racism. I couldnt not see that, and I couldnt not say something about it. It was part of a larger discussion of power and systemic discrimination.

Q. Do AI developers care about ethics?

A. It really depends on the developer. Ive worked with developers who always want to check if theyre doing the right thing. But the development culture, engineering culture, tends to prioritize a sort of alpha behavior where you always want to be the first to put out something or get the highest score. That can work as a disincentive to thinking through ethical considerations.

Q. How do discrimination and bias work in algorithms?

A. It starts with whos at the table from the beginning. If you dont have inclusive spaces for diverse people, youre not going to be able to incorporate a diversity of thinking into your product development. If they dont incorporate marginalized people, the kind of data thats collected, and how its collected, reflect the viewpoints of the people who have power, and these tend to be disproportionately white and Asian men, so the kind of data that gets collected tends to be consistent with their worldviews. So if the viewpoints of people who are marginalized arent treated as important in the development of AI, then there will be decisions to launch that technology, even if it doesnt work for people like them, or even if it harms them. For example, autonomous cars that do not detect children, because the data that control them do not take into account their most chaotic or erratic behaviors. Women used to be hurt by airbags, because the crash test dummies were the shape of men, so they didnt actually save women, because they tend to have breasts. You have to make sure that your system works equally well across those different kinds of characteristics and contexts.

Margaret Mitchell, pictured in Barcelona after her talk at the Smart City Expo World Congress. Albert Garcia

Q. What are the groups most discriminated against in AI?

A. Black women, non-binary people, people from the LGTBQ+ community and Latinx people. You also see this in who works in tech companies and who doesnt.

Q. How can you make sure that technology respects ethical values?

A. One of the things that help me navigate this is the idea of value pluralism. Different people have different values. Something that really concerns me about AI right now is this idea that you should have one general model that has the right values, as opposed to another approach, which is called Artificial Narrow Intelligence, where you focus on specific tasks and specific values. You need to have more individualized kinds of models.

Q. Is there a lack of regulation and transparency?

A. Companies need to disclose the basic details of their training data. Maybe not openly share their data with everyone, but minimally, demonstrate that the proportions of different characteristics are roughly equal, and take into account actual context, not a stereotyping context.

Q. What do you think about those who asked for a pause in the development of AI?

A. It was a weird thing. It turned out that the group it was coming from is highly associated with effective altruism and it was trying to get more power influencing politicians. This was probably less about doing the right thing and more about trying to get power. Some of the wording in there was super problematic, this idea that weve reached a point where AI is beneficial, but its not beneficial for everyone; there was a focus on existential threat, as opposed to individual harms that were already happening to different subpopulations. It really reflected some of the most problematic thinking in tech, and it kind of made me feel sick to my stomach a bit. And now they have a seat at the table, they are getting invited to discuss regulations.

Q. Are you optimistic about the future of AI?

A. No. I think that the people who are most likely to be harmed by this technology are not the people who have a seat at the table for regulation or who have a seat at the table for large tech companies. The fact that were having discussions about ethics in AI all over the world, I would not have imagined that four years ago. But that doesnt mean that where we will be in 10 years is the best place for us to be. There are a lot of other paths that I think would be more beneficial for humanity that I dont see us following.

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The unusual crisis at OpenAI has enough ingredients for multiple movies. In a thriller, Sam Altman would be the hero: the visionary leader unfairly fired who returns to the company to the acclaim of his employees. In a sci-fi scenario, he would be the villain: the executive who handed over artificial intelligence to commercial interests and doomed humanity to extinction. Altmans dismissal and reinstatement have their roots in the tension between doomsayers and pragmatists on the account of artificial intelligence, but they also reflect the struggle between the conception of OpenAI as a non-profit and its rise as Silicon Valleys most valuable start-up. In that latest battle, money seems to have imposed its law, while the multiple plot twists prove the firms governance problems.

Walter Isaacson, the biographer of Elon Musk, says that the decision to found OpenAI arose at a private dinner between the founder of Tesla and Sam Altman in Palo Alto (California), in the heart of Silicon Valley. At the time, Google was leading the artificial intelligence race, but Musk and Altman thought it was doing so without moral qualms about safety and potential risks to humanity. The initial idea was to create a non-profit artificial intelligence laboratory that would design open source software and attempt to counter Googles growing dominance in the field. We wanted to have something like a Linux version of AI that was not controlled by any one person or corporation, said Musk to Isaacson.

Musk and Altman hired a Google research engineer, Ilya Sutskever, as chief scientist, with a salary of $1.9 million plus bonus. That caused the breakdown of relations between Musk and Larry Page, one of the co-founders of Google. The relationship with the other Google founder, Sergey Brin, broke down over an alleged affair between his wife and Musk.

OpenAI was founded as a non-profit organization in late 2015 with the proclaimed goal of building safe and beneficial artificial general intelligence for humanity. It was launched with the goal of achieving $1 billion in donations. After several years the amount collected was $130.5 million, which served to finance operations and early exploratory work. Superintelligence that surpasses human intelligence is also known as artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Musk broke with OpenAI in 2018, after trying to integrate it with Teslas artificial intelligence projects, which Altman refused to do. So he looked for ways to access more resources. It became increasingly clear that donations alone could not offset the cost of the computing power and talent needed to drive basic research, jeopardizing our mission, the company explains. So they came up with a new structure to preserve the main mission while raising the necessary funds for it.

The non-profit structure was maintained, with its board as the governing body of the entire group, but a new subsidiary was created with the capacity to issue shares, hire new employees and raise capital. That new company has limited profits, is required to pursue the mission of the non-profit entity, and is monitored by the latter to ensure that it works to research, develop and deploy superintelligence, in a way that balances commercialization with security and sustainability, rather than focusing on mere profit maximization, according to OpenAI.

The company made and continues to make it clear that investing in OpenAI is a high risk bet. Investors can lose all their money without achieving any return, the website warns, then goes even further: It would be wise to view any investment in OpenAI Global, LLC in the spirit of a donation, with the understanding that it may be difficult to know what role money will play in a post-AGI world.

The company established that the main beneficiary should be humanity, not OpenAI investors. Even so, that structure was enough to start raising multimillion-dollar sums. Venture capital investors also made contributions in 2018, and shortly thereafter the company reached a strategic agreement with Microsoft. The company founded by Bill Gates first injected $1 billion as part of an agreement in which it became its technological and computing partner; then another $2 billion, and finally reached an agreement for an additional $10 billion without demanding representation on the board.

Microsoft has access to intellectual property and marketing licenses for certain developments, but the board has the power to determine that general artificial intelligence has been achieved and Microsoft would not have the right to it.

Despite all the precautions, the business line raised suspicions. The siblings Daniela and Dario Amodei, linked to the effective altruism movement  which emphasizes the risks of artificial intelligence  left OpenAI due to their differences of opinion with the agreements with Microsoft and with the direction it was taking, and they founded another artificial intelligence company, the San Francisco-based Anthropic, along with other former OpenAI employees. One of the main initial investors in Anthropic was Alameda Research, the parallel firm of Sam Bankman-Fried, convicted of various crimes for the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency market. Anthropic has ended up turning to Google and Amazon to finance itself.

Musk himself still does not accept OpenAIs change of direction very well. According to Isaacson, his biographer, Musk challenged Altman earlier this year to legally justify the change with OpenAIs founding documents in hand. Altman tried to show him that everything was legitimate, but he was not convinced. OpenAI was created as an open source company (thats why I named it OpenAI), a non-profit company to serve as a counterweight to Google, but now it has become a closed source, maximum profit company effectively controlled by Microsoft, he said, according to Isaacson.

Musks wound, in fact, has not healed. This week, in the wake of the artificial intelligence firms crisis, the entrepreneur shared on X a letter allegedly written by disgruntled former OpenAI employees. Throughout our time at OpenAI, we witnessed a disturbing pattern of deceit and manipulation by Sam Altman and Greg Brockman, driven by their insatiable pursuit of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI). Their methods, however, have raised serious doubts about their true intentions and the extent to which they genuinely prioritize the benefit of all humanity, they said in that letter, which has since been taken down.

Many of us, initially hopeful about OpenAIs mission, chose to give Sam and Greg the benefit of the doubt. However, as their actions became increasingly concerning, those who dared to voice their concerns were silenced or pushed out. This systematic silencing of dissent created an environment of fear and intimidation, effectively stifling any meaningful discussion about the ethical implications of OpenAIs work, they added, asking the board of directors not to give in to Altmans plans: We implore you, the Board of Directors, to remain steadfast in your commitment to OpenAIs original mission and not succumb to the pressures of profit-driven interests. The future of artificial intelligence and the well-being of humanity depend on your unwavering commitment to ethical leadership and transparency.

OpenAIs board of directors was dysfunctional. Several of its members had left due to differences with the company, conflicts of interest or personal projects. The members were unable to agree on replacements, and the board had been reduced to six individuals. Three of them were OpenAI employees and founders: Greg Brockman, president; San Altman, CEO, and Ilya Sutskever, chief scientist. The other three were independents: Adam DAngelo, founder of Quora; Tasha McCauley, engineer and entrepreneur, and Helen Toner, from Georgetown University. These last two are linked to the current of so-called effective altruism, which advocates putting a stop to the development of artificial intelligence, which they see as a Pandoras box and a possible existential threat to humanity.

The effective altruism movement is running into more and more opposition. One of its staunchest critics, Marc Andreessen, another long-time Silicon Valley investor, recalls that the fear that technology of our own creation will rise up and destroy us is deeply rooted in our culture. He believes that with artificial intelligence the myth of Prometheus, Frankenstein or Terminator is being repeated. My view is that the idea that AI will decide to literally kill humanity is a profound category error. [...] The idea that it will at some point develop a mind of its own and decide that it has motivations that lead it to try to kill us is a superstitious handwave, he wrote in a lengthy manifesto where he also claimed that the doomsayers are part of a long Western tradition that generates apocalyptic cults.

Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist at Harvard University, agrees: I was a fan of Effective Altruism (almost taught a course on it at Harvard) together with other rational efforts (evidence-based medicine, data-driven policing, randomista econ). But it became cultish. Happy to donate to save the most lives in Africa, but not to pay techies to fret about AI turning us into paperclips, he tweeted on Friday.

Former OpenAI board member Toner published an academic article in October that criticized some decisions by OpenAI and praised those of its rival Anthropic, a fact that Altman took as an affront. The article said that Anthropic had reinforced the credibility of its commitments to AI safety by delaying the early launch of its model and absorbing potential future revenue losses.

At the same time, other moves by the CEO did not please the board. He had just returned from holding, along with the head of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, a conference with developers in the purest style of companies like Apple. He was also in the process of attracting investors with a company valuation of close to $86 billion. At the same time, he was looking for financing for new projects. On the eve of his dismissal he had mentioned a recent advance that pushed the veil of ignorance back and the frontier of discovery forward.

Distrust had established itself in the governing body on which the entire group depended. Right then, Sutskever unexpectedly aligned himself with the three independents and together they decided to fire Altman and kick Brockman off the board by video conferences at noon on Friday. The company accused Altman of not having been candid with the board, and gave no further explanation. The 38-year-old manager found out about his dismissal from a hotel in Las Vegas, where he had gone to watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix that weekend.

Most companies of OpenAIs size and importance have boards of between eight and 15 directors, most of whom are independent and all of whom have more experience on boards of this size than OpenAIs independent directors, noted Marissa Mayer, a long-time Silicon Valley executive, when the crisis broke out. I dont think they have solid legal advice or good governance structures.

Altmans dismissal caused an earthquake. Brockman decided not only to leave the board, but to resign from the company altogether. Investors and employees began to ramp up the pressure, even more so when no specific reasons were provided for the dismissal. In a first meeting with the board, they reproached its members for putting the future of the company in danger. The surprise was monumental when the boards response was that allowing the destruction of the company would be consistent with the mission they felt had been entrusted to them, to protect humanity.

That was too much for investors and employees. A few independent board members seemed willing to take down the most promising firm in artificial intelligence over poorly substantiated threats to humanity. For the employees, their jobs were in danger. They stood. On social media, employees said OpenAI is nothing without its people. Altman went to OpenAI headquarters on Sunday to negotiate his reinstatement. He was carrying a guest card. He tweeted a selfie: First and last time I ever wear one of these. The independents refused to give in and signed on an equally apocalyptic interim CEO, Emmett Shear.

For investors it was also a nightmare. They were aware that the groups structure is peculiar, but they could not imagine that the board itself would act like a kamikaze. Microsoft, the investor with the most at stake, moved quickly and announced it was hiring Altman. This guaranteed not losing momentum in the artificial intelligence race. For the rest, the risk was of losing the bulk of their investment.

With Microsofts offer (and that of other companies) on the table, employees threatened to leave if Altman was not reinstated. 95% of employees signed a letter calling for the boards resignation, including Mira Murati, the technology chief, initially appointed as Altmans interim replacement, and Sutskever, chief scientist, who regretted having participated in the coup, according to a message that was published on X.

The financial incentives to stay with OpenAI instead of going to Microsoft were very strong. The employees have a stake in the capital and the companys valuation before the current crisis had skyrocketed to nearly $90 billion on the back of the dazzling success of ChatGPT, whose launch marks one year on November 30. In fact, a sale of employee shares to investors was underway that would have made several OpenAI workers millionaires.

Despite Microsofts announcement, the head of Microsoft was still willing for Altman to return to lead OpenAI. Negotiations continued for two days. Shear himself, the second interim substitute, supported Altmans return as the way to maximize security while continuing to do the right thing for all parties involved. In the end, the solution included the resignation of the two independent directors and Sutskever. A new board was formed with Bret Taylor, former president of X and former CEO of Salesforce, as chairman, with two more members: Adam DAngelo, the third independent who remained, and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers. Altman was once again the companys chief executive, but not a member of the board. For the staff, it was a party. I dis-resign, Brockman said.

OpenAI employees had Thanksgiving week off. This week, things will no longer be the same as 10 days before. In reality, it is not yet known what they will be like. An independent investigation has been announced into Altmans decisions and actions and the circumstances that led to his dismissal. At the same time, the groups governance system is in question and could be reformed in the coming months.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2023 - 20:43 | All, World, Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong agreed Monday to deepen maritime security cooperation between the two nations in the face of China's growing military assertiveness in the Asia-Pacific region.

During their talks at the prime minister's office in Tokyo, Kishida and Thuong confirmed they will continue to prepare for the success of a special summit involving ASEAN leaders, which Japan will host next month to mark 50 years of their friendship and cooperation.

Kishida and Thuong also reaffirmed their commitment to expanding bilateral collaboration on various issues, including the economy and cultural exchanges, as this year also commemorates half a century of the establishment of Japan-Vietnam diplomatic relations.

Japan has been seeking to capitalize on economic growth in Asia by bolstering ties with developing and emerging countries called the "Global South," such as Vietnam and other ASEAN members while trying to counter China's increasing influence in the region.

Vietnam, along with other member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, has overlapping territorial claims with Beijing in the strategically important South China Sea. China claims a significant portion of this region, home to some of the world's busiest sea lanes.

Meanwhile, Japan has been at odds with China over the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands. Chinese coast guard vessels have repeatedly entered Japanese territorial waters around the uninhabited islets, which Beijing calls Diaoyu.

With China apparently in mind, Japan has launched a new program to offer defense equipment to like-minded countries, called official security assistance, or OSA, earmarking 2 billion yen ($13 million) for the fiscal year through March 2024.

On Monday, Kishida and Thuong agreed that Japan and Vietnam will start discussions about the application of the program.

Kishida is slated to host the Japan-ASEAN special summit for three days from Dec. 16. The 10-member ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Thuong is on a four-day trip to Japan through Thursday. It is his first visit to the nation since becoming the president in March.

Related coverage:

FOCUS: 3 Asian powers' framework sparks hope for cooperation on North Korea

Japan, China, South Korea to arrange summit at early date
By Tamaki Shinzato and Kazuhiro Kimura, KYODO NEWS - Nov 28, 2023 - 07:48 | All, World

The international community should not seek the forcible removal from power of Afghanistan's interim Taliban government but encourage inclusive intra-Afghan dialogue to bring about improvements to their policies, former president Hamid Karzai said.

But Karzai, who served as the country's first democratically-elected leader from 2002 to 2014, told Kyodo News in a rare interview with foreign media that the Taliban must resume girls' education immediately, saying it could be a step toward it becoming the "legitimate" and "recognized" government.

The Taliban government has not been recognized internationally due to its brutal treatment of women and minorities. Female students cannot continue education beyond sixth grade, and female employment is effectively prohibited.

Speaking recently, Karzai stressed, however, that forcible removal of the Taliban from power is not the way forward.

"We don't want conflict in this country anymore. Conflict will make things even worse than they are today," Karzai said in the interview, conducted at his residence in central Kabul.

"We don't want a collapse of the regime or split of the regime. We have had enough of that in Afghanistan. We want improvements in policy. We want all Afghans getting together to build the future."

While insisting that women and girls be allowed to return to school "immediately," the former leader wants intra-Afghan talks involving all ethnic groups, some of whom are continuing to fight against the Taliban, to commence "as soon as possible." He stopped short of elaborating on a specific timeline for the negotiations.

Karzai said that even though the Taliban, a hard-line Islamist movement, understands the necessity of talks, it will take time and preparation before the process can begin.

"On the issue of education for girls, the great majority of the Taliban are in agreement with it. There's no doubt about it. On the issue of the Afghan dialogue, they understand the need for it," he said.

Many Afghans believe that Western countries imposed overly hasty timelines in the reconstruction process without considering the local culture and conditions.

Reflecting that view, the former president said, "We must learn from our mistakes. We must learn from history."

Karzai repeatedly stressed during the interview that it is the role of dialogue to find the best shape for the country's future governance, casting doubt on the wisdom of switching to a federal system.

The country needs "a strong and effective government, but a government that disperses authority widely to local bodies," he said.

The Taliban is unlikely to accept power-sharing with opposing forces at least in the near future, according to diplomats and experts in the region. Still, Karzai said that he was not pessimistic because he believes Afghanistan is "big enough" to accommodate all its groups.

"We have to make an arrangement by which both sides, the Taliban and other Afghans, begin to understand that the country is big enough for all. The country is big enough for everyone, I mean politically and economically. The country is big enough for all Afghans," he said.

Looking back on the 20-year reconstruction and democratization process led by the United States and allies like Japan after the collapse of the first Taliban regime in 2001 until the Taliban's comeback in 2021, Karzai said there were many achievements and mistakes on the part of both the international community and Afghans.

"The failure of democracy in Afghanistan was not the rejection of the common Afghan people. They embraced democracy. It was a mismanagement of it both by the government of the day and the international community and supporters," he said.

Many Afghans in and out of the country have slammed the reconstruction process as a failure. The capital Kabul today houses thousands of internally displaced people living in dire conditions, just as it did two decades earlier.

Karzai repeatedly said, however, that the reconstruction process yielded a hugely positive legacy for Afghanistan, especially in the fields of education, medical care and infrastructure building.

"In terms of reconstruction and assistance, the international community led by the U.S. did very, very well. Japan did great. It was (one of) the greatest contributors to Afghanistan's reconstruction," he said.

But Karzai said that those achievements were overshadowed by "massive mistakes" committed by U.S. forces and some of Afghan forces. "The greatest mistake was...heavy-handed military activities by foreign forces and by our own government forces" that left thousands of civilians killed or injured.

He admits that collateral damage undermined people's trust in his government and ended up strengthening support for the Taliban.

The former leader blamed an agreement reached in 2020 between the United States and the Taliban as the biggest reason for the previous government's collapse.

The United States under then President Donald Trump cut a deal with the Taliban known as the Doha Agreement that U.S. troops would withdraw from Afghanistan on condition that the Taliban refrained from violence.

Asked if he thinks that the United States gave the green light to the Taliban to take over the country by force -- which they did in August 2021 -- Karzai replied, "That's what happened."

He refused to go into details but said, "The perception is that the Doha process was not intended for peace. That's what the Afghan people believe now."

Related coverage:

Taliban spokesman says ban on Afghan women's education "small issue"
IMEE: COLLATERAL DAMAGE RISK RISING FOR FILIPINO SEAFARERS

Senator Imee Marcos pressed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Migrant Workers for a long-term strategy to negotiate the release of abducted Filipino seafarers as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict expands beyond the Gaza Strip.

Filipino seafarers were again among the hostages in Sunday's hijacking incident in the Middle East, just a week after Yemen's Houthi rebels seized an Israeli-linked cargo ship.

Marcos, who chairs the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said the lives of Filipino seafarers now face higher risks as Israel's attacks in Gaza could draw in more militant groups seeking to avenge the deaths of thousands of Palestinians.

"There's no end in sight to this conflict and more Filipino seafarers could become collateral damage. The ongoing truce to release hostages on both sides is temporary," the senator explained.

She also warned that the pro-Palestinian Houthi rebels have threatened to target more ships with links to Israel.

Filipino seafarers comprise 25% of those employed in the global maritime industry, with almost half a millon serving on cargo and cruise ships.

The sea hijackings took place in the Red Sea and the adjoining Gulf of Aden - a crucial shipping route connecting Europe with the Middle East and Asia.

Marcos also urged the DFA to take great care in its diplomatic positions, especially as a member of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

The Philippines' abstention from a UNGA resolution calling for a humanitarian pause in Israel's attacks in Gaza "has not gone unnoticed" among Arab nations and could affect future negotiations on the release of Filipino hostages, she said.

"Our alliance with the United States and its foreign policies in the ongoing conflict complicate our own. But Filipino interests come first and must be upheld," the senator emphasized.
KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2023 - 11:49 | Arts, All, Japan

Japanese violinist Koshiro Takeuchi took third place in a prestigious international competition for up-and-coming artists in Paris on Sunday.

The 18-year-old from Tokyo was among the five who made it to the finals in the violin category of the Long-Thibaud Competition, with Ukrainian Bohdan Luts, also 18, taking first place, while another Japanese national, Miyu Kitsuwa, 22, came fifth.

"I am very honored to win a prize in such a prestigious competition," said Takeuchi, a student at the Tokyo College of Music High School.

Kitsuwa from Yokohama, a city near Tokyo, said, "It was a great learning opportunity for me to compete alongside wonderful performers of my generation from around the world."

The Long-Thibaud Competition began in 1943, bearing the name of two French musicians -- pianist Marguerite Long and violinist Jacques Thibaud. The event is a piano and violin competition aimed at promoting talent and facilitating their careers.

Last year, Masaya Kamei of Japan and Lee Hyuk of South Korea each won first prize in the piano competition.
By Maya Kaneko, KYODO NEWS - Nov 27, 2023 - 20:00 | World, All, Japan

The foreign ministers from Japan, China, and South Korea agreed in Busan on Sunday to communicate closely over North Korean issues, sparking hope that cooperative possibilities on the matter can be explored within their three-way framework amid deepening Moscow-Pyongyang ties.

The trilateral mechanism, resuming direct foreign ministerial talks after a four-year hiatus due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic, is often seen as ineffective in addressing North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, given Beijing's significant economic influence over Pyongyang.

Nonetheless, some analysts highlight potential factors that could change this view. The latest three-way meeting came days after Pyongyang launched a military spy satellite using ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. resolutions.

Japan and South Korea, together with the United States, immediately condemned the launch. However, China has stopped short of criticizing Pyongyang, only calling for a political settlement and urging all parties to "address each other's legitimate concerns in a balanced way."

After a September summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Russian Far East, it is believed that Moscow and Pyongyang strengthened military cooperation. Speculation is mounting that Russian assistance and guidance might be linked to Pyongyang's recent spy satellite launch.

After failed attempts in May and August, North Korea claimed it successfully put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit on Tuesday, with Kim noting that the country's armed forces have acquired "eyes" overlooking a very long distance.

Troy Stangarone, senior director at the Korea Economic Institute in Washington, said Beijing does not want Moscow-Pyongyang ties to grow too deep "to maintain its primacy in relations with North Korea and limit the potential for instability on the Korean Peninsula."

China's wariness over closer Russia-North Korea relations could provide room for trilateral cooperation on North Korean issues. "The Japan-South Korea-China trilateral framework can provide an important platform for sharing concerns and potential approaches," he added.

Stangarone, however, said the three-way scheme "needs to be coordinated with deep consultations with the United States," and improved Sino-U.S. ties could enhance the potential for cooperation on North Korean matters.

"We've seen in recent years that when relations between the United States and China deteriorate that Beijing is more likely to loosen sanctions enforcement and publicly push for relief for North Korea," the director said.

The trilateral ministerial talks came shortly after Chinese President Xi Jinping had separate meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on the sidelines of a regional summit in San Francisco, which pointed to the possibility of strained Sino-U.S. and Sino-Japanese ties improving.

Furthermore, China-South Korea relations have also warmed to some degree since plunging on Seoul's agreement with Washington in 2016 on deploying a land-based antiballistic missile system. Beijing claims the system's radar would enhance the United States' ability to spy on its territory.

Noboru Yamaguchi, a professor at the International University of Japan in Niigata Prefecture, said China detests the situation in which North Korea "becomes too provocative and uncontrollable," triggering a U.S. response.

Being a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, Beijing must maintain the posture that the use of ballistic missile technology by Pyongyang, in violation of U.N. resolutions against it, cannot be tolerated, he added.

The professor said while Beijing's influence over Pyongyang alone cannot help completely settle issues surrounding North Korean missile and nuclear development, it is still important to nudge China into showing a cooperative stance in a multilateral framework.

But Stephen Nagy, a professor at International Christian University in Tokyo, warned that the trilateral meetings "really have limits" in terms of what kind of outcome they can have, with the three Asian powers "having such divergent interests within the region."

"I think that this framework will continue to be useful for dialogue and sharing views. But it will not be a framework that deals with the fundamental challenges within the trilateral relations," he said.

Nagy pointed out that North Korea's missile launch "creates more challenges for an already heavily overburdened United States," which has been providing aid to Ukraine in the war started by Russia and supporting Israel in the Gaza crisis.

He said that amid the continued rivalry between the world's two largest economies, Beijing could benefit from North Korea's behavior to "further dilute" Washington's ability to focus on issues critical to China.

South Korea has assessed that North Korea's military reconnaissance satellite entered orbit and that Pyongyang received technological assistance from Russia.

Japan has also confirmed "some object" launched by North Korea is "orbiting the Earth," in an assessment made in collaboration with the United States and South Korea. Tokyo is carefully analyzing whether the object has been functioning as intended since its launch.

Several experts said the spy satellite launch would only have minimal impact on regional security, as it is likely that any images from the satellite will be low-resolution and of limited value in gaining intelligence on U.S. and South Korean military operations.

They said several dozen more satellites would be needed to constantly monitor moves by U.S. and South Korean troops in the region.

North Korea has said the spy satellite will officially begin its mission on Dec. 1, vowing to place several more satellites into orbit in a short span of time to secure its reconnaissance capabilities over South Korea.

Kim has asserted that his country has the right to possess spy satellites, defending it as "a full-fledged exercise of the right to self-defense."

(Keita Nakamura in Tokyo contributed to this story.)

Related coverage:

North Korea's Kim inspects satellite photos of "major target regions"

FOCUS: Russia unlikely to give North Korea missile technology for ammunition

Japan, S. Korea leaders vow joint response to N. Korea, close contact
COLOMBO, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Ministry of Education will commence distribution of vouchers to buy shoes for 747,000 poor children from Dec. 4, a government official said on Monday.

Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha told parliament that the distribution of vouchers would end by Dec. 24, which would allow children to buy shoes to wear to school in the new year.

He also told parliament that the government is planning to provide sanitary napkins to female students free of charge starting next year.

There are 1.6 million primary school students and 2.4 million students above grade six, of whom 1.2 million should be females, the minister said. 
DAMASCUS, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four pro-government fighters were killed and 18 others injured on Sunday due to the explosion of a landmine planted by the Islamic State in the eastern Syrian province of Deir al-Zour, a war monitor reported.

The incident took place when these members of the National Defense Forces were combing Al-Shajeri village in the government-controlled area of the desert region in Deir al-Zour, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The injured were taken to the hospital for treatment, with some of them seriously wounded, said the Britain-based war monitor.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned about the danger of undetected landmines and other explosives in Syria.

The landmines and explosive remnants of war, which had been planted by military formations across Syria since 2011, have killed and injured many in Syria, said the Observatory on Sunday, revealing that the number of deaths and injuries from such explosions across Syria has reached 235 and 308 respectively so far this year. 
F-16 fighter jets of the Turkish Air Force are pictured in Konya, Turkiye, June 15, 2023.

Frustrated with the resistance of its NATO ally U.S. to provide F-16 fighter jets, Turkiye has turned to European countries to procure 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, but Germany's possible blockade has added uncertainty to the deal, experts said. (Mustafa Kaya/Handout via Xinhua)

by Burak Akinci

ANKARA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Frustrated with the resistance of its NATO ally U.S. to provide F-16 fighter jets, Turkiye has turned to European countries to procure 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, but Germany's possible blockade has added uncertainty to the deal, experts said.

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler told a parliamentary hearing on Nov. 16 that his country was looking for new suppliers and was keen on acquiring the warplanes to modernize the aging fleet of its air force.

"We want to buy the Eurofighter. It is a very effective aircraft. These planes are jointly produced by the UK (United Kingdom), Germany and Spain. Both the UK and Spain say 'yes', and now they are working to persuade Germany," Guler said.

The export of Eurofighter jets requires unanimous approval from all consortium members, including Italy.

More than two years after Ankara's request, Turkiye's proposed 20-billion-U.S. dollar deal to purchase advanced F-16 Block 70 fighters and modernization kits from the United States is still pending authorization.

Turkiye embraced the F-16 procurement strategy after the U.S. removed it from its F-35 fighter jets program in July 2019, after Ankara purchased Russia's S-400 air defense systems.

Due to political tensions between Ankara and Washington, the U.S. congress has reportedly held up the proposal until Ankara approves Sweden's admission to NATO.

An informed Turkish source, who requires anonymity, told Xinhua that the Turkish parliament's ratification process for Sweden's admission to NATO was "on track" and was expected to be finalized in the near future in accordance to its agenda.

According to defense policy expert Ozgur Eksi, Turkiye's Eurofighter bid is mainly driven by its neighbor and primary regional rival Greece's order of 24 French-made Rafale F3R fighter jets.

Eksi, editor-in-chief of TurDef defense magazine, said in a recent interview that Turkiye isn't ready to allow Greece air superiority which, in his view, would lead to a conflict between the two NATO members, which have engaged in sporadic aerial conflicts over territorial disputes in regions such as the Aegean Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean.

"It's a strategic choice... Turkiye knew for some time that it had to acquire Eurofighters," in order to respond to Greece and to make up for the delayed acquisition of more F-16 fighters from the U.S., said Eksi.

Turkiye plans to use the Typhoons as a stopgap option until the next-generation Kaan it is developing enters service sometime in the next decade, a source close to the Turkish government told Xinhua.

However, diplomatic strains have reportedly led to Germany's objection to Turkiye's purchase of the Typhoons, including Turkiye's acquisition of Russian arms, its military campaigns in Syria, and postponement in endorsing Sweden's NATO bid.

In Eksi's view, German policymakers worry that a sizeable number of voters of Kurdish origin could politically oppose to a weapons sale of this proportion to Turkiye on human rights grounds, as Ankara is battling Kurdish separatists not only at home but also in Syria and Iraq.

"The German government is afraid that (arms sales to Turkiye) would cause a loss of votes from people of Kurdish origin, that's the main reason of its objection," he said.

Moreover, Turkiye's rapprochement with Russia is viewed with suspicion by its Western allies and is also a potential cause of Berlin's objection to Ankara's project to renew its fighter jets, other analysts said.

"Many EU and NATO allies distrust sending more advanced military hardware to a country that imports S-400s and purchases large amounts of Russian energy," Samuel Doveri Vesterbye, managing director of the European Neighbourhood Council (ENC), a Brussels-based think-tank, commented on his X account.

"It's simply seen as too unbalanced and dangerously tilted in favor of Russia," said Vesterbye.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's accusation of Israel being a "terrorist state", and his praise of the Gaza-ruling Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), has added to the list of Germany's concerns, said Serkan Demirtas, an Ankara-based analyst and journalist.

"This deal is not easy at all because of all of these issues," he said, highlighting other political factors including Germany's strict laws on weapons export.

Demirtas added that Berlin was "traditionally reluctant on weapon sales to Turkiye," and more so since the Turkish army launched several offensives against Kurdish fighters in northern Syria in recent years. 

Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler (C) attends a parliamentary hearing in Ankara, Turkiye, Nov. 16, 2023.

Frustrated with the resistance of its NATO ally U.S. to provide F-16 fighter jets, Turkiye has turned to European countries to procure 40 Eurofighter Typhoons, but Germany's possible blockade has added uncertainty to the deal, experts said. (Mustafa Kaya/Handout via Xinhua)
RABAT, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan navy on Sunday intercepted and rescued 56 illegal immigrants on board a boat off the Atlantic coast, the official news agency MAP reported on Monday.

A Moroccan navy patrol vessel intercepted the boat during an assistance mission near the port of Tan-Tan, the MAP quoted an unnamed military source as saying.

The rescued people, including 55 from sub-Saharan African countries and one Cuban, were heading towards Spain's Canary Islands, the military source said.

After receiving necessary care, the rescued migrants were handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie in the Tan-Tan port for the usual administrative procedures, the same source added. 
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of young South Koreans was expected to halve in 30 years amid the rapidly aging population and the record-low birthrate, the country's statistical agency said Monday.

The number of those aged 19-34 totaled 10,213,000 in 2020, taking up 20.4 percent of the country's total population, according to Statistics Korea.

The number was forecast to drop to 5,213,000 in 2050 after steadily declining from 13,849,000 in 1990 to 12,883,000 in 2000 and 10,967,000 in 2010.

The percentage of youth to the total population was forecast to tumble to 11.0 percent in 2050.

The total fertility rate, or an average number of children a woman is expected to bear in her lifetime, hit a new low of 0.78 in 2022 amid rapid population aging.

The percentage of unmarried young people to the total youth population soared to 81.5 percent in 2020 from 75.0 percent five years earlier.

The figure has been on the fast rise from 54.5 percent in 2000 to 63.2 percent in 2005 and 68.9 percent in 2010.

The proportion of the economically active young women to the total young women had been on the increase from 42.3 percent in 2000 to 55.2 percent in 2010 and 61.1 percent in 2020.

The percentage of the economically active young men had roughly been on the decline from 66.0 percent in 2000 to 64.7 percent in 2010 and 63.9 percent in 2020. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday held a meeting to review guidelines on policies and measures for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting, which also deliberated a set of regulations on CPC leadership over foreign affairs.

The meeting noted that the Yangtze River Economic Belt development strategy is a major strategic decision made by the Party Central Committee.

Advancing the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt relies fundamentally on the sound ecology of the Yangtze River basin, according to the meeting.

The meeting stressed efforts in high-level protection of the Yangtze River basin, and the ecological red line that had been drawn must be upheld and placed under oversight.

Efforts to cut carbon emissions, reduce pollution, increase vegetation and pursue growth should be advanced in a coordinated manner, according to the meeting.

The meeting underlined the role of scientific and technological innovation in promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and called for efforts in coordinating the layout and transfer of industries along the Yangtze River.

The level of regional transport integration needs to be raised, the security and stability of key national industrial and supply chains should be maintained, and disaster prevention and mitigation capacity in the river basin needs to be improved.

The meeting also pledged policy support for the area with a number of major reforms in key areas. 
Oarsmen take part in the boat race in the Tonle Sap river during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

"This water festival is very good to preserve our old tradition, and to tell our younger generations that in ancient times, boats were used as a means of transport for the fight in wars and for waterway travel," said Yan Chanthavy, a 20-year-old spectator from southern Takeo province.

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia celebrated the annual three-day Water Festival here on Sunday, reviving the more than 800-year-old tradition of boat races in the Southeast Asian country.

The kingdom's grandest festival returned after a three-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tens of thousands of spectators gathered on both sides of the Tonle Sap river in the capital Phnom Penh to cheer on oarsmen who raced their boats along a 1.7 km stretch of the river.

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni symbolically turns on the light of illuminated floats during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

King Norodom Sihamoni, along with Prime Minister Hun Manet and other national leaders as well as foreign diplomats, watched boat racing from a stage erected on the riverbank in front of the royal palace.

Lay Sotheara, a 32-year-old boatman from southeastern Tboung Khmum province, said he was thrilled to participate in the festival, saying that his boat has 75 rowers.

"This is to help preserve a legacy left by our ancestors," he said.

Oarsmen take part in the boat race in the Tonle Sap river during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

Yan Chanthavy, a 20-year-old spectator from southern Takeo province, said she has never lost her excitement in watching boat racing although she has seen it a few times.

"I come to watch this boat race with my three siblings, and it's my third time to watch it," she told Xinhua.

Chanthavy, who is also a university student, said the water festival is to thank ancestors who won the fight with enemies and to thank rivers that have provided water for people, animals and plants.

"This water festival is very good to preserve our old tradition, and to tell our younger generations that in ancient times, boats were used as a means of transport for the fight in wars and for waterway travel," she added.

Oarsmen take part in the boat race in the Tonle Sap river during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

Seth Sreyne, an 18-year-old viewer, said it is her first time to watch the boat race, expressing her enthusiasm to see huge crowds of people.

"It helps promote our country and culture to foreign visitors," she told Xinhua. "I wish to see more tourists coming to Cambodia because our country enjoys full peace, with good security and safety."

Bou Chumserey, vice-chairman of the boat-racing technical control committee, said some 337 boats with 20,417 oarsmen from different provinces are taking part in the three-day regatta, which will last until Tuesday next week.

During the reign of Angkorian King Jayavarman VII, the king had used naval forces, with boats as a means of transport, to fight against the Chams and defeated them in 1181, he said.

Oarsmen take part in the boat race in the Tonle Sap river during the Water Festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Nov. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sovannara/Xinhua)

According to the official, the festival is also to mark the end of the annual rainy season and the unique reversal flow of the Tonle Sap river that connects the Tonle Sap lake with the Mekong River.

"It is to show our gratitude to the Mekong River for providing us with all-season water, fertile land and abundant fish," he said.

At the event, besides viewing the regatta during the daytime, festival-goers can enjoy the procession of illuminated floats and fireworks as well as concerts at nighttime.

With its long history, the water festival is also a special occasion for rural people to visit the capital city and to bring back home with sweet memories.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, chair of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and his delegation, who are here to attend the first China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing, capital of China, Nov. 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng met on Monday with Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, chair of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) and his delegation, who are here to attend the first China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing.

The two sides exchanged views on China-Britain economic and trade cooperation and international cooperation on industrial and supply chains.

He, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that China adheres to opening its door to development, and unswervingly promotes high-level opening-up.

It is hoped that the CBBC will continue to give full play to its advantages, deepening economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between the two countries, He said.

Heads of member companies of the CBBC, such as HSBC, Standard Chartered and Astrazeneca, attended the meeting. 
The State Security Service is disseminating information about the illegal arrest of three citizens of Georgia by Russian occupation forces in the occupied territory near the village of Adzvi, in the Gori municipality."Upon receiving information about the mentioned incident, the State Security Service activated the 'hotline' operated by the EU Monitoring Mission. Details about another case of illegal detention were promptly reported to the co-chairs of the international discussions in Geneva and to our international partners.All existing mechanisms for the release of illegally detained Georgian citizens have been activated. The responsibility for all destructive actions committed in the occupied territories of Georgia, as well as along the occupation line, rests with the occupying power," the statement reads.The President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, conveyed her unwavering solidarity with Ukraine on the Holodomor Memorial Day, emphasizing the shared commitment to remembering historical tragedies."Standing in solidarity with Ukraine on #Holodomor Memorial Day, we honor the victims of the Soviet regime of terror.After 90 years, resistance to oppressive practices remains our common duty, ensuring that history will not repeat itself," Zourabichvili wrote on X (formerly Twitter).In his response, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky expressed gratitude to President Zourabichvili for showing solidarity with Ukraine on Holodomor Remembrance Day. He acknowledged the shared challenges both nations have faced due to Moscow's aggressive policies, indicating a history of suffering."Thank you, @Zourabichvili_S, for standing in solidarity with Ukraine on Holodomor Remembrance Day. Our nations have faced considerable suffering due to Moscow's aggressive policies. Mutual support is crucial as we strive to safeguard our freedom and our people," Zelensky responded.
COPENHAGEN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Danish companies have signed a declaration that they will produce green hydrogen in large quantities to satisfy the green transition-related needs of German industry.

The declaration was released during a German-Danish conference on green hydrogen held at the Confederation of Danish Industry (DI) headquarters here on Monday.

"Green hydrogen is and will be absolutely crucial in the green transformation of the major European energy-consuming companies. And a large part of it should ideally be sourced in Denmark," Troels Ranis, director of DI Energi, said in a press release.

Ranis noted that the declaration urged Denmark's politicians to honor the cooperation agreement signed in the spring of 2023, which mandates initiating the burial of hydrogen pipes by the first half of 2024, facilitating green hydrogen transfer between Denmark and Germany by 2028.

According to DI, the German government has already decided to invest nearly 20 billion euros (21.9 billion U.S. dollars) in 9,700 km of hydrogen pipes to connect German industry with green hydrogen production sites, including in Denmark.

The initiative for the declaration came from DI, Green Power Denmark, the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce and Danish companies such as Topsoe, European Energy and Andel, supported by large German companies, such as ThyssenKrupp, BASF, Stadtwerke Flensburg and Uniper. 
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two civilians were killed and 10 others injured in a suicide blast in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, a military statement said on Monday.

The incident happened in Bannu district where a suicide bomber exploded himself near a security forces' convoy on Sunday, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani army said in the statement.

The injured people, including seven civilians and three soldiers, were shifted to a nearby hospital.

A clearance operation is being carried out to eliminate any other terrorists found in the area, the ISPR said. 
Vehicles carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

GAZA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released on Sunday the third batch of hostages from the Gaza Strip under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Israel.

"Within the framework of the humanitarian truce, we handed over to the Red Cross 13 Israeli detainees, three Thais, and one Russian," Al-Qassam said in a press statement.

Israeli Army Radio said part of the handover process took place in the northern Gaza Strip, adding that "a number of detainees crossed the border from a point between Gaza and Israel."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross the 13 Israeli hostages, including four women and nine children, with the youngest being four years old.

The army explained that "the Red Cross crews handed over 12 hostages to the Israeli Army Special Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency at the border fence in the central Gaza Strip, who will then transport them to the Hatzerim Airbase."

It added that the 13th one, an 84-year-old woman suffering from a medical condition, was airlifted directly to Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.

A vehicle carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrives at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

According to the Israeli Army Radio, "the four foreign hostages were transferred to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing by the Red Cross, before heading for the meeting point with Israeli troops in Israeli territory."

Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization's prisoners department published a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday evening, including 21 from Jerusalem, one from the Gaza Strip, and the rest from the West Bank.

Xinhua reporter stationed in Ramallah confirmed the arrival of the buses that transferred the 39 released Palestinian prisoners, all of whom are children.

At the same time, mediation efforts have been intensified to extend the current ceasefire, according to Palestinian sources.

"Qatar and Egypt conveyed a draft agreement to Israel and Hamas on extending the ceasefire due to expire Monday and facilitating a larger prisoner swap between the two warring sides," the sources, who wished to be anonymous, told Xinhua.

The sources said the discussions involved the release of 40 to 50 captives from Gaza, coupled with increased humanitarian aid flow into the strip to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

A Palestinian prisoner (L) returns to Jerusalem after being released from the Israeli Ofer prison, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday that he might agree to extend the truce by a few days if Hamas would free more hostages.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from a Hamas representative on Sunday night, "Hamas is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond the four days that were initially agreed upon with Israel."

The temporary ceasefire in Gaza, entering its third day, entails a cessation of hostilities and an increased flow of aid trucks into the Palestinian enclave.

On Saturday, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

The truce deal reached between Israel and Hamas also stipulates the release of 50 Israeli female and teen hostages from Gaza in exchange for some 150 Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons, with provisions for increasing the number of releases at subsequent stages of the agreement. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has ordered the arrest of Xiong Xue, former vice mayor of southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, for suspected bribe-taking, the SPP said Monday.

The case was transferred to procuratorial authorities for examination and prosecution following the conclusion of an investigation by the National Commission of Supervision.

Further handling of the case is currently underway. 
ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An Israel-linked commercial oil tanker seized by unknown attackers off the coast of Aden has been released, a senior official from the Yemeni government's Coast Guard Forces said on Monday.

Khaled Al-Qumali, head of the Coast Guard Forces, said that the U.S. Navy intervened to stop the hijacking of the commercial ship Central Park on Sunday and led to the release of the ship and the capture of the pirates responsible for the hijacking.

No casualties were reported, and all the ship's 22 crew members of various nationalities were rescued, he said.

On Sunday, the Liberian-flagged Central Park ship, which is managed by a Britain-based ship management firm owned by Israel's Ofer family, was intercepted by unknown attackers suspected of belonging to the Yemeni Houthi militia, according to an official of the Yemeni Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation.

The U.S. destroyer USS Mason, part of the Dwight D Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, responded to a distress call from the tanker and demanded the release of the ship, after which two ballistic missiles were launched from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen early Monday morning and fell into the Gulf of Aden, about 10 nautical miles from the ships, the U.S. military reported.

The incident followed another high-profile seizure in the region. On Nov. 19, the Houthi group claimed to have captured an "Israeli cargo ship" in the Red Sea.

The Houthi group linked their action to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, which started on Oct. 7.

Since the Yemeni civil war erupted in late 2014, the Houthi militia has taken control of much of Yemen's north, including the strategic Red Sea port city of Hodeidah. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's basic medical insurance funds, including maternity insurance, saw a total revenue of around 2.62 trillion yuan (around 368.2 billion U.S. dollars) from January to October, data from the National Healthcare Security Administration showed.

The revenue for basic medical insurance funds for urban employees, including maternity insurance, stood at 1.85 trillion yuan. The revenue for basic medical insurance funds for rural and non-working urban residents was around 768.36 billion yuan.

The expenditure for the basic medical insurance funds reached 2.25 trillion yuan in the first ten months of this year, according to data. 
FREETOWN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leone's armed forces on Monday confirmed the deaths of seven personnel during clashes with armed assailants who targeted military barracks in Freetown, the country's capital.

On Sunday morning, unidentified individuals attacked the Wilberforce military barracks and other locations, including the Pademba Road Correctional Center, leading to a prison break.

During a press conference, the armed forces told local media that several injured personnel are currently receiving treatment.

"The situation is gradually returning to normalcy with military patrols and checkpoints established in the capital and other areas," said Abdul Kamara Will, spokesperson for the Office of National Security.

As a result, many businesses and shops in the capital remain closed, while schools have yet to resume.

Brima Kamara, spokesperson for the Sierra Leone Police, urged the public to collaborate with law enforcement while warning against harboring escaped prisoners. He also confirmed that some prisoners voluntarily surrendered to prison authorities Monday morning. 
A helicopter carrying released hostages arrives at a hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Nov. 26, 2023. Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip. (JINI via Xinhua)

JERUSALEM/GAZA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military announced that the 13 Israeli hostages, comprising four women and nine children, have reached Israeli territory, according to a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. Among them, an 84-year-old woman who suffered from a medical condition was airlifted directly to Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva, the statement added.

Meanwhile, the other four hostages "are on their way to the Rafah Crossing" before being transferred to Israel, according to the Israeli army.

The four included three Thais who had worked in southern Israel before the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and a 25-year-old Israeli-Russian man. Hamas stated that the dual-national, who was not included in the initial name list of the release, was freed following efforts by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Meanwhile, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on Sunday in a statement that "in implementation of the commitments of the third day of the humanitarian truce agreement, 39 Palestinian civilians will be released in exchange for the return of 13 Israeli civilians from Gaza, in addition to a Russian national and three Thais who have already been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross."

The release took place on the third day of a temporary truce between Israel and Hamas, which included the entry of desperately needed aid to Gaza and the release of about 50 Israeli hostages and 150 Palestinian prisoners in several stages.

The weeks of Israeli bombardment in Gaza have led to the deaths of over 14,000 Palestinians, 40 percent of them children, while thousands remain missing, believed to be trapped beneath the rubble of the destroyed buildings, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.

Meanwhile, according to Israeli figures, about 1,200 people were killed, mainly in the initial Hamas attack on Oct. 7 that triggered this deadly conflict. 

A helicopter carrying released hostages arrives at a hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Nov. 26, 2023. Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip. (JINI via Xinhua)

A helicopter carrying released hostages arrives at a hospital in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Nov. 26, 2023. Israeli authorities confirmed Sunday evening that Israeli soldiers received the third batch of hostages, including 13 Israelis, three Thais, and one Israeli-Russian man, released from the Gaza Strip. (JINI via Xinhua)
WELLINGTON, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China's central Hubei Province promoted its unique culture and tourism on Monday in New Zealand's South Island.

Hubei and Canterbury have a unique and close connection, Chinese Consul General in Christchurch He Ying told the promotion event in Christchurch.

Rewi Alley, an old friend of Chinese people and an important founder of the China-New Zealand friendship, grew up in Canterbury and worked and lived in China for 60 years, including many years in Hubei, said He.

"The visit of the Hubei delegation to Christchurch can be seen as a reunion of old friends," she said, adding that through more such exchange activities, Rewi Alley's spirit will be remembered by both peoples and passed on to future generations.

Located along the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, Hubei is a province featured with profound history and rich cultural heritage, as well as an economic, transportation, cultural, and educational center, said He.

Through the promotion, New Zealanders will have a better understanding of this beautiful and rich province, she said.

Monday's event featured Hubei's unique tea art demonstration, photo exhibitions and art performances to promote tourism and cultural exchanges between Hubei and New Zealand.

Culture and Tourism Director of the Hubei Provincial Department Li Shuyong said she hopes to introduce a vibrant and charming Hubei to New Zealanders. 
RAMALLAH, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian presidency on Monday condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich's plan to allocate additional budgets for reinforcing settlements in Palestinian territories.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, the presidential spokesperson, said in a statement that the proposal by Smotrich to allocate millions of shekels in the current budget to expand settlements "falls within the framework of a comprehensive war against the Palestinian people, their land, and their sanctities."

The Israeli cabinet is about to discuss changes to the 2023 state budget due to the needs of the conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with Smotrich insisting on keeping more than 300 million shekels in discretionary funds for settlement development, the Times of Israel reported.

Abu Rudeineh said that the proposal came at a time when Israel was withholding tax revenues from the Palestinians and was waging a war in Gaza and the West Bank.

He warned against the dangerous implications of the Israeli plan on the region's security and stability.

He called for pressure on the Israeli government to prevent the implementation of the plan and the release of Palestinian funds held by Israel. 
Electricity powers up drum-making industry in village in C Chinas Henan

People's Daily Online) 16:45, November 24, 2023

A villager plays the drums in Matun village, Luoyang City, Oct. 3, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

At the drum-making base in Matun village, Yanshi district, Luoyang city, Henan Province, large red drums are neatly arranged together, like towering mountains. Recently, the village completed an upgrade of its power supply, ensuring that every household's drum-making workshop has sufficient electricity to operate at full capacity.

Matun village, the largest minority village in the west of Henan Province, is known as "the first drum making village in the world, with an entire industrial chain from raw material processing to finished product sales. More than 2,500 people in the village work in the drum making industry, accounting for 80 percent of the village population, and there are more than 200 drum family workshops. The large drums, waist drums, war drums, African drums, South Korean tambourines and dozens of other dozens drums produced in the village are sold at home and abroad.

"Our village has a history of making drums, starting with making drum leather, and then to the one-stop production of drums now. The Beijing Olympic Games, Xi 'an National Games and other major events have used our drums," explained Wang Kuaijing, Party chief of the village, who smiled with pride as she spoke of the development of the drum industry in Matun village.

Drum makers produce tambourines in Matun village, Oct. 10, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

At the beginning of this year, Matun village Drum Musical Instrument Limited Company received a batch of large orders from South Korea for more than 280,000 units. However, if previous manual production and natural drying processes had been used, the company would certainly not have been able to meet the deadline. Ma Duolai, the head of the company, sought the help of the power supply company, and through the efficient application and quick connection of electricity, the company was able to use high-power air drying to achieve batch constant temperature baking, finally delivering the goods on schedule.

"I have been making drums here for more than ten years. It is a meticulous job. The materials are exquisite, and the production process is better. Drum leather needs to be dried after sewing. For the large quantities of orders we received, the construction period will be delayed if we wait for natural drying. If we use conventional carbon baking heating, the heating of the drum will be uneven and the yield will be low, which will affect our output. After using the electric baking method, not only is the drying effect of the drum good and the yield high, but the production cycle is also greatly reduced, ensuring that we can quickly ship the product," said Ma Duolai.

Drum makers use electric drum-making equipment to produce drum hoops in Matun village, Oct. 10, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

Industrial development requires a reliable electricity supply. Thanks to the entire industrial chain from raw material processing to finished product sales, Matun village has vigorously developed e-commerce and has been selected as "China Taobao Village" on many occasions, which means a stable and reliable electricity source has become particularly important.

To support the development of the special cultural industry in the area, the State Grid Luoyang Yanshi Electric Power Supply Branch has proactively allocated and invested more than 400,000 yuan for line reconstruction in Matun village, including two new transformers and an increase of 800 KVA in transformer capacity, achieving dual and worry-free power supply for merchants' workshops and a reliable power supply for online sales.

Staff from the electric power supply company visit drum-making enterprises to learn about their electricity needs on Nov. 10, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

"Since the beginning of this year, the electricity demand in Matun village has grown rapidly, with the maximum load surpassing 860 KW, a 35 percent increase compared with the same period last year. We have prioritized the electricity demand of Matun village as a special project, proactively visiting enterprises to eliminate safety hazards, providing energy efficiency analysis, and offering professional and high-quality services to support industrial development, rural revitalization, and making the drum-making industry a continued source of wealth and prosperity for the residents of Matun village," said Yao Hongliang, the general manager of State Grid Luoyang Yanshi Electric Power Supply Branch.

Staff from the electric power supply company visit drum-making enterprises to inspect the lines for potential hazards on Nov. 10, 2023. (Photo provided to People's Daily Online)

Contributed by Yan Yinchao and Li Shuai from State Grid Luoyang Electric Power Supply Company

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for November, China will hold a Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on November 29. Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to New York to chair the meeting.

Xinhua News Agency: Could you elaborate on the considerations behind the Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue to be chaired by Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Chinas expectation for the meeting?

Wang Wenbin: The latest round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused massive civilian casualties and a humanitarian disaster. The international community has been watching the situation with great concern and looks to the UN Security Council to fulfill its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security and play a constructive role.

The Security Council adopted Resolution 2712 on the Palestinian-Israeli issue not long ago, which is the first Security Council resolution adopted after the latest round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out and also the first Security Council resolution on the Palestinian-Israeli issue adopted since the end of 2016. It started initial steps towards promoting a ceasefire and is conducive to averting an even graver humanitarian crisis and disaster.

As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for November, China hopes that, by holding this Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue, we can do our part by bringing parties together for in-depth exchanges to build up consensus and take further concrete steps to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realize ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, protect civilians and ultimately promote the comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question through the two-state solution.

Yonhap News Agency: The ROK-China-Japan Trilateral Foreign Ministers Meeting was held in the ROK yesterday. Chinas readout released by the foreign ministry says that the three sides agreed to create conditions for a leaders meeting of China, Japan and the ROK. Can you specify the conditions for the leaders meeting?

Wang Wenbin: The 10th China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers Meeting was held in Busan, the ROK yesterday. The three sides agreed that it is important to deliver on the consensus reached by leaders, including the Trilateral Cooperation Vision for the Next Decade. The three sides agreed to create conditions for a China-Japan-ROK leaders meeting and speed up preparation. The three sides need to work together in the same direction and create a favorable environment for achieving positive outcomes at the leaders meeting.

Taking this opportunity, I would like to brief you on the China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers Meeting. On November 26, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended the 10th China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers Meeting with ROK Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Busan, the ROK.

This is the first China-Japan-ROK Trilateral Foreign Ministers Meeting in four years. Foreign Minister Wang said that as we are renewing the trilateral cooperation, we need to keep in mind our original aspiration and stick to the right direction and implement our leaders common understandings including the Trilateral Cooperation Vision for the Next Decade. The top priority is to continue to respect each others development path and core interests in the spirit of facing up to history and looking forward to the future, maintain sound bilateral relations, and lay a solid foundation for a comprehensive restart of trilateral cooperation featuring steady and long-term progress. The three countries need to stick to mutual benefit and win-win results, restart negotiations on the trilateral free trade agreement among China, Japan and the ROK as soon as possible and maintain the momentum of regional economic integration. The three countries need to continue to deepen scientific and technological innovation, keep the industrial and supply chains stable and smooth and optimize and upgrade them. The three countries need to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, expand people-to-people exchanges, facilitate cross-border travels and jointly address common challenges such as climate change. The three countries need to pursue common development, continue to build more Trilateral+X Cooperation projects based on the principles of voluntariness, equality, openness, win-win results, transparency and sustainability, and promote common and sustainable development both inside and outside of the region.

Park Jin and Kamikawa Yoko spoke positively of the progress of China-Japan-ROK cooperation, noting that the three countries are close neighbors and the trilateral cooperation has great significance and enormous potential. In face of the new situation, the three countries need to think about what we hope to achieve through cooperation, step up communication and exchange, work closely together in various fields, and bring more tangible outcomes for the peoples of the three countries. China-Japan-ROK cooperation can reach beyond Northeast Asia and contribute to peace and prosperity in the region and the world. The ROK and Japan are open to China-Japan-ROK+X cooperation to benefit more countries and regions.

Amid changes and instabilities in the world and the sluggish world economic recovery, countries in the region and beyond have stronger aspirations for solidarity, coordination and common development. Foreign Minister Wang Yi noted that as important countries in the Asia-Pacific, China, Japan and the ROK need to act in the interest of peace and development and the wellbeing of the people in the region, deepen regional cooperation, jointly respond to risks and challenges and safeguard the regions peace and prosperity. The three countries need to act as frontrunners of East Asia cooperation, drive East Asia cooperation through cooperation among the three countries, uphold open regionalism, oppose drawing ideological lines, and reject blocs in regional cooperation. The three countries need to act as stabilizers for the regions peace and security, act on the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and address differences and disputes in peaceful ways through dialogue and consultation. The three countries need to act as relief valves in addressing hotspot issues. Continued tensions on the Korean Peninsula do not serve the interest of any side. It is imperative to cool down the situation, create conditions needed to resume dialogue and adopt meaningful actions.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed that China will continue to uphold the policy of building friendship and partnership with its neighbors and work with the ROK and Japan to bring the trilateral cooperation back to the right track, maintain sound and steady sustainable development and make new contribution to regional and global peace and prosperity.

CCTV: From November 23 to 24, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna paid a visit to China and the 6th meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges was held in Beijing. Do you have more information to share about the visit and the outcomes of the meeting? Whats your expectation for China-France relations going forward?

Wang Wenbin: Recently we have seen frequent high-level exchanges between China and France. President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron and reached new important common understandings on promoting the further development of China-France and China-EU relations. Premier Li Qiang met with visiting French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, where they reviewed good practice in growing bilateral relations and agreed to further deepen mutually-beneficial cooperation. Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna held talks and co-chaired the 6th meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges. The two sides agreed to make joint efforts in the following aspects:

First, we will work together for a successful year in bilateral ties. To mark the year 2024 as the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism and the 60th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic relations, the two sides will hold a host of commemorative events, act on the important common understandings reached by the two heads of state, have closer high-level exchanges and deepen practical cooperation.

Second, we will deepen all-round high-quality cooperation. Both sides will continue to make full use of the three high-level dialogue mechanisms, namely the strategic dialogue, the economic and financial dialogue, and the dialogue on people-to-people exchanges. We will also open new channels of exchanges and dialogue, deepen cooperation in traditional sectors of strength including civil nuclear energy, space and aviation, tap into potentials in emerging sectors such as education, scientific research, energy transition and sustainable development, explore third-market cooperation, and advance high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

Third, we will expand opening-up to each other. China stands ready to work together with France to turn the mechanism of from French farms to Chinese tables into a highlight in bilateral cooperation. As China continues to advance high-quality development and high-level opening-up, it stands ready to offer more opportunities to French companies interested in the Chinese market. It is hoped that France will continue to provide a sound business environment for Chinese companies.

Fourth, we will jointly respond to global challenges. The two sides agreed to uphold the institutional framework of the Paris Agreement and support a successful 28th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Dubai. In April this year, the Chinese and French Presidents reached important common understandings on jointly building a China-France carbon neutrality center. During Foreign Minister Colonnas visit, the center was officially launched with an inauguration ceremony attended by the two foreign ministers, which sent a strong message of China and France strengthening green tech cooperation and jointly responding to climate change.

At the meeting of the China-France high-level dialogue mechanism on people-to-people exchanges, the two foreign ministers jointly witnessed the signing of cooperation documents on education, scientific research, culture and tourism, and health, and the release of the list of high-quality cultural exchange activities between China and France in 2024. They also unveiled the logo of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and France and the China-France Year of Culture and Tourism. China will grant 15-day visa-free entry for French travelers and France will issue longer visas to Chinese postgraduate students.

Standing at a new historical starting point, China is ready to work with France to renew our traditional friendship and open up new prospects to make sure our comprehensive strategic partnership will be stronger and more dynamic and our cooperation will continue to lead the world.

China News Service: After China announced the unilateral visa-free policy for Malaysia on November 24, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on November 26 that Malaysia will grant 30-day visa-free travel for Chinese citizens starting from December 1. What is your comment?

Wang Wenbin: We welcome Malaysias 30-day visa-free policy for Chinese citizens. China and Malaysia are neighbors with time-honored friendship. Earlier this year, the two countries reached important common understandings on building a China-Malaysia community with a shared future, and next year marks the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. We believe that the recent visa facilitation policies of China and Malaysia will further boost cross-border travel between the two countries. China stands ready to work with Malaysia to continue stepping up mutually-beneficial cooperation as well as cultural and people-to-people exchange so as to deliver more fruitful outcomes through friendly cooperation.

Dragon TV: The new government of New Zealand was officially sworn in on November 27. National Party leader Christopher Luxon was sworn in as New Zealands Prime Minister. Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First Party, became Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. Whats Chinas comment?

Wang Wenbin: China congratulates the new government of New Zealand on being sworn in. Premier of the State Council Li Qiang and Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi sent congratulatory messages to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters respectively.

China and New Zealand are each others important cooperation partners. China always values the development of China-New Zealand relations and stands ready to work with the new government of New Zealand to uphold mutual respect, equality and mutual benefits, enhance dialogue and communication, expand practical cooperation, properly settle differences and further advance the China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership.

Ukrainian News Agency: The Washington Post reports that Russian and Chinese executives discussed Russia-Crimea tunnel project. But it is known that China officially recognizes Crimea as the Ukrainian peninsula, so such construction will be illegal. What is the comment of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?

Wang Wenbin: What the report says is groundless. I will not comment on that.

CCTV: According to reports, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that it would delay the release of hostages until Israel allows aid trucks to enter northern Gaza, accusing Israel of violating the terms regarding aid in the ceasefire agreement and continuing to open fire. The Israeli military said that it will immediately return to striking and operations in the Gaza Strip once the truce ends and that the fighting would continue until all hostages are freed and Hamas itself is dismantled. Do you have any comment?

Wang Wenbin: Since Israel and Hamas reached the ceasefire agreement, both sides have released three groups of detainees. Steps towards peace, however small, should be encouraged. Difficulties in protecting civilians, however daunting, must be overcome with every possible effort. This round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has continued for more than 50 days, causing great casualties and serious humanitarian disasters. As we have repeatedly stressed, violence does not bring true security and the use of force will not create lasting peace. China welcomes all efforts that are conducive to bringing about ceasefire and deescalating the situation. We urge parties to the conflict to earnestly implement UN Security Council Resolution 2712 and the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly at its emergency special session, jointly and effectively implement the temporary ceasefire agreement and enable it to be extended, and realize a true and lasting ceasefire.
VALLETTA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Many retailers were unhappy with their sales this Black Friday, blaming the customers' lack of disposable income, the lousy weather and even roadworks for their dismal sales.

The Malta Chamber for Small and Medium Businesses reported similar feedback from its members, saying some businesses had reported very positive results while others reported a decrease in sales compared to last year.

It said sectors most commonly associated with Black Friday such as electronics and appliances reported the best results on Black Friday, with most of them promoting offers throughout November.

Offers extended over the month of November worked positively both for customers and businesses, the Malta chamber said.

However, Black Friday's performance also depended on locations, as some locations were affected badly, especially those localities with large infrastructure projects still going in full swing such as Mosta.

The inclement weather was another factor that impacted customer footfall and sales in certain localities. Shopping malls across Malta and Gozo reported positive results throughout the day, with strong footfall from early hours.

The Malta Chamber of SMEs said that despite the "mixed bag of results," Black Friday again showed that it was one of the most important periods for business throughout the year.

"I had this feeling that we won't sell that much this year because sales have been on the decrease since the beginning of the year. It's been one of my worst years since I opened the business 10 years ago," said retailer Joseph Sacco, who owns two clothes shops.

"We had big discounts on some of the latest fashion but it's pretty useless having good discounts and great prices if the shop was practically empty most of the day on Friday. Saturday was a bit better and Sunday morning was good too but it's nowhere close to the sales we had registered last year and the year before," he added.

Karl Brincat, who sells electronics from his shop in Msida, a central town, said he was so busy he had to call in his relatives to help around the shop. "There were so many people I could not even catch up. With electronics, you need to help customers, explain certain details, and answer any questions they have. It was pretty hectic, I can assure you."

He said he's had offers since the beginning of the month, but his Black Friday extended throughout the weekend. "I'm quite satisfied with the sales. I can't complain," he said.

Another shop owner who has a retail outlet in Mosta, where heavy infrastructural works to turn it into a pedestrianized zone at the weekend has been under way for months, said customers opted to stay away from his town this Black Friday.

"It's a mess here. You can hardly expect anyone to come shopping in dust and mud," the man, who insisted on not having his name published, told Xinhua.

Sharon Tanti said she and her boyfriend braved the weather to get most of their Christmas presents ticked off the list. "Most of my Christmas shopping is done and at fantastic prices. I always look forward to Black Friday because the deals are great," she said.

Another customer, John Pace, told Xinhua he did not purchase anything this Black Friday because his family's financial situation was not a rosy one.

"I've got lots of bills that I still need to pay. My salary and that of my wife is not enough for us to get through to the end of the month so it's all extra," he said. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee on Monday held a meeting to review a report on policies and measures for further promoting the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.

Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired the meeting, which also deliberated a set of guidelines on CPC leadership over foreign affairs. 
WASHINGTON/JERUSALEM, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed issues concerning hostage release and humanitarian assistance in Gaza Strip.

In a telephone conversation, Biden welcomed the release of hostages by Hamas over the past three days, and the two agreed to continue supporting the release of all hostages held by Hamas.

"The two leaders agreed that the work is not yet done and that they will continue working to secure the release of all hostages. The two leaders agreed to remain in close contact over the coming days," a White House statement said.

The two leaders also discussed the pause in fighting and much needed additional humanitarian assistance to Gaza, read the White House statement. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes all efforts that are conducive to bringing about ceasefire and deescalating the situation, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on Monday.

Wang made the remarks at a regular press briefing when asked to comment on the current situation in Gaza.

According to reports, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, announced that it would delay the release of hostages until Israel allows aid trucks to enter northern Gaza, accusing Israel of violating the terms regarding aid in the ceasefire agreement and continuing to open fire.

The Israeli military said that it will immediately return to striking and operations in the Gaza Strip once the truce ends and that the fighting would continue until all hostages are freed and Hamas itself is dismantled.

Wang said since Israel and Hamas reached the ceasefire agreement, both sides have released three groups of detainees.

"Steps towards peace, however small, should be encouraged. Difficulties in protecting civilians, however daunting, must be overcome with every possible effort," the spokesperson said.

Noting that this round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has continued for more than 50 days, causing great casualties and serious humanitarian disasters, Wang said violence does not bring true security and the use of force will not create lasting peace.

China welcomes all efforts that are conducive to bringing about ceasefire and deescalating the situation, Wang said, urging parties to the conflict to earnestly implement UN Security Council Resolution 2712 and the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly at its emergency special session, jointly and effectively implement the temporary ceasefire agreement and enable it to be extended, and realize a true and lasting ceasefire. 
GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An informed Palestinian source said on Monday that Israel and Hamas have expressed their readiness to extend the four-day humanitarian truce, which is scheduled to end on Tuesday.

The source, who requires anonymity, said both sides were open to the cease-fire extension, "but faced some hurdles that have prevented the truce extension from being announced."

The source declined to talk about the details of the obstacles, but hinted that they had to do with the identity of some Israeli hostages that Israel claims are civilians but Hamas refuses to release on the grounds that they are military personnel.

The source indicated that another obstacle is related to the duration of the truce. Israel demands that 10 hostages be released for every day that the cease-fire is prolonged, while Hamas wants some time to get in touch with the locations where the hostages are being held before releasing them.

The source confirmed that the Qatari and Egyptian mediators were making "effective efforts" to extend the truce, noting that the result is expected in a few hours. 
Passengers are pictured at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Nov. 26, 2023. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 2.9 million air passengers on Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

Passengers are pictured at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Nov. 26, 2023. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 2.9 million air passengers on Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

Passengers are pictured at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Nov. 26, 2023. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 2.9 million air passengers on Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

Passengers are pictured at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Nov. 26, 2023. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 2.9 million air passengers on Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)

Passengers are pictured at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco, the United States, Nov. 26, 2023. The U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) expects to screen 2.9 million air passengers on Nov. 26, which will likely be the busiest travel day. (Photo by Li Jianguo/Xinhua)
Students replicate the masterpiece "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," which was painted by Wang Ximeng during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), on the walls of their fine art classroom at No. 150 High School of Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, April 28, 2023. (Xinhua)

CHANGCHUN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- When there were yellow paint stains on the hem of Zhou Baile's school uniform, his family and teachers suggested that he change into a new uniform, but he refused.

"For me, the stains are a symbol of creation," said Zhou, who is in his second year of senior high school in Changchun, the capital of northeast China's Jilin Province.

Zhou is one of the 21 students at No. 150 High School of Changchun who replicated the masterpiece "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," which was painted by Wang Ximeng during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), on the walls of their fine art classroom.

The 3.5-meter-tall replica has a total length of 11 meters and it took the students 129 days to complete, said Duan Yingzi, the fine art teacher at the school who guided the painting.

To allow more students to receive aesthetic education, Duan established a painting club at the end of 2022, guiding students to appreciate and imitate famous Chinese paintings.

She purchased a high-definition copy of "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," and brought it into class so that her students could appreciate the lines and essence of the classic.

"Wang created the masterpiece at the age of 18. It occurred to me to question why my students, at a similar age, couldn't give it a try," said Duan, having encouraged her club members to participate in the painting project.

The project began in early March. The students sketched, applied color and filled in the details, turning the original, flat painting into a relief work. They also added figures, flowers and other elements into their version of the painting, including their own inspirations.

"Seeing the work we created, I could sense what Wang was feeling when he was completing this masterpiece more than 900 years ago," said Zhang Chuying, another student who took part in the project. "It was as if I were standing next to him and enjoying the rivers and mountains with him."

Though some parents were concerned that the time-consuming project would affect their children's academic performances, Zhou does not believe they had any cause for concern.

"The process of painting not only improves confidence and concentration, but it is also a way to relax after learning," the student said.

Duan hopes that through their recreation of the Chinese masterpiece, the students will enhance their understanding of Chinese painting.

"I hope they will be able to pass on the excellent traditional culture in an innovative way," she said. 

Students replicate the masterpiece "A Thousand Miles of Rivers and Mountains," which was painted by Wang Ximeng during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), on the walls of their fine art classroom at No. 150 High School of Changchun, northeast China's Jilin Province, June 19, 2023. (Xinhua)
"We had a wonderful time tonight. I would say this is probably one of the best concerts I've been to in a minute." A two-day Chinese rock music festival cheered up thousands of fans over the weekend in New York City.





Produced by Xinhua Global Service
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Monday sent a congratulatory message to Christopher Luxon on his taking office as prime minister of New Zealand.

China and New Zealand are each other's important partners. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than 50 years ago, the China-New Zealand relationship has long been at the forefront of China's relations with Western countries, Li said in the message.

The two countries have jointly created many "firsts" and yielded fruitful results in many fields of practical cooperation, bringing tangible benefits to their people, Li added.

The Chinese government highly values China-New Zealand relations, he noted, adding that he stands ready to work with the new government led by Luxon to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and enhance friendly communication, so as to push for new progress in China-New Zealand comprehensive strategic partnership and greater benefits for their people. 
DAMASCUS, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the recent Israeli airstrikes on the country's civilian airports, calling them a severe threat to regional and global peace.

In a statement, the ministry called upon the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and other relevant international bodies to condemn and halt the Israeli aggression while ensuring it does not recur.

It emphasized that such repeated assaults on Syrian civilian airports not only jeopardized the region's peace and security, but also violated relevant UN resolutions.

Israel launched missiles at the Damascus International Airport and its surrounding areas on Sunday, forcing the airport to suspend its service shortly after it reopened following a shutdown caused by an Israeli airstrike a month ago.

Sunday's strike also disrupted UN humanitarian aviation services in Syria, the statement said. 
Christian Organization Offers Bible's Answers for America's 'Suffering Poor'

'Biblical Economics: Answers for Difficult Days' video series says nation faces 'monster debt' because it's rejecting God's approach to financial health

NEWS PROVIDED BY

Christians Engaged

Nov. 27, 2023

RICHARDSON, Texas, Nov. 27, 2023 /Standard Newswire/ -- The U.S. government's $33 trillion "monster debt" -- the largest in U.S. history -- is a direct result of the nation's rejection of biblical principles, says the producer of a new video series addressing the current economic calamity.

The eight-part series, Biblical Economics: Answers for Difficult Days, was released in November, and aims to help churches explore what the Bible says about money and to apply "God's economic principles" in everyday life.

"Biblical economic principles stand in contrast to many of America's economic policies today, most of which are presented as caring, but which actually only benefit select groups for a limited time, and are not sustainable," said Ben Quine, director of curriculum and strategic ministry partnerships for faith-based nonprofit Christians Engaged.

"Whenever a culture abandons biblical principles in this area, or when people are allowed to implement unbiblical economic policies, people suffer  especially the poorest in society," he said.

God's Tax Code?

The new video course introduces economic principles the Bible advocates, including low taxes, limited government, economic freedom and justice, and protection of private property rights.

God's economic plan directs the government not to show favoritism to either rich or poor, but to enact impartial policies for everyone, according to Christians Engaged, an organization that promotes Christians' participation in civic government through prayer, voting, and engagement.

"When people embrace the biblical view of money, business, resources and wealth, they're able to be released from poverty and to thrive," Quine said.

"We see that when biblical economic principles are combined with virtue -- honesty, hard work, and voluntary charity -- it leads to more and more economic growth. When a culture follows these principles, the result is a cycle of productivity that creates wealth, lifts people out of poverty, opens the door for the spread of the Gospel, and brings life!"

Jesus 'Warned Against Money Obsession'

In contrast, Jesus warned against the love of riches and obsessing over money, according to Bible teacher and former political consultant Bunni Pounds, founder of Christians Engaged.

"Christ paints an honest but rather sobering picture: Money aims to be our master, our hearts are inclined towards the love of money, and we will likely permit riches to lead us away from God if we don't protect our souls," Pounds said. "Similarly, capitalism completely unleashed  without moral restraint and spiritual renewal -- isn't the answer either."

The video series features insights from well-known leaders, including June Hunt, founder, Hope for the Heart; Hon. Jeb Hensarling, former House Financial Services Chairman; Doug Stringer, founder and president, Somebody Cares America; Hon. Scott Walker, former Wisconsin Governor; Pastor Chris McRae; Tony Pack, businessman, Kevin Freeman, host, Economic War Room; and Hon. Rob Henneke, Texas Public Policy Foundation.

For more information, visit https://christiansengaged.org/classes

MEDIA: Arrange your interview with Ben Quine and Bunni Pounds, Christians Engaged.

Contact: Gregg Wooding, I AM PR, (972) 567-7660, Gregg@iampronline.com

About Christians Engaged

Christians Engaged, a 501(C)(3) nonprofit organization, was founded by Bunni Pounds, a Bible teacher and former political consultant who ran for Congress in 2018. Since 2020, Christians Engaged has served over 125 churches, educated more than 2,000 people through in-person, Zoom, and on-demand video classes, and has enlisted more than 150,000 Christians in their voter communication system. The ministry has produced a myriad of free content, including books, articles, prayer calls, and podcasts, and has a goal to mobilize a million Christians to "pray, vote, and engage" before the 2024 presidential election.

SOURCE Christians Engaged

CONTACT: Gregg Wooding, I AM PR, 972-567-7660, Gregg@iampronline.com
ADEN, Yemen, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Unknown attackers suspected of belonging to the Yemeni Houthi militia seized a commercial oil tanker off the coast of Aden on Sunday, a Coast Guard official told Xinhua.

The Yemeni official, who asked to remain anonymous, said a Liberian-flagged ship, owned by an Israeli company, was intercepted by suspected Houthi militants aboard fishing boats 50 nautical miles off the coast of Aden earlier this morning.

He clarified that the gunmen, using fishing boats, intercepted the tanker, boarded it and took control of it. The official believed the hijackers were members of the Houthi group.

Another official of the Yemeni Gulf of Aden Ports Corporation, who also required anonymity, revealed that the captured tanker began to move away from its original location after the seizure.

Efforts to communicate with the tanker, including calls from a Japanese warship this afternoon, have been unsuccessful as the ship's automatic identification system was reportedly nonfunctional, according to the official.

This incident came just a week after another high-profile seizure in the region. On Nov. 19, the Houthi group claimed to have captured an "Israeli cargo ship" in the Red Sea.

The Houthi group linked their action to the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, which started on Oct. 7.

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. 
NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 24 people were killed and 23 others injured due to lightning and rain-related incidents in India's western state of Gujarat, officials said on Monday.

The deaths took place during the last 48 hours.

Apart from human casualties, the unseasonal rains perished cattle and damaged crops.

"Unseasonal rains triggering lightning, rains and strong winds have killed 24 people and injured 23 others across the state," an official said. "The rains lashed 234 sub-districts, damaging crops and perished 71 animals."

According to the officials, the deaths have been reported from across 16 districts of the state.

"Four deaths have been reported in Dahod, three in Bharuch, three in Banaskantha, two in Tapi and one each in Amreli, Surendranagar, Mehsana, Botad, Panchmahal, Kheda, Sabarkantha, Ahmedabad, Surat, Devbhoomi Dwarka, Patan and Anand," the official said.

Reports said some districts received up to 144 mm of rainfall. The Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rain in Gujarat accompanied by strong winds and lightning strikes.

An orange alert has been issued in south Gujarat, while a yellow alert declared in Saurashtra.

Based on color-coded warnings, a red alert signifies taking immediate action, an orange alert suggests being prepared for action, and a yellow alert is an indication to wait and watch for updates.

Indian Home Minister Amit Shah has expressed grief and extended condolences to the families of the victims. He said the local administration had begun the relief work in affected areas.

"I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people due to bad weather and lightning in various cities of Gujarat. I express my deepest condolences for the irreparable loss to those who lost their loved ones in this tragedy. The local administration is engaged in relief work, praying for the speedy recovery of the injured," Shah said in a statement.

Local media quoting data from the Ministry of Earth Sciences reported 907 people were killed in 2022 due to lightning strikes across India.

Disaster management officials always caution people to avoid venturing out during thunderstorms and lightning strikes. 
GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- An informed Palestinian source said on Monday that Israel and Hamas have expressed their readiness to extend the four-day humanitarian truce, which is scheduled to end on Tuesday. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for November, China will hold a Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on Nov. 29. Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to New York to chair the meeting, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on Monday.

This round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict has caused massive civilian casualties and a humanitarian disaster, and the international community is greatly concerned. China expects the UN Security Council to fulfill its primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and to play a constructive role, Wang said at a daily press briefing.

The Resolution 2712, the first resolution adopted by the UN Security Council after the current round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out and also the first one adopted on the Palestinian-Israeli issue since the end of 2016, has promoted initial steps for a ceasefire and is conducive to avoiding greater humanitarian crisis and disaster, he said.

China hopes that by holding the high-level meeting, all parties can promote in-depth exchanges and build consensus, take concrete actions and make due contribution to easing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, realizing a ceasefire and cessation of fighting, protecting civilians and ultimately promoting a comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question through the two-state solution, said the spokesperson. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China strengthened several tax and fee relief measures to support the development of businesses and bolster the real economy this year, official data showed on Monday.

Newly implemented measures led to tax refunds, tax and fee cuts and deferrals amounting to 1.66 trillion yuan (about 233.28 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 10 months of 2023, according to the State Taxation Administration (STA).

Taxpayers in the private sector became the primary beneficiaries of the country's tax and fee relief measures, the STA said.

Nearly 1.24 trillion yuan of tax and fee payments was rebated, deducted or deferred for China's private businesses during the period, accounting for nearly 75 percent of the country's total.

Among all sectors, manufacturing and related wholesale and retail industries benefited the most from the support, the data showed. 
SEOUL, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The aerospace agency of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is trying to accelerate the fine-tuning of the reconnaissance satellite it placed into orbit last week, the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported Monday.

The fine-tuning of the reconnaissance satellite Malligyong-1 "is being hastened to end one or two days earlier," KCNA said, citing the Pyongyang General Control Center of the National Aerospace Technology Administration (NATA).

Kim Jong Un, general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the DPRK, expressed his "great satisfaction" with the successful preparations for the operation of the satellite, it said.

According to previous KCNA reports, the top DPRK leader had paid multiple visits to the Pyongyang General Control Center last week, during which he reviewed the preparations for the operation of the satellite and watched the aerospace photos it took.

In a separate dispatch on Monday, the KCNA issued a press statement by Kim Son Gyong, vice minister for international organizations of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, saying the DPRK's reconnaissance satellite launch is "a legitimate and just exercise of its right to self-defense."

The Malligyong-1 will formally start its mission on Dec. 1 after a 7-to-10-day fine-tuning process, the NATA said Wednesday, one day after the aerospace agency successfully launched a space rocket and sent its reconnaissance satellite into orbit. 
DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed and 26 others injured early Sunday after a bus overturned in Tanzania's southern Lindi region, police said.

Lindi regional police commander John Imori said 12 of the dead were passengers traveling in the bus and two pedestrians who were knocked down by the vehicle, which flipped over several times on a slippery slope.

He told a news conference late Sunday that the bus was heading to Dar es Salaam from the Tandahimba district in the Mtwara region. 
BEIJING, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- As the rotating president of the UN Security Council for November, China will hold a Security Council high-level meeting on the Palestinian-Israeli issue on Nov. 29. Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to New York to chair the meeting, foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin announced on Monday. 
Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, Kazakhstan, Nov. 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

ASTANA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to work with Kazakhstan to implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and push the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Kazakhstan to a higher level, said Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Monday.

Ding, who paid a visit to Kazakhstan from Nov. 26 to 27, made the remarks when meeting with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana.

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping's cordial greetings and best wishes to Tokayev.

Noting that China-Kazakhstan cooperation enjoys a solid foundation, huge potential and broad prospects, Ding said China stands ready to work with Kazakhstan to cement the foundation of mutual trust, strengthen the synergy of development strategies, enhance policy coordination and expand mutually beneficial cooperation to help each other achieve their development goals.

Ding called on the two sides to promote the synergy of the BRI and Kazakhstan's Bright Road initiative, actively explore new forms and paths of cooperation, and deepen cooperation in culture, tourism, education, sports, youth and at sub-national levels to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Kazakhstan.

China is ready to work with Kazakhstan to promote the stable operation of China-Central Asia mechanisms to jointly maintain regional peace and stability, he added.

Tokayev asked Ding to convey his sincere greetings to Chinese President Xi, and said Kazakhstan firmly supports high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest in Kazakhstan.

Kazakhstan is willing to work with China to deepen practical cooperation in various fields, resolutely crack down on the "three forces" of terrorism, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and sub-national cooperation, and push for new achievements in the permanent comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, Tokayev said.

During his visit to Kazakhstan, Ding also met with Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov, and co-chaired the 11th Meeting of the China-Kazakhstan Cooperation Committee with Kazakh First Deputy Prime Minister Roman Sklyar. 

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev in Astana, Kazakhstan, Nov. 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Yan Yan)

Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, meets with Kazakh Prime Minister Alikhan Smailov in Astana, Kazakhstan, Nov. 27, 2023. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Hamas on Monday handed over the fourth batch of Israeli hostages held in Gaza to the Red Cross, and more are expected to be released in the coming days as Israel and Hamas agreed to extend the fragile truce for another two days.

A Palestinian source, who required anonymity, told Xinhua that a total of 11 hostages were delivered to the Red Cross officials in the fourth phase of the cease-fire swap with Israel.

On Monday night, updating its statements on the social media platform X, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said the 11 released hostages were all dual nationals, comprising three Israeli-Frenches, two Israeli-Germans, and six Israeli-Argentinians.

The ministry added that in exchange, 33 Palestinian prisoners, including 30 minors and three women, will be released.

The latest swap came amid news that the ceasefire, set to expire on Tuesday, will be extended for an additional two days, which is confirmed by Qatar and Hamas.

Under the initial four-day deal, Hamas will release 50 Israeli hostages in exchange for some 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.

Israel did not immediately comment on the cease-fire extension but had said previously that the release of every additional 10 hostages would result in one additional day in the pause.

Hamas said in a statement to Xinhua that the extension of the truce will be carried out "under the same conditions as listed in the previous cease-fire deal." 
Abbas Ganbay

According to World Bank Regional Director for Infrastructure in Europe and Central Asia Charles Cormier, today is the right time to improve the competitiveness of the Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor, expand its capacity, increase efficiency, and reduce costs, Azernews reports.

"Short-term efficiency improvements through institutional and operational measures, along with medium-term investments, will strengthen the functioning of the Middle Corridor and activate its potential," Cormier said.

The Trans-Caspian International Transport Corridor (TITC), also known as the Middle Corridor, is a multilateral, multimodal transport institution linking the containerized rail freight transport networks of the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the European Union through the economies of Central Asia, the Caucasus, Turkiye, and Eastern Europe. The Middle Corridor has the potential to reduce the time needed to ship goods between East Asia and Europe to as few as twelve days, making it a competitive alternative to the Northern Corridor and seaborne trade via the Indian Ocean.

The countries along the trade route have actively collaborated to turn the Middle Corridor into a reality, with Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan leading the way. Kazakhstan likely sees its construction of a key segment of the Middle Corridor as important for its Bright Path (Nurly Zhol) domestic development strategy and its grand strategy of better balancing its foreign relations with Beijing and Moscow.

China has also been keen on the Middle Corridor, as it gives Chinese industry greater access to international markets and the Chinese government more clout in Central Asia. Turkiye has also seen the corridor as a way to build stronger economic ties with Central Asia and improve its strategic position. It has inked agreements with Azerbaijan, China, Georgia, and Kazakhstan to improve the corridor's connectivity to Europe, and is completing the Edirne-Kars High-Speed Railway and the Northern Marmara Highway.

The Middle Corridor is becoming an important transport artery along the Belt and Road Initiative. After the Ever Given, one of the largest container ships in the world, got stuck in the Suez Canal in March 2021, which halted shipping for a week, many turned their attention to the TITR. The Chinese side was especially interested in new opportunities because the TITR has made it possible to deliver goods along a more convenient and shorter route than the Suez Canal.

Now is the right time to increase the competitiveness of the Middle Corridor, expand its capacity, improve efficiency, and reduce costs. This will ensure that the Middle Corridor is a reliable, safe, and politically independent logistics route that connects the largest producers and largest consumers of the continent.
NAIROBI, Nov. 27, (Xinhua) -- The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), an East African bloc, on Monday convened a high-level regional conference on forced displacement of refugees in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

The two-day conference that is being attended by IGAD member states, development partners, UN agencies, the private sector, refugees, and civil society is aimed at developing responses toward forced displacement in the region.

Mohamed Elduma, the head of the social development unit at IGAD Health and Social Development Division, said that the conference will help transform the refugee status in the region. "We are looking at developing the refugee response model from a care and humanitarian approach to empowering them alongside the host communities," Elduma said.

While saying that IGAD member states are looking at developing more holistic and integrated long-term solutions to build their resilience capacity and that of the hosting communities, Elduma stressed that in times of crisis, emergency aid is necessary to save lives, but there is a need to create an ecosystem that builds local capacity in a longer-term and sustainable way.

Catherine Wiesner, the head of external engagement at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) regional bureau, lauded IGAD member states for enacting policies aimed at improving the living conditions of refugees. Wiesner said these policies are helping refugees to build new lives and integrate in their new country as well as supporting hosting communities through social integration.

John Burugu, the commissioner of Refugee Affairs in Kenya, said the government has gazetted refugee identification documents that allow them to open bank accounts and also have access to telecommunication services. All refugees living in Kenya are now eligible to transact money transfer services using their own telephone numbers, and they also have access to education and health.

According to Burugu, 80,000 refugees have optionally gone back to their countries of origin, 62,000 have managed to relocate to third countries and 600,000 are now in refugee camps in Kenya since 2013.

The IGAD conference in Nairobi is expected to address long-term social, economic, infrastructural, environmental, and natural resource challenges that affect displaced persons and their host communities.

The IGAD region hosts more than 20 percent of the global refugee population.

According to IGAD, about 18.9 million are forcibly displaced, including 4.5 million refugees and asylum seekers and over 14 million internally displaced persons due to conflict and climatic shocks. 
TEHRAN, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A domestically-developed destroyer joined the Iranian Navy's fleet in the Caspian Sea on Monday, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

Weighing 1,500 tons, the destroyer Deylaman, built by the Marine Industries Organization affiliated to the Iranian Defense Ministry, is equipped with various types of homegrown defense systems and gears, the report said.

Deylaman, a Jamaran-class destroyer, is capable of navigating for a long period of time, discovering, identifying, monitoring, confronting and, if necessary, destroying air, surface and subsurface threats and targets and allowing takeoff and landing by helicopters on its deck, according to the official news agency IRNA.

"The Deylaman destroyer was manufactured while the country has been under the Western sanctions, which is a symbol of hope and honor," Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Baqeri was quoted as saying at a ceremony held in the northern port city of Bandar Anzali to mark the beginning of the destroyer's service. 
Li Mingyuan (L), a member of the Standing Committee of Communist Party of China Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and Albert Chalamila, the Dar es Salaam regional commissioner, sign an agreement for developing sister provinces between Shaanxi and Dar es Salaam in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Nov. 27, 2023. Shaanxi province in northwest China and Tanzania's Dar es Salaam region on Monday signed an agreement aimed at exploring investment opportunities to support economic development of both sides. (Xinhua/Herman Emmanuel)

DAR ES SALAAM, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Shaanxi province in northwest China and Tanzania's Dar es Salaam region on Monday signed an agreement aimed at exploring investment opportunities to support economic development of both sides.

The agreement, which is the letter of intent for developing sister provinces between Shaanxi and Dar es Salaam, was signed between Li Mingyuan, a member of the Standing Committee of Communist Party of China Shaanxi Provincial Committee, and Albert Chalamila, the Dar es Salaam regional commissioner.

Chalamila said the agreement will enable investors from Shaanxi province and Dar es Salaam region to explore investment opportunities available in Dar es Salaam region.

Chen Mingjian, the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, said Shaanxi province has a modern metropolis as well as impressive educational and industrial resources, while Dar es Salaam region is the commercial and transportation hub serving eight landlocked countries, which has the potential for exchange and cooperation in various fields.

The signing ceremony was followed by a business forum.

Speaking at the forum, Prince Katunzi, policy analyst for the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), said the TPSF recognized the importance of international collaboration in achieving sustainable economic growth.

"We believe that partnerships between Chinese and Tanzanian enterprises can unlock new avenues for innovation, trade and investment, contributing to the prosperity of both our nations," said Katunzi. 
GAZA, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, on Monday handed over the fourth batch of Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip to the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to a Palestinian source.

The source, who required anonymity, told Xinhua that a total of 11 hostages were delivered to the Red Cross officials in the fourth phase of the cease-fire swap with Israel.

Meanwhile, Hamas has received a name list of 33 Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli jails in the occupied West Bank later in the day. 
MOGADISHU, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations humanitarian agency said Monday it has provided 5 million U.S. dollars in additional funding to help address the ongoing heavy rains and devastating flash floods in Somalia.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said the latest funding is in conjunction with the earlier 25 million dollars allocation from the Somalia Humanitarian Fund and UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

Somalia is facing a flood emergency that has killed at least 96 people and affected more than 2.3 million others, according to the Somali government.

The impact of El Nino coupled with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole is expected to affect more people living in riverine areas and destroy 1.5 million hectares of farmland, according to the UN.

This is not the first time that Somalia has faced the deadly cycle of droughts and floods, as three consecutive years of flooding since 2018 displaced hundreds of thousands of people, the UN said.

Humanitarian workers are working around the clock to respond to the mounting needs, taking early action to mitigate the immediate impacts of El Nino and building communities' resilience to future shocks. Somali Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre has urged humanitarian agencies to act swiftly in response to the flood emergency affecting the country, especially in Jubaland.

El Nino-induced flash floods have caused significant devastation in riverine and low-lying districts across Gedo, Lower Jubba, and Middle Jubba regions. Jubaland is currently grappling with this humanitarian catastrophe and is in urgent need of support.

Abdi, who is on a tour of Jubaland, called for immediate assistance for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable communities in a dire humanitarian situation after being impacted by El Nino floods.

The prime minister on Sunday visited a temporary internal displaced persons' camp in Luglow, located near Kismayo and home to thousands of families seeking shelter from the flooding along the Jubba River. "Jubaland is facing a flooding emergency. We must act swiftly. With countless vulnerable communities severely affected by El Nino floods, it is imperative that relief agencies step up and provide immediate aid. Time is of the essence," he said. 
WINDHOEK, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Namibia experienced a decrease in rhino poaching this year, registering 42 cases compared to 87 the previous year, but saw an increase in elephant poaching, reaching eight cases, up from four the year before, an official said Monday.

In an interview with Xinhua, the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said that while rhino poaching numbers have decreased by half, elephant poaching numbers are on the rise.

"Poaching is dynamic. While we are winning the fight against the illegal killing of rhinos, elephant poaching is picking up," he said.

Muyunda noted that the ministry and law enforcement officers are working tirelessly to bring poaching under control.

He revealed that rhinos were mainly targeted in Namibia's largest park, the Etosha National Park, where 25 rhinos were found dead this year, while 17 were killed on private and custodian farms. The elephants killed were from the Kavango and Zambezi regions communal areas.

Elephant poaching in Namibia has declined over the years, dropping from a high of 101 in 2015 to a low of four elephants poached last year.

Last week, law enforcement operations in the country's Zambezi region led to the seizure of 39 elephant tusks and the arrest of three suspects involved in transnational poaching. 
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- A promotion event of the Hainan Free Trade Port in south China was held in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur on Monday.

Themed "Sharing New Opportunities of Hainan Free Trade Port, Creating a New Future of RCEP," the event introduced the policy advantages and business opportunities of the Hainan Free Trade Port, aiming at deepening economic and trade exchanges and cooperation between China's Hainan Province and Malaysia.

Among those present were Malaysian International Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Liew Chin Tong and Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing, who were joined by more than 400 representatives from related Malaysian government departments, enterprises, business associations, and the trade delegation from Hainan.

The event also witnessed the signing of agreements on eight key cooperation projects covering agriculture, trade, education and business service, aiming to deepen bilateral partnership between Hainan and Malaysia. 
ISLAMABAD, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Eight terrorists were killed during a clash between security forces and terrorists in Pakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the military said.

The security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation in the Sararogha area of South Waziristan district of the province, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistan Army, said in a statement late Sunday.

"During the conduct of the operation, intense fire exchange took place between the troops and terrorists as a result of which eight terrorists were killed," the ISPR said, adding that a huge cache of arms, ammunition and explosives were also recovered during the operation.

The killed terrorists remained actively involved in terrorist activities against security forces as well as innocent civilians, said the statement.

Clearance operations of the area are being carried out to eliminate the presence of terrorists from the area, it added. 
NEW DELHI, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- At least four people were killed and another one was injured critically after lightning struck them in the central India state of Madhya Pradesh, officials said Monday.

The deaths took place on Sunday.

According to officials, heavy rains and thunderstorms accompanied by lightning strikes lashed several parts of the state on Sunday evening.

"Last evening lightning struck a couple and their minor son when they were on a motorbike in Dhar district. The husband-wife duo was killed on spot, while their son was critically injured," an official said.

"Separately a man was killed when lightning struck him while he was working in his field in Jhabua district. Likewise, a woman was killed in a lightning strike in Barwani district," the official added.

In the adjacent state of Gujarat, at least 24 people were killed and 23 others injured due to lightning and rain-related incidents during the past 48 hours.

Every year, with the onset of monsoon season hundreds die in lightning incidents in India. Local media reports said 907 people were killed by lightning strikes across India in 2022. 
MADRID, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Two Brazilian brothers were detained in the town of Estepona in southern Spain on Monday on suspicion of having links with the Islamic State (also known as IS or Daesh).

The suspects are accused of spreading Islamic State propaganda material. They were arrested by Spain's Civil Guard following an investigation assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States and Brazil's Federal Police.

The Civil Guard said in a press release that the brothers were "immersed in a radicalization process and used encrypted instant messaging platforms to show their active support for the terrorist organization Daesh."

The officers found in the brothers' possession images of "terrorist activities carried out in various countries, manuals for the preparation of explosives, poisoning, cybersecurity, hacking, as well as documents justifying the violence of the execution of suicide attacks."

The Civil Guard said that the arrest has also helped Europol, the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation, find Jihadist contacts in other European countries, which have led to further detentions.

The brothers have been taken to Madrid, where the National Court placed them into preventive custody while the investigation continues. 
Abbas Ganbay

Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkiye and Georgia will discuss regional security issues, areas of defense cooperation and future plans at a trilateral meeting in Baku today, Azernews reports.

The meeting will be attended by the Head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, Turkish Defence Minister Yashar Guler and Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze.

The head of the Turkish Defence Ministry arrived in Baku yesterday.

Last time the defence ministers of the three countries held a meeting in Turkish Kars in February this year, during which they discussed the importance of joint military exercises. The ministers noted the importance of cooperation in the trilateral format, which serves security and stability in the region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 27, 2023. Any new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members should come from developing countries, Russian media reported Monday, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)

MOSCOW, Nov. 27 (Xinhua) -- Any new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members should come from developing countries, Russian media reported Monday, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow.

"It is important to redress the historical injustices that emerged following the end of the decolonization process and since the emergence of many dozens of young sovereign states," Lavrov said, noting that the composition of the UNSC should reflect the current reality.

"It is clear that any new members of the Security Council must only come from developing countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and they must have credibility in their regions and in global organizations such as the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77," he said.

Lavrov added that Russia doesn't need to focus on restoring relations with Europe at this moment, and must concentrate on protecting itself "in all key sectors of the economy," and security, considering Europe's unpredictable policies and decisions.

According to Lavrov, all the Western sanctions that have been imposed against Russia are likely to remain after the Ukraine conflict. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 27, 2023. Any new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members should come from developing countries, Russian media reported Monday, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addresses the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow, Russia, Nov. 27, 2023. Any new United Nations Security Council (UNSC) members should come from developing countries, Russian media reported Monday, citing Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at the Primakov Readings International Forum in Moscow. (Photo by Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/Xinhua)
OTTAWA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- Four teens and a woman are dead following a two-vehicle collision in Toronto, Canada, late Saturday, local police said on Sunday.

The Chinese Consulate General in Toronto has confirmed that the four teenagers aged 15-17 are international students from China.

Police said the crash occurred on Highway 60, near Hidden Valley Road, at approximately 11:10 p.m. local time (1610 GMT), between a westbound Mercedes SUV and an eastbound Ford SUV.

Police said the teenagers were inside the Mercedes and pronounced dead at the scene.

A 42-year-old woman was driving the Ford SUV and succumbed to her injuries after being transported to hospital, the police said. 
Storm strands bulk carrier off Russias Black Sea coast 27 November, 01:24 PM Blue Shark vessel (Photo:paluba.media)

A Belize-flagged bulk carrier ran aground near the town of Anapa due to a storm in the Black Sea on Nov. 26, Russias Federal Agency for Sea and Inland Water Transport (Rosmorrechflot) has reported on Telegram.

The cargo ship Blue Shark ran aground off the coast of Anapa near the village of Vityazevo.

The vessel was carrying a cargo of barley for Egypt in the Taman seaport. After receiving a storm warning, it moved to anchor.

There were 21 crew members on board  citizens of Syria, India, and Egypt, the ship's captain said.

Video of day

Strong winds and waves tore the ship from its anchors on the evening of Nov. 26. It drifted toward the shore until it ran aground.

The vessel is currently stranded in the immediate vicinity of the shore.

Experts are developing plans for an emergency rescue operation.

As of 11.12 p.m. on Nov. 26, almost 500,000 people in Ukraines Russian-occupied Crimea were left without electricity due to the bad weather.

On Nov. 26, an active southern cyclone brought heavy rainfall and strong winds to most regions of Ukraine, and a storm broke out on the Black Sea.

A number of roads, including part of the M15 international highway, were closed to traffic. There have been reports of people injured in road accidents.

Will you support Ukraines free press? Dear reader, as all news organizations, we must balance the pressures of delivering timely, accurate, and relevant stories with requirements to fund our business operations. As a Ukrainian-based media, we also have another responsibility  to amplify Ukraines voice to the world during the crucial moment of its existence as a political nation. Its the support of our readers that lets us continue doing our job. We keep our essential reporting free because we believe in our ultimate purpose: an independent, democratic Ukraine. If youre willing to support Ukraine, consider subscribing to our Patreon starting from 5$ per month. We are immensely grateful.

Please help us continue fighting Russian propaganda. Truth can be hard to tell from fiction these days. Every viewpoint has its audience of backers and supporters, no matter how absurd. If conscious disinformation is reinforced by state propaganda apparatus and budget, its outcomes may become deadly. There is no solution to this, other than independent, honest, and accurate reporting. We remain committed to empowering the Ukrainian voice to push against the muck. If youre willing to stand up for the truth  consider supporting us on Patreon starting from 5$ per month. Thank you very much.

Will you help tell Ukraines story to the world? Twenty years ago, most people hadnt even heard of Ukraine. Today, the country is on everyones lips and everyones headlines. War pushed us on the front page. But there are many other things we do that we are proud of  from music and culture to technology. We need your help to tell the world Ukrainian story of resilience, joy, and survival. If youre willing to back our effort, consider supporting us on Patreon starting from 5$ per month. We are immensely grateful.

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Reuters

LONDRES, 1 dic (Reuters) - Las bolsas mundiales subian el viernes, tras haber cerrado el dia anterior su mejor mes en tres anos, ya que la confianza de los inversores en que las tasas de interes bajaran el ano que viene ha atraido el efectivo hacia la renta variable, las criptodivisas y el oro a expensas del dolar. * El indice de acciones mundiales de MSCI cedia un 0,1%, principalmente por las caidas de los valores asiaticos.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies EML Payments' stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

A total of 9 investors have a majority stake in the company with 52% ownership

11% of EML Payments is held by insiders

A look at the shareholders of EML Payments Limited (ASX:EML) can tell us which group is most powerful. With 37% 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.

Given the vast amount of money and research capacities at their disposal, institutional ownership tends to carry a lot of weight, especially with individual investors. Therefore, a good portion of institutional money invested in the company is usually a huge vote of confidence on its future.

Let's take a closer look to see what the different types of shareholders can tell us about EML Payments.

View our latest analysis for EML Payments

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About EML Payments?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

We can see that EML Payments does have institutional investors; and they hold a good portion of the company's stock. This implies the analysts working for those institutions have looked at the stock and they like it. But just like anyone else, they could be wrong. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see EML Payments' historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Our data indicates that hedge funds own 8.1% of EML Payments. That catches my attention because hedge funds sometimes try to influence management, or bring about changes that will create near term value for shareholders. First Sentier Investors (Australia) IM Ltd is currently the company's largest shareholder with 10% of shares outstanding. The second and third largest shareholders are Alta Fox Capital Management, LLC and Patrick Haley, with an equal amount of shares to their name at 8.1%. Patrick Haley, who is the third-largest shareholder, also happens to hold the title of Member of the Board of Directors.

Story continues

On further inspection, we found that more than half the company's shares are owned by the top 9 shareholders, suggesting that the interests of the larger shareholders are balanced out to an extent by the smaller ones.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of EML Payments

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.

I generally consider insider ownership to be a good thing. However, on some occasions it makes it more difficult for other shareholders to hold the board accountable for decisions.

Our most recent data indicates that insiders own a reasonable proportion of EML Payments Limited. Insiders own AU$46m worth of shares in the AU$414m company. It is great to see insiders so invested in the business. It might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying recently.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 35% stake in EML Payments. 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.

Private Equity Ownership

Private equity firms hold a 5.4% stake in EML Payments. This suggests they can be influential in key policy decisions. Some investors might be encouraged by this, since private equity are sometimes able to encourage strategies that help the market see the value in the company. Alternatively, those holders might be exiting the investment after taking it public.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can find historic revenue and earnings in this detailed graph.

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.
TAIPEI, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Today KLM Royal Dutch Airlines hosted a celebration dinner to mark the 40th anniversary of its Taipei-Amsterdam service Taipei. The celebration was attended by a KLM senior management delegation led by Marjan Rintel, President and CEO KLM, with the presence of Wouter Vermeulen, General Manager Air France KLM Greater China, Johnson Wan, Regional Manager Taiwan, and other distinguished guests from the industry and community, as well as local staff.

KLM was established on 7 October 1919, now the world's oldest airline still operating under its original name, and recently celebrated its 104th birthday on October 7 last month. Via a vast network of 92 European cities and 70 intercontinental destinations, KLM now offers direct services to key economic centers all over the world.

KLM operated its first flight from Amsterdam to Taipei on April 2nd1983, with the PH-BUB 'Donau', a Boeing 747-200 aircraft. The route went through Vienna, Dubai and Bangkok and took 17hours. Since then, KLM has been operating regular passenger and cargo flights on the Taipei-Amsterdam route. In 2012, KLM began operating direct flights from Amsterdam to Taipei. KLM has seen a significant growth in passenger traffic, which is a testament to its commitment to providing exceptional services to its customers travelling between Amsterdam and Taipei.

"Since our first flight in 1983, KLM has built the air bridge between Taiwan and the Netherlands and the rest of the world throughout four decades of operation. Going forward, we will fulfill our commitment to the Taiwan market through our extensive network, modern fleet, flexible connectivity, investment in service and technological innovation and sustainability, together with our partners, as a testament to our core values: being passionate, caring, innovative and responsible." Said Marjan Rintel, President and CEO, KLM.

Wouter Vermeulen, General Manager, Air France KLM Greater China added "We are delighted to celebrate this milestone on KLM's AMS-TPE route, and it has been a great pleasure for us to connect travelers from the Taiwan market to the Netherlands since 1983 - we are happy to see the important role KLM has been playing in facilitating trade and people-to-people exchanges between the Taiwan market, the Netherlands and Europe. For the next 40 years and beyond, we will continue to fly our passengers safely and in comfort to their destinations, while also focusing on making flying cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient."

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As of 29 October, KLM resumed 4 direct weekly flights between Taipei and Amsterdam for the winter season. The direct services are operated with B787-9 and B777-2 aircraft featuring with our brand-new Premium Comfort Cabin, elevating customers' experience. KLM operates a total of 22 passenger flights from 4 destinations in its Greater China market, namely Taipei (4 weekly flights), Hong Kong (4 weekly flights) and, Beijing (Daily Flight), Shanghai (Daily flight).

KLM TPE-AMS 2023 Winter Flight Schedule (as of October 29, 2023):

Route Flight number Date Departure time (local time) Arrival time (local time) Amsterdam - Taipei KL807 Every Tuesday, Thursday,

Friday, Sunday 20:05 15:50 (+1) Taipei - Amsterdam KL808 Every Tuesday, Thursday,

Saturday, Sunday 00:40 08:25

*These are all local times. Flight schedule may subject to change. Detailed flight times, days and fares may be consulted on KLM.com or in the KLM app.

*We recommend passengers check the latest travel regulations prior to departure. See klm.traveldoc.aero for more information.

KLM new cabin class: Premium Comfort and New World Business Class seats

Premium Comfort is an entirely new inflight class with its own cabin, offering a new type of seats as well as distinctive service and catering concepts. The seats of Premium Comfort Class seats will vary from 21 to 28, which will be wider than standard seats, offering more legroom, a larger screen and a footrest. Premium Comfort seats can also recline further than Economy Class seats.

The broader seats of our new World Business Class seats have a sliding door ensuring greater comfort and privacy. Thanks to various innovations, the seats and their fittings are 10-15% lighter than other business class seats in this market segment, thereby contributing to KLM's sustainability objectives.

KLM, A forerunner in sustainable aviation

KLM pioneers to become a frontrunner in sustainable aviation and took important steps on this path, for example it began to blend o.5 percent sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on flights departing from Amsterdam and signed a multi-year SAF supply contract, first steps towards achieving our 10%worldwide SAF target by 2030.

For the third consecutive year, KLM has again won the APEX World Class Award. This special recognition is awarded by customers and the industry for performance in relation to themes including safety, customer well-being and sustainability.

About KLM

KLM was established on 7 October 1919, making it the world's oldest airline still operating under its original name.

KLM Group

Carrying 34.1 million passengers and 621,000 tonnes cargo, KLM and KLM Cityhopper form the heart of the KLM Group. Via a vast network of 92 European cities and 70 intercontinental destinations, KLM offers direct services to key economic centres all over the world.

KLM is a partner in the SkyTeam Alliance, which offers passengers even more possibilities, jointly serving 1,063 destinations in 173 countries. The KLM Group also includes the wholly-owned subsidiaries Transavia and Martinair. Transavia is the leading low-cost airline in the Netherlands, carrying almost 9 million passengers in 2018, operating out of Amsterdam, Eindhoven and Rotterdam.

Based on the principle that our people are the key to our brand, we are convinced that we can make the difference by consistently offering our customers a memorable experience. This ambition is in our DNA. Thanks to the sincere attention we give our passengers, they feel acknowledged, contented and at ease.

Following the merge with Air France in 2004, KLM has pursued the concept of 1 Air France-KLM Group, 2 airlines, and 3 core activities (passengers, cargo and engineering & maintenance). Together with Air France, KLM plays a pioneering role in the European air transport industry. KLM pursues profitable growth in order to achieve its own commercial objectives as well as more general economic and social objectives.

KLM is actively driving sustainable growth at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and seeks to gain access to any market that will improve the quality of its network. In addition, KLM endeavours to ensure a level playing field for all participants in the sector.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/40-years-onklm-celebrates-40-years-of-flights-to-taipei-301997659.html

SOURCE KLM Royal Dutch Airlines
Three years ago, Norma Dorey began putting the wheels in motion to begin her next phase of life.

Even though we all dont want to admit it, one day, that day comes, Dorey said. You need to not wait too long to let it go and not stay in the saddle too long.

For the past 40 years, Dorey has owned and operated Changes City Spa, a full-service family salon on 21st Street in Norfolk. Like many other business owners, Dorey had to make some tough decisions about the future of the small business she worked so hard to make successful.

I didnt want to sell it out in the market because Ive got people that have been with me for 20-plus years, she said.

Instead, Dorey decided to transfer the stock to a team of seven of her employees in January 2024.

Everybody has their strengths in carrying it on, Dorey said. It makes me feel really good about passing the torch, so to speak.

___

Family isnt a given plan

Whatever an owners intent for business succession, Hampton Roads experts say its vital to do due diligence and prepare a well thought-out plan.

About 63% of business owners are looking to transition in the next 10 years, which equates to roughly $14.3 trillion dollars in wealth transfer throughout the U.S., said Nirali Trovato, senior vice president for Towne Wealth Management and a financial adviser for Raymond James.

Our community is filled with so many local businesses  small businesses, midsize businesses  and many of them dont have a plan in place, she said.  Wed hate to see those businesses sort of shut down and close their doors because they dont have another option.

Whether its intergenerational or sold to employees or a third party, Trovato said ideally, its best to be ahead of the transition. She likes to work with family business owners three to five years ahead of the final transaction. Statistically, Trovato said 30% of intergenerational transfers to the second generation are successful while it drops to about 12% at the third generation.

Story continues

She stressed the importance of having a good trusted team in place, including an attorney, financial adviser and certified public accountant, so owners dont get cornered with an offer they think they have to accept.

In my experience, 70% of businesses that hit the market dont sell because they havent marketed it properly or they dont know what resources are out there or where to start, she said.

At a very high level, age-wave demographics show that baby boomers are aging out and are having to turn over their businesses, said William Donaldson, associate professor of management at Christopher Newport Universitys Luter School of Business.

And its not always a given that children will take them over. More detachment has occurred over the past 50 years as more people found ways to untether from parental apron strings and succeed in America, including through college and training schools, he said.

Its always been very, very difficult to transition businesses from one generation to the next because you have to have the passion, desire and capability to take over the business and thats not always the case, Donaldson said. Just because your last name is the same doesnt mean you care as much about the business or in the same way.

Frank Chebalo, a managing partner with Advanced Business Brokerage, which owns Virginia Beach-based franchise Murphy Business & Financial Services, said he too has seen a change over the past 20 years from the traditional business flow of passing businesses down generationally.

Chebalo said he has observed cultural and philosophical changes about what work is becoming. He first asks clients if they have a child, family member or manager interested in taking their business over. But the business ownership model isnt as attractive to the younger folks as it used to be, he added.

It seems to me like the children pretty much go out on their own, he said.

___

Returning home after real world experience

Siblings Suzy and Tom Rosser are two of those second-generation business owners who originally went in another direction, but came back to become co-presidents of their parents business, Richmond-based Gelati Celesti Ice Cream.

Kim and Steve Rosser bought and led the company since 2010, but its roots date back to 1984 when the late John Edmonds and his son, Peter, started it in a single brick-and-mortar shop in Richmond.

Since then, the Rossers have grown the business to 10 retail locations  seven in Richmond, two in Virginia Beach and one in Chesapeake  along with wholesale and catering.

Steve Rosser said he never intended Gelati Celesti to be a family business, but he was overjoyed when his children approached him almost five years ago with the idea. Within the next 18 months, ownership will transition to his children.

The best thing that Steve could have done for us was to encourage us to go out into the real world first, said Suzy Rosser, who started scooping ice cream at 16 years old and came back to work on her school breaks before starting her first career in the hotel industry.

Tom Rosser worked as a project executive in the construction industry but maintained a fervent desire to start a business  never assuming Gelati Celesti would be the one.

Gelati Celesti has such a strong brand presence and above all, ice cream is just more fun than construction, Tom Rosser said.

Suzy Rosser moved from San Diego to Virginia Beach to oversee retail operations, human resources and marketing. Tom Rosser relocated from Northern Virginia to Richmond to take charge of the companys production, business development and finance.

Both siblings stressed the path their father laid out for them provided a natural, gradual and smooth transition and set them up for success. And they both said they feel blessed to have a great relationship with each other that makes working in a family business easy.

So many successful American businesses are family-owned and it makes us excited to be a part of that club with such a solid business, Tom Rosser said.

Like their father, neither Rosser would pressure the next generation to work in the business, but would want them to join if they have the desire.

___

Regaining freedom by stepping back

For Changes City Spa, Dorey handpicked a group of people from her 45 employees to gift the company stock to and soon after, the grooming process began.

The future ownership includes Ashley Parker, the salons director of operations who worked alongside Dorey for almost 23 years.

Its been a three-year process of her slowly stepping back and us stepping up, Parker said.

The us currently includes Parker, three hairstylists, two nail technicians and an esthetician. A former hairstylist, Parker said she came out from behind the chair just as Dorey was ready to take a step back from the businesss day-to-day operations.

Parker added that they want to make it as seamless as possible for their staff and customers as they head into the next 40 years.

Dorey also owns Jakes Place, Home of Ghent Barbers on 21st Street in Norfolk. She has no plans to step away from that business  yet. That gives Parker and the other shareholders comfort.

We know shes not very far, she said. Shell stay on for a little while as a consultant.

Dorey, a hairdresser by trade, said she will continue to service her loyal clients but also plans to take some classes, enjoy lunch with friends, travel and enjoy her newfound freedom.

She certainly has earned that but its bittersweet, Parker said. We all feel excited, blessed and grateful.

Sandra J. Pennecke, 757-652-5836, sandra.pennecke@insidebiz.com
On November 27, the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, and the Minister of Defense of Georgia, Mr. Juansher Burchuladze held a bilateral meeting in Baku. Azernews reports

Colonel General Z. Hasanov welcomed the guests at the meeting with the participation of the delegations of both countries, and expressed his satisfaction with seeing them in Azerbaijan. The Defense Minister emphasized that the meetings of the heads of state play an important role in the development of relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia. He noted that the relations in the military field are developing as in other fields.

J. Burchuladze expressed his satisfaction with his visit to Azerbaijan and conveyed his congratulations to his colleague on the restoration of the territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He emphasized that mutual visits and such meetings are a clear example of the high level of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia.

Prospects for the development of military cooperation between the countries were discussed and a detailed exchange of views on increasing the intensity of joint exercises was held at the meeting. Support of the territorial integrity of the countries recognized at the international level was emphasized.

Then the sides discussed in detail issues of ensuring peace and security in the region, prospects for the development of cooperation in the military, military-technical, and military-educational fields, as well as other issues of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, a plan of bilateral military cooperation between the Ministries of Defense of Azerbaijan and Georgia for 2024 was signed.
(Bloomberg) -- ESG fund managers who turned to big tech as a low-carbon, high-return bet are growing increasingly anxious over the sectors experimentation with artificial intelligence.

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Exposure to AI now represents a short-term risk to investors, said Marcel Stotzel, a London-based portfolio manager at Fidelity International.

Stotzel said hes worried well get an AI blowback, which he describes as a situation in which something unexpected triggers a meaningful market decline. It takes just one incident for something to go wrong and the material impact could be significant, he said.

Examples that Stotzel says warrant concern are fighter jets with self-learning AI systems. Fidelity is now among fund managers talking to the companies developing such technologies to discuss safety features such as a kill switch that can be activated if the world one day wakes up to AI systems going rogue in a dramatic way, he said.

The ESG investing industry may be more exposed to such risks than most, after taking to tech in a big way. Funds registered as having an outright environmental, social and good governance objective hold more tech assets than any other sector, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. And the worlds biggest ESG exchange-traded fund is dominated by tech, led by Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Nvidia Corp.

Those companies are now at the forefront of developing AI. Tensions over the direction the industry should take  and the speed at which it should move  recently erupted into full public view. This month, OpenAI, the company that rocked the world a year ago with its launch of ChatGPT, fired and then rapidly rehired its chief executive, Sam Altman, setting off a frenzy of speculation.

Story continues

Read More: Whats Effective Altruism? What Does It Mean for AI?: QuickTake

Internal disagreements had ostensibly flared up over how ambitious OpenAI should be, in light of the potential societal risks. Altmans reinstatement puts the company on track to pursue his growth plans, including faster commercialization of AI.

Apple has said it plans to tread cautiously in the field of AI, with CEO Tim Cook saying in May that there are a number of issues that need to be sorted with the technology. And companies, including Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., have agreed to enact voluntary safeguards to minimize abuse of and bias within AI.

Stotzel said hes less worried about the risks stemming from small-scale AI startups than about those lurking in the worlds tech giants. The biggest companies could do the most damage, he said.

Other investors share those concerns. The New York City Employees Retirement System, one of the biggest US public pension plans, said its actively monitoring how portfolio companies use AI, according to a spokeswoman for the $248 billion plan. Generation Investment Management, the firm co-founded by former US Vice President Al Gore, told clients that its stepping up research into generative AI and speaking daily with the companies its invested in about the risks  as well as the opportunities  the technology represents.

And Norways $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund has told boards and companies to get serious about the severe and uncharted risks posed by AI.

When OpenAIs ChatGPT was launched last November, it quickly became the fastest-growing internet application in history, reaching 13 million daily users by January, according to estimates provided by analysts at UBS Group AG. Against that backdrop, tech giants developing or backing similar technology have seen their share prices soar this year.

But the absence of regulations or any meaningful historical data on how AI assets might perform over time is cause for concern, according to Crystal Geng, an ESG analyst at BNP Paribas Asset Management in Hong Kong.

We dont have tools or methodology to quantify the risk, she said. One way in which BNP tries to estimate the potential social fallout of AI is to ask portfolio companies how many job cuts may occur because of the emergence of technologies like ChatGPT. I havent seen one company that can give me a useful number, Geng said.

Jonas Kron, chief advocacy officer at Boston-based Trillium Asset Management, which helped push Apple and Metas Facebook to include privacy in their board charters, has been pressing tech companies to do a better job of explaining their AI work. Earlier this year, Trillium filed a shareholder resolution with Google parent Alphabet asking it to provide more details about its AI algorithms.

Kron said AI represents a governance risk for investors and noted that even insiders, including OpenAIs Altman, have urged lawmakers to impose regulations.

The worry is that, left unfettered, AI can reinforce discrimination in areas such as health care. And aside from AIs potential to amplify racial and gender biases, there are concerns about its propensity to enable the misuse of personal data.

Meanwhile, the number of AI incidents and controversies has increased by a factor of 26 since 2012, according to a database that tracks misuse of the technology.

Investors in Microsoft, Apple and Alphabets Google have filed resolutions demanding greater transparency over AI algorithms. The AFL-CIO Equity Index Fund, which oversees $12 billion in union pensions, has asked companies including Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co. to report on whether they have adopted guidelines to protect workers, customers and the public from AI harms.

Points of concern include discrimination or bias against employees, disinformation during political elections and mass layoffs resulting from automation, said Carin Zelenko, director of capital strategies at AFL-CIO in Washington. She added that worries about AI by actors and writers in Hollywood played a role in their high-profile strikes this year.

It just heightened the awareness of just how significant this issue is in probably every business, she said.

What Bloomberg Intelligence Says:

The EU may regulate AI thats tied to anything from a social media platforms recommendation systems to employment management tools, like resume-sorting software, and credit and exam scoring, deeming them high risk applications. Such systems would need a conformity assessment and to be registered before their placement on the EU market.

Click here for the full report by BIs Tamlin Bason.

High-Risk Requirements

(Adds Bloomberg Intelligence comment and chart in final paragraphs.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.s $1.4 billion deal for Roomba maker iRobot Corp. risks being derailed unless the firms fix a list of competition concerns highlighted by the European Unions antitrust arm.

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The European Commission in Brussels issued a so-called statement of objections on Monday, warning how Amazons proposed deal could hurt the robot vacuum cleaner market and let the e-commerce giant strengthen its position in online marketplaces and in other data-related services.

IRobot shares fell 17% to $34.35 on Monday, the biggest drop in almost three years. The stock had soared last week after a Reuters report suggested the deal would be cleared unconditionally.

In its warning, the European Commission said Amazon could demote other robot vacuum cleaners on its platform and promote its own products with such labels as Amazons choice or Works With Alexa. The commission also said Amazon may find it economically profitable to shut out rivals.

While getting a statement of objections signals the EU has serious concerns with a transaction, most merging companies avoid a veto by addressing competition issues. Companies also have the right to challenge the preliminary findings of regulators in writing or at a hearing.

Given the intense competition that iRobot faces, we are disappointed the EC has issued a Statement of Objections on the grounds that the proposed merger would restrict competition, Colin Angle, iRobots chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. He said the Bedford, Massachusetts-based company continues to cooperate with the EC and other regulators.

An Amazon spokesperson said that the company is focused on addressing the European Commissions concerns.

Story continues

When Amazon announced its intention to buy iRobot last year, the acquisition was seen as a way for the e-commerce giant to expand its presence in the burgeoning market for smart-home gadgets. Besides baking its Alexa voice assistant into multiple devices, the company has fielded a personal robot named Astro, which has failed so far to resonate with consumers. Amazon now plans to sell a version of the robot as a rolling security guard for businesses, Bloomberg reported earlier this month.

IRobots sales surged during the pandemic as housebound families looked for faster ways to clean their residences. But demand for its products has since waned. Meanwhile, rivals have been rolling out their own robotic cleaning machines, prompting the company to file patent infringement lawsuits. In July, Amazon cut its offer by 15% to $51.75 a share to account for fresh financing taken out by iRobot as the merger review drags on.

The EU opened an in-depth probe into the deal in July, noting that it could thwart other robot vacuum cleaners and make it more difficult for rival marketplace providers to match Amazons online marketplace services.

Mondays move puts the commission at odds once again with Britains Competition and Markets Authority, which gave the deal the green light after concluding that iRobot has a modest market power.

The US Federal Trade Commission has been eyeing the transaction since September 2022 over competition concerns and critiques by privacy activists that the deal would give Amazon too much control over the smart-home device market and valuable data about Americans homes.

Failure to remedy the European Commissions concerns could mean that Amazons deal for iRobot faces the same fate as Booking Holdings Inc.s 1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) deal for Swedens Etraveli Group, which was blocked by the EU in September. More recently, the EU raised concerns over Adobe Inc.s $20 billion buyout of Figma Inc.

The commission currently has a deadline of Feb. 14 to decide whether to approve the iRobot deal with concessions, or to block it.

--With assistance from Spencer Soper and Leah Nylen.

(Update with closing shares in third paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the company name spelling.)

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(Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc.s Prime membership program began with speedy shipping, then video streaming. The latest perkdiscounted access to a virtual doctoris being pitched as another win for customers: medical care delivered as seamlessly as tube socks and television shows.

Most Read from Bloomberg

But its a capitulation of sorts. Having spent almost a decade and billions of dollars trying to re-invent American health care, Amazon has settled on a decidedly traditional approach. The company runs doctors offices and pharmacies itself, offering Prime subscribers a $100 discount on memberships at One Medical, the concierge primary-care chain it acquired in February. In the highly regulated business of treating colds and dispensing pills, the strategy is a familiar one, albeit with some technology thrown in, and it disappointed industry observers who had hoped the companys long-awaited entry into health care would mean radical breakthroughs.

Over the past eight years or so, Amazon has started and abandoned multiple health-care initiatives. Haven, a joint venture with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. that sought lower corporate health insurance costs was shuttered after accomplishing little. Amazon Care, a telehealth service that promised virtual access to doctors in minutes, was abruptly closed last year just 17 months after it was widely launched. In July, the company axed a line of wearable health and wellness devices after they failed to catch on with consumers.

Today, Amazon mostly relies on a pair of pre-existing businessesOne Medical and PillPack, a mail-order pharmacy acquired in 2018. Both are well liked by patients but largely duplicate existing services and were unprofitable before Amazon bought them.

Story continues

Fellow tech-industry behemoths such as Apple Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. have also poured time, talent and billions of dollars into their own attempts to disrupt the famously entrenched health-care industry, with equally underwhelming results. Apple has started, delayed and abandoned multiple projects, including a glucose monitor and consumer health-care clinics. Google meanwhile has launched an array of initiatives such as glucose-measuring contact lenses and a platform for early heart-failure detection. None have significantly improved health-care offerings or outcomes for patients; all have been modified or scaled back.

To understand why Amazon hasnt made more progress, Bloomberg interviewed dozens of current and former employees, patients, competitors and industry analysts who closely followed the companys efforts to break into health care.

How Big Tech Misdiagnosed Health Care

Apple Has Plans to Eventually, Maybe Revolutionize Health Care

Apple Plans Hypertension, Sleep Apnea Detection for Next Watch

Current and former personnel describe a culture of hubris, fed by the faith that Silicon Valley-style invention could outsmart industry incumbents. Time and again, these people say, Amazon ceded control to managers with little or no health-care experience, often ignoring advice from industry experts recruited to help guide the effort. Debates over strategy consumed years, so by the time Amazon debuted such innovations as online doctor visits, speedy drug delivery and generic drug discounts, they were already commonplace.

Neil Lindsay, the veteran executive who leads Amazons Health Services group, disputed elements of that critique. I actually think that we are approaching this with a lot of humility, he said in an interview. Were going to have some hits and misses, and were OK with that experimenting and learning.

But Wall Street is growing impatient with all the experimentation. Mark Shmulik, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein, wrote a research note in June criticizing Amazon for making too many speculative bets outside of the companys area of expertise, including what he sees as a vague, self-imposed mandate to figure out health care. In an interview, Shmulik said the company should narrow its focus and cut spending on health initiatives. Im always highly skeptical of trying to take too big of an approach to health care, he said.

Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy has told investors that health care is among the companys biggest long-term investments, one of just a few areas where success could move the needle for a company expected to generate more than $500 billion in sales this year. Amazons health-care efforts stretch back to at least 2015, when the company recruited Kristen Helton to join Grand Challenge, an in-house incubator for the kind of big, outlandish bets that then-CEO Jeff Bezos hoped would propel his company beyond online retail.

A bioengineering PhD, Helton had co-founded a startup that built skin implants designed to monitor oxygen, glucose and other body chemistry markers. Not long after joining Amazon, Helton proposed a primary-care service that would let people see a doctor through an app, with a few taps on their phone. The idea was approved, and she began hiring and putting a team together.

Adhering to long-standing practice, executives borrowed talent from other teams, including the cloud division, and unleashed them on the exciting new project. Brimming with confidence, dozens of managers and software engineers joined Heltons team. They quickly proposed building many of the health-care industrys tools from scratch, including prescription-writing software and an electronic health records system. Health-care veterans on staff steered them away from most of those efforts, which they feared would be costly and duplicative, in favor of working on tools that directly impacted primary care. The debates, however, ate up months.

By 2021, Amazon was rolling out products from its moonshot lab, including a kids videoconferencing device and virtual travel program. That spring, about five years after Helton was recruited, the company launched Amazon Care. The service looked a lot like the original pitch. After downloading the Care app, patients could start a text chat with a nurse or request a virtual visit or in-home care. There was one big departure, though: You couldnt simply see a doctor. Your employer had to sign up first. Cares first business development chief, Nicole Bell, had recommended selling the new service to corporate benefits departments. Amazon, the would-be disruptor, would go through the existing system.

The first customer was Amazon itself. Feedback from patients was almost universally positive. Jassy, who had expressed some skepticism about the services business model, loved it, according to someone briefed on his reaction. But Amazon had a hard time persuading other companies. Corporations tend to buy health care for their employees as part of a laborious, years-long process. The upshot: Amazon had arrived on the scene with a product that looked a lot like existing telehealth services, and few companies were willing to upset established relationships for a newcomer with no track record.

The service did manage a few big signings. Precor, a Peloton fitness equipment subsidiary, was the first outside customer. Months later, the team celebrated when they signed Hilton, the hotel chain, and Care Medical staffed up on nurses to handle an expected rush of new patients. But business remained slow, according to former Amazon Care nurses. Some potential corporate customers backed out because Amazon wouldnt let them end the contract if the service didnt meet usage goals. Others wanted proof that Care lowered costs. Strikingly for a company that prides itself on a ruthless adherence to data, Amazon salespeople had little empirical evidence to offer, only glowing testimonials from its own employees.

Amazon Care slowly picked up corporate customers. But clinicians and Care salespeople say few employees from those companies were actually using the service. An Amazon Care nurse based in the Midwest says she would go hours without seeing a patient and was essentially paid to do nothing.

By then, Amazon was mulling an entirely different plan. Health services chief Lindsay had for years frequented One Medical, which courts urban professionals with sleek doctors offices, an app and an Amazon-like mantra to keep patients happy. While the chain had never turned a profit, it boasted 8,500 corporate clients, including Alphabet. We have always sort of kept our eyes open and, you know, I guess one thing led to another, said Lindsay, who suggested Amazon acquire the company.

The One Medical deal was a surprisenot least to Amazon Care employees. Many had already been fretting about their futures. Helton had left months earlier, replaced by a Kindle veteran named Aaron Martin, whod previously been chief digital officer at Providence, a health system headquartered in the Seattle area. Martin soon began preaching profitability, prompting some of his underlings to suspect that Amazon Care was in trouble. A few months later, they learned via pre-recorded video that the business was closing. Care shut down in December. About 400 people in Washington state lost their jobs, along with hundreds more elsewhere.

Amazon Pharmacy has also struggled to differentiate itself from whats already available at CVS, Walmart or Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. The online drug store was built atop PillPack, which pioneered mail-order delivery. It uses a highly automated system to sort medications into packets strung together into a long, segmented ribbon and ship them to customers. Patients tear open a pack when its time for the next dose until the roll is finished, at which point a new one arrivesa feat of coordination PillPack orchestrated among insurance companies, drug suppliers and doctors. For customers, the PillPack model alleviated the anxiety of keeping ones pills straight.

Analysts generally applauded the acquisition, but the PillPack integration got off to an inauspicious start. After merging existing personnel with PillPacks to form a new online pharmacy division, the company asked Nader Kabbani to lead the unit. The longtime Amazon executive, who had worked on logistics and the Kindle e-reader, lacked the health-care expertise to make major decisions without consulting PillPack founders TJ Parker and Elliot Cohen. Months later, Parker started reporting to the companys retail chief instead. Kabbani, who left Amazon earlier this year, declined to comment.

At the same time, Amazon wanted to display meds online much the way it does regular merchandise, with transparent pricing that included what kind of discount it was offering. That was never going to be easy because drugs, highly regulated products whose prices vary depending on the manufacturer or insurer, didnt fit neatly into the software powering Amazons retail website. And when Amazon Pharmacy launched in November 202029 months after the PillPack acquisitionit lacked some of the price-transparency features executives wanted.

The services prescription discount card also relied on drug prices negotiated by InsideRX, a unit of pharmacy giant Express Scripts Inc., the very definition of an industry incumbent. As such, the site was a disappointment to some health industry critics. Perhaps Amazon will one day become a true disrupter, Adam Fein, a consultant who studies pharmaceutical economics, wrote after the launch. For now, Amazon is choosing to join the drug channel, not fundamentally change it.

Eventually, Amazon figured out how to show patients the price of a specific druga true innovation, Parker says. But it wasnt long before rivals were offering similar tools. In August, GoodRx debuted a tool that lets doctors check the price before they prescribe the drugalso taking the patients insurance coverage into account.

Since then, Amazon has added sweeteners to persuade Prime subscribers to use the pharmacy service or sign up with One Medical. RxPass, which launched in January, ships patients any of a list of 53 generic medications for $5 a month. Amazon says the all-you-can-prescribe plan has drawn attention to its pharmacy arm, but the company isnt the first to try this. Walmart and Mark Cuban Cost Plus, among others, already offer cheap generics. CVS and Walgreens, meanwhile, have stores on thousands of street corners, offering the prospect of on-the-spot help when someone is ill. The fine print of the Amazon Pharmacy website even recommends that people with urgent needs visit a physical pharmacy. Amazon has yet to open one of those, though its testing speedy delivery of medicine as part of drone-delivery trials in Texas.

Sensor Tower, a market intelligence firm, estimates that monthly active users of the One Medical smartphone app are up 16% in the months since the deal, compared with the same period a year earlier. Gauging Amazon Pharmacys progress is difficult. Amazon says the unit doubled its active customers from 2022 to 2023, without providing more specific data. Three people who worked for PillPack say demand after Amazon Pharmacys launch fell short of the companys expectations. It really hasnt made a big dent, said Lisa Phillips, principal analyst with Insider Intelligence, which, relying on data from Kantar MARS, estimates that 8% of US drug purchasers have used Amazon. I dont think anybody is scared of it anymore.

PillPack co-founder Parker, who left Amazon in September 2022, says the companys deals to become the default pharmacy for some insurance plans are major developments that have gone relatively unheralded. He concedes Amazon is not yet a major player in health care but says its farther along than any of companies that got into the business when PillPack did.

That in and of itself is I think a success, and theyll continue chipping away at making it better, said Parker, who is now a general partner at the venture capital firm Matrix Partners.

In the meantime, Amazon continues to roll out new health programs. One is Amazon Clinic, a text and video chat-based care service that charges $30 to $80 a visit and doesnt accept insurance. Unlike Amazon Care, which required the company to hire hundreds of doctors and nurses and stock home offices with expensive computers and medical equipment, Clinic is a marketplace, with Amazon playing the middlemana familiar role for a company that already hosts millions of merchants on its retail website. If we can make a few things a little bit easier for a lot of people, thats going to go a long way to saving time, saving money, and getting better health outcomes, Lindsay said. Of course, our ambitions are bigger than that, and we can see some areas where we can make it a lot easier for many.

Amazon Clinic hands off patients to doctors affiliated four health-care providers. Physicians tending to minor complaints like acne might spend 90 seconds with a patient using the text chat interface, compared with 15 minutes for an office visit, says Matt Hodges, a vice president at Florence Labs, which offers similar services. Moreover, doctor and patient need not be logged on at the same time, and the work can be handled during slow periods of the day.

Amazon hopes Casey Peters experience will become the norm. About a year ago, the 42-year-old, who lives outside San Antonio, Texas, needed to renew a cholesterol prescription after switching physicians. Peters went to Amazon Clinics web portal, uploaded a photo of his pill bottle, ticked a few questionnaire boxes and submitted his request. Twenty-one minutes later he received an email linking him to a doctor in a Slack-like chat. The physician quickly greenlit the prescription. Amazon Pharmacy delivered it the next day. They kind of nailed it, Peters said. Earlier this year, attracted by Amazons offer of a discounted one-year membership, he and his wife also signed up for One Medical.

--With assistance from Spencer Soper and Robert Langreth.

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(Bloomberg) -- Argentina President-elect Javier Milei heads to the US on Sunday night while his incoming foreign minister traveled to Brazil to invite President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to the Dec. 10 inauguration.

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Mileis delegation will meet with officials from the US Treasury, the White House and the International Monetary Fund in Washington, according to a text message from a Milei spokesperson. The purpose of the meetings is to explain the incoming administrations economic plan including the fiscal adjustment, monetary reform, state reform and deregulation. The delegation is not seeking financing on this trip, according to the spokesperson.

The President-elect suspended the trip as of Thursday, according to a campaign spokesperson, after saying he planned a spiritual trip to the US before the inauguration.

On Sunday, Milei envoy Diana Mondino visited Brazil to invite Lula to next months inauguration in Buenos Aires. Mondino, Mileis incoming foreign minister, met in Brasilia with Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira, to whom she handed the invitation for Lula.

The main message is that we are brotherly countries, and we will continue to be so, Mondino told reporters after the meeting. We have to work hard together to make both countries grow.

Read More: Caputo Tells Bankers Argentina Dollarization Is Medium-Term Goal

Milei is softening his aggressive rhetoric toward trading partners such as China and Brazil after calling Lula a communist with whom he wouldnt deal in an interview with Bloomberg News. After winning election, Milei told local TV that Lula would be welcome to attend the inauguration. Lula has not yet decided whether to attend, his government said.

Story continues

Mileis Softer Tone Shows How Argentina Needs China: New Economy

Its one thing to criticize the ideology and another to criticize the person. Thats totally different, Mondino said. We have to separate state, government and people. The partnership will continue better and as quickly as we can.

Lula put relations with Argentina on hold to understand the incoming Milei administrations plans for its relationship with what is its largest trading partner in South America.

Mondino, speaking alongside Vieira, said that trade agreements should be signed between the Mercosur bloc and the European Union as soon as possible and, eventually, with other countries such as Singapore.

The two did not discuss the BRICS grouping, Mondino said in response to a reporters question, adding that she doesnt know what advantages the bloc could offer Argentina. We already work with practically all the countries in the group, Mondino said.

Milei will be joined on the US trip by sister Karina Milei, potential cabinet chief Nicolas Posse and adviser Santiago Caputo.

(Updates with trip details in second paragraph, names of delegation members in final paragraph)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Investors are often guided by the idea of discovering 'the next big thing', even if that means buying 'story stocks' without any revenue, let alone profit. But the reality is that when a company loses money each year, for long enough, its investors will usually take their share of those losses. While a well funded company may sustain losses for years, it will need to generate a profit eventually, or else investors will move on and the company will wither away.

So if this idea of high risk and high reward doesn't suit, you might be more interested in profitable, growing companies, like AstraZeneca (LON:AZN). Even if this company is fairly valued by the market, investors would agree that generating consistent profits will continue to provide AstraZeneca with the means to add long-term value to shareholders.

View our latest analysis for AstraZeneca

How Fast Is AstraZeneca Growing?

If a company can keep growing earnings per share (EPS) long enough, its share price should eventually follow. So it makes sense that experienced investors pay close attention to company EPS when undertaking investment research. Shareholders will be happy to know that AstraZeneca's EPS has grown 26% each year, compound, over three years. As a general rule, we'd say that if a company can keep up that sort of growth, shareholders will be beaming.

Top-line growth is a great indicator that growth is sustainable, and combined with a high earnings before interest and taxation (EBIT) margin, it's a great way for a company to maintain a competitive advantage in the market. While revenue is looking a bit flat, the good news is EBIT margins improved by 15.7 percentage points to 31%, in the last twelve months. That's a real positive.

You can take a look at the company's revenue and earnings growth trend, in the chart below. Click on the chart to see the exact numbers.

In investing, as in life, the future matters more than the past. So why not check out this free interactive visualization of AstraZeneca's forecast profits?

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Are AstraZeneca Insiders Aligned With All Shareholders?

Investors are always searching for a vote of confidence in the companies they hold and insider buying is one of the key indicators for optimism on the market. That's because insider buying often indicates that those closest to the company have confidence that the share price will perform well. Of course, we can never be sure what insiders are thinking, we can only judge their actions.

First things first, there weren't any reports of insiders selling shares in AstraZeneca in the last 12 months. But the important part is that Independent Chairman Michel Demare spent US$437k buying stock, at an average price of US$109. It seems at least one insider thinks that the company is doing well - and they are backing that view with cash.

On top of the insider buying, it's good to see that AstraZeneca insiders have a valuable investment in the business. With a whopping US$61m worth of shares as a group, insiders have plenty riding on the company's success. That's certainly enough to let shareholders know that management will be very focussed on long term growth.

Should You Add AstraZeneca To Your Watchlist?

For growth investors, AstraZeneca's raw rate of earnings growth is a beacon in the night. On top of that, insiders own a significant piece of the pie when it comes to the company's stock, and one has been buying more. Astute investors will want to keep this stock on watch. Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for AstraZeneca that you should be aware of.

Keen growth investors love to see insider buying. Thankfully, AstraZeneca isn't the only one. You can see a a free list of them here.

Please note the insider transactions discussed in this article refer to reportable transactions in the relevant jurisdiction.

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.
Assessing the Dividend Profile of Autoliv Inc

Autoliv Inc (NYSE:ALV) recently announced a dividend of $0.68 per share, payable on 2023-12-13, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-11-27. 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 Autoliv Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

Understanding Autoliv Inc's Business

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 5 Warning Signs with ALV.

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?

Autoliv is the global leader in passive safety components and systems for the auto industry. Products include seat belts, frontal air bags, side-impact air bags, air bag inflators, and steering wheels. The Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is the company's largest customer at 11% of 2022 revenue, with Stellantis accounting for 11% and Volkswagen 10%. At 34% of 2022 revenue, the Americas was Autoliv's largest geographic region, followed by Europe at 27%, China at 21%, and Japan at 8%.

Autoliv Inc's Dividend Analysis

Autoliv Inc's Dividend Track Record

Autoliv Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 1997. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Autoliv Inc's Dividend Analysis

Dividend Yield and Growth Insights

As of today, Autoliv Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 2.58% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 2.65%, suggesting an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Over the past three years, Autoliv Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 1.30%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to -5.00% per year. And over the past decade, Autoliv Inc's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at -1.90%.

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Based on Autoliv Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Autoliv Inc stock as of today is approximately 2.00%.

Autoliv Inc's Dividend Analysis

Evaluating Dividend Sustainability

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, Autoliv Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.55.

Autoliv Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Autoliv Inc's profitability 7 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.

Future Growth Prospects

To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Autoliv Inc's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors.

Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Autoliv Inc's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Autoliv Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 1.20% per year on average, a rate that underperforms approximately 67.88% 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, Autoliv Inc's earnings increased by approximately -8.40% per year on average, a rate that underperforms approximately 71.77% of global competitors.

Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of -9.60%, which underperforms approximately 76.91% of global competitors.

Investor Takeaway

In conclusion, while Autoliv Inc has a history of consistent dividend payments, its dividend growth rate and payout ratio indicate a cautious approach to dividend distribution. The company's solid profitability rank and moderate growth prospects suggest a balanced approach to sustaining future dividends. However, investors should also consider the underperformance in revenue and earnings growth rates relative to global competitors. As value investors, it is essential to weigh these factors when evaluating Autoliv Inc's dividend profile.

GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Transparency Market Research

The market for autonomous mobile robots is being driven by the growth of the FMCG industry and an increase in the manpower shortage in end-use sectors.

Wilmington, Delaware, United States, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Transparency Market Research Inc. -The global autonomous mobile robots market was estimated at a value of US$ 2.3 billion in 2021. It is anticipated to register an 11.7% CAGR from 2022 to 2031 and by 2031 the market is likely to attain US$ 6.9 billion by 2031.

Distribution as well as fulfillment operations are under a great deal of strain due to the e-commerce sector's rapid expansion. The majority of merchants are actively looking for ways to combat the ever-increasing complexity of fulfillment. In order to handle issues like labor management, order processing and tracking, and warehousing and distribution expenses, they are also searching for new technologies.

Request to Sample PDF of this Strategic Report: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=67910



Those with an interest in material handling and warehouse activities are spending a lot of money revamping their operating plans. This is expected to drive the market expansion of autonomous mobile robots in the near future.

Key Findings of Market Report

During two- to three-week-long cycles of high demand throughout the year, fulfillment volumes can increase by up to three times their typical rates. This thus presents distribution hubs with significant personnel issues. E-commerce companies more and more to get around these obstacles are using AMRs. AMRs increase the return on capital investments, optimize operating expenses, and streamline procedures. These advantages raise the need for AMRs in the e-commerce industry, which influences market data.

Market Trends for Autonomous Mobile Robots

Numerous end-user corporations are making large investments in AMR startups. ABB purchased the autonomous mobile robot firm ASTI Mobile Robotics Group in 2021. Through the purchase, ABB became the only firm to offer a full portfolio for the upcoming generation of flexible automation, further expanding its robotics and automation offering. producer of forklifts Jungheinrich AG invested US$ 24.5 million in German AMR producer Magazino GmbH in September 2020. The automation of internal transportation tasks including picking, sorting, and storage was limited to traditional automated guided vehicles (AGVs). AGVs are permanent installations used in situations requiring regular, repeated material delivery. These vehicles offer a delayed return on investment, but they also have a high initial cost.

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Global Market for Autonomous Mobile Robots: Regional Outlook

Various reasons are propelling the growth of the autonomous mobile robots market throughout the region. These are:

Over the course of the projected period, North America is anticipated to hold a dominant position. The growth of automation in non-durable products and retail industries is propelling the regional market revenue. The need for AMRs in North America is also being driven up by the increased use of Industry 4.0 & 5.0, as well as the increased penetration of IoT and 5G. The growth of the FMCG and automotive industries is driving the industry in Europe and Asia Pacific. The market value in these regions is also being driven by an increase in the consumption of clothing, footwear, and packaged food goods. Throughout the projected period, a medium rate of growth is expected for the industries in South America and the Middle East and Africa.

Customize the Report According to Your Needs:

https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=CR&rep_id=67910



Some key developments by the players in this market are:

In September 2022, ROEQ teamed with OMRON to supply the ROEQ TMC500 solution for OMRON's LD-250 AMR, doubling the AMR's payload capacity to 500 kilograms (1,102lbs). A startup called SIXAI, which specializes in integrating technology into legacy industries, revealed intentions to roll out MAESTRO, an AI-enabled autonomous mobile robot management platform, globally in September 2022. After acquiring ASTI Mobile Robotics in 2021, ABB introduced its first line of renamed ARMs in September 2022. Locus Robotics introduced the Locus Vector and Locus Max AMRs in March 2022. The small AMR Locus Vector has a strong payload capacity and omnidirectional movement. With its heavyweight payload capacity and enhanced versatility, the Locus Max AMR is well suited for material handling and industrial applications.

Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market: Key Players

Manufacturers within the global autonomous mobile robots market are constantly evolving to improve navigation, sensing, and control systems. To increase productivity and safety, they are combining machine learning, artificial intelligence, and sophisticated sensors.

Manufacturers frequently work in tandem with technology suppliers to address a range of industrial as well as logistical automation requirements, which propels market growth. The following companies are well-known participants in the global autonomous mobile robots market:

Addverb Technologies Limited AMS, Inc. ANYbotics AG Berkshire Grey Continental AG ECA Group Fetch Robotics, Inc. Gridbots Technologies Private Limited Hikrobot Technology Co., Ltd. Intel Corporation Kollmorgen Korber AG KuKa AG Locus Robotics Mobile Industrial Robots A/S OMRON Corporation Peer Robotics Shanghai Quicktron Intelligent Technology Co. Ltd. Teradyne Inc. Tetrahedron Manufacturing Services Universal Robots Youibot Robotics Co. Ltd.

Global Autonomous Mobile Robots Market Segmentation

Offering

Hardware

Software

Services

Type

Conveyor

Lifting

Automatic Trolley

Multifunctional

Others

Load Capacity

Up to 500 Kg

500 Kg - 1000 Kg

1000 Kg - 2000 Kg

Above 2000 Kg

Application

Cardboard Boxes

Trays

Kegs

Buckets

Bags

Crates

Foil Bundles

Others

End Use Industry

Food & Beverage

Beauty & Personal Care

Pharmaceutical

Chemical

Automotive

Others

Region

North America

Europe

Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa

Latin America

Enquire Before Buying: https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=EB&rep_id=67910



Browse More Reports by TMR:

Infrared Sensors Market - The infrared sensors industry research report by TMR states that the industry was valued at US$ 680.9 Mn in 2021. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 5.4% from 2022 to 2031.

Wireless Charger Market - The global wireless charger market is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 31.9% during the forecast period, 2022 to 2031.

About Transparency Market Research

Transparency Market Research, a global market research company registered at Wilmington, Delaware, United States, provides custom research and consulting services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insights for thousands of decision makers. Our experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools & techniques to gather and analyses information.

Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.

Contact:

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Transparency Market Research Inc.

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BrainBox AI Inc

MONTREAL, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BrainBox AI, a pioneer in autonomous solutions for the built environment, is readying a new GenAI-powered innovation geared toward facility and building managers that will catapult its platform capabilities to an industry-defining level. The new product will take on the role of an intuitive and autonomous building operations co-pilot to further facilitate the work and decision-making processes of building operators and facilities managers.



The company is transforming the information exchange happening between a building operator and its systems from a simple input and output relationship into a dynamic two-way dialogue with the capacity for autonomous action. With it, BrainBox AI is addressing the critical issue building operators experience; the existence of numerous tools to assist them but lack of time and resources required to use them. Through its core AI-driven operations innovation, BrainBox AI already has a pulse on the intersection of data and building operations, but as innovators it is also important to reach further for the greater good. Using Generative AI, the companys latest advancement will redefine the role of technology in its space.

Discovering and innovating the different ways that building data can be used to drive a more sustainable future for this industry are at the heart of what we do. shared Jean-Simon Venne, Founder and Chief Technology Officer at BrainBox AI. With over 12,000 connected buildings and hundreds of years of collective experience, our autonomous AI platform and extensive data infrastructure positions us uniquely for this innovative industry shift ahead. Our ambition is to go beyond developing an advanced search tool or information collector, we are creating the worlds first autonomous co-pilot for building operators and managers that delivers on the promise of Generative AI. Its official launch in Winter 2024 will be a landmark achievement for us and the entire sector."

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A part of BrainBox AIs ability to bring its breakthrough innovation to market stems from its relationship with Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon Bedrock, a fully managed AWS service that offers a choice of performing foundation models, played a key role in the ramp-up of the companys latest creation.

With the addition of this new innovation, BrainBox AIs capabilities within the built environment space is elevated to new levels as it continues its mission to save the planet with AI. To receive exclusive updates on BrainBox AIs GenAI product, sign up here.

About BrainBox AI

Founded in 2017, BrainBox AI was created to address two critical issues currently facing the built environment: carbon emissions and energy consumption. As innovators in the decarbonization movement, BrainBox AIs game-changing HVAC technology leverages AI to make buildings smarter, greener, and more efficient. Through strategic global relationships, BrainBox AI elevates real estate clients across various sectors from office buildings and hotels to commercial retail, grocery stores, airports, and more.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, a global AI hub, our workforce of over 170 employees, bring with them talent from all sectors with the common thread of being in business to heal our planet. BrainBox AI works in collaboration with research partners including MILA  Quebec AI Institute, the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), as well as education institutions including McGill University. For more information visit: https://brainboxai.com/en/

Contact:

Liz Culley-Sullo

Director, Public Relations

l.culley-sullo@brainboxai.com




(This Nov. 24 story has been corrected to add weekly loss data in paragraph 2 and show that there was no weekly oil price gain in the headline and paragraph 1)

By Laura Sanicola

(Reuters) - Oil fell on Friday as the release of some hostages in Gaza reduced the geopolitical risk premium ahead of next week's OPEC+ meeting to decide on production cuts in 2024.

Brent crude futures settled down 84 cents, or 1%, at $80.58 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude fell $1.56, or 2%, from Wednesday's close to $75.54. There was no settlement for WTI on Thursday owing to the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday. Brent settled 3 cents lower on the week while WTI fell 35 cents from last Friday's settlement.

The first group of hostages freed from captivity in Gaza returned to Israel on Friday, on the first day of a planned four-day truce during which further exchanges of hostages for Palestinian detainees are due to take place.

"The fact that they followed through was significant for reducing the risk premium," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital LLC in New York.

Both contracts had their first weekly gain in five weeks as OPEC+ prepares for a meeting that will have output cuts high on the agenda after recent oil price declines on demand concerns and burgeoning supply, particularly from non-OPEC producers.

The OPEC+ group, comprising of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, surprised the market on Wednesday by delaying its Nov. 26 to Nov. 30 after producers struggled to reach a consensus on output levels.

OPEC+ has moved closer to a compromise with African oil producers on 2024 output levels, three OPEC+ sources have told Reuters.

"The most likely outcome now appears to be an extension of existing cuts," said IG analyst Tony Sycamore.

The surprise delay had initially brought Brent futures down as much as 4% and WTI by as much as 5% in intraday trading on Wednesday. Trading remained subdued during Thursday's U.S. holiday.

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"While I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see leaks or comments over the weekend that still have an impact on the oil price on the open next week, the actual meeting now occurring Thursday could put traders' minds somewhat at ease," said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at OANDA.

A bright spot came in the form of the near-term economic outlook in China. Recent Chinese data and fresh aid to the indebted property sector can be "positive for the oil market's near-term trend", said CMC Markets analyst Tina Teng.

Yet those gains could be capped by higher U.S. crude stockpiles and poor refining margins, leading to weaker demand from U.S. refineries, analysts said.

"Fundamentals developments have been bearish with rising U.S. oil inventories," ANZ analysts said in a note.

Still, China's longer-term outlook remains lukewarm. Analysts say oil demand growth could weaken to about 4% in the first half of 2024 as the property sector crunch weighs on diesel use.

Non-OPEC production growth is set to remain strong, with Brazilian state energy company Petrobras planning to invest $102 billion over the next five years to boost output to 3.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by 2028, up from 2.8 million boepd in 2024.

(Additional reporting by Paul Carsten and Natalie Grover in London and Colleen Howe in Beijing; Editing by David Goodman, Louise Heavens and Marguerita Choy)
FILE PHOTO: The sun is seen behind a crude oil pump jack in the Permian Basin in Loving County

By Arathy Somasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters) -Oil prices fell on Monday, with the Brent benchmark dipping below $80 a barrel as investors awaited this week's OPEC+ meeting and expected curbs on supplies into 2024.

Brent crude futures were down 60 cents, or 0.7%, at $79.98 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 68 cents, or 0.9%, to $74.86. Both contracts lost $1 in early trading.

Last week, prices tumbled when OPEC+ - the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies including Russia - postponed to Nov. 30 a ministerial meeting to iron out differences on production targets for African producers.

Since then the group, helmed by de facto leader Saudi Arabia, has moved closer to a compromise, four OPEC+ sources told Reuters on Friday. OPEC+ is looking at deepening oil production cuts despite its policy meeting being postponed to this Thursday, an OPEC+ source said on Monday.

"Although there are headlines that Saudi has made progress reaching consensus, there is limited risk appetite to buy crude ahead of the formal announcement," said Rebecca Babin, senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth US.

"Until we get clarity on how this plays out, expect crude to struggle to rally," she added.

ING analysts said they expected Saudi Arabia to roll over its additional voluntary cut of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) into next year, and Russia to extend its own cuts.

"Clearly, if we do not see this, it would put further downward pressure on the market," they said in a note.

Estimated exports by OPEC countries have declined to 1.3 million bpd below levels in April, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note, in line with the group's supply targets.

"We still expect an extension of the unilateral Saudi and Russia cuts through at least the first quarter of 2024," the bank added.

The United Arab Emirates, however, is poised to ramp up exports of Murban crude early next year, according to traders and Reuters data.

Story continues

Efforts by Iraq to resume northern crude exports via Turkey continue. Iraqi oil officials will meet representatives of international oil companies and Iraqi Kurdish officials in early December to discuss contract changes central to the issue, a deputy minister said.

The International Energy Agency said it expects a slight surplus in global oil markets in 2024 even if OPEC+ nations extend their cuts into next year.

Higher crude stockpiles in the United States have also put downward pressure on prices, analysts said. However, four analysts polled by Reuters estimated on average that crude inventories fell by about 2 million barrels in the week to Nov. 24.

Meanwhile, mediator Qatar on Monday said a truce between Israeli and Hamas forces in Gaza had been extended by two days, continuing a pause in seven weeks of warfare. The Middle East crisis had impacted oil prices as investors worried about impacts on supply.

Money managers cut their net long U.S. crude futures and options positions in the week to Nov. 21, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Monday.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston, Paul Carsten in London, Florence Tan and Mohi NarayanEditing by Peter Graff, Mark Potter, Tomasz Janowski, Cynthia Osterman and David Gregorio)
Abbas Ganbay

The Azerbaijani Health Ministry has held a meeting with Tajik Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Azerbaijan Ilhom Abdurahmon, Azernews reports, citing the Health Ministry.

Welcoming the guests, Health Minister Teymur Musayev emphasised the successful development of bilateral relations between Azerbaijan and Tajikistan and noted the special contribution of mutual visits at the highest level to the expansion of ties between the two countries.

Teymur Musayev recalled that the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Tajikistan had recently met within the framework of the SPECA summit held in Baku. The Minister expressed confidence that such visits are important for further strengthening of bilateral relations.

The minister also mentioned that there is a wide potential for the development of Azerbaijani-Tajik relations in the field of healthcare.

"There are all necessary conditions for the exchange of modern methodological and scientific-practical information in the field of continuous professional training of medical specialists," he added.

In turn, Ilhom Abdurahmon emphasized that Tajikistan attaches great importance to strengthening bilateral relations with Azerbaijan.

"Diplomatic relations between our countries were established in 1992, and during this period, cooperation between Tajikistan and Azerbaijan has been developing on an increasing scale," he noted.

During the meeting, the sides also discussed further expansion of cooperation in the field of healthcare and medical science, training of medical personnel, and exchange of experience between medical universities and national public health institutes.
Calibre Scientific, Inc.

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Calibre Scientific is pleased to announce the acquisition of Scientific Support Services Ltd (SSS or the Company), a UK based provider of scientific instruments, supplies and services to customers in the petrochemical, environmental, pharmaceutical, clinical, and food and flavors sectors. This strategic acquisition reinforces Calibre Scientific's commitment to expanding its product and service offering in the British Isles.



SSS is a leading scientific supply and service company in the UK and Ireland with a diversified product portfolio that includes chromatography systems, hydrogen and air generators, gas mixers and diluters, XRF analyzers, optical instruments, as well as consumables. In addition to supplying high-quality instruments and products, SSS also provides a variety of technical services including training, installation, repair, calibration, annual maintenance, and remote assistance.

With this acquisition, Calibre Scientific expands its product offering and enhances its market share in the British Isles by adding a variety of new customer relationships in key end markets such as petrochemical, environmental, and food and flavors, among others. "The combination of SSSs comprehensive range of analytical instrumentation together with its high-calibre support services capabilities makes it an excellent fit for us, said Ben Travis, Chief Executive Officer of Calibre Scientific. This acquisition reinforces our dedication to advancing our laboratory capabilities and underscores our vision to being a comprehensive provider of instruments, consumables and services to our customers worldwide.

We are excited for SSS to join Calibre Scientific as it embarks on this new chapter of growth, said Bernise Gosden and Keith Gosden, Directors of SSS. We have full confidence that Calibre Scientific will further enhance the exceptional quality standards SSS has consistently maintained for our valued customers and trusted suppliers.

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About Calibre Scientific

Calibre Scientific is a diversified global provider of life science reagents, tools, instruments, and other consumables to lab research, diagnostics, industrial, and biopharmaceutical communities. Calibre Scientific owns a portfolio of life science and diagnostic companies that have an unrivaled ability to address its customers challenges in their respective markets. Our global reach extends to over 175 countries, empowering customers all over the world. Headquartered in Los Angeles, California, Calibre Scientific continues to expand its product offering and global footprint to laboratories across a wide array of verticals and geographies.

For more information, visit www.investor.calibrescientific.com, or contact press@calibrescientific.com.




(Bloomberg) -- As Chinas embattled shadow banking giant Zhongzhi Enterprise Group Co. faces a criminal probe, lawyers and analysts are assessing the damage to investors. One estimate puts that at about $56 billion.

Most Read from Bloomberg

More than three quarters of investor cash would be lost, with just 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) being recovered from debt of as much as 460 billion yuan, according to one scenario outlined by Ying Yue, a lawyer at Leaqual Law Firm in Shanghai. He expects a slow and drawn out court process, based on the experience of other cases.

Sun Jianbo, founder of Beijing-based asset manager China Vision Capital, said soured assets are typically sold with a 70% discount. That means investors may recoup about 13% of their money, based on Bloomberg calculations.

Authorities over the weekend said theyve opened criminal investigations into the money management business of Zhongzhi, days after it warned of severe insolvency and revealed a shortfall of $36.4 billion in its balance sheet. Investors were urged to report leads and file their complaints online.

The case is a wake-up call for wealthy Chinese investors who have often sought high returns in products sold by loosely regulated firms like Zhongzhi. The company first triggered concern in August after one of its trust affiliates failed to make payments to customers on high-yield investment products.

Zhongzhis 200 billion yuan of assets would at best fetch about 100 billion yuan, Ying said in a social media post Saturday. That means investors could only get about 23% of their money back, based on the median of some 420 billion yuan to 460 billion yuan total debt Zhongzhi earlier revealed.

Story continues

The actual ratio could be much lower. The wealth manager said last week liquidity has dried up and the recoverable amount from asset disposals is expected to be low.

Similar Cases

Ying noted investment recovery ratios in similar cases are well below 23%. A criminal case that involves about 30 billion yuan is still awaiting a second trial ruling more than four years since the scandal broke out, he added, expecting legal proceedings of Zhongzhi to be much slower given its debt size.

Shadow banks like Zhongzhi often pool household savings to offer loans and invest in real estate, stocks, bonds and commodities. In recent years, even as rival trusts pared risks, Zhongzhi and its affiliates, especially Zhongrong International Trust Co., extended financing to troubled developers and snapped up assets from companies including China Evergrande Group.

Founded in 1995, Beijing-based Zhongzhi has expanded into a sprawling empire that had more than 1 trillion yuan in assets at its peak. The group holds shares in six licensed financial institutions including Zhongrong International Trust, five asset managers as well as four wealth management firms, according to its website. It also has controlling stakes in a string of listed firms across sectors from semiconductor to health and consumption.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
FILE PHOTO: A man passes by a car of Chinese ride-hailing service Didi at the Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Shanghai

SHANGHAI/BEIJING (Reuters) -Didi Global said on Monday its ride-hailing app had experienced a "systems malfunction" after users in multiple cities including Beijing and Shanghai said they were unable to book rides in the evening.

The company apologised for the issue on its official Weibo account and said it was urgently trying to fix it.

Drivers and passengers began complaining about the issue around 10:30 p.m. local time (1430 GMT). Posts on Weibo, which reveals the locations of users, indicated that it was happening in several provinces, from eastern Zhejiang to northern Jilin.

The app began allowing bookings around an hour later, though some complained it was still slow, and it continued to intermittently show systems issues while long queues formed for rides.

Didi is China's largest ride-hailing company, with its service in the country delivering average daily transactions of 31.3 million in the third quarter.

(Reporting by Brenda Goh in Shanghai and Ethan Wang in Beijing; Editing by Jan Harvey)
Back in Hong Kong after four years, Asia's leading beauty and cosmetics show announces remarkable numbers, counting over 2,400 exhibitors and 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions

HONG KONG, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia proved a dynamic success yet again in the 26th edition, exceeding expectations and maintaining the exhibition's distinctive position as the ultimate meeting point for beauty professionals, industry insiders and innovative brands in Asia-Pacific.

Cosmoprof Asia 2023 Sets High Attendance Records upon its Hong Kong Return (PRNewsfoto/Cosmoprof Asia)

More than 2,400 exhibitors from 44 countries and regions, 90% coming from outside Hong Kong, filled the 118,900sqm of show floor space this year. The show attracted 65,582 visitors from 119 countries and regions. This marked a remarkable 64% increase compared to the previous edition held in Hong Kong in 2019, and brought the visitor numbers close to the levels achieved in 2018, demonstrating the enduring appeal and global reach of the show. Significant increase were recorded from key Asian markets, including China, Indonesia, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Additionally, attendance from Europe remained steady, demonstrating the event's consistent appeal to international audiences.

The exhibition was appreciated by all stakeholders, who could find new launches and avant-garde solutions across the two main venues hosting the leading global suppliers and brands. Cosmopack Asia gathered global players from the supply chain, with the most renowned companies specialized in ingredients, machinery & equipment, packaging, contract manufacturing and private label. Cosmoprof Asia showcased the most innovative branded finished products for retail and professional distribution channels. Enriching the international appeal of the exhibition, this edition's 17 region and group pavilions included Australia, Mainland China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkiye and the USA.

Story continues

"We are honored to announce record-breaking numbers at Cosmoprof Asia 2023 in Hong Kong," says Enrico Zannini, General Manager of BolognaFiere Cosmoprof and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd. "This exhibition confirms its role as the perfect stage for brand companies, suppliers, retailers, importers, and distributors interested in new business opportunities in Asia. Together with our partners of Informa Markets we will work to create further business opportunities for companies and players of the Cosmoprof community in the region".

"We are delighted with the impressive turnout at Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia this year, and thrilled to see so many old friends and new attendees make the 26th edition their priority. The two events were home to showstopping products, innovative services and cutting-edge technologies, while attendees also enjoyed expert sessions outlining the region's future-forward trends, tips and trajectories. Hong Kong proved, once again, to be able to host a truly worldwide Cosmoprof edition and remaining the region's most effective meeting place. We look forward to showcasing the best-of-the-best of the industry here next year. " said David Bondi, Senior Vice President  Asia of Informa Markets and Director of Cosmoprof Asia Ltd.

GREAT SATISFACTION FROM INTERNATIONAL BUYERS

Thanks to the esteemed buyers program, Cosmoprof Asia 2023 welcomed over 400 senior executives from 45 countries and regions including Australia, Mainland China & Hong Kong, Europe, India, Japan, Philippines, South Korea, UK and USA, out of which 200 were selected as Elite buyers representing C-level executives. Highly effective meetings were arranged throughout the four-day show, connecting suppliers and companies with shared interests through the AI-driven Match&Meet platform.

Positive feedbacks have been received from our esteemed buyers, who have expressed their satisfaction with their immersive experience at the event.

"I am deeply appreciative of the organiser for extending the invitation to participate in this year's buyer program. The exhibition showcased a diverse range of brands, and I was particularly impressed by the presence of niche perfumes and personal care brands. It was a refreshing experience, unlike anything I have encountered at other shows, and it truly excited me," said Ms Chen Lihong, Procurement Director of Beijing Kailan Brand Management Co Ltd from China. "Cosmoprof Asia this year provided us with an exceptional opportunity to connect with these brands and pave the way for future collaborations."

"Our trip was truly exceptional. The highlight of our experience was undoubtedly the invaluable relationships we formed with international suppliers and beauty brands. These relationships will serve as a catalyst for the exciting launch of our own brands in Sub-Saharan Africa, propelling us towards success in the beauty industry," said Mr Galib Virani, CEO and President of Supercosmetics Kenya. "We are deeply grateful for the opportunities and insights gained at Cosmoprof Asia, and we look forward to the exciting journey ahead.

Hitesh Sarda, Director of Bio-Sols India Pvt. Ltd. from India shared, "the show offers a one-stop solution for beauty, where you can find everything under one roof. It's a highly international and worldwide show, with exhibitors from all corners of the globe. I was particularly impressed by the focus on eco-friendly and sustainable packaging, such as products made from sugarcane."

SPECIAL HIGHLIGHTS

Cosmoprof Asia and Cosmopack Asia provided ample opportunities to discover the latest trends, thanks to engaging initiatives and empowering educational sessions.

Cosmopack Asia Awards and Cosmoprof Asia Awards, organised in partnership with international trend agency BEAUTYSTREAMS, celebrated the most outstanding beauty products and industrial solutions presented by exhibiting companies in each exhibition venue. More than 220 exhibitors and professionals attended the awards ceremony on 15 November. To discover all winners, visit the dedicated website https://www.cosmoprofawards-asia.com/en

To have a comprehensive overview of the principal trends of Cosmoprof Asia 2023, trend scouters, press, influencers, operators and buyers can refer to CosmoTrends. The report presents the products influencing consumers' habits in the next months, curated by BEAUTYSTREAMS, and provides a strategic roadmap tracing the evolution of the Asia-Pacific market. Download the 2023 CosmoTrend report here: https://www.cosmoprof-asia.com/cosmotrends/

The latest product trends, market updates and regulations were the main points of CosmoTalks, the exclusive round tables of the Cosmoprof network. Global leaders from the cosmetics industry shared their comments and visions on macro-movements and trends forecasts, while CosmoForum presentations provided in-depth market analyses and case studies of specific consumers' behaviour. Over 1,800 attendees attended 23 sessions organised in collaboration with AsiaCosme Lab, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), BeautyMatter, BEAUTYSTREAMS, centdegres, CosmeticDesign-Asia, Cosmopolitan Middle East, The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association of Singapore (CTFAS), Ecovia Intelligence, Euromonitor International, Hong Kong Society of Cosmetic Chemists (HKSCC), The International Federation of Aromatherapists (IFA), InvestHK, Kline, NielsenIQ Bases, Opal, QTCCC, Reach24H, re/sources, and SGS.

Dynamic platform Cosmo Onstage presented live shows and demo sessions by industry influencers throughout the event, featuring cutting-edge products and state-of-art equipment, nail art, makeup, hair styling and spa & wellness treatments. AHMA Hair Council, Asia Pacific Spa & Wellness Coalition (APSWC), Cosmopolitan Middle East, Hong Kong Professional Nailist Union, Makari, Shanghai May Skin Information Technology and SYL joined the initiative.

Reflecting one of the show's main themes, sustainability, the COSMOLAB experiential installation at Cosmopack Asia drew crowds with its "bubble-cabin" booth outlining how clean and green beauty trends actually impact consumer behaviour, while Cosmoprof Asia's charitable sample store Boutique raised over HKD24,000 for the show's chosen charity Green Power, the local charity dedicated to protecting the environment.

COSMOPROF ASIA WILL BE BACK IN 2024

Save the dates of Cosmoprof Asia 2024 as below:

Cosmopack Asia: 12-14 November 2024 (AsiaWorld-Expo)

Cosmoprof Asia: 13-15 November 2024 (Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre)

For any further information please visit www.cosmoprof-asia.com

NOTES TO EDITORS:

Download the high-resolution images at this link:

https://bit.ly/46zjMrf

FOLLOW US:

Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter | WeChat | Weibo

ABOUT THE ORGANISERS:

Cosmoprof Asia is organised by Cosmoprof Asia Ltd, a joint-venture company between BolognaFiere Group and Informa Markets Asia Ltd.

ABOUT BOLOGNAFIERE GROUP (www.bolognafiere.it)

BolognaFiere Group is the world's leading trade show organiser in cosmetics, fashion, architecture, building, art and culture. The Group has more than 80 international exhibitions within its portfolio, notably Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, the most important meeting point in the world for beauty professionals, established in 1967 and held in Bologna, Italy. The Cosmoprof platform extends worldwide, with events in Bologna, Hong Kong, Las Vegas and Mumbai (with Cosmoprof Worldwide Bologna, Cosmoprof North America, Cosmoprof India, and Cosmoprof Asia). The fifth destination of the network, Cosmoprof CBE ASEAN, in Thailand, focuses on the cosmetic industry in South-East Asia. The Cosmoprof platform is reinforcing its influence in the US, with the launch of Cosmoprof North America  Miami in January 2024, and in the Gulf region, with a new event scheduled on November 2024 in Riyadh.

ABOUT INFORMA MARKETS (www.informamarkets.com)

Informa Markets Beauty has an extensive network powered by B2B events across 11 cities in Asia (Bangkok, Chengdu, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tokyo), the world's fastest growing markets. By further expanding its strength, the Beauty Portfolio now includes a new B2B event in Miami 2024 will serve the Americas, North, South America and Caribbean Islands Region. Informa Markets creates platforms for industries and specialist markets to trade, innovate and grow. We provide marketplace participants around the globe with opportunities to engage, experience and do business through face-to-face exhibitions, targeted digital services and actionable data solutions. We connect buyers and sellers across more than a dozen global verticals, including Pharmaceuticals, Food, Medical Technology and Infrastructure. As the world's leading market-making company, we bring a diverse range of specialist markets to life, unlocking opportunities and helping them to thrive 365 days of the year. For more information, please visit www.informamarkets.com.

Cision

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SOURCE Cosmoprof Asia
Delfin Midstream Inc.

Agreement is the latest in a series of long-term LNG supply and purchase agreements from the Delfin Deepwater Port LNG Export Facility

HOUSTON, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delfin Midstream Inc. (Delfin or the Company) and Gunvor Group Ltd announced today that Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd (Gunvor) has entered into long-term LNG Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Delfin LNG LLC (Delfin LNG), a subsidiary of Delfin.



Under the SPA, Delfin LNG will supply between 0.5 to 1.0 million tonnes of LNG per annum to Gunvor on a free-on-board (FOB) basis at the Delfin Deepwater Port, located 40 nautical miles off the coast of Louisiana for a minimum duration of 15 years.

Kalpesh Patel, Co-Head of LNG Trading of Gunvor said:

We continue to support US LNG projects and unlock new sources to meet the growing global LNG demand while further expanding our supply portfolio. We look forward to a successful, long-term relationship with the Delfin LNG team as their project continues to progress.

Dudley Poston, CEO of Delfin said:

We are very pleased to have entered into a major long-term LNG supply agreement with Gunvor. This latest sale and purchase agreement further demonstrates our attractiveness as a long-term source of scalable, reliable, and clean LNG.

Delfin has successfully been developing the Delfin LNG Deepwater Port project, which can support four FLNG vessels with a combined export capacity of up to 13.3 million tons per annum (MTPA). The Company has secured commercial agreements for LNG sales and liquefaction services and is in the final phase towards FID on its first three FLNG vessels.

About Delfin

Delfin is a leading LNG export infrastructure development company utilizing low-cost Floating LNG technology solutions. Delfin is the parent company of Delfin LNG and Avocet LNG LLC. Delfin LNG is a brownfield Deepwater Port requiring minimal additional infrastructure investment to support up to four FLNG Vessels producing up to 13.3 MTPA of LNG. Delfin purchased the UTOS pipeline, the largest natural gas pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico. Delfin LNG received a positive Record of Decision from MARAD and approval from the Department of Energy for long-term exports of LNG to countries that do not have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. Further information is available at www.delfinmidstream.com.

Story continues

About Gunvor Group

Gunvor Group is one of the worlds largest independent commodities trading houses by turnover, creating logistics solutions that safely and efficiently move physical energy from where it is sourced and stored to where it is demanded most. With strategic investments in energy infrastructurerefineries, pipelines, storage and terminals Gunvor further generates sustainable value across the global supply chain for its customers. In 2022, Gunvor Group generated US $150 billion in revenue on 165 million metric tons of turnover. The Groups main trading offices are in Geneva, Singapore, Houston, Stamford, Calgary, Dubai, and London, with a network of more than 20 representative and other trading offices around the globe. More information can be found at GunvorGroup.com or @Gunvor.

Delfin Media Contact:

Dan Gagnier

Gagnier Communications

delfin@gagnierfc.com

+1 646-569-5897

Gunvor Media Contact:

Seth Thomas Pietras

Corporate Affairs Director

stp@gunvorgroup.com

+41 79 870 6290




RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif., Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Precision Flight Controls (PFC) has announced an exclusive licensing and sales agreement with DogFight Boss (DFB) for their newly launched product line, PRECISION X, an advanced series of aircraft cockpit replicas. PFC's division dedicated to military and defense applications, PFC Defense, will manage the exclusive sales and distribution of PRECISION X in North America.

PRECISION X, combining replica real-world hardware with virtual environments, is designed to significantly enhance aircrew training by providing a highly realistic simulation experience. This exclusive agreement positions PFC as a key player in the Defense Modeling, Simulation, and Training industry, offering a groundbreaking solution to the sector.

Mike Altman, CEO of Precision Flight Controls, discusses the new partnership: "This exclusive license and sales agreement for the PRECISION X line with DFB is a pivotal development for us. PFC Defense is set to lead the way introducing these sophisticated training replicas to the North American".

Wade Koch, CGO at PFC Defense, emphasizes the division's role in this initiative: "We are excited to introduce PRECISION X to our Defense customers. This agreement reflects PFC Defense's commitment to advancing military aviation training technology that will have a substantial impact in the defense sector."

Lukas Homola, CEO of DogFight Boss, comments on the collaboration: "Entrusting PFC with the exclusive license and sales of the PRECISION X product line underscores our confidence in their capabilities. We are excited to see PFC Defense introduce and support these advanced cockpit replicas in North America."

PFC Defense will handle the sales and distribution of PRECISION X across North America, assembling and integrating the simulators at PFC's facility in Rancho Cordova, California.

About Precision Flight Controls:

Established in 1990 in Sacramento, California, by USAF Veteran pilot Mike Altman, Precision Flight Controls, Inc. is recognized as a global leader in providing flight training organizations with affordable, high-fidelity flight simulators and components. PFC Defense extends the company's reach into military and defense training, specializing in advanced simulation systems and solutions.

Story continues

About DogFight Boss:

DFB is an innovative company based in Europe, Czech Republic that develops next-gen aviation simulators for mixed reality. Their specialized simulators are designed to provide a unique and immersive experience for aviation enthusiasts and professionals alike.

For media inquiries and additional information, please contact: PFC Defense at sales@pfcdefense.com

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SOURCE Precision Flight Controls
Assessing the Sustainability of Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend

Dolby Laboratories Inc (NYSE:DLB) recently announced a dividend of $0.3 per share, payable on 2023-12-05, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-11-27. 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 Dolby Laboratories Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Dolby Laboratories Inc Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with DLB.

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Dolby Laboratories Inc develops audio and surround sound for cinema, broadcast, home audio systems, in-car entertainment systems, DVD players, games, televisions, and personal computers. The company generates three fourths of its revenue from licensing its technology to consumer electronics manufacturers around the world. The rest of the revenue comes from equipment sales to professional producers and audio engineering services.

Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend History

Dolby Laboratories Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2014. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend Analysis

Breaking Down Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Dolby Laboratories Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.25% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 1.39%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months.

Over the past three years, Dolby Laboratories Inc's annual dividend growth rate was 7.10%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate increased to 10.30% per year. Based on Dolby Laboratories Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Dolby Laboratories Inc stock as of today is approximately 2.04%.

Story continues

Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend Analysis

The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability

To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-09-30, Dolby Laboratories Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.53.

Dolby Laboratories Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Dolby Laboratories Inc's profitability 8 out of 10 as of 2023-09-30, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported positive net income for each of the past ten years, further solidifying its high profitability.

Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook

To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Dolby Laboratories Inc's growth rank of 8 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is strong relative to its competitors.

Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Dolby Laboratories Inc's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Dolby Laboratories Inc's revenue has increased by approximately 5.60% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 52.52% 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, Dolby Laboratories Inc's earnings increased by approximately 2.50% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 34.63% of global competitors.

Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of 26.90%, which outperforms approximately 83.67% of global competitors, underscores its strong earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization performance.

Engaging Conclusion: Dolby Laboratories Inc's Dividend Prospects

In conclusion, Dolby Laboratories Inc's dividend payments, growth rate, payout ratio, profitability, and growth metrics paint a picture of a company that is not only committed to returning value to shareholders but also positioned to sustain these returns. The company's sound financial health and promising growth indicators suggest that its dividend policy is both prudent and sustainable in the long term. Investors considering a stake in Dolby Laboratories Inc would do well to consider these factors in their decision-making process. Will Dolby Laboratories Inc continue to harmonize its dividend performance with its growth, and can investors expect a crescendo in shareholder returns? GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener to find similar investment opportunities.

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: People walk past a booth of live-streaming platform Douyu at the ChinaJoy digital entertainment expo in Shanghai

(Reuters) - Live streaming platform operator DouYu International Holdings said on Monday it has formed an interim management committee to manage its operations, following the arrest of its chief executive.

The committee consists of Mingming Su, director and chief strategy officer, Hao Cao, a director and vice president and Simin Ren, a vice president, and will be managing operations until further notice.

Last week, DouYu said its chief executive officer and chairman Chen Shaojie was arrested on Nov. 16 in the southwestern city of Chengdu.

Chengdu police put out a notice on Nov. 22 saying it had arrested a 39-year-old man surnamed Chen on suspicion of opening a casino.

Backed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, DouYu is the leading video game streaming platform in China by number of users.

DouYu also appointed Simin Ren as its vice president last week, it said.

(Reporting by Echha Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)
Shares of Pfizer Inc. are hovering around $30 as investors adjust to the company's pursuit of a candidate for a weight loss pill, marking its entry into the competitive obesity drug market.

The Street responded critically. JPMorgan Chase & Co analysts called the news a setback for the company. Lotiglipron  the disregarded candidate  was expected to be the stronger contender.

Meanwhile, SVB Securities labeled the decision "incrementally negative," according to Yahoo! Finance.

Still, Pfizer is pressing on with its plan to advance the twice-daily pill while also researching a once-daily variant. And Pfizer's annual dividend yield stands out  a robust 5.44%.

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So, how can investors exploit its dividend yield to pocket a regular $500 monthly?

To earn $500 per month or $6,000 annually from dividends alone, you would need an investment of approximately $111,524, or 3,707 shares. For a more modest $100 per month or $1,200 per year, you would need $22,304, or 741 shares.

To calculate: Divide the desired annual income ($6,000 or $1,200) by the dividend yield (0.054 in this case). So, $6,000 / 0.054 = $111,524 ($326 per month), and $1,200 / 0.054 = $22,304 ($100 per month).

Note that dividend yield can change on a rolling basis, as the dividend payment and the stock price both fluctuate over time.

How that works: The dividend yield is computed by dividing the annual dividend payment by the stocks current price.

For example, if a stock pays an annual dividend of $2 and is currently priced at $50, the dividend yield would be 4% ($2/$50). However, if the stock price increases to $60, the dividend yield drops to 3.33% ($2/$60). Conversely, if the stock price falls to $40, the dividend yield rises to 5% ($2/$40).

Story continues

Similarly, changes in the dividend payment can impact the yield. If a company increases its dividend, the yield will also increase, provided the stock price stays the same. Conversely, if the dividend payment decreases, so will the yield.

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This article How To Earn $500 A Month From Pfizer Stock originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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Abbas Ganbay

A delegation led by Deputy Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Hasan Hasanli, who is on a visit to Tbilisi, met today with Georgian Minister of Education and Science Giorgi Amilakhvari, Azernews reports.

The meeting centered on the prospects of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the field of science and education. In the course of the conversation, the exchange of teachers and students between the relevant universities of the two countries, joint scientific research, etc. were exchanged on these issues.

The importance of increasing the number of mutual visits in terms of further expansion and development of cooperation between Azerbaijan and Georgia in the field of science and education was noted.

Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Georgia Faig Guliyev and other officials attended the meeting.
(Bloomberg) -- Elon Musk will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz and President Isaac Herzog, as the worlds richest man faces growing furor over antisemitic content on his social media platform X.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive is slated to meet the politicians during a trip to Israel on Monday. The visit will include a closed-door discussion with representatives for families of hostages held in Gaza and Herzog about the need to curb online antisemitism, a spokesperson for the presidents office said in a statement.

The billionaire has defended himself from what he labeled bogus media stories after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier this month on X, which drew condemnation from the White House and led many major brands to pause advertising on the platform. Critics have accused the service, formerly known as Twitter, of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred.

Read More: Sunak Says He Abhors Antisemitism From Anyone, Including Musk

Musks post came around the same time Media Matters published a report showing ads from companies including IBM Corp. and Apple Inc. next to pro-Nazi content on the social media platform. X has sued the liberal watchdog group for allegedly trying to drive away advertisers.

The Israeli government has been holding talks with Musk over setting up Starlink, which provides satellite-based internet, to back up its wartime communications. Musk last month angered Israeli officials by saying he could provide Starlink to aid organizations in the Gaza Strip. He later walked back the comment.

Its unclear whether Musk intends to raise other issues while in Israel, which is waging war against Hamas after militants killed about 1,200 people and took some 240 hostages in an Oct. 7 attack. The fighting has paused during a temporary ceasefire that began on Friday to allow the release of hostages in exchange for Israeli-held prisoners.

Story continues

While Musk has drawn support from notable figures including hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, criticism of the famously outspoken billionaire shows little sign of dying down. UK premier Rishi Sunak in a Bloomberg TV interview on Sunday became the latest to speak out against Musk, in careful criticism that stopped short of the full-throated condemnation by US President Joe Biden.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended a march against antisemitism in central London. The Israel-Hamas conflict has exacerbated community tensions and led to a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric on social media.

Read More: Elon Musks Trip Into the Extremist Rabbit Hole Is Hobbling X

(Updates with Netanyahu meeting from first paragraph.)

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2023 Bloomberg L.P.
(Bloomberg) -- A week ago, Elon Musk was facing international backlash after endorsing antisemitic content on his social media platform, X. Corporations including Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. stopped advertising on the site in protest of hateful and racist commentary.

Most Read from Bloomberg

And yet on Monday, Musk was in Israel being welcomed by the nations political elite  including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu  to visit the region where the Islamic militant group Hamas murdered 1,200 people on Oct. 7.

For all of Musks stumbles, world leaders cant afford to criticize or alienate him for long: The worlds richest person holds the keys to powerful technological tools. In this case, Starlink, his satellite internet provider, is at the heart of his political clout. Starlink, which is owned and operated by Musks rocket company SpaceX, formally named Space Exploration Technologies Corp., has provided him with the ability to woo world leaders from Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to officials at the Pentagon, by offering essential communications services.

Musk is not just a player that should be regulated by the American government. Hes a global order player, who should probably have a seat at the UN Security Council, said Tehilla Shwartz Altshuler, a senior fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute. Elon Musk can simply shirk his responsibilities and thats because of his power.

While Musk toured the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where some of the worst violence occurred last month, wearing a protective vest and snapping photos or videos on his phone, Israels Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi tweeted about a deal the ministry is discussing with Starlink. A representative for SpaceX didnt reply to a request for comment.

Story continues

Musk had proposed providing internet services to Gaza last month and said Starlink could help support connectivity with internationally recognized aid organizations. But Karhi rejected the offer at the time, saying Hamas will use it for terrorist activities.

Musk, who calls himself a free-speech absolutist, often weighs in on political matters on X, which he bought last year for $44 billion. But he may have gone a step too far earlier this month after agreeing with an antisemitic post, which said that Jewish people hold a dialectical hatred of white people. The global response was swift and fierce. The New York Times reported that the exodus of advertisers could cost X as much as $75 million in lost revenue this year.

It wasnt clear how Musks trip to Israel came about, whether he was invited by Netanyahu or requested the trip himself. But his generally warm welcome in the country mixed pleas for regulating antisemitic commentary on X with discussions of satellites.

Starlink now counts more than 4,500 satellites in space, more than half of all active satellites, that communicate with terminals on Earth to provide high-speed internet. Based in Hawthorne, California, the closely held company was valued last year at about $140 billion and could eventually seek a public listing.

Starlinks service in Ukraine raises questions about how it may be used in the war between Israel and Hamas. Since the early days of Russias invasion of Ukraine, Musk has provided Starlink dishes to the country, but the service has been subject to his capricious whims.

Last year, Musk suggested Kyiv should cede the Crimea region to Russia as part of a peace deal. After sharp criticism erupted over his comments, Musk threatened to cut support for Starlink in Ukraine, saying SpaceX couldnt carry the cost indefinitely, only to later reverse that position. This summer, the Pentagon confirmed that it is buying Starlink communications terminals for use by the Ukraine military against Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Musk earlier this year for refusing a Ukrainian request to use the Starlink satellite communication network in the Russian-annexed Crimean port city of Sevastopol to strike Russias Black Sea fleet. Musk said he refused it to avoid complicity in a major act of war and conflict escalation.

As chief executive officer of electric vehicle maker Tesla Inc. Musks business ties in China have also put him at odds with Taiwan, which is seeking a system of satellites operating in low-Earth orbit. Musk and his Starlink network are one clear solution, but Taiwan distrusts the billionaire, given his pro-Beijing comments.

While Musks political views have often put him in hot water with world leaders, he has made efforts in recent months with Israel. Musk and Netanyahu met in September in California, where the two men did in fact discuss the issue of rampant antisemitism on X. At the time, Musk said, obviously Im against antisemitism. Im against anti-anything that promotes hate and conflict.

On Monday, Netanyahu showed Musk a video of the atrocities carried out by Hamas. The two men talked on a public broadcast on X and agreed on helping to rebuild Gaza and support for the Palestinians.

If Netanyahus aim was to convince Musk of Hamas brutality and hatred of Israel, he may have achieved that. But, according to Altshuler, Musks power as owner of Starlink and X far outweighs his personal beliefs.

We see X is not removing any neo-Nazi antisemitic content and accounts, from the President of Iran to Jackson Hinkle, she said, referring to the American political commentator and social media influencer. Its against the community standards of X, which is compensating financially those accounts based on their new ad-sharing plan.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Cnergenz Berhad fair value estimate is RM0.63

With RM0.63 share price, Cnergenz Berhad appears to be trading close to its estimated fair value

The average premium for Cnergenz Berhad's competitorsis currently 109%

Does the November share price for Cnergenz Berhad (KLSE:CNERGEN) reflect what it's really worth? Today, we will estimate the stock's intrinsic value by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. One way to achieve this is by employing the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Before you think you won't be able to understand it, just read on! It's actually much less complex than you'd imagine.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Cnergenz Berhad

Step By Step Through The Calculation

We are going to use a two-stage DCF model, which, as the name states, takes into account two stages of growth. The first stage is generally a higher growth period which levels off heading towards the terminal value, captured in the second 'steady growth' period. To start off with, we need to estimate the next ten years of cash flows. 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 need to discount the sum of these future cash flows to arrive at a present value estimate:

Story continues

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (MYR, Millions) RM21.3m RM22.7m RM23.9m RM25.1m RM26.2m RM27.3m RM28.4m RM29.5m RM30.6m RM31.8m Growth Rate Estimate Source Est @ 7.56% Est @ 6.36% Est @ 5.52% Est @ 4.93% Est @ 4.51% Est @ 4.22% Est @ 4.02% Est @ 3.88% Est @ 3.78% Est @ 3.71% Present Value (MYR, Millions) Discounted @ 11% RM19.2 RM18.4 RM17.6 RM16.6 RM15.7 RM14.7 RM13.8 RM13.0 RM12.1 RM11.3

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = RM152m

The second stage is also known as Terminal Value, this is the business's cash flow after the first stage. The Gordon Growth formula is used to calculate Terminal Value at a future annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 3.6%. We discount the terminal cash flows to today's value at a cost of equity of 11%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = RM32m (1 + 3.6%)  (11% 3.6%) = RM451m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= RM451m ( 1 + 11%)10= RM161m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is RM314m. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of RM0.6, the company appears about fair value at a 0.7% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Cnergenz Berhad as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 11%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.070. 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 Cnergenz Berhad

Strength

Currently debt free.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Earnings declined over the past year.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Electronic market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Malaysian market.

Good value based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Threat

No apparent threats visible for CNERGEN.

Looking Ahead:

Valuation is only one side of the coin in terms of building your investment thesis, and it shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. It's not possible to obtain a foolproof valuation with a DCF model. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. For Cnergenz Berhad, there are three additional items you should further research:

Risks: We feel that you should assess the 2 warning signs for Cnergenz Berhad we've flagged before making an investment in the company. Future Earnings: How does CNERGEN'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 KLSE 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

The projected fair value for Delegat Group is NZ$6.04 based on Dividend Discount Model

Current share price of NZ$7.01 suggests Delegat Group is potentially trading close to its fair value

The average discount for Delegat Group's competitorsis currently 41%

Today we'll do a simple run through of a valuation method used to estimate the attractiveness of Delegat Group Limited (NZSE:DGL) as an investment opportunity 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. There's really not all that much to it, even though it might appear quite complex.

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. If you still have some burning questions about this type of valuation, take a look at the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Delegat Group

The Calculation

As Delegat Group operates in the beverage sector, we need to calculate the intrinsic value slightly differently. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. Unless a company pays out the majority of its FCF as a dividend, this method will typically underestimate the value of the stock. The 'Gordon Growth Model' is used, which simply assumes that dividend payments will continue to increase at a sustainable growth rate forever. The dividend is expected to grow at an annual growth rate equal to the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield of 2.4%. We then discount this figure to today's value at a cost of equity of 6.4%. Relative to the current share price of NZ$7.0, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

Story continues

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= NZ$0.2 / (6.4%  2.4%)

= NZ$6.0

dcf

The Assumptions

Now the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate, and of course, the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Delegat Group as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 6.4%, which is based on a levered beta of 0.800. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

SWOT Analysis for Delegat Group

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Debt is well covered by earnings.

Weakness

Earnings growth over the past year is below its 5-year average.

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Beverage market.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow for the next 3 years.

Threat

Debt is not well covered by operating cash flow.

Paying a dividend but company has no free cash flows.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. 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. For Delegat Group, we've compiled three essential aspects you should look at:

Risks: To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with Delegat Group . Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for DGL'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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the NZSE 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.
A large-scale exhibition featuring 130 original works, including early paintings and large-scale objects

More than 130 works on display, including early works collected by the Delaive family since 2006

Highlighting the unique "finger painting" technique of applying paint with bare hands

Large-scale special exhibition combining large-scale objects with animation, interactive media content, and more

On view from December 2, 2023 to March 24, 2024 at Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center

SEOUL, South Korea, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- C.C.O.C. (CEO Kang Wook Kang, www.ccoc.co.kr), an exhibition specialist, announced today that they will present "Ayako Rokkaku, Dreams in my Hand" at the Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center, from December 2 (Saturday) to March 24 (Sunday), 2024. This is the largest solo exhibition of Ayako Rokkaku's work in Korea, featuring approximately 130 original works collected by the Delaive family of the Netherlands, including her early drawings and large-scale objects.

Ayako Rokkaku live painting at ComplexCon, Los Angeles, 2018

Ayako Rokkaku, a dreamy finger painting spring.

Ayako Rokkaku is an artist from Chiba Prefecture, Japan, known for her unique "finger painting" method of working, in which she improvises by applying acrylic paint with her bare hands without sketching. With no formal art training, she began painting at the age of 20 to find a way to express herself beyond words. Active in various parts of the world, including Tokyo, Berlin, Porto, and Amsterdam, she is a sought-after artist for collectors and set a new personal record on the 52nd Japanese SBI Auction in 2022 with 1.6 billion won. She first came to prominence when she participated in the GEISAI Art Fair organized by Takashi Murakami's Kaikai Kiki in 2006, and has been hailed as representing the next generation of Japanese artists, following in the footsteps of Yoshitomo Nara, Takashi Murakami and Yayoi Kusama.

<Ayako Rokkaku. Dreams in My Hand> will feature more than 130 works, including early works and large-scale objects collected by the Delaive family since 2006. On display will be three large-scale works over 3 meters in height, including "Sculpture with two ghost rabbits (2011)," a 1.6-meter-high large-scale object that captures the artist's early works when she was drawing on cardboard in a park in Tokyo, as well as hers more abstract style after she moved her studio to Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Untitled (2020), painted on a 2-meter circular canvas, depicts a girl lying in a field of flowers on a spring day and is filled with colors that evoke the warmth of spring. All of these works are rarely seen in the art market and are highly anticipated by Korean fans.

Story continues

Organized into six sections with more than 130 works, including early paintings, large-scale objects, and more

Upon entering the exhibition, a sand art animation that tells the story of Ayako Rokkaku's journey from Japan to the Netherlands is shown first, followed by a photo wall that shows the meeting between the self-taught artist and gallerist Nico Delaive. After the introductory section, the first section, 'Little Girl with Bare Feet', will showcase some of the artist's earliest works. Twenty-three early original paintings are on display, including two works from 2006.

In the second section, 'Dreaming Fingers,' you'll see some of the most iconic works that come to mind when you think of Ayako Rokkaku. The works are made from a variety of everyday materials, including canvas, cardboard, T-shirts, vinyl, and plates, and range in size from 26 centimeters to 1.6 meters. The third section, 'To the Wider World,' introduces the original paintings that the artist worked on while igniting his passion for art after leaving Tokyo and starting a new life in Amsterdam, the city of Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Three large 3-meter-high original paintings by Ayako Rokkaku, who despite her small stature love to paint large-scale works, will be on display, and her Amsterdam studio will be recreated as a photo zone for added enjoyment.

The next section, 'My Friends,' features the 'About Us' works. 'About Us' is the title of an animation created by the artist in collaboration with Tokyo-based music label contrarede. The animated work tells the story of a girl who bridges the gap between past and future time, and features autobiographical characters from the artist's life. The 18-minute film will also be screened in the media room. Upon entering the gallery through a door that looks exactly like the one at Gallery Delaive in Amsterdam, you'll find the 'Delaive Family' section. There's a photo wall that shows the decades-long friendship between the Delaive family and Ayako Rokkaku, as well as portraits of the Delaive family painted by the artist with an intimate feel. The sixth and final section, 'The Beginning of Spring,' will feature recent works created between 2021 and 2022.

"Ayako Rokkaku can be described as an artist who calls for spring," says Kang Wook Kang, CEO of CCOC, who organized the exhibition. "She creates a dreamy, surreal world without sketches and instead improvises, making the viewer feel the lovely spring, and we expect this winter to be warmer with Ayako Rokkaku's exhibition."

The cutest and most adorable displays this winter

The special exhibition < Ayako Rokkaku. Dreams in My Hand> will be held at Hangaram Museum of Art, Seoul Arts Center from Saturday, December 2, 2023 to Sunday, March 24, 2024, and is open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. (closed every Monday, last entry at 6:10 p.m.). Tickets are priced at KRW 20,000 for adults (19+), KRW 16,000 for youth (13-18), and KRW 12,000 for children (36 months to 12 years), with special discounts of up to 50% on-site for those aged 65+, disabled, and national veterans with proof of age. From November 9 (Thursday) to December 1 (Friday), early bird tickets with a 50% discount will be available on Ticketlink, Naver Reservation, KakaoTalk Reservation, 29cm, Wemef, 11th Avenue, and other popular ticketing sites.

Meanwhile, from mid-January 2024, CCOC will host the Naples Archaeological Museum's <Pompeii Artifact Exhibition> at The Hyundai Seoul, the CxC Art Museum at the entrance to Kondae University, the 57th Bologna Illustration Exhibition, and a special exhibition of Javier Calleja at the Seoul Arts Center in June.

More visual information: https://issuu.com/gallerydelaive/docs/306007_cataloog_prive_collectie_ayako_digitaal?fr=sZWVlOTY4MzAzNzU

Ayako Rokkaku with Nico Delaive, Carlotta Delaive, Niki Delaive and Samuel Delaive at Fumble in colors, tiny discoveries, Museum Jan, Amstelveen, The Netherlands, 2019.

Cision

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/family-delaive-presents-ayako-rokkaku-dreams-in-my-hand-301997262.html

SOURCE Gallery Delaive
VANCOUVER, BC, Nov. 27, 2023 /CNW/ - Getchell Gold Corp. (CSE: GTCH) (OTCQB: GGLDF) (FWB: GGA1) ("Getchell" or the "Company") plans to undertake a debenture (the "Debentures") financing to raise a minimum of $2,500,000 and a maximum of $5,000,000 (the "Debenture Financing").

Getchell Gold Corp. logo (CNW Group/Getchell Gold Corp.)

The Debentures will mature three (3) years from the date of grant (the "Maturity Date") and will bear interest at 11% per annum, non-compounding. In addition to the interest on the Debentures, lenders will receive that number of non-transferable common share purchase warrants (the "Warrants") which is equal to the aggregate purchase price paid by the lender (the principal amount of the Debenture purchased) divided by $0.10. Each warrant will entitle the holder to purchase one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of three years from the closing of the Debenture Financing. Fifty percent of each lender's Warrants will vest on closing of the Debenture Financing and the remaining fifty percent will vest 14 months following closing. Unvested Warrants will be cancelled in the event that the Company prepays the Debentures in full prior to vesting.

Getchell will use the proceeds of the Debenture Financing to pay the final US$1.6 million payment to Canagold Resources Ltd. to complete the acquisition of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, under the terms of the option agreement with Canagold Resources Ltd. The balance of the Debenture Financing will be used to conduct further exploration work on the Fondaway Canyon gold project and for general working capital.

The Company may, at any time after the date which is 6 months following the issuance date of the Debentures, at the Company's option, prepay in cash the then outstanding principal amount of the Debentures and any accrued interest, in whole or in part.

The Debentures contains covenants that if the Company intends to dispose of or enter into an option to sell all or a portion of its interest in the Fondaway Canyon gold project, the cash proceeds received by Getchell will be used to prepay the Debentures. If the cash proceeds received by Getchell in connection with such transaction are insufficient to fully retire the Debentures, the debenture holders will be entitled to vote on such transaction.

Story continues

In the event of default (i) the Debentures will be immediately due and payable, including accrued interest, and (ii) the Debentures will bear interest at a rate of 60% per annum, applicable retroactively to the principle and any unpaid interest due.

The Company may pay finder's fees in connection with the Debenture Financing.

Fondaway Canyon Gold Project

Getchell Gold Corp. is delineating a potential Tier-1 gold resource at its flagship Fondaway Canyon gold project in Nevada, USA.

Following three consecutive successful drilling programs, the Company has effectively doubled the size of the historic resource, firmly placing Fondaway Canyon amongst the foremost developing projects in a world class mining jurisdiction. The Company recently published its first Mineral Resource Estimate ("MRE") at Fondaway Canyon (Company news release dated February 1, 2023):

Gold mineralization is at and near surface supporting an Open Pit mine model;

Inferred Mineral Resource of 38.3 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.23 g/t Au for

1,509,100 ounces of gold ;

Indicated Mineral Resource of 11.0 million tonnes at an average grade of 1.56 g/t Au for an additional 550,800 ounces of gold ;

Strong gold mineralization in the most peripheral drill holes leaves the mineral resources open in most directions for further expansion and indicates a substantially larger body of mineralization than delineated to date (Company news release dated August 9, 2023); and

Fully permitted drill program designed to expand the mineral resources and upgrade Inferred Resources to Indicated.

Getchell Gold Corp. is well positioned to continue expanding the Mineral Resource Estimate and advancing towards a Preliminary Economic Assessment.

Scott Frostad, P.Geo., is the Qualified Person (as defined in National Instrument 43-101) who reviewed and approved the content and scientific and technical information in the news release.

Notes on the Mineral Resource Estimate:

Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves and have not demonstrated economic viability. There has been insufficient exploration to define the Inferred Resource as Indicated or Measured Mineral Resources, however, it is reasonable to expect that the majority of the Inferred Mineral Resource could be upgraded to Indicated Mineral Resources with continued exploration. There is no guarantee that any part of the mineral resources discussed herein will be converted into a mineral reserve in the future. The estimate of Mineral Resources may be materially affected by environmental, permitting, legal, marketing, or other relevant issues. The Mineral Resources in this report were estimated using the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum ("CIM") standards on mineral resources and reserves, definitions, and guidelines prepared by the CIM standing committee on reserve definitions and adopted by the CIM council (CIM 2014 and 2019). The effective date of the Mineral Resource Estimate is December 12, 2022, and a technical report on the Fondaway Canyon project titled "Technical Report Mineral Resource Estimate Fondaway Canyon Project, Nevada, USA" was filed by the Company on SEDAR+ on February 1, 2023. The independent and qualified person for the MRE, as defined by National Instrument 43-101, is Michael Dufresne, P.Geo., from APEX Geoscience Ltd.

Supplemental Financing

The Company further announces a supplemental offering of a non-brokered private placement (the "Financing") to individuals wanting to invest but unable to participate in the Debenture Financing. The Financing will consist of up to 1,500,000 units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.10 per Unit, for gross proceeds of up to $150,000.

Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company and one-half of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one additional common share of the Company at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of two years from the date of closing.

The proceeds from the Financing will be used to conduct exploration work on the Fondaway Canyon gold project and general working capital. In connection with the Financing, the Company may pay finder's fees.

Closing of the Financing and the Debenture Financing are subject to receipt of all necessary corporate and regulatory approvals, including acceptance by the Canadian Securities Exchange. The securities issued pursuant to the Debenture Financing and Financing will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period in accordance with applicable securities laws.

The securities offered in the Financing and the Debenture Financing have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or applicable exemption from the registration requirements.

Corporate Update

Further to the Notice of Annual General Meeting regarding the Company's annual general meeting to be held on December 8, 2023, the Company will now hold an Annual General and Special Meeting on December 22, 2023 at 1PM (PST). Amended proxy materials will be available to shareholders of the Company in due course. The amended proxy materials will be accessible online at the Company's website at https://www.getchellgold.com and available under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

About Getchell Gold Corp.

The Company is a Nevada focused gold and copper exploration company trading on the CSE: GTCH, OTCQB: GGLDF, and FWB: GGA1. Getchell Gold is primarily directing its efforts on its most advanced stage asset, Fondaway Canyon, a past gold producer with a large mineral resource estimate. Complementing Getchell's asset portfolio is Dixie Comstock, a past gold producer with a historic resource and two earlier stage exploration projects, Star (Cu-Au-Ag) and Hot Springs Peak (Au). Getchell has the option to acquire 100% of the Fondaway Canyon and Dixie Comstock properties, Churchill County, Nevada.

For further information please visit the Company's website at www.getchellgold.com or contact the Company at info@getchellgold.com.

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed this press release and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Certain information contained herein constitutes "forward-looking information" under Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not limited to, statements with respect to the launching and completion of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the terms of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the issuance and vesting of Warrants, payment of finder's fees in connection with the Debenture Financing and Financing, receipt of all applicable regulatory approval of the Debenture Financing and Financing, the use of proceeds, and timing for the amended proxy materials for the Annual General and Special Meeting. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "will" or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "will" occur. Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements or forward-looking information. Although management of Getchell have attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and forward-looking information. The Company will not update any forward-looking statements or forward-looking information that are incorporated by reference herein, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Getchell Gold Corp.

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Dublin, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) Market Analysis: Plant Capacity, Production, Operating Efficiency, Demand & Supply, Grade, End-User Industries, Sales Channel, Regional Demand, Company Share, Foreign Trade, 2015-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

In 2022, the global demand for Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) reached 800 thousand tonnes. Forecasts indicate that this market is set to expand at a compelling compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.73% through 2032. Key developments in the industry, such as a 100 thousand tonnes per annum manufacturing capacity joint venture between Grasim Industries Ltd. and Lubrizol India Pvt. Ltd. scheduled to commence operations in 2025 and Reliance Industries Ltd.'s CPVC plant expected to be operational by 2026, contribute to this positive outlook.

A Versatile Polymer with Exceptional Properties

Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) is a highly versatile polymer that plays a pivotal role in various industries. This thermoplastic polymer is derived from chlorinating polyvinyl chloride (PVC), endowing it with exceptional corrosion resistance, thermal stability, and resistance to acids and alkalis. CPVC's versatility is further enhanced by its ability to be fabricated and welded, making it an ideal choice for applications such as pipes and fittings, fire sprinkler systems, adhesives, coatings, and more. CPVC is available in various forms, including rods, sheets, and tubes. Its excellent corrosion resistance at high temperatures (up to 200F) makes it suitable for self-supporting buildings, while its flexibility enables use in a wide range of applications, including cleaners, tanks, and ventilation systems.

Driving Factors and Applications

CPVC is in high demand due to its electrical insulation properties, reusability, corrosion resistance, and waterproofing qualities. It is widely used across industries, with a primary focus on manufacturing pipes and fittings. The global CPVC market benefits from the increasing demand for cost-effective and durable CPVC pipes and fittings, making them a preferred choice over steel pipes. CPVC pipes offer advantages such as affordability, durability, and resistance to water and abrasion, making them ideal for residential and industrial applications. Additionally, the growing need for pipes and sprinklers in farm irrigation and the rising adoption of fire sprinklers for enhanced safety are anticipated to drive substantial growth in the global chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) market. The market is expected to reach a volume of 1400 thousand tonnes by 2032, underlining its significant growth potential.

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Asia Pacific Dominance

The Asia Pacific region emerges as a dominant force in the Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) market, with approximately 60% of global demand in 2022. The region's growth is further propelled by increased demand in the building and industrial sectors. As of 2022, China leads the global production of CPVC, reinforcing its position as a key player in the industry.

Segmentation Insights

Grade: The CPVC market is segmented into Pipe & Fitting (Extrusion) Grade, Adhesive Grade, and Sheathing Grade. In 2022, Pipe & Fitting (Extrusion) Grade accounted for nearly 84% of the market share, dominating the industry.

End-User Industry: The global Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) market caters to various end-user industries, including Hot Water pipes/fittings, Industrial pipes/fittings, Fire Sprinkler pipes/fittings, Underground pipes for housing power cables, and Others. Hot Water pipes/fittings hold a prominent position, representing approximately 50% of the market share in 2022.

Key Industry Players

Major players in the global Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) market include Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Kaneka Corporation, Sekusei Chemicals Co Ltd, Hanwha Chemical Corporation, Shandong Xiangsheng New Materials Technology Co., Ltd., Evonik Industries, Hangzhou Electrochemical New Material Co. Ltd., Shandong Gaoxin Chemicals Co.Ltd, Novista Group, Shangdong Yada New Material Co Ltd., Sundow Polymers Co Ltd, DCW Limited, and others.

Comprehensive Analysis and Insights

The "Global Chlorinated Polyvinyl Chloride (CPVC) Market Analysis" report offers a comprehensive understanding of this dynamic market. It covers crucial aspects such as capacity, production, operating efficiency, demand, supply, grade, end-user industries, sales channels, regional demand, company share, and foreign trade. The report's insights are invaluable for industry stakeholders seeking to make informed decisions and capitalize on growth opportunities.

Report Scope

Capacity By Company

Capacity By Location

Plant Operating Efficiency

Production By Company

Demand by Grade

Demand by End-Use

Demand by Region

Demand by Sales Channel (Direct and Indirect)

Demand-Supply Gap

Company Share

Country-wise Export

Country-wise Import

Pricing Analysis & Forecast

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/fepmnv

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.

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




skynesher / Getty Images

Theres no shortage of side hustles available to work for some extra money. With so many to choose from, including driving for a rideshare, pet sitting and becoming a mystery shopper, how can you pick the side hustle that generates the highest return of investment back to your bank account?

Money expert Graham Stephan has personally tried almost every side hustle himself and discovered while some hustles flopped, others made a lot of money and were highly lucrative. In a video on side hustles for making extra money.

Explore: 6 Ways To Build Wealth in Less Than Five Years

Find Out: What To Do If You Owe Back Taxes to the IRS

Sponsored: Open a new checking account and earn early paycheck access; up to 2 days early with Discover Cashback Debit with Early Pay

Dividend Income

Wait, isnt dividend income passive income? Technically, the answer is yes, but Stephan said the purpose of a side hustle is to create multiple sources of income.

If you need to generate income right now, one of the easiest ways to go about it is through dividend income. The way it works is anytime you buy a stock, you buy into a small piece of ownership in that company. When the company posts a profit, sometimes they will pay you back a small portion of what they make in the form of a dividend.

Stephan uses the example of utility companies, which pay back 3.9%. If you, for example, invested $100 into this stock, Stephan said you can make anywhere from $2 to $4 a year from doing nothing besides clicking a few buttons on your phone.

Related: 5 Discontinued American Bills Worth More Than Face Value

Capital Gains

Capital gains is what happens when you sell your investment, like a dividend stock, for a profit. The amount you pay tax on is known as capital gains.

Stephan uses the example of someone who buys a stock for $10 and sells it for $25. This person would pay tax on the $15 profit. This gets reported to the IRS as another source of income. Unlike dividends, where you have to pay tax every year no matter how much money you make, Stephan said you wont be taxed on the value of the stock going up until you sell.

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Rental Income

If your home has an unused bedroom or an empty garage, Stephan said to consider renting it out to make extra money.

Sell Stuff You Already Own

Almost everyone has things they dont use that are collecting dust and could be sold for extra money.

Consider listing gently used items on platforms like Facebook Marketplace, eBay or Craigslist and selling through these platforms. In the worst case scenario, Stephan said you wouldnt be down any money and could keep the things you already own.

Get a Part-Time Job

If you want to earn a little extra money, dont knock the traditional option of working a part-time job.

Working for someone else gives you guaranteed income, predetermined hours and zero risk of not getting paid, said Stephan.

Start a Business

According to Stephan, starting a business is one of the most underutilized sources for making extra money.

Working a side business separate from your full-time job helps diversify your experience in the event you need something to fall back on. If you want to get ahead, consider dedicating the window from 6 p.m. through midnight to focusing on starting your own business.

Focus Groups

Stephan said he did focus group work in his early twenties and made anywhere between $5 to $500 for a few minutes to a few hours worth of work.

Focus groups work by providing you with the opportunity to offer feedback to companies that want your opinion on their upcoming products or services. They receive unbiased feedback from focus groups on what they have to offer and make adjustments accordingly. The payout for a focus group tends to vary, but if you qualify, Stephan said its worth it to do it.

Flipping Items Online

As an example, Stephan said if you go to Craigslist and visit the for sale section, youll see the word free underneath. Click that, and youll see free items people are giving away in your area. If you look long enough, youll find items of value.

If you can pick up these free items, store them and properly advertise them to the right buyer, you can make some money from flipping these items.

Credit Card Churning

In this hustle, Stephan said you sign up for a credit card and meet the minimum spend to receive the sign-up bonus. These offers can range from $300 to $1,500 or more. To make this work, Stephan said to put your normal spending on the credit card, pay it off in full by the end of the month and get free money for items you would be purchasing anyway.

Monetize Your Skills

If youre good at something, learn to turn this skill into a business, such as offering piano lessons if you can play the piano well or tutoring if youre skilled in different subjects.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Graham Stephan: 10 Best Side Hustles for Making Extra Money
To find a multi-bagger stock, what are the underlying trends we should look for in a business? Firstly, we'd want to identify a growing return on capital employed (ROCE) and then alongside that, an ever-increasing base of capital employed. Basically this means that a company has profitable initiatives that it can continue to reinvest in, which is a trait of a compounding machine. Although, when we looked at Guan Chong Berhad (KLSE:GCB), it didn't seem to tick all of these boxes.

Return On Capital Employed (ROCE): What Is It?

Just to clarify if you're unsure, ROCE is a metric for evaluating how much pre-tax income (in percentage terms) a company earns on the capital invested in its business. The formula for this calculation on Guan Chong Berhad is:

Return on Capital Employed = Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT)  (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)

0.07 = RM178m  (RM5.2b - RM2.7b) (Based on the trailing twelve months to June 2023).

So, Guan Chong Berhad has an ROCE of 7.0%. In absolute terms, that's a low return but it's around the Food industry average of 6.2%.

View our latest analysis for Guan Chong Berhad

roce

In the above chart we have measured Guan Chong Berhad's prior ROCE against its prior performance, but the future is arguably more important. If you'd like, you can check out the forecasts from the analysts covering Guan Chong Berhad here for free.

How Are Returns Trending?

When we looked at the ROCE trend at Guan Chong Berhad, we didn't gain much confidence. Over the last five years, returns on capital have decreased to 7.0% from 22% five years ago. On the other hand, the company has been employing more capital without a corresponding improvement in sales in the last year, which could suggest these investments are longer term plays. It's worth keeping an eye on the company's earnings from here on to see if these investments do end up contributing to the bottom line.

On a side note, Guan Chong Berhad's current liabilities are still rather high at 51% of total assets. This can bring about some risks because the company is basically operating with a rather large reliance on its suppliers or other sorts of short-term creditors. While it's not necessarily a bad thing, it can be beneficial if this ratio is lower.

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The Key Takeaway

Bringing it all together, while we're somewhat encouraged by Guan Chong Berhad's reinvestment in its own business, we're aware that returns are shrinking. Although the market must be expecting these trends to improve because the stock has gained 55% over the last five years. But if the trajectory of these underlying trends continue, we think the likelihood of it being a multi-bagger from here isn't high.

One final note, you should learn about the 3 warning signs we've spotted with Guan Chong Berhad (including 2 which are potentially serious) .

While Guan Chong Berhad isn't earning the highest return, check out this free list of companies that are earning high returns on equity with solid balance sheets.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
BEIJING, Nov. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- At 1:18 pm Beijing time on November 26, Hainan Airlines' non-stop flight HU729 from Beijing to Boston departed from Beijing Capital International Airport and landed at Boston's Logan International Airport at 2:09 pm local time. The event marks the successful resumption of Hainan Airlines' first China-US route since the COVID-19 outbreak and represents the airline's seventh intercontinental route originating from Beijing.

Passengers of Hainan Airlines Beijing-Boston flight have checked in.

Hainan Airlines' Beijing-Boston route is scheduled for three round-trip flights every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, using Boeing 787-9 wide-body airliners. The outbound flight departs from Beijing Capital International Airport at 1:20 pm local time and arrives at Boston Logan International Airport at 3:40 pm local time, with a flight duration of approximately 15 hours and 20 minutes. The return flight departs Boston at 5:40 pm local time, with a brief stop in Seattle and arrives in Beijing two days later at 3:30 am local time. The estimated total flight time is 20 hours and 50 minutes. All times mentioned are local, and actual flight schedules should be checked for confirmation.

Recently, Chinese President Xi Jinping met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco. President Xi emphasized the need for both nations to enhance humanistic exchanges. He advocated for more direct flights between China and the US, boosted cooperation in tourism, expanded local interactions, strengthened educational ties, and increased visits and communication between their peoples. In response, Hainan Airlines is meticulously preparing to restore its China-US flight frequency to pre-pandemic levels as swiftly as possible. This effort aims to provide convenient, high-quality, and safe air transportation services, facilitating cooperation across various sectors between China and the United States.

To date, Hainan Airlines has resumed and inaugurated over 30 international and regional round-trip passenger routes departing from 10 cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Haikou, Chongqing, Xi'an, Changsha, Taiyuan, Dalian and Guangzhou. The airline is also focused on accelerating the resumption and launch of more international and regional flights, aiming to better cater to the growing market demand for travel to and from China.

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Schedule: The detailed schedule of Hainan Airlines' Beijing-Boston/Boston-Seattle-Beijing route is as follows (all schedules are in local time)

Flight No. Airplane

Model Route Schedule Departure

Time Arrival

Time Flight Date HU729 787-9 Beijing-

Boston Wednesdays, Fridays and

Sundays 1:20 pm 3:40 pm November 26, 2023-

March 9, 2024 HU730 787-9 Boston-

Beijing 5:40 pm 3:30am+2

Flight No. Aircraft

Model Route Schedule Departure

Time Arrival

Time Flight Date HU729 787-9 Beijing -

Boston Wednesdays, Fridays and

Sundays 1:20 pm 4:40 pm March 10, 2024 -

March 30, 2024 HU730 787-9 Boston -

Beijing 6:40 pm 3:30 am+2

Note: Flight information is subject to change without notice.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hainan-airlines-beijing-boston-service-resumes-on-november-26th-301997563.html

SOURCE Hainan Airlines
Laman Ismayilova

Shahdag National Park is a truly heaven for biodiversity, offering a glimpse into the natural wonders and providing a sanctuary for remarkable animal species.

Spanning over 115,895 hectares, Shahdag National Park was established in December 2006 to preserve precious ecosystems.

The park's towering heights contribute to its diverse climate, flourishing flora, and abundant wildlife.

Diverse Flora and Fauna

Within the park, one can find a variety of tree species, including the Caucasian Oak, Caucasian and European Hornbeam, Oriental Hornbeam, Oriental Beech, Silver Birch, Birch, Common Yew, White Willow, Common Walnut, and Wild Cherry.

The national park is home to the rare East Caucasian tur, a mountain dwelling goat antelope found only in the eastern half of the Caucasus Mountains. Other large mammals found here are the Caucasian, Bezoar ibex, domestic goat, Caucasian lynx, Syrian brown bear, wild boar, Indian wolf, common jackal, common jungle cat, red fox, roe deer as well as bison that truly captivates nature enthusiasts.

Together with the newly arrived bison, brought from Germany's Tierpark Berlin Zoo, the number of bison in Shahdag National Park has reached 61. Ten bisons were brought to Azerbaijan from Germany as part of the bison reintroduction project implemented by the IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the WWF Azerbaijan.

The newly brought bison will be kept in an aviary for some time. After the adaptation, they will be released into the territory of the Shahdag National Park.

Since the end of 2012, IDEA Public Union, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources and the World Wildlife Fund in Azerbaijan (WWF) have been intensively working on the reintroduction of bison into the wild nature of our country.

In accordance with the Cooperation Agreement signed between IDEA Public Union and Shahdag National Park, 305 hectares of land has been allocated in the Ismailli section of Shahdag National Park for the restoration of extinct bison and their reintroduction to the nature of the country, and the breeding of other types of wild animals for scientific purposes. was done.

Since May 2019, buffaloes have been brought to Azerbaijan from Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The project is expected to be continued until 2028 and the number of bison will reach 100.

GPS bags are worn around the necks of bison brought to Azerbaijan to be constantly monitored. After two years of adaptation in the said area, the bison are released into the wild with GPS devices attached to their necks in order to track their movement trajectories and collect information about their lifestyles at a later stage.

Although bison were once common in Eurasia in a very wide range, at the beginning of the last century, their population in the wild almost disappeared.

The last bison in the Caucasus Mountains was killed in 1927. The vast majority of bison in the world are bred in zoos, and efforts to restore the species continue in this way.

Taking into account the potential role of bison in the further enrichment of biodiversity in Azerbaijan and the development of forest ecosystems, the project organizers call on the population living in the northern parts and the general public to support the return of Caucasus bison to the Azerbaijani nature, their protection, and prevention of illegal hunting.
(Bloomberg) -- Huawei Technologies Co.s latest automobile-related foray once again drove big share-price moves, showing the technology giant continues to draw investors despite the uncertainty overhanging Chinas stock market.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. surged by its daily limit of 10% in Shenzhen on Monday after it forged a smart-car pact with Huawei. Suppliers to both Changan Auto and unlisted Huawei also climbed, even as the latest concerns on Chinas economy dragged the benchmark CSI 300 Index down by as much as 1.3%.

Huawei-related stocks have been rare winners in Chinese equities this year, as investors snap up shares of companies involved in producing its latest hit smartphone and EV products. As ongoing trade tensions with the West continue to loom over the market, the company has appealed as a symbol of Chinas drive for self-reliance.

Huawei Drives $34 Billion China Stock Boom in Rare Hot Trades

Huawei-related trades have stood out as investor darlings in an otherwise moribund market, said Shen Meng, a director at Chanson & Co. The company has been one of the few themes that are exciting enough to stimulate onshore investor sentiment.

Changan Auto  which is already tied up with Huawei on Avatr brand luxury EVs  is one of the best performers on the CSI 300 this year, up 59%. The state-backed traditional automaker still trails Hong Kong-listed EV pure plays such as Li Auto Inc., which has more than doubled so far in 2023.

Together with related firms, Changan Auto will hold up to 40% of the new company being set up by Huawei, which will design and produce intelligent automotive systems and components. Changan Auto said the new pact helps further its shift toward becoming a low-carbon, smart-transportation technology firm.

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The deal brings new competition to the EV sector, especially high-end EVs, said Steven Leung, executive director at UOB Kay Hian Hong Kong Ltd.

Among other EV makers, Li Auto, BYD Co. and XPeng Inc. all fell more than 5% each in Hong Kong on Monday. Huawei intelligent car partner Foryou Corp. and Changan Auto supplier Chongqing Sulian Plastic Co. surged more than 8% each in mainland trading.

--With assistance from Jing Jin.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Key Insights

Significantly high institutional ownership implies hVIVO's stock price is sensitive to their trading actions

The top 21 shareholders own 50% of the company

Ownership research along with analyst forecasts data help provide a good understanding of opportunities in a stock

If you want to know who really controls hVIVO plc (LON:HVO), then you'll have to look at the makeup of its share registry. With 53% stake, institutions possess the maximum shares in the company. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

Since institutional have access to huge amounts of capital, their market moves tend to receive a lot of scrutiny by retail or individual investors. Hence, having a considerable amount of institutional money invested in a company is often regarded as a desirable trait.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of hVIVO.

See our latest analysis for hVIVO

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About hVIVO?

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.

hVIVO already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This suggests some credibility amongst professional investors. But we can't rely on that fact alone since institutions make bad investments sometimes, just like everyone does. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see hVIVO's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Investors should note that institutions actually own more than half the company, so they can collectively wield significant power. hVIVO is not owned by hedge funds. HBOS Investment Fund Managers Limited is currently the largest shareholder, with 5.9% of shares outstanding. With 5.0% and 4.1% of the shares outstanding respectively, A J Bell Holdings Limited, Asset Management Arm and Raglan Road Capital Limited, Asset Management Arm are the second and third largest shareholders.

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Looking at the shareholder registry, we can see that 50% of the ownership is controlled by the top 21 shareholders, meaning that no single shareholder has a majority interest in the ownership.

While studying institutional ownership for a company can add value to your research, it is also a good practice to research analyst recommendations to get a deeper understand of a stock's expected performance. There are plenty of analysts covering the stock, so it might be worth seeing what they are forecasting, too.

Insider Ownership Of hVIVO

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. 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 most recent data indicates that insiders own some shares in hVIVO plc. It has a market capitalization of just UK122m, and insiders have UK8.1m worth of shares, in their own names. Some would say this shows alignment of interests between shareholders and the board, though we generally prefer to see bigger insider holdings. But it might be worth checking if those insiders have been selling.

General Public Ownership

With a 37% ownership, the general public, mostly comprising of individual investors, have some degree of sway over hVIVO. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should be aware of the 1 warning sign we've spotted with hVIVO .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its 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.
By Maggie Fick, Andrew Silver and Rishika Sadam

LONDON/SHANGHAI/HYDERABAD (Reuters) - Drugmakers are seeking to limit their reliance on Chinese contractors who produce drugs used in clinical trials and early-stage manufacturing, a move that is benefiting rivals in India, according to interviews with 10 industry executives and experts.

China has for nearly 20 years been the preferred location for a range of pharmaceutical research and manufacturing services due to the low cost and speed offered by contract drugmakers there.

That relationship largely held firm despite a U.S.-China trade war under the Trump administration and supply chain havoc experienced by other industries during the COVID-19 pandemic. But increasing tensions with China have prompted more Western governments to recommend that companies "de-risk" supply chains from exposure to the Asian superpower.

That is leading some biotech companies to consider using manufacturers in India to produce active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for clinical trials or other outsourced work.

"Today you're probably not sending an RFP (request for proposal) to a Chinese company," said Tommy Erdei, global co-head of healthcare investment banking at Jefferies. "It's like, 'I don't want to know, it doesn't matter if they can do it for cheaper, I'm not going to start putting my product into China'."

Dr Ashish Nimgaonkar, the founder of Glyscend Therapeutics, a U.S.-based biotech firm testing treatments for type 2 diabetes and obesity in early trials, agreed. "All of the factors over the past several years have made China a less attractive option for us," he said.

Nimgaonkar told Reuters that when Glyscend issues an RFP later in the development stage of the medicines it has in trials, Indian contract development and manufacturing organisations (CDMOs) would be preferred over Chinese ones.

Four of India's largest CDMOs - Syngene, Aragen Life Sciences, Piramal Pharma Solutions, and Sai Life Sciences - told Reuters they have this year seen increased interest and requests from Western pharma companies, including major multinationals.

Story continues

Sai declined to comment on profit growth but said sales have grown 25%-30% in recent years. The other companies said they reported strong profit growth in the most recent quarter.

Top executives at the firms said some customers want to add India as a second source, in addition to China, for manufacturing. Others are seeking to leave China and even making requests to originate supply chains in India.

The full benefit for these Indian manufacturers will not be immediate, said Peter DeYoung, CEO of Piramal Pharma Solutions.

It will take time for treatments in early development to make it to the market, when contracts would become more lucrative for outsourcing firms like his, he said.

Chinese CDMOs are established makers of biologic drugs, which require a higher threshold of regulatory approval than conventional medicines, said Helen Chen, Greater China Managing Partner at L.E.K. Consulting in Shanghai.

Hiring a new firm for complex work such as biologic manufacturing can take three to five years, she added. "It's really not something that (companies) just pick up and move like shoes."

STRONG GROWTH

India is seeking a bigger foothold in the pharma services sector to boost sales and reputation for its $42 billion pharmaceuticals industry.

But concerns over lax oversight persist. Nimgaonkar said Indian CDMOs need to do more to ensure their reputation on quality standards matches Western and Chinese ones.

In February, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned against using an eye drop made in India linked to the outbreak of a drug-resistant bacteria in the United States that caused one death.

India-based research firm Mordor Intelligence estimates revenue from India's CDMO industry at $15.6 billion this year compared to $27.1 billion in China. But it estimates revenues from India's industry will grow, on average, at more than 11% annually over the next five years, compared to about 9.6% for China.

The Indian CDMOs told Reuters that their facilities are routinely inspected by the FDA. An FDA spokesperson declined to comment.

Piramal Pharma has this year received requests from clients for "backward integration to India", which means that even the most basic raw materials are sourced from the country instead of China, said DeYoung. Piramal buys about 15% of its raw materials from China but is trying to reduce that.

Sai Life Sciences said it almost doubled manufacturing capacity since 2019 and is adding another 25% in the next year or so to meet demand.

Ramesh Subramanian, chief commercial officer of Aragen, a privately-owned Indian firm that has grown from 2,500 to 4,500 employees in the past five years, said revenue growth of 21% last year was partly driven by new contracts with Western biotech firms. Aragen counts seven of the 10 biggest pharma companies as clients, he said, declining to name them.

The shift is particularly evident in drug discovery work for conventional pharmaceuticals.

"New biotechs are deciding to put eggs in both the Indian and China baskets from the start," Subramanian said.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick in London, Andrew Silver in Shanghai and Rishika Sadam in Hyderabad; Editing by Michele Gershberg and Catherine Evans)
Key Insights

Using the 2 Stage Free Cash Flow to Equity, Northern Star Resources fair value estimate is AU$17.63

Current share price of AU$11.54 suggests Northern Star Resources is potentially 35% undervalued

Our fair value estimate is 34% higher than Northern Star Resources' analyst price target of AU$13.13

In this article we are going to estimate the intrinsic value of Northern Star Resources Limited (ASX:NST) by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to their present value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

We generally believe that a company's value is the present value of all of the cash it will generate in the future. However, a DCF is just one valuation metric among many, and it is not without flaws. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

See our latest analysis for Northern Star Resources

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. 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, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

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10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030 2031 2032 2033 Levered FCF (A$, Millions) AU$449.3m AU$1.31b AU$1.05b AU$1.45b AU$1.38b AU$1.35b AU$1.34b AU$1.34b AU$1.35b AU$1.36b Growth Rate Estimate Source Analyst x4 Analyst x2 Analyst x4 Analyst x2 Analyst x1 Est @ -2.19% Est @ -0.91% Est @ -0.01% Est @ 0.61% Est @ 1.05% Present Value (A$, Millions) Discounted @ 7.6% AU$417 AU$1.1k AU$841 AU$1.1k AU$958 AU$870 AU$801 AU$745 AU$696 AU$654

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)

Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = AU$8.2b

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 (2.1%) 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 7.6%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF 2033  (1 + g)  (r  g) = AU$1.4b (1 + 2.1%)  (7.6% 2.1%) = AU$25b

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)10= AU$25b ( 1 + 7.6%)10= AU$12b

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is AU$20b. In the final step we divide the equity value by the number of shares outstanding. Relative to the current share price of AU$11.5, the company appears quite undervalued at a 35% discount to where the stock price trades currently. Remember though, that this is just an approximate valuation, and like any complex formula - garbage in, garbage out.

dcf

The Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Northern Star Resources 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 7.6%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.109. 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 Northern Star Resources

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 Metals and Mining market.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Australian market.

Trading below our estimate of fair value by more than 20%.

Threat

Dividends are not covered by cash flow.

Revenue is forecast to grow slower than 20% per year.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it ideally won't be the sole piece of analysis you scrutinize for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For instance, if the terminal value growth rate is adjusted slightly, it can dramatically alter the overall result. What is the reason for the share price sitting below the intrinsic value? For Northern Star Resources, we've compiled three relevant items you should explore:

Risks: Take risks, for example - Northern Star Resources has 1 warning sign we think you should be aware of. Management:Have insiders been ramping up their shares to take advantage of the market's sentiment for NST's future outlook? Check out our management and board analysis with insights on CEO compensation and governance factors. Other Solid Businesses: Low debt, high returns on equity and good past performance are fundamental to a strong business. Why not explore our interactive list of stocks with solid business fundamentals to see if there are other companies you may not have considered!

PS. Simply Wall St updates its DCF calculation for every Australian stock every day, so if you want to find the intrinsic value of any other stock just search here.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
Partnerships with GSC Movies and Clover Films broaden the selection of Chinese films for global viewers

BEIJING, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 27, iQIYI, an innovative market-leading online entertainment service in China, announced the partnerships with GSC Movies in Malaysia and Clover Films in Singapore. These collaborations aim to expand iQIYI's selection of premium Chinese films available to global viewers and leverage the extensive film distribution networks and rich experience of GSC Movies and Clover Films.

YANG Xianghua, President of Movie & Overseas Business Group of iQIYI said, "We have witnessed a growing demand since we started distributing Chinese-language content to overseas market in 2017. In 2019, iQIYI embarked on a global expansion, enabling us to achieve simultaneous worldwide releases of iQIYI-produced content. This expansion has significantly enhanced timeliness and improved the overall user experience."

"By partnering with GSC Movies and Clover Films for theatrical distribution, we can seamlessly bring Chinese-language films to audiences in Singapore and Malaysia through effective resource integration. This collaboration not only enables us to cater to the local audience's appetite for Chinese-language films but also ensure timely access to new releases," said Yang.

As part of this partnership, the iQIYI-presented film Trending Topic, directed by XIN Yukun and starring ZHOU Dongyu, YUAN Hong, and SONG Yang, will be theatrically released in Singapore and Malaysia, following its release in Chinese mainland on December 1. Similarly, The Invisible Guest, directed by CHEN Zhuo and starring actors Greg HSU, Janine CHANG, Kara WAI, and Zheng YIN, will also be in theatres in Singapore and Malaysia after it debuts in Chinese cinemas on December 8.

A still of "Trending Topic"

A still of "The Invisible Guest"

"China movie productions have made significant advancements, setting new standards in terms of production scale and storytelling. GSC Movies is thrilled to collaborate with iQIYI in bringing high-quality content onto the silver screens for moviegoers in Malaysia," said Esther HAU, Head of Distribution & Co-Production from GSC Movies.

Story continues

To date, iQIYI has already presented and distributed multiple successful theatrical films, including Break Through the Darkness, Hachiko, and Ping Pong: The Triumph. Upcoming films Trending Topics, The Invisible Guest, and Wolf Hiding will continue to captivate audiences as they hit the big screen consecutively at the end of this year and early next year.

LIM Teck, Managing Director of Clover Films said, "We are very happy to further enhance our partnership with iQIYI and be able to distribute quality movies in Singapore cinemas. We are thrilled to begin our new partnership with two exciting star-studded movies Trending Topic and The Invisible Guest. This is a fantastic opportunity to continue our collaboration with iQIYI and deliver quality content to Singapore audiences."

GSC Movies is the largest independent film distributor in Malaysia, offers a diverse range of content including Chinese films, Japanese anime, other Asian films, and independent English-language films. GSC Movies is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Golden Screen Cinemas, Malaysia's largest cinema chain. Established in 1987, Golden Screen Cinemas has become a prominent distribution channel with nearly 500 screens in 52 regions nationwide. Renowned for delivering exceptional movie-going experiences, Golden Screen Cinemas has earned numerous prestigious awards, cementing its reputation in the industry.

Clover Films, a leading film company in Singapore, has made significant contributions to the local film landscape since its inception. With a portfolio that includes co-produced and distributed over 30 Singaporean films and over 300 Asian films, Clover Films has introduced many critically acclaimed and commercially successful films to Singapore audiences. Among its noteworthy releases are the Korean hit Train to Busan, Oscar-winning Best Picture Parasite, Jackie Chan's Chinese Zodiac, as well as major Chinese successes like Shock Wave, Operation Red Sea, and iQIYI's production Man on the Edge and Almost Love.

iQIYI's collaboration with Clover Films extends beyond distribution to include production as well. The comedy film Reunion Dinner, directed by WANG Guoshen and starring Golden Horse Award winner LIU Yase was produced. The film made its exclusive online debut on iQIYI in January 2022, further exemplifying the partnership.

CONTACT: iQIYI Press, press@qiyi

Cision

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SOURCE iQIYI
(Bloomberg) -- Jack Ma sparked speculation about his next endeavors after the billionaire seeded a small company to process and sell farming produce, in his latest venture since retreating from the spotlight at the height of a government-led industry crackdown.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The co-founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. set up Hangzhou Mas Kitchen Food last week with an initial registered capital of 10 million yuan ($1.4 million), according to corporate database Tianyancha. The business involves the sale of packaged agricultural products, according to information on Chinas National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System.

Mas whereabouts and activities have been the topic of intense discussion since 2020, when he stepped away from the limelight after Beijing clamped down on his twin companies  Alibaba and Ant Group Co.  as part of a broader campaign to contain an increasingly powerful private sector.

Ma, whose comments about Chinas outmoded financial system helped trigger the crackdown, has since largely devoted his time to agricultural pursuits though his foundation. He joins a spate of well-known entrepreneurs from the likes of Tencent Holdings Ltd. to Meituan whove devoted major sums toward the Communist Partys common prosperity initiative. Xi Jinpings administration has in recent years made elevating backward rural areas one of the cornerstones of Party efforts.

In March, Ma visited a school in Hangzhou in a carefully arranged public visit regarded as a sign he was beginning to resume public activities. Hes mostly focused on projects in agriculture and education, another of his passions.

Story continues

Few other details have emerged about his latest venture. Senior officials of his foundation hold top posts at the newly created firm, according to the South China Morning Post. An Alibaba representative directed Bloombergs request for comment to the Jack Ma Foundation, which didnt respond to requests for comment.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Amazon.com Inc.Founder Jeff Bezos and ex-wife Mackenzie Scott had a whirlwind romance that culminated in a brief three-month courtship before they got engaged. Reflecting on their relationship, Bezos once expressed his criteria for a life partner in a unique way.

I wanted a woman who could get me out of a third-world prison," he said in a 2017 Summit Series interview. "Lifes too short to hang out with people who arent resourceful.

This statement highlighted his desire for a partner who was not only supportive but also capable and resourceful.

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In the interview, Bezos explained he prefers the term work-life harmony over work-life balance, as he believes the latter suggests a rigid trade-off. Bezos said productivity and satisfaction in one aspect of life positively influence the other. Being an effective member of his work team, he said, enhances his role at home.

The couple met in 1992 while working at D.E. Shaw & Co., a New York-based hedge fund. Bezos, who conducted Scotts job interview, was immediately taken by her. Their connection was instant and deep, leading to their engagement within three months of dating. By 1993, they were married and soon after embarked on a life-changing journey, moving to Seattle to start Amazon.

Scotts contribution to Amazons early days was significant. She was instrumental in its establishment as a bookseller and played a crucial role in its early years. Scott was Amazon's first employee working as the accountant.

Trending: Hedge funds intend to snatch all pre-IPO shares of future AI unicorns before you can. But there is one venture product investing on your behalf.

Despite the brevity of their courtship, Bezos and Scotts marriage spanned 26 years. In 2019, they announced their divorce, which, according to Bezos, followed a long period of loving exploration and a trial separation. The couple remained largely private about the reasons for their separation but maintained a cordial relationship post-divorce. They have four children.

Story continues

In a 2013 Vogue interview, Scott opened up about her marriage with Bezos, noting that their contrasting personalities complemented each other. She characterized Bezos as an extrovert, a stark contrast to her more reserved nature. Scott believed that this interplay of traits was crucial to the longevity and success of their relationship. She also disclosed that Bezoss laugh was a significant reason she fell in love with him. Their marriage took place just three months after the engagement, which was only six months after their first date.

The couples journey from a rapid engagement to building one of the most successful companies in the world and their eventual amicable divorce reflects a partnership grounded in mutual respect, ambition and the ability to overcome challenges together.

Bezos and Scott did not have a prenuptial agreement. This was because Amazon did not exist at the time of their marriage, and the future billions the corporation would make were not anticipated. The absence of a prenup resulted in Bezos reportedly paying Scott $38.3 billion in the divorce settlement.

Following the divorce, Scott emerged as a prominent philanthropist, making substantial donations to various charitable causes. By March 2022, she had donated $3.9 billion to 465 nonprofits in nine months. This was part of her broader philanthropic efforts, which included a donation of $2.7 billion to nearly 300 organizations. Scotts generosity extended to various sectors, with significant donations to institutions like Goodwill of North Florida, where her contribution was the largest in their history, and to three Florida schools.

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This article Jeff Bezos And Ex-Wife Mackenzie Scott Only Dated For 6 Months Before Getting Married  'I Wanted A Woman Who Could Get Me Out Of A Third-World Prison' originally appeared on Benzinga.com

.

 2023 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
(Bloomberg) -- A South Korean regulator is investigating whether financial institutions that sold derivatives products linked to Chinese stocks adequately explained the risk of losses to retail investors.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The Financial Supervisory Service is probing sales of equity-linked securities tied to the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index, the regulator said in a text message. Some 8.41 trillion won ($6.5 billion) of such products will mature in the first half of next year, the Korea Economic Daily reported earlier, citing unidentified people in the industry.

The HSCEI  which tracks Chinese stocks listed in Hong Kong  has plunged more than 50% from a peak in February 2021 amid Chinas weak economic recovery, a crisis in the property sector as well as its geopolitical tensions with the US. That has fueled concerns over the potential related losses for investors in Korea, one of the worlds largest markets for such complicated structured products.

READ: China Rout Set to Roil $71 Billion Korea Market for Exotic Notes

The FSS has begun on-site inspection into Kookmin Bank, the largest seller of the so-called autocallable products, with 4.77 trillion won set to mature by the end of June, according to the Korea Economic Daily daily. Kookmin Bank confirmed that on-site inspection by the regulator has been ongoing since the start of last week. The probe will also review sales of other institutions, including Hana Bank, the FSS said.

ELS products offer bond-like coupons if the underlying equities or indexes maintain certain levels, but if they drop sharply, investors can lose much or all of their principal. Such exotic finance products have been popular among South Korean mom-and-pop traders seeking to chase returns that are higher than local fixed-deposit rates.

Story continues

Although it is not easy to predict the size of principal losses that depend on maturity and structure, the Korea Economic Daily estimated losses of 40%-50% on structured notes maturing in the first half of next year if the HSCEI remains at its current level.

The gauge has declined about 11% this year, heading for an unprecedented fourth straight annual loss.

--With assistance from Daedo Kim.

(Adds chart and more context in the fifth and seventh paragraphs.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Assessing the Upcoming Dividend and Historical Performance

Lenovo Group Ltd (LNVGY) recently announced a dividend of $0.21 per share, payable on 2023-12-20, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-11-28. 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 Lenovo Group Ltd's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Lenovo Group Ltd Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 7 Warning Signs with LNVGY.

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How to calculate the intrinsic value of a stock?

Lenovo Group Ltd is a global technology hardware company with a leading market share in personal computers. Its operations are divided into three main business segments: PC and smart devices, mobile, and data center, which we expect to account for 55%, 11%, and 19% of sales in the midterm, respectively. The firm has been actively growing its data center business, which primarily sells network servers to enterprise and hyperscale customers, as well as storage equipment through its mainland China joint venture with NetApp. Server-related revenue contribution has jumped to 16% of overall sales in fiscal 2022, from 6% in 2015.

Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend History

Lenovo Group Ltd has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2000. Dividends are currently distributed on a bi-annually basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend Analysis

Breaking Down Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Lenovo Group Ltd currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 3.97% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 3.97%. This suggests an expectation of the same dividend payments over the next 12 months.

Over the past three years, Lenovo Group Ltd's annual dividend growth rate was 10.80%. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate decreased to 7.00% per year. And over the past decade, Lenovo Group Ltd's annual dividends per share growth rate stands at 6.90%.

Story continues

Based on Lenovo Group Ltd's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Lenovo Group Ltd stock as of today is approximately 5.57%.

Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend Analysis

The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability

To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-09-30, Lenovo Group Ltd's dividend payout ratio is 0.61.

Lenovo Group Ltd's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Lenovo Group Ltd's profitability 7 out of 10 as of 2023-09-30, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported net profit in 8 years out of the past 10 years.

Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook

To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Lenovo Group Ltd's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors.

Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Lenovo Group Ltd's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Lenovo Group Ltd's revenue has increased by approximately 7.00% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 57.55% 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, Lenovo Group Ltd's earnings increased by approximately 33.00% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 73.03% of global competitors.

Concluding Thoughts on Lenovo Group Ltd's Dividend Prospects

Considering Lenovo Group Ltd's consistent dividend payments, a commendable growth in dividend rates, and a reasonable payout ratio, the company stands out as a potentially sustainable dividend payer. The profitability and growth metrics further bolster confidence in the company's ability to maintain or possibly increase its dividend payouts in the future. Investors seeking dividend income, as well as those looking for a blend of income and growth, might find Lenovo Group Ltd an attractive option. As we anticipate the upcoming dividend payment, it's worth noting Lenovo Group Ltd's ability to adapt and thrive in the dynamic tech industry, which may continue to support its dividend strategy.

GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


HANOI, Vietnam, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Renowned global lifestyle brand MINISO continues its global expansion with the grand opening of its latest Barbie-themed store in Hanoi, Vietnam, on November. The 300-square-meter, two-story storefront is an enchanting haven for Barbie enthusiasts, featuring a pink-themed atmosphere from floor to ceiling.

MINISOs Barbie-themed Store in Hanoi

The new store  located at 122 Tran Duy Hung  captivates visitors with its vibrant pink decor, creating a dreamy atmosphere that resonates with the essence of the iconic doll. From bags and water bottles to accessories, makeup tools and neck pillows, the store offers a diverse range of Barbie-inspired products.

Notably, since the product launch on October 18 in Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi's MINISO stores, the Barbie series has witnessed remarkable success. The popular Barbie cups were sold out during the initial launch, and since the new collection arrived at these two stores, there has been a remarkable 100% increase in sales compared to the previous week. The popularity of the Barbie collection is evident, with a 42% sales contributed by the Van Hanh Mall store during promotional events. To date, the newly opened store in Hanoi has become the best-performing store in sales in Northern Vietnam.

The new MINISO flagship store in Hanoi marks another milestone in the brand's strategy of creating high-energy flagship stores worldwide with prominent IPs. In particular, the Barbie-themed store is a testament to MINISO's commitment to providing unique and immersive shopping experiences. Given the success of the series, MINISO plans to roll out new products for the Barbie series, including headphone which was one of the best-selling items in China, in December in Vietnam.

This achievement follows MINISO's successful introduction of Barbie-themed stores in 11 cities across China, including Shanghai and Changsha, with a total of 13 stores. Remarkably, the Barbie series has become a global phenomenon, reaching markets in the United States, Indonesia, China, Singapore, Canada, Malaysia, and more.

Story continues

MINISO's Babie-themed Store in China

MINISOs Disney Pixar Food Collection-themed Store in China

In addition to the Barbie-themed success, MINISO has been at the forefront of establishing "Super IP" and "Super Store" concepts, creating a new paradigm for trend-focused shopping experience.

"As we continue to explore new avenues of creativity and consumer engagement, our 'Super IP' and 'Super Store' strategy allows us to build MINISO as a lifestyle destination," said Robin Liu, Chief Marketing Officer of MINISO. "These flagship stores are not just places to shop; they are immersive experiences that resonate with our customers on a personal level."

MINISO has been on a spree of introducing innovative flagship stores worldwide. These include Disney Pixar Food Collection-themed stores in China's Guangzhou and Vietnam's Ho Chi Minh City, each featuring a distinctive Disney park-inspired ice cream facade that has become a popular photo spot for visitors.

The brand has also launched its first Sanrio-themed store in Margo City, a major shopping mall in Indonesia, enhancing the shopping experience with sweet pink tones, cartoon character decorations and ambient lighting to create a romantic and dreamy ambiance.

In a bid to fuel the brand's global reach, these flagship stores contribute significantly to building a robust brand image and achieving sales figures, aligning with MINISO's vision of becoming a "Super Brand."

About MINISO

MINISO Group is a global lifestyle brand offering a variety of design-led lifestyle products. The Company serves consumers primarily through its large network of MINISO stores, and promotes a relaxing, treasure-hunting and engaging shopping experience full of delightful surprises that appeals to all demographics. Aesthetically pleasing design, quality and affordability are at the core of every product in MINISO's wide product portfolio, and the Company continually and frequently rolls out products with these qualities. Since the opening of its first store in China in 2013, the Company has built its flagship brand "MINISO" as a globally recognized retail brand and established a massive store network worldwide.

Cision

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SOURCE MINISO
Saudi Water Partnership Company (SWPC) has announced a consortium of Saudi-based Vision International Investment Company - with its partners regional heavyweights Kuwait-based Gulf Investment Corporation and Abu Dhabi energy group Taqa - as the preferred bidder for Juranah Independent Strategic Water Reservoir Project.

A first of its kind project coming up in Makkah city, the Juranah ISWR is being implemented on a BOOT (build, own, operate and transfer) model and the development work will include the water reservoir and all associated infrastructure and facilities.

It will help serve the residents and visitors of Makkah city in addition to Hajj & Umrah pilgrims. The capacity of the strategic tanks is set at 2,000,000 cu m while the project will also develop operational tanks with a capacity of 500,000 cu m to support the potable water distribution system.

SWPC pointed out that with levelised water storage costs of SAR18.1, the Vison consortium has emerged as the preferred bidder, while a consortium of Abdul Aziz Al Ajlan Sons Company for Commercial & Real Estate Investment and Orascom Construction (with SAR24.07 storage costs) have been named the reserved bidders.

The Juranah plant, which is set for commercial operations in Q1 2027, will boast a total 2.5 million cu m capacity that will cater to the drinking water needs of Makkah city.

Earlier TradeArabia had reported that a total of 34 companies, including 21 Saudi firms, were in the fray for project in the initial stage.

These included global utility majors including Spanish infrastructure heavyweights Acciona and Abengoa Agua; Marubeni (Japan) and Chinese construction majors - China Railway Construction Corporation, China Gezhouba and Powerchina Group.

The top Saudi firms who had expressed interest in the project include Ajlan & Bros Energy Company (Abilitii); Al Rajhi Holding Group; Al Bawani Water & Power; Al Yamama; Alfanar; Nesma; AlKawther Industries; Alkhorayef Water and Power Technologies; Amiantit; Petrojet, Taqa, Thabat Construction and Marafiq.

In addition to all this, some GCC players too were in the race including Metito Utilities and Qantara (UAE); Orascom Construction and Bahrain-based Lamar Holding, it stated.

SWPC said the successful bidder, through a special purpose vehicle, will provide the required storage capacity to the Saudi utility under a 30-year water storage agreement.

For the project, Synergy Consulting IFA acted as the lead and financial advisor; Amer Al Amr Law Firm as the legal advisor and WSP Middle East as its technical advisor.-TradeArabia News Service
(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Elon Musk said that hed like to help rebuild Gaza after the war with Hamas in a conversation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, part of a day-long series of meetings with political leaders in Israel.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Its important to first deradicalize the Palestinian territories, similar to how other Arab states have become more moderate in recent years, including Saudi Arabia, Netanyahu said in a live discussion broadcast on X, the site formerly known as Twitter, on Monday.

Read More: Musk, Netanyahu Visit Massacre Site Amid Antisemitism Furor

Musk, who is under fire for amplifying antisemitic content on X, is meeting with Israeli officials and toured the Kfar Aza kibbutz where some of the worst violence occurred on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants broke through the countrys border barriers and attacked civilians. Musk described seeing bullet shell casings in cribs on the tour.

Read More: Musks X Sues Media Matters Over Link to Pro-Nazi Content

Still, Israeli leaders stopped short of publicly chastising Musk. Netanyahu didnt address the latest antisemitism row on X in the approximately 20-minute broadcast on X. Benny Gantz, an opposition leader and member of the three-man war cabinet, and President Isaac Herzog emphasized the dangers of letting hatred fester in their public comments.

We need to fight it together because on the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, theres a harboring of a lot of all the hate, which is Jew hatred, of antisemitism, Herzog said in a memo of the meeting provided by the government. It always starts with the Jews, it never ends with the Jews.

After watching footage of the attack by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the US and European Union, Musk called the apparent joy expressed by the killers evil and jarring. Israel has been showing footage of the attack by Hamas in screenings around the world.

Story continues

Musk has defended himself from what he labeled bogus media stories after he endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy theory earlier this month on X. Major brands including Apple Inc. and Walt Disney Co. have stopped advertising on his social media platform over concerns of increasing antisemitism and hate speech since he took over Twitter last year.

The political storm over hate speech on X hasnt subsided, despite Musks warm welcome in Israel. Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wrote in an op-ed on Monday that she was quitting X because it had become a site full of disinformation, antisemitism, overt racism and organized harassment.

In recent years, Twitter has become the weapon of mass destruction for our democracies, she wrote in the editorial, which she also posted to X. The platform and its owner act deliberately to exacerbate tensions and conflicts.

(Updates with Paris mayor quitting X from eighth paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Myriad Uranium Corp. (CSE: M) (OTCQB: MYRUF) (FSE: C3Q) ("Myriad" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Mr. Tom Lee has been appointed as a director of the Company, effective immediately. Tom is the Co-Founder and President of Canid Capital, a prominent capital markets consulting firm based in Toronto. Prior, he worked on an institutional equity sales desk where he developed significant business relationships with institutions and issuers across Canada and the USA. Tom is a proven results driver having been involved in over $1B in transactions. He is the recipient of several awards including Presidents Clubs and Rookie of the Year in his first job after graduating Western University's business program. Tom holds the CSC and CPH designations with the Canadian Securities Institute in addition to the Series 7 and Series 63 Licenses with FINRA.

Mr. Lee's appointment is in conjunction with the resignation by Mr. Guy Pinsent as a director of the Company to focus on other interests. Myriad's management and board of directors thank Mr. Pinsent for his contributions to the Company and wish him well in his future endeavours.

About Myriad Uranium Corp.

Myriad Uranium Corp. is a uranium exploration company with an earnable 75% interest in the Copper Mountain Uranium Project in Wyoming, USA. Copper Mountain hosts several known uranium deposits and historic uranium mines, including the Arrowhead Mine which produced 500,000 lbs of eU 3 O 8 . Copper Mountain saw extensive drilling and development by Rocky Mountain Energy, a subsidiary of Union Pacific, which developed a mine plan and built a leach pad for one of the deposits at Copper Mountain. Operations ceased in 1980 before mining could commence due to falling uranium prices. Approximately 2,000 boreholes have been drilled at Copper Mountain and the project area has significant exploration upside. Rocky Mountain Energy is estimated to have spent US$74 million (2023 dollars) exploring and developing Copper Mountain.

Story continues

Myriad also holds 80% ownership of over 1,800 km2 of uranium exploration licenses in the Tim Mersoi Basin, Niger, and the option to earn up to 100%. These licenses are surrounded by many of the most significant uranium deposits in Africa, including Orano's 384 Mlbs eU 3 O 8 Imouraren, Global Atomic's 236 Mlbs Dasa, and Goviex's 100 Mlbs Madaouela, and on the same fault structures. Myriad also has a 50% interest in the Millen Mountain Property in Nova Scotia, Canada, with the other 50% held by Probe Metals Inc. For further information, please refer to Myriad's disclosure record on SEDAR+ (www.sedarplus.ca), contact Myriad by telephone at +1.604.418.2877, or refer to Myriad's website at www.myriaduranium.com.

A recent interview with Crux Investors is here. A video overview of the Copper Mountain Project is here. The Company's factsheet is here.

Myriad Contacts:

Thomas Lamb

President and CEO

tlamb@myriaduranium.com

Forward-Looking Statements

Mineralization hosted on adjacent or nearby properties is not necessarily indicative of mineralization hosted on the Company's properties. This news release contains "forward-looking information" that is based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections. This forward-looking information includes, among other things, the Company's business, plans, outlook and business strategy. The words "may", "would", "could", "should", "will", "likely", "expect," "anticipate," "intend", "estimate", "plan", "forecast", "project" and "believe" or other similar words and phrases are intended to identify forward-looking information. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect, including with respect to the Company's business plans respecting the exploration and development of the Company's mineral properties, the proposed work program on the Company's mineral properties and the potential and economic viability of the Company's mineral properties. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company's actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such factors include, but are not limited to: changes in economic conditions or financial markets; increases in costs; litigation; legislative, environmental and other judicial, regulatory, political and competitive developments; and technological or operational difficulties. This list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect our forward-looking information. These and other factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking information. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to, update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The CSE has not reviewed, approved or disapproved the contents of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188684
Netbet Enterprises Limited

GREECE, Athens, Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NetBet has entered into a content supply agreement with IGT PlayDigital, one of the largest and best-known iGaming suppliers. The addition of such a major provider is a stark and tangible proof that NetBet is constantly evolving and not resting on its laurels.



This new partnership is a perfect opportunity to showcase IGT PlayDigitals high-performing content such as Cash Eruption and Cleopatra to our players in Greece. As NetBet is committed to ensuring that all our customers are entertained responsibly, legally and safely. Working with such an established company is an excellent opportunity that contributes and assists in such a direction.

Claudia Georgevici, Public Relations Manager of NetBet Greece, said: "We are delighted to announce our content partnership with IGT PlayDigital and offer the company's excellent services and high-performing games to our players in Greece. It is our simultaneous commitment to ensure that our customers play responsibly while having fun in a safe and secure environment."

For more information contact pr@NetBet.com.




The median home in Ocean County listed for $533,725 in October, down 1% from the previous month's $539,000, an analysis of data from Realtor.com shows.

Compared to October 2022, the median home list price increased 3.8% from $504,999.

The statistics in this article only pertain to houses listed for sale in Ocean County, not houses that were sold. Information on your local housing market, along with other useful community data, is available at data.app.com.

Ocean County's median home was 1,778 square feet, listed at $283 per square foot. The price per square foot of homes for sale is up 3.1% from October 2022.

Why doesn't NJ build more homes? Eleven Jersey Shore towns that approved the most in 2023

Listings in Ocean County moved steadily, at a median 44 days listed compared to the October national median of 50 days on the market. In the previous month, homes had a median of 43 days on the market. Around 884 homes were newly listed on the market in October, a 22.5% decrease from 1,140 new listings in October 2022.

The median home prices issued by Realtor.com may exclude many, or even most, of a market's homes. The price and volume represent only single-family homes, condominiums or townhomes. They include existing homes, but exclude most new construction as well as pending and contingent sales.

Across the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area, median home prices rose to $729,500, slightly higher than a month earlier. The median home had 1,572 square feet, at a list price of $491 per square foot.

Pledged to fight development: Toms River Republicans win big, new mayor taking over

In New Jersey, median home prices were $540,000, the same as September. The median New Jersey home listed for sale had 1,739 square feet, with a price of $282 per square foot.

Throughout the United States, the median home price was $425,000, a slight decrease from the month prior. The median American home for sale was listed at 1,876 square feet, with a price of $221 per square foot.

Story continues

The median home list price used in this report represents the midway point of all the houses or units listed over the given period of time. Experts say the median offers a more accurate view of what's happening in a market than the average list price, which would mean taking the sum of all listing prices then dividing by the number of homes sold. The average can be skewed by one particularly low or high price.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from the Realtor.com residential listings database. Please leave any feedback or corrections for this story here. This story was written by Ozge Terzioglu.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Real estate housing market: Ocean County October 2023 home prices
(Bloomberg) -- Oil declined for a third day as oversupply signals outweighed hopes that OPEC and its allies will deepen production cuts on Thursday.

Most Read from Bloomberg

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate settled below $75 after a choppy session that saw prices whipsaw between gains and losses. While oil earlier rallied on news that Saudi Arabia is asking others in the OPEC+ coalition to reduce their oil-output quotas, the oil market continues to flash signs of oversupply.

Read More: Saudi Arabia Seeks OPEC+ Quota Cuts While Some Members Resist

The decision by OPEC+ to delay its November meeting increased both uncertainty and expectations, which is a dangerous cocktail for traders, said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth. Real money wants to see if the OPEC put is still in place and get a better feel for how 2024 will shape up before getting back involved.

WTI has dropped by 20% from a late-September high as supplies grow from non-OPEC+ countries and after the Israel-Hamas wars risk premium faded. The International Energy Agency forecast earlier this month that the market would tip back into surplus next year.

Still, a Black Sea storm that left half a million people without power in Crimea has halted crude loadings at Russias Novorossiysk and the CPC terminal. Kazakhstan, which uses CPC for the bulk of its seaborne crude exports, saw oil output on Nov. 26 drop 15% from the day before, according to the nations energy ministry. If weather permits, loadings at Novorossiysk may resume on Tuesday.

To get Bloombergs Energy Daily newsletter into your inbox, click here.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
London, UK --News Direct-- Quadrise PLC

Quadrise PLC (AIM:QED) CEO Jason Miles joins Proactive's Stephen Gunnion with an update on the significant advancements the company is making in biofuel technology.

Quadrise's successful completion of a fuel trial in Morocco stands as a notable achievement, demonstrating the potential of MSAR as a cost-effective alternative for industrial fuel needs. This trial marked the first commercial-scale demonstration of bioMSAR in an industrial setting, highlighting Quadrise's pioneering role in the industry.

Miles elaborated on the trial's success, noting the substantial fuel consumption of the tested unit, comparable to a large container ship. The trial impressively met stringent emission standards, showcasing biofuel's viability in reducing CO2 emissions by over 25%. The stability of MSAR and bioMSAR, maintained for over 12 months, further attests to the fuel's reliability.

Looking forward, Quadrise is preparing a technical report for the client and initiating discussions for potential EMSA supply starting in 2024. This includes considering trials at other sites, reinforcing the company's commitment to energy decarbonization. Miles also touched on other projects, including a marine program with MSC, set for a commercial vessel trial in 2024, and a US low-carbon fuels project with Valco.

These initiatives, alongside strategic partnerships for biofuel development, underscore Quadrise's proactive approach to sustainable fuel solutions.

Contact Details

Proactive UK Ltd

+44 20 7989 0813

uk@proactiveinvestors.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/quadrise-ceo-outlines-significant-milestones-as-it-progresses-its-biofuel-technology-308048899
RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA / ACCESSWIRE / November 27, 2023 / Retailo, Saudi Arabia's leading B2B digital distribution company, has raised $15M to further strengthen its existing operations, expand new verticals and deepen its presence within Saudi Arabia. Retailo's unique take on B2B digital distribution in Saudi Arabia continues to grow and attract investors. The latest investment comes from a range of new strategic investors, including Bahrain's Yusuf Bin Kanoo Group, Dubai-Based Technology Group, Majd Digital, as well as existing investment partners such as Saudi Conglomerate Aujan Group Holdings, Shorooq Partners, Abercross Holdings, Graphene Ventures, and others. New funding comes with significant strategic collaborations, including a technology distribution partnership with Dtonic, a South Korean leading data solution company.

With the new available funds, Retailo plans to expand within KSA, with the goal of significantly enlarging its customer and supplier network. The expansion comes through the digital distribution platform, a plug-and-play solution for suppliers to distribute their products across the Kingdom, leverage Retailo's huge network of customers and take advantage of its distribution muscle.

Retail in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a $100 billion industry that consists of over 100,000+ businesses that serve a population of more than 35 million consumers. Retailo aims to digitize and transform the retail supply chain and continue its growth in KSA. Today, Retailo's network comprises thousands of retail partners and restaurants in KSA and has 200+ leading local, regional and global brand partners on its platform. In the past year alone, Retailo has seen great traction for its plug and play distribution platform from global brands looking to enter and distribute seamlessly across the Kingdom.

Earlier this year, as part of the Saudi-Korean Investment Forum hosted by the Ministry of Investment, Retailo announced its technology distribution partnership with Dtonic that enables businesses to achieve efficiency and scale using its unique AI-powered retail technology.

Story continues

Talha Ansari, Retailo's Founder and CEO, on Retailo's journey: "Since Retailo's inception, our objective has been clear: to forge a seamless digital distribution network for every business. After three years of dedicated effort, we're witnessing the evolution towards an all-digital distribution landscape, making Retailo a key player in shaping the future of the Saudi Retail Economy contributing to the Kingdom's Vision 2030 initiatives.

Yousef Albabtain, Principal and Saudi Country Manager at Shorooq Partners, added: "We are very proud of Retailo's dynamic leadership, and agility to transform one of the largest traditional sectors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Retailo's advanced tech capabilities are a driving force behind their continued growth in the Kingdom, and their ability to become a partner of choice in the retail space. As the Company continues to build on its profitable growth track, we are excited to continue backing the leading tech-enabled B2B distribution company in Saudi and witnessing the new phase of growth within the Kingdom."

Retailo is a digital distribution platform for micro-retailers and restaurants that opens up access to 5000+ SKUs with next-day delivery and a plug-and-play solution for suppliers to distribute their products, leverage Retailo's huge network of retailers, restaurants, and its distribution muscle across Saudi Arabia. Headquartered in Riyadh, Retailo was founded by former Careem and Mckinsey experienced founders Talha Ansari, Wahaj Ahmed, and Mohammad Nowkhaiz in July 2020.

Retailo Strategy Division

Najib Shaikh, Director Strategy and Investments

Tel +971-50-7410219

najib@retailo.co

More Info

https://retailo.co

https://www.facebook.com/Retailo.sa

https://www.instagram.com/retailo.ksa/

https://twitter.com/retailot?lang=en

https://www.linkedin.com/company/retailo-app/

Media Contact

Organization: Retailo Technologies

Contact Person: Najib Shaikh

Website: https://retailo.co/

Email: najib@retailo.co

City: Riyadh

Country: Saudi Arabia

SOURCE: Retailo Technologies





View source version on accesswire.com:

https://www.accesswire.com/810269/retailo-saudi-arabias-leading-b2b-digital-distribution-company-secures-15m-in-equity-funding-eyes-further-expansion




The simplest way to benefit from a rising market is to buy an index fund. Active investors aim to buy stocks that vastly outperform the market - but in the process, they risk under-performance. For example, the Ho Bee Land Limited (SGX:H13) share price is down 27% in the last year. That falls noticeably short of the market decline of around 0.6%. Even if shareholders bought some time ago, they wouldn't be particularly happy: the stock is down 24% in three years.

With that in mind, it's worth seeing if the company's underlying fundamentals have been the driver of long term performance, or if there are some discrepancies.

See our latest analysis for Ho Bee Land

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.

Ho Bee Land fell to a loss making position during the year. Buyers no doubt think it's a temporary situation, but those with a nose for quality have low tolerance for losses. Of course, if the company can turn the situation around, investors will likely profit.

You can see below how EPS has changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).

It's good to see that there was some significant insider buying in the last three months. That's a positive. On the other hand, we think the revenue and earnings trends are much more meaningful measures of the business. Before buying or selling a stock, we always recommend a close examination of historic growth trends, available here..

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. Arguably, the TSR gives a more comprehensive picture of the return generated by a stock. We note that for Ho Bee Land the TSR over the last 1 year was -24%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. And there's no prize for guessing that the dividend payments largely explain the divergence!

Story continues

A Different Perspective

While the broader market lost about 0.6% in the twelve months, Ho Bee Land shareholders did even worse, losing 24% (even including dividends). However, it could simply be that the share price has been impacted by broader market jitters. It might be worth keeping an eye on the fundamentals, in case there's a good opportunity. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 1.9% over the last half decade. We realise that Baron Rothschild has said investors should "buy when there is blood on the streets", but we caution that investors should first be sure they are buying a high quality business. I find it very interesting to look at share price over the long term as a proxy for business performance. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. Take risks, for example - Ho Bee Land has 3 warning signs (and 2 which can't be ignored) we think you should know about.

If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on Singaporean exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
kreinick / Getty Images/iStockphoto

Social Security is often a political lightning rod during election years, and thats the way things are shaping up in 2024. Candidates have already staked out positions on how the program should be dealt with ahead of a looming funding shortfall. The current narrative is that Democrats want to expand the program while Republicans want to cut it, but thats not necessarily accurate.

Social Security Cuts: States That Would Be Impacted The Least

Learn: 3 Ways To Recession-Proof Your Retirement

Much of the focus involves the Social Security Old Age and Survivors Insurance (OASI) Trust Fund, which is expected to run out of money within the next decade. When it does, Social Security will have to depend solely on payroll taxes for funding, and they cover only about 77% of current benefits.

Solutions to the problem tend to fall into two different camps: bolster Social Security through higher taxes, or shrink it through benefit cuts and/or changes in eligibility requirements.

One of President Joe Bidens better moments in an otherwise challenging year for him came during his State of the Union speech in February, when he promised that if anyone tries to cut Social Security  I will stop them. Biden used the moment to publicly call out Republican lawmakers on whether they wanted to cut Social Security.

But now, with Bidens approval rating sagging near record lows, some progressive Democrats want the president and other Dem leaders to revisit Social Security and make expansion of the program a key theme of the 2024 campaign, Politico reported. Doing so would be broadly popular with voters. It also would give Biden a chance to bill himself as the protector of Social Security and his Republican opponent as a threat to the program.

The only weakness that Democrats have on their Social Security policies is not enough people know that its them, Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works, told Politico. The way to get Republicans even more on the back foot about their plans to cut Social Security is to draw that incredibly clear distinction that Democrats want to expand, Republicans want to cut.

Story continues

An example of this clear distinction is already taking place in Florida, home to a large population of seniors who care deeply about Social Security. As the Florida Politics website reported, the National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare PAC has criticized U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican running for reelection in 2024, for his record on the program.

The PAC has instead endorsed U.S. Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, the most prominent Democrat running against Scott.

Florida seniors deserve a Senator who will defend their earned benefits, not threaten them, said Max Richtman, president and CEO of the National Committee. In Congress, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell earned a 100% voting record from the National Committee for fighting to protect and enhance Social Security and Medicare.

But theres a potential problem for Democrats when it comes to the Social Security narrative: Former President Donald Trump  the leading GOP presidential candidate and the most dominant force in the Republican party  has been a vocal opponent of cutting Social Security benefits.

Under no circumstances should Republicans vote to cut a single penny from Medicare or Social Security, Trump said in a January video. Cut waste, fraud and abuse everywhere that we can find it, and there is plenty of it. But do not cut the benefits our seniors worked for and paid for their entire lives. Save Social Security, dont destroy it.

Other Republican candidates have floated different ideas. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has proposed cutting benefits for younger people but not for those who currently or will soon claim Social Security. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has similarly proposed raising the Social Security full retirement age for workers currently in their 20s and limiting Social Security and Medicare benefits for the wealthy.

Meanwhile, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, another GOP candidate, said earlier this year that cuts to Social Security should be considered to keep the program from going bankrupt  an unlikely scenario even when the OASI fund is depleted.

Floridas Retirees Are Fleeing: Heres Where Theyre Going Instead

As for Biden: The president has unveiled a four-point plan to fix Social Security that would do the following:

Tax earned income above $400,000, leaving wages between $160,200 and $400,000 untaxed. Currently, any wages above $160,200 are not taxed.

Change the calculation for determining annual Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) so they are no longer based on the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). Biden favors basing the COLA on the Consumer Price Index for the Elderly (CPI-E).

Raise the primary insurance amount (PIA) that determines how much money youll receive in Social Security benefits.

Raise the special minimum benefit for lifetime lower-wage workers to 125% of the federal poverty level for Social Security beneficiaries.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Social Security: Democrats Want To Expand, Republicans Want To Cut Could Be Key Argument in 2024 Election
Singapore Management University

BEIJING , Nov. 27, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Green Finance and Governance: From Commitments to Actions" Global Forum, co-organised by Singapore Management University (SMU) and Renmin University of China (RUC), was concluded on 21 November, 2023. The Forum brought together experts, industry leaders and academics from Singapore, China and around the world. SMU representatives shared their insights and experiences on the theme with other guests and attendees at the Forum.





In the opening speech, SMU Provost, Prof Timothy Clark, representing SMU, expressed gratitude to RUC and a warm welcome to the forum participants. He said, "SMU's vision is dedicated to addressing societal challenges and issues through interdisciplinary and impactful research that are aligned to our three strategic priorities, namely Digital Transformation, Sustainable Living, and Growth in Asia." SMU actively seeks collaborations with partners in Singapore and neighboring regions who share similar visions. Prof Clark also highlighted the role of the university in driving change, especially in integrating research and industry expertise, as well as the university's contribution to advancing green finance development.





Prof Hao Liang, Associate Professor of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business (LKCSB), Ho Bee Professorship in Sustainability Management and Co-Director of Singapore Green Finance Centre, made a keynote speech on the topic of "Green Finance: Opportunities and Risks at the Same Time". In his speech, he called for the adoption of transition financing, i.e. providing capital to traditional "brown businesses" to help them improve energy efficiency and gradually transform into "green businesses". He introduced a framework model for assessing the net impact value of an enterprise, which guided investment decisions by quantitatively evaluating and weighting different impact factors, taking into account the financial, social and environmental impacts. In addition, Prof Liang shared projects of Singapore Green Finance Centre in collaboration with universities, which aimed at integrating different assessment criteria to create a complete impact assessment and reporting framework. He emphasised the importance of international cooperation, setting values for different fields, quantification, and data generation to support businesses' sustainable and zero-carbon emission goals.

Story continues





During the panel discussion session, Prof Simon J.D.Schillebeeckx, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Innovation of SMU LKCSB, Co-founder and Director of the Global Mangrove Trust and Handprint.tech, said that Singapore is very good at internalising and absorbing the experiences of other countries and translating them into local experiences; in terms of ESG governance, Singapore has taken several key steps. He also referred to Europe's leadership in the area of climate change and emphasised the indispensability of global cooperation for sustainable development. He argued that even if Europe could achieve carbon neutrality, global climate change could not be solved without the support of other countries and the reduction of their carbon footprint. In response to a question about ESG and government goals, Simon emphasised the important role of governments in the SDGs. He argued that governments should be responsible for managing core areas such as climate, and noted that ESG and government goals can be mutually reinforcing. He highlighted the importance of accountability in the final execution and evaluation by the government, emphasising the need for governments to play a role in achieving a better green finance transformation.





In the interview after the meeting, Prof Sun Sun Lim, SMU Vice President (Partnerships and Engagement), pointed out that SMU aims to provide students with a deeper understanding of various issues in Asia through its in-depth research and teaching. As an engaged city university, SMU not only focuses on the major challenges in society, but also looks forward to cooperating with more top Chinese universities in the future. Such collaborations will provide opportunities for both parties to engage in dialogues with Chinese academic and industry leaders on platforms such as global forums to discuss important issues such as environmental sustainability and digital transformation. This collaboration will not only be a tremendous boost to the international reputation of SMU, but will also help promote in-depth research and solutions to the many challenges facing society today.





The Global Forum provided a platform to address key societal issues and promote collaboration between academics, policymakers and the business community, and the perspectives and insights expressed by SMU representatives at the Forum demonstrated SMU ambition to be an "engaged city" university - one that focuses on building interdisciplinary specialisms and impactful research to address the challenges faced by society today. This not only demonstrates SMUs forward-looking vision and broad academic landscape, but also highlights its tireless efforts and contributions to building a Smart Nation for Singapore.





CONTACT: Nora WU norawu at smu.edu.sg




The 44th edition of Big 5 Global, supported by the UAE Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, will bring together global leaders in construction, industry professionals, regulators, and innovators from 4 to 7 December 2023, at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Together, they will provide a comprehensive perspective on steering the construction sector towards a sustainable future.

"In 2023, Big 5 Global empowers thought leadership discussions to actively shape initiatives that will transform the construction industry," said Josine Heijmans, Vice President  Construction at dmg events, the event organisers.

"It comes against the vibrant backdrop of the UAE's 'Year of Sustainability' which underscores the nation's dedication to promoting global collaboration in the pursuit of climate action as well as COP28," she stated.

At the event, which will bring together the entire construction value chain, the high-level content programme promoting thought leadership sessions and practical talks across four days will encompass Big 5 Global Leaders Summit, Big 5 FutureTech Summit, CPD-certified Big 5 Talks and Everything Architecture. Together, the programme will feature 230+ speakers across 130+ sessions from around the world.

The invite-only Big 5 Global Leaders Summit serves as an exclusive platform that facilitates collaboration between the public and private sectors, she stated.

On December 5, the summit, focusing on the themes of leadership, decarbonisation, collaboration, next generation, and defining project success, will be a transformative force empowering the future of construction.

At the event, Dr Abdullah Belhaif Al Nuaimi, former Minister of Climate Change & Environment in the UAE, will outline key strategies for a sustainable construction future.

Some of the other high-profile speakers include Dr Ali Al Jassim, Chairman of Emirates Green Building Council; Engineer Maryam Al Muhairi, CEO of Buildings Regulation & Permits Agency at Dubai Municipality; Dr Antonio Nanni, President of American Concrete Institute; Ibrahim Al Ghamdi, Board Member & Chief Sustainability Officer, at Albawani Holding and Alaa Abu Siam, the CEO of Middle East & South Asia, Egis.

"As the race to net zero heats up amidst a global shift towards a unified green transition, it becomes imperative for the industry to establish an empowering work environment that attracts the younger generation," said Kathleen McGrail, Managing Director for WSP Middle Easts Advisory Services business and speaker at Big 5 Global Leaders Summit.

"At Big 5 Global Leaders Summit, I am eager to delve into dialogues on making construction and engineering more attractive for future generations of construction professionals and leaders, she stated.

During the invite-only Big 5 FutureTech Summit taking place on December 6, attendees will hear from global experts on how to embrace the changes brought by technology and digitalisation on planned and future projects as they collaborate towards Construction 5.0.

One of the opening sessions will feature Engineer Abdulrahman Alkholy, Senior Principal Engineer - Project Planning & Design Department at the UAEs Ministry of Energy & Infrastructure, who will outline the major achievements around the ministry's digital transformation journey.

Leaders and experts such as Abdulqader Attia, Advanced Manufacturing Lead, Sharjah Research Technology and Innovation Park; Ayman Mohammed, Head of Future Foresight Committee, Ras Al Khaimah Municipality; and Mohamed Abdelrahman, BIM Director, Red Sea Global, among others, will also speak at the summit.

Running throughout the four days of Big 5 Global, the free-to-attend Big 5 Talks will host a series of discussions providing invaluable insights under ten streams: Concrete, Facades, Facilities Management, Geotechnical, HVAC & MEP, Offsite & Modular, Project Management, Solar, Technology and Urban Design & Landscape.

On December 7, Big 5 Global will bring together architects, designers, urban planners and AI experts at Everything Architecture, where discussions will circle around three key themes: biophilic urbanism, carbon-neutral design and the impact of AI on architecture.

"This year at Big 5 Global, architects will converge to highlight the critical role they play in creating net-zero buildings and urban areas that embrace sustainable design. This means integrating local expertise with global knowledge in an inclusive, empowering manner," remarked Muyiwa Oki, the President of Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

"I'm excited to be giving the keynote address at Everything Architecture, where we'll delve into the importance of adapting to a changing world, harnessing the power of AI, and bringing nature back into our cities," said Oki.

According to the organisers, 70% of the speakers at Big 5 Global are speaking for the first time.

The programme features government and public sector speakers from Dubai Municipality, Qatars Public Works Authority (Ashghal), Dubai Development Authority, Roads & Transport Authority Dubai, Abu Dhabi City Municipality, among others.

This year, the event also has a new feature, Big 5 Impact Trail, which aims to make a positive impact by supporting participating companies in their journey to promote eco-friendly construction products and solutions, they stated.

Recognising innovation, sustainable development, technology and digital achievements, the event also celebrates the 3rd edition of Big 5 Global Impact Awards this year, where 100 finalists across 19 progressive categories will battle for the winning trophy.

Commenting on the awards, Engineer Fakher AlShawaf, Group CEO, Albawani, Gold Sponsor of the event, said: "Albawani is dedicated to driving sustainable practices within the construction industry, and our participation in Big 5 Global Impact Awards reflects our unwavering dedication to this mission."

"As a global organisation, we are proud to be a part of this event celebrating impact in construction, and we can't wait to see the incredible contributions that will be honoured," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Spearmint Resources Inc. (CSE: SPMT) (OTC Pink: SPMTF) (FSE: A2AHL5) (the "Company" or "Spearmint") wishes to announce the Company has commenced its 2023 drill program on the 100-per-cent owned, Chibougamau project. The project is composed of two contiguous blocks of 14 (west block) and 5 (east block) claims for a total of 776.59 acres and 277.23 hectares, and located in the direct vicinity of Lac Chibougamau, Quebec. In 2018, Spearmint conducted drone and heli-borne airborne magnetic geophysical surveys totaling 932 line-km over an area totalling approximately 3,400 hectares at 100 metres line-spacing. Data collected from this inaugural airborne survey shows the presence of multiple sharply defined areas of northeast trending magnetic susceptibility, including an anomaly measuring 9km in length. The drill program is composed of 4 drillholes for a total of 800 metres, all drillholes planned are in the east block and are targeting the main feature highlighted by vertical gradient of the residual magnetic field as presented in figure 1. Several pegmatites were identified in 3 drillholes about 2 km to the south-east (figure 2).





Figure 1: Location of the planned drillholes, access, claims and vertical gradient of the residual magnetic field.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4360/188703_e088babc142e686c_002full.jpg







Figure 2: Location of the project and gegmatite intersected close from the project with vertical gradient of the residual magnetic field.



To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/4360/188703_e088babc142e686c_003full.jpg

James Nelson, President of Spearmint Resources, stated, "We are excited to now be underway with a drill program on the Chibougamau project. After being quiet for most of the year, we expect to become a lot more active moving forward. This drill program will provide potential near-term catalysts for the Company, and we look forward to seeing the results."

Story continues

On June 17, 2022, the Company announced that it has received the updated Technical Report and Mineral Resource estimate for the 100-per-cent-owned McGee Lithium Clay Deposit in Clayton Valley, Nevada. The Technical Report included an updated Mineral Resource estimate of 1,369,000 indicated tonnes and 723,000 inferred tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) for a total of 2,092,000 tonnes of LCE, more than doubling the maiden resource estimate announced on June 11, 2021. The Technical Report and Mineral Resource Estimate was prepared by Derek Loveday, P.Geo. and Mariea Kartick, P.Geo. of Stantec Consulting Services Ltd. ("Stantec") in conformity with CIM "Estimation of Mineral Resource and Mineral Reserves Best Practices" guidelines and were reported in accordance with the Canadian Securities Administrators NI 43-101.

Qualified Person

Mr. Maxime Bouchard, P.Geo., M.Sc., (OGQ #1752), an independent Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the scientific and technical disclosure contained within this news release. The drilling campaign and the quality control program have been planned by Laurentia Exploration and supervised by Maxime Bouchard. Core logging and sampling will be completed by Laurentia Exploration. The quality assurance and quality control protocols will include insertion of blank or standard samples every 10 samples on average, in addition to the regular insertion of blank, duplicate, and standard samples accredited by ALS Canada Ltd. during the analytical process.

About Spearmint Resources

Spearmint's projects include four projects in Clayton Valley, Nevada; the McGee lithium clay deposit, which has a resource estimate of 1,369,000 indicated tonnes and 723,000 inferred tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) for a total of 2,092,000 tonnes of LCE, directly bordering Pure Energy Minerals & Century Lithium Corp.; the Elon lithium brine project, which has access to some of the deepest parts of the only lithium brine basin in production in North America; the Green Clay lithium project comprising 97 contiguous claims totalling approximately 2,000 acres; and the Clayton Ridge project comprising 35 contiguous claims totalling approximately 721 acres.

Spearmint's other projects include the 777-acre Chibougamau project located in the direct vicinity of Lac Chibougamau, Quebec, and the Perron-East gold project consisting of five mineral claim blocks covering 11,608 acres located in the Abitibi greenstone belt of Northwestern Quebec in the direct vicinity of Amex Exploration Inc.'s Perron property and past-producing Normetal mine. For a complete list of Spearmint's projects please visit spearmintresources.ca. Management cautions that past results or discoveries on properties in proximity to Spearmint may not necessarily be indicative to the presence of mineralization on the Company's properties.

If you would like to be added to Spearmint's news distribution list, please send your email address to info@spearmintresources.ca.

Contact Information

Tel: 1604646-6903

www.spearmintresources.ca

"James Nelson"

President

Spearmint Resources Inc.

The CSE has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of the content of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188703
London, UK --News Direct-- SSV Capital Ltd

SSV Capital Ltd founder and CEO Ankur Ghosh visits the Proactive London studio to speak with Thomas Warner ahead of the soft launch of its fintech solution, SmartPay.

Ghosh announces the imminent soft launch at the House of Commons of SSV SmartPay, a pioneering QR payment solution leveraging the open banking framework, highlighting the company's commitment to innovation in Fintech.

Moreover, SSV Capital is preparing to launch its proptech platform globally in the upcoming quarter after successful alpha and beta testing. In fund management, the company is advancing with the creation of a 50 million fund based in Luxembourg, reflecting their strategic choice for its favourable investment environment.

The company's efforts have not gone unrecognised, as evidenced by several awards, including a recent accolade from The Times Group in India.

Looking ahead, Ghosh is optimistic about the future, focusing on the continued success of SSV SmartPay, expansion in the proptech sector, and strengthening fund management operations.

Contact Details

Proactive UK Ltd

+44 20 7989 0813

uk@proactiveinvestors.com

View source version on newsdirect.com: https://newsdirect.com/news/ssv-capital-announces-soft-launch-of-smartpay-fintech-solution-786113437
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Most Read from Bloomberg

Rishi Sunak said he condemns antisemitism in all its forms, in a careful criticism of Elon Musk that stopped short of the full-throated condemnation by US President Joe Biden and others who have accused the tech entrepreneur of amplifying anti-Jewish hatred on his X social media platform.

I dont tend to get in the business of scrutinizing what every single person says who Ive interacted with. Of course I abhor antisemitism, Sunak said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Sunday, when asked about his views on Musk. It doesnt matter whether youre Elon Musk or youre someone on the street whos shouting abuse at someone who happens to be walking past you, thats wrong in all its forms. Antisemitism in all its forms is completely and utterly wrong.

Musk triggered a backlash this month when he agreed with a post on X, formerly Twitter, that falsely claimed Jewish people are stoking hatred against White people, saying the user was speaking the actual truth. Firms including Walt Disney Co., Apple Inc. and Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. withdrew advertising spending. Bidens office condemned the abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate in the strongest terms.

Sunak has been dragged into the furor because he chose to share a stage with Musk at the UKs AI Safety Summit in early November. The premier interviewed the tech entrepreneur for nearly an hour, discussing how technology could make paid work redundant  though without generating any particular controversy.

Story continues

Still, the event raised eyebrows at the time, and Musks subsequent remarks on X have led to questions about Sunaks judgment.

In his weekly Prime Ministers Questions in the House of Commons last week, Sunak was asked by an opposition Labour Party lawmaker to condemn Musk. He declined to do so, instead turning the question into an opportunity to attack the MPs record and accusing him of not understanding the importance of technology sectors and companies to the growth of our economy.

On Sunday, tens of thousands of people, including former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, attended a march against antisemitism in central London. The Israel-Hamas conflict has exacerbated community tensions and led to a spike in antisemitic and Islamophobic hate crimes. Pro-Palestinian marches have also taken place regularly since Hamass Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Antisemitism is kind of like an old spore of a virus that lurks beneath the floorboards of Western civilization, our collective memory, and it comes out from time to time, Johnson told GB News on Sunday. Were seeing a flare up, and we need to call it out.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Sunak said incidents of antisemitism in recent weeks were unacceptable and that the police are under orders to bring people to justice. Weve been unequivocal from the start of this situation, that it is not acceptable in our society, he said.

Musk is set to join a closed-door discussion Monday with both Israeli President Isaac Herzog and representatives of families of hostages held in Gaza about the need to curb online antisemitism, a spokesperson for the presidents office said in a brief statement. Israelis Channel 12 TV had reported Sunday that Musk would also meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Tesla Inc. and SpaceX chief executive has denied being anti-Semitic in a post on X.

--With assistance from Ellie Harmsworth.

(Updates with Musks planned meeting with Israeli president in 10th paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2023 Bloomberg L.P.
San Diego, California--(Newsfile Corp. - November 27, 2023) - Thiogenesis Therapeutics, Corp. (TSXV: TTI) ("Thiogenesis" or the "Company") a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing sulfur-containing therapeutics for unmet pediatric diseases, today announced the addition of Vincent Stanton Jr., MD to its Scientific Advisory Board ("SAB"). Dr. Stanton was a co-founder of Thiogenesis Therapeutics, Inc., dating back to February 2016.

Dr. Vincent Stanton Jr., MD is an entrepreneur and consultant who has worked for a variety of diagnostics and therapeutics clients on drug development and personalized medicine projects. He was formerly Senior Vice President of Research at Variagenics, an early genomics firm where he helped guide research from startup through IPO, including several major shifts in scientific and business strategy. After medical school, Dr. Stanton completed a pathology residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital followed by postdoctoral training at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and MIT.

"We are pleased to add Vincent to our already esteemed Scientific Advisory Board," said Brook Riggins, CFA, Thiogenesis' Chief Financial Officer and Director. "He has a strong history with the Company and technology, and can contribute important strategic insights towards the Company's commercialization strategy, we look forward to his ongoing input and insights."

In connection with Dr. Stanton's appointment to the SAB, he has been granted 50,000 stock options under the Company's stock option plan with an exercise price of $0.80 and an expiry date of October 31, 2028. The options vest immediately. Additionally, as part of a re-structuring of certain release dates under a Lock-up Agreement dated February 10, 2021 between Dr. Stanton and the Company (see the Company's Filing Statement dated March 17, 2022 under "Escrowed Securities" posted on SEDAR+), 292,667 common shares will be tendered back to the Company for cancellation from his current non-escrowed share position.

Story continues

About TTI-0102

Thiogenesis' lead compound, TTI-0102, is an asymmetric disulfide that is a prodrug that acts as a precursor to the thiol-active compound cysteamine. Importantly, TTI-0102 is a new chemical entity ("NCE") with an initial US patent granted in November 2021 and additional US and international patents pending. Thiols, which have a functional SH group (containing sulfur and hydrogen) - are versatile bio-active molecules that are known to be involved in a several chemical reactions and metabolic processes, making them promising candidates for a number of therapeutic applications. TTI-0102 was developed to address the challenges of thiol-active drugs, including their short half live, adverse side effects and dosing limitations.

About Thiogenesis

Thiogenesis Therapeutics, Corp. (TSXV: TTI) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company operating through its wholly owned subsidiary based in San Diego, CA. The Company is publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange. Thiogenesis is developing sulfur-containing prodrugs that act as precursors to thiol-active compounds, with the potential to treat serious pediatric diseases with unmet medical needs. Thiols have been the subject of promising research for many decades and are known for having powerful antioxidant properties and other potential therapeutic activities. The Company's initial target indications include Mitochondrial Encephalopathy Lactic Acidosis and Stroke (MELAS), Rett syndrome and pediatric NASH.

For further information, please contact:

Brook Riggins, Director and CFO

Email: info@thiogenesis.com

Tel.: (888) 223-9165

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of Canadian securities laws including, without limitation, statements with respect to the future investments by the Company. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which are inherently uncertain, are based on estimates and assumptions, and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties (both general and specific) that contribute to the possibility that the future events or circumstances contemplated by the forward-looking statements will not occur. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, and the assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are made, are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements included in this document, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which the forward-looking statements are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur, which may cause the Company's actual performance and results in future periods to differ materially from any estimates or projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/188572
PARIS, November 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enlit Europe 2023  Trilliant, a leading international provider of solutions for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), smart grid, smart cities and IIoT, will participate in Enlit Europe as a Silver Partner. The conference will take place at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles in France from November 28-30, 2023.

Enlit Europe addresses every aspect of the energy agenda and welcomes 15,000 energy professionals, 700 exhibitors and 500 speakers. The conference provides a space for energy leaders, start-ups, scale-ups and entrepreneurs to learn about new technologies and new insights related to the energy transition.

"Enlit Europe is a critical opportunity for energy leaders to meet and learn from each other," said Tom Tipple, Managing Director of EMEA for Trilliant. "Were excited to participate at this years event, and we look forward to discussing digital strategies for our industry. In particular, Trilliant continues to focus on how we can provide true interoperability as the energy transition continues."

During the event, Trilliant executives will participate in engaging sessions:

As part of the Summit programme, on November 28 at 2 p.m. Sozon Kokkinaras, Director of Customer Operations, APAC at Trilliant, will participate alongside other industry experts, engaging in a moderated panel discussion titled "Digital Strategies." The session will be followed by the opportunity for a Q&A, and will take place on the Inspire Stage (Hall 7.3).

Additionally, Trilliants Gavin Farrand, VP of Sales, UK and Europe, will present a session focused on interoperability titled "Empowering Interoperability through an Independent Data Layer" for the Digitalisation Hub. This session will be held on November 28 at 2:15 p.m. in Theatre 2 (Hall 7.3).

See Trilliants Power of Choice Value Proposition in Action

Attendees can visit Trilliant at Stand 7.2.A140, where they can Discover the Power of Choice via demonstrations of the companys Next-Generation Network Technologies, AMI, Demand Response, Data & Analytics, and a new AMI for Smart Water solution.

Story continues

Trilliant works with utilities across the globe to digitalize their water networks with its Smart Water solution. Its ease and speed of installation, performance and scalability make it not only powerful, but also unique. Its designed to work with virtually any system to provide a secure, powerful source of data.

The Smart Water solution is also key part of Trilliants smart building initiative. Trilliant is revolutionizing connectivity in buildings, while empowering building owners to better manage infrastructure without intrusive wired installations. Trilliant has successfully implemented water solutions in Canada, the United Kingdom, Chile, Dominican Republic, Peru, and Japan.

From residential to commercial developments, Trilliants solutions range from electrical and thermal applications to water, reducing or eliminating the overhead costs, risks, and maintenance that come with wired installations.

Trilliant also continues to work closely with utility companies around the world, supporting them to meet their energy transition goals. The company most recently announced an extension of its partnership with Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the largest utility in Malaysia, to accelerate TNBs path to net zero. It also launched a new partnership with IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited, a leading Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Provider (AMISP) and digital solutions provider in India, supporting Head-end System (HES) cellular implementations.

To learn more about Trilliants solutions, or to book a one-on-one demo and meeting with Trilliant at Enlit Europe, contact info@trilliant.com.

For more information about Enlit Europe, visit: https://www.enlit-europe.com/

About Trilliant

Trilliant empowers the global energy industry with the only device-agnostic communications platform that enables utilities and cities to deploy any application securely and reliably on one powerful network. Our purpose-built portfolio is designed to offer the power of choice, without risk of customers being "locked in" with one technology provider or meter manufacturer. We are proud to offer mission-critical solutions that support AMI, Data & Analytics, Smart Metering, Smart Grids and Smart Cities. Customers worldwide benefit from Trilliants unique combination of flexibility, sustainability and scalability that connects utilities and cities to the IIoT and a more strategic path to the Energy Transition. Visit us at www.trilliant.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231126337008/en/

Contacts

Media:

Tracey Mitchell

tracey.mitchell@trilliant.com

Cindy Watson/Anita Wong

StrategicAmpersand Inc.

TrilliantPR@stratamp.com


The UK, US and other governments have released plans they hope will stop artificial intelligence being hijacked by rogue actors.

The major agreement  hailed as the first of its kind  represents an attempt to codify rules that will keep AI safe and ensure that systems are built to be secure by design.

In a 20-page document unveiled Sunday, the 18 countries agreed that companies designing and using AI need to develop and deploy it in a way that keeps customers and the wider public safe from misuse.

The agreement is non-binding and carries mostly general recommendations such as monitoring AI systems for abuse, protecting data from tampering and vetting software suppliers.

Still, the director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Jen Easterly, said it was important that so many countries put their names to the idea that AI systems needed to put safety first.

This is the first time that we have seen an affirmation that these capabilities should not just be about cool features and how quickly we can get them to market or how we can compete to drive down costs, Easterly told Reuters, saying the guidelines represent an agreement that the most important thing that needs to be done at the design phase is security.

The agreement is the latest in a series of initiatives - few of which carry teeth - by governments around the world to shape the development of AI, whose weight is increasingly being felt in industry and society at large.

In addition to the United States and Britain, the 18 countries that signed on to the new guidelines include Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Poland, Australia, Chile, Israel, Nigeria and Singapore.

The framework deals with questions of how to keep AI technology from being hijacked by hackers and includes recommendations such as only releasing models after appropriate security testing.

It does not tackle thorny questions around the appropriate uses of AI, or how the data that feeds these models is gathered.

Story continues

The rise of AI has fed a host of concerns, including the fear that it could be used to disrupt the democratic process, turbocharge fraud, or lead to dramatic job loss, among other harms.

Europe is ahead of the United States on regulations around AI, with lawmakers there drafting AI rules. France, Germany and Italy also recently reached an agreement on how artificia lintelligence should be regulated that supports mandatory self-regulation through codes of conduct for so-called foundation models of AI, which are designed to produce a broad range of outputs.

The Biden administration has been pressing lawmakers for AI regulation, but a polarized U.S. Congress has made little headway in passing effective regulation.

The White House sought to reduce AI risks to consumers, workers, and minority groups while bolstering national security with a new executive order in October.

Additional reporting by Reuters
A university has been selected to take part in a transatlantic research project using virtual reality (VR) to help young people develop soft skills.

The University of Suffolk is joining the project, launched by Carnegie Mellon University and Bodyswaps, a soft skills training platform.

Students will use VR to improved skills such as public speaking and job interviews.

The university is to receive two more VR headsets as part of the project.

It is one of 25 business schools in the UK and US joining the scheme.

The university started using VR headsets in spring last year.

University staff say the headsets have allowed less confident students to practise giving a presentation or being interviewed for a job,

The six-month project is due to start at the end of the month.

The project means the university will be able to expands its modules to include customer service, equity, diversity and inclusion, leadership, management and healthcare.

Amy Carpenter, its head of careers, said: "Embracing VR technology has been a great way of developing the soft skills of our students who need more support."

Conor O'Leary, who studies computing, said: "I found using the Bodyswaps technology to be really useful and it has helped me hone my skills in presentations and interviews, which will be invaluable for the future."

Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a story? Email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp 0800 169 1830
BOSTON & SINGAPORE, November 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Women in Tech, a global non-profit organization on a mission to empower five million women and girls in tech by 2030, has awarded Heidi Wyle, PhD, Founder & CEO of Venti Technologies, its 2023 Global Start-Up Award. Venti is a world leader in autonomous vehicle logistics for the global supply chain and industrial and logistics yards.

The Women in Tech Global Start-Up Award recognizes a female-founded startup that has demonstrated exceptional innovation, growth potential, and a positive impact on the tech industry. The awards were announced on November 16, 2023, at the 6th annual Women in Tech Global Awards Gala in the UAE.

"I am honored to receive the Women in Tech Global Start-Up Award on behalf of Venti Technologies. This year has been significant for Venti as weve grown our company with new funding and progressed into operational deployments. This recognition is a testament to our amazing team at Venti," said Dr. Wyle. "As we look to the new year, I am excited about Ventis continued journey of growth, collaboration, and innovation."

She continued, "All the women nominated for this award have made extraordinary strides, and Im thrilled to be among such incredible and inspiring leaders."

Wyle has served on the Boards of MIT, the Harvard Business School Alumni Association of Boston, and the Massachusetts Womens Forum where she served as president. Since Ventis founding, Dr. Wyle has successfully led the company through two funding rounds totaling US$37 million, and in the past year, she has grown Venti from 18 employees to 103 as of June 2023. Dr. Wyle has also been recognized by Forbes as one of the "50 Women-Led Startups That Are Crushing Tech."

Recent awards won by Venti include recognition of Dr. Wyle by Supply & Demand Chain Executive as a top woman in supply chain. Venti was also recently honored by BostInno, a sister publication of Boston Business Journal, with a 2023 Fire Award as a top earlier-stage software company.

Story continues

Dr. Wyle is dedicated to improving the world through technology, including wildlife conservation. She is creating an initiative using new monitoring technologies and AI-based path projection to protect whales in the waters around ports and in shipping lanes.

Please visit http://bit.ly/3QLeBPk to view the winners and learn more about the Women in Tech Global Awards.

About Venti Technologies

Venti Technologies is a world leader in autonomous vehicle logistics for industrial yards and logistics hubs: ports, airports, warehouses, and factories. Founded in 2018 by a team with strong MIT roots, the company is pioneering the future of transportation for moving goods. Its highly flexible and industrial-grade precision technology enables rapid deployment and best-in-class safety and operational efficiency for customers. For more information, please visit www.ventitechnologies.com.

Editors Note: Photo Available

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231120175431/en/

Contacts

Press Contacts



North America



Adam Novak

PAN Communications

venti@pancomm.com

(207) 712-5165



Asia



P.Koh

comms@ventitechnologies.com
Viamistad is Viamericas charitable organization, with a mission to provide Guatemalans with disabilities with educational and recreational opportunities to enrich their lives.

Banco GyT and Viamericas will donate 20 cents for every transaction during this fundraising campaign.

MIAMI, November 27, 2023--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Viamericas Corporation, a licensed, international remittance company, has partnered with Grupo Financiero GyT Contiental (Banco GyT), the third largest financial organization in Guatemala, to raise money for people with disabilities to attend the educational and recreational camps of Viamistad in Guatemala. Between November 2023 and March 2024, they will donate 20 cents of every transaction made from a Viamericas location to Banco GyT to Viamistad.

Celebrating its 16th year, Viamistad is a charitable organization that provides Guatemalans with disabilities several life-changing opportunities through summer camps, an inclusive school and entrepreneurship programs. Nearly 90 people with disabilities and local volunteers come to camp annually, where campers build authentic friendships and learn a range of essential skills. Campers that attend the Viamistad camps open the hearts and minds of the community by breaking the barriers and stigma of people with disabilities.

"Banco GyT Continental takes pride in being part of the Viamistad project and will continue to promote actions and collaborate with initiatives that contribute to the development and well-being of Guatemala," stated Oswaldo Sanchez, Director of Remittance Business at Banco GyT Continental.

Viamericas and Banco GyT are committed to growing the Viamistad organization and bringing even more opportunities to the people of Guatemala. To further the sense of community, a future goal for Viamericas is to create a recreational center in Guatemala where people with disabilities can attend year-round to build their skills and have access to any resources needed.

Story continues

"Viamistad created an educational camp for people with disabilities in Guatemala, which did not previously exist, and the program continues to grow each year. At the camp, we erase divisions and labels and focus on providing experiences that bring inclusion, fun and a sense of community into everyones lives," said Joseph Argilagos, Co-Founder of Viamericas and President of Viamistad. "We are grateful for the support Banco GyT provides to Viamistad and its camp. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of people in need. With every donation, we can continue to provide hope, smiles and dreams."

Over eight non-profit organizations in the United States have already collaborated with the Viamistad donation campaign. Visit www.viamistad.org for additional information.

About Viamericas Corporation

Viamericas is a leading licensed money transmitter providing international money transfer, bill payment, check processing and top-up services at thousands of agent locations across the United States. Individuals can send money to more than 100,000 locations in 80 countries. Founded in 1999, Viamericas helps families achieve their financial goals by providing international payment services at a great value. In addition to Florida, the company has regional offices in Los Angeles and operational centers in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines. Viamericas recently won Fintech Futures Paytech Award for the category "Best Business Payments System - Cross-Border & Remittances". For more information, see https://corporate.viamericas.com.

About Grupo Financiero GyT Contiental

More than 75 years of experience in the country's financial market have allowed Grupo Financiero GyT Continental to deepen its relationship with the client, which opened the gap for the creation of innovative products and services. That is why today its companies actively participate in the growth plans of Guatemalan families through Banco GyT Continental, its GyT Insurance branch, surety company, brokerage houses and other companies, promoting the engines of the national economy through of its products and services.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20231127362767/en/

Contacts

Frankie Keck

Frankie@williammills.com

678-781-7228
Partnership between B2B Foreign Trade Financial Technology Platform, XTransfer, and TransferMate, the world's foremost non-bank licensing payments infrastructure will expand available market for approximately 400,000 merchants

HONG KONG, Nov. 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- XTransfer, China's No.1 B2B foreign trade financial technology platform, and TransferMate, the world's leading B2B global payments infrastructure-as-a-service provider, jointly announced a strategic partnership agreement at the Singapore Fintech Festival.

XTransfer is dedicated to providing SMEs with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost foreign trade payments & fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness.

TransferMate, a subsidiary of CluneTech, has built the world's most comprehensive and advanced payments network, allowing businesses and individuals to make cross-border payments as easily as if making a domestic funds transfer, supporting trade in more than 200+ countries and across 140+ currencies.

Foreign trade SMEs constantly encounter various challenges when it comes to cross-border payments and fund collections. These hurdles include difficulties in opening accounts with traditional banks, high risk of funds freezing, high exchange losses, long remittance time and high remittance costs. XTransfer's "local account" service, on the other hand, offers compliant, highly efficient, convenient and cost-effective solutions for global trade payments and fund collections, specifically tailored to meet the needs of foreign trade SMEs. By using the "local account", XTransfer's clients can collect funds from the same countries in the local currency of their buyers, before transferring funds back into their own local currency, enabling them to lower their exchange losses and speed up the trade transaction.

By integrating Transfermate's global payments infrastructure into its platform, XTransfer enriches its clients with another choice of payments & fund collections to local accounts. This capability will initially cover the U.S.A., Mexico, Malaysia, Canada, Singapore, and New Zealand on behalf of up to 400,000 merchants, with room for expansion. The agreement will benefit importers/exporters for machinery, apparel, electronics, household durables and other goods. This ability to collect locally and transfer funds home efficiently is another benefit of TransferMate's globally regulated infrastructure. The partnership enables TransferMate to scale its business and reach a larger client base, particularly in China where XTransfer has the largest number of clients in the field.

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While the partnership gives XTransfer clients additional capabilities and benefits, the user experience will remain the same. All activity will happen within the existing XTransfer web portal, meaning no disruption to users or need for retraining.

Violas Xiao, local CEO of Singapore, XTransfer, said: "The strategic partnership with TransferMate represents a pivotal milestone for us, signifying our commitment to empowering SMEs with the tools they need to expand globally. The partnership also represents a significant step for XTransfer towards globalisation. Together with TransferMate, we are poised to make a lasting impact, revolutionising the way businesses navigate foreign trade. This partnership means growth, innovation, and a strengthened position in the global marketplace for XTransfer and our valued clients."

Vijay Rao, Head of APAC, TransferMate, said: "Partnering with the largest B2B payment company in China is a significant moment for TransferMate, and we also believe will be of great benefit to XTransfer and their merchant users. This integration will help them grow their businesses, make trading internationally easier, and create efficiencies in their financial processes. Partnerships should always be about creating win-win situations and, in this situation, everybody wins."

Jennifer Carroll MacNeill TD, Minister of State (Financial Services, Credit Unions, and Insurance) of Ireland (3rd) and Terry Clune, Founder and Chairman of TransferMate (2nd), witnessed the signing of the strategic agreement between XTransfer, represented by Violas Xiao, the local CEO of Singapore, and Vijay Rao, Head of APAC of TransferMate.

About XTransfer

XTransfer, No.1 B2B Foreign Trade Financial Technology Platform, is dedicated to providing SMEs with secure, compliant, fast, convenient and low-cost foreign trade payment & fund collection solutions, significantly reducing the cost of global expansion and enhancing global competitiveness. Founded in 2017, the company is headquartered in Shanghai and has branches in China's major foreign trade cities such as Hong Kong, Shenzhen and the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, and Singapore. XTransfer has obtained local payment licenses in Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, and Australia. With more than 400,000 enterprise clients, XTransfer has become the industry No.1 in China.

By cooperating with well-known multinational banks and financial institutions, XTransfer has built a unified global multi-currency clearing network and built a data-based, automated, Internet-based and intelligent anti-money laundering risk control infrastructure centred on small and medium enterprises. XTransfer uses technology as a bridge to link large financial institutions and small and medium enterprises around the world, allowing small and medium enterprises to enjoy the same level of cross-border financial services as large multinational corporations.

XTransfer completed its Series D financing in September 2021, and the company's current valuation exceeds USD$1.3 billion, making it a unicorn. The lead investor is China Merchants Venture, and other global leading strategic investors include eWTP Capital, Yunqi Capital, Gaorong Capital, 01VC, Telstra Ventures, MindWorks, Lavender Hill Capital Partners, and D1 Capital Partners LP. For more information: https://www.xtransfer.cn/

About TransferMate

TransferMate  a subsidiary of CluneTech  is the world's leading provider of B2B payments infrastructure-as-a-service, enabling companies to send and receive cross-border payments faster, easier and at lower cost.

TransferMate, under the leadership of founder Terry Clune and CEO Sinead Fitzmaurice, has built one of the largest portfolios of payments licenses worldwide, including 51 US states and territories, to support trading in more than 201 countries and 141 currencies.

Leading banks, fintechs and software providers partner with TransferMate to offer an enhanced user experience for their business customers. The company has created bespoke integrations for banks like ING and AIB, who are also investors in the company. The TransferMate API solution allows partners to digitalize the payments flow within their software, enabling all businesses to achieve significant time and financial savings.

Cision

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/xtransfer-and-transfermate-jointly-announces-strategic-partnership-empowering-importersexporters-with-new-market-opportunities-301997633.html

SOURCE XTransfer
China, Japan, S. Korea should play more proactive role in promoting regional, global development: Wang Yi

Xinhua) 08:11, November 27, 2023

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends the tenth trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Busan, South Korea, Nov. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

BUSAN, South Korea, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- China, Japan and South Korea should play a more proactive role in promoting regional and global development facing accelerating changes unseen in a century and the slow recovery of the world economy, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Sunday.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attended the trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Busan, South Korea.

Wang said that China-Japan-South Korea cooperation has become the multilateral cooperation framework with the highest degree of institutionalization, the widest coverage and the richest connotation in East Asia, which has effectively served the development of the three countries and benefited the people in the region.

Following the policy of building friendship and partnership with its neighbors, China will continue to work with South Korea and Japan to bring trilateral cooperation back on track, maintain sound, stable and sustainable development, and make new contributions to regional and world peace and prosperity, said Wang.

The top priority is to continue to respect each other's development path and core interests, properly handle sensitive issues and maintain sound bilateral relations, so as to lay a solid foundation for a comprehensive restart of trilateral cooperation featuring steady and long-term progress, he stressed.

Wang stressed that the three countries should stick to mutual benefit and win-win results, restart negotiations on the trilateral free trade agreement among China, Japan and South Korea as soon as possible, maintain the momentum of regional economic integration, improve the multi-channel and multi-level regional free trade arrangements, and contribute to the common goal of pushing for a Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.

The three countries should deepen scientific and technological innovation, expand people-to-people exchanges, enhance the resilience of development, and promote common and sustainable development, Wang said.

Park and Kamikawa spoke highly of the progress made in China-Japan-South Korea cooperation, saying that the three countries are inseparable neighbors and trilateral cooperation is of great significance and great potential.

Facing the new situation, the three countries should review the original aspiration of cooperation, strengthen communication and promote cooperation in various fields, and bring more tangible results to the people of the three countries, they said.

The three parties can carry out substantive cooperation in the fields of economy, trade, science, technology and digital transformation, people-to-people exchanges, environmental protection and aging, and continuously expand common interests, they said.

The three sides agreed to create conditions for the China-Japan-South Korea leaders' meeting and step up relevant preparatory work.

The three parties exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

Wang pointed out that as important countries in the Asia-Pacific region, China, Japan and South Korea should base themselves on the peaceful development of the region and interests of the people to deepen regional cooperation, jointly cope with risks and challenges, and safeguard regional peace and prosperity.

The three countries should promote East Asia cooperation through trilateral cooperation, adhere to open regionalism, oppose ideological demarcation, and resist turning regional cooperation into camp politics, he said.

The three countries should practice the concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, and resolve differences and disputes through dialogue and consultation and by peaceful means, Wang said.

Noting that the continued tension on the Korean Peninsula serves the interests of no one, he said the top priority is to cool down the situation, create necessary conditions for the resumption of dialogue and take meaningful actions.

On the sidelines of the meeting, Wang also held bilateral meetings with Park and Kamikawa respectively.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, attends the tenth trilateral foreign ministers' meeting between China, Japan and South Korea with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin and Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa in Busan, South Korea, Nov. 26, 2023. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
An In-Depth Look at Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Sustainability and Growth

Yum China Holdings Inc (NYSE:YUMC) recently announced a dividend of $0.13 per share, payable on 2023-12-19, with the ex-dividend date set for 2023-11-27. 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 Yum China Holdings Inc's dividend performance and assess its sustainability.

What Does Yum China Holdings Inc Do?

Warning! GuruFocus has detected 2 Warning Signs with YUMC.

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?

With almost 13,000 units and USD 10 billion in systemwide sales in 2022, Yum China is the largest restaurant chain in China. It generates revenue through its own restaurants and franchise fees. Key concepts include KFC (9,094 units) and Pizza Hut (2,903), but the company's portfolio also includes other brands such as Little Sheep, East Dawning, Taco Bell, Huang Ji Huang, COFFii & Joy, and Lavazza (collectively representing about 950 units). Yum China is a trademark licensee of Yum Brands, paying 3% of total systemwide sales to the company it separated from in October 2016.

Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Analysis

A Glimpse at Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend History

Yum China Holdings Inc has maintained a consistent dividend payment record since 2017. Dividends are currently distributed on a quarterly basis. Below is a chart showing annual Dividends Per Share for tracking historical trends.

Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Analysis

Breaking Down Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Yield and Growth

As of today, Yum China Holdings Inc currently has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 1.14% and a 12-month forward dividend yield of 1.16%. This suggests an expectation of increased dividend payments over the next 12 months. Extended to a five-year horizon, this rate increased to 24.10% per year. Based on Yum China Holdings Inc's dividend yield and five-year growth rate, the 5-year yield on cost of Yum China Holdings Inc stock as of today is approximately 3.36%.

Story continues

Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Analysis

The Sustainability Question: Payout Ratio and Profitability

To assess the sustainability of the dividend, one needs to evaluate the company's payout ratio. The dividend payout ratio provides insights into the portion of earnings the company distributes as dividends. A lower ratio suggests that the company retains a significant part of its earnings, thereby ensuring the availability of funds for future growth and unexpected downturns. As of 2023-09-30, Yum China Holdings Inc's dividend payout ratio is 0.28.

Yum China Holdings Inc's profitability rank, offers an understanding of the company's earnings prowess relative to its peers. GuruFocus ranks Yum China Holdings Inc's profitability 7 out of 10 as of 2023-09-30, suggesting good profitability prospects. The company has reported net profit in 9 years out of the past 10 years.

Growth Metrics: The Future Outlook

To ensure the sustainability of dividends, a company must have robust growth metrics. Yum China Holdings Inc's growth rank of 7 out of 10 suggests that the company's growth trajectory is good relative to its competitors. Revenue is the lifeblood of any company, and Yum China Holdings Inc's revenue per share, combined with the 3-year revenue growth rate, indicates a strong revenue model. Yum China Holdings Inc's revenue has increased by approximately -0.20% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 53.99% 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, Yum China Holdings Inc's earnings increased by approximately -17.60% per year on average, a rate that outperforms approximately 24.79% of global competitors.

Lastly, the company's 5-year EBITDA growth rate of -6.50%, which outperforms approximately 27.1% of global competitors.

Engaging Conclusion: Yum China Holdings Inc's Dividend Outlook

In conclusion, Yum China Holdings Inc's consistent dividend payments, moderate growth rate, reasonable payout ratio, and good profitability and growth metrics paint a picture of a company that is committed to rewarding its shareholders while maintaining a strategic focus on growth and stability. With its robust business model and strong market presence in China, Yum China Holdings Inc appears well-positioned to continue its dividend payments. However, as with any investment, it's crucial for investors to consider the broader economic context and the company's future prospects. Will Yum China Holdings Inc continue to thrive in the competitive food industry, and what will be the impact of global economic trends on its dividend sustainability? These are questions value investors should contemplate as they consider adding Yum China Holdings Inc to their portfolios.

GuruFocus Premium users can screen for high-dividend yield stocks using the High Dividend Yield Screener.

This article, generated by GuruFocus, is designed to provide general insights and is not tailored financial advice. Our commentary is rooted in historical data and analyst projections, utilizing an impartial methodology, and is not intended to serve as specific investment guidance. It does not formulate a recommendation to purchase or divest any stock and does not consider individual investment objectives or financial circumstances. Our objective is to deliver long-term, fundamental data-driven analysis. Be aware that our analysis might not incorporate the most recent, price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative information. GuruFocus holds no position in the stocks mentioned herein.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


JERUSALEM  Elon Musk, who's been under fire for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory and wider accusations of hatred flourishing on his social media platform X, visited Israel, where he toured a kibbutz attacked by Hamas militants and held talks with top leaders.

The billionaire met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who scolded him over content on the platform previously known as Twitter, and joined Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a tour of the Kfar Azza kibbutz, a rural village that Hamas militants stormed on Oct. 7 in a deadly assault that launched the war.

Wearing a protective vest and escorted by a phalanx of security personnel as rain fell, Musk used his phone to take photos or videos of the devastation, according to video released by Netanyahus office. Musks visit came as Israel and Hamas reached a deal to extend a cease-fire for two more days.

The Tesla CEO and prime minister visited the damaged homes of victims, including the family of Abigail Edan, a 4-year-old girl with dual Israeli-U.S. citizenship who was held hostage by Hamas after her parents were killed. She was released Sunday in the latest round of exchanges during a cease-fire in Gaza set to expire after Monday.

It was jarring to see the scene of the massacre, Musk said in a conversation with Netanyahu streamed on X. He said he was troubled by video and photos that the prime minister showed him of the killings of civilians, including children.

They spoke broadly about the conflict, the protests it has generated, the Middle East and more but did not touch on antisemitism online. Netanyahu, who urged a rollback of such hatred in a September meeting with Musk, said he hoped the billionaire would be involved in building a better future. Musk replied, Id love to help.

Herzog did confront Musk, saying that the platforms you lead, unfortunately, have a huge reservoir of hatred, hatred of Jews and antisemitism.

The Israeli president was joined in the meeting by some of the families of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, according to a statement from Herzogs office.

Hatred of the Jews affects the behavior of people in many places around the world, and you have a huge role to play in this, Herzog told Musk.

The X owner responded that it had been a difficult day emotionally following the tour and that we have to do whatever is necessary to stop the hate, according to Herzog's office.

Referring to Hamas militants, Musk said, Its amazing what humans can do if they're fed lies since they were children. They will think that murdering innocents is a good thing, which shows how much propaganda can affect peoples minds.

Musk has faced accusations from the Anti-Defamation League, a prominent Jewish civil rights organization, and others of tolerating antisemitic messages on the platform since purchasing it last year. The content on X has gained increased scrutiny since the war between Israel and Hamas began in October.

A slew of big brands, including Disney and IBM, decided this month to stop advertising on the platform after a report by liberal advocacy group Media Matters said ads were appearing alongside pro-Nazi content and white nationalist posts.

The same week, Musk responded on X to a user who accused Jews of hating white people and professing indifference to antisemitism by posting, You have said the actual truth. He has faced outcry, including from the White House.

The billionaire, who has described himself as a free-speech absolutist, tweeted during his Israel visit that actions speak louder than words.

X has since sued Media Matters, saying the Washington-based nonprofit manufactured the report to drive advertisers from the platform and destroy X Corp.

Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy declined to say whether Musk was invited to the country or came on his own. X, formerly known as Twitter, did not respond to a request for comment.

Israel also settled a spat with Musk over his Starlink satellite internet company, with Starlink agreeing to operate in Gaza only with government approval.

As a result of this significant agreement, Starlink satellite units can only be operated in Israel with the approval of the Israeli Ministry of Communications, including the Gaza Strip, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi tweeted.

The two had tangled online previously after Musk promised that Starlink would support connectivity to internationally recognized aid groups in Gaza, drawing a rebuke from Karhi, who said Israeli would fight it because Hamas would use the service for militant activities.
Israel and Hamas agree to extend truce for two more days, and to free more hostages and prisoners
A man was hospitalized with serious injuries on Saturday following a shooting in east Colorado Springs, according to police.

The person believed to be responsible for the shooting was in custody, but no suspect information was given.

At about 2:40 p.m. Saturday, CSPD received a call about a shooting at an apartment complex in the 3000 block of De Cortez Street, police said. When officers arrived at the scene, they found a man with a gunshot wound. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was listed in critical condition.

Officers located the suspect at the scene, officials said. All involved parties were reportedly accounted for, and CSPD said there was no threat to the community.

Anyone with information, or who may have witnessed the incident, is asked to call the Colorado Springs Police Department at 719-444-7000. Callers who wish to remain anonymous you may call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 719-634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
Colorado Springs police have identified a man shot and killed earlier this month in the Knob Hill neighborhood.

According to the Colorado Springs Police Department, officers received a call about a shooting in the 500 block of Bonfoy Avenue at 9:08 p.m. on Nov. 17.

They found the man, now identified as 49-year-old Daniel Ramirez of Colorado Springs, with at least one gunshot wound. Officers and responding medical personnel rendered aid, but the man died of his injuries.

The El Paso County Coroner's Office conducted the autopsy of the man and identified him as Ramirez.

Police say this was this 30th homicide in the city for 2023.

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This is still an active investigation, and anyone with information or who is a witness to this investigation is asked to call Colorado Springs police at 719-444-7000; or if you wish to remain anonymous, you may call the Crime Stoppers Tip Line at 719-634-STOP (7867) or 1-800-222-8477.
Police are looking for two suspects who allegedly robbed a business south of downtown Colorado Springs on Sunday, officials said.

Officers responded to a 10 a.m. call about a robbery in the 1700 block of South Nevada Avenue, where they were told that two people entered the business, assaulted an employee and left with merchandise and an unknown amount of cash. The suspects drove away in a red vehicle, police said.

The condition of the employee was not released.
President Joe Biden is scheduled to make his fifth visit to the Centennial State and the second in the past six months, a trip the White House postponed a month ago due to the conflict in the Middle East, according to a Saturday news release.

Biden is expected to appear in Pueblo on Wednesday to speak at the CS Wind factory, the largest wind turbine tower manufacturing plant in the world, which is in Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert's district.

The president is also expected to appear at a fundraising event in the Denver area featuring Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

On Oct. 16, hours before Biden was scheduled to depart Washington, D.C., for Colorado, the White House announced that the trip would be postponed so the president could participate in national security meetings related to the war between Israel and Hamas.

The rescheduled visit will be Bidens second trip to Colorado in less than six months. On June 1, the president delivered the commencement address at the Air Force Academy.

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On Wednesday, the president is expected to deliver remarks on his administrations efforts in mobilizing investments in clean energy manufacturing and creating good-paying jobs in communities across the country, including in Colorados third congressional district, according to the news release.

The release goes on to state that the president plans to address how self-described MAGA Republicans like Representative Lauren Boebert are threatening those investments, jobs, and opportunities.

Boebert, an outspoken Biden critic, represents the 3rd Congressional District, where she is seeking reelection to a third term.

Ahead of last month's planned trip, the White House noted that Boebert called the administration's signature infrastructure package "garbage" and said the legislation "needs to be repealed."
By Hyonhee Shin

SEOUL (Reuters) -China, Japan and South Korea agreed on Sunday to restart cooperation and pave the way for a summit in the latest move to ease tensions between the Asian neighbours.

Even as China and the United States seek to mend frayed ties, including a summit this month between Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden, Beijing is concerned that Washington and its key regional allies are strengthening their three-way partnership.

Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo had agreed on annual summits from 2008 to bolster diplomatic and economic exchanges, but two-way rows and the COVID pandemic interrupted the plan, with the three leaders last meeting in 2019.

The three foreign ministers met in the South Korean port of Busan for their first such meeting since 2019, after officials of the three countries agreed in September to arrange a trilateral summit at the "earliest convenient time".

The three ministers did not specify a timeframe for the summit.

China's Xi, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol may not be able to meet this year, but their summit is likely in the near future, South Korea's national security adviser, Cho Tae-yong, told Yonhap news TV.

The ministers agreed in their 100-minute talks to advance cooperation in six areas, including security, economy and technology, and promote concrete discussions to prepare for the summit, Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, who was also concerned about North Korean issues, told his counterparts it was "important to further institutionalise trilateral cooperation so that it will develop into a stable and sustainable system", his ministry said in a statement.

China's Wang Yi said the three countries should "oppose ideological demarcation and resist putting regional cooperation into camps", in comments aimed at Seoul and Tokyo's alliance with Washington.

Wang also called on the three countries to restart negotiations on a trilateral free trade agreement as soon as possible, according to a Chinese foreign ministry readout.

Japan's Yoko Kamikawa said greater trilateral cooperation would contribute to regional peace as the international security situation has become "more severe and complex than ever".

In bilateral talks, Park and Kamikawa condemned North Korea's launch last week of its first spy satellite and agreed to boost responses to arms deals between Pyongyang and Moscow, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Marring the co-operative tone, Kamikawa described as "extremely regrettable" a South Korean court's order for Japan to compensate a group of women forced to work in its wartime brothels and asked Seoul to take appropriate measures, Japan's Kyodo news agency said.

Park, meeting separately with China's Wang, invited him to visit Seoul, and they agreed to reinforce strategic communications, Seoul said. Park asked for China to play a constructive role in encouraging North Korea to avoid further provocations and take the path towards denuclearisation.

Beijing's foreign ministry said Wang warned Park not to politicise economic and technology issues, amid China-U.S. tension over semiconductors and other trade disputes.

Kamikawa, meeting Wang on Saturday, expressed hopes for a security dialogue between Tokyo and Beijing "in the near future". Wang highlighted the need for China and Japan to ensure they "do not pose a threat" to each another and respect the legitimate concerns of each, Beijing said.

South Korea's Yoon and Japan's Kishida have moved to mend ties frayed by history and trade feuds, holding a historic three-way summit in August with Biden.

In July, Wang warned that U.S. efforts to strengthen ties with Seoul and Tokyo could fan regional tension and spark confrontation.

(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin in Seoul; Additional reporting by Sam Nussey and Daniel Leussink in Tokyo, Laurie Chen in Beijing and Hyunyoung Yi in Seoul; Editing by William Mallard, Clarence Fernandez and Nick Macfie)
Etihad Airways took to the skies with a spectacular flypast on November 26 directly above Yas Marina Circuit to mark the start of the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2023.

Etihads Boeing 787 Dreamliner passed over the track at an altitude of 600 ft, at precisely 16:44 and 55 seconds. The aircraft was followed by the UAEs aerobatic stunt team, Al Fursan, with seven aircraft representing the seven emirates of the UAE. Al Fursan took a V formation shortly behind the Dreamliner, with coloured vapour trails in the red, green and black colours of the UAE flag.

This years flypast is particularly special as it coincides with the airlines 20th anniversary. The flight was operated by four of Etihads most experienced pilots including Captain Driss Moussaoui who is also celebrating 20 years of flying for Etihad this month.

The Pilot in Command was Captain Abdullah Saleh, supported by Captain Mohammed Al Tamimi in the right seat, both pilots celebrating 18 years of service with Etihad.

While Captain Driss oversaw the communication with both Air Traffic Control and the Al Fursan team, it was the responsibility of Captain Mimmo Catalano, who has been an Etihad pilot for 19 years, to control the timing of the aircraft crossing the starting grid. It was an operation of precision as the flypast took place at the exact moment when the UAEs national anthem drew to a close  moments before the race began.

Antonoaldo Neves, Etihads Chief Executive Officer, said: This year, weve welcomed more international guests than ever before to this incredible event in Abu Dhabi. The flypast is a tradition enjoyed by fans on the ground and watched by millions around the world, and is a spectacular opening to the race.

This years race is particularly exciting as it coincides with Etihad celebrating 20 years of flying as well as the opening of our new home, Terminal A at Abu Dhabi International. Our talented pilots who operated todays flight have clocked up almost twenty years of flying with Etihad each, representing the passion and dedication of our entire pilot community.

As well as enjoying the action on the track, for the first year, Etihad Guest members with a Platinum tier status and Gold members with co-branded partner credit cards, were invited to enjoy the hospitality in the new and exclusive Etihad Guest Lounge located between Abu Dhabi Hill and the Main Grandstand.

International visitors to the Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix were among the worlds first passengers arriving at the new Terminal A at Abu Dhabi International, which opened earlier this month.

As well as streamlined and biometric check-in services, the new Terminal offers dedicated Business and First-Class check-in areas with fast tracked access through security. Guests in premium cabins and select Etihad Guest members can also enjoy Etihads First and Business Class lounges which span three floors and offer dining and bar services, relaxation rooms, games rooms and more.  TradeArabia News Service
By Natalie Thomas

LONDON (Reuters) -An estimated 50,000 demonstrators against antisemitism marched in London on Sunday to protest against a rise in hate crimes against Jews since the attack by Hamas militants on Israel in October and Israel's subsequent bombardment of Gaza.

Protestors carried placards bearing the messages "Shoulder to shoulder with British Jews" and "Zero tolerance for antisemites." Others showed the faces of Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Some people sang in Hebrew while others chanted "Bring them home" in reference to the hostages.

"Im here to support my Jewish community and I think we must stand up for ourselves, otherwise if we won't stand for ourselves who will, you know?" Avraham El Hay, a student, said.

London's Metropolitan Police received reports of 554 antisemitic offences between Oct. 1 and Nov. 1, up from 44 a year earlier, a more than 10-fold increase. Reports of Islamophobic offences almost tripled to 220 in the same period.

"I want this march to achieve for people to understand there is no place for racism in this country," Kate Worth, a travel agent, said. "We are all equal. And it's absolutely unacceptable what is happening right now for Jewish people."

Police arrested a far-right activist, Tommy Robinson, at the start of Sunday's march after he refused to leave the area at the request of police officers.

Organisers of the demonstration had asked Robinson not to attend because of the distress his presence was likely to cause.

Police also arrested a man who they said was heard to make antisemitic comments.

Sunday's march took place a day after a latest demonstration in the British capital by pro-Palestinian protestors calling for a permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Police estimated 45,000 people marched in the demonstration on Saturday while it said 50,000 took part in Sunday's protest.

The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which focuses on the concerns of Jewish people in Britain, said the gathering was the biggest of its kind since the so-called Battle of Cable Street in 1936 when British fascists clashed with opponents in an area of east London where many Jews lived at the time.

(Reporting by Natalie Thomas and William Schomberg, Editing by Louise Heavens)
Three young men of Palestinian descent who were in Burlington for a Thanksgiving holiday gathering were shot and injured, one seriously, near the University of Vermont, police said Sunday. Authorities said the attack may have been a hate crime.

The shootings occurred at about 6:25 p.m. Saturday near the UVM campus, according to Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad. He said police are searching for the shooter.

THE CHALLENGES MATT GAETZ FACES AFTER LEADING HOUSE INTO UNCERTAINTY

Two of the men are in stable condition and the other suffered "much more serious injuries," Murad said in a news release Sunday. The three, all age 20, were visiting the home of one of the victim's relatives and were walking when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun.

"Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled," Murad said in a news release. "All three victims were struck, two in their torsos and one in the lower extremities."

Murad said all three men are of Palestinian descent. Two are U.S. citizens and one is a legal resident. Two of the men were wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves.

Murad said there is no additional information to suggest the suspect's motive.

"My deepest condolences go out to the victims and their families," Murad said in the news release. "In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime. And I have already been in touch with federal investigatory and prosecutorial partners to prepare for that if it's proven."

He added, "The fact is that we don't yet know as much as we want to right now. But I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less."

Before Murad issued his news release, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee released a statement Sunday saying that the victims were Palestinian American college students and that there is "reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab."

The ADC said a man shouted and harassed the victims, who were conversing in Arabic, then proceeded to shoot them.

The FBI said it is aware of the shootings.

"If, in the course of the local investigation, information comes to light of a potential federal violation, the FBI is prepared to investigate," Sarah Ruane, an FBI spokesperson based in Albany, New York, said in a statement.

The White House said that President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and will continue to receive updates as law enforcement gathers more information.

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The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest or conviction of the person or people responsible for the shootings, the organization said in a statement.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding provided a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, that it described as being from the families of the victims.

"We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children," it said. "We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice."

In response to the shooting, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries encouraged people to "unequivocally denounce the startling rise of anti-Arab hate and Islamophobia in America."

"No one should ever be targeted for their ethnicity or religious affiliation in our country," the New York Democrat said in the statement posted on X. "We will not let hatred win."

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the attack.

"It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, VT. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation," Sanders said in a statement. "My thoughts are with them and their families."

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said that any indication that the shooting could have been motivated by hate is "chilling." Gov. Phil Scott called it a tragedy.

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"I urge Vermonters to unite to help the community heal, and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness," Scott said. "We must come together in these difficult times  it is the only way to put a stop to the violence we're seeing."

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions are escalating in the United States as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was back on track Sunday as the militants freed more hostages and Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners, all young men. It's the third exchange under the four-day truce deal.

Original Location: 3 men of Palestinian descent attending holiday gathering shot, injured near University of Vermont

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International leaders involved in the brokering of the agreement between Israel and Hamas for a temporary ceasefire are hopeful that it could be extended.

Israel and Hamas agreed to a temporary ceasefire lasting four days that is currently ongoing in which Hamas would release 50 hostages  women and children  in exchange for the cessation of fighting, the release of 150 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, and the increase of humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

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The 50 hostages make up less than a fourth of the total number of hostages Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller terror group also based in Gaza, hold. Israeli officials have said they would extend the ceasefire in exchange for the release of additional hostages, while Hamas has signaled it could do just that when the current agreement expires.

"This deal is delivering life-saving results. Critically needed aid is going in, and hostages are coming out. And there's still a structure so that it can be extended to keep building on these results," President Joe Biden said in remarks on Sunday. "That's my goal. That's our goal. To keep this pause going beyond tomorrow, so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those in need in Gaza."

The hostages were released in smaller groups on each day of the ceasefire. Abigail Edan, 4, became the first American released since the ceasefire took effect, among a group of 17 freed on Sunday. There are two other American women being held, while seven other men are as well.

Hamas said it wants "to extend the truce after the four-day period ends, through serious efforts to increase the number of those released from imprisonment as stipulated in the humanitarian ceasefire agreement."

Qatari Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Muhammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, who played a major role in brokering the agreement, said he was "hopeful" about an extension.

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"[W]e are hopeful. According to the agreement that been agreed upon in the last few days for this four days pause," Al Thani said on CBS's Face the Nation. "The agreement has a provision that if Hamas are  will be able to prove, to locate, and secure some of the hostages that are within the criteria of the first group, which is women and children, then it will be extended, depends on on the number that they will have."

The current ceasefire agreement is the first break in fighting since Israel declared war against Hamas following the Oct. 7 terror attack that left roughly 1,200 people dead, while 240 others were kidnapped and brought back to Gaza. Only four hostages had been released prior to the ceasefire.

Original Location: International leaders who brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire hostage deal hopeful about extension

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The U.S. military prevented a tanker from being seized in the Gulf of Aden, off the coast of Yemen, according to U.S. Central Command.

The USS Mason received a distress call from the Liberian-flagged Central Park tanker on Sunday. The distress signal informed U.S. and allied ships they were under attack by an unknown entity. When the United States and its allies arrived at the scene, they demanded the attackers release the vessel, which they did, and the perpetrators tried to flee but were apprehended.

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"Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded release of the vessel," CENTCOM said in a statement. "Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The MASON pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender. The crew of the M/V CENTRAL PARK is currently safe."

The Zodiac Maritime ship management company, which is one part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer's Zodiac Group, described the attack on the Liberian-flagged Central Park tanker as "a suspected piracy incident," according to the Associated Press.

In an undated photo released by Zodiac Maritime, the tanker Central Park is seen. (Zodiac Maritime/AP)

It's not clear yet who is responsible for hijacking the vessel.

"Our priority is the safety of our 22 crew onboard," Zodiac said in a statement. "The Turkish-captained vessel has a multinational crew consisting of a crew of Russian, Vietnamese, Bulgarian, Indian, Georgian and Filipino nationals. The vessel is carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid."

As the situation concluded, two ballistic missiles were fired in the direction of the USS Mason, though there was no damage or reported injuries, from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen. The strikes landed about 10 nautical miles from the ships, CENTCOM said.

The incident comes days after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean.

The Houthis, which are largely Yemeni rebels who have Iranian support, have shot down a United States drone, flown a drone in the direction of U.S. forces, fired missiles believed to be heading to Israel in the last couple of weeks, and seized an Israeli-linked vessel in the Red Sea.

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Last week, Houthi forces seized an Israel-connected vessel, taking the crew, about twenty-five people, hostage, while threatening to do it again in light of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza.

The Biden administration, following the hijacking of the Bahamas-flagged carrier Galaxy Leader, which is owned by Ray Car Carriers, said it would reconsider designating the Houthis a terrorist organization.

"In light of that recent targeting of civilians by the Houthis, recent targeting of civilians by the Houthis, and now the piracy of a ship in international waters, we have begun a review of potential terrorist designations and we'll be considering other options together with our allies and partners as well," National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said.

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U.S. navy carriers in the Middle East have intercepted missiles or drones from Yemen, presumably from the Houthis in particular, that officials suspected were targeting Israel or posing a threat to the U.S. forces twice in the last month. The USS Carney intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones in an incident last month, while last week, the USS Thomas Hudner shot down a drone that was flying toward it at the time.

The Houthis shot down a U.S. MQ-9 reaper drone over the Red Sea earlier this month, and the military did not try to recover.

Original Location: US military prevents Israel-linked tanker near Yemen from being seized

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Local police warned residents that a new feature available on the latest iPhone update could intrude on people's privacy, as the feature could potentially share contact information with strangers.

This feature, titled "NameDrop," allows iPhone and Apple Watch users to quickly share information with each other and is available to anyone who has downloaded the iOS 17.1 update. However, police departments across the country warned that this feature can lead to users sharing contact information with other people unintentionally.

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NameDrop is automatically turned on for users who have downloaded this update. For anyone who wants to turn this feature off, they can go to the iPhone or Apple Watch's settings, click "General," then "AirDrop," and finally switch "Bringing Devices Together" off.

"Don't forget to change these settings after the update on your children's phones as well," a statement from the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said.

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Apple has not made a statement about this feature or the privacy concerns that it poses. Most recently, Apple is one of several companies that suspended their ad campaigns on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Washington Examiner contacted Apple for comment.

Original Location: Police issue warning of new iPhone 'NameDrop' feature over privacy concerns

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Tesla has run into problems with the production of its novel vehicle, the Cybertruck.

The striking vehicle is unmatched in its unique design  futuristic and angular, with a stainless steel exterior. However, that design has become a headache for the company because the ultrahard stainless steel proves to be a pain to form into the vehicle.

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The Tesla Cybertruck is unveiled at Tesla's design studio on Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019, in Hawthorne, California. Ringo H.W. Chiu/AP

"We dug our own grave with Cybertruck," Musk lamented in an October earnings call, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The Cybertruck, unveiled in 2019, has since fallen behind schedule, largely due to production difficulties arising from the company's decision to use stainless steel. The material is far tougher and less malleable than cheaper alternatives, such as aluminum, leading to the auto industry mostly rejecting the use of it  the last company to use the material for a car was the DeLorean Motor Company, more than four decades ago.

Tesla's leadership believed the risk was worth it, highlighting the advantages of the material, such as better durability and strength. Musk had designers cut the material thicker than usual, at least partially, in order to make it bulletproof, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal.

People who have worked on the pickup have complained the thick material is exceedingly difficult to shape and flatten. The material is too hard for a stamping press, the technology used to make uniform panels easily, so Tesla must instead laser-cut and bend each panel into shape.

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"Forming full hard stainless steel isn't rocket science, but it sure isn't easy," Lars Moravy, Tesla's vehicle engineering vice president, told investors in March.

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These difficulties have led to several delays and cost overruns, but Musk remains hopeful about the vehicle. He predicted Tesla will eventually be able to produce roughly 250,000 of the vehicles per year, but that rate won't be reached before 2025.

The Washington Examiner reached out to Tesla for comment.

Original Location: Tesla's body problem: Ultrahard stainless steel truck causing headaches for EV giant

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WASHINGTON (AP)  Campaigning in Iowa this year, Donald Trump said he was prevented during his presidency from using the military to quell violence in primarily Democratic cities and states.

Calling New York City and Chicago "crime dens," the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination told his audience, "The next time, I'm not waiting. One of the things I did was let them run it and we're going to show how bad a job they do," he said. "Well, we did that. We don't have to wait any longer."

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Trump has not spelled out precisely how he might use the military during a second term, although he and his advisers have suggested they would have wide latitude to call up units. While deploying the military regularly within the country's borders would be a departure from tradition, the former president already has signaled an aggressive agenda if he wins, from mass deportations to travel bans imposed on certain Muslim-majority countries.

A law first crafted in the nation's infancy would give Trump as commander in chief almost unfettered power to do so, military and legal experts said in a series of interviews.

The Insurrection Act allows presidents to call on reserve or active-duty military units to respond to unrest in the states, an authority that is not reviewable by the courts. One of its few guardrails merely requires the president to request that the participants disperse.

"The principal constraint on the president's use of the Insurrection Act is basically political, that presidents don't want to be the guy who sent tanks rolling down Main Street," said Joseph Nunn, a national security expert with the Brennan Center for Justice. "There's not much really in the law to stay the president's hand."

A spokesman for Trump's campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment about what authority Trump might use to pursue his plans.

Congress passed the act in 1792, just four years after the Constitution was ratified. Nunn said it's an amalgamation of different statutes enacted between then and the 1870s, a time when there was little in the way of local law enforcement.

"It is a law that in many ways was created for a country that doesn't exist anymore," he said.

It also is one of the most substantial exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act, which generally prohibits using the military for law enforcement purposes.

Trump has spoken openly about his plans should he win the presidency, including using the military at the border and in cities struggling with violent crime. His plans also have included using the military against foreign drug cartels, a view echoed by other Republican primary candidates such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador and South Carolina governor.

The threats have raised questions about the meaning of military oaths, presidential power and who Trump could appoint to support his approach.

Trump already has suggested he might bring back retired Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, who served briefly as Trump's national security adviser and twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI during its Russian influence probe before being pardoned by Trump. Flynn suggested in the aftermath of the 2020 election that Trump could seize voting machines and order the military in some states to help rerun the election.

Attempts to invoke the Insurrection Act and use the military for domestic policing would likely elicit pushback from the Pentagon, where the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is Gen. Charles Q. Brown. He was one of the eight members of the Joint Chiefs who signed a memo to military personnel in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The memo emphasized the oaths they took and called the events of that day, which were intended to stop certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory over Trump, "sedition and insurrection."

Trump and his party nevertheless retain wide support among those who have served in the military. AP VoteCast, an in-depth survey of more than 94,000 voters nationwide, showed that 59% of U.S. military veterans voted for Trump in the 2020 presidential election. In the 2022 midterms, 57% of military veterans supported Republican candidates.

Presidents have issued a total of 40 proclamations invoking the law, some of those done multiple times for the same crisis, Nunn said. Lyndon Johnson invoked it three times  in Baltimore, Chicago and Washington  in response to the unrest in cities after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968.

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During the Civil Rights era, Presidents Johnson, John F. Kennedy and Dwight Eisenhower used the law to protect activists and students desegregating schools. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect Black students integrating Central High School after that state's governor activated the National Guard to keep the students out.

George H.W. Bush was the last president to use the Insurrection Act, a response to riots in Los Angeles in 1992 after the acquittal of the white police officers who beat Black motorist Rodney King in an incident that was videotaped.

Repeated attempts to invoke the act in a new Trump presidency could put pressure on military leaders, who could face consequences for their actions even if done at the direction of the president.

Michael O'Hanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution think tank, said the question is whether the military is being imaginative enough with the scenarios it has been presenting to future officers. Ambiguity, especially when force is involved, is not something military personnel are comfortable with, he said.

"There are a lot of institutional checks and balances in our country that are pretty well-developed legally, and it'll make it hard for a president to just do something randomly out of the blue," said O'Hanlon, who specializes in U.S. defense strategy and the use of military force. "But Trump is good at developing a semi-logical train of thought that might lead to a place where there's enough mayhem, there's enough violence and legal murkiness" to call in the military.

Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan of New York, the first graduate of the U.S. Military Academy to represent the congressional district that includes West Point, said he took the oath three times while he was at the school and additional times during his military career. He said there was extensive classroom focus on an officer's responsibilities to the Constitution and the people under his or her command.

"They really hammer into us the seriousness of the oath and who it was to, and who it wasn't to," he said.

Ryan said he thought it was universally understood, but Jan. 6 "was deeply disturbing and a wakeup call for me." Several veterans and active-duty military personnel were charged with crimes in connection with the assault.

While those connections were troubling, he said he thinks those who harbor similar sentiments make up a very small percentage of the military.

William Banks, a Syracuse University law professor and expert in national security law, said a military officer is not forced to follow "unlawful orders." That could create a difficult situation for leaders whose units are called on for domestic policing, since they can face charges for taking unlawful actions.

"But there is a big thumb on the scale in favor of the president's interpretation of whether the order is lawful," Banks said. "You'd have a really big row to hoe and you would have a big fuss inside the military if you chose not to follow a presidential order."

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Nunn, who has suggested steps to restrict the invocation of the law, said military personnel cannot be ordered to break the law.

"Members of the military are legally obliged to disobey an unlawful order. At the same time, that is a lot to ask of the military because they are also obliged to obey orders," he said. "And the punishment for disobeying an order that turns out to be lawful is your career is over, and you may well be going to jail for a very long time. The stakes for them are extraordinarily high."

Original Location: Trump hints at expanded role for the military within the US and legacy law gives him few guardrails

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Rachel Gabel is a longtime agriculture writer and the assistant editor of The Fence Post Magazine.
The Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU) will play a key role in the upcoming Saudi Green Initiative (SGI) and COP28 events in Dubai sharing its conservation lessons from the regeneration of AlUla County in north-west Saudi Arabia.

RCU's comprehensive environment and sustainability efforts will be featured in the SGI Gallery. It will also participate in the Saudi Pavilion at COP28, focusing on sustainable tourism.

RCU leaders will engage in key discussion sessions alongside other global change-makers.

The SGI Gallery and COP28 are running concurrently from November 30 to December 12. The affiliated SGI Forum will be a one-day event on December 4. At these events government officials from across the world, as well as representatives from civil society, will gather in Dubai to tackle the global challenge of climate change.

Measurable action

In the Saudi Pavilion at COP28, and at the SGI Gallery and Forum, the kingdom will be sharing its commitments and achievements to overcoming environmental challenges through measurable action, delivering on the SGI targets of reducing emissions, greening Saudi, and protecting land and sea.

The environment and sustainability efforts that RCU will showcase are founded on its commitment to the principles of the AlUla Sustainability Charter, which include light-touch tourism, circular economy and resilience.

Waleed AlDayel, RCUs Chief of Strategy and Digital, said: RCUs sustainability strategy is restoring the power of natures balance in north-west Saudi Arabia. This comprehensive strategy will enable us to achieve net zero carbon for local emissions in AlUla by 2035 and contribute to the wider climate goals of the kingdom. We look forward to sharing our lessons with the world.

By translating the AlUla Sustainability Charter into action, RCU is implementing an integrated, regenerative approach that unites environment and sustainability policies, plans, and practices.

Arab Environment Capital

AlUla is an Arab Environment Capital 2023 nominee and has concluded development of eight sets of guidelines to support the delivery of planning outcomes based on the charter, which eventually will serve as public policy instruments.

AlUlas environment and sustainability sector employs a multidisciplinary and innovative approach that promotes environmental, cultural, social, and economic sustainability through globally recognised best practices.

From waste and water management strategies to increased implementation of renewable energy, only a holistic approach will enable AlUla to deliver on its local commitments to support national and global climate goals and become a sustainable tourist destination. To track and monitor these extensive activities, RCU has conducted its first Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) Maturity Assessment, is developing an Environmental and Sustainability Compliance Assurance Program, is conducting Strategic Environmental Assessments, and will publish a comprehensive Sustainability Report.

Restoring ecosystem

RCUs environment and sustainability efforts also include restoring AlUlas ecosystem from the grassroots up to raise vegetation cover and reduce land degradation. Vegetation is the literal grassroots of an ecosystem, and RCUs re-greening efforts include direct planting as well as policies and management controls enabling nature to revive itself, innovative ecological restoration technologies piloted at Sharaan Nature Reserve, extensive efforts to save Acacia trees, the revival of AlUlas Cultural Oasis, and delivery of a plant nursery and seed bank.

Finally, RCUs restoration of the power of natures balance extends to biodiversity and wildlife habitats. Key measures include the development of a Mitigation & Ecological Compensation Programme, establishing and managing nature reserves, and monitoring flora and fauna to enable biodiversity conservation planning.

Additionally, RCU carries out captive breeding, environmental assessment, and habitat restoration, with the restoration efforts to bring back the Arabian Leopard, which is critically endangered in the wild, as a prime example.--TradeArabia News Service
New Denver education board members to take oath of office, DOJ files suit against Colorado over disabilities law | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
The trial of a Woden man arrested for murder in October has been scheduled to begin Jan. 24.

According to court records, 56-year-old Roger Laverne Crews is facing life in prison after allegedly killing Karen Abby Crews, 56, on Oct. 27 or 28.

The Hancock County Sheriff's Office was dispatched to 633 Way Ave. in Woden for a welfare check at 11:11 a.m. Oct. 28. Upon entering the premises, deputies found Karen Crews and declared her deceased at the scene.

According to a report from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, the pair were separated and living apart. The exact cause of death is still being investigated.
An Iowa man is facing more than 20 years in prison after allegedly sexually abusing a child in Garner from 2017 to 2019.

According to court records, 38-year-old Charles Eugene Pennington of New Virginia, Iowa, has been charged with two counts of third-degree sex abuse and one count of indecent contact with a child.

Court papers state Garner Police responded to a 911 call Jan. 11 in reference to a sexual abuse allegation. The alleged victim told authorities that Pennington had been abusing them on numerous occasions over the course of two years from the time they were 13.

Pennington was served an arrest warrant Nov. 17 and is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 12.
As Gaza enters the last day of the four-day ceasefire, people are being confronted with the damage caused by Israel's bombardments - in some areas, entire villages have been reduced to rubble and civilian casualties have been found in the streets.
N.C. A&T has announced its newest cohort of Woodland Ellroy Hall Fellows  10 masters and doctoral students who are committed to excellence in scholarship, professional capabilities and leadership in research university setting.

The Graduate College continues to be impressed by the caliber of students who apply each year for the Woodland Hall Fellowship, said Clay Gloster, Ph.D., vice provost of Graduate Research and dean of The Graduate College. The pool of candidates for the 2022-23 cohort was equally completive making the selection process difficult, which is a great problem to have. This years recipients rose to the top and will represent the program and North Carolina A&T State University well.

The fellowship is named for Hall (1909-2004), the first student to earn a graduate degree from A&T in 1941. Hall, a native Virginian, earned a bachelors degree in agriculture from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a masters degree in agricultural education at A&T  where his thesis was A Study of the Needs In Vocational Agricultural Education of Negroes In Gates County, North Carolina  and a second masters degree at Columbia University. He also did doctoral work at Pennsylvania State University.

Hall went on to serve as a principal in Manteo, Burlington and Dunn. The state honors his legacy of exemplary service and leadership through this scholarship program.

Fellows are selected on the basis of merit and academic potential, not financial need. Both doctoral and masters recipients receive a one-year award that provides full tuition, fees and health insurance. Doctoral students receive a $20,000 stipend and masters students receive a $16,000 stipend.

 Pippin Bucholtz, of St. Louis, attended Guilford College in Greensboro where he earned bachelors degrees in sustainable food systems and environmental studies. After graduating from A&T with a masters in agriculture and environmental sciences, Bucholtz would like to pursue careers in soil science and permaculture design.

 Aaronde Seckou Creighton, of Atlanta, and is enrolled in A&Ts doctoral leadership studies program. His interests lie in researching how the lived experiences of Black executives shape their leadership styles. He holds a B.S. in sociology from Virginia Commonwealth University and a M.S. in positive organization development and change from Case Western Reserve University.

 Kianna Hendricks, of Ahoskie, earned her B.S. in economics from A&T and holds an Associate of Arts from the College of Albemarle. After graduating from A&T with a masters in data science and engineering, she plans on pursuing a Ph.D. and continuing bioinformatics research.

 Madison Lawson, of Charlotte, earned her B.A. in English with a technical writing concentration and a public relations minor. She is a first-year English and African American Literature masters student who plans on pursuing a Ph.D. and becoming an archivist of African-American literature and history.

 Maya Mitchell, of Bowie, Md., earned her B.S. in civil engineering from UNC-Charlotte and is pursuing an M.S. in industrial and systems engineering at A&T. She aspires to earn a Ph.D. in engineering after accumulating meaningful experience in the workplace. Her ultimate goal is to become a professor and contribute to academia.

 Kiyana Roberts, a first-generation graduate of Cheyney University of Pennsylvania in 2021, is pursuing her MBA at A&T. A Jersey City, N.J. native, her enthusiasm lies in providing deserving young leaders with the opportunities they need to succeed. She regularly shares her historically Black university experience to inspire the next generation. Her goal is to serve as a pillar of resources in her community and bridge the gap for underrepresented future professionals, highlighting the value they bring to the table.

 Saqib Shahzad, of Greensboro, earned B.S. in criminal justice from A&T and masters degree in criminal justice from Fayetteville State University. He is enrolled in A&Ts doctoral leadership studies program and looks forward to becoming a double alumnus. After graduation, he hopes to contribute to a broader conversation about criminal justice matters through research, practical expertise and policy making.

 Marisha Williams, an artist and educator from Danville, Va., earned her Bachelor of Music Education from UNCG in 2020. Soon afterward, she became the first Black orchestra director at Penn Griffin School for the Arts in High Point and served her community for three years. During this time, she also became a director for the nonprofit A Collective of Excellence INC. in Greensboro, where she handles all academic affairs. Williams is pursuing an M.S. in adult education at A&T, where she serves as a graduate assistant and bassist for the universitys jazz ensemble. Her goal is to continue to inspire and spark positive change within the education system as a whole through her interdisciplinary creative art and research.

 Micah Wyatt is a licensed marriage and family therapist residing in Moore County. He holds masters degrees in mental and behavioral health from the University of Phoenix and marriage and family therapy from Cappella University and is pursuing his doctoral degree in counselor education and supervision from A&T. He has a wealth of experience working with marginalized community members in both rural and inner-city areas focusing on evidenced-based practices within communities of color. His research interests include the effectiveness of evidence-based practices within marginalized communities, the development of existential treatment approaches within the Black lived experience, and the success rates of marriages within African-American communities. After graduating, he plans to pursue tenure at an R1 institution and continue his research efforts. Additionally, he plans to open a small private practice focusing on Individual, marital and couples counseling and providing supervision to new clinicians.

 Abigail Yohannes, of San Jose, Calif., earned her bachelors degree in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a post baccalaureate certificate in data analytics from A&T. She is working toward her masters degree in data science and engineering from A&T. Upon graduation, she plans to enter the tech industry and use her experience to empower young Black women to pursue careers in STEM and engineering fields.
The fifth(GAF 2023) will be inaugurated by Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Greenfield International Stadium, Kariavattom. The festival, themed on '', aims to revitalize efforts to harness Ayurveda's potential in addressing challenges in the health sector. This was announced by Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan during a press conference.The Centre for Innovation in Science and Social Action (CISSA) is organizing GAF 2023 with the support of the Ministry of Ayush, the Government of India, the Department of Ayush, Government of Kerala, and various Ayurveda associations. The event is expected to host delegations from 70 countries and will bring together Ayurveda practitioners, researchers, policymakers, and industry leaders. One of the event's main highlights is the International Ayurveda Seminar, which will feature keynote sessions, plenary lectures, and invited talks.An international cooperation conclave, which will be inaugurated by Sisira Jayakody, Minister of State for Indigenous Medicine, Sri Lanka, is planned as a global gathering of leading Ayurvedic practitioners from 70 countries. Union Ayush Minister Sarbananda Sonowal will inaugurate a 'National Arogya Fair' on the opening day. The fair will showcase a diverse range of medicinal plants and their utilization in Ayurvedic preparations. Stalls and pavilions of major Ayush institutions and Ayurveda colleges will be the big attraction at the fair, according to the organizers.The President of Mauritius, Prithvirajsing Roopun, will be the chief guest at a business-to-business (B2B) meeting focused on Ayurveda-based medical tourism and products. The event will be inaugurated by Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Narayan Rane. Some of the highlights of this five-day event include seminars on Vrikshayurveda and Mrigayurveda, a free medical camp with 25 specialty clinics, an 'Ayurveda Aahar' food court, and a Medicinal Plant Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO) meet. The Governor, Arif Mohammed Khan, will inaugurate the valedictory session.
DECATUR  Police responding to 911 calls reporting an active shooter in Decatur said they came across the aftermath of a street gunfight Sunday evening that left some 30 spent shell casings littering the road.

Officers were detailed to the 500 block of South Church Street about 6:30 p.m. in reference to a male actively shooting, said Detective Sgt. Brian Earles.

Earles said the gunman had fled prior to police arrival but they soon located a witness who saw the violence as it unfolded. They located the crime scene with about 30 shell casings lying in the street and a witness who observed a man in a red hoodie shooting at a black sedan, Earles added.

The car had a rear seat passenger who was shooting back at the man in the red hoodie.

The detective said the shell casings were from more than one weapon and supported the description of a gun battle. We only found one vehicle that was damaged after all of that and we have no reports of injuries, Earles said.

We do actually have more witnesses who saw this and we have got some surveillance video; we're hopeful of our leads on this one.

Anyone with information can call police direct at (217) 424-2734 or Crime Stoppers at (217) 423-8477. Cash rewards are paid for information leading to an arrest.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park
DECATUR  Police are searching for a man who knocked a female employee to the floor and looted the safe of a Decatur auto parts business Sunday morning.

Detective Sgt. Brian Earles with Decatur police said the masked suspect surprised the 19-year-old employee after 8 a.m. when he confronted her inside Advance Auto Parts in the 1100 block of East Eldorado Street, having gained entry to the business before it had opened.

The employee said the man knocked her down and then demanded she open the safe, which she did, and the man then ran off with a bunch of cash. The employee was not hurt.

Earles said police are working leads and evidence related to the crime and said weve got some information to follow-up on.

2023 mugshots from the Herald & Review Lourash Hirstein Phillip Gehrken Joseph A. Williams Jetrevius O. Jarrett Edwards King-Woods Wilson Derrickson Colby J. Park
DECATUR  It was beginning to look a lot like Christmas in parts of Central Illinois on Sunday as snow showers moved into the area ahead of a sharp cold snap.

Just how festive the weather got depended on your location. Decatur received a light dusting that didnt stick around long, while Bloomington and areas north and west up to Chicago saw totals ranging from 2 or 3 inches.

Mattoon managed to escape all of it, the temperatures never falling low enough in that area to do anything but rain, according to the National Weather Service office in Lincoln.

The gettingaroundillinois.com road condition map from the Illinois Department of Transportation showed a network of snow and ice-covered roads north and west of Champaign and stretching up to the Wisconsin border.

There were no widespread reports of traffic crashes, but National Weather Service Meteorologist Matt Barnes said it was the kind of conditions where he wouldn't be surprised to see a few fender-benders.

Barnes said Central Illinois typically sees around an inch of snow in November, and Sunday's weather was pretty much right on target.

But, temperature-wise, the first dash of snow for the year brought with it a chill that was decidedly colder than usual.

After Sunday, things are going to be very cold for a couple of days, said Barnes. High temperatures for Monday will probably remain at or maybe even a little below freezing. Tuesday will be pretty much the same thing as we look at highs around 30 degrees. That is a full 15 degrees below normal for this time of year.

And it gets even worse at night: Mondays nighttime temperature is forecast at a frigid 16 degrees with a northwest wind of 10 to 14 mph making it feel a lot colder than that. Lows Tuesday night were predicted at 25, and that will feel much colder with winds as high as 28 mph ramping up the wind chill factor.

Relief, however, is on the way. Things are going to warm up quite a bit after Tuesday, said Barnes. Were back in the 40s by Wednesday and then, by Thursday, were going to be nosing up close to 50 degrees. So were getting back to normal and maybe a tad above by Thursday and Friday.

The warmer temps come bearing gifts of precipitation, but Barnes said that will be in the form of rain likely to start Thursday night and continue into Friday and Friday night.

Nationwide, among the worst places to be weather-wise over the weekend was Wichita, Kansas, blanketed by 8 inches of snow, breaking a daily record. Topeka was hit with 6.3 inches while a mix of sleet and freezing rain coated the Texas Panhandle into northwestern Oklahoma, causing widespread accidents and traffic chaos as families tried to get home from Thanksgiving.

Brrr! All-time snowfall records Records from the Lincoln Climate February 23, 1914 Big snow, big news January 13, 1927 December 25, 1909 November 17, 1926 March 16, 1960 April 4, 1920 October 23, 1929 A rare second photograph Traces of snow in May Looking for more?
Wind power may be having a difficult year, but its still many times cheaper than oil or gas and remains a core piece of the energy-transition puzzle. A single rotation of a 260-meter-tall offshore turbine  General Electric Co.s Haliade-X 13 MW, to be precise  can produce enough energy to power a household for more than two days, emitting no carbon or other pollutants.

Not everyone is a fan. NIMBYism, which stands for "not in my backyard," is one of the biggest barriers to green energy installations, as local residents protest view-ruining turbines. But one concern regularly crops up that I have some sympathy for: how wind farms affect wildlife. After all, were facing a biodiversity crisis, too.

Where wind turbines are truly impacting animals, effective and often cheap mitigation measures are available.

Take bats. Around the world, our flying mammals are being taken out by wind turbines, either struck directly by a blade or suffering from barotrauma  damage to tissues from air pressure changes around turbines. One estimate puts annual bat fatalities somewhere between 600,000 and 900,000 in North America alone.

Research points to a simple solution. Rodrigo Medellin, an ecologist known as the bat man of Mexico, explained that, as a default, turbines typically start spinning at a wind speed of around three meters per second: a gentle breeze. But many studies have found that increasing the speed at which turbines become operational to six meters per second reduces fatalities significantly. Thats likely because insects, which certain species love to feast on, cant fly at those higher wind speeds, so bats dont either.

And the cost in lost energy is negligible. If all turbines operated in that way, the annual energy losses would be just 1%. That feels worth it to save some vital pollinators and pest controllers.

Its now a legal requirement in the European Union to curb wind farms during times of peak bat activity: in the migration season, when wind speeds are low and temperatures are mild. New technology promises smart curtailment, taking local bat activity, temperatures and wind speeds into consideration, continuing to reduce bat fatalities while minimizing potential energy loss.

In Africa and southern Europe, vultures have been struggling with wind turbines. Though these raptors have excellent eyesight to spot carrion on the ground, they have a tendency to miss the large white rotating towers that weve erected in their habitat. Thats due to a sizable blind spot which stops them seeing directly in front of them as they fly. It possibly evolved to help them avoid being blinded by the sun -- an effective method until humans came along and added obstacles.

Plenty can be done to help avoid collisions, such as clearing up carrion, the dead animals that attracts raptors. But the best thing to do is just to stop the turbines. A study of 13 wind farms in Spain showed that selective stopping techniques -- halting turbines when vultures fly too close -- halved mortality rates with a reduction of just 0.07% in total energy production per year. This method is in operation at Kipeto wind farm in Kenyas Rift Valley, which is located close to a large colony of endangered Ruppells vultures. In 2022, the bird-related shutdowns caused a loss of just 0.014% of the years budgeted energy production.

For other bird species, a simple paint job might suffice. A 2020 Norwegian study at a wind farm that was killing white-tailed eagles found painting one blade black reduced the mortality rate by 70%. Projects in other regions are testing striped blades.

The threat posed to wildlife has been weaponized by clean-energy skeptics. Former President Donald Trump, for instance, mourned the death of all the birds killed by wind power. But the number of avian deaths from colliding with turbines pales in comparison to the 2.4 billion murdered every year by domestic cats.

Clean energy also kills far fewer animals than fossil-fuel power plants do. A 2012 study estimated that wind and nuclear energy kills between 0.3 and 0.4 birds per gigawatt-hour of electricity produced, compared to 5.2 birds killed per GWh of electricity from fossil-fuel projects.

Recently, as more wind projects are installed on the East Coast, spurious connections have been made between the construction work and washed-up whales. Wind opponents claim that sonar-equipped exploration devices used to find wind farm sites are to blame, despite there being no evidence to back up their arguments. Never mind that wind developers have a legal obligation to ensure no marine mammals are in the vicinity before using the sonar and that the tools are much less powerful than those used in offshore oil and gas exploration.

I dont blame people for becoming wrapped up in these fears. A dead whale on a beach is a highly emotive symbol  more visible than the gigawatts of pollution-free electricity produced by wind turbines every year, and certainly more visible than the thousands of animals unaffected by clean energy installations.

Unfortunately, about 75% of wind turbines are operating without bat curtailment in Germany due to them being built before EU regulation came in. And there are plenty of countries, such as Medellins Mexico, that dont have rules in place to help protect bats or birds.

But lets remember that, mitigated or not, turbines are far less destructive than the effects of untamed climate disasters.

If youre worried about the animals at a wind farm going up near you, dont oppose the project. Demand that the developer implements known techniques to minimize fatalities. We can have both wildlife and wind energy.
In the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress sent $190 billion in aid to schools, stipulating that 20% of the funds be used for reversing learning setbacks. At the time, educators knew that the impact on how children learn would be significant, but the extent was not yet known.

The evidence is now in, and it is startling. The school closures that took 50 million children out of classrooms at the start of the pandemic may prove to be the most damaging disruption in the history of American education. It also set student progress in math and reading back by two decades and widened the achievement gap that separates poor and wealthy children.

These learning losses will remain unaddressed when the federal money runs out in 2024. Economists are predicting that this generation, with such a significant educational gap, will experience diminished lifetime earnings and become a significant drag on the economy. But education administrators and elected officials who should be mobilizing the country against this threat are not.

It will take a multidisciplinary approach, and all the solutions that will be needed long term cant be known. The work of getting kids back on solid ground is just beginning. But that doesnt mean there shouldnt be immediate action.

As a first step, elected officials at every level will need to devote substantial resources to replace the federal aid that is set to expire and must begin making up lost ground. This is a bipartisan issue, and parents, teachers and leaders in education have a role to play as well, in making sure that addressing learning loss receives urgent attention.

The challenges have been compounded by an epidemic of absenteeism, as students who grew accustomed to missing school during the pandemic continue to do so after the resumption of in-person classes. Millions of young people have joined the ranks of the chronically absent  those who miss 10% or more of the school year  and for whom absenteeism will translate into gaps in learning.

In the early grades, these missing children are at greater risk of never mastering the comprehension skills that make education possible. The more absences these students accumulate, the more they miss out on the process of socialization through which young people learn to live and work with others. The more they lag academically, the more likely they are to drop out. ...

This fall, The Associated Press illustrated how school attendance has cratered across the United States, using data compiled in partnership with the Stanford University education professor Thomas Dee. More than a quarter of students were chronically absent in the 2021-22 school year, up from 15 percent before the pandemic. That means an additional 6.5 million students joined the ranks of the chronically absent.

The problem is pronounced in poorer districts like Oakland, Calif., where the chronic absenteeism rate exceeded 61 percent. But as the policy analyst Tim Daly wrote recently, absenteeism is rampant in wealthy schools, too. Consider New Trier Township High School in Illinois, a revered and highly competitive school that serves some of the countrys most affluent communities. Last spring, The Chicago Tribune reported that New Triers rate of chronic absenteeism got worse by class, reaching nearly 38 percent among its seniors.

The Times reported on Friday that preliminary data for 2022-23 showed a slight improvement in attendance. However, in some states, like California and New Mexico, the rate of chronic absenteeism was still double what it was before the pandemic. The solutions are not simple. There is extensive evidence that punitive measures dont work, so educators may need a combination of incentives and measures to address the economic and family issues that can keep children away from school.

Researchers have long known that American students grow more alienated from school the longer they attend  and that they often fall off the school engagement cliff, at which point they no longer care. This sense of disconnection stems from a feeling among high school students in particular that no one at school cares about them and that the courses they study bear no relationship to the challenges they face in the real world.

These young people are also vulnerable to mental health difficulties that worsened during the pandemic. Based on survey data collected in 2021, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this year that 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.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, many parents and educators have been raising the alarm about the effects of grief, isolation and other disruptions on the mental health of their children. In addition to reconnecting these young people to school, states and localities need to create a more supportive school environment and provide the counseling services these students need to succeed.

Virginia took a big swing at the problem of learning loss when it announced what is being described as a statewide tutoring program. But high-impact tutoring is labor intensive and depends on high-quality instruction. It is most likely to succeed when sessions are held at least three times a week  during school hours  with well-trained, well-managed tutors working with four or fewer students at a time. Such an effort would require a massive recruitment effort, at a time when many schools are still struggling to find enough teachers.

While tutoring is a step in the right direction, other measures to increase the time that students spend in school  such as after-school programs and summer school  will be required to help the students who have fallen furthest behind. In some communities, children have fallen behind by more than a year and a half in math. It is magical thinking to expect they will make this happen without a major increase in instructional time, as the researchers Tom Kane and Sean Reardon recently argued.

A study of data from 16 states by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University shows that the most effective way to reverse learning loss is to increase the pace at which students learn. One way is by exposing them to teachers who have had an extraordinary impact on their students. The center proposes offering these excellent teachers extra compensation in exchange for taking extra students into their classes. Highly trained, dedicated teachers have long been known to be the most reliable path to better educational outcomes, but finding them at any scale has always been difficult. If creative solutions can be found, it will help reverse learning gaps from the pandemic and improve American education overall.

The learning loss crisis is more consequential than many elected officials have yet acknowledged. A collective sense of urgency by all Americans will be required to avert its most devastating effects on the nations children.
WISE, Va.  Funded by a $100,000 federal grant, the University of Virginias College at Wise announced Monday it is part of a higher education collaborative effort designed to increase access to science and technology-based education and employment.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded a $100,000 planning grant to the Pathways to Access, Collaboration and Equity for Central Appalachian Students (PACE) project.

PACE is a collaboration of three higher education institutions, two in rural Central Appalachia  UVA Wise and Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College  and the University of Virginia (UVA).

The Kentucky college operates six campuses in nearby Kentucky towns including Barbourville, Cumberland, Harlan, Middlesboro, Pineville and Whitesburg.

Increasing access and support for Central Appalachian students to earn (STEM) undergraduate degrees is the main mission of the project. Its also aimed at helping to fill the national demand for trained experts and professionals in STEM.

This is about ensuring all of the talented students in our region who want to pursue STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] have access to a STEM education and the opportunity to make their contributions to STEM, said UVA Wise Associate Professor of Biology Josephine Rodriguez, who is a co-principal investigator that served on the original team that secured the grant. We want to develop the talent and train students to be the brainpower that is needed for a next-generation Southwest Virginia workforce.

The program seeks to raise the number of low-income academically talented students with demonstrated financial need who earn degrees in STEM fields. It also aims to improve the education of future STEM workers, and to generate knowledge about academic success, retention, transfer, graduation and career pathways of low-income students.

To do that, PACE aims to support students who face greater financial need and provide opportunities through partnerships to expand pathways to help them graduate and land jobs or further their education in STEM fields in graduate school or doctoral. programs, according to the statement.

We want students to learn that there are wonderful opportunities available and not wait until they are a junior in college, but start early in their academic journey. We want to raise the awareness there are great opportunities in technology, innovation and STEM from K-12 through a four-year degree and beyond, said UVA Wise Associate Professor of Information Systems Karen Carter, who will also serve as a co-principal investigator.

For the next year, PACE will host meetings, planning workshops and a learning series. The group will also conduct an organizational and needs assessment and analyze regional job prospects in preparation for submitting a new multi-institution proposal for up to $5 million by 2025.

The new effort builds on the success of UVA Wises 2018 NSF grant. Since then, the college recruited its first cohort of 26 and 13 have graduated and begun STEM careers or graduate programs.

These are transformative investments in the lives of our really talented young people, said Rodriguez, who is the principal investigator for the 2018 NSF S-STEM Track 1 UVA Wise grant. Weve already seen the impact of our first NSF grant. This grant allows us to continue our work in supporting our students and tapping into the human potential and capital in our region. Its endless.

Through the planning grant, PACE aims to increase opportunities for students by strengthening existing partnerships and fostering new ones within the region including two-year community colleges, scientific and technical companies as well as the Virginia Community College System, the Appalachia Regional Commission, Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) and other regional educational and workforce stakeholders.

We are thrilled to be a part of this collaboration, said Wheeler Conover, professor of chemistry at SKCTC who serves as co-principal investigator for the project. Historically, students who have transferred to UVA Wise from community colleges have enjoyed significant success. As a result, leadership reached out to the community college partners and expanded the program. Our students rarely have these kinds of research opportunities, so it gives our students  including our dual credit students  the opportunity to go down that path and have access to scholarships and STEM-based careers.
BRISTOL, Tenn.  Renovations at the Stone Castle have begun as a portion of the visitors side seats are being demolished and replaced with new ADA-accessible grandstands.

The main project is really to improve the ADA accessibility at the Castle, said Bristol, Tennessee City Schools Chief Facilities and Maintenance Officer Curt Rutherford.

Rutherford explained that the renovations that started on November 13 will include a series of ramps and sidewalk improvements in and around Tennessee High School, which will allow for greater accessibility to the Stone Castle.

Starting in the student parking lot on Southside Avenue, theres gonna be a series of ramps from that parking lot to essentially the back entrance of Tennessee High and then along that path, going into the Stone Castle some sidewalk improvements and making sure that all of our slopes are correct and just allow wheelchair access to the home and visitor sides of the castle, Rutherford said.

Rutherford does not foresee any big delays outside of the occasional rainy day and believes that BurWil Construction will have no trouble meeting the project deadline of Summer 2024.

I think BurWil has a good plan for making that happen and get everything done in plenty of time for next school year, Rutherford said.

The $3.6 million in renovations to the Stone Castle are the result of a civil rights complaint that was filed with the Office of Civil Rights in 2020 regarding the lack of ADA accessibility at the Bristol Municipal Stadium.

Bristol, Tennessee City Schools is funding $3 million of the renovations with the city of Bristol, Tennessee, agreeing to cover the remaining $600,000 in three installments of $200,000 over the next three years.

Its an iconic structure in our town, said Rutherford. I think its good for our city to have this structure maintained and in the shape thats going to last another 90 years or more.
Mimi Phifer still remembers the whistle of the train as it chugged through Morganton, carrying passengers on their journeys through the Tar Heel State.

As a girl, it was a way to go visit her grandmother in Orlando, or to have her grandmother come up to see her family. Phifer and her sister would take the train across the state to Morehead City for summer camp each year. And one year, her family even rode the train to Canada to see her father speak at a Kiwanis Club event.

While the train whistle may still sound in Morganton on occasion, it no longer comes with the excitement and flurry of passengers eager to continue their travels or return home.

But Phifer, back in Morganton after living for some time in Winston-Salem, is hoping with the right push from the public and other rail proponents, the passenger rail will have a resurgence.

She said she first read about the possibility of the trains return in a News Herald article outlining a North Carolina Department of Transportation feasibility study.

State officials have eyed the prospect of expanding passenger rail service since 2001, but said federal dollars would have to come into play to make that happen. The passing of 2021s Infrastructure and Investment Jobs Act may have been a step in the right direction for passenger rail service.

When she saw the story, Phifer said she reached out to her neighbors, Barbara Lynam, and some other friends to discuss it.

(I) said, the trains a-coming, Phifer said. Weve got to get on this.

They met up and made a list of all the reasons they thought the return of passenger rail to North Carolina would help Morganton and Burke County.

It would be good for the environment, it would be so good for Morgantons economy, Phifer said. People without a drivers license could take the train back and forth to Asheville, for instance. People could go up to Asheville and have dinner and drink wine and take the train back home. Students from the (North Carolina School of Science and Math) and the deaf school and Western Piedmont could take the train from home up here.

They invited a couple of more friends for a meeting on Lynams front porch, then decided it was time to mobilize.

We decided we would have a meeting  and each of us would invite 10 people, Lynam said.

Since then, their group  named Waiting for the Train as a nod to the Jimmie Rodgers song by a similar title  has been meeting regularly, hoping to spread the word about their mission to bring passenger rail service back to Burke County.

Were about forward momentum, Phifer said. If we see something and we think of a chance, we think of something we could do, then we move on it, and its working for us.

She said this whole journey has been about staying optimistic and keeping the end goal in sight.

If you look to the end and expect success, if you just look at the end and expect a good outcome, then you dont really have to worry about what goes on in between, Phifer said. You just take the next step forward.

On Tuesday, theyre hoping to have all the support they can get at the Morganton Train Depot, 624 S. Green St., where theyll be hosting Drinks at the Depot from 5-7:30 p.m., according to an email from the group.

In an email to supporters, Phifer and Lynam said there will be multiple elected officials in attendance from both local and state offices.

Lets show them the broad-based support there is for passenger rail and convince them of its many economic benefits, Phifer and Lynam said in the email.

Local governing boards, including the Morganton City Council, Valdese Town Council and Burke County Board of Commissioners, have recently approved resolutions expressing support for the return of passenger rail service. And on Nov. 17, Gov. Roy Cooper joined state transportation and Amtrak leaders to tout record ridership levels for the states passenger rail service.

Phifer said their group would love to connect with other groups in cities like Statesville, Conover, Old Fort and Marion, along the Interstate 40 corridor where the feasibility study suggested stops.

Anyone interested in learning more about Waiting for the Train can find them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/morgantonpassengertrain or email morgantonpassengertrain@gmail.com.
As usual, Phil Meyer got there first.

In 2005, the veteran journalist and professor spoke at an academic conference in San Antonio. The demassification of the media did not start with the Internet, he told a room full of people whod long assumed otherwise.

As early as the 1970s, a proliferation of broadcast outlets and specialty magazines targeting niche markets had done much to individualize media consumption. Then came cable television, VCRs, and DVDs. The Internet accentuated a trend already underway, though with especially devastating effects on the business model of newspapers.

Were going to need some new institutions if were going to save journalism, he concluded.

Three years later, at a symposium held in his honor at what is now the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media, Phil Meyer described what he had in mind.

The hunter-gatherer model of journalism is no longer sufficient, he told his assembled colleagues and former students. Citizens can do their own hunting and gathering on the Internet. What they need is somebody to add value to that information by processing it  digesting it, organizing it, making it usable.

Meyer pointed to Nobel Prize-winning economist Ronald Coases insight about why business firms exist: to reduce transaction costs for owners, workers, vendors, and consumers.

If a manager had to negotiate with a freelancer for every task, the cost in time would be unbearably high, he explained. Searching for information on the Internet involves something like transaction costs because we have so many varied sources to evaluate. We need somebody we trust to organize them for us. That can be the task of the new journalism.

In the 15 years since that symposium in Meyers beloved Chapel Hill, some entrepreneurs have built new media institutions that function much as he predicted, as trusted curators of information for audiences who share common interests or values. In addition, some preexisting outlets successfully reinvented themselves along similar lines.

Theyre thriving, or at least surviving. The rest have disappeared or seem destined to.

What does Phil Meyer think will happen next? I wish I could ask my former instructor and employer. He passed away on Nov. 4 at the age of 93.

Meyer taught the first journalism class I took at UNC-Chapel Hill, a basic course on newswriting. As a professor, he was demanding  I can only hope those first marked-up stories of mine never again see the light of day  as well as engaging and patient.

Meyer also was intensely curious, making it clear that aspiring journalists ought to exhibit the same trait or aspire to do something else. I think it was curiosity that later led him to hire me as his assistant.

I managed his correspondence, chased down journal articles in the library, and helped him organize an annual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research. I suppose I performed these functions competently, but so could any of his other students. What really set me apart was that I was a young, Reagan-loving conservative. Meyer was neither. Every time I entered his office, he had a new political question to ask me. I reciprocated.

Phil Meyers illustrious journalism career took him from an assistant editor at the Daily Capital in Topeka, Kansas, to one of the first columnists for USA Today. Along the way, he was part of a Detroit Free Press team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 1968 for covering the citys deadly riots.

Detroit politicians had blamed poor, uneducated migrants from the South for instigating the riots. Meyer thought their answer too pat. He got curious. Then he and his colleagues got busy, gathering data and feeding it into a computer. Their analysis proved most of the rioters were locally born and varied widely in education and income.

Meyer literally wrote the book on computer-assisted reporting (Precision Journalism) and, as a Knight-Ridder executive, helped develop one of the first online news services. Journalism owes him plenty. I owe him more.
City Council Discusses Need For Lower Speed Limit Near Schools The Hillsboro City Council discussed the need for a reduced speed limit on Abbott Avenue near Hillsboro elementary and high school campuses during a regular meeting held Tuesday evening, November 21.



City Manager Megan Henderson said that the city has been in discussions with the Texas Department of Transportation about the area, which has become increasingly dangerous during school pick-up and drop-off times. Multiple accidents have occurred in the area, where the speed limit is currently 60 miles per hour.



For the complete story, see the Monday, November 27, edition of The Reporter Newspaper.


Hill College Honors Veterans At Medal of Honor Brick Ceremony Hill College held its annual Medal of Honor Memorial Brick Ceremony at the Texas Heritage Museum Monday, November 13, in recognition of the service of retired Colonel Michelle Bryant, retired Hospital Corpsman Third Class Dr. Dawn Cox, retired Technical Sergeant Luke (Scott) Glasscock and retired Corporal Samuel M. Mills.



America is indebted to the families and friends of the servicemen who stood, and continue to stand, behind our countrys heroes. The bricks presented today continue that commitment of gratitude and the museum is grateful not only for the service todays honorees gave to this country, but also for preserving the memory of all of those who have served in the past and those who continue to serve, said John Versluis, executive director and chief curator of the Texas Heritage Museum.



Bryant enlisted in the United States Army Reserves in 1986 as a medical supply specialist. During her time in the Reserves, she held several positions and was ultimately assigned to a full-time position in the Deputy United States Property and Fiscal Office with the Texas Army National Guard.



For the complete story, see the Monday, November 27, edition of The Reporter Newspaper.


Galileo was born in Pisa, Italy in 1564, one of six or seven children of a musician named Vincenzo Galilei, according to Rice University's Galileo Project website. In Galileo's youth, his family moved to Florence.

After getting his early education at a monastery, Galileo was sent by his father in 1581 to the University of Pisa, where he was supposed to earn a medical degree, as this biographical profile details. But Galileo didn't have much interest in healing the human body. Instead, he was curious about the world around him, and started physics experiments  some of them challenging the views of the classical Greek philosopher Aristotle. In 1585, he left the university without earning a degree, and began teaching mathematics, another of his interests. Eventually, his reputation grew so much that in 1589, he was invited back to the university to head the math department.

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In 1592, Galileo moved to Venice and took a better-paying post at the University of Padua, where he spent the next 18 years teaching math and astronomy. During that time, he began a relationship with a woman named Marina Gamba, with whom he eventually had two daughters and a son.

" " Galileo's telescope, which he made in 1610, from the collection of the Museo Galileo in Florence, Italy. Heritage Images/Getty Images

In 1609, while still at the university, Galileo heard about a Dutchman who had visited Venice and shown off a new invention, the telescope. Galileo decided to make his own, better version, and taught himself how to grind lenses to an even higher magnification.

"He was an excellent craftsman who read descriptions of the instrument and made the most powerful telescopes at the time," Alan Hirshfeld writes in an email. He's a physics professor and director of the UMass Dartmouth Observatory, and author of the 2014 book "Starlight Detectives: How Astronomers, Inventors, and Eccentrics Discovered the Modern Universe."

"[Galileo] could see what others could not, and therefore his observations were groundbreaking," Hirshfeld explains.

Perhaps the most important of Galileo's astronomical discoveries were his revelations about the moon's topography, and how its mountains, valleys and plains are comparable to those on Earth. "It's a material world in space, not some special celestial body made of divine substance," Hirshfeld says.

Galileo's discovery of Jupiter's moons was another breakthrough. As Hirshfeld explains, he also found that the moons "keep up with Jupiter as it moves, whether it moves around the Earth or around the sun, depending on one's beliefs, but Jupiter's moons do not get left behind as critics of Copernicus claimed our moon would if Earth were moving around the sun. Jupiter and its moons provide a model of what the solar system is like: small bodies orbiting the larger body."

Galileo also observed that the Milky Way galaxy consists of stars, most of which are too faint to be seen individually by unassisted human eyes. Thanks to him, humans learned that "There are many more stars than previously believed, and our cosmos might be far larger than we thought," Hirshfeld says.

He also discovered that the planet Venus had changing crescent phases.

"The observation that Venus went through a full cycle of phases, from new to crescent to full and back was totally incompatible with the geocentric model of the universe," says Larry Marschall, an emeritus professor of physics at Gettysburg College, in an email. "It could only be explained if Venus went around the sun in an orbit that was smaller than the Earth's orbit around the sun  in other words the Copernican model."

" " Galileo defended himself before the Holy Office in the Vatican in 1632 after he was condemned by the Tribunal of the Inquisition for having defended the theories of Copernicus. Painting by Joseph Nicolas Robert-Fleury, 1847, Louvre Museum, Paris. Josse/Leemage/Getty Images
Its a busy, cramped morning inside Mission Grounds Coffee shop at Washington Square Mall in Evansville.

Police officers and sheriffs deputies outnumber members of public, who are mostly engaged in lively conversation over various barista-crafted drinks.

Vanderburgh County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Rasure is speaking with Ashley Brendels children  Gabbie, 12 and Cadence 7 at the National Coffee with a Cop Day in early October.

The girls had just started jiu-jitsu training.

How long have you been doing it? So you just have a white belt, Rasure asked.

These interactions and connections are a big part of the Coffee with a Cop movement, but the main thing is building trust between police and the communities they serve, something that can be shaken by high profile cases involving police.

Chief John Letteney, president of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), said trust is usually good at the community level.

When you look at the national narrative, or the reaction by people, it's not what it should be. And trust has degraded over the years 

In 2022, the IACP created the Trust Building Campaign to get as many police agencies in the US and around the world on the same level.

The campaign seeks to enhance trust between the community and their police agency to promote safe, effective interactions, and ensure police agencies and communities have the collective capacity to prevent and reduce crime, and to improve the overall well being and quality of life for all.

Agencies commit to a series of six focus areas: bias-free policing, use of force, leadership and culture, recruitment, hiring and retention, victim services and community relations.

Within those six focus areas, there are about 25 action steps that we ask agencies to commit over a period of 24 to 36 months, to implement key policies and adopt promising practices and those areas that we believe are essential to enhancing trust and collaboration, Letteney said.

Ten organizations, including one in Belgium, have completed the pledge. Fifteen have pledged recently. There are none in Indiana, nor the tri-state area.

Letteney said in recent polls, trust is consistently fairly high, but can dip with national events. This happened in early 2023 with the beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.

In ABC News and Washington Post polls, only about 39-percent of Americans had confidence in how police are trained, and 41-percent had confidence that police could treat black people fairly.

According to NPR, The five officers  Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, Emmitt Martin III, Desmond Mills Jr. and Justin Smith  were charged with one count each of excessive force and deliberate indifference, and two counts of witness tampering.

Evansville Police Chief Billy Bolin said communication is important to build trust.

I tell our officers this all the time, 'we need to listen more,'" Bolin said. "Let people share their side of story, let them vent if they're upset about something. To the public, what I'd say if you don't like us, come out to events like this, share share your concerns, share what we did to upset you.

Bolin is an early adopter of the Coffee with a Cop event format.

EPD Assistant Chief Philip Smith urges citizens to learn the details of these high profile events.

 delve into it and get some information and show up at your city council meetings, he said. These are the bodies that hire and ultimately terminate police officers. Have a say in what goes on at your community police department.

Vanderburgh County Sheriff Noah Robinson said trust can also be about hiring the right person with the right temperament  but that has been difficult lately.

When you have a lot of, I guess, police negativity in terms of folks' perceptions of law enforcement, (it) drives down the applicant numbers. If you see a cop on TV doing something really stupid, then that damages the reputation of the law enforcement as a whole.

Jason Callahan is an associate professor of criminal justice at the University of Southern Indiana. He said he has to talk about high profile cases such as George Floyd or Breonna Taylor  cases that damage trust in police at a national level.

I'd be doing a disservice to say, well, these are isolated things. I think we should also dig a little deeper so that way, we can make sure that the next one doesn't happen or that If we can prevent any types of abuse of power or anything like that.

Themes such as bias-free policing come up during class and such aforementioned tragedies can be a springboard for discussion.

News headlines containing the words officer involved shooting can be attention grabbing.

The EPD had several this year, and in all cases the person shot was allegedly threateningly wielding a weapon.

A screen grab of body cam footage during the 15-minute negotiation Saturday, November 18. The suspect, 24-year-old Pierre Robson Barthelemy, had allegedly threatened airport employees, and slashed furniture. He was shot after shouting at police and standing up suddenly  perceived as a threat. This is one of several officer-involved shootings in Evansville this year. (EPD)

There was a shooting just this Saturday. A knife wielding individual was allegedly threatening airport employees and slashing furniture. The details of which were shared to the media by EPD Public Information officer Sgt. Anna Gray.

She said their number-one goal after an officer involved shooting is to be transparent  and consistent.

If we're consistent, and consistency is key, we have built trust with our community. And we want to keep that. And the only way to do that is to consistently be transparent. And have that trust worthiness between the community and the police department.

Again, (the shooting) doesn't just affect the officer involved or officers involved and the individual involved, but it affects the family members, it affects our community. And so again, getting out in front of it, being transparent, answering questions when we can and explaining when we can't, is very important.

Ashley Brendel, mother of three, said most people shes around trust the police pretty well, she said. But I know that you know, it's a hot topic.

I want my kids to know that police are the good guys, and that they're not just because they have authority doesn't mean there's something to be afraid of.
Intense, urgent demand for artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and the "duelling pressure" to reduce energy consumption, costs and greenhouse gas emissions loom large over the data centre industry - and will be at the forfefront - heading into 2024, according to the latest trends forecast from digital infrastructure and solutions provider Vertiv.

Vertiv says the proliferation of AI - as it predicted two years ago - along with the infrastructure and sustainability challenges inherent in AI-capable computing can be felt across the industry and throughout its 2024 data centre trends forecast.



AI and its downstream impact on data centre densities and power demands have become the dominant storylines in our industry, said Vertiv CEO Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi. Finding ways to help customers both support the demand for AI and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions is a significant challenge requiring new collaborations between data centres, chip and server manufacturers, and infrastructure providers.

These are the trends Vertivs experts expect to dominate the data centre ecosystem in 2024:

1. AI sets the terms for new builds and retrofits: Surging demand for artificial intelligence across applications is pressuring organisations to make significant changes to their operations. Legacy facilities are ill-equipped to support widespread implementation of the high-density computing required for AI, with many lacking the required infrastructure for liquid cooling. In the coming year, more and more organisations are going to realize half-measures are insufficient and opt instead for new construction  increasingly featuring prefabricated modular solutions that shorten deployment timelines  or large-scale retrofits that fundamentally alter their power and cooling infrastructure. Such significant changes present opportunities to implement more eco-friendly technologies and practices, including liquid cooling for AI servers, applied in concert with air cooled thermal management to support the entire data centre space.

2. Expanding the search for energy storage alternatives: New energy storage technologies and approaches have shown the ability to intelligently integrate with the grid and deliver on a pressing objective  reducing generator starts. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) support extended runtime demands by shifting the load as necessary and for longer durations and can integrate seamlessly with alternative energy sources, such as solar or fuel cells. This minimises generator use and reduces their environmental impact. BESS installations will be more common in 2024, eventually evolving to fit bring your own power (BYOP) models and delivering the capacity, reliability and cost-effectiveness needed to support AI-driven demand.

3. Enterprises prioritize flexibility: While cloud and colocation providers aggressively pursue new deployments to meet demand, organisations with enterprise data centres are likely to diversify investments and deployment strategies. AI is a factor here as organisations wrestle with how best to enable and apply the technology while still meeting sustainability objectives. Businesses may start to look to on-premises capacity to support proprietary AI, and edge application deployments may be impacted by AI tailwinds. Many organisations can be expected to prioritise incremental investment  leaning heavily on prefabricated modular solutions  and service and maintenance to extend the life of legacy equipment. Such services can provide ancillary benefits, optimising operation to free up capacity in maxed-out computing environments and increasing energy efficiency in the process. Likewise, organisations can reduce Scope 3 carbon emissions by extending the life of existing servers rather than replacing and scrapping them.

4. The race to the cloud faces security hurdles: Gartner projects global spending on public cloud services to increase by 20.4% in 2024, and the mass migration to the cloud shows no signs of abating. This puts pressure on cloud providers to increase capacity quickly to support demand for AI and high performance compute, and they will continue to turn to colocation partners around the world to enable that expansion. For cloud customers moving more and more data offsite, security is paramount, and according to Gartner, 80% of CIOs plan to increase spending on cyber/information security in 2024. Disparate national and regional data security regulations may create complex security challenges as efforts to standardise continue.

Across Asia, were seeing organizations ramp up their investments, realigning their strategies towards harnessing and integrating AI technology, said Paul Churchill, vice president and general manager at Vertiv Asia. In fact, according to IDC, by 2026, tech providers will allocate significant investments towards AI/automation. With this, Vertiv is focused on helping our customers manage the challenges of AI integration, supporting them with our breadth of solutions from modular solutions to predictive maintenance services, recognizing the value AI brings towards achieving more efficient and sustainable IT systems.

AI is dominating board level discussions across Australia and New Zealand, and it's often coming up as a means to generate new revenue streams, said LuLu Shiraz, Director Australia and New Zealand at Vertiv. But to achieve the promised outcome and return on investment (ROI) of AI, organisations need to map out what goes into running this increasingly dense technology, both economically and sustainably. Were now collectively embarking on a power and cooling modernisation project. Greenfields will be dedicated to the cause, but we are also seeing existing facilities being re-designed to accommodate for the expected increase in demand.
GUEST OPINION: When Australian cybersecurity professionals return to work after a (hopefully) quiet festive break, theyll be facing a year filled with both challenges and opportunities.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) will continue to change the threat landscape while supply chain and critical infrastructure attacks will cause damage and disruption. As 2024 begins, security teams will need to hit the ground running.

Eight key predictions that could impact 2024 are:

AI and ML adoption by attackers will grow exponentially

AI and ML dominated many cybersecurity discussions during 2023 and the new year will be no different. An increasing number of threat actors will adopt AI and ML to accelerate and expand every aspect of their attack toolkit.

Meanwhile, just as cybercriminals tap into the potential of AI and ML, so too will cybersecurity teams. There have already been significant investments in AI for cybersecurity and threat prevention, and this will continue as more companies look to guard against these advanced threats.

Hackers will turn to the cloud for support:

As the popularity of generative AI continues to soar through 2024, the cost of running these massive models will rapidly increase, potentially reaching tens of millions of dollars. Hackers will therefore see cloud-based AI resources as a lucrative opportunity and will focus their efforts on establishing Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) farms in the cloud to fund their AI activities.

Just as computational cloud resources were a prime target for crypto mining a few years ago, 2024 will bring the emergence of GPU Farming as the latest and most sought-after cloud-based target.

Supply chain and infrastructure attacks will continue:

An increase in cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, particularly those with nation-state involvement, will accelerate the shift towards Zero Trust security models. These will require verification from anyone attempting to connect to a system, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the network. And the network is defined as everywhere and everything.

The number of cyber incidents involving supply chains will also continue to increase and often have far-reaching effects. The only way to counter this is for organisations to undertake stricter evaluations of their third-party suppliers and partners.

We have seen very public examples of this trend in Australia though 2023, with the Government now getting on the front foot by laying out a seven year Cyber Security Strategy, with $586m in investment.

AI will also have an increasing impact on cyber insurance:

During 2024, AI will begin to transform the way that insurance companies assess the cyber resilience of prospective customers. The technology will also provide opportunities for these companies to offer cybersecurity services directly.

As the cost of cyber insurance continues to climb, organisations will begin to shift from reactive security to more effective defensive security. By demonstrating preventative action against cyberattacks, some may see their premiums reduced.

Hacktivism and nation-state attacks will continue:

Unfortunately, the Russia-Ukraine conflict was a significant milestone in the case of cyber warfare carried out by nation-state groups. Geo-political instability is very likely to continue during 2024, and hacktivist activities will make up a larger proportion of cyberattacks.

While a large number of hacktivist groups use a political position as a reason to launch attacks, they could be masking ulterior motives. The lines between hacktivism and commercialism may blur with threat actors choosing ransomware attacks as a revenue stream to fund other activities.

Indeed, in the months ahead, hacktivist attacks are expected to rise given the current instability in the Middle East. The cyber operations mainly serve as informational and retaliatory tactics, and will continue in the new year.

Deepfake techniques will become weaponised:

Increasingly, deepfakes will become weaponised and used as a way to sway opinions, alter stock prices or even influence election outcomes. Such tools are readily available online and threat actors will continue to use deepfake social engineering attacks to gain permissions and access sensitive data.

Phishing attacks will remain a huge problem for businesses:

In recent years it has become much easier for cybercriminals to log in rather than break in to targeted infrastructures. Following the widespread success of phishing campaigns, 2024 will see more attacks that originate from credential theft and not vulnerability exploitation.

Also, AI-enhanced phishing tactics are likely to become more personalised and effective, making it even harder for individuals to identify malicious intent and leading to increased phishing-related breaches.

Ransomware and living off the land attacks will increase:

Usage by cybercriminals of so-called living-off-the-land techniques, which leverage legitimate system tools to execute attacks, is likely to surge in 2024. This approach, which is much harder to detect and thwart, underscores the necessity for sophisticated threat prevention strategies, including Extended Detection and Response (XDR) that can pinpoint device and network behaviour anomalies.

Also, although many organisations have boosted their defences against ransomware, incidents of data loss or leakage are likely to rise. A contributing factor could be the increasing reliance on SaaS platforms to store sensitive data as part of application services, presenting new vectors and vulnerabilities that malicious entities can exploit.

This increase in ransomware attacks will require discerning interpretation, potentially being inflated due to newly instituted reporting mandates. It is imperative to dissect these statistics judiciously, understanding the dynamics of reporting protocols in analysing the true scope and scale of the threat.

As 2024 unfolds, the workloads and pressures experienced by IT security teams will almost certainly increase. Taking time ahead of the new year to assess the measures in place and augment them where necessary will reduce the likelihood that attacks will cause disruption and potential financial losses.
GUEST OPINION: In the ever-evolving landscape of today's businesses, the role of a commercial electrician has become more crucial than ever. These skilled professionals are the unsung heroes behind the scenes, ensuring that the lights stay on, equipment runs smoothly, and electrical systems function seamlessly. In this essay, we'll explore the diverse responsibilities of commercial electricians, the challenges they face, and the indispensable value they bring to the commercial sector.

A commercial electrician in Brisbane is the backbone of any thriving business. From small enterprises to large corporations, their expertise is essential in maintaining a safe and efficient working environment. One of their primary responsibilities is the installation and maintenance of electrical systems. This encompasses everything from wiring and lighting to complex machinery and specialized equipment. The seamless operation of these systems is vital for the productivity and safety of businesses, making the commercial electrician a linchpin in the success of any enterprise.

One of the key challenges faced by commercial electricians is the dynamic nature of modern technology. As businesses increasingly rely on advanced machinery and computer systems, the demand for skilled electricians who can navigate this technological landscape has surged. Commercial electricians must stay abreast of the latest developments in electrical and electronic systems to meet the evolving needs of their clients. This continuous learning process requires adaptability and a commitment to staying at the forefront of industry trends.

Safety is another paramount concern for commercial electricians. Working with high-voltage systems and intricate machinery poses inherent risks. Therefore, these professionals must adhere to stringent safety protocols to protect themselves and those working in the vicinity. Regular training on safety procedures and the proper use of personal protective equipment is a non-negotiable aspect of a commercial electrician's job. This commitment to safety not only safeguards the well-being of the electricians but also contributes to the overall risk management of the businesses they serve.

Beyond the technical aspects of their work, commercial electricians often find themselves in roles that require effective communication and problem-solving skills. They collaborate with other professionals on construction sites, architects, and business owners to ensure that electrical systems align with the specific needs of the project. The ability to communicate complex technical information in a clear and concise manner is a skill that sets exceptional commercial electricians apart.

In the realm of energy efficiency and sustainability, commercial electricians play a pivotal role. With the global push towards environmentally friendly practices, businesses are increasingly seeking ways to reduce their carbon footprint. Commercial electricians contribute by recommending and implementing energy-efficient solutions such as LED lighting, motion sensors, and programmable thermostats. Their expertise aids businesses in not only complying with environmental regulations but also in adopting practices that align with the growing consciousness of corporate social responsibility.

The unpredictability of electrical issues poses yet another challenge for commercial electricians. Businesses cannot afford downtime due to electrical failures, making it imperative for electricians to respond promptly to emergencies. The ability to diagnose and rectify problems swiftly requires a combination of experience, technical know-how, and a calm demeanour under pressure. Commercial electricians are, in essence, the first responders to electrical crises, ensuring that businesses resume normal operations with minimal disruption.

In conclusion, the role of a commercial electrician extends far beyond the wiring and circuits that meet the eye. These professionals are instrumental in the success of businesses, contributing to their functionality, safety, and environmental sustainability. The challenges they face are diverse, ranging from staying current with technological advancements to ensuring the safety of complex electrical systems. As businesses continue to evolve, the importance of commercial electricians in powering success becomes increasingly evident. They are the silent architects of a well-lit, seamlessly functioning business landscape, and their impact is both profound and indispensable.
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 Black Friday got underway in Los Angeles amid retailer concerns over looting by flash mobs causing WalMart to post armed guards to prevent lootings and discourage shootings. I'm asking the public that if I ever get shot at a WalMart, please drag my body to a Target. Let me die with dignity.

 The Rolling Stones announced their North American tour in 2024 Tuesday. The Stones like Paul McCartney and Ringo and Willie Nelson are in their eighties, while Ozzy Osborne, Alice Cooper and Elton in their late seventies. I think it proves that rap stars have been doing the wrong drugs.

 Donald Trump stepped on Joe Biden's birthday Monday by posting a sparkling health report by his doctor, who examined the former president. It says that Trump is in perfect health and scored perfectly on his mental acuity test. Not to be outdone, Joe Biden released the results of his latest autopsy.

 Donald Trump will remain on the ballot in Colorado after a judge dismissed a challenge based on a 14th Amendment clause barring insurrectionists from public office. It just never ends. Democrats have put their opposition to the death penalty on hold until their treason charges against Trump play out.

 President Biden emerged from a Nantucket fire station on Thanksgiving Day unable to update reporters on any progress in the hostage-for-prisoner negotiations between Israel and Hamas. The exchange kept getting pushed back. So far the only captives set free this week are two American turkeys.

 Palestinians were urged by Tel Aviv to jettison Hamas and adopt a responsible government. Their allies range from terror-supporting Iran, Syria and Lebanon to Jordan and Egypt who won't admit them. Having Palestine as your ally is like having a brother-in-law with a gambling problem and no car.

 New York Mayor Eric Adams denied accusations made in a sexual assault suit filed against him in an alleged encounter in 1993. Just last week, the FBI seized Adams' phone and laptop in a campaign finance probe. I think he can get all the charges dropped if he changes his plea to the Border is Secure.

 L.A. District Attorney George Gascon is being pressured to drop his cashless bail policy due to the spike in crime. We live in our own special world out here. A man was arrested at LAX last week carrying eight pounds of heroin in a plastic bag, and he was charged with possession of a plastic bag.

 Crypto con man Sam Bankman-Fried awaits sentencing in New York jail this week. Sam reeled in new investors while paying dividends to old investors and then skimming off the middle until the debt exploded. At sentencing, he could get ten-to-twenty years as head of the Social Security Administration.

 DOJ attorneys reported Thursday a chain of Asian brothels brought in a huge amount of money operating out of homes in Washington D.C. and near Harvard in Boston. Members of Congress are always at risk of getting infected. You can't screw three hundred million people and not catch something.

 The Department of Transportation reported that fifty-five million Americans hit the road this past holiday weekend by road, air and rail. The modern Thanksgiving tradition traces its origins to 1621. In their wisdom, the Pilgrims scheduled it on a Thursday so they would have a four-day weekend.

 Thanksgiving brought families together in tense times not alleviated by a comedian at the table Thursday. My date told me not to joke about politics at her liberal Democratic family's dinner and just bring some wine. Imagine the joy of their faces when I showed up with three quarts of Trump Wine.

 Indianapolis Colts owner James Irsay claimed that his 2014 arrest for drunk driving was due to prejudice against rich white billionaires. I totally agree and it's never the fault of the alcoholic. Like me, James Irsay has been to rehab so many times the Betty Ford cafeteria named a burger after him.

 Billboard reports the Rolling Stones will tour the United States and Canada in 2024 starting in Houston in late April and ending in Northern California in July. The band posted their help-wanted notices in the stagehand union trade papers for the tour. They're looking to hire roadies and pallbearers.

 Kim Kardashian was named GQ's Man of the Year and she mourned her late father Robert in the magazine interview. He broke a rule to have that family. Bob and I worked out in the same gym in the late 1970s, and there was a sign on the wall in the weight room that read Do Not Bang Dumbbells.

 Kanye West said he's taking a break from his week-long marriage, citing the mental strain it has put on him. Hitler survived mustard gas, six years of Allied bombing and an assassination attempt via time bomb but he killed himself one day after he married Eva Braun. The point is, marriage is tough.

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yielded to pressure by the White House and agreed to a four-day halt in the fighting to allow for a hostages-for-prisoners swap with Hamas. That's not all. Hamas just agreed to release more hostages if Israel will agree to pack up and move to New Mexico.

 The Chicago Tribune reports Venezuelan illegal migrants flown to Chicago from Texas are now returning to Venezuela. They're disenchanted with the life they found here. They arrived hoping to achieve the American Dream, which is the ability to fill up your gas tank without robbing a liquor store.

 The Census Bureau issued a report criticizing Millennials for waiting so long to get married and starting families because the U.S. birth rate is dipping to dangerously low levels. It's an institution beyond my comprehension. I never understand why people get married until I try to put on a fitted sheet.

 The New York Post reports sixty-two percent of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck and under great strain. When I was first out of college and on my own for the first time, I lived paycheck to paycheck. But today, thanks to perseverance and hard work, I now live direct deposit to direct deposit.

 Israel's cabinet met Tuesday to discuss a brief cease fire to allow hostages to be exchanged for prisoners. It'd also give time for outside agencies to deliver humanitarian aid to the Palestinians. The hospitals in Gaza City are reported to be running dangerously low on bullets and grenade launchers.

 Argentina upset the political world Tuesday by electing Libertarian Javier Milei president, who promises to get rid of the political class, cut taxes, and open up free markets. His election had to cause Trump great joy. He now knows there's at least one country that would never extradite him to New York.

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Today's headline may become a regular feature here at SteynOnline - because in the vibrantly multicultural west the stabbing of the native population is becoming a routine event. Following Saturday's pogrom at a village dance in rural France, in Dublin yesterday three schoolgirls and a member of staff were stabbed. Or as the BBC put it, lapsing into the passive voice:

Three children and a school care assistant were injured in a knife attack in the city centre.

Oh, that's so sad. Did the knife attack them all on its own or was there a human being as its accomplice? Ah, well...

The "extraordinary outbreak of violence" had come after "hateful assumptions" were made based on material circulating online in the wake of the stabbings... It is understood that included false claims that the attacker was a foreign national. Sources have indicated to the BBC that the man suspected of carrying out the attack is an Irish citizen in his late 40s who has lived in the country for 20 years.

Really? You're being a bit coy, aren't you? If "sources have indicated to" you, maybe you could indicate to us a bit more about what those sources indicated. The "false claims" online were that the stabber was an "Algerian immigrant" or "a man from Algeria". So is the BBC saying merely that this "Irishman" may well have originated in Algeria but he managed to procure an Irish passport so that makes him as Irish as Paddy O'Peat-Bog? Because while that may be true as a matter of law it doesn't render the underlying claim in the least bit "false" - or the broader point: that a certain percentage of immigrants to the west enjoy stabbing infidels.

So the only "falseness" here is on the part of the Beeb, in seeking to airbrush, as they always do, the fruits of diversity.

To be fair, the Dublin media are not quite as invested in the multiculti omerta as the French press, which spent the days after the Crepol attack reporting it, much to the fury of the locals, as a teenage "brawl" - or une rixe. A brawl requires two sides - Sharks rumbling with Jets in West Side Story. This was a one-side story: A gang of North Africans rode out from the big town for the express purpose of killing whites, bringing 25cm blades with which they intentionally stabbed sixteen-year-old Thomas in the throat and in the heart. Notwithstanding the media-government omerta, everyone in France who wants to know the truth knows it.

But it is the different reactions to the French and Irish stabbings that are instructive. The approved manner of mourning those dead of diversity is to hold peace marches and candlelit vigils, wear ribbons and clutch teddy bears, sing "Imagine" or "Don't Look Back in Anger": that's how the authorities like it. As London's mayor has assured us, the occasional stabfest is just "part and parcel of living in a big city" - or even a small village of five hundred people. So in the Drome they held the usual sorrowful march for Thomas and his stabbing victims, all very limpid and passive. Unusually, it was derided on the Internet as an admission of impuissance - impotence:

Si j'etais a Romans-sur-Isere, je suis au regret de dire que je ne participerais pas a la marche blanche. Bouleversee pour la famille et tous ceux qui ont vecu ce drame mais les marches ne sont qu'un aveu de notre impuissance et de la lachete macroniste. On agit quand?

Which means:

Had I been in Romans-sur-Isere, I regret to say I would not participate in the 'silent protest'. Upset for the family and for all those who have lived through this tragedy, but the marches are only an admission of our impotence and Macronist cowardice. When do we act?

Last night the Irish answered that question - with rioting, arson and, yes, a bit of looting. Some targets were well chosen: a Holiday Inn Express converted into migrant accommodation at a time when Ireland has a massive shortage of affordable housing for actual Irishmen. Other targets - shop windows - were just generalised violence.

Which gave the authorities the excuse to ignore the stabbings and fret about "the far right". But they would have done that anyway. Because they always do. As you know, we have a Brit Wanker Copper of the Day feature on The Mark Steyn Show. Aside from a few centenarian retirees of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police, I regard the coppers patrolling O'Connell and Parnell streets as generally ineligible for that prestigious title. But I'm prepared to bestow the full Brit Wanker on this guy - Garda Commissioner Drew Harris - not just because he's already an Officer of the King's Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and a holder of the Queen's Police Medal, but because last night he said this:

pic.twitter.com/uXfvMIt87i

Irish Garda Commissioner #DrewHarris has condemned the "disgraceful scenes" that took place in Dublin. He stated that the violence on the streets was instigated by a "hooligan faction driven by far-right ideology." #Dublin #Breaking #Ireland   World News  (@ferozwala) November 23, 2023

Back in the real Ireland that Commissioner Harris purports to police, 75 per cent of people think the country has taken in too many refugees - whatever that word now means. And that figure rises to 83 per cent among supporters of Sinn Fein - who, a third of a century back, murdered Mr Harris's dad but are not generally regarded as "far right". The Shinners do, however, appear to discern an existential question for today's Irish state: what's the point of throwing off the Protestant Ascendancy only to replace it with an Islamic Ascendancy?

Given the choice between the French reaction to Saturday's stabbings and the Irish reaction to Thursday's, I'll take the latter. "Virtue-signalling" is a cutesy phrase but, if it can encompass the sacrifice of your own children on the altar of diversity, then our society does not deserve to survive. If you can't summon righteous anger over attempted re-enactments of the Massacre of the Innocents, when can you?

That seventy-five per cent poll response ought to be the baseline in the nations of the west. The political class has embarked on a mad and unprecedented experiment that discards all the most basic maxims of prudence: They have determined to transform our nations into something other. You can vote, as Britain did, for a party that promises to reduce immigration to mere thousands only to wake up to hear that its wretched and traitorous leadership have admitted 1.2 million migrants last year alone. That's over four times as many immigrants as the United Kingdom took in during the nine centuries between 1066 and 1950 (about 200,000 Jews, 50,000 Huguenots, and a bit of flotsam and jetsam from hither and yon). What western governments are doing to their peoples is not normal, and should not be treated as such.

Twenty years ago, I still hoped we might be able to vote our way out of societal suicide. But that is increasingly unlikely. The media coverage of the Crepol and Dublin stabbings confirms that, when asked to choose between the multiculti madness and their lyin' eyes, the elites are too invested in the former to be in the least bit susceptible to reality.

So there will be more stabbings of children. And there will be more responses to it - some like the passive weepy vigils of Wednesday but, eventually, more like the Dublin rampage of Thursday. The Irish, of all people, should surely be aware that, when push comes to shove, violence does not remain a monopoly of one side.

A shame, but the conduct of officialdom this past week suggests that in the chancelleries of Europe and the rest of the west they will leave the citizenry no other option.

Mark's international bestseller America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It. If you haven't read the book during its first seventeen years, well, you're missing a treat. It's still in print in hardback and paperback. (Buy it at a 77% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 47% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR)

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Mark Steyn is an international bestselling author, a Top 41 recording artist, and a leading Canadian human rights activist. Among his books is "The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don't Say You Weren't Warned". (Buy it at a 49% discount by clicking here or order in KINDLE edition at a 67% discount by clicking here. Sales help fund JWR)
The iconic Natuzzi Americas Inc. showroom building  one of the signature High Point Market facilities  is up for sale as the Italian upholstery manufacturer recalibrates its U.S. retail presence.

Natuzzi SpA said in a third-quarter shareholder report Friday that we are actively engaged in the process to accelerate the sales of our non-strategic assets, the most relevant being our iconic building located in High Point.

The four-story building debuted in April 1998 and contains 110,000 square feet of showroom space at 130 W. Commerce Ave. The 0.8-acre property is valued at $8.4 million on the Guilford County Tax Parcel website.

The proceedings from these potential divestitures, in case they materialize, will be strategically directed to accelerate our retail expansion, focusing on North America, and to support our restructuring, particularly in Italy, the company said.

Natuzzi said that so far in fiscal 2023, it has opened nearly 1.9 million square feet of new retail space through five Natuzzi Italia flagship stores in the U.S. in Atlanta, Houston, Manhasset, N.Y., Miami and San Diego.

Natuzzi also has opened 45 franchise stores, of which 26 are located in China.

Italian architect Mario Bellini designed the building to feature a ships bow accompanied by a gangplank entrance, porthole-shaped windows and a moat.

Until April, the building had been one of the largest single-occupant market facilities. Natuzzi converted the building at that time into a multi-tenant venue  branded Casa Italia  by bringing in several smaller Italian home furnishings manufacturers.

The Natuzzi showroom building has represented the arrival of furniture made in Italy on U.S. shores for some two decades, Natuzzi Americas president Jason Camp said in introducing the Casa Italia concept.

Now, rechristened Casa Italia, the buildings tradition of fashion, quality and craftsmanship will only continue to grow in scope and importance.

The planned sale of the Natuzzi building reflects the manufacturers decision to take a more hands-on retail approach in the U.S., said Jerry Epperson, managing partner of financial-services firm Mann, Armistead and Epperson of Richmond, Va.

I hate to see Mr. (Pasquale) Natuzzis grand statement change hands, but this is such a different environment in many ways than when Natuzzi was first on the scene in High Point, Epperson said. It helped make the brand Natuzzi a premium, stand-out leather line among many including new ones from Asia.

Today, the brand is well established globally as is Mr. Natuzzi himself as a styling leader and industry icon who has received many honors, including being named to the American Home Furnishings Hall of Fame.
State health regulators have set a public hearing for Dec. 19 on a Greensboro skilled-nursing and rehabilitation centers request to move from the Cone Health campus to what would be a new $24.9 million facility.

A public hearing has been set for Dec. 15 to address applications by Atrium Health and Novant Health Inc. to expand add acute-care hospital beds in the Charlotte area.

The N.C. Division of Health Service Regulation posted Oct. 24 on its website Heartland Living and Rehabilitations certificate-of-need application that was received Oct. 16.

Heartland Living and Rehabilitation wants to relocate 107 nursing facility and 18 adult-care home beds from its current location at 1131 N. Church St. in Greensboro. Cone owns the Heartland assets, including the building and rehab operations, and hired Century Care Management to run it.

The public hearing is set for 11 a.m. Dec. 19 at the old Guilford County Courthouse, 301 W. Market St., in the Coleman conference room.

Cone said in a statement that it is selling the Heartland assets, along with Adams Farm Living & Rehab in Jamestown, to Century Care. Cone said it is not disclosing the sale price.

Aashka Mehta, Cones vice president for Post-Acute and Transitions of Care, said the system has leased Adams Farm Living & Rehab and Heartland Living & Rehab to Century Care Management since 2007.

For business reasons, Cone Health has decided to sell these assets, Mehta said. Care will continue at Heartland Living & Rehab until a new skilled nursing facility is built.

Cone is retaining ownership of the Greensboro building, Mehta said.

Pending any needed government approval, Century Care Management will buy the certificate of need for the skilled nursing beds and the building in Jamestown.

Mecklenburg hospital beds

Both Atrium, the parent of Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, and Novant are attempting to add hospital beds as it relates to the need determination for the Charlotte area as listed in the 2023 State Medical Facilities Plan.

The public hearing on the four CON applications is set for 1:30 p.m. Dec. 15 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. 4th St.

Atrium is requesting approval to add up to a combined 154 beds at three Charlotte-area hospitals: 112 at its main Carolinas Medical Center campus; 42 in Pineville Medical Center; and 10 at University City Medical Center.

The Carolinas Medical expansion comes with a projected $161.3 million capital expenditure, along with $30.9 million for Pineville and $7.1 million for University City.

In Union County, Atrium wants to add 13 beds at Union Medical Center at a projected cost of $10.5 million, along with eight beds at Union Medical Centers west campus at a projected cost of just more than $1 million.

Meanwhile, Novant wants permission to add 54 beds at its main Charlotte campus at Presbyterian Medical Center. It is projecting a $993,816 capital expenditure.

In April, three Atrium hospitals and one Novant hospital in the Charlotte area received state health regulatory approval to add acute-care beds.

Carolina Medical Center gained 38 for a total of 1,255.

Presbyterian Medical Center gained up to 30 for an overall total of 542.

University City can expand by up to eight beds for a potential total of 120, while Pineville facility can add up to five for a total of 308.

In February, Novant announced plans to return to the Iredell County marketplace, agreeing to pay $320 million to reacquire two community hospitals it co-owned for an 18-month period in the early 2000s.

The system signed an agreement to take ownership of the 123-bed Lake Norman hospital and Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville.
The Daily Minute is the Journal Star's morning news briefing where you can get the latest news in about a minute each weekday. Previous Daily Minute videos are archived here.

Good morning, Lincoln. Here's what you should know today.

Pillen's order worries workers

After Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen issued an executive order earlier this month mandating that state employees fulltime in January, state Sen. Megan Hunt asked state employees to share their concerns over the order with her office.

Their responses -- shared with reporters anonymously -- reveal anxieties over what the mandate will mean for their finances, mental health, family life and the state's ability to recruit and retain help.

State employees are worried about finding stopgap child care and about commuting and parking costs they didn't previously have to pay. Some said they have already started to seek new jobs.

Pillen, though, has cast the potential exodus of state employees as the cost of efficiency in government. He told reporters that face-to-face is the best way to do business and that he doesn't believe in doing it from home.

State auditor: Village didnt pay taxes for 10 years

The tiny village of Dix in western Nebraska owes the federal government more than $260,000 after the village clerk stopped making payroll tax payments when the IRS switched to an electronic payment system, according to the state's auditor.

Dix, home to fewer than 300 people, sits 30 miles east of the Wyoming-Nebraska border. It went nearly a decade without making quarterly payroll tax payments because the village clerk "could not figure out how to make the payments," auditors said in a report issued last month.

In its 10-year pause on payments, Dix racked up nearly $265,000 in unpaid taxes and late penalties, according to the report, which also laid bare various other discrepancies and an apparent lack of oversight in the village's bookkeeping.

A new look at Starkweather

Lincoln native was writing a novel that had a Charlie Starkweather theme woven into the narrative when he learned that Caril Ann Fugate had been denied a pardon by the Nebraska Board of Pardons in February 2020.

After a little reading on the subject, the best-selling true crime writer decided to turn his attention to the then-62-year-old killing.

His book, titled Starkweather: The Untold Story of the Killing Spree That Changed America, has already been named one of the best nonfiction books of 2023 by the Washington Post.

Thats it for Monday, Nov. 27. Stay in the know with Lincolns longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and well see you back here tomorrow.
A Lincoln judge has found probable cause to send the criminal case against the former director of History Nebraska on to district court over a defense argument that no crime had been committed.

The Nebraska Attorney General's Office has accused Trevor Jones, who resigned as CEO and executive director of the agency in July 2022 after six years in the role, of felony theft by deception for his alleged mishandling of more than $270,000 in funds in 2020.

But, unlike typical theft cases, no one is alleging Jones, who lives in Minnesota now, personally benefited. Instead, it involves a transfer of discretionary funds from the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation that ended up going into History Nebraska's Foundation account.

Deputy State Auditor Craig Kubicek said in early 2022 a concern had been raised by History Nebraska with the agency's hotline to report fraud, waste or abuse of state funds.

History Nebraska, a state agency, had requested funds from the Historical Society Foundation to offset anticipated loss of revenue due to COVID-19. In return, the foundation cut a check to History Nebraska for $269,926.25 in June 2020 and a second check for $325.09 a month later.

It's where Jones deposited the checks that is at issue.

Kubicek said the funds never made it into the State Treasury or an account for History Nebraska, which he says was required. Instead Jones deposited them into the History Nebraska Foundation bank account.

The History Nebraska Foundation is a private organization created in 2020 to rival the State Historical Society Foundation, which had served as the agency's primary fundraiser for decades.

Jones opened the History Nebraska Foundation's bank account in December 2019.

"So the crux of this whole thing, as I understand it to be, is because these checks were deposited into History Nebraska Foundation instead of History Nebraska's account that's the problem. Is that right?" Jones' attorney, John Ball, asked Kubicek at a preliminary hearing in October.

Kubicek said, "Yeah."

"Is that a crime?" Ball asked him.

Kubicek said he wasn't there to say whether a crime was committed; he presents the facts and cited some statutory concerns.

"In my view, if there's a request for a state agency that lost money from COVID, as the request states, then those funds should be deposited with the state of Nebraska," he said.

Jones' attorney pressed back.

"I'm just trying to understand, who is the victim here? Where is the loss?" he said.

Ball argued donor money had gone from one foundation to another, not state money.

Kubicek said the state of Nebraska was the victim because the request for discretionary funds had been made by the state agency to replenish state funds.

"Is there an allegation that these monies were misappropriated in any way, shape or form? Were they taken or stolen or obtained?" Ball asked him.

Kubicek said that wasn't for him to decide, but he acknowledged that Jones only had gotten about $130 of the funds, in the form of reimbursements for expenses for the foundation.

More to the point, it came down to what the money wasn't used for, according to Assistant Attorney General Corey O'Brien.

"Your audit found that the expenditures from the History Nebraska Foundation not a single penny was used for COVID shortfall, correct?" he asked Kubicek.

"Yes," Kubicek answered.

The money instead went to support fundraising-type activity, he said.

On Nov. 17, Lancaster County Judge Timothy Phillips announced his decision finding sufficient evidence to show a crime had been committed and that Jones had committed it.

Ball said he will file a challenge to the charge in district court.

Favorite photos from our readers Stadium after rain Arena lightning Warm winter day Morning after election in Diller Sterling Jets Fireworks and a full moon Hackberry Swallowtail taken in Lincoln backyard Pioneers Park Mueller Tower Fall leaves After the snow at Holmes Lake Park Architecture Hall at UNL Wall cloud looking west from Holmes Lake Capitol sunset Sunrise in Cherry County Roll cloud Crossing the road Sunset near Curtis Drone photo downtown Lincoln Double rainbow Sculpture Zoo sign Fall winter Sunset Trees reflected at Holmes Lake Wagon Train Fall day Fall in Lincoln Farming Storm mid-August 2016 Farmers market Sunset Lightning Spring game Storm Hayes Center ice storm Sledding Holmes Lake Sunrise Nature Bubbles Sunset Guardsman Red moon Sunrise Haymarket Haymarket trip Capitol Lincoln sunset Heritage Lake Pioneers Park Haymarket bench Big head in Union Plaza Flowers Snow shark Snowman Snowman Snow photo Lincoln sky Beautiful skies Pioneers Park
Two teens were arrested after a chase Sunday night involving a stolen vehicle, the Nebraska State Patrol said in a news release.

At about 9:30 p.m., the Lincoln Police Department received a report of a Hyundai Elantra stolen near 17th and South streets. About 30 minutes later, a trooper saw the Elantra going west on Superior Street, according to the release.

The trooper tried to stop the vehicle, but the driver accelerated immediately in an attempt to flee. The trooper followed the car through a residential area near 14th Street and Julesburg Drive, when the driver then returned to 14th Street and drove the wrong direction in the northbound lanes, the State Patrol said.

The Elantra then turned onto Fletcher Avenue, going east and reaching speeds of more than 70 miles per hour, the release said. The trooper backed off because of the speed of the pursuit but then saw the car run a red light on 27th Street, lose control and crash into a pole.

The driver was identified as a 13-year-old girl, and the passenger was a 17-year-old girl. They were both transported to Bryan West Campus with non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver was lodged in the youth detention facility on suspicion of theft by unlawful taking $5,000 or more, flight to avoid arrest and no operator's license. The passenger will be cited for aiding and abetting once released from the hospital, the State Patrol said in the release.
Former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel plans to announce a run for Wisconsin Supreme Court against Justice Ann Walsh Bradley in a bid to flip the courts newly liberal majority, a source knowledgeable about the campaign told the Wisconsin State Journal.

Schimel plans to make the announcement in Waukesha on Thursday, according to the source who was not authorized to speak on behalf of the campaign. He would be the first conservative to throw his hat into the ring since liberals gained a 4-3 majority in August.

Johnny Koremenos, who managed Schimels 2014 and 2018 campaigns for attorney general, said he would volunteer to help him get across the finish line, adding that he will support Brad in anything he wants to do.

Bradley, who has said she will seek a fourth term, won her last election by a 16-point margin. She is the longest-serving current justice. The next Supreme Court election is in April 2025.

The conservative media outlet Wisconsin Right Now first reported on Schimels plans.

Schimel was the states attorney general from 2015 to 2019. He lost a reelection bid to Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul by less than 1 percentage point in 2018. After his loss, then-Gov. Scott Walker, also a Republican, appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court.

Over his time in office and in his election campaigns Schimel, who was formerly a Waukesha County prosecutor for 25 years, touted his record of combatting opioid abuse and human trafficking and defending crime victims.

The former attorney general was an outspoken supporter of Wisconsins voter ID law, which he speculated could have been responsible for Republican former President Donald Trumps 2016 Wisconsin win. He also defended the Republican redrawing of the states previous legislative boundaries and joined a multistate coalition challenging the Affordable Care Act.

The race is likely to keep a low profile until the conclusion of the 2024 presidential and U.S. Senate contests. But it promises to be a heavily contested race. Both parties have increasingly sought to resolve political disputes in the states high court given the gridlock between Democratic Gov. Tony Evers and the Republican-controlled Legislature.

Current lawsuits before the court include disputes over redistricting and the legality of private school vouchers. Legal battles in lower courts over abortion and Wisconsins top election official are likely to reach the Supreme Court.

Elections to the court are nominally nonpartisan, but political parties on both sides of the aisle contribute millions of dollars and hundreds of workers to support their preferred candidates. The last high court election, which saw liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz beat conservative former Justice Dan Kelly by 11 percentage points, was the most expensive judicial race in American history.
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

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KEARNEY  It was a great day to fly Wednesday.

However, Dumpling, a 2-year-old Red-Tailed Hawk, mostly sat in a pasture tree south of Pleasanton during a morning hunting/training outing with her handler Rich Moats of Morgantown, West Virginia, and his dog Echo, a Decker Terrier.

Moats led a small group of other attendees at this weeks joint conference of the North American Falconers Association and International Association for Falconry.

Humans tapping sticks on tree trunks and Echo with his nose to the ground scared a few rabbits and a squirrel or two out of hiding. But Moats said Dumpling wasnt her usual self because of two wild Red-Tailed Hawks and unfamiliar people nearby.

Moats and his field trip followers were among nearly 400 falconers  360 pre-conference registrations from NAFA members, plus international attendees from 35 countries  who spent Thanksgiving week sharing stories, renewing friendships and enjoying their favorite pastime.

As weather allowed, they spent mornings and late afternoons hunting with falcons, hawks and other raptors in grasslands and other rural habitats within 100 miles of Kearney.

Ralph Rogers, a past NAFA president and 2023 event co-chairman, said attendance was the largest ever for a combined conference.

The international association based in Brussels, Belgium, near European Union headquarters, represents falconry clubs in 91 countries on every continent except Antarctica. Because of uncertainty about how many could obtain visas, the international attendance wasnt known until those falconers arrived in Kearney.

The Pakistani made it this time. Hes been trying for years, Rogers said. Other countries represented included the United Kingdom, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Chile, China, Portugal, Poland, Italy and Belgium.

This was the third time for a joint event in Kearney  not counting 2020 plans that were cancelled due to the COVID pandemic  and the eighth Kearney conference overall for NAFA members since 1986.

Kearney was voted as the favorite place by both groups, in independent votes, Rogers said.

He added that during a Zoom meeting Monday, IAF President His Excellency Majed Al Mansouri of the United Arab Emirates said, Kearney has become one of the most important falconry locations in the world.

Why Kearney?

Its the town itself. For the international people at least, its where they can see the authentic America, Rogers explained. The people around here are so welcoming to the falconers in allowing them to hunt on their land.

He and other NAFA members have developed strong relationships with such landowners  Rogers first met Norman and the late June Hand of Pleasanton in 1986  and with conference venue host Paul Younes.

Its difficult to sell Thanksgiving Day banquet tickets here (Kearney Holiday Inn) because everybody is eating dinner with a farmer or rancher somewhere, Rogers joked.

South-central Nebraska has the habitats for every falconry niche: rabbits, squirrels and other grassland animals and birds; ducks in ponds; and even starlings at feedlots.

Rogers said that because of an avian influenza outbreak being spread by wild birds, he and other falconers are being extremely cautious or avoiding duck hunting now to protect their raptors.

NAFA members meet in person once a year, but state chapters usually host winter get-togethers and summer picnics to show off new birds and puppies.

Most falconers also have dogs as hunting partners  terriers excel at flushing grassland animals and keeping them moving, while labs and other water breeds get ducks to fly off ponds.

Falconry 101

Falcons are a big segment among raptors. Common types are Peregrine, Prairie, Gyr, Merlin and American Kestrel, the smallest.

Red-Tailed Hawks, which are plentiful in Nebraska and other Great Plains states, are the most common species used in falconry. Eagles are a tiny group in North America, in terms of hunting use.

Rogers said its legal to trap falcons from the wild for hunting, but only with a state permit endorsed by federal officials. Very few permits are approved for Peregrines, with the number based on less than 5% of known productivity.

His current birds, a 3-year-old female Peregrine Falcon and a 4-year-old male cross between a Peregrine and Gyr, an Arctic bird, came from captive flocks. Typical lifespans are 20 years for males and around 15 for females, or whenever they no long can reproduce.

Rogers also has two hunting dogs, a 7-year-old male English Setter and 8-month-old female Munsterlander, a German breed.

Since 1976, federal law has required new falconers to work with mentors for two years before they can qualify for a permit.

Owner responsibilities focus on providing food, shelter and water. Rogers falcons have individual houses, and they fly every day during falcon season, as weather allows, to maintain condition.

They are fed commercially ordered frozen quail, 100-200 per delivery; home-raised pigeons; and some caught prey. We weigh them every day. They cant be fat and they sure cant be skinny, Rogers said.

When asked how to train falcons to return to him while on hunts, he used the example of tractors pulling implements through fields in the spring while being followed by gulls and hawks feasting on critters in the disturbed soil.

All predators are opportunistic, so if there is a meal to be had, they use the opportune times to go for it. All we (falconers) are is another tractor. If we consistently produce opportunities for food, they will come back to us, Rogers said.

Most falconry equipment hasnt changed much for thousands of years: a heavy leather glove, hood to go over the birds eyes to keep them calm and a lure. Location transmitters, mostly attached to legs, are used by some of todays falconers.

Rogers said some trained falcons are used to hunt for a few years and then returned to the wild.

Rogers story

Falconry is a pastime for the vast majority of falconers, who make their livings in many types of unrelated professions. Rogers describes NAFA as a totally eclectic group molded together by falcony.

Retired now, he was an educator and then a self-employed contractor as a wildlife biologist. The Texas native now splits his time between his home in tiny Winifred, Montana, his other place at equally tiny Bartlett in Wheeler County, Nebraska, and trips to Arizona to visit his children and grandchildren.

As a kid, Rogers read every falconry book he could find, but concluded that learning falconry from a book was like learning to dance from a book.

While at Texas Tech in 1965, he looked out a dorm window one day, saw a guy working with a falcon and immediately went to meet a kindred spirit. The longtime friends learned falconry together.

Rogers doesnt know why the sport grabbed his imagination. I have no idea. Ive always been drawn to this. I cant tell you why. Ive wondered about that myself.

He does know that falcons are hunting partners, not companions or pets.

NAFA mission

The United Nations has declared that falconry is a worldwide intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

Falconry used to be something used to sustain yourself (with food), Rogers said about an activity thats at least 4,000 years old. Now its an art. Its a pure art.

NAFAs narrowly-defined mission is to advocate for the sport and art of falconry, but members also are involved in efforts to save raptors and conserve their habitats.

Rogers said NAFA members developed the Peregrine Fund in the 1960s to support scientists efforts to determine why falcon numbers were declining and if Peregrines raised in captivity could be successfully released into the wild.

They learned that birds ingesting the widely used insecticide DDT from prey produced eggshells so thin they often broke during incubation or otherwise failed to hatch chicks. So that was a benefit for eagles and every other bird affected by DDT, Rogers said.

It also led to recovery measures that allowed the Peregrine Falcon to be the first bird removed from the Endangered Species List, in 1999.

NAFA now is involved in the North American Grouse Partnership to advocate for upland grasslands in a way similar to other habitat protection efforts by Ducks Unlimited and Pheasants Forever.

Were very proud of our conservation ethic, Rogers said.
Ninety people are expected to lose their jobs when a manufacturing plant with a long history in the city of Tomah closes early next year.

Transcontinental Packaging plans to shutter its Tomah plant at 501 Williams St. sometime after Jan. 15, 2024. The company said the plant closure and layoffs are permanent in a Nov. 16 letter to the state Department of Workforce Development.

The Tomah plant first opened in 1945 and has operated through multiple ownership changes since then. Canada-based Transcontinental purchased the plant from Coveris in 2018.

According to Yahoo Finance, Transcontinental will transfer operations to packing plants in Battle Creek, Michigan; Clinton, Missouri; Elgin, Illinois; Lenexa, Kansas; and Spartanburg, South Carolina. The Yahoo report says Transcontinental issued a statement from senior vice-president Jeff Lasley.

We regret the impact of this decision on our employees who have been a strong team of contributors since the acquisition of the plant by TC Transcontinental in 2018, Lasley said We thank our 89 employees and will ensure they receive the respect they deserve, including support in their career transition.

Transcontinental didnt respond to a Tribune request for comment by press time.

Tomah city clerk Becky Weyer, issued the following statement on behalf of the citys four-member executive team:

We have not been in direct contact with the owners, but the city of Tomah was saddened to hear about the announced closing of Transcontinental Packaging, a longstanding employer in our community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the employees affected by the closure.
Schmidtys Bar & Restaurant is set to close at the end of the year unless a buyer steps forward to purchase the business from owner Bob Schmidt.

Schmidt said he planned to keep Schmidtys a family business, but his children dont have a desire to take over the restaurant.

The whole idea was to keep it in the family. When that wasnt going to happen, I decided I needed to go to the next step and that would be selling the place, Schmidt said.

Schmidt announced in a Facebook post the restaurant will end its 68-year run on Jan. 1, 2024. He inherited the restaurant in 1994 from his parents Arlene and Norbert Schmidt, who opened Schmidtys in 1955.

Its another piece of our generation thats going away, said Gene Davis, a longtime customer of Schmidtys. All of us at this table  were the ones who have been here the longest. We came to the Kentucky Derby parties Arlene had here and we came for her last birthday here as well.

Remember you used to always sit by the fireplace? Mike Betz, another customer at the table, said to his mother. Or, what was that old doorway they had in the front there? You came here all the time since it was here.

In his post about the closing, Bob Schmidt announced the restaurant is up for sale. No deal has been offered or suggested, but Schmidt said he is open to selling both the business and the real estate.

Im hoping for a quick sale and that the new owner will consider hiring some of the great employees that currently work here. Ideally the new owner will see the value of the last 68 years and continue with the format that made Schmidtys successful, Schmidt said in his announcement.

Schmidt said his involvement with the restaurant following a sale is possible, especially if it helps keep a business that fills Schmidtys role as a community staple alive.

I think a place like Schmidtys is needed on the South Side. Id like to see it continue somewhat as it has been because people love it here, Schmidt added. Its a place that is very comforting. An iconic type of place.

Places of the past: 29 La Crosse area restaurants you'll never eat at again (part one) Sandy's Drive-In Paul's Pantry 1985: Ranch House Dinner Theater Happy Joe's Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor Unicorn Restaurant Pagliacci's Maid-Rite Cafe Circus Supper Club Michael's Cerise Ground Round Wendy's Elite Restaurant and Candy Shop Big River Cattle Co. Esteban's Fat Sams Bistro Nob Hill 1983: Showbiz Pizza Place Jensen's Cafe The Mint Oscar's Walt's Restaurant Big Dipper Party House Bon Appetit Chop House Zorba's Johnnies Bar & Grill Perkins

Places of the past: 30 La Crosse area restaurants you'll never eat at again (part two) Edwardo's Embers Restaurant Cheddar 'n Ale Mai-Tai Supper Club Winchell's Donut House Taco Bell 1976: New Villa Mr. D's Donuts 1975: Bodega Lunch Club McDonald's Taco John's Taco Village Ponderosa Steak House Shakey's Pizza Fireside Restaurant 1972: Hoffman House Restaurant 1972: Louie Bantle's Restaurant Royale Pie Shop Chicago Beef & Etc. 1971: Kewpee Lunch Bridgeman's Ice Cream 1965: Dog House Restaurant Swiss Chateau Henry's Drive-In 1954: Triangle Cafe 1952: Harmony Cafe South Avenue Cafeteria The Penguin Drive-In TGI Fridays Fat Porcupine Burger Fusion
On 26 November Mexicos federal attorney generals office (FGR) stated it would not return a property to, the former head of state oil company Pemex (2012-2016) who is currently on trial for alleged corruption, rejecting a recent court ruling.

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On 26 November supporters of the right-wing former president Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023) took to the streets in Brazils largest city, Sao Paulo, expressing hostility toward the supreme court (STF) following the death of a prisoner who was among those convicted in relation to the 8 January storming of the seats of government.

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NASA has successfully tested a laser-based communication method that sent data over 16 million kilometers. The American space agency hopes the system will greatly improve data links between Earth and spacecraft exploring deep space.

The method, called Deep Space Optical Communications (DSOC), is being tested aboard NASAs Psyche spacecraft. The agency launched Psyche last month to observe a mostly metal asteroid.

DSOC uses lasers to send large amounts of data very long distances. Traditionally, NASA has depended on radio frequency communications to send data to, and collect data from, deep space. But now the agency seeks to improve its systems to support new technologies and future trips to the moon and beyond.

Laser communications, also known as optical communications, enable the fast transmission of data over long distances. In an explanation of lasers, NASA explained the technology will permit up to 100 times more data to be transmitted back to Earth than current radio frequency systems.

NASA estimates it would take about nine weeks to transmit a complete map of Mars back to Earth with current radio frequency systems. But with a laser-based method, the time would be cut to nine days. Also, laser communications equipment takes up less space in spacecraft and uses less energy.

Scientists from NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California recently announced a successful test of the DSOC method. The team said a device on the Psyche spacecraft was able to successfully send and receive data messages with a telescope in Southern California. NASA said the laser system works with signals that exist at near-infrared wavelengths.

The data transmitted by laser takes the form of bits  the smallest pieces of data a computer can process. These bits are embedded inside the lasers photons.

The NASA team described the successful data signal transmissions as first light. The experiment represented the farthest-ever demonstration of optical communications, at about 16 million kilometers.

Trudy Kortes is the director of Technology Demonstrations for the Space Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. She said in a statement she sees the first light event as one of many critical DSOC milestones to look forward to in the coming months. The communication success is another step forward, she said, in support of humanitys next ... goal: sending humans to Mars.

Optical communication has already been demonstrated in low Earth orbit and on the moon. But the research team working on the DSOC project said it was the first time this method has been successfully tested in deep space.

Abi Biswas is a project technologist on the DSOC team. He called the latest laser test a tremendous achievement. The team was, Biswas said, able to send some data, meaning we were able to exchange bits of light from and to deep space.

The team said laser communication over long distances can be difficult as it requires complete exactness in following signals and linking up transmitters and receivers over millions of kilometers.

Project leaders say when Psyche is at its farthest from our planet, DSOCs near-infrared photons will take about 20 minutes to travel back to Earth. During the successful experiment on November 14, DSOC took about 50 seconds to send the data from Psyche to Earth.

Jason Mitchell is a director in NASAs Space Communications and Navigation program. He called optical communication a boon for scientists and researchers who always want more from their space missions. Mitchell said better data transmission methods will improve human exploration of deep space and lead to many more data discoveries in the future.

Im Bryan Lynn.

Bryan Lynn wrote this story, based on reports from NASA.

Quiz - NASA Laser Communication Test Gets Data from 16 Million Kilometers Away Start the Quiz to find out Start Quiz

_____________________________________________

Words in This Story

asteroid  n. an object made of rock and metal that orbits the sun, but is smaller than planets

transmit  v. to send

embed  v. to fix something firmly into a substance

milestone  n. an important event in history or the development of something or someone

achievement  n. something good that you achieve: to succeed in doing something good, usually by working hard

boon  n. something helpful that improves your life
The sudden and large increase in sugar prices left Ishaq Abdulraheem with few choices. Raising the cost of bread would mean decreasing sales, so the Nigerian baker decided to cut his production by half.

For other struggling bakers in the West African nation, it was the latest of many problems they have faced. Many bakers just closed their shops.

Sugar is needed to make bread, the daily food for Nigerias 210 million people. For many, bread offers a less costly source of calories, or energy. Rising sugar prices  an increase of 55 percent in two months  means fewer bakers and less bread.

It is a very serious situation, Abdulraheem said.

Increases worldwide

Sugar is trading at the highest prices since 2011, mainly due to lower supplies around the world.

The increase followed the unusually dry weather that damaged harvests in India and Thailand, the worlds second- and third-largest exporters.

This is just the latest problem for developing nations already dealing with shortages of rice and bans on some food trade. Others include the effects of the weather system El Nino and the war in Ukraine. And, increasingly, sugar is being used for biofuels, so worldwide reserves of sugar are at their lowest since 2009.

Brazil is the biggest sugar exporter, but its harvest will only help supply later in 2024. Until then, sugar-importing countries  like most of those in sub-Saharan Africa  remain at risk.

Abba Usman is a trader in the Nigeria capital of Abuja. He said a 50-kilogram bag of sugar that cost $66 a week ago now costs $81. As prices rise, his customers are decreasing.

The price keeps increasing every day, and we dont know why, Usman said.

El Nino

It is partly due to El Nino, a natural event that shifts the weather around the world and can cause extreme weather conditions like drought or flooding. Scientists believe climate change is making El Nino stronger.

India experienced its driest August in over a century. Crops in the western state of Maharashtra, which accounts for over a third of its sugarcane production, did not grow properly.

The Indian Sugar Mills Association said Indias sugar production is likely to decrease by 8 percent this year. The worlds most populated nation is also the biggest user of sugar and is now restricting sugar exports.

El Nino affected both the amount and quality of the harvest in Thailand, said Naradhip Anantasuk, leader of the Thailand Sugar Planters Association. He expects only 76 million metric tons of sugarcane in the 2024 harvest season, compared with 93 million metric tons this year.

Looking ahead, Kelly Goughary, a senior researcher at Gro Intelligence, said Brazils harvest is predicted to be 20 percent bigger than last year. But since the country is in the Southern Hemisphere, the increase in supply will not come until March.

Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows that the world now has less than 68 days of sugar in reserves to meet its needs.

Some countries, including Indonesia and Kenya, have cut back their sugar imports. China was forced to release sugar from its reserves for the first time in six years to offset high prices.

Back in Nigeria, Africas largest economy, the struggle of bakers is an example of the effects of rising food, fuel costs and the large impact of high sugar prices.

Bread is often the only food poor families have enough money to buy. When bakers raise bread prices, as they did by 15 percent earlier this year, some people go hungry.

Not passing along higher costs is not possible, said Mansur Umar, president of the Nigerian Bakers Association.

There is no way you can buy high and you sell low, he said.

Im Gena Bennett.

Aniruddha Ghosal and Chinedu Asadu reported this story for the Associated Press. Gena Bennett adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

bakern. a person who makes bread for a living

reservesn. something that is being saved for the future

droughtn. a long period of time without enough water

sugarcanen. a tall grass used for sugar production
After more than a thousand of its workers went to fight Russias invasion, a coal mine in eastern Ukraine needed workers. Its answer was to permit women to work underground for the first time in its history.

Over a hundred accepted the offer.

"I took this job because the war started and there were no other jobs," 22-year-old Krystyna said. The mines officials asked Reuters not to give the last names of those who talked to the news service.

For five months, Krystyna has worked as a technician 470 meters below ground. She works on the small electric trains that move workers more than four kilometers down the mine.

She agreed to take the job after overcoming her fear of leaving her four-year-old son, Denys, at home with her mother. Her hometown of Pavlohrad is 100 kilometers from the front but it is often hit by Russian missiles.

The work is interesting but difficult, she said. The equipment is heavy and the steam is not easy to deal with. But the pay is good and she feels a sense of duty to stay and do her part for those who have gone to fight.

Her older brother worked in the same mine. He joined the army two weeks after the start of the invasion, Krystyna said. She added she worries greatly about him.

She said, "Our boys were taken to the front, and now we need to support them: there is no one else to work in the mine now."

Ukraines coal industry was once one of the largest in Europe. It has suffered many years of decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union. The government-controlled market which it supplied suddenly was not there.

Russia-backed militias in eastern Ukraine took over many coal-rich areas in 2014. After the 2022 invasion, Russia occupied even more mines.

DTEK is the mines owner and Ukraines largest private energy company. It says nearly 3,000 of its 20,000 mineworkers are fighting.

Of the thousand miners at this mine and its nearby other mine who went to fight, 42 have been killed.

Although some women worked in the mines before the war, they were barred from doing jobs underground by the government. The work was considered too physically demanding. The policy had been in place since the Soviet times.

The ban was removed during the war. Now, about 400 women work underground at DTEKs mines. That is only 2.5 percent of the underground workforce.

"We do everything on the same level as the men  unless its something very heavy that we can't lift," 43-year-old Natalia said. She also works as a technician who looks after the trains.

Natalia used to work in a shop selling electronics until she lost that job when Ukrainian businesses closed their doors at the beginning of the invasion. When she decided to work in the mine, her 19-year-old son had already worked in a neighboring mine for a year.

"Actually I had been convincing him not to go and work there," she remembered. But she said she was now happily working in the mine and planned to stay, even after the war.

Im Gregory Stachel.

Max Hunder reported this story for Reuters. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English.

_________________________________________________

Words in This Story

technician  n. a person whose job relates to the practical use of machines or science in industry or medicine

interesting  adj. attracting your attention and making you want to learn more about something or to be involved in something: not dull or boring

decline  v. to become worse in condition or quality

actually  adv. used to stress that a statement is true especially when it differs in some way from what might have been thought or expected

convince  v. to cause (someone) to agree to do something
Fridays first significant snowfall of the 2023-24 winter proved deadly on Interstate 80.

Two people were killed and four others injured in a three-vehicle crash that shut down eastbound I-80 between North Platte and Maxwell for about six hours.

A North Platte man died later in a single-vehicle wreck near the Gothenburg exit, said Cody Thomas, a Nebraska State Patrol spokesman.

The two crashes were among 14 that troopers investigated Friday and Saturday morning in areas affected by the snowstorm, he said.

The National Weather Service office at Lee Bird Field recorded 4.4 inches of snow Friday, breaking a Nov. 24 record of 3 inches that dated to 1895.

Panhandle snow totals were led by 8.8 inches near Scottsbluff and 6 inches near Alliance. West central Nebraska totals included 5 inches about four miles north of Farnam and 12 miles north-northwest of Max. Benkelman had 4.5 inches, while McCook had 3 inches and Valentine 2 inches.

Thomas said troopers and North Platte-area first responders responded about 2:10 p.m. to the multivehicle crash near mile marker 184, five miles east of the Newberry Access exit.

Preliminary investigation showed a westbound GMC Yukon lost control, crossed the I-80 median and struck both an eastbound Honda SUV and a semitrailer truck, he said.

The GMCs driver, 27-year-old Lezter Juarez, and passenger Janice Arriaga-Martinez, 25, both of Lincoln, were both ejected and pronounced dead at the scene.

The semis driver wasnt injured, Thomas said, but all four occupants of the Honda were taken with serious injuries to Great Plains Health in North Platte. Three later were transferred to Nebraska Medicine in Omaha.

Eastbound I-80 between Maxwell and North Platte reopened to traffic about 8:30 p.m., Thomas said.

State Patrol troopers were called about 5:45 p.m. to westbound I-80 near Exit 211. A Ford pickup driven by Joseph Dodson, 53, of North Platte lost control and rolled, ejecting him.

A passenger and a trooper performed life-saving measures until an ambulance arrived, but Dodson was pronounced dead later at Gothenburg Health, Thomas said. The passenger suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Sunny skies and patchy blowing snow are expected in North Platte between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday, the weather service said. Sundays high will be in the mid-30s, but northwest winds up to 30 mph will drive wind chill values down to near zero.

The seven-day forecast calls for generally sunny skies throughout the coming week. Highs will be in the 40s, with lows in the teens.
The Secretary for Security, Wong Sio Chak, revealed to the parliament that a seven-year-old child has fallen victim in a sex offense.

When questioned by lawmakers about sex offenses in the city, Wong disclosed that in the first nine months of this year, there were 24 reported cases, marking an increase year-on-year. Of these, 15 involved sexual harassment cases minor in nature, while nine involved voluntary sexual activities between partners.

Wong highlighted the need for collective societal efforts to combat sexual offenses targeting youths.

He also disclosed that in the first nine months of this year, there were 74 instances of youth delinquency  28 more than the corresponding period last year. These included 27 fights and 12 thefts.

Lawmaker Kou Kam Fai asked whether fraud victims themselves became perpetrators. In response, Wong said he felt grieved by the scenario. He added that this chain action did not only concern youths, but also adults. Many were coerced into swindling others to recover their lost funds.

In addition, many such victim-turn-suspects were highly educated.

There were even PhD holders, the secretary disclosed. Many of these victims disregard the governments warnings, because they think they will not fall victim to scams.

The Secretary said the government would consider methods to enhance education and awareness campaigns to prevent scams.

On sham marriage, Wong said there were cases in which individuals guilty of this offense had their Macau ID revoked. The key is the verdict, Wong said. Regarding punishments for drug matters, Wong said Macau and mainland China have different legal systems, so the severity of punishments cannot be directly compared.
Citizens from six countries will temporarily enjoy visa-free entry to the Peoples Republic of China, the country has announced on its consular service website. The six countries are France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Malaysia. The temporary measure will be effective from Dec. 1, 2023 to Nov. 30, 2024. During this period, citizens of these six countries will be accepted for visa-free entry with regular passports for business, tourism, visitation and transit purposes for a period not exceeding 15 days. Citizens from these countries who do not meet the criteria will still need a visa for entry into China.

.
Hou Kong Middle School will oversee operations of the school located in Macau New Neighbourhood (MNN) on Hengqin, which will open for enrollments tomorrow.

The school will cater to the needs of Macau ID holders before mainland students, and will adopt the Macau curricula and qualifications.

Despite this, mainland Chinese textbooks, educational tools and curricula have been prevalent in Hon Kong schools in Macau.

While expressing the intention to operate the Hengqin school, the Hou Kong operation entity disclosed that negotiations with mainland authorities were being conducted to clarify procedures.

Although formal permission is pending, the Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) has already signed an agreement with Hou Kong on the operation of the Hengqin school.

The future school will be integrated into Macaus free education system.

In its first academic year planned for 2024 to 2025, there will be five classes offered from Kindergarten 1 to Primary 2.

The campus is designed to accommodate 1,050 students, distributed across 18 primary classes and 12 kindergarten classes.

The director of Education, Kong Chi Meng, congratulated Hou Kong for securing operation rights, describing this as a new milestone in Hou Kongs and Macaus educational histories.

It was also announced on a separate occasion that the Hengqin residential project is scheduled to open for sale at 9 a.m. tomorrow. Each apartment is priced between RMB2.41 million and RMB3.71 million, depending on size, floor and location.

Application forms will be available for download at the Macau Urban Renewal Limiteds website. Applicants must submit completed forms, IDs and property ownership certifications issued by the Zhuhai government to the sale centers located in both Macau and Hengqin.

An intentional sum of RMB20,000 or HKD/MOP22,000 should be provided alongside these documents.

Those who work, live or study in the mainland Greater Bay Area cities should also submit relevant proof or certifications during the application process.

Five designated realty agencies will assist with the applications, being Centaline Macau, Midland Macau, Mcore Real Estate, Sun City Property Co. Ltd. and Kok Vui Real Estate Development.
* Cyber age risk

 Wong Sio Chak considers the escalating number of cyberattacks in Macau alarming

* Education | Hou Kong to run school at Macau New Neighbourhood

* Events | Light up Macao extended to CNY

* The ExCo announced that the public assets supervision office and the Personal Data Protection Office will be upgraded to bureaus

* Following months of repair and renovation, the first Jetfoil is set to return

* Top diplomats of South Korea, Japan and China meet to restart trilateral summit, revive cooperation

DOWNLOAD PDF

Monday, November 27, 2023  edition no. 4376
As lawmakers propose improving overtime remuneration for security forces, Secretary for Security Wong Sio Chak said that while adjustments are being considered, they are not yet prepared for implementation.

Over the weekend, Wong was present at the parliament for his policy question session.

Several lawmakers said security forces workers are entitled to 100 salary points of additional remuneration for working over 44 hours per week. However, their overtime payment will remain the same regardless of how much overtime they have completed. The lawmakers advocated for adjustments to this policy, some suggesting raising the payment to 120 salary points.

In response, Wong said the current overtime payment scheme is acceptable. Furthermore, he noted the related law had only recently been reviewed, but said that when circumstances were appropriate and consensus was reached, proposals for further review would be considered.

Wong also said the average working time for security forces stood at 50 hours per week, although certain departments might exceed this due to specific occasions or limited staffing. Notwithstanding, he said sufficient rest for workers was ensured.

Addressing lawmakers concerns on the size of the security forces, Wong said the Public Security Police Force has a team of only 5,100 officers, although the allotted size is 6,300. The actual number is 4,800 after accounting for some officers being designated to other workplaces. To manage this situation, the police have increasingly relied on technological advancements, Wong added.

When asked about retirement criteria for the security forces, Wong said officers who requested retirement on the grounds of carpe diem would be refused, given the rigorous training required for police officers.

Retirement by the age of 55 is usually permitted under special circumstances, such as the health condition of the officers or their family members.
The top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China met yesterday to discuss when to resume their leaders trilateral summit after a four-year hiatus and how to strengthen cooperation among the three Northeast Asian neighbors.

Closely linked economically and culturally with one another, the three countries together account for about 25% of the global gross domestic product. But efforts to boost trilateral cooperation have often hit a snag because of a mix of issues including historical disputes stemming from Japans wartime aggression and the strategic competition between China and the United States.

Korea, Japan and China have the potential for massive cooperation. Our three countries are neighbors that cant be separated from one another, South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin said at the start of the meeting in Busan, South Korea. I hope we can strive together to hold the South Korea-Japan-China summit, which is at the apex of three-way cooperation, at an early date.

Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said they would also push to revive three-way cooperation. Park said he hoped Sundays meeting would also discuss ways of collaboration in the face of North Koreas evolving nuclear threats, as well as trade, climate change and personnel exchange between the three countries.

In September, senior officials of the three nations agreed to restart the trilateral summit at the earliest convenient time.

Since they held their first stand-alone, trilateral summit in 2008, the leaders of the three countries had been supposed to meet annually. But their summit has faced on-again, off-again suspensions and remains stalled since 2019.

Their relationships are intertwined with a slew of complicated, touchy issues.

South Korea and Japan are key U.S. military allies, hosting a total of 80,000 American troops on their territories. Their recent push to beef up a trilateral security cooperation with the United States has angered China, which is sensitive to any moves it perceives as seeking to contain its rise to dominance in Asia.

But some observers say that the fact that Chinese President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden struck a conciliatory tone in their first face-to-face meeting in a year earlier this month would provide Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing with diplomatic rooms to maneuver to find ways to revive three-way cooperation.

The three ministers held bilateral talks on the sidelines.

After her meeting with Wang on Saturday, Kamikawa said she renewed Japans demand that China remove its ban on seafood imports from Japan in response to Tokyos discharge of treated radioactive wastewater from its tsunami-hit nuclear power plant. Wang, for his part, said China opposed Japans irresponsible action of releasing the wastewater and called for an independent monitoring mechanism of the process, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Ties between South Korea and Japan deteriorated severely in past years due to issues originating from Japans 1910-45 colonization of the Korean Peninsula. But their relations have warmed significantly in recent months as the two countries took a series of major steps to move beyond history wrangling and boost bilateral cooperation in the face of North Koreas advancing nuclear program and other shared challenges.

In a reminder of their difficult relations, however, a Seoul court earlier this week ordered Japan to financially compensate Koreans forced into sexual slavery by Japanese troops during the colonial period.

During her meeting with Park yesterday, Kamikawa called the court verdict extremely regrettable and urged South Korea to take appropriate steps to remedy the breaches of international law, according to Japans consulate-general in Busan. South Koreas Foreign Ministry said the two ministers discussed the court ruling as well as ways to work together to reinvigorate three-way cooperation with China. The ministry also said that both strongly condemned the Norths spy satellite launch last week.

Meeting Wang bilaterally, Park asked for China to play a constructive role in persuading North Korea to halt provocations and take steps toward denuclearization, according to South Koreas Foreign Ministry.

Wang described China as a stabilizing force in the region that has always played and will continue to play a constructive role in easing the situation on the peninsula, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. It said Wang called for stronger trade and economic ties between the two countries and criticized the tendency to politicize economic issues.

North Koreas growing arsenal of nuclear-capable missiles poses a major security threat to South Korea and Japan. But China, North Koreas last major ally and biggest source of aid, is suspected of avoiding fully enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea and shipping covert assistance to the North to help its impoverished neighbor stay afloat and continue to serve as a bulwark against U.S. influences on the Korean Peninsula. HYUNG-JIN KIM, SEOUL, MDT/AP
In an age of deepfakes and post-truth, as artificial intelligence rose and Elon Musk turned Twitter into X, the Merriam-Webster word of the year for 2023 is authentic.

Authentic cuisine. Authentic voice. Authentic self. Authenticity as artifice. Lookups for the word are routinely heavy on the dictionary companys site but were boosted to new heights throughout the year, editor at large Peter Sokolowski told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview.

We see in 2023 a kind of crisis of authenticity, he said ahead of Mondays announcement of this years word. What we realize is that when we question authenticity, we value it even more.

Sokolowski and his team dont delve into the reasons people head for dictionaries and websites in search of specific words. Rather, they chase the data on lookup spikes and world events that correlate. This time around, there was no particularly huge boost at any given time but a constancy to the increased interest in authentic.

This was the year of artificial intelligence, for sure, but also a moment when ChatGPT-maker OpenAI suffered a leadership crisis. Taylor Swift and Prince Harry chased after authenticity in their words and deeds. Musk himself, at Februarys World Government Summit in Dubai, urged the heads of companies, politicians, ministers and other leaders to speak authentically on social media by running their own accounts.

Can we trust whether a student wrote this paper? Can we trust whether a politician made this statement? We dont always trust what we see anymore, Sokolowski said. We sometimes dont believe our own eyes or our own ears. We are now recognizing that authenticity is a performance itself.

Merriam-Websters entry for authentic is busy with meaning.

There is not false or imitation: real, actual, as in an authentic cockney accent. Theres true to ones own personality, spirit or character. Theres worthy of acceptance or belief as conforming to or based on fact. There is made or done the same way as an original. And, perhaps the most telling, theres conforming to an original so as to reproduce essential features.

Authentic follows 2022s choice of gaslighting. And 2023 marks Merriam-Websters 20th anniversary choosing a top word.

The companys data crunchers filter out evergreen words like love and affect vs. effect that are always high in lookups among the 500,000 words it defines online. This year, the wordsmiths also filtered out numerous five-letter words because Wordle and Quordle players clearly use the companys site in search of them as they play the daily games, Sokolowski said.

Sokolowski, a lexicologist, and his colleagues have a bevy of runners-up for word of the year that also attracted unusual traffic. They include X (lookups spiked in July after Musks rebranding of Twitter), EGOT (there was a boost in February when Viola Davis achieved that rare quadruple-award status with a Grammy) and Elemental, the title of a new Pixar film that had lookups jumping in June.

Rounding out the companys top words of 2023, in no particular order:

RIZZ: Slang for romantic appeal or charm and seemingly short for charisma. Merriam-Webster added the word to its online dictionary in September and its been among the top lookups since, Sokolowski said.

KIBBUTZ: There was a massive spike in lookups for a communal farm or settlement in Israel after Hamas militants attacked several near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7. The first kibbutz in Israel was founded circa 1909.

IMPLODE: The June 18 implosion of the Titan submersible on a commercial expedition to explore the Titanic wreckage sent lookups soaring for this word, meaning to burst inward. It was a story that completely occupied the world, Sokolowski said.

DEADNAME: Interest was high in what Merriam-Webster defines as the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses upon transitioning. Lookups followed an onslaught of legislation aimed at curtailing LGBTQ+ rights around the country.

DOPPELGANGER: Sokolowski calls this a word lovers word. Merriam-Webster defines it as a double, an alter ego or a ghostly counterpart. It derives from German folklore. Interest in the word surrounded Naomi Kleins latest book, Doppelganger: A Trip Into the Mirror World, released this year. She uses her own experience of often being confused with feminist author and conspiracy theorist Naomi Wolf as a springboard into a broader narrative on the crazy times were all living in.

CORONATION: King Charles III had one on May 6, sending lookups for the word soaring 15,681% over the year before, Sokolowski said. Merriam-Webster defines it as the act or occasion of crowning.

DEEPFAKE: The dictionary companys definition is an image or recording that has been convincingly altered and manipulated to misrepresent someone as doing or saying something that was not actually done or said. Interest spiked after Musks lawyers in a Tesla lawsuit said he is often the subject of deepfake videos and again after the likeness of Ryan Reynolds appeared in a fake, AI-generated Tesla ad.

DYSTOPIAN: Climate chaos brought on interest in the word. So did books, movies and TV fare intended to entertain. Its unusual to me to see a word that is used in both contexts, Sokolowski said.

COVENANT: Lookups for the word meaning a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement swelled on March 27, after a deadly mass shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee. The shooter was a former student killed by police after killing three students and three adults.

Interest also spiked with this years release of Guy Ritchies The Covenant and Abraham Vergheses long-awaited new novel, The Covenant of Water, which Oprah Winfrey chose as a book club pick.

More recently, soon after U.S. Rep. Mike Johnson ascended to House speaker, a 2022 interview with the Louisiana congressman recirculated. He discussed how his teen son was then his accountability partner on Covenant Eyes, software that tracks browser history and sends reports to each partner when porn or other potentially objectionable sites are viewed.

INDICT: Former President Donald Trump has been indicted on felony charges in four criminal cases in New York, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C., in addition to fighting a lawsuit threatening his real estate empire.

MDT/AP

Related
Chinese officials say they did not detect any unusual or novel diseases in the country, the World Health Organization said last week, following an official request by the U.N. health agency for information about a potentially worrying spike in respiratory illnesses and clusters of pneumonia in children.

WHO cited unspecified media reports and a global infectious disease monitoring service as reporting clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China and formally requested more details from China earlier last week.

Outside scientists said the situation warranted close monitoring, but were not convinced that the recent spike in respiratory illnesses in China signaled the start of a new global outbreak.

The emergence of new flu strains or other viruses capable of triggering pandemics typically starts with undiagnosed clusters of respiratory illness. Both SARS and COVID-19 were first reported as unusual types of pneumonia.

WHO noted that authorities at Chinas National Health Commission on Nov. 13 reported an increase in respiratory diseases, which they said was due to the lifting of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Other countries also saw a jump in respiratory diseases such as respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, when pandemic restrictions ended.

WHO said media reports about a week later reported clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children in northern China.

The U.N. agency said it held a teleconference with Chinese health officials last week, during which the data it requested were provided. Those showed an increase in hospital admissions of children due to diseases including bacterial infection, RSV, influenza and common cold viruses since October.

No changes in the disease presentation were reported by the Chinese health authorities, WHO said. It added that Chinese officials said the spike in patients had not overloaded the countrys hospitals.

Dr. Paul Hunter, a professor of medicine at Britains University of East Anglia, doubted the wave of infections was sparked by a new disease.

If it was (a new disease), I would expect to see many more infections in adults, he said in a statement. The few infections reported in adults suggest existing immunity from a prior exposure. AMEY KEATEN & MARIA CHENG, GENEVA, MDT/AP
STOCKHOLM  Many cities around the world see clean and efficient public transport as a crucial way to lower their carbon emissions. For cities with waterways, a high-tech ferry in Sweden could soon set a new standard.

Speeding through Stockholm's archipelago, electric boat maker Candela's new P-12 vessel barely makes a sound as it glides over 3 feet above the water. Its developers hope the ferry, which was unveiled last week, will yield a new era of waterborne public transport.

"This is a real leap forward," said Erik Eklund, who is in charge of the commercial vessel division at Candela. "The energy savings we get by going airborne on the foils give us the speed and range we need to make this work on batteries."

The vessel is designed to carry 30 passengers at a maximum speed of 335 mph  considerably faster than other electric passenger ferries. It achieves this with carbon fiber hydrofoil wings that lift the boat out of the water, reducing drag.

Candela says its technology reduces the energy per passenger-kilometer by 95% compared with the diesel ships that are currently transporting passengers across the picturesque Stockholm archipelago, which is made up of tens of thousands of islands and skerries stretching out into the Baltic Sea.

An added benefit is that the vessel is exempt from the 12knot speed limit in Stockholm because it leaves no wake  waves made by a boat's displacement through water that increase with speed and could swamp other vessels or erode the shoreline.

The P-12 is still in testing but is set to enter service in July between the Stockholm suburb of Ekero and the city center as part of a nine-month pilot project. The ferry will cut the travel time from Ekero by conventional public transport from 55 minutes to 25 minutes.

The company wants to build on lessons learned from the launch of its smaller electric hydrofoil leisure boat. Onboard, engineers are fine-tuning the hydrofoils, which are regulated by a computer 100 times per second to compensate for the sea state and negate the effects of any waves.

The vessel can operate in waves of up to 6 feet.

Candela hopes that as well as Stockholm, cities like San Francisco, New York and Venice will lead the electrification of waterborne public transport.

Gustav Hemming, Vice President of the Regional Executive Board in Stockholm, said the Swedish capital is on board.

"The ambition is, for the Stockholm region, to expand public transport on water, because we think that is one of the keys to make public transport more attractive," he said.

There were around 6.2 million public transport boat journeys in the Stockholm region in 2022, and while boat traffic remains a small part of the entire public transit system, it is the fastest-growing mode of public transport after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Our roads are congested and building new ones is very expensive and not very environmentally friendly," Hemming said, looking out onto the open waters of Stockholm on a cold autumnal day. "But here we have our traditional infrastructure. There is no congestion on the water."

Hydrofoil revival

The use of hydrofoils to raise a vessel out of the water to reduce drag is not new. Ship designers have experimented with the technology for more than a century, but costs and maintenance issues had prevented its widespread adoption. However, new lightweight carbon fiber material saw the technology make a comeback in elite sailing, and with efficient electric motors and high costs for traditional fuels it's getting a second birth in the public transport sector, too.

"We know that marine vessels are often energy-hungry, and the limited energy density of today's batteries will be a barrier for electrification of a marine fleet," said Arash Eslamdoost, associate professor of applied hydrodynamics at the Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg. "Here is where foiling steps in as a radical solution for taking the most out of the limited onboard electric power."

Globally, several hydrofoil electric passenger ferries are under design or actively being developed. In the U.K., Artemis Technologies has announced plans for a fully electric hydrofoil ferry to operate in Northern Ireland between Belfast and nearby Bangor, possibly as early as next year.

Robin Cook from the Swedish Transport Agency says the maritime industry is ripe for change, especially for short-distance connections.

But he stressed that public infrastructure must keep up with the latest developments and even encourage this through incentives.

"One important part of the electrification is when the ships connect to the ports through the onshore power supply," he said. "And here the harbors play a very important role to make sure that the infrastructure is in place for these connections."
A new beer spa coming to Carroll County is giving new meaning to the term bubble bath.

The suds in the spa tubs at BierBath, opening Dec. 9 in Sykesville, are ingredients you could also find in a craft brew. Warm baths are infused with hops and barley, giving off the aroma of a freshly poured beer.

The concept might sound strange to Americans, but beer spas have been bubbling up around Europe for years, said BierBath co-founder Hector Enriquez.

Its not like a regular spa, he said. Its a totally different experience.

Enriquez, an international hotel photographer, first encountered beer baths in Spain, and has also visited similar spas in Prague and Iceland. He met BierBath co-founder Greg Baran, a fellow craft beer aficionado who works in the tech industry, at a beer-tasting event.

He told me he wanted to build a brewery, Enriquez recalled. I said, Oh no, I have something better.'

BierBath, located in a retail center at 1213 Liberty Road, will combine a brew house and a beer spa in one building. A 150-seat taproom will serve 30 different beers, including 10 on draft, sourced from breweries throughout the United States.

Guests can grab a drink in the bright yellow brew house whether or not they plan to spend time in the spa. Enriquez said the space is kid- and dog-friendly. A limited food menu will focus on charcuterie boards with meats and cheeses, including Jamon Iberico from Spain and Italian prosciutto di Parma.

BierBath, a new spa and brew house opening Dec. 9 in Sykesville, invites visitors to soak in hot water mixed with craft beer ingredients like hops and barley.

To take a beer bath, customers will have to make a booking in advance. Spa services start at $100 and include a 40-minute soak in the tub, 10 minutes in an infrared sauna and 10 minutes in a rain shower to wash off the beer smell. (Though the business is billed as a beer bath, Enriquez said the tubs dont actually contain beer  just beer-making ingredients like hops and barley, plus Epsom salts.)

Customers can book individual soaks or share a tub with one other person. BierBath has a room with two tubs that groups of up to four people can share.

The spa claims that taking a beer bath can serve as a kind of detoxifying experience, opening pores, improving blood circulation and relieving stress.

Enriquez has a feeling the concept will continue to spread across the U.S. There are already a handful of beer spas scattered throughout the country, in Chicago, Denver and Orlando, Florida.

Its very, very good for the skin, he said.
The Madison School District has upgraded its school lunch program for the current school year, after families had complained that lunches were low quality and repetitive.

Administrators are concerned, though, that participation in Madisons school lunch program still lags behind statewide numbers.

Salad bars are now available in many schools during lunch, new menu items are rolling out, and staff are preparing to launch a pilot program at Nuestro Mundo in which food will be made almost completely from scratch on-site.

Food and Nutrition Director Josh Perkins said the district has doubled down on its efforts to revamp menus and offer healthier, more varied entrees. Perkins said new meals include more pasta and casserole dishes.

We wanted to invest in staff and really focus not so much on brand new things, but a back to the basics approach: temperature, texture, equipment, he said. One of the things we really wanted to focus on doing was not throwing a lot of curveballs at students.

Perkins said he is particularly committed to increasing the amount of food that is made from scratch in on-site kitchens. Given the size of the school district, its common to rely on prepackaged meals that are heated and served.

Nuestro Mundos scratch food pilot program will give the district a better idea about whats needed to expand these programs to other elementary schools. But getting these types of programs off the ground can be a heavy lift, because elementary schools often have the fewest staff and limited equipment.

Thats the toe in the water to really take a look at what happens when you change the cooking and put that in front of students, Perkins said. So, what Im really excited about right now is the arc that were on to develop entrees that can be prepared on site and represent a real difference in what students are seeing.

Perkins said the issues last year were largely the result of short staffing. A $5-per-hour wage increase for food service workers added in fall 2022 largely solved those concerns, along with a more robust training process for staff.

Participation varies across Madison

About 40% of students in the district chose school lunch last school year, compared with the statewide average of 54%, according to data from the Department of Public Instruction.

Only half of the students who qualify to receive a school lunch for free or at a reduced price choose to do so. The numbers are even lower for families paying full price for school lunches.

Jennifer Gaddis, a school nutrition expert at UW-Madison who works with the Madison School District, said these participation rates raise some red flags.

As the second-largest school district in the state, in a city that prides itself on local food options, Gaddis said she thinks its a failure that administration and the community are not demanding more.

Theres enough support and talented people around Madison for local food systems and healthy food that we really shouldnt have a school meal program that so many people are opting out of, she said.

The root cause of low participation numbers can be hard to identify.

Preferences matter

Nationally, research shows that participation dwindles when school food doesnt align with family preferences or include familiar ingredients and tastes.

Families also needed to start applying for free and reduced lunch again this year, after the end of federally funded universal free school meals offered through the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The assumption that school-provided meals are unhealthy works against districts, too, leaving Gaddis and administrators with the task of correcting the stigma about school lunch.

There is definitely some work needed to undo perceptions of what school meals are, Gaddis said. But I also think that there is real work to be done in terms of helping people imagine what school meals can be as well.

Districtwide, about 38% of students participated in school lunch last month. But individual schools see wildly different numbers of students opting in.

Participation is far higher among students at Community Eligibility Provision schools, for example, a program that lets high-poverty schools serve breakfast and lunch at no cost. Schools must apply for the federal program every four years.

At Lake View Elementary on Madisons North Side, one of the districts Community Eligibility Provision locations, about 80% of students choose school meals on a daily basis, according to data from October 2022.

Including Lake View Elementary, 16 of the districts 52 schools are included in the program. But participation still varies dramatically even at these locations.

At Hawthorne Elementary, 68% of students opted to eat school-provided meals last year. And at Anana Elementary, only about 55% of students took part.

Affordable options

Low participation rates, especially at Community Eligibility Provision schools, signal that most families that can afford to opt out of school meal programs usually choose to do so  even if it comes with added financial strain. Meals vary in cost from $2.95 to $4.15 depending on grade level.

There are a fair number of families who are above that threshold for free and reduced meals but who still might be struggling economically, Gaddis said. Especially if they have multiple kids, the daily cost of school lunch can be something that might be hard for them to really manage.

Participation rates decline even more sharply at other schools. At Elvehjem Elementary, about 17% of students eat school lunches. Participation is similar at Shorewood Hills Elementary school on Madisons Near West Side.

Gaddis said more staff will make sure meal preparation and distribution run smoothly, and lengthening lunch periods would give students more time to pass through the line and eat. Making cafeteria spaces feel more welcoming is also shown to increase participation and satisfaction with school meals, she said.

Your school food can be a really unifying and joyful experience, or it can be the opposite of that, she said.

Building back a reputation

Despite the work thats gone into improving district meal programs, low participation rates are often the product of decades of dissatisfaction and stigma about food offerings, Gaddis said, and it will likely take several more decades to correct these assumptions and fully revamp school nutrition.

Its not just dispelling some of the myths around school food not being nutritious or making sure people understand some of the changes that have happened, she said. I think its also really building support for a vision of what we could achieve in the district if we put some resources behind it.

To get started, Gaddis recommends the Madison School District look to its peers in the Midwest as examples. Minneapolis Public Schools has reworked much of its program in the last 10 years and increased scratch cooking in elementary schools.

A much smaller district in Holmen has some of the highest school meal participation rates in Wisconsin.

Theyve built this real culture of participation and pride, Gaddis said. Part of how theyve done that is by really increasing scratch cooking and using a lot of student-grown products as well as locally sourced products from different companies and farms in the area.

Community support needed

Driving up participation rates in the Madison School District will take more than adding new entrees and increasing made-from-scratch cooking. Gaddis said support from community organizations will also be essential.

The district already partners with the Madison-based REAP food group, whose farm-to-school program aims to get more locally and regionally grown foods into schools.

Upping the amount of locally grown food in Madison schools takes some serious planning, though. Most local farmers arent able to produce the volume of food thats needed on a daily basis for a district with 25,000 students, according to REAP Executive Director Phil Kauth.

It doesnt just come right from the farm right into the classrooms, Kauth said. A whole series of things have to happen in the middle that we dont necessarily have directly in the Madison area. We dont have a large cold storage facility for farmers to store product.

Although it might take decades, Perkins said he hopes districtwide participation rates eventually come closer to 70%.

In my opinion, the Dane County Farmers Market is kind of the North Star for all of this as a hub of interest and enthusiasm for food and local food sourcing, he said. The districts food should reflect that interest in the community.
The dividing line used to be clear between community colleges as one thing, and four-year colleges and universities as another.

Community colleges were two-year institutions. People sometimes used them to take lower-level collegiate courses, and then transfer to a four-year college or university, sometimes getting an associate degree in the process. Or they might take technical and vocational courses and training there, or do other preparatory work.

The four-year institutions, in this frame, would be where you find higher education, courses specifically leading to undergraduate or graduate degrees (college degrees in the usual sense).

The lines seem, of late, to be blurring.

Want to join us? Were adding to Times-News Editorial Board in 2024 KIGGINS: We want more people around our table  to help us reach deeper into south-central Idaho, teach us what we dont know, bring a new accent to our voice.

Its a national development, but its becoming increasingly visible in Idaho, and lately has erupted into some controversy. You can expect talk around the subject to grow.

Part of it has to do with community colleges beginning to offer bachelors degrees, which traditionally are the province of four-year institutions. The College of Southern Idaho at Twin Falls offers an Operations Management BAS Degree, which is a bachelors (intended for people who already have completed qualifications for an associate degree), but has been an outlier.

Quote This has turned into a squabble, with the institutions starting to throw shade at each other over graduation rates and other data points.

On Nov. 9, the board of the College of Western Idaho (Meridian-Nampa, founded in 2007) voted to provide a business administration bachelors at the community college  now Idahos largest college by overall enrollment, and its fastest-growing. The decision would be effective only if the state Board of Education agrees.

The addition was in a sense market-driven. Idaho Ed News reported that, trustees pointed to a workforce demand. Within the past year, employers within 100 miles of CWIs Nampa campus posted 18,000 listings for business-related jobs requiring a bachelors degree. Idaho higher education isnt meeting nearly those numbers.

The four-year institutions apparently do not approve. All four of Idahos four-years offer comparable (not exactly the same) business administration degrees, and three of them (Boise State University, the University of Idaho and Lewis-Clark State College) specifically asked the Board of Education to deny the request. (Idaho State University seems not to have weighed in.) BSU said that some of CWIs arguments for the expansion were inaccurate, unsupported and frankly outright misleading.

This has turned into a squabble, with the institutions starting to throw shade at each other over graduation rates and other data points. (The objection from the University of Idaho, given its proposed affiliation with the mostly online University of Phoenix, is of special interest.)

Whatever happens in this specific issue, social and economic pressure is likely to move toward the community colleges in expanding their offerings, and this pressure point may become an education and political flash point in years ahead.

One reason is money. Community colleges almost always are far less costly for students to attend than are four-year institutions, and that seems to be true (speaking generally) in Idaho as elsewhere. CWI has reported its estimated tuition cost for a student to obtain the bachelors would be about $20,000, well below the four-year institutions.

Writ large  imagine this proposal for a bachelors degree expanding into a number of others over time  this could start to have a serious effect on the older Idaho colleges and universities, with overall ripple effects unclear.

But one of them is likely to be money, if students begin drifting away toward the less-expensive and more convenient community colleges. If you can get many of the same results at the less costly community level, why not?

The state Board of Education is expected to consider, and probably decide, on the CWI proposal at its December meeting. There are some indications its favorably inclined, but some of those indicators came before the other institutions began weighing in.

But this could mark the start of a reshaping of Idaho higher education. In the shape of college to come, the lines between different institutions, and different kinds of institutions, may become less clear.
An industry group expects the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry to post a 7-percent growth in terms of revenues to $37.87 billion in 2024 from the projected $35.4 billion in 2023.

Information Technology-Business Process Management Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) president Jack Madrid said the sectors growth would have a massive contribution to job generation.

Ill be happy with 7 percent [growth]. We continue to add jobs, and thats what matters, Madrid said.

Madrid said the healthcare segment of the IT-BPM industry would continue its sterling performance through 2024.

Employment in the sector is seen reaching 1.7 million full-time employees by end-2013, representing an addition of 130,00 workers from a year ago.

The industry group was expecting an addition of 1.1 million employees between 2022 and 2028.

November and December are high growth months. Because of the Christmas season, people hire more. We already hit 300,000 of our 1.1 million target, so itll be 800,000 [employees] more, Madrid said.

The group said among the factors propelling the growth of the Philippine IT-BPM industry in 2023 are the United States preference for the Philippines as hub for high-quality IT-BPM services and preferred source of talent by North American companies.

Foreign companies also find it attractive that the Philippine government plays a crucial role in the industrys growth by instituting supportive remote and hybrid work policies, Madrid said.

IBPAP said these policies did not only help companies adapt to the changing work landscape but also attracted foreign investments.

Madrid said contact centers continued to dominate the industry at 60-percent share, but demand for more hires is a challenge that the group was trying to address.

He said the industry is committed to sustaining the trajectory following the unveiling of the Philippine IT-BPM Roadmap 2028 with the goal of achieving 2.5 million jobs and $59 billion revenue by 2028.

Countryside growth continues to draw the interest of IT-BPM players in locations outside Metro Manila such as Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Clark and Cagayan de Oro, Madrid said.
The Embassy of France in the Philippines and SM Supermalls recently hosted a Charity Gala Dinner at Lanson Place, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay City, in observance of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and Children.

The gala aimed to raise awareness and support for Cameleon Associations work in protecting women and girls from violence over the last 26 years, and celebrated the resilience and courage of its members.

Acclaimed French actress Emmanuelle Beart joined SM Supermalls President Steven Tan, French Ambassador Marie Fontanel, Cameleon Association Founder Laurence Ligier, and Elizabeth Sy, president and chairman of SM Hotels and Conventions Corp., as they congratulated members of the Cirquera de Cameleon troupe after a moving performance at the Charity Gala Dinner.

Beart, renowned for her roles in French cinema, was in Manila to officially open the 26th French Film Festival and the premiere of her documentary, Un Silence Si Bruyant (Such a Resounding Silence).

The film serves as a powerful statement against violence towards women and children, and is one of the highlights of this years French Film Festival ongoing at the SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall cinemas until Dec. 3.
The Philippines should engage China in bilateral talks concerning the West Philippine Sea only if Beijing is sincere in doing so, Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said.

If there are going to be bilateral discussions, it must be based on fundamental principles and it must be based on sincerity, that it shall not be used merely as a weapon in order to constrain the Philippines, Teodoro said.

This is my personal belief that formal bilateral discussions should only be held when it is proven that they are sincere, he added.

As this developed, Armed Forces of the Philippines chief of staff Gen. Romeo Brawner Jr. said the military forces of the Philippines and Australia successfully concluded a joint patrol, despite the shadowing done by Chinese vessels.

Brawner said there were two instances of shadowing during the joint patrol.

On Saturday, Brawner said a Chinese vessel was seen shadowing Philippine and Australian vessels.

On Sunday, two Chinese fighter jets were spotted circling around the flight route of the joint patrol for 15 minutes.

Brawner said such incidents are not unusual, as China has been doing the same to vessels and aircraft from other countries such as the United States and Japan.

The maritime cooperative activity between the Philippines and Australia came days after the United States held a similar exercise with the Philippines in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely.

In a joint statement, the Australian and Philippine defense chiefs said the three-day patrols showed their shared commitment to exercising freedom of navigation and overflight consistent with international law.

Meanwhile, the Philippines gained support from at least 15 of the 27 member countries of the Asia-Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) for its bid to secure a seat in the UN Security Council for 2027-2028, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said Monday.

During the three-day APPF meeting held in Pasay City last week, Philippine lawmakers were able to lobby their counterparts to back the countrys UNSC bid, which comes amid growing aggressive behavior by China in the West Philippine Sea.

We secured firm and new commitments from the countries we have approached, Zubiri said. In fact, some of them even wrote to us to formalize their commitments.

He added Speaker Martin Romualdez had informed him that another country would support the Philippine bid, bringing the number who backed Manila to 16.

Zubiri said he would not identify the nations that committed to supporting Manilas bid since there is another country lobbying for the same spot.

We dont want to telegraph our punches, he said.
Perhaps the reason why the Philippines is a laggard in Asia is that we have too much politics and elections every three years

Once again, with the successive earthquakes at Sarangani and nearby areas in Southern Mindanao, including Davao City, at a magnitude of 7.2 and in Eastern Samar with a magnitude of 5.2, I am reminded of my long advocacy for the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), to replace the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC), an ad hoc body under the Civil Defense Office, which goes into action only when disaster or calamity occurs.

For a country like the Philippines, prone to disasters and calamities, not only to earthquakes, but to floods, storm surges, volcanic eruptions and landslides, its unfortunate that we dont have a DDR, a permanent body dedicated to and focused on preparedness, and, more important, on aid and relief of victims.

Knowing the Philippines is within the Ring of Fire, with so many active volcanoes and earthquake faults, its sad to note we do not have a DDR.

For this reason I must commend Senator Bong Go for pushing hard for the creation of a DDR.

And once again, Go is calling for the creation of a DDR following the two successive earthquakes.

The casualties and damage to infrastructure may not be as big as when calamities and disasters hit highly urbanized regions and cities, but just the same, each life is precious. .

Can you imagine if the Big One, an earthquake of magnitude 7.2 (I hope and pray it will not happen) were to hit Metro Manila?

It would be cataclysmic.

As they say, the collapse of buildings could result in the immediate death of 34,000 and, following successive fires, 29,000.

No one can predict earthquakes but, Santa Banana, theres no substitute for preparedness.

This is where the need for a DDR is urgent and imperative, aware of the frequency of floods and earthquakes!

As for Metro Manila and the National Capital Region, dont forget that the area lies at the West Valley Fault.

The need for a DDR cannot be overemphasized, as it can focus and dedicate itself in strategizing preparedness, especially on the recurrence of floods and storm surges and in particular, landslides.

I am not talking of loss of lives, but of infrastructure, livelihood and the need for aid.

Often they come late and worse, communication lines and power lines are cut off after a calamity or disaster.

It is here where we need a permanent body focused and dedicated to studies on preparedness.

Why Vietnam is ahead

A friend who just arrived from Vietnam showed me photos of Ho Chi Minh City with all its skyscrapers and modern centers.

Emil, my friend said, Vietnam is now way ahead of the Philippines in development.

I was in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in the 60s, and it was still suffering from the effects of war.

My wife and I stayed at the Hotel Continental, a landmark hotel built in 1880, where we slept on an antique bed, and took a shower in an antique bathtub,

Santa Banana, the only modern thing at that time was a floating hotel.

Saigon was a shoppers paradise for antiquities.

Would you believe you couldnt cross the street until there was a red sign because of the sheer number of motorcycles on the streets. It was said that at the time, there were more motorcycles than people in Vietnam.

When I asked my friend why Vietnam is so way ahead of the Philippines, he smiled and said: The Vietnamese are just pretending to be communists.

But frankly, the reason why Vietnam is way ahead of the Philippines is that they dont have politics since they have no elections, and the ruling party is just one.

Another reason is that its economy is open, having no restrictions.

I said to myself, perhaps the reason why the Philippines is a laggard in Asia is that we have too much politics and elections every three years.
Analysts believe that the Coral South FLNG project could significantly increase gas production in Mozambique this year.

Oxford Economics Africa this Sunday November 26 revised upwards its growth forecast for Mozambique this year, from 4.4% to 5.1%, due to surprising data on the evolution of the economy in the third quarter.

Mozambiques economic growth in the third quarter was higher than expected, essentially due to the continued increase in liquefied natural gas production on the off-shore platform in the Rovuma basin and the recovery in agricultural production, so this growth above expectations leads us to improve the growth forecast to 5.1%, says the African department of Oxford Economics.

In the African departments commentary on the growth figures for the third quarter, which show an expansion of 6.0% compared to the same period in 2022 and 2.9% compared to the previous quarter, the analysts believe that the Coral South FLNG project could significantly increase gas production in Mozambique this year.

TotalEnergies project in Cabo Delgado, the largest in the country, is only expected to restart in the first quarter of 2024, due to ongoing negotiations with contractors and adjacent communities about the works, Oxford Economics Africa also writes.
Angolan President Joao Lourenco will be received by his US counterpart, Joe Biden, next Thursday as part of the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries, the White House announced.

The two heads of state are also expected to discuss the next steps in deepening bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, climate and energy, as well as the development of President Bidens Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment (PGI) for the Lobito Corridor.

This rail infrastructure will connect Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to global markets via the Angolan port of Lobito

This meeting will be guided by the principles of the US-Africa Leaders Summit, particularly with regard to how the United States and African nations can continue to work together to tackle regional and global challenges, the White House statement said.
Somalia is now part of the Community of East African States (EAC). This regional organization has a single market, allowing the free movement of goods and people. This is good news not only for Somalia but also for neighboring countries.

The announcement, made on Friday, November 24, from the organizations headquarters in Arusha, was warmly welcomed by the UN mission in Somalia. For its representative, this integration marks a major step in the process of returning Somalia to its rightful place within the international community and in its relations with its neighbors. This integration is all the more important given that, with its 17 million inhabitants, Somalia brings this common market to over 300 million people.

For the past 16 years, the Somali government has been fighting the insurrection of the radical Islamist Shebab, affiliated with al-Qaeda, who have established themselves in the south and center of the country. Joining the East African bloc is therefore an opportunity for Somalia, where seven out of ten inhabitants live below the poverty line.

Its also good news for the organization, which is expanding even further east. Founded in 2000, the bloc, which includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, aims to facilitate cross-border trade by eliminating customs duties between its member states.

The announcement, made from Arusha, was attended by Somali President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, who expressed his deep gratitude. This moment is not only the culmination of an aspiration, but a beacon of hope for a future full of possibilities and opportunities, he said.
Sierra Leones government has given assurances that security forces have pushed back to the outskirts of Freetown those responsible for the armed clashes that have rocked the capital since Sunday November 26 morning and that it is in control of the situation.

The government remains in control and is master of the situation, said the Ministry of Information in a statement published on social networks. It acknowledged that assailants had attacked Freetowns prisons and that many inmates had escaped, but gave no further details about the assailants.

Armed clashes rocked the Sierra Leonean capital Freetown on Sunday morning after an abortive attempt to break into a military armory, according to the government, which imposed a national curfew.

Videos posted on social networks suggest that many inmates have escaped from the central prison in circumstances as yet undetermined. One man in a group filmed in the street indicated that he and the others were indeed escaped prisoners.

The situation was confused by midday, with the authorities remaining silent after having assured us they had the situation under control earlier in the morning.

The nature of the events remains unknown. The authorities merely referred to the attack on the armoury. In a press release, the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) spoke of an attempt to get hold of weapons but also of disturbing the peace and constitutional order, language commonly used for political coups.
Interview: China's efforts in promoting digital trade benefit world, says expert

Xinhua) 08:15, November 27, 2023

Visitors walk past the Silk Road E-commerce Pavilion at the second Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 23, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Lingyi)

China has a lot of experience in this area and can share best practices and lessons learned with small businesses of other developing countries.

GENEVA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The promotion of digital trade creates new business opportunities, while China's efforts in this area have a positive impact on the world, especially developing countries, Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Center (ITC), has said.

The development of China's digital economy over the last few decades has been remarkable, with the rise of platforms such as Alibaba, Jingdong, Tencent and TikTok, Coke-Hamilton said in a recent written interview with Xinhua.

The digital economy has changed the daily life of the Chinese people, especially the younger generations, as it "has made services easier, choices more comprehensive, and goods cheaper," said Coke-Hamilton.

More online influencers from Africa, Asia and Latin America are using livestreaming to sell products of their countries to the Chinese market, Coke-Hamilton said.

"China has a lot of experience in this area and can share best practices and lessons learned with small businesses of other developing countries," she said.

"Digital connectivity is set to be one of the biggest difference makers when it comes to the future of trade," said Coke-Hamilton.

Referring to the second Global Digital Trade Expo that runs from Thursday to Monday in Hangzhou, the capital of east China's Zhejiang Province, the expert said "we're participating in this expo because technology is transforming the global trade landscape ... we want to make sure small businesses of developing countries benefit from this transition."

A foreign guest experiences livestreaming at the Silk Road E-commerce Pavilion during the second Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang Province, Nov. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Liu Lingyi)

The development of digital trade presents opportunities for small businesses on the one hand and challenges on the other hand, she stressed.

"That's why we're working with governments, institutions and development partners to support the building of a more business and development-friendly environment for small businesses, including through platforms such as the Global Digital Trade Expo," said Coke-Hamilton.

The ITC looks forward to promoting projects in the areas of cross-border e-commerce, digital trade standards and the promotion of electronic bills of lading to help small businesses in developing countries to take part in digital trade, Coke-Hamilton said.

"In the future, we will also explore with local governments, such as Zhejiang Province, how to better utilize the Global Digital Trade Expo platform to promote South-South trade and investment," she added.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
A male was shot in the head Sunday night in West Baltimore.

Baltimore Police initially said shortly after 10 p.m. that the victim was dead before retracting that statement a little more than an hour later.

The victim has not yet been pronounced deceased, Baltimore Police spokesperson Amanda Krotki said.

Officers responded to a ShotSpotter alert around 7:55 p.m. to the 600 block of North Dukeland Street in the Mosher neighborhood, where a person led them about a mile away to the 2000 block of Winchester Street in the Bridgeview/Greenlawn neighborhood, Baltimore Police said.

Officers found the unidentified victim lying in the road with a gunshot wound to the head, and medics took him to a hospital, police said

Anyone with information can contact detectives at 410-396-2100.
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

Many of us associate 'home' with feelings of stability, familiarity and comfort.

But for children who have experienced the murder of a parenthome can mean the opposite, a place of trauma and the disruption of everything once familiar.

On top of this, their concept of 'home' is often disrupted as they move to a new caregiver's home, enter the foster care system or, in some cases, live with the perpetrator.

Home can be complex and challenging for these childrenwho not only have to potentially adjust to entering a new home environmentbut also go on a lifelong journey of re-framing and re-learning what home looks like and means to them.

Previous research has highlighted the diverse perspectives and experiences of children and young people following domestic homicidesome were satisfied with where they went following the trauma, while others had mixed feelings.

What the literature currently does not tell us is how children experience home beyond the physical environment, the factors that contribute to what home means to someone and the impact these factors have on their life trajectory after their parent's death.

The new research explores how young people and adults bereaved by domestic violence as a child experience their living arrangements.

What home means

Our interviewees felt that home was as much an emotional space as it was physical. They also experienced home as a social, ever-evolving and transient space during different phases of their lives.

Many described their own journey of unpacking unfamiliarity and discovering 'home' in different ways.

For example, one participant reflected on re-discovering home through the lens of home being ever-evolving and taking different forms throughout their lives.

"So even just reminding myself of where I came from, and what I've been through, and whatever I've overcome in my life, even though it hits hard. I also look at it and go, you know what, yeah, I did get through that. And I did go through all these scenarios. And I went through that abuse, and I went through that trauma."

'Losing everything you know'

We found a consistent theme of unfamiliarity when it came to feelings about home and the home environment.

Interviewees lost their sense of familiarity and, in some cases, the comfort they may have previously felt in relation to their home.

This sense of losing what is familiar often included a lack of acknowledgement of the homicide itself and of the lives that the young people lived before losing their parent.

Several participants talked about how they lost physical belongings that connected them to their deceased parent which also contributed to this feeling of unfamiliarity.

"Those memories, and those things that we valued most in our life, we had to say goodbye to and no one really acknowledged thatnot only have you lost, you know, your mum, but you're also losing everything you know."

"We couldn't keep what we wanted, it was just the bare necessitieswe weren't in the mindset to process what we might want [to take with us]".

Some of the people we spoke to had been removed from their homes and were moved to a new caregiver's home or went into the foster care system. So as children, they were not only dealing with their own traumatic grief of losing a parent, they were also navigating and trying to fit into a new home environment.

Several talked of their experiences as a young person navigating a new home environment and the common feeling of having to hide their emotions as a way of adapting to the new space they found themselves in.

"I've developed how to hide my emotions and I can really quickly change my emotions within seconds.'"

"I guess I felt like that for a really long time. I didn't talk about any of these things with anyone and there was so much kind of silence and shame around the issue."

Young people having to hide their emotions in the new home environment highlights the stigma around domestic homicide and the internal turmoil that young people endure by feeling silenced.

While the physical new home environment could be a challenge for children, the relationships inside that home really shaped the way they processed the homicide and their loss, and who they became.

The varying dynamics between the caregiver and the child after the domestic homicide led to different experiences of home by young people.

For example, one felt that the lack of acknowledgement of the domestic homicide meant that nothing was addressed for them and they were forced to pretend as though everything was fine when they didn't feel that was the case.

Another felt that, even though home felt physically safe with their foster family, the feelings of loneliness were still present because they weren't able to raise the things they wanted to talk about.

Not being able to talk freely and openly about the things they wanted to speak about was a common theme.

"No one in our family ever wanted to acknowledge that there was a problem. Everyone just wanted to sweep it all under the rug. We didn't air our dirty laundry. We didn't talk about anything. Everything was peachy."

"I didn't really feel a sense of belonging anywhere, I guess, even though I did have, you know, a foster family where I felt very safe. I think because nobody was really talking about the things that I was sort of feeling internally, and I wasn't able to talk about it. I just felt quite alone."

These experiences of people we interviewed also highlight the importance of supporting caregivers, who may be bereaved themselves. How best to respond to children's emotions and grief after the homicide and support them growing up are key questions that caregiversrelatives and unrelated ones alikecan struggle with.

But with support and advice, trauma-informed caregivers will likely create a home environment that feels more free and open for children and young people. It can instill a sense of belonging within the new home environment.

Toward a sense of belonging

Speaking with people who experienced the murder of a parent as a child helped to generate a number of suggestions that could help these children move forward in the most positive way possible.

First, young people need opportunities to voice their views and wishes about their home environment after the domestic homicide, and be involved in decision-making regarding their living arrangements.

Second, caregivers need to be supported in connecting with and raising children who are dealing with traumatic grief and stigma.

When caregivers are confronted with loss themselves, because they are relatives or friends, they may need support for their own well-being too.

Finally, in addition to supporting caregivers, accountability of the service system when placing children in care is a key factor in mitigating any long-term negative implications for these young people.

The weight 'home' carries in relation to a child's journey of working through traumatic grief, their sense of self and their relationships cannot be underestimated.

A child's lived experience of domestic homicide is traumatic, frightening and defining. By better understanding how these children define their 'home' we can work towards helping them find one that is stable, familiar and comforting.

More information: Eva Alisic et al, Children and young people bereaved by domestic homicide: A focus on Australia, University of Melbourne (2023). DOI: 10.26188/24630690
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Graphical Abstract. Credit: European Heart Journal - Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy (2023). DOI: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvad073

A newly-developed heart failure device and medication combination is safe and effective to use, and will allow patients to receive treatment from the comfort of their own home.

The new device and drug combination was developed by SQ Innovation Inc and tested by the University of Glasgow Heart Failure Clinical Trial Team as part of two landmark patient studies. The results of both trials are published together and show that the innovative new combination has the potential to revolutionize heart failure treatment.

The paper, "A novel, small-volume subcutaneous furosemide formulation delivered by an abdominal patch infusor device in patients with heart failure: results of two phase I studies," is published in the European Heart JournalCardiovascular Pharmacotherapy.

Heart failure is a condition where the heart does not pump blood around the body as efficiently as it should. As a result, fluid often gathers in the lungs or legs, causing shortness of breath and/or swollen legs.

Current treatment for this is diuretic tablets, or "water tablets," which make patients pass more urine. However, if there is a lot of swelling and fluid build-up in the body, the tablets are less effective and patients instead need to treated in hospital with medication (usually a drug called furosemide) given intravenously through a drip.

In the UK, heart failure accounts for 180,000 annual NHS inpatient bed days. Currently, patients admitted to hospital with fluid overload require on average around 10 days of treatment with furosemiderepresenting a significant burden for patients, their families and the NHS.

Findings from the landmark University of Glasgow research, which was conducted in collaboration with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, could improve the lives of heart failure patients, and may also help reduce the strain on hospital beds by removing the need for lengthy inpatient treatment.

The two clinical trials investigated a new skin-friendly preparation of furosemide designed to be administered under the skin (subcutaneously) by patients themselves, in their own home. The first study assessed how effective this new version of furosemide was, and showed the new drug was absorbed as well as traditional treatment, with minimal side effects.

The second patient trial looked at treatment with the new skin-friendly furosemide in patients in hospital, delivered by an innovative mini pump designed by SQ Innovation Inc. The pump is fitted with a small needle, which delivers the new drug under the patient's skin to help reduce fluid build-up. The researchers found the combination of the new drug and device was safe and effective to use.

Dr. Joanna Osmanska, clinical research fellow, was involved in treating the patients with the new device and new drug said, "We are pleased that our patients were impressed with how straightforward and intuitive the SQIN-pump is. This is a big step forward in our mission to improve life for patients with heart failure and this study demonstrates how effective this treatment method can be."

Dr. Ross Campbell, clinical senior lecturer at the University of Glasgow and Consultant Cardiologist and principal investigator at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, where the trial was conducted said, "This study is an excellent example of the type of practice-changing clinical research that is possible within the NHS."

"This study, which brought together a partnership of NHS GGC, the University of Glasgow and our industry partner SQ Innovation Inc, has shown how effective this new treatment can be in a real-world clinical setting. The study results allow us to progress to the next phase of the research program, enabling us to treat patients with heart failure in their own home."

Alexander Miller, 66, from King's Park, Glasgow, was diagnosed in July 2021 and was a patient who took part in the first stage of the trial, using the device in hospital.

"The device was no problem at allunobtrusively attached to my body, it allowed me freedom to do what I wanted to do, with no restrictions and was more controllable that the regular medication. It wasn't painful in any way, and after it [the device] was attached, I wasn't aware of it. I lost 2.5 stone in fluid and it worked well in comparison to the normal medication. I was quite impressed with it, and can see how it would give patients more freedom to do other things and manage their day better."

Findings from these studies have now been used to plan a large study in which patients admitted to the hospital with excess of fluid caused by heart failure are now offered to use the new medication and the pump at home.

Lorraine McManus, 62, from Knightswood, Glasgow, was diagnosed suddenly with heart failure in April of this year, and was asked to participate on the trial to administer the drug themselves at home. She said, "It was so easy to do and very simple to use, you didn't even know you had it on. At the time, I worked seven days a week, so by being able to use this treatment at home, it meant I didn't miss any work, I could avoid a stay in hospital and wasn't restricted by what I could do."

More information: Joanna Osmanska et al, A novel, small-volume subcutaneous furosemide formulation delivered by an abdominal patch infusor device in patients with heart failure: results of two phase I studies, European Heart JournalCardiovascular Pharmacotherapy (2023). DOI: 10.1093/ehjcvp/pvad073
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Canadian researchers examined how the rapid shift to using virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted primary care doctors' well-being at work. They utilized a self-determination theory (SDT) lens to examine how autonomous (vs. controlled) motivation among family physicians impacted their well-being when shifting to virtual care, and whether satisfaction (vs. frustration) of their basic psychological needs at work mediated that relationship.

The researchers gathered qualitative data by surveying 156 family physicians in Alberta, Canada. The questionnaire contained validated scales for measuring motivational quality, workplace psychological need fulfillment, and subjective well-being. They performed descriptive, correlational, and mediation analyses. The findings have been published in Annals of Family Medicine.

The authors found that primary care doctors who felt that they had little choice in using virtual care had decreased well-being, and frustration of their basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness fully mediated that relationship. Conversely, basic psychological need satisfaction at work was associated with higher well-being. The findings suggest that when family physicians' motivation towards using virtual care is less self-determined, it will lead to poorer well-being, because of psychological need frustration.

The COVID-19 pandemic required medical professionals to adopt telehealth in order to meet the health care needs of patients while keeping them safe from the virus. Prior to this study, the effects that this shift in practice had on primary care physician well-being were largely unknown.

Doctors who have higher levels of workplace psychological need satisfaction will likely have higher well-being, regardless of their motivation towards using virtual care. Controlled motivation towards using virtual care, however, seems to predict lower well-being, because of psychological-need frustrations in the workplace. Interventions that address these basic psychological needs, and particularly the need for autonomy, may improve physician well-being.

More information: Family Physician Motivation and Well-Being in the Digital Era, Annals of Family Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1370/afm.3031 Journal information: Annals of Family Medicine
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Illustration of the testing session and visual stimuli. An eye tracker underneath the screen recorded where on the screen the infant looked at a moment-to-moment basis while they watched several images containing faces together with several other objects. Credt: Nature Human Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01764-w

Whether infants at 5 months of age look mostly at faces or non-social objects such as cars or mobile phones is largely determined by genes. This has now been demonstrated by researchers at Uppsala University and Karolinska Institutet. The findings suggest that there is a biological basis for how infants create their unique visual experiences and which things they learn most about. The study has been published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.

The way in which we explore our environment with our eyes affects what we notice, think about and learn. The new study analyzed preference for faces versus non-social objects in more than 500 infant twins.

"Our results suggest that even before infants can influence and choose their environment by pointing, crawling or walking, they create their own unique perceptual experiences by systematically looking more at social or non-social objects, preferences that can be largely explained by genetic differences between children," says Ana Maria Portugal, Postdoctoral Researcher and first author of the study.

The children's gaze was measured using an infant-friendly eye tracker. The results showed that individual infants' preference for faces could be largely explained by their genetics. The family environment did not explain preferences for social versus non-social information this early in life.

The researchers found that more looking at faces versus non-social objects at 5 months of age was associated with having a larger vocabulary in the second year of life. This supports the view that there is a link between early-looking preferences and later development.

Differences in looking behavior can potentially affect the interaction between parent and child.

Whether an infant looks at faces or not is a strong signal to other people and can influence parents' behavior toward their child. However, it should be remembered that looking at a lot of non-social objects is not necessarily negativeit is also important for cognitive development, explains Portugal.

The study is part of the Babytwins Study Sweden (BATSS) research project where identical and fraternal twins have been tested using different child-friendly methods at the Karolinska Institutet Center for Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND). The children were followed from 5 months to 3 years of age, but eye tracking was only conducted at 5 months.

Portugal found that the looking preferences of the genetically identical twins were more similar than those of the fraternal twins. For example: if one identical twin in the pair looked mostly at non-social objects, there was a large chance that the other twin had the same preference. In contrast to identical twins, fraternal twins on average share only 50% of their genes. Their looking preferences tended to be less similar within each pair of twins.

In addition to the link to later language development, the researchers examined whether visual preferences could predict whether the infants, later in childhood, exhibited behaviors characteristic of autism, which is defined by difficulties with social communication. They also tested whether there were gender differences in facial preference.

"Our results indicate that face preference in infants is not strongly associated with social communication ability later in childhood. We also found no difference between boys and girls in terms of preference for faces versus non-social objects," notes Terje Falck-Ytter, Professor at the Department of Psychology at Uppsala University and principal investigator in the BATSS study.

"Moreover, our data showed that the genes which influence facial preference are not the same as those involved in eye contactthat is, whether infants looked primarily at the eyes or the mouth when looking at a face. It's fascinating that two basic social behaviors like looking at faces and looking at eyes have different genetic and probably evolutionary bases," adds Professor Falck-Ytter.

More information: Ana Maria Portugal et al, Infants' looking preferences for social versus non-social objects reflect genetic variation, Nature Human Behaviour (2023). DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01764-w. www.nature.com/articles/s41562-023-01764-w Journal information: Nature Human Behaviour
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Infants are not protected against the varicella-zoster virus, the virus that causes chickenpox, for several months before they are eligible for vaccination, a new study has found.

In some cases, infants may be at risk of infection as early as one month after they are born.

"Antibodies transferred through the placenta during pregnancy protect babies against many infectious diseases when they are born, including the varicella virus," says Associate Professor Shelly Bolotin, director of the University of Toronto's Center for Vaccine Preventable Diseases (CVPD) at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and the study's first author.

"However, our research found that that protection fades quickly, leaving infants vulnerable to infection for many months before they are eligible for chickenpox vaccine, which in Ontario is given at age 15 months."

Using samples collected at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) in Toronto, researchers looked at the antibody levels in blood samples from 187 infants up to one year of age. They found that antibodies protecting against varicella wore off quickly, and that almost 80 percent of infants were susceptible to infection by the time they were three months old. At six months, all the infants studied were susceptible to chickenpox infection.

The findings, published in the journal PLOS One, are in line with previous research indicating that the level of antibodies babies receive from their mothers at birth wear off quickly.

"Although many people think of chickenpox as a mild childhood infection, and it generally is, it can cause complications like skin infections, pneumonia or inflammation of the brain, particularly in young children," says senior study author and CVPD member Michelle Science, an infectious disease consultant and medical adviser for infection prevention and control at SickKids.

Science, who is also an assistant professor in the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, notes that infants are at a higher risk of complications than older children, and are the most likely age group to be hospitalized. Prior to the vaccine's availability, Canada saw approximately 350,000 varicella cases per year with 1,500 people hospitalized annually.

The chickenpox vaccine helps protect individuals from infection as well as the serious complications that can occur. Getting vaccinated also helps lower the number of cases of chickenpox in all age groups in a communityeven in those too young or too old to be vaccinated.

The chickenpox vaccine is already part of routine childhood vaccination in several countries, including Canada, Australia, Germany and the United States. In the U.K., the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization recently recommended that a chickenpox vaccine program should be introduced into the routine childhood immunization schedule, and that a catch-up program for older children should also be implemented in the future.

"The results of our study confirm that everyone around an infant should be protected from chickenpox, either because they were previously infected or through vaccination," says Science.

She adds that these results may be helpful for both parents and health care providers, who should be thinking about varicella whenever they see a rash, even in a young baby, and in the assessment of an infant's risk of infection if they are exposed to a case.

Bolotin and her co-authors noted that more research is needed on varying demographics and whether factors like breastfeeding or a mother's age influence their baby's antibody levels.

In the meantime, this study is a reminder of the importance of immunizations.

"Vaccination is not only about protecting yourself, it's also about protecting your family, friends, and neighbors," says Bolotin. "Our study further affirms how getting vaccinated can protect some of the most vulnerableand in this case, the newestmembers of our society."

More information: Shelly Bolotin et al, Maternal varicella antibodies in children aged less than one year: Assessment of antibody decay, PLOS ONE (2023). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287765 Journal information: PLoS ONE
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Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

The WHO reports that drowning claims the lives of at least 236,000 people every year, making it one of the top 10 leading causes of death for children and youth aged one to 24 years. More than 90% of drowning deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, with rural children and adolescents disproportionately affected.

In an analytical and interpretive paper published in The Lancet, Dr. Jagnoor Jagnoor, senior research fellow at the George Institute for Global Health has discussed the challenges in and opportunities for accelerating action on drowning prevention.

In the paper co-authored with Justin-Paul Scarr, chief executive officer of the Australian non-profit Royal Life Saving Society, Dr. Jagnoor discusses the World Health Assembly's (WHA) resolution aimed at expediting global drowning prevention.

The resolution calls for the creation of a Global Status Report on Drowning Prevention, providing insights into the impacts of drowning and the context for prevention efforts across more than 180 countries. The resolution also charges the World Health Organization (WHO) with establishing a Global Alliance for Drowning Prevention (GADP), scheduled to launch on the third World Drowning Prevention Day on July 25, 2023.

Speaking of the challenges in devising strategies to prevent drowning accidents, Dr. Jagnoor said, "Data on drowning are currently fragmented across various sectors, including disaster management, maritime agencies, the police, and the health care system. While a perfect national drowning registry is an ideal goal, non-health sector data that can provide contextually relevant insights can help in preventing drowning incidents."

She further emphasized the need for population-based data to complement facility-based and modeled data, as evidenced by efforts like Bloomberg Philanthropies' partnership for drowning prevention in Bangladesh, Ghana, Uganda, and Vietnam.

The authors discuss the roadblocks in the implementation of resolutions and recommendations for developing national multisectoral drowning prevention programs and action plans. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the drowning prevention agenda competes with other health priorities, leading to constrained capacity for drowning prevention research, program development, and policy formation.

Dr. Jagnoor also highlights the importance of community engagement and empowerment for sustainable multisectoral action for drowning prevention.

The paper illustrates successful engagement strategies, such as the implementation of children's parliaments in the Sundarbans region of West Bengal, India, where children aged 816 years lead initiatives to raise awareness of drowning prevention through folk songs and social debates. The authors note that in high-income countries, minority ethnic groups and Indigenous populations are overrepresented in drowning statistics, highlighting the need for tailored outreach initiatives that target these communities.

As the world nears the Third World Drowning Prevention Day on July 25, the discussion presented in The Lancet paper serves as a compelling call to action. Increased investment, initiatives, and research are required to accelerate drowning prevention efforts and convert words into tangible results.

The authors underscore the importance of coordinated multi-sectoral initiatives and co-designing tailored drowning prevention systems to ensure a safer future for all, especially for communities most vulnerable to drowning incidents.

More information: Jagnoor Jagnoor et al, Rising tide: opportunities for accelerating action on drowning prevention, The Lancet (2023). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(23)01463-0 Journal information: The Lancet
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Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Pregnancy and motherhood lead to brain remodeling. A research team at the University of Basel has now discovered through experiments with mice that distinct pools of stem cells in the adult brain are turned on during pregnancy. They give rise to specific types of olfactory bulb neurons, the team reports in Science.

In the animal kingdom, recognizing their offspring by smell ensures parents can nurture their own young. The research group led by Professor Fiona Doetsch at the Biozentrum, University of Basel, has now demonstrated in mice that new neurons are temporarily formed in the olfactory bulb of the brain just for this specific purpose. They develop during pregnancy and disappear a few weeks after birth. These new neurons in the mother's brain enable her to recognize her own pups.

What is the origin of these new neurons? Stem cells are immature cells found in certain regions in the adult brain. Doetsch's group is investigating stem cells in the so-called ventricular-subventricular zone in the adult mouse brain, which give rise to neurons that migrate to the olfactory bulb. Their previous work has shown that some of these stem cells are activated by stimuli, such as hunger and satiety, to generate specific neuron types. However, whether other states recruit different stem cell pools was not known.

Formation of new neurons during pregnancy

In their new study, the researchers show that in mice, pregnancy results in the synchronized activation of distinct pools of stem cells, many of which are usually dormant. This leads to the formation of otherwise rarer types of neurons that are temporarily added to the olfactory bulb, the part of the brain that processes information about smell, around the time of birth. These neurons ensure that mothers can recognize their own pups during early motherhood.

These new neurons have an important role. They make the sense of smell in mothers more sensitized for pup recognition. In humans, stem cells are also present in the same brain area, although they normally do not make olfactory bulb neurons after early infancy.

"Some women report changes in smell during pregnancy," says first author Dr. Zayna Chaker. "A similar process may also occur in humans with dormant stem cells being turned on in response to pregnancy."

Perfect timing for parenthood

During gestation, different stem cell pools in the mother are stimulated at different times to generate temporary waves of neurons. Their migration to the olfactory bulb and maturation coincides with the end of pregnancy.

"The timing is precise. The new neurons are ready right in time for birth," says Doetsch. "However, they are only temporarily needed and are eliminated when pups are older and independent." The transient recruitment of stem cells in pregnant females therefore prepares the brain for specific needs in anticipation of motherhood.

In future studies, Doetsch's team wants to investigate which signals trigger transient stem cell recruitment and neurogenesis during pregnancy. It is also still unclear why and how the newly generated neurons are removed from the olfactory bulb, and this raises the question of whether soon-to-be fathers experience similar remodeling of the brain.

These on-demand adaptations of the brain underscore that brain plasticity is not only based on modifying synaptic connections between resident neurons. The dynamic and selective recruitment of distinct pools of adult neural stem cells to form specific neuron subtypes may play a key role in the brain's ability to respond to diverse life experiences.

More information: Zayna Chaker et al, Pregnancy-responsive pools of adult neural stem cells for transient neurogenesis in mothers, Science (2023). DOI: 10.1126/science.abo5199 Journal information: Science
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In Ontario, Canada, most COVID-19 vaccinations were administered by public health organizations and pharmacies rather than by family physicians. Researchers devised a practice facilitation intervention program to help family physicians proactively engage with their patients who were not yet vaccinated for COVID19.

Six trained practice facilitators helped 90 family physicians identify unvaccinated patients and offered resources to address COVID19 vaccine hesitancy, scripts and email templates for patient outreach, and connections to trained medical student volunteers to work as physiciandelegates by conducting patient telephone outreach and motivational interviewing.

At the end of the four-month intervention, the researchers interviewed both the practice facilitators and the physicians participating in the study about their experiences. They also analyzed quantitative data capturing the amount of time facilitators spent working with participating clinics and the percentage of physicians requesting each type of available support.

The study, "Practice Facilitation to Support Family Physicians in Encouraging COVID19 Vaccine Uptake: A MultiMethod Process Evaluation," has been published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

The results suggest that the most useful service provided by the facilitators was helping physicians identify unvaccinated patients; medical students who shared a language or cultural background with patients were also appreciated. Barriers to implementing practice facilitation included resistance by physicians and/or staff and time required for onboarding and training.

The most popular types of support, such as robocalls to patients, required minimal engagement and time commitments from physicians and clinic staff.

Family physicians play an essential role in educating their patients about vaccinations, encouraging vaccine uptake, addressing hesitancies, and debunking misinformation. However, as with other types of care, they may face barriers such as time constraints, tight budgets, and staffing issues to following best practices for providing vaccinations. COVID-19 brought significant changes to the practice of family medicine, adding to physicians' feelings of burnout and limiting their time and resources to discuss evolving vaccination information with their patients.

Practice facilitation can help primary care clinics adopt best practices for patient care, including providing vaccinations. Being unable to identify patients who had not received COVID-19 vaccinations posed a problem and receiving technical help in identifying those patients was the most important resource for primary care doctors.

Additionally, researchers found that programs should be tailored to the needs of individual clinics and the populations they serve. They should provide new services and resources without significantly increasing the workloads of physicians and clinic staff; among the most popular supports used in this study were the assistance of medical student volunteers and robocalls to patients about the COVID-19 vaccine.

More information: Jennifer Shuldiner et al, Practice Facilitation to Support Family Physicians in Encouraging COVID19 Vaccine Uptake: A MultiMethod Process Evaluation, Annals of Internal Medicine (2023). DOI: 10.1370/afm.3041. doi.org/10.1370/afm.3041 Journal information: Annals of Internal Medicine
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Results from the world's first double-blind, randomized clinical trial to find a treatment for the fungal form of a chronic disabling disease called mycetoma have demonstrated that a new oral treatment, fosravuconazole, is safe, patient-friendly, and effective in treating the disease.

The results of this Phase II clinical trial were announced by the non-profit medical research organization Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) at the 13th European Congress on Tropical Medicine and International Health (ECTMIH) in Utrecht, Netherlands. DNDi coordinated the trial in Sudan in partnership with the Mycetoma Research Center (MRC) in Khartoum, Erasmus MC in the Netherlands and the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai Co., Ltd. (Eisai).

Mycetoma is a chronic infection caused by bacteria (actinomycetoma) or fungi (eumycetoma) and is one of the most neglected diseases in the world. It is endemic in many countries across Africa, Asia, and the Americas, with Sudan and Mexico reporting the highest number of cases worldwide. The disease is contracted through implantation, meaning that people become infected through thorn pricks while walking barefoot. It primarily affects young adults, with children making up about 20-25% of all mycetoma patients, according to the MRC.

It usually (but not exclusively) affects the feet and leads to an invasive infection affecting the soft tissues and bones. Over time, severe deformities may occur, leading to considerable disability. Mycetoma can also lead to serious mental health issues due to the stigma associated with the chronic, non-relenting course of the disease and the absence of effective treatment, which often leads to amputation.

"Mycetoma affects the poorest populations in the most remote areas," said Professor Ahmed Fahal, Professor of Surgery at the University of Khartoum and MRC Director. "Those who move around barefoot are the most at risk, mostly field laborers and children. Treating it can be a challenge due to the expensive and often unavailable treatments that also have serious side effects, and treatment lasts many months. The disease can cause grave complications and even death. In severe cases, the only solution is often amputation."

In 2017, DNDi, in partnership with the MRC and Eisai, launched a clinical trial for fosravuconazole, a new antifungal treatment. Discovered by Eisai, the drug was later developed for patients with onychomycosis. However, the trial with MRC and Eisai was the first-ever double-blind, randomized clinical study for eumycetoma. It aimed to assess the superiority of fosravuconazole over itraconazole, which is the standard of care in endemic areas.

Results from the clinical trial showed that both drugs had similar efficacy rates. Fosravuconazole had an efficacy rate of 65% and 85% in the 300-milligram arm and the 200-milligram arm, respectively, while the itraconazole 400-milligram arm had an efficacy rate of 80%, which was higher than expected based on historical data. (These data are drawn from a per protocol analysis. Trial intervention was fosravuconazole or itraconazole in conjunction with surgery. The manuscript is being submitted to peer review.) While the difference between these efficacy rates was not found to be statistically significant, fosravuconazole has significant advantages over the standard of care.

"Only two pills of fosravuconazole need to be taken once a week, compared to four tablets per day for itraconazole. This reduces the pill burden for patients significantly, with only eight tablets per month versus the current 120 tablets per month. This will greatly improve adherence and convenience for patients," said Professor Fahal.

"Besides the only once-a-week dosing, fosravuconazole offers several advantages over existing treatments," said Dr. Borna Nyaoke, Head of the Mycetoma Disease Programme at DNDi. "It has no food effect, so patients do not have to worry about taking it before or after a meal. The drug also has minimal interactions with other medications, which is particularly important for the sub-Saharan population that may suffer from comorbidities like HIV or tuberculosis and may be taking multiple drug combinations. All this makes fosravuconazole an attractive alternative treatment option for mycetoma."

DNDi and its partners have presented the results of the clinical trial to the National Medicines and Poisons Board in Sudan. Due to the public health importance of this neglected disease, the Ministry of Health in Sudan has provided permission for use of fosravuconazole under controlled conditions to treat patients with mycetoma receiving care at the MRC. However, the ongoing conflict may hinder Sudanese patients from accessing the necessary treatment.

"Mycetoma is a unique and neglected tropical disease that disproportionately affects the most vulnerable populations. We have achieved a significant milestone by developing fosravuconazole, which will simplify fungal mycetoma treatment with its favorable pharmacokinetic properties," said Dr. Kappei Tsukahara, DHBL Microbes & Host Defense Domain Head and Head of Tsukuba Research Laboratories at Eisai. "We will work with our partners to make fosravuconazole available to all who need it, as soon as possible."

The global burden of mycetoma is currently unknown due to a lack of surveillance and resources to conduct research on the disease. This has resulted in limited epidemiological data. However, DNDi and its partners aim to fill this knowledge gap by assessing the local needs for treatment in key endemic countries through literature review, retrospective data collection, and epidemiological field surveys.

Provided by Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative
ASHEVILLE  Celebrate the holiday season at the Governors Western Residence Holiday Open House on Dec. 9-10, from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. each day. The residence is located at 45 Patton Mountain Rd in Asheville.

Reservations are not needed to attend the open house. Guests are invited to tour the residence, which has been decorated for the holiday season.

The residence features views of Mt. Pisgah and downtown Asheville. Built in 1939, the home was donated to the state in 1964 by the Asheville Chamber of Commerce. It has been used by 11 administrations and is one of only four official state second residences in the United States. Visit www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgME7sw9uQY for a video of the Governor's Western Residence.

Visitors are welcome to bring canned food donations for the MANNA Food Bank, which will be collected during the open house.

The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina  its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
Butte-Silver Bows top official says Animal Services can focus solely on its core mission now that its a stand-alone department within local government.

It had been part of the Community Enrichment Department for years but Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher told commissioners this past summer that he wanted it to be a separate entity.

The council capped off weeks of procedural steps on Nov. 15 by giving final approval to ordinances formally establishing the Animal Services Department with an Animal Services Board as its advisory group.

Gallagher also elevated Animal Services Coordinator Lynette Hogart to a manager who oversees the departments budget, contracts and employees and reports directly to the chief executive.

Gallagher said Community Enrichment probably took on too many functions outside of its mission of combating community decay, and when longtime director Ed Randall retired this past summer, it was an opportunity to make changes.

We have decided that the Animal Services program manager should now report directly to the chief executive, as stated in the B-SB Charter, Gallagher told The Montana Standard this week. This change will allow us to have a more focused approach and ensure that the needs of Animal Services are given the attention they deserve.

Gallagher said Animal Services was placed under the direction of Community Enrichment years ago due to ongoing issues with animal control and the animal shelter.

This arrangement successfully addressed the immediate needs of the community at that time, he said. However, we believe that now is the right time to separate these two programs and allow Animal Services to stand alone.

I want to emphasize that the Animal Services program under Community Enrichment was successful in creating a thriving Animal Control officer program and addressing the needs of the animals at the shelter, he said. However, we believe this new structure will further enhance our ability to focus solely on the needs of Animal Services.

Gallagher reiterated what he told commissioners and the Standard in August  that Hogarts leadership qualities and experience make her a perfect fit to be the departments manager.

Within weeks of the promotion, Hogart announced that major renovations were about to begin at the Chelsea Bailey Animal Shelter that will finally allow $82,000 in new dog kennels purchased through a Helena mans dying wishes to be utilized.

Butte-Silver Bow is spending another $78,000 in shelter donations on contractor work and county crews will do additional things themselves, including some interior demolition, lighting and electrical work, she told the Standard in late October.

The renovations are now underway and based on previous timeline estimates could be finished in January.

If things go as planned, a second round of renovations could be made sometime next year.
Truth and honest inquiry should guide our country, not religion.' So stated Founding Father James Madison. Christian nationalists believe we created America on the myth that we are to be led by a demagogue who promotes a religious interpretation of education, science, and intellectualism. The Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, is among them. Christian nationalists idealize leaders who exude confidence, who convey that they know whats right and true, and how to solve problems. People who dont share their worldview must be evil, and so must be silenced and defeated. They resist pluralist society and oppose any sexual deviance. Christian nationalists are constantly sensitive to any criticism of their beliefs, to where they believe they are victims in todays society.

Research reveals that people who practice Christianity are less likely to hold Christian nationalist beliefs. For example, most Christian nationalists regard refugees as a threat to America. Welfare queens and illegals are dog-whistle terms used to mean they are not good people because they are not white, native-born citizens. They believe only Christian nationalists are sole defenders of American heritage. It is why Rick Santorum criticizes democracy. Historian Jason Stanley describes this us versus them mentality, where we can become more desperate and willing to compromise any remaining moral scruples about the means to accomplish the necessary Anglo-Christian ends.

History teaches us that Christian nationalists love authoritarians like Donald Trump, who will protect us from them by any means necessary. When certain Christian leaders declared their faith and support for Donald Trump, it ensured the support of a third of Americans. But they do not express the beliefs of most Americans. To these Christians, the ends justify the means. It is difficult to speak truth to people infected with disinformation, because they feel they are doing Gods will. Most Americans dont identify themselves as Christian nationalists. Yet, many churches throughout Montana and the nation continually express these ideas. It is one reason many Christians are so committed to a man and a party that promises to do what Speaker Mike Johnson perceives feminism, wokeism, CRT, LGBTQ as threats, because they violate Gods design for sex, marriage and Anglo-Saxon society. Multiculturalism will turn our kids gay. It is important to realize that Christian nationalist beliefs are the same characteristics of fascist regimes, such as populist demagoguery, xenophobia, oppression of minorities, anti-intellectualism, and authoritarianism. They claim to be followers of Jesus and then become offended when they are called on their hypocrisy. Mike Johnson is todays version of the Handmaids speaker. His interpretation of the teachings of peace, love, and tolerance of Jesus Christ has led the Republicans to detest and scapegoat millions of Americans. According to the GOP, truth and honest inquiry are irrelevant.
The Napa Valley Register is highlighting a variety of local nonprofits serving their community. You can donate to these and other groups featured in Napa Valley CanDo's annual Give!Guide through Dec. 31.

For more information, visit candogiveguide.org.

10,000 Degrees, a nonprofit working in Napa, has 225 local success stories to share, with more coming every year.

The Marin County-based nonprofit, which opened a Napa program in 2018, recently announced an extended partnership with the Napa Valley Unified School District to help increase college access opportunities for all low-income high school students in Napa Valley.

Through the partnership, 10,000 Degrees now works with five NVUSD high schools  Napa, Vintage, American Canyon, New Tech and Valley Oak, along with Calistoga Junior/Senior High School.

The plan is to increase early college awareness programs, on-site high school support by 10,000 Degrees mentors, and encourage a college-going culture for students from lower-income families, according to the nonprofit.

In addition, the 2023 CanDo Napa Valley Give!Guide also selected 10,000 Degrees as one of its featured nonprofits.

10,000 Degrees is equity-focused, student-centered and strength-based, explained Katrin Ciaffa, regional director in Napa and Sonoma County for the organization.

We believe in the great potential of all students and require no GPA or test score to participate, she said.

Last year it awarded $128,000 in scholarships to 99 students from Napa, including funds to attend Napa Valley College but also other colleges, Ciaffa explained. Since 2018, a total of $427,900 has been awarded to Napa students.

The average 10,000 Degrees student grant is $1,000, she said. Undocumented students are eligible for a $1,500 grant.

The nonprofit uses a team of near-peer fellows  young adults who work as paid mentors and guides for the students. Fellows share similar backgrounds with students and provide both on-campus and virtual support.

We also help Napa Valley College students transfer to and succeed at four-year universities, said Ciaffa.

According to the program, 10,000 Degrees community college students transfer to four-year universities at three times the national average.

Our support continues beyond baccalaureate attainment to helping with career and graduate school readiness, the nonprofit said in a news release. One hundred percent of students come from low-income backgrounds, 92% are students of color, and 93% are first-generation college students. Over 80% graduate with a bachelors degree and with 87% less debt than their peers, she noted.

Of course, $1,000 or $1,500 alone isnt enough for college tuition, but its the fellowship that is invaluable, according to Ciaffa, who said fellows support students and help to leverage and apply for all the free financial aid for which they are eligible.

So their $1,000 scholarship "may sound like a drop in the bucket, but the support that they get to apply and qualify for other kinds of aid helps them to reduce their financial load significantly.

Fabiola Alvarez is 10,000 Degrees' Napa college access program manager.

I wish we had a program like 10,000 Degrees  when I was in high school, said Alvarez. Back then, My parents and I did not know how to navigate financial aid applications or college apps.

Today, I can be that support for families and students I wish I had, to help ease some of the anxiety and worry that comes with college and financial aid applications, especially when parents do not necessarily know how the process works.

Cinthya Cisneros, owner of La Cheve Bakery and Brews in Napa, is also a 10,000 Degrees alumna. The program made a big difference in her life, she said.

When you walk into a space that is foreign to you, immediately imposter syndrome kicks in, wrote Cisneros. 10,000 Degrees not only financially supported me to push me in integrating myself in those new spaces but also linked me up with a mentor that helped me feel like I belonged in those spaces. They paved the path for me to be the first in my family to attend college and obtain a bachelors degree in chemistry, a monumental step that has led me to where I am today.

Its a powerful way to invest in your own community, she noted. Those young children grow to be professional adults that then serve our communities.

Cisneros pays it forward by donating to 10,000 Degrees to continue supporting local youth. In fact, La Cheve is hosting a Dine and Donate for 10,000 Degrees from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 14. She plans to donate 10% of sales from that event.

Citlali Montanez is a Calistoga High School alumna who now serves as a 10,000 Degrees Fellow at her alma mater.

I take pride in being a first-gen college student and guiding other first-gen students to break generational barriers, said Montanez.

The Give!Guide is a great way to connect with the Napa community, said Ciaffa, especially since we're still relatively new to Napa. It's been a great way to let people know we're here and to bring in new friends and supporters.

"Every year that we've been in the Give!Guide, we've reached more donors and we've raised more funds, and we're super grateful to be one of the many wonderful (featured) nonprofits. Napa has such a great nonprofit community.

Ciaffa, the Napa-Sonoma regional director, explained that more than 90% of the funding for 10,000 Degrees comes from private donors and foundations. That's why the Give!Guide is so important because it gets the word out to the philanthropic-minded community, she said.

La Cheve's Dine and Donate La Cheve Bakery and Brews is hosting a Dine and Donate to support 10,000 Degrees. Dec. 14, 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. 376 Soscol Ave., Napa 707-294-2142 ilovelacheve.com

Photos: Napa Valley Faces and Places, November 18, 2023
Last week, my wife Barbara and I attended a most unique and inspiring evening to celebrate several legendary wines and commemorate one that exemplified a gift that kept on giving. Several years ago, Sharon and Hal Lampert  friends and co-chairmen of our Culinary Evening with the California Winemasters benefitting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation  donated a 6.0L (Imperial or sometimes referred to as a Methuselah) of 1996 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee-St.-Vivant.

The bottle was then purchased by another friend and last year re-donated to the Emeril Legasse Foundations Carnivale du Vin in New Orleans to aid in their Mission to inspire, mentor and enable youth to reach their full potential. At Carnivale du Vin, it was purchased by Alisha and Dan Ballard of Newport Beach. Between the two charity wine auctions this Imperial of DRC Romanee-St.-Vivant generated tens of thousands of dollars in needed funds for both charities and all who benefit from their good work.

Alisha and Dan generously wanted to share this treasure with others and so, An evening of legendary wines was born and enjoyed by noted winemakers, vintners, restaurateurs, sommeliers, chefs, collectors and others who love wine, outstanding cuisine and helping others.

Throughout the evening we were treated to the delights of 2005 and 2008 Louis Roederer Cristal Champagne in magnum, the Imperial of 1996 Domaine de la Romanee Conti Romanee-St.-Vivant, another Imperial of 2006 Chateau Pichon Longueville Comtesse de Lalande (aka Pichon Lalande), and 1990 Chateau dYquem in magnum. A beautiful collection of wines and all paired to the creative cuisine of Napa (born and raised) Chef Gary Penir of Cuisine GP.

Chef Garys culinary credentials are evidenced by his Level 2 Chef de Cuisine certification through the American Culinary Federation. His love and appreciation of wine as a normal accompaniment to the meal is validated by his Level 1 Sommelier status and Level 1 Certified Wine Professional ranking by the CIA at Greystone. Throughout his career, he has worked in the kitchens of prominent chefs and Michelin starred restaurants both at home and abroad as well as now directing the culinary needs for many of Napa and Sonomas most prestigious wineries.

Cristal is the flagship (Grands Marques) of Louis Roederer Champagne and was originally created by Louis Roederer himself on the personal request of Tsar Alexander II in 1876. Tsar Alexander wanted a personal cuvee (blend) unique in terms of style and bottle. In answer, Roederer offered the Tsar a crystal bottle containing a Pinot Noir and Chardonnay blend specifically created from select blocks within the seven Grande Crus of the estate.

2005 and 2008 are both classic vintages in Champagne and having them side-by-side in magnum was quite a rewarding experience. The 2008 is just beginning to settle from the primary fruit profile of youth to the more complex integration of flavor and texture as it approaches its peak. A bright golden hue was followed by hints of brioche, citrus and green apple on the nose that carried forward to the palate with elegance and a tangy mouthfeel.

The 2005 Cristal exhibited a livelier mousse (stream of bubbles) and appeared a bit fresher on the palate with feminine notes and lively acidity. It began to reveal some subtle signs of maturity but may reach its peak beyond the 2008 timetable.

Both were a treat to enjoy with Chef Garys canapes of tuna belly with lemon verbena, daikon and rose hibiscus along with black pepper beef empanadas with aioli and chervil. Together, they leant a festive beginning for the evening.

Romanee-St.-Vivant is situated in the commune of Vosne-Romanee and borders on the Domaine de la Romanee Contis monopole (sole ownership) vineyard of Romanee Conti and the Richebourg appellation. It is one of six Grands Crus of Vosne-Romanee that together occupy a mere 50-plus acres in Burgundy. DRC is the largest owner in the appellation and shares its precious ground with others such as Leroy, Dujac and Arnoux.

Highly respected Burgundy aficionado, Clive Coates once described the wines of Romanee-St.-Vivant as The most delicate, the most feminine of the Vosne Grands Crus...at its best it is a silky and exquisitely perfumed wine The 1996 we enjoyed last week certainly lived up to this description and more.

1996 was an excellent vintage in Burgundy and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with other stars of the decade like 1995 and 1990. In the glass I observed the expected light ambler color with a solid core and lightening at the edges. The nose was a complex web of red and black cherries, a spice accent and secondary notes of dried crushed violets.

The palate was remarkable in terms of inherent structure and balance with a rich mouthfeel that worked seamlessly with the character of mature tannin and still lively acidity. The finish was long and layered intensifying the palate impression and leaving a lasting memory. While approaching its peak, the delicate balance and remarkable acidity bodes for many years of enjoyment to come.

My observation was also confirmed after some time in the glass as the intensity developed at every stage from nose through palate and on to the finish. A remarkable wine: many thanks to the Ballards for generously sharing it with us.

Whenever savoring a vintage of Pichon Lalande, my mind travels back to a lunch I enjoyed in the early 2000s with Madame May de Lencquesaing (then owner and managing director of the estate) at the Masters of Food and Wine event in Monterey, CA. She extended a personal touch to the wines we were enjoying and made the experience forever lasting and most memorable.

Madame de Lencquesaing served in that role for 30 years from 1978 to 2007 when she sold the estate to Louis Roederer and moved to the Stellenbosch region of South Africa to pursue her next vinous adventure with Glenelly Estate. Today, she continues in that role at the age of 98. Hats off to Madame de Lencquesaing as we relished this Super-Second Saint-Julian Bordeaux in a rare 6.0L Imperial format from the 1855 classification and her last wine at Pichon Lalande.

The deep ruby hue was intense from the core to the outer edge that would be more reminiscent of a younger wine. Restrained notes of red current, cassis and black berries dominated the nose in a youthful fashion leading to complex palate reflecting the depth of the nose. The palate also presented a rich mouthfeel with sweet tannins, opulent fruit and defined structure. The finish carried on the complexity of the nose and palate that began with an elegant touch and grew in depth for a complete experience.

With time in the glass, the nose opened and the palate expanded to reveal more of what the future of this wine will be in years to come. Rich, intense, complex and a finely structured balance expressed the personality of the 2006 Pichon Lalande along with a hidden WOW factor that escaped definition. A real treat and testament to the tireless efforts of Madame May de Lencquesaing.

With these two majestic reds from Burgundy and Bordeaux, we enjoyed the main courses prepared by Chef Gary. On a beautiful buffet service we were treated to a variety of dishes that both compared and contrasted with the complex characters of the wines.

A fall squash salad of koginut squash, pink lady apples, bacon lardon, pomegranate and pepitas was dressed with a parsley pomegranate molasses vinaigrette. The rich Armenian lamb stew with green beans and Greek yogurt was a perfect foil to Zabuton steak in chermoula jus with potato covered by a crispy egg yolk. The dishes may be difficult to explain but were a treasure to enjoy.

The famed Bordeaux Classification of 1855 was largely focused on the red wines of the Medoc district. However, it also included a supplemental classification of 26 wines from the southern areas of Sauternes and Barsac. Here, the sweet white wines were divided into two categories  Premier Cru and Second Cru  with one exception. Chateau dYquem was singularly designated as Premier Cru Superieur in acknowledgment of its exceeding high quality and demand.

1990 was an outstanding vintage throughout Bordeaux and Sauternes was no exception. The magnum we enjoyed displayed a brilliant burnt amber hue with golden overtones. The nose was typical of a finely aged Yquem with notes of dried stone fruits and honey accented by hints of fragrant sweet spice.

The palate displayed a decadent richness carrying on the distinctive nature of the nose with complex layers and signature opulence. The finish was equally complex and layered accenting an elegant expression of unique flavors and texture  an expression the estates regal heritage.

Chef Garys multidimensional culinary/vinous talent was on full display with the intricate dish he so masterfully created to pair with the 1990 Chateau dYquem in magnum. Who would ever think of a Foie Gras Baklava? Well, thats exactly what Chef Gary crafted. The sweetness of the baklava paired to the dessert-side of Yquems multi-dimensional personality while the foie gras was the traditional match for its savory side.

A brilliant pairing to end a magical evening of legendary wines!
HAWSTON, South Africa  Nearly every house in Hawston has a boat in its yard, sometimes two.

It takes a moment to realize many are out of action, grass sprouting through holes in hulls that haven't touched water for years. They are relics of another time, when people fished for their livelihood and the ocean provided more than enough.

Those languishing boats and other economic problems in Hawston are the result of changes in the market to South African abalone, a curious fist-sized sea snail that is a highly prized morsel in East Asia and the unwitting instigator of 30 years of trouble for fishing communities along Africa's southern coast. Abalone here was abundant and especially tasty, yet the demand largely put the village and its traditional fishers out of business, or made them criminals overnight.

Raphael Fisher was born into fishing, as just about everyone was in Hawston. He grew up diving for the abalone that South Africans call perlemoen  or, affectionately, "perly"  in the rocky coves. He was learning to work his fathers boat in his late teens. Every boy wanted to be a perly fisher in Hawston, he said. It was the thing.

But over the past three decades, poachers have swept in and swept up every snail they could find  every sackful a fat payday. They can fetch more than $100 a pound. It's reduced the endangered South African abalone to unprecedented low levels, wildlife groups say.

At first, the South African government banned abalone fishing completely. Now, strict quotas give Fisher and other small operators lucky enough to get them the rights to catch 264 pounds a year. Hardly anything.

The fishing has all been taken away, he said. Its totally different now. They took the bread out of peoples mouths.

Its why a different poaching  not for big profits, but to put food on the table  has also ensnared so many traditional fishers up and down this coast. Fisher faced that temptation.

A 2022 report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime estimated the illegal trade heading to the hub of Hong Kong was worth nearly $1 billion between 2000 and 2016, and growing.

The total legal abalone fishing quota in South Africa is set at a maximum of 100 metric tons a year. Hong Kong is importing between 2,000-3,000 metric tons of illegal South African abalone a year, the report estimated. Some is moved on to other big markets in China, Japan and Taiwan.

Organized crime and turf battles over illegal abalone that are sometimes marked by brutal gang killings have overwhelmed South African coastal communities. Thousands of poor young men have been drawn in as foot soldiers.

Hawston and its troubles are likely unknown in Hong Kong, where the high-class Forum restaurant offers cooked South African abalone at $190 a can for customers to take away. Abalone is more than a delicious treat for millions of Chinese, said Wendy Chan, managing director at the Lamma Rainbow, a seafood restaurant on Hong Kong's Lamma Island.

"It carries a symbolic meaning," Chan said. After you have abalone, you will become wealthy or it will bring you good luck in the upcoming year.

It's a sign of prestige or something you would give as a gift. Chan also rates South African abalone highly, as so many do, with its rich taste and slightly chewy texture.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature says nearly half of all abalone shellfish species around the world are threatened with extinction, many affected by pollution and climate change and part of the larger story of devastation of marine wildlife.

Danie Keet, chairman of the Community Against Abalone Poaching group, has seen gang-related abalone poaching play out for 15 years in nearby Gansbaai, another South African coastal town. The poachers arrive in groups in broad daylight on pickup trucks and in their wetsuits, rubber duck boats towed behind them, he said.

It's highly organized. Divers prize the abalone off the reefs and get them to shore in bags. Runners hide them in the dunes for others to take to stash houses. Lookouts watch for police and can warn the divers, who keep cellphones with them sealed watertight in condoms.

They are all the first cogs in a $60 million-a-year illicit business, according to the TRAFFIC Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network.

"In the beginning they used to dive at night a lot. That changed as they noticed that they can just get away with it," Keet said.

The demand has spurred an alternative to wild abalone  farmed abalone. HIK Abalone has a total of around 13 million abalone at any one time at their two south coast farms.

Abalone as far as the eye can see in rows and rows of open-top tanks. Farms are tinkering with the abalone life cycle by selective breeding to get them to grow to a size they can be sold and eaten as fast as possible, said HIK CEO Bertus van Oordt.

Faced with the choice of his life when abalone fishing was banned and poaching ramped up, Fisher, 53, found another way. He works at the HIK farm.

His distrust of the system stems from the fact his father, a pioneer of Hawston's fishing community for years, was denied a quota, his livelihood cut off with a swipe of a pen.

Fisher does fish his abalone quota, banding together in a small consortium with others to share costs. "When it's in you, it's in you," he said.

In Bahamas, conch fishing is way of life. But for how long?
Ardshinbank was recognized as the Bank of the Year in Armenia for the fourth time by The Banker magazine

Economy minister: Armenias national air carrier needs additional funding

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
New York has grown too big for the land it rests on, according to a study released showing the city is sinking under its own weight as the waters around it rise, The Cool Down reported.

The study, published in Earths Future, finds that the Big Apple, home to more than 8 million people, is sinking at a rate of about 0.04-0.08 inches per year.

Theres a lot of weight there, a lot of people there, Tom Parsons, the studys lead author and a geophysicist at the U.S. Geological Survey, told Time. The average elevation in the southern part of the island is only 1 or 2 meters (3.2 or 6.5 feet) above sea levelit is very close to the waterline, and so it is a deep concern.

The researchers calculated the mass of New York buildings and determined their downward pressure on the Earth. They also presented satellite-image evidence of gradual sinking caused by the citys impressive structures.

The buildings in New York weigh 1.68 trillion pounds total, according to the researchersa mass that The Guardian equated to 140 million elephants (presumably the large African kind).

The average sea level near the southern tip of Manhattan has risen about 9 inches since 1950, as reported by SeaLevelRise.org. The organization, which based its findings on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data through 2017, also mentioned costs over $4 billion for New York sea-level preparations.

Worldwide, NOAA has noted that sea level rose about 3.8 inches since 1993. For U.S. coasts, it projected 10-12 inches of rise between 2020 and 2050.

A triple threat of sinking, sea level rise, and storms puts New York in increasing flood danger. NOAA reported that NYC flooding could happen 20 times as often by the end of the century.
Three Palestinian students attending U.S. colleges were shot on Saturday night in Burlington, Vermont, and were being treated for injuries on Sunday, according to the students former school in the West Bank, Reuters reported.

Ramallah Friends School said in a Facebook post on Sunday that three of its graduates had been shot near the University of Vermont CampusHisham Awartani, who attends Brown University in Rhode Island, Kinnan Abdel Hamid, who attends Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Tahseen Ahmed, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut.

The school said all had survived, with varying severity of injuries.

Burlington Police said in a statement late on Saturday that officers had responded to calls of shots fired around 6:30 p.m. (2330 GMT) on Saturday night and found two people injured at one location near the university campus and a third a short distance away.

Police had not identified nor apprehended the shooter, the statement said.

The shooting comes as the U.S. is witnessing a surge in Islamophobic and antisemitic incidents, including violent assaults and online harassment, since the Israel-Hamas conflict erupted on October 7.

The students had been speaking Arabic and wearing the traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, the Palestinian foreign ministry said on Sunday, calling on U.S. authorities to hold those responsible to account.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, a U.S.-based advocacy organization, called on state and federal law enforcement to investigate the shooting as a hate crime in a statement on Sunday.
Armenian members of the parliament of Abkhazia made a statement addressed to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of the Republic of Armenia (RA).

The text of this statement was posted on the Telegram channel of the Nuzhnaya Gazeta media of Abkhazia.

"Statement of the MP of the People's Assembly of the Republic of Abkhazia, A. Minosyan, G. Trapizonyan, E. Rshtuni, L. Galustyan:

"In my public statements, I have stated several times that we fully and unequivocally support the unity and statehood of Georgia, RA Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated the other day.

().

"We consider Pashinyan's statement as a demarche against our Motherland, the Republic of Abkhazia. What the Prime Minister of Armenia said certainly left a negative impression on us and left an unpleasant aftertaste.

"Let us remind Mr. Pashinyan that 42,000 persons of Armenian nationality live in Apsny [(Abkhazia)], the indigenous people have created all the conditions to learn our native language, to preserve unique customs and traditions. We proudly call Abkhazia our homeland.

"And finally, Armenia can, of course, support Georgia's territorial integrity. But the sovereign republic of Abkhazia has absolutely nothing to do with it. For 30 years, our multi-ethnic nation has been building its state. And unlike Pashinyan, there are no such politicians in Abkhazia who would question the people's choice and destroy, with one stroke of the pen, a country [i.e. Nagorno-Karabakh] that was won by the blood of its sons and daughters," the Armenian members of the parliament of Abkhazia noted, in particular, in their statement.
A group of member states is pushing to dilute proposals by the European Union (EU) aimed at cracking down on the circumvention of sanctions on Russia through third countries, according to people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg reported.

The blocs executive arm, the European Commission, has proposed banning importers from reselling so-called high-priority itemslike semiconductors used in weapons or needed to make themto Russia or for use in Russia, and requiring a sum to be deposited in an escrow account to ensure compliance.

In case of the ban's violations, at least half of this deposit would be sent to a Ukraine trust fund, and the contracts would be terminated.

A "group of big member states" reportedly raised concerns about the legality and feasibility of such a move.

These countries also prefer a more limited scope of clauses and goods covered by this measure and voiced worries of competitive disadvantage for European companies, the sources told Bloomberg.

The EU is currently working on its 12th Russia sanctions package, which may reportedly include export bans on machine parts and other dual-use goods, a ban on the export of Russian diamonds, and measures to reinforce the $60 per barrel price cap on Russian oil.

Both the EU and the US have long sought to curtail Russia's ability to acquire sanctioned dual-use goods with military applications via third-party countries.

More than 80% of Russia's purchases of "high-priority items" are coming from China and Hong Kong, Bloomberg said.

Exports from countries like Kazakhstan, Serbia, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan fell in the second half of 2023 but remain mostly higher than pre-war levels, according to the news outlet.
Armenia was and remains an ally of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), there is no sense in drawing drastic conclusions because Yerevan is not participating in the Minsk session. CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov told TASS about this.

"In my opinion, it makes no sense to draw any drastic conclusions from this situation [i.e. the Armenian delegations absence at the CSTO summit in Belarusian capital Minsk]. Armenia was and remains our ally. With this, I think everything is said," Tasmagambetov said.

"As far as the [CSTO] Secretariat is aware, the reasons for the absence of the Armenian delegation were of a technical nature," the CSTO General Secretary added. "In any case, it is the decision of an independent and sovereign state, which cannot be influenced by any other state or organization. CSTO respects the decision of the Republic of Armenia as a full member of the organization."
The question of Nagorno-Karabakh is unlikely to be discussed any time soon after Azerbaijan took control of the region in September. Europeans should now diplomatically engage with all sides to prevent further escalation, while supporting Armenias domestic political stability and strengthening its defence capabilities. This is noted in a joint article by Marie Dumoulin and Gustav Gresseland which was published on the ECFR portal. The article continues as follows, in particular.

For now, Armenians seem to blame Russia more than their government for what has happened. This is consistent with the rapid deterioration in Armenian-Russian relations since the 2020 war and the Moscow-brokered truce.

With Azerbaijan taking back full control of Nagorno-Karabakh, the 35-year conflict over the disputed territory has now de facto turned into an interstate conflict over the delimitation, or the establishing of the outer limits, of an international border.

Increasing Azerbaijani rhetoric referring to southern Armenia as western Azerbaijan has fuelled Yerevans concerns about possible irredentist claims over the territory of Armenia itself.

The issue of border delimitation has been touched upon in the ongoing peace negotiations between the two countries. But, Azerbaijani president Ilham Aliyev regularly sends signals of his unwillingness to agree on anything in a Western-led negotiating format and has instead advocated for a settlement involving regional actors ie, Russia and Turkey.

Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Russia, in such a scenario, could team up in a regional format that excludes the EU and United States, in order to arm-twist Armenian prime minister Nikol Pashinyan into concessions, including the establishment of a land corridor  branded as the Zangezur corridor  through Armenias southernmost Syunik region. Here, Pashinyans hand would be weak and Armenias domestic stability under constant threat, possibly opening avenues for internal destabilisation and making the country more vulnerable to external meddling.

Even without this negotiation format Armenia faces such threats. Shortly after Azerbaijani forces retook Nagorno-Karabakh, Pashinyan accused Russia of making public calls for a change of power in Armenia, to overthrow the democratic government.

However, Azerbaijan's current military positions at Armenias border and the tremendous disbalance of power between the two countries has also raised the Armenian governments fears of a possible invasion. Azerbaijan took three weeks to build up and prepare the attack in Nagorno-Karabakh, as it enjoyed military support from Turkey and Israel. It could take approximately the same time to attack the Syunik region and Azerbaijan would probably prefer to do so before winter kicks in.

Both scenarios could carry dramatic consequences for Armenia, not least because its fragile democracy would be endangered by domestic discontent as well as Russian pressure. But it would also be very damaging for the EU, which has engaged resources and political capital in its mediation efforts between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Its credibility would be significantly damaged if it were to let regional actors play with borders in its immediate neighbourhood, and would discredit its commitment to Ukraines territorial integrity.

Furthermore, the establishment of a land corridor through the Syunik region poses significant risks for Europe, whether established through militarily means and fully controlled by Azerbaijan, or through negotiations and formally controlled by Russian forces. This would entail Turkey and Azerbaijan, possibly with Russias support, gaining de facto control over a corridor connecting the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea, one of the key routes connecting Europe to Central Asia and China.

The EU should act to prevent such a scenario via addressing short, medium, and long-term concerns:

Preventing further escalation

The first priority should be to deter an Azerbaijani attack on the territory of Armenia through high-level political engagement with the government in Yerevan. This would show that European leaders care for Armenia. But Europeans should also engage with Azerbaijan and Turkey. The consequences of a possible attack, including the prospect of restrictive measures, should be made clear to the Azerbaijani leadership.

Extending the mandate of the EU mission to Armenia (EUMA) to better trace ceasefire violations and providing it with technical means to exert a more thorough monitoring of the border may also be instrumental in preventing further escalation.

Strengthening defence capabilities

Armenian membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) should not be an excuse to not help it build up its defence capacity. Rather, the EU should be open to using the European Peace Facility to equip the Armenian armed forces. Delivering equipment will also require EU engagement with Georgia to provide a transport corridor.

And while most eyes are on military equipment, the EU is best suited to provide other kinds of assistance to strengthen Armenias defence capacity. Assistance to reform the administration (Ministry of Defence), logistics, military education, training, and operational and tactical planning and procedures need to be put in place to enable Armenia to make use of new equipment effectively.

Recently India has emerged as a new provider of hard security assistance to Armenia and in this role is less suspect to Moscow and Tehran than the West. Strategic consultations with the government in Delhi on supporting Armenia militarily should also form part of the European effort.

Reforming and re-equipping Armenias armed forces so they are able to withstand an Azerbaijani offensive will take several years, while to prepare an Azerbaijani offensive could take a few weeks. While Armenia remains highly vulnerable, Europe should exert diplomatic and economic pressure to keep the situation from escalating.

Supporting a peace settlement

In parallel, the EU should step up mediation efforts, and use the fact that Nagorno-Karabakh is no longer part of the negotiation to reframe the discussion around the issue of borders. Mediation should aim for an agreement on the delimitation and opening of borders  including the border between Armenia and Turkey  in a way that provides security to all sides. This discussion will not be easy, but it could allow for technical solutions to problems that are currently framed in terms of sovereignty: primarily the question of a transit route through Armenian territory to connect Azerbaijan and Nakhichevan.

As part of a future peace settlement the EU could offer technical support and possible investments to facilitate transit and connectivity in the wider region to incentivise the opening of borders.

Last but not least, the EU should work towards increasing Armenias societal resilience. In the short term, humanitarian support will be needed for Nagorno-Karabakh refugees. Their integration into Armenian society will be key to ensuring future domestic political stability in the medium and long term. Beyond this, the EU can also contribute to institutions and capacity building in the country, to make it less vulnerable to both domestic instability and external pressures.

Ultimately, the EU also needs to manage Armenias expectations and should refrain from making unachievable promises. By doing so, it risks exposing Armenia to greater threats not just from Azerbaijan, but also from Russia, in which case it will end up bearing responsibility for a potential worsening situation, hurting its credibility in the region.

The EU cannot make Iran, Russia, Turkey, and Azerbaijan go away  nor will it completely replace them. But it can support Armenia in balancing their interests without having to make exorbitant sacrifices, and it can help avoid Armenias imbalanced dependency on one regional power that would leave it at its mercy.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a grant of US$1.1 million from the United States Government, made possible through USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). This timely contribution will enable WFP to provide essential emergency food assistance to refugees residing in Armenia.

With the generous support of the U.S. Government, WFP plans to reach approximately 20,500 people who have fled hostilities and are now living in the Ararat, Kotayk, and Gegharkunik regions. These regions host one of the highest numbers of refugees outside of Yerevan.

We are grateful to the U.S. Government for the support during this emergency. This donation supports our efforts to ensure the well-being of thousands of refugees residing in Armenia, providing them daily access to food, says WFP Representative and Country Director in Armenia Nanna Skau.

As part of the crisis response, WFP will provide food parcels to assist 20,000 refugees in covering their food needs over three months, contributing to improved livelihoods. Additionally, WFP will provide three hot meals each day for 500 refugees for three months totaling 135,000 hot meals. WFP will help distribute hot meals through mobile kitchens, school canteens, and arrangements for elderly residents.

While providing urgent assistance for the upcoming winter, it's important to plan the next phase of support. This involves moving beyond immediate relief to strategies that stabilize lives and promote social cohesion, added Saku.

In addition to immediate food assistance, WFP, with this contribution, will conduct a Food Security and Vulnerability Assessment to support evidence-based decision-making and its overall response planning. The comprehensive analysis will cover all regions, with a particular focus on areas where refugees have settled.

WFP is supporting the Government of Armenia through a range of initiatives, including emergency food assistance and cash-based transfers, nutritional support, and resilience-building.
Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan received Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Masatsugu Asakawa, the PM's office informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

The premier lauded the close cooperation formed between the Armenian government and the ADB, and emphasized that this collaboration contributes to the development of infrastructure in Armenia. Pashinyan added that the Armenian government is interested in the implementation of new projects, and stressed that the development of infrastructure is of primary importance for the government.

In turn Asakawa, assessed the ADBs cooperation with Armenia effectively, and noted that the ADB is ready to expand joint programs with the country. In this context, they discussed the current projects and the possibilities of implementing new projects in the framework of the seismic safety improvement program in school construction, road construction, healthcare infrastructure development, and some other domains.
Ukraine will become a member of NATO, announced the latters Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, The Guardian reported.

Allies agree that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. At [the NATO-Ukraine] meeting, we will agree recommendations for Ukrainians  reforms, as we continue to support Kyiv on this path to NATO membership, Stoltenberg said.

However, all allies still agree that full membership remains impossible in the midst of war, even while ways to move Ukraine and NATO closer continue, he added.

This month Germany and the Netherlands pledged 10bn for Ukraine, he added. Romania added a F16 training centre for Ukrainian pilots. Allies including the US and Finland are sending more air defenses and ammunition to protect Ukrainian cities.

Stoltenberg added that Swedens pending NATO membership will make us all safer, and he called on Turkey and Hungary to complete its ratifications.

The NATO Secretary General said that Ukraine will be free to negotiate whatever peace it wishes to agree with Russia, when and if the time comes for peace talks.

Our responsibility is to support Ukraine and to enable them to liberate as much land as possible and to put them in the best possible place, when or if negotiations may start.

Wars are by nature unpredictable. We have seen no sign that president Putin is planning for a peace, he is actually planning for more war. So what we do know is that the more military support we provide to Ukraine, the stronger their position will be on the battlefield and the stronger their position will be on a potential negotiating table, Stoltenberg said.
A little over a year ago, Adnan Syed walked out of prison  22 years after he was sentenced to life for the murder of his former girlfriend, Hae Min Lee, and eight years after the podcast Serial drew international attention to problems with his conviction. The argument that finally secured his release came from a surprising source: the prosecutors office that originally tried and convicted him.

But his future is now uncertain. In October, the Maryland Supreme Court heard arguments that could lead to its ruling, any day now, to reinstate his conviction  not because of new evidence, but because of a procedural notification issue with his release. The outcome could have far-reaching implications for efforts to overturn unconstitutional and wrongful convictions across Maryland and the nation.

In 2021, when the Baltimore City States Attorneys Office was asked to take a second look at Syeds case, a nearly yearlong review uncovered that his 2000 conviction was based on recanted and inconsistent testimony from multiple witnesses and, most shockingly, that investigators had initially considered two alternative suspects, according to evidence found in the files. Yet this information was never turned over to the defense, violating Syeds constitutional right to see any evidence that might prove his innocence.

So, the prosecutors office did what it was legally and ethically bound to do: It showed Syeds legal team the previously undisclosed evidence, filed a motion to vacate his conviction, and reopened the investigation into Ms. Lees murder.

But in March, an appellate court reinstated Syeds conviction, not based on his guilt or innocence, but on a procedural issue, ruling that the lower court violated the rights of Ms. Lees brother, Young Lee, by not giving him sufficient notice to attend the vacatur hearing in person.

Mr. Lee  and all victims  have important rights in the criminal process, but preserving a wrongful conviction, even temporarily, benefits no one. Wrongful convictions are extraordinarily harmful, not just to the wrongfully convicted, but to crime victims as well as society as a whole.

At the heart of Syeds constitutional challenge to his conviction lies the fundamental Brady right for people accused of crimes. This legal cornerstone, established by the 1963 U.S. Supreme Court case Brady v. Maryland, says that criminal defendants must be informed by the prosecution not only of all evidence that could help convict them, but also of all exculpatory evidence that could help exonerate them.

In Brady, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that prosecutors, who work alongside police investigators, possess evidence that defendants could never access on their own. If the state were allowed to conceal exculpatory evidence, it could tilt the scales so significantly that many defendants would effectively be robbed of their right to mount a defense.

Unfortunately, violations of Brady rights remain common throughout the criminal legal system. At least 1,721 people have been exonerated after prosecutors withheld exculpatory evidence, according to data from the National Registry of Exonerations, and this figure likely barely scratches the surface of Brady violations nationwide.

When the wrong person is put behind bars, it not only causes damage to those who are wrongfully convicted, the victims and their families, but it also endangers the safety of the entire community by allowing the real perpetrator to go free and by eroding trust in our criminal legal system.

Thats why, over the past two decades, a growing number of elected prosecutors have launched Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs) to reexamine past cases where the outcomes have been called into question. As ministers of justice, prosecutors are obligated to act when faced with a wrongful conviction, and they are often in the best position to reexamine the case and determine the most just course of action.

This crucial and important work of righting past wrongs would be significantly endangered if courts are permitted to reinstate unconstitutional convictions because of procedural issues that do not affect the outcome of the case.

Hae Min Lee and her family have already been failed by the system when the prosecutors failed to hand over exculpatory evidence; they not only violated Adnan Syeds rights but also failed to meet their obligation to the Lee family. Justice for Hae Min Lee is not achieved by maintaining a wrongful conviction. The state must be permitted to recognize its errors, try to undo the damage, and follow the evidence in this case wherever it leads. The Supreme Court of Maryland must ensure that this work  and the ability of prosecutors to overturn other wrongful convictions  continues.

Miriam Aroni Krinsky (mkrinsky@fairandjustprosecution.org) is the executive director of Fair and Just Prosecution, a former federal prosecutor, and the author of Change from Within: Reimagining the 21st Century Prosecutor. Leigh Goodmark (lgoodmark@law.umaryland.edu) is the Marjorie Cook Professor of Law and director of the Clinical Law Program at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and the author of Imperfect Victims: Criminalized Survivors and the Promise of Abolition Feminism.
The US administration claims that a recent publication in the Bild newspaper about pressure from the United States and Germany on Ukraine to start peace talks is untrue.

The article in Bild was interesting. But no. America does not have a policy We have always said that Ukraine should decide this. We cant decide anything about Ukraine without Ukraine, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said. He was speaking at a special telephone briefing for journalists on US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken's trip to Europe this week.

"And I think the other reality here is that we see no indication that Russia is willing to consider meaningful, genuine peace talks," O'Brien said.
We see a real opportunity for Azerbaijan and Armenia to make peace. US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs James O'Brien said, answering journalists' questions during a briefing.

Were encouraged that the two sides are speaking with one another directly and with mediators. And with that, we see a real opportunity for the entire region to benefit. For example, if trade from Central Asia is able to flow through Azerbaijan and Armenia into Turkiye, then it would be a substantial boost for all the countries on that trade route. And wed welcome the opportunity to be part of that.

At the same time, if the decision is made not to pursue that by peaceful means, then we would have to use whatever tools we could to avoid having that kind of trade route created. So weve been very clear with the parties about what we hope to see and about the consequences of moving forward otherwise. So well look forward to seeing where the parties come out. We know theyve expressed an interest in concluding a peace agreement very soon, and we would love to see that happen, he said.
Emory students and alumni aspiring to enter medical or dental school often turn to the faculty and staff of Pre-Health Advising (PHA), a part of the Pathways Center, for guidance in creating competitive applications. When these applicants are invited to interview for their desired programs  the next step toward admission  they have a unique opportunity to request a mock interview from Emeritus College, which has marshalled it members to provide this service since 2019. In the last five years, nearly 150 students have participated.

Interviews for health care programs are capstone moments  and a special challenge  for applicants. Both parties ask questions to determine potential fit and applicants may draw on anything they have learned, but must do so in real-time. While formal interviews result in an admissions committees decision to admit or decline, mock interviews with emeritus faculty conclude with valuable advice.

Dani Laupert, associate director of PHA, encourages students to request a mock interview to build familiarity with the process. Mock interviews with emeritus faculty give students a confidence boost, she says.

Bhagirath Majmudar, formerly faculty in the Emory School of Medicine, likens a mock interview to a vaccine that ameliorates the tension, nervousness and anxiety of a formal interview.

Abel Lindley, a fourth-year student who studies neuroscience and behavioral biology, participated in a mock interview with K.V. Thrivikraman, formerly of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He has already received offers of admission and is grateful for the mock interview opportunity and the other services PHA provides.

As a prospective first-generation student in medicine, I entered the application process completely lost but through reaching out to others, it became much more manageable, he says. I wholeheartedly recommend that others utilize all the resources they can.

In mock interviews, students are met with the decades worth of experience that retired faculty bring to the process. Whether they sat on an admissions committee or prepared their own students, Emeritus College faculty have considerable expertise. The mock interviews provide an opportunity for them to continue interacting with and mentoring students via Zoom.

Majmudar, who retired in 2015 after 45 years in the Departments of Pathology and Gynecology-Obstetrics, brings 26 years of experience as a member of the admissions committee to the mock interviews. He is one of 19 members of the Emeritus College who volunteered this year to support students and alumni through the process.

According to Dianne Becht, Emeritus College program coordinator, mock interviews attract students who want to prepare for medical school and retired faculty interested in helping them prepare. The program has grown every year.

Each interviewer approaches the practice conversation differently, and with their own favorite questions. Students are often asked about their clinical, volunteer and leadership experience, along with what they do for fun and why they are pursuing a career in health care.

Kay Vydareny, formerly of the Department of Radiology and Imagining Sciences, asks students about a class or experience they didnt do well in  and what they did to improve. William W. Woods, formerly of the Department of Pediatrics, asks students to share what their strengths and weaknesses will be in health care, and what role research will play in their careers.

Sometimes students will have their own requests. Lindley asked Thrivikraman to practice answering the questions that arise as part of a Multiple Mini Interview (MMI), during which students progress through a series of stations where interviewers pose questions to gauge their soft skills. Thrivikraman asked Lindley to reflect on how he would respond to morally complex moments like clinical encounters with noncompliant patients and colleagues who breach HIPAA standards. Looking back on it, he appreciated the feedback he received from Thrivikraman, who advised answering thoroughly but concisely.

As in their pre-retirement roles, emeritus faculty are invested in the students they interview and often ask them to keep in touch about admission results.

Jocelyn Spizman 23C, who now studies medicine at the University of Michigan, wrote to Woods to express her appreciation for his support and guidance.

Jocelyn was one of the strongest interviews Ive had over the past three years, he says. Shes the kind of person youd want for your doctor. He was gratified to hear of her success, and says mock interviews are positive experiences for interviewers as well as students as they allow emeritus faculty to advise and instill confidence in new health care leaders.

It is very satisfying to feel one is helping the next generation of medical providers, Vydareny says.
Actors Sonu Sood and Jacqueline Fernandez have finally completed shooting for the action thriller 'Fateh'. Sonu recently heaped praises on her co-star Jacqueline. He said in a statement, "Fateh is going to be Jacqueline's best. I always keep on saying that she has done a wonderful job in the film, and her performance in Fateh will be her best performance." Notably, 'Fateh' is based on real-life instances of cybercrime experienced by people during the Covid-pandemic. Some of the prominent names in Hollywood including the director of photography, research team, and action choreographers have been roped in for this film. Sood, whose philanthropic acts during the pandemic touched the lives of migrants, revealed that there was also a flipside to his humanitarian efforts - instances of scamsters using his name to con people. "The idea for 'Fateh' came into my mind when I was helping people and came to know that many people were being fooled and cheated in my name. They were given false loans, promises to meet me or to get any sort of help from my team during a pandemic," Sood said in an interview with ANI. The actor said he became concerned when he realised that a large number of people were being hoodwinked by conmen using his name to cheat them. The actor said he was informed of instances where people, especially those in remote areas were duped mostly through phishing tools. "It was then I realized that this cybercrime is a big issue in our country. It is very important to take action on it. Thus the journey of 'Fateh', the film I am doing started from this experience," said the actor. The 'Dabangg' actor said he began writing about how the public was being tricked and how they could take steps to ensure they do not succumb to such fraudsters. "The film is based on the real experiences of these people. Ninety per cent of shooting has been completed, more 8-10 days are left to wrap it," the 'Simba' actor said. The official release date of 'Fateh' is still awaited. (ANI)
We stand with Israel; Baltimore stands with Israel.

These are just two of the signs Ive begun noticing during my almost daily walks around my neighborhood here in Pikesville. Just a few days ago, an American and Israeli flag meshed together as one was put up by a neighbor whose home sits across mine. Its a clear showing that the highly charged emotions from the overseas Israel and Palestine conflict arent only taking root through mass protests in our capitals and cities across America, but have seeped in right here in our very own neighborhoods; places usually meant to be safe spaces of community and togetherness for all who live in them.

For me, its also the first time in nearly 10 years since being in my neighborhood Ive begun to feel a level of discomfort both for myself and my family. The regular, fast-paced walks  primarily a means of exercise and getting away from my desk  are now undertaken with a heightened awareness of my surroundings and potential danger ahead. Pointed conversations with my wife (who wears a hijab) and our Muslim children about being cautious have unfortunately become a necessary reality. Weve even contemplated moving.

You may think Im overreacting, but just a few weeks ago my own fourth grade daughter in the middle of her school day was asked by another student to sign a paper voting for Israel to win. When asked later by a different student whether she had signed it or not, she responded she had not. The student went on to tell her it was because she was a racist. Its difficult for me to understand how innocent children barely 9 or 10 years of age, who are usually more concerned with fun and play (I know mine are) have also been brought into a conflict that even many adults struggle to understand the root causes of.

As the climbing toll of Gazans killed by Israeli Defense Forces climbs past 13,000 (nearly half of the victims are children), with thousands more people injured, Im at a loss for words.

What are such signs and flags here meant to represent? How should I as a bystander, my family, a neighbor be reading them? Are they an endorsement of killing more innocent Gazans so Israel can take out Hamas, members of which amount to only 1% of the total 2.2 million Gazan population? Perhaps an explanation next to such signage could help; otherwise, Im only left to wonder.

In fairness, if such signage had gone up after Hamas horrendous Oct. 7 attack on Israelis, I could understand and even sympathize. For me, the Israelis killed that day are just as precious as the Gazans of today. But as they say, context matters. The reality is, many of these signs and flags Ive seen have gone up in recent weeks and days. This is what makes it even more troubling, especially in light of an utterly decimated Gaza.

I cant say that I havent thought about putting up a Palestinian flag; I have. Not because I support Hamas; I dont. Not because Im Palestinian; Im not. Not because I hate Jews; thats just impossible. I stand with the Palestinian people because the humanity inside me simply cannot ignore the plight of endless suffering that they continue to endure at the hands of a ruthless and unjust Israeli government that continues to violate both human rights and rules of war.

Im also aware of the fact that raising a Palestinian flag at this particular time may not be the most productive way to convey my grievances of Israels cruel behavior. A bystander or a neighbor could perceive that I have no regard for Israelis who lost their lives on Oct. 7 or worse, that Im somehow a supporter of Hamas actions. Neither of those assumptions are true or beliefs I would want anyone walking away with, so I tread on the side of caution.

To be absolutely clear, my unequivocal stand against the actions and conduct of the Israeli government in Gaza doesnt mean Im against your free speech; after all, Im a U.S. Marine veteran who in one way served so Americans could always have the right to self-expression. Im just simply asking you (especially my dear neighbors whom I consider extended family) to at least take a moment to think and self-reflect.

Over 13,000 Gazans already have been killed at the hands of the Israeli government, with no end in sight. Putting up such signage and flags leaves me thinking that the deaths of more innocent Palestinians are what you stand for.

Mansoor T. Shams (X: @mansoortshams) is a Muslim American U.S. Marine veteran, the founder of MuslimMarine.org and a public speaker. He also serves as a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested two people on Monday involved in a child trafficking case, the crime branch said. The crime branch has arrested 10 people so far in the case, including these two people. Daya Nayak of the Crime Branch Mumbai said, "The Crime Branch has arrested a woman from Kherdi in the Chiplun district of Maharashtra and a man from Virar in Palghar district on Monday in a child trafficking case." The crime branch further said that they took them into custody and interrogated them, however, they have not been arrested yet. Those who were arrested by the Crime Branch were involved in the buying and selling of the child, the Crime Branch said. Earlier, The Mumbai Crime Branch had arrested three people, including a couple accused of selling their children to arrange money for buying drugs and rescued a one-month-old baby girl from Andheri on Friday. A search for the second two-year-old son is going on. The arrested accused include parents Shabbir and Sania Khan and Shakeel Makrani. Usha Rathod, an alleged agent who took a commission from the sale, was detained by the Crime Branch. "A couple addicted to drugs sold their own two children to raise money in Andheri. As soon as the couple's family learned about the incident, the story came to light. Police have registered a case against the accused couple and two others. The accused couple sold the boy for Rs sixty thousand and the one-month-old girl for Rs fourteen thousand," Daya Nayak, Mumbai Crime Branch said in a statement. Police registered a case against Shabbir Khan, his wife Sania, Usha Rathore and Shakeel Makrani. Shabbir and Sania were drug addicts. (ANI)
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday slammed the opposition parties in Telangana and said that voting for Congress and All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi means voting for the Bharat Rashtra Samiti. Amit Shah held a roadshow in Peddapalli district of Telangana and asked the voters to make BJP win in the upcoming elections in the state. Amit Shah said "Voting for Congress and Owaisi means voting for the BRS. If you vote for them, your vote will automatically go to KCR. Modi ji has decided that every woman will be given 4 gas cylinders for free. BJP has decided that our government will buy rice from all the farmers at the MSP of Rs 3,100 per quintal." He further said that if BJP comes in power in Telangana then it will celebrate Hyderabad Vimochana Diwas every year on September 17. "KCR do not celebrate Hyderabad Vimochana Diwas ( Kalyana-Karnataka Liberation Day) because of Owaisi. We have decided that September 17, every year will be Hyderabad Liberation Day when BJP will form the government. Modi ji is going to perform the consecration of Ram Lalla on January 22 in Ayodhya. Do you all want to visit Ayodhya? Form BJP government and we will give darshan of Ram Lala to everyone for free," he said. "Replace KCR's corrupt government and form BJP government and we will put all those involved in corruption in jail," he added. Meanwhile, as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) repeatedly raised the issue of the existing Muslim reservation in Telangana, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah announcing to abolish it if his party wins the election, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) President Asaduddin Owaisi has said that the BJP is "lying" because the reservation in the state is not provided on the basis of religion. In an interview with ANI, the AIMIM chief said that there is empirical data on the social and educational backwardness of Muslims it is given after late PS Krishnan's report. "BJP is lying. In Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the reservation being given to Muslims is not on the basis of religion. First, there is empirical data on the social and educational backwardness of Muslims. Second, late PS Krishnan drafted a report where it was stated that there are certain backward classes in Muslim community and they should get it (reservation), not the upper caste Muslims. Third, not every Muslim is getting it,' Owaisi said Assembly elections in Telangana are scheduled to be held in a single phase on November 30. The state is poised for a three-cornered contest between the ruling BRS, the Congress and the BJP. The counting of votes, along with that in four other states will be taken up on December 3. (ANI)
The Assam Rifles marked the conclusion of the National Integration Tour with a flag ceremony upon their return to Kohima from Delhi and Amritsar. A group of 24 villagers from Ruzazho were warmly welcomed back after an 11-day journey through the National Capital and Amritsar, Punjab. "Assam Rifles Flagged in the National Integration Tour upon its return to Nagaland from Delhi on November 27. As the 24 villagers of Ruzazho village of Nagaland's Phek District returned to Kohima from their enriching National Integration Tour of Delhi and Amritsar, it was ushered and flagged in by Major General Vikas Lakhera, Sena Medal, Inspector General Assam Rifles (North)," as per a HQ Inspector General Assam Rifles (North) Press Release. The tour started from Kohima on November 16, undertaking 11 days of enthralling exploration to the Red Fort, Lotus Temple, Qutub Minar, National Science Museum, Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya and a ravishing cultural extravaganza offered by the bustling streets of Delhi Haat. "The tour also gave an opportunity to interact with Vice Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General MV Suchindra Kumar and the President of India during their visit to the National Capital. The team further embarked on a train journey to Amritsar, wherein the villagers witnessed the Beating Retreat Ceremony at the Wagah Attari Border, which embedded in them the colours and feelings of national pride and patriotism," as per the release. The villagers also visited Jallianwala Bagh and the Golden Temple during their visit to Amritsar. The tour served its purpose in integrating the North East with the heart of the country and opening new avenues for future developmental and cooperative measures. "Addressing the gathering, IGAR (N) exhorted in the Nagamese language to the villagers of Ruzazho Village and encouraged participation in future tours that could benefit the common masses," the release stated. At the end of the Flag In Ceremony, Group photograph alongwith Pipe Band display by Assam Rifles fueled the gathering with joy and happiness. The villagers of Ruzazho village wholeheartedly thanked the Assam Rifles for undertaking such a landmark initiative and promised their future cooperation in other such confidence building measures. (ANI)
Israeli President Isaac Herzog anticipates a closed-door meeting with Elon Musk on Monday as the billionaire faces criticism for endorsing an antisemitic conspiracy theory on his social media platform, X, CNN reported. Scheduled during Musk's visit to Israel, the meeting will focus on combatting rising antisemitism online. The president's office stated that representatives of families affected by a Hamas terror attack on October 7 will also join to share their experiences. Representatives of the families of hostages held by Hamas were also expected to join the meeting, where they would share "the horrors of the Hamas terror attack on October 7, and of the ongoing pain and uncertainty for those held captive," the president's office said in a statement. Musk, who did not immediately respond to requests for comment, sparked controversy when he agreed with a claim on X accusing Jewish communities of promoting hatred against Whites. The ensuing fallout saw a rebuke from the White House and a significant exodus of advertisers from X. In an X post earlier this month, one user had accused Jewish communities of "pushing the exact kind of dialectical hatred against whites that they claim to want people to stop using against them." The post also referenced "hordes of minorities" flooding Western countries, a popular antisemitic conspiracy theory, CNN reported. In response to the antisemitic post, Musk asserted, "You have said the actual truth," fuelling further criticism. In subsequent posts at the time, Musk said he did not believe hatred of White people extends "to all Jewish communities." But he also said the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organisation that fights antisemitism around the world, "unjustly attacks the majority of the West, despite the majority of the West supporting the Jewish people and Israel. This is because they cannot, by their own tenets, criticize the minority groups who are their primary threat." Despite subsequent statements denying racism and antisemitism, Musk's comments have drawn condemnation from human rights groups and politicians. The controversy has hit X hard commercially, with major brands, including Disney, IBM, and Fox Sports, halting ad spending. The platform, formerly known as Twitter, has long faced criticism for the prevalence of anti-Semitic discourse. Musk, at times, has disputed or denied reports on hate speech. Musk's visit to Israel coincides with a pause in hostilities with Hamas. Herzog, in an interview, expressed bittersweet emotions over the release of hostages during the truce and indicated the possibility of extending it, contingent on Hamas releasing more hostages, CNN reported. (ANI)
The White House said it's uncertain if more American hostages will be released from Gaza on Monday. This is the fourth and possibly final day of a truce between Israel and Hamas, CNN reported. John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator for strategic communications, told CNN that the administration is working on the situation "literally by the hour" and that they "don't know" if two American women are set to be released later in the day. Kirby said, "We'll have a better sense I think later on this morning who's going to be in this next batch coming out today. We obviously hope that those two American women are on that list and will be reunited with their families today. That's certainly our hope." He also highlighted the lack of certainty on the whereabouts of any American hostages held by other groups besides Hamas. The administration doesn't "have perfect visibility as to where they are and who's exactly holding them," he said. "But we have to keep open the possibility that some other groups other than Hamas might be holding some of those additional Americans," Kirby added. Addressing Democratic Sen Chris Murphy's consideration of placing conditions on aid to Israel, Kirby called it a "worthwhile thought" but suggested that such conditions could have limited the outcomes achieved with the Israelis. He added, "If we actually executed on something like that, we wouldn't have had the results that we've been able to see so far." The ongoing deal between Israel and Hamas has paved the way for the release of at least 50 women and children held in Gaza, in exchange for the release of at least 150 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons. As the truce enters its fourth day, 40 Israeli hostages have been released by Hamas, with 13 on Friday, 13 on Saturday, and 14 on Sunday, CNN reported. Released individuals include 21 children aged 18 or younger, 11 adult women, seven women aged 65 or older, and Roni Krivoy, an Israeli-Russian man released as a special case outside the deal parameters. Besides 18 foreign nationals, including 17 Thai nationals and 1 Filipino citizen, were freed from Gaza in separate negotiations, not covered by the Israel-Hamas deal. 117 women and children released from Israeli prisons, with 39 on Friday, 39 on Saturday, and 39 on Sunday. Released individuals include 28 adult women, two teenage girls, and 87 male teens aged 18 and younger. Of the Palestinian prisoners released, 41 had been tried and sentenced, and 76 were in administrative detention. The original Israel-Hamas deal stipulates that the truce will continue for four days as long as Hamas releases at least 10 Israeli hostages each day. The situation remains fluid, with the White House closely monitoring developments, CNN reported. (ANI)
A new retrospective study of childrens health care coverage found that roughly 1 in 5 children did not have adequate health insurance, meaning coverage that met their needs and was reasonably affordable.

Researchers from Columbia University, the University of Michigan and Vanderbilt University conducted a study of childrens health insurance coverage between 2016 and 2021.

Of the more than 200,000 children that were included in the study, 34.5 percent had public health coverage, and 65.5 percent were commercially insured.

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Researchers looked for instances of inconsistent insurance or gaps in insurance coverage in the past 12 months. They also studied whether children had insurance that did not provide benefits to meet the childs needs, did not allow the child to see a health care provider as needed or required annual out-of-pocket payments that were not always reasonable.

Just 4.2 percent of children with public coverage and 1.4 percent of children with commercial coverage experienced inconsistent coverage. Children with public health coverage, however, were less likely to experience inadequate coverage, with 12.2 percent having this issue, compared to 33 percent of children with commercial coverage.

Using nationally representative data, we found that inconsistent coverage is 3 times higher among publicly insured compared with commercially insured children, the researchers noted.

However, inadequate insurance is more prevalent overall, affecting nearly 1 in 5 children (16.5 million annually) in the US, with particularly high rates among the commercially insured.

Regardless of what type of coverage they had, most children included in the study  more than 95 percent  were reported to have a plan that always or usually allowed them to see a health care practitioner.

The main difference between public and commercial plans for children appeared to be annual out-of-pocket costs. Among those with public coverage, 92.2 percent were reported to typically have reasonable out-of-pocket costs. In comparison, 67.6 percent of children with commercial coverage were reported to say the same, with 31.3 percent reported to have annual out-of-pocket costs that were never reasonable.

The study also noted that public insurance consistency and commercial insurance adequacy both improved substantially during the COVID-19 public health emergency. With the end of the public health emergency and the unwinding of expanded eligibility, millions of children  estimated to be more than 5 million  are expected to lose coverage.

The researchers said their study indicated the need for renewed attention and investment in policies to improve insurance adequacy. They also pointed to promising policy options available to states that would allow children to continue having coverage, including a rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that allows states to provide a 12-month continuous Medicaid-CHIP eligibility for children. Only 23 states implemented this policy as of January 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Fifteen electric cars and 22 minibuses will be sent to upgrade Albania's prison service

A 1.5 million fleet of electric vehicles and minibuses purchased by the UK for Albania has been unveiled.

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is providing 15 electric cars and 22 minibuses to help upgrade Albanias prison service under a deal that will see 200 of the most violent criminals from the country returned to serve the rest of their time in Albanian jails.

It is part of a total 5 million (4.4 million) to pay for refurbishing prisons, extra security, workshops, rehabilitation equipment and training of warders.

Britain is also paying a further 4 million a year to the Albanians to take back the prisoners, including 17 lifers.

Among those identified for return is Koci Selamaj, 36, the murderer of schoolteacher Sabina Nessa, 28. He was jailed for a minimum of 36 years for beating and strangling her to death in a park in south-east London.

He has so far served only two years, which would mean the UK paying the Albanians 400,000 to imprison him for the remaining 34 years of his sentence.

UK is paying 4million a year to Albania to take back prisoners including 17 lifers

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the deal would save the taxpayer money, because it costs nearly 40,000 a year to house a prisoner in England and Wales. That would equate to some 1.9 million for Selamaj.

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 has been 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, Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, 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.

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MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A crash in the University area killed one and another injured Sunday evening.

Memphis Police responded to a crash on Central Avenue and Goodlett Street at around 7:22 p.m.

Man found shot to death on Memphis-Arkansas Bridge

Police say the crash involved two vehicles. One victim was reportedly pronounced dead on the scene, while another went to the hospital in critical condition.

Memphis Police did not say what caused the crash. Police say the investigation is ongoing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
The Ordre national de la Legion d'honneur, Legion of Honor, is the highest French order of merit for both military personnel and civilians. Established in 1802 by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, the French government presents the award to foreigners who have supported or defended France. For his participation in the liberation of France during WWII, a 100-year-old retired Army infantry officer received the Legion of Honor.

Jones received the Legion of Honor in front of a packed stadium (twitter.com/ALDesjonqueres)

In September 1940, prior to America's entry into WWII, Joe Jones enrolled at Clemson A&M College (now Clemson University). Most Clemson students were also part of the Enlisted Reserve, and Jones reported to Fort Jackson, South Carolina, on June 14, 1943. He attended Basic Training at at Camp Croft near Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Consul General of France Anne-Laure Desjonqueres, Clemson University President James Clements, and retired Captain Joe Jones (twitter.com/ALDesjonqueres)

On June 14, 1944, Jones commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the infantry branch and was assigned to the 71st Infantry Division at Camp Carson, Colorado. Six months later, the division was sent to Le Havre, France. After a few weeks of combat training, the 71st departed for Nancy, France, to join the 7th Army. Leading a weapons platoon, Jones and his 36 soldiers first saw combat in Bitche, France.

A U.S. 7th Army soldier unfurls an American flag in Bitche, France (reddit.com/r/ww2)

The 71st fought across France and Austria, liberating the Gunskirchen Lager and Mauthausen concentration camps in April 1945. After Germany surrendered, Jones remained in Europe for another year. He helped maintain civil order, arrest Nazi stragglers, transport prisoners, and route refugees to aid. Jones also kept his troops in fighting shape in preparation for a redeployment to the Pacific theater, a fight they did not end up in.

Jones at his grandson's promotion (U.S. Air Force)

Before returning to the States, Jones was promoted to the rank of Captain. He graduated from Clemson in 1947, part of the class of 1944. Jones served for 10 years in the Army Reserve and separated in 1953. Today, his namesake and grandson, Joe Forman Jones, is a Master Sergeant in the Air Force. "Hes the reason I have been as successful as I have been in the Air Force," Master Sgt. Jones told 22nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs. "Hes from the Greatest Generation and you can learn a lot from your past. Hes smart, hes humble, and hes an example to live by."

https://twitter.com/FranceAtlanta/status/1724160497086316724

On November 11, 2023, during the Clemson Military Appreciation game against Georgia Tech and on Veterans Day, Capt. Jones was awarded the French Legion of Honor. The medal was presented at Clemson Memorial Stadium by Consul General of France Anne-Laure Desjonqueres in front of a crowd of 81,500 people. "I was deeply honored to bestow the Legion of Honor to WWII veteran Capt. Joe Jones on #VeteransDay2023 ," Desjonqueres tweeted. "France pays tribute to the heroes who risked their lives for our freedom." Meanwhile, Jones used the occasion to pay tribute to 52 comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice during WWII and for the nation to never forget the high price of freedom.
FENTRESS, TX (KXAN)  The plane finally revved to life around 8:40 Monday morning on a lone runway paved over rural ranch land under a clearing sky.

Unique Guinness World Records done by Texans in Texas

The conditions at Skydive Spaceland San Marcos had been closely watched by the flight crew, which opted to delay the takeoff by 30 minutes because of earlier cloud cover.

With a security team, staffers, and Caldwell County Sheriffs deputies looking on, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott loaded onto the de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter plane, joined by his guest of honor, a 106-year-old World War II veteran.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott skydives with 106-year-old WWII veteran Al Blaschke (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Gov. Abbott skydives with 106-year-old WWII veteran (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Gov. Abbott skydives with 106-year-old WWII veteran (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Gov. Abbott skydives with 106-year-old WWII veteran (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Skydive Spaceland in San Marcos, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Skydive Spaceland in San Marcos, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Gov. Abbott skydives with 106-year-old WWII veteran (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Skydive Spaceland in San Marcos, Texas (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Al Blaschke helped make parts for planes during the war, and set the record as the oldest person in the world to skydive when he turned 103. This day he beat his own record, joined by Abbott, who was skydiving for the first time.

As the two dived in tandem while strapped to their instructors, Abbott fulfilled a promise to Blaschke he made when he first heard his story a year ago when the two met at Georgetowns Sun City.

Abbott said the jump was a thrill, describing a feeling unlike any other when he exited the plane.

The most shocking sensation is when you immediately exit the plane, and youre just in freefall. I had no clue where we were. We stabilized and then flew for a while without the parachute. [You] feel the parachute. Its a lot of fun. Its just amazing peace out there. Its nice and calm, Abbott said.

Blaschkes family said they expect this jump to be his last, with Als 107th birthday coming up in January. If thats the case, he made the most of it, singing Frank Sanatras When Youre Smiling as they freefell, then soared down 8,000 feet to earth.

My slogan is keep smiling. Every letter I write and every Christmas card, I say keep smiling. Always. Everybody should, Blaschke said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
TechCrunch

With dubstep as the soundtrack and neon lighting as the backdrop, Elon Musk handed the first Cybertrucks over to a select group of customers that included Reddit co-founder and VC fund Seven Seven Six founder Alexis Ohanian and Trousdale Ventures founder and CEO Phillip Sarofim. The livestreamed portion of the Tesla Cybertruck delivery event was a short affair  around 30 minutes. The Tesla Cybertruck deliveries come at least six years since Musk first tweeted about building a truck and four years since he debuted the futuristic-looking pickup.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Memphis Police say a 70-year-old woman and a 47-year-old man were found stabbed outside of a soup kitchen in the Medical District on Sunday night.

Memphis Police say officers responded to the Saint Vincent DePaul Food Mission on Monroe Avenue at around 9:18 p.m.

1 dead, 1 hurt after University area crash

According to police, the man and the woman were both taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Memphis Police say no suspect information is available at this time but this is still an ongoing investigation.

The Saint Vincent DePaul Food Mission released a statement Monday afternoon, saying:

We are shocked that this has happened and our prayers are with the victims for healing of mind and body. Due to this being an ongoing investigation, we have no comment at this time.

If you have information on this incident, call CrimeStoppers at 901-528-CASH.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Armed assailants seized and later let go of a tanker linked to Israel off the coast of Yemen on Sunday before being apprehended by the United States Navy, officials said.

Two ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen then landed near Naval Station Mayport-based USS Mason, which was aiding the tanker in the Gulf of Aden, raising the stakes amid a series of ship attacks linked to the Israel-Hamas war.

Yemens internationally recognized government blamed the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels for the attack, though the rebels in control of the capital, Sanaa, did not acknowledge either the seizure or the missile attack.

The attackers seized the Liberian-flagged Central Park, managed by Zodiac Maritime, in the Gulf of Aden, the company, the U.S. and British militaries and private intelligence firm Ambrey said.

The U.S. militarys Central Command said in a statement early Monday that its forces and allies, including the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Mason, responded to the seizure and demanded the armed assailants release the tanker.

On Nov. 26, the USS MASON (DDG 87), with allied ships from our coalition counter-piracy task force (TF 151), and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK, a commercial vessel, that they were under attack by an unknown entity. Upon arrival, pic.twitter.com/ASmM3b0xrf  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 27, 2023

Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat, Central Command said. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.

RELATED: Mayport-based U.S. Navy warship in Red Sea intercepts three missiles heading north out of Yemen

The Central Command did not identify the attackers, but said a missile launch from Houthi-controlled Yemen followed early Monday morning.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles (18.5 kilometers) from the ships, the statement said. The USS Mason  was concluding its response to the M/V Central Park distress call at the time of the missile launches. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.

Early Monday morning, Zodiac said the vessel carrying phosphoric acid and its crew of 22 sailors from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam were unharmed.

RELATED: They are making a sacrifice: USS Carney departs from Naval Station Mayport

We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said.

Zodiac described the vessel as being owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc., though other records directly linked Zodiac as the owner. London-based Zodiac Maritime is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofers Zodiac Group. British corporate records listed two men with the last name Ofer as a current and former director of Clumvez Shipping, including Daniel Guy Ofer, who is also a director at Zodiac Maritime.

Yemens internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

Read: Local congressmen sound the alarm as two more ships are decommissioned at NS Mayport

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The attack happened in a part of the Gulf of Aden that is in theory under the control of that governments forces and is fairly distant from Houthi-controlled territory in the country. Somali pirates are not known to operate in that area.

Zodiac Maritime has been targeted previously amid a wider yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel. In 2021, a drone attack assessed by the U.S. and other Western nations to have been carried out by Iran killed two crew members aboard Zodiacs oil tanker Mercer Street off the coast of Oman.

Photos: USS Mason deployed from Naval Station Mayport

Crew of the USS Mason (DDG 87) getting ready to deploy on Friday.

There were lots of hugs on the docks before USS Mason deployed on Friday.

Sailor shares love with his son before departing from Naval Station Mayport.

The USS Mason (DDG 87) is the 37th ship of the Arleigh Burke Class of AEGIS Guided Missile Destroyers.

Families say their goodbyes before sailors embark on a regularly planned deployment of USS Mason.

A sailor holds his daughter as families prepare for their loved ones to deploy on a regularly planned deployment into the Mediterranean Sea.

The USS Mason will join USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group in the Mediterranean Sea.

'The Navy Times' said that the Eisenhower Group is deploying as part of a planned deployment not related to the war in Israel.

Loved ones share a moment of hugs before leaving Naval Station Mayport on planned deployment.

More love shared on the docks before USS Mason deploys to the Mediterranean.

Families prepare as USS Mason gets ready to join the USS Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group.

This sailor looks at family before getting ready to depart from Naval Station Mayport on USS Mason.

USS Mason sailor gets ready to head on out from port.

A family holds hands before their loved one gets ready to depart on board the USS Mason.

Naval Station Mayport said to stay safe out there shipmates! See you soon!

These sailors pose for the camera before they deploy to the Mediterranean Sea on Friday.

The British militarys United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which provides warnings to sailors in the Middle East, had earlier issued a warning to sailors that two black-and-white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing had been seen in the area.

The UKMTO put the Central Parks location over 60 kilometers (35 miles) south of Yemens coast, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) east of Djibouti and around 110 kilometers (70 miles) northeast of Somalia in the Gulf of Aden, a key shipping route.

The Central Park seizure comes after a container ship, CMA CGM Symi, owned by another Israeli billionaire, came under attack Friday by a suspected Iranian drone in the Indian Ocean. Iran has not acknowledged carrying out the attack, nor did it respond to questions from The Associated Press about that assault.

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Both the Symi and the Central Park had been behaving as if they faced a threat in recent days.

The ships had switched off their Automatic Identification System trackers, according to data from MarineTraffic.com analyzed by the AP. Ships are supposed to keep their AIS active for safety reasons, but crews will turn them off if it appears they might be targeted. In the Central Parks case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

Global shipping had increasingly been targeted as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to become a wider regional conflict  even as a truce has halted fighting and Hamas exchanges hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

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Earlier in November, the Houthis seized a vehicle transport ship also linked to Israel in the Red Sea off Yemen. The rebels still hold the vessel off the port city of Hodeida.

However, the Houthis had not directly targeted the Americans for some time, further raising the stakes in the growing maritime conflict. In 2016, the U.S. launched Tomahawk cruise missiles that destroyed three coastal radar sites in Houthi-controlled territory to retaliate for missiles being fired at U.S. Navy ships, including the USS Mason, at the time.

Meanwhile on Sunday, the American aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower traveled through the Strait of Hormuz and entered the Persian Gulf, the U.S. military said. The Eisenhower was accompanied by the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the guided-missile destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem and the French frigate Languedoc.

___

Associated Press writer Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

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This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

New Mexico State Police cancelled an Amber Alert for 2-year-old Lilith Ellis Saturday, saying she had been found safe after law enforcement suspected she was in the custody of an Artesia man suspected of a shooting.

The infant was first listed as "involved in a violent incident" Saturday on the 800 block of Cannon, according to the Amber Alert issued Nov. 25.

Law enforcement suspected she had been taken from the scene by 54-year-old Ricky Ellis, who was described "armed and dangerous," following reports of a shooting at the location to Artesia Police Department.

At lease one male subject was shot multiple times and is currently being treated for injuries, read a Facebook post by the Artesia Police Department. The name of the person shot and their relationship to the infant was not released to the public by law enforcement.

Details on when and where the girl was found were not released by State Police or Artesia law enforcement, but law enforcement said she had been found safe.

It was also unclear on Monday, if Ellis had been found, charged or arrested for any crime.

Ellis' relationship to the infant was not made clear in the Amber Alert but court documents show Ellis had petitioned for custody of the infant on Nov. 20 in the Fifth Judicial District Court as her father from her mother listed as Missy Barnes.

In court documents, Ellis wrote he wanted to "protect" the child from her mother who he described as in need of help and "running with the wrong people."

A temporary domestic order was signed by Judge Jane Schuler Gray meant to protect the child while the issues in the home were resolved.

Anyone with any information was asked to call the Artesia Police Department at 575-746-5000.

Mike Smith can be reached at 575-628-5546 or by email at MSmith@currentargus.com or @ArgusMichae on X, formerly known as Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Police: Infant taken by her father during shooting found safe
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Two teenagers were arrested after they allegedly rammed a stolen vehicle into a police car while trying to flee early Sunday morning, Nov. 26, El Paso Police said.

The incident happened at about 4:15 a.m. at 11611 Dyer near the Mesquite Hills neighborhood in Northeast El Paso.

Police responded to a call of a burglary of a vehicle in progress. When they arrived, they said they found a 15-year-old boy wearing a ski mask in a parking lot. When the officers attempted to investigate, police say the 15-year-old ran from officers.

The officers then used their patrol car to follow the suspect.

Thats when a 17-year-old, identified as Moises Isaia Escalante, accelerated and drove a car into the driver-side door of the patrol vehicle in an attempt to flee, police said.

The officers were not injured in the incident and they were able to take both teenagers, who are from Chaparral, New Mexico, into custody.

The car used in the attempted getaway was found to have been stolen earlier from a different address, police said.

Escalante was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and was booked into El Paso County Jail on a $7,500 bond. The 15-year-old was charged with evading arrest and/or detention and was turned over the Juvenile Probation Department.

The investigation continues and additional charges are pending.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Five people were hospitalized after a crash in Amwell Township.

The crash happened in the northbound lanes of I-79 at milepost 24.5 Sunday afternoon.

Multi vehicle crash on I-79 northbound at Mile Post: 24.5. All lanes closed.  511PA Statewide (@511PAStatewide) November 26, 2023

Medical helicopters were used to take patients to hospitals. Responders from the scene said three kids were taken to pediatric hospitals and two adults were taken to local trauma hospitals.

A red vehicle rolled onto its roof at some point during the accident. A tractor-trailer was also parked at the scene.

Channel 11 reached out to Pennsylvania State Police for more information and is waiting to hear back.

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What started as a road rage incident sent three people to the hospital with cuts and stab wounds in Prosper on Sunday, according to a news release from police.

Investigators believe two of the people taken to the hospital, all with non-life-threatening injuries, were the aggressors, according to the news release. They are facing charges of assault causing bodily injury.

Police said officers were called to investigate reports of a disturbance at the Race Trac gas station at 4870 W. University Drive in Prosper. The three people were already wounded when police arrived.

Investigators believe the stabbings started as a road rage incident between two drivers, according to the release. They both stopped at Race Trac and a fight began involving three people.

Police have not released the names of the people charged or shared the amount at which bond has been set. They were arrested after they were released from the hospital and booked into the Denton County Jail.

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Police in Burlington, Vermont, arrested a suspect Sunday in the shooting and wounding of three 20-year-old men of Palestinian descent as they were walking near the University of Vermont on Saturday evening. Two of the victims are U.S. citizens and the third is a legal resident; all three are juniors at U.S. universities.

Jason Eaton, 48, was arrested Sunday afternoon by federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. A search of Eaton's apartment, located in front of the shooting location, "gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause" to believe he was the gunman, Burlington police said.

The suspect, described as a white man carrying a handgun, confronted the three men and shot them "without speaking," then fled, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said Sunday, before the arrest was announced. Two of the victims were wearing black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, and "in this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime." Police can't confirm a motive yet, however, Murad added, and "I urge the public to avoid making conclusions based on statements from uninvolved parties who know even less."

Family members of the men and the private Ramallah Friends School they all attended in the West Bank identified the victims as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed. They were headed to Awartani's grandmother's house for dinner when they were shot, relatives said. Murad said two of the men were in stable condition but the third suffered "much more serious injuries." Awartani lost feeling in the lower part of his body after the bullet grazed his spine, relatives said, though he is "expected to survive his injuries," according to Christina Paxson, the president of Brown University, where he is a student.

There have been large upticks in reports of anti-Jewish and anti-Muslim or anti-Arab incidents since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7 and Israel responded with a punishing assault on Gaza. A 6-year-old Palestinian American boy outside Chicago was killed by his landlord in what authorities are prosecuting as a hate crime, and a Jewish protester died of head injuries in Southern California after being confronted by a pro-Palestinian protester now being charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Update Nov. 27, 2023: This article has been updated with new information about the suspected gunman.
Editors Note: Follow CNNs latest reporting on the arrest of a suspect in the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Burlington, Vermont.

Three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington, Vermont, on Saturday evening, prompting calls from civil rights organizations and the victims families for authorities to look into possible bias by the attacker.

The 20-year-old men are all receiving medical care, according to a Sunday news release from the Burlington Police Department. Two are stable, while one has sustained much more serious injuries.

The students were walking on Prospect Street while visiting a relative in Burlington for the Thanksgiving holiday when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, says the release.

Without speaking, he discharged at least four rounds from the pistol and is believed to have fled on foot, police said.

Police said that two of the victims are US citizens and one is a legal resident.

Two of the three students were wearing keffiyehs, traditional Palestinian scarves, according to the police department. Two were shot in the torso and one in the lower extremities.

Authorities said that there is no additional information to suggest the suspects motive.

Detectives recovered ballistic evidence from the shooting, which will be submitted to a federal database, according to Burlington police.

The FBI said Sunday it was prepared to investigate the incident.

Police Chief Jon Murad said in an earlier news release that officers responded to a call and found two shooting victims, with the third a short distance away, all close to the University of Vermont campus.

The victims were transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center, the news release said.

The shooter or shooters have not been identified or apprehended, Murad said, and the police department is at the earliest stages of investigating this crime.

A targeted shooting and a targeted crime

While an investigation into the perpetrator and motive behind the attack unfolds, civil rights groups as well as the victims families are calling attention to the role bias may have played in the shooting.

In an interview with CNN, an attorney for the families of the victims described the incident as a targeted shooting and a targeted crime.

The suspect walked up to them and shot them, attorney Abed Ayoub said. They werent robbed, they werent mugged.

Ayoub said he believes the students were targeted in part because two of them were wearing keffiyehs.

In a joint statement, the victims families urged law enforcement to investigate the attack as a hate crime.

We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice, they said. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.

The statement, released by the Institute for Middle East Understanding, identified the students as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut.

Marwan Awartani, a former Palestinian minister of education and the great uncle of Hisham Awartani, told CNN the students were visiting Hishams grandmother in Burlington.

All three victims are students at colleges and universities across the East Coast. - WCAX

Haverford College in Pennsylvania confirmed in a statement that Abdalhamid, a junior, is recovering from gunshot wounds at a hospital.

The three students had graduated from Ramallah Friends School, a Quaker-run private nonprofit school in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, according to the school.

US Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont described the shootings as shocking and deeply upsetting in a post on X. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, he wrote.

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, posted on X about the incident, naming the students and identifying them as three young Palestinian men.

The hate crimes against Palestinians must stop. Palestinians everywhere need protection, Zomlot wrote on X.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said in a news release that they have reason to believe this shooting occurred because the victims are Arab.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations announced it was offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrator or perpetrators of the shooting.

The shooting comes amid heightened tensions and hate crimes in the US in the weeks since October 7, when Hamas launched a deadly attack in Israel and Israel responded with devastating airstrikes across Gaza. In October, a 6-year-old Palestinian American boy was stabbed to death by his familys landlord in a case authorities are calling a hate crime.

This story has been updated with additional information.

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Three people in Odesa and one in Russian-occupied Crimea have reportedly died due to inclement weather, the Odesa Oblast Police and occupation authorities in Crimea said on Nov. 27.

Storms, strong wind, heavy rain, and snowfall hit much of Ukraine on Nov. 26-27, leading to floods, damages to buildings, power outages, and traffic problems.

Over 2,000 settlements in 15 oblasts have been left without power supply as of the morning of Nov. 27, the state grid operator Ukrenergo said on Telegram.

The bodies of three people frozen to death were found in Ukraines southern city of Odesa, hit by snowstorms, the regional police told Hromadske news outlet.

The deceased were two men and a woman, likely homeless, according to local media outlet Dumska, citing its sources in law enforcement.

Their bodies were found in different locations of Odesa with no traces of violent death, the sources told Dumska.

A resident of the Crimean village of Morske near Sudak died when he came to the seaside to look at the waves, Krym Realii reported, citing a Moscow-installed official within the illegal occupation administration in Crimea.

Seven more people have been reportedly injured in the peninsula, where the adverse weather prompted evacuations of residents.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russias increased weapons production may lead to new attacks elsewhere, commander says

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Drivers can be pulled over for a variety of reasons, from minor violations to major crimes.

In light of some traffic stops resulting in lawsuits and even deaths, theres been concern and confusion about what drivers should do before, during and after theyre pulled over.

Five years ago, a newer version of the state driver license handbook came out with revised guidelines for traffic stops in North Carolina. That handbook, put together with the help of law enforcement agencies, lists what to do and not do during a stop, but also what to expect from the officer.

Were not out there Hey, you shall listen to us. You will but its the little things that help us all out, make everything smoother and safer for everyone, Christopher Casey, a master trooper with N.C. State Highway Patrol, told The Charlotte Observer.

Heres what you should and shouldnt do if youre pulled over:

1. Acknowledge the officer and find a safe spot to pull over

If you see an officers flashing lights, you should try to park as soon as possible.

Depending on the area, you may not be able to find a safe spot to stop, but Casey says you should still signal that you are planning to.

Reduce your speed. Second, just turn your hazard lights on or even your right turn signal, and that lets the officer know Hey I understand Im getting stopped. Im looking for a safe spot to pull over, Casey explained. You can drive for a short distance to look for a safe spot  always remember to pull to the right side of the road.

Unmarked police cars: If youre being pulled over by an unmarked vehicle, you can call 911 to verify that an actual law enforcement officer is conducting the traffic stop, the state handbook says.

2. Stay in your vehicle, roll down windows and wait for the officer

Once you are stopped, stay inside your vehicle and roll down all your windows. If its dark outside, you should also turn on your interior light.

According to the NCDMV handbook, you should also silence any electronic devices, including the radio, to easily communicate with the officer.

Vehicle stops are one of the most dangerous things we do in our line of work so just a simple thing like rolling down a window helps us see inside the vehicle, Casey said. Are these things required by law? No. But, once again, it just helps us out.

[RELATED: Do you know what to do when interacting with police? These are your rights in NC]

According to Casey, Its also advised for drivers to keep their hands on the steering wheel and passengers to keep their hands in their laps.

Stay inside your vehicle at all times. If we want you to get out, well ask you Casey explained.

You should also let the officer know immediately if you have a weapon in your car.

If there is a firearm or other weapon in the vehicle, do not attempt to reach for the weapon, the state handbook says. Under state law, any weapon should be in plain view or securely locked away, unless you or your passenger(s) have the proper permit. If you or your passenger(s) have a concealed weapon permit and a weapon is in the vehicle, you or your passenger(s) must inform the officer of that fact.

3. Provide drivers license and vehicle registration, but speak up if you need to search for it

When stopped, an officer may come to the driver or passenger side, and identify themselves, their agency and the reason for the stop. They will ask for your drivers license and the vehicle registration, but if you are not able to easily access it, let them know.

We understand that people dont ride around with their license and registration  so if they need to sit there and reach for something, just let us know. Just give us a heads up that Hey, Im reaching for my drivers license which is in my backseat, its in my gym bag, or it fell under my seat when I was stopping, Casey told The Observer.

The biggest thing is dont make unnecessary movements or sudden movements.

[RELATED: Is it illegal in NC to film police making an arrest? Heres what the law says]

According to the state handbook, state law requires drivers to identify themselves and provide a drivers license and registration, but you may choose whether or not to verbally respond to additional questions after providing identification.

What if you get a ticket?

After an officer has evaluated your information, they may issue you a verbal warning, a warning ticket or a ticket, along with any necessary court appearances you may have to make.

If you have concerns about how an officer acted during a traffic stop, you can also report it to the officers agency. According to the state handbook, their name and law enforcement agency will be on the ticket, and you may ask the officer to provide this information.

I understand you may not agree with why you got stopped, might not agree with what the officer told you, or his demeanor or how he spoke to you. But the biggest thing is to comply during that time. That way everyone is safe, Casey explained.

Even if you have concerns about a traffic stop, your acceptance and signature on a traffic ticket is not an admission of guilt, according to the state handbook.

Some traffic stops may result in an arrest. Even if you disagree with the officer, do not argue with the officer, the state handbook says. Resisting, delaying or obstructing a law enforcement officer during a traffic stop is a class 2 misdemeanor.

You will have a day in court, you can go home and talk to whoever about that to his office the next day, possibly a supervisor, if you thought something was said wrong. You can plead your case. But the biggest thing is during that traffic stop at that moment, please just comply with what the officer says and that way everyone is safe, including you and the officer.

This story was updated on Nov. 28 to include additional information about notifying officers of weapons in a vehicle.
[Source]

Approximately 30,000 people gathered in Minnesota's capital city for the state's 43rd annual Hmong New Year celebration over the weekend, drawing attendees from around the world.

About the event: Organized at the St. Paul RiverCentre, the event aimed to keep the Hmong cultural heritage alive by showcasing the community's culture through various elements such as food, clothing and performances. Visitors, including those from Laos, Thailand, China and South Korea, had the opportunity to experience and learn about Hmong traditions.

The event featured a dance competition for youngsters and the sale of various crafts. Described as the most significant cultural event for Hmong globally, the celebration is a time to celebrate the harvest, rejoice in the community and express gratitude to ancestors. Minnesota's tradition, which started 45 years ago, attracts people to the city due to the limited presence of Hmong communities elsewhere.

"There's not a lot of Hmong communities out there, so we try to make it to the bigger cities like Minnesota," Lana Her of Arkansas told CBS News.

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Hmong communitys legislative victories: At the two-day festivities opening ceremony, Governor Tim Walz highlighted legislative victories for the Hmong community, including land ownership for Hmong farmers. State Rep. Ethan Cha also emphasized Minnesota's significance for Hmong Americans, citing the state's strong Hmong political representation with nine Hmong legislators.

The future of all Hmong in America is going to be the state of Minnesota. And I say that because we have nine Hmong legislators in the state of Minnesota, Cha said, according to MPR News. That is profound evidence of the opportunity and the equity that is here in Minnesota for Southeast Asians like the Hmong.

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About the community: The Hmong, persecuted as an ethnic minority in China, initially fled to the mountains of Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. Many fought for the U.S. during the Vietnam War and later sought refuge in Thailand. From the mid-1970s, they resettled, primarily in California and Minnesota, escaping Communist regimes.

The majority of the approximately 300,000 Hmong in the U.S. are animists, believing in spirits throughout the physical world. Lee Pao Xiong, director of the Center for Hmong Studies, notes the intricate spiritual significance of cultural traditions, including the Thanksgiving weekend celebrations in St. Paul.

Sacramento Hmong New Year festival: Thousands of Hmong community members also gathered at Cal Expo over the weekend for the Sacramento Hmong New Year festival. The three-day festival featured various events, including the Miss Hmong California pageant, a Hmong Idol singing competition, arts and crafts showcases, food and local business vendors and talks from prominent figures in California's Hmong community.

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The festival, in its 18th year, drew a large crowd, with people donning vibrant Hmong dresses, suits, vests and hats adorned with silver coins and colorful beads. Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang, a Hmong native and daughter of refugees, expressed the importance of celebrating the new year. Vang is the first Asian woman and the first Hmong woman elected to City Council.

Its just a really beautiful time to be with family, be with community, celebrate our culture and our roots and be together, Vang said, according to The Sacramento Bee. This is my favorite time of year. Were celebrating the end of our harvest season, really just celebrating everything that we worked hard for and celebrating the new year.

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Valentine's Day conjures up images of candlelit dinners and boxes of chocolate  for some people. For others, the best gift could be curling up on the couch with a Valentine's Day movie or TV show, ranging from romances to comedies about the single journey.

That's why the best Valentine's Day movies range in tone. There are the happy ending romances, for when you want to feel everything is going to be OK (see: rom-coms). There are classics for when you want an escape to another era, perhaps before online dating and cell phones. There are movie musicals for when life is like a song, and you want to sing along. And yes, there are sad movies because sometimes  including on Valentine's Day, especially on Valentine's Day  you might not be in the mood for romance. Keep your eye out for family-friendly movies about love, too.

Whether you want to swoon or laugh or cry, weve listed 35 of the best movies to fit your mood. These Valentine's Day movies are now streaming on Netflix, Hulu and beyond.

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)

Childhood pals Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) and Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney) agreed to get married if they weren't already married by the time they were 28. Julianne is ready  but O'Neal thwarts the plan by announcing his marriage to Kimberly (Cameron Diaz), a stunning 20-year-old, four days before Julianne's 28th birthday. Julianne soon vows to break up the wedding after having the sudden realization that she is in love with Michael. Things grow much more complicated when she is named maid of honor.

'The Wedding Planner' (2001)

Wedding planner Mary (Jennifer Lopez) is saved from an almost deadly accident by an attractive doctor, Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). Mary believes she has finally found a cause to believe in love after they spend the most magical evening of their life together. Little does she know he is her next client.

'She's All That' (1999)

Zach Siler (Freddie Prinze Jr.), a popular high school student, is the envy of his friends. However, once his cheerleader girlfriend, Taylor (Jodi Lyn O'Keefe), dumps him for reality TV star Brock Hudson (Matthew Lillard), his popularity plummets. In an attempt to boost his diminishing reputation, Zach accepts an almost unachievable assignment. In just six weeks, he must win over the geeky outsider, Laney Boggs (Rachael Leigh Cook), and assist her in becoming the school's prom queen.

The Princess Bride (1987)

This enchanted tale is based on William Goldman's novel, "The Princess Bride," and preserves the whimsy and romance of the novel. Watch as Buttercup (Robin Wright) and her one true love Westley (Cary Elwes) find each other, lose each other and go to extreme lengths to meet again. As you wish.

'Pride and Prejudice' (2005)

It's a classic for a reason. This Jane Austen novel has been adapted (and remixed) many times before. But the romance between a strong-willed countrymans daughter, Elizabeth Bennet, and a rich Fitzwilliam Darcy comes alive when in Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfayden's hands. Whether its Mr.Darcys love words or the drama surrounding their relationship, the film will bewitch your body and soul.

'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days' (2003)

In this early 2000s rom-com, Benjamin Berry (Matthew McConaughey) bets his co-workers he can make any woman fall in love with him in just over a week. But hes not the only one up for the challenge. Writer Andie Anderson (Kate Hudson) decides she will begin dating a man and drive him away within 10 days. Only these two would think of this  which means they're perfect for each other.

Love Jones (1997)

What is Valentines Day without a little bit of romantic drama? Well, Darius (Larenz Tate) and Nina (Nia Long) from Love Jones are here to give you just the right amount. Darius, an aspiring writer, and Nina, an aspiring photographer, spark up a connection when they meet at a Chicago club. Their bond over music, poetry and photography makes them explore this connection and fuel a romance. However, this spark is at risk of going out when Nina decides to move to New York and mend things with her ex-fiance.

'Love, Rosie' (2014)

When the sentiment "let's not ruin the friendship" meets rom-com, you get "Love, Rosie." Long time best friends Rosie (Lily Collins) and Alex (Sam Claflin) are separated when Alex and his family move from Dublin to America. The rom-com follows the two characters as they keep their connection alive despite the distance, both physical and temporal.

'10 Things I Hate About You' (1999)

William Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" goes full 1990s in this famous rom-com, starring Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. Kat Stratford (Stiles) is a smart and rebellious teenager more focused on taking a stand than dating boys. This poses a problem for her younger sister Bianca (Larisa Oleynik), who must follow house rules and only date until Kat has a boyfriend. In an attempt to win Bianca, different characters set Stratford up for romance. Cue Patrick Verona (Ledger), who is put to the task of winning Stratfords heart. And who among us could resist Ledger's serenade of Cant Take My Eyes Off of You?"

'While You Were Sleeping' (1995)

Lucy Eleanor Moderatz (Sandra Bullock) is a train ticket collector who saves her secret longtime crush, Peter (Peter Gallagher), from the path of an oncoming train in Chicago. At the hospital, a misunderstanding causes Peters family to assume Lucy is his fiancee. When Lucy doesnt correct them, they take her in as one of their own, but this is just one of the many complicated matters Lucy must face as she follows her hopeless romantic heart.

'Sleepless in Seattle' (1993)

Because nothing says romance like making your way up to the Empire State Building hoping to find a young and emotionally available Tom Hanks. At least thats what we learn from the early '90s rom-com, in which Sam Baldwin (Tom Hanks), a widower, is set up by his son Jonah (Ross Malinger) to find a new wife through a talk-radio program. After hearing Sam discuss his feelings on air, Annie Reed (Meg Ryan), falls for him despite her engagement. Unsure of what will happen but certain of her feelings, she writes to Sam asking him to meet in New York.

We cannot imagine a world in which Harry (Billy Crystal) does not meet Sally (Meg Ryan). Written by Nora Ephron, this '80s classic is a staple in the rom-com world for the laughs and butterflies one gets as they see Harry and Sallys relationship develop from strangers, friends and more. Billy Crystal and Meg Ryans portrayal of the characters will make you want to start the rest of your life as soon as possible with someone.

'Portrait of a Lady on Fire' (2019)

So maybe you don't want a rom-com. Maybe you want something dark, aching, full of longing. Queue up this brooding period piece, set in 1770 France. Marianne (Adele Haenel), a painter, is commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Heloise (Luana Bajrami). But Heloise is a reluctant bride to be and Marianne must secretly paint her. She observes her by day, with an intimacy blossoming between the two as the portrait  the very thing that will tear them apart, eventually  progresses.

'Love, Simon' (2018)

Everyone is in search of a great love story, 17-year-old Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) included. Like most love stories tend to go, challenges arise, including Simon not knowing the identity of the anonymous boy hes fallen for online. The film follows Simon as he falls in love, hides secrets from his friends and comes to terms with his identity.

'Love Actually' (2003)

Love is all around this British movie, part of the holiday romance canon. The holiday movie follows the intertwined love lives of a few Londoners at Christmastime. From having a charming Hugh Grant as prime minister to Andrew Lincolns iconic declaration of love (despite it being to his best friends wife), the rom-com has something for everybody (including the haters).

'Ticket to Paradise' (2022)

Georgia Cotton (Julia Roberts) and her ex-husband David Cotton (George Clooney) travel to Bali, Indonesia, to stop their daughter from marrying a seaweed farmer. In between their desperate attempts to sabotage the wedding, the bickering duo find themselves rekindling feelings they felt 25 years ago. And did we mention it stars Julia Roberts and George Clooney?

'Pretty Woman' (1990)

It would be a mistake to not include "Pretty Woman" as a must watch Valentines Day movie. Big! Huge! The rom-com tells the love story of an unlikely pair. While on a business trip in L.A., businessman Edward (Richard Gere), hires Vivian (Julia Roberts) as an escort to his social events for the week. The two take a liking for each other, as Edward continues to extend his deal with the charming Vivian, but soon realizes the bubble they're living in can only last so long.

'Turning Red' (2022)

Valentine's Day is typically a day associated with romantic love  but you can take the occasion to honor all kinds of love in your life. Although the Pixar film heavily dives into the topic of adolescent pressures, different types of love are scattered throughout this animated film, like friendship and the love from ancestors. Thirteen-year-old Mielin is torn between staying her mothers perfect daughter, while discovering who she is independently. As if this werent enough, when she gets overly excited she turns into a giant red panda. In between, Meilin finds comfort from the love she has for her friends, family and favorite boy band.

'Marry Me' (2022)

Pop superstar Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez) is about to get married before an audience. However, seconds before the ceremony, she learns her fiance, Bastian (Maluma), has been cheating on her. In a moment of meltdown, Kat locks eyes with a stranger (Owen Wilson) in the crowd and marries him on the spot. The newlyweds must decide if they are truly made for love and each other.

'How to Be Single' (2016)

Valentines Day is about celebrating all forms of love, including the one that comes from within. And who better to celebrate this with than a fun-loving Rebel Wilson in "How to Be Single." The story follows recent college graduate Alice (Dakota Johnson), who decides to take a break from her long-term boyfriend Josh (Nicholas Braun). Excited and ready for new challenges, she moves to New York to take a job as a paralegal. Helping her navigate her way through an unfamiliar city is Robin (Rebel Wilson), her co-worker who enjoys partying and one-night stands.

'Something Great' (2019)

"Something Great" is another Valentine's Day movie to watch if the person you're falling in love with is ... you. The self-transforming movie takes place during a night out in New York City, as Jenny Young (Gina Rodriguez) is dumped by her long-term boyfriend and decides to party away her last night in the city with her two best friends before she moves to San Francisco.

'Valentines Day' (2010)

What is more Valentines Day than a film entitled "Valentines Day" featuring Taylor Swift, queen of the love song? The movie is a series of interconnected stories from various Los Angeles residents, including characters portrayed by Jessica Alba, Jennifer Garner, Bradley Cooper and Ashton Kutcher.

'La La Land' (2016)

It would be a waste of a lovely night to skip this musical on Valentines Day. While navigating their careers in Los Angeles, a pianist (Ryan Gosling) and aspiring actress (Emma Stone) fall in love while trying to chase their dreams. The film explores different themes, including love, career and the heart-wrenching what couldve been.

'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018)

Have you ever traveled across the country to discover your boyfriend is both extremely wealthy and one of the countrys most eligible bachelors ... and that his mother is conspiring against you? If youre Rachel Chu (Constance Wu), you must know the feeling. In Crazy Rich Asians, Chu fights for her love with Nick (Henry Golding) as she faces jealous socialites, revelations made of her past and the worst of them all, Nicks disapproving mother.

'Little Women' (2019)

Greta Gerwig's film adaptation of Louisa May Alcotts 1868 novel centers around four sisters and their pursuits of happiness, finding it within society's prescribed boundaries for them, or finding it through breaking those boundaries entirely. And yes, there are love stories  more than one, in many different ways.

'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)

Nursing a breakup this Valentine's Day? "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" will have you getting philosophical about the pain of ending a relationship  and why experiencing pain is worth it. Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey) show us what this would look like as they undergo procedures to erase memories of each other from their minds and hearts.

'Flipped' (2010)

Everyone remembers their elementary school love, right? If you dont, "Flipped" will help remind you. When they meet in second grade, Juli Baker (Madeline Carroll) falls instantly in love with her neighbor, Bryce Loski (Callan McAuliffe). Bryce does not reciprocate the feeling and goes out of his way to keep Juli away from him. After six years, she begins to feel that she was wrong about her feelings for him, unfortunately for Bryce, he also begins to think his cold feelings for Juli were wrong all along.

'About Time' (2013)

When Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) learns the men in his family can travel through time, he resolves to improve his life by getting a girlfriend. He meets Mary (Rachel McAdams), falls in love and wins her heart. Except love stories are much more complicated than that. Lake finds that his special ability cant shield him and Mary from ordinary life problems.

'The First Wives Club' (1996)

Heartbroken over the marriage of her ex-husband to a younger woman, a middle-aged divorcee falls to her death from her penthouse. At the womans funeral, her former college friends (Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn, Diane Keaton) reunite for the first time after 30 years. When the group discovers the cause for their friends death, the friends begin to analyze the ways their ex-husbands have taken them for granted and decide to seek revenge. You might find yourself dancing along to "You Dont Own Me" by Lesley Gore as the rom-com plot thickens.

'Mamma Mia!' (2008)

Meryl Streep, Greece and ABBA. If you need more reasons to watch this movie on Valentines Day, then let it be for the mishaps and musical numbers that arise as Donna (Streep), an independent hotelier in the Greek islands, prepares for her daughters wedding with the help of two old friends and an unexpected visit from three previous love interests. The three men are invited by Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), the bride, who hopes to learn her father's identity and have him walk her down the aisle.

'500 Days of Summer' (2009)

Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), greeting card writer and hopeless romantic, is heartbroken when his girlfriend, Summer (Zooey Deschanel), suddenly dumps him. He reflects on their 500 days together to try to figure out where their love affair went sour and that ones happiness cannot be dependent on another person.

'The Worst Person in the World' (2021)

"The Worst Person in the World" is testament to the fact that you learn about yourself through relationships. The Swedish movie follows four years in the life of Julie (Renate Reinsve), a young woman battling indecisiveness as she navigates her troubled love life and struggles to find her career path.

'50 First Dates' (2004)

Playboy vet Henry (Adam Sandler) falls for art teacher Lucy (Drew Barrymore), who suffers from short-term memory loss. Determined to win her over again each day and prove his love to Lucys protective family, Henry goes through great lengths including multiple first dates.

'Moonrise Kingdom' (2012)

Wes Anderson brings to life a forbidden childhood romance between twelve-year-olds Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward). However, their runaway romance is in danger as a violent storm approaching the island of New Penzance forces a group of adults (Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray) to mobilize a search party and find the children.

'The Photograph' (2020)

Soulmates are real ... or at least thats how you will feel after watching The Photograph. Issa Rae and LaKeith Stanfields chemistry makes Mae and Michael's story come alive. Similar to her mother, Mae is not convinced she can find happiness without it falling apart, while Michael sees his father live with the regret of not having chased love. The story travels between the past and present, as the characters hope to learn from their parents mistakes and chase what feels right.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com
A 36-year-old avid ice climber died after falling near a Montana waterfall, rescuers said.

A GPS device sent an alert to authorities at 3:19 p.m. Nov. 25, the Gallatin County Sheriff Search and Rescue said in a Facebook post.

Shortly after, someone called 911 and said they saw an ice climber fall near Grotto Falls in Hyalite Canyon, rescuers said.

Rescuers said they went to the Grotto Falls trailhead and found the injured ice climber, Kyle Allen Rott.

He was taken to a hospital, where he died of blunt force trauma of the head from his fall, rescuers said.

His death was accidental, rescuers said.

The 1.5-mile trail to Grotto Falls is described as popular and easy, according to Visit Montana. Hyalite Canyon, however, is a well-known spot for ice climbing with multiple rocky routes for climbers.

Hyalite Canyon is about 10 miles south of Bozeman.

Hiker set out to climb the tallest mountain in California  then vanished, rescuers say

Climber slides 30 feet down mountainside and hits head in Colorado, rescuers say

Climber falls from steep rock wall in Colorado canyon and is knocked out, officials say
MATHEWS COUNTY, Va. (WAVY)  A five-month long drug investigation by the Mathews County Sheriffs Office and the Virginia State Police Tri-Rivers Drug Task Force has resulted in the indictments of five people engaged in the distribution of narcotics.

On Tuesday, Nov. 21, Logan Brent Cannon, 38, of Mathews was arrested for felony distribution of a schedule I/II drug and manufacture and or distribute an imitation schedule I/II drug after being indicted by a grand jury. He is currently being held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.

On the same day, Thomas Ray Tilley, 46, of Hallieford was arrested by Gloucester County authorities on three counts of felony distribution of a schedule I/II drug after being indicted by the grand jury. He is currently being held without bond at the Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail.

A few days later, on Friday Nov. 24, Melinda Nicole Thomas, 37, and Anthony Grenier, 40, both of Mathews were arrested.

Thomas was charged with two counts of felony distribution of a schedule I/II drug after being indicted by the grand jury.

Grenier was also charged with one count of felony Distribution of a Schedule I/II drug after being indicted by the grand jury.

Both Thomas and Grenier are being held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.

On Sunday, Nov. 26, Joanna Marie Ferreris, 39, of Mathews was arrested by Gloucester County authorities for felony Distribution of a schedule I/II drug and felony possession of a schedule I/II drug after being indicted by the grand jury. Ferreris is being held without bond at the Middle Peninsula Regional Security Center.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
5-year-old girl dies, search suspended for grandfather after wave sweeps them out to sea at California beach

A 5-year-old girl who was caught in a rogue wave and swept into the ocean with her grandfather off the coast of Northern California has died in a hospital, while rescuers have suspended the search for the missing man, officials said Sunday.

The pair were on Martins Beach in Half Moon Bay on Saturday when the wave swept them into the sea around 1 p.m., the U.S. Coast Guard Northern California said. The city is located about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

San Mateo County Fire personnel initially rescued the 5-year-old girl from the water, but she was rushed to a nearby hospital and pronounced deceased, the Coast Guard confirmed.

The search for the 54-year-old man was suspended after crews scoured 100 square miles over 22 hours, officials said.

COLORADO HIKERS FIND LOST DOG ON MOUNTAIN TRAIL 2 MONTHS AFTER PET WENT MISSING

Rescuers scoured 100 square miles over a 22-hour period, but found no sign of the missing 54-year-old man.

"The decision to suspend search efforts is one of the hardest decisions to make, but our crews searched for nearly 24 hours without any sightings of the missing person," said Capt. Jordan Baldueza, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector San Francisco. "Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends affected by this very tragic event."

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

San Mateo County Fire personnel initially recovered the girl, but she was pronounced dead at a hospital, the Coast Guard said.

Coast Guard officials confirmed to FOX2 KTVU that the man and girl were grandfather and granddaughter. Their identities have not been publicly released.

FAMILY OF 5 DRAMATICALLY RESCUED FROM COLORADO MOUNTAINS AMID PLUMMETING TEMPS

The National Weather Service warned of an increased risk of dangerous rip currents and sneaker waves along Bay Area shores Saturday and early Sunday.

"Stay out of the water today," NWS Bay Area posted Saturday on X. "Long period swell and big tidal swings means a lot of water will be moving at the coast and in the Bay. Enjoy from a safe distance and keep our rescue swimmers safe."

CLICK TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The agency advised the public to "Never Turn Your Back On The Ocean" as unexpected waves could sweep beachgoers into the sea.





Original article source: 5-year-old girl dies, search suspended for grandfather after wave sweeps them out to sea at California beach
Ceasefire extension? Last week, Israel and Hamas agreed to a four-day ceasefire and a deal in which Hamas would release 50 of the hostages taked October 7 in exchange for 150 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.

Since then, 39 of those 50 hostages have been freed, and 117 Palestinian prisonersall women or people 18 and underhave been returned to Gaza.

Separate negotiations have yielded the release of 19 additional Hamas hostages, including 17 Thais, one Filipino, and one Russian-Israeli. That brings the total count of freed October 7 hostages to 58.

The very last round of releases was supposed to happen today, but Qatari negotiators say it is likely to be held up. A not-insignificant number of hostages are apparently being held by separate terrorist groups, making it hard for Hamas to locate the remainder of the captives.

In addition to Hamas' struggles with locating these prisoners, other problems are holding up the final release and casting doubt on the idea that an extension is possible. "Israel and Hamas each signaled a willingness over the weekend to prolong their truce if it allowed for more hostages and Palestinian detainees to be freed," reports The New York Times. "But both sides have taken issue with the names presented by the other for the final day of exchanges under the deal."

Prisoners held by Israel: When the terms of the deal were first released last week, many observers in the West reacted with some surprise at the idea that Israel was holding hundreds of Palestinian woman and children in prisons. Now, there's a media criticism story playing out concurrently, with Israel supporters accusing some publications of sugarcoating the crimes of some of the Palestinian prisoners.

Take, for example, Israa Jaabees, who The New York Times describes as a "disfigured woman whose case has become well known" who was "accused of attempted murder" after "her car exploded at a checkpoint near Jerusalem in the West Bank." Note the passive voice, and the "accused" (with no mention of a conviction).

Israeli authorities say that she detonated a car bomb in an act of terrorism at a checkpoint near Israeli police, permanently disabling one officer. Her lawyer says this was a case of attempted suicide-by-cop, not terrorism, though Israeli authorities also claim that she had expressed support for "martyrs" and yelled "Allahu Akbar" as this was all happening. She was convicted in court and spent the next eight years in Israeli prison, petitioning the Israeli authorities to pay for her facial reconstruction surgery, which they rejected. (The gall!)

This seeming inability to tell the full story has led to lots of criticism of the media.

There are surely cases where the offense was nowhere near as bad as this, or where overly broad crackdowns on incitement ended up imprisoning Palestinians for mere acts of speech. Still, reporters do themselves no favors when they neglect to mention the most damning parts of Jaabees' record. Similarly, the "children" held in Israeli prisons are not 4-year-oldsthe age of some of the hostages that Hamas tookbut 16- and 17-year-olds, many of them convicted of violent terrorist activities.

Scenes from New York:

Activists from Jewish Voice for Peace, an anti-Zionist group, shut down the Manhattan Bridge for several hours yesterday, blocking cars from getting across on the Manhattan side.

It's unclear to me how these street shutdowns actually achieve the desired goal.

QUICK HITS

"Should people have the right to say awful things without facing legal consequences?" asks Jay Caspian Kang in The New Yorker . (Yes. Next question.)

Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer who was convicted of killing George Floyd, was stabbed in prison on Friday.

Chinese state propaganda refers to working women above the age of 27, who are unmarried and do not have kids, as "leftover women." Here is a fascinating read about how they're charting their own paths, and how the state is struggling to reverse its baby bust.

Three Palestinian-American men were shot in Vermont over the weekend in what is being investigated as a hate crime.

Come out to tonight's screening of (Reason producer and my Livestream co-host) Zach Weissmueller's new bitcoin mining documentary.

Surely a prominent Democrat like Kamala Harris hasn't been caught redhanded with an illicit gas stove:

Is that a gas stove? ???? https://t.co/ElwpYe8kql  Rep. Mike Collins (@RepMikeCollins) November 24, 2023

Under no circumstances does the FTC need to be investigating whether a shitty-sandwich-shop monopoly is being created:

We don't need another private equity deal that could lead to higher food prices for consumers. The @FTC is right to investigate whether the purchase of @SUBWAY by the same firm that owns @jimmyjohns and @McAlistersDeli creates a sandwich shop monopoly. https://t.co/mAFuuFYA5A  Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) November 26, 2023

A "61 year old US-born doctor has his citizenship revoked after trying to renew his passport," writes Alex Nowrasteh on Twitter/X. "Why? His dad worked at the embassy when he was born, but he was still granted citizenship. There should be a statute of limitations for revoking citizenship in these cases."

This:

The trick to being a good "transit Twitter" person is tweeting a diagram of an unrealizable $80 trillion mega project with a caption like "not having this is a policy choice"  Christian Britschgi (@christianbrits) November 26, 2023

The post 58 Hostages Freed appeared first on Reason.com.
Chicago police are investigating at least six armed robberies that occurred within about two hours Sunday afternoon on the Northwest and Southwest sides. Four of them were within a span of less than 10 minutes.

Police said detectives havent yet established a link or pattern between the robberies, five of which involved a group of men in a white vehicle. No suspects are in custody, and police said they are investigating.

The first robbery happened at about 4:20 p.m. in the Hermosa neighborhood. Six men got out of a white vehicle and approached a 44-year-old woman standing outside in the 4400 block of West Armitage Avenue, police said. Two of the men demanded the womans property at gunpoint. She complied, then the men got back in the vehicle and fled in an unknown direction, police said.

About an hour later, four men got out of a white SUV and approached a 49-year-old man and 53-year-man standing outside in the 2300 block of West 42nd Place in the New City neighborhood. Two of the men displayed a gun, demanding the victims property, police said. Even though the victims complied, the men beat them up, authorities said. They were taken to Mt. Sinai Hospital in good condition.

At about 5:35 p.m., four men with guns got out of a white SUV in the 3200 block of West 31st Street and demanded a 42-year-old mans property in the Little Village neighborhood, police said.

At about the same time, a 26-year-old woman was walking to her vehicle in the 3800 block of South Campbell Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood when four men with guns got out of a white SUV and took her property, police said.

At about 5:37 p.m., a 46-year-old man and a 39-year-old man were approached by four armed men who had just gotten out of a white SUV in the 3900 block of South Kedzie Avenue in the Brighton Park neighborhood. The victims handed over their property to the gunmen, who fled the scene.

Then, about 50 minutes later, a man got out of a white sedan and demanded a 47-year-old mans property at gunpoint in the 1100 block West Ohio Street in the West Town neighborhood. The victim complied, and the man fled in the white sedan.

rjohnson@chicagotribune.com
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  It was a violent holiday weekend across the Memphis area. In total, six people were killed and 15 others injured between Thursday and Sunday night.

Sunday, November 26

The search continues for a suspect after a man and woman were stabbed Sunday night outside the Saint Vincent dePaul Food Mission. Both were rushed to the hospital in critical condition.

A baby is in the hospital after undergoing brain surgery. The shooting happened Sunday morning in Highland Heights. We are told someone fired multiple rounds and several houses were hit.

Several hours later, a man was shot at CCs Blues Club on Thomas Street in North Memphis.

The shooting occurred around 4 a.m.

Memphis Police are also investigating a homicide after finding a man shot to death on the I-55 Bridge. Officers found the body Sunday morning.

Saturday, November 25

Just before 1 a.m., a man was shot to death at a spa on Mount Moriah Extended.

A man was also shot just after 1 p.m. on American Way.

A man and woman were injured in a shooting in Binghampton.

Police say a group was on a party bus when the driver stopped for people to use the restroom. Thats when police say the driver and a man on the bus got into an argument.

We were told the driver wouldnt let anyone back on the bus so a man and woman started shooting at the driver.

Someone in a car then pulled up and shot at those two suspects.

Friday, November 24

Two people were hospitalized after a shooting Friday in Orange Mound.

A man died following a shooting in East Memphis on Friday morning.

A little before 3 p.m., a man was shot in the 700 block of Edith. The man was taken to Regional One Health in critical condition.

Thursday, November 3

Thursday morning, a 15-year-old was shot to death in Binghampton. Two teens have been charged with the victims death.

Two people were found dead after a shooting in Hickory Hill.

A man was seriously injured after a shooting in North Memphis Thursday evening.

Four people were injured after a shooting in Bethel Grove Thursday night, and two men are still on the run from police.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
COLUMBUS, Miss.  A 6-year-old Mississippi girl is being honored for helping emergency responders find her family's car after her mother had a stroke while driving in a rural area.

Bryanna Cook is a first grader at Fairview Elementary School in Columbus, and Lowndes County supervisors have adopted a resolution to honor her bravery, the Commercial Dispatch reported.

Bryanna and her mother, Yolanda Cook, were headed to see Bryannas grandmother in Preston on Oct. 23 when Cook had a stroke while driving on Mississippi Highway 21 between Shuqulak and Macon. After the car stopped in the woods, Cook became unresponsive and Bryanna grabbed her moms cellphone.

I was scared, so I called my grandmother, and my mom wouldnt wake up, Bryanna said Friday.

In this photo provided by Angie Craddieth, Bryanna Cook, right, a 6-year-old first grade student, is shown with Latonya Malone, a 911 dispatcher for Lowndes County, Miss., on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Columbus, Miss.,

Her grandmother told her to call 911. Bryanna first spoke to a Noxubee County dispatcher, who connected her with Lowndes County dispatcher Latonya Malone.

Bryanna then helped Malone and first responders in Noxubee and Lowndes counties by describing her surroundings, how far the car was from the road and the condition of her mother, who was otherwise uninjured.

Malone said that while she had Bryanna on the 911 line, she used her cellphone to talk to Bryanna's grandmother.

Bryanna was able to tell us where they were going and the grandmother helped, too, because she told us around where they were at the time based on when they left home, Malone said.

Over the next two hours, while first responders looked for the pair, Bryanna stayed on the phone and followed Malones instructions.

Bryanna said she opened the doors to give her mother some fresh air and, I tapped her on the face to see if she would wake up, but she didnt.

Information from Bryanna and her grandmother eventually brought first responders to the car, Malone said. Cook was taken to the Macon hospital before being airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.

Bryanna stayed with her mother at the hospital until Cook was released Oct. 31.

Her teachers and the school principal were all very supportive, Cook said.

I helped my mom because I saved her, Bryanna added. At the hospital, I helped her get out of bed and walked with her down the hallways because I love her.

When county supervisors honored Bryanna, Malone got to meet her in person.

Fairview Principal Monte Ewing-Johnson said Bryanna displayed values the faculty try to instill in students.

The level of joy my heart felt when I learned of Bryannas heroism is immeasurable, she said. Bryanna is kind, compassionate and patient with her classmates; therefore, it is not hard to believe that she was able to call 911 and wait as she and her mom were rescued."

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: 6-year-old MS girl honored for rescue efforts after her mother had stroke
FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron leaves after paying his respects by the coffin of slain teacher Samuel Paty in the courtyard of the Sorbonne university during a national memorial event, Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2020 in Paris. Six teenagers go on trial Monday, Nov. 27, 2023 in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher by a radical Islamist after he showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm France's cherished rights of expression and secularism. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool)

PARIS (AP)  Six teenagers go on trial Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm France's cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Patys name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

All hearings at a Paris juvenile court are to be held behind closed doors in accordance with French law regarding minors.

The defendants arrived Monday morning at the Paris court, their faces hidden behind masks and hoods, accompanied by their families. The media are not allowed to disclose their identity.

Among those going on trial, a teenage girl, who was 13 at the time, is accused of making false allegations for wrongly saying that Paty had asked Muslim students to raise their hands and leave the classroom before he showed the cartoons. She later told investigators she had lied. She was not in the classroom that day and Paty did not make such a request, the investigation has shown.

Five other students of Paty's school, then 14 and 15, are facing charges of criminal conspiracy with the aim of preparing aggravated violence to be committed.

They are accused of having waited for Paty for several hours until he left the school and of having identified him to the killer in exchange for promises of payments of 300-350 euros ($348-$406).

The investigation established that the attacker knew the name of the teacher and the address of his school, but he did not have the means to identify him.

The lawyer for one of the defendants, Antoine Ory, said his client is tormented by remorse and very much afraid of the confrontation with Mr. Patys family. He said the teenager obviously didnt know about the criminal plan" of the killer, Abdoullakh Anzorov, a Moscow-born Chechen refugee.

Ory said his client since then had difficult times, changed school and friends and now sees the trial as an opportunity to turn the page.

All six teenagers are facing 2 1/2-year in prison. The trial is scheduled to end on Dec. 8.

Louis Cailliez, the lawyer for Patys sister, Mickaelle, said she wants to understand the real causes that led the students to commit something irreparable. He pointed to the "fatal combination of little acts of cowardice, big lies, calumnies, arrangements, complicity and help without which Samuel Paty would still be alive.

Without the denunciation, there would be no visibility (on the social media), without visibility, there would be no crime, he said.

Eight other adults are to be sent to trial later. They include the father of the teenage girl charged with false allegations. At the time, he had posted videos on social media that called for mobilization against the teacher.

A radical Islamic activist who helped him disseminate the virulent messages naming Paty has also been charged.

The trial comes six weeks after a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people injured in a school attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization. The killing in a context of global tensions over the Israel-Hamas war led French authorities to deploy 7,000 additional soldiers across the country to bolster security and vigilance.
A welfare check led to the discovery of a dead 9-year-old girl, California police said.

One of the girls family members was worried and called police on Nov. 24, according to a Nov. 25 news release by the Westminster Police Department.

Officers made their way inside and found the 9-year-old dead with obvious signs of trauma, police said.

Police didnt specify the girls cause of death.

There wasnt anyone else inside the house, officials said.

Detectives took over the investigation and named the girls mother, Khadiyjah Pendergraph, a person of interest, police said.

The 32-year-old mother was arrested in Aliso Viejo while at a shopping center, officials said.

While police officers are exposed to tragedies on a daily basis, this murder is particularly disturbing due to the senseless loss of a child allegedly at the hands of her own mother, Westminster Chief of Police Darin Lenyi said in the release. The members of the WPD grieve with the victims family and extend our deepest condolences.

McClatchy News reached out to the Westminster Police Department on Nov. 27 for more information and did not receive an immediate response.

She was booked into the Orange County Jail on a murder charge, officials said.

Anyone with information is asked to call 714-548-3773, the release said.

Westminster is about 30 miles southeast of Los Angeles.

Mom found baby unresponsive in overflowing tub, Texas cops say. Shes been arrested

Nobody picked up child after school  then came grim discovery at Texas home, cops say

1-year-old dies after being left in hot car, Georgia deputies say. Now, mom is charged
Abigail Mor Edan, the youngest U.S. citizen held by Hamas, was among the group of hostages released back to Israel on Sunday, both President Biden and the Israeli military confirmed.

Abigail, whose parents were killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, turned 4 years old last week while in captivity in Gaza. She was kidnapped and taken to the Palestinian enclave during the deadly rampage along with an estimated 240 others, according to Israeli officials.

Her name had appeared on a list of hostages that Hamas previously said it planned to release on Sunday, Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told to "Face the Nation" moderator Margaret Brennan.

Abigail Mor Edan, a 4-year-old Israeli-American girl kidnapped by Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, was among the hostages freed on Sunday. / Credit: CBS Mornings / Naftali family

The hostages released on Sunday followed two earlier waves of releases that hinged on a deal with Israel that would see the release of at least 50 women and children held captive in Gaza, as well as the release of about 150 Palestinian women and teenagers imprisoned in Israel. The terms also included a temporary cease-fire agreement that would allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and displaced Palestinians to return at their discretion to their homes in the ravaged northern part of the territory.

The pause in fighting was agreed to last four days  with Sunday being the third day  although Israel has said it would be willing to extend the cease-fire one day for every 10 additional hostages released by Hamas.

Seventeen hostages, including Abigail, were released by Hamas on Sunday. Fourteen of them are Israeli citizens and three are foreign nationals, Israeli officials said. Abigail holds citizenship in both Israel and the U.S.

A photo released Monday shows her smiling as she sits with her aunt and uncle at the hospital where she was taken in Israel.

Abigail Edan, who was released after being taken hostage during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, talks with her aunt Liron and uncle Zuli at Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel in Petah Tikva, Israel, on Nov. 27, 2023. / Credit: Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel/Handout via REUTERS

President Biden spoke about Abigail's release in televised remarks Sunday.

"She's free and she's in Israel now," Mr. Biden said, adding that Abigail has "been through a terrible trauma." The child's mother was killed in front of her by Hamas militants before her father was also gunned down while using his body to shield Abigail from the attack. Abigail then ran to neighbors for help, Mr. Biden said.

"What she endured is unthinkable," he said.

Abigail's great-aunt, Liz Hirsh Naftali, and her cousin, Noa Naftali, said in a statement Sunday, "We hoped and prayed today would come. There are no words to express our relief and gratitude that Abigail is safe and coming home."

They thanked President Biden and the Qatari government, adding, "Today's release proves that it's possible. We can get all hostages back home. We have to keep pushing."

Liz Hirsh Naftali and Noa Naftali told "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday that the child had been captured along with neighbors from the Kfar Aza kibbutz, where she lived with her parents and two older siblings. The siblings, who are 6 and 10 years old, survived the attack by locking themselves inside a closet and hiding there for 14 hours, Noa Natfali said.

"We thought at the beginning that Abigail had died, but we later found out that she survived. Her father was able to shield her with his body," Noa Naftali said. "She crawled out from underneath him and went over to the neighbors, who took her in, and they were also taken hostage  a mother, a 10-year-old, an 8-year old and a 4-year old who goes to preschool with Abigail."

Liz Hirsh Naftali said the family learned several days later that a witness had seen the neighbor being led out of the kibbutz with her three children as well as Abigail during the Hamas attack. "And then we did not find out any more information," she said.

Noa Naftali told "CBS Mornings" that Abigail would live with her aunt, uncle and grandparents, with whom her siblings were already staying, if she was among the hostages released. She said the family would be able to provide the children with "the love and support that they need after losing their parents."

"She ran that house," Liz Hirsh Naftali said of Abigail. "We know that for her to come back, for her sister and her brother, is their one hope. This is one of the things that we just keep hearing, that they know exactly what happened on Oct. 7. Yes, they witnessed it. They are 6 and 10. They understand. ... The one piece that they can only hope that will come to give some sort of an ability for a closure and to move on is that Abigail comes back."

Fighting the good fight against ALS

Georgian winemakers restoring countrys ancient grape varieties | 60 Minutes

The tragic costs of e-waste
More than 300,000 people this month received acceptance letters from at least one college or university in their state  before they had even completed their applications.

The prospective students unknowingly qualified for the direct admissions program led by the Common App, the nations most used and widely accepted college application. The program  involving 70 schools across 28 states  examines incomplete applications and doles out acceptances to those who meet certain GPA and test requirements set by each participating college; live in poverty-stricken areas or whose parents have not gone to college.

The batch acceptances from participating colleges come as undergraduate enrollment rates may be coming out of a decline that's persisted since the pandemic and months after the Supreme Court ruling to reverse affirmative action, which effectively gutted race-conscious admission practices.

Recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse found that college enrollment is up overall this fall, with Black, Hispanic and Asian students making up most of the undergraduate and graduate enrollment growth. And new data from the Common App shows applications for enrollment next fall are greater than before the pandemic too.

"The goal here is to have every student in Common App feel not only worthy but welcomed," Jenny Rickard, CEO of the Common App, told USA TODAY. "It's to inspire them to explore the many opportunities that they have ahead of them."

After the Supreme Court ruling, What can prospective college students expect?

Rising popularity of direct admissions programs

Direct admissions programs are popular among institutions seeking to drive up enrollment and for students who, because of direct admissions programs, can bypass lengthy admission processes that often require test scores, essays and letters of recommendation. These hurdles, which can be diminished by parental guidance, private tutors and other costly programs, disproportionately affect low-income students and those whose parents did not go to college or university, said Jennifer Delaney, a professor of higher education at the University of Illinois.

The number of direct admissions programs has surged over the last decade. In 2015, Idaho became one of the first states to introduce the program  proactively admitting all public high school seniors to at least six in-state colleges and universities each year.

Protesters gather outside as the U.S. Supreme Courts hears oral arguments in two affirmative action college admission cases on Oct. 31, 2022.

This year, Georgia introduced a similar initiative in which all public high school seniors are to be sent a letter notifying them of what in-state colleges and universities they will receive acceptances from if they decide to apply. Minnesota recently tapped thousands of students to participate in its pilot direct admissions program. And Niche, a for-profit education technology company that says it helps find and enroll students in the right schools, has expanded its program to 68 colleges.

Because of their proactive approach, Rickard said direct admissions programs effectively combat the misconception that most colleges have low acceptance rates, which she said can prevent prospective students from applying in the first place.

"That's what the narrative is, but it's not true," Rickard said. About 90% of the more than 1,000 schools that use the Common App each year accept more than half of its applicants.

The average cost of tuition, housing and fees for an undergraduate degree increased by 169% between 1980 and 2020, according to a recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

Delaney, who has co-authored several research articles on the impacts of direct admissions, compared the admissions process to dating and said direct admissions reverse the typical roles of students and colleges.

"Historically, it's been students who'd go out and search for schools," she said. "We've now entered a moment where we've got robust enough data systems, and schools can search for students and say to them 'Hey, we know you've got the qualifications. You can get in here, and there's a place for you if you want to come.'"

Legacy admissions are being rolled back: Heres which colleges have changed policies

College costs remain largest hindrance for prospective students

An article Delaney co-wrote in August, and which used data from the Common App, showed students who received acceptances were more likely to submit a college application and were nearly twice as likely to apply to the institution where they were offered direct admissions "signaling their intent to 'claim their place' and enroll," the study said. These impacts were much higher for minority, first-generation and low-income students.

However, the study did not find evidence that the program increased the number of students who followed through and enrolled at the schools where they were accepted. This, Delaney and Rickard say, is likely the fault of the largest obstacle in the way of many college-seeking young people  the hefty price tag.

Between 1980 and 2020, the average price of tuition, fees and housing for an undergraduate degree increased by 169%, far outpacing wages, according to a recent report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.

And the cost of tuition continues to increase. For the 2023-24 school year, the cost of tuition at public four-year colleges rose 2.5% from the year prior, averaging $11,260, according to the College Board. For private four-year institutions, tuition and fees rose 4%, to an average of $41,540.

Both Delaney and Rickard said the next version of direct admissions programs could be coupled with scholarships to address the burdensome cost of college.

"Proactive admissions work, but they're only a nudge," Delaney said. "It's not a silver bullet."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Common App direct admission program admits more than 300,000 students
A local activist and a news reporter have jointly filed a lawsuit against the city of Lawrence, alleging the city violated their First Amendment rights by impeding their reporting on homeless encampments in North Lawrence, where a homeless resident had reportedly died.

The suit alleges the complainants constitutional rights were infringed upon last winter when Phillip Michael Eravi, owner of the Lawrence Accountability YouTube Channel, was banned from the homeless encampment and Chansi Long, then a reporter for The Lawrence Times, was temporarily banned as they sought to report on the lack of heat sources at the encampment amid bitterly cold winter temperatures.

The lawsuit filed on Nov. 15 is seeking a judgment in an unspecified amount for compensatory damages.

Both Long and Eravi claim their First Amendment rights to speak, the right to listen, the right to photograph and record, and the right to associate and assemble with other residents of the City of Lawrence were violated by the City of Lawrence.

Named as defendants in the suit are the City of Lawrence; Sgt. Ryan Robinson, a Lawrence police officer; Cicely Thornton, Lawrence Homeless Programs specialist, and Ofc. Skylar Richardson.

According to the suit, the purpose of Eravis Lawrence Accountability channel is to shine a light on failures by city to hold its police officers, employees and elected officials accountable. The videos posted on the channel, which has more than 17,000 subscribers, are critical of police officers, policies, executive leadership, elected leaders, and others employed by the city.

In the fall of 2022, Eravi learned the city was trying to close a homeless encampment, according to the lawsuit. He began visiting three encampments in Lawrence  Bircham Park, Amtrack, and North Lawrence  where he noticed, certain needs werent being met for the homeless.

One of the critical issues Eravi observed was that the homeless lacked the ability to obtain or transport a fuel source to provide heat within the homeless encampments as temperatures dropped during the winter season, and the city had made no effort to provide a heat source to the homeless, according to court records.

Eravis observations led him to report and post videos on his YouTube channel on the issue, and how the city was handling it.

On March 21, Eravi received a call from Jennifer Wolsey, a former Lawrence Homeless Programs coordinator, informing him that a homeless resident had died in the North Lawrence encampment, according to the lawsuit. The suit further states that Wolsey requested that Eravi visit the encampment to report on the issue.

Michael, acting individually, and as a reporter for Lawrence Accountability, went to the homeless encampment to report on what was happening, the suit reads.

Long, then a reporter for The Lawrence Times with an extensive history of reporting on the homeless encampments in Lawrence that were critical of City and its employees, was also called by a resident of the encampment to check on the condition of the campsite, according to the lawsuit.

Both Eravi and Long went to the encampment independently to report on conditions there, according to court documents.

Violation of First Amendment rights

The suit alleges that while reporting, officers told Long that she could no longer enter the homeless encampment and needed to leave the premises. Later, according to the suit, officials said that Long was being ordered outside the encampment because she needed to do her reporting outside the barriers. Long left against her will, the suit says.

Soon after, according to the suit, Sgt. Robinson told Eravi that he was being trespassed from the homeless encampment by Thorton. Officers said if he did not leave the encampment that he would be arrested and taken to jail for trespass.

Eravi asked the officers how long he would be prohibited from the encampment and was told by Sgt. Robinson that he was permanently banned until it is lifted by Thornton.

Two days later, on March 23, Eravi returned to the encampment but did not go inside, according to court documents. While outside, Eravi sought clarification on who was prohibited from entering the homeless encampment. He was subsequently notified that unauthorized visitors were not allowed. Eravi further inquired about which encampments he was banned from, and was told that Thornton would provide that information when she returned from being out of town, according to court records.

Later that same afternoon, Long was notified that she was no longer banned from entering the homeless encampment.

Eravi, however, remained prohibited from entering and never received notification stating why he was banned, the suit alleges.

On March 27, Eravi entered the homeless encampment and was issued a municipal summons for trespassing. According to court documents, the city of Lawrence dismissed the trespass action without prejudice on May 17.

Attorneys for Long and Eravi are seeking a jury trial in Topeka.

When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the City of Lawrence told The Star, The city does not comment on pending litigation.

These arent the first allegations of a First Amendment violation by Kansas officials this year.

On Aug. 11, police raided the Marion County Record office, also in Kansas, which stirred conversation nationally about the First Amendment rights of journalists.

In that case, Marion, a town of fewer than 2,000 people, was drawn into the national spotlight by what was deemed an improper search of the newspaper and the homes of its editor and publisher and a local councilwoman, led by the police chief, who claimed to be looking into allegations that newspaper employees illegally accessed driving records of a local restaurant owner.

The Kansas Department of Revenue, which maintains a database of the records, said the newspaper accessed public information in that case.

Marion Police Chief Gideon Cody has since resigned, but tensions from the raids have continued.

The Stars Katie Moore and Jonathan Shorman contributed reporting.
Despite different philosophies about homelessness, the Ada County Commission and Boise City Council decided to come together to pursue a common interest: provide housing for struggling residents.

The commissioners believe the roots of Boises homelessness problem are addiction and mental health challenges. They want to focus on providing housing for people in addiction recovery programs. The City Council says its research shows the reason many Boise residents are struggling to find housing is a lack of affordable and available housing.

A lot of our strategy has been increased housing stock for that reason, said Holly Woodings, former Boise City Council member, during a joint meeting about housing with the commissioners in January.

The two governing boards have clashed over the approaches. But now they agree that a partnership is needed to address the problem.

On Tuesday, the commissioners authorized spending $4.5 million in federal funds to help the city build an affordable housing project.

The commissioners say they are providing housing to people who may be in addiction recovery and need an affordable home, and the city gets to add to its stock of affordable housing.

This is (an) example of us working together with Boise to address issues facing Ada County, Commissioner Tom Dayley said during Tuesdays meeting.

Where is the money coming from?

The city is trying to meet its goal to build 1,250 homes for low income residents. In the partnership with the county, it plans to add 250 affordable apartments on Boises West Bench.

In September 2022, the City Council voted to buy nearly two acres off Fairview Avenue, just east of Cole Road, at 1505 N. McKinney Lane and 1500 N. Eldorado St.. The city bought the property for $2.75 million and plans to lease it to Utah developer J. Fisher Cos., which would build the apartment complex.

At least half of the 250 units would be dedicated to tenants who make 60% or below the area median income. In Boise, 60% of AMI is $37,440 for a single person, $42,780 for a family of two and $53,460 for a family of four, according to the city.

The project, called the McKinney Project, would also dedicated 10% of the 250 units to Our Path Home tenants exiting homelessness. The homes would also prioritize tenants with Section 8 vouchers, which are housing vouchers funded by the federal government that pay for some of a participating familys rent, with the family or individual responsible for the difference in the actual rent and the subsidized rent.

Jill Youmans, spokesperson for the city, said officials anticipate 200 of the 250 units to be dedicated to tenants at or below 60% of AMI.

According to the city, affordable rent for a single person earning 60% of AMI is $936. Affordable rent for two people earning 60% of AMI or less is $1,070 and for four people is $1,337.

The county money comes from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Acts Emergency Rental Assistance Program.

The county is required by the federal government to allocate 75% of that programs dollars to affordable housing. The county already has spent some of that by providing financial assistance to eligible households through the Boise City/Ada County Housing Authorities. The commissioners decided to allocate the remaining $4.5 million to the housing development.

Youmans said the city plans to dedicate $5 million of its own budgeted funds to the project, whose estimated total construction cost is $69 million.

J. Fisher is required under the contract with the city to secure financing for the project. Some of that could be federal low income housing tax credits, which are a dollar-for-dollar federal tax liability reduction for owners of newly constructed or substantially rehabilitated rental housing. But J. Fisher does not appear to have yet applied for the tax credits through Idaho Housing and Finance Association for 2024. A call to the company was not immediately returned.

McKinney expected for be accessible, affordable

The property is located near transit stops on Fairview Avenue, the city said in its resolution to purchase the property, which presents an opportunity for an accessible affordable housing project. The apartments would also be located near an Albertsons on Fairview.

The property is now the site of an office building.

In 2021, the commissioners took criticism from the city and residents when they decided to pull some funding from New Path Community Housing. During the commissioners meeting Tuesday, Commissioner Ryan Davidson wanted to make sure the public understood that the county would be partnering with the city to build the affordable housing complex.

We are pleased we were able to successfully negotiate sufficient terms to make this an enduring project to benefit the community, Commissioner Rod Beck said in an email.

Fisher is working on another affordable apartment complex in Boise. The complex, Moda Franklin, at Franklin Road and Orchard Street is under construction. It, too, is expected to serve tenants who make 60% or less of the area median income. The city also owns that land where the Moda is being constructed and leased it to Fisher.

Just a mile or so from the Franklin project, another developer plans to build another affordable housing complex. The Pacific Cos., of Eagle, plans to build a 201-unit apartment complex for tenants making 60% or less of the area median income.

The apartments would be at 6160 W. Denton St., catty-corner from Liberty Park and just south of West Emerald Street, where a Valley Regional Transit bus line runs and near Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center.

Think Boises apartment rents are still too high? Researchers have some data for you

Huge planned community south of Boise leaps forward with construction nearing
AES Indiana customers may be spared significantly higher bills, after all. The utility serving Indianapolis customers announced Monday morning that it had reached a settlement in its ongoing rate case that cuts the potential increase to bills essentially in half.

Earlier this year  and just one day before a storm outage left thousands of customers without power for days  AES Indiana asked to increase its residential customers' bills by at least $17 each month, on average. Some consumer advocates said the true number was likely double that.

Hoosiers have said that's too much. Advocates have cried foul. And even the state's consumer protection agency said no way.

Now, after weeks of negotiation, the utility has reached an agreement with the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor and six other groups intervening on behalf of customers, businesses and more. Under the settlement, if approved by the the state's utility regulator, a residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours will see a monthly increase of roughly $9.50  or about 7%.

This timeline shows the anticipated dates when proposed new electric rates would go into effect as part of AES Indiana's rate request. The central Indiana utility said it would increase the average customer's monthly bill by $17.50 starting summer 2024.

"We believe the proposed settlement reflects a positive outcome for customers," said the Citizens Action Coalition, a consumer advocacy group, in a news release. "The settlement will reduce AES Indiana's rate of return on equity, or profit, and will allow a much smaller increase to the monthly fixed customer charge than what was proposed by the company."

The utility had previously said that its rate request demonstrated the "cost of providing efficient, reliable electricity today."

AES Indiana now says that the settlement "sets the foundation that will enable AES Indiana's ability to execute on its investments focused on reliability, resiliency and customer experience."

Rate increase: AES Indiana has most disconnections in Indiana. Advocates say rate hike proposal won't help

One of the biggest parts of of AES Indiana's original request was to increase its fixed charge  or those costs that are not dependent on energy usage  from $16.75 to $25. Such an increase would have made AES Indiana's fixed charge one of the highest of any investor-owned utility in the nation, according to Ben Inskeep with the Citizens Action Coalition.

That fixed charge is drastically lowered in the settlement. Other terms in the settlement that benefit customers include:

AES Indiana has agreed to not disconnect households on Fridays, weekends and major holidays.

The utility is waiving late fees for all customers once in a rolling 12-month period.

It is reducing the amount collected from customers for expenses associated with the rate case or membership dues for trade associations.

And AES Indiana is eliminating any charge for remote disconnections and reducing the proposed charge for remote reconnections from $8 to $3.

Analysis by CAC of utility disconnection data found that AES Indiana already has the highest number of disconnections  more than 53,000 over nine months between 2022 and 2023  of Indiana's five investor-owned utilities. It also has the highest disconnection rate at nearly 13%.

AES Indiana said that throughout the process, "all parties involved were committed to keeping the customers interests as a top priority."

The settlement has to be approved by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to go into effect. An evidentiary hearing for IURC review is currently scheduled for the week of Dec. 19. There was unanimous agreement on the settlement by the OUCC, CAC and other intervening parties.

Call IndyStar reporter Sarah Bowman at 317-444-6129 or email at sarah.bowman@indystar.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook: @IndyStarSarah. Connect with IndyStars environmental reporters: Join The Scrub on Facebook.

IndyStar's environmental reporting project is made possible through the generous support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: AES Indiana customers may be spared big rate hike under new agreement
The assortment of black dots that decorate African penguins  mostly all-white fronts might help the birds tell each other apart . This is the first documented time that animal behaviorists and psychologists have pinpointed a physical feature that a bird species uses for visual recognition. The findings are described in a study published in the January 2024 issue of the journal Animal Behaviour .

[Related: How African penguins continue to survive changes in climate .]

In birds, distinguishing individual flock members is primarily based on auditory cues and not visual cues. For example, some parrots distinguish their offspring with squawking equivalent of individual names . This new research is one of the first studies to show that birds could use visual cues more than scientists previously believed.

According to study co-author and animal psychologist Luigi Baciadonna , the dots on African penguins appear when they are about three to five months old. These birds molt annually and reemerge in the same position when the new plumage comes in.

In the new study , a team from Italys University of Turin, the University of Oulu in Finland, and Zoomarine Italia marine park near Rome conducted a simple experiment with 12 penguins. The team built a small enclosure with plywood walls that was just tall enough to prevent a penguin from seeing over it. They placed cameras on either end of the pen and life-size pictures of two penguins on one of the far walls. One penguin entered the enclosure, where one of the pictures featured its specific mate.

African penguins form lifelong bonds with their partners and the team tracked their responses to images of other penguins from their species. They found that the penguins spent more time looking at the picture of their partner than they did a picture of a different familiar penguin. This occurred even when the heads of the penguins were blurred.

When the test penguins were shown two images of their partner, including one that had the spots removed, they preferred the images where the dots remained intact. However, this preference for their partner did not occur when the birds saw unspeckled versions of their mate and a different bird. According to the team, this suggests that the penguins use these spots to tell one another apart .

[Related: Jackass penguins talk like people .]

African penguins live along the coasts of Namibia and South Africa . They are about 24 to 27 inches tall and eat squid, anchovies, and other small fish. African penguins are known to be particularly communicative with one another, so scientists have studied their behavior to better understand some of the more advanced social behaviors seen in primates. A 2021 study found that African penguins are capable of vocal accommodation. Different group members have a different dialect and vocal accommodation allows group members to learn to speak more like the others.

Given how goofy penguins can seemalmost stumbling over their feet as they walk, for examplethe birds may not seem like they are all that bright, Baciadonna told New Scientist . But we showed in these two or three experiments that actually they are quite complicated and complex. Theyre also clever.

Animal physiologist and director of the Institute of Neurobiology at the University of Tubingen Andreas Nieder told Science , It is an original study with a remarkable finding. Nieder was not involved in the new research.
Class Disrupted is a bi-weekly education podcast featuring author Michael Horn and Summit Public Schools Diane Tavenner in conversation with educators, school leaders, students and other members of school communities as they investigate the challenges facing the education system amid this pandemic  and where we should go from here. Find every episode by bookmarking our Class Disrupted page or subscribing on Apple Podcasts, Google Play or Stitcher.

This week on Class Disrupted, AI expert and Minerva University senior Irhum Shafkat joins Michael and Diane to discuss where AI has been, where its going and the rate at which its moving. The episode explores the many forms the technology takes, its implications for humanity, and, of course, its applications in education  as told by a student.

Listen to the episode below. A full transcript follows.

The Seventy Four  Class Disrupted S5 E3: A Students View on the Challenges and Possibilities of AI in Education

Diane Tavenner: Michael, youve just spent a week at the happiest place on Earth, and I must admit, Im a little bit jealous.

Michael Horn: For those who may be confused about what the happiest place on Earth is, its Disney World. I was just there with my kids. First time for them. It was a blast. Diane, you know what? I came away with a few takeaways, but one of them was the excellence at scale. Disney has 74,000 employees in that park. And almost every single one of them  its probably like 73,500 of them  are just dedicated to making your experience better than the last person you just interacted with. And its astounding  however they have managed to do that. So it was a blast. Thank you for asking. But were not here to talk about my vacation, although that might be fun. Instead, were looking to continue to dive into some of these sticky questions around K-12 Education. Help people see different ways through what has often been pitted as zero-sum battles between the adults in the room and try to think through how we can unleash student progress and prepare them for the world into which theyre entering. And obviously a question that exploded into both of our minds starting last year, Diane was the topic of AI. And, as opposed to the Metaverse, it is still the topic du jour. It is still what everyone is wondering about: artificial intelligence, what do we do with it, and so forth. And you have been teasing me that you have the perfect guest to help us think about this in some novel ways. Take it from here, Diane.

Diane Tavenner: Well, I have indeed been doing that. Youre right. AI so far has a longer shelf life. So well see how long that lasts. Its my great pleasure to introduce you to Irhum. And Irhum and I first met a few years ago when he was a freshman at Minerva University. He was coming from Bangladesh to that global university. Hes now a senior. He spent the last two summers as an intern at Google X here, just about a mile away from where I live. And at Google X, hes really been focused on large language model, aka AI, research. And youve been hearing about Irhum from me and all of our conversations weve been having for quite some time, Michael. So, what you know is that Ive learned a ton from him about AI. And one of the things I love about talking AI with Irhum is that even though he has a ton of knowledge, and, for example, he writes a popular technical blog about AI that I have looked at, and I cant even decipher a sentence of it. So, highly technical, deep knowledge. But he also is a system thinker, and he cares deeply about how technology is used, how AI is used, and what it means for our society. And so hes willing to and able to talk with people like me, lay people like me, and help me understand that and engage in a good conversation. And for our purposes, I think, most importantly, Irhum is 20, and its so critical to be in dialogue with people in this generation. I think we give a lot of lip service in education to the consumers, if you will, or the students, and then we dont involve them in our dialogue. And so, Im just really grateful that hes here and you all get to meet. And so, welcome, Irhum.

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Michael Horn: Irhum, it is so good to have you here. Diane has been teasing this for a while, so thank you for joining us. Before we dive into the AI topic itself, I would just love to hear, through your words  because Ive heard it a little bit through Dianes  but Id love to hear and the audience would love to hear about your journey to Minerva University, your journey to diving into topics of AI. And really, how has that school experience specifically been? Like, what has worked? What hasnt?

Irhum Shafkat: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me. Lets just get into it. Im one of those people who the standard school system was just not designed for, rather frankly. I grew up inside the national school system back in Bangladesh, up to fourth grade, essentially, and it just wasnt designed with someone like me in mind. Were talking an institution with 50 person classrooms, teachers barely able to give anyone attention. And the school system is geared to make you pass a university entrance exam, and if you do that, youve done it, youve succeeded. And my mindset often was, like, I joked that I was learning full-time and going to school on the side. The way I saw it in my mind, thats amazing. And Id say the only reason my path worked out the way it did is because when I was in finishing up middle school, entering high school, so, like, eight to nine grades, like that window, the Internet just rapidly proliferated across the entire country within a couple months. Short couple of months, essentially. You went from not a lot of people using the net to a lot of people using the Internet. And I was one of those people, and I was like, Oh my God, its not that I dont like math, its that I dont understand it. And theres a difference between those two things. And I was one of those people. Like, Khan Academy was quite literally designed for me. Id log onto that thing and I was like, Oh my God, I actually understand math, and I can teach myself math. I can succeed at it. And the impression that it left me with is that technology is really opened up. The Internet, in particular, is like one of those frontier technologies that just opened up learning to anybody who could access it and go through the right set of tools needed to learn things, like Khan Academy being one of them. And I guess thats the mindset Im seeing this new generation of technologies in AI, too. I wonder who else is going to be using them the way I did and learn something new that their environment wouldnt otherwise allow them to. I suppose I kept teaching myself things, and thats kind of, I guess, partly how I ended up at Minerva is because I wanted a non-traditional university education because the traditional high school education clearly wasnt a fit for me at all. And Minerva was like, Come here, we wont bore you with lectures. Our professors barely get to speak for more than five minutes in class. Its all students just talking to each other and learning from each other. And I was like, Sign me up.

Diane Tavenner: Well, and Irham, that curiosity that you are describing in yourself is, I think, one of the things that led you to discover AI long before most of us discovered it. And you discovered it on the Internet. You discovered it by reading papers and sort of following these blog posts while you were teaching yourself. And so, I dont think it was a surprise for you when it burst onto the scene, because you knew what was coming and where it was coming from. And yet, I think that the worlds reaction has been interesting. And so, you sent me a quote the other day. You texted me a quote about AI that had us both laughing pretty hysterically, probably because it feels very true. And so, Im going to share that quote, which is, Artificial intelligence is like teenage sex. Everyone talks about it. Nobody really knows how to do it. Everyone thinks everyone else is doing it, so everyone claims they are doing it. Lets just start by figuring out what people are actually doing. If anything, this is sort of a ridiculous question, but can you just explain AI to us and why its suddenly this big deal that it feels like it just spontaneously arrived in 2023?

Irhum Shafkat: I guess there are like three big terms that we should go over when we say AI because it just means so many things. Like AI is such a vague, hard thing to define. But I guess the way I see it is anything thats just right beyond the edge of whats computationally possible right now. Because once it becomes possible, people kind of stop thinking about it as AI.

Diane Tavenner: Interesting.

Irhum Shafkat: OK, other people would have their own definitions, but I feel like thats like, whats historically been true. Once something becomes possible, it almost feels like its no longer AI. What has been more recent, though, is how we keep pushing different tier. Like, if it was the 90s, for example, when Casperov played with Deep blue, the chess playing engine. That thing was like a massive, highly sophisticated program with millions of logical rules. Thats whats different. What happened over the last ten years is we really pivoted towards machine learning, and specifically a branch of it called deep learning, which allowed us to use really simple algorithms on enormous amounts of data. Were talking several thousand lifetimes worth of data. When you were talking about training a language model, for example, and ginormous amounts of compute to push all that data through a very simple algorithm. And thats what changed in that it turns out really simple algorithms work extremely well when you have a large enough compute budget and enough data to pass through them. And the instantiation that everyone really captured the imagination is against a narrower part of machine learning still is called large language models. The large being like, theyre much larger than models for historical language models, in the sense that, at their core, you give them a piece of text, and they just play a guessing game. Were like, okay, so whats the next word? And if you keep predicting the next word over and over, you form entire sentences, paragraphs, entire documents that way.

Diane Tavenner: So it sounds like, basically, Im going to bring it back to education really quickly, Michael. Like AI as youre describing it, Irhum, is this concept we have in education and learning, which is I plus one. So its like where you are just a little bit harder than what you can do, and thats like your zone of proximal development, like where you best learn. So, it sounds like AI is in that space. Its like what we can do plus a little bit more is what keeps pushing us forward, basically, on everything thats written on the Internet with simple formulas.

Irhum Shafkat: Yeah, I guess what captured the imagination is, I think, language in particular, because ChatGPT came out sometime last December, and that, again, took everybody by surprise, essentially. But the thing is, image generation models like Dali Two and stable diffusion were out earlier that summer, and theyre built on basically the same technology, given a ginormous amount of data, produced more samples that look like something that came from the data distribution. I had this with friends, especially outside of computer science, where I show them these generated images, and theyre like, yeah, I thought computers could already do that. Whats special about them? And Im like, oh, my God, its like generating a panda in a spacesuit on Mars.

Diane Tavenner: And theyre like, yeah.

Irhum Shafkat: I thought Photoshop already does that.

Michael Horn: So interesting.

Irhum Shafkat: Whereas with language, language feelsI would almost say people see a conversational interface and almost by de facto assign intelligent attributes to it. Now, this is not to say that its all smoke and mirrors. Like, these are remarkably practical technologies that I genuinely think are going to change a lot of what we do today, as well explain. But at their core, I think theres at least part of the fact that humans genuinely see language differently than other modalities, because, in part, it is unique to us  that we know of at least.

Michael Horn: Its really interesting, though, because the implication of that, it seems, is that part of this isnt just the power of whats been built, but also our reaction to whats been built. And I think then the corollary, something Diane and I have talked a lot about is, like, right now, youre seeing very polar opposite reactions to AI. Either its the utopian thing thats going to bring about this glorious future where resources are not scarce and everyone will be fine etc. Or its very dystopian, and you see a lot of the  Im going to insert my own belief for a moment here  but a lot of the technology leaders that have developed this being like, it could be dystopian, it could take over the world. As I hear you describing it, it doesnt quite sound like either of those is right. Its like the next step. So, Id love you to put this in a human context, then, of what does it mean about the roles, particularly as we think about the future of work that humans will play with AI, or how human AI maybe is itself or isnt? How do you think about the intersection with humanity?

Irhum Shafkat: When I think about the future, one tool I borrow from a former colleague, Nick Foster, who was, I think, head of design at Google X. He would introduce this concept of thinking about the future not as a thing youre approaching, but almost like a cone of many possible outcomes. There is the probable, which is like the current set of outcomes that seem like really probable, but the probable is not the possible. Like, the possible set of features is much larger. And right now, I think we run a real risk of kind of just not seeing the technology for what it is. Its a tool that we could actively shape into a future we want. And instead of trying to imagine it through that lens, were almost like were kind of giving up and were like, yeah, its going to take over the world or something. Its going to be bad. Oh, well, its almost like were sleepwalking towards an outcome to a degree. I see it genuinely as, a technology, a tool. And, yeah, its up to us to decide what integration of that into our society looks like, but its a tool.

Michael Horn: Do you think part of that is because some of the people behind the coding are also surprised by the outcomes that it produces? And, like, gee, I didnt know it could do that. And so theyre sort of showing, to your point about this weird passivity that we all seem to be displaying, that maybe its because they, too seem surprised by some of its capabilities. And so that is surprising the laypeople like me and Diane, and not to mention the people who arent even playing with it yet.

Irhum Shafkat: So, I think its important what weve seen over the last ten years, but really, the last four, I would say, with scaling really taking off, is when models get larger, they have more capabilities. Like a model from three years ago. No, Id say a little longer. Maybe four or five, if you go to the joke and ask it to explain it, it wouldnt be able to do that. It would struggle. But if you ask ChatGPT now, like, Hey, heres a joke that my teenage son wrote, I dont get it. Can you explain it to me?  Its going to do a pretty decent job at it.So, one of the things that came with scale is like, capabilities emerge. But the thing that surprises researchers is, I think I saw this analogy on a paper by Sam Bauman, but its almost like buying a mystery box. I think you buy a larger box, theres going to be some kind of new capabilities in there, but we dont know what theyre going to be until we open up that box. So, I guess thats where a lot of surprise, even from researchers, come from. That said, I will push back on that a little in that there has been really genuine and serious work done in the last two years where were really trying to figure out. Were like throwing the whole internet at this thing. Theres actually a lot of things going on in there and that these capabilities are not actually as surprising as we think they are. Like joke explanation. At the start when it came out, we were like, Oh my God, this thing can explain jokes. But then when you dug into the data deep enough, youre like, there are tons of websites on the Internet that exist for you to dumb down a joke and explain how it works. So, it didnt appear out of completely nowhere. The fact that it works on new jokes that are hopefully original and its still capable of explaining them is still cool, but it didnt come out of absolutely nowhere.

Diane Tavenner: Irhum, you just started giving us some time frames and timelines, and youre sort of, in your mind calculating ten years, four years, two years. I just want to note that ten years ago, you were ten years old, but, okay, well set that aside for a moment. But as you were using those timelines, one of the things that comes up a lot for people is that this feels like its going so fast. If you didnt even understand what was happening in this world, and then suddenly chat GPT came on the scene. You probably didnt look at it in December because you were busy. But then in the new year, suddenly the whole worlds talking about ChatGPT, and you log on, and then it just seems like every day something new is coming and faster. And I talk to people who just are like, I cant keep up. Its only been a couple of months, and it feels like its just spinning so fast and beyond our control. Is that true? How do you think about that timing, and how do you think about keeping up? How can we conceptualize that, especially as educators?

Irhum Shafkat: Well, for what its worth, even researchers have trouble keeping up these days with the sheer amount of papers coming out left, right and center. Its hard. That said, and Ill say it is genuinely surprising, the pace at which GPT, in particular, took off, because these models had existed, the model theyre building off of GBD Three that had existed since 2020. Were talking around the pandemic start period. They just put a chat interface on top of it, and that really seemed to take off. I remember reading news articles and even OpenAI seemed, like, surprised that just putting on a chat interface on top of a technology that had lying around for three years caused it to really take off that way. And even I was surprised because, again, I was in Taipei in the spring, and Taiwan in the spring, and I remember being on the Taiwan high-speed rail, and Im seeing someone else use ChatGPT on the train next to me. And I was like, wow, this thing is taking up a lot faster than I realized. But its important to understand that when I say again that ChatGPT 3 had been lying around for three years before they put a chat interface on top of it. And again, this should not underscore the fact that these models are going to get larger, probably more capable, but it should also ground you in two things. One, the specific burst of innovation we saw in this year in particular had been building up for a bit. Essentially, its almost like a pressure valve went off when they put a chat interface on top of it. The other thing, and this is the thing that I wish people would discuss more often, is that its not just that the models got larger and we trained them on more of the internet. Its also that we start paying a lot of money to get a lot of humans to label a lot of this data so that you could fine tune what the behavior of these models are. You see, when GPT3 was trained in about 2020 or so, its what we call a base model. It does exactly one thing. You give it a piece of text, and it produces a completion similar to the text data it saw when it was being trained, which would be raw internet data. And it has a tendency to go off the rails because the Internet is full of people who say not very nice things to each other. What changed was the sheer amount of human data collection that went in during that time frame and that this large model was adjusted over to tame its behavior, teach its skills, such as what explaining a joke even is, and all those things. We could talk about that a little bit more. But the big connection being that the jump we saw in those three years is that of a technology that had already existed, that we really learned to adjust better. But we already burned through that innovation once. Its unlikely were going to see another leap on the same scale of learning how to use supervised human fine tuning again, because that innovation has now already existed and is already baked into it.

Michael Horn: Thats fascinating. Its something I hadnt understood before either, which is to say that in essence, if I understand you right, obviously the code base continues to evolve for GPT4 and so forth. But in effect, I think what youre saying is the user interface and how we interact with it is what actually changed, like the skin of how humans interact with the code base. I think it leads us to where we love to talk on this podcast, which is the uses in education and how its going to impact that. And obviously, Ill give you the hall pass if you will. Youre not an educator. Were not asking you to opine in some way that puts you in a position youre not. But you are a student right now at a cutting-edge university, constantly thinking about pedagogy. And so, Im curious, from the student perspective, what excites you at the moment about AI in education?

Irhum Shafkat: I think shrinking the learning feedback loop is the way I would put it. Im a systems thinker and I use the lens of feedback loop a lot. And whenever you shrink a feedback loop from, say, learning something, like maybe getting a feedback. What I say by feedback loop in education is like, you write a paper, your professor takes maybe two weeks to get it back to you, and you get almost like a signal, like, Hey, you got these things right. You dont get these things quite right, though. What happens when you shrink that from two weeks to a couple of minutes or maybe a couple of seconds? Its not just shrinking a number, its changing how you interact, how your learning experience evolves. And I think its nice to connect this back to my middle school years. I think the reason I ended up in math and programming in particular is because those two things have really short feedback loops. In programming in particular, if you write bad code, your compiler just screams that. Its like, Hey, youre trying to add a number to a set of words, its not going to work. And you get like really short, tight feedback loops to keep trying your code over and over again until it succeeds. Thats not true with learning English. With learning English, you write a paper, you wait a week for your professor or teacher to get it back to you. You maybe pick up something and try again next time. And I would say at least part of the reason I ended up picking math and programming is, again, I didnt have that many great resources in terms of teaching, teachers who could really help me out. So, I naturally gravitated towards things that I would be able to really quickly iterate on: math and programming. Whereas those things  English, the sciences even  I would argue broadly, are not on those same lines. But what then changes with AI, is like, you now have a chatbot, that it doesnt have to be a chatbot. It could be far more than that, really. You just have a computational tool that can actively critique your writing as youre writing it out. Youre like, Hey, what are some ways I could have done this better? Theyre like, Yeah, youre using these passive wordy phrases. Maybe you shouldnt be doing that. And youre like, Why shouldnt I be doing that? Because it makes it harder for other people to read. And instead of waiting a week for that to happen, you get fed that feedback in real time, and you have another iteration ready, and you then ask it again, Hey, how could I do it even better? That loop shrinks significantly.

Diane Tavenner: Thats fascinating. And I think its also what we, Michael and I, have been working on personalized learning, or whatever you want to call it, for a decade plus at this point. And that is certainly one of the promises of personalized learning, is that tight feedback loop. So youre staying in the learning, and it isnt delayed. Its contextualized, and its in the moment and immediate. Its more tutor if you will. Thats why many people have put so much energy into that. And you have now said a couple of things. One ChatGPT, putting this skin on their product, which is essentially a chat bot. Like, you talk with this bot or this window. And then also this potential of what you just described, like the feedback coming a chatbot, if you will. And in my experience, most people, when they think about the uses of AI, are thinking along these lines. Like, that is what they think is theres going to be someone, whether its a little avatar or a box or something, thats like sort of chatting with me, and thats kind of how AI is going to play out. I know that you sort of get a little exasperated when thats all people can imagine. What else might be possible help us expand our thinking a little bit beyond just this sort of chatting?

Irhum Shafkat: I think right now were at the phase when the iPhone would have been sometime in 2007. Im not really qualified to comment on that because I would have been what?

Michael Horn: Dont worry about it.

Irhum Shafkat: But at least from my understanding of that time period, apps were a new thing. People didnt really know how to fully utilize them. And the first set of apps were kind of like window gag. And I was like, people were building those? Like, a flashlight app where instead of turning on your phones flashlight, it just showed a flashlight on the screen.

Michael Horn: I downloaded one of those. So, its true.

Irhum Shafkat: So, I feel like were in that era for these language processing technologies right now, in that we have a brand new tool. Were not entirely sure what using that looks like. And returning back to the quote Diane quoted with the enterprise, I feel like not nearly as many people are asking, How does this help us solve our problems better? And a lot more people are asking, like, How do I put this into my product so my board of directors is happy?

Diane Tavenner: Yeah. So, the idea being like, what legitimate problems do I have, and can I use this to solve them? And thats where a useful app  not a flashlight  is going to come from.

Irhum Shafkat: With chatbots in particular. Chatbots became the first big use case. So, everyones like, well, this seems to work. Lets make my own chat bot, but, like, slightly different. And I think its just so unimaginative. But the other thing with chatbots is that they have really bad what we call affordances in design. And affordance is something that almost cues you into how to use something. Like, when you see a handle on a door, youre like, Oh, this is the thing I grab. Then, let me ask you, if you had to choose between a big cancel button that cancels your flight that you dont want to go on, versus dealing with a chatbot to cancel your flight, which one would you pick?

Diane Tavenner: Yes. And you have showed me this and demonstrated this to me. A single button like that is so much more useful. If you know the thing that Im going to do versus making me talk to it and explain it where somethings inevitably going to go wrong.

Irhum Shafkat: These technologies are so nascent right now, and what people really need to appreciate is that you need to design them in ways where you almost expect theyre going to produce some unrelated, unpleasant output somewhere along the process. So, its almost like a liability if youre giving a user an open box to type anything they possibly want. And its not just a liability; it also just makes the user, again, it doesnt give the user any affordances. They see a blank box. Like, again, if you need an English tutor bot, you could just as easily have a couple of buttons that could summarize, remove jargon, sorry, highlight jargon, or introduce a couple of buttons that cover a couple of use cases that a standard ninth through twelfth grader may want to use so that they can refine their writing better. Dont give them an open-ended box where they dont even know what to ask for help in.

Diane Tavenner: And would that still be using AI, those buttons?

Irhum Shafkat: I mean, behind the scenes? At the end of the day, any implementation of these things that youve looked at is a role play engine. If you have interacted with one of these airline processing, like if they use a language, theyre using large language models. Behind the scenes, theres only two bits that anyone else modifies. Once you have the model, which is you have a dialogue preamble, which is almost like a script someone else writes as like you are now about to role play a dialogue, you are about to assist a user with cancel with their airline queries. And then the actual dialogue that happens, all people do when theyre creating a new implementation of them is that they switch out the preamble with something else. Im just saying you can write a preamble for each of those buttons. Essentially, if the button is like, hey, you highlight jargon, then youre like, okay, you are about to role play a bot that takes in some English text and returns the exact spans of text that are abnormally jargony for the writing of a nine to twelve grader. You as the developer should be writing that script because you are the one who knows what this person needs to be using. You shouldnt leave it up to the user to be writing their own scripts, essentially. For the most part, unless its like a very specific use case where you wouldnt want the user to be writing that, but dont treat it as the default one, which we for some reason do.

Michael Horn: So, its super interesting, the implications on education. And I have a couple of takeaways here and I want to test them by you and then get your reaction. So, the first one is on the flashlight app analogy. I think the implication is that if the iPhone, or in this case OpenAI, is ultimately going to very easily incorporate the thing that youve thought of in their own roadmap, your sort of idea is not going to last very long on its own, right? The reason there were these apps is like there was not a button to do your own flashlight or change colors or things like that. And so, they built these apps and then very quickly iPhone realizes, hey, we can just add a quick little button. But I think the second implication is as you start to think about the user experience and come up with these prompts that a user might want to go through so that theyre not guessing what theyre putting into that open ended box, that the opportunity for educators might be to start to build around these different use cases, that if Im understanding you correctly, perhaps OpenAI is not going to develop all these different use cases and so forth. But instead, the opportunity might be for educators to build on top of their code to develop these sorts of things that help get the problems solved that they and their students are actually trying to solve. But Im curious where that line ends, and if you see it differently.

Irhum Shafkat: Its not a clear hard line. Whats on open AIs roadmap? I dont know, but I guess it ties back into what your company is. If your company is trying to add value to peoples lives, that really means sitting down is like, Oh, am I just going to write a wrapper that takes in a PDF and allows you to just chat with it? I mean, those all kind of went the way of the dinosaurs last week when OpenAI just integrated like, hey, you can drop a PDF into our thing. But if you really try to aim for deep integration, OpenAI has. Im making claims here, I dont know for sure, but I would imagine they dont have a deep understanding of the K-12 education system, nor would they be necessarily interested in that, because that doesnt seem to be what their goal right now is, which is to make bigger and better version of these models that are more generally capable. What theyre counting on is that other people take these models and integrate them throughout the rest of the economy. And thats where other people come in, and thats where K-12 educators come in, because they are the ones who have a better understanding of what these buttons need to be, what they want their students to be learning at the end of the.

Michael Horn: Love it.

Diane Tavenner: Whats coming to me, Michael, is, on our last episode, we talked with Todd Rose, who wrote the End of Average. That is, in my mind, the foundation of a lot of personalized learning. And one of, I think, the misconceptions people have, or the swings. Education loves to swing the pendulum as we go from totally teacher directed, controlling every second of every bit of learning, and we swing all the way over to like, basically go teach yourself. Were just going to throw you out in the wild and at some level just throwing people into a chat bot of a large language model is throwing them into the wild. And so, what I hear you saying, Irhum, is we need the in-between. Theres a real role for educators to narrow. Its not like the whole world personalization is. Theres 12345 ways of doing something and we can narrow down to that and create a much more personalized experience that is curated by expert educators. And we should be looking for that. Happy in between.

Irhum Shafkat: I mean, again, its been so fascinating seeing these chatbots interact with the education system and kind of wreak havoc. Honestly, to a degree where professors taking stances on everything from like we should go back to making everyone write things by hand, by the way, please dont do that. They are an opportunity. Heres the thing: the factory model of the education system we have where people just go through it, do these problems, hopefully learn something by doing said problems. We dont need to know theyre learning the thing. We just need to know if theyre doing the thing. They have like a high school diploma. That was going to come to an end because thats already been out. Like thats already ill preparing people for the jobs of today. For a while now, these models, theyre not bringing about something that wasnt going to happen. Theyve just sped it up, essentially, because students already again ask why a student would actually go out of their way to get an essay that I created by these things if they genuinely believed in their own education that hey, if I do this thing Ill learn something new and that will be helpful in the future. They probably wouldnt. So why do they feel disillusioned? Because they know deep inside that what theyre learning in their high school is not going to actually prepare them for the world. And you need to actually deal with that disillusionment. And on the counter, I think these models provide an excellent way to actually start tackling that disillusionment by educators seeing themselves almost as designers, as what people need to be learning. I use the example of the door handle because it seems like a simple object. It really isnt. If youve ever been in a hotel with one of those weird, poorly designed shower knobs, you know how much bad design can mess up your day. And when good design works its almost invisible. Like you dont even notice a shower knob when it actually works. And I think thats what good educational software using these will almost look like the students wont even realize how seamless it feels, like they press a button that tells them, hey, this is the jargon youre using. Heres why its bad for you. Heres an explanation of how you could do it better this time. It should feel seamless and they should feel less disillusioned because they feel like, Oh my God, Im actually learning something.

Michael Horn: Here, so I want to stay just as we wrap up here. And one last question before we go to our sort of bonus round, if you will, of stuff outside of education, which is you just painted a good picture, I think, of how the education system has reacted in very nervous, lets call it ways to this advent of it, because it has immediately sort of thrown into question so many of these tired practices that it holds on to. And I guess the corollary question Im curious about, Ive heard a lot of students, let me frame this a little bit more. Ive heard a lot of students say, Professor X, youre thinking a lot about what is the assignment and how am I going to catch you from cheating, but youre spending a lot less time thinking about what do. I need to learn to be prepared for this world in which AI is going to be underpinning basically everything I could possibly go do in a career? And so, I guess the question Im curious, from your perspective is, as you look at these traditional factory model education systems, whats something that they should start teaching students that they dont perhaps today? And whats something maybe that they should lose that they continue to hold on to?

Irhum Shafkat: I mean, honestly, I dont want to sound like a shill for Minerva, but I am going to. I think freshman year, I had never written a full-length essay prior to freshman year in English, and I was kind of really lost, honestly. But one thing that really stood out is, like, my professor spent so much time just breaking down the act of writing into what does it mean like to have a thesis? What does it mean for a thesis to be arguable and substantive instead of something everybody universally agrees with? Because if everybody agrees with what youre writing, you dont need to write it. Really breaking down the act of writing into these atomic skills that I keep finding myself using even at the tail end of college now, in senior year. I think that is the kind of thing were going to need to do, is like actually asking ourselves like, this is an instrument, a tool weve built, that we administer to our students in the hopes that they learn something. Does this tool actually do the thing it advertises? It does but a lot of the time it just doesnt. And we just kind of need to be honest about that because, again, its a lot like, again, the ChatGPT moment in some sense. But also for education, its been building up like a pressure valve, and that pressure valve kind of just went off in the last year. Wow.

Diane Tavenner: Well, we could talk for a long time, but that might be the place to land it today. But before we let you go, we always like to, at the end, just mind for what were reading, watching, listening to outside of our day to day work.

Michael Horn: Do you have any time for that as a student?

Irhum Shafkat: Can I talk about a video game?

Michael Horn: Yeah, thats great.

Irhum Shafkat: Ive been playing a lot of Super Mario Wonder, which is like the new Mario Brothers game from Nintendo. It is fun. It is really the best way to describe it. A lot of media really enjoys being dark and gritty and mature or whatever. Nintendo is like, were going to make a game thats unashamedly fun and bright and colorful and just playful. And theyve been doing that for the better part of, I dont even know, like 30, 40 years now. And theyve kind of just stuck to it as a core principle. And I kind of just admire their ability to really set a mission for themselves, which is make things that make people find joyful and fun and actually just stick to it for the better part of half century.

Michael Horn: Oh, I love that one. Diane, what about you?

Diane Tavenner: Well, were going to look kind of boring following that one. Im going to go to the dark, gritty world. I just finished reading the book How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them by Barbara F. Walter. I will just say seven of the eight chapters do an excellent job of diagnosing the problem, and its pretty terrifying. And I do think we should know it. Chapter Eight, where the solutions come in, was not compelling to me, and so it feels like theres work for us to do.

Michael Horn: And I guess I will say Im in a similarly dark place, maybe, Diane, because I read the Art of War by Sun Tzu. So go figure. Everyone can figure out where our headspace is. But I finished it before Disney. I had tried to read it a couple times before, and this time I made it through, which is setting me up now for reading Klossovitz, which is where I am now. Grinding through is the right verb, I think. But on that note, Irhum, thank you so much for joining us and making a fraught topic  but a topic with a lot of hyperventilation  really accessible and exciting and giving us a window into where this could be going. Really appreciate you being here with us on Class Disrupted. And for all of those listening, thank you so much for joining us. Well see you next time.
Ukraine's defenders shot down five Russian aircraft over Bryansk Oblast in Russia in May 2023 using a Patriot air defense system, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat confirmed in an interview with news outlet Novynarnia published on Nov. 27.

The interviewer noted that on the Day of Anti-Aircraft Missile Forces, the Ukrainian Air Force Command published a video showing that the Ukrainian Air Force destroyed Russian aircraft over Bryansk Oblast on May 13, 2023, using Patriot air defense systems.

NV

Read also: Patriot air defense systems have downed at least one Russian warplane, says military expert

On that day, the Russian Federation lost Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft, two Mi-8MTPR-1 air defense helicopters and one Mi-8.

Ihnat said he jokingly calls these events the "Bryansk Massacre".

"It was a brilliant operation led by the Air Force commander," said Ihnat.

Read also: Russian Su-30 fighter jet crashes in Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast, crew killed

Thanks to non-standard decisive actions, Patriot air defense systems destroyed five aircraft in five minutes on the Bryansk axis, from where they then used to bombard our northern regions with guided aerial bombs.

Some time later, another enemy Su-35 was shot down over the Black Sea, the air force spokesman added.

On May 13, two Russian Mi-8 military helicopters and Su-34 and Su-35 fighters crashed almost simultaneously in Russias Bryansk Oblast, killing the crews. Russian state media reported this and eyewitnesses posted videos on social media, but the Kremlin regime did not officially comment on the incidents or the number of lost aircraft.

The next day, Ihnat said that three helicopters might have gone down, and that a strike group of Russian helicopters and warplanes was at the time flying to launch another attack with guided bombs on northern Ukrainian settlements. At the time, he said that the Russian air defense was involved in the "planocide."

Read also: Germany to deliver another Patriot system to help protect Ukraines energy grid through winter

According to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia has lost 323 warplanes and 324 helicopters.

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
Evelyn Foxx joined the NAACP in the fifth grade in her hometown of Riceboro, Georgia, and has been fighting for the civil rights of all people, especially Blacks, ever since.

Foxx, 72, has been president of the Alachua County branch of the NAACP since 2010 after serving as vice president the previous eight or nine years, she said.

I have a passion for the work I do because when I look around and see all of the injustices Black people and other marginalized people go through, it makes me want to continue fighting for justice and equality, Foxx said.

Her passion fighting for the rights of people, equality and justice is fueled by the many calls she receives from people who say they have been treated unjustly.

That kinds of keep me going, Foxx said.

Jim Crow still alive

The current state of America is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era when Blacks were treated as second-class citizens, Foxx said.

Americans are fighting for our democracy, Foxx said.

People are trying to take away things that many fought so hard to get and the only way to save our democracy is through the ballot box, Foxx said.

That is the strongest defense we have.

Voting rights is at top of agenda

Voting rights issues are at the top of the NAACPs national agenda and in local communities, Foxx said, especially in Florida, where the Republican-dominated legislative, executive and judicial arms of government are in control.

Our state leadership is so profoundly bad, Foxx said.

What some deem as voter suppression laws enacted in Florida in recent years will not thwart the efforts of voting rights advocates to continue encouraging and empowering people to participate in the political process, Foxx said.

Blacks are 'still crippled economically'

Though on the surface it appears that much has changed since the legal Jim Crow era, many aspects of life remain the same for Blacks, Foxx said.

We are still crippled economically as a people, and Jim Crow is trying to come back again, Foxx said. Voter suppression and other tactics are being used to try to keep us down.

One of those tactics is the state trying to manage how Black history is taught in public schools, Foxx said.

How can you erase the history of Black Americans who have contributed so much to the building of this country? Foxx asked rhetorically. They are banning books that teach about Black history and the true history of this state and country. We have to educate voters in our communities about the importance of voting so we can elect people to office who care about the truth, equality and justice for all people, and not just some people.

The NAACP is focused on voter registration, empowerment and education as next years election season nears, Foxx said, adding that whether people believe it or not, there is still a lot of hatred, bigotry and discrimination in the U.S.

Foxx taught early how to stand up to racism

Foxx moved to Gainesville 30 years ago after marrying Gainesville native George Foxx, whose family hail from the historic Porters community in southwest Gainesville.

Her experiences as a child growing up in Riceboro, Georgia, a small coastal city about 180 miles northeast of Gainesville, and especially her involvement as a young child with the NAACP, taught her a lot about how to stand up to racism, discrimination and injustice, she said.

Foxx has addressed pressing issues during her tenure

Addressing the school-to-prison pipeline, mental health in the Black community, youth empowerment and social and restorative justice issues have been focused on during her tenure as president, Foxx said.

We are happy to see our youth and future leaders being active and preparing for the next chapter of their lives, Foxx said during remarks given at the branchs first every Youth Empowerment Brunch, held at Springhill Baptist Church in southeast Gainesville earlier this year. We are dependent on you, so we have to prepare you for leadership when its time for you to take over.

Local NAACP: Alachua County branch NAACP held annual Freedom Fund and Awards Banquet in Gainesville

The groups attention to the school-to-prison pipeline helped in the school districts push to curtail arresting students on campuses at the alarming rate they were doing so several years ago, Foxx said.

During a State of the African American Community forum in 2012, former Gainesville Police Department Chief Tony Jones said although Blacks made up 37 percent of the public school population in Alachua County, Black children between the ages of 10-17 made up 69 percent of all juvenile arrests.

The efforts of the branchs education committee and others addressing the issue with school district officials, more attention is being paid to addressing the issue, Foxx said.

Blacks must remember their history

Foxx and the local NAACP have also been active with the Alachua County Community Remembrance Projects Gainesville subcommittee, which was formed to bring light to the traumatic era of racial terror lynchings and to honor the lives of lynching victims in Gainesville and elsewhere.

NAACP President Evelyn Foxx addresses the attendees during the Alachua County branch NAACP annual Freedom Fund and Awards banquet in 2019. [Alan Youngblood/Alan Youngblood Images]

Foxx has visited the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama, and has participated in several soil collection ceremonies hosted by the Gainesville subcommittee of the Alachua County Remembrance Project in partnership with the EJI.

While visiting the EJI, Foxx said, she saw the name of her great-great grandfather, Ben Howard, on a memorial item documenting his lynching on Aug. 23, 1893, in Liberty County, Georgia.

Being a part of this is important to me because of what has happened to our ancestors in the past, Foxx said. I think every Black person needs to be a part of this.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: NAACP in Alachua County has been led by Evelyn Foxx for past 13 years
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  A man was taken into custody in Salt Lake City over the weekend after he allegedly drove drunk and recklessly did donuts in a parking lot, according to Salt Lake City Police Department.

Police said Cody James Browe, 24, was found slumped over in the drivers seat of his car in a parking lot near 1900 South 300 West just before 5 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25. According to a booking affidavit, officers immediately smelled an overwhelming odor of alcohol from the cracked window of Browes car.

Utah Dept. of Corrections names first female warden in states history

Browe allegedly showed obvious signs of impairment, according to police, including glazed, watery, and glassy eyes and slurred speech. Police conducted a search of Browes car, reportedly finding a mostly empty bottle of vodka and a gun.

During the investigation, Browe allegedly admitted to drinking and doing donuts in the parking lot. Police say Browe also blew four times the legal limit during a breathalyzer alcohol test.

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According to the booking affidavit, Browe was on probation for a previous crime and restricted from owning or having a gun. Police then reportedly arrested Browe and booked him into Salt Lake Metro Jail.

Browe faces a second-degree felony charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and misdemeanor charges of DUI, having an open alcohol container in the car, driving with alcohol in his system as an alcohol-restricted driver, and driving without an interlock system.

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.
A former Fairfax County Public Schools student who accuses the Virginia district of ignoring allegations that she was repeatedly raped, tortured and threatened when she was in middle school is demanding to know how officials accidentally revealed her identity last month.

In a federal court motion filed Nov. 14 that cited The 74s exclusive reporting, attorney Andrew Brenner described the disclosure as at best, careless, particularly after the former student won a legal battle against the district for her right to remain anonymous. Brenner asked the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia to compel Fairfax to explain how her name ended up in documents released as part of a records request that had nothing to do with her case.

A hearing on the motion is set for Dec. 15.

Known as B.R., the woman is suing the district as well as the former students she alleges sexually assaulted her in 2011, with a trial set to begin in March. The motion asks for the names of all district employees involved in producing the materials that identified her as well as the districts steps to collect, review, compile and transmit the documents prior to their release.

Support The 74's year-end campaign. Make a tax-exempt donation now.

The districts response to the motion could provide insight into how unredacted records on tens of thousands of students were released to a parent and special education advocate. The documents included sensitive, confidential information such as grades, disability status and mental health conditions.

Following The 74s report, the district apologized and launched an investigation. A firm with expertise in cybersecurity  Woods, Rogers, Vandeventer and Black  is handling the probe, but some parents with children named in the disclosure said so far, no one has contacted them. Superintendent Michelle Reid said in a statement she will share a summary of the investigation once its complete.

Related

Virginias Fairfax Schools Expose Thousands of Sensitive Student Records

Callie Oettinger, the parent who received the records, went to her local high school in mid-October to examine what she thought were records pertaining to her own two children. Her son, who received special education services in the district, has since graduated, and her daughter is still in high school. She copied computer files onto thumb drives as a paralegal observed and helped her identify some of the records.

While most of the documents set aside for her review included her childrens names, they also revealed information on what she estimates were at least 35,000 other students. B.R.s full name was listed in a document labeled attorney work product and marked privileged and confidential, as well as in an email to board members about litigation to discuss in a 2020 closed meeting.

The records also identified another former student with a separate Title IX case against the district. In a settlement reached last year, the district agreed to always redact the students real name from any copy of the document and only use a pseudonym when referring to the case. Her attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.

One document the Fairfax County Public Schools turned over to parent Callie Oettinger identifies two students who were involved in Title IX lawsuits as Jane Doe, but then includes their names in parentheses. The 74 has redacted their real names.

The day after issuing its apology, the district sent Oettinger a strongly worded email demanding that she return all files removed, including any and all physical media used for unauthorized extraction of information from FCPS. The letter referred to the documents as wrongfully retained information.

To her attorney, the language suggested Oettinger was at fault.

Shes done nothing illegal, and they have no legal right to compel her to do anything, said Timothy Sandefur, vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute, a Phoenix-based libertarian think tank. Oettinger posted redacted documents from the recent trove on a website she runs on special education issues. If they want assurance that she is not going to publish any kind of confidential information about kids, she absolutely will not publish confidential information about children. She has assured everybody of that already.

Oettinger sent the thumb drives to Sandefur, who has since communicated with attorneys conducting the districts investigation. But he declined to provide an update on the districts progress. The attorneys conducting the investigation also didnt respond to requests for comment.

A need for robust action

Oettinger didnt initially alert the district to the disclosure because, she said, it has failed to make improvements after previous privacy violations. In fact, on Oct. 19  the third and final day that Oettinger reviewed files in person  the Virginia Department of Education responded to one of her earlier complaints, finding the Fairfax district out of compliance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, or FERPA.

Related

Exposed Fairfax School Documents Include Names of Alleged Assault Victims

The decision only pertained to her son and was not a statement about the districts overall privacy record.

Patricia Haymes, who directs the state agencys Office of Dispute Resolution and Administrative Services, noted that officials have had ongoing concerns regarding student confidentiality in Fairfax and believed that there was a need for the school division to take more robust action to ensure sustainable compliance. But she also said the district assured her in September that it was taking steps regarding the confidentiality of and access to student records.

In that Sept. 27 letter, the district said it was training staff on their obligations under FERPA and the Freedom of Information Act, and was planning a mandatory training for principals and other administrators in charge of student records and special education. Training was scheduled to begin Oct. 31 and employees have two months to complete it.

On. Nov. 8, Oettinger appealed the states decision, citing The 74s reporting on the accidental records release. Both the district and the state have failed to ensure compliance  and now here we are, she wrote. You have enough for [the district] to be found at fault for systemic noncompliance.

The district disputes that it has violated the law. In a Nov. 21 response to Oettingers appeal, it described the disclosure as a single instance of what appears to be human error and said that Oettingers in-person review of the documents, which FERPA allows, was outside the typical electronic document production that FCPS employs.

Oettinger said she has faith in Reid, who became superintendent last year, to push for tighter security. The two have exchanged emails and met in person multiple times. Oettinger said shes choosing to believe Reids trying to change the districts culture and that she knows me enough to know Id never do anything nefarious.

Some special education experts in the state are baffled by the districts mistake.

Its just the norm that when you do a document production, you are careful about what you shouldnt be disclosing  whether its other students names or legal advice, said Jim Wheaton, a William and Mary Law School professor who runs a legal clinic for future attorneys that plan to work on special education issues. It just blows my mind that they would be so reckless.

But he said that theres not much parents can do about such violations. They can file complaints, but theres no right to sue under FERPA.

In religious terms, he said, its, Go forth and sin no more.
An Amazon worker died in Indiana in May after his head collided with a conveyor belt.

The company was cited for a "serious" safety citation, according to OSHA.

However, the maximum amount the company could be fined was $7,000.

Over the past couple of years, Amazon's safety record has come under scrutiny by labor advocates and families of those who have died or been injured while working at its warehouses.

A new report from the Washington Post sheds light on what little consequences the e-commerce giant faces when its workers die on the job, even when state regulators believe Amazon to be at fault for not providing adequate safety.

The paper pointed to a May incident in Indiana, where 20-year-old Amazon worker Caes Gruesbeck succumbed to blunt force injuries after his head collided with a conveyor belt while he traveled on an elevated lift.

According to OSHA records , Amazon, which earns hundreds of billions in revenue each quarter, was slapped with a $7,000 fine, the maximum penalty in the state, even though Indiana regulators found that the warehouse could have done more to fix or manage hazards that were "causing or likely to cause death," the Post reported.

"There's no real financial incentive for an employer like Amazon to change their working environment to make it more safe," Stephen Wagner, an attorney based in Indiana, told the Post.

A study in April that used OSHA's data found that the rate of worker injuries at Amazon was 70% higher than those at similar warehouses, and the rate of serious injuries was double that of other warehouses. OSHA has previously found that several Amazon warehouses failed to report worker injuries in the past.

Regulators have also criticized Amazon's focus on speed at its warehouses, which resulted in workers "awkwardly twisting, bending and extending themselves to lift items," Business Insider previously reported.

However, Amazon has continuously defended its safety record and said it cooperates with investigators. The company has also boasted of its reduction in workplace injuries. According to Amazon, workplace injury rates have reduced by "nearly 15%" from 2019 to 2021, Business Insider previously reported.

"The government's allegations don't reflect the reality of safety at our site," Maureen Lynch Vogel, a spokesperson for Amazon, told the Post.



Amazon declined to comment when reached by Business Insider.

Read the original article on Business Insider
The tanks have been reportedly spotted along the Kupiansk front in northeastern Ukraine - X

American Abrams tanks have finally been deployed in Ukraine as Kyiv is forced on to the defensive as winter sets in.

Images circulated by Ukrainian sources showed the Abrams M1A1s four-man crew posing on top of the tank in woodland camouflage.

Pro-Kremlin sources suggested the American tanks had been spotted along the Kupiansk front in northeastern Ukraine, where Kyivs forces have been defending against a renewed push in recent months.

The Telegraph could not immediately verify the claims.

Washington donated 31 Abrams tanks earlier this year, in an effort to convince Germany to sign-off on the export of its own Leopard 2 to Ukraine.

Ukraines winter defensive

This autumn, Ukraine took delivery of the tanks, considered a boost that will offer them more protection and firepower in battle. The US has claimed they are the worlds best and that they will make a difference.

But their arrival comes long after Ukraines much-vaunted counter-offensive using Western weapons has fizzled out.

Analysts have suggested the poor weather and the relatively stable front separating Ukraine from its Russian enemy meant the US tanks would likely be held in reserve.

Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, told Business Insider that the muddy conditions in Ukraine over the winter months made it particularly hard for Kyivs forces to logistically support the tanks.

Ukraine is now largely on the defensive, with Russia launching a last-ditch attempt to capture territory before the conditions on the battlefield make it almost impossible to manoeuvre.

Its forces have inflicted some of the heaviest losses on Russian forces in the last month since Vladimir Putin launched his invasion in February 2022, British intelligence officials said.

The Ministry of Defence shared data from the Ukrainian general staff, which indicated that the average daily losses of Russian forces in November had reached 931 soldiers.

It wrote on social media in its daily intelligence update: The last six weeks have likely seen some of the highest Russian casualty rates of the war so far.

The heavy losses have largely been caused by Russias offensive against the Donbas town of Avdiivka.

Previously, the highest losses by Putins forces, with an average of 776 killed or wounded Russian soldiers, were recorded this March, at the peak of the battle over the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region.

Jens Stoltenberg, Natos secretary-general, also claimed Ukraine had inflicted heavy losses on Russia in recent weeks.

We see high casualty numbers and some of the most intense fighting that we have seen throughout the whole war has actually taken place over the last weeks and... months, he told a news conference in Brussels.

Russias last-ditch offensive

Russia has intensified its attacks on Avdiivka and the south village of Robotyne, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, the Ukrainian military said.

It said Russian forces had launched more than 150 attacks on Ukrainian positions on Avdiivka, as well as having conducted 20 attempts to restore lost positions near Robotyne.

The purported images of the Abrams tanks in Ukraine show the American-made main battle tanks without their new depleted uranium armour sets.

The models sent to Kyiv are the situational awareness version, an upgrade package from 2006, Forbes has reported.

US defence policy dictates that the Abrams manufacturer, General Dynamics, remove the uranium armour and replace it with tungsten before the tanks are shipped to foreign operators.

Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, said on Sept 25 that the 31 American tanks donated to Ukraine had arrived in the country, but gave no indication when they could be deployed to the frontline.

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 Howard Goller

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Inside Israeli defence headquarters, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu monitored the first release of Hamas-held hostages while outside, their families in a Tel Aviv square gathered around Benny Gantz, his leading challenger for the top job.

On camera Gantz, a former army chief and opposition leader who joined Netanyahu's war cabinet last month, pointedly asked a TV crew to leave him alone with the families. Photos published later showed him hugging individuals in the crowd.

Facing a huge wave of criticism over his failure to prevent the shock Hamas infiltration of Israel on Oct. 7, Netanyahu has largely avoided the limelight while conducting a two-front war, one against Hamas and the other for his own political survival.

Netanyahu, 74, has long maintained an image as a security hawk, tough on Iran and backed by an army that ensured Jews would never again suffer a Holocaust - only to experience on his watch the deadliest single incident in Israel's 75-year-old history.

Israelis have shunned some of Netanyahu's fellow cabinet ministers, blaming them for failing to prevent the Palestinian Hamas gunmen from entering from Gaza, killing 1,200 people, abducting 240 more and engulfing the country in war.

In separate incidents, at least three of his ministers were subjected to derision and abuse when they appeared in public, underscoring the scale of public fury over the failures that paved the way for Hamas to carry out the attack.

Over the weekend, his office issued videos showing him in the Defence Ministry situation room. On Sunday, Netanyahu visited Gaza. His office issued photos afterwards showing him in a helmet and flak jacket meeting soldiers and commanders.

Known by his nickname "Bibi," Netanyahu stands to gain from a war that further delays his 3-1/2 year-old corruption trial and puts off an expected state inquiry into why Israel under his leadership was caught off guard.

Huddling with generals, he may also hope to salvage his reputation through his conduct of the war and the return of hostages while refusing to accept responsibility and dismissing a question at a rare press conference asking if he would resign.

But his biographer Anshel Pfeffer said: "No matter how long Netanyahu manages to hold on to power, he wont salvage his reputation.

"He is now tainted irretrievably by the failure to prevent the Oct. 7 massacre, by his own strategy of allowing Hamas to remain in control, with its military arsenal, in Gaza and by the utterly inept civil relief efforts of his government since the Oct. 7 attack."

The author of the 2018 book "Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu," Pfeffer said surveys in recent weeks showed Israelis trusting the security establishment to lead the war effort, but not Netanyahu.

"The failure of Oct. 7 is his legacy. Whatever success Israel will have in the aftermath will not be ascribed to him."

NETANYAHU VOWS TO CONTROL SECURITY IN GAZA INDEFINITELY

Netanyahu has vowed to control security in Gaza indefinitely, adding uncertainty to the fate of an enclave where for seven weeks Israel was on the attack before forging a temporary truce with Hamas and the freeing of hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian detainees from Israel.

Some 14,800 Palestinians have been killed in the war, Gaza health authorities say, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Israel's longest-serving prime minister, Netanyahu has survived many a political crisis, staged several comebacks, and need not face another election for three years if his coalition remains in tact.

"I know him very well and he concentrates on what he is doing, he is really a very hard-working person and now he is running a war and he is holding, like a juggler, half-a-dozen balls in the air - and to keep them only in the air he must concentrate," said Abraham Diskin, professor emeritus of political science at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

"To go out and face people who shout at you and really hate you, there is no benefit of doing that, so he decided to give it up," Diskin said.

GANTZ IN CABINET OFFERS NETANYAHU STABILITY

Slim, tall and blue-eyed with an easy way about him, Gantz, 64, joined an Israeli war cabinet that Netanyahu formed days after the Hamas attack to unite the country behind a campaign to destroy Hamas and retrieve the hostages.

With nearly 40 years in the military, the centrist Gantz offers Netanyahu and his rightist Likud party a more stable government that reduces the influence of the far-right and religious coalition partners on the fringes of Israeli society.

United in war perhaps, they are at odds politically.

He, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant of Likud have together held press conferences. A photo of one such event that went viral on social media captured Netanyahu alone, and Gallant and Gantz standing together off to the side.

A Nov. 16 opinion poll found the Netanyahu-led coalition that won 64 seats in a November 2022 election would garner 45 in the 120-member Knesset today compared with 70 seats of parties led by Gantz's National Unity Party, enough to assume power.

The survey for Israel's Channel 12 took place a week before Qatar announced the hostage deal and was conducted among 502 respondents by pollster Mano Geva and the company Midgam and had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

Gantz has little of Netanyahu's experience or flair on the world stage, and critics say his laid-back manner shows indecisiveness and a lack of principles. Gantz has described himself as having more grit than varnish.

Often perceived as being every bit as hawkish on Palestinians as Netanyahu, Gantz has stopped short of any commitment to the statehood they seek, but in the past backed efforts to restart peace talks with them.

Israelis have gone to the polls five times in the last five years. No single party has ever won a simple parliamentary majority, and a coalition of parties has always been required. With a war on, no one is suggesting holding elections again.

But two weeks ago centrist opposition leader Yair Lapid said it was time to replace Netanyahu without going to elections.

He suggested there would be broad support for a unity government led by Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, but no one within Likud has emerged to challenge Netanyahu.

"We can't afford another election cycle in the coming year in which we continue to fight and explain why the other side is a disaster," Lapid wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

(Reporting by Howard Goller; editing by Diane Craft)
Ten ancient, cone-shaped tombs were unearthed just a stones throw away from a bustling street in the heart of Mexico City, officials said.

The underground chambers were discovered along Constitucionntes Avenue, which runs parallel to the Chapultepec Forest, a sprawling park in the Mexican capital, according to a Nov. 24 news release from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH).

Photos show the round, tapered chambers clustered alongside one another amid a grove near the road.

The graves  which measure up to nearly 7 feet wide  long predate the arrival of Europeans in the region and are believed to be around 3,000 years old, officials said. They represent a particular type of funerary architecture found in other parts of Mexico.

They were likely constructed by inhabitants of a large village that existed during the Early and Middle Preclassic periods, which spanned from 2500 to 400 B.C.

The Preclassic period saw the transformation of many villages into larger urban cities, the most prominent of which was Teotihuacan, which became Mexico City, according to a 2017 study published in the Journal of Anthropology and Archaeology.

Skeletal remains  believed to belong to four women and one man  were discovered inside five of the graves, officials said.

Alongside the bones, archaeologists found tools, a cup and a handful of female figurines, among other artifacts, which provide evidence of complex social practices.

The fact that the soil, and the graves encased inside, were preserved for 3,000 years is fantastic, Maria de Lourdes Lopez Camacho, the archaeological coordinator, said in the release.

The artifacts were transported to the National Museum of History for further analysis, officials said.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from INAH.

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Irvine could become the latest California city to ban single-use plastics, including water bottles, bags, straws and even mylar balloons.

The Irvine City Council is set to hold public comment and vote on the proposed ordinance Tuesday night.

The ban, which would take effect next year, is similar to those already enacted by dozens of California cities and counties and follows a state law requiring non-compostable, single-use items be reduced substantially over the coming years.

Irvines ordinance would expressly ban the use of expanded polystyrene and plastic containers used in food service and retail. This would cover non-reusable bags, take-out containers and utensils. It would also prohibit the sale of mylar and latex balloons.

Paper or plastic? Major change will affect all online Walmart orders

Waivers could be issued only if businesses can prove no product equivalent in function to the banned product exists, the proposed ordinance states.

The movement to ban single-use plastics has been underway in the U.S. for many years as a growing body of research shows their negative impact on ecosystems, air quality and ultimately human health.

Humans produce more than 430 million tons of plastic each year, two-thirds of which are single-use products that end up in landfills and oceans, and often work their way into the human food chain, the United Nations Environment Program said in April.

California Plastic Bags

Plastic never truly degrades into its chemical components; instead, it physically breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces, the California Ocean Protection Council says. Plastics have been found in the digestive tracts of marine organisms ranging from zooplankton to whales, and microplastics have been found in drinking water and food, including shellfish, salt, beer, and honey.

More than 170 California cities and counties already have single-use plastic bans on the books.

Senate Bill 54, which was signed into law in June 2022, requires at least 65% of plastics in California to be recycled by 2032.

Single-use plastic grocery bags will be banned statewide as of Jan. 1, 2025.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A federal appeals court ruled on Friday that Georgia can keep statewide elections for its five-member commission regulating utilities, overturning a lower court judge who found statewide elections illegally diluted Black votes.

The ruling is important beyond Georgias Public Service Commission because it could help protect certain statewide elections in other states subject to scrutiny for racial discrimination under the Voting Rights Act. It also could signal limits to a new wave of voting rights litigation after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a key part of the law this year in an Alabama case.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

In August 2022, U.S. District Judge Steven Grimberg had ordered Georgias commissioners elected by district, the first time a statewide voting scheme had been overturned by a federal judge. But a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Grimberg went too far.

Georgia chose this electoral format to protect critical policy interests and there is no evidence, or allegation, that race was a motivating factor in this decision, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch wrote for the unanimous panel. On the facts of this case, we conclude that plaintiffs novel remedial request fails because Georgias chosen form of government for the PSC is afforded protection by federalism and our precedents.

Plaintiffs decried the ruling as sanctioning discrimination. Grimberg had found statewide elections illegally handicapped Black-favored candidates, and that such candidates would have a better chance if only voters in a district elected each candidate, making it possible to draw at least one Black-majority district.

This ruling is another act of continuing discrimination against Black voters in Georgia, Brionte McCorkle, the executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters and one of four plaintiffs, said in a statement. Voters should have an opportunity to vote for a public service commissioner that is responsive to their needs and represents their community. Instead, millions of voters are disenfranchised to maintain outdated and unfair electoral practices.

It wasnt immediately clear if the plaintiffs would further appeal. Another plaintiff, minister and political activist James Major Woodall, pledged that the fight is far from over and we will continue to use every tool in our disposal to gain the relief we seek.

If the ruling stands, it could put three of the five Georgia commission seats on 2024 ballots. Commissioners typically serve staggered six-year terms, but elections for the places held by Commissioners Fitz Johnson and Tim Echols were delayed from 2022 by Grimbergs ruling. Johnson and Echols had already each won the GOP nomination.

A third Republican, Commissioner Tricia Pridemore, was already scheduled for election in 2024. Commissioners are required to live in particular districts under state law, but run statewide.

TRENDING STORIES:

Retaining statewide elections enhances the chance that all five seats will remain in Republican hands, as they have been for years. Some Democrats who want elections by district would likely be less favorable to utilities. The commission determines how much Georgia Power Co. and other regulated utilities are allowed to bill millions of ratepayers, and what power plants and other facilities the utilities can spend on.

It wasnt immediately clear Friday if parties would nominate new candidates, or if the 2022 nominees would stand. Its also unclear whether delayed elections would take place in November 2024 when voter turnout will be highest, or at some other time. No other statewide offices besides public service commission are scheduled for 2024 ballots.

The appeals court said the lawsuit must fail because the plaintiffs hadnt proposed a plan to remedy discrimination while maintaining a statewide election system, saying courts cant impose a new form of government as part of a Voting Rights Act remedy.

Plaintiffs novel proposal is that we dismantle Georgias statewide PSC system and replace it with an entirely new districted system, the court wrote. But we have never gone this far.

The panel also cited earlier cases that upheld at-large elections for judges, saying a district system could lead commissioners to favor their own districts over statewide concerns.

If each commissioner represented only a district, then important questions of utility regulation  such as the location of energy and infrastructure  could turn into a zero-sum game between commissioners beholden to their districts instead of a collaborative effort to reach the best result for the entire state, the court wrote.

Plaintiffs said the current commission is unresponsive to Black voters, including people with lower incomes who pay high utility bills.

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IN OTHER NEWS
Hamas releases 3rd batch of hostages, truce extension under discussion

Xinhua) 08:25, November 27, 2023

Vehicles carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrive at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

GAZA, Nov. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released on Sunday the third batch of hostages from the Gaza Strip under a temporary ceasefire agreement with Israel.

"Within the framework of the humanitarian truce, we handed over to the Red Cross 13 Israeli detainees, three Thais, and one Russian," Al-Qassam said in a press statement.

Israeli Army Radio said part of the handover process took place in the northern Gaza Strip, adding that "a number of detainees crossed the border from a point between Gaza and Israel."

Meanwhile, the Israeli army confirmed in a statement that it had received from the International Committee of the Red Cross the 13 Israeli hostages, including four women and nine children, with the youngest being four years old.

The army explained that "the Red Cross crews handed over 12 hostages to the Israeli Army Special Forces and the Shin Bet internal security agency at the border fence in the central Gaza Strip, who will then transport them to the Hatzerim Airbase."

It added that the 13th one, an 84-year-old woman suffering from a medical condition, was airlifted directly to Soroka Hospital in the southern Israeli city of Beer Sheva.

A vehicle carrying hostages released from the Gaza Strip arrives at a hospital in Ramat Gan, Israel, Nov. 26, 2023. (JINI via Xinhua)

According to the Israeli Army Radio, "the four foreign hostages were transferred to Egypt via the Rafah Crossing by the Red Cross, before heading for the meeting point with Israeli troops in Israeli territory."

Meanwhile, the Palestine Liberation Organization's prisoners department published a list of 39 Palestinian prisoners released on Sunday evening, including 21 from Jerusalem, one from the Gaza Strip, and the rest from the West Bank.

Xinhua reporter stationed in Ramallah confirmed the arrival of the buses that transferred the 39 released Palestinian prisoners, all of whom are children.

At the same time, mediation efforts have been intensified to extend the current ceasefire, according to Palestinian sources.

"Qatar and Egypt conveyed a draft agreement to Israel and Hamas on extending the ceasefire due to expire Monday and facilitating a larger prisoner swap between the two warring sides," the sources, who wished to be anonymous, told Xinhua.

The sources said the discussions involved the release of 40 to 50 captives from Gaza, coupled with increased humanitarian aid flow into the strip to alleviate the humanitarian crisis.

A Palestinian prisoner (L) returns to Jerusalem after being released from the Israeli Ofer prison, on Nov. 24, 2023. (Photo by Muammar Awad/Xinhua)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Sunday that he might agree to extend the truce by a few days if Hamas would free more hostages.

Meanwhile, according to a statement from a Hamas representative on Sunday night, "Hamas is seeking to extend the ceasefire beyond the four days that were initially agreed upon with Israel."

The temporary ceasefire in Gaza, entering its third day, entails a cessation of hostilities and an increased flow of aid trucks into the Palestinian enclave.

On Saturday, the second batch of the release was implemented after a delay of several hours, as Hamas accused Israel of failing to adhere to what was agreed upon under the truce, regarding the entry of relief trucks into the north of Gaza.

The truce deal reached between Israel and Hamas also stipulates the release of 50 Israeli female and teen hostages from Gaza in exchange for some 150 Palestinian women and children freed from Israeli prisons, with provisions for increasing the number of releases at subsequent stages of the agreement.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Xian Jiangnan)
An 86-year-old adobe arsenal on the corner of Papago Park Military Reservation is an homage to legacy, housing an expansive collection of military history over nearly 500 years in what is now the state of Arizona.

But for more than three months, a lock on the massive front doors of the Arizona Military Museum has kept that chronicle closed off from the public.

The lock seals off displays packed full of weapons and military uniforms and hides what has become a civil war over museum leadership and a reckoning over language that has rocked the future of the institution.

It started with an "unacceptable" comment by the museums patriarch on a tour. Then came warring factions of board members who lead the nonprofit that runs the museum.

The states highest-ranking National Guard official, who controls the property on which the museum sits, intervened. She shuttered the museum, leaving the next chapter for this tribute to military history uncertain.

Joe Abodeely, longtime director of the Arizona Military Museum, leads a tour inside the museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

Joe Abodeely began the museum more than 40 years ago. The museum is his legacy. His uniform from a tour in Vietnam is on display. He swears he just wants to keep the doors open to honor service members he feels are often forgotten.

Yet Abodeely is a key figure in the museums closure.

Im a little earthy, so if you just got out of the convent, youre not the gal to be talking to me," Abodeely said one minute into the first of several interviews with The Arizona Republic.

Concerns about 'unacceptable' conduct

In February, a museum visitor raised a red flag after a tour. Concerns about statements made by you during a group tour was how Arizona National Guard Brigadier General John Conley expressed it in a letter to Abodeely, the longtime director and a Vietnam War veteran.

A subsequent investigation substantiated the concern, Conley wrote in the May 11 letter obtained by The Republic.

Eventually they will replace me with some Gay, Black, Woman, woke Jew who will ruin the place, Abodeely said on that tour, according to Conleys letter.

Joe Abodeely, longtime director of the Arizona Military Museum, leads a tour inside the museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

The letter said Abodeely also used profanity on the tour, called all Americans stupid, and told the members of the tour group that they knew nothing of the realities of the Vietnam era because they were too young, brainwashed, stupid, duped, uneducated, or uncaring.

That conduct was unacceptable and will not be tolerated, the letter read.

The museum is run by the Arizona National Guard Historical Society, a nonprofit that Abodeely led for decades. It is located on military property, according to a decades-old agreement between the nonprofit and the Arizona National Guard.

The state Department of Emergency and Military Affairs, the state agency that houses the Arizona National Guard, demanded Abodeely go to two hours of diversity, equity and inclusion training.

Get a certificate of completion, the state told him.

And Maj. Gen. Kerry Muehlenbeck, the adjutant general of the guard in Arizona, wanted a meeting.

'I can be tactful if I want to be'

The certificate of completion hangs in a fluorescent-lit office at the back of the museum. It is a few feet from a sign in red that sticks out among the patchwork of plaques.

WARNING POLITICALLY INCORRECT AREA, the sign screams. RAMPANT INSENSITIVITY AUTHORIZED.

Abodeely is 80. His natural volume is loud. His stories wander and his hands wave in emphasis. He has a lifetime to talk about: Serving as a combat platoon leader with the U.S. Armys 1st Cavalry Division in the Vietnam War. In the decades that followed as a deputy county attorney and a criminal defense lawyer.

One of his favorites, though, is how he got the museum off the ground after traveling the state with his wife to study other collections.

More than half of his life has been dedicated to the time capsule tucked off the busy intersection at McDowell Road and 52nd Street. Abodeely can recite, by memory, the artifacts collected here, display case by display case, historical period by historical period. He proudly pointed out a wall of museum awards.

A view inside the Arizona Military Museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

The building is packed with informational signs, photographs, newspaper clippings, weapons and military gear  from uniforms and helmets to radios and a field organ small enough to fit in a suitcase. The items tell the story of the military from Spanish conquistadors in the 1500s through this century's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. A hulking UH-1M "Huey" helicopter flown in Vietnam is just a few paces from tributes to Mexican soldiers, Buffalo Soldiers and Navajo Code Talkers.

Abodeely at times admitted his comments on the tour months ago were a mistake. Other times, he defended them as musing.

Maybe hes a dinosaur, he wondered aloud, oscillating to an argument that swearing shows sophistication and intelligence. He wondered if society is getting unbalanced when it comes to acceptable language, cares too much about what he believes are private matters like sexual orientation, or is becoming too sensitive.

In a 55-minute conversation with a reporter, Abodeely read from a news article about profanity, stopping midstream to call the author an obscene and disparaging word for a woman. He defensively suggested a museum mannequin with a hand on its hip represented gay soldiers.

A day later, Abodeely called and emailed to apologize. He's been undergoing tests for cancer, he explained, and the stress of a possible diagnosis and the museum drama has been wearing on him.

Im not going to die, I'm too f------ mean and ornery to die," Abodeely said.

I can be tactful if I want to be, most of the time I dont want to be because I've got to cut through the s--- and tell it like it is.

Joe Abodeely, longtime director of the Arizona Military Museum, leads a tour inside the museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

He said what has happened at the museum is a coup  an attempt by a detractor on the nonprofit board to unseat him. Abodeely said he thinks other potential leaders are unfit, and the museum will die without him.

Thats because, as he put it: God isnt as smart as I am about this museum.

Im arrogant, and I know that, he said later. I am somewhat egotistical, but I care about other people. I care about other things. I care about my nation, my state and I care about the museum.

He believes he is being pushed out because of a personal vendetta held by Muehlenbeck, though Muehlenbecks spokesperson disputes that claim.

Landlord-tenant dispute aside, one thing is not up for debate: The museum would not exist if it werent for Abodeely.

Leadership rift spurs months of debate, drama

Mike Snozek would not call it a coup.

Snozek, a U.S. Army and National Guard veteran, was on the board of the Arizona National Guard Historical Society for more than a dozen years before the rift.

A contentious and argumentative board meeting followed the guard's reprimand of Abodeely, behavior that pushed several board members to question Abodeelys leadership, Snozek said.

A view inside the Arizona Military Museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

Their concern wasnt just about language or behavior. Snozek believes Abodeely misrepresented Muehlenbecks views about the museum to the board and the public and wasnt following the nonprofit's bylaws  its guiding rules  in terms of audit requirements and leadership structure.

But behavioral complaints have bubbled up at the museum before. Hundreds of online reviews are almost entirely positive, save for a few that suggest chips in the polish. A high school history class visited the museum a decade ago.

I am appalled at the behavior of the person that lead their tour! reads the Tripadvisor.com review. He used foul language, insulted teachers and students, raised his voice multiple times, argued with the teachers, referred to the students (who are all honors and AP level) as stupid, ignorant and told them they dont care.

Snozek said he was acting at the request of the majority of board members when he called a meeting last summer and they voted Snozek in as the new leader  and voted Abodeely out.

Abodeely doesnt recognize that vote as legitimate and named his own slate of new members who he claims are the rightful board.

Throughout it all the guard maintained one requirement, according to Snozek and emails from guard officials reviewed by The Republic: Abodeely could no longer interact with the public at the museum.

Joe Abodeely, longtime director of the Arizona Military Museum, leads a tour inside the museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

Unfortunately, in subsequent interactions with Mr. Abodeely, the Arizona National Guard observed his continued use of unprofessional language, said Capt. Erin Hannigan, spokesperson for the guard. In turn, the Adjutant General lost confidence in Mr. Abodeelys ability to interact professionally, and respectfully with members of the public.

Muehlenbeck has led the guard and Department of Emergency and Military Affairs since 2021, when she was nominated by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, and is the first woman to serve in that role. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs kept Muehlenbeck in her post when Hobbs took office in January, pledging to build an inclusive "Arizona for everyone."

Muehlenbeck was unavailable for an interview for this story, according to Hannigan. In a statement sent by her spokesperson Christian Slater, Hobbs said she supported Muehlenbecks actions to find an organization that can provide steady leadership to the museum.

Snozek said he understands why Abodeely wouldnt want to be away from the museum hes curated for over 40 years.

But at the same time, theres a way to conduct oneself and a way not to conduct oneself, and we have rules, and we follow them, Snozek said. And theres whats socially acceptable and theres whats absolutely not socially acceptable.

With the museums future on the line, Snozek volunteered to step back from leadership if Abodeely would, too. The truce could have preserved the museum in its current location.

Abodeely shot him down.

Arizona severs ties

Muehlenbeck waited more than a month and a half after temporarily shuttering the museum in August for the dueling board factions to figure it out.

Abodeely told The Republic he would retire in March after training his board members how to run the museum, but he refused to spend those months cut off from the public. Snozek has heard Abodeely talk about retiring for several years.

As the confusion festered, Muehlenbeck announced her decision on Nov. 17. She is severing state ties with the nonprofit.

The Adjutant General has directed (Arizona National Guard Historical Society) to provide her, by December 18, 2023, a written plan for the removal of its property from the Museum," Hannigan said.

Abodeely is not giving up. He mused that other museum groups and historical societies may help broker a peace deal among the boards because they care a lot about my museum. He corrected himself: the museum.

A view of the Arizona Military Museum in Phoenix on Nov. 10, 2023.

Its not over," Abodeely said. I have time, I have a month. ... And a lot of things can happen in that month."

Snozek said he hoped for a last-minute agreement, too, though he doesn't expect opinions will change about what role Abodeely can play going forward. In the interim, a review must begin to determine who owns what in the museum, which has a mix of privately owned items, donated items and government property.

The guard plans to find a new group to oversee the museum and reopen it, Hannigan said.

The Arizona National Guard looks forward to the reopening of the Museum and appreciates the publics patience and understanding as we work through this transition, Hannigan said.

Until then, the lock stays on the doors out front.

Reach reporter Stacey Barchenger at stacey.barchenger@arizonarepublic.com or 480-416-5669.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona Military Museum faces uncertain future amid internal strife
An Arkansas woman has been charged with the attempted murder of a Rockford woman, according to police.

Yvondia Day, 39, has been charged with attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm after a shooting earlier this month.

Police said the shooting happened after a physical alternation in the 500 block of Fairview Ave. around 12:30 a.m.

The victim, a 33-year-old woman, is still in critical condition, according to Rockford police.

Day and the victim were known to each other prior to the shooting, police said.

Day turned herself in and is being held in the Winnebago County Jail.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Arkansas woman Yvondia Day in custody after shooting in Rockford
More than 50 million people in the U.S. will interact with a law enforcement officer in the next 12 months. According to the University of Illinois Chicagos Law Enforcement Epidemiology Project, the interactions include traffic stops, street stops, traffic accidents, arrests and 911 calls.

If your path crosses a law enforcement officers, what will happen if you record the incident?

Few people know their rights when it comes to interacting with police. Here are a few questions and answers to consider.

Is it legal to record if you are stopped by a police officer?

In Mississippi, you are allowed to record an officer who stops you. The Ohio State Bar Association advised not to appear aggressive, especially when reaching for your phone. Aggression may cause the officer to think you are reaching for a weapon.

Tell the officer what you are pulling out before you move. Once you have your recording device, make sure both hands are visible to the officer.

If you are pulled over for a traffic stop, place your phone on your console or seat. Audio can be recorded while you keep your hands on the steering wheel and in plain sight.

Because Mississippi is a one-party consent state, you are allowed to secretly record your interaction with an officer. There is no obligation to inform the officer that you are recording. One-party consent means at least one person in the interaction knows and wants the incident to be recorded.

Is it legal to record a police interaction as a bystander?

You dont need a press badge to video public officials and law enforcement. Everyone has a First Amendment right to film police-citizen interactions, according to the Free Speech Center at Middle Tennessee State University.

You are allowed to take photos, record a video or make an audio recording at the scene. You can also narrate or interpret what you are recording.

What will get a bystander arrested at a scene?

It is illegal to try to stop an arrest or interfere with the process. If you stand in the way or you incite bystanders by arguing and yelling, you could be arrested.

A 2022 incident in McComb inspired a fresh look at Mississippis laws on bystanders recording. Mississippi Highway Patrol Trooper Hayden Falvey pulled over McComb resident Eugene Lewis for a traffic stop. He made an arrest once Lewis admitted to using marijuana before driving, according to video footage later released by the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.

Lewis family members passed by the scene during the arrest and his brother, Packer Lewis started a live Facebook recording when he suspected Falvey of brutality.

Falvey, a white trooper, ordered black family members to retreat, but solicited the help of a white bystander to just make sure they (Lewis family bystanders) dont run up on me while taking Eugene Lewis into custody.

After the incident, lawmakers proposed an amendment that would prohibit a bystander from recording police activity from less than 15 feet away. The law died in committee.

Laws already in place could accomplish the same goal, which is why Falvey was able to arrest Packer Lewis and a second bystander at the scene.

While there is no law against talking to police officers when they are performing their duties, you need to be careful not to say things that could escalate the situation, cause others to interfere with the police or cause others to resist arrest, advised the Ohio State Bar Association. If the officer interprets your speech as interference or disorderly conduct, you could be charged with a crime.

What can you do if you witness police brutality?

If you think an officer is doing something wrong during your arrest, do not fight back. Ask for their name and badge number to file a complaint later.

If you believe you are witnessing police brutality to another person, The ACLU of Mississippi recommends you:

Stand at a safe distance and record a video with your phone. As long as you do not interfere or obstruct the officers movements and you are in a public place, you have a right to be there and to record the activity.

If you are on private property, the property owner can set rules about recording on their property or refuse to allow you on the property.

Do not try to hide that you are recording. Police officers do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy when performing their jobs.

Thanks to the First Amendment, officers cannot confiscate or delete your photos and videos under any circumstances.

Remember: police misconduct cannot be challenged on the street. Dont physically resist officers or threaten to file a complaint.

Write down everything you remember, including the officers badges, the patrol car numbers, the agency the officer is with and the names of officers present.

File a written complaint with the agencys internal affairs division or civilian complaint board. In most cases, you can file the complaint anonymously.

Call the ACLU of Mississippi at 601-354-3408 or fax in a complaint to 601-355-6465.

Can I send a text message at a red light? Heres what Mississippi law says

Is it legal for Mississippi parents to let minors drink alcohol at home? Here is the law
Kyle Drummond said he 'feared for his life' when fireworks were shot through the window of his flat

A man forced to jump out the window of his flat to escape fireworks says he "feared for his life" during disorder in an Ayrshire town.

Kyle Drummond said he was lucky to avoid injury when violence broke out in Auchinleck at the weekend.

Police in riot gear were called in to disperse "hostile" crowds in the Heathfield Road area on Saturday evening.

Several people have since been arrested in connection with the incident.

Officers with riot shields and helmets were also seen in nearby Cumnock on Sunday as part of their inquiries.

Mr Drummond said a wooden panel "exploded" when fireworks were shot at the property where he had been living with his brother for six months.

A plant pot was also thrown through the window during the attack, forcing him to escape the ground floor property via the back window.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

He told BBC Scotland News he did not know why his home had been targeted.

"I was fearing for my life, I had to run away," he said.

"The two rockets came through the wood and it just exploded. I could have been burnt. It gave me a real fright.

"I was really feart of not getting out that back window.

"Whatever happened is nothing to do with me, I don't know why they are targeting me."

A police officer injured by a brick during the unrest had to be treated in hospital.

Police Scotland said it was "completely unacceptable" that officers were attacked while doing their jobs.

The force said there were several reports of incidents in the Auchinleck area on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, but could not say what had sparked the disorder.

The fire-damaged house in Heathfield Road, near where the disturbances started

Natalie Carmichael, from The Nest community group in Cumnock, said the scenes and widespread clips shared on social media had caused unease among residents.

She said: "People are scared to go out and do their shopping. Those with young families are really anxious.

"They are scared of the repercussions. There's been an undercurrent for quite some time but it has all come to a head."

David Kennedy, general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation, told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland that incidents were more likely to escalate when there were not enough police officers based in a community.

"If we had more police officers and community police officers in these areas then intelligence would be there that would perhaps stop incidents like this.

"However we have a 2bn shortfall over the last ten years and, with the cuts we are currently coming under, I can't see how the police service are going to get that back."

Are you in the Auchinleck area? Have you been affected by the disorder? If you're willing to speak to a BBC journalist, get touch here.
ASHEVILLE  A former Asheville man found guilty of first-degree rape by a jury earlier this month in Buncombe County Superior Court has filed an appeal of his conviction.

Attorneys for William Todd Murell, 58, entered a notice of appeal Nov. 17, four days after Murell was found guilty of first-degree forcible rape and felony assault inflicting serious bodily injury and sentenced to a combined 254-374 months, or at least 21 years in prison. The notice was filed Nov. 21.

Murell's release from Central Prison in Raleigh was denied, according to the appellate entry, signed by Judge David H. Strickland on Nov. 17. Murell was transferred to the prison on Nov. 14, according to the N.C. Department of Adult Corrections.

"It is completely unsurprising to me that a defendant who has been convicted by a jury of first-degree forcible rape ... would file a notice of appeal," District Attorney Todd Williams told the Citizen Times Nov. 22. "The Attorney General's Office will represent the State of North Carolina in the appellate portion of the state's case against Mr. Murell."

One of Murell's defense attorneys, Stephen Lindsay, told the Citizen Times that an appellate lawyer is being decided for Murell, who will then review the case file and trial transcript to decide what issues to raise on appeal.

We have appeals court for a reason, and that is because sometimes during trials, mistakes happen, or decisions are made about evidence or rulings that the court makes that need to be reviewed by a higher court to determine whether they were correct," Lindsay said, adding that an appeal happens in most trials.

"Our job as the trial lawyers is to preserve those issues, to object at the right time, to file motions, to try to keep things out or to handle things in a certain way," Lindsay added.

During the trial, the defense asked to strike the testimony of two witnesses and asked twice for a mistrial to be ruled, once on Oct. 9 and again on Oct. 11. Each of these requests were denied, according to court records obtained by the Citizen Times Nov. 21.

Trial verdict: Asheville man found guilty in 'unusual' rape trial, sentenced to prison

An 'unusual' trial

This trial unfolded unlike most, with the jury taking a three-week hiatus from the case after evidence was presented due to the presiding judge going on vacation and a week-long judicial conference.

After the trial began Sept. 28, the court took its break starting Oct. 13 and reconvened for closing arguments and deliberation Nov. 6. Williams previously told the Citizen Times its pretty unusual for a trial to be heard in this manner.

The day before the trial went on its break, bodycam footage was played before the jury in which the word victims was used, according to court records. This reference went against Stricklands pre-trial order not to refer to an alleged second victim, though court records suggest theres another victim for which Murell is charged with kidnapping and first-degree sex offense.

The video was stopped, and the jury was taken out of the courtroom, but the judge decided the trial should still move forward. Lindsay said this could be something that comes up in the appellate case.

I would think that would be something that would be a topic or an issue on appeal, Lindsay told the Citizen Times.

The judge decided not to combine these cases because "the court cannot find that these two incidents constituted 'a series of acts or transactions connected together or constituting parts of a single scheme or plan,'" Strickland said in an email to the attorneys on the case.

During the trial, the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner who did the testing and interviews on the victim when she was admitted to Pardee Hospital was not available to take the witness stand, according to Lindsay. Instead, a different nurse with experience administering SANE rape kits took the stand and explained what the victims medical records said, according to court proceedings. Because it wasnt the same nurse that administered the test, Lindsay said hed consider this hearsay.

You cant just bring in a substitute witness, this is obviously going to be something that I would think would be on appeal, Lindsay said.

William Todd Murell, 58, sits in Buncombe County Superior Court room 510, awaiting the jury's decision.

The jury took nearly a week to deliberate, asking to see numerous exhibits, or pieces of evidence in the trial, including police bodycam footage, 911 Computer Aided Dispatch reports, images of the victims injuries, and a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner report.

I would thank the jurors of their conscientious review of the evidence and consideration of all the facts and circumstances presented by the state, Williams previously told the Citizen Times. After that break, it seemed like they wanted to see a lot of the evidence.

Although the jury mostly sided against his client, finding Murell guilty of rape and felony assault but exonerating him of kidnapping, Lindsay also reflected that the jury worked hard and did what they were supposed to.

My sense was that the jury worked really, really hard," Lindsay said. "Its unfortunate that they decided part of this case against us, and thats me talking as an advocate. But from a perspective of, did they follow the courts instructions and do their very best? The answer would be yeah, I think they did.

Murell spoke at his sentencing, saying he was "shocked but accepted the court's decision," Williams said in a news release.

Previous trial coverage: Jury struggles on verdict in lengthy trial of 2020 Asheville rape, kidnap case

Background on the case

The 58-year-old was arrested on Feb. 19, 2020, then again on March 10, 2020, and charged with first-degree forcible rape, two counts of first-degree kidnapping, first-degree sex offense and assault inflicting serious bodily injury, according to a previous Asheville Police Department news release.

Murell and the victim in the trial met in a week-long alcoholism detox center in Asheville in December 2019, Murell told the Citizen Times, and the victim, 47, testified in court. After rehab, they started going to meetings together, according to court proceedings.

In January of 2020, the 47-year-old went to Murells house near Beaver Lake in North Asheville multiple times, but at the beginning of February of that year, she went to Murells house and claims she was not allowed to leave, according to court proceedings.

APD had responded to the home for several welfare checks over the 10 days prior to the victim's admission to the hospital, where it was discovered that she was suffering brain hemorrhaging, or brain bleeding, and a midline shift of her temporal lobe. Her provider at the hospital testified in court Oct. 5 that this condition could be fatal. Toxicology also showed the presence of barbiturates and benzodiazepines, according to court proceedings.

Student claims sexual abuse: Ex-Christ School student claims sexual abuse by Asheville teacher, bullying by students

Another guilty verdict: WNC man guilty of statutory child rape, multiple child sex crimes, sentenced to 50 years

When the woman accused Murell of raping her during those 10 days, Murell allegedly pulled her off the couch by her ankle, causing her to hit her head on a coffee table, prosecuting attorney Katie Kurdys said during court proceedings Nov. 6. Murell confessed to the wife of the victims ex-husband that he had done this, saying he lost it on her, according to court documents.

Kurdys stated in court that Murell stomped on the left side of the victims head, causing bruising on her forearms when she went to shield herself from him. Additionally, the woman claims that Murell dragged her down concrete steps, dragged her across carpet to an area of his house he called the punishment corner, held a knife to her throat, burned her back with cigarettes, and made her sit naked in a mud puddle in his backyard while he smoked a cigarette, Kurdys said.

Lindsay said during closing statements that they are working with circumstantial evidence and asked the jury to consider the different conclusions that can be pulled from the evidence.

Need help?

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted and needs help or resources, contact:

Our Voice: (For ages 13 and older) 828-255-7576, www.ourvoicenc.org.

Mountain Child Advocacy Center: (For ages 17 and younger), 828-213-9824, https://mtncac.org.

RAINN : (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network) 800-656-4673, www.rainn.org.

Family Justice Center: 35 Woodfin St., Asheville. 828-250-6900, buncombecounty.org.

Ryley Ober is the Public Safety Reporter for Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Email her at rober@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @ryleyober

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville man appealing rape, felony assault conviction after trial
Allegations that an Israeli military helicopter killed civilians at the Nova music festival last month while attempting to kill Hamas terrorists have been revived in recent days following a new story in the Israeli press. The claims have notably been forwarded in a tweet from Washington Post investigative reporter Evan Hill, which was then screenshotted and shared in a viral Instagram post by Shaun King, a well-known American activist and writer.

An Israeli police investigation has found that an IDF helicopter firing at Hamas fighters at the desert rave site also hit civilians, Haaretz reports, Hills tweet says. There is also a growing assessment that Hamas didnt know about the desert rave in advance. King takes his own conclusions further. Israeli police now admit that countless Israelis were murdered by ISRAEL on October 7th, he writes.

A second viral Instagram post by Palestinian-American lawyer Ali Awad shows a screenshot of an article by The Cradle with a headline reading Israel admits it killed its own at Nova music festival.

The posts refer to a story published on November 18 by Haaretz, an Israeli publication, detailing the findings of a police investigation into the Nova music festival massacre. The story reports that Israeli police investigators determined that Hamas terrorists were not aware of the music festival in advance of their attacks. According to a police source, the story reads, the investigation also indicates that an IDF combat helicopter that arrived to the scene and fired at terrorists there apparently also hit some festival participants.

This claim is based on a single unnamed source, however, and a statement from the Israel police strongly denied the assertions in the Haaretz story. The officials statement said the investigation focused only on the police response, and therefore did not make any assessments related to IDF activity at the Nova festival. Contrary to the publication, the police investigation does not refer to the activity of the IDF forces, and therefore no indication was given of any harm to civilians caused by any aerial activity at the site, a member of the Israel Police Spokesperson Unit said to The Dispatch Fact Check in a statement. Particularly at this time, we call on the media to show responsibility in their reporting, and to base their journalism on official sources only, the statement continues. An IDF spokesperson provided the same police statement when asked for comment.

The claim by the unnamed source in the Haaretz article that an IDF helicopter fired on Israelis cannot be independently verified but the claims by Shaun King and Ali Awad go well beyond what that source said. Israel has not admitted to killing countless Israelis.

Allegations that IDF forces killed festival-goers did not originate with the Haaretz story, but the claims there have been used to advance a number of pre-existing theories. A number of social media accounts have for weeks been sharing leaked footage of an IDF helicopter supposedly firing upon Israeli civilians, using this information as evidence that Israel has repeatedly lied about the events of October 7. Jackson Hinkle, a popular social media influencer known for posting misinformation and anti-Israel content, recently reposted this footage suggesting it confirmed the accusations.

 ISRAEL & HAARETZ (Israeli media) have now confined that an ISRAELI HELICOPTER MURDERED ISRAELI CIVILIANS on October 7th!

pic.twitter.com/ma6l3irke2  Jackson Hinkle  (@jacksonhinklle) November 18, 2023

This footage was not leaked, however, and instead originates from an October 9 post on X by the IDF showing attacks by Israels air force on Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

                    .      -130    .  :  , ,   >> pic.twitter.com/vuzQtK4yly     (@idfonline) October 9, 2023

GeoConfirmed, an open source intelligence group specializing in geolocation, later determined that the footage was not related to the Nova festival, and an in-depth fact check published on November 17 by PolitiFact labeled the claims surrounding the footage as false.

If you have a claim you would like to see us fact check, please send us an email at factcheck@thedispatch.com. If you would like to suggest a correction to this piece or any other Dispatch article, please email corrections@thedispatch.com.

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.
An Atlanta music producer was shot to death days before his 28th birthday in an armed robbery, according to family.

Police responded to reports of two shootings just miles apart on Nov. 20. One man, later identified as Jason Foster, showed up with a gunshot wound outside Atlanta City Hall. He was taken to the hospital and was stable.

A half-hour later, police were called to an apartment on Peters Street, less than half a mile away, where they found a man dead from gunshot wounds.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

He has since been identified as 27-year-old Robert Kirkland.

Police arrested Foster and charged him with murder, aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

TRENDING STORIES:

Family members said Kirkland was the victim of an armed robbery at his home.

My big and only brother David meant the world to me, and he was my inspiration and mentor, his sister wrote on GoFundMe. I loved my brother with all my heart and even though were 9 years apart, I always called him my twin, as our birthdays are 24 days apart.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Kirkland was a music producer who would have turned 28 on Nov. 27. Its unclear if he and Foster knew each other or what led up to the shooting. Police did not say who shot Foster.

David was a music producer that constantly spoke about how to turn your pain into passion. He was a great man and role model while navigating his life, his sister wrote. Its unfortunate that he passed away due to gun violence when he was the most genuine and authentic man I knew.

Kirklands family has set up a GoFundMe to help with his funeral expenses.
The barrage of attacks on U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Syria has subsided in recent days, a Pentagon spokesman told reporters on Monday.

After enduring dozens of attacks since mid-October, bases housing U.S. troops havent taken fire or spotted a drone bearing down since Nov. 23, Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder confirmed.

The Pentagons last count totaled 73 attacks, Ryder said. Those resulted in more than 60 injuries, including several dozen traumatic brain injuries, but all troops returned to duty soon after.

The U.S. military in response executed three strikes in Syria against facilities used by Iran-backed militias to house weapons and equipment, the latest of which was carried out Nov. 13.

There have also been instances of air assets in the area immediately striking back against rocket or drone attacks, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Tuesday.

US fires back after ballistic missile attack on Iraq base

One of these incidents has been publicly confirmed by the Pentagon, when an AC-130 gunship hit a vehicle after its occupants launched a rocket at al Asad airbase in Iraq.

Pentagon officials have said that counter strikes have degraded the militias ability to continue striking U.S. troops without creating wider conflict in the Middle East.

Thousands of troops have also been repositioned to the region, including the Middle East and the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

Two carrier strike groups, an amphibious ready group with an embarked Marine Expeditionary Unit, several Air Force fighter squadrons, Army air defense units and 300 support troops have all been positioned to deter bad actors from attacking Israel as it prosecutes its war on Hamas, as well as to prevent or respond to any attacks on U.S. troops in the region.
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  Family members of Jawan Dallas, a man who died after being tased by Mobile Police, say they plan to sue the MPD soon. Attorneys for the family say theyre also trying to make the video of his arrest public.

Questions remain about this video remain because the only people whove seen it are either with law enforcement or represent the Dallas family. The family and an attorney gave their reactions after seeing the body camera video last week.

A team of civil rights attorneys sent a news release about the body camera video days ago. They claim the video shows Dallas pleading for his life and yelling, I cant breathe I dont want to be George Floyd. The attorneys say its clear MPD doesnt want this video public. They say the public should see this video and in their words deserve to know what kind of officers the Mobile Police Department are protecting.

Heres a quote from their news release:

Its no secret why the Mobile Police Department doesnt want to release this video.It shows their officers illegally accosting, assaulting and killing an unarmed innocent man while he begs for his life screaming I cant breathe. I dont want to be George Floyd. Of course they dont want the public to see that. But this isnt about what the Mobile Police Department wants. Its about justice.

The public has a right to see this video. The people deserve to know what kind of officers the Mobile Police Department are protecting, the kind of officers who would do this to an innocent man begging for his life. We all deserve to know because as long as they hide behind that badge, none of us are safe.

Under current Alabama law, there is a process for a victims family and representatives to ask to see the footage by making a written request to the custodial law enforcement agency involved.

The agency can deny the request if they say it would harm an investigation.

On Tuesday, the Mobile City Council meets to discuss changing the city ordinance that would require the city to release the body camera footage at proper request unless the release of the footage would be contrary to other applicable law. If denied the city would have to cite in writing a legal reason to deny the request.

ALSO ON WKRG.com: Thousands head home through Baldwin County during long holiday weekend

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
(Bloomberg) -- The Czech Republic faced one of the biggest displays of public discontent since the end of communism as unions protest spending cuts and tax hikes that the government sees as central to its agenda.

Most Read from Bloomberg

More than 7,000 kindergartens and schools were closed across the country on Monday as part of a strike that union leaders called the biggest on record. Industrial workers, including those at Volkswagen AGs unit Skoda Auto AS, downed tools for a few hours, while thousands marched through Pragues historic center in an anti-government rally.

The protests are a reaction to a package of $6.7 billion of spending cuts and tax hikes pushed through by Prime Minister Petr Fialas government, which aims to halve the budget deficit in two years even as the $300 billion economy teeters on the verge of a recession. The two-year-old administration says the unpopular steps are needed to reverse the pandemic-era borrowing spree.

Fiala criticized unions for not negotiating and said his cabinet is determined to deliver on a key election pledge of restraint after it was forced to boost spending on energy subsidies, defense and aid to Ukrainian refugees.

If we conceded, we would be giving up a good future for this country, a sustainable economy and sustainable financing, Fiala told reporters on Monday. We cant do that.

Union leader Josef Stredula blamed the government for the wave of discontent, which followed the worst bout of inflation in three decades. Protesters are demanding more money for non-teaching staff and other state funding, and oppose plans to lift the retirement age and raise some taxes.

The unions are prepared to continue with protest action if the government refuses to accept their demands, Stredula told a crowd of demonstrators in front of the Czech parliament.

While the Czech Republics outstanding debt  at 44% of gross domestic product  ranks it at the lower end of European Union peers, the pace of borrowing was faster over the last three years.

The austerity plans are hurting the governments support. The main opposition ANO party of former billionaire Premier Andrej Babis is currently in the lead with 33.2% support, according to a survey by pollster STEM for CNN Prima News on Sunday. Anti-immigration SPD, which wants to take the Czech Republic out of the European Union and NATO, came second with 12% backing.

In contrast, the budget measures have been embraced by investors. Czech bonds have outperformed most European peers this year. The yield premium investors demand to hold the countrys 10-year notes instead of German bunds has shrunk to about 176 basis points from a peak of 422 basis points mid-last year.

--With assistance from Krystof Chamonikolas.

(Updates with size, scope of protests from second paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

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Australian Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil, left, gestures to Australian Immigration Minister Andrew Giles, right, as Commissioner of the Australian Border Force Michael Outram watches during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The Australian government on Monday committed an additional 255 million Australian dollars ($168 million) in funding for police and other law enforcement officials to monitor more than 140 unanted migrants who have been released since the High Court outlawed indefinite detention in prison-like migrant facilities. (Lukas Coch/AAP Image via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP)  The Australian government on Monday committed an additional 255 million Australian dollars ($168 million) in funding for police and other law enforcement officials to monitor 141 migrants freed when a court ruled their indefinite detention was unconstitutional.

The new funding over two years reflects an increase in the workload of law enforcement officials due to government concerns about a heightened community risk posed by those released following a landmark High Court decision on Nov. 8. That ruling said the government could no longer indefinitely detain foreigners who had been refused Australian visas, but could not be deported to their homelands and no third country would accept them.

The migrants released due to the High Court ruling were mostly people with criminal records. The group also included people who failed visa character tests on other grounds and some who were challenging visa refusals through the courts, with some being refugees and stateless people.

Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil said the governments priority was protecting the safety of the Australian community within the limits of the law.

This funding will ensure that our agencies are able to dedicate the time and resources that will be required to manage this cohort into the future, ONeil said.

The Parliament passed a raft of emergency laws on Nov. 16 that imposed restrictions on the newly released migrants including curfews, police reporting conditions and a requirement to wear an electronic ankle bracelet to track their movements at all times.

Lawyers for a Chinese refugee last week lodged a High Court challenge to the new measures, arguing their client was being punished through his curfew and being forced to wear an electronic bracelet.

The seven High Court judges will on Tuesday release the reasons for their test case decision made three weeks ago to free a stateless Rohingya man convicted of raping a 10-year-old boy.

The reasons will shed light on the legality of the government's legislative responses and whether more migrants need to be released. Some recently freed migrants could potentially be detained again.

Hannah Dickinson, the principal lawyer at the Melbourne-based Asylum Seeker Resource Center, said the additional spending on law enforcement would result in increased policing that was entirely unnecessary, unjustified and ... damaging to the community.

ONeil also announced she would soon introduce draft legislation in response to a recent High Court decision that found a government minister could not strip citizenship from a man convicted of terrorism.

Under the proposed new laws, a judge rather than a minister would decide whether the Australian citizenship of a dual national would be stripped during a sentencing hearing.

The crimes for which citizenship could be removed would be extended beyond terrorism to include espionage and covert foreign interference in Australian politics on behalf of a foreign government.
Merriam-Webster has picked its word of the year - and it's legit.

"Authentic" is the top word of 2023, according to America's oldest dictionary.

Merriam-Webster said it saw a "substantial increase" in online searches for it this year.

The interest was "driven by stories and conversations about AI [artificial intelligence], celebrity culture, identity, and social media", the dictionary publisher said.

One reason many people search for the word is because it has a number of meanings, including "not false or imitation" and also "true to one's own personality, spirit, or character".

"Although clearly a desirable quality, 'authentic' is hard to define and subject to debate," Merriam-Webster said.

The publisher added that the popularity of the word, which had been highly searched in the US in the past, grew this year as "the line between 'real' and 'fake'" became increasingly blurred.

The AI boom helped with the blurring, spurring interest in the authenticity of text, images and videos, the company said.

One of the runner-ups for the top was "deepfake", used to describe videos and photos that are digitally altered with AI.

Meanwhile, brands, social media influencers and celebrities also popularised the word, including Elon Musk, the owner of X, formerly Twitter, who has said people should be more "authentic" on social media.

Other top words from 2023 include the internet slang "rizz" - short for charisma, meaning romantic appeal or charm - and "indict", which saw a surge in interest after former President Donald Trump was indicted, or charged, in four separate legal cases.

The top words in the US were not immune to British influence. Coronation was also highly searched after Charles III was crowned the new king in May.

In 2022, the word of the year was "gaslighting", a colloquial term for manipulating somebody to cause them to question their own realities or beliefs.
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. (WOOD)  A suicidal man shot and killed in his SUV by Grand Haven Public Safety officers in July was hit 21 times by gunfire, according to an autopsy report obtained by Target 8.

The Ottawa County Prosecutors Office has ruled the death a justifiable homicide, finding that Anthony Lyon, 66, of Grand Haven, had aimed the rifle at one of the responding officers.

The prosecutors report obtained Monday by Target 8 shows Lyon had called 911 at 4:30 a.m. on July 9 to say he had a gun, was going to kill himself, and that he was an organ donor.

He asked central dispatch to call a relative on his behalf, then hung up and didnt answer when dispatchers tried calling him back.

The prosecutors report says Grand Haven Public Safety Officer David Karel was the first to respond. Karel joined the department two years ago.

Karel found Lyon sitting in the drivers seat of his SUV, armed with a 30-30 lever action rifle, with the drivers side window open, according to the report.

The prosecutors report shows Lyon refused to raise his hands to the ceiling. Im not going to do that, the report quotes him as saying, then told police there were two shells in the gun.

Moments later, according to the report, the second responding officer, Keegan Langworthy, was standing on the passenger side of the SUV when he saw Lyon pointing the gun at him, his left hand sliding toward the trigger.

Believing that Officer Langworthy was going to be shot by Mr. Lyon, both officers began to fire their (9 mm) service pistols into the vehicle at Mr. Lyon, according to the prosecutors report.

The autopsy report shows Lyon was shot 21 times, including 17 shots to the back and one to the back of the neck. Sixteen of the shots to the back were within a 12-by-6-inch space on the upper left side, hitting major organs, including his heart and lungs. The other shots hit him in the chest, face and an arm.

The side windows were blown out by gunfire, and the back of the driver seat along with the headrest were full of bullet holes, according to the Medical Examiner Investigators report.

Police said Lyons rifle, a Winchester Model 94-30, had a live round of ammunition in the chamber and was ready to fire.

Chief: Shooting happened too quickly to call social worker

The prosecutors report shows Lyon had written suicide notes to members of his family.

A relative later told police he had recently become extremely depressed and started using drugs again, according to the Medical Examiner Investigators report. A relative said he had been using crack cocaine.

The autopsy found amphetamines and cocaine in Lyons system.

The officers were placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard in such cases.

Ottawa County Prosecutor Lee Fisher ruled the shooting justified in a report dated Sept. 12, finding that Lyon posed a threat not only to the officers but to a hospital employee who was walking in the parking lot and to nearby residents.

The use of deadly force is authorized to protect another person or the officer from what is reasonably believed to be an immediate threat of death or serious physical injury, the prosecutor wrote.

The prosecutor hasnt released the report to the public.

Target 8 obtained it Monday from the Michigan State Police, which investigated the shooting.

Target 8 has reached out to the prosecutor repeatedly over the last two months, including Monday, asking for updates on the investigation. He has not returned our calls.

Grand Haven Public Safety Director Jeff Hawke also released the prosecutors report to Target 8 on Monday.

The incident was thoroughly investigated by the Michigan State Police and thoroughly reviewed by the Ottawa County Prosecutor, who determined the shooting was justified, Hawke wrote in an email.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
San Franciscos Abundant Birth Project was game-changing for many Black women, but pushback against affirmative action now threatens its survival.

For Briana Jones, a young Black mother in San Francisco, a city program called the Abundant Birth Project has been a godsend.

Designed to counter the obstetric racism that researchers say leads a disproportionate number of African American mothers to die from childbirth, the project has provided 150 pregnant Black and Pacific Islander San Franciscans a $1,000 monthly stipend.

The money enabled Jones, 20, to pay for gas to drive to prenatal clinics, buy fresh fruits and vegetables for her toddler son and herself, and remain healthy as she prepared for the birth of her second child last year.

Briana Jones had high blood pressure, leading to swollen ankles and dizziness, during the pregnancies with her two sons. During her more recent pregnancy, she qualified to be part of San Franciscos Abundant Birth Project, whose $1,000-a-month stipend enabled her to move into an apartment and buy healthy foods. (Photo: Brittany Sterling)

But the future of the Abundant Birth Project is clouded by a lawsuit alleging that the program, the first of its kind in the nation, illegally discriminates by giving the stipend only to people of a specific race. The lawsuit also targets San Francisco guaranteed-income programs serving artists, transgender people, and Black young adults.

The litigation is part of a growing national effort by conservative groups to eliminate racial preferences in a wide range of institutions following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found race-conscious admissions to colleges and universities to be unconstitutional.

In health care, legal actions threaten efforts to provide scholarships to minority medical school students and other initiatives to create a physician workforce that looks more like the nation.

The lawsuits also endanger other measures designed to reduce well-documented racial disparities. Black women are three to four times more likely than white women to die in labor or from related complications in the U.S., and Black infants are twice as likely as white infants to be born prematurely and to die before their first birthdays. Racial and ethnic minorities also are more likely to die from diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, and heart disease than their white counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A handful of activist nonprofit groups and law firms are leading the charge. Do No Harm, a nonprofit formed in 2022, has sued health commissions, pharmaceutical companies, and public health journals to try to stop them from choosing applicants based on race. Do No Harm claims more than 6,000 members worldwide and partners with nonprofit legal organizations, most notably the Pacific Legal Foundation, which garnered national attention when it defended Californias same-sex marriage ban.

Another nonprofit, the Californians for Equal Rights Foundation, together with a Dallas-based law firm called the American Civil Rights Project, filed the lawsuit against the city of San Francisco and the state of California over the Abundant Birth Project, alleging the program violates the equal protection clause of the Constitutions 14th Amendment by granting money exclusively to Black and Pacific Islander women. The 14th Amendment was passed after the Civil War to give rights to formerly enslaved Black people.

The lawsuit calls public money used for the project and the three other guaranteed-income programs discriminatory giveaways that are illegal, wasteful, and injurious.

The city and county of San Francisco crafted the Abundant Birth Project with the express intention of picking beneficiaries based on race, Dan Morenoff, executive director of the American Civil Rights Project, said in a phone interview. Its unconstitutional. They cant legally do it, and we are optimistic that the courts will not allow them to continue to do it.

San Francisco and state officials declined to discuss the case because of the pending litigation, but the city defended the program in its initial response to the lawsuit. The Abundant Birth Project started in June 2021 and plans to make a second round of grants to pregnant mothers this fall, the response says.

The project strives to improve maternal and infant health outcomes by easing the economic stress on pregnant Black and Pacific Islander San Franciscans. People in those groups face some of the worst outcomes in the U.S., where more women die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than in other high-income nations. The state of California last year awarded $5 million to expand the program to include Black mothers in four other counties.

But Khiara Bridges, a Berkeley law professor and anthropologist who has talked to beneficiaries of the Abundant Birth Project but is not directly involved with it, said the Supreme Court ruling on college affirmative action could actually support the argument that the program is legal.

The court struck down affirmative action in part because the majority said Harvard and the University of North Carolina failed to show measurable outcomes justifying race consciousness in college admissions. While statistics on potential benefits from the Abundant Birth Project are not publicly available, Bridges and others familiar with the program expect researchers to demonstrate it saves and improves lives by comparing the health outcomes of families who received the stipend with those of families who did not. The outcomes could justify employing race to choose program participants, Bridges said.

Bridges also drew another distinction between the role of race in college admissions and the role of race in health disparities.

If you dont get into Harvard, theres always Princeton or Columbia or Cornell, she said. Maternal death  the stakes are a little bit higher.

In California, a voter initiative, Proposition 209, has prohibited race-based selection in public education and employment since 1996. California Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Oakland) has co-authored a pending bill that would amend the proposition to allow municipalities to grant benefits to specific groups of vulnerable people if they use research-based measures that can reduce health and other disparities.

Bonta, a law school graduate, told KFF Health News that the litigation against the Abundant Birth Project is the result of conservative groups who want to exist in a world that doesnt exist, where communities of color have not had to suffer the generational harm that comes from structural racism.

Bonta has more than once been a victim of medical racism herself.

When she went to the hospital with a serious back injury, she was interrogated by a doctor who appeared to believe she was faking pain so she could obtain drugs.

But for the intervention of my husband, who happened to be there and moved into health advocacy mode, I, as a Black Latina woman, would not have received the care that I needed, she said. Bontas husband, Rob Bonta, is also a lawyer and is now Californias attorney general.

Briana Jones experiences racism every day, she said.

She was 15 when she gave birth to her first child in a San Francisco hospital. Terrified and in agonizing pain, she did what laboring mothers have always done and screamed.

A nurse ordered her to shut up.

In the U.S., Black women are far more likely than white women to report that health care providers scolded, threatened, or shouted at them during childbirth, research shows. They also face other forms of obstetric racism, including barriers to quality care and cumulative stress from lifelong discrimination.

Growing up Black in predominantly white and Asian San Francisco has been a struggle for Jones. But, while carrying her second baby last year, she learned from her mother of the Abundant Birth Project, and within a month, her race and address in Bayview Hunters Point, where some of the citys poorest residents live, qualified her as one of nearly 150 women to receive the $1,000 a month during her pregnancy and for six months postpartum.

I really did feel like it was God helping me, she said.

For Morenoff, though, its just another form of discrimination, and he says the city must either open the Abundant Birth Project to all pregnant women or close it down. The whole point of the 14th Amendment is to require America to treat all Americans as Americans with the same equal rights, he said.

Jones had high blood pressure, leading to swollen ankles and dizziness, during both her pregnancies. In her more recent one, the birth project stipend helped enable her to quit couch surfing and move into an apartment, and she gave birth to a healthy boy named Adonis.

Its known that people of color struggle way harder than other races, Jones said. Where I live, its nothing but struggle here, people trying to make ends meet.

For them to try to take this program away from us, she said, its wrong.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Never miss a beat: Get our daily stories straight to your inbox with theGrios newsletter.

The post Backlash to affirmative action hits pioneering maternal health program for Black women appeared first on TheGrio.
Met Police said the Uber driver was stabbed twice in the chest in Nightingale Lane, Balham, in the early hours of last Thursday

A man has been arrested on suspicion of committing grievous bodily harm after an Uber driver was stabbed in south London.

The Met Police said the driver was stabbed twice in the chest in Balham in the early hours of last Thursday.

It followed other incidents in October and November where women were targeted in Clapham Junction, Brixton and Balham.

The previous incidents involved stalking and approaching with knives.

The Uber driver, who was attacked on 23 November, has been released from hospital and does not have life-threatening injuries.

Police said a 22-year-old man was arrested in Brixton on Friday.

At the same address, a man in his 30s was arrested on suspicion of burglary in relation to an unrelated ongoing investigation.

Det Supt Dan O'Sullivan from the South West Command Unit said: "We recognise these incidents will have caused a lot of concern within the local community and wider and we are working around the clock to fully investigate the circumstances surrounding them.

"These are extremely serious offences that will have had a profound impact on the victims. Tackling violence against women and girls is a priority for the force and we continue to pursue a number of enquiries in order to hold those responsible to account."

Timeline

A map showing the locations of the incidents in November, which all surround Clapham Common

10 October - A man approached a woman as she was entering an address on Barrington Road, SW9 at about 22:50 BST. After a short struggle she was able to fight him off and he left

17 November - A woman was followed at about 04:00 GMT as she walked along Sisters Avenue, SW11. As the man got close, she began to shout and he ran away. He was in possession of a knife

19 November - A man approached a woman and grabbed her on Sumburgh Road, SW12, at about 01:40 but she managed to escape

23 November - An Uber driver was stabbed on Nightingale Lane, SW12, at roughly 00:20

23 November - Officers saw a man approaching women near Holy Trinity Church on Clapham Common, SW4 at 02:50 and chased him, but he escaped

23 November - Officers spotted the suspect using a red bicycle at 04:45 and chased him again, but lost him on St John's Road, SW11

Source: Met Police

Listen to the best of BBC Radio London on Sounds and follow BBC London on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to hello.bbclondon@bbc.co.uk
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel stand guard during a nationwide strike called by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami in Dhaka on October 29 (Munir uz zaman)

Bangladesh has launched a sweeping and violent crackdown on opposition parties to "eliminate competition" ahead of general elections, including arresting almost 10,000 activists, Human Rights Watch said Monday.

As well as the thousands arrested, many from the key Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), a staggering number also face charges.

According to the BNP, about half of its five million members "face politically motivated prosecution", HRW said.

"The arrests, they are not leaving anyone behind, from senior level to the ground level," one activist told HRW.

Prisons are now at more than double their capacity, the rights group said.

The South Asian nation of around 170 million people holds a general election on January 7, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina eyeing her fourth consecutive term in power.

The BNP and other parties have held mass protests calling on Hasina to quit power and let a neutral government run the polls, demands the government has said are unconstitutional.

"Bangladesh authorities are carrying out mass arrests of political opposition in a clear attempt to quash the opposition and eliminate competition ahead of the general elections", HRW said.

New York-based HRW, who called it a "violent autocratic crackdown", said at least 16 people have been killed since protests escalated in October, including two police officers.

More than 5,500 people have been wounded.

There was no immediate response by the government to the HRW report, but authorities say that those arrested should face justice for a range of violent crimes.

The police, who have not said how many people they have arrested, accuse the opposition of torching nearly 290 vehicles, mostly buses, during nationwide strikes and transport blockades since October 29.

Police said at least six people had been killed in the violence.

- 'Extrajudicial killings' -

HRW based its report on multiple witness interviews, as well as analysis of videos and police reports.

It said it had found "evidence that security forces are responsible for using excessive force, mass arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings".

Bangladesh is one of the world's largest garment exporters -- accounting for around 85 percent of its $55 billion in annual exports -- with many global brands purchasing clothes from its factories.

"Diplomatic partners should make clear that the crackdown will jeapordize economic cooperation", HRW said.

Julia Bleckner, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said credible elections could not be held under such conditions.

"A free election is impossible when the government stifles free expression and systematically incapacitates the opposition, critics, and activists through arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearance, harassment, and intimidation," Bleckner said.

The BNP on Sunday said at least 16,625 members had been arrested since October.

They include most of its leadership, most notably the BNP's de facto chief Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

"Bangladesh has not seen such a massive crackdown on the opposition in the country's history," BNP spokesman A.K.M Wahiduzzaman told AFP. "A blanket of fear has spread all over the country".

- 'Fearing arrest' -

Prosecutors and lawyers said in the past two weeks at least 526 BNP officials and activists were convicted and sentenced, mostly in absentia, over what the party said were "trumped up" charges.

Wahiduzzaman said that thousands of BNP members were now in hiding.

Party officials said that when the police raided a house looking for them, they had beaten or arrested family members in their place.

"Fearing arrest and torture, they've fled their homes," he said. "Many are living on grain fields under open sky."

A.R. Khan Liton, a BNP student leader in the southern coastal district of Satkhira, said he and other party members were terrified.

"Almost every BNP activist I know has fled their homes," Liton told AFP.

"They don't spend more than two nights in one place. Some are spending the night in paddy or sugarcane fields."

str-sa/pjm/dva
Do you have the best Christmas lights on the block?

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Upload photos or a video of your home.

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A wallaby (not pictured) was rescued from the waters at Trinity Beach in Cairns. Getty Images

A wallaby got stuck in the water at an Australian beach after it was chased in by a dog.

The animal was safely rescued by beachgoers from the crocodile-infested waters.

Rescuer Angus Burnett told 7News the wallaby "was a bit disorientated."

Beachgoers rescued a wallaby from crocodile-infested waters in Australia after a dog chased the marsupial into the ocean.

Angus Burnett was among a trio of rescuers who worked to pull the wallaby out of the waters at Trinity Beach in Cairns, Queensland, this week, Australian TV network 7News reported. The beach and surrounding areas are known as a habitat for crocodiles, Queensland's government says.

Burnett told the news outlet that he was on an afternoon walk when he stripped down to his underwear and ran into the water after he spotted a "concerned woman" who told him that her husband had been in the ocean for 10 minutes trying to bring a wallaby to shore.

"I just swam out and helped him," Burnett, 32, told 7News. "I wanted to make sure the wallaby was ok."

The struggling wallaby was more than 150 feet from the shore, according to Burnett, who said that he and the other man tried to guide the "agitated" wallaby back to land for about 10 minutes.

But the wallaby "wasn't coming in" and "was a bit disorientated," Burnett said. "It was kicking around a bit and was a bit tired. It would go limp and go under at time, so you had to pick it back up."

According to 7News, a woman also jumped in the water to help rescue the wallaby.

Finally, the wallaby was successfully brought back to land before it hopped away from the beachgoers.

Burnett was modest about his assistance to the animal, saying, it's "something you do to help out, isn't it, as an Australian."

UPI reported that in 2020, two wallabies had to be rescued while swimming offshore at nearby beaches.

Read the original article on Insider
BENICIA, Calif. - A California woman was arrested after she was caught with a handwritten, fake license plate on the back of a suspected stolen car.

It happened Friday morning in Benicia, located about a half-hours drive north of San Francisco.

According to police, the suspect, 38-year-old Angel Rachiene Bolton, wrote the license plate numbers with a thick black marker on what appeared to be printer paper and taped it to the back of a silver Kia Rio LX, which was reportedly stolen out of Alameda.

"We know we are not superheroes, but just FYI this is NOT a way to get one over on us," the Benica PD wrote on Facebook.

A woman was arrested after she was spotted with a handwritten fake license plate in Benicia, Calif. / Benicia PD Facebook

SUGGESTED:

The numbers on the forged license plate didn't quite size up, however, because Bolton apparently ran out of room trying to squeeze everything into the small space.

To make things worse, the counterfeit plates tags were expired, reading "JAN 2023" where a real registration sticker would be.

"Pro tip: At least make the "registration" current," the Benicia PD joked.

Police arrested Bolton and charged her with felony possession of a stolen vehicle and misdemeanor possession of "unlawful paraphernalia," according to arrest records.




Jiang Hui, left, whose mother was on the missing MH370 airline, wears a cap which reads "Pray for Blessing MH370" as he distributes papers with the words " Open, Fair and Just" during a meeting with journalists in Beijing, Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. A Beijing court is holding compensation hearings for Chinese relatives of people who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 on a flight to Beijing. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

BEIJING (AP)  A Beijing court began compensation hearings Monday morning for Chinese relatives of people who died on a Malaysia Airlines plane that disappeared in 2014 on a flight to Beijing, a case that remains shrouded in mystery after almost a decade.

Security was tight around the Chinese capital's main Chaoyang District Intermediary Court and no detailed information was immediately available. Police checked the identities of journalists onsite and sequestered them in a cordoned-off area. Reporters were able to see relatives enter the court but were unable to speak with them before the hearing began.

There was no immediate comment from the court, and China's Foreign Ministry referred questions on the matter to legal authorities.

The Chinese government pays high attention to the follow-up actions of MH370. We hope the relevant parties will maintain close communication and handle it properly, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a daily briefing on Monday.

Various theories have emerged about the fate of the plane, including mechanical failure, a hijacking attempt, or a deliberate effort to scuttle it by those in the cockpit, but scant evidence has been found to show why the plane diverted from its original route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

The Boeing 777 with 227 passengers and 12 crew aboard is believed to have plunged into the Southern Ocean south of India but months of intense searching found no sign of where it went down and only fragments of the plane have washed up on beaches in the area.

Among the passengers onboard, 153 or 154 by differing accounts were citizens of China, causing the disaster to resonate especially in Beijing, where daily briefings and vigils were held for those missing. Some relatives refused to believe the plane had disappeared, believing it had been taken to an unknown site and that their loved ones remained alive, and refused a accept relatively small compassionate payments from the airline.

Details of the lawsuit remain cloudy but appear to be based on the contention that the airline failed to take measures to locate the plane after it disappeared from air traffic control about 38 minutes after takeoff over the South China Sea on the night of March 8, 2014.

Relatives have been communicating online and say they expect the hearings to extend to mid-December

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.

Similar cases brought in the United States 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.

China itself says it is still investigating the cause of the crash of a China Eastern Airlines jetliner that killed 132 people on March 21, 2022. The disaster was a rare failure for the Chinese airline industry that dramatically improved safety following deadly crashes in the 1990s.

The Boeing 737-800 en route from Kunming in the southwest to Guangzhou, near Hong Kong, went into a nosedive from 8,800 meters (29,000 feet), appeared to recover, and then slammed into a mountainside.
Benton and Franklin county courtrooms will no longer have armed bailiffs starting Friday.

In the wake of changes in Washington state law, Benton County Sheriff Tom Croskrey said he will remove his limited commission that allows the eight bailiffs to carry guns or tasers on the job at the Benton County Justice Center in Kennewick.

The change is effective Dec. 1.

In the Tri-Cities, bailiffs work in the Superior Courts in Benton and Franklin counties to keep order in the courtroom and protect judges and other officials, including jurors.

Local county officials say a change in Washington state law now requires the bailiffs to have an active commission through the state Criminal Justice Training Commission and to pass a background check.

While all of the Tri-Cities bailiffs have worked as either police or corrections officers, most have retired and their official certification has lapsed. If they want to renew it, they would need to attend the law enforcement academy again.

As a result, Croskrey told the Herald its not an easy decision to pull his authority for them to continue.

I dont take this decision lightly, the sheriff told the Herald. There are legitimate reasons for us to be doing this. Its not some random thing I came up with. We just have to create a better path moving forward.

While area judges and sheriffs say the change in the law makes this necessary, Teamsters Local 839, who represent the eight bailiffs, disagrees.

Jesus Alvarez, the Teamsters business representative, said his understanding is that the law doesnt apply to the bailiffs.

The union is negotiating with the counties to reach some sort of agreement that will allow their bailiffs to stay working in the courtroom, he told the Herald.

While officials didnt announce any intent to cut the positions, Alvarez said the plan he has heard is to cut the positions by the end of February.

Bailiffs position

The bailiffs had been a fixture in the courtrooms for more than 50 years and have provided courtroom security for almost 30 years, Judge Joe Burrowes told the Franklin County commissioners during a recent commission meeting.

They hold a relatively unique position in the state, he said. Theyre allowed to enforce the law and carry a gun and taser.

Theyre allowed to do that because the sheriff grants them a limited commission. That allows them to act as law enforcement officers while theyre in the courtroom.

That changed with the passage of House Bill 1132. The bill, which passed the 2023 Legislature unanimously, added some new requirements for limited authority peace officers who have the power to arrest people and carry weapons.

To be limited commission officers, they need to have an active certification from the Criminal Justice Training Commission and a background check will be required for anyone hired after July 1, 2023.

Since the bailiffs wouldnt be able to have a gun or enforce the law, that means they wouldnt be able to fulfill the current job description, Burrowes said.

Alvarez disagrees with that interpretation of the law, noting it doesnt mention bailiffs at all.

He claims the Criminal Justice Training Commission also doesnt interpret it the same way.

Courtroom security

Its still unclear what this will mean for courtroom security in Benton and Franklin counties.

Most of the people charged with the worst crimes are being held in the county jails while their cases are pending. And for most pretrial hearings, they appear via video link from the jail.

If they are brought into the courtroom, they are accompanied by corrections officers from the jail, who are certified to carry weapons.

Where it becomes more uncertain is in other court hearings, such as in family court. Emotions often run high and it can be necessary to have a court official present to maintain the peace.

Croskrey said there will be some of his deputies on hand in the courthouse to do that if needed.

And, he said, they are continuing to work with the security contractor that operates the justice centers metal detectors.

He doesnt expect much to change on Dec. 2, other than for the bailiffs to be unarmed.

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond, who withdrew his limited commission for Franklin County bailiffs years ago, called the change a good one.

But he said it will likely cost an additional $150,000 a year to hire a new deputy to provide armed security in the courtroom.

His deputies already man the outside security station that everyone must pass through to enter the courthouse in Pasco.
So maybe you can post a selfie of your ballot on social media without fearing you'll do time in the clink.

Just maybe.

On Monday, Ozaukee County Judge Paul Malloy threw out a felony charge of voter fraud against Paul Buzzell, a Mequon-Thiensville School Board member, for posting a photo of his completed April 2022 ballot on his Facebook page.

Buzzell had faced up to 3 years behind bars and up to $10,000 in fines on the Class I felony for taking the so-called "ballot selfie." He would also have been barred from holding any elective office.

But Malloy dismissed the case in a hearing on Monday morning, saying the state law was overly broad and in violation of the constitutional guarantee of free speech.

"This case was about more than just a Facebook post; it was about protecting the fundamental right to freedom of expression," Michael Chernin, attorney for Buzzell, said in a statement. "We are pleased with the court's decision to uphold these essential liberties."

But Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol, who brought the case, said Malloy's decision doesn't set a precedent in Wisconsin because it is just a circuit court ruling.

Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol

Gerol said he would be asking Attorney General Josh Kaul's office to review the decision and decide whether to file an appeal. If not, Gerol said he is asking that the second-term Democratic attorney general will issue an official opinion on the law.

"It's in the AG's hands," said Gerol, a Republican.

A Kaul spokeswoman did not have an immediate response.

When he brought the charge last year, Gerol said he saw it as a "test case."

State voter fraud laws say it is illegal for anyone to show a marked ballot to anyone else or to place a mark on a ballot that identifies it as that person's ballot.

But some courts, including a federal judge in New Hampshire, have held that statutes barring an individuals right to publish their ballot would be a violation of the First Amendment. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal of the New Hampshire ruling.

As it turned out, Buzzell wasn't just any voter. He opposed the heated 2021 recall election in the Mequon-Thiensville School District over such hot-button conservative issues as the teaching of race in schools and the handling of the coronavirus pandemic. All four incumbent school board members ended up retaining their seats.

Buzzell, a former school board member and a Republican, then ran for the office again in April 2022 and finished on top, winning a three-year term. He is currently the treasurer of the school board.

According to the complaint, a Thiensville resident alerted the Mequon Police Department of Buzzell's Facebook post with a photo of his ballot. Later that day, another stickler showed up at the police department with the same tip, the complaint says.

Buzzell's social media post shows that he voted for himself and another candidate.

"Officer Van Laanen told Buzzell the nature of the complaint and that posting the photo of the ballot was illegal," the two-page complaint says. "Buzzell stated that his understanding was that it was not illegal to post a photo of a ballot with his name on it."

Michael Maistelman, another attorney for Buzzell, said the case highlights the tension between election laws and constitutional rights in the digital age. Unlike in a civil case, Buzzell can't ask the state to pick up his legal fees if he wins.

Said Maistelman, a Democrat: "The dismissal of this case is a reminder that the laws need to evolve with the changing ways in which we communicate and participate in our democracy."

Contact Daniel Bice at (414) 313-6684 or dbice@jrn.com. Follow him on X at @DanielBice or on Facebook at fb.me/daniel.bice.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Judge throws out felony charge over ballot selfie on Facebook
Joe Biden often touts his Irish heritage and has repeatedly reiterated the importance of the Northern Ireland peace accord - ALEX WONG/GETTY IMAGES

Joe Bidens administration is concerned that changes to Britains Rwanda policy could undermine the Northern Ireland peace process, according to senior White House officials.

Rishi Sunak vowed not to allow a foreign court to block deportation flights after the migration scheme was dealt a blow by the Supreme Court earlier this month when it ruled it violated British and international law.

The Prime Minister signalled he was prepared to do what is necessary to deliver on the policy if the European Court of Human Rights intervened in the implementation of the scheme.

That includes passing emergency legislation to block future challenges to the policy of sending asylum seekers to the East African nation, including threats posed by the European Convention on Human Rights [ECHR].

The moves have drawn the attention of the White House, amid concerns it could have implications for the Good Friday Agreement, which is underpinned by the ECHR.

Mr Bidens administration wants to ensure any revamped legislation does not undermine the peace deal, two senior White House officials told The New York Times.

Irish government lobbies White House

The presidents team were all keeping an eye on Northern Ireland as Mr Sunak vowed to plough ahead with the Rwanda policy, one senior official told the newspaper.

The Irish government is also understood to have lobbied the White House over concerns that Britain could withdraw from the ECHR.

The warnings have been echoed by senior Conservatives, who warned that blocking human rights laws could damage Britains relations across the Atlantic.

Sir Bob Neill, chairman of the justice select committee and a former minister, told The Guardian he had similar concerns that attempts to block human rights laws could risk peace in Northern Ireland.

We have known for a long time that laws such as the European Convention on Human Rights are a central part of the Good Friday Agreement, he said.

Anything that undermines the Good Friday Agreement would be really dangerous for the peace process.

Meanwhile, a government minister told the newspaper: This agreement is fundamental to our place in the world. We all know what it means to Joe Biden.

Under pressure

Mr Sunak has come under pressure from backbenchers for Parliaments sovereign will to take precedence over agreements like the ECHR if necessary.

US officials are understood to have been alarmed by comments by some Conservatives, in particular Suella Braverman, the former home secretary, that Britain should simply withdraw from the ECHR to deliver on the Governments promise to reduce net migration and stop illegal crossings from the Channel.

However, the White House has since taken note that Mrs Bravermans successor, James Cleverly, acknowledged that leaving the ECHR would undermine attempts to stop the boats.

British officials said they were aware of the White Houses concerns, but noted that US officials have not raised the issue since the Supreme Court ruling on Rwanda.

According to The New York Times, White House officials have even expressed their curiosity about the Rwanda policy to their British counterparts, as they struggle to contend with rising immigration levels themselves.

It is not the first time Mr Bidens administration has raised concerns about the Good Friday Agreement with Britain.

Hard border

The US president, who often touts his Irish heritage, repeatedly reiterated the importance of the peace accords in post-Brexit negotiations with Britain.

Mr Biden and other senior Democrats saw Brexit as a threat to the peace process because it risked the need for a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The Telegraph has previously revealed that Mr Biden threatened to cancel his state visit to the UK this year if a stand-off over the Northern Ireland Protocol was not resolved.

After he attended a ceremony to mark the 25th anniversary of the agreement, Mr Biden said he had made the journey to make sure the Brits didnt screw around and walk away from their commitments.

The US State Department said it would not comment on the possibility of Britain withdrawing from the ECHR. But it stressed its priority remains protecting the gains of the Good Friday Agreement.

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

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -A truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza that was on the verge of expiring was extended by two days, mediator Qatar said on Monday, raising the prospect the Palestinian group will free hostages beyond the 69 released since Friday.

The truce will prolong a pause in the seven-week war between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian group, which triggered the latest conflict with an Oct. 7 incursion into southern Israel in which it killed about 1,200 people and took roughly 240 hostage.

Each day since the four-day truce began on Friday, Hamas has released some of the hostages while Israel has freed some of the Palestinians it holds.

Israel previously said it would extend the truce by one day for every 10 more hostages released, providing some respite to Palestinians in the Mediterranean seaside strip from the war, which has killed thousands and laid waste to the enclave.

"An agreement has been reached to extend the humanitarian pause for an additional two days in the Gaza Strip," a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said in a post on social media platform X. Hamas also said it had agreed a two-day extension.

There was no immediate comment from Israel, but a White House official confirmed agreement had been reached.

U.S. President Joe Biden thanked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as Qatar and Egypt - who have facilitated indirect talks between the two sides - for a pact that would free more hostages and allow more aid into Gaza.

On Monday, the Israeli military said 11 Israeli hostages - the latest to be freed under the terms of the original truce that was due to end on Monday - had arrived in Israel.

Qatar said the newly released hostages, all dual citizens, included three with French nationality, two with German nationality and six Argentine citizens.

Hamas said earlier it had received a list of 33 Palestinians to be released from Israeli jails in return. It said these included three female prisoners and 30 minors.

With the latest releases, Hamas has freed a total of 69 people since Friday, including both Israelis and non-Israelis.

Under the terms of existing four-day truce agreement, Hamas was due to release in total 50 Israeli women and children held hostage in Gaza. There was no limit in the deal on the number of foreigners it could release.

Prior to the latest releases, an Israeli spokesperson said the total number of hostages still held in Gaza on Monday was 184, including 14 foreigners and 80 Israelis with dual nationality.

U.S. national security spokesperson John Kirby said on CNN the White House did not believe any Americans would be among the latest group to be freed from Gaza, where Washington says seven to nine U.S. citizens are being held.

A senior U.S. official said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates this week to discuss sustaining aid flows to Gaza and freeing all hostages as well as U.S. principles for the future of Gaza and the need for an independent Palestinian state.

HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

None of the announcements specified how many hostages would be released under the extended agreement, but earlier the head of Egypt's State Information Service, Diaa Rashwan, said the deal being negotiated would include the release of 20 Israeli hostages and 60 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The truce agreed last week was the first halt in fighting in the seven weeks since Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages back into Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

In response to that attack, Israel has bombarded the enclave and mounted a ground offensive in the north. More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza's Hamas-run government says, and hundreds of thousands displaced.

Wide areas of the enclave have been flattened by Israeli airstrikes and artillery bombardments, and a humanitarian crisis has unfolded as supplies of food, fuel, drinking water and medicine run out.

Netanyahu said at the weekend that once the truce ended, "We will return with full force to achieve our goals: the elimination of Hamas; ensuring that Gaza does not return to what it was; and of course the release of all our hostages."

BRIEF RESPITE

The truce agreement also allowed for aid trucks to enter Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres described the extension of the truce as "a glimpse of hope and humanity," but said two days was not enough time to meet Gaza's aid needs.

"I strongly hope that this will enable us to increase even more the humanitarian aid to the people in Gaza that (are) suffering so much - knowing that even with that additional amount of time, it will be impossible to satisfy all the dramatic needs of the population," Guterres told reporters.

Palestinians in Gaza had earlier said they were praying for an extension of the truce. Some were visiting homes reduced to rubble by weeks of intensive Israeli bombardment, while others queued for flour and other essential aid being delivered by the United Nations relief agency UNRWA.

Displaced Palestinian woman Um Mohammed said life was hard for people still living in the north of the enclave, which has borne the brunt of Israel's ground invasion so far.

"People up there are searching for food. People want to live, to secure themselves for the coming days, because they are afraid, so they're securing what they can," she said. "And if you ask if they are restful or at peace, they are not."

(Reporting by Reuters bureaus; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Gareth Jones, Alex Richardson and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Nick Macfie, Angus MacSwan and Cynthia Osterman)
President Joe Biden said Monday,

President Joe Biden said Monday, "While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America."

President Joe Biden said he was horrified to learn about the three 20-year-old college students of Palestinian descent who were shot Sunday in Vermont.

We join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery, and we send our deepest condolences to their families, Biden said in a statement. While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.

A white man shot college students Hisham Awartani and Kinnan Abdalhamid, both U.S. citizens, and Tahseen Ali Ahmad, a legal U.S. resident, on the street Sunday in Burlington, Vermont, while the three were visiting Awartanis family for Thanksgiving.

Police arrested a suspect late Sunday and charged him with three counts of attempted murder. Jason J. Eaton, 48, made a video appearance Monday in court as a not guilty plea was entered, according to The Associated Press. Bail had not been set.

Police said they are still investigating what motivated the shooting and have not declared it a hate crime, but the police said that the three men were speaking a mixture of English and Arabic at the time of the shooting and that two of them were wearing traditional keffiyeh scarves. The American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said they have reason to believe that the shooting was motivated by the three victims being Arab.

The three men are all in the ICU and are expected to survive, although Awartani, a student at Brown University, has a spinal injury and will likely have a lifelong recovery ahead of him.

Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said at a Monday news conference that its a tragic irony the three men were targeted in America.

My sister lives in the occupied West Bank, and people often ask me, Arent you worried about your sister? Price said. The reality is, as difficult as their life is, they are surrounded by an incredible sense of community. Tragic irony is not even the right phrase, to have them come visit me on Thanksgiving and have something like this happen.

The victims families said in a joint statement that they are extremely concerned about their children.

We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime, the statement says. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice. We need to ensure that our children are protected, and this heinous crime is not repeated. No family should ever have to endure this pain and agony. Our children are dedicated students who deserve to be able to focus on their studies and building their futures.

The ADC said it wants the shooting to be investigated as a hate crime.

Abdalhamid is a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania and Ali Ahmad studies at Trinity College in Connecticut.

In Bidens statement Monday, he added: Earlier today, I spoke to Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to offer my support. We are grateful to the Burlington Police Department  as well as the FBI, ATF, and other law enforcement partners  for their swift work identifying and arresting a suspect. Our Administration will provide any additional federal resources needed to assist in the investigation.

Related...
WASHINGTON  For five weeks, delivery trucks crossing into the Gaza Strip from Egypt have carried food, water and other supplies to Palestinians facing life-threatening shortages of basic supplies.

The Biden administration, which helped broker the deal allowing the deliveries, has pledged $100 million in humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians amid the crisis triggered by the Israel-Hamas war. More could be released in response to a hostage-release deal announced last week.

But the administrations desire to send much-needed aid has run up against fears that some aid could end up in the hands of Hamas, the militant group that governs Gaza and whose surprise deadly attack on Israel on Oct. 7 touched off the latest conflict. The U.S. has designated Hamas a terrorist organization.

Why would we spend a minute of our time  to figure out how to get more aid to Gaza to help terrorists? This makes no sense, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., said just hours after President Joe Biden announced the assistance.

U.S. officials have been keenly aware for decades of aid money such as domestic welfare payments to Palestinian families and individuals being used to support terrorism. The Israeli government also has accused Hamas of directing millions of dollars intended for projects such as roads, bridges or hospitals to be used instead to build a network of underground tunnels that serve as a transportation route for terrorists and weapons.

The Biden administration acknowledged there are legitimate concerns that Hamas might divert or steal some of the aid, and Biden warned that the assistance will stop if that happens.

The U.S. wants to make sure it is helping the Palestinians, not Hamas. But distinguishing between the two can be challenging because Hamas comprises a military wing and a governing authority that is in charge of everything in Gaza, from the health ministry to road construction.

The U.S. has seen no indication that Hamas has gotten its hands on any of the latest assistance that has entered Gaza, said John Kirby, the White House spokesman for national security matters.

As of last week, more than 1,370 truckloads of humanitarian assistance had entered Gaza after 50 arrived during a 24-hour span, Kirby said. The pace is far short of the goal of 150 trucks a day. The food, water and other aid goes from United Nations trucks to humanitarian organizations that then deliver it to the people of Gaza.

Inspections and other mitigation measures are in place to keep the aid from being stolen and to make sure it gets to people who need it most, the administration says.

With nearly 1.7 million of Gazas 2.3 million people displaced by the war, the need is close to catastrophic at this stage, said Hardin Lang, of Refugees International, a nonprofit group based in Washington.

Homes and businesses have been destroyed, the Hamas government bureaucracy is not functioning, hospitals are being used by militants, and there are severe shortages of water, food and fuel, said Matthew Levitt, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank based in Washington.

Given the nature of this crisis and the fact that there is the ability to alleviate some of the humanitarian crisis, we should do that, Levitt said.

Humanitarian assistance has never been conditioned on the guarantee that every penny must be stopped from going to militants or there would be no aid, Levitt said.

There's got to be a balance between the two, he said. At the end of the day, what we're about is preventing people from dying.

Hostage deal: Inside the 'excruciating' work of a secret US cell that secured the release of 50 hostages

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid enter the southern Gaza Strip from Egypt via the Rafah border crossing on November 19, 2023, amid ongoing battles between Israel and militants from the Palestinian Hamas movement.

'High-risk for potential diversion and misuse'

U.S. aid to Palestinians usually flows through contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA. The agency, created in 1949, provides education, health care and other social services to more than 5 million registered Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria.

Other aid, including emergency food, water and medicine, can flow through various other aid programs, including emergency appropriations by Congress.

Of the $100 million in humanitarian assistance recently announced, $34 million is going through the U.S. Agency for International Development, which is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance.

In response to mounting health needs, the agency and its partners have provided pharmaceuticals and other medical supplies to Palestinians, including civilians at Gazas Al Ahli Hospital after a deadly explosion on Oct. 17, a spokesperson for USAID said.

Almost 1,000 people in southern Gaza have been given psychological first aid while hundreds of others in shelters and health facilities have received mental health counseling. The U.N. World Food Programme has distributed electronic food vouchers to 522,000 civilians in Gaza. A nongovernmental organization working with USAID is distributing 3,000 hygiene kits to displaced woman at shelters and through community-based organizations in Gaza.

The aid also includes food, health care, medicine, nutrition, shelter, and water and sanitation services. None of it is used for infrastructure repairs, the spokesperson said.

USAID would not name the nongovernmental organizations it is working with to deliver the supplies, citing security concerns. But the spokesperson said several precautions have been taken to ensure that none of the assistance ends up in the hands of Hamas.

Partner organizations are carefully vetted and must certify that they will comply with anti-terrorism laws. Grants and contracts include anti-terrorism provisions. And officials are working closely with the Israelis, who are reportedly inspecting the deliveries to make sure no weapons are smuggled into the area.

U.S. aid for Palestinians also remains subject to numerous conditions in annual congressional appropriations legislation and elsewhere. The conditions are designed, in part, to prevent Palestinian leaders from using such domestic welfare payments for acts of terrorism, according to a report by the Congressional Research Service, the independent research arm of Congress.

The report didnt single out Hamas for siphoning off any money for terrorism. But Hamas, as a political organization, controls Gaza. So concerns persist that Hamas could end up with at least some of the $100 million in assistance flowing into Gaza.

A report by USAIDs Office of Inspector General after Biden announced the package identified it as high-risk for potential diversion and misuse.

Two Republican senators  Tim Scott of South Carolina and Pete Ricketts of Nevada  are pushing legislation to keep foreign aid from benefiting Hamas or other terrorist groups.

Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said Egypt and Israel are monitoring the supplies entering Gaza and are searching the delivery trucks to make sure nothing gets in that could benefit Hamas.

That gives me some confidence  that Israel ... they're the ones screening the trucks going in, he said.

In terms of people leaving Gaza, the last thing the Egyptians want would be Hamas coming into their country because they've had to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood for quite some time, and nobody wants to stop Hamas from coming into Egypt more than the Egyptians, he said. And they know how to screen pretty well."

An American who runs a large aid group that has for years worked on infrastructure projects in Gaza said his organization follows a "no contact" policy when it comes to dealing with Hamas.

"They don't ask us for anything. We don't ask them for anything," said the aid worker, who did not want to be publicly identified because of his organization's work in Gaza, which has temporarily shifted from public-utilities-related work to sourcing and delivering meals.

The U.S. has targeted individual Hamas leaders with travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargoes. It does not maintain so-called jurisdiction-based sanctions on Gaza and the West Bank, a separate Palestinian territory.

That means that while the U.S. Treasury Department urges humanitarian groups and U.S. companies to make sure food, agricultural commodities, medicine, medical devices and components for development projects don't end up in the hands of "blocked" individuals or their "fraudulent charities," it does not prohibit aid groups from supplying these goods and services to the Hamas-run strip.

"That doesn't mean you can't ever talk with anyone from Hamas, because if we're doing a water network then we have to speak with some people from, for example, the Coastal Management Water unit in Gaza," the American aid worker said. "And some of those guys are Hamas. We can't talk to the higher-up levels. But there is coordination on a technical level. There just can't be anything political."

The presence of Hamas never really seemed to affect our work, he said.

The aid worker mentioned a few examples related to him by his staff in Gaza when there was some minor interference. One time, he said, Hamas operatives showed up to a site where his group was working and demanded some old water pipes. The group refused.

Another time, his organization was building a school with U.S. funding in a building that used to house a U.N.-built school. One day, a Hamas official showed up and halted the project because of a land dispute, he said. He said his organization also has had disputes with Israel, in the West Bank, when it has tried to build schools for Palestinians on Palestinian land.

Hurling insults, Molotov cocktails: Jews live in fear as antisemitism rages

Workers receive humanitarian aid from Saudi Arabia, at Al Arish airport, Egypt, on its way to Gaza, Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023.

'A fraction of what's needed'

Hamas is far less capable of scamming or stealing humanitarian aid than it was before the start of the war, Levitt said. Hamas officials controlled the police force and the crossings into Gaza before the Oct. 7 attack. Now, theyre hiding in tunnels and on the run, Levitt said.

Another factor to consider: The amount of humanitarian aid going into Gaza is so paltry  that the issue of diversion really doesnt seem to be in play, Lang said. The amount of assistance thats getting into Gaza is a fraction of whats needed.

More could start flowing into Gaza soon, however.

In Washington, at least 13 Democratic senators have written to Biden urging him to put pressure on Israel to take immediate steps, including reopening a major border crossing, so humanitarian aid can flow to civilians in Gaza.

The letter, dated Nov. 20, stressed the humanitarian crisis and the need for water, food, fuel and medicine.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said last week that the hostage-release deal could mean additional humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians.

Miller said that while the U.S. has always maintained that a hostage deal is not needed to release more humanitarian aid, it has been clear that for some time that an agreement on hostages would release or would unlock the potential for delivery of more humanitarian assistance.

Hostage deal: How tiny Qatar became the middle man in negotiations to free hostages held by Hamas

As aid has trickled into Gaza on trucks, Cyprus has offered to open a maritime corridor. Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said the proposal would be a feasible way to significantly supplement the aid going into Gaza through Egypts Rafah border checkpoint.

Cyprus is only about 210 nautical miles from Gaza, but it's not clear how practical it would be to safely land cargo in Gaza's tiny port facilities. And Gaza's only major seaport, according to The Maritime Executive, an industry website for maritime news, is at the north end of the territory in Gaza City, the de facto epicenter of Israel's military operation.

Contributing: Joey Garrison and Francesca Chambers

'Self-silencing': For Palestinians, talking about Hamas comes with hazards

Relatives, friends and supporters of Israeli hostages held in Gaza since the October 7 attack by Hamas militants in southern Israel, hold placards and images of those taken during a protest for their release in Tel Aviv on November 22, 2023.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biden sending aid into Gaza. Is any of it ending up in hands of Hamas?
U.S. President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden board Air Force One at Nantucket Memorial Airport

(Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden will not attend a gathering of world leaders focused on climate change in Dubai this week, a U.S. official said on Sunday.

Reuters reported last month that Biden was unlikely to be at the United Nations "Conference of the Parties" on climate, known as COP28, which begins on Thursday, as he balances demands of a Middle East war and a presidential campaign expected to heat up in January.

The president's schedule for Thursday released by the White House shows him hosting a bilateral meeting with President Joao Manuel Goncalves Lourenco of the Republic of Angola and attending the National Tree Lighting.

Dozens of countries plan to push for the world's first deal to phase out CO2-emitting coal, oil and gas at the Dubai meeting.

Biden has attended both of the COP summits since his 2021 inauguration.

(Reporting by Jeff Mason, writing by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Gerry Doyle)
President Biden wont attend this years global climate summit, according to news reports.

A White House official told The New York Times that Biden would not attend. A U.S. official told Reuters the same.

Although no official reason was given for Bidens absence, officials suggested to the Times that the Israel-Hamas war was taking up much of the presidents focus.

White House spokesperson Angelo Fernandez Hernandez declined to confirm or deny the reports, saying in an email: We dont have any travel updates to share for the President at this time.

He did confirm climate envoy John Kerry, national climate adviser Ali Zaidi and White House adviser John Podesta will attend.

This week and next week, global leaders will gather in Dubai for annual climate negotiations. Biden attended the summits in 2021 and 2022.

On Friday and Saturday, the conference will include a World Leaders Summit, where heads of state were invited to speak about climate change.

The presidents official schedule does not list him as traveling abroad during that time.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
President Joe Biden has decided to skip this years U.N. climate conference, which begins Thursday in Dubai. Biden has led the U.S. delegation to the last two versions of the annual talking shopand has called climate change the ultimate threat to humanitybut will not be going to this year's, known as COP28, The New York Times reported. A White House spokesman did not give a reason for Bidens decision, but senior aides suggested he had enough on his plate with the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. The Dubai conference is due to be attended by world leaders from nearly 200 countries and by prominent figures including Pope Francis and King Charles III. Biden might have made the right decision politically, however, after a report Monday that conference host Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber had been planning to use COP28 meetings to strike deals for the UAE state oil company.

Read it at The New York Times

Read more at The Daily Beast.
According to US officials, President Joe Biden will skip the world leaders summit at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference, which begins in Dubai later this week. As president, Biden made it a point to attend the summit in 2021 and 2022 in order to underscore the centrality of climate policy to his political agenda, so his absence from the American delegation this year would be notable.

The annual UN climate confab may be beloved by global elites, but it also frustrates those on either side of the climate divide. As seen in the performative protests of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, much contemporary climate activism invokes apocalyptic horror. The slow-motion logrolling of global summits cannot measure up to that fierce urgency. Conversely, free-marketeers are likely to be revolted by the vision of central planning offered at such global conferences.

And make no mistake: a centralised reconfiguration of the global economy is at the heart of such climate deliberations. Because climate is literally everywhere, climate policy in the 21st century has spread to involve everything  from energy production to land-use regulations to food policy (no to beef, yes to bugs). Aggressive efforts at social transformation to fight climate change risk producing considerable blowback and  in the Netherlands and elsewhere  have boosted populist political movements. Meanwhile, the economic pain and social disruption caused by such efforts could threaten political incumbents. Witness Prime Minister Rishi Sunaks recent announcement softening some net zero climate commitments.

If activists are often disappointed by global climate summits, lobbyists are delighted. Financial incentives permeate contemporary climate policy, with hundreds of billions for carbon credits, subsidies for green technologies, climate-advising groups, and so forth. Much of this is directed at the national level, but lobbyists have increasingly flocked to these international summits as well  so much so that Club of Rome co-president Sandrine Dixson-Decleve called last years UN summit a circus.

Exemplifying the large sums potentially at issue in climate policy, this years Dubai gathering is expected to try to formalise a loss and damage fund. This fund would use pledges from wealthier nations to compensate developing countries, purportedly for the effects of climate change. Some developing countries have pushed for this fund to distribute at least $100 billion annually by 2030. American negotiators have pushed back against some elements of this fund (they insist that contributions should be voluntary, for instance), and the optics of this fund may be one reason why Biden might keep his distance from the summit as he heads into a reelection year.

Between 1995s first annual UN climate summit and today, the global situation has changed. For years now, many wealthy nations have reduced their net carbon emissions and their carbon emissions per capita. In the United States, per-capita emissions are below where they were in the 1960s, and overall emissions are at early-90s levels. The growth of global carbon emissions is no longer driven by wealthy nations but by developing ones. Those countries have major incentives not to curtail growth by enacting aggressive climate policies. Even if the European Union reached net zero carbon emissions tomorrow, that reduction could be swamped by new emissions from developing nations. In 2021, the Peoples Republic of China was responsible for close to a third of global carbon emissions.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping is not attending the UN climate summit, either.

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COP28  the annual United Nations climate conference  is facing increasing scrutiny after the BBC reported Monday that host United Arab Emirates plans to use the Dubai summit to discuss oil and natural gas deals with several countries.

The meetings are to be led by COP28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the CEO of the UAEs state oil company Adnoc and state renewables business, Masdar. One of the talking points in leaked documents seen by the BBC suggested telling oil-producing countries there was no conflict between extracting oil and climate change. Oil executives have gone on the defensive amid months-long criticism over the presence of Adnoc and big oil at COP28, with OPEC saying that a recent International Energy Agency report, unjustly vilifies the [oil and gas] industry as being behind the climate crisis.

With Al Jaber being caught red-handed, the COP Presidency now has to unequivocally step up the transparency, responsibility and accountability in leading the process, climate activist Christina Figueres writes on X. She compares the COP28 revelations in the BBCs report to the Volkswagen 2015 moment where the automakers massive Dieselgate scandal exposed the entire diesel car market to greater public scrutiny over pollution emission tests. Calling this a deep challenge and a transformational opportunity for COP leaders, Figueres warns that the planet cannot afford for them not to step up.

Al Jaber has relied on highly paid consultants to manage his image as a palatable climate change envoy and COP president, the Intercept reported in October. They have branded him as a fixer who can help build bridges between the fossil fuel industry and the climate change movement. But his refusal to step down as Adnocs chief has blurred the lines between the state-owned oil company and COP28, one former summit staffer said. Some PR agencies acting on behalf of COP28 were allegedly engaged by Adnic and Masdar rather than the COP team, the Intercept reported. Al Jabers appointment as COP president is, one climate media expert said, the culmination of a 30-year effort by big oil and energy companies to set their own targets and create their own rules.

U.S. President Joe Bidens absence from COP28 is delegitimizing the summits mission, argues Jessica Davies for Proactive, a financial news site. As the worlds largest producer of oil and second-biggest polluter, the U.S. is key in negotiating any future climate commitments, and it is a setback to not have Biden involved in these discussions. But several leaders of transitional energy and green initiative companies are also skipping the meeting, with one cleantech industry veteran calling the summit a circus that does little to help small and medium-sized businesses dedicated to reducing greenhouse emissions.
Michael and Linda Wagner of Galena wear shirts supporting the LGBTQIA + community as the Big Walnut Local School District school board discussed a resolution Thursday night that would prohibit gay pride flags.

Ray Marcano is a long-time journalist with writing and editing experience at some of the countrys largest media brands.

When ideologues grab power, freedom dies.

Thats what were seeing from some school board members of the Big Walnut Local School District, who are giving students a valuable lesson on bigotry and intolerance.

Three of the five board members approved a Dec. 14 second reading of a resolution that would ban LGBTQ+ flags as well as any signs, banners or symbols deemed activist or controversial from classrooms and school buildings.

Big Walnut Local School District anti-LGBTQ resolution about power, not values

The board could vote on the resolution that same evening.

Ray Marcano, a longtime journalist, is the former national president of the Society of Professional Journalists, a two-time Pulitzer juror, and a Fulbright fellow.

Lets forget that the poorly worded resolution has nothing to do with ensuring the best education for students.

Lets forget that this is nothing more than a culture war power play by people determine to impart their values on everyone else.

And lets also forget that the poorly worded resolution doesnt say who gets to decide what is activist or controversial.

Lets not forget that the resolution singles out LGBTQ+ populations, which raises all sorts of First Amendment issues.

Clearly, the board doesnt care about that.

Big Walnut anti-LGBTQ resolution flies in face of basic right

For example, in Tinker vs. De Moines Independent School District, the Supreme Court ruled school rules authorities cant censor speech unless they can prove it will interfere with a schools function.

Ohios revised code notes that students have a fundamental right to free speech. Schools can prohibit indecent speech, but does that mean the school board considers an LGBTQ+ sign indecent? Id love to hear them say that out loud.

The action raises another fundamental question: Dont these people read?

If they do, they should know that, across the country, voters repudiated school board candidates who ran on culture wars platforms and ignored what theyre elected to do  protect the interests of students.

Liberals and moderates won a staggering 80% of school board races nationwide because voters rejected the views of conservative candidates. Maybe theyll feel the same wrath next election.

The culture war playbook

But the effort to discriminate against a specific sign and trying to make vague rules about activism and controversy fits the culture wars playbook. Its the same anti-LGBTQ+ bias thats happening in unenlightened school districts across the country.

Based on their actions and comments one can only assume that if those Big Walnut school board members had their way, anything Black Lives Matter would be banned.

Sign supporting an anti-abortion stance would be OK.

Showing a poster of Malcolm X during Black History Month would be a no-no, but posting notes about killer Mexicans illegally coming across the border would be fine.

Dont even think about posting drawing of two men holding hands.

In worlds like that, only white, heterosexual, Christian, couples deserve to grace the halls.

Theres another contradiction. The school board introduced a resolution that says parents should decide whether their children should wear masks to school.

So let me get this straight. Parents can decide whats in the best interest of their children when it comes to masks. But they cant decide whether their child can bring certain signs to school.

Freedom is a big no-no

I would say this makes no sense, but to some, it makes perfect sense.

We talk about freedom as if it applies to everyone equally, but thats a fallacy. People like those on the Big Walnut school want to define the boundaries of freedom so that it meets their ideology.

Youre free to do as you please as long as I approve.

Board member Alice Nicks said shes heard from some people that they shouldnt have to see certain flags. Then tell them not to look. Elected officials should not endorse homophobia.

The district, on its website, says The mission of the Big Walnut Local Schools is to inspire and guide each student to his or her maximum potential.

At the Nov. 16 school board meeting, President Doug Crowl interrupts when he doesnt like what hes hearing and warns the large audience hell have people thrown out after it lets out a hearty laugh when he said this:

You want to blame hate. You have so much empathy. And no one should fear when they go into our schools. Lets just say we have a child who grew up in a household thats very religious. You think theyre not feeling condemned when they walk into a room and see an LGBTQ+ flag.

By the way, this is the same Crowl whose behavior once landed the district in court.

With this bigoted, intolerant, and freedom killing resolution, he and his cronies going to put the district there again.

Ray Marcano is a long-time journalist with writing and editing experience at some of the countrys largest media brands.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio school board's proposed anti-LGBTQ flag policy would kill freedom
A neonatologist stands in a Paris, Tennessee, hospital's special care nursery that closed this past summer. Tennessee is one of the six heartland states participating in the new caucus.

A neonatologist stands in a Paris, Tennessee, hospital's special care nursery that closed this past summer. Tennessee is one of the six heartland states participating in the new caucus.

Health care policy is a partisan lightning rod on the national stage.

But a new, foundation-backed initiative hopes to show that that is not the case among a number of rural states in the middle of the country.

Heartland Forward, a self-described nonpartisan think and do tank that emphasizes practical policies for improving life in heartland states and localities, launched the Heartland Health Caucus earlier this month to bring together policymakers from Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee to discuss solutions to health care problems plaguing rural regions.

The announcement was made at the annual Heartland Summit in Bentonville, Arkansas, on Nov. 8. Bentonville is home to the Walton Family Foundation, the philanthropy of the heirs to the Walmart fortune, which provides some funding for Heartland Forward.

Whats unique about specifically the Heartland Health Caucus at the state level, across six states, is, No. 1, its nonpartisan, said Angie Cooper, executive vice president of Heartland Forward. We dont hear that very often in states across the country.

Although the six states are mostly dominated by Republicans, Kentucky and Kansas have Democratic governors, and the caucus kickoff confab brought together 19 state lawmakers, policy aides and executive branch officials from both parties. (Two additional officials are participating in the caucus, but could not make it to the Heartland Summit in Bentonville.)

For example, Paula Nickelson, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services  an appointee of Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R)  participated alongside Eric Friedlander, Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services  an appointee of Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D).

In consultation with Heartland Forward, the participating states agreed in advance to focus their first meeting on three areas of common interest: health care workforce shortages, maternal health and mental health. At the same time, participants discussed ways that they are using telemedicine and telehealth to tackle all three challenges.

The vibe in meetings between the various officials from each state was upbeat and focused on sharing policy knowledge, according to Cooper.

Ive walked into a lot of rooms with policymakers before. Just the energy and the collaboration and the willingness to just roll up their sleeves and say, I need help on workforce shortages, or, Oklahoma, you just passed a community health worker bill. How did you do that?

Expanding Medicaid with federal funds made available under the Affordable Care Act is often seen as an asset for states seeking to shore up distressed rural health care systems. Of the six states that make up the Heartland Health Caucus, four have already expanded Medicaid: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kentucky and Missouri. Kansas and Tennessee, by contrast, are among the group of 10 states that have refused the expansion money.

Cooper nonetheless said that was not the focus of caucus conversations, which have instead centered on reducing the underlying cost of care.

The real focus is on that affordability piece, Cooper said.

Heartland Forwards convening of the Heartland Health Caucus comes nearly a year after a far-reaching report that the group published last December on the state of health care access in the six heartland states that now form the Heartland Health Caucus.

The report, Health Care Access in the Heartland, found that there are major disparities in access to doctors, pharmacists and trauma center hospitals between urban, suburban, and rural counties in those six states. For example, 79.6% of residents of rural counties in those states live in what is known as a pharmacy desert  meaning that most residents are more than 15 minutes away from the three nearest pharmacies  compared with 40.7% of the residents of urban counties and 42.2% of suburban counties.
An Arkansas bishop has been accused of squatting in a historic church for years after the rent was raised.

Bishop Earnest Smith allegedly changed the locks on the small church at the heart of Crossett after failing to pay rent when it was increased from $200 to $400 four years ago.

Now, two different congregations are battling over rights to the 108-year-old property.

The church has stood at its site since 1915, originally called Allison Chapel, but changed its name to Allen Temple in the 1970s and remained under that name until 2023, when a new church leader changed it again to Temple of Faith Ministries, according to KATV.

The church was used by a local branch of the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) church, who also said they own the building, but in 2019 the former pastor left and the church closed its doors to its small congregation.

It remained closed until Bishop Smith, another minister in the city, put in a request to rent the building for his own congregation.

Before Mr Smith moved into the church, he had been operating his own ministry since 2018 out of his home, then out of a storefront on Main Street in Crossett.

Earnest asked my mother [the CME churchs secretary] to get with our head stewardess to see if they could rent our church, Allen Temple CME member Rekandria Leach told KATV.

Mr Smith claims that the building was not owned by anyone (Temple of Faith Ministries/Facebook)

They was in agreement to let him rent our church. He rented our church. Didnt have many members... He rented it for $200 for a year and after that year went by [that] we agreed, he was supposed to pay $400 rent. He didnt want to sign another lease agreement or anything," said Ms Leach.

Ms Leach and members of the CME congregation are accusing Mr Smith of refusing to sign a new lease agreement, refusing to pay the new $400 rent, and refusing to give the building back to them.

Yet Mr Smith sees the story from a different side, and denies any allegations of squatting or that he is refusing to pay.

He told KATV that despite what Ms Leach said, he never signed a lease. Instead, his congregation paid Faye Pam, the secretary for Allen Temple Church CME and Ms Leachs mother, $200 a month for nearly three years.

It is unclear if the $200 and $400 payments were for one month or one year, as Ms Leach and Mr Smith said different versions.

The bishop also added that he thought the money he was paying directly to Ms Pam was for an insurance policy rather than paying rent for the building.

Mr Smith said he was under the impression that the building would eventually be handed over to his ministry, the outlet said.

He claimed that Ms Pam told him that they were probably going to give him the building because they were not going to use it, but said she needed to talk to her people in Little Rock, who Mr Smith assumed to be CME, the higher-ups at the Christian denomination their congregation was a part of.

She came back to service another Sunday, so I asked her, Hey, sister Pam. Have you talked to your people? Oh yeah, we gonna Pastor dont worry about it. We gonna take care of you. Thats what she said, Mr Smith recalled to the news site.

Mr Smith said he was only approached last year by Ms Pam with a residential lease agreement, but refused to sign it at the advice of his attorney who said the lease needed to be a commercial one.

Yet Ms Leach said she believes her mother was taken advantage of.

My mother and them, they was very nice to him. They bought him robes. They bought him suits, you know, thinking they was doing the right thing. But nowadays, my opinion, pastor is into the ministry just for the money," said Ms Leach.

Mr Smith explained he was under the impression he would eventually get the whole building (KATV)

Were not causing trouble. We just want our church back.

However, the bishop believes that the church never belonged to them or to anyone in the first place and claims he has a right to stay, as his attorney argued he is already established in the building.

This is something that the former congregations trustee, Claudell Smith, disputes, and said that the deeds state Allen Temple CME Church is the owner of the building.

The national leadership of the CME told KATV that church buildings such as this one in Crossett do not have a denominational clause in their deeds that return the property to the CME denomination if they are no longer in use.

Yet, Ms Leach argued that while they did not have a pastor, their church congregation still existed.

While the dispute over who owns the church building and what form of rent was exchanged is still ongoing, Mr Smith said he is not going down without a fight.

"Do I want to move? The flesh does because Im tired. But the Spirit keep telling me to fight this out, he told the outlet.

The Independent has contacted Mr Smiths Temple of Faith Ministries church for further comment.
A blind Papa Johns Pizza employee was assured he would be able to bring his guide dog to work, federal officials said.

But when he officially filed for the accommodation, he was fired, according to a lawsuit.

Now, Papa Johns will pay $175,000 to Michael Barnes, who was hired in 2020 at one of the chains locations in Athens, Georgia, federal officials said in a Nov. 20 news release.

The parties agreed to resolve the lawsuit to avoid further litigation and expense, a spokesperson for Papa Johns said in a statement to McClatchy News.

Barnes called Papa Johns after a friend told him the restaurant previously hired workers with vision impairments, according to the release.

When he spoke to the store manager, he told the manager he was blind and needed his guide dog, Indie, to get to and from work, federal officials said in the lawsuit.

He didnt need Indie at his feet during the day, and she could be kept in a crate away from customers and areas where food is prepared, according to the suit.

The manager repeatedly told Barnes his guide dog wouldnt pose an issue, according to the lawsuit. They discussed options such as putting Indie in a crate in a conference room or under the managers desk, officials said.

Barness employment was halted during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in May 2020, he was able to move forward with his position. The manager helped him complete the request that his dog be allowed to remain on the premises during the work day, according to the lawsuit.

In June, the accommodation request committee met to review his request.

The Committee denied Barness request and decided that he should be terminated, the lawsuit said. Committee minutes regarding Barness requested accommodation state: cannot accommodateseparate employment. Send letter.

Without having Indie around, Barnes couldnt work at Papa Johns, according to the lawsuit.

The company felt that having animals in the restaurant would pose a health and safety risk, the lawsuit said.

Papa Johns didnt identify which code or regulation would be violated by having a service dog in the restaurant, according to the suit. Instead, officials said the company relied on stereotypes about service animals.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a lawsuit on Barnes behalf, saying his accommodation was reasonable and the committees rejection violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Papa Johns is proud to be a People First company where Everyone Belongs, the company said in the statement. As an employer, we are committed to achieving equal opportunity and maintaining a diverse and inclusive culture for all of our team members, including those with disabilities.

A consent decree was filed Nov. 20 in the Middle District of Georgia, Athens division.

As part of the agreement, the accommodations request committee and human resources personnel will undergo training on the ADA, reasonable accommodations and discrimination.

Not allowing blind and visually impaired people to travel to and from work in the way that affords them confidence and independence is akin to telling sighted workers who rely on the flexibility and independence of driving that they may not travel to work by car, Karla Gilbride, the EEOCs general counsel, said in the news release.

Citi denied credit card applicants based on last names, feds say. Now it owes $25M

Pharmaceutical company wanted to hire more millennials, feds say. Now it owes $2.4M

Dollar General fires woman for health reasons  pregnancy, feds say. Now it must pay

Salon told LGBTQ customers to see pet groomer, MI officials say. Now it faces charges
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken boards his aircraft prior to departure from Joint Base Andrews near Washington as he flies to Brussels for a NATO meeting of foreign ministers (SAUL LOEB)

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken departed Monday to Europe to rally support for Ukraine, on a trip where he could cross paths with his Russian counterpart but is unlikely to meet him.

Blinken, who has spent the last month consumed with the Israel-Hamas war and a US-China summit, was bound for talks with NATO foreign ministers in Brussels on another top US priority.

Blinken is then expected to head Wednesday to a meeting in North Macedonia of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), said James O'Brien, the top US diplomat for Europe.

"We anticipate that he'll engage in a good discussion with our OSCE colleagues about support for Ukraine," O'Brien told reporters.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday that North Macedonia, which has joined Western sanctions over Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, has agreed to let him attend the annual meeting of the pan-European security body in which Russia is a member.

Russian state media said that EU member Bulgaria has informed Moscow it would allow Lavrov's plane to cross its airspace.

But Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said there would not be a meeting with Blinken.

"No, (they) haven't asked, (they) won't ask and there won't be a meeting he told Russian state news agencies."

Last year, OSCE host Poland refused to let Lavrov attend, sparking an angry response from Russia.

US officials have cut most top-level contact with Russia since the February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine, although Blinken briefly met Lavrov in March on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in India.

O'Brien declined comment on whether Blinken would see Lavrov and said that the top US diplomat's schedule was subject to change.

In Brussels, Blinken will speak about US support for Ukraine over the coming months, with Kyiv pursuing a counter-offensive at a time that much of global attention has shifted to the Middle East.

President Joe Biden's administration is trying to persuade opponents in the Republican Party to approve another $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, which he has tied to support for Israel and Taiwan.

O'Brien said the administration was confident about support in Congress for Ukraine and cast the aid as a "coalition effort," with Kyiv paying for 60 percent of its military costs and the United States and allies paying for the rest.

"I think it's important for our partners to hear that we'll continue to do our part, even while our Congress is debating the next steps of what we'll provide," O'Brien said.

burs-lb-sct/sms
By Humeyra Pamuk

BRUSSELS (Reuters) -U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Israel, the West Bank and the United Arab Emirates this week, the U.S. State Department said on Monday, as Washington aims to press for more humanitarian aid for Gaza and help secure the release of all hostages kidnapped by Hamas.

Blinken will travel to Belgium, North Macedonia, Israel, the West Bank, and the UAE from Monday to Saturday, the department said in a statement.

"In Israel and the West Bank, Secretary Blinken will discuss Israels right to defend itself consistent with international humanitarian law, as well as continued efforts to secure the release of remaining hostages, protect civilian life during Israels operations in Gaza, and accelerate humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza," the department added.

Blinken will discuss what Washington wants to see in Gaza if Israel is able to eliminate Hamas, a State Department official said earlier. Blinken will also discuss the need for an independent Palestinian state as well as attend the UN COP28 climate summit in Dubai, according to the State Department.

It will be his third trip to the region since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killed more than 1,200 people and took 240 hostages.

In response, Israel has bombarded the Gaza Strip, a densely populated coastal enclave that is home to 2.3 million people, and mounted a ground offensive in the north, killing more than 15,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Some hostages have been freed in recent days in exchange for Palestinians held by Israel in a deal mediated by Qatar and Egypt and agreed by Israel, Hamas and the United States.

Since the shocking attack that started one of the bloodiest chapters in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Blinken has conducted high-stakes diplomacy with Israeli and Arab leaders to help ensure the conflict does not broaden, hostages are freed and aid is delivered into the Gaza Strip, where a humanitarian disaster has been unfolding.

This week, he will speak about the future of Gaza and the need for a permanent political solution to the long-standing conflict, after he spelled out Washington's red lines on a visit to Japan earlier this month for how the strip could be governed if Hamas is defeated.

Blinken ruled out Israeli occupation of Gaza, permanent displacement of its people and reduction in its territory, although a clear plan has yet to emerge in talks with Arab states, Israel and Palestinian leaders.

The top U.S. diplomat "will also discuss the principles he outlined in Tokyo on November 8, (and) tangible steps to further the creation of a future Palestinian state," the State Department said.

Blinken landed on Monday evening in Brussels, where he will attend the NATO foreign ministers summit on Tuesday. He will be attending a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that is scheduled to take place on Wednesday in Skopje.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; additional reporting by Simon Lewis and Kanishka Singh; editing by Cynthia Osterman)
SAN DIEGO  A body was found late Monday morning inside a hole on a hill in Linda Vista, authorities confirmed.

The San Diego Fire-Rescue Department responded to calls of a person in a hole or a tunnel around 10:13 a.m. Monday. SDFD spent nearly two hours working to free the individual from the confined space.

Man shot, boy stabbed in Lakeside

SkyFOX was overhead as crews appeared to dig on a hillside in a vacant lot near Osler and Ulric streets in the Linda Vista neighborhood of San Diego.

SDFD confirmed one person was pronounced dead at the scene at 11:27 a.m. The body has been turned over to the San Diego Police Department.

During a news conference shortly after the rescue ended, SDFD confirmed the victim was a man believed to be in his 30s. Police report it is unclear how he died, but his death is not considered suspicious at this time. It is also unclear how long the body was in that location.

Authorities at the scene noted there are several tents with people living in them in the nearby area, and the tunnel the man was found in appeared to be built with an entrance and exit under an old tree stump.

SDPD is taking over the investigation. The San Diego County Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.

Reporter Jason Sloss contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego.
Irish writer Paul Lynch won the Booker Prize for fiction on Sunday with what judges called a soul-shattering novel about a womans struggle to protect her family as Ireland collapses into totalitarianism and war.

Prophet Song, set in a dystopian fictional version of Dublin, was awarded the 50,000-pound ($63,000) literary prize at a ceremony in London. Canadian writer Esi Edugyan, who chaired the judging panel, said the book is a triumph of emotional storytelling, bracing and brave in which Lynch pulls off feats of language that are stunning to witness.

Lynch, 46, had been the bookies favorite to win the prestigious prize, which usually brings a big boost in sales. His book beat five other finalists from Ireland, the U.K., the U.S. and Canada, chosen from 163 novels submitted by publishers.

Lynch has called Prophet Song, his fifth novel, an attempt at radical empathy that tries to plunge readers into the experience of living in a collapsing society.

This was not an easy book to write, Lynch said after being handed the Booker trophy. The rational part of me believed I was dooming my career by writing this novel, though I had to write the book anyway. We do not have a choice in such matters.

Lynch has called Prophet Song, his fifth novel, an attempt at radical empathy that tries to plunge readers into the experience of living in a collapsing society.

I was trying to see into the modern chaos, he told the Booker website. The unrest in Western democracies. The problem of Syria  the implosion of an entire nation, the scale of its refugee crisis and the Wests indifference.  I wanted to deepen the readers immersion to such a degree that by the end of the book, they would not just know, but feel this problem for themselves.

The five prize judges met to pick the winner on Saturday, less than 48 hours after far-right violence erupted in Dublin following a stabbing attack on a group of children.

Edugyan said that immediate events didnt directly influence the choice of winner. She said that Lynchs book captures the social and political anxieties of our current moment but also deals with timeless themes.

The other finalists were Irish writer Paul Murrays The Bee Sting; American novelist Paul Hardings This Other Eden; Canadian author Sarah Bernsteins Study for Obedience; U.S. writer Jonathan Escofferys If I Survive You; and British author Chetna Maroos Western Lane.

Edugyan said the choice of winner wasnt unanimous, but the six-hour judges meeting wasnt acrimonious.

We all ultimately felt that this was the book that we wanted to present to the world and that this was truly a masterful work of fiction, she said.

Founded in 1969, the Booker Prize is open to English-language novels from any country published in the U.K. and Ireland. and has a reputation for transforming writers careers. Previous winners include Ian McEwan, Margaret Atwood, Salman Rushdie and Hilary Mantel.

Lynch received his trophy from last years winner, Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka, during a ceremony at Old Billingsgate, a grand former Victorian fish market in central London.

The evening included a speech from Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman who was jailed in Tehran for almost six years until 2022 on allegations of plotting the overthrow of Irans government  a charge that she, her supporters and rights groups denied.

She talked about the books that sustained her in prison, including Atwoods The Handmaids Tale, set in an oppressive American theocracy.

Books helped me to take refuge into the world of others when I was incapable of making one of my own, Zaghari-Ratcliffe said. They salvaged me by being one of the very few tools I had, together with imagination, to escape the Evin (prison) walls without physically moving.
While searching for the source of a foul odor, police found the body of a missing 36-year-old man, Michigan officials told news outlets.

Macomb Community College police discovered the body inside the ventilation system of the colleges performing arts center, the evening of Sunday, Nov. 26, police told WDIV.

The remains were later identified as 36-year-old Jason Anthony Thompson, who went missing nearly a month earlier, police told WJBK.

He was last seen leaving a family members apartment on Oct. 25 and was reported missing the following week on Nov. 1, the outlet reported.

Police havent said how or why Thompson ended up in the vents, or how long his body was there, but there is no reason to suspect foul play, Macomb Community College Police Chief William Leavens said, WXYZ reported.

Police said Thompsons body has been turned over to the medical examiner to determine his cause of death, according to WDIV.

Macomb Community Colleges Center Campus is in Clinton Township, roughly 25 miles northeast of downtown Detroit.

Missing man found dead in chimney a month after tenant heard cries for help, NE cops say

Hurt kids show up at Texas home, leading cops to site of fatal ATV crash, officials say

Trucker said he thought he hit a bird, but he killed tow truck driver, Iowa cops say

Nobody picked up child after school  then came grim discovery at Texas home, cops say
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Two Las Vegas women opened a bookstore in honor of another bookstore that served the Historic Westside for more than 20 years.

The first black-owned bookstore, The Native Son Bookstore, once stood on D Street and Monroe Avenue in the Historic Westside and was considered by many as a pillar of knowledge.

Samuel Smith Jr. had a front seat watching his father Sam Smith change lives.

My dad was a fire chief here for about 25 years he opened up a bookstore back in 96, Smith said. He wanted to instill hope because when you walk out the door you see all kinds of disbarring things.

Now, in their 70s former educator Carol Santiago and author Tamara Shiloh are continuing his legacy.

Sam Smith was the icon of the neighborhood with Native Son bookstore after he made his transition then the bookstore went away, Santiago said.

The pair opened the MultiCultural bookstore in Las Vegas in honor of Native Son, ensuring that there is access to books for everyone.

In this Historic Westside theres a real need for literature, Santiago said.

People wont have to drive halfway across town to get to a bookstore, Shiloh explained. All our books are face forward so when children walk into the bookstore, they see themselves.

The bookstore will have Storytimes, a stage for authors to have an open dialogue about their books, and each corner will showcase multicultural communities.

We have African American, Asian, Native American, and Spanish books, Shiloh shared.

Both women told 8 News Now Anchor Ozzy Mora they hope the bookstore will help kids develop a love for reading.

So, you read a book, you just dont leave it [and] now lets dig into it, Santiago said. Our kids need more time to be able to process and understand.

They aim to also support teachers and parents in the process with the goal of making the bookstore a community hub while taking people to different periods under one roof.

You have a place to come, have a cup of coffee [and] sit down with a book, Santiago said.

The bookstore is their second location with the first one opening in Richmond, California. The MultiCultural Bookstore Las Vegas is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is located at 910 Owens Boulevard.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
The Ministry of Infrastructure of Poland has stated that it had turned to Ukraine with a proposal which may lift the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border by the Polish hauliers.

Source: statement of the Polish Ministry cited by European Pravda

Details: Andrzej Adamczyk, Minister of Infrastructure of Poland, turned to Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, with a request to cancel the mandatory registration in the eCherha (e-Queue) system for vehicles returning from Ukraine to the EU that were unloaded at the border crossings of Zosyn-Usciug and Nyzhankovychi-Malkhovitse.

eCherha is a free service available in an open mode for carriers registered in the Shliakh system. The latter allows male drivers or volunteers to legally cross the border under martial law.

"It has significantly increased the waiting time for the vehicles registered in the EU which return from Ukraine without cargo in order to cross the Ukrainian-Polish border," Adamczyk explained, adding that, according to the hauliers, this system "allows unequal treatment of Ukrainian and Polish transporters".

He also turned to Adina-Ioana Valean, European Commissioner for Transport, with a request to create a joint committee for analysis of the agreement on the liberalisation of transportation with Ukraine (visa-free transportation) influences the road transport market in the EU.

The cancellation of this agreement is the main demand of Polish hauliers.

Background: The Polish hauliers, who have been blocking three checkpoints on the Polish-Ukrainian border for road freight since 6 November and only let a few cars pass every hour, commenced a blockade of another checkpoint, Medyka-Shehyni, on 23 November. The blockade might last until 3 January.

They are demanding, among other things, that commercial permits be introduced for Ukrainian goods transportation companies, with the exception of humanitarian aid and supplies for the Ukrainian military, that licences for companies founded after the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine be suspended, and that inspections be conducted.

Polish farmers who joined the blockade of hauliers on the border with Ukraine in the Prykarpattya region on 23 November are planning to continue their protest 24 hours a day until 3 January. The blockade will last 24/7 starting 27 November.

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The U.S. Border Patrols Tucson Sector said Sunday it is pausing social media as the agency deals with a surge of migrants at the border.

Chief Patrol Agent John R. Modlin said all Tucson Sector Border Patrol social media accounts will be paused "until further notice" in light of the ongoing migration surge.

The Tucson Sector has been overwhelmed by a surge of migrants in the past week.

"We appreciate your understanding and continued support during this challenging time," Modlin tweeted.

Fox News Bill Melugin notes the pause in social media activity comes days after the sector reported having 15,300 illegal crossings last week  its highest weekly total ever.

NORTHERN BORDER SECTOR SEES 550% INCREASE IN MIGRANT APPREHENSIONS LAST FISCAL YEAR

The week also included the seizure of 117 lbs. of fentanyl, 78 federal criminal cases, 17 rescues, 14 human smuggling events, and three narcotics events.

READ ON THE FOX NEWS APP

"Regardless of the reasoning behind this  this is such a bad look. Essentially  the border crisis in the sector is so bad that theyre going to cut off all communication and transparency with the public," Melugin tweeted. "We routinely use the photos & data from this account. Its unacceptable."

The sector is routinely overwhelmed with 2,000 to 2,500 illegal crossings per day. Border crossings are said to come from all over the globe, including parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for a response.





Original article source: Border Patrol says its pausing social media to deal with migrant surge
A group of migrants are detained for processing after turning themselves in at a U.S. border wall with Mexico, in Yuma, Ariz., May 11, 2023. (Adriana Zehbrauskas/The New York Times)

In an effort to deter migrants from illegally crossing into the United States, the federal government has in recent years been erecting walls that are taller and harder to scale along the border with Mexico.

That fortification has had big consequences, especially in California: More migrants are having devastating and costly falls.

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

My colleague Miriam Jordan was reporting at the border this year when she noticed an unusual number of migrants in wheelchairs, bandages and casts at shelters. Jordan learned that while there was no comprehensive accounting of wall-related injuries and deaths, doctors at U.S. hospitals along the border have noticed a definite increase.

Desperate people try to jump over, and they suffer much more severe traumatic injuries to the head, Jordan said. The falls also shatter their extremities, because of greater impact from falling farther.

Problems continue even after they receive treatment. Many migrants do not receive the follow-up care that they need after being released from the hospital, she said, and they may never regain the ability to work at physically arduous jobs, which they came to America to do, or lead a normal life.

During his presidency, Donald Trump ordered the construction in California of a 30-foot-tall steel barrier to replace more than 400 miles of fencing that ranged in height from 8 to 17 feet. The project was completed in 2019, and since then, the number of patients admitted to the trauma center at UC San Diego Health because of falls related to the wall has increased sevenfold. The hospital has recorded 23 deaths from such falls since 2019; there were none in the four previous years.

The problem is getting worse and worse, said Dr. Jay Doucet, chief of the trauma unit at UC San Diego Health, which is about 15 miles from the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing. The hospital system is taking a big hit, he told Jordan.

Last year, UC San Diego Health converted a postpartum unit into a ward for border-wall casualties. The sheer number has affected care for local people, too; waiting time for spinal procedures at the hospital has risen to nearly two weeks, from three days.

This is at our center alone, and we only see severe trauma, said Alexander Tenorio, a neurosurgeon at UC San Diego Health who has operated on migrants with brain injuries.

Its an untold, heartbreaking story of unnecessary human suffering, he said.

c.2023 The New York Times Company
The Lodi Police Department is investigating a weekend shooting that killed a child in what authorities described as a targeted incident.

Officers went about 11:15 p.m. Saturday to the 600 block of Hale Road after getting a report of a shooting, according to a news release. They found a boy suffering from life-threatening gunshot wounds, police said.

The boy was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The childs age was unclear. A Lodi officer directed inquiries to a sergeant, who didnt immediately return a call Sunday afternoon.

No arrests have been made, police said. Anyone with information is asked to call the Lodi Police Department iat 209-333-6727 or Detective Melita Kautz at 209-269-4833. Tipsters may remain anonymous by calling the Lodi Crime Stoppers at 209-369-2746 or visiting 369crime.com.
Waukesha County Circuit Judge Brad Schimel, shown here at a campaign event during his tenure as attorney general.

MADISON  Former Republican Attorney General Brad Schimel plans to launch a campaign for Wisconsin Supreme Court this week, setting up an early challenge to the court's newly cemented liberal majority.

A source close to Schimel confirmed his plans to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Monday.

The Waukesha County Circuit judge has a "special announcement" scheduled Thursday evening at Weldall Manufacturing in Waukesha. His early entrance to the race sets him up as the first conservative challenger to liberal Justice Ann Walsh Bradley, who is expected to seek a fourth 10-year term in 2025.

The news was first reported by the conservative website Wisconsin Right Now.

Schimel, 58, was elected to lead the state Department of Justice in 2014 and lost his 2018 reelection bid to Democrat Josh Kaul by less than a percentage point the same year Democratic Gov. Tony Evers defeated Republican former Gov. Scott Walker. Before leaving office, Walker appointed Schimel to the Waukesha County Circuit Court.

No other challengers have announced plans to run for the seat Bradley has held since 1995. Bradley, 73, told reporters in April, when liberal Justice Janet Protasiewicz was elected, that she plans to run again.

Bradley fended off a challenge from Rock County Circuit Judge James Daley in 2015 with a 16-point victory margin.

The challenge to the court's longest-serving member could upend the massive victory liberals secured in April with Protasiewicz's 11-point victory, which flipped the court's ideological majority for the first time in years. That race was the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history.

No concrete details about Schimel's campaign operation were immediately available. Schimel's former campaign manager, Johnny Koremenos, works for the Republican Attorneys General Association and is expected to volunteer his time to support Schimel's efforts.

"I will support Brad in anything he wants to do and I think he's exactly the candidate we need," Koremenos told the Journal Sentinel.

Before serving as attorney general, Schimel received a bachelor's degree in political science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a law degree from the UW Law School. He joined the Waukesha County district attorney's office in 1990 and was elected Waukesha County district attorney in 2006.

Wisconsinites rejected Brad Schimel after a single term as attorney general because his extreme politics and inept mismanagement became too great to ignore, with thousands of rape kits left untested at the State Crime Lab and millions of dollars wasted on partisan efforts to suppress voting rights and push new restrictions on abortion access," said Democratic Party of Wisconsin chair Ben Wikler in a statement.

Schimel's campaign launch comes as the court considers a number of high-profile cases, including a challenge to the state's electoral maps and an effort to eliminate funding for the state's taxpayer-funded school voucher programs and independent charter schools. A challenge to the state's 1849 abortion ban is also expected to make its way to the state's high court.

Jessie Opoien can be reached at jessie.opoien@jrn.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Republican Brad Schimel to run for Wisconsin Supreme Court
By Lisandra Paraguassu

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazil will propose adding a civil society wing to the G20 group of the world's largest economies when it takes over as president next week, to add the voices of society to summit meetings, a Brazilian minister said on Monday.

Messages from society to the G20 leaders have mainly come through street protests, sometimes violent ones, but they rarely make it to the negotiation table.

"What the president wants is a sort of social trail that will run parallel to the work of sherpas and finance groups. People from these 20 major economies will thus be able to influence G20 decisions," Marcio Macedo, who is President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva's minister responsible for government relations with civil society told Reuters.

Since it was first created in 1999 as a platform of finance ministers and central bank governors to counter the effects of the Asian financial crisis, the G20 has added discussion groups on subjects from business, labor, women and youth issues, but their input has been limited to round tables.

Brazil wants to organize the demands of such social groups so their proposals can serve to put pressure on the leaders to take practical measures, Macedo said in an interview.

"We are trying to build a new agenda, so that G20 decisions are not so distant from what people really want," he said.

At next year's summit, the leaders will meet on Nov. 18 and 19 in Rio de Janeiro. Two days earlier, Brazil will host the G20 Social Summit to draw up conclusions to be presented to the leaders, he said.

Macedo said Brazil's idea has been well received, mainly by the G20 countries that have strong civil society organizations.

(Reporting by Lisandra Paraguassu, editing by Anthony Boadle and Marguerita Choy)
Scandal-plagued New York Rep George Santos looks set to join an exclusive group of people as he has acknowledged that hes likely to be expelled from Congress.

I know Im going to get expelled when this expulsion resolution goes to the floor, Mr Santos, 35, said last week in a broadcast on the X social media platform, formerly known as Twitter.

In the X Space event hosted by Monica Matthews, a rightwing personality, Mr Santos said, I have done the math over and over and it doesnt look really good. But he claimed that he would wear his expulsion like a badge of honour.

The latest blow of many to Mr Santoss short yet tumultuous political career came in the form of a 56-page report from the House Ethics Committee released earlier this month which outlined substantial evidence that Mr Santos violated federal law.

The report included allegations that Mr Santos used campaign money to pay for his personal expenses, such as Botox, and luxury purchases at Hermes and Ferragamo, as well as smaller sums spent on OnlyFans, food, parking, travel and rent.

The House can consider the motion to expel Mr Santos put forward by ethics panel chair GOP Rep Michael Guest as soon as Tuesday when lawmakers return from Thanksgiving break but when the vote may be taken up on the floor remains unclear.

Mr Santos would be the first member of the House to be removed in modern times without first having been convicted of a crime.

Only five representatives have ever been expelled from the House in the course of US history:

James Traficant

The Ohio Democrat served nine terms in the House between January 1985 and July 2002 when he was booted from the lower chamber following his conviction on racketeering, bribery, and fraud. He was only the second lawmaker to be expelled from the House since the Civil War.

His September 2014 obituary in The Washington Post referred to him as one of the most deliberately outrageous members of Congress in history.

Glib and voluble, he was known for wearing cowboy boots, skinny ties and out-of-date polyester suits and for a bouffant mound of hair that seemed to defy gravity, Matt Schudel wrote at the time.

U.S. Rep. James Traficant (D-OH) poses for photographers before a House Inquiry Subcommittee hearing to examine whether he violated congressional rules July 17, 2002 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC (Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Times referred to it as a Planet of the Apes sort of hair helmet, while Washingtonian magazine wrote that it was a creature from Lake Erie before it was cleaned up.

Before joining Congress, he served as the sheriff of Mahoning Country. He was put on trial in 1983 after prosecutors acquired a tape that included him saying he had accepted more than $100,000 in bribes from organised crime. But despite his complete lack of legal training, Traficant represented himself and managed to argue that he had collected the bribes as part of a sting operation and he was acquitted.

He became known for his brief, rambling speeches on the House floor, often ending with a Star Trek reference: Beam me up, Mr Speaker.

In 1997, he said: Let us tell it like it is. When you hold this economy to your nosey, this economy does not smell so rosy. If there is any consolation to the American workers, I never heard of anyone committing suicide by jumping out of a basement window.

The following year, he said: Russia gets $15bn in foreign aid from Uncle Sam. In exchange, Uncle Sam gets nuclear missiles pointed at our cities, two tape decks and three cases of vodka. Beam me up.

In 2002, Mr Traficant faced a 10-count felony indictment for racketeering, bribery and fraud, with federal prosecutors alleging that he required a number of his aides to pay him kickbacks each month of as much as $2,500 just to work for him. Yet other staff were required to bale hay on his Ohio farm or repair his Washington DC houseboat. He also faced allegations that he filed false tax returns and pushed businesses in his district to provide goods and services at no charge.

He once again acted as his own attorney, but this time he was convicted on all counts.

On 24 July 2002, he was removed from the House after a vote of 420 to one.

After making a comment about what he called the political prostitutes in Congress, he said: I want to apologize to all the hookers of America for associating them with the United States Congress.

Michael Myers

The Pennsylvania Democrat was expelled in 1980 after he was convicted of bribery. More recently, he was sent back to jail for 30 months after admitting to committing election fraud.

Myers was one of several officials to be caught up in the Abscam sting conducted by the FBI in 1980, which led to the end of his four years in Congress, according to WHYY.

At the time, Mr Myers was offered a bribe by FBI agents posing as aides for an Arab sheikh. Before accepting $50,000, he said: Money talks in this business and bull**** walks.

He was sentenced to three years in prison and expelled from the House by a vote of 376 to 30.

Last year, he admitted to paying a judge of elections in two polling places to add votes between 2014 and 2018.

Rep Michael Myers (6ABC)

What the judge of elections for the 39/36 would do during the scheme was  while the polling place was otherwise not busy  step into the machine and just add to the vote totals for specific candidates that were favoured and supported by Myers, Assistant US Attorney Eric Gibson said at the time, WHYY reported. On Myers instructions, he would just flip the switch, add the vote tallies or extra votes to the candidates on the little machine. So then when the machine spits out the results at the end of the evening, it would have those fraudulent votes recorded within the tally.

At another polling place, Mr Gibson said, They voted for individuals who they knew would not appear. But then they signed those individuals names into the records, into the paper records. So, for example, if Eric Gibson did not appear on Election Day, nonetheless, somebody would sign the sign-in sheet with my name and then somebody would sign the polling book with my name so that the tallies coming out of the machine matched the number of voters.

In 1979, he punched and kicked a security guard and a 19-year-old woman working at a motel in the suburbs of Washington, DC after they told him to turn down the music at a party he was hosting there.

Im a congressman, we dont have to be quiet, he shouted, according to the Register-Guard.

Three House Democrats and 14 senators expelled in 1861 for backing Confederacy

Three House Democrats, Henry Cornelius Burnett, John William Reid, and John Bullock Clark, were all expelled alongside 14 Democratic senators for backing the Confederacy following the breakout of the US Civil War in 1861.

Since the Civil War, no senator has been expelled.

Only one expulsion occurred before 1861  Senator William Blount, a founding father who signed the US Constitution and a member of what was then the Democratic-Republican party. He was ousted in 1797 for treason and conspiracy after he was accused of inciting a rebellion among the Muscogee Creek and Cherokee Native American tribes to help the British take over what was then the Spanish territory of West Florida.

His land speculations had landed him in significant financial difficulty.

In an apparent effort to extricate himself, Blount concocted a scheme for Indians and frontiersmen to attack Spanish Florida and Louisiana, in order to transfer those territories to Great Britain, the senate website states. Unfortunately for the senator, a letter, in which Blount thinly disguised his desire to arouse the Creek and Cherokee Indians to aid his plan, fell into the hands of Federalist president John Adams.
A man pleaded guilty to murder in the shooting of Chesley Patterson, who was the general manager at the restaurant La Scala in Little Italy, almost two years ago during what Baltimore Police then described as a robbery spree.

Samuel Wise, 24, also admitted Monday to using a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence during the Jan. 23, 2022 shooting and to first-degree escape. Police said at the time of his arrest he attempted to flee from Baltimore Police headquarters.

Heeding the plea agreement Wise struck with prosecutors, Baltimore Circuit Judge Althea M. Handy sentenced Wise to life in prison with all but 50 years incarceration suspended. Handy also tacked on three years of probation for Wise when he is released.

People convicted of crimes of violence in Maryland are eligible for parole after serving 50% of their sentence.

Wises attorney could not immediately be reached for comment.

Patterson, 44, was gunned down while on his way home from work, around midnight and less than a half-mile from La Scala. The killing unfolded during a particularly violent spell in the city and shook the close-knit community of Little Italy.

Some 300 mourners gathered outside the restaurant where Patterson worked for close to 17 years, remembering him as a dapper, kind and outgoing man who embodied hospitality.

Chesley Patterson, a longtime La Scala manager, was killed in Baltimore. Photo by Samantha Stern/handout

Police arrested Wise months later, in April, finding that he and other suspects set out to rob people in Southeast Baltimore that evening. Wise and his accomplices robbed two other people before Patterson, according to charging documents for Wise.

One of the other suspects in Pattersons killing, Shamal Scott, was killed in Baltimore in the same month detectives arrested Wise, police said at the time. Its unclear if police arrested a third suspect.

Detectives found surveillance video that captured the homicide.

According to charging documents, the footage showed Patterson drive up to a liquor store in the 1700 block of Eastern Avenue. He went inside the store and returned to his car, putting items in his trunk before returning to the drivers seat.

A gray Honda Odyssey minivan pulled up next to Pattersons vehicle and a person wearing all black got out of the passengers side, according to charging papers. The assailant clad in black approached Patterson, pointed a gun at him and pulled the drivers side door open. Police wrote that the gunman fired once and returned to the van.

Later, an officer working in Cherry Hill recognized the van as it pulled into a gas station, according to charging documents. Police tried to stop the van, but it fled.

The vehicle was located, abandoned, days later. Crime scene technicians recovered a fingerprint from the passengers door matching Wises.

In an interview on March 17, 2022, Wise told detectives he was in the front passenger seat of the van, but said he didnt know who he was with, the charging documents said.

Detectives also learned that Wises cellphone was in the area around the time of Pattersons killing.

This article might be updated.
After the city of Atlanta demolished Everett Tripodis' house without properly informing him, city officials sued him to recoup the $68,000 they claim to have spent tearing it down. The city wants to force the sale of the lot to pay for the demolition retroactively. A local TV station found that Tripodis' house was on Lawton Street; the city building inspector's office sent warning letters to Lawton Avenue, in a different zip code.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell vetoed a bill that would order a city-owned apartment to be rented out at market rate. The unit was supposed to be used by visiting elected officials, but the city discovered last year that Cantrell had been staying there without paying rent. After the city council overrode her veto, Cantrell called it "shameful" that the city would not lease a suite in Caesars Superdome, home of the New Orleans Saints.

The British Advertising Standards Authority found that the retailer Boots illegally advertised infant formula through Google ads. To promote breastfeeding, the British government has banned advertising formula for infants under six months. Boots said the ads were in error, generated by an algorithm linked to its website that promotes items on sale.

A pregnant Montgomery County, Tennessee, inmate called for help at 11:31 a.m. A nurse examined her and then left to consult with other medical staff. Another nurse then came to examine her, but she left to order more tests. A deputy came back at 12:41 p.m. to check on the woman only to find she'd since given birth, alone in her cell.

St. Louis Mayor Tishaura Jones has proposed banning AR-15s, AK-47s, and similar weapons from city streets. Jones has also called for banning people convicted of insurrection or hate crimes from possessing firearms in the city.

In Columbia County, Arkansas, Tina Hight called 911 for what she described as a domestic violence situation. Bodycam video shows when she opened the door for sheriff's deputies, her dogs got out, including a small Pomeranian that ran barking toward Deputy Brian Williams. Williams seemed to panic, threatening to kill the dog and firing an apparent warning shot before firing another shot toward the dog. That shot missed but hit Hight, who was standing on her porch. When Hight screamed that she had been shot, Williams denied shooting her and claimed the dog had scratched her. More than a year later, the bullet is still lodged in Hight's shin.

For over six months, Chicago officials refused to release public records showing how they spent more than $100 million caring for foreign migrants. The city denied a Freedom of Information Act request from a local television station, saying there were no such records, as well as requests for the same records from the Illinois Attorney General's Office and a city council member. It finally released the records after a local CBS affiliate aired a story highlighting its refusal.

The Kenosha, Wisconsin, police department said it is investigating an incident in which officers were caught on video apparently punching a man inside a local Applebee's. The officers believed the man was involved in a hit-and-run crash. He was not: They later found the actual suspects in the Applebee's restroom. The man they punched faces charges of resisting arrest, disorderly conduct, and obstructing an officer; a woman who was with him faces the same charges plus possession of marijuana.

The government of Victoria, Australia, agreed to pay about 5 million Australian dollars (approximately $3.2 million) to settle a lawsuit brought by Melbourne public housing residents who were forced into a hard 14-day COVID-19 lockdown with no warning in July 2020. Some 3,000 people may be eligible for compensation. Despite the settlement, the government still refuses to apologize to the residents.

The post Brickbats: December 2023 appeared first on Reason.com.
A dream Hobbit-themed wedding has been cancelled after their method of transport into New Zealand was turned away at the border.

Pacific Adventure, part of the P&O Cruises Australia fleet, was sent packing by officials after it was found to have concerning levels of organisms and biofouling on the hull.

Janine Sheriff and Kyle Risk, a couple from Sydney, Australia, said they were heartbroken after the incident and has been ready to meet their family and friends at the film set in Matamata on New Zealands North Island, reports ABC.

The plan was to get off the boat, go straight to Hobbiton, have our wedding, then head straight back to the boat for the rest of the honeymoon, Ms Sheriff said.

The pair only decided to get married in New Zealand after they booked their cruise.

Kyle is a massive Lord of the Rings fan and when we found we were going there, we jokingly mentioned they do a wedding package.

"His face just absolutely lit up like it was the greatest thing ever discovered. So we seriously started planning the wedding, we took the time off from work, we had our nearest and dearest friends and family all co-ordinate to be in New Zealand at this exact time.

Mr Risk said he was furious after he saw Janines face after getting the news. I was ready to explode.

I got a selfie from our family and friends at the site in Hobbiton we should have been on about 20 minutes before we had to turn around.

It would have meant a lot as it was a beautiful setting.

Ms Sherriff added: I adore this man, I was so excited, so ready to be able to officially call him my husband, I am heartbroken this day has been taken away from me.

The Independent has contacted P&O Cruises Australia for comment. After being denied entry to New Zealand, the ship made its way to Tasmania.

The couple accepted complimentary tickets to fly back to Sydney and got married there, and have also accepted a refund of half their cruise fare.

In a statement to ABC, the cruise line said: Due to New Zealands strict biosecurity requirements, the ship left Sydney on Monday for hull cleaning off the Bay of Plenty, however the weather did not allow this to happen, so we apologise that the itinerary had to be amended.
Mr Bou Habib said if Britain does not intervene in the Middle East region it could 'suffer' by triggering a refugee crisis in Europe - Malgorzata Stepien

Britain has a duty to restrain Israel in its war with Hamas because colonial-era policy helped create conflict in the region, the Lebanese foreign minister has said.

Abdallah Bou Habib warned against pro-Israeli bias and urged the British government to take a more moderate approach to help bring lasting peace.

Britain is responsible for whats happening now through the Balfour Declaration, he told The Telegraph as he called on Britain to rein in its ally.

He was referring to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which led to British rule of Palestine and laid the foundations for the modern state of Israel.

Mr Bou Habib said Britains involvement in the current conflict shows how it still sides with Israel.

The US and Britain have given the Israelis a license to kill, to destroy, and this is unacceptable, he said. The West gave a free hand to Israel by saying [they had] the right to self-defence.

Israel invaded the Gaza Strip in retaliation to an attack last month by Hamas, a terrorist organisation that governs the Palestinian enclave.

Mr Bou Habib said if Britain does not intervene in the Middle East region it could suffer by triggering a refugee crisis in Europe.

Lord Arthur Balfour with Governor Sir Ronald Storrs during a visit to Jerusalem in April 1925 while Arab residents went on strike in protest to his Declaration - Topical Press Agency

Britain can play a role, Mr Bou Habib said in an interview in Barcelona, where Mediterranean nations were gathering for an annual meeting. It is still the closest ally to the US.

If the UK and Europe do not get involved politically, directly in solving the problems in the Middle East, it will be the one to suffer, as increasing numbers of refugees flood out of the region and seek safety abroad.

Europe and the Middle East are very much interrelated - if one sneezes, the other catches a cold, he said.

While the US has outsized influence with Israel as its greatest supporter, the Americans are far away and wouldnt feel the same impact as the UK and Europe.

The most immediate concern, he said, is to extend the pause in fighting for as long as possible to allow for more exchanges of prisoners and hostages, and for humanitarian aid to be brought in.

Neither should be where he or she is, really, especially as we see there are a lot of children on both sides  children in Israeli prisons and children taken hostage by Hamas and other Palestinian organisations in Gaza.

This would also allow tensions to simmer down so we start thinking about the future, the day after, he said. There is no military solution to the Israeli-Palestinian problem; there is only one solution  its negotiations.

He acknowledged that any resolution would be difficult to achieve, but not impossible, giving the example of Lebanon. While technically Lebanon still remains at war with Israel, the two neighbouring rivals agreed last year on a maritime border in a deal brokered by the US.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is the biggest source of regional instability, he said.

We are sympathisers as Arabs; we use the word brothers, he said. We argue for them, and we support them in all means that we can, but in the end they are Palestinians, and they want to live in Palestine.

If there is a Palestinian state, I think most of the Arab states would recognise Israel.

Concerns remain however that Hezbollah, a militant organisation based in Lebanon, could escalate conflict further along the shared land border with Israel, sparking a regional war.

Hezbollah, a resistance movement that started in the 1980s, has since risen to a dominant political force in Lebanon and operates an armed wing.

Clashes have occurred along the Lebanon-Israel border in recent weeks, though have largely been contained to the frontier area. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has also indicated that for now, his group would not seek to engage further.

Big questions linger over the extent to which Beirut has influence over Hezbollah. Mr Bou Habib said there were ongoing discussions between his government and the group through two Hezbollah-designated contacts in government.

Both Israel - IDF - and Hezbollah should stop, he said, referring to the Israeli Defense Force. This is the policy of my government - not to have anything on the borderbut if the choice is skirmishes or war? Its skirmishes; things are not in our hands.

Its a very difficult situation to have a regional war and therefore I dont think anybody wants a regional war, he said. Everybody was asking, including Hezbollah, for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Mr Bou Habib highlighted the unanimous call for an immediate ceasefire and to move towards a two-state solution, as laid out in a joint statement of 57 nations after an extraordinary joint Islamic-Arab summit held in Riyadh earlier this month.

A final communique also urged the International Criminal Court to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity that Israel is committing in the Palestinian territories.

Mr Bou Habib said Britain's involvement in the current conflict shows how it still 'sides with Israel' - Simon Walker/No 10 Downing Street HANDOUT/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Mr Bou Habib called on the West to open its eyes to how strongly these nations are calling for peace and not act like they are still at the upper hand and colonial power.

Im not saying they are a colonial power  no  but sometimes they act this way, is the feeling.

There is a tendency, a strong tendency in these countries, that we cannot depend on the West, because of the double standard that they show, he said.

Nations like the US and UK were operating on a double standard by criticising other countries over human rights issues while failing to do more to encourage Israel toward a ceasefire, he added, warning that such actions could lead to more tense relations between Arab and Western nations.

Lebanon was the first nation in the region to condemn Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, he pointed out. But he hinted that such moves would be less likely in the future if nations like the US and UK didnt act more strongly on peace between Israel and Hamas.

Youre not going to see Arabs moving the way they moved in the past.

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Walliams was a judge on the ITV talent show for 10 years

The producer of Britain's Got Talent has reached an "amicable resolution" with David Walliams after remarks he made on the show were leaked.

The comic left the programme last year and apologised for making "disrespectful comments" about contestants during filming breaks.

Walliams was suing production company Fremantle for misuse of private information and breaching data laws.

The company apologised and said the matter had been resolved.

A Fremantle spokesperson told the PA News agency: "We are pleased that we have achieved an amicable resolution of this dispute with David.

"We are sincerely sorry that his private conversations when a judge on Britain's Got Talent were published, and the great distress this caused David.

"We have reviewed our production practices on the show to ensure they fully respect the expectations of our talent whilst satisfying the requirements of the show."

It continued: "We have enjoyed a great relationship with David over many years.

"We thank David for being an important part of the Britain's Got Talent family and the enduring success of the show and hope to have opportunities to work with him in the future."

Walliams has been approached for comment on the agreement.

David Walliams alongside fellow BGT judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon

He made the remarks about contestants while filming at the London Palladium in January 2020.

After the comments were published by the Guardian, Walliams sued Fremantle for misuse of private information and for breaching UK General Data Protection Regulation (UKGDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

High Court documents released last month also said Walliams was accusing the company of causing him psychiatric harm and financial loss.

In the documents, Walliams said he and the other judges would talk and joke among themselves in breaks during filming for the show.

He added these private conversations, which happened while they were still wearing their microphones, included him speaking about sensitive personal matters.

He also claimed he was unaware that they may have been recorded and transcribed. However, in 2018, Britain's Got Talent did announce that "their cameras would now be rolling 24/7".

Walliams argued that while he was unaware exactly how the Guardian obtained a transcript of his comments, Fremantle must be the ultimate source of the transcript.

He said he had suffered financially when, after his comments were leaked, Britain's Got Talent withdrew their 1m offer for him to return to the show.

Walliams added that his reputation and earnings have also been severely damaged, with TV appearances and a podcast with Matt Lucas cancelled, while two planned stage adaptations of two of his books were abandoned.

The comic was a judge on the ITV talent show between 2012 and 2022, alongside Simon Cowell, Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden.

Following his departure from the series, Walliams was replaced on the panel by former Strictly judge Bruno Tonioli.
The British Library said it had been a victim of a cyber attack

The British Library says it has evidence that user data was hacked in a cyber attack and offered for sale on the dark web.

The library warned users who use the same password elsewhere to change it.

The attack, which took place on 31 October, is continuing to affect its website, online systems and some onsite services, a statement said.

The Rhysida ransomware group claim to be behind the attack, have said they will auction off the stolen data.

The cyber gang said last week that the price for data, that includes passport scans, was set at 20 Bitcoin (596,459).

The British Library, the UK's largest, posted on X on Monday evening, saying: "Following last week's confirmation that this was a ransomware attack, we now have evidence that indicates the attackers might have copied some user data, and additional data appears to have been published on the dark web.

"We will continue to work with cybersecurity specialists to examine what this material is and we will be contacting our users to advise them of the practical steps they may need to take.

"If you have a password for British Library services that you use on other websites, we recommend you change it elsewhere as a precaution."

Last week the library confirmed that some employee data had been leaked in the attack and at that time there was "no evidence that data of our users has been compromised".

The Rhysida ransomware group said on Monday last week that it was behind the attack and shared an image to its leak site on the dark web showing various documents, some of which appear to be HMRC employment contracts and passports.

The BBC has not verified whether the data is real.

The cyber criminals said an auction for "exclusive, unique and impressive data" would end just before 08:00 GMT on 27 November, and would be sold to one single-party winner.

Rhysida ransomware group has also stolen data from the Chilean army and the University of West of Scotland

The group are also behind recent attacks on the Chilean army, the Portuguese city of Gondomar and the University of West of Scotland.
The fourth generation of the plush toy Bunkie Monkeys, both large and small, are now available at Griffins Antique Store & Main Street Market in Bunkie. Angela Pitts came up with the idea for the plush toy back in the late 1990s when her family owned a restaurant in town.

The fourth generation of the plush toy Bunkie Monkeys, both large and small, are once again swinging through the town of Bunkie just in time for Christmas.

The story goes that Bunkie was named after a monkey. In 1882, the Texas and Pacific Railroad wanted to build a railroad across land owned by Samuel Haas. In exchange, he could name the station they build and the town around it. Haas had bought a toy monkey for his young daughter, Macci, who couldnt pronounce the word monkey. She pronounced it bunkie and that became her nickname. So, Haas decided to name the town and station after his daughters nickname, Bunkie.

Everyone in Bunkie is proud of how they got their name, said Angela Pitts in a phone interview from her home in Metarie.

She came up with the idea for a Bunkie Monkey plush stuffed toy in the late 1990s. Her parents owned a restaurant in Bunkie, Captains Galleon, that was open in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

A lot of people would tour through to the antique shops back then. This is before they had I-49 of course so we had a lot of traffic come through Highway 71, said Pitts in a phone interview from Metarie where she now lives. People would stop and visit the antique stores and theyd stop and eat in the restaurant. And they would always ask if there was a souvenir somewhere that they could get from Bunkie. A T-shirt or just some kind of souvenir.

One day, she and her brother were sitting at a table while their mother worked at the cash register. They heard three different customers in a row ask their mother about souvenirs. Then, her brother told her that she should make a Bunkie Monkey.

Pitts attended art school in Houston and knew someone who was doing sales and marketing with plush animals. She gave him a call and described what kind of plush monkey she was looking for.

I wanted something to look kind of old. And thats when Beanie Babies were big. And I wanted it to be a Beanie Baby and just kind of an older looking monkey, she said.

He found one and we got it, said Pitts. I ended up hand cutting these little neckerchiefs out at home.

She also has some hearts made that said, The Original Bunkie Monkey.

Her children were small back then, so they helped her with getting the monkeys ready to sell at the restaurant.

They were really a hot item at first with people traveling through and then with everyone in Bunkie, said Pitts. Everyone leaves Bunkie, so people were sending them off to their kids off in college and kids that were in the military across overseas and shipping them everywhere. And people even started traveling with them.

So, thats basically how the Bunkie Monkey came about, she said.

"I think it is a unique story how the town got its name. By having the Bunkie Monkey, it keeps the memory alive for the younger generations," said Karen Jones, a Bunkie Monkey fan.

"The Bunkie Monkey is an endearing character, in the lives of many who grew up in the tiny Avoyelles Parish town," said Duana Juneau, another Bunkie Monkey fan. Countless times we have told the story of how Bunkie got its name."

There are four generations of Bunke Monkeys. The first one came out in the late 1990s. The second one in 2005 and the third in 2010. The fourth one has just been debuted. Angela Pitts came up with the idea for the plush toy in the late 1990s. Her family owned a restaurant in Bunkie and people traveling through were looking for souvenirs.

Over the years people took photos of the Bunkie Monkey in various places. Pitts said Teresa Tebow took her Bunkie Monkey to New York where he appeared on the Today Show with Al Roker. Father Taylor Reynolds took his on a visit to the Vatican. The Bunkie Monkey has even been to Kuwait.

I have pictures of him in Galveston with people at car shows and at the Gum Wall in Washington State, said Pitts.

During the Corn Festival, shes noticed that people will put their Bunkie Monkeys on their tables and take photos of them with a Corn Festival T-shirt and a Corn Festival sign.

Someone actually made a Corn Festival T-shirt one year with the Bunkie Monkey on it, she said.

Pitts said the first generation of Bunkie Monkeys came out in 1996 or 1997. Shes exactly sure of the year.

Basically, after the first one, everyone in Bunkie had one. And they kind of quit selling, said Pitts.

Then in 2005, she decided to do a second generation.

I sold a ton of those, and people started wanting to collect them, so everybody bought a second one and sent a second one to everyone. And thats the one that started traveling a lot more, she said.

People would send her pictures of the places the Bunkie Monkey visited.

I was just amazed that they would take this monkey across the country with them or across the world and set them in different places. And so, it became kind of a fun thing, said Pitts.

The second generation lasted until 2010.

"Then I couldnt get that monkey anymore and people were still wanting them, she said. So I came out with a third generation. It was Bunkie Monkey Jr. And he had a little T-shirt on that said Bunkie Monkey Jr. So we did that one for awhile.

She said she didnt fool with it anymore but in the last three or four years, people have been asking her about the Bunkie Monkeys. She put it on the back burner until a couple of weeks ago when someone again asked her about the plush toys because Christmas was coming up.

This came up so fast with the Bunkie Monkey, that when I mentioned it to someone, then everybody started calling, she said.

In order to get people excited, she posted on Facebook and did other kinds of marketing to get people excited but didnt post the monkeys face.

The fourth generation of Bunkie Monkeys can be found at Griffins Antique Store & Main Street Market in Bunkie.

"I adore the plush Bunkie Monkey and have a first generation. I am excited to give my grandson a new generation one," said Juneau.

There will also be T-shirts for sale at Griffins because others have been asking for them. Pitts also plans to sell hand towels, but they wont be available until after Christmas.

They have Bunkie Monkey on it and a cute little monkey swinging from a vine, she said of the towels.

She is still deciding on a name for the fourth monkey but thought about calling it Mac after Macci Haas. All of them have names. The first one is The Original Bunkie Monkey. The second one is named Sam after Samuel Haas. The third one is Bunkie Monkey Jr.

Each Bunkie Monkey comes with a tag that has a short version of the story of how Bunkie got its name, she said.

The tag for the fourth one is folded up like a newspaper under its arm.

I thought that was cute because it looked like a newspaper, a newspaper article. And it says, Monkey Business. Is Bunkie really named after a monkey? And it tells the little story, she said.

New generations of the Bunkie Monkeys will be offered on and off through the years, she said. Most people get excited about them and they stay excited for two or three years and then the excitement wanes.

There is a Facebook page for the Bunkie Monkey, and she is currently working creating a website, bunkiemonkey.com, where people will be able to order future merchandise online.

Many people have started collecting the different generations of Bunkie Monkeys, said Pitts.

People like these because its even in the history books that Bunkie got its name from a monkey, she said.

This article originally appeared on Alexandria Town Talk: Bunkie Monkey plush toys swing into Bunkie in time for Christmas
Law enforcement officials in Burlington, Vt., are investigating the shooting of three 20-year-old Palestinian college students on Saturday as a possible hate crime.

Jason Eaton, a 48-year-old resident of Burlington, was arrested Sunday afternoon by federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, authorities said.

Eaton was arraigned on Monday and charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree. He pleaded not guilty and is being held without bail.

What we know

College students Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ahmed, who are of Palestinian descent, were shot in Burlington, Vt., on Saturday. (Courtesy of the Awartani family via Reuters) (via REUTERS)

According to the Burlington Police Department, the students were walking along a street at around 6:30 p.m. on Saturday when they were confronted by a man with a handgun who fired at least four rounds without speaking and then fled on foot.

The victims  identified as Hisham Awartani, a student at Brown University in Rhode Island; Kinnan Abdalhamid, a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Tahseen Ahmad, a student at Trinity College in Connecticut  were in Burlington to visit Awartanis grandmother for the Thanksgiving holiday.

According to court documents, Abdalhamid was shot in the leg; Ahmad was shot in his upper right chest. Both were listed in stable condition at the University of Vermont Medical Center on Sunday.

Awartani has a bullet lodged in his spine, the documents show. He was listed in serious condition at the University of Vermont Medical Center Sunday.

Jason Eaton. (Burlington Police Department)

According to police, at least two of the students were wearing traditional Palestinian scarves, called keffiyehs, when they were shot.

Local police, FBI and ATF agents conducted a canvass of the neighborhood Sunday and arrested Eaton, who lives in an apartment across the street from the scene. Evidence collected during a search of the apartment gave investigators and prosecutors probable cause to believe that Mr. Eaton perpetrated the shooting, the Burlington Police Department said in a press release.

I hope that Burlingtons Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities see in todays prompt arrest the citys commitment to justice in keeping all members of our community safe, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger said at a news briefing.

Pro-Palestinian and antiwar activists have held numerous rallies in Burlington against Israels bombardment of Gaza.

What we dont know

First responders treat one of the shooting victims on Saturday. (Wayne Savage via Reuters) (via REUTERS)

Authorities have yet to officially identify a motive for the shooting. But the incident comes amid a rise in reported hate crimes across the country since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in October.

The U.S. attorneys office for the District of Vermont said it is investigating whether the shooting may have been a hate crime. State and local law enforcement officials are say they are doing so, too.

Although we do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, I do want to be clear that there is no question this was a hateful act, Chittenden County States Attorney Sarah George said at a press briefing.

Recommended reading

In this charged moment, no one can look at this incident and not suspect that it may have been a hate-motivated crime, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad said in a press release prior to Eatons arrest.

An attorney for the victims families, Abed Ayoub, told CNN that he believes the students were targeted because two of them were wearing keffiyehs.

The suspect walked up to them and shot them. They werent robbed, they werent mugged, Ayoub said Sunday. It was a targeted shooting and a targeted crime.

What the White House is saying

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre at a briefing on Monday. (Evan Vucci/AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

At a briefing Monday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Biden and first lady Jill Biden were horrified to learn about the attack.

These students were taking part in a uniquely American tradition gathering with family and loved ones to celebrate Thanksgiving, she said. They should be back in school with their classmates, not in a hospital room. The president, first lady and everyone here at the White House join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery. And we send our deepest condolences to their families and the broader Palestinian Arab and Muslim American communities.

There is absolutely, absolutely no place for violence or hate in America, she added. No person should worry about being targeted while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.

Local coverage

The White House released a statement on the president's behalf later Monday:

Jill and I were horrified to learn that three college students of Palestinian descent, two of whom are American citizens, were shot Saturday in Burlington, Vermont. They were simply spending Thanksgiving gathered with family and loved ones.

We join Americans across the country in praying for their full recovery, and we send our deepest condolences to their families. While we are waiting for more facts, we know this: there is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America. Period. No person should worry about being shot at while going about their daily lives. And far too many Americans know a family member injured or killed as a result of gun violence. We cannot and we will not accept that.

Earlier today, I spoke to Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger to offer my support. We are grateful to the Burlington Police Department  as well as the FBI, ATF, and other law enforcement partners  for their swift work identifying and arresting a suspect. Our Administration will provide any additional federal resources needed to assist in the investigation.
A blooded butcher knife and drag marks in a Florida homes backyard led deputies to the gruesome discovery of a dismembered body in the trunk of a vehicle on Thanksgiving Day, officials said.

Deputies went to a home in Inverness on Nov. 23 for an urgent well-being check after someone called to tell them a person had been killed there, according to a Nov. 25 release from the Citrus County Sheriffs Office.

They knocked on the front door, to no response, before circling the home, deputies said.

When they went to the backyard, they found what looked like a large, butcher-style knife lying on the ground with blood and drag marks, according to the release.

Further investigation (led) deputies to the gruesome discovery of the dismembered body of 67-year-old James Banks, who was found in the trunk of his own vehicle, the sheriffs office said.

When deputies entered the home, they found 75-year-old Jonathan Dimick Sr. sitting in the living room, according to the release.

He was suffering from a self-inflicted wound to the gut but was alive when deputies arrived, they said.

He was taken to the hospital, where he died, deputies said.

Deputies did not release the relationship between Dimick and Banks, but did identify Dimick as the suspect in Banks death. A possible motive was not released.

The scene our deputies responded to was absolutely shocking. It is rare that a case this horrific occurs in Citrus County, but this is what we prepare for, Sheriff Mike Prendergast said in the release. It is truly unfortunate that our suspect will never be prosecuted for this brutal crime. However, thanks to the callers courage and our teams quick response, Mr. Banks family can begin their grieving process with the knowledge that no one will ever again suffer by the hands of Mr. Dimick.

Inverness is about 75 miles north of Tampa.

Hammer-wielding man attacks McDonalds worker then runs off, Virginia officials say

Man and woman found shot to death in bushes near trailhead, Washington officials say

Car gets wedged under semi making U-turn on Florida highway, cops say. Driver killed

Jogger wakes up sleeping man on sidewalk and shoots him dead, California officials say
Longing for a nostalgic trip to the flea market and more sustainable clothing options? Youre in luck because ThriftCon, a market with over 150 vintage clothing and collectible vendors, will make its way to Charlotte for the first time ever on Dec. 3.

Whether youre in a 70s groove or a Y2K mood, at this buy-sell-trade party, youll have the option of buying secondhand and vintage clothing with some pieces starting at just $1 and typically ranging from $10 to $50.

ThriftCon, which was founded in 2019 by co-founders Mars Conte, David Bywater and Ken Meade, was first hosted exclusively in Denver, Colorado. The convention, which now travels all over the country, intends to bring the secondhand lifestyle to mainstream audiences with the mission of encouraging a more sustainable way of life through vintage clothing and collectibles, showing people firsthand what living secondhand can do.

In order to build something that supports these small businesses in the cities we go to, we always reach out to local brick-and-mortar stores or online resellers in the area and offer them opportunities to grow with the event  like being a featured name on the lineup or host the events pre-parties, said Brian Frederick, ThriftCons media and vendor manager.

For its upcoming convention in Charlotte, you can expect a special 90s and Y2K section featuring several local vendors. It was curated by the team at Noughties Market, which puts on its own thrifting and secondhand events at Petty Thieves Brewing.

They were great to work with and helped us big time with something that we likely wouldnt have been able to do on our own, Frederick said.

While ThriftCon is also hosting a pre-party on Dec. 1 at Old News Vintage, there will be a mix of both out-of-state vendors and Charlotte locals. ThriftCon, which has previously visited cities like Atlanta, Houston and Las Vegas, will also feature vendors like VintageZac and Rare Vntg.

Honestly, there is no ThriftCon without local vendors stepping up and making it happen, Frederick said.

Noughties Market CLT, which you may be familiar with from its previous pop-ups at Heist Brewery, will participate in ThriftCon.

And if youre already in the giving spirit, ThriftCon will also feature a clothing drive, all of which will not be sold but sent its local partner, Charlotte Rescue Mission.

Location: The Park Expo & Conference Center, 800 Briar Creek Rd, Charlotte, NC 28205

When: Sunday, Dec. 3, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Admission: Tickets are $12 via ThriftCons website and $20 at the door. Kids under 13 get in for free. Early entry tickets (starting at 9 a.m.) are also available online for $30.

Instagram: @thrift_con
Modesto police Officer Mark Ulrich first noticed fentanyl during an arrest in 2019. Hed been used to finding heroin and identifying it by its tarry viscosity and strong vinegar smell. But this substance was different.

I did what we always did, took a little whiff, and boom. I got immediately dizzy and was like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, OK, thats weird. What the heck is that? Ulrich said. Well, what they were doing at the time was they were mixing fentanyl into the heroin. So you couldnt tell the difference.

He can tell the difference now. That training has become crucial as fentanyl overdoses and poisoning have reached crisis level.

After President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in the Bay Area this month to discuss a variety of issues, fentanyl was the first one brought up by Biden in his news conference afterward.

He remarked that China took action to greatly reduce the amount of fentanyl shipped into the United States in 2019 and that the nations joint focus now is to target the chemical ingredients that go into making the drug and prevent pill presses from entering the U.S.

The Biden-Xi meeting in San Mateo County was held ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit at the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. Its just under a mile away from the Tenderloin District, which the Stanislaus County District Attorneys Office said has been a major distribution hub for fentanyl sold here in the Valley.

Stanislaus dealers buying fentanyl by the pound in San Francisco

You had a bunch of cartels essentially set up shop in San Francisco and the dealers in our county would drive to the Tenderloin, they would buy fentanyl by the pound and then they would drive it back here to sell, Deputy District Attorney Patrick Hogan said in an interview with The Bee. Thats because it was just so easy.

Hogan said this information was provided to him during a debriefing of a drug dealer a few years ago when color fentanyl  fentanyl pills in colors other than white  first arrived on the market. Hogan said his source could double his money with a day trip into the Tenderloin. He also referenced other San Francisco Bay Area cities as easy places to pick up supply and drive it back into the county.

Biden said in his news conference that more U.S. residents ages 18 to 49 die from fentanyl than from guns, car accidents, or any other cause.

In Stanislaus County, there were 129 overdose deaths this year as of October. More than 60% of those deaths were due to illegal fentanyl. Bee reporting in late October said the county Coroners Office had recorded 81 fentanyl-related deaths since New Years Day, 34 of them since July.

County officials expect the death toll to rise above 200 by the end of the year, surpassing last years total of 176.

Whats fentanyls effect at the street level?

As Ulrich noted, police officers now are trained to recognize fentanyl and handle the drug with care. For instance, heroin mixed with fentanyl has a glassy sheen to it. But Ulrich said he hasnt seen heroin at all recently, even heroin mixed with fentanyl. Its now just fentanyl in a white powder form, which is easily identifiable, he said.

For the end user, that might not always be the case. Both Ulrich and Hogan confirmed theyve seen cases where fentanyl is being mixed into cocaine, meth and other drugs. A drug user might not always be seeking out fentanyl but can die from it regardless.

Fentanyl is getting cheaper, too. Hogan said the street value now sits around $40 a gram and about $500 for an ounce. It can be cut into a more expensive drug such as cocaine to increase a dealers profit margin.

Law enforcement officials and prosecutors including Hogan point to Californias laws as the reason the crisis has escalated. Ulrich and Hogan complained about Proposition 47 and believes its the reason drug dealers are being rotated out of the system and back onto the streets and why the fentanyl crisis has become so bad.

What is Proposition 47?

Proposition 47 was passed in 2014 in an effort to reduce prison populations in California. It made some nonviolent crimes, such as drug possession, misdemeanors and made other nonviolent crimes subject to resentencing or restructuring. Changes to violent and serious crimes were unaffected, according to the California Judicial Councils Criminal Justice Services.

It aimed to use the taxpayer funds saved from not jailing and imprisoning those convicted of the nonviolent crimes to instead pay for community programs like ones for at-risk K-12 students. $68 million in savings for the 2016-17 fiscal year were reallocated to drug and alcohol rehabilitation, mental health treatment and truancy prevention programs, according to its website.

But Hogan said that the domino effect Proposition 47 had on legislation wasnt worth it and that prosecutors cant send drug dealers to state prison like they once could. Instead, they can only be held in county jail for a maximum of four years or as little as one year.

To be honest with you, my big frustration is trying to tell people that the sentencing structure for fentanyl sales is frankly inappropriate, given the gravity of the crisis, said Hogan.

Hogan believes this because, hypothetically, if someone were convicted of possessing two pounds of fentanyl intended for sale, he can send them only to a local jail unless they have a prior strike on their record.

Ulrich said that usually means a dealer would spend four years or less in jail, be released downtown and could potentially start the process over again. I think people were lied to, they kind of (had) the wool pulled over their eyes when they were told about voting for it, he said.

Both Ulrich and Hogan acknowledged that other systemic issues are worsening both the fentanyl and homeless crises, including lack of affordable or free rehab services, lack of affordable housing and lack of harm-reduction efforts for users. A simple definition of harm reduction, from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, is reducing the harm associated with using drugs through a variety of public health interventions.

Im not the guy whos sitting here saying that theres no place for harm reduction. I dont believe that. Harm reduction is really important, Hogan said. But harm reduction is not going to be the way out of this, either. We need all the tools in our arsenal to be able to handle it. That includes appropriately punishing the people that are responsible on the dealing end.

As a prosecutor, Hogan said he doesnt want to create a punishment regime that oppresses, but rather wants the tools to prosecute appropriately, especially when trying to charge a dealer with murder whos customer had died.

Can a dealer be charged with murder for a fentanyl death?





Homicide cases based on fentanyl overdoses or poisonings are tough to prosecute, Hogan said. A direct link between the dealers supply and the drugs found on a dead user has to be established.

This can get complicated, Hogan said. Sometimes users have drugs on them from different dealers or have no phone record to prove they got the lethal dose from a specific person.

There have been two cases where the Stanislaus DAs Office charged men  Anthony Taft Lee and George Foster Keene with murder because they allegedly supplied fentanyl to someone who died from an overdose.

Connor Hoffman died of a fentanyl overdose in May 2021.

Lee, 36, was charged with murder after allegedly supplying a lethal dose of fentanyl to 21-year-old Connor Hoffman in 2021. Lees case was the first time in Stanislaus County that prosecutors charged an accused fentanyl dealer with murder.

This was because investigators had text messages they felt proved that Hoffman bought fentanyl from Lee about an hour and a half before his death. Prosecutors alleged they knew Hoffman didnt have any other fentanyl on him because he had just gotten out of rehab.

They were the only family that we had ever been able to meet with where we could tell them, We know who the dealer was responsible for your sons death, said Hogan. And we did what we could to prosecute to the best of our ability.

Hogan said the case became complicated because the public sentiment, particularly on social media, was questioning whether it was right to prosecute someone for a users death who asked specifically for fentanyl from their dealer. He cited a tort, or an argument, called assumption of risk. Hogan said this tort doesnt exist in criminal law, but that people could consciously or unconsciously apply it anyway, making a jury trial more difficult.

Lee took a plea deal for a lesser charge of manslaughter.

Bethany Borges is shown at work at Harvest Moon restaurant in downtown Modesto in this undated photo.

In Keenes case, he is accused of supplying the fentanyl responsible for the Aug. 17 death of 24-year-old Ceres resident Bethany Borges. Details of the incident have not been released.

Hogan said Keenes case is a prosecution he very much believes in. The defendants next court appearance is Dec. 11.

For every every 50 cases like this that we look into, we will be lucky to find one where we really can prosecute, and its not because people arent trying, its just because of how difficult it is to create that direct line between the dealer and the death, said Hogan. Its super, super tough.

Modesto police Officer Mark Ulrich
When California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis take the stage Thursday for their much-hyped televised debate, it will be perhaps the starkest visual representation of the divide between the two states.

While many social, political and economic factors contribute to that gulf, perhaps no topic better encapsulates the bicoastal conflict than the states' respective responses to the COVID-19 crisis  the ramifications of which are still resonating and being debated half a year after the end of the pandemic's emergency phase.

On one side was California, which "trusted in science and data," as Newsom has put it, and was "the first state to issue a stay-at-home order, which helped us avoid the early spikes in cases." It was part of a strategy the Democratic governor reasoned was worth the sacrifice: "People are alive today because of the public health decisions we made."

And on the other was Florida, whose approach DeSantis touted as mindful of economic health  attacking temporary business closures and vaccine mandates.

"We refused to let our state descend into some type of 'Faucian' dystopia, where people's rights were curtailed and their livelihoods were destroyed," the Republican governor said during a March speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, referencing Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the architects of the nationwide COVID-19 response, who has since retired.

Though the controversy over stay-at-home orders and mask mandates preoccupied the minds of many early in the pandemic, the deeper, more lasting debate surrounding COVID vaccines may be the most notable distinction between the states.

By the first winter wave of the pandemic, COVID-19 rampaged through swaths of California, sending patients to the hospital in droves, overwhelming Los Angeles' morgues with bodies and prompting officials to issue new stay-at-home orders.

Florida, with its more laissez-faire approach, seemingly saw a less severe winter, prompting supporters to take something of a victory lap.

But over the next year, as Florida officials adopted a more critical view of COVID-19 vaccines, the Sunshine State's fortunes waned. The following summer's surge, fueled by the Delta variant, was particularly deadly  despite vaccines being widely available.

Read more: How Florida fell so far behind California in battling the coronavirus

Given how different California and Florida are  in terms of the age of their populations, overcrowded housing and the like  it's hard to establish a definitive scorecard of who handled COVID-19 better in terms of policy. Structural factors may have provided one state an advantage at any point in time.

But in raw terms, significantly more Floridians died on a per capita basis during the COVID-19 emergency than Californians. Of the four most-populous states, California had the lowest cumulative COVID death rate: 2,560 for every 1 million residents. Florida's rate was 60% worse, with 4,044 COVID fatalities for every 1 million residents, according to a Times analysis of Johns Hopkins University data through early March, when the university ended its data tracking.

In other words, Florida's raw death tally  86,850 in early March  came close to California's total, 101,159, despite California having roughly 18 million more residents.

The overall death toll, however, may not tell the whole story.

When factoring in demographics, another estimate has Florida with an age-adjusted COVID mortality rate that's only slightly higher than California's. And when adjusting for how Florida's population is relatively unhealthier than California's, another estimate actually ranks Florida better.

Such caveats cut both ways, though. The pandemic revealed just how rapidly COVID can carve through overcrowded settings. That proved to be a big vulnerability in California, particularly in Los Angeles County, where more homes are overcrowded than in any other large U.S. county, according to a Times analysis of census data published last year.

Read more: L.A.s love of sprawl made it America's most overcrowded place. Poor people pay a deadly price

And Florida's status as a state with one of the oldest populations in the country might have, counterintuitively, prevented the coronavirus from spreading as quickly in the pre-vaccine era. Many of Florida's seniors may have strictly avoided gatherings during that first winter while younger, restriction-weary Californians could have been more apt to travel, socialize and potentially pass the virus to more vulnerable family members.

DeSantis' message on COVID shots evolved from boasting about his state's high vaccination rate among seniors in early 2021 to this year accusing federal agencies of using "healthy Floridians as guinea pigs." He asserted that the latest inoculations "have not been proven to be safe or effective," despite strong evidence cited by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and U.S. Food and Drug Administration that they are.

Some health experts say Florida could've curbed its deadly 2021 summer surge had more younger adults gotten vaccinated and different mitigation policies been implemented.

By mid-June 2021, about 3 in 4 seniors in both Florida and California had completed their primary vaccination series. But just 43% of Florida's younger adults had completed theirs, compared with 54% in California.

Earlier in the pandemic, only 20% of COVID-19 deaths in Florida were people younger than 65. But that share climbed to 40% during the peak of the Delta wave, according to Jason Salemi, associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida.

"That was an astonishing number," he said.

The lower vaccine uptake in younger adults probably played a role.

Read more: Column: COVID lockdowns saved millions of lives  so of course Ron DeSantis is angry about them

"It didn't need to be as bad as it was  because I felt like if we would have all kind of read the tea leaves and seen what was happening and started to ... do [more] mitigation efforts ... I think it would have resulted in a much lower morbidity and mortality rate during the Delta wave," he said.

As documented by Florida journalists, DeSantis changed his tone on COVID vaccines by spring 2021 and since has elevated voices skeptical of them.

Florida had an enviable early-vaccination rate among its seniors. But when it came to boosters  which first became available in fall 2021  the state had one of the nation's worst coverage rates for older adults by the end of the pandemic emergency in spring 2023.

By early 2022, as the highly infectious Omicron variant spawned what eventually would prove the second-deadliest surge of the pandemic nationally, 69% of California's seniors had received their first booster, compared with 59% of Florida's seniors, according to data from the CDC.

As of early May, 48% of California's seniors had received an updated booster formulated specifically to combat Omicron, compared with 31% of Florida's seniors.

Read more: Column: Does Ron DeSantis even believe his dangerous B.S. about COVID vaccines?

Since DeSantis' shift on vaccines, Florida's cumulative COVID death rate began climbing at a faster pace than California's  a pattern that continued through the end of the pandemic emergency in May.

That shift accelerated after DeSantis appointed a new health secretary and surgeon general, Dr. Joseph Ladapo, who has issued a number of recommendations and statements that have been roundly criticized by other medical officials and experts.

The CDC and FDA went so far as to write an extraordinary public letter rebuking some of Ladapo's claims  such as his recommendation that young men not receive mRNA vaccines because of an increased risk of cardiac complications. The CDC and FDA said the assertion was "incorrect, misleading and could be harmful to the American public" and said the risk of stroke and heart attack are actually lower in vaccinated people, not higher.

Ladapo reiterated his critical stance on the latest COVID-19 vaccine formulation in September, and recommended against the shots for those younger than 65. That defied official federal recommendations, which called for virtually everyone 6 months and older to get an updated vaccination this autumn.

COVID-19 continues to pose a "risk at all age groups," CDC Director Dr. Mandy Cohen said in an interview with the "In the Bubble with Andy Slavitt" podcast when asked about Florida's recommendations. "We also see a very safe vaccine."

Read more: How the California miracle dissolved into a winter coronavirus nightmare

California health officials have defended their approach to the pandemic as appropriately rooted in science, and ultimately effective.

"Do I think California did better than Florida? I think your crude numbers show that we did," said Dr. Mark Ghaly, California's health and human services secretary.

But, he added, "Do I think if you really got small and granular, whether it's age adjustment, or other adjustments, and add layers of comorbidity ... can you split this even further? Absolutely.

"I guess the question for me is: What does it tell you?" he said. "And in California, I think the data does speak for itself."

California and Florida had similar cumulative COVID-19 death rates in the first few months of the pandemic. But Florida's rate accelerated faster starting in summer 2020 as the state more quickly loosened restrictions.

California saw its own cumulative death rate rise at a faster pace than Florida's during the first pandemic winter, and the gap between the two states narrowed. Still, for virtually the entire pandemic, California's cumulative death rate has remained below Florida's.

Read more: A coronavirus mystery: Why New York was hit so much harder than L.A. County

A Times analysis of the unadjusted COVID mortality rate, based on the Johns Hopkins University tally, shows that Florida had the highest rate of the four most populous states  and the 12th-worst of the 50 states. California's rate was 11th lowest of all states.

A separate calculation, which adjusts for age in a database run by the CDC, had Florida with a slightly worse ranking than California  the 34th highest age-adjusted COVID mortality rate versus the 38th highest.

A third analysis, published in the medical journal the Lancet earlier this year, looked at COVID-19 death rates through the end of July 2022 and calculated Florida as having a 43% worse unadjusted death rate than California. But when adjusted for differences in age, the gap was narrower  with a 12% worse death rate in Florida. When also factoring in how Florida's population as a whole is unhealthier than California, in addition to the age adjustment, the roles reversed and California had a 34% worse adjusted death rate.

But California and Florida may be outliers. A broader look at data from the Lancet report show that states in the South, Southwest and Rocky Mountains had a worse COVID death rate, even when adjusted for age and health conditions, compared with the Northeast and Pacific Northwest.

"Our results suggest that vaccine coverage is linked to fewer COVID-19 deaths, and protective mandates and behaviors were associated with fewer infections," the Lancet analysis said. "The states that implemented and maintained more mandates were statistically associated, on average, with higher mask use and greater vaccine coverage rates, which in turn were associated with fewer infections."

Generally, the Lancet analysis found that poverty, lower educational attainment, higher rates of chronic health conditions, limited access to quality healthcare services and lower rates of "interpersonal trust"  trust that people have in one another  were statistically associated with worse COVID-19 mortality rates.

Some experts are wary about comparing death rates, given how vastly different states can be. Any state-level analysis may also paper over regional differences  L.A. County's death rate, for instance, was much higher than the San Francisco Bay Area's.

Read more: San Francisco Bay Area's COVID death rate was among the lowest in the nation. Here's why

The University of South Florida's Salemi called such comparisons "apples and oranges."

"There's so many factors at play that help a county or state navigate a pandemic. ... It's not just about these policies, it's not just about vaccination uptake  although all of those things certainly matter. It's just such a challenging thing to isolate the independent effect of each," Salemi said.

In terms of overall judgment of policymakers in how they tried to tackle the COVID crisis, Dr. Robert Wachter, chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco, said he thought California was following the scientific evidence "better than many other states, including Florida."

"When you looked at the early curves of death rates, it was substantially lower in California than in many other states. I think a lot of lives were saved at that stage," he said.

There's lately been a lot of hindsight history, with some questioning whether the tough measures early in the pandemic were an overreaction, Wachter said. But generally, he said, "I don't know how you say that when you have well over a million Americans that have died."

Had Florida been in a vaccine-skeptical mood earlier, "there would be many, many, many more deaths in Florida," Wachter said. "So I'm grateful that  in part because my mother lives there, and she's older  that the early message at least was in keeping with what the science tells us to do."

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Some Californians leaving for Texas could be replaced by Texans leaving for California

While it is known that many Californians looking to leave the Golden State often choose Texas as their new home, new statistics indicate that a growing number of Texans are making their home in California.

Data obtained from the United States Census Bureau by the Houston Chronicle on state-to-state migration shows that California welcomed 42,279 Texans as new residents in 2022, the most of any state.

One major motivator when it comes to relocating is how much residents are paid; according to Forbes, the average salary in Texas for 2023 is $57,300, which ranks 24th in the nation. The average Californians salary is $73,220, which is third highest in America only behind New York ($74,870) and Massachusetts ($76,600).

Young and wealthy Californians leaving the region for other states, study says

Forbes analysts say that the average annual salary across the U.S. is $59,428  around $2,000 more than the average Texas resident  meaning that Texans often require a handsome salary to move out west, the Houston Chronicle said.

While 42,279 Texans resettling in California in 2022 may seem like a lot of people, more than 102,000 Californians decided to move to Texas in the same period.

Census data revealed that about 475,000 people moved to California from across the U.S. in 2022, but in the same period, 817,000 Californians left the state for somewhere else, leaving the Golden State with a net loss of around 342,000 residents.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Editors Note: Call to Earth is a CNN editorial series committed to reporting on the environmental challenges facing our planet, together with the solutions. Rolexs Perpetual Planet initiative has partnered with CNN to drive awareness and education around key sustainability issues and to inspire positive action.

On the outskirts of Cape Town an unusual resident can often be found rummaging through rubbish bins and around back yards. The chacma baboon, native to southern Africa, has become quite familiar with the urban setting.

Most of these primates spend the majority of their time in the hills and slopes on Cape Towns periphery. However, their traditional feeding grounds are on the flatter lowground, right where the suburban sprawl has arrived in recent decades.

This has created an urban conflict, with many human residents unhappy with the presence of the primates.

Baboon researcher Esme Beamish, from Cape Town Universitys Institute for Communities and Wildlife in Africa, explains that it makes sense for the monkeys to venture into the city in search of food. Our environments are enticing not only because of the excess food that we have, the lush gardens and the bins, but also play spaces [for baboons], she says.

Even if we had the perfect baboon proofing of urban areas, they would still be attracted.

Baboons overlooking Cape Town. - Baboon Matters

Easy access to food from Cape Towns bins means baboons can spend less time and energy foraging, and more on socializing with potential mates and the rest of their group, adds Beamish.

However, there are consequences for baboons and humans alike. Some baboons have come into conflict with residents and their pets. Whilst looking for food, others have ruined farmers and local winemakers crops.

Beamish is concerned for the monkeys welfare. [Baboons] come into contact with dogs, motorcars and electric power lines. These are some of the major causes of death and injury, she says.

What we now have is  not a very healthy population. Theyve got skin conditions because theyre spending too much time in bins. Theyve got appalling teeth.

The local council and residents have previously attempted to mitigate these issues by reducing food waste and using baboon-proof bins, as well as fences that were introduced in 2013 to keep baboons out.

In some instances, residents have resorted to shooting the monkeys with pellet guns and particularly aggressive, or problematic, baboons have been euthanized.

Baboons raid a tourist's car on the outskirts of Cape Town. - Schalk van Zuydam/AP

The presence of baboons on the citys streets has fallen slightly, but some people fear the animal could disappear from the surrounding natural areas if it is pushed too far. The city announced in September plans to construct more fences to keep baboons confined to more rural areas.

The initial plans suggest erecting fences at a number of sites along the top of Cape Peninsula, a natural habitat for the animals, and more fences have been proposed along the edge of suburbs in west Cape Town. By reducing access to these bountiful areas, the hope is that more baboons will remain on the hillsides.

Jenni Trethowan, founder of conservation group Baboon Matters, agrees that keeping the primates apart from humans is the best thing for both. By continuing to make it difficult, hopefully the baboons will decide meh, lets just stay up here, she says.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Police have identified a suspect they say fired shots at a man who caught him breaking into his car in East Memphis.

Carye Humphrey, 18, is wanted on a warrant for his arrest charging him with six counts of aggravated assault, burglary of a motor vehicle, and theft of a firearm less than $2,500, Memphis Police said.

Officers responded at noon Saturday to a call in the 4600 block of Poplar, near Perkins Extended.

Police said a man caught a burglar breaking into a Dodge Charger, alerted him, and began recording on his cell phone.

6 killed, 15 injured during Thanksgiving weekend

Thats when the burglar turned around and fired shots at the man recording him, police say. Some shots hit a nearby business with several people inside.

No injuries were reported. The suspect got into a black Nissan Altima with a busted rear window and fled east on Poplar.

A 9mm handgun was stolen from the Chargers glove box, a police report stated.

Police released a photo of the suspect. Anyone with information should call 901-528-CASH.

Year-to-date in 2023, there have been 9,047 auto burglary reports in Memphis. At this time last year, there were 8,002, MPD said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
A man who "demonstrated a strong sexual preoccupation with young children" has been jailed for making indecent photographs of them.

John Tesseyman was identified as part of an investigation targeting UK nationals making payments to a Filipino family who facilitated child abuse.

The 73-year-old, from Carnforth, made 53 payments to them, totalling 2,700, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

He was jailed for 13 months at Preston Crown Court.

He was also prohibited from travelling to a list of countries, including the Philippines, for five years.

Tesseyman was detained on suspicion of child sexual abuse offences by officers from the National Bureau of Investigation in the Philippines while visiting the country, the NCA said.

Internet searches

He was later released and returned to the UK, but was arrested by the NCA several weeks later at his home in Ingleton, Carnforth.

During their investigation, officers identified that Tesseyman had made the payments to payees in the Philippines between March and October 2017.

On his arrest, NCA officers seized Tesseyman's computers, which were found to have over 70 indecent images of children.

His internet search history demonstrated a strong sexual preoccupation with young children and contained graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse, the NCA said.

Tesseyman was charged with four counts of making indecent photographs of children.

The couple who facilitated the abuse of the children in some of the photos were both charged with offences involving the sexual exploitation of children.

One of them has since been convicted, and is serving a 15 year term in prison in Manila.

Senior investigating officer, Daniel Waywell, said: "The investigation into John Tesseyman was the result of a concerted effort from NCA officers and our colleagues overseas, demonstrating our resolve to pursue and bring to justice individuals who pose a sexual threat to children."

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, X and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to northwest.newsonline@bbc.co.uk
Hundreds lined up flanking Main Street to watch the annual Christmas Parade that brought local high school bands, dance groups, and many others to downtown in Jackson, Tenn., on Monday, Dec. 3, 2018.

It's Holiday Season once again in West Tennessee and with it brings a host of Christmas parades, pine trees, floats and Santa Clauses galore.

Almost 20 holiday gatherings have begun throughout the region, attracting families to see lights, decorations and enjoy time together for memories in the making.

Mark your calendar for multiple holiday happenings throughout the region:

Dec. 2

The Town of Somerville will be hosting it's annual parade beginning at Town Hall at 3 p.m.

The Town of McKenzie will be hosting it's annual Big Jingle Christmas parade downtown at 4 p.m.

The Town of Dyer will be hosting it's annual parade downtown at 5 p.m.

The Town of Saltillo will be hosting it's Saltillos Christmas on Main parade at 5 p.m.

The Town of South Fulton will be hosting it's annual parade at 5:30 p.m.

The Town of Brownsville will be hosting it's annual parade at 6 p.m.

The Town of Bolivar will be hosting it's annual parade at 6 p.m.

The Town of Gleason will be hosting it's annual parade at 6 p.m.

The Town of Kenton will be hosting it's annual White Squirrel Christmas parade at 6:30 p.m.

Dec. 3

The Town of Selmer will be hosting it's annual parade at 5 p.m.

The Town of Decaturville will be hosting it's annual parade at 5 p.m.

Dec. 4

The City of Jackson will be hosting it's annual parade beginning at City Hall at 6:30 p.m.

The City of Savannah will be hosting it's annual parade at 6:30 p.m.

The City of Martin will be hosting it's Kiwanis Christmas Parade at 7 p.m.

Dec. 5

The City of Milan will be hosting it's annual parade beginning on Main St. at 6:30 p.m.

The Town of Henderson will be hosting it's annual parade beginning on Main St. at 7 p.m.

The Town of Union City will be hosting it's annual parade beginning on S. First St. at 7 p.m.

The Town of Clarksburg will be hosting it's annual parade at 7 p.m.

This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: Celebrate Christmas with an array of West Tennessee parades
LONDON, ENGLAND - MAY 30: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Beyonce performs onstage during the "RENAISSANCE WORLD TOUR" at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on May 30, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood)

LOS ANGELES - The "Alien Superstars" were in full attendance Saturday night as Beyonce Knowles rolled out the silver carpet to her highly anticipated Renaissance World Tour film premiere in Los Angeles.

What's a Hollywood premiere without a bit of drama? The silver carpet turned into a runway of extraterrestrial ensembles as celebrities like Tyler Perry, Victoria Monet, Chloe and Halle Bailey, Lori Harvey, Gabrielle Union and many more flaunted their otherworldly fashion sense.

The film is meant to chronicle Beyonces "intention, hard work as creative and producer, and her process in mastering her craft to execute the 56-performance, 39-city, record-breaking Renaissance World Tour," according to a press release. But let's be honest, fans will fill the theaters just to re-live the summer hype that had "everybody on mute."

The event doubled as a reunion for Beyonce's old girl group Destiny's Child. All former members  Kelly Rowland, Michelle Williams, LeToya Luckett, LaTavia Roberson and Farrah Franklin  attended to support Bey.

Renaissance: A Film By Beyonce premieres in theaters in the U.S., Canada and Mexico on Dec. 1.

This story was reported from Atlanta.
Ballistic missiles fired from Yemen were launched in the direction of the Navy destroyer Mason Sunday as the warship responded to a distress call from an Israeli-linked commercial vessel in the Gulf of Aden, according to U.S. Central Command.

The episode is the latest incident where destroyers in the Middle East have encountered drones and missiles that U.S. officials say were fired by Iran-allied Houthi rebels in Yemen. It also comes as U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria have faced multiple attacks in recent weeks amid the Israel-Hamas war.

The Mason and other allied ships and aircraft from CENTCOMs counter-piracy task force came to the aid of the commercial vessel Central Park on Sunday following calls that an unknown entity attacked the ship, according to the combatant command.

Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded release of the vessel, CENTCOM said in a statement. Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender.

On Nov. 26, the USS MASON (DDG 87), with allied ships from our coalition counter-piracy task force (TF 151), and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK, a commercial vessel, that they were under attack by an unknown entity. Upon arrival, pic.twitter.com/ASmM3b0xrf  U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 27, 2023

As the Mason and other allied forces concluded assisting the commercial vessel, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the destroyer, CENTCOM said.

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles from the ships, according to the commands statement.

Pentagon press secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said Monday that those who boarded the Central Park attempted to take control of the ship and access the crew cabin. Meanwhile, the crew of the commercial vessel locked themselves into a safe haven, he told reporters Monday.

Ryder said the armed individuals, who are Somali, fled the scene in a small boat after the Mason arrived. But the destroyer dispatched a visit, board, search and seizure team to seize the individuals, and all are currently detained aboard the Mason.

The crew of the Liberian-flagged commercial vessel, which has ties to Israel, is safe. Neither vessel suffered damage or reported injuries.

Eisenhower strike group, submarine arrive in Middle East

The Mason is part of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhowers carrier strike group, which transited the Strait of Hormuz into the Arabian Gulf on Sunday to support freedom of navigation patrols and other missions in the region.

The carrier entered the waters of the Middle East on Nov. 4, the first time a carrier operated in CENTCOMs area of responsibility since the end of the Afghanistan war in 2021.

Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said in a statement Monday. We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.

Twice in recent weeks, fellow destroyer Thomas Hudner has shot down air drones that officials say were fired from Yemen. Additionally, the Navy destroyer Carney shot down cruise missiles and drones in October that U.S. officials also attributed to Yemen.

Masons crew received combat actions ribbons after Houthi rebels fired on the warship and other vessels in 2016.

Four ship crews receive Combat Action Ribbon

Yemens internationally recognized government, which is based out of nearby Aden, blamed the rebels for the seizure in a statement carried by their state-run news agency.

The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park, the statement read.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brandon CarmonaTadeo, a CH-53E Super Stallion crew chief assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, conducts pre-flight checks on a Super Stallion before flight operations aboard the amphibious transport dock USS Somerset (LPD 25) in the Pacific Ocean, Nov. 15, 2023. The 15th MEU is currently embarked aboard the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group conducting integrated training and routine operations in U.S. 3rd Fleet

The CH-53E Super Stallion heavy-lift helicopter is, by all accounts, a truly monstrous machine. A recent image taken by the Marine Corps gives an excellent visualization of its gargantuan proportions, framing its giant rotor mast in relation to a Marine sitting atop it.

The image, seen above, depicts U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Brandon CarmonaTadeo  a Sikorsky (now a subsidiary of Lockheed Martin) CH-53E Super Stallion crew chief assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 165 (Reinforced), 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU)  sitting on top of a CH-53E rotor during pre-flight checks. The picture, which is part of a series, was taken on November 15 in the Pacific Ocean as the CH-53E undertook flight operations aboard the San Antonio class amphibious transport dock USS Somerset.

U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Patrick Katz

Whats immediately noticeable is how CarmonaTadeo is completely dwarfed by the size of the Super Stallions rotor hub. For context, the diameter of the CH-53Es main rotor system is a staggering 79 feet. Bells AH-1 Cobra and UH-1Y Venom helicopters, which are also used by the Marine Corps, have much smaller main rotor system diameters measuring 48 feet, for example.

Other images taken by the Marine Corps of the Super Stallion on November 15 further underscore the enormity of the helicopter. In terms of their broader dimensions, CH-53Es clock in at just under 100 feet long and just over 28 feet high  indicating that CarmonaTadeo was high off the ground during the pre-flight checks.

U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Patrick Katz

U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Patrick Katz

Super Stallions are also extremely powerful machines, with the ability to carry heavy loads over relevant distances. They can bear external loads of up to 9,654 pounds over a distance of 110 nautical miles, and feature a maximum external takeoff weight of 73,500 pounds. Each helicopter is powered by three General Electric T64-GE-416 turboshaft engines, each producing 4,380 shaft horsepower.

U.S. Marine Corps Photo by Sgt. Patrick Katz

Of course, the sight of these giant helicopters framed up against personnel is by no means new, as weve highlighted in the past . Entering service in 1981, Super Stallions have been used extensively by the Marine Corps, particularly during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Due to their heavy use and growing age, the Marine Corps is replacing its tired CH-53E fleet  of which, according to Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), there are 136 in service  with CH-53K King Stallions .

CH-53K First Night Air to Air Refueling, June 23, 2021, NAS Patuxent River, Maryland. Lockheed Martin

The USMC took delivery of the first CH-53K in May 2018, and in April 2022 it announced that the first CH-53K had reached initial operational capability. Later in December 2022, the Navy announced that Sikorsky was cleared to begin full-rate production of the helicopter. In all, the Marine Corps plans to purchase 200 CH-53Ks, NAVAIR suggesting the type should declare full operational capability in Fiscal Year 2029.

Compared to CH-53Es, CH-53Ks are significantly more capable, particularly in terms of their ability to carry heavier loads over greater distances . However, King Stallions retain the same physical footprint as the legacy Super Stallions. You can read more about the CH-53K, including its technological and weapons capabilities, in these past War Zone pieces .

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1720865303503286426?s=20

With this in mind, the sight of Marines being dwarfed by CH-53s will no doubt continue to crop up for many decades to come.

Contact the author: oliver@thewarzone.com
Earlier this year, the National Institute of Standards and Technology added Govern as the sixth pillar in its updated Cybersecurity Framework, which is expected to be published in early 2024.

The first five pillars of the Cybersecurity Framework were implemented to improve infrastructure. The first framework, published in 2014, stated that the pillars, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover, were put in place to provide organization and structure to cybersecurity by assembling standards, guidelines, and practices that are working effectively in the industry today. Together, they created the foundation for the last ten years in the critical infrastructure industry. In August, it was time to update the framework to reflect what the cybersecurity landscape looks like today.

Along with introducing the govern pillar, the new framework expands past critical infrastructure and reflects a structure for all organizations, no matter size, industry or region. This comes with a bigger responsibility for leaders, which is why governance is essential within the framework. The new pillar emphasizes the importance of leadership and comprehensive guidelines for companies as the cybersecurity landscape grows. When applied effectively, governance can enhance their overall security posture and is an essential part of helping companies show proof that their security infrastructure aligns with their policies at any given time. It allows security teams to have a way of measuring how effectively their system is operating.

The timing couldnt be better: as we quickly approach the end of 2023, its a good time for security teams to take stock of the policies and procedures they have in place in order to ensure that they enter the new year with a strong security posture, making govern a welcome addition to the framework.

That said, there are obstacles organizations may face when adopting governance. Enterprises must learn how to adapt this new pillar to work for them and help battle the complex nature of cybersecurity and the evolving threat landscape.

Agencies lack the measurement tools to evaluate NIST cyber framework implementation in critical infrastructure sectors.

Lets examine five of the challenges that organizations may face while adapting governance principles into their overall security practice and what they can do to make the process easier.

 Implementation Complexity: Organizations need to understand how to apply governance principles to their specific environments, especially if their network consists of diverse technologies, systems and processes. It is critical to have a solution, such as a network defense platform that can be deployed quickly and give your team access to actionable data and insights into what is happening and where it is happening in one central place.

This approach can also alleviate the problem of configuration drift that is often found in complex environments and can lead to unexpected and difficult-to-detect security risks constantly emerging in those environments. Leaders should look for a solution that can help identify system misconfigurations and alert teams before those gaps lead to attacks.

 Resource Constraints: Its true that many enterprises - especially smaller organizations - lack the people, technology, budget or expertise to continuously monitor all activity on their network, which can make establishing and maintaining a robust cybersecurity governance program an extra challenge.

In fact, recent research from Enterprise Strategy Group indicates that 71% of responding organizations claim to be impacted from a cybersecurity skills shortage, which is an increase of 14% from 2021. In todays dispersed networks, security leaders need to look for a solution that monitors compliance with governance policies and can respond to unexpected changes across all environments. Accessible visibility across the entire network, without a heavy lift or additional resources is pertinent for the success of security teams in todays world.

 Rapidly Evolving Network Security Architectures: Zero Trust can easily be described as a Faustian bargain  you need it, but what do you have to give up to get it? Teams need real-time awareness of the composition and activities of the participants in their networked environments  which include users, applications, data, and devices  and the combination of Zero Trust and migration to the cloud have largely rendered traditional methods involving packet inspection ineffective.

An NDP and similar cloud native technologies can provide context about the participants and monitor activities of the actors in these environments to provide teams with actionable intelligence to inform and validate policy decisions.

 Social Media Governance: From data privacy and security concerns, to overall account and device security, to reputation and crisis management issues, social media is truly a Pandoras box of its own challenges for organizations, let alone a challenge to regulatory compliance and integration into its overall governance efforts.

The risks they pose have led many federal governments to ban TikTok from government issued devices. In the U.S., the White House has banned TikTok from government devices and more than half of the 50 U.S. states have followed suit. Leaders must decide what, if any, access to social media platforms should be allowed. Visibility into the activity for each application by device is a key ingredient to effective enforcement.

 Measurement and Reporting: Measuring the effectiveness of cybersecurity governance can be challenging. Governance and risk compliance teams should look to approaches that allow them to utilize dashboards for streamlined audits and proof of enforcement for reporting to auditors, regulators, or Board committees.

Adding governance to the NIST CSF is a key step in helping organizations show proof that their infrastructure aligns with their policies at any given time and it allows security teams to measure how effectively their system is operating.

As this calendar year comes to an end, teams should take this as an opportunity to implement comprehensive and actionable guidelines that are backed by tools that will ensure they are prepared to face whatever new threats the new year has in store.

Martin Roesch is CEO of Netography, an Annapolis, Maryland-based company that provides real-time breach detection and prevention products and services that are designed to secure business and mobile networks, emails, applications and data.
Ukraine tried to attack Moscow with dozens of drones, Russian authorities said Sunday, just a day after Ukrainian officials reported that Russia had launched its most intense drone attack on Kyiv since the beginning of its full-scale war in 2022.

Russian air defenses brought down at least 24 drones over the Moscow region  which surrounds but doesnt include the capital  and four other provinces to the south and west, the Russian Defense Ministry and Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin reported in a series of Telegram updates. Neither referenced any casualties.

Andrei Vorobyev, governor of the Moscow region, wrote on Telegram that the drone strikes damaged three unspecified buildings there, adding that no one was hurt.

One drone crashed into a 12-story apartment building in the western Russian city of Tula, about 180 kilometers (113 miles) south of Moscow, slightly wounding one resident and causing limited damage, local Gov. Aleksei Dyumin wrote on Telegram on Sunday morning.

Moscows Vnukovo and Domodedovo airports also briefly shut down because of the drone attack, according to Russian state-run news agency Tass. Both appeared to have resumed normal operation by 6 a.m. local time Sunday, according to data from international flight tracking portals.

Russian Telegram channels speculated that Ukrainian forces had deployed a previously unseen type of drone in the purported strike, pointing out some similarities to the Iranian-made weapons Moscow routinely employs in its attacks on Ukraine.

The Russian capital has come under attack from drones regularly since May, with Russian officials blaming Ukraine. Military analysts commented at the time that the early attacks deployed Ukrainian locally-made drones, which couldnt carry as heavy a payload as the Iranian-made Shaheds used by Russia.

Ukrainian officials didnt immediately acknowledge or comment on the strikes, which came a day after Russia targeted the Ukrainian capital with more than 60 Shahed drones. At least five civilians were wounded in the hourslong assault, which saw several buildings damaged by falling debris from downed drones, including a kindergarten. The wounded included an 11-year-old child, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.

The Ukrainian air force early on Sunday said it had brought down eight of nine Shahed drones fired overnight by Russian forces.

Also on Sunday morning, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that two Soviet-made S-200 rockets fired by Kyiv were shot down over the sea of Azov, which stretches between the Crimean Peninsula and Ukraines Russian-occupied southeastern coast.

According to local news sources, air raid sirens sounded earlier in Russian-annexed Crimea, which on Friday came under what Russian officials called a major drone attack. Road traffic was also briefly halted on Sunday morning across the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge that connects Crimea to the Russian mainland.

There were no reports of casualties, and no comment from officials in Kyiv.

Elsewhere, parts of Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine were left without power following a nighttime Ukrainian strike on a thermal power plant in the Donetsk region, a Moscow-installed local official reported on Telegram Sunday. According to Denis Pushilin, who heads the province that Russia illegally annexed last year, the attack on the Starobesheve plant took out the electricity in parts of the occupied cities of Donetsk and Mariupol, along with other nearby areas.

On the outskirts of Donetsk, Russian troops have continued their attempts to advance near Avdiivka, the eastern town that has been a Ukrainian stronghold and fighting hot spot since the early days of the war, according to reports by the Ukrainian General Staff and analysis by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War.

The Ukrainian General Staff said Sunday morning that Kyivs forces beat back Russian assaults to the northeast, west and southwest of Avdiivka over the previous 24 hours, as Moscows troops strain to encircle the city.

Several Russian bloggers also made unconfirmed claims that Ukrainian forces had begun withdrawing from the industrial zone on Avdiivkas southern flank, although others said that Russian troops lacked complete control of the area. These claims couldnt be independently verified.

Russian shelling killed two civilians in the Donetsk region on Saturday and overnight, acting Ukrainian Gov. Ihor Moroz reported on Telegram on Sunday morning. Over that same period, Russian shells wounded one person in Ukraines northern Sumy province, which borders Russia, according to a Telegram update by the Ukrainian regional military command.
One year ago, China saw its largest protest movement since the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations.

After a deadly apartment fire in Xinjiang that was widely blamed on the countrys stringent zero-COVID rules, thousands of protesters  led mostly by students and women  took to the streets in China to demonstrate against Beijings relentless COVID restrictions and lockdowns that had left many without access to basic supplies.

The white paper movement  named after the protest tactic of holding up blank sheets of paper to represent a lack of freedom of expression under the Chinese government  were quashed by authorities, leading to several arrests. But the movements impact continues to reverberate both in China and across the world.

The protests appeared to be a catalyst for change, with the government ending its zero-COVID policy earlier than expected in December 2022, despite state media pushing back against the lifting of lockdowns just a month before, writes China watcher Wang Xiangwei. Even though Chinese leaders would never admit to succumbing to protesters pressure, another indication of their impact was reflected in Beijings post-lockdown unpreparedness. The governments failure to stockpile basic fever medication before abruptly ending the lockdowns is evidence that, until last November, it had not been planning to change its policy, one Chinese student protester told the Economist.

Beijings aggressive clampdown on student protesters and their families led many to leave China and join a growing overseas activist movement broadly calling for democratic reform by mobilizing in cities across the world. However, some overseas activists told Radio Free Asia that they still face the threat of violence and harassment, both from Beijings long-arm law enforcement targeting students abroad, as well as from Chinas Little Pink  a term used to describe young Chinese cyber-nationalists. Despite ongoing concerns of intimidation, one protester described the Chinese overseas resistance movement as a kind of fire that spreads like the seeds of a dandelion, both around the world, and back into China from overseas.
Chaparral teenagers were arrested after allegedly crashing a stolen car into an El Paso police vehicle as they attempted to flee the scene, authorities said.

El Paso Police Department officers responded to a report of a burglary of a vehicle in progress about 4 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 26, near an apartment complex in the 11600 block of Dyer Street in Northeast El Paso, police officials said.

The officers arrived at the scene and saw a 15-year-old boy wearing a ski mask in the parking lot. The boy, whose name was not released since he is a minor, ran away from the officers, officials said.

Officers followed the boy in their patrol car when 17-year-old Moises Isaia Escalante accelerated the vehicle he was driving and crashed into the officers' patrol car, officials said.

Escalante allegedly drove a Hyundai Sonata into the driver-side door of the patrol car in an attempt to escape from officers, officials said.

More: Bar employee wounded in shooting during gang fight at 99 Problems bar in East El Paso

The officers were not hurt and were able to get out of their vehicle. They then arrested the two teenagers.

Both suspects are from Chaparral, New Mexico.

Escalante was arrested on suspicion of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. He was booked Monday, Nov. 26, into the El Paso County Jail on a $7,500 bond. He was released from jail the next day after posting bail, jail logs show.

The 15-year-old boy was arrested on suspicion of evading arrest and/or detention. He was turned over to the El Paso County Juvenile Probation Department, officials said.

Additional charges are pending as officers continue their investigation into the incident, officials said.

Aaron Martinez may be reached at amartinez1@elpasotimes.com or on Twitter @AMartinezEPT.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Teens arrested for allegedly crashing stolen car into police vehicle
Charter schools provide students with greater educational gains per dollar spent than traditional public schools (TPS). That's the finding of a new report from University of Arkansas researchers that studied public and charter schools across nine American cities. Despite receiving far less money per pupil than TPS, students in charter schools perform better and are estimated to earn more per dollar invested in their education

"Charter schools use their funding more efficiently, achieving better short- and long-term outcomes per dollar invested, relative to" traditional public schools (TPS), the study reads. "Relative to similar TPS students, charter school students, on average, perform slightly better on standardized tests, graduate high school at higher rates, enroll in college at higher rates, and have more positive behavioral outcomes."

In the nine cities studied by the researchers, public schools received an average of $29,168 per pupil in FY 2020. Charter schools received around 70 percent of that at only $20,230 per student. But despite this gap, students in charter schools performed several points higher on a national standardized test.

While the actual achievement gap between the average public school student and charter school student was fairly smallbetween 0.05 and 0.07 of a standard deviation depending on the year studiedthe researchers argued that, when considering the large funding gap, this small difference is significant.

Researchers estimated that across the nine cities, for every $1 spent per pupil, public school students can expect $3.94 in lifetime earnings. But for charter schools, that number shoots up to $6.25, meaning that the return on investment for students attending charter schools is 58 percent higher than for those attending traditional public schools on average. In two of the cities studied, charter schools provided an ROI 100 percent higher than TPS.

"Charter schools tend to demonstrate greater efficiency on both metrics of cost-effectiveness and return on investment, using fewer dollars to achieve better outcomes," the researcher wrote. "Part of the mechanism that allows charter schools to produce better outcomes with less funding could be related to the fact that charter schools are released from some restrictions placed on public schools, which may allow them to customize the way they spend their dollars to be more efficient and achieve better outcomes for students."

These results are hardly surprising. While it's long been a mantra in progressive politics that increased funding is the key to improving school performance, per-pupil spending actually has a weak relationship with academic results.

A 2012 report from Harvard and Stanford researchers found that an additional $1,000 in per-pupil spending was "associated with an annual gain in achievement of one-tenth of 1 percent of a standard deviation," adding that such a small amount "is of no statistical or substantive significance."

While individual charter school performances vary, reports like this show that charters are a solid academic optionone that seems to return similar or better results as public schools using less taxpayer funding.

The post Charter Schools Get Less Funding but Achieve Similar Test Scores to Public Schools appeared first on Reason.com.
An 18-year-old girl driving a 2005 Chevrolet Trailblazer was in a rollover accident in Hebron Township on Nov. 26, 2023. The driver experienced minor injuries.

CHEBOYGAN  While the start of winter storms have made their way to northern Michigan, the Cheboygan County Sheriff Tim Cook is reminding drivers to drive slowly this winter season.

Throughout Thanksgiving weekend, the Cheboygan County Sheriff Department responded to eight accidents that were a result of drivers traveling too fast for the road conditions, according to a press release sent from the department Monday, Nov. 27.

A 2003 Ford Expedition rolled over in Mentor Township Nov. 26, 2023. A 64-year-old man was driving and lost control of the vehicle while driving northbound on I-75.

Two accidents were single-vehicle rollovers and the others were "slide offs," where drivers lose control of their vehicles and slide off the roadway. Only one crash resulted in injuries.

It seems every year as the first snow falls it takes time for drivers to get acclimated so we ask everyone to slow down and allow more time to get to your destination, Cook said in the release.

In a release sent on Wednesday, Nov. 22, Cook reminded people to drive slowly and be mindful of road conditions when traveling. He said the department responded to 13 crashes on Tuesday, Nov. 21 as a result of slippery road conditions, including two rollovers.

More: Cheboygan Sheriff urges drivers to slow down, be careful as winter weather returns

Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage

Around 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 22, a 2006 Dodge pickup slid sideways down the east ditch onto its side while driving southbound U.S.-27 after trying to pass another vehicle. There was black ice on the road. No injuries were reported.

Cook also encouraged people to keep their cars in good condition ahead of winter, ensure cars have the right amount of anti-freeze, that batteries and tires are in good condition, and a packed travel bag in case of emergency.

During winter conditions there may be times you are involved in a situation that may take up to several hours to get assistance, so it's a good idea to make sure you always have a full tank of gas and items to assist you in case you have to remain in your vehicle," Cook wrote in Wednesday's release.

 Contact reporter Karly Graham at kgraham@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KarlyGrahamJRN.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: 8 accidents later, Cheboygan County sheriff reminds drivers to slow down
Chinese authorities on Sunday said flu and a range of known pathogens were behind the rise in respiratory illnesses across the northern part of the country.

China's healthcare system was once again overwhelmed with a wave of pneumonia cases that has become a concern among neighbouring countries and prompted the World Health Organisation (WHO) to seek more details.

The health ministry claimed the recent cluster of infections was caused by an overlap of common viruses and not by any novel virus.

Spokesperson Mi Feng said there has been a rise in cases linked to viruses such as the influenza virus, rhinoviruses, the respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, the adenovirus, as well as bacteria such as mycoplasma pneumoniae.

"Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines," Mr Mi told reporters.

Last week, the WHO asked China for more information on the surge in cases citing a report by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children.

The spike in cases appears to be driven by children contracting pathogens that two years of Covid-19 restrictions kept them away from, said Maria Van Kerkhove, the acting director of WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention.

"We asked about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that they're seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019," Ms Van Kerkhove told health news outlet STAT.

"This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago," she added.

Local authorities in China have been asked to open more fever clinics and promote vaccinations among children and the elderly as the country braces for the first winter since lifting the draconian "zero-Covid" restrictions.

Beijing earlier called for vigilance and asked people to wear masks to contain the spread of the illnesses amid fears that influenza would peak this winter and spring while mycoplasma pneumoniae infection would continue to be high. It had last month linked the surge in illness to the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions.

"All localities should strengthen information reporting on infectious diseases to ensure information is reported in a timely and accurate manner," the State Council earlier said.

Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections were mostly seen in children aged five to 14, according to Wang Huaqing, the chief immunisation planning expert for China Centre for Disease and Protection (CDC).

The WHO last week said Chinese health officials on Thursday provided the data, which showed an increase in hospital admissions of children due to diseases including bacterial infection, RSV, influenza and common cold viruses since October.

Chinese officials maintained the spike in patients had not overwhelmed the country's hospitals contrary to the local media reports.

A Beijing childrens hospital earlier told state media CCTV that at least 7,000 patients were being admitted daily to the institution, far exceeding its capacity. The Civil Aviation General Hospital in the capital said its outpatient clinic saw 550-650 visits each day.

The largest paediatric hospital in nearby Tianjin reportedly received more than 13,000 children at its outpatient and emergency departments.

Liaoning province, about 690km northeast of the capital, is also grappling with high case numbers.

Parents in Shanghai said they were not overly concerned about the wave of sickness. They said while it appeared to be more severe, they expected it to blow over soon.

"Colds happen all over the world," Emily Wu told Reuters from outside a children's hospital. "I hope that people will not be biased because of the pandemic ... but look at this from a scientific perspective."

Bruce Thompson, head of the Melbourne School of Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne, said very preliminary data suggested there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that it may be a new variant of COVID," he told the news agency.

"One thing to note is that we can be reassured that the surveillance processes are working, which is a very good thing."
Chinas Foreign Ministry considers the report by The Washington Post about the alleged plans of Russia and China to build an underwater tunnel to Crimea to be groundless.

Source: Wang Wenbin, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, in response to Ukrinform news agencys questions at a press conference

Quote: "This message has no grounds; I will not comment on it."

Background:

On 24 November, The Washington Post reported that Russian and Chinese businessmen with government ties secretly discussed plans in October to build an underwater tunnel connecting Russia with occupied Ukraine's Crimea and formed a "consortium" for this purpose.

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Reports of a surge in respiratory diseases in China are dredging up stressful memories of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic  but according to officials in that country, it's not caused by anything new.

As The Guardian and other outlets report, the Chinese health ministry has said that the winter surge is the result of a gnarly cocktail of known viruses such as influenza, adenovirus, rhinoviruses, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), plus bacteria that can cause respiratory tract infections.

All of those rose, the health ministry said, after the country lifted its COVID lockdowns and people began gathering again  much the same as the waves of seasonal respiratory illness we've had in the United States since our government all but abandoned lockdowns in 2021 following widespread vaccine access.

China's declaration seems to be backed up by the World Health Organization's own, in which the international body said that data it has viewed from the country's health ministry suggests "no detection of any unusual or novel pathogens." Notably, this statement came just a day after the WHO said it was opening an investigation into the surge.

All the same, a surge in illness is scary regardless of whether or not the pathogens are new, and China's health ministry is calling on local communities to promote vaccination and take other public health measures.

"Efforts should be made to increase the opening of relevant clinics and treatment areas, extend service hours and increase the supply of medicines," spokesperson Mi Feng said, per The Guardian.

The WHO and Chinese health officials both maintain that in spite of the surge, hospitals have not been overwhelmed. What's more, a WHO spokesperson told Stat News that the current surge is still lower than pre-pandemic levels of respiratory illness.

"We asked [the Chinese government] about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that theyre seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019," Marina Van Kerkhove, the agency's acting director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention Van Kerkhove, told Stat over the holiday weekend.

"This is not an indication of a novel pathogen," she continued. "This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago."

More on illness: Mysterious Disease Spreading Among Dogs
Pictures and videos show testing of the catapults on the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian, which is still being fitted out, has begun.

Testing of the catapults on the Chinese aircraft carrier Fujian has begun. This is an important step forward in the construction of this ship, which is set to be the first carrier in the People's Liberation Army Navy , or PLAN, that launches aircraft in this way rather than via a ski jump at the bow.

Videos and pictures emerged over the weekend showing a red-colored catapult test 'truck' on Fujian's deck. One clip, apparently taken by a passenger in a plane flying past overhead, looks to have caught the impact of the test vehicle into the basin where the carrier is currently moored. Fujian, also known as the Type 003, was launched in June 2022 and is now in the final stages of being fitted out at Changxing Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai.

https://twitter.com/HenriKenhmann/status/1728685029801509359 https://twitter.com/sugar_wsnbn/status/1729123512999452698 https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1728752647912776095?s=20

Weighted trucks like the one seen on Fujian's deck in the new imagery are commonly used by shipbuilders and navies elsewhere in the world, including the U.S. Navy , to test catapults on carriers as part of their construction or following maintenance . They offer a way to make sure the catapults are functioning as intended, at least on a core level, without risking the loss of an actual aircraft.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3FnbNByFmY

The domestically developed Fujian is China's first carrier to feature a catapult-assisted takeoff but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) configuration. The PLAN has two aircraft carriers already in service, the Type 001 Liaoning and Type 002 Shandong , but both are short take-off but arrested recovery (STOBAR) types where aircraft are launched with the help of a ski jump.

A J-15 fighter takes off from the Chinese aircraft carrier Shandong. The ship's ski jump is clearly visible here. PLAN

The video appearing to show the splash from the test truck hitting the water after being launched from Fujian's deck also notably does not appear to show any residual puffs of steam. This highlights the carrier's use of an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), rather than traditional steam-powered catapults.

Steam is seen rising from one of the catapult tracks on the U.S. Navy's Nimitz class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln as an EA-18G Growler electronic warfare jet is launched. USN

EMALS, a capability currently only found operationally on the U.S. Navy's supercarrier USS Gerald R. Ford and that has proven hard to master , presents a host of advantages over catapults that use steam. This includes increased sortie-generation rates due to lower reset times and less pronounced demands mechanically on a ship's underlying design with the elimination of the need for systems to generate and move large volumes of steam.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQ3Ob9IF_w8\u0026t=1s

In addition, EMALS offers the ability to more finely tune the amount of force exerted on an aircraft at launch. This helps reduce wear and tear on individual aircraft and also expands the range of types that can be safely launched, especially on the smaller and lighter end of the spectrum. This could be very advantageous when it comes to adding drones of many sizes to Fujian's air wing, something the PLAN has a clear interest in doing in the future.

Any type of catapult system will allow for the launching of aircraft with much higher gross weights than would be possible with a ski jump.

The PLAN has previously experimented with steam and EMALS catapult systems at land-based test sites, including at its naval aviation hub at Huangdicun Naval Air Base in northeastern China. Satellite imagery shows that aircraft carrier catapult testing on the ground at a site in Shanghai dates back to at least the 2008-2009 timeframe. Test trucks similar to the one seen in the new imagery of Fujian have been observed previously at both Huangdicun and the Shanghai site.

https://twitter.com/foolsball/status/1728748644138938625?s=20 https://twitter.com/foolsball/status/1728748655044096234?s=20

The exact composition of Fujian's carrier air wing remains to be seen, but the PLAN has been taking steps already to ensure it is ready for when the ship enters service. A catapult-capable version of the Shenyang J-15 fighter, the J-15T , already exists. The baseline J-15, derived from the Soviet Su-33 Flanker-D carrier fighter, is already in Chinese service and flying from Liaoning and Shandong, though there have been questions raised in the past about its performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNEPrEO_PYU

A navalized derivative of the Chinese Shenyang J-35 stealth fighter designed to be launched via catapult is also in development. These jets are expected to be a key component of Fujian's air wing and will give the carrier a major boost in capability over the PLAN's existing flattops.

https://twitter.com/RupprechtDeino/status/1729044686164369601?s=20

The naval J-35 is an evolution of a design known as the known as the FC-31 , which first emerged in the early 2010s. Evidence of PLAN interest in the design has steadily grown, including satellite imagery showing what appeared to be a pair of J-35/FC-31s at Huangdicun in November 2021, as seen below.

Digital Globe via US Air Force China Aerospace Studies Institute

The still-in-development KJ-600 carrier-based airborne early warning and control aircraft also looks set to embark on the Fujian after it enters service. This aircraft, roughly analogous to the U.S. E-2 Hawkeye , represents another major step forward for the PLAN, as it will provide critical airborne surveillance and aerial battle management capabilities that its carrier strike groups currently lack.

https://twitter.com/intel1osint100/status/1670333491312197632?s=20 https://twitter.com/louischeung_hk/status/1601925156535877632

Various tiers of drones , including uncrewed combat air vehicles (UCAV), could eventually join Fujian's air wing.

The PLAN's aircraft carrier ambitions, which are also central to its efforts to expand the scope and reach of its operations further and further from the Chinese mainland, extend well beyond Fujian and whatever aircraft it might carry. Multiple renderings of future aircraft carrier designs from the Changxing Jiangnan shipyard have already emerged. These show configurations in line with other current and planned Western supercarriers like the USS Gerald R. Ford and France's future New Generation Aircraft Carrier .

A rendering of a future Chinese aircraft carrier design. Chinese Internet via @HenriKenhmann

There are repeated discussions about the potential for China's next aircraft carrier, commonly referred to currently as the Type 004, to be nuclear-powered. Ford, and every one of the U.S. Navy's 10 older Nimitz class carriers , as well as the French New Generation Aircraft Carrier design , have nuclear propulsion.

When Fujian enters service, it will make the PLAN the second largest operator of fixed-wing aircraft carriers anywhere in the world behind the United States. Russia has just one carrier, the long- sidelined and accident-prone Admiral Kuznetsov . France also has one, Charles de Gaulle , while the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom has HMS Queen Elizabeth and her sister ship HMS Prince of Wales .

The PLAN will also be one of just three navies worldwide to currently operate CATOBAR types, with the others being those of the United States and France. By using EMALS on Fujian, the Chinese are set to entirely skip over steam-powered catapults.

The Indian Navy is set to get a CATOBAR carrier in the 2030s and the United Kingdom has been looking into the possibility of adding catapult launch capability to its Queen Elizabeth class flattops , which presently have a STOVL configuration. Past reports have indicated that India's future CATOBAR INS Vishal will also have EMALS catapults , which will be a feature on France's New Generation Aircraft Carrier, as well.

A rendering of France's future New Generation Aircraft Carrier. Naval Group

A number of countries operate smaller short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) type carriers or amphibious warfare ships with large flight decks that can support certain fixed-wing aircraft, like the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter, as well as rotary wing types. Others are now pursuing similar designs centered on air wings filled with drones. Turkey's TCG Anadolu, initially designed as a big deck amphibious warfare ship, was completed with a 'roller system' to help launch uncrewed fixed-wing aircraft and is a prime example of this 'drone carrier' trend .

The PLAN has an interest in 'drone carriers' as a complement to traditional flattops like Fujian. Past reports have indicated that this ship could be a derivative of the Type 075 amphibious warfare ship , sometimes referred to as the Type 076, optimized for this role and also featuring EMALS catapults.

https://twitter.com/louischeung_hk/status/1446158566633598983

When it comes to Fujian, its expected commissioning date remains unclear. When the ship was launched in 2022, Chinese officials said this milestone would come after sea trials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XE9yIG8zjQk\u0026t=3s

The catapult tests now underway put Fujian one step closer to entering service and becoming the PLAN's most capable operational carrier to date.

Contact the author: joe@thedrive.com
By Andrew Silver

SHANGHAI (Reuters) -The spike in respiratory illnesses that China is currently suffering is not as high as before the COVID-19 pandemic, a World Health Organisation official said, reiterating that no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent cases.

Maria Van Kerkhove, acting director of the WHO's department of epidemic and pandemic preparedness and prevention, said the increase appeared to be driven by a rise in the number of children contracting pathogens that they had avoided during two years of COVID restrictions.

"We asked about comparisons prior to the pandemic. And the waves that theyre seeing now, the peak is not as high as what they saw in 2018-2019," Van Kerkhove told health news outlet STAT in an interview on Friday.

"This is not an indication of a novel pathogen. This is expected. This is what most countries dealt with a year or two ago," she added.

China's National Health Commission spokesperson Mi Feng said on Sunday the surge in acute respiratory illnesses was linked to the simultaneous circulation of several kinds of pathogens, most prominently influenza.

The spike became a global issue last week when the World Health Organization asked China for more information, citing a report on clusters of undiagnosed pneumonia in children by the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases.

China and the WHO have faced questions about the transparency of reporting early in the pandemic, which emerged in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019. The WHO said on Friday no new or unusual pathogens had been found in the recent illnesses.

Health officials urged local authorities on Sunday to increase the number of fever clinics, as hospitals are warning of long waits in northern areas like Beijing and Liaoning province where cases among children appear to be especially high.

Spread by young adults in the workplace and children at school, new cases of respiratory illnesses could peak in the next couple of weeks, Li Tongzeng, the chief physician at the infectious diseases department at Beijing You'an Hospital told the Global Times newspaper.

In the report published on Monday, Li also warned of the potential for a second wave peaking during the New Year holidays, as the elderly could become more at risk of infection during family gatherings.

(Reporting by Andrew Silver; Editing by Miyoung Kim, Miral Fahmy & Simon Cameron-Moore)
Editors Note: Sign up for CNNs Meanwhile in China newsletter, which explores what you need to know about the countrys rise and how it impacts the world.

For nearly 10 years, Jiang Hui has been searching for answers as to why the plane carrying his 70-year-old mother back from vacation in Malaysia vanished without trace.

Jiangs mother, Jiang Cuiyun, was one of 239 people on board Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 when it deviated from its scheduled path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and disappeared over the Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.

To this date, the fate of MH370 remains one of historys greatest aviation mysteries, and Jiang has never given up on his quest to find out what happened.

On Monday, a Chinese court will begin hearing claims for compensation for families of MH370 passengers, who say the disaster not only deprived them of their loved ones, but also plunged some into financial distress.

Almost 10 years on, the family members (who refused to accept settlement offers) did not receive any apology or a penny of compensation, Jiang, 50, told CNN in an interview ahead of the hearings at the Chaoyang District Peoples Court in Beijing, more than seven years after the lawsuits were initially filed.

In fact, my mood is very complicated now. There is both a sense of relief and a deep feeling of helplessness.

Jiang is suing Maylasia Airlines, its insurer, Boeing and the manufacturer of the planes engine  companies he believes should be held responsible under Chinese law for damage occured during transportation. His demands include compensation, a formal apology, and the resumption of psychological assistance to family members, as well as the creation of a fund to continue searches for the plane.

About 40 Chinese families are taking these companies to court with varying but largely overlapping appeals, with hearings expected to last until December 5, Jiang said. His own case will be heard on Friday, he added.

Of the more than 200 people aboard the flight, 153 were Chinese nationals.

The complete lack of legal remedies over the past decade has made our painful lives even more unbearable, Jiang said.

In a statement to CNN on the court hearings, Boeing said: Our thoughts continue to be with those who were on board MH370 and their loved ones.

CNN has also reached out to Malaysia Airlines, Allianz and Rolls-Royce for comment.

Jiang Hui speaks with CNN in an interview in Beijing on November 21, 2023, days before a Chinese court began hearing lawsuits over the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. - CNN

Legal uncertainty

Its unclear what enforcement power the Chinese court can wield over the defendants if it rules in favor of Jiang and the other plantiffs. All of them are international companies headquartered outside China, though Malaysia Airlines, Boeing and Roll-Royce have offices in China.

Similar cases brought in the United States by the victims families have been dismissed on the grounds that these lawsuits should be handled by the Malaysian legal system.

In Malaysia, two young boys who lost their father on the flight sued Malaysia Airlines for breach of contract and the Malaysian government for negligence in 2014. The case was settled out of court the next year.

In China, families who signed a settlement agreement with Malaysian Airlines received 2.5 million yuan ($350,000) in compensation. Only a few dozen Chinese families signed initially, but over the years more have opted to settle.

By March 2021, about 90 families had still declined to settle, but the number halved after the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Jiang.

Now, only about 40 families have not settled, according to Jiang, who said they refused to sign the agreement because it removed all responsibility from the airline and the Malaysian government.

Three years of Covid lockdowns and other stringent control measures wreaked havoc on the Chinese economy, leaving many families struggling to make ends meet.

On our long journey seeking the truth, many families fell into a tough livelihood or even survival situation. They settled as a last resort to ensure their lives, Jiang said. But no matter having settled or not, our ultimate goal remains the same  which is to find the plane and our loved ones.

A 2018 report by Malaysian authorities concluded the investigation team was unable to determine the real cause of the disappearance of MH370. Human interference or error were more likely the cause of the planes disappearance than an aircraft or system malfunction, the report found.

The lack of conclusive evidence led to various theories and speculation about what happened to the flight, and Jiang said some family members still believe their loved ones are alive. He says hes keeping an open mind  and will accept any outcome, as long as there is evidence.

While the jetliner was never found, pieces of apparent debris have washed up on islands in the southern Indian Ocean and the shores of Africa  suggesting the plane had broken up.

Family members of passengers on board flight MH370 hold up signs demanding an open trail near a court in Beijing's Chaoyang district during a closed-door hearing on November 27, 2023. - CNN

Years-long quest

Jiangs persistence was driven by a key motivation  the urge to do something for his mother, who enjoyed traveling in her retirement.

Im at an age where I should pay filial piety to my mother, but I no longer have the chance to do that. So, finding her is the only way I can be filial to her, he said.

Before the MH370 tragedy, Jiang was an ambitious manager at the Beijing office of a state-owned communications company. But one year after the flight went missing, he left the company and has since focused his time and energy on finding the plane.

Over the years, he has visited search teams in Australia and roamed the remote shores of Mauritius, Madagascar and Reunion  a French island in the Indian Ocean  to scour for the Boeing jetliners debris.

In Beijing, he has held regular gatherings with family members of other flight victims to discuss the next step in seeking answers and justice for their loved ones disappearance.

I used to get completely immersed in my job, but now I can truly understand whats the meaning of life, and what are its most precious things, he said.

If I can push for any progress (in finding MH370), or I can try my best till the end, I would feel very gratified and happy  and such happiness is beyond comparison with earning a higher salary.

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People, protesting against a proposed migrant tent camp at 38th Street and California Avenue, rally across the street from the site on Nov. 16, 2023. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)

Despite opposition from neighbors and City Council members, construction of Chicagos first tent encampment to house migrants during the cold winter months will begin Monday in Brighton Park, according to a Southwest Side alderwoman.

[ What to know about Chicagos migrant crisis ]

Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, released a letter Saturday detailing her opposition to the plans for her ward and said Mayor Brandon Johnsons office notified her Friday that GardaWorld Federal Services  a private security firm the city is contracting to build and run the camps  would begin erecting tents Monday on 38th Street and California Avenue.

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The administrations decision to proceed without addressing our concerns not only undermines transparency and efforts of co-governance, she wrote, but also disregards the well-being of everyone in our community, including the asylum-seekers who have come to our great city seeking safety and refuge.

[ Ald. Julia Ramirez issues statement ahead of meeting on potential migrant camp: the mayors office did not consult with me ]

Officials with the Johnson administration did not comment Sunday on when construction is beginning.

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Ramirez referred to an environmental impact study conducted on the site, the results of which she said have yet to be shared with her or her constituents. She said her office had been informed of the presence of toxic metals in the soil, but even though the pollution had been remediated she still worried about the safety and health of new arrivals.

Local environmental justice activists have raised concerns about what testing, if any, has been carried out at the site. They also say the location proposed to house thousands of the citys most vulnerable people is in an industrial zone near an interstate and was once home to a zinc smelter that might still render the land toxic.

It is essential for residents of this community to be fully aware of the environmental impacts and potential risks associated with this project, Ramirez said. We have a right to know if the site is safe for both asylum-seekers and community members at large.

In a statement released Sunday, Johnson spokesperson Ronnie Reese said the city performed an environmental analysis and collected historical and environmental information based on international standards used by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

In addition, the City conducted site visits and investigated pre-exiting conditions to determine any potential environmental impacts at the site, Reese said. These common mitigation strategies are ongoing and anticipated for completion by the end of this week, weather permitting.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently announced that the state would allocate $65 million to help set up a tent encampment for migrants in Chicago before winter set in. And though he had expressed concerns to City Hall about the concept, state documents indicate the Illinois Emergency Management Agency in mid-May sought proposals from companies to assist the migrant crisis by providing options for indoor and outdoor shelter.

Johnson quietly signed a one-year, $29.4 million deal with GardaWorld in September after having announced he intended to move 1,600 migrants from airports and police stations to temporary shelters ahead of the colder months. As of Sunday, according to a daily census from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, over 1,000 migrants were staying in police districts and almost 200 were staying at OHare.

Plans for the first migrant encampment with winterized tents to be set up at Brighton Park were floated around mid-October. The citys six-month, $548,400 land use contract for the site at 3710 S. California Ave. was approved shortly after, eliciting objections from Ramirez who said she had not been notified that the lease for the site in her ward had been signed.

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Growing tensions have boiled over a few times since residents in the Southwest Side neighborhood first got wind of the citys plans: A crowd swarmed Ramirez at a protest and a few days later a group scuffled with police ahead of a community meeting.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
Family members of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that went missing in 2014, in Beijing

Family members of passengers on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 that went missing in 2014, in Beijing

By Laurie Chen

BEIJING (Reuters) - A Beijing court on Monday began compensation hearings for the Chinese relatives of passengers on board Malaysia Airlines flight MH370, which mysteriously disappeared over the Indian Ocean almost a decade ago, the plaintiffs said.

Over 150 Chinese passengers were on the flight which vanished en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014. Malaysian investigators did not rule out the possibility that the aircraft had been deliberately taken off course, and debris confirmed or believed to be from the aircraft has washed up along the coast of Africa and on islands in the Indian Ocean.

Relatives of these passengers said they were demanding compensation from Malaysia Airlines, Boeing, aircraft engine maker Rolls-Royce and Allianz insurance group among others.

The court did not release any details on the case, but state media said more than 40 relatives were seeking between 10 million and 80 million yuan ($1.4 million and $11.2 million) each in compensation.

Malaysia Airlines, Rolls-Royce, Allianz and Boeing did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Holding up signs saying "resume the search" and "re-establish an international investigation team", Jiang Hui, a spokesperson for the bereaved families, said Malaysia Airlines left them with no choice but to go to court to seek answers.

"'We are not responsible anymore' is their attitude," said Jiang, whose mother was on board.

There was a heavy police presence outside Chaoyang District People's Court in Beijing before the hearing, with reporters cordoned off and unable to interact with the family members.

Some of the relatives, who spoke to reporters after the hearing, said they wanted the resumption of search efforts and for Malaysia Airlines to directly communicate with them as well as to provide them with psychological counselling.

Many said these demands were more important than the monetary compensation.

"My mother died last year and she brought up my son. Until the very end I hid from her what really happened to him," said Beijing resident Bao Lanfang, 71, who lost her son and daughter-in-law on board. She said her husband had recently died after suffering from severe depression because of the incident.

In March, another group of relatives urged the Malaysian government to allow U.S. seabed exploration firm Ocean Infinity to mount a new search for the missing plane.

(Reporting by Laurie Chen; editing by Miral Fahmy)
As recently as 2019, the right rarely spoke of critical race theory. A furor erupted in the Southern Baptist Convention in June that year, when conservatives fiercely opposed its incorporation into church teachings. A year later, Fox News ramped up its use of the term as it covered the mass uprisings in June 2020 that followed the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd. Before then, mentions of the term were scant: Media Cloud, a searchable database of digitized U.S. news sources, shows that the phrase critical race theory appeared in few news stories between January 2016 and January 2020. Until September 2020, it typically appeared in no more than 10 per month.



But that month, the conservative activist and journalist Christopher Rufo helped catapult critical race theory to the center of national conversation. On September 1, Rufo appeared on Tucker Carlson Tonight. From a studio in Seattle, Rufo told Carlson about his ongoing research, which purported to show that critical race theory has pervaded every institution in the federal government, becoming the default ideology of the federal bureaucracy as it seeped into training materials used at the Treasury Department, the FBI, and Sandia National Laboratories. He called on Donald Trump to issue an executive order abolishing CRT from federal agencies. Three weeks later, Trump did issue Executive Order No. 13950, taking aim at blame-focused diversity training.

Mentions of critical race theory were climbing up. The number of stories that used the term rapidly rose in 2021, from 139 in the month of January to 158 in February, 350 in March, 381 in April, and then 1,199 in May, 2,769 in June, and 2,200 in July. All told, between January 2020 and January 2023, CRT appeared in nearly 25,000 stories. And though critical race theory previously had a specific meaningit referred to a framework developed by legal academics to explain the role of ostensibly color-blind laws and institutions in perpetuating racismto the right it came to encompass a grab bag of other notions and initiatives. Elementary school lessons on U.S. history, deans of diversity and inclusion at elite universities, socially responsible investingall, Rufo and others alleged, were expressions of CRT.

In interviews, Rufo has described his interest in the subject as a matter of expediency. In 2021, Rufo told The New Yorker that the term critical race theory was a promising political weapon for conservatives. Critical race theory is the perfect villain, he told reporter Benjamin Wallace-Wells. Its connotations are all negative to most middle-class Americans  the phrase critical race theory connotes hostile, academic, divisive, race-obsessed, poisonous, elitist, anti-American.

For someone so avowedly opportunistic, Rufo has taken some time to get his book out. Meanwhile, Fox News hosts Mark Levin and Pete Hegseth, evangelical minister Voddie Baucham, and academic hoaxer-turned-pundit James Lindsay have already published books attacking CRT that collectively sold well over one million copies. And by the end of 2022, federal, state, and local legislative and governing bodies had introduced 563 anti-CRT measures, almost half of which have been enacted or adopted.

Rufos book exemplifies a popular genre on the right: the adversarial intellectual history animated by envy, as well as antipathy.

Rufo tries to distinguish Americas Cultural Revolution by expanding its purview. While stressing his credentials as an originator of the anti-CRT panic, he also insists that CRT is about much more than CRT. Early on, Rufo promises to show the campaign to embed critical race theory in American life was only one facet of the radical Lefts long march through the institutions. He traces the lefts purported schemes to impose a hideous form of social control, from Herbert Marcuses youth in Weimar Germany, to Mao Zedongs Long March to the caves of Yannan, to Angela Daviss travels in the USSR. But the interest of the book does not lie in this scattershot history. Its main interest is as an exemplar of a popular genre on the right: the adversarial intellectual history animated by envy, as well as antipathy.





When Rufo told The New Yorker that the term critical race theory was an expedient enemy for conservatives, he noted the negative connotations that most middle-class Americans would associate with each of its component parts. These connotations have accrued for decades. In particular, they build on a long-standing conservative fixation on the school of thought known as critical theoryor, as its enemies often call it, cultural Marxism.

The term cultural Marxism echoes propaganda about cultural and Judeo-bolshevism that dates back to Nazi Germany. But contemporary narratives about the dangers of critical theory coalesced in right-wing think tanks in the 1990s. By the turn of the millennium, conservative writers had consolidated the following story: After World War I, when the Western European working classes failed to follow their Russian counterparts into revolution, Marxists in the West fell into disarray. A group of primarily Jewish intellectuals gathered around the Institute for Social Research in Frankfurt, Germany, in the 1920s to plot a comeback. What they came up with was a plan to attack capitalism by criticizing its culture. In the 1930s, when the Nazis came to power, members of the Frankfurt School fled to the United States, where they infiltrated government and academic institutions. After World War II, those who remained continued to undermine the country from within, by promoting anti-American philosophies like political correctness and disciplines like ethnic and womens studies.

From the mid-1990s onward, William S. Lind, a writer at the paleoconservative Free Congress Foundation, spread this account through a series of speeches, publications, and even a documentary film. In 2004, Lind published a book that included a compendium of cultural Marxist profiles with entries for Georg Lukacs, Antonio Gramsci, Wilhelm Reich, Erich Fromm, Herbert Marcuse, and Theodor Adorno. Versions of this pamphlet have circulated ever since, most recently through an edition self-published on Amazon in 2019. Other conservative pundits frequently offered the same narrative. Patrick J. Buchanan followed it closely in his 2002 bestseller, The Death of the West, and Breitbart founder Andrew Breitbart echoed it in his autobiography, Righteous Indignation, in 2011. Breitbart alum Michael Walsh did, too, in his 2015 book, The Devils Pleasure Palace.

For decades, claims about cultural Marxism ran in the background of more mainstream debates about multiculturalism and political correctness (which Lind defined in his pamphlet as synonyms), while also appealing to violent extremists. In 2011, when Anders Behring Breivik murdered 69 people, including 33 children, at a summer camp in Norway, he released a 1,500-page manifesto that began with a verbatim copy of Linds profiles and an argument about how cultural Marxism drove the Islamic colonization of Europe. (Breivik blended these with near quotations from Unabomber Ted Kaczynskis 1995 manifesto against technology and leftism.) Subsequent terrorists have cited Breivik as a strong influence. Brenton Harrison Tarrant, who killed 51 worshippers at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 2019, wrote in his manifesto that he took true inspiration from Knight Justiciar Breivik. Payton Gendron, the white supremacist who killed 10 Black shoppers at a Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, New York, in May 2022, scrawled Breiviks name and the title of his manifesto, 2083, on the assault weapon he used.





Americas Cultural Revolution picks up where Linds, Buchanans, and Breitbarts accounts of cultural Marxism left off. The book opens by drawing a direct connection between the summers of 1968 and 2020. The United States in 1968, Rufo writes, endured a long season of student uprisings, urban riots, and revolutionary violence that has provided the template for everything that followed. The effects did not manifest all at once but accrued over a long and stealthy process, culminating in 2020. A new revolution patiently built itself in the shadows and then, after the death of George Floyd in the spring of 2020, exploded onto the American scene, he writes. Over the subsequent decades, the cultural revolution that began in 1968 transformed, almost invisibly, into a structural revolution that changed everything.

Rufo unfolds his history of how the critical theory of society conquered institution after institution across four sections: Revolution, Race, Education, and Power. Each focuses on one of four prophets of the revolution: the German political theorist Herbert Marcuse, the philosopher and activist Angela Davis, Brazilian philosopher of education Paulo Freire, and professor and civil rights lawyer Derrick Bell, whom Rufo credits with establishing the disciplines of critical theory, critical praxis, critical pedagogy, and critical race theory, respectively.

To Marcuse, Rufo attributes two core ideas. The first is that, following World War II, it became more advantageous for activists to focus on racial conflict instead of class conflict, as they built an alliance between radical intellectuals and a new, racialized lumpenproletariat. The second is that, during the same era, radicals discovered that their most expedient way to power was to achieve bureaucratic capture: that is, by taking over the administration of elite educational, media, and government institutions and making those institutions serve their special interests.

Rufo does acknowledge that the phrase long march through the institutions, some version of which appears 31 times in this book, originated not with Marcuse but with the German sociologist and activist Rudi Dutschke. He goes on nevertheless to describe how Marcuses descendants came to constitute a new elite of intellectuals, bureaucrats, experts, activists, and social engineers. All of them, he remarks condescendingly, were lesser minds than their master. Rufo describes each of his other three prophets as having developed variations on Marcuses themes. Of Angela Davis, we hear, Marcuse theorized about the black revolution. Davis embodied it. Paulo Freire was explicitly neo-Marxist and initiated the long march of neo-Marxist ideas through public school bureaucracy, in accordance with Marcuses plan. After claiming that Derrick Bell only received job offers from multiple law schools because they were feeling pressure to recruit racial minorities on to the faculty, Rufo declares that the elements of critical race theory are, in fact, a near-perfect transposition of race onto the basic structures of Marxist theory.

The effect of these thinkers on society, Rufo argues, was almost invisible. The way their followers set about reshaping major institutions was so gradual, so bureaucratic, it went nearly unnoticed. But the results, he believes, have been extraordinary, with a new ideological regime dominating the university, the media, the state, the corporation, and through them enacting the top-down management of private life.

In universities, Rufo writes, his prophets inspired an explosion of administrators, who came to control the ideology of these institutions from all angles, by dictating decisions about hiring, funding, and tenure as well as admissions, designating funds for affinity spaces, and mandating diversity training for both students and employees. (A chestnut, for readers of conservative bestsellers: Rufo gives an important new supporting role to Marcuses third wife, Erica Sherover-Marcuse, who in the 1980s designed a series of training programs that became the prototype for university [diversity, equity, and inclusion] programs nationwide, with workshops on institutionalized racism, internalized oppression, and being an effective ally.)

Rufo allows that, by the time Marcuse had immigrated to the United States, the New Deal had already established the federal government as the great shaper of American life. But, he says, critical theorists transformed the state into the primary vehicle of revolution, enforcing left-wing codes of speech and behavior and turning grant-making agencies like the National Endowment for the Arts and even the National Science Foundation into a patronage machine for left-wing activism.

The long march through the media, Rufo continues, can be represented in miniature through the conquest of the New York Times. Citing a veteran reporter, who requested anonymity out of fear of reprisals, Rufo claims that, since the Great Recession, a faction of younger, ideologically driven employees have seized control of the paper and used it to embed a set of ideological phrases like systemic racism or police brutality into the public mind through the force of repetition.

It is a source of particular outrage for Rufo that even the corporation is no longer the domain of the conservative establishmentthat during the 2020 uprisings the CEOs of the great companies announced themselves not on the side of law and order, as they had in the 1960s, but on the side of the protestors and rioters. Rufo mocks the donations that many large companies pledged to racial equity, as well as their public statements of solidaritylike McDonalds declaring that George Floyd was one of us and JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon kneeling in protest of the national anthem. Alternately dismissing these as cynical attempts to stave off bad PR and discrimination lawsuits and lamenting the abandonment of the profit motive, Rufo likens corporate philanthropy to protection paymentswith companies desperately giving money to keep frivolous discrimination lawsuits and left-wing outrage at bay.





The most generous thing one could say about this history, as history, is that it is confused. Rufo struggles to establish clear links between his four main thinkers, despite positioning them as part of a single conspiracy. He can directly tie Marcuse to Davis, who studied with Marcuse at Brandeis and, later, the University of California San Diego. Other connections, however, are flimsy. Rufo notes that when Freire arrived at Harvards School of Education in the fall of 1969, Derrick Bell was at Harvard Law School, only a few blocks away. But he offers no evidence that Freire and Bell ever met.

For the most part, Rufo relies on juxtaposition to imply connection and causality. One chapter opens with an anecdote about Joseph Stalin toasting a group of artists gathered at Maxim Gorkys house as engineers of the human soul. Following this vignette, Rufo immediately asserts that The Marxists in the West, such as Paulo Freire, held the same philosophy. Rufo makes no stronger attempt to substantiate the association, despite having just leaped from the USSR in 1932 to Brazil in the 1960s.

It is not worth pointing out every one of Rufos misreadings of critical theory or critical race theory, not only because to do so is to fall into the trap of appearing like precisely the kind of scolding and divisive elite that he would say I ambut because Rufo does not appear to care. Rufo repeatedly avows that the particulars of the ideas that he is describing and the actual words their authors use do not matter. CRTs prophets, he believes, concealed their real ambitions in the linguistic shell of codes and euphemisms. Rufo promises to pierce through the shell of their language and describe its essence so that his readers can begin  seeing  with clear eyes. This project creates ample room for reinterpretation and broad generalizations, which he justifies with phrases like in other words.

As his religious diction suggests, Rufos project here isnt to trace an intellectual tradition through history; instead, he treats critical race theory as a shape-shifting, almost supernatural phenomenon that takes hold of people down the ages. He casts Black Lives Matter as a reincarnation of the Black Panthers. Protesters of 2020 are unconsciously following the teachings of Angela Davis; Davis herself has put her faith in Black Lives Matter. Of the relationship between contemporary social movements and Third World liberation movements of the 1960s: The dream is still the same dream.

The secular genre that is capacious enough to make these kinds of claims and accommodate these kinds of contradictions is the conspiracy theory. Like all successful conspiracy theories, Rufos story contains elements of truth. It is true that radical intellectuals have sought to change the world through their writing and teaching. It is true that a small number of elite universities educate much of the ruling class, who learn to think and speak in certain ways there, as it is true that the number of administrators at those institutions has exploded since the 1960s, and that they, like most bureaucrats, tend to perpetuate and aggrandize their roles. It is hypocritical for corporations and banks to publicly declare that Black Lives Matter, while continuing to exploit Black workers or borrowers or lobby Republicans for tax cuts.

What is not true is that the wide range of social changes that Rufo describes is the achievement of a single, nefarious plot. Nor is it clear, even to him, that these changes constitute a real revolution. Rufos criticism of corporate hypocrisy points toward a contradiction at the heart of his book. Its title and many individual passages suggest that the critical theorists and critical race theorists under discussion have radically transformed society. But elsewhere, Rufo suggests that they have, in fact, changed very little.

The multinational corporation has a tremendous capacity for folding the contradictions into its own machinery, Rufo writes. The result, of course, is critical theory as farce: The ideology of the revolution passed through the human resources department. Of Black liberation, he asserts, In one sense, the movement has achieved its goals. The goal of substantive equality, however, has remained elusive. The black radicals might have captured the institutions, but they have not yet overturned the basic structures of society.

Rufo expresses scorn for leftists. It seems clear that for him certain kinds of people cannot make legitimate political claimsnot through words and not through action. It seems equally clear that certain kinds of political change cannot take placenot really, because human nature is fixed under certain constraints, even if Rufo stops short of saying that those constraints include hierarchies of race and gender. The invisible revolution, therefore, can only be a cynical one. Instead of transforming society, critical theories, Rufo asserts, became the new language of access. The revolution, as he depicts it, is not so much a revolution as a slightly new set of people taking charge of the same old institutions.





In 2016, before QAnon took off and conspiracy theories became hot research topics, the political theorist Robyn Marasco published an essay on what she called conspiratorial reason. Scholars should attend more closely to the pleasures and satisfactions of paranoia, and not just the negative feelings it involved, Marasco argued. The conspiracy theorist believes that a strong, even omnipotent, enemy is acting everywhere. Amid social crisis and government dysfunction, Marasco proposed, the fantasy that the state could function that effectively was a source of comfort as well as outrage to those who bought it. Conspiracy theorizing, she wrote, is a love affair with power that poses as its critique. It follows that, by saying what he says about his enemies, the conspiracy theorist tells us what he wants.

Throughout Americas Cultural Revolution, Rufo heightens the stakes of the intellectual and institutional history that he is recounting by connecting it to scenes of violenceperpetrated by actors as various as the Black Panther Party and Weather Underground, the FBI and the Brazilian armed forces, and middle schoolers and high schoolers who joined protests in Portland and Seattle, whom he disparages as child soldiers. But, really, the terrain Rufo wants to fight for is bureaucracy. Conflicting attitudes to bureaucracy pervade Americas Cultural Revolution. On the one hand, Rufo condemns the lefts conquest of institutions in the strongest terms. Shedding the trappings of political extremism and symbolic excess, he writes, leftists became more powerful than ever.

Rufo compares contemporary BLM activists to the Black Panthers and Black Liberation Army, writing that they didnt need to engage in the messy business of stalking and assassinating NYPD detectives. Instead they could publish reports, replete with color-coded statistical illustrations, that demanded society-wide changes. Of Derrick Bell, Rufo writes that he wanted to bring the fight out of the streets and into the faculty lounge. Rufo continues, Bell was not a Huey Newtonstyle revolutionary, but something more dangerous: an institutional player who understood how to use the politics of race to manipulate the bureaucracy. He and his students did not want to assemble bombs and set them off in the US Capitol or assassinate police officers. They wanted to create a theoretical basis for undermining the American regime as a whole.

Still, on the other hand, a strong current of admiration runs through these descriptions. Angela Davis, Rufo writes, was shrewd. She understood that to change a nations metaphors is to have enormous power over its future. Derrick Bell was brilliant; he pulled off a stunning coup by creating a stew of critical theory, postmodernism, black nationalism, and Marxist ideology and training a cohort of elite student-activists-cum-critical-race theorists to make it the default ideology of the major institutions that shape American life. Black Lives Matter activists perfected the technique of shifting public opinion. For all that Rufo disparages his prophets, he accepts what he says is their theory of social change. Rufo believes a long march through institutions does effect revolution, that creating linguistic codes in elite institutions does enable once-radical ideas to achieve intellectual mass. His condemnation expresses envyand a conviction that he can adopt the tactics of his enemy.

He is doing just that. Rufo was recently appointed as a trustee of New College of Florida. The public liberal arts school in Sarasota has become a focus of national attention since Governor Ron DeSantis overhauled its board of trustees in January, replacing them with political alliesfour of whom, including Rufo, were conservative activists from outside the state. The new board summarily fired New College president Patricia Okker, replacing her with Richard Corcoran, a longtime associate of DeSantis and former speaker of the Florida House of Representatives.

The new board proceeded to deny tenure to five professors who had already won approval from their faculties and the previous administration; in July, the schools interim provost reported that 36 professors had departed over the past year. Rufo publicly crowed that the new board was shutting down low-performing, ideologically captured academic departments and hiring new faculty, and that the student body will be recomposed over time: Some current students will self-select out, others will graduate; well recruit new students who are mission-aligned.

In another sign that Rufo is not averse to using the power of the state where it serves him, he brought criminal charges against a former New College student whom he accused of spitting at him during a protest in May. (Rufo later dropped the charges. The student disputes his version of events.) The student, like many others, has since left Sarasotatransferring, under an agreement, to finish their degree at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

How much does Rufo really abhor the top-down reshaping of public life? In the conclusion to Americas Cultural Revolution, Rufo describes the America he hopes his counterrevolution will bring: a patchwork republic, where the common citizen will have the space for inhabiting and passing down his own virtues, sentiments, and beliefs, free from the imposition of values from above. But it is clear that to get to this neo-Jeffersonian vision, Rufo thinks it will be necessary to follow the path of Leninto seize the commanding heights of culture, education, and government. For all his denunciation of the long march through the institutions, the desire that Rufo cannot quite name is the desire to carry out a takeover of bureaucracies from the rightand call it revolution.
Cindy McCain, director of the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), said Sunday that Gaza, a strip controlled by the militant group Hamas, is on the brink of famine amid the militant groups war with Israel.

During an appearance on CBSs Face the Nation, moderator Margaret Brennan mentioned recent information published by UNICEF, the U.N. children agency, that a life-threatening form of malnutrition in children could increase by nearly 30 percent in the territory.

First of all, the  the bottom line here is that we need to get more aid in as  as has been said, were looking at  possibly being on the brink of famine in this region, McCain told Brennan. This is something that  will spread. And with that comes disease and  and everything else that you can imagine.

McCain, who is the widow of the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), also said that her agency needs more humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza. She noted that children in Gaza receiving access to proper aid has been an issue for years prior to the war.

Its  a massive, catastrophic event that is  is occurring, and it will cross regions as it happens. We have got to be able to get in there. And not only that, we have to make sure that we can safely have access to be able to feed the people that we need to feed, McCain added. So far, weve fed about 110,000 since the  since the cease-fire, but we need to do a lot more than that.

McCains remarks come as the Israeli military announced Sunday that 17 people  14 Israelis and three foreign nationals  were released from Hamass captivity in Gaza. The ages of the released Israeli citizens range from 4 to 84 years old.

This is the latest round of hostages to be freed amid the four-day cease-fire between Israel and the militant group; 50 hostages were expected to be released by Monday. Twenty-four of them were released in the first wave Friday, and an additional 17 were released the following day.

Its been a month since Hamass surprise attack against Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people. Israel has since launched a wave of attacks in the Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of tens of thousands of Palestinian residents, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
"While we prioritize protecting our bank and our customers from fraud, it is unacceptable to base credit decisions on national origin," Citibank said in response to a lawsuit alleging discrimination against Armenian Americans. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)

When Mary Smbatian started hearing rumors a few years ago that Citibank was closing the accounts of Armenian Americans in the San Fernando Valley, she thought it impossible the giant Wall Street bank would ever shutter hers.

A residential loan broker who also runs an apartment management business, the Encino resident had been a Citibank client for more than a decade, with both company and personal accounts, as well as credit cards issued through the bank.

Then, on Feb. 1 of last year, she got a letter from Citibank informing her that all of her accounts and cards were being closed  without any reason provided. What ensued was chaos, as Smbatian scrambled to get her money back, open new accounts elsewhere and save her businesses.

"This was a mess. This was horrible. This was so depressing," said Smbatian, 42, a mother of five who said she was still shaken by the events. "I was so stressed out, I literally started crying."

Smbatian and others whose accounts were closed suspected discrimination was at play  and say they were proved correct when Citibank signed a consent order Nov. 7 with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, agreeing to pay $25.9 million to cover alleged violations of fair lending laws from at least 2015 to 2021.

The agency alleged that a unit responsible for issuing store-branded credit cards from Home Depot, Best Buy and other retailers had discriminated against applicants whose surnames ended with "ian" or "yan," and particularly those who lived in and near Glendale.

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The bank suspected that applicants seeking new cards or credit increases would be more likely to commit fraud and not pay their charges, with some employees referring to them as "Armenian bad guys" or the "Southern California Armenian Mafia." The applicants were subjected to higher scrutiny and many were turned down, approved credit on less favorable terms or subject to possible account freezes and closures, according to the order.

The agency also also found that the bank took "corrective action" against employees who failed to identify and deny the applications. Employees were ordered not to tell customers the real reasons for their rejections or to discuss it in writing or on recorded lines.

The bank agreed to set aside $1.4 million for victims of the discrimination, but the vast share of the penalty is going into a pool that compensates all consumers harmed by violations of federal consumer financial protection laws.

Now, Smbatian is a lead plaintiff in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed Nov. 17 in Los Angeles federal court on behalf of victims of Citibank's discriminatory practices. The suit alleges far greater harm than is detailed in the CFPB's order.

"The fine is actually minuscule compared to the damage done, and it's very significant from what we are hearing from our clients," said attorney Tamar Arminak, whose Glendale firm filed the lawsuit. "It really wrecked them."

Los Angeles County is home to nearly 190,000 people of Armenian descent, according to the 2020 census, making it the largest diaspora community in the country.

The lawsuit seeks to compensate the plaintiffs due to losses suffered from a wide range of alleged injustices, including damage to credit scores and the financial hardship arising from account closures and the inability to access their money. It is also seeking punitive damages due to "the indignity of discrimination."

Arminak said she had heard from Smbatian, a friend and others in the Armenian community about the closed accounts and decided to proceed with the lawsuit after the CFPB action was announced this month. After advertising the class action on social media and her firm's website, she said, she was deluged with responses and has signed up more than 100 clients who want to participate.

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The attorney said clients have told her that they didn't just have store accounts closed but checking, savings and business accounts, with the money tied for up weeks or months. Some businesspeople told her their Small Business Administration loan funds were frozen for years. Meanwhile, they had trouble accessing their bank records and couldn't get a straight answer about what was happening.

"People suffered far more than a Macy's account not being approved," she said. "And I don't think the fine addresses the humiliation involved."

Despite the consent order focusing on a period through 2021, Arminak said, the stories she has heard from clients indicate account closures actually accelerated last year.

Smbatian's lawsuit is the second proposed class action arising from the fallout surrounding the CFPB's order. It follows a narrower lawsuit filed Nov. 13 by a San Mateo, Calif., law firm on behalf of a Grenada Hills woman of Armenian descent who held a Citibank Costco-branded card and alleges she was turned down for a credit line increase this year. A New York law firm announced it is looking into potential breaches of fiduciary duties by the bank's officers and directors.

Citibank did not respond directly to request for comment regarding the lawsuit but directed The Times toward a statement it previously issued about the CFPB settlement, in which it did not deny or admit the agency's findings.

"Regrettably, in trying to thwart a well-documented Armenian fraud ring operating in certain parts of California, a few employees took impermissible actions. While we prioritize protecting our bank and our customers from fraud, it is unacceptable to base credit decisions on national origin. We sincerely apologize to any applicant who was evaluated unfairly by the small number of employees who circumvented our fraud detection protocols," it said.

The alleged Citibank credit denials and account closures follow decades of increasingly tough "know your customer rules" that aim to reduce financial crimes. They were first imposed in 1970 and strengthened after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the 2008 financial crisis. Bank violators have been subjected to sometimes huge fines totaling in the billions of dollars domestically and abroad.

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Lauren Saunders, associate director of the National Consumer Law Center, said that banks have a responsibility to look out for illegal activity such as accounts being used by drug cartels and for money laundering and perpetrating fraud, but that it has gone beyond that.

"What we are seeing right now is that some are overreacting or indiscriminately freezing or closing accounts based on supposed red flags, catching innocent people in the process and without giving them any clear procedure or remedy or timeline to get their money back when they, in fact, are not criminals," she said.

Among the most high-profile recent example, she said, was that of Bank of America, which froze the debit-card accounts of Californians receiving unemployment benefits at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic using a crude algorithm to detect fraud  and then holding on to the money as customers fruitlessly called for weeks. The bank paid fines totaling $225 million to two federal agencies last year.

Saunders said that regulations need to be strengthened to require banks to provide a reason for shutting accounts and to have a consumer dispute process in place. "I think we need to make sure that banks aren't closing accounts for discriminatory reasons. And right now, they are not being required to give any reasons, and that can be a cover for discrimination," she said.

The consent agreement prompted Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Los Angeles) to call for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the bank's regulator, to revisit an "outstanding" performance rating Citibank received in 2021 for its compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act. The 1977 law encourages banks to take steps to improve access to credit and other banking services in minority communities.

The CFPB would not comment on what prompted it to investigate Citibank, but the consent order states that it discovered the alleged discrimination through a statistical analysis of credit applications in the retail services unit from 2015 to 2021. Citibank must now develop a plan to identify and compensate harmed customers, who will not have to apply for compensation.

Under federal rules governing proposed class actions, any related lawsuits would be combined and a lead counsel appointed. The cases also would have to meet certain criteria to be certified and proceed, a process that could take at least six months to a year. Successful class actions typically result in settlements.

Karl Asatryan, a real estate agent and developer, is the other named plaintiff in the case. The lawsuit alleges he received a letter from bank in May last year stating his accounts would be closed in 30 days. No reason was given, and his line of credit also was shut down.

He said he had been a Citibank client for some 20 years and had even refinanced his home mortgage with the bank.

"That's disrespect toward the customer," said Asatryan, 44, of Valley Glen. "And for a customer like myself, that's ridiculous."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Sacramentos city attorney has fired back at Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Hos threat to file criminal charges over the citys homeless crisis, accusing him of baseless allegations and a politically motivated campaign against Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

In a five-page letter to Ho that was obtained by The Sacramento Bee, City Attorney Susana Alcala Wood accused the D.A. of abusing his authority by threatening charges over the citys decision to allow homeless residents to remain at a former vehicle maintenance yard in North Sacramento dubbed Camp Resolution.

Every single time we receive one of your letters or demands or are made aware of your self-serving media comments, city staff, including my office and I, are forced to take time away from the numerous daily needs of the city to respond, Alcala Wood wrote in the Nov. 22 letter to Ho. Enough is enough.

I thus ask  one last time  that you bring to a stop these pointless, politically-motivated endeavors so that we can all get back to focusing on problem-solving the homelessness crisis and doing our jobs for the community.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The letter is the latest in a public and legal war of words between city officials and Ho, who sued the city in September in what he says is an effort to get officials to enforce city ordinances against camps blocking sidewalks and daytime camping at public buildings.

The city attorneys letter was in response to Hos Nov. 14 threat to file misdemeanor charges over his claim that the city has created a public nuisance by allowing homeless residents to continue living at Camp Resolution despite concerns that the area is a toxic site that endangers the homeless.

Alcala Wood wrote that the letter would be her first and only response to Hos threat, which she denounced as a political stunt.

Your letter threatens criminal charges, and I can only assume that you intend to charge me personally, since you addressed the letter to me and used the terms you and your throughout, she wrote.

Perhaps your plan is to also pursue a criminal action against other city officials as well, such as Mayor Darrell Steinberg, against whom it is no secret that you view as your political rival in a run for California Attorney General  because it is only in the theater of politics that your repeated attempts to penalize Mayor Steinberg and the City of Sacramento for its efforts to address the homeless crisis, including the exercise of some compassion, that any of these antics make sense.

She added that she considered Hos threat as an effort to create an advantage in the lawsuit he filed over the homeless crisis.

I caution you to rethink your strategy, Alcala Wood wrote. Whatever the motivation, on a professional and humane level, these latest actions border on being reprehensible.

We are not moved by your threats.

She also accused Ho of baseless allegations and unashamed mischaracterizations, including his claim that the city is violating its own Measure O restrictions on where homeless camps can exist by allowing the Camp Resolution site at 2225 Colfax St. in the Old North Sacramento neighborhood.

You claim, Camp Resolution is located within 1,000 feet of both a licensed daycare and playground, Alcala Wood wrote. However, no day cares or parks could be located within those parameters, and you identify none by name.

It is thus unclear to what you are referring, though not altogether surprising that you attempt to add as many allegations as possible, no matter how spurious. There is thus no legal basis nor evidence that can support criminal charges against any city official with respect to 2225 Colfax.

She also challenged Ho to press forward with filing charges if he desires.

If despite the reasons articulated above you still think it prudent or wise to file criminal charges, then proceed as you see fit, Alcala Wood wrote. It is now abundantly clear that you have no interest in collaborating, and that you have decided to ignore all logic and reason in your quest to pursue your political motives.

Hos office issued a statement Monday to The Bee saying the D.A. was willing to meet with city officials to find a path forward but said conditions at Camp Resolution must be addressed.

The District Attorney has always advocated for professionally operated Safe Ground sites, but to allow the unsheltered to live on the toxic site known as Camp Resolution, without the appropriate safeguards is deplorable, the statement said. Under California nuisance law, we are required to provide notice and a reasonable opportunity to abate a nuisance.

It is unfortunate and disappointing that the city of Sacramento has refused to even sit down and discuss a timeline on abating the dangers of exposing the unhoused to cancer-causing chemicals at this location. The district attorney is willing to listen to and partner for appropriate solutions, such as moving the unhoused from this location to other city-owned properties.

One such location is the 102-acre site that the city purchased with federal money with the understanding that it would be used to address the homeless crisis.

The statement added that the city is well aware of the dangers associated with housing people at Camp Resolution and that the site has soil contaminated by benzene, trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene.

Hos office also noted that some residents are camping at the site in tents directly on the ground, rather than in vehicles elevated above the soil, in violation of the citys lease of the property that allows the camp to exist.

The mandate of the district attorney is to ensure public safety for all, which requires us to hold accountable individuals who endanger the public regardless of their title, position, or profession, the D.A.s statement said. The citys response or lack of a true response will necessitate further actions on behalf of the District Attorneys Office to abate this dangerous situation for our unhoused.

Sharon Jones, left, one of the founders of the Camp Resolution homeless encampment in Sacramento, and California Homeless Union attorney Anthony Prince tour a city-owned travel trailer after its arrival at the camp in April. The camp was set to receive dozens of the trailers under its agreement with the city.

Ho has likened conditions at the Colfax Street site to contamination issues at the Marine Corps Base in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, where the presence of the same chemicals found at Camp Resolution has resulted in claims of over $3 trillion against the federal government.

The D.A. had demanded the city abate this public nuisance, and relocate the unhoused at Camp Resolution to a safe place, one that is not contaminated by cancerous causing agents.

Hos lawsuit, which was filed in conjunction with another on behalf of business owners and city residents, is due for a hearing Jan. 5 on the citys motion to have the suit thrown out on grounds that he has exceeded his authority and has no evidence to support his claims.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) steams away from the fleet replenishment oiler USNS Joshua Humphreys (T-AO 188) after completing an underway replenishment-at-sea in the Atlantic Ocean, July 17. USNS Joshua Humphreys was standing watch as the Military Sealift Command Atlantic Duty Oiler, providing logistic support for U.S. Navy ships operating in the region.

Two ballistic missiles fired from Yemen came down in the Red Sea in the vicinity of the destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87). At the time, the warship was concluding its response to a distress call from the M/V Central Park, a commercial vessel that had itself come under attack from a group of armed raiders that had attempted to board it. There are now several different theories as to the identity of those raiders.

A U.S. military official told The War Zone that the Pentagon is still trying to determine whether the USS Mason was directly targeted by the ballistic missiles and is also looking into what kind of ballistic missiles were fired.

It is known, for example, that the Iran-backed Houthi rebels possess an anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) capability. At least three ASBMs are reportedly available to the group, all based on Iranian ballistic missile designs, adapted for anti-ship applications. Iran, for its part, has repeatedly demonstrated the use of ASBMs in recent years.

https://twitter.com/fab_hinz/status/1729058180091756767 https://twitter.com/inbarspace/status/1566059094162685952

While an attempted ASBM strike against one or both of the vessels is a distinct possibility and would be a historic event in itself, it could also be the case that the missiles were intended to miss the ships, providing only a warning shot or token display of force. In that scenario, the missiles may have been ASBMs, but could equally have been standard ballistic missiles fired over the sea. The Houthi inventory includes various short- and medium-range surface-to-surface ballistic missile types that could have been used.

https://twitter.com/Aviation_Intel/status/1728965411671257095?s=20

According to a statement provided by U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM), at around 1:41 am local time on November 27, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi-controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the USS Mason and the M/V Central Park.

https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1728982985238843665

The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately 10 nautical miles from the ships, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed. There was no damage or reported injuries from either vessel during this incident.

The missiles were launched as the USS Mason was concluding its response to a distress call from the M/V Central Park. The U.S. warship was likely also accompanied by the Japanese Murasame destroyer Akebono (DD-108). Other allied ships and aircraft also appear to have been involved.

The Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG-87) underway. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Katrina Parker /Released

https://twitter.com/Schizointel/status/1728982142460281340

The commercial vessel in question, a Liberian-flagged chemical tanker owned by an Israeli business magnate, had reported that it was under attack by an unknown entity.

According to the Pentagons account, Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded the release of the vessel. Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat. The Mason pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender. The crew of the M/V Central Park is currently safe.

According to its owner, Zodiac Maritime, the M/V Central Park was carrying phosphoric acid at the time of the attempted attack. The company said that there were 22 sailors onboard from Bulgaria, Georgia, India, the Philippines, Russia, Turkey, and Vietnam. All are said to be unharmed.

https://twitter.com/ANCALERTS/status/1728906615049658529

We would like to thank the coalition forces who responded quickly, protecting assets in the area and upholding international maritime law, the company said.

While reports describe Zodiac Maritime as the owner of the tanker, that company says that the vessel is owned by Clumvez Shipping Inc. Certainly, however, there is a direct connection to Zodiac Maritime, a London-based company that is part of the Zodiac Group, owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer. Zodiac Maritime is also the owner of the oil tanker M/V Mercer Street, which was subject to a fatal drone attack by Iran , off the coast of Oman, back in 2021 .

A warning issued by the U.K. Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) yesterday described a report of two black and white craft carrying eight persons in military-style clothing approaching an MV to 0.5 nautical miles, one small craft on each quarter. This sighting was in the same area as the attempted seizure of the M/V Central Park, although it cannot be confirmed that these were the attackers.

https://twitter.com/UK_MTO/status/1728742598704263585

The UKMTO also said the M/V Central Park was located over 35 miles south of Yemens coast, and approximately 50 miles east of Djibouti at the time of the attack.

The internationally recognized government in Yemen has blamed the Houthis for the attempted seizure of the vessel, although the rebels, who control the Yemeni capital Sanaa, did not immediately claim responsibility.

On X (formerly Twitter), Hussein Al-Ezzi, the Houthi Deputy Foreign Minister said : Certainly, Sanaa is more concerned about the safety of navigation and more respectful of the interests of the world, and this is something we have proven practically throughout the past. We remind once again that navigation in the Red Sea will remain safe and secure for all ships, with the exception of only those of the criminal entity, until its aggression against children and defenseless civilians in oppressed Gaza ends.

Meanwhile, a statement from Yemens government-in-exile pinned the blame squarely on the Houthis: The Yemeni government has renewed its denunciation of the acts of maritime piracy carried out by the terrorist Houthi militias with the support of the Iranian regime, the most recent of which was the hijacking of the Central Park.

The initial USCENTCOM statement was worded carefully to avoid directly attributing either the attempted seizure of the M/V Central Park or the missile attack to the Houthis. The Iran-backed group expressed support for Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel and has launched constant attacks since, both against Israel and against other vessels in the region .

Subsequently, reports emerged that the Pentagon assessed that the five armed individuals who attacked the M/V Central Park were Somali, with the incident being described as piracy-related. That raises the question as to if and how the attempted seizure was related to the Houthis.

https://twitter.com/laraseligman/status/1729176042869563783

As an aside, it should be noted that there has been at least one previous example of a faked hijacking by Yemenis posing as Somali pirates , although that 2011 incident was motivated by insurance fraud.

The USS Mason is currently deployed in the region as part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, which entered the Persian Gulf Sunday, having passed through the Strait of Hormuz. At the time of the attack, the USS Mason was assigned to the coalition counter-piracy Task Force 151 (TF-151).

https://twitter.com/CENTCOM/status/1728899895602679992

Currently commanded by the Philippine Navy, TF-151 is one of five operational task forces under Combined Maritime Forces, a multinational naval partnership of 38 nations. In the words of the Pentagon, the Combined Maritime Forces promote security, stability, and prosperity across approximately 3.2 million square miles of international waters, encompassing some of the worlds most important shipping lanes.

An earlier configuration of the Combined Maritime Forces presence in the Middle East region. U.S. Navy Illustration by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Anita Chebahtah

Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability, said Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, USCENTCOM commander, in response to the latest incident. We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.

Regardless of the missiles used and whether the USS Mason was an intended target, the incident marks a significant escalation in tensions between the Houthis and the U.S. military and its allies in the region.

While the Houthis had not threatened a U.S. Navy vessel in this way in the recent past, they had previously hijacked the M/S Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea, in an incident you can read all about here . That vessel is now being held in the port of Al-Hudaydah in Yemen.

In a still from a video they released, Houthi rebels approach and then enter the bridge of the M/S Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea last week. Houthi screencap

Combined, the actions launched against commercial shipping, and also now USS Mason, indicate that the busy waters of the Gulf of Aden are now extremely hazardous for different types of maritime traffic.

The area in which the latest incident took place is ostensibly controlled by Yemeni government forces. However, its within reach of the Houthis, not only in the form of their maritime militia but also the various longer-range missiles available to them.

Last week, meanwhile, the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner (DDG-116) shot down multiple drones on Thursday morning local time. This followed an incident earlier this month in which the same destroyer shot down a drone launched from Yemen over the Red Sea.

Commercial vessels elsewhere have also come under recent attack by the Houthis. As well as the M/S Galaxy Leader in the Red Sea, the container ship, CMA CGM Symi, also Israeli-owned, came under attack on Friday in the Indian Ocean. This attack has been blamed on an Iranian Shahed-136 -like one-way attack drone.

https://twitter.com/JasonMBrodsky/status/1728359766576279885

Noteworthy are the reports that both the M/V Central Park and the CMA CGM Symi were sailing in recent days without their Automatic Identification System (AIS) activated. In both cases, this system, which records a ships position and identity, was very likely switched off to help protect them against potential threats.

According to the Associated Press , In the Central Parks case, the vessel had last transmitted four days ago after it left the Suez Canal heading south into the Red Sea.

While there are multiple scenarios in which the current Israel-Hamas war could erupt into a wider regional conflict, at present, there is clearly a very real threat to global shipping. In particular, the Houthi rebels are now a major player, with open threats against Israeli-linked vessels as well as attacks against Israel itself using ballistic missiles and long-range drones.

As for the United States, it remains to be seen if the ballistic missiles fired toward the USS Mason prompt any kind of direct response. Back in October 2016, Houthi missiles were launched against U.S. Navy vessels including USS Mason . On that occasion, the destroyer had launched two SM-2 Standard surface-to-air missiles and an Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) to defend itself. The warship came under attack again only days later , this time followed up by a Tomahawk cruise missile attack on coastal radar sites operated by the Houthis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJKfFg84Gmc

Certainly, U.S. and allied military assets will remain on guard against similar actions in the region, with the U.S. Navy presence already having been bolstered by the arrival of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group.

Among the other warships now accompanying the Eisenhower are the cruiser USS Philippine Sea, the destroyers USS Gravely and the USS Stethem, and the French frigate Languedoc.

This is clearly a time of high tensions in the Red Sea, not to mention in other waters in which the Houthis are able to threaten international maritime shipping, whether commercial or warships of the U.S. Navy and its allies.

Staff writer Howard Altman contributed to this report.

Update: 7:31 PM Eastern:

A U.S. military official tells The War Zone that it is still unclear which of the vessels was targeted by the missile attack.

Because the Mason and the Central Park were both in the direct path, it is really hard to tell which one they were aiming for, which is why the Mason reported they were being fired upon, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational details.

The Pentagon is still unable to say what kind of missiles were fired because their remains have yet to be recovered, the official said. It appears that only one splashed into the water and it is unclear what happened to the other. Fox News reported that it blew up mid-air, but the official we spoke with could not confirm that.

The armed individuals who attempted to commandeer the Central Park are still on board the Mason, the official told us. They initially said they were Somalis when captured but that claim is still being investigated, the official added.

Contact the author: thomas@thedrive.com
From the Dispatch Politics on The Dispatch

Happy Monday! We hope you all had a pleasant holidayChristmas and the Iowa caucuses are just around the corner!

Up to Speed

Former President Donald Trump is poised to blitz television airwaves in Iowa and New Hampshire beginning Friday. The advertising will constitute the Trump campaigns first ad buys of the 2024 Republican nominating contest in these two, key early caucus and primary states, respectively, according to Medium Buying, a firm that tracks political advertising. The Iowa caucus is January 15. The New Hampshire primary follows eight days later.

Rep. Dean Phillips, the Minnesota Democrat mounting a longshot primary challenge against President Joe Biden, will not seek reelection to Congress in 2024, he announced over the extended Thanksgiving holiday weekend. To my colleagues in Congress: serving with you has been the honor of a lifetime  particularly during some of the darkest days in our nations history, Phillips said in a statement. He represents a Democratic-leaning district in suburban Minneapolis.

The Democratic National Committee raised $13.1 million in October, outpacing the Republican National Committee, which collected $7.1 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings reported by The Hill. The DNC additionally reported more cash in the bank ($17.7 million) than the RNC ($9.1 million) to spend on the upcoming 2024 elections. The DNC for years struggled to raise money, especially compared to the RNC, but has enjoyed a renaissance under President Joe Biden.

It doesnt get much attention, but the U.S. Virgin Islands is holding a Republican presidential nominating caucus February 8, and the top GOP contenders are competing for the island territorys 9 delegates to the 2024 convention. On Saturday, representatives for three candidatesformer President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and former South Carolina governor and ex-U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haleycalled into a local party gathering and made their case to members, the St. Thomas Source reported.

Following his interview with Dispatch Politics last week, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie appeared Sunday on ABC News This Week to continue making the case for why he remains the best alternative Republican candidate to Trump. Christie criticized DeSantis and Haley for failing to make a consistent case against Trump. If all three of us would go after Donald Trump, well then the most credible amongst the three of us in terms of those critiques would wind up winning this primary, I believe, Christie told host Jonathan Karl. Christie also told ABC News he plans on expanding his campaign to South Carolina and Michigan, whose nominating contests follow close behind Iowas and New Hampshires.

Have You Seen This Man?

Since we launched this newsletter, weve generally tried to shy away from too much granular coverage of former President Donald Trumps trademark inflammatory remarks and wild tirades. Yet after nearly a decade occupying the center of our politics, Trump has lost a little of his capacity to shock. And because hes arguably the single biggest known commodity in politics, weve wanted to spend the bulk of our time thus far fleshing out our coverage of the lesser-known pols trying to give him a run for his money.

But theres a good case to be made that this line of thinking is a mistakeand that in fact that very known commodity reputation has screened many Republican voters from paying attention to the grisly details of Trumps own reelection message, a very different one than the one he rolled out in 2016 and 2020.

We dont mean that in the sense of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whos started to argue in recent weeks that Trump is too old for the job and has lost his fastball. We mean that the strongman tendencies that have always run through Trumps political worldview and rhetoric have surged to the surface, forming the heart of the promise hes currently making to his base: that when reelected in 2024, he will unleash an orgy of retribution on the political enemies who (he falsely claims) stole the election from him in 2020 and grind the American left into extinction.

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, Trump said during a Veterans Day speech earlier this month. The threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within.

This kicked off a predictable response. Media critiquesnot without reason!zeroed in on the word vermin, noting its similarity, as the New York Times put it, to the dehumanizing rhetoric wielded by dictators like Hitler and Mussolini. This, in turn, drew sneers and eyerolls from many on the rightthere you go again with the Hitler talk! This is a classic mainstream media move, presidential candidate and ostensible Trump opponent Vivek Ramaswamy scoffed on CNN. Pick some individual phrase of Donald Trump, focus on literally that word without actually interrogating the substance of whats at issue. This is comfortable turf for many Republicans: approaching every story as a media-criticism story where the main matter at hand is the extent to which the press was unfair to a Republican politician.

But to those actually interested in unearthing it, the substance at issue in Trumps remarks could hardly have been plainer even to those lacking Ramaswamys Ivy-League credentials: Americas gravest enemies are left-wing Americans, and he pledges to stop at nothing if reelected to annihilate them. The Mussolini comparisons might be appropriate or they might not, but who cares? Surely this would be plenty concerning, even if no historical politician had sung a similar tune before.

This is just one recent story, but Trump has not bothered to hide his disdain for any institution that might serve as a check on his consolidation of political power for months. Late last year, he suggested that the supposed fraud perpetrated on him in 2020 allows for the termination of all rules, regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution to restore him to power. In September, he insinuated that a top general who had resisted his stolen-election attempts deserved to be put to death.

He has long since abandoned any pretense that he disapproved of the actions of the violent mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in a vain attempt to prolong his grip on power. He has taken to calling those convicted of crimes for their actions that day hostages, implying imprisonment by a completely illegitimate authority. He embarks on daily tirades against the various state and federal legal systems that have indicted him on dozens of felony charges related to his attempts to steal the 2020 election, his alleged mishandling of classified documents after leaving office, and other matters.

With a month and a half to go before states start voting, Trumps opponents are dozens of points behind and seemingly preoccupied with the task of coming in second in this or that early state. Both DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (and, of course, Ramaswamy) have said on national TV they would still support Trump as their partys nominee even if he were convicted of crimes. And all the while President Joe Biden continues to sag in the polls, highlighting the possibility that America could very well send Trump back to the White House.

Notable and Quotable

Thats stupid.

President Joe Biden, responding to a reporters question on whether hes too old to run again, November 26, 2023

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Social media apps like Instagram, designed to keep users' attention, can be hard to resist even for a week. (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

When my iPhone stopped working earlier this month, I spent an hour trying to fix it before I gave up. I scheduled the earliest-available appointment at an Apple store the next morning and resigned myself to a day without my device.

As I drove around to various errands, I awoke to details of the real world that Id long ago stopped noticing: the faces of strangers in cars behind me at traffic stops, my steering wheels leather, the ethereal whiteness of ordinary clouds.

Without social media to occupy me at all times, my mind went empty: gloriously empty, with space for nature and new ideas. It was exhilarating. Suddenly, anything seemed possible. Eager to prolong the feeling after I got a new phone, I decided to stay off social media during an upcoming vacation.

Id be seeing friends and going to training events for Brazilian Zouk dancing, my new hobby. My social media addiction includes posting videos of my real-world activities, including dancing, so I knew it would be difficult for me.

Read more: Guerrero: Have fun with strangers. Democracy and our mental health may depend on it

I often tell myself that my posting is voluntary, with a worthy purpose: to inspire people to exit the Metaverse and bond with others. But the truth is, Ive raced home from in-person experiences to post about them, pulse racing like a junkies. How much of my posting is volitional and how much is compulsory labor for Big Tech, which gives me dopamine hits in exchange?

I had to spend time off the apps to find out. Instagram would be the hardest. TikTok had always felt overstimulating to me, and I rarely used Twitter now that Elon Musk had turned it into X, even though I spent years building a following there. Since reducing my Twitter use, Ive noticed a shift in my thinking: away from binaries. How would a complete social media cleanse change me?

The first few days were easy. I arrived at the Brazilian Zouk dance retreat, which took over a wildlife training school in the green slopes near Nevada City. Absorbed in dance classes and meeting new people, I didnt miss social media at all.

Read more: Guerrero: Smartphones take a toll on teenagers. What choice do parents have?

In my down time, I re-read Katherine Mays Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age, about the authors quest to rediscover her childhood sense of awe, which had less to do with beauty than with a deep engagement with the world around me, the particular quality of attention that accompanies close attention.

I had no memory of finishing the book, which I read earlier this year. But when I reached the final chapters, I saw my own pen markings. It was ironic: Id read a book about attention while so distracted that Id forgotten most of the experience.

The next morning, eating breakfast with my classmates on a sun-dappled patio, I noticed a large praying mantis on the ground, its body the yellow-green of a ripe lime. Beside me, a friend was posting videos of the previous night of dancing to Instagram. If I weren't on a digital detox, I realized, Id be doing the same thing.

Read more: Guerrero: Shouting down racists isn't effective. Gen Z needs to find another way

The insect was crawling toward the dining hall door, where it could be crushed. I knelt down to move it to safety, charmed by its resemblance to foliage and its worshipful pose. I hadnt seen one in years. I wondered how many small wonders Id missed while staring at my phone. How do we worship now? May asks in her book, How do we get past the blunt knowing of our disenchanted age and tap back into the magic that we used to perceive everywhere?

The praying mantis offered an answer. Simply noticing was enough. Attention to nuance and in-between spaces could make existence sacred.

I sat down again and my friend told me that hed stayed up all night dancing and seen the sunrise. He pulled up Instagram to show me a video he had posted of the sunrise, ignoring my comments about my social media cleanse. The skys pink hues were beautiful, and his desire to share beauty is a good thing.

Often for me, though, the impulse to share joy online has come at the expense of presence in the moment. But social media can also open doors to new experiences; it was a friends videos of Brazilian Zouk dancing on Instagram that sparked my interest in this activity, which is all about inhabiting our bodies.

Later, when a friend texted me a video hed captured of one of my best dances, I texted it to my abuelita, whose reply was more real than hundreds of Instagram likes: It looks perfect precious, she texted in Spanish. I love watching that Zouk dance. I didnt need a large audience  one person was enough.

Just as I was marveling at how painless it was to stay off social media, I relapsed. One second, I was responding to a friends text. The next moment I was staring at a video of a cute French bulldog. Without realizing it, Id opened Instagram. I closed it and tried to recall how I ended up there, but Id done it on autopilot. I resolved to remove the app from my home screen to make it harder to access.

The rest of my social media break was easy. I spent time with old friends and their two small sons who lived in a nearby forest, where we gathered mushrooms and floated in a lake. Later, I met friends in San Francisco and joined in more dance sessions.

A few times, I felt social medias pull. But each time, I resisted, remembering the lesson of the praying mantis. Now the challenge is keeping up my resistance in normal life.

@jeanguerre





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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A 15-year-old had to go to the hospital after someone shot him in Dayton on Saturday.

>>PHOTOS: Neighbors speak on shooting that hospitalized 15-year-old near local middle school

The shooting happened in the first block of Willowood Drive, near Edwin Joel Brown Middle School, around 5:40 p.m.

A 911 caller said two people were trying to rob the teenager when one of them shot him.

News Center 7s Malik Patterson spoke with a mother and son who were in the area when the gunfire rang out.

Dayton resident Patricia LaFrance said she is extremely concerned for the young man and his family.

>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Hes bleeding real bad; 15-year-old shot near local middle school

That makes me nervous these parents out here need to watch their kids and make sure that you are with your kids at all times, LaFrance said.

LaFrance is a mother of four and said she tries to stay close to her children whenever she can.

I fear for my kids when they go to school in the early in the morning, having to catch the bus Im fearful Im a mother, she said.

News Center 7s Malik Patterson asked LaFrances son, Ty LaFrance, how the shooting made him feel.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Medics transport at least one person to hospital after shooting in Dayton

Hes only 5 years younger than you are, does that make you nervous especially being a young black man in the streets? Patterson asked.

Yes, it does. Its kind of sad what his family is going through right now, Ty said.

LaFrance is advocating for more community engagement to help reduce and hopefully stop the violence.

We need to come together as a Black community and do what we have to do for our children, she said.

News Center 7 is working to learn more about the incident and how the teenager is doing.

Photo from: Malik Patterson/Staff

Photo from: Malik Patterson/Staff

Photo from: Malik Patterson/Staff

Photo from: Malik Patterson/Staff

Photo from: Malik Patterson/Staff
Jerr-Dan donates to Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museums Survivor Fund

Jerr-Dan, an Oshkosh Corp. company, capped off its in-booth social event at the recent towing and recovery trade show in Baltimore by donating $20,000 to the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museums Survivor Fund.

The Survivor Fund was established in 2005 to provide immediate financial support to families of towing operators who lose their lives in the line of service in our industry, according to a news release from Jerr-Dan.

Workers from Jerr-Dan, based in Hagerstown, present a check for $20,000 to the board of directors of the Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museums Survivor Fund Board of Directors during a recent trade show in Baltimore.

As a company, we are honored to have the opportunity to again support the Survivors Fund with our donation tonight, said Bob Nelson, vice president and general manager of Jerr-Dan, in the news release. We also want to urge all who can to participate in the Museums continuing supporter program. Anything our industry can do to lessen the financial impact a family endures following the loss of a loved one is appreciated.

The donation was presented by Nelson and the Jerr-Dan team attending the show to the Survivor Fund board of directors.

Menno Haven announces resignation of CEO Dr. Hugh C. Davis

The Board of Directors of Menno Haven near Chambersburg, Pa., recently announced that Dr. Hugh C. Davis will be resigning as the CEO of the organization effective Dec. 31, according to a news release from the senior living organization.

We thank Dr. Davis for his service during a time of unprecedented change and are grateful for his leadership and vision to steer Menno Haven into a person-centered organization that nurtures the human spirit and truly sets Menno Haven on a trajectory for long-term success, said Wayne Yeager, chairman of the board, in the news release. We wish Dr. Davis the best in his future endeavors.

The board also announced it had appointed and promoted Tiffany Rife, Menno Havens current community life officer, to acting CEO effective Dec. 1, according to the release.

Ms. Rife possesses in-depth understanding of Menno Havens operations and values, Yeager said. She has proven herself as an exceptional leader, consistently achieving success and earning the respect of all stakeholders. Furthermore, Ms. Rife wholeheartedly embraces and embodies the mission and values of Menno Haven.

Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA Holiday recognized during annual convention

Kampgrounds of America Inc., a worldwide system of open-to-the-public campgrounds, recently announced that the Hagerstown/Antietam Battlefield KOA Holiday campground earned the KOA Founders and Presidents Awards. The awards were presented Nov. 16 at KOA's annual International Convention in Las Vegas, according to a news release from KOA.

The KOA Founders Award, named in honor of Dave Drum, who founded KOA on the banks of the Yellowstone River in Billings, Mont., in 1962, is KOAs highest service award, according to the release. It is awarded to those KOA campground owners and managers who attain world-class scores in both customer service and the KOA Quality Review.

The KOA Presidents Award is presented to those campgrounds meeting exceptional quality standards and who receive high customer service scores from their camping guests, according to the release. KOA surveys hundreds of thousands of campers each year regarding their KOA camping experience.

Opening? Moving? Got a new hire or promotion? Let us know

If you have details on a business coming or going in Washington County, Md., or Franklin County, Pa., email us at news@herald-mail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: Menno Have CEO resigns, local KOA gets national recognition
A sign on the University of Vermont campus in Burlington, Vt., is pictured on March 11, 2020. (Charles Krupa/AP)

BURLINGTON, Vt.  Three college students of Palestinian descent out for a walk in Vermont were seriously injured over the weekend when a man shot them at close range on a city street  an attack being investigated as a possible hate crime, authorities said Monday.

Jason J. Eaton, 48, made his initial court appearance by video from jail on three counts of attempted murder, and a plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf on Monday. He was ordered held without bail for the time being.

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The U.S. Department of Justice, along with state law enforcement agencies, were investigating whether Saturdays shooting was a hate crime amid an increase in threats against Jewish, Muslim and Arab communities across the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas war began, Attorney General Merrick Garland said. There is understandable fear in communities across the country, he said.

The three men, all age 20, who were spending their Thanksgiving break in Burlington, were walking during a visit to the home of one of the victims relatives when they were confronted by a white man with a handgun, police said.

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They stated that the person had not made any comments to them and had merely approached them while they were walking down the street, essentially minding their own business, Burlington Police Chief Jon Murad told reporters.

Two were struck in their torsos, while one was hit in the lower extremities, Murad said. All three were being treated at University of Vermont Medical Center, and one faces a long recovery because of a spinal injury, a family member said.

The Institute for Middle East Understanding, in a statement from victims families on X, formerly known as Twitter, identified the men as Hisham Awartani, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.

We are extremely concerned about the safety and well-being of our children, the statement said. We call on law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation, including treating this as a hate crime. We will not be comfortable until the shooter is brought to justice.

The three have been friends since first grade at Ramallah Friends School, a private school in the West Bank, and all are remarkable, distinguished students, said Rania Maayeh, head of the school.

Awartani is studying mathematics and archaeology at Brown University in Rhode Island; Abdalhamid is a pre-med student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania; and Ali Ahmad is studying mathematics and IT at Trinity College in Connecticut, Maayeh said. Awartani and Abdalhamid are U.S. citizens while Ali Ahmad is studying on a student visa, Maayeh said.

Our students are not safe in their own country because of the occupation. Theyre studying abroad and have a bright future ahead of them, and look at what happens, she said. This has deeply shaken us.

Abdalhamids uncle Radi Tamini, who flew from California and spoke Monday at the press conference, shared a similar sentiment.

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Kinnan grew up in the West Bank and we always thought that that could be more of a risk in terms of his safety and sending him here would be a right decision, the uncle said. We feel somehow betrayed in that decision here and were just trying to come to terms with everything.

Eaton moved to Burlington over the summer and had legally purchased the gun used in the shooting, Murad told reporters. According to a police affidavit, federal agents found the gun in Eatons apartment on Sunday. Eaton came to the door holding his hands palms up, and told the officers hed been waiting for them.

Rich Price, Awartanis uncle, said the gunman shot them without saying any words and that the family suspects they were targets of a hate crime.

The familys fear is that this was motivated by hate, that these young men were targeted because they were Arabs, Price said.

The victims were speaking in a mix of English and Arabic and two of them were also wearing the black-and-white Palestinian keffiyeh scarves when they were shot, Murad said.

Speaking at a news conference, Sarah George, states attorney, said law enforcement officials do not yet have evidence to support a hate crime enhancement, which under Vermont law must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. But, she said, I do want to be clear that there is no question that this was a hateful act.

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Murad echoed Georges language.

Whether or not this is a hate crime by the law, it was a hateful act. Its one that we abhor, he said. And anybody who steps out from a porch and attacks three random passersby for whatever reason, hes expressing a form of hate.

Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, who called it one of the most shocking and disturbing events in the citys history, said he spoke to President Joe Biden on Monday.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the president and first lady Jill Biden were horrified to learn of the shooting. There is absolutely no place for violence or hate in America, she said Monday. No person should worry about being targeted while going about their daily lives.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent, also denounced the shooting. It is shocking and deeply upsetting that three young Palestinians were shot here in Burlington, Vermont. Hate has no place here, or anywhere. I look forward to a full investigation, Sanders said in a statement.

Gov. Phil Scott called the shooting a tragedy, calling on the states residents to unite and not let this incident incite more hate or divisiveness.

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The Vermont-New Hampshire chapter of Jewish Voice For Peace, which has urged an end to the Israel-Hamas war, released a statement saying it was appalled by the shooting.

We are in solidarity with the students, their families and all those affected by this clear act of hate, the organization said Sunday. We are in solidarity with all Palestinian people in occupied Palestine, around the world, and here in Vermont  and we are committed to creating a Vermont that is safe and welcoming for all.

Demonstrations have been widespread and tensions in the U.S. have escalated as the death toll rises in the Israel-Hamas war. A fragile cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was set to continue for two more days past Monday as 11 more hostages were handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza under what was originally a four-day truce deal.

Last month, an Illinois landlord was charged with a hate crime after being accused of fatally stabbing a 6-year-old Muslim boy and seriously wounding his mother in suburban Chicago. Police and relatives said he singled out the victims because of their faith.

University of Vermont graduate student Jacob Friz-Trillo, who lives down the street from where the shooting took place, said the violence was out of character for the city. Its kind of regarded as a super liberal area, especially because its right by UVM, he said.

Maayeh said the most recent attack shows that safety must be improved. This incident is a reminder of the urgency to change the discourse, which has dehumanized Palestinians. They are people who are deserving of empathy, compassion, rights, freedom, happiness and life, she said.

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Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in Concord, New Hampshire, Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington and David Sharp in Portland, Maine, contributed to this report.
Next month, the world will mark the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). With war raging in the Middle East and Ukraine, autocrats empowered, and domestic extremism on the rise, the goals articulated in that document remain aspirations. But even as the rights of too many remain unsecured, there is a simple step the United States could take that would protect vulnerable people and demonstrate the countrys continued commitment to the ideals proclaimed in the UDHR: we can keep our promise to the Afghans who served alongside American forces and supported our peacekeeping mission.

Just half a block south of the wall in Tijuana that separates the United States from Mexico, some of our allies have been left behind. Last month, I had the opportunity to meet 55 Afghans who are currently navigating the byzantine American immigration system and waiting for America to honor our promise of permanent safety.

These families, some with young children barely old enough to walk, made the arduous journey from Afghanistan after the fall of their elected government. Many either fought alongside American forces during our 20-year war against the Taliban or are ethnic or religious minorities fleeing persecution from them.

Among those sheltered is a Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicant who devoted nearly a decade to working alongside American forces. Facing reprisals from the Taliban after the U.S. withdrawal, he made the difficult decision to flee with his young family. Their journey first took them to Iran. They then flew to Brazil, where they initially felt welcome due to the availability of humanitarian visas. However, while there, the family faced discrimination and criminal attacks. Fearing for their safety, they embarked on a perilous journey from Brazil to Tijuana, walking through Colombia and the Darien Gap, a 60-mile stretch of jungle between Colombia and Panama and one of the most dangerous places on earth.

In this 2021 file photo, a U.S. soldier plays catch with an Afghan refugee child in the village where Afghans were living temporarily at the Ft. McCoy U.S. Army base in Ft. McCoy, Wis. (Credit: Barbara Davidson/Pool photo via AP)

The family marched the spine of Central America to reach the United States, yet they remain a wall away from their destination. Conditions in the shelter are difficult. Dozens of families share a few rooms: a communal dining room, an even smaller living space where they roll out mats each night to sleep, and a small balcony to dry clothes.

Since 2010, 17,000 Afghan refugees and those with special immigrant visas have arrived in Texas, 3,800 of them since the fall of Kabul. They have encountered a complex immigration system still recovering from significant funding cuts. There is a better, more systematic way to help them.

The bipartisan Afghan Adjustment Act (AAA) would provide pathways to safety. The bill would establish an interagency task force to facilitate the relocation of Afghans, reducing the need for them to take the dangerous journey made by the aforementioned visa applicant Mr. Ali and his family. For Afghans already in the United States due to the 2021 evacuation, the AAA offers the opportunity to apply for legal permanent residency after undergoing further background checks.

Introduced in both the House and Senate, the AAA awaits a vote. The bill enjoys strong support from the vast majority of Americans; however, it remains delayed by procedural tactics. Leaders like Senator John Cornyn must take action and pass this life-saving legislation.

Our laws and treaty obligations demand immigration policies that reflect our values. We cannot leave our Afghan allies to die at the hands of the Taliban, coyotes, or paramilitaries.

Passing the AAA would show that our nation meets its commitments while demonstrating our shared values to each other, to Afghans, and to the world. As Human Rights Day approaches, supporting and passing the AAA would be a testament to our commitment to those who served alongside us in Afghanistan and the centrality of human rights.

Purdy is Human Rights First's Veterans for American Ideals and Outreach Director. He is an Army National Guard veteran deployed to Iraq and Thailand during his service.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Commentary: We cannot leave our Afghan allies to die
I was a conjoined twin. My sister didn't survive, but the brief time we had together made me extraordinary.

Former conjoined twin Faith Roberts celebrates her 8th birthday. Courtesy of Faith Roberts

Faith Roberts and her sister, Rose, were delivered as conjoined twins in February 1999.

Rose was found to be a parasitic twin. She didn't survive the surgery to separate the babies.

Roberts said her sister's legacy was to make her "extraordinary" and to inspire others.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Faith Roberts. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Every so often I visit the grave of my sister, Rose, who died when we were just three days old.

We were conjoined twins. We were attached from the breastbone to beneath the belly button  we looked as if we were hugging.

Rose, who depended on my heart to pump the blood through her body because she couldn't do it on her own, was diagnosed as a parasitic conjoined twin.

We were separated at three days old. The medical professionals knew it was my only chance at life. But there was no saving Rose.

Twenty-four years on, I think about her every day. I thank her for making me extraordinary  a survivor who, I hope, inspires other people with my story.

Doctors said the pregnancy could prove lethal for our mom

My mother had been excited to learn in the early summer of 1998 that she was expecting twins. My brother, Dalton, was about 5 years old. She and Dad couldn't wait to introduce him to his little sisters.

The doctors discovered that Mom was carrying conjoined twins during her 14-week scan. They said it didn't look good. "We strongly suggest that you terminate the pregnancy," they told my parents.

They said that if it continued, it could be fatal for the babies and the mother.

Mom, who had previously lost a child soon after his birth and subsequently been through miscarriages, refused to listen. "God gave me two heartbeats, so let's see what happens," she said.

Roberts and her parasitic conjoined twin, Rose, in an incubator in the neonatal-intensive-care unit. Courtesy of Faith Roberts

It was a rough pregnancy. She was in the doctor's office every week. Then she started hemorrhaging. We were delivered by C-section at 30 weeks gestation.

The doctors didn't know what to expect, because the X-rays or ultrasounds weren't so sophisticated back then. We were taken to the Children's Hospital New Orleans by a team of specialists. They had to figure out what to do.

As a parasitic conjoined twin, Rose wasn't fully developed in her brain or body. Our hearts were surrounded by one protective sac and shared a valve. The only reason Rose had survived was because she was using my heart as a backup generator.

The surgeons soon realized I couldn't keep both of us alive. The issue with our circulation was killing me. We were separated on February 3, 1999.

Meanwhile, Mom had her own medical complications and nearly died. She needed an emergency hysterectomy. Sadly, she never got the opportunity to see us while we were connected. She only saw Rose postmortem.

I started to get bullied at school because of my stature

I had a lot of operations during my childhood. I had no abdominal muscles after the separation. Doctors put in a mesh screen to keep in my intestines. I underwent heart surgery because I had an atrial heart defect. They put devices in my heart to close the holes.

My position attached to Rose caused scoliosis. I had rods inserted to correct the curve of my spine. My face was crooked because our faces had been in a kind of yin-and-yang formation. I had a double jaw surgery after it was broken in two places.

My parents told me about Rose when I was about 4. They didn't quite know how to make me understand. But I worked it out myself. I used to watch the kids' cartoon "Dragon Tales" on TV. "I'm just like Zak and Wheezie," I told my family  the characters were conjoined dragons with two heads instead of one.

It was hard being in the hospital. But people treated me like a medical marvel, and I loved it. The doctors would introduce me to medical students and tell my story. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.

Things changed in middle school. The kids started not to be so nice about it. They called me a "freak of nature" and a "mutant." I took a step back. I stopped saying it out loud. It wasn't my cool party trick anymore.

Roberts with her husband, Tyler, on their wedding day in 2021. Courtesy of Tori Lynne Photography

I went to camp when I was 12. It was a long way from my home in New Orleans. I'd wear swimsuits  never a bikini  so my scars were covered. The circumstances of my birth never came up. Unlike in school, people didn't know about them.

These people included a boy called Tyler Roberts, one of the campers who became a good friend. He only found out after I mentioned I was helping with a telethon at the children's hospital at 15. "Wow!" he said. Then he moved on.

I'd never seen anyone take it so casually before. I'd been so self-conscious that I didn't look the way the other girls did with my crooked hips and shoulders  the things the kids on the school bus had pointed out.

I'm writing a book to help children deal with surgery

It was like Tyler couldn't see any of it. I had never felt so "normal." We started dating at 18  when he was about to join the US Marine Corps  and have been in love ever since. We got married on October 16, 2021.

I'm now writing a children's book about what it's like to have multiple surgeries. I hope it will help dispel the fear that many children feel before an operation. I've embraced the fact that I'm unique once again.

My middle name is Rose. I'm proud to have been her sister. She's made me who I am today.

Do you have a powerful story to share with Insider? Please send details to jridley@insider.com.

Read the original article on Insider
Connellsville Area Middle School is mourning the loss of its principal, Geoff Snyder.

According to the Connellsville Area School District, Snyder was a lifelong resident of Connellsville and a long-time employee with the district.

The district said in a release:

Mr. Snyder will be missed by many throughout our community and school district. Geoffs impact extended beyond the school walls, touching the lives of students, colleagues, and families. Please keep Mr. Snyder, his family, and all those affected by this loss in your thoughts and prayers during this sad and difficult time.

Arrangements will be shared once they are finalized, the district said.

The district also said additional grief counselors will be available when students and staff return to school on Tuesday.

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Despite opposition from neighbors and City Council members, construction of Chicagos first tent encampment to house migrants during the cold winter months will begin Monday in Brighton Park, according to a Southwest Side alderwoman.

Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, released a letter Saturday detailing her opposition to the plans for her ward and said Mayor Brandon Johnsons office notified her Friday that GardaWorld Federal Services  a private security firm the city is contracting to build and run the camps  would begin erecting tents Monday on 38th Street and California Avenue.

The administrations decision to proceed without addressing our concerns not only undermines transparency and efforts of co-governance, she wrote, but also disregards the well-being of everyone in our community, including the asylum-seekers who have come to our great city seeking safety and refuge.

Officials with the Johnson administration did not comment Sunday on when construction is beginning.

Ramirez referred to an environmental impact study conducted on the site, the results of which she said have yet to be shared with her or her constituents. She said her office had been informed of the presence of toxic metals in the soil, but even though the pollution had been remediated she still worried about the safety and health of new arrivals.

Local environmental justice activists have raised concerns about what testing, if any, has been carried out at the site. They also say the location proposed to house thousands of the citys most vulnerable people is in an industrial zone near an interstate and was once home to a zinc smelter that might still render the land toxic.

It is essential for residents of this community to be fully aware of the environmental impacts and potential risks associated with this project, Ramirez said. We have a right to know if the site is safe for both asylum-seekers and community members at large.

In a statement released Sunday, Johnson spokesperson Ronnie Reese said the city performed an environmental analysis and collected historical and environmental information based on international standards used by the American Society for Testing and Materials.

In addition, the City conducted site visits and investigated pre-exiting conditions to determine any potential environmental impacts at the site, Reese said. These common mitigation strategies are ongoing and anticipated for completion by the end of this week, weather permitting.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently announced that the state would allocate $65 million to help set up a tent encampment for migrants in Chicago before winter set in. And though he had expressed concerns to City Hall about the concept, state documents indicate the Illinois Emergency Management Agency in mid-May sought proposals from companies to assist the migrant crisis by providing options for indoor and outdoor shelter.

Johnson quietly signed a one-year, $29.4 million deal with GardaWorld in September after having announced he intended to move 1,600 migrants from airports and police stations to temporary shelters ahead of the colder months. As of Sunday, according to a daily census from the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, over 1,000 migrants were staying in police districts and almost 200 were staying at OHare.

Plans for the first migrant encampment with winterized tents to be set up at Brighton Park were floated around mid-October. The citys six-month, $548,400 land use contract for the site at 3710 S. California Ave. was approved shortly after, eliciting objections from Ramirez who said she had not been notified that the lease for the site in her ward had been signed.

Growing tensions have boiled over a few times since residents in the Southwest Side neighborhood first got wind of the citys plans: A crowd swarmed Ramirez at a protest and a few days later a group scuffled with police ahead of a community meeting.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
Dr Sultan al-Jaber is president of the climate summit and the head of the United Arab Emirates' state oil company

The United Arab Emirates planned to use its role as the host of UN climate talks as an opportunity to strike oil and gas deals, the BBC has learned.

Leaked briefing documents reveal plans to discuss fossil fuel deals with 15 nations.

The UN body responsible for the COP28 summit told the BBC hosts were expected to act without bias or self-interest.

The UAE team did not deny using COP28 meetings for business talks, and said "private meetings are private".

It declined to comment on what was discussed in the meetings and said its work has been focused on "meaningful climate action".

The documents - obtained by independent journalists at the Centre for Climate Reporting working alongside the BBC - were prepared by the UAE's COP28 team for meetings with at least 27 foreign governments ahead of the COP28 summit, which starts on 30 November.

They included proposed "talking points", such as one for China which says Adnoc, the UAE's state oil company, is "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG [liquefied natural gas] opportunities" in Mozambique, Canada and Australia.

The documents suggest telling a Colombian minister that Adnoc "stands ready" to support Colombia to develop its fossil fuel resources.

There are talking points for 13 other countries, including Germany and Egypt, which suggest telling them Adnoc wants to work with their governments to develop fossil fuel projects.

Graphic showing quotes from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with China, saying they were "willing to jointly evaluate international LNG opportunities (Mozambique, Canada, Australia)"

The briefings show the UAE also prepared talking points on commercial opportunities for its state renewable energy company, Masdar, ahead of meetings with 20 countries, including the UK, United States, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Brazil, China, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kenya.

COP28 is the UN's latest round of global climate talks. This year it is being hosted by the UAE in Dubai and is due to be attended by 167 world leaders, including the Pope and King Charles III.

These summits are the world's most important meetings to discuss how to tackle climate change.

The hope is COP28 will help limit the long-term global temperature rise to 1.5C, which the UN's climate science body says is crucial to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. But that will require drastic cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, it says - a 43% reduction by 2030 from 2019 levels.

As part of the preparations for the conference, the UAE's COP28 team arranged a series of ministerial meetings with governments from around the world.

The meetings were to be hosted by the president of COP28, Dr Sultan al-Jaber. Each year the host nation appoints a representative to be the COP president.

Meeting representatives of foreign governments is one of the core responsibilities of COP presidents. It is the president's job to encourage countries to be as ambitious as possible in their efforts to cut emissions.

The leaked briefing documents seen by the BBC were prepared for Dr Jaber - who is also CEO of the UAE's giant state oil company, Adnoc, and of the state renewables business, Masdar.

The UAE is one of the world's largest oil producers

The documents contain a summary of objectives for the meetings, including information about the minister or official Dr Jaber was due to meet and what issues he should raise in the UAE's efforts to progress the climate talks.

For more than two dozen countries, the documents also contain talking points drawn up by Adnoc and Masdar:

The Brazilian environment minister was to be asked for help "securing alignment and endorsement" for Adnoc's bid for Latin America's largest oil and gas processing company, Braskem. Earlier this month, Adnoc made a $2.1bn (1.7bn) offer to buy a key stake

Germany was to be told by Adnoc: "We stand ready to continue our LNG supplies"

Adnoc suggested the oil-producing nations of Saudi Arabia and Venezuela be told "there is no conflict between the sustainable development of any country's natural resources and its commitment to climate change"

The BBC has seen an email exchange in which COP28 staff members are told Adnoc and Masdar talking points "always need to be included" in the briefing notes. The COP28 team said it was "simply untrue" that staff had been told this.

It is not clear on how many occasions Dr Jaber and his colleagues raised the talking points in COP28 meetings with foreign governments.

We know, on at least one occasion, a nation followed up on commercial discussions brought up in a meeting arranged by the UAE's COP28 team.

However, 12 nations have told the BBC there was either no discussion of commercial activities during meetings, or a meeting did not take place.

These included the UK. The leaked documents show the COP28 president had been briefed to "seek government support" to more than double the size of a wind farm off the coast of Sheringham in Norfolk in which Masdar has a stake.

Graphic showing quote from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with Brazil's environment minister, mentioning the Braskem deal and saying "Securing alignment and endorsement for the deal at the highest level is important for us"

Attempting to do business deals during the COP process appears to be a serious breach of the standards of conduct expected of a COP president.

Those standards are set by the UN body responsible for the climate negotiations, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The UNFCCC says the "cardinal principle" for COP presidents and their teams is "the obligation of impartiality".

It told the BBC that COP presidents are "expected to act without bias, prejudice, favouritism, caprice, self-interest, preference or deference, strictly based on sound, independent and fair judgement".

"They are also expected to ensure that personal views and convictions do not compromise or appear to compromise their role and functions as a UNFCCC officer," it continued.

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, the head of the COP20 summit in Peru in 2014, worries a collapse in trust could mean no progress on tackling climate change in Dubai.

"The president of the COP is the leader of the world, is trying to build consensus on behalf of the planet," he told the BBC.

"If any president of the COP tries to bring a particular interest, [including] commercial interest, that could mean the failure of the COP."

The annual COP summits bring together leaders from almost every nation on earth

Prof Michael Jacobs of Sheffield University, who is an expert on UN climate politics, told the BBC the COP28 team's actions looked "breathtakingly hypocritical".

"I actually think it's worse than that," he said, "because the UAE at the moment is the custodian of a United Nations process aimed at reducing global emissions. And yet, in the very same meetings where it's apparently trying to pursue that goal, it's actually trying to do side deals which will increase global emissions."

Several of the proposed projects mentioned in the briefing documents appear to represent new oil and gas developments. The International Energy Agency, a global watchdog, has said that to keep temperature rises to the 1.5C target, no new oil and gas fields should be developed.

Graphic showing quote from briefing document for the UAE COP28 team's meeting with the UK, saying they would "seek UK government support to extend the seabed rights for Dudgeon Offshore Wind Extension"

At a press conference last month, COP28 director-general Majid al-Suwaidi said the UAE's climate summit team was "fully independent" of both Adnoc and Masdar.

COP28 has been "very clear about our independence" in discussions with the UNFCCC, he added.

In a statement, the COP28 team told the BBC: "The fact that Dr Sultan al-Jaber holds a number of positions alongside his role as COP28 president-designate is public knowledge and something we have been transparent about from the outset.

"Dr Sultan al-Jaber is singularly focused on the business of COP and delivering ambitious and transformational climate outcomes at COP28," the statement said, adding it would be a "distraction" to suggest that the work he has undertaken has not "been focused on meaningful climate action".

These are serious allegations but ultimately the success of the UAE's leadership of the climate talks, and of the COP28 president himself, will be judged by the results achieved at the summit, experts say.

The COP28 summit is due to end on Tuesday 12 December.

Additional reporting by Adam Eley and Sophie Woodcock

More on the COP28 climate summit

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LOS ANGELES  A woman suffered serious injuries after an attempted purse snatching led to her being dragged by a suspects vehicle, authorities said.

The incident took place in the parking lot outside the Costco in the City of Industry at 6:40 p.m. Sunday evening, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Departments Industry Station.

The victim, whom police initially said was 26 years old but was later identified as being 37, was loading items into her car when another car pulled up, police said. A suspect then jumped out and attempted to take her purse.

She held on and was dragged about 50 yards onto Hanover Road where she fell off, an LASD spokesperson confirmed to KTLA.

Man who stripped naked on Disneyland ride was on drugs, police say

She was transported to Pomona Valley Hospital in critical condition with head trauma, but she is not death imminent, authorities said.

A total of two suspects were involved in the attempted robbery. Their vehicle was described as a dark-colored Infiniti QX60.

The suspects may have also broken into another vehicle in the same parking lot.

Deputies are holding evidence from that break-in, LASD said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Dunja Mijatovic, the Council of Europes Human Rights Commissioner, addresses the media in Michalowo

By Boldizsar Gyori

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungary should abandon its proposed 'sovereignty' law as it gives sweeping investigative powers with little democratic oversight, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights said on Monday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling Fidesz party submitted a "sovereignty protection bill" to parliament last week, aiming to set up an authority to monitor political interference and recommend changes in regulations.

Critics say the bill is an attempt to stifle dissent in a country that has clashed repeatedly with the European Union over democratic rights during Orban's 13 years in power.

The bill -- which needs to be debated by lawmakers before its final approval -- would punish foreign financing for parties or groups running for election with up to three years in prison.

"I call on the Hungarian Parliament to shelve these proposals", Dunja Mijatovic's statement read. Ruling party Fidesz did not reply immediately to emailed questions.

The Council of Europe is a pan-European group tasked with upholding human rights and the rule of law since its formation after World War Two.

Mijatovic said the bill would allow the new authority to request sensitive data and private information from anyone without adequate oversight.

"The invasive scrutiny of the proposed Office could be weaponised against anybody who may be considered an adversary due, for instance, to activities aimed at influencing democratic debate," she said.

Orban, who has a two-thirds majority in parliament that allows Fidesz to change any legislation, scored his fourth landslide victory in 2022, portraying himself as a defender of Hungary's national interests.

(Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori; Editing by Christina Fincher)
This story was originally published at blog.idahoreports.idahoptv.org on Nov. 20, 2023.

An Ada County judge has dismissed a petition filed against the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare by Attorney General Raul Labrador, but the investigation into the use of community partner grants continues.

Fourth Judicial District Judge Lynn Norton filed final judgment in the case on Monday, which was the response to a request to set aside the civil investigation demand for Erika Rupp. The cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning plaintiffs could re-file if they choose.

Rupp is a former employee of IDHW. The Attorney Generals Office filed a petition against her in March, which claimed she played an integral role in the distribution of the Community Partner Grants Program. IDHW responded by filing a lawsuit. Now, both have been dismissed.

Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador was elected into office in November 2022.

The Legislature distributed $72 million of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding to address learning loss for children ages 5-13, but the attorney generals office claims in court documents that more than $14 million of that money went to ineligible programs.

In August, legislative auditors claimed they found flaws in the grant fund distributions. That audit was unavailable when the request for a civil investigation demand was made by the attorney general in the spring. IDHW disputes any wrongdoing in the audits findings.

Adams County Prosecutor Chris Boyd was assigned to the case as a special prosecutor after Norton deemed it a conflict of interest for an in-house attorney to pursue the case. The Attorney General and his deputies are required by Idaho law to defend the state.

On Oct. 6, Boyd wrote to Rupps attorneys, stating he would withdraw the civil investigation demand to conserve state resources while he determines what documents, if any, he needs to complete the investigation.

Based on the referral in the audit report, the Attorney General will continue to investigate the Grant Program, Boyd wrote Oct. 6. He asked me to act as a Special Deputy Attorney General over the investigation and to make any charging decisions or recommendations where appropriate. He has requested that I continue to keep politics out of the decision-making process. To avoid perceptions of political bias, and to foster public trust in the rule of law in our state, I believe it is appropriate to request the involvement of a neutral and detached magistrate in this investigation.

Boyd petitioned for the appointment of a special inquiry judge.

On Monday afternoon, IDHW issued the following statement:

The special prosecutor withdrew the (civil investigation demands) CIDs and indicated that Director Jeppesen and his team are released from their obligation to respond. The Department long maintained the CIDs were legally invalid and an unnecessary expense to the public. That is why the department filed the petition asking the court to set them aside.

Thus, the department is pleased with the Special Prosecutors decision to withdraw the CIDs and hopeful no further court proceedings are required. The department has requested the Attorney Generals office pay the departments attorneys fees related to this unnecessary litigation.

Boyds office said he was unavailable for comment on Nov. 20.
TAMPA  If Billy Adams III is found guilty of murder, should Hillsborough prosecutors have to convince 12 people that he deserves the death penalty? Or will eight be enough?

A judge is weighing that question as lawyers and other Florida judges also grapple with what to do in the wake of the latest change to the states ever-evolving death penalty system.

This spring, the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis approved a law that eliminated the requirement that juries be unanimous if they are to recommend the death penalty. The new minimum threshold is a vote of 8-4. Thus, even if four jurors vote for life in prison, a court can still impose capital punishment.

But the question lingers: What to do with defendants, like Adams, whose cases were pending when the law changed? Should they be subject to the new 8-4 rule?

Lawyers for Adams argued in a court hearing last week that the change would amount to an ex post facto law  a law that applies retroactively  which is explicitly prohibited in the U.S. and Florida constitutions.

Assistant Public Defender Jamie Kane told a judge that the new law creates new pressure for the defense. Under the previous law, the defense only had to convince one juror that a life sentence was appropriate. Under the new law, they have to convince at least five.

That is a big difference, Kane said. Our burden has increased dramatically.

Hillsborough prosecutors responded that the new 8-4 standard was merely a procedural change in the law, and therefore it should apply to cases going forward, including Adams.

Does this retroactively increase punishment for this crime? Assistant State Attorney Lindsay Hodges said in the hearing. The answer is no. ... The punishment is still death.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Mark Kiser did not immediately rule on the issue.

Florida for years was one of the only states in which the law did not require juries to be unanimous if they were to impose the death penalty. A bare majority of 7-5 for death was all it took.

In 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Floridas death penalty as unconstitutional. Thereafter, unanimity became the rule.

Last year, though, outrage was widespread after a Broward County jury fell three votes short of recommending a death sentence for Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

In direct response to that came the push to lower the standard to 8-4.

The change has affected cases all across the state. One notable example is that of Troy Victorino and Jerone Hunter. The codefendants were sentenced to death in 2006 in Volusia County  when the law required only seven jurors to vote for death. Their sentences were overturned after the states death penalty was struck down. Lawyers were in the middle of a new penalty trial for the pair last spring when the law shifted back to 8-4, ultimately halting the proceedings.

An appeals court later ruled that the case should be subject to the new 8-4 rule. But that hasnt settled the question.

In July, a Polk County judge ruled that applying the new law to a pending case there would be unconstitutional.

Hillsborough Circuit Judge Lyann Goudie cited the Polk County ruling in October when she similarly ruled against applying the 8-4 law in the case of McKinsie Lyons.

Lyons is charged in a 2018 Ruskin home invasion robbery in which a man and a pregnant woman were killed. Facing death, he was weeks away from going to trial earlier this year when the law changed. The trial was postponed.

In the Lyons case, like in Adams, prosecutors argued that the new law was a mere procedural change. Goudie rejected that argument.

In a written opinion, Goudie reasoned that the new law made a life sentence less likely. The change was a substantive one, the judge wrote, as it put Lyons at greater risk of a death sentence.

What if the Legislature amended (the law) to allow a death recommendation if at least six jurors determine a defendant should be sentenced to death? Goudie wrote. Five jurors? Four jurors? Three jurors? Two jurors? ... It would be ludicrous to argue that such a change would not substantially increase both the number of death recommendations and death sentences.

Adams defense echoed Goudies opinion in arguments before Judge Kiser.

The effort here by the Legislature is to have more people get the death penalty, Kane said. How do you do that? By reducing the states burden and increasing the defense burden. The fewer (jurors) they have to convince, the more theyre going to win death sentences.

The issue is one that the Florida Supreme Court will likely have to decide. The outcome could affect what happens in at least eight pending Hillsborough County death penalty cases, including Adams.

Adams, 26, is accused in the January shooting of 22-year-old Alana Sims, who was found dead on a roadside beside the SUV she was driving in a New Tampa subdivision. Her toddler son sat unharmed inside the vehicle. Sims was pregnant when she died. At least one witness told police that Adams was believed to be the father of the unborn child, according to court records.

The killing occurred three days after Adams, a hip-hop artist known as Ace NH, was found not guilty in the fatal shootings of Trevon Albury and Daniel Thompson inside a Lutz recording studio. In his trial in that case, Adams testified that hed killed the pair in self-defense because he believed they were about to rob the studios owner.

Less than two weeks after he walked out of court, Adams was back in jail, accused of killing Sims.

Handcuffed and clad in a red jail uniform, he sat in a jury box throughout last weeks hearing. He leaned forward and gazed at his attorney, appearing keenly interested in the arguments over his potential fate.
A deer trapped on a snowy shore beside a frozen Colorado lake got a helping hand from a nearby crane, a video and photos show.

Oh dear! This guy was in the wrong place at the wrong time near Evergreen Lake on Friday, read a Sunday, Nov. 26, post on X, formerly branded as Twitter, by Colorado Parks & Wildlife.

A video with the post shows the stranded deer pacing back and forth on snow-covered rocks between a road and the frigid lake.

A nearby crane truck operator in the right place at the right time gave our wildlife officers a hand with the #rescue, a later post reads.

Wildlife officers tranquilized the deer and strapped it up so the crane could lift it over a fence along the road, photos show.

The deer was relocated to (a) better habitat and hopefully had a quiet holiday weekend, wildlife officers wrote on X.

Evergreen Lake is about 30 miles southwest of Denver.

Injured hunter crawls to phone, calls for help after fall from tree, Michigan cops say

Lost hunter wanders 8 hours before rescuers find him on dark, foggy trail, WA cops say

Missing 25-year-old hiker found alive at Texas national park, officials say